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If you’ll if you have a Bible this morning, we want to have you open up to Second Timothy chapter one. We just begin a series called Outlasters. Uh, and it’s going through the book of Second Timothy. Second Timothy is a letter written by the apostle Paul, uh, to his proteges, understudy Timothy. If you go to the book of acts, you’ll see a kind of a history of the Apostle Paul getting saved and just an amazing experience of him being saved and then going to preach the gospel to other parts of the world. Uh, and he had others follow along in his journey, such as Timothy. And Timothy was his understudy. And eventually he became the pastor of a church. Timothy did. And so, um, Paul refers to him as his spiritual Timothy as his spiritual son. And so Paul gets wind that Timothy is struggling down there as a pastor. The Ephesus was, uh, had a lot of influence, a lot of people, a lot of different, um, opinions and beliefs and all these things. And what Timothy started out as good and on fire for God. I’m sure some of us have heard that right on fire for the Lord or on fire for the gospel. Timothy started out that way. But as he began to get opposed by other people and older people, you know, questioning and challenging his authority, he became became, began to get discouraged. And so Paul, hearing of this, begins to write some letters, first Timothy, second Timothy to, uh, some epistles to Timothy to try to encourage him, to try to, um, bolster him in the faith.
And that’s great for Timothy, right? The apostle Paul, from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit means God breathed, writes this to Timothy to encourage him. And then through the providence of God, these letters are preserved and later canonized for us because they’re inspired by God and the spirit, uh, for us to glean truths from them. And so that’s why we’re in this series today, because just as Timothy, most of us in our Christian walk will become discouraged at one point or another. Maybe that’s you today. Maybe you’re sitting there discouraged. Maybe it took everything you had just to get up out of bed this morning to come to church this morning. You’re discouraged with the things around you, and so you can empathize with Timothy. But the good news is, is this is God’s Word speaking to us not only in Timothy, but to all of God’s children. And we can find as we glean the truth out of this, we can find the things that are necessary to be encouraged as well, to outlast the trials and adversities that happen and occur in this life. And so we want to do that today and just take a couple of these truths out of the first chapter of Timothy. I’m going to read beginning in chapter three or verse three, I’m going to go to verse 14.
Follow along if you have a Bible or up on the screen. Says, I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors. So this is Paul writing to Timothy, and he’s thanking God, who he serves, as did my ancestors. He was a Pharisee. He was a, you know, of the Jewish lineage and all that with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, as I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in our in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan, to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which I which is why I suffer as I do.
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. And we’re going to conclude here in verse 13. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. So we have here this letter written to by the Apostle Paul, to Timothy, who’s struggling. He’s experiencing adversity. He’s discouraged all these things. And again, God’s made it allowed it to be preserved for us, that we can glean the same truths for those of us who are struggling in the same thing that we May 2nd as with Timothy and the Apostle Paul, be outlasted in our faith, that we may persevere in spite of our circumstances and our trials. So I want to pick up here verse three I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, day and day and night and day. As I remember your tears. I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. So you have to understand where Paul’s at. Paul’s in the prison right now writing this letter.
He’s been being in prison because of the gospel’s sake, right. If you study the apostles, uh, most people would tell you they start a movement, especially a religious movement for power for for money or, uh, for other reasons. It’s usually not very good, but but none of that happened to the apostles following Jesus Christ, right? They ended up in, uh, being martyred for their faith. Definitely not rich or anything like that. In fact, Paul’s here in prison writing this letter, and this is just a great reminder for us. And so the first point I want to bring out to us this morning is if you’re discouraged, we see here that where Paul is getting his encouragement from, he’s in jail. He doesn’t have much as far as the world defines it, to be joyful over. But he has this understudy who Paul had the opportunity and privilege to to disciple in the Lord Jesus Christ along the way, to allow Timothy to grow in his faith and knowledge of of the gospel and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we see here that Paul saying, I want to see you, that my, uh, that I may be filled with joy. So if you’re discouraged this morning, think about that. God’s given this, this wonderful opportunity to be able to express and share and and communicate this wonderful gospel story, the good news. And if you don’t know it this morning, let me just have you provide you a brief outline.
