Itching Ears in a Swiping World | 2 Tim 4:1-5 | Pastor Bob Erbig

Well, um in March of 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 took off just after midnight from Kuala Lumpur, headed for Beijing.

There were 239 men, women, and children on board, business travelers, families, crew members, just doing their ordinary jobs, and by all accounts, it was a routine flight on a familiar route.

And then somewhere over the ocean, if you remember this, uh, the plane vanished.

And the plane settled into a cruising altitude.

The pilot transmitted one final, now chilling, message.

All right, good night.

And shortly afterwards, the plane went silent, vanished somewhere over the Indian Ocean with no explanation, no eyewitnesses, no known wreckage that we could point to and say, Well, there it is.

Anyone remember that?

It's kind of, it was just my eyes were glued to the TV.

The mystery gripped people worldwide.

In 2023, almost 10 years after the plane vanished, Netflix produced a polished documentary series revisiting MH370, and they spent hours walking through different possibilities and asking questions like, did something fail mechanically?

Was there was it a deliberate act?

Was there a cover-up?

Did the plane land in Iran somewhere?

The show interviewed experts and families, but it also gave ample airtime to highly speculative theories.

Now, why was that?

Because I think that what that's what keeps us watching, right?

When the facts run out, the what-ifs begin.

And our culture loves a good, juicy story, even if the story is not true.

The mystery is what captures our imagination and our hearts.

Has that ever happened to you?

It's a plausible myth, you say.

Now, for definition's sake, a myth, which we'll cover today, is comes from the Greek word mythos.

It's a legendary tale, a fabricated story, a speculative teaching that is elevated above sober historical or orthodox truth.

And it's our culture's fascination with myths that can quickly lead us away from the truth.

So the disappearance of MH370 is one dramatic example of something that happens to all of us.

Because spiritually speaking, when God doesn't explain himself on our timetable, when we don't see reasons for our suffering, or when life doesn't turn out as we hoped, we start to fill in the gaps with speculation and disappointment, and we drift towards other narratives that we think meet our needs better than God Himself.

That's the topic that Paul covers in 2 Timothy 4, 1 through 5.

As Craig read before, I'd invite you to join me there now if you're not there with me already.

Paul writes this in 2 Timothy 4, 3.

He says, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.

Now, often, as I mentioned previously, we read a verse like this and we assume it's it's all going to happen in the future.

But Paul is writing to Timothy in the first century, and it all sounds imminent.

Even then, under immense cultural pressure, people were abandoning their faith because it wasn't easy.

The Christian faith did not supply the answers they wanted, and so instead they went a different direction.

Why?

Well, Paul said people started to have itching ears.

Does anybody have itching ears out there today?

Maybe somebody's talking about you.

Now, when you have an itch, what do you do?

You scratch, right?

In fact, you could ask your neighbor to, if you're so bold, to scratch your ear right now if it's itchy.

See, we crave relief and irritation.

We reach to the closest bottle of ointment for satisfaction.

Now, in 21st century America, what makes our ears itch?

Maybe it's personal affirmation, material comfort, the illusion that we have some secret knowledge that nobody else knows.

After all, who doesn't like a good conspiracy theory?

Recently the US government released secret documents about UFOs and aliens, and the internet blew up.

Every Christian podcaster I follow was commenting on the story.

Why?

Because we're fascinated with secrets, especially government secrets, right?

When our ears itch, how do we scratch?

Well, in our advanced internet-equipped, media-driven age, the tools are literally at our fingertips.

If our website or application doesn't work, you just swipe left or swipe right.

Instead of scratching, we endlessly swipe.

Every platform is eager to feed us algorithmically curated content that is personalized to our desires.

And if you swipe long enough, you'll find a YouTube channel with an influencer that tells you what you want to hear by scratching just exactly where you itch.

Seems like they already knew.

Paul says a time is coming, and I might argue is now here, when people will not endure sound teaching.

They will pursue myths rather than the truth.

Now, what are some of the modern myths out there?

Well, let me give you a couple, just to get your appetites thinking here.

There's the prosperity gospel narrative, and that says if I have enough faith, God will make me wealthy.

