Good afternoon, brothers. Good afternoon, brothers. If I can have your attention here in the worship center, we're going to share this time talking about enduring to the end. There are wonderful breakouts all over the campus. If you need to head to another one, this is the time to get going.

Get while the getting is good. And we'll say a word of prayer and meditate on God's Word together. Heavenly Father, we bless you for the gift of this day and for the privilege of walking today in the assurance of our salvation, our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our all-sufficient prophet, priest, and king.

We thank you for this band of brothers who have pressed their way here to fellowship around your Word, to have our vision enlarged of the gospel mission you have entrusted to us, and to worship you in spirit and in truth. We've already been richly blessed over the course of this day already, and we look forward to all that you have in store for us.

We pray for your sustaining grace and strengthening help for Dr. MacArthur. We pray your blessings on the entire leadership and membership of this church, and thank you for all of the staff and volunteers who serve us. And now as we turn our attention to your Word during this breakout, we pray that you would focus our minds, ready our hearts to receive with gentleness the implanted Word that is able to save our souls.

Help me to speak your Word faithfully and clearly. Help each of us to receive your Word today as it truly is, your Word to us, not mere human opinion. And may Christ be exalted as the Word is explained, we pray. Amen. The title of this breakout is "Enduring to the End, the Key to Finishing Well in Life and Ministry." In the preface to his book, "The Roots of Endurance," John Piper writes about challenging his members to be coronary Christians, not adrenaline Christians.

Of course, adrenaline is not a bad thing. It gets a lot of us preachers through many long Sundays. But then that high on Sunday often leads to a crash on Monday. The heart works differently without attention or fanfare or reward. The heart just keeps beating, doing its work to sustain life through ups and downs, joys and sorrows, good days and bad days.

The coronary Christian endures to the end and that is all the more so for, if you will, coronary ministers. If a minister is not careful, brothers, he can become an adrenaline junkie, seeking the next high from some idea or book or method or program or influencer to help him get a little further or a little closer to his ministerial goals.

And in the process, that minister can forget that the heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 instructs us to, "Keep your heart with all vigilance. Guard your heart above everything else, for from it flow the springs of life." You can do a lot of work to keep the water clean downstream only to find a never-ending flow of trash and debris flowing in to remove.

You must go upstream to ensure the water is pure at its source. And I just want to remind us during this hour together that the bottom line of pastoral ministry is heartwork. Sure, we instruct the mind and exhort the will and correct the emotions of those that we minister to, but the true heartwork of pastoral ministry starts with us, not with them.

Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 5 ends with the instruction to fulfill your ministry. Anyone can start fast. Can you finish well? To finish well is to have a strong and healthy heart that endures to the end. And I believe, if you'll open your Bibles, first Timothy chapter 4 verses 11-16 shows us what it means to be a faithful and fruitful minister.

Paul says, "Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Practice these things. Immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." Charles Bridges wrote, "This paragraph condenses in the smallest compass the most important body of appropriate instruction and encouragement for ministerial devotedness." There are 10 exhortations, 10 imperatives, 10 commands in verses 11-16.

But verse 16 records two exhortations that summarize them all. "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." Of course, Paul is saying nothing new to Timothy in this verse. The instructions that he gives in this verse are littered throughout the pastoral epistles.

Yet these simple and succinct instructions encompasses the practice, the process, and the purpose of Christian ministry. John MacArthur has said, "Now is the time for the strongest men to preach the strongest message in the context of the strongest ministries." What does that mean? What does it mean to be a strong man?

What does it mean to preach a strong message? What does it mean to have a strong ministry? I believe this 16th verse of 1 Timothy chapter 4 is a good answer to those questions. "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourselves and your hearers." There are two statements in the verse.

One is a call to watchfulness. One is a call to perseverance. And with the time remaining, I want us to just meditate together on these high and holy duties. First, there is a call to watchfulness. Verse 16 begins with a double command, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." The command is to keep a close watch.

The verb means to hold fast or to hold firmly. The New International Version reads, "Watch." The King James Version reads, "Take heed." The New American Standard Bible reads, "Pay close attention." In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer. And there they met a man who was lame from birth, who was sat by the beautiful gate of the temple to ask of the arms of the worshipers.

He asked Peter and John if they could spare any change. And in response to his request for money, Peter said, "Look at us." Acts chapter 3 verse 5 reads, "And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them." Fixed his attention translates the verb of verse 16.

To keep a close watch is to fix your attention. And the text is in a grammatical emphasis that indicates continual action or repeated activity. Keep keeping a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. This is the Christian minister's perpetual duty. There is no season of life or ministry in which you can afford to neglect this call to watchfulness.

The rookie minister in this room finds the right course by keeping a close watch on himself and on his teaching. The seasoned ministers in this room stay on the right course by keeping a close watch on himself and on his teaching. The call to watchfulness addresses two intricately connected spheres of ministerial responsibility on yourself and on the teaching.

