Today we're going to be in 2 Timothy chapter 4. I think this is very familiar territory for many of us. 2 Timothy chapter 4. We're just going to be looking at verses 1 through 5. Hopefully. I always have to add that because I never know how far I'm going to get. Verses 1 through 5 of 2 Timothy chapter 4. It says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant, in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine, they shall 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. And Lord, we just pray that you would add your blessing Amen. So I call this message a, first I call it a biblical endurance, but then we'd have to cover so much more about endurance. So I instead refer to it as a charge to keep. So a charge to keep. Verse number one says, I charge thee therefore before God. What a witness we have there. We have God. The Lord Jesus Christ and Paul, those three, are witnesses here of what Paul is saying, of this charge to Timothy. Now what is a charge? Ka-ching, ka-ching, swipe the card, insert chip, or whatever, but that's not what this type of charge is. This charge means to exhort with authority Usually, a charge is given to an individual. Usually, there's a charge given to an individual. Some of us are acquainted with sports and sports teams. Oftentimes, a charge is given to the captain of the team that he's going to light the fire under everybody else. pastor in Ephesus at the time. So this charge of being an individual was also to Timothy himself, but it's something that we can look at. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus appearing and his kingdom we have two things happening here we have for us for the church we have he's gonna he's got this notion in verse number two to preach the word and cease to continue that right up until his appearing which I believe to be the rapture of the church and at his kingdom It would be looked at in the early days of the church. It would be looked at as a simultaneous event. They were expecting the kingdom at any time. And in between that would be the rapture. At any time before then, you cannot have the kingdom now without having the rapture coming beforehand. Amen? There's so many out there that teach that we need to usher in the kingdom. That's the old theology made new. It was proper for a time, but it's not proper now. So this charge, this exhortation with authority and importance for Timothy, very important. It's a very important charge that took place to Timothy, and it still stands today. Timothy, the pastor there at Ephesus, Well, after the qualifications in chapter 3, come here, it's to preach the word, right? Right up until the judgment seat of Christ, which takes place after the rapture. God will judge those in the church, those in the body of Christ, at the judgment seat of Christ. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I got unraveled for a second there, so forgive me for that. Verse number nine, for we are laborers together. I want to stop there for a second. The Apostle Paul, Peter did the same thing. He didn't put themselves on a higher pedestal than those in their audience. They were like him and the Corinthians were laborers together with God. He or God's husbandry, he or God's building, according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder. So God gave him this grace as a wise master builder, right? Look what happens. I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. on to the foundation. I take this always as both corporately and individually. Things that are profitable are refined. Things that are unprofitable are wood, hay, and stubble. I think of something like this. The printed Bible. Is this precious silver and gold, or is it wood, hay, and stubble? Easy answer. It's precious. It's a hymn book. Wood, hay, or stubble? Now you'd have to qualify. You'd say, which hymn book? Compared with some of the things going on now. Sunday school. That's something that's added onto the foundation. That's a good thing in most cases. Fog lights or smoke streams in church. I say stubble. Wood, hay, and stubble. Because of course we get back to this notion in verse number two, preach the word. That's the main thing that we have. Let's go over to, or stay in here. It says, according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, another buildeth thereupon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Take heed, number one, to doctrine, number two, to the practical matters that line up with God's will. You say, wait a minute, how do I find God's will? Read the Bible. That simple. God doesn't show you his will. Should I buy a blue car or a green car? God told me to buy the blue car. No, you have something you have right here. You have logic. You have a brain, you can take things in and access certain things yourself. Those certain gray areas that we hear about, those things are things that you can decide. And be, what's the word I'm looking for? And be persuaded in your own mind. Actually, Paul deals with that in Romans 14. All food is good, if it's received with thanksgiving. Verse number 11, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. He's the foundation. He has died. He was buried. He rose again. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble, right? These are things that can be added, the stuff that is beneficial and the stuff that will be burned up. Verse number 13, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." I always say to somebody in churches that are having difficulties, I say, get rid of everything and just keep the Bible. That's it. Everything else will be dissolved. It's not beneficial. If any man's If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Rewarded, well done, faithful servant. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So the bad things that are built upon the foundation will be taken care of, will remain. This is the judgment seat of Christ, where sin is not judged, it's the works that are done that are judged, whether they be gold, silver, or precious stones, or wood, hay, or stubble. And also, is the second notion, again, I'm bouncing back and forth between verse number one and verse number two, the second notion shall judge the quick and the dead and his appearing and his kingdom. will be about the same time. Some people believe there will be a gap between the rapture and the tribulation. They put a gap of some years. I don't see that. I see immediately after the rapture, all heck will break loose on this earth. And all heaven will break loose as well. then three and a half years into that tribulation, God really cranks up those judgments. But then after all that, after the thousand years, let's go over to Revelation chapter 20. After those thousand years, it'll be a thousand years on this earth, People are going to procreate, they're going to sin. There will still be nations around and God will judge those nations. What did I say, Revelation 20? I wasn't even there yet. Let's just go down to verse Let's go to verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, Small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." So think of it this way. Today, if you're saved, it's purely by grace through faith you can avoid all of that judgment at the end. But yet, during those end times, during that tribulation, You know, and here in Revelation 20, it's talking after a thousand years after the tribulation your weapon. I like a dessert that's out there called Death by Charging. I wish it could be that easy, right? But it can't be. So God, I mean, Paul has this charge to give to Timothy that's backed up by God's judgments, and backed up by what other scriptures say regarding, number one, the Great White Throne Judgment. I like that right there. It says there was a Great White Throne. It's easy to see that that's the Great White Throne Judgment. So he says, preach the word. Caruso, proclaim the word. Not proclaim the latest, greatest novel by an author. You know, that's the popular thing with the industry, the church industry today. It's bringing in the latest speaker and their latest book. And by the way, we can sell you the book for $20, and so and so is going to preach or teach out of his book. I don't care whose book it is. Whether it's good or bad, why would we want to take the resources from the scriptures that we have and make them second fiddle to anything that man has done. Amen? Just preach, be instant. Being at the ready. Being able to stand, that's another way, but to stand at attention and be ready to preach. Our colonists, when fighting the British, they were called the minute men. They were able to get armed and ready in a minute's notice. That should be us as well. That was the pastoral thing. Be instant. Be ready to open the scriptures and And look at the next part. Let me get back over to the scripture itself. Jesus preached the word be instant, in season, and out of season. Several years ago, I was at a meeting down in Connecticut, and the preacher there United States is out of season. But if you go to some countries in Africa and Asia, they're in season. People are ready to hear the word of God. America is not. America has gone backwards into fables, into all different things. But when in season and out of season, It also can mean whatever is convenient or inconvenient. Is it always convenient to preach the Word instantly? No. But no matter what, there should be a preparation for the Word of God. I have something that I just like to do. I've been caught off guard a few times. Oh yeah, by the way, you're doing a message today. than anything else. And what's he saying here? He says, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort. Reprove and rebuke, they're both very similar. I think what the difference, reprove means to convict, convince, tell a fault, or Reprove, I mean, rebuke means to tell of a fault, to rate, to chide. These are different things that are, to censor severely. All right, so I get the difference being this. Again, much like the individual charge, reprove, is mostly on an individual basis. We all have that responsibility as well. When you know somebody is doing something wrong, a little reproof does the trick. A little loving reproof does the trick. But then comes a time for rebuke. That's when you call them up. That's when you get a little more severe with what's going on. That's when you slap them up the side of the head and say, hey, get your act together. but both there. It says rebuke, reprove, rebuke, and exhort. I love the Greek word for exhort, it's karakalio. Kalio means to call, and kara means to call near. Once there's rebuke and reproof, Now comes the exhortation to bring them closer. What does the average person do? Get going, obey the law, do this and do that. But we call them, we're just saying it, in the cross, in the cross. Call them near to that cross of Calvary where their sins were paid for. That's the difference of, I can't remember who I was talking with, that we're in Christ, and there are others that believe you can forfeit that by not obeying enough. I'll actually print out what one particular denomination's position is, that if you're I want that salvation. In other words, work, work, work. I need a job, I'm out of work. You've got to keep going. Can anybody say how many good works are necessary to keep your salvation? Is it two? Three? a gazillion billion good works, that's not enough to keep your salvation. You can have every I dotted, every T crossed, and you can say I'm obedient 23.9 hours of the day. It's not going to cut it. Only the grace of God, only the gospel, only being in Christ can cut it. Look what it says in the next part of the verse. He says, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, repu... I can never say that word. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. Sadly, so many people refer people to other sources than doctrine. for things, but long-suffering, that's patience, that is love. Basically, being patient with people. He's saying this to Timothy. You know, not everybody is going to jump on the bandwagon, not everybody is going to get everything at the same time, not everybody will be doing the same thing, but with long-suffering, do these things. And it's with kindness. I put kindness down, longsuffering, and I added kindness. Kindness goes along with longsuffering. You know, our tendency, instead of being kind and longsuffering, our tendency is to be stocky. I love that word, stocky. I like to use it as much as I can. Stocky. You mean to tell me you said that? Well, I'm right. I have everything together. I went to college for 30 years, and I'm still dumber than a box of rocks. That's our tendency. But the reality is that, as we're to be kind, have an hour of speech seasoned with salt from Colossians chapter 2. But after all, human nature says we're always right. If we have a statement that somebody makes, we always add, but. So with kindness. And, if we look on further, verse number 3 says, for the time will come. Here's the reason why you preach the Word Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with long-suffering and doctrine. Doctrine is important. Where is doctrine derived from? It's derived from the Bible. I believe rightly dividing the Word of God to see what's written to who and why, because not all the Bible was written to you. Otherwise, if it were, I'm going to get busy building an ark. was written in Noah. If all of the Bible, it's written for us, for our learning, but not to us. If all the Bible is to us, that's why the popular theology out there is replacement theology. Israel blew it, all the blessings belong to the church. And I say, what about the curses? They don't like to mention that. Everything, Israel blew it, Put it on the shelf. You'll see the rebirth of Israel in Ezekiel 36. They're clean. He's washed them. Makes them clean. He'll bring them back into the kingdom, into the land, the full kingdom, the full promised land at one time. Four, the time will come when they will not endure Sound doctrine. Boy, I look around at churchianity today. I look around with the rising up of the cults and different things. People are looking for other answers. They don't endure the work of study and just being in the Bible that's so important. As a matter of fact, Mason texted me the other day. He was asking me if I remember Jonestown. Don't get me going on that topic. I was a young kid when all that happened. Jim Jones followed his leader, William Branham, and he believed he was God. He was accepted as God. And he could do anything he wanted. Where he parted ways with his mentor, William Branham, was William Branham was an outright racist. Outright. James Jones believed in integration, but in his messages you had to set one white person, black person, white person, black person. It's amazing. But people follow those things. things to come in the earth. Wrong motivation. So they will not, for the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, right? I want, I want, I want. I crave something, I need something. After their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, right? They want teachers that teach them the old way. or their own way, rather. Having itching ears. Now recently, I've always thought about that, having their ears tickled. But think of this for a second. Does anybody like getting a mosquito bite? Why? Because it makes you itchy. Right? Bear with me for a second. Endure with me for a second. Right? It's itchy. It's aggravating, especially when you get one on your ear. So what are you going to do? Eventually, that sound doctrine aggravates people. They want more. Let's turn away from this and go towards other things. Two examples. I wrote down one just before church. Luke chapter 24. is the opposite of what happened, rather than having their ears tickled or having itching ears. Luke 24, this is the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and way down to No, this is still in, I said the road to Emmaus, but this is, oh, I'm going too far this way. Verse number 13. It says, and behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. This is post-resurrection, so they're talking about the resurrection of Jesus. And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden, that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? It was God incarnate playing dumb. Talk about laying aside the glory and becoming man. Playing dumb, what things? And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished which were early at the sepulchre. And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. and certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even as the woman had said, but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Great question he had, because that was fully revealed, but yet, Even disciples rejected until they saw the empty tomb. They rejected that. They didn't get a hold of it. They were blinded to it. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it, and break and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? See, they receive the message of Jesus himself and the revelation of the Scriptures. Unlike those that turn away unto fables who don't endure the sound doctrine of the Scriptures. One more place, this is, I like to call this the devil's advocate verse, Acts chapter seven. Acts chapter seven. This is the Estonian Stephen verse. I don't know if I wrote down a verse. Yeah, I did. Acts 7, way down near the end. Verse number... the accusation, Stephen's accusation, his rebuking of the Israelites. He stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. I like that, the heart and ears. He didn't hear. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the just one, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. Sounds like a good thing, being cut to the heart, doesn't it? but to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. They didn't receive the doctrine that had been laid, you know, since the prophets. They didn't receive that, they rejected that just like their fathers did. But being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly unto heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Their reaction is the same sort of reaction that people have to the Bible. I'll tell you a way, and sadly that's of the city and not get hurt, just carry a Bible with you. First-hand experience. You have a Bible, people scatter like cockroaches. It's amazing. It's like, ah! A Bible! Might as well have kryptonite with Superman. The time with or suffering it. Matthew 17.17 has the same Greek word that is here. It says, Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer for you? Bring him hither to me. How long am I going to endure with them, still indoors with them. They were in belief, but they would be brought back in belief at one time. One of the reasons people look for fables is because sound doctrine actually requires work. It requires you reading the Bible. I hate using the word requires. You get to read the Bible. You get to see what the scriptures say. You get to be like the Bereans and search the scriptures for the things, to see the things that were said are true. But what do they do instead? Let's go back to our text. So let's go through from verse 1 and verse 3. It 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 longsuffering and doctrine. For or because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own loss shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears." Stop their ears from hearing the truth, and they want to hear what they want to hear. The smorgasbord of beliefs. I'll believe this, I'll believe that. A little from Buddha, a little from Islam. A little from Hinduism, we'll add a little Christianity to that. That's a popular thing, Christian Buddhism, by the way. They don't mix, but people mix them. Because it satisfies the lust they have for their own control. Sound doctrine requires work, it's work for everybody, to stay in the scriptures. Test everything that you see and hear. The ending of Philippians 2.12 says, work out your own salvation with fear and tremble. One of the problems that people have is they don't want to do the work. They just want to check a box. Well, I went to church today, There's one good thing, one good part that gives me a little yang to the rest of the yang stuff. We'll balance it out some way and God will be happy with me. Let's close. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned Just a story, sometimes a story that has an example for everybody to follow. Well, the story that some people should be following is the emperor's new clothing. I came across something. It was, of course, I've mentioned I've been doing some researching on some of the latter rain movement and stuff, and William Branham, and led me down the rabbit hole to Kenneth Hagen, whose son is in ministry now, and then after Kenneth Hagen was Kenneth Copeland. The whole lineup of charlatans, basically. But Kenneth W. Hagen, But he tells people what they want. They can be healed. They can be prosperous. You can say anything you want. You'll get it. It's the positive confession movement. And don't say any negative things. Well, you guys remember Ellie. She believed that way. She died a few weeks ago. She never went to a doctor. She would admit that she was sick. That kind of fable kills more people than it promises to save, to rescue. I was on Rima. There's another trigger word. When you see the word Rima, it's used a lot in the charismatic movement. It's a biblical Hebrew word. It's been written, and we have the Rima word. Biblically, Rima is where we get the modern word for rhetoric. It's how it's presented, all right? But in this positive confession movement, Rima, the Hagans had Rima Bible School. and all the like, their version of Rima came from the latter reign movement and then through William Branham, who I mentioned, you should check him out, he's a piece of work all the way, and he believed people around in that. So that's what their view of Rima is, that you get the word from God. He gives you new revelation today. But it's not so. Well, back to the end of this fable here. I was on the Hagan website. I said, oh, affiliated churches. These are churches that are Rima-based churches. based on positive confession and the spoken word that's given. What they've done is they've done like almost everybody else. They've covered up their doctrines through being fancy. In other words, those Rima churches are seeker-sensitive churches today. They'll hide that doctrine, but they believe it. It's a local church. I won't call the name of it. It's in Sutton. The pastor comes from Oral Roberts University, who was another Word of Faith teacher. He went in the ministry earlier after William Branham. Their original church they had out in Ashland. I forgot what it's called. It's called Connect Church. Very popular. They're popular for the way their outreach is, but they're still a latter grade church. They believe authority comes from God giving it to their prophets. It's dangerous stuff, but it's hidden. That's why we're not fancy. We don't hide anything. We just have it out in the open. I remember they're not here, were here. Denise and Matt used to go to a similar church like that. They told them they could not wear their wedding rings because they were married to God. Stuff like that. Those are the stuff that's only external. But the answer, we have it right before us. It's preached over The Word says it, they will not endure silent doctrine. They're gonna hate the Bible. Actually, Helen had a discussion with somebody, actually said, you don't actually believe just the Bible is where we get doctrine? Of course we do. It's crazy. But any time you add the Bible and anything else on top of it, in the Bible and somebody else's writings, you end up being on dangerous ground. The scriptures, I'll read it again. Preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and 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. I should have added this. Everybody believes a doctrine. But is it biblical? Is it sound? There's a doctrine of teaching everywhere. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. And I didn't get to verse five. But, is that a racer? Is this a racer, Timothy? Watch thou in all things. In other words, you keep yourself. Watch thou in all things. Endure afflictions. Right? He's just talked about those not enduring sound doctrine. Now he's telling Timothy, endure afflictions. And those afflictions of Thy ministry. When we have that, it's out in the open. Amen? No secret handshakes? No Gnostic secret passwords to get in things? It's the Bible. The B-I-B-L-E. That's the book for me. Amen? And the simplicity. of salvation is just incredible. Human nature wants to mess that up and say there must be something to do. Just simply believe in the gospel. Amen.