Long Legacy | Doug Sauder | 2 Timothy 4

And there's a couple things going on here. One is Paul is admitting he's made a mistake. And secondly, he's reminding Mark and everyone else that you are more than your worst moment. You are more than your worst failure. You are not defined by those moments because the grace of God can help you write a new story. And this is important. This is so important for us to know. I mean, think how humane. Calvary Chapel. Good morning, Calvary Chapel. How are we doing today? We can do a little bit better than that. You guys got some extra sleep. Is anybody thankful to be in the house of God today? He has been good to us, amen. Hey, so good that you're joining us for church this weekend. We love celebrating Jesus together, making much of him in this place. So I would love to pray for us before we jump into worship. Can we do that together? Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for all of the new mercies that we all woke up to this morning. It's only because of your grace, Lord Jesus. And so here we are, as your church, ready to worship and sing and make much of you because yours is the name above every name.

Yours is the name that has the power to save, heal, and restore, and we celebrate that name today. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, Calvary Chapel. We said, amen. Come on. Amen. Let's sing it. Oh, we bless your name, Jesus, yes. We sing your word. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. Your word is a lamp unto my feet. And your way is the only way for me. It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I want to be on it. It's a narrow road, but the mercy's wide, because you're good on your promise. We sing. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you start it, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. Oh, you're so good on your promise. Yes, you smoke. You smoke in the chaos filling night. I know, because I've seen it in my eyes. It's a narrow road that leads to life, but I want to be on it. It's a narrow road, and the tide is high,

but you're part of the water. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you start it, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. If you said it, I'd believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you start it, you'll complete it. I'll take you at your word. You're so good on your promise. It's great in your faithfulness, Jesus. You said you love me. You said your love will never give up. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget or forsake me. Thank you, Jesus. You said I'm saved. You called me yours. You said my future is full of your hope. You've never failed, so I know that you'll never fail me. You said you love me. You said your love will never give up. You said your grace is always enough. You said your heart will never forget or forsake me. Yes. You said I'm saved. You called me yours. You said my future is full of your hope.

This is the song of your heart You never fail So I know that you'll never fail me I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'd believe it I'd see how good it was If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word If you said it, I'd believe it I'd see how good it was If you start it, you'll complete it I'll take you at your word Cause you're good on your promises You're good on your promises Great is your faithfulness Teach it to us all Yeah Hallelujah Come on, can we lift up a shout of praise to Jesus? Thank you, your grace, amen Amen Church, are you happy to be in the house of God today? Aren't you glad that God always keeps his word? Amen Now I want to share a quick encouragement with you before we keep singing together It's from Isaiah chapter 54 The Lord is speaking through the prophet Isaiah to his people who are in a moment where they feel overwhelmed, confused, abandoned, and anxious Maybe you came to church this morning feeling similar things as well There's a beautiful promise in verse 10 that God gives to his people And this is what he says

He says, though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed Yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken Nor my covenant of peace be removed Says the Lord who has compassion on you Aren't you grateful for Jesus? Now the reason we can sing with confidence today is because the cross speaks a better word What Isaiah prophesied, Jesus has fulfilled And because of the cross, you and I, we don't worship from a place of fear any longer We worship from a place of victory, amen Because the blood of Christ speaks a better word It declares that you and I are free, we are forgiven, we are healed, and we are protected The cross has sealed our destiny, and it's only because of Jesus And so in this next song, there's gonna be certain lyrics that might stand out One of my favorite lines of this next song It says that whatever weapon is formed against me, it has to break It has to break No weapon formed against me will prosper, it has to break That's not just wishful thinking, church That's declaring what Jesus Christ has already done And when you sing things like, I will not fear You can actually sing it and mean it Because the presence of God and the blood of Christ always gets the final word Sin and its power no longer get the final word over your life or my life And that's a good reason to celebrate, amen So if you are grateful for Jesus today Would you just lift up a shout of praise to our God who has won the victory His word has never failed Come on, conference topic, would you lift up a shout of praise to God He is worthy

Come on I pray into the atmosphere Spirit of God, You're here You have all authority Yes, You do, God I pray over my heart and mind I am healed by Your stripes Your blood declares that I am free In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon formed against me Must break in the mighty name of Jesus I draw a permanent boundary line The enemy has no right to come near my family No scheme could ever undo God's plans ♪ No matter the circumstance the cross has sealed my destiny ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus I pray ♪ ♪ Calling on the power of heaven I proclaim ♪ ♪ Every weapon formed against me must break ♪ ♪ Must break in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus I know ♪ ♪ All the power of fear and darkness must go ♪ ♪ Every king to every victory I hold ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear ♪ ♪ There's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear when the enemy comes near ♪

♪ On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear ♪ ♪ There's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, I pray, calling on the power of heaven ♪ ♪ I proclaim, every weapon formed against me ♪ ♪ Must break in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I know, all the power of fear and darkness ♪ ♪ Must know, every key to every victory ♪ ♪ I hold, in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Of Jesus ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all, let's sing that out ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all, oh ♪ ♪ And for from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, we sing that to our King George ♪ ♪ And you are worthy, you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You always were, and you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ And for from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, oh ♪ ♪ And all the saints and angels, they bow before your throne ♪ ♪ And all the elders cast their crowns before your throne ♪ ♪ You are the Lamb of God, it's seen, you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all, oh ♪ ♪ And for from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, we sing you are worthy, you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worthy of it all ♪

♪ For from you are all things and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ We sing you're worthy Jesus ♪ ♪ In every place of our lives we're from you Jesus ♪ ♪ So you are worthy and we'll keep singing you're worthy Jesus ♪ ♪ In all of our highs and lows you're worthy Jesus ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise in you Jesus ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day let incense arise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you're worthy ♪ ♪ And you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Oh God, you are worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things and to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you're worthy ♪ ♪ And you are worthy of it all ♪ Church, one more time. Can we lift up the name of Jesus in a shout, in a clap? He is worthy of our praise in every way. And listen, this Sunday we celebrate Pentecost weekends. The weekend of the coming of the Spirit of God on the young and the old and men and women. And they didn't just stay in a prayer room.

