Flipside Christian Church

Thank you.

Let me just say this, Caleb,
thank you for being with us

this morning, man.

You know,
you got a home here and right now, Caleb.

But you're in New York. New York, right?

Doing doing, doing the theater.

Doing this theater thing.

But, you know,
you're always a part of this family.

You always got a place here.

And I love the fact
that when you come back, you are here.

So thank you.

You bless us, man.

Thank you.

It was great for,

Shelly and I to be gone
last week together with our sons.

And Jeff did a great job
kind of tying things in.

Ephesus together.

From the letter Paul
wrote to the church in Ephesus.

And what Paul said or what is quoted for
us in acts about FSS, and then what Jesus,

his response to the church in Ephesus
and Revelation two, and kind of wrapping

all those things together
because the, the, the books of first

and second Timothy deal with Timothy
as a leader of the church of Ephesus.

And so Jeff kind of painted the picture
last week of the overarching theme

through for this church,
through the through the eons.

But we're going to be back
in second Timothy today in chapter two.

So if you have a Bible

and brought one with you,
I want to encourage you to turn there.

But Shel and I were gone
last week in Boston over the 4th of July,

which was a great experience
and was great to be there with our sons.

And something that

I've realized while we were there,

and I want to share with you,

about the, the,

the, the things that led
into the Revolutionary War,

because it has a profound
it struck me profoundly.

The correlation between
and I'm going to share with you and

and how we live faith
and our practice of it.

Are you familiar with the battles

of Lexington and Concord and.

All right.

And let me, let me let me start
then at the beginning.

As as this

these colonies were beginning the process

of establishing independence.

The redcoats had infiltrated Boston,

and they heard that there was some,

commune at ease in the colony

of of of Massachusetts that were amassing,

weaponry, muskets, gunpowder
and whatnot to fight them.

And so

the the order went

out to march from of the redcoats
to march from Boston

to Concord to put an end to this

budding rebellion and to arrest

Sam Adams and John Hancock,

who were in Lexington at the time,

which was just before
the Russians would get to to Concord.

So they were marching through Lexington
to arrest

Sam Adams and and and,

sorry.

John Hancock and Adams
and then go to Concord

and destroy this cache of weapons

on their march.

Y'all heard of Paul Revere's ride, right?

One of my plan to.

If I see the regulars are coming,
that's what he.

He didn't say the the British were coming
because they were all British.

The regulars are coming
because it was a regular army.

The regulars are coming. The regulars
are coming. That whole the whole story.

So he's making his way around the circuit

with about probably 30 other riders
in all to spread the news.

The Redcoats are marching up to Lexington
to get to Concord

at Lexington.

If you ever heard of the shot
heard around the world.

Okay,
that happened at the Green and Lexington.

And as the as the Redcoats marched

into Lexington,
there were men from Lexington

called the militia
that formed a line to meet them.

And to try to stop

the largest army in the world

at the time from carrying out their orders

at that Lexington green
where the first shot happened.

There's a statue.

It's a real iconic,
and they call it the minute ma'am statue

you've all seen it
on, if you realize it or not,

but it's called the Minutemen statue
in honor of these, of this little.

This is where the first shots happened.

This is where the first Patriots had died
as an act of war,

in an act of war,
just after the Boston Massacre.

But this was the first war time.

Shots that were fired and deaths
that occurred.

There's a statue there of the Minutemen.

The interesting thing is this.

That Lexington didn't have any Minutemen.

They had militia,

but it's called the Minutemen statue.

Just in honor of of this whole thing.

There's a difference between militia
men and minutemen.

And eventually
they made their way to Concord

after election day
and after this, this little battle,

and then encountered all kinds
of colonists that pushed them back.

And the ones who gathered together
both militiamen and minutemen.

But at Lexington, though

the statue says the Minutemen statue,
they were militiamen.

And here's the difference.

If you know the difference,
militiamen and minutemen

now get so that Minutemen

were hired by the community
to be really full time soldiers.

There was no Continental Army at the time,
but a community.

If it had enough money,
hired men to be their full time

soldiers, and as part of a full time
soldier, as a minutemen,

you had to carry your musket with you
24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You had to sleep with it even.

You had to always carry with you
water and food. Why?

Because if something happened,
you had to be ready

to respond in in a minute.

So they trained about 3 to 4 times a week,

carried their weapon with them everywhere
they went, slept with it, burned

food and water because they were ready
on a minute's notice for battle.

The different them and

militiamen
were this militiamen in those communities

that didn't have enough money to hire
soldiers, they were just regular Joes,

and so they might train once or twice
a year.

