Good morning to you. This morning will be interesting. Samantha said to me recently, she said, how come you never use a PowerPoint when you come and speak at Northbrook? And I said, I never use a PowerPoint anywhere.
But she goes, but at Northbrook, they all use PowerPoints. They're very visual people. So we're going to try this and see how it goes. It may seem ironic.
I'm a school teacher by profession, and I use as little technology as possible. Because I have learned technology goes awry. I have walked in the classrooms where a teacher is like, Stephen, my entire lesson is on PowerPoint slides. And the projector just went, pop.
I went, good luck with that. So I will see how this goes. I also, Samantha mentioned to me recently, she said, Stephen, we're at Northbrook, and you show up once in a while. And I think some people think that you're the recalcitrant husband, that I think that at times they just look at us and go, oh, no husband this week.
We're praying for you. So just to let you know, for those of you who don't know, the Lord has blessed me with a couple of different ministries. We value this assembly, and we're here as a family, but the Lord has me in different places many Sundays. So I want to give you a little update to start of the ministries that I'm involved in, specifically some things for you to pray for.
Now I'm going to press a button, and we'll see what happens. Aha. I serve at the Halifax Christian Academy, which is a Christian school here in Halifax. Our mission is to equip students to develop a love of learning and an unshakable faith.
And our vision is to transform lives to the dynamic, Christ-centered education and discipleship. We have privilege to work with students from pre-primary through to grade 12. The Lord has blessed us five years ago. We went through a challenging time, and our school was about 60 students, and we were in a financial place where it looked like we were talking about closing the doors.
This fall, we will open our doors to almost 300 students. Half of our students are ethnic African. The rest of our students are a combination of many different backgrounds, including a large number of international students who come to us from Korea, from China, many of whom are not believers. We also have Muslim families that would rather have them in a school where they know we have a moral standing than in the public system.
And so I have some prayer requests for you that I'd like you to be praying for us. This year, for the first time, we are taking all our staff before school starts. Tomorrow morning, we're heading up to Malagas Bible Camp about 50 people, and we are gonna spend three days preparing ourselves for the school year ahead. So I would ask that you be praying for us while we're there, that God will be at work in our minds and our hearts, that He will be preparing us to be salt and light for Him in the classroom as we meet and connect with families.
I'd ask that you specifically, if you could remember me, I will be preaching four times during the retreat. I also will be leading all the training sessions. So I have a very busy schedule, and I would appreciate your prayers for that. As well, that you would be praying for us as we look into the year that families that don't know Christ would hear the gospel.
That students that don't know Christ would come to saving faith in Christ. I've shared this with some of you before. We had a student who arrived in our school two years ago in grade 11, a Korean student who came to our school simply because we had a good reputation and she wanted to be well set up to go to a Canadian university. She let us know when she was going through the process of enrolling that she was an atheist.
By the end of that year, she came to saving faith in Christ. Last year, she was the leader of our student leadership team. She motivated the team to the high school students to connect with the middle school and elementary students to encourage them and their faith. And then at the end of the year, she made the tremendous decision that rather than go to the Canadian university, she'd been accepted to with a scholarship.
She wanted to return home to Korea because she said, my family don't know the gospel. And so she went home to Korea to be able to live out the gospel and share the gospel with her family. So be praying for that and praying that we can encourage the students who know Christ to grow in their faith, to live it out for wherever the Lord would take them. So that's the HCA side of things.
One of my other ministry roles is I have the privilege to serve as a chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces. This is my work clothes. And I would ask that you be praying for us. It is a challenging area to minister in.
It is a closed environment. So if you are not in the Armed Forces, you cannot get access in. So at times, people have said, well, why don't pastors connect with the soldiers and the responses? You're generally not welcome because you're not part of the family, so to speak.
So if you can become a chaplain, then you get on the inside. But we are facing some challenges. As I've mentioned before, even though I'm a chaplain, even though I walk around with a cross on my uniform, I am not allowed to begin a spiritual conversation. I can come and I can offer practical support.
I can connect you with mental health. I can ask you how you're doing. I can give you a lollipop if it's a rough day. But I cannot start a spiritual conversation beyond asking a person.
So what is your personal faith? I can ask that question. And if they choose to start to talk about it great, if they don't, then it ends there. I am not allowed to proselytize.
But God can do amazing things and open up doors and create opportunities. We were on an endurance hike at Cape Split some weeks back. And I'm walking along and we're all trying to make good time going up Cape Split. And the soldier beside me suddenly looks around and goes, so this may be an odd question.
