The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 6: Go Against the Flow

Episode Date: February 10, 2019

God’s Word, the Bible, is an anchor for your soul in a world drifting ever-increasingly towards godlessness.

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Everybody good? You got your Bible's grab, and we're going to be in Second Timothy. We're walking through this series for nine weeks. We're in Second Timothy, Chapter 3. I love that video. The part of the reason we show that video is because Seven, who is on staff here,

he is like a modern-day Timothy in so many ways. He allows old dudes like me, gray beards like me, to pour into him as he pours into one more generation. And a lot like Timothy, Timothy had to overcome a whole bunch. and God used that in his life to propel him into the ministry that Timothy was in, and a lot can be said of seven in the same way. And here's what I love me. Dude, I love that young man. I love that young man.

And we could not be any more different in the way we grew up. I mean, he literally is a rapper, he's got albums and stuff, and I listen to nothing but Johnny Cash. You understand what I'm saying? Glory to God. And not only that, man, God has done a thing to knit us together forever. never, I got to baptize my little nine-year-old last year. And as I was sitting on the couch with her a few months before that, to talk about her putting her faith in Jesus, she assured me, Daddy, I've already done that. And I was like, when was that, baby? Was it during one of my sermons that I'm

sure you've been listening to? Or maybe one of your mama's songs? And she said, no, sir, I was listening to Mr. Seven's album. And during one of his songs, I put my faith in Jesus. When you know God is, I can't even understand exactly what he's saying sometimes. Too fast, you know? I'm like, whoa, slow down, all right? And yet it was in that moment that God used his art, his art to rescue my little girl's heart for the glory of God. Amen. So I praise God for that, man. A couple more things. Before we get into it, hey, today's the Donna.

So if you're here, I guess you can't run, or you're not as tough as all those people. Hey, if you see people in pink tutus and stuff around town today, man, high five them. Say glory to God. We are praying that God would use doctors and nurses and medicine and technology. to just make cancer a distant memory, amen? And then every good and perfect gift is from above, including doctors, nurses, technology, breakthrough. And so thanks for all the people that run and all that to raise money for that.

And then lastly, and then I'll start really preaching. Man, Knight to shine. Were you there? Yeah, you were. I saw you. You were everywhere, all right? About as proud as I've ever been to be associated with 1122. It was Friday night.

I saw hundreds, maybe thousands of you. serving families and people with special needs. And listen, at the Church of 1122, we're a movement for all people, and all means all. All means all. We're not just making room for. We are rolling out the red carpet to families with children with special needs. And so way to go. Give God the glory and yourself a hand there.

All right. Second Timothy, chapter three, we're going to cover the whole chapter. So if this goes long, it's because you're not picking it up fast enough. It's on you. All right. Now, I don't want you to just understand the 17 verses that we're going to talk about. I need you to get your mind around the totality of this letter that Paul writes to Timothy. Paul, the apostle, is writing to his protege, this young guy who's up and coming,

has been called into ministry, and he has to overcome a ton. And so we started out with this. There's multiple generations mentioned in Second Timothy because faith is not just something that happens to you. fate should happen through you. Are you really a disciple if you're not making disciples? This is kind of what Paul would say. And then he's got this special relationship with Timothy, this intimate relationship with Timothy. And in chapter one he says, I remember your tears.

I remember when you were crying. And the reason I think Timothy was crying is because later in verse 6 and 7 he says, I remember that time where I laid my hands on you, Timothy, me and the other elders at the church at Ephesus. And said to you, Timothy, God did not. give you a spirit of fear. You see, Timothy had to overcome a lot. Timothy was not raised by his dad, at least spiritually speaking. Timothy, he struggles with fear and insecurity. He's got a lot going against him. And Paul gets a word from God for Timothy and says, God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline or self-control. And then immediately after that,

he says, essentially, so get to work, Timothy, like a soldier, like an athlete, like a farmer. Because being in ministry, Timothy, being a heralder of the gospel in this day and age, in his day and age and today, it is tough work, Timothy. If you want to make everybody happy, you better sell ice cream, not going to ministry. That's not exactly what it says, but that's kind of what he's saying. And then he says, so watch your mouth. Watch your mouth. As goes your mouth, so go you. And then, Timothy, you've got to run from and run to.

You've got to get off of a path that leads to youthful passions. flee youthful passions, flee immature appetites, and pursue righteousness, pursue peace. Those are not activities. Righteousness and peace are a person. His name is Jesus Christ. And when we get to chapter 3, now what Paul is going to do is he is going to give commentary on this pursuit of Jesus that he instructs Timothy to be on. And he's saying, as you are pursuing Jesus, you are going to be going against the flow.

