Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Let me read some of these verses.
And we'll go to the Lord in prayer. I'll start reading in verse 7. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved
us and called us with that 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, but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher
and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. with which cause
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. 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 Holy Ghost which
dwelleth in us, this thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia
be turned away from me, of whom is Phagellus and Homogenes. The
Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed
me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome,
he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord granted
to him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day, and
in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest
very well. Our Father, bless your word that
we have just read. Give us of thy spirit this morning. Instruct us, be our teacher.
Enable us to truly worship you in spirit and in truth this morning.
Our Father, we thank you for your many, many blessings. All
the temporal blessings we have, we recognize that our Heavenly
Father has given them to us. All the spiritual blessings we
have and need we have in Christ, thou hast given us. Thank you,
Father. Enable me to rightly divide the word of truth and
to speak in the power of thy spirit. In Christ Jesus' name
I pray, and amen. The title of this lesson, Be
Not Ashamed. Be not ashamed of the gospel.
It's amazing we have to be told that, isn't it? But we do, we
do. We have to be told time and time
again, be not ashamed of the gospel. Now Paul tells us, There
in verse seven, what God has not given us, he has not given
us the spirit of fear. He's not given that to us. When
I was reading this, I realized that when someone is fearful,
when you're fearful of something other than God, when you're fearful
of something, there's another spirit involved in that, the
spirit of fear, and it's not of God. And this kind of fear
is debilitating. It will shut you down. You know,
the scripture says the fear of man, and that's really what the
whole fear stems from when we have a fear of men. It says the
fear of man bringeth a snare. It'll cause you and me, we have
that kind of fear. It'll cause us to compromise. It'll literally cause us to compromise
the gospel or to shut up and not say anything when we ought
to speak up. It'll cause us to shut up instead of speak up.
Now there's three things Paul mentions here in verse seven,
three gifts. One is power. One is love, and
one is a sound mind. God's spirit, Paul says, grants
believers power not to fear, not to fear, but to be bold in
the face of opposition. I thought of Daniel put in the
lion's den. I thought of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego put in a furnace of fire. That boldness came from
God. That boldness came from him.
And Paul was saying also here, his boldness to preach the gospel
is of God. It's of God. God gives us boldness. He gives his preachers and his,
and his people boldness to witness the gospel in the face of danger.
How many martyrs have been burned at the stake? and yet were bold and never denied
the Lord Jesus Christ. That comes of God, that's of
God, that kind of power is of God. And then he mentions love,
which is characteristic, listen, the number one characteristic
of the indwelling of God's spirit is this, love. Now, we naturally would probably,
every one of us would probably say faith, and that's so. But I think the number one characteristic
is love, because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart.
When it's shed abroad in the heart, it's coming out. It's
coming out. You love the brethren. By this
shall all men know you're my disciples, that you believe the
doctrine of election. It doesn't say that. By this
shall all men know you're my disciples, if you have love one
to another. Love. And then the other gift is a
sound mind. In regeneration, God gives a
sound mind. In regeneration, God puts us
in our right mind. I mentioned this last week. And
in this sound mind is imparted wisdom and self-control, as opposed to fear as opposed
to fear that destroys a sound mind and causes you to fear everything
but God, everything but Him. And a sound mind is evidenced
by two, there's two things by which it's evidenced, I think.
First of all, faith. You believe, you honestly believe
God. You believe God. And I thought
about this one. I've been talking to someone
about this this past week. I think another evidence of a
sound mind is contentment. I believe it's contentment. When
you're content with what the Lord has given you, you're content
with Him. You're content with what He's given you. You're content
with where He's put you. You're content with what's going
on. This is the Lord's will. Eli said, it's the Lord, let
him do as he pleases. A sound mind is evidenced by
faith, it's evidenced by contentment. Now verses 8 and 12, Paul tells
Timothy to be bold and unashamed of the gospel and of him, his
prisoner. You know, Paul considered himself
to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, not wrong. He never
considered himself a prisoner of Nero. He considered himself
to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, a captive of Christ. I'm his. I'm his. Lock, stock, and barrel. I'm
his. And this is what he encourages
Timothy here. He says, don't be ashamed. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed
of the gospel. Timothy's encouraged not to be
ashamed of the Lord, of the testimony that is the gospel, the testimony
of Christ and Him crucified, the testimony of Christ and His
righteousness, the testimony of Christ and His substitutionary
work, His righteousness, His resurrection, His ascension,
His representation of us. Don't be ashamed of that. Don't
be ashamed of that. Don't be ashamed of the gospel
by which God has saved you. You wouldn't think that would
happen, but it does. It does. Never be ashamed of the person
of Christ. No matter how educated the people
we preach to, we are never to be ashamed of the gospel. The
world may think this is an old, just an old, outdated, Version
of the gospel. It's just outdated. No, it's
not. It's never outdated. The gospel is never outdated.
