Morningstar Christian Chapel Live Stream

and i will follow you and i will follow jesus [Music] oh [Music] i'm so blind without you i need your light to guide me through could see ambition without direction should he lead me to destruction [Music] so leave me jesus and i will follow you and i will follow [Music] jesus [Music] i will follow you [Music] oh jesus o jesus [Music] i will follow you [Music] good morning father thank you for this place that you have given us to gather and i know that you look forward to us being together more than we even we do that you have things that you want us to hear and things we'd like to accomplish in our hearts that we would lord be open to what your spirit would want to say to us this morning so be with us at our fellowship watch over us be with those in the mission field that are serving alongside that you would keep your hand upon them especially those that we have in very difficult areas this morning go before them and be with us as we come to worship you in jesus name amen amen good morning let's go ahead and stand let's take some time to worship the lord together [Music] when all i [Music] when all i see is the mountains you your love surrounds me there's nothing to fear now foreign [Music] i'll sing [Music] if who can be against me [Music] for jesus there's nothing impossible [Music] you see the beauty when all i see is [Music] [Music] you go before us nothing [Music] nothing can stand against the power [Music] [Music] [Applause] almighty fortress [Music] nothing with my hands lifted [Music] that'll [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] amen you can be seated [Music] i am holding on to faith cause i know you make a way i don't always understand i don't always get to see that i will believe it i will believe it you make mountains [Music] spawn you use songs of praise to shake prison walls i will speak to my fears i will preach to my doubts you were faithful then you'll be faithful now [Music] i'm standing on your word calling heaven down to earth i will believe [Music] [Music] i will speak to my fear i will preach to my doubt that you were faithful then you'll be faithful now you were faithful then [Music] you never will yes i know that i know you'll never fail that i make know move you make giants fall you use songs of praise to shake prison walls i will speak to my fear i will preach to my doubt if you were faithful then you'll be faithful now [Music] [Music] you'll be faithful now you will pay for them you'll be faithful now [Music] all right let's open our bibles to psalm 20 for our scripture reading this morning as you're finding that i want to let you know that we you know usually our summer baptisms are either down at the beach or at a pool somewhere we can all hang out and eat nobody's renting to anyone yet because of this coveted issue so we're going to have our summer baptism up in the heights where we had it at winter time and it's going to be on september the 25th so i want you to write it down we're going to be there from 11 to 4 have a potluck have baptism as well looking forward to it so the flowers will be out wednesday but we wanted to let you know as quickly as we could all right let's stand as we read psalm 20 i'll read the odd numbered verses you can read the even numbers numbered one along with pastor gerard it's a wonderful psalm of david as he asked the lord to answer our prayers psalm 20 may the lord answer you in the day of trouble and may the name of the god of jacob defend you may he remember all of your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice [Music] we will rejoice in your salvation in the name of our god we will set up our banners may the lord fulfill all your petitions he will answer him from his holy heaven and will save saving strength of his right hand some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the name of the lord our god and fallen that we have risen and stand upright so save lord and may the king answer us when we call uh what a great song and certainly david's heart is ours as well we we pray that father you might hear the cries of your people that you might help us in trouble that you might defend us that you might send help from that place of fellowship strength comes from you may the the sacrifice of our lives before you be acceptable in your sight may you grant lord the heart's desire of your people that you would fulfill their purposes and as we sing songs to you and set up our banners our trust may you hear our petition and may your answer from heaven we trust you lord we look to you save us and may the king answer when we call thank you lord that there's access for us this morning into the throne room boldly because of jesus hear us lord we pray in jesus name amen you may be seated and as you're sitting down go ahead and take out your bulletins and we'll go over the announcements for this morning we do have a lot to go through so we'll get through them as quick as we can the watts outreach is happening this friday it's a opportunity for us to exercise missions in our own backyard as we go to south central l.a to the area of watts and partner there with hope central calvary chapel that's going to be again this friday and it's from eight or sorry from five to eight we'll be meeting here in the church parking lot at four o'clock to caravan over but if you can't make it then uh go to the website get directions and you can meet us there from five to eight uh gentlemen sometimes it's good for us to be reminded what it says in proverbs 18 22 that finding a wife is a good thing and uh we can bless our wives with an activity that's coming up real soon here and that'll help not only our marriage but our own individual spirits uh bring your wife to the married couple's fellowship it's going to be meeting this coming saturday september the 4th at 5 30 in the evening in the multi-purpose room so the group is going to continue going through their new marriage series on understanding god's purpose and meaning of marriage you're encouraged to bring either an entree or side dish to share at the potluck and uh so join them there on saturday at 5 30. pastor jack's going