And I'll be reading from verse 1 through 8, but our focus today will be on verses 4 and 5. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 through 8. "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ, and of the living and the dead, and by His appearing in His kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing." Let's pray. Loving and gracious Father, we thank you so much for this morning.

We know what a privilege it is that we have this access to the throne of grace, to be able to call you our Abba Father. All because you had mercy on us, all because of the sacrifice of your Son. We thank you, Father God, and we are here this morning to celebrate His name, to glorify you, to give you worship, Lord God, that is reasonable.

And we ask, Lord, that the opening of your word would cause us, Lord God, to be sanctified, that you would open our ears, soften our hearts, Lord God, and give us wills by your Holy Spirit to apply all that you teach. May your name be magnified and your church be sanctified through this time.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As you guys know, we have a team going out to India in February. We have a Pastor Alex and his family with the team. And we're going to introduce them to you as we get closer. I know a lot of you guys know who they are, but we're going to try to get you more familiarized with them so you can better pray for them and support them as we get closer to the date.

And then, oh, this is a thing I forgot. Our summer mission trip is we're going to start taking sign-ups right now. So we don't have application, but starting from next Sunday, we're going to have application. It'll be at the end of June to early July. It's about two and a half, three weeks, and we're going to be going out there to support the work that Pastor Alex and the team is going to be engaged in.

So we're going to start taking application. So just get your eyes, be ready for that. But every time we travel outside of this country, you know, one thing is pretty clear. I mean, we are blessed. Maybe another way we can put it is we're spoiled. You know, one of the things that are uncomfortable when you travel is that you don't get to eat the variety of foods.

Some foods are better than others. You know, I went to the Philippines not too long ago and realized that Philippine, Filipino food is very familiar. I don't know how to put it. It was good. I usually I'm pretty picky when I when I travel. I usually don't eat well.

But when I went to the Philippines, the food was pretty good. But the problem, even if you go to food and the food is good, you eat the same thing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You know, it's not like here where you eat sushi and then, you know, after you eat it twice, it's like, yeah, I'm sick of it.

You know, I want some Mexican food. And so I love Mexican food. You eat it twice. I want some Korean food. I want some Indian food. You have all these options. But majority of the world doesn't have that. And there's a lot of things that we have that we get distracted with.

Even the clothes that we wear. Probably this morning before you came to church, you looked in your closet and you probably thought to yourself, you know, I wore this last Sunday. I'm not going to wear this again. They're going to judge me, you know, and I'm going to go through and, you know, I make sure I put on the tie that I didn't wear the week before.

I wear the same suit, but I got I got to make sure I got a different tie on. Right. So these kind of things are things that we we kind of spend time thinking about because we're rich. Majority of people in the world don't get up in the morning, look in their closet thinking like, oh, what shall I wear?

Right. Because most of the times you're going to wear whatever you wore the day before and the day before that. There's really not a lot of option. Even the word career. That's a that's a word that rich people use career. Most people don't think about like, what am I going to do with my life?

You know, where am I going to feel the most fulfilled? Right. They don't have an option. Whatever pays the bills. If you have to go to the farm and work and and do hard labor, go to the factory, whatever is going to pay the bill. There's a whole lot of options.

So even the word career is a unique word that rich people use to talk about what we're going to do with their life. Choice of friends. We can hop from city to city, place to place. And, you know, I want to connect with certain people. Would you or the people in the world don't have opportunities, travel and to go and whoever is around you when you were born?

Majority of people will die with the same people around them. Now, all of these things are not necessarily bad things. It's not a blessing in our lives, but it is a distraction because we spend so much time being concerned and thinking about all these options and choices that we have.

And in the end, you and I have to agree, it really has no meaning in the long term. It is going to perish. It doesn't mean a whole lot. But, you know, I'm saying all of this not to just talk about the blessing, the distraction of all of this, but being in a rich area of the world, it affects us even the way we think about our spiritual life.

I mean, we think about somebody wants to go to ministry. They say, well, am I going to be a Baptist? Am I going to be a Presbyterian? Am I going to go to this seminary or that seminary? You know, I want to get a Bible. Which Bible should I get?

