chapter 2. 2nd Timothy 2. It's been quite
a few weeks since we've been in 2nd Timothy. Five weeks to
be exact. And we are picking up today with
verse 11. But let's begin reading in verse
1 and get everything that the Apostle Paul has said here back
in our mind. Speaking to Timothy, Paul said
in verse 1, 2 Timothy 2 verse 1, thou therefore my son Be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Be strong in grace, not
works, but grace. That's what I want to be. That's
what I want us to be, strong in grace, grace, grace, alone. Thou therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please
him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also
strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive
lawfully. The husbandman that laboreth
must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say,
and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that
Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according
to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even
unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure
all things for the elect's sake. that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Paul is exhorting Timothy right
here to consistency and perseverance in the ministry of the gospel.
Consistency and perseverance in the ministry of the gospel.
He's telling Timothy to commit this message of the gospel to
other men who God makes it clear he has raised up to preach this
gospel and to call into the ministry full-time of preaching this gospel.
And he's telling Timothy, you and these men who enter this
ministry with you, you need to commit your all to it. You need
to commit your all. If that's your calling, your
full-time calling, you know, all of God's people need to commit
their all to the ministry of the gospel. He's saying, especially
speaking to Timothy, who was made to be the pastor of Ephesus.
He said, you need to commit your all to it. He said, if a soldier
who is called to go to war enters into battle, that soldier is
not concerned with the affairs of this life. His mind and his
heart is on that fight. He told Timothy, you live on
what's provided for you and you keep your mind and your body
in that fight. And he said, Timothy, you tell the men who will preach
this gospel, that's how important the preaching
of the gospel is. Sometimes I enter into this.
We all know that preaching is important. We all know that.
But sometimes I really enter into just how important this
is. He said, Timothy, you tell the
men who preach it and you tell the men and women who hear it
that the declaration of the gospel is so critical, salvation depends
on it. It's so critical, salvation depends
on it. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God unto salvation. You say, well, I thought God's
people were saved. From eternity past in the mind, will, purpose
of God, I thought they were saved 2,000 years ago on the cross
of Calvary. I thought it was finished 2,000 years ago. It
was. They were saved 2,000 years ago.
But it pleased the Lord by the foolishness of preaching. A foolish
man standing up here feeling so foolish. You know that a lot
of times if a man is preaching correctly, he's going to leave
this pulpit feeling like a fool. You just want to crawl out of
here most of the time. Feeling like you've just done
such a pitiful, poor job. But our Lord said it pleased
Him by this means, the foolishness of preaching, to call those saved
people to Himself, to quicken them and to give them life. It
pleased the Lord by the foolishness of preaching to save them, that
belief, to apply it. And not just preaching anything. Not the preaching of anything
or everything. That's not what calls men and
women from darkness to light. It's the preaching of that saving
cross. It's the preaching of how Christ
died for our sins according to the scripture. It's the preaching of the death,
the burial, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as that
sacrifice payment for sin that satisfied the judgment of God
and satisfied the fulfillment of the law. Christ did it all. Christ did it all. He said, Timothy,
you tell the men that they're going to suffer trouble for preaching
this message. they're going to suffer trouble.
And those of us who believe we're going to suffer trouble for believing
this message. He said, those who preach it,
those who believe it are considered by this world to be evildoers, evildoers for just repeating
what God has written in his word. But he said, Timothy, you tell
the men that preach this gospel, that this is the highest honor
anyone could ever receive in this life. And it really is. This is the highest honor. This
is the greatest privilege that the world could ever know, both
preaching it and hearing it and believing it. So he said, you tell them to
endure whatever hardships come, for the elect's sake, endure
it. Endure whatever hardships come. God's elect need this message. God's elect feed on this message. They live on this message. And
he said, Timothy, here is the message. That's how important
it is. And he said, here is the message.
And this is our text for this morning. All right, look with
me at verse 11. It is a faithful saying, For
if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Verse 14, he said, of these things,
put them in remembrance. Tell them that. I want you to
tell them that. And that's what I'd like to do
this morning. I want to tell you that. Verse 11, he said, it is a faithful
saying, that means this is the truth. Like when Paul said in
1 Timothy 1 verse 15, he said, this is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. He said, that's the truth. That's the truth. And right here,
he's saying, this is the truth. Verse 11, it is a faithful saying,
for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. The whole basis of our hope is
on the fact that we died with Christ. Let me, See if this doesn't simplify
things for all of us. This simplified things for me,
okay? See if this doesn't really resonate with you. When we, you
know, be ready to give every man an answer for the hope that
is in you, all right? When we think about what is our
hope? The whole basis of our hope is on the fact that we died
with Christ. That's the whole basis of our
hope. We died with Christ. Our hope
is not built on seeing a change in our flesh. It's not built
on that. Our hope is not built on the
delusion of living a sinless life on this earth before God.
Our hope is not built on our efforts or our decisions or our
partaking of ordinances like baptism or the Lord's table.