You're going to be swimming upstream. You're going to have all of this culture of this world pushing. against you to try to send you somewhere you don't want to go, but whatever you do, you, however, Timothy, you fight the good fight, you go against the flow. Here we go, chapter 3, verse 1. He says, but understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. Now, when the Bible uses the term of the last days, it doesn't just mean like the six days before Jesus returned.

It's actually a time period that represents all of the days between that day, where Jesus was resurrected, then he appeared for about 40 days, and then he ascended to the right hand of God, the Father, and he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in every believer. And that instituted what is known as the church age, or all of those are the last age, until the day when Jesus returns. The Bible says that there will come a day where in heaven cracks open, a trumpet blast, and Jesus returns on a horse. Now, some people look at me and say, do you actually believe he's going to come back like that on a horse?

And the answer is, yeah, I do. And people say, in the 21st century, how can you believe that? Because the same guy also said, I'm going to be handed over, crucified, dead buried, and on the third day be resurrected from the grave. And so since he pulled the dead buried and resurrected thing off and then floated up to the right hand of God the Father and said, I'm coming back in a similar way, I believe he can do it if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Now, if you want me to believe you, then you've got to die and resurrect yourself, and then maybe I'll buy into your Kool-A. Do you understand?

Until then, I'm going with Jesus. So, that's just me. So, he says, understand this, all right? So in the church, in the days that we live in today, there may be a lot more last days before the last day, but this is the time period in which we live, there will come times of difficulty. In other words, this path, Timothy, that you are on to pursue Jesus, will be harder than you think, because there is this thing working against you. as you're running after Jesus, all of humanity and your current situation and culture will be pushing against you. You will face times of difficulty, and it seems like it's getting worse and not better, because it is actually getting worse and not better. And then what he's going to do, which was applicable to him in his culture and is in ours today, is verses 2 through 5, he is going to describe

the flow of the culture that he lives in. He says this, for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.

Oh, that's a list, isn't it? Now listen, man, people have been around church all the time. They're like, yep, sounds like our culture. Sounds like a family reunion to some of us. But listen, the reason every culture has always believed this to be a description of their time is because it is. Is that all of humanity from the very beginning has been drifting towards godlessness. And I could spend, man, I could probably spend a week on each one of these. through every single one of them. But listen, man, lovers of self, our generation created the

selfie. Think about it. There's like the greatest generation over through tyranny. What'd your people do? We did this. Look at me in the face. I told you this before too. Men, here's how you take a selfie. You got to hold your phone up like this and then drop it a little and then a little bit lower. And then you put it away because you're a grown man and you should never take a selfie. Okay, you understand? It's called a selfie. Do you get it? And being a Jesus follower is death to yourself. In fact, who in the world that we think we are with the rise of social media to think

that anybody gives two cents about what you eat for dinner? But we're like, look, Taco Tuesday, we're so dumb. He talks about lovers of money. We talk about it all the time. Disobedient to parents, one of the things to note, every time the Bible gives this long list of treacherous sins and the degradation of humanity. one of the things that's almost always listed is this disobedient to parents. And we don't even hardly pay attention to it.

But you watch out, you watch out for any society that begins to break down the family, which has been ordained by God. Now, man, I know we don't have perfect parents, but God perfectly works through imperfect people that he places in authority. And to reject authority is to reject the authority of God. And he goes, you watch out for that. And then I don't think it's an accident that the very next word is ungrateful. Right after disobedient to parents, you get ungrateful, every single one of us live on a continuum between gratitude and entitlement. And the gospel, the cross will always drive you to gratitude. Because there's no way in the world you can rightly look at the cross and feel anything but gratitude.

When we preach the gospel to ourselves over and over and over, we have to continually say to ourselves, who am I that you would take my place? I deserve nothing. In fact, I deserve punishment, and yet I get your grace. And the further you walk away from the cross and away from the gospel and away from the God's word, then you get closer and closer and closer to entitlement where you say to God or your parents or the government or whatever, you owe me. Paul says, we are living in a day where people are ungrateful and unholy.

Because it is the gospel that fuels holiness. going and going and going. And I think the point is not the individual sins and conditions that he lists. I think it's the overarching flow in which all of this is going. Eventually he gets to this in verse 5, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. That there is coming a day where there will be people that have the appearance of godliness, but they deny it, they deny God's power. You're like, what is this?