They spilled out into the streets because they wanted people to know the message of Jesus. And 2,000 years later, that's still happening. So I'm gonna ask you to take a seat. And Laura, who leads our Young Adult Ministries, is gonna share with you a team that's going to Peru next week because we are still on the same mission. So Laura, introduce us to this team and the mission and let us know how we can pray. Yes, thank you. Good morning, Calvary. We are so excited for the opportunity to allow you an opportunity to pray for us. We are so excited. If you didn't know, we have a Young Adult Ministry here at Calvary called Calvary Young Adults. We meet throughout the month. We also meet every single Sunday. And it's a place where we get to have community and come together, especially for young people. It is so impactful to just get around a table or in a room with others that love Jesus, that just want to be built up and encourage one another. So if you're in this room, you're between 18 to 30, I wanna encourage you, come. Come Sundays after the 11 o'clock service. We go over to the Union right across the football field and we have a light lunch together and hang out together. And then we have a once a month night called Calvary Young Adult Night.

It's actually this Friday at 7.30 in the Youth Building. And that's a place where you can find out about opportunities like this. That's where these young people came and said, oh, I wanna go to Peru. I wanna make a difference in another country, in another place. I wanna be used by God in another place. And here I am. They said yes. And they were able to hear about that at a night like that. And so some of these people on our team, it's their very first missions trip. And for some, they've gone already three years with us to Peru. And so we would love the joy of having you pray over us because God is moving in Calvary Chapel Cajabamba in Peru. Mighty work. One thing we want to encourage you with is your birthday gift to Jesus this past year was to the church in Calvary Chapel, Cahabamba. We have been there the last three years, and what has happened is we saw, last year specifically, mold on the walls. We weren't able to go to the second level in the youth area for fear of it collapsing. Guess what? We get to go back and now be a part of rebuilding the church there because of your generosity. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And so now it's your turn as we pray over these young adults. So extend your hands as we pray this prayer of grace and faith over them. Father, we entrust to you these team members, these brothers and sisters of ours, as they go on a mission filled with your spirit and filled with the message of the gospel. I pray for every detail of their trip. I pray that you would create certain moments where they can speak life, a word that someone needs to hear, and that you would speak a word to them, something they need to hear. And this beautiful exchange of giving and receiving, of going and being filled fresh with your spirit, that you would use them for your purposes. And so we pray that this would be a fruitful time.

We pray that the church in Cahabamba would be encouraged, that the Refuge of Hope and the kids in the orphanage there would experience the love of Jesus in tangible ways. And so we pray your blessing over this, and we pray that we ourselves could be on mission in our neighborhoods, in our job, in our gyms, in the places we walk every day that are filled with your spirit, we would be your ambassadors. And we pray this over them and over us together on this Pentecost Sunday. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Can we give it up one more time for this team? And guys, welcome. Welcome to church here on this Pentecost Sunday. So you can learn a lot about a person by the last words they say, because last words reveal. If you have the opportunity to say last words before you die, they're going to reveal that sense of passion in your life, that sense of purpose in your life, what you've been pursuing all along. The last words can reveal the legacy, the thing that you've been living all along. Let's look at a few. The last words of Samson. Let me die with the Philistines. What does that reveal? Well, this mortal enemy of Israel and of Samson, it was the Philistines. And it's this battle. Samson's last words characterize this battle between this group of people and his desire for revenge, for taking his wife and taking his eyes. And so his last words reveal his whole life. Let me die with the Philistines. What about these words from Alexander the Great? At 32 years old, he conquered the entire known world, the greatest leader of history at this time in his life. And the question is, Alexander, you're about to die. What happens to the kingdom? Who does it go to? And here's his last words, to the strongest. Because Alexander's whole life was about strength, about military superiority. Who is the strongest? That's what life is all about. What about the last words of Archimedes, that Greek mathematician? He was sent, or soldiers were sent to arrest him, and he was in the middle of a math problem. And as the soldiers were trying to arrest him, here's the last words of Archimedes. Do not disturb my circles. Guys, I'm in the middle of a problem I'm trying to solve, because life is all about accumulating knowledge. And he died trying to solve a problem, protect all of his stuff, to make sure his books and his equations were all in place. Last words reveal your passions. What are the last words of Harriet Tubman? Swing low, sweet cherry, and give my love to the churches. It characterized her whole life, thinking about leading people to freedom, thinking about the promise of heaven in a broken world, and loving deeply the church and the people of the church, willing to lay down her own life. Swing low, sweet cherry, give my love to the churches. And then every once in a while you

have one that's a little more humorous. John Sedgwick, a general in the Civil War. Bullets are flying, everyone's scattered, he's standing right there on the front lines, and his last words stated with a great sense of overconfidence. They couldn't hit an elephant from this distance. Never finish the sentence. That sense of overconfidence, that sense of there's no obstacle that's gonna be bigger than me. I'm gonna find a way. I'm in a sense, invincible. I mean, how many people's last words are, watch this, or I've done this a thousand times. That sense of overconfidence that we can have in life and that overconfidence can lead us to certain moments like, well, maybe you know Frank Sinatra, the man who said, I did it my way. And as his life ebbs away, his last words, I'm losing. A sense that maybe doing it your way doesn't lead to the end that you actually think when you look death into the face. Last words reveal. So if you were given a chance to say last words, you knew you had just a minute or two left of life, what would you say? Those last words would reveal the thing you've passionately been pursuing, the thing that's on your mind that's important to you. And we are going to read the apostle Paul's last words. He is gonna talk about what's important to him, what's on his mind.

