New Year's Resolutions

1:31I was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1993, and I served as a bivocational minister for nearly 30 years. I served as the associate pastor of two Baptist churches in Virginia and led a church planning ministry there. I provided pulpit supply for several churches in Maryland and in Virginia and West Virginia. And I also worked as an IT systems manager for the federal government in Washington, D.C. for 35 years. And I just retired back in June. It's been an awkward change because every day I wake up thinking I'm late for work. And it's like, I don't have to get up. Every day is Saturday. It's kind of neat. We bought a house in Austin's colony, which is right here in Bryan, so that we could live near Daniel and Amy, and we get to watch. Kim really likes this, watch Joseph grow up. We just had a wonderful Christmas with him and watching him open his presents for the very first time, and he was just a joy to be with. Kim and I have had lots of things to do and learn since moving to a new state in a new town. And I'm trying to establish some personal goals and priorities for myself now that I'm retired. And this is the time of year, too, when many of us set personal goals and make resolutions for ourselves. I'm just curious, did any of you make resolutions? For yourself in 2021?

3:03How'd you do? Did you achieve the goals that you set for yourself? Maybe you've heard of the story about the man who moved to the retirement community to spend the rest of his life there. It wasn't long until he'd made several friends among the other residents. There was one lady to whom he was especially attracted, and she was attracted to him. So they spent a lot of time together, and finally, one evening, he proposed and asked her to marry him. The next morning, he woke up and remembered the proposal, but he couldn't remember her answer. So he went to her and said, I'm really embarrassed. I proposed to you last night, but I can't remember if you said yes or no. Oh, thank goodness, she said. I remember saying yes, but I couldn't remember who asked me.

4:01And sometimes I feel that way about New Year's resolutions. I tell myself, this is the year that I'm going to exercise regularly and lose weight. And I need to put that on my list again this year. And I'm going to do all kinds of things to improve myself physically and spiritually. But then, somehow, I forget. And maybe you have that problem too. You attempt to read the Bible through in one year, but But sometime around April, the Israelites are still wandering around the wilderness and they just never seem to get out.

4:38We've all been there. Setting goals is the easy part. We feel really good about ourselves when we establish goals and start to work towards them. And that's why all the fitness centers are running specials right now. But we often forget that the point of setting the goal and the time of its achievement requires a lot of time and discipline and just plain old hard work. And we have a word for that. It's called perseverance. And the Apostle Paul speaks about perseverance in his second letter to Timothy. So if you still have your Bibles open, we're going to be in 2 Timothy chapter 2, and we'll be looking at verses 1 through 7 this morning.

5:34Matthew read that this morning for us, but let's read it once more. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 1, it says, Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And 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. Thou therefore endure hardness as Good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth, or no man that serves as a soldier, entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if any man strives for masteries, or if anyone wants to be an athlete, he is not crowned or not rewarded except he strives lawfully or according to the rules.

6:26The husbandman or the farmer that labors must be the first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say, and the Lord give you understanding in all things. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. Let's have a word of prayer as we begin this morning. Our Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for a new year. And Lord, for the many things which we've been experiencing for the last couple years. God, we ask that you will just help us as we move into this new one.

7:05Watch over those that are sick, care for those that are away. God, bless us here as we've come together to worship you, to study your word together and to fellowship. God, I'm thankful for this church. I'm thankful that we found a new home here in Bryan. And I pray for my brothers and sisters. Lord, there are many needs here today: physical needs, financial needs, relational needs. And God, I pray that you would just work in each life, in each situation, according to your grace and according to your will.

7:49God, thank you for loving us and for sending your son Jesus to be a little baby, to become flesh, but not to stay a baby, but to grow up to be a man, a sinless man, who took upon himself our sins and died upon a cross, was buried and was resurrected three days later. And Father, we look forward to the day when you send Jesus once again to take us home to be with you in heaven. Bless us now as we study and we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

8:31The second letter to Timothy is the last letter that Paul would ever write. Paul was being held in a dirty Roman prison when he wrote this final letter to his spiritual son, Timothy. And not long after that, according to tradition, Paul was beheaded under the Roman Emperor Nero. Paul apparently was aware of his fate, as he stated in 2 Timothy 4:6, for the time of My departure is at hand. At this point in Timothy's life, he may have been somewhat passive, timid, and maybe easily intimidated. And Paul continually encouraged Timothy to let nothing, to include his youth, to stand in the way of serving God and spreading the gospel.

9:24And this morning, we will consider four reasons that Christians need to persevere in their daily walk with the Lord. And in this passage, there are four specific commands. And each one of them will describe the reason that we need to persevere as believers. The first reason is that Christians need to persevere as we fulfill God's purpose for our life. Christians need to persevere as we fulfill God's purpose for our lives. Look at verse 1, if you would, with me this morning.

