In the sermon titled 'A Faith That Lasts,' David Green emphasizes the importance of enduring faith through challenges, drawing from 2 Timothy 3:10-17. Green recounts Paul's encouragement to Timothy to persist in the teachings and examples he learned from childhood and to remain steadfast in the face of persecution. He highlights the significance of Scripture as God-breathed and useful for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness. Green reflects on how people often leave the faith due to personal grievances or church issues, urging believers to find stability in God's Word and to be examples for others. He underscores that true faith and practice are grounded in Scripture, advocating for a faith that endures through life's trials by adhering to biblical teachings and serving as a model for others.

And I remind you that if you are local to Brunswick or Hortense, Glen County or Brentley County, definitely invite you to our normal services. We meet on Sunday morning, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, and then Tuesday evening 630 p.m. And right now we are meeting at my house at 50 Galloway Grove, Brunswick, Georgia 31523. If you have any questions about us or anything, you can check us out on the website at the links that are provided or you can give us a call at 912-215-3144. I think that's my number anyway.

We're thankful that you're here, and thankful that you're tuning in. Normally we go through books of the Bible, and so we'll start chapter one, verse one, and go through a book. But today, doing something a little bit different. And this passage was on my mind and I'm looking over it and I've preached from this passage before, but it's been a few years. So here's where we are.

We're in 2nd Timothy this evening. 2nd Timothy chapter 3. 2nd Timothy chapter 3. Beginning at verse 10. So, 2 Timothy chapter 3, beginning at verse 10.

I invite you to turn there and follow along with me. Your copy of God's Word, 2 Timothy chapter 3 beginning in verse 10. As Paul wrote to Timothy, this is what he wrote. He said, But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you continue in the things you learned and became convinced of knowing from whom you learned them. That from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work. As I read this text and I reflect on my own life, most of y'all know I just turned 45 and there's a lot going on in my life and in my ministry.

And all of these things kind of come together and I reflect on these things and I think I'm thankful. I think about what Paul wrote to Timothy and I recall that our situation in life is not so unique as what we might think it is. You know, sometimes we might get off into a corner by ourselves and think all woe is me. You know I've got it so bad and so terrible and no one else has ever had the problems I've gotten. No one knows the trouble I'm in.

Knows the trouble I'm in. But indeed, we're not so different. The title of my The title of my sermon is, A Faith That Lasts. A Faith That Lasts. As I think back and consider the ministry that the Lord has given me, the blessings, the people I've seen, the lives that I've been able to be around.

We've all seen people, and I'm sure you have too. I'm 45 years old, I was saved at the age of 10 or 11. I've been in churches a long time. We've all seen people who start with a bang. I mean, they join the church, they're excited, they witness, they tithe, they're all in.

But then after a while they give up, they fizzle out, they quit. It's almost like as if they've tried the Bible, they've tried church, but they're not around anymore. Gone. Gone. Even, even not even going back so far as 35 years, but I preached this text in 2022.

So that's just four years. Even in that time, we've seen people who have departed the faith. People who have departed the faith on a national scale, people who have departed the faith on a national scale, people who have departed the faith on a local scale, some who are just gone, and others who seem to be not only gone, but maybe even have made themselves out to be enemies of the Lord's Church. It's not that the Bible has failed them or that God has failed them, but They failed the Bible and they failed God. Talk to some of them and they'll tell you that they got upset with the church that they were a member of, that they got upset with the pastor.

I'm not talking about people who have legitimate reasons for leaving churches. There are those who do. Certainly when we look at the big picture of the national scene, there are some terrible things that happen with churches. But even those who have real reasons to leave a church. It's no excuse to quit the faith.

People will fail. Pastors will fail. But God never fails. Timothy was a younger preacher than Paul, and Paul was writing to encourage him in this text to keep on with the truths that he had learned long ago. What was his age?

I don't know. I mean, age is relative, right? To some people, I'm ancient, 45. I remember when I was young, Maybe some of y'all remember the same thing. My mom was turning 40 years old, and it was a big deal to her.

I thought she was old, Old then, and now I'm older than that. I believe that was the birthday they put the big sign in the yard or cake or whatever in the yard so that people could honk their horn as they went by because she was so old. It was either 30 or 40, I don't know. But nonetheless, age was relative. So to some people I'm ancient, but to others I'm still a young, young guy.

The point I'm making here is that Timothy was younger than Paul, and we all have older folks, or most of us have older folks, that we can learn from, and we all have younger people that we can teach. I thank the Lord for the older brothers, and I thank the Lord for the younger brothers as well. Look there at verses 14 and 15, 2nd Timothy chapter 3, but you Continue in the things you learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them. And that from a child you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." What were those sacred writings? Well, we keep reading here and he tells us, all scripture, all scripture is God breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work." He's telling him to stick with the stuff, to stay with the scriptures, that he had been taught from the time that he was a child.