And let me remind you where he's at. He's not in a palace. He's not in Rome on house arrest. He's in the Mamertine prison, a dungeon underground in the city of Rome. I've been there. It's about 20 degrees colder at the bottom than it is at the top. And winter is coming. It's cold, it's dark, it's dank, it's wet, it's moist. It's not a place you want to be, a dungeon. But he is not sad or depressed or filled with self-pity. There's a hopeful confidence because he's writing these last letters to a person who's more important to him than maybe anyone else in his life, his spiritual son, Timothy, who's pastoring at a church called Ephesus. And he tells Timothy, in light of the coming kingdom, in light of the fact that this world is not all there is, preach the gospel, fight the good fight, live your life, go all in for Jesus because he is worth it. There's this hopeful sense that in his last days, well, this legacy is gonna last beyond him. Here's the crazy thing. We're reading a letter Paul wrote 2,000 years ago. So when you talk about long legacy, the story that will live on after you, Paul embodies this in so many ways. And so look with me in 2 Timothy 4, verse six.

Here are the words of Paul. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and a time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all those who have longed for his appearing. You can hear that sense of confidence. He's not, again, living in a sense of regret or sadness or depression. He's like, no, remember, Timothy, I told you be like a good soldier? Well, I have fought the good fight. Remember, Timothy, I told you about being an athlete who competes by the rules? Well, I have finished my race. Remember when I told you to be a farmer that's hardworking and doesn't give up? I have not quit. I have embodied the message that I've given to you, and this is his goal, and this is his aim. And so the first idea we see from these last words is this. If you want a long legacy, aim your life at the right target. He doesn't say, hey, remember, the silver's in the attic. Hey, remember to sign that contract.

Hey, remember to make sure that you do these things so the people remember your name. Now, he's focusing Timothy's life on the right target because he was 10 years earlier that Paul, as well-known as he was, as much as he had accomplished, had a choice, and the choice was to go to Jerusalem where he knew trouble was coming or to keep himself safe, to preserve his own life. And he says to a group of people 10 years before this letter, a bunch of Ephesian elders. It's recorded in Acts chapter 20. He says, I feel compelled by the Spirit of God to go to Jerusalem even though I know that trouble and danger await me there, that the chains and prison, even death awaits me, but I must go. And then he says this, because I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying. to the good news of God's grace. Paul's like, I'm all in to talking to people about the grace of Jesus. I'm all in because I lived my first half of my life, my first 30 years apart from Jesus, doing my own thing, living my own way, filled with pride and anger and vengeance and wanting to be right about everything.

And then I got struck off my high horse. It was the grace of Jesus that opened my eyes. And so the next 30 years, I decided I'm gonna aim my life at Jesus, at pleasing him and telling people they can be saved by grace through faith. It's the gift of God. They can live in the grace of God. And there is a grace, this undeserved gift, strength, power of God available to all people who will come. I've given my whole life to that and it will be worth it. Worth it. And at the end of his life, he talks about that. So here's the question for us, 2,000 years later, when we think about this passion of Paul, where is my life aimed? You see, the Greeks used to talk about this word telos. The telos of your life is where your life is aimed. As much as you wanna do what's right or do what the Bible says, your heart is gonna follow those desires wherever they take you. You wanna pursue pleasure? If pleasure is your main goal, then no matter what you read in the Bible or what people tell you, always struggle with, I want to feel good. If your desire is, I want my body to be in shape and I want to always look good and beauty

and the admiration of people, or even the way you look in the mirror, you love what you see. Well, then every threat against that ultimate desire is gonna make you anxious or depressed or feel like you're losing. Joan Collins once said that the tricky thing about beauty is this. You start off rich and you end up poorer and poorer and poorer. No matter how much makeup you buy, no matter how much you work out, your skin is gonna become less vibrant no matter how many shots you take or surgeries you take. No matter how much you work out, your biceps are going to fade and eventually your body's going to, and if you fight every step along the way, you'll become more and more anxious and more and more jealous of other people and more and more longing of trying to preserve something that was never meant to be preserved in the first place if your aim is money. And every time the stock market goes up or down, your heart will get more anxious or more filled with pride that you're smarter than other people. Every time there's a threat to what you have, you'll begin to huddle and hold. And when someone asks you to give

and you're like, well, no, that's mine because if your aim is becoming rich or wealthy or to stay good looking, your whole life is gonna be ordered around those things. But if your goal is to honor God, if your aim is to talk about the grace of God, well, some beautiful things can happen. Jesus said, be careful that you don't try to gain the whole world and lose your own soul. Be careful you don't succeed at the wrong thing. Let's think about it for a second. Some people who've aimed their life at the wrong thing. Judas Iscariot, he worked hard, he followed Jesus, but he had a different aim than Jesus. Think of the villains of history. Adolf Hitler, he worked hard, he organized, he had a goal. What does it mean to succeed at the wrong thing? Bernie Madoff, I have a way that I can earn a lot of money. And so maybe I tell a few lies or take advantage of a few people, but if I can, and these names we remember with disgrace, they're infamous because they pursued the wrong thing, but it's not always the villains of life. D.L. Moody said it this way, our greatest fear should not be a failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter. And so where are you aiming your life? Maybe a better question. If you stay on the path you're on today, where will you be 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now?

