A Father's Influence to Finish

He tore his hamstring, he collapsed on the track and and with tears streaming down his cheeks, he knew it was all over. The question became what? He finished. The medics ran to him . Derek waved them away. He hobbled to his feet and that , that father came alongside him and said, son, you don't have to do this. And he looked at his dad and said, yes, I do. I have to finish. And his dad leans in and says, then we're going to do it together. It's a great moment.

It was a great moment of , of perseverance, a great story, and I love that moment because I think it speaks to something of where we're at. All of us, every single one of us has come to that place in life where we've been tempted to give up and give in every one of us and perhaps in this church, everyone can connect to that. We've been through difficult years and difficult seasons and you've been tempted to throw in the towel you've been tempted to give up, to give in.

Maybe it's in your marriage. It's been hard, it's been fighting. Maybe it's in your parenting. You've got a product. Well son, you've got a product called daughter. Maybe it's in your personal mission of what God has called you to in life. All of us, every one of us has felt that temptation to give up and to give in and to throw in the towel, and if that's you, I want to encourage you to be here for the next four weeks.

Over the next four weeks, we're in a series entitled, it's always too soon to quit. It's always too soon to quit. We're going to be looking at the book of second Timothy a , which is all about gospel fueled endurance and over the next four weeks especially, I want you to come back and just commit to being here the next four weeks. I want to speak into your life. I want to encourage you, this is one of the most encouraging books in the Bible that I know of.

It's going to encourage your heart comeback for the next four weeks. We're going to allow the Holy spirit to speak into our lives and speak through the word of God to our hearts, to keep us going. You know it's sad though. We're , we're sadly becoming a nation of quitters, aren't we? It's always too soon to quit. You know, I think it was John Madden who came up with that acronym, yak . Do you remember this yak? A Y, a C, a yards after contact. That's the measure of someone, a true athlete.

How long will they keep going after they've been hit? Will they give up? Will they endure? That's the question of your life. Will you finish? And we're in second Timothy because this book fuels us with the gospel to keep going. In fact, Paul is going to say in this book, at the end of his life, I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. This is gospel fueled endurance and who needs that this morning? Who needs that?

Amen. So before we stand and read, we're going to start this study. I always, I always love to start a study by giving just a little bit of context. All right, so if you have your bullets and you can pull that out, I want to give you five fast facts on the book of second Timothy. You may have read it before. I want to give you some context because the rest of the study will make a lot more sense if you have these five things. And so let's just, let's just go through them one by one.

This is going to go fast, but I want to give you the context. Then we'll stand and read the word of God. Five fast facts. Number one, this is Paul's last letter. This is Paul's last letter. He writes 13 letters. Uh, he will not write again. This is it. These are his final words. These are his Swan song, if you will. He wrote it near 66 80 66 67 somewhere around there. And these are his last words and let me say this, maybe you can remember this last words are lasting words.

Last words are lasting words. Friend of mine, he's a pastor and he shared a story of someone in his congregation dying of cancer and he shared about how that that that friend had all the family gather around in the living room, children, grandchildren, and how that father started speaking into each of their life, giving them one last charge before he went to be with the Lord. It challenged them, it challenged. How powerful would this be?

He goes, person by person, challenging them to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ to run hard after Jesus Christ. When that be incredible. He challenges and then he goes son by son and he talks to his firstborn and he says, son, I'm going to give you a challenge if something goes wrong. In the household. I want you to be the one to respond to mom and go fix it. You're in charge of the house. Then he goes to his second son.

He said, if one of the cars breaks down, you don't have to fix it, but you've got to make sure it gets fixed. You're in charge of the automotives because I won't be here. I need you to pick it up. And then he goes to his next son and he says, I want you to be that son that when gets to a certain point in her aging and she can't live alone anymore, mom's gonna come live with you. And each of those boys looked at their father and they said, yes sir, dad, you can. You can count on me.

