A Vision for a Disciple?

good morning awesome good to see you guys I'm uh pretty sure I'm the oldest person in the room uh from the looks of things uh I had a uh Monumental birthday uh couple months ago I turned 40 again um but you know uh there there's something about these markers in your life as you get older and you just kind of do this is this where I thought I would be at this point is this what I thought my life would look like at this point now what I'll tell you is that the further along you get the more you realize you don't have much runway

left uh and if you're going to take off to be where you want to be you better get going because uh time is running out so the question I want to ask you this morning is just on a very basic level are you where you thought you would be at this point is life what you thought it would be like what what were you thinking what are you thinking what are you heading towards I want to give you this statement as kind of a guide for what we're going to talk about this morning Vision sets Direction and determines the course of action required to meet

the desired goal okay let me say that again Vision sets Direction and determines the course of action required to meet the desired goal in other words if you have a hope of getting where you want to be you have to know where you're going and how to get there right that was a question you can answer it okay we'll do a lot better this morning I know y'all don't talk back to Dwayne but you can talk back to me okay this morning we're going to look at a very famous well-known portion from second Timothy chapter 4 it's a verse that many of you may be

well acquainted with we're going to hone in on one verse and uh I'm going to ask repeat ly this this question what are you headed towards what are you becoming one of the greatest chys in my life and simultaneously greatest challenging is shepherding my two teenage Sons I have two boys they are 15 and 16y old and if you're trying to look at me and go hang on what happened we just got a late start um my youngest son was born when I was 50 so I regularly have somebody said oh I regularly have to tell people people these are my children not my grandchildren

don't make that mistake but uh man it's a it's a privilege and a joy to be a part of their growth and development and make an investment in their future but I'll be honest with you and tell you that it is absolutely the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life parenting is not for the faint of heart but at this point in their life at this stage in their development what I want more than anything else is to help them capture a vision for their lives I I want them to imagine what they could be what their life could be now those of

you who are holding little infants you're not quite there yet you'll you'll get there in the future you may have dreams but right now you're just trying to keep these little these little ties alive and uh produce some physical growth at some point you're going to start to think like what is this child going to become and how do I how do I help them head that direction those of you who uh well maybe have older children or not here here's what you know like generally speaking we cast vision for our kids often without realizing it so I got two teenagers I'm trying to convince

my oldest why he needs to work hard and do well at school okay so what's the classic American reason for doing well in high school well you do well in high school so you can get into a good college and you want to go to a good college so you can get a good job well you get a degree first and then you get the job and you want to get a good job because you want to make a lot of money and you want to make a lot of money so you have some security but you also want to make a lot of money

so you can have a lot of things see that that's the classic approach we give to motivating young men and women but y'all I while I want to give my some my kids something Grand end at which to aim as a follower of Jesus as a disciple of Christ I don't want to cast a vision for them that's dominated by accomplishment and acquisition I don't want them to work hard just to achieve and accumulate that there's got to be something more that we believe God has called us to as his children I want them to imagine what they can become in Christ so I tell

my boys frequently you're becoming a kind of man you're becoming a kind of man I said this just this week to my 16-year-old who is struggling in chemistry you're either becoming the kind of man who does his best or you becoming the kind of man that just does the bare minimum you're becoming the kind of man who presses into challenges and does hard things or you're becoming the kind of man who giv gives up and walks away when difficulty arises you're becoming the kind of man who gives and serves others or the kind of man who thinks only of himself and takes so I say

to him think about it think about what kind of man you want to be and do the things that will move you in that direction because you become what you do so let me ask you again ask you this morning what kind of disciple of Jesus are you becoming what what exactly is it that as a follower of Christ you're aiming for what's your vision for what you want to be what you want your life to be and are you actively moving that direction are you moving towards what you're aiming at what kind of disciple has God called you to be and are you doing

the things that are necessary to grow into that as Paul writes to Timothy this second letter to Timothy to instruct and encourage him Paul does so with a really deep awareness that the end of his own life is quickly approaching Paul knows his time is running out Paul knows he doesn't have a he doesn't have as much in the uh front as he does in in the back in the rear view so Paul starts in second Timothy chapter 4 verse one he says this 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 you see Paul's got this forward thinking he's got this end time end of life kind of vision then he goes on in verse six and he says for I'm already being poured out like a drink offering and the time for my departure is near and then towards the end in verse 18 he says the Lord will Rescue Me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his Heavenly Kingdom to him be glory forever and ever amen you see this like Paul is very aware that he's coming he's approaching the end of his life but

