Let's take our Bibles once again.
Turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. I'd like to look at the first
12 verses. I've entitled this message, Saved
Then Called. Saved, then called. The Apostle Paul writes a letter
of encouragement, an exhortation to Timothy a little while before
Paul's death. In 2 Timothy, flip over to 2
Timothy 4.6, The Apostle Paul says, for I am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. The time of my leaving. The scripture sets forth in Job
14. Job 14, I'll just read this to
you. Verse 5 says this, seeing concerning
man. His days are determined. The
number of His months are with Thee. Thou hast appointed His
bounds that He cannot pass. This is a comforting thought.
God Almighty has determined when we're going to die. When we were
born and when we're going to die. We do all we can do. I want to do all I can to And
that's by God's means. We eat and we try to live as
healthily as we could, as we can. But I can tell you this,
we're going to die exactly when God says we're going to die. The Apostle Paul says in that
same chapter 4, where I just read in verse 7, here's what
he says concerning his life, this is by the grace of God,
He said, I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing. I think about that confidence
of the Apostle Paul. He wasn't saying that in an arrogant
way, you know that. But he knew that God Almighty
had kept him. Had put him in the warfare. God put him there. Every believer
is in this warfare. And the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal. They're spiritual. Sword of the
Word of God. breastplate of righteousness,
helmet of salvation, girt about with truth, feet shod with preparation
of the gospel of peace. He said, I've fought a good fight. Regardless of what the world
says concerning the fight, the warfare, Paul said, I've fought
a good fight. I finished my course. And whenever God's people have
finished their course, the Lord takes them home. Well, the Apostle
Paul is writing this letter and he's addressing it to Timothy. Verse 1, 2 Timothy 1, 1. Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to
the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. Paul, an apostle
We looked at that last Wednesday night. An apostle, one personally
called and taught, called by the Lord Jesus Christ, taught
the gospel by the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ. By whose authority? By whose
authority? Well, he says, by the will of
God. By God's will. Paul's authority was beyond dispute. The Lord Jesus Christ ordained
him. An apostle called him and ordained
Paul just like he did the others. And the reason for this, the
Scripture says, it was according to the promise of life which
is in Christ Jesus. The Lord who promised life in
Christ, in the Lord. appointed me a minister to proclaim
that promise. That's what Paul's saying. God,
the Lord Jesus, called me and gave me a commission. And then
he says in verse 2, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul was the minister through
which the Lord called Timothy. The Lord called Timothy. The
Lord gave Timothy faith. But he used Paul to call this
man, Timothy, out of spiritual darkness. So Paul referred to
him as my beloved son, spiritually speaking. And then Paul prays
this petition for Timothy. He says, grace, mercy, and peace. from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Lord. He said, I'm thankful for the
grace of God. The Lord did not give you, as
He didn't give Paul or any other of God's sheep, what we deserved. Grace. Mercy. That He gave us
what we didn't deserve in ourselves. He gave us life in Christ. gave
us a knowledge of Him. And he said, in peace, peace
with God Almighty, peace with others, and peace within our
own conscience. He said, I thank God whom I serve
for my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing
I have remembrance of Thee in my prayers night and day. The
Apostle Paul goes to the only one deserving of thanks. What
does he say? I thank God. The one that he
serves, I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers. That is,
with the same faith as his forefathers. You know, the Lord called Saul
of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle, out of darkness. And before,
he was a blasphemer. Weren't we all? Before God called
us by grace, we were all just like Paul. And here's the sad
thing. That old nature is still there.
It hasn't changed. But there's a new nature. Paul
says, I thank God whom I served from my forefathers with a pure
conscience, a sincere conscience. Not that conscience he inherited
in Adam's fall, but in that new man. There's a new sincere conscience,
a pure conscience. And then he thanked God that
without ceasing, he told Timothy, I have remembrance of thee in
my prayers night and day. You know, here's the mark of
a true friend. He said, I think of you affectionately.
I thank God that I think of you like that. and I pray for you."
That's the heart of a believer to another believer. I thank
God that I think of you, and I think of you affectionately,
and I pray for you. The Scripture says in 1 Samuel
12, 23, moreover, Samuel speaking, as for me, God forbid that I
should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. And
then Paul's Thanksgiving to the Lord for Timothy. He says this
in verses 4 and 5, "...greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful
of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance
the unfeigned faith." That's sincere, genuine faith. that is in thee which dwelt first
in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and I am
persuaded that in thee also." I thank the Lord for the genuine
faith. Paul's heart was tender. toward Timothy. And obviously
based on this, he said, greatly desiring to see you being mindful
by tears. They had parted ways, not on
bad terms, but they parted ways. There was different places they
had to go, and obviously there was a tearful departing. You know, you leave and you're
going to be parted from somebody that you love, you're going to
miss them, and all of a sudden your heart's just tender. I just hate to see you go. I'm
just going to miss seeing you for a while." His heart was filled
with joy when he thought upon Timothy's fellowship. He greatly
desired to see him as the apostle remembered the grace and mercy
of God that the Lord had shown to Timothy and to his family. was a Greek, he wasn't a believer.