Here's what this means, man. This is the politically correct culture that we live in with a message of unity and peace and progress and skittles and rainbows. But they have denied the power of God. And we know from Romans chapter 1 that the power of God is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Next week we're going to spend some more time on this, but this has happened all throughout church history that churches historically denominations in total have moved away from God. They have distanced themselves from the authority of the Word of God. said things like we need to either change or die. We've got to make this book more palatable to

people because it says some offensive stuff in it. And every single time, an individual church, an individual teacher, or an entire denomination has moved away from the power of the Word of God. That denomination and that church has died. Why? Because there is no power in the tickling of ears. And I'm telling you, the gospel fundamentally addresses sin. And we live in a culture today where the only sin is to tell somebody that they're a sinner. And when you remove the teeth of the gospel, it is powerless. And I am telling you somebody has to love you immensely and intensely to love you more than what you think about them and to look at you and say, you are a wretched, wretched sinner. And I love you enough to tell you that good news.

And the good news is not that you're a sinner. The good news that there is a cure and the cure is the gospel. And then he goes on to say this. Avoid such people. The treacherous, godless, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure people, avoid them. Now, how in the world do you reconcile Paul's command to avoid such people with the reality that we're a movement for all people? because we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And any time, if I were to tell you, hey, there's a people out there that you should avoid,

there's always some Christian that says to me, oh, but pastor, didn't Jesus hang out with the drunkards, and didn't Jesus hang out with the sinners, and didn't Jesus hang out with people like that? You're absolutely right. But there's a couple of things. Number one, you might want to write this down. Ready? You ain't Jesus. I know you think you are.

But you're not. see previous comments about death, resurrection, and ascension, all right? But here's what I mean by that, is that every single time Jesus hung out with such people, he was always the influence, and he was never the one being influenced. So if you are to the glory of God on mission with friends and coworkers and neighbors, whoever it is, and you know that you are taking light into a dark place, that you are, by declaration and demonstration, bringing the gospel in that place for the glory of God, then praise God. but if you are honest and anybody trying to justify sin is rarely honest with themselves but if you are always the one being dragged down and being influenced then he would say avoid flee run for us run that's what he would say why here's why for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women burdened with sins and led astrayed

by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. What is he talking about here? When a culture drifts away from the gospel, women and children always pay a price. Wherever the gospel flourishes, women and children are always lifted up. Think about this in the first century. When women were treated as second class or his property, Jesus comes along and says that God so loved the whole world, male or female, no matter where you're from or what you're done or what your socioeconomic class is,

that we all come to Christ through him and him alone, that the ground at the foot of the cross is flat. No one in the history of humanity has done more to elevate the cause of women than Jesus himself. And anybody that moves away from the teachings in the gospel of Jesus Christ, then what you begin to have is might makes right, and women and children always pay the price. I'm telling you, it's little things like no-fault divorce in the 70s equals battered women today.

things like that. We move towards the gospel because Jesus says, might doesn't make right, I decide what is right. And in my kingdom, we stand up and protect those that God has put in our care. It also says, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Paul is saying, be careful of the person that always has questions and never can get to an answer. Be careful of the person. Look, it does not take a brilliant mind or a great leader to just deconstruct without any reconstruction. To just walk around and point the holes and point out all the holes in the government and the church and the family, etc.

But has no solution. And in just question after question after question, what they're really saying is that truth is fluid. Paul says, be careful of that. And then he's going to give an example. Two names that I can't pronounce. Okay? Just as, I want to say Janice and Ambrace, it's probably not right, but whatever, okay? That's what I'm going with. Opposed Moses. So those men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. Here's who those two people are. Those two names are attributed to the magicians that stood against Moses. When God had a call on Moses' life and he went to the pharaoh and he said, let my people go. And then when God told him to do that, Moses was like, well, how are they

going to believe me? And God was like, I'm going to give you truth. And so he had like the snake staff, snake trick. You know that when he had a staff, throw it on the ground, turns it to a snake. And he says, pick it back up. By the way, I'd be out right there. I'd be like, oh, he got to get another prophet because I ain't touching a snake. So whatever. I shoot snakes.

So, and then he had all kind of stuff. Then 10 plagues were coming, and it's like gnats and all this stuff. And every time, the first three or four, when Moses would do this miracle, then the magicians could also perform the same trick. But over time, they kind of ran out of steam. This is what he's saying. This godless generation, At first, it appears to have godliness, but it has no power.

It will run out of steam. It is the last week's sermon on the path principle. Eventually, they end up in a destination that is broke and powerless. I hate to use this example, but it reminds me of when the bulldogs play Alabama. It starts off so good, so good. We think we got this. We can keep up. And then by the fourth quarter, we're done.