It is both and, brothers, not either or. We are inclined to emphasize one duty over the other based upon how we are wired. Some read the verse to say mentally as they picture it, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." And others read the verse to say, "Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching." The two-fold object of ongoing vigilance is mutually important.

A godly life does not excuse false teaching, and sound doctrine does not excuse ungodly behavior. Your life should testify to the message you proclaim. The minister who endures to the end is characterized by personal holiness and expositional ministry. First, personal holiness. I was called to pastor my first church here in Los Angeles at the age of 17.

I was a senior in high school, as I often qualify. I don't recommend that. It's just my testimony. And the night I was installed as the pastor of the church, when the service was over, a group of older pastors pulled me to the side and said, "We need to talk to you." I can't begin to tell you how nervous I was.

I didn't know what was about to happen. They pulled me aside, and they were circling around me, and they said, "Before we leave this service tonight, we need to say something to you personally and privately." They said, "You're a young man, and at some point your mind will turn toward dating.

Make sure you don't date anyone in the church." That was their sage advice. I was thinking to myself, "What, you want me to come to your church and find somebody to date?" If I could rewind that moment and re-script that moment, where those older men had my attention and I would have taken heed to anything they said to me that night, I wish they would have simply said to me, "Be holy." In 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 16, Paul does not tell Timothy to be careful or be discreet or anything like that.

Paul tells Timothy to be holy, to be godly, to be Christ-like, to keep a close watch on himself. We have already noted that the call to God, your character, and convictions go together, character and convictions. But it should also be noted that how one lives is mentioned here before what one teaches.

John Calvin said, "Doctrine will be of little avail if there be not a corresponding goodness and holiness of life." What does it mean to watch your life? The answer to this question deserves a book-length answer, but permit me to challenge you to watch your life in three areas, your time, your money, and your relationships.

I mention these because these are objective, independent, external indicators of your true spiritual devotion. My favorite little prayer course that my mother taught me as a boy, I still sing to this day, "Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart." But when I sing that, I also can't forget about Jeremiah 17, verse 9, that says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick." Who can understand it?

Your time, your money, your relationships have a way of telling the truth about what's in your heart. So brothers, how are you spending your time? I get a chance to be around pastors in various parts of the country over the course of the year, and I believe from my perch that more pastors are guilty of workaholism than slothfulness.

So I don't want to waste this time challenging you to get busy, but I want to ask, has your busyness crowded out your personal devotion to the Lord? Are you making time in the private chambers of your own praying ground for believing prayer, Bible intake, and self-examination? My first preaching professor challenged us regularly to be preachers who are like roots, not pipes.

Water passes through a pipe without any positive effect on the pipe. In fact, over time, the passing of the water will rust the pipe. But as water passes through the roots to the tree, the roots get stronger. How are you spending your time, and how are you managing your money?

I just feel like I grew up in church hearing preachers always admonish the saints that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And then when I read that text in 1 Timothy chapter 6 for the first time for myself, I was shocked to discover that this biblical warning is really to the minister, not just the members.

It is a warning to those who would think or preach that godliness is a means to financial gain. And it is to those who are seduced by that error, seduced by money, that the warning of 1 Timothy 6 comes. I was a young man, and I went to a minister's fellowship, and one of the other young ministers there asked to talk to me.

He worked on staff at a church, and he got in trouble because the pastor had been away that Sunday, and he led the service, and the money was down. And I was shocked. I couldn't believe this. And I said, "This is a godly pastor. There's no way that happened." He says, "You're right, H.B., he is a good man." I'll never forget this phrase.

But his values change when it comes to money. That's a contradiction that dishonors God. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 says, "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils, and it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." How are you spending your time?

How are you managing your money, and how are you treating your relationships? Timothy was a young man serving a large congregation in a big city. How was he to leave that church? Paul does not give Timothy any management principles from the business world. He instructs Timothy to leave the church as he would care for his family.

1 Timothy chapter 5 verses 1 and 2, "Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity." It's called to personal and pastoral and pure relationships. Not only does this first statement in verse 16 address the matter of personal holiness, it also emphasizes the importance of expositional ministry.

A slave owner's son broke the rules by sneaking into the slave quarters to read the Bible to the slaves. Hearing God's Word, they got saved. One of those slaves became low sick, and when the master checked on the dying slave, he asked if there was anything he could do for that slave before he died, and to the master's surprise, the slave asked him to go sin for his son who knew how to make the book talk.

Brothers, it is appointed to every man to die and then stand before God in judgment. What eternal souls need more than anything else, they need faithful men who know how to make the book talk. And this is what Paul is saying in verse 16, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." Note the definite article.

