Teen Service - Continue

That's good. Thank you guys. We really appreciate those testimonies and being able to hear from you. This week, past week, we went in as counselors with one goal in mind. We wanted to be able to come back from camp and say that we had a successful week. Successful week in camp.

How do you gauge that? How do you gauge a successful week of fuel camp, team camp, if we said, well, we want to come back and have 80% of our teams get saved? Yeah, as great as that would be, that would give us questions as to what's going on back in the team room. Coming back with like 40 of our 60 kids being saved would be awesome, but not necessarily the best. Maybe it's just one person getting saved, right? Maybe that would be a successful week. Yeah, I just saved one person.

And well, like I said, that's phenomenal. What if no one does? What if we come back and no one's gotten saved? So we didn't want to go into camp with all these physical limitations because we can always come back disappointed.

So we came into campus counselors. I remember us talking about this and praying about this. What we wanted to do was we wanted to pray that God, all we want this week is for you to be exalted and you to be glorified.

It's all we want. Lord, if you don't save anyone, if you don't call anyone to ministry, as long as you're glorified, we can say that we've had a successful week. So that was how we went into the camp. That was our mindset going in. How can we best glorify God?

How can we best exalt him? And I can honestly say that the counselors did phenomenal with that this week. And the way that they treated the teens and the way that we showed them God's love, we could say that, praise God, he was glorified through the way that our counselors and different people reacted and the preachers preached, God was glorified.

So that was our goal going in. The theme for this past week was continue. The theme was continue. Continue in the things of God.

Don't just make an emotional decision at camp like that will only last a few weeks, but continue in that. Continue in the faith. So our theme verse was in 2 Timothy.

If you guys want to turn there and we'll jump in that and dissect that passage, I think this is a really good place for us to look at. The 2 Timothy 3, when you guys stand there, if you would stand and honor and reverence of God's word. We're going to start in verse 10 and read down through verse 14. Verse 14 is our key verse for tonight. Paul speaking to Timothy says, but thou has fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch and at Iconium and Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of all of them the Lord delivered me.

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Let's pray. Lord, we want to thank you for the opportunity to come to your house tonight. God, I want to praise you for the wonderful week that you gave us last week. I pray that you were exalted in everything that we've done. I pray that you're exalted tonight. Lord, and I pray that you would calm my nerves now. Lord, hide me behind your cross. Help me to say exactly what you want me to. Lord, and I pray that you would receive the honor and the glory in Christ's name.

You may be seated. The 2 Timothy was written to Timothy, right? Obviously. Paul wrote 2 Timothy as an encouragement to him. This was actually the last thing that Paul wrote down that we have recorded. So, we could look at this as the last charge that Paul gives Timothy, the last thing he's going to say to him before he passes on into the next life. Paul and Timothy had a really close bond, right? So close that in 2 Timothy, verse 2 of chapter 1, Paul calls Timothy his son.

They had a very close relationship, father and son type of relationship. And this was his final encouragement to him, his final letter to him. So, something I love about this passage is that you can see that bond.

You can see that. Paul says that Timothy fully knows what he preaches. Whether or not he lives out that preaching, right? He says, but thou has known my doctrine.

Where are we at here? But thou has fully known my doctrine, my manner of life. Whether or not I'm living out that faith, you've also known what my purpose is. He says you've known my, fully known my purpose and many other things.

But this word known here comes from a Greek word that means to not only know but to follow. So, Timothy had such a close bond with Paul that not only did he know the way that Paul lived, what he preached and how he would live that out, but he followed it as well. Just like Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11, chapter 1, he says, be followers of me, even am I, even also I am of Christ.

Paul had that testimony of you can follow me as I go to Christ. You can look like me. If you look to me, I'll take you further to Christ.

And this is not on topic at all, but do you have a testimony like that? I pray constantly, God, as I'm working with these teens, help me to look more like you. That way if they look like me, I look more like you. Because if they look like me, I don't want them to look like me in my flesh.

I want them to look more like Christ. And that's the testimony that Paul had with Timothy. But not only does Timothy know the good spiritual things about Paul, but he also knows the persecution that Paul faced as well. Timothy was with Paul, it says, in Antioch and Iconium and Lystra. Lystra was actually the hometown that Timothy lived in.

This is his home. And if you read in Acts, it actually will tell you that Paul was stoned in Lystra. Timothy probably saw him in his hometown being stoned and left for dead. Timothy knew that relationship and knew the commitment that Paul had to the ministry. Paul also reminds Timothy, though, not only have I done these good things, the things I've preached, the doctrine, all of these great things, and not all of these persecutions, but guess who got me through? The Bible says that the Lord got me through these things in verse 11. It says, the Lord delivered me out of all of these things. God had delivered Paul through all the persecution he had been through. One, for God's own glory, like God does everything.