10:06Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 1 begins with a therefore. So we need to examine the preceding passages to see what it's there for. And if you look up just a few verses in your Bible to chapter 1, verse 13, it says Paul. Wrote, hold fast to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith and the love which is in Christ Jesus. Timothy was to hold fast to the things that he had learned from Paul and to guard them with the help of the Holy Spirit. It was Timothy's responsibility to preserve sound doctrine from being corrupted and to defend it from false teaching.

11:01Ministry can be a very difficult thing. Those of you that have served in many ministries before may realize that some people can disappoint you. Paul stated in 2 Timothy 1, verse 15, that everyone in the province of Asia had deserted him, except for one man, whose name was Onesophorus, who cared for Paul and provided for him in Rome. And for that, Paul was extremely grateful to him. And because difficulties can occur in ministry, Paul instructed Timothy to be strong. That's that word right there, the command to be strong, to persevere in his service to the Lord. But his strength was not something that he could get from a can, you know, like Popeye. Remember Popeye? When he would squeeze that can of spinach and he would eat that, his arms would all bulk up and he'd get really strong and he'd knock old Bluto out so that he could save his girlfriend olive oil.

12:11It's not the same thing, it's nothing that you can do on your own. Because spiritual success is only accomplished by spiritual means. Let me say that again. Spiritual success is only accomplished by spiritual means. If we have any success in ministry, it is only because of the grace of God. Philippians 4:13 says, I can do all things in my own effort. Is that what it says? No. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And that's that inward strengthening. That's what this word means. I can do all things, I can serve in ministry because God gives me strength. God gives me the ability to do this. It's nothing I can do on my own because anything I try to do on my own is typically just going to fall flat on its face.

13:18And I've seen that happen. Christians need to persevere as we fulfill God's purposes. For our lives, the second reason is that Christians need to persevere as we train others to become faithful teachers. Christians need to persevere as we train others to become faithful teachers or servants. Verse 2 has often been a very favorite verse of mine. And 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.

14:08Paul picks up this same thought as he was back up in 2 Timothy 1:13. The things which you have heard of me, he says in 1:13. He now says again in 2:2, the things that you have heard of me, these things, this doctrine which I've been teaching you, Timothy, diligently for all these years that we've been together, teach them to others and then train them to teach others also. Paul wasn't looking just for students, he didn't just want to fill up their minds with facts and knowledge. Paul wanted to train Timothy so that he could be a teacher of teachers, and that's the most wonderful thing that you can see happen when those that you've trained. Then they want to step up and become teachers. And then, as you watch them, they train others to teach. And that process continues. Someone has coined the phrase the ministry of multiplication. Let me ask you something.

15:20Pam, if I were today to give you a million dollars, that would make your new year, would it not? It would. But if I were to say, I would give you one penny and double it each day for 30 days, would you rather have the million dollars or the penny? You've heard this before, yes. Because after 30 days of that multiplication of pennies, you would end up with $5,368,709.12. She would take that. Anyone want to help her out? She'll be right down here in the front.

16:06I love to teach. It's just one of the blessings in my life. I served as an instructor at work for six years teaching IT systems to new recruits. If you're a teacher, you know what those light bulb moments are, don't you, Pat? When all of a sudden you just see it in their face, they get it. And it is rare, but it's there. And I love it when it happens. When a student says, I know what you're talking about. And then they go on to learn more. They bring books in, they talk about things, they go in the library and they look up the same topic, and you begin to exchange ideas. And it's so much fun to do that.

16:48In the last two churches that we served in, I was the minister of education and Sunday school director for both of those churches. And each year, selecting and training teachers was always a challenge. And in a church setting, we all serve as volunteers. Every year, a conversation would occur with the teachers to see if they would be willing to serve one more year. Most would, but others requested some time off, and that was okay. But with that hole, with that departure of that teacher, also came a need. And the need was we needed to find a replacement teacher. And I often thought about who I would request to be in that role. And I wanted somebody that was fat.

17:42Think about this. Are they faithful to church and to Sunday school? Are they available to serve on a weekly basis? And are they teachable? F-A-T. If they were lacking in one of these areas, if they were not faithful, if they didn't come to Sunday school, why would they want to be a teacher in Sunday school? If they say, well, I only want to teach once a month or maybe every six weeks, well, that kind of makes it hard for the class if you're not there every week. And if they're not teachable, if they're not willing to learn, that makes it hard too.