See, that hurt my heart, but I'm here to serve you, and you will remember that now, okay? And then he says, but they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of these two men. Here's what he's saying. Paul is saying, when he talks about, in the last days, there will be a drift to godlessness. He's essentially saying, Timothy, he's going to say, you, however, okay? So this whole culture that you're in, Timothy, it is going somewhere, it is drifting somewhere. And where it's going is godlessness. And then again, man, he gives all of this list,

but I don't get hung up on the specifics or what's in the list and what's not in the list. What he's saying is this, is that we've been on this drift since Adam and Eve. We've been on this godless drift, not only as individuals, but as a culture, since Adam and Eve. You see, when God created Adam and Eve,

when God created the Garden of Eden, everything was as it should be. And this may be news to some of you. God's into relationship, not rules. You see, a lot of times when we think God, we immediately think thou shalt not. You know there was only one thou shalt not in the whole garden? Only one thou shalt not. There was a whole bunch of thou shouts. There was one don't.

Hey, whatever you do, don't eat from that tree, because it'll kill you. And I love you enough to tell you that. But there was a whole bunch of thou shouts. there was a there was god creates adam says it's not good for man to be alone gives him a wife and he says look I've got some commands for you obey my will he says subdue and cultivate work this ground I'm going to give you a job to do and it is going to be rewarding and you and you and I are going to be co-creators as you as you have dominion over this thing that we are calling the earth he says eat of any other tree can I eat in that one yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes there's only only

Only one thou shalt not. In fact, one of my favorite early commandments is this. He tells Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply. Glory to God. In case you're new to Bible study, that's Hebrew for bow. Chick-a-wow-wow. That's how you say that, okay? God commanded it.

And yet, and yet, Adam and Eve, even though they are face-to-face with the almighty God, they drift towards godlessness. You see, some people get hung up on the tree, and was it a real tree? Is that just a story? I believe it's real. Was it an apple? Look, that's not the point. Here's the thing, that godlessness is any time we reach for something other than God for satisfaction

because it's rooted in a distrust for God. It's not about the fruit. It's about where am I looking for satisfaction? And what they did, Adam and Eve, the real first sin of the Bible is the passivity of Adam. by the way. He's right there elbow to elbow with her. And they reach out for this thing that is not God for satisfaction because ultimately they think, God forget you, I got this. This will do it for me. And that is godlessness. Here's the real question. Is what is that thing that you're reaching for? Because be careful with this list. In an effort to justify our own sin, some of us will come the most

biblical fundamentalists of all time. We're like, ooh, well, the sin I'm really into isn't on the list, so it must be okay. That is not the point. What is that thing? Anything that you are reaching out for that is not God for satisfaction in your life because it's really rooted in a distrust for God. I mean, honestly, it could be crack or it could be comfort. The point is not the thing that you're reaching for. The point is the one that you're turning away from. The way James would say it is, this, James is the brother of Jesus. Let that sink in for a second. James, the brother of Jesus, later in life, put his faith in his brother Jesus as Lord. What would it take for your brother to convince you that he's God? Think about that. I've got a brother. If he showed up and was like,

behold, I am, I'm like, no, you're not. Okay, here's what it would take. Resurrection. That's what convinced him. And James says this, in James chapter 1, verse 14, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Paul is talking about this as an entire community. James is talking about an individual, and he uses the word lure. You see, it starts when we are tempted, and then we are enticed, and then we are lured. Listen, we live in Florida.

It's like the vast capital of the world. You've got to know what a lure is. All right, and every, ooh, has a hook. You know that? And the way a lure works, it's two bass just hanging out in the bass pond. Hey, man, so how you been? And then they look, and they are enticed because a plastic worm comes swimming by. And one bass looks at that and it's like, oh, my gosh, I have got to have that.

He didn't even, I didn't even know I wanted it, but look at that big pink worm just wiggling all wiggly. oh temptation is tempting and then what happens he steps into action ha ha got it who got me that's what happens it gives birth to sin and sin gives birth to death and see here's the problem in the Christian church that other bass is like really are you even being serious a worm does that for you that's so gross I can't believe you would go for a worm how could you even consider yourself a fish that is just sick And then a spinner bait comes by and he's like, ooh, shiny. You see the different? It don't matter, man.

Everything on the, the list is not the point. They all are just covering a hook. And the hook is sin, and sin leads to death. And then Paul says, but you, however, that's an adverbial conjunction. Everything I'm about to say about your life, Timothy, needs to be different than the flow of the current culture that you find yourself. self in. You see, we understand current. We are beach people. When you go to the beach, you have to be aware of the current, especially if you have kids, right? Because when you put your kids in the water, you're like, okay, kids, look at me. You're going to start here. But when you

pass the third umbrella and the dummy from Ohio feeding the seagull, get out of the water, reorient yourself, and get back in the water. Okay, you got to stay where I can see. Because you remember this? You remember it? Like, I don't know. When it occurs, You get in the beat, you get in the ocean with a bunch of your friends, and you don't realize that you're drifting. Because everybody else is drifting with you. There's your little crew and everybody's hanging out and you're having fun and playing chicken and splashing, whatever you're doing. And then you come out of the water and you're like, who moved all my stuff? Who moved the pier?

