1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,120 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible to contact us 2 00:00:08,120 –> 00:00:14,740 call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org. 3 00:00:14,740 –> 00:00:17,540 Let us get to the message. 4 00:00:17,540 –> 00:00:19,459 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:19,459 –> 00:00:24,959 Well please open your Bibles would you at 2 Timothy and chapter 1. 6 00:00:24,959 –> 00:00:29,600 We come today to last in our series on the Apostles Apprentice in which we have been 7 00:00:29,719 –> 00:00:34,680 following the life of Timothy and we have been asking the question how can we be more 8 00:00:34,680 –> 00:00:43,599 useful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we focussed last week on 1 Timothy chapter 9 00:00:43,599 –> 00:00:52,040 4 and verse 16 watch your life and your doctrine closely. 10 00:00:52,040 –> 00:00:57,959 Persevere in them, Paul says to Timothy because if you do you will save both yourself and 11 00:00:57,959 –> 00:00:59,520 your hearers. 12 00:00:59,520 –> 00:01:01,959 Your life and your doctrine. 13 00:01:01,959 –> 00:01:04,379 Watch them closely and keep watching them. 14 00:01:04,379 –> 00:01:09,419 These two things together because you see your life and your doctrine, our life and 15 00:01:09,419 –> 00:01:15,320 our doctrine will stand or fall together. 16 00:01:15,320 –> 00:01:22,279 Our message will be useless if we loose our grip on living a good life. 17 00:01:23,239 –> 00:01:31,300 But equally a good life will be useless if we loose our grip on the message. 18 00:01:31,300 –> 00:01:35,680 So life and doctrine stand or fall together. 19 00:01:35,680 –> 00:01:40,959 So this is why Paul says to Timothy in these exhortations that he gives at the end of his 20 00:01:40,959 –> 00:01:42,019 life, 21 00:01:42,019 –> 00:01:45,180 Timothy watch your life and your doctrine closely. 22 00:01:45,180 –> 00:01:49,820 Now last week we looked at what it means to watch your life and today we are going to 23 00:01:49,900 –> 00:01:55,739 focus on what it means to watch your doctrine closely and particularly we will focus on 24 00:01:55,739 –> 00:01:58,339 the second letter to Timothy. 25 00:01:58,339 –> 00:02:01,180 Watch your doctrine closely. 26 00:02:01,180 –> 00:02:03,120 What does that mean? 27 00:02:03,120 –> 00:02:09,179 It means watch what you are hearing, watch what you are believing 28 00:02:09,179 –> 00:02:14,020 and watch what you are teaching and passing on to others. 29 00:02:14,080 –> 00:02:20,119 Now, if you turn to 2nd Timothy chapter 1, you’ll find there one of the marvelous summary 30 00:02:20,119 –> 00:02:25,300 statements that are scattered through the New Testament about the core of the message 31 00:02:25,300 –> 00:02:27,979 that has been trusted to the church. 32 00:02:27,979 –> 00:02:31,639 Paul says in chapter 1, verse 11 of 2nd Timothy, 33 00:02:31,639 –> 00:02:37,619 Of this gospel I have been appointed a herald, an apostle and a teacher. 34 00:02:37,619 –> 00:02:39,279 Of this gospel. 35 00:02:39,279 –> 00:02:40,279 What gospel? 36 00:02:40,300 –> 00:02:43,360 Well, he describes it in chapter 1 in verse 10. 37 00:02:43,360 –> 00:02:44,339 He says, 38 00:02:44,339 –> 00:02:49,100 God’s grace has been revealed through the appearing of Jesus Christ our Savior who has 39 00:02:49,100 –> 00:02:57,639 destroyed death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 40 00:02:57,639 –> 00:02:58,979 What is the gospel? 41 00:02:58,979 –> 00:03:01,720 Paul says it boils down to two things. 42 00:03:01,720 –> 00:03:02,880 Number one. 43 00:03:02,880 –> 00:03:08,380 Jesus Christ has destroyed death. 44 00:03:08,839 –> 00:03:11,979 Now, let’s think about that for a moment. 45 00:03:11,979 –> 00:03:18,940 If death were simply the end of life, it would not be that big of a problem. 46 00:03:18,940 –> 00:03:21,800 Some people long for death. 47 00:03:21,800 –> 00:03:29,619 If the pain of life is great, then death may actually seem like a relief. 48 00:03:29,619 –> 00:03:34,380 But the bible makes it clear that death is not the end of life. 49 00:03:34,380 –> 00:03:39,899 If you think of death as the end of life, you have completely misunderstood its nature. 50 00:03:39,899 –> 00:03:44,220 The bible makes it clear that death is the wages of sin. 51 00:03:44,220 –> 00:03:47,860 It is the consequence of sin. 52 00:03:47,860 –> 00:03:51,279 There was no death in the garden of Eden. 53 00:03:51,279 –> 00:03:53,960 Death came as a result of sin. 54 00:03:53,960 –> 00:04:02,179 That, of course, is why Christians die too, because we also are sinners. 55 00:04:02,179 –> 00:04:03,259 Now let’s think about this. 56 00:04:03,300 –> 00:04:12,699 There is no suffering in the world that can compare with the horror of dying in your sins. 57 00:04:12,699 –> 00:04:17,519 Nothing in this world could compare with that horror. 58 00:04:18,119 –> 00:04:36,019 Famine, homelessness, cancer, abuse of any sort, would fade into insignificance in comparison 59 00:04:36,019 –> 00:04:43,519 with what it would mean to die in your sins and face the eternal judgment of God. 60 00:04:43,519 –> 00:04:51,519 Nothing in this life, no suffering in this life comes close to that. 61 00:04:51,519 –> 00:04:59,019 And yet, that is the ultimate reality that confronts every individual, in every culture, 62 00:04:59,019 –> 00:05:11,019 in every generation, whether male, female, rich, poor, young, old, celebrity, or unknown. 