Address—Bill Prost
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Could we sing together #312?
312.
Nice short hymn, but one that is very appropriate.
Lead on Almighty Lord, lead on the victory.
Encouraged by thy blessed word, with joy we follow thee, 312.
All night.
And great heavens, all right.
Let's look to the Lord in prayer.
I would like you to turn with me, please, to Second Timothy chapter 3.
We may refer to other verses, but we will stay mainly in the book of Second Timothy.
Now I would like to read the latter part of the chapter.
Beginning with verse.
9.
Before we start off.
Let us note that the epistle the Second Timothy was the last epistle written by our beloved Apostle Paul.
And at that time he was in rather a difficult position.
He knew that his time in this world was coming to an end. The Lord has showed him that.
He was in prison, not under house arrest, as he no doubt had been for two whole years previous to this.
He was in a real prison.
And more than that, he had to say in the first chapter of this epistle.
All they which are in Asia be turned away from me.
That is the places where some of his most productive laborers had taken place.
The believers in those places were turning away from not Christianity, but from the precious truth that he had labored so strenuously to bring before them.
But God allowed all that because.
God through Paul.
Gave us ministry for the last days in which you and I find ourselves.
And that's why, and we aren't going to read it, but at the beginning of the chapter, chapter three of Second Timothy, it says verse one.
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This no also.
That in the last days perilous times shall come.
Even the world is beginning to recognize that.
Perilous times.
A year or two ago, a secular commentator made the remark that economically and politically, this world is ripe for what the commentator called the perfect storm.
Not a storm.
On the sea or something like that.
But a political and economic storm?
Perilous times.
Men's hearts are already beginning to fail them for fear.
As we read in Luke's Gospel chapter 21.
Men are perplexed at the sea, the sea of nations and the rolling waves.
But what is worse than all of that is the description in the 1St 8 verses of this chapter, which is a description not of the heathen world, not of that which does not know the light of Christianity.
But rather it is a description of what has become of those lands that once.
Valued this precious book and at least in an outward way, sought to walk in the light of it.
This is where you and I find ourselves.
And may I say that I don't envy you young people in the world in which you are growing up and having to live and move. But at the same time, I want to encourage you because, as I have often said before, and I repeat it again, there is not one word of discouragement in the whole book of Second Timothy.
Let's read what Paul has to say.
Beginning with verse 9.
He has been recounting.
The sad things that are going on.
And even goes back to talking about those who, way back in Moses time, resisted.
The truth of God and the power of God, verse nine, Second Timothy 3:00 But they shall proceed no further.
For their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
But thou hast fully known my.
Doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience.
Persecutions, afflictions which came unto me. Antioch at Iconium at Lystra.
What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
Yeah, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of.
Knowing of whom thou hast learned them.
And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.
Which are able to make the wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, or perhaps mature, full grown.
Thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
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What I had before me this afternoon mainly, is those two words in verse 14.
Continue thou. Continue thou.
Men have recognized for a long time.
The value of perseverance and continuing.
And sometimes you will even see it on a billboard, perhaps with an individual.
Who has exemplified that particular trait?
Perseverance.
Many here who have studied British history will remember the name of Sir Francis Drake.
A British sea captain back in the latter half of the 16th century under Queen Elizabeth the 1St.
Yes, he was a bit of a Rascal.
He took great delight in attacking and plundering Spanish merchant vessels.
And when the King of Spain would complain to Queen Elizabeth about all of that, she would give him a slap on the wrist and say, you naughty boy, but stretch out her other hand to receive all the gold that he had managed to relieve those Spanish vessels of in the process.
But there may have been some spiritual life in him because he used to pray a prayer like this.
Oh Lord God.
When thou give us to thy servants to endeavor any great matter.
Give us also to know.
That it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory.
He had a good principle in hand there, whether or not he was a true believer.
And God places a high premium on continuing.
Because the Christian pathway is not like a 100 meter dash that is over if you're a good runner in less than 10 seconds.
No, it's a marathon that requires perseverance, requires facing hardships, requires dealing with difficulties. And rest assured, Paul was no stranger to any of those things.
And Paul does not hesitate to paint a rather difficult picture here.
He does not pretend that everything is going to be, as we sometimes say, a bed of roses. He does not pretend that it's going to be an easy pathway. Excuse me?
