I AM Ready

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​​​Second Timothy chapter 3, we're going to begin in verse 10. Apostle Paul is talking to Timothy. This is his second letter to Timothy. Timothy is a young minister, a young brother in Christ who was actually discipled by Apostle Paul, and he's encouraging him because there is a coming apostasy. And I tell you what, this is so needed today. We see an apostasy coming on the scene, false doctrine. We see the Christian church accepting and receiving things that we should never accept or receive. And this isn't about not loving people, this is about separating ourselves from sin and ungodly behavior, but sadly we have accepted it into the church. The only way it comes into the church is through us, because we are the church.
So it's not like this building has a problem. It's we bring these things into the church. We compromise our values. We compromise what we know to be right. Marriages are being destroyed right now. As we speak, marriages are being destroyed around the country. There are marriages that are at risk right in this congregation today.
We've seen marriages destroyed because we have chosen to follow our own selfish will. I'm not talking about the abusive relationships where there are reasons for separation. I'm talking about the completely unnecessary divorce that comes out of our own selfish desires and lack of will to be Christ-like.
I mean, if we were really Christ-like, we'd do everything that we could to save our relationships, making sure that we are bringing honor and glory to God and everything that we do and everything that we say.
But there's a coming apostasy that we're seeing right here, right now, and Apostle Paul was dealing with it way back then. Back in about 67 A.D., Apostle Paul was dealing with the same thing. What does that tell you? Humanity does what? It cycles. It's like we go through the same thing all the time.
How many of you remember when bell bottoms were in? The first time. [Laughter]
How many of you remember the second time they were in?
How many of you have been around long enough to maybe a third time they've been in? [Laughter] I don't know.
And some people say, you know what? they were bad the first time. They shouldn't look ever come back. We should have just killed them. Everything cycles because we're humans and God is giving us the opportunity to learn from our past but when we don't learn from our past we repeat it. And that's what's happening right now. The end times are coming. Jesus Christ is coming soon, and if we don't get ourselves in alignment with His word, which has nothing to do with you saving yourself. It has everything to do with your depending upon Christ to save you because he paid the price for your salvation. If you're not trusting in Christ, you're not saved. If you're not trusting in Jesus Christ, you're not saved. And I beg you, please, re-evaluate where you are, and realize that Jesus Christ is the only way that we can get to the Father. Reconciliation comes through Him. Period. End of story.
And Apostle Paul was trying to equip Timothy because he saw this coming and he knew that this was coming and I need to tell my son Timothy, his spiritual son, Timothy. Why was he getting so emphatic? You know what I love about Apostle Paul? There's a lot of times when we're Christians and we get older, we start getting softer. We don't want the battles anymore. We're tired of the fight. So we just start accepting things.
I know the Bible-believing God-fearing men and women that have been saved for years and years, decades, and they're to the place that they've gotten tired and they're starting to accept things into their life and into their church and it's destroying their testimony. And how is it destroying their testimony? Because it's leading people away from the true gospel. And they're going to stand before God one day and not understand why they can't come in.
The apostasy is affecting us all. Why was it so important that Apostle Paul was so determined to get this last message in? Because Apostle Paul was getting ready to die. He knew the Lord had just revealed it to him and his spirit. He was getting ready to leave the planet, to leave the earth. And he knew he had to seed one last testimony. One last nugget. Confirm one last point in the word of God to his son Timothy because he would no longer be here with him to encourage him.
So as we begin to read in verse 10, Paul is talking to Timothy and he says but you have fully known my doctrine, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my longsuffering, my charity, my patience. Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”


You can stop right there, and that's not an American message. Wow, wait a minute.
And you that live godly, and all, and all, A-L-L, all, and all-inclusive who will live godly in Christ. Not godly out of works or godly out of himself righteous, but godly out of Christ, declaring Christ as the banner of their life, as the Savior of their life, “all those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer.”
But then he makes it very specific. Suffering to us is not getting our morning cup of coffee. Suffering to us is not being able to run through the McDonald's drive-thru on the way to work and pick up a good old sausage biscuit McMuffin or whatever. Suffer persecution. Persecution. Because Jesus said “if you're my disciples, you're going to suffer because of my name.”
