Perseverance in Life

1 Timothy 1:1-20
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Pastor Colin Smith highlights the importance of perseverance in our faith journey. Using the example of Timothy, who served as an apprentice to the Apostle Paul, Pastor Colin underscores how essential it is to watch our life and doctrine closely.

Timothy, called into ministry at a young age, worked alongside Paul in various cities, learning and growing through his experiences. Pastor Colin emphasises that to be useful to Jesus Christ, believers must learn to persevere, likening a Christian’s diligence to a lighthouse’s consistent light.

The sermon also discusses the significance of self-examination in five key areas: speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Pastor Colin advises that careful attention to these aspects helps believers navigate the challenges and quitting points they encounter in life.

Pastor Colin concludes by reminding us that believers have the Holy Spirit within them, empowering them to take responsibility for their lives. The sermon encourages us to seek forgiveness and strength from Jesus Christ, who provides both to help us persevere and remain faithful in our spiritual journey.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,140 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Collin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,140 –> 00:00:14,800 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our web site openthebible.org. 3 00:00:14,800 –> 00:00:19,820 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Collin. 4 00:00:19,820 –> 00:00:25,920 Well, please open your Bible at the first letter of Timothy. 5 00:00:26,160 –> 00:00:29,520 We’re continuing again our series on the life of Timothy, 6 00:00:29,520 –> 00:00:33,119 The second-last message in this series, today. 7 00:00:33,119 –> 00:00:35,939 The title, as you know, is the Apostle’s Apprentice, 8 00:00:35,939 –> 00:00:38,180 because that really describes Timothy’s role. 9 00:00:38,180 –> 00:00:42,919 He was, over many years, an apprentice to the apostle Paul, 10 00:00:42,919 –> 00:00:48,020 learned so much from him, and contributed so much to the apostle’s ministry. 11 00:00:48,020 –> 00:00:52,400 And our aim in this series, as we’ve followed the life of Timothy, 12 00:00:52,400 –> 00:00:57,459 has been to improve our usefulness to Jesus Christ. 13 00:00:57,459 –> 00:00:58,459 Great question! 14 00:00:58,459 –> 00:01:00,340 How can I be more useful? 15 00:01:00,340 –> 00:01:07,739 How can we be more useful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? 16 00:01:07,739 –> 00:01:13,000 Now, as we followed the example of Timothy, who became so wonderfully useful, 17 00:01:13,000 –> 00:01:17,699 we’ve seen that he was called into ministry at the age of around twenty. 18 00:01:17,699 –> 00:01:21,400 Early on in life, he joined Paul at the beginning of 19 00:01:21,519 –> 00:01:27,220 his second missionary journey, which would have been around the year A.D. 50. 20 00:01:27,220 –> 00:01:30,580 And I’m going to just take a couple of moments to give you a brief kind of chronology 21 00:01:30,580 –> 00:01:33,660 so you have a sense of where we are in the story. 22 00:01:33,660 –> 00:01:39,820 Dates, of course, are sometimes disputed by scholars and being aware that we have some, 23 00:01:39,820 –> 00:01:42,820 I am following dates given by F. F. Bruce. 24 00:01:42,820 –> 00:01:49,580 And so if you want to dispute the chronology, please take it up with him when you see him 25 00:01:49,580 –> 00:01:52,300 in heaven. 26 00:01:52,300 –> 00:01:55,739 But following Bruce’s dating, we would have something like this. 27 00:01:55,739 –> 00:02:03,480 Around the year 4950, Timothy joins Paul at the beginning of the second missionary journey. 28 00:02:03,480 –> 00:02:05,440 They then go to Philippi. 29 00:02:05,440 –> 00:02:06,440 Thessalonica. 30 00:02:06,440 –> 00:02:11,300 And then Paul parting from Timothy for a time moves on to Athens. 31 00:02:11,300 –> 00:02:14,960 You read about this as we did earlier in Acts 16-17. 32 00:02:15,880 –> 00:02:23,320 Then later that year, the year 50 AD, just 20 or so years after the death and resurrection 33 00:02:23,320 –> 00:02:28,339 of our Lord Jesus, you have Paul writing the letters of Thessalonians and Timothy, you 34 00:02:28,339 –> 00:02:33,240 remember, was sent then on his first assignment to Thessalonica. 35 00:02:33,240 –> 00:02:37,759 The next couple of years, 50-52, you find Paul and Timothy in Corinth. 36 00:02:37,759 –> 00:02:39,399 That’s Acts chapter 18. 37 00:02:39,399 –> 00:02:44,460 The Scriptures tell us that Paul spent a year and a half church planting in Corinth. 38 00:02:44,460 –> 00:02:49,440 Then he moves on to Ephesus around 52-55 AD. 39 00:02:49,440 –> 00:02:51,759 This is Acts 19 and 20. 40 00:02:51,759 –> 00:02:57,820 He was there for 2 years plus a further 3 months, and perhaps some additional time alongside 41 00:02:57,820 –> 00:03:00,460 what is specifically recorded. 42 00:03:00,460 –> 00:03:08,199 You then have the writing of the Corinthian letters coming out of this period-55-56 and 43 00:03:08,199 –> 00:03:10,800 Timothy’s second assignment to Corinth. 44 00:03:10,800 –> 00:03:14,039 Remember the first assignment to Thessalonica goes really well. 45 00:03:14,100 –> 00:03:19,139 The second assignment to Corinth really badly, at least for Timothy. 46 00:03:19,139 –> 00:03:20,779 After that, Paul was imprisoned. 47 00:03:20,779 –> 00:03:25,960 The scriptures tell us for 2 years he was imprisoned in Caesarea, and you can read about 48 00:03:25,960 –> 00:03:29,619 that in Acts 23-26. 49 00:03:29,619 –> 00:03:33,800 And then after that, there’s this long journey in which Paul, and we assume Timothy with 50 00:03:33,800 –> 00:03:35,399 him, traveled to Rome. 51 00:03:35,399 –> 00:03:37,059 It takes them months to get there. 52 00:03:37,059 –> 00:03:39,880 They’re ship-wrecked winter in Malta, and all the rest of it. 53 00:03:39,880 –> 00:03:43,839 And finally, they end up in Rome, and Paul is in prison, and that’s where the book of 54 00:03:43,839 –> 00:03:47,479 Acts ends, chapters 27 and 28. 