to be finishing up the second timothy series this morning which means next week he's going to move on to a new series and he's going to be taking us through the major minor prophets with a series that he's titled lessons from the prophets and we're going to get to go through all the really the tail end of the old testament together as pastor jack brings us those studies so plan on being with us as we mentioned to you continue to look forward to and if you haven't already mark your calendars for the church picnic it's coming up on saturday september the 11th we'll be there from 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon lots of games and activities for the kids and adults as well and a good chance for us to get together we'll be over at craig regional park and like i've said before a good chance if you're new to this church wonderful opportunity to meet new people and have fellowship with them if you've been here for a while it's a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and have fellowship with them i know our church is kind of big so you may not know everybody but this will be a great chance to do that it's right around the corner now the men's and women's small group bible studies are going to begin on september the 12th that's a sunday at six in the evening the men will be in room 16 the ladies over in the multi-purpose room and you'll need to go to the chapel store and get that study guide and have lesson one ready to go for that first meeting like i said six in the evening on sundays but ladies you have a second opportunity on wednesdays to come at 9 30 in the morning as well in the multi-purpose room and that study has child care available for you if you've been a recent uh convert or new believer to uh the lord and walking with him or if you've been walking with the lord for a while it's always good to have a good solid foundation under us and to be reminded of those foundational kind of uh principles that we have in god's word the new believer class is going to be beginning it's a six week series and it's going to start on september the 19th that's a sunday over in room 9 and they're going to meet from one o'clock to 2 30 in the afternoon so again if you're a new believer or even been walking with the lord for a while plan on joining that class you can get details on our website we're going to be going to mexico and down to el ungo for a trip coming up thursday september the 16th we're leaving here at 5 30 in the evening and coming back on saturday so like i've said only one day mist of work if you want to join us and it's a good two-day trip to go down and get a little taste of missions we're going to be able to go into the prisons this time as well as having an outreach to the community we're going to do a movie night where we share a christian film and bless the folks there and share jesus so if you want to be part of the team i'd advise that you sign up as quickly as you can so that we can get your name on the register for the prison outreach and you can pick up a flyer in the back if you're not able to go you can still be a part of this mission pick up one of these smaller flyers here and it has a list of all of the items that we're going to be taking into the inmates the hygiene kind of care package that we're putting together so you can grab one of those get that stuff on the list and bring it back in and we will take it to the folks i know that all of us here benefit from pastor jack's teaching but uh try to imagine uh the background not maybe this big banner but uh maybe the the the dome of the rock of the old city of jerusalem or the sea of galilee as a background to his teaching or even the the uh oasis of engetti because that's what you'll be able to experience if you come with us to israel as we're going to be going there march the 8th through the 19th in 2022 as pastor jack teaches us literally through the country and lines up all of those bible lessons with the very places that will be so i encourage you grab there's flyers in the back or you can go to our website and you can get registered there for literally the trip of a lifetime let's go ahead and pray lord as we have had this time here this morning already to get our hearts prepared and and just bring that place of an awareness of your presence into our lives through our worship through our reading of the psalm together and as we continue now lord to worship you just pray that our all of our hearts would be engaged into who you are and what you have for us here as a church and as we have opportunity to give of our tithes and offerings may it just be a continued act of worship lord god as we give to you that which you have so blessed us with receive our tithes and offerings now in jesus name amen [Music] holding your beauties all that i long for to worship you jesus is my soul desire for this very heart you have shape for your pleasure a purpose to lift your [Music] enter name courts with an offering of praise for i am your servant come to bring your glory as is [Music] now unto the lord who sits on the throne be glory and honor and praise [Music] spirit now living and dwelling within keep my eyes fixed ever on jesus face and let not the things of this world ever sway me till i finish [Music] who sits on the throne be glory and honor and praise all the creation resounds with a song worship and praise the lord now unto the land who sits on the honor throne praise all of creation resounds with a song worship and praise [Music] jesus christ is the lord let's sing that together holy lord [Music] you are holy jesus [Music] [Music] jesus christ is [Music] resounds with a worship and praise [Music] the lord [Music] [Music] thank you jesus [Music] one with god the lord most high [Music] hidden glory in [Music] what a beautiful name it is what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a beautiful name it is nothing compares to this what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus let's all stand [Music] didn't want heaven without us so jesus here brought heaven down [Music] sin was great your love [Music] [Applause] what a wonderful name it is