This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

Well, good morning again. If you'll take your Bibles this morning, you'll be turning to the 16th chapter of the book of Acts. We'll begin there in just a moment. Acts 16.

When I came in this morning, I met several of you, I think probably for the first time, and I told you where I was from, and when I mentioned the word Alabama, some of you looked like, oh no. Well, I'm going to make you feel better. I'm an Arkansas fan, and y'all just beat us all the time, and I'm sick of it.

But, I've been told that not everybody here is an Aggies fan, but a lot of folks are. So, that's good. But I am not an Alabama fan. Matter of fact, I don't say Roll Tide unless I have to. See, I've already gotten an Amen. I figured it'd be from that. I've opened up a can of worms. I should have never brought it up, evidently.

It's good to be weed this morning. Good to do what I do. We do on a regular basis on the Lord's Day, and I have looked forward to coming and being with you. I, I, I want to this week try to offer some things that will be helpful, that will be encouraging, and that will be motivational. I, I will tell you that over the years, I think the most difficult thing for me as a preacher is to decide and determine what I want to talk about.

I, I spend more time thinking about what it is that I want to talk about sometimes than I do actually preparing what I want to say. I just, I think about it all the time and, and I don't exactly know why this, I don't know if, if the others of you who preach if, if that's something that you struggle with.

But once I have determined what I want to talk about, I, I can move on. But sometimes it's just hard to know what to say. But I do want to, over the course of these next few days, try to say some things that will be helpful and beneficial to you. And particularly as it relates. to young people. And not, not everything, that not every lesson will be directly involved with that, but hopefully every lesson will somehow affect that.

That's what I'm preparing to do, and I hope that that is certainly the case. So, look at Acts 16 with me. Let's begin in verse 1 by reading what Luke records there. Then he, referring to Paul, came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.

Let's And he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him, and he took him and circumcised him, because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily.

We're introduced to Timothy here in Acts 16 on Paul's second journey. Paul saw something in Timothy that was rare, and that may be quite the understatement to just simply say that it was rare, but he saw something in this younger man that he liked and that he wanted to be a closer part of. Timothy was a disciple.

His reputation among the brethren was such that he was well spoken of by the I think that Luke puts that in there for a specific reason. Iconium and Lister and Derby were cities that were in close proximity to each other, but they weren't exactly next door neighbors. But Timothy's reputation among all the Christians apparently was that he was the kind of person, he was the kind of young man that people would want to be around.

And he was literally a true disciple of Jesus Christ, to the point that Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. He had Timothy, the text says that he had Timothy, took him and circumcised him because of the Jews. Now, I'm just telling you, Timothy was not a young man. And for Timothy to consent to being circumcised is a matter of commitment to me.

It says something about Timothy, it says something about his faith, and it says something about the fact that he wanted to join Paul and do what Paul needed him and wanted him to do. So the relationship now, as you know, resulted in Paul considering Timothy a son of the faith. He, he, he understood. That's how close they were.

He understood what Timothy was going to do for the Lord's sake. And the text tells us in several places that Paul felt toward Timothy as he was his own son. Some of my greatest blessings are my mentors.

If you ask me who has meant more to you in terms of your faith than anybody else, other than my own parents and my in laws, both of whom are past, my parents are not, but other than my own parents and my in laws, probably the two men that have meant the most to me as a mentor are Harry Pickup Jr., whom Several of you know, you are familiar with that name, he has passed.

And then Bob Owen, who many of you probably know, he passed not but a few months ago. And both of those men have meant much to me. And as I think about my work, and as I think about my faith, and as I think about what I'm trying to do now in my life at 66 years old myself, I, I think about those men a lot and how much they have meant to me.

And I want to suggest that as I get older, You know, I used to go places and I was the young preacher. Now I go places and I'm the old preacher and that's life. That's what happens. And now at 66, as I said, I think it's my time to some degree to at least pay back what has been given to me. I, that's part of why I love the relationships with young people.

I spent over 30 years of my life working in an environment that was with young people and was with young people generally of pretty strong faith. And I, and I found that to be something very beneficial to me personally, and I, I, and I pray that it was something that was a benefit to those young people as well.

But I love to hear you talk about your young people here. Last night we were at the Brazos home. I was with the Langfords and the Thorntons and Harold. And as we finished dinner, we were sitting around talking. Jana's getting very worried right now, but I'm not going to talk about those questions, Jana.

