2Tim 2:8-13
Paul's Gospel
1. Paul's
Suffering
2Tim 2:8-13 8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was
raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I
suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God
is not chained.
2. Paul's Endurance
10 Therefore I endure all things for the
sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory.
3. Paul's Motivation
11This is a faithful saying: For if we died with
Him, We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure, We shall also reign with
Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless, He remains
faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Let's look at the text:
Last week we looked at the first part of verse 8 to see
something of the content of Paul's gospel that Timothy was to remember. This
reality of the good news, and the two specific items that are used to represent
it, are important truths is a Greek culture. Each of them was a point of the
good news about the Lord Jesus that indicates the Jewish backgrounds of the
gospel and the Lord taught about in the preaching of the gospel.
The resurrection was absurd to the Gentile mind and the Jewish
lineage of Jesus would have been shunned in favor of something more Greek. But,
the old stories of mythological beings with an abundance of gods and goddesses
were growing old and passing away. The coming of Jesus was as we are told in
Gal 4:4, in the fullness of time. Just when the world--all that is opposed to God
and his agenda--was ripe for the picking, Jesus came forth born of a woman,
born under the law.
For his own purpose, God sued Israel to bring the messiah into
the world. Through all of their unfaithfulness and times of profound error,
each conception had to happen at just the right time in order for Jesus to be
born as promised in ancient prophesies. Some of them went back over a thousand
years through the offspring of David. God brought his ancient people
deliverance from bondage and eventually, those who believed, from sin. That
purpose always included the expectation that one day, that through them, all
the nations of the earth would be blessed. That was part of the promise to
Abraham. Jesus and salvation by faith in Him alone, was the means of blessing
those from all nations who would come to believe. They believed looking forward
to the fulfillment of the promise spoken as in Simeon and Anna. They believed
embracing the Christ during their lifetime like most of the disciples and many
who followed Jesus. And, those who believe, having lived much after the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel is relevant for every age.
Salvation has always been the same--by faith in the promises of God bring
salvation from sin and a certain death.
However, true faith in Christ works itself out in a life lived
for him in his ways--the commandments given to direct the lives of those who
follow him. The grace that brings salvation teaches us how to live. God uses
means to instruct us in these matters. He does not leave us alone to figure it
out. He gave us His word and gives teachers who are pastors to explain the Word
to his people.
All of the gospel contains even the difficult parts. In this
short epistle, Paul mentions suffering a number of times. Again, in this
paragraph we are reminded of….
1. Paul's
Suffering
2Tim 2:8-13 8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was
raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I
suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God
is not chained.
We looked at verse 8 last week. Verse 9 continues the sentence
in the original. Paul is known for long run on sentences.
Paul reminds Timothy that Paul is suffering as an evildoer. He
has been arrested and taken for the trouble he is sought to have caused
enticing a couple of riots. As a Roman citizen, He appealed to the Imperial
court in Rome. That is why he is there in the capital city of the vast empire.
Remember Onesiphorus searched diligently
for him, found him and refreshed him. It seems as though Paul could have been
released on a number of occasions for the Romans saw the trouble as a Jewish
matter. But, as a citizen, Paul wanted to go to Rome. Paul may have had ulterior motives to go to
Rome. At least one woman in the imperial household came to believe.
Paul was in chains to keep him from escaping. The Roman guards
gave nobody a break. SO, it is with the chains of a prisoner on his wrists,
hands or arms, that Paul struggled to write these letters and the others we call
the Prison Epistles. Nothing kept Paul from working as an evangelist and as one
who sought to comfort his friends and the churches.
The last section of this paragraph is the most powerful
motivator for ministers today: The Word of God is not chained. We need to be
reminded of this reality and call it to mind often.
On many occasions, brethren on the right of the political
spectrum seek to enlist me in their causes. One of the first that gets
mentioned is our need to return prayer to the schools. I think this comes up
because I teach at a government school--which many of them also disagree with.
I explain to them that all prayer hasn't been removed. They give me that
puzzled look. I explain, As long as there are believers or the believing
parents of children in schools, there will be prayer in schools. I further
argue that the sheer quantity of prayer does not make a school system more or
less Christian or Christianized, it is the effectual fervent prayer of the
righteous that brings much to pass. I don't want the unrighteous and the
unbelieving offering prayers by rote, nor do I want people offering set prayers
censured by the state. What I would like to see is this, as believers enter the
school for whatever reason, that they quietly pray for the protection of the
young minds they are dropping off--and this goes for Christian schools so
called as well as government schools. Nobody can legislate against the quiet
personal prayer of anyone. You can go into any government building, hospital,
medical clinic of all sorts as you are there for legitimate business and pray
for God to work. Then back up your prayers by being a good testimony of what
God's grace looks like in the life of a believer. We don't need to be poking
everybody in the eye with our beliefs. We have come to a time when other
faith-groups so-called, are asking for equal time.
American Civil Religion is that lowest common denominator
religion that is used at civic events. It is intentionally inclusive. After
9-11 the local Mullah has been included in civic prayers in order to be
accommodating and inclusive. If a time of set prayers is brought back into the
schools, they may not be uniquely Christian. And, beware, the first words
taught by Muslim leaders will be the initial confession of faith one says to
become a Muslim. They have children repeat it in Arabic, but the words are
there is one God, Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. Praying privately, has no
real danger except being caught and having people not understand what you are
doing. In reality, it is like getting observed or caught as you say grace in a
restaurant. It is harmless--but God might hear you and act. That is our hope
because the Word of God is not chained.
