Northside Church - Sydney
Leading A Legacy Week 5: Preach
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. There has been a lyric that has graced the megamixes of just about every party that has been out there, every DJ box that has ever been at a party, whether it's 15 year olds through to 55 year olds. Some funny guys with a funny accent, they say, "When I wake up, yeah, I know I'm going to be, I'm going to be the one to wake up next to you." When I go out, "Yeah, I know I'm going to be, I'm going to be the one to go out next to you." And we know how the chorus goes, "But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the one who walked 1,000 miles to fall down at your door." Do we know who sang that? That's for extra bonus points getting to heaven early, scaved the proclamers. Indeed was the proclamers and tonight we'll see from this passage that the message is inextricably linked to the messenger. Whenever we hear that song, whenever we hear those funny accents, we say that is the proclamers. And part of what this passage teaches us tonight is that we, as Christians, don't have that much difference from this Scottish identical twins over there. In the sense that this passage teaches us like the Scottish twins, that we are also proclamers. We are proclamers of the gospel. We are proclamers of the good news, verse 2 of 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul says, "Timothy, I give you this charge, preach the Word." That's the question I'm going to ask ourselves tonight. Why should we? Why don't we turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4 for the final chapter in this book that we have been journeying through together. The end is drawing closer and closer to Paul. He says, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge, preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine, instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside the myths. But you, you keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry, for I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing. That is the question we must ask ourselves when leading a legacy, why should we care about preaching the Word? Why should we make up our minds that this is what we will preach and we will continue to preach and all we will preach, why should we worry about this? Not only that, I know it is a question you are asking yourself tonight, how do you know this applies to me? That is your job Sam. I know some people are thinking this is Paul writing to Timothy, this is just for pastors, this is just for a paid minister, that is your job to do, preach the Word, that is where your gifts are. Look you know what I say to that, Bull Rush, you remember we used to play Bull Rush as a kid, play it in the school playground before it used to get banned, occupational health and safety, all that sort of stuff came in, put your kids in break legs, broken arms. I loved Bull Rush because the way Bull Rush worked is that you had someone who was standing in the middle of the school oval and you had just a whole bunch of rabid primary school or teenagers at one end of the football field and their job was to run as hard as they could in all sorts of different directions in order to avoid being tagged. If you got tagged and tagged you were it and you were in and you helped the person that was in the middle go and tag others, you see anyone that has heard the gospel, anyone that has received the gospel has been tagged, tagged you are it and in that sense you artists begin to with me just because I do this from a pulpit here on a Sunday night with me stand at the middle of that field when there is a world out there of people who will turn their ears to all sorts of things. Paul says we are running all sorts of directions and say tag you are it Bull Rush what I am saying is in other words whilst yes we admit that this is a letter addressed to a pastor it is not solely the job of the bastard to preach the gospel. In fact every Christian is a minister for the gospel, every Christian is a minister for the word. Paul says 2 Corinthians 4 that we all of us carry the treasure, the treasure we talked about in chapter 1 of this book the treasure of the gospel in vessels of clay and then Jesus himself says if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation the son of man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels that is in Mark chapter 8 verse 38. Jesus everyone is a minister for the gospel, tag you are it because it is bigger than that. It is bigger than that it is not just because we have to not because just Jesus says so it is because the gospel the gospel is a story of God breaking into humanity. The word of God is proof of that, the word of God is proof that the gospel is his unimaginable important news that the one who has saved us from death now makes us safe from death, makes us holy, makes us secure for all eternity. He has done all that not because we have got to go and earn it we keep on hearing this but he's done it out of his own grace and the thing that I think every time I get up here is what planet do you want if that doesn't excite you? What planet do you want if the concept of something outside of this system the concept of a God who just doesn't sit up there in the stratosphere but injects himself into humanity to come and save and rescue us and be intimately involved in that we should get excited about it. But it's also why we Christians shouldn't just mock history and not worry about history and not think that history is important because God has broken in because it's in history that we see God decisive before the beginning of time. God appearing not just in general to human beings but in a specific human being God broke into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth. Look it up in Google Maps. Born Bethlehem suffered under Pontius Pilate, died buried, rose again, ate, walked, taught. God broke into the