And that myth rescripts the Christian life around self-fulfillment and financial gain.

There's the therapeutic gospel, which says God's main job is to help you follow your heart.

That myth retains Christian language, but God is no longer the central figure in the story, and repentance is replaced by personal fulfillment.

And then there's again the speculative Christian conspiracies or end times theories.

And given the state of the world, I encounter a new claim every day.

I open up my newsfeed.

The myth prioritizes secret codes or a political conspiracy reading of scripture.

And those stories might fascinate people, but they don't help us always live a life of true faith in Christ.

So the polished Netflix documentaries may soon be filmed in our new New Jersey studio down at the shore.

They may tantalize our supposed felt needs, but often they prove to be false.

The scriptures don't primarily meet our felt needs, they address our deeper spiritual needs.

And what we need is Jesus.

Now, what do we learn in last week's message?

We learned in 2 Timothy 3.16 that all scripture is God breathed, it's breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

Now, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness don't sound like easy tasks to me.

It sounds like God's word, the Bible, will challenge our assumptions.

It may offend us at times, but it does so with the goal of pointing us toward the truth.

So 2 Timothy 3, 16 to 17 was about doctrine, that God's word is sufficient.

And it raises a question well, how should Christians respond to the myths of our age?

And that's the topic of 2 Timothy 4, 1 to 5.

So if 3, 16 and 17 was about doctrine, 4, 1 to 5, now takes that doctrine and applies it.

Paul answers the so what question.

And in five verses, Paul offers a three-step game plan to address the myths and get us to the truth.

First, we're going to see the charge.

Second, we're going to see the warning, and then finally, the work.

So let's pray, and then we'll look at each of those verses this morning.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your grace, Lord.

I thank you for each person who is here, for those that are joining us online or maybe listening to this later on, Lord.

I ask that you, Holy Spirit, would come, speak to our hearts, illuminate our minds, that we may see what you want us to see.

Bring conviction where conviction needs to happen, Lord, and I ask that my words would fade and your words would come.

For you tell us that the grass may wither and the flower may fall, but the word of our Lord abides forever.

And so may you speak to us now in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Alright, so first, before he outlines the problem, Paul gives Timothy and us a preemptive charge.

That since Scripture is breathed out by God, since Scripture is sufficient, what do we do?

What do we do?

Well, he writes in verse 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is what?

Who is the judge of the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, we'll get to the charge in a moment, but this right here is a heavy verse, and I want you to feel the weight of the statement.

Now, in the original language, charge was a legal commission.

It was as if somebody was testifying under oath in court.

So picture Paul on the witness stand right here, looking us straight in the eye and speaking with passion.

The same word here is used in Acts chapter 20, verse 21, when Paul is giving his farewell address to the Ephesian elders.

Acts 20:21

His attitude is and heart posture is that every gospel preacher should have, when they stand before their congregation, that we're testifying before a watching world.

This is not casual advice he's giving over dinner.

It is serious.

Now, notice the charge is offered in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.

In other words, God Himself is Paul's witness.

Now, have you ever been in a courtroom when somebody's giving testimony?

You know, after somebody gets up on the stand, they put their hand on the Bible, they take the oath, and the weight of the room shifts.

Because now, if that witness says anything that's untrue, they may be committing perjury, right?

Then it might be an indictment.

There's serious consequences.

Paul's argument here is a crescendo of power.

He reminds us who Jesus Christ is.

He is what?

He is the judge.

Do you know what that means?

That means while that doctrine is unpopular, one day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

We will give an account of how we lived on earth.

When was the last time you saw a Netflix documentary speculating on that?

Hollywood is not making movies about Jesus' judgment on earth.

But Paul is saying that his charge bears the weight and power of the judge.

Now finally, he introduces the stakes.

Jesus will come back, he will bring his full kingdom with him.

The charge is eschatological, future-oriented, end times in nature.

But in Greco-Roman times, the word appearing described the official glorious visitation of a ruler.

You know, this week we had a presidential delegation visit China.

This was a high-stakes meeting between heads of state, and when Air Force One landed, China put its best foot forward.