And when,

something happened where they,
the community needed a responsive,

responsive force,

they would grab their musket
or their shovel or their pitchfork

or whatever they had and kind of respond
because it was a special emergency.

And then when it was over, they just go
back to their regular civilian life.

And when I heard that,

I thought, that really reminds me

of people of faith.

Churches are full.

Of militia.

And what we're called to

is Minutemen.

To understand the difference.

Like, if something's needed

and we like to rally the troops, and,
you know, you show up and.

And then as soon as it's over,
we get right back to life is normal.

Rather than everyday training

and disciplining ourselves

and carrying our sustenance with us

and the weapon with us

that were ready at a moment's notice,

we're on duty.

You follow.

So as we go through second Timothy two,

consider.

Militia

or Minutemen.

It will have a profound impact

on the rest of your life.

In Second Timothy chapter two,

Paul comes out swinging.

He's in his 60s.

He knows he's going to be beheaded
under, Caesar Nero.

He's at the end of his
life, is in a dungeon at this point,

and he's writing a couple of letters
first Timothy, second Timothy and Titus,

two men who will take over the leadership
of these churches.

And to Timothy, first and second Timothy,

who has taken over the leadership
of the church in Ephesus.

He imparts these very last words
and basically says to him, listen,

this is how you lead and live.

Well.

And this is the final things
I want to impart to you,

and I want you to take this responsibility
seriously,

not as a militia man,

but as a minuteman.

Do you understand?

And so, because these are the final words

we have written of Paul,
he comes out so and so.

I'm just telling you upfront, this is
going to be a little difficult for some,

but you're all right.

You're going to handle it.

It's not going to break you.

Okay.

So just let let let's together

let's just suck it up and go through it.

Agreed.

And agreed.

I'm glad you said agree.

Here's the big idea.

Here's the big idea.

What you flee determines your purity.

What you pursue determines your destiny.

And so Paul is going to tell Timothy.

Timothy, there are some things
you need to flee from,

and there are some things you need

to pursue with your whole being

the same for us,

because what we flee
will determine our purity,

and what we pursue

will determine our destiny.

And so let's be clear about these things.

And so he starts in verse one

and in verse one,

he says this.

You then, my child,

be strengthened by the grace
that is in Christ Jesus.

Let me just
I want to unpack this a little bit.

He says, I want you to be strong, but

I want you to be strong in what?

In the grace of God.

I want you to be strong in grace.

This is

really important, and this is important
for us to understand

what he's saying to be strong in
and the implication,

what he's saying not to be strong.

It he doesn't say,
I want you to be strong in your obedience.

He doesn't say, I want you to be strong
in your faithfulness.

He doesn't say, I want you to be strong
in your ability to perform, I don't, I

he doesn't say, I want you to be strong
in your in all your religious duties.

He says, I want you to be strong
in the grace of God,

not in your strength
and not in your performance.

This is the difference between religion
and Christianity.

Religion will tell you

you'll be strong in your duty.

Make sure

that in your own strength

that you don't do these things
and you do these things.

That's religion.

How many of us are strong enough
in ourselves

to consistently not do the things
we're not supposed to do, and consistently

do the things you're supposed to do?

Anybody strong enough in ourselves
to do it all the time?

No. That's why Paul says,
I don't want you to be strong in yourself,

Timothy, and not even in your faith,
not even in your devotion,

not even in your Bible,
not even in your prayer life.

I want you to be strong
in the grace of God,

be strengthened

by the grace of God.

In other words, you know says,
be strong in the grace of God.

Literally increase your strength

in the grace of
God, not in your abilities.

This is
really important for us to understand.

And this is such good news

because if you have a test
your life to Christ,

he now lives in you.

And so this is accessible to every Christ
follower.

The grace of God,

the grace of God.

Let me tell you what that is.

That's the undeserved and unmerited favor
and assistance of God.

As a Christ follower,

you have at your access
the undeserved and unmerited

means you can't earn it
favor and assistance of Almighty God.

And Paul says, oh,
that's what I want you to be strong in.

He will say, and he has already said
in Second Corinthians 12,

my grace is sufficient for you.

God says, for my what?

My power is made perfect.

In what?

In your weakness.

So don't try to be strong in yourself.

Be strong in my grace, because my grace
is sufficient for your weakness.

You have access to my assistance by grace,

so don't try to be strong enough.

Don't try to be good.

It's your test. You're going to fail.

So press into the grace of God.

I can rely on the divine
help of God Almighty.

His unmerited assistance of me,

not because I deserve it,

but just because of his undeserved grace.

See, I become weak
when I see by my strength,

I'm going to do everything right
because I can't.