63 00:05:11,040 –> 00:05:18,040 Now remember that Paul was about to die when he wrote this, so he’s pretty focused on the 64 00:05:19,140 –> 00:05:24,859 subject. In chapter 4, he says to Timothy, the time has come for my departure, he’s talking 65 00:05:24,859 –> 00:05:30,980 clearly about his death. But Paul knew as a Christian believer, that because of Jesus 66 00:05:30,980 –> 00:05:37,980 Christ, his death would not be an entrance into judgment, but rather it would be a glorious 67 00:05:38,959 –> 00:05:43,339 translation into the presence of Jesus Christ. And he says to Timothy, with his note of triumph, 68 00:05:43,339 –> 00:05:50,339 this is what we have to tell the world, Timothy, that Jesus Christ has destroyed death. That’s 69 00:05:51,440 –> 00:05:55,579 why it’s a message you see that touches every culture, people from every kind of background, 70 00:05:55,579 –> 00:06:01,760 and is unchanged in every generation. He’s destroyed death. How has he done that? Well, 71 00:06:02,200 –> 00:06:06,799 if you check 1 Corinthians 15, you’ll find the pull states there, the sting of death 72 00:06:06,799 –> 00:06:13,799 is sin. So by dealing with the issue of sin through his death on the cross, Jesus has 73 00:06:14,619 –> 00:06:20,720 drawn the sting of death, so that death for a Christian is still an enemy. I mean the 74 00:06:20,720 –> 00:06:27,720 Bible describes it as the last enemy. Nobody wants to die. But for the Christian believer, 75 00:06:28,480 –> 00:06:33,619 for the Christian believer, death is like a scorpion without the sting. There’s all 76 00:06:33,619 –> 00:06:39,980 the difference in the world. Death, says Paul, has therefore been swallowed up in victory. 77 00:06:39,980 –> 00:06:46,980 Jesus Christ has destroyed death. How? By taking the sting. By bearing sin on behalf 78 00:06:47,480 –> 00:06:54,480 of His own people. He’s destroyed death. Second, Jesus Christ has brought life and 79 00:06:55,299 –> 00:07:02,100 immortality to light through the gospel. He’s destroyed death. He’s brought life and 80 00:07:02,100 –> 00:07:05,440 immortality to light through the gospel. This is what He’s done and this is our message 81 00:07:05,440 –> 00:07:11,739 to the world. Now what is life? That’s a great question. 82 00:07:11,739 –> 00:07:18,739 What is life? So many folks who we know wonder through life and this world looking to find 83 00:07:19,739 –> 00:07:26,739 purpose. Who am I? Why am I here? And the problem of course is that we do not instinctively 84 00:07:30,420 –> 00:07:37,339 know what life is. So what happens is that we pursue life, we make friends, we set goals, 85 00:07:37,339 –> 00:07:43,940 we build equity, we start families, we pursue hobbies, we build relationships, we have leisure 86 00:07:44,160 –> 00:07:49,640 and we plan retirement and somehow we are still faced with the question, what is life? 87 00:07:49,640 –> 00:07:56,640 What is it really all about? Paul says here that Jesus Christ is the one who has brought 88 00:07:57,899 –> 00:08:02,500 life to light. He has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. We were in the 89 00:08:02,500 –> 00:08:07,420 dark about what life really is. We did not know. But Jesus Christ has switched on the 90 00:08:07,420 –> 00:08:13,700 light. He has shown us what life is. Jesus is the One who reveals what we call eternal 91 00:08:13,920 –> 00:08:19,459 life, or He calls it eternal life. He said this in John chapter 17 and verse 3, This 92 00:08:19,459 –> 00:08:26,480 is eternal life. This is what it is that you may know God and Jesus Christ whom He has 93 00:08:28,339 –> 00:08:35,340 sent. That is what it is. See your life was uniquely created by God. You are made in His 94 00:08:36,099 –> 00:08:43,099 image and you are made for His glory. It’s who you are. It follows that your greatest 95 00:08:47,820 –> 00:08:54,840 pleasure and your highest fulfillment of purpose will be in knowing Him and enjoying Him forever. 96 00:08:54,840 –> 00:09:00,739 And apart from this you cannot find who you are or what life is. And it is Jesus Christ 97 00:09:00,739 –> 00:09:05,219 who through His death and resurrection has made this knowing and enjoying God possible 98 00:09:05,219 –> 00:09:11,479 for you so that you can find life and begin living it now. Whatever your struggles, whatever 99 00:09:11,479 –> 00:09:17,280 your failures, whatever your wounds and whatever your disappointments, He has brought life 100 00:09:17,280 –> 00:09:22,179 and immortality to light. He has opened it up for you. 101 00:09:22,179 –> 00:09:27,940 So here’s the Gospel. Jesus Christ, He has come into the world and He has done two things. 102 00:09:27,979 –> 00:09:31,960 He has destroyed death and He has brought life and immortality to light through the 103 00:09:31,960 –> 00:09:37,799 Gospel. In other words, He closes down death for His people by drawing its sting and He 104 00:09:37,799 –> 00:09:42,960 opens up life for His people by bringing us into a living relationship with Himself. 105 00:09:42,960 –> 00:09:49,960 Now this is the Gospel in a summary form. Paul says to Timothy, of this Gospel, I am 106 00:09:50,179 –> 00:09:57,179 a herald, an apostle and a teacher. Don’t you thank God for this Gospel? If you are 107 00:10:01,979 –> 00:10:08,659 a Christian believer you are saved by this Gospel. Death is transformed by this Gospel 108 00:10:08,659 –> 00:10:15,659 for you and life is transformed by this Gospel for you. Life, death, and eternity. 109 00:10:16,299 –> 00:10:23,299 Now, since we are saved by this Gospel, we together have a responsibility to this Gospel 110 00:10:31,659 –> 00:10:38,659 and I want us to think about that responsibility that we who believe share together. I want 111 00:10:39,340 –> 00:10:46,340 us to do that by inviting you to think about the person who delivers your mail. I was talking 112 00:10:48,979 –> 00:10:55,700 recently to Mike Blaze who delivers the mail here to the church and Mike does a terrific 113 00:10:55,700 –> 00:11:01,739 job. He has been delivering mail to the church here and to the immediate area surrounding 114 00:11:02,059 –> 00:11:09,059 the same route for 34 years. He has done a marvelous job. Pastor Ted caught 115 00:11:10,200 –> 00:11:15,960 a word with Mike yesterday, and told him that he would have a starting role in today’s sermon, 116 00:11:15,960 –> 00:11:19,619 and so, Mike, if you are here in one of the services, or you are here listening to the 117 00:11:19,619 –> 00:11:26,619 tape, we appreciate you and what you do. Now Mike, the mailman, has three basic responsibilities. 