← ArchiveSunday, October 11, 2020DateOctober 11, 2020SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamText1 Timothy 4Passages in this sermon1 Timothy 41:001 Timothy 14:32Luke 88:48Luke 1311:13Ephesians 520:05TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for joining us.0:301 Timothy chapter 4 today.1:00I want to thank Pastor Jared and our praise team. They do a phenomenal job. As they were singing, as we were singing, the one thought that occurred to me was that God inhabits the praises of his people. Think how powerful that is as we sing to the Lord. You're not just singing songs, but you are praising God and he is inhabiting those praises. That's good stuff, in case you didn't realize it. So as we look at 1 Timothy today, I was reminded of this story.1:27In 2004, a man named Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight. So Matt was an Olympic rifleman. And going to the third and final shot, he was well ahead of the competition. All he had to do to win the gold for the United States is to hit not even the bullseye, but the target. It was a shot that he had made in his sleep on many occasions. So Matt lines up.1:56He shoots bullseye, gold medal. But as the judges proceeded to the target, they found something uniquely odd about this competition. You see, Matt was standing in lane 2. And they knew he hit the bullseye, but they could not find the mark where it had penetrated the bullseye. But they realized that in lane 3, there was a perfect shot.2:23This is how the judges describe it. They said it is an extremely rare mistake in elite competition. What Matt had done is, standing in lane 2, he shot in lane 3. And his misfire proved very costly. Instead of winning the gold medal, he was 8th. This is a reminder, church.2:53It's one thing to be devoted. But if you're devoted to the wrong thing, your devotion and believing a lie proves very costly. It proves very costly. And my burden, as someone who grew up in the Bible Belt, someone who grew up in a church culture, is that many people, residing in the walls of many churches throughout our land, are devoted, fully devoted. But you're devoted to the wrong faith.3:21You're devoted to the wrong spirituality. And we're going to see in 1 Timothy 4, there is great cost to believing and following lies. But there is also great cost to believing and following Jesus Christ. And it's worth it. So today's message is simply entitled, is it worth it? True faith is the difference between life and death. True faith is the difference between heaven and hell.3:49What is your aim today? Where is your devotion placed? To those watching online, we are so thankful that you are with us. We might have some in our overflow room. So if you are up there, thank you for joining in. This is what we believe every time that we meet as a church. We believe that those who are of faith in Christ should be encouraged by the word of God. And we believe that those who are not yet of faith in Jesus Christ will hear, will be convicted, and that they will give their life and find eternal life.4:15So that is our hope. That is our prayer this morning. So with that, let's read the scripture. Is it worth it? 1 Timothy 1 of chapter 4. Now the Spirit explicitly says in the latter times, Some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.4:43Through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences have been seared. These people forbid marriage and they demand absent foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. Since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.5:13If you point out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. Nourished by the words of faith and good teaching that you have followed. Verse 7. But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit. But godliness is beneficial in every way.5:43Since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. For this reason, church, we labor and we strive. Because we have put our hope in the living God who is the savior of all people. Especially those who believe. May the Lord bless the reading of his word.6:10Is it worth it today? Count the cost. We see in Matt's life the difficulty of a costly mistake. It could be the difference between winning gold and winning nothing. But how much important is it for you to put your devotion in what is right and what is true spiritually? True devotion to Jesus Christ is the difference between heaven and hell. And so we see very clearly in verse 1 that in the last days, some will depart from faith.6:36When is the last days? Well, very clearly in scripture, the apostles in the early church believed that when Jesus Christ died on the cross. But that's not the end of the story. He stayed in the grave for three days. That's not the end of the story. On the third day, they went to the tomb and they found the stone was rolled away.7:04And that this Messiah who told them that just as a sign of Jonah, he also would be in the belly of the earth and he would rise again. On the third day, Jesus Christ rose again. And he ascended into heaven. And the promise that Jesus gave his church was, As sure as I have ascended into heaven, one day in the clouds, I will come back for you. So with all of that, the early church simply believed that they