What the Bible Says About Enduring Hard Seasons | Fight The Good Fight | Pastor Mike Breaux

Every week, release a podcast that corresponds to the sermon, it's like a little bit of a deeper dive where we hit some things that didn't make it into the sermon, some theological concepts. We talk about things that are going on in our culture and how to think about them from a biblical perspective. We call that podcast Live Free, an episode releases every Monday that corresponds to the sermon. If you would like to check out Live Free, just go to the Lake Point YouTube channel and look for the podcast tab there. We'll see you at Live Free. Now, enjoy this Bible teaching. - All right, what is up Lake Point family? Great to see you guys. Thanks for being here today. Hey, I want to congratulate all those families that were up here a little while ago, man. And all of our campuses were doing it. And it's so cool to see parents wanting to raise their kids on a strong foundation of Jesus Christ. And I want to thank all you who came along to support them. You know, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and neighbors showed up today to cheer them on and curse them. And that means a ton to these families. So we just celebrate these families one more time. So proud of you guys. I also want to take this opportunity

to welcome those who might be joining online today. And maybe you're one of our campuses as well. Super grateful for you all. My name is bro, by the way, and I get to be on the teaching team. And we're in week four, I think, of this little series we're calling Fight the Good Fight. And it's based on a letter written, it's tucked in the back of the Bible called Second Timothy. And we're gonna be in chapter two today. So if you got your Bible, you can turn to Second Timothy chapter two. Or if you need a bigger font like I do, use your app and blow it up so you can see it. Or maybe you got like picked up one of these scripture journals. You could open that up too, and you could take some notes today. But just a real quick recap. This letter is written by a guy named Paul, who most likely is somewhere in his 60s, written to a young guy named Timothy that is most likely somewhere in his late 30s. And Paul's been mentoring, he'd been pouring into, he's been coaching Timothy for over 20 years. And Timothy is now a pastor serving in a growing church in a crazy city called Ephesus. And there's a real special place in Paul's heart for the church of Ephesus. And man, he loves Timothy like he's his own son. So he writes him this letter and he writes it

from a dark, damp, cold prison cell in Rome, just before he is executed in AD 67. The Roman emperor, a guy named Nero. Have you heard of this guy? He had been slowly sinking as Zac topsings somewhere south of Sanity. About 10 years into his reign, the guy's going crazy. And there's this great fire in Rome that destroys about half the city and most historians believe that Nero himself had the fire set because he wanted to rebuild a more opulent city, one that was more liking to his taste. I mean, we're talking crazy evil dude. So with the residents of Rome in an absolute uproar, Nero starts to feel the heat like literally. So he places the blame of the fire on these quote unquote Christians, which by the way was a derogatory term, meaning little Christ, making fun of them for like following a dead guy and worshiping only one God. And so he begins to persecute them in horrific ways. And so Paul, as one of the main leaders of this Jesus movement, he knows, he knows that his time is short. And whenever he is executed, it'll be unjust, but it's gonna make things hard on everybody, especially young leaders like Timothy. So he takes the time led by the Holy Spirit of God to write this super encouraging letter to his young pastor friend. It's kind of a be strong and courageous baton pass.

Back in the late '90s, I was a young pastor, had hair and everything. I was taken a baton pass from a highly respected, legendary pastor who was 30 years older than me. And I got to be honest, I was scared to death. I knew it wasn't gonna be easy, I knew transition was hard on people. And so I just said, God, why would you call me to do this? I love what I'm doing with my life right now. Why would you ask me to go do this? I was scared. And one day in prayer, I was just pouring out my heart to God like that. And I felt like God gave me the words that he gave to Joshua when he took the baton from Moses. I felt like God like spoke this into me, saying, have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous? Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And I didn't tell anybody about that verse How many notes and how many encouraging cards, how many emails I received from people at the bottom they would write Joshua 1-9. And so this letter is Paul, the 30 years older guy, kind of doing that with young Timothy, reminding him of God's presence and God's power in his life. So the last three weeks Pastor Josh let us through the amazing first chapter and then he bounced a little bit last week to chapter four. So much good stuff in there.