Should I get an ESV, NIV, King James, NASB? What should I get? The message? Which Bible study should I go? What church should I go? How do they preach? What is the worship like? What's the age of that group? Are there people that I can connect to? Do they have small groups?

Do they have missions? What kind of prayer meetings do they have? So we become consumers. Again, none of this stuff in and of itself is bad. But it creates this consumer mentality that if we present the church in a certain way, if we organize it in a certain way, if we provide certain things, and if we have enough people who are similar age, similar background, then maybe the ministry would be better.

Again, in and of itself, there's nothing innately wrong or bad with any of that stuff. But it causes us to be distracted and thinking about things that in the end really doesn't matter. In the end, in the long term. We get caught up in thinking more and more, again, in our generation, like, "Well, how do you do ministry?

What's an effective, how should we do it?" And again, there's conferences, there's books written, right? And seminars and all these things about, "Well, you need to organize the church in this way, and the worship team needs to be certain. You got to sing these kind of songs, and the sermon should be this way." And we get so caught up in these things, and sometimes we forget the simplicity of the gospel.

The simplicity of the calling of Christ, where He went and deliberately bypassed the educated. He deliberately went and bypassed these people who devoted their lives to the temple worship, to dissecting the law, to know what it is. And He just went straight to the fishermen. All their life, all they did was catching fish.

Now we say, "Well, He trained them for three years, and that's why they were able to be equipped to go and do evangelism." But, you know, those of you who are with us to study the chronological life of Christ, you know that it wasn't full three years. He met most of them at the beginning of the second year, and a lot of them He didn't meet until well into His second year.

So we're talking about maximum two years, a year and a half of walking with Christ. Now think about it. If we were to choose people in our generation who's going to lead, and all of Christianity, and all the churches and seminaries are going to depend upon the teaching and leadership of these few people, a year and a half of training?

Now again, we forget, we get so caught up in all the things that we have, and we become so dependent on these things. And then when you take a step back and look at the way Jesus did ministry, the way God called people, He didn't just count a year and a half.

Okay, now you're fully trained. Everything that I have to tell you, I've already told you, you're equipped. I saw your character. I saw all. And you're ready to go. And you're talking about a group of guys who utterly failed the final test. When Jesus went to the cross, they all failed.

Not a single one stood up to the test. And yet, just a few days later, Jesus gives them the commission to go make disciples of all the nations. But here's the one stipulation He gave them. He said, "I'm not just sending you out. The power is not with you.

When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and you will be my witness." He took a bunch of people who should have utterly failed and left, and Jesus empowered them with the Holy Spirit. And He told them to do one thing. To preach the gospel in season and out of season.

Preach the word in season and out of season with the power of the Holy Spirit. It's as simple as that. Now, again, you say, "Wow, that's too simplistic. Read the Bible and do what it says." "Ah, you know, Peter, he's a one-trick pony. That's all he says." The reason why I say that is because that's all I see when I read the Scriptures.

We're making things way too complicated. The Scripture is simple. He gave it to simple people. And He said, "It's foolishness to those who are perishing." It's like, "Really? Why did God come, become human flesh?" It's like, "It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but it's a power of God for those who are being saved." Now, we talked about that where Paul is telling Timothy as he is passing away.

And we talked about that how just a few days from writing this letter, possibly, Paul is going to be beheaded. And Paul knows that. Timothy probably knows that. The other disciples already know that. And that's why they're starting to fall out. And Timothy is timid. He's maybe considering, "Maybe I should go home too.

If the guy that I've been depending on, if he gets beheaded, what about me? Maybe I'm next." And so that's the context in which 2 Timothy is written. And so Paul is pleading, basically, with his young disciple that, "Now I'm going to go. You need to take this baton.

You make sure that you give it to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. To make sure that the ministry goes on." Nothing he's going to say here is going to be frivolous. These are his last words. His ministry is going to be dependent upon this young man being faithful.

And what does he say over and over and over and over again? "Suffer with me in preaching the gospel in season and out of season." He's like a broken record. Every chapter that you turn to in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, "Preach the word in season and out of season.

Do not turn from it to the left or to the right." Now here's what's interesting is that that's not just Paul's message. That's God's message. That's what God's been telling the nation of Israel all throughout their history. "Do not turn from my word to the left or to the right." If you really want to be successful, if you really want to bear fruit, "Do not turn from my word to the left or to the right." What did Jesus say to his disciples before he left?

