Northside Church - Sydney
Leading A Legacy Week 2: Progress
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. One of our identities in the Gospel is that we are torchbearers for the Gospel, and tonight we'll discover from chapter 2 of 2 Timothy that we're not only to protect the Gospel, but to progress the Gospel. If you've got your Bibles with you in chapter 2, verse 2, I've been encouraging everyone to read through throughout the week, iPads, iPhones, whatever form of device you can get the Word of God in these days. Read through the whole letter. It's only a couple of chapters. Paul writing from a dark dingy jail cell is when you final letter, the final letter that we believe you wrote. Says as he continues to his beloved Timothy, "You then my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses in trust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." That is where to pay it forward. Where to pay it forward, that's a story of Christianity that it bought on a revolution. It is a revolution of paying it forward. Good deed into the lives of strangers. Not only did Christianity just change the lives of a few people in a project to change the world. It still changes the world. Guys, what's your role in that? Is it possible? Do you believe tonight that you could start that sort of revolution in the people's lives around you? This passage teaches us tonight that in progressing the Gospel, paying it forward, those that are leading a legacy, and that's been what we've been calling this series, those that are leading a legacy, we'll discover tonight from Paul that in leading a legacy, there's a person you oughta be, there's a task you oughta do, and there's a price that you oughta pay. First when we turn to chapter one of this passage, he says, "You then my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. If we're called to pay it forward, the question is why should we, hey we're young, we're generation why? Isn't that why we're called generation? Why? Why should I? Why should I pay it forward? Why should I do that? Paul's Bible tells me so, Paul is emphatic, he's forceful, he's deliberate, he is saying you, you, you, Timothy, he's saying in contrast to the preceding verses, remember where he said that all of those in Asia, now he's not talking about China and that sort of area, he's talking about the area of modern day Turkey, all those in Asia have deserted me, and he says no, but you, Timothy, that's the context, Paul's saying to Timothy, never mind what other people are thinking, never mind what other people are saying, never mind what other people are doing, but as for you my son be strong in grace, you see what we learned tonight is that those that lead a legacy, first of all the person got to be as a person strong in grace, now let me focus on that phrase for a second, strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, like why not some other word, why do you say be strong in your faith, be strong in your calling, be strong in your position, be strong in the ministry projects that you're doing, you know why, it's because this is not a call to grit one's teeth, as John Stott says, you may as well ask a snail to hurry up or a horse to fly or a timid Timmy to be miraculously brave, so then what does Paul mean by being strong in grace, you know what he's doing there, Paul is always doing this, he's preaching the gospel, he's preaching the gospel, it's like in verse 9 of chapter 1 that we read last week, but join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who's saved and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace, I'm always saying the gospel is not what would Jesus do but what has Jesus done, thanks Rob, I'm glad that someone's still getting it tonight, amen, what is Paul is preaching the gospel, and so in saying be strong in grace he's teaching us that, and it's what I love about it, the degree to which you will be successful in your ministry has nothing to do with your direct effort, I can't, in other words there's not a linear relationship between your input into ministry and the output of your ministry, now I'm not look don't get me wrong I'm not saying that there's not effort involved in input into your ministry, but if there is a linear relationship between input and output, I'm preaching to the signers here tonight, if there was a linear relationship then there would be no grace, because grace is the power and the activity of God working in our lives where we can't, that's the simple definition of grace, Paul is saying to Timothy, be strong in the areas of God's activity that you can't possibly do, doesn't that sound like what he was saying last week, they didn't give you a spirit of timidity but of what, of power, he's saying to be strong in grace, and so what it means and if God is the one who has done and is doing the work then, then it radically affects your why, it affects your motivation as to why you're doing this in the first place, and why you feel that you're leading a legacy will always impact how you're leading a legacy, because your legacy that you're leading is not some personal crusade for approval, it affects what that looks like, what do you mean, I don't know, haven't you ever experienced a sort of overzealous Christian that's sort of just trying to treat you like a project, someone comes up to you, let me introduce it