55 00:03:47,479 –> 00:03:52,160 And it’s then, as we saw last week, that Timothy is sent from Rome while Paul is in prison, 56 00:03:52,160 –> 00:03:58,000 to Philippi on the third major assignment, where Paul commends him so warmly. 57 00:03:58,000 –> 00:04:04,000 I have no one else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 58 00:04:04,080 –> 00:04:10,800 Now if we roll forward from Paul’s years of imprisonment in Rome, we’re beyond the period 59 00:04:10,800 –> 00:04:16,739 of the book of Acts, and it is difficult to put all of the details together, but most 60 00:04:16,739 –> 00:04:21,200 scholars believe that Paul was released after that imprisonment in Rome and was able to 61 00:04:21,200 –> 00:04:25,200 travel further, though it’s not recorded in the book of Acts. 62 00:04:25,200 –> 00:04:30,799 But certainly it is at this time that Timothy was in Ephesus, and that these letters to 63 00:04:31,059 –> 00:04:35,200 Timothy that we’re focusing on today and next week were written. 64 00:04:35,200 –> 00:04:41,299 And around the year AD 65, the apostle Paul died, almost certainly martyred, and so Timothy 65 00:04:41,299 –> 00:04:43,820 now has to go on without his mentor. 66 00:04:43,820 –> 00:04:50,980 65 if he began in 50, this is now 65, Timothy’s now in his mid-thirties and has been the apostle’s 67 00:04:50,980 –> 00:04:55,940 apprentice for 15 years. 68 00:04:55,940 –> 00:04:57,559 So this is the story that we’ve followed. 69 00:04:57,660 –> 00:05:01,500 Paul has taken responsibility, he’s been through disappointment, he’s grown to become 70 00:05:01,500 –> 00:05:04,140 the most useful member of the apostolic team. 71 00:05:04,140 –> 00:05:08,260 I have no one else like him, Paul says. 72 00:05:08,260 –> 00:05:13,140 But now when we come to these letters to Timothy, Paul is at the end of his life. 73 00:05:13,140 –> 00:05:17,459 Second Timothy was the last letter that Paul wrote, and at the end of that, as we’ll 74 00:05:17,459 –> 00:05:25,320 see next week, he speaks about being ready for his departure and entrance into the presence 75 00:05:25,320 –> 00:05:27,019 of Christ. 76 00:05:27,100 –> 00:05:32,619 So if you open your Bible now at 1 Timothy and chapter 1, you’ll see here that we’re 77 00:05:32,619 –> 00:05:38,579 really at the last stages of this wonderful partnership that TIMOTHY has had with the 78 00:05:38,579 –> 00:05:39,579 apostle. 79 00:05:39,579 –> 00:05:47,019 And Timothy is now in Ephesus and Paul is seeking to make more settled arrangements 80 00:05:47,019 –> 00:05:52,220 for the future of the churches and for their leadership, as he knows that his own time 81 00:05:52,220 –> 00:05:54,399 is now short. 82 00:05:54,480 –> 00:06:05,559 So chapter 1 in verse 3, as I urged you, when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesis. 83 00:06:06,559 –> 00:06:11,079 Now this word urged is interesting, I urged you. 84 00:06:11,079 –> 00:06:16,140 It seems that there was a certain reluctance on Timothy’s part. 85 00:06:16,140 –> 00:06:21,760 Ephesus was like Corinth, it was a tough environment for ministry and it isn’t hard to imagine 86 00:06:21,880 –> 00:06:26,820 Timothy saying, Paul, you know I think I should just keep traveling with you as you’re moving 87 00:06:26,820 –> 00:06:33,820 on through Macedonia and Paul says, no Timothy, what I need from you is I want you to stay 88 00:06:34,079 –> 00:06:36,239 here at Ephesus. 89 00:06:36,239 –> 00:06:38,200 I want you to settle. 90 00:06:38,200 –> 00:06:42,459 I want you to invest the next years of your life in pastoring these people so that the 91 00:06:42,459 –> 00:06:47,239 gospel can advance in this great city. 92 00:06:47,239 –> 00:06:51,679 And Paul says that he urged Timothy to stay. 93 00:06:51,679 –> 00:06:55,880 And Timothy evidently had agreed and Paul had gone on to Macedonia and now clearly, 94 00:06:55,880 –> 00:07:00,600 there’s been some communication from Timothy again and Paul has to repeat his instruction. 95 00:07:00,600 –> 00:07:06,320 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus. 96 00:07:06,320 –> 00:07:12,600 This is an apostolic, how many times do I have to tell you? 97 00:07:12,600 –> 00:07:14,880 Right? 98 00:07:14,880 –> 00:07:18,799 And here’s the principle. 99 00:07:18,799 –> 00:07:27,859 If you want to be useful to Christ, which is the whole focus of our series, you need 100 00:07:27,859 –> 00:07:32,399 to learn to persevere. 101 00:07:32,399 –> 00:07:36,059 And that’s the issue for Timothy in his mid-30’s. 102 00:07:36,059 –> 00:07:41,980 He’s moved many places with the Apostle Paul, but Paul says, I need you now to settle to 103 00:07:41,980 –> 00:07:48,559 this task and to stick at it in order to bear great fruit. 104 00:07:49,380 –> 00:07:55,160 Now frankly, Ephesus wasn’t an easy assignment for 105 00:07:55,160 –> 00:07:58,739 Timothy, and that becomes obvious if you’ve been following the reading plan. 106 00:07:58,739 –> 00:08:04,040 You will have covered this in 1 Timothy this week, but just to refresh your memory, if 107 00:08:04,040 –> 00:08:08,940 you just look very quickly through this letter, you will see there that in chapter 1 Timothy 108 00:08:08,940 –> 00:08:12,339 is concerned about the issue of defending the truth. 109 00:08:12,339 –> 00:08:16,700 In chapter 2 there’s the whole question of ordering worship. 110 00:08:16,700 –> 00:08:21,540 In chapter 3, there’s the whole question of choosing appropriate leaders. 111 00:08:21,540 –> 00:08:28,059 Chapter 5, the whole question of organizing ministry and the various demands that come 112 00:08:28,059 –> 00:08:32,140 from people who want as it were a slice of the resource pie. 113 00:08:32,140 –> 00:08:37,020 And in chapter 6 the particular challenges of dealing with people whose hearts have been 114 00:08:37,020 –> 00:08:39,000 captivated by money. 