Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM- BeStrong - 2 Timothy 2:1-13 - Pastor Ryan Nichols
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Transcript
Organized into readable paragraphs from the preserved Whisper transcript. Non-speech markers are removed.
All right, good morning. It's good to see you guys. I'm so glad you're here. Man, how about this cool weather this morning, huh? Isn't that amazing? Well, hey, I want to invite you to stand with us, and we'll pray, and we'll get started.
Lord, we come before you this morning, God. We just thank you for another day. Thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to be in your house this morning. And Lord, as always, just ask your blessing upon this time. Lord, help us to sit everything that's going on in our lives aside, and to be able to focus on you, to lavish praise upon you, Lord, and to be able to hear and receive your word this morning.
We love you, and we praise you, and in Jesus' name, amen. Because you are a good, good, you've taken what was broken, and you've made, God, you've taken what was shattered beyond, you've taken graves, you've brought us from death to life. And so, Lord God, we give you praise this morning, God, and we just thank you. And we glorify you, God, because you are worthy of all glory.
Praise, amen.
Lord God, there is none beside you. Lord God, you are King of kings, and you are Lord of lords. You're King above all kings. Your name above all names. Nobody could have done what you've done for us, Lord. We thank you that you left your throne in heaven, that you came to earth, and that you lived among us.
You became our salvation. Lord God, there was nothing that we could do, but you did it for us. All you have to do is to choose you.
Choose to accept that gift. And Lord God, if there are any here this morning, God, that have never chosen to follow you, Lord God, that have never accepted that gift, that free gift of salvation, I pray that today would be the day. Today is the day of salvation. And Father, this morning now, as Pastor Ryan comes, I just pray that you would be with us. I pray that you would overflow him with your Holy Spirit.
Finally, this morning, God, let your Holy Spirit fall upon this place. And let us leave changed. Let us leave different than when we came in this morning, God. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.
Good morning.
If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.
Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this morning. Awesome. Take note of most things are happening as usual this week, except for the fact that there will be no midweek services on Wednesday. It's Arkalala week. So this week, just go out, be amongst the community, and be the church this week with the people that are around us and go enjoy the festivities of the town.
So no Wednesday night services this week. That's kids and everything. So also, okay, over the middle section of your bulletin, we still have a few specials. We've got a few spots open in the cleaning ministry, although a bunch of those filled up last week, which was really awesome. But there is a sign-up sheet out there. If you're interested in that, you can get signed up out there.
Ladies, there's a new ladies' Bible study starting up in the Gospel of John that begins November the 6th. Same as usual, Mondays and Thursdays. All the information is right there. If you're interested either in one of those two studies or just getting the study to do on your own, you can sign up for that out in the lobby. Let's see. Shoebox packing party this afternoon.
Oh, wait, we have a video for that. I have read my note. Let's watch this little video.
Operation Christmas Child. What a grand adventure that we get to be a part of. Would you take these gifts and would you use them to open children's hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ? God, we are so thankful for the opportunity to pack these boxes. And, Lord, we pray for these boxes. Lord, that when they open this up, they will hear about the love for your son, Jesus.
It challenged me that day. It challenged me to think bigger. It challenged me to be praying that God would use me here in my community with my children's lives, the people in their lives, to reach out to them. We serve a holy God, a God that's called us to serve the world. And these packing parties are a great opportunity to serve here in our own community.
There's packing parties. There's power on this side of the box. When you invite people from your community, from your church, or from your sports team, from your kids' school, it gives us an opportunity here on this side of the box to share the gospel of Jesus. And so I want to encourage you and I want to challenge you to pray to see how God would use you to impact your community, starting with a box.
All right, so that is going on this afternoon here at the church. I actually think it's going to be in the building out here. So take note of that. Also, if you signed up to be a part of the Dallas trip to go down to the distribution center, there will be a meeting right after service, I think both services, down in the Agape room. So those are the things that are going on.
If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 19. Psalm 19, as always, for this part, looking at the New America Standard, should be one in a row around you. If you need a copy of it, Psalm 19. And as you're turning to Psalm 19, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.
I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 19, for the choir director, a Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterance is to the end of the world. In them he has placed a tent for the sun. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. He rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. And commandments of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold,
yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them, your servant is warned, and keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of my hidden faults. Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me, then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. And Father, we echo that prayer as well. Lord, let the things that we think about, the things that come out of our mouth, be acceptable to you. And Lord, I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning, that you would change the way that we think by the power of your Holy Spirit.
And Lord, that you would minister to our hearts as you see fit what your word has to say. As always, Lord, bring conviction where there needs to be conviction. Lord, bring comfort where we need comfort in it. Lord, bring instruction where we need to know the areas in which we are to walk in. And so Father, lead us and guide us as we spend time in your word now, we pray.
