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Hold On to the Grace of God
In this 2nd week of Pastor's Series, he uses 2 Timothy 1-2 to show the need to hold on to God through all of life's journey.
$6.00 — $12.00
There is something about the human spirit that makes the human spirit want to hold on. Have you ever thought about how many songs have talked about holding on? It doesn’t matter if it’s a country and western, a rock song, a religious song, some pop song, it talks about holding on. We’ve also always heard you better hold on to the one you love. When someone is dying, it’s hard to give them up, and we want to hold on even to the dying.
There’s something about us that wants to hold on to our youthfulness as long as we possibly can. The power of memories, we want to hold on to our memories. It’s amazing as you age the more you reflect upon the way things once were in life.
We also talk about holding on to our happiness. Oh I tell you what, people today, if they are happy, we’ve all been there I trust at one point in our life, and it’s just like we wanted to push pause, and we wanted to give happiness a big old hug. Please don’t change! Nothing change! Leave it right here, right where we are.
And there’s some of us here today people have done wrong to us. We’ve walked through some pretty tough things, and the fire’s gotten hot. And if we’re not careful, we’ll hold on to something like a grudge. There’s something about the human spirit that wants to hold on with a grudge. But we need to be set free from that. That is never the will of God, and we need to learn the power of letting go.
Holding on. When we face difficult times, we need to hold on like never before. In fact, you know that’s why I’m really talking about what I’m talking about in these weeks. The Top 10 Ways To Make It Through Difficult Times. And this morning what I want to talk about is what it means to, “Hold On To The Grace of God.”
Do you realize God has given you something in your life that you can, and you should hold on to? What you must hold on to is the grace of God. In a moment I’m going to ask you to look with me to a passage of scripture out of 2 Timothy chapter 1, and I’m going to begin talking about it in verse 13, and I’m going to go all the way through chapter 2, verse 13 here in a few moments. But do you realize today that when you face difficult times, you can lose what I call your spiritual equilibrium? There’s something that where you feel like you, you don’t understand where reality is, and it’s almost like reality’s been displaced, and man, you’re just trying to make it through, but, but something’s not right. Tough times can do that because the wind can blow, the fire can get hot, the rain and the storms can come.
Andy Wilson told me this morning there was a storm at 11 o’clock last night, did it wake you up Pastor? Nope. Great word, because you know there’s some storms in life you know you’re in, and there’s some, you’re in and you don’t even know. But you know what that spiritual equilibrium, if we’re not careful when we lose it, we will develop what I call spiritual vertigo.
Have you ever had vertigo? I had vertigo after Sunday night church one night. I think it’s probably because I want to Sunday night church, I don’t really know. But I had spiritual vertigo. No, I had real vertigo. I tell you what I never had it since, and I hope I never have it again. It didn’t last very long, but I’m telling you all of a sudden it hit me. And I mean all of a sudden I lost total control, and I mean all I sensed was I’ve got to lay down. I’ve got to quit, and I mean it was like my life was just whirling like a ceiling fan, and everything became displaced. Nauseous began to control my stomach. Well you know what?
Spiritual vertigo happens in our lives many times in the midst of difficulties where we feel like we are on that ceiling fan, and that ceiling fan represents tough times, and difficult times, and not a whole lot of things going right, and I mean boy, we’re just in a whirlwind, and all of a sudden in a whirlwind we finally get off, we can’t even control ourselves. We don’t know what reality is.
Well, we’ve been there. But that’s why God has given us something to hold on to, and it’s called the grace of God. And today that’s what I want to talk to you about is holding on to the grace of God.
What are some things that we can hold on to in life? Paul talked about that to Timothy, remember? Times were tough, difficult was coming. Paul was about to beheaded. He was trying to entrust the faith to Timothy, and said, “Timothy I know it’s getting hot at there, and I realize the trials are there, the suffering is great, but Timothy, you’ve got to stay in the battle, and you’ve got to be faithful.” And he told Timothy some things, and these are the things I want to tell you today. What can you hold on to in difficult times?
