2 Timothy, Rules for Life, 7
Notes
Transcript
So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
Prayer
So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
Do not be ashamed
Do not be ashamed
Why would Paul say this to Timothy? Of what was there to be ashamed?
First, Paul mentioned the testimony of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In that day, Christians were being persecuted. Nero blamed his burning of Rome on the Christians. People across the empire looked down upon them.
Who were these people? What was their message?
Their message was that a Jewish man died on a cross to save them. How foolish was that? Who would care about a Jewish man? And, why would you speak of someone that was crucified?
In that day, the cross was not something to be spoken of. It was the punishment reserved for the worst of the worst. It was a disgrace. It was disgraceful to even talk about crucifixion.
Further, to say that a god was crucified, was ludicrous. To say that this one that died in disgrace did it for us was crazy. Only the worst criminals deserved crucifixion. Not the average person.
The message of the cross was foolish. Paul shared that in 1 Corinthians 1:23. “Foolishness to the Gentiles.”
So, the testimony of our Lord was something for which Timothy would be ridiculed, or worse, persecuted.
Secondly, Paul mentions not being ashamed of himself. Why would Timothy be ashamed of Paul?
Others had been. When Paul was imprisoned, most left him. They did not want to be associated with him.
Paul on the other hand was not ashamed. He was not ashamed of Jesus. He was not ashamed to be in prison for his Lord.
And, I love how Paul worded this… “me his prisoner.” Paul considered himself the prisoner of the Lord, not of the ruler of the land. He was there for Jesus! He had no shame of being locked up for the name of Jesus! Nor, did he want Timothy to be ashamed.
Instead of being ashamed, Paul told Timothy to...
Join in suffering for the gospel
Join in suffering for the gospel
This is the rule for life for a Christian. Rather than being ashamed of the Lord, Paul told Timothy to join in the suffering.
In other words, do not stop preaching. Keep preaching about Jesus and join in the suffering that comes with being a preacher of salvation through Jesus!
Jesus warned his disciples that the message they would preach would not be accepted by the world. He warned them that they would be hated by the world.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had preached on the blessings, or beatitudes, of those who were truly following the Lord. He ended with this beatitude.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Paul taught the Philippians about suffering years before this occasion that he was in prison.
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,
And, later in 2 Timothy Paul says this to Timothy...
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Essentially, if Timothy wanted to live for Jesus, and follow Him, persecution was going to come his way. The world did not want to be told they are sinners deserving the worst of deaths. They did not want to hear of some god that died. They did not want to believe in a resurrection. And they were going to persecute anyone that would not agree with their sinful way of life.
So, the rule of life for a true Christian is to join in suffering for the gospel. Do not be ashamed of the Lord, but continue to live for and speak of Him. Then, endure the persecution that will follow.
Christians through the centuries have learned and embraced this message. One example I found this week was John Wesley.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4320 Wesley’s Expectation of Persecution
John Wesley was riding along a road one day when it dawned on him that three whole days had passed in which he had suffered no persecution. Not a brick or an egg had been thrown at him for three days.
Alarmed, he stopped his horse, and exclaimed, “Can it be that I have sinned, and am backslidden?”
Slipping from his horse, Wesley went down on his knees and began interceding with God to show him where, if any, there had been a fault.
A rough fellow, on the other side of the hedge, hearing the prayer, looked across and recognized the preacher. “I’ll fix that Methodist preacher,” he said, picking up a brick and tossing it over at him. It missed its mark, and fell harmlessly beside John. Whereupon Wesley leaped to his feet joyfully exclaiming, “Thank God, it’s all right. I still have His presence.”
John had learned this rule of life. He was enduring persecution willingly. He would rather preach of Jesus and endure persecution, than to go through life wondering if there was something between himself and his Lord.
Paul did not just tell Timothy to join in suffering. He told him how to endure.
by the power of God
by the power of God
This is important. No one likes to suffer. No one wants to bring suffering on themselves. We have this natural tendency to avoid pain.
How in the world will we find the boldness to stand for Jesus? By the power of God.
How will we find the strength we need to endure? By the power of God.
How will we find comfort when we feel alone and isolated? By the power of God.
