If you will turn with me to the
book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. I hope by the grace and mercy
of God to preach from this chapter this morning and also out of
Hebrews 9 which we looked at during the first message. Now
let's read these first several verses here in 2 Timothy chapter
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which
is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our
Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from
my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance
of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see
thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.
When I call to remembrance the unfamed 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. Wherefore I put thee in
remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee
by the putting on of my hands. 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 hath called us with a
holy calling, not according to our 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 life through the gospel, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles, For the witch cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of his word. I invite you again to turn with
me to 2 Timothy chapter 1. And if you have an additional
marker, put it in Hebrews chapter 9. This is Paul's second letter
to this dear servant of God and fellow minister of the gospel. I don't know how old Timothy
was when he wrote this letter to him, feel certain that he
was a young man, a young minister. And he was very close to Paul.
He was a talented young man. God had given him some wisdom.
God had given him a gift, the gift of communication, the gift
to be able to tell what he knew in his heart. And the time of the writing of
this book is the beginning of a new age. We've been on this
way a long time when you and I were born. But we're in the
early days here at the church. We're in the early days of this
new age, this gospel age, the dawn of the end of the world. The types and the figures had
all been fulfilled in Christ, and gospel preaching is now center
stage in the worship of God. And because of this, Being so,
and being so contrary to what the people had received by tradition
from their fathers, there was great persecution. Great persecution. And it abounded out of traditional
religion. The persecutions they faced were
Much more than just disagreements. We have disagreements in our
day. That's what we have. Somebody gets mad. Somebody gets
hurt. Somebody gets offended. And they
leave the church. And they don't go home. They
go right down the street and start another church. That's
why we got a church on every corner everywhere. Somebody said,
well, we're all preaching the same thing. If we were, we'd
all be meeting in one building. We're all not preaching the same
thing. That's why all these buildings are up and down the road. They
were much more than just disagreements or even church splits. Persecutions
in their days was often being delivered to prison. Paul was
in prison when he wrote this. And he said, I'm not ashamed.
Here was a minister of God. He has God's gospel, and he's
preaching this gospel to the world, and the world despises
it so much that they have him in prison. And now here he is,
a minister of God in prison. Boy, that would make you want
to throw your hands up, wouldn't it? Well, he said, I ain't ashamed. He never one time ever said he
was the prisoner of Rome. He said, I'm the Lord's prisoner. I'm here on purpose. In another
place, he said, I'm in this prison, and it's an open door for me
to preach to the royal family. I'm preaching to kings. I'm standing
before kings, I'm standing before rulers and magistrates delivering
his gospel, and he did it by putting me in prison. I'm the
Lord's prisoner. Oh, that I could see that in
every situation in life. Huh? I belong to him. Am I bankrupt? Well, if he puts
me there, I'll rejoice in it. And he's the only one who can.
Isn't he? Doesn't he run all that? Sure you do. In 1 Corinthians 15,
arguing the necessity of the resurrection of Christ, Paul
says this, else what shall they do which are baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not at all? To be publicly baptized
in their days, was often a death sentence. People don't want to be baptized
today, do they? They don't want to be baptized
today. But what about that day? You baptizing that day, it could
mark you out for martyrdom. And knowing these things, Paul
wrote to this young preacher, and he said in 2 Timothy 1.8,
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partakers of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. What power? Huh? What power? Well, he wrote
to the Romans, and he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. How? How? How is the gospel the power
of God unto salvation? Well, it's the power of God in
unto salvation in the effectual ministry that only God can make
men able ministers of the Spirit. That's the first thing. How are
they going to preach if God don't send them? They're just out here
beating the air and running and doing this and doing that and
work a lifetime doing something that's not accomplishing anything.
The power of God comes through a man that God enables to preach,
whom he chose, ordained, gifted, sent, empowered. And he preached. And God blessed
him. Secondly, providentially, as
effectual doors are opened to preach in, Paul said, pray for
me that God would open an effectual door. I don't want to just talk. Huh? I want to minister. I want to somehow reach men's
hearts. I don't want to talk to your
head. I want to talk to your heart. And God's the only one
who can allow that. Oh, and then thirdly, by an inward
work of God the Spirit making men and women able to be partakers
of it. enlightening blind eyes, unstopping
deaf ears, softening hard hearts, imparting faith to chosen sinners.
Its power is manifested without external force. See, that's what
cunning craftiness does. It tries to invent things to
make something happen. I don't have to make anything
happen. If God does it, it'll happen. There won't be no external
force about it. No cunning, craftiness. Just
a man stands up and preaches and God opens his heart to receive. Power is manifested without external
force and the extent of it is unto salvation. It's the power
of God unto salvation. It's the same thing needed and
used the entire length of faith. from the beginning to the end. These all died in faith. As sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. This
is the power of God. Now watch this, 2 Timothy 1.9,
Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling. What's that mean? That means
he saved us without compromise of his holy character. And he called us the same way.
Same way. He calls men to salvation and
manifests himself to be just in their justification. God does
this. It's a holy calling. He has saved
us and called us with a holy calling. Now what's this? Not
according to our works. Now I'm not opposed to good works.
The Bible encourages us to do good works. But I'm going to
tell you something. There's no part of your works
that could be called holy. No. Now if all have sinned, now
listen, and come short of the glory of God. What's His glory? That's His character. Anything
I do comes way down. That's why salvation don't depend
on that. Good works is the fruit of salvation,
not the cause of it. If it's not according to our works,
then what's it according to? Here it is, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. The word salvation here has to
do with a work began in eternity past and followed by a work in
time. Everything God's purpose to do,
He did and is yet doing. Everything. God's not frustrated. Religion has God frustrated. It's like He's leaning over the
banister looking down and He's just wringing His hands and hoping
somebody will believe. That's not God. Everything God
purposed to do, He does. Huh? He ruleth in the armies
of heaven, now listen, and among the inhabitants of this earth.
