Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 4, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. As you know, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, and in doing so, he is making an effort to correct their thinking about some things, to make them realize that their permissive spirit, their prideful heart, are things that are not pleasing to the Lord. And he hasn't gotten into a lot of that yet. These are kind of opening comments in Chapter 4. Go back to Chapter 3. He talks about the fact that we are laborers together. He's talking about himself and the people in the Church of God. So we're working together. We don't all, there are none of us who do everything with regard to ministry. And he talks about there's some who plant and some who water. And obviously we know the final statement that he makes is that they who plant and they who water, they're people who contribute as they are obeying the Lord. But the truth is anything of any substance that happens as a result of that is the result of what God does. God's the one that gives the increase. He's the one who is responsible for any any success, any accomplishment, it all comes from God. Then he goes on and he says, in the latter part of chapter three, he says, verse 16, note ye not that ye are the temple of God, the spirit of God is all in you. If ye then follow the temple of God, ye shall God destroy. If the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. And he talks about the fact that they are supposed to be yielded to the spirit of God, God is working in and through us. That's true with every one of us. And then we come to verse 1 of chapter 4. And again, Paul is later in the epistle going to, he's going to rebuke them for some things that are going on in their lives, in their church, things they shouldn't be doing. He's going to rebuke them regarding their attitude about some things. And he knows that they, like most other believers, when they are rebuked, are going to bristle a little bit at that. Now, I don't know whether it's true with Victor van der Schurk, and I don't think it's really true much with Trinity, but in many cases, there are people, when they hear something that the preacher says that convicts them, They blame the preacher for preaching at all. You need to remember that the preacher, all he's doing is either sowing, he's either planting or watering. He's not seeking to bring about correction in the lives of those he's preaching to. He doesn't have that power. And if you're feeling convicted over something a preacher says, I assure you that it's not the preacher's effort that's causing that. It's the fact that the Spirit of God lives within you and He's identifying something to you that needs to be changed in your life. That's a good thing. And we ought to rejoice in that. That's how we grow. That's how God changes us and makes us into what He wants us to be. But in chapter 4, verse number 1, I believe Paul is saying, I know that some of you are not going to like what I'm about to say. And I want you to understand that it's not me, and to be honest with you, and he doesn't say this in an ugly way, and I'll read it in just a moment, but he's ultimately saying, you know what, it really doesn't matter what you think, because you're not my judge. Look at it. Chapter 4, verse 4. It says, let a man so account of us, ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. By the way, that is a preeminent principle that Paul repeats over and over and over and over again in all of his writings. If you look at his statements to Timothy in a moment with regard to some of this. But he says, moreover, it is required of the stewards of the man to be found faithful. But notice verse number three. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you. He said, you know what, you're probably going to judge me, and you're probably going to think some of the things that I'm going to say are not very kind, maybe, or not, you know, you just don't like me. You don't think I have a right to say that to you. But he said, it really doesn't matter. I count that as a very small thing that I can judge of you. Or a man's judgment. He said, yeah, I judge not my own self. That's an interesting statement. I won't look at myself and make a judgment or make a determination about where I stand. That's not a wise thing to do. Paul speaks in another place about judging ourselves by somebody else. We look at somebody else and say, that person is not a very good person. And I can identify this that he does, this that he does, this that he does, all these things that he does that he shouldn't do. And you know the reason I know I'm pretty good? Because I don't do any of those things. I don't do those things. I seek to serve the Lord. I don't lie, I don't cheat, I don't steal, I don't get involved in immorality, I don't drink, I don't curse, I don't swear, I don't do any of those things. There are all these people that do. So I'm much better than they are. That's a dangerous thing. Paul says I don't judge myself because I know I'm not very good. He said that he was the chief of sinners, even after he had been saved for a while. He talked about the fact that he lost battles over and over again. We'll talk about that more in a minute. But Paul said, I don't judge myself, I judge not my own self. Verse 4, for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified, and here's the key, but he that judgeth me is the Lord. You see, we need to be very careful to make sure that we remember that it's the Lord who can see clearly enough to determine where we stand. Our perception is sometimes flawed. In fact, it's always flawed. Because