Verse 13 he says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse." What does that mean? That means that they're imposters and they're going to go from bad to worse. Deceiving and being deceived. You see that? They're deceiving and they're being deceived. They're allowing themselves to be deceived and now they are deceiving others.
“But continue you, Timothy….” See what he's saying here?
“But you, Timothy, you continue in the things which you've learned and have been assured of, knowing whom thou hast learned them.”
Knowing who taught you these things, watching the manner of life of those that have taught you these things. Think about that. So many times we don't listen to the counsel of God's Word as we are to prove ourselves out by our manner of life, and so we end up taking counsel from people who aren't walking it out. But we do that all the time, spiritually. We don't turn to God's word and we ask and seek advice from people that have been proving themselves out to be godly men and women.
Paul is telling Timothy, continue in the things that you've learned and been assured of and remember who taught them to you. And he's not just saying about him but he's also talking about his mother and his grandmother who taught him as a young child.
And then he says, "And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
What are the scriptures able to do? I'd get my pen out and I'd mark that. I'm giving you a second because I'm marking it. Wise unto salvation. How? Through faith. In who? In Jesus. Not faith in yourself? No. Not faith in yourself.
Because you were already sinning yourself to hell. The Bible says we were condemned already. So no, not about faith in myself, it's the Holy Scriptures which are able to make me wise unto salvation. Not unto wealth, not unto prosperity, not unto being this perfect person, not into acquiring all these things in the earth, but unto salvation.
The things that we have on this planet are not going to make any difference when we go to heaven. All Scripture. There’s that word “all” again.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Wow, so it's telling you that the Word of God is good for everything. Do you know that archaeologists have used the Bible for years to locate certain things they could never find? And then when they didn't believe the Bible and they found these certain things, they found the accurate description in the Bible of what they could never find and realized that it was here all along? Do you know that medical science has proven the Bible over and over again? Do you know that the solution for the black plague after thousands and thousands of people died, the solution was found in the book of Leviticus and they finally figured it out, and started applying it, and it saved the lives of all the people?
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Why? I love this last verse, verse 17. Why? That the man/woman -- I'm not adding to or taking away -- it's talking about humankind.
“So that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Does that mean perfect? Like there's no problem at all? No, it means whole, complete. It means you are being perfected in a continual basis, and you will be thoroughly furnished under all good works. Thoroughly furnished, equipped, ready, able, prepared.
Don't you want to be equipped, ready, able, prepared? I do. How many of you love being unprepared? Isn't it just the best feeling in the world? I remember one time I got in the shower and for some reason I was all alone and I knew I just knew some for some reason I had been out working and I thought you know, “Usually I don't take middle-of-the-day showers. It's usually in the morning or the evening and that I was dirty and I wanted to get clean, but I just knew somehow somebody was going to come to the door when I walked in the shower. Nobody called no messages no text no nothing finally. I'm like, this is it. This is my chance. I'm just going to do. I will not be driven by fear, right? And so I jump in the shower. I have soap all over my body. [Knocking sound.]
You've got to be kidding me. I felt completely unprepared. Nobody likes to feel unprepared and it's the Word of God that is going to prepare us.
Verse 1 of chapter 4 says, "I charge thee." This is Paul. He's saying, "I charge thee. I command thee. I entrust to you. Before God, Timothy, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables."
Before we go on, I want us just to look at that. Verse 2 says, "We are to be, as members of the body of Christ. We are being charged, entrusted with, preaching the Gospel, proclaiming, and that means proclaiming with authority, but we won't know the authority until we remember what our identity is and who our identity is in.
Remember last, the two weeks ago, we talked about we don't know who our identity is because we don't know who God is. The church spends more time doing things for themselves than they do doing things to understand God and then allowing him to move through them. I told you about the example in that I had a brother in Christ up in Corning, California. The guy read more books about the Bible than he ever read the Bible and he always had a message to preach but it rarely lined up with scripture. But it was positive. But if it's not lining up with Scripture, it's not positive.
I can give you tools to make you the best person on earth that you'd ever want to be and you'll still go to hell. I personally don't think that's a positive message.