And the moment I think
I'm strong enough to do everything right

and I don't, the only thing
I'm reminded of is my weakness.

You understand?

And so I become strong when I say
without earning it and without deserving

it, I have the full love and favor
and assistance of God.

I haven't done anything to get it done.

It is just mine.

Do you know how strong that makes me?

And every
Christ follower has access to this?

And that's why Paul tells Timothy,
be strong in the grace of God,

not in your ability,
not in your own faithfulness,

not in your discipline.

See, it's strength through grace,

not strength through grind.

And so many people trying to follow God,

just grind it out.

Just grit their teeth and would do it

even if I don't like it.

I'm. And the people like that.

We call them religious people
and they're just mean, nasty,

bitter, angry people.

Nobody likes them.

And Paul says, look,
his strength isn't through your grind.

It's through the grace of God.

You can't do this on your own.

You have to rely on the grace of God,
his undeserved, unmerited

favor and blessing,
his assistance that you don't deserve.

But if you're in Christ, it's yours.

Press into that.

You rely on that prayer
and he says, he says.

So verse two,

and what you've heard from me,
in the presence of many witnesses, entrust

to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also

everything that a pastor
or a minister does.

He should train someone else to do.

That's what that's what Paul Saint

well, you've heard from
you goes from me to you

and then from you to someone else
and from that person to someone else.

And so what he's saying is
think for generation,

to think for generations.

Timothy is the second. There's Paul.

Paul gives to Timothy.

And he said, give it to other people
who give it to other people.

So Paul's thinking to Timothy,
think for generations deep.

Listen, dear Christ follower,

our responsibility is not to grow in
this ourselves

is to grow in this ourselves,
so we can give it to someone else and to

train them to give it to someone else
who would give it to someone else.

And that's what this whole thing is about.

It dies on the vine and starts with us.

This is one thing and one reason I'm

so proud of of our T2 group,
second Timothy two and Titus two.

It's based on this principle

that I will teach others, who will
teach others who will teach others.

The first iteration of this was last year.

Me and 12 guys.

The second generation, which is the third
generation, is this year.

42 others now,

and some of those in the first iteration.

The second generation are all hoping
to lead the third generation.

And the following year we'll do it again.

And those who will teach the understand
I'm saying this is what we do.

This is one reason why I do so much,

training with church planters.

The next generation,
they'll plant a church,

the next generation,
they'll punch the next generation.

And I love the
fact this says what you've heard from me.

All this stuff.

Pass it on.

What do you say to qualified man?

Does he say that?

Gifted man.

You say that creative man.
Does he say that?

Strong man. Does he say that?

What he say?

Faithful men,

faithful.

Just be faithful to what this word says.

Be faithful to passing it on.

Be faithful to these things
that he's going to tell us.

You want to know who the faithful men are
in this church.

It's the guys who are doing this

and passing it on to other faithful men.

I'm so proud of our two guys

and you should be proud of them. Two.

They're the faithful ones

passing it on.

Not now.

Let me look at verses three and four.

Let's let's look at this.

Just be strong.

And God's grace, not your own ability.

Share in suffering.

As a good soldier of Christ Jesus,
no soldier gets entangled

in civilian pursuits.

Since his aim is to please
the one who enlisted him.

An athlete is not crowned
unless he competes according to the rules.

It is a hardworking farmer who ought
to have the first share of the crops.

So he says, Timothy, this is the

I want you
to emulate these three vocations,

if you will, the soldier,
the athlete and the farmer.

There's qualities about all three of these
that you need to emulate.

If you're going to follow Jesus,

he says, the first thing that you have to

understand is as a soldier,
as an athlete, as a farmer,

suffering is going to come.

So you better endure it.

All right.

That's
what he says. Your share in the suffering.

There has to be an expectation
for the Christ follower

that at some point we're going to

experience ill treatment.

A Christ follower

that wants to avoid ill
treatment is not following Christ.

Jesus said the world hated
me, is going to hate you two, treated me

bad, is going to treat you bad.

You just we just have to expect it.

A faith that avoids ill treatment

is not a Christian faith.

And I realize that
most of the preaching that goes on

is not about enduring
and embracing suffering.

It's about God loves you
and has a wonderful plan for your life,

and you invite him into your life.

He'll make your marriage better,

make your finances better,
make your kids better,

and make your car better and make a dog
better. He'll just make everything better.

And it just doesn't seem to be
what Paul says.

Paul says as a follower of Jesus,
the first thing you gotta do is you

share in the suffering.

It has to be an expectation that there's
going to be some suffering as I follow

Jesus, and I can't let it shake me.

