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I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text for today's message is taken from 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 11 to 15. Today, some of us are serving in the Sunday School, in the Elderly Ministry, in the Fellowship groups, in evangelism, and so forth. And as we consider the way we are serving, how we are called into certain ministries, why we are serving in this ministry and not other ministries, somehow we remember there are certain people who have influenced our lives.

Perhaps, when you were a child, you used to sit and learn from a Sunday School teacher. You watched how she was very patient, kind, and gentle with the children, how she emphasized the importance of the Bible. She taught you about the divine inspiration and perfect preservation of God's Word. Through her life and ministry, you have learned to be more focused on God's Word. You love God's Word so much that today, you want to be a Sunday School teacher to teach others what you have been taught. That person has influenced your life, that person has shaped your thinking and understanding of the ministry, and has helped to build your conviction. Right? In a sense, you owe your Godly conviction to that person.

There are several reasons why the experiences, beliefs, and commitments of certain particular individuals play an important role in our lives, including their spiritual struggles, trials, and victories. One obvious reason would be our age. They started to influence us when we were still young, especially when we were still a child in our formative years. Someone said this: "Everything is big when you are small. Everything is new when you know nothing," which is very true. So, some people would have such a tremendous impact upon our lives. This is exactly what was happening in Timothy's life. The Apostle Paul had played an important role in his life, though Timothy was already the pastor of the church at Ephesus. But Paul—Paul would always be his spiritual father, mentor, teacher, and pastor. Paul's influence in his life would trace all the way back to the time when he was still a child, or perhaps in his youth. This was the man who had taught him the Word of God. This was the man who had influenced him greatly, encouraged him, stood by him, shaped his thinking and understanding about the church and ministry, and built up his conviction.

That was why Paul was able to say to Timothy, "Beware of the false teachers and false believers who pretend to be spiritual. You should not follow their example. You should follow my life and ministry. You should follow my example. You know how I have lived my life." You cannot say that to someone unless your life truly has influenced that person. There’s a powerful connection between remembrance and continuance, between what we remember and how we continue. Think about those people who finish well in life, in the ministry, in the church. They are able to do so because they have not forgotten what they have been taught. Oftentimes, people who do not finish well are those who have forgotten what they have been taught. What we remember will cause us to continue to do what we are doing. Of course, we must always remember God's Word, but special memories of certain people, certain events, and experiences will remind us to press on, to persevere, to not give up.

Have you ever encountered someone who is so discouraged, and he's about to give up, and then, all of a sudden, he says to you, "But I remember what my father used to say to me," or, "I remember what my teacher used to say to me"? That remembrance is so vital because it will cause him to press on, to continue. Therefore, essentially, Paul was saying to Timothy, "Remember my life. You know how I have lived my life. You know my doctrine, you know my manner of life, my faith, my long-suffering, my charity or love, and my patience." We have learned that in our previous message. Today, we will continue with verses 11-15. The title of our message is "The Christian's Defense Against Apostasy: Godly Conviction."

Our first point is: Remember the Difficult Experiences.

Let us begin with verse 11: Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, but out of them all, the Lord delivered me. Before his conversion, Paul was the greatest persecutor of Christians. Acts 9:1 says this: And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way (referring to the Christians), whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. So, he obtained a letter authorizing him to go to Damascus, to arrest the Christians, bind them, and bring them to Jerusalem to be persecuted. At that time, his name was known as Saul. But the Lord Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and he was converted. After that, God used him mightily to preach the Gospel to Asia Minor and beyond the region. From then onwards, the persecutor became the persecuted. Everywhere he went, he faced persecutions and afflictions because of the Gospel.

Paul had many experiences. He could have quoted any of those experiences in Philippi, or in Ephesus, or in Rome, but he did not do that. Why? He purposely chose the persecutions and afflictions he had encountered in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra because he knew that these experiences were familiar to Timothy. These were the experiences that had left a lasting impression upon the young man. Allow me to explain what happened at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You can read about that in Acts 13 and 14. Paul had to flee from Antioch because of the persecution. He went to Iconium. In Iconium, there was a plot to kill him, so again, he had to flee. And he fled to Lystra, which was the hometown of Timothy. In Lystra, he healed a man who was crippled. The people were very impressed by this miracle, so much so that they wanted to worship both Paul and Barnabas as gods. Obviously, he did not allow them to do that. Instead, he pointed them to the one living and true God.

