Watching Your Life & Doctrine

So grateful to the Lord for giving us this opportunity to come together as a group of young believers to spend time and praise and worship and to learn from the scriptures tonight. And it is truly a privilege for me to stand here on this stage to help us continue forward in our series that we’re going through about wise young servants. Just before I begin, I just wanted to let you all know how thankful and blessed we are as a family to be able to join this community and this church. It’s been about 10 months since we moved down from Philadelphia, and it’s amazing to witness firsthand how the Lord is using you all, the dedication that you all have for the Lord, your willingness to serve, your willingness to help each other grow in the ministries. And for us as a family, just to sit back and just to listen to the Word of God as the Holy Spirit empowers you as you speak. It’s truly been a blessing for us as a family, and we’re truly grateful, and we’re continuing to pray for you as a family that God will continue to use you in mighty, mighty ways in the days and weeks ahead.

So we are continuing our series tonight on wise young servant, and we’re reaching the end of chapter four tonight, as we’ll be going over 4:12-16. As a recap, over the past two weeks, we’ve been going through chapter four. As Paul has been stating to Timothy, that the Spirit is urging him to warn of certain false doctrines that are attempting to deter the church and to destroy the doctrine that’s being preached by Paul and Timothy. So Timothy must be prepared to confront these people, to prevent the gospel of Jesus Christ from being tarnished. And the servant of the Lord writes later in the middle of chapter four to his protégé, that the training of our inner spiritual man takes precedent above all else that we do. That while physical training is of some help, what truly needs to be prioritized is the purity of the inward man. And that’s where we are starting off tonight from verses 12, where we’ll start our scripture reading tonight. First Timothy 4.12 says like this, but don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.

In the late 1960s, there was a young teenager who was attending his daily high school classes. The young man came back and the young man came from a broken home, being raised by a single mother, often dealing with a sense of loneliness and turning to other paths to reach gratification. One day in high school, he was sitting close enough to a Bible study class when certain words touched his heart, leading to a prayer of repentance and dedication to Christ. At age 20, he devoted himself to the work of the Lord under the mentorship of Pastor Chuck Smith, and soon enough began to lead a group of 30 individuals in his own Bible study in Riverside, California. Soon enough, he would become the lead pastor of his own church at a young age of 20, and would help later start large-scale evangelism crusades to bring many youth to the kingdom of God. He’s written over 70 books over the course of the many years, and continues to lead through pastoralship and lead young men and women to Christ. So tonight, some of you may know that the person that I’m speaking about tonight is Greg Laurie. We all know of his massive crusades that he holds in the States, and he’s been a great ambassador for Christ and for the country. And I knew much of his current work, but didn’t really know that he started his pastoral ministry at such a young age of 20.

And 1 Timothy 4.12 is such a common verse in Scripture. We know this in the back of our minds. I think if we go to a youth convention or a revival meeting or maybe like a youth seminar, I’m pretty sure I can bet that that verse will be spoken of. But this verse as a whole has such an important meaning and encouragement for the young Timothy, and that still holds true to young up-and-coming ministers like Greg Laurie, and frankly to people like you and I.

Through the study of the Word, we can see how the young Timothy became a leader. And I don’t know how much of us, if we remember Pastor Sanil’s message in the beginning when he started this series, Wise Young Servant, as he introduced the young man Timothy, but I just wanted to take some time to just go over that. So let’s go to the book of Acts 16:1-2. It reads like this. Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area.

So historical records show that Paul picked up Timothy during his second missionary journey, and when he was probably in his late teens to early 20s. And the book of 1 Timothy was taught to be written roughly 13 to 14 years after that, meaning at this time when Paul is writing this epistle to Timothy, he probably is in his mid-30s. But in Acts 16:2, it says that the believers thought very well of a young Timothy, even in his late teens and his early 20s. I think you and I can agree that in the world today, I think we all have an inclination to think teenage years are quite an interesting time for us, if we’ve been through that. It’s often a time where bad decisions, I guess, will be often made. And even though Timothy was in that phase of his life, the scripture speaks about how the believers spoke very well of him. So that’s pretty high praise for believers to think so high of Timothy in his teenage to early 20 years.

