All Sermons

God's Man - 2 Timothy 4 By Rick Manton

Ephesians 4:1-16 01/10/2011

2 Timothy 4 is where we want to focus our thoughts on this morning, carrying on from where we left off yesterday morning, thinking about God's building, this foundation, and we want to look at a man who gave his whole life, at least most of his life, to the service of God, in building God's building or church, and this is an appropriate passage because it tells about a man by the name of Paul who comes to the end of his life, and he writes to an upcoming pastor, a young pastor by the name of Timothy, and encourages him in his pastoral duties to think about his calling, to think about the things that was entrusted to him, and Timothy had a very good foundation.
He came from a Christian heritage, from his grandmother and his mother who kept the gospel
light burning, and that flame didn't go out with Timothy, and Paul fanned that flame to
be brighter and brighter, and Timothy was a very shy man and wasn't very forward, I
guess, in terms of dealing with a lot of things, and Paul was a great mentor for him in his
pastoral duties, and I was thinking just last night about this very thing that a lot of
our pastors, they go into the field and they don't have mentors, they don't have people
who will come along to pray with them, to encourage them, to help them with pastoral
issues, pastoral problems that they go through, and then I was thinking about a guy that was
in pastoral ministry for a long time, and he came to the end of his pastoral duties,
and he didn't know what God wanted him to do, and all of the years that he had learned
in pastoral ministry, he decided to become a mentor and to help other pastors who were
starting out, pastors who were going through all kinds of issues, and he started off with
just a few, didn't think it would go anywhere, but I think he ended up with 30 pastors that
he was mentoring around the place, and this is the passage that I see Paul being a mentor
to young Timothy in his pastoral duties just starting out.
In the presence of God, chapter 4, 2 Timothy, 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 men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead to suit their own desire, they will gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears will 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 the
duties of your ministry, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and
the time has come for my departure.
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, not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
What a fantastic passage of scripture to finish off with in regards to our thoughts about
this one foundation.
We are going to pray.
Father, we are living in exciting times, we are living in dangerous times, we are living
in the end times, and how we need to be mindful of the enemy and how we are working and looking
to destroy the ministries that are all around us by getting into the hearts and lives of
our leaders and our pastors.
We pray that you will encourage us, Lord, and help us to have that firm foundation and
to keep looking to Jesus, the author and the finish of our faith always and in all things.
We thank you for examples that are left in the Old and the New Testament to spur us on
to love and good deeds and pray that we will glean from this particular section in 2 Timothy
4, true as they will help us in our ministries throughout the remainder of this year and
next year until the Lord comes.
So thank you again for reminding us of what you have done through the Lord's table.
Thank you for the sweetness of fellowship that it brings and how it encourages our hearts
and blesses us to keep going on for Jesus and to remind us that this is the Lord's work
and we need to be diligent and faithful in the things that he has given to us in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Let me just move this back a little bit.
Working for God, I've been a Christian for 32 years and I've been in the ministry for
28 of those years and I've had some really good times, very hard times, some very sad
times but the faithfulness of God has been evident all the way through and I wouldn't
change a thing as far as serving God is concerned.
Looking back on ministry, I do things a lot differently but I certainly wouldn't stop
serving God.
I would swap it for anything in the world and I trust that God will lead me further
in whatever time he allows me to be on this earth to serve him, to build up his church
and to encourage his people and I want to encourage you this morning to think about
your life, think about how you can use it and be useful when it comes to serving the
Lord.
That's what we learnt yesterday that whatever you do won't be in vain, that at the end
of the day there will be great rewards, great blessings for you.
Now the theme for our message this morning is a theme that you've probably heard and
probably been challenged on over the years and it's a theme that we ought to be hearing
again and again and again and again and that is working for God.
Now the reason why such a theme is important is twofold because it deals with our attitudes.
Now we can become very self-centred people, our attitudes, our ways can really be turned
inward and we focus upon us, we become the focal point but when we're working for God
that changes doesn't it?
It's more outward rather than inward so it deals with our attitude and secondly because
it deals with the use of our time in waiting for the Lord and the coming of the Lord Jesus.
So we're not idly wasting our time in menial things or unimportant things but we are in
there, we are serving God.