Streets were cleaned up, military shows occurred, the country was ready.

And what Paul is saying is that while we don't know the day or the hour, we need to be ready for Jesus' return.

He's the king.

You don't want to get caught unprepared when his kingdom arrives.

But the word also communicates a less than subtle message because Paul is deliberately repurposing Caesar's vocabulary, the emperor's vocabulary, to show that the gospel preacher is not a herald of Rome or of the United States or of China, but of Christ.

That when Jesus, the true king, appears, he will judge all earthly rulers.

He will judge China.

He will judge the United States.

He will judge us.

And so, church, you must remember where your primary and ultimate allegiance lies to the kingdom of Christ.

So to bring this home, remember Christ's kingdom is both already and not yet.

That even though his kingdom has not come to earth in totality, we are called to bring the kingdom right now.

Do you know what that means?

That means you must live as a citizen of heaven right now, every day.

In your home, you must bring heaven to earth.

At work, you are a representative of Christ, the King Himself.

On social media and the internet, Christ's kingdom still matters.

If Jesus came back today and evaluated your Instagram posts, what would he say?

One day he will appear in glory.

So verse one is the context of the charge, but now what is the charge?

Well, look at verse 2.

Preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season.

That's the charge.

Preach the word.

Now Paul is writing to Timothy, a pastor-preacher, but the application I think should hit home for all of us because the Greek word caruso meant to proclaim, to herald, to announce a message publicly.

It was used to describe the king's official messenger, the town crier who was sent out to make official statements.

Or maybe a modern illustration would be think of it as Jesus' press secretary.

Have you ever thought of yourself that way?

See, as a Christian, in some ways, we are the town crier running through the streets, uh, announcing the good news to all who will listen, and then in confrontational moments, we feel difficult questions from hostile audiences and defend the truth.

The word simultaneously refers to the gospel message, right?

The life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf, as well as the breathed-out scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit.

So when Paul tells us to preach the word, he's talking about preaching Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, as well as the depth of scriptural instruction for our edification.

So when should we preach?

He says, preach in season and out of season.

Now, if you're an athlete, you know that you play during the regular season, but you train during the off-season.

Why?

Because you have to be ready at a moment's notice.

You have to be ready to preach anywhere, anytime.

We need to preach the gospel and stand for biblical truth when times are favorable for Christians and when the cultural pressure is against us.

And at our time in history, or there were times in history, I think, when the larger cultural story was very favorable to Christianity.

And being a Christian or a pastor, it would bring you cultural cachet.

It was just assumed that that was something you wanted.

But in today's world, it's in many cases a liability.

Christians who are faithful to God's word find themselves on the margin due to views on things like the exclusivity of Christ or biblical sexuality or religious freedom or that Jesus is the judge of our sin.

You know, in 2007, uh there was a Chinese pastor, Ezra Xin, who started a small unregistered house church in Beijing, and it grew into the Zion Church, one of China's largest underground congregations.

And when officials from the government demanded surveillance cameras in the sanctuary and tighter state control, Xin refused and kept preaching Christ openly.

Now in 2025, just last year, police raided multiple cities.

They arrested Ezra and other leaders and charged them for illegally spreading religious information.

Simply because they continued to proclaim the gospel outside government control.

So his story shows that when Christians preach faithfully, under cultural pressure, the cost often rises, but so does the clarity of the witness.

This is the charge.

Preach the word in season and out of season.

Be prepared.

Now, when the gospel or biblical truth is culturally out of season, there will be consequences for our faith, and the myths of our age will become tempting.

So, how should Christians respond to the myths of our age?

Preach the word, yes, but how?

Well, Paul offers three words to guide us.

Now, end of verse 2.

He says, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Now, while those qualifiers are used together to modify the preaching of the word, each conveys a little bit of a different aspect.

Now, also don't think that this simply applies to professional preachers.

Every Christian is called to this, whether you're in the pulpit or whether you're around the dinner table.

And we we are called to do this correctly, in gentleness, out of a heart of love.

So let's break down each word.

First, there's reprove.

You say, what does that mean to reprove?

Well, that word focuses on the mind.

