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Guest (Female): Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham, where to do more than keep the faith, we are to pass the faith along. And so that is why we are committed to making sure that the gospel goes forward through faithful people. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about passing our faith to others. Now here's Dr. Graham with his message, "The Person God Uses."

Jack Graham: Every generation has the responsibility to pass the torch of truth to the succeeding or the coming generation, the next generation. We of course know that we are simply one generation away from total depravity and paganism. All you have to do is look at most of the churches in Western Europe and see a generation that has lost its way. The churches are empty, young adults are not following Christ, and the lifestyle does not honor Christ.

If we're not careful, we can miss our opportunity today to pass this faith to the next generation. Every parent has a responsibility to train up your own children to know Christ and to follow Him fully. Every church has the responsibility to train up a spiritual generation, a generation of children. This includes guarding the gospel.

This is really what Second Timothy is about as Paul the Great Apostle is teaching and training his young protege in the ministry, his son in the ministry, Timothy, training and propelling him forward with the faith. Every generation has this huge accountability before God and responsibility before God to make sure that we get it right so that we can give it away to the coming generation. Now, that doesn't mean when we give it to the next generation that we sit on the sideline and watch. I heard someone say this week, if you aren't dead, you're not done. If you're not dead, you're not done.

So every generation has a responsibility to serve God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths until we take our last breath. But in the meantime, we begin to look over our shoulders and realize that the next generation is on the way. It's like a relay race. The responsibility of the runner is to make sure that the next runner gets the baton. It's called the transfer zone. Races are won and lost at the transfer zone. If the baton is dropped, the race is defaulted for that team. But if the success to pass this torch or this baton to the next generation, if we're successful in doing that, then we all win.

Paul was concerned about massive defections among believers, abandoning the faith. And so he writes in Second Timothy 2:1-2, "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men." There it is, passing the faith alone. That's the transfer zone. What you have learned, you entrust to faithful men. The disciple is now a disciple-maker so these faithful men will be able to teach others also. This is how the faith has proceeded from generation to generation, from faith to faith to faith. As we learn the faith and live the faith, then we give the faith to others.

He's saying, be strong and courageous and fearless in the face of the enemy. Literally, these verses say, strengthen yourself in the grace of God. We know that we are not strong in and of ourselves. Therefore, it is the grace that saves us. The same grace that saves us, keeps us. We are saved by grace. We are to serve by grace. Find your strength in the grace of God. We're to do more than keep the faith; we are to pass the faith along. The gospel is too good to keep for ourselves. And so that is why we are committed to making sure that the gospel goes forward through faithful people, those who are trustworthy and dependable and honorable in biblical faith.

And so with that as his mission with young Timothy and with us, he then gives six metaphors, portraits if you will, of what it means to live for Christ in each generation. I want to cover briefly with you all of these metaphors because together it is a composite of what the Christian life should look like from generation to generation. Number one: the soldier, verses three and four. The soldier is described: "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who has enlisted him."

Paul spent quite a bit of time in his years on mission with Roman soldiers in jail. So he often used metaphors, illustrations describing the Christian life as a warfare. For example, fight the good fight of faith. He spoke of putting on the whole armor of God as we wage spiritual warfare that we are to fight with the strength that God gives us. The good soldier, according to this passage, is to be focused and strong, mentally and physically tough.

It's not easy to be a soldier. If we are to be spiritual soldiers, we must be willing to pay the price in preparation. Frankly, most of us are not. I wonder out of a class of thousands today who are listening to this message, how many of us are passing our spiritual training in prayer, in Bible study, in worship, in meditation, in all of the disciplines of the Christian life.

We are to be spiritual soldiers. The soldier, Paul says, is not entangled by the world, not by civilian affairs. Makes a break with the civilian world to be in this world of the soldier. The world will entangle us and the tentacles of the world will slow us down and even stop us. So a soldier has to separate himself and the entanglements of the world and then the entitlements of the world. Frankly, from generation to generation, there's a sense of entitlement.

One of the problems that this generation you are going to have to face is a sense of entitlement. You have been given so much, so much more than previous generations. And you must not begin your life's journey as an adult simply with an idea that I am entitled to something, that everyone's going to give me something. No, a soldier of Christ recognizes the call to separation and even to suffering for one reason: to please the commander. Our commander is the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are three ways to live. You can live to please yourself, you can live to please others, or you can make it your ambition, your aim to please God. The Christian soldier aims to please God in all things. Christian ministry is not part-time. Christian life is not part-time. We are to be passionate, fully devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second metaphor is the athlete, verse five. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The Christian is to be a competitor. I like that. Too many people have the idea that the Christian is soft or to be soft, that we're a bunch of mild-mannered people telling people how to be more mild-mannered. The Apostle Paul was not soft. He was a spiritual athlete. He said, "I have finished the course," and he's on his way to the finish line at this point.

