Sunday Sermon: Farewell (2 Timothy 4:1-22)

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October 25, 2020

Pastor Gabriel Hughes preaches from 2 Timothy 4:1-22 in his farewell sermon to First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, KS where he has ministered for 10 years. He and his family are moving to Texas to become a pastor at First Baptist Church of Lindale. Yes, he will still be doing WWUTT! Just from a new location.

00:18: You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.
00:27: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a
00:32: New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament, and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.
00:39: Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. The Apostle Paul wrote to his protege,
00:48: Timothy, who was pastoring in Ephesus. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.
01:02: Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
01:09: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
01:26: As for you, always be sober -minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
01:37: Verse 6, For I am already being poured out as a drink -offering, and the time of my departure has come.
01:44: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
01:51: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
02:07: Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas in love with this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
02:14: Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
02:24: Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books and above all the parchments.
02:33: Verse 14, Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
02:41: Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first offense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.
02:50: May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the
03:01: Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
03:07: The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever.
03:16: Amen. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, as we come to your word today,
03:21: I pray that these words would be proclaimed to your people. That it not be for my glory, but for the glory of Christ.
03:31: And may we submit to Christ in all things, giving all honor and glory forevermore unto your name.
03:41: It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and all God's people said, amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
03:47: I've written out my sermon today, but last night and this morning I was still reflecting upon some memories that even brought me here to Junction City.
03:57: Many of you probably don't know this, but 15 years ago I had a band and we came here and performed in Junction City.
04:04: It was at the municipal building in the gymnasium there, and we packed that place out.
04:09: It was standing room only, fantastic crowd. We sold a bunch of CDs, one of the best gigs we ever did.
04:15: And my band and I, we were saying, boy, we've got to come back to Junction City and we got to do this again. And I had no idea that five years later
04:22: I was going to be moving here, I'd become a pastor here, I would raise a family here.
04:28: I have never lived in one place. My whole life I've never lived in one place for 10 years.
04:34: And now I've spent a quarter of my life in Junction City, and it is not easy to say goodbye.
04:42: I met my wife here. Now, my wife will tell you she met me in Manhattan, but I met her here in Junction City.
04:50: We got married here. Our wedding reception was here in this church downstairs in the fellowship hall.
04:56: How many pastors can say that they've had the privilege of pastoring in the church where they got married?
05:02: My children have grown up here. This is the only church they have ever known. I became a pastor here.
05:09: I spoke, preached in dozens of churches before coming here, but this is the first place where I ever served as pastor.
05:17: And now being called to go down to Lindale, Texas to become part of the pastoral staff at First Baptist Church there.
05:25: I became a pastor not wanting to become a pastor. When my wife and I were dating, before we were even engaged, we had just seen a movie.
05:34: It was dark outside. We're walking and talking, and she says to me, I think you're going to make a great pastor.
05:42: And I rolled my eyes at her. I groaned. She could see the whites of my eyes even in the darkness as I rolled my eyes and my head.
05:50: I hated the idea. I did not want to become a pastor. I wanted to sing.
05:56: I had no desire to preach, at least not on any kind of regular basis. I was leaving
06:02: Christian radio to pursue a full -time job in music. I had no idea how I was going to do that, like every other irresponsible musician who just wants to go sing but has no plan.
06:11: But I knew that that's what I wanted to do. But through my love for this woman and my love for music, the
06:19: Lord in his providence brought me to First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City. And I accepted the associate pastor position with an emphasis in leading worship.
06:27: That was in the spring of 2010. I was ordained here the following August the 15th, and that's really the date that I consider the beginning of my ministry in church, my pastoral ministry.
06:41: And in that service, Archie Carpenter was also ordained as a deacon.
06:47: And I'll never forget that. We were kneeling together right up here in the front, and there were men that came forward and laid their hands on us.
06:55: And as we got to the end of that prayer, Archie leans over to me and he goes, Are we done? And I said,
07:03: I think we can stand up now. And he said, Good, because my knees are asleep. And that was my first sermon, too.
07:12: I preached there up here on August the 15th, 2010. Even before I became a pastor,
07:19: God put in my heart a love for his word. And not just a love for reading the Bible, but a desire to hear the scriptures taught and to see it done well.
07:30: Over the two years that I served as associate pastor under Pastor Nate Butler, a fire was kindled in me to preach the word.
07:38: When Pastor Nate left to plant a church in Kentucky, I became pastor and stepped into the pulpit.
07:44: It wasn't this pulpit, because eventually I built my own pulpit, which you see before you. And by the way,
07:50: I'm leaving this behind. So the next guy that comes in will be stepping in here and hopefully also has that desire to proclaim
07:59: God's word. This shield is going with me, though. That was a gift from my wife, so I have to take that with me.
08:06: It has been an honor that by the grace of God, I've been privileged to preach his word every Sunday. Over 400 sermons here at First Southern Baptist Church.
