INTRO.- ILL.- Wilma didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girls basketball team, but didn't make it.
Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S. In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome--and there Wilma......Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won.
Stick with it. Did anyone ever tell you to do that with anything? Like school? Work? Marriage? We need to stick with something if we want to see any positive results.
Sticking with something generally yields good results.
ILL.- One year I ran the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, IN. It sounded interesting because it ended on the 50 yard line in the Notre Dame stadium. And besides, my daughter Holly was in her first year at Lincoln Christian College (1993) and one of her best friends lived in South Bend and she wanted to go visit her.
A marathon is 26.2 miles. At about 18 miles I didn’t feel the best and was running as well as I would normally so I stopped at the 18th mile marker and asked, “Where is the pickup vehicle?” They laughed at me like they didn’t know what I meant, so I explained that marathon always had a pickup vehicle to pick up runners that drop out of the marathon. They said they didn’t know of any such “pickup” vehicle.
That meant I had to continue running. I stopped again about mile 20 and I got the same response. I stopped again at mile 22 and still no response so I finally decided that if I was going to get home I was going to have to finished that marathon. And finish it I did, but I didn’t feel great about it.
My daughter Holly and son Shane were standing at the finish line when I finished. We went back to the motel so I could shower. After I showed I told them we would go back to see the awards ceremony. When we got out of the car outside the stadium we heard them call my name. What for? For my award! I got third place in my age bracket of over 40 years of age. I was 48.
The point being: sticking with something pays off. If I hadn’t stuck with that marathon I wouldn’t have gotten third place. And who knows? If I hadn’t taken the time to stop and talk to people at those mile markers I might have gotten 2nd or even first place! Sticking with something pays off!
I think it definitely pays off to stick with the faith. Heaven is a pretty good goal!
Matthew 24:9-12 “9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Will you? Are you standing firm?
II Timothy 4:6-8 “6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Revelation 2:10b “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
When it comes to sticking to the faith, we must also stick to the Word of God. The faith and the Word go hand-in-hand.
II Timothy 3:13-17 “While evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU LEARNED. Stick with God’s Word! Scripture is from God! It’s His Word; a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path! Without it we are lost, without guidance, without direction, and without hope and inspiration! We must stick to Scripture, which is our lifeline to God!
PROP.- Paul tells us why to keep the prophecy, meaning the scriptures.
1- Scripture will put fight in the fight
2- Scripture will give a good conscience
3- Scripture will strengthen your faith
I. SCRIPTURE WILL PUT FIGHT IN THE FIGHT
18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight.
ILL.- Do you remember the Thriller in Manila? It was a heavyweight boxing match in Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975 between Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Ali won in the 14th round by TKO.
It’s not thriller in Manila but it’s a fight in which we’re all involved. It’s a fight for the faith of Christ. We may not think of it as a fight but it is. It’s a fight with the evil one and the evil ideologies of the world for our souls. We’re at war! And scripture is our weapon! And scripture will put more fight in you for the fight!
II Corinthians 10:3-6 “3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” There is power in the Word!
ILL.- I remember reading the story about Vicente, the converted witch-doctor. He announced one day to his wife, “This town is so terrible that we shall have to move. We can’t raise our children here.” That little town was in the mountains of Cuba. The town had degenerated through drunkenness, gambling, lust, and crime to the point that even Vicente feared for his family.
Soon after his decision to move, while visiting a nearby town, Vicente discovered a Bible. He did not know what it was except that it appeared to be a religious book, and being a religious man, he bought it and took it home. A séance was scheduled for that night in his home, but instead of the usual program Vicente decided to read his newly acquired Bible to the people. And as he read it, they were all greatly impressed and wanted more. Night after night Vicente read the Bible to the people.
When some of the people wanted Bibles for themselves, Vicente went back to the city, bought more Bibles and brought them to the people. Soon lives began to change. Drunkards stopped drinking. Gamblers stopped gambling and began to earn money honestly.
People began to pray and told their friends what a wonderful thing it was to have a friend like Jesus of the Bible. Vicente was surprised at what was happening in the lives of the people and what was happening in his own life as a result of reading the Bible.
Having heard there were Christian missionaries that used the Bible, he found the address of a missionary and invited him to come speak to the people. The missionary came and found many of the people convicted and wanting to be saved. As a result a church was formed and many of the people gave their lives to Christ. And Vicente became their preacher and teacher.
And that’s what the Word of God will do to people when they truly believe it’s message and surrender to Christ.
18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight.
By keeping the prophecies, by keeping the scripture we will have more fight for our fight in this world. I’ve heard it said that eating Mexican food will put fire in your belly and may help you to lose weight. But if we devour the Word of God it will put fire in our bones and help to get rid of sin in our lives AND PUT FIGHT IN OUR FIGHT! Scripture is the truth. It’s the Word of God.