And when you look back, don't ask the question, how did I get here? You got there because that's where you aimed your life. And so Paul's getting us to rethink, where are we pursuing, where are we aiming our lives? D.L. Moody, he ended up founding a church that reached hundreds of thousands of people, Moody Church in Chicago. He ended up starting something called the Moody Bible Institute, that trained thousands of leaders, have gone all over the world and shared the gospel. Moody Radio, the radio ministry, the publishing ministry, reached millions of people with gospel tracts and outreach. That is a long legacy because D.L. Moody at a certain age said, you know, I've decided, I don't want to make this about me. I want to do things that are going to last. And so when you see a mission team going to Peru and you hear about a church and an orphanage, that's an opportunity for a long legacy that many people in Peru will come to know Jesus because of people who sat in this seat 15 years ago and then felt the call of God to go. And now we're watching the long legacy of their life continue to bear fruit. Listen, there's a moment that's going to happen after you die. And it's not the judgment of whether you get into heaven. Listen, here's going to be the coolest thing

about those people who are in Christ that are Christians. As you stand before God and God says to you, hey, why should I let you in? You don't have to go through a list of all your good deeds. Or you just say, because I'm with Jesus. That's how you're going to get to heaven. I'm with him, right? I've trusted Jesus to pay my debt. I've trusted the rises of Jesus to be the banner by which I get into heaven. But 1 Corinthians 3 describes another moment that's going to happen in eternity. It's called the Bema Seat Judgment, 1 Corinthians 3, where everything you've done in your whole life is going to be evaluated. Not so that you get into heaven, so that you can receive the rewards of heaven. And Paul describes a fire that will test your work and everything that is wood, hay, and stubble, things that don't matter in the end are just consumed and there's no reward there, but things that you've invested in that are eternal, the long legacy, gold, silver, precious stones, there'll be a reward for those. So it should make us think, what am I doing right now that's going to last, that has an eternal value? And Paul in verse six is like, I've given everything. He uses this visual, I've been poured out. My life has been poured out.

Now, if you're Timothy, you understand this right away. What does it mean, poured out? Well, in the Old Testament, there was something called a drink offering. You would take a glass of wine or you'd take some water and you'd pour it out before God as a way to say, God, you're worthy of this. You might remember David when his men fought and risked their lives just to get him a cup of water from the well of Jerusalem. He took that water and he poured it out before God. He said, God, you're the only one worthy of this. And Paul's saying, I've given my whole life, the last 30 years of my life, I've gone all in for Jesus. And he is worth it. I have poured out my life. And I'm gonna receive a crown for that, a crown of righteousness that God's gonna place on my head, a victor's crown that no one or nothing can touch. So check this out. Paul has a sense of confidence that though he knows he's about to die, that no one can touch his reward in heaven. No amount of slander from people, no amount of persecution, no amount of trouble, no amount of issues in his life can touch the inheritance that he has for him in heaven. And if you're a Christian, if you're in Christ today, nothing in your life can touch the promise

of eternal life that's guarded and kept for you in heaven because it's guarded by God himself. Isn't that good news, right? And so he's rescued us from the fear of death and rescued us from any type of eternal consequence because he's the one who holds that. And Paul acknowledges that. And he says this, he says in verse eight, and God's gonna award this to me and for everyone else who has longed for his appearing. Do you long for the appearing of Jesus? Do you long to see him face to face? It's an important question for us. And that leads us to this next thought that if you wanna leave a long legacy, keep eternity in view. Paul acknowledges that he's gonna die. And I just wanna say this in a way that's not depressing for you or not morbid for you, but is clear for you. So I want you to pay close attention, ready? You're gonna die. Now, how many of you knew that was true before you walked in here? Some of you didn't raise your hand. Okay, 10 out of 10 people die. It's been a pretty constant statistic since the beginning of time. So unless Jesus comes back, you're gonna die. No matter what you read about that, you know,

perfect medication or that way, the eating plan or food plan, you're gonna die. And so we all know this, but we don't wanna think about it. So here's this crazy kind of thing that goes on. We all know that people are gonna die and we're gonna die and all the people that we love are gonna die because life on this earth is temporary. But we don't like to think about it or talk about it. And so we bury ourselves in our work, in our relationships, in our pursuit of pleasure to sort of distract us from this idea that we're going to die and we're gonna leave everything else behind. And Paul is bringing this back up to Timothy at a very, very simple level. Simple way, like, I know that my end is near. I poured out my life. This is my, the end of my race, and I'm embracing this reality. Now, in a couple of weeks, we're gonna spend the summer reading through the book of Ecclesiastes. And Ecclesiastes, when you first read it, you're like, man, this is depressing. Solomon is going through an existential crisis because everything seems meaningless to him and life seems so short and what's the point? But actually, Ecclesiastes is one of the most liberating books of the Bible. And here's the main lesson of Ecclesiastes. I'm gonna summarize it for you.

You're gonna die. And the faster you grapple with the fact that you're gonna leave everything behind, the more you'll really learn to live and enjoy life and hold on loosely and seize moments and live a life that really matters. But if you won't face the fact that you're gonna die, you're constantly gonna have this low-grand anxiety about keeping this and keeping that, and you're gonna be mad at people in traffic and wondering why your kids didn't turn out like you thought and wondering why the business is not going well, and you're gonna be pacing and striving and frenetic because you wanna make sure you keep everything in control like you want it. But knowing you're gonna die and leave it all behind is one of the most freeing things a human being can embrace. The Greek and Roman philosophers, they coined this phrase, they said often, memento mori, you must die, you will die. Until you embrace that reality, you will never really learn how to live. And in verse six, Paul describes this departure, this departure. In the Greek, this word departure means unloosing, literally unloosing. And there are four ways this was used in the time that it was written. I wanna give them to you