08:16: Thank you for calling me to be your pastor. Many of you who are sitting here today were not here when the vote was first held to appoint me as pastor.
08:24: But the fact that you came here and pledged your membership was to say, I would like for you to be my pastor and I want to sit under your teaching.
08:32: And that is a trust that I do not take lightly. I have desired to serve the
08:37: Lord by shepherding his people. The first call of a pastor is to preach the word.
08:47: These are among the final instructions that the Apostle Paul has for his protege Timothy, which we are considering today, before Paul was to be martyred for preaching the gospel.
08:57: Now I'm going down to Texas. As I address you this morning, I'm not about to be dragged off by Caesar and beheaded for preaching the gospel.
09:05: Nevertheless, this chapter makes for a fitting conclusion to the ministry that I've labored in for the last decade.
09:12: And also concluding a class that we did in 2 Timothy, but we never got to chapter 4.
09:17: Those of you who were in that class will remember that we got to the end of chapter 3, and I actually went down to Lindale to preach, and when
09:24: I came back, I announced that I had accepted the position there. And so we never got to 2 Timothy 4.
09:30: So I do this sermon today to bring that class to a close, and also my ministry here.
09:38: In the first two verses, Paul says, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.
09:53: Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
10:01: This is the charge that is laid upon all pastors. The command to preach the word.
10:10: It is the call of all of the disciples of Jesus to be faithful to the teaching of the word of God.
10:18: And as we are given here three underscoring reasons, or foundations, if you will, for faithfulness to the preaching of the word, let's consider those things.
10:28: The first foundation, a minister stands in the presence of God and of the
10:33: King himself, Jesus Christ. A church's faithfulness to the word of God is going to be motivated by an understanding that God is with us.
10:46: That's what the very name Jesus means. Emmanuel, God is with us.
10:53: And that is both comforting and it is terrifying at the same time. Christian, you must always have a reverent fear of God.
11:03: As we read in 1 Peter 1 17, if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear for the rest of your time here on earth.
11:17: You must have the fear of God. There are many self -professing
11:22: Christians who bristle at the idea of having the fear of God. But Proverbs 1 7 says,
11:35: Those who hate this idea of having the fear of God, they will say, well, God is love and there is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear, misunderstanding the words that are written in 1
11:47: John 4. John specifically says that this fear has to do with punishment, the fear that he's talking about there in that chapter, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
11:57: This is not referring to the reverent fear every worshiper of God must have as we stand in awe of his presence.
12:05: Does God love you? Yes. Is he a forgiving
12:10: God? Yes, he is. Is he a gracious God? Absolutely, my friends.
12:16: He is all of those things and more. But if you see only that side of God that is love, then you have a one -sided
12:27: God. And your faith in a one -sided God will be evident in the way that you live.
12:35: You will sin freely believing, hey, God is love. He's just going to accept me as I am.
12:42: God is love, but that's not all he is. The Lord has said in Isaiah 66 too,
12:57: As the Protestant reformer John Knox has said, As I said,
13:08: Proverbs 1 .7 tells us to have the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 16 .6 says that by the fear of the
13:15: Lord, one turns away from evil. So to fear God, my friends, is to live a holy life.
13:24: Church, do not forget that you stand in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.
13:32: A second foundation that we are given for the faithful preaching of the Word is the coming judgment of the living and the dead.
13:39: Why be faithful to preach the Bible? Why be faithful to do what it says? Because it is the only thing that can save man's soul from the judgment that is to come.
13:51: The Scripture teaches us of the Savior Christ, the righteous one, in whom we must have faith for salvation.
13:59: Romans 1 .16 says, Romans 3 .28
14:09: says, Romans 5 .1
14:16: says, Romans 10 .17
14:24: says, So, my friends, if we are justified by faith in Jesus, and this is our salvation, and faith comes by hearing the
14:36: Word of Christ, then proclaim nothing less than the Word of Christ.
14:44: In Acts 20, when the Apostle Paul said farewell to the elders at Ephesus, the same church where he sent
14:52: Timothy to pastor, Paul said, You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the
15:02: Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the
15:08: Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our
15:25: Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to say, That's Acts 20, verses 18 -21 and 26 -28.
15:56: Church, I have labored to teach you the whole counsel of God. I have left nothing out.
16:04: Of those books of the Bible that I have taught in the years that I have been here, we took great care to not even skip verses, that the whole
16:12: Bible would be taught and understood, for it is the Word of God that brings faith, and faith in Jesus Christ is our salvation.
16:22: I urge you to continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, as it says in Philippians 2 -12.
16:29: My friends, there is a heaven and there is a hell, and you will spend eternity in one of two places.
16:38: Those who believe in Christ will live with Him forever in His eternal, imperishable kingdom, but those who do not believe in Jesus will be cast from His presence into eternal punishment.
16:52: Snatch them out of the fire, as it says in Jude 23, by preaching the
16:57: Word of Christ. The first foundation is because we stand in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.