He does everything according to his glory and for his good pleasure. But also that Paul could have that testimony of God's goodness and God's grace in his life. So Paul tells Timothy a fact, though, in verse 12. He gives Timothy something that is just a fact. He says, Yea, and all that live godly in Christ will suffer persecution, shall suffer persecution. That's a promise.

That's a guarantee. Everyone that lives godly shall suffer persecution. This isn't a maybe. This isn't even a possibility. Like there's a 75% chance you're most likely going to have persecution.

No. He says you shall have persecution if you live godly. And while that might sound strange, right? That's insane. God loves everyone more than we could. How could somebody persecute people that look like God if God's the most loving?

That sounds foreign in our minds, but all Paul is doing here is confirming, or not confirming, but re-saying something that Jesus already said in John 15. If you'll look there in John 15, verse 18, it says, If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated you. Remember the word that I said unto you.

The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And if they have kept my saying, they will also keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not them that sent me. Jesus already had told us that we're going to suffer persecution.

Jesus had already said that. The reason they will persecute you, though, has nothing to do with you. It's not because they don't like you or because they have something against you. In fact, it has nothing to do with you. The Bible says that they will hate you because they hated me, right?

But think about how awesome that is. The more we look like Christ, the more we're hated. So I don't know about you that brings some joy. It means I'm going to encourage you here, right? Some of you have made decisions. Some of you said, you know what, I'm going to be more like Christ.

Some of you got saved, 11 of you. So a promise that comes with that is that you're going to suffer some form of persecution. That's a promise from Jesus Christ himself. Paul said that if you live godly in Christ, you will suffer persecution. That's a clause, though.

Anybody else catch that? Paul says if you live godly, you'll suffer persecution if you fix it. So let's look at the example of Peter. The pastor preached on Peter this Sunday, okay? Peter was the lead disciple. He was the leader. The pastor said every time the disciples get mentioned, right, he's the first. He's the leader.

He's the guy in charge. He's the guy that preached one service and 3,000 people got saved, right? He's such a great, he's the only person aside from Jesus to ever walk on water, right? This has got to be the guy, right? This is the Christian of all Christians.

This is who we want to be like. The only guy besides Jesus to walk on water, preach, 3,000 people got saved. Like that's Peter, right? Second to Christ, we would think. But he didn't always suffer persecution.

Sometimes he ran from it. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 26 if you want to see it yourself. Matthew 26, verse 69.

It starts here. It says, Now Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee, but he denied them before all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and saith unto them, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. You're one of Jesus' disciples, right? And again, he denied with an oath, saying, I know not the man. I don't know who you're talking about. I don't know Jesus.

I'm not one of his disciples. And after a while came unto him, they stood by and said unto Peter, Surely thou are also one of them, for thy speech beareth thee. And he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.

And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus and said unto him, Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. We can see Peter, this great preacher, great man of God, when persecution hit him, he ran from it. I don't know who you're talking about. I don't know this Jesus. I don't want to suffer for his sake.

I don't know him. And Peter, what he did was he separated himself from that persecution. I want nothing to do with it. All that live godly will suffer persecution if you live godly. I know what some of you guys may be thinking. Teens, well, I don't want to face any persecution, right? I don't.

I just want to enjoy my life. Yeah, I want Jesus to be my savior, but I don't want to have to deal with all that that comes with it. I don't necessarily want to suffer that persecution.

But let's look at 1 Peter chapter 4. Verse 12 says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice insomuch as that you are partakers of Christ's suffering, and that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you, and on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, as a thief, or as an evildoer, as a busybody, in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, as any man suffers as a little Christ, a Christ's follower, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. So the same guy, the same Peter, that's who wrote 1 Peter, the same guy that denied Christ, I don't know him, I don't know him, I don't want to be associated with him, that same person wrote this.

He says, I joy, right? That was what verse 14 says. If you're reproached in the name of Christ, happy are you. Praise God that you get to suffer for Christ's sake. Praise the Lord. Because what that means is, Jesus said they'll hate you because they hate me, so if that means you're suffering for Christ, what that means is you look more like Christ.

And that's our goal, right? Our goal is to look more like Christ every day. That's our goal in life, is to be more like Christ, so if you're suffering persecution, it's because you look more like Christ.

And Peter says, rejoice in that, happy are you, because you get to be a part of Christ's sufferings. God forbid that lighthouse ever becomes a church that doesn't have a little bit of persecution, because that means we don't look like Christ. I hope and pray that at some point I suffer persecution. I want to suffer persecution more every day, because that means I'm looking more like Christ every day, and that's my goal in life.