You ought to go back and read it all, listen to the messages on the app, some super helpful stuff I think. And today we are going to jump into chapter two and we've just been kind of going verse by verse through this letter. And today we're just going to chew on like seven verses and then pick it back up from there next week. But really I want to hang this whole message on just like one verse. What Paul says in this first verse, in fact, I think it might be the most important verse in this entire letter. And when I read it, it got me to thinking, if I, a guy with a six in front of my age, we're saying something to a bunch of men and women who were 20, 30, 40, 50 years younger than me, this might be what I'd tell them to. Check it out. Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. I mean, if the theme of this letter is fight the good fight, Paul is saying, and Timothy, this is how you do it. Be strong through the grace that God gives you. You know, Paul doesn't say, hey, listen up, Tim, my time is almost over. So dude, I'm gonna need you to man up. He doesn't do like coach speak and say, you know,

you need to step up, you need to suck it up, you need to walk it off, rub some dirt on it. Don't be such a baby, man up, none of that. He affectionately calls him, my dear son, and then gives him the advice that I think every good dad ought to model and pass on to their sons and daughters. Be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You know, I've always been a fan of grit. I like to work hard, let's do. I like to sweat, I like to get a little grimy. You've heard of dirty jobs with Mike Rowe, right? You've heard of that? Dirty or jobs with Mike Rowe, I'm just saying. I love to get my hands dirty. I love to end the day covered in sweat and sawdust, grass glippings, you name it, I like grit. And I think my initial love for all things grit came from my eighth-grade shop class. And if I take shop when they were like in middle school that I'm talking about, our shop teacher, he looked like he'd had a hard life, outdoor face, steely blue eyes. He would teach us about the planer and the lathe and the drill press and the table saw and the bands, all that stuff. But I can remember the day he gave us what I would call now the sandpaper lecture. He stood up with his unique Kentucky accent and said, now boys, that's right here, that's your 200 grit.

You use your 200 grit when your project's just about done to get it real smooth so you can put your lacquer on it. This right here is your 150 grit. You use your 150 grit before you get to your 200 grit. That's right here is your 100 grit. You use your 100 grit before you get to your 150 grit. And then he holds up a piece of paper and says, this right here now, boys, this is 60 grit. It'll plow through the tough stuff. And as I now think back, I guess that's kind of what I've always really wanted to become. A 60 grit kind of guy. The kind of man that can plow through the tough stuff may be make things smoother for other people in his life. The kind of guy that chases hard after God, the kind of man that won't give up easily and along the way maybe makes an eternal difference with his life. 'Cause you see, here's the deal. You and I can pump up and pull up and be incredibly strong men and women on the outside and still possess a tragically weak character. You and I could be rugged and ripped and covered and sweat and sawdust and dirt and still lack what I would call true grits. I give you this formula, probably about five years ago now. It formula says G plus R equals I T. And you're looking at that going, bro, you're a communication genius. That spells the word grit.