The good news, in order for for you to understand the good news, you must first understand the bad news. And that’s found in Genesis creation. All is well, all is good. God created the chief cornerstone of creation as man and woman right there. God’s representative is here on earth. All is well. They’re designed to be completely dependent on the Lord for all things. They’re in communion with God on a constant basis. And then the fall happens. Chapter three Adam and Eve disobey. They fall. They’re separated, spiritually separated from God. The creation is cursed because of this, and it’s spun off into what we are in today carnage. Disharmony. Chaos. Cinema. Evil everywhere. All the result of sin. But the good news is that Jesus has been provided as the means in which God wants to rescue and reconcile us back to him, to make us save us out of this darkness and into his light. That’s the gospel. And how he did that was God stepped into his creation, the man God, Christ Jesus stepped into his creation and became a baby. Grew to be a man, fully God and fully man. Live the law of God perfectly okay. We can’t. We’re born in sin. We run away from God in our heart of hearts. God’s given us the Ten Commandments to show us that right. How many people have lied? All right. If you say you haven’t lied, you’ve. That was your first lie.
Okay, we’ve fallen short. We all fall short. But the God man did not. Because he was God in the flesh. And he lived that law perfectly, not just to be a good role model, but he lived that law perfectly so that he would go to the cross on that fateful day, and on that fateful day, he would be physically punished. Yes, indeed, he’d be hung on a cross. Brutally indeed. But the scriptures also declare that three hours of darkness hung over him, and in those three hours of darkness, God’s wrath for sin was poured out on Jesus Christ. He was the spotless Lamb of God without sin or blemish, but he was punished in our stead. The scriptures declare, he who knew no sin became sin for us. That’s the gospel message. Jesus went to that cross to pay for the just wrath and just retribution of God’s wrath on sin. He did that in your place. That’s the good news and the even greater news is the Scripture goes on to say, uh, he that knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Not only did Jesus take our sin, we were imputed back Christ’s righteousness. And the scriptures declare over and over again in every book of the New Testament says, those who believe and trust in the gospel message and what Christ has done will be adopted and saved into the family of God, to be reconciled back to that original purpose that God intended in the garden.
Jesus is the way in which God did that for us through the gospel message. And we can know that it’s true, because three days later, Jesus rose again. He rose from the grave. There’s been a lot of people in this world that say the pathway to God is through me, but their bones are still dead in the grave. Jesus rose from the grave. And that is the wonderful good news, the gospel in which we can be saved. And if God allows us the opportunity to share that message to our loved ones, our lost loved ones, family members, neighbors, co-workers around us. If you’ve done it before, I’m going to be honest with you. There’s not a lot of people that are willing to accept that. But occasionally God has prepared a heart. They’ve tried everything religion has to offer. They tried everything this world has to offer, and they still have this gaping gap in their heart. Something’s missing, something’s missing. And God allows you the opportunity to come and share it with them. That something the Lord Jesus Christ dying for them on the cross. And as they believe and trust in that gospel message, they become adopted. They become into the family of God. I don’t know if you guys have had the opportunity, but if you’re discouraged and the Lord allows you to share that message and they believe and trust, guess what? It is instant joy.
It is marrow to your bones to have the privilege to be able to speak the gospel into someone’s life. Have them trust in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the good news. Become a child of God. It brings great joy to you. So if you’re discouraged this morning, as Paul says, I long to be with you, that I may be filled with joy. Paul can look at Timothy and say, I’ve seen God work in you. And he used me in that regard. And so that brings me great joy. And so if you’re discouraged this morning, that’s what disciples of Christ are meant to do. Share the good news. You get to be partakers of the joy of allowing people to come into the kingdom. So if you’re discouraged, think about that. Begin to ask the Lord for opportunity to open the door. Paul mentions a lot of it in his letters. Pray for us and pray that, uh, a door of opportunity would be let open so that we can share the gospel with others. Okay, I’ve tried it before. I can tell you, you can’t beat someone over the head with the Bible for them to get saved, right? It’s a spiritual work done by the God. The spirit, and the proclamation of the gospel. And that’s how people get saved. And so the heart needs to be ready. So begin to pray and ask the Lord to soften your heart towards that, and to allow opportunity to share that with others.