That when somebody is in doctrinal error, we preach the word by showing them the error of their thinking through clear biblical reasoning.

So for example, somebody might hold a cultural belief that does not line up with scripture on the topic of marriage, or maybe has a misunderstanding of a core doctrine such as the exclusivity of Christ.

Picture a church member who says to you, Well, I think sincere Muslims, Hindus, and Christians, they all worship the same God in different ways.

How would you reprove that?

Well, you could sit down and point them to scriptures like John 14.6 or Acts 4.12 or 1 Timothy 2.5, which all affirm that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone.

We reprove by demonstrating error from Scripture.

Second, rebuke.

Rebuke sounds so harsh, right?

It's a word that focuses on the will or the conscience.

So for this one, when somebody is living in sin, we confront them and call them to repentance.

Because a rebuke is direct and urgent.

Think about Pastor Dave's message on pornography a few weeks ago.

That if somebody is in habitual sexual sin and not remorseful, not repentful, when somebody is violent with their words or divisive in their actions, they may need to be rebuked.

It's an authoritative command from God's word.

And then finally, there's exhort.

And that's a word that appeals to the heart.

That when you preach the word by exhorting someone, you are urging them forward.

You are confronting them.

You are walking alongside them in difficult times.

For example, maybe there's a family in our church who's facing a cancer diagnosis or a job loss or a prodigal child and they feel overwhelmed and spiritually numb.

You can lovingly and patiently take them to Romans 8, 18 to 39, and exhort them about the love of Christ, that you cannot be separated from Him if you are in Christ.

Don't give up.

God is still on His throne, He sees you.

When someone is discouraged, going through a hard season, struggling to obey, you preach the Word by exhorting them.

And Paul says you're teaching them and you do this with patience.

So look at these words, church, and ask yourself how will you preach the word this week?

Reprove, rebuke, exhort.

There's times for all three.

How do Christians respond to the myths of our age?

We heed Paul's charge by preaching the word, and we must do this because, secondly, there's a warning that he outlines next.

Now, why is this charge so important?

Paul gave the way to the context first.

He appealed to the witness of God and Jesus Christ.

He gave clear instructions on how to preach the word.

Why?

Well, now he tells us the problem.

Look at verse 3.

He says, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.

And that's both a discouraging statement and a call to action.

The time is coming, it's in the future tense, but Paul is also combating false teachers in his time.

It's not a prediction of a one-time future apostasy in the church.

It is a warning for the church in any age.

It was true in Ephesus.

It was true in Rome.

It was true during the Reformation period.

It was true during the Great Awakening in America.

It's true today.

It's gonna be true in the future.

Every generation has people who do not endure sound teaching.

Now the word sound was a medical term.

It's where we get our English word hygiene from.

So this teach this teaching is pure.

It's pure gospel teaching that's clean, it's undefiled, it's not mixed with anything dirty or confusing.

Clean water hydrates and nourishes the soul.

Clean filtered water is something that we take for granted in America, but if you live in a place like Africa, uh it's much harder to come by.

People may there may drink water contaminated by bacteria or dirt.

And while it might need and meet a need initially, eventually it might cause sickness.

And that's what happens when we drink contaminated.

Teaching, it can eventually poison our soul.

Now, if you notice that word endure, Paul has used that multiple times in his letters to Timothy.

It meant to hold fast during difficult times.

And cleverly Paul uses it to make the point that some people will give up on this clean, solid gospel teaching and biblical fidelity.

Instead, what will they do?

End of verse 3.

Having itching ears, here it is, and they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

So their ears are gonna itch, right?

Again, anybody got itchy ears?

Now, one reason your ears might be itchy is because of fungal growth.

Sorry to get gross here, but that's what happens.

That's what the doctors tell me.

You got fungus in your fungus in your ears.

It's contaminated, right?

And all you want to do is start itching your ears.

When contaminated teaching goes in, it causes a fungus that makes you itch uncontrollably.

Paul is using the phrase to describe what happens when we do not endure sound teaching.

How do we itch our ears?

How do we get relief?

He says we start to collect these teachers who tell us what we want to hear, teachers who make us feel good.