Timothy was not just to watch his teaching, but the teaching. It's what Acts 2.42 calls the apostles' teaching. The teaching reminds us that it's not about the act of teaching. It's about the truth that you teach. Dotted all over this country are churches that still formally have an orthodox statement of faith, but the pulpit is filled by a preacher who has abandoned Biblical teaching for another gospel.

Paul rebukes such false teaching. For instance, 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 10 rebukes whatever is contrary to sound doctrine. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 3 rebukes anyone who teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when you read those passage, brothers, you'll also see that in his rebuke of false teaching, life and doctrine go together.

What a man teaches and how a man lives are connected. Here positively 1 Timothy 4 verse 6 tells Timothy to keep a close watch on himself and the teaching. Those who do not keep a close watch on themselves are prone to tamper with the teachings to either accommodate or cover up their sinful ways and desires.

A man's character at the same time is revealed by what he teaches. The two go together. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 is a life verse for me. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

There are three questions I regularly ask myself from 2 Timothy 2 verse 15. Number one, "Is God well pleased with me?" Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. Question two, "Is my work well done?" A worker who has no need to be ashamed. And thirdly, "Is the word of God rightly handled?" Rightly handling the word of truth.

Charles Spurgeon said, "This every Christian minister must do if he would make full proof of his ministry and if he would be clear of the blood of his hearers at that last great day." 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 says, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead.

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." Our central, primary, and definitive function as ministers is to preach the word. The imperative is all important. Preach. But so is the object. Preach the word.

You have been placed under assignment to present a message and you do not have editorial authority over the message. The power of preaching does not rest in the function of preaching. The power of preaching rests in the content of preaching. Or if I could say it another way, it is not our preaching that makes the gospel work, it's the gospel that makes our lousy preaching work, right?

So we must preach the word. Preach the word, brothers, not personal opinion. Preach the word, not motivational speeches. Preach the word, not self-help advice. Preach the word, not popular psychology. Preach the word, not health and wealth. Preach the word, not political viewpoints. Preach the word, not worldly theories. The verse 16 begins with a call to watchfulness and it ends by giving us a call to perseverance.

This verse asserts what one has called the extraordinary seriousness of pastoral ministry. The verse begins by telling the minister what to do. Keep a close watch on your life and on the teaching. And then verse 16 ends by telling us how to do it and why to do it.

Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourselves and your hearers. This statement teaches the practice and purpose of ministerial perseverance. Let me lean into both and then we'll pray together. The practice of ministerial perseverance. I wrote a little book on pastoral ministry, and there are times that I am asked to sign it by someone and I often put above my signature 1 Timothy 4, verse 16.

I really do believe this verse succinctly states the whole matter of Christian ministry. Brothers, this is the whole ballgame. Guard your life and your doctrine. Watch your character and your convictions. Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching. That's the work of the minister. That's the whole ballgame.

Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. How you say it should be there? There has to be something else. You're right. One more thing. Persist in this. After you keep keeping a close watch on your life and teaching, Paul says, "Then just hit repeat." And keep persisting in this. The term means to remain under.

It is the picture of one who is under a heavy load and yet he doesn't give up or give in or give out. He keeps pressing on even though the load is heavy. Brothers, faithful ministers, persevere. Persevere in what? The most obvious answer is that Timothy is to persist in keeping a close watch on himself and his teaching.

I've given you the assignment. Be steadfast, enduring it, persevering it. I am talking to men in this room. You are serving the Lord at a hard place during a hard time. And permit me to just take the liberty this moment to say from one brother to another, "Hang in there.

Hang in there, brother. It may be hard, but is there a witness in the house? It's worth it." 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 58 says, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 through 18 says, "So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." One more, Galatians 6 and 9, "Let us not grow weary of doing good.

For in due season we will reap if we do not give up." And so we see the practice of ministerial perseverance, but also the purpose of ministerial perseverance. Paul gives a command, "Persist in this." Then he states the reason, "For by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." This incentive is profound.

It's remarkable. And as you read the commentators, you'll see it's somewhat controversial. However, before we meditate on what Paul says, would you think a moment about what he does not say? The Christian minister is offered many diverse goals to pursue by the world that we live in. When I was a boy in school, we used to play a game called "Get Like Me." It was gambling.

I didn't know. I just thought about it last night. It was gambling. The first person would take a quarter and flip the quarter, and it would fall on heads and tails, and he'd say, "Get like me." And then you, the second person would flip their quarter, and if it landed on whatever the first quarter was, he got it.

It just dawned on me that I was gambling. I was thinking about that because it's strange. All these years later, it sometimes feels like that boyhood game is being played by so many books and podcasts and conferences are glorified games of "Get Like Me." Paul would not have Timothy to gamble away his calling for such fleshly and foolish games.

And so, just exegete the white spaces with me for a moment and consider what Paul does not say. He does not say, "Persist in this with the promise of a larger church." He does not guarantee a big platform. He does not mention worldly success. He does not assure a well-known name.

