No One Stood With Me (2 Timothy / Personal Testimony)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. It wasn't much encouraging about the Roman Empire except that Paul was getting people in Caesar's household saved.

Most Christians didn't know that. So you don't even know the great things that are going on. Don't get sidetracked with all the other stuff. So it appears Paul is doing this great work and he's going to continue it as long as he has breath in him.

Philippians 1 verse 15, he says this about the critics that I mentioned. Paul says, Some indeed preach Christ, even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my chains.

So it seemed as though Paul, when he was in prison, this was an opportunity for others to kind of steal the spotlight a little bit. They were so misguided that in their messages, in their sermons, they were taking shots at the apostle Paul.

And hey, he's in prison. What's he going to do about it? But you know what Paul's attitude was when he heard this? He didn't get all down and have a pity party. You know what he did? He was glad. He was glad that at least the gospel is being preached.

Look at it again. First Timothy, or excuse me, Philippians 1 verse 15. He said, Some indeed preach Christ, even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my chains.

But the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. Here's the great part. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice.

Yes, and will rejoice. That's the right attitude. At least they're preaching Christ. What's the title of the message? Finishing Strong. Paul was a man who finished strong, partially because he did not let discouragement get the best of him.

And more than that, he was strong in the grace of God. We've been talking a lot about the grace of God lately, going through the book of Galatians, talking about the gospel of grace. And, you know, it's always helpful to keep your eyes focused not on the sheep, but to keep your eyes focused on the shepherd.

Speaking of discouragement, if you kind of look around at the sheep, sometimes you can start to feel like, well, you know, or sometimes you look in the mirror and that can discourage you. And you have you ever asked yourself, do I really have the strength to keep going?

Maybe you don't want to admit that, but some of you may have had that thought. Do I have the strength to keep going? That's the wrong question. OK, that's the wrong question. You may be a soldier in the Lord's army, but the battle belongs to who?

The battle belongs to the Lord. So love the sheep, care for the sheep, encourage the sheep. Keep your eyes, though, on the shepherd. He is able to keep you from stumbling. OK, let's go back to Second Timothy.

Second Timothy, this time, chapter three, just along that idea that the Lord is able to keep us from stumbling. The battle belongs to him. It's all about him being strong, not in our own power, but in his grace.

Jude, verses 24 and 25, says now to him who is able to keep you from what? Falling or stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Lord, keep us. We have to pray.

Lord, keep us from falling. Lord, keep us from stumbling. Just on a personal note, many years ago, several years before I was ordained, I was just so certain that the Lord had called me into the ministry.

And then things got really, really difficult, especially with my health. I spent the better part of a year in the hospital. I had six abdominal surgeries and many more procedures, and nothing was working.

Nothing was helping. They couldn't figure it out. I had some friends afterward tell me, they said, you know, we weren't even sure you were going to make it. I mean, there were some days laying in the hospital bed alone day after day after day.

Yeah, I really started to wonder. I have to admit, there were moments where I felt like giving up, but God intervened. God intervened. I give him the credit. I started to get better. I regained my strength, but still that call to ministry, it just didn't really seem like it was going to happen.

But then one night, the Lord reaffirmed his call to me in such a way where if I told you, I don't even know if you'd believe it. But the point is, the Lord taught me a lot during that time. It was a time of testing, no doubt about it.

It was a time of testing. And I say all of that to say this, if some of you feel like giving up, this is your moment of testing. This is your time of testing. Finish strong. Jesus never promised it would be easy.

He just promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. Look at what Paul says to Timothy in chapter 3, verse 12. So there's the discouragement, but then there's also the persecution. Chapter 3, verse 12 says, Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer what?

Persecution. Now for Paul, that persecution was severe. He's now in, I believe, his second imprisonment. Tradition tells us Paul dies as he is beheaded by Nero. If you accept the tradition, Timothy finished strong in the apocryphal acts of Timothy.

And I know you hear that term and you say, well, then it's not real if it's apocryphal. Well, we don't really know. This is the tradition regarding Timothy. It states that in the year 70 AD, Timothy is an 80-year-old bishop in Ephesus.

And you know what he does as an 80-year-old man? You say, well, by the time you're this age, you know, what can you do for God? Hey, this is what Timothy did. You know what he did? He halted a procession of worshipers to the goddess Diana.