17:05: The second foundation is because of the coming judgment of the living and the dead. The third foundation is by the appearing of His kingdom.
17:13: In short, Paul is saying to continue to proclaim the Word of Christ until He comes.
17:20: Colossians 3, 1 -4, which I've quoted a portion of today already in our prayer, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
17:33: Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
17:42: When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
17:50: In verse 2, Paul says, Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season.
17:57: Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and complete teaching.
18:06: Now you might notice that each one of those qualifying words that accompanies preach the Word are not particularly soothing words.
18:13: Reprove, rebuke, and exhort. To reprove is to give strong correction, expressing disapproval of one's actions, but to redirect with gentleness.
18:26: For example, young men in the back, please pay attention. Thank you for being here. To rebuke is yet another strong word of stern reprimand, but the intention is still to set someone back on the path of righteousness.
18:43: To exhort is a strong call to action, a message that demands a response.
18:51: For example, here, the charge of the gospel. This is an exhortation. It demands that we turn from sin and we believe in Jesus Christ.
19:01: In the strength of these words, these strong words that Paul uses here to reprove, to rebuke, and exhort, we get the distinct impression that Paul wants
19:12: Timothy to be strong, to preach the Word boldly, and to not shrink back from any part of it.
19:20: By the strength of God, there are parts of the Bible and applications of Scripture that I have never hesitated to teach you.
19:31: And it's not because I'm some courageous, amazing person. It is by the grace of God that I have taught these things to you.
19:39: I have preached God's Word for God's glory and for the benefit of God's people.
19:46: The role of a pastor is not to entertain you. The role of a pastor is not to make you comfortable.
19:56: The role of a pastor is not to give you your best life now. The role of a pastor is not to help you feel good about yourself.
20:07: The role of a pastor is not to help you pay your bills or balance your budget or get out of debt.
20:14: And although you have heard me speak on politics many times, the role of a pastor is not to be a politician or to fight a culture war.
20:23: The role of a pastor is to teach. 1 Timothy 3 .2 The role of a pastor is to shepherd the flock of God.
20:32: 1 Peter 5 .2 The role of a pastor is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
20:39: Ephesians 4 .12 The role of a pastor is to hold firm to the trustworthy Word as taught, giving instruction in sound doctrine, and rebuking those who contradict it.
20:49: Titus 1 .9 The role of a pastor is to preach the Word.
20:55: 2 Timothy 4 .2 The role of a pastor is to do this in season and out of season with complete patience and teaching.
21:02: And I tell you these things this morning not to thump my chest or to speak proudly of myself, but it has been the discipline of this church in the past to raise up godly ministers who preach the
21:13: Word, and I encourage you to do that even more so. Consider the next man who will be stepping into this pulpit.
21:21: Consider what your role is as a church to ensure that this is a man who indeed preaches the
21:27: Word and that you are a congregation who sits under the authority of that Word. This church has taught me a lot about being a pastor as much as I may have taught this church about what is said in the
21:41: Word of God. I've learned a lot about preaching in season and out of season.
21:47: Because of the influence of Fort Riley on this community, this has been a very transient church.
21:53: We see as much as half of the congregation turn over every two to three years. Becky and I have estimated that in my ten years here,
22:00: I've probably pastored three very different congregations. Yet every member of this church has been as family to us, and it doesn't matter how long or how short we may have known each other.
22:15: I have had the privilege of standing on this chancel in a church, this is not a stage, this is called a chancel, just in case you didn't know that, and I've preached to a full room before where there was not an empty seat in this church that could be seen.
22:34: Over 190 persons, because that's how many seats we had in here. And the back doors were open, and we put seats out in the foyer so that everybody would have a place to sit and they would still be able to hear the sermon.
22:47: But then there have been other seasons, much like this one, where a combination of military decisions and family moves and COVID restrictions have resulted in a more intimate setting with just a few dozen people.
23:03: Yet I hope that it could be said, and that you would observe, in my passion for preaching, that there has not been one iota less a passion for the
23:13: Word of God for 12 people than it has been for 120 people.
23:20: There was one winter where a brutal snowstorm on a Saturday night shut down every church in town the following Sunday morning except one.
23:30: This one, and I know because I called around the churches in town and checked.
23:37: We had eight people in church that morning. In Junction City, Kansas, eight people were attending church that morning.
23:44: One couple was Dave and Vicki Bleasner, who were living in Chapman. Another couple was from just down the street, just over this way.
23:52: And I had never seen them before, and we have never seen them since, but they came here to church that morning because they knew our doors were open and they wanted to go to church.
24:01: And I preached just as emphatically. I was in Matthew that particular Sunday. It was the Sunday in between Christmas and New Year's, which is always a low
24:09: Sunday for us anyway. And I preached that morning from Matthew, and I was just as emphatic and just as passionate about the gospel for eight people as I have been for 80 or more people.
24:24: You have long known my commitment to having church no matter the weather. My guarantee was that as long as I can get here, the doors will be open and that I will be preaching.
