Pastor Paul Chappell: Christians and Trials

second Timothy chapter 3 I would like to speak to you tonight on the subject Christians and trials and I've prayed for this message to come out to you like God's put it into me because as I've tried to say over the last four or five years our country this world is entering into a very unique period of time and you'll find that you'll find the synopsis of what I mean by that in the very last verse that I quote tonight and I've tried to warn our church family to be vigilant and to stand because of because of the drift that's happening but also because of the fact that if you intend to live for the Lord there may be persecution or trials that come to you and I don't want you to be surprised by that and I want you to be ready as we approach this period of time that I believe is preceding the coming of Jesus Christ so tonight we're going to read about it in 2nd Timothy 3:12 13 and 14 yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution now to get the to get the context look at verse 10 but thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience persecutions afflictions which came to me at Antioch and Iconium and Lystra what persecutions I endured but out of them all the Lord delivered me so Paul is talking about his stonings beatings and imprisonments for the faith but then he says and really everybody that will live for God shall suffer persecution and then he says but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them so let's pray and ask God to give us some enlightenment from his word tonight father thank you for the wonderful music and the sweet time of fellowship tonight thank you for the video thank you for Lancaster Baptist school for our teachers parents and students continue to bless that ministry Lord as we raise up a new generation of Christian leaders help me now as I preach may this church be a church filled with spiritual leaders who trust in you who have an awareness of the times and I pray this in Jesus name Amen you may be seated recently we have been made aware of the fact that there are many countries that have been persecuting Christians have caused them to leave the mission field in the case of our missionaries and have done everything they can to thwart the gospel whether it was the pictures a few years ago of those involved with Isis beheading or cutting off the arms of Christians in the Middle East whether we have heard about those who have suffered in various Muslim countries because they have passed out a gospel tract or even those in the giant land of China just recently who by the dozens have had their churches raided who have had their churches closed who have had their churches bulldozed and the crosses that they were once permitted to display being toppled down and run over in the street and so it is that we kind of get used to the fact that there are martyrs every year for the Christian faith around the world and it's just kind of easy to compartmentalize when we hear about something way over there but I believe we're coming to a point in time in our own country where there will be greater challenges that we face as Bible believers even today even as I stand and speak to you tonight there are those crafting another bill in Sacramento that will make it a hate crime that will cause a church to lose perhaps its tax-exempt status or a school of their right to operate if they would dare take a child struggling with their gender identity and point them to their identity in Jesus Christ and teach them that they are fearfully and wonderfully made and we are seeing that there is a movement now a foot that will castigate and will place in the corner Christians who believe the Word of God and teach the whole Council of God and called those that teach and believe the Bible to be the Word of God either bigots or haters if you will now the Apostle Paul did not hide the fact that there would be difficult days for those who stood for Jesus Christ he gave his testimony in verse 11 about the persecutions and the afflictions that he faced in fact Jesus himself did not hide the fact he said that if any man will follow him were to put our hand to the plow we're not to look back that discipleship has a cost to it and that's why we should be very careful that we would adjust schedule or that we would try to just make the Christian life Christian life light I don't think we should over complicate a schedule or nor do I think that we should just just be busy for the sake of being busy but the Bible says and so much the more as you see the Day approaching and we want to be vigilant as we see that they coming in and both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul teach us as did Peter about the trials that will come to those who will live for Jesus Christ and in verse number 12 the Bible says yay and all that will live godly this connective word yay is quite interesting to me because it shows us in the first place tonight the prediction of trials there is a prediction that is made and it is it is made in this connective word going back to what Paul had experienced now we see the word yay telling us that this is not just an isolated incidents but it will happen throughout Christendom all day that are godly in Christ Jesus it shows us that Paul had been through the sufferings and that others will go through it as well in fact I want you to notice this prediction tonight in that there is a conditional clause and this is important and I want you to see it in verse 12 it tells us yay and all that will live godly in christ jesus would you say that poor with me please yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus now now then we see all that will live godly sometimes people talk about the trials and persecutions they have it's not even attached to living