The Definitive Picture of a Christian Leader

0:09 2 Timothy and chapter 4 and verse 1.

1:26 We thank you that we can earnestly ask that you will give to us grace and strength and help as we come to this final session with so many words, so many opportunities to think and ponder your truth, to be led in praise, and at the same time to be reminded of all that we've left behind and the things to which we have to return. And so we pray that in your great goodness you will bless these moments to us, bring home to our hearts things that we have known for a long time and about which we need the reminder, and other areas of our lives that all might be brought under the sovereign, protective hand of your gracious love for us in Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. Well, I think that, although we didn't plan it this way, that the verses here that we have follow along just quite wonderfully in terms of theme and emphasis from all that we enjoyed from Herschel this morning. The focus that we have for this final session is essentially on these first five verses. And as you know, although the pastoral epistles were written to persons, Titus and Timothy, they were written in such a way that the letters, although they were personal by the nomenclature, they were going to be read in the hearing of the entire congregation.

3:03 Therefore, in the public reading, for example, of this letter, not only would Timothy be reminded of what was expected of him under God, but also the congregation would then be made aware increasingly of what it meant for Timothy as their pastor and teacher to fulfill the role that God has given him. The letter is addressed to Timothy as, in verse 24 of chapter 2, the Lord's servant, in verse 17 of chapter 3, the man of God. Now, both of those designations, actually, these expressions allude to the Old Testament prophetic ministry, that God raises up prophets for himself, and he entrusts to them the Word of God in order that they might then become the mouthpieces of God's Word. I think it's worth pointing that out, because although the principles that are addressed here to Timothy as an individual have a wider application beyond Timothy, and even a pulpit ministry. Nevertheless, this is not a generic letter written to everyone and anyone about how they might behave. It is how behavior is to take place in the church of the living God, and the structure that God has given to these churches is according to his plan.

4:25 But what we have, if you like, is a definitive picture of a Christian leader. The congregations need to know what their pastor is supposed to be doing. And Timothy needs to know the same. Paul is encouraging him before he ends—and we didn't read this later on in chapter 4—he's inviting Timothy to join him in Rome. I'd like you to come and see me. I'd like you to come quickly. Verse 9, verse 21. But before that and alongside that, he's issued a different kind of invitation. And that is, he's inviting Timothy to join him in suffering. Join him in suffering. You see that at the beginning of the letter there in, what is it, verse 8? Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. And he comes back to it when he's using the picture of the soldier, the farmer, and the athlete, and in verse 3 of chapter 2, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

5:32 Paul, the once proud citizen of Rome, is now suffering, bound with chains, as a criminal. He wasn't, if you like, a celebrity pastor, but he was a celebrity prisoner. And people were unwilling to associate with Paul. He says at the beginning in chapter 1 that all who are in Asia have deserted me. At my first defense, he says, nobody actually came to stand up alongside me, with the exception of one individual, Onesiphorus, who was a quite remarkable character, not only here and elsewhere. You say, Well, that is a long time ago, and we can understand why that would be the case. Surely, we're all prepared to stand with Paul now, aren't we? Well, if you think about that for a moment, you realize that many—and I used to hear this more in Scotland said by people than here—but it's not unusual. People say, Well, you know, I like Jesus, but I don't like the apostle Paul. Or I like to read the Gospels, but I don't like to read the epistles.

6:45 I don't like Paul. I don't like his view on women. I don't like his view on silence in the church. I don't like his view on gender. I don't really like his view at all. And so, in our generation, in our lifetime, there have been people—and in some measure, Herschel alluded to this this morning—whose deviation from course has been directly related to their unwillingness to stand with Paul—their unwillingness to expound, for example, the first chapter of Romans, where Paul is very, very clear. And an unwillingness to be prepared to take that stand in relationship to that truth has caused them to drift, drift away. And so Timothy and all the other Timothys are encouraged not to be ashamed but instead by the power of God to proceed. We have the opportunity, as long as there is breath in us, to step up to the challenge. Paul says, I'm not ashamed. The reason I'm not ashamed is because Jesus is alive. Jesus has abolished death, and he's brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And how does life and immortality break out into 21st century Western culture? In the same way, through the gospel. And it is as we find ourselves prepared to take our stand that God will continue to prosper his work. What Paul is actually saying is, my work is finished, but the gospel work isn't finished. I'm coming to an end. The time for my departure has come. The word he uses there is the word analysis for the tethering of an oxen at the end of a day's plowing, or the weighing of an anchor, or the striking camp in order to go back to a more stable destination. And that's the picture he uses. There's no panic in it. It's