24:33: Not even the coronavirus changed my mind about that. We have not missed a single Sunday, even during the distance restrictions.
24:41: I am thankful to say that in 10 years, there was only one time that we did not have church, and it was when
24:46: I wasn't here. I was in Utah, and it was Dave Bleasner's decision to shut down the church, so my record remains untarnished.
24:58: In seasons of many or in seasons of a few, in seasons of grief or in seasons of joy, in seasons of coronavirus or in seasons of good health, in season and out of season, be faithful to the preaching of the
25:21: Word of Christ. And again, you do not have to be a preacher to be faithful to the preaching.
25:28: Simply doing what the Word says is to be faithful to preaching the Word. James warns us in James 1, do not be merely hearers of the
25:38: Word, and then you go from the Word and you don't do what it says, you deceive yourselves. Don't just be hearers of the
25:45: Word, be doers also. When it comes to preaching the
25:50: Word, I preached through all 13 of Paul's letters in 7 years.
25:56: When Pastor Nate left, he was right at the end of Ephesians chapter 3. So from that first Sunday beginning in Ephesians 3 in September of 2012, do you remember that, brother?
26:08: To the last Sunday coming back to Ephesians 3 in September of 2019, I preached through all of Paul's letters in those 7 years.
26:18: The other books that I preached through apart from Paul's letters were Obadiah and Jude. So the only
26:24: Old Testament book I've ever preached from the pulpit was Obadiah. Last week I finished
26:29: Matthew, though I didn't preach through it in order. So that's 15 New Testament books and one Old Testament book.
26:34: Every single verse from this pulpit in 8 years. In other
26:40: New Testament classes, I've taught through Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians multiple times.
26:46: I taught through 1 and 2 Peter and 1, 2, and 3 John. I spent a school year with the high school students in the book of Revelation, and I just finished doing a blitz through Revelation with the
26:56: Thursday night Bible study. In my Old Testament study, which I began in 2011, I taught through Genesis, Ruth, Esther, and the
27:02: Psalms twice and otherwise covered the Old Testament from Genesis through the Psalms every single verse in 19
27:09: Old Testament books. Yes, we even went through every verse in Leviticus and Numbers, and the class listened comically as I stumbled through lists of names in the
27:17: Hebrew genealogies. In 10 years at First Southern Baptist Church, I have taught through more than 40 books of the
27:26: Bible. And if I were to remain another 10 years, you better believe we would be covering the other 26.
27:36: That's not counting what I've covered in the podcast. We did a sermon series through the five solos of the
27:42: Protestant Reformation. We did a series on essential doctrines of the Christian faith. I've done topical sermons on how we as Christians are to respond to the
27:49: LGBTQ movement or when the government discriminates against the church. Every Easter for the last several years, we've examined a day -by -day account of Holy Week, that week of that earthly ministry where Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave.
28:05: On Sunday evening, we did a series through notable sermons in church history, reading the sermons from figures like John Chrysostom, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, and Martin Lloyd -Jones.
28:16: We went through Justin Peter's series, Clouds Without Water, warning about the dangers of the charismatic movement.
28:22: We did Michael Reeve's series on the Puritans in the English Reformation. We've done several evangelism classes on how to share the gospel with others.
28:30: And the fruit that has resulted from these things, my friend, is not my doing. The fruit that has resulted has been the work of God.
28:38: In John 17, 17, Jesus prayed, Father, sanctify them in your truth.
28:44: Your word is truth. I have desired nothing less than to preach the full counsel of God.
28:49: And I have not done this alone. This has not just been my doing. There have been many teachers here who have been faithful to the same call and the same conviction.
28:59: Sunday school teachers that you have had, Awana leaders, elders and deacons and guides and counselors.
29:06: These instructions that we have here, from an apostle to a pastor, is not just limited to pastors.
29:13: You must consider them yourselves, and you must be disciplined to follow them.
29:18: Look at verses 3 through 5 where Paul says, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths.
29:39: As for you, always be sober minded. Endure suffering.
29:44: Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. Recognize the contrast that we have there between sound teachers and false teachers.
29:53: When what you want is the sound teaching of the word of Christ, then you will love to hear a pastor who issues reproof, rebuke, and exhortation according to the word.
30:03: But when you have itching ears and you want teachers to suit your own passions, then you will turn away from listening to those hard truths and you will wander off into soft and soothing myths and lies.
30:17: We have certainly witnessed that here. Sadly, we have witnessed far more people turn away from the sound teaching than from those who have stayed to hear the sound teaching.
30:28: I do not take it personally, but it still grieves my heart. They turn their back, not on me, but on Christ and on His church.
30:39: We once had a family who lived across the street from us. And when the moving truck pulled up,
30:44: I helped them to move in. They started attending our church. We saw them almost every day.
30:51: Two or three times a week, our kids would play with their kids. We shouted pleasantries at one another from our front doors.