godly it's just trials and persecutions of life but here we see all that determined that means teenagers that determine that you will not party you will not sow your life you will not curse or hear cursing you that you will read the Bible or pray for your lunch anybody in this room that will that will to live for God will shall suffer persecution now someone tonight might say well I've heard that many times pastor you've even preached that to us before let's think about it tonight if if this verse is to those that will live godly then we need to be aware of the fact that there will be Christians in this Laodicean age or lukewarm age Revelation chapter 3 who will not live godly and so our teenagers will see some Christians professing Christ may be saved if they're if they're truly saved they're a Christian maybe not we do not know the heart but they may see some in the realm of Christendom who live a life of ease and they're accepted by the crowd and yet they themselves are ridiculed for their prayer for their stand for their for their waiting for marriage for their vocabulary as a Christ honoring vocabulary they may be ridiculed while they see other Christians just kind of skating by and that could create a moral dilemma within their mind now why is that why will that be in the days to come why will it be that some churches and pastors are going to have the favor perhaps of government perhaps of the one-world government perhaps of other corporate powers to be why is it that sometimes either churches or clergy or Christians will have the of the world while others will be looked down upon as haters or bigots why is that because not all will live godly now tonight as we think about this we want to recognize that there are different kinds of pastors for example last week there were 12 pastors in New York State who prayed God's blessing as they opened the Planned Parenthood clinic a place that is dedicated to taking the life of the unborn a violation of the word of God and yet these men of the cloth dedicated in prayer an act of wickedness that is against God and and yet sometimes we hear today people say oh well we all believe in God they believe in Jesus we all believe in might well I'm just saying some will live godly some will not some churches will stand some churches will not I think of the CCM singer that has become popular and I don't know I've never seen her picture never heard her song but this singer and by the way just because the song is new does not mean that a song is bad the Bible even commands our sing a new song I get that but I've always had and continue to this day to have a great suspicion for the CCM movement as a whole there may be a song here or there that passes muster I get that we sing sometimes a newer song here I'll never forget the night that Amy Grant crossed over from Christian and got on the Johnny Carson show and began to sing a secular it breeze my heart to see that and and I'll never forget hearing her as she talked the lingo of the world and then tried to have both crowds but I think of this CCM singer Laura dangle or dangle or Daigle or dial I don't know how to say it exactly and I'm not so ignorant as to think that some of our college or high schoolers don't know exactly who she is but I just want you to think about this in the context of all those that will to live godly this young woman who's a member of a church I'll tell you about in just a moment and I do believe it's my responsibility from time to time to name names and tonight's one of those moments and if you don't check to score I will not name your name it's a good thing to know that Laura Daigle was on the Dominic Nattie show recently after she had been on The Ellen Show this CCM singer who has a high-ranked song presently was asked her viewpoint on homosexuality and responded I can't say either way I'm not God I'm not God but I can open my Bible and say what the Bible says and anybody that's been a Christian for any length of time certainly would know that I'll talk about this more in just a moment parents I don't want to direct our children to some Christian superstar who will not stand so that when they're struggling with their identity they will remember what she said and she's a Christian I want our children to know that all that will live godly for Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus all that will live godly that they would have the will to live godly for Christ Laura is a member of Andy Stanley's church the son of Charles Charles Stanley a great gospel preacher for many many years Andy Stanley said to his church recently and I quote we need to unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament there is such an anaphora for the moral teachings of the Word of God people are saying just give me Jesus don't give me a lot of like teachings and stuff and don't and there's such a reaction against people growing up in strict environments or legalistic environments they never remember the love they never never remember the nurturer they remember the one time a coach was bad or the one time a teacher gave him a demerit or they remember these incidents and that becomes what they put their coat on as they walk away from truth in Andy Stanley in leading this crusade said we just need to unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament I'll just quickly let me say to you tonight that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God old and new so what does that have to do anything when your pastor is telling you to unhitch from great portions of scripture that teach us against committing adultery and against the homosexual lifestyle no wonder someone might be confused and friend it ought to be our goal that our children know truth and wrong and that we teach them what the Bible says and then that they