2 Timothy part 4

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

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Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.�

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the

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Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth. We have a little slogan, �Always Biblical, Always Provocative, Always in that Order.�

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That�s what we�re after. I had some

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Swedish fish the other day at my daughter�s basketball game.

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They have a little concession stand there. By the way, on a serious note, my daughter plays on the

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JV team. It costs me, I don�t know, $180 for uniforms and sweats and travel gear or something, jerseys and warm -up gear.

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It cost me probably a couple hundred just to like participation stuff for the buses and blah, blah, blah.

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And then I have to pay five bucks to get in the game. This is JV girls basketball, five bucks to get in.

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I said to them the other day, because they said seniors three, students and seniors three, I said, �How much for a senior and what�s the age for a senior filming sometimes with Sam�s help.

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I know, except here�s the thing, you�re not really a good radio show until there�s people like in Australia and New Zealand who like you enough to fly you there.

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Boy, it�s snowing out so hard. What am I going to do? There�s a little problem here at No Compromise Radio�s studio location.

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We have a driveway. So to get up the driveway, you just can�t drive up slowly in the foot of snow.

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You got to back up a little bit. So when you back up, you rev it, you throw it into gear, you fly up the ramp, but then now you�re at the top of the street and here�s the highway.

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So you can�t slide in to the oncoming traffic. So in 20 years, we haven�t had any accidents.

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The parking lot, yeah, but you can just imagine. I did notice on the Twitter feed, Church Crumudgeon, it�s a funny

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Twitter handle, here�s what the Church Crumudgeon says today. Today is, I think, January 7th in real time.

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�You�re invited to the church parking lot at 10 a .m. tomorrow to watch our spectacular show,

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Seniors on Ice.� So that�s me now.

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That�s me, Seniors on Ice. Oh, man.

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What�s the whole, what�s the whole, is it the Thames River? The Thames River?

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Thames, Thames, Thames. You know, how do you pronounce those kind of things? You know, if you don�t know, you just don�t know.

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Well, there�s a listener, Jordan, his last name is T -H -A -M -E -S. Jordan, how do you pronounce your name?

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I just wanted to tell all our listeners. This guy�s stalking me. So if you recognize him, he�s got glasses, sometimes wears an

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I am Barabbas shirt. You need to be careful. He�s the kind of people we want to be careful about,

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Jordan Thames, Thames, Thames, Thames. Squirrel.

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All right, today we�re talking about 2 Timothy, as we�re looking at the book of 2 Timothy and talking about a lot of other things, including guacamole down at the mall.

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Paul in jail, writing last will and testament to Timothy.

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You can really sense the personality of Paul coming out of this letter. You can, quote, unquote, feel the passion.

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Paul is going to be dead soon. He knows it. Tradition says he was beheaded on the

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Austin Way. I actually, when I was in Rome, not last time, but two times ago, since we do have no compromise radio listeners there, no, but two times ago when

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I was in Rome, I tracked down the place where tradition says Paul was beheaded. And it�s in a little place called the

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Three Fountains Church. It�s a Roman Catholic church, the Three Fountains, something like Tre Fontanus or something like that,

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Fountain Valley. Anyway, I was trying to find it. When you�re in Rome and you�re talking to young people, they all speak

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English. When you�re outside of Rome or any big city, you know, I�m in Berlin, they all speak English, the young people.

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I�m outside of Berlin on a bicycle. My bicycle is not working. I�m trying to tell the bike shop guy,

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I need my wheel trued. What do you do? It�s just hard. Well, I�m in Rome and I find where it�s at, at least the place, the church name, but I can�t find

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Paul�s little cell. They say they�ve got a jail cell where Paul was, which is my wife and I.

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We took the subway and then we had to take a couple of trains and so, sorry, excuse me, buses.

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Buses were hard. So we finally get there. It�s taken us all day. It�s south of Rome and I can�t find the jail.