because they're a picture of what it's like to let go of life on this earth for the next life. He said, my departure is near. The first use of that word, unloosing, is a prisoner's release. A prisoner is released from his chains and goes free. Paul describes his upcoming death as freedom from chains. And now I'm gonna receive my reward in heaven. No more tears, no more crying, no more beatings, no more heartache. I'm finally free. This word unloosing isn't just about a prisoner's release, it's about the unyoking of an ox, about the end of someone's hard labor. All the reins come off and now you can walk freely. And he has worked hard, and now he's looking forward to his rest. That unloosing can also be the breaking of a camp for a soldier or a pilgrim who's traveling, and you finally pack up your tent because you know now you're finally going home. And Paul's like, Timothy, I'm finally going home. And the final use of that word unloosing or departure is the launching of a boat from one harbor to the next. And if you're familiar with the writings of C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia or the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, all of those stories have these moments where a ship departs from one port to the next

as a way a person passes from this life to the next, going home. And so Paul has embraced his mortality. In fact, he writes this, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. There's a freedom he has. I'm free from the control of things or reputation. If I live, if I breathe, I live for Jesus, and if I don't, it's gonna be such gain. And so the question is, do you have that sense of freedom when it comes to your life and your stuff and the things that you lead? And if not, then the question is, well, then what am I tied to? If I can't let go and hold loose, then something is holding me, and I wanna be a type of person who evaluates this because if I'm gonna leave a long legacy, I don't wanna be tied to something that I'm not aware of. And so I wanna share with you a moment that I experienced four years ago. Four years ago, I went to that dungeon that Paul sat in when he was writing his letter, and I had a chance to take a walk where Paul was finally executed. The traditional site of Paul's execution is right outside of Rome, and as you walk down this path, it's lined with trees. Now, these aren't the same trees that were there

in the first century, but there's this walk that leads you to these stones, and these stones are first-century stones that Paul would've walked on to the site of his execution, and the leader of our group said, I want you to. Take a moment, and I want you to walk down this path, and I want you to stand on these stones, and I want you to think about this fact, that you will have a last day. And you might, by the grace of God, have time to think about, this is my last day on earth. And if you do, what will you reflect on? And so we literally walked down this path and spent time thinking, if this was my last day, and I died and left it all behind, what legacy would I leave? Is there anything undone in my life? Is there a grudge I'm holding I need to let go of? If my kids are at the memorial service and I'm in the casket, what are they saying about me? Or what are my friends saying about me? And if I don't like what I think might happen, if this is my last day, here's the beautiful thing, I have a chance to change it right now. And that's the gift of having a clear view of our death. Solomon writes this in Ecclesiastes, the smartest, wisest people in any room, anywhere in the world, are people who are at a funeral. Because they're not thinking about their portfolio,

they're not thinking about the next car they wanna buy, they're thinking about their own mortality, that as they honor that uncle or aunt or father or mother or grandparent or someone who died in their life, they're thinking about, you know, this is a moment where I'm thinking about my relations and God and have a chance to reclarify in light of my own death, how am I going to live? And this is the gift that Paul is giving Timothy on this moment, you will have a last day. And here's the reality, your life will end, but that doesn't mean your life work has to end. And let me say that again. Your life will end, but it doesn't mean your life work has to end, here's the reality. If you have a place at your office where you sit in a seat and you're in charge of something, the reality is when you die, someone else is gonna sit in that seat. Who will it be? And have you prepared them for that? You know, the house you're working so hard to pay off, when you die, you're gonna leave that house behind. Who's gonna own that house and live in that house? You've meticulously done all the yard work, hung all the perfect pictures, but someone's gonna change those pictures and maybe not mow your lawn, so sorry. Who will that be? You know, those are important questions to think about.

And we're gonna watch Paul in this moment reveal to Timothy in his last words how he's already set up the work that he's labored for to pass on, because what we're about to read next are 16 names. 16 names of people who are gonna take the legacy that Paul has worked so hard to build, and they're gonna take it to the next generation. And so that brings us to our third idea. If you want a long legacy, invest in the right people. It's not just the company you build or the sermons you preach, it's the people that you prepare as you leave them behind. And so look with me at verse nine. Paul writes to Timothy, do your best to come to me quickly for Demas, because he has loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Cretans has gone to Galatia and Titus to Demacia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus, and when you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas and my scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander, the metal worker, did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he's done. You too should be on your guard against him because he strongly opposed our message.

At my first defense, no one came to support, but everyone deserted me. May I not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. And the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. And greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Anesophorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. And do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters. 16 names. 14 of those names are gonna be part of Paul's long legacy. And he makes sure he talks to Timothy about each one of those. Two are gonna oppose the message. We'll get to them in a minute, but let's look at some of these names. They're not just random names. You see the first man, Cretans, who's sent to Galatia, a church that Paul planted, a church that he wrote the letter of Galatians to. And he wants to make sure there's a leader there

who could help lead that group. Titus, he sends to Dalmatia and eventually to Crete. And Titus spent the rest of his life on the island of Crete, discipling those people faithfully. That was part of the long legacy of Paul through Titus and through the centuries, 2,000 years later, that church still exists. And he says, Luke is also with me. Luke, called the beloved physician, not just a medical doctor, but a companion of Paul through all the ups and downs and author of the book of Luke and the book of Acts. In fact, Luke authored more words in the New Testament than anybody else. Though Paul had more letters, Luke had more words and told more of the story from the beginning of Jesus' birth all the way through the birth of the church. And it was that relationship with Luke that allowed him to document all of what we have in the book of Acts, which tells us the whole story of the New Testament church. That's quite a long legacy. And then verse 11, and Mark, who is helpful to me in my ministry. Mark, Mark, Mark, Mark. Oh, wait, Mark was the nephew of Barnabas. Mark was the young teenage 20-something who said to Uncle Barnabas and Paul,

hey, I wanna go on your first missionary trip with you. And then when it got really hard, he quit. You know, when you're young, you overestimate. He got a little too tired, a little too hungry, a little too homesick. The persecution was a little too great. He wanted to go back to mama. And so he went home in defeat and failure. Maybe he was lazy, maybe he was a coward, but it's clear that the Bible documents this colossal failure of a young leader. And then Barnabas, as they're getting ready to go to the second trip, says to Paul, hey, hey, I think Mark has changed. He's grown up a bit. Let's take him on the trip. And Paul says, no way. He doesn't have what it takes. And because of this, two friends, Barnabas and Paul, split up. And now years have gone by. And Paul writes in his last letter, hey, Mark, that guy I'd given up on, I was wrong about him. Bring him. He is helpful and he is valuable to the ministry. And there's a couple of things going on here. One is Paul is admitting he's made a mistake. And secondly, he's reminding Mark and everyone else that you are more than your worst moment.