115 00:08:39,000 –> 00:08:44,500 On top of that in chapter 4 Timothy has all of his own temptations to deal with, and so 116 00:08:44,599 –> 00:08:49,580 you can understand why we all of that the must have been points where Timothy was saying 117 00:08:49,580 –> 00:08:58,700 Paul I think I’m done here and Paul says no you stay at Ephesus. 118 00:08:58,700 –> 00:09:08,400 So here’s the principle that we’re learning, your usefulness to Christ will in large measure 119 00:09:08,400 –> 00:09:13,140 depend on how you navigate the quitting points of life. 120 00:09:13,140 –> 00:09:17,020 It’s true for all of us. 121 00:09:17,020 –> 00:09:24,200 And quitting points will come in every area of life, they come for every student at college. 122 00:09:24,200 –> 00:09:28,200 You remember that? 123 00:09:28,200 –> 00:09:31,340 They come to every marriage. 124 00:09:31,340 –> 00:09:43,539 They may not even be spoken, but thoughts flip through the mind. 125 00:09:43,539 –> 00:09:45,940 They come in every ministry. 126 00:09:45,940 –> 00:09:50,460 They come in your faith. 127 00:09:50,460 –> 00:09:53,760 And they may come, these quitting points, even in life itself. 128 00:09:53,760 –> 00:09:57,539 Remember Job’s wife who had been in church as it were every Sunday morning? 129 00:09:58,539 –> 00:10:05,260 Why don’t you just curse God and die? 130 00:10:05,260 –> 00:10:12,179 And our lifetime usefulness to Christ really does depend in very significant measure on 131 00:10:12,179 –> 00:10:15,640 how we navigate the quitting points of life. 132 00:10:15,640 –> 00:10:19,619 It’s very interesting to me that Timothy is thirty-five when this letter is written. 133 00:10:19,619 –> 00:10:24,700 See, by the time your thirty-five your life is framed a little bit. 134 00:10:24,799 –> 00:10:29,020 There are some choices that you’ve made that have now put a kind of a box it may seem 135 00:10:29,020 –> 00:10:35,479 around you and there can be a discomfort, a sort of midlife discomfort that comes at 136 00:10:35,479 –> 00:10:39,239 that stage and questions – is this what I am? 137 00:10:39,239 –> 00:10:40,419 Is this what I’m meant to be doing? 138 00:10:40,419 –> 00:10:41,479 Did I make a great mistake? 139 00:10:41,479 –> 00:10:44,979 I mean what in all the world am I doing here? 140 00:10:44,979 –> 00:10:50,440 We all experience these things. 141 00:10:50,559 –> 00:10:58,559 Paul is writing to this younger man with pastoral and practical counsel that really is critical 142 00:10:58,559 –> 00:11:06,299 for any life that is to have significant usefulness in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. 143 00:11:06,299 –> 00:11:11,080 Think about the difference between a lighthouse and a box of fireworks. 144 00:11:11,080 –> 00:11:18,900 A box of fireworks goes off with a big bang and a big blaze and they penetrate the darkness 145 00:11:19,000 –> 00:11:22,320 but fizzle out so quickly. 146 00:11:22,320 –> 00:11:29,320 And you walk through the darkness as you go home at the end of the fireworks show. 147 00:11:30,099 –> 00:11:36,760 The lighthouse is different, it just goes on shining for a very, very long time in the 148 00:11:36,760 –> 00:11:39,119 same place. 149 00:11:39,119 –> 00:11:46,119 Shining the same light, saving many from hazardous rocks that are hidden beneath the water. 150 00:11:47,080 –> 00:11:54,080 Now Christ says, let your light so shine before men, and if there’s any light in you at all 151 00:11:55,239 –> 00:11:59,440 Satan would love it to be like the fireworks. 152 00:11:59,440 –> 00:12:07,260 Love to see it fizzle out so that the darkness closes in again, where you only made a temporary 153 00:12:07,820 –> 00:12:11,280 impression. 154 00:12:11,280 –> 00:12:18,359 But Christ calls us to be like the light house shining faithfully for a long time. 155 00:12:18,359 –> 00:12:23,039 Now that’s the issue that’s before us and you can see after these years of being mentored 156 00:12:23,039 –> 00:12:26,960 by Paul and Paul is now very soon going to go and be with the Lord. 157 00:12:26,960 –> 00:12:28,559 This is the critical issue. 158 00:12:28,559 –> 00:12:37,380 Timothy, my young friend, you need to learn to persevere, and it starts by staying there 159 00:12:37,380 –> 00:12:39,320 in Ephesus. 160 00:12:39,659 –> 00:12:46,940 I want you to turn to 1 Timothy 4 and verse 16 which is going to be our focus verse in 161 00:12:46,940 –> 00:12:50,299 fact both today and next Sunday. 162 00:12:50,299 –> 00:12:53,940 Because as we ask the question, what does it take them to persevere? 163 00:12:53,940 –> 00:12:57,919 What does it take to become like a lighthouse rather than a box of fireworks? 164 00:12:57,919 –> 00:13:02,359 How can you navigate the quitting points of life? 165 00:13:02,359 –> 00:13:06,859 It seems to me that all that Timothy, Paul says to Timothy is summed up wonderfully in 166 00:13:06,859 –> 00:13:07,859 this verse. 167 00:13:07,859 –> 00:13:17,960 In 1 Timothy 4.16 watch your life, and watch your doctrine closely, persevere in them because 168 00:13:17,960 –> 00:13:23,640 if you do, you will save yourself. 169 00:13:23,640 –> 00:13:26,359 And your hearers. 170 00:13:26,359 –> 00:13:32,599 The success in navigating the quitting points of life is not so much in what you do when 171 00:13:32,599 –> 00:13:36,000 you come to the quitting points of life it’s what you do all the rest of the time when 172 00:13:36,080 –> 00:13:39,659 you’re not at the quitting points of life. 173 00:13:39,659 –> 00:13:50,020 Build a pattern of life, Paul is saying, that is designed for perseverance. 174 00:13:50,020 –> 00:13:52,140 And here’s how you do it. 175 00:13:52,140 –> 00:13:58,799 You watch your life and your doctrine closely. 176 00:13:58,799 –> 00:13:59,799 These two things. 177 00:14:00,340 –> 00:14:06,640 Watch what you believe, watch how you behave, persevere in these things, and if you do, 178 00:14:06,640 –> 00:14:12,979 you will save yourself, and you will save your hearers. 179 00:14:12,979 –> 00:14:17,419 Watch your life closely. 180 00:14:17,419 –> 00:14:21,419 1 Timothy 4.16. 