I have to embrace suffering
like a good soldier.

How many,

how many people going to boot camp
carrying a bean bag in their PlayStation?

You don't do that. Why?

Because you go to boot camp
expecting to suffer, right?

Right, right, right.

Oh, former marine,

I don't. You were at Pendleton,
weren't you?

I was at Pendleton.

How many of the guys went to Pendleton
with, you know, their little pillow

in hand and their little Gatorade canteen,
a catering and a care package from Mama.

That didn't happen in Pendleton, did it?

No. It's
why you're freaking Marines, right?

You know,
it looks like we're just going to this.

Is this our expectation?

This is what we're going to do.

Josh?

The same way you're at Pendleton, too,
right?

Yeah.
Which one was in the Marine Corps first,

I wonder what's it?

Oh, same time
you always know an old marine

because there's disdain
for the young marine like you.

Well, back
when I was in the corps, you know,

and there's almost an honor
in the suffering that I'm going to suffer.

Well, there's an honor.

And this is what Paul's saying in

share in the suffering
like a good soldier.

Oh, what's the priority for a soldier?

What's the soldier's priority?

Mission accomplished.

Carry out the commands of your commanding
officer right.

That that's your priority.

The priority of a soldier
is not the a civilian's life.

You say goodbye to the civilian life
once you enlist as a soldier, right?

You say goodbye to that.

And that's what he says
here in the services, a good soldiers cry.

No soldier gets engaged
in civilian pursuits,

since his aim is to please
the one who enlisted him.

There's

nothing wrong with the pursuits,
pursuits of a civilian.

Until those pursuits entangle
you from your commanding officers.

Commands.

There's nothing wrong
with the pursuits of a civilian life

until those prevent you
from being a good soldier.

Do you understand the connection, friends?

Do you?

There's nothing wrong
with the pursuits of life until

they entangle you and distract
you from being a good soldier,

serving the kingdom
and the commands of your commanding

officer.

Embrace suffering.

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine a military

whose soldiers gave up
when stuff got hard?

Can you imagine?

Well, what kind of military would that be?

Did you say the Navy?

The Army, of course, of
marine says it would be the army.

Okay.

So here's here's what he's saying.

Don't interweave.

Go back to that.

Don't enter
with your life with things that are not

of the interests of the kingdom,
nor of your commanding officer.

Just don't

interweave your life with that stuff.

If it's not the interests of the kingdom
or the commands of the commanding officer,

don't let that intermingle with your life,
is what he's saying.

You cut ties with the civilian world

because you want to please your commanding
officer.

And athletes not crown
unless he competes according to the rules.

Verse five.

Now Paul's talking in the difference
between a professional athlete

and an amateur athlete.

And in that context, you're
talking about Olympians,

those training for the Olympics
and those who were just weekend warriors.

And he says, you can't compete
if you don't do it according to the rules,

like there's a right way to do this
and there's a wrong way to do this.

And you,
he says, you can't. You gotta do it right.

And actually, for the Olympic athletes,

they couldn't even compete in any type
of athletic activity until they had signed

an affidavit that they had trained
a properly for ten months beforehand.

Because if you don't train
appropriately beforehand

and then you try to compete,
you lessen the standard

and the quality of the competition
and the games and the title of an athlete.

Do you understand

sin? So listen,
if you're going to claim this title,

then you gotta put the work in.

Because if you just try to work it out,
when it's time to work it out,

you're going to lessen
the standard, you're going to lessen

the quality

of everybody who came before you

and claim the same title.

You feel this is.

It's.

When I was

thinking about this, I thought, Carl,
I don't know

how much I say and how much I don't say,
but I might say anyway,

I was thinking about this.

I thought, you know, this
just just reminds me,

basically what Paul is saying
is don't be a poser.

Yeah. Just don't be a poser.

And we are back in, in Boston or standing,

in, in, just outside of Lexington,
standing in Concord of the bridge

where the redcoats and the

and the militiamen and minutemen met.

And our guide was saying, you know how,

the British armor
call the rebels not British?

Because he said,

because, you know, we're we're all British
anyways, where we came from.

And and this one guy,
I don't know, because I'm American.

And I thought this, this is

this is what I had in mind
when I, when I thought of this analogy.

There are.

There are poser preppers.

Those guys

that can't run a mile under ten minutes,
but they sure look good

wearing a sidearm.

And I thought,

that's that's what Paul saying.

There are poser disciples

who don't serve and don't lead,
but sure look

good carrying a Bible.

You know what I'm saying?

He said, don't, don't

don't be one of those guys.

Don't act like you're
this almost patriot guy.

You can't even, like, run like, don't.

