Monday, January 14, 2019

Being Poured Out- 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8


We recently looked at this passage in Sandhurst University and it has challenged me.  Man, this passage is rich with great truths for how we should live our life.  I imagine I could take several weeks to preach this passage and we would just begin to scratch the depth of it.   I’m going to do my best to summarize a few thoughts here though.
 Paul is writing to Timothy and describing the realities of his life as he “offered himself as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1).  Paul then goes on to tell Timothy to do the same, and he says it very matter of factly, as if there were no serious consideration for living any other way.  But here is what I know, there is another way to live, a much easier way to live, it is the way of living for myself.  It can be called Hedonism.  Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure (my pleasure).  Most of the world lives this way.

Here is what we see in this passage, Paul spent the entirety of his saved life “being poured out”…for the sake of others, and now it is “time for him to depart.”  Are you OK with that?  Are you OK with the idea that we are called to do the same?   To live for Christ (not self) and then die?   Did you even catch the reality of that in the passage?  What does it mean to be poured out?  The passage gives us many ideas, here is a list of some of what I see those who live poured out are like.  They are:
-        Thoroughly equipped for every good work God calls us to do.  This means we are constantly growing in our knowledge and ability.  Stagnation cannot be a part of our life.
-       We are ready, at a moment’s notice to:
o   Preach the word
o   Correct bad teaching
o   Rebuke bad (ungodly) teachers
o   Encourage in the faith, with patience and instruction, all people
o   Keep our head (stay emotionally healthy)
o   Endure hardship for the sake of the Gospel
o    Do the work of the evangelist (tell others of Christs work in your life)
o   Discharge all of the duties of our ministry (faithfully execute what God has called us to do)

I am having to ask myself if I am OK with living my life this way.  To be honest this is not the first time I have had to do this.  It is something I have routinely asked myself.  It is not easy, after all Paul describes it as being ‘poured out’.  Think about that analogy for a moment.  I/You am a drink that never ceases from being poured.  Think of the exhaustion that comes from that type of life!  It is emotional, physical and spiritual exhaustion all wrapped into one life.  But that is our calling.
There are two things I want you to see from this BLOG.
1.      If you are a Christian you are called to live your life “poured out” Please pray that God would give you a true vision for what it means to live a life that is poured out.  I am afraid far too often we have a very small view of what it means to be poured out.  It is stretching, it is hard, and then you die.  Sorry, but that is it.  But notice Paul was not in the least bit concerned about this reality. In fact, he was quite excited.  He says in verse 7-8, “I have done this and now I have in store for me greater things than could ever be on this earth.” (Reeves version) “God, help me know your sacrifice so deeply that I consider offering myself back to you the least of what I can do and give me the spiritual depth to have an accurate view of what it means to be poured out, and give me the strength to do it faithfully.  Amen.”

2.     We cannot seek to be poured out for the approval of others, but we must be poured out because we have in view what God has done for us.  I recall Howard Hendricks, a great professor of Dallas Seminary saying, “Men if you do not like the smell of sheep then get out of the pasture!”  Guess what, you stink!  Guess what else, I stink! No minister, and you are one, can continue to serve if their service is for the person they are serving.  Never will the one being served be as grateful, responsive or appreciative as the effort they require.  The times I struggle the most with my “profession” is when I get this backwards and start working for the praise of men and not God.  When I counsel that couple so they will have a restored marriage or speak highly of me, or when I go out of my way to meet a man early in the morning so he will affirm me or grow closer to God.  When I do it for those reasons, which may be noble, I stop wanting to be poured out, but when I do it for Christ because I have in view what He has done for me then I can go on and on and on just like the energizer bunny.  God, help me to fix my eyes on You, the author and perfector of my faith.  God help me not to have motives other than to offer myself to You because of what You have done for me.  Protect me from burn out and being torn down by being continually poured out.  Give me the strength and stamina to do this.  In the name of Jesus Amen.
I hope you will catch the vision that this is your calling also and I hope you will pray these prayers with me and together we can receive the award on that day.

No comments:

Post a Comment

How do I Pray?

I was challenged this morning to think about how I pray?  Samuel Chadwick said, "Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases, it is ...