Why did Paul leave Timothy in Ephesus? That's what he did. Timothy, was traveling with Paul. He left him or sent him to Ephesus, in order to oversee the ministry there. And this letter largely explains why he left Timothy in Ephesus.

Okay? And Paul's instructions to Timothy as he ministers at the church there. It starts out with with some commands and then, Paul's commands, then Paul's purpose, then Paul's, primary, target, which is false teaching. Why is Timothy there? He's there in order to teach sound doctrine.

Okay? To keep the church sound in the faith, in the word of God, and to cast aside the false teaching and the false teachers. Thus, that brings us to Paul's charge to Timothy, which is likewise about this subject mainly as we will see. It is kind of an introduction to the, instructions that follow. Okay?

So the charge is the initial challenge and then it's followed by instructions on how to make that happen. Okay? And so here we have the charge in verses 18 through 20. So let's read it together. This charge, I commit unto thee, son Timothy.

According to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them might as war a good warfare. Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. Now, why did they make shipwreck? Because their anchor was not in who? Jesus Christ.

Therefore, their anchor did not hold. Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered under Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. So let's go back up to verse 18, and here we have the charge. The charge is a challenge or command. Paul is Timothy's mentor, an apostle, and the one who left him there challenges Timothy to keep and do the following.

And the following really is the rest of the letter. Okay? But this is kind of the introduction to that. What is this charge? This charge, number two, is in accordance with the will of who?

It's accordance with the will of God. Who was it that called Paul into the ministry? Yeah. Jesus. God did.

Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, literally, and called him into into the ministry. Who who revealed to him the words that he taught? Well, some of it was revealed in the Old Testament by the prophets. Some of it was revealed directly to Paul by who? By Christ again.

Paul makes a point of saying that in the book of Galatians. He was saved in Damascus and then he went into Arabia for a time and who did he go to Arabia to see? Nobody but who? Nobody but God. He spent time alone with the Lord and the Lord taught him there.

He didn't get all this information just from anyone else. He got, he got it mostly from the Lord. Who was it, therefore, who called Timothy into the ministry? It wasn't just Paul, it was who? It was God.

It was the Lord Jesus again that had called Timothy into the ministry. That's what Paul is speaking of here according to prophecies which went before on thee. Paul, was convinced as was Timothy that this wasn't Paul's calling. This wasn't Timothy's calling. This was who?

This was God's calling. Now not all such callings to the preaching ministry are accompanied by prophecy as he references here, but all true callings to the ministry are given by who? Are given by God. Because man can't call us into the ministry for God. It must be God who calls us into the ministry for God.

Sad to say, there are people out there who were called not by God but called by men. Does that tend to go well? No. They might make a make make they might make a lot of money. They might draw a lot of people, but if they're not doing the work of God, if they're doing the work of man, then in the end indeed it will come to naught and not to the glory of God.

Paul is assured here that his calling, that Timothy's calling, that that the choice to leave Timothy there to minister is indeed the calling of God and not just of men. One question asked at an ordination council. Now, let me fill you in just for a moment. An ordination council is, if you're going to be a pastor, normally, you are ordained. Okay?

Now, ordination, does not determine whether you go into the ministry or not. That is, again, the calling of who? The calling of God. But it is a blessing for others to have the opportunity to put their hand of blessing behind those that call that God calls into the ministry. And so pastors normally at some point will go before an ordination council of peers, pastoral peers and authorities, preachers, and ask a bunch of questions.

And then they will ordain. They will put their stamp of approval, so to speak, not on what they have called, but on the person whom God has called. Okay? And before they do that, normally in a service, you'll have to go a preacher will spend a whole day, many hours, sitting with a bunch of preachers and them asking a bunch of questions. Most of them aren't picky questions as, you know, who was the third king of Babylon?

You know, make sure you spell his name right. No. Not those type of questions. But just to see if the person that is claiming the call of God on their life is serious and if their doctrine is in line with what? With the word of God before they put their stamp of approval and join hands in a partnership in ministry with them.