In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. If you would open up to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 2. 2 Timothy, chapter 2. We said that Paul was going to give Timothy a good number of exhortations throughout this epistle. And so the last week that we were together, in chapter 1, he told him to guard the treasure. To guard the treasure. Well, as we come to chapter 2,
the first exhortation he gives to him in chapter 2 is to be strong. To be strong. So let's read through these first 13 verses together. It says this, You therefore, my son, chapter 2, verse 1. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer
ought to first receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Christ Jesus. Risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal. But the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason, I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement, for if we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. And if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. He tells him to be strong. There are six things he's going to tell him
about being strong in this section. The first thing that he's going to tell Timothy that he needs to be strong in is that he needs to be strong in the grace of God. He needs to be strong in the grace of God. He starts off by saying, you therefore my son. And we're always reminded of how tenderhearted of an epistle this is because again, this is Paul's last written,
recorded words for Timothy and for anyone else for that matter. And he knows he's nearing death. And when he thinks of Timothy, he doesn't just think of him as someone who he brought into the faith. He thinks of him as his own son. And so he says, you therefore my son. And anytime we see the word therefore, it should cause us to look back at what he said previous.
Well, if we look at the verses previous to this to build the context, he gave two examples. He gave the example of two men who had abandoned him, Phagellus and Hermogenes, who had not stayed with him, who strayed away. He says, remember those guys, but also remember Onesiphorus who diligently sought me. And so he says, knowing that some are going to turn away and some are going to press in, you be the one that presses in, by being strong in grace.
By being strong in grace. That phrase to be strong means to be strengthened, enabled, or empowered. To be strengthened, enabled, or empowered. And it's interesting how often Paul gives this exhortation in particular to Timothy and Titus that they are to be strong. That they need to make sure that their walk, their life, their theology, everything about themselves
remains strong. And you should ask yourself a question. Why does he tell them that he needs to be strong? Because everything in our flesh wants to tell us to give up. Everything in our flesh tells us just stop trying so hard, right? The odds are stacked against you, girl. Get back in bed, right? That's the way we feel sometimes. Everything is telling us to quit.
And so he says, when everything in your flesh and everything around you and all of your emotions are telling you to quit because it's hard, to act like these other two guys who abandoned, to act like the people who can just live life like there's no difficulties in it, when you want to just separate yourself from everyone and everything and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist, be strong. Be strengthened. Be empowered. But he doesn't tell him to do it for no good reason or without any sort of help.
He says to be strong in grace. To be strong in grace. I think it was, I think it was the Believer's Bible Commentary, which is William MacDonald, who said this, the idea is to be courageous with the strength that his grace provides for us. To be courageous by the strength that his grace provides for us. And if anybody understood what it was like to have to be strengthened
by the grace of God, it was Paul. I will remind you of a story that he tells in the book of 2 Corinthians. He doesn't even name himself, but we know that he's referring to himself when he says this. He tells about a time that he was taken up into heaven and he was allowed to see things that were unspeakable in words. It would be wrong for him to tell us the things
that he saw in a vision, whether it was because he actually experienced death and was brought back to life from death or whether it was just some sort of a vision that he had. He saw things in the heavenlies that no one else had seen. And he said, but lest I become proud, lest I become lifted up, I was given a thorn in the flesh. And I asked God three times to take this thorn in the flesh away from me.
But this is what he told me. He said, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12.9. Matter of fact, you might write in the margin of your Bible, 2 Corinthians 12.9, because it's such a good reminder that as we live this life, being strengthened in the grace of God, being strong, being courageous with the grace that he provides for us, necessitates that I come face to face with my own weakness.
Necessitates that I admit my own weakness, that I admit my own frailties. Because in the moment when I can finally say, this is where I'm weak, this is where I'm frail, this is where I lack everything that I need, God says, ah, now we can start working. Because now my strength can be made perfect in your weakness, because my grace is sufficient for you. And so as you walk in this life, as you live in this life, and as you experience the difficulties of following Jesus and of serving him, face to face with the knowledge of the weakness that you have, you can sit back and rest on the soft pillow of God's grace, knowing that his grace is sufficient for you, because his grace, his strength is made perfect in your weakness.
And so as he talks to Timothy, who is a timid individual, as he talks to Timothy, who has a certain number of health issues, perhaps an ulcer or some sort of stomach issues, probably because of his anxiety, he tells him, Timothy, be strong in the grace of Jesus Christ. Well, you know me, I'm not content to just say, be strong in grace. Now, let's move on to the next thing. I want to know how you do that.
How do you become someone who is strong in grace? How do you allow the grace of God to become the strength of your life? What does that mean? Well, I wrote down three things that it means to be strong in the grace of God. Number one, oh man, did I highlight those to have you put up there? That's on me if I didn't. Yeah, that's on me, bro. Number one, just listen closely,
rest in God's grace. Number one is to rest in God's grace. What does that mean? It means rest in the position that you have in Jesus Christ. It's not based on how good you are, but how good God is. Your flesh will constantly tell you you need to work harder. Your flesh will constantly tell you you're not doing enough. You're not good enough. You're not strong enough.