what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a wonderful name it is nothing compares to this what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus [Music] death could not hold you the beer before you silence the bulls of sin and grey heavens are roaring the praise of your glory all you are [Music] forever yours is the glory yours is [Music] what a powerful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a powerful name is nothing can we stand against what a powerful name it is the name of jesus what a powerful name it is the name of jesus what a powerful name it is the name of jesus oh yes sir what a blessing and privilege and honor it is lord to be able to sing and speak your name that throughout the bible lord through the word we've been assured that it is indeed the name above all names the name given in which we have our salvation our redemption and our glory to look forward to in that eternity it's all because of you jesus and as we now turn to your word we pray humbly for your anointing upon pastor jack to give the message and you're anointed upon us to receive it in jesus name amen well i'm told six or eight weeks will be in the sanctuary we'll see don't bet on that but i hope so let's open our bibles to ii timothy chapter 4 this morning we're going to finish this book do the last chapter together paul's son in the faith timothy was certainly paul's favorite guy he had been with paul by the time this letter was written almost 30 years paul said to the philippians yeah the philippians about timothy that there was no one that shared his heart for the people and for the lord like he did for the past few years timothy had been left by paul and ephesus it's a church that paul spent three years at planted and now it was 12 years later and it was overrun with false teachers who had gotten into the pulpits and timothy's job was pretty simple bring people back to the to the word of god the teaching of the word of god and the reliance upon the holy spirit but timothy wasn't like paul paul was a type a loud pushy aggressive guy timothy was very quiet very shy very you know paul had to say to him a half a dozen times stir up the gifts of god that have been laid given to you by the laying on of my hands the lord has gifted you timothy you know step out and step up and paul like i said in timothy had been together for the better part of 30 years timothy was now you know in his middle 40s he had come to know the lord as a teenager through paul's ministry so paul sends him a couple letters the first one all about church life all about what the church should be interested in what should the church church get itself involved with how should it meet every week what should it be doing but the second letter is very personal it was written by by a mentor to a friend it is a very personal letter it is the the words from a dying man paul knew he was he was on his way out this was it for him and especially this last chapter as we get to it you know these are the last words that are recorded from paul and they're written to someone that he loved more maybe than anyone else who had put more time in than anyone so in this letter paul had encouraged timothy to count the cost and serving the lord just be strong in god's grace to delegate responsibilities and disciple others to rightly divide the scriptures he he talked to him about showing the same kind of diligence as a soldier would or an athlete or a farmer waiting for the fruit he ended in chapter three by saying that god's word would provide both for him and for those who heard him everything that they needed to walk with god and reach the lost so tonight uh tonight this morning we come to the to the last chapter before paul is going to be beheaded by the hands of nero he is kept in the mammar team prison in rome paul had asked timothy in this letter twice to come see him but that required a challenge as well because nero on the worst path against the church just showing up to see paul could mean death for you it was quite a challenge for timothy but paul wanted to see him one last time he had you know wanted to tell him goodbye had instructions for him i think wanted to hand him the mantle in many ways for the the work in the early churches so this morning 22 verses but they kind of go together so i didn't want to separate them out but paul gives to timothy basically three injunctions verses one through five he said to him timothy just keep preaching the word more than anything else get your mind around god's word and give it to the people who will listen in in verses 6 7-8 paul said to timothy i'm going to die with no regrets and then beginning in verse 9 to the end of the chapter paul said i have great confidence that god will continue to work that he's begun even though it was timothy and others who they weren't all there they didn't all do well paul realized it was god's word and he sets up a last meeting we don't know historically even whether that meeting ever took place if you read historical books some people you know there's a leaning one way or the other so i don't i don't know but i know that's what paul wanted first one says this paul says to timothy i charge you therefore before god and the lord jesus christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and at his kingdom that you preach the word be ready in season and out of season to convince and rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables but you be watchful in these things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry paul starts this last letter off these final words by saying to timothy i have a charge for you first one i have i have orders for you but i'm giving them to you in light of the fact that god is watching in the eyes of and before the lord the one who will one day judge those alive and dead when he establishes his kingdom timothy i'm telling you this before the one who's going to have the final say in your life i think for paul the words judging the dead has taken on a more important meeting the last few weeks because he is now about to die i think realizing that god is watching you and what one day you're going to have to answer to him it's a pretty