we'd like to share a song with you this morning entitled the potter and uh... brother delbert nine we have some times in the past but it's always been at a funeral service and usually the deceased person asked us to sing at their funeral and so this is the first time that we've shown to a live audience. But we trust this song will be a blessing to you. It's entitled, The Panther, and it ought to be the goal, the desire, the aim of each one of us as men of God to draw closer unto the Lord Jesus. The potter took the clay and made a vessel With his hand he put it in place pieces all the scars the potter erased for I am the clay and he is the potter and I know what I used to be yes I I know the hand of the potter and I know what he's done. me. I was made in the image of Jesus. My soul has been satisfied. Jesus has made creation in his love however abide. For I am the clay and he is the potter and I know what I used to be. of the potter, and I know what he's done for Eve. Yes, I know the hand of the potter, and I know what he's done for The way he started that off, about introducing it as they've only sung at funerals before, I was wondering, I was waiting for him to say, okay, so who's dying here this morning? But, oh well. Thank you, man, I appreciate that very much. Dr. Goetsch, why don't you just come and preach for us. Amen. That reminded me of a couple of guys that were going to a funeral, and they were going by the casket, and their friend was there in the casket, and they were kind of looking at him, and one fellow said, you know, he was a good man. He was a good man. You know, he loved his wife, and worked hard at his job, just always in church. He was a good man. The other fellow said, Yeah, he was And fell said, you know he said Boy, I hope when I'm laying in that casket. I hope they say nice things about me. I hope they'll say that I I love the Lord and that I you know was faithful to my wife and that I did the best I could with my kids and Faithful to church I just hope, you know, when I'm laying in there, they'll say some nice things about me. The other fellow said, yeah. He said, Joe, what do you want them to say about you when you're laying there in the casket? The other fellow, he thought long and hard about that. He said, you know, when I'm laying in there and they look at me, I hope they say, hey, look, he's moving. So we're all still moving this morning. And thanks for singing to the moving this morning. We're glad we're still moving. And it's a Saturday morning and maybe a little unusual to be in church on Saturday morning, but that's okay. And I'm glad that you're here and appreciate the great night last night, good fellowship and a good allowing of the Lord to work in our hearts. Well, let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. We'll read the first eight verses here of this chapter 2nd Timothy chapter 4 Apostle Paul of course is writing to a young man as we would say Timothy and Giving him much instruction in both of these books of 1st and 2nd Timothy, but he's coming now to the end of that instruction and And in verse number four, or verse number one of chapter four, he says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering in doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, But after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day Not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing It's part of our human nature to desire change. I We like a change of weather we like it when it starts turning to spring and we got the winter Kind of behind us and we're looking forward to maybe summer. We we like a change of clothes We like a change of diet and we like a change You know in our circumstances all of us enjoyed change in 2008 we as a country voted for change And boy, we got it. We really got it. I Politicians base base much of their campaigns on that desire in human nature for change. I Wonder are we allowing a changing culture? to change us as Christians I've often pictured it this way if you were to think in your mind of a map of the United States and Most of you can do that in your mind. You can you can see the the country in your mind as a as a map and Over here on the East Coast. Let's say You would have a city like New York City And let's just for the sake of the illustration allow New York City that location on the map of the United States Let's let it represent God Now, I don't know if God's anywhere near New York City, but for the sake of the illustration, let's just let New York represent God. Okay, now, we know that the world and God are completely different. In other words, the culture of the world and God have absolutely nothing in common. The Bible says in 1 John 2.15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but it's of the world. And the world passed away in the lust of their love. So we know that the world, the culture of this world, and God have absolutely nothing in common. So if God were to be pictured in New York, we could put the world maybe over here in Pittsburgh. Okay? In other words, there's a big difference. There's a lot of miles in difference between God and the world. Okay. Now, we as Christians, we know we're not supposed to be like the world. And we pride ourself in saying, well, you know, I'm not like them. You know, I'm not as bad as them. I'm a Christian. I don't live like that. But at the same time, we sort of excuse ourselves for not really being godly either. We kind of say, well, you know, I don't want to sell out too much. I don't want to give my whole life to God. I want to be a Christian and I want to be known as a Christian and I don't want to be like the world, but I'm not completely surrendered to God either. So on this map, we could say that maybe the Christian is in Philadelphia. In other words, he's not over here in the world in Pittsburgh. But he's not over in New York, either, where God is. He's not in the center of God's will. He's not doing exactly what God would have him do. He's not completely sold out to God. He's in Philadelphia. Now, the world is always moving. It's getting worse. Right? Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. You don't really need the Bible to understand that. You need the newspaper. You know the Fox News will tell you that the world is getting worse So as things go along pretty soon the world has moved from Pittsburgh over to Chicago And what happens to a lot of Christians is while the world moves to Chicago We move to Pittsburgh Now all of a sudden the Christian they're still not like the world. They still say well, we're not like that But we're where the world used to be And as I said in one of my books by the time the world falls into the Pacific Ocean Christians have bought a house in Vegas The problem is God's still in New York and Because God doesn't change. I am the Lord. I change not. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. Aren't you glad that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever? God doesn't change. He's an immutable God. we know that the Bible doesn't change now people try to rewrite the Bible they try to revise the Bible but we know that God's word God's truth stands forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven the word of God cannot be broken concerning thy testimonies I have known of old thou hast founded them forever thy word is true from the beginning every one of thy righteous judgments endureth Forever the grass withers the flower falleth, but the words of our God shall Stand forever heaven and earth shall pass away But my words shall not pass away being born again not of corruptible seed But of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever All flesh is as grass the glory of man is the flower of grass the grass withers the flower falleth but the words of our God shall Shall stand forever and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Thank God We have a changeless God. We have a changeless message in the Word of God But Paul is warning Timothy here. Be careful Because oftentimes in a culture that is constantly changing the temptation is for you to change as well In a book called beyond foundationalism subtitle, Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. The authors Stanley Grenz and John Frank wrote this in their opening statement in the book. The categories and paradigms of the modern world are in collapse. Christian theology therefore needs to be rethought, revised, and adapted in order to keep step and remain relevant in these changing times. They go on to say, since culture is constantly in a state of flux, it is right and fitting for Christian theology to be in a perpetual state of transition too. No issue should be regarded as finally settled. Wow. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. And if it's settled in heaven, it's settled on earth too. Now in Paul's charge to Timothy here in verses one through eight, I see 10 reminders of a consistent Christian in a changing culture. It's probably been a long time since you've heard a sermon with 10 points, but here it is. 10 reminders in these eight verses to someone who wants to remain consistent In a changing culture. I don't know about you. I want to stay consistent I I know i'm not perfect. I I know I can't be In my flesh everything that I want to be But as the world continues to change and evolve and get worse and worse. I want to stay faithful I want to stay consistent to the lord now notice these 10 reminders first of all in verse 1 I see an apostle's vision It says I charge thee therefore before God Paul hadn't had his eye on Timothy and The potential that he had for the Lord Now, some would believe that Paul had led Timothy to Christ. I don't know that he did. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1, unto Timothy, my own son in the faith, as he writes the first letter there. And some would interpret that to believe that Paul had actually led Timothy to the Lord, his son in the faith. I I wonder then what Paul meant in 2nd Timothy 1 where he says when I call to remembrance the unfamed faith Which is in thee which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice and I am persuaded in thee also So I have the feeling that Timothy Knowing the Word of God from a child from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures Which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. He says in 2nd Timothy 3 in verse 15. I So I kind of believe that his grandmother, his mother had taught him the gospel as a young boy and Timothy got saved at an early age. Now there's no question, however, that Paul came along in the absence of a spiritual dad in Timothy's life and became a strong mentor to Timothy. And in that sense Paul did father him, you know spiritually and mentor him along as a Christian young man and Paul had a vision for Timothy probably before Timothy had that vision for himself Aren't you glad that somebody believed in you before you believed in yourself? Aren't you glad that God somebody saw you as a lost sinner and said I'm gonna witness to them and I'm gonna give them a tract. I'm gonna invite them to church. I believe they'd get saved if I invited them Aren't you glad that somebody gave the gospel to you believing that you would receive it as you look back in your life You can see people who invested in your life long before you believe