Fear Not, for God is Faithful - 2 Timothy 2:8-13
2 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted
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· 830 viewsGod's promises will be fulfilled because he is faithful.
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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.
Let’s pray.
Old Faithful erupts throwing thousands of gallons of piping hot water up to 180 feet into the air.
But Old Faithful didn’t get its name for its heat, nor its height. Rather the geyser got its name because of its predictable eruption schedule that proved to be faithful.
Over the last 50 years however, Old Faithful hasn’t quite lived up to its name. Old Faithful once erupted every sixty minutes, but these days it only erupts around 17 times a day and it’s not nearly as consistent or predictable as it once was.
The irregularity of Old Faithful’s schedule is said to be due to seismic activity, and as a kid growing up in Montana, the thought of Old Faithful and the rest of Yellowstone blowing up terrified me! Old Faithful is hardly a fitting name if it stands the chance of blowing entirely blowing up!
Similarly, I grew up having a faithful family car. It was a 1989 blue Honda Accord and it survived both of my siblings and me learning to drive. It was a faithful car, until about a year and a half ago on cold winter morning it erupted into flames. A car can hardly be called faithful if it stands the chance of catching on fire.
We tend to put our confidence in things that are faithful and dependable. We trust the land under our feet more than the waters under a ship. A reliable car is a comfort to us when we need to get somewhere. And it’s especially a comfort when you are driving with kids in the car. A faithful friend is a treasure that far is greater than the approval of the crowds. A reliable job with steady income assures us that we will not go hungry next week. But when these so called faithful things fail, we often fall into fear. This kind of uncertainty produces uneasiness.
As people of faith, we put our confidence in God. We believe that God is faithful in all that he does! But when life takes a sudden turn for the worst and the rug gets pulled out from under our feet, we often grow disheartened and even begin to doubt God’s faithfulness.
1. Uncertainty in God’s faithfulness produces uneasiness.
1. Uncertainty in God’s faithfulness produces uneasiness.
Uncertainty in any item makes a person uneasy… be it the instability of the land under our feet, or the dependability of a car that is on it’s last leg. Trying to trust something that you don’t fully trust is like sitting in a rickety chair that that is about to break. If you’ve ever sat in a chair like this, you can get a sense of what is like to trust something that is less than trustworthy.
This is likely the case for Timothy. From the tone of this week’s text, you can get the sense that Timothy is less than confident that God will remain faithful through every trial. Up to this point, Paul has repeatedly admonished Timothy against his uneasiness. Paul has told Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel and in the place of his shame, Paul told him to be strengthened by grace. In other words, Timothy, you are to fan into flame the gift of God! These commands are in this letter because of the increasing pressure that Timothy experienced as a pastor in a world that was growing in hostility against the gospel that he preached. This hostility against the gospel is seen in Paul’s circumstances.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
Notice how Paul’s suffering is connected to the gospel that he preached…
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as Preached in my gospel, FOR WHICH I AM SUFFERING, bound with chains as a criminal.
Paul isn’t in prison because he is a criminal (although is is being treated like one). Paul says he is in prison, because he preached the gospel just as our Lord commanded him.
Because of his faithfulness to Jesus and the gospel, Paul is suffering. This means, Paul is in pain on account of his preaching. What he is experiencing hurts. But his suffering is in no way related to his sin. Paul’s suffering isn’t consequences of his poor decisions. Paul is suffering because he was faithful to God in preaching the Word. So the tension in the text is this. Is God going to be faithful to those who are found faithful, like Paul? Or has God abandoned his servants?
Furthermore, Paul is bound with chains as a criminal. Though he has done nothing wrong, Paul is being treated like a thug. But in doing so, we should recognize this; Paul is following in the Master’s footsteps. Remember Jesus Christ, who was innocent… not like Paul’s innocence. Our Lord was sinless. There was no fault in him whatsoever. All he ever deserved was blessing and praise! But instead of receiving honor and glory, our Lord was crucified between two criminals. Jesus was treated like a criminal, and Paul was treated like a criminal, and Timothy and we should expect no less than being treated like a criminal. But in no way does our suffering for Christ mean that God is faithless.
Anyone who believes that following Jesus will make their life better ought to know what our Lord say about following him.
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Following Jesus doesn’t mean that you will placed into green pastures. Rather following Jesus often means that we are going to be sent into the presence of wolves who will devoter you when they get the chance.
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
This is what is happening to Paul. He is being maligned for Christ’s sake, and surely Timothy knows that if he continues to preach the gospel the same will happen to him. Surely Timothy knew he would suffer, but how could it get this bad? It seems like God has forgotten his servants, and while Timothy has put his faith and Jesus, all of the sudden he is less than certain Jesus will carry him through all the trials.