Now how did he learn those things when he was a child? Well, we know reading Paul's other, well some of the things that Paul also wrote to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5, we know it was his grandmother and his mother. Because when Paul looked at Timothy, he was, quote, being reminded of the unhypocritical faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I am convinced that it is in you as well. That's 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5.

And what he's telling him here is that what you learned as a child, it's not going to do you any good unless you continue in it. We all, when we're young, we have our brains filled with all kinds of stuff. But it won't do us any good unless we keep it up. Many of us have been, like Timothy, taught the things of God from a young age, but will we continue in the faith or will we throw it away in our old age. Some Parents have the wrong idea about what it means to continue in the faith.

Sadly, many a young person has been blackballed or ostracized by a parent because they didn't hold to every single tradition that mommy and daddy held to. But understand something, just because mom and dad had their music on an eight-track tape doesn't mean that the child has to always listen to music on an eight-track tape. And just because Mom and Dad always watched movies on a VCR tape. Doesn't mean that the children always have to have VCR tapes in their house. And so it is with the faith, you see.

It's wrong to insist that They only use a particular Bible translation or exclusively sing hymns. That cannot be the litmus test for keeping the faith when there's no scripture to back it up. We must be careful there. It ought to thrill our souls to know that Our children are continuing in the faith, even if they don't do things exactly the same way that we did them. And then our text there in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

In verse 14, he says, but you continue, but you continue. This is the command. This is the exhortation. But you continue. He says, Timothy, things are going to happen.

You've seen them. You've seen them in my life. You have to understand things are going to get tough. You followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, my verse 11, my persecutions, sufferings, perseverance, my persecutions, sufferings, what happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, but evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

This is how it's going to be, Timothy. It's not going to get easier as you get older. In some ways it's going to get harder. But you, you, Timothy, need to continue. Life is a race.

It's easy to start the race, but with endurance to keep running, to keep going. Sometimes that's the harder part. But you continue. This is the command. This is the exhortation.

Stick with the stuff. Don't give in. Don't give up. We're living in a culture where people give up. People apologize for being an American.

People apologizing for being white, people apologizing for believing the Bible, for being Baptist. Don't apologize for that stuff. Don't Apologize for standing for the Bible. Don't give up. Don't give in.

Don't be ashamed for being a follower of Jesus Christ. First sign of trouble, what happens? First sign of trouble in a church, first sign of trouble in a marriage, first sign of trouble in a job, people just leave. People just leave. He says, but you continue.

From the pulpit to the pew, people give up all over the place, run from trouble, but not Paul. He was a great example to Timothy From one city to another, from one place to another, he was beat up black and blue. He lost his possessions. He lost, I mean, he must have been a sight to see, but he would go from one place to another to another, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, even when he knew. He probably ain't going to like it very much.

But he got up and did it anyway. And he was a great example to Timothy. And so I bring it down to our level and I say, What about you? Are you an example to others? We look to other people for examples for us, but what are you?

Are you a good example to the others? I heard a sermon one time called, Little Eyes are Watching You. Maybe it was Tom Ross. I can't remember who preached it, But the preacher made a great point. Little eyes are watching you.

It's not just the old people that are watching. Over in 1 Timothy 4, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 12, Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but Show yourself as a model to those who believe in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity. It's called the preach when I was 16 years old. In this verse, 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 12, I wrote in the cover of every one of my Bibles that I was using at the time as a reminder. But some people want to just read the phrase, let no one look down on your youthfulness, and they just want to end there.

They get all arrogant and puffed up. But he didn't stop there. That's not the full point of it. He says, show yourself as a model to those who believe in word, in conduct, love, faith, and purity. And yes, it was written to Timothy as a preacher, but that's not just for the preachers.

It's for every child of God, every young person. And again, this is And again, this is relative. Just for some people, I'm a young guy, believe it or not. I mean if you're 20 years old, I'm ancient. But if you're 90, well I'm just young.

And so this verse is applicable to the 20 year old, but it's also applicable to me as well. Show yourself as a model to those who believe in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity. If you do this, you'll be a good example to young and old. But if not, you'll be a bad example. Here's where it's at, folks.

Everyone is an example, and none of us is an island off to himself. We're either good examples or bad examples. Are you, am I, are we encouraging folks to continue in the faith? Or do we encourage people to backslide, to give up, to quit? Very few, very few backslide, quit, give up, alone.

So we read this text. Here in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we see Paul was an encourager. He was encouraging people. He was encouraging Timothy particularly, but he was encouraging others through his life, through his ministry, to keep on keeping on. And when I think of my life, and when you think of your life, you ought to want to desire that when people, when the young people, when others look at you, they want to keep on.

