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welcome to everyone for our call to worship this evening you can turn in your Bibles to psalm 34 psalm 34 we're going to read specifically verses 15 to 22 psalm 34 beginning in verse 15 the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their cry the face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth the righteous cry out and the lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles the lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord delivers him out of them all he guards all his bones not one of them is broken evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned the Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to him number eighteen him number eighteen will stand as we sing together Oh you well let us pray but God and Father it is a joy and a privilege to gather in the house of the Lord again on this Sunday this lord's day Sabbath we pray that you would be glorified in this glad our that as we worship we would do so in spirit and in truth for you are a great God a glorious God the one who is worthy of praise and adoration we thank you God the Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray that in all things you would be lifted up on high that you would bless this glad our and as you we go into this new wheat that you would be with us and that we would honor you and we would bring glory to you in this lower world we praise you and we thank you for your sovereign grace we praise you and we thank you for the fact that you chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world we thank you for the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ his life and his death and his resurrection such that the Apostle can say in whom we have redemption through his blood we thank you that you've washed us and cleansed us and given us a righteousness that avails with God and we praise you for the work of the Holy Spirit we know that he is the seal and the guarantee of our salvation he is the one that dwells in us and guides us and leads us and even now we pray that he would be active in our hearts and in this place we would know his presence and power so that we can come to the Father through the mediation of the sun by the spirit and that to the glory of the living in the true God we ask that you would look with favor upon this local church help us each and every one to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace help us Lord God to emphasize the gospel of our salvation and help us Lord God by your grace to conform unto that blessed law that you have given for your people in sanctification we pray for your blessing upon those who are unwell physically we just commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that while they suffer in the outer man they would be renewed in the inner man day by day that they would be more and more conformed unto the image of our beloved son Lord Jesus Christ and for each and every one in this congregation we all pray for us help spiritually we all have many concerns many issues and challenges many temptations and trials in this world and father we pray that by your spirit we would resist temptation we would flee from those things which are displeasing in your site that you would help us in our times of trial and in our times of sorrow may we genuinely find comfort in the word of the Living God and in prayer you have bid us to come to you you've called us to pray to you to unburden our hearts scripture is so clear we are to cast our burdens upon the Lord God because he cares for us what an encouragement that we have a Heavenly Father that calls us to pray what an encouragement that Jesus Christ is the forerunner Jesus Christ has gone before to provide bold access to the throne of grace for help in our time of need and what a blessing that we have the Holy Spirit who intercedes with us such that when we are unable to articulate the words the spirit groans within us and we come to you Lord God so help us to see the rich resources that we have in Scripture and in prayer and in church life and while we are down cast and while we are beset with many trials and challenges may we nevertheless hope in God and may we nevertheless find great encouragement in the reality that the Lord God has saved us from our sins we ask our father that you would bless richly other churches in this community we thank you that we're not alone we thank you that there are other places where the gospel is proclaimed we pray that you would prosper these places not materially not economically but spiritually we pray that your people would grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus we pray for those who are dead in their trespasses and sins that they would be made alive by your Holy Spirit and able to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ we pray for churches throughout Canada that you would send forth your spirit and revive us cause us Lord God to genuinely be concerned about your kingdom and about your righteousness and about those things that you call us to and knowing that other things will be added to us in due time we ask as well that there would be awakening so we look at this nation as we look at the nations of the earth we see many that are committed to calling good evil and evil good so we pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to awaken those who are dead and sin we pray that many more people would turn or be turned by God from their idols to the true and living God that they would know the joy of being found in the Lord Jesus not having their own righteousness which is from the law but that righteousness which is given by you and receive through faith alone god bless churches that that we are in association with and look with favor upon our association cause these churches to be faithful witnesses to the truth of God's Holy Word may you indeed continue to cause your kingdom to grow may you indeed cause your church to progress and may you indeed continue to provide safety and security for the body of Christ here on earth and help us tonight as we look at Paul's letter we consider affliction and persecution and those things that do come upon the people of God in this world may you indeed cause us to receive these things with glad hearts and to persevere by your grace and for your glory we ask that you would continue with us now we pray that you would forgive us of all of our sins and all of our transgressions we pray that you would cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's in his blessed name that we pray amen well you can turn with me and your Trinity him balazs hymnals again to number 505 him number 505 will stand as we sing together you we can turn in your Bibles to the Prophet Jeremiah chapter 52 the last chapter in this prophecy I mentioned this morning showing the relationship connection between Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus when Jesus went in to cleanse the temple in Matthew chapter 21 we saw some consistency or some relatedness to the Ministry of Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and essentially chapter 52 summarizes and reports that particular instant incident when judgment came upon Judah for their having violated the Covenant of God God brought judgment to bear upon