But you actually think there was a flood. It's just like, I don't know where that came from, but we're going to run with that. Because you can talk about a whole lot of things like that. And we did.
And then other soldiers start to interact with it. And God does something. I will also ask that you would pray that the Lord would thwart opposition. We recently, the Canadian government commissioned a report to be done looking at issues of sexism, racism, and extremism in the Canadian Armed Forces.
And we were looking forward to hearing what much of this report was going to say. Within the report, there was a surprise section looking specifically at chaplaincy. And the committee that did the report said that they had concerns about, first of all, about what impact it had on soldiers who may have experienced trauma at some point in their lives in the past because of Christianity. They also said they had concerns with the monotheistic faiths because they are exclusive and do not reflect the diversity of Canadian culture.
And then they went on to say that they had concerns about chaplains whose beliefs did not reflect current Canadian beliefs and how can a chaplain remain in the Canadian Armed Forces if they cannot embrace everything that we say we embrace. We're praying that God will not allow that to become something to remove influence. And then the third is we need chaplains. We need chaplains.
So if you're sitting here and you are trained, if you've gone to Bible school and you have some credentials and you're thinking, you know, I never thought about that. Let me give you a name and a number you can call because one of the challenges with chaplains is often chaplains evangelical chaplains anyway are often older men who have served in other ministries and then they are called in the chaplains. So the average service time is usually about 10 years. They usually come in in their late 40s or so and then usually leave around 60.
So we're always needing chaplains. My unit that I work with has two companies and a detachment. It's the 36 service battalion. So I have a company here in Halifax.
I have a detachment in Aldershot in the Valley. And I have a company in Sydney, Cape Breton. Well, other than on the phone, I don't get to Cape Breton much. And I had another chaplain who was a believer who served in Cape Breton.
He has just left the armed forces. So at the moment, I have no believing chaplain in Cape Breton. And so there's no one working not only with my company up there, but all the others. So be praying for that.
That we need as openings open up, we want people who know Christ to fill them, who can then step into the armed forces. The Lord has blessed me with a pulpit ministry in churches in the region. And one of the things that is becoming more and more evident is that there is a growing number of churches in our region that are struggling to find sound Bible teachers. They have no one.
Some of it is because of the culture that they have not encouraged the young men to grow and their knowledge of the word and to speak and to teach. And so they'll have one person who is the teacher. And then that person becomes old and retires or moves away. And then they have nothing.
Right now, I could be speaking in three different churches at the same time because they're in need of people to fill that need. So first of all, I would say, praise the Lord. That in the assembly here, we are blessed to have a number who can come up and open the word and preach faithfully to what the word says. But be in prayer for opportunities in which maybe the Lord may call us to minister alongside other churches.
There is also a growing need in general for sound teaching. A number of years ago, I in the church I was ministering in, decided to create some opportunities for our small groups who are oftentimes getting books in their small group, which were application studies. And there's nothing wrong with that. I found many of the people in our particular congregation were becoming biblically illiterate.
Because they didn't actually open the Bible and read through book by book. Look at what it said. So they knew a little piece from here. And they knew a little piece from there.
But didn't know how it fit together. And so after some prayer and discussion, I took a book, the gospel of Mark, and I said, OK, I'll take it. And I'll teach it on a video. And then the small group can watch it.
And they can discuss it. And they can read through. And it would be a chapter session. And then we did that.
And then we did the book of Genesis after that. And I'll be honest with you, it was a bust in our small group ministry because people liked the little booklets that they got. And they didn't really want to do that. So I said, well, what do we do with this?
And my son, Andrew, said, well, let's just put it on YouTube. And then maybe they can access it later. And so it went on YouTube and had 20 hits. I'll be honest, I forgot about it.
And then during the pandemic, Andrew came to me one day. And he said, dead, you know people are watching the videos. And I said, well, what do you mean? He goes, well, like 1,000 people have watched your Genesis chapter 1.
And they're commenting on it. And they're asking you questions. Are you ever going to talk to these people? I don't know.
This week, this Friday, I was sitting at work. And on my computer, I had my LinkedIn tab open because I was looking up. I was creeping somebody's profile that we're thinking about getting as a substitute teacher. And all of a sudden, it blinked.
And I had a message. And so I clicked on it. And it was a gentleman from Wisconsin who I had no idea who this person was. And so I thought, oh, this will be weird.
So I acknowledged him. And he said, I just want you to know that our Bible study group is watching your Genesis video. We have been. And we're going to watch it this afternoon.