One of the questions that is almost always asked in an ordination council is this, if this council should find you unworthy or unfit, would you still go and preach the gospel and pursue your calling? The correct answer to that is yes because it isn't the council's place to call you. And if God has called you, then should you obey the call of God regardless of the approval of man? And the answer to that is obviously is obviously yes. And so there have been preachers down through the years that belong to denominations that were starting to go astray and they refused the the refused to ordain them because they were sticking on the truth and the and the denomination was going astray and it didn't stop them from preaching the word of God.

It didn't stop them from following the calling of the Lord and it shouldn't because it is not the prerogative of men. It is the prerogative of God. And Paul is putting his stamp of that right here saying this is not my idea. This this Timothy is whose idea. This is God's idea.

If that's the case, then listen to what I have to say. He goes on, with his command. What is Timothy challenged to do by Paul? This charge I commend unto the son Timothy according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest, what? War a good warfare.

War, a good warfare. The Christian life in several places in scripture is called a war. It is warfare. It is a battle between good and evil. A warfare of the gravest kind for this world and the souls of men and women.

Warfare requires effort. Warfare is not easy. Warfare is not fought complacently. It requires effort. It is bound to you are bound to face difficulty.

So don't be surprised if you're in war and you face difficulty because that just goes along with the definition of war. You have an enemy that wants to what? Destroy you. Particularly if you are ministering with the what? With the word of God.

There's an enemy that wants to destroy you. There's an enemy that wants to keep people from hearing this, and he is going to try to make it very what? Difficult. It's going to take effort. It's going to be difficult.

It's going to require discipline. Okay? And it is going to come at a cost. So expect the cost and count the cost. And so that's what he's telling Timothy here.

The the Christian life is a battle. It is a war between good and evil, between God and Satan, between that which is right and that which is wrong. And it will take effort and it will take discipline and he will face difficulty and there will be a cost. It won't just be an easy road all the time. But remember, you're not fighting the battle what?

You're not fighting the battle alone. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the what? In the world. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. All Christians are in this battle between good and evil, whether they realize it or not, but those called to preach and teach the word are on the front lines leading forward the host of the Lord against the foe.

It is their duty to engage in this battle daily, to be keenly aware of the trappings of the flesh and the devil which would trip them up and others also. So that's why Paul challenges Timothy in this manner. I challenge you, I charge you that thou by the calling of the Lord, by his hand upon you might fight, mightest war a good, a sound, a purposeful, a successful warfare that you are going into. A few verses here, first Timothy six twelve later in this letter, Paul writes, fight the good fight of faith, laid hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. Second Timothy two, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.

No man that warreth entangled himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. If we're all entangled with the affairs of this life, if we're if our priorities are all out of whack of the most important thing or the pleasures of this world, are you gonna fight a good fight, Timothy? And the answer is no. You're not because your priorities are in the wrong place. You're not keeping your eyes on who?

On Jesus and the reward that a word that is way reward that is waiting you in heaven. Second Timothy four seven, Paul says, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Paul isn't saying I always I always did everything perfect.

I always did right and never failed at anything. No. He said, I fought a good what? I stood in there and I took the punches. And when I missed and when I messed up, I didn't go down and I didn't give up.

I stood back up and I fought for the Lord and for the souls of men and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I fought a good fight. And now I get to gather at the what? The river. The beautiful, the beautiful river.

Go to my reward in heaven. Timothy, it's going to be a fight. Fight a good fight. Do your best. Put your all into it.

Don't allow yourself to get too distracted by the things of the world that are passing away. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. That is Paul's charge to Timothy to fight a good fight. Do all fight a good fight? The answer to that is no.

Not all fight a good fight. He says in verse 19 in regards to this fight, holding faith and a good conscience. How do we fight the good fight? By growing in the what? By becoming strong in the faith.

By trusting in who? The Lord. Trusting in the Lord who called us. That's how we fight the good fight. That's how David fought the good fight when he walked up to walked up to Goliath with just a sling and a stone to somebody who was five or six times his size.

He trusted in who? The Lord. He said so, that all this assembly may know that there is a God in Israel and he will give you into our hand. Now, that may sound a little bit like arrogance, but it wasn't. It was trust.