Well, look at Acts 16, don't let me just say that, let me
show you. But his mama and his grandma, they were, you know,
Acts 16, 1. Then came he to Derbe, Lystra.
Behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son
of a certain woman, which was a Jewish and believed. But his father was a Greek. His
dad, obviously an unbeliever. But according to these scriptures
in 2 Timothy 1, he was talking about his grandmother, Lois,
persuaded, and also his mother, Eunice, I know a lot of times,
I'm looking at the pronunciation, it says Eunice instead of Eunice,
but he said, and I'm persuaded in you too. the evidence of salvation. Then the Apostle, because of
the grace that the Lord had shown, exhorts young Timothy, and he
says this, Wherefore, verse 6, I put thee in remembrance, that
thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands. The Lord had called Timothy to
preach, and God gifted him to preach. God calls a man to preach,
he teaches him the gospel. I told you that in Charles Spurgeon's
book, Lectures to My Students. He said this is the qualifications
of a God-called preacher. This is the first qualification.
God teaches him the gospel. I thought, you know what? Why
didn't I think of that? I mean, I think of the gift to
be able to preach. No, God teaches him the gospel
first. And God had taught Timothy. Paul
said, I'm persuaded that the unfeigned, that sincere faith
that's in you was in your mama and your grandma. I'm persuaded
it's in you. Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance
that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the
putting on of my hand. See? Stir up that gift. Don't neglect it, Timothy. Don't neglect the gift. through laziness, slowfulness,
don't be careless with God's gift. That's for all of us. Don't be careless. Be careful. Stir up the gift. How? How do we stir up the gift? I would say this, number one,
hear the preaching of the gospel. Hear it preached. Search the
Scriptures. As those in Berea, they search
the Scriptures daily to see if the things that they were hearing
were so. I've said before, if you hear me preach something,
look it up. Look it up. Find out if what
I'm saying is so. If I say that somebody's telling
you something and they're lying, look it up. and find out. Stir up the gift. Don't neglect
it. Hear the gospel preached. Hear the Word of God. Hear it.
Hear it. Search the Scriptures and seek
the Lord in prayer. When you pray, ask and seek and
knock at the door of God's mercy and the Lord Jesus Christ. Stir
up the gift. Verse 7, For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind. The spirit of God and God's calling
in Christ Jesus is not one of cowardice, Power. Power in the Holy Ghost. Power in God's Spirit. We know
that in ourselves we're weak. We're unable. We're incapable. And we know that. But Paul says,
when I'm weak, that's when I'm strong. Because I'm trusting
Him. I'm waiting on Him. I'm asking
Him. I, maybe just me, but my area
of my weakest, my weakest, the knowledge of my weakest point
is trying to pray. That's, to me, that's, I can
try to read, I can read these scriptures, and I mean, I know,
I can read, I can read, but oh, when I try to express, I can
hear the gospel preached, I hear it and I enjoy it, I love it,
I love it, but when I try to pray. That's the experience to
my heart of my greatest weakness right there. I've told you before,
I go back to that scripture, Lord if you marked iniquity,
if you should mark it, who could stand? Just stir up the gift. God has not given us the spirit
of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind. We've received one of love. Our
love for God. God's people love Him. 1 John 4, 19 says we love Him
because He first loved us. Peter, do you love me? Three
times the Lord asked him that, and Peter the third time with
grief, the Lord asked him. He said, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. You know
I do. And God's people, they do. They're ashamed of what they
see in themselves. Oh, wretched man that we are.
We're ashamed of it. But I'm going to tell you something.
God's people love the Lord. They love Him. They love Him
because He first loved them. And love for others, John 13,
35, by this. This is the key. All men shall
know that you're my disciples. You have love for one another.
Love. And of a sound mind. He said,
you know, verse 7, God's not given us the spirit of fear,
but of power, of love, and a sound mind, a calm, trusting mind. I know, he's going to say this,
I know whom I believe. God's people are settled. The
most comforting thought that I can think right now is that
my salvation is not based on what I've done. Thank the Lord
for that. Because I'm telling you the truth, there would be no settledness
have I been sincere enough that I do it right, that I cover all
the bases. Can you imagine? But a sound
mind, a prudent mind in conduct and behavior, a believer desires
to have their conversation as it becometh the gospel. You that
know Him, don't you want to walk that way? I want to. I'm embarrassed
because of the way I see things that happen to me, but my desire,
don't you want to, a sound mind, a mind that's of conviction,
a mind that has some conviction about it, godly principles, stands
fast. I want to stand fast. I desire
that, a sound mind. Verse 8, Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoners,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God." Don't be ashamed of the gospel of God's grace.
If somebody asks you, what do you believe? Tell them, I believe
the salvations of the Lord. I believe God saves as He will. God Almighty is God. We're depraved
sinners by birth. But listen, we're chosen of God. Don't be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of it. Redeemed
by the blood of Christ, He laid down. Did Christ die for everybody? The Scripture says He didn't.