And I felt I should reach out to you and tell you that you're encouraging us. But one of the things that stood out to me again is that need for us to make use of and to provide things like this. There's a whole lot of bad content that's available. And if the Lord has equipped you to teach, and you could actually teach in front of a video camera and put it out there, there is a need for it.
People are hungry for it. Our little YouTube site that Andrew and I manage has had 249,000 views because of the need. But now let's go to the word. If you have a Bible with you or the electronic means to follow along, let's look at the epistle to Timothy, his second one.
I'm going to tell you now that there were more PowerPoint slides. We're not going to look at those. Because another thing that I find, which is just my thing, I think it has to do with my stubbornness versus the Holy Spirit, is that this week I've been looking at the message to share with you this morning and the messages that I'd be sharing with the teachers over the next three days. And last night I was working on this PowerPoint.
It's like I'm going to speak on this. And so I went and made PowerPoint slides. And then later, last night I went, no, no, not this passage, the other one. So I made a second set of PowerPoint slides.
This morning I woke up and it's like, no, that's not the one. So I made a third one. I put the third one on the stick. But we're going to look at the first one.
Because that's the one that the Lord's been laying on my heart all morning. So that's where we're at. Let's take a moment and let's pray together. Our Lord and our God, we do praise you, that you are working.
Lord, we praise you that you are sovereign. We praise you that those things frustrate us. Nothing thwart you and your plans. Lord, that we can stand on your promises, that we can trust in your faithfulness.
Lord, this morning as we look into your word, I pray that you would be speaking to us. Lord, that we would hear from you, not simply to gain knowledge, but that you would use it through your spirit to change us. Lord, as always give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Minds to understand the most of all hearts to be changed.
For your glory in Jesus Christ, amen. Starting to read this morning in 2 Timothy 1, starting at verse 8. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me, his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God who has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we had done, but because of his own purpose and grace.
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. So in this epistle written by Paul, first to Timothy, and then beyond Timothy to the church, and then beyond the church of Timothy's day to us.
Paul begins, he's gonna give a lot of directions to those growing up in the church. But he begins by identifying what we have. And it's one of the things that I love about the Word of God is that whenever God gives instructions, directions, or commands, he always precedes it by telling us how we are able to live it out. Because he always begins by telling us who we are, if we're in Christ and what we have in him, then he says, now live this way.
So Paul begins reminding Timothy why he shouldn't feel ashamed about Paul and his suffering. Because this is what they have. But join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. You know, it would've been incredible if God had simply saved us.
If he had simply paid the penalty for human sin and said, there you go, now your sins are paid for, you will not suffer my wrath. Now go and muddle along. That would've been worthy of eternal praise, but he didn't. Jesus Christ went to the cross, not to simply pay for our penalty of sin, but so that we can have fellowship with God.
So that we can be called the children of God, so that we can live a holy life. In our day, that term, holy life, has become something that you almost sort of cringe away from. Because there's all kinds of images that this world has created around a holy life, either it's someone who's standing there in his black suit, black necktie, very large study Bible, looking condescendingly at your clothing options. Or it's someone who has, you know, I own nothing, and I live on the mission field, and I just enjoy total self-deprecation.
We get that idea, or you get the puritanical view. But what does it mean to live a holy life? What will it look like? So Paul is gonna take Timothy, once he reminds Timothy of who he is, because of the finished work of Christ, he's gonna begin to unpack what it's gonna look like to live out in daily life who he already is.
Reminding him that this is not done because of anything that Timothy has done, but because of God's own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. That's exciting. You know, I wonder why we never put that on a bumper sticker.
I've seen all kinds of Christian bumper stickers. Some of them are really cringy. I saw one, a friend of mine had, his bumper sticker said, simply said, do you follow Jesus this closely? Sort of sort of double purpose?
But to simply have a bumper sticker that said, Jesus destroyed death. That our greatest human fear, Jesus destroyed death, defeated it, there is nothing we fear. Even though this body is slowly wearing away, or rapidly wearing away, death has been defeated if I know Christ. So let's take a few moments and let's look at some of the things that Paul identifies in how we live this holy life.
So we're gonna look at chapter two. You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. In your hardship with us, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer.
Now I'm gonna do a quick consumer poll, who here has served in the armed forces either in Canada or somewhere? Oh, we have, what a pacifistic crowd. Okay, usually you got all kinds of. When I was preparing the joint in the Canadian Armed Forces, because first I was qualified as a chaplain, and then they told me which they didn't tell me before, I thought that I went through this process, and then they said, okay, you were officially a chaplain, that then I got the suit and I showed up.
