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[0:00] I'm Robert Nix. I'm with Berean Bible Institute. I'm going to take about five or ten minutes and talk to you a little bit about the school.! 1996 Berean Bible Institute was founded. It was founded by the Berean Bible Society and the society decided that they would like to have an institute that was focusing just on training for ministry.

[0:26] That would focus with a laser focus on training men for pastor and missionaries and people who wanted to serve the Lord, whether in the local church or on the foreign field.

[0:42] And so next year we will have our 30th anniversary. I have a table outside with some information there. We offer associate degrees. We offer bachelor's degrees for those who want to go into ministry.

[0:57] And we offer classes for anyone who wants to just simply expand and prepare for the ministry that God has called them to.

[1:08] Now, Pastor, I've got to go get some water here and I have it right here. So, folks, I'll be back. I'm losing it and I don't want to lose it. Okay.

[1:23] Okay. Anyway. And one of the things that we are blessed with is being able to train men and women for ministry.

[1:36] And we believe 100% that God leads us all into some type of ministry. It may not be a pastor. It may not be a missionary. But he's got you where you're at right now, wherever that is, and he wants you to serve him.

[1:52] We were not called to just live and exist. We were called not to just know a lot of stuff. We were called to take the knowledge of God's word, the truth of God's word, and the promise and hope of the gospel and share it.

[2:07] And I've had the privilege of being in Israel a couple different times. And every time you go, you go to the Dead Sea.

[2:19] And you float in the Dead Sea because everybody floats in the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea is the Dead Sea because it has water running into it and no water running out of it.

[2:31] It gets stagnant. There are minerals in there. And things don't live in there. And I think about that in the Christian life. We can know a lot. We can know the verses.

[2:41] But unless God is using us and using it in our lives, we become stagnant. And that happens to Christians. It happens to all of us if we're not careful.

[2:53] God has called us to serve him wherever he leads. We are, as I said, a ministry training institute. Four times a year, we put out something called the Berean Bible Institute Bulletin.

[3:06] And this is usually a couple articles in there. I do a president's update. Tells you about what God is doing with Berean Bible Institute and so forth. So if you would like to be on our mailing list, we would love for you to do that.

[3:21] We offer only distance education courses. So the blessing of that, and I shared this in Sunday school, is that we have students from as many as 13 different countries that speak English and take classes with us.

[3:36] We have mission organizations, grace mission organizations, who send students to us for training that are in Africa, that are in South America, so they can train with us.

[3:47] We also have a Berean Bible Institute extension in Brazil. Missionary Paul Kressmeyer, I don't know if you know Paul.

[4:00] Chances are he's been here. He's been everywhere. And his wife, Mariana, he is our director of that institute in Brazil. And what's been encouraging to us is we probably have 25 to 30 students taking courses from BBI in Portuguese.

[4:15] So avail yourself of our table there. Become a member of our mailing list. We don't, you know, we're not going to, we don't ask you for your social security number, just your address and your official ID.

[4:30] No, I'm just kidding. But I want to encourage you to take a look at that. And if you have any questions for me, please feel free to share, to ask those questions. But it's been an honor to be the president of the school since 19 or since 2011.

[4:45] And I was an instructor with the school for a number of years before that. And right now we are just under 100 students. And God has blessed us more than we deserve.

[4:57] And we praise the Lord for that opportunity. Now, now I start my message. I teach homiletics, by the way, which that's preaching.

[5:09] Now, when I say that, some of you are going, OK, well, we'll see how he does. And I get that. But I teach something early on in the class. I tell my students, don't say anything stupid at the beginning of your message to turn people off.

[5:28] OK, so I'm going to start my message with a congratulations to you. And that is, I love college football. And I would like to congratulate Ohio State for winning the national championship.

[5:46] Is anybody an Ohio State fan? OK, I think I figured I figured I'm going to say so far so good on the not stupid stuff. Right. I was in Georgia preaching in Georgia.