I hope it's yours. Praise God for Christians that still suffer persecution, because that means they're looking more like him every day. So Paul promises us, if we live godly, we will suffer persecution.

Teens that just got saved, I hope when they see, when your friends see you again, they treat you a little bit differently. I hope that your worldly friends stop being so friendly, because that means that you look a little bit more like Christ, and they're a little bit less comfortable to do those things around you. I pray that some of you face some form of persecution, because that's what it means. That means that you're living a godly life. Praise the Lord for that. Paul tells Timothy that evil men and seducers or imposters will get worse and worse.

They will deceive others, and they themselves are deceived, like we see in verse 13. Teens, your friends might tell you, oh, you just made an emotional decision again. That's not going to last. You just were on a spiritual high, an emotional high. That don't mean nothing. You can act the same.

They're trying to seduce you, trying to trick you, trying to be imposters. You didn't really give your life to Christ. You didn't mean that.

You were just a little confused. The verse that we're focusing in on today is verse 14. It says, continue in the things which thou hast learned. Continue in what you've learned. Continue despite the persecution. 2 Timothy 3, 14, we'll read it again. It says, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. The word continue here is in the present active imperative form.

That's a mouthful. Present active imperative form. This means that this is a forced command.

It's a command with some force behind it. Do this. Continue. Paul commands Timothy to continue in the instruction that Paul had given him. He commanded Timothy to continue in the truth of God's word. Despite the shame, despite what people think, despite the persecution that's going to come, continue in the things that you've been assured of.

Continue in the things that you've learned. The Greek word is mino here. The word that says continue is the Greek word mino. This word means to remain, to not depart, to stay, to stand strong in what you believe.

That's what this word means, to stand, literally to stand. The passage that comes to mind when I think of that is Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6 10 and 11 says, Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We don't have time to hop into all the armor of God. If you guys want to read that, it's Ephesians 6.

It's phenomenal. This is the final chapter of the book of Ephesians. This is the last little thing that Paul tells the Ephesians before he lends his letter. He tells the Ephesians something cool here.

He says, Put on the armor of God so you can stand against the wiles of the devil. You know what's really cool about standing? In order to stand, you have to remain. You can't stand and not remain because then I'm walking. It says stand, remain.

Those passages kind of tie together a little bit. Standing requires you to stand in one place or to remain. The word stand here, which I'm sure a lot of you know, is a military word. It means hold your ground.

Defend it like it's a fort. Stand in place. Not only does Paul say here to stand, but he also says to remain. Continue. Hold your ground. Stand up for the things of God. Stand up. Stand in place. Don't be willing to move. Continue.

Guys, if you made a decision this past week or adults, maybe you guys have a conviction you're in, stand in place. Continue in the things that you've been assured of. Don't give those up. Those convictions are the Holy Spirit putting those on you. Don't give those up. There might be things that God has told you that he doesn't want you to do.

Gray areas, convictions that you have. Hold to those. Stand firm. Stand fast. Be assured.

Continue in those things that you've been assured of. Stay in place. If we don't stand and remain in God's word and stay in the place that God's put us, who will? If we don't hold the line, who's going to?

That line's going to fall. We have to stand, remain, hold our ground in what God's given us. My second and third point really could have kind of been combined, but I like three points because I'm weird. My third point here is continue in the word. Let's read a couple more verses here down through our text. Verse 14 says to continue in the things that we have learned, but where did we learn our convictions?

How about this? Where did we learn that we're sinners in need of a savior? Where did we learn of our blessed redeemer? Where did we learn that the payment from our sins comes from the blessed blood of Christ? Sure, someone may have taught us, but who taught them?

Where does that come from? Let's read down through the passage. Verse 14 again says, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

What was it? Thou hast known the holy scriptures. All scriptures given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. We learned of our own insufficiencies, that we're inadequate through God's word. God's word is what makes us guilty. The Bible says that sin is the transgression of the law. Well, guess what?

What's the law? God's word, right? So if we don't know this, if we're not in this, how are we ever going to know what we need to be sure of? But God's word is key, guys. So we don't have time. I could spend weeks just in verses 16 and 17, but we're going to pull these through pretty quickly.

I got like 12 minutes, so we're going to do it. The Bible says in verse 16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, okay? The word that comes, it's translated here as inspired, is a Greek word that I definitely can't pronounce, so I'm going to have it put on the screen. Pastor Josh can say it. I cannot.