And then they said, so now there's only one, and he said it really nicely, my supervising chaplain, he said, there's just one little thing you have to do. You just have to join the army. And I was like, okay, so what does that involve? I said, well, basic training.
But I understand now why, of course, they do the things they do in basic training. Because there's an expression that some of the old soldiers use, who's, we don't care about what happens on Sivi Street, which is anything that happens outside of life in the military. In the military, all we are focused on is doing what they call us to do. So I can remember going into basic training, and the weekend before I was supposed to go and start it, I was at a Bible study that I was helping lead, and there was a couple of gentlemen there who were retired military people, and one of them was a war officer, and I said, I'm really worried about this basic training thing, because I don't think I'll get it.
There's going to be a whole lot of stuff, and he just looked at me and went, you'll get it. You have no choice. You will get it. And it was true, because all it takes is a few screaming and a few punishment PG things, and it's amazing what you'll remember.
And I can tell you that when I, we get together, I can tell you that we have our first training night, a week from Thursday, and when I walk in, every guy's boots are going to be laced the same way. Everybody will have the ends of their laces tucked in the same way. We will all have our barreys on the same way, and there'll be two fingers above our eyebrow, and our badge will line up with our eye. That's what's going to be.
And we don't, it's automatic. I pick up my barre, I go to put my barre on, I put it on, I slide my finger down, I check, and I check. That's what I do, because that's what you have to do. Because that pleases our commanding officer.
We were, I mentioned on our Cape Split hike, there was quite a number of us, and of course, it's a public thoroughfare, and other people are hiking, and so we were told, if CIVIs are passing, the command will be given to fall out, and you'll step into the bushes until they pass. And we did, so we're going up the path, we're talking, we're going along, and all of a sudden the yellow comes, fall out, and everybody went step over, and we stepped into the bushes until people went by, fall in, everybody stepped in, it was just automatic. Not a single person, like, what am I supposed to do here? I don't want to step in that, you just did.
Because it becomes your world. And I say this to you, not at all for advertising for the Canadian Armed Forces, because some of it was weird, I can remember one day where they, I think, simply just to teach us, we were marching, and we had just cleaned up all our kit. We were getting ready, we were doing a infield experience, and they told us, clean yourselves all up, so we were all cleaned up, and we were waiting for the bus to come. And they said, marching trails, so we all fell in, and we start marching.
And we're marching down this road. And we so often they'd have us, you know, wheel this way and wheel that way. But as we're marching down the road, there was this puddle. It was a big puddle, it was a big, slushy mud puddle, and we're marching toward, and I can remember the person next to me going, they're going to march us right through that, aren't they?
And we did. Nobody mis-distried, nobody said a word, nobody said, excuse me, we just, shh, shh, shh, shh, all the way through it. Because our commanding officer didn't tell us otherwise. So we did what we were told.
In the Christian life, when we have experienced new life in Christ, we also live a new way. So those things which were the priorities of the old life, they begin to fall away. And those things which concern our Savior begin to become the priority for us. That's what's supposed to happen.
However, the old life pulls on us. It distracts, it tries to draw us in, and at times we can begin to resemble the old life more than the new life that we walk in. I was convicted a little while ago by a quotation by Charles Spurgeon who made the statement, he said to his congregation, who here in the house tonight is an atheist? Apparently nobody put their hands up.
And then he said, I am not surprised that none of you put your hand up to it, but I will say to you that some of you, by the way you will live from tomorrow to next Saturday, you earn the name more than those who profess it. Because you will walk out of church and your habits and your actions and those things that you gravitate to will look more like there is no God than there is. So that we can, if I were to show up at my military unit and I would wear my regular clothes and I would walk by my commanding officer and not come to attention, nobody would consider me part of my unit because I'm not acting or looking like it. So Paul is reminding Timothy, because Timothy can picture this because the Romans were actually the first, in the Western world, the first military power that did what militaries have done ever since.
They gave them an identity and they trained them all the same. So you knew when you encountered a soldier. So Paul says, in your hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no one living as a soldier involves in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer.
Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. That's a pretty easy one. There are, if you play any kind of sports there's always rules, always. And unless you follow the rules, you are not going to win the prize.
I can remember a number of years ago, it was the World Cup, the only true sporting event in the world. And Holland was playing Spain in the final of the World Cup. And we were excited about this. We were wearing our orange, actually it was funny because it was happening later on Sunday afternoon and I had preached in a church Sunday morning and a family invited us to lunch and were like, can't really, why not?