We are interested in getting the gospel out into the lives of our people because we know
what the damage of all these things can do because we have been there.
We have drunk the grog that they drink, we smoke the grass and use the drugs that they
do today, we know what it is to live a life without God but we know what the answer is
and that motivates us to use our time wisely and properly because we know that Jesus Christ
is coming back and coming back soon.
And one of the saddest realities in many of our communities and indigenous ministries
is again a twofold truth that there is lack of workers.
Maybe they don't want to serve God or maybe they are led astray by other things which
seem to be more important but Jesus said that didn't he in his earthly ministry that we
need to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into the field.
And this is true amongst our own indigenous ministries that we need people out there on
the field, we need people who will give up their time and their talent and their abilities
to serve God.
Big ways, small ways, whatever ways that we can serve God.
The second thing is the failure of those to go on with their Christian faith and commitment
and we mentioned this yesterday about people that I have heard over the years, 32 years
of ministry or Christian experience, sat under some wonderful preaching, heard people give
powerful testimonies, beautiful singers, out there door knocking and witnessing and doing
all these things for God, getting excited about the Gospel and after a period of time
they don't walk with God anymore, you don't hear them preaching, you don't hear them singing,
you don't hear them out there sharing their faith, they go back into a life that God brought
them out of and that is a sad reality and somehow as a church, as a Christian body we
need to turn that around, we need to seriously look at that and say what is the problem?
What is the answer?
How can we rectify this particular problem that is occurring over and over again in a
lot of our communities?
It has been told to me that in Mt Druitt there is a lot of people who are falling away from
God, falling away, they started well but they lack that determination, they lack that commitment
to go on for the Gospel and for Jesus Christ.
They have it in their own families, Kaylin has got it in her families, we see it right
across the board and it is a very sad reality.
Over the years we have seen many people come to the Lord at conventions, at rallies and
youth camps and adult camps but never go on to fulfil their potential as indigenous
people within a Christian context and the result of such neglect is that we have failing
churches to adequately minister to such people and our communities, well they seem to be
getting worse.
So instead of these people becoming part of the solution, they are becoming part of the
problem where people even make statements like, well if that is what Christianity is
all about, thanks but no thanks.
As the Lord's people we are to serve God by being his ambassadors, being careful to
always bring glory to him by what we say, how we say it, what we do and how we do it.
From our text in 2 Timothy 4 in the first 8 verses that we read, the theme for our message
is brought out by the Apostle Paul in a challenging and in a confrontational way that helps us
to realise that the work that we are involved in is in fact the Lord's work.
The same God who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light is the God who employs
you to work in his kingdom, in building his church, in reaching out to the world.
That is a privilege that you don't deserve, that is a privilege that I don't deserve.
I don't even deserve to be a Christian when it is all said and done.
God in his own right could have sent all of us to hell.
He didn't have to send Jesus Christ to save us but he did and I am glad he did.
I am glad that he saved me on that day in 1979.
I am glad that he brought me into the ministry in the early 80s and I am glad that you are
glad that God has done it for you as well.
Now before we look into this particular passage there are some preliminaries that we need
to consider that will help us in our understanding of the urgency of the letter and there are
two strong points for our consideration and they are these.
Firstly that the great apostle Paul who wrote 13 letters and was out there everywhere preaching
and proclaiming the unfathomable truths of the gospel was lonely.
He was lonely and Christian ministry can be like that and often is a lonely calling and
there are many who have felt such loneliness from time to time and I know in my own experience
and I am sure it is the same with you that you feel lonely when it is serving God and
we heard that last night about a bloke up in the Northern Territory being isolated,
lonely from time to time.
You just wish somebody would come alongside you and pray with you and to encourage you
and you feel these waves of whatever coming and drowning you.
It can be a lonely ministry, it can be a lonely place at times and people can be caught up,
so caught up in doing their own thing that they haven't time to minister to the needs
of those who really need it.
As someone once said that the church is the only army in the world that doesn't care
for its wounded.
We need to turn that around and we need to care for the wounded, those who are battle
scarred, those who are being buffeted by the onslaught of the evil one and while such loneliness
can occur, doubts can become a real enemy and such doubt comes as to whether you are
called of God for such a ministry.
The apostle Paul on two particular occasions stated this very thing where he says that
you know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me including Phygelus and
I, Modulus.