there was worth investing Wayne Gretzky who was arguably the greatest hockey player of all time. In fact, his nickname was the great one They asked him one time. How did you become a success in hockey? Here's what he said. I I always skated to where the puck was going to be, not where it had already been. Now, I never played hockey. I did play some football, and I know the principle. I can remember coaches screaming at us when we were playing defense to take proper angles of pursuit. In other words, if the running back's got the ball and he's going around the right end, don't run to where he is now. Run to where he's going! Get there before he does and smack him! I went to public school, so there were some other words in there too, but the point is the proper angle of pursuit. Okay? You know, I go to churches and people say, oh, pray for me, I got junior church today. You know what the problem is? You're looking at those kids where they are now instead of skating where they're gonna be. You know, oh, I gotta teach junior highers, you know. That's an awkward age. No question, but don't look at him as junior hires Look at him as future men and women of God people are gonna Have families and people who may be the pastor of church. I taught in a Christian school my first year out of college and I look back at some of those kids and I see where they are now An eighth grade boy in that in that school He's now the pastor of the church That little first grade girl, I don't know how many times I spanked her. We could spank back in those days. We had authority from the parents to use a paddle. I spanked that girl so many times, she's now the secretary of the church. It's embarrassing to walk in her office. Think back, you know and some of those kids and and I don't know that I always had the vision for them that Somebody did but but thank God that someone invested in our life before we believed in ourselves Some of you would know the name dr. Richard Weeks Dr. Weeks pastored in Chicago for a number of years and then taught at Maranatha Baptist Bible College and and When I went to college, he was the academic dean and he taught a lot of classes I took Preaching from I learned how to preach from dr. Weeks. I took Baptist history and Revelation and the book of Acts and just a number of classes and he wasn't the easiest teacher in the world But I was learned in his classes Dr. Weeks was a little short guy probably about five three five four probably didn't weigh more than 135 pounds He was the statistician on our football team and he'd he'd travel with us, you know and got to know him And he was just a wonderful man When he died his daughter Ruth asked me if I would come and have a part in that service and So I did Dr. Weeks was lying in state there at the front of that church and Several of us were sitting on the platform that we're going to either give a testimony or read some scripture Pastor Lincoln was going to preach the the sermon and dr. Cedar home I believe was was saying some things and it we were all we were all just sitting there on the platform and They started inviting people to come up and give a testimony Concerning dr. Weeks and one of the men that came up to speak was a man by the name of David Leslie and David less they'd grown up in Chicago and dr Weeks had been his pastor and so it was obvious why they would choose him to to say a word and and David began to talk about his early memories of dr. Weeks and he said, you know when I went to Maranatha He said just about every Friday night Dr. Weeks had come in the dorm about five o'clock in the afternoon. He'd say who wants to go to a football game? Who wants to go to a football game? And of course, we all did. We all wanted to get off campus and, you know, get out of prison free for a few hours, you know. And they'd say, who wants to go? And a bunch of guys would gather around. He'd say, all right, meet me at, you know, six o'clock and I'll take you to the high school game. And he'd say we'd go down there and get in his car and pack that thing. Eight or nine of us, you know, jump in there and he'd take us over to Washington Park and he'd pay our way into that game. And we'd climb up in those bleachers. And he said, we were up there one night getting ready for the game. Dr. Weeks said hey guys See number 60 down there. Let's pray for him If God could get a hold of his heart God could use him I'm sitting there. I didn't know that I Was number 60 The man's in the casket I Never knew that That at my high school games, he sat in the bleachers and prayed for me. I've never gotten to thank him for that. I'm hoping one day to thank him for that. Guys, somebody believed in you before you knew to believe in yourself. Paul had a vision here we see the Apostles vision for young Timothy and I hope there's somebody in your church or your family that you have a vision for notice secondly and advised vigilance in verse number one He says I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall judge the quick of the dead it is appearing and his kingdom gentlemen. We are not living our life unnoticed God is keeping a record of our life and And Paul is saying, Timothy, be vigilant about how you live, because one day we will give an account of that life. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every man may receive the things done in his body according to that which he has done, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Every man's work should be made manifest. For the day shall declared it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is We're not going to give an account to this culture. We're not gonna give an account to our church We're not gonna give an account to our pastor. We're gonna give an account to God Our pastor may only see us on Sundays the world and even our family doesn't see us 24-7, but God sees all of our life and The fear of man bringeth a snare but who so put it this trust in the Lord shall be made safe many seek the rulers Favor, but every man's judgment cometh from the Lord Psalm 96 in verse 13 before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the earth He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth We're not going to be compared to the world I We're going to be compared to the plumb line of God's word And so on advised vigilance, but notice thirdly an authoritative vocalization In verse two, he says preach the word preach The word Timothy, the word preach is the word kairiasson It's the verb form of kairux Which is the word for preacher and and this word preach is found some 50 times in the New Testament Primarily in the book of action in the Gospels and it means to proclaim it means to herald the good news It is news from another Whenever I think of this word kairiasson, I always think of Paul Revere. I Paul Revere rides through the streets of Boston, and his message is, the British are coming! The British are coming! It wasn't his message. It was the message of another. He was sent simply to be the kairiosan, the proclaimer, the heralder of this truth that the Revolutionary War was about to begin. And God has left us here, gentlemen, to preach the Word. to proclaim the good news of the gospel, to tell others about Christ. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The gospel is a preached gospel. You say, but brother, yes, there are 7.3 billion people on the planet. How in the world are we going to preach the gospel to every creature? You think about it, that commission was given to the local church. And so as a local church, we are responsible to preach the gospel to every creature. That's 7.3 billion. How are we going to do that? That is a massive undertaking. But do you know that God has not asked us to do the impossible? How old are you, son? Thirteen. What's your name? Brees. Let's suppose that Brice, 13 years old, let's suppose that he decided today, over the next calendar year, by March 19th, 2017, Brice says, you know what, God, with your help, by your grace, with your strength, and your power, I'm gonna try to win somebody to Christ. That'd be a good goal, wouldn't it? Well, that wouldn't be overly presumptuous. But a priest would just say, Lord, I'm available, and I want you to bring somebody in my path over the next calendar year that I can witness to, or that I can bring to church, and that I can see them come to know Christ. And after they get saved, I'm going to not just do the first part of the Green Commission, but I'm going to make sure that they get discipled, that they get baptized and they get discipled, so that they can win somebody to Christ. That is what God told us to do. The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2. So God says we're here to win people to Christ and then to disciple them in such a way so that they can win somebody to Christ with us. So by March 19th, 2017, Brice would have won somebody to Christ as a disciple to them. So now there's two of them. So now, over the next year, those two are going to win two more. So by March 19th, 2018, we would have four, right? And by 2019, we would have eight. And by 2020, we would have, ran out of fingers, 16, good, 16. By 2021, we would have 32. By 2022, we'd have 64. By 2023, well, we'll need a calculator. 128. And do you know how many we'd have by the time Breeze is, you're 13, by the time Breeze is 48? 48. You know how many people would be saved? Well, get your calculator. Over 8 billion. Over 8 billion. One. Just one. It's all God needs to reach the whole world. Now guys, just think if all of us did it. Because it takes a lot of years to get to the big numbers. Let's suppose every Christian Just the guys in this men's retreat would say, you know what, by God's grace, do you know there are 14,000 independent Baptist churches in the United States? Now, I don't know if I could preach for all of them, probably not. People say, Brother Gash, do you only preach in Baptist churches? There's some Baptist churches I wouldn't preach in. But the point is, there's 14,000 that claim to be independent Baptists. Suppose all of them just won one this year. God has not given us a task that's impossible. We're to preach the word, and the word is a preached gospel. We've got to get the message out and herald this truth. I am not ashamed, Paul said, of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And so it's not our message, it's his message, and we are the vocalization of that message to a lost world. Fourthly he talks about an ardent vigor in verse 2 He says be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering doctrine. There's no offseason in the ministry Will always be abounding in the work of the Lord Paul had been a faithful preacher of the gospel not just when it was easy Not just when it was convenient But when it was in season out of season paul was perfectly at home preaching on mars hill But he was also perfectly at home preaching in the philippi jail Whatsoever state he was he was content To preach the gospel let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of christ Ministry Is to be continued not only after and not only in church, but after church Always abounding always looking for an opportunity to reach people with the gospel Ministry doesn't always come at convenient times But we must be ready with an ardent vigor notice fifthly an abandoned value He kind of switches