them as he had promised he would in the book of Deuteronomy so I'll begin reading in Chapter 52 at verse 1 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem his mother's name was Hammett awww the daughter of Jeremiah of lib nuh he also did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that Jehovah came had done where because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah till he finally cast them out from his presence then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month on the tenth day of the month that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and in camped against it and they built a siege wall against it all around so the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah by the fourth month on the ninth day of the month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land then the city wall was broken through and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the King's garden even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around and they went by the way of the plane the army of the Chaldeans pursued the King and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho all his army was scattered from him so they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon a trib law in the land of hey math and he pronounced judgment on him then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and he killed all the princes of Judah in rib la he also put out the eyes of Zedekiah and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters took him to Babylon and put him in prison till the day of his death now in the fifth month on the tenth day of the month which was the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon neb userid and the captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem he burned the house of the Lord and the King's house all the houses of Jerusalem that is all the houses of the great he burned with fire and all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around then neb userid and the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people the rest of the people who remained in the city the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsman but nebu Sarit and the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land is vine dressers and farmers the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord and the carts and the bronze see that were in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon they also took away the pots the shovels the tremors the bowls the spoons and all the bronze utensils with which the priests Minister the basins the fire pans the bowls the pots the lamp stands the spoons and the cops whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver the captain of the guard took away the two pillars one see the 12 bronze bowls which were under it in the carts which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure now concerning the pillars the height of one pill was 18 cubits a measuring line of 12 cubits could measure its circumference and its thickness was four fingers it was Hollow a capital of bronze was on it and the height of 1 capital was five cubits with the network in pomegranates all around the capital all of bronze the second pillar with pomegranates was the same there were 96 pomegranates on the sides all the pomegranates around all around on the network were 100 the captain of the guard took Soraya the chief priest zephaniah the second priest and the three doorkeepers he also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war seven men of the Kings close associates who were found in the city the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city and neb userid and the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon a trib law then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at rib law in the land of hay mouth thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land these are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year 3023 Jews in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons in the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar nebu Geraden the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons all the persons were 4,600 it came to pass in the 37th year of the captivity of jahi n king of Judah in the twelfth month on the twenty-fifth day of the month that evil mera doc king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Joya Chen king of Judah and brought him out of prison and he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the Kings who were with him in Babylon so Jo HN changed from changed from his prison garments and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life and as for his provisions there was a regular ration given him by the king of Babel lot a portion for each day until the day of his death all the days of his life amen well as i said the curses of the Covenant are indicated clearly in the book of Deuteronomy the people of God were charged and commanded given specifics concerning their tenure in the land they disobeyed God they rebelled against God and in the 8th century BC the Lord sent a Syria against the northern tribes the Northern Kingdom of Israel and here we have in the seventh century be or the 6th century BC God sends Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians again in fulfillment of those covenant curses to bring judgment to bear upon Judah they would be in captivity for 70 years they would ultimately return to Judah as I mentioned this morning Ezra and Nehemiah were the leaders at that particular time azra was described in a priest Nehemiah was sort of a governor a religious reformer and the prophets in that post-exilic age were Haggai and Zechariah Malachi came a little bit later and he is the one that ultimately closes or ends the book and what is interesting to note in this particular chapter is the detail why are we told about all these persons and about all this property and about all these you know sort of things that that probably would appeal to persons in the military or persons who study strategy and that sort of thing I think it is to highlight and underscore the comprehensive character of the judgment of God when judah rebelled they rebelled against a holy God when this holy God visits them with judgment with punishment it is a comprehensive one the Lord God most high is not mocked those who continue to reject those who continue to rebel will ultimately one day be cut off I think as we read the Old Testament and as we see the judgment of God and this upon his covenant people we ought to fear and tremble if we are not in the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone will let us pray our Father we thank you for these books of the Bible that tell us about you and they tell us about us but certainly God we would be no different apart from your grace we would live in lands that you had given to us and we would defect from you we would apostatize from you we would go after idols we would engage in all manner of wickedness and evil how we thank you for your saving grace how we thank you for the mercy that you poured out upon us how we thank you for the life and the Ministry of our Lord Jesus and saving us from our sins continue with us now we pray in his most holy name amen well for our final hymn will sing