The unbelieving Jews from Antioch and Iconium came down to Lystra. They were outraged when they heard about what Paul had done. They persuaded the people to reject him. They persecuted him, stoned him, and then threw his body outside the city, thinking that he was dead. The disciples stood around his body, perhaps getting ready to bury him. Then, all of a sudden, Paul stood up, and he walked back into the city! That was what happened in those three cities. Timothy was from Lystra; he was from that region, so he had firsthand knowledge of all those events. For all you know, he could have been one of those disciples standing around the body of Paul, waiting to carry the body to be buried. Can you imagine what it would be like to see this man perform a miracle right before the eyes of everyone, and then preach very powerfully, only to be persecuted and stoned? And when his body was presumed to be dead, all of a sudden, he stood up and walked back into the city. How would you feel if you were Timothy? All those events would be replayed again and again in his heart and in his mind, don’t you think so?

When Paul said to him, "You know what happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You know about the persecutions and afflictions. You know I was almost killed. I was stoned, but how I stood up—it was the Lord who had delivered me!" Timothy knew. Most certainly, he knew that it was the Lord who had delivered Paul, and Paul knew that that knowledge would surely encourage Timothy to continue to fight the good fight of faith. If he was not already discouraged by the false teachers and false brethren, now would be the time for him to rise up, to stand against the false teachers. That was the reason why Paul said to Timothy, "Remember all the difficult experiences I had encountered in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra. You were there. You knew all these things. The Lord had delivered me; surely, the Lord will also deliver you. Do not be afraid. Remember the difficult experiences."

My friends, we all have different experiences in life. Not everyone would face or encounter an experience as dramatic as Paul. Some of us may be tried more intensely than others. Sometimes, God may allow us to just watch from a distance how other believers would face intense opposition, and then, from their faithful response, we learn what it means to stand up for the truth. At other times, God may use us as the one being persecuted, and then others will be standing from a distance, watching us, learning how we respond to the challenges and trials of life. God uses circumstances and people to teach us different lessons. Some of us may receive a devastating medical report. Maybe one day, you receive news that you have cancer, and when we respond to the news of having this terminal illness with a gentle and cheerful spirit, no matter how difficult the situation is, we are still prayerful. Our children will be watching us from a distance, and then they will learn what it means to trust in the Lord in all circumstances. Even if we have to lie on our deathbed, we may be able to say to our children, "Son, daughter, remember how Daddy and Mommy has endured the pain and faced the difficult situations, but I did not give up. I still trust in my God. Please remember that. Do not give up. Always believe in God, always be faithful and obedient to His Word, so that in the sweet by and by, we shall meet again on that beautiful shore."

You know, that is what we want to teach our children, right? Not only in good times, but especially in difficult situations. That is where wonderful lessons, spiritual lessons will be taught and learned. Paul went on to say in verse 12: Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Notice the word "all." All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution—not "maybe," "sometimes," or "who knows." He was very emphatic: surely, they shall suffer persecution. You know, this truth was based on what our Lord Jesus had taught His disciples. Remember in John 15:20, Jesus said this: Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. They will persecute you—why? Because you are my disciple, and if you are faithful, if you are godly, surely they will persecute you. Remember, they have persecuted me.

Paul remembered what Jesus had said. He understood that truth. A moment ago, we just said that Paul was stoned in Lystra, right? Do you know what Paul did immediately after he was stoned and rose up and walked away? If you can, turn with me to Acts 14, verses 20-22. Acts 14:20 tells us that Paul rose up and came into the city, and the next day, he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Verse 21: And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch—the same cities that had persecuted him, almost killed him. He returned back. And what did he do? Verse 22: "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith”, which means He encouraged the people through the Word of God. And what did he teach them? He taught them this very important lesson: That we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

In other words, after Paul was stoned, he rose up, went about preaching the Gospel, went back to the same places—the same people who had persecuted him—and he preached to them and told the people essentially what we have just read: "All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Isn’t it amazing?

Another amazing thing is that Jesus taught this truth, right? John 15:20. Paul remembered. He taught Timothy. And Timothy remembered. And when the Thessalonians were facing persecutions and afflictions, what did Paul do? He sent Timothy. Paul said to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 3:2—let me read for you: And I sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith. That no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. Which means, you Thessalonians, you may be facing persecutions and afflictions because of your faith, because of your godliness, but do not be moved, do not be shaken, do not be discouraged, because it is by God's appointment that all those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This was essentially what he said to the Thessalonians.