181 00:14:21,419 –> 00:14:23,500 Let’s try and take this in for a moment. 182 00:14:23,719 –> 00:14:30,239 God commands you to watch your life closely. 183 00:14:30,239 –> 00:14:35,760 He commands it. 184 00:14:35,760 –> 00:14:45,020 It is your responsibility, it is my responsibility. 185 00:14:45,020 –> 00:14:48,320 And it is something that you can do. 186 00:14:48,320 –> 00:14:53,400 If you are a Christian believer, then God’s Spirit lives within you, and that means that 187 00:14:53,400 –> 00:14:57,539 you have the ability to watch, it means you have the ability to act. 188 00:14:57,539 –> 00:15:06,820 God has put you in a position where you can take responsibility for your life. 189 00:15:06,820 –> 00:15:11,460 Now this of course is the complete opposite of what the world teaches us today, isn’t 190 00:15:11,460 –> 00:15:12,460 it? 191 00:15:12,460 –> 00:15:14,460 It really is the opposite. 192 00:15:14,460 –> 00:15:19,640 Because the culture tells us that you are a victim, tells me that I am a victim of whatever 193 00:15:19,640 –> 00:15:26,020 has happened to me, happened to you, but you don’t find that in the Bible. 194 00:15:26,020 –> 00:15:27,000 You just don’t. 195 00:15:27,000 –> 00:15:29,979 You just don’t. 196 00:15:29,979 –> 00:15:36,140 See, if you are a Christian, you are not helpless. 197 00:15:36,140 –> 00:15:38,780 Is that good news or bad news? 198 00:15:38,780 –> 00:15:40,780 It’s good news, isn’t it? 199 00:15:40,780 –> 00:15:47,140 If you are a Christian, whatever the world says to you, you are not helpless. 200 00:15:47,140 –> 00:15:51,739 You are not powerless over the dynamics of your life. 201 00:15:51,739 –> 00:15:56,799 The Spirit of God lives within you, if you are a Christian believer, and what that means 202 00:15:56,799 –> 00:16:02,260 is that you are in a position where you can take responsibility for your life. 203 00:16:02,260 –> 00:16:06,539 This is the characteristic language of Scripture. 204 00:16:06,539 –> 00:16:10,260 Look at 1 Timothy chapter four and verse seven. 205 00:16:10,260 –> 00:16:14,539 I have nothing to do with the godless myths, old wives tales, and so forth. 206 00:16:14,940 –> 00:16:17,979 Train yourself, chapter four and verse seven, to be godly. 207 00:16:17,979 –> 00:16:20,320 You have the ability to do that. 208 00:16:20,320 –> 00:16:22,340 Train yourself to be godly. 209 00:16:22,340 –> 00:16:28,020 There are things that you can do to pursue a godly life. 210 00:16:28,020 –> 00:16:33,559 Or 2 Timothy and chapter one, just over the page, chapter one and verse seven. 211 00:16:33,559 –> 00:16:37,780 We’ll blend these two letters together, they were written so close in time. 212 00:16:37,780 –> 00:16:43,479 Well, God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 213 00:16:43,539 –> 00:16:48,200 Timothy, the spirit of God’s power lives within you. 214 00:16:48,200 –> 00:16:51,000 There’s no reason for you to be timid. 215 00:16:51,000 –> 00:16:57,219 Timothy, the spirit of God’s love lives within you, there’s no reason for you to grow cold. 216 00:16:57,219 –> 00:17:02,919 Timothy, you have the spirit of self-discipline within you, there is no reason for you to 217 00:17:02,919 –> 00:17:06,280 be capitulating to sin in the manner that some do. 218 00:17:06,280 –> 00:17:13,099 God has put you in a position where you can act and your first responsibility is to watch 219 00:17:13,099 –> 00:17:17,339 your life closely. 220 00:17:17,339 –> 00:17:25,579 Now this theme of a Christian taking responsibility for himself, herself, for our own actions, 221 00:17:25,579 –> 00:17:30,699 for our own words is characteristic of the whole of the New Testament. 222 00:17:30,699 –> 00:17:35,000 Second Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5. 223 00:17:35,439 –> 00:17:39,339 Examine yourselves, Paul says. 224 00:17:39,339 –> 00:17:41,839 To see whether you are in the faith. 225 00:17:41,839 –> 00:17:44,579 Test yourselves. 226 00:17:44,579 –> 00:17:49,020 This is the same language as watching your life closely, test yourselves. 227 00:17:49,020 –> 00:17:54,219 And then he says, do you not realise that Christ is in you? 228 00:17:54,219 –> 00:17:57,140 And it’s very interesting. 229 00:17:57,140 –> 00:18:03,339 You see, the fact that Christ is in you is the very thing that gives you the ability 230 00:18:03,479 –> 00:18:09,380 to examine yourself and to watch your life closely. 231 00:18:09,380 –> 00:18:16,380 Without Christ, you would not have the perception to examine yourself properly. 232 00:18:16,900 –> 00:18:21,040 But with Christ, you are in a position where you are able to watch your life and indeed 233 00:18:21,040 –> 00:18:22,939 your doctrine closely. 234 00:18:22,939 –> 00:18:28,540 Think of two men, walking along the edge of a cliff. 235 00:18:28,540 –> 00:18:32,699 They are both in terrible danger. 236 00:18:32,699 –> 00:18:37,180 One man is in terrible danger because he is walking along the edge of the cliff and he 237 00:18:37,180 –> 00:18:41,140 is blind. 238 00:18:41,140 –> 00:18:46,619 The other man is in terrible danger because he is walking along the edge of the cliff 239 00:18:46,619 –> 00:18:50,060 and he has his eyes closed. 240 00:18:50,060 –> 00:18:59,900 They are actually in equal danger, but the tragedy of the second man is greater, isn’t 241 00:18:59,900 –> 00:19:02,420 it? 242 00:19:02,420 –> 00:19:09,180 Because he has the capacity to see, and he doesn’t use it. 243 00:19:09,180 –> 00:19:14,739 Now you see what the New Testament is saying to us is look, you have the Spirit of God 244 00:19:14,739 –> 00:19:15,979 living within you. 245 00:19:15,979 –> 00:19:21,140 You have the capacity to see. 246 00:19:21,140 –> 00:19:22,920 So watch your own life. 247 00:19:22,920 –> 00:19:26,619 Examine yourself. 248 00:19:26,619 –> 00:19:30,760 Because if you do not do that as a Christian believer, you are the ultimate tragedy. 249 00:19:30,760 –> 00:19:38,579 You are the man who can see, who walks by the edge of a cliff with your eyes closed. 