1. Hold on to truth. Truth. You know truth is real unique in American life today? Truth is no longer truth because it’s truth, but truth begins to be truth by the means of our interpretation of the truth. Truth begins to be the way I see it, or my interpretation of it is…and therein is why you have a culture that is like the American culture.
But may I remind you that truth is truth, whether or not you believe it or not, or you see it or not. Truth is truth. And we need to understand that God wants us to hold on to truth. What is truth? Well verse 13 and 14 here in 2 Timothy chapter 1, look at it with me in the scripture.
It says, “May hold on…” excuse me, verse 13, “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith, and love that are in Christ Jesus. And guard through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you.” He calls us to hold on to the pattern.
The pattern is that of a word picture of an architect, and how an architect would know what he attempts to draw, but he always has an original drawing that he takes them back to again, and again, an original concept, if you may. And while this or that may change the original is this: Paul said, “I’ve given to you an original truth, and that truth that I’ve given to you in an original way came through the church that I formulated on the day of Pentecost, and the following days. And I entrusted to that church what is called in scripture as sound teaching.”
Now what is sound teaching? Let me tell you what sound teaching is. It is Holy Scripture. It’s truths. It’s principles. It’s doctrines. I do not always respond well when someone tells me, “Well you know it really doesn’t matter what we believe, doctrines not important.” I want to challenge you, don’t ever say that around me because I’m really, that kind of level of stupidity doesn’t do well with me. Because I want you to understand today, it does matter what you believe. And it does matter what doctrine is, and what truth is. And Paul did not call them to a nether world of nothingness, but he called them to be a part of the body of Christ, and of a Christian faith that was alive, and vital because of the sound teaching that existed, that he had given and he entrusted to the church. And he said that when you believe that sound teaching, and you operate your life by that sound teaching, two things occur: You’ll get confidence in your life, and you’ll be filled with love. That confidence comes because I know that truth is there, and when I believe truth I’m able to have confidence in my life.
But not only that, I have love. I have love for other people. I have love for Christ, and love for the Father, and I want to be all that God wants me to be in the middle of the battle. And when those things happen, the scripture says that God has given us the Holy Spirit who lives within our heart, to guard what God has entrusted to us, in verse 14. What has He entrusted to us? He’s entrusted to us Jesus Christ, His person, but He’s also entrusted to us the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. And that gospel that’s been entrusted to us, the Holy Spirit guards that gospel that changed our lives, that gospel that forgave us of our sin, and gave us the promise of heaven when we die. That gospel God has entrusted to us, and the Spirit of God never lets that gospel leave us at all.
Now here’s the challenge in life: When you face difficult times, you know what happens? Reality becomes displaced. It’s hard to know what real really is. It’s like having that vertigo experience, and you’re trying to find reality but then, you think if I could just fall into bed I could find it, but I still don’t find it even then until it changes.
You see, we live in a generation today where people are making up their truth, believing their own truth, parsing the truth, doing everything they can to make it to be what they are, but I want to challenge you today, you can be deceived. You can make yourself believe something that is not so. That’s deception. But what we must understand, we cannot get caught up to that, and what we can get caught up to is one thing, and that is believing this truth because the bottom line ladies and gentlemen is, when it’s all said and done, there’s only one source of ultimate truth, and it’s found in the Bible; it’s found in the person of Jesus Christ period. That’s where truth is. And everything else has got to line up with that truth, or it’s not truth! So hold on to truth.
When times are tough, the difficulties arise, you also have to:
2. Hold on to one another. I tell you there’s power in holding on to one another. Tremendous illustration given here in the scripture. Well let’s read it here to begin with. Look at verse 16 through 18. Chapter 1. “May the Lord grant mercy to the household…” Excuse me, let’s go back to verse number 15. I’m sorry, I’ve got a little problem with my contact but it is clearing up even as I speak by faith in Jesus’ name. “This you know, all those in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes,” are you there? “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome he diligently searched for me and found me, and may the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from the Lord on that day, and as you know how much he ministered at Ephesus.”