And he stopped this procession by preaching the gospel to the crowd. And guess how they responded? They didn't respond positively. The angry pagans beat him, dragged him through the streets, and stoned him to death.

But he kept his faith. He finished well. He finished strong. Paul would have been proud. I guarantee you that. Paul would have been proud. And Timothy, more importantly, Timothy would have been received into glory by the Lord himself, hearing the words, well done, good and faithful servant.

That's what I want to hear. Not sure that's the way I want to go out. But that's, hey, if I, if I, there's worse ways to go. Amen. So by God's grace, I pray that we will all finish well. And, and we say, Lord, come quickly.

You know, we, some people have the mindset now and things are getting worse. Lord, just come now and take us. You know, hey, I pray that the Lord would return. You know, come quickly, Lord Jesus. But even so, Lord, come.

You know, he may have another five years for you, 10 years. Some of you, he may have another 50 years for you. These things are not up to us. So we need to do what?

Be faithful.

Finish well.

Okay, let's go back to chapter four. We'll start to bring this to a close. Now, during his second imprisonment, just before his death, Paul says, 2 Timothy four, starting in verse six, or I am already being poured out as a drink offering.

And the time of my departure is at hand. So he, he kind of knows what's coming. He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give me on that day.

And not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Do you love the Lord's appearing? Are you looking for the Lord's appearing? What does that mean? Because the return of Christ is imminent, and it could happen in every generation.

This crown is not just for the apostle Paul. This crown can be yours. If you are faithful looking for the Lord to return, we're going to go one way or another, either through natural or physical death.

That's one way, or the Lord will return. I want to, I want to be in that generation that sees the Lord return. And by the way, I know people have been preaching about the rapture, the rapture of the church now for a long time.

We'll just put it that way. And, you know, there have been some, and in their zeal, they have kind of set a date or a timetable. And I think what that has done with some people, it causes some people to say, well, I don't think it's ever going to happen.

Remember that guy who said it was going to happen on this day, and this guy said it was near. And I remember a preacher from 50 years ago saying it's near, and it hasn't happened. And that can cause some people to think that, well, maybe I'll never see it.

Just because somebody says something that's ridiculous or maybe not wise, don't let that affect you. The Lord's return, you know what the Bible says, it is at hand. No matter what anyone else says, the Bible says the Lord's return is at hand.

You could see it. So we need to be faithful, finish strong. Revelation 2, verse 10, Jesus says, be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. So Paul finished well. He finished strong.

Going back to what I said at the beginning of the message, I pray that if the Lord tarries, whenever my time comes, I pray that I will die serving the Lord. If I keeled over behind, I know it wouldn't be great for you, but if I keeled over from this pulpit, I mean, not today, Lord, preferably, that would be okay with me.

It really would. But if I cannot, because some people can't because of age or health, if some people can't die serving God, I pray that I would at least die in church, not in church, but that I would stay in church.

And if I can't do that because some people aren't even able to come, they're bedridden or whatever, I pray I'd at least have the peace of God in my heart. We want to finish well. We want to finish strong.

All right.

Look at verse nine, because not everybody finishes well. Paul says, be diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has what? Has forsaken me. Having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica, Cretans for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me and get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And then verse 16, Paul says that my first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.

You notice what he said. Everybody has forsaken me. Everybody has bailed. They've all dropped out. Demas has abandoned me.

Why?

It seems that he's a fair weather disciple. When things got difficult, when things didn't go the way he thought, he bailed. Demas was a man who did not finish strong. And unfortunately for him, it's immortalized in the pages of scripture.

How would you like that? Titus departed. It doesn't seem as though Titus departed from the faith or anything like that. But Paul clearly seems disappointed that he didn't stay with him. Only Luke remained, the beloved physician.

Luke stood by Paul's side. We need men and women like Luke today. And then Mark. One last comment on Mark. The man who disappointed Paul by dropping out of the mission early, which led to a break between Paul and Barnabas.

What does this show? That a man who made mistakes in the past can get back on track. Paul says he is useful to me for ministry. This is what the church needs. Faithful men and women who are useful for ministry, who serve God, continue serving God in good times and in bad, because that's really where the test is.

So praise God for men like Luke. Praise God for second chances for men like Mark. And praise God for all the men and women who remain faithful to the Lord.

Amen.

So let's all encourage one another to finish and to finish strong. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God, be with you.

Amen.