Paul's not despairing this doesn't make him sad this is not gloom and doom he's really eagerly anticipating what God has for him in eternity look at 2 Timothy 4:8 he says this now now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award me on that day and not only to me but to also who have longed for his appearance was Paul anticipating the glory that is in front of him Paul lived his life with his eyes on the prize this wasn't just Final Chapter mentality for him Paul didn't wait till he till I don't I'm not

a race car driver but I think when he we made that last last turn can you say that is that right you make the last turn into the home stretch is that what we call it y'all help me out here you're just looking at like let him flounder just let him flounder let him show his ignorance all right Paul Paul Paul ran the whole race this way he didn't just wait till the end this wasn't just his final chapter he told the Philippians in Philippians 314 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven word in Christ

Jesus Paul lived this way he knew where he was headed he had a Clear Vision of his purpose and so he pressed on to finish well I think Paul understood what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 90:12 so teach us to number our days a right that we might gain a heart of wisdom so let me ask you again what's your end game what's your end game what's the goal of your life in Christ I I venture to say that most of us who know and follow Jesus want at at the end of our life to hear him say what well done well done good and

faithful servant when we enter the Eternal presence of our savior I don't think there's a soul in the room who wants to hear well that was a waste but if you want to hear well done then you have to give yourself to to doing well so what I want to do this morning is to take the centerpiece of this last chapter of second Timothy 4 and try to give you a compelling vision for the kind of disciple that I Think Jesus called you and I to be and the kind that I think most of us want to be and and then I want to try

to help you think about how to order your life so that you're moving that direction all right you ready yes no maybe all right okay here we go 2 Timothy 4 verse 7 Paul said I fought the good fight I finished the race I've kept the faith I fought the good fight I finished the race I kept the faith these declarations capture Paul's vision of discipleship and he's able to say these things at the end of his life why because they've been the aspiration of his life since God captured him on the road to Damascus Paul finished well Paul Paul became what he aimed at

y'all I I I want to be able to say these things I want at the end of my life to be able to honestly say I fought the good fight I finished the race I kept the faith but if I'm going to do that then I have to aim that direction and work towards accomplishing that remember where we started Vision Vision Vision sets Direction and determines the course of action required to meet the desired goal listen if my vision at the end of my life is to say I I finished the I fought the good fight I finished the race I kept the faith then

I've got to let that those things be the driving force behind what I do and how I live so I think that these three statements give for us distinctives of a disciple of Jesus all right you ready here we go number one a disciple fights for Holiness Paul said I've fought the good fight in 2 Timothy 1:9 Paul writes to Timothy he says he saved us and called us to a holy life he urged Timothy in verse 22 flee the evil desires of Youth and pursue righteousness Faith love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart this was

Paul's personal ambition it was his vision for his own life and he expressed it in Philippians 1:20 he said I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed or embarrassed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death and so he would go on to encourage them in Philippians 1:27 whatever happens whatever happens conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel Paul was in the fight for Holiness if we're going to be able to say I fought the good fight then we're going to have to engage

in the fight for Holiness but let me make sure you understand what I'm talking about Holiness holiness simply means set apart it's the idea of being reserved for a purpose the Bible repeatedly tells us that we are a holy people and we're called to live holy lives because we belong to and serve a holy God I I'm reading Exodus I reading Leviticus right now which I will say honestly is one of the great challenges of U devotional time is to be you know encouraged and fed by reading all of the directives of Leviticus but the last few chapters have been remarkable to me because repeatedly

