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Now, I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military styles. It wasn't the type of people... ...to come with me, if you will, to 2 Timothy chapter 3, please. We are going to stay in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and 4, if you'd turn there with me.
The title of this sermon is Preparing for Difficult Times. If the past two years have shown us nothing as the church, it's that things can change very quickly and very radically, yes? Our job is not simply to respond to those times, but I tell you, if you're always in a reactionary state, it will prove futile if you have not prepared ahead of time.
We won't have time to react to respond to every threat to the faith. Preparedness must happen before then. If you open your eyes, that the world is much bigger than the suburb you live in, you'll see that most of our brothers and sisters around the world already have this knowledge and are already experiencing it now.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we do not prepare for the difficult times ahead, then we are already failing. So how do we do that? How do we prepare for those times? Today, we are going to see in the last letter Paul ever wrote, how he told Timothy to prepare for those times, a young pastor at a church.
This is what Paul says the times will be like. I'm in chapter 3, verse 1. This should be at the top of your page. But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
And for those of you that missed it, please notice that we're not talking about the atheist here. We're not speaking of the homosexual or the transgender. It's those who have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.
And I pray that if that's anyone in this room, that you repent today, and ask yourself how many of those qualities we just read define you, as I ask myself the same question. Because in the last days, that's no news that the world will be those things.
That's not what it says. It says those who have the appearance of godliness on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead man's bones. Those are the ones these qualities are talking about. It would be nothing new to say that about the world.
Let's talk about within the quote-unquote religious church. Now, that's pretty doom and gloom. But 2 Timothy is Paul's command to Timothy on how to respond to that very situation. Look what he says. He says, you prepare for difficult times with the right message.
Check out chapter 3, verse 13 and 14. While evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. No freaking out.
No, what do we do now? No, let's change it up and call an audible. When things get like that, guess what Timothy's supposed to do? Continue in that which he's already learned and what he's already firmly believed.
Again, in chapter 4, verse 1. The last charge Paul ever gave, he says to Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.
Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming. Notice again, this is within the so-called church. The time is coming, verse 3, when people will not endure, not tolerate sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.
They will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. And verse 5 tells us, what's Timothy supposed to do when that happens? Verse 5, as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
My Sunday night crew, remember, a few years ago, I read a series of quotes, and then asked them who they thought said these quotes. And they were quotes such as, only silly mythicists believe the world was flooded, or that the Bible is the word of God, or that the Bible accurately represents who Jesus was, or that there's such a thing as a historical Adam.
And it was not an atheist, it was not a college professor, it was a pastor of 45 ,000 people. Look again, the time is coming where they won't endure sound teaching. But, see, it's not that they'll reject the appearance of it.
They will accumulate for themselves teachers who will teach what pleases their ears. Sound familiar, church? That which is pleasing to their ears to suit their own passions. Remember, Satan is good at his job.
If he had told Adam and Eve there is no God, they would have ignored him, because his evidence is clearly perceived. But that's not the lie Satan told. What did he say? He said, did God really say? Did God really say?
That's the most dangerous lie. And it's said from pulpits. Did God really say, man and woman, did God really say all human beings are created in the image of God? Did God really say you shall not murder?
Having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers for their own passions. And what's Timothy to do? Preach the Word. Fulfill his ministry. Hold steadfast, even if he stands alone. We prepare for difficult times with the right message.
Leaders, I ask you, and by the way, leaders means one who has influence, yes? Do those under you recognize that what you're teaching them are the things of God? Husbands, when was the last time you spoke of the Scriptures with your wife?
Parents, do we raise our children in a religious setting or in the instruction and discipline of Yahweh? Something that may hit some of us square in the eyes, myself included. If the Bible tells us parents to raise our children in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord, don't we have to know what that instruction is?
We can't teach someone something we don't know ourselves. Okay? That's why we preach the Word. That's why we learn the Word. We prepare for difficult times with the right message, but not just with our words.
Check out chapter 3, verse 10. You, however, have followed my teaching, and it doesn't stop there, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness. Why did Timothy follow Paul?
It wasn't because he spoke well. It's because he lived out that which he preached. Timothy followed Paul because he lived out that which he taught. That's why Timothy followed Paul. His conduct, his aim in life, not just the words that came out of his mouth, but how he actually lived.
And maybe this is the one that will hit most of us square in the eyes. Not just what he said, but what he did. People rebel against hypocrisy. Some people in this room are living proof of that. Maybe truth, or at least partial truth, was spoken to you, but never lived out as an example, and you use that as an excuse to rebel.