But we talked about the young people here. And every one of those adults around that table talking about you, and I'm saying this for the benefit of you, those of you who are younger, they were very, very complimentary of the faith and of the kind of people you are as a young person. And that says a lot about you.

That speaks volumes about you. But as always, There are always concerns. It's like that, it's like that anywhere. If you were a part of the church family that I'm a part of back in Florence, Alabama at the College of the Church, if you were with us for any length of time, I think you would be impressed with our young people.

But you'd be concerned as well, because you know what they are up against. I want to go to this letter of Paul to Timothy, this last letter. So I'll have you, if you would, turn to the book of 2nd Timothy. I want to spend the majority of our, the rest of our time this morning in the book of 2nd Timothy. I want you to look at Paul's last letter to Timothy.

Tonight we're going to look at Peter's last letter and some things from Peter's last letter, but this morning I want us to look at Timothy's letter that was given to him by Paul and apparently it was his last letter. I want to read 28 selected verses this morning from the book of 2nd Timothy and I want to tell you why I'm going to read them.

Probably six or seven years ago, I was studying, I was teaching the book of 2 Timothy in a class, and I, and, and what I typically do, and what I would suggest anyone do when they're, when they're teaching a, a, a class about a book, a textual class, is read the document. And continue to read the document from beginning to end in one sitting.

Just, just reading the document is because that's the way these letters were intended to be read. They were letters. They were letters without numbers, they were letters without chapters, they were just simply letters. Just like you would write a letter. Those of you who are younger don't know what that is.

That's because you don't know what a stamp is or an envelope is. But anyway, that's beside the point. But the point is these were letters and they were written to either individuals or they were written to churches. And I believe, as I began to study that a few years ago, I began to listen to the language.

And I, and I began, as I, as I read that, something struck me, and I mean literally, not literally struck me, but figuratively struck me, as I was reading and I thought, this sounds like something different than what I've always thought, just in terms of the tone. Now what I want to do, and I'm telling you all this because I want to lead you, okay, I want to lead you into thinking the way I'm thinking, and I may be wrong, but I think there's some validity to what I want to say.

I'm going to, I'm going to read these selected verses. And here's what I want you to do. If, if you, if you, you can read along with me in your own Bible or you can just listen. Because I'm going to emphasize some words and some phrases. And as I do that, I want, I want you to see if you can sense a tone about what Paul is saying to Timothy in this final instruction to him.

So, listen to these verses. I, I, I'm going to tell you where they are. So, you can follow if you prefer, but if not, just listen. I'm beginning in chapter 1 in verse 3. Listen to what Paul says. I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears.

That I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and then your mother Eunice and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity and fear but a power of love and of a sound mind.

Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. Look at verse 13. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Chapter 2 and verse 1, You therefore, my son. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 3, You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Verse 7, Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Verse 15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Verse 22, flee youthful lust, pursue righteousness and faith and love and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart, but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, disputes knowing that they generate strife. Chapter 4 verse 1, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead.

That is, appearing in His kingdom, preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. Verse 5, but you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. And then verse 22, the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, grace be with you forever.

Amen. Now let me preface what I'm about to say by saying that I don't know what I'm about to say to be true about the tone. This is my sense. I believe that Paul stated something here, and I think he stated it the way he did because I think he sensed in Timothy maybe even he knew something about Timothy, that Timothy needed him to do what he did.

I wish I could have heard. And I wish I could have read Paul's mind when he penned this letter. I wish if I would have heard him say it directly to Timothy, I wish I could have heard how he would say it to Timothy as well. But tone is important, right?

You ever said something to your wife, and she said, I don't like the tone of that. Or vice versa, right? It's not what you say, it's how you said it. How many times have you heard that? It's not what you said, it's how you said that. It has to do with the tome many times. And I believe that Paul writes this letter at a time when Timothy, it seems to me, was a bit down, was a bit discouraged, was, was, he needed, as we're going to find out tonight, he needed to be stirred up a little bit.

And it happens with all of us. It happens to all of us. Listen, not every Sunday's the same for me. I will tell you, I look forward to worshipping with saints. I look forward to being a part of my church family. But I will tell you that not every Sunday is the same. Not every Sunday do I bounce out of bed and do I think about, Man, this is the greatest day that the Lord has given me because I'm going to assemble with the saints.