30:59: They watched our kids for us one time so that Becky and I could go on a date. They even gave us money and they paid for our date.
31:05: I was preaching through Romans at that time when they started attending our church and things were going well until I got to Romans 9.
31:16: I taught exactly what Romans 9 says, that God has chosen some for salvation and some for destruction.
31:23: And He has done so, as verse 11 says, when they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of Him who calls.
31:36: Now, of course, in context, we're talking there about Jacob and Esau, and we have the statement, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.
31:44: And I taught, when I read that statement, the shocking thing there is not Esau I have hated, though it shocks us to think that God would ever hate anybody.
31:53: The shocking statement there is Jacob I have loved. Why does God love any of us at all?
32:01: We are not worthy of His love. We are worthy of destruction because of our sin.
32:06: But it's by His grace and mercy that we are saved. Verses 18 -24 say that God has mercy on whomever
32:16: He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills. You will say to me then, why does
32:23: He still find fault? For who can resist His will? But who are you,
32:28: O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, Why have you made me like this?
32:35: Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
32:42: What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which
32:56: He has prepared, He has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom
33:02: He has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. After I finished my first sermon from Romans 9 on the sovereignty of God, that family that lived across the street from us left the church and never came back.
33:20: But they lived right across the street, so I mean surely it's difficult to avoid someone entirely when they live across the street, right?
33:28: Somehow they managed. I'll tell you how strange and how awkward it got.
33:34: I never saw them walk out their front door again. They would play in the backyard, and when they left the house, they got in the car through the garage.
33:44: That's the way things went for the next year and a half until they moved. Our kids never played with their kids again.
33:53: My children would ask, Daddy, why can't we go over to their house to play? And how do you tell your kids?
34:00: They don't want to play with you anymore because of what Daddy taught in the Bible. We've had to have that conversation with our children several times.
34:12: And my heart breaks to lose close friends, but it hurts more when I've had to watch it happen to my wife and kids.
34:20: Some of you might remember the saga where two deacons left our church just because I said I was about to preach through Romans.
34:28: That's right. They left because they did not want me to teach Romans. Both deacons said that they would leave quietly, without sowing discord, but then they co -authored a 9 ,000 -word document and published it online about how they were true
34:45: Christians, a word that they put in all caps, whereas I was following the doctrines of men.
34:51: I found out about this document because a few members of this body read it, and they drew my attention to it.
34:57: Their wives also spread slander about me, and all of this was over Romans, from which
35:03: I had not yet preached a single sermon. During our
35:08: Roman series, a woman became angry with me just for teaching the distinction between law and gospel.
35:14: She hated that I kept talking about the law, and she approached me after church and said, we're no longer under the law but under grace, a paraphrase of Romans 6 .14.
35:24: And I replied, do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means.
35:30: On the contrary, we uphold the law, which is Romans 3 .31. She left in a huff and never came back.
35:37: One couple left after I taught from Romans 1 that men and women who practice homosexuality are under the wrath of God.
35:44: A few weeks later, I saw on their Facebook page that they were attending their gay son's wedding. These are just a few examples of those who have left sound teaching for teachers who scratch their itching ears.
35:58: And notice that all of these examples were just from when I was teaching in Romans.
36:05: A pastor once said to me, if you want to find out who in your church is truly committed to the faith, preach through Romans.
36:11: Boy, was he right. Now, lest someone say, well, doctrine divides.
36:18: We just need to love each other. Stop teaching doctrine. Let me remind you that we gave a family a house, and when they became offended over what
36:27: I taught, they had the audacity to accuse the church of lacking compassion. This happened not once.
36:35: This happened twice. That's right. Two times we gave a house to a family who left this church because they said we loved our doctrine, and we did not love people.
36:50: When the fact of the matter is, the opposite was true. They loved their doctrine, but did not love people.
37:00: In one of those occasions, I sat in the living room of that house, and I looked at the couple, and I said to them, who gave you this house?
37:07: And they said, God. They hated the teaching so much that they refused to acknowledge that this church had done anything loving for them.
37:18: We read recently in Matthew 10 .34 where Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth.
37:24: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. And 1 John 2 .19 says,
37:30: They went out from us that it might become plain that they are not all of us. Church, I give you these examples not to enact any kind of vengeance or again to praise myself, but to tell you not to be discouraged when you see people walk away from this church because of your commitment to God's word.
37:50: The Bible tells us this will happen. If it did not happen, the Bible would be wrong.
37:58: The time is coming and is now here when people will not endure sound teaching.
38:07: But having itching ears, they're going to go after teachers that will tell them what they want to hear.
38:14: They will turn away from the truth, the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and the proclamation of the word of God and they will wander off into ear -tickling lies.
38:26: Paul goes on to tell Timothy, As for you, always be sober -minded. This means, another word for this is temperance.
38:34: Always be temperate. Don't let your mind be given over to wild and fanciful ideas, but be committed to the word of Christ.