You are caught up in the flow. And what Paul is saying to Timothy is that our world is not neutral. It is not. Our world, from Adam and Eve until the day, for sure Timothy, and for sure the 21st century, we live in a culture that is going somewhere, and it is not drifting towards godliness. It is drifting towards godlessness. So he says, you, however, Timothy, here's how you go against the flow. You have followed my teaching.

He's literally talking about the Bible. My teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my faith. my patience, my love, my steadfastness. In other words, by the way, just a homework check on week one. Remember, he says, the best way to be a disciple is to make a disciple. He's saying this is a group run. So the question is, who are you following and who's following you? And if you don't have those kind of discipleship relationships,

even if they're brand new and they're just beginning to bud, if you don't have those kind of disciplining relationships, both somebody discipling you and you discipling somebody, then you're not doing it right. You should get in these kinds of relationships. He says in verse 11, though, you see, he's going to say, listen, Timothy, you follow me, it doesn't always turn out awesome. Also follow my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Listra. With persecutions, I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Notice he did not rescue him from the pain. He rescued him through the pain. that's different at one of these places Paul was stoned almost to death that means rocks were thrown at him different kind of stone and he they thought he was dead they threw him out of town and he wakes up and is not finished with his sermon so he goes back into the city that was trying to kill him to finish the sermon now listen I know I have

preached some terrible sermons before and at worst people just be like we're out of here and they get up and leave I've never had anybody throw rocks at me until I was unconscious and then get up and be like I'm not finished in closing. That's what he did. And he says, so Timothy, I want you to follow me in this discipleship journey. And we may go through pain, but God will deliver you through the pain, and it is worth it. And then he says this, indeed.

All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And here's what he is saying. you see he says follow me follow my teachings in by the time we get to verse 16 and 17 he's going to say this you connect yourself to the word of god you remember the scriptures that were taught to you as a child that all scripture is god breathed and it is profitable or it is useful for everything to conform you to the likeness of jesus and it is useful to prepare you to do everything that god has called you to do Timothy, we live in a culture that is adrift, and you've got to anchor the word of God to you. And listen to me, church.

We live in a culture where if you anchor yourself to the claims of this book, you will be persecuted. You will. He says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Now, you may look at that and go, maybe. I mean, I posted a verse on Facebook one time and somebody unfriended me, so is that what he means? Hey, listen, I'm going to shoot you straight. It depends on what he means by a godly life in Christ Jesus. If by that phrase, he means, which I don't think he does, if he means American evangelicalism, you'll be fine. Nobody will persecute you. In other words, if you say, hey, being a Jesus follower just

means I continue to be the Lord of my own life. I continue to pursue everything I want to. There's nothing about me change. I've never laid down anything. But I go to church several times a quarter. And if not, I catch the podcast. And I sing some of the songs, and I've tried to not cuss so much around the kids

and drink less during the week. And, you know, and I went to a group and got a compassion kid. And essentially, you just take Jesus, like a weird Lego set, and you just attach him to your life. you'll be fine. Nobody will mess with you. In fact, you'll fit in pretty good

in America these days. But that's not what he's talking about. I do believe he's saying, if Jesus is the one thing that drives everything, you will face persecution. If you desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, you will be persecuted. And if you desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus,

then the operating manual for your life will be the Word of God. That the creator of life has given us this incredible gift on how we ought to live life. Not just in eternity one day, but how we ought to live life today to bring him glory. And I'm telling you, if you hold fast to the Word of God in this culture, you will be persecuted. Now, listen, I'm just pretty much going to be. to tell you you ought to, and I'm not going to give you a whole bunch of reasons why you can trust the historicity and the truth claims of the scripture. And so knowing that, that's kind of

not my point today, here's some resources, okay? Andy Stanley at North Point Community Church, he did a series called the Bible for grown-ups. It's pretty good on the historical evidence of the reliability of scripture. You can listen to that. Or maybe even better is a book by a guy named Kevin DeYoung called Taking God at His Word. Or Lee Strobel wrote a book called The Case for faith and in it is a chapter on why you can believe what the Bible says. But with that in mind, Paul is saying to Timothy, as this world is drifting towards godlessness, you, however, you stand firm on the word of God, but if you do, if you do, if you let this thing tell you how to live life and what we believe about everything in life,

you will face persecution. Just a few examples. By the way, I don't know if you're ready for this. This kind of sermon in the profession, what I do, this is known as a space maker, okay? Notice most of the seats are full. We'll have a few extras next week. Okay, that's what's going to happen.