If you’re discouraged today, the quickest remedy is to share the gospel with others. Verse five goes on to say, I’m reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And now, I’m sure, dwells in you as well. A sincere faith. What is the marks of a sincere faith? Have you ever thought about that in James? It talks about the devils believe that Jesus is God and they tremble. But is that a saving faith? Right. You’ve heard the gospel. You’ve heard the good news. I I’ve just given you an outline. And before I forget, if you have any questions about that, I’m going to be in the back. And I would love to share more with you if you have questions about the gospel. But what does it mean to have a sincere faith, a believing faith, right? For whosoever believes, what does that mean? Is it true that we can have a belief? We can have a knowledge of the gospel in our head, but it’s not a believing faith. Yes. What’s a sincere faith look like? Um. I had the privilege of teaching the ten and 11 year olds. I was in Bible college, and there was no way you would ever tell me that I would be teaching children, much less, you know, enjoying it.
I love being back there. Ten and 11 year olds, they’ve heard all the Bible stories. They’ve heard them all. But now they want to start connecting dots. Oh, it is an amazing thing to be there. And I want to tell you parents, you’re doing a great job with those kids. I love being back there with them. They’re all very respectful and just good kids. And so I just appreciate that opportunity to be able to teach them. But we were talking about this a couple of weeks ago. What does it mean to believe have a believing faith. And, you know, for kids you kind of want to reduce it down. But for me, it makes more sense to me this way. So let me just share this with you and see what you think a sincere faith. So imagine yourselves at the Grand Canyon, okay? And it’s a mile wide. It’s like the big one. And there’s a cable all the way across. Okay? And you’re walking down, you see this cable, then you see some guy with funny little shoes and a wheelbarrow, and he’s looking like he’s getting ready to cross it, okay? And you’re just like, hey, whoa. Maybe, you know, it’s like a mile and a half, and he’s like, oh, I’m not going to cross it. I’m going to come back with my wheelbarrow. No, you probably shouldn’t do that. He’s like, what? You don’t believe I can do it? No.
And so he jumps on there and he doo doo doo and he goes back and comes goes across no problem. Like no problem at all. Wind comes up. He’s like yeah no problem. So he comes back. He goes, now do you believe I can do it? Well, I think there was a little bit of like, I wouldn’t do it again. You’re kind of tempting thing, you know, you probably well let me. So he gets in his wheelbarrow and he runs this time, runs back and forth, and he comes and says, now, do you believe that I can do this? Yes. He goes, well, if you really believe, jump in the wheelbarrow. Let me take you across. Right. There’s a knowledge of believing, but then there’s this act of believing where you’re trusting completely. And that’s the belief, the sincere faith of the gospel. When you trust in that way, when you turn and cast aside all your self-righteousness, when you say, I have nothing to offer, when you cast aside all your religious acts that you’ve done, those are just but man’s traditions. When you cast aside everything that you’ve ever thought was going to merit your favor with God, and you turn and trust in Jesus Christ and His accomplished work alone, and trust that alone, you’re, in essence, jumping into his wheelbarrow. If it’s he doesn’t get us into an eternity, nothing will. That’s sincere believing faith. That’s a sincere faith that saves.
When you cast everything aside and trust in Christ’s accomplished work alone. And so Paul mentions this. I’m reminded of your sincere faith. But look at this, parents. A faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother, or your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. How important it is for us to model a sincere faith in our homes. What is our faith look like when we’re not out with the churchy people? What is our faith look like behind the closed door doors of our home? We see here that Paul is giving account towards the fact that Timothy was raised in a home where there from faith their faith was also sincere, their grandmothers and mothers faith, and how important it is for us to be that for our children to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk in front of them. To have a sincere faith, to demonstrate to them, to them the gospel on a daily basis. How do you do that? Well, I guess you can preach the gospel, the cross, every day. But how I demonstrate it is when I mess up, when I speak too loudly or sharp with my tongue, I come to my children and I apologize and tell them that that’s not what God would have me to do, that that’s not a way to demonstrate. God is so gracious and merciful to me, and I’m glad he doesn’t treat me that way. And so I shouldn’t treat you that way either.
