Whatever You Do, Don't Stop!

“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