In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of approaching and handling Holy Scripture. He encourages listeners to come under the authority of Christ as Lord and to be part of God's people in order to benefit from fellowship. The speaker also highlights the need to have a sense of being in the will of God and to be willing to sacrifice one's life completely to the Father and the Son. The sermon references the apostle Paul, who wrote to Timothy from the gates of heaven, just before offering his life to God. The speaker uses this example to inspire listeners to have a deep devotion to God and to approach and understand the Bible with diligence.

Shall we turn please to Paul's second letter to Timothy. Paul, second Timothy one, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That will suffice for the moment. Second Timothy is Paul's last epistle. We have begun to read his very last words. I have often wondered how Timothy felt as he read them. The sense of loneliness that would steal over his soul when he realized that Paul was about to leave to go to heaven. And yet at the same time many a noble resolve must have filled his soul as he felt the mantle of Paul falling upon his slender shoulders. For you know one of the main reasons for writing is to indicate to Timothy a change in leadership. That God is taking one leader home and thrusting responsibility upon another. And I don't know but maybe there might be assemblies in Toronto where the Lord would be indicating a change in leadership and responsibility falling upon the shoulders of a younger man or men. You know for after all Timothy wasn't a Paul, never would be. And he would lack in many ways apostolic authority. And I'm sure that Timothy a different kind of man would feel that he wasn't a Paul. And yet Paul can't live forever. And if the Lord tarries Paul will be called home and Timothy so to speak will take his place. So that if the Lord is overruling that's an encouragement. For after all brethren you may not feel you're as good as the men that went before you. And you might be a little appalled if suddenly responsibility was thrust upon you. But the God that sustained Timothy can sustain you. After all there came a day when Moses handed over to a Joshua and Joshua never was a Moses. So you see that while you may feel that you're not as capable as others who went before you, you're cast upon the same God that can sustain and help you as he helped the men that went before. I would gather that 2nd Timothy was written during Paul's second and final Roman imprisonment. In his first imprisonment Acts 28 he's obviously expecting to be delivered. He hopes shortly to come unto them that life would be preserved. But during that first Roman imprisonment he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Being I think released for a short time he wrote 1st Timothy and Titus and then he was arrested. Now it would be difficult to say where. But if you were going down the places that he mentions in 2nd Timothy 4 that would be difficult to fit into the account in the Acts. You come to a verse like this. 2nd Timothy 4 at verse 13 and Paul says this. The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus when thou comest bring with thee and the books, but especially the patchments. Would that not indicate a hurried exit? So to speak as they tell us about in Eastern Europe at times a knock on the door, no time to gather anything, hurried away. Nero was after the Christians. What better than arrest the leaders? Isn't that what they do? And thereby hope to scatter the flock. Paul's in a dungeon. And there comes the day when he's got to stand before Nero. 2nd Timothy 4 you'll recall at verse 16. At my first defense no man stood with me. Can you see the little man entering the court? And he's looking around. He's expecting to see some friends there. I don't know you know as I build it up in my mind I wonder if he had sent for certain men and they failed to turn up. The sense of aloneness grips the little man as he looks around. He's on his own. He hasn't even a counsel for the defense. And that day as he stood before Nero he made his defense. And as he made his defense he preached the gospel. And so skillfully did he present his case that the case was adjourned. But Paul knows that his days are numbered. He says the time of my departure is at hand. And so he lifts his pen to write to Timothy. Now you've got it. Paul's writing from the gates of heaven. He's just on the very border of eternity. So to speak he has had a glimpse of heaven. And for a few moments he turns his back on it to write to Timothy. And Timothy receives it as a communication from the man that he loved who was just about to offer his life to God. He says you remember in second Timothy four words like these I am already being poured forth. The time of my departure is at hand. He's dying for Christ but they're not taking his life he's giving it. I am already being poured forth as a drink offering. In a lesser sense in the example of a greater who said no man taketh my life from me I lay it down of myself. And Paul conceives at the end of the road that he's going out to give his life to Christ. After all had he not given everything to Christ from the day that he engaged himself to the Lord on the Damascus Road he had given everything to Christ. And finally he'll seal it all with his life's blood. Ah maybe not maybe maybe not much use me talking to you like this. I don't know. We've never been asked to suffer much for Christ. You've never been in prison for him. You've never been whipped. At the best you've suffered a wee bit reproach and they've laughed and sneered at you for being a Christian and made them sound clever at your expense but that's about the sum total. I don't know about the rest of you public men. I want to make my confession when I've got to handle scriptures about suffering in the new testament or in the old I'm always a wee bit embarrassed. I feel I'm a wee bit out my depth and mind you I don't like that. It would be right that a man should teach what he's experienced but when you're expounding the scriptures you'll come on subjects like this of which you have no experience. And I suppose to face it up you and I at the moment don't need grace to die we need grace to live. Isn't that right? And I would reckon would you agree I would reckon if we had to face death that grace would be given to die. You maybe don't feel