I'll take up the challenge. The last words are lasting words. These are Paul's final words to his son, Timothy, as if to say, Timothy, take up the challenge. Take it up. Let's go. I've got some responsibilities to give to you and I hope you'll receive those. These are last words. Didn't Jesus do that from the cross? Didn't Jesus. Look down at Mary. Didn't Jesus? Look down at John. Behold your son. Behold your mother as if to say Mary's coming into your house. Now, last words are lasting words.

Acts one eight at the Ascension. The last words of Jesus. These are memorable words. I just did a devotional with my kiddos yesterday and we finished revelation, the book of revelation and the last words of Jesus. I'm coming. Behold, I'm coming. Last words are lasting words. Second number two, write this one down. This is Paul's most personal letter of all the letters. He will write this as his most personal.

It's written to Timothy, his son, and I think within that we see a lot more emotion than we see in other letters. In fact, he's writing to his son to encourage his son in the faith. We see him expose some of Timothy's weaknesses and this is, Oh, this is powerful. Timothy is one of the weaker pastors of the new Testament. In fact, when Timothy goes to the Corinthians in first Corinthians chapter 16 Paul has to say this to the Corinthians.

When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you for he is doing the work of the Lord as I am, it seems that Timothy was a bit more timid and fearful. In fact, in second Corinthians, Paul has to sin Titus to finish Timothy's work. Paul has to tell him in second Timothy one seven God gave us a spirit, not a fear, but a power and love and self control. Timothy was a little bit more weak.

He was even, he was a little , even a little bit, had some bad health going on in first Timothy five Paul has to say, take a little wine for your stomach. He's not a natural leader. He's easily intimidated. He's often sick. In fact, this could be a very discouraging place for young Timothy and I think that's encouraging to you and me.

If you're feeling weak here this morning, if you've come to this place and you're at the end of your rope and you just feel like maybe you feel a little bit like what Timothy would feel like, exhausted, discouraged. You feel like you can't do it. This is a letter for you. This is a letter for those who are spiritually weak. And this is the encouragement one that that uses weak people. Isn't it encouraging that Paul passes the Baton to someone who's actually weak? That's encouraging.

He doesn't pass it to someone strong. He passes it to a weakling. And I think we get from that that week people can finish strong and be used of God to , that's encouraging. Third, third fast fact. Paul is writing from the maritime prison in Rome. Nero is the emperor at the time. Paul is back in jail. Some of you are saying he's back in jail again. He is what you might call a repeat offender. Uh , he just won't stop preaching the gospel and he's back in jail again.

And you know, it's interesting, this prison where tradition holds that he was at the mammary time prison. You can go there today. It's basically this hole in the ground and you're lowered down into it and it's, it has raw sewage running through it. It's wet, it's damp. Uh , it is a very uncomfortable place to be. When you're down in it, they give you very little food to survive on. They give you very meager rations, a very difficult place to be.

In fact, commentators will say this book smells of prison and death. Not long after the writing of this letter, Paul will be led down a path. He's led down the path and he's actually going to be beheaded down. The Osteon weighed towards the Aqua salvia. He will actually be beheaded. That was a privilege given to Roman citizens. Uh , normally someone would be crucified for these crimes, but he will actually be beheaded. And I think that connects with us. Are you going through a trial?

Are you going through a difficulty? Maybe even in your life? Do you feel like there's an inescapable problem that you have to face? It feels like maybe a prison of some sort. We're going to hear from a prisoner who writes to encourage our hearts and that exciting for whatever trial may be , you've had a bad week. Maybe you've had a bad month. Maybe it's just been a bad life. Paul writes to encourage your heart from prison, and that's going to be very powerful. Number four.

Number four, if you're taking notes, Paul is writing because war weary. Timothy was thinking about giving up. Many commentators believe that Timothy was this young man and an older church and he's probably in his thirties and he's addressing all sorts of hard things. He's, he's addressing a bad doctrine. He's addressing hard relationships. And I think that from the context Timothy is actually thinking about throwing in the towel. I think Timothy's considering giving up.

