Good morning. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. It is sure good to see you here. This is our first corporate worship service of the new year. And so it's good to see each one of you here. Brother Rick is going to give us the announcements and then we will continue preparing for worship. Is this working, Justin? Got it? You hear me? Cool. Awesome. Uh, I've got several announcements. Um, first off, I'm going to start with the, uh, with the, um, grace bags for January and it's, um, for the Southeast Georgia women's center and the things to donate our, uh, travel size hand, hand sanitizer, um, nail polish, a chapstick travel, hand cream. And this, um, this is actually going to be on the front desk out there. And I believe some got handed out today too. So I won't, uh, spend any more time on that. Um, So this week's events on today, we're going to have the Lord's Supper and the following fellowship meal right afterwards. Trail Life will be meeting at 6 p.m. on the 11th. And if you notice in the announcements on the back, there's a little bit of a mistake with American Heritage Girls isn't going to start until next month. So correct that. We'll get that fixed for the next time. Brother Ryan will be preaching at like chapel church uh... next sunday he'll be replacing uh... or preaching standing in for uh... pastor sam bennett so if we could prefer him while to pray for him while he's there and uh... small groups will resume uh... the new schedule uh... next next sunday If you noticed, uh, we've got this book in the mailboxes and for you that don't have mailboxes, we need to get you some, but also, uh, there's still a couple of copies plus this one out on the counter. If you have not received a free book, um, it's a quarterly book, I believe. Right, sir. So it's quarterly book, uh, free for taking. And then, uh, if you don't have a mailbox, please let me know and we'll get you mailboxes, uh, assigned so that, uh, next time we don't miss you on that. And, uh, we see, uh, pastor Thomas, you have an announcement for today. Jolly Green Giant must have been there. Yes, on the book of the quarter, this is a book that we encourage all the members and friends of the church to read and we will discuss it each quarter at the last family night suppers when we plan on discussing the book of the quarter. So we encourage you to pick up one. and enjoy reading it and be edified by it. Also, Gil and I want to thank you, all that were able to come out last night, as well as the Wayne Pierce Small Group. Had a great time and it was good to see everybody and I think we're all fed up and plenty of food and plenty of fun. So thank you for participating in that, those that were able to. We appreciate it. Brother Rick. And if you missed that, you missed the hayride, which the kids were able to see a bear, a giraffe. um, the raging bowl. It was fun. It was a good time. I'm just doing that to, to focus on a little bit. It was, it was a great time. Um, and, uh, the hymns today will be from the Trinity, um, him no, except for the last one right after the sermon that will be from the hymns of grace. And, uh, I believe that's it. Um, anything further that I missed? Um, wait, here's family group meeting next Sunday, 5 PM. Gotcha. Yeah, that, yep, I missed that, thank you. Any of the other announcements that are on there, you can refer to the rest of the weeks. I tried to do just this week, so we'd be more efficient with time. So if you could, let's prepare our hearts for worship. you As Brother Rick mentioned, our hymns today are from the hymns of Grace, excuse me, the Trinity hymnal. I'll say it backwards. It's the smaller blue hymnal. If you would go ahead and take a copy of that hymnal and might find him number 27. This will sing in a moment versus one in three. Great is I faithfulness and then we will remain standing for the invocation and then following that we will sing him number 81. If you would, please stand for the call to worship. We're seven days into 2024, and for those that have made New Year's resolutions, I'm sure by now we have broken many of them already. And in a world of unfaithfulness and broken contracts and lack of faithfulness and consistency, it is a wonderful celebratory reality of Christians of the faithfulness of God. So listen, please, as we're called to worship, as we think about and exalt our God's faithfulness. Oh, Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you. I will praise your name for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. ♪ He is thy faithfulness, O God my Father ♪ ♪ There is no shadow of turning with thee ♪ ♪ Thou changest not like compassions, they fail not ♪ ♪ As thou hast been thou for ever, O God my Father ♪ Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness. For sin and peace then endureth. Thine only presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine, the ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning, dawn, morning, new mercies I see. All I have, be ye with thy hand, and throw not in. Great is thy faithfulness. Let us pray. Holy Father, we do bow now before you and confess, acknowledge and rejoice in the reality of your faithfulness. Even this day already, we are the recipients of thy faithful mercy, thy goodness that attends us every day when we awake, follows us throughout all the days of our lives and ushers us safely home into your presence. Lord, may we Bow before you in sincere worship, acknowledging that you truly are indeed God, and beside you there is no other. Forgive us of our selfishness, our self-centeredness, our self-reliance, that we are often the gods of our own universe. But Lord, we come before you and we confess, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, faithful is our God. Bless your congregation as we assemble now to worship And may your name be honored, your people edified, and those that know not Christ be brought to repentance. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Hymn number 81, 81, a mighty fortress is our God. Our mighty fortress is high on the boulder never failing. Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. ♪ For still our ancient foe ♪ ♪ Doth seek to work us woe ♪ ♪ His craft and power are great ♪ ♪ And on with cruel fate ♪ ♪ On earth is not his equal ♪ If we in our own strength confide, Thou striving would be using. Were not Thou right hand on our side, O man of God, don't you see? Just as true that may be, Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord, celebrate all His name, from age to age the same, and lead us with the ♪ And all this public devil's filth ♪ ♪ Should threaten to undo us ♪ ♪ We will not fear for God hath willed ♪ ♪ This truth to triumph through us ♪ ♪ The Prince of Darkness came ♪ We tremble not for him. His rage we can endure. For all his name is sure. Unyieldable shall fail him. Blackbird, up above the world, The flames today are my head. The spirit and the gifts are lost through him who with us sighed. This mortal life also, the body they bequeath. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is for ever. Please be seated. If you would take a copy of the scriptures and turn in your Bible to Psalm 54 as we continue our consecutive reading through the Psalms If you have noticed, Psalm 52 through 55 have been psalms where David has not just felt, but has been betrayed. And so it continues that theme in Psalm 54. If you remember, he went and rescued a town from the Philistines, and then Saul heard he was in that town with his men, so Saul figured he could come trap him in that town because it had walls and gates. And he said, David has imprisoned himself, so now I can capture him. And of course, God lets David know that, and David flees to the wilderness of Ziph. But even there, the folks around that wilderness betrayed him to Saul. We know the story. Saul is not successful in capturing him. But each time David runs up against this, he does what? He writes a song, right? Well, these songs are actually prayers, and he takes his concerns to God, and he prays to God. Notice in this psalm, he will use three different names or titles for God. He uses Elohim throughout most of the psalm, and in verse 4, he'll use Elohim as well as Adonai. But he invokes a name in the very first verse, and that name is Yahweh. He prays that the name of God would be honored, that God would do so to magnify and glorify his own name, that he would hear and answer David's prayers. And so he prayed in that great and glorious name of Yahweh. which, dear ones, today we have a great and glorious name that we pray in. And it is no less a name, it is no less a powerful God, the Lord Jesus Christ, because now when we pray to Yahweh, we invoke the name of Jesus Christ. And so let's read this psalm together. Let's see this petition of David as he continues the theme of betrayal. The Word of God reads, O God, save me by your name and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer. Give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do not set God before themselves. Selah. Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies. In your faithfulness, put an end to them. With a freewill offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. Thus reads the word of our God, may his people say. Brings us to our time of corporate prayer today. We have purposed as the Elders of Emmanuel Baptist Church this year, we have purposed each year to pray for families during our time of corporate prayer, families of Emmanuel Baptist Church. And it seems like we always start the list. And then we get distracted by immediate needs and so we tend to not make it all the way through the list. This year we have purpose to do that and we have put it on a calendar. So it will be scheduled and we will pray for you. Now the elders do pray for you during our elders meetings, but we would like to make it a matter of corporate prayer that each family here would be prayed for by the whole congregation. as we lift your name up to the Lord. This week our families are Ken and Ashley Wiley, Sister Jean York, and Sister Ned Youngblood. Sister Jean has given me her concerns. She wants to see her children and grandchildren come to Saving Faith in the Lord. and she wants to see them faithful in following the Lord and faithful in church covenant commitment. And so we will lift these things up to the Lord. Brother Ken and Sister Ashley said that we would pray that they would be more faithful to rightly utilize the means of grace for their spiritual growth and Christ-likeness. And Sister Ned Youngblood, she has had numerous health issues, it seems, one after another. And so we would lift her up to our sovereign God, praying that he would grant relief and healing for these. So let us go to the Lord. Let's go to our wonderful God, the same God whom David cried to when he was in trouble. Let us go to this powerful God. Holy Father, ruler of all, creator of all, you who do not dwell in the tents of men, you who, it has been said, the earth is your footstool. You span the heaven and the heavens of heavens with your right hand. You are almighty. What could we ask, Father, that you would not do that you could not do? We could bring great petitions, small petitions, and yet you are a God who hears the voice of your children. And as David wrote, you are faithful to answer our prayers for your great and holy name. that your name would be magnified. Because when you answer our prayers, we don't thank each other, we don't thank ourselves, we thank you. We praise you. We lift high your holy name. And so it's in the name of Jesus Christ that we lift these petitions now, Father. We pray for Sister Jean York, we thank you for her. We praise you that she's a faithful member of this congregation, that she's a wonderful servant of Christ. And we do, with her, pray for the salvation of her children and her grandchildren. And we ask you, Holy Father, that you would grant her the desires of her heart, that she would see them growing in Christ-likeness and being faithful in covenant community with your church. Father, would you do this for your great name? And we lift up Ken and Ashley Wiley. We know they have many concerns, many things that go on in their day-to-day lives, Father. And yet their number one main concern is that they would grow in Christlikeness. So Father, would you grant them their petition? Would you help them to truly, faithfully, rightly utilize the means of grace you have given for their sanctification? We thank you for them. We thank you for the blessing that they are to this family, to this community. Father, we lift up Sister Ned Youngblood. What a wonderful, godly woman she is. But Father, she has been, in your frowning providence, beset with one physical ailment after another. And so Father, we pray that you would smile upon her, grant her relief, grant her healing. Father, that you would cause it, make it possible for her to once again gather with your saints. That she would once again know the true fellowship of the saints as we gather for corporate worship. Would you make that possible for her? Would you bless her? We thank you for her. We thank you that she is a wonderful woman of prayer. Anybody that knows her knows she's a prayer warrior. And so, Father, we lift her up as she lifts up so many others. We pray your blessings upon her. Now, Father, would you bless Pastor Tyler? as he even now is preaching at Rome Primary Baptist Church. Would you bless the ministry of your word? Would you send your word forth in all its power that you would be magnified, that Christ would be made much of, that sinners would be saved, and that saints would be edified and sanctified? And Father, would you do this for your name, for your namesake, for Christ, for it's in his name we pray, amen. If you would stand now and sing with me hymn number 497, Jesus, Savior, pilot me. In treacherous shore, charred and calm, thus come from Thee, Jesus, Savior, Pilate, me. As a mother stills her child, now canst thou, ye ocean wild, Ostrous waves obey thy will, when thou say'st to them, Be still, wondrous son of the sea, Jesus, Savior, thy Lord be. And the fearful