I just need simple stuff like this to help me. But let me give you the results out of the equation first. G plus R equals internal toughness. G plus R equals internal toughness. but true grit, internal toughness, deep character, if you want to become a 60 grit kind of guy, a 60 grit kind of woman, here's how the formula works. Grace plus reliance equals internal toughness. Grace plus reliance equals internal toughness. So Paul is telling Timothy and all of us, a firm grasp of the grace of God, the radical, relentless, unfailing love of God for you, that's where it all begins. And if you and I will humble ourselves and rely on his strength every day and rely on his power throughout our day, we will develop true grit. Now think about who is writing this. You talk about a gritty guy. At one time, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus, externally tough, a bad don't mess with me kind of dude. But then he encounters the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. It has radically changed from the inside out. And he goes on to be the primary spokesperson for the good news of God's love all around the world, a man would he ever need a huge supply of internal toughness. I mean, as Josh pointed out last weekend, this dude was ridiculed. He was criticized, beat up, stoned, whipped, arrested, lied about, betrayed, falsely accused, shipwrecked, he went hungry, cold, he was in chains. I mean, one time he's praying to God. He talked about how he would talk to God about something painful going on in his life. So he talked to God about what he was struggling with. And then he wrote about how God would answer him back. And he says this in 2 Corinthians 12, "Each time God was said to me, 'My grace is all you need.'" My grace is all you need because my power works best in weakness. And so now I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. Gang, that's grit. God says, "You want to develop some internal toughness?" Then my grace is sufficient for you. And then Paul writes this to the church that Timothy was the pastor of. He says this, "I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit and your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. To actually know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." I did a little word study on that word "grasp." The root word in Greek literally means to rust, corrode, or eat all the way through.

So you see what Paul's saying here? I don't want you to show up at church and just hear some things about the love of God. I pray that the amazing grace of God, the high wide deep long love of Jesus Christ, would eat all the way through you. So we say in the Timothy, "I pray it will just eat through you, man, that you would find your purpose and your courage and your strength and your toughness the same way that I have through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let everything you do flow out of the truth that you are deeply loved by the creator of the universe, the lover of your soul." That's your identity, Timothy. Your identity is not the lead pastor of the Church of Ephesus. You are a treasure child of the most high God. That's your identity. That's your security. That's your supernatural strength. So stay dependent upon him because grace plus reliance equals internal toughness. Well, I noticed last night that football was back. I was in Oxnard, California a couple of weeks ago. I was playing golf with a buddy, and the particular course we were playing the 13th hole is right next to the Dallas Cowboys training camp. There's like a chain link fence in between the fairway, and so I'm watching them stretch out and run. They got some big dudes over there. And I really do think they have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs. I really do. I really do. Sorry, I'm a mingles fan. But there's this famous verse that sometimes we'll see football players, sometimes they'll write it on their cleats or they'll put the black in their eyes. They'll put the Scripture verse on the black under their eyes. Some of you might even have this verse tattooed somewhere in your body. Paul wrote this. Philippians 4, 13, he says, "For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Let's read that out loud together from the screen. "For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Paul's saying, "That's the secret of my life. That's the source of my internal toughness. I used to think I was this big and bad powerful dude, came back from the dead. And I know that he's not only with me, God's Spirit now is in me. So I lean into him every day. And as I do that, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Since we're doing a little mathematical equations today, here's another little formula that's really helped me get a handle on all this. Self-reliance plus self-deception equals self-destruction. Self-reliance plus self-deception equals self-destruction. When you and I go through life, trying to project this tough image saying, "I got this. I can handle this on my own. I don't need no stinkin' help. Band of brothers what? Band of sisters, no way. I don't need anybody else. You're just lying to yourself. And I'm telling you, this equation will play out every single time. Self-reliance plus self-deception equals self-destruction."