[5:57] And I asked them about the Georgia Bulldogs. I said, is there something that you say as a Georgia fan and about the Georgia Bulldogs?

[6:09] And they all started to bark. OK, so is there anything that Ohio State fans say when you say, talk about Ohio State?

[6:19] Anything? That's pretty poor, guys. Come on now. OK, I'll take it. I'll take it. But I got to tell you, here's where I go.

[6:30] Here's where I go starting to be dumb. I'm from Alabama. And we say Roll Tide. So Roll Tide Roll. Now, I'm not asking you to say that because that would be sacrilegious.

[6:43] But anyway, I want to congratulate Ohio State for winning that. All it takes is Michigan beating Ohio State for Ohio State to step it up. Right? Great game. Ohio State.

[6:54] Awesome, awesome team. But we'll move on from that. I want to ask you a question. I want you to think about it. Are you prepared? Are you prepared?

[7:10] Now, you want to be careful with answering that question. I've shared this message before and I've asked the audience or the church, are you prepared? And somebody, somewhere, says yes.

[7:24] And then I think, well, what are you prepared for? Are you prepared for the whole church to come over to your house this afternoon for a barbecue? Well, no, no, no. I'm not prepared for that. So when I say, are you prepared?

[7:36] It begs another question back to me, which is, am I prepared for what? And that's a question I want to share with you this morning. Would you take your Bibles and turn to 2 Timothy?

[7:49] And that's where we're going to probably be held up in 2 Timothy throughout the book. I was born in Mobile, Alabama. That's where I was born and raised.

[8:00] And on September 13th, 1979, I was a freshman in high school.

[8:16] It was a Thursday. I got up in the morning and was staying with my dad. My mom and dad were divorced, so I was over spending time with my dad and his wife, my stepmom.

[8:28] And we'd go to school from there. And I got up to go to school and my dad said, you don't have to go to school today, which is music to my ears. And what he did say is, he said, schools are canceled in Mobile because there is a storm in the Gulf.

[8:49] By the way, in case you wanted to know, anytime there's a named storm in the Gulf, insurance companies don't write policies. Probably a pretty smart move. On September 13th, 1979, a Category 4 hurricane hit Mobile, Alabama at 10 p.m.

[9:07] That morning, we were told that the storm was coming. We knew the storm was there. I did, and I was a freshman in high school. But everybody knew that there was a storm out there and it was heading our way.

[9:19] We had about 12 to 15 hours to prepare. And guess what? That's what we did. We went to the store. We got water. We got batteries.

[9:31] We got food. We got ice. We got toilet paper. We got a full tank of gas. You know the drill. You would do the same thing. One of the things that's interesting, years earlier when we would have a storm in the Gulf, I never knew why my mom did this, but she would scour the bathtub and fill it to the brim with water.

[9:51] For drinking water or water for whatever, because when your water's gone, you need water. Well, anyway, my family is a family of my mom and my stepdad and my dad. They were preparing for this storm.

[10:04] And I grew up with some people who prepared. And my stepfather, I want to share a little bit about him. And my mom and dad divorced when I was four, but my stepdad married my mom a couple, three or four years later.

[10:20] It was very, very instrumental in my life as a dad and father figure. A blessing to me. But as I talked to him growing up, he always told the story. He said, I quit school in the fourth grade.

[10:39] He was born in 1920. So in the fourth grade, we figure it would have made him about nine years old.

[10:52] Nine years old, born in 20, would make it what year? That's exactly right. 1929. Anybody know what happened in 1929? The Great Depression hit.

[11:02] And it's interesting because he quit school to pick cotton to help support his family to make it through the Great Depression. But interestingly, I grew up with that environment, that idea of being prepared.

[11:20] In our house, we had what's called a hurricane closet. Well, all that is not a place to hide. It's a place where you had canned goods, where you had noodles, where you had water, and all kinds of things just in case.

[11:36] So we had that. My parents bought a generator for outside the house so that when the power went out, we had power. To just show you to the extent of their preparation, they were preppers before preppers were preppers, is that when I left high school, I went to Grace Bible College in Michigan.