What defender are you?

Preaching.

And I think Paul would tell Timothy.

Look, unless you're putting in this.

Unless you really are,

don't try to look good. Carrying a Bible.

To make sense? Yes.

And he says it's

the hard working farmer who ought to have
the first share of the crop.

Shares were saying,

look, you got to put the work in first

and you need to eat.

You have the first share the crops.

And if a farmer,

unless you're taking it and consuming it

from here to here,
you can't give it out there.

It's got it.

First share here.

It's got to be, planted here
before you can plant it there.

And the farmer

who it isn't doing this first with
the Word of God has nothing to give.

There. Amen.

And the interesting thing
about these three the soldier,

the athlete, the farmer, now
all three of them suffer.

We have to understand that

all three of them so.

But, but but but listen, listen.

When we settle for lesser

things we forfeit greater victories.

When the soldier settles for lesser

things and comfort,
he forfeits greater victories.

When the athlete settles for lesser things
of, of,

of not competing, not training.

Well, he sells for lesser victories.

You understand this?

The soldier and the athlete,

they get an immediate reward.

The farmer.

They toil

and they don't see
any fruit of their labor for a long time.

And even the fruit of their labor
that they see, they don't experience.

It's on behalf of somebody else.

The athlete and the soldier.

They do it for crowds and their heroes.

The farmer does it in anonymity,

in the dark hours where no one sees.

And what he's saying, he's saying,
Timothy, listen,

you have to embrace the suffering.

Yeah, because as a soldier,
you're going to suffer and you have to

let go of the civilian stuff
when it entangles your commands.

As an athlete, you have to train hard

all the time.

You can't just show up and play.

And as a farmer, it's
going to be in the shadows.

It's going to be lonely.

Nobody's going to cheer for you,
and you might not see

the results of your labor for a long time,
and you may never really enjoy

the full benefit of it, because it's
for someone else who will never tell you.

Thank you.

You understand? Amen.

And so share in that suffering.

This is what it means to be a disciple.

To share all three of them.

All three of them.

Will settle

for lesser victories if they tap out,

you know,

all three of them.

Have to endure suffering.

What I know is this

wholeness is when my life is aligned

with my mission, not my distractions.

Now he's saying, soldier,

don't get distracted by civilian stuff.

Athletes don't get distracted.

Farmers don't be distracted. But

wholeness comes when my life is aligned

with my mission.

Not my distractions.

And so, friends, let's make sure

that we're not getting distracted

by distractions.

You follow me on this?

Yeah.

Don't live for lesser things

and for greater victories.

You're a soldier. You're an athlete.

You're a farmer.

Don't live for the lesser things.

Share in the suffering that it requires.

Because they're

great victories and great produce
that's coming.

Share in this.

All three of these will endure suffering.

So must you.

And I.

And we can't think that
because we're suffering, God is against

us, has given us, or we've done
something wrong.

Matter of fact, if we've done it right,
suffering will be a part of the mix. You?

Oh yes.

Let me press on here.

Verse seven.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will
give you understanding and everything.

And basically what he's saying
is just like,

just don't let this like
come on one ear and out the other.

Like think about this
because as you contemplate

this, God will give you through
the whole of your understanding to it.

There's a lot more understanding
coming for you

than what I'm giving you right now.

As you continue to think through this
and ponder this and consider this

and the implications for your life,

the Holy Spirit will start to flesh
this out, is what he's saying.

Press friends, please press into this.

Verses eight and nine.

Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead,
the offspring of David as preached

in my gospel, for which I am suffering,
bound with chains as a criminal.

But the Word of God is not bound.

He's saying, and also remember
Jesus Christ.

And he says two things about
Jesus what you say

risen from the dead,
the offspring of David.

He's claiming two things about Jesus.

He's claiming
Jesus's full divinity and full humanity.

And this is what sets Christianity apart
from every other religion.

It's what we call the hyper static union.

This this truth that in Jesus
there is full

God and full human, fully
God and fully human.

It's called a hyper static union,
the only one that this has ever existed in

being fully human.

He knows what it is to be tempted like you
and I, yet without sin being fully God.

He's the only ransom for our sin
on the cross.

He's the only pure holy sacrifice
that's settled.

All the sacrifice,
all the sacrificial system.

And he's saying, Jesus, this one,
fully God, fully human, remember him.

He is unique.

For which I am
suffering, bound in chains as a criminal.

But the Word of God is not bounded.

You know,
the Bible has been the most maligned,

the most attacked,
the most burned book in the world.

Yet it is without fail
and will never go away.

It can never be bound.

And Paul says, Even I'm in chains here.