I love what Paul, this gritty guy Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. He says, "We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves." But that was good. That was good. For them, we put everything in the hands of God who alone could save us, for even He can even raise the dead. You see, gang, it's a really good day. When you and I finally come to God and say, "God, I need your help. I need your help to be a good man. I need your help to be a good dad. I need your help to be a good husband. I need your help to be a good wife, a good mom, a good friend." When we humble ourselves and finally say, "Father, I cannot kick this habit on my own. I can't live this life in my own fable strength, my own puny willpower. I need to rely on a higher power. I need the love and strength of the everlasting God surging through my veins." When we do that, that's when God starts developing true grit within you and me. Grace plus reliance equals internal toughness. And I think Paul is emphasizing this because this, this is his final letter. And in this letter, he is passing the baton to Timothy saying, "I'm passing the torch to you, man." And if you try to be strong in your own abilities and your own intellect and your own skill set alone, you're going to drop it. You've got to be strong in the grace of the Lord. You've got to rely on his ability and his wisdom and his perspective and his power. So, okay, we've covered one verse. But one verse that we all need to stick in our heart and live by every day. Paul goes on, verse two, he says, "You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses." He's saying, "This stuff is not a fairy tale. It's not a fable. You know, Timothy, this is real, man. This is the epic story of Creator God pouring out his grace and reconciling people, bringing them back to himself." And Timothy, you know what you have seen? Man, you've seen all kinds of miracles happen. You have had a front row with me to witness so much life change. You have heard the truth over and over and over. So now, teach these truths to other trusts for the people who will be able to pass them on to others. I'm passing the baton to you and I want you to pass it on to other people too. You see, leaders are at their best when they're developing other leaders. And you know what, true leaders, they don't need the title of leader. They don't need to be the star. They don't need to be the headliner. They don't need to be the face of the place. They could care less if they get any credit whatsoever. Now, of course, Paul gets singled out because of his incredible passion, his story, his journeys, his writings, the impact of his life. But make no mistake, Paul was an absolute team guy.

He was a developer, an encourager, a mentor, a coach, a good friend, a disciple maker. He used the term "we" a whole lot talking about his ministry. He was always sharing the load. He was always sharing the credit. Not only did he coach and mentor and team up with Timothy, but also people like Barnabas and Silas and Titus and the path for deities and Phoebe and Philemon and Priscilla and Aquila and Apollos and Junia and Luke and Mark and Mary and Peter and James and John and James, brother of Jesus and Dorkus and Urbainus and Clement. I mean, he mentions 19 men and 10 women in Romans chapter 16 alone. Not to mention all the other shoutouts. He gives an every other letter to those who were on team Jesus with them. So here's this team-oriented, older, faithful, humble, courageous, 60 grit kind of guy. Now, passing the baton to Timothy, saying, "Man, you got to keep the good news rolling." Because this stuff is real and it's absolutely life-changing. You know that the things that Jesus said and did were not done in some dark corner somewhere, his miracles, his teaching, his truth, his compassion, his resurrection from and they need the hope that only Jesus Christ can give so be strong in His grace, rely on His power and teach and share and encourage and model and equip and invest in and team up with and develop other people so that they can teach and share and model and develop and equip and invest so that someday the gospel of Jesus Christ will ripple all around the world and that's exactly what has happened and is happening. In Lake Point family, let me remind us as I have many times. The good news has rippled all the way to Texas and on us because faithful people like Timothy did not drop the baton and now we're called to make some ripples with our lives. The touch of life who will touch a life who will touch a life who will touch a life who will touch a life and long after we're dead and gone when we have fought the good fight and we have finished the race the ripples will just keep going and going and going and going and Paul gets really real with Timothy. He gets real with us. He says, "Man listen you can look at my life and you can tell this ain't going to be easy. You will have to endure suffering along with me." Now Tim make no mistake this really is the best life. This is as Jesus called it the abundant life. Never forget how deeply you are loved by God and think about this man we get to share. We get to share the good news of God's love. We get to experience incredible joy. We get to witness people all the time being set free so never forget Timothy that we get to do this but also know that ministry can be hard and I know it can be especially hard in Ephesus and it's likely to get harder but you know what Tim that's what we signed up for