It was confidence in the God whom David fought for. And the same God who David fought for and the same God who Joshua fought for and the same God Daniel's band that we sang about tonight that stood up to Nebuchadnezzar and said, we will not bow is the same God that we serve. All we need to do is trust Him. It is by faith that we will conquer because the battle belongs to who? The battle belongs to the Lord.

Thus, God said to Joshua, have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. What was Joshua doing? He was leading 2,000,000 people into a fight, nearly 700,000 soldiers into battle against cities that had walls that were many stories high and stories thick, who were prepared for attack, who had defenses, who had chariots, which Israel did not have.

But he said God said to Joshua, don't be afraid of them. No man, he said, will be able to stand against you as long as you are fighting with who? Fighting for the Lord. And no one did as long as Joshua was following the Lord. And they quickly took the land.

We need to have faith in the God whom we serve as David did. We need to have faith in the gospel that we preach. What did Paul say in Romans? For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the what? The power of God.

Not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Paul said, I'm not ashamed. I I'm not timid. I'm not going to back down because what I preach is powerful and it changes lives forever. So have faith in the gospel you preach.

It's the same gospel that Paul preached if you're preaching the word of God. So don't be ashamed of it and don't be timid and don't be afraid and don't think that God can't save souls with it because he can. So, Timothy, have faith in God. Have faith in the gospel. Have faith in the promises of God.

Have faith in God's promises. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Paul wrote this in Philippians one six says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Paul said, I'm confident in the promises of who? God.

The God who said, if you will with your heart believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead with your mouth, confess the Lord Jesus as savior, you shall be, what? Saved. Paul said, I trust in those promises and the promises that he has made to me, that there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness and for all those who serve him. And so trust in the promises of God. Trust in the grace and armor and presence of God who leads us forth in battle.

In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus said this to the apostles. It says, you have faith as a grain of mustard seed. You shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Now, I think he was using that as a metaphor. I don't think he intended for them to move any mountains.

But I have a book or my parents had the book. I don't think I have it anymore. But the book was titled The Man Who Moved a Mountain. And it was about this one man who decided to take on this mountain and everybody that lived on that mountain who where there was no church and where there was no gospel witness and he went and he began to witness and he began to testify of the grace of God and nearly everybody on that mountain. We're not talking about a hill.

We're talking about in Virginia. They're they're mountains. They're they're pretty big. A lot of people live. They can go for miles.

And because of his faith and humility, many, many souls were saved. And the gospel that was planted on that mountain still thrives today because he believed that God could move the hearts of men and mountains. And so he did. And that is the same God that we serve today. So just have a little bit of what?

Little bit of faith and let it grow. Every time we step out in faith and we see God work, then our faith grows just a little bit, a little bit more. But you gotta take that what? You gotta take that step. If you keep standing in one place out of fear and unwilling to take that step in faith, then your faith grows stagnant because you're not putting it to use.

You're not practicing it. You're not exercising your faith. You're not giving God the opportunity to show you that he is almighty and all trustworthy. So he mentions here holding faith, and then second, a good conscience, a good conscience. Those who minister must also keep a clear conscience before God who supplies their power in the ministry.

The power to save souls, to change lives, to grow churches, to do great and mighty things for the Lord doesn't come from me. Doesn't come from you. It comes from who? God. We sow the seed.

God gives the what? The increase. It is the calling of God. It is the power of God. It is the will of God.

It is not the power of men. Without him, we can do what? With God, all things are possible. See the difference when it comes to ministry. I mean, you can build a house.

You can fix a car. You can run for office and win office without God's help. But you can't do the work of God without God's help. It will come to naught. Sad to say, there are many people who have done many great and mighty things.

And like Solomon, on their deathbed, all of a sudden they realized vanity, vanity, all is vanity because they were leaving it all leaving it all behind. There was nothing of value to take with them when they left this place. It is the power of God and God works mightily through sanctified vessels, through clean vessels, to those who are close to him. Timothy, if you're going to succeed in the ministry, you gotta get close to who? God.