And first Timothy one verse three Paul says, as I urged you and I was going to Macedonia, listen to this, remain at Ephesus. The implication is that Timothy was thinking about bailing from Ephesus . He was thinking about giving up on his ministry and Paul has to write him and say, no Timothy, you stick with it. You don't give up. God has called you to this. God has gifted you for this. So you stay there and you stay put God's gonna use you. It's too soon to quit.

Soldiers are made for battlefields, not for playgrounds. So you stay put and you don't give up. That's an encouraging word. Lastly, I want to give you one last fast fact. This book has two things, two themes. Number one, proclaim and number two, persevere. We are to proclaim the gospel, keep the gospel, guard the gospel. The gospel is the center of everything we will do at central church. We are to protect the gospel. The gospel is precious.

This gospel that that God sent his son to die the death that you and I deserved this gospel that said he was truly God and truly man. This gospel that says that that that though we are sinners, God is gracious, sending his son to take our place, that that who so ever would turn in faith and repentance to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ could be safe . Somebody say, man , please. Amen. That's the gospel. We need to proclaim that gospel.

We need to preserve that gospel and those two themes he will mention in every chapter, chapter one verse 13 follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy spirit who dwells within us. Guard. Listen to this, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. Guard this gospel. Protect this gospel.

Chapter two verse two and what you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also and trust this gospel to faithful people who will also proclaim it. Chapter three verse 14 as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, preserve and proclaim the gospel. Chapter four verse five as for used always be sober-minded endure suffering.

Do the work of an advantage is fulfill your ministry. Paul is about to die. Weeks away he will have his head removed and he's so concerned that the next generation of people will be ready to take the gospel and run with it and pass it on. And he knows that Satan hates the gospel and Satan will do whatever he can to dilute or delete the gospel. And so Paul is saying, Timothy, don't give up and you hold fast to the gospel of God. Protect it so precious. And he says, you've got to persevere.

You've got to persevere. When you preach the gospel, your life is going to get hard. He'll say all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will experience persecution and suffering. He'll say, share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Chapter one verse eight he'll say, share in suffering as a good soldier.

Chapter two verse three he'll say in chapter three verse 10 you however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patients, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch and I conium and at list DRA , which persecution is I endured? Yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. He's saying, suffering will come.

When you cling to this gospel and you guard this gospel and you preach this gospel, it will get hard. Don't try to escape it, endure it. Paul does not expect to be delivered from suffering. He does not expect to be delivered from persecution, but through it. Let's say it again. Paul does not expect to be delivered from trials, from difficulty, but through it.

Daniel wasn't delivered from the lion's den, but through the lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they weren't delivered from the fiery furnace. But what? Through the fiery furnace and Paul is writing Timothy, whatever your difficulty is, God is enough. God is faithful. He will be with you. So keep going. Notice that he doesn't say to Timothy , uh , Timothy, let's find a way out. He doesn't try to escape his trial.

Now this is, this is interesting to me because if it's me, I would probably write something different. This isn't the letter that I would write. I would probably write Timothy, I'm back in jail. But do you remember those guys in acts who started praying? I want you to gather up those guys and I want you to have a prayer meeting and see if the jail doors will swing open. He doesn't do that cause that's not his goal.

If you're down, if you're going through a difficult season, if you know someone else who's going through trials, you ought to invite them to come and to sit through the series and hear the voice of God and the encouragement of God because week after week we'll return to this place. We'll open the word of God and we'll see what God has for us to encourage us to finish strong. So let's take our Bibles. Let's look at the first six verses. Would you stand in honor of God's word?

We'll do this week to week as our tradition and the reading of the word of God. He's going to give us throughout this section, sermon after sermon, how to finish, how to keep going. And in the first six verses, the thing that sticks out is the father son relationship. And here's our application. I'm going to circle back around to it at the end of the sermon, but this is the application right now. Every one of you needs a father, a spiritual father in your life, and every one of you needs a son.