250 00:19:38,579 –> 00:19:43,880 Watch your life closely. 251 00:19:43,880 –> 00:19:50,859 I want to suggest this morning from the Scriptures 5 areas for self-examination, as we are called 252 00:19:50,859 –> 00:19:57,219 to watch our lives, we are clearly given that responsibility and we are given that ability, 253 00:19:58,060 –> 00:20:02,859 5 areas for self-examination in which you are to watch your life and I am to watch 254 00:20:02,859 –> 00:20:04,180 mine. 255 00:20:04,180 –> 00:20:07,780 When you go to the doctor for the physical, you know the routine that he goes through. 256 00:20:07,780 –> 00:20:13,380 There are certain things that characteristically go wrong in the human body. 257 00:20:13,380 –> 00:20:16,500 So starting at the top, and working his way down to the bottom, he has certain little 258 00:20:16,500 –> 00:20:19,339 tests that he runs through when you go for a physical. 259 00:20:19,339 –> 00:20:21,780 Certain things he is looking for. 260 00:20:22,099 –> 00:20:27,180 Well, let’s apply that same kind of thinking here, because Paul gives us a checklist. 261 00:20:27,180 –> 00:20:30,359 We’re back in 1 Timothy chapter 4. 262 00:20:30,359 –> 00:20:37,400 And if you look just above verse 16, you’ll see the checklist right there, in verse 12. 263 00:20:37,400 –> 00:20:43,339 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. 264 00:20:43,339 –> 00:20:50,979 But set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love. 265 00:20:51,880 –> 00:20:57,780 In faith, and in purity, until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, 266 00:20:57,780 –> 00:20:58,839 to preaching and teaching. 267 00:20:58,839 –> 00:21:01,839 Don’t neglect the gift that was given you and so forth. 268 00:21:01,839 –> 00:21:03,380 Be diligent in these matters. 269 00:21:03,380 –> 00:21:06,900 Pursue them wholly so that everyone will see your progress. 270 00:21:06,900 –> 00:21:12,699 Watch your life and your doctrine closely. 271 00:21:12,699 –> 00:21:16,479 So being specific then, what this means is verse 12. 272 00:21:16,479 –> 00:21:19,020 Watch your speech. 273 00:21:19,040 –> 00:21:22,359 Watch your speech. 274 00:21:22,380 –> 00:21:26,699 Watch it closely. 275 00:21:26,699 –> 00:21:33,619 What have been the dominant subjects of your conversation in recent days? 276 00:21:33,619 –> 00:21:39,180 What have you been saying to other people, and what have other people been saying to 277 00:21:39,180 –> 00:21:40,180 you? 278 00:21:40,180 –> 00:21:41,180 Watch this. 279 00:21:41,180 –> 00:21:43,560 Watch it very closely. 280 00:21:43,560 –> 00:21:45,300 What we say matters. 281 00:21:45,319 –> 00:21:46,959 I want to give you a number of references. 282 00:21:46,959 –> 00:21:51,719 They’re there on the screen for us to note down and to ponder at greater length later 283 00:21:51,719 –> 00:21:52,719 if we wish. 284 00:21:52,719 –> 00:22:01,680 1 Timothy in chapter 5, in verse 13, speaks about some folks who go from house to house 285 00:22:01,680 –> 00:22:06,640 and not only become idlers, but gossips and busybodies saying things that they ought not 286 00:22:06,640 –> 00:22:07,640 to. 287 00:22:07,640 –> 00:22:08,640 They’re just going around, you see, gossiping. 288 00:22:08,640 –> 00:22:14,520 There’s some folks like that, Paul says. 289 00:22:14,520 –> 00:22:19,040 What we say matters. 290 00:22:19,040 –> 00:22:23,400 Don’t get into that stuff. 291 00:22:23,400 –> 00:22:25,160 What we listen to matters. 292 00:22:25,160 –> 00:22:28,719 Look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 16. 293 00:22:28,719 –> 00:22:33,699 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 16. 294 00:22:33,699 –> 00:22:39,219 Avoid godless chatter because… 295 00:22:39,219 –> 00:22:40,680 Now look at this. 296 00:22:40,719 –> 00:22:50,040 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 297 00:22:50,040 –> 00:22:54,880 Gossipy chatter will ruin your character progressively. 298 00:22:54,880 –> 00:22:57,739 That’s what it says. 299 00:22:57,739 –> 00:22:58,739 Avoid godless chatter… 300 00:22:58,739 –> 00:23:04,160 You gotta get away from godless chatter because if you become a recipient of it, it will ruin 301 00:23:04,160 –> 00:23:05,839 your character. 302 00:23:05,839 –> 00:23:10,239 That’s what Paul says. 303 00:23:10,239 –> 00:23:14,520 So what we say matters, what we hear matters. 304 00:23:14,520 –> 00:23:19,199 It’s interesting that verse 17, he talks about those who are into godless chatter. 305 00:23:19,199 –> 00:23:22,160 He says that, it spreads like gangrene. 306 00:23:22,160 –> 00:23:23,160 So destructive. 307 00:23:23,160 –> 00:23:24,560 So avoid it. 308 00:23:24,560 –> 00:23:26,020 Get away from it. 309 00:23:26,020 –> 00:23:30,660 It will destroy you. 310 00:23:30,660 –> 00:23:33,260 How you present what you say matters. 311 00:23:33,300 –> 00:23:45,400 2 Timothy 2 verses 23 and 24 don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because 312 00:23:45,400 –> 00:23:49,439 you know that they produce quarrels. 313 00:23:49,439 –> 00:23:53,000 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel. 314 00:23:53,859 –> 00:24:04,680 Instead, he must be kind to everyone, and able to teach, and not resentful.” So 315 00:24:04,680 –> 00:24:12,359 watch what you say, watch what you hear, 316 00:24:12,479 –> 00:24:17,339 distance yourself from godless chatter, because it will be ruinous to your own 317 00:24:17,339 –> 00:24:30,459 character. Avoid foolish talk and stupid arguments. Watch his speech. I have to do 318 00:24:30,459 –> 00:24:39,819 that. So do you. Second, watch your conduct. Now the word that’s used in the 319 00:24:39,819 –> 00:24:45,199 New International Version here is life. Specifically, conduct or behavior is 320 00:24:45,599 –> 00:24:50,560 perhaps more precise. The meaning of the word here is really your habits, your 321 00:24:50,560 –> 00:24:56,979 way of going about things. Your typical way of presenting yourself and dealing 322 00:24:56,979 –> 00:25:01,959 with other people. Watch how