breaker's wrath, Tricks me and thy peaceful rest, Then while eating on thy breast, May I hear thee say to me, Please be seated. Richard Baxter was a prominent 17th century Puritan preacher. He was a prolific writer. He wrote over 200 books, a couple of the well-known books that are still in circulation today and often used. One is The Saints' Everlasting Rest, which is a great encouragement. to us in our journey. The other is the Reformed Pastor, which has been used by ministers, I suppose, since the time he's written it, about pastoral theology. And you sure see, when you read the book, you sure see differences in practices from the 17th century to the 21st century. He was forbidden to preach. He was a chaplain. in the Parliamentary Army. And at the same time, he was instrumental in having the king reinstall, King of England, reinstall to the throne. And as a peacemaker and something of a moderate, he always seemed to be in the hot seat, as often counselors are. They get it from both sides. And as he was trying to bring some peace in his country. And he was persecuted for a number of years. He spent almost two years in prison. He was forbidden to preach. He could not even go back to his hometown and where his parish was. They forbid him to go there. And it was during that time that he made a statement that It's been a very famous statement, at least among reform ministers, probably since, again, since the time he uttered it. But he said, I preached as never sure to preach again as a dying man to dying men. Now, that saying by Baxter, is a catalyst for a series of sermons that we have planned for this year, 2024. Pastor John will be preaching next in March, using that general theme of preaching as a dying man to dying people. And the title of the entire series is, If I Had But One Sermon to Preach. And so Pastor John will be preaching in March, Pastor Tyler in June, the Lord willing. We have scheduled Pastor Shane Waters from Sovereign Grace to be preaching on that topic in September. And then our gifted brother Ryan is to close this year out in December 29th with that same theme. So we're starting the year with it and we're ending the year with that. A series of messages spread out over the year if I had but one sermon to preach. Since I'm the oldest and the minister would have heart issues, they figured I better go first or I might not get my turn. So I'm up today to go first with this. Now this saying has really been a plaque on my study wall for years. I referenced it many times years ago when I was at the first church I ever tried to pastor in Culloden, Georgia. And one of the sisters there put it in cross stitch for me and it hung on my study wall. And then some years later, Sister Chloe said, it needs a better frame because I just had it in something. And she came along and plaited it and put it in a nice frame and it's still my study here. But it's been a number of years ago now. It's probably been 15, 20 years, at least 15, probably more like 20 years ago now. The saying took on real life. I thought it had real life, but it took on real life. I had preached. a meeting at a church. And then I was invited to go back, and I was, I think, supply preaching like Pastor Tyler is today. I was going back to preach on a Sunday following that meeting, and that was some four, five, six months after I had been there before. And as I was walking across the parking lot, headed toward the church building, I heard someone calling my name. And I stopped and turned around, and there was a lady walking towards me. And she came up to me and she greeted me and she said, I want you to know. The last sermon my husband ever heard is what you preached when you were here before. And I was doing some scrambling in my brain, what did I preach when I was here before? What was the last sermon that man ever heard? So it really became very personal at that moment to me, very real. And so we're preaching a series of sermons on what if I had but one sermon to preach, but let me flip it and ask you the question, what if you only had one sermon to hear? What do you want to hear? What is critical? What's most important? What if this is the last sermon you hear? That was part of our, I reckon, our fifth Sunday night with our reflection on that of teaching us to have a heart of wisdom and to be able to number our days and realizing the transient nature of mankind. Well, with that in mind, I encourage you to open your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2. And I want to read the first 13 verses, but my focus will be primarily on verse number eight. Now after preaching some time, you tend to go back to text and preach them more than once. And I have preached this passage over the years, I don't know the number of times, but more than once. I'm not sure it was the first time, but I know something over 35 years ago, I preached this, 1988, I preached this text, at a church that no longer exists. It's gone out of existence. I preached it the last time, or I attempted to preach it the last time, less than three years ago from right here, in August of 21. So I'm not worried about repeating it in the sense that that's one of the things preachers do is they call you to remember things. In fact, that's part of the context of what we'll be seeing in this passage as we try to get into it today. So I wanna read now in our hearing 2 Timothy chapter two, And we'll read the first 13 verses of this chapter. Let us hear God's word. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. The offspring of David is preached in my gospel for which I am suffering bound with chains as a criminal but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for if we have 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, and this is the shift here, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. May God be pleased to bless his word and may his people say, Let's go to God in prayer. Holy Father, we realize in some ways the great task that lies before us, both as speaker and as hearers of your word, and we pray for grace. I pray, Lord, for grace that I may be able to speak Fluently with a ready turn of thought. That I may have unction from on high. And Lord have I know I don't think I have any desire to lean upon my own self, but Lord, if I do take that away. And may our trust, our confidence and our hope. Our support be found totally in you. who can make your word, who does make your word sharper than a two-edged sword. So give us as heroes ears to hear, minds to comprehend, wills that are submissive to your will. Lord, exalt Jesus, I pray. Strengthen your people, encourage them. And Father, those present that do not know Jesus Christ, perhaps those whose love has grown cold or indifferent, and those who never have known him or professed him, speak to their hearts and shine that beautiful living light into their minds. so that they may have life and may exalt Christ and be one and part and a member of the great family of God. We pray in Jesus holy name. Amen. Concerning this verse, there is a quote that you have on your