we see it from our perspective. And that doesn't mean that we should not seek to be a good Christian. or to be a good person, or to be kind, or to demonstrate the truth of the Spirit as the Lord works in us. Those are good things. But we don't need to be prideful about anything God does. It's not us that does it. We don't do it. God does it in our lives, in our duties. So Paul says it's important, the primary positive thing he says in all of this, is it is required in stewards that a man be bound by faith. It doesn't say it's required in stewards that a man be bound. We use the term godly. Our godliness is not based on what we do. It's based on what God has done in us. No, we're not seeking to attain a standard in our flesh of godliness that will be judged by any man to be spiritual. That's not the point. Our job is to please the Lord, and the way we please the Lord is by being faithful. That's the standard, Paul says. And it's throughout his writings, over and over again. Come to the book of Colossians. I want to call your attention to three specific people and what he says with regard to them and their walk with the Lord. In Colossians chapter 1, verse number 7, he says this, verse 6 says, well, Let's go back to verse 3, the sentence starts up there. We give thanks to God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which he hath for all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth, as ye also learned of the pathless, Our fellow servant, who is a, for you, a faithful minister, who also declared, I bless your love, in the Spirit. So Paul says about Epaphras, he tells the folks at the Church of Colossae, Epaphras is a faithful minister to you, and you will benefit from his ministry. Turn over to chapter 4, Colossians chapter 4. And look at verse number 7. He says, All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord. How Tychicus is a faithful minister. Look at verse number 9. Verse 8, he says, Whom I have sent to you for the same purpose that he might Know your estate and comfort your hearts with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. So Paul not only declares that it is required of stewards of the man to be found faithful, he gives reference to three men in particular who are testable, have testimonies of faithfulness. who are examples of faithfulness, who have an opportunity to minister in the lives of those in the Church and to us. Now I'd like you to turn to the book of 2 Timothy, to Paul's second letter to Timothy, and we're going to look at how with emphasis in the life of Timothy. Now you understand that Timothy is Paul's son of the faith. He says it over and over and over again that he is son of the faith. Look at chapter 1 and verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus Sovereign. He begins by saying, I'm writing this letter to Timothy, my beloved son in the family. And so this whole letter is a letter of admonition to Timothy. He's admonishing Timothy to remember certain things. We're not going to cover all of them. There are a number of them in this letter. But I want to mention three very specific things, and then I want to compare them to something Paul says later in chapter 4. So I want you to notice three things that Paul says are vital and important if Timothy is going to be the faithful servant that the Lord wants him to be. The first one is found in verse number eight. And he says to Timothy, be thou now therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. So Paul says don't be ashamed. Now why would Timothy be ashamed? Well it's not because he doesn't love the Lord, he obviously does. It's not because he's not grateful for God's goodness in his life. Paul says don't be ashamed and don't be cautious about being a partaker of the afflictions. that come as a result of taking a stand for Christ. That's what he says. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor be his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Why do people demonstrate a sense of being ashamed of the gospel? It's because they're intimidated, in most cases. They're afraid if they say something, somebody's going to criticize it. Or somebody's going to condemn it. Or somebody's going to make fun of it. Or somebody's going to say, you're not very smart if you believe that. That is our society today, by the way. They are doing all they can to try to silence those who know and love the Lord. That's why in California, you get fined for going to church. That's our society today. They're doing all they can to destroy the opportunity for preachers and for Christians to live their faith. And it's a challenge to be careful not to be ashamed of your faith. Now we live in the South, and in the South, this is called the Bible Belt, and everybody here goes to church. You know, you go, you knock on somebody's door and say, I'm from such and such. Well, I go to this church. I go to that church. The male would go once a year. Or the male would go, you know, on Easter, you know, Christmas or whatever. But they go to church. They identify with the church. And yet, in the South, there come times when you feel a little bit, a little bit uneasy about being too bold. That should never be the case. So Paul says the first thing to Timothy, he says to be serious. Don't be afraid of what anybody else thinks. Don't be afraid of what they're liable to say or what they're liable to do. You take your stand. You make sure that people, and when I say that, I'm not saying that y'all be belligerent. You don't walk up and hit somebody's face and say, look, I'm a Christian, and it doesn't matter whether you like it or not, and I'm taking my stand. That's not what I'm