And that means keeping a clear conscience with God. Now, I don't think Paul expected Timothy to never sin, but I think Paul expected Timothy, like John expects us, to confess our, what, sins. Why? Because, well, if we don't confess our sins every day, then we might die and go to hell tomorrow. No.

That's not what that means. We don't confess our sins daily so that we don't go to hell. Christ paid the price, paid the penalty for eternity on the cross of what? They are under the blood of Jesus Christ and he remembers them what? No more.

But if you don't confess your sins, then you're not going to have a clear what? Conscience before God. And your fellowship with God is going to be hindered. And your ministry is going to be to be hindered. It is vital that our conscience now empowered by the Holy Spirit is listened to and not ignored.

Don't take your conscience for granted. If your conscience is messing with you, if it's making you feel bad, if it's telling you you really shouldn't be here, if it's telling you you really messed that up, maybe you can't put your finger on, maybe you don't have a verse that says, thou shalt not, but your conscience is saying, this isn't right. You think maybe you should listen to it? Yeah. Especially as a child of God because your conscience is now empowered and influenced by the Holy Spirit.

So we best listen to our conscience and we best keep it clean and clear before God. God uses our conscience to help us. It is dangerous to ignore it. It will save you often from making big blunders and help keep you on course. I don't know how many times I have listened to my conscience, though I did not understand, and I was glad I did because later on, I figured out, oh, that's why.

And I'm sad to say there's some times that I should have listened to my conscience. I remember going to a concert, quote unquote Christian, back when I was in high school. And I remember being at this it was a rock concert, but quote unquote Christian. And I remember being there and I remember feeling like this isn't what I expected and this isn't this isn't right. But then I looked around and I thought, oh, well, they're they're having a great time.

They're having a great time and hey, they're having a great time. And it's a Christian concert so they must all be what? Christians and bunch of Christians can certainly be wrong so my conscience must be kinda lead me astray. Man, it's one time I wish I had listened to my to my conscience. Because I didn't listen to it that time and I didn't listen to it the next time.

And pretty soon, I found I was no longer listening to Christian rock music, I was listening to rock music. And then I was listening to worse rock music, and it would have been better if I had just listened to my what? To my conscience. Yeah. Yeah.

It would have been. Now let's look at a few passages of scripture here. Hebrews thirteen eighteen, writer of Hebrews writes, pray for us. For we trust, we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly. Acts twenty three and twenty four.

This is Paul testifying. He says, and Paul earnestly beholding the council said, men and brethren, I have lived in, what, all good conscience before God until this day. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. That Paul wasn't saying he had never done wrong. Paul was saying he did his very best to have a clear conscience with who?

With God. Which meant he tried to always do that which pleased the Lord and when he messed up, he confessed it and he got it right the next time. Romans three fifteen, wherefore, you must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake. That should say Romans 13, five, not three fifteen. Anyway, but he's talking about obeying your authorities.

So it's so should you obey your authorities because they bear the sword and they bear it not in vain? Yes. But Paul is saying not only should you obey your authorities because they can punish you, but also for your what? For your conscience sake. Because even if you don't get caught by men, who knows?

Yeah. And he's not the only one. You know. You know. You know what you did.

You know it was wrong and it's going to eat at you. First Peter three fifteen and sixteen, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Be always ready to give an answer for why you do what you do and what you believe and the convictions that you have that come from Christ and the word of God. And then the next and I've memorized that verse and you may have. We have the kids memorize that verse.

But often not the next verse. Having a what? Having a good conscience. That whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse you accuse your good conversation or conduct in Christ. This is hard to do, to stand up and be ready to give an answer if you know that you're not your conscience isn't clear with who?

With God. But if your conscience is clear with God and you haven't done anything wrong, it's a lot easier to stand for what's right in front of others because you know you're not a what? You know you're not a hypocrite. You know you're not. You know you're not a hypocrite.

So it's important, Timothy, it's important as we wade into this battle that you go with the shield of faith. Faith in the Lord, in his word, in his power, his promises, in his grace, and the armor that he has given you. And it's important, Timothy, that you keep your conscience, what, clear between you and God. Because you're going to be count counting on him and you're going to be talking with him and you're going to be following him. You need to be able to hear his voice clearly.