notes by B.B. Warfield, verse 8. And in verse 8, Warfield wrote, this sentence is pregnant enough to reveal at once the central thought of Paul's gospel and the citadel of his own strength. Amid all the surrounding temptations, all the encompassing dangers, Paul bids Timothy to bear in mind, as the sufficing source of abounding strength, the great and central doctrine, the great central fact, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. I agree with Orfield, this is a very full text. and very full passage and a number of verses that I've read in our hearing. And the temptation is to try to say more than probably I ought to say in one standing or one sermon. And in the end result saying probably maybe nothing. So what I want to do today is keep it simple. And I want to look at two things. I want to look at the context of the statement, and then I want us to consider the content of the statement. So that's our simple way forward. What is the context of this statement? And then what does Paul say? So with that in mind, we want to begin with the immediate context. And by that, I mean 2 Timothy. Generally this book is recognized as the Apostle Paul's last letter and as you would imagine one's last words are usually very personal and this probably is one of the most personal epistles of the Apostle Paul. I'm not trying to say he's not transparent in other epistles that he wrote, but there certainly is a transparency in 2 Timothy. And perhaps it's a transparency that can only come when one realizes that he's already being poured out. and the time of his departure was at hand. And so this is Paul's last letter. That's the way I'm approaching it. It's very personal. And if we were to summarize the purpose of the letter and say that purpose is maybe small number one, not as large as number two here is what I want to say, but the small letter A or Roman numeral one is Timothy, do your best to come to me because I'm near death. Hurry, come see me." That's purpose number one of the letter. Purpose number two of the letter is Timothy. Endure the difficulties of being a Christian and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be a good soldier. Defend the faith. Pass on the faith. Teach the faith. And so I would say that's, in summary, the purpose of this book. It's pretty simple. Come see me quick. And Timothy, be a good soldier. In 2 Timothy, as I've already alluded to, we're given insight, I think, into the apostle Paul's physical, emotional, and spiritual state of being. We know that Paul is in prison. He tells us that he is in prison in the verses that I read. He talks about being bound with chains as a criminal. So we know that Paul is in prison at this time. He refers to that also in chapter 1 verse 8 of being a prisoner. So Paul is in prison. Jeffrey Wilson writes of verse number nine of chapter two, he says that the strength of Paul's language indicates how deeply he felt the shame and degradation of his imprisonment. I think sometimes we just pass over that, oh well, he's jailed. But that comes with certain mental and emotional challenges, let's say. Probably the prison that he's in is what's called the Mermontine Prison. He's not under house arrest here. But he is in one of the most difficult prisons that there was. John MacArthur writes of this imprisonment and where Paul is. He says it's a small, dark, bare stone dungeon. whose only entrance was a hole in the ceiling, and they would just let prisoners down by rope or ladder and then pull it out. So that has a hole in the ceiling. It's a dungeon whose only entrance was a hole in the ceiling, scarcely large enough for one person to pass through. The dungeon itself is not large, about half the size of a small one-car garage, yet it was sometime used to hold as many as 40 prisoners. The discomfort, the dark, the stench, the misery were almost unbearable. Well, we don't, I think he's right in where Paul was at this time. But we do know that Paul is suffering deprivations of the most basic needs. Because he'll say, bring the coat that I left. Winter's coming, I'm cold. So we know that his situation is very spartan at best. We also know not only is he in prison, but as he is in prison, he gets word, he gets some communication, and the communication he is getting is not that encouraging. In fact, there are problems in the church. In chapter 2, verses 14, really through chapter 4, verse 5, he will begin to address some of the problems that are facing believers and that are happening in the church. There are false teachers and there will be a time, difficult times are there, but there will be a time coming where people will not endure sound doctrine. They don't want to hear it. And they'll get their own teachers that will listen to what they want to hear and tickle their ears with it. There have been defections. Defections of previously some faithful men are no longer walking the walk. Chapter 4 verse 10, and again verses 14 through 16 of chapter 4, but chapter 4 verse 10, for Demas in love with this present world has deserted me. He's left him. Verses 14 through 16. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message at my first defense. No one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. So faithful men have defected from the faith." In addition to that, there are false teachers. There are those that are just outright hostile, such as Alexander, to the gospel, and have withstood Paul and the teaching of the Apostle Paul. I think we get something of the emotional burdens that Paul is bearing here in verse number 10, and his concern and his love. In chapter two that I read, he said, I endure everything for the sake of the elect. He's under stress. He's under physical duress, he's under emotional and probably spiritual, at least warfare. I think mentions this, and I think maybe here's more of an allusion to it, but in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 11, Paul talks about the various sufferings that he's gone through. He's been shipwrecked, he's been beaten, he's been in prison, he's gone without food, he's gone lonely, he's gone without sleep, and he lists out a whole list of sufferings that he's experienced. And then at the close of that list, in 2 Corinthians 11, 28, The Apostle says, And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure of my anxiety for all the churches. So Paul has on him the love of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in addition to all the physical things that have happened to him, he has this concern for the church. I appreciate what the Puritan John Trapp wrote. He said, Either our beds are soft, or our heart's hard that can rest when the church is at unrest, that feel not our brother's hard cords through our soft beds." And so Paul, yes, he's in prison. His physical situation's rough, but there's also the status of what's going on in the church, the infant church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I think this is taking its toll as well on the apostle. Surely Paul, who loved Timothy like a son and calls him a son, I think