talking about. And I've seen some that are like that too. And they don't help us a whole lot. But it's just being a normal person and living your life as a normal believer. And if you do that the way God intends for you to do it, then your faith will be obvious. Because you'll be hesitant to laugh at certain things people say. You'll be careful about not being deceitful. You'll be kind instead of being belligerent. You know, you will show the fact that Christ lives in you by the way you live. And we need to be very careful that we don't get in a place where we're kind of halfway through now. Now let's go on. Notice what else he says about this very thing. He says, be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor be it a prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Verse number nine, who hath saved us and called us with his holy call. Won't stop there for just a moment. And I want every person in this room to understand what I'm about to say. He's talking to Timothy, who was a young preacher. But he's also talking to every one of us. Every single person in this room. The Lord has called you, He has saved you, and He has called you. You say, well, I don't feel the Lord has called me to anything. I'm not in a ministry, I'm not doing this or that or whatever. It doesn't matter. It just so happens that Timothy is in the ministry. But every believer, every person who's ever trusted Christ as their savior, God has called them. Now look at the rest of what he says here. This is very specific, and it's hard to ignore it. Look at what he says, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's a pretty powerful statement. The Bible says in Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, I leave you. This says before the foundation of the world. God had a calling and a purpose for your life. Every person in here, every person who knows the Lord, the Lord has called them for a specific purpose. Now, so what do we do? How do we find that? Well, it may not be that there's a way to identify a specific professional calling that God has for you. But the calling that he has for you is to live for him. To understand that your body is his temple. To understand that you have a purpose in sowing and in watering the truth of the gospel. And you should not be ashamed of your faith. You should not be hesitant to let people know what you believe. And to take your stand for Christ. Be fearless in your position as a believer. The Bible says that our Heavenly Father cares about us, that He is with us in Christ's city. The Bible says that Christ will never leave us nor forsake us. He's given us the Spirit of God as a comforter to help us that way, but to also guide us. We talked last week about doing the work of God is just walking as God leads. It's just a matter of taking steps that God gives us direction. It's obeying the leadership he gives you, step by step, one at a time, as you seek to fulfill his will. And so, don't be hesitant, don't be ashamed. Remember, this was established before the foundation of the world. It's not something that happened just because, oh, hey, look, this is what God's saying. I'm gonna give you something to do. That's not the case. He knew you before you were born, and he had a purpose for you before the foundation of your restful existence. Verse number 10, but it's now been manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who had abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. Then he says a word or two, I am according to the preacher, an apostle, and the teacher of the Gentiles. So Paul says, Timothy, God's got a purpose for you. You need to be careful to fulfill the calling that God has given you. Just like I have fulfilled my father, God has appointed me to be a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. Be fearless. Don't be afraid to do what God wants you to do. Don't be afraid to take your stand. Don't be afraid to follow the Lord. Be fearless, out of shame, don't worry about what might happen because you take your stand. Second thing, admonitions, Paul gives to Timothy. Look at verse number one of chapter two. He says, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which thou shalt for me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to, here's that word again, thankful them who should be able to teach other also. So Paul says, this is a progressive a progressive process. In other words, you have a responsibility to communicate the truth to others who will be faithful, who will then communicate it to others who will also be faithful. It goes one to another, to another, to another, to another, and that's how we got to where we are now. It's been that way for years since Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. It's been happening over and over again, and that's how it got to where we are in this building today. God speaking to someone who tells somebody else, and that person is faithful to tell somebody else, that person is faithful to tell somebody else. It happened all those times. I don't know how many connections there are between when Paul wrote this letter and when we are here. It's very broad, and it includes millions of connections. But that's how it happened. And that's why this church is here today. That's why Micah is here today. That's why Trinity is here today. Because all of that has happened. And then look at verse number three. It says, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that endure it entangleth himself with the affairs of this land, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. So now Paul includes a second A second challenge there, not only do you need to be not