you could do it now but at the time you would get the grace and the faith to die for Christ. But here you are mind you it's pretty soft going. Now I know I know especially you young folks you sing very lustily it's not an easy road. God knows it couldn't be easier. It couldn't be easier. Isn't that right? It may be get more difficult as time goes on. But I want to say this to you. Don't ask me why we are not worthy enough to suffer for Christ. Don't ask me. Maybe the Lord has me too much confidence in us. We've heard over the weekend of Eastern Europe and those who know what it is to suffer so many ways for Christ. May God give us grace when things are easy to sacrifice life and talent and all that we possess in the service of the man that died for us. In the passage I've read to you very clearly there's one verses one and two of the salutation. Verses three to seven he's inspiring Timothy by way of remembrance. Now let's look just for a moment at this salutation will you? Paul. An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Now right away you have brought before you his official status. He is an apostle of Christ. Now that means that he was commissioned personally by Christ. Now there are only 13 official apostles. The 12 that were commissioned by Christ and Paul. Others are called apostles but they're not apostles in the same sense. These these men were officially commissioned by Christ and that apostolic authority was never passed on to anyone. Maybe when we come to second Timothy two verse two I'll talk to you about truth handed down from generation to generation. But the apostles were men who had an official status. Who were the personal representatives of Christ and who belonged to the early days of the church. Second sorry Ephesians 2 verse 20 tells us that the church built upon the ministry of the apostles and prophets. Now when you get the expression put like that apostles and prophets the prophets are new testament prophets. So that if they laid the foundation in their ministry you won't get them at the 20th story. Now you've got that. Now you listen to me young folks and I'll save you from Pentecostal error. There are no apostles today. Apostles were a man personally commissioned by Christ. Is that clear? There are no prophets today. Prophets were men who spoke by direct revelation from God. We don't do that. We teach the already completed scriptures. An apostle was a person. You see let me explain it like this. Supposing you had a gathering of New Testament church. Here's what you had. You had the gathering of a New Testament church without a New Testament. So that when any problem arose how could it be met? Well it was met through men known as prophets. And the spirit of God would inspire a brother to rise to his feet to give the message or the word that would meet the situation in the time that was then present. The word of wisdom and the word of knowledge of first Corinthians 12 would meet a situation where there were no scriptures. Now there's no need for prophets today because the scriptures are complete. Yes even the scriptures that you're reading some people say to you know did Paul know that he was writing scripture? Well I'll tell you something Peter knew he was writing scripture. Peter knew. In his second epistle chapter 3 in verse 15 he says this and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his epistles speaking in them of many things in which are some things hard to be understood. You found that out haven't you? Reading Paul's epistles some things hard to be understood. Peter now says which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures. So Peter recognized that Paul was writing scripture. So here it is. Paul says he's an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now that means that he wasn't self-elected and he wasn't elected by others and it didn't come down to him by hereditary right. Paul was an apostle not of men nor by men. He was an apostle directly commissioned by Christ. So his writings carry apostolic authority and any authority that any servant has stems from the fact that he's expounding scriptures that carried apostolic authority and the stamp of divine approval by Christ. Look again Paul he's an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God so that this man finds that the will of God unfolded in his life to make him an apostle so that he's conscious of a personal commission by Christ and he's conscious that he's in the will of God in relation to it. Now let me stop for mind you it's a big thing in life to know that you're in God's will and while we do not carry apostolic status with us any servant that will carry the power of God and bring blessing from God one of the many things that will enable him to do that is this that he is conscious that he's in the will of God. Now let me say this to you if you have any doubts at all about the will of God for your life then you can't speak with authority nor can you act with confidence and if you're not too sure my advice to you is away you go and get into the presence of God and make sure come what may that you'll live your life centered in the will of God. I believe that God has a blueprint for us don't I? I want you young folks to listen for mind you if we can get you to get your life centered in Christ and seek the will of God we'll have done a great thing and you'll need to learn early in life that you can't live as you please and go do as you like and go where you like but your life will need to be controlled and superintended by the will of God that's a great thing. Now come again he says this he's an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus so that he's an apostle by the will of God and it's all in harmony with the life that is in Christ Jesus. Got that? An apostle in harmony with the and in harmony with the message of God he sees his position in relation to the gospel oh it's true it's true that the gospel ultimately gave him that position through Christ and in that position he would preach the gospel but he's indicating here that his apostleship in it is characteristically lined up with the life that is in Christ Jesus now that's remarkable now I want you to listen very carefully please here I want you to note the expression the life which is in Christ Jesus now you'll get similar expressions on different ideas I know that sounds a bit scotch but what I mean is this when you come to chapter 2 verse 1 he'll