sobering mental image if you can keep it in your mind i think it'll deliver you from a couple things fear of man because who really cares what man thinks if if you're interested in what god thinks and if you're not going to answer to man you're going to answer to the lord and second all i think it will tend to get you down the road where you want to please the lord more often and you begin to ask yourself would god be pleased with this so paul as he writes his last letter to timothy says look jesus is going to be your judge he's the one that you're going to answer to i think it was the lord in john 5 who said the father judges no one the judgment he's committed to his son if you don't honor the son you don't honor the father who sent it so paul's last words begin with to timothy i want to give you a charge and the charge is pretty straightforward preach the word preach the word each of us each of us all of us god has given to us his word it's laying on your lap with the intention of us taking what god has taught us to share it with others the church is to be the light on a hill right it's the it's god's will that through his spirit and by his word the word might get out to a world that increasingly don't want anything to do with the lord paul said to the corinthians we're not preaching ourselves he said to the cr to the ephesian church in acts 20 as he met with the elders that they should just share the whole council of god's word it works isaiah would write 700 years before this that god you know our our thoughts are not his thoughts or our ways not his ways his ways are beyond our finding out but at the same time his word never goes out void it always accomplishes what he sends it to accomplish it is a shame that there are many churches today unfortunately even in america who have decided that teaching the bible is not what they want to do they'd rather talk to you about politics or they talk to you about the latest social dilemma but let's face it all of that stuff changes and none of it's very dependable but god's word never fails i am not a willing to take the pulpit time and talk to you about politics i'll just teach you the bible i got a letter from a lady this week from the radio she said you're not talking about politics at a time like this you're a coward so i put the letter where cowards put letters like that in the trash no matter what i preach to you politically they're going to fail you jesus won't fail you and in the end you'll stand before his throne and so timothy preach the word share it every chance you get it is valuable for the sinner it is vital for the saint you've seen what it has done in your life and what it can do in the lives of others there's no substitute for it there's nothing that can take its place it is upon that truth that church has been built here and continues and then paul says to timothy and be ever ready to share it in season out of season prepare yourself as god's vessel through whom he can speak be ready to speak when you have notes and you've thought long and hard about what you're going to say be ready to speak when someone asks you a question and you're not prepared at all in season and now when the audience is is receptive and open when the audience is antagonistic and difficult share god's word because god wants to use you and i found out i've been at this a long time that some of the greatest times of god's blessing is when i'm the least prepared now that's not a strategy i don't mean show up with nothing to say and hope for the best but but when you're placed in this position with gosh i wasn't ready for this and you just let the lord you know use you and you share from your heart the things god has has taught you it's amazing just to watch him work well paul says to timothy from from death row you know there needs to be some radical availability in your life i've been a police chaplain for years first with the lapd now with santa ana pd we've we've been invited to to speak at graduations academy graduations we still do city council meetings open in prayer but hey if you're going to ask me to pray why can't i pray like this dear lord thank you for sending jesus to die for our sins and that without him we're never going to make it to heaven but by your grace if we look to you today you can have our sins forgiven oh yeah and bless the council meeting amen why not just slip the gospel in there for a couple of minutes every opportunity be ready because one day you're going to have to give an account and jesus is watching be a person of the word know it study it share it let it do its work i mean watch paul you know paul was in court he brought up the scriptures he was on a stormy sea he brought up the scriptures he ended up getting thrown in prison he continued to preach the scriptures quit making excuses go do it timothy you got to do this and this from the the words and the lips of a dying man who looked over his life and now is handing off all that that god had given him to do to his protege solomon wrote in ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 4 if you observe the wind you'll never sow if you regard the clouds you'll never reap in other words there's always an excuse to not do timothy preach the word be ready in season be ready out of season it will convince it will rebuke it will exhort convince convince someone that is wrong what is right rebuke tell someone's wrong and then exhort be encouraging with the intent to strengthen and do it timothy notice he adds the words with all his long suffering and with all teaching because let's face it it's not an easy calling for the church to go out into a world that less and less wants to talk about god and talk about him but look what he's done for us how can we not the old adage that if you know the word of god will afflict the comfortable but it will also comfort the afflicted if there is conviction without loving remedy that's a burden without help so stick with it do it patiently timothy paul's signing off and notice what he says in verse 3 and 4 do it while people are listening because things are going to get worse and the tendency is to listen for a while and then to stop