There is so much needless controversy,
needless debate,
angry talk on Twitter
that is not helping you endure.
It's not helping you grow.
It's not helping you love Jesus more.
You need to avoid that stuff.
Well, Second Timothy is even more of a personal feel
than First Timothy is.
And I'm going to, in a minute,
read you one culminating passage
in this book.
If the theme of First Timothy
is "order in the church,"
the theme of Second Timothy
is "endurance in the church."
If we're going to maintain that order,
we will need to endure
because the church lives under hardship.
The church lives under attack,
both inside the church and outside the church.
Maybe you've been reading the news
and following what's happened in our culture,
and you think, "How is it getting any worse
than what we're going through?"
It just looks like all the things we love and hold dear,
that our culture is turning their back on it.
How is the church going to survive?
Listen, every generation of the church
has faced the same thing.
Every generation of the church has felt the same way.
And that's why this message of endurance
is so important,
but it's gospel endurance.
It's not just sort of flexing your muscles
and saying to yourself, "I'm going to make it."
It's endurance that's rooted in the gospel.
Again, willing to suffer for the gospel,
are you?
Part of endurance is a willingness to suffer.
For Timothy, it means, again,
storing the gift that God has given him.
It's being strengthened by Christ's grace.
If you're strengthened by Christ's grace,
you're no longer afraid of your weaknesses
because your weaknesses are a playground
for his strength.
Endurance means rightly handling God's word.
That's very, very important
that God's word is our wisdom,
it is our guide.
Endurance means I want to be an honorable vessel.
I don't want my life to get in the way
of what God has called his people to be.
It means being ready for every good work.
I call that the principle of prepared spontaneity.
I don't know when God will give me an opportunity
but I positioned myself to be ready
so I can step into those opportunities
that God will give me.
It means avoiding foolish controversies.
You don't have to have an opinion on everything
and you don't have to get in every debate.
There are things that are worth avoiding.
And can I make a Twitter application here?
Well, I don't know why I'm asking permission.
I'm going to.
There is so much needless controversy,
needless debate,
angry talk on Twitter,
that is not helping you endure.
It's not helping you grow.
It's not helping you love Jesus more.
You need to avoid that stuff.
Correct others with gentleness.
Wow!
Again, social media
is not known for its gentleness.
It's angry,
often despicable communication,
and correction should be done
with gentleness.
But endurance is rooted
in the stunning gift of the word of God.
Imagine what our faith would be like
without the gift of the word of God.
And so the culmination
of the high point of this book
is this passage:
"You, however, have followed my teaching,
my conduct, my aim in life,
my faith, my patience,
my love, my steadfastness,
my persecutions and sufferings
that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra
- which persecutions 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,
while evil people and impostors
will go on from bad to worse,
deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you,
continue in what you have learned
and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it
and how from a childhood
you have been acquainted with the sacred writings,
which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work."
Stand firm in God's word.
Endure in God's word.