38:42: Do not be led astray. He says, endure suffering. So indeed, you're going to have people who will turn their backs on you because of your commitment to the word.
38:52: But do not be discouraged when people walk away. Remain faithful to Christ. Love the word of God and fulfill your ministry.
39:03: In verses 6 through 8, Paul says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
39:11: Paul had been in prison before, but he knew that this time in prison was going to be his last. And the Spirit had revealed to him that he was going to be beheaded for preaching the gospel.
39:20: He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
39:26: Those are rewarding, awesome, fantastic accomplishments that we should all aspire to.
39:32: Paul goes on to say, Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.
39:38: I wonder how much his hands may have trembled to write those words, knowing with excitement the reward of God was about to be his.
39:46: As we sang this morning, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight. And the skies be rolled back as a scroll.
39:56: The trump shall resound, and the Lord will descend. It is well, it is well with my soul, this crown of righteousness.
40:08: The Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And Paul says, as a matter of encouragement to Timothy and anyone else who would read this letter, not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
40:26: Christian, on the day that Christ returns, be able to say,
40:32: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. No matter what your faithfulness may cost you, the approval of your heavenly
40:44: Father through faith in Jesus Christ is far more rewarding. The approval of man is nothing.
40:53: Our God is a righteous judge who searches mind and heart. He will render to each person according to their works.
40:59: In your love for Christ, press on until you hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant, for great is your reward.
41:09: Look at verses 9 through 18. Paul says, do your best to come to me soon.
41:16: And he mentioned several persons, some with warmth and some with pain. In verse 10, he says, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
41:27: And we've talked before about Demas. As a matter of fact, his name came up when we were going through the parable of the sower earlier this year in Matthew chapter 13.
41:36: He's mentioned as a fellow missionary in Colossians and in Philemon, but then when you get here to 2
41:41: Timothy, he has abandoned the mission and he has gone after worldly pleasures.
41:48: Likewise, we have had many Demases in our midst. They appear to be genuine
41:53: Christians on the outside, but on the inside, they are full of dead men's bones. My heart grieves to think of people who have walked away from this church for the passions of their flesh.
42:06: There were instances where adultery was happening among people sitting and listening to the preaching every week.
42:13: They heard that the wrath of God is coming against those who practice sexual immorality, Colossians 3 .6.
42:19: They took of the Lord's table or even served at the Lord's table. Though they know the
42:25: Scripture says that anyone who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment on himself, 1
42:32: Corinthians 11 .29. Yet, though they heard these things preached, they would not repent.
42:39: These were not just lay persons, my friends. Some have been teachers and ministry leaders, once a deacon and once an elder.
42:49: One of the first disciplinary matters that I ever had to confront, as a matter of fact, I think it's the first disciplinary matter
42:56: I confronted in my first year here as associate pastor. I had only been here a few months. We had a young man who was about to lead worship for us that Sunday, and we found out that he was sleeping with one of the women in our praise choir.
43:08: He was married and not to the woman in our choir. When I confronted him, he denied it, but his guilt at being caught was evident, and I told him that he could not be in the band until we could talk more about this.
43:22: He did not say another word. He left and never returned, and the next time I saw him was in the mall in Manhattan holding hands with the woman that he said he was not having an affair with.
43:34: So many have left the bride of Christ and have jumped in bed with the world. My friends, this is suicide.
43:41: A person who lives such a way is a fool who has no fear of God before his eyes.
43:48: We are told in 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 -7, this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the pagans who do not know
44:09: God, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the
44:14: Lord is an avenger in all these things. As we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you, for God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.
44:25: And I encourage you, church, continue in holiness, in loving the Word of Christ proclaimed and preached, do what it says, be holy as I am holy, our
44:37: Heavenly Father says. Ephesians 5, 26 says that Christ sanctifies his bride, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
44:45: Word. We have read in Matthew 25 that the bridegroom will return. Those who belong to him will enter the marriage feast, but those who do not belong to him will be left outside.
44:56: They will say, Lord, Lord, open to us, and his reply will be, truly
45:01: I say to you, I do not know you. Yet look here, while Paul is broken over Demas, he mentions many other faithful servants who have united with him in the ministry.
45:17: He says, Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke alone is with me.
45:23: Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus to fill in for Timothy so that Timothy could come to Paul there in Rome.
45:34: And he says, when you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books and above all the parchments, because apparently
45:41: Paul had intention of writing some more before he was to be martyred. So while we have had our
45:47: Demases, we have also had our fine Marks, our
45:52: Lukes, our Tituses, and our Timothys. And I hope you understand what fine examples that these persons have been to this body of Christ.
46:06: I single out to you Jim Cadle and Archie Carpenter, who have been with this church for decades.
46:13: Also their late wives, Lucy and Betty respectively, who meant so much to our family.
46:20: Jim and Archie have seen many pastors come and go, but they have been mainstays in this church for longer than I've been alive.