8:50 the time for my departure that has come. My life is being poured out like a drink offering, he says, using an Old Testament picture. Sacrifices for propitiation, followed by sacrifices of dedication. It's essentially Romans 12, 1 and 2, I beseech you by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. The sacrifice of Christ was propitiatory. The sacrifice of the followers of Christ is dedicatory. And it is on account of that that he then issues this final charge. Timothy, here is your duty. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. Let me just mention a couple of marks about this particular charge. First of all, it is a solemn charge. You will notice that. There's nothing haphazard about this. He wouldn't be saying this with his hands in his pockets, as it were.

9:47 You don't issue a charge as some sort of casual happenstance. No, some of you are military people, I never had that privilege. But when you are charged with a responsibility or when you are entrusted with something, it is a formal thing, and it is solemn, and it is significant. What makes it so solemn is the context. I charge you, in the presence of God the Father and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead.

10:20 Timothy, and all of us as Timothys, are not ultimately accountable to our congregations. We are actually in a position where we are accountable to God for our congregations. Hence the charge is given to us to guard this, to care for them, to tend for them, and so on. So what is it then that makes it so solemn? It is that we are charged with this responsibility in the presence of Almighty God. When you get married, if it happens at all according to any kind of historic orthodoxy—and, of course, that removes it from the realm of many marriages I've observed, you realize that this is a pretty solemn business that is taking place here. And I don't know what you use for your auger of marriage service, but I've used the Anglican prayer book for all of my ministry. And so, you find that the people in the audience, especially if they come from some of the crazy marriage gatherings, Their ears are up and out. This, we say to the congregation and to the couple, is not to be entered upon lightly, but thoughtfully, with reverence for God, with due consideration for the purposes by which it was established by God. It was established for the lifelong companionship, husband and wife, who are to give to each other the unalloyed allegiance. It was established for the establishment of family life so that children who are to gifts from the God might be brought up and trained to love and obey God. And listen to this one, it was established for the welfare of human society, which can only be strong and happy when the marriage bond is held in honor.

12:18 that marriage bond between a man and a woman. You're entering into a heterosexual, monogamous, lifelong commitment. This is solemn. In the old notice boards of churches in Great Britain in years gone by, even in my teenage years, when it gave the times of the services on the wall and told you the minister's name, it also said that the vicar or the minister was available for the solemnization of marriage. For the solemnization of marriage. And I don't know if you still do this, but you ought to try it, because you see the people, their eyes get like saucers. And I say, and it is into this solemn and unique relationship that these two persons therefore desire to enter. If, therefore, anyone can show any just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together in marriage, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.

13:22 Pregnant moment! It goes like… And then, and I charge you both, that if either of you know any reason why you may not be lawfully joined together in marriage, you do not speak it. Then, who gives this woman to be married to this man. Now, by that time, we have set the scene. And for people, we said, Wow! This is solemn. This is solemn. I charge you in the presence of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead. You will appear before the judgment seat of God to give an account for all the things done in the body. It's not going to cause and question your eternal destiny, but it is going to be there, as 2 Corinthians 5. I don't think we pay much attention to that. As a leader in the church, keeping watch over the souls in his care, Timothy will give an account, and so will I. Not only he says that, but he says, and in light of the appearing of Jesus, in the appearing of Jesus, his appearing and his kingdom, Jesus steps forward into time, and he says, The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.

14:37 Repent and believe the gospel. So, the kingdom is established in the appearing of Jesus, in the resurrection of Jesus. One day his kingdom will be on display openly and universally. So, what's happening right now? His kingdom is being extended by the proclamation of the gospel. It is by the gospel that life and immortality has been brought to light. Therefore, it is the gospel, Timothy, that you need to stick with and you need to proclaim. Make sure that you understand this is solemn. Also, it is straightforward. Straightforward. Don't complicate things for me, he might have said. Well, I'm not going to. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Well, that's not too hard, is it? Well, not to understand the charge. Preach the word. All that he's already written concerning the Scriptures underpins this exhortation. He's referred to the Scriptures as the pattern of sound teaching, of the good deposit, which he is to guard, as we heard again earlier today. And it is thus gospel which he is to be proclaiming. Well, of course, he didn't have the New Testament letters. So, what are the Scriptures? They are the Old Testament Scriptures. Make sure that you make this known. When the teaching of the apostles begins to settle, then that will be added to it. So, the New English Bible actually translates the second half of verse 2, press the message home on all occasions convenient or inconvenient.