18:28But if they were fat, we had a good year together, and so did their classes. Timothy was taught to find faithful individuals who could be trained. And then he wanted to teach them how to train others. Again, he was not looking for students, he was looking for future leaders who would persevere year after year after year and training others, committing sound doctrine to others, and looking for those who would step up and take his job as a teacher. And to many of us, that seems kind of threatening that someone would take our job.

19:19But honestly, we really want to work ourselves out of a job. You got the chance to serve as a teacher or somebody in ministry for the very first time, and somebody had to bring You into that place. Somebody brought me in and showed me how to teach. And eventually I worked myself out of a job. And somebody else became the Sunday school director for the church. And that was a blessing to me to see that individual take the reins and to run with it and go and do good things. Paul wanted to see Timothy do that. And Timothy was going to do that as well. Teaching others, who would teach others, who would teach others.

20:04Christians need to persevere as we train others to become faithful teachers. The third reason is that Christians need to persevere as do those in other areas of life. Christians need to persevere as do those in other areas of life. In verses 3 through 6, Paul provides three examples of Christian perseverance: that of a soldier in verses 3 through 4, that of an athlete in verse 5, and finally that as a farmer in verse 6. And Paul recalls what he had previously written in 2 Timothy 1:8. Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, share in the suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

21:07Paul then writes in 2 Timothy 2, verse 3, to share in the suffering. That's the same Greek word. As a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The King James Bible says to endure hardness. Suffering for the sake of the gospel is something that we all will have to endure. It is not an easy road. Jesus himself said, in this world, you will have trouble. John 16, verse 33. Jesus also said, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. And this gives us the motivation to persevere. Paul shares with Timothy these three types of people. Three individuals, three skill sets who Timothy would be very familiar with. As he looked around, he could see soldiers everywhere. He could see athletes out in the fields training and competing. And everywhere that Paul went, because that part of the world at that time was an agrarian society. Everybody had farmers. And most of them that Paul and Timothy would associate with were them.

22:27In verses 3 and 4, we see... That of a soldier, one who perseveres with a singleness of mind. The soldier is one who perseveres with a singleness of mind. And again, soldiers were commonplace throughout the Roman Empire, and Timothy would have been familiar with soldiers and their habits. And I served in the Air Force from 1979 to 1983. All enlisted Air Force personnel participate in basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Other services had their basic training in various locations. How many here served in the military?

23:14There was a guy or lady that was in charge of you during basic training. For us in the Air Force, they were referred to as training instructors or TIs. Army, what'd you have? Drill instructors, DIs, other services, you had those individuals that were responsible for you. And were they your friends, John? They were not your friends, nor did they intend to be your friends. They had one purpose in mind, and that was to make that group of raw recruits learn how to function as a team and to follow orders. That's what that individual in charge wanted to see happen. When you were down in the foxhole and he said, stay down. He didn't want you to go, why?

24:04Because in the field, you can get hurt really badly if you pop up and say, Why? You need to follow the instructions of those who are in charge of you. And we, as recruits, had one desire to learn what was expected of us and to please that guy that was in charge of us. If he was a happy individual, we would be a happy group of people. We had no time to think about family or friends or football. That would all have to wait. We needed to work hard to persevere and to remain focused on our tasks so we could graduate and get out of there.

24:47And we, as Christians, have one person to whom we owe our allegiance and our loyalty, and that's Jesus Christ. We want to please Him who has chosen us to be His followers. Persevere. Stick with it, just like the soldier, and do it with a singleness of mind. The second example, the second illustration that Paul uses is found in verse 5. And if a man also strive for masteries, it says in the King James, it's also translated, if you want to be an athlete.

25:30Are you not crowned, or are you not awarded unless you strive, unless you compete according to the rules? So, this is an element of perseverance with the idea of discipline and obedience to rules as you compete. Timothy and Paul were very much aware, and Paul was actually quite interested in athletic games. A lot of Paul's illustrations in the scripture have something to do with running races, with boxing matches, and then being awarded the reeds or the crowns that are provided to the victors, to the winners of the games. But in order to win that crown, one had to compete according to the rules of the game.

26:18My game is football. I'm just built that way. I've been a big guy for a long time, and my coaches recognized that. They were not going to make me an end or a running back or anybody else that had to do a lot of running. I was really good in about two to three yards. And I could hit really, really hard. So I played offensive guard and defensive tackle, if you're familiar with the football positions. All I had to do was bang into the guy in front of me and get him out of the way or take down the ball carrier. I played football from junior high through my senior year in high school, and then I played some intermural. Football in the Air Force.