All of you need a Timothy and all of you need a Paul and we're going to see their relationship. Father, son, relationship and verses one to six. Let's let me read it for us. Chapter one verse one Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace and mercy and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience.

As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, as I remember your tears. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, the faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. For this reason. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, so reads God's word and may the people of God receive it with joy and be changed by it. Thank you.

You may be seated sometimes. As I read the Bible, I'm amazed at what I see. Other times I'm amazed at what I don't see. Look at verse five again. Did you see that in verse five he mentions by name his grandmother and his mother. Did you notice what's missing though, is that's right, his father. My question is, where's Timothy's dad? What happened to Timothy's dad? Where is his spiritual father to lead him and to guide him? I want to be that towards my son.

I love late at night just sitting up with Caleb and just talking about his future and his life and son, how are you doing? How's your heart doing? I love entering into his world. Where's Timothy's dad? Well , we find out the book of acts and acts 16 that Timothy's father was actually a unbelieving Gentile. His father was not a believer. In fact, Paul met his mother and his grandmother and they became believers along with Timothy, but the dad did not become a believer. It was a mixed marriage.

Some of you know the difficulty of what that's like. Timothy had no father. He had no spiritual encourager in his life to say, son, pursue Jesus. Pursue this route in life. It will go well for you. If you'll do this, you'll not be disappointed he didn't have that. Where's my dad? Some of you might be saying that this morning. Where's my dad? Maybe you're not talking to your dad. Maybe you don't know where your dad is at. Maybe your father has gone on to be with the Lord.

Maybe your father has just died. Maybe your father was distant and it was cold and and you would say with Timothy, where's my dad? Look at verse two to Timothy, my beloved child. There's his dad. There's Timothy's dad. It's right there. It's the apostle Paul. Timothy was sort of spiritually adopted by the apostle Paul. Paul took him on the second missionary journey, took him under his wing, God into his life, my beloved child. That's how this letter starts.

And that's really the theme of these first six verses. How is it on week one that you and I can keep going by the grace of God, how is it that God keeps us fueled with endurance to keep going through a difficult life? It's by a father's voice. It's a father's relationship. And that's what we see in these first six verses. We're going to see what that looks like. This is a , um , a father's relationship. But let me just say this. It's one of the most powerful relationships anyone can have.

There's no influence, like a father's influence. I was reminded that when I read a book not, not long ago, and it talked about just a father's role, and this is theologically, let's do some theology theologically. This is a position so powerful and so important that God gives his own title to that position. Father, father, dad's , your role matters. It's important. Your role matters. In fact, it matters so much. And , and we even see that in a sociologist today.

And in fact, in New York, a team sent a team of , uh , there was a team sent out of sociologist to calculate the father's influence on the next generation. Listen to this report. They started in the 18th century with two men that lived at the same time. One of them was max Jukes. He was a godless man and he was, his wife was an atheist. He , he did not have a relationship to the Lord, lived sort of a godless life. The other was Jonathan Edwards and their lineage. Their legacy was most powerful.

Max Jukes, he was a unbeliever. They found 1200 descendants. Listen to the list of what they found. They found 440 lives of outright debauchery. They found 310 poppers and vagrants. They found 190 public prostitutes. They found 130 convicted criminals. They found 100 alcoholics. They found 60 thieves. They found 55 victims of impurity and they found seven murderers . That's, that's quite a legacy.

Listen to Jonathan Edwards, godly man, his wife, Sarah, also a godly woman, great couple of faith, president of Princeton college. He took part in the first grade awakening. Listen to what they found. 300 pastors, missionaries, theological professors, 120 college professors, 110 lawyers, 60 physicians, 60 authors, 30 judges, 14 university presidents, three United States, Congressman and a vice president of the United States of America. That's quite a difference.

You cannot imagine the influence that a father has on a son. Sum up the whole sermon this morning. How was it that you and I keep going? The first thing we see in the first six verses, it's through a father's influence. What at the time we have left, I want to just show you three very simple things about a father's influence and the kind of relationship to look for that would encourage you to keep going and the kind of relationship to be for someone else. Let's look at it together.