You're saying, I can't believe you're saying that. Well, Sometimes it just comes a little bit harder. Not every Sunday is I'm full of energy and excitement. Not every week I'm full of energy and excitement. Some Sundays are what I call duty Sundays. You ever have those duty Sundays? That's D U T Y, not D U D Y.

You ever have those duty Sundays where you do what you do, maybe not because you feel like it, but because it's the right thing to do. It's not just Sundays. There are some weeks like that, too. There are some times when I wake up on Sunday Believe it or not, and I don't want to preach. I just don't feel like it.

It's just, I just, it's just not, it's just not a part of my wherewithal on that particular Sunday. But I do because that's what it's my duty to do. They're rare, they're not many, but they do happen. And I think that Timothy probably as a younger evangelist, as a younger preacher, and it's not simply from an evangelist standpoint.

We all fall into this category sometimes. Where we're down and we're a little bit discouraged. And I think what Paul did to help Timothy, he would remind him of some things that he needed to do. And I think there is a particular place in 2 Timothy where he does just that. Look at chapter 3 and verse 14.

He would say, But you must continue in the things which you have learned. and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I think what these verses do is, I think it's Paul's way of saying to Timothy, I sense that you're a bit discouraged. I think that that, that what's what is in you and, and what, what I have helped give you is something that you need to be stirred a little bit about. I think that's what's saying to Timothy, he's saying to Timothy, and I think what Paul does is, is he reminds him of his past.

He reminds him of what happened in his childhood. Childhood. He reminds him of how he was raised. And if you remember, even from Acts 16, as we read a while ago, Timothy was not raised in an ideal home. Not spiritually. I don't, I'm confident that his dad loved him. The text simply tells us that his dad was a Greek.

His mother was a believer. She was a Jew. She was a believer. And apparently the grandmother as well. That's what 2 Timothy says. Timothy 1 would tell us, but Paul uses words here in chapter 3 like continue, and learned, and assured of, and I like to use the words considered, and convinced, and convicted. This is what every godly parent wants.

Every godly parent wants our children to be saved. To be people who would consider the same things we have considered. We have looked at what the Bible says. We have looked at it. We have considered it. We have thought about it.

And we have been convinced of some of the things that it says. And then our hearts and our minds are convicted to do what He wants us to do. That's what every godly parent wants. But that's not what every godly parent gets. We all want that,

but not all of us get it. What do we want for our kids? What do we want for our kids? I'll tell you what we want, besides peace, and besides spiritual peace, what we want is a strong, committed faith in our children. That's what we want.

Now, whenever that's said by anyone,

I will tell you that you always talk to people,

and the statement that I just made hurts them to the core. And I know I'm talking to some people like that. I know I'm talking to some people this morning whose children aren't what they ought to be. It's the nature of talking to people. I'm here to tell you, don't give up. Don't give up on that pursuit.

Don't give up on that pursuit. I was, I preached a lesson, made this point years ago in Jacksonville, Florida in a meeting. And about three weeks after I got home from the meeting, I got a letter in the mail.

The letter said something to this effect. Kenny, you may not remember me, but I I was at the meeting that you preached recently here in South Jacksonville church. And he said, I remember something you said about not giving up on your kids, and he said, I want to tell you what's happened to me. And in the letter he said, my son lives in Portland, Oregon.

My son was unfaithful, really abandoned what little faith that he had. And he said, I was determined to at least go talk to him and tell him that I was hoping he would reconsider. See, I want to tell you what I did. He said, I bought me a round trip ticket to Portland, Oregon. I hadn't seen my son in about six years, but he said, I bought me a ticket to Portland, Oregon.

He said, I called my daughter in law and asked her to make sure my son was going to be in town. She said he was. I didn't tell her why I was coming, but I said, I'm coming and I'm not staying, but I'm coming and I want to talk to him and then I'm coming home. And that's what he did. Hadn't seen his son in six years, but what he did was he went and flew back six hours after he landed.

So he said, I got there. This is what he wrote to me in the letter. He said, I got there and I knocked on the door. My daughter in law knew I was coming. She knew who was at the door. She told her husband, who was my son, why don't you check to see who it is at the door? The son opened the door. He was shocked to see his father standing there.