ashamed, you need to be willing to engage the enemy. He says, no man at war entangles himself in the affairs of his life. In other words, you need not only to be fearless, you need to be forceful in taking your stand, willing to fight the battle, willing to engage the enemy. Now, understand that we don't win any battles by ourselves. And we do not take credit for winning the battles. That's why Paul said, again, I don't judge myself. So we have a tendency to look at a situation in our lives, the battle we have. We've got this battle, the Holy Spirit settled this battle. So we go, okay, I've got to win that battle. And I'm going to fight that battle. And I'm going to work at it, and I'm going to do it. By sheer force of my will, I'm going to do this thing that I'm supposed to do. And then we get through, and you go through, and you battle, and you work on it, and you get over it. At least it seems that way. And you've made so much progress, and you start to think, boy, this is great. I'm not having that battle anymore. You know when you say that, what happens? as it increases and all of a sudden you're weak again because you gradually chose to take credit for a victory that you did not win, but that God won even. That's a real fact. And that's why so many people have ongoing doubts. And it's true of everybody. Paul in Romans chapter 7 Don't hear many passages, many messages about Romans chapter 7. Because what does Romans chapter 7, what does Paul say at the end of Romans chapter 7? He says, I'm weak and I can't see the way to that. And the things I shouldn't do, I do them. And the things I know I should do, I don't do those things. Do you ever feel that way? Is that a challenge that you have? Every believer who is willing to be honest has to say that is my own And Paul dealt with that So it's no wonder he said I don't judge myself. If I look at myself, I see myself as an abject failure Because I'm not able to win those battles So how do you deal with that? You remember that the battle is the Lord's, and you view yourself as the Lord, and as long as we're willing to do that, then we obey the Lord. You know, I can remember years ago, when I was a teenager, preachers would come, and they would talk about, and there's truth to this, and I'm not discounting what they said, The truth that they would preach is that the battle that you face between evil and good, that goes on in the heart of every individual, which by the way became real and became intense after you got saved. Before you got saved you didn't have a battle because there was nothing in you to help you in what to do good. But after you got saved now you've got a battle between the spirit and the flesh. And so he talked about the spirit being, there's a dog over here, there's a dog over here, the spirit and the flesh. And the one that is going to have the victory in your life is the one that you can feed the most. So if you spend your time feeding the flesh, then the flesh is going to be the stronger one, and it's going to win the battle. If you spend your time feeding the spirit, then your spirit's going to be stronger, and you're going to win the battle. Now there's truth to that in the sense that if you feed on fleshly things, that's going to make you weak. If you feed on spiritual things, the Word of God and preaching and that kind of thing, that's going to help you. That is absolutely true. But the point I'm trying to make is we don't win the battle in our flesh. And the only way we win the battle is when we obey the Spirit of God who has the power to win the battle for us. And so Paul says, be forceful in that fight, and the forcefulness doesn't come so much from an active fighting against the flesh, as it is an active obedience to the Spirit, who lives in our heart and is always going to give you The wisdom you need to make the right choice. That's what I was talking about at the beginning. When you listen to preaching or when you're reading scripture and you feel convicted, that's the Spirit of God. And it's whether or not you obey it. Have you ever had a situation where you're in church and the Spirit of God convicted you about something, and you spent the rest of the service justifying what you've done? are trying to explain why it's somehow okay for you to continue that practice. I know about that because I spent a lot of years doing it. And I still have a battle with that today. It's our flesh. And we hear something, well, yeah, I know, that's the way it seems, but you know what? I've got a good reason why I do this, and it's really not bad, and it's bad for some people. It's really not bad for me, you know? It's not bad for me, but, you know, well, you have a disorder, you better do something. The fact that we feel like we have to defend ourselves is evidence that we know that that's not a good thing. And the best thing for you to do in that situation is just yield to the Spirit. And say, okay Lord, you know I have this battle. I'm going to trust you to give me victory. And then obey Him. And He will give us victory. be graceful when you engage with the enemy. And then he said a third thing is to be thankful. Look at chapter 4 and verse number 10. We skipped over a couple of things that we just don't have time to look at with regard to being a student and some other things being a servant. But look at verse number 10. I'm sorry, excuse me, Chapter 4, Version 1. Chapter 4, Version 1. Paul says, He goes on, reproof, regroup, absorb, with all well-suffering and doctrine, all of that, all of that is part of what he's supposed to do, but he's supposed to do it by being instant, in season, out of season. All of it. He's supposed to be