118 00:11:26,780 –> 00:11:33,780 And we depend on him for that. Number one, to receive the mail. Number two, 119 00:11:37,580 –> 00:11:44,580 to guard the mail. And number three, to deliver the mail. Mike has been faithful in doing 120 00:11:47,419 –> 00:11:54,419 these three things for 34 years. Collecting the mail, bringing it securely, delivering 121 00:11:54,780 –> 00:12:01,780 it to us. And I think that his responsibilities to the mail actually help us think about our 122 00:12:03,260 –> 00:12:09,340 responsibilities in relation to the Gospel. Let me lay it out in these three ways. 123 00:12:09,340 –> 00:12:15,419 Number one, we are to receive the Gospel, we are not to invent it. We are not the creators 124 00:12:15,419 –> 00:12:22,419 of it. We are rather those who receive it, and thereby pass it on. Now I want you to 125 00:12:22,580 –> 00:12:29,580 imagine just for fun that one day as you arrive home at your house, you see your mailman or 126 00:12:29,979 –> 00:12:36,979 your maillady sitting outside your house and seeing them there with a pen and paper in 127 00:12:36,979 –> 00:12:43,659 their hand, sitting on your doorstep. You say hello, saying what are you doing? Oh, 128 00:12:43,659 –> 00:12:50,619 says your mailman, I’m writing you a letter. I’m getting kind of tired of bringing other 129 00:12:50,760 –> 00:12:55,419 people’s letters to this neighborhood and so I’ve decided after these years I’ll start 130 00:12:55,419 –> 00:13:02,179 writing my own to you instead. And so later in the evening, you open this letter and sure 131 00:13:02,179 –> 00:13:07,380 enough what a delightful letter it is. You read in it about your mailman’s life, his 132 00:13:07,380 –> 00:13:14,059 experiences, his personal struggles, his hopes and his dreams, along with some very insightful 133 00:13:14,059 –> 00:13:19,320 thoughts from your mailman about how you can pursue a happy life, build a healthy family 134 00:13:19,479 –> 00:13:23,659 and find greater fulfillment all around. And you’re surprised you see some of these things 135 00:13:23,659 –> 00:13:29,280 are quite helpful. I never knew that my mailman was such an insightful fellow. 136 00:13:30,659 –> 00:13:34,460 The problem is that a week later you haven’t received your mail. 137 00:13:36,679 –> 00:13:39,719 And so one day you say to your mailman, you know I really appreciate these letters that 138 00:13:39,719 –> 00:13:44,919 you’re sending me these days, because he’s sending you a new one every day, but haven’t 139 00:13:44,919 –> 00:13:52,039 you picked up my mail from the post office? Oh, he says, I don’t have time for that. 140 00:13:53,380 –> 00:14:00,159 I’m far too busy writing letters to this entire neighborhood. Now, your mailman 141 00:14:00,159 –> 00:14:06,280 maybe a delightful fellow, but if he is writing your mail instead of collecting your mail, 142 00:14:06,280 –> 00:14:11,320 he is not a good mailman. Now you’ll laugh frankly, because the picture is ridiculous, 143 00:14:11,359 –> 00:14:18,900 but think about this. Is this not precisely what happens in the church? When a pastor 144 00:14:18,900 –> 00:14:25,900 instead of bringing the word that God has given, brings instead a compilation of his 145 00:14:26,659 –> 00:14:34,419 own experiences, his own struggles, or his own insights on life. Some of these may be 146 00:14:34,419 –> 00:14:39,700 helpful and he may indeed be a delightful fellow, but they are not the message that 147 00:14:39,700 –> 00:14:45,520 he has been entrusted to bring. Now you see what Paul is saying to Timothy 148 00:14:45,520 –> 00:14:50,760 here. Timothy – don’t do that. Don’t go there. Not even for a moment. Your job is 149 00:14:50,760 –> 00:14:57,760 not to create the message. Your job is to receive the apostolic message and pass it 150 00:14:57,760 –> 00:15:04,760 on precisely as you received it. Look at that in chapter 1 in verse 13, what you heard from 151 00:15:05,179 –> 00:15:12,179 me keep. Keep it as the pattern, the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ 152 00:15:12,679 –> 00:15:16,739 Jesus. Now think about what Timothy – what Paul 153 00:15:16,739 –> 00:15:21,799 could’ve said. He could’ve said, now Timothy I’m at the end of my life, I’ve tried 154 00:15:21,799 –> 00:15:27,000 to be faithful in my generation. You’re a younger man, you’re gonna face a whole 155 00:15:27,000 –> 00:15:31,400 different set of challenges, different environment, different set of felt needs and all the rest 156 00:15:31,440 –> 00:15:37,880 of it. He could’ve said, Timothy your great challenge is going to be to take and filter 157 00:15:37,880 –> 00:15:43,559 what I’ve said, to build on it, to adapt it, to reshape it to your own generation and 158 00:15:43,559 –> 00:15:49,000 the different felt needs that you will find in your time or indeed in other circumstances 159 00:15:49,000 –> 00:15:55,919 as you move to other places. But there is no creativity that is commended 160 00:15:55,940 –> 00:16:07,000 with regards to the message. Timothy was trusted with delivering the apostolic teaching in 161 00:16:07,000 –> 00:16:18,320 it’s entirety, in its proportion and intact. What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern 162 00:16:18,739 –> 00:16:25,039 of sound teaching. It’s very clear isn’t it? Very striking. 163 00:16:25,039 –> 00:16:30,500 The message that the church is to communicate was given by Jesus Christ to the Apostles 164 00:16:30,500 –> 00:16:37,020 and if you trace this in the Pastoral Letters 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus you’ll find that 165 00:16:37,020 –> 00:16:44,020 it is referred to variously as the faith. The definite article is always used. The faith. 