179. Summer Sermon - 2 Tim 4 - Robert Smith

I found my freedom in you I found a joy I can't lose And thank God it's true You wrapped your arms around me And heaven broke through From the moment you found me I found my freedom in you Welcome to the For Freedom Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, James Safer and Brad Martin. My friend and one of my heroes in the pulpit, Dr. Robert Smith, has asked me just a moment ago to read his passage before he preaches. Please listen to the Word of God. 2 Timothy chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing in His kingdom, I give you this charge. 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 people 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you keep your head in all situations. Endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Discharge all of the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is near. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. Now preach, brother. Even now, Lord Jesus, even now, even now, for I ask this in Your name. Amen. Amen. The 1968 Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City. The contestants competed. The awards were given to the winners. And during that evening when the closing ceremony was taking place, an unusual thing took place. As the announcer was giving his concluding remarks, the lights went on and the lights went on in the back of the stadium. There was a runner making his way into the stadium and onto the track. The competition had ended many hours ago. But this runner, whose name was John Stephen Arari from Tanzania, came into the stadium, not running, not trotting, but barely moving. He was a marathon runner. The marathons were arduous places of extraneous activity. And this one arrived in the stadium late. His gait was very slow. He had fallen on hard times, bruising his head, injuring his knee. He kept going. And the closer he came to the finish line, the louder the applause got. Until he finally crossed the finish line and fell into the arms of medical attendants. They rushed him to the hospital. The next day, the journalists interviewed him and asked him the question that everyone wanted to ask. Why did you continue to run when the race had been over hours before? And he said, my country did not send me 11,000 kilometers or 6,835 miles from Tanzania to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race. The apostle Paul is familiar with blood. He knew what it was like to be stoned. He knew what it was like to be whipped. He knew what it was like to be beaten. And here he is finishing the race. A race that started 30 years ago. And now he is giving his last words. Paul had probably had his initial hearing before the Roman tribunal. They had sentenced him to death that there was no escape except through death. death. And Paul gives his last words for last words are pleasurable, sometimes painful, but always memorable. The last words of my father to me were these words. Little Robert, take care of your mother. The last words of my mother to me were, little Robert, I'll see you in heaven. The last words of Jesus to his disciples in the upper room were, let not your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me. For in my father's house there are many mansions, many rooms. And if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am, ye may be all souls. And here, Paul gives his last words. I charge you before God and his son, Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead before his appearing and the coming of his kingdom. This is the word of solemnity. this is the word of serious oath-giving, charging, and commanding by Timothy's father in the ministry, Paul. I charge you before God, before his son Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead. It is the father who entrust the son with judgment. That's what Jesus was talking about in John 5, 23, when he said, the father has entrusted me with judgment. This is exactly what Paul meant when he said in 2 Corinthians 5 and 10, we all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give the count of the deeds done in our body, whether they be good or evil. The ironic thing about Christ's judging is that the one who judges is the one who will be judged. Christ will be judged for our sin. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we're healed. The judge is the one who is judged so that we can be proclaimed as innocent and free. He who judges judges us and he judges the living and the dead at his appearing. The great blessed return of Jesus. This is so important to Paul that he mentions his appearance a second time in this particular pericope or teaching paragraph because he says in verse number eight whom the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to be only but to all those who love his appearing Maranatha come Lord Jesus he will judge and will be the judge and he will stand before us and we will be glad eternal residents at his appearance but he will come also at the coming of his kingdom not only as a judge but as the king he is the only king who will not need to be nominated elected he is the only king who will not need to be elected he is the only king who cannot be impeached in fact the word there in Exodus 15 and 18 malek the Hebrew word malek which means the Lord reigns forever and ever it really means the Lord succeeds himself you can't vote him in you can't vote him out he just succeeds himself he is from everlasting to everlasting I say to you my brothers and sisters I want you to be a crystal crack doesn't make any difference what your political party is independent republican or democrats what you need to be is a christocratic republican a christocratic democrat a christocratic independent and when we get to heaven independents republicans and democrats will drop off but to be a christocrat heaven knows that language and if you are a christocrat you will promote principle above anything that's frivolous and temporary I charge you that you ought to be one who will understand that you stand before christ the son of god and he will be the one who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and at the time of his coming preach the word I sometimes think that Moses had it much easier in preaching in Egypt than Jeremiah had it in preaching in Jerusalem because Moses told Pharaoh in Exodus 5 and 2 what the Lord had said to him let his people go and Pharaoh responded who is the Lord that I should let his people go I've checked the directory of deities and I don't see his name there who is the Lord and the Lord just took ten plagues to introduce himself to Pharaoh and Egypt but here here are prophets and magicians who are preaching from the authority of Ra and Isis and all kinds of pluralistic gods but Jeremiah how do you preach when you have an arch prophet by the name of Hananiah who preaches from the same book you preach