you come across would be a good way of 323 00:25:01,959 –> 00:25:08,439 translating this. Now this of course is a great area for us to ask someone who 324 00:25:08,439 –> 00:25:13,359 knows us well and might be able to see what we would miss. But to give you an 325 00:25:13,439 –> 00:25:18,380 example of the sort of things that are covered here by watching our conduct, if 326 00:25:18,380 –> 00:25:22,540 you look at 1 Timothy chapter 5, in the first couple of verses, where Paul 327 00:25:22,540 –> 00:25:26,680 is talking to Timothy as a 35-year-old about the way he comes across in his 328 00:25:26,680 –> 00:25:32,219 communication with others. And he says, don’t rebuke an older man, 329 00:25:32,219 –> 00:25:38,420 but exhort him as if he were your father. See Timothy, for goodness sake, you’re 330 00:25:38,420 –> 00:25:42,920 35 years old. Watch how you speak to older people. Show a bit of respect, 331 00:25:42,920 –> 00:25:49,099 because what he’s saying, treat younger men as brothers and older women as mothers, 332 00:25:49,099 –> 00:25:52,520 and younger women as sisters with absolute purity. These are examples of 333 00:25:52,520 –> 00:25:57,040 conduct. Watch it, watch how you come across. 334 00:25:58,800 –> 00:26:04,199 C.H. Spurgeon has a wonderful quote. I never noticed this before. Have you 335 00:26:04,199 –> 00:26:08,640 noticed the fact that the book that follows the Gospels in the New 336 00:26:08,719 –> 00:26:15,699 Testament is called the Acts of the Apostles? And C.H. Spurgeon had a 337 00:26:15,699 –> 00:26:22,099 comment. I never noticed this before. He says this, it is remarkable that the only 338 00:26:22,099 –> 00:26:30,099 church history we have is the Acts of the Apostles. We have no books of the 339 00:26:30,099 –> 00:26:38,020 Resolutions of the Apostles. When we hold our church meetings we record our 340 00:26:38,020 –> 00:26:46,699 minutes and resolutions, but the Holy Spirit only puts down the Acts. Our Acts 341 00:26:46,699 –> 00:26:56,819 should be such as bear recording, for recorded they will be, as C.H Spurgeon. 342 00:26:56,819 –> 00:27:04,260 Watch your conduct closely. Watch your speech, watch your conduct. 343 00:27:05,040 –> 00:27:13,719 Third, watch your love. As you’re watching your life, which is key to perseverance. 344 00:27:13,719 –> 00:27:21,020 Watch your love. Now let’s take this theme up in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and 345 00:27:21,020 –> 00:27:27,979 verse 1 and, let me read a couple of verses and notice the references here to 346 00:27:28,439 –> 00:27:32,560 There are several. 2nd Timothy chapter 3 in 347 00:27:32,560 –> 00:27:43,459 verse 1. Mark this. There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be 348 00:27:43,459 –> 00:27:51,140 lovers of what? Lovers off together, themselves. Lovers off money. Okay, 349 00:27:51,140 –> 00:27:55,640 boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. And 350 00:27:55,739 –> 00:28:05,040 look at this. Without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, 351 00:28:05,040 –> 00:28:14,459 not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than 352 00:28:14,459 –> 00:28:19,579 lovers of God. So he’s clearly talking throughout this little passage about 353 00:28:19,680 –> 00:28:25,839 love. And what he’s saying is simply this. A person who loves self, and who loves 354 00:28:25,839 –> 00:28:30,880 money, and who loves pleasure, doesn’t know what love is at all. Doesn’t have 355 00:28:30,880 –> 00:28:35,660 any love, without love, you see. 356 00:28:36,579 –> 00:28:46,439 Paul says to Timothy, set an example in in love. It’s sometimes fascinating putting 357 00:28:46,579 –> 00:28:50,520 things that address to the same people in the New Testament together. Will you 358 00:28:50,520 –> 00:28:53,579 turn over with me. This is the only time we’ll go away from Timothy, so keep a 359 00:28:53,579 –> 00:29:00,880 finger in it or a marker, but turn over to Revelation in chapter two because 360 00:29:00,880 –> 00:29:06,579 some years after the death of the Apostle Paul, John the Apostle is given 361 00:29:06,579 –> 00:29:13,400 the book of Revelation. He’s given the book of Revelation. And at the beginning 362 00:29:13,400 –> 00:29:19,959 of chapter two, this prophetic word from the risen Christ is given to the church 363 00:29:19,959 –> 00:29:30,119 in Ephesus, where guess who was the pastor? Timothy. And what does Christ say 364 00:29:30,119 –> 00:29:36,979 some years later to Pastor Timothy if we can assume that he was still there and 365 00:29:36,979 –> 00:29:42,800 the church that had flourished under his ministry. These are the words of him, this 366 00:29:42,800 –> 00:29:45,959 is Christ who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the 367 00:29:45,959 –> 00:29:50,579 seven golden lampstands, I know your deeds your hard work your 368 00:29:50,579 –> 00:29:54,839 perseverance. You can’t tolerate wicked men, you have tested those who claim to 369 00:29:54,839 –> 00:30:00,319 be Apostles but are not and it found them false. You have persevered! I like 370 00:30:00,319 –> 00:30:04,280 that, Amen. Timothy you did it and you have 371 00:30:04,280 –> 00:30:08,000 endured hardship for my name and you have not grown wary, you have been a 372 00:30:08,079 –> 00:30:17,660 hard worker, you’ve done it. Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your 373 00:30:17,660 –> 00:30:20,280 first love 374 00:30:20,339 –> 00:30:25,180 remember the height from which you’ve fallen repent and do the things that you 375 00:30:25,180 –> 00:30:31,920 did it first. Being so consumed in the work you’ve lost your love for me 376 00:30:31,920 –> 00:30:37,939 remember? Remember the sweetness of the fellowship we once had the Lord sent 377 00:30:38,380 –> 00:30:41,979 Listen to this? 378 00:30:42,000 –> 00:30:52,500 Repent, return to that. Draw near to me to recapture it. Watch your love 379 00:30:52,500 –> 00:30:59,280 fourthly watch your faith. 