to a good friend of mine, the Lord Jesus Christ, oh here we go again, I was chatting with a girl on Friday night, I was saying like that, he says you're not like all the other people that have had to chat the Christianity about, you just, you seem real, you're not trying to push it on me, why, why are some people like that when they're trying to push it on you, let me put it this way, I'll put it tonight that, that outside of the gospel you'll lead a legacy motor that voted either by superiority or fear, why, because outside of the gospel it's all up to you, if you're not strong in grace then it's all up to you, if you're not strong in grace then it's all your own works, and so if it's all up to me then the degree to which I'm functionally getting my worth out of my own performance here, to that degree I'm operating either out of a position of superiority or inferiority, what are you saying Sam, you see a person acting out of superiority thinks if they're paying it forward they're thinking from the position I know what's right and you ain't got a clue and so now I've got to tell you so in order, so you better get it right, I know something you don't, then the person who's acting out of inferiority thinks well I've got to pay it forward otherwise God's not going to love me, I've got to pay it forward, I've got to get, you see they're not getting the gospel, you see the person who is strong in grace on the other hand the person that gets the gospel has a whole new self image, a whole new motivation for why they're paying it forward in the first place, by getting the gospel that it's what God has done, what not what you're doing, then the person who's strong in grace says I'm not seeking approval from other people, I've got it from God, they're the sort of person that says I don't need to have power over other people because God's the one that's in control, I'm strong in grace, so if we're strong in grace then that gospel makes us neither self confident you know because if we see any success in our ministry we're not confident about it because if you're gospelised in that sense you're saying God's the one that's doing to work and the other way if things are going bad for you then you're not beating yourself up about it because you said well hey I'm approved and I'm accepted and I'm confident in my identity in Jesus Christ, you guys with me, you always operate out of a feeling of superiority or of fear and instead the gospel makes us simultaneously both bold and humble and the gospel creates this whole new self image for us, it hasn't worked, look listen to the way that it affected Paul himself in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 9 to 10, he says, "For I'm the least of the apostle," there's a bit of humility, least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, oh stop it Paul, because I persecuted the church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect, his grace to me was not without effect, no I worked harder than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God that was within me, see how it's grace working but there's still effort on Paul's behalf, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you've believed by that, I love that line, by the grace of God I am what I am and this is what I love and his grace to me was not without effect, that's what a Christian is, right? A Christian is not someone who adheres to a set of right beliefs or says I'm going to behave in a particular way or adopt some form of religiosity or a strict certain code they're going to live by, Christians are grace affected, Christians are the sort of people who say I've received his grace, I understand his grace and it was not without effect, that's how it worked in the life of Paul so being strong in grace affected why we pay it forward and the results were compared to share the gospel, we're compelled to share the gospel out of love and not guilt, whether sort of people are not ashamed of the gospel because we're free from the fear of insults from other people because we're strong in God's approval, there's a humility in our dealing with others because we know that we're saved by grace alone, we know that it's had nothing to do with what we've done ourselves, I love this one and we're hopeful about the hard cases because Paul's saying if God could have even saved me, the greatest persecutor of the church, surely he can save another hard case of that, we're always optimistic about the hard cases out there, the friend that we're praying for, the family member and that we're courteous and we're careful because we know that it's God's grace that opens up people's hearts, we don't have to coerce people into the kingdom, we have to push them in or come up with some sort of slick language if we're strong in grace. So now you tell me if you have ever encountered a Christian or if you did encounter a Christian who was compelled by love unashamed of Jesus, humble in temperament, hopeful for your eternal destiny regardless of your past, courteous and not coercive, you tell me, wouldn't you want to at least have a bit of a go at Christianity, come on bring it on, that's the sort of Christian I want to be but we're only ever going to get it if we get the gospel, we're only going to get it if we continue to preach the gospel, in other words to be effective in paying it forward, there