Never. It's God's gospel and it'll stay
that way and it'll stay the same all the way to the end. And it's, and as I said, it's
God's gospel. It's the gospel of his glory.
How can I be ashamed of the gospel of God's glory? It's the gospel
of our salvation. It's how God has saved me and
you. It's our salvation. We should
never be ashamed to tell anybody about that. Peter says, be ready
to give a reason of the hope that's in you. If anybody asks
you with fear and trembling, be ready to tell him. We never have a reason to be
ashamed. Paul was in prison and he said, I'm not ashamed. You
know, he says that in Romans, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
even though I sit in prison, and I preached Christ, and I
preached him in his glorious person and his power, and here
I sit in prison. Well, I'm not ashamed of him,
this is his purpose. This is his purpose. Then Paul exhorts Timothy to
be a partaker of the sufferings, the sufferings that come with
the gospel. I realize this, we've lived comfortably,
the church, The church in this country has lived comfortably
for so long. We really haven't suffered for
it. No, we really haven't. I don't know if anybody personally
has been burned at the stake. I don't know if anybody's been
put in prison. I don't know if anyone's been beheaded like John
the Baptist. We've had it so easy. I do, I think we've had
it so easy, so comfortable. But now listen, we still live
in an ungodly world. you and I could wake up tomorrow
to a different situation. It could change that fast. It
really can. And so he tells Timothy, Timothy,
be a partaker of the sufferings that come with the gospel. Don't
try to avoid them. You know, it's like, you know,
well, I know these people don't believe this, you know, the doctrine
of election, let's just say that. So I'll just stay off that. Don't
avoid that. Actually, that's the one I'm
going to touch on. If I'm preaching to a crowd and their problems
with that, that's more than likely what I'm going to preach on. I think it was Rolf Barner said,
when God saves a sinner, when he's going to save a sinner,
he's going to meet that sinner at his point of rebellion. My point or your point of rebellion
is that's where God's going to cross your path. Wherever your
point of rebellion is. And so he says here, Timothy,
don't avoid. Don't try to avoid the sufferings
that come with the gospel, partake of them, embrace the sufferings. Embrace the sufferings that come
with it. Because if you try to avoid them, that kind of conduct
will cause you to compromise the gospel. And when we compromise
the gospel, we do not have the gospel anymore. We don't have
it. It's gone. Suffer for the gospel
and rely on God's power to keep you faithful. Rely on his power to keep you
faithful in the midst of suffering. And you, and I told you last
week, you got to remember the, in the situation, the context
in which Paul's writing, Nero is persecuting the Christians.