He loved athletics. He often referred to the athletic arena, whether it was typically the Olympian sports of running or jousting or boxing or any of these kinds of competition. He was all in. And so he looks now to the athlete and says we are to be like spiritual athletes, muscular in our faith, driving hard, running hard to the finish line. And we run to win. Run that you may win. That's First Corinthians 9:24. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Run that you may win.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I'm just not out there running for the fun of it or running my own direction. I do not box—he turns to the boxer, to the ring—one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.

Paul was running just a little bit scared knowing that if he did not keep his eyes on the prize and keep his eyes focused on Christ, then he could be disqualified, put on the bench spiritually. And that was an unthinkable, unimaginable thing to Paul that somehow he would not be able to preach Christ. So we run the race according to the rules. Every game, every contest has rules. You don't have rules, you have chaos. We're to run therefore with integrity and character and obedience to Christ. Run for the prize, strive for the prize. The athlete. Paul at the end of his days did say, "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "The Person God Uses." Be sure to sign up to receive Dr. Graham's daily video devotional on the "Seven Words from the Cross." This powerful study will remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, text "Cross" to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text "Cross" to 59789.

Right now, you have an incredible opportunity to help someone experience the hope and truth of Jesus Christ. Thanks to an exciting 150,000 dollar matching grant, your gifts this month will be doubled to help proclaim God's word even further through PowerPoint Ministries. And as our way of saying thank you, we'd love to send you Dr. Graham's book "Help," a powerful resource showing you how Jesus meets you in your struggles with strength, comfort, and hope. Text "Mar" to 59789 to give today. Again, that's "Mar," M-A-R to 59789. Thank you for helping share the gospel with the world in need. Now let's get back to today's message, "The Person God Uses."

Jack Graham: There's a third metaphor. Paul's jumping around here a bit. He's just listening to the Holy Spirit as God is guiding him in writing these words to us in our own generation. He says be like the farmer. Look at verse six: "It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops." Now if the athlete is to run hard, the farmer is to work hard. There's no easy way to serve Christ. Work hard. No one ever drowned in their own sweat. Work hard because Christ has called us to produce a harvest.

What is this harvest? Well, first it's the harvest of the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives, the character of Christ. That's why the Bible says whatever one sows, that he will also reap. You sow good things into your life, you sow the word of God, you sow faith, you sow prayer, you sow purity into your life, you're going to reap a spiritual harvest of the fruit of the Spirit, spiritual fruit, character. You sow to the flesh, you sow to your own personal pleasures and gains and you reap corruption.

To be a fruitful Christian, you must sow seeds into your life. It doesn't just happen. You have to be present to receive the word of God. You have to open the word of God for yourself and commit to spiritual growth in your life. In the Bible, harvest is also referred to as converts, those who we lead to Christ. We are to go as farmers sowing the seed. Psalm 126:6 says, "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him." This is the picture of the soul-winner, but he's the sower, sowing seeds and bringing forth the harvest. Jesus said the harvest is ready, the harvest is ripe, but the laborers—those who are willing to work—are few.

The consumers are many. The watchers and the participants and the applauders are many, but the laborers are few. Christian, God is calling you to work in this kingdom, to work in the church of Jesus Christ. God has given you grace, God has given you gifts. You should be using these in ministry in your own personal witness. All of us are responsible. That is, if we want to live a legacy to succeeding generations. The laborers are few. It takes tears and pain and sacrifice to reap a great harvest. The farmer. Paul put it this way in Colossians 1: "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." He is strong within us and will enable us to do the work that he has called us to do.

The fourth metaphor, picture, is the workman, verse 15 of chapter 2. Look at it, great verse: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." Now the worker in this case is the artisan, the artist if you will, or the sculptor. It's really an illustration of someone who works with their hands to make something beautiful. And he's saying to Timothy, make sure as a workman that is not ashamed that you rightly divide or handle the word of truth, which is the Bible, the word of God.

It means to cut it straight, to say it straight up, to teach the truth of the Bible as it is. Don't—and he describes—running off in distractions and doctrinal impurities. He says avoid, verse 16, irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene. He said false doctrine, false teaching is not only produces godliness, but it produces gangrene. It is deceptive and it is disastrous, catastrophic and cancerous in any generation.

And this is why we must preach the pure truth of the unadulterated word of God. We're to speak the truth in love, but we are to speak the truth. And what is essential, church, is that with these students coming along, we heard a statistic earlier that 60, 70 percent of students that leave churches across America today abandon their faith, often because they are never taught their faith at home or in the church. Why would anyone put their kids in a church that doesn't believe the word of God?

Clean vessels is number five, verse 20. It says, "Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay and some for honorable use and some for dishonorable." Now this is a very practical illustration Paul uses. Most likely you have in your house the stuff you eat on, the good stuff, maybe they gave it to you at your wedding. It's the china, it's the expensive stuff. You put it up, use it for special occasions. Then you've got the ordinary everyday stuff, it's a montage of different kinds of stuff. Some you picked up at the filling station. It's just stuff, plastic. Whatever you eat on every day.