16:30 Are we convinced, are we together on this assertion that regular expository preaching is to be the staple diet for those who are entrusted with the responsibility of being a pastor and a teacher. That whatever else that we are called to do, for all the other privileges that are part and parcel of positions in which we find ourselves placed, we dare not make a mess of this. Especially when you realize that people, by and large, are not fond of preaching. With some justification, because there's a lot of bad preaching. I know, because I've done a lot of it myself. And if you're honest, you will be prepared to say the same thing. But the church lives and grows by the Word of God, and it languishes without it.

17:34 One of the archbishops of Canterbury of old—one who actually believed the Bible and stuff— writing a little book on preaching, said—and his name was Cogan, actually, Archbishop Cogan, C-O-G-G-I-N—he exhorted those who were under his care in the Anglican Church to make sure that their preaching was candid. Candid. In other words, he said there should be no concealment of the truth, that it was clear, that there should be no obscurity of expression, that it was confident so that it was proclaimed without fear of consequences, and that it was continuous or ongoing so that there was no excuse for laziness.

18:23 Now, this whole notion of when you feel like it and when you don't feel like it is right there, isn't it? Do this in season and out of season, in times of receptivity, in times when you face hostility, when the prospect fills you with a sense of joy, when the prospect of it fills you with a sense of dread, when the listeners are tuned in, when the listeners are tuned out, when the crowds are growing, when the crowds are dwindling, when Sunday stirs you with anticipation, when Sunday fills you with dread, when you know that you have to go back to your pulpit, carrying the burdens and the weights of things that are personally yours, whatever they might be, however trivial they might seem to somebody else, the kind of thing that on your own, in your car, can make you burst into tears because of your concern. It is not my privilege, then, to bring that to my pulpit. But I bring myself to the pulpit. And therefore, when it says, when it is good going and when it isn't good going, you've got to be there, and you've got to do it.

19:53 And I have had to learn in 40-plus years of ministry, in the best of senses, to compartmentalize things. To actually—if you think of it in terms of files, computer files or manila files—I've had have said, I'm putting that in there, and I'm not touching that until Monday at four o'clock. It can't be part of my life right now, because here it is. And when people have said to me, what would you like to have been if you hadn't been a pastor? Sometimes I say, I'd like to be a train driver. They said, a train driver? What a strange thing to want to be. I said, well, I have to explain to you that—and I've never actually met a train driver. I don't want to be disparaging to what it means to be a train driver. But apparently, I mean, you don't have a lot of options. There's a kind of start, and there's a stop. And if it goes red, you stop. I mean, you don't have to choose your rails or anything. You just start off, and off you go. Well, he says, so why would you want to do that? I said, well, because when I'm depressed, when I'm overcome, when I feel like just screaming, then I could do that if I was a train driver, because there's nobody in there. There's nobody in there. And the train's going, so you can relax.

21:13 But you can't in the pulpit. Let me caution you as well against intruding into your pulpit things that will make your people feel like, oh, you know, oh, that feels so nice about that, or I feel so bad about that. Leave most of that aside. Just leave it aside, because if you start to do that, you better come up with a better story the next time. It better be a greater sob story, or whatever it is. Better leave it alone. God knows your heart. Cast your cares upon the Lord. Stick with the Scriptures when you feel like it, when you don't feel like it. And as you unfold the Scriptures, as we unfold the Scriptures, we're doing what we have the opportunity to do. I bet none of you have spoken at the daffodil tea.