"I'm not leaving you as orphans. The Holy Spirit's going to come. He's going to remind you of everything that I have told you. If you want to bear fruit, abide in me. May my words abide in you. Then ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you." In other words, what is he saying?

"Stick to my word. Do not turn from it to the left or to the right." In season and out of season. The reason why Paul is writing this letter, because it seems like on the surface it is out of season. It's one thing to be committed to Christ when it's in season.

You know, when you go out to, the first time we went out to China and we shared the gospel, I mean, like fruits were just falling from the trees. People are asking. You know, you want to share the gospel? All you have to do is go to McDonald's, open up your Bible, and read.

Somebody will walk around and say, they see you with an English Bible. Say, "Hey, you speak English." "What is that?" "Well, this is the Bible." "Well, what is that?" "Well, it's about Christ and crucified." "What is that?" "Well, it teaches about the gospel." "What is that?" And you just end up sharing the gospel.

I mean, it was really, it was, I'm really not exaggerating. It was not that hard to share the gospel. There have been periods in ministry and maybe even in our church history, where we feel like, man, there's just like fruits just dropping. And we didn't have enough people to handle all the fruits.

And there have been also long periods, and I'm not just talking about our church, long periods when it seems like it's just out of season. People are just not interested in the Word of God. It's one thing to be committed in season, but it's another thing when it's out of season.

Out of season meaning, not just are people interested or not interested, there are seasons in your life when you feel like you're all alone in your walk with God. There will be seasons in your life when you're trying to talk about God and your friends around you don't seem interested.

There are some seasons in your life where you are just so encouraged, because everybody's around you reminding you about who Christ is. And then there will be seasons in your life where you feel like nobody understands who you are. Nobody knows the background. Nobody knows the trials of your family.

Nobody knows. But he says to continue in season and out of season. If my commitment to Christ is dependent upon things being in season, like the right people at the right time at the right church with the right circumstance, right organization, right leadership, then your faith at some point, it's just a matter of time, will fail you.

Because it is not always in season. There are a lot of times when it is not in season, where everything, every tide is going against you. When everything is going against you, then what? See, if we're people who walk by sight and not by faith, if you don't see things, if you don't see the friendship, if you don't see the encouragement, then immediately we will fall out.

But the scripture says that just shall live by faith. My commitment to Christ, our commitment to Christ and to his word, must not and cannot change. God didn't give us all these different tools. He said, "Well, try this one. If that doesn't work, try this." You know? If the preaching of the word of God does not work, try this organization.

If that doesn't work, try this. He didn't say that. He gave us one thing. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and preach the word in season and out of season. And just, whether people listen or don't listen, whether you bear fruit or don't bear fruit, whether people thank you or hate you for it, in season and out of season, preach the word.

Paul says to Timothy, remember last week or a couple weeks ago, we talked about he gives two reasons, two motivations why we ought to do this. In verse 1 of 2 Timothy, chapter 4, "I charge you, one, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom." Whoa!

First thing that we talked about is that remember, remember who your God is. Remember who your God is. Because we get so caught up sometimes, so concerned about what everybody else is going to think and how they're going to respond if I do this. And that fear grips us and guides us and it kind of projects our life.

He said, first and foremost, if you're going to fear anything, fear Him who has the power not only to destroy the flesh, but send even to destruction after death. Remember who He is. It is the fear of the judgment of the world that prevents us from being bold with the gospel.

Let me say that again. It is when we have a greater fear of the judgment of the world that prevents us from being bold in presenting the gospel. And that's why Paul is telling Timothy, first and foremost, remember God. He's the one who commissioned you. He's the one that you need to pay your attention to.

It's because we try so hard. He said, you know, the judge living and the dead, and by His appearing and of His kingdom. Remember when the disciples asked Jesus, Lord, teach us how to pray. The first thing He said is, "Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So first and foremost, the prayer was a prayer of surrender, acknowledging it is not my kingdom.

I'm not trying to build my kingdom and then praying that God would help me bring my kingdom. No, first and foremost, the beginning of our relationship with God is for us to surrender to be a part of His kingdom. It is when we repent of our sins and He forgives us, we enter His kingdom, and now we serve a new king.