from who says that the God who sent you Jeremiah sent Hananiah as well Jeremiah said you're going to captivity Judah southern kingdom and you're going to stay there for 70 years Hananiah said no you're going to captivity but you only stay two years how do you preach when people are preaching from the same Bible and saying that God sent them Jeremiah just kept preaching and the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 28 verse 17 that that same year in the seventh month Hananiah died because the word of God will stand forever you've got to keep on preaching you preach the truth and somebody down the street who's not preaching anything at all every Sunday the parking lot is filled every Sunday there are people joining their church and you're standing and preaching the gospel and it seemed like the baptistry stays dry I'm going to tell you preach let the word convict and let the word do its work he said to him preach the word he says reprove that is you ought to be able to provide some critique and you ought to do it with tenderness do it with gentleness one of our students he and his wife lost their two week old baby and he came to me for counsel and he asked me he said Dr. Smith how is it how can I pray to a God who has hurt me I did not reprove him with harshness I cried with him and his wife and then I challenged him I said you need to preach this funeral because God is asking you do you really believe in what you've been telling your people you need to preach that and I told him what Dr. William Hall formerly of Southern Seminary and then of Sanford University had said and that is this tragedy is not redeemed by explanation tragedy is redeemed by transformation you can't explain everything but when God transforms you it doesn't matter whether or not you can explain it or not what you have is a God who can take all things and cause them to work together for good I tell you not that because of what I heard I know what it's like to be at the bottom I know what it's like to have a son murdered I know what it's like to be a young widower I know what it's like to have three cancer diagnosis and I've been to the bottom but I want to tell you the bottom is silence because he's at the bottom and God is able to keep you and able to sustain you and he preached that service and people were amazed and he was amazed because God showed up to let him know that I'm able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you could ever ask to think according to the power that works in you reprove rebuke you may have to rebuke the leader of the church Simon Peter who would eat with the Gentiles in Galatians 2 11-14 but when the Jews showed up he disassociated himself with the Gentiles and Paul called him a hypocrite and withstood him to his face that may be necessary at times rebuke but the same Simon Peter who got rebuked was the same Simon Peter who was a recipient of God's grace you remember that he denied the Lord not once twice but three times and Jesus fixed him breakfast and asked him three questions do you love me and then Jesus sent a special telegram delivered by Mary Magdalene to the disciples on the resurrection morning tell my disciples and Peter Peter got a special invitation to let him know Peter I haven't given up on you and Peter went on to preach the church's first revival on the day of Pentecost because there is no expiration date when it comes to grace I was walking past a Delta agent who was trying to sell Sky Miles to potential customers and to enroll them in a program he said you know when you get Sky Miles they're with you forever they never expire but I know something better than that grace never expires and I don't know why it is that we cannot marry rebuke with grace rebuke with restoration God is able to restore you or you said I made a mistake grace has not expired on you God can pick you up and turn you around and place your feet on solid ground rebuke and then exhorts that is encouraged there are so many policies in our churches who don't know anything more than part of the gospel Apollos in the 18th chapter of the book of Acts verse 24 and following preached the baptism of John the Baptist and Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and to their own home and showed Apollos the word of the Lord more perfectly and he began to refute those who did not believe in Jesus and became an effective apologist and effective preacher oh there are so many in our sanctuaries who need to be encouraged and need to know that God wants to use them not only that he says with complete patience and teaching that is with long suffering and patience that must be part of our itinerary it is this long suffering and patience and this doctrine that we must have as we minister to people Jesus was so patient with his disciples he enrolled them in a three year MDR program in a seminary and in that third and final year one of his students by the name of Philip asked him in John 14 and 8 show us the father and we'll be satisfied and Jesus looked at Philip and says have I been with you this long three years and you still don't know who I am when you've seen me you've seen the father I'm the identical twin of the father I'm the human face of the father the word became flesh and dwelt among us we beheld his glory the glory only forgotten of the father full of grace and truth I'm surprised that you don't know this and yet you hear Jesus saying in the 16th chapter of John many things I have to share with you but you're not ready for them yet he lovingly and patiently brought them along I get rather surprised and sometimes dismayed when I hear people who get their PhDs and so forth think that they have now attained all the world's knowledge when you get a PhD the last time I checked the alphabet there were 26 letters PhD that's three letters that means you have 23 more letters to get none of us knew oh and God is in the business of growing us and developing us so that we have an appetite to know more and more about Jesus he says the reason why you need to do this is because the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine but they will gather unto themselves heap up unto themselves teachers with itching ears who say what the people want to hear my mother was one of God's best cooks I'm certain of that but I said to myself as I grew up in their home mother and father's home there'd be some foods that I would never eat once I got out of there I'd never eat lima beans I'd never eat pinto beans and I'd never eat squash I wanted foods that were palatable that were tasty she said no they may be palatable but they are not profitable for your own health so she just kept giving us pinto beans and lima beans and squash until after a while I develop an appetite and now some of my favorite foods are lima beans pinto beans and squash Paul understood that at times the word will not be palatable but it is