Going back to verse 12, in 1 Timothy, Paul tells him not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth. And like I said, I think in the current times, we as individuals, we as adults, we’re prone to have a negative view on the knowledge and the decision-making of people who are younger than us. In all honesty, there are studies that are backing that up. If you go to the next slide, scientists have found that the prefrontal cortex, which is a section of the brain that weighs outcomes, forms judgments, and controls impulses and emotions, is less developed until you reach the mid-20s. Youth tend to use the amygdala, which is the emotional part of the brain, to process information rather than adults who use the prefrontal cortex. So there’s a good reason to feel that youth or young individuals are not really ready to undergo the challenges of leadership. But when I was reading through this scripture and this verse, I don’t think scientific studies can truly test the spiritual zeal of a young individual and God’s way of empowering that person to live for the Lord. Because it doesn’t matter what age you are, if the Holy Spirit and God is working within you, you will be guided to make the right decisions in your life, you’ll be guided on how to live, and you’ll be guided on how to speak.

John 14:25-26 talks about this. It says from verses 25, all this I have spoken while still with you. But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. So the Holy Spirit will teach you the ways of Christ and how Christ lived on this earth.

Romans 8:26 says like this, in the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, when we do not know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. So in this way, when our bodily functions, like our brain, is not fully at that capability level yet, the Spirit fills in for those gaps.

Philippians 2:19 says like this, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. So for Paul to say something like this to a young Timothy, there has to be a spiritual anointing in that individual for him to say that kind of words about him. And this is not just a message to Timothy, but it’s also a message for us, coming from the Lord, that when we get older, when we’re elders and adults, have families, there shouldn’t be any instances of downplaying the abilities of ones who are younger than us. This often happens quite frequently in a church setting, I believe. I think receiving input from younger ones and younger people often gets downplayed, it’s often looked down upon, and frankly, when that happens, it really causes a stagnation in the spiritual growth of a young man and woman. But I praise God that in this church, that I have noticed that our pastors, our elders, our deacons, they are preparing you guys, they are preparing the young men and women of this church, to serve and to be confident in the work of the Lord and what God is asking them, asking you all to do. And I pray that if the Lord’s coming tarrys, when we are in that position, when we are older people, elders, that we will continue to do that same thing for our next generation of believers.

Paul tells to Timothy to set an example to the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. If we go to the next slide, you’re going to see all these different talking points that we talked about in the Greek words, but start off with speech (logos), basically how our words come across. It says in Proverbs 13:3, those who guard their lips, preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. So providing the right words to the community.

Conduct, how our mannerisms are, how we deal with different situations. James 3:13 says like this, who is wise and understanding among you, let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.

Love (agape), Romans 13:8, let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. So just being, having a giving attitude.

Faith, 2 Corinthians 5:7, for we live by faith and not by sight.

And last, purity, Psalm 119:9. How can a young person stay on the path to purity? By living according to your word. So these are the spirit-filled qualities that a believer, a young believer must have in order to effectively lead a group of believers.

Let’s go down to verse 13 of 1 Timothy 4, it reads like this, until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, and to teaching. So Paul is providing instruction in his hopes to return back to the church of Ephesus. And I really, really love how Paul has a genuine sense of comfort when he’s speaking to Timothy here. You know, in the early church, we see that there are levels of apostolic authority where Paul is over Timothy and Timothy is over the church. And through this verse, we see another quality of Timothy in that he truly understands the authority that Paul has over him and is willing to let him lead in certain situations due to his experience.

We as young individuals, when we’re in a place of ministry or in the beginning stages of learning ministry, it is extremely vital that we receive oversight advice from our elders and from our experienced servants. It doesn’t really matter if they’re older than you or if they’re younger than you. God has put certain people in responsibility, certain levels of leadership, and we as learners who are coming into these ministries, we should understand our place and serve with humility. As we go through the book of 1 Timothy, we see that there’s so many layers of how a church should be run, but all these things can be completely ruined if the believers, the body of Christ, has negative thoughts, thoughts of pride, entitlement, and superiority due to their various talents. And frankly, there should be no instance in our minds where we think we can do something better than our leaders.