We start to accumulate, or the word means to pile on many teachers that appeal.

Paul is talking about a cultural problem of his day.

In the Roman world, wealthy patrons would routinely collect philosophers, right?

Spiritual teachers, as a way to show off their culture and their status.

It was a philosopher for hire.

It was the traveling, the traveling sophist who attuned their message to the tastes of the crowd.

They were performers.

It was a normal part of life in cities like Ephesus.

Paul is warning Timothy about this cultural dynamic, this consumer dynamic that has now crept into the church.

And he says, instead of submitting to the apostolic message, what happens is these congregations are starting to shop for spiritual experiences that fit their preferences.

So you can picture today with popular Christian podcasters, conference speakers whose appeal is driven less by careful doctrine and more by how perfectly they scratch the cultural itch in the moment.

So imagine a teacher with a huge, a huge platform who constantly reassures their listeners that following Jesus will mostly mean personal success and self-affirmation, but they avoid hard texts about sin and judgment or costly obedience because, well, those topics just don't, they don't preach.

They don't fit well.

People don't just listen.

What they do is they start collecting these teachers.

They quote them, they cite them, and they use them like a badge of identity.

I'm with this voice.

So in that sense, the modern celebrity Christian ecosystem can function like this ancient patron philosopher system.

And what believers do is they curate teachers who say what they already want to hear instead of humbly submitting to the whole counsel of God.

So I'll have to ask you, what teachers are you collecting?

Now, these are just examples, and that's not a commentary on them, but they all have big platforms.

Some are saying out there, well, Pastor Bob, I don't collect any teachers.

That's an outrageous accusation.

Well, perhaps, but we do, my point is here, we do live in a time when collecting teachers is easier than ever.

Nearly everybody has a podcast nowadays, a YouTube channel, a TikTok following.

And so if you were just to do an exercise and take out your phone right now, look through your podcast playlists, look at all the YouTube channels you might follow.

How many do you have?

Now the really scary part about our Dane Age is that with AI algorithms, these platforms just they just know exactly what you want better than you do, right?

They see your searches, they remember your questions, and they suggest, nudge you towards things you might like, right, based on your activity.

I hate to break it to you, but but Siri and Alexa, yeah, they're listening, despite what they tell you.

And before you know it, Amazon, Facebook, they're suggesting the next product or the next book that you need to add to your collection.

And I think they even call it your collection, by the way.

Podcast playlists, YouTube channel, streaming platform, church, they're all designed to help you collect these teachers.

And again, the scariest part is we we start ingesting content without even thinking about it.

The algorithm knows what you want and it feeds your passions.

And it blocks contents and posts from people with whom you don't agree.

So you might ask, well, why are we so polarized as a church and country?

This is at least partly to blame.

Now, what is the danger?

What happens if you're browsing the internet in a way that does not align with God's word?

And the algorithm picks that up and it's not going to show you things that align with God's word.

That's the danger.

Before you know it, Paul says you might turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Here's the myths.

That's what the technology of our age allows us to do.

Remember, it's the advertisers that make money by showing you what you want.

They want your eyeballs, the views, the clicks, the likes, right?

We live in an insidiously dangerous age for this.

You have to watch out.

Now, notice, Paul juxtaposes the words truth and myth.

And that is intentional because they are at war with each other.

Now, a few weeks ago, again, I talked about, I gave you the example, the artificial intelligence worship service.

Claude is the popular AI model.

The company behind it is anthropic.

Recently they created a sub-model aimed at preventing cyber attacks.

Do you know what its name is?

Mythos, right?

The Greek word for myth.

Now, in the Greco-Roman world, Apal's day, a mythos was not simply a fairy tale, it was this grand explanatory narrative.

It was a story that claimed to answer the deepest questions of life, of origin, of meaning, of identity, of destiny.

And so do you see why?

The truth and a myth might be spiritually at war.

They were offering these alternative grand meta-narratives that competed with the apostolic gospel.

They wore spiritual vocabulary while displacing apostolic content.

The same thing happens today.

That we're in a war of ideas.

Now you might object, and you're saying right now, well, Pastor Bob, okay, this is for listen, this is for the less discerning person, and I'm really glad they came today.