I'm going to be beheaded soon.

But the Word of God endures forever.

And remember this.

And I love the fact
that Paul expected suffering in his.

He wasn't one of those preachers

that sought a life of ease,
some life of privilege.

He wasn't a pastor
that had his own private parking

spot or a green room to retreat to.

He was a pastor.

So look, this is just part of the
sufferings, part of the gig,

and I know I'm doing it right.

When I embrace suffering, it's
going to come.

It's all right.

But look at what he says.

Therefore, I endure all of this
for the sake of the elect, that

they may also obtain the salvation is in
Christ Jesus with the eternal glory.

I would expect him to say,
I endure all the suffering

for God, or I endure all this for me
because of what Jesus went through for me.

Or I endure all the suffering
because it's for the kingdom,

or I endure all this suffering
because God told me to.

He didn't say any of that because I endure
all the suffering for whom?

The elect, those who will accept Christ.

Here's what he's saying.

He's saying, I know that my suffering
and how I go through

suffering is a benefit for you
because as you watch me

be strong in the grace of God,
not in my ability to handle it,

not in my own effort to give through it,
but on the grace of God.

Because it's bigger than what I am.

It's heavier than what I can carry.

But I'm reliant upon the grace of God,
the power of God.

This made perfect in my weakness.

Other people will see me go through this
and to realize there's

something different about this
Jesus that I follow.

Yeah, it's for your sake
that I endure this suffering.

You know, you have seen people

go through hell on earth
as a Christ follower,

and they've endured it with such grace.

Yes, yes.

And they've endured it with such patience

and an element of joy in their suffering.

And you've watched them
walk this road of faithfulness

with the embracing of suffering
because of the grace of God given them.

And you look at them,
are these something's different.

Oh, and when people who claim
the name of Jesus

look just like the world, when we go
through suffering difficult times,

it tells the world
they nothing special about Christ.

He says, sorry for your sake

I will endure this

relying on the grace of God.

Yes, his undeserved merit and favor

for me
that gives me strength when I am weak.

Yeah.

And I want you to watch me suffer.

Isn't that what Jesus did?

Yes, yes.

The lamb before the shears opened.

Not his mouth.

That they may obtain the glory

of eternal life.

Look at verse 11.
The saying is trustworthy.

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 also
he will deny us.

If we're faithless, he remains faithful.

Listen. He's saying,
listen, here's the deal.

If you die with Christ,
you're going to live with him.

What's he talking?

What do you mean, die with Christ?

Well, one thing you talk about martyrdom.

Do you live your life in such a way
that you suffer the point of death?

Guess what? There's a special reward
for you in heaven.

Martyrdom is a spiritual gift.

It's a gift you only use once.
But it's a spiritual gift.

Well, Celebes a spiritual gift.

Celibacy is a gift to you. It's a gift
you never use.

So, I mean, there are those things.

If it's also if you die with Christ,

Paul will say in baptism
you died with Christ.

In baptism you were raised with Christ.

So when you profess your faith in Christ,
you live with him.

And it's seen by others
in baptism, baptism, water.

But he says,
if we endure, we'll also reign with him.

Some of you,
you got to know that the endurance now

is leading to reigning later,
so you endure it now. Why?

Because what's coming is greater.

But if we deny him, he'll deny us.

This is a twofold thing. Here.

One of it is, look, as a Christ follower,
I cannot be faithful all the time.

And that's why he will say,
if we're faithless, he remains faithful.

Praise God.

But if I deny God,

he is so faithful

that he cannot

acknowledge me.

If I deny him.

So when he says, when you're up

for he cannot deny himself

so, so, so this whole idea,
if we deny him, he'll deny us.

If we're faithless, he remains faithful.

It's by the grace of God
that he is faithful to his promises 100%,

even when I'm not faithful to him.

But if I deny him,

he is so faithful to His Word,

he cannot acknowledge me.

You understand?

So be careful.

This is the warning.

Verse 14 remind him of these things,
and charge them before

God not to quarrel about words
which does no good,

only ruins hearers.

So, Timothy, your job is just simply
to remind them of Scripture,

to remind the people of good,
solid doctrine and the gospel of God.

He said, there are some things

that that that that can ruin each other.

These

when we get in these stupid, ridiculous
quarrels and arguments about stupid stuff

that have nothing to do with the gospel,
nothing to do with God's Word.

And unfortunately, church
people are famous

for getting into stupid arguments
about stupid stuff.

They have nothing to do with the gospel
and nothing Luke

and Paul says to me,
just keep the main thing, the main thing,

and keep telling your people
to keep the main thing, the main thing.

You understand that.

