Hebrews 11:6 says "without faith it is impossible to please God." Not, "it's hard," not "it's better," but it is impossible.

Romans 14:23 "whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

Faith is not simply acknowledging or accenting to some truth about God or life. It is enduring under the authority of that truth. Faith is personally active. Hebrews 11 is not about people who were famous because of who they were or what they felt, but what they did! We faith is a doing faith. They all did something. * Abel * Enoch * Noah *Abraham * Isaac-Jacob-Joseph * Moses

Join me in 2 Timothy 1 as we look at "LEAVING A LEGACY OF FAITH." Context: A personal letter from Paul to a young preacher named Timothy. Paul is in prison...awaiting his departure from this world...this is his final word.

2 Timothy 1:1-5

Allow me to make four observations.

It started sometime, at someplace.

For Timothy, it started with his grandmother-Lois, down to his mother, Eunuch, and now to him.

Locke legacy

• " My 20 year-old great-grandmother, Mary Carolyn Jowell (1834-1897) was with her dad and mom on the long trail from Alabama west, having made their way to east Texas. Mary's mother, Tabitha Jowell, was a devote Christian and a Baptist. In Marshall, TX, Mary Carolyn met and married my great-grandfather, Matthew Beal Rowan Lock (1835-1915) in 1855, who had left Tennessee months earlier. Almost immediately they made their way 220 miles west to the Brazos River in Palo Pinto County, TX, and built a log cabin.


• They got busy having 11 children in the next 21 years, my grandfather, Jesse Quinton (1877-1967) was their last. When the tally was finished, they would have 64 grandchildren. Upon her death at age 63, her obituary in the local paper said, "At her death she was a member of the Missionary Baptist church at Mineral Wells. She was a conscientious and willing worker in the church, though for the last eighteen or nineteen years of her life she was an invalid. (jdl...my emphasis). Through all her afflictions she remained the same kind, patient, and noble woman, affectionate wife and gentle, loving mother."


• " My grandfather, the youngest of eleven children, Jesse Quinton Locke, was saved in 1892 at the age of 15 at a Baptist meeting. It was held under a brush arbor near the Indian Creek School house, west of Mineral Wells, Texas, with George Webb Slaughter preaching. G. W. Slaughter was ordained a Baptist minister in 1844 and was said to have baptized over 3,000 persons and ordained more preachers and organized more churches than any other person in the state of Texas. According to my granddad's diary, "I was baptized in Walter Whatley's tank by Rev. J.D. Clough." I suppose he was the Baptist pastor who organized the meeting.


• " Alfred Conner Locke… "Clint and Delia Herring asked us to come to church at Salesville (Baptist Church) the next Sunday night. Papa and Mama, Quinton and I went and I was saved that night, May 16, 1937. Quinton was saved also that night and my Mother and Dad joined by statement. My mother shouted when she saw our decision." That is something to shout about! My dad and his brother became Baptists when they were baptized at the Walker stock tank outside of Salesville, TX, June 20, 1937.


• On June 18, 1938, my dad's brother, Quinton, married Vivian Wilson. Dad became the last child at home, but only for a little more than a year. Vivian had a cousin, Mary Hudspeth, whom she introduced to my dad on July 8, 1939. Seventy-seven days later my dad and mom were married on September 23, 1939. One wonders how the conversation went when my dad asked my mom's father if he could marry his daughter. I am sure some thought it might not last. Man, did it last - 64 years - 'till death did them part.


• My dad wrote a letter to his parents dated October 6, 1942. J. Q. had saved this letter and it is now in my possession. My dad wrote, "I have accepted the call to the ministry. Been fighting it for some four years. Will have help teaching from Bro. Rippetoe. Have been filling in for him when he could not be here. Bro. Rippitoe made the announcement at church last night. I feel so much better now. Both of you pray for me that I might carry out this work the Lord would have me to do. I know you would, without me asking."


• " My dad, Alfred Conner Locke, met my mom and had 3 boys; I am the last. My brother, David, says I am the reason my dad and mom didn't have any more children. I remind him he is the reason they had me!


• I was saved when I was ten and surrendered my life for ministry at 18. My grandad, Jesse Q. wrote a letter 2 days afterward on Oct. 29, 1963 to my dad.


• "Dear Son,
• So glad wrote us about Jerry Dean. Amen and Amen! I know you and Mary rejoice over that. We rejoiced over your surrendering to preach God's Word. We pray every night for you and your work at Lake Worth Baptist Church...Mamma and I were both in services at Calvary Baptist Church last Sunday" (ages 86 & 80 at the time)."