They see the gospel in action, hopefully, that their dad needs the gospel just as much as they do, because my faith, hopefully to them, is sincere. It’s not hypocritical. It’s not. I say one thing with my mouth and do with my actions another. So that’s an important concept for us to grasp as parents. Verse six goes on to say, for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. So Paul or Timothy is discouraged and Paul is telling them, fan into the flame, the gift of God. What is the gift of God? It’s the gospel. It’s an unmerited gift given to you and purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. That’s so important that we meditate on the gift that was given to us. If you’re discouraged today, I encourage you to. And I have to do the same thing to get my eyes off the problems and issues and things that are going on that are distracting me from a relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And maybe just meditate. If I’m discouraged, just meditate on the wonderful gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. He rose again. He gives us a gift of salvation. We’re not only just saved like we have a ticket to heaven, but he begins to work anew in us. This God, the spirit, becomes and indwells us immediately and begins to want to transform us from the inside out, to make us more Christ like to do all these wonderful things.
Ephesians lists all these spiritual blessings that were given as children of God because of what Christ has done, were adopted. The Book of Revelation tells us the end. Guess what? Jesus wins. God will dwell with his people and they shall be amongst their God. There will be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more death. None of this stuff that we’re dealing with now, that’s our hope. It’s in the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. That’s who we are in Christ. That is what we need to place our hope on, not on the things that are around us and what this world tries to define to us. That is important. It’s dwelling and meditating on this wonderful gift. And if you really think about it, it’s unmerited. I had nothing to offer God. He just gave it to me out of his love for me and for you. He offers it freely to all. Meditate on that. And as you begin to meditate on that, pray that God, if you’re discouraged today, will flame will remind you or fan into flame the gift of God that you might be burned bright again, that you might be back on fire for God again. Right. Think on what he’s given to you in the gospel. Maybe. Sometimes devotion doesn’t need to be.
I got to get through my chapter to stay on the line with my reading of the Bible in the year. Maybe it’s your devotion. Just needs to be meditating on this wonderful gift that God has given to you and the gospel, and see what he’s given, and allow him to fan the flame again of this wonderful gift. In verse seven, he goes on to say, For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Um, as you guys, if you’ve ever heard me preach before, you well know that I get very anxious when I come before a crowd of people. And in college I had to take public speaking three times because I was so. I was so afraid of getting up in front of people. And so I still get anxious to this day. But this is the verse that God always calls me back to. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, right? What is happening when I’m anxious is I get ready to declare the scriptures. What I’m really saying is that I’m important, that what I have to say is important. And that’s not true because it’s God doing the work. And so me being anxious is just a sign to me saying, okay, I’m way in the way here. I need to decrease so that God might increase, right? Because that’s what we need to focus on, this walk that we’re walking.
If we want to truly be outlasts in this world for the cause of Christ here in Lehigh and and continue to do things for the kingdom of God, we must come to the realization that it’s not us doing anything, but it’s the power of God doing it through us. God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power. We have God, the spirit in us. We have the testimony of the magnificent, omnipotent God. We have the truth that we have been called to declare and to share to those around us that they too, might share in this wonderful gift of salvation. And it’s a gift of power as we yield to God and allow him to do the work in us. We don’t. You don’t have to save anybody. It’s not up to you to save anybody. God asks you to go and share the gospel, that he may save somebody. Some plant, others water. God provides the increase. He’s given us the his spirit. It’s not a spirit of fear. We shouldn’t be fearful to those around us, those who are opposing us. Right? We have God working through us. Do not be afraid. You have a message that is powerful in the power of God, and I like that it continues to go on and say and love. Right. I mentioned earlier, I when I first the Lord first saved me. I tried to use this as a Billy club.
My intentions were not right. I thought I was. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is, um, it’s out of love. What is your motivation for sharing the gospel? Is it to show how great of a Christian you are to God? Or is it because out of love and concern for our fellow humanity, that we get past our fear and we allow God to yield, we yield to God and allow him to do a work because of our love for others, for the lost. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God didn’t say, I love you and I defining love. I’m telling you that I love you, and you should know that I love you because I’m telling you I love you, right? It’s really easy to say I love you, but what are the actions in which you demonstrate that love? What was Christ’s actions going as the spotless Lamb of God to the cross, to bear our penalty for us so that we might have his righteousness? Hebrews says that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. The perfect holy God, being shamed and having our sin imputed to him so that we might be free. And that’s where we are. Our base is, uh, verse eight, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but sharing in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
So we have this amazing thing we see here in Scripture that it’s true. If you’re doing trying to do Christianity or being a disciple of Jesus in your own strength and power, you’re discouraged. You’re going to be low of lows because it’s in your own strength and power. And Paul is reminding us it’s not us, it’s God doing these works in us. And as we do that, as we latch on to his power, as we walk in communion with God and he begins to do a work in us. In the Galatians talks about the fruit of the spirit as we cling to the vine and the vine begins to nurture us, and the fruit of the spirit love, joy, peace, all these things begin to be fruit in our life that others may see. Right? And, uh, what an amazing thing. And he goes on to do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. We can see kind of read between the lines here, right? Paul is beginning to diminish. He’s trying to creep away. He’s like, ah, there’s so much pressure from the outside, you know, maybe he’s starting to cave on a few doctrinal stances. Who knows? But we can read between the lines and say, something’s going on there. And Paul is saying, don’t be ashamed of this. This is the power of God. And, folks, the God the spirit is speaking to us through Paul today in this letter.