That's
why I will never preach the front page.

You understand what that means,
like whatever's hot on the news.

But I'm not going to preach that
it's front page preaching.

And Paul says all that's going to do
is ruin people.

Just keep the main thing, the main thing.

There's plenty of other
church of the preacher front page.

You want one of those churches?
Go, please.

I welcome you to go
there. I'm not preaching the front page.

I'm gonna stick true to the gospel.

Do your best.

Verse 15 to present yourself
to God as one approved.

A workman who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth.

Do your best.

You know, the best way to refute error
is to embody

the truth of God's Word yourself.

The best way to refute error

is to embody God's Word in your life.

It says, do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved.

Literally, he said, make haste to this.

Make this year prior to get this right,
get to it,

and exert yourself
to show yourself as approved to God.

When he says, make this
your prior to be approved of God.

That word approved his use regarding money
and he's saying don't be a counterfeit,

be the real deal.

It's the thing

they would use to prove what is legitimate
and what is illegitimate.

Listen off.

He's talking about authenticity over
imitation.

Do the work to show yourself
as the authentic one,

not the poser one, not who looks legit
but has no real value

to the kingdom.

And rightly handle the word of truth.

Make the road you cut

by this word so apparent

that all deviations are obvious.

Like this is the standard
and it cuts a straight line.

And when this is firmly cut,
that line is straight.

All deviations become apparent.

You understand that

this is the guide.

Now listen.

Rightly handling the word he says

there is a correct interpretation
for all of Scripture.

It is illegitimate for us to say, well,
the Scripture means this to me,

and it means that for you.

And I mean whatever it means for
you is right. It's not right.

There's a

legitimate right interpretation
to the Word of God and Christ.

Followers need to be under teaching
that rightly discerns

and interprets the Word of God,
so that the line that is cut

in life is straight
and all detours are apparent

and obvious.

When he says,

present yourself as one approved,

I mean, think about it.

How embarrassing is it

to have your work inspected by your boss,

and have your boss disappointed
with your work?

Do you understand?

He's saying you press into this Timothy

so that when it is inspected,

you got nothing to be ashamed of.

Let me finish this out.

Let me jump down to verse 19.

God's firm
foundation stands bearing this seal.

The Lord knows who are his.

And let everyone who names
the name of the Lord depart from iniquity

is in the foundation.

And all this is built on is two things
one, that the Lord knows who he is.

He's talking way back
in the Old Testament, the Book of numbers,

chapter 16 called Coras Rebellion.

Read it sometime later.

And he says, this whole sound is
based on two things God knows who are his.

Let God sort out who are his
and who's are like, that's not our job

to determine who are who, who God's
kids are like, God will take care of that.

That's first thing. Like he is sovereign.
He knows.

The second thing is everybody who claims
the name of Christ has to depart

from iniquity.

I mean, you gotta get away
from those things that entangle you.

You have to choose to depart
from iniquity.

He says.

So therefore,

if anyone cleanses himself, verse 21,
from what is dishonorable,

he will be a vessel for honorable use,
set apart as solely useful

to the master of the house, ready
for every good work said so.

There are some things
that you have to cleanse yourself from.

We rely on God's grace first.

Salvation, forgiveness.
He does all that work.

But our responsibility

is to cleanse ourself from everything
that is dishonorable to God.

And as we cleanse ourself
from those things that are dishonorable

to God,
we become ready for every good work.

Do you understand that?

Like God, he expects us

to do our job of cleansing ourself.

We're forgiven by his grace,
but we are cleansed by our choice.

You understand?

And we have responsibility to that.

It means literally

to purge yourself
of everything that dishonors God,

everything that dishonoring
to your commanding officer,

everything that's dishonoring
to the kingdom.

We're to purge ourselves of all of that.

Here's what here's what I'm saying.

If it dishonors God, it deforms me.

If it dishonors God, it deforms us.

True joy comes

when I let go of it, dishonors my creator.

We have, our difficulty

is seeking in something

a joy and a peace that that thing
was never intended to give us.

Only God was.

And when we seek those things

to bring us joy, contentment, and peace,

it dishonors God,

and it deforms me, and I

will never have joy.

To understand.

So then, Timothy,

verse 22, flee youthful passions
and pursue righteousness, faith,

love, and peace,
along with those who call on the Lord

from a pure heart
have nothing to do with foolish,

ignorant controversies
and rabbit holes and posts online.

You know that they only breed

quarrels with your friends and family.

The Lord's servant
must not be quarrelsome.

But be kind to everyone.

Even those we disagree with.

Do you know that we can disagree
without being disagreeable?

Yeah.

