Save Teller Phone with airSlate SignNow

Save teller phone

well dear friends turn together with me in your bibles to second timothy chapter three second timothy chapter three freedom a word held sacred by americans nearly all americans certainly by christians and even by the founding fathers of this country but how will we secure how we keep and nurture freedom there is one good answer the once well-known lowell thomas news commentator says that the bible teaches the principles of freedom that indeed dictators fear the bible for good reason because the bible brought us the magna carta the bible brought us the declaration of independence indeed in 1813 james madison the founder and framer one of the five founders and framers of this country wrote to thomas jefferson and said that the general principles upon which our father secured independence were the general principles of christianity amen absolutely this bible contains within it the teachings of freedom and we so desperately need it in fact the original founders of america realized how important the bible is to freedom that in 1777 the continental congress voted to spend 7.3 billion dollars in today's money 7.3 billion dollars to purchase and distribute bibles throughout the country because again the bible is so essential for the teaching of freedom how will we keep freedom how will we nurture freedom by holding to the bible and our passage today shows us how we do that let's read it in second timothy chapter 3 we begin reading in verse 16 and we'll read through chapter 4 verse 8. let's read it together it says there all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is 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 charge you therefore before god and the lord jesus christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables but you be watchful in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry for i am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing my friend we are so blessed because we have the wisdom of life right here in these pages because the bible is total truth amen verse 16 says it all scripture is literally breathed by god in other words god said it and man wrote it and there is no other book in the book there is no other book in the world like it amen a christian and a muslim became friends at university and as they became friends their conversation as you might imagine turned towards religion and as the christian asked the muslim have you ever read the bible and he answered no the christian said well if you read some of the bible or even read it together if you like i'll read some of the quran this is a true story of course the muslim agreed they read scripture together and a few months later the muslim became a christian on the night in question on the night that it happened he burst into the room and he said i never had a chance and the christian said well what do you mean and he says well i've been reading the bible just like you asked me to and i just read where it says that the word of god is living and powerful and he said you knew all along that the bible is god's word and it is powerful and the quran is a book just like any other you knew all along i never had a chance amen god's word is powerful there is no other book like it every scripture one christian says has the presence and operation of god indissolubly associated with it and my friend never hold a lesser opinion because it is 100 percent god's perfect word amen now somebody might say oh well pastor can't it can't we just agree that well maybe all we really need is just to say that it's 99.9 percent god's perfect word and let's just leave you know 0.1 percent for the possible errors of man well dear friends if 99.9 is good enough then just know that if we accepted that standard in any other situation the irs would lose 20 or it would lose 2 million documents this year and you might be like well that's okay it's the irs but 20 000 checks will be wrongly deducted from the wrong bank accounts maybe even your own it just in the next hour and the hour after that and the hour after that 12 children will be given to the wrong parents each day and 20 000 prescription will be incorrectly fulfilled and dispensed over the next 12 months no my friend we need all we need 100 of scripture to be straight from god and christian never forget how wonderful it is that this is the bible because it is god's letter to you telling you that he cares and what you should care about that you don't have to wander you don't have to wonder about what life is about you don't have to wait to hear it on the nightly news thank god and you don't have to wait to see what the government says this is what life is about again praise the lord because we have it straight from here we're not waiting to hear what does the propaganda ministry have to say but what has god said and indeed look at all of its uses in verse 16. it says that the word of god is number one useful for teaching teaching about what is right and what to do number two it is useful for conviction conviction this is so important what do christians get convicted about only what they feel oh it's more than that we are convicted about the word of god because it is useful for conviction about what is wrong and what we ought to avoid but god not only wants you to be convicted about what is wrong but he wants you to know what is right and therefore it is useful for correction so that when we get things wrong when we're going off track the bible tells us this is right because ultimately it is useful for instruction in righteousness my friends this book is the perfect rule for