Open—Tim Roach
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#212.
We are but strangers here.
We do not crave a home on earth which gave us the butter grave.
My crosses sever ties, which found us here, myself, our treasure and brighter spear.
Good afternoon. We've sung about the fact that we are pilgrims and strangers here on earth.
We're strangers because we're we don't belong to this world. We're foreigners.
Were pilgrims because we don't get settled down here on Earth. We're here for a purpose.
As servants of God. Everyone who knows the Lord as their savior in this room is a servant of God. And I like to go to Second Timothy chapter one. And I want to look at various points that we have for a Pilgrim and a stranger here on earth as servants of God. And I want us to pick out a few points here that.
Apply to a servant of God.
I'm not going to go through every verse. I want to pick out a few verses, few points in some of the verses. In verse two, we have to Timothy, my dearly beloved Son. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord, Grace as a servant of God, you need to have grace because as you interact with people in your service.
Things aren't always going to go smoothly, and you'll need grace to interact with people, and you'll have situations. You'll need to have grace to interact with problems and perhaps persecution. And the Lord gives grace.
And when I am weak, then am I then am I strong when we have the grace of God? In verse 4, verse three, it talks about a pure conscience.
So as a servant of God.
You need to have a pure conscience if you're going to, if you're going to talk to someone about the Lord and you have a guilty conscience, it's going to affect your ability to to fully explain those things to your friend, because.
You'll be condemning yourself and your friend will say, well, look what you do in your life. How can that, how can that be possible? So we need to keep Yes, there's failure, but we need to be able to confess our failure and not let our failure hold us back. When you're looking for Second in First Corinthians Chapter 11, the verse there about 2627 and there it says, examine yourself, Let a man examine himself. And so let him eat. It doesn't say let him sit aside.
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No. We examine ourselves, we confess, we judge ourselves, and then we can eat. And so the same thing as a servant, as we as we have things to share with other people, we need to examine ourselves, keep our conscience pure, so we can serve the Lord in a way without guilt, and so that others will listen to what we have to say. Then in verse 4, Paul's talking to Timothy in these verses.
And he's instructing him as a servant of God. And he says, I'm mindful of your tears. Timothy had a tender conscience, a tender heart towards other people. And when when Timothy looked around at the people that the apostle Paul had visited and given his life for, and Timothy had traveled with with Paul, and Timothy saw that.
There was hardships in people's lives.
And he had tears about that. People were giving up some of the truth. They weren't following the teachings of the Apostle Paul. He had tears about that. He had a tender conscience. And if you're going to be a servant of God, it's good for us to have a tender conscience towards the folks that we are working with.
Then in verse five it talks about Timothy's unfeigned faith. When I call to remember the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. And so Timothy had faith he wasn't coming to the conference and pretending to be like everybody else. No, he had a true, strong faith in his own heart, and he could stand on his own, and he could stand with the Lord.
And be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. He didn't depend on being with everybody else to help carry him through. He had unfeigned faith. And where? Where did his? Where did he learn this faith? He learned it from his mother and his grandmother. And this speaks to us at all generations.
As we speak to our children, as we live our lives before our children, they can see what you value. They can see what what is real in your life. They can see that you live by faith.
Or if you live by fear, they can see if you're trusting the Lord or if you're trusting yourself.
And Timothy recognized in his grandmother that she had faith.
His mother had faith, and this life of faith was evident.
In Timothy as well, faith doesn't just pass down from one generation to another, but we learn to live by faith.
Timothy learned to live by faith in his mother and grandmother. Were a big part of that verse. 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. We don't have Apostolic authority today for someone to come to you, a brother, and put their hands on you, So you can have the gift of an evangelist, or the gift of a teacher, or a gift of being a helper.
No, the Spirit of God is the one who gives out the gifts.
Today and each one in this room.
You have a gift. You have a gift of the from the Spirit of God to enable you to be a servant of Christ.
Sometimes we're afraid to use our gift. Maybe we're a little shy. Maybe we're afraid of what other people will say. Maybe we think we're not capable enough and we just don't know how we're going to accomplish something. No, we need to.
Allow God to stir up that gift that's in US, and maybe you don't know what your gift is.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. When God gives you something to do, He gives you the the grace to be able to do that, whatever it is that service to talk to somebody, to do something for somebody to help somebody.
And as you, as the Lord gives you things to do, just do it. Don't think well. I don't have a gift for this. Just do it. And as you do those things that are presented to you and you're, you are able to do those things. God gives you the strength and ability to do that. And your gift can be developed as you serve the Lord. And so don't just sit and do nothing.
Ask the Lord how can I be a help to the people of God?
Verse 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his servant, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Anybody who is going out to to serve the Lord, especially in the gospel, especially to be able to go out and help the Saints or to help the sinners. If you are serving the Lord, you are going to find that Satan is going to be there to attack you.
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There's going to be afflictions of the gospel, There's going to be difficult times, and it's going to be easy just to give up. But no.
Be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. He's going to give you the power and the strength and the grace to go through whatever those afflictions might be as you serve the Lord. Verse 9.
Who has saved us?
And called us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought to life and immortality to light through the gospel.
These two verses, they go from eternity past to eternity future, eternity past. God had an eternal purpose. He had an eternal purpose, and He gave us a calling. He had a with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. He has a purpose for you. He's made you part of the of the Body of Christ, part of the Church, part of the Bride of Christ, and he's given you a work as a servant of God.