three times in the epistles, surely he's concerned with Timothy, for Timothy. And then that takes us then to the next point, that is, we're given insights in 2 Timothy of the struggles and challenges that Timothy now is facing. Even this morning, I found it somewhat encouraging meditation and prayer to think about who God uses in his service. In writing to the Corinthians, the apostle said, For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Who is Timothy? Is he a superhero? No. And the challenges that are before him are more than daunting. We look back over the landscape of the people God used throughout history and you begin to reflect on these instruments God uses. He uses Abraham. And we think of Father Abraham and he's faithful, he's a friend of God, yes. But you read the beginning of his story and out of fear he lies about Sarah, that she's not my wife, she's but my sister. Then we move on and we go to Moses and here is a mighty man of God who through him God brings all kinds of miracles and deliverance and yet, If you do a kind of a personal study of Moses, you're going to see the man had some anger issues. He struggled with some anger at times, very understandably, but he did. Then we move on and we're getting into the promised land. And who is it that God uses to open, as it were, the portal, the gate to get into the promised land? A prostitute named Rahab. And then as we just got through in our Christmas series, you move from that to two widows. Ruth and Naomi. These are the people God uses to continue the very lineage of Jesus Christ. And the birth will be in Bethlehem. And we move forward. We go to David. King David. Mighty David. Man, he is a warrior. I've said often, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. He'd be my enemy. He was a warrior. Yeah, but David had some issues. He had some issues with lust, pride. He had some problems. And you see that the scripture was very honest about that with David. And then we move on to the New Testament and it opens up and who's God using? Mary, a young woman who is unmarried and God will use her as a vessel to bring his only begotten son into the world. Oh, but then we get to the apostles. Yeah, all sterling men, right? No. No, weak. And so Paul writes, consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Some were, but many came from very humble beginnings, fishermen, blue collar, laborers. And he uses all kinds of people throughout the history of the Bible. These are the kinds of people that he uses. Now we get to Timothy. And Paul says to Timothy, let no man despise you for your youth. It's hard to be a pastor, an elder, and especially to have the charges that Paul brought to Timothy when you were a young man. And a lot of people look at you as, I don't want to be obscene, but a snot-nosed kid. and he has got to deal with that. Don't let anybody hold your youth against you, Timothy, but be an example of godliness. There is the nature of Timothy, and I really, I kind of lean away from this, but I'll mention it. A lot of people think of Timothy as being very timid. I'm not sure about that. I don't know that It's not unusual, let me back up and say it this way, it's not unusual for God to call people into his ministry that can't put two words together, honestly, that are afraid of their shadow, but he develops them, and he brings them into men of God. They're not the greatest orators, they're not the great, you know, Paul said that of himself, he's not a great orator, he's not like Apollos. So I don't know if Timothy was timid, but he was young, and I can see with his youth there's some issues that go along with that that he has to deal with, that he has to overcome. And then the work that Paul is asking Timothy to do is dangerous. And it's challenging. He's in Ephesus to withstand erroneous doctrine, and particular people, and to teach sound doctrine. and live a godly life, and defend the faith, and advance the faith. And then there's Timothy's personal loss. He reads, he knows where Paul is, but he reads this letter he gets from the apostle Paul as his mentor. And where's Paul? Paul's an old man. He's in prison. Time of my departure is at hand. And that has to be a loss to Timothy. Those of us that have lost parents, how many times have you thought, oh, I would love to be able to ask my case, my mom or dad, but I'd love to be able to ask my dad this. Can't do it. So Timothy is losing Paul. That's gotta be tough. and mounts his commentary on Timothy, he said, Paul, talking about these verses and particularly verse eight, he says, Paul is not instructing Timothy but rather consoling and encouraging him. And he's saying to Timothy, think about and understand the cost of discipleship, Timothy. And he uses those three analogies that are very difficult. The analogy of a soldier. Be a good soldier, Timothy. The analogy of an athlete, which would have been very pronounced. You'd think of the Roman, but you think of the Greek influence on the Roman culture, and we think, oh, this is where the Olympics started, and so absolutely, he would know about that, and so you got to compete like an athlete. And then the farmer. This is rigorous work, Timothy. Understand the work. Now be faithful to the work. And secondly, I would mention what I'll call the historical and theological context. And to me, or I think, I'll put it this way, let me back up. The historical and theological context is cross bearing. That's the historical and theological context, bearing your cross. I've already mentioned the rigors of discipleship in the first seven verses of chapter two that we read where Paul will list out some of the rigors of that. But then there's also the certainty of suffering. Paul is suffering. Why is he suffering? Why is he bound with chains? He's bound with chains because he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this cause, I'm suffering. For this cause, I'm in chains, Timothy. And not only that, Timothy, but let's go beyond the minister of the gospel. Let's just go to the disciples of Jesus Christ. Chapter 3, verse 12. Indeed, all who desire to live godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. This isn't isolated to Timothy alone. All those who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted. So there's the certainty of suffering. And I think the early church was convinced that to live for Christ, one must be prepared to suffer for Christ, to take up their cross and follow Christ. That is a basic proclamation of Christianity. And suffering is inescapable. In 1 Thessalonians 3, in fact, Paul will say, we are destined to suffer. As one has said, eventually we find ourselves in situations that make our hearts sink, our bones feel dry, and our souls heavy and crushed. And if you followed Christ to any distance, you know that. I've had my best days in Christ crushed in a nanosecond by a situation, an unthoughtful word, an attack, a doubt, and you just move from like the heights and realms of glory as it were all of a sudden to cross the point. Why is that so? Why is Paul in chains? Why is he