Sharing God's Truth: Part 12 Timothy 4:1-5PSBC 1/21/01 In a nutshell: God has called us to join Him in the most important task of sharing His Truth–His Word. We are to do it by being prepared to share it at all times and doing it without fail. It is one of the two major ways God has designed to advance His kingdom into the hearts of human beings. (The other is being His light–see 1/14/01). I. Introduction A. DCS system Any company that wants to be good at what they do, must design a system that will get them there–we call that a business plan. Any individual, if you want to get ahead in your career or find a career, generally speaking, must follow a plan that includes education, life experience, practice and networking to get him or her to the place where he or she is doing what they want to do. Any company or individual who wants to get better or bigger or change their direction to accomplish new goals, must have a plan to get them there. Seldom does anyone become successful or fulfill their goals without a plan. Illustration: When I left the ministry in the late 80's, we started a company called Diamond Commercial Services, in Phoenix, Arizona. When we began the company, we had a goal of being the best company in the Phoenix area who cleaned and maintained small office buildings. Three years later, we achieved that goal, when we received the BOMA award–the highest honor in the maintenance industry for the state of Arizona. We achieved that award by following a simple plan that included three things: 1. using and understanding how to use four specific chemicals to do all our cleaning; 2. extensive and specific training of the individuals who wanted to work for us (regardless of their past experience or lack of experience), and 3. responding to any problem our customers had with the condition of their building the same day they notified us. We set that three part plan up at the beginning of our business, when it was just me doing the maintenance, and we continued working that plan even when we grew to 32 employees. The bottom line is that to be successful, you have to work a plan–consistently! B. Light and Sharing Well, did you know that God also has a plan to accomplish what is most important to Him? The most important thing to God is advancing His plan or His Kingdom purpose. (Which is...to reconcile sinful people to Himself, so they can have a saving relationship with Him in heaven when they die, and have a meaningful and abundant life right now while they're still alive). God's two part plan to achieve this–what we call a relationship with God, or becoming a Christian–involves people who are already followers of Him–Christian people–you and me... to: 1. Be His Light, by illuminating the path for pre-Christian men and women, boys and girls in our unique circles of influence, that will lead them to a relationship with the God who loves them; (we looked at what that means last week. If you missed it, request a tape or down load the message from our web page on the Internet.) and 2. Sharing His Truth, which is what we are going to be looking at this week. Friends, understand, this is all there is to God's plan. There is no plan "B". If Christians are not Sharing God's Truth and Being His Light, God's desire for a relationship with every man, woman and child will not be carried out. And because He has entrusted this plan to you and me, we will have to answer for our activity or lack of activity on Judgment Day, and receive the consequences at that time. That's why these two phrases are prominent in our church's purpose statement: We will Love, Accept, Guide and Partner to Share God's Truth and Be His Light. C. Transition Now, saying all that, I have to define something for you, so we're all on the same page and thinking the same way. When we talk about Sharing God's Truth, we are talking about Sharing the essential contents of this book, the Bible, that will explain how to enter into a relationship with God. You can't understand that any other way if you pay attention to Jesus' words when He is praying to God the Father, in... John 17:17 The word of God is the truth of God, and the truth of God is what God wants every Christian to share. So, understanding that, let's see what God has to say about sharing His truth. And for that, we must go to the New Testament book of Second Timothy–the apostle Paul's parting letter to his disciple and the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ephesus, Timothy. (Just kidding about the Baptist part!) II. The Audience to Our Actions It's significant to understand that Paul was in prison when he wrote these
words. He was viewing his imminent martyrdom. So we must realize that these are
the final, and crucial, and most important things that a dying man could say
about what was most important to him. So, if you have your Bibles, turn to 2