out of the Trinity hymnal again number 487 487 will stand as we sing you please turn in your Bibles to second Timothy chapter 3 second Timothy chapter 3 last week we considered Paul's warning to Timothy in verses 1 to 9 he describes the perilous times in the last days as men are wicked and ungodly and unrighteous and unholy we also said that that last days was not confined or not in our future but it was upon Timothy because Paul tells Timothy specifically from such people turn away in verse 5 be and these were persons in the church most likely apostates defectors in many cases were probably false teachers notice in verse 5 a having a form of godliness but denying its power so this isn't the heathen it isn't the pagan it isn't the person that is outside of the church that Paul deals with he certainly deals with that person in Romans 1 but here specifically Timothy must be alert and he must be on guard with reference to those in the church that carry on in this manner those who deny the truth of the christian gospel do not live righteous lives they do not live godly lives notice for just a moment and Titus to 11 and 12 it says for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men now the all there doesn't mean every man without exception but it does suggest or does tell us that the grace of God brings salvation it has appeared to all men and that grace of God that brings salvation as well teaches us notice what it teaches it teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age there is a close connection between what a man believes and how a man lives if a man denies the gospel he is not going to live a righteous life if a man embraces the gospel that gospel gray then teaches us how we are to deny ungodliness worldly lusts live soberly righteously and godly in the present age so when we look at chapter 3 in 2nd Timothy specifically verses 1 to 9 Paul is dealing with apostates now in verses 10 to 17 there are two contrasts the first begins in verse 10 after describing these false teachers after describing these apostates Paul then says bought you the emphasis now focuses on or shifts to Timothy in the necessity for his steadfast faithfulness he makes another comment concerning evil men in verse 13 and then note the contrast in verse 14 but you must continue in the things which you have learned in been assured ah remember that second Timothy is the last letter that Paul writes he wants Timothy to get this he wants Timothy to understand this he wants Timothy to indeed be faithful to the very end so he highlights this with reference to Timothy in his own life so that he can exhort him and encourage him to a steadfast faithfulness in the entirety of his life we'll all just read the section versus 10 to 17 and our focus tonight we'll just be versus 10 to 12 beginning in verse 10 but you have carefully followed my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering love perseverance persecutions afflictions which happened to me at Antioch at Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endured and out of them the Lord delivered me yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for 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 in righteousness that the man of God may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work will let us pray father we thank you for this passage of Scripture we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we pray that he would teach us these things and that by His grace we would persevere that we would be steadfast to the end that we would be faithful to our God over the long haul that it would not just be a short profession or just a flash in the pan but give each and every one of us that endurance and that perseverance that we most desperately need we pray that you would bless this time of study together and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen now I want to look at three things in these two verses in the first place the commendation of Timothy and it's interesting or it's important for us to understand he is not commending Timothy here as an end in other words he's not just here to say Timothy you're a great guy you're a wonderful person you're a beautiful specimen of a human being certainly Paul thought that I believe that Paul had an affinity for a love for and an affection for Timothy but Paul's endgame in this section is not to stroke Timothy in tell Timothy what a great guy he has been but rather he is encouraging him to faithfulness to the very end Ralph Davis makes a statement one of his commentary something to the effect we stand in the present we look at the past for encouragement for the future in other words what Paul is doing is he is presently exhorting Timothy unto faithfulness in the future and a means by which he does that is to take Timothy's past record and say you have shown yourself faithful you have done well in these particular things I want you to continue I want you to persevere I want you to or and fight to the very end this is a means by which the Apostle will encourage Timothy to continue steadfast in the faith so there is a commendation of Timothy in the second place there is an example provided by Paul again not so that Paul can say hey I'm like Jesus do what I say no it's a means by which he is able to show Timothy that he has in fact been faithful and this lays the groundwork for the answered exhortation to a continued faithfulness and then this section ends with what I'll call a general maxim that's a truism that's a statement of fact a general maximum concerning persecution that we find in verse 12 it's probably good for us occasionally to revisit that particular theme so that we understand what the Bible says it is not a promise that the bible does it promised us that we're going to live unmolested or unaffected all the way to heaven there will be tribulation in this world there will be difficulties and trials and it's good for us to be reminded of that but note in the first place this commendation of Timothy says but you again the sharp contrast between the false teachers the sharp contrast between the apostates those who did not follow Paul and now Timothy one who has in fact followed Paul he says but you have carefully followed my doctrine John Calvin says in order to urge Timothy he employs this argument also that he is not an ignorant and untaught soldier because Paul carried him through a long course of training again he is encouraging him this is something you have already been doing you need to fight onward you need to go forward it is often that the people of God need repetition in terms of exhortation to perseverance to the very end and that's why we ought to spend time in passages like these because we can get bruised and battered and beaten down and almost want to get to the point where we would throw up our hands and say you know all of these p people they go a different route and it's difficult to Pastor people and it's difficult to maintain faithfulness for myself I think I just want to go and run and I Paul says don't don't run and hide I want you to fight onward and notice with reference to Timothy you have carefully followed and then he indicates these several things it was a careful following it was a comprehensive detailed approach to the Christian life you know