Endure: II Timothy 2:1-13 – A Challenge to Endurance

[0:00] Thank you Eric and the worship team for leading us in worship this morning. In the state of New Jersey, they were building a bridge over a river that was on the mouth of the river as it went off into the Atlantic Ocean.

[0:26] As they were driving pylons down, putting them where they were going to build the support structure for the bridge, they discovered that there was an old ship that had run aground and they wanted to surface it and put it in a museum and they didn't want to destroy it.

[0:46] But so they attached all kinds of things and discovered all trying all kinds of ways to lift the hull of this ship out of the silt and dirt and to unearth it and bring it up to the surface and put it in a museum.

[1:02] But despite all the mechanical ways that they tried and attempted, they could not do it. As a result, one engineer finally said, why don't we just put under the whole straps and do it well and attach them to barges upon the surface, put constant pressure and tension there.

[1:23] And as the tide comes in and out, why don't we let the barges just create lift and gently rise this thing with the tides. And after several tide cycles, sure enough, the hull of the ship came out of the surf, the soil and the silt that it was in and they were able to preserve the ship.

[1:43] And I think sometimes when I consider that story, I think perhaps the hull of that ship is analogous to many of us today, that we feel perhaps spiritually stuck and try all the mechanical ways that we try to get ourselves unearthed and unstuck.

[2:00] We can't and we don't and it's discouraging. And perhaps today, I pray the truth and reality of God's word would show itself evident in that we would perhaps attach ourselves to the barges of God's grace.

[2:18] And allow a force that is greater than our own to surface us out of the spiritual. I'm gonna use a word, stuckness, that is not a word and I know that.

[2:32] That we may find ourselves in and we would enjoy the grace of God again and a fresh. Paul, we started last, if you're new with us today, we started a sermon series called endure and fighting the good fight and Paul finds himself in prison.

[2:49] This is the last letter that Paul will write after this, Paul is killed. And he is writing his last letter to his spiritual son, Timothy, who is ministering in Asia Minor in a town called Ephesus.

[3:03] And there he is ministering and we see that Timothy is, we see a very, the humanity of Paul in this letter and we see the humanity of Timothy.

[3:15] Timothy has become timid perhaps. He is experiencing spiritual weakness perhaps and some spiritual vacillation because we see in verse eight from last week, we looked in chapter one, verse eight, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.

[3:33] Paul is imploring Timothy, bank your life on this thing, this thing that saved you, the grace of God that saved you. Now trust in the grace of God and don't shy away from proclaiming the Lord.

[3:48] Timothy, find your strength in the Lord. And today I pray that we would, if we have found ourselves in a place of timidity and weakness that today we too would be encouraged.

[4:03] And so in chapter two is where we're going to find ourselves today. Second Timothy chapter two, we're going to see how Paul writes to his spiritual son, Timothy, to encourage him.

[4:15] And again, this is Paul's last letter. So if you have your Bible, please turn to second Timothy chapter two. We're going to be reading what Colin earlier read of chapter two.

[4:29] We're just going to be looking at the text that was previously read from one to verse 13. And we're going to see ways in which Paul encourages us and as he encourages Timothy, carry out your ministry with dedication.

[4:44] If you have been discouraged and you have, it's been some time perhaps that you have not sat in the seats and been engaged in ministry.

[4:57] How is it that the Lord would encourage us to carry out our ministry with dedication? How does he do that? Well, look with me. Firstly, in verses one and two, and we find our first, our first form of encouragement that Paul has for Timothy that he also has for us.

[5:16] And he will say basically this, strengthened by grace, aim at spiritual multiplication and strengthened by grace. So look with me in verse one.

[5:28] You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, strengthened by grace. Timothy did not need more from God, but needed to use the commitment and with confidence, the divine provisions that he had already possessed.

[5:46] You have be strengthened in this grace that you already have, Timothy. Timothy needed to remember and to exercise the power and love and discipline that the Holy Spirit had provided him and provides every believer.

