Oh, man. Okay. 2 Timothy chapter 1, we'll be
looking at verse 12. I'm sorry, verse 13 this morning,
13 and 14. 2 Timothy 1, verses 13 and 14. The apostle says, hold fast the
form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in faith and
love. which is in Christ Jesus that
good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the by the
Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us the apostle here says to Timothy
hold fast the form of sound words now our Lord Jesus Christ told
us by his disciples that we are to expect while we remain in
this world much tribulation. Much tribulation. In John 16,
verse 33, Jesus said, These things I have spoken unto you, that
you might have peace. He told them of the necessity
of his death. He told them that he must go
to prepare a place for us. And then He told them that He
was to send His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to them to teach
us and reveal to us the truth concerning the person and work
of Jesus Christ. And these words were meant for
their peace, that their hearts and minds and souls would be
comforted, because they were to soon leave the Lord Jesus
Christ. They were to all flee from His
presence. Because of the affliction, because
of His bonds, they were to flee. And Peter even was to deny the
Lord three times. Yet these words were for their
comfort and even so they are for our comfort because every
believer in Christ is going to suffer tribulation and affliction
in this world. We have this promise of our Lord.
Men will hate you. Satan and all the powers of hell
will assault your soul and you will fear and be in trouble.
They will appeal to your flesh and tempt you to forsake Christ
and will try to make you ashamed of either his gospel or his ministers. Oh, let us not mistake, therefore,
pride for steadfastness. Peter, isn't that what he did?
He mistook pride for steadfastness. The Lord, he said, Lord, I will
never forsake Thee, I will never deny Thee, I'll never be offended
at Thee, and yet that very night, Peter denied the Lord three times. He even knew that he even knew
Jesus, and all of his disciples forsook him. And so it is with
us true believers in Christ that we should take heed concerning
our sufferings and afflictions. that they are purposed of God
and that we should expect them so as not to be taken by surprise. The sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ were a pattern to us. If He suffered in this world
being the most holy God, shall not His servants also suffer? The Apostle says in 1 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 6, he tells them, he said, I am a pattern
for all believers concerning suffering. Therefore, in this,
in the book of Acts, when the Apostle and Barnabas preached
the gospel, you remember that they went to Iconium and Lystra
and all of these places, preached the gospel. These believers received
the gospel and then what did they do? They came back to confirm
the gospel. They came back to confirm their
faith, that they should continue in the faith and enter into the
kingdom through what? Much tribulation. Much tribulation. Even so, Paul now, in his chains,
writing this letter to this young man, Timothy, is in bondage. He's imprisoned under the sentence
of death for the sole crime of preaching the gospel. And so
he is encouraging the saints as he did in Acts. He encourages
Timothy as well as every believer in Christ. No matter your affliction. No matter your affliction or
circumstances. No matter how dark things appear
to be. He says to you and me, hold fast. Hold fast. Hold fast. Now then, the question comes
to mind, first of all, what are we exhorted to hold fast to?
What are we exhorted to hold fast to? Look what he says in
verse 13. He says, hold fast, hold firm,
hold tight, that the form of sound words. Here by sound words,
the apostle does not mean mere words. mere words. Paul says in the next chapter
not to strive about words, to no profit. Now there are words
that we use, proven words, words that have been tried over the
years which convey great spiritual truths. They are proven words
that help our minds and encourage us to remember things. And they're
not easily to be parted with. Words like the Trinity. This word is not found in Scripture,
Trinity. But yet the word itself conveys
not only doctrinal, but yet it conveys
scriptural truths. Great spiritual truth concerning
the person of the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit, the great three in one. And this is a scripture,
the scripture tells us in 1 John that there are three that bear
record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Spirit, and these three are one. So when we say Trinity, what
we're talking about is a doctrine. We're talking about a true scriptural
doctrine. Now the Word itself If we want
to argue about the Word, that doesn't mean anything. It's the
doctrine that counts. And that's what Paul is talking
about here. He said, don't strive about words, but hold fast that
form of sound words. In other words, sound, true doctrine. Hold fast that doctrine which
you have heard of me. You hold that fast without wavering. Believers in Christ, we are not
to debate the gospel with anyone. We do not debate the gospel. Let us not strive about words
to no profit. And there's no profit in debate. There's no profit in it. You
remember when Joab and Abner sent those troops out together.
Twenty-four men, twelve from each side, they each grabbed
each other's head and plunged their sword into their fellow's
side. And they all, twenty-four, died. And the place of that was
called Hilkath Hazarim. And that means smooth stone. I like that. It's very important.
Smooth stone. Isn't that what debate does?