is a person you to be and that is a person's strong in grace, are you with me, a person's strong in grace, it's so important to fix the why, strong in the knowledge that who's in control, strong in the knowledge of who's doing the real work and to be strong in grace is to have a whole new self image, it humbles me before everyone because I'm a sinner saved by grace but it emboldens me because I'm loved and I'm accepted by the only one that matters, that's what to be strong in grace. You see how you could just skip over that verse, I think Paul's just sort of waffling on to add a bit of extra meat to the letter, it's just amazing how God bought that, we're at verse one, awesome, we've got 13 to go, bring a slurpee. So people that are leading a legacy know that there's a person there to be, also they know that there's a task that they've got to do, that is in order to lead a legacy we need to pay it forward, verse two and the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust a reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others, here's the verse at the heart of this entire series, chapter two, verse two, write it down in the front of your journal, whatever you do, this is the verse at the heart of leading a legacy because we see here that we lead a legacy by paying it forward, in other words those who lead a legacy not only protect the gospel but they progress the gospel by paying it forward to other people, it's the voter phone principle. I bought a pocket Wi-Fi the other week and look I got sold on this thing, it's a little gadget that allows you to do the internet and it dials into the 3G network around the place, mobile broadband they call it and now my problem is the stupid thing keeps cutting out the entire time, I can't get on the internet long enough to do anything, let alone my online gaming in GT5, I need a reliable consistent 3G connection and what I'm trying to say here is Paul, Paul's, it's the voter phone principle, the transmission of the message is severely impacted by the presence and the quality of a 3G network, okay, now Paul's not talking about iPhones and all that, he was definitely a 3G thinker but see what Paul's doing here, he's creating a 3G network, a third generation network, listen to the way that he talks about it, Paul always talked about, he's saying here the transmission of the gospel, the transmission of the message, we're seeing from Paul through to Timothy, Timothy under other people, other people under other people, it's a 3G network, third generation network, 3G thinking, that's what's happening here with Paul and so what it says to us tonight, is that our task is not, you know, we get this a lot in church, our task is not just to share the gospel, but to actually equip other people who can share the gospel, you know and the amazing thing is, I remember one of the ministers of the couple of years ahead of me, Brooks Stewart down at King's Way said to me, "Sam, you've never done your ministry until you see someone that you've brought to Christ, bring someone else to Christ." That's 3G thinking, that's 3G thinking, the reliability of and the transmission is dependent on the 3G network, now notice this is not some shotgun approach to the principle that just go out there and just pick anyone, Paul has some specific qualities that he lays down here, some distinct qualities and so unlike the Vodafone network, first of all we see that a good 3G network has reliability, you see and I just realize that they're one of our clients, I hope they don't listen to this message, a person that you should be equipping should be reliable, they should be consistent, you don't get that unless you're doing life with them, remember last week that life has lived in proximity to one another, that's why we do groups, if you're a leader in the church, if you're a connection group leader, has a person got network reliability, that's the first thing, they can't keep cutting out all the time, the other one is ability, it's the capacity on the network, you get too much data on the network, it runs out of capacity and you can't get the message through, have they got the ability, now ability means that these people have the gifts and the skills necessary to do the job and now here's the important thing, I'm not saying that people in the church here don't have to be superstars because God doesn't call the qualified but He does qualify the called and so in that sense when Paul is saying fine people will hear with ability, just talking about people have the desire and the passion to want to follow Jesus Christ in a deeper way, are there those sorts of people in your groups this week, if you're a leader are you seeing those sorts of people around the place, network reliability, network ability capacity, my question is how's your 3G network, we've got a task here to do, to keep it reliable and able where to transmit the message accurately and without a mission down the generations, to make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples, just ask the youth team, they're sick of me saying that sort of stuff, chuckling at themselves, make disciples who make disciples, vote a phone principle, there's a task here to do, finally there's a price you are to pay, I love WWF, I particularly love when the ringmaster gets in the middle of the ring there, WWF, he says you know