saying that if you're going to live a godly life, you're going to be persecuted? Why is he saying that? What's the reality behind that? What's the theology behind that? Well, the theology behind that is John 3, 19. And this is the judgment that light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. That's the theology. Light and dark do not mix. They do not go well. They're not play buddies. They're enemies. And to this very day, this hostility remains. And the amazing part of this, there's a lot of amazing parts, one amazing part of this is the very truth, the very one, the very message that can help that sinner who is bound in sin and chains and knows not Christ, the very one that can help him, he rejects. So Jesus taught on the cost of discipleship, and he said to his 12, in Matthew 10, he said, behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to courts and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles." But Jesus didn't just leave it with the 12. He said to the disciples in general who followed him, Matthew 16, if anyone would come after me, that means you, that means me, if you will follow Christ. Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Here's a poem I put in your notes. It's by Amy Carmichael. It's one I've used through the years more than once. It's called No Scar. Let's just read that poem right now. It goes to this theological background, I think, of what's undergirding what Paul says to Timothy here. Hast thou no scar, no hidden scar on foot or side or hand? I hear thee sung as mighty in the land. I hear them hail thy bright ascended star. Hast thou no scar? Hast thou no wound? Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent, leaned me against a tree to die and rent. By ravening beasts that compassed me, I swooned. Hast thou no wound? No wound, no scar? Yet as the master shall the servant be, and pierced are the feet that follow me. But thine are whole. Can he have followed far who has no wound nor scar? Paul is telling Timothy, you're gonna be scarred. You're gonna be persecuted. And the basic theology behind that is because darkness hates light. And then we come after that, and let's consider for just a moment now, the content. We've looked at the context, so what is it Paul says to Timothy in that context? Verse 8, we have a description of Jesus. He's referred to as Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David. That is the way He's defined. The offspring of David. This is His lineage. This is His humanity. Jesus is truly man. He's risen from the dead. He is the Son of God. He is truly God. Jesus Christ is truly man. He's truly God. This is the God-man. And actually this is the only place in Timothy he uses this particular order. Everywhere else the order is flipped, which is interesting. The word risen is in the perfect tense. It emphasizes not just the historical fact that Jesus is risen, but rather the result of the resurrection. Not simply was Jesus raised, but He is risen. He is the risen Lord now. He is Christ, forever risen, forever present in His resurrection power. That's the emphasis behind the tense. Paul says that these truths are central to the gospel he preaches. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, has preached in my gospel. You want to know what Paul preached? This is what he preached. This is the warp and woof of it, I suppose we would say. It reminds me, if you would, turn over to Romans chapter 1 for a moment. It reminds me of what Paul wrote to the Romans as he opened that epistle. Romans 1 verse 1. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which God, He promised before. He promised the gospel before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. What's it concern? His Son. Who is His Son? He descended from David. According to the flesh, He is truly man. And He was declared to be the Son of God. Christ, He is the Son of God, He was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead. This is the attestation of His divinity, of His Godheadness. And it's because Paul preaches this message, he's in prison. But he also says, even though he's bound, he says in verse nine, the latter part of the verse, but the word of God is not bound. I'm bound, I'm in chains, but God's word isn't. And I think about John chapter one, verse five, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it or overwhelm it. Yes, there is a conflict. There's an animosity. We could hail it all the way back to Genesis 3, but the darkness does not overwhelm or extinguish the light. And yet in light of all of this, of all that Paul is dealing with, all that he knows Timothy's already dealing with and will yet to deal with, he exhorts him, persevere, endure, stand fast. He does it based on several realities. Back in chapter one, he does it based really on his parentage. Timothy, remember your mother and your grandmother and how you were raised, and from a child you know the Scriptures. Remember, Timothy, based on that, persevere. Stand fast, Timothy. Not only remember that, Timothy, but remember and remind yourself of your calling in chapter 1, verse 6. Remember your ordination. Remember not only who you are, but what you are. And when I was growing up, that's what my folks would often tell me. I'd be going out somewhere and they would say, remember who you are, who you represent, and what you're about. And he tells Timothy that. And then there's Paul's own example. Timothy, he could say, remember me. and I'm in bonds, and I'm in chains, and I've suffered, and it's because of the gospel. Timothy, don't be discouraged by discouragements. But the most powerful argument for Timothy to persevere is verse eight, the risen Christ. There is an optimism and a triumphalism that permeates 2 Timothy. It's not a dark book. As I said, it's very transparent, and there's a lot of moving parts, as it were, to it. But it's not a dark book. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 12, Paul said, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I'm convinced that he's able to guard until that day when he has been entrusted to me. What has been entrusted to me? I know whom I believe. He says in chapter 2, verse 19, that God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal. The Lord knows those that are his, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. And again, he says in chapter 2, verses 7 and 8, excuse me, chapter 4, verses 7 and 8, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day. And he goes on saying, of course, not only me, but all those that love his appearing. So Paul exhorts Timothy, remember. And this has been a motif in Timothy, in 2 Timothy. Chapter 1, verse 1, I remember you constantly. Chapter 1, verse 5, I am reminded of your sincere faith. Chapter 1, verse 6, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. Chapter 2, verse 8, chapter 2, verse 14, remind them of these things. Remember, remember, remember, remind, remind, remind. The word remember is in the present tense. It means continually remember. Exercise your memory, recollect, but that has impact on the way you live and the way you think. As one has noted, God is into remembering because we fallen creatures have a tendency to forget. God gave the Passover, why? Remember when you come into the land who you are and what you've been delivered from. The book of Deuteronomy, what's the book of Deuteronomy? It's the repeating of the law, remember. Remember who you are, remember who God is, remember the law God has given you. The crossing of the Jordan, what marked the crossing of the Jordan River when Israel crossed into the promised land across the Jordan, what did they do? They took stones out of the bottom, put them on the side, took stones in the middle from the side, put in the bottom, and they built there a reminder so that when they saw those stones, they would remember the crossing of Jordan, how God delivered them. Oh, what's today? The Lord's Day. Big neon flashing letters, remember, remember, remember. And we need that every week. Remember. Remember what? Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. That's what we celebrate today. It's who we worship today. A risen Savior. Oh, the Lord's Supper. What is it? Do this. What? And remember. Remember. Remembrance. I don't think I'm the only one that needs jostling into remembering. I suspect as I look over this congregation, these people who I know and who I love, you need to be reminded to remember. So why is this my, if I only had but one sermon to preach, why would this be it? Because our enemy is ruthless and he is relentless. And I know that the church is called to be a buttress and pillar of the truth. But I know that being that buttress and pillar of the truth means conflict. Because darkness and light do not co-mingle. And when you shine a light on something, darkness rejects it. I know and I believe, I've experienced in my life, and I have no reason to think it will cease to be this after my life is done, that fierce wolves will seek to destroy you individually and this church corporately. I hope I don't live in a fairy tale. I hope you don't either. And they lived happily ever after. That would be wonderful, but not on this globe. Light and darkness are enemies. There is a conflict. My enemy is relentless. And I know that when I'm dead and gone, that there will be problems facing the Emanuel Baptist Church and you as a believer. And I know it's easy to get sidetracked, to get so busy. and then to get overwhelmed, and then to get frustrated, and then just go, I surrender. I'm tired of pulling the wagon. I don't wanna pull it anymore, I wanna ride. I know that defections, that loss, there will be losses and there will be broken fellowship, and I know how hard that is. I think you know, I know that many of you know as well as I do, the pain of seeing someone defect, to leave the faith, someone that you love, that you've invested a wonderful resource of time into, and your love into, to just be off and by Pathmeto. You know that, don't you? And I know what that does to the spirit. And do I think it'll ever happen again? Yes, I do. And I pray it's not one of you. But I know the reality is it probably will be. And you will break our hearts. And you will cause us to look in the mirror and go, what is going on? We all need encouragement. And we all need reminding of our basic focus and goal, lest we get discouraged and fallen away. And what is that basic focus and encouragement? Remember, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. I know that remaining sin is a problem. I know it's a problem in my life. I know it's a problem in your life. I know that the persons that we would think here that are the most holy, and in fact are no doubt probably the most holy, I know that in their life there's remaining sin. And I know what remaining sin will do. You fight it, and you lose sometimes, and you lose too many times, honestly. And I know that as remaining sin exists, that we will offend one another. Any man that's not perfect with his speech is a perfect man. Any man that offends not with his tongue is a perfect man. I've said, I don't know any of those guys. I'm not one of them and you're not either. I've offended you and you have offended me. How are we gonna live with one another? How are we gonna get over that? And I know that if we don't keep our focus right, we will get into, minutia that will cause confusion and disruption and will no longer be a pillar of the truth, will be a house of confusion and we won't have any real purpose or direction. Certainly we'll not be honoring Christ. And I know that true repentance can be hard. You know why it's so hard? I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Just remember, you know why this is so. True repentance is so hard, not because we find it hard to say, God forgive me, but it's so hard because I find it so hard to believe that God will forgive me by his grace through Jesus Christ my Lord. Remember, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Because I love you as a people, And I know that trials and temptations are real and that you will not escape them. I know that there will be disappointments. I know there will be disagreements. I know I live in a hostile world. You live in a hostile world. And I know that your love for Christ can get on the rocks and can wane just like mine. And I know that commitment covenant commitment to one another, to Christ, in the body of Christ, we call the church, I know that they can falter. And I know, even as we looked at last Lord's Day evening, I know that death is real. My own, even though I don't think any of us ever comprehend that, we say it, but I don't think we really get it. But I know death is real, my own, and perhaps more difficult others. I know that every one of you sitting in this room will die. And everything and everyone you love will die. And I know my great enemy is death, and I hate it. And my only hope, and my great consolation is that, is to remember. Jesus Christ, the seed of David, the Son of God, risen from the dead. Beloved, God bless you. I hope if you only had one sermon to hear, you've heard a sermon that will stir you up, encourage you, cause you to think, reflect, and be faithful to remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your people. We thank you for this congregation that's gathered here this day. We miss, of course, those who are unable to be with us because of sickness or responsibilities, perhaps a frowning providence. But Lord, we're grateful we could have this time together. And while the message has been somber and sober in many ways, I trust that, Lord, it also has been an encouragement to your people. that we will be stirred up by your great love, by the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who loved us and gave himself for us and was crucified, that was buried, and on the third day rose again. Oh, Lord, our God, help your people to remember and in remembering, may they persevere, may they be encouraged in the faith. I pray in the blessed name of Jesus, amen. I want to stand together and sing out of the Hymns of Grace, the bigger book. Hymn 