I invite you to take your Bibles this morning and turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. This morning we will resume our series in this epistle and pick up where we left off last. Last time we finished verses 12 through 17. And now we will turn our attention to the final section, which is the final three verses of chapter one. So follow along as I read 1 Timothy chapter one, verses 18 through 20. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." Here in verse 18, the Apostle Paul now picks up the theme of this letter that he left off in verse three. Verse three, he began this parenthesis about the trouble and the problem that had arisen at the church in Ephesus, the place where Paul had Timothy remain as Timothy traveled on in his journeys. Paul goes into detail beginning in verse 3 all the way through 17, detailing the problems that had arisen there in the church. The false teachers who were misusing and abusing God's law for selfish purposes and leading Christians astray both in doctrine and also in practice. This then led Paul into another digression, As it reminded him of his own personal testimony, that he too, before he was converted to Christ, was a former blasphemer of God and His law. And he was even a persecutor and violent aggressor, in his own words, of God's people. till God mercifully intervened and rescued the Apostle Paul, who was Saul of Tarsus, from sin and self-righteousness, granting him saving faith and calling him not only to be a disciple, but also a minister of the gospel. He is overwhelmed by God's mercy and grace in this reality. Passing over this digression in verses 3 through 17, Paul returns to the charge given to Timothy and solemnly commits to him the pastoral care of the Ephesian church, which was under spiritual attack. And reminding Timothy of his charge while stationed at Ephesus, we are reminded of the nature of the Christian life. on this side of heaven. And it is one marked by spiritual conflict. Spiritual conflict, contention, attacks are inevitable for every Christian. All who enter in through the narrow gate must also proceed on the narrow and difficult way that leads to everlasting life. Our Lord promised his disciples peace and power and his presence, but only after first promising them tribulation in this world. The apostles then reiterated this certainty throughout their epistles. Military imagery is common in the New Testament, especially in Paul's writings. revealing to us that all of God's people, for all time, are engaged in spiritual warfare, whether we realize it or not. We may not think in terms of the Christian life as spiritual warfare. We may not understand all the implications that that entails for our own life, of how we ought to live the Christian life. But nonetheless, the Bible clearly speaks of the Christian living out his Christian life, albeit with his presence and power and in the joy of the Lord, but in the midst of spiritual warfare, where the stakes are high and the enemies of our soul and the church many. Our character here, as the church, is the Lord's army. Our role as Christians, as members of the body of Christ, soldiers of Christ, conquerors, until in glory we will one day be that of a victor. Listen to the words of William Grinnell, an English Puritan and author, who wrote a classic gold standard work on Christian's warfare. He wrote this, the soldier is summoned to a life of active duty. And so is the Christian. The very nature of the calling precludes a life of ease. We are to live as Christians in this world, but not of this world, knowing that we are living in enemy territory. The God of this world is the ruler of this world, the devil. And his hosts and his army are relentless in their attack towards the gospel, towards the church, and towards every Christian. Seeing then that we are in the Lord's army as Christians, that we are soldiers of Christ under orders of the captain of our salvation to fight the good fight, it will do us well to heed Paul's instructions to Timothy and consider the implications for our own lives as we seek to be faithful followers, soldiers of our Lord and master. This morning, we will only look at verse 18. There is enough here for us to stop and pause and consider this morning. And I have divided verse 18 into three parts. First, the soldier's command. Second, the soldier's calling. And thirdly, the soldier's conflict. Let's begin here with the soldier's command in verse 18. Paul writes again to Timothy, this charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy. Here in verse 18, as I mentioned, Paul returns to the theme of this letter after his digression. But before detailing his charge, which he will go into beginning in verse two, he takes a moment to remind Timothy of God's providential dealings in his own life, which not only gave The Apostle Paul confidence in Timothy, that is why he committed Timothy to stay there in Ephesus, to deal with the problems that had arisen in the church. He trusted Timothy, but he also hoped by what he says here will also motivate this young disciple of his, his trusted co-laborer, to courageously take up this most important role in the church at Ephesus. Here's how we can take verse 3, where Paul goes on this digression afterwards, and then picks up in verse 18. Listen closely. Paul says, in essence, as I urged you, that is Timothy, when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to spread false teachings, so now do I place this charge in your care. in keeping with the prophecies once spoken about you or to you, so that by them you may serve as a soldier in a noble war. Paul says here in these words, this charge, this word charge has a military connotation. It refers to an authoritative command or mandate. Paul used this in verse three and five here earlier in this chapter. Look at verse three again. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge, there's the same word, order, command some that they teach no other doctrine. Verse five. Now the end of the commandment or charge is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Here, Paul, an apostle, under authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, is giving a direct order to Timothy, his field officer, if you will, in the battlefield, the battlefield here being Ephesus, which is under direct attack by Satan and his demonic army. This charge that Paul commits This word commits here in this verse can be also translated as entrust, as this prized possession that is deposited or entrusted to Timothy. Notice how he addresses Timothy here. My son, my child in the faith. Paul being the father of Timothy in the faith. His ministry influencing and leading to Timothy's conversion. This charge that Paul commits or entrusts to Timothy is his assignment of confronting false teachers in their misuse of the law, establishing sound teaching, the law and the gospel, to the end, not only that sinners are saved from themselves and led away from their sin and guilt unto Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man, but that their salvation may lead also to godliness. That the law and the gospel that which they entrust their very lives to would lead to a life of holiness and obedience to God. Timothy's commission is of great significance because Satan here in Ephesus at this time has begun a stealth attack through false teachers and is threatening the very spiritual health and life of the church. This is Timothy's charge or task. I want to pause here and make an observation. What about you today? As I mentioned at the beginning, the introduction of this message, there are implications here from Timothy's charge and Timothy's command that apply directly to us as believers today, 2,000 years later. Has God, through Christ, entrusted you with a commission in his kingdom as a soldier enlisted in his army? The risen and exalted Lord has called every believer, every Christian, to hold forth the light of the gospel, to proclaim the authoritative message, to who? To His very enemies. Which is His God-ordained means to conquer those selfsame enemies of the cross. Not with physical weapons, but with the message of salvation. the message that God delivers sinners from wrath and condemnation. It is what we call the Great Commission. And it is given to every one of us who claim the name of Christ here this morning. I remind you again of those words given by our Lord Jesus Christ before His ascension to His disciples, ones that we are all familiar with. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, or better translated from the Greek, as you go into the world, as I leave to go back to heaven, to sit on the right hand of God as exalted Lord, and you go back into the world, you are to do what? To live your lives comfortably in isolation until God calls you home? As you go into the world, make disciples of all nations. We are entrusted with the command to call God's enemies to surrender. I don't know if we think in terms like that, those military metaphors and imagery, but this is exactly what Christ is commissioning His church to do. This is exactly what Paul is commissioning Timothy to do here in Ephesus. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. that outward symbol of what has happened inwardly, a public identification of all those who now surrender to Christ, have publicly identified themselves with Christ, and give their allegiance to Christ. teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, training and equipping once enemies of the cross who are now soldiers of the cross to faithfully obey and observe all that Christ has taught, and then for themselves now to disciple the nations. Is that not the pattern in life of the Apostle Paul? An enemy of the cross. An enemy of Christ. Persecuting, hating, putting to death Christ's disciples. God delivering them. Delivering him from that life. Converting him soundly and calling him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Yes, pastors. are to play a role in the Great Commission. Pastors are to play a role in contending for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Yes, pastors are to defend the faith and to strive for the gospel, no doubt. But every context in which the Great Commission, which the New Testament authors in their epistles write about our commission, our calling to hold forth the gospel and to all the nations, to this crooked and perverse generation is the work of the whole church. Every one of us is held responsible before our commander in chief. And it requires great skill and commitment, all to which God has gifted us with and equipped us with by His Spirit and His Word. What is the ministry of the church that Paul speaks of in Ephesians chapter 4? He has given, yes, apostles and prophets, pastors to the church for what? that we, in our role, might equip others, for what? For ministry, for serving God. So we, taking this military imagery, pastors, not by our own merits, but by the commission of God, called to equip the people of the church, for what? For the work of the ministry, to carry forth His word unto the nations. That is what we are doing here week in and week out. And it's amazing to me how the overlap of our messages on Wednesdays and our 10 a.m. services, even