I mean, this is at one of the height of persecutions. And he's
telling Timmy, don't back down. Don't back down. Don't be ashamed. Don't let up, you know, just
keep plowing forward. keep on plowing forward and here's
the reason why he says in verse 9 who has saved us you see let
me read verse 8 with this now be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord that's the gospel nor of me his
prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel
according to the power of God as God enables you to God who
has saved us this is here's why we're not ashamed and here's
why we don't back down God has saved us. Has God saved you? I have to say from time to time,
I'm more impressed with that than I am at other times. But
from time to time, it astounds me that God has saved me. Because I know many he's passed
by. I've had friends he's passed by. God has saved me, like reaching down and taking
a bran and plucking it out of the fire. I told someone this past week,
I reminded him what Henry said, I said, when grace is no more
amazing, is no more grace. If it's no more amazing grace
to you, it's no more grace. God who has saved us. Let me
point out something here. One of the things that is in
this statement is this, God's sovereignty. God has saved us. He didn't ask me. He didn't ask
you. He didn't ask if he could do
it. He didn't ask if we wanted to
be saved. God saved us. He sovereignly sovereign mercy
in sovereign grace he saved us and not according to our works
it's not according to our works not according to our marriage
grace listen and this grace was given to us in Christ not according
to our works and it was given to us in Christ before time began isn't it astounding how man can
take the scriptures and twist it and How can you not read that
and leave it in its context and understand that grace is sovereign
and it happened before I was ever born. It was given to me
before I was ever born, before creation, before anything was
created, who has 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. Oh, you really have to put a
twist on scriptures to make that say something else
other than what it's just saying. God has saved us. The grace he
has bestowed upon us was bestowed upon us in Christ before anything
existed. And he did it sovereignly. Sovereignly. And not only has he saved us
and given us grace in Christ, but he also called us. Those
whom the Lord has chosen in Christ, loved in Christ, saved in Christ,
he called in Christ. Now here's something that jumped
out at me. I don't know if this jumped out
at you. Verse nine, listen, listen to
this. Who has saved us and called us. Which came first? Which came first? Which is first?
He saved us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
In time, he called us. That is so clear. The saving
came first. The calling came second. He saved
us. It says, who has saved us and
called us and called us. And this calling here, he says
here, this calling is a holy calling. God can't be charged
with sin. He can't be charged with sin. It's a call from darkness to
light, from sin to righteousness, from sin to holiness. You know,
when God saved me and I know when he saved you, for the first
time in our lives, we had a desire to be holy. We actually had a
desire to be righteous, to be right with God and to do right. I want to do right. I want to
live a life of godliness. That's of God. That's part of
the calling. You're called to Christ. And
you're called to righteousness. You're called to holiness. You're
called to godliness. And that call is continual. It's
continual. It's not sporadic. It's continual. It's a holy, it's a holy calling. It's of God. It can only be holy
if it's of God. And then listen, it's according
to his eternal purpose, which was given to us. This grace and
purpose was given to us in Christ before creation. It says over
in Ephesians 3.11, that according to the eternal purpose, which
he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. My salvation, this is astounding
to me. And I ask the Lord, I ask the
Lord continually, keep it astounding. Make it astounding to me. Make
me to stand in awe. As David said, make me. that
song we make me make me to walk in the paths of righteousness
Lord make me make me to stand in all of your of your of your
grace and your mercy God saved me God saved you on purpose he did it on purpose God you
know the vast majority of the of the religious world so-called
christianity look at the cross as a rescue attempt on the human
race the cross is not a rescue attempt on the human race it
is the salvation and purpose of God of a multitude of sinners
no man can number that's what the cross is it's for his glory
and God's going to have a people He's gonna have a people if that
was it listen if it was a rescue attempt on the human race the
fallen angels would have the same thing They would have the
same thing. They don't have anything They
are doomed. Can you imagine that doomed?
There is no Savior. There's no hope zero Zero yeah
here I stand preaching the gospel God is sending out the gospel
here and i hold out hope for everyone here everyone comes
in this door and sits down listens my hope is that god will save
him because there is a savior for sinners there's there is
a savior for sinners and then listen this salvation
is revealed through jesus christ defeated death he says in verse
10 but is now this this salvation that according to the purpose
and grace of God is now manifest it's revealed by the appearing
of our Savior Jesus Christ who hath abolished he destroyed death the thing everybody fears he
hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel it
began with God and You go back in the Old Testament,
it's revealed through the promises, it's revealed in prophecies,
it's revealed in types and pictures, it's revealed in the shadows
and the law, the ceremonial law. But now listen, when he says
here, it's now made manifest, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and
the patriarchs, they saw Christ. They believe in the resurrection.
Job said, I know my Redeemer liveth. Abraham, Christ said,
Abraham saw my day and was glad. But now here's why he's saying
the full, the full light, the full light of life and immortality
has now been brought completely to light. You and I have more
light than they had. The Lord Jesus Christ has come.