[11:58] My parents took out a $25,000 life insurance policy on me in case something happened to me as I traveled a thousand miles back and forth.

[12:10] They wanted everything covered. In fact, my wife and I still pay. I can't think of how many thousands of dollars we still pay on that $25,000 policy that they started.

[12:22] But that's the kind of thing that... You want to be prepared, right? Don't you want to be prepared? I mean, if you're taking a trip to California and you just don't have any walking around money or no money to speak of, do you want to take that trip unprepared?

[12:37] Or a half a tank of gas with no ability to refuel? Well, we're going to California. You want to be prepared. In 2 Timothy, it's an interesting letter.

[12:49] It's a letter to Timothy from Paul. Paul now is on his way out. And I don't mean he's going to California. I mean, he knows, he believes he's going to die.

[13:01] And it's his last letter. We believe it's his last letter. And if you look at 2 Timothy chapter 4, the apostle Paul says in verse 6, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

[13:21] So Paul believes and Paul knows that he is going to die. And he's writing back to Timothy. So you think about that in regards to that.

[13:32] You want to write back something. You're not writing fluff. You're not writing, Oh, how's the weather? Have you eaten any good food lately? You don't write a letter like that when it's a letter that's this serious.

[13:44] Paul didn't know when he was going to be executed. We believe that he was executed, I don't know, mid-60s, by having his head chopped off under the reign of Nero. But he's writing back to Timothy.

[13:56] And Timothy, be prepared. And I want us to go back to chapter 1, and I want us to look how he starts the letter. With all of that in mind, look what he says.

[14:07] I love this. He knows he's in a dungeon. It's believed he's in a dungeon. His first imprisonment, he was under house arrest at the end of the book of Acts. I believe he was released from that imprisonment.

[14:21] He wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon under that imprisonment. Released. And then he wrote Timothy, Titus, and then he went back into prison, was arrested again, and he wrote 2 Timothy.

[14:34] I also believe that he was able to get letters out because of his Roman citizenship and because of the Lord, most importantly. But I want you to look at the first verse.

[14:45] This important letter. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. You know what that tells me?

[14:56] Paul knew God knew he was right where he was at. God wasn't sleeping. God wasn't tired. God wasn't unaware. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Paul used that phrase in a number of different places.

[15:09] But look at the next line. According to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. Well, wait a second.

[15:20] Didn't I just say that he was going to die? But look how he's addressing Timothy. Timothy, there's life in Christ Jesus. There's the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

[15:31] It's important, Timothy, that you keep the main thing, the main thing. And if you go down to verse 10, let's go down there, and I'm right in the middle of the context. I realize that. But he says, But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

[15:50] Look at the next several lines. Who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

[16:03] What is Paul doing here? He's telling Timothy, Timothy, be prepared. Have an eternal view in mind.

[16:15] Several, I don't know, a week or two ago, I'm reading through some different scriptures, and I ran across, and we're not going to go there. 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, Paul lists all the things that have happened to him.

[16:28] I've been beaten multiple times. I've been shipwrecked. If you get a chance to read it, and the thought came to me as I was reading through this, is why in the world didn't he quit? Have you ever quit a job?

[16:42] I've quit jobs before. Have you ever quit something? People quit churches. Oh, this person offended me. That person offended me. Oh, I'll go find a church where they're perfect people. The only problem is when you go to that church, you've contaminated it.

[16:54] Never mind. But you understand. We quit. Paul goes through all of that, and he doesn't quit. And I know he was called to be an apostle by the Lord Jesus Christ. I get that.

[17:05] But you know what? When Paul was on the road to Damascus, and he came face to face with the eternal Savior that he had been persecuting the believers of, he knew at that point that it was real.

[17:17] He was real. And I believe from that point on, from other verses that we have, where Paul says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, that if you would have killed the apostle Paul, you would have been doing him a favor.