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I see the fountains, three fountains and the Roman Catholic lore was

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Paul�s head is chopped off. It bounces three times. That is, his head bounces three times and from where his head hit, those exact spots, a fountain magically, mystically, transubstantially occurred.

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So there�s three fountains where his head hit three times. Bonk, bonk, bonk. Well, I don�t believe it, but it�s interesting to me because it just is, right?

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If you want to show me where you think Mary was assumed into heaven, it�s an interesting spot.

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It�s better than kissing the Blarney stone, right? Well, I�m looking for the jail and I�m asking the

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Roman Catholic nuns, where�s Paul�s jail? I don�t speak Italy, Italian.

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I mean, I know Spanish is sometimes close, but my Spanish is English and I say, you know, �Donde esta

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Paul�s�, I know some

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Greek, �Paul�s�, and I said, �jail.�

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They didn�t get it. I met some other nuns and I said, I�m just, okay, just if you go through synonyms, sometimes, you know, the words from one language to another might, you know, have the same

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Latin root. If you know Glatin, that is

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Greek and Latin, you�ve pretty much got most languages figured out, I figure.

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And so I said something about �Paulo�s incarceration.�

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Oh, and she grabbed my wrist and said, �Paulo�s incarcer�, something like that.

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That�s how my memory serves me. And she took me over and pointed me to this little sign that said, �Paulo�s incarcer�, where he was incarcerated.

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And I said, �Thank you.� I said, how do you say, �Gracie ,� �Gracias ,� �Gravino ,� �Johnny

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Gravino.� He�s in Rome. That�s what I said, �Johnny Gravino ,� �Johnny Gravino, where are you ?�

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And we just went down there on our own and there�s a little place where they think Paul might have been incarcerated.

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I mean, all these kind of places where you think, oh, this is where, you know, it was and it�s a real spot.

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I don�t really, it doesn�t have to be the real spot for me. I don�t get less time out of purgatory for having the spot.

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You know, if you do find the spot, oh, that�s interesting. And one of the reasons why I love the Sea of Galilee is

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I know Jesus was, you know, on the Sea of Galilee in a boat and on, you know, his feet, you know, literally on it, walking on water.

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But walking around and by the Sea of Galilee, I don�t need to know the exact, exact spot.

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It�s just interesting. It�s cool to think, here�s Jesus by the Sea of Galilee, you know, in a little boat so he can preach to everybody because crowds were pressing in or I skip a rock and think, you know,

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I know this is kind of dumb, but I think Jesus probably skipped rocks on the Sea of Galilee. I mean, what do you do?

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You go to the Sea of Galilee and you pick up rocks and throw them in. One time we went to a place where Peter supposedly was fed by Jesus after the resurrection, you know, with the breakfast.

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And we pulled up. This is I think my fourth time I went to Israel and I�d never been to this little spot before on the northwest side of the

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Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias. And it was fairly cold. It�s February, right?

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But we�d like to go in late February. By the way, you can go to Germany with us and Geneva. Go in Luther�s Church and Calvin�s Church and Zwingli�s Church in Zurich, May 20th through 30th.

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Got some spots open. No compromise radio tour. Get on the bus or get run over by the bus.

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That would be a different ministry. They moved. And so anyway,

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I went down to the prison with my wife, my missus.

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And there weren�t bars. It wasn�t like it�s like modern day. They had some way to, you know, keep the guys in.

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But I noticed it was locked. I couldn�t get in but they had like a hole at the top and probably where there was bars there or something blocking it.

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So I had Kim. She was my sentinel. So she stood over by the bottom of the stairs where the nuns would have to walk down.

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And since the Statue of Liberation, Statue of Limitations expired,

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I climbed up and in. Took me a while. I mean, I was probably 40 at the time.

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So it took me a little while. When was that? 2000. 40. I was 40.

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Climbed in and got some pictures.

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Climbed out. That was hard. You know, you got to put like one leg up and squeezing through. It felt like I was in an

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MRI tube. Paul�s in jail.

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Maybe it was that jail. Maybe it was one close by. And he�s writing to Timothy.

