[0:00] of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. We have made our way to chapter 2, so we're in 2 Timothy chapter 2. We'll pick up in the very beginning of chapter 2 this morning. We'll be in verses 1 through 13. So 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 through 13 is our text today. Now, if you remember by way of introduction, and we have to do this just a little bit to set the scene, we won't go into a very detailed account of this, but we are going to read the theme of the entire book here in the first verse. We'll see it with one another in just a moment.
[0:34] But the letter of 1 Timothy is written by Paul as he has left Timothy behind at Ephesus to set in order those things which remain, namely to raise up elders, to raise up leaders, to raise up teachers and servants in the church, elders and deacons, and all those that needed to be in place so that the church could be healthy. And he is writing to them so that they would know how to build a church. He writes, it tells us in 1 Timothy chapter 3, as though they would know how they ought to conduct themselves in the church, which is the household of God, the pillar and support of the truth. 2 Timothy is much different than that. He is not writing to Timothy while he is on his missionary journeys. He's not writing to Timothy as he's laboring inside of a church, though Timothy is laboring in a church in this letter. Paul is writing the last letter of record that we have of him from the prison cell of a Roman prison awaiting his imminent execution. And he is giving the last charge to this young man, Timothy. And it is not about being the church, but it's about being the man, being the individual that God has called him to be, being the strong, committed believer in the society that now is becoming rapidly antagonistic against the gospel message that people are beginning to suffer. Paul himself is suffering for the sake of the gospel. We'll see that here in just a moment from our text. But he is encouraging Timothy to be strong, to be steadfast, to be immovable, and to be faithful to the call. And it is an encouragement that transcends time because sure, we ought to know how to be the church, how we ought to live as the church, and to be the pillar and the support of the truth. Because as 1 Timothy tells us, the church is that institution which upholds the truth in the world so that the world would know the standard by which it should live. But that church is composed of individuals. And the truth will only stand upon the strength of the individuals which comprise that body of believers. So if we need to be the church, then we need to be strong and committed and faithful individuals. So if you are physically able and desire to do so, I'm going to ask if you'll join with me as we stand together and we read the word of
[2:51] God, found in 2 Timothy chapter 2, starting in verse 1, and we'll go down to verse 13, and then we will pray together. The theme of the entire book is found in chapter 2, verse 1. But we'll continue reading on after that. It says, Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
[3:49] Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended of David according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement for if we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. What a glorious opportunity we have had together, together to lift our voice in song, to extend our hand in fellowship and to be able to give to you through our offerings. But Father, we pray now as we worship you through the reading and hearing of your word, that your word would speak to our hearts and minds. Lord, that it would penetrate to the very depth of our being, that it would conform us and mold us and shape us to be more like you. Lord, may it not be that we may gain information, but may it be that our lives would be transformed for the glory of the
[5:16] Savior. And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I want you to see this morning what it looks like to live as a disciple maker. To live as a disciple maker. Discipleship is the calling of the believer. Jesus Christ gave us the great commission, which markedly many people believe is the great omission found in so many churches. We do not have to ask, should we be making disciples?
[5:47] This is not something we should say, well, is God calling me to be a disciple maker? We have been commissioned to be disciple makers. In order to be a disciple maker, to be one who pours life into another. We have to be strong. We have to be steadfast. We have to be courageous because the, not only will the world resist that, but just to be honest with you, many individuals will resist that.
[6:13] In my own personal testimony, I remember the very first individual that saw fit to pour into me at that time, a very young man of 18. And he began to look at me and he began to question my salvation. He began to ask me, did I know that I was saved? And I was kind of taken back by that. And I said, well, I've been in church my whole life. He said, that's not what I asked you. I said, well, I've been baptized. He said, that's not what I asked you. He said, do you know that you know that you're saved? I said, well, that's kind of making me upset. And the man just kept pushing and kept pushing and kept pushing. And he was pushing buttons I didn't want pushed. But what he was doing is he was beginning to pour into me through discipleship. He began to cause questions to raise in my mind, questions I didn't want to answer, questions I didn't want to ask, questions that I wish no one would ask me because I was all well and good. Just leave me alone. Let me live my life. But if you're going to be committed to discipleship, then you are committed to asking questions that people don't want to ask themselves. And in a very wise move, he said, well, then don't listen to me. Why don't you just read the word of God? And he pointed me to all places.