Now there is a good illustration, and a bad illustration of what it means to hold on
to one another. Now the illustrations are both good, but one is a positive result, and one is a negative result. That would be the better way to say it. Paul here talks about two guys: Phygelus and Hermogenes. These two guys were followers of the Lord. And they were following Paul, being mentored, being encouraged by the Apostle. But times got tough, difficulty had a, had arisen. And when Paul looked back, what he noticed was Phygelus and Hermogenes deserted him. That’s what the word means, they turned away from him, they left him in the midst of his need.
Paul talks about that, tells them here are two promising leaders, promising leaders that I had put my life in, promising leaders that I had mentored, promising leaders that I was counting on helping advance the gospel, and when times got tough, they fled. They didn’t want to have anything to do with it, any longer in their life. That’s a negative result.
But notice a positive illustration. He talks about a man named Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus. What a name. If you happen to be searching for a name for your child, you can consider the name of Onesiphorus. It’s a good name. It means, “prophet bearing.” It might be difficult to say, but it’s a good name with a great meaning. Because you see, Onesiphorus, he brought prophet to the people that he knew. And the way he brought prophet to them, notice what happened here, he brought refreshment to Paul. Phygelus and Hermogenes, they fled him. They left him. They deserted him, but not Onesiphorus; he came and he found Paul in the midst of chains, and he brought refreshment to his life.
So Paul taught us something here: when difficult times come, you’ve got to hold on to one another. I was meeting with an individual within the last 7 days, and this person made the very statement that you’ve heard a hundred times. Here it is: I tell you what, when times get tough, you really find out who your friends are. And that’s what he told me. And that’s exactly what happened to Paul. When times got tough, Hermogenes, and old Phygelus, they were out the door. Man, they deserted him. But not Onesiphorus. Nuh-uh. Thank God for the Onesiphorus’s of life who understand what loyal friendship is about, who bring refreshment to your soul in the midst of a barren time in your life.
You know I’ve been a pastor for almost 33 years. I’ve been involved with people as a leader all those years. And you know what? Along life’s way some of life’s greatest disappointments to Jeana and myself have been when people we loved, people we ministered too, people we hung out with, people that we mentored, people that we helped in all kinds of capacities, when the wind got tough in their life, or when the wind started blowing in the church, or the wind started blowing in the life of the pastor, they ran out the door. They deserted us at our time of greatest need. And you know we’re both human and that hurt a whole, whole lot and it still hurts. But I want to just declare to you today, there have been so many more Onesiphorus’s in our life, in our ministry that have come into us, and have literally sent us winds of refreshment when we wanted to quit, and when we wanted to walk away, and when we wanted to leave and start over again. I mean they have shown up and they have refreshed our souls! Came and found us, held on to us, and loved us in the midst of difficulty.
I want to tell you something today my friend, in these difficult times in which we live, this is not a time to let people go in your life; this is a time to hold on to your family, it’s a time to hold on to your church like never before. You had better hold on to friends that you’ve got that are real true friends like never before because I’m telling you when it gets tough, it gets hot, it gets difficult, it gets to where the wind’s blowing all the time and you just wishing you would have some level of retreat, a friend is someone who steps in your life when everybody else steps out. And I thank God today for loyal friends who can refresh me in the midst of my spiritual journey.
Paul said you’ve got to hold on to truth, and you’ve got to hold on to one another. But he also encouraged us to:
3. Hold on to what I’m calling today grace principles. Grace principles. Now what are those grace principles? Well before I get to the grace principles here, can I talk you briefly about grace and expand our understanding of grace? You know so many times we think that grace is simply God’s love that has been given to our lives in the midst of our sinfulness, and that’s what it is, but it’s more. Sometime we think that it’s God’s salvation that comes to us in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, but it’s so much more. You see we need to understand that grace is wide, and grace is deep, and it’s not simply our simple understanding many times. So grace is the blood of Christ that covers me from all sin, and it’s the promise of eternal life when I die one day, but let me tell you what else grace is: Grace is the power to live the Christian life. And that’s exactly what the Apostle was telling Timothy. God has given you grace. He has given you the power to live the Christian life. You’ve got to hold on. You’ve got to be strong in the grace of God.