and you know that Jesus told his followers straight up that we would have to endure ridicule and criticism and mocking and slander and suffering and persecution for his sake so don't be surprised when it comes but don't let it take you out. May always remember like I told you a few paragraphs back he has not given you a spirit of fear but one of power love and a sound mind. I like the way Greg Leve puts it he says Jesus promised those who would follow him only three things that they would be absurdly happy entirely fearless and always in trouble and by the way that's what we all signed up for too you know so Timothy endures suffering along with me and then he uses three examples of perseverance as first of all endures suffering along with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus I know you do as well but I have a deep respect for men and women who have selflessly served our country as good soldiers my dad was one of them yeah I uh I keep this box behind me on my desk at home within that box is the purple heart metal that was given to my dad for injuries that hospitalized him for over six months in France after being part of the second wave on the beaches of Normandy in World War II and I'm proud of his selflessness and his sacrifice he was a good soldier and I talked last week with my buddy Gerald I told him I was working through this passage and I needed some perspective Gerald was a good soldier he was a point man like the first guy in as a 19 year old in Vietnam I mean Gerald big strong jacked up tough guy back then who has been transformed by Jesus into a 60 grit kind of tough guy from the inside out these days he's a really cool guy but I read him these verses and I ask you hey Gerald so tell me what what makes a good soldier and he talked and just flowed out of him and I was trying to jot it all down as fast I could type it into my phone say hey dude could you just text me some thoughts so we did and this is what he text me back well bro I'm guessing walking point in a combat combat zone and leading the church have many similarities a willingness to lead a willingness to sacrifice compassion for the people attention to details ability to spot danger or potential trouble avoiding the easy trail that can lead the booby traps and ambushes I text him back well it's not quite the same I mean I have taken some shots along the way but I've never been shot at yet any laugh and they say well being a good soldier I think requires courage and focus love for your brothers selflessness and believe it or not a healthy fear and a big dose of humility and that describes what Paul refers to as a good soldier he says in verse four soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life for they can't please the officer who enlists

easily distracted by the world because they live on mission, man. They're laser focused. They aren't chasing fame or a claim or applause or potential or attention. Their world doesn't like revolve around looks and repost and followers and likes and such. They are content with the salute of the God who called them and enlisted them. And then Paul moves from soldiers to athletes. He says this first five, "And athletes, they cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules." Now, we respect and admire athletes who train hard and compete with grit and integrity, don't we? But the ones who like bend the rules a little bit to gain an advantage, we don't respect them as much, right? In fact, I was reading this text this week, and I had a flashback. I haven't thought of this in like 50 years, 40 years. It was a track meet I was in back in high school, and this event was an all-relays kind of a race. I ran the 800 and the mile. I mean, this looks like the body of a lean and hungry miler, doesn't it? Just kidding. It does not. So it was a four-man, four-mile relay. Each guy had to run four laps around the track that passed the baton. The next guy, he take off. He run four laps. Well, I was the anchor man of the relay team, the guy that like makes up ground on the last leg. Well, after three guys went 12 laps. By the time I got the baton, we were almost two full laps behind the person in the last place. There was no hope for me to make up any ground, and it was super embarrassing running all by myself. I'm just running around the track with people getting on their buses to leave and go back home. So in my 16-year-old mind, I came this close to cutting across that football field. Just go the other side of the track. Nobody would ever known. Nobody would ever cared. But man, you can't do that. You got to follow the rules. I was listening a couple of weeks ago to some of the speeches that were given by new inductees into the basketball hall of fame. It's some of the common themes where, man, it takes a lot of sacrifice. You got to be disciplined. You got to have consistent training. You got to have people in your corner that believe in you. You got to trust the work that you put in. You got to play by the rules. You got to compete with integrity and no shortcuts. And Paul says, "Tim, live your life in ministry like that. Man, work hard. Let the Holy Spirit be your trainer. Have a great team around you. Be disciplined. Be consistent. Live with integrity and no shortcuts." So endure like a soldier, run your race like an athlete. And then verse 60 talks about and work like a farmer. I heard a story years ago about a farmer, about a pastor who was visiting the farmer who happened to be a member of his small country church. This guy lived on the farm, worked the land for over 50 years,