[6:02] He needed to discard being ashamed of the testimony of the Lord that we found in verse eight. And in verse 12 from last week, he needed like Paul to be convinced that God is able to guard what he has entrusted to him until the day.

[6:18] These are all things that Timothy needed to have. Paul, Timothy, strengthen yourself in the grace of God that we have in Christ Jesus.

[6:29] This is God's unmerited favor, grace. In fact, God gives us grace in spite of who we are and what we do.

[6:40] God's grace stems solely from his character and his sovereign will. Joseph Leake was a man who at 90 years of age, he left $1.8 million to an organization that provides blind dogs for the blind.

[7:03] And no one had any idea of his wealth, including his daughters. He lived like a popper. According to his daughters, he watched TV at a neighbor's house to save on electricity.

[7:17] His house had many problems due to deferred maintenance, and he wore ratty clothes and shopped at secondhand clothes. On trash day, you could see Joseph Leake, he would go out to his neighbor's trash bins and around the trash bins.

[7:31] If anyone had left anything that he thought he could sand, repair, refurbish, and re-employ in a better condition and give to someone, and he would do this every trash day.

[7:42] No one had any idea he was so wealthy. And upon dying, everyone learned of his true wealth. And by the way, if you have $1.8 million, you can probably watch TV.

[7:54] You can turn your TV on that's okay. You probably have enough to pay that bill. But I feel like many believers today live as spiritual poppers.

[8:06] We do not draw on the vast resources that are available to us in Christ. Timothy had the grace of God that is in Christ available to him.

[8:17] And Paul is encouraging him, strengthen yourself, Timothy, in this very grace that empowers you. It's available to you. The Lord is available to you and so too is his grace.

[8:30] Whether through ignorance or unbelief, we do not lay hold of the available riches that are available to us in our daily lives. If the enemy accuses you because you have sinned, confess your sin to God and lay hold of the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

[8:46] If you need victory over some burdens, stubborn sin, lay hold of the truth that you died with Christ and now you are alive to God. And you have raised up with him so that sin no longer has dominion over your life according to Romans 6.

[9:04] And be strong in the grace. You must understand your position in Christ and the nature of his abundant grace.

[9:15] So today, may we be strengthened in the grace of God. And then the second part I say is to aim at spiritual multiplication.

[9:28] Aim at spiritual multiplication. Notice verse 2. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

[9:45] Timothy was timid. Perhaps he was tired. He was fatigued by all the conflict that he had at the church at Ephesus. Empowered by the grace of God, Paul now encourages Timothy to not shy away from teaching the truths of God to faithful men.

[10:04] He warned him earlier, do not be ashamed of the, of the, in verse 8. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. He's already warned him that.

[10:16] Then he says to Timothy, the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. Well, who are the many witnesses? He traveled with Barnabas and Silas.

[10:27] Luke was an often companion of Paul and not just these men who traveled with Paul, but also all of those who heard the word of God that Paul proclaimed in the presence of Timothy as he was picked up on the second missionary journey with Paul.

[10:44] And he traveled with Paul. He had heard these things in the presence of many witnesses. And those things, those truths that Paul had, Timothy had heard from Paul.

[10:56] He was to entrust those to faithful men who are able to teach others also. This word entrust is to deposit something valuable for safekeeping.

[11:08] Not as an owner of it, but as a steward of it for safekeeping to do with it as the master that would please the master. This was Paul's, this particular ministry.

[11:22] Paul had for Timothy was selective. Why? He was to only teach these things to faithful men. So here's what I want us to understand.

[11:34] What Paul has in mind for Timothy is Paul is he is on his way out. He's in prison. The things, the circumstance does not look good.

[11:45] Indeed, Paul will die shortly. He is writing to Timothy in Ephesus and he was saying, Timothy, in order for the church to continue, those men who aspire to eldership who can receive these things and communicate these to other people so that the truth of God will continue throughout history, teach these things to those faithful men, find them.