And he gives to us several grace principles in this passage. The first grace principle is the grace principle of:
(1) Disciple-making. He talks about that in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 2. Notice what he says, “You therefore my child, be strong in the grace that it’s in Christ Jesus, and what you,” now look at verse 2, you talk about a profound verse. You see when you read the Bible fast you miss so much of what the Bible says. But notice the profoundness of this verse. “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will also, or who will be able to teach others also.” What in the world is they talking about? Verse 2 is talking about disciple-making!
What does all that mean Ronnie? I don’t understand. Well he talks about that grace, that grace strengthens me inwardly, and I become empowered by God’s grace, and what I do in that disciple-making process is, is that I’m investing in the lives of others. Paul gave us 4 generations in that one verse. You want to know what it’s like to be a Christian? Do you want to know what it means to be a Christian? Here it is. Paul put his life in Timothy. Timothy put his life in faithful men. Faithful men go and they put their lives in the lives of other people. 4 generations, disciple-making.
I want to tell you in the midst of difficulty, it’s great to me to reach the masses, but it’s also great to pour your life in the midst of other people. The older I get, the longer I’m in ministry, the more I enjoy hanging out with young pastors, and I pour my life, and I pour my ministry in those pastors. I love doing that! That energizes me! That’s a, that’s a passion for me! It turns me out. It gets me excited! It gives me life and refreshment. Why? Because you see, if it’s all about me, and who I can reach, I will live out my life even when I’m gone. And that’s not what God’s intention is. You see, one of those men, two of those men, ten of those men, 40 or 50 of those men, or however many there are across the world that I’ve spoken to, it’s just one, just one, but there will be many who will do more to advance the kingdom of God than I will ever do. And you know why that happens sometime? Because of the grace of disciple-making.
What does it mean to disciple? Invest your life in others. And you know what? That’s really what parenting is, isn’t it? And one of the greatest things you can do as a parent is poor your spiritual life in the life of your children. Disciple-making.
But also the grace principle of:
(2) Suffering. Suffering. He talks about that suffering. I want you to read it with me. He talks about it in verse 3 and verse 4. “Sharing suffering is a good soldier of Christ Jesus to please the recruiter. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of everyday life.” Now here’s what suffering is: suffering is rough treatment. That’s what it is. It’s living with affliction. It’s enduring in the midst of affliction. It’s hardship. And Paul said when you’re in the midst of difficulty; you cannot get yourself so entangled in the daily affairs of life that it trips you up! But you’ve got to keep your spiritual equilibrium. And here is what Paul gives us; he gives us in those 2 verses one super-sized dose of reality. Here is the dose of reality. Are you ready Christian friend? Here’s what he would say to you today, and he’s saying to us: life is tough, suffering is a part of life, deal with it. You’ll never escape it. Grow from it. Learn from it. A good soldier, and that’s what you’re to be, cannot get so caught up in the affairs of each one of those levels that come at you, but you cannot keep your focus, and you cannot keep your intentionality, and keep your eye on the prize before you.
The grace principle of suffering. Oh by the way, suffering is not your enemy. Suffering is really your best friend. We don’t like it. We don’t embrace it, but it’s in suffering that God uses to let the power of Christ live in, and through you.
Then he talks about the grace principle of:
(3) Integrity. He talks about that over in verse number 5. He says, “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Here he uses that word athletos for the athlete, and that athlete is such an important illustration here, what a great word picture because that athlete, he symbolizes, or she symbolizes determination. They symbolize commitment to succeed. But in the midst of that competition to deceive, to succeed, he tells you, you cannot be so competitive that you, that you don’t compete according to the rules because you might appear to be winning, but in reality, you’ve got to stay within the boundaries. Well, what do we call living within the boundaries? We call that integrity.