So, can you see? From Jesus to Paul, Paul to Timothy, Timothy to the Thessalonians. One generation to another generation, emphasizing this important truth. My friends, if you live a godly life, if you want to serve the Lord faithfully, surely there will be opposition. Surely people will oppose you. 100%. Because Jesus said so.

Christians who serve the Lord half-heartedly or fail to serve Him at all, very seldom would they have to pay the price for their faith. Why? Because to Satan, they are of little threat; to Christ, they are of little benefit. But it is inevitable—when Christians are faithfully serving God, living godly lives, they shall suffer persecution.

Not every godly believer would be tortured, imprisoned, or martyred for his faith, but somehow they will face opposition from the world. And the more faithful they are, the more opposition they will face. This is the reality. The reason why the believers shall suffer persecution is because, as verse 13 tells us, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."

Evil men and seducers, or deceivers, imitators like false teachers, they would increase and become bad—from bad to worse. They will deceive others, even as they themselves are being deceived. It is like a vicious cycle. They are being deceived, and they in turn would deceive others, and this will go on and on, continue, and increase in intensity until our Lord Jesus returns.

Have you ever considered the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel preachers? They are preaching another gospel, right? A gospel of a different kind, a gospel that cannot save. I think some of them believe with all their hearts that they are preaching the true gospel. They can be very sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. This is what it means to deceive others, even as they themselves are being deceived. This is the vicious cycle that we are talking about—they have been deceived, and then they, in turn, go out there and deceive others.

My friends, we do not need this kind of preachers or believers; we need godly men and women, whether they be church pastors, Sunday school teachers, fellowship leaders, or even parents. We want such people whose lives, attitudes, and behaviors, especially in difficult times, would teach us what it means to press on, what it means to persevere, and to remain faithful to the Lord. As we watch their lives, just as Timothy watched Paul's life, his life will be greatly influenced and impacted. Has your life impacted anyone spiritually?

Our second point is to remember the spiritual heritage. Verse 14: "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." The things that Timothy had learned was a reference to the holy scriptures, as the next verse tells us. Timothy had learned the holy scriptures from three persons primarily—his beloved mother Eunice, his grandmother Lois, and the Apostle Paul.

Paul said in Chapter 1, Verse 5 (I’ll read for you 2 Timothy Chapter 1:5): "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith, or sincere faith, genuine faith, that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also."

In other words, Timothy's faith was genuine, sincere, and it was through the godly influence of his grandmother and mother. Nothing was mentioned about his father except that he was a Greek. Paul knew these two women during his first missionary journey when both Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra, their hometown. They were devout Jewish believers, well-versed in the Old Testament. And when they heard the gospel from Paul, they immediately recognized that Jesus indeed was the promised Messiah. So they received Him as their personal Lord and Savior.

By the time Paul returned to visit them again during his second missionary journey, these two women had already led their grandson and son, Timothy, to the Lord. By then, Timothy was ready to follow Paul on his missionary journeys. So, you can see how these two women, grandmother and mother, had played such an important part in Timothy's life, how their lives had been such a great influence in the life of Timothy.

My friends, it is truly a blessing to be brought up in a Christian family where God's word is loved and highly esteemed, where the children not only can learn from God's truth, but there's something even more important—they can observe how the truth is being articulated in their lives. So, it is not just head knowledge. Sometimes the danger of biblical knowledge is that it is only here (in the head), but it is not sinking into the hearts and applied into our lives. But for those children living in Christian families, they watch the parents, they watch the grandparents, how the truth of God is being lived out.

Though sometimes God may raise up godly believers in ungodly families, or even pagan families, if you read through church history, you will find out that the majority of godly believers and leaders would come from Christian families where the parents and grandparents were Christians. I remember the testimony of Charles Spurgeon, who said this: When he was a little child, his mother would often place him on her lap, and she would read the Bible to him, and then she would pray for him, and Charles Spurgeon said all he felt were the warm teardrops of his mother falling onto his face. He was too young to understand what was going on, but as he grew up, later on, he realised that his mother was praying and pleading with God for his salvation. She was praying and weeping at the same time.

The faith of his mother had influenced him in such a way that later on, he became a preacher, commonly known as the "Prince of Preachers" because he was a powerful preacher. Reverend Timothy Tow wrote a book, Son of a Mother's Vow. Can you imagine? The founder of the Bible Presbyterian movement in Southeast Asia, where all the BP churches trace their roots to him, and he said, "I was in the ministry because of my mother." It was his mother who prayed when he was young and committed him to the Lord's service. He realized that only later on in his life. That was why he wrote the book, Son of a Mother's Vow. You know, our lives can truly influence the lives of our children, but the sad reality is that sometimes we do not realize it.