[12:10] It's imperative the church counts on it. So the specific application here is for those men who aspire to eldership to be taught the truths of God's word, who can then lead congregations and do the same so that the church would continue throughout history.

[12:31] And are we not thankful that there have been men for 2,000 years that this succession plan has occurred? I am so thankful.

[12:42] I am so thankful for the men who have poured into my life. I would also say this to churches. It is imperative.

[12:54] And this, this is not the fourth specific. This is for the church of Jesus Christ to hear. It is imperative that one of the passion points of pastors is, and elders is, to pass the truth of God's word onto faithful men who can teach these to others.

[13:13] That's imperative. So in any job description that you have for your pastor or elder of any church in the future, please include this. It's imperative.

[13:24] This is one of those things that's in the job description of a pastor that is given to us by God's word. Please include this in his job description.

[13:35] It also should just be a natural passion. You probably shouldn't have to put it in his job description because he should desire to do that. It's incumbent upon pastors to do this.

[13:47] And I want you to see that this is just supposed to be passed down to four generations. Paul to Timothy, two generations.

[13:59] Timothy to faithful men, three generations, who can teach others also, fourth generation. This instruction that Paul has for Timothy to train up men should continue to the fourth generation and obviously on and on from there.

[14:17] But he is to find these faithful men. So it is a little selective of who Timothy is to pour this kind of thing into. So the application. The primary application is for us and I will just now speak to elders and pastors for a moment because that's the specific application.

[14:36] Then I will get to all of us as a broader application, specific application. This is challenging to me and it's a reminder to me and pastors and elders that we should be of people who invest in faithful men who can continue to teach.

[14:56] Sound theology, good doctrine to others and have the church continue. Young men, I would say this if you aspire to be an elder, whether that be a vocational elder that is a paid pastor or a lay elder.

[15:14] If you aspire to eldership whose responsibility it is to shepherd a church, teach sound doctrine, preach the word of God and train up other faithful men.

[15:25] Would you please let yourself be known and say I aspire to eldership and would you allow yourself the privilege to be taught and poured into that you may also teach the truths of God's word to the next generation.

[15:43] I am also want to say I'm grateful for those whom I've served with. This is a passion point of all of us and Pastor Jay with his a reach initiative is lead.

[15:55] I'm sorry, the lead initiative of teaching both men and women. We want to train up everyone. Equip men and women for ministry and I'm grateful for his leadership. The church ought to be an incubator and a hatchery for future pastors and elders to strengthen the local church.

[16:18] And they are to be then sent out as church planters and missionaries. Now for the secondary application. Husbands must hand off the truth of God's word and teach their wives and while husbands are responsible to shepherd their families, the communication is not just one way.

[16:36] Wives also must share in the responsibility, share what they've learned the truth of God's word with their husbands. Parents are to entrust the truth of God's word to their children.

[16:47] Mature believers must take the responsibility and see that their responsibility to impart biblical truth to those who are younger in the faith. All of us who know Christ are responsible to impart biblical truth to younger believers.

[17:03] It is imperative. It's our mission statement of our church to make disciples. All of us have this responsibility to give the truth of God's word and to pass it on to others.

[17:16] Within the sport of track and field, the relay race is one that I enjoy watching in part because it is so difficult.

[17:27] Despite how professional the athletes are, there is always a fumbling of the baton.

[17:38] It strikes me and it is extremely difficult sport. You have one runner, especially the 4x100. You have one runner. Everyone is going about 20 miles an hour, these Olympic class sprinters.

[17:52] They're going about 20 miles an hour and in the handoff of the baton is where the most amount of disqualifications could occur. The reason is I cannot run 20 miles an hour. Imagination. We can use it.

[18:09] I would be coming upon a runner and the runner in front of me has only 20 meters to have the baton be handed off. The first 10 meters is really for that man to get up to speed.

[18:23] He has 10 meters to get up to speed to match my speed that I'm coming upon him and then without looking he lays his hand back and I'm supposed to find that hand. Otherwise if we eclipse the 10 meter span, we're disqualified. If we fumble this and it hits, we're disqualified.

