Legacy pt3

Can we stop God?

That’s an honest question. Is there someone, anyone who has the ability to stop God from accomplishing what He wants to do?

I want all of us to sit with that question this morning.

And I want us to sit with it, because if we believe we can stop God then He is actually not God. He may be powerful, but He is not God, because that would mean there is someone(s) more powerful than He is.

Do you believe that?

If we do think that, then we have another even bigger problem. If God can be overcome, then how can we be sure of His power to save?

Because if someone(s) can thwart God then they could, conceivably, inhibit His ability to save us from our sins.

But if He is NOT able to be stopped…then we need to think very differently about we speak about Him and what we, as people, or governments, or opponents can do to Him.

I’m going to tell you this morning, that I believe, based on scripture, that God is not stoppable. He always wins. His will is not thwarted. He is the all time, undefeated champion. and He is not taking any L’s ever.

As Paul is writing to Timothy, that is part of the legacy He wants to leave Timothy with. Perfect confidence- in God’s power, in the Gospel, and in the salvation in which we stand.

Turn with me to 2 Timothy 2:8-13.

1, 2 Timothy, Titus 3. Truths that Promote Effectiveness in Ministry (2:8–13)

In this paragraph Paul discussed the proper understanding of Christ (2:8), the goal of Paul’s suffering (2:9–10), and the certainty of reward (2:11–13) as incentives to produce effectiveness and stamina in Timothy’s work.

In verse 8 Paul says to remember Jesus and gives us 3 very specific pictures of what He wants us to remember:

That He is risen from the dead- He has power over sin

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (1) A Proper Understanding of Christ (2:8)

First, he stressed Christ’s resurrection. The perfect tense of the participle for “raised” suggests that Paul was stressing the result of Christ’s resurrection, the demonstration of his lordship (

That He is the offspring of David- He is the highest King/authority

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (1) A Proper Understanding of Christ (2:8)

Second, the mention that Christ “descended from David” shows that Christ has messianic qualifications and is the heir to the glorious promises of God for David. As the Messiah he is now seated in glory on his heavenly throne and will come again to reign over this world (

That He is who the Gospel is rooted in- He has the power to save us

These three reminders are HUGE. They say so much about Jesus. They are resting places for our security. They cannot be shaken.

And Paul then makes a final observation in verse 9.

Paul may be in chains. God’s Word cannot be bound.

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Goal of Paul’s Suffering (2:9–10)

Paul’s indomitable spirit broke out in the declaration “God’s word is not chained.” Men could silence Paul, but they could not silence the power of God’s Word (see

There is no WAY to keep what God is speaking into existence from coming to be.

And this gives Paul something that he wants to pass on to Timothy.

Endurance.

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (2) The Goal of Paul’s Suffering (2:9–10)

The knowledge that the gospel was not chained or bound provided Paul with an incentive to endure. Paul’s endurance involved an unrelenting commitment that moved straight ahead through difficulty. It was much more than a mere absence of complaint.

And a goal for that endurance- the salvation who God is calling.

He wants them to obtain salvation in the same way that Timothy has.

Church, can I ask you this morning. What are you willing to endure in order for someone to come to know Jesus?

Being uncomfortable

Being doubted

Being falsely accused

Being misunderstood

Being afraid

Being in the minority

Being gentle

Being merciful

Being forgiving

Being threatened

Being killed

There are a lot of people in our country today who talk a lot about how much they love Jesus. There are very few people who think that love extends to the people who Jesus says He is trying to reach.

You can’t have one without the other.

And you cannot reach people who you think are powerful enough to stop God, because those people you should fear.

But when you think God is unstoppable, you don’t have anything to be afraid of anymore.

Which is why Paul ends this section with verse 11- which is an amalgamation of a bunch of excerpts from Paul’s letters, the Gospels, and the OT.

If we have died with Him we will also live with Him- Romans 6:8 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (3) The Certainty of Reward (2:11–13)

White says: “There is a beginning of eternal life even while we are in the flesh, … in that newness of life to which we are called, and for which we are enabled, in our baptism

If we endure we will reign with Him- Romans 8:17 “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (3) The Certainty of Reward (2:11–13)

The apodosis of this clause promises a victory in the end times for faithful believers. The reigning does not occur until after the return of Christ. Believers will participate in the reign of the glorified Messiah

If we deny Him He will also deny us- Matthew 10:33 “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (3) The Certainty of Reward (2:11–13)

Those who persist in a denial of God by a refusal to suffer for him can expect to enter eternity separated from fellowship with God.

If we are faithless, he will remain faithful- Romans 3:3 “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?”

1, 2 Timothy, Titus (3) The Certainty of Reward (2:11–13)

However, in keeping with Paul’s statements in

for He cannot deny Himself- Numbers 23:19 “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Paul nails down the power of God in this series of assertions. We are safe in His hands because His hand cannot be thwarted.

So what does that mean? We can be confident to live as He has called us to live- for the sake of the advancement of the Kingdom, for the lost, for the glory of God.

And the invitation today is this. Come and join us. Come and follow God, the all powerful, the unthwartable, the all capable. The only God who saves.