He died for His elect. This gives God all the glory
and honor and praise. It makes Him to not be a failure.
You say, I believe He died for everybody, but there's going
to be some people in hell. You're ashamed. Don't be ashamed
of those. And Paul says, Timothy, don't
be ashamed of me. Don't be ashamed of those who
preach the Gospel. God's preachers are the Lord's
Prisoners, but bond slaves. They desire, they want to be
here. I want to be here. I want to
preach. I want to preach the gospel.
Be prepared to endure the afflictions that's going to come because
the truth you preach. Remember that it's the Lord.
that keeps His own. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor be as prisoners. Be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power
of God. It's the Lord. It's the Lord,
verse 9 says, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to His own purpose, not according to our works, I'm
sorry, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now listen, Timothy,
believers, Marvin, listen. How can we be ashamed of Him
who the Scripture reveals has eternally saved us? Somebody may ask, have you been
eternally saved? Yeah. According to God's absolute
will and purpose, we've always been accepted in the Beloved. Has it always been openly manifest? No, we're going to deal with
that in just a second. Has it openly been manifested always?
No. but according to God's will, God's purpose, who has saved
us, chosen us in Christ, the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world, accepted, accepted, accepted, accepted in the Beloved. Let me ask you this, a man that's
accepted in Christ, How long has He been safe? How
long has He been rescued? If He's eternally, it says it
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, who has
saved us, chosen us, redeemed us, called us out of darkness,
and called us with that holy calling. What kind of calling
is a holy calling? It gets the job done. The holy
calling. Effectual calling. Effectual
calling. Matthew, follow me. What did Matthew do? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Aren't you glad He didn't leave
it up to you? who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling. I've said before, God Almighty
who eternally loved us, chose us in Christ, accepted us in
the Beloved. He said, I've always loved you. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Where do you think they're going
to be eternally? Where do you think they're going
to be? If God chose to show mercy to them, and all that the Father
giveth shall come to me, all powers given unto me in heaven
and earth that I should give eternal life to as many as the
Father hath given me, where do you think they're going to be?
They're going to be with Him. By whose authority? His authority.
And He's going to give them a new heart. In time, it's going to
be, as I've said before, He's just like somebody that calls
them up, telephones, and tells them what He did. This is what
I eternally did. I chose you. You didn't choose
me, I chose you. I called you. And you willingly
came because I gave you a new heart to come. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of His power, He's going to give them
a new heart. And they're coming. Why? Because He wants to. But
why did they want to? Because He gave them a new heart.
That's the reason. And they're going to say, if
He wouldn't have given me a new heart, I wouldn't have cared.
Who have saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Doesn't
that just thrill your heart? That's such good news. That the
Lord would everlastingly choose to show mercy to this sinner
right here. That God would be pleased to
do something for me that I know I couldn't have done for myself
and wouldn't have done for myself. Look at verse 10. But is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death, Life and immortality to light. How
did we know about that? Through the gospel. Preaching
to the gospel. Life has always been in the Lord
Jesus. But that which lays secret in
the heart of God, shadowed in types and figures, but now, now,
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
He has abolished death. How? He died. He abolished death
being made sin for us, he who knew no sin. And has brought
life and immortality to light. The glorious truth of life and
immortality is gloriously revealed through the gospel. That's how
we know it. This is the truth. This is how
God teaches His people. He teaches them through the gospel. He has brought life and immortality
to illumination through the preaching of the gospel, the power of God
unto salvation. That's why people, God's people,
want to hear the gospel. Every time you tell me, tell
me the same thing, tell me the same thing, tell me the same
thing. And tell me again, tell me again, tell me again. Tell
me the same thing again. That's all I want to hear. I
don't care what passage the Lord directs your heart to, whatever
the Lord directs your heart to, but out of that passage, you
show me Christ. Show me who I am, I want to hear
it again. Tell me again. What a wretched
sinner I am because I know it. And I'll agree with you. And
tell me again how life and immortality has been made manifest and brought
to light through the gospel. Tell me again. And Lord bless
it to my heart. We're on 2, verse 11 and 12. I'm appointed a preacher and
an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. Paul says, for the
witch cause I also suffer these things, nevertheless I'm not
ashamed. For I know whom, not what, not
when, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I've trusted. He
said, and I'm persuaded, I'm confident, that he's able in
his power by His willingness, by His grace, by His mercy, to
keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. By
the grace of God, through faith, true faith is a commitment to
Christ. True faith is committing faith,
committing faith. Man, woman that has faith, A
man or a woman that has faith, true faith, faith from above,
they believe this gospel. They're taught the gospel. They're
taught the gospel. They don't believe a lie. True
faith is evidenced. They believe the gospel. They
know that salvation is all of grace. And they're committed
to Him. Committed to Him. They cast their
very soul and life upon Him. They leave themselves in His
hands to save them. To save them. Keep them. And
they know. They're confident. They know that unless God Almighty
keeps them, they know they won't be kept. Paul said, I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded. Lord, bless the
Word to our hearts for Christ's sake.