And so he's reminding Timothy, remember that the ultimate judge is Jesus Christ. And that you and I are eagerly waiting and anticipating His kingdom to come. It's when we are so committed and so concerned about fitting into this kingdom, which is passing away. And that's why there's this conflict in us because we come here on Sunday and we're reminded that we're part of another kingdom, but then on the rest of the week we're trying so hard to fit into the kingdom that's passing away.

You know what that's like? Let's say you bought a ticket and you're on this nice cruise ship, and it's awesome. If you've ever been on a cruise ship, it's awesome. They give you free food. I mean, literally, 3 in the morning you wake up, you want a sandwich, call them, they'll come to your door and bring a sandwich.

You know what I mean? I mean, it is a mini heaven on earth on this little boat. Right? And as great as that is, what if this boat is headed and at the end of this trip it's going to fall off of a fall? Fall off of a fall, right?

Niagara fall, okay? What if the path of this boat is going, but no matter whether you are in first class or whether you're in the bottom of the boat, at the end of this trip it's going to fall off. So what happens is when we are on this boat and we forget, where is this headed?

It doesn't matter. It's so nice here. And you're working hard. You're in the lower cabin. If you work hard enough you can get to the second deck and third deck. And maybe some of us, some people were successful and they got on the top deck. You know, and instead of a hundred square feet little cabin in the bottom, you have 500 square feet and you're decorating it and you have the best view.

But in the end, at the end of this trip, this is going to fall off the cliff. Niagara fall, right? See, the scripture tells us in Hebrews chapter 13, 2 to 12 to 14, this is how salvation is described. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

You know what it meant for a Jew to be outside the gate? And outside the gate meant that you were shunned from society. If you had leprosy, you had to go outside the gate. You weren't allowed to come into the temple. You couldn't participate in the worship. In fact, every time you came into town, you had to say, unclean, unclean.

Everybody would just get out of your way. You couldn't have human contact. You couldn't sit down and have a normal meal with your family. That's what it meant to be outside the gate. You were completely outside of society. It says Jesus went outside the gate. But not only did he go out in verse 13, it says, "Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." You know what that picture is?

Here's this nice cruise ship that's going and you've decorated it. It's awesome, but it's going off to the deep end. And so he jumped out of the boat. And now he's telling us, you get off too. That's what he's saying. This kingdom and everything that belongs in this kingdom is under the judgment of God.

That whether you were the wildest success, experienced the wildest success, maybe you're going to invent the next Facebook. And you're going to be a multi, multi-billion gazillionaire. And you had the top best room on this boat. And no matter how well you've decorated, and even if you are the top .001% in finance, at the end, when it goes off the cliff, everybody's going off the cliff.

It's just a matter of are you on the bottom or are you on the top? And that's why Jesus says he bore the reproach outside the camp. And he calls us to come outside the camp. For here, he says in verse 14, we have no lasting city. There's nothing here for us permanently.

Everything that we pursue in this world is going to die and it's going to perish. And that's why he says do not invest in things that are going to perish, because this is not your kingdom. There is no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

And that's exactly what Paul is reminding Timothy. Don't forget who it is that you serve. And secondly, don't forget about his appearing and his kingdom. And that's why he says to preach the word in season and out of season. He didn't give us many different paths. He jumped off the boat, and you keep telling them that you have to get off the boat.

Come to Jesus who is outside the camp. The second part of it is not as easy to understand. The first part he says, well, Timothy, you need to persevere and endure. But the second part where he says in verse 2, "Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching." Now, what kind of a motivation is that to persevere?

Who gets called into ministry and saying like, "Hey, come, help me with ministry," because they could care less what you have to say. Particularly if you ask a young guy who's wanting to go into ministry, "Why do you want to go into ministry?" And the answer that we'll get is, "Oh, I want to preach." The first thing I tell them is, "What if they don't want to listen?" "I'm not sure.

I didn't think about that." Well, you need to think about it, because that's what Jesus said. That's what Paul said. He said, "People will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." In fact, not only are they not going to listen to you, they'd rather listen to people that you think are teaching the wrong thing.