It smooths off the edges of the gospel. Debate just smooths off
the edges of the gospel. And what's the result? Everyone
dies. Truth does not profit. It does
not go forth. We do not debate. Debate smooths
off the rough edges of the cross of Christ and it becomes of none
effect. And there is no profit. There
is no profit to your fellow man by smoothing his conscience to
hell. I know many people who would
love to preach the gospel, but they get this sentimental feeling
about them, and they think they have to smooth it off to make
it more palatable for their friends, to comfort their friends in their
lies or their heresies. We don't need to do that. We
don't need to debate this. This is just so we tell the truth. You don't need to sue the man
all the way to hell or giving him any confidence to his error
or heresy by putting it on the same level as the gospel. Isn't
that what debate does? Putting two opposing gospels
on the same level. That's not what we do. In Galatians, Paul said this
about circumcision. Those who came in desiring that
Titus should be circumcised, he said, I gave them no place,
not for an hour. I didn't give them any room to
speak. We're not here to debate this gospel, but rather we're
to hold it fast. We're to hold fast sound doctrine. Now, what is the gospel, the
sound words that we are to hold fast? It is the doctrine of God's
grace in Jesus Christ. Now, there are five things I
want us to hold fast to concerning this gospel. First of all, believer,
in your affliction, in your trouble, no matter what, hold fast to
this. Man is absolutely by nature depraved, completely ruined. Hold fast. Hold fast. give no place to such corrupt
and foul and unsound words as men's so-called free will, works,
religion, or partial fall." That's what they like to say, it's a
partial fall. There's no such thing as a partial fall in the
garden. God declares to us that the fall
of Adam was absolute, complete, and brought man down to death.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin, so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Where did we sin? In Adam we
all sinned, and in Adam we all died. God declares the fall of
man to be complete. I'll give you a few scriptures.
We just for time's sake, I'll read them to you. Psalm 58 verse
three, the wicked are strange from the womb speaking lies. You and I were not taught to
lie. We knew how to do it from the womb because we were dead,
spiritually ruined. In Isaiah 51 and verse 5, David
himself says, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother
conceive me. David's conception was no sin. She was married to his father,
but yet it was in Adam, in the seed of Adam that he was born
and shapen in iniquity. Isaiah 48 and verse 8 says, Yea,
thou heardest me not. yea thou knewest not yea from
that time thine ear was not opened for I knew that thou wouldest
deal treacherously and was called a transgressor from the womb
from the womb Ezekiel describes us greatly in that picture of
the infant cast out. He says, thy mother was a Canaanite
and thy father Hittite, the two sinners, two heathens. And that's true of us. Our parents,
we were born of two heathens. We were born of two sinners.
Because of Adam's seed, death passed to us. And because of
this, all men by nature are born dead, blind, and in bondage to
sin. All men by nature are without
ability and desire to come. Jesus said you will not come
unto me that you might have life and later he said you Cannot
come unto me except the father which has sent me draw you No
man can come Ability Man lacks the ability to come. As it is
written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God. Every
man, therefore, that hath heard and learned of me, learned of
the Father, cometh to me." Friends, sinners do not need
to be reformed. They need to be regenerated. They don't need to turn their
life around. They need a new life. They need to be born from above. They need life from the dead
that only God can give. You hold that fast and you'll
find great comfort in this. How many of our friends and relatives
do we desire to know Christ? We preach the gospel to them.
We long for them to come. But yet we must find solace in
this that God gives life. God gives life. And only God
can save. You can do and you should do
what you will, what you must. But I'll tell you this, only
God can save. There is no hope for men in law
or religious traditions or ceremonies. There is no hope for men in their
so-called free will. There is no hope in the waters
of baptism or in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. The
only hope is that God give you life. That's it. Salvation belongs
to God and He gives it to whomsoever He will. Second of all, believer
in your affliction, hold fast to the unconditional election
of God. Hold fast to this. is in truth that God has from
eternity, before time and creation, according to His own purpose
and grace, chose a people that He would save and adopt as His
own children. This is the doctrine of election,
and it's unconditional. It's not depending upon anything
in the creature. It is dependent solely upon the
free and sovereign mercy of God to choose whomsoever He will. This doctrine is despised of
men, but yet adored of the saints. It's adored of the saints. Why
is it despised of men? Well, because men are dead in
their sins, they still believe that they can obtain something.
They still believe that God can be had by their own works. They believe that they can obtain
some merit. do some work or some measure
of obedience to obtain the favor and righteousness of God. They do not believe in election
even because they do not believe in complete depravity. But all of us who are made to
see our complete depravity and utter ruin of Adam and we are
made to see our sin is mixed with all we do If there is any
hope for man, God must have chosen some to be vessels of mercy.
If there's any hope for anyone, it must rest in the fact that
God made the distinguishing choice. In Romans chapter 9 and verse
28, the apostle tells us, he said, if God had not had a remnant,
we'd all been as Sodom and Gomorrah. Had God not had a remnant, according
to election, we would have all perished in our sins. Therefore,
hold this fast. In your affliction, you believer,
you hold this fast that God, by His unconditional grace and
mercy, chose you from before the foundation of the world.