How will we find assurance when doubt comes? By the power of God.
We have looked at the how… By the power of God.
But Why? Why suffer for Him?
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Saved us and Called us to holy life
Saved us and Called us to holy life
What does it mean that He saved us?
Not because of anything we had done?
What does it mean that He called us to a holy life?
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
He is able to guard
He is able to guard
Paul said in Romans 8,
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No one enjoys suffering for the sake of suffering. However, when we know the love of God, and that we can truly lose nothing for His sake, we can endure suffering for Him!
Cake illustration
And when there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, and we can lose nothing… no persecution can dissuade us from following such a loving, powerful God!
That is why through the centuries, though many have tried to stamp out Christianity, it has remained!
Christ is faithful to his promise to build His church, and the gates of Hell cannot stand against it!
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4318 Wearing out the Hammers
The French reformer, Theodore Beza, made a famous retort to King Henry of Navarre. “Sire, it is truly the lot of the Church of God, for which I speak, to endure blows and not to strike them. But may it please you to remember that it is an anvil which has worn out many hammers.”
Knowing that God is faithful to guard us, we then need to...
Keep and Guard
Keep and Guard
Paul concludes this opening section to Timothy with a charge to keep and guard.
He is to keep the pattern of sound teaching. He is to guard the good deposit given to him.
Timothy had been shown and taught the truth. Paul wanted to make sure he did not give it up.
Not being ashamed and joining in suffering involves keeping the truth of the gospel. It means we do not change what the scriptures say to avoid persecution.
It means we do not stay silent to avoid persecution.
It means that we continue to carry out the mission that God has given to us, to share the only hope of the world, the good news about Jesus who died and rose again to save us from the penalty of sin, and also the power of sin so that we can live upright and godly lives in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
We need to keep the sound teaching, and guard the mission given to us by Christ.
What about me?
What about me?
In this day and age, we have some who are like the opposition Timothy faced. They are teachers and preachers who will give up the pattern of sound teaching so that their message has more appeal.
The world we live in does not like being told that certain behaviors are wrong. They do not want to believe that God has the right to declare things as sinful, that is wrong, and under his judgment.
So, when Christians declare that abortion is sinful, offensive to God, it is not received.
When we say that sexual perversions like homosexuality, transgender, promiscuity, pornography, pedophilia, adultery, and all other sexual acts outside of a marriage between a man and a woman as God designed are wrong, we are labeled as phobic and haters.
The fact that we would take a stand and vote on these issues makes us the enemy. The world views us as such.
Some, not wanting to be viewed this way will change the message. They will say that God is love, and that all of these behaviors are now okay because our understanding is evolving. God is love and would never condemn.
Some, not wanting to face persecution will change the message of Jesus to, if anyone wants to be my disciple, he must take up claim what his heart desires, take up his wallet to be filled daily, and follow me, instead of denying themselves, taking up the cross daily and following Him.
We need to not be ashamed of Jesus.
We need to keep the pattern of teaching found in the scriptures. We need to guard the deposit given to us, and do the work, the mission that Christ has laid before us of sharing the hope of the gospel with the world, even though it will hate us for doing so.
We also need to not be ashamed, but rather join in suffering for the gospel.
I am afraid that too many Christians are not ashamed and willing to suffer for the wrong things.
If we look at posts on social media by believers, are we known for the gospel of Jesus? Or, are we known for other issues? Are we suffering for the gospel, or for other issues?
Too many Christians are sidetracked and wanting to suffer for the wrong things.
They want to be known as maskers, or anti-maskers. They want to take stands as Republicans or Democrats. They want to be Trumpers or anti-Trumpers.
Too many have forgotten the rule for life for Christians, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, and join in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Peter wrote about it this way:
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.
However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
We need to join in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. Not out of our own pride and arrogance. We need to operate out of love for a world that is blind to their need of a savior. We need to share the truth about what God says is wrong, and that all have sinned. We need to let them know that the wages of sin is death. And we need to suffer for sharing the hope of Christ, that God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. That God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.
Let’s be sure to not be ashamed. To join in the suffering for the gospel, and not other issues.