Rev. David Holwick ZD 2 Timothy series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 12, 2010
2 Timothy 4:1-5
THE CHARGE
I. Deathbed words are remembered.
A. The key to "Citizen Kane."
1) One word makes the movie.
My family hates the black-and-white classics I watch on
Turner Classic Movies.
Their tastes run to "Saw XII" or Adam Sandler.
But "Citizen Kane" (1941) is on many best-movie lists.
The movie begins with the end.
The millionaire and would-be politician Kane is dying.
Before he breathes his last, he utters one word: "Rosebud."
The rest of the movie consists of two reporters seeking
out the meaning of the word.
Their interview people who knew him in every stage of life.
But they find no answer.
In the last scene, workers are shown in front of a mountain
of his possessions, throwing them into a blazing furnace.
One of them is a young boy's sled from days gone by.
On it is written the word: "Rosebud."
Apparently that simple toy meant more to him than all the
mansions and starlets and fame he had accumulated in
his long life.
2) Today's passage is Paul's "Rosebud."
a) He knows his life is reaching its end.
b) So he shares his most important thoughts with his
one he is passing his mission on to, Timothy.
c) It is almost as simple as "Rosebud" - "Preach the Word."
B. One thing matters in life.
1) We must accept the gospel.
2) We must pass it on.
a) What will your response be?
b) What will you have to show for your faith?
II. Our society is intrigued by questions of eternity.
A. Clint Eastwood's new movie.
Today, Clint Eastwood is premiering a new movie of his at the
Toronto Film Festival.
It will be released to theaters at the end of October.
The title is "Hereafter," and it deals with three people who
are searching for answers about the afterlife.
One loses a twin brother in a terrorist bombing, another is
drowned in the Indonesian tsunami but is mysteriously revived.
The third is a psychic who sees a lot of baloney in the
profession.
The film is unusual in that it focuses on what is spiritual
rather than supernatural.
But even though the film is a meditation on death and what comes
next, the characters quickly dismiss the world's major
religions.
This is not unusual for Hollywood films.
"People ask me what I believe," Eastwood says.
"I say, 'I don't know yet.' I'm not closed off to it.
There are points in my life when I thought I knew all the answers
and other times when I was sure I didn't know any of them.
Right now, well, I'm waiting to see.
Aren't we all?"
#62871
B. Maybe we can know now.
1) Paul opens the passage by bringing up the Judgment Day.
a) Actually, he is talking about the Rapture, when Jesus
comes to judge both the living and the dead.
b) Jesus will appear again, and his kingdom will be on
earth.
2) We can know what he will do with us.
a) The judgment will be based on what we did with Jesus.
1> Did we believe in him?
2> Did we follow his teachings and produce fruit?
b) We can't know everything about the afterlife until we
are there, but we can follow Jesus now.
c) Is this something you are certain of for yourself?
III. How we must get our message across.
A. Any time is a good time.
1) Be prepared, in season and out of season.
2) This means the key is not the lack of opportunity to reach
people, but our failure to know what to say.
3) Why not ask God to give you the words, and step out in
faith?
Pastor James Merritt shares the story of Robert Eaglen,
who was a deacon in a church in Colchester, England.
Eaglen woke up one Sunday morning in January.
The ground was blanketed with a foot of snow.
He started to turn over and go back to sleep, but he
thought to himself, "I'm one of the deacons in my church.
If the deacons don't go, who will go?"
He put on his boots, hat and coat and walked six miles to
church.
He was right.
Most of the members did stay home.
As a matter of fact, even the pastor didn't show up.
Only 13 people were at church -- 12 members and a
13-year-old boy he had never seen before.
Somebody said, "Why don't we just sing a little bit and
go home. We don't have a preacher."
But Robert Eaglen said, "It's foolish for us to come all
this way and not have a worship service."
"Who's going to preach?" they asked.
Impulsively, Robert said, "I'll preach."
He had never preached in his life.
He got up and did not know what he was going to say.
He didn't have a clue.
In his quiet time the day before, he had been reading in
Isaiah, so he turned to Isaiah 45:22 --
"Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth."
Later he recalled, "I preached maybe 12 minutes, and I must
have said 50 times 'Look to Jesus.'"
It was all he knew to say. "Look to Jesus."
He looked at that little 13-year-old boy and said, "Young
man, if you'll look to Jesus, you'll be saved."
And they had prayer and left.