Integrity is doing what is right, even when no one else is doing it. Integrity is doing what is right even when no one else knows what you’re doing. Integrity is doing privately what you also do publicly. Integrity is what God knows about you and your reputation is what others think about you. I want to tell you when the wind starts blowing, and when the difficulties come, there is such a competition that exists in life, and business, that yes you want to compete, but you know the American way, you make up your own rules as you go. Unacceptable. You compete according to the rules. It’s integrity.
Integrity means you take the high road in everything. Integrity is more about God and who He is than it is about you, and who you are. Integrity is doing what’s best for others, and not always doing what’s best for you. Integrity is when you do well, and you do right. Let me ask you today, when difficult times come, are you operating with integrity?
Then he talks about the grace principle of:
(4) Harvest. The grace principle of harvest. He mentions that in verse 6 and verse 7. And he says, “It is the hard working farmer who aught to be the first to get a share of the crops.” That’s what you call harvest. Consider what I say because I’m telling you if you consider what I’m telling you Paul said, you’re going to have understanding everything. Therefore, this what I just said to you is so important, and if you miss it, you’re in trouble. And he talks about the grace principle of what we call harvest.
Now what’s the grace principle of harvest? Let me talk about that with you for a few moments here today. When he talks about that hard-working farmer, let me give you the literal translation of that. To labor to the point of exhaustion. That’s what a hard-working farmer would do. He would labor to the point of exhaustion. He would stay in it, in the grit, and he would work hard. And what he would do is he would keep his eye upon one thing while he’s out there plowing those fields, and planting that seed, and cultivating that ground living for the harvest. And he’s doing what it takes to live for the harvest. And he said if you don’t get this Timothy, you’re going to lose your equilibrium in the midst of difficult times. You’ve got to keep your eye on the prize, and the prize out here is the harvest. Oh listen carefully to me. I’ve got a word for all of you NWA businessmen, and businesswomen, are you ready to hear it? Here’s your word. Take it with you tomorrow as you go to work. Let it turn your week upside down. Right now in NWA for the vast majority of you, it is not what we would call a season of harvest. But it’s a season of planting, a season of cultivating, a season of adjusting to things that are going on that you’ve never been in before, or it’s been a long, long time. And in this time, it’s time you’ve got to keep your eye on the prize, and the prize is that you’ve got to work hard from morning to night, to the point of exhaustion. You’ve got to pay the price, but as you pay the price you can’t get caught up in what you don’t see today. No, you’re not going by what you, what your eyes don’t see today. No, you’re going one day if you’re faithful and you persevere, oh I’m telling you the harvest is going to come. And you’ve got to be faithful even before the harvest comes so the harvest can and will come.
Oh I tell you spiritually there’s a great principle there. Every born again believer, we’ve got to keep our eye on the prize of the harvest. We need to keep sowing the gospel all over NWA, America and the world. We need to keep cultivating the lives of people we have relationships with, and through ministries that we have relationships through with others. We need to do all we can, and there’s sometimes when you, it doesn’t seem like a lot’s happening, but we’ve got to be, we’ve got to be faithful because we’re working for the harvest! And the harvest will come! That if I will plant, and others will water along the way, God will give the increase, and we’ve got to be faithful.
Oh I tell you what there are a lot of you right now, you’re teaching preschoolers in our Bible Study ministry, or you’re ministering to children along the way in some of those Sunday mornings, or those Friday Night Outs, or whatever might be going on in this ministry, some of you are going out here, and you’re giving your life to students, and you’re trying to mentor students, and encourage students to be what they need to be. So many of you are Bible teachers along the way of our church, and you’re trying to help people, or adults are trying to help people walk with Christ. Some of you are involved in all kinds of ministries, whether it’s a greeter, or first impressions, we’ve got a choir, and we’ve got a band, and we’ve got all these people around here, you know what’s going to happen to all of us if we don’t keep our eye on the prize? We’ll get discouraged because the prize is when one soul walks down this aisle and gives their life to Jesus Christ. That’s the prize. The prize is when that little boy grows up, and he has his life transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. The prize, that’s what we’re going for. The prize is the harvest.
