“Motivation to be Fatihful” Part 2
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Welcome Everyone:
Announcements: Wednesday July 17th. Bible Trivia and Ice Cream Night.
Prayer:
Read the Text:
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
Last week we began the first part of this 2 part series on being motivated to stay faithful. There are many reasons why we can be unfaithful. Persecution or suffering may come our way. There are times where we take our eyes off of the Lord and they are focused on self or the things of this world.
7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
If your heart and flesh have been following after these things then confess them to the Lord and ask Him to help you to walk in the Spirit and remain faithful.
I want to help you tonight to be motivated to be faithful to Christ and here are 4 areas. We looked at the first 2 last week and tonight we will cover the last 2.
-Remember the Superiority of Christ.
-Remember the Power of God’s Word.
-Remember the Purpose of the work.
-Remember the Promise of your Reward.
3. Remember the Purpose of the Work.
3. Remember the Purpose of the Work.
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
As believers we need to constantly be reminded of what God is doing or the purpose of His work here on earth before he comes back. This is why back in verses 8 and 9 Paul talks about the superiority of Christ and the power of God’s Word. These are reasons and motivations that helped Paul continue to endure everything for the sake of the elect.
Elect = These people are God’s chosen people. This is an act of God before creation in which God choose some people to be saved, not on account of any merit or work in them, but only because of God’s sovereign good pleasure.
However, Paul is not speaking here of believers, but of God’s chosen who have not yet come to salvation in Christ Jesus.
This is why Paul mentions the phrase, “that they also may obtain.” This indicates that the purpose of this Greek (hina) clause is in order that the unbelievers that Paul and other Christians are witnessing too might come to salvation which is in Christ Jesus.
Let me clarify what Paul is saying here. Now Paul certainly does not mean that his suffering or anyone else for that matter can obtain people’s salvation. More likely Paul has in mind here that hopefully through his imprisonment that this would help others to see that the Gospel is true because Paul is giving his life for it and that would help people come to know for certain what God has done and come to salvation.
Paul like Christ and others was not wishing that any would perish but for all to come to repentance. Paul also knew that there is salvation in no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Jesus himself said in John 6:65
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
And Paul himself said, “By grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
However men, God’s Word is clear that we still have a command a mandate if you will to share the good news with those who don’t know Christ and this is exactly what Paul is speaking about here.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Paul himself realized how can anyone believe in Christ unless they hear about the person and work of Christ. Unbelievers need to here the truth of the gospel preached and taught and then God in his gracious and wonderful and effective calling helps those unbelievers come to know Christ.
Paul sums this verse up by concluding that with it, with the salvation which is in Christ comes eternal glory. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17)
As believers in Christ men, we must remember the purpose of the work!!!
Question Number 1 = How can this help you to be faithful for Christ?
4. Remember the Promise of your Reward.
4. Remember the Promise of your Reward.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
Men lest we forget we have been promised an eternal blessing and we can be certain of this blessing or promise. Paul reminds us here that this is a trustworthy saying.
This present saying here focuses on the rewards for suffering while affirming to us as believers that God will remain faithful even if his servants are not. Enduring hardships and difficulties in this Christians life are not easy, but it is necessary as we continue to faithfully follow Christ.
Notice here the phrase that Paul uses. He says, “If we have died with him, we will also live with Him.” Commentators look at this phrase in several different ways. This may refer to the spiritual death of which Paul speaks about in Romans.
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
But on the other side and in context of this verse Paul also could have martyrdom in mind. If someone has sacrificed their life for Christ, which would mean that he or she died with Christ, that martyrdom gives evidence that he or she had Christ in them and will live with Christ for all eternity. When someone dies for Christ or gives their life for Christ like Paul was willing to do, their hope is in eternal life that comes after physical death here on earth. Paul knew that after this life there would come a far better life. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord or to live with him.
Paul then states, “If we endure, we will also reign with him.” When Christians endure through suffering and persecution it gives evidence that we truly belong to Christ and therefore we will also reign with him. As believers we are to live in such a way that we are faithful to Christ and we obey His Word and we show that Jesus is Lord of our lives. In the same way a life that does not endure or will not serve Jesus will never reign with Him because it does not know Christ. To endure here means that we persevere. The prophets and Job are wonderful examples to us of people whose lives are marked by endurance which is a mark of Christian maturity.
Paul now comes to the phrase, “If we deny him, he also will deny us.” Paul here wants to strengthen Timothy’s resolve to remain faithful and loyal to the gospel and to remind him of the consequences of denying Christ. Under pressure, there were times where Christ’s servants were weak and gave into the temptation to deny Christ in order to avoid suffering and shame.
A person who fails to endure and hold onto his or her confession of Christ will deny Christ, because they never belonged to Christ in the first place.
So, what about the denial of Peter? Can a true believer deny Christ? Well, obviously believers like Peter can fall into the temptation of a temporary cowardice or doubting. However, Peter’s response to his denial was a weeping and repentance of what he had done.
75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
After this Peter was forgiven and justified. We know that Peter had courage and boldness and was willing to face any persecution that came his way. Peter eventually died a martyr. Tradition hold that, by Peter’s own request, he was crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.
1 John helps us to see clearly what this issue is all about.
22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
As we live out our lives may we continue to confess Christ and all that He has done for us. Don’t deny Christ men!
The final phrase Paul mention here is, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.” In the context of this verse the Greek word here (apisteo) means lack of saving faith. This is not just a weak or unreliable faith. When those people who ultimately deny Christ, they do so because they never had faith in Christ for salvation. And yet, Christ remains faithful. But, what exactly does that mean??? Just as Christ is faithful to save those who trust in Him and turn from their sin, Christ will also be faithful to his promise to condemn those who do not trust in Him. To do otherwise would be to deny himself, which his righteousness and just nature cannot allow Him to do.
Paul said this earlier in 2 Timothy.
12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
So, how are we to live until the Lord returns? Be faithful and remember these words from Hebrews.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Men, God is faithful. We know this. May we too be men who are motivated to live faithful lives for our Lord.
(Pray and Dimiss)