You are more than your worst failure. You are not defined by those moments because the grace of God can help you write a new story. And this is important. This is so important for us to know. And I think how humiliating it is for the whole New Testament church to know that was the guy who quit. And Paul says, no, he's the guy who the grace of God can rewrite a different story because grace will always have the final word. Verse 12, we see about a man named Tychicus. This is a man, if you read through all the New Testament letters, delivered Paul's letter to the Ephesian church, delivered Paul's letter to the Colossian church, delivered the letter to Philemon. If you look at verse 19, you see Aquila and Priscilla. A couple of Jewish refugees that Paul met in Corinth. They worked together making tents. They invited Paul to live with him. When Paul moved to Ephesus from Corinth, they moved with him. When Paul moved from Ephesus and went to Rome, they went to Rome. They opened their house, they opened churches. And even in the book of Romans, it says, this couple, they risked their lives for Paul. Paul has a deep sense of gratitude for this couple who he has done life with for 15 plus years.

And then verse 20, a man named Erastus. Every once in a while, when we read lists like this, maybe you'll wonder, were these really real people? Like did this really happen? And again, the beautiful thing about the Bible and about Bible prophecy and Bible history and archeology is that the science and the archeology and the history, well, sometimes takes time to catch up with the Bible. So was Erastus really a man who lived in Corinth and according to the book of Romans, was the director of public works who was converted to Christianity by the preaching of Paul and became a leader in the church of Corinth? Well, if you go to Corinth, you'll see this. It's called the Erastus Stone. And it lists his name as the director of public works at an outdoor theater. And so when you go and see these things for yourself. Yourself, it's like the Bible is coming alive because this is not a fairy tale. This is a history of how God used ordinary people, like a city manager in a city called Corinth to spread the gospel throughout that entire city. And Paul names him. Verse 20, Trophimus, who Paul left sick in a city called Miletus. That's interesting, right? Paul healed all these people.

I'm not sure if he healed hundreds of people or thousands of people, but there are moments of incredible miracles happening through Paul. And one of his close associates, one of his fellow partners, he left him sick. What does that mean? You know, if someone's sick, we're always gonna pray for healing, but you know God's not gonna heal everyone in the same way. And Paul is just reminding Timothy, someone that he deeply loves, that he probably prayed for, that God chose not to heal, and that Paul was okay with that, and Trophimus was okay with that, and they were continuing to follow Jesus even in that unanswered prayer. And so you look at this list of all these different leaders, and it makes us again ask the question, not what am I leaving behind? You're leaving everything behind, but who am I leaving behind? Who will live in my house? Who will run my company? Who will lead that ministry? Who will lead that church? And I spent some time just thinking about that this week. And I was like, you know, last weekend was amazing

because Andrew Holmes, the new president of 4Kids, and we're watching the next generation of leaders and advocates for kids in foster care just rise up as he grows, and the team begins to pass this on to 20 and 30-year-olds. And I'm like, if I close my eyes in death tomorrow, the ministry of 4Kids that I've poured so much time and energy and prayer and love into will continue in even greater ways than I could have experienced, right? It's a beautiful thing. And if I die tomorrow, will this church fall apart? Or are there leaders who have been trained and being raised up in all of our campuses and all these places that will continue to lead? Because this is not Doug's church. This is Jesus's church, and he has his hand on this place. And we wanna be thoughtful about that. This is not being morbid. This is being thoughtful about the future and trusting that we can learn from someone's last words the way to really live, to leave a long legacy, one that outlasts us. Now, Paul is honest about some simple things in this letter as well. It's not just these profound truths about the gospel and the coming kingdom and then passing on faith and all these things happening. He's like, hey, can you come before winter? Because it's really cold.

Can you bring that cloak? Because I just need something warm. It's really cold down here. And can you make sure you come as soon as you can? Because I want my parchments, my scrolls. Think about this. Paul is one of the most educated men, one of the Christians with the most wisdom, filled with the spirit of God and revelation. And he's saying to Timothy, hey, I still want to learn. I still want to read and grow in knowledge. It reminds me of that simple phrase, always a student, never a scholar. I'm always learning. Listen, if you've learned all you can and there's nothing else you can learn in life, I'll say this nicely, you're stupid. You're basically, I'm gonna stay here the rest of my life. Paul might have a few weeks left, a few months left. He's like, I still have to learn. I still want to grow. There's still things I can learn about this infinite God who loves me and loves other people, and I'm gonna grow in this grace. And so these 14 leaders who Paul's gonna leave this legacy through, well, he also gives a warning about two people. One is named Demas. Now, Demas is listed several of the times in the Bible, along with Titus and Timothy and all these people

who are loyal workers in the gospel, but some were along the way Demas made a choice. Like Mark, this is too hard. I can't do this. But unlike Mark, he didn't give up. Unlike Mark, he never came back. Paul says he loved this present world more than he loved the gospel. In other words, his aim was Jesus until it got hard and then became, no, I'd rather live in personal comfort. And so Demas has decided he's out. I'm out. And sometimes that temptation can happen to us or it happens to our friends and it can be. He's very disorienting. And Paul just reminds Timothy, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And then he points out Alexander. Alexander's listed in Paul's first letter to Timothy as a person who has shipwrecked his faith and other people's faith. He's listed as a person who's blaspheming. Here he's listed as a person who has done harm to the ministry of Paul. This is an ongoing enemy of Paul. And notice Paul's response to an enemy who's been undermining him and speaking poorly of him and undoing or trying to do everything he's ever done. He doesn't say, and I pray that you get him. You avenge me.