Three points in your handout. Number one, what do we look for in this kind of relationship? First of all, we need to seek out God's centered relationships, God centered relationships. How is it that Paul had the ability to tell someone to come and die? For the gospel. How do you gain that kind of influence in someone's life to the point where you could say, come die with me. Paul didn't base this relationship on himself.

He based this relationship on something far greater than himself, namely on God. He put all the focus back on God and we see that in the first few verses. You build your relationship, this mentoring, encouraging relationship on the foundation of God. Paul doesn't make himself the center of Timothy's world that's destined to fail or or when you die to go on and be with the Lord that will cause the person who's trusting in you to give up. He puts it all on God.

Look at, look at the first 14 verses we see God mentioned 12 times in 14 verses five times he mentions God. Six times he mentions Christ Jesus, and at the end he mentions the Holy spirit, the triune God. Verse one, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. He reminds Timothy that all his authority comes from God. He's an apostle. This is someone who wrote scripture.

This is someone directly commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul points Timothy to someone outside of himself, someone greater than himself. That's the kind of relationship that will keep you going. So if you have someone pointing you back to God, God uses his people to encourage his people to back to God, to endure in God. Let me say it again. God encouraged , uses his people to encourage his people back to God.

It's about God. He reminds him of God's gift of eternal life, that in the midst of all his trouble, he comes along, Timothy, who's struggling, hobbling along, and he says, God has given his us. God has gifted us eternal life. So I said , look, I know it's hard.

That's what we need to be for each other. That's the tool God uses to keep us going, and by the way, men who are focused like that, men who have that voice speaking in their life, women who have their voice speaking in their life, they become dangerous, resilient, bold. They don't quit. In fact, I , I'm reminded of the book of acts that's seen in acts four when you remember the Sanhedrin, they come to the disciples and they say, you better stop preaching in the name of Jesus.

If you don't stop preaching, we're going to do bad stuff to you, and the disciples are kind of like, listen, are we, are we going to obey God or man, we can't help but preach in the name of Jesus. We're not going to stop preaching. Well, if you don't stop preaching, we're going to do bad stuff. We're going to take all your possessions and their responses . Well, we've already given our possessions away. This is, this is acts four. We did that back in acts two right?

Well, if you don't stop preaching, we're going to do something else. We'll put you in jail like you did with Peter. The angel opened the jail doors. That didn't work too well. If you don't stop preaching, we're going to kill you like Jesus who Rose from the dead on the third day, the one who sent us, the one who commissioned us, someone would. That voice, that unstoppable council , that unstoppable voice in your life makes dangerous men for the gospel.

Powerful men, men, women who will not give up. We need that eternal perspective. We need that eternal thought. Someone speaking it into our life. People who finish. So I just want to ask you, do you have that Paul Timothy relationship? Do you have a man of God speak into your life? Do you have a woman of God, an older woman in the faith? Maybe ladies speaking into your life? Do you have someone that you are doing that for?

Someone who's pointing you back to God, someone who's coming alongside you in your trial to say, look, I know you have cancer. I know you have sickness. I know that you're going through a difficult trial, but I want to point your eyes back to heaven. You've been given heaven in Christ Jesus, so keep running. Life is short. Keep enduring, keep running hard . Don't give up man of God. Be encouraged, woman of God. Be encouraged. Don't give up. Do you have a voice like that? You and I need that.

If we're going to keep going, if we're going to be in , if we're going to have endurance in this race. Second. Number two, we need to not only seek out relationships that are God centered. We need to seek out relationships that are praying in verses two and three, the letter begins with a prayer. Did you notice that? He says, grace, mercy and peace from God, the father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Now these are, this is kind of a common introduction.

It's a common in Paul's letters, a grace and peace, but there's actually an extra word here. It's the word mercy. Uh , this is a bit more unusual. It's one word that's different. One word off and I think that this is just a personal word to Timothy. Timothy, I know you're going through some very difficult things and praying God's mercy over you.