166 00:16:44,859 –> 00:16:55,859 The truth. The teaching. Chapter 1 verse 14 the deposit or the gospel. It is never reduced 167 00:16:55,859 –> 00:17:04,739 to a single formula but it is this Apostolic teaching given clear and consistent expression 168 00:17:04,739 –> 00:17:13,739 throughout the New Testament and our responsibility is not to adapt this message or to remould 169 00:17:13,739 –> 00:17:20,219 it or even to build on it or to develop it. Our responsibility is to receive it like the 170 00:17:20,219 –> 00:17:29,540 mailman so that we may pass it on faithfully as God gave it to the apostles. Now if that 171 00:17:29,540 –> 00:17:33,800 does not happen in the church, it will not happen anywhere else in the world and therefore 172 00:17:33,800 –> 00:17:40,780 this is a critical responsibility. Timothy watch your doctrine closely. Make 173 00:17:40,979 –> 00:17:48,640 sure that what you believe and what you teach fits the pattern of sound teaching that you 174 00:17:48,640 –> 00:17:54,359 heard from me, the Apostle Paul. To use another picture that those who are in construction 175 00:17:54,359 –> 00:18:03,219 will connect with, cut the line of apostolic teaching. That’s what you’re to do Timothy, 176 00:18:03,839 –> 00:18:12,540 sure that you’re teaching is always a faithful expression of what the apostles have said. 177 00:18:12,540 –> 00:18:20,859 Make sure that you’re saying what I have said. Now this speaks for all of us today I think 178 00:18:20,859 –> 00:18:26,500 to a very important question which is simply, how do you know what to believe? It’s an important 179 00:18:26,719 –> 00:18:33,719 question. Even in church world people teach different doctrines so how are you supposed 180 00:18:36,500 –> 00:18:43,500 to know what you should believe. If you glance over one page to chapter 1 verse 17 you’ll 181 00:18:44,459 –> 00:18:48,099 find that even in the church that Timothy was the pastor there are these characters 182 00:18:48,099 –> 00:18:55,099 Hymenaeus and Philetus. And they’ve obviously found a teaching niche somewhere and we’re 183 00:18:55,839 –> 00:19:02,839 told that their teaching will spread like gangrene. And so how do you know what is truth 184 00:19:02,839 –> 00:19:08,540 and what is gangrene? Very important to know the difference, isn’t it? 185 00:19:08,540 –> 00:19:12,760 The way that you know the difference between what is truth and what is gangrene is that 186 00:19:12,760 –> 00:19:19,760 you measure what you hear by the pattern of the Apostolic teaching. You ask the question 187 00:19:20,439 –> 00:19:27,439 – Is what I am hearing here a faithful representation of the Apostolic message? 188 00:19:28,439 –> 00:19:35,439 Let me add this comment. Please don’t be satisfied when you listen and when you read and when 189 00:19:36,300 –> 00:19:42,439 you try to discern in this confusing world in which we live. Please don’t be satisfied 190 00:19:42,439 –> 00:19:47,939 simply with a few proof texts, peppered here and there in a book or in something that is 191 00:19:47,979 –> 00:19:54,979 said. You see it is very easy to take a few proof texts, pepper them around a presentation 192 00:19:55,900 –> 00:20:01,900 and many people will think for that reason that it is biblical. That’s not enough. 193 00:20:01,900 –> 00:20:07,060 See, the cults will do that when they come to your door. Anytime someone comes from the 194 00:20:07,060 –> 00:20:12,380 cults, they counties they’ll throw you half a dozen scriptures. And it’s very easy to 195 00:20:12,380 –> 00:20:15,939 take a verse from here or a verse from there and make it sound like you’re so full of 196 00:20:16,099 –> 00:20:21,859 scripture, when actually it is merely a presentation of something else that has a few texts taken 197 00:20:21,859 –> 00:20:28,859 out of context and appended to it. So don’t be so easily deceived. 198 00:20:29,540 –> 00:20:34,239 Notice what Paul is commending to Timothy here in verse 13. It’s a very important verse. 199 00:20:34,239 –> 00:20:38,920 If you look at it carefully, please…chapter one and verse 13. He says, 200 00:20:38,920 –> 00:20:45,119 What you’ve heard from me keep as the pattern of sound teaching. Measure what you hear, 201 00:20:45,119 –> 00:20:51,719 measure what you read by the pattern of apostolic teaching. Ask the question, how does this 202 00:20:51,719 –> 00:20:59,599 cut the line of the New Testament gospel? Now it is your responsibility as a Christian 203 00:20:59,599 –> 00:21:08,900 believer to do this, and it is the responsibility of your pastors to make sure that you can. 204 00:21:09,900 –> 00:21:15,099 And that is our responsibility to the gospel in every generation, and indeed in every 205 00:21:15,099 –> 00:21:23,500 place, we are to receive the gospel, we are not to invent it. 206 00:21:23,500 –> 00:21:31,300 Number two, we are to guard the gospel and we are not to lose it. Looking here at chapter 207 00:21:31,300 –> 00:21:40,319 1 and verse 14, guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you. 208 00:21:40,319 –> 00:21:42,939 Obviously, you guard something that is valuable. 209 00:21:42,939 –> 00:21:48,520 A good mailman does not put the mail in the van and then wander off to the park and enjoy 210 00:21:48,520 –> 00:21:51,699 his sandwiches, leaving the mail to be raided. 211 00:21:51,699 –> 00:21:58,119 He guards what is valuable as it is trusted into his care. 212 00:21:58,160 –> 00:22:07,540 As a good mailman guards the mail, so a good Christian or a good church guards the Gospel. 213 00:22:07,540 –> 00:22:13,339 The greatest danger for us here is not, certainly in an evangelical church, our greatest danger 214 00:22:13,339 –> 00:22:19,239 is not that we abandon the Gospel in some drastic decision, our greatest danger is much 215 00:22:19,239 –> 00:22:20,339 more subtle. 216 00:22:20,339 –> 00:22:25,500 It is that we will simply wander away from the Gospel, because we’re not watching these 217 00:22:25,500 –> 00:22:27,520 things closely. 