They should want what we have, even if we're beat up black and blue like Paul was. Sometimes people try to Sometimes people try to, try to, say well I'm not very old in the faith, or I'm not this, or I'm not that. Listen, wherever you are, it's time to grow up. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11, We were there not too long ago. But he says, when I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child.

When I became a man, I did away with childish things. Don't give people a reason to despise you. Don't be immature in the Lord. You know, When a nine-year-old acts like a nine-year-old, that's cute. But if a 17-year-old acts like a five-year-old, that's a problem.

And We know that in the physical realm, but so it is spiritually. There's people in this world who need to grow up. Be an example in word, as he says here in 1st Timothy chapter 4, that's The things you say and your conduct, that's your way of living. Love. That's the, that love is not just a feeling or emotion.

What have we learned about love? Just going through 1 John and 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we know there's more to love. We're to love like Christ loved. The love of Christ was action, was it not? The love of God.

God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross. To die on the cross? Where would we be if it was just words? Faith and purity, your attitude, you see. Some people try to wiggle their way out of this too by saying, well, okay, so I can mature in the faith and all this sort of thing, but God only looks at the heart.

Understand something. A godly heart will never be hidden by an ungodly lifestyle. You can't go on living like the world and saying you're a Christian. It's not going to work that way. That's not how it is.

Someone might shrug their shoulders and say, well, nobody's perfect, but that does not excuse sin. Paul told Timothy, as he wrote under the inspiration of spirit here, He says, but you continue in the things you learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them. We've got a duty to live like Christians. What if today the President of the United States signed an executive order saying it's against the law to be a Christian? Now obviously I don't think that would hold up in court, but you never know.

I mean, things can become pretty weird in this country, but what if it wasn't this president but the next president? Now all of a sudden, We're in trouble. Would you be on the most wanted list? Or would people not even know that you're a Christian? If you were arrested, would there be enough evidence to convey it?

But you continue in the things. What things? This book, This book is the substance of everything that we believe. Are you continuing in it? So yes, pastor, I read my Bible.

I read in my Bible. James 1. Verses 22-25. He says, but become doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was.

The one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful here, but a doer of the word, and his men will be blessed in what he does." If all you do is ever read the Bible and never do anything with it, are you really continuing in the faith? And the answer is no. Because when times get rough, when things get bad, when it gets tiring, and all of those sorts of things, guess what? You'll quit. Or worse yet, you will go against the very word of God that you say that you hold to.

Paul says, but you, continue in the things you learn and become convinced of. Knowing from whom you believe them and that from a child, from childhood, You have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise into salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. Here's the beauty of it. The faith does not change.

The faith does not change. Over in Jude, verse 3, we're going to be at that text here shortly as we go through this little book, this little letter of Jude, but look at this. It says, beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you exhorting that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. This faith that had been handed down, it had been delivered to the saints. It doesn't change.

It hasn't changed. There's people out there, they go from one thing to another to another. Have you noticed that? They're upset about something all the time. They were first upset about, they were writing about, about this murder, and then they were upset about that war, and then they were upset about this and that and they just go from one thing to another to another.

They're out there having free sex, doing drugs, all sorts of things. It's a mess out there. They go from one thing to another to another. Carried about all sorts of things. Not grounded on anything.

Not grounded on anything. We're grounded in the Word of God. A faith that does not change. The faith that does not change. When Jesus gave the great commission to the church over in Matthew chapter 28.

Verse 18-20, Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Teaching them to keep all that I commanded you behold. I am with you always even to the end of the age Jesus did not just say to teach them all things, he said teaching them to keep all that I commanded you. That's accountability, that's what he's talking about. Not just reading something on a page, closing your Bible and going home.

He's telling them to be doers of the Word, to keep what he said. Why aren't you out there with the world, rioting, painting on buildings, sharing needles and dope and free sex and all that sort of thing. Why aren't you out there doing that? Because it'll get you sick? No, I mean it will, but that's not the root of it.

The root of it is because it's against God and His word. That's what it is, you see. And when we look at this, the Great Commission has been given and we're thankful to be members of the Lord's Church. And what a blessing it is, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church. We've been here, Well, this church has been here since 1996 and we're thankful for that.

I've been here for, this is my fifth year as pastor, and Lord willing I'll be here a long, long time. But there's more to being a church member than simply having your name on a church roll. It's being involved in the church. It doesn't mean that Everybody's going to have a title. Some will, of course, but not everybody will.