faith and practice this bible and we don't need anything else in fact look at verse 17 if you followed this book perfectly you would be able to be a man who is complete and thoroughly equipped what does that mean it means you will be what many people are seeking to be in this world today a whole person who is able to do what is right you know our country used to look at this bible as its instruction for life and until we return to this as a people and as a country we will not be free we will not be prosperous and we will not be peaceful woodrow wilson 28th president of this country declared there are very many problems that the american people are facing today and many problems facing me as the president but i expect to find the solutions for those problems so long as i am faithful to the study of god's word amen that is what used to be the guiding light and star of america what god had to say and that means when we live our life like this that we have a job to do that's what paul says in chapter four verse one he says therefore based upon what scripture is i call upon you as though i stood in the courtroom of god and i put you to oath that you ought to preach the word to others my friend realize what that means is that christianity is not a private religion it is meant to be shared and declared with others that is the calling of every christian to preach your opinion to preach the party line oh never never amen but you are part of that holy kingdom whose mission has gone forth that his will may be done that his kingdom may come on earth as in heaven that is our christian duty to god for the sake of others and for the sake of our country because what will make a strong country in every aspect that makes a country strong military economy politically socially we'll all be strong the closer we follow the strong and powerful word of god that makes a strong country and there is no greater urgency which can be pressed upon us than that we must stand up for it our timeless teaching even in twisted times belay sunday billy sunday once said that a young preacher asked this question must i constrain all of my preaching only to the bible just like a shrimp might say must i constrain all of my roaming only to the atlantic ocean oh friend may we all be so constrained to such an ocean of love and instruction and encouragement as we find in this bible amen where we will never run out we must insist upon the bible that's what verse 2 says in chapter 4 that we must insist in the sense of we must be ready we must stand upon the bible and stand up for the bible and dear friend if you don't know jesus yet as your savior then i invite you into the absolute best relationship into the best life and into the highest calling of your life for in christ we are as scripture says ambassadors of the kingdom calling the world be reconciled to god through jesus and my friend we must be brave to proclaim it that's what paul says that we must be ready to preach whether it is in season in other words convenient or inconvenient a 19th century minister he was a preacher his name was peter cartwright and on one particular sunday he got up to preach and he was told shortly before that president andrew jackson is in attendance today so be careful about what you say he got up into the pulpit to preach and the first words he said were these i have been told that president andrew jackson is here today and that i must be guarded in my remarks well let me begin by being by saying the most careful thing that i can say that without jesus christ president andrew jackson is going to hell the congregation was stunned and everybody wondered how is the president going to respond well after the service was over president andrew jackson was taking peter cartwright's hand with vigor and saying sir if i had a regiment of men just like you i would be able to whip the world that is the kind of christian we need today and the bible tells us how we can be like that in verse 2 with three commands first that we must convince convince that means and the word means that our message is logical let anybody tell you that the christian religion is one full of mystery that we must simply just accept for when we take our understanding of doctrine and the bible straight from god's word it will be reasonable and we are meant to share it like that and in the world so often opposed to the word there will be opportunity for the second command and that is what we are to rebuke and that means that there will be a time when christians are called upon that we must tell others look this is wrong we may even have to tell others that look the way that you're going is wrong a young man knew in the ministry had his very first pulpit in other words his very first church that he was a pastor of and it was up in the mountains far away from the ocean and the very first time that he preached he got up and he preached against the evils of smoking you know smoking cigarettes of course that made all the tobacco farmers mad and angry and they let him know it so the second sunday he tried a different tack and he railed against the evils of drinking and that made all the people that drank angry and that made all the people that so drink angry as well well next sunday he tried again and he said that well he railed against the evils of gambling and of course that just made everybody who sold and went to horse races mad well he tried as hard as he could the next sunday and he waved his arms with authority as he declared against the evils of deep sea fishing outside the boundaries of international waters and everybody said amen preacher according to a