And none can stay his hand. You can't resist his work. How
do I know if God works? You can't resist it. You might
want to, but you can't. And I'll be honest with you,
if he works in you, you don't want to resist it. He has people
willing in the day of his power. This has to do with a work began
in eternity past and followed by a work in time. God saved
us and then he called us with a holy call. He saved us when
he chose us in his Son before the foundation of the world,
Ephesians 1.4. He saved us by an act of sovereign
predestination to the adoption of children by way of union with
his Son, Ephesians 1.5. Galatians 4, verses 4-6, they
all say the same thing. God saved us from the beginning
when He made full provision for us in His Son. In Him, Paul said,
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are
complete in Him. How do you get in Him? God puts
you in Him. Then what's faith all about?
That's God giving you the gift to see what He gave you. Read
Ephesians 1. Ain't that what it says? That in ages to come, He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. God saved us from the beginning
when He made full provision for us in His Son. Paul said in Ephesians
1, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Everything required by the holy
character of God was provisioned in His Son. This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. The result of which, he goes
on to say, is that we should be holy. That's why He put us
in the Son. No other way to be holy except
to be in Christ. If you're in Christ, you are
holy. You ain't trying to be holy,
you're holy. He chose us in Christ that we should be holy, now watch
this, and without blame. I always say I got a lot of fault. Let me tell you something, not
in Christ, Not in Christ. Read Colossians chapter 1 and
see what that says. He said that we're without spot
and without wrinkle. We're unblemable. Now watch this. Unreprovable. Watch that mean. That means even God can't find
any fault. That's what that means. Unreprovable. in His sight. Harmony. It's a calling in harmony
with the whole character of God, a calling that honors His justice
and His righteousness, His wrath, and at the same time manifests
His mercy and grace and kindness and love. Everything working
in harmony in the character of God. It's a holy calling. And it's not according to our
works. This calling is according to God's own purpose and grace
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, before creation,
before the fall, before we were ever born or did any good or
evil. And according to 2 Timothy 1.10,
Jesus Christ hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. Through the gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is
set forth in the Word of God from the beginning to the end.
It's all concerning the Christ of God. And the Bible, as it
teaches these things, makes three plain declarations. Read it from
beginning to end, and here's what you're going to find. From
Genesis to Malachi, the Bible says someone's coming. It may have a lot to say about
the law, and a lot to say about this, and lessons of life, and
rebellion, and wrath, and a lot. But here's what it's saying.
Here's the message of this book from Genesis to Malachi. Someone's
coming. Somebody's coming. He'll be the seed of the woman.
A virgin shall conceive. and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Immanuel." God with us. Somebody's coming. He's the promised seed of Abraham. To Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, talking about the Jews, but of his seed which is Christ. A prophet like Moses, a priest
like Melchizedek, a king like David. Somebody's coming. He's typified, prefigured, prophesied
throughout the Old Testament to Him give all the prophets
witness that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sins. Huh? That's what it says. It
says way back yonder in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
all down through the Bible. And then in Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, the Bible declares somebody came. This one prophesied
of, this one pictured and prefigured throughout the Old Testament,
appeared. Isn't that what Paul is telling
Timothy here? He saved us, 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, was manifested in this man called Jesus. Manifested. It wasn't just an empty promise,
Russell. A man appeared. He appeared exactly
as God prophesied him. Huh? The son of a virgin. Somebody's coming. He's typified,
prefigured, all these things. And then in Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, he tells us somebody's come to this glorious person,
set forth throughout the Old Testament, has tied all the promises
of God, everything pinned to Him. Blessings and gifts and provision
and destinies and revelations and hopes. And exactly as he
was foretold, this man came and dwelt in this world, lived, walked,
was seen of men for thirty-three and a half years. Examined him. That's what you were to do with
the sacrifice, wasn't it? Examine him. Make sure he don't
have a blemish. And then he was taken, the Scripture
said, and by wicked hands was crucified and slain. And beginning
with the book of Acts and continuing through the book and including
the book of Revelation. The Bible says somebody's coming
back. Somebody's coming back. We know that when He shall appear,
we'll be like Him. He's coming back. The person this book speaks of
is Jesus of Nazareth, a particular man. born in time and yet a son
from everlasting. A child is born, a son is given. And the whole of God's purpose
and grace which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the world
began is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ. Now how do I know He's the Christ?
Because He has abolished death. He's abolished it. There's nothing
to fear for a believer in death. Death is an open door into glory. That's what it is. An open door
into glory. It's not the end of something,
it's the beginning. He has abolished death and listen,
He brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. This
world don't know what eternal life is. Listen to them talk. They're talking about fishing
in heaven and there's no end to it. When they talk about people
dying and what they're going to do and what... Let me tell
you what heaven's all about. Christ. It's all about him. John saw the Spirit
of God, carried him up, let him see it. What'd he see? He seen
Christ. He seen angels falling down on their knees before Him.
All God's elect fell down on their faces before Him. All God's
people throwing their crowns at His feet. It's all about Christ. Made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Now let me tell you something.
John said this over in 1 John chapter 5. He said this is the
record. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life. And this life, not what this
world calls life, not what you imagine life to be, but eternal
life. Eternal life is to know God. This is the record. God has given
to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Now listen to this next statement.
He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son,
whatever else he has, he hath not life. Is that too hard? That's exactly what the Bible
says. You