He does not predict book deals and book sales. He does not discuss financial prosperity, and he does not vow ministerial prominence. Paul gives Timothy a Christ-exalting, Gospel-saturated, eternity-driven reason to persist in keeping a close watch on himself and his teaching. "For by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers." This verse is no proof text for salvation by works.

Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 make it plain, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not the results of works, so that no one may boast." Sinners are saved by grace through faith in Christ plus or minus nothing.

Yet Paul was convinced that the minister's perseverance in keeping a close watch on his life and teaching had eternal implications for both himself and his hearers. John Stott wrote, "Perseverance is not a meritorious cause, but rather the ultimate evidence of our salvation." The preacher's own assurance and sanctification and eternal reward are tied to his perseverance in watching his life and doctrine.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24 through 27, Paul says, "Do you not know that in every race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?" It's a run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. The Greek scholar A.T. Robinson commented here, "It is a humbling thought for all of us to see this wholesome fear instead of a smug complacency in the greatest of all heralds of Christ." "Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

With due concern for his own soul, the minister must also have a holy concern for the salvation of his hearers." Note the word here, "hearers." It's a subtle condemnation of those who would put on a show to reach people. Remember, what you use to reach them is what you'll have to use to keep them.

Our people need to hear the truth, not see a show. Romans chapter 10 verse 13 is a glorious promise, is it not? "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." As I say it, my King James upbringing is rising up on me. It said, "Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord." What a glorious promise.

But then verses 14 and 15 of Romans 10 goes on to present a series of dilemmas that prevent lost people from calling on the Lord for salvation. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? The MacArthur Study Bible footnotes this verse by saying, "By careful attention to his own godly life and faithful preaching of the Word, Timothy would continue to be the human instrument God used to bring the gospel and save some who heard him." I grew up in one church in one city basically.

In 2008, I was called to serve a church on the other side of the country. I had been pastoring for a while, but I pastored a church where I knew everyone. I was going to a church where not only did I not know anyone in the church, I didn't know anyone really in the city.

And I called a friend of mine who had recently relocated. He had had a couple of pastoral transitions over the years, and I asked his advice. "When I get boots on the ground, Keelan, in this new place, what should I focus on? What should I prioritize? What should I give my attention to?" And Keelan got all parabolic on me and told me a story.

He said that there was a town with a bank, and the bandits came to town to rob the bank. But when they arrived, they saw that the bank was well guarded and there was no way to burst in. But determined, the bandits went to the outskirts of town and started setting barns on fire.

And the people in the town all went out to put out the fires in the barns, and while they were out putting out the fires in the barns, the bandits robbed the bank. Do you get it? He said, "H.B., when you get to that new work, there will be a lot of fires to put out, but by all means, guard the bank." Whatever season of ministry you find yourself in, brother, by all means, guard the bank.

How do you guard the bank? Glad you asked. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Let's pray. Wait. In fact, would you indulge me? I think after these reminders, it would be appropriate for us to pray for one another.

If you don't know the name of the brother who is sitting next to you, can you just get their name, and let's just take a moment all over this room to pray for each other. And I'll close us in just a moment. Brothers, let's get a name, and let's go to God in prayer.

Let's use this time wisely. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for these reminders of what it means to be gospel ministers, what it means to be ambassadors of Christ, what it means to be faithful servants. Our hearts are burdened, Lord, as we think about these things that this verse raises for our attention and consider those that we know who started fast but did not finish strong.

And we're burdened, Father, for those who may not feel that weight, who hear these reminders and respond to them callously with a spirit of carelessness and presumption. Lord, would You help us to take heed, those of us who think we are standing firm, help us to take heed lest we fall, and to remember that no temptation has overtaken us except that which is common to man.

You are faithful. You will not allow us to be tempted above what we are able, and along with the temptation will provide a way of escape so that we may bear up under it. Lord, I thank You that You are the great Master of the house that has many vessels, some of gold and silver and some of wood and clay.

And I ask that You would help us, Lord, to cleanse ourselves of whatever is dishonorable so that we might be clean vessels fit for the Master's use, ready for every good work. Help us, Lord, to guard our lives and to guard our doctrine, and to persevere in so doing to ensure our salvation and the salvation of those who hear us, Lord.

Give us hearts that would endure to the end. I do, Lord, pray for my brothers under the sound of my voice who find themselves at a quitting point. They feel alone. The burden is heavy. They live with criticism, facing outright persecution. Thank You that, Lord, You call servants like that blessed.

May we rejoice and be glad, knowing that our reward is in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before us. And would You give us, Lord, a burden to pray, to continue in prayer for one another, as prayer advertises our dependence upon You. We are nothing without You, but we rejoice that Your grace is sufficient for us, and Your strength is perfected in our weakness.

We rejoice in this in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you, brothers. (audience applauding)