The dad said, may I come in? He said, sure. How long are you going to stay? He said, I'm leaving in about five hours.

He said, but I'm here to tell you something. He spent, he said, I spent the next couple of hours just telling my son, explaining to my son that I had made some mistakes, that I hadn't been the kind of person I needed to be. And I hadn't done for him what I should have done for him spiritually as he grew up.

And I was hoping that he would at least reconsider that and maybe commit to coming back to the Lord. And he said, I shared that with him and I hugged my son, I hugged my daughter in law and my grandkids. And he said, I got back on that plane and I was prayerful that that might change. He said, I got back home and about a week after I got back home, he said, I got a letter from my son saying that.

In his words, I'm going to go back to church. That was his way of saying, I've heard what you said, and I'm going to do what I can. Why do I tell you that? People can be reached with the gospel, my friend, regardless of circumstances, regardless of what happens in the past, people can be reached with the gospel.

But what Paul said to Timothy was, I want to remind you of what you've had. I want to remind you of what you've had. In that first chapter, second Timothy, Paul would say, I'm persuaded You Listen carefully. He said, I am persuaded that the faith that was in your grandmother and your mother, that genuine faith, I am persuaded, listen to the words, I am persuaded that that is in you as well.

What was in Timothy? I'll tell you what was in Timothy. The stories were in Timothy. Timothy, from a child, he knew the stories. That's how it starts. That's why the stories in your classrooms here, and in your young, your young kids classes here. That's why those are centered around the stories. The great stories of the Bible.

We talk about those stories. We teach them in our Bible classes. We teach them in our vacation Bible schools, because that's what we want our kids to understand. That's how it starts. And Timothy had been taught the who, he'd been taught the what, he'd been taught the where, he'd been taught the when, and as he got older, he was taught the why.

That's why the why becomes important. It's hard to teach the why because why has to do with concepts. The why has to do with them being able to think differently. It's conceptual. It's harder. It takes maturity to understand the whys. Timothy eventually would understand that, but from childhood, he had been taught the facts.

He had been taught the stories. But Paul reminded him, he said, There are things that you need to be assured of. There are things that you need to remember. He knew Jesus. He knew that Jesus lived. He knew that Jesus had died in Jerusalem in about 33 A. D. And no doubt knew that he had died by crucifixion.

But what he wanted Timothy to understand and to remember is why did Jesus die for you? To save you from your sins. Those stories began to take on new meaning because that was necessary. We want our kids. to understand the facts. We want them to tell the stories. One of the greatest thrills of my life is walking in to my, my, my son's home and my grandson, who's four year old telling me, coach, he calls me coach.

He says, coach, I want you to, I want to tell you a story about David and Goliath. And he couldn't believe that I actually stood two weeks ago in the Valley of Elah where David and Goliath had that short, quick battle. But for him to tell me the story or to tell me about Jonah. And that big fish in the ocean, or to tell me about the story of Jesus friend named Lazarus who was raised from the dead, all that becomes very important to me because I see in him the beginning of him understanding not just the who, what, where, and when, but him understanding the why, the why.

And I'll tell you what we want folks, we want our kids to ask why. I'm going to talk, I'm going to talk a little bit about that more probably tomorrow night. But I'm going to talk a little bit more about that, and I think it's important for us to think about why we want them to ask why. But the teaching needs to be done from childhood.

Let me, let me just say this.

If what you contribute to this local church on a regular basis is teaching the kids, in my judgment, you're the MVP.

And most of the time that's done by the women. I think that's mostly done by the women because they have, they have the ability. They have the patience, they have the skill, they have the knowledge, they have the ability. And I'm not suggesting that us men can't do it. But I've tried it, and it just doesn't work for me.

But my wife is a master. But I see the effort, and I see the time, and I see what she does and what she puts in, and how important that is to her. And I'm thankful that she does that. And so if you're a part of this church, and that's where you find yourself to be the greatest influence and the greatest help, More power to you and thank God for you because that's such a critical thing.

It is such a critical thing. Stay with it. But that information must be believed. And as they get older, there is convincing that must occur. It's not just considering that information. It's, it's, you've got to convince these minds, these young minds, of the importance of those things. You know, beginning in Acts 17.

In Acts 17, as Paul was, was traveling, as he was going in the synagogues, The text says on many occasions in those three chapters that he reasoned and persuaded, he demonstrated and he explained and he persuaded. All of these words have to do with not just stating the information, but with convincing people why this is so important.