He does not tell Timothy. Don't worry, everything is going to be all right. The Lord is going to smooth it all out for you. No, he does not.
He tells Timothy very clearly that first of all, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, and he tells Timothy that rather than things improving.
Medieval men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse.
You and I are seeing that happen today.
And as I said earlier, what is worse than anything, worse than the political and economic storms that are rocking this world, what is worse than all of the things that are going on around us, is the corruption of that which once was so real.
After the work of the Reformation, which was a work of God.
Very quickly everything degenerated into terrible world worldliness.
And even bad doctrine coming in so that even Protestantism, which was not a work of God, became a collection of a mixture of believers and unbelievers.
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And in the latter part of the 17th century and the early part of the 18th century.
There were those that raised their voices against all of that, raise their voices against the ungodliness, the worldliness, the mixture of believers and unbelievers who were partaking of the Lord's Supper together.
They raised their voices against it.
And thousands and thousands came together to hear those preachers.
Who sought to recall them for the kind of things that were initially preached by men like Martin Luther and William Farrell and John Calvin and many others?
Did they have everything right, those men? No, they did not.
But they lived, I believe, up to the light that God had given them, and God blessed their laborers, and far be it from us to be critical of them.
But sad to say, those who lifted up their voices against all of that.
While they made an impact, yet sad to say, they were unable to turn the tide of Protestantism all the way around.
And it was left later on for the Lord to raise up men in the first part of the 18th or the 19th century router to bring you and me back to the precious Truth.
Of the Church of God.
And allow me to say.
Perhaps I can get away with this as an older man. Allow me to say that I believe I'm looking into the faces of many young people who have been brought up under the sound of that precious truth.
There may be those here this afternoon to whom some of that precious truth has only recently become real. Thank God for that. And I have had the experience, not only here in North America, but also in foreign lands, of seeing those who for the first time realized what it was to be gathered simply to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To gather simply on the ground.
The broadest ground possible that there is.
One body.
To be gathered.
Not looking to men to look after everything, not looking to leaders and so-called ministers and clergymen and a hierarchy, but rather depending simply on the gifts that God has given and on the Spirit of God who is well able to raise up those to feed his people, to teach them, to pastor them and to spread the gospel as well.
I have seen those in other lands who grabbed on, as it were, to that precious truth and said this is wonderful.
We have never seen this before.
What about you and me who have been brought up under the sound of it? What are we doing with it?
Paul was passing off the scene.
A little before this meeting.
I was talking to an older brother.
Who happens to have a year or two on me. But we were commenting to one another that if the Lord doesn't come. And don't get me wrong, I thoroughly and completely expect him to come at any moment, But if the Lord doesn't come.
We're on the downward slope physically and in every other way, and it is to you young people, that the Lord looks to step forward.
And allow me to say that I appreciated that there were young brothers who felt led and free to step up to the podium this afternoon and have a word to say to us. And I appreciated what they brought before us.
The Apostle Paul was looking at Timothy as a younger man.
Now again, we need balance in the things of God, and I mentioned this as something that we need.
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The Apostle Paul placed a high premium on godliness.
And we're going to talk about that in a moment. But he placed a high premium on it.
Very necessary. And I wanna say at the outset, and we're going to emphasize this again, I say to you beloved young people.
Your best testimony is not in what you say or what you do as much as the way that you live.
Someone made a remark many years ago and I never forgot it.
It's very true.
Ungodliness is bad. Ungodliness is bad.
But there is one thing that is worse, and that is a caricature of godliness.
Do I need to explain that?
What is a caricature? It's a cartoon. It's a distortion of something that may be good in itself, but has been distorted by having something mixed with with it that doesn't keep it in the proper balance.
Maybe something of that old sinful self that has been added to it.
To see that, turn back to Ecclesiastes for a verse that many will recognize. Ecclesiastes chapter 10.
Ecclesiastes, chapter 10.
Verse one.
Very important verse, one that I memorized many years ago.
Why did I memorize it? Because I needed it a lot.
Dead flies caused the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savior.
So doth a little folly.
Him that is had for him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
Ungodliness is bad, but it is usually consistent.
A caricature of godliness brings those dead flies into the picture, and it's worse because it spoils the godliness that's connected with it.