[17:32] Isn't that freeing? So when Paul starts out, 2 Timothy, the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, and in verse 10 he says, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, he's saying, Timothy, be prepared.

[17:48] That's the message. The message of the gospel of the grace of God sets man free. As we read on down here and we think about this idea using the storm illustration, there's a storm in the gulf.

[18:04] You got to know it's coming. You got to know it's coming. Sure, we have things that happen in our lives that catch us off guard, right? The doctor's appointment and the bad test results.

[18:16] We get that call of that accident that somebody had or we've all had that. We understand. There are things that catch us unaware. But in this case, Timothy, be aware.

[18:31] It's the gospel that saves. It's the gospel that sets man free. Now I want you to take, you can keep your finger there and I want you to go to chapter 4 again because there's kind of a bookend thing going here.

[18:44] Sort of. And that's chapter 4, verse 1. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will do what?

[18:58] Who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom. Chapter 1, Timothy.

[19:11] The Lord has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. There's a promise of life in Jesus Christ. And in the back end on chapter 4, he says, Timothy, there's a judge and judgment is coming.

[19:25] There is a judge and judgment is coming. Timothy, be prepared. Be aware. Don't be ignorant of the circumstances. Don't be ignorant. Don't be caught up in the minutia of the everyday that you lose sight of the fact that this is an eternal battle.

[19:42] And let's look on down if you would. Paul prays for Timothy. But I want you to notice something again, I'll read verse 3 and following. Chapter 1, he says, But I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience as my forefathers did as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day.

[20:06] Greatly desiring to see you and be mindful of your tears, being mindful of your tears that I may be filled with joy. Notice the phraseology coming up.

[20:18] When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you which dwelt in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, I am persuaded it's in you also.

[20:29] And you understand that Timothy had served with the apostle Paul for years. Timothy wasn't timid by the way. We'll get to that in a second. Verse 6, Therefore I remind you, notice that, remember, call to remembrance, therefore I remind you, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

[20:51] For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So Timothy is being called to remember his calling, the calling that God had on his life.

[21:05] And I want to say something to all of us, we need to be reminded of who we are in Jesus Christ. Christ. We need to be reminded of our salvation and our hope that we never lose that because we have things coming at us left and right in the temporal world.

[21:22] And sometimes it would be easy to be led astray from our relationship with Christ. You don't have to turn here but if you're keeping notes or thinking of notes, you don't have to turn.

[21:33] 2 Corinthians 11.3 I'm going to read it to you as soon as I get there. He says this, But I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.

[21:57] It's possible for us as believers who have been believers for a long time to get so caught up in the temporary of what's happening that we lose sight of the eternal.

[22:11] Timothy, Paul says to Timothy, there's a promise of life in Christ Jesus. Verse 8 in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy. Therefore, I do not, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.

[22:35] Keep reading. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. This is, this is the cream on the cream.

[22:45] This is the icing on the cake. Look at the next line. Not according to our works. We ought to stand up, turn around and say hallelujah to that. Don't.

[22:57] But according to his own purpose and grace which he was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Timothy, don't be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ or of me as prisoner.

[23:12] But you have been, but he says, but share with me in the sufferings. Isn't it interesting? Do you notice something about the Apostle Paul is he doesn't shy away from suffering? We shy away from suffering.

[23:25] Amen? Amen. I don't like to suffer. Our American, I'm going to just say this because I believe it to be true, our American Christianity has done us a disservice because we like comfort way too much.

[23:41] And Paul tells Timothy, he doesn't say, Timothy, if you know Jesus as your Savior, your life will be so well. And guess what? You'll get a 7 Series BMW because God's going to bless you.

[23:57] American Christianity, TV Christianity, points to this health and wealth garbage. Paul didn't pull any punches with Timothy.

[24:08] He didn't say, Timothy, I'm going to die. Hang in there, buddy. It'll be all right. It'll be great. No problem. Paul was the apostle to the church of the body of Christ. He was handpicked by the Lord Jesus Christ to be the apostle with the dispensation of the grace of God and he went through persecution, persecution, persecution, and persecution.