A ministry of reconciliation, if you would. Maybe it's a different gift, but he's given you a purpose in this world. And God's purpose, his purposes went from all the way. In turns he passed, and he says he has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel and so.
Immortality goes on and on into eternity future. And so he brings these two together for us. The Lord Jesus he had abolished death and has brought life and so God has given you life, eternal life, so that you can not just live forever but to live the life of Christ. Because eternal life is the life of Christ and he's given you a message to share with other people about the life, about life and immortality.
And you can do that through sharing the gospel. And so then, if we go to verse 11 and 12, Whereunto I am appointed A preacher and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which 'cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
As a servant of God, Paul understood what it was like and he was explaining these things to Timothy. He says, I am appointed A preacher, an apostle and a teacher. He knew what it was to go out and serve the Lord in a certain way. He was the servant of God. And he's telling Timothy all these different things, that it's good you're going to have afflictions, there's going to be difficulties in the pathway. And he says, I suffer these things, but I know whom I have believed there's going to come up things in your Christian life.
And you're going to wonder, where is God in my life?
We don't trust our feelings.
In this world, in this life, in this Christian path of service.
We trust the Lord Jesus. We trust His word. And when we look at the word of God, He will give us instruction and we can. We can have assurance that we're saved. We can have assurance that the Lord has a service for us. We can have assurance that He's coming back soon to take us to be with him in heaven. And we can commit these various things to the Lord, knowing that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day as you serve the Lord Jesus.
He knows what you're doing for him. He knows your heart. He knows your motives.
And why you're doing what you're doing and he's reserving for you.
A. A A reward for that day at the judgment seat of Christ. It says that which I have, he's able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. And so that day is the day when you will receive the the manifestation of the gift or of the rewards that God will be giving to you.
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You will be able to start using them in that day for his honor and his glory during the Millennium and verse 13.
Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus as a servant of God. Especially if you're going to be sharing the message of of the word of God with other people, you need to have a message and you need to have a message that is, that is guided by the word of God and and according to truth from the word of God. And it's always good to have an understanding of what message you're teaching.
And you can go. You can use some of the various.
Bible helps in dictionaries and commentaries and and and other concordances and things. And Look up verses on certain subjects and try to read through those verses. Get an understanding of them and have an outline of whatever that subject is. And maybe you can have a sheet of a page with the outline of one subject of propitiation, another outline of service, another outline of obedience, another outline of faith, another outline of of baptism, another outline of predestination.
And you can have all of these outlines, and maybe you keep them on your paper or your or your iPad, or some people can even keep these things in their head. And the the spirit of God is able to bring to your remembrance those things that you have. But you need to have an outline of these things, the hold fast of form of sound words. So if you have an outline of these teachings that you can refer to, that you can read them, you can memorize them, you can make them part of who you are.
So when you're discussing an issue or a topic with a friend, you are able to.
To present the truth in sound words.
In verse 14.
That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in US a servant of God. Like Timothy. Paul had committed to him that good thing. But what is that good thing? What's the same good thing that you have been committed to you? You have the words of the Apostle Paul, the doctrines of the apostles. And so you can read them, learn them, memorize them, practice them, understand why you're practicing the way you do, and understand what you.
Being able to help teach others about those things.
And that good thing that was committed unto thee by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in US. And the Spirit of God will help you to be able to share that good thing with others. Don't give up the teachings of the Apostle Paul. There's a.
A verse in Second Timothy.
Chapter 2.
Just find this verse.
I'm sorry, I can't can't think of that one, but.
That good thing which was committed to the keep, unto key, uncommitted unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in US. And so the teachings of the Apostle Paul. I know where it was. It was in Second Second Corinthian or First Corinthians chapter 14. Let's go to 1St Corinthians chapter 14.
If you're going to keep the doctrines that the apostle Paul has taught, he tells us here in in chapter 14 of First Corinthians and verse 37, If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant, if you ignore or disregard the Apostle Paul's teachings and the doctrines.
You should be ignorant. The Bible says you are ignorant.
And you should be silent. You should not be trying to teach anything about the word of God if you cannot.
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Practice and believe and understand the the teachings of the Apostle Paul. And if you know somebody is trying to teach, and they don't understand or able to teach the teachings of the Apostle Paul, you shouldn't listen to them. Let them be ignorant. The Bible warns us that they are ignorant, and verse 15 of our chapter this thou knowest that all they which are in age should be turned away from me of whom are FA jealous and homogeneous.
And so he's encouraging Timothy to keep those doctrines. But here, the people in Asia, many of the ones in Asia, they were turning away from the person of the apostle Paul. Paul was in prison, and they didn't want to have anything to do with him, so they're turning away from him. And when you turn away from the person, you'll eventually turn away from their teachings. And so if you don't like the teachings of the apostle Paul, you will start turning away from them. And Paul's encouraging Timothy to hold fast.
That which got what she had been given. And then he says, in verse 16, the Lord give mercy into the House of Omniscience, For he OFT refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. He he points out to Timothy, a man who really cared about the things of God, really cared about the apostle Paul. This man, I believe, is from Asia, but he was looking for the apostle Paul to identify himself.
With a man who is in prison, and that could be dangerous for him, you may need to identify yourself with Christians and put yourself into danger for the name of the Lord's sake as a servant of God.
We need to continue on without, without fear.
Verse 17 When Anissa forest was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found him the Lord. Grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. So I just want to encourage you today to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, as you are a servant for the Lord. We have these few points in this chapter. You can read them over on your own, these few points.
About a servant of God.
And and our responsibilities before the Lord.