And we'll turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Now, Paul, why would you say that to Timothy? The whole reason why he's writing this is to encourage Timothy to persevere. Like, you know, if I'm concerned that he's going to drop out, I would think the worldly wisdom would be, "Hey, Timothy, hang on just a little bit." I know it's tough now, but, you know, if you put in your time, it'll pay off.

You're going to barefoot. I know these people may not be listening. I know my head's going to come off soon. But if you endure, I think God's going to persevere. I mean, you would think there would be some kind of encouragement, but what does he say? Don't forget who God is.

Don't forget about His coming. And then the people, there's going to come a time when they're not going to listen to you. They'd rather listen to people who's going to scratch their itching ears. Why is that an encouragement? Why would that be of any kind of challenge to Timothy other than to, "Okay, then I'm out." You know, God does the same thing in Isaiah.

And here's this dramatic scene you probably heard, and heard the preaching of Isaiah chapter 6 many, many times. You know, where he sees the glory of God's presence, and he's awed by it. He falls down, "Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips, from people of unclean lips." The angel comes and touches his lips, and purifies his mouth, because God's calling him to be a spokesperson, to preach.

And so, yes, I mean, up to that point, it's awesome. God's preparing him for ministry. God says, "Who's going to go for me? Who's going to go?" And obviously, I mean, obviously, you know, he's the one. He's the one who's preparing. He just got touched by the angels, and his mouth became purified.

And this is what he says, "And I heard a voice from the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said," this is Isaiah, "Here am I. Send me." This is awesome. Up to this point, I mean, we preach this all the time, trying to challenge people to go to mission.

"Who's going to go? How many of you will say, 'Here am I. Send me.'" And he said, "Go and say to this people." So this is where it gets confusing. We talk about who's going to go, I'm going to go, you know. We have altar calls and people coming, and we pray for you, anoint you, support you, we send you out.

But here's the second part. He says, "Go and say this to the people." And this is what he says, "Keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of the people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn and be healed." So wait a second.

You touch my mouth to purify it, and then now I say I'm going to go, and then you're sending me to a bunch of people that aren't going to listen. What's all that for? Like, anybody can do this. Why do I have to have a pure, holy mouth to do this?

They're not going to listen. I mean, that's enough to turn somebody away and say, "Okay, what was all that drama for?" So we can understand his question in verse 11. Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" I mean, what an understatement. "Who's going to go?" "I will go." "Go to these people, and say these things, but they're not going to listen to you." "Okay, how long?" "Ten minutes?" "One day?" "Five days?" "How long?" Obviously, there's a reason why he's asking that question.

He's like, "How long am I supposed to endure this?" "You know how long? Until the day you die." He doesn't say this here, but that's what happens in Isaiah's life. Until the day you die, that's what you're going to preach. And you're not going to see revival in your life.

He said the same thing to Jeremiah. Get naked, stay on your left side 40 days. Get naked, stay on your left side 40 days, and tell them that this was going to happen. And they're not going to listen to you. "How long?" "Until the day you die." Now, who's going to volunteer for that?

Why go through all that drama? "How long, O Lord?" And he said, "Until the cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people, and the land is absolutely wasted." Why even send these people if they're not going to listen? Why call people? Why challenge them? Why show them the glory?

Why touch their mouth? There's a simple answer to that. Because God hasn't given up on them yet. If you look at Israel's history, yeah, they were hardened, and God did bring judgment, but He kept on sending His prophets. And His prophets kept on telling them that God is a holy God.

And because you keep ignoring Him, judgment is coming. But here's a catch. He would say all of these things, but He would always qualify it. God is not going to remain angry with you forever. He's going to send the Promised One, and He's going to restore all things. See, God's ultimate judgment is not what Isaiah was going to say.

In fact, Isaiah was sent because God was being merciful. When God comes to the conclusion, final conclusion of judgment, is when He turns His face, and He no longer speaks. And that's what He says in the book of Amos. He said, "I sent famine, I sent hardship, I sent enemies, and they conquered you.

And through all of that, I was trying to get your attention." But you would not repent. And as a result of that, what does He say at the end of the book of Amos? There's going to be a famine of the land. But not a famine of food or water, but a famine of the Word of God.