for myself, have all overlapped here and come to a head even in this study of this verse this morning. Knowing that not only what comes out of our mouth as we speak the words of God's truth to the lost, but also our lives are to be influential to everyone, to be the salt and light of the world, that our lives with one another also are used to influence the very enemies of the cross. All of this combining so that we would be faithful soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul goes on here in verse 18. The task that Timothy was entrusted with at Ephesus is daunting. It required courage and confidence. And if you are familiar, as we are with Timothy and his very disposition and very character, some that you may be able to familiarize yourself or familiar with or can relate to, Timothy was not one given to self-confidence. He was not a natural go-getter. He was timid. He was fearful. He was ready to shirk responsibilities, even crying, coming to tears when the Apostle Paul says, Timothy, you're gonna have to stay here in Ephesus. I'm leaving, and he is in utter despair. When we think about our responsibility and our calling and our charge in the Great Commission as Christians to go out and to make disciples of all nations, to call them to faith and repentance, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the gospel message, to go and stand and talk to your neighbor, to your coworker, to your family member and say, speak and spread the truth to these people here in your life. We are often met with doubt and fear. and we oftentimes avoid opportunities like that. That is why Paul is saying these words, which are also important for us here today. Paul's words at the beginning of this verse are intended to hold him accountable to his duty. But they do not come from a superior who is merely handing out marching orders, who's merely barking at Timothy. The same goes for pastors. We are not up here saying, get your act together, soldier. Get it in line. Do what God has told you to do. Paul here, with that pastor's heart, tactful in his words, sensitive to who Timothy was. What he says next in reference to the prophecies of Timothy, towards Timothy, is with this in mind and is meant to encourage Timothy and to strengthen his hand before the church at Ephesus to carry out these often unpleasant duties. So we see here in the next part of verse 18 what Paul's focus of his encouragement to Timothy is. What is the focus? How is Paul encouraging Timothy here? It wasn't positive affirmation, self-assurance. That's the way the world speaks to us and would want us to believe about ourselves, right? Believe in yourself. Trust in yourself. You are good enough. You are smart enough. You can do this for Christ. Paul says nothing of this. It is not self-focus. He didn't tell him to look to himself for anything that he had done in the past. Instead, Paul's encouragement was aimed at getting Timothy to focus on God and his will for his life. The charge committed to Timothy was not something new or arbitrary, something random, but entirely, as we see here, according to, in verse 18, or in agreement with, or in keeping with the prophecies previously spoken about or pointed to you for some special work. We can't say with any certainty what these prophecies were. We are not told what these are here in Timothy, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, or in any of Paul's writings directed to Timothy. We can't even tell when they were necessarily given. We can only conclude that Paul is thinking about some past event still fresh in Timothy's mind. when prophecies were uttered by the Church regarding Timothy and the work of the ministry he was called to. We remember in that time, before the New Testament canon was completed, that God had given to the Church prophets, not only to declare God's Word in the Old Testament, but also to declare prophetic utterances about certain people within the Church and certain activity and certain events that were to happen of a future Reality. For Timothy, this may have happened when he was first converted at the church in Lystra, and he showed this great giftedness in his own personality given by God. It could have happened at his ordination when inspired words had been spoken of him at his home church in Lystra. Turn over quickly to chapter four in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter four, and look at verse 14. We see Paul even allude to these words that may have been prophesied about Timothy when he was still at Lystra. He says in verse 14 of chapter 4, "...neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on the hands of the presbytery." Turn back to chapter 1. Here, Paul is reminding Timothy of something that happened when he was ordained in Lystra. That there were prophets there in the church that had laid hands upon him and had given and presented him with this gift of the Spirit. It could have been when Timothy was formally appointed by Paul to serve alongside of him in his missionary labors. We read about this in Acts chapter 16, verse 3. It could have been when the time had come for Paul to leave the church at Ephesus and commands Timothy to stay there to serve in the gospel ministry at Ephesus and the elders there or Paul came along and prophesied about Timothy and what his ministry would be and all that entails in it. This reminds us of the prophecy spoken over, the words of the Spirit spoken over in the Apostle Paul's own ministry in Acts chapter 13, when we read of prophets in the church at Antioch and the clear declaration of the Holy Spirit to what? Set apart Barnabas and Saul apart