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And I�ve got seven charges after the introduction in Timothy, 2 Timothy, to try to just give us some pegs to put our mind around and affix our minds to, adhere, adherence.

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Suffer. Defend. We�re at the defend part where Paul is saying in verse 13 and 14, �Retain sound words.

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Guard this thing that�s been entrusted to you, the gospel.� Some haven�t, right?

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Phygelus and Hermogenes. They didn�t. They didn�t stay with me. You preach Christ. You�re the one that guards the gospel.

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By the way, you guard the gospel by you keep believing it, and of course you proclaim it. Luther said, �We always preach

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Him, the true God and man. This may seem a limited and monotonous subject, likely to soon be exhausted, but we are never at the end of it.�

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You just keep preaching it to people, immature people, mature people, believers, unbelievers. That�s why

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I like John MacArthur on Larry King, because that�s just what he�s going to do. Spurgeon talked about someone who said to him, �Ah,

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Mr. Spurgeon. If Jesus does love me like that, He�ll never hear the last of it, and you�ll never want to hear.�

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Right? What else would Christians, Christians, Christians want to hear about but Jesus, the Christ?

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Second Corinthians 4, �For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus� sake.�

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There were some people that left. Timothy, you retain, you guard. Some left, but you know what?

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Some weren�t ashamed. Verse 16 of 2 Timothy 1, �The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

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But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me.� There were negative examples of people that didn�t retain and guard, but there are positive examples of someone who did.

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The Lord to grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

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Faithful to the gospel. The listeners have to be faithful. Ordination language of the past, which would be appropriate for installation services and everything else.

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How about this? In the presence of God and these witnesses, do you promise to hold your ordination so that no loss will come through your holding?

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That's the way Paul is talking to Timothy. Teach what is in accordance with sound doctrine.

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He'd say that to Titus. The temptation of every gospel minister, cut off the edges that are difficult like wrath and hell.

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Contour the righteousness of God's righteousness. Immutability, you know, that's got to go.

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I mean, God is holy, but immutably holy? God is righteous, but immutably righteous? Suffer.

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Defend. Now, number three, as we're thinking through 2 Timothy, 2

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Timothy chapter two, verse one through 13, defend is number two.

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Suffer is number one. And now, number three, depend. Suffer, defend, depend.

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You can't rely on your own resources. Your own

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IQ isn't enough. You have to be strengthened by the grace that's found in Christ Jesus.

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Can't do it on your own. How do you do these things? How do you do the things like retain and guard, and how do you do the things that he's going to say now in this chapter about discipling and working hard?

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You, therefore, my son, 2 Timothy 2 .1, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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Now, I typically think the NAS is a far better translation than the

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ESV. There are exceptions. Here's the exception.

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You then my child. This is ESV. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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So the NAS says be strong in the grace, ESV is be strengthened by grace.

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That's better. It is a present passive imperative, and it means you need to depend on God.

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Can't do it on your own. Be strengthened by God. You're going to need strength to suffer, retain, and guard, right?

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You suffer, depend, defend, and now you're going to have to depend on the Lord because you've got other things that you're going to do. You need strength.

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You need to be strengthened over and over and over. Paul, kindly, my child, but you're going to need strength.

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The one doing the strengthening is the Lord, the Lord Jesus. I can do all through him who strengthens me.

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That's the idea. In the strength that God supplies, you're to be loyal, and you are to be faithful.

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Can't do it on your own. God's powerful gospel strengthens,

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Romans 16 .25, now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ago.

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Strengthen you according to my gospel. Paul says the gospel is the source of how you get your strength, and he's a powerful source.

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William Gurnall, the Puritan, said, one almighty is more than all mighties. One almighty is more than all mighties.

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Did you get that? I know the people that are new to the no -co, maybe it takes a minute, but you're old -timers, you get it, right?

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If you're new from the dividing line or wretched radio, it might take you a minute to figure it out. Romans, I mean, think about the book of Romans.