Timothy 4, where we'll start at verse 1... Before we even get into what sharing God's truth is all about, Paul tells us that we need to know the real arena in which our actions are being viewed. A. Feeling Like a Tiny Minority I don't know about you, but as a Christian, I am feeling more and more like I'm part of a very small minority in this country, even though this country was founded as One Nation Under God. I feel very much in the minority when I hold to moral values based on God's Word; or when I say I follow a Lord who rules a Kingdom that is not of this world; or when I talk about a relationship with a God who is supernatural; or even when I am increasingly uncomfortable with godless language and actions I see portrayed as normal on TV and in the movies. Well, that's not much different than the city of Ephesus in Timothy's day. Timothy must have felt very alone, as a committed Christian man. Have you ever felt that way as a Christian? Have you ever felt like the tide of non-Christian and anti-Christian values displayed in our Coachella valley is just too overwhelming for you? Do you feel the church is too insignificant to do anything about our current moral condition? Do you feel all alone in your faith, or at least in the minority? Do you feel that you play such an small role in society that you're not able to do anything about the amoral condition that's going on around you? Well, Paul's opening statement was designed to encourage Timothy and us. B. Rolling Back the Curtain What the apostle does in this first verse is to roll back the curtain that separates the visible world from the invisible world. And he shows us in whose presence we are operating. He is showing us who the powerful forces are that are not only watching us, but who are also working with us in everything we do and say as Christian people who are working out God's plan. 1. God Himself First of all, Paul says that we are working God's plan in the presence and
under the authority of God, Himself. That means that... 2. Jesus Second, we are reminded that we carry out God's plan in the sight of Jesus
Christ, who is... Friend, don't miss–don't' forget–and don't put aside what is being said in these first words in verse one. God, Himself; and Jesus, the Lord... are watching and empowering each one of us in what we do, how we react, how we behave, and how we carry out God's plan for pre-Christians to become Christians, right here in the Coachella valley. C. Kingdom advancement But not only are we being observed and helped by those powerful forces, but we are also involved with the greatest program, the most incredible quest, and the most awesome of tasks that any human being could every be involved in doing. You see, Paul not only opens Timothy's eyes to the fact that God and Christ Jesus are watching, but (look at the last part of verse 1) when we are involved in His plan we do this "in view of his appearing and his Kingdom!" Paul is asking Timothy to look back to the first appearing of Jesus Christ, who by His death and resurrection set up a new rule or kingdom for people to live under. Submitting to Jesus' plan of salvation and His leadership in your life, establishes this invisible kingdom in your life. God becomes the ruler of your life, not yourself. And that is the only difference between a person spending eternity in Hell, or spending eternity with God in heaven. And when we are somehow involved in God's plan to tell people about this truth, we are involved in the advancement of God's Kingdom into the lives of the people who are in our unique circles of influence. That puts things in the right perspective. Friends, I hope you start to grasp it. What God is talking about in this verse is something much bigger than the World Series, or the Super Bowl, or the Olympics, or the Academy Awards, or the American Music Awards, or the Palm Springs Film Festival, or the Bob Hope Desert Classic. We are involved in a work that eclipses the significance and importance of anything that has ever happened in human history–because it involves the eternal destiny of every person you make eye contact with. Ray Stedman, of my favorite expository preachers calls this fact, The Majesty of Ministry. On the front of your bulletins this morning, he says... "We are doing an extremely significant thing. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," (Matt. 6:12 KJV). When we are living, speaking and behaving as Christians should, that is what we are doing: We are answering that prayer, we are advancing the kingdom of God, we are causing the will of God to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. There is no higher calling." Illustration: Many people don't know this, but biographers have pointed out, that when Lyndon Johnson was elected President of the United States, he asked Billy Graham, whom he had been friends with for a number of years, to take a position in his administration. Without a moment's thought, Billy said to the President, "Sir, I believe that Jesus Christ has called me to preach His gospel. To me that is the highest calling any man could have on earth." But friends, Billy Graham isn't unique in this regard. Every one of us is called to the task of proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not forget that this is one of the basic tenants of the Protestant reformation. This is one of the scriptural principles that the great reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others called the church back to, after years of doing it wrong in the dark ages. It's called the priesthood of all believers. Basically, each leader in the Protestant reformation agreed that the Bible teaches that every person who claims to be a Christian is called to be involved in God's Kingdom advancement–it's not just the professional clergy who are to do this, but every man, woman and child that names Jesus as Lord is expected to take an active part in Great Commission work. Not only must we be involved in this activity, but we must view this sharing of God's love with others, as the most important thing we can be involved in. It's more important than work, or golf, or TV, or reading the newspaper, or even your hobby. The task of talking about Him and sharing the truth of His love with others through the pulpit of our daily routine is the highest calling any human being can be doing. Because when we do this, we are actively involved in doing what is most important to God. III. Sharing God's Truth A. "Preach the Word" This concept is brought out clearly in what Paul goes on to say in verse 2... 