how it goes, let's get ready to rumble and you know that it's game on and then the rock comes out, you know, he's not in wrestling anymore and I'm sure there's sort of some allegory I could paint towards Jesus, being the rock and all that sort of stuff but here's the point I'm trying to make is people that lead a legacy are getting ready to rumble, they understand what they're up against, they understand they're getting in the ring, that's why Paul says in verse 3, "Endure hardship like a good soldier," what I love about the Bible, the Bible's got to be, this is, I keep saying it's not a fantasy story, the Bible has got to be one of the most real books in the world, the Bible Paul understood that the Christian life was not, it was not going to be an easy thing, instead of before the Christian life is not, you don't believe in Jesus in order to get some survivor immunity idle, there's going to be hardship and suffering in the Christian life and that was Paul's approach to suffering, the question is, is that our approach? Because remember, look at the issues that he had in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 7, we've talked on this before, he's been getting himself beaten up and shipwrecked and all sorts of things, he's getting himself so flogged and part of the reason he was having to defend his apostleship to the Corinthian churches, because they were saying, "Man, if this sort of stuff is going on with Paul, God can't possibly be with him," because it was a line of thinking and I could ask yourself tonight, I could ask you tonight, if you thought that sort of way, if you thought that way before, when you go into those seasons where one thing after another and after another goes wrong and life is going crazy and you're up against it and there's all sorts of hardships happening and you look at your life and you say this can't be right, you start saying to yourself, "There is no God," or he's mad at me about something because I'm paying for it, what I love about Paul's life and his example, remember he's writing this from a Roman prison cell with great confidence and hope, Paul's response to that, we've said it before, that he's saying that sufferings are not a denial of the gospel, they're a conformation of the gospel, verse 8 and 9, "This is my gospel for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal." Paul was suffering, not because he was just an ugly looking dude, Paul was suffering not just because he shot his mouth off about some particular political type issues, Paul was suffering because of the gospel and therefore suffering and hardship shouldn't be a surprise to the Christian and that was part of the problem of why he was writing this in the letter because he was dealing with false doctrine, we'll get into that in the later weeks, but the part of the false doctrine that was going around is people were over realizing the theology of Jesus' resurrection and so they were thinking, "Well, if Jesus has been raised from the dead and he's conquered the dead, then we shouldn't be having this hardship in life, we just got to claim Jesus' resurrection. The crazy thing, I don't want to be cheeky here, but you know, there is some of that sort of theology floating around the church today, that sort of theology that says, "Jesus has conquered sin and death and therefore there shouldn't be suffering in your life," and so many times again we see in Paul's life, but most of all he always points us back to Jesus' life, that that's what Jesus went through first and Jesus never went through and endured something that he didn't expect us to go through the same, but he says, "In this world you're going to have trouble, but cheer up, chin up, I've overcome the world." Suffering is an inevitable part of the Christian life, and the crazy thing, Paul says in Philippians 1 verse 29 to 30, he says, "For it's been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but to also suffer for Him." See what he's saying there? He's saying the Christian is granted both faith, faith in God, in Jesus' Christ, but they're also granted, "Here's another great gift for you, suffering, put two in one, two for the price of one." Awesome, fantastic. How does that work? Here, how it's thinking about it before, it's just a general life principle seat. Nothing that is worth while in life is ever easy. Would you agree with me on that? And that's why he encourages Timothy with three metaphors of being a soldier and an athlete and a hard working farmer in verses three through to seven as the soldier. He says, "Endure hardship with us." I like the fact that you're not doing this alone, with us as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He's saying the aim of the Christian life is one that's leading a legacy is to please your commander. I was chatting to a friend at the marriage course this week and he's thinking about this whole imagery of being a soldier for Christ and about someone who doesn't get that. And bullets are flying, you've been nicked by a bullet and you're suddenly getting upset because you're copying a bit of pain. And the brother next to him says, "Mate, you're in the middle of a wall." Of course, there's going to be some scuffs and some scuffed marks. Paul's saying you're a soldier, don't focus on your duty, don't get caught up in your civilian affairs. And then he goes on to say that also it's like an athlete. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete, they don't receive the victor's crown unless they compete according to the rules. Remember Sally McClellan? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. She, I came second in the hurdles and she was just, it was amazing. Stuck on, my God, I can't believe this. You know, but see, what I like about Sally McClellan, when the gun went off, she didn't sort of run out to the side of the track and then just belt the hundred meters down, down, down the side of the track. No, she went over every single one of the hurdles she watched. She competed according to the rules. It's part of where the joy and the glory is. What he's saying is that we are to compete according to the rules as well. He uses the same metaphor in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 25. He's saying run in such a way as to get the prize. In order, what he's saying is discipline yourself in order to play by God's rules. You don't score that way. It's like my little bro. The first rugby match I ever took to him. He got the ball. He took off. He run to the other end of the field. No one could catch him. He dived straight across the tri-line and we're all cheering for him. But no one else was sort of cheering because we scored on the wrong tri-line. He's only six. We've got to give him a bit of a break. But he wasn't playing by the rules. There was no victory. Now here's the important thing. Look, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying be legalistic. You see, the funny thing is we've learned this in the Galatian series, Christian freedom is not the absence of rules. We are freed from the law for the law. And there's nothing more attractive to see a Christian living a godly life and living a disciplined life. Not because they have to, but because they want to live by the rules as an athlete. And then he says a hard-working farmer, verse six, a hard-working farmer should be the first to receive the share of the crops. Love the Greek word hard-working literally means someone who is tiring. There's hard work, there's blood and there's guts and there's sweat. It's funny because I remember seeing over in the States, one of those novelty stores, you could buy these gym shirts with the sweat painted onto the front of them. And so you could sort of walk around. I guess you'd smell pretty good, wouldn't you? But you could walk around with these funny t-shirts. And I think they were trying to bend and buck the system of that saying that says sweat is one thing that money can't buy. And that's true of the Christian life. It's true in spiritual growth. You've got to do the harder. You can't go wearing a spiritual sweatshirt around on the outside. Maybe some of us try to do the Christian thing. It takes hard work. What I'm trying to say is no soldier, no athlete, no farmer expects, results without labor or suffering. Isn't that what Paul is trying to say to us tonight? They don't expect to get that without labor or suffering, nor should the Christian, the Christian life involves focus as a soldier, discipline as an athlete. Hard work as a farmer. In other words, to lead a legacy, there's a person you've got to be strung in grace. There's a task you've got to do, pay it forward. But also there's a price you're going to have to pay. And Jesus himself was as real as anyone on this issue. Luke 14, remember what he says, paraphrasing his story. He says, "Suppose someone wants to build a tower. Don't you think they're going to sit down and work out what the cost is before they go and build the thing?" He says, "Suppose you're a king about to send your army into battle. Don't you think the king's going to sit down and work out whether he's got the force that's big enough to overcome the other?" And of course, it's that passage where he says, "If anyone wants to follow me, they must deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow me." Jesus got this principle. There's two ways to look at that passage. We see we can always focus on the cost of discipleship. Look at the price that I'm going to have to pay. But let me put it to you tonight. What about the cost of non-discipleship? Many of us are lucky enough to drive a car in this place. I'm sure when you go to go and buy a new car, yeah, there's a cost associated with it. But you're not obsessed with saying how much is this thing going to cost me? How much is? Because there's a cost associated with buying the car, but there's also a cost associated with not buying the car. Public transport. You see, it's not so much the cost of discipleship, but it's the cost of non-discipleship. And part of what the way the Bible is so real is that there is a cost and not following Jesus Christ. There is a cost whether you realize it or not. There is an opportunity cost. An opportunity cost, we don't get the opportunity for the joy and the love and the satisfaction and the privilege that it is to serve God in that way. The Christian life has its challenges, but it shouldn't surprise us. How ready are you to rumble? How ready are you to rumble? Well, I'm thinking maybe next week, we'll, I'll just do that during announcements. Let's get ready to rumble. We'll know what our identity is. There's a price that we're going to pay here with me. Guys, leading a legacy means there's a person