Sermon Tone Analysis

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott (Stability Depends on Fellowship and Depth)

Out on the mountains of Switzerland the fir tree is a national symbol.

The hillsides are terraced with them, row upon row.

The typical English tree is the oak, and its roots are said to go down as far as the tree grows up, to support its massive, sturdy dimensions.But how shall the tall and stately pines stand firm against winds and snows, when their roots soon hit the rock and cannot grow deeper?

It is said that the roots grow outward when they cannot grow downward, and the fibers intertwine with the roots of other trees, and they hold together.

So stability depends on corporate fellowship as well as personal depth.

When the storms blow, the trees stand strong because they are depending upon each other and have intertwined their roots…they are a family of trees that stand stronger together.

Our Mission — Building a family of disciples who know and live for Jesus Christ.

We receive our commission from God to make disciples who know Christ and as a result of knowing Him, they are taught how to live for Him…the result then of being regenerated by the Holy Spirit is we have an expectation that true disciples will live according to his Word.

Living by the Word means we are going to be obedient to Him…all throughout the New Testament you find references to the church as a body who cares for one another and grows stronger together, as a family…one of the greatest texts we see regarding this is...

Ephesians 4:13-16 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

The word we is used three times here…talks about the whole body (we) maturing because each individual is doing their part…to be a useful part of the body, you need to be attached to the body…so part of being obedient to Him is maintaining a connection to the body!

One of the many benefits we receive by staying attached to the body, is we become a family that really does care for one another, and during those times of great difficulty we come alongside one another and minister in multiple ways.

However, our tendency is that when difficulty arises, our pride keeps us from calling out to the family for help!

What we often fail to consider is that God’s design for the body is that we care for one another so well, that those dark days of despair can turn to joy because we have surrounded ourselves with the right people!

That is why it is so important for us to continually apply ourselves to being a family that cares for one another…in that I say we do a good job of that…we are to be commended…but we cannot stop!

With those thoughts in mind, please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4:9-15.

We are coming to the end of this letter…Pastor Matthew and I both agree that at times these personal remarks in the Epistles don’t always yield an easy sermon to preach.

There is no formatted template of three points and a poem…

But as Pastor Matthew pointed out the last two weeks…All Scripture is God breathed and useful… it thoroughly equips us for every good work.

It tells us What is Right…teaching, doctrine

It tells us What is Not Right…Reproof

It tells How to Get Right…Correction

It tells us How to Stay Right … Training in Righteousness

When we consider the doctrine of inspiration and that every part and every thought of Scripture is breathed out by God, that includes all the genealogies, lists, etc; and personal remarks.

When we remember that Scripture was written in a specific time, by specific people, with real situations, we gain an understanding of God, His desires, and people.

What we have in this point of the text are the final written words of the Apostle Paul to his dearest son in the faith, Timothy.

Remember, Paul was in prison awaiting execution…he did not know how long he would have to wait…

There was no texting…no phone calls…no emails… so as we read this text, we need to picture in our minds eye what Paul was going through…

In these final words of Paul we see the importance of relationships… even when facing death, he was focused on Jesus and people!

Paul was not a lone ranger…throughout his letters he always mentioned people...

In chapter 1 he mentions the sad desertion of Phygelus and Hermogenes and the exemplary service of Onesiphorous.

In this chapter, he will mention both friends and foes…some were faithful, some were unfaithful…some started well and departed…others started poorly but were now exemplary…

So as we survey these individuals we must ask ourselves who are we like…and we must also ask who are we surrounding ourselves with in these difficult days?

I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (B.

Personal Remarks (4:9–22)

We are used to hero worship, to admiring people of accomplishment.

It would be easy to set Paul upon a saintly pedestal.

But serving Christ always takes place in community, as a team effort.

In the final verses of this chapter Paul wrote of his love, appreciation, and need of others who served with him.

He expressed personal concern and thanks in these final words.

Main Point: In Difficult Times, Relationships Matter.

What do we need to consider regarding our relationships?

Paul understood the importance of friends, especially in tough times...

In this text we get a glimpse into the humanity of Paul…years earlier Paul became exhausted by external conflicts and inner fears about the work…he was struggling…listen to what he said in 2 Cor.