I found another believer at school this week because of some
things I said about the Protestant Reformation. I pray all the time that
Christians will hear my attempts to lay Christian ideals in word and in
practice before them. I delight when other believers discern my faith. But, I
also know that someday, it might be offensive to others. I must be as wise as a
serpent and as harmless as a dove. But, my hope is that the Word of God is
still not bound--it is free to go forward in many ways. Some ways are less
offensive than others.
It is also in the church that the word of God is not chained. In
some places, it seems to be. But in a liberal church one can prayer in a
similar way what I have said. A few weeks ago there was a concert at the
Unitarian Church. It is the arch-liberal denomination in America, but in the
quest for beautiful music the orchestra played Bach's Magnificate. At the end
of that piece when first finished and published, Back penned three letters on
the manuscript. They were S D G. It is the Latin abbreviation for the words
soli Deo Gloria. Translated into English it means For God's Glory alone. I
smiled to myself a bunch of times as I listened to the beautiful music written
for the glory of God.
We, like Paul, can put up with all sorts of stuff, to use the
Word of God in speech or in our writings, or teaching and all sorts of other
creative uses because the Word of God cannot be chained. Authorities and people
can try. But, there is always a way to work around unjust restrictions.
This shows what drove the Apostle. The same sort of sentiment
should drive preachers of the gospel in any age. In the verse he says,
2. Paul's Endurance
10 Therefore I endure all things for the
sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory.
Faithful ministers teach and preach for the good of others--even
if they don't receive it in that manner. The gospel comes and convicts us of
our sin and our need to repent whether we already profess to believe or not.
But, the gospel comes as good news telling us if we repent, God is faithful to
his unchained word and will use it to save sinners, to call the elect to faith
or if they already believe, to greater sanctification.
Salvation has a greater glory as the Words tell us. It is more
glorious than any human message or direction. And that glory is eternal--it
never fades or goes away. In the NT, the notion of Glory is an incredible
brightness. The OT meaning had a sense of weightiness to it. We find Glory in
the OT as well as the NT. The fullness of Glory is found in the Christian
gospel. It is a heavy thing to ponder and a brilliant message from God for the
good of those who believe or who in hearing the heaviness and seeing its bright
light come to believe. It is glorious.
Paul goes on to a bit of poetry. We are not sure of its human
source. It may have been part of an early Christian hymn. Its expressions are
those to make men and women think deep thought about God and his work for the
elect in Christ Jesus. The words are often lost in the form they are given.
Their meaning is so much more important….
3. Paul's Motivation
11This is a faithful saying: For if we died with
Him, We shall also live with Him.
This summarizes to much of Romans Chapter Six as well as other
places where we are told about dying with Jesus. We died with him in one sense
when he died. We were in his mind as he gave his life for the elect. It is only
that reality of Jesus' self-sacrifice on our behalf that God sill find
sufficient. For, in dying with him, we are also raised in the likeness of his
resurrection.
Rom 6:
5 For
if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also
shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from
sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised
from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to
sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gal 2:
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for
if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
More Motivation
We saw this idea of endurance in the trilogy found earlier in
this book where Timothy was to be a good soldier, an athlete and Hard-working farmer. Soldiers had a lot to
put up with in Ancient Rome--and still do to this day. Paul continues….
12 If we endure, We
shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
There are rewards coming in the next life for those who are
faithful ministers for Jesus in this age. No matter how bad things might get,
cheerfully endure. Don't deny him. Peter gave in under the pressure of life. If
we deny Jesus and all that he represents, when it comes to speaking a word for
us, he will deny knowing us. Some of the most sobering words from the lips of
Jesus are in Matt 7 near the beginning of his ministry.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shallenter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me inthat day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
24 Therefore whosoever * heareth these sayingsof mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man,which built his house upon a rock:
Back to 2Tim 2.
13 If we are faithless, He remains
faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
God's response is not acting toward us in a way that is similar
to how we have acted toward Him. He is unaffected by his creatures. It doesn't
matter what we do or don't do as far as the being and purposes of God are
concerned. He never changes. It is always faithful to himself, his promises and
all he has purposed to do. We may profess and promise and not follow through,
but God is not like a man. He cannot deny Himself. The language means he
doesn't even have the ability to not do what he has already purposed and
promised.
We do that all the time. So many of our promises are turned into
lies over time.
Let me illustrate this in one way. I have been looking at and
thinking a lot about vows and oaths in general and marriage vows in particular.
It takes an extraordinary man or woman to live up to all that is promised
during the typical Christian wedding ceremony. I often remind people of these
vows, only to have them not be able to recall them. Vows taken so lightly. Vows
made in the presence of God and many witnesses are considered as empty words
once the service is over. They should not be. But, in a very real sense not
many couples have followed-through when it comes to those promises made. But,
remember some perceived wrong in order to carry a grudge for years--that is
what many remember. It is in what is called to mind and considered of greatest
importance. That is just marriage vows. How about the promises made when
joining oneself to the bride of Christ. I would argue that they are similarly
important. But, so many make them with very little endurance in them. Why? We
have a tendency to faithlessness where God does not. His faithfulness should
amaze us. Instead I fear many take this attribute of God for granted. That is
dangerous. It may show to us that we were never rightly his.
We need his grace to point us in the right way, to instruct us
and to keep us on that straight and narrow way. Bless Him when he does. Don't
presume:
Remember David…
Remember Judas…
Remember Peter…
Remember Ananias and Saphira….
Remember Simon, the Magi….
Remember Paul…..
Remember Jesus and what it took to secure your eternal
salvation.
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