world in the incarnation. The incarnation is a historical event and so when a Christian thinks about preaching the word we're not just recommending following Jesus because it feels good. We're not recommending following Jesus because it's the most rational of all the other religions. We're not recommending that you follow Jesus just because it's the best spirituality out there. We're saying it because it's bound up in the fact that God has revealed himself in history and it's preserved in the word preach the word and so although it's important it is vitally important in church to talk about love and compassion and mercy and the truth of God and his transforming power at the end of the day what we're saying here is when we preach the word that it's a historical fact that God turned up on the scene. Now what is tragic is when we see this truth we see friends that see this truth and that they choose to walk away from it's one thing to treat Christianity like this philosophical type argument but when you look at the facts the facts at this movement emerged out of nothing from first century Palestine and for someone to say even if they're a Christian I believe that Jesus rose and he's a son of God and he died on the cross and he paid for my sins but I just want to don't my own way anyway that's terribly sad. It's like saying yeah I know the way the new castle is north but I know I'm south like it's it's not only just sort of being being lost it's it's being silly and being lost it's to refute the fact so look if you're in the final few weeks of your life what would you what would you put down panda paper in terms of the things that really matter and Paul one of the greatest theologians have ever seen Paul the author of the almighty book of Romans Paul the author of Galatians Paul the author half of the New Testament there's no time now for discussion around theology and doctrine he just says simply Timothy preach the word reality God's truth reality he's broken it not just because I'm empowering you to go and do so not just because tag you're it it's because to be a Christian is to receive the good news that you're a part of a story outside of this system outside of the ups and downs and the tragedies of life there is something better I want to share it group on Spreets kudos like we have we have no issue sharing with our friends when we see that there's a pretty good deal going on right we got no issue with with five of them look check this deal out and and and sending them off but when it comes to the gospel when it comes to the word of God or why why why why should why should we preach that's the question that we have to ask within ourselves Paul wants us to lift up the word of God and magnify the gospel and the glory of what it accomplishes that that it saves us and it makes us holy and safe for all of eternity and so therefore in verse one in verse one that's why he was getting out the in verse one he says in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead and here's where he says in view of in light of in light of his appearing and his kingdom I give you this charge preach the word and so therefore in light of this if you believe that if you believe that God spanned the universe in order to be in a relationship with you preach the word if you're the sort of person that believed that Jesus broke into humanity he was a real person preach the word if you believe that he didn't just break in here and have some good teachings but he died and he was raised again by the power of God preach the word tag you're it it's it's for everyone it's for everyone therefore in light of this we see that proclaimers first and foremost tonight they talk the talk proclaimers talk the talk they preach the word how verse two correct rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction how do we do that because I know how we we could be get in there flick through the Bible like this oh I know who that applies to jot it down oh yeah that that is them for sure and we want to go and grab the word of God and we want to beat people around the head about about it we want to buffet them around the head about it we want to say I know exactly who the word of God is talking to and you know in my own life I see the best way to correct them rebuke and encourage is to preach the gospel to yourself you preach the gospel to yourself you apply the gospel to yourself and you don't go looking for the text you know what God is saying for everyone else instead you go to the text saying what is God saying to me continue to preach it to yourself we're desperate for God to apply that to ourselves because you know I know my own life I don't dare assume just because I have this role here that I'm above the role of preaching we turn through it we preach it to ourselves first and so in that sense you need to let God buffet you with his word in your study before you think you can go off and start buffeting other people you need to get God to start hitting you with this stuff before you hit other people but also do we can courage and admonish and exhort us you need that to happen to yourself first before you go do that with other people that's the challenge and so therefore before we go the practice of preaching the gospel to the others we're going to preach it to ourselves that's that's the great challenge in all of this we are here as first and proclaim his second why because the gospel is always the most effective when there's proclamation but also demonstration when there's not only you're putting it out there but it's it's living lives that demonstrated that putting out the credibility but also living lives that demonstrate its plausibility this sort of stuff really works we preach it to ourselves now if that's how we do it when when do we preach the gospel and it's all the time he says preach it in season and out of season reminds me of a story of a Sunday school teacher there with a little