Now there's no vengeance in his heart. There's no trying to justify or defend his own reputation. He just simply says this. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. And that's a lesson for all of us. For that person in your life who seems like they're just out to get you. Paul would write this in Romans 12, 19. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it's written, it is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord. Don't fall for the trap that you gotta get that person back for what they did for you. Listen, here's a simple question. That person who you wanna get, can you get them better than God? No way. So all you gotta do is say, God, you see, you heard, you know, I commit them to your hands. And just get out of the way and watch God fight for you. Watch God defend you and watch your heart stay free. Final big idea we see here is if you want a long legacy, live confidently in Christ's victory. I mean, Paul says there are moments where no one's there for him. Where he goes to a trial and no one stands next to him. And the current place he's in, only one person there, it's only Luke, everyone else is gone, either because he sent them other places

or because they abandoned him. But he's not saying this out of self-pity. He's got a confidence. He's like, Jesus saved me from the lion's mouth and he has rescued me and he will rescue me and he's gonna bring me safely into his kingdom, safely, safely through beheading. That's what's about to happen, but he doesn't see it that way. Again, he's not living in self-pity. He's not living in vengeance. He's not saying my friend sold me out. Listen, Paul had good and deep friendships, but there are moments in your life where your friends will not be there for you. And in that moment where you're all by yourself, will Jesus still be there? There are moments in your life where no one else will understand the pressure you're under. No one will understand the conflict. No one will understand the situation as deeply as yours. I mean, Paul would go in detail. It's like five times I got 39 lashes. They whipped open my back. Three times I got beaten with rods. Three times I was shipwrecked. I was stoned to death. God raised me. There are these things that happened in his life that you're like, and then the internal struggle,

the pressure, the mental, emotional, spiritual pressure to care for the church and all the things that were going wrong as he was trying to do the right thing and all of it. He said, I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. There is nothing that can separate me from the love of God. That confident sense of who Jesus is. He has rescued me. He is rescued me. And even in death, he will rescue me. Listen, if you're gonna die trusting someone, then die trusting Jesus. That's the lesson that Paul shares in these last few days. And then verse 22, his final words. Remember the final words that you say, reveal. He says to Timothy, the Lord be with your spirit. And to the church, he says, grace be with you all. The last words a person says, reveal. Grace be with you all. Remember his aim. My only aim in life is to tell people about the grace of God. By grace, you are saved through faith. It's the gift of God. You are saved by grace. You live in grace and the undeserved gift of God is strong enough to bring you to heaven. And so his whole life was animated by this grace. In fact, the last sentence of your Bible in the book of Revelation ends in a very similar way.

The last words in the Bible, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. This was Paul's long legacy, spoken to a spiritual. and spoken to the church in Ephesus and spoken to us today. And we have a chance to remember that legacy today in something we call communion. So I'm gonna ask you to pull out your communion elements and if you don't have them, I'm gonna ask you to raise your hands so we can provide them for you. I wanna say to everyone here who's not a Christian, you're here and you're observing, you're watching. This is not just a religious routine that all of us participate in. So if you're not a Christian, this is not something for you to take. The bread or the cup, it's for you to watch and observe. What do people who have been forgiven, people who experienced God's grace, how do they respond? But maybe you're here and for the first time in your life or the first time in a long time, you're thinking about your inevitable death, that one day you're going to die and one day you're gonna stand before God in judgment. And if maybe you've not thought about this in a while, but your greatest need is not to stay healthy or to make more money or to get a promotion. Your greatest need, the greatest thing

you'll ever have in your life is the need for forgiveness, that you have sinned against God and that sin has accumulated a debt. And so when you stand before God, there's no way for you to pay that debt, for you to work off that sin. The only way is the one who is perfect taking your place and his name is Jesus. He came from heaven to earth to die in your place and his last words among them were, it is finished, it is paid in full. I've paid for the debt of anyone who will come. And so that puts on us a decision. Will I trust in my own goodness, in my own thinking, in my own way? Like Frank Sinatra say, at the end of my life, I'm losing. Or will I realize maybe for the first time, it's not up to me because I'm not strong enough or wise enough or perfect enough, but there is one who came, who's gonna stand in my place, his name is Jesus. I wanna be with him. And so I wanna repent of my sins. I wanna go all in with him. And if that's you, you can simply pray. He's a prayer away. You can say, Lord Jesus, I pray you would forgive my sins and come into my life. And I wanna repent and believe the good news

and I wanna follow you. It's not even about the perfect words, but it's about a heart that's ready. And if you prayed that prayer, then take communion with us. And so we're gonna take a moment and just reflect on the grace of God. I want you to think about the grace of God in your life. The very first moments you came to know Jesus. I want you to think about the grace of God that's currently at work in your life and the grace that's ahead and thank him for his grace. If there's a sin in your life, then confess it. And by grace, God can give you strength to do what is right and live in a new way. And if you need comfort, his grace is there for you. Let's take a moment and reflect on his grace and thank him. And then we're gonna sing a song over you. And then we're gonna come back and take communion together as a church. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ♪ I hear the Savior sing ♪ ♪ Thy strength indeed is small ♪ ♪ Child of weakness, watch and know ♪ ♪ Find in me thine all in all ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin had left a crimson stain ♪

♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin had left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ Christ, oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt ♪ ♪ And raised this life up from the dead, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh praise the one who paid my debt, Jesus ♪ We hold in our hands a symbol of a long legacy. 2,000 years ago, Jesus and a room full of disciples took a piece of bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, it's given for you. Every time you eat it, remember me. Let's remember the sacrifice of our savior, Jesus, together. On that same night, he took a cup and he said, this cup is the new covenant of my blood. It's given for you. Every time you drink it, remember me. Let's remember Jesus together. And so today we wanna respond to this grace of God. And so I wanna just take a moment for us to respond in prayer. And so I'm gonna give us a chance to respond to three different moments of prayer. And so I want us to pause your hearts just to receive and maybe pray in a new way. So when we talked about the aim of our life, and you're like, I think I might be aiming

at some of the wrong things, some of the wrong priorities, or there's a sin, there's an obstacle between me and what I know I need to do. Or maybe like Mark, there's a failure and you wonder if you can recover from it. But if you want a clear sense of calling in your life, and in an aim like Paul, that is undistracted and a resolve to fulfill that call in your life, a sense of clarity, I'm gonna ask you to stand and I'm gonna pray that prayer over you. Because the beautiful thing about today, Pentecost Sunday is a group of ordinary people who don't know exactly what to do or say when they're filled with the spirit of God. There is a passion and a clarity about what their life is about. So if that's you, I'm just gonna ask you to stand in faith and I'm gonna pray this prayer over you. Father, you see the men and women and young people who are standing right now and we who stand, we stand with a sense of faith, a sense of urgency. We wanna live in a way that honors you and we don't want any obstacles to be in the way. And so God, if there is a sin struggle, there's that idol, that thing that we pursue more than you in the way that you would obliterate it, that you would eliminate it, that you would realign it. God, I pray if there's a sense of failure, like we don't have what it takes, we don't know what to do, that you would by your spirit

empower us to see and to do and to speak what you've called us to. And God, I pray that as we leave here today, we would labor and speak for you and work for you with this deep sense of gratitude that is by your grace alone. And so Jesus, anoint us afresh with your spirit, give us that clarity of calling, stir up gifts that have been dormant and hidden and Lord, let them to be revealed in the days and weeks to come. We pray this prayer in faith in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, you can have a seat for just a moment because the second prompt I have for you is maybe you're that older person like a Paul and you're like, I don't know who's gonna sit in my seat at my job. I don't know who's gonna take my place. I don't know who my next person is. And you're praying, God, reveal that young person to me, that Timothy, that Phoebe, that young person who I can begin to invest in. Or maybe you're a young person, you're like, is anyone older gonna invest in me because I never had a dad or there's not someone in my life? And so if you're looking for that connection between generations, I'm gonna ask you to stand right now because God knows that person who should be taking your place

and God knows that man or woman that he's designed to raise you up, that spiritual father or mother, that mentor. And so for those of you who are standing, I wanna pray this over you. Father, I thank you for the men and women who stand. It takes a lot of courage to say, we don't have it all figured out. How are we transitioning this thing we've been working so hard on? Who's our next? And it's hard to say, God, I don't know who that person is who could mentor me, who could teach me the way to live my life for you, Jesus. But in this beautiful family, you provide both. And so, God, I pray that right now you would, in every person's mind, just give them a name, that person who's right around them that they see all the time, and what that investment would look like, what that request would look like. And God, I pray you would arrange not just the conversation but the circumstances to allow this beautiful mentoring relationship to happen and develop and grow over the next few weeks and months and years so we can all experience the beautiful, long legacy of a life aimed at the right target, spent on the right things. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

You can have a seat. Our last prayer prompt is this. Paul seems to, in his last letter, have completely lost his fear of death and his fear of what other people think. But I know that fear is a real thing. In fact, the biggest issue I think facing our world today is this lack of confidence in how God's in control, and so fear creeps in a thousand ways. I fear that I'm gonna die. I fear that I'm getting sick. I fear that something might happen even if I'm healthy. I fear that for my family. I fear that for my kids. What about this relationship? What about this job? What if they walk away and never come back? And that type of fear and anxiety can grip us. It can ruminate in our minds. It can wake us up at night. That low-grade sense of, I'm not in control and I don't know what to do and what if something bad happens can paralyze us. It can keep us from being who God called us to be. And God wants to free us from that type of fear. And so if you're fearful of your own life, if you're fearful of what will happen in your future, if maybe you're a high school senior, you're fearful like, what if I go to college? What if I don't get a job?

You're fearful for your kids. I'm gonna ask you to stand and we're just gonna pray that God would release us from that spirit of fear and that he would give us a confidence that we trust him for the outcome. We're in control of our words and our decisions, but he's in control of the outcome. And so Father, I pray for those who stand in response to your grace, the grace that has saved us, the grace that has called us. And I pray that we would not live in a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. And so we release control of the outcome for our own personal health, for the health of our kids. We release control of the outcome for our jobs, for our futures, for our finances. We release control of the outcome of our relationships and how they might go. And we trust that as we honor you, you would honor us. And that we would embrace the fact that even though our life will end on this earth, that death is not the end, it's a doorway to eternity. And we can live with this confident expectation that you will safely bring us home. Thank you for rescuing us from our fears. We pray this together in Christ's name, amen. Can we thank him for his goodness and his grace. And church, I pray that you would live that out this week. Now we're gonna ask our prayer counselors to come because if you need healing, physical, emotional, spiritual,

if you have a prodigal you wanna pray for, we wanna allow you the opportunity to pray with a face that's gonna listen and pray over you. So if you have a prayer need of any kind, we would love to pray with you. But as you leave, we pray that you would remember and celebrate the beautiful freedom we have this Memorial Day weekend. God bless you. We'll see you Tuesday night for prayer. For those who would like to join us, we'll see you soon.