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and verses 5 and 6 380 00:30:59,280 –> 00:31:03,300 back to 2nd Timothy and 1st Timothy again 381 00:31:03,300 –> 00:31:07,339 watch your faith, 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verses 5 and 6 382 00:31:08,219 –> 00:31:12,760 Paul says I’ve been reminded of your sincere faith, that’s his personal faith 383 00:31:12,760 –> 00:31:17,079 was in your grandmother lois your mother yunus I’m now persuaded it lives in you 384 00:31:17,079 –> 00:31:21,819 and for this reason I’m reminding you Timothy to fan into flame the gift of 385 00:31:21,819 –> 00:31:26,300 God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Timothy you have this 386 00:31:26,300 –> 00:31:33,040 gift of faith use it, use it and use it by exercising the gifts that I have 387 00:31:33,280 –> 00:31:37,839 given to you. Because Timothy, the great danger is you become settled in 388 00:31:37,839 –> 00:31:42,219 ministry is that you become settled into a routine you are no longer stretching 389 00:31:42,219 –> 00:31:47,500 your faith or venturing and stretching the gifts that God has given to you. What 390 00:31:47,500 –> 00:31:54,199 is happening to your faith? Do you see evidence of growing confidence in God as 391 00:31:54,199 –> 00:31:58,199 you’ve been walking with him a longer time now? Or are you actually becoming 392 00:31:58,400 –> 00:32:05,540 more cynical, more pessimistic? What God-honoring kingdom-expanding dream is 393 00:32:05,540 –> 00:32:11,260 stretching your faith right now? Faith is like a muscle. And anyone who’s ever been 394 00:32:11,260 –> 00:32:14,500 in a plaster cast knows that when a muscle is not used for a period of time 395 00:32:14,500 –> 00:32:20,599 and the plaster cast comes off it, it atrophies because it has not been used. 396 00:32:20,599 –> 00:32:25,800 Timothy, God has given you gifts if you don’t use them you’ll lose them. Stretch 397 00:32:25,839 –> 00:32:35,400 that faith for the glory of God. What’s happening to your faith? How is it being 398 00:32:35,400 –> 00:32:46,579 stretched? Are you just drifting? Watch your faith closely. Number five, watch 399 00:32:46,579 –> 00:32:54,459 your purity, watch your purity. And in these letters, Paul calls Timothy as a 400 00:32:54,619 –> 00:32:59,380 thirty-five-year-old to purity in two areas that are with us all of our lives. 401 00:32:59,380 –> 00:33:04,819 The first, of course, is sexual purity. Second, Timothy chapter 2 in verse 22, 402 00:33:04,819 –> 00:33:09,339 flee the evil desires of youth, quite clear what he is referring to there, and 403 00:33:09,339 –> 00:33:13,760 pursue righteousness, faith, love, with those who call on the name of the 404 00:33:13,760 –> 00:33:16,920 Lord out of pure heart. 405 00:33:17,819 –> 00:33:28,300 Watch your life closely, and whenever you see something unhealthy in the area of 406 00:33:28,300 –> 00:33:35,180 sexual attraction, flee it. That’s the principle. Flee it. Get away from. It run 407 00:33:35,180 –> 00:33:42,900 from it. Put a distance between you and any source of sexual temptation, and 408 00:33:43,260 –> 00:33:48,760 watch this one closely. That’s what he says. 409 00:33:49,079 –> 00:33:54,060 May mean you need distance yourself from a relationship, far better to do that 410 00:33:54,060 –> 00:34:00,579 than to fall into sin. It may mean changing your route travelling home. It may 411 00:34:00,579 –> 00:34:06,380 mean passing up going with colleagues at work to a particular bar. It may mean 412 00:34:06,420 –> 00:34:12,820 leaving a small group. Do whatever you need to do to get away from a situation 413 00:34:12,820 –> 00:34:19,659 in which you are likely to fall because a person who engages in sexual sin has 414 00:34:19,659 –> 00:34:26,280 just not been watching their life. The second area is money, this is 1st 415 00:34:26,280 –> 00:34:34,239 Timothy in chapter six reading from verse 9, people who want to get rich fall 416 00:34:34,360 –> 00:34:39,300 into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge 417 00:34:39,300 –> 00:34:42,699 men into ruin and destruction, so if you’ve set your heart on really wanting 418 00:34:42,699 –> 00:34:53,659 to get rich Paul is saying you will fall into a trap for the love of money is a 419 00:34:53,659 –> 00:34:58,399 root of all kinds of evil,and some people eager for money have wandered 420 00:34:58,399 –> 00:35:03,659 from the faith and pierce themselves with many griefs. Now watch your life 421 00:35:03,659 –> 00:35:09,679 closely, especially with regards the power of money. And of course for all of 422 00:35:09,679 –> 00:35:13,840 us who do not have significance of money, we immediately think that this 423 00:35:13,840 –> 00:35:19,379 must be a word to those who do. I was challenged by something written by Mark 424 00:35:19,379 –> 00:35:24,760 Deaver, the amount of money does not have to be large for someone to love it. Even 425 00:35:24,760 –> 00:35:33,139 small amounts of money can work on small hearts. That’s true. How do you watch your 426 00:35:33,280 –> 00:35:37,540 life in regards to purity in relation to money? Well one way is to look at your 427 00:35:37,540 –> 00:35:42,239 giving, that will tell you a great deal about what the love of money is doing in 428 00:35:42,239 –> 00:35:54,379 your own life at this time. So watch your life closely. Speech, conduct, love, faith 429 00:35:54,379 –> 00:36:02,020 and purity, in relation to the areas of sex and in relation to the area of money. 430 00:36:02,060 –> 00:36:08,620 Watch and keep on watching. Paul says persevere in these things. Don’t just 431 00:36:08,620 –> 00:36:14,379 take a glance at them, you’ve got to keep watching them all your life. And build in 432 00:36:14,379 –> 00:36:19,739 periodic reviews so that you have focused attention on these significant 433 00:36:19,739 –> 00:36:24,939 areas, watch them, and keep watching them. Because if you do you will save both 434 00:36:24,939 –> 00:36:31,899 yourself and your hearers. What in all the world does that mean? I mean salvation 435 00:36:31,899 –> 00:36:35,719 is by grace through faith in Christ, no one was ever saved by self-examination, 436 00:36:35,719 –> 00:36:44,379 right. So what does Paul mean? Think of it this way. 437 00:36:44,580 –> 00:36:57,060 What could destroy your life? What could ruin your testimony? What could make you 438 00:36:57,080 –> 00:37:02,699 into a blazing firework rather than a lighthouse? 