46:29: Also consider the ministries of Dorothy Olson and Susan Eversall, and also
46:35: Margaret Rainwater, who passed away a couple of years ago. They have all been great examples to me and to this body, and good friends.
46:46: I also think of strong women like Janet and Jessica. You both grew up in this church.
46:53: You have been friends to me and servants of this body, and for your perseverance, your reward will be greater than you know.
47:01: Julie, who is not here today, has likewise been a sister to me, and I think we've all seen the kind of adversity that Julie has faced, and yet when she comes in here, she just keeps on smiling.
47:12: Don and Brenda Manns, you have been such hard workers, also for decades. I'm sorry to have to highlight that,
47:18: Brenda. And you have desired no recognition except that everyone leave
47:25: Brenda a seat close enough to the vent in the summertime. Thank you for your work.
47:32: Matt and Kim Mikeal, I don't know what we are going to do for Thanksgiving this year, but I am so thankful to Matt and Kim for being willing to open up your home to others, and I hope they keep an eye on this young lady up here in our absence.
47:49: I still keep in touch with many of the families who have been a part of this body, and the Lord has moved them to other places. I was shocked to see
47:56: Leslie Corman standing in our driveway a few days ago talking with Becky and with Sonia. The Cormans have remained good friends.
48:05: The Hickersons and the Dodds, both in Leavenworth, continue to express their affection for this church.
48:11: I still get occasional encouraging text messages from Sam Hickerson, one of their sons. Also from Kevin Hadley.
48:18: He and his wife, Kim, and their umpteen kids are doing well in Colorado. And every time
48:23: Kevin sees a humorous mug or meme online that reminds him of me, he's sure to text it to me.
48:30: Some of you may remember Justin and Blankey Arthur, who were recently appointed to the children's ministry in their church in California.
48:40: Justin texted me and said, I may be calling on you soon for some tips and some pointers. Ryan and Hannah Springer, now in Tennessee, welcomed their first baby just last month and sent
48:49: Becky and me a picture. Those of you who remember the LaCour's, Joe and Beth LaCour. Joe was a teacher here.
48:56: They're now living in Indiana. I talked with Joe just last week, and they just finalized the adoption of two girls.
49:03: I think that brings the total of their household to 42 or something like that. There's a lot of kids in that family.
49:12: Aaron and Leanne Dunn just welcomed their fifth child. We're holding the Dunns piano for ransom so that they have to come back here eventually.
49:21: Thanks to the recommendation that was given by this church, Aaron has started theology classes through Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
49:28: And because the Lord brought the Dunns to our church, he also brought Tom and Becky. Thank you both for your compassion and your willingness to serve.
49:40: Tom, your kind messages to me were more appreciated than you know. Church, please do what needs to be done to approve
49:47: Dave Echol for deacon, and I'm sorry that I did not get that process completed before my departure.
49:54: Speaking of deacons, I'm happy to report that Raymond and Jubilee Kinney have found the church that they will soon be joining in Houston, and no,
50:00: Will, it is not Joel Osteen's church. Will and Brittany, it has been my pleasure to watch you grow in the faith.
50:16: As Paul said to the Thessalonians, I know that God has chosen you because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the
50:25: Holy Spirit and with full conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1, 4 through 5. Hold fast to Christ and to each other.
50:33: You have more of a leading influence in this church than I believe you realize.
50:40: I'm going to continue on. I'm going long, but it's my last sermon, so I'm allowed to. Morenos, I encourage you also to grow in the knowledge of God, and I see teachers in you both.
50:53: To the Croisants, same to you as well. Hong, thank you so much for the dry cleaning and the avocado juice.
51:02: I enjoyed your cultural insights and getting to know you more at Men's Study. Thank you for attending.
51:08: To my brother Augusto, all is forgiven. I have enjoyed our conversations, and it's good to see you back.
51:17: God will give you peace in these days, though your body may not. Charlie and Becky and Jerry, thank you for your continued ministry to those who are recovering from substance abuse.
51:35: Continue to hold fast to Christ in all things. Charlie, I will indeed miss your good cooking, and I have no idea yet who
51:43: I'm going to call when my water heater goes bad. Also to Alistair and Zenaida, and to all the
51:51: Palauans, the Lord has blessed y 'all with knowing how to feast and how to fellowship, and I am looking forward to the food that we are going to be partaking in here in just a few minutes.
52:03: Sonia, there is too much to say that a few words here can cover. You've done so much for this church, but do not do more than you can handle, and don't do more than you've been called to do.
52:18: You have been a friend to me and closer than a relative to my kids, but the thing
52:24: I'm most thankful for is the friend that you have been, the friend you have been to my wife.
52:33: You know the circumstances that brought you here, and I can't be too upset at that family because they brought us you.
52:40: I am eternally grateful to David and Vicki Bleasner, who left us before I left you, and they moved to Florida at the beginning of this year.
52:51: The encouragement that Dave gave me, the mentorship that he provided, and the admonishment that I received.