a after every instruction God says I'm the Lord I'm holy you be holy because I'm holy I make you holy you see God is deeply concerned about his own Holiness and about ours and so Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 6:19 do you not know that your bodies that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who's in you whom you have received from God you're not your own you were bought at a price therefore he says honor God with your bodies look at me this morning if you've placed your faith in Jesus and surrendered him surrendered yourself to him you don't belong to

yourself anymore you're not your own you've been bought at a price you belong to him and your life is his so you don't live to please yourself but you live to please him you've been set apart reserved for a holy purpose let me see if I can demonstrate this way all right so I won't say that I grew up poor I will say that the Geico commercials hit a little close to home sometimes because I grew up in a house where um butter containers and coolwhip containers were Tupperware okay my mother was very resourceful uh I'm going to say things that some of you are

going to have no idea like just can't believe anybody would do this I can remember my mother taking the aluminum foil off of something that she cooked wiping it off folding it up and using it again everything was used multiple times in my house so I've uh inherited some of that all right so I have two boys and uh they bathroom is generally speaking a disaster Zone and so you know um this right here is uh commonly known as a toothbrush okay but this particular toothbrush is used in our house to clean grout most specifically the grout around the base of their toilet this toothbrush

enclosed in a plastic bag is the toothbrush used to brush my teeth this toothbrush is set apart it is reserved for a holy purpose you notice that it is protected from touching this toothbrush this toothbrush will never enter my mouth this toothbrush better not ever be used used to clean the ground you are set apart you're reserved for a holy purpose your life your body should never be used for an Unholy purpose you're set apart you don't belong to yourself you belong to God there is a war the fight for Holiness is real and it matters that you and I engage in it personal Holiness

walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel is not something that just happens to you you just don't fall into giving yourself to Holy purposes reserving yourself for God what just happens listen to me is living according to the flesh what just happens is going along with what feels good but listen brothers and sisters if we're going to live a man in a manner that's worthy of the Gospel if we're not going to be put to shame then we're going to have to fight for Holiness we're going to have to engage in the battle in Ephesians 6 Paul urged the church to be ready for

battle he told them to put on the whole armor of God because they weren't just engaged in a battle ATT against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities listen to me we Face the very same battle you do know that right we're we're engaged in a spiritual battle and if we have a hope of standing against the onslaught of the enemy and resisting the pull of the World the Flesh and the devil then we're going to have to be ready to do battle when you enter a battle you need a weapon and you need to know how to use it listen to me only

a fool goes into a battle without a weapon or without an understanding of how to use the weapon in Ephesians 6 Paul talks about the weapons that we have at our disposal in verse 17 and 18 He says take up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and then he says and pray in the spirit on All Occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests I know I know that the battle that the fight is real Temptation abounds look at me just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm dead it doesn't mean that I'm not still attracted or drawn to the things

that my flesh tells me would be f filling and satisfying and beneficial to me I I still feel that some of you think because you're young that when you get to be old you won't be tempted anymore and I hate to shatter that illusion for you it doesn't go away I I always thought y'all I really honestly thought that growing in spiritual maturity would be growing Beyond Temptation I just pretty much thought there was going to be a point in my life where I was just going to be so holy that nothing being sinful would ever be attracted to me essentially what I thought was

I was going to grow listen I thought I was going to grow beyond my need for Grace I thought I was going to be so perfect that there wouldn't be anything left to confess do you know what I've realized that's an illusion I I don't grow beyond my need for Grace you know what happens what's happened to me as I've I've aged and as I've grown in my relationship to God I realize how deeply I need Grace I'm I am more aware of my need for Grace now than than I was when I began my journey with Jesus the fight's real y'all and you and