I'm praying grace, I'm praying peace, but I'm praying mercy over you and I think it shows that Timothy was considering quitting and he needs the mercy of God. Don't we need someone doing that in our lives? Don't we need someone lifting us up like that day by day. Notice also in verse three, I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience as I remember constantly in my prayers day and night and day. Now this is fascinating, that word constantly in the Greek.

It is a, well, it's a very powerful word. It's a very, it has a lot of image connected with you. It's a word used of someone with a hacking cough. If you ever known someone who they're either coughing or they're about to cough. Some of you here this morning, maybe I'm telling you, I moved.

I moved from Ohio back to the South and it was like all my allergies came back and it was like they all got together and said he's back, you know, and uh, and you know, it was just gross stuff going on and I had to start taking an allergy pill like immediately and I started having that cough again where I'm just coughing all the time. Some of you know what that's like. That's the word here that Paul uses for someone who's praying.

It's someone who's praying or right on the edge of praying and always sending up arrow prayers for their prayer partner. I want to encourage you today that someone with that kind of relationship could be very powerful to you. It could be the means of strength that God gives to you to keep you going. And I was at Dallas seminary. I had professor Howard Hendricks who is a legendary at Dallas. We called him prophet Hendrix . He's gone on to be with the Lord. I love that man in class.

He shared an amazing story and evangelical leader sent his sons to school at Dallas to be trained for the gospel. And , uh , prof Hendricks heard they were there. He pulled them into his , his office and he said, boys, I just want to ask you, what do you remember about your dad? What are some of the things that come to your mind when you think about your dad? And those two boys got together and they thought about it.

One of them said this, one of them said, the thing I love about my dad is when we were little on Friday nights, he would push all the furniture out of the living room and we would have world championship wrestling. All right. And he would, he would just wrestle us until we couldn't breathe anymore. And uh , I loved that about dad . It's one of my fondest memories about my father.

The other one got a little bit more serious and he said, the thing I remember about my dad is that I had a paper route at 5:00 AM and I would get up at 5:00 AM to go do that paper route and his door would be cracked and there would be a light on in the room. And I heard my name and dad was praying for me at five o'clock in the morning.

Every time I did that paper route , I was so powerful to change the course of my life, to know I had a praying father and then in very prof Hendrix sort of way, he would look up at the class telling that story and he'd say, what are your children going to remember you for at piercing? Look what? What will you be remembered for? Relationships that keep us going are relationships that are founded in prayer. Every one of you needs a Paul. Every one of you needs a Timothy.

Who are you praying for and who is praying for you? Last point, and we're done, we need to seek God centered relationships. You cannot beat a man to give his life for something if it's based on the foundation of another man. We need something greater, namely God. We need to seek relationships founded in prayer. That's a great source of strength to the people of God. I can't tell you how it has changed me to know. Some of you have prayed for me and my wife Ashley over the past three years.

Lastly, we need to seek relationships that encourage encouraging relationships. Paul was an encourager. Paul came alongside Timothy. He obviously wrote letters to him. Paul made it his life's goal to encourage this young man in the gospel. He made this young man part of his life. He mentions his tears in verse four I have no idea what the tears were about. Maybe it was some circumstance in Timothy's life. Maybe it was he felt like a failure.

Maybe it was just the difficult scenario he was at in Ephesus and he, he wept, and Paul is remembering Timothy's hard days and for Paul, things have gotten very focused facing death does that, doesn't it? He remembers his son. He may be finishing his race, but he's not finished with Timothy. So Paul encourages him and he points him back to his faith.

In verse five your sincere faith, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you. He's saying, Timothy, you're the real deal. God doesn't have any grandchildren and you're truly a son of God. He says, you're so gifted. This is just straight encouragement. Look at verse six. You're so gifted. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

This is Paul saying, Timothy, I believe in you. I imagine this moment to be so intense, almost like Paul wants to take him by the collar of his shirt and say, come on young man, you can do this. I know you. I was there when you were saved . I was there when you got your gift. You're gifted for this. You're saved for this. You can do this. So you endure young, be encouraged, man of God.