will be willing to stand where the Bible stands and I'm just saying not every church is going to stand and many many times are singing songs and hearing preachers that definitely are not leaving them to stand now when it says all that will live godly what does that mean and this is where many times people like to get in there they want to ask about the why they want to have questions well what exactly does it mean to live godly because everybody wants to have their own interpretation of that all that will live godly speaks of a constant awareness of God practicing his presence it speaks of turning from self and sin and dying to self and being alive to Christ it speaks furthermore of living with the expectation of the coming of Jesus the Bible says that if we live with that expectation any man that has this hope within him Peter said purifies himself in other words we live differently when we believe Jesus is coming again and that's hard for a 12 year old to get in his mind sometimes but when we believe that Jesus is coming again then we differently and we will to live differently because I don't want to be far away from God when the trumpet sounds amen so living godly it's not that hard to interpret it speaks of someone that is alive in Jesus Christ and so here we have a prediction of trials and the prediction is that all that will live godly and it is a it is a conditional clause here that is given a conditional cause all that will live godly in Christ Jesus and no believer can live a godly life outside of Christ Jesus hence our theme this year alive in Christ now a conditional cause all that will some Christians do some Christians don't and I'm not trying to say how great we are I'm just stating an obvious fact some Christians will live godly some Christians won't some churches will take a stand whether it's on life whether it's on marriage whether it's on the deity of Christ whatever it is some churches are now downplaying doctrine and turning up the band and having a good time and I'm saying not every kind of a church produces Christians that will stand and it's interesting to me and I say this lovingly to our Millennials tonight I believe a godly Christian it doesn't matter if you're a millennial or a baby boomer will love preaching Bible preaching because Bible preaching causes us to make decisions which causes us to root down and not be moved with every wind and and toss with every wind and doctrine so there's a conditional cause notice secondly there's a conclusive effect all they that live in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution shall suffer persecution now I don't wish that on anyone I don't know if that's once in a while I don't know if it's once in your lifetime I don't know if there's a whole season of that coming for those who live for Jesus the United States of America I just know that the Bible tells us that there is a prediction of trials now accompanied with that secondly I want you to see that there is a proliferation of evil that produces this environment there's a proliferation of evil I believe so that the culture and the values trend so far away from the truth watch this that when a Christian simply does what Christians have always done when churches simply behave as Christians and churches have always behaved that because we do not move our behavior seems more and more strange to the world how many of you know there was a day when stores did not open on Sunday there was a day when churches met on Sunday and Wednesday night there was such a day and that was a day when men were men of their word and ladies women of their word and when there was a distinction in their behavior there was a day when there were men of God and women of God and as we take that stand and do not move the farther the world changes the tendency of the world to say look at those weird people when all we're trying to do listen you say oh you just want a 1950s religion no I want to go way back before 1950 we want a biblical religion now notice how the proliferation of evil creates the spotlight on those that will live for Christ look at what it says here in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 and verse 13 but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived now notice as Paul prophesized here 2 Timothy that he's prophesying the growth of evil now you can study it in the book of Revelation you can read about Mystery Babylon the grade you can read about the one-world Church you can read about the evil that takes place in in the geopolitical sense of of the Antichrist and all of that is amazing and all of that I believe to be a predictive book of what is coming but I believe that this passage really can relate to the church age in which we live evil men and seducers there's a growth of evil by evil influences unsaved men are influenced by satanic philosophies evil lifestyles and they're rejecting God's Word and let's just be clear about it the vast majority people writing script for the sitcoms and the shows on television are evil and seductive the funniest guy is always the guy who makes fun of Jesus the weirdo is always the one that loves God or goes to church or is actually married to his spouse they are evil in their imaginations continually evil Ephesians two and one says God has quickened us that is he has made us alive verse 2 wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience so there are two descriptions of the two descriptives of the men and women who proliferate this evil first of all we see the term evil men that is a bad nature in an ethical sense evil wicked or bad and I'll not take time to give you many many illustrations tonight but all you have to do is turn on the television and read about children that are abducted and children that are harmed and I'll not go into the detail