[24:28] Why didn't he have it easier? Because this life is, we live in a sin-cursed world. This life is not supposed to be easier. I mean, I'm not trying to be a pessimist here.

[24:40] but we're dying. But you notice what he said in verse 10? Who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

[24:53] Timothy, you need to be aware. You can't afford to be ignorant. The gospel sets mankind free. Timothy, God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

[25:07] I think that some people will get to this and they say, will Timothy really struggle with being timid? I don't think that's true. I don't think it's true because of the other stuff that we've read about Timothy. Paul says in Philippians, I have no one that's like-minded who cares about you as he cares about Jesus Christ.

[25:23] And I just butchered that to death but you can read about it in Philippians 2. I think it's Philippians 2. So Paul was with Timothy when Paul and Silas were in jail. Timothy was there and around there.

[25:34] It doesn't say he was in jail but he was there. He had been there through thick and thin. But isn't it interesting that he would say to Timothy, God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind? Let me say this to you.

[25:46] I need to hear that. I need to know that the fear that I might feel from serving the Lord is not from God. God doesn't give me the spirit of fear.

[25:59] He's given me the spirit of love, of sound mind. power. His power, not mine. His power, not mine, not yours.

[26:12] That's the beautiful part of the next part when he says don't be ashamed and he says God has called you with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us before time began.

[26:27] And then verse 10 and then I'll move on. He says, but now has been revealed that the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

[26:40] Paul knew that he would die there but he knew that that wasn't all there was. So, back to my illustration of a storm in the Gulf.

[26:54] We know what's out there. We've got to be prepared. I remember that day as I said before when we bought all the stuff and people were taping up windows with masking tape because when the wind hit they didn't want the glass theoretically to shatter and if you had time you would board your windows up.

[27:12] In Florida they have hurricane shutters. We didn't have hurricane shutters. We rode the storm out that night in a little further inland in Mobile and the next morning it was just beautiful sunshine and it looked like a bomb had gone off and for about three years we were without power for three weeks.

[27:33] Didn't have cell phones of course. You're doing what you have to do back then. So there's the idea of knowing it's coming. Timothy the Lord Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead and the way you have life is through the gospel of God's grace.

[27:52] So we know that. what next? We need to start preparing for that. We need to be equipped for that.

[28:03] Be aware yes it's coming but be equipped to deal with it. But we don't have to. God's not going to make you.

[28:16] And you'll be swallowed up by this world that we live in. It does it all the time. it swallows believers right up. And we're all susceptible of that.

[28:27] Does anybody know the name Harry R. Truman? No I didn't get it wrong. I know it's Harry S. Truman.

[28:39] But do you know who Harry R. Truman is? Harry R. Truman ran a lodge at the foot of Mount St. Helens. And they told him that this based on seismographic reports that this was going to explode.

[28:57] Harry R. Truman 83 years old. I ain't doing nothing. I got a bunch of cats. I think he had like 19 cats. And all of a sudden you know the story.

[29:10] They said that his house he died and all his cats 150 feet of ash over his house and all that was left from Mount St. Helens.

[29:22] You don't have to prepare. You don't have to do anything but you will you and I would be swallowed up by this world were it not for the fact that we have the Lord Jesus Christ and he's given us his word.

[29:35] It's interesting because if you move into 2 Timothy chapter 2 notice what he says about being equipped. He says you therefore my son be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus and the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

[29:58] I mentioned this in Sunday school and I believe it. You and I are products of that verse because as Paul told Timothy Timothy you teach faithful men who will be able to teach others who will be able to teach others who will be able to teach others it comes to us.