You're not smart enough. God doesn't really love you because you're not enough. And grace tells you that you'll never be enough, but Jesus is always enough. And you can rest in that. When you want to now set up a system of works for yourself, some religion of works whether it's an actual religion of works or just your own set of works that you've set up in your own mind,
you need to go back to resting in God's grace. No, this is who I am in Jesus Christ. No, this is who I am and I have learned to rest in who I am in Jesus Christ. I have learned to let go of the past and I'm going to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We need to rest in God's grace. The second thing I think that it means is that we need to
not take God's grace in vain. Oh, look at him go. He is the man. Don't take God's grace in vain. What does that mean? Just because you can rest in your position in Christ doesn't mean that you can sit on your rear end in Christ. It means that now you have been commissioned with a job. And now we pour our entire selves not only into the walk that we have with Jesus Christ,
but we pour our entire selves into the service that God has given us in Jesus Christ. Taking God's grace in vain is being happy that I'm saved but never living it out with the world around me. Taking God's grace in vain means I'm happy that I'm saved and so I take full advantage of God's grace by using my Grace MasterCard every single day. Right? I think I've shared this with you before.
I'll never forget the bumper sticker. I was living in California at the time and I saw this bumper sticker and it said, if God's grace has paid it all, I may as well get my money's worth. And I just was like, well, I don't want to be near that car. Well, I don't want to be near that car because that feels like the car that's going to wreck someday. That's a dangerous spot for us to be.
And listen, while we would be like, that's the most ridiculous thought in the world. Who would ever say that? Does your life show it? You might not say it, but are you living it? Are you living like you may as well get your money's worth out of God's grace? Because sometimes that's what we do. That's taking God's grace in vain. But it also means I take advantage
of every single opportunity to share this truth of God's grace with everybody around me because that's not taking God's grace in vain. Right? It's not holding it inside. It's not, it's not as that old song that we sang when we were kids said, it's not taking that light and hiding it under a basket. It's shining God's light to the world that is around us. So what does it mean
to be strong in God's grace? Well, number one, it means that we rest in God's grace. Number two, it means that we don't take God's grace in vain. But number three, it means we need to every day be strengthened by God's grace. Ryan, that's what he said earlier. I know. What does it look like? Go with me one time. It's a place in scripture. Go with me over to the book of Isaiah.
We should look at Isaiah chapter 40. I'll give you guys a minute to get there. Although you should have a bookmark somewhere near there if you're following the Bible reading plan right now. Isaiah chapter 40. I want you to look down at verse 29. Oh, what the hey, let's look at verse 28. I like that one too. It says this, do you not know, Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28,
sorry, to give you guys time to get there. Sometimes I move too fast. I hear a few pages turning. Perfect. Isaiah 40 verse 28. Do you not know? Have you not heard the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might, he increases power. Though youths
grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly. Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. How are we strengthened by God's grace? By taking time to wait on the Lord. Listen, we are those people who become weary very easily. And when
we begin to admit the fact that I am a weak individual, we become weary easily and I need God's grace in my life. So I'm going to actively wait upon God's grace in my life. I'm going to wait for God to fill me with everything that I need so that I can become who he wants me to be as I am strengthened by his grace. Because those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will have brand new strength. So what does
it look like to wait on the Lord? You don't have to turn there, but you might write down in your Bible, John 15. See, this is where we get back to the point of, what Jesus told his disciples. I think John 15 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible because it gives the key to what it means to be strengthened by God's grace. It gives the key to what it means to wait upon the Lord. Because Jesus tells his disciples in John chapter 15,
you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me will bear much fruit. He who doesn't abide in me is cut off and cast away. Apart from me, you can do nothing. But he who abides in me is fruitful in everything that he does. So what does it look like to wait on the Lord to be strengthened by his grace? It means to every day have an active and living relationship with the vine so that every day I connect myself
to the vine. And as I connect myself to the vine, as I constantly stay connected to him, he is constantly giving me everything that I need. We talked about this in men's breakfast yesterday morning. We talked about pursuing wisdom. That wisdom is a daily pursuit. And we said, you know, the great thing is when you start off your day in God's word and prayer, you find that the rest of the day you're meditating on what you've
been reading that day. You're focused on kind of the things that you talk to the Lord about that day. And then you're in communion with the Lord all day long. It doesn't mean that you're not dealing with the things of life. You still have to deal with the things of life. But the communion keeps you strong in God. And he sustains you with everything that you need.