always profitable because Paul says in that 20th chapter of Acts verse 1 I have not kept anything back from you which was profitable unto you but I have taught you publicly and from house to house and there in that memorable verse in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God the women of God the people of God may be complete perfect fairly furnished into all good works oh I know your people may not always want that which is profitable they want the palatable stuff they want the novel stuff they want the sweet stuff they want the entertaining stuff keep giving them the profitable doctrine so that you're not raising up any kind of nursery you're raising up an army the time is coming when they will not endure sound doctrine they will accumulate for themselves teachers that have itching ears and they will turn away from the truth and return to fables that was happening in Paul's day we see this as given evidence in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 17 and verse 18 Hymenaeus and Philetus they taught doctrines that resembled game green Paul talked about it destroyed the faith of many because they taught that the resurrection had already come Hymenaeus and Philetus and we've already heard about the importance of theological singing there needs to be a time that we take a look at church history and as I look at it we sing more heresy in churches today than they committed in the first 500 years of church history no solid theology a good tune but a non-biblical text sometimes when you hear that kind of singing in some of the churches that I go to I feel like I have to give the congregation an exegetical ex-lax to clean them out before they can get ready to hear the gospel because our people have forgotten what real teaching and preaching is well verse 5 it says now what you need to do is to keep your head steady you need to stay alert be clear minded that is be alert and not be shaken by what takes place I remember on January the 15th 2009 it was Chesley Southernberger who got on a plane as the captain at the LaGuardia airport took off with the plane full of people and a few stewardesses and flew the plane and within minutes the plane flew into some Canadian geese that immobilized both engines he tried to fly the plane without any kind of power navigating the plane flying 900 feet over the George Washington bridge and landing it in the Hudson River the same number of people that got on the plane were the same number of people that got off the plane and when they decorated him with citations and commendations he stopped and said I could not have done this had this not been for my co-pilot Jeff Skiles while I was navigating the plane he was flipping switches and because he was flipping switches I was free to keep my head and to keep you alive oh brothers and sisters time is out for a one person ministry a solo ministry you need some switch flippers some people in the church who will not get credit who will not have renown but you need them behind the scenes who work in the shadows who are praying who are seeking God who are working in the cry room keeping the plane in the air and helping us to have a successful ministry Paul says keep your head in all situations Paul says you've got to endure hardship our preaching must not be the kind of preaching that tells people that your hardships are over once you become a Christian it is not prosperity theology it's adversity theology that we must preach anyone can do well with prosperity theology but what do you do when adverse times come when there are no cattle at the stall when there are no crops in the field when there are no berries on the tree when there are no grapes of the vine can you still say yet will I rejoice in God my Savior and when that thorn is not removed from your flesh and you've asked the Lord three times to remove it can you still praise him when he says my grace is sufficient for you my strength is made perfect in your weakness endure hardships because it's not just getting out of trouble that counts it's what you get out of trouble that counts how does trouble help you what do you learn from trouble you cannot get to verse 5 in Psalm 23 the banquet table that he prepares before you in the presence of your enemies until you walk to the valley of the shadow of death and you fear no evil because he is with you his rod and his staff they comfort you Paul says keep your head Paul says endure hardship Paul says do the work of an evangelist doesn't mean just do revivals but do the work of an evangelist share the good news because the Bible presents the gospel not as just good advice but good news Paul will tell you it's good news because in chapter 8 of Acts I was the church's number one public enemy but in Acts chapter 9 I became the church's number one public defender in Acts chapter 8 I was blind on the inside and could see on the outside but in Acts chapter 9 I was blind on the outside but I could see on the inside in Acts chapter 8 I prohibited preaching but in Acts chapter 9 I became a preacher in Acts chapter 8 I told people you have to do this I'm giving orders but in Acts chapter 9 I took orders and I said Lord what will you have me to do it's not just good advice it's good news and then Paul moves on to tell us that you ought to fulfill your duties as a minister all of them you're not just to be selective and do what you want to do you ought to be one who is to fulfill all that the Lord has given unto you what Paul says in verse number 6 I'm ready to be offered up the time of my departure is at hand I fought a good fight I have finished my course I've kept the faith I'm ready to be offered up he uses two metaphors one of them is a nautical metaphor in which the ship would be tied down with ropes at the iron upright but when it came time for the ship to go to the other shore lay loose the ropes and the ship went on to sail I'm sorry tonight I'm feeling rather poor I wish I could finish this message I'm weak I'm weak God you know my heart give me strength help me to carry on what I'm unable to do in my own strength ready to be offered up the time when my departure is at hand I've fought a good fight I've finished my course I've kept the faith and there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day but not to me only but all those who love his appearing found my new name found that good grace found that healing and the tears fell down my face when I found my beginning that has no ending found that second chance found my best friend found my forgiveness found my happiness I've been singing ever since I found my freedom in you thanks for listening to the for freedom podcast if you enjoyed our content do us a favor by liking subscribing or sharing our podcast or whichever podcast platform you use be sure to join us next time for the for freedom podcast

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