218 00:22:27,520 –> 00:22:35,280 Now, every parent, of course, has their personal story of that horrible moment where your child 219 00:22:35,280 –> 00:22:39,040 wanders and suddenly you realize you don’t know where they are. 220 00:22:39,040 –> 00:22:44,560 And it happened to us when we were on the beach in the south coast of England many years 221 00:22:44,560 –> 00:22:45,560 ago. 222 00:22:45,560 –> 00:22:50,540 Our youngest boy, David, was just about three years old as I recall it, and he was with 223 00:22:50,540 –> 00:22:51,540 his cousins. 224 00:22:51,540 –> 00:22:55,420 There was a whole group of us on the beach and the kids were filling buckets of water 225 00:22:55,540 –> 00:22:58,560 from the ocean and bringing them back up the sand. 226 00:22:58,560 –> 00:23:02,859 And I remember Karin saying with that kind of moment of tension in her voice, 227 00:23:02,979 –> 00:23:04,599 Where’s David? 228 00:23:04,939 –> 00:23:08,199 And I didn’t know, and then nobody else knew either. 229 00:23:08,199 –> 00:23:11,819 And we both felt that dreadful sense of panic and went off in opposite directions on the 230 00:23:11,819 –> 00:23:14,420 beach to search and to try and find him. 231 00:23:14,420 –> 00:23:18,339 Well, it was Karin who found him some time later in terrible distress. 232 00:23:18,339 –> 00:23:22,699 He was at the other end of the beach, completely lost. 233 00:23:22,699 –> 00:23:23,979 And it was clear what had happened. 234 00:23:24,060 –> 00:23:28,699 He’d gone down to the water and he’d kind of wandered, and he’d lost his bearings, and 235 00:23:28,699 –> 00:23:34,619 having lost his bearings, he had no idea to find his way back. 236 00:23:34,619 –> 00:23:41,260 Now, it’s very significant that Paul uses three times in the letter to Timothy this 237 00:23:41,260 –> 00:23:43,180 word, wandered. 238 00:23:43,180 –> 00:23:45,859 This is the big danger you see. 239 00:23:45,859 –> 00:23:53,339 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6, some have wandered away from these, that’s from the 240 00:23:53,400 –> 00:23:56,479 truth and have turned to meaningless talk. 241 00:23:56,479 –> 00:24:03,300 1 Timothy 6.21, he speaks of those who have professed what is falsely called knowledge, 242 00:24:03,300 –> 00:24:08,160 they’ve got caught up with some great insight that they think is going to open up everything, 243 00:24:08,160 –> 00:24:12,280 and he says so they have wandered from the faith. 244 00:24:12,280 –> 00:24:18,939 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 18, among them is Hymenaeus, or Hymenaeus and Philetus who 245 00:24:19,060 –> 00:24:24,979 have wandered away from the truth. 246 00:24:24,979 –> 00:24:34,459 This is why we need to pay constant attention, personally and together, in the life of the 247 00:24:34,459 –> 00:24:42,439 church that every program and every activity is faithfully representing that which has 248 00:24:42,680 –> 00:24:47,239 been trusted in the message to the church. 249 00:24:47,239 –> 00:24:51,680 Because if we do not watch that constantly, if we are not watching our life and our doctrine 250 00:24:51,680 –> 00:24:56,640 closely, what happens so easily, and we have seen it in other places, so many times, is 251 00:24:56,640 –> 00:25:02,719 that even a faithful church ends up wandering away, losing its bearings, forgetting what 252 00:25:02,719 –> 00:25:08,000 is the point in what we are actually trying to do and therefore over time becoming increasingly 253 00:25:08,000 –> 00:25:11,300 lost. 254 00:25:11,400 –> 00:25:14,119 So watch your doctrine closely. 255 00:25:14,119 –> 00:25:22,459 Pay attention lest there be drifts so that the center of gravity in what has grabbed 256 00:25:22,459 –> 00:25:28,300 your heart and mind is no longer the gospel, but is now something else. 257 00:25:28,300 –> 00:25:33,739 Of course there’s another way in which we can lose the gospel that is not so much by 258 00:25:33,739 –> 00:25:38,660 wandering, as by intentional reshaping. 259 00:25:38,699 –> 00:25:43,939 If you turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 3, you see that there. 260 00:25:43,939 –> 00:25:51,459 Chapter 4 verse 3, the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. 261 00:25:51,459 –> 00:25:59,380 Instead, here’s what they’ll do, to suit their own desires, they will gather round 262 00:25:59,380 –> 00:26:05,219 them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 263 00:26:05,219 –> 00:26:15,020 The driving force here is to shape a message that fits our desires. 264 00:26:15,020 –> 00:26:20,599 Now if you look back at chapter 3 and verse 2-5 which we touched on last week, you’ll 265 00:26:20,599 –> 00:26:22,339 see what these desires are. 266 00:26:22,339 –> 00:26:26,479 In the last days, there will be terrible times, Paul says. 267 00:26:26,479 –> 00:26:28,540 Chapter 3 verse 2. 268 00:26:28,540 –> 00:26:31,060 People will be lovers of themselves. 269 00:26:31,839 –> 00:26:41,359 There’s going to be verse 4, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 270 00:26:41,359 –> 00:26:46,800 So if these are the instinctive desires that are in us by nature, it’s not difficult to 271 00:26:46,800 –> 00:26:54,260 discern what a reshaped message will look like if it is driven by our own desires. 272 00:26:54,260 –> 00:26:59,719 The reshaped message will be a message about self rather than about God because we are 273 00:26:59,859 –> 00:27:02,579 of self by nature rather than lovers of God. 274 00:27:02,579 –> 00:27:07,520 It will, therefore, be a message about this world rather than about the world to come, 275 00:27:07,520 –> 00:27:12,439 which is why it’s very significant that in Chapter 2 and verse 18, Hymenaeus and Phaletas, 276 00:27:12,439 –> 00:27:15,560 who wandered away from the truth, what was their great error? 