Just trust me. And I know I'm going to get a lot of email. So just go ahead and jot my email down. Right here is Jimmy Crackscorn at I don't care.com. Just send me whatever you want, and I'd be happy to spend some time not reading it. Okay, so here we go. If you stand up for what God says about blank, you will get in trouble.

Now, before I give you ammunition, Jesus says that we should be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. This is not, we're not starting Facebook fights. That's dumb. Don't do that stuff. We were just standing on the Word of God because not only is it true, but it's trustworthy. So here's some, I came to mind this week. Ready?

in a world that is redefining family and redefining marriage and redefining sexuality and redefining gender. If you stand for what God's word says about family and about marriage and about sex and sexuality and about gender, then you will be persecuted. Trust me, I know firsthand. And make no bones about it. An attack on gender is an attack on the character and nature of God because it has God himself that says, let us make mankind in our image and likeness. That's a masculine word and a feminine word.

and that to try to blur all that up is to try to blur up who God is. And if you stand on just a traditional orthodox biblical view of marriage, sex, gender, and sexuality, in this day and age, you will be labeled a bigot. In the Washington Post this week, Mike Pence and his wife are called bigots because she works at a Christian school that just has a biblical understanding of what marriage is. And people in the papers are equating that with racism of the 30s. I'm here to tell you that is not the same thing. Chris Pratt, in a deeply theological moving movie coming out, Legos 2,

as he's on the late night talk shows, is talking about his faith in Jesus and his participation in a church in L.A. And other Hollywood actors are coming out and saying, we must boycott him because of his anti-antiquated beliefs. He's just a regular Christian, and he will have a choice to make. Do I stand on the truth games of Jesus? Or do I just go with the flow and redefine what God has already defined? I'm telling you, as I make these claims, there will be persecution.

And, and if at like a church of 1122, we're going to stand on the truth of the word of God, and we are not going to sway, we are not. And then we also are a movement for all people to discover a deep in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I consistently say this is a movement for all people, whatever your orientation is, whatever your current marital status is, whatever your current dating status is. If you following the all people category, then you are not only welcome, but you are encouraged to come on, be a part of the big disfutable. functional family so that you can discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ, I get persecuted there too. Just by the other side. I try to be an equal opportunity offender.

So if you're not offended by the end of this little rant, come see me at the end and I'll just say you ugly or something, okay? Come see me. If you stand on the truth of the Word of God in our DNAs, if you stand for the rights of the unborn to get a shot at life, you will be persecuted. We live in a world that is going crazy, man. It's going crazy. In the Bible, there are no accidental children, none.

Tons of accidental parents, all right? No unplanned babies. God preordained every single one of them. They bear his very image from conception, let alone late-term crazy. You understand? And we have to stand up for those that cannot stand up for themselves. And we have to make room for and minister to the women in our children. society that are being deceived by this culture to make that kind of decision and let them know

that therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And the moment you make that kind of open statement, I'm telling you, there will be persecution. If you stand up and say, the Bible says, if you don't work, then you don't eat. And if a man doesn't take care of his family, he is worse than an unbeliever. And you begin to tell people to stop looking to the government for their salvation and look to Jesus, you will get persecuted. Now, I know what some of you are doing. Some of you're like, you get them, pastor.

Those godless generation. Because I've only said stuff that you agree with. So hang in here. And if you stand on the scriptures against the materialism of this capitalistic society and of the American dream of happiness, you will be persecuted. And if you stand up against systemic social injustice for the least of these, will say to you, why don't you just preach the gospel? Because the gospel says when Jesus gets in you, you get face to face with the least of these and you change things from the top down. That's what the

gospel says. And if your pro-life stance ends at birth, you're not pro-life. Pro-life means that we fight for taking care of these little human beings after we fought for them being able to be born. And you ain't ready for this one. you will be persecuted if you pledge allegiance first to Jesus and not the Republican Party, you will. And if, and regardless of what you think about a leader's policies, if you understand that the Bible commands us as Christians to demand from our leaders individual morality and decency, then you will be persecuted. You offended yet?

I offended me on two of those. You understand what I'm saying? Look, I get caught up in it too, my own little echo chamber of what I think is right and who I think is right. And the thing is this, in the scriptures, there's not a red state, there's not a blue state, there's the kingdom of God, and every Jesus follower had been called to forcefully advance the kingdom. If you are more concerned with who sits in the White House and sits in Congress than who sits in heaven and hell, you may be a citizen of the wrong kingdom. The word of God is our anchor.