When the church suffers for the sake of the the gospel we often doubt the faithfulness of God. We might be tempted to believe that God has forsaken his us. Have you ever felt like God has forgotten or you? Surely we know a thing or two about such uncertainty.
Maybe you have served the Lord faithfully for many years, but now your lot in life has taken a sudden turn for the worst.
Perhaps you’ve gotten sick
Maybe your children have wandered from the faith
And others still are simply looked down upon or even hated for being a Christian
And many more have been uneasy as of late, because the sudden instability in our church. You have trusted your pastors for years but one morning you woke up, and everything blew up.
When trials come against the Christian, we might be tempted to think that God abandoned us.
If you’re wondering why we as a congregation are walking through a pastoral epistle let me explain. Sure some of you might not be young like Timothy was, and with the exception of a few, none of you are pastors like Timothy was. But make no mistake of it, 2 Timothy is for you. You see, it’s not just the young pastor who was uncertain about God’s faithfulness because of the godlessness that he was seeing in his day.
I am certain that there are many if not most of us who are wrestling with the same uncertainty that Timothy had. Many of us are uncertain because godlessness in our society. And in this uncertainty has led to the mass exodus of those who are searching for whatever promised land that is far away from Portland. Not only that, but even now that many are uncertain with the state of LWC. And if you haven’t already, many are ready to jump ship to find another church that you is more faithful than this one. In all of our uncertainties, we are uneasy and I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one who is losing sleep because of my uncertainty. I need the message found in 2 Timothy, and you do to.
So why are we studying 2 Timothy? We are walking through this letter, because we need to be reminded that our God is sovereign and faithful. He is in control of everything including the trials that we are facing. He alone has placed every hair on our heads, and he is the one who provides us with every breath that we take. Our God is sovereign and good. Since our God is in control of everything, we can rest assured even in our uncertainties about what the future holds, because God does not share our uncertainty. And more than this, God has given us his Word. And in that Word, he has made many promises. And since our God is all powerful and in control of all things, and since he has made promises that we can bank on, we can be sure that every promise will be fulfilled. God always keeps his word because he is a faithful God. This is why we are in 2 Timothy.
Sure when trials come against the Christian, it might feel like God abandoned us. But he hasn’t. Everyone might abandon you, but Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. This is a promise that he has made. And it is a promise that he will keep.
Paul felt abandoned by friends too.
16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
We need to have unshaken confidence in the faithfulness of our God. And this is what Paul intends to show us.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
Timothy is growing weak in his fear. And what is the remedy for this weakness? It’s remembering the gospel! It was about a month ago that we celebrated the resurrection on Easter Sunday. And on that Sunday, I told you all that remembering the resurrection wasn’t something that we only do once a year when Easter comes around. Rather, remembering the resurrection of Jesus is something that we need to do daily! Friends, do not let a day go by where you do not remember the resurrection of Jesus. All of our confidence, and all of our hope depends on the resurrection of our Lord!
So in what sense do we need to remember?
Do we, or Timothy need to remember Jesus Christ because we have some sort of amnesia? No, it’s not that kind of remembering. We don’t forget who Jesus is any more than we forget the names of our children or our parents. But I do sometimes forget how old they are, because their ages are always changing as time goes on. So too as time goes on, it is easy for Timothy and for us to forget about God’s faithfulness because it might seem as if God has changed as our circumstances change. But God hasn’t changed. Sure our circumstances are constantly shifting like sand. There are times where we have plenty, and times when we have want. There are times when we are healthy and times when we are sick. There are times for rejoicing and times for mourning. Even though our circumstances change, our God never changes, for he is more faithful than Old Faithful. Our God is a rock that never changes. Because of this we need to remember who God is, and what he has done. And to do this, we set up ebenezers… these mile markers from the past to recount what God has done. We believe what he has done in the past in by faith, and doing this gives us hope for the future that God will continue to keep his promises.
But it’s interesting to note what parts of the gospel Paul tells Timothy to remember. Paul said, “remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David.”
This is interesting, because Paul could have said much more about the gospel than he did here. He could have mentioned the forgiveness of sins. He could have mentioned the return of Christ, he could have reminded Timothy about the love of God, and any number of other components to the gospel. But Paul reminded Timothy of two facets about the gospel for him to meditate on.
First, he reminds him that Jesus is risen from the grave.
Now why might that be an important facet to remember? Well we hardly need to speculate, because the rest of the text is saturated with reminders about God’s resurrection power.
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.
Those who are saved through the gospel will receive eternal glory with Christ Jesus! This phrase is impossible for us to fully comprehend… who can fathom that which is eternal? You and I are so limited by time and space that all I can stand to fathom is a day, a week, a month, and perhaps a year… But when we consider a decade it’s a bit more difficult to fully comprehend isn’t it? I haven’t even seen three decades yet. By the time we get to the end of our life, most of us will only live through eight decades. And a century… by the time any of us can grasp what a century is… if we even live to see 100 years… most of us will hardly have enough of our mind left to be able to recount what a century entails. But Paul says that those who are saved will obtain an eternal glory in Christ Jesus. Such a vast prize is impossible for us to fathom.