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It starts off in chapter one about, you know, Paul saying, I want to make you strong.

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I'm going to give you something that makes you strong. It's the same word there that's used here. God establishing, making strong.

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It's going to be the gospel. This is good for the church to hear because the church needs to realize, let's lean on the pastor.

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Let's lean on the elder board. The rock, the solid rock, you've got to be strengthened by the gospel.

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It's not just the pastor. You know, you can't rely on him. You need something firm and fixed that strengthens.

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And it's the word sterizzo. You can think of the word steroid, where it, from the inside out, makes you strong and stable against, you know, temptation.

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Persecution, you need to be strong. Against error, you need to be strong. You know, personal holiness, you need to be strong.

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Persecution, you need to be strong. And God's the one that does it. You can't do it on your own. Not to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

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Amen. You have no sufficient power in and of yourself for gospel ministry.

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Nobody does, whether it's you, who's a leader listening today, or a layperson. And this applies to everything, doesn't it?

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Home Bible study, being a godly husband or wife, being a godly student, evangelism.

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You need something that's going to settle you and firmly make you stable. God's the one.

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And probably the best way to do this is you think, I just have to pray. Lord, you're going to have to strengthen me.

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I just can't do it on my own. There's no possible way. Hebrews 12 .9,

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it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. Now, Paul transitions here a little bit in 2

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Timothy, and you need to know,

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Timothy, you want a reason why you need to be strengthened by grace? Because you've got to pass on the baton to the next generation.

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You're going to need it. Paul would know by example, wouldn't he? It says, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

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You're going to need it, strength. You need it. You can't do this on your own.

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You entrust by teaching. The reason you need to be strengthened with Jesus Christ's power is because you're going to have to train, and you're going to have to be a soldier, athlete, farmer, work hard, suffer, suffer hardship.

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So what Paul does here, it's very fascinating. You're going to need strength, Timothy, for gospel ministry, because it's like being a soldier.

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He gives three illustrations of hard workers, those that sweat, toil, need discipline.

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The common three things between the soldier, athlete, and a farmer, as one man said, is undivided service, vigorous undivided service.

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And you're going to need to work hard as a soldier of Christ Jesus, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

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No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as soldier.

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How are you going to do this? How are you going to suffer hardship like a soldier would? You know,

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I think about the men in World War II in Bastogne and the Ardennes Forest, and just getting just blown to bits by the artillery, the

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Germans, knowing that the men were just up there. Nothing they could do. The ground's too hard to dig a hole.

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Bam, bam, bam. Easy companies up there and other, it's just amazing.

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You're going to need strength. And so Paul says, like a soldier, you're going to need strength. God's grace is sufficient for me,

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Paul says. It's going to have to be for you. Because to have discipline and strength and everything else and single -minded purpose, have these blinders on, who could do that themselves?

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Who could stay in the lanes of gospel ministry between the books of, you know, here are your lanes, your running lanes,

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Genesis and Revelation? Stay within those. The analogy is they work hard because they're soldiers, and then

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Paul goes into something else. He goes into the athlete metaphor that we'll have to talk about next time.

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So we have to make sure we write this down. End on 2

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Timothy 2 .5. See how professional we are there? That's where you pick it up. I have to write that down or else I would forget.

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I would forget that we talk about this thing. I'm preaching from an iPad and sometimes it doesn't work out so well.

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We're going to talk about Christian bestsellers of 2016 soon enough. We're going to be talking about a variety of things, some new books that have come out.

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I used to get books from publishers and I'd have to interview them. I need Don Green on the radio as well, so he'll be up in January too.

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This is Mike Gabendroth with No Compromise Radio. If you'd like to have me speak at your church,

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I will send the writer. Always biblical, always provocative, always begging for everything.

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You can write us. So seriously, if you've got a question about something, Mike at NoCompromiseRadio .com.

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We'd love to help you and serve you in any way. We're glad you listen. I'm really thankful that people write encouraging notes and that you benefit from the program.

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No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a non -profit organization that provides services to people in need. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.