When the Word of God was there, you didn't listen. But now there's going to be a famine. So people are going to be staggering from place to place, hearing from God, but God's final judgment is, you're not going to hear from Him. See, but here, God is being merciful.

They're not going to listen, but He hasn't given up yet, so therefore continue to go. Isn't that exactly what you and I experienced? How many of you just decided one day, woke up and said, "You know what, it's time to get right with God." How many of you said, "You know what, what is the Gospel?

I need somebody to go explain the Gospel to me." The majority of you were invited by a friend, you went to church, probably for all the wrong reasons. Like me, I went up to a retreat thinking that there were going to be pretty girls, and I got saved. How many of you made a choice to come to God, made a choice to repent and realize your sins?

The Scripture says in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us." When we were just like these people, we had no tolerance for sound teaching. We didn't wake up one morning and say, "You know what, I'm going to be a Bible guy." God had mercy on us.

God sent the right people into our lives. He opened our ears. And that's what He was telling Timothy, "You go, because there's going to come a time when they're not going to be listening. They're not going to be jumping to say, 'Hey, teach me your Word.' They're going to turn to these things, because we're like sheep without shepherds." Isn't that why Jesus had compassion on them?

Because He didn't see the multitude and He said, "Look at all these sheep coming to me begging for food." He didn't say that. "Look at all these sheep. They're harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd." Therefore, He had compassion on them. "Therefore, He says, 'Beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers.'" And that's what Paul is telling Timothy.

There are times in this season when you will preach, and people will come to faith, and there will be times, just like now, where you're thinking, "Man, none of these people are interested in God." But that's why you need to persevere. That's why you need to keep, because they need you.

Just like we needed Christ. Just like we were absolutely dependent upon Him to be merciful to us. And why He sent someone to come and get us. He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." And He said, "Now you go and get them." This is a huge problem where people think that if the Word of God is preached, I'm always encouraged.

That's not what the Word of God says in 2 Timothy 3.16. Teaching, reproof, or in some translations, rebuke, correction, and training. When the Word of God goes forth, it does not always encourage. Just like with my children. My interaction with them, if you ask them, "Oh, what do you like about your dad?" They say, "Oh, my dad's goofy.

We do things for them. He bought me shoes." "What do you not like about them?" It's like, "Oh, we get disciplined." "If we don't do this, we get disciplined." That's what we don't like. Now imagine if I heard that and said, "What? They don't like my discipline?" From this day forward, I will never discipline them again.

How many of you are going to sit here and think, "He's a great father." Right? Because he doesn't want to hurt his kids. He's loving. He's sensitive. How many of you would think that? No. That's exactly what the Scripture says. There is no child of God that he doesn't discipline.

In fact, discipline is one of the signs that you are his child. So when the Word of God goes forth, there are times when they will say, "Oh, you need words of encouragement." And you hear what the Word of God says, how He loves you and died for you.

It's like, "Oh, I'm so lifted. I'm so encouraged." But the sound teaching of the Word of God at times rebukes us. And it says in Hebrews 4, "Judges the thoughts and intentions of our heart." And so, yes, the Word of God in season is awesome, but out of season, it says, "Preach the Word." Whether they like it or don't like it.

Whether it bears fruit or don't bear fruit. Whether they thank you or don't thank you. It says, "Preach the Word." In fact, if you look at 2 Corinthians 7, 8, and 9, one of the harshest letters that Paul has ever written to the churches is 1 Corinthians. In fact, if you read 1 Corinthians, it's like every other verse, you're like, "Ouch!" I mean, he is harsh with these guys.

He says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And he's talking to them because these leaders were divided and they said, "I'm a Paul, Paulus." And he said, "You guys are acting like worldly Christians. And you guys are destroying the temple of God." And he says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of God, the Spirit of God dwells in you?

And he who destroys the temple, you will be destroyed." And then he talks about how the sinner is like, "You're tolerating this kind of sin that even the other Corinthians are not practicing as they're known for sexual immorality. But what's going on in your church is even worse than that.

To set them aside that we may hand them over to Satan. Shall I come to you with a whip or in love?" I mean, he talked about harsh things. So, you imagine, he wrote this letter and sure enough, we can predict the response. They got hurt. Any parent, when I discipline my kids, I don't say, "Go up to your room." And then they go up to their room, they're crying.