kid playing a funny little game in which there's a box there and they had to describe an item that was inside the box in the kids church and the teacher said to all the kids well it's white and it's fluffy it's a little kid Timmy's looking a bit miffed it's got four legs and it lives on a farm still looking a bit surprised and it goes baha and it lives in New Zealand and his kid still looking looking a bit puzzled and the kid looks up and says well it sounds like a sheep but I know the answer is always Jesus you see we we must be ready in season out of season because in some respects because no matter the occasion the answer is always Jesus it's after the gospel is not just the ABC's of the Christian life remember it's the A to Z there's the solution to every problem that we find deep inside us I believe wholeheartedly is found in the gospel is the answer is always Jesus and here's how we think right sometimes we think that there are inappropriate times to be sharing Jesus around the water cooler in the middle of a board boardroom meeting now we've i i know stories of norciders that in a boardroom have worked out never met each other and suddenly discovered they're both going to the same church in the middle of a boardroom there is never the wrong time just to share your faith and so we think all of these inappropriate times but guys Paul is saying in view of this in light of the fact that God has broken in in light of the bigger story there is never an awkward time to share the mind-blowing reality that God is real and what Paul means is that where to speak the gospel not when it's convenient or inconvenient for the other people sorry is this a bad time now what he means is we're to share the gospel when it's not only convenient but inconvenient for us see there's nothing to which we'll be called for which the Bible is inappropriate be ready then that's we look we've got we've always got the opportunity to share our faith with others we've always got the opportunity and and and it should always try and take precedence over everything we do how much we get that bigger picture dictates how important we see this is an activity in our lives no it's not the only important activity in our lives but it's a question of what priority what we want to put on it it depends on what sort of attitude we have walking into the week as to whether we will look for every opportunity and advantage to preach the word now let's let's be real here do we why why why don't we well like Calvin says in his commentary the instant in season and out of season by these words he recommends not only constancy but likewise earnestness so as to overcome all hindrances and difficulties for being by nature exceedingly slothful we easily yield to the slightest opposition and sometimes we gladly seek apologies for our slothfulness well doesn't mince around with those words there does he i'm just a messenger by the way tonight i'm just delivering the mail yeah you see a bit but it's it's true he's like what he was saying he's by nature there and i know it's true of myself there's there's a fear in all of us there's an uncertainty or in all of us right there's a desire to be liked in all of us there's a desire to hear good things about ourselves in all of us there's a desire to advance our careers in all of us there's a desire to not be put down there's a desire not to have opposition you get what i'm saying you you guys are the ones that are in those positions more than i we we fear and so the idea here is to stand firm and to stand ready stand firm and to stand ready that is to do this sort of kind of preparation beforehand that that that should should should the opportunity arise and what they weren't then we're ready to do it what is what is it say what first p to 315 always be ready to give an answer to give a reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect doesn't it say exactly what Paul was saying in verse three this passage you know i've heard someone say you you ready and their response was i stay ready in order that i don't have to keep staying that way i don't have to keep getting that way the only way that you're always ready is if you're plumbing the depths of the scriptures constantly and consistently and contextually be prepared are you ready we need to be prepared with a gospel answer for everything and in that sense have you thought about the ways that the gospel applies to your life as you thought about the ways that the the word applies to your life it's something we'll always constantly do to plumb those depths of our lives talk the talk be ready in season and out of season to preach the word because there's no area of life that is inappropriate to share the word and there's no time of life that's inconvenient to share the word but claim is talk to talk to themselves first so they're ready in season air of season to share God's reality with others gently and carefully and not only talk the talk but claim is also walk the walk we look through this whole book chapters two and three Paul sets up all these dichotomies of people now people that are approved work and ready those that are disapproved those that are being obedient to the gospel those are walking away from the gospel those that are getting caught up in the ways of the world those that are living and pursuing righteousness and peace right we've been through this sets up this this balancing and every time he says but Timothy but as for you but as for you but as for you don't be like that and so now we hear that again he says in verse four others they're going to turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside the myths they're going to run aside the myths but as for you Timothy you will not do that you won't do that how how do you not do that verse five but keep your head in all situations endure hardship do the work of an evangelist discharge all the duties of your ministry you see Paul says