consistent about it. He's supposed to be faithful with it. He goes on, verse number three, the time will tell when they will not endure shall doctrine. Okay, so what is he talking about there? It's the same thing he's talked about earlier. He fears to be forced to, because this will be opposition. And they're not going to want to hear the truth. They're going to reject the truth. And the truth is, the reality is, they're not just going to reject the truth, they're going to reject the messenger. I'll go about that too. And he says, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after very much shall they hinder themselves, teachers, having issued 18 years. So, preachers, which this is the class we wrote, because it's all from Timothy, who is a preacher. We read this and we think, that means I'm supposed to preach the truth whether they like it or not. You know, it's wonderful when you get done with the service, all preachers want to study wonderful message. That spoke to my heart, that's great. And I've said before to people of Trinity, I really would prefer that you give honor to the Lord for what I'm just a messenger, that's all. And so I did that, and I did that, and I did that, and I did that, so then everybody left, they didn't say anything to me. And I thought, what is this? I go home and I say, my wife was messaging me. Nobody said anything. And you know what that is? That's a battle I'm having with my flesh. And every preacher knows what I'm talking about with regard to that. But the truth is, it doesn't matter whether anybody says, you know, I really appreciate what you preach. What matters is what the Lord says. Well done, Simon. Preach the truth today. That's what's important. It doesn't matter whether it feeds their desires, whether it tickles their ears, whether they gain something that was entertaining from it, or any of that kind of stuff. None of that matters. What matters is you've been faithful. to proclaim the truth whether they like it or not whether it helps them or not it's supposed to help them but it doesn't help everybody because everybody doesn't receive it well it doesn't matter about all that though the preacher's responsibility is to proclaim the truth so how does that apply to a christian who is not a preacher now it's got a calling for you and your calling is to stand for him and to to let people know what you believe, and you proclaim the truth in your life just as much as a creature does. You know, we moved into that RV in the back. I don't know if you saw it when you came around, but we sold our house, we moved into this RV in the back, and I thought, boy, I'm not sure I like this or not, because I gotta be on my P's and Q's every time I step out the door now. Y'all gotta be careful. I can't be human anymore. I'm the pastor of the church. That's not true. I'm just kidding about that. But, the truth is we're supposed to be what we are because of who we are in Christ, anywhere we are. Amen. That's our responsibility. And Paul says we're supposed to be faithful to do all of those things. He goes on and says these people will turn away their ears from the truth and should return to the fables. But he said you watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof upon these things. And then we come to verses 6, 7, and 8. And here's where it really gets personal. With Timothy. Because Timothy again is Paul's son in the text. He said over in verse number 2 of chapter 2, the things that thou hast heard of me, while many witnesses, the same commitment thou have to faith committed, we should be able to teach others also. And he's given all of this admonition to his son in the faith, in the ministry. And now Paul acknowledges his status in the faith. Where is he in this process of his own life? His admonitions to a son in the faith is acknowledgement of his status in the faith. So where is he? Verse number six. For I am now ready to be off, and the time of my departure is at hand. I fought a good fight, I finished my course, I kept the faith. Henceforth there is labor for me, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous God, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also love has appeared." There's a couple of things I want to say about this place in this letter where Paul mentions this. The first one is that Paul is saying to Timothy, my time is over. It's your turn now. You have this responsibility. I've done my best as a preacher and as an apostle to communicate to you the things that God has given me. Now you have the responsibility for passing them on. My departure, the time of my departure is at hand. I think he communicates in that statement a sense of peace and comfort. I think he's ready to go. He goes along and says, I am now ready to be off. I'm ready for the Lord to take me home. I'm ready to go. And Michael Todd on my departure is there. That's his present status. What about his future status? The Lord's going to take him home. It's not going to be late. He mentioned St. Augustine Marine. Henceforth, This is what I've got coming. There's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, not to me only, but also unto all men, that love is superior. Remember back in 1 Corinthians chapter 4? The first part of that chapter, he said, it's a small thing if you are to judge me. I don't even judge myself. But there is one who's judging me, and that's the righteous judge. My God is the one who's going to judge my life. And so he says, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day. Not to me only, but unto all men that love his Spirit. Paul says my future status is good because the Lord's the one that's judging me and has been all this time. I'm not judging myself. I'm not paying attention to what other people say about me. I'm trusting the Lord. He's the righteous judge. And then he talks about his past status. So what was it that he made an important thing? What does he look back on and say, this is the thing that I made a priority in my life that reflects my commitment to be faithful to the Lord? Three things that interest us. Number one, he says, I've fought a good fight. I've fought a good fight. Remember chapter 2, the faith that you have heard of me among many witnesses, saying that there are two faithful men who should be able to teach others also. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You're going to fight on the path? War, and no man at war can tangle himself with the affairs of this life. But I've been pleased that you were chosen to be a soldier. He said, you're going to fight? But make sure it's a good fight. Now what does that mean? Paul does not say, I've won many battles. Paul doesn't say, I've beaten my opponent. Paul doesn't say I've reached the status of victory over my flesh. That means that I am a victorious warrior. That's not what he said. The truth is, if you study the life of Paul, you find out that he lost many battles because he was a battle with his flesh. I'm so glad there's evidence of that in the scripture because we have heard for so long Preachers preach an unattainable standard. There is no absolute perfection in our flesh. That never happens for a believer because our flesh is still condemned. Our flesh does not get saved. We will not have full victory over everything until our flesh is gone. When the Lord returns, the trump sounds, and the Lord returns, and we rise to meet Him in the air, then this flesh will go away. And we'll get new bodies. And for the first time, we will experience what it means to have absolute and complete victory. And I will tell you what, that's going to be a wonderful day. That's a day that I'm looking forward to with a great deal of anticipation. Because I have a battle with my flesh, and I wish it was gone. There's coming a day when it will be. Paul did not say, I won every battle that I fought. He said, I fought a good fight. I've been faithful to fight a good fight. Now what does that mean? That means that he never quit fighting. Doesn't mean you win every time. It means when you lose, you get back up and you get back to the battle. And you keep going, and you keep fighting, and if you fall a thousand times, you get up a thousand times again, and you keep fighting! You don't ever give up, you don't ever quit. You fight a good fight, faithfully. The second thing he says, I'll finish my course. Back to chapter one. Verse number 8, be thou now the foreshadowing of the testimony of our Lord, nor be as prisoner, but be thou the taker of the afflictions of the Gospels according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our wills, but according to His own purpose and grace, which is given us in Jesus Christ, before the world began. Paul said, you know what? I've finished my portion. I've stayed at it, I've run race, I've finished my course. It's interesting, Paul did not list all of the people that he went with Christ. That's not what he's trying to do. He doesn't say, I've started 35 churches in Asia Minor or whatever. He did start a bunch of churches that God used him in a wonderful way, but he did not, when he's ready to be offered, he did not say, Look at all these churches I've started. That's what I'm grateful for. No, he said, I finished my course. I stayed as much as I could in the center of God's will and I did what God wanted me to do. That's the thing that's commendable. That's faithfulness. That's what is important. And then he said, I kept the faith. Paul says to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 1, I charge you, preach the word. It doesn't matter if they like the truth. Preach the truth and just stay at it. Don't quit. Preach the truth. Paul says, I have been loyal to the truth all through my life. He wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't commended for that often as he preached the truth. He often ended up in prison. He was in prison when he wrote this letter to Timothy. But he still preached the truth. So you want to know what thankfulness is? Thankfulness is not accomplishing great things with God. Thankfulness is not building big churches. Faithfulness is not baptizing a certain number of people. Faithfulness is not winning a certain number of people to Christ. We're not responsible for any of that anyway. We are servants. We are our tools in God's hands. We sow. We water. But who is it that does all of this stuff? It's God. God's the one that gives the information. So what is commendable for us? It is required in stewards that a man be accountable. Fight a good fight. You're not going to win them all, but fight. Finish your course. You won't maybe accomplish great things in the world's eyes, but it doesn't matter. Finish the course. Be true to faith. Comply with the truth, embrace the truth, live the truth, make it the primary component of who you are, and understand that when it's all said and done, you're not going to be judged by the others who look at you and say, well, that guy's a successful guy, or that guy's not a successful guy. There's one person who's going to be responsible for determining whether what you did was good or not, and that's the righteous judge. And there's a crowd waiting for those who are willing to fight a good fight, finish the course, keep the faith, and be faithful to the one who saved you and gave you a purpose before the foundation. Let's stand there.