2nd Timothy, chapter 2. 2nd Timothy, chapter 2. We'll
be looking at verse 1 this evening. And the title of the message
is, The Strength of Grace in Affliction. The Strength of Grace
in Affliction. The apostle says, Therefore,
my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. As we have seen in this book,
we have seen that this is the letter of the Apostle Paul to
this young man, this young Pastor Timothy. During a time of great
affliction, great trouble, the Apostle had been bound In chains,
he had been taken to Rome, where he awaited to see Caesar. He awaited his death. And because
of his chains, many of those who professed faith in Jesus
Christ had forsaken him. They had abandoned the church.
They had become apostates. Many had left. So he is encouraging
this young man, Timothy, in the midst of this great affliction. He says, Thou therefore, because
of this great affliction, my son... Look at his heart. He's
talking to him as his son. My son, be strong. Be strong. Which one of God's
people in affliction does not need strength? We, as God's people,
we suffer affliction. We suffer in this world and we
need strength. And so He encourages Timothy,
as well as every believer here, in the midst of affliction, Thou,
therefore, be strong. Strong. Strength. Be strong in the grace. that
is in Christ Jesus. The grace that is in Christ Jesus. Now, the trials and afflictions,
the trials and afflictions that come to every believer are sharp
and painful. But as we have seen by the example
of the Apostle Paul's afflictions, God, we know, is the author and
the first cause of all providence and he uses affliction as a divine
instrument to prove us to prove us in Deuteronomy chapter 8 flip
over there with me Deuteronomy chapter 8 God reveals this through
the nation of Israel Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse
1 he says all the commandments which I command thee this day
shall you observe to do that you may live and multiply and
go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers
and thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led
thee these 40 years in the wilderness notice to humble thee and to
prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments or no. The purpose of the affliction
of the wilderness was to prove or to test, to try to know what
was in the heart of the nation of Israel. And know this, the
afflictions of every believer our God uses as instruments,
divine instruments, to prove what is in the heart of man. To prove what is in us. Israel
for 40 years in the wilderness was tested to reveal what was
in their hearts. Now this knowledge is not for
God. This knowledge is for you. This
knowledge is to prove what is in you. And we know this about affliction. Affliction is meant to discover
evil. Affliction is meant of God to
discover the hidden evils of our heart. It is not until the sea is troubled
that the waters cast up dirt and mire, and it is only in affliction
that the deep of a man's heart is broken up, and the heart pours
out wickedness and hard thoughts of God. It was so with Asaph. You remember his struggle in
Psalm 73, how it is that he struggled with the prosperity of the wicked
and the suffering of the righteous. And he said this, Verily I have
cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency.
In other words, surely I have believed in vain. Surely I believe
God in vain and my religion is a sham. That's what he was saying.
You see, the man Asaph had atheism in his heart. And it was only
during affliction that that was broken out, that that was lodged
forth from the deep of his heart. You remember the affliction of
Moses, who was the meekest man on the face of the earth, and
yet when he had to deal with that unruly and stiff-necked
nation, when he came to the rock the second time, it was then
that that anger, the passion that was in his wicked heart
shone forth, and he smote the rock again. Truly, is this not true of us,
believer, regarding our affliction? Our trials and trouble, if we're
honest, we know it is. We know that affliction brings
up, stirs up the old man in us. We know when trouble comes and
overwhelms our souls and we are cast down, beaten, afflicted
and smitten of God, the first reaction of the flesh is to question
divine wisdom. Lord, why? That's the first instinct. It comes to our hearts. We begin
to think hard of God. We, like Jonah, become angry
when our gourds are taken away. When the east wind comes and
smites us on our head, and we're burdened under the heat of troubles. Are we under such affliction?
Are we pressed and weighed down by what we see and what we feel? Does the divine hand seem to
crush you by foiling your schemes and destroying the dreams of
your heart? Or by thwarting what you think
things should be? This affliction, my friend, is
there to prove you. And it will prove you. It will prove you. It will prove whether you are
a true believer or not. When these sins are stirred up,
when these sins are lodged forth from the deeps of our own heart,
what then takes place? Those who are false professors
in Christ, they will not endure such affliction. because it will
not only discover the evils of their heart but they will not
continue because they are offended by it they're offended by God's
affliction you remember those disciples who followed our Lord
and when he preached that salvation was of the free grace of God
and not by the will of man he told them that only those who
come to me by faith Our believers are saved. And no one can come
to Me except the Father which has sent Me. Draw him. And this
was a hard saying for some of His disciples. And many of them
were offended by this. They were offended and they turned
away. They walked no more with Him.