And when our conscience is all messed up, then we don't dare to hear him quite as clearly as as we ought to hear. It says here in this verse, first Timothy four twelve, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. What is that talking about? Well, if you take your skin and you take a hot poker and you you sear your skin, it hurts really bad for a little while, but then you know what you did when you burnt it? You burnt the nerves.

The nerves in that area, they're now shot. And so they don't feel anything anymore because they're seared with a hot iron. And if we don't keep our conscience clear, then we don't if we say no and no and no and we don't listen and we don't listen and we if you say a lie and it bothers you but you don't get it right and you say a second lie and a third lie and a fourth lie and a fifth lie and a tenth lie and a fiftieth lie, guess what? By the time you get to the fiftieth lie, it doesn't bother you like it did the what the first time. Why is that?

You've seared your what? You've seared your conscience. That should not happen to a a child of God. With a clear conscience, we can be confident in the ministry and in our service to the Lord, but when a clear conscience is not maintained, faith grows weak and our confidence in ministry diminishes. Sadly, some have gone kinda over the cliff.

He tells here back in verse 19, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away what did they put away? They'll they put away faith and they put away having a good what? Conscience. And that didn't serve them well. Okay?

What did that lead to? What led to shipwreck? Because their anchor didn't hold because their anchor wasn't in the Lord and in the what? In the word of God and in the holy spirit that God has given. And so their anchor didn't hold and what happened to their ship?

And what happened to their ministry? Well, it crashed. How many how many many large, well known ministries and ministers have found themselves shipwrecked in the latter days of their ministry because they didn't follow this instruction. Maybe they were genuine people, genuine believers, but they didn't keep a clear conscience. They didn't continue to grow in their faith.

They became kind of settled, you know, big ministry, lot of money, lot of distractions, lot of self confidence. Be careful if you think you stand, lest you, what, fall. And they fell into sin because they weren't watching out for the enemy. They forgot that it was a what? That it was a war.

They forgot it was a war, and they forgot there was an enemy, and they found themselves in shipwreck. Others who were phonies from the get go, well, they never had faith to begin with, not in the Lord, nor did they really have a clean conscience to begin with because, well, they were what? Well, they were phonies and their their anchor wasn't in Christ wasn't in Christ at all. So he says here, sadly, some ignoring their conscience, not remaining steadfast in the faith, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they learn not to blaspheme. So Paul says here, first of all, it mentions faith in verse 19 again, having put away concerning what?

Faith have made shipwrecked. And actually, word the way faith is used in verse, at the beginning of verse 19, it's subjective and it's talking about your faith in who? Your faith in God. But the word faith where it says putting away concerning faith have made shipwrecked is not it's objective, not subjective. It's not talking about their faith.

It's talking about what? The faith. There is only one faith. There is only one gospel. Right?

There's not many. You can't change it. You can't if you twist it, if you add to it, you take away from it, it's not the same what? Gospel. It's not the same faith.

We have one faith. One faith. And some having put away faith, meaning the gospel and the doctrine of Christ have shipwrecked. Is doctrine important? Yeah.

It is. Is it all that important to some people today? The answer is no. Many people choose churches based upon the programs and the excitement and the giveaways and Alma makes them and they don't choose church based upon doctrine. Now, fellowship is vitally important.

The Bible says so. Worship is vitally important. The Bible says so. But if your doctrine he said over and over again, be of one mind, of one faith, of the same mind. This is it.

If we're all going different directions, if we believe different things, then the ship isn't gonna go anywhere cause we're all trying to go different ways. The Bible says we must contend for the faith in Jude. It says we need to stand fast in the faith. Here in Thessalonians, therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught whether by word or epistle. Paul writes to Thessalonians, said, you need to stand fast in what I have taught you in word when I was there or in what?

My letter that I wrote to you. Don't be led astray. Stand fast in the doctrine of Jesus Christ. If you don't, what's going to happen? Your ministry is going to end up what?