Not so with Paul. He looked at Timothy, he looked at the church at Corinth, and said, you could literally follow me because I'm following Jesus. Can you say that? We as human beings are pretty easy to figure out.
We will rebel, not necessarily against truth. Not always. Sometimes it's just when that truth is not practiced as it's taught. You know, one of the main reasons people rebel, people respond so harshly to the Green Party in this country, for example, is not always because they have nothing good to say.
It's because they don't live out what they preach. They tell you to quit using straws or you'll kill the polar bears, but they will get on a 50 ,000 pound plane and fly halfway across the world to an island to have some convention about saving the planet.
And we rebel against hypocrisy, don't we? You know, when something is forced upon someone and not lived out, what normally happens is we rebel against it. For two generations now, it has been crammed into the minds of our children that biblical creation is a myth and that evolution is the only sane way to think about how this world came into existence.
I'll tell you this, I believe that within a couple of generations, that will fade. And I don't believe it will be because most of the world will turn to God, it's because they'll find another idol to put in its place.
Let me tell you why. It is preached as truth and not lived out. It is preached that we are mindless protoplasms just responding to chemical reactions in our brain and make no conscious decision about it.
And yet those same professors tell you it is wrong to teach about God. And then when you ask them, well, if I'm just responding to chemical reactions in my brain, how is it wrong? How can you say something is wrong or right if it's just a reaction in my brain?
I have no conscience, no image of God to tell me what's right and wrong. You see, they don't practice what they preach. So humanity will rebel against that too. But unless there's humility with it, they'll just find another idol in its place, as they already are.
People rebel against hypocrisy. Leaders, parents, husbands, I beg you. Not just what comes out of your mouth, but the meditation of your heart. Your light so shines that they can see your good works before you ever open your mouth and glorify the Father that's in heaven.
We prepare for difficult times with the right message. And Paul sums it up in verse 15 and 16 by saying, from childhood you've been acquainted, chapter 3, with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
All Scripture is breathed out by God. And it's profitable for teaching, for proof, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Every good work.
What we have here, listen please, is what we need to accomplish every good work in this world. We don't need another movement. We don't need to adjust with the times. We don't need to adjust our thinking to the newest movement or philosophy.
What we have in here is adequate, is complete, for us to accomplish every good work. To reach the loss for Jesus, the Word of God. To raise our children, the Word of God. To be a church, the Word of God.
To disciple, the Word of God. To help those in need, the Word of God. To take care of widows and orphans, the Word of God. Every good work can be accomplished through obedience to the Word of God. That's what we need.
Is more obedience, not just memorizing, but obedience and application to God's Word in our lives. You prepare for difficult times with the right message, but also by not dwelling on past mistakes. Point number two.
Paul says, at the end of his life, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. I have some of you in mind when I say this. Please notice, not an attitude of self-pity, not an attitude of defeat, but one of confidence and victory.
This is a man that spent decades, decades of his life being disobedient to God. And when he looks back on his life, instead of sulking in that which he did wrong, he has victory in what God has done in him.
He looks back on his life and says, Yeah, that was old me. But from the calling of Jesus till now, I may have fallen, but I got back up. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
Keeping the faith is compared to fighting, to racing. In other words, it's an action, not a feeling. If you have been at this place for any amount of weeks, I pray that that has sunk into your brains and in your hearts.
Faith is not a feeling. It is a changing of the heart and the mind to obedience and conformity to what God has spoken. That's what faith is. That's what faith is. It is believing and acting that something outside of your control is true, regardless of how you feel.
Faith is a fight. It is a race. And that race is not a ten yard sprint, but a marathon, as Hebrews tells us. But it is a progression. And I ask you, are you putting up a fight? Are you making progress in that race?
Because I tell you, faith is not stagnant. It's not stagnant. There's no such thing as running a race with your feet planted firmly. There's no such thing as fighting with your hands down. Faith produces actions.
I have another example though, maybe one that we miss here, in chapter 4, of not letting our past mistakes keep us from preparing for the difficult times ahead. Check out chapter 4, and I'm going to start reading in verse 9.
Paul speaking to Timothy, do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me. Verse 11, Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me in the ministry.
Let me talk to you about Mark for a minute. Mark, or John Mark, was not one of the original twelve. Can we know this? This is the guy that wrote Mark the Gospel. He's not one of the original twelve disciples.