listening all together every generation has its group of folks who are absolutely unwilling to hear the scriptures it's just a challenge to the church when jeremiah was speaking to a nation that wasn't listening the lord in chapter 5 verse 31 said to him the prophets are prophesying falselys and the priests are ruling by their own power but then he said this the people love it like that look you're living in a world that you probably hate in terms of its politics of its morality of the direction that's going but notice this the people love it like that it's what they voted for it's what they want it's what they long for it's what they march in the streets for that's what they want you don't want that because you're a believer you don't live here you're passing through the tragedy is you live in a world that's what they want and the very last part of that verse says what will they do in the end when all is said done then what when ezekiel was sent to the same group of people the lord said to ezekiel ezekiel you you sound like a lovely song to the people you have a pleasant voice you can carry you can carry a tune well on an instrument they they will listen to your words but but they won't do them paul says to timothy preach while the preaching's good because it doesn't take long before people stop listening for some the opportunity to hear is past them already others run to novel ideas teach the word there's a lot of people that when they shop around churches look for a church that will leave them alone by that i mean you know look don't don't lay any big trips on me just make me feel good but just don't require anything for me and certainly don't preach to me which tells you that sometimes a big church isn't necessarily a good church it just depends are they teaching god's word but this emphasis on sound doctrine is at the forefront of all that paul wrote to timothy he said to him in verse 5 endure be watchful fulfill the ministry god has given you do it man the word watchful means a almost like keeping your head on a swivel looking in all directions be stable and don't give in or give up stay with it and stay you know and stay the course if you will paul was now looking at the end of his life and he wanted timothy to stick with what he was doing because it wasn't the end of timothy's life paul was about done running the race but timothy wasn't and you're not there's still a race to be around there's still a people to reach so his counsel is to stay the course be willing to pay the cost of reprisal for seeking to reach the lost do what god give you to do well then you get to verse 6 and paul in the next few verses talks about how he views his life and now his death imagine being paul and you sit in a cold kind of subterranean dripping wet mammotine prison by the way if you go to rome it's still there you can crawl down the hole and and imagine what it must have been like for paul it was an abandoned existence it almost said to paul in his late 60s was he was dying you might have been a somebody one day but you're a nobody when you die he was poor he didn't even have a coat to keep warm he didn't have many friends left he suffered the contempt of his accusers who were awaiting his death the work at ephesus in which he had spent three years was being ravaged by the wolves and timothy at least from the two letters that we read hadn't made much progress in arresting some of that stuff what kind of outlook would you have if you were paul this is the way your life ended i should tell you paul couldn't have been happier all he saw were stars in the present in the past and in the future he had this he had this glorious settled peace before the lord verse six this is his present i am now already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand if you read through the old testament sacrifices one of the things that you will find periodically and this isn't even ordered by the law as much as a practice of the saints was to pour a wine offering at the base of the altar where the lamb was being consumed as a sacrifice you read about it in exodus 29 numbers i think chapter 20 15 and 28. it was just this added kind of you know lord everything i have i give to you and paul used that that picture often he wrote to the philippians in chapter two i'm ready to be poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith now he uses it again paul had seen his life as being poured out before the lord but but now in prison on death road he was down to his last few drops this is this is all i got left right but but to the end i'm going to let the lord have my life he didn't see this as a defeat he saw this as part of the serving the lord that he had been called to serve he said my departures at hand things hadn't gone well if you look at verse 16 he said at my first defense no one stood with me all have forsaken me things had not gone well in the hearing his end was sure but but paul wasn't worried about this last step of life he didn't see it as a victory for nero in his wickedness he saw it as the last step to serving the lord with everything that he had he uses the word departure which is a word in greek that means to hoist a sail or to take down a tent either to sail away or just just to break camp he used the same word in philippians chapter one when he talked about you know being hard-pressed between coming and going he didn't know what he would do but he he said go on would certainly be better for him so that was his past i mean his present tense view in prison waiting for the for the guy with the the axe to come and take his head off his shoulders i'm ready i'm ready i've been been a drink offering for years to the lord given everything i had now this is the last drop from the standpoint of the past verse 7 i have fought the good fight i have finished the race and i've kept the faith the present didn't bring fear to paul because he had no regrets about the past he uses two very at least familiar metaphors that he likes to use he used a picture of a boxer who had fought well or a runner who had run to win he literally said the finish line's right right there the the last bell for the last round