And I was like, "Yes! High five Esther, they're crying!" It worked! They deserve this! No, most parents, if you're not, I mean, but most parents will come down and you know, you sit down and you're just as hurt because you don't want to see your kid hurt. You want them to be happy when, you know, any parent would tell you, like, when we're the happiest and when you see your kids just laughing and having fun and that's when you're the happiest.

When they're hurt upstairs, there's something inside of me, I was like, "How long do I give it, let them wallow in that before I go there and say, 'Oh, it's okay, it's okay.'" You know what I mean? So you kind of have to resist that temptation because, you know, they need to learn.

Paul says in this letter, after he wrote this letter, it hurt them and he says, "For even if I made you grieve for my letter, I do not regret it." And you kind of get a little schizophrenic, he says, "Though I did regret it a little bit." That's what it says here.

For 2 Corinthians 7, 8, and 9, about the letter that he just wrote, he says, "Even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I do regret it a little bit, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while." He said, "I hurt you and it hurt me," and it kind of regret a little bit, "Oh, maybe I was too harsh, maybe," and he said, "But," he says, "as it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting.

For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us." He says, "The preaching of the word of God cuts you and it hurts you," but he says, "I don't regret it because I see what it did. It brought you to repentance, and repentance is what causes us to draw near to God.

It's God forgiving us." He doesn't forgive unrepentant sinners, he forgives repentant sinners. So when the word of God goes forth, there are times it encourages us, it challenges us, it trains us, but there are times it will rebuke us. See, a person who does not want to put up with sound teaching is not focused on coming to Christ.

You know, when he says he has itching ears, right, he's contrasting sound teaching, healthy teaching, with itching ears. Itching ears basically is something superficial. Nobody makes an appointment with a doctor saying, "Oh, can I come in Wednesday?" They say, "Sure, you can come in nine o'clock in the morning, I'll clear my schedule and come in." He's like, "Oh, okay, what's the problem?" "I got an itch right back here, I can't reach it.

I've been working out too much, you know what I mean? There's one spot here that I can't reach. Can you scratch?" And then it's like, "Okay, boom, boom." "Oh, thank you so much." Nobody makes an appointment with a doctor because their back itches. See, you know what he's saying?

He's coming to the physician, right? He's coming to the author of life because he wants his back scratched. And as ridiculous as that is, that's one of the things that are taught about church growth in modern generation is you've got to preach to their felt needs, scratch their back.

Right? Jesus did not have to get off of his throne, become a human being, be humiliated and walk this earth, and then to be spat upon, crucified, take on the sins of mankind, all the wrath of his Father upon himself, and then taste hell for us, and then to be resurrected, all to scratch our back.

It's absolutely ridiculous. He said, "Yet, people are going to be staggered. They're going to gather teachers around themselves, going to scratch their ears, and they're going to say, 'Oh, that felt good. Oh, yeah, every time I go to that church, that felt good.'" He says, "No. The author of life at times rebukes us, challenges us, sometimes even scares us.

They're yelling at us, 'Get off that boat! Don't get comfortable with that. Don't decorate that boat!'" It is not headed where you think it's headed. And that's why a man who desires with all his heart to draw near to God, prays in Psalm 139.23, the same prayer of the psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." You know why they don't want to hear Psalm teaching? Because they're not willing to change. They have a certain thing that they've become accustomed to, and they know what they're going to hear.

And I don't want to be challenged because I don't want to let that go. So every time I come to church, I get challenged to let that go, and I don't want to. I've already decided I'm not going to let that go. So you can never honestly pray this prayer.

"Search me and know me. See if there's any hurtful ways in me. Is there anything that I'm thinking or doing that is offensive to you?" But a man who wants his ears scratched will never be able to pray that prayer. So when sound teaching goes forth, it doesn't encourage them.

All it does is like, "Oh, I feel bound. I feel this heavy burden." Just like the Corinthians. They were convicted to repent, but they don't want to repent. So from that moment, when they're convicted to repent and they don't repent, what happens? It becomes guilt that you cannot bear.

The only way to deal with guilt is to repent. The only way to deal with guilt. You know what another way that the world deals with guilt? It changes the theology. You shouldn't be guilty about that. So they unburden it by saying, "That's no longer sin." That's okay. I know all that guilt that you feel, it's a societal thing that's built up in our generation.