• " Suz and I married-I was 21 and 3/4 and she was 18. Both of us worked to get me through Bible college. I was a college student, worked a part-time job and was part-time on a church staff. I graduated and were starting a family when I was called to my first full-time church-BBC, Electra, TX. Suz was 6 1/2 months along. She suffered through 16 long hours of labor….C-section. Knelt alone in the waiting room at Bethesda Hospital in Wichita Falls...prayed for protection...and a vow to raise that child to know and serve God. That baby is my 57 year-old son, Craig, who surrendered his life to God for ministry at age 19 and for the last 25 years has been the pastor at Willow Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Edgewood, TX.


• " His son, Quinton, has surrendered his life to God for ministry.

You may be saying, "That's great for you, brother Jerry...but that's not my story...my parents are lost...never go to church...divorced."

That is precisely the point-here you are-it's on you! A legacy of faith begins somewhere-with somebody-will you be him or her?

Every moment, every day, every year, every season of life is a walk of faith. It is easier to be a brain surgeon than to nurture a life of faith. It is not easy.

Bring yourself under the authority of God's Word.

Howard Hendricks reminded us, "The supportive elements of society no longer feed and shade us. The Christian home (life) must blossom in a field of weeds." And the weeds are worst than they have ever been.

Parents

• " Faith = trust, reliance
• " Unfeigned = Do you see the word "unfeigned" connected to the word faith in verse 5? That word means "sincere, genuine, without hypocrisy." A hypocrite was an actor in Greek times that wore a mask and played a part in a drama. This was not a "pretend" faith.

You see there are three kinds of people in the world: 1. Non-believers 2. Believers 3. Make-believers

• " Dwelt = This word "dwelt" is a word that means "to be at home." You know, that is where real faith is put on display-in the home. I am wondering. Does anyone see your faith? Did you know "faith" can be "seen"? It can! On one occasion when four men carried a man to Jesus and let him down through the roof of a house, it says, "Jesus saw their faith," Mark 2:5.

My point is parenting is not easy, then or now. If you are looking for an easier job, join the Navy Seals, the FBI, or a Sky-Diving Instructor.

Children

Are you going to be one of those who walk away from the faith when you graduate high school? What will your life look like in 10 years? 20 years? I will tell you. It will look real bad if you walk away from the legacy that you have been given by God.

It first, Timothy had godly and faithful grandmother and mother who would shape his legacy. As a "Jewess" Timothy had known the Scriptures from a child. The "Shama" in Deuteronomy 6:1-5 was a part of his life. Timothy's name means "God- fearing."

Thank God for parents who plant the seed of Scripture in the lives of their children. Parents cannot put the "fruit of faith" in their children, but they can "plant the seed of faith" in them.

Isn't it amazing that in our day there is a negative reaction to this? In the name of tolerance some parents say, "I'm not going to force my faith on my child. I'm not going to influence him in matters of personal religion. I'm just going to let him make up his own mind." That's sound so politically correct, but it is insanely goofy and completely inconsistent. It is only in areas of spiritual matters that people have this concept.

Child smarts off to you. "I'm not going to force my behavior desires on my child." Right!

• - Child refuses to go to school.
• - Child refuses to eat good food and wants his desert first.

Proverbs 22:6 "Train" is a word that means "to put something into the mouth." W. A. Criswell said "a kindred Arabic word was used to describe the process of putting date syrup into the mouth of a newborn to encourage sucking."

My dear parent friends, it is not only our privilege, but also our responsibility to plant the seeds of faith in our children. Someone rightly noted, "The only things you can take to heaven are your children." Think about that. You can't decide that for them, but you are a deciding factor! It's a "give and take" situation.

Beyond Timothy's grandmother and mother, God gave him Paul who was like a son to him. It is easy to imply from Acts 16:1 that Timothy dad was unsaved. He was a Greek. Eunuch's faith was strong enough to survive an unbelieving husband. It is likely that she became a Christian after she was married. Her faith was strong enough to survive an unbelieving husband.

It is likely Eunice became a Christian after she was married. So many women have this challenge, but you don't need to use it as an excuse for not being the best Christian you can be. God can equip you and encourage you and engage you in developing a great life, with or without a saved husband. The Apostles Peter and Paul even gave instructions on what saved persons are to do when they are married to those who are unsaved, 1 Peter 3:1-5 and 1 Corinthians 7:13-14.
· Thank God for them.
· Be that to someone else.

Did Timothy's faith have a point of beginning? Yes, Lois and Eunuch.

Did it grow on his watch? Yes.

Did God put someone in his life to invest in his legacy? Yes, Paul.

What was Timothy's impact? Here we are reading and learning about him 2,000 years after he lived.

If you read carefully 1 and 2 Timothy you will discover that he struggled with his assignment in life. He became the pastor of the church at Ephesus. Timothy struggled with ….

• · His youthfulness, 1 Timothy 4:12.
• · His health, 1 Timothy 5:23.
• · His timidity, 2 Timothy 1:7.

He was who he became because of his obedience to God's will, God's call, God's direction-all matters of personal faith.

It had to be lived out!