Because the World Cup final is on. And they're like, oh. It's like the fact that you didn't know what that is, tells me this is not going to go well. So we had a quick lunch with them.
And then we went home and we're watching. And the game isn't going well for our side. And at one point in a moment of frustration, one of our team, the Dutch team, decides to kick a Spanish player in the chest. Now, it was a lot of pressure, it's the final.
And the other guy had been doing some questionable stuff. But there's a standard rule in soccer that says you don't kick somebody in the chest. So we knew what was happening. We saw the referee running with his hand in his back pocket, which if you don't know soccer, that's where he keeps that.
It was magical little cards that throw you over the game. And up it came, the red card. And we were now a player down and we were doomed. And we lost.
And there was a whole lot of talking about different things. But the fact was, it came down to, he didn't play by the rules. So it didn't matter how great a player he was. In the Christian life, living a holy life means that we cannot compromise to the world.
We cannot compromise to the world. And there will be times when it will seem easier too. In our present day, you will have a lot more fans if you put a certain flag out in your window. If you say you support a particular outlook, but then we're compromising the message of the word of God.
And it doesn't matter. So we said, oh, but we have all these new people who've come out, all these new people that we can connect with. But when it comes to the hard decisions about what God calls us to in relationships and marriage, where are you going to go now? What are you going to do?
The hardworking farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I'm saying. For the Lord will give you insight into all of this. Remember, Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David.
This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. And I love that because sometimes as we're living a holy life, as we're walking according to Christ, as we're seeking to be faithful to His word, it can feel like, but society is then going to constrain us.
They're going to say, well, you can't do that here. And you can't do that here. And what about this? And I think you better step back about that.
That's when the Lord always brings back to me this verse. But God's word is not chained. Though we may be limited or feel that we're limited, God's word is not chained. I once was speaking with a brother.
He was leading a home Bible study, a small group. And they were going through the book of Ephesians. And at the beginning of the study, one of the people came and they brought a co-worker with them. The co-worker wasn't a believer.
And in early conversations, it became quickly obvious that the co-worker had very strong views on feminism and on relationships and various things. And so the person who brought this woman to the study went to the leader and said, there are some awkward parts in Ephesians. You're not going to focus on those, are you? And he goes, well, we are going through Ephesians verse by verse.
So we look a little strange. If we suddenly jump over that. And she goes, I don't think it's a good idea. Well, they prayed.
And week after week, they worked through a few verses at a time. A few verses at a time. A few verses at a time. They came to the passage talking about husbands and wives and those relationships and such.
And the leader had been praying all week. And again, the other person who brought this person said, I really don't think you should go over this. And he said, look, we've been faithful to the word of God up to this point. We can't deviate now.
And so that evening, they sat down and they read through that passage and to discuss it. And he said, there was an awkwardness in the room. Ironically, the awkwardness was from the believers in the room, all anticipating how badly this was going to go. The lady suddenly speaks up and says, you know, when I was invited to this study, the first thing I did is I read through the book of Ephesians.
And I came across this. And this really ticked me off. But you know, as we've been going through the book of Ephesians, verse by verse, as I've come to understand who Christ is, is I've understood now what Ephesians says about who we become in Christ, about his plan and his purposes, and how he's working all these things out. I don't see how this could be any other way.
By the end of the Ephesians study that woman had come to saving faith in Christ. Because you see, the word of God is not bound. They were faithful to the word of God. They let the word of God speak.
And the word of God spoke to that woman's heart, to the work of the Holy Spirit. But human thinking was, OK, let's just adjust it a little bit. Let's skip over that. Let's leave that out.
And then they will still have opportunities in the future. No. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.
If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. I do want to draw your attention here in verse 14. Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words.
It is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. A workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are hymenious and philitus, who, having wandered away from the truth, they say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription. The Lord knows those who are his, and everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.
One of the challenges in our day, it is, much as I say, you can put videos up, it is far too easy to talk. It is far too easy to talk. And sometimes, it can come up really, really quickly. There's those moments you get up in the morning, you're feeling good, you open up social media, you're flipping down, and somebody has just said something outrageous.
And you're like, I can't let them get away with that. I must correct them. And so you correct them in a social media platform, which gives zero context, and any chance to really examine something fully. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And next thing you know, that person, yeah, blah, blah, blah, and then somebody else jumps in, you have no idea who they are, but you're going to correct them too. And then you're going along, and you look at it, and now it's scrolled, it's like this long, and it was to no profit at all, other than the whole lot of people just got a chance to vent their spleens. That is of no value. Avoid godless chatter.