there's a sloppiness about picking and choosing what will be good at well I like Paul's doctrine so I'll study that but I'll be a slob when it comes to loving brethren I like the emphasis on love over here because I don't really have the mind of the gift for that doctrine sort of thing but as Paul indicates this particular list which is a contrast to the Vice list concerning the apostates in verses 225 as Paul highlights these things Timothy is one who has carefully followed in each and every area that Paul sets forth in this particular matter this is important as Christians God the Lord God Almighty saves us and he justifies us and in the life of sanctification this is not a buffet we don't pick love and we don't pick faith and we don't pick perseverance but we neglect doctrine we don't pick doctrine to the neglect of all those other things as well we must be comprehensive in our approach to the Christian life if you're not good at one of these things don't neglect it pursue it and seek by the grace of God to embody the very virtue that Paul commends here with reference to Timothy George night says whereas those Paul has been speaking of opposed Paul and his teaching Timothy has followed the teaching of Paul and the various aspects of Paul's life that went along with and corroborated that teaching so Paul commends Timothy he tells him in verse 10 but you have carefully followed and as I said he now gives a list that is contra to the list of those vices that were indicated in verses 225 concerning the apostates and that brings us to the example provided by Paul several times in his epistles the Apostle Paul does pulled himself out as an example we'll just look at one of those in Philippians chapter three Philippians chapter three he also does in first Corinthians 11 1 1st Corinthians 4 16 and other places as well but notice in Philippians chapter 3 it's important to have examples in the Christian life and it's important to be examples in the Christian life now you don't do what you do so that people will look at you and say wow you're a wonderful specimen of the human being you do what you do because you want to glorify and honor God but it is something you ought to be conscious of is that people are watching children if you're a parent you ought to strive to be a good example of the sorts of things that Paul models here for us notice in philippians 3 17 brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern he says follow my example and note those who so walk so it's not just Paul Paul is not elevating him to elevating himself to like a Jesus like sort of a persona Paul says he's one example of others it is important in the Christian life obviously we look to Jesus but in this context and other places in the New Testament Paul serves as a great model and as a great example notice the reason he gives for this admonition the admonition for the encouragement of the command is joined in following my example note those who so walk that means actively if you say well I just don't know anybody who models these Christian traits you need to find them you know we just think everybody's going to come to our house and say hey I'm here to be our example you have to be active in the Christian Church you sometimes be ready hands are you seeking to make friends Solomon say this in the proverb somebody's going to have friends and shows himself friendly you don't just wait for people to knock on your door and say I'm the guy that God sent to be your pal I'm the guy that God sent to be your example Paul says scope out the verb is the same verb used with reference to overseers in the church what is a task of the overseer to oversee to scope out he says note those who so walk look for them you need examples on how to mod Lee model godly Christian live model godly Christian living then look for them find them befriend them buy them coffee tell them you want to learn from them that is legit in the Christian life younger women are to be taught by the older women again don't sit on your couch waiting for the door to knock and the older woman says I'm the one God sent to teach you all things you younger women can use your initiative and go to the older women and say can you show me how to bake a pie that's a just an outlandish or example there can you show me how to study the Bible and deal with my kid oh that is perfectly legitimate that's what you should be doing in the Christian life note Paul's reasons for this admonition for verse 18 many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction of God is their belly and his glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things you see what Paul says you need to find good examples why because there is no lack of bad examples there is no lack of bad examples note those who so walk why because many walk the worship their bellies you don't want to fall prey to that sort of an example you want to resist that and reject that the way to do that is to find good examples and follow their lead when it comes to the Christian life so this whole idea of example in or modeling in the Christian life is not for into paw but again we need to understand he's not putting himself on par with Jesus he is simply using this as a means to show Timothy that Timothy has in fact a record of proven faithfulness and that lays the groundwork for the exhortation to a track record of more faithfulness in his future so going back to second Timothy I want to just break this down into four sections basically we have several statements here concerning Paul and the things that Timothy had carefully followed we'll look at his doctrine his conduct his life and his trials Timothy had carefully followed Paul in his doctrine in his conduct in his life and in his trials nope first his doctrine I don't know how much clearer I can make this than what I've already attempted to do with Titus to 11 and 12 but there is a close connection between doctrine in the way that we live you see we just can't be wholly without knowing justification by faith alone there's no sanctification until one is justified there is no glorification ultimately until that work of the Spirit is transpiring and it's good for the people of God to understand the gospel to understand the Word of God to understand the doctrines of grace to understand the truth contained in Scripture because it is that which provides the basis for godliness and righteousness so often we look at people we say wow that's a holy being because she does this not the other well if she can't define justification by faith alone I would be suspicious about how holy a being she really is I know that's not popular today but we oftentimes just look at the effect or we look at a fruit and we conclude that the tree must be legitimate rather than joel osteen and those other sorts of men can produce outwardly moral people the gospel is not about an outwardly moral people it is not about behavior modification it is about the transformation of the human heart by the power of God's Holy Spirit it is about the regenerative act of the Spirit we're in that formerly dead sinner now lays hold of the gospel offer given to him by God Most High it is about faith in the Lord Jesus and not a lord jesus of our imagining not a lord jesus as we would like him to be but the Lord Jesus