And no doubt this was even troubling to His own true disciples. Because
He asked them, Will you go away also? And even though the trial discovered
their ignorance, that trial the Lord preached that message and
that tried their hearts. And they discovered that they
didn't know everything they thought they knew. They were discovered
to be ignorant concerning the things of God. But yet it also
proved them to be true disciples because what did they say? Lord
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Yes, Lord, I am ignorant. Yes, Lord, I am sinful. But,
Lord, to whom shall I go? Yes, affliction breaks up and
sets loose those deep-seated evils of the old man, the ones
that would have never been known without the affliction. But every
true child of God does not go away, but is humbled by it. This
is what it proves. It proves that we are true children
of God. When that evil stirs up, what
does a true believer do? Confesses it and humbles himself
before the mighty hand of God. Humbles himself unto the hand
of God. God approves and causes such
troubles as are necessary to stain the pride of all self-glory
and that we should know ourselves To know not only by knowledge
that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, but also
to know it by experience. Have you known it by experience?
Is that what affliction has done to you? It's what it does to
me. Stirs up the old man. And I know, I begin to learn
a little more. Every time I am pressed by the
hand of God, I begin to learn more of my own wickedness. And I am humbled by it. And brought
low before God. I know it by experience. And
the man who has been given a new heart, a man who has been given
the Holy Spirit of God, saved by the grace of God, we will
endure such affliction and the grace of God will be revealed
in our hearts. In the believer, Affliction does
not only expose the hidden evils of our hearts, but it does not
lead us to death. It does not destroy us. It humbles
us. It humbles us. And it moves us to fall upon
the sovereign free grace of God. Are you a believer in Christ
or are you a hypocrite? Time and affliction will tell. Time and affliction will tell.
And God will prove our faith. And I'll tell you, that's why
the Apostle said, the trying of your faith is much more precious
than gold which perisheth. I do not want to be deceived.
Do you? And do you suppose anyone who's
deceived thinks they're deceived? No. No. I do not want to be deceived.
I want to know if my interest lies in Christ. I want to know
if I have true and lasting salvation. And this will be tried by affliction. Trouble will come to prove this.
Show me the evils of my heart and humble me before God. It is by the trial of your faith
that is more precious than gold that your faith will be tested.
And true faith will always come to the same end. It will always
come to rest upon the sure foundation which is the grace of God that
is in Christ Jesus. And that's what the Apostle says
to Timothy here. He says, My son, be strong. Where? In the grace that is in
Christ Jesus. that is in Christ Jesus. Oh,
see the wisdom of God in our afflictions, and see He uses
them to expose sin, to humble our hearts, to prove us, and
not for His knowledge, but for ours, not for His comfort, but
for our comfort. Therefore, Paul says to Timothy,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Praise God for
the grace that He has given us. I'm thankful to be regenerated
by the Holy Spirit. I'm thankful for the grace, the
graces that are in me, that God has given to me. Love, joy, peace,
meekness, temperance, all of these fruit of the Spirit that
is in me. But I tell you what, in the midst
of affliction, we should never trust in the grace that is in
you. Never lean on the grace that
is in you. Rather, lean on the grace that
is in Christ Jesus. Whereas we were dead in sins,
corrupt by nature, and only following our lusts, now, by the grace
of God, we are quickened. We are made righteous by the
imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ in the holy nature. Now we are led by the Spirit
of God, we are the sons of God, we are the heirs of heaven, we
are the body of Christ, the elect church, the redeemed people.