And what is glory? Well the most basic deffiniton of glory means splendor, riches or honor.
This means that there is laid up for us unending riches of the like that no king on earth has ever imagined! And yet some of us are more concerned about our retirement than our resurrection.
C.S. Lewis captured it well when he said,
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Paul want Timothy to remember…
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
Now why bring up Jesus’ pedigree here? Why is it important to remember that Jesus comes from the line of David? This seems like a really unimportant fact to remember… It might even seem a bit trivial to the student who has yet to be trained by the Scriptures. But to help us understand what this means, we need to put ourselves in the place of Paul, or Timothy, or any other Jews who was living in the first century. What would it mean for them for Jesus to be the offspring of David? Well they would have remembered what God had promised to David.
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Understand what it means for Jesus to be the offspring of David. It means that Jesus is the promised one. This means that God keeps his promises. And any Jew who knew Jesus was the offspring of David wouldn’t have thought this to be a curious fact. Instead they, and we would do well to remember this, because it is evidence of God’s faithfulness to his word.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
What are we remembering?
2. God has the power to keep his promises.
2. God has the power to keep his promises.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead… here we see the demonstration of God’s power over the greatest enemy
And remember Jesus Christ the offspring of David… here we see the demonstration of God’s faithful covenant keeping despite the faithlessness of man. God is a promise keeper.
Are you uncertain because of the troubles in this world and the trials in your life? Then remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David. God has given us his Word, and in his Word we have a promise for every trial. So mine the Word for God’s promises, and when you find a promise, then meditate on it day and night. And when you begin to doubt God’s faithfulness to his promises, remember that he has the power to defeat death. If the grave could not keep him, then what else could possibly stop him from accomplishing all that he has said that he would do?
No matter how grim things get… even if we are in the fourth quarter and down 100 points, even if all that you have has been taken from you, even if, even if you are terminally ill and the end is near, even if persecution the to point of death… remember God has the power to keep his promises.
And even when we face every loss, know that defeat is the way God demonstrates his power! And this is exactly where Paul takes Timothy as he continues.
9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
Things look bad for Paul. It seems like all is lost. Paul has made it his aim to get the gospel to the end of the earth. But instead of going any further, Paul is bound by chains… but the Word of God is not bound!
Paul knows this, that God has the power to keep his promises!
And even though the Word appears to have been stopped by the Roman prison cell… Paul knows better than to get discouraged. Rome can bind God’s messenger, but the message of the cross cannot be bound. They can even go a step further and even kill God’s servants, but God’s word will never perish, for he God has even given us promises about his promises!
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
If the incarnate Word could not be killed, then it silly to think that the word of the cross can ever be stopped by mere chains. God’s word is more effective than all our might combined. The twelve disciples wrestled against the storms on the sea, but with just a word, Jesus calmed the storm. Who can possibly stop the word of our God?
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God has the power to keep his promises. When God makes a promise, it is as if it is already done. Chains, death, vile men, Satan and all his demons can do nothing do stop our God from doing all that he pleases.
But, there are times when it will seem like the enemy has won.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
So it is with Paul in prison… it might have seemed like the enemy won. But Paul knows better than to believe this. Paul has seen God’s faithfulness even in his chains! He writes about it one of his prison letters.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Paul might be bound by chains, but the Word is not bound!
This is what Paul wants Timothy to remember. God has the Power to keep his promises. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David.
And to assure Timothy and us of God’s faithfulness, Paul reminds us of a faithful saying.
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.
Here is what I want us to see in these last three verses.
3. Remembering God's faithfulness fuels us for faithful work through every trial.
3. Remembering God's faithfulness fuels us for faithful work through every trial.
Paul introduces this saying as being one that is trustworthy. Literally, it reads, “the saying is faithful”. This means that the following words are ones that we can depend on. We can stake our lives on these words.
and what follows this introduction is a call, a comfort, and a caution.
a call, a comfort, and a caution.
In this trustworthy saying Paul calls to faithfulness and suffering… Yes God is sovereign over all things, but God’s sovereignty in no way diminishes our responsibility to faithfulness. So Paul calls Timothy and us to faithfulness in our suffering
But to prevent us from losing heartiness our suffering, the saying provides us with a comforting promise… It’s a comforting promise of eternal life! And we know that this will happen, because God has the power to keep his promises.