Philippians 2:3, it says like this. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, value others above yourselves.

And it says in Romans 12:16, live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. So just as Timothy understood the apostolic authority, we should understand our place as well in our various ministries that we’re doing for the church.

Verse 13 continues to say, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, preaching and teaching. And, you know, when we started our series, Pastor Sanil mentioned how a lot of the practices of this church here truly follows a lot of what’s taught in the book of Timothy. And I immediately thought of our public reading scriptures that we do together as a church that we even did this evening. The public reading of the scriptures is such, it’s so vital, and it was very vital in those days because, frankly, many believers were illiterate, they didn’t know how to read. So if the believers can’t read, how can they be transformed? So individuals and leaders who were versed in that literacy had to read out those scriptures to edify the church. And not only that, it is important, along with the reading of the scriptures, it’s extremely important that we read the scriptures together because it really symbolizes oneness and unity for us as a church. We can see this in Acts 13:15. It says like this, After the reading from the law and of the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak. But public speaking and exhorting in the word, you know, didn’t just start during the times of the early church. This was passed on from generations, even from the times of Moses.

And I love how the epistles show so many correlations to Old Testament scripture. And this verse truly reminded me of a king in the Old Testament. And that king in the Old Testament is King Josiah. He’s written, we can go to the next slide, he’s written multiple times in the scriptures. We can see it in the book of Second Kings, chapter 22 and 23. And we also see it in the book of Second Chronicles, chapter 34 and 35. So there’s almost four full chapters devoted to this king. And I think the book of Second Chronicles, 34 and 35 really sums up the correlation to the passage tonight.

So I’ll be reading a couple verses. I want you to read alongside, read with me, we’re gonna be reading from 2 Chronicles 34:1-3. Josiah was eight years old when he became king. And he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father, David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father, David. In the 12th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, asherah poles and idols.

Reading from verses 8-9. In the 18th year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shefan, son of Azila, and Messiah, the ruler of the city, with Joah, son of Johaz, the recorder to repair the temple of the Lord his God. Then they went to Hilkiah, the high priest, and gave him the money that had been brought into the temple of God, which the Levites, who were the gatekeepers, had collected from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and the entire remnant of Israel, and from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And reading from 2 Chronicles 35:1-2. Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the 14th day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord’s temple.

So, there are many things that King Josiah purged from the land of Israel. If we read in chapter 33, his grandfather was truly a king of pure evil. He was a king who sacrificed his own children on the altar and put abominable images into the temple of God. So, you see the lineage that he comes from. It’s a terrible, terrible lineage that he came from. But even though that King Josiah came from these group of ancestors, he had to be thrown into the spotlight of being a king at age eight, and even at age 16, started to follow the Lord. And that’s a pretty young age to move on from such an ancestral age of just evil. But I think that’s truly one of the great stories that King Josiah is and what he did.

And we see something even more special that correlates to verses 13 of chapter 4 of 1 Timothy. And that’s what he did with the law of the Lord. So, we’ll be reading from 2 Chronicles 34:14, 19, 29-33. Starting from verses 14. While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. Verses 18. Then Shaphan, the secretary, informed the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his robes.

Reading from 29 onwards. Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearings all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul and to obey the words of the covenant written in the book. Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledged themselves to it. The people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites. And he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord, their God. And as long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

So this really truly shows the power of public reading of the scripture. King Josiah gave the whole nation an opportunity to hear the law, to read the law, to understand their mistakes, to ask for forgiveness, and also to make a pledge to have them come back to the living God. King Josiah went against the norm of the kings of his past, purged idolatry, and exposed the word of the Lord, not only for himself, but for his own kingdom as well. And Paul is stating here that the public reading of the law, the public reading of scripture, is not only just for people who are illiterate, for people who can’t read, but it’s to hold each and every one of us accountable to the law of the Lord.