to Timothy you you walk the talk by keeping your head about you by keeping your head on straight you proclaim the gospel to yourself over and over again and in case you missed it he says in the letter endure suffering in case you miss verse 12 of chapter three that in fact everyone who wants to live a godly life's going to be persecuted and then he says do the work of an evangelist call people to the gospel be a proclamer call call people to the gospel be a proclamer and then he says fulfill your ministry what does that look like i'm glad you asked verse seven i've fought the good fight i've finished the race i've kept the faith now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the law the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all those who have longed for his appearance verses 6 to 80 tells us you know what Paul's really saying there you saying when i'm lonely yes i know i'm going to be i'm going to be the man who's lonely without you and when i'm dreaming yes i know i'm going to dream i'm going to dream about the time when i'm with you and he says to Jesus Christ but i would walk five hundred miles and i would walk five hundred more just to be the man who walked one thousand miles to fall down at your door he probably walked a lot more than 500 miles paul when you see the the length of his missionary journeys he says to timothy and by implication to you and me tonight there are two groups of people in this world those who are going to drift off and those who are going to remain true those who are going to live lives in opposition of the gospel and the word of god and those that live true to it and he says i want you to endure and to proclaim and preserve and endure the suffering that it will inevitably follow just to watch god people and god bring these people into the right side of the camp and as you do watch yourself and watch these tendencies that if you leave unchecked they're going to pull you off path and when you get the least bit tired he says timothy and he says to us tonight i want i want you to remind yourself of something i want you to remind yourself of your old friend paul and when your days get dark you remember that while i sat in this dank dark existence waiting to be executed here's my mindset he says timothy i've done what i was called to do i fulfilled my ministry i've completed what i've been called to do and i'll continue to do what i've been called to do until i'm called to be in the arms of jesus christ i don't know would you wouldn't would you like a faith like that how can we be sure we're going to have a faith like that when we had 15, 19, 25, 35 years worth of age one thing's for sure that's why i love seeing all the members of the congregation because we can see that there are people that have fought a good fight that have endured through the race how did he have a faith like that he had hope you know steven covey calls it beginning with the end in mind and christians call it hope paul had hope in verse eight and how do you keep your head about you you hope you see hope we always know we've talked about this how you see your future affects how you live the present and because paul had a longing to see jesus christ because he says anyone that's a believer anyone that's a proclaimer has a hope that they're one that one they're going to see jesus christ then you can not only endure the pain that is coming your way but you can begin to live as a living sacrifice you can not not only endure suffering but find joy in the midst of the suffering we walk the talk when we keep our heads about us we walk the talk when we hope and so if it was part of a movie soundtrack tonight guys if we got to this end of second timothy we'd start cueing the music would be a nice sort of orchestral strings it would be in a minor key because it's it's a sad moment paul is paul is literally weeks maybe even days from his impending death and as that the time starts ticking away he desperately longs to see we see this wonderful humanity in paul he desperately longs to see his long lost son timothy again and he says hey timmy when you do come can you bring me a jacket and a book it's kind of lonely and dark in here and so it's reminiscent of of of of of that sennarmus i think of really luke skywalker and darth vader in star wars which luke has finally converted him to the good side from the dark side of the force and vader says luke let me look upon you with my own eyes and he says you were you were right about me look paul was the darth vader paul was a darth vader of of of of the new testament story the one that was persecuting the church in act chapter eight and he says you know what god was right about me there there there was that good in me by his grace i've been changed and timothy i long to just look upon your face once more and sadly we think that's never to be the case and so do a timid timmy a shy timmy a scared timmy and uncertain timothy with the weight of the world upon his shoulders he says no matter what you do i want you to ask yourself this question tim is it worth turning away he says i'm about to face a righteous judge who will award me with the crown of righteousness he says to him timothy what is what could possibly be worth turning away he says to us tonight what could possibly be worth turning away from this faith from that crown that is awaiting for us more respect more status fewer tough hits in life what's what's worth turning away in your life in your ministry this evening in light of all that paul has modeled to us here's what i want to ask you tonight is it is it is it bigger than a dead jesus because last time i checked if god could could raise my god could raise jesus from the dead then i think whatever you're facing in life at the moment whatever sort of hurdles you're going to face in life at the moment there's certainly not going to be as big as a dead jesus who was raised and brought to life again