[30:12] You are sitting here because of faithfulness to God. But he says the things which you have heard from me look up at verse 13 of chapter 1 it's not just Timothy the end is coming and the gospel will save but Timothy stay true to what I have told you and taught you verse 13 hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus Timothy hold fast to what I have taught you the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses you teach to others look over at chapter 3 verse 10 but you have carefully followed my doctrine my manner of life purpose faith long suffering love and perseverance what an encouragement Timothy you've been with me but look at the next verse persecutions afflictions which have happened to me at Antioch

[31:19] Iconium Lystra persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution and let me say this from Genesis to Revelation there is not a saint that's listed in the scripture that did not have pushback because you're a card carrying Christian don't expect that everybody's going to love you in fact as Jesus told his disciples they will hate you why because they hate me look at verse 14 but you must continue in the things which you have learned see it's one thing to know the storm is out there in the gulf coming but you got to be equipped and in chapter 2 I love this picture he gives us the illustration of a teacher teach but he doesn't stop there he gives us the illustration verse 3 you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier and then he qualifies that no one entangled in warfare or engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier well does that mean I put my head in the sand and don't do anything someone says oh he's too heavenly minded to be any earthly good no but it does mean that we don't lose sight of eternity and we don't lose sight that this is a spiritual warfare we live in a physical world good and evil absolutely and God has called us to stand but it's interesting he talks about a teacher he talks about he talks about a soldier and then he talks about an athlete to be prepared

[33:15] I mean I years ago I was looking at Michael Phelps the swimmer and I ran across something that just blew me away when he was in high school he preparing in his swimming career but there was a three year period of time where he did not miss one day in the pool think about that the preparation to win gold medals and he won a bunch of them but we need to be equipped we need to equip ourselves with the storm that's here we don't have to wait it's here and then he talks about the hard working farmer I always like this one because if you're not a hard working farmer you're not a farmer very long and farmers are some of the most hard working people you'll ever meet and I'm not a farmer I grew up in a neighborhood but I know that and the technical aspects of farming and then he goes down to 2nd

[34:19] Timothy 2 15 it's a verse that you probably all could quote but he talks about a workman you know he mentions a teacher he mentions a soldier he mentions an athlete mentions a farmer and then chapter 2 in verse 15 he says be diligent to present yourselves approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing or correctly handling the word of truth ortho tomeo to cut straight always like the picture of something that's meticulous you never want a surgeon with a chainsaw you want a surgeon with a scalpel think about it but but look what he says he says a workman and we're not we're not defined on what kind of workman here is mentioned here he's talking about a Christian worker Timothy you're a worker it's not ashamed have you ever hired anyone to do any work that you were they should have been ashamed of what they did sure we all have but he's talking about

[35:20] Timothy and he's talking about us that we're not ashamed rightly dividing or correctly handling the word of truth that this means something it's important we understand the gospel of the grace of God we talk about that how important it is to understand what God is doing today in this dispensation it clears up the confusion if we take the whole Bible throw it in a pot and say we'll just pick and choose we understand what's going on today that's important and I will make this statement sometimes people say all you do is talk about the apostle Paul Paul Paul and that's all but I want to tell you something that's very important about that we don't preach the words of Paul we preach the words of Jesus Christ through the apostle Paul Galatians chapter 1 Paul says I receive this not from man but by revelation of Jesus Christ when the Lord Jesus Christ was on this planet he taught his disciples face to face that he ate with them he walked with them when he died and rose again he did not stop talking and Galatians 1 tells us

[36:30] Paul says I didn't receive this from man this wasn't hand me down he said I received this from direct revelation of Jesus Christ so when you and I talk about the dispensation of the grace of God in Paul's epistles Paul would roll over in his grave if we were deifying him we are upholding the Lord Jesus Christ and what he is doing in this dispensation we are not under law we are under grace it's a beautiful thing but we need to be equipped over if you just do me a favor and bump over to 1st Timothy if you would in chapter 4 in verses 12 through 16 through the end of the chapter notice what he says to Timothy in 1st Timothy let no one despise your youth but be an example of the believers in word conduct and love and spirit and faith and purity Timothy till I come give attention to reading and exhortation and doctrine do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership meditate on these things think mull over meditate give yourselves give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all