52:58: He helped me grow as a pastor, and sometimes Dave just had to tell me to calm down sometimes, and that was the voice of reason that I needed to hear in that particular circumstance.
53:08: I would not have made it 10 years without Dave, and he's the kind of man that I hope that every pastor has beside him.
53:15: Aside from my own dad, I don't think that any man has had more of an impact on my life than Dave has had, and I do miss him.
53:25: I'm so privileged to have met Pastor Dwight and his wife, Lily, and their family, and I will never forget that night in November of 2016 when a group of Palauan men walked through the doors of First Southern Baptist Church and asked if they could become part of our church.
53:42: We said yes to our fellowship in the Lord. Pastor Dwight is a man of few words, but those words that he has spoken,
53:51: I will always cherish. Dwight and Lily have not been blessed with much, but they have always given much.
54:00: He has been a good friend. Encourage him in these coming weeks as he takes on the responsibility of preaching in the interim.
54:10: The pastor who follows me in this pulpit will not be me. There are things that you may think that he does not do as well as Gabe did them.
54:20: I remember those growing pains after Pastor Nate left, and Nate surely felt that even as he filled in following Brian Jones' leave.
54:33: I can already tell you that the next pastor that comes here and preaches will not have the radio voice that I have.
54:40: But my friends, there are things that he is going to do that are far better than I did them. I was very poor at administration and delegation, and he's going to come with his own strengths and weaknesses.
54:52: Encourage and uplift him. Allow him to lead. As it says in Hebrews 13, 17, submit to him as one keeping watch over your soul, as a man who will have to give an account.
55:06: Let him do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
55:12: Let's finish up 2 Timothy 4, verses 14 -15. Paul says,
55:18: Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
55:27: I believe you know who my Alexander the coppersmiths have been without me having to mention their names. A man and his wife who lied.
55:35: Over and over they lied. They lied to me and about me. They lied to you and about people in this body.
55:43: They attempted to divide this church, and very unfortunately, there were some casualties. The Lord will repay them for their deeds, but I still pray for their repentance.
55:55: The heartbreak and the threats that I have received, whether it has come from people in this body or it's messages that people have sent to me online.
56:03: They are not fun when I have had to endure them, but I rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.
56:12: In verse 16 we read, At my defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.
56:18: May it not be charged against them. And you can hear in Paul's words, the love of the Savior who prayed from the cross,
56:25: Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And here's how I want to encourage you in this.
56:30: There are people who have left this church and some of them may come back just because I'm not the preacher anymore.
56:36: Maybe they didn't like me and they're interested in who the next guy is. And if that happens, my friends, welcome them.
56:44: I hold no grudges. I wish that we could have been reconciled while I was still here, but I hope that no one keeps anyone out who desires to hear the teaching, the gospel of Christ proclaimed.
56:56: There are certainly wolves in sheep's clothing that we need to be aware of. And 1 John 4, 1 says that we must test the spirits for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
57:05: But there are others who have sinned in ignorance and may it not be charged against them. As I have shared with you before, by the time we depart this earth for glory, we will not have perfectly repented of every sin that we have committed against God.
57:21: And yet God will welcome us into heaven anyway. Grace be with all who love our
57:28: Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible, as Paul concludes his letter to the Ephesians.
57:34: He goes on here in verses 17 to 18, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me, the message might be fully proclaimed and all the
57:43: Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
57:54: To him be the glory forever and ever, amen. And my friends, the
58:00: Lord is going to do the same thing for you. He is going to rescue you from every evil deed. As the
58:05: Apostle Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians 1, verse 6, I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ.
58:17: He will bring you safely into his heavenly kingdom. Consider this doxology that we have often closed so many services with in Jude, verses 24 and 25.
58:48: It's in that doxology that it says, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.
58:58: In all things turn to Christ. He will keep you to the end.
59:06: And so not to leave out verses 19 to 22, greet Priscia and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.
59:12: Erastus remained at Corinth and I left Trophimus who was ill at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter.
59:18: I was trying to get to Texas before winter, but apparently that's not happening. Eubulus sends greetings to you as do
59:25: Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit.
59:31: Grace be to you. And my friends, those are my parting words to you. The Lord be with your spirit.
59:39: Grace be with you. When we understand the text. Please stand together and open your hymnal one more time.
59:51: Peace by creation shall not be lost in all the world.
01:02:08: I sing not in part but the whole.
01:02:16: This will raise the
01:02:30: Lord to a day which shall be signed the clouds be rolled back as a scroll.
01:03:18: The trump shall resound and the
01:03:26: Lord shall descend. Even so it is well with my soul.
01:03:44: It is well with my soul.
01:03:57: It is well it is well with my soul.
01:04:12: Thank you for listening to our weekly sermon presented by First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, Kansas.
01:04:17: For more information about our church, visit fsbcjc .org.
01:04:23: On behalf of our church family, my name is Becky, inviting you to join us again this week, Growing Together in Christ, when we understand the text.