I say to my own heart, there have been too many times in my life when my godliness such as it might be.
Has been spoiled by those dead flies.
And I suggest to our hearts that we need to examine them, not just young people, but all of us, and say.
Have we allowed too many dead flies that have caused that which is of God in our lives to be spoiled? And that which is of Christ sends forth, rather than a fragrance, what Scripture calls a stinking savor?
Let's go back now to Second Timothy 2.
Or rather 3.
The good news is that with all that is going on in the world and everything that is negative.
What does Paul say in verse 9?
They shall proceed no further.
Oh, you and I say. But in the next breath he tells us that evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse. What do you mean they're not going to proceed any further? It didn't stop at that point.
No, that's not the meaning of the verse.
The meaning of that verse is that God has put a definite timeline on how far man is going to be allowed to go.
How far is he going to be allowed to go?
Until two things happen.
Until the iniquity of this world is fully ripe. Until the House of God is filled.
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And that's why we were able to have a gospel meeting last night, because God's house is not filled.
And that's why the exhortation that was given to us in the open meeting to preach the gospel is so needed.
God's house is not filled.
But also God always gives space for repentance and what we are seeing in the world today in the way of earthquakes and floods and hurricanes and brush fires, to say nothing of.
Men picking up guns and shooting people all over the place. It seems every week or two there's a new attack of some kind and all the rest of it. God is warning men that worse things are coming and waiting for people to pay attention. You and I have the responsibility to point out to people that God is speaking.
We have that responsibility.
But rest assured, God has his timeline firmly established. He says, man, you will go this far and no further. And we can rest in that. We don't have to know where God's timeline is. We don't have to try and make all kinds of predictions. We can rest in the fact that God is going to deal with these things and manifest the folly of man.
But what about you?
And me.
Verse N. Verse 10.
Paul proceeds to detail nine things.
Nine things that characterized his own life.
And you and I might take an initial look at all this and say, Paul, that's kind of a boastful thing for you to say, trying to tell everybody what you did and how well you did. And, uh, as if here I am. Follow me.
That isn't the thought.
Because all this comes from a man who had landed in prison, at least initially, because of failure.
But at the same time, Paul was given a special place of being, as we might call it, the standard bearer for the Christian life in this dispensation.
He showed the path of a heavenly man.
A heavenly man.
Who walked with a heavenly calling?
And yet who was in the world? And I believe our brother this afternoon had that in mind when he said reach out to this world. We're in the world, but not of the world.
A difficult balance sometime to keep because sometimes we stray over to the fact that we're.
Not only in the world, but maybe if we're not careful, we're practically of the world, or we stray over the line this way. And yes, we're not of the world, but for all practical purposes we're not even in it.
Both are raw.
But Paul.
Is speaking to a young man seeking to give him, to keep those things in balance. And he was the standard bearers, I say, for this dispensation. And that's why he describes himself. And let's look briefly at these nine things about which he spake.
Doctrine.
Doctrine.
Why is doctrine at the beginning?
Oh, because you and I cannot possibly make progress in the Christian life.
If doctrine is not right.
And if you hear the doctrine in the Holy Scriptures being carefully delineated, don't, don't get upset about it.
Don't squirm as if you wanted something more practical.
We need the practical side, absolutely, but unless it is based on sound doctrine, it is like.
Putting a house on a wrong foundation.
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Someone whom I know some time ago went to an interesting exhibit.
In which there was a house that had been built totally topsy turvy. It was all on one side and everything in that house was totally off the level and it looked absolutely crazy to anyone, let alone someone that had a builder's eye.
This man looked at it.
And after a while, he remarked to his friend.
He said. I wonder if they made the foundation the same way.
The answer was obvious, wasn't it?
No, they could not possibly have made the foundation the same way. The reason that crazy looking house would stand where it did, just as a caricature to show everyone something funny, was because it did have a solid foundation.
Otherwise it would never have stood up.
We need a solid foundation, and that's why we need good doctrine. That's why we need to go over the Scriptures carefully and to have especially the person and the work of Christ clearly before us.
But then notice the very next thing that is mentioned here is manner of life.
And I might say this because the phrase manner of life doesn't need a lot of elaboration.
Manner of life is not simply the way you appear in public.