439 00:37:05,379 –> 00:37:08,679 Foolish talk, 440 00:37:10,580 –> 00:37:23,679 careless conduct, loving the wrong things, lack of faith, impurity in relation to sex 441 00:37:23,679 –> 00:37:33,399 or money. Turn you from a lighthouse into a rocket, but fizzles out. 442 00:37:35,280 –> 00:37:47,600 Second question, what could destroy the church? Foolish talk, 443 00:37:48,120 –> 00:37:51,879 careless conduct, 444 00:37:51,879 –> 00:38:06,360 loving the wrong things, lack of faith, impurity in relation to sex or money. So 445 00:38:06,360 –> 00:38:10,840 Paul saying Timothy personally, watch these things in your life and you’ll 446 00:38:10,840 –> 00:38:17,060 save yourself. And Timothy watch these things in the life of the church and 447 00:38:17,260 –> 00:38:25,919 you’ll save your hearers as well. See the reality is that there is enough sin and 448 00:38:25,919 –> 00:38:30,800 enough foolishness in all of us for any of us to make a complete disaster of our 449 00:38:30,800 –> 00:38:37,520 lives. True. There is enough sin and foolishness in all of us for any of us 450 00:38:37,520 –> 00:38:42,520 to make a complete disaster of our lives. And let’s face it how many Christians 451 00:38:42,699 –> 00:38:47,379 are all that they could be for Jesus Christ. How many churches really are all 452 00:38:47,379 –> 00:38:53,919 that they could be for Jesus Christ and for impact in this world. And Paul speaks 453 00:38:53,919 –> 00:38:58,959 to Timothy after 15 years like a father to a son and he’s saying Timothy I know 454 00:38:58,959 –> 00:39:02,840 that long left here’s what I want to impart to you I want you son to be 455 00:39:02,840 –> 00:39:06,919 everything that you can be for Christ and I want that church that you pastor 456 00:39:06,919 –> 00:39:11,040 there at Ephesus to be everything that that church can be for Jesus Christ. I 457 00:39:11,300 –> 00:39:16,040 don’t want you or them to be like a box of fireworks. I want you to be like a 458 00:39:16,040 –> 00:39:21,580 blazing lighthouse that sustains its light and that rescues many. So here’s 459 00:39:21,580 –> 00:39:29,560 what you have to do you have to watch your light and watch it closely watch 460 00:39:29,560 –> 00:39:35,580 these things and persevere in them you’ll save yourself and you’ll save 461 00:39:35,760 –> 00:39:46,659 your hearers. And then you’ll find something else, you will feel your need 462 00:39:46,659 –> 00:39:51,500 of Christ more than you have ever felt it before, and you will grow in your love 463 00:39:51,500 –> 00:39:59,219 for Christ more than you ever grown in that before. I find that the high 464 00:39:59,300 –> 00:40:06,540 calling of the Christian life drives me to Christ. Look at this stuff, and I think 465 00:40:06,540 –> 00:40:11,780 I fell so far short. I have so far to go. 466 00:40:13,820 –> 00:40:24,159 Holiness is easy for those who’ve never tried it. But once you start watching 467 00:40:24,159 –> 00:40:32,060 your life, you will have a whole new appreciation for Jesus. Doesn’t this 468 00:40:32,060 –> 00:40:39,639 make you thankful that you can come to him today and know that in his one hand 469 00:40:39,639 –> 00:40:49,800 he holds forgiveness for past failures? And in the other, strength for future 470 00:40:50,040 –> 00:41:00,679 endeavors? And that he never gives the one without the other? 471 00:41:00,679 –> 00:41:04,280 So let’s bow before him and ask for his help today, shall we? 472 00:41:04,479 –> 00:41:20,580 Father, we bow before you with humble confession. There is enough foolishness 473 00:41:20,580 –> 00:41:29,840 and sin in me to make a complete disaster of my life. This is our 474 00:41:30,040 –> 00:41:40,600 confession before you. Any of us and all of us could so easily be like the 475 00:41:40,600 –> 00:41:50,679 firework rather than the lighthouse. Yet the great desire of our hearts is that 476 00:41:50,679 –> 00:41:58,419 we should be all that we can be for Jesus Christ. We want that for ourselves. 477 00:41:58,419 –> 00:42:03,459 We want that for our church, and so we make a renewed commitment before you 478 00:42:03,459 –> 00:42:21,679 today, dear Father, to watch our life, our speech, our conduct, our love, our faith, 479 00:42:22,120 –> 00:42:27,360 purity in things sexual and things financial. 480 00:42:33,159 –> 00:42:43,000 So help me God. Thank you, Father, that you are the God who has come to us in Jesus 481 00:42:43,000 –> 00:42:48,340 Christ, and right now we feel the need of the forgiveness that our Savior holds in 482 00:42:48,340 –> 00:42:54,639 the one hand and the strength that he holds in the other. So as we draw near to 483 00:42:54,639 –> 00:43:00,439 him we thank you that he embraces us with both, so that we may move forward 484 00:43:00,439 –> 00:43:07,419 encouraged and strengthened and learn to persevere through the quitting points of 485 00:43:07,419 –> 00:43:14,300 life to the glory of Jesus in whose name we pray. 486 00:43:18,399 –> 00:43:22,100 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 487 00:43:22,100 –> 00:43:28,699 To contact us call us at 1-877-Open-365 or visit our website 488 00:43:28,699 –> 00:43:32,120 openthebible.org 489 00:43:32,120 –> 00:43:34,179 you

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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You can be useful to Jesus Christ. Discover how, through the experience of Timothy who served as apprentice to the Apostle Paul. Learn how Timothy became the most useful member of Paul’s team. As you persevere through discouragement, become more fruitful for Christ.

Colin Smith

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