[7:16] The one place that I don't point any new believer, the one place that I don't point any new seeker, the one place that I never tell them, he pointed me to the book of Romans. He said, well, you should point people to the book of Romans. Oh, my friend, I could barely touch the tip of the iceberg when I read it the first time. But he did. He very wisely said, read the book of Romans and just began paying attention to what it says about salvation. So I took this little flip notebook and I began just to write these verses down. And I came to Christ because an individual challenged me and decided to disciple me. And he pushed me to the word of God. And I came to Christ, not by him leading me, not by him being beside me. As a matter of fact, I was beside myself. I was in our bedroom. My wife was asleep.
[7:56] Hunter, our oldest son was asleep. The other kids weren't born yet. And I was at 201 Canova Drive in Shelbyville, Tennessee. And the word of God kept speaking to my heart, kept speaking to my heart. The book of Romans, I couldn't get away from it. And there I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ all because someone asked me a question I didn't want to be asked. That's discipleship. And the question is, is how are we going to be bold enough to ask someone a question they don't want asked?
[8:23] How are we going to confront an individual? Can we do those matters? And Paul says that we ought to. We ought to be people who are discipling others. So how are we going to live as a disciple maker?
[8:38] Number one, I want you to see, here's the one grand question that people say, well, I can't do this. I don't know enough. I don't understand enough. Well, let me answer it from the very beginning. Look at the content of discipleship. I'm going to give you right here what you need to know to teach others. Okay. It is the content of discipleship. Look at what it says. It says, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I'll be honest with you.
[9:05] We almost just looked at that one verse and stayed there the whole morning. I can't really flesh it out enough for you here in the sake of time, but he says, you therefore, my son, he reminds him of his connection to him. He says to be strong. Now the wording there in its original language implies human responsibility. Now let that seek you for just a moment. The commandment in such a way that it implies that Timothy is responsible to do what follows. If you're going to be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus, it is not a passive matter. It is because you have made a decision based on your already existing relationship with Jesus Christ. We may stay here, by the way, because he says, you therefore, my son. So he implies that there's already an existing relationship with Jesus Christ. And that relationship brings responsibility because if you're in a relationship without responsibility, you're nothing but a sucker. You're someone who's sucking the life out of someone else. Think about it. In our family, we call them limpets that cling. You know, those things that hang on, uh, lamoras, that hang on the side of sharks and they just suck the life. They, they get their life blood by clinging onto fish bigger than them and they just feed off of them. It's something that happens in the oceans and their whole life blood is, they're just connected and it is the life of the bigger one that's feeding the little one. And now I know there's science and we can get into it, but I'm not going to do all that and why they're there and why God created them. And, and there's a, it's a good balance, but there are a lot of times in our relationship, we want to be people who cling onto someone. We don't want to pour into them, but rather we just want to suck out of them. That's not a relationship. A relationship brings mutual responsibilities from both parties. If it is husband and wife, there are mutual responsibilities from each one. It is for husbands to love your wives as Christ loved the church and he gave himself up for her and for wives to honor their husbands, right? There's mutual responsibility. Ephesians chapter five, if it is parent and child, it is fathers do not exasperate your children. Do not discourage them. Do not discord, do not bring them, do not bring them down. But it also says children obey your parents, right? There are both sides of this parallel. There are mutual responsibilities. So it says you, therefore, my son, since you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ, be strong. You have the ability. You say, oh, I'm not brave enough to do this. Oh, I can't do this. Oh, I don't understand this. If you were to read the Baptist and Reflector from this week and you were to open up the front page of the Baptist and Reflector, which about the church gives a subscription to many of you. Many of you get it in the mail. I don't know if many of you read it, but the subscription is there. If you're not on that list, you say, well, hey, I want to have it. Well, if you were to open up the Baptist and Reflector or you to go to Baptistandreflector.com, you would read of a 12 year old boy who meets daily at his cafeteria in a public school and has led five people to Christ. And he has an ongoing prayer meeting every day at lunch.
[12:11] You say, well, how is he doing that? Well, it was because he came to Christ at age eight and his pastor delivered a sermon and said, we ought to be disciple makers. He said, that includes me. So he began to do it. Now, is there something supernatural about that boy? No. As a matter of fact, it is very natural about that young boy. It is a natural response because of the relationship.
[12:32] Look at what it says. Be strong. Well, how are you going to be strong? In the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Friend, listen, it is not your strength nor your ability, but it is the strength of his grace. If I have one thing that I can encourage you with, if there is one thing that I could say that would make us a better discipling people, one thing that I could say, I wish every believer would do this.