It's what I have found to be the only thing that keeps me going in life is that daily abiding continual relationship with the Savior. Because as I do so, I wait upon the Lord. But a part of that abiding relationship, can I just tell you something? And this is a lesson God's teaching me right now. Maybe he's teaching you this lesson too. And that's that sometimes when it comes to waiting
on the Lord, I literally have to do just that. I have to wait on the Lord. I keep a decently busy schedule. And sometimes I have to wait on the Lord. I have to wait on the Lord. I have to wait on the Lord. And sometimes I don't have the time to sit with the Lord like I should. And you know what I always notice is when I don't have the time to sit with the Lord like I should. Because I find that
most of my life becomes a little bit stale and a little bit stagnant. And quite frankly, I'm grasping for straws in a good bit of my life. And what God is teaching me right now is to stop. To stop and to listen. And to sit with it. And to wait with it. To read the word and not just hurry through it. But to truly wait with it. Because it's amazing how God begins to speak to you. It's
amazing how God begins to minister to you. We're looking for the 30-second snippet. We're looking for the minute and a half reel. We're looking for that two minutes that's going to give us everything that we need for the day. Sometimes God's saying, if you only give me two minutes in the day, at least you gave me something. But that's not nearly enough. It's not nearly enough
because you haven't waited with it. And if you wait with me, I will give you more than you can ever imagine. And so, back to 2 Timothy. And so he tells Timothy, he says, be strong in the grace of Jesus Christ. Number two, he tells him to be strong in discipleship. Be strong in discipleship. Notice what he says in verse two. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The things which you have heard from me entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Paul just described for Timothy something that we in the ministry world call the discipleship cycle. That's actually exactly what he described right there. You see, Timothy had received from Paul teaching. He'd received from
Paul teaching. He received from him doctrine. He received from him discipline. He received from him on the one hand, he received from him there preachers. He received from him others, who had been aspirants to God. He received and received discipleship there. And so Paul says, it's more він received from him wisdom life stories all the things that he needed in order to give to other
people but the first thing that timothy did is is he received it from paul he received that from from one who taught him with three different groups of kids this week i told them all the same thing and i tell you guys this all the time three different groups of kids i talked about the exact same thing i talked to the men about yesterday morning and that was wisdom pursuing wisdom and the fact that if we're going to pursue wisdom it starts off with god's word but wisdom pursuing wisdom also means we pursue wisdom through god's people and i told a bunch of kids this week you need to find people who have walked with jesus for a long time and you need to ask them to teach you what god has taught them over the years ask them to
share wisdom with you because you need to hear wisdom from those who have gone before you need to hear wisdom from those who have walked with god for a long time because it's so important to receive so that you have something to give it will not only grow you in your walk but it will give you things to share with others i have people in my life that do this for me a couple of them have gone now so i'm having to find some new ones again but but but i've had people in my life that have done this for me and they've shared wisdom with me and they've they've taught me and i've taken those lessons and i've taught them to other people so you need to do that so i'm going to tell you guys you need to find two
different groups of people you need to first of all find someone who is older than you in the faith and teach you things that can teach you what they've learned they can share their wisdom with you for some of you it's going to be a little harder than others but but um that's a that's a joke but anyway um i love you all uh you got to find some people like that that can share those things with you because you still need to be sharpened you still need to have somebody pour into you but you also need to find some people that are younger than you to do two things for you number one that you can teach things to but number two that you can learn things from right i'm the
experience here i think i'll be the one doing the teaching then that means you struggle with pride because if you cannot allow someone younger than you both in the faith and in age to teach you it means you're too proud to be taught and you need to deal with that between you and jesus because we should all be able to learn from each other we should all be able to to gain wisdom from each other and so he says the things that you have heard from me that's the first part of the discipleship cycle is is you need to take it in for yourself and you need to take it in for yourself he says entrust them to faithful men that means give it to other people that word in trust means
to commit as a treasure to commit as a treasure commit these things to trustworthy people share it with other people so that they can do something so that they can then take that and teach it to other people you see for far too long in the church we have turned it into the pastor preaches the people listen to the pastor preaches the people listen to the pastor about their day 다시 Cavalace thats not what God ever intended not even a few days I don't discipleship is not the way he modelled things yes he got up and thought but he talk with the purpose and then those people taking that message and sharing it with each other sharing it with the people around them and discipling each other and that's the goal of what we're doing here
when when Moses laid out his elders with Moses laid out his leadership with heat which shows his leadership because that's the way it went in the bible we should've always choose Moses chose the leadership, and he was told to do two things. Number one, teach the people, but then number two, teach the leaders so that they can implement the truth of God's word to the people. That's discipleship. And everybody should have two sorts of people in your life.
Everybody should have a Paul, and everybody should have a Timothy. You should have a Paul that you are receiving from, and you should have a Timothy that you are pouring into. No matter how long you've walked with Jesus. You know what they have found in studies? Is that the shorter the gap between the time that you get saved and the time that you start not only being discipled,
but sharing your faith with others, that gap is really important because the shorter that gap is, the stronger your faith is. It's an interesting study because you find that when you start sharing your message with somebody else, when you start sharing what God has done in you with somebody else, it builds the faith in what God has done in you because you have now shared that, and that holds you accountable to a different level. That's the discipleship cycle. And that's what he tells Timothy that he needs to do.
He says, you need to take that truth and share it with other people and entrust them to go and do that. Part of my job with what I do with Fellowship of Christian Athletes is to work myself out of a job so that I'm not the guy doing everything. I'm giving it to kids. The most beautiful experience happened about a month ago. Not a month ago. It was the beginning of October.