I have to engage in it Temptation abounds but listen First Corinthians 10:13 is true no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common demand and God is faithful he'll not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear but will with the Temptation provide a way of Escape so so that you can stand up under it you know why I memorize that verse cuz I wrestle with temptation and I need to have the sword of the spirit the word of God readily available to me when I feel like I'm being overcome by Temptation listen the way of escape the way to stand is

most often the word of God and prayer those my friends are your weapons so let me ask you just point blank this morning how how good are you at wielding the weapons of the word of God In Prayer H how well how well can you handle those weapons what does your engagement in the word of God and prayer look like are you daily engaged are you daily in the word are you reading it are you memorizing it are you studying it are you medit meditating on it are you devoted to prayer are you taking full advantage of the access that you've been given to the

throne of God that by the blood of Jesus are are you boldly approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and find Grace to help you in your time of need now those aren't those aren't theories they're realities for us they're our weapons and again I'm say to you a weapon doesn't do you any good if you don't know how to use it if you aren't proficient in it if you aren't making yourself available listen I said it earlier only a fool goes into a battle without a weapon and if you and I expect to fight the good fight then you'd better get in the

word and on your knees in prayer listen find a Bible reading plan join a Bible study commit to read through a book of the Bible with a friend and talk about it as you read just start somewhere to saturate your mind and your heart with the word of God my my dad was a pastor and uh I have two younger sisters um and I grew up thinking that where you read the Bible was in the bathroom because my mother's Bible was in the bathroom now as the parent of children here's what I understand why was the Bible in the bathroom because that was the only

place my mother could get away from everybody and have a little bit of time in the word of God listen to me listen to me we make so many excuses every time I preach about engagement in the word I have somebody who will say to me well you just don't understand I just don't have time I'm like I'm fine with that you make that excuse to me but when you make that excuse please bring your phone open to screen time and let's look at the the time you are able to engage in Instagram and Facebook and news apps and texting and email and then let's

talk about whether you have time to be in the word of God no no the problem is not that we have time the problem is that we have other priorities and I'm saying to you that if you want to be engaged in the fight for Holiness if you want to get to the end of your life and be able to say in good faith I fought the good fight I didn't give up I didn't give in then you're going to have to engage in the word of God and in prayer listen some of y'all struggle with this so here's what I'm going to say to

you write your prayers out sit down get out a little piece of paper and begin to write what you're asking God to do you want to grow in the way you learn to express your heart to God then write it down write it down say it out loud find somebody you know who prays and ask them to pray with you start somewhere listen kids learn to talk by Talking they learn to read by reading they learn to communicate and engage by communicating and engaging so I'm just saying to you start somewhere because these are your weapons the word of God and prayer God's given them

to you so you can fight for Holiness listen it matters and it's worth it all right number one a disciple fights for Holiness number two a disciple walks in obedience and fulfills his calling Paul said I finished the race I finished the race Paul had a race to run Paul had a calling on his life and that calling came with a great deal of adversity but his ambition his aspiration was to walk in faithful obedience to what God had called him to do even when he knew it would be hard acts 20:22 he says this and now compelled by the spirit I'm going to Jerusalem

not knowing what will happen to me there I only know y'all this just like drives me nuts I don't know how he said this I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardship are facing me I'd be like thank you for the warning see you later Paul says I know he warns me however I don't consider I consider my life worth nothing to me my only aim is to finish the race you hear it my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the good

news of God's grace Paul's Chief ambition was faithful obedience to God's call in his life that was his number one goal his first aim he knew that he had been created he knew that he had been saved by God's grace and that he was uh Ephesians 2:10 God's work workmanship God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for him to do and because he lived that way because that was his aim then Paul could say at the end of his life I finished the race y' I love this he didn't say I won the race he didn't say

I won the race he said I finished the race I stayed the course some days were harder than others but I didn't give up I didn't turn around and walk away I obeyed I did what God called me to do oh I say that just gives me chills because like I want to be able to say that I want to be able to say that Paul was not the first to be called to a difficult task listen y'all if you read the Bible with any awareness most of the people who walked with God will called to do hard things I don't know why that's so

hard for us we live in a culture that thinks if it's hard must not be my thing my wife and I had this conversation just uh a few weeks ago trying to make a decision about something that we're continuing to do and it's just hard it's hard for her in particular and I just said to her honey sometimes God we know we know from our own experience that sometimes God calls us to do hard things he just does and we're not the first listen Noah Noah called by God to build an arc for the Salvation of his family spent 600 years working on that Arc