[12:53] Lean in. I want to tell you, don't ever get over grace. Don't ever get over grace. Don't ever get underwhelmed by the grace that you don't deserve to be redeemed, but he loves you still.
[13:15] I don't deserve to be forgiven, but I'm forgiven still. Don't ever get over grace because the moment we get over grace is the moment we think we deserve it. We deserve death, hell, and the grave.
[13:30] That's what we deserve. For all of us are desperately wicked. There are none righteous. No, not one. You say, pastor, this doesn't make me feel good. Scripture doesn't make you feel good, but it points you to one who is good. Don't ever get over grace. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
[13:48] And when you know his grace, then look at what it says. Be strong in the grace, and here it is, the content, and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. You say, well, what do I teach people when I disciple them? What should I say? You teach them what you know.
[14:07] You teach them what you learn. You teach them what others have taught you. You teach them what you have learned from others. This is why getting in the word of God is so important. This is why the church commitment is so important. This is why commitment with other believers is so important. He says, and the things which you have learned from me. Now, Paul knew that he wasn't the best of all individuals. Paul refers to himself as what? The chief of sinners, the least of the apostles, an apostle born out of due time. He doesn't say, teach them about me. He says, teach them the things you learned from me. Teach them the truth. And he says, the things you learned in the presence of many witnesses, many people, many Bible scholars believe, and I agree with them here, that what Paul is declaring is what he had taught them had been publicly taught. He wasn't like many of the false teachers going around with some secret knowledge. Friend, listen to me. If anyone comes to you and tells you they have some secret knowledge of scripture, flee from that individual.
[15:06] Run away from them. There's nothing secret about the truths of scripture. Jesus says, I taught publicly. I was in the temple daily. What did I do that was in secret? He comes to declare to you in private what you should proclaim on the street corner and on the rooftops, right? There's nothing secret about the gospel. It couldn't be more of a public event. Jesus Christ appeared to a multitude of people publicly, right? There is no hidden truths here. There are things that are blinded from our fleshly eyes, but there's no hidden truth. He says, the things which you have learned from me in the presence of many witnesses, and trust these to others. Look at what it says. It says, and trust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Some of you ladies are like, oh, I'm off the hook.
[15:53] Well, let me back you up just a little bit right there because there are a couple words in scripture here. And so the word men there is a gender neutral word. It means men and women. Now it's different when we get to elders and pastors, that word that they use for men there is not gender neutral. That word is masculine. So it could only imply men, but this word here is a gender neutral word, which means all men. So what it is implying that is, if you know the truth of the gospel, then it is becoming of you to teach other people the truth of the gospel.
[16:29] It is becoming of you to be one who teaches them. You say, well, what do I teach them? Just teach them what you know. You say, well, what if I run out of content? Well, then you study to show yourself or prove that you don't run out of content. And if someone asks you a question you don't know, don't be afraid to say, I don't know. But let me commit myself. I got asked a question this morning.
[16:48] Pastor, I got a question for you. That's always fun, right? Sometimes we do Q&A. We did Q&A this past Sunday night and there are good times and we have it. Someone come to me this morning with a question. Pastor, I got a question. I had to look at him and say, that's a good question.
[17:02] I'm going to study that this week. I'll get back with you. There's nothing wrong with that, right? Nothing in the world wrong with that. Adrian Rogers said, there's no man who knows all the scripture well enough to write a complete commentary on everything. Adrian Rogers would tell pastors, he said, don't buy a complete commentary of any individual because no man knows the Bible that good. That's a lot of truth in that. Some know portions better than others, but you teach them what you know and you need to know some truths. You need to understand this. Here's the content.
[17:36] You teach what you have learned from others and you teach it to someone that will teach it to someone else. Discipleship never ends. It doesn't end until the Savior calls the church home. You ought to be discipled by someone. Someone ought to be pouring into you. This is the hardest thing for a pastor to do, by the way. My mentor is no longer alive, so it's hard for me to have someone to pour into me, but you ought to be discipled by someone and you ought to be discipling someone. And then the one you are discipling should in turn be discipling someone else. You teach it so that someone else can teach someone else. And it just goes on and on and on. And it's been going that way since Jesus declared it to be so in Matthew 28. Right? It is the content. Well, what do we teach?