I know the truth, right?

I will not stop listening to the truth.

Okay, maybe.

Fair enough, but every week I will tell you I see another Christian leader who's fallen in some way by wandering off.

Who's to say you're not next?

Parents, when you send your kids to college, have you trained them to discern the truth of the gospel from a myth?

I mean, think about the myths our sons and daughters here in the first semester.

College is the time to reinvent yourself without limits.

All religions basically teach the same thing.

Your body, your desires, your feelings, they define who you are.

And if Christianity makes you feel guilty or at a step with culture, it must be toxic.

These are not presented as myths, they're preached in classrooms and again, podcasts, TikToks, dorm room conversations.

It's obvious common sense, right?

And if our kids are not deeply rooted in the word, those stories will feel more plausible, more compassionate, more exciting than the old rugged story of a crucified and risen Savior.

And so we need to be vigilant.

We need extra discernment for our time.

Now, are you able to spot the myths of our age?

Because they're very good at disguising themselves.

And I will caution you, most people who I I've talked who leave the faith, it doesn't happen on like the turn of a dime, right?

So look, look back, look at that word wander.

Why does Paul use that?

They wander into the truth, into the myth.

Have you ever been distracted by a shiny object?

Maybe some of you are doing that right now.

This word has to do with fascination, right?

So back in 2 Timothy 3, if you remember, Paul criticized people who were always learning but never arriving at the truth.

Because he knows the people who wander don't have focus and they easily change direction.

Now when I when I was younger, I used to intentionally go into New York City and I would wander around, intentionally, by the way, to learn the subway, to learn the city, and I would explore different neighborhoods, but I learned if you wander too far, you might end up in a dangerous neighborhood and not know how you got there and not know how to get away.

But this is what Paul's saying here, that if you you don't turn away from the truth overnight.

It doesn't happen like that.

Most people wander away from the truth of God through little fascinations over a long period of time.

So it's it's a little bit of partying here, uh, it's it's some porn there, right?

It's uh it's uh you know a dash of new age spirituality in your 20s, it won't hurt very much, and uh little ancient aliens on the side.

Friends, the myths of our age will offer answers to our deepest questions, but they'll also take us away from the truth about Jesus Christ.

So, how should Christians respond to the myths of our age?

Paul says here, you have to endure this warning.

And he gives the warning because he knows how enticing the myths can become, especially when life is hard.

We have to recognize them.

And so I want to challenge you this week to open your eyes and see how many myths you can spot in our culture.

Make a list, share it with somebody, talk about it.

Now, what are some myths of our age?

Well, I won't be exhaustive, but let me just give you a couple common ones.

I sort of alluded to them before.

Myth number one here, just the follow your heart narrative gospel.

And that says the most important thing you can do is be true to yourself.

Right?

You see it in advertising, you see it in shows and movies everywhere.

It promises freedom, but it quietly replaces the deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me, with deny nothing, take up your dreams, follow your heart.

And a church that believes this myth eventually disciples people away from Jesus because the moment his word contradicts our desires, well, we have to choose our hearts over Christ.

Now there's also the spiritual but not religious gospel, which says you can have God without doctrine, Jesus without the church, and spirituality without obedience.

I mean, that sounds really humble and open-minded, right?

But it rejects the very things that Jesus died to create, the church, to save sinners.

Why did Jesus die?

A generation that believes this myth will, they might talk about Jesus a lot.

Oh, Jesus, you know, he really made a difference in my life, but they may quietly abandon his commands and his mission.

See, just as Paul did, we also have these grand alternative narratives that compete with the true gospel.

And we must recognize and reject those myths.

How should Christians respond to the myths of our age?

We preach the word, we adore the warning, and now finally it's time to do the work.

The work.

Now, we live in a time when myths are everywhere.

We're competing against these alternative gospels in this marketplace of ideas.

It is a war for minds and hearts, a war we must fight.

We gotta get on the battlefield.

Paul now returns to that opening charge and he fleshes it out.

He says, But as for you in verse 5, always be what?

Sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Now you see the contrast in language.