were living in the latter days, the end times.7:34And that the end days would culminate in the final day. When Jesus Christ would come back to judge the living and the dead. And everything else in between. So when is the latter day? It's today. It's now. In these moments, right here in verse 1 it says, Some will depart the faith.8:00As I was reading the scripture, I'm asking myself, Okay, Lord, who is it? Who are these some? Is it you? Is it you? But I think we're doing ourselves an injustice if you don't ask yourself this question. As the disciples ask around that table in the Last Supper. Jesus says, One of you is going to betray me. And they all ask,8:30Lord, is it I? We must ask ourselves. The Bible is very clear that some will depart the faith. We must ask ourselves, Lord, surely not me. Lord, is it me? Lord, search my heart. Jesus described these people in this way. In Luke 8. He said, There's a sower that's scattering seeds. Some falls around fertile soil and it's crops. Some falls along the path and the birds pluck it out of the path.8:56But Jesus says there's other seed that's scattered on the rock. And those are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. So this is great news. Lord, can this be true? But having no root, Jesus says, These believe for a while and they fall away in the time of testing. Church, I believe that there is no greater time of testing than you see today.9:24There's no greater time of testing than you experience right now. Listen, the cost of shallow faith is tremendous. The cost of shallow religion is great. And we must look ourselves in the mirror and say, Lord, is this me? Because if this is describing my life, I want a deep faith. I want a faith that will withstand the testing of the storms.9:52If I am living in shallow soil, I want Christ to change my life. That I would give him my life and that I would grow roots of faith. Are you asking the right questions? Lord, is it me? Is it me that that pastor is talking about today? During this moment, it says that some will what? Some will depart. They will fall away. It's interesting that Paul uses those words here in 1 Timothy.10:22It's the same word. If you remember the passage of Scripture where Satan comes and right after Jesus' baptism, Satan tempts Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. And after every time, Jesus finally gives him the word of God. And eventually, Satan is tired of tempting Christ because Jesus is sinless. And he will not fall into temptation. He withstands. And so, Jesus leans into the Spirit and he withstands the temptations of the evil one.10:50And the Bible says, Satan gives up and he departs. Same words. Is that interesting that Paul says that some will depart true faith as Satan departs Jesus Christ in those days? It's the same word that God the Father uses in Luke 13. At this great throne of judgment. Some will go up to the Father and they will say, Lord, look at all that I've done for you.11:19God, look at what I've given. Look at the buildings in my name. Lord, look at the wells that have been dug around the world. God, look at the miracles. Look at the demons that we cast out in honor of you. And God says this to those people. Depart from me. For I don't know who you are. I never knew you. It's the same exact language used.11:49Hear from the word of God in 1 Timothy 4. Then from the word of the Lord at the great judgment. If that does not make you shiver, nothing else will. Because I don't want to be someone who departs the faith. I don't want to be someone that when I stand before God and I say, God, look at everything that I did for you. I don't want to hear, Josh, you depart from me. Because you did a lot of things, but they weren't for me.12:17They were for yourself. Church, the cost of superficial spirituality is great. And as awesome as this church is, and in my humble opinion, as awesome as this pastor is. I don't understand why that was funny. I can't save anyone. And this church will not save a single soul.12:46And this denomination will not save a single soul. And this nation will not save a single soul. There is one Savior, and he is Jesus Christ. The cost of superficial spirituality is great. And the truth is, in our lives, there is a great cost to believing a lie. But the truth here in this word is that we all believe something, don't we? Look at verse 1. Some in the latter times, today, some will depart.13:15Just as Satan departed. Just as those will depart at the great throne room of God. They will hear, depart from me. And the reason some are departing is because they are paying attention to deceitful spirits. The reality is that everyone believes in something. Even people who don't believe in Jesus Christ. Even people who say they don't have faith, have faith in something. The question is, where is your faith? We all pay attention.13:46The Bible calls it paying attention. So what has your attention today? A great rule of thumb for parents in the room. If you want to know what has your attention, ask your kid. Ask your son. Ask your daughter. They'll tell you what has your hearts. You see, the Bible says, you know what has your heart by what you do. What are you paying attention to in your life?14:16Is it Jesus Christ or is it things of the