277 00:27:15,560 –> 00:27:20,819 They said the resurrection has already happened, which is another way of saying everything 278 00:27:20,819 –> 00:27:23,920 that Jesus Christ has to offer to you is in this life right now. 279 00:27:23,920 –> 00:27:28,079 Aim it, claim it, and believe it, and so forth and so on. 280 00:27:28,520 –> 00:27:35,180 Now, against this Paul says to Timothy, your responsibility is to guard the gospel and 281 00:27:35,180 –> 00:27:37,160 not to lose it. 282 00:27:39,160 –> 00:27:52,640 Don’t lose it by becoming distracted and sort of wandering away, don’t lose it by reshaping 283 00:27:53,619 –> 00:28:00,979 To suit the self-love and the love of this world that is in us all by nature. 284 00:28:02,359 –> 00:28:08,400 You must guard the gospel, Timothy, because if the gospel is not guarded in the church 285 00:28:08,400 –> 00:28:10,459 it will be lost to the world, right? 286 00:28:10,459 –> 00:28:15,619 I mean if it is not guarded here, where else will it be guarded? 287 00:28:15,619 –> 00:28:21,119 It is guarded in local churches, of which we are one. 288 00:28:23,619 –> 00:28:28,660 We are saved by this gospel and we have an intense responsibility to it to receive it, 289 00:28:28,660 –> 00:28:35,339 not invent it, to guard it and not to lose it. 290 00:28:35,339 –> 00:28:37,859 Here is the third thing. 291 00:28:37,859 –> 00:28:42,760 We are to deliver the gospel and not withhold it. 292 00:28:42,760 –> 00:28:45,260 2 Timothy 2 in verse 2. 293 00:28:45,260 –> 00:28:46,459 Just a few verses ahead. 294 00:28:46,540 –> 00:28:52,420 The things that you have heard me say, Paul says, in the presence of many witnesses, in 295 00:28:52,420 –> 00:29:01,000 trust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 296 00:29:01,000 –> 00:29:11,180 Now, notice the big point here that God’s delivery system for the gospel is people. 297 00:29:11,180 –> 00:29:16,280 So, if you are going to deliver this message, 298 00:29:16,280 –> 00:29:24,099 you need to do that by trusting it to reliable men. 299 00:29:24,099 –> 00:29:27,939 God’s delivery system for the gospel is people. 300 00:29:27,939 –> 00:29:35,560 Gave His Word to people, to Abram, to Moses, called and sent prophets with His Word. 301 00:29:35,560 –> 00:29:39,400 When He spoke to us supremely, He did that in His Son. 302 00:29:39,420 –> 00:29:46,719 And the Word became flesh and lived among us. 303 00:29:46,719 –> 00:29:53,780 Now that is why we send missionaries to the world rather than simply sending Bibles, right? 304 00:29:53,780 –> 00:29:55,380 You think about this. 305 00:29:55,380 –> 00:29:59,900 Wouldn’t it just be easier to send Bibles? 306 00:29:59,900 –> 00:30:02,900 Why do we send missionaries? 307 00:30:02,900 –> 00:30:12,060 Because God’s delivery system for the truth is through people. 308 00:30:12,060 –> 00:30:17,420 That’s why we have pastors and not just programs. 309 00:30:17,420 –> 00:30:22,939 This is, by the way, why it’s a right choice for the congregation historically to have 310 00:30:22,939 –> 00:30:25,500 invested in people, here and overseas. 311 00:30:25,500 –> 00:30:31,780 It’s the right thing to do, biblically. 312 00:30:31,780 –> 00:30:39,599 Now, to extend it out, that is why your responsibility is so critical, wherever God has placed you 313 00:30:39,599 –> 00:30:41,560 in the world. 314 00:30:41,560 –> 00:30:50,780 Because, His delivery system for the gospel is people, and He has placed you someplace 315 00:30:50,839 –> 00:30:57,119 where your life intersects with some unbelieving people, and how is God going to deliver the 316 00:30:57,119 –> 00:31:00,380 gospel to them? 317 00:31:00,380 –> 00:31:07,439 Through you, if you’re ready. 318 00:31:07,439 –> 00:31:16,219 What is it going to take for any of us to deliver what has been trusted to us effectively? 319 00:31:16,719 –> 00:31:18,579 Three things. 320 00:31:18,579 –> 00:31:20,560 Very simply. 321 00:31:20,560 –> 00:31:22,719 First, it’s going to take faith. 322 00:31:22,719 –> 00:31:26,300 You have to have faith if you’re going to be useful to Christ. 323 00:31:26,300 –> 00:31:31,040 2 Timothy chapter 1, in verse 13, that we’ve been focused on, what you’ve heard from me 324 00:31:31,040 –> 00:31:35,219 keep, Timothy, as the pattern of sound teaching with faith. 325 00:31:35,219 –> 00:31:39,699 Timothy, if you’re going to be really useful, you’ve got to hold this doctrine, you’ve got 326 00:31:39,699 –> 00:31:40,699 to hold it with faith. 327 00:31:40,699 –> 00:31:48,119 You’ve got to deeply believe it, yourself. 328 00:31:48,119 –> 00:31:52,439 If you are going to communicate the gospel effectively to another person, you have to 329 00:31:52,439 –> 00:31:54,939 be persuaded of the truth of it in your own life. 330 00:31:54,939 –> 00:31:58,439 It’s no use, Timothy, saying, you know, I learned a lot of this stuff from the apostle 331 00:31:58,439 –> 00:32:00,180 Paul when I was young. 332 00:32:00,180 –> 00:32:04,780 It is no use moving on into middle life, and saying, yeah, yeah, we learned something about 333 00:32:04,780 –> 00:32:07,859 that in college, and we heard about it in church. 334 00:32:08,699 –> 00:32:13,400 You have to believe it yourself, so that it grips your own mind and your own heart, so 335 00:32:13,400 –> 00:32:17,300 that you can deliver it to someone else. 336 00:32:17,300 –> 00:32:22,219 Have you come, truly, to believe that Jesus Christ has destroyed death, as far as you 337 00:32:22,219 –> 00:32:27,339 are concerned, and that he has opened life and immortality, as far as you are concerned? 338 00:32:27,339 –> 00:32:31,859 Have you come to believe that to such an extent that you may be a vehicle for communicating 339 00:32:31,859 –> 00:32:33,900 it to someone else? 340 00:32:33,900 –> 00:32:37,819 You have to hold it with faith. 