So he just finished describing all these people who've wandered away from the truth of the gospel, and picture Paul again now on the witness stand, making his final appeal before he gets the death sentence, and he looks at Timothy and he looks at us, he looked you straight in the eye, with all seriousness and tears in his eyes.

He says, But as for you, what?

Be different.

Don't let their fate be your fate.

And he outlines these four imperatives.

First, he says, be sober-minded.

Now that phrase, of course, means to be clear-headed, to be free from intoxication.

Because if you're drunk, it's much easier to wander around and make a fool of yourself, right?

If you want to avoid the myths, you have to what?

You have to stay sober.

And when you're sober, you won't be fooled by that latest narrative.

Second, endure suffering, which is which is a really important one because, at least in his context, people were going through a lot of suffering.

It was easy to give up, it was easy to look different ways.

That's a theme in Paul's letters to Timothy.

He calls him to endure despite hard times.

He calls him to stay strong.

There's this thread of costly faithfulness.

Faithful ministry in a myth-saturated culture often costs us something.

When our ears get itchy, we gotta resist the urge to scratch.

Imperative three.

He says, do the work of an evangelist.

Do the work of an evangelist.

Now notice, he's very clear about this.

He's encouraged Timothy to preach the word, meaning the gospel itself.

You know, Pastor Tim Cower used to say the gospel is the power of God in verbal form.

In other words, you don't unleash the full power of the gospel unless you speak it.

And yet it's so many Christians that are afraid to speak the gospel out loud.

Just actions, no words, right?

But in Romans 10, 13 and 14, Paul asks the church a really convicting question.

What does he say?

He says, For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Right?

Call on the name of Jesus.

But then he says, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

Great question.

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

A better question.

And how are they to hear without someone what?

Preaching.

They have to hear.

Did you hear that?

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how can they call on Jesus unless someone tells them?

Unless you open your mouth and let the power of God come out.

That's the work that he is to do to bring other people to Jesus.

Period.

That's our work too.

Do the work of an evangelist.

Now it's been noted that Timothy may not have been the most gifted evangelist in the church.

Others in the church were more gifted than him, like Philip.

But he is still called to do the work.

And again, that's a charge for us all because some of you right now you're saying, well, you know what?

I'm just, Pastor Bob, I'm just not wired for evangelism.

I just, ugh, somebody else is better at that than me, right?

Paul says you got to do it anyway.

Do the work of an evangelist, right?

Expose the myths that those we love are believing.

We have to make disciples and fulfill the great commission.

You know, yesterday, Millington Baptist Church, we had a booth at Charter Day, right?

We've been announcing this for a few weeks.

It's a big deal in our town.

The thousands of people come by, and it was amazing to watch our congregation serve.

Thank you for those of you that came out.

Lots, lots of good conversations.

We want to let our community know we care, but we also want to tell them about Jesus.

We want people to have the opportunity to call on the name of Jesus and be saved.

So if you're unsure how to begin the work of an evangelist, first, I would just tell you this week, pray.

Pray for one person you know to come to Jesus or start asking you questions.

And you know what?

If you do that, somebody might just ask you a question.

Right?

And second, if you're intimidated to share the gospel, maybe you start by inviting them to church.

Right?

And then I would encourage you, maybe just start having daily conversations with people.

Share.

Don't hide your faith.

Let people know how your faith informs your life.

Just talk about it like it's your normal part of the day.

See what doors open up, because you know what?

People might ask you more.

Do the work of an evangelist.

And then when you do that, what?

You fourth imperative, fulfill your ministry.

That final phrase, Paul said, it's a phrase that means to bring to completion, to carry out thoroughly.

It means leave nothing on the table, right?

I you know, I've mentioned um, I think in this series, uh, Senator Ben Sass, who was diagnosed with cancer, uh terminal cancer.

Uh, he he, man, I'm just amazed by this guy.

He uses every platform he can to tell people about Jesus.

No, no more hiding.

He's going out swinging, leaving nothing on the table.

And Jesus is getting the glory.

So when Paul says, fulfill your ministry, he isn't talking about the beginning of your ministry, he's talking about the end.

Too many people finish and start and don't finish.

You gotta finish what you started.