from me for the work to which I have called them. William Hendrickson in his commentary on First Timothy provides hopeful insight. He writes, these previous prophetic utterances, which we are unaware of, have probably been of the following nature. They singled out Timothy for special service in God's kingdom, summarized his duties, predicted his suffering, and strengthened him with the promise of divine help in all his trials. It reminds us, does it not, of Paul's own prophetic words spoken to him when he was first converted. Remember when he was sitting in that room in blindness still and God spoke to, the Lord spoke to Ananias and said, Ananias to Paul. And he was to tell Paul these words, go and tell him this, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. We may safely assume that such words were also spoken in Timothy's case. What about you? in your commission to make disciples, to evangelize the lost. to teach, guide, and equip others in the work of the ministry and service of the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you in your charge to contend for the faith that was once delivered unto all the saints? What about you in being called to strive together for the gospel? What about you who are called to always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you when you are questioned about it. All of these, do you see the military imagery? Be ready, always prepare, contend, strive. Is this not often a daunting task to us? Are we not also tempted to neglect this responsibility placed upon your life and mine by God himself? So you too, just like Paul, in encouraging and strengthening the hand of Timothy with the prophetic utterances and promises of God, we too then must cling to and claim the very promises of God to encourage and embolden you in your calling. Remember, the Great Commission comes with such a promise, does it not? It comes with the promise of divine presence and the power to uphold us in fulfilling our duty. Behold, our Lord says, I am with you. Each one of you, plural, every Christian, the disciples and apostles then, every Christian since then, I am with you. How long? When? Always. Those bad days? When I am doubting and I am faithless? Yes. The good days when God fills me with his spirit to go forth and burdens me to reach the loss within my family, within my neighborhood, within the workplace. Yes. Behold, I am with you always. How long? Even until the end of the age. It was on these very words that many of us are familiar with, that David Livingston, the missionary explorer of Africa, said he staked everything to and they never failed. when he was faced with death from the savage tribes in Africa, seeking to reach the lost there, to make disciples of all nations, and thinking his life now was on the line, he staked his very life to this promise. Can we not do the same in our own calling in the Great Commission, to evangelize, to defend the faith. We must stake our claim to the very promise of Christ. If we do not, and when we do not, we will easily cower, put our head in the sand, and turn away from every opportunity. But if we go forth in God's promise and power, we can conquer and disciple all nations for our Lord and Savior. We are not as Christians ones who say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. What do we say? When the going gets tough, the weak and the helpless cling to God for help and strength to persevere in the battle of the kingdom of darkness against the kingdom of light. God promises us, Christ promises us, the apostles promise us that the going will get tough every day, both internally in our own battle with our own sin, and that unholy trinity, the world, the flesh, and the devil never stop. That battle never stops. That war never ceases until we are called to glory. So we must hold fast to God's word and his promises that he has given to us in his word. Finally, in verse 18, we have the soldier's conflict, soldier's command, soldier's calling, and finally the soldier's conflict. Paul says to Timothy here again in verse 18, This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went on before thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. The mention of these prophetic words in Timothy's case serves to remind him of God's will for his life, his appointment to the ministry and God's presence and power that was available to him so that by them, conscious of them, reminded of them, bolstered by them, as a motivation to him, would stir him up to war. To contend. to engage in war as a soldier, to war the good warfare. The word warfare here, in some of your translations, it may say to fight the good fight. That's really not the best translation that is rendered here for this, because the word warfare here is really a military campaign. It is not one fight, we fight it and it's done. It is a military campaign that does not cease until Christ returns again. He calls Timothy to play his role in this part, specifically on the battlefield in Ephesus. For us, it is here in Morgan Hill, in the South County, in the South Bay, for us to wage our war. This is military language. It is not exaggerative language given by the Apostle Paul. He sees Timothy as a high-ranking officer in the Lord's army who has received his orders to resist the forces of evil which are attacking the church through demonic doctrines which pervert the gospel. This is a good war. We ask the question, can we really say there's any war that's good? Is there really good war? Isn't all war bad war? The implication in the spiritual reality that's here, because Paul is not speaking about a physical war with swords