It also includes what goes on behind the scenes.
Some time ago I was reading and I can't even remember where it was in our written ministry.
But the brother remarked on how he sometimes sat down with brothers in Christ who spoke so nicely about the Lord and who could minister the word so effectively. I say effectively meaning that they could speak very nicely.
But then he said.
Before I make a judgment about that brother, he said, I like to go and spend a few days in his home.
He said. That's where I find out what he is really like.
Several years ago I was talking to a good friend of mine, not gathered to the Lord's name, but I know him well. He's a godly man. He seeks to honor the Lord, although I am afraid that he knows better than where he is and what he is doing. But I respect him for what he does.
And he said to me, he said, Bill, do you realize? And it was a shock to me, he said, in my experience, 80% of the Christian men with whom I have to do are hooked on *********** on the Internet.
80%, he said. Bill, I'm not exaggerating.
We could go on and on. We live in a difficult world and our manner of life is not merely what I do in public, although that is important.
It is important the way I react to situations. It is the way I react in my home.
Punching the hole in the sheetrock or the drywall as we call it in Canada here, and so on, or whatever it might be. It is important my manner of life because my manner of life tells everyone, and me especially, how closely I'm walking with the Lord.
Purpose.
Purpose.
It concerns me sometimes and I hope I'm not stepping on any toes when I say this.
To see beloved young people, and I mean that word beloved in the strongest possible terms.
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To see beloved young people who seem to have no idea.
Where they're going or what the Lord has for them in their lives?
No, I don't mean that you and I should see all the way to the end of the pathway. That isn't the thought.
We can see where the end is in glory. Yes, we can.
But Psalm 119 tells us, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, the light under my path.
And I believe through the Spirit of God and using the Word of God, you can, you and I can have light for our pathway and we can have a sense of the Lorde direction in our lives so that we don't bounce here and there aimlessly trying this. No, I don't like that. Well, I think I'll go over here. No, I don't like that job or I don't like this.
Now, I'm not saying we should never make a change if we'd gone on a wrong course. Sometimes we do need to do as we say in modern language.
A180.
Turning around 180°.
But at the same time, I believe we can have a sense of God's purpose for our lives.
I want to say this kindly.
But I say from experience, so I point the finger back here.
Very often when I have found that I did not have a sense of purpose in my life, it was because the purpose was more about me.
Instead of being about the Lord.
Is that possible? Yes, it is.
And if the purpose that I want concerns me.
And what I want to do, my gratification, what will make me happy, what will gratify me, and all the thoughts that I have about my life. I suggest that my focus is wrong.
No, I don't have that right anymore.
I belong to someone else.
And there is another Who is there to tell me what to do? The Lord Jesus Christ.
And he has a claim over you and me that we can't deny.
And I venture to say that the Lord Jesus came to each one of us this afternoon, those of us that belong to him, and held out his pierced hands and said, I have something for you to do.
I have a course that I want you to pursue and it's not going to be easy and there are going to be some tough times.
But I'll be with you.
And on the basis of what I have suffered for you, I want you to follow that path.
Is there any one of us here that would say no, Lord, that's too much, Lord, I don't think I can do that. I don't think that's possible. Would you and I say that?
I don't think so. Would we?
The Lord Jesus has a purpose for us, and He will show us.
Now, sometimes this crosses up with things that we would like to do. Sometimes we would like to have certain things. The only thing I would say is this. We won't bother to turn to the verse, but I believe it's in the 27th Psalm.
Delight. Well, let's turn to it. It wouldn't hurt. We can only take a minute. Psalm 27, I believe it is.
Psalm 27.
37 Ah, thank you. Somebody is a good mind reader and it helps. Thank you very much, Psalm 37.
Verse 4.
Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Does that mean I'll get everything I want? No, it means that if I delight myself in the Lord, my desires will coincide with His. They will.
And my heart will beat, as it were, In Sync with his.
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Second Timothy 3. The fourth thing is faith.
Faith.
You know, it has been said that it takes only a little faith to bring the soul to heaven, but much faith will bring heaven to the soul.
Faith to believe need only be a small amount, as long as it's in the right person.
And that's why, incidentally, that when the Scripture talks about faith and belief.
Only a few times does it connect faith and belief with the work of Christ.
Is that a shock?