[18:41] We both have to stay in our lane. All going 20 miles an hour. In that task, you have to do three times before the race is finished and often someone will drop a baton.

[18:57] I think how unfortunate to be disqualified, but isn't that what often can happen to us? We have been received the word of God, the truth of God's word and we cherish God's word.

[19:11] We love what the Lord has done in our life and we fail to pass it on. It is as if we have become disqualified in the race to do this very task that every single one of us has been given.

[19:24] Grandparents do not quit writing letters and speaking to your grandchildren and your children, texting them, communicating God's word.

[19:37] Parents don't fail to raise your children in the admonition of the Lord. Pass the baton to the next generation.

[19:50] Teachers, thank you, congregation, thank you for teaching children, youth, young adults, pouring ourselves and doctrine into these children that they may know the Lord and communicate the truth of God's word to the next generation.

[20:08] It is incumbent upon us to not be disqualified just to receive and never pass on. And it is incumbent upon Timothy, Paul is saying Timothy, Timothy, find faithful men who will not only receive what you have to say, who can then share it and pass it on to the next generation.

[20:29] I both love and I have anguish every time I watch a relay of wages. And now every time you see one, say, ask yourself the question, how am I doing at passing on the spiritual truth of God's word to the next generation?

[20:46] It's all of our responsibilities. That's the first way that Paul says, Timothy, the whole of your ship is a little stuck.

[21:01] Let me help you. One thing that will help you is if you strengthen yourself in God's grace and have spiritual multiplication as your aim. Secondly, embrace hardship for the gospel. Verses three through seven is what is next.

[21:25] Embrace hardship for the gospel. Share. Look with me in verse three. Share in sufferings as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

[21:36] No soldier gets entangled with civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. So his broad encouragement there is to share the sufferings as a good soldier in Christ Jesus.

[21:49] So he's going to share with him, you can anticipate Timothy hardship. I know things are hard there in Ephesus, but this is to be expected. This suffering for the gospel sake is to be expected. And so I'm going to give you three metaphors for you to put in your mind to understand just the difficulty that we have.

[22:09] So he picks on the soldier as the first metaphor to endure hardship.

[22:20] What is the soldier do in verse four? No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

[22:41] A soldier on active duty is not a nine to five job, nor is it a job of a hard working person of 60 to 70 hours a week.

[22:54] A soldier is a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year profession on active duty. The soldier's body, his health, his skills, his time all belong to the military in which he has enlisted.

[23:08] His life, if you will, is not his own and he is not to participate in civilian pursuits. He doesn't have time for that to be entangled in civilian affairs.

[23:23] Paul is not speaking about things that by definition are wrong in and of themselves, these civilian affairs. A good soldier of Jesus Christ refuses to allow earthly matters to interfere with the fulfillment of his duty to the Lord.

[23:37] You may remember Luke chapter nine beginning in verse 57 where Jesus is having a conversation with some followers of his and one follower says, I will follow you wherever you go.

[23:52] And Jesus said to him, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. And he said to another, follow me. But he said, permit me to first go bury my father. And he said to him, allow the dead to bury the dead.

[24:08] But as for you, you go proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And another said, I will follow you. But first let me say goodbye to those who are at home.

[24:19] And Jesus said to him, no one after putting his hand in the plow looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. No one would say saying goodbye to your family or burying your parents is a bad thing.

[24:35] These aren't necessarily sinful in and of themselves. They're just not priority or keeping the things of Lord first. These entanglements in the world can choke us out, choke out the desire to remain focused on the task at hand.

[24:50] And we are to do this to please the one who enlisted us. Our deepest desire is to please the Lord Jesus Christ, our commander in chief. He is the one who enlisted us.

[25:02] It is impossible to serve two masters. The second metaphor here not only is there the soldier, but there is also an athlete in verse five.

[25:13] An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The noun of athlete translates into a verb that means to contest, to contend, to wrestle, to struggle.