I had to go away to a little leadership retreat. And we had already planned a thing with my kids out in Dexter with Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I double-booked myself. I didn't mean to, but that's what happened. And so it was a beautiful thing that happened because I had to go to my student leaders and I had to say, guys, I'm out of town. We're doing this little event.
We're doing this bonfire. I was going to give the devotion. I can't. I'm not going to be there. At least I didn't think I was going to be there. I'll finish the story in just a second. You guys are going to have to take this. Can you do this? And they all went, uh, uh, yeah. Okay. I was like, there's really no choice. You're going to have to because I'm not going to be there.
And so, so I go on this trip and I come back. I'm like, I'm going to be back in time. Should I come out to this bonfire? I don't want to make them nervous. Aaron said, no, you need to come because it's pretty cool. They've all kind of worked out their own little part of this. I show up to this bonfire and they've not just put together a devotion. They have visual aids.
They actually took and made a little visual aid about the little breakdown of prayer, the ax breakdown of prayer. And it was the coolest thing. I just sat back there and it's got a little misty eye because of the smoke from the fire. I got a little misty eye as I, as I'm watching. I'm just like, this isn't, this is awesome. I love this. I didn't do any of it.
I just worked myself out of a job here because I taught them how to do it. And it was so, oh man, it did my heart real good. One of the, one of them got up and said, Pastor Ryan taught us about this ax and prayer. And I was like, it's the discipleship cycle. And then they taught it to a bunch of other kids. That's what's supposed to happen. Moms, dads, you're supposed to raise disciples.
So do the discipleship cycle and trust them with the message so that they can take it to their youth group and their school. Grandmas, grandpas, I don't care who you are in here. Start discipling someone. Find your Paul, find your Timothy and keep the discipleship cycle going. He says, these things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
and trust them to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So be strong. Be strong in discipleship. Number three, he gives us some examples. He says, be strong like a soldier. Be strong like a soldier. Notice what it says in verse three. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life
so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. I love this because Paul is not, he's not ever winning friends with the things that he says, right? He's not like, this is going to be so easy. You're going to have your best life now and everything's going to be awesome. World peace. There's going to be happiness on this side of eternity. He says, suffer with me, right?
Again, same word, same phrase from the last chapter. Here's Paul in prison, probably with a smile on his face saying, Timothy, join me, won't you? Suffer with me. Let me read this to you in a couple of different translations when he says, suffer with me. He says, take your part with others in enduring hardship. Pass through the difficulties that you are called to endure.
That's what it means to be a soldier. You see, a soldier leads a dedicated life. And part of that dedicated life is knowing that suffering is part of it. I love watching war movies, but my favorite part about watching a war movie is usually the training that they go through to begin with. And sometimes you watch like, why would they treat those? Guys like that.
But like, I remember watching, uh, what was the one about the Navy seal guy? Chris Kyle, you know what I'm talking about? And they, and they show all of that training and, and you think, why would they just abuse those guys the way that they do? Because those guys are about to live a life of abuse and you need to know that the guy sitting next to you is willing to suffer as much hardship as you are for him, because that's a necessary thing in the world that you're about to go into.
You see, when you go into battle, when you know, that battle is your life, you know that hardship is what you signed up for. Now, listen, I bet a lot of you didn't come to Jesus Christ thinking that you were going to enter into a battle. What you didn't realize was you entered a war. You came to Jesus for brand new life, which is amazing. But that brand new life means that you entered a war with good and evil.
You were in that war already. You were just a captive of the enemy, but now that you've been set free, you are now on the side of good, but there's a war that you're in the middle of. And if you're going to be a soldier in the war, you need to be a dedicated soldier. And that means that you need to be willing to suffer the hardship that goes with it. That's why Jesus never won friends and influence people with the way he
presented this either, right? Jesus was always like, listen, you can't put your hand to the plow and look back and follow me. You need to know that this means maybe leaving behind your family and your friends. You have to count the cost of being a disciple. If you're going to follow me, it's like, Whoa, Jesus ease up. Can't we make this a little happier? Can't we make this seem like a little bit more fun?
You'd probably get a lot more followers that way. See, Jesus isn't looking for the masses. Jesus is looking for disciples. And if you're going to be a disciple, if you're going to be strong, you have to be strong. Like a soldier who is willing to suffer hardship, who is willing to pass through the difficulties that you were called to endure because you are strong in God's grace.
He gives you everything you need for it. He gives you all the supplies that you need for it, but you still have to be willing to do it. He says, be strong like a soldier who is willing to suffer hardship, but not only be strong like a soldier who was willing to suffer hardship, but be strong like a soldier who is not entangled with the things of everyday life. Notice what he says in verse four, no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please.