Christ as the Scriptures define him and as the Scriptures declare him it is absolutely crucial we understand his life his death in dis resurrection for that my brothers and sisters is the gospel it's not our approach to it it's not the feelings that come as a result of it but it is the objective body of truth that is revealed concerning the lord christ almighty we must by God's grace believe that truth and the scripture says when we believe that truth then fruit will follow it is not behavior modification it is not whooping it up in some stadium and telling you that ought to be a better you it is about coming to the Lord Jesus Christ believing the truth as it is in Jesus and Paul emphasizes that first in his life but you have carefully followed my doctrine several places in both first and second well and first and second Timothy and in Titus the Apostle highlights the importance of sound doctrine notice in the second place his conduct and under this will consider his manner of life and his purpose we're not going to spend a great deal of time on each of these like we didn't spend a great deal of time on the on the vices but notice specifically with reference to his manner of life the book of Acts helps us tremendously in sort of sketching or fleshing out certain aspects of Paul's life and ministry notice in Acts chapter 20 concerning his manner of life under the general heading of his conduct notice his manner of life in beginning in chapter 20 at verse 17 from my lead as he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church this was the first pastors conference if you will the Apostle Paul is in my letus he sends to Ephesus and he calls for the elders of the church those elders are identified as Shepherds or pastors in verse 28 who oversee the Church of God so all three terms apply to the same office in the church elder is the great WordPress Butera overseer is episcopus and pastor is pointing and that means to Shepherd so all those things those three terms each short sort of flashing out a different facet of pastoral ministry applied to the one in the same office elder pastor Shepherd whatever you want to call him notice in verse 18 and when they had calmed and he said to them you know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you serving the Lord with all humility with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews notice Paul's manner of life serving the Lord with all humility that's an amazing statement isn't it that's a great manner of life can you say you serve the Lord with all humility that is a manner of life that is to be followed after that is a manner of life that is to be pursued serving the Lord with all humility Timothy had engaged in that sort of conduct you have carefully followed my doctrine mind manner of life so we could say of Timothy in light of this that he served the Lord with all humility now notice under conduct his purpose and I think we see this fleshed out in the following verses notice in verse 20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house I kept back nothing that was helpful who's me he means the Sheep of God need food and the Sheep of God need to be fed and Paul as a shepherd or in this case as an apostle is going to feed them we're going to hold this back i'm going to give you this i'm going to put it out there I want you to eat I want you to be well fat and notice the specifics in verse 21 testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and now notice specifically with reference to his purpose and see now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me again this morning I said it would be difficult to be a Jeremiah to go to the temple to tell that people that their temple was going to be destroyed Paul's told by the spirit that when he goes to certain cities tribulations await him what was paul i'd say this would be a good time for vacation tribulations over here think i'm going to go over here that was not his purpose you see his purpose is specified in verse 24 but none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God that is a great purpose and Timothy had followed Paul carefully not only in his doctrine not only in his manner of life but in this purpose he was single focused he had a particular and an objective in view what Paul made as his aim so did Timothy now notice with reference to his life those sort of general virtues that he indicates in the following statements notice faith long-suffering love perseverance faith Paul trusted God so you don't go to city to city facing tribulations and difficulties and trials if don't trust God he commends 2 Timothy faith in first Timothy chapter 6 and verse 11 he commends 2 Timothy faith in second Timothy chapter 22 up to chapter 2 verse 22 in other words it's timothy you cannot live the Christian life apart from faith yes justification by faith alone in terms of our right position before God but a life of faith trusting God for your daily bread trusting God that he is going to forgive you of your sins trusting God that he is going to afford you protection from your enemy trusting God for the things that we so often times fret about we need to trust in him we need to exercise faith and Timothy had displayed a careful following in this particular area under his life he mentions long-suffering Paul was a patient man I think that at times we have this idea that the author of Romans chapter 9 and Ephesians chapter 1 was this theology machine we almost have it in our minds that he would be the moderator of one of these forums on facebook and he would be the bully and the guy that would throw people out because they just crossed a line now I don't think Paul whatever problem with doing such things Paul was patient Paul was long-suffering again he commends these or commends this to Timothy in first Timothy I'm sorry second Timothy to 24 and then in 2nd Timothy 42 which will see Timothy is to preach the word he is to be ready in season and out of season the manner by which he is to preach that word he is to convince rebuke exhort and then Paul says with all long-suffering and teaching that's tough with all long-suffering and teaching that's tough because you want people to get it I mean if you put food down there and you see the Sheep getting near it you want them to eat it and get nourished and be happy healthy sheep and bad their way to wherever they go this is always happen sometimes you put the food out there and they sniff it and they get near it and they get around it and then they go bad their way the opposite doing the opposite you need long-suffering you need patience Timothy kept me in the pastoral ministry if you're an impatient man Rome was not built in a day the kingdom of God is not built in a day the Lord Christ promised to build his church he promised that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it but he didn't promise to do it by tuesday you must have long-suffering and notice under this car heading of life he speaks of love as I mentioned the man who authored Romans 9 that showstopper in terms of sovereign grace you ever been at in a sort of a debate or discussion with somebody about the doctrines of grace and you know you start off a little bit meek and mild and slow you kind of dance around the issues and then they might really just keep