27:03I actually understand that high school football is kind of a thing here in Texas. Is that right? I think I want to watch some of that. We had a really small high school, so everyone played the entire game both ways: offense, defense, special teams, and there was really no time off the field. But we all knew the rules of the game on both sides. We knew how to win the game, and we also knew how to be disqualified. And the officials were there to ensure that we competed according to the rules. We needed discipline to be ready for the games, and we had to follow the rules in order to win.

27:48If you decided to run outside those silly little lines on the side of the field just because you thought it was easier to get to the goal line, do you win? No, you don't. You've got to stay in the lines. You've got to compete according to the rules. You've got to do it just right in order to win that victory. God has given each of us a rule book, too. Right here. To help us learn about Himself and to teach us how to live in this world.

28:27And we need to be disciplined to Know this rule book so that we can be obedient to the one who will crown us one day when we see him face to face. Just like the athlete in your Christian walk, persevere, do it with discipline and obedience to the rules. And the third illustration that Paul provides Timothy is that of a farmer. Again, something that he would see everywhere he would go. Paul was probably thinking, look over there, there is the farmer. He was one that would work hard and was deserving of the first fruits of his crops.

29:23Perseverance here, as Paul explains, the husbandman or the farmer that labors must be the first partaker of his fruits. Hard working here is contrasted with that one who is lazy. And you can't be a lazy farmer. It's just not going to work. Well, you might say, well, I'm a farmer and I believe in God. And if I just sit in my house and I pray really, really hard, God, give me a good crop, and you're never out there planting the seed. And you're never out there taking out the weeds, what kind of a crop are you going to have at the end of the year?

30:07Nothing. You can't be a lazy farmer. You've got to work. You're up from sunrise and you work all day long. And I grew up on a farm in Iowa. Let me give you some advice: Never, never, never tell your dad you're bored. He always had a list of things that needed to be fixed or cleaned. And if we didn't have something to do, we would go and work at the neighbors' farms. Everybody around us knew us. There were eight kids in my family. I'm the oldest of the eight. And to them, I never had a name. They would just call up my dad, and his name was Elvin. They say, Elvin, we need you to send over two of your oldest boys. We need some help cleaning up this hog barn.

30:57And dad would tell us, Tomorrow you're going to be up at 4 o'clock and you're going to go clean a hog barn. Yes, sir, I will. So at 3:30, he's dragging us by our heels out of our beds. Get up, it's time to go. We'd crawl out and put on our dirty clothes and sit out by the driveway and wait for the man's truck to pull up. He'd let us sit in the front seat, playing his music as we drove back to the farm. And when we got there, his wife. Had this wonderful breakfast. For some reasons, farmers just know how to make breakfast. And man, this lady could cook. And we'd have the best eggs and bacon and sausage and biscuits. And oh, I just want to stay there.

31:49But no, we'd head out to that hog barn. And sure enough, there's no hogs there. Hogs have been there all year. What do you think's left? Stuff from hogs. And our responsibility was to clean that big shed. And as soon as we got close to that shed, it was like, whoa, this place stinks. How do you ever want me to work in here? I need a mask. I need something on my face. He says, well, here's what you get. Here's your power sprayer. Go to it. So my brother and I, we would light up on both sides of the shed. It was about 100 wide and about 200 feet long. It kind of sloped down to the middle where the trench was, where all the mess went, and then it would flow out the back to a retaining pond out behind the shed.

32:39And we'd start really slow at first. And you thought, well, this is going to be an easy day. Until you hit one of those pockets in the concrete, you know what I'm talking about? And spoosh! All that stuff on the floor is now in your mouth. And in your eyes and in your hair, and you're like, oh, what did I just do? I don't care anymore. And you just go at it. And after a while, you know what? The smell that you thought was so offensive, you smell it anymore. You're just in it. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. And about lunchtime, the farmer would come out. Oh, I see you're pretty well done. Let's come have some lunch. And you finish up later. So he'd take us back up to the house.

33:30You think we'd get to go in and sit at the nice table? No. Mrs. Farmer would bring our food out. It's good food. But she'd set it in the yard. Y'all boys can sit out here and eat. Have a good lunch. It was a good lunch. We're just sitting on the grass. It was a nice day. About an hour later, he'd say, Come on, guys, let's go back and finish up. So we go at it. Work until about sundown. We put our tools away, and he'd put us back in the truck. Of course, we don't get to sit in the front anymore. We've got to sit in the back, in the bed, as he drives us back to our house. And we tried to go in the house. What do you think my mom says? You guys stink. You need to go out to the pump and wash yourselves off before you're going to step one foot in this house. So go get cleaned up. And that's what we do. We go out there and we'd scrub ourselves. Down as best as we could at the pump. We shoot each other with a hose, you know, just have a good old time as kids do.