Let’s go to verses 14. It reads like this. Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through prophecy when the body of elders laid hands on you. So verse 14 is just basically showing us that along with living and studying the word and the law, it’s also important to have the impartation of the Holy Spirit working within the church, and it is extremely important to do that for the longevity of the church. The impartation of the Holy Spirit is basically the passing of spiritual gifts, laying on of hands, healing, prayer, being able to have spirit-filled services. And it’s all for the edification of the church and for its members. So Paul states that Timothy and the future leaders of the church cannot neglect the impartation of the Holy Spirit in their churches.

We see that the outward manifestation and talking about the Holy Spirit is really mentioned in the book of 1 Corinthians 12:18-20, 23-25 and how it truly edifies a body of Christ. These gifts, in terms of gifts, can include things such as words of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing ministry, miraculous powers, prophecy, and discerning in tongues. And here he is speaking to the church of Corinth because he’s been made aware of the gifts that are in that church. People are boasting of those gifts, and some are also jealous of the gifts that others have. So in the church of Ephesus, Paul encourages Timothy to make sure they are using the spiritual gifts that the Lord has given to them to strengthen each other.

So what are some basic takeaway points from this particular verse? One is that it is extremely vital that we strengthen and pray for the leaders of our church, our pastors, our elders, our deacons. They need prayer. They need, really, an impartation from the Holy Spirit, us speaking to them, encouraging them, praying for them, and even laying on of hands, if you have that gift that’s given to you from God to do that. Second is that we as a church, we should welcome the impartation of the Holy Spirit in our church. People should not be afraid when they come into church to use the gifts that the Holy Spirit has bestowed on them. People should not be afraid to worship in the Spirit. People should not be afraid to worship in unknown tongues. People should be open for individuals to prophesy if they have that gift, and to pray for others if they have a prayer ministry. Third is we need to be thankful for the gift that God has given to each and every one of us. Each of us has our own gift. It might not be the most visible gift. It might not be the most popular gift. And it might not be a gift that’s shown on the front stage or on this pulpit. But that’s a trap that the Church of Corinth really fell into.

And that’s where we’re going to take a moment to read from the book of 1 Corinthians 12:18-20, 23-25. Starting from 18, it reads like this. But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body, from verses 23 to 25. And the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty. While our presentable gifts need no special treatment, but God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. And this really comes back to the importance of humility and understanding God’s value for us and the talent that’s in the Church. So understanding that we are in a position where we need to be loving and accepting of people who have talents and gifts that might be visible compared to other people’s gifts and talents that might not be visible, supporting them, encouraging them, understanding your value and understanding that God knows the gift, has given you a specific gift and talent, and being content and pleased with the gift that you have, because it’s a special gift that’s given to you.

So we need to, as a Church, exemplify the Holy Spirit in our Church. It’s not just understanding, learning doctrines, but there is a power in the Holy Spirit that can really take a Church to the next level. And that’s what Paul wanted to explain to Timothy and the Church of Ephesus.

Let’s go to verse 15. It reads like this, Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. So Paul instructs the young Timothy that there must be a continuous effort, an intentional effort to continue in these instructions. I like how the NKJV version explains it in that we need to meditate on these things. So following these instructions from Paul requires Timothy to truly be immersed in these matters, because if these false teachings are occurring in the Church, as stated in chapter 4, there really needs to be a call for dedication to retain the correct doctrine. And dedication and devotion requires a sacrifice of our time. We can ask all our ministers, all the preachers, our pastors, that there has to be a time of meditation and contemplation. And when we’re taught the Scriptures, are we going back to our homes to truly spend time in prayer to further receive insight from the Lord?