that's the sort of god that we await that is a sort of god that is intimately involved in their lives and so you want to talk about a faith journey you want to walk the faith journey that paul did guys don't just talk the talk walk the talk and do a hardship and suffering do the work of an evangelist preach the word he says to simply do ministry but feel what god is calling you to do you see to be a christian is to say when i come home yeah i know i'm going to be i'm going to be the one who comes back home to you and if i grow old well i know i'm going to be i'm going to be the one who's growing old with you but i would walk five hundred miles and i would walk five hundred more just to be the one who walked one thousand miles to fall down at your door every christian says that the jesus christ tonight every christian has that hope tonight every christian is spurred on by that vision and that directive in their life guys how are you leading a legacy because according to paul it's about protecting the gospel you're a torch bearer for gospel you're carrying the flame passing it down from generation to generation he calls us tonight to progress the gospel to pay it forward to be building our 3g networks to be to be leading a legacy to be having not just a one-dimensional faith he calls us to produce a character consistent with the gospel it's one thing to know the gospel but it's another thing to develop a character and to grow in the gospel he calls us to persevere in the gospel everyone who's living a godly life's going to be persecuted and his grime said suffering and there is sufferings inevitable but misery optional and tonight he says preach the word you are a proclaimer like those Scottish guys and so i'll ask you finally at the end of this series how do you view the christian life it was a question i asked at the very beginning how do you view the christian life is it just one or some one-dimensional spiritual journey where all you worried about is your own salvation your relationship with god through jesus christ will end with you is it a one-generational thing or will you pass it on see all of us is leading a legacy all of us whether we like it or not every day when we live our lives the relationships family and friends we're always making our name for ourselves and so i ask you that question tonight to what extent are you leading a legacy to preach the word tag you're in if you haven't played spiritual bull rush before by the way there is an opportunity to receive jesus christ there is an opportunity to step into the greatest adventure that you will ever experience in your life you do that through faith in him guys we're going to come to a time of ministry tonight we're at the end of a series i really want to encourage you tonight we normally save this spiel until we've done the communion talk i really want to encourage you tonight if god has spoken to you in some way throughout this series if god has has laid people on your heart that you want to get alongside of if if if god is is is calling you to greater things then please come back and receive prayer if you've got a burning desire in your heart to to be doing something that's worthwhile and and to make a name where it's not about you but it's about jesus christ and you you've seen your world turned upside down by his power and his grace come out for prayer tonight prayer here in this place is the ministry time in this place it's not just sort of something where we think it's for the people that have got issues okay guys it is prayer is not just praying for the work prayer is the work of god prayer is the power of god so for seeking the leader legacy in this place i believe wholeheartedly there are some people in this place tonight they have ministries that could explode around the world with the power of god in his grace the only way we can tap into that is through prayer the only way you can begin this spiritual bull rush is through prayer and by asking jesus christ into your life seriously consider it let's um pray in the meantime let's pray now heavenly father thank you for your word thank you that we have something to stand upon it's unshifting that's life-giving that's powerful father we ask now that you open up the opportunities in the doors for each and every one of us to share our faith and to proclaim this message this week as we walk out into our various worlds father god father we recognize tonight that this whole legacy stuff is just not a nice kitschy little concept father god it's been the very means by which we have received the faith it's a very means by which we are doing this right now doing church hearing the word worshiping youth through the music father god it's all because of those who have been the torchbearers passing this from one person to the other down the generations father we want to be a part of that story tonight we want this to be a significant moment for north side in that sense father god is a church father god we pray for ministries through our people here that it will explode beyond our wildest imagination father we pray for relationships that even in the smallest of the smaller could be a conversation over dinner tonight it could be a friendship that is made tonight may one day day in five years or ten years or 30 years be the defining moment for someone's life be the moment in which they've experienced or connected to god into god in a new way so in that sense father we hand this whole series over to you we hand this whole concept over to you and that we ask that you bring the the right people into our lives you make us aware of those around us that we can so into that we can seek to share this good news with and also look for those who can so into us father may this be a church that is constantly leading a legacy the legacy that is the gospel of Jesus Christ god breaking into humanity for that we love you thank you and we pray these things in Jesus name amen