Verse 15: "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." His grandmother Lois and mother Eunice began to teach Timothy from the earliest possible age. Being Jewish, they would have taught him the Old Testament. You can imagine the picture. In the beginning, they would be telling him Bible stories—the great stories of Moses, how he led the Israelites out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, how God provided manna from Heaven, how God was their pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, how God used Joshua to lead the Israelites and conquer the Promised Land, and so forth. Surely after that, they would have taught him the commandments, the promises, and the principles from the Old Testament.

Then, they would also teach him the sacrificial systems, the Passover lamb, the Tabernacle, the temple, and all the prophecies regarding the Messiah. Finally, they pointed to him that the Messiah was none other than Jesus Christ. He was the only one who could fulfill all the prophecies about the Messiah. He was the Passover lamb. He was the one whom all these sacrificial systems were pointing to. He was the Almighty God whom the Tabernacle represented, and Timothy believed.

That is what it means to be "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus," which means the wisdom that leads to salvation by placing one's faith in Christ Jesus. All the wonderful lessons they had taught him pointed to the one who could save him, and when the time was right, Timothy professed his faith to believe in Jesus Christ. From a child, Paul said, he was already taught the holy scriptures, pointing to Christ. How amazing!

Parents, as we teach our children, we must always point them to Christ, the only one who can save them. We are not just telling stories. Those stories have significant meanings; they are all pointing to the Messiah. So you can see how the parents, or the grandmother and mother, had played an important part in Timothy's life.

But what about Paul? What part did Paul play? Well, God used Paul to teach Timothy even more biblical truth, equip him with the knowledge of God's word, and then later on, God called Timothy to full-time ministry. So, in the second missionary journey of Paul, this young man was ready to join him, and later on, he became the pastor of the church at Ephesus.

So, my friends, here is the spiritual growth of Timothy—three very important persons. It started off with the grandmother and mother teaching him the word of God when he was still a child, and then came Paul. This was his spiritual heritage, very precious. Paul said to him, "Remember your spiritual heritage."

Now, how can we apply this into our lives? Take a moment and think about all the children running around us in the church. We thank God we have a new arrival, the baby girl born this week from the Tai family. And we heard a moment ago when I prayed about the Szeto family now expecting a third child. Little ones—God has blessed us with many running around the church. Parents are Christians. Some of the grandparents are also Christians. From infants, they will be taught the Bible at home. Hopefully, God willing, parents will teach them the Bible at home. As they grow up, they come to church. They have the Sunday school teachers, preachers, and pastors to teach the word of God. In a sense, at home, they have their Lois and Eunice. In the church, they have their Pauls, and then the result is they would have a leader like Timothy. Isn't that

amazing?

Think about what it means if we could say to our children, if we could say to our young people, "Remember what you have learned from me. Remember your parents. Remember your grandparents. Remember your pastor and Sunday school teachers. Remember your fellowship leaders. You know what we have taught you. You know our lives. You watch how biblical truth is being articulated through our lives. So you must continue. Press on. Persevere. Never give up because you know from whom you have learned it."

My friends, this is what our church and our families need—a godly influence, a spiritual heritage. It is always my prayer that God would use our faith to influence our children, and then He will use our children's faith to influence the next generation, and the next generation will influence the subsequent generation for as long as the Lord would tarry in His return. This should always be our mindset in Bethel BP Church—one generation would influence the next and the subsequent ones, all to the glory of the Almighty God.

If you have forgotten whatever I've said, remember these two important points. Paul said to Timothy, "Remember the difficult experiences. They are not for no reason. God allowed those things to happen for His sovereign purpose. Learn how I responded to those circumstances." And then the second thing is, "Remember the spiritual heritage—what you have learned from your grandmother, from your mother, and from me." May the Lord use us to be such—like Paul, or to be like Lois and Eunice—and then we can produce people like Timothy.

Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy precious word. We thank Thee that we are able to consider these five verses. Indeed, there are so many truths in Thy Bible that we can rightly apply to our lives. Thou hast taught us this blessed morning how we ought to remember, and what we remember rightly will cause us to continue. O Lord, teach us, remind us, because we always forget. So may we also be able to apply Thy word to our lives, not just being hearers only, but most importantly, doers of Thy word as well. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.