[25:28] The idea is that of a struggle takes great determination to win. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. A disciple is to be one who controls his affections and his emotions and priorities and objectives.

[25:46] You do not become godly by accident. Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness we hear in 1 Timothy 4. It requires daily disciplines, reading God's word, praying to the Lord, living in community with other believers.

[26:05] That's the athlete. He has another metaphor for what it looks like to endure suffering, to remain faithful to the Lord as he takes these measures to surface the whole of his life and become unstuck.

[26:22] The last one is a farmer. The farmer plows the field, plants the field, harvests the field, and he often does this alone. You know what's interesting about farms is as you drive, especially from here to Ritzville, here's what I do not observe, grandstands around the farms where people just sit and watch the farmer and cheer him on.

[26:43] Oh, look at him plow! Look how he puts his hand to the plow and I know they're driving tractors today, but let's go back to the first century. And do you see how he made that turn, how he had to put his shoulder into the plow and turn it around at the edge to go back the other way with that ox?

[26:59] Did you see how he did that? Way to go! You never see grandstands in farms. Cheering on the farmer.

[27:10] The work often just goes unnoticed. Plow, plant, fertilize, weed, pick rocks, shoe off predators or pests who damage the crop.

[27:27] And the work of a Christian does so to endure, to remain faithful to the Christ. It is often unexciting work. Waking early to spend time with the Lord in prayer, in his word, living in community.

[27:45] So then he asks the question, is it worth it? And look at the farmer who ought to have his first share of the crops.

[27:57] In verse 6, the reward for the farmer comes at the end. It comes at the end of the age. The reward comes at the harvest, at the end of the season.

[28:09] The culminating effect of a disciplined life in Christ. Yes, you will reap the benefit of it today, but there is also a benefit that will come at the harvest.

[28:24] In the early 20th century, an ad in London newspaper read this. Men wanted, for a hazardous journey with small wages, with bitter cold, and long months to complete, incomplete darkness.

[28:38] And in constant danger, safe return is doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success, maybe. And this was signed by the famous arctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton.

[28:53] And here's the thing, thousands of men signed up to go on the expedition to the Arctic. Warren Weirersby writes, if Jesus had advertised for workers, his announcement may have looked something like this.

[29:06] Men and women wanted for a difficult task to help build my church. You will often be misunderstood, even those who work with you. You will face constant attack by an invisible army or enemy.

[29:19] You may see results for your labor and your lifetime, but your full reward will not come to the end. It will cost you your home, your ambitions and your very life.

[29:35] And so Paul writes to Timothy, and he uses these three metaphors to say, it's difficult. Endure hardship, endure suffering.

[29:47] Soldier, athlete, farmer, be like them. Anticipate that. That's what it will be like. And he's writing to Timothy to encourage him, the whole of your ship, lay into the grace of God that will surface being stuck.

[30:08] Next, how else does Paul write motivations to Timothy to endure suffering here? Look with me in verse 8.

[30:20] And by the way, let me read verse 7. I'm sure Timothy got those metaphors.

[30:32] But look what Paul says to Timothy, hey, Timothy, think over what I have said, verse 7, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Maybe you may not initially understand the athlete, the farmer, the soldier metaphor, but think about him for a second and let those metaphors and the things that I just encouraged you to embrace, the grace of God that is available to you, Timothy, let that encourage you.

[30:56] And it may take you a bit, so just think on those things. Getting into verse 8, we find some more motivations to endure suffering. He now, Paul gets out of the metaphors and then he continues to want to encourage his faithful son, spiritual son in the faith.

[31:14] In verse 8, he says, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached in my gospel. Remember Jesus Christ. The word remember is an active voice, so it means to continue to remember or keep on remembering.

[31:30] Timothy, bring this to your mind, keep on remembering. Don't forget it, but let this refresh you every morning. And what am I supposed to let it refresh? Jesus Christ. That's what you should remember.

[31:41] Jesus Christ. Risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached in my gospel. What's interesting is there are 10 other times that Jesus Christ's name is mentioned in the book of 2 Timothy.