You hold that fast. That's the truth. Bless me the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. And Paul says even in our text
just above this, he tells us that He who saved us and called
us with a holy calling was not according to our works. not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was in Christ Jesus before the world began. O blessed truth, that God in
His own sovereign grace did not leave man in the same condition
He left the angels that fail. The angels that fail had no Savior,
and they still have no Savior, they will have no Savior. They
are in chains of darkness, reserved to damnation. Yet God, but God,
who is rich in mercy, did not leave man in such a condition.
God set his love on some of Adam's race even before the fall. For what reason? If there's nothing
in us, if there's nothing appealing in us, nothing that would cause
God to choose us, why then would God do such a thing? According
to the praise of the glory of His grace. This is the reason
for His own glory. God gives us no other higher
reason than for His own glory. So then, all God chose in election,
He gave to His Son. put us in union with Him. So then Jesus could say things
like this, I in you and you in me. Isn't that something? We are in union by a divine gift
of grace given to the Son. Believer, let this great balm
of God's love and grace soothe your soul in any affliction."
This should soothe our soul in any affliction. These sound words
are to be a rock and foundation where we find rest and shelter
and refuge in the time of great storms. God says, I have loved
you. God said, I have loved you. And
my love is nothing like yours. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. And what is the evidence of his
love? He said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Drawn thee. We were dead in sins,
hopeless, but God in eternal love gave us to His Son that
He should be our Savior, our Redeemer, and our King. And therefore,
God had from the fall began to show us this by His gospel. By His gospel that salvation
should come by His Son and death and sin should be abolished by
the sacrifice, by His sacrifice for sins. What was the message
at the fall? the seed of the woman shall crush,
crush the head of the serpent." How? By him bruising his heel. Bruising his heel. The cross And then God slew that innocent
animal to cover their nakedness and transgression. What is that
but the gospel? That's what God from the beginning,
from the first sinners, began to explain to us is eternal counsel
and love. Thirdly, hold fast to this, believer,
not only that all men are depraved, not only the unconditional election
of God, but you hold this, the limited atonement of Christ.
the limited atonement of Jesus Christ. Afflicted child of God,
believer in Christ, hold fast the form of sound words that
all that the Father gave to Christ, He in obedience by His blood
has forever atoned, redeemed, and reconciled us to God. In
other words, Jesus Christ, who came into the world, had a work.
And we know this. His work was accomplished. He is a successful Savior. That's what we mean by limited
atonement. Jesus Christ finished the work. How insane are the
words of false religion to ascribe atonement to everyone without
exception? How insane is that? This then,
though appealing to the natural man, Truly is no message of comfort,
is it? For if Jesus died for all men,
even those in hell, what hope or confidence is there that His
blood would redeem me? Those who believe this suppose
that God has left the atonement to the choice or the will or
even the faith of man. But this is no confidence, because
if the righteousness and atonement of Christ rests on our faith,
what kind of confidence would you have? Is not our faith often
wavering? Is not our faith so weak and
often just flat-out unbelief? What confidence is there in my
faith? If the work of Christ rests on
my faith or my decision to believe, then there's no hope there. There's no confidence because
it's constantly wavering. But we know whom we believe. And we are persuaded that He
is able to save us who come to God by Him to the uttermost.
We know Him. We believe on Him, even because
He has made a perfect, absolute atonement for our sins. Go over to Hebrews. Look at Hebrews
chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27.
Let's go to verse 26. It says, For then
must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. as it is appointed unto
man once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Chapter 10 and verse 14, for
by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Oh, come ye sinners, poor and
needy, see the great atonement of Jesus Christ was no gamble,
but a sure work for all those sanctified of God. A sure work. You see, Jesus died once. And when it was done right, there's
no more need for death, no more need for payment of sin. I like this. In Isaiah 52, 13,
God says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. That word means successfully. My servant shall be successful. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. These, my friends, are sound
words. All that the Father hath given
me, I, Jesus said, should lose nothing." These are sound words. These
are comforting words. All that Christ died for are
completely redeemed. Redeemed. And He should lose none, but
raise them up at the last day. Jesus said, My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them. And they follow me, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Never perish. Behold, and stand, stand sure
in these words of grace, that Jesus Christ has redeemed all
of his elect people by his one offering, and by his obedience
he has covered our nakedness. with the robe of his righteousness.