I wasn't going to try and embarrass myself. So this word literally means God breathed. All scripture is God breathed. He breathed it out. This is what God has.

He breathed it out for us, right? God said in Jeremiah 1.9 that God literally put his words in the mouth of Jeremiah. Behold, I have put my words in my mouth. So God has inspired his word for us. That's what he wants us to continue in as his inspired word, but not only does the verse say that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, but it also says, and it's profitable. Profitable for various things, but what are those things? What is the word of God good for?

What can we use it for? And teens, I'm really talking to you because I know a lot of this church knows this really good. So the first thing is it's profitable for doctrine. What is doctrine, right? I'm not the smartest guy there is.

I've struggled with big words sometimes. So what is doctrine? Plainly put, doctrine is teaching.

All it is is teaching. Teaching on what to believe, biblical truth. That's what doctrine is. God's word is truth, right?

We can all quote it. John 17, 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth.

But truth, doctrine, is based on God's word, okay? Not what we think, not of what the world says, not of what your friends say, teens, right? We don't base how we live based on what your friends think is cool. We don't live according to how, well, this is what everybody else is doing, so this is kind of, I mean, I want to be cool.

That's not how we live. We base what we do and how we live upon the doctrine of God's word, the truth of God's word. It tells us how to live. So not only is it profitable for doctrine, but it's also profitable for reproof. Reproof basically means to tell someone what is wrong, to tell someone what is wrong. Not only the Bible tells us what's good and what's true and what we need to believe in, but it also would tell us what's bad, what we can't do, what we can't live in, the sins that we can't live in.

This is the test. This right here is what we measure everything up to, and if it doesn't come to this, then it's not true. Silly example, but you guys hear it every day in school. Well, creation's just silly. There's no way that creation happened and God created it.

The world evolved over hundreds of billions of years, and it's just how it is. Okay, but what does this say? It says that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and he's done, and he rested.

Rested. I'm finished. I'm done. So can we take and say, well, that's cool and all, but I know what the world says, so I'm going to do that. No, the Bible's good for reproof. It tells us what's wrong, what's not to believe. We know what is true because of the doctrine and what is false because of reproof. Paul told Timothy to continue in scripture and not to continue with things that go against God's word. So not only is it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction is the next one. The Bible is used to correct us when we err.

I don't know about you. Has anybody ever been reading the Bible and God says, hey, hey, you're messing up here, right? That's what God's word is used for.

It's one of the areas. If we only knew what was true and what was wrong, but we were never corrected, our lives would be a mess, right? Well, you can tell your kid, hey, don't touch the hot stove, right?

But he touches it and hey, you can tell him don't run out in the street and until he gets hit by a car, he's not going to know that, right? Sometimes we have to be corrected. Sometimes we have to be put back into our place and teens, that's something I want you guys to learn. Sometimes we have to acknowledge what God's word says and even though it hurts, even though it's not the best, sometimes God says, you know what? That doesn't need to be in your life.

Snit cuts it out and this is what we have to measure everything to, is for correction. The Greek, the word in the Greek here is the only place it's used in the Bible, correction here and what's cool about this word is it also means to restore to an upright state, to bring back into a right, okay? The Bible is used to restore us into a right place when we fall short of God's standards of perfection. It's our corrector.

It's our past master. It's what keeps us in line is God's holy word and the final thing that it says it's profitable for is instruction in righteousness. If you've heard me speak before, you heard me probably say this, I'm a very plain and simple guy. You give me instructions, I'll do it, right? Very simple, but that's what this God's word is, is it's our instruction manual for life. Okay guys, you have a question.

Well, I don't know, maybe we can live like this. I don't know if this is a sin or not. Do you wiki how that or Google it, right? We could Google it, but Google is not always right. We turn to God's scripture. That's what he gave for us and what's so awesome and something I love so much about God's word is he didn't give us some systematic theology book that we have to try and dissect and figure out and well, how does this apply here and all this. God gave us an instruction manual.

He gave us a book that was written to Christians, for Christians in real life scenarios, correcting real issues. You read, well, I have trouble with my mouth. I don't, I can't control my tongue super well.

Well, where do you go? James three, right? Well, my parents just having issues. I don't really know. First Corinthians seven, right? God's given us a very simple and very awesome word. It's not simple.

It's very complex, but made it easy for us and all we have to do is turn here for those real life scenarios. God gave us a Bible to your instruction in righteousness, but why, right? Why should we continue in the things? It seems, why should you continue in your convictions that God gave you? Why should you continue in the way that God wants you to live? Why remain?

Why stay in that? Bible continues in verse 17. It says that the man of God may be perfect.