2 Tim 4:2 Here is the one thing Paul could think to say to Timothy and us, as he views the end of his life. This is the number one thing on his mind at the end–nothing else is as important as this is. I say that because this is in the imperative in the Greek language in which it was written. That means it carries with it the force of a command– Preach the Word. If God's kingdom is going to advance, and what Jesus Christ started is going to continue, you and I must preach the Word. But I'm afraid that when many of you hear or read that term, "Preach the Word", you think that that's my job, or the job of one of our "puppies" on staff, or some other professional preacher. Illustration: Back in old Soviet Russia, in the early 1980's, the story goes
that a Russian Baptist preacher was brought before the Soviet secret police, and
he was asked, "How many preachers do you have in your church?" "Five hundred," he replied. "Five hundred!" exclaimed the interrogator. "How many members
do you have, then?" "Five hundred," was the quick reply. "You see, every member of my congregation is a preacher of the Gospel." You see, Preach the Word is not addressed only to those of us who do this for a living. It includes every person in this room who claims to be a follower of Christ. The word is really, "announce it, or proclaim it, or share it, or make it known." That's why in our church purpose statement we are biblically accurate when we say, We will LOVE, ACCEPT, GUIDE and PARTNER to Share God's Truth (Word) and to Be His Light. When you share God's Truth by "preaching" you are not arguing about it, or debating it, or defending it. You are sharing it because God, Himself, said to do it. You can do this over a cup of coffee at Starbuck's or in your kitchen, you can do this at the office during a break, or in a car as you're driving to an event. It is something you can do anyplace and at anytime. Because every place and every time is an opportunity to "preach the word". B. What we are to "preach" "But Tom, it's all so confusing. I just don't know what part of the Bible to share. I don't know how to articulate my faith. I don't know the gospel well enough to share it." O.K., let's put an end to all the excuses, right here this morning. Inside your bulletin, on the back side of the sheet of paper we provide for sermon notes is the good news in a nutshell. I've adapted this from a message that Ray Stedman gave a number of years ago. Take it out because I want to read it together, right now (If you don't have that sheet, then the words will also be on the screen behind me)... The Good News The good news is the news that God loves us, and He pities us. He sees us in our hurt, our agony, our failure and our weakness. The good news is that He sees us in our self-centeredness and our pride, and still He loves us. His love compelled Him to do something about our condition -- through the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and in the amazing series of events that came through Jesus' birth, His teaching, and the model of His actions, God broke the stranglehold of evil upon human hearts -- He found a way to set aside His own just sentence of death, that we each deserve, because of our sin. For those who agree with God that they need to be saved from their sin, and humble themselves by asking Jesus to be their individual and only Savior, God has found a way not only to die for us, but to come and live in us, and start the process of renewing us, remaking us, and restoring us to our lost inheritance. That is the word we are to proclaim. That is the answer we Christians have to the increasingly obvious hurt and heartache of human need all around. It is the most effective thing we can do in our day. The darker the hour the greater the need for preaching the Word. This is to be done by every Christian in every conceivable circumstance of life. IV. Conclusion A. Recap So, now you should know at least three things from this morning's message: 1. You know that your involvement in preaching the word in your unique circle of influence is something that holds the rapt attention of God, and His Son Jesus Christ; and it is God's only plan on the books, to influence the pre-Christians you know, to have a relationship with Him. 2. You know that Preaching the Word isn't an option for you. It's not just my job or the exclusive job of our pastoral team. It is something God expects everyone of us to be involved in doing. So, when we state that part of our church's purpose is to Share God's Truth, you know that we aren't making this stuff up as we go along. 3. Finally, if you didn't know how to articulate it before, you just read the Good News of God's Truth that you're expected to share. Take that sheet of paper home. Memorize what's written there, or know its contents well enough so you can say it in your own words. But from this day forward, you have no excuse that you were never told what to share about God's truth. B. What's Coming next week Now, let me say just one more thing. We've just gone through only 1 ½ of the verses that I want you to know regarding Sharing God's Truth. Next week we are going to show you the way God expects you to Share His Truth, from the second part of verse 2 through to verse 5. But for right now, I think you have enough to do with what you've heard this morning. Amen. |
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This page was last updated on Sunday, October 31, 2004 03:37 PM
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