Don’t be ashamed of our gospel, of his gospel. It’s the power of God. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. But share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. This one’s a little hard for us, right? We see over in Iraq what that means for Christians there, right? Uh, denounce your Christianity or your head gets cut off. What about us? Are we willing to suffer? Christ said in Scripture, take up your cross. It’s not a burden we have to carry. He’s talking about dying to self and follow him. Tied to the things that your flesh desire and follow Jesus. And as they’re one of our songs, says, as you lose your life, you will find it in Christ. As him. He provides the power in which we can go and share the gospel, and know that sometimes that means suffering for the cause of Christ. It’s in the Matthew it says that blessed are those who are persecuted for my name’s sake. That’s a good thing to be persecuted for the cause of Christ, not in the definition of what the world defines as good, but according to the revealed Word of God. So therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor the means of its share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Again, it’s God’s power. And again he’s reminding us here in verse nine what it’s all about.
This is what we have to start with. We have to start with the gospel. If you desire to to be our masters, we must go to the cross every day and start there. And this is what Paul is doing, reminding Timothy here in verse nine, who saved us and called us to a holy calling. He pulled us out of darkness. And that’s not over, right? He doesn’t take us to heaven right away. He’s given us a calling. Each one of us has a means in which we can advance the gospel. He saved us and called us to a holy calling. But look at this. And I for me, because I’m just like a legalist at heart, I just this is where I. This is where I live. Not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. It’s not about us. It’s about God’s grace being glorified and lost sinners. And as we learn to yield to him, we are saved. We’re adopted into his friends. We learn to yield to him and be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. He gets glorified, and that’s what it’s all about. As we meditate on that, he for his own purpose and for his own, because of his grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Isn’t that comforting? I shared that Genesis three one and two. Everything was good. Genesis three the fall. Guess what happens in Genesis 315? The first mention of the Messiah.
He’s talking to the devil and he says he will crush your head. From before the ages, God already had his plan, his rescue and redemption plan. Already the all knowing, all powerful God had it all purposed before the ages began. According to this verse, we can rest in the knowledge of knowing that God is in control. He has a purpose. He wants his children to rest in Christ Jesus. He wants his children to have a paradigm shift and start viewing themselves as children of the one true king, and not lost people without hope. That’s what he desires us to do. But we must begin with the gospel. We must understand that it’s him doing the work and for his glory, and we can rest in knowing that it’s been the plan before the ages began. He goes on in verse ten, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Oh, what wonderful news! Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel? What a wonderful message we have. What a wonderful message we can rest in. Verse 11, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. Which is why I suffer as I do. Right. Paul’s in prison. If you if you don’t know the story of Paul, really encourage you to open up the book of acts and show, let the scriptures show you the life of Paul.
Paul was a Pharisee, a very religious guy. He was going around, uh, giving consent to, to murder Christians because they were Christians, were obviously following Jesus and causing an uproar and turning their worlds upside down. Right. And God saved him. And I think Paul’s just in a great example for us, because if God can save Paul, he can save anybody, right? Self-righteous, missed the most religious guy around. God saved him. And he not only did that, but he began to go on and share the gospel. He’d go into a town. The book of acts chronicles this. He’d go into a Jewish synagogue and he’d preach Christ as Messiah. And most of the time he got beat for it or whipped or cast out of town, fled for his life all these things because it was so real to him. It became the most important thing he understood. As Romans ten alludes to. He wrote Romans as well, that his brethren, his fellow Jews, were going to be, uh, forever separated because they were resting in their own righteousness and not in the righteousness which is in Christ. And so he went out. He did that. And so as he began to do that, he had God’s power, and it wasn’t his power. And people began to be saved. And that’s where he got his joy from living for the Lord. So Paul’s in prison, and he has much to be thankful for and much to be encouraged about because God has used him for great things.