That boy, years later, wrote these words: "I did look, and
then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness
rolled away.
At that moment I saw the sun, I accepted Christ into my
heart, and I was born again."
That 13-year-old boy was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the
greatest preacher in Victorian England.
Ten thousand would come to hear him preach, and if you
didn't come half an hour early, you didn't get a seat.
Robert Eaglen didn't get up that day and preach on how to
glow in the snow, or 3 ways to a positive attitude.
Thank God, he preached the Word.
We don't need to follow fads, fashions or flakes.
We need to keep the church anchored to the rock of the
Bible.
We need to believe it, obey it, defend it, share it and
preaching it until Jesus comes.
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B. Cover all the bases.
1) Correct.
a) This means to point out sins. People need to realize
they have failed to meet God's standards.
b) An example in the Bible is John the Baptist's correction
of King Herod for his loose approach to marriage.
2) Rebuke.
a) Don't just point out sin, but condemn it.
b) Churches have a reputation for doing this all the time,
but that's not really true.
c) We would rather be liked by everyone.
d) But if sin is a main issue, we do them no favors to
gloss it over.
3) Encourage.
a) Rebuke is not our final word for the world.
b) People don't need to be crushed, but lifted up.
1> The gospel is ultimately very positive.
2> We have GOOD news for people.
4) Patience and careful teaching.
a) Paul is following the pattern the Bible gives. 3:16
b) Giving the whole counsel of God is hard work!
IV. Not everyone wants the truth.
A. They will reject sound doctrine. 4:3
1) They want to evade things that make them feel guilty.
a) The human preference is always to find truth that
corresponds to what you WANT to believe.
2) The result can turn the gospel on its head.
Rev. Rodney Romney once gave this teaching on John 14:6 -
I want to call your attention to this statement from Jesus,
"I am the Way (Road), the Truth, and the Life;
no one comes to the Father except by me."
The common assumption by most Christians is that Jesus was
here making a defense of his own unique position in the
scheme of salvation.
He was saying that literally no one can come to God except
through him.
This may be good news to the Christian, but it is scant
comfort for the Jew, the Moslem, the Hindu, or anyone
else who does not accept the unique position of Jesus
Christ in relation to God.
Perhaps what Jesus meant was that no one can come to this
concept of God within you as your heavenly parent except
through the way of consciousness that he had shown.
Perhaps what he was really saying was this: 'You are your
own way to God.'
Only you can open your heart to God.
The road to God is found by carefully attending to the way
within, by attending to those moments when a new feeling
breaks through or a new idea emerges.
You have not lost your way.
You are your way.
Where was he a pastor?
The First Baptist Church of Seattle.
An American Baptist Church, like us.
#17197
3) Contrast Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle.
Mars Hill has around 6,000 in attendance, with a heavy
presence of people in their twenties.
A few years back the pastor began a 13-week sermon series
that focused on doctrine.
He wanted Christians (and non-Christians) to know the core
truth claims of Christianity.
Driscoll received several phone calls from pastors who lead
large churches asking if anyone was still coming out to
listen to the series.
They were. In droves.
Driscoll commented:
"So much preaching today is about seven steps to this, four
steps to that, 13 steps to this.
I'm totally fine if you want to have a great marriage (and)
improve your business.
"But at the end of the day, are people learning about who
Jesus is and what He's done?
Are we trying to give people principles without power,
meaning follow this example but don't live in
relationship with Him?"
#7168
B. Whose desire is more important to you - yours, or God's?
1) Truth is better than entertainment.
2) In a world that thinks our message is outdated and dusty,
Paul's advice still stands:
a) Keep a level head.
b) Keep at it when it is tough.
c) Keep spreading the good news.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 7168 “Preaching Doctrine,” Preaching Now newsletter, www.preaching.com ,
October 22, 2000.
#17197 “You Are Your Own Way To God?” by Danny & Ray Kolke, American
Baptist Evangelicals Connections , page 6, April 2002.
Rev. Rodney Romney, retired Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church,
Seattle, made the comments at the 1998 National Forum of the
Center for Progressive Christianity.
#36293 “The Simple Sermon - Look To Jesus,” by James Merritt, Preaching
Now newsletter, www.preaching.com , September 7, 2010.
#62871 “He's Waiting To See,” by Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times,
< http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-clint -
eastwood-20100909,0,7943805.story>, September 9, 2010.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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