gears now in verse 3. He says for the time will come When they will not endure sound doctrine. I Think that time has come It no doubt came in timothy's life as well, but it certainly is coming in our generation A time will come when the bible is old-fashioned where the bible is said to be out of touch or out of date They will not endure sound doctrine In jeremiah 6 and verse 10 to whom shall I speak and give warning? That they may hear behold their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken behold the word of the lord is unto them a reproach And they have no delight in it Have you talked to some people recently that have no delight in spiritual things No delight in God, no delight in coming to church, no delight in what truth is. This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the word of the Lord. All those days are here. Fastest growing religion in America is atheism. By the way, there is no such thing as an atheist. Whenever I meet an atheist, you know, you also went in and people say, oh, I'm an atheist. And they think you're just going to go away because they're an atheist. Well, I'm an atheist. I always say God doesn't believe you. By the way, that's fair. They don't believe in God, He doesn't believe in them. And it usually stuns them enough for me to get in Romans chapter 1. The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The Bible says that God has revealed himself to every man. In John 1, the Bible says that was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. No man has ever come into this world without God giving him light. In fact, everybody knows the Bible's true. The Bible says so in Romans chapter 2. It says God's written it on their hearts. Their conscience also bearing the witness. C.S. Lewis in one of his books says that there's never been a civilization discovered in all of archaeology in all time that did not have laws that mirrored exactly the Ten Commandments. Cultures that never had a Bible, never heard a missionary, and yet they have the same laws as people who had the Bible. You know why? Because God wrote the Ten Commandments on our hearts. Everybody knows it's wrong to steal. Everybody knows it's wrong to lie. Everybody knows it's wrong to commit adultery. Because God wrote that on our hearts. See, there's a God, and man knows there's a God. The problem is man doesn't want to quit sinning. This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, and he that doeth evil hateth the light, and will not come to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. See, if you can eliminate God, then you've eliminated judgment, therefore you've eliminated responsibility of how you live. So man works hard at eliminating God and today God has no value and life has no value and the church has no value and truth has no value and freedom has no value and judgment is turned away backward and Justice standeth afar off and truth has fallen in the street and equity cannot enter a Perfect description of America today But God says, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Because those rejected knowledge, I'll also reject thee, and ye shall be no priest to me. And because you have forgotten the law of thy God, I'll also forget thy children. Sobering words, gentlemen. We have an illustration of it right before our eyes every day in this culture as our generation Forgot about God and said we don't need God we can take his name out of our society Take the Ten Commandments away forget about prayer and Bible reading in public places Let's get God out of this and as a result God says that's fine. That's your decision, but I'm forgetting the next generation I'm taking my hand off of them and We see it all around us Well next he says there's going to be an avalanche of voices in verse 3. He goes on to say but after their own lusts Shall they heap to themselves notice this teachers notice the plural there? Having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and should be turned unto fables an avalanche of voices What's amazing today how we do not want any absolute? We want lots of voices. We want to tolerate all voices. And even in our churches, we want a plurality of Bibles, or a plurality of elders, or we want, you know, plurality of authority, rather than the absolute authority of God and His Word. First Timothy chapter 4 now the Spirit speaketh expressly in the latter days perilous times shall come for they shall be deceivers and vain talkers You know and and some will depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils having their hearts Seared or their conscience seared with a hot iron Peter said there were false prophets among them even as there should be false teachers among you notice false teachers and who shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Today those who hold to the truth and those who preach the truth are are labeled Certain terms and certain labels that I mean we have politicians today that call Christians the greatest threat of terrorism to America amazing the way of truth evil spoken of Gentlemen, there's a lot of voices out there, but we've always got to compare those voices to the Word of God. I I know we need to read and we need to study and we need to see what's going on in our time and as the children of Issachar we have to have an understanding of the times to know what is what to do and we've got to know what's going on out there but always make sure that what we read and what we study we come back to the Word of God if they speak not according to this word it's because there's no light in them in other words if we get answers to spiritual questions from someplace other than this book we