[37:55] Timothy take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continue in them for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you and he's not talking about soul salvation he's already saved he's talking about being delivered but I want you just as we go back through be an example Timothy give attention Timothy don't neglect Timothy meditate Timothy take heed to yourself Timothy continue Timothy Timothy be equipped to face what you're going to face be aware that it's coming and it's here Timothy be equipped to face what's coming it's interesting because we go back to 2nd Timothy go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3 I love this 2nd Timothy chapter 3 in verse 16 again another one of those verses that we could potentially quote

[39:03] Timothy if you go back to verse 15 by the way let's read that and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures he's talking about the old testament because of his background his mother which was able to make you wise through faith which is in Christ Jesus Paul had a foundation in the old testament Paul led Timothy to the Lord in his first missionary journey and then Timothy joined Paul in his second but look what he says in verse 6 all scripture and I think Paul is including what he's writing all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine the truth for reproof it warns us for correction it shows us how to correct our path to get back on the right path for instructions it tells us how the right path is or where the right path is and how to stay on it but then look at the next verse that the man of

[40:10] God might be perfect or completely thoroughly equipped for every good work not just some good works to serve God wherever he has put us isn't it interesting that as Paul is going off the scene he tells Timothy something that he already knew that the word of God is profitable and equips us for every good work I think he's telling Timothy to be prepared but he doesn't stop there because look at the next verse he's closing his letter and he says I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his kingdom as appearing in his kingdom there's a judgment time coming

[41:13] Timothy he doesn't close though the next line preach the word and that's interesting because the word preach there is to be a herald it didn't say Timothy you preach your opinion Timothy you preach what everybody wants to hear hear he already talks about that in different places itching ears and so forth he says Timothy you preach the word and I always like the illustration of the herald hear you hear you the king says this I saw it in a cartoon somewhere I'm sure but you know what I'm talking about he says what the king says he rolls it up and he goes on but if he goes up and he takes it out and he goes the king says yeah nah I say this this this and this he you what happens he loses his head and I'm not saying we lose our heads here what I am saying is this he just tells

[42:19] Timothy Timothy preach the word let the word of God do the work of God through the Holy Spirit let God worry about who comes to Christ and who doesn't sometimes we think if we share the gospel with someone and they reject well number one we get all bent out of shape because they rejected me but look they don't reject you they reject the Lord but think about this when you share the gospel and they reject it it's not a failure if that were the case when they rejected Jesus that was a failure on his part he didn't fail folks we fail when we don't preach the word or share when we remain silent Paul is coming to the end of his life and he says Timothy preach the word and be ready in season and out of season when it's convenient when it's not convenient convince rebuke exhort with long suffering

[43:28] I want to read a verse from 1st Peter and I just love it you don't don't turn there 1st Peter 3 15 listen to this verse I love the way it says it but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that when they defame you it doesn't say if when they defame you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed and that may be a long term it may be after they're dead and they're standing before the king of kings and lord of lords ashamed because of rejection we're not guaranteed that they're going to get all googly and accept you for it is far better if it is the will of

[44:30] God to suffer for doing good than doing! But I appreciate the fact people but we don't compromise that truth proclaim the word be ready instant in season out of season verse three for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap for themselves teachers it isn't it interesting that Paul doesn't say well it's going to get bad he says even though they're going to do this that and the other thing and they'll reject you what do you do keep preaching the word and they will turn their ears verse four away from the truth and be turned away aside to fables he doesn't say they might he says it's going to happen but you verse five but you be watchful in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry

[45:44] I love this picture of Timothy it's one of my favorite books in the Bible I see Timothy as that soldier that Paul led to the Lord and discipled and he grew and Paul is coming off the scenes and he's writing back to young Timothy and he says Timothy be prepared Timothy be equipped Timothy engage engage don't shriek back don't don't back away from this is it going to be hard absolutely it's going to be hard but you keep moving forward in Christ and he will lead you and he will direct you and let me just say this in closing and the worst thing that they could do to us is kill us and I'll be honest with you I'm not sitting up there going oh you know no that's that's fearful I would struggle with that Timothy would struggle with that any of us would but we always we need to understand that we're talking about going from immortality to mortality and by the way