Yet our strength to endure the afflictions and to be strong,
to remain bold in our declaration of the gospel, must not be found
in us, nor in the graces given us, but rather the grace that
is in Christ Jesus. Now there is a great distinction
between those. There's a great distinction.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. If we are strong
in the grace that is in us, we would have need then to rely
upon past experiences. If I believe now, you see then
that faith is already gone. If I'm to rely on that past faith,
that's not going to get me anywhere. You see, I would have to then
begin to rely on feelings. I would have to begin to rely
on circumstances. If I rely on the grace that is
in me, the grace that is given in me. There's no strength in those
things. There's no standing in those things. We know those things
will fail us. The grace that is given to me
and that grace is holy from the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider this,
as the running streams depend upon the fountain and source
for supply, even so do we have the grace of God look to Jesus
Christ from which flows all spiritual blessings. The grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Don't look within yourself to
find any strength or support. Look to Christ, the fountainhead
from which all strength and grace come. O believer, let us in our
afflictions know it. God's providence has brought
it. And by This, by His grace, He
will prove. He will prove His work of grace
in us. James says that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Let patience have a perfect work. You see, our strength to endure,
our strength to endure, let our patience have work, work in on
us. It cannot be by looking at our
growth or our patience, but only by the grace that flows from
the smitten rock of Jesus Christ. And as that rock followed them
through the wilderness, even so does the rock follow you.
Where is it your source of strength should come from? It should come
from looking to Jesus Christ. Looking to the grace that is
in Him. Now let us consider some things
about the grace that is in Christ. First of all, in your affliction,
remember this, the grace of Jesus Christ is eternal. This is the
duration of His grace. The duration of His grace is
eternal grace. Believer in Christ, consider
this truth for your strength, that God has set His favor on
you from before the world began. When God was alone in the sacred
trinities of His person, it was then He decreed you to be His
son. It was then He gave you all spiritual
blessings, all the glories of heaven, all His love and salvation,
all the inheritance of eternal life. When? From eternity where
this grace was yours. This grace was yours from eternity,
given you. Where? In Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. This grace was never dependent
upon us or our works, but it was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9. It says, God who saved us and
called us with an 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 see then that this grace
that was ours as it flows through Jesus Christ our eternal mediator
Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, he says, hold fast the gospel
because God hath given us an everlasting consolation. An everlasting, an eternal consolation
and good hope through grace. And this grace was given us from
eternity. And know this, it will last through
eternity. This is how long He's going to
give you His grace. From eternity to eternity. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
the psalmist said, for His mercy endureth, how long? Forever. Forever. Second of all, in your
troubles, consider the grace that is in Christ Jesus is immutable. It's not only in its duration
eternal, but it is forever immutable grace. Not only does it last
from one eternity to the next, but it does not and cannot change. Does not and cannot change. As
we are afflicted, Consider that the grace of God is nothing like
man's love. The love of God is nothing like
man's love. His love is not fickle, helpless,
or frustrated. The love of God, which is rooted
in His grace, is like Himself, eternal and unchangeable. Neither our condition nor our
circumstance have any effect on the grace of God, nor His
love for us. There is nothing that we can
do to lessen or destroy the love of God for us. Is this not comforting? That
God's love does not change. His grace for you does not change. It has always been the same.
And it will always be the same. Because the Lord loved you, and
because He would keep His oath which He swore to your fathers,
has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you out of the house of the bondman. We may know of God's eternal,
immutable love and grace only by looking to Jesus Christ. in
whom all this grace is found. God declares, Behold, I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, why is it that we
are not consumed? Why is it that our affliction
will not destroy us? You are not consumed because
the Lord does not change. Neither does His grace change.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Believer, the
grace of God is for us, given to us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. And therefore, we who are in
Christ are now in Christ and we shall always and forever be
in Christ. It's unchangeable. Third, consider
this in your affliction. That the grace of God is effectual.
The word effectual is very simple. It means it's powerful. It gets
the job done. That's what it means. It's successful
to accomplish what it was sent to do. God the Father loved you
from eternity. His love for us was immutable
and unchangeable. He purposed our complete salvation
through the person and work of Christ. See then that all the
responsibility of our salvation rests not with you. It rests
completely in Jesus Christ. When He took us in eternity,
He took us in union with Himself, and He became responsible to
redeem us. He took that responsibility of
salvation of the elect. And it completely rests on His
successful work. I like this in Isaiah 52. God
says this, Behold My servant. My servant shall deal prudent. He shall deal successfully. And when He has done His work,
when He has accomplished His work, He shall be exalted and
extolled and be very high. Behold, believer, our Lord Jesus
Christ is all our hope and confidence, all our assurance and peace with
God, all our joy in the Spirit and endurance through this life.