Timothy was a young minister in the Church, and Paul had to explain to him the importance of being living examples for the gospel of Christ. That each moment, from the moment that he rose his head in the morning to the laying of his head on the bed at night, his life needed to be engulfed in the matters that were spoken of in the end of verse 12. I really like this quote from Jettison Franklin stating this on the importance of meditation and devotion. Until you meditate on the Word of God, what can you say that can make any real difference? All you will be doing is sharing your own opinion, which is just one of many. You will not be able to speak convincingly or make any real difference in the life of a person to whom you are speaking. So when there is a dedication to the Word, making time to reflect on the doctrine and meditate, the blessing is not only going to be for you, but it’s also going to be evident that blessing is also going to be for the Church body and the members within that body. So that’s why Paul states that it’s important to be diligent because it’ll allow the believers to see a progress in you. And seeing a progress in the leaders of our Church, you know, our deacons, our elders, people who are in various ministries, it truly allows the believers to see how a life can truly change through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It would provide a testimony for them to really see how the Holy Spirit can empower servants of the Lord to really go into higher levels of ministry, and it also provides hope to believers that if ones in my Church can do those types of things to receive those higher levels of ministry, I have the ability to do that as well in my life if I truly spend time dedicating myself to the Lord, meditating on the Scriptures.

And we’ll go down to the last portion, which is verses 16. I really love this verse. It really gives a culmination on chapter 4 as a whole, and it reads like this. Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Preserve in them, because if you do, you will save yourself and your healers. So we know that Paul is a mentor to the mentee, Timothy, in the book of 1 Timothy, and the whole book makes me feel like we’re kind of reading like a confidential letter from a high-ranking official to his protege or his apprentice. And for many years, Paul trained the young Timothy and guided him and assisted him in making decisions that would advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We can see this pretty evidently in Acts 16:3. It reads like this. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. So we see in earlier chapters that Paul stands before the council saying that Gentiles don’t need to be circumcised in order to be believers of Jesus Christ. But there’s a reason why he did this in the case of Timothy, and that’s so the Jewish people that he was going to speak to, who would be coming to the Lord God-willing, would not stumble over Timothy. So he had to make that decision, and the man Timothy agreed with that decision. Paul says his famous quote in 1 Corinthians 9:19-20, that, Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, though I myself am not under the law, so as to win those who are under the law. So Paul has been there with Timothy, he’s guided him, he’s encouraged him, he’s given him specific keys of advice and decision-making to help him to continue the ministry of the Lord.

But with every mentor and with every mentee, there is a point in time when the mentor has to step aside, and the mentee needs to take over the reins and basically be responsible for himself. And Paul tells his protege that it’s time for you to keep a close eye and watch over your doctrine and teaching, because this has a direct response to the eternity of yourself and also the believers around you. So Timothy now, again, he must keep his eyes and ears open at all times to be aware of any type of false doctrine that can enter into the church and the members. So he needs to be attentive, he needs to be vigilant. And false teachings and doctrines have the ability to destroy the church in Ephesus. And it really wasn’t coming just from people coming up with different various ideas of false doctrine. Ephesians 6:12 states it clearly. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So we’re not just fighting against normal people, we’re not just, you know, standing up against, you know, normal people when we’re going up against false doctrines, but we’re standing up to principalities and powers that truly want to destroy the evidence of Jesus Christ and to prevent the early church, and frankly in the days now, churches now, from gaining momentum. And these individuals are being taught pretty much by demons, as it says in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, and it can really cause the demise of the eternity of certain individuals, or even worse, the eternity of the church.

Just as we see the evidence of false teaching and doctrines 2,000 years ago, we see it even now in the modern day church. The principalities and powers that are roaming in this world are single-handedly integrating themselves into the church, take small quivers of lies and form it, small quivers of truth, and bind it into a little truth to create false doctrines. These false doctrines enter into the minds of the members who are not attentive or keeping a close watch on the teachings, and it allows it to overpower them and cause confusion. There’s so many false doctrines out in the world today. We spoke about, Jewel spoke about that a few weeks ago. Things like legalism, prosperity gospel, tolerance based on sexual and gender identity, hypergrace are some of the teachings that have infiltrated the modern day church. And the acceptance of these doctrines into churches have the ability not only to dismantle the church, but in the end to deviate its members to the wrong side of eternity.

And if you keep up with the news this week, we saw that with our own eyes and ears, how doctrines of deception and perversion have entered into the church. Doctrines that allow abominable practices into the church, providing safe haven for people who are satisfied in living in their sin and using God’s mercy as a cover. Doctrines that are okay with children second-guessing their sexuality, protecting families and individuals who want to instill their own political beliefs into the church and taking their personal beliefs, thank you, and superimposing it into the scripture. As parents to young children, there’s really nothing more irritating than to see these practices entering into our schools, politics, and frankly now even into the comfort of our own churches. And I think as you grow and start family life, you’ll have what I call an Elijah level of rage when you see these types of false doctrines being integrated into churches.