But the Apostle Paul would say, it doesn't matter if you are a golden chalice or a plastic cup. What matters is that you are clean. God will use any kind of vessel but a dirty vessel. Who wants to drink out of a china cup if it is filled with filth? The Bible says be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.

So he's calling us to spiritual cleanliness and purity and righteousness to make it our aim. Look at verse 22: "Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace." I wish I had more time to talk about that, but just note that. Here is what we are to pursue: righteousness, faith, love and peace. This is our holy ambition. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, but when the world sees us, may they not see the cup, may they see the treasure that is in the cup.

The glory and the grace of God. Resist selfish ambition and self-indulgence and sinful pleasures and arrogance and immaturity, but pursue righteousness and faith and love and peace. One final thing: the servant, verse 24. "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will."

This metaphor changes now to that of the household servant, to the slave. We are servants of Christ called to do whatever it takes in humility and commitment to the one that we serve. There's a book called "The Lone Survivor." It's the story of four men, Navy SEALS, who went out behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and they were surrounded by 100 fierce Taliban fighters. Just four of them. Only one survived to tell the story, Marcus Luttrell.

He spoke of those days behind enemy lines. They had already lost two of the men and one of his buddies was mortally wounded and dying. His name was Matthew Axelson. And this is what he said. He said, "Marcus, they got us good man." He spoke with great difficulty, Luttrell says, as if trying to concentrate. He says, "You stay alive Marcus. You stay alive Marcus. And tell Cindy," his wife, "that I love her."

And over the next week as Luttrell is now left alone behind enemy lines, all of his teammates of the SEALS dead, he kept himself going day after day with the dying words of his buddy. "Keep yourself alive, Marcus." When he found himself in a death trap as he called it, when he found himself nearing the end, he was hiding in clay and caves and in cliffs, he would recount those final words of his buddy, Axe.

Luttrell wrote, "I knew I had to get myself out. I remember Axe's final words. They still rang clearly in my mind. 'You stay alive, Marcus. And tell Cindy I love her.' For Axe and Danny and above all for Mikey, his best friend and leader had been killed, I knew I must stay alive." And what he said to Marcus that day I want to say to you church: stay alive. I want to say to you students: stay alive in Christ. Do whatever it takes, but you stay alive and let the gospel of Christ live in you. And you tell the world that Jesus loves them. You tell your family to come, that Jesus loves them. And you'll not just be a survivor, but you will win in the battle of life.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "The Person God Uses." I want you to know that right now, your support goes even further to help share the hope of Jesus with people around the world. Thanks to a generous 150,000 dollar matching grant, every gift this month will be doubled to help proclaim God's word through PowerPoint Ministries. That means you'll help reach even more people who desperately need truth, encouragement, and the gospel.

And as a heartfelt thank you for your generous gift this month, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book "Help" to remind you that you are not alone, your pain is not unseen and God's peace is real. Text "Mar" to 59789 to have your gift doubled and request your copy today. Again, text "Mar," M-A-R to 59789. Be sure to sign up to receive Dr. Graham's daily video devotional on the "Seven Words from the Cross." This powerful study will remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text "Cross" to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text "Cross" to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: All of us in every generation have the responsibility to serve God with all of our hearts, mind, soul and strength, to love Him, to lead others to Christ all the days of our lives, including our own family and including the generation behind us. We have a responsibility to pass the baton of faith to the coming generation. Therefore we should run our own race and then we should make sure to give those who come behind us the greatest possible opportunity possible to succeed spiritually.

We can serve God just as Paul talked about in the metaphors in today's message: like good soldiers of Christ, like competitive athletes, servants of Christ. In every way we should be faithful in the ministry that God has given us, starting with our own children, our grandchildren, and those in our churches who are looking to us for their example.

We are to pray for one another. And one of the most powerful things you can do for the next generation, those who are coming behind us, is not to criticize them, not to critique them so much, but to pray for them and to encourage them in their walk of faith. I want to encourage you to communicate with us here at PowerPoint. We really do want to get to know our listening audience. And you can visit us on Facebook or on the Twitter feed to share your prayer request and to leave comments.

Personally, I would enjoy having you join me on Twitter each day. That's @jackngraham. Each day on Twitter I'm talking about the things that God is saying to me: scriptures and promises and truths that are moving in my own life. And also some of the more personal things that I may be doing that you may enjoy knowing. And here's another way we can get connected and that is you can visit us on jackgraham.org for more resources to build your faith and encourage you in your walk with Christ. So again, thanks for joining us today. I look forward to talking with you again the next time.

Guest (Female): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book "Help." Just text "Mar" to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can have the love that goes the distance. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.