But there's work involved teaching them to keep all that I commanded you, a continuing faith. A working faith, you see. There's a terrible teaching that has come along and I don't know where it came from or how it became a thing, but this teaching that has crept into some circles that says, well, as long as my name's on a roll I'll just sit back and pull up a lawn chair sit in a pew until the trumpet sounds and I'll be all right. I don't have to do anything. I'll just wait till the Lord comes back and as long as I'm in the pew as long as my name's on the roll, then I'll have a good place in the bride of Christ.

No work involved, just a name on a roll. That's not what the Bible teaches. There's work to be done. Work to be done or to be active in the faith. In fact, over in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, beginning of verse 23, He says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as you see the day drawing near. You see that there's action words involved in even the assembling together of ourselves. We're to be encouraging one another. We're to be stimulating one another to love and good needs. And that's what Paul was doing when he wrote to Timothy.

As He said to Him, you continue in the things that you've learned. Well, as we go back to our text, there is certainty of this continuing faith. Notice the last phrase there, knowing from whom you learned them. Rather, sorry let me back up just a little bit more and became convinced of knowing from whom you learned them. Timothy knew these things and he knew them with certainty.

There is this idea that has sometimes crept into some other circles that we have to watch out for. It says that if you express certainty on a particular doctrine or a particular passage of scripture, you're seen as being bigoted. However, if you express doubt on it, you say, well, I don't know, I can't be sure. I'm trying to figure this out. You're more enlightened, I suppose, and that's praised.

Asking questions in this circle is not to learn, but rather it's to get more questions, but never to find any real answers. We ought to ask questions, don't get me wrong, And sometimes as we grow we do change positions, but there are some things that we do need to be grounded in. How can we be assured of the faith? Assured of the faith? Well, through the explanation of Scripture over in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse 2.

We'll start with verse 1, You therefore my child be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." So, through the explanation of scripture and through the example of others, as we saw in our text, verses 10 and 11 there of chapter 3, Paul gave himself as an example there in our text. He said, but you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, Patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and suffering such as happened to me at Antioch, at Coneyham, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. It doesn't do any good to have a doctrine if it cannot be seen. You see, some people talk about, oh well this teaching is practical and this teaching is doctrinal, but the reality is that all doctrine is practical if it's done right.

And if it's not, watch out. It's not merely words on paper to be studied, close your Bibles and go home and forgotten about. It's all practical. It says, knowing from whom you learned them. He learned from Paul, of course, but others also.

It all began as a child when he was learning from his mother and his grandmother. It's never too early to begin teaching children. So we ought to teach them and we ought to be an example to the younger people. But what is the source of our continuing? Paul didn't set himself up as being the supreme source of all of this.

No, no. The source comes from God, particularly those sacred writings, all Scripture, verses 15, 16, and 17. As he brought it out, he says, and from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work." So as much as he appreciated his Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. He didn't set them up as being the prime source of Timothy's faith.

And as good of an example as Paul was, he didn't set himself up as the hero in the story. Some preachers will do that now. But Paul did not do that either. The source for our continuing in the faith, the source for Timothy's continuing in the faith had to be the Lord. And specifically it's got to be the Scriptures.

None of us will finish the race. None of us will end well bragging and saying, look what I did. None of us will get to the end with a hero other than Jesus. If you've put a preacher, a granddaddy, a daddy, a mama, a husband, a wife, podcaster, TV personality, a political pundit, whoever you've got. If you put anybody up ahead and said this is my standard I'm gonna follow, you're gonna fail.

You're gonna fail. You're not to have a faith that lasts. Nobody is going to get to the end and say, look at me, didn't I do so good for Jesus? That's not going to happen either. Nobody has ever been saved apart from the Word of God.

And nobody will have a faith that lasts apart from it either. What I'm holding today, what I'm preaching from, what gets me through life is God's Word. It may not have been written in English. In fact, it wasn't written in English in the beginning, but it's been translated in such a way that I can understand it, I can read it, and I can say of a great assurity that I've got the Word of God. God's Holy Word.

We have everything we need in His Word. It is sufficient. Our only rule of faith and practice. Some might even say, sola scriptura, Scripture alone. However way you put it, every confession, every creed, every other book must submit to the Word of God.

And that's what's been taught here. You won't get through life having a faith that lasts without God's Word. Timothy was blessed to have a Paul in his life. But Paul wasn't enough. Paul was only a preacher, a messenger, an apostle.

He was a good example. I thank God for that. And I pray that we're all good examples. But what did Paul do? He pointed Timothy to the Word.

He pointed Timothy to Jesus. And that's what we need to do. To help others to continue in the faith. So as we bring this to a close, I trust that this has been an encouragement to you. Continue in the faith.

Know what's important. Serve the Lord. Don't give up. Even when it gets cold, even when it gets dark, even when doubts and fears arise. We'll win.

We'll finish the race. Not because of who we are, but because in Christ, how can we lose?