We know who he is. They knew it was the Lord. They
knew it was Jehovah. We know him now by Jesus Christ. We know his name, Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Emmanuel, thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, God with us. we
know who he is and we have we have in the whole Word of God
a clear revelation of life and immortality who it is how we
have it we have we have that line that's why he said he's
been brought to life we have no we have no excuse not to believe
and he says here that Christ has abolished he's destroyed
death death. You know, the only thing people
really, really, really fear is death. You know, if they get
really sick and they go to the doctor, they're basically coming
down to the end of it. They're trying not to die. I
mean, it's good not to feel sick, but the ultimate end is trying
not to die. The human race doesn't want to
die. You know, we weren't You know, man wasn't just made to
die. He wants to live. I want to live. But I want to
live now, not till I'm 90, not till I'm 100. You know, it has
nothing to do with years now. There was a time it had to do
with years. I want to live till I'm old. Well, that's no fun. My mom keeps saying it's not
for sissies. I don't know how many times she's
told me that, getting old is not for sissies. I say, mom,
that's not politically correct nowadays, is it? But now, I want to live. I want life. I don't just want
to live. X amount of days or time. I don't
want to just live forever because I'm going to, you're going to,
whether with the Lord or without him. Here's what I want. Here's what I understand, and
here's what I know, and here's what I want. I want life. I don't want to just live. I
want life. I want the life of God, eternal
life. That's the quality of it, not
the quantity of it. I want life. That's what I want. And it says
here, he hath destroyed death. He has destroyed Satan. He has
put an end to the law that demanded my death, the law that demanded
that I die. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. He has now satisfied that law
and it's over with. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. He has taken away the sting of
death. O death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where's your
victory? Where's your victory? The Lord
Jesus Christ took the sting of death into himself and took it
away. It has no sting in it now. Of course, after watching my
father pass, I really think a whole lot more on what that day will
be like, if I'm not killed in an accident, what that day will
be like to actually come down to the point where you are going
to leave your body. The soul is going to leave the
body. I'm going to depart. Paul said, I'm ready to depart. And
I can't help but think often, what is that going to be like?
that last hour, that last breath, that last gasp, and to know that
I'm going to, out of this world, to meet God. I'm gonna meet Him. And by grace, I'm gonna meet
Him in Christ. And my advocate, my mediator,
my surety, my high priest, my representative, my substitute,
is gonna stand for me. And I ain't gonna stand on one
thing about me. Not one thing in my life, no matter how old
I live, is not gonna be about me. It's all gonna be about Him. I preached in thy name. I've
cast out devils in thy name. By His grace, I won't say that. I won't say that. By His grace. And neither will you. He's destroyed. He's taken the sting out of death
and he's abolished the second death. You know, there's a second
death. There is a second death. The scripture teaches. The first
one is this natural death. That second one is eternal. Eternal. And Paul says, and I'm going
to wind this down in verse 11. Paul says, where unto? I'm appointed
preacher. I have been appointed a preacher
of God and an apostle to the Gentiles to preach this gospel. And I'm not going to back down,
Timothy, and don't you do it. You know, I believe God has appointed
me to preach the gospel. It took, it took, listen, it
took a number of years for me to come to, for me to realize
that. I thought, who am I? God wouldn't call me as a preacher
or pastor, but I realized that I am appointed a preacher and
I am appointed a preacher of the gospel and nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. I'm
not an entertainer. I'm a preacher. I'm a preacher. One of the, I guess one of the
great, the best compliments that I've got from Henry that I, that
I've, Like Mary, you know, it says she healed in her heart. He told me, it was before he
passed away, I was preaching to Paul, he said, God made a
preacher out of you. And I tell you, that's one of
the greatest compliments and most humbling compliments I've
ever had. God made a preacher out of you. Where to I am appointed
preacher and nothing else. And when I can't preach, I have
no use to be here. I have no use. Although the Lord
will take me when it's his purpose. I know that. All right, we'll pick up on verse
12 Lord willing next week. Thanks.