and enduring the ridicule of men and women around him Abraham left everything he knew and loved to go to the place that God called him MO Moses had to square up and face pharaoh and lead a bunch of stubborn Israelites through the desert the prophets God's Messengers were often killed for delivering the message Mary the mother of Jesus endured scorn of those who thought she was promiscuous the disciples left everything to follow in G follow Jesus y'all it's the pattern of what happens when you surrender yourself to walk with God he asks you to do hard things but listen even these guys none of them

are the Supreme example of this kind of obedience to the call of God in John 12 facing the agony of the Cross and the cost of obedience Jesus says this now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father save me from this hour no no it was for this very reason that I came to this hour father glorify your name Jesus had a call on his life and thank God he walked in obedience to the father and fulfilled that call can I oh can I be honest with you this morning obedience is rarely easy it's rarely easy but it's always worth it look

at me Disobedience will never get you what you're looking for Disobedience will never get you what you're looking for there's no way that your ideas about your life are better than God's ideas for you can you imagine that you could dream a life for yourself that's better than the life God has dreamed for you listen what what's God calling you to do what's God calling you to do is he calling you to go overseas to engage in ministry here to volunteer in the life of the church to walk across the street and share the gospel with your neighbor to invest in needy and hurting people

all around you what's God called you to do what's in front of you just do it just do it work at it with all your heart as unto the Lord for the glory of God don't Grumble and complain just do it and stop comparing where God has placed you and what he's called you to do with everybody else this is the curse of our culture and social media I'm telling you we compare ourselves to the the picture that everybody else gives us of their life can I just tell you this you ought to be smart enough to know this but whatever they post on Instagram

and Facebook that's not what their life looks like I call it fake book because I have people in my life who post stuff and I'm like they post pictures of their kids and I'm like uh I've been around your kids they don't act like that they post what they had for dinner and I'm like I've been to your house a hundred times and you have never fed me anything that looks like that listen people post a curated version of their life and I'm saying to you stop comparing yourself to some idealized version of Life run your race stay in your lane do what God has

called you to do listen way too many of us want to switch lanes when the race is hard we want the downhill portion of everybody's race without any of the uphill climb right well we want the easy part of their life and the easy part of their life and the easy part of their life and the easy part of their life and the easy part of their life and none of the hard part listen no can I just tell you this nobody gets that nobody gets that everybody has difficulty everybody has struggle everybody has hardship and loss and pain and grief and just because you

don't see it doesn't mean it's not there stop coveting somebody else's blessings when you don't want their burdens too set your eyes on the prize on the things above not on Earthly things and press on like Paul did to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took took hold of you give yourself to obeying the call of God in your life all right a disciple fights for holiness a disciple walks in obedience and fulfills his calling and the third thing is this a disciple clings to the gospel Paul said I kept the faith I kept the faith I have kept the faith Paul did

not say I kept Faith the definite article here's a little English language for you the definite article the means that Paul is speaking of something specific not faith in general or trust in general what is the faith it's the gospel it's the gospel and I think there are two sides to this coin first Paul is saying that he has not wavered in his own belief in the gospel Paul has not ceased to be overwhelmed by his own salvation like he's trusting in clean to believing the gospel that Jesus took his place and offered life and forgiveness to him through his shed Blood on the cross

and his resurrection he's clinging to and counting on Jesus and nothing else back in second Timothy 1 verses 9 and 10 he said this I I quoted part of it to you earlier he said he saved us and called us to a holy life not because anything we have done but because of his own purpose and Grace this Grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time but it has now been revealed through the peering of our savior Christ Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel listen your father in Heaven wants you

and I to have a firm grasp on the gospel and hang on to it every day of Our Lives we must always remember that we're saved by faith in Jesus we're saved by his grace our Salvation has never been nor will it ever be on the basis of our good works you're not going to earn it you're not going to be good enough won't ever happen you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus all our righteousness is like filthy racks but God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God now