I don't know why I just don't call them Bill and Bob and Sam and these simple names.
He says in 2 Timothy 4, 9 and 10, he says, do your best to come to me quickly for Demas
because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
Crescent has gone to Galata and Titus to Dalmatia.
Prior to his departure, Demas proved to be very faithful and helpful to the apostle Paul
while he was in prison.
In fact, in Philemon, the apostle Paul called him a fellow labourer and because of his love
for this present world, it was his downfall.
Whether he didn't burn the bridges behind him, whether he was one foot in the world
and one foot in the church, the pull of the world became too much and Demas left Paul
and the ministry and chased after the things of the world.
How many have forsaken God and the calling of God in their life due to this love of the
world and the pleasures of this world which are, for a moment, it's just like when you're
driving down the road and you see this big rainbow and the closer you get to the rainbow,
the further that rainbow comes along.
So these people who chase after the world, for me, it's just like chasing a rainbow.
They will never get it.
It doesn't matter how hard they try.
Now to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is a denial of such things like family and friends
and material gain, even life itself, such are true of any disciple of Christ, meaning
that Jesus needs to be in the forefront.
He needs to be having the preeminent place in our life rather than being second or third
or fourth.
So when it comes to ministry, good help is hard to find.
Many are substituting such things because they don't want to be what God wants them to be.
The question is, I trust that you are a follower of Jesus, someone who can be counted on to
do the job that God has called you to do.
So whether that's a big task in the life of the church or a small task in the life of
the church, you know, we're the same problem in Mount Drought.
For whatever reason, people don't want to go into the kitchen and wash up and clean
up.
They'd rather eat the food.
They'd rather eat the food and have a cup of tea and go straight out the door, serving
God in that small way.
And Paul wasn't entirely alone, for the Bible says only Luke is with me in 2 Timothy
4.11.
Luke was someone whom the apostle Paul could rely on, which when it comes down to it shows
the different levels of fellowship that we can have with people.
In the Christian faith, not every person is on the same spiritual level.
There are some who are mature, ones you can have deep spiritual conversations with, the
ones who will take the level of conversation to levels where both can be encouraged in
their faith, uplifted and enlightened when it comes to the things of God.
You've got those who are immature in the faith, these are the ones whose level of spirituality
is confined to the outward, to the materialistic, that doesn't encourage or doesn't uplift.
They are the ones who don't include God or the things of God in their conversation because
such things are foreign to them, it's not in their thinking and it's not in their practice.
Now Luke, though he was a doctor, he ministered to the apostle's physical needs.
He was someone that he can count on, someone who's trustworthy in the ministry, one who
will open the church doors on the Sunday morning, hand out the in-books, take up the
offering and never whinge about doing it or to be un-Christian like in the process.
But Paul still longed for deeper fellowship, for he says on two occasions in the epistle
concerning Timothy in 4 and 9, do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, in verse 21, do thy
diligence to come before winter.
Now Paul had two sons in the faith, Titus and Timothy, and Timothy showed maturity beyond
his years and the apostle Paul, he wanted to see him soon to be encouraged and uplifted
in his faith and because of the situation that he was in.
Which brings us to our next point for the letter to be written which was Paul had a
concern for the church of Jesus Christ and it's probably for this reason that Paul wanted
Timothy to be diligent about the trip and while Paul was in prison great persecution
had broken out under the cruel Roman emperor Nero and it was during his evil reign that
fire had broken out and burned the city which lasted for six days and nights.
And because of this rumour quickly spread that Nero had caused all of this chaos and
because of the rumours the people's hatred for Nero grew which caused great concern for
the emperor who quickly shifted the blame off himself onto the Christians.
And the result was that Christians were being arrested and persecuted, some were even crucified
while others were sown in the skins of wild beasts and big dogs were let loose on them
and consequently they were torn asunder.
The women weren't left unscathed either because they were tied to mad bulls and dragged to
their death and it was even reported that Christians were burned at the stake and set
a light to give light to Nero's garden.
And it's during Nero's evil reign that tradition teaches that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom
in Rome.
Peter was crucified upside down because he counted himself unworthy to die like the Lord
Jesus while Paul, the apostle Paul, was beheaded.