of how all you have to do is just turn on the news and when you hear these heinous crimes you know in a moment's time that they are seeing this on the Internet by perverted people who are recording and filming and processing and sharing evil men they're seeing on television these values form and then the second word is the word seducer the evil men and seducers seducer is a deceiver or an impostor Daigle in her interview said it's just so sad to see people critical of a beautiful person like Ellen that's the Christian singer your children are listening to defending Ellen why because she's been seduced ladies and gentlemen she's been seduced by the philosophy of the world which is taking over many churches today and in many cities instead of the church impacting the community the unity is impacting and changing the church and this ought not to be so well what does the Bible say pastor I'm glad you asked open your Bible to Romans chapter 1 you can email this to miss Daigle or Dingell or Dingell I never thought I'd see the day when a Southern Baptist woman who wants to sing to your children and parents if you have a teenager would you get a clue about the about who's singing to your children would you get a clue about the posters there hanging up would you check their social media once in a while Romans chapter 1 and verse 21 because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither we're thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools listen you think of some of the shows today these these evil and seducing women that are on this these talk shows many times on television and and they're just with vile mannerisms and words making fun of everything that's sacred anybody that believes in God is a fool on these major networks today and God says professing themselves to be wise they became fools verse 23 and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things speaking of idolatry wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and serve the create of the creature more than the Creator we see that today with so many that are seduced by Hollywood seduced by secular humanism in our public schools they're more concerned about creation than they are Creator God verse 26 for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women did change the natural use into that which was against nature well you see if someone would just open the Bible and teach miss dangle and some of the other contemporary church members they would soon find that women with women like Ellen God says is file and since when are we gonna defend that type of behaviors hell I just can't say you know I'm not God you don't have to be God just be a Christian Christians believe what God's already said and all that will live godly and what I'm saying is tonight that there will be a sellout and there will be those that will not live godly and will not take the stand and we're seeing it and I've spoken I spoke just this past week for a few hours to an elder statesman and he said brother Chapel many of our churches are drinking the kool-aid of contemporary thought and Calvinism and we're losing our churches and I see it sometimes in the Independent Baptist ranks as well and all I'm saying is we've got to realize that there's a moving in the air and and I'm not saying that it's because we're so great are so spiritual but we must say by God's grace I will stand where God stands on the issues even if I'm not always so popular with the world so there's this growth of evil that is proliferating according to verse 13 and then notice secondly the pattern of this evil verse 13 again but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived now I think about the deception in our land I think people call it in the political term false or fake news but I'll just tell you something I don't care what network it is or what Christian radio it is we're to try everything we're hearing by the Word of God because the Bible says that in these days there will be a deceiving and people being deceived that's the pattern the evil seducers will draw others into their deceptions I think of just a few weeks ago when our vice president's wife mrs. Karen pence just just get this in your head by the way how many of you thank God that there's a couple there in the White House the Pence's who have willed to live godly they've just made that decision and they're hated every day for it and they're hated by others who call themselves Christians so here's what here was her her big fault two weeks ago she as an art major in college was able to be involved teaching art in a Christian school and and Christian biblical churches and schools sometimes have a covenant that a member will sign like we do with our membership or a covenant for their employees that basically has the doctrinal statement of the institution and they basically say yes I agree and by the way any Christian Church any church worth its salt in 2019 in America will have language about identity and family and marriage in their statement of faith that way no one can come to me and say would you as a man would you marry me to my boyfriend and if they said that I'll say no it's in our Constitution you heard that when you join you sign that that's what we believe it's one of the reasons we have a fairly extensive new members class go through all these issues so there's so buddy knows where we stand look at we're not trying to sneak this stuff in the into the conversation we just want to let it be known we're a Bible believing Church anyways Karen pence got this job teaching at a school where she signed a document that she believed marriage is between a man and a woman now listen to the deceptive language from USA Today if Karen pence wishes to return to teaching she should while serving in such an important and visible role not