Shake it Off and Keep Stepping Up (Part One) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

1 Timothy 6:13-14...I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: A parable is told of an old dog that fell into a farmer's well. After assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the dog but decided that neither the dog nor the well were worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he planned to bury the old dog in the well and put him out of his misery. When the farmer began shoveling, initially the old dog was hysterical. Hello! I would be too! As the farmer continued shoveling and the dirt hit his dog’s back, a thought struck the farmer. It dawned on him that every time a shovel-load of dirt landed on the dog's back, he would shake it off and step up. This the dog did blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up, shake it off and step up, shake it off and step up!" he repeated to his dog. It was not a long matter of time before the dog, battered and exhausted, triumphantly stepped over the wall of the well. No matter how painful the blows or how distressing the situation seemed, the old dog fought panic and just kept shaking it off and stepping up! What seemed to bury him actually benefitted him because of the way he handled his adversity. As Paul begins to draw the curtains to a close on the letter of First Timothy, he provides some final exhortations and encouragement for the young pastor. Most people, when they close out a letter, use words of encouragement, hope, or tenderness. In this letter, Paul ends with a serious tone, commanding Timothy to not quit but to remain faithful in his service to the Lord. Paul issues some important reminders to Timothy to jog his memory and stir him to remain faithful and to keep shaking off the trials and keep stepping up until he is taken up by the Lord. These same reminders are an encouragement to us. They are relevant for us because, we too, are to shake off our trials and keep stepping up to our responsibilities as Christians until we are taken up to Heaven either by death or by the Rapture of the church. The messages in this series are about the reminders we should apply in our lives. This message was preached on Sunday night, October 22, 2023, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church.