And because of Paul's concern for the church he instructs Timothy in his diligence in four
timely and appropriate areas that are even timeless to this day.
Firstly he says to Timothy guard the gospel as you see in chapter 1 and verse 14 where
it says Paul calls it the good deposit where it says guard the good deposit that was entrusted
to you, guarded with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
He was to guard it from impurity, to guard it from false teachers and from the enemy.
Why?
Because the gospel is the way of life.
It is the way to God.
The gospel is Christ and Christ is the gospel.
It was the only way to the Father and therefore to life.
So guard it.
Don't allow all these things to come in and to take it off course or blow it off course.
The second thing Paul encourages Timothy to do was to persevere in the gospel as you
see in chapter 3 and verse 14.
But as for you, continue what you have learned and become convinced of because you know those
for whom you have heard it.
Perseverance in the gospel amongst our people is not very encouraging.
There are many who start well but lack the perseverance to go on.
Jesus says in that lovely verse in Matthew 24 that he that endures to the end, the same
will be saved.
You can start well and finish badly or poorly, therefore what guarantee that you have that
you will get into heaven.
Start well, finish well and in the process continue on well.
Thirdly, Paul encourages Timothy to keep preaching the gospel.
Chapter 4 and verse 2, preach the word he says.
Be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and
careful instruction.
We have said it before and we will say it again, what our people need more than anything,
more than money, more than land, more than culture, more than education is the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because the gospel can change people's lives for the better, for it gives us purpose
and it gives us meaning.
So the encouragement is to keep preaching the gospel, keep sharing your faith, keep
telling others the good news of the gospel, that Jesus came into the world to save sinners
of which we celebrated this morning around the Lord's table.
And lastly Paul says to Timothy to keep suffering for the gospel.
Chapter 1 and verse 8, so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or ashamed of me
as prisoner but join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Chapter 2 and verse 3 he says endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Jesus Christ
and the reason for the apostle being in prison was for the gospel.
He was a gospel orientated person, he went everywhere preaching the gospel, preaching
anywhere he wasn't even heard of before and that was his motivation.
Jesus Christ had him crucified.
So in following Jesus there is always a cost, a cost that we all have to count or to consider.
In Christian service it is what costs most that counts most.
Now from our particular passage that we read earlier there are six important truths to
consider when thinking about working for God and the first one has to do with the
solemn charge given in verse 1.
Now right at the outset the apostle Paul gives his solemn charge and the charge that he gives
is a charge that is not idle but is a charge to become active, to become an active member
in the service of the king.
And such a charge is to be done with a specific purpose in mind and that purpose is to be
in light of what will take place down the track.
Now according to one prominent Christian writer who said this, the theme word of both epistles
of Timothy is that of charge.
Nine times he cites the word in both 1st and 2nd Timothy and it would be good for you to
go through and to look up these charges.
This charge was given in 2 Timothy 4.1 was to be viewed as of utmost importance because
it was a charge that was given in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ.
It was given in light of two very important scriptural facts, the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, who will all stand before God to give
an account of ourself, it was given also in light of the establishing of God's kingdom
in its fullest expression.
And those who are called to work for God must also view such a charge in a similar
way.
The second thing that we see from the passage concerning working for God is in verse 2,
the demands of the work.
Now the demand by the apostle was given before God and ought to be carried out with diligence.
The same diligence that Jesus Christ showed in his ministry while he was on earth.
It's not only a demand but it's a challenge.
Now the words be instant or be prepared as the thought of being constant in one's duties.
In other words taking every opportunity to preach Christ whether in season or out of
season.
So whether people are listening we still keep preaching the gospel, whether they are responding
we keep preaching the gospel.
That's the demands of the work, of being a worker for God.
Now Paul says in Romans 15 verse 12, I strive to preach the gospel.
He says in Romans 1, 14 and 15, he says I am debtor, one under obligation, I can do
no other.
As you read in Jeremiah, he was sick and tired of preaching the gospel and nobody was hearing.
He said that's it.
I'm not going to say any more and to keep my mouth shut but he couldn't any longer.
The word of God was like fire in his bones, it was burning him up, he had to preach the
gospel.
He had to preach the gospel.
And Paul says in Romans 1 that he's ready, that he's ready to preach the gospel.