The one who enlisted him as a soldier who is not entangled with everyday life. That word entangled means to be interweaved or involved in to be interweaved or involved in. I think it was the amplified Bible that put it this way. You can't get tied up with civilian life and pursuits. Soldiers don't get tied up with civilian life and pursuits. If anybody understood that it was Paul who was probably staring at Roman
soldiers every single day as he's there in Rome, watching the war, watching the way that they act, watching the way that they March, watching the way that they live their lives because their lives were given to the life of a soldier and they don't entangle themselves with the everyday things of life. I thought what's a really good illustration of this. Not all I could think about is what it says in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 when he says, let us lay aside the weight and the sin which so easily ensnare us. The word ensnare there means to trip us.
The word ensnare there means to trip us. The word ensnare there means to trip us. The word ensnare there means to trip us. The word ensnare there means to trip us. You see, when we get ensnared, when we get entangled with the things of this world, our heart becomes tied to this world. And so a really good question for you is this, what wraps up most of your mental processes?
What, what is interweaved into every mental process that's of this earth and not of eternity? Because I would say that that's probably where you're entangled with civilian pursuits and not living to please the one who enlisted you. Not, not living to please the one who leads you. I don't remember which commentary it was that I read. I think it was also believers Bible commentary,
but it might've been John Corson. So I didn't come up with this myself, but they, they said that on D-Day, when all of those ships landed on the beach, soldiers are getting mowed down constantly. And, and yet they kept going as their loved ones, their, their friends are falling next to them. They just kept pressing on. And then they climbed cliffs knowing that they were facing certain death.
And, and the way that they landed, they knew what they were facing and yet they were willing to do it. And interviews have been done with those soldiers. And they said, why were you willing to face death? And they said, because I love my fellow soldiers and I love my commander. It didn't have to do with the fact that they love their country. It didn't have to do with the fact that there was some cause that they were
following. They love the guy next to them and they love their commanding officer. And they were willing to lay down their life for someone that they loved. That's what Paul says here. Paul says, don't entangle yourself with the things of this life. Don't get wrapped up with the things of this life. Don't get interwoven with the civilian pursuits. Instead, live to please the one who gave his life for you.
I've watched it happen over and over again in athletics that if you have a coach that loves their players, those players will give everything for that coach. You know why? Because he loves them because he's still hard on them a hundred percent, but they know he loves them and they'll lay down everything for that coach. And it's, that's the way it's supposed to be in our life with Jesus Christ.
When we realize the love that he has for us, it's a whole lot easier to strip ourselves of the civilian pursuits, to lay aside the things that ensnare us, to not get entangled with this, with the things of this life, but instead stay focused on our savior. He says, be strong like a good soldier who is willing to suffer hardship and who is not wrapped up with the things of this life. And I would encourage you right now that if your life, if your life is so entangled with the things of this world that you are so tied to this world that it would hurt you to leave today, then you need to ask yourself where your heart really is. And you need to ask yourself where your treasure really is because everything
of this earth should be held so loosely that we could leave today and it wouldn't bother our hearts at all. So he says, be strong like a soldier. The next thing he tells us, number four is to be strong like an athlete, to be strong like an athlete. Of course, athletes, lead discipline life. A soldier leaves that lives a dedicated life and athlete leads a discipline
life. And so notice what he says in verse five, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. See, that's discipline. I have to live in a discipline sort of way because I have to compete according to the, to the rules. And quite frankly, as an athlete, there's not only rules in the competition, but there's rules in the training and the rules have to be followed in the
in both. You have to keep up with the rules because you have to live disciplined. Why? Because if you don't live a disciplined life, then you will become disqualified. I've watched it happen over and over again with people that I love with people that I've served with. They become disqualified because they stopped living a disciplined life. They're not disciplined in the way they handle the word of God.
They're not disciplined in the way they handle their morality. They're not disciplined in the way they handle their walk. And because of it, they get disqualified. They get disqualified from service. And so you have to live a disciplined sort of life. He says they, they can't win unless they compete according to the rules. Therefore live a disciplined sort of life.
And the last thing that he says along these lines is this be strong like a farmer, be strong like a farmer, the hardworking farmer verse six ought to be the first to receive his share. Of the crops, hardworking farmer. And that's exactly what I wrote for the farmer. Farmers are hardworking guys. I started a football game with, uh, let's see what I was at two football games this week.
Which one was it? It was the one on Thursday. And of course I was with the Dexter people and there's just a lot of farmers out there. And, uh, you know, they own these animals. Everybody's like, Oh, you know, you, you have a big yard. You could own chickens. I'm like, I don't want to own chickens. You know why? Cause chickens require that chickens don't require any work.
Listen. Yes, they do. Every animal requires work. Okay. That's all that there is to it. They depend on a human to keep them alive. That's all that there is to that. And so this mom was talking about her daughter who wanted to come watch the game. And she said, you just have to know when you're done here, you still have to go home and take care of your calf.
No matter how late we finish here, you still have to go home and take care of your calf because farmers are hardworking people. Fun fact, she caught this calf. I don't even know what that means. She had a shirt on the said, catch a calf. And I was like, I want to catch a calf. I don't want to keep the calf. I just want to catch the calf. That sounds like a fascinating thing to be involved in.