But then comes a word of caution. For those who do not trust the saying, to those who do not believe in Jesus, and for those who do not respond to the call to faithfulness in suffering, Paul gives a grave and sober caution. The saying tells us that those who are not faithful will be rejected by God.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
We need to know that this saying is trustworthy, because the saying calls us to something that goes against all human intuition.
Paul is inviting Timothy to die so that he may live.
This follows closely with the teaching of Jesus when he said, “for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Do you understand the importance of trusting this saying? Because if you don’t trust this saying, you will do all that you can to preserve your life. But the end of that effort will only lead to death.
Indiana Jones Picture
I picture this being like a scene from Indiana Jones… Do you remember this scene from Indiana Jones, when he need to take the leap of faith? He is standing before this bottomless pit. And from the appearance of it, stepping of the ledge will lead to his certain death. And even though every ounce of human intuition says not to do it, he knows that he needs to take a leap of faith over the pit so that his dying dad will live.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
Paul is inviting Timothy, to come and die with Jesus. Every ounce of human intuition says, ‘preserve your life!’ But Jesus calls us lay down our life so that we might find it.
And the addition of the phrase “with him” is crucial. Its not important that we simply die. What is important is that we die WITH HIM. Everyone will die. But not everyone will have life after death. This isn’t some strange theology where all people go to heaven. Those who die without Jesus will only face death. But those who die with Jesus will live with him.
The question isn’t ‘will we die’. Everyone knows that they are going to die someday. The better question that we must ask is whether we will live after we die. And the answer to this is entirely dependent on us dying with Christ.
And this invitation to come and die can mean a literal death as a martyr, but it’s not only that.
31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
and again in Rom 8:36
36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
We must die every day with Christ and for Christ
The Christian life is a life of suffering…
And it’s a life of denying our flesh.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Church we must crucify every desire of the flesh that is not from the Spirit of God! We need to do this daily!
Hear the call to die, and then here the comforting promise of life that God will give
11 The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
This requires faith. We must to trust this faithful saying, and lay our lives down if we wish to live with Christ after death. And in case you didn’t believe this paradox the first time, it’s reiterated a second time.
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
To endure, means to withstand many blows without giving up. One does not endure through what is pleasant and fun. Rather endurance requires hardship
22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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.
So the call is to die, and to endure all hardship…
We need to endure… and the comfort for our endurance is this;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
hear the royal language that is found in this promise and remember the riches of heaven
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
If you think that the Christian life of suffering is one that is without joy, well then you’ve got the wrong idea. Because our suffering is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory!
We have heard the twofold call and comfort for those who suffer and endure with Jesus Christ… now hear the stern word of caution that warns those who do not want to suffer.
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
These are the very words of our Lord
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
So why would anyone deny Jesus? Denial is comes when the pressure is placed upon those who do not trust the promises of God. Denial comes when we are swayed by the riches and lusts of the world. Denial comes when we are forced to pick between the path of hardship and sacrifice or the path of ease and comfort.
Now we might be tempted to soft pedal this so as to make it less harsh. We might want to say “well Peter denied Jesus, not just once but three times.” We might want to excuse our fear in the face of death away by God’s grace. But remember, that while Peter denied Jesus three times, this did not come without the threefold pattern pattern of restoration and repentance. Peter’s denial of Jesus is not an excuse to not endure, rather it is a demonstration of God’s grace to forgive sinners. But this is hardly the focus that Paul has in mind here. If anything we would do well to remember that Peter would go on to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus Christ. Peter lives and reigns with Christ today, because God was gracious to forgive him, and because he would go on to endure and die with Christ.
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.
This last verse is often misinterpreted to mean that if our commitment to God fails, we don’t need to worry because God’s commitment to us will never fail. But I don’t believe that’s what this means at all. Paul says if we deny him, he will deny us. Our denial of Jesus is a result of our fear of man more than our fear of God. In other words, if we deny him, it is owing to the fact that we do not believe in the promises of God as we ought to. Our faithless denial is owing to the fact that we don’t actually believe that Jesus is able to give us life after death. Our denial of Christ is owing to the fact that we are faithless.
The word faithless is never used in a positive way in the New Testament. It is used to describe those who do not believe in the Jesus.
It’s there in Mk 16.16
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
It is used again in at the end of Acts when Paul preached the gospel in Rome.
23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.
The word faithless in 2 Tim is the same word as disbelieved. Understand the severity of being faithless.
The point is this if we deny Jesus, he will deny us, but he will never deny himself because he is faithful and is committed to his word!
He cannot deny himself.
And while this is a warning for us, it still comes as a comfort. For our God is faithful. Has he He is faithful to his word.
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?
The faithfulness of God is a caution to those who do not endure, and a comfort for those who do. So let his faithfulness be a comfort to you in every trial, and may his faithfulness fuel your own faithfulness so that you may endure. Church, take heart, for he has overcome the world.