22:09 And someone says, I've never heard of it in my life. Well, what is a daffodil tea? I didn't know what a daffodil tea was, but I was about 19 years old, and I was in the company of a man that I called Uncle in a very kind of British way, although I think he was my father's best man. So why I called him uncle, I don't know. Anyway, he said he was the head of a mission to fishermen on the east coast of Scotland. But he'd been invited to speak at a women's daffodil tea at a Presbyterian church, and he thought it would be a nice thing if I came with him. And as we drove in the car, he said, You know, it would be nice if you actually said something at a T. I said, well, no. He said, yeah, it would be nice if you said—in other words, this is not an option. This is a church. And so, what have you got? You got a small Presbyterian church just full of women and full of daffodils, and that's it. And he says, okay, go. So I stood up! And I said, I've never spoken at a women's daffodil tea before. And what I didn't know was that the minister of the church was sitting on the back row. And when I said that, he shouted out, Take your chance while you've got it, sonny! And I said, Okay, there you go. I'll take my chance while I've got it. We don't know however many more chances we have in our pulpits.

23:45 We don't guarantee anybody would want us to speak anywhere at any time. Therefore, the only time we have is the time we have. We have only so much runway in front of us, so many things that you're able to do, so many opportunities that will come. And so, therefore, we take it very seriously. And the Word of God will accomplish its purposes. says, Look, it will reprove, it will rebuke, it will exhort. I think what we need to do there, what I want to do, is I want to teach the Bible, and the Bible will do what it needs to do. It may reprove, it may rebuke, it may exhort. And as we get the Scriptures out in that way, we're to do it with complete patience and teaching. Sometimes we are teaching, if you like, apologetically. Sometimes we are reproving. Sometimes we're making an appeal. There is an intellectual, if you like, element to what we're doing, as we seek to convince people as best we can.

24:53 There is a moral dimension to what we're doing, as we find ourselves, first of all, called to account by the Scriptures and therefore calling one another to account. There is an emotional dimension to what we do in the proclamation of the Bible, whereby we seek to encourage one another along the way, and to do it with great patience and careful instruction.

25:20 Don't you wish it just said, With a little bit of patience? Or just with patience? patience. Why does it have to be complete patience? Because that's what it takes. And that is such a challenge for those of us who are impatient. Especially, as I said the other night, when you're young, you're just naturally impatient. You want to get going. You have to get going. You can accomplish more if we just go faster, say it's quicker, and so on. And it takes time for us to realize that in horticultural terms, you can't make this stuff grow. You can plant, you can water, but only God makes things grow, and therefore we trust him as we fulfill that responsibility. Solemn and straightforward and strategic. The charge is solemn. We daren't take it lightly. You remember, just reflecting on that as it comes to mind, you remember in Hamlet, where I think it's Horatio comes on the gravedigger scene, and he says to Hamlet, How come the gravediggers are singing and joking—that's not a direct quote, but that's what he's asking—how come they treat this in this way? And Hamlet says to Horatio, he says, Custom hath made of it in them a matter of insignificance. Custom.

27:01 They've done it so many times. And in fairness, gravediggers can't cry at everybody's funeral, so don't let us be unduly down on them. But let us beware in preaching that custom could ever make of it for us a matter of indifference. Let me say to you, the day you think you've got it, leave the ministry, at least for six months, and let your wife tell you that you haven't got it if nobody else will tell you. But that notion is a deceptive notion. It's never true, because we've never, ever ultimately got it. It's solemn, it's straightforward, and it's strategic. What makes it so strategic? Because of the context in which Timothy is to do this. Listen to verse 3. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, they'll turn away from listening to the truth, and wander off into myths.

28:06 Now, Paul has already told Timothy at the beginning of the letter that everybody in Asia has deserted him. And now he's saying to him, that's not just something you ought to know about, that is something you're about to experience. In other words, they deserted me, and listen, if you stick with the gospel, they'll desert you as well. They will turn away from you, too. They will reject sound teaching. What is sound teaching? Do you even use the word sound anymore? How many of you actually say that somebody's ministry was sound? It's a very unusual thing.

28:46 But in Britain, it was always an issue. Well, you can trust him. We would say, like, he's a gospel man. In Britain, in the early days, 50s, 60s, say, Oh, he is sound! He is sound! And the reason that comes to mind is because I was preaching a long time ago in Londonderry in Northern Ireland for a little man who led youth ministry. His name was T.S. Mooney. He was an older man—probably 72, very old, something along those lines—and he invited me to come and preach for a week. It took place in a Methodist church in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. And he was a godly little man. He was a super, super, super little guy. He died about the age of 83. He was a bank manager. He was single, and he was one of God's chosen. And so, he wanted me to come there. So, we would go in the back of the church for a little prayer time before the evening came, and then I would have to go out and speak, which I did. And I got out on the first night, and I looked back about four or five rows, and T.S. was there. But T.S. was already, at least in the second stages of anesthesia. He was gone, sleeping. And so I said, well, He's an older man, you know, early 70s. And he did the same thing on Tuesday.