II. SCRIPTURE WILL GIVE A GOOD CONSCIENCE
19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
Faith and a good conscience go together and can only come from the Word of God.
ILL.- Throughout his administration, it was that Abraham Lincoln was a president under fire, especially during the years of the Civil War. And though he knew he would make errors of office, he resolved never to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, "I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me."
That friend down inside of us all could be called our conscience. And we all have to live with us, for better or worse. You live with you and I live with me. And the truth is that you know you better than anyone else, with the exception of God.
Is your conscience good, clear? Or is it stained with sin? We’re all stained by sin but the conscience can be cleared, changed, cleansed and improved, BUT ONLY BY GOD!
What Lincoln said sounds good but we must remember that if a person’s conscience is not properly trained or instructed, they may do evil and think it’s good.
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Many people today do evil because that’s all they’ve known or been taught.
ILL.- Did you ever hear of Ma Barker? Kate "Ma" Barker (October 8, 1873 – January 16, 1935) was an American criminal from the "public enemy era", when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwest gripped the American people and the press.
Ma Barker is believed to have been born October 8, 1873, in Ash Grove, Missouri, near Springfield, and named Arizona Clark. On September 14, 1892, she married George Elias Barker in Aurora, Lawrence County, Missouri. George and Arizona (Ma Barker) had four boys named Herman, Lloyd, Arthur, and Fred. George and Arrie's son Herman committed suicide on September 19, 1927, in Wichita, Kansas. In 1928 Lloyd was incarcerated in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, Arthur was in the Oklahoma State Prison, and Fred was in the Kansas State Prison.
Don’t you wonder why three of these boys ended up in prison? Could it be that they were taught the way of crime? Could it be their consciences were instructed in wrong doing?
ILL.- H. C. Trumbull wrote: Conscience tells us that we ought to do right, but it does not tell us what right is--that we are taught by God's word.”
ILL.- Students in a California public school district will upgrade their textbooks this year – to the divinely inspired Word of God. The Chino Valley School District in Chino, Calif., voted 5-0 in June to adopt a a year-long Bible course titled "Bible as/in Literature and History."
"It is my belief that better understanding the Bible will help all students with their decision-making process," Fred Youngblood, president of the Board of Education, told OneNewsNow. OH WOW! Tremendous and the Word of God will do a tremendous work in the hearts and minds of those young people!
It’s the Word of God that instructs our minds and consciences in the right way. Scripture will give a person a good conscience! Scripture is pure, holy, clean, loyal, faithful, and loving. It will always produce good in us.
III. SCRIPTURE WILL STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH
19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
If some people rejected the faith then they also rejected the Word of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17. Of course, what kind of faith are we thinking about? Some people have faith in many things because they pay attention to many different things.
ILL.- Ronald Kmiec is a piano teacher. For almost 32 years he went running every day. Then he had a heart attack and the streak ended. When he recovered he resumed running. That was two years ago. He is now 67, his new streak is two years old, and he will not better his old streak until he is 97.
For some, running has become something of a religion to them. They are addicted to it. And running is not a bad thing, but it won’t save anybody from hell.
I Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
Some people have faith in many things but “things” won’t save them. Running is a good thing. Exercising is a good thing. Sports are a good thing, etc. and the list goes on and on. But these things are not God but may have become a “god” to some people. But they will leave a person high and dry when something serious happens in life.
ILL.- For example, I had a cousin pass away in January. Listen to a portion of her obituary. Linda Wyatt, 67, retired office manager for Murphy Tractor Co. passed away January 23, 2010. She was a member of Ladies Auxiliary – Fraternal Order of Eagles Lodge 3251. She is preceded in death by her father Marion “Corky” Clark.
Did you notice anything significant? Nothing was said about any church and that is very sad! As far as I know my cousin was not a Christian. In fact, I don’t even know if she even believed in Christ. And when a person passes from this life into the next what good is a Ladies Auxiliary?
The Fraternal Order of Eagles is an international non-profit organization but there nothing is said about Christ who is the Savior of the world! Doing good is a good thing, but doing good will not save a person from their sins. I just don’t want to see anyone leave this world without Christ!
19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Some people become shipwrecked in regard to the faith because they reject scripture. But on the other hand, the more we cling to scripture, read scripture, memorize scripture, and quote scripture, the stronger our faith in Christ will be!
CONCLUSION--------------------------
Stick to your guns, brethren!
Phil. 1:27 “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.”
No matter what you’re faced with in life, stick to your guns, stick to your faith, stick to the Word of God! Keep the prophecies, keep the scriptures in your heart, mind and on your tongue!