had a real tan face and white bald head from where the John Deere had every day. 60 grit handshake. That guy. As we're walking around the farm, the young pastor would say things like, wow, the Lord sure has a beautiful farm here. And the farmer would not say, yes, he does. He said, wow, the Lord has an awesome barn over there. The old farmer just not his head. Oh, my goodness. The Lord has miles of perfect fence rows. The Lord has so many crops out there as they're walking back to the house. Oh, the Lord has a beautiful farmhouse here. Finally, the old farmer says, pastor right here, what you're saying? And I'm grateful. And I don't mean no disrespect, but you should have seen this place when the Lord had it all to himself. See, farmers are known for working hard, man. And farmers really have no choice but to partner with God. And Paul says, verse six, and hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. He said, Timothy, listen, you will work hard. And man, you're going to have to plow some very hard fields. And you're going to sow a whole bunch of seed and you're going to plant a whole bunch of hope. And guess what? You may experience drought and storms and opposition. And you may not see a whole lot of immediate fruit. So like a farmer, you will have to patiently wait on God's timing. But I'm telling you, dude, someday you will thank him for the harvest. This kind of echoes Paul's word over in Galatians 6, 9, kind of famous verse. Let us not become weary and doing good. For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we don't give up. So Paul says, Timothy, think about what I'm saying, man, take it all in. The Lord will help you understand what I've been trying to teach a model for you the last 20 years of my life. Always be humble, always be grateful, be courageous, be consistent, be persistent, be patient. But most of all, be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I was out for a walk this morning about 6.30, wouldn't plan on this at all. But I'm listening to worship music and I'm just praying as I'm walking. And this just kind of flowed out of me. So just induls me. If you're gonna fight what's called the good fight, you need to know Jesus' burden is light. He is humble and gentle and his yoke is easy. He'll lead you straight, no lies, no deceiving.

Lay you down by still water so you can catch your breath. He would stay with you in the valley of death. So be strong and courageous and rely on his grace 'cause you're gonna need it as you run your race. You're accepted, you're gifted, you're chosen and called. You're treasured and priceless and been given all you need through his wisdom, his power and grace, all that you need to finish your race. His love is wide and high and deep and long. His love is perfect and safe and enduring and strong. His love is constant, unfailing, relentless and fierce. Just look at his hands and how they were pierced. He died on a cross, our sins made him bleed and he says, "My grace is all that you need." So know that I'm with you when you walk, stand or sit and know that I'm in you to give you true grit. (audience applauds) Brandon is becoming a 60 grit kind of guy. He and his wife, Becca and their sons, Dakston and Scout, are part of our awesome East Dallas campus. And as you will see, there was a time that he tried to be externally tough guy, but then he humbled himself. And he and his wife both went to our ministry called Regen where he began to embrace God's grace and rely on God's strength. Check this out. - I remember finally slamming the car door shut with the boys in the back and just having to let out a scream. (dramatic music) Dax, my older son, he reaches out a hand

to his little brother and he goes, "It's okay, Scout. Dad's yelled at me lots of times." My wife and I, our high school sweethearts, got married right after graduating college. Growing up, the youngest of seven kids very much sometimes felt like just in the midst of chaos all the time. I remember it kind of was culminating in this season of trying to earn God's love. I just started to realize there was this recurring thing that would happen where I would blow up at my kids. I can't be yelling at my kids seven times a week. This behavior, these patterns, they're not only affecting my kids, it's keeping me from being the dad, the husband, the leader of my house that God has called me to be. That was really this moment where I realized this is not okay with me. This not dealt with is going in the wrong direction. That's the day where the car episode happened. I was at region the next season. I had become really, really good at controlling the narrative and with me wanting everyone to be impressed and everyone to be happy and no one to be offended, it created the impossible situation which is where the anxiety came from. As God looks into my eyes, he wants me to find freedom. He wants me to live in victory. He wants me to flourish. The slips, the mistakes, the sin, these are not things that changes his love for me.

Dad's husband's men of God, he don't have to do better tomorrow and then we'll talk about God's love. Here in this moment, not because of anything you've done or any mistake you've made or accomplishment, you've found Jesus loves you deeply. My name is Brandon Briscoe and this is how Jesus changed my life. [MUSIC PLAYING]