zinging you and zing in you and you say all right let's go to Romans night that is the nuclear arsenal that's going to devastate this argument well the author of Romans 9 is the author of first Corinthians 13 he's not just a theology machine he's not out there just providing us fodder to beat up our minions with he writes that blessed chapter concerning love and the virtuousness of it and the characteristics of it that's what Paul was that's why it ought to offend us and bother us yes of course when they blaspheme Jesus but when persons cast aspersion upon the Apostle Paul I mean this bishops pong and others that suggesting was some repressed homosexual or others who perhaps say that he was a a male chauvinistic pig or or that he was this or he was that or it was the eternal enemy of women rather than that ought to bother us because this man panra first Corinthians 13 and defined love for us and here he tells Timothy you have carefully followed my pattern of love and the notice in the fourth place under life he says perseverance did Paul persevere absolutely it's interesting because the next two virtues that he mentions or not really virtues experiences when he speaks of persecutions and affliction done when call those virtues those are things that that happened to Paul the persecutions and afflictions expand on this reference to perseverance because you see that's what he wants to communicate to Timothy all those other things to be sure but when he considers the reality of perseverance what better way to demonstrate perseverance than through my own persecutions and afflictions what better rate way to give you a concrete example of my perseverance than to demonstrate it through the persecutions and afflictions that I have undergone you see Paul's method in this particular suction it's masterful it is a masterpiece and he encourages Timothy orry acknowledges Timothy has carefully followed my perseverance again he commends this to Timothy in first Timothy notice he flashes it out in his own life in 2nd Timothy 4628 one of those passages in Scripture that I hope all of us just have a great heart for it is basically his final official words the rest of the epistle he does make many comments but they are of a concluding nature to his friend Timothy notice in 2nd Timothy 464 I am already being poured out as a drink offering in the time of my departure is at hand I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness on the sort yea the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all of loved is appearing say what you will about Paul he certainly was a man of perseverance and now look at persecutions and collections again this gives concrete examples to his perseverance the emphasis on suffering just in second Timothy second Timothy 18 second Timothy 112 second Timothy 115 second Timothy 2 3 and second Timothy 2 9 and 10 what's Paul's point 2 Timothy Post pointed Timothy is you're going to suffer who are the two enemies of the Christian Church in the first century the first was unbelieving Israel when you when you follow the the trajectory of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts the first official enemy that opposed Paul and his ministry was unbelieving Israel the second was the Roman government and especially by the time Paul writes second Timothy at the time that Paul wrote Romans Nero wasn't nearly as bad as he would become by the time Paul writes second Timothy Nero is mad Nero is nuts Nero is a brutal man Nero is a beast Nero would take Christians and he would tie them up and he would light them on fire to be torches to illuminate his garden parties there are other things that Nero did that were so disgusting we can't really speak about them with young children around and so while Paul is writing this Paul is in a Roman prison Paul knows he's going to die and Paul is alerting Timothy or rien couraging Timothy that the persecution is real and you need to maintain steadfastness in the midst of it you need to be a persevering man you need to not only have followed me carefully you need to continue to follow me carefully and when Nero cuts my head off you need to continue to follow me carefully that's the emphasis by the Apostle in this particular section and he flashes out specifically these a flick you shins and afflictions with three incidents and these three incidents happened early in paul's careering turned back to Acts chapter 14 and the reason why or one of the reasons why he appeals to these it's not that he didn't have any persecution since that early for that first missionary journey but this is the region from whence Timothy hailed Timothy certainly knew specifically about Antioch about Iconium and about Lystra do you want to know how Paul persevered you want to know what persecutions and afflictions look like you want to know what a man does for the cause of God and truth lacks 14 in the first place specifically versus there chapter 13 rather versus 42 to 50 this isn't a city and Antioch notice in verse 42 of chapter 13 so when the Jews went out of the synagogue's the US went out of the synagogue the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath I've always loved that statement and this has nothing to do with them what I'm about to say but the idea that people begged to hear the word of God Paul comes out of the synagogue you having preached to the Jews who ultimately want to deal with him very maliciously but to Gentiles beg are we beggars for the word of God do we avail ourselves to the means that God has ordained do we read the Bible each and every day are we in the scriptures are we meditating are we contemplating are we rolling it about in our head are we in church morning and evening are we where the Word of God has preached these Gentiles begged to hear the scriptures remember they didn't have Thomas Nelson publishers they didn't have handsome goat skin Cambridge Bibles they didn't have phones in their pockets with Bible apps if they were going to hear the word of God it would come through preaching it would come through the proclamation of the Ruth he said early Christians wouldn't miss church because that was their access to the scriptures they didn't have quiet times with with their devotional morning and evening they didn't have emails coming into their inbox leading them through a particular meditate didn't have these things this is why Paul in first Timothy chapter 4 tells Timothy to give attention to reading he doesn't mean in his private study he means in the public house of God because if he didn't read the scriptures allowed there were persons who wouldn't hear the scripture do you know that those things that we study verse by verse and spend time on they were oral they were they were they were occurred in the first place there is a sense we're in when we read scripture whether it's jeremiah 52 or revelation 10 brethren you would listen and hang on that if you didn't have your Bible if you didn't have five Bibles at home if you didn't have your phone app if you didn't have all those things imagine there was one day in 71 day carved out by God wherein you came into contact with the word of God I suppose and I'd like to think that would change our Lord's Day ethic it would add a gravity to it and I would hope it would change that ethic concerning