do so at an institution that has policies that will cause pain to so many of our nation's youth so now this godly woman and art teacher is accused of causing pain to our nation's youth all 2% of them I'm surprised she wasn't accused of bullying and other things but she was accused of being a hater she was accused of causing pain because she taught at a Christian school and most of us would say that's ridiculous we need to pray for people in leadership who take a stand and we should but what if your company policy someday says you know it just you're just causing pain to believe what you believe what if it comes home to you all that will live godly in Christ Jesus the Bible says they will deceive and that that it will be waxing worse and worse you see that the language of the media is to deceive the nation into thinking that someone that believes the Bible on these issues is is the problem as they said of the Apostle Paul in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 and in in Acts chapter 28 they said rather that he is a pestilent fellow and a mover of the sedition in other words they said of the Apostle Paul he's a troublemaker he keeps preaching about Jesus everywhere he goes and then finally these people they so swallow the lie of Satan that they are literally deceived themselves I think of the sin of abortion Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 5 God says I knew thee before you were in your mother's womb God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made when Jesus Christ was in the womb of Mary the Bible said that Mary was great with child it did not say great with fetus it said that Mary was great with child God recognizes life in the mother's womb you say but pastor what if someday even Baptist churches don't stand for that that's the point of this message it doesn't matter how religion drifts and it doesn't matter how culture drifts what matters is that we must obey God rather than men open I just love dingle-dangle I just love that kind of music it just gets me going it just gets me going listen friend you better let truth get you going I'm not I'm not preaching against music in general tonight I met a new member of our church this morning his name is Elvis he might be here tonight look at I'm just saying we don't move here from emotion to truth we start with truth you get excited about truth you say man I raise your hand up where and so long as it's truth based and it's not just a show of emotion I'm simply saying we've got to stand with the truth tonight and I think of the 41 million abortions that were done in the world last year and I'm not I'm not picking here I'm not picking sides I have the records in my office the first presidential declaration of President Obama the first Andrew Jones is in the back he'll recall when I copied it right off the Associated Press his first presidential decree and I forget the exact term of it was to fund abortions overseas I mean my heart just sunk here we are with trillion dollar deficits and we're paying for other people's abortions it's a tragedy I think about this governor of Virginia and I want you to listen to this video because I want you to see what deception looks like so in this particular example if a mother is in labor I can tell you exactly what would happen the infant would be delivered the infant would be kept comfortable the infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother so so I think this was really you listen to this we're not having a discussion now even while the babies in the womb did you hear it the governor of Virginia he's talking about after the baby is delivered they're gonna have a discussion maybe they'll resuscitate it but let's have a discussion about it this infanticide this murder that is sweeping the land and even Christian churches cannot figure out where to stand on it and I'm saying it is wicked it is sinful and people are deceived who do not stand against it say Oh pastor there's just aroused up patriotic message no this is just verse by verse preaching through second Timothy that just this is just Bible preaching I get weary of people say well we just we just like the music it's so and so place that just tells me a lot about their depth I like music I like passionate music that's fine but the number one thing we need in a church is biblical truth being proclaimed I'm simply saying many times folks I like the music let's just be honest about it they also like their cigars and their booze and there's no Sunday night and their Wednesday night and just a little concert on Sunday and maybe a little poetry a little sermon at given hey what I want when I come to church is the preaching of God's Word listen we have such wonderful music but hey there might be a soloist that gets off tune or there might be a choir member that sings when everyone else does there might be a light that burns out there might be somebody that doesn't treat you well somebody that doesn't ass it to where you want him to see it or cut you off from your parking lot but if you get a Bible message verse by verse and it's explained and you can apply it my friend you have a great gift there the truth of God's Word Isaiah 5 and 20 speaks of this deceit would you just turn there for a minute Isaiah 5:20 this is just a good verse for the day in which we live Isaiah spoke of it in his day may I say one more thing about this governor of Virginia and may I say something about the governor of Virginia everybody wants him to be impeached because of a picture in the yearbook where he painted himself black and I'm totally against that there's no room for racism in the in the body of Jesus Christ but where are the people wanting him impeached for suggesting that murders okay I say a five-and-twenty woe unto them that call evil good that's what that's