[18:24] Well, we teach what we know. You don't have to teach mysterious things. There's nothing mysterious about it. Just teach what it says. Teach what it declares to us publicly. Now, here's the content. Now, look at the commitment of discipleship. Look at the commitment. I read a quote this morning from Agent Rogers. I shared it with your pastor's wife earlier, and it bears repeating. Agent Rogers said that some people speak a good game of commitment, much like the man who called his girlfriend and said, baby, I love you. I love you to the moon and back. I will swim the deepest sea to be beside you.
[19:00] I'll walk across broken glass to stand by your side. And if it doesn't rain tonight, I may pick you up. Some of you will get that later. He says, some people speak a good game of commitment, but when it comes to the actual rubber hitting the road of commitment, it's not there.
[19:18] If you're looking for a such thing as easy Christianity, my friend, it is not possible. Because look at what it says. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
[19:34] If we're going to be disciple makers, then we have to be committed. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. You accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He has enlisted you in his army. No soldier, it says, in active service. You say, well, how do I know I'm in active service? Well, are you still on this side of glory? Then you're in active service.
[19:59] Your rank does not change. Your position does not change. There's just but one commander in chief. He'll call you home when your service is done. And until then, you ought to be active. You say, well, how active? I can't be active in the same way, right? Sometimes our job description may change, but we are to be active. It says, no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Now, that doesn't mean you have to disregard everyday life. It's amazing because we still have to render to Caesar that which is Caesar. We still have to labor and work. We still have to provide for our own home, right? We still have to work. We still have to take care of our loved ones. We still have to do those things, but we don't have to be entangled with the affairs of everyday life. If you're going to get caught up in something, get caught up in glory, get caught up in the gospel, get caught up in the savior who loves you. So look at what it says.
[20:56] He says, and also if anyone competes as an athlete. Now, Paul had two great illusions that he loved to speak to. He loved to speak of those fighting in the war and he loved to in athletics. These were things that were familiar to the people around them. He says now, also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. In the days of Paul, competition in the Ithaca games and the Olympus games really was dependent upon the keeping of the rules. So if you say, well, I'm going to compete in what we would refer to as the modern day Olympics, you had to validate the reality that you were a citizen of the region you were competing for.
[21:40] And once you validated that you belong to that, then you had a very strict set of preparation and a very strict set of requirements that you had to meet. They would watch you while you prepared. They would watch you while you trained. They would watch you while you competed. And they would ensure that you did everything according to the strictest standard of the rule. And then if you won and they crowned you, if later they found out you had competed unfairly or broken some rule, then they would take that laurel crown off your head. Because it required the utmost commitment to do it the right way.
[22:22] Some of us would love to bypass this thing called discipleship and say, surely there's an easier way. Surely there's an easier way with all of our media and technology today. But sometimes the greatest way to do it is just the way we've been told to do it, to teach other people so that they can teach other people. And it tells us that we ought to do it as one who is obeying the rules, but also as one who is the hardworking farmer, putting our nose to the ground and working and laboring, expecting a harvest of rewards. Each of these illustrations conveyed to us the commitment to discipleship. Discipleship is not something that can be taken lightly. It is not something that could be taken easily, but it is something that we must be committed to. And therefore it is the very reason why so little people do it.
[23:14] We say it this way, discipleship is messy. You have to do life with someone else. And in case you haven't figured it out, life is not always Sunday morning easy, right? There's a song, a couple songs really, that when you become a pastor, they don't longer carry the weight for you. One of them is like easy like Sunday mornings. That's, that's really not that good anymore. I don't like that song. Somebody said, that's a great song. And then there's another country song. Somebody said, pastor, you know country. I told you, I'm always a believer, right? That's what I love about Sundays. You know, shaking hands at the preacher and playing football in the backyard. You know how long it's been since I played football in the backyard on a Sunday? I'll tell you, 19 years. You know how long I've been in the ministry? 19 years.
[23:59] Okay. And see, things change. It's easy like Sunday morning, but life is messy. That's okay. It's okay to do life with people. It's okay to be those, say, I'm going to commit to you and you commit to me and we'll do that. It is a wonderful thing. It's the calling of that. And you say, okay, well, here's the content. Here's the commitment. But look, number three, look at the conviction. Why would I do it? Why would I give all this energy to it? Why would I put all this effort into it? Why would I say, I want to labor like a hardworking farmer? And why would I do this? Why would I be enlisted as a soldier? And why would I not be entangled by the world? Look at what it says. It is the conviction.