the word of God and our reception of it the fact that we have all these things we ought to utilize them so that's just a bit of a aside notice in verse 43 now when the congregation had broken up many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who's speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of god I love this 12 verse 44 on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God why because the persons who heard it went to work that week went to their neighbor's house for dinner that week went to their families that week and said you need to come you need to be where the Word of God has preached this Paul came to the synagogue and he preached Jesus this Paul came to the synagogue and he proclaimed the word on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God it's a beautiful thing but when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the thing spunk and by Paul then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turned to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth now when the Gentiles are this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as had believed as had been appointed to eternal life believed and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief man of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit so you see in Antioch he had persecution he had affliction next stop is Iconium vs. 127 now it happened in iconian that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed like that verse 2 they so smoked at a great multitude of Jews and Greeks believed that's it interesting emphasis isn't it as many has had been appointed to eternal life believe sovereign grace over in Acts chapter 16 at the Riverside and in Philip I the Lord opened Lydia's heart to receive the thing spoken by Paul sovereign grace chapter 13 sovereign grace chapter 16 good preaching chapter 14 they so spoke brethren preaching must be good it must in the first place be accurate it must expound the truth as it is in Jesus but it must be compelling must be interesting it must be so spoken that people want what is being proclaimed if there's an argument here that preachers ought not to just preach they ought to strive to preach well because that's what it says they so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed and no doubt Luke doesn't have any problem with this statement if you didn't have X 16 and God opening Lydia's heart if you didn't have ax 13 with these appointed unto eternal life ones believing and you just read that you might be inclined to believe that good preaching is the reason why people get saved they so spoke that a great multitude believe Paul doesn't have our Luke rather doesn't have any problem telling us about sovereignty and as well telling us about the means that God uses to express that sovereignty in the salvation of his people God is pleased according to first Corinthians 121 to use the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe again I digress please forgive me ax the ax is a toughbook to just pop into notice verse there verse 3 therefore they verse 2 but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the Brethren therefore they stayed there a long time speaking boldly in the Lord and was bearing witness to the word of His grace granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the multitude of the city was divided part sided with the Jews part with the apostles and when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and derby cities of Laconia and to the surrounding region and they were preaching the gospel pull their CC in Antioch Iconium and then thirdly Lystra and Lystra is where the stoning actually occurs notice in chapter 14 verses 19 and 20 then Jews from Antioch and Iconium now you got to understand something about the lay of the land here this is a long journey it's always amazed me how these God hating rebels who despise the Apostle Paul would walk 80 miles to deal with them actually it was 80 miles from pacinian Antioch to Iconium Iconium was 18 miles from Lystra so they were traversing some ground in their concerted effort to deal with the threat of the apostle to the Gentiles notice in verse 19 then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing him to be dead however when the disciples gathered around him he rose up and went into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby so Paul walked 60 miles to derby the morning after having been stoned you know we'll get a sniffle and not go to church I got a bit of a crick in my neck I don't think I can read my Bible today got this pesky hip pain and I think I just need to lay in bed Paul was stoned not in the common parlance but in the original they took large boulders and threw them at him they dragged him to the end of the city supposing him to be dead that means he wasn't moving he could have just been foolish man that saw bodies and thought they were dead or they could have been like any one of us I remember once i'm going to the envision they're going to up to the drive-through and there was a car parked there this guy was hunched over his steering wheel and some other guy said that guy's dead I said did you knock on the window maybe he's not so I knocked on the window guy wasn't dead this guy was ready to call the paramedics and you know this guy obviously thought he was dead I wouldn't think that this was what the situation was Paul had been stoned he had welts yet blood yet bruising and yet he gets up and he walks 60 miles to Derby that is just convicting isn't it my way uh slow on we grumble or when we complain or when we don't have energy to do the things that were supposed to boo paul got up and hobbled and i guarantee you when he was in Derby when he was in this place when he says in 14 22 we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God no one raised their hands and said what do you mean he had just been stoned obviously we know what he means we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God second Corinthians 11 we simply don't have time to go there but several other instances of Paul's persecutions and afflictions you get the point back to second Timothy 3 persecutions afflictions which happened to me at Antioch and Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endure it probably the translations that put an exclamation point there or on the right path what X what persecutions I endured it's not repeating it again just to you know sort of give another reputation he's using on the reality that yeah I have endure some persecutions but note the emphasis in the following portion and out of them all are out of them all the Lord delivered me you see that blessed combination their perseverance of the Saints and preservation by God you see that blessed combination that when the people of God do what God calls them to do if it costs them pain and punishment and misfortune and persecution and affliction they can rest assured that the Lord God will ultimately deliver them the backdrop to this is the psalm that we're at at the outset of worship Psalm 34 same language is used in this particular instance verse 17 the righteous cry out and the lord hears and livers them out of all their troubles the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and save such as have a contrite spirit