34:40But you know what? That little story reminds me, too, a lot about sin. It's kind of similar to a story you shared, John. When you first sin, when you first do something that's wrong, it's like an offense to you. And you know you've done wrong, and it's like you stink. What was it, a coat or a jacket that you had, right? Everything I had on. Everything. Well, everything that we had on was pretty stinky, too. But when you got in that bar and it was like, this place smells, this is bad. I don't want to be here. This is horrible.

35:23But you know what? The longer you're in it, the more times that you repeat that sin, you get desensitized to it. Just like we got desensitized to that smell of hogs. And after a while, you don't smell it anymore. Sin's like that. But you must think about what an offense it is to a holy God when sin is in his presence. Much it offends him, and how much it offends others when they come into your presence and that sin is being committed. It's an offense, it's a stench that's in their nostrils, and we need to get cleaned up.

36:171 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to clean us up at the pump, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Maybe this is a time of the year when you need to clean up some things in your life. Got a brand new year, fresh start. What kind of changes do you want to make for 2022? Christians need to persevere, as do those in other areas of life.

37:06And our final reason is: Christians need to persevere in our pursuit of godly wisdom. Christians need to persevere in our pursuit of godly wisdom. In verse 7, it says, Consider what I say, and that's the command to consider, to think. About something, to reflect on what I've just told you, Timothy. Consider what I say, and the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Paul wants Timothy to think about the things that he had just shared with him, and God would give him additional insights into what he needed to know once Paul was no longer with him.

37:58We too need to pursue godly wisdom through daily reading of God's Word, by meditation on what it says. A daily quiet time with the Lord is vital in our daily walk with Him. But it's so, so easy to set aside in favor of other things. Oh, I've got to do this. I can't do my quiet time today. I don't have time for devotions because if I don't get this done right now, things are just going to get messed up. Let me tell you what. If you give up quiet time with God, your whole day is going to be messed up. And whether it's early in the morning or at lunch or later in the evening, I'm more of an evening person when I read my Bible. I don't really get a whole lot done in the morning. Kim can tell you that. I need that coffee first thing.

38:56But we all need that quiet time with God. Be disciplined and persevere in your pursuit of godly wisdom. If you don't have a Bible reading plan or something that you've really gotten into, one of the things that I've been doing for years and years and years is called a proverb a day. And it's a simple thing, but it kind of goes along with this in our pursuit of godly wisdom because that's exactly what Proverbs is: a book of godly wisdom. There are how many chapters in Proverbs? Anyone? 31. How many days in a month? Sometimes 31, sometimes 30. If there's 30, then bonus, you get an extra one on the last day. In February, you get a bunch more. So it's okay. But every day, read a proverb. You know, unless you have some other study guide or something that you're working through or whatever you're doing, a proverb a day is really a good thing.

39:59And I guarantee you, each time you roll through that book of Proverbs, something new is going to stand out. You're like, well, I didn't see that there before. That's because God is showing you things in your life. As you become disciplined, as you pursue godly wisdom, He will bring new things to light as you follow Him. So, what are your spiritual goals for this year? Is there a friend, a family member, or a neighbor who needs to hear the gospel? Maybe you need to start a scripture reading plan. Maybe you need to establish a devotional time with the Lord.

40:45Or maybe you're thinking about serving here in this church. Where would God have you to serve? What would God have you do in 2022? I'd like to give you just a little bit of time and talk to God about that. Would you do that with me? Just bow your heads and close your eyes for just a little bit. And just reflect on the things that we've talked about this morning. And ask Him where you might want to serve, what He might have you to do, what things you might like to do for Him this year. Just spend a little bit of time, and then I'll close in prayer.

41:30Father, thank you for this time this morning. Thank you for my brothers and sisters who are here, who love you and want to serve you with all of their hearts. And God, I pray that you would help them as they've been talking to you this morning, thinking about things that they might want to do with and for you during this upcoming year. God, may you empower them through the Holy Spirit to do wonderful things, to strengthen them, to encourage them. And then, God, as they've decided to do things for you, to allow them to persevere and to continue in the things that you've called them to do.

42:18God, we are blessed and so grateful to serve you in any capacity that we can. And we love you, and we thank you for sending your Son to die on a cross for us. And, Father, if there be one here today or is listening via this video that has never trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, God, I pray that today would be that day that they might come and just talk with one of us, and we can show them from the scriptures how they can know for sure that their sins can be forgiven and that they have a home in heaven for all eternity. God, thank you for your son.

43:03And we thank you for giving us one more year. May you bless us as we move along. And Father, help us persevere. And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.