[31:55] However, what is unique about this time is all other times, all the other 10 times in the book of 2 Timothy, it is Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus. And this is the only place that in the 2 Timothy that we find Jesus Christ.

[32:10] Why, when I noted that, I thought, well, what's unique? What is Timothy trying here to emphasize? And I suggest to you the humanity of our Lord.

[32:21] Christ Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the title Jesus. This is Jesus Christ, the person, the humanity. His name is first given, His humanity.

[32:41] So Paul, just think about this. What in Christ's humanity did he suffer on his way ultimately to go to the cross? Endure suffering.

[32:52] You can do this. Remember, why? Remember Jesus. Remember Jesus, Timothy? He was born of a virgin, lived a misunderstood life. Even his disciples thought, did not fully understand because they all wanted to be the greatest in the kingdom.

[33:07] And they argued amongst each other who would be the greatest. He had disciples deny him. Someone betrayed him.

[33:18] Jesus suffered. And ultimately took the wrath of God for sin in your place in mind. He suffered. Remember Jesus, Timothy.

[33:29] Remember him. It will serve you well to endure. He rose from the grave.

[33:42] If Christ is not risen, our faith is worthless. He's the offspring of David. It validates his historical messiahship. And not only that, that one day he will return and sit on David's throne and reign over the nations and rule with the rod of iron.

[34:02] And then he says, final clue is there in verse 8 as he says, as I've preached in my gospel. Paul is not saying my gospel as opposed to the gospel as if it's different.

[34:15] As if he, Paul invented the gospel. But rather that the gospel that was revealed directly to him by the risen Lord Jesus. And it was entrusted to him as a treasure and he is now passing it on.

[34:29] And the second motivation we see in verse 9. For which I suffer. Remember Jesus.

[34:40] And this gospel that I preach. For which it is that I am suffering and bound and chains as a criminal. Timothy, I'm asking you to suffer. I am also in the same condition.

[34:51] I too am in chains and I too am suffering, but I'm in prison. But Paul is not necessarily using this imagery of him being in prison and bound and chains.

[35:02] But he is contrasting that to the word of God. But the word of God, a lot of lost last line of verse 9. But the word of God is not bound. I am in change, but the word of God, it is not in chains.

[35:15] It is not in prison. So remember the unstoppable word of God, Timothy, let that encourage you.

[35:26] The word is not and cannot be imprisoned. It can never be in chains. It is living. It is active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. It cannot be kept in chains.

[35:41] The divine sword cannot be taken out of the Spirit's hand by men, by chains, by demons, and even by Satan.

[35:52] And this must have meant something to the early saints. In Rome, there is about 600 miles, there was at one time approximately 600 miles of catacombs.

[36:03] That is, underground tunnels that were nearly dug by 10 generations of Christians over a period of 300 years. And the early Christians would often sometimes go into these subterranean tunnels to worship there.

[36:19] They also would bury their dead there. And on the inscription on the walls, listen to what was the reoccurring inscription on the walls common to the catacombs.

[36:30] It says this, the word of God is not bound. Martin Luther later writes in his hymn, the mighty fortress is our God.

[36:45] He writes there in that beautiful hymn, he writes this, the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still. Remember the unstoppable word of God.

[37:01] That ought to motivate one to endure suffering. And that is one of the things that Paul is writing to Timothy to say, let this encourage you.

[37:12] Thirdly, we see a third motivation, remember human need. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect.

[37:24] Now, when I often read the word elect, I think about those who are in Christ, those who are in Christ, and who have already come to faith in Christ, but Paul is not writing this word in that sense.

[37:37] Yes, they are in Christ, but yet to come. Look how he says this in verse 10, therefore, endure everything for the sake of the elect.

[37:50] Now, who is the elect? That they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. So he is saying, Timothy, let me tell you why you should endure suffering at the cost of proclaiming the gospel.