And Paul's own testimony in this letter is a living example.

And so I would just ask you, church, what is your ministry?

How will you finish well?

What has God uniquely called you to do to bring him glory?

Because all of all of us have a purpose, all of us have a gift.

God is gonna do a work through us in our sphere of influence.

He wants you to fulfill your ministry.

What is it?

Now, if you don't know the answer to that question, I'll invite you to stop by the Welcome Center, talk with Amy Hubert, and she will connect you with our discipleship portal to get you started.

Find a mentor who can help you discern your gifts.

Serve in a ministry like I wana.

We heard about that before.

Stop at the table on your way out.

Everybody's got to do that.

We all have a gift, we need to use it.

How should Christians respond to the myths of our age?

You have to be ready to preach the word, endure the warning, and fulfill your ministry.

Because, friends, the stakes are high and the times are uncertain.

And without hesitation, we have to accept Paul's charge.

Because think about the ramifications if we don't, right?

Ten years from now, five years from now, 20, 30, 40 years from now, when you stand before the righteous judge who is watching your ministry right now, what do you want to be able to say?

Will you say, I kept the faith, I finished the race, I didn't quit when my coworkers mocked my biblical convictions, I didn't compromise when the cultural myths about sexuality and success and comfort were seductive.

I proclaim the word in season and out of season.

I fulfilled my ministry.

And so as we close, I just want you to personalize that calling in your own life.

Think about some real situations.

If you're a parent, right, your ministry is discipleship to your children.

Are you opening the scriptures with them at the dinner table, praying with them at bedtime, talking honestly about the lies on social media feeds and classrooms, or are you effectively outsourcing the formation to YouTube and Netflix and their peers?

If you're a neighbor, I assume everybody is, your ministry is faithful witness to the people who live within, let's say, a mile of you.

Are you opening your home and offering to pray for people with a hardship?

Are you looking for natural ways to mention Christ?

And if you're a member of MBC, just know this congregation is your ministry, right?

To encourage and to serve, to give, or are you using your gifts in a specific ministry?

Showing up early to welcome, staying late to care, to join a small group, build others up, or are you treating Sunday like a religious event rather than like a family?

Fulfill your ministry.

Where is the Spirit leading you today?

So as the worship team comes back on stage, let me just let me just tease out the final sermon in our series from next week with Paul's words in verses six and seven.

These are the final words of a condemned man about to die.

And Paul famously writes, I am already being poured out as a drink offering.

And the time of my departure has come.

I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I've kept the faith.

So picture Paul in this prison cell, a dark, cold dungeon.

Most of his companions have left.

Nero's executioner is coming.

And by lamplight, Paul writes not a complaint, but this I'm already being poured out like a drink offering.

And the drink offering was the final act of sacrifice.

Paul is saying, My life has is now laid on the altar of Christ, and now my death is it's the final pour.

The offering is complete.

I am ready.

These are among Paul's last words to a young pastor, a young congregation under pressure, surrounded by false teachings.

And myths.

And what he gives Timothy is priceless.

He gives him an example, a testimony of a man who finished well.

And for 175 years, the saints of Millington Baptist Church have handed that same faith to the next generation, whether it was through hardship or change or costly moments of obedience, and it's now that the baton is in our hands.

So will you scratch your ears or preach the word?

Will you wander into myths or stay anchored to the truth?

Will you fulfill your ministry or settle for comfort?

Because one day we will stand before the judge.

What will matter then is whether you can say with Paul, I've kept the faith, I finished the race, I fulfilled my ministry.

For the glory of God and the sake of the gospel.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I ask that you would come and speak to us today, Lord.

Lord, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for each person who's here.

Holy Spirit, I pray that you would get this word, this portion of your word deep down in our hearts, Lord.

But more than that, I pray that the gospel would take a deeper root, that we would be thankful for what you have done for us, Lord Jesus, on the cross, that we would proclaim that truth, that you would put somebody on our hearts to share it with this week, Lord God.

That we would do the work of evangelists, that we would fulfill our ministry that you've given to us, Lord.

And that your name would be made famous in this world.

We ask that in Jesus' name.