recent barna survey only 16 percent of all men and women in america make their moral decisions based on what god's word says folks sometimes even christians want to think that they don't need somebody to tell somebody to show somebody to teach them and that's why it takes humility to be a truly great christian and my friend we can be encouraged that's the third command we can be encouraged because we can know the truth i mean we have every reason for joy and every reason to share but we are also given a way to share that we must share notice that at the end of verse 2 we must share with patience but patience does not mean compromise it means that sometimes it will be hard to teach about what the bible has to say but we must always insist on teaching the whole word of god because this is a book for all seasons because it has a salvation for all eternity that comes from jesus who is lord forever he has spoken it and we must declare it do the work of an evangelist paul says in verse 5 in other words be one who shares the truth for you look around today there will be people like paul says in verse 3 that the world won't want to put up with teaching that comes solidly from the word of god but that is so desperately what we need in our country today recently out in oregon there was a group of blm and antifa imagine that together uh blm and antifa they were outside rioting and destroying a a democratic national committee headquarters in the particular region that they were in this was just after biden was inaugurated and they said we don't want biden we want revenge and they further declared that we cannot be governed well my friend that may be true but they sure could get arrested amen i mean this is what we need in our country today but you know i don't doubt that perhaps they can't be governed for without this bible and if it's and its influence on our society we are worse off in the words of george washington it is impossible to govern the world rightly without god and the bible that is why we are where we are today because our nation has rejected christianity as its religion yes we need christianity to be the religion in america but there is another problem in our country today and that is that within christianity there are many who have abandoned teaching absolute truth for many christians today may sit in sunday school classrooms more akin to social gatherings where they read the word but they never come to a conclusion on the word that they have often taken up what is called the hegelian dialectic more often referred to as taking the devil's advocate where the question keeps spinning what do you think it means well what do you think it means well what do you think it means and there is never a solid conclusion given and even the teacher does not have an answer there is no fundamental thus says the word of god and why is it like that today because paul says that they what they really want is what they prefer that they have itching ears just looking for teachers who are saying what they want to hear in the first place rather than what god has said from the beginning and if you are in a church like that my dear friend then i ask you you must leave that church and go to a church that preaches the word of god that teaches the word of god with authority and with conviction that that is the faith that founded this country that is the faith that brought revival to america and that is the faith that will bring us back and my friend i press my heart to you upon this because a weak christianity with a get along theology will lead to a weak country and the destruction of our churches we must stand up and orderly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints we must insist only the word of god not pop psychology or pop theology it's uh it's high time those ideas were popped all together for otherwise it will lead as verse 4 says to an absolute abandonment of the faith the truth and that's what we have my friends we have the truth let us never abandon it let us pass it on and be faithful to the end that's the word of paul that we can have a triumphant transfer dear friend what is true freedom is it doing whatever you want back in 1997 there was a fellow that was charged and put away on the right conviction that he had robbed a bank he spent 70 months in a federal penitentiary he got out and he worked for a couple years you know out in the labor market and he got tired of that and he thought to himself you know i really liked it when i was in prison and so he decided he was going to commit another crime so that he could return to prison danny vellegas walked inside a federal credit union in daytona florida and he told the teller i'm robbing you you might as well call the police right now then he went out and sat down on a couch in the lobby and he waited for the police to show up lieutenant ron white said danny velgas has told us that he wanted to rob a federal bank so that he could go back to a federal penitentiary the biggest lie in the world today is that freedom is being able to do whatever you want it isn't true liberty american liberty christian liberty is knowing the truth and being able to live the truth that is what changes lives and gives real freedom on the front of your bible maybe on the spine of your bible and my bible it says the holy bible do you know why it is holy well number one it has a source that is holy it comes from god but number two it has a content that is holy it tells us the truth it tells us the truth about god about man and about the devil the bible teaches us that sin is ultimately exchanging the truth of god for the lie of the devil