That's what limited atonement is. It means that Christ was
successful in saving his people. Number four, hold fast to this,
the irresistible call of the Spirit. I know I've heard people,
I've preached the gospel, and people have been moved by their
emotions, people have been moved by this thing or this experience
or that experience, and they say, oh, you're preaching to
me, yeah, I know, I believe, I think the Spirit's, you're
not gonna have to think about this. When the Spirit calls you,
you will come. You will come. Because His call
is irresistible. His command comes with power. Now I tell you even now, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And those
are the words of the gospel. Those are the words of God's
Word. They're spoken to sinners. Come as you are. Come now. Believe
now. But I know this, my words have
no power except the Spirit accompany them and call you irresistibly
from death to life. This is how men are called, by
the Spirit of God. It's a mysterious and mystical
work of God Himself. He who has called us to life
and faith did so with an irresistible call of His grace and all that
hear it shall and do come. Isn't that comforting? That should
be comforting in the midst of your trials and your afflictions.
You should know this, that everyone that God purposes to call, He
will call and they will come. There's no missing it. Nobody's
going to miss out heaven. There's not going to be one missing
for whom it was reserved. Not one. He will not fail. He will not fail. You see, we were unwilling. We
were unable, because of our spiritual death to come, though we were
chosen and redeemed of Christ, we had no idea. We had no knowledge
of this. We had no understanding of this.
Until when? Until the Spirit of God came
to us at the appointed time and called us by His grace. And neither
will it happen to anyone else until their appointed time. When the Spirit calls, the wind
bloweth where it listeth. You can hear the sound of it,
but you can't tell where it's coming and where it's going,
even so is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. Praise God for His sovereign
Spirit, whose work it is to give new hearts to men, new life to
men. God does not call old men to
faith. You know He doesn't call the
old nature to faith? You know He doesn't call the old nature
to repentance? What He does is that which is born of flesh is
flesh! It'll live flesh and it'll die
flesh. But that which is born of spirit, the new man, is created
in righteousness. And you know what? He hears the
gospel. He understands his need and he comes to Christ. He obeys. The holy man created in us is
willing to come and is given the ability to come. And yes, He being holy must come. Isn't that right? If God creates
in you a new nature that's holy, can you do anything else but
that which is holy? And I tell you, it's obedience,
isn't it? When He says, Come unto Me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
Isn't that what the new nature does? Come in obedience? Can
it do anything else? No. It can't do anything else. And when he called us, we came
as we were. We came as sinners. We came as absolute sinners in
need of an absolute Savior. In Psalm 110, verse 3, he says,
for thy people shall be. Does that sound iffy to you? That doesn't sound iffy to me
at all. It sounds sure. Thy people shall be willing. When? In the day of thy power. We who believe on Jesus Christ
alone, we are his people and Jesus is our King. We have been
taught of God and the only evidence of this is faith in Jesus Christ. You see, my salvation does not
rest on my faith, but rather the object of my faith, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Hold fast, you weary and weak
child of God, for you have been chosen by the Father, redeemed
by the Son, and called by the Holy Spirit. And lastly, hold
fast to this, everyone who is called to faith in Christ shall
be preserved. Preserved. Kept. Kept. Peter says this, he reminds
us that we who are the elect, he says that we are kept by the
power of God. Unto salvation ready to be revealed
at the last time. Those who are chosen and redeemed
to life will be kept. Yes, believer in Christ, we are
exhorted to hold fast these truths. Hold them fast in your heart
and mind. How? Go back to your text really quickly.
Look at this. In verse 13, it says, Hold fast the form of
sound words which thou hast heard of me. Notice how, in faith and
love which is in Christ Jesus. How do we hold these fast? You
hold them fast by faith. Faith. Believing. Believe. That's how we come to
Christ and I'll tell you that's how we are kept in Christ. Through
faith. On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and stay. So then, believer, hold
fast these sound-of-form words, these doctrines. Hold them in
faith and love to Jesus Christ. And notice this. It's not you
holding them, but rather Him holding you. Paul says that in
verse 14. He says, "...that good thing
which is committed unto thee keep." How? by the Holy Ghost. You see, yes, you hold fast these
words, these form of sound doctrines to give you comfort, but recognize
this, that it truly is God's hand holding you. How then shall you fail? How
then shall you lose? What affliction could come your
way that God would not sustain you Hold fast these form of sound
words, no matter what our afflictions. And God will come in due time
and give you great comfort and peace. And hold your hand. I'm going to close with this
scripture. Psalm 66 in verse 8. Oh, bless our God. You people and make the voice
of his praise heard. which holdeth our soul in life,
and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou, O God, hast
proved us, thou hast tried us as silvers tried. Thou brought
us into the net and laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou castest
men to ride over our heads. We went through the fire and
the water, But thou broughtest us out to a wealthy place. The wealthy place is Christ.
Thou has brought us out. Thou has kept us and not suffered
our foot to be moved. Is that not a firm enough foundation
in all your troubles? For God's people, it is. It's
enough. May God bless this to you.