many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord delivers him out of them all is that beautiful that's a promise given by God to the people of God many are the afflictions of the righteous but the lord delivers them out of them all what does that look like it looks like acts 13 it looks like acts 14 it looks like second Timothy chapter 3 it looks like the Apostle Paul when you see Paul hobbling along and wondering how he's going to make it from place to place realize the Lord sustains in the lord delivers him the Lord fortifies him and it is the Lord who comes to his people in their many afflictions Gordon Clark says yes the Lord delivered Paul but only after he had suffered most painfully the Lord did not prevent persecution nor did the Lord prevent the later execution therefore rather than promising energetic Christians freedom from tribulation the verse seems to suggest that God will preserve his servants lives through tribulation until they have accomplished the work God intended them to accomplish that's an emphasis that we need to be reminded of God doesn't always deliver us out of he delivers us sometimes on the other side of I mean he delivers us out of obviously but after we are going through the pain who's Paul say to the Galatians and Galatians 5 17 from now on let no one I'm sorry 670 from now on let no one trouble me for I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus that means if you took off his outer garment you would see stripes in his back those were the brand marks of Jesus he had suffered for the cause of Christ in these missionary journeys and that done leads him to say in verse 12 yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution so it's not just me timothy paul is saying it's you too and it's all those who desire to live godly in christ jesus now this isn't a subgroup of Christians you know there's those of us who really don't desire to live godly in Christ Jesus but we're in and then there's this subgroup of really desire to live godly in Christ Jesus no George night says this describes not a description of the subgroup of Christians who desire a more godly life but rather a description of real Christians in distinction from those who follow false teaching the false teachers have a form of godliness but they deny its power and no doubt there wasn't suffering associated with their heresy like it would be if they believe the truth you see the contrast having a form of godliness but denying its power here specifically all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus what is promised them is persecution the verb is a future passive and that implies the inevitability of the outcome in other words all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted now that persecution may look differently in a Saudi Arabia or in Canada or in Syria or in wherever but persecuted we will be when we desire to live godly in Christ Jesus i have several passages here we will not go to them if you are interested where the Lord Jesus taught this email me and I will set actually Matthew 5 Matthew 10 John 15 John 16 the Lord Jesus experienced this didn't he he suffered persecution the Apostle Paul taught this in acts 14 22 we must through many tribulations and to the kingdom of God he teaches it Romans 538 18 12 14 first Thessalonians 34 the Apostle Paul experienced this not only the text we read but as I said second Corinthians 11 22 and follow it and genuine believers in every age will indeed suffer persecution like what Calvin says moreover as soon as zeal for God is manifest stood by a believer it Kindles the rage of all ungodly men and although they have not a drawn sword yet they vomit out their venom either by murmuring or by slander or by raising a disturbance or by other methods accordingly although they are not exposed to the same assaults and do not engage in the same battles yet they have a warfare in common and shall never be holy at peace and exempt from persecutions that is what the Bible says if you think that your Christian life ought to be nothing but joy happiness and attendant benefits you have not read the Bible properly all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution well in conclusion we ought to strive with Timothy to follow carefully carefully follow Paul in these particulars in his doctrine in his conduct in his life and his persecutions we ought to follow him with a careful and a comprehensive pursuit to be the kinds of people that we see in this passage in the second place we ought to look at those in our lives that can serve as examples we ought to look at the scripture isn't this what the book of Hebrews does and Hebrews chapter 11 it shows us all these men and women who by faith and mighty things why do you think that's there so you cannot read it and not be encouraged by it or so that you can understand it and find benefit for your soul or a man like Jonathan and First Samuel I mean what a what a man what an example of steadfast determination to the very end to the bitter end fighting to his death near a father that basically ruined his son's life I mean those are good examples for the people of God we need to scope them out and we need to carefully follow them as well we ought to understand this general Maxim and while again we are not in area were not in Iraq we're not in Iran were not with saeed abedini in prison nevertheless when we pursued godliness in this wicked world there will be persecution either from the pagans outside or from the internal subversion of the church insider within the church there are always going to be those false teachers those who have a form of godliness but denying sour who are going to denounce the prophets or the men that preach the truth they did it to Jeremiah they did it to the Lord Jesus they will do it to genuine preachers of the gospel today and in the final place we ought to see that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is worth our all I mean if you don't get that from the life of the Apostle none of these things move me he says nor do I count my life dear the only thing that matters to me is that I finish and I do the ministry that the Lord God has committed to me Christ is glorious Christ is wondrous Christ is worth our all will let us pray father we thank you for your word and for these emphasis and I pray that you would seal them to our hearts and give us grace to pursue these things grace to follow godly examples grace to beat godly examples to the children and the young people in this congregation may it be the case that they can look at the adults in this congregation and say that's the kind of man or the kind of woman or husband or father worker that I want to be like may you grant us help in these things Lord God and Lord we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for his blood and his atonement we thank you for his resurrection din his current session we know that while believers suffer persecution in this present age there is an age coming wherein the elect of God will be vindicated the church will be vindicated and all lawless men all apostates all persecutors will be punished by the I'm of God we ask that you would go with us now and we pray through Christ our Lord amen close with the brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you