Today we begin the application of our series ‘The Great Reckoning’

• This morning let’s review the 9 sermons that have come before and begin to apply them to what God calls us to do… today….

 

If you didn’t notice as we went through this series, it has been broken down into 3s.

• Focusing on God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son
• We looked at: The Law, the Father, and Grace
• Then we considered Freedom, the Holy Spirit, and Power
• And last we studied Evil, the Love of God which is Christ, & overcoming Sin

 

The Law is necessary because it reveals the Holiness of the Father, Grace is given because it is the only way for any person to be saved from the Justice of a Holy God

 

Freedom is offered by the Holy Spirit, freedom to follow & obey Jesus by His Power, freedom to walk in the Spirit and NOT obey the desires of the flesh.

 

We discovered that without the presence of God in our lives, we live in a condition of evil and without Jesus directing our lives, we live in a state of sin.

 

It HAS been a great reckoning. Setting straight in our hearts and minds the purposes God has for us walking in faith through this life,

• Sitting in the presence of Jesus, learning to resist sin & displace evil with Good
• Walking through the Justice, Mercy and Grace of our God and Father
• And Standing in Freedom, upheld by the Power of His righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

 

The next 3 weeks, the last of our Great Reckoning will be focused on our relationships: with the People, with the Church, and with the World, in the light of

• All we have Reckoned this far.

 

 What is our relationship to people?

 

The whole world can be divided into 3 groups of people:

• Those who can count… and those who can’t…        2….     2 groups…
• I mean those who can count on Jesus… and those who don’t

 

In the Old Testament it was the Jews…  and everyone else (the Gentiles).

In the New Testament it became the Church (ecclesia “political assembly”) and everyone else (the lost, the unassembled… or disassembled… broken…)

 

And so we Reckon the People in one of three ways:

All People           Those in the Church             Those in the World

 

And this is how we will spend the next 3 weeks.

 

This morning the question is, “How do we relate to all people?”

 

We pray for the Grace of God to reach ALL people.  We offer ALL people Freedom. We call ALL people to turn from Sin. This is the gospel… I reckon.

 

I have spoken about the end times and all the sin, evil and godlessness that will be prevalent in the world, maybe already IS prevalent in the world…

• 2 Timothy 3 (and others) speak of this godlessness we should be looking for
• But 2 Timothy 2 does a good job telling US what to do about it.

 

In chapter 2 of his FIRST letter to Timothy, Paul explains this:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

 

And in chapter 2 of his Second letter to Timothy Paul says:

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

How do we relate to all people if in one letter Paul says God desires all people to be saved and in the next letter Paul says be kind to everyone because God might grant them repentance?

• Are we supposed to love ALL people?   Why? God Loves all people.

 

The Bible very clearly teaches that God’s will is that ALL would be saved.

• 1 Timothy 2:4 say the will of God ‘desires all people to be saved’.
• For God so loved the World (John 3:16)
• ‘that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’ (John 3:15)
• For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11)

 

But Jesus said there will be people who end up in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth… The road is wide that leads to destruction…

• There are CLEARLY 2 Wills involved in the saving of anyone.

 

In researching this week, I finally got a glimpse into the Calvinist understanding of God’s will that has been a missing piece to my understanding them all my life.

 

This week I found an explanation from Pastor John Piper. He explains:

God has two wills. Not divided wills but one desire greater than the other.

• Calvinists believe God’s greater will is to glorify his own free & sovereign grace
• This gives them justification for what God ‘chooses’ not to save everyone.
• They use 2 Timothy 2:25 that ‘God may perhaps grant them repentance.’
• Believing that God MAY NOT choose to let them repent
• And that if God ‘grants’ it, they WILL by His choice repent and be saved.

 

But here’s my question.  Is the Bible true or is Calvinism correct?

• Love doesn’t send people to hell. BUT… Love can’t stop people from it either

 

If Salvation is dependent on God alone, with no response from us…  then God doesn’t love the whole world.

• He can’t love those He chooses to abandon to hell
• And He can’t love those he forces to join Him in heaven…

 

And so Jacob Arminius had a different answer, John Wesley agreed with Arminius believing God’s greater will is to honor the will He gave us.

• he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Hebrews 5:9)

Not to Obey Him perfectly… We are not under the Law, but under Grace…

But how do we begin to obey Him?

 

The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  (2 Timothy 2:24-26

 

 

Kind to Everyone

 

Kindness means being gracious and selfless to others as God is to us. We treat others as we would have them treat us so that they might see the loving kindness of God through us.  knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

 

God gives Grace, we pray people will receive it.

Grace isn’t a reward you earn by being good or even obedient; it’s a gift you receive by being God’s.  Salvation isn’t ours because we obey… its ours and so we obey

• It’s God’s loving pursuit of those who hate Him & contributed to Jesus’ death
• It’s a farmer paying a full day’s wages to deadbeat day laborers who only worked a single hour (Matthew 20:1-16)
• It’s a shepherd who risks ninety-nine sheep to rescue a single lamb that’s too stupid to stay with the flock (Luke 15:1-7)
• It’s a man marrying an abandoned woman and refusing to forsake her when she turns out to be a prostitute (Ezekiel 16:8-63; Hosea 1:1-3:5)
• It’s a father who gives a fine robe and ring to restore a delinquent son who had squandered his inheritance on drunken binges with terrible friends (Luke 15:11-32)
• It’s a stranger that risks his safety and gives his money to save the life of someone who is a sworn enemy (Luke 10:25-37)
• It’s a sacrificial love that calls you into the kingdom not because you’re good but because God has chosen to grant you the repentance you chose to respond with when you were offered His grace to make you His own.

 

Treat others…  ALL others… the way God has treated you.

Able To Teach

 

Treat them well…  and by God’s grace, teach them about God’s freedom.

 

Paul said to Timothy, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

 

Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  (Matthew 28:19-20)

 

We have a commission to share what we know with all people… from all nations.

• Because God so loved the world and is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

 

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:10)

• We don’t know how long we have to teach them about His grace and freedom

 

 

 

Patiently Enduring Evil

 

We call all people to turn from sin. Paul continues to tell Timothy:

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”  (2 Timothy 2:3-7) 

 

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits…

• Our focus is people. Kindness to people, teaching them of His grace and turning from sin (repentance)
• When some hear of his call to repentance, we ask for His forgiveness and he grants us repentance. Others run from Him back into the darkness.
• John Wesley called this ability to see and ask… Prevenient Grace.

We, who are repentant followers of Jesus have been offered this prevenient grace and we call all people to respond as we did. Many wont. Many will hate us for even trying. We will be hated and persecuted because we stand in defiance of the sin that roles them. But Paul knew this suffering and continues:

 

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”                    (2 Timothy 2:8-13)

 

Some think the ‘elect’ means God chose those who would be saved…

• I disagree. John Wesley disagreed.
• When someone is elected, it wasn’t that they had no choice in running…
• The elected are those people, any people, who responded to God… because of His prevenient grace with a repentant heart.
• And God elects… grants… votes for… adopts them into His family.

 

We  only respond to His peace… His call, His offer to all people…

This is all we ask others to do…

 

 

 

Correcting With Gentleness

 

Not Just the Church… but also everyone else:

 

Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.  (2 Timothy 2:14-15)

 

We tend to argue before to listen…  correct before we understand…

• Jesus asks us to rightly handle the Word of Truth. Kindness, teaching repentance, with gentleness…

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”  (2 Timothy 2:16-19)

 

Love your neighbor as yourself…  because Gd loves your neighbor…  all of them.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.”          (2 Timothy 2:20-23)