And that's what we've got to do. It's not just we know the information. Young people, it's not just that you know the stories. The issue is what do those stories mean to you? Why am I even told those stories? Those are not just good bedtime stories. Those are not just good things to think about. Those things are important to you because they ought to mean something to you.

Not just you as a young person, but to all of us. Because they're important.

I'm aware of a 22 year old girl. And I would tell you that from my vantage point, everything in her life, and I don't know anything about her life, she's not my daughter,

but from my vantage point, everything in her life that's happened to her in her life for the past 22 years, Has been something that would just speak Christianity and faithfulness and faith all in her life. It just, in my mind, from my observation, that just ought to be a clear path to where she ought to be at 22 years old.

She ought to be a young lady who's obeyed the gospel, who understands what faith in Christ is about, and ought to be well on her way to continuing a life lived for Jesus Christ. She's had all the advantages,

but she's not convinced,

and I don't know why.

I've talked to her parents,

and they don't know why. And they're not trying to just brush it off. It, it, as you would expect, it concerns them daily. Why hasn't she? Her brother's a different story. He's obeyed the gospel, married, married a Christian girl. Again, from my vantage point, they, they seem to be spiritually minded, but yet his younger sister.

She questions everything.

Now, some of that, in, in, in what, in my time talking with her, I, I, I think some of that is just her way of saying, I'm just not interested. And I don't get that. But she's just not interested. And her parents have done well. But from my vantage point, she's either gotten around people who have really encouraged her and, and to, to become uninterested.

Or they've created such a mind in her that makes her question everything that she was raised to believe. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but she's not convinced. And as a result, she's certainly not convicted. And it is of great concern to her parents, as you might expect. Not just her parents, but her grandparents as well.

What do we want for our kids?

Turn over Colossians 2. I want to read two verses. Colossians 2, beginning in verse 6. This is not just what we want for our kids. This is what we want for everyone. Turn Colossians 2, beginning in verse 6, Paul says, And you therefore, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

If I had to summarize those two verses, here's what I'd, here's, here's the three words I'd use. Considering, convincing, and convicted.

Here is what he says, you have received Christ. You, you've gotten the information. You've received Christ. You, you have decided that's what you're going to do. You're walking in that. You're, you're living in that. You're dedicated to that. You're rooted and built up in Him. You're convinced. You are convicted.

You're established in the faith as you have been taught.

I'm going to talk about this again in some other lessons. I want to tell you something, young people. Because your daddy says it, doesn't make it right.

Or because your mama says it, doesn't make it right. And if the reason you're doing what you're doing is because your daddy said it or your mama said it, that's a problem. I'm not discounting your parents telling you and teaching you at all. Matter of fact, I'm thankful they are. But if the reason you're doing what you're doing is because they said it, that's a mistake.

What you've got to do is what Paul encouraged Timothy to do. I know your parents taught you. I know your mother and your grandmother taught you. I know you've been taught these things from your childhood. But what is it that you think about? When you consider those things, are you convinced about those things?

And are you convicted about those things? That's what we want for our children.

So when one of my three, who are all in their thirties, when they come to me and they said, Dad, I got a question. I'll welcome it. I welcome it.

And I pray that God will help me, as I help them, answer those questions.

But I want my kids to consider the Word. I want them to be convinced of the Word, and I want them to be convicted about the Word. And I know you do, too. And as hard as that may be, that's exactly what God wants, and He allows us, and He makes it so that our kids and all of us can be convicted about it. I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for those very things. Amen. And we're going to spend some time this week, as I said, talking about some of these concepts in a little bit more detail, looking at some things specifically that affect those things. So I hope that these lessons will be helpful to you. If

you're in this audience this morning

and you want the peace that passes understanding, the only way you're going to get that is to give yourself to Jesus Christ. I tell you that because that's what the Bible says. Only in Christ do we have the kind of peace that we want. And whether you're young or old this morning, that's what I preach because I believe that's what the Bible teaches.

We can help you in your obedience to the faith this morning. We would love to do that. There are a lot of people who will be praying for you and wanting to help you. And please know, if you have a need to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ this morning, we'd love to help you. You'll make it known by coming forward as we stand and as we sing.

Amen.