At my age, I would probably damage something on myself, but it still seems fun to run around a pen and try to catch a calf. That's neither here nor there. That point was free and won't get you anything spiritual, but farmers are hardworking people. And so, um, that's a little, a little view into the way my brain works. Sometimes as the, as a hardworking farmer,
he says the farmer should be the first to partake of his own crop. And there's two things I think we need to pay attention to about that. Number one, a farmer has to patiently wait. For the harvest being strong in the Lord to living a strong life means being willing to wait for the harvest. That's a hard thing to do when it comes to living a life of ministry.
When it comes to living a life of loving other people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it's hard to wait for the harvest. I struggle with this. Sometimes God blessed me with a great verse the other day. I love when my devotions are just on points. Like God's always so good at it. And, and God knows exactly, exactly when we need a little arrow from the word.
And that's what he did for me the other day. And it was in Galatians chapter six, verse nine, where he says, do not grow weary and well doing for in due season, you will reap a harvest. And that's the way a farmer has to live his life is to live his life, waiting for the harvest. And you and I like hardworking farmers have to be strong. And that means that,
that you continue to put in the work, knowing that you're going to have to wait for the harvest. Knowing that that the harvest is not going to happen right this minute in this instantaneous society that we live in. There's a, there's a waiting period for the harvest and there's a trust in God when it comes to the harvest. So he says, he says, the hardworking farmer waits for the harvest and has to be the first one to partake of the crops.
But I think his real point in this is this point right here. And that's that you can't give out what you have not first received. See, the farmer has to be hardworking and he has to be the first to partake of the crops. Right? He has to be the first to partake of that harvest in his life. And a principle that we have to live by is that you can't give out to those around you what you have not first received yourself.
This kind of goes back to what we were talking about in the discipleship cycle. If you want to pour into other people, you have to first receive. If you want to live as God has called you to live in your workplace, in your school, in your family, in the world that we live in today, you have to take in if you want to give out because in and of ourselves, we have nothing. We are the branch.
We have to stay tied to the vine because we can't give out that that which we have not received. And it's so important that there is that daily time of receiving from the Lord through his word, through prayer, through waiting upon him because that daily time of waiting on the Lord gives you what you need to give out to somebody else. My time in the word is the most important time in my life. It's the most important part of my day.
It's the most important part of my preparation. If I start missing that time in the word and listen, it happens sometimes full disclosure. I'm a human being who's very busy and sometimes I miss out and I have to learn to take in myself. I have to learn to get filled up myself. Sometimes I have to get filled up spiritually. Sometimes I need to get filled up physically and and we're all the same way.
Do you know that sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just to stop and take a nap? And I'm not joking about that. So last this last week, I maybe hit one of the most exhausted points I've hit in a really long time. Sunday, I go all day. My day really doesn't stop until later this evening. And and it starts very early on a Sunday morning and I pour out a lot of water.
So I'm pretty exhausted by the end of the day on on Sunday. So usually I get up Monday and I'm not worried about when I get into the office because I know that my time with Jesus is the most important time that next morning because Mondays and when you get destroyed as a pastor, right? Like just the enemy just nails you. But last Monday I had to help out with an FCA golf tournament because it's a part of my job and I was still ministering to people.
But I had to be in Wichita a little after six at the north end of Wichita, the golf course. So after Sunday I go up to Wichita, and I'm there really, really early in the morning and go all day long. And by this point in time, I haven't taken time to fill up physically. I haven't taken time to fill up spiritually, and I have about a spiritually, physically and mentally drained as I could possibly be.
I literally came home and felt like I'd run a marathon. And I sat down in the recliner and listen, I'm a I'm a night owl. I don't go to bed early. I stay up kind of late because that's just my brain starts keying up in the evening. It's like 10 o'clock in the morning. 10 o'clock, Ryan, and I'm awake. And I'm like, look, what can we do now? But that night is about 730.
And I was like, I am so tired. I told my wife that I think I'm gonna go to bed. And she's like, wow, are you sick? Because that's the only time I would do that. I said, no, I'm just, I'm just exhausted. Because I knew the most spiritual thing I could do at that point in time was to sleep. Because that's what my body needed. And that's what my spirit needed.
So I went to sleep, slept, slept all night long, felt great. The next day I was ready to go. And I was ready to get into God's word. And I was ready to start giving out again. But I couldn't give out unless I started taking in unless I filled back up physically, spiritually, and emotionally. And we live in an exhausted society right now. We live in a society that tells you the best thing you can do is just go,
go, go, go. And that is not spiritual. And that is not of God. There's a reason he built the Sabbath into the work week for the Jewish people. And I'm not saying you have to follow some Sabbath law, but I am saying rest is what God always intended for us. And we see some of these people that can go on a few hours of sleep and we think, that's what I should do if I'm going to really be successful.