So whether he was out in the mission field, whether he was in jail, whether he was in
the house, whether he was in the synagogue, he was ready to preach the gospel.
And Paul was an optimist and whatever the situation it was, it was an opportunity to
preach Christ.
Now he says in the book of Philippians 1 and 12, what I would you should understand brethren
that the things which happened to me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of
the gospel.
So even prison didn't shut up the apostle Paul.
He was in chains.
One guard would come in, chained to this arm, one guard would come in and chain to this
arm, brother, do you know Jesus loves you?
Jesus, they couldn't go away, they was chained to the ladder.
Brother, you know Jesus Christ loves you.
They was there for a couple of hours.
They would go, two more would come in, preach to them, preach to them.
And the book of Philippians says that the gospel went right throughout the whole palace.
Even prison didn't shut him up.
Now the word preached as the thought of proclamation or eroding out the gospel, the same gospel
that reproves, convinces men of the truth and the need for it.
And there are two classic examples in the New Testament.
One is of Stephen in Acts 7 and 54 which says they were cut to the heart.
Now you know the story of Stephen, that he was a man full of power and full of the Holy
Ghost and he preached that beautiful sermon and they all run upon him with their hands
over their ears, you know, didn't want to hear what he was saying because the gospel
got right into their very being and cut them right to the core of their being and showed
them up for what they were, sinners condemned to eternal damnation in need of forgiveness
by God.
They were cut to the heart and they ran in one accord and drug him out and stoned him.
Of Peter it says in chapter 2 verse 37 that they were pricked in their hearts which denotes
a pierce or a penetration with a needle or a lancet or a sharp instrument which causes
sudden or acute grief.
That's what the word of God done to those to whom Peter preached to Stephen.
It was like a big needle or a lancet being thrust into their heart and that pain, that
agony of the gospel spreading out, convicting every part of their being.
Now the word rebuke suggests the authority won as in exposing the wrong and speaking
out against it.
So if you are exposed as Christian, take it with long suffering, with a patient and persevering
spirit and don't be too encouraged or discouraged but rather continue in teaching or in patient
instructions.
The demands of the work, brothers, they will get more and more demanding as we get closer
to the coming of the Lord because the nest of the evil one is being stirred.
He knows according to Revelation that his time is running out and he wants to take as
many people as our people to hell.
Now Isaiah says that hell has opened up its borders, it's gotten wider and wider because
people don't want to hear the gospel, they don't want to respond to the gospel but
we've got to keep preaching it in season and out of season.
That's the demands that's placed upon you as a minister of the gospel, as a worker of
the kingdom, as a Christian.
In verse three and four you've got the enemies of the work.
Now eleven times in the letters to Timothy the apostle Paul warns Timothy of false teachers
and false doctrine and you can't have one without the other so if you've got false
teachers you will naturally have false doctrine and both behind it of course is the enemy
because he is a liar, didn't he?
Jesus says that about him and Jesus reminds us that he's a liar and he's the father of
it and he goes on to say he abode not in the truth because there's no truth in him.
Jesus also says in Matthew's gospel that many false teachers shall arise and shall deceive
many.
Now here in our passage the apostle Paul says for the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine.
Well that time is here, that time is already upon us and let me say this that the worst
is yet to come, the worst is yet to come.
The thing is bad now, it will get worse and it will get worse.
Now what Paul is speaking of here is not the ministers who speak errors but the congregation
will have to say as to who will get behind their pulpit, they'll be the ones who will
get someone to speak what they want to hear.
These preachers in the congregation will be the ones who will speak error, they are the
ones who will speak false doctrine, these are the ones that will tickle their head,
oh brother it's lovely, like they're saying it's lovely, you know we've got to love one
another, you know all these warm and cuddly and fuzzy things.
Most congregations will be characterised by two noticeable traits which are worldliness,
this focus is not on Evelynwood but more on earthly and more on the external and lastfulness,
last in the King James version refers to those evil desires which are already to express
themselves in bodily activity, same problems that the Corinthian church had.