Keep going and God used that father, son relationship to keep this young man going and he'll use the relationships that you develop in this place as far as they point you back to God. And as far as they're praying for you and as far as they're , they're committed to, to encouraging you, he'll use those relationships to keep you going. Who are you going to do that for today? That's my only application. Here's my application. Everyone needs a Paul. Everyone needs a Timothy.

Who were you going to do these things for today and who is doing them for you as we close? I had some fun pictures I wanted to put up a while back. I was taking a class at Midwestern and um , I got to visit the Spurgeon library and I'm a bit of a Spurgeon fan. I like to sort of slip him into every sermon if I can, if I can make it happen. Uh, but I was , uh, I was at the , the Spurgeon library and it was a phenomenal time.

They have so many, they have half of his library in one location right there. They , a couple of items moved me just emotionally. They had his preaching rail that he preached from , uh, from metropolitan , uh , church there in London. I don't know how they got their hands on it, but it's there in Kansas city. You can go see it. The rail that he preached from this one really moved me. They had his desk, the desk where he developed so many of his sermons. Now this was amazing.

The , the , the tour guide explained it like this as, as he would be up late at night on a Saturday night, he would be writing out his sermons and he sort of waited till the last minute. Uh, not a good plan by the way. I won't be doing that. Uh, I would be losing my mind, I think. But he waited till the last minute to do his sermons. And routinely, Susanna Spurgeon would come in and find him slumped over the desk in tears and just saying, I can't do it. I can't keep going.

I've got nothing left in the tank. And he's just struggled with depression, struggled with anxiety. He had a lot of personal fear inside of him. And she'd find him just, just humped over the desk and, and just crying. And, and the story goes that Susanna would come and she would literally physically take him, lift him up, place him in the chair and say, you can do this. You can keep going. By God's grace. He will give you what you need. He will give you the words to say, you can do this.

I'll get back to work. And it was neat. The , the library had as its central exhibit, this massive painting, I'll put it up on the screen here. Massive painting at the back of the library, the centerpiece of the whole library. It had a of Spurgeon, and this is not the original, actually, it was commissioned. Uh , Susanna was, was not originally there, but because she played such an important role in his life, they paid an artist to paint her in to show the influence that she had on her husband.

That's powerful to me. God uses his people to keep his people going. And that's God's word for us today. As we think about what it takes to finish. It's too soon to quit. It's always too soon to quit. And one of the means of God's grace that keeps us going is that we would be in community together, that we would encourage one another. It would pray for one another, that we'd point each other back to something greater than ourselves.

Back to God. Would you pray with me as we close today, I want to invite you if you need to use our prayer area or if you need to pray with someone at the front or the back.

If you need to talk to someone, there'll be someone here at the front. There'll be someone back in the prayer area. This is the gospel. It's that all of us, every one of us has broken God's law. We've lied, we've stolen, we've cheated. All of us like sheep have gone astray, but God has sent his son, Jesus Christ to pay for those sins. That's what gospel means. Good news. There's good news for you this morning.

If you would turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of your sin, God would save you right where you're at. You'd be saved from the top of your head to the bottom of your foot. You'd be saved. God would wash you wide of snow, right where you're at. Pray it . Do that today. Today is the day of salvation. Won't you do that right where you are or or meet with someone in the back and talk about where you're at in your relationship to the Lord.

I'm going to pray you respond as the Lord would have. Father, we lift up our time together. I pray that across this room there would be mentoring relationships of Paul's and Timothy's men, mentoring men, women mentoring women. You would develop these power relationships of prayer and God's centeredness, father, that you would develop in us staying power because of your gospel, because of your people, because of the power of the Holy spirit.

And I pray would come back to this place week after week after week to hear more about what it is that you use to keep your people running. Father, we commit these things now to your Holy spirit. We ask that your spirit would apply them in each of our lives. We love you and we pray these things in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, our savior. Amen.