is about to to sound and notice what he said i've kept the faith in every battle under every kind of pressure paul never thought and you'll never read him saying i wish i'd have done better he writes to the philippians in chapter three i haven't arrived yet but i do this i put off and put away and look away from the things that are past and i look forward to the things that are ahead and i reach for those things the mark of the upward call in christ paul wrote to the corinthians in chapter nine everybody runs but only one gets to win so run to win and then he said i i put my own body under literally it reads i beat myself black and blue i know it's metaphorical but it talks about struggle he said in having you know reached out to others and preach others i should find myself to be disqualified he would die as he had lived faithfully you want to die well live well you want to die without regrets spend your days the way that the lord would want you to spend it paul was not always popular he was hardly ever comfortable but he was always faithful so he comes the end of his life and goes up been faithful i've been faithful i've kept the faith he stood before the roman senate he was faithful to the lord he stood before the jewish sanhedrin and he mouthed god's words he stood before the athenians who had nothing to believe in and he pointed to jesus with great confidence paul had run his race and he was about done and he knew it every yeah look you all have a race to run and and the person who who who decides what range you run as the lord every race is long some or longer some are uphill some are easy some people seem to have an easy time but some are just difficult but but god determines it but here's the deal you just got to finish the race i mean the glory is found in the finishing when paul spoke to the ephesian elders there in acts chapter 20 and they said to him hey paul don't go to jerusalem they're going to kill you there paul responded in chapter 20 verse 24 by saying i don't care about that my life isn't that precious to me but i tell you what's important to me that i finish my course with joy in the ministry i've received from jesus i just want to i want to do i want to do well i want to die well live well paul had no problem because his past was was one of i've done all that i can do timothy preach when it's convenient and and not just when the race is over preach now the race will be over soon enough in terms of his future verse 8 finally he writes there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day not to me only but to all who love his appearing from paul's standpoint what awaited him was a reward a crown of righteousness that crown that speaks of that which pleases the lord i mean if you read paul's life story there were a lot of judges he stood before that were not very favorable to paul in fact they left him in jail for years unattended but he's looking forward to jesus he is the righteous judge he thinks he sees things as they truly are and paul had loved the lord and spent his life serving him and now there would be a reward waiting in glory and that's what he was looking forward to in the present tense about ready to pour out the last drop in in the past tense i've been faithful but in a future sense i can't wait to meet the lord well beginning in verse 9 paul then issues some final marching orders to timothy he says in verse 9 be diligent to come to me demas has forsaken me he's loved this present world and departed for thessalonica crescens is in galatia titus is in dalmatia only luke is with me get mark and bring him with you he is useful for me for ministry and i've sent tai chicas to really take your place there in ephesus come quickly timothy now understand that in first century culture for timothy to travel from ephesus to rome would take him four to six months through troas through philippi down the ignatian way paul was counting on timothy to beat the slow kind of grinding roman legal system like i said i don't know if he made it but that was paul's desire he mentions chai chicas in verse 12 as being a fellow that he had sent to replace or replace timothy in the in the pulpit so timothy could come see him paul had used the stalactite chicas before he was a believer in asia according to acts 20. he had sent him to replace a titus in chapter three if titus mentions it but notice what paul says i'm alone i'm literally alone several men are off on ministry and then he mentions a guy that broke his heart demas demus a guy that was a sidekick of paul if you will he is mentioned in philemon as one of paul's fellow laborers he he's greeted in the colossian letter as someone paul ministered with and now he has bailed out he has gone to thessalonica he's loved the present world he's not ready to die i guess now the good news is thessalonica had probably one of the largest churches in the first century so hopefully this guy got to town and he got thrown in with folks and he came back around to the lord we don't know but from paul's standpoint it was just another failure at a time of great discouragement yet he kept his eyes on the lord demeth had had taken off verse 11 tells us that the only person that was with him besides these others that were sent off to ministry was luke luke is quite a guy paul had been hurt by demas departure he was his friend but luke was a good friend right luke the doctor who wrote the book of luke and the book of acts in fact if you read the the account in acts and you watch for the word we you will find that that we paul and luke and others were together for years in the toughest of times luke luke wasn't a fair-weather christian he stayed with paul when when paul was beaten arrested when the crowds came for his life he stayed with paul when they were with disfavor and they didn't know what tomorrow would bring he was a tough friend for tough times and doesn't matter what the president pressure was he never flinched he never bailed he stayed with paul and here we find him willing to associate with paul in the worst of conditions and then he says bring with you mark he's useful to me for ministry john mark is a privileged young man