Richard, what do you think? I don't think so.
I want to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are to preach or proclaim with authority the Word. We are to be instant and that means to be ready in season and out of season. In season means when it's convenient. Out of season means when it's not convenient. We are to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all-long suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lust they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.
Now listen, the teachers don't have the itching ears. It says they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears because they want to hear what they want to hear. They want to hear what they want to hear. They don't want to hear anything else. And many times, I'm going to say 100% of the time God tells you what you don't want to hear so that you can be in the image of Christ. Because we're always trying to protect ourselves. We're always trying to protect our ego. We're always trying to protect our image. We need to die to that. So that we can be transformed into the image of Christ.
And then it says “And they will turn their ears away from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.”
So God will actually allow them to go to fables because that's where they want to go to. That's their God. They'll turn to a false gospel. But watch. Now here's commission to us again. But watch, right? We're to watch. That means we are to be circumspect. And the cool thing, that word actually means that we're supposed to think carefully and consider the risks before acting or speaking. Boy, wouldn't you love to be able to have that on a button before you start talking. Wait a minute, I need to be a little bit more cautious before I open my mouth. And it just puts these cage doors over your mouth and gives you just a minute to think.
That would be really nice, wouldn't it? Somebody told me one time before you open your mouth, do a 10 second fast. A 10 second verbal fast. You start to open your mouth and shut up for 10 seconds and just maybe something good will come out. I think that's a pretty cool idea.
“But watch now in all things,” and then it says, “endure afflictions or hardships. Do the work of an evangelist. Make full proof of thy ministry.” Make full proof. Carry out fully the Christian service and teaching that God has told us to do. That's what we're supposed to do, Alex. That's where we find our contentment. That's where we find our satisfaction.
If my dad and I are working…. Does anybody work on their own vehicles? Every once in a while, right, I know. Anybody over 30 says, "Are you kidding? I pay somebody to do that now." But before, I was smarter and I didn't have as much money, which I don't have as much anyway, but when I was younger my dad now would work on cars, and he would say, “Hey, do this or do that and so I do it, and it always felt good when I pleased him. I knew that my his love for me wasn't based on whether or not I did good. But it always made me feel good, Mark, when he'd say, “That was a good job, son. You did really good.”
What did that make me want to do? Do it again. Can we take it apart and do it again dad so you can say that again? Because I wanted to please Him, right? Make full proof of Thy ministry. Don't we want to please the Father? Don't we want Him to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant?" Well done.
And Paul's getting ready to close this letter out. And in fact, this would be the last time that we know of, historically, that he actually was able to talk to or write or correspond with his son, Timothy. And in verse 6 he says, "For I am now ready." I mean, when I hear those words, I think, "God, can I say that, if I knew that the Holy Spirit told me my time has come.” I don't know what it's going to look like, but I'm sitting here in a Roman prison. Nero is cutting the Christians' heads off. He's putting them on stakes around the city and setting them on fire. That's where the term "Roman candle" came from. So if you've ever used it as a catchphrase, you might not want to do that anymore. Roman candle was when Nero took the heads and bodies of Christians. He would impale them and he would put them along the streets, coming into Rome and he would set them on fire at times in order to show the people coming in that we do not accept Christians.
“Oh, wait a minute, does that sound familiar? Something that's maybe happening today?” Yeah. And that's where Paul was sitting. He didn't know what was going to happen. And he tells Timothy, "I'm now ready.” I'm okay. Me and God are great, but it's not because of me. It's because of his grace. And the time of my departure is hand. I'm ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is a hand. I have fought a good fight, because remember what we talked about last week? God gives us a free will. Don't say, "Jesus, take this from me, Jesus take this from me.” ‘
Jesus says, “I gave you the power to put it off, so stand in my power and put it off in my name. And then put yourself in a place of accountability, put yourself in a place where you will be standing with men and women of like faith that will hold each other accountable, you'll encourage each other, you'll read the word together. I will be the priority in your life, your life will no longer be self-centric, it will be Christ-centric. Everything will hinge upon your relationship with Jesus Christ.