And God's like, that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard in my life. Why do you think I made it dark for so long? Right? Have you ever thought about that? It's because you need rest. Physical and spiritual. Spiritual rest comes through your time with the Lord. Physical rest comes through your time when you get some sleep. Don't allow yourself to buy into the idea that you have to go constantly to truly be successful spiritually and physically in the world.
He says the hardworking farmer is the first partaker of the crops himself. And then he closes with this. So he's told us to be strong in grace, to be strong in discipleship, to be strong like a soldier, to be strong like an athlete, and to be strong like a farmer. And he closes with number six. Remember Jesus. Verse eight. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,
descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to imprisonment as a criminal. But the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure these things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they may also obtain salvation. Which is in Christ Jesus. And with it eternal glory. He says remember Jesus. He was raised from the dead.
He's the descendant of David. And hence he's the one that I have preached to you with my gospel. He tells them those three things because they're very important things about Jesus. He's the Jesus that he preaches. He's the Jesus who was a very real individual who was the descendant of David. But most importantly, he's the Jesus who is alive. As we live our lives,
as we remain strong, as we live our lives, as we live our lives, as we remain strong in our faith, remember that you serve a risen Savior. Why do you need to remember that you serve a risen Savior? Because you need to remember your why. Your why is that there is a very risen Savior who loves you. There is a living God who has saved you. There is a living God who has empowered you
and is continuing to empower you because if you were united with him in his death, you're also united with him in new life in his resurrection. Remember that you serve a risen Savior. That gives us a great deal of hope. It gives us a great deal of life. It gives us a great deal of why. Why am I doing what I'm doing? Because there's a very real God who's very much
alive, who I very much have a real relationship with. I want to serve him with everything in me. He says, remember Jesus. As a matter of fact, Jesus is the reason I'm suffering this hardship. Jesus is the reason that I am imprisoned as a criminal. But the word of God is not imprisoned. Can I just say this is one place where I prefer the New King James translation of this
because in the New King James translation he says because for Jesus Christ I am in these chains but the word of God is not chained. I love that. I love that he says that the word of God is not chained. I love that he says nothing can hold back the power of the word of God. They can try to burn it. They can try to defame it. They can try to do away with it. They can try to
outlaw it. But at the end of the day God's word always wins. God's word always does what it's sent out to do because you cannot chain the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said they can spill my blood. They can take my life but they cannot stop the gospel because as much as they tried they couldn't do it. You know why? Because the blood of the saints is like seed for the gospel
because the more that they see he's willing to give his life for it the more people say there must be something to it. That was a Roman historian who said that. You cannot chain the gospel. You can't chain it in your life. You should unleash it in your life. You should unleash the power of the word of God into the struggles that you have in your life. Into the areas of weakness that you have in your
life. Into the areas where you need wisdom in your life. Unchain the word of God. Set it loose and let it do what it's going to do. Right? Let it do what it wants to do in your life but then unchain it to the world around you. You know what I hate more than anything is when someone says but I don't know if I can defend God's word. Don't worry about defending it
just you can use it. A soldier in a fight doesn't defend his sword. He's not like oh it's a really good sword I promise. No he just uses it. And that's what we have to do with God's word. Stop worrying about whether or not you can defend it and just start using it. You will find it defends itself. You will find that people can't stop it because you cannot chain the word of God.
He says the word of God is not chained and this is the reason why I'm enduring these things so that all those who are going to come to faith in Jesus Christ will come to faith in Jesus Christ. See Paul had this desire. He knew woe is me if I ever stop preaching the gospel because there is a lost world who is lost in their death and who is lost in their sin and they need to hear the truth and I may as well be the one that gives it to them. Then he closes with this hymn.
He says it's a trustworthy statement. If we died with him we'll live with him. If we endure we'll also reign. If we deny him he will deny us. But if we are faithless he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. Be strong. Let's stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father we come before you and Lord I thank you for your word and God I lift up each person. that's here this morning and Lord that
I pray that we would be strong in you. Father that we would rest in your grace but but that we would be empowered by your grace. Empowered to live as you have called us to live. To stand as you have called us to stand. To witness as you have called us to witness. To disciple as you have called us to disciple. Lord to suffer hardship if you're calling us to suffer hardship.
Lord may we be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And so I lift up each person in this room this morning Lord that brought in their own set of struggles. That brought in their own share of weaknesses. That brought in their own share of issues that they've been dealing with and Lord as they hopefully come face to face with the knowledge of their weakness this morning and say Lord I can't be enough. May they
know that you are enough. Lord may their hearts rest in the fact that your grace is sufficient for them. That your strength is made perfect in their weakness. And Lord may they be inspired by the truth of your word to not only wait upon you but Lord dig deeper into their walk with you. To stand stronger in who they are in you. And so Father be with us as we go out from
this place. Keep us close to you we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. How deep Father's love for us. Father we just thank you for another day. Thank you for your word. You've taken a wretch for what you've done for us. I ask that you continue to minister to us as we leave here today. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you guys. Have a wonderful week.