because He has accomplished, finished, and triumphed in His
work of salvation. Jesus has honored the law and
established our perfect righteousness. And by His one offering of Himself,
His blood that was shed as a lamb without spot and blemish, but
He was, as God made Him to be sin for us, punished in the flesh. on the cross. He was forsaken,
condemned, and smitten of God so that you and I might be set
free. As Samuel, you remember, hewed
Agag into pieces, let us remember that God did the same to his
own blessed son. Yet Christ endured the suffering
of God, the vengeance of God, as a lamb before a shearer's
dumb, He opened not His mouth, He in grace and love for us endured
the cross, despising the shame. He gave His life. and he died
once for sin, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and what happened as a
result of his success? He was exalted. He was extolled. And he is very high. God has exalted him and given
him a name that is above every name. Behold, believer, in thy
affliction, the grace that is in Christ Jesus as he sits in
glory on the throne. Therefore, because of His success,
the Holy Spirit has been sent out into the world to gather
His elect. And this is the will of God,
that all that He had given Christ should come to Christ. And He
would lose nothing. He would lose nothing. Blessed
be God, who in His great grace came to us. We were not looking for Him.
We did not seek Him. He sought us. He found us. He saved us. He gave us faith and life to
believe on His blessed Son. Blessed be God for His grace
that He gave us who were dead in sins, blind and ignorant to
the grace of God, without righteousness. And yet
He established righteousness in us by His grace. He sent His Word and His Spirit
arrested our souls. and we saw the chains of our
sin, we saw the justice of God that was against us, and it was
by grace that He gave us spiritual life and faith in Christ. We
experience this grace that is in Christ Jesus. We know whom
we have believed, and we are sure He is able to keep us. Believers see the grace that
is in Christ as effectual. It accomplishes His work. What
He sent it to do for you, will He not keep you? Do you feel
that your afflictions are too hard? If He has given us His Son, how
shall He not with Him freely give us all things? And lastly,
consider the grace of God is inexhaustible. When you're afflicted,
consider this. The grace of God is not only
eternal, immutable, unchangeable, and not only is it unchangeable,
it's inexhaustible. Inexhaustible. When Paul was
given the afflictions, he calls a thorn in the flesh. You remember
the words of our Savior to him. He said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. My grace is sufficient for thee. Every word of that statement
is meant for your comfort. My grace. Whose grace? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace that chose you. The grace that redeemed you.
The grace that called you. The grace that keeps you. It
is His grace. It is the grace of God who is
all-powerful, all-wise, omnipotent, omnipresent. It is the grace
of God. My grace, God said, is sufficient
for you. Immutable, effectual, unchangeable,
sovereign and free grace. And notice this, He says, My
grace is sufficient. Sufficient. The grace of God in Christ is
sufficient to redeem us from all sin. It is sufficient to
supply all our righteousness. and it's sufficient to keep you.
It's sufficient to keep you. Was God satisfied with the work
of Christ? You bet He was. Scripture says, He shall see
of the travail of His soul and be what? Satisfied. Why is it then that we fear and
tremble? Is it not sufficient for us?
Is it not enough? If it was enough for God, why
was it not enough for you? And He says this, My grace is
sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient for thee. You get the contrast? My grace,
which is so great, eternal, immutable, unchangeable, effectual, is sufficient
for thee who are so small and insignificant. It is most laughable. It is like
a small fish in the ocean who feels a great thirst but is afraid
that he'll consume the whole ocean. It's like a man on top of a mountain
fearing if he takes one more breath, he will inhale all the
world's atmosphere. And it is most laughable to think
that we could for one minute exhaust the grace of God. Do you need grace? Do you need forgiveness? Do you
need strength? Do you need comfort? Do you need
joy? Do you need peace? Drink in as much as you want
and you will not have exhausted God's grace one bit. My grace is sufficient for thee. My grace, which is so large,
is sufficient for thee. Therefore, be strong. Therefore,
be bold. Therefore, take courage. In yourself? No. in the grace of Christ, in
the grace that is in Jesus Christ. There's where your help is. There's where your strength is
in the time of affliction. Psalm 46, verse 1 says, God is
our refuge, a strength, and a very present help in trouble. Are you afflicted? Remember,
affliction is God's tool. It'll bring out the hidden evils
of your heart, but if you're God's, it'll humble you. And
where will it bring you? It'll bring you to the grace
of God that is in Christ Jesus. That's where it'll bring you.
And in that, we have sufficient foundation. We have sufficient
assurance. for all the ills of this life. May God give you rest and comfort
in it. Be strong, my son, in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.