And so he keeps going, while evil people and impostors will go on from back. to worse. It's getting worse. Deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. And if he were to say, how, Paul, how do I continue? Then Paul points him to the scriptures. He says, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through fate in Christ Jesus. And then a very famous verse, have you been around Bible study a while. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. He is saying this. Here, I wrote it in your note, so I would say it right. God's word, the Bible, not your political affiliation, not your preferences, not the changing social norms. God's word, the Bible, is an anchor for your soul in a world drifting ever increasingly towards godlessness. You see, God has given us this gift in his word. That God, the author of life, knows best how to live this thing called life. And all scripture is God. We hold a miracle in our hands.

And it is useful for all of these things. It is profitable for teaching for reproof. Listen, if you read some stuff in the Bible and you're like, well, I don't really agree with that. What kind of God would you serve if everything he was for had to run through the filter of you? Think about this. You don't even agree with you 10 years ago, do you? You think the almighty king of the universe is going to take advice from you? You had to take the eighth grade twice. Give me a break. Can't even lick your own elbow.

Go stand in judgment of the Word of God. That's crazy. Man, we couldn't even figure out that voodoo. I'm in core math. We're like out of Florida, man. We can't handle that stuff. But you think you can stand and say, no way. Are you kidding me?

This thing, God breathe, is true and right and trustworthy in every culture, in every time period, from East Africa to East Jacksonville until Jesus returns and useful. Listen, you want to know God? Know His Word. I do not know the mature. Christ-hearted Christian that doesn't have essentially like a relationship with his word. Now the Bible is not a means to an end to be worshipped. The Bible is not an end and of itself to be worshipped. The Bible is a means to an end. It is a gift from God so that we would know God better so that we would know who he is and we could rightly worship him.

Jesus says in John 15, abide in me. That means stay close. He says, abide in my word and you will abide in me. this is an anchor for our soul. David will say it this way. In Psalm 119, did you know the longest chapter in the Bible is a chapter about the Bible itself? Psalm 119. It's the longest chapter in the whole Bible. It takes each letter of the Hebrew alphabet

and writes a poem starting with that letter about how powerful this word is, the Bible itself. David says this in Psalm 1119, 20. He says, my soul is consumed with longing for you. your rules at all time. Have you ever felt that way about God's word that you woke up in the morning? You're like, I just cannot wait. Here's what it's like, okay? Let's just be honest. Have you ever got like addicted, like binge watch a Netflix show? Come on, man. Just don't leave me out of you. Okay, you know what I'm saying? So like you're sitting there with your roommate or your wife or

whatever and you're watching something, whatever it is. I'm not judging you, okay, narcos. And so I'm watching it, right? And then it goes off and you check the time and you're like, oh, we're about 30 minutes past, you know, when we ought to go to bed. And I do have to get up in the morning and preach about a hundred times and, uh, but then it's like, watch the next one in 10, nine. And you look out of your life, I think, let's, come on. I know, we can sleep when we're dead. That thing? That thing. You ever felt that thing? Come on. Just one more homeland. Whatever it is, all right? I mean, David says, I wake up with that kind of yearning and thirsting for the word of God. Just one more chapter, just one more verse.

The life-giving words of God. They don't only tell me how to live with God forever, but they tell me how to live for him right now. He'll say things like, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. This is no ordinary book. This is no ordinary book. Thothel Timothy, all scripture. That's from the very beginning to the very end. The Old Testament promises made.

The New Testament promises fulfilled. All scripture is Theos Nustos. God breathed. God hasn't breathed on a lot of things. In the beginning, God creates everything for his glory. He pulls together the dust of the earth, and there's Adam who is not yet a living being, and he breathed the ruah or the numah of life into him,

and then he becomes the living creature face to face with his creator. He breathes there. Jesus, post-resurrection, the disciples are all freaking out because they killed their leader. They're hiding in the upper room. I don't know if you remember this. And Jesus just shows up in the room. Doesn't knock, just boom, he's in there. And the Bible says he breathes on them.

Think about that. You all freaking out, and then just look over there's Jesus. just in your face. Hey man, come on. I just going to breathe on somebody's face light. You've been dead three days. What's you doing, man? Flu season.

Do you know what he's doing? Jesus, the greater Adam, just like God went face to face with Adam, breathe life into him so that when he opened his eyes, he was face to face with his creator. The resurrected Jesus has come to recreate this whole world because the first one went to rob because of sin. Now he's conquered sin and death because he's risen from the grave,

and he goes into his disciples, the very first believers, and he on him, and they become a lot. live in him and they're going to be filled by the Holy Spirit by the end of the day. That's what's going on. The only other thing he breathed on is this book. Every word, the Spirit of God. Man, I got some books that are important to me that I like a lot. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, but God didn't breathe on that one.