He was a disciple of Peter. You can read the end of 1 Peter, chapter 5, and Peter calls him his son. In other words, his disciple. Now, these two gentlemen both did the same thing. They both deserted Paul when he needed them most.
You may remember this, and I wrote down on your paper where you can read about it later in the book of Acts, chapter 13 and 15. Paul and Barnabas took Mark on a mission trip. Now, Mark was Barnabas' cousin, but halfway through the trip, Mark left.
We don't know why, but he abandoned them. So when it came time next year to sign up for the next year's mission trip, Paul said, you're not coming. Now, this is Barnabas' cousin. So Barnabas is like, Paul, come on.
Come on. I mean, I understand he deserted us when we were trying to preach the Gospel, but this is my cousin. Paul said, he is not going on a mission trip with me. So Barnabas and Paul split. Now, that is not where the story ends because later, Mark, in humility, and maybe even Paul with some humility, reconciled.
Paul and Barnabas are seen again together. Mark and Paul here at the end of his life in a very small list of people. Paul says, bring with you John Mark because he is very useful to me in the ministry.
Now, Mark fell. Mark abandoned his people. But in humility, Mark repented. The difference between Mark and Demas is that when faced with conviction, Mark repented in humility. Demas doubled down on his sin and left.
That's the difference. It's the same difference, by the way, between Peter and Judas. One repented. One doubled down on their sin and rebellion. That's the difference. That's the difference. The mark of Mark's usefulness is not that he never failed because he did, but it's that when he did, he repented, church.
He repented in humility. That's the difference. If you are hearing the voice of God, today is the day of repentance. Today is the day of salvation. And the longer you wait, the easier it will be to double down on that rebellion.
Amen? We prepare for the future with the right message. We prepare by not focusing on our past mistakes, but looking forward to what lies ahead. By not sulking in what we've done wrong, but looking at what God can do with a humble and repentant sinner.
And lastly, we prepare for the future by focusing on the Master. Chapter 4 verse 1. I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead and also by His appearing and His kingdom preach the Word.
Here Jesus is defined as the judge. Now remember, Jesus judges believers and unbelievers, but not in the same way. The whole world has already been deemed guilty. Believers have now had their sentence, those who believe in Jesus Christ, and they have been declared righteous.
Declared righteous. No condemnation right now. Not just on the day of judgment, but right now. No condemnation exists for those who are in Christ Jesus. None. No condemnation. You already feel guilty.
That guilt has been placed on Jesus and you have been declared righteous. Whom the Son has set free is truly free. And for the rest of the world, the great white throne awaits. And I pray that's no one in this room because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.
The mark is not moral living. That's a result. The mark is humility and repentance to Jesus, our only God and Savior. Jesus here is listed as the judge of the living and the dead. Also the one to appear again.
As Paul already wrote to the other pastor, Titus, we eagerly wait expectantly for our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. One more time. Right here. We are to eagerly wait expectantly for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ladies and gentlemen, remember, and I said this Wednesday, Christ is not Jesus' last name. Okay? Much like Steve Carell thinks it is in the office. Christ is not His last name. Christ is a title. That is the Messiah, the one promised in the Old Testament.
Okay? That's the one promised. Jesus Christ is meaning that Jesus the person fulfilled the role of the Christ that was promised long ago. Okay? What was the example we used Wednesday? Harry Potter. The Chosen One, yes?
The Chosen One was prophesied long before Harry fulfilled it. Gosh, I can't believe I just used that example. Okay? The one to balance the force was prophesied before Luke ever fulfilled it, yes? Well, Jesus is the Christ.
The Christ was promised in Psalms. The Christ was promised in Genesis. The Christ was promised in Daniel. And Jesus is the one who fulfilled that. The eternal Son of God fulfilled that. While we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, remember, ladies and gentlemen, the one who fulfilled that role, the Christ, the one who would humble Himself to take on the form of a slave.
Notice again, He humbled Himself. He wasn't humbled by the Father. He humbled Himself. The eternal Son of God took on that role. You see, all other would-be religions are about man trying to pile up merit to build a ladder to climb to God.
Only in biblical Christianity is this, that you can pile up whatever you want, and it says, minstrel rags before our God. But He came to us, assumed the form that He created, put Himself under the physical laws that He created, and then was rejected, scorned, and murdered by the people He created.
He's the potter. They're the pots. The pots killed Him. That's what happened. When you call Jesus the Christ, you're saying He's the fulfillment of all that that was promised long ago. We can prepare for the future by focusing on who our Master is.