have the wrong answer The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken, though they've rejected the word of the Lord and what wisdom is in them. We do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. Seventhly we see an alert vessel in verse 5 Paul says but watch thou in all things in due Reflections do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry Timothy be on guard things are changing the culture is going to change be on guard be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour and He wants to make your testimony disappear. He wants your ministry to end Watch he stand fast in the faith quit you like men be strong. See then he walks Circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil keep thy heart With all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. He's saying make full proof of your ministry Don't go halfway. Don't live a half a life, but make sure as John said that you receive a full reward and But then eighthly, he talks about an accompanying vulnerability. In verse 6, he says, for I'm not ready to be offered. In the time of my departures at hand, many of you know that word offered has the same root as the word martyrdom. Paul understood well that his life was about to end. He's at the very closing days of his life as he writes this. He's sitting in a prison cell and he knows that Nero is no doubt going to order his death and indeed one day the clanking of those chains was heard as they unlocked his cell door and Paul is led to the chopping block where his head is removed by Nero. Paul knew that You're gonna stand as I am instructing you to stand there's a vulnerability If the world hates you, you know, it hated me before it hated you If you were of the world the world would love his own but because you're not of the world But I've chosen you out of the world. Therefore the world hateth you All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution I love the promises of the Bible, but there are some I don't love so much as well. That's one of them. I Love whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I love that promise But whosoever is gonna live godly shall suffer persecution. That's promise Say oh, there's no persecution in America. They there's persecution. There's a lack of living godly It doesn't say whoever saved is gonna suffer persecution. It says they live godly in Christ see you live soberly righteously godly in this present world. Somebody will hate you and Somebody will write something about you. Somebody will say something derogatory toward you beloved think it not strange Concerning the fiery trial that shall try you as though some strange thing happened unto you But rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ sufferings We have the privilege of suffering with Christ By the way, I talked about persecution and such last night Every time persecution has come to God's people it brings growth. I Look at the book acts every time they tried to stamp out the fire of the gospel the sparks spread further Because Jesus told him in chapter 1 I want you to go I'm gonna I'm gonna go with you the Holy Spirit's power is gonna come upon you and you're gonna be witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria the uttermost parts of the earth and so the church in Jerusalem began to grow some believe it got up to over a hundred thousand people and 3,000 of the Pentecost 5,000 in chapter 4 of men were saved multitudes of men and women in chapter 4 say this church is growing So what did God do? He allowed persecution to come they tried to stamp out the fire and the spark flew up to Antioch And now all of a sudden the Church of Jerusalem hears about this revival at Antioch And they send Barnabas up there to check it out. He can't believe what's going on. They need help So he goes and finds Saul the one who used to be light in the fires. I He got saved and boy they went up there in a whole year. They assembled that church. They were called Christians first of Antioch And then by chapter 13, we see that church sending Paul and Barnabas out as first missionaries See you you can't stop God You can't stop the gospel But persecution will come as part of God's plan and just as God said it would be in Jerusalem and Judea Samaria the uttermost parts of the earth and it all happened because of persecution they went everywhere preaching the word and We see 9thly, an authentic veracity. Verse 7, Paul said, I have fought a good fight. I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. I looked up that word veracity in the dictionary. You know what it means? Adherence to the truth. Veracity. Adherence to the truth. Paul wasn't concerned about his image. Paul wasn't concerned about how many followers he had on Twitter. Paul wasn't concerned about how many likes he got on Facebook Paul wasn't concerned about how they were gonna write his biography Paul was committed to one thing to be faithful to the truth He said I therefore so run not as Uncertainly so fight I not as one that beateth the air But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection less that would at any time when I have preached others I myself would be a castaway Then we see tenthly an anticipated validation in verse 80 said henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness Which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only But unto all the most that love is appearing Guys the Christian life's not in vain It seems like it at times. It seems like we spin our wheels. It seems like we're on a treadmill that's going nowhere. I All of this energy and all of this work and all of this passion sometimes leaves us wondering are there any