30:16 And on Wednesday, when we were driving home together, I couldn't stand it anymore. Because you're not supposed to rebuke an older man, right? So, I did. Anyway, I said, T.S., T.S., you're troubling me, because you come back there and you pray earnestly that I will, you know, that I will deliver the Word? He says, Yes, I do. And I says, And then you get out there, and I'm not, like, four minutes into it, and you're gone.

30:50 And there was a long pause, and then he says, Well, you might as well know. I just stay awake for the first little bit to make sure that you're sound. And when I know that you're sound, then I just go off for a little sleep. I said, Okay, I got it clear. They reject sound teaching. What is the rejection of sound teaching? Sound teaching is the kind of teaching of the Bible that makes men and women healthy and useful to the Master. To reject sound teaching is to turn, he says, their itching ears to an accumulation of teachers who will teach in a manner that relieves the listeners of being confronted by the rebuking, reproofing, encouraging work of God the Holy Spirit through the Word. It will relieve the people of the responsibility of seeing their lives brought into line with the instruction of God's Word. So it's the kind of teaching that just—the people are like, well, maybe you like it, I don't like it, and so on. It's the kind of teaching that people clap at. Clap at. You know, Billy Graham in the early days, if people had clapped at his things, he would have thought something had gone dreadfully wrong. Why were they clapping?

32:34 Do you clap? I don't mean clap along with the music. I'm talking about applause. Listen, if I wanted applause, I'd do stand-up comedy. And then you could applaud. There is no applause here. But these people, they'll do this for applause. They will tell you whatever you want to hear in order that you might then enjoy it, appreciate it, Applaud it! Feel better about yourself! Be glad that you didn't have to listen to the exhortations of Scripture that called you into line with what it means to be a follower of Jesus. In other words, in Timothy's day, it was no different from Isaiah's day. It's no different from today. Remember what they said to Isaiah? Do not prophesy to us what is right. Speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions? In other words, tell me lies, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies. That's what they're saying. It doesn't matter if you feel that way. It doesn't matter if you believe that. Don't worry about this. God loves you just the way you are. No, he doesn't.

33:54 To quote my big brother, Sinclair Ferguson, God has only loved one person just the way he was, namely his Son, Jesus Christ. We can faithfully say that God loves us despite of what we are. And so, he says to Timothy, make sure that you don't deviate from course on this. You can expect this to happen. They will reject orthodoxy in search of novelty. They will turn away from biblical revelation in order to embrace human speculation. And in the time that I've had, the privileged time I've had here—I'm a long way from home on any good day, but we've all lived through it, haven't we? This circus has come through town a number of times, hasn't it? We've had the barking dogs from the Toronto Blessing, where people are rolling on the floor, and this was going to be the future of Christendom. Did you get alarmed by that? I said, No, no. I said, I wouldn't care less about it. The circus goes through town, and eventually some people come behind, and they gather up the elephant droppings, and they put them on their roses, and life moves on. And we could go through the seeker-sensitive thing, where if you didn't turn your church into the Johnny Carson show, then you weren't even living in the real world.

35:13 don't worry about it. These things will pass, and they will go on. We've got open theism. Do you think that God knows what he knows, and all that kind of stuff? Oh, dear, what are we going to do now? Just preach the Word, love your wife, be good to your kids, play golf, and read books, and you're going to be fine. It will all go on. Because, after all, if Timothy faced it, why wouldn't we face it? The time is always coming when this is happening. Why? Because, as the Westminster Confession of tells us, the same grace that reconciles us to God antagonizes us to the evil one. And therefore, we're at war. We are now at war. That's why he says, the good soldier, he commits to his commanding officer. It's the hard-working farmer that receives the fruit of his endeavors. It's the athlete who competes according to the rules. Competes according to the rules. not Lance Armstrong. They took all his stuff back, all seven of them. Why? Because he didn't compete according to the rules. It may not be apparent in our day. God forbid that it would become apparent at the bar of God's judgment. But he said, Well, you know what? He didn't have the guts to actually say what it says. He was prepared to alter the view of the Bible. He wasn't prepared to say to his congregation, if you're born a man, you will die a man, no matter what you do to yourself. Because he was frightened, because there was a lady in the church who had a son who was such and such and so and so and therefore. Listen, sensitivity in that context, I understand better than many of you even know. But in your pulpit, you have no right to try and re-translate the Bible to fit the itching ear culture. And that is what he's saying.