Our hope is built on nothing less than the Lord Jesus Christ's
blood and righteousness. Here is the entirety of our hope,
okay? Verse 11, if we died with him,
then we shall also live with Him. If we died with Him, then
we will live with Him. If God the Father included us
in Christ's death, and it was all His decision, it was all
His decision, the Father chose who would be joined to the fellowship
and the suffering of Christ's death. He did it before the foundation
of the world. It was out of our hands and all
in His hands. Out of our hands, all in His
hands. We do not have a say in this
matter. We are completely at His mercy. But if He included
us, If he chose us in Christ, if
he placed us in Christ, if he sent Christ directly and specifically
to us to die as a substitute for us, verse 11, it's a faithful
saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him. If we died with him, then he
will live forever in us. Because He lives forevermore,
we will live forevermore. That is the ground and the confidence
of our hope. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's
the believer's assurance and confidence and hope. Verse 11,
it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him, we shall
also live with him. All right, now verse 12 says,
if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. That is a difficult
truth for me to comprehend. That's a difficult, very difficult
truth for me to comprehend. We are subjects of our king. That's what we are. We are servants
of our master. He is our Lord. He is our God. He is high. We are low. He is everything. We are nothing. But what this is saying is, if
we have been joined together with Christ in death and in life,
then it is a true union. It is a true union. Our Lord used the illustration
of marriage with himself and his people. Two become one flesh,
he said. Two become one flesh. Turn with me to Ephesians 5.
Ephesians 5 verse 25, it says, husbands love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body."
Not just figuratively speaking, you know, a body, an assembly. It says, we are members of his
body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Inside and out. Verse 31, for this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery.
This is such a mystery. But I speak concerning Christ
and the church. That's how one they are. It is complete, total oneness. Oneness, one flesh. Look at Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 4 says, but
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace, you are saved and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in heaven. When all of God's people get
to heaven. They're going to sit together. First of all, you ever
say to somebody, Hey, let's sit together. Okay. We're all going
to sit together. We're all going to have a seat in the heavenly
place. Verse six, he's raised us up
together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. We are sitting in the same place
that he sits in, and it's because we're sitting in him. Where does
he sit? The throne. He sits in the throne,
on the throne, in our union with him. Wherever he is, that's where
we are. Whatever he does, that's what
we do. Look at 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 1, dare any
of you having a matter against another go to law before the
unjust and not before the saints? Know ye not, do you not know
that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall
be judged by you, Are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things
that pertain to this life? That's talking about the judgment
on the last day. That's what it's talking about,
the judgment on the last day, the judgment of this unbelieving
world and the judgment of the fallen angels who are also called
devils. Paul said, do you not realize
that the saints are going to judge on that day? Now, every
believer here is saying, how? How? John 5 verse 22 says, all
judgment has been committed to the son. It says the father won't even
judge any man or woman. He's placed all judgment in the
hands of Jesus Christ. If that's the case, how could
we possibly be judges on that day? The answer is union with
Him. Complete and total union with
Him. Yes, Christ is the judge. We
must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But we've been vitally joined
into a complete, total oneness with Him. So much so, whatever
He does, that's what we do. You're with me back to 2 Timothy
2. Verse 11. It is a faithful saying, for
if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we suffer,
with him in the fellowship of his sufferings on the cross.
We shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. Now let me go ahead and just
settle your minds. We deny him. All right. In our flesh, we deny him. In
sinful human flesh, every soul on this earth denies him. Peter denied him three times
in one night on the night that he was betrayed.
He said, before that rooster crows in the morning, you're
going to deny me three times. And he did. There's not a soul on this earth
who has not denied him. And the same thing can be said
about believing on him. Verse 13 says, if we believe
not, if we believe not, there's not a soul on this earth that
believes on Christ, unless the spirit of God puts faith in that
soul to believe on Christ. Unless God does a work, no believing
will take place. Faith is not of ourselves, that's
the gift of God. And what faith he gives to us,
it's like it's constantly seeping out of us. The faith that he
does give to us, it's like it constantly just keeps evaporating out of us. The apostle
said, Lord, increase our faith. The Lord kept saying to them,
are you yet without faith? We have to constantly say, Lord,
we believe, Help our unbelief. So what this means is these ifs,
if, if, if, these ifs are not conditions on our part. These
are conditions on Christ's part. The end of verse 13 says, yet,
if we believe not yet. He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. If he abides faithful in not
denying us, if he abides faithful in keeping us from denying him,
stopping us from denying him, then in the end, we won't deny
him. If he abides faithful in supplying
us with faith to believe on him, he has to keep giving faith to
believe on him. And if he abides faithful in
that, then in the end, we will believe on him. In the end, we
will leave this world believing on him, if he abides faithful. If we are kept by the power of
God, we will be saved. And if we've been joined into
complete union with Christ, then we will be kept by the power
of God. We will be. So verse 11 says, it is a faithful
saying for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him,
he also will deny us. Every soul who was not joined
into that union with Christ will be denied. That's the warning.
That's the warning. Lord, join me to Christ. Do a
work in me. Do a work for me. Because if we were joined into
that union, his faithfulness will overrule all of our sinfulness. It'll overrule every bit of it.
In verse 13 says, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful,
he cannot deny himself. That's the message. That's our
hope that you will know what the ground and confidence of
our hope is. It's that right there. That he
abides faithful and he cannot deny himself. If this is his
will, then he will have his way. To that we say Amen. Amen, our
hope is built on that. Our hope is built on that right
that is built on him.