You see our choir, they’re all weary, they’ve been in 3 days for about several days. Our band, our cast, our crew, our technology people, but I want to tell you, all of that fades away when the prize of the harvest comes. It all changes. You see, singers if you, if your prize is when you have the microphone in your hand, and you get to sing a song, you need to quit the choir, you need to go out there and get your heart right with God because that’s not the prize. The prize is when men and women and boys and girls and families are transformed by the grace and the power of Jesus Christ. That’s the prize! And that’s the harvest! And that’s what we’re going for is that harvest! [APPLAUSE]
Finally we’ve got to understand this final grace principle, and it’s the grace principle of:
(5) Perseverance. The grace principle of perseverance. Look with me to God’s Word, “For this I suffer,” in verse 9, “to the point of being bound like a criminal,” that’s where he is right now in his life. He’s in prison. “But God’s message is not bound. They can chain me, but they will not chain the gospel. The gospel will keep living, and this is why I endure all things for the elect. We persevere so people can obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” And then he says, “This saying is trustworthy,” it’s like Paul is saying I’ve said a lot of things to you, but don’t miss this one. “For if we have died with Him,” meaning if you are going to be martyred even as I’m going to be martyred and beheaded Paul said, “the great news Timothy, you will also live with Jesus.”
If we endure, if we persevere, we will also reign with Jesus. If we deny Him, then He will deny us, meaning He will permanently deny us, and if we are faithless, He remains faithful. Not only faithful to us in the midst of difficulty, but He will remain faithful to us to judge us because He cannot decide, deny Himself that He is holy, and He will judge that which is not holy and right. We call that perseverance.
Hey listen, don’t quit when the wind starts blowing. Don’t quit when everybody tells you you should. You’ve got to persevere. You’ve got to endure. And the grace principle of perseverance is powerful in the life of the believer, and you cannot, you cannot let it go! But you’ve got to hold on to that faith, and that belief, and that confidence that only God can give you in your life.
I ask you this morning what are you holding on to? In your life what are you holding on to? Some of you are holding on to your wealth. You’re holding on to your stuff. You’re holding on to your assets, your assets might be a little bit, or they might be a whole lot. You’re holding on. Some of you are holding on to the lifestyle that got you where you are today. Some of you are holding on to sin. Holding on to all kinds of things. But I want to tell you today you’re holding on to the wrong things. You’ve got to hold on to the faith. You’ve got to hold on to one another. You will not make it without one another. Are you listening today? You’ve got to hold on to grace principles like disciple-making, and the harvest, and integrity, and perseverance, and suffering. You’ve got to hold on to those things!
I close with this today. I want you to imagine that you’re with me, and you’re on the side of a cliff. And your difficulties, and your circumstances have pushed to the edge of that cliff. Part of you, quite honestly will be somewhat relieved if you went over the cliff because then perhaps you would never face it again. But all of a sudden while you are on the edge of that cliff, things begin to get hot again, and things begin to difficult again, and you try to stand, but you slip, and when you slip, I’m telling you it’s bad because it’s a hundred yards below you, a 300 foot fall to your death, is what will happen to you. And you slip, and you go over the side of that cliff, but all of a sudden as you were going over the side of that cliff, you just grabbed, and so happens you grabbed something by the very essence of your fingertips. You are holding on, hoping that you will not fall to your death. And all of a sudden a hand shows up, and you don’t recognize this hand. Oh I tell you it’s not the hand of your job, it’s not the hand of your wealth, or your assets, or your poverty, it’s not the hand of your lifestyle, it’s not even the hand of a friend, but it’s the only hand that shows up when no other hand is really there in your life. You know what it is, don’t you? It’s the hand of God. And that hand of God reaches over, and it may even be through the hand of the church that reaches over and grabs you. And holds on to you. And begins to pull you up a little bit at a time until you’re safe again. I tell you what, when you’re about to go down, and you know you need rescuing, you know what you will do? With all of your might you will hold on with all you’ve got.
My friend today, there’s One in your life that is throwing a hand out to you. And you’d better grab it, and you had better hold on to it because the hand of this world, will never keep you, but will always let you go, but the hand of God, He will keep you, and He will never let you go.
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