Think of all the good gospel verses that you may have memorized.
Largely over 100 times, they connect faith and belief with the person of Christ. Why? Oh, because even if we have an imperfect understanding of the work of Christ, God values faith in His beloved Son.
But you know, much faith in our Christian pathway gives us to be able to go through those tough circumstances.
And trust the Lord.
Faith.
It's not always easy.
I said in the reading meeting yesterday, and I commented on that verse that we had in First Thessalonians 5.
And everything gives thanks for this. Is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Maybe I can share with you that I got tested on that this morning first thing in the morning.
I don't like cell phones and I don't carry 1 so I tell people I'll keep in touch, just send me an e-mail.
So in my room about 7:30 this morning, I turned on my laptop.
Went into my e-mail and they are staring me in the face. Was a legitimate message from my bank.
Saying that someone just this morning has changed the password on your Internet banking.
If you didn't do this, you need to call us right away.
I hadn't done it.
Ouch.
To make matters worse, the phone in our room wouldn't work. Every time I tried to make a long distance call it got blocked. Phone was monkey wrenching. Somebody turned something off.
And so I had to miss some of the Sunday school standing down in the lobby of the hotel using their telephone.
Calling my bank.
To see whatever could have happened and having visions of my bank account being emptied and my identity stolen and I don't know what all. And I kept thinking to myself, Oh yes, and everything gives. Thanks. You said that yesterday now.
Yes, you get the point.
The end of the story was all right.
I had had occasion to send a quantity of money to India and the bank being on guard about things like that, had suddenly blocked my account and changed the password, thinking that some ******* had stolen my password and was now sending money to some scam in India or something like that. And I was able to clear it up in 5 minutes and everything was OK.
Faith.
We need faith that the Lord is going to look after us, to take us through the difficulties, whatever they might be. But remember.
Faith is in the pathway of faith, not in the pathway of waywardness away from the Lord now. Yes, no matter where I am, if I come back to the Lord in repentance, He wants to restore.
But faith is not going to take me down a wrong Rd. nor will the Lord in that same sense give me a sense of His presence.
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Long-suffering.
Now we're gonna talk about going to talk about patients and long-suffering and we might ask what the difference is. Why does Paul mentioned patience and long-suffering?
I'm going to make a suggestion.
The long-suffering.
Is bearing with that which is very difficult for me and which doesn't change as quickly as I would like it.
Patience is rather waiting for something that I would like to happen, something good.
And it isn't happening as fast as I would like it.
Long-suffering is having to bear with something that I wish someone would do something about, and it's not getting changed very quickly.
Patients perhaps more the thought of wanting something good to happen and likewise it isn't happening as fast as I would like it.
We can only have long-suffering in patients when we get into the Lord's presence.
And don't think that I'm talking down to you in those things.
About 50 years ago.
Just as I was about to graduate from medical school.
I'm afraid I tried a rather silly pun on my late father.
By saying to him something that someone else had said to me, that to be a good doctor, to be a good doctor, you must have patience.
And you can all understand the pun.
My father missed the pun completely, but he got through to me, He said. Yeah, and you haven't got much.
Ouch.
He didn't miss the pun, but he knew me pretty well.
And I still struggle with that.
Long-suffering and patience.
We can only exercise those things by getting into the Lord's presence.
And let me talk for a few minutes about long-suffering and I'm going to be practical and I hope it doesn't step on any toes.
But maybe it will echo accord in some of you young people as well as some of us that are not so young.
The Lord has seen fit sometimes in these last days.
To allow many difficulties not only out in the world and not only in our lives personally, but also among those collectively as gathered to the Lord's name.
And sometimes we get upset when they drag on and on and on.
And nobody seems to be doing anything about it and nothing seems to be happening.
And we get agitated and wring our hands.
And I tend to do the same.
And we want something to happen, somebody to straighten things out. Remember a young sister coming to me and we talked about a problem. This is quite a few years ago now, and I can still hear her voice almost.
If I can say it is a whale, but Bill, it's just so wrong.
It's so wrong.
Can you relate to that?
It was wrong.
And it didn't get straightened out as fast as she wanted it.
Or as fast as I wanted it either.
Does that mean we don't have responsibility? No, it doesn't.
But it means.