we got to cling to that we got to cling to that when we win and we do good and we got to cling to that when we fail miserably and fall into temptation and sin Jesus shed his blood and because the righteous one who knew no sin paid the penalty for our sin we we in him by faith in him become the righteousness of God and because we have an enemy who lies to us we have to be in the hab habit of preaching the gospel to ourselves yo I fight this fight I fight this fight there are days where I think I'm getting it

bro I'm tearing it up like I'm I'm the real deal I am knocking this out of the par I'm amazing and the spirit of God says really you think so you think I accept you on the basis of how good you think you're doing and y'all there are days where I am my soul is crushed by the re reality of my sinful heart that is so still so drawn to things that I know are an affront to the Holiness of Jesus and I'm like how could he love me look at me look at me y'all I know as well as you do the depth of

our own sin and the enemy will lie to us and he will try to convince us that there's no way God could love us and that's where you and I have to preach the gospel to ourselves for God so loved the world he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us y'all we have to repeat it we have to square up with a lie of the enemy and speak the truth of the gospel and remind ourselves to cling

to and hang on to the gospel listen on our best days on our worst days Christ Alone come what may Jesus has always been and always will be enough so Paul says I never let go of my grip on the gospel but the flip side of the coin is this he also said Paul also never ceased to hold out the go the hope of the Gospel to others 2 Timothy 1:1 he says and of this gospel I was appointed a Herald and an apostle and a teacher listen Paul knew that the good news news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus had to be

shared it wasn't just his only hope it was the only hope for everybody else I want you to listen to me we aren't just called to keep the faith for ourselves we're called to keep the faith and preserve the Integrity of the gospel for future Generations we have to pass it on we have to pass it on we have to do what Joel want 13 says tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their children and their children to the Next Generation y'all we don't just preach the gospel to ourselves we've got to preach it to each other and to the

generation becoming behind us I know sometimes it's hard for y'all that you have to miss being in here on Sunday morning so that you can go be with kids but let me just tell you something you haven't kept the gospel if you've just preserved it for yourself and you haven't passed it on some some of you need to give yourself to that because it's desperately important that those kids hear the gospel from other believing adults let me just tell you something as a parent at this stage in my life with teenagers you know what I've a little I've kind of lost my voice I mean

my kids don't listen to me anymore you know I've become increasingly ignorant I mean it's amazing I have a high school degree a college degree a graduate degree and almost 40 years of uh working as a pastor and I know basically nothing I I said to my um son my oldest I don't know several months ago I said you know it's really kind of embarrassing it's it's just a it's a shame that at 64 years of life I've not been able to acquire any more wisdom or knowledge than you've been able to amass in just 15 short years so because I don't have a voice

what do I need I need men and women that my son will listen to who will speak gospel truth to him listen some of Y some of y'all are past this age of holding babies you you need to go hold some babies you need to hold some babies so some people who hold babies all the time can come sit in here and listen to the sermon without having to think about a baby some of you who haven't yet had children need to go teach children so that when you do have children you will already realize you don't know what the heck you're doing and this

is a whole lot harder than it looks listen as a single man with no kids I knew everything about raising children and my children would never fill in the blank than I had children holy crap this is a lot harder than it looks listen y'all we have to testify to what we know to be true so future Generations can no and believe the gospel look at me you haven't kept the faith if you haven't passed it on you haven't preserved the faith if you haven't passed it on you haven't kept it if you haven't told somebody about it so I'm going to ask you this

morning who do you need to tell who do you need to tell who do you know doesn't know and believe the gospel and can you just for about 30 seconds think that just maybe the reason God put you in their life was so you could tell that not so you could pray for him to send somebody else so who is it who is it there's somebody in your life that doesn't know you feel inadequate you feel unprepared two things pray and prepare pray ask God to give you words Paul even asked Paul asked the the Ephesians at the end of his letter to them he