in the bible according to acts 12 in his family's home the early church met is where the church really was fed and where fellowship began when paul took off on his first missionary journey paul was joined by john mark's uncle barnabas who said well hey i'd like a i got a a little nephew i'd like to take with us he's he's young but he's going to be great and paul said let's bring him along and he joined the group and and he was excited obviously for the lord and the things of god but but the the travel was tough i mean not just physically it was just dangerous and john mark early on decided i'm not going to do that you're nuts quit went home paul didn't like it when paul went out on his second missionary journey old uncle barnabas said let's take mark he's doing better and pogba was over my dead body and barnabas will say that i'm not going with you because i take care of this young man he took him back to cyprus paul had him replaced but that was years ago whenever water had gone under the bridge paul was now and aware of john mark's value when he was in jail the first time he wrote to the colossians about john mark being the son of god sorry the cousin of barnabas and and how helpful he had been to him he writes about that here as well he'd call him a fellow worker to the philemon's letter as well so it does seem verse peter i think 5 13 that peter may have led this young man to the lord early on he calls him his his son in the faith uh but but mark's a great example of someone that failed early on in that god restored you know if you ever feel like gosh i really punted uh god's good at like giving you the ball back and he certainly did with with john mark and and now paul notice he's he's in in prison he's going to be killed and he just wants bring him with you he's been a real blessing he'll be a real asset i don't know what paul wanted him to do but paul's view of him had sure changed over the years and then paul says in verse 13 bring me my coat or cloak i've left it at corpus's and troas because that's the way he would have had to travel and bring books and parchments and i'm thinking all right i get your jacket and i get the fact that this guy was you know here's another faithful man that took care of you but what do you need books and writing paper with you're about to get killed yeah like i like to read and do some writing i mean paul he was busy till the end right nothing upset what he was doing and then paul warned him if the alexander the coppersmith has done me much hard may the lord repay him according to his works be aware of him he will greatly resist our words um in first timothy chapter four paul had mentioned that this was a real troublemaker and he had thrown him out of the church in ephesus by the time this was written two and a half or two years later he's still there having causing trouble so this is a bad guy and he apparently very powerful guy most commentators believe that he might be the reason paul's been thrown back in jail like they just have a beef that wouldn't go away paul warns timothy about him and i think that's interesting because sometimes you know when you're when you're when you're struggling you go i'll just trust the lord yeah you should trust the lord and then be sensible like trust the lord and keep an eye on alexander because he's a criminal he's a bad guy i'm going to trust the lord by going to keep an eye on this guy he has history paul says in verse 16 at my first defense no one stood with me i'll forsook me and then he said may it not be laid to their charge it's a mystery to me reading this book that no one from the church in rome would have come and said hey paul's a good guy like testified on his behalf but what is even more amazing to me is that paul forgave them right he warned about the enemies but when it came to his own and those who should have stood with him and had not he said lord please don't lay it to their charge which by the way are the exact same words that came out of stephen's mouth years earlier where paul stood there approving of his death for his testimony and certainly it does seem like the death of stephen was one of the the great blocks in paul's life of moving him forward to get saved no one stood with me but don't lay it to their charge and then he said this but the lord stood with me he strengthened me so that the message might be fully preached through me and that the gentiles might hear i've been delivered out of the mouth of a lion i love it when when no one's still with me god was still there i had a work to be done it couldn't be done but he helped me to do it i i think the words delivered me out of the lion's mouth at least this way is metaphorical you know i should have been dead a lot of people tried but god delivered me at every place if you read through paul's ministry maybe the lowest point in his life was when he got to corinth all by himself he was there for months and nothing seemed to work out and you can read of him just wanting to quit he didn't say a word he didn't preach until his friend showed up and then he was encouraged but most encouraging the lord appeared to him and said i've got a lot of people in this city no one's going to hurt you just preach your heart out buddy i'm paraphrasing i'm pretty sure he didn't say buddy but you get the idea when he was arrested in jerusalem the lord again appeared to paul told him what he was going to do through him that his life wasn't over when he got stuck in that storm at sea looked like they're going to die the lord again came and talked to paul and told him you know what he was up to and what he was accomplishing and would accomplish in his life he was the friend that stays closer than a brother jesus was always there for paul but i love his heart here at the end of his life you know his friends forsake him and he prays that they could be forgiven his enemies try to kill him and he sees it as an opportunity to share the scriptures what a different heart you have when jesus takes over the lord delivered me out of them all how did the lord deliver paul now i'll tell you how the lord delivered him he had his head cut off i know sometimes when we pray