So that's getting all this sexual immorality, all this stuff. That's the prudeness of our generation, and they get rid of that. That's how they deal with guilt. But the only true way to deal with guilt is by receiving forgiveness. And that's why he says, "Preach the word in season and out of season." They're not going to put up with sound teaching.

And Jeremiah 5, 30-31 says this, "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction, and my people love to have it so." He tells Jeremiah, "Go preach to these people." Because they're hanging on every word of the false prophets.

You know what these false prophets are telling them? "God's not angry with you. Why would he be angry with you? You're the apple of his eye. There's no judgment coming." Every time Jeremiah opens his mouth, he has something negative to say. They're hanging on every word. The prophets are prophesying falsely.

The priests rule at their direction. And my people love it so. The reason why they do that is because that's what people want to hear. But here's the conclusion. "But what will you do when the end comes?" Everybody's happy on this boat. And all the leaders are telling you how to decorate it, and how to enjoy it.

But what will you do when the end comes? That's the message of the cross. And therefore he says, "Be sober-minded." In verse 5. Because the moment we're not sober-minded, we get entangled. We forget where this boat is headed. We figure, "Oh man, I'm on the bottom. How can I get to the top?" And we spend all our energy trying to get to the next level.

And then when we get to the top, like, how do we decorate? How do we make it look nice and make it comfortable? I had a single bed, and I got a queen bed, and I got a queen bed. Let's get a king bed. I got a king bed.

Let's get two of them together. You know what I mean? The moment we're not sober, we forget where this thing is headed. The moment we're not sober, we think like the rest of the world that this is it. And that's why he tells Timothy, "Be sober." Endure suffering. Man, what kind of job description that's "endure suffering" where anybody would sign up for that?

Timothy. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Continue to preach the Word. Fulfill your ministry. The word "fulfill" means to do it to the fullest. In other words, not just in season, but out of season. Not just when it's easy, but when it's tough. Not just when people are listening, but when they're not listening.

Not just when your stomach is full, but when it's empty. Not just when you are free, but when you're in prison. Not when your life is awesome, but also when you're facing death. He says, "Fulfill your ministry to the fullest." John Calvin says this of this passage, "The more determined men become to despise the teaching of Christ, the more zealous should godly ministers be to assert it, and the more strenuous their efforts to preserve it entirely, and more than that, by their diligence to ward off Satan's attacks." The darker the world gets, the more determined and the more committed we must be to preach the Word, and not turn from it to the left or to the right.

Let me conclude with this. Dr. Kent M. Keith, in 1968, wrote this booklet for student leadership. And it was a Christian camp, and he wrote this in the cover, and again, you may have heard this before, because it's a popular thing that has kind of been circulated since 1968, and this is what he encouraged the students with.

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have, best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth sometimes. Give the world the best you have anyway." Now that sounds great in a sermon.

How many of you are going to put this right in front of your desk and get kicked in the teeth, give it to them anyway? You know, spend all that time building, it may be destroyed overnight, but build anyway. I mean, it sounds great in a sermon. You know, it sounds great in a quote.

But to actually practice this? Who would do such a thing? Who would actually commit to this? Well, there is somebody. And that's the reason why we're here this morning. Because Jesus did this for us. He demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, he died for us.

He pursued us when we didn't pursue him. He loved us when we didn't love him. He gave us his word when we weren't searching for it. And that's why he tells Timothy, "They may not want to listen, they may not thank you, and they may hate you, and then in the end they may even kill you.

But preach anyway." Would you take a minute to pray with me? As the praise team comes up, let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord. Again, asking for his strength, but also commit. Commit to the Lord. Commit to his word in season and out of season. Maybe some of you are sitting here this morning and it's not in season.

You're discouraged. Things in your life aren't going your way. You're having financial issues, family issues, health issues, and everything around your life is telling you to quit. Maybe this morning God's speaking to you to persevere. Don't forget the big picture. Don't forget why we're here this morning. We love because he first loved us.

To commit to his sovereign love and persevere. Let's take a few minutes to pray as our worship leader leads us. (upbeat music)