and that only leads to greater bondage and more sin bondage like drug addiction bondage like alcohol addiction and religious hypocrisy jesus christ is the ultimate truth and he told the truth and he told us that the truth would set us free and that is why we need jesus to be lord above all lords in our country because that is where freedom comes from that is what we need to hear today imagine for a minute you have the opportunity to say the last words that you will ever say to a dear friend a beloved spouse or dear son or daughter what would you want more than anything else to say now we all may have different words but the words that we speak would be meant to have an impact on the way that our dear ones would live their lives and that is the heart of paul in our passage in verses 6 through 8 that there is no greater admonition that he can give to young timothy this young man that he would keep him upon the holy path that keeps him away from error and close to true freedom why must we so earnestly contend for the faith because this life is not all that there is because there is greater and higher and more things and a truth that prevails a story that is told from god from beginning to end that defines what life is about and it teaches us where life truly is because one day we will come to the end of our journey and we will be headed upon that road to the heavenly country that is where paul is in verse six he says the time of my departure is at hand that my ship is about to say oh that my train is about to depart and while i can speak let me tell to you the fundamental principle the essence of what my life has been about that i have fought the good fight and my friend what this tells to you and to me if that is there a fight it means that there is an enemy that must be conquered and that there is a cause that is worth fighting for and that is a cause that is worth dying for that there is the truth the truth that brings freedom it set paul free it set him free so much that it didn't matter that he was in a prison cell because god freed him it didn't matter that man had condemned him because god the righteous judge would vindicate him for paul declares that through it all i have been faithful i have kept the faith i have not compromised i have run the race because you see what that means is he didn't let life keep him from the fact that jesus must be first in our lives have you done that for you see when you do that that is worth true overcoming and conquering power and life-sustaining energy comes from the olympic model reads swifter higher stronger the bible has an olympic text that those who wait upon the lord will renew their strength that they will mount up as with eagle's wings and that they will run and not go weary that they will walk and not go faint that yes there will be difficulty there will be a time for walking a time for running and a time for flying but god will give the power of overcoming and we must be so much christians that love jesus that we cannot help but go forward and be a courageous soldier of the cross knowing that such a christian upon entering the holy city will be crowned with victory even by the lord jesus himself who will say to such a one well done my good and faithful servant for when it was hard you spoke the truth when it was dark you showed the light and when there was death you shared the life that is what paul looked forward to because that's what paul's life was about and that's what everybody's life can be about it's open to everyone look at what paul says in verse 8 that the crown is for all who have loved his appearing that is a choice that we make today that changes all of our tomorrows have you made that choice have you made that decision no turning back no matter what my family might say no matter what my friends might think i must have jesus i must have the freedom i must have the truth of eternal life and what life is really all about in the first place are you courageous and are you humble enough to realize just how much you need jesus if you are ready to begin the life to have true freedom then my friend you pray this prayer with me and jesus will free you because he will save you pray this prayer with me dear god i admit that i am a sinner but i believe that jesus died on the cross for my sins and that he rose again on the third day jesus please forgive me of my sins i commit my life to you and i ask for the freedom that only you can bring amen dear heavenly father lord we thank you today for the freedom that comes in jesus christ the freedom that comes from knowing the word of god and lord i pray that you would lead us and guide us keep us and protect us that father for that one that is thinking about accepting jesus christ as their lord and savior that they would commit their soul to him who is able to keep them from death who is able to present them faultless before the throne with exceeding joy lord we pray for that today we pray for that individual that they would come to that saving confession of jesus just to pray and ask for forgiveness lord i pray for your people that you would be with them to lead them to guide them to give them the courage that they need to give them the dedication that they need that they would realize that within their own heart that they must be those that share the truth and that can change a nation by changing lives in that nation father we pray for that and lord we pray for your encouragement and guiding light in our life throughout this week and that you may gather us back again together by the holy spirit to worship you next week we pray all these things in jesus name amen