Able to teach

patiently enduring evil.

Endure it patiently.

It doesn't say riot and revolt.

There's some bad stuff in this world.

Patiently enduring evil.

Correct your opponents with gentleness.

That's meekness.

You know what meekness is?

Meekness is strength under control.

It's an uncaged lion
that chooses not to devour you.

That's.

That's meekness, strength under control.

It looks.

Just because you're right doesn't
mean you have to prove it all the time.

Just because someone wrong doesn't
mean you get to beat them up all the time.

You understand,

can win an argument and lose a heart.

That's not right.

God may perhaps grant them repentance,
leading to a knowledge of the truth,

and they may come to their senses
and escape

from the snare of the devil
after being captured by him to do as well.

They just might.

When we live this way,
people just might come to their sentence,

to their senses,
because they've been deluded.

The Bible says by the influencers.

There are minds

that are deluded by the influencers.

And when God's people live this way,

they just might come to their senses.

And so, dear friends, flee

those things that dishonor God
and that entangle you.

Flee means to run away from
and get out of the danger zone.

Quit flirting

with stuff you're flirting with, he says.

Quit letting this stuff entangle
your life.

It's screwing you up. It dishonors God.

It deforms you.

And pursue faith and agape love.

Pursue Christ.

It means you run fast to catch them.

And by doing that,

some people may come to their senses.

Because they've been duped

by influencers.

It's just so pertinent to our world
right now.

It's so pertinent to our lives and so.

Here's the questions.

We end where we started.

What you flee determines your purity,

and what you pursue determines
your destiny.

So the question is,

what must you flee?

What must you flee?

There are some things you need

to run away from fast.

There's some things
that are even good things,

but it entangles you fulfilling
the command of your commanding officer.

Flee!

Quit flirting.

Quit acting like it doesn't matter.

Quit playing around.

You're a soldier.

You're an athlete.

You're a farmer.

And what must you pursue?

Or better said, whom must I pursue?

Christ.

Without him, we can do nothing.

And so.

Amen.

You okay?

Yeah.

Let's pray.

I've said enough.

I expect the Holy Spirit to speak now.

Yeah.

You've done a good job listening to me

do a better job listening to him.

Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

And say, Holy Spirit, what must I flee?

Bible says, ask and you will find her.

Ask and you will receive. Seek
and you'll find.

Knock and there will be opened.

Ask him right now.

Seek his voice right now.

Holy spirit, what must I flee?

Listen to what he's saying.

Holy spirit, what must I flee?

And when you hear his voice respond.

Say, father,

I hear you telling me I must flee.

Whatever this is.

And by your grace, not my strength.

I choose to run away from it right now.

I choose to reject its power
and its hold on my life.

By your grace,

I am free.

Free?

What must you pursue?

And if you've never pursued Jesus.

You pursued religion. You pursued church.

You pursued being good,
but you've not pursued Jesus.

Bible says you will find me
when you seek me with all your heart.

Yeah,

for God is not far from any of us.

If you've not pursued Jesus yet,
I wouldn't encourage you in this moment

to pursue him, because he will be found.

And to say, God, I need you in my life.

I need you,

Jesus.

I want you,

and I receive you,

and I trust you as the leader

and liberator of my soul. You.

Thank you for your forgiveness.

I accept it.

And I will choose to do

what I can do with my responsibility
as a soldier,

as your athlete, and as your farmer. You.

Father.

Thank you. Thank you that you love us.

Thank you that when we are faithless,
you remain faithful.

Thank you that you cannot deny yourself.

That we've attached ourselves to.

You will never be denied.

Thank you, thank you, thank.

Holy spirit,
I pray that you continue to speak

to us.

Calling us to flee those things.

We need to flee.

Pursuing you

with our whole heart and soul
and mind and strength

and father, for that will give you thanks.

In your name I pray.

Amen.

Let's not love you, Second Timothy.

It's good, isn't it?
Yeah, it's good words.

Good words.

This and this week read second Timothy
two again and let it challenge you.

Paul just told Timothy like he'll give you
understanding as you apply yourself.

So read it again and pray through

and let the Holy Spirit

talk to you in the kind of flesh
this stuff out and within you.

That makes sense.

You understand like,
let this keep living on.

Remember, you're Nancy, you got ten months
of training before you get to compete.

So train hard this week. You got that?

Don't walk from here
and be a militiaman, right?

Like warfare.

You got your
your your musket in your gunpowder.

Like be a minuteman.

Press into this training.

All right.

You good?

All right. We got one more song. Right.

This is about Jesus.

Jesus, that's a good song.
I like that song.

I love that song. That stand up and sing.