[24:38] Remember Jesus Christ. We could stop right there, but he doesn't. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. The descendant of David, according to my gospel. The first conviction we must have is the conviction of who he is.
[24:59] He is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. If they kill you, your Savior has already risen. Right? You're serving a risen Savior who has the power of death, hell, and the grave, who has the ability and the willingness to raise you to walk in newness of life. You serve the risen Savior. He's not a dead Savior. He's a risen Savior. And not only is he a risen Savior, he is the descendant of David. You say, well, what does that mean? That means that he is the risen Savior setting upon the throne of David, which the scepter shall never depart from. So he is the Savior who sets eternally upon the throne that rules over the world. Be convicted of who you serve. Remember Jesus Christ. And look at what it says.
[25:51] For which I suffer hardship, even to imprisonment as a criminal. Paul says that's according to my gospel, the very gospel that leads me to suffer hardship and to be imprisoned as a criminal. But the word of God is not imprisoned. Friend, they can do whatever they will to any one of us. But the word of God cannot be bound. And if you have declared the word, if you have taught the word, if you have shared the word with other people, they can stop you, but they cannot stop the word. Read history. Throughout history, the great effort of Satan has been to distinguish and to diminish the word of God, to put out the word of God. But the one thing that cannot be quenched is the word of God. It cannot be put out. They may extinguish the life of the individual, but they cannot diminish the reality of his, of what he has taught, what he has declared, or what she has professed to someone else. The word of God endures.
[26:52] For the word of God is not in prison. And here's the conviction. Look at what it says. You will end one day, but what you teach others will go on. Be convicted of that reality. I've told you this before, and it is something that ought to make us pause and consider. I know when I first heard this statistic, it made me go, oh no, just because I know me better than you know me. There are a number of things which are eternal, things that we don't think about, things that last forever, things that never go away. But I'll tell you one. I think I've told you this before, but it bears repeating.
[27:25] One thing that it is eternal are sound waves. Sound waves never go away. Now they spread out to a point that is no longer audible, but they continue to be there in the great expanse of eternity. So that means everything you have ever said will always be present. Now you get the same reason why I went, oh me.
[27:51] You will die. You will die. But what you have said will endure. Sound waves never go away.
[28:05] Some of us have filled the expanse of eternity with more than others, but we've all put something there. It is eternal. And he says, but the word of God is not imprisoned. What conviction do we have? Look at what it says.
[28:23] For this reason. Do you want a reason to live as a disciple maker? Well, here it is. For this reason, I endure all things. All things means all things, right? For this reason, I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen. I know when we read that word, some translations say elect, and some of you cringe, and you want to kind of get a little bit out of shape, but stay with me here, right? It's in scripture, and since it's in scripture, all we're doing is declaring the word of God. And since the Lord put it there, we're going to read what he says. Look at what it says. For the sake of those who are chosen, so that they may obtain salvation, and with it eternal glory. He says, for this reason, I endure all things, so that those who are chosen, so that they may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory. We try to convince ourselves, well, if God has chosen or elected something, that means we don't have to do anything. Paul is the great balance of that. Paul says, because I know that some are chosen, therefore I continue to declare. Because the reality is,
[29:35] Paul also wrote that no man comes to faith unless he hears the gospel, right? That no man comes to the father, unless he first hears the gospel, and no one would declare the gospel unless they'd been sent to proclaim the gospel. So Paul had this great balance. There are some that are going to be saved. There are some that are chosen, and since I know there are some that are chosen, and it is not me who is the redeemer, but rather I know that he is going to save some, I'm going to continue to proclaim because of the reality that there's someone who needs to hear it. You know, if you understood the reality that there are men and women or boys and girls around you that God will save, then you would continue to declare to everyone around you the hope that is found in Jesus Christ, not because you're trying to persuade someone, but because the father knows he's saving someone.
[30:19] And if you understood salvation is not the work of man, we're not saving anyone, but it is the father who saves them and redeems them. And the reality that there are some who are going to be saved, but we don't know who they are ought to be the grand conviction that says that I want to be sure to proclaim. Because if we don't proclaim, they will not be saved. We say, well, wait a minute, pastor, we're kind of getting in this balance of God's sovereignty and all this other reality, right? That's a whole nother three weeks of preaching. We'll get into another time, right?