[38:10] And while you need to continue to proclaim this gospel, Timothy, let me tell you why. Because for the sake of the elect, that is those whom God is, and I want to quickly acknowledge, some get a little twitchy with the word elect in that it's a loaded word with a lot of theological implications.

[38:29] But I would just encourage us all to read Ephesians 1 that talks about God. You see in Ephesians 1 that we are chosen, predestined for adoption to himself, that God has chosen some and they will place their faith in Christ and be among the elect.

[38:56] That's all I want to say at this time. And here's the thing we also know that God does not want any to perish, but all to come to the knowledge of him. So, but we don't know necessarily who they are, but the only way of salvation for them is to hear the word of God proclaimed.

[39:14] The gospel proclaimed to them. So Paul is saying to Timothy, keep proclaiming. Why? There are people who need to know him. Human need exists for apart from Christ, they are damned for all eternity.

[39:32] So for the sake of the elect, it's a motivating factor, Timothy. Keep proclaiming the gospel and for that you suffer and keep doing that for the sake of the elect.

[39:45] They have not yet heard the gospel and have not yet believed, but they may. Keep proclaiming the gospel in your spheres of influence at work with family.

[40:00] Continue. Lastly, and I'll conclude here.

[40:11] Remember God's promises and I'll go quick on this one. There are four other hymns or sayings that were common in the early church that Paul references in his letter writing.

[40:25] In verse 11, he says, I say this trustworthy thing or the saying is trustworthy. He says that for other occasions in scripture and then he writes this hymn that was common.

[40:40] If I said for this is a trustworthy saying and then I said amazing grace. How sweet the sound who saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found.

[40:51] And I were to say that you all know what I'm talking about this famous hymn amazing grace. And so it was like that in the early church. There were these common phrases that were known to the early church that everyone kind of knew and embraced.

[41:03] And so Paul is taking the occasion here to repeat something to them that they were very familiar with perhaps. Or he was introducing it to them and said this is a trustworthy saying. And he took something that was like a hymn or a poem and he wrote it down.

[41:16] And what is it that was trustworthy that this was supposed to encourage him? He says this, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him.

[41:27] If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. And this was such an encouraging thing.

[41:38] It's a way of Paul motivating his son Timothy, spiritual son Timothy. I just think about how encouraging this may be.

[41:51] If we died with him, you will also live with him. Hey, if you're suffering ultimately costs you your life, you'll live with him. Timothy, what is death?

[42:03] Death has lost its sting. Hey, Timothy, if you endure, you'll also reign with him. If you endure, you'll reign with him.

[42:14] He will reward you. He's not blind. He can see. He knows. You'll reign with him. If you deny him, he will also deny us.

[42:26] And it serves as a warning. Timothy, and there's a theologians debate on this, but this is just meant to be a warning. That's all I'm going to say at this point.

[42:38] And if you're faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself, Timothy. And may that be encouragement to us. And these are the ways that Paul writes to Timothy to say, I know you're timid, Timothy.

[42:54] I know you may feel spiritually stuck. It's worth it. Keep going. Remember Jesus Christ as the risen Savior. Remember the unstoppable word of God.

[43:06] Remember human need, Timothy. And remember God's promises. This is for you, Timothy. And so too it is for us. And I pray that we, these means that God has given us would help us become unstuck with wherever we are spiritually.

[43:26] And we would endure even if that means suffering. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you so much for your word.

[43:37] Lord, I pray that... the ways in which we feel stuck spiritually.

[43:51] I pray that we would be refreshed in your word here in 2 Timothy. That we would remember the grace that you've given us. That we would remember your son Jesus Christ and how he endured suffering and even death for sin on our behalf.

[44:08] We would remember that nothing can stop your word. Many nations have burned Bibles for years and your word is still preserved.

[44:19] Those without Christ have an eternity that is not something you desire for anyone to experience. You wish all to come to repentance. So may we continue to proclaim your word, this beautiful gospel, for the salvation of others, for your ultimate glory, and remember your promises, Lord.

[44:42] We love you. Thank you for this opportunity. Amen.