for deliverance there's only one answer we like the delivery we figured out sometimes the way that the lord delivers you is he he takes you out of it permanently i had somebody the other day we've had a couple people pass away in the church the last few weeks lovely people have been with us for years and someone said to me well i was praying for healing for so long i said well the lord answered your prayer no no they died yeah that's permanently healed you're going to keep getting sick till you die and then you are permanently ill i think paul saw that as well he says to timothy before he's to leave episode say hello to or greet priscilla and akilah and the household of honosiferous priscilla and aquila was a husband and wife team that paul had met in corinth when paul headed back home after his second missionary journey he went with them through ephesus and he thought man this is a great place to do ministry but i got to go home and so he left this couple in ephesus and when paul came back six months later on his third missionary journey and spent three years in ephesus i think it was the work of this couple that caused this church to be able to be planted so quickly and so deeply so this was a couple that had been in ministry with paul for years the fellow on the sipperous hard enough to say his name but but he was a fellow according to chapter 1 verse 16 17 and 18 had been one of the few people from ephesus that were willing to come see paul in rome risk his life now paul greets his family and at least many scholars believe because he doesn't greet him he might very well have lost his life in the process of coming to visit entirely possible does seem to be implied but needless to say greet his family erastus verse 20 stayed in corinth he's mentioned twice in the bible once as a treasurer of the church in corinth and later on traveling with timothy through macedonia trophemus paul said i left in melitus sick jeffreemus was a friend to type chicas drafimus was with paul when there was a big ride in jerusalem that paul was rescued from they tried to kill him he was with paul apparently when paul was re-arrested and he was sick paul left him there sometimes the question is well how come a man will have great faith like paul didn't just pray for him to be healed and my answer was one of two things either the lord didn't want to heal him yet or paul because it was the first century wasn't aware of the faith doctrines as we are today that was rhetorical verse 21 do your utmost to get here before winter eusebus greets you as well as these folks that we have no clue as to who they are except they are part of the church in rome so try to get here before winter here's some greetings from those who have been faithful and timothy the lord jesus christ be with your spirit grace be with you amen last words from a great leader i think it was wesley who once wrote god buries his workmen but the work continues want to live a good life and die well here's how father thank you this morning for this last letter what how moving is these last words of a dying man and especially someone like paul who had spent so many years serving you and been so faithful we see him isolated kind of you know forsaken by many and yet what would he say to his young protege what what what lessons would he leave behind what what is the most important thing that timothy could hear and he hears this preach the word in season out of season just give god's word out to those who will hear it because it doesn't take long to go from itching ears to following fables there's a danger in the people not hearing what god has to say there's a battle for souls be faithful timothy and do it while people are willing to hear it because that doesn't always continue we see paul resting in the present because he had no regrets about the past but he had a great longing for what was waiting for him the future lord thank you that you will continue your work that you've begun and may we as your people take your word to a world around us to work to school to the market to to the barber shop to the beach and even what we have seen even yesterday just from door to door to just share your love so thankful for the fruit that comes from it may we preach the word and not regret having decided not to if this morning you don't know jesus you've never asked him in your life and whether you're here in in the fellowship hall or next door in the overflow room or whether you're watching online this morning god is interested in giving you life his life was sacrificed so that you could live he doesn't need anything from you in terms of accomplishments he only wants your trust your faith your belief god made you saw you fall into sin had a plan to re rescue you from that sin and offers you life if you'll call upon jesus and thank him for dying for your sins and your place for rising again after his death upon the cross you can be saved and then you can come and talk to one of the pastors here after the service there'll be someone next door in the overflow room as well if you're watching online there's a description box at the bottom especially if you're watching youtube and it'll take you to a page that just says you know did you pray with pastor jack this morning to receive the lord and it'll give you lots of scriptures to to think about and to study and to hear what god has to say to you because his greatest desire is that you would know him shall we stand [Music] so when i fight i'll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high oh god that'll be [Music] that'll be [Music] belongs to you every fear i [Music] belongs to you [Music] father we love you this morning so thankful for your great love for us may we take your word and share it with those who don't know you so that you can doing them what you've done in us in saving and cleansing filling with your spirit and bringing peace and joy that can't find out there but we can find before you send us lord no regrets in jesus name amen god bless you guys have a good week

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Length: 71min 52sec (4312 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021