talk about the grace that is in Christ Jesus when you go to chapter 2 verse 10 he'll talk about the salvation which is in Christ Jesus when you go to Romans 3 verse 24 he'll talk about the redemption that is in Christ Jesus now stop when he's talking about life and salvation and grace and redemption he says these things are in Christ Jesus not in Jesus Christ got that now when you read your new testament possibly up until now when you've come across Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus you didn't think there was any difference well of course you'll learn that the scripture's inspired and that Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus refer to the same person with different emphasis now the emphasis always lies on the first word Jesus Christ is the man that was here who's now up there Christ Jesus is the man up there who was once down here now Peter will invariably talk about Jesus Christ for as you heard Peter knew him down here before he went up there Paul will invariably talk about him as Christ Jesus because Paul got to know him up there as the man who was once down here isn't that right do you remember Sunday night in the preaching of the gospel remember it was indicated to you this that Paul was saved by a vision of Christ in the glory not in the cross that clear I'll tell you more the night you got converted Christ was in the glory and not in the cross you may have been converted through the preaching of a message about the cross but Christ positionally was in the glory so that what's now that life that you possess that eternal life it's in Christ Jesus salvation that you enjoy it's in Christ Jesus that redemption accomplished for you is in Christ Jesus have you got that everything is in Christ redemption salvation life is all in Christ Jesus not in the cross not in the cross salvation's in Christ now please for instance you've heard the preacher say put your faith in a finish what you put your faith in Christ that clear now please if I was listening to you preaching I wouldn't I and you made a statement like that I never would for it never would dream of talking to you about it I never would mention it to you but when you're up here and teaching divine truth you've got to teach what the Bible says not what the preachers preach follow so that all these things are vested in the risen man for instance when you come to union with Christ the Bible says that you are in Christ not in Jesus in Christ in the risen man have you got that you have no links with Christ before the cross come on now you have no links with Christ before the cross your links with the man in the glory Christianity began with a man in heaven now right the gospel that's preached came from a man in the glory and every blessing is vested in Christ now that means this now listen carefully that means this that the moment that you get converted the moment you get converted you receive every blessing in Christ and all that was wrought out by Christ on the cross is placed to your credit and your account whether you understand it or not shall I repeat that the moment you accept Christ every blessing that Christ procured on the cross is yours whether you understand it or not now let me illustrate and I told you on Sunday night I wasn't reading a Christian home lots of the brethren are surprised to hear that I was 19 before I was converted I was converted the second time ever I sat in a hall like this now the night I got converted I was made a priest I was constituted a priest but you know I didn't know that nobody told me the night I got converted I was made a son of God I didn't know that you see nobody told me why don't we teach our young converts these things now let me say this to you now listen carefully never at any time in your new testament are you asked to go through an experience to get a blessing never you get every blessing in Christ God says that's what I've made you now you be that is that clear you're never asked to go through an experience to get a blessing even what they call a second blessing never you get every blessing in Christ your only link is faith God does everything else that clear now so that he's quite clear life is in Christ Jesus redemption in Christ Jesus salvation in Christ Jesus everything is in the risen man what a wonderful person Christ is now come again verse two now he says Paul to Timothy my dearly beloved child Paul to Timothy he met Timothy on his second missionary journey or at least that's the first mention of their meeting Acts 16 and it was there that he took Timothy out into the service of God with him whether it probably was maybe converted through him I don't know may have been in his journey but there they were yoked together in service an older man and a younger man preaching together and that fellowship in service continued over many years I want to draw your attention to the older man and the younger man serving together the union of experience and energy the union of knowledge and a fervent desire in the younger man to serve God there's no generation gap you see we're living in a world where the old are segregated from the young the young what don't want to have anything to do with the old not right even their parents they'll leave home at an early age and get out to get freedom they'll live under the same roof with their parents who could be living miles away not right when you come to Christianity Christianity brings them all together there's no segregation of the saints there's no question of the young existing apart from the older and they're looked upon as having fellowship together and as we shall see in a moment and as we read there was a very real bond of love and affection between Paul and Timothy I want to talk to you older men for some of you maybe have not have too much time for younger people especially if they have come in from outside are you prepared to take an interest in them prepare to have them to your home prepare to talk to them about the word of God prepare to link up an intimate friendship with them so that they'll learn to love you and you love them so that you learn to appreciate each other and live with each other you won't get it outside in the world but when you come inside to the Christian church and assembly it's altogether different and you learn the grace of living with each other and of appreciating those of another generation remember young men that when you look at older men