341 00:32:37,819 –> 00:32:42,900 Second, if we’re to be useful to Jesus Christ, in this regard, and this is the whole theme 342 00:32:42,900 –> 00:32:45,920 of our series, we have to hold it in love. 343 00:32:45,920 –> 00:32:49,660 The same verse 13, what you’ve heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching 344 00:32:49,660 –> 00:32:55,380 with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 345 00:32:55,380 –> 00:33:01,619 And so, the question I have to keep asking myself, and we all do, is, how much do I really 346 00:33:01,619 –> 00:33:03,140 care about other people? 347 00:33:03,859 –> 00:33:14,420 And, how much does is matter to me that some folks who I know if they were to die tonight 348 00:33:14,420 –> 00:33:15,579 would be lost? 349 00:33:15,579 –> 00:33:23,020 Is that on my heart, is that in my prayers? 350 00:33:23,020 –> 00:33:30,500 Jesus looked at crowds, and He had compassion on them because they were a sheep without 351 00:33:30,500 –> 00:33:33,280 a shepherd. 352 00:33:33,280 –> 00:33:43,579 Now, you see, Paul, about to die, is saying, to Timothy, I want you to receive and guard 353 00:33:43,579 –> 00:33:48,400 and deliver this apostolic message in Ephesus. 354 00:33:48,400 –> 00:33:54,619 And, Timothy, if you’re going to be really useful in doing that where God has set you, 355 00:33:54,619 –> 00:33:57,939 you’re going to have to believe it with all your heart and you are going to have to 356 00:33:58,020 –> 00:34:03,839 have to learn to love these people God has placed around you so that you will give of 357 00:34:03,839 –> 00:34:12,020 yourself in service and ministry so that they too may become Jesus Christ. 358 00:34:12,020 –> 00:34:19,479 Then there’s a third thing – faith, love, and a good conscience. 359 00:34:19,479 –> 00:34:25,899 Now, this is a very striking phrase that is used by the apostle Paul four times in these 360 00:34:25,899 –> 00:34:26,979 two short letters. 361 00:34:27,260 –> 00:34:29,300 It’s very striking. 362 00:34:29,300 –> 00:34:33,560 And it raises, of course, the issue of integrity – that it is possible to believe one thing 363 00:34:33,560 –> 00:34:36,479 and to live another. 364 00:34:36,479 –> 00:34:41,500 It is possible for you to profess the gospel of Jesus Christ and to live in a way that 365 00:34:41,500 –> 00:34:45,520 is contrary to what you believe. 366 00:34:45,520 –> 00:34:50,979 And Paul raises this issue consistently with Timothy because it is so important. 367 00:34:50,979 –> 00:34:59,739 1 Timothy 1 and verse 19 – fight the good fight of faith – holding the faith with 368 00:34:59,739 –> 00:35:02,060 a good conscience. 369 00:35:02,060 –> 00:35:06,060 Because some have rejected these and have made shipwreck of the faith. 370 00:35:06,060 –> 00:35:11,820 Our 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 9 – speaking about leaders of the church – that is elders 371 00:35:11,820 –> 00:35:13,100 or deacons. 372 00:35:13,100 –> 00:35:16,020 In 1 Timothy chapter 3, what are we to look for? 373 00:35:16,020 –> 00:35:18,060 Many things but here’s one that’s critical. 374 00:35:18,340 –> 00:35:22,520 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith. 375 00:35:22,520 –> 00:35:26,699 They must have grasped the deep truths of the faith, our leaders. 376 00:35:26,699 –> 00:35:30,820 Because it’s part of our responsibility to the gospel. 377 00:35:30,820 –> 00:35:35,260 But they must do it with a clear conscience. 378 00:35:35,260 –> 00:35:40,580 Hold it and live it. 379 00:35:40,580 –> 00:35:45,219 And 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 3 – Paul says, I thank God whom I serve, as my forefathers 380 00:35:45,219 –> 00:35:48,699 did with a clear conscience, as night and day I’m praying for you. 381 00:35:48,699 –> 00:35:51,959 The reason that I’m able to pray for you every morning and every night is that I’m 382 00:35:51,959 –> 00:35:58,159 living in the light of the gospel with a clear conscience beore God. 383 00:35:58,159 –> 00:35:59,159 Now you see the point. 384 00:35:59,159 –> 00:36:05,239 In order to deliver the message effectively there has to be, Paul says to Timothy, a consistency 385 00:36:05,239 –> 00:36:12,760 between your faith and your life, which is why he says, watch your life and your doctrine 386 00:36:12,760 –> 00:36:14,219 closely. 387 00:36:14,219 –> 00:36:21,100 They stand or they fall together. 388 00:36:21,100 –> 00:36:22,100 That’s the message this morning. 389 00:36:22,100 –> 00:36:26,320 I want to end it by asking three very simple questions. 390 00:36:26,320 –> 00:36:32,739 The first question is simply this, have you believed this gospel? 391 00:36:32,739 –> 00:36:39,459 Now I’m not asking do other people think you are a Christian. 392 00:36:39,459 –> 00:36:43,580 I’m not asking were you brought up in a Christian home or even have you been in the church for 393 00:36:43,639 –> 00:36:45,659 25 years or whatever it is. 394 00:36:45,659 –> 00:36:52,340 I’m asking the question have you believed this gospel? 395 00:36:52,340 –> 00:36:56,580 Do you believe it? 396 00:36:56,580 –> 00:37:01,340 Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to life for his people. 397 00:37:01,340 –> 00:37:03,379 This Jesus is the Son of God. 398 00:37:03,379 –> 00:37:05,939 He died to save you. 399 00:37:05,939 –> 00:37:10,939 He rose again and today he calls you to a holy life. 400 00:37:10,939 –> 00:37:12,879 Have you believed this gospel? 401 00:37:12,879 –> 00:37:22,000 And I ask this question, if not, if you’re somewhere, just all at sea with these things 402 00:37:22,000 –> 00:37:29,000 that are a distance from you why would you not believe this gospel today? 