world? And what was going on here in this passage is that some had this heart of legalism. And it's a heart of just, if you don't do certain things, then you won't be so bad. And God will accept you. But specifically, look what they are forbidding in verse 3. There was a heart of self-perseverance, self-preservation. People in the church at Ephesus were saying simply, don't get married and don't eat certain foods.14:40And it's even better if you don't get married and at the same time you're not eating those foods. See, what was going on in the early church is that they believed the two greatest appetites of any individual were sex and food. And so to quelch those passions, they would say, well, just don't get married and just don't eat these foods. And if you don't do these things, then you will be accepted by the Lord.15:09In modern language, it might sound like this. Well, go to church. Let others see how pious you are, especially on Facebook. Don't have sex or get married. Eat right. And you then will be saved. That's exactly what they were saying in this church. 2,000 years ago. It's the age-old adage of this. If you don't do this, then God will accept you.15:39Or if you do these things, then God will accept you. And you know what the reality is? We all have those blanks in our life, don't we? We all have the blanks that would say, well, if you don't do this, you're not so bad. And you will be found good in the eyes of the Lord. Church, that is not true. We all live to fill in the blanks. And the answer in the word of God is that the cost of leaving God out of our lives is great.16:05It's costly. Do you see God in this equation? They forbid marriage and they forbid food. Where's God? He's not there. Church, is it possible that you are living a superficial spirituality and when you look at your life, God is not there?16:28Is it possible that you come into these doors every week and you sing and you give and you might even serve, but you look at your life and God is not there? Is that possible? It is possible. And may that not be said of us. Superficial spirituality, the cost is too great. It is too great.16:57Listen, church, no amount of effort will save you. No amount of abstinence in anything will save you. The reality is that if you were to stop sinning today, you would still be too dirty to sit at the banquet of Jesus Christ. I describe it to some of our young people this way. They say, well, if I just stop sinning, then God will accept me. I say, no, if you stop sinning, you're still dirty. God will not accept you.17:27You have to be cleansed. You have to be changed. And the world tells you, well, just stop and God will love you. He will accept you. And Jesus says, no, you can never be made right. That's why I sent my son. God says, I sent my son to die on the cross to make you whole, to make you clean. Church, stop living the do this, do not do this life. Live a life that says, God, I will fully give you who I am. And I will trust in your spirit to let me live in righteousness.17:54The cost of living a lie is great. And it leads to spiritual malnourishment. And it leads to eternal death and hell. But there's a better way. There's a cost not only of living a lie and following a lie, but there's a great cost of following Jesus Christ. Look here in verse 6. He says, if you point these things out to brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.18:22God doesn't want you to be malnourished. He wants you to be what? In verse 6. Be nourished by the words of faith and good teaching that you have followed. Listen, God wants his faith community to have some spiritual meat on their bones. He doesn't want you to be emaciated. God wants us to have weight on us. That way when the storms and the winds of death find us, that we are now found faithful.18:51The cost of following Jesus Christ are great. You see, the opposite of a pointless life is a purposeful life. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to live a pointless existence. The opposite of living this pointless, superficial existence. The one that says, hey, how are you doing? I'm fine. You lie.19:21You lie. You lie. You lie. And oftentimes when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, what do you do? I'm fine. Or when I'm convicted, I say, well, Lord, how about him? I'm not looking at anyone specifically. Is that not what we do? We always find someone that, well, they're more sinful. But the Holy Spirit is saying, Josh, no, I'm asking you about your heart. The cost of following Jesus Christ is great.19:50And church, here is what we have to be very careful of. To abstain from everything in your life is to leave your life empty. And when there's emptiness, it always creates a vacuum. That's why Ephesians 5 says this. Do not be drunk with wine. It doesn't stop there, though. So God gives us, don't do this, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.20:13God wants to fill you up. He wants to indwell you. There's a great cost. What is the cost? I don't want to be drunk with wine because I want to be filled with your presence. The reality is you cannot fill your life with sin and fill your life with the Spirit. The cost of following Jesus Christ is great. And here is the cost.20:42Nourished by the words