And so that’s what God is telling us through Paul today. What are we living for? Are you discouraged? Maybe we need to take some time. We need to take some time and figure out what we’re living for and allow God to do that work within us to go to the cross, to rest in that, to be encouraged as we share the gospel, as others begin to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, there’s no greater joy. And he says, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. That’s the great thing. If you’re if you’re not a if you don’t know the Lord as Savior, or maybe you’re just recently saved, and maybe it’s just all knowledge to you right now and there’s no real connection, or you don’t know the Lord at all. He desires a relationship. Paul knew what he believed. He knew him, and who believed it was real to him. His relationship was will. Not physically, not audibly, uh, but in a spiritual sense. God, the spirit dwelt amongst him. He knew his creator as the great news about saying a prayer and then hoping someday to meet God. It’s starting a relationship with God that time, that moment when you hear the gospel message, you see your need and you cling and trust in the accomplished work of Christ alone.
Paul knew what he believed because he knew the person in who he believed in. And that’s a great truth. It’s about relationship with our Redeemer and Creator. This was sent to us. And as we learn to yield to him, that is what’s in fact being restored and our relationships and our family, all those things desire to have. God desires to make a change and transformation. And finally, we conclude in verse 13, follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith. So Paul is writing. He’s trying to give Timothy all these wonderful truths, stay in the gospel, know that it’s the power of God, all these things that as we gaze on, we can know that as we look on those and focus on those, we too can be outlasts us. We too can endure the trials and the pressures of life. And as long as we keep these things focused and centered and foremost in our lives, we too can be outlast church, just as Paul did. And that’s what Paul is saying. You know, I love a guy that can write these truths, but he’s not in some ivory tower somewhere not being affected like the rest of us. Paul was in prison. He knew exactly what it was, what the cost was, and follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me. It’s so nice to be able to emulate people.
I’m so thankful that our church is multigenerational. As we look around here, we see lots of young kids and we have older saints as well who’ve been walking with the Lord a long time, and it’s so nice to be able to see them and know that they’ve been walking with God a lot longer than I, and they’ve grown, and I can emulate them, right? They walk with God. I can walk with them because as I look at them and know, they begin to know them and understand them. And see the trials that they’ve gone through in life. They’ve, you know, they they’re living proof that Jesus is Lord and that he’s walked through them in those trials and pressures. And just as if they’ve outlasted, we can outlast, too. It’s it’s an amazing gift to have fellow saints to be able to emulate. Just as Timothy was able to emulate Paul, follow the pattern of the sound words and the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. It’s all about Christ and the love of Christ given to us on the cross. I pray my prayer today is that we meditate on that. We consider what Christ has done. We examine our hearts. If we’re discouraged, we ask ourselves what we’re living for. And the good news is, I’m not telling you to go home and beat yourself up. I’m telling you to go home and spend some time with Jesus and His Word. Allow him to do the transforming power.
The enabling grace that is given to us as believers, where he can transform us from the inside out and focusing on him. If you don’t know the Lord as Savior today, I pray that today would be the day. I want to close with knowing you, knowing that I spent most of my teenage years and young adult life pursuing God and wanting a relationship with him, but thinking that I had to show him that I was good enough, long enough for him to accept me, and I failed and fell flat on my face every time. Just like Timothy, I was discouraged. I knew in my own strength I was just a sinful guy. There’s nothing I could do long enough for this God to accept me. I had nothing good in me. Really. Then I heard the gospel message that Christ did it for me. I didn’t have to do anything except for cast, all my self-righteousness or attempted self righteousness aside and trust. With the sincere faith and the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and what he’s done for me on the cross. If you don’t know Jesus, you can turn right where you’re at right now and cling to him and ask him to save you. Be adopted into his family. You don’t have to earn it. It’s of grace. It’s unmerited. He wants to do it because he loves you. That’s the gospel message. That’s the message that as we focus on in our hearts, believers will endure to the end, make us outlast.