“I'm now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Paul says, "I'm now ready. I've fought a good fight. I've finished my course, and I've kept the faith." Henceforth, there is. There is. There is. It's present tense. Nate, it means “there is.” It means it's not something that I have to wonder if it's going to happen or Is God going to be on time with this? It is already in existence waiting for me. There is, laid up for me, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto them also, that love is appearing.
Are you truly looking for Jesus' return? And if you are, what are we doing to prepare? What are we doing to prepare for God's return? He says that it's His desire that all men would be saved. Are we moving in that direction? Are we allowing ourselves to be used by Him that all men would be saved? Are we fulfilling the purpose that God has given us? Will we, in that last day, say, "I am ready. I am now ready"? Because it was within, according to history, it was within possibly six months of the writing of the finishing of this letter, and Timothy reading this, that his mentor, Apostle Paul, was beheaded for his faith in Christ.
And shortly thereafter, Apostle Peter was hung and crucified upside down. What legacy are you going to leave? I can't imagine how many times Timothy poured over these letters and thought about his mentor, Apostle Paul, and cried about the fact that he didn't have him there to talk to anymore. But then the more he read, he was continually reminded that it wasn't about Paul, it was about the Jesus that he continued to teach me, and he is still here with me, and I can go forward, and I will be victorious for his glory in his power.
The things, the memories, that Timothy must have had of Apostle Paul, of Apostle Paul. They're trips together, they're times together, they're persecutions together. They're being in jail together, you know, the fun times. Maybe drinking some fresh water together and talking about the Word. What legacy will you leave? What will your friends and family say about you when your life is required of you? Whether it's by natural causes, whether it's by an accident, or the possibility of losing your life for the sake of Christ. What will your family say about you? What will your children say about you? What will your spouse say about you? Well, they breathe a sigh of relief quietly because they don't have to deal with you anymore. And they don't have to worry about you bringing an approach to Christ.
They don't have to worry about you saying inappropriate things to them or treating them wrong or putting them on second-rate or second-shelf or not talking to or valuing your family and your children. Our family is our first field of missionary work. What are we doing to make them feel valued? How are we allowing Christ to love them through us?
My wife and I were married two years and I reached the climax of my love for her. And it doesn't mean that I was done. It meant that I wanted to love her more, and I didn't have it to give. I literally felt a spiritual ceiling on my love. I was done. And it wasn't that I was writing her off. It's like putting your foot on the pedal, and it's going 55. But you want to go 180. But there's nothing you can do to go any faster and I cried out to God and I said, “I want to love her so much more because I know that that your love is what's going to make this happen.”
And he said “Then get out of the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“She needs my love.”
“No she doesn't need your love. She needs my love. She doesn't need your love, she needs my love.”
And I had to pull myself back. And then I saw a funnel. And I saw the Holy Spirit saying, "Now I can love her. As long as you let me be the vessel of my love, then you get to enjoy the benefits." And they're great because I get to be loved back.
But I had to allow the Lord to use me as a vessel to love my wife without expecting her to love me back. We're not used to that, are we? We're used to always, well, you know, we love you, we want to hear it back. Half the time when we say we love you to somebody, it's because we need it. I love you. I love you too.
Good.
That felt good.
I love you more.
I love you too.
I love you.
You're an idiot. Stop saying that.
Love the way God loves. Love your wives, husbands. Wives love your husbands. Parents love your children. Brothers and sisters love each other. That's your first testimony. That's your first mission field. If we fail in that, we have failed sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the manner in which God has commissioned us to do that.
Are you ready? Are you ready to receive the reward of a life dedicated to God's purposes? Or will you stand before Him empty-handed with nothing to offer? And maybe you'll make it in, but you've lived your life for yourself. And if you haven't lived your life for yourself, you think you've lived your life for everybody else, and you want to make sure that they know that you lived your life for everybody else. Which means, in essence, you lived your life for yourself because you just wanted the glory. All glory goes to God, and He has equipped us and given us the tools necessary through the salvation provided by His Son, Jesus Christ, through the infilling of the Holy Spirit of God to empower us. He left us with His Word to educate us, to fill us, to equip us so that we might be able on that day to say “I am now ready and I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course and I have kept the faith.”

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