INTRODUCTION
Some of you think I don’t know much about cars, but I want to impress you today with what I do know. I know this: have one of your four tires go flat and your car is not going to drive well. You say how do you know that? Because I live in Mississippi, and I have seen some drivers trying to drive down the interstate to the next exit with only three good tires. The best that a three-wheel car can do is crawl down the interstate to the next exit. It does not matter if it is a $50,000.00 fine looking automobile or a used car awaiting to be sent to the junk yard. Cars are not supposed to operate with only three working wheels.
Let me tell you what I assume because I have never seen this. If two tires go flat at the same time, the car is going to work even less efficiently than the three-wheeled car. If three tires go flat at the same time, you better watch out for that car if he is ahead of you. He is probably a danger on the road. And finally, if all four tires go flat at the same, my advice to the driver is leave the car where it is and walk to your destination. You will get there faster.
I know this is an absurd example. But Paul is going to tell us that the Christian life is like a four-wheel car. Have all four wheels operating correctly and you are going down the spiritual highway the way you should be. With each wheel that is flat you are so much less effective in going down that spiritual highway.
And I imagine today that some of us are here in this room have all four tires functioning properly; some may only have three tires functioning properly; some might only have two or one tire functioning properly; and I hope no one here has four spiritual flat tires.
So, what we need to do today is kick your tires and see if they are full or deflated. To do that let me read the Scripture from 2 Timothy 1:1-7.
BIBLE VERSE
2 Timothy 2:1-7 (NIV)
1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
3Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
5Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.
7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1
WHEEL NUMBER 1
I NEED TO INVEST MY LIFE INTO OTHERS.
2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
The Bible is full of examples of one person investing their life in someone else. Moses invested his life in Joshua. Eli, the High Priest, invested his life in Samuel. Jesus invested his life into His disciples especially Peter, James and John. And Paul invested His life into Timothy.
The Bible is full of examples, but it also commands each one of us to invest our lives in others.
Matthew 28:19-20New International Version
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And how about the Biblical command to the older men and women to teach the younger men and women in Titus 2:2-8.
Titus 2:2-8 (NIV)
2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness
8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
So, my question to you is: Who are you investing spiritually your life into? It might be someone in this church; or it might be a relative. Your investment in a person’s life might not be teaching them but praying constantly for their salvation. Your investment might a monetary commitment to a missionary you meet on furlough. Your investment in others can take any number of shapes but the key thing is that you are spiritually invested in them. You desire for them the best they can be spiritually.
But if you cannot tell me someone that you are investing in spiritually, I am going to tell you that you have a flat tire.
2
WHEEL NUMBER 2
I REALIZE EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT I AM INVOLVED IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND I WILL NOT GET SIDETRACKED BY THE ENEMY.
4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
Let me tell you two ways the world tries to entangle me in civilian affairs.
In civilian affairs, there is always a hierarchy system, and it entices someone to climb the ladder. Think of anything you belong to- there is some type of hierarchy system. I don’t care if it is the PTA, the neighbor watch, or a club at school. And the higher you go up the ladder the rule is more people are underneath you doing the work. The problem is God told us to be servants.
Matthew 20:26-28 (NIV)
26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave–
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And many people come to church with that attitude that they are to be served because they have moved up that ladder in the world.
Secondly, the world tries to entangle us by giving us more options than church on Sundays.
The most important place to be on a Sunday morning is in God’s house because the Spirit might move, and people’s lives changed. Nothing more important than that! But the world gives us 5K and 10K races on Sunday morning. It gives us professional football that starts so early it competes against the church. And if you want to go to the game, you must miss church. Recently, the world introduced children travel baseball leagues that play on Sunday morning. The purpose is to keep people out of church and have less chance of having their life changed.
Luke 19:10 (NIV)
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
How is that tire? Has the world got you so caught up in its things that you miss church regularly? Then your tire is flat.
3
WHEEL NUMBER 3
I NEED TO MAKE GOD’S WORD MY INSTRUCTION BOOK FOR LIFE.
5Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
There is a book for everything. I am told that in 2019 that the number of self-help books on the bookstore shelves numbered 85,253. There is a book for everything. A child enters juvenile drug court and there is a book of rules for how they are to behavior themselves while in the drug court program.
If you buy a new car, it comes with a book that tells you this is how the car operates. If you were buying your first house and went to Ms. Collen to finance it, I am sure that she can give you a book on first time home buying.
As a Christian, I have a book. It is a life changing book, but if I am going to be successful and run the Christian race, I need to know what it says.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NIV)
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Don’t pick up the Holy Bible and study it for yourself, I am going to tell you that you have a flat tire.
4
WHEEL NUMBER 4
I NEED TO REALIZE THERE IS NO PLACE FOR LAZY IN MY CHRISTIAN LIFE.
6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crop.
There is no Christian that should be lazy in their faith. If you worked for an employer like you work for your Heavenly Father, you would be fired.
Do you know that God’s Word has a lot to say about not being lazy?
Proverbs 13:4 (NIV)
4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
Proverbs 21:25 (NIV)
25 The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.
If you would do some self-evaluation, do you consider yourself spiritually lazy? If so, you have a flat tire.
APPLICATION
As we look at these wheels, did you discover if you have one or more flat tires?
How do you fix them?
1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
You ask God in His grace to fix them. Remember what Grace I don’t deserve something, but God gives it to me anyway. Ask Him to fix your tire or tires.
Let us pray.