37:12 I agree with what Herschel said this morning. You say, So do I. Well, okay, then we all do. The Bible's assessment of the human condition is not naturally appealing. It's not. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Your friends will say to you when you're on the golf course with them, you're not actually saying, Alistair, that the death of a Galilean carpenter over 2,000 years ago is actually an important figure and point in history. I'm saying, no, I'm not saying that. I'm saying it is the most significant moment in history, and that Jesus is the person that he claims to be. Oh, you can't be serious. We've got to be prepared to acknowledge again, as we heard this morning, that the Bible's assessment of our world, a fallen world, is that we are sinful, we're guilty, we're lost, and we're responsible. And we are entirely unable to fix the problem. Entirely unable to fix the problem. And so, when people go to churches where the exhortation from the pulpit is somehow or another, they can receive a mechanism to fix the problem for themselves, which makes them feel good about themselves, then they'll be drawn to that.

38:33 But to be confronted by the fact that you cannot fix your condition. And men and women don't naturally like that. So, Timothy is being called to take a stand, to swim against the current, and so am I, and so are you. Look at how he then puts it. While you are strategically involved in proclaiming the truth. This is what you ought to make sure about, Timothy. Four things. Keep your head, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. That's it in a nutshell. If there is one verse that gave a foundation to basics when we began it 23 years ago, it's probably the fifth verse of 2 Timothy 4. Because when we began, a friend said to me, What will we call it? I said, I don't know what you call it. I said, Why don't we call it Basics?

39:28 And he said, Okay, that'll work. So we called it Basics. And then the next year, he said, What should we call it this year? I said, Well, why don't we call it Basics? And then, because I'm so creative when it comes to stuff like this, that here we are with Basics. What kind of Basics do you mean? I mean this kind of Basics. Because I always say to myself, I get up in the morning and say, What are you supposed to do today? Keep your head, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. What are you going to do on Tuesday? Keep your head, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. That's straightforward. That's the charge. That's what he says to him. Be sober-minded. Keep your head. Because what had happened was the people around Timothy were becoming intoxicated by all kinds of ideas, and a lot of them have drifted away. And so he says to Timothy, stay awake. Be vigilant. Don't fall asleep at the wheel. Watch your life. Watch your doctrine.

40:26 It's crucial for you and also for your passengers. Susan and I had a fellow pick us up in the last little while, whenever it was we had to come here. Friday, I think it was, we came. And there was a fellow who picked it up. He said, L.A. And he was an hour late from the time he was going to pick us up, so he wasn't immediately in my friendship camp. But I tried to remember I was a Christian before I was a pastor, and so we set off. And we hadn't gone very far down the road, and I was sitting this side, Sue was sitting behind him. And as I looked across, he kept going, And I said, Oh, man, we ought to go 85 miles with this fellow. And then I noticed he was doing the—you know when you're driving on the freeway and you think for just a minute you might have lost it? It goes like that. You grab it. Oh, no, we're still here. We're still here. Like that. I saw him do that a few times. And I said, Hey, Hendy, do you want to pull over and let me drive? He said, Oh, no, no, no, I'm fine. It was a rite of terror. There's not a plane trip I've ever had that was as terrifying as driving down the 405 and the 5 in the pitch dark, not knowing where we're going.

41:40 with a guy from Malaysia who had been working since in the early hours of the morning. Stay awake! It's crucial for your passengers. It's crucial for your congregation. You keep watch over them, as one who must give an account. Sober-minded, endure suffering. Well, this is so clear, and I think Herschel brought it out so wonderfully well. he's not sounding out a new note here. It's a refrain. Share in suffering. I suffer. I'm suffering. I endure everything. And what he's essentially saying is, listen, this goes with the ministry. Physical, mental, emotional costs are part and parcel, in my experience, of following the pattern of sound words. I'll say it to you again. Physical, mental, emotional costs go with the territory. If you're not prepared for that, then you better start getting prepared for that. And if you haven't faced it, then get ready to face it. This is my attempt to encourage you. Don't misunderstand me. But what's what Paul's saying? He says, get ready for suffering. Well, why would you do that? Well, doctors do that all the time.