The word perfect here is the Greek word artios and it comes and it also could mean proficient and capable. God wants us to remain in his work. That way we are fully proficient and capable to do everything that he wants us to. God's word when properly applied into our lives, provide, provides everything we need for life and ministry. We don't need to go somewhere else.

We don't need to go find the new fancy motives and oh, this is the best way to do this or the best way to do this. God already gave it to us in his close canon of scripture. He already gave us everything we need and that's the best place we could turn. So when persecution comes and we have to remain in God's word that he's assured us with, the best place that we can turn when that persecution comes is directly to his word. It says that this is what furnishes us or supplies us for all good works. God's word is that. In his word in prayer and in biblical guidance is all that we need and it all stems from God's word.

He's provided everything we could need in his word and that is what Paul told Timothy. Despite the persecution, I have to remain in the things that you've learned from the scriptures. No matter what people say, no matter what people think, guys, I know it's going to be hard. You're going back into school and you can be like, well, I don't know how my friends are going to react.

I don't know how everybody's going to treat me. Despite all of that, Paul said, look at all these things that you've seen me suffer through. Yea, all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. You're going to suffer but continue anyway. It even says it's going to get worse and worse.

It's going to keep getting worse. Persecution is going to get harder and harder and harder but stand, remain, continue in God's word. So teens, how does this apply to you?

I know something that people are looking forward to seeing you is whether or not you will remain. There's a stigma that floats around teen camps. It's just emotional. Give them a week and they'll be gone. I've heard people say that. Well, I've seen them pray and go ask God to save them before camp.

We'll see how long it lasts. There's that stigma. People are watching you to see whether or not you're going to remain in the things that God has taught us and says that we've learned and the things that we've been assured of. I know I talked to a bunch of you about assurance of salvation. You've been assured of that. I talked to a handful of you about how to be saved, how to deal with sin in your lives.

Tell you what, that's what everybody's looking at this front of the room for. Are you going to remain? Are you going to stay in what God has for you? Adults, I would be careful of saying that. Well, the teens, they made decisions for Christ but don't they all just fall away over time?

I would be careful of that. Not only is that discouraging to them, that's discouraging, and do some teens fall away? Yes, it happens.

But do some remain? I'm proof. Like Michael said, Michael's proof. I surrendered my life to ministry five years ago at camp on Thursday morning after Ted House preached. This year, I was able to go as a head counselor. Being able to intern at the church, I was able to remain and see what God has done in my life.

I don't like to talk about me much but I'm proof right here. Camp works. It's not just emotional all the time. Sure, it's there sometimes but camp works. I've been able to work with a lot of these teens and see them grow in the past year that I've been here and to see them grow from even last year at camp, before and after, and even this year.

I've already talked to them since camp. They're growing. It's so discouraging to them to say, well, they're just going to fall off. It ain't going nowhere. So be careful of saying that. So my question for you is who's going to remain? Who's going to make it through the persecution because it's going to come? teens, is it going to be you? Are you going to be the one to fall off? Are you going to be the one that flakes off the second there's any amount of pressure?

Are you going to be the one that's willing to stand, hold your ground in the things that God has taught you in His Word? Maybe tonight you can say, well, I've already messed up a little bit since camp. Nobody's perfect. It happens. Maybe you can say, well, I've not been very encouraging to the teens this year.

I've been looking down on them and whatever the case is, you guys know how that is. But tonight I would just pray that no matter what the Lord's lay on your heart, we would just continue, continuing the things that God's led in us. I know one of the hardest things that most people struggle with is discipline.

I'm there too, right? Well, God, I'll do it right now and then our discipline falls off. Paul says continue. Stay in those things. Stay in your convictions.

Stay in the things you've learned. Stay in the things you've been assured of because that's what God's called us to do is to remain, to stay, to continue. So as the music team comes tonight, we'll draw to a close. I would like to pray and just thank God for His blessings this evening. So if y'all bow, let's pray. Lord, I want to thank you for the opportunity to come up and look at your word. Lord, you've been so good to us and Lord, I think of the song How Good Is He. Lord, even if you never did another thing for us, you're still good, Lord, and we want to praise you for that. God, I praise you for these teens that were able to even come back since camp tonight and Lord, for the 61 people that we took. Lord, you've protected us. You've sustained us. Lord, you took care of us while we were at camp. So Lord, I pray tonight that you would just be glorified.

Help us to remain. Help us to continue so that we could look more like you. God, help us to be thankful when persecution comes. Lord, because that means we look more like you and that's always our goal. So God, I pray that you would be glorified through the invitation. If there's anyone that doesn't know you, I pray that today would be the day of salvation in Christ's name. Amen.