[30:48] But understand this reality, because there are some who are going to be saved, then it is fitting in our responsibility to be those who proclaim the gospel. Paul says, since I am convinced of the reality that there are some, I will suffer and endure all things so that they can rejoice in the eternal glory with Christ Jesus. Don't let this scare you. Because if there are those who could be saved and God be surprised by it, then he's not God. He has to know who's going to be saved. He has to. And if he doesn't, then he's not God. There's something he doesn't know. So we have to say, okay, he is so much greater and farther and higher above us. But since we do not know, then we must not fail to proclaim and declare the gospel message. Here is the content. Here is the commitment. Here is the conviction.
[31:49] And fourth and finally, listen to me, friend. Here is the confession of the disciple maker. It is a trustworthy statement, he says in verse 11. It is a trustworthy statement. This is an introduction to, in most scriptures, is kind of offset in its type. Many will tell us that he is repeating something that was common among the church. Really what we have contained here in verses 11, 12, and 13 are one of the early confessions of the believers. He says it is a trustworthy statement.
[32:30] That statement which we confess. See, the church has always been confessional. That is, they stand on their confessions. We find them throughout the New Testament. We find them throughout church history very early on. You have things such as the Apostles' Creed and even the doxology, which we sing. You say, why don't we sing the doxology? Why don't we go through that? It's an early confession of the Trinity, of who God is. It is the confession which sets the people of God apart so that because they knew what they believed in and they had these confessions which they would declare to one another. Historically, Baptists are confessional people. We make confessions of who we are and why we believe what we believe about scripture. Because the church will rise and fall based upon the confession it makes and the individual will commit their lives based upon the confession they make.
[33:25] He says it is a trustworthy statement. For if we die with him, we will also live with him. Think of that confession. If we die, we live. That's a pretty good confession. If I die with Christ, I'll live with Christ. What can the world do to me? They can't take my life away from me for I've already been crucified.
[33:45] If we have died with him, we live with him. That's a confession of motivation, right? If we endure, we will also reign with him. Do you need a reason to endure all things? Paul says, for this reason I endure all things. And if I endure, I also reign with him. Go to the book of Revelation. For he who overcomes, I shall grant that he may sit upon my throne. I love that. It's one of my favorite passages in the book of Revelation. I love all of scripture, but that one's a good one. Jesus says, but the one who overcomes, I'll grant that he may sit upon my throne. Now, do a little bit of word study there, that throne there. You need to know what throne Jesus is sitting on, right? It's not like he just has his own throne there. You can sit with Jesus on his throne, but if you go a little bit further, he sits on the throne of God. So here it is. If you overcome, you get to sit with him on the throne of God. That's pretty motivating, right? It's not that it's your throne. You just get to sit up there with him, right? I have pictures at our house and all over my phone. You want to see them? I'll get up my phone later of our granddaughters sitting with me in the seat of my tractor, driving the tractor.
[34:57] It's not their tractor. They're not really even controlling the tractor. They think they're driving the tractor, but they're sitting with me upon that throne of that tractor, driving around with me, right? Why? Because they're loved and they're welcomed into my presence. He says, if we endure, we will reign with him. But if we deny him, as much as we can claim the benefits that come from enduring, we also need to claim the other side. But if we deny him, he also will deny us. Well, that's a confession we don't make very often in churches anymore, do we? If we deny him, he will deny us.
[35:34] And if we are faithless, he remains faithful. Why? Because he will not be unfaithful to himself. See, the focus of the confession is not man, but the focus of the confession is the Savior.
[35:50] He remains true to his word. He remains true to his promises. He remains true to his purposes, regardless if we do or not. He will not fail. But if we deny him, he denies us. He stays true to the course, and he will use whomever he desires to use. We see it throughout the Old Testament, in all of Scripture. Here is the confession of a disciple maker. If I've died with him, I'll live with him. But if I deny him, he'll deny me. And if I fail to do what I'm supposed to do, he's going to do it without me, because he's going to stay true to his purposes.
[36:39] What a confession. The question is, what are we confessing? Not just with our mouths, but also with our mouths. What confession are we basing our life upon to live as a disciple maker?
[37:02] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the blessing of being able to gather together with our church. Pray now that you would speak to our hearts and minds.
[37:17] You draw us closer to you. Lord Jesus, help us to live faithfully for you. For the sake of the King who loves us so. We ask it all in your name. Amen.
[37:30] Amen.