they know their bible and they've lived a long time for God see a young man during the conference when he indicated one or two things decisions he had made and passed judgment on certain things and I said now just a minute very kindly please I said you'll understand you're quite a young man and I said you don't know very much about your bible and I said you know it's a big mistake to start to make decisions that are based on inexperience and immaturity it's like because decisions based on that will need to be altered later on so I said just you save yourself that bother have you got that and remember this that you must look to older to teach you divine truth for on the whole young men can't teach young men you need someone older and more gifted to teach you on the other hand on the other hand the older brethren must recognize that when life comes in it not only brings its joys but it'll bring its problems and there is an adjustment to a new kind of life that is alien to what they knew outside it's a very real thing isn't it you young folks maybe have had a few problems in trying to adjust to living for Christ and you're coming into a spiritual realm where principles are totally different from what you knew outside and the people are totally different and you'll need to you'll need to learn to respect older ones and older ones will need to learn and understand that you have a few problems to sort out on the road through and you should find in these men these older men sympathy and understanding to help you in a very real way verse 2 so he says to timothy my dearly beloved child grace mercy and peace from god the father and christ jesus our lord now you'll notice that paul says to timothy now timothy grace mercy and peace to you from two divine persons god the father and christ jesus the lord now this is interesting because he had already experienced grace mercy and peace at conversion now right and yet in his salutation he says grace mercy and peace from god the father and christ jesus our lord for you see you don't exhaust things at conversion you don't exhaust the grace of god when he saved you paul later on many years later said by the grace of god i am what i am and all of us need that grace that consciousness of divine favor as we live life we need a sense of mercy from god and christ that will help us in every distress when we face up to the problems of life and we need peace the peace of god and the peace of christ in here when the battle rages and there are inward desires clamoring for satisfaction if you know the peace of god and the peace of christ in your life that tranquility that comes from above listen to me if you've got a problem look up now don't look to men you look up there's everything in the father and the son to meet your need in the power of the spirit is that clear now i believe that i believe that now watch he says that these things come from god the father and christ jesus our lord that means that the moment that you're converted god becomes your father and christ jesus becomes your lord so that you now have a father who is intensely interested in you now i don't know what kind of fathers you have had in your day they can vary fathers and there are men no doubt that bring a family into the world that have any much concern about them but i want to tell you the god that saved you has become your father and all that you would look for in a father you'll find perfectly in god he'll care for you he'll help you he'll shelter you he'll protect you he'll provide for you by the grace of god you can lift your heart at any time and say father now you learn to treat divine persons as persons that clear but more than that you've come to a knowledge of christ as lord now we do suffer a wee bit from defective gospel preaching there is no such thing there is no such thing as coming and making a decision for christ the savior and later on you'll recognize him as lord apostolic preaching in the acts was a presentation of christ as lord for lordship involves saviorhood and every every seeking soul should be made to understand that the moment that they put their faith in christ they are abdicating the throne of their life and you're handing it over to come under the lordship and direction of christ personally is that clear he's not your big brother he's the son of god you had you heard our brother saying that when paul preached in acts 10 he said he is lord of all that's right and he's your lord and you must submit completely and absolutely 100 to him and if you don't you'll have problems our lord so the two persons come under the one the one little word from now when you read of god the father in christ jesus our lord that's a that is an abstract reference to the deity of christ grace mercy and peace not only come from god as sovereign and father but these things come from christ our lord as well so that here you have a reference to the deity of christ whenever you read at any time anywhere god and christ that indicates oneness god and christ indicate unity god and christ indicate equality god and christ indicate individual personality christ is god one with god equal with god got that it's not wonderful that you and i are linked by by the spirit of god to two divine persons and one of these persons is our father and the other is our lord now you'll begin now let me say this i'm not alone in this place that if i make statements please i'm not excluding our brother walker anyone else they do the same job as me sometimes i believe possibly many times a lot better but you will have noticed how we've approached these two verses and expounded now i've done that to try and help you young folks how to approach and understand your bible when i was like you i used to go along to listen to men who would come to expound the scriptures and i would watch how they would handle them how they would approach them and i'm not by any means perfect there's no doubt you've noticed tonight but i learned from these men something about approaching and handling holy scripture if you're going to be anything for god you're going to be something for god you'll need to come under the authority of christ as lord you'll need to be found amongst god's people where you'll benefit from the fellowship and you'll need to carry a sense that you're in the will of god and from then on you can sacrifice life totally and completely to the father and the son may the lord bless his work to you