of faith, verse 7. Have nothing to do with the things that you see on Twitter. I mean, the pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourselves in godliness. You see, purposeful lives train for that purpose. Paul uses a word here that is the same word. It's the Greek word gymnasia.21:10When you say, I'm going to the gym, it's the same word that Paul uses here. So what do you do at the gym? This is what they tell me happens at the gym. People pick up these things called weights and they put them on these bars and they pick up the weights. And the more you train, the more you grow, the more you tear down your muscles. But as they rest and as you train more, the more weight you add, the stronger you become. God, in the same way, wants to train you, to strengthen you.21:38And my worry from the American church is often this. Have we spoon-fed each other so we are all still babes in Christ? Have we done such a poor job of growing in our faith that when there's elections, we throw up our hands and say, Lord, the world's coming to an end. Or when we hear diagnosis, we say, God, where are you? When difficulty comes our way that we don't know where to turn to and we should be turning to the word of God.22:05Because he says in his word that when difficulty comes, he is there. He says that to abide in Christ is to have the spirit indwelling in us. God has not left his follower. We must train ourselves. Training and trusting in God is the cost of discipleship. And training in your life is not a short-term moment.22:32It is a lifelong endeavor. Look what Paul says here. He says, verse 10, that training is, he calls it, we labor for this person. We strive. What is he saying there? He's saying, man, it's difficult. We shouldn't share Christ and say, if you just follow Christ, then you know what? Every time you look up in the sky, you'll see a rainbow. God will surround you in a spiritual bubble.23:02And you will rest your head on the Holy Spirit at night. And you will always sleep well. We need to tell people, listen, we go through difficulty as everyone else in the world goes through difficulty. But there's a difference in us. When we see death, we grieve. But we grieve as those who have hope.23:31When we find diagnosis, we go to the one and we cry out to God and we say, God, I don't understand it. God, this is not good, but you are good. And so, Lord, I will pour out my life before you. That is laboring. That is striving in the name of Christ. To strive here is the struggle of an athlete who is trying to win the race. Church, there is extreme cost in following Jesus.24:00There is extreme cost in this endeavor of righteousness. But let me share with you. There is great cost, but it is worth it. It is worth it. You see, Paul knew what it meant to give his life for Jesus. Some estimate that he traveled 300 miles on foot every year as a missionary.24:24He understood what it meant to labor and to strive for the sake of the gospel. And I can't help but ask us this morning. If an unbeliever walked into our gathering right now, would they be convinced that God dwells among us? Would they be convinced? If someone were to look at your life, would your life convince them that God is real?24:53Or does your life, does my life look as every other, without power and void of any deep spiritual roots? May that not be said of us. Are you living a life that says to the world, the cost of following Christ is great, but it's worth it.25:19But it's worth it. So if the cost of living a lie is hell, if the cost of following Jesus Christ is great, then there's also the credit of righteousness. So what is the credit of righteousness for those who say yes to Christ? Look at what the Apostle Paul says, verse 8. He says godliness is beneficial in every way,25:46since it holds to the promise in the present life. Hey, that's today. And in the life to come. That's life eternal. He says this is the reason we labor and strive in verse 10, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially to those who believe. So what is the payoff for the one who gives their life to Christ26:14and they strive and they labor for the sake of the kingdom? Here is the payoff. Are you ready? It's that you get to hold on to the promise of Jesus Christ in you, for you, and through you. Think about that. You get to claim and hold on to the promises of God in your life. That's a powerful truth. There is credit to those who by faith place their trust26:43in the one true God. And the credit of righteousness is when? It is, is it only when you die? No is the answer. Right? So sometimes we just talk about, well, one day we're going to go to heaven. One day I'm going to receive all the benefits of righteousness when I die. And God is screaming at us. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are receiving the credit of righteousness today.27:13Right now. In this life and for the life to come. And I rejoice that right now God is working in me. He is working in me now. And not only for these promises that God has given, but look at verse 10. He has given you what? In a world full of hopelessness. Anybody been awake in 2020?27:43In a world that is just, feels like it is falling apart by the seams. In a world that says we have no hope. The credit of righteousness is what? We can say, excuse me, I do. I do. The world says, it's really dark. There is no way out. We can raise our hand and say, there is one person. His name is Jesus.28:14And he gives me my hope. He said that he is the light of the world. So when there is darkness, we raise the light. When there is darkness, we hold on to the promise. And this is an active indicative, meaning I have put my hope in Jesus Christ. And my hope is continuing in Jesus Christ. What a glorious truth that is. Church, we have a great hope. And his name is Jesus Messiah.28:44And for this reason, we labor. For this reason, we thrive. You say, well, why do we do all this? This is difficult. Yes, but it's worth it. Why do we live in this way? Because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. You know what the Apostle Paul is saying here? He is saying, live in a way29:14that people see Jesus Christ in you. live in a way that people see that you are believing in Christ. Live in a way that you are extending the invitation of grace to other people. Live in a way that people say, well, you believe, why can't I have that? And we say, you can. Jesus died for all people. God so loved the world.29:42That is all people. But it's effective for those who believe. You have to respond to the invitation of grace. The grace is open to anyone who believes. Have you believed? Are you living in a way where your life is an invitation to others to follow Jesus Christ? The cost of living a lie is tremendous. The cost of following Jesus Christ is great.30:13But it is worth it. It is worth it. G.K. Chesterton says this. He says, the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. And as I was praying over these scriptures this week, my heart was heavy as a pastor.30:42Because I was wondering, Lord, are there some in verse 1? Are there some in our midst today who you are right on the brink of departing the faith? And maybe this has hit you right in the heart. And you realize it would be easy for you just to walk away today. Can I share with you, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. The cost of believing and following a lie is too great.31:12It is eternally damning. And you will live your life apart from a God who loves you and sent His Son to give you abundant life. Are you the one with a shallow root? Maybe for the first time you need to say, God, you have everything in me. God, I'm tired of superficial spirituality.31:39God, I want depth of my faith that only you can give. Maybe you're here and you're the one who's living the lie. Maybe you would just flat out say, I'm not in faith. I'm not going to depart it because I've never been a part of what God is doing. I've never received His invitation of grace. I believe there are two great lies that most of us believe. The first lie is this. You're good enough.32:09You don't really need God. That's exactly what's going on here. If you just don't do these things, you're good enough by yourself. That lie will send you straight to hell. Don't believe it. You're not good. I'm not good. None of us are good. Only God is good. That's why He sent His one and only begotten Son to make those who have put their faith in Jesus right. But there's another lie, and I think it's equally damning. It's this lie that God will never love you32:40because you're not good enough. So the truth of that is you're not good enough. The lie is God does love you. He sent His only Son to bring you abundant life. He sent His only Son to forgive you of your sins. And you might be thinking of your sins right now. Well, Josh, I did this and this and this and this. You mean these sins? God forgave the worst sins of my life? Yes, He did.33:11If you would believe in Jesus Christ, if you would confess and repent and follow Christ as your Lord and Savior, if that's you, I want you to know there is a better way. And if you need to put your faith in Christ, you could pray a prayer like this. Prayer is just speaking with God one-on-one. Your prayer could sound like this. Lord, I know that I've fallen. I know that I'm not what you want me to be. But today, I'm going to stop believing the lie.33:40Lord, today I realize I'm not good enough. And Lord, today I believe that you can love me. And today, I want to follow you. Would you change my life? I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe He rose again. And I believe one day He will come back for me. If you've prayed a prayer like that, I want you to know, if you've done that with full faith and authenticity, God heard that prayer. We would love to rejoice in this new life that God is doing in you.34:08Church, is it worth it? The cost of following Jesus Christ is great. But you know what I found? The credit of righteousness is greater. Is there a great cost? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Yes. And may we commit today to say,34:38Lord, I want to train and I want to strive and I want to labor like never before. Because I never want to depart. But I want to be a part of the family of God forever and ever. And that happens by faith. Thank you, Lord, for faith and a redeeming Savior. Let's pray, Father.More sermons on 1 Timothy 4Sunday, October 27, 2013October 27, 2013 · Chris BurnsMore sermons on 1 Timothy →