7:5-7 “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.

But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.”

Titus modeled the kind of ministry we all need today.

Paul already praised Onesiphorus for his Titus-like ministry in 2 Tim 1:16-18.

After Paul was arrested, most believers in Asia deserted him…but Onesiphorus traveled to Rome and actually searched for him… knocked on doors, was sneaking around in dark alleys, asking suspicious questions…then once he found Paul, he was refreshing to him…in spite of the dangers, he would return to Paul again and again to minister to him…

So here in his final remarks Paul mentions people by name, some faithful, some not.

Let’s examine two principles to consider in your relationships...

We need to be and have friends that are faithful.

I stated it that way on purpose because many times we constantly look outwardly at how people are ministering to us…but Scripture tells us we are to be actively engaged in “one anothering”… so not only do we want to surround ourselves with faithful friends, we should want to BE those faithful friends also.

“Make every effort to come to me soon” — you get the sense that Paul was lonely…

Demas deserted, Crescens was going to another mission field, Titus as well.

Luke was the only one there

A lesson we can learn from Paul here is that it is okay to ask for help!

Paul was not some super-spiritual giant who could get by on his own…as great a godly man as Paul was, he still needed his companions…he urged his friend to be by his side in the darkest days of his life… from the previous verse we know he was not afraid to die… weariness, discouragement and loneliness are real struggles and sometimes just having the right people around you can make the difference.

He even wanted him to gather more

in verse 21, Paul wanted him to arrive before winter because when winter came the ships did not sail and it would be harder for Timothy to get to him, he needed his cloak for warmth and his looming death made his longing for Timothy much more intense!

Remember Timothy was in Ephesus and it would take him a long time to get to Paul…there was no face-timing…no Zoom meetings…no texting…he wanted him physically by his side, nothing else mattered…come quickly!

Let’s examine Paul’s friends seeking to identify who we want to be like and who we need and who to avoid!

Timothy

There is no doubt that as you read Paul’s letters to him, their relationship was a close relationship.

He calls him “my dear son” in 1:2

He longed to see him — 1:4

He brought joy to Paul — 1:4

Paul had such a close relationship with Timothy that it made him ache for Timothy’s presence.

We all need to be and even develop those relationships with others that make our hearts ache when they are absent from us.

Those relationships won’t happen overnight.

They take time and effort and prayer.

First and foremost, for those who are married…your spouse should be that closest relationship you develop… great effort must be exerted in growing that important relationship… outside your marriage...

Who is your Timothy…who are you pouring your life into...

Who is your Paul…do you have someone pouring into you...

The best place to find them is right here...

Demas

Demas was one time commended by Paul as a “fellow worker” — Phlm 24.

The reason Paul wanted Timothy to come quickly was because Demas deserted him.

This word means to utterly abandon and leave someone helpless in a dire situation.

His desertion brought Paul pain…here was someone who started well and ended poorly!

Why did he abandon Paul in his darkest hours?

Because he loved this present world… instead of loving the Lord’s appearing (v.8).

We are not sure exactly what this means since no details were given…but we do know he had misplaced affections.

Demas probably did not deny Christ and march off to Thessalonica in defiant arrogance.

He does not appear as a heretic, signing on with the false teachers.

Instead, Demas seems to exhibit the human tendency to seek personal safety.

He probably traded in the values of God for the values of this world—the values of immediacy…the values of what we makes me feel good and happier.

He probably still believed in Christ, but he was unwilling to endure hardship, to identify with the imprisoned apostle and his unpopular teachings.

His heartstrings were attached to personal protection and comfort.

Demas had splendid potential.

Demas wasn’t a lightweight, and he had been with Paul in many ups and downs.

But this time the situation in Rome was apparently too much for him.

Paul was not under house arrest as before but was in the infamous Mamartine prison, on his way to a sure death for sedition.

So Demas packed his bags and took off to Thessalonica.

Faithful service and zealous work do not guarantee the future.

Our lives must be lived faithfully each day, each week, year upon year.

Here was a man who had served Christ well, who had belonged to an intimate circle of workers with the apostle Paul, and yet he abandoned it in the end.

Demas serves as a warning to each of us that we cannot rest on our past or assume the future.