“WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T STOP!” 2 Tim. 2:1-7
FBCF – 1/28/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Steve Biggs – Chairman of deacons at CWBC – Prolific note-taker on sermons. Kept a journal for year. Fell through ceiling of garage once when looking for old journals in his attic.
Missy sent pics of notes he took on a sermon I preached on 10/8/17 on 3 John – “An Encouragement to a Dear Friend” – “Our faith is an ‘each other’ faith. ‘Each other’ statements in 3 John:
- We LOVE each other
- We PRAY for each other
- We REJOICE w/ each other
- We SUPPORT each other
- We CORRECT each other
- We ENCOURAGE each other
- We want to BE w/ each other in fellowship
Then on back, he wrote these notes about prayer:
- Renew commitment to prayer
- Write prayer needs & names down
- Realize it doesn’t matter that we do not know them & their situation
- Respond immediately when someone needs prayer
- Remember – It’s one of the most important things we do as Christians
- Finished w/ these 2 words: DON’T STOP! Underlined them & put exclamation mark at end
It’s a challenge I issued back then to the church FAMILY at CWBC back then. It’s a challenge I’m issuing right now to the church FAMILY here at FBCF. And it’s a challenge that every Christ-follower has been issued through the Word of God – DON’T STOP! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T STOP!
Reminds me of entries in John Wesley’s diary:
Sunday, A.M., May 5 Preached in St. Anne's. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, P.M., May 5 Preached in St. John's. Deacons said "Get out and stay out."
Sunday, A.M., May 12 Preached in St. Jude's. Can't go back there, either.
Sunday, A.M., May 19 Preached in St. Somebody Else's. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn't return.
Sunday, P.M., May 19 Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday, A.M., May 26 Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, A.M., June 2 Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, P.M., June 2 Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.
EXPLANATION – 2 Timothy 2:1-7 (p. 995)
2 Timothy is Paul’s last recorded writings before he most likely was beheaded by the emperor Nero probably around AD 64. In this personal letter to Timothy, Paul challenges him to not stop, but to keep pressing on in the work of preaching the Gospel & making disciples.
- v. 1 – The only way we can be strengthened is by the GRACE of Jesus – Him giving us that strength through our personal relationship w/ Him.
- 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 – “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
- Ephesians 6:10 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord & in the strength of His might.”
- God knows that we need HIS strength to NOT STOP. If our Christian life depended on us & OUR strength, we’d tap out as soon as the going got rough. But we DON’T STOP b/c we have HIS strength!
v. 2 – This verse is one of those verses that every church must KNOW & DO. I preached on this verse here almost exactly 2 yrs ago (1/23/22). SO important for us to understand what discipleship is.
- Its foundation is the Gospel.
- Its framework is relationships.
- And its fruit is disciples reproducing disciples.
- It’s not a program; it’s a process – a process of:
o Knowing the Gospel
o Living out the Gospel
o Sharing the Gospel
o Teaching others the Gospel
o Repeating this process over & over again as long as we are alive.
o Means “Making Much of JESUS” from the moment of our spiritual birth to the moment of our last breath.
APPLICATION – Discipleship means being committed to “Making Much of JESUS” for a lifetime.
We cannot stop! We must not stop! We will not stop! Why? 3 reasons why we cannot stop:
STOPPING LEADS TO DISPLEASURE – v. 3-4 – The military is known for having its own unique language, made up of a lot of abbreviations & acronyms. One that is familiar to those who have served or are serving in any branch of the military is the the abbreviation, MOS – Military Occupational Specialty – the service member’s specific job in the military.
- George Shepherd – USAF – Communications in Strategic Air Command
- Tom McClelland – USAF – Navigator Bombardier Strategic in the B52 & FB-111 bombers
- Tom Hawk – USMC – Field Radio Operator & Forward Observer for a 105 Howitzer battery
- Donnie Burgess – USMC – Field Radio Operator
- Dante Fontenot – US Army – Aircraft Armament Mechanic, then Warrant Officer/Blackhawk Pilot & Aviation Officer XO (second in command)
- Grateful for these men & all others who’ve served or are serving our nation.
But if any one of them just decided stop doing their job- their MOS, they would have surely incurred the extreme displeasure of their commanding officers & faced serious consequences for the dereliction of their duties, b/c, as Paul said in v. 4, the aim of someone serving in the military “is to please the one who enlisted him.”
When we stop “Making Much of JESUS” & stop making disciples, we will experience the displeasure of our Savior. Of course, He doesn’t stop loving us. But b/c He DOES love us, He disciplines us when we offend Him by disobeying Him & discontinuing our walk w/ Him.
- V. 3 – It’s so easy for us to get “entangled in civilian pursuits”, to lose our focus in our day to day living. When that happens, our spiritual growth stops.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to displease Jesus, do you? That means we must not stop making much of Him & & must not stop making disciples.
STOPPING LEADS TO DISQUALIFICATION – v. 5 – Mark Phillips has been a football referee for 21 years. Texted him: “Hey bro. What happens if a football player shoves or hits an official?” His immediate answer: “Bye bye!” That player is disqualified. Why? B/c he was not playing according to the rules.
There are rules that we live by as Christ-followers. We don’t obey those rules to BE saved – we obey those rules b/c we ARE saved. We are called to live an obedient life, & to stop doing that leads to our spiritual decline, decay, & disqualification. Tony Evans had this to say about that athlete:
- “All of his/her efforts are wasted unless he competes according to the rules – that is, operates w/in biblical guidelines & does not yield to worldly pleasures…You cannot disobey God’s Word in pursuit of spiritual victory. To disregard God’s boundaries is to disqualify yourself from receiving reward.” (note in The Tony Evans Study Bible, p. 1441)
- Those guidelines are there to keep us safe; to keep us pointed in the right direction; to keep us available to be used by the Lord in any way He needs to use us. To go against those guidelines disqualifies us from all of those things.
If we deliberately stop “Making Much of JESUS” & stop making disciples, we won’t lose our salvation. But we will lose out on SO much joy & fulfillment & purpose & meaning in our lives. We will be disqualified from all of those things. I don’t want to be disqualified! Do you?
STOPPING LEADS TO DISASTER – v. 6 – I don’t know many people who work harder than farmers. Up early – back home late – & working nonstop between those 2 times. Certain things have to be done at certain times & they all require hard work – preparation, cultivation, planting, fertilizing, irrigating, harvesting, selling, storing. Even in our highly mechanized world, farming is hard work no matter how you cut it.
For a farmer to stop at any stage of crop production, the results would be disastrous. Sometimes the stoppage happens due to things that are out of our control – drought this summer.
- Crawfish farmers - $13 a lb this year!
But no farmer in his right mind would deliberately stop cultivating his fields, or planting his crops, or harvesting his crops. The results would be disastrous on so many levels.
The work of making much of JESUS & making disciples is hard work. But to stop leads to disaster. Think about it:
- Lost people don’t hear about Jesus & die & go to hell.
- The Church stops growing spiritually & numerically & suffers b/c of disobedience.
- Young, immature Christians are taken out by the enemy b/c of their vulnerability to his attacks. That vulnerability could have been less if a more mature believer had been walking w/ them & discipling them.
CONCLUSION
3-man relay race. First runner completes his leg & passes off baton. Second runner completes his leg & passes off baton. 3rd runner takes a few step, then stop, walks to middle of field & sits down. Other teammates ask, "What are you doing?" Runner says, "I just don't want to run anymore." Not only does he lose race, but entire team loses race.
When we stop running the race & stop making much of Jesus & making disciples, the entire Church suffers. So, whatever you do, don't stop!