[46:52] I'll quit preaching here and pray but your eternal life started when you came to know Christ as your savior you were just in a little pathway here in this life in the sin cursed world to be his ambassadors to this world to love people in Jesus name that aren't loving but you know what remember what Paul started with in that book how does a person get set free the same way I got set free when my step brother on one night he got saved he was a mess just going through a divorce just a mess he went off to visit his sister my stepsister and he went to a crusade and this evangelist had an altar call and my step brother went forward and came to know Christ as his savior When he came back he was living with us because he had where I started asking him questions and he led me to

[47:58] Christ and that night I passed from death to life I got set free I didn't know it much I always thought Barnabas and Barabbas were the same people I had no idea but he taught me where the Bible were and all that went to church led me to church my home church see God uses us in people's lives But I just thank God.

[48:21] My brother was not perfect. In fact, I said in Sunday school, he walked away from the Lord. But God led him to talk to me that night. And my challenge to you is the same challenge I have to myself.

[48:35] It's not new to me, but I heard it and I thought it was really good. We need to push through the awkward. Because sometimes we get in our own way.

[48:48] And we hesitate. Or overthink it. Or talk ourselves out of it. And I think absolutely the best testimony that we can have is to tell people how we came to know Christ.

[49:05] And the hope that we have in him. And that they can have that same hope. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this.

[49:15] And I just... I stand here, Lord, in front of this congregation, weak. And I...

[49:26] As if this letter was written to Robert, not just Timothy, which it was. because sometimes it's hard in this world we live in.

[49:40] And you knew that. You knew that, Father. You led the Apostle Paul to write these words. to not shy away from persecution and difficulty.

[49:55] And yet you told us, Lord, that you would be with us. That you would never leave us nor forsake us. That you would strengthen us. And then one day, if we're lucky, or when we're lucky, you'll take us.

[50:10] And that's really not luck. That's hope. We thank you this day. I thank you for this church and the opportunity to represent the school. And thank you, Lord, for your word.

[50:20] In Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Sharing the scriptures with us today.

[50:40] Preach the word. You know, you think, well, preaching, that's for preachers, right? For those professionals, the pastors, the Bible Institute presidents and all that.

[50:50] But God calls everyone to proclaim, right? That's all the preach means is proclaim. And it doesn't mean you have to do it on the street corner. Some people do that. That's great, actually. Some people do it at college campuses.

[51:02] But you can proclaim the word to your family, to your children, to your friends, your family, your stepbrother, your cousins, friends, and even strangers as opportunities arise.

[51:17] And you can do it, by the way, without much education. It sounds like your brother didn't have a Bible college degree, right, when he shared the word with you. But it can help getting Bible training, right?

[51:31] You can get that from church, but also taking actual classes. And so I just wanted to make sure everybody here is aware that BBI, which is a ministry that we support and we love, can train anybody.

[51:46] What's the age range? Tell me about at BBI, youngest to oldest. Yeah, yeah. 17 years old, I've had students that have 80.

[51:57] Okay. They're forcing. Yeah, 17-year-old student right now, I think that's Luke probably, right? And one, okay, and so, but even students up in their 80s.

[52:08] So anybody at any time can take Bible classes and become more equipped to preach the word, to teach, and proclaim the gospel and the word of God.

[52:22] So feel free to stick around. You'll be, I assume, over at the table there. You can find out more about BBI. They've got some books that you can buy, I assume, and check those out.

[52:37] Find out more about the ministry of BBI. Talk to them for a while. And then also, don't forget, Easter breakfast. I'd love to see all of you there. Sign up if you'd like to bring some.

[52:48] I think there's some open spots still left on there. And then if you'd like to purchase some of those Easter lilies that we use to decorate the platform here during our Easter service, that'd be great too.

[52:59]  So thanks, everybody. voy voy voy voy