where to be strong in grace. There's a task where to do to pay it for. There's a price where to pay. That's a cost of discipleship. Where do we start? Verse 8. I love the way that Paul says. Remember how I said the word remember? You could do a whole study of this book of 2 Timothy, just around the words remember. And Paul says, verse 8, remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel. He's preaching the gospel again. Lots of different ways that he does it. Why? Well, one commentator wrote in the order of nature. We cannot render benefits to those from whom we've received them or only seldom. But the benefit we receive, we must render again line for line deed for deed sent for sent to somebody. You know what I'm saying? We're going to pay it forward. We're going to pay it forward because we can't pay it back. And the Christian is the person that realizes that Jesus Christ at the cross has rendered us benefits, that we can't possibly pay back. Eternal life, freedom from sin and from guilt and anxiety, relationship with the Father. What price would you put on just one of those benefits? I know we sing from time to time, I never knew how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. Oh, we sing it. I'll never know. But I'll put it to you that Paul had a bit of an inkling. He got grace affected because he had an inkling of what it costs to receive those benefits. And as Martin-Lord Jones says, unless we begin to understand what that cost is, we'll never know when we meet Jesus whether to shake his hand or to fall at his feet. There was a price, there was a cost, there was a benefit rendered at the cross. And when we understand that we can't possibly pay it back, Jesus has only asked of you tonight is to pay it forward. Pay it forward to strangers. Pay it forward to people that are living under condemnation. Pay it forward to people that are living with hopelessness. Pay it forward to people who have been racked with guilt. Pay it forward to people that can't find forgiveness. Pay it forward. That was his message from his outstretched arms on the cross. And until your heart is melted by the benefits Jesus rendered for you, you won't do it. Why would you? It'd be another part of Generation Y. The truth is a small number of people can change the world this evening. If they're just willing to live life, the way that Jesus did, making disciples who made disciples who made disciples. Torchbearers for the gospel are called not only to protect it, but to pay it forward. Why? Because you received the benefit that you can't pay back. Pay it forward. And do that as a person, strong in grace. People that lead a legacy know that they've got a task to do. Identify people who are reliable. Identify people who are able. People that lead a legacy are building a 3G network. And finally, people that are leading a legacy are getting ready to rumble. Money can't buy sweat. There's going to be tough times for us all guys. That's the real message of the gospel tonight. And any other voice that tells you that is trying to pull you offline. For Christians, we just don't protect the gospel. We pay it forward. That's his charge to you tonight. Will you live that? Will you breathe that? Will that become part of your identity this week? Will it be what you're seeking to do? People that you're seeking to identify. Change the world, not just as a project. But it's part of the most wonderful and amazing and revolutionary story that's ever hit the face of this planet. It's called Christianity. If you're not a part of that, there's a chance to be tonight. There's a chance if you tonight through his spirit, through some funny stirring within you. If you've never heard this message before, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior, if you're thinking, hey, I wouldn't mind some of those sorts of benefits. There's an opportunity for you to receive that tonight and be caught up in that alongside with us as you receive him in faith. Don't walk out of here without least considering it. Christians, yeah, we just don't protect it. We progress the gospel. We pay it forward. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, may we move out of here compelled for the right reasons, Lord. May we have hearts that are joyful, that are thankful for all the things that you have blessed us with. Lord, we pray for those tonight that still in the midst of this whole process are struggling through the knocks of lives. They're still struggling with the ups and downs and Lord tonight. We just commit them to you and just pray, Father, that they, like Paul, are strengthened and might be confident that even the messages as roughed up as they might be are declaring and transmitting a message that can never be changed and that we praise and we worship and we're strengthened by not just a historical Jesus but a living and a breathing Jesus that's with us here today and tonight, Father God. We just pray that his presence is just so evident in their lives. Father, may we step back tonight and realize that the sort of thing that's of the movies is entirely possible in this place. If we just seek to be strong in grace and to live life the way that Jesus Christ himself modeled to his disciples who modeled to their disciples. Father, help us this week to pay it forward. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.