To go back to what our brother said in the open meeting, that maybe the Lord is wanting me to get the log the beam out of my own eye before I start trying to take the Moat out of my brother's eye.
And if God has allowed a problem to affect all of us, it's because he has a voice for all of us.
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But at the same time, let's remember.
That it is because.
And I say this I trust with all humility. It is because we seek to give expression to the whole truth of God that Satan attacks so vigorously.
If we have to contend with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, in high places.
It is because we are, along with every other believer, we are risen and seated in heavenly places in Christ. And if we seek to take that place, we will come under that attack. But also there is power when we take the place where Christ has put us. And I say, beloved young people, never take a lower place.
Because sometimes the tendency is when the troubles start mounting up to say.
And pardon me for using a common cliche, I'm out of here. Have you heard that one?
I'm out of here.
I can't handle this anymore. I want some peace and quiet.
The devil says yes, I'll give that to you. We can give you some peace and quiet.
Oh, there will be a bit of compromise involved. There will be a few things you'll have to give up. There'll be a few precious truths that you'll have to let go. But I can give you a little more peace and quiet. Not, I hasten to add, that Satan is leaving anything alone that seeks to honor Christ. He's attacking everything that in any way honors the Lord Jesus, but he makes a special attack on the truth of the one body.
He makes a special attack on that which.
Bears the name, and that name alone of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says I will smash that before anything else if I can.
Long-suffering.
And sometimes we have to bear with things that are not right.
I don't mean that we should tolerate bad doctrine as to the person and work of Christ. I don't mean that we should tolerate that which undermines the precious truth on which we gather. But I do say, let's remember that there is one in our midst who values all these things more than we do. And who is there?
And let him just quietly lay his hand on your shoulder and say, I see it all, stick with me.
And I will show you how to walk through it all and keep a clean path and be a help to others.
Between those two of long-suffering and patients, there is that wonderful word, charity or love.
And how easy it is in my heart to get upset and not to show divine love when I see that which is wrong, when I see that which hits me, especially if it, shall I say, it, hits home to a good friend of mine, or a member of my family or someone who's dear to me. Yes, it can happen. Love, let us always remember.
To exercise that divine love even if things are not going right. And that applies not only within the House of God within.
The circle, and I don't like that word circle because Scripture doesn't talk about a circle of fellowship, but within the circle of those that we live and move. I don't mean just that, but let us show that love. And again, referring to what our brother brought out in the open meeting, that divine love ought to be shown out to those with whom we work, to our friends and our neighbors.
It ought to be evident that our love reaches out to them in every possible way.
And finally, in verse 11, as we get to the end, persecutions and afflictions.
There is a difference. Persecution comes from without. Affliction comes from within. Persecution can even come from a fellow believer who isn't walking with the Lord. It can come from within the House of God, and that makes it far more difficult than when it comes from the world.
But afflictions are those things that the Lord allows in my life.
Knew about that he had a thorn in the flesh, and he recognized that the source of it was the devil.
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But he recognized that the one who allowed it was the Lord.
And as a result, he took it to the Lord. And when the Lord said Paul.
I'm not taking it away. I'm going to leave it with you, but I'm going to give you everything you need in order to be an overcomer.
And Paul was, he was an overcomer. Why? Because he could say after that that he gloried in those things that the Lord allowed in his life. Why? Because he says, when I am weak, then am I strong? Oh, how blessed.
To get back to what we said at the beginning, just as we come to close, let us remember, and again, this is a young people's meeting.
That there's not one word in any of this that talks about preaching. There's not one word in any of this that talks about work for the Lord, although that's needed.
All of that will come if all of these other things are right.
But what is needed?
Going on to verse 14, about which we started with, about which we or what we started with in verse 14.
Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of.
Learning it is like coming to a conference, or reading your Bible, or going to your local assembly, or reading our good written ministry. Being assured of it is walking in the good of it.
There is a path that you and I can walk in these last days.
And you can walk it with a spring in your step. You don't have to plod. You don't have to have your head down. Yes, I don't mean that we shouldn't be burdened. Yes, we should. I don't mean that we shouldn't shed tears. We should. We should feel the state of things. But at the same time, God has given us everything to go on to the end. And as Paul could say.
To finish the race.
To finish the race.
Let's close in prayer.