Greetings, radio friends, in the precious name of the Lord Jesus. May I turn to the second epistle of Timothy with you and read today the words that are found in chapter three, commencing with verse fourteen and reading through verse fifteen. The words of the beloved apostle Paul that are so blessed as we realize his words of encouragement and counsel to his son in the faith, Eve and Timothy. Here they are, that continues thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hath been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, 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. May God bless the reading of these two verses of Holy Scripture from this second epistle. Beloved, as we continue the thought regarding the end days of Christianity, with their moral and their spiritual dangers, we are approaching a section where the most vital message for the guidance of the Christian and for the encouragement of his heart and life is found in the writings of the beloved Apostle Paul. Verse fourteen, I'd like you to see, both in the fourteenth as well as the fifteenth verse, that there is given to Timothy the example of a godly home in which he was raised. We have noted, and let me repeat what has preceded, we have noted, Paul sets himself forth as an example as a great and godly leader that you and I may confidently follow. The example of his teaching, the example of his life, the example of his purpose, the example of his faith, the example of his long-suffering, the example of his love, the example of his patience or endurance, and the example of his sufferings in the persecutions and afflictions that were repulsions. But now is he right to Timothy. He reminds Timothy that there is a responsibility to go on as the result of the value that he knew personally had been his own godly home. Note the words. They continue now. in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them, 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. Now, beloved, look at the opening words of verse fourteen. Continue thou. Continue thou. Keep going on. Do you remember in chapter one, how evident it was in the reading of chapter one that Paul said in verse four of that first chapter, he greatly desired to see Timothy, and that he was mindful of Timothy's tears. And surely Timothy was indeed in a disconsolate condition. You say, what was the reason of that disconsolate condition? My beloved, I don't think it was anything but one fact. I do not think that Timothy was refusing to bear the sufferings and the trials that the gospel and the preaching of God's word involved. Neither do I think Timothy was despairing because of the physical conditions that may have been his. But if I know any heart of any true servant of God, Timothy's despair was always a fact that many Christians were turning away from the truth of God. May I remind you what Paul said in that first chapter, and particularly verse fifteen. This thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. And I want you to get the meaning of those words as they crush the heart of Timothy. Paul had been the instrument in the hands of God to establish the churches of that great pro-consular portion of Asia Minor, and hundreds and hundreds had been won for the Lord Jesus through the ministry of this godly servant and his companions. But Paul lived And before he died, he knew, as he writes here specifically, this thou knowest, that all they which be in Asia had turned away from me. Beloved, you say, how could they turn away from Paul? May I say, why do Christians turn away from the teachers of God's word even today? But Paul lived to feed the very believers that he had one, the churches that he had established, be led astray by false teachers, by teaching of error, away from the truth of God. And, beloved, this is the deepest blow to any servant of God. And the heart of Timothy was crushed to see the majority going the other direction. Now may I pinpoint that condition to the days we now live in? I do not find the majority of Christians following the Word of God. I do not find and see that the great body of Christendom at large in every direction is following the truth of God. I am finding today according to the future promises or rather the prophetic utterances of the Word of God that men are going away from the truth. But every epistle of Timothy emphasizes it. Let me repeat it. In chapter two and verse twenty, they stray from the truth. And in chapter three, we read in verse eight, they resist the truth, rebelling against it, stronger attitude against the truth. And when I get into chapter four and verse four, I read they shall turn away their ears from the truth and be turned unto tables. And I said, Beloved, my heart sympathizes with what Timothy was feeling. His beloved Father in the Faith, and the truth that he had taught, being rejected, strayed away from, resisted, and many turning away from it. No wonder there were tears. There were tears over the sad condition of the Divine Testimony. I'd like to ask a very serious question. How many others shed tears over the state of the Church of God in the world today? For I tell you very frankly, and I do not minimize my words and soft pedal my utterance in my experiences traveling back and forth across this country and over this continent. I am aware that many are departing from the truth. I even meet some of my own brethren in the Lord who are indicating by action or by teaching departure from the truth of God. I don't minimize this danger. It is an ever-present one. But what am I going to do? What should any Christian do? What was Timothy told to do? Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. Beloved, I tell you very frankly, there's no giving up of the truth that would be consistent with a faithful believer's testimony. And all Paul could and did tell Timothy, go on in the truth you've learned. Don't give it up. You've learned it. I want to say, my beloved believer in Christ, you and I have no business giving up, denying or departing, whether by teaching or by practice, departing from the Word of God. Go on in it. Be consistent. Be thus faithful to go on, keep on, keeping on, if I may express it with such terminology. You know what you've learned. And I want to tell you, my beloved Christian, what you know you have learned that is the truth of God, don't you dare give it up. And then he was not only had he learned it, but he had the conviction that it was true. He says, thou hast learned it, but thou hast also been assured. He had the assurance, this is the truth of God. Why give it up? Now, beloved, I want to be very frank. I want to be very, very faithful to mourn all my fellow believers, my known heart included. These are days when it is easy to compromise with the truth of God. And you and I who have known the truth and who have been assured of what the truth is, God had mercy upon us if we don't keep on in it. for he not only had the assurance, but he had the sources of assurance, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and from whom had Timothy learnt the truth. Oh, my beloved, may I give you some suggestions? From a child he'd known the Holy Scriptures. May I remind you of what the Apostle said in the opening chapter, verse chapter one, in verse five, when I call to remembrance the unsaved faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded in thee also. He had a godly grandmother. The godly grandmother had taught him the truth. Blessed be God, he had not only a godly grandmother, he had a godly mother. What a heritage. Who had also taught him the truth, and from whom he had learned the truth of God. But he not only had a godly grandmother and a godly mother, he had a godly apostle, one who had thus taken him and led him and had him baptized to follow the Lord and taken him into the work of God with him. and the teachings of the apostle. He had listened to again and again and again. He not only had the companionship of Paul, he had the companionship of other apostles and other teachers of the Word of God. And from the whole life, from his church life, and his association with the servants of God, he had learned the truth. And he was assured it was the truth, knowing of whom he had learned them. My beloved, what a heron is. and he had no business going back. Oh, my fellow Christian, what a heritage, and to realize he could only and should only go on in the truth. Am I speaking to some of my dear friends who need encouragement to go on in the truth? May God use these words to strengthen you to go on in the truth of his precious word. Shall we pray? Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus and for his glory, and for the upholding of thy divine and eternal truth, we pray thy blessing upon this, thy word, to be kept by thy people as we ought. Help us all to keep going on in Jesus' name for his glory. Amen.