As to the preacher, well they are the ones who preach not sound doctrine but turn people
away from the truth unto fable and unto miss, now Paul warns in these letters against those
things to young Timothy, he says in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1 or chapter 1 4 take heed
to, he says in chapter 4 verse 7 refuse profane and old wives fables, take heed unto themselves
from such withdrawal, avoid profane and vain babblings, shun profane and vain babblings
in 2 Timothy 2 16 and from such turn away in chapter 3 and verse 5, name the work of
the kingdom there will always be enemies, so be careful lest you be enticed and pull
away from what God has called you to do.
In chapter 5 you've got the duties of the work, such duties consist of watchfulness
which is to be sober into the right frame of mind because of the coming of the Lord
Jesus, the uncertainty of the time and against sin and against temptation.
So always be watchful, always be alert, be in the right frame of mind because of these
things that can come up on you, sneak up upon you and catch you unawares.
The other thing has to do with endurance as a good soldier of Jesus Christ in chapter
4 and verse 5, in verse 6, fourthly you've got the departure from the work, so the question
is how did the Apostle Paul view the end of his life, remembering that he had served Jesus
Christ for about 30, 40 years and he's coming to the end of his life there in prison, so
how did he view his life?
Well the word departure means loosing, which may have four connotations, it may be a prisoner's
word which means to release not only from Roman prison but from the corruption of the
flesh from the world and from the devil, so Paul was about to die and he seen it as a
release not only from his labours but from the things that were around him, it may be
viewed as a farmer's word, signifying an unyoking, the example of an ox being loosed
after an odd day's work in Hebrews 4 and verse 9, it may be viewed as a warrior's word, he
says in verse 7, I have fought a good fight, although the battle be raging all around me
and though his battle scarred, Paul is able to say now thanks be to God which always causes
us to triumph in Christ, it may be a seaman word used for the unmooring of a ship or a
boat and the vessel is the own word bounty and Jesus is the captain of his salvation,
the one that will lead him home to those eternal shores, that celestial city that was always
in his heart.
In verse 7 you've got the satisfaction of the work, here we have the three I am's of
the apostle Paul where he says that I have fought, which speaks of him being a wrestler,
his whole life was a constant wrestle, wrestling with circumstances, wrestling with hardship
and shipwrecks and against principalities and powers and wickedness in high places as
Ephesians 6-12 teaches, I have finished, which speaks of him being a runner, there are three
tips from scripture concerning the Christian race, keep the weight down, keep the limbs
free and keep your eyes on the finish line, I have fought, I have finished and I have
kept, which speaks of him being a safe guarder, the things that was entrusted to him, I have
kept it and I delivered it faithfully to Timothy and to us.
And lastly we've got in verse 8 the rewards of the work, he said, enshforth it is laid
up for me which is the display of the prize, a crown of righteousness which is the character
of the prize, the Lord the righteous judge which is the giver of the prize, at that day
which is the day of the prize, not to me only but to all them that love is appearing which
is the winners of the prize, now there are two things concerning this prize in closing
and they are for the righteous people, those who have started well, continued well and
finished well, there is a crown of life at the end of it all for the righteous people
and for righteous living, for righteous lives, so let me encourage you in closing to keep
busy for God, let 2011 keep you busy for God, carry that over to 2012 and 30 to keep busy
for God, God has given each of you a work to do and we need to be praying, we need to
be seeking God as to what he would have us to do, so remember what the Bible says as
we close with last yesterday, your labour in the Lord is not in vain, so God is watching
over you, God is seeing your struggles, he knows what you are going through, he knows
what you want to do, he knows where your heart lies, so keep at it, let me encourage you
to keep at it and keep persevering in the work of the gospel, so whether you are out
in the west, whether you are in the city, wherever you are, you keep at it, you keep
serving God, let's pray, Father thank you for every blessing and for the word of God
that sustains us, encourages us, rebukes us and challenges us and we pray that from this
particular passage Lord that we will learn those simple truths that Paul passed on to
Timothy that we will take into those and learn and run with patience the race that is set
before us, in Jesus' name, Amen. Thanks Roy.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, alleluia, and shall not leave my bread alone, but thy every word shall be added unto you.
That proceeds from the mouth of God. Allelu, alleluia, and it shall be given unto you.
Seek and ye shall find, dark and the walls shall be opened unto you. Allelu, alleluia.
Father we thank you again this morning for your word, for your servant and we thank you again for the risen Lord.
In his name we pray, Amen.