310, and we will sing verses one and three of the resurrection hymn. I said, yeah, I said it right, Hymns of Grace 310. Staying up all the morning, the water's this dry. In the dark, in the dark, winter, the water's so bad. Cold, and the rain comes strong. ♪ Who built this place ♪ ♪ To sing of salvation there ♪ ♪ God of glory, great sacrifice ♪ ♪ Fulfilled in Christ the Lamb ♪ ♪ For He is Christ, Jesus Christ ♪ to the ocean, the sky, the land, and the sea. For all of us, all of us, all of us, all of us, all of us. Amen, you may be seated. Thank you for that message, Pastor Thomas. It is fitting that we would be celebrating the Lord's Supper, which is in itself a remembrance. I'd like to read a portion of scripture, and this is probably not something that we normally have read when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, but I'm going to read from the writings of Paul and the book of Romans in Romans chapter 7. He writes, for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As we come to the Lord's table, we don't come as people who have somehow attained the worthiness of our Lord. We have not gotten to a place in our lives where we can say, I am worthy. I am sinless. I have reached a point where I deserve this. No, we are still waging the war, the same war the apostle wrote about. But we also have the solution, the Lord Jesus Christ. For yes, he died. paying the penalty for the penalty we deserve. And not just for our past sins. When you're saved, you're not just given a clean slate and say, okay, all your past sins are removed and now it's up to you. Now you must work. No. Every sin, past, present, future, Jesus paid with his broken body and his spilt blood. We must remember that each and every day. And when you sin, don't let your sin drive you away from Christ. Don't let your sin drive you away from the word, but let your sin drive you to Christ. Flee to Christ. And so as we partake of this, this blessed table, let's be driven to Christ. Let's come to him for the forgiveness that only comes through him. No, we don't come in our own worth, we come in the worth of Christ. We approach this table because Christ is worthy. And we remember that He has paid the penalty for our sins. And we look forward to that glorious day when we shall behold Him face to face. And so let us, at this time, partake of this wonderful, wonderful remembrance as we look to please our Savior, as we look to live for our Savior, but as we do so in His strength, by the grace that is given to us through Him. We start over here, and if you would come forward and take the elements and take them back to your seats. I do want to say this, if you are visiting with us, We do practice open communion, but we have a guarded table. And we say we have a guarded table because if you're not a baptized believer, if you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have not professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, this table is not for you. This is for God's people. This is for those who have a saving faith in Christ. This is what this is about. having a saving faith. This is a public pronouncement that you do in fact believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you have repented of your sins and you continue to do so. This is for God's people who are in faithful covenant relationship with their church. So if you're visiting and you are in faithful covenant with your church, you are more than welcome to join us. If you are not, if you're on the discipline of a local church, this table, once again, is not for you. You must reconcile to your congregation before you are allowed to partake of this table. But I invite you all, as you are qualified, in Christ Jesus to partake of this table. At the very center of this celebration, the Lord's Table, what we are saying publicly as a congregation together, I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that his sacrifice was sufficient before God the Father and also I believe that he rose from the dead and he is no longer dead but he is alive praying for me even now and I believe that he will come again and I will see him face to face. That is what we're saying. That is the statement we are making. At this time, Pastor Thomas, would you offer a word of thanks to God for this bread, which represents his broken body? Father, we would, in thanksgiving, lift our voices to you for the great salvation that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord. The communion that we have with you through the Holy Spirit. And Father, for our promised and assured life and glory through the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ, we pray that you would bless this element that we hold in our hands. Lord, that as we receive it, we do so with thanksgiving, in remembrance of our Savior, not only, Lord, of his perfect life and his life-giving death, but also of his promised return. Feed your people, Lord. Bless them. Nurture their souls. And thank you for our Savior, in whose name I pray. Amen. And when he had given thanks, he took the bread and broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. You know, not only is this a personal statement that I believe, but this is us together saying that I believe that you believe. I believe that you are a part of Christ just as much as I am a part of Christ. And so we partake of this together as the body of Christ. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, you who are our God, our Savior, You who were faithful to the Father and obedient on our behalf. You who had given your church of old types and shadows. There was much blood spilt in the Old Covenant, but we know that all that blood that was spilt didn't even begin to compare to the blood that you spilled. For as you said that the life was in the blood, so eternal life was in your blood. And you shed it for us, we thank you. Because throughout history, there has been no one, there has been no other savior who could shed his blood and atone for our sins, save you. We are thankful for that. We are thankful that you willingly shed your blood on our behalf and that through which we now have redemption. You have purchased our redemption and we thank you and praise you for that. As we partake of this wine and juice now, Father, cause us to remember Jesus Christ, crucified, buried, risen from the dead. For it's in his name we pray, amen. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, the cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Dear ones, children of the living God, let us remember what Christ Jesus has done for us. As we were exhorted in the sermon, let us remember Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. Let us be faithful in sharing those memories those facts, those life giving truths to all we come in contact with. And may we praise God and look forward to his return. Now, if you would stand for the benediction and we will close with the doxology. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, one love He heavenly holds. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.