what you're gonna see teenagers you're gonna see Oh someone else that denies the Bible and someone else that lives in sin has broken the barrier yay they're calling evil good that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter turn to one more verse please second Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 3 we're almost done but if you would just look at a couple verses I don't want to just get up here and scream about issues I want to give biblical truth behind it I want our teenagers to see these verses 2nd Corinthians 4 3 but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that our law in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not by the way how many of you work with somebody that just totally blinded these things because the God of the world's done a good job on them lest the light of the glorious gospel should of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them we see firstly there is a prediction of trials all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution secondly we see a proliferation of evil evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse we're seeing it in media we're seeing the media affect the church today evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse so let me let me end with this thought tonight and hopefully some encouragement the perseverance of the believer pastor I see it too in the media in my workplace I cannot believe what's going on what are we supposed to do I'm glad you asked look what the Bible says here as we close out tonight in verse number 14 but continue thou now let me just stop right there when the battle is hot when Christians are being sued when legislation is coming in this state and perhaps a few years from now nationally that will refer to biblical preaching as hate crimes and and when all of this momentum begins in earnest that's not the time to stop going to church but reading our Bible or praying what do you do when the fire gets hot you Stoke up that are cold you Stoke up the fire and I'm saying the night that we've got to stay hot for Jesus as we see this day coming and so the Bible says continue thou but listen parents let me speak to you what do you do if you raise children that they're not following the truth even the way that you would or the way that you think they should let me tell you pray for your children but don't compound the problem by quitting yourself you will prove their point adult children need to see parents who are just steadfast who are faithful day in and day out your faithfulness sometimes speaks louder than your words so I challenge you parents I'm gonna have a seminar hopefully later this spring I have a fancy name for it it's not company right now but it's it's for it's for all of the men of our church over 50 and we're just going to talk with you men about finishing well isn't it something you could be a faithful Christian for 40 years and you'll be remembered for your last - I'll never forget having a funeral service sometime back for a man that had lived for the Lord for some time but he got away from the Lord difficult difficult to know what to say we want to finish well we want to continue continue thou in the things which thou has learned let us continue then doctrinally second Timothy three and ten is in this passage but thou has fully known my doctrine and manner of life and purpose and faith and long-suffering and charity and patience let us continue in the doctrine keeping the faith is not guaranteed many churches are drifting instead of continuing we must continue listen the modern-day church has become so concerned with relevance that the world cannot see a difference there's deep underpinnings to certain things that I say in understandings of the issues of church life that I have and I say to you again the average modern church is so desiring to be relevant Hiep have a vibe and be cool that you cannot tell the difference between that church and the world and this ought not to be God has called us to continued steadfastly in his word and in purity and in faithfulness and distinction in this hour so we continued doctor lien with the truth and I'm not picking at little things tonight and please understand my heart there are good Christians who are different than maybe the way we do things I recognize that and by the way when they stand for the truth I just thank God for that and I know that there are good men and women who stand in some different groups but I'm speaking to you about a general drift that's coming upon Christendom tonight and challenging us that we would will to live godly that we would make that decision tonight continue dr. Lee then continue faithfully I read a great book last year entitled mission drift some of you that are maybe in leadership would appreciate it and perhaps anyone tonight could appreciate the book it was a book that dialogued the mission of many Christian organizations when they founded and then it showed where they are today and actually had our College Advisory Board read in our College leadership read the book mission drift and then we wrote out some of our core values and we read them every year so that we can evaluate to make sure that we are on mission and might I say tonight I'd rather Pastor a church of 50 and stay on mission then drift from the truth and have a church of 10,000 we want to stay on mission and this I could mean I could read many amazing quotes but listen to this quote this is the mission statement from a college I'll mention in just a moment to be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ that's the mission statement of Harvard 1636 the main end of your life and studies is to know God in Jesus Christ their home page a few months ago at Harvard said the Harvard difference is that while exploring the Harvard Divinity