results But if in this life only we had hope of Christ we'd be all men most miserable Thank God there's a there's a coming validation Don't be weary and well-doing for in due time we shall reap a If we think not evil and sin may be on top right now satan is the prince and power of this world But as yogi bera used to say it ain't over till it's over And we can read the last pages of this book and realize that one day jesus will come and he will come with reward For those that have faithfully served him Back in The middle 1970s Was living in Indiana and there was a church about 30 miles from us that we became acquainted with the pastor had was sending some of his kids to the same Christian school that that We were familiar with and our church and so on and so kind of got to know this pastor a little bit And he invited me to come and hold a revival meeting. I We had a good meeting and he invited me to come back the next year and we went back the next year and he invited me to come back the next year and we went four years in a row to this church about 30 miles from my house and it was Great because I could live at home and drive back and forth It wasn't didn't have to live on the road and it was just a lot of fun We got to fellowship and a lot with them even When we weren't in meetings, we'd get together He resigned that church after a while and I That church was called the open door baptist church We used to joke it should have been called the revolving door baptist church because it seemed like Every time I went back people had split off and gone somewhere else and just it had a history of that And he finally believed that his ministry there had ended and and so he had taken a church down in tennessee And he wrote me and he said well, yeah, i've moved i've changed locations And he said, we're now in Tennessee. And he said, would you come and hold a revival? By this time, we had moved from Indiana. We were living now in Wisconsin. And I'd kind of lost track of him as far as a close friend. A number of years had passed. And so I said, sure, I'd be glad to. Let's see if we can work out. I wasn't sure if that date would work and the travel schedule and all that. So we got it all worked out, and we went to Tennessee. This was probably, oh, maybe eight or nine years after the last meeting in Indiana. Got down to Tennessee and went over to his house Saturday night, had some good fellowship with his wife and kids, and looking forward to this week. Just being back together again, you know, reminiscing a lot on Saturday night about the old days in Indiana. Sunday morning, went in for the service, and the congregational music was fine. It was just the hymns, you know, and just great. But the special music that morning was horrific. I mean, it was bad. It was worldly. In those days, we called it Christian rock music. We call lots of different things now, but we called it Christian rock music, and to me, that's what it was. Maybe it wasn't as bad as what you might be thinking, but to me, it was bad. But as an evangelist, you understand that sometimes stuff like that slips in. You know, the pastor sometimes, you know, I know in the college, we'll have kids sing every day in chapel, and sometimes they don't sing it like they practiced it. And we gotta jerk those kids aside afterwards and say, wait a minute now. That's not how you practice that. You will not sing it like that again. You sing it like that again, you won't sing anything again. You know, it slips in. And you gotta constantly be vigilant about that. I don't know a thing about music, except I do know something about the Holy Spirit that says that's good or that's bad. And so, I thought, well, you know, it probably just slipped in. And so I preached, and I enjoyed myself. And again, we had a little fellowship after the morning service, and I didn't say anything about the music. Sunday night, we went in, and again, congregational music was fine. But they got to the special, and it was worse than the morning. And oh, it grieved me. It just grieved me, because now I thought, that didn't slip in. This is a pattern here. Well, that priest was somewhat of an angst in my spirit, but got through the service, and afterwards it just didn't work out for me to really talk to the pastor. We were both talking with people and fellowshipping after and shaking hands and such, and finally he came to me. He said, Billy Goetsch, I've got to go. And he said, tomorrow's my day off, so I won't be in until service at night, but if you need anything, just give me a call. And I didn't have cell phones in those days, you know, and that kind of thing, so it wasn't as easy to communicate. But I didn't sleep much that night. Got up early that next morning, went in the church, and found a little room, and boy, just began to pray. And I decided to fast that day. This was serious. And I thought, Lord, I can't preach that kind of music. And yet, I love this pastor. I love this family. And I thought, what am I going to do? I need to talk to him, but I'm an introvert by nature. And I just didn't want to confront it. I'm not the pastor of the church. He can do whatever he wants to do. But I got a conscience, too. And I'm wrestling with this thing all day. And finally, about four o'clock that afternoon, I just felt led to pray, Lord, if you want me to stay in this meeting, if you want me to finish this thing out through Friday night, then make the music good tonight. And I'm throwing out a fleece. I said, now, Lord, if you want me to leave, because I really wanted to leave, I said, Lord, if you want me to leave, then make the music so bad tonight, I'll have to leave. That's what I prayed. Well, we