Don't waste your life, John Piper. God didn't breathe on that one. But when God breathes his word to us, it's a gift. And this is why the Bible will say that it is living and it is active and it is sharper than any double-edged sword. And it's not so much just that you read this book. But if you're not careful, this book will start reading you. And there will be places in your life, man, and it'll cause pain and it'll push back. I've been doing a little research.

I think I might get inviseline because my teeth are all jacked up. They are, man. They are. It looks like I grew up eating rock sandwiches. They just don't. It's because I was like in the third grade, went to the dentist or whatever, fifth grade to get braces. And the guy was like, that would be seven grand.

My dad was like, you're right. And you got a truck. I mean, so that's what I got. So anyway, when you put those things in your mouth, I hear it's kind of painful. And not overnight, but over time it begins to transform your teeth to line up. But it pushes and it pulls. And when it's not just that you read God's word, but you let God's word begin to read you, it will begin to show you places then that it pushes against you and pulls against you and say,

hey, what about this area of your life? You see, everything we've ever bought has an operator's manual. Don't you think the creator of life knows how to run this thing best? And he has given us his word, which is an operator's manual, not just on how to live with him forever, but how to live for him today. Church of 1122, may we be a people of his word. And it's not just that it's true, even more than. that it's trustworthy.

If you got a bunch of questions about dinosaurs and Noah's art and seven-day creation, no problem, man. Pick the thing up and start reading it, and I dare you to apply it to your life and watch the Word of God begin to apply itself to you. And so the only way, the only way we're going to make it in a culture that is dragging us towards godlessness is to stand on the foundation of the Word of God. It is a God-breathed gift. It is useful.

So read it. Allow it to read you. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Plant your life in it. I pray Psalm chapter 1 over my kids all the time. Blessed is he who does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way of the center or sit in the macker. You see the directional language?

But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And upon his law, he meditates day and night. And then I go personal, J.P. Reagan, may you be like a tree planted by streams of running water. Because you know what happens with streams? They have a current to them. Sometimes it goes crazy. They get up out of the riverbanks. And if you're not planted deep, then it'll just mow you down.

And I want my kids to have this anchor of God's word. It's supernatural. It's God-breathed. I want it to be anchored in this. And so I don't care if the students, if their friends around them are like, you believe the Bible, you're crazy. Well, give me crazy. I don't want normal. You know what normal in this world is?

Broke, lonely, depressed. You can have normal. Give me Jesus, all right? I want to be planted like a tree by streams of running water. And then it goes on to say, whose leaves never wither and everything you do prospers. everything you do process. God's ways are better than our ways, and then he finishes this way at the end of Psalm 1,

for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Are you planted in the Word of God? Because we know when he says, the way of righteousness is not a way of just doing life better. The way of righteousness means that we have a right relationship with God, and we have that right relationship with God, not because of our deeds,

but this Bible fundamentally tells the story of the deeds of Jesus Christ. for us. That Adam failed and Jesus comes along and he's the new Adam to recreate this world. That Noah and the ark is not just about an old guy two by two. It's that Jesus is the Ark of salvation and calls all different kind of people to come to be a part of his family. The story of Abraham is not just about how we got the Jewish nation. The story of Abraham is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the one who will be the father of all nations and all tribes and all tongues. That the story of David and Goliath is not about a weak little guy knocking giants down.

the story of Jesus Christ conquering sin and death in our world, that the whole Levitical system is not just about when do you kill the goats on what moon and what do you do with a dove. It's all about, behold, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. And then one day Jesus is coming back on a horse to bring unto him all that are his. And in the meantime, church, in the last days, as things are shifting towards godlessness, may we stand on the foundation of this super-niveness. natural gift that is the Word of God. Church of 1122, regardless of the persecution, regardless of

what happens corporately or individually, may we all be people of the Word. Amen. Amen. Would you please stand and pray with me? Our good and gracious Heavenly Father God, we love you more than anything because you love us first. And God, we thank you for your word. May you plant it deep in our soul and God, we trust the promises of the Word, that the Word of God never goes out in vain, but it always accomplishes what you would have it accomplished. Lord, I thank you for those places in the Word that I just can't stand because it changes everything about what I want for me. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, God, would you continuously expose the scriptures to us?

Because you are the real preacher here at this church. and God in a time of persecution I pray Holy Spirit that you would comfort those who are afflicted but God you would also afflict those who have grown comfortable in what they call their faith and God may your word rise up in us so that we would be people that look a lot more like Jesus and we pray this in Jesus name amen