Avoid talking about things that don't matter. Don't matter. Use your words that bring, so they bring life. Use your words so you're speaking to truth in love, because truth is needed, but a whole lot of rambling is not.
That is in keeping with living a holy life. In a large house, there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wooden clay, some for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself in the ladder, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made wholly useful to the master and prepared to do any good work. Flea, the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Again, don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels, and the Lord's servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct, and hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to the knowledge of the truth, that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. And that is an important thing that we always have to think about.
If you are a believer in Christ, and you're interacting with people, and there's someone who comes to you as an adversary, who's ready to attack everything you say, remember this. They're a captive. They are a captive to the devil's schemes and to this world. They are a prisoner of their own sin.
So instead of viewing them as your adversary, now you're in contact with, now that you're in combat with, instead of look at that person and say, Lord, give me the words to say, because I want that person to be free. I want that person to be redeemed. I want that person to be transformed. I remember speaking once with a gentleman who is often debated in person, Richard Dawkins, the leader of the Neo-atheist.
I said, what's it like talking in a debate with Richard Dawkins? And he said, at first, he used to really, he used to wrangle me. I'd want to think of what was the best way to pull apart his argument. He said, now when I meet with him, I spend my whole time praying for his soul, because I want that man to come to the saving knowledge of Christ.
I don't want to win the argument. I want him to have eternal life. So suddenly he doesn't get under my skin like he used to, because my heart is where it should be. And if my heart is secure in Christ, and I'm seeing people I interact with as Christ sees them, if I am not living as in the old life, like civilian, but I'm living in the new life, because I'm now part of the family of God, now I see all this differently.
Because of what I have in him. Of course, there's always the challenge. And as Paul moves forward, he wraps it up here, and as he begins to pull the last parts together in chapter four, and with this I close, I give you this charge. In the presence of God, and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing, and his kingdom, I give you this charge, and this isn't just a Timothy, this is to all of us who call Christ our Savior.
Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience, and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. And they will turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths, but you keep your head in all situations. In your hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. So what do we do in living a holy life in Christ?
Preach the word. And ladies, I'm sorry, you don't get out of this one, because the preach is to proclaim, which means every believer in Christ, in the priesthood that we have in Christ, you have both the privilege and the obligation to preach the word. That's not standing up here. That means every time you tell the truth of what the word says to somebody else.
You're proclaiming the word. Preach the word. Preach it when it's convenient, and preach it when it's not. Preach it when you planned on it, and preach it when you are absolutely dependent on the Holy Spirit, because you didn't see this coming, which is actually a good place, because you should be dependent on the Holy Spirit all the time.
Because when we think we've got it together, that's usually when it goes into careening into the ditch. Correct, correct errors, rebukes in, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. Because as he says, and we live it now, the time has come when people won't put up with sound doctrine. The people will gather teachers that will tell them what they want to hear, that they'll turn away from truth and turn aside to myths.
But we as believers, because of what we have in Christ, we can keep our heads, we can endure hardship, we can do the work of an evangelist, and we can discharge the duties of your ministry. So if you know Christ, whether you are 18, 48, or 84, or anything in that category, the Holy Spirit of God, through the Apostle Paul, charges you, preaches the word. Be ready all the time. Correct errors, because you know the Word of God, and you're listening to the Spirit, rebukes in with love, because you're burdened for the person's soul.
Encourage the saints with great patience and careful instruction, because we live in that day. All of us are called to this, if you are in Christ. All of us, let's pray. Father, I thank you that you have called us to a holy life, that you have called us to be your ambassadors, your messengers in this world.
And it doesn't matter our age or our background, or what we've been through before you saved us, that you are able to give us all this calling. Lord, I pray now for my brothers and sisters here, you know in the situation you have placed each of them in. You know those they interact with, you know those that maybe they are prepared to speak to, and those that they're afraid to speak to. Lord, do your work.
Lord, remind them of what you've already done to save them, and that you are able to keep them and equip them, and empower them. Just as you're able to do that for me. And Lord, I pray today, if there's anyone here who does not yet know Jesus Christ, who hasn't experienced his free gift of salvation, that today they would ask the questions and seek the answers. Lord, the today would be their day of salvation.
Lord, don't let them leave until they've sought what they came here for. Lord, we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.