got in the service, and again, congregational music was fine, just regular hymns. I'm sitting right here, pastor's sitting right there, and got to the special, and it was the worst thing I ever heard in my life. It was so bad. I mean, God had answered my prayer. The problem was, it was his wife and daughter that were singing. And I just, I knew what I had to do, because that's exactly what I prayed. So as they were on the last verse, or whatever they called it, I kind of leaned over to the pastor. I said, Pastor, I'm not going to be preaching tonight. Now, this isn't the way to handle it. But it's the way I handled it as a young guy. I said, Pastor, I'm not going to be preaching tonight. He said, what? I said, I'm not preaching. He said, what are you going to do? I said, well, when this is over, I'm just going to stand up and walk out. He said, why? I said, the music. I said, I can't preach after this. My kids are down there. They know I preach against this. I can't do it. He said, what do you expect me to do? I said, well, do whatever you want to do, but I'm leaving. Well, about that time they quit singing and I stood up. He'd already introduced me. So I stood up and I walked past the pulpit. My family's sitting right down here. They knew when I looked at them to follow me and we went out the door. We went out to our trailer. And I heard music inside. They were singing a congregational. Pretty soon the pastor knocked on the door. He said, what are you doing? I said, Pastor, I should have talked to you earlier. I can't preach after that. I said, either the music goes or I go. He said, well, the music stays. I said, then I go. It's no problem. I said, here's the expense check. Gave him the expense check back. I said, I'll keep the key till I can unhook and get out of here. I said, I'll leave the key under the door. He said, what should I tell the people? I said, tell them the truth. He went back in and told them I was sick. Well, I was sick. It wasn't entirely false. I was sick. I mean, physically I was sick. And he preached. And I left. And about a week later, I got a letter from the Board of Deacons, all of them signed it, calling me Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils, and I had split the church, and all kinds of things. And I'll be honest with you guys, it bothered me because I knew I hadn't handled it right. The Bible says go to your brother that's offended you and privately deal with it. And I didn't do that. I didn't go through the right steps. But I did know I did the right thing. I just didn't do it the right way. A lot of years passed. And one night up in northern Indiana, I was preaching under a tent. And I looked out and there was that pastor and his wife. And during the handshaking time, he came up and he said, Brother Gatch, I said, how are you doing? I said, are you on vacation? It was up near where he had pastored earlier. He said, no. No, I'm out of the ministry. I'm cutting hair. I'm a barber. He said, Brother Gatch, you were right. It was the music. He said, my son got a girl pregnant. We had a fleshly ministry there. I had to resign. I've seen that man one other time since then. We bumped into each other in a restaurant in Missouri one day. Guys, I don't feel good that I was right. I really don't. I love that man. I love his wife, though she hasn't spoken to me since that time. Want good for him. I don't feel good about being right But it's an illustration I believe when we get to heaven We may we may have some things said about us because we hold to the truth We may be isolated from some of the popular ministries of the day and all that kind of thing Let me just tell you one day when you stand before the Lord You may not feel good That you stayed with the truth and some others fell by the wayside, but there is a validation and God says well done Thou good and faithful servant in other words. Thank you for holding to the truth Where are we God's in New York The world I'm not sure how close they are to that Pacific Ocean But where are we Where are we Can we be consistent in a changing culture? Well, Paul was. Nero wasn't a nice guy. Nero's the guy who took Christians, doused them in oil, and lit them on fire at night so he could see the flowers in his garden. Human living torches being burned to death. Nero's the guy who married a 13-year-old boy in public. Yeah, we got a tough day, but I'm telling you something Paul lived in a tough day you study that the city of Corinth a red light city a city of immorality the temple of Aphrodite 10,000 priestess prostitutes And those streets were lined of young men ready to worship through prostitution guys We live in a tough day, but we can be faithful. We can be consistent. I And we've got a book that will help us to stay consistent. Let's bow for prayer. Lord, I pray you'll help us in these days of change. Oh my, it's changing so fast. And Lord, we look around at so many things, the morals, and the ethics, and the religion, and the politics, and the economy. And Lord, it's mind-boggling to see the whirlwind of change. And we look at some of our brethren, and we see things that change, it seems, in their life or their ministry. But Lord help us to be faithful and we're not perfect. We understand that we're not claiming to be But Lord, we know that we have a consistent faithful God and we have a Bible that doesn't change and a gospel That hasn't changed and Lord help us to just keep on keeping on Being consistent for you Lord. Thank you that one day you will come again and your reward is with you to give to those who've been faithful so help us be faithful unto death and And I'll thank you for it in Christ's name. Amen.