School different is that while exploring all religions we are aligned with none we are pluralistic multinational and multi-religious and may I say that he who stands for nothing will fall for everything pluralism is the bane of this hour Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no one cometh to the Father by me and one of the professors in their Divinity School taught America was never a Christian nation I just got to say concerning mission drift Harvard has come a long way baby but it's happened again and again so if we would avoid the drift we must apply the truth and secondly we must be assured in the truth now I don't understand as much perhaps as some in this room maybe dr. gage or dr. Rasmussen or mrs. to merge and some of the others brother some brother Lester perhaps or maybe brother Ewing about education but I know that repetition is the key to learning in fact I want you to notice in this verse as we close continue thou in the things that thou hast learned notice this next phrase and been assured of let's say that together and so for me sometimes as a pastor I have to fight this concept that well I preach that book to them way back then they already know that I have to remember there's a turn in a church this size and there's always new people coming in and and I have to remember you know what some of us who heard it 15 years ago we need to be assured of it again we need to be deeply rooted in our faith and that's why it's just as important that we are faithfully hearing and reading the Word of God now as it was when we first got saved because the things that we learn we need to be assured of through the teaching and the preaching of the word of God and where do you find that assurance you find it in the Word of God the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 4 in 2 moreover 8 is required of stewards that a man be found faithful now listen that verse 1st Corinthians 4:2 is not primarily about giving funds though that's a realm of stewardship it's primarily about how we handle the Bible and in the idea in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verse 2 is that the Bible is a gift that is given to each of us and we are to be stewards of it by the way you're not a good steward of it if you hide it and never share it you're not a good steward of it if you don't read it it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful and and fundamentally what it is saying is that we must be faithful with it we must rightly divide the word of truth we must not make it say what we want it to say but we must rightly divide the word of truth we must be faithful to the Word of God the Bible does not say it is required of stewards that a man be found successful and I see so many young pastors they don't have instant success and so they begin changing this and changing that and changing this and changing that looking for success and the problem is you might wind up with a crowd but you will not have a church because a church is to save baptized body of believers holding to the truth of God's Word sometimes people say to me in our community oh you've been very successful if you if you were the CEO of a corporation you'd be this or you'd have that that does not tempt me one I owe de my goal is not to be successful my goal is to be faithful and I pray that your goal is the same all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution not all will but if you will there's a prediction because there's a proliferation of evil and that is why we must persevere final verse 2nd Thessalonians 2:3 I told you there's one final verse and here it is 2nd Thessalonians 2:3 let no man what's the next word say okay you know what a message like tonight is it's kind of a warning a shepherd warns the flock let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come about the day when the Anti Christ is revealed that day shall not come except there come a falling away first that final day of judgment which I believe will begin after the Saints are raptured will not come until there is a falling away first some of you know the word apostasy a-- there will be a falling away from truth we see it in Christendom ooh that truth well let's talk about it a moving away from truth a falling away where's this world headed I'm sorry to say not toward the truth there's a falling away I spoke to two pastors last week and over the last few weeks just getting some counsel both not knowing of this message said to me brother Chapel as you work on your strategic plan and as you think about what new ministries or classes or people groups to reach you do recognize that there is an apostasy in the land and the word speaks of even in Christendom people that fall away from the truth I don't have glee over it I'm not saying exactly who has or who hasn't I have a good idea that somebody that can't figure out God's view on certain issues that mentioned tonight maybe falling away from truth but there's a general falling away from truth before the Lord returns that is why you must will will I will live for Jesus Christ if they laugh at my prayer for my lunch if they laugh at the fact that I don't tell dirty jokes if they laugh at me for going to church on a Superbowl night it really doesn't matter I will to live for Jesus Christ and I challenge you tonight put your roots down beware of the drift the apostasy the falling away and determined to stand in for the glory of God

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

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Keywords: lancaster baptist church, lancaster baptist, baptist church, paul, chappell, paul chappell, pastor paul chappell, 2 Timothy 3

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Length: 51min 36sec (3096 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 04 2019