or guns and ammunition and weapons, but a spiritual warfare. There is such thing as a bad war in the kingdom of God. It's when Christians war over things that are non-essential doctrines to the Christian faith. When we argue over things like gifts of the spirit, certain days that people are convicted in their minds and hold to that are different than others. Towards eschatology, so on and so forth, and Christians bicker and fight and debate. Relationships are ruined over and over again over these things. That's a bad war. That's bad fighting. That's bad conflict that we are devoid. And many churches are engaged in that. But we are called to go forth into the world to make disciples of all nations. We are trying to battle one another. But the good war that Paul speaks of here is the war that we are called against the very kingdom of darkness. Yes, you, dear brother or sister in Christ, are called as a soldier in Christ's army to wage war, this good and noble war. Why is it a good and noble war? Because the very cross work, the very gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ from sin and God's wrath is being directly attacked. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but when someone perverts that gospel, when some religion or cult perverts that gospel and begins to spread those lies, we are to stand in the gap and to fight back against those evil forces. I will build my church, Christ said, and the gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against it. It is an offensive attack that the church, that God's people are engaged in. Timothy was to understand that his real battle was not merely with false teachers, but the satanic inspiration behind them and their teaching. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read a very familiar verse, Ephesians chapter six, verse 12. Paul, again, using this military language, writes, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Timothy's conflict is not against physical opponents. Your struggle, your fight is not against your neighbor per se, or your family member per se. But what is influencing them behind them? They are lost, they are sinners, enslaved to their sin and enemies of God. Satan holds them captive. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, Paul writes, but against spiritual enemies, the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural places. This is what God in his divine providence and sovereignty has called each one of us to participate in. fighting back the wickedness and evil of the kingdom of darkness. You and I must never forget that every Christian is engaged in spiritual warfare. We should never downplay the forces of evil at work in our world and culture today. Satan, the great adversary of our soul, opposes the gospel and is relentless in his endeavors to oppress us by demonic assault, to sin and unbelief. We are never to underestimate the power of Satan, but at the same time, we are never to forget whose side we are fighting on. We are never to forget we know the outcome. that God will prevail, that Christ will come and return to defeat all of his foes and to make his enemies his very footstool. But in the meantime, he calls us to subdue the evil in this world by the gospel. We, each one of us, not only the church as a whole, each one of us are considered stewards of the gospel. We must remember whose side we are fighting on and who the captain of our salvation is. It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. These things, understanding whose side we're fighting on and the captain of our salvation in the Lord's army, will move us forward to victory and the glory that is being laid up for us in heaven. Remember what we read about in Revelation and other passages in the New Testament about that Christian as a servant, as a soldier of Christ, when he enters into glory, he is given what? the crown of glory, the victor's wreath that is placed upon him. Who gets a victor's wreath? Who gets that eternal reward? Those who are striving now, working and serving Christ now. That promise only comes to those who are actively engaged in serving Christ on this side of eternity. If we are not, we have to begin to look and think very seriously about our relationship and faith in Christ himself. Listen to the words that you are all familiar with from Martin Luther. and understand that these words are meant to strengthen us. They are written and composed based upon the Psalm that was read this morning in your hearing in Psalm 46. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure. Have you ever stopped And pause at those words. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. That is whose side you are fighting on. That is that attitude and that military mentality as a soldier that we are to live our Christian life. Next time, We will consider the armor that God has furnished every believer with in this spiritual warfare that will help us resist the devil and advance us forward to victory, as well as casualties on the battlefield. Those who are influenced by Satan to desert the battlefield by turning from the truth of the gospel unto lies. But a final word this morning to those who are not part of the Lord's army, to those who are strangers to Christ. There are only two kingdoms in this world, the kingdom of God, which is also known as the kingdom of light, and the kingdom of darkness, which is also known as the kingdom of evil. You are either in one or the other. Those who belong to the kingdom of light are those who have trusted in Christ for salvation and have been delivered from their sin. They are known in Scripture as those who have not only been saved from sin, but believe, love, and practice the truth of Christ in His Word. Those who belong to the kingdom of darkness or evil are those who do not believe in Christ's saving work. They are known as Scripture as those who love darkness, sin and wickedness, rather than the light, which is Christ. And are known as those who practice evil because they hate the light, which is Christ. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6, 24, no one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth, or money, or possessions, or power, or whatever it is in your life that you value more than Christ himself. In Matthew 12, 30, our Lord says, he who is not with me is against me. Where do you stand this morning? And this applies even to you young people, boys and girls here this morning, whose kingdom Are you a part of? Can you say I belong to the Lord's kingdom? Christ is my Lord and Savior, and I am serving him as a soldier this morning. If you are not the only answer that you can give, then that you is that you are against him. You are the very enemy of God himself. Do not say that. Lightly do not say that with any ounce of joy in my heart and in my mind this morning. I tremble to say those words to you to any who are not on the Lord's side. If you're not on the Lord's side, you're an enemy of God, and if you die unbelieving in your sin, you will perish and suffer the wrath of God. Jesus Christ is going to return, but this time, He is not going to come as Savior, He is going to come as your judge. You do not want to go into this final day of judgment without Christ as your Savior and your Lord. He will execute his perfect justice towards you and your sin and will cast you into everlasting fire in hell to punish you for an eternity for your sin. But as long as you have breath in your lungs, he offers you mercy today, just like he offered mercy to everyone in here, including your parents. He has made terms of peace. He will agree to terms of surrender this morning. He will agree to terms of peace, but they are on his terms, not yours and not mine. And they are for you to believe. in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the very God-man, the very mediator for man to deliver them from their sin, and also for us to turn from our sin, wholly clinging and trusting and pledging our allegiance to Christ. That is what saving faith is. Surrendering yourself, coming to the very end of yourself, and clinging to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. What I just presented, brothers and sisters in Christ, is the bad news and the good news of the gospel. Part of the teaching ministry of a pastor of a church is to example how we are to explain these things to the lost around us. We do so in the fear of the Lord, but we do so with gentleness. and kindness, and love, pleading with people to surrender. Not to just choose Christ, get your hell insurance, and go on your way, but to surrender. Your sin has separated you from God, so I ask you that today, come to Christ, believe upon Him, and He has promised to save you. The joy that you are seeking after in life, and all of these other things, and indulging yourself in sin, will only lead you to hell. That God-shaped void in your heart is real, and it is only resolved and satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is one of the greatest privileges, the greatest privileges, to sit down and tell somebody that, even if they decide to hear it and say, you know what, I'm fine in my sin. and they go on their way, for we have done what God has commanded us to do. We are being faithful to His calling and leaving the results to God. And not saying, if you just say this prayer with me, I gotta make sure that what I said actually worked and was effectual, so say this prayer with me, sign this card, join this church, get baptized. Presenting the gospel, being a witness to Christ, with full authority, accuracy, honesty, and love is what God has called us to. Our gracious Heavenly Father, these words given to Timothy by the Apostle Paul we realize come to us also with great weight and gravity. If we have not recognized that we are soldiers in the Lord's army, that we have been giving orders directly from Christ himself as Christians, then forgive us. Forgive us of neglecting our duty unto you to be faithful soldiers to you. Help us. Help us in our weakness. It is you who said to the Apostle Paul, and by extension to each one of us here, that your grace is sufficient for us. where your power is made perfect in our weakness. May we look away from the arm of the flesh, from any self-dependence, from any pride. May we come humbly to you this morning, thinking of the gospel, even as believers. Help us to lay down all of these things that would hinder us from being faithful witnesses and soldiers to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our desire, not only as Christians in our individual lives, but as a church. We desire to go forth from this place as an army. You have called us each to our own place, our own homes, our own families, our own workplace, our own neighborhoods. You have sovereignly and providentially put us in these places next to our neighbors, next to our family members, next to every person who was lost. And you have said, you, you. Go and speak the words of life to them. Oh God, help us. Help us to do so, and may we see the fruit of our labors. May we see you bring in a harvest of sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would see sinners praise God, who they once hated. We ask and pray these things through Christ's name. Amen.