And who our Master is is the King. Notice, the King, not a king. He is the King. Look again in verse 1. By the appearing and His kingdom. Now yes, Jesus will physically reign on this earth. And that time is all the more near now.
But make no mistake, He is still reigning right now from heaven. He is still the King of kings and Lord of lords right now. Before He left, what did He say? Some authority has been given to Me? Or what?
All authority has been given to Me. My time of humiliation is over. These 35 years of humbleness is over. And guess what? I'm back on the throne. And all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Right now, Jesus is in charge of the nations. Right now, He's reigning. Psalm 110 says He's ruling in the midst of His enemies. Why Satan has power over this age. He is not the sovereign of the universe.
That's Jesus. Remember who had to come ask whose permission in the book of Job. God asked no one's permission. God does as He wills in the heavens and on earth. He does as He pleases. He's God. Jesus is King.
And He is reigning now. Now see, one of the last sentences Paul ever wrote. Verse 18. 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.
Amen. If Jesus was not God, that last line would be blasphemy by the way. Because only God gets the glory. Did you catch that? Does anyone know how Paul died? His head was cut off. I just thought of Dumb and Dumber.
Sorry. His head fell off. Great movie. Emperor Nero, one of the most evil human beings to ever walk this planet, killed Paul and Peter by the way. Peter was crucified upside down, tradition says, with his wife next to him.
Paul was beheaded. So did Paul's prophecy not come true? Did everyone else just read verse 18 like I did? It says, the Lord will deliver me, will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His kingdom.
Ladies and gentlemen, don't you see how sovereign our King is? That what nations plan for evil, He's already planned for good. That what kings mean for selfish intentions, God has already planned it for good.
And what's so beautiful is Paul doesn't say that God will respond to Nero and figure out the best way to handle the situation. No. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed. And what they mean for evil, God has always intended for good.
You see, He's the King. He's the Sovereign. Let us have the attitude of Paul. Whatever dark times are ahead, Jesus is Sovereign. And He will bring us safely into His kingdom. As Paul opened this letter, chapter 1 verse 12, he says this, Endure suffering, for I know whom I have believed in.
And I am convinced that He is able to keep what was entrusted to me until that day. Let me say that again. I am convinced that what was given to me to keep safe, that He's able to keep it safe until that day.
I know whom I believed in. And I am convinced that He's able to keep what was entrusted to me until that day. We prepare for difficult times with the right message. By not dwelling on past mistakes, but by focusing on who our Master is.
Brother Andrew, I'm going to ask the music people to come up. And I'm going to sum up by saying this. Church, we need no new theory. We need no new program. We need a reformed, a reiteration of obedience to God's Word.
Of obedience to what He has told us to do. And in these times, we prepare by obeying all the more today than we did yesterday on what He has written. We don't dwell. We learn from, but we don't dwell on our past failures.
But we reach forward, as Paul says in Philippians, to what lies ahead. And what does lie ahead? According to the book of Hebrews, the race that He has set before us. Paul says, I don't think about what's from behind.
I reach forward to what's ahead. But the book of Hebrews tells us that we run the race. That marathon I told you about? You know when you run a marathon? I don't because I never run one. The course is already set out.
The course is already set out. The trail has already been blazed. The writer of Hebrews tells us to run the race that has been set before us. It's been set before us. Laying aside, church, every sin and every weight that so easily ensnares us.
And run with endurance. With endurance. And while we forget what's behind and reach forward to what's ahead, we remember who we're following. The great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you really believe that God created the world out of the breath of His mouth, then you should recognize that's also how He wrote His Scripture.
By the breath of His mouth. It is breathed out by God. The same power He used to say, let there be, He looked at His Bible and said, let there be. And through the pens of men, He gave us His Word, which is sufficient for us, church, right here, Witton, you, for every good work.
This is what we need. And obedience to it. As I ask the pastors and the leaders to come forward, I ask everyone to stand, I ask you, do you have that obedience? Is it marked off in your life? Are you preparing for the difficult times ahead?
Because ladies and gentlemen, I thank you, I promise, they're coming. They're coming. And for some of us with our eyes already open, they're already here. But they're coming all the more. If you wait to react for that, it will be too late.
We prepare now. Not by running around, freaking out, saying the sky is falling. But by continuing in what we have learned and what we've been taught. And by more obedience to it today than we were yesterday.
If you need help learning how to do that, you come forward today as God leads.