42:59 They bring you in, and then they fiddle around with you, and then they tell you, now, this will be a little something, which means in real terms, this is going to be agony. But they're trying to make sure that when they hit you, you've at least got a sense of it. Timothy is saying to him, Paul is saying to him, listen, just in the same way as Nehemiah, when he was building the wall, was confronted by that ugly trinity, that godless trinity of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and all those guys. Remember, oh, we know what you're doing. You want to be the king. You're just trying to build a big wall. Translated to 21st century, oh, no, we know why you want to expand the sanctuary. You just fancy yourself like so-and-so. You're just trying to do this, the next thing. When you run up against that, make sure you use the Nehemiah 6-8 response. Don't look it up, I'm gonna tell you what it is. Nehemiah says, But I sent them this response. Nothing like what you say is happening. You are just making it up out of your head. Okay? I haven't done it often, but I have done it. Dear Anne—and I like Anne and her husband, Nick, but she hates the music. Or did. She'd write, This is probably the worst Sunday we've had in a while, the music—diddle-dee, diddle-dee-dum, and so on—to be kind of musical. Dear Anne, Nehemiah 6-8, your pastor and friend, Alistair.

44:40 Nothing like what you say is happening. You're making it up out of your head. You remember when Paul says, I do not care if I'm judged by you or by any human court. My conscience is clear, but that doesn't make me innocent. So we're not arguing for innocence. We're not taking the high ground. We're just saying, listen, that's a lot of nonsense. And if you think that you can break down this wall and get me to come off this wall and descend to where you are, I'm not coming. What are you going to do? I'm going to tell people about Jesus. Isn't that what the work of an evangelist is? I don't think he was being given a new assignment. He was just going to make sure that he preached the Word in such a way that everybody understood there's a difference between a lecture and preaching. In a lecture, you distill information. Preaching is a personal, passionate plea. The people are out there going, Why are you on about this? What is it you're trying to tell us? I beseech you, by the mercies of God, be reconciled to God. In other words, it's not, I hope you've got a few ideas that are the things I've told you about today. No!

45:55 There's a heaven, there's a hell. You're on the knife edge. I beseech you, receive the reconciliation that has been provided. I'm doing the work of an evangelist. Packer, in quest for godliness, if one preaches the Bible biblically, one cannot help preaching the gospel all the time, and every sermon will be at least by implication evangelistic. Do not divert from gospel preaching to a spirit of admonition, pointing out your congregation everything is bad here and there. That doesn't actually help them at all. They've already figured that out. Proclaim the gospel. And finally, he says, fulfill your ministry. Discharge all the duties. Carry out to the full the commission that God has given you. The Battle of Trafalgar, Horatio Nelson, from the flagship victory, sent by flags across the British fleet, England expects that every man today will do his duty. He doesn't send a message out and say, I hope you're all feeling good this morning, and all that kind of jazz. No, he says, he doesn't say, do it. He says, the expectation of England is that since you are an enlisted man in Her Majesty's forces, you will do your duty. We are enlisted men. We're not just volunteers.

47:29 We can't believe that we even have the privilege, but a privilege it is. And whether we're in Ohio or Iowa or Nebraska or Ireland or Malaysia or whatever, it's the same, every place. The heart of man is in need of Jesus as a Savior. We don't have to know how people function. You know, these people who say, Well, if you've never really been a factory worker, how could you preach to factory workers? Or, it's like, What are you talking about? The heart of man is the same. It doesn't matter if he's a scientist or he grows tulips. And we know that. It's solemn. It's straightforward. It's strategic.

48:23 It's our privilege. What a privilege. What a privilege. Father, I thank you for your Word. Thank you for Timothy. We look forward to meeting him. We get the backstory on all of this. We find out, we can ask him, when you got that letter, what did you really think? Yeah. But until then, help us, as we've been helped in these few days, led in song, spread hospitality before us, enjoyed the encouragement of those around us, and said under the instruction of your Word, help us then to keep our heads, to endure hardship, to do the work of an evangelist, and to discharge all the duties of our ministry. And we pray in Christ's name.