said hey Paul Paul who wrote half of the New Testament said hey would you pray for me so that whenever I share the gospel it'll be clear and plain I'm like if Paul needed me to pray for him then I'm pretty sure it works for me to pray to would you pray for me pray for me I got to share the gospel with this person would you pray for me pray and prepare figure it out you don't get to just go oh I would have done it but I don't know how go find out how Dwayne will tell you he will teach you somebody else

who's really good at it can prepare you don't get a pass just because you say I don't know how now I mean this is my kid right in chemistry he's not doing well in chemistry he goes it's just hard I'm like sorry study get a tutor find somebody who understands it I don't understand it I pass but I don't understand it you don't get a pass just because you say oh I don't know how figure it out you haven't kept the faith if you haven't passed it on y'all listen three distinctives of a disciple of Jesus a disciple fights for holiness disciple walks in obedience

and fulfills his calling and disciple clings to the gospel I tell you one more thing we close because I know right do you know what is amazing about this Paul didn't accomplish this on his own Paul did not accomplish this on his own Paul did not get to the end of his life and say I fought the good fight I finished the race I kept the fight I kept the faith because Paul's awesome and he it by himself Paul said those things at the end of his life because Paul was regularly engaged in relationships that moved him that direction did you know that Paul was

discipled by Barnabas Paul was discipled by Barnabas Paul the Apostle can you imagine getting to heaven and going yeah I discipled him I taught him everything he knows Paul was discipled by Barnabas he submitted himself to people who were further further down the road and poured into him I'm 65 I've been a pastor for 38 years I've been a believer in Jesus for way more than that and you know what I still need people who will speak truth into me and who are further down the road who can help me believe God for things I might not believe be able to believe God on you

need somebody to Mentor you but Paul Paul didn't just have a mentor Paul also mentored this letter that he writes to Timothy is to his son in the faith Paul was poured into by Barnabas Paul was pouring into Timothy until the very end of his life Paul didn't get you know Paul didn't do mentoring for a season and then go well I'm done I did my thing I'm out till the very end of his life he's pouring into the people behind him but Paul didn't just have somebody in front of him and somebody behind him Paul was surrounded by people who were helping him supporting

him him loving him praying for him look at me you need somebody in front of you somebody behind you and a whole bunch of people around you you need the body of Christ you need to be connected you need to be deeply invested you don't need to be in and out you don't need to be here one weekend and at the beach or the lake or wherever it is y'all all go in the middle of Indiana I don't know somewhere else listen being created ated and formed into the image of Jesus in Fellowship in the body of Christ is way more important than being recreated

every weekend you need each other you need people who know you on your good days and your bad days who can speak truth to you you you need people around you who aren't going to buy whatever it is you're telling them about how you're doing you need somebody who will look at you when you say oh yeah I'm fine and go really are you fine is everything fine what about this you need some people who see the not fine places who are close enough into you that they know when you're trying to pull a fast one anybody do that for you anybody can look at

your marriage the way you talk to each other the way you treat your children the way you spend your money and your time and say hey bro you might need to think about this can anybody do that for you y'all if we're going to get to the end of our lives and like Paul say I fought the good fight I fought for Holiness I finished the race I did what God called me to do I kept the faith I clung to the gospel and I passed it on then we're going to have to be deeply connected in the body of a Christ Christ in a

way that propels us that direction we got to do what we got to do but we need other people around us to help us so let me ask you this morning I've thrown out a lot of things a lot of things a lot of things what is it that the spirit of God is saying to you you need to do you can't take all the steps at one time what's your thing this morning is it the fight for Holiness is it obedience to the call of God is it clinging to and passing on the gospel what is it that you need to give yourself to

this morning and let's ask the spirit of God to help us be obedient to his call can we pray together God I'm thankful for your word Lord I'm thankful for the way it challenges and instructs me God I say to you in the presence of my brothers and sisters I really do with all my heart want to be able to get to the end of my life and say I fall a good fight I didn't give up I finished the race I ran hard I kept the faith clung to the gospel and pass it on God I want to be able to say those things

and I know my brothers and sisters do as well so God would you by your spirit today lead us to the very things we need to do the steps we need to take to make those statements a reality for us we reach we pray it together in Jesus name amen