Shipwrecked. Shipwrecked. Your p your it's not going to get to where it's supposed to go because it's going to all, you know, be broken up on the beach somewhere and because you didn't take the faith seriously. And sad to say there's a lot of churches and even whole denominations that have decided that doctrine wasn't the most important thing. You don't have to agree with us to join with us as long as you say I love Jesus, that's all that matters.

Is that all that matters? No. It's not. Doctrine is important. This is the whole counsel of the word of God.

It's all what? It's all important. And we need to contend for it. We need to be careful with it. Some believers, being zealous to keep their conscience clean before God, fall into sin, making ruin of their testimony and ministry.

These are to be rebuked rebuked, and if they repent, exhorted, and restored. It's said in Galatians six one here, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself, let thou also be tempted. Yeah. We all sometimes fall into sin and sometimes even those in positions of leadership. What is the formula?

It is rebuke, repent, exhort, restore. That is God's will. And then there are the apostates who having heard the gospel in time reject it, are to be cast, what? Are to be cast out and avoided, lest they lead others into the same, what? Apostasy.

What is the difference? One is repentant and one is what? One is not. The apostate is not repentant. They've they've made their what?

Their choice, it would seem. And Timothy, you're responsible to make sure that the apostates don't take your church, your ministry, your ship down with with them. It tells us here in Romans sixteen seventeen, now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which calls defend divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and what? And avoid them. In in first Corinthians chapter five, Paul talks about one in the church who was living in gross sin and immorality and was what?

Unrepentant. And what did he say? He said, turn them over to Satan. That sounds awful strong, doesn't it? What he's saying is take them out, cast them out of the church, get them out of under the protection of the church, and let sin have its way.

You know, sin has consequences, doesn't it? And it may be that if sin has its way, if they feel the consequences of their sin, they might just what? They might just repent. They might just repent. Here, he says in verse 20, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Paul uses similar language there. He says these two men, they don't need to be coddled, they don't need to be protected, they need to be cast out, and they need to see the error of their way. Perchance, they will recognize that they're wrong and they'll be, what? Truly saved. Does Paul know anything about that?

Was Paul sincere in what he was doing? He was persecuting there. He was throwing people in jail. He was blaspheming the name of who? Jesus Christ.

And yet, God stopped him. He met Jesus and it changed him. And he learned not to blaspheme. He learned a different message. So Paul says, I know it sounds tough, but these people, you don't need you don't need to keep them around.

You need to pray and turn them over so that God can have a chance to really show them where sin leads so that they will repent and come come to Christ. God has a charge, a challenge for each of us. For starters, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you haven't believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, then there is no other charge for you. That's it.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We all have the same what? Starting point. There is no service to God without who? Jesus.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And then for those who do, there is this love him with all your what? With all your heart. Love him with all your heart, your soul, your might, your strength. It's not just doing a good job.

Why are you doing it? I hope you're doing it out of love for Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Love him with all your heart. Serve him with gladness and faithfulness.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel. And be ready, be listening for his call for you. And you say, well, I think I missed his call. Well, guess what? It's not it's not something you miss and it's over.

God still has a call and a purpose and a ministry for us. How do I know that? You're here. If God were done with you, you wouldn't be here, you'd be where? Up there, you're here.

So keep listening. You don't know what he might have for you tomorrow. But this is a good place to start. Grow in your what? Your faith.

Trust in the Lord and keep a clear conscience before the Lord. And you know, if you do that, I think God is gonna show you what he wants you to do next. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for your word and for the challenge that we find therein, not only to Timothy but to us. Lord, I pray that you would help us, particularly those in the ministry and full time service to the Lord to realize the battle that we are in and to keep our eyes focused on you.

It is so easy to get distracted, Lord. Lord, forgive us of our failures and forgetting the battle that is going on around us and not engaging. And I pray, Lord, that you would grow our faith, that you would help us to keep a clear conscience before you, and that we would engage in the battle that is before us. The day of rest, the day of reward is coming, but today is a day of battle. In Jesus' name, we do pray.

Amen.