403 00:37:29,000 –> 00:37:35,000 What would you be holding onto in your life right now that is so good that you would rather 404 00:37:35,000 –> 00:37:42,340 hold onto it than embrace what Jesus Christ has accomplished and now offers to you, the 405 00:37:42,340 –> 00:37:49,699 death of your death, the drawing of its sting, the liberation from hell, the entrance into 406 00:37:49,699 –> 00:37:55,820 everlasting life and the beginning of eternal life right now as you enter into a relationship 407 00:37:55,820 –> 00:38:02,560 with the one who made you, and learn to find your joy in him? 408 00:38:02,860 –> 00:38:08,459 With this Jesus Christ, we heard earlier in the beautiful song, he says come to me, this 409 00:38:08,459 –> 00:38:20,679 risen Christ, he reaches out to you through the word. Will you not today say, I believe? 410 00:38:20,679 –> 00:38:24,899 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you will crossover from death to 411 00:38:25,020 –> 00:38:36,260 life from darkness to light, is the language of the Bible, the promise of Christ. 412 00:38:36,260 –> 00:38:45,899 Now if you have believed, or even if you are believing right now for the first time, that 413 00:38:45,899 –> 00:38:51,500 transformation is taking place by the grace of God in your heart, then we have a responsibility 414 00:38:51,500 –> 00:39:03,000 to this message, to guard it as we have received it, and to deliver it. 415 00:39:03,000 –> 00:39:07,659 So let me ask this second question of you as I have tried to ask it honestly of my own 416 00:39:07,659 –> 00:39:09,620 heart again this week. 417 00:39:09,620 –> 00:39:21,459 Do you care about bringing this gospel to a lost world, does that matter to you? 418 00:39:21,540 –> 00:39:31,020 God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. 419 00:39:31,020 –> 00:39:41,899 Now, what would you give for the advance of the gospel in the world? 420 00:39:42,100 –> 00:39:51,979 Surely this is the place where all of our agendas go on the altar of God. 421 00:39:51,979 –> 00:39:54,860 They have to. 422 00:39:54,860 –> 00:40:00,139 We’ve been trusted with the gospel. 423 00:40:00,139 –> 00:40:11,459 No one else has it for the world except the church, local churches. 424 00:40:11,459 –> 00:40:19,179 Does it matter to you that thousands do not know what life is, and that when death comes 425 00:40:19,179 –> 00:40:24,580 for them it will be ushering into eternal judgment? 426 00:40:29,879 –> 00:40:33,239 Here’s the third question. 427 00:40:33,260 –> 00:40:39,459 Are you holding the gospel with a clear conscience? 428 00:40:40,320 –> 00:40:46,659 This is so important lest we fall into what I’ve called Jonah’s Syndrome. 429 00:40:46,659 –> 00:40:48,580 You know Jonah’s Syndrome? 430 00:40:48,580 –> 00:40:55,459 He believes the truth, but he lives at a distance from God. 431 00:40:58,399 –> 00:41:05,580 And so when the moment comes where God brings across his path some unbelieving people who 432 00:41:05,739 –> 00:41:10,919 find themselves in a storm and in desperate need, and they ask Jonah to pray for them, 433 00:41:10,919 –> 00:41:16,379 guess what, Jonah can’t do it because he’s living out of touch with God. 434 00:41:16,379 –> 00:41:20,080 He’s got his issues. 435 00:41:21,580 –> 00:41:23,500 Now let me ask you this question. 436 00:41:23,500 –> 00:41:30,060 What if God were to send an unbelieving person in desperate need right across your path this 437 00:41:30,060 –> 00:41:32,000 week and they were wide open? 438 00:41:32,159 –> 00:41:37,699 Are you in a position right now where you could be used by the Holy Spirit to bring 439 00:41:37,699 –> 00:41:40,360 blessing to them? 440 00:41:40,360 –> 00:41:42,979 Are you? 441 00:41:42,979 –> 00:41:46,219 And if not, what are you going to do about it? 442 00:41:46,219 –> 00:41:52,919 Because there’s no use going on as a Jonah who believes, but is at a distance from God 443 00:41:52,919 –> 00:41:59,600 and is out of the place of usefulness because he said he has his issues. 444 00:41:59,600 –> 00:42:05,040 Don’t delay repentance. 445 00:42:05,040 –> 00:42:18,979 Bring what is on your conscience to Christ right now so that your conscience can be cleansed 446 00:42:18,979 –> 00:42:28,560 and we can leave here a group of Christians ready to be useful in the world. 447 00:42:28,580 –> 00:42:31,239 Let’s pray together shall we. 448 00:42:33,739 –> 00:42:41,179 Praying that today there will be someone within the congregation in each of the services 449 00:42:41,179 –> 00:42:45,000 and you will just know within your heart that God is speaking to you and that you need to 450 00:42:45,000 –> 00:42:50,540 believe this gospel today. 451 00:42:50,540 –> 00:42:56,260 You want to pray along these lines even now. 452 00:42:56,260 –> 00:43:03,800 Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you died so that my death may be changed and it’s 453 00:43:03,800 –> 00:43:05,639 sting drawn. 454 00:43:05,639 –> 00:43:12,699 Thank you that you live that I may find life in knowing you. 455 00:43:12,699 –> 00:43:22,060 Receive me as believing these things I ask you to be my Savior and my Lord and lead me 456 00:43:22,139 –> 00:43:32,159 in the newness of the life that you have promised to all who believe. 457 00:43:32,159 –> 00:43:39,560 For all of us as we do, let’s make this our prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, make us individually 458 00:43:39,600 –> 00:43:52,860 and together, people who receive your Gospel, guard it and deliver it in our time here in 459 00:43:52,860 –> 00:44:01,080 these suburbs of this great city, and indeed throughout the world. 460 00:44:01,080 –> 00:44:06,280 To that end, put us in the position where it is true of us that we hold this Gospel 461 00:44:06,280 –> 00:44:18,360 with faith, and with love, and with a clear conscience. 462 00:44:18,360 –> 00:44:22,879 Thank you that you make all these things possible for us. 463 00:44:22,879 –> 00:44:28,879 Grant them we pray through your blood and by the power of your Spirit for these things 464 00:44:28,879 –> 00:44:33,300 we ask in Jesus name. 465 00:44:33,300 –> 00:44:35,199 Amen. 466 00:44:35,320 –> 00:44:38,840 We’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 467 00:44:38,840 –> 00:44:45,919 To contact us always call 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org