Matthew 7:15, it says like this, watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Can you imagine millions of churchgoers in this world being led astray due to poor teachings and doctrines of its leaders? I just wanted to show that picture as our last slide. Leaders have such a powerful influence. We as sheep are following the direction of our leaders, our elders, our pastors. But there’s times where leaders and elders can go into the wrong path and lead the sheep astray. It is vital for us as sheep not just to be blatantly following leaders, preachers, pastors that we listen to online or famous preachers, but we need as sheep to search the scriptures, to spend time in doctrine, really understanding what we believe in, what the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly about. It really sums up what false doctrine can truly do, that leaders can frankly just take people off of a cliff and the sheep go with them. It’s a matter of life and death. It’s your eternal life and death.

So I’m going to conclude my words here with this last point. Just as the Apostle Paul is telling the young mentor Timothy that it is time to go out on his own and fend for himself, there’s going to be a time where you and I will be in that same spot. This message is not just for young men and women who come up on this stage and preach the word of God, their gifts and talents galore in this room here tonight, sitting here. And there’s strong ministry potential among this group by the grace of God to complete the work of the Lord. But there’s going to be a time where the previous generation cannot move forward and they’re going to put it into our hands. If the Lord’s coming tarries, we as individuals will be running the show. As young as Pastor Sanil looks to me, he can’t do this forever. He’s going to pass on this responsibility into your hands.

Starting now, we as sheep, we as young and upcoming individuals, leaders in our ministries, we must be able to test every single ideology that’s being brought forth, test it to what we read in scriptures and persist with it. We need to delve into the word of God every single moment of our lives. We need to meditate on what we’re being taught. We need to pay attention to our lives that no form, no quiver, no lies from the enemy can enter our minds. Thessalonians says this plainly, to test all things. You are next in taking this gospel message and leading the church. Don’t wait to start paying attention when that time has come. Start now. Pay attention to your life and to the teachings that are being taught. Because your eternity and the eternity of the church depends on it.

I’m going to ask the choir to come up on stage, and we’re going to take a moment to pray.

Our righteous and heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for allowing us as a young group of believers to come into your presence tonight to give you praise, to give you glory, to give you honor, and to spend time in the word of the Lord. Lord, we thank you for this book that we’ve been going over the past few weeks, in particular these four verses, these five verses that we’ve gone through tonight. Lord, we thank you for the words that Paul spoke to Timothy, a young Timothy, to prepare him and to get him ready for leading a church of believers. Lord, we know that there’s going to be a time coming where we are going to be put in that situation as well too, where we will be elders, giving our input on the doctrines that are written in the scriptures. I pray that you would give us the yearning to start delving into the scriptures today itself, to be prepared to speak the right doctrine to the church, and with authority to reject the false doctrines that are all around this world today. Doctrines that provide a hyper-grace without any judgment. Pray that we would speak out against those doctrines, give us the yearning and the want to help each other grow in this area, to not just be blind sheep listening to different theologies and doctrines, but to test the scriptures, to learn from it, and to help each other guide the next group, the next generation of believers in the right path.

Lord, there’s so many people in this sanctuary, Lord, who have been given such an anointing, gifts, that you have bestowed on them, Lord. I pray that you would continue to lead them in the right path as they lead us as well. And I pray as we as believers would truly show the zeal to follow the correct doctrines that are spoken of in this word. Lord, there’ll be a certain point where you will ask us to take that next step, Lord. In that moment, help us to be prepared for that calling, to lead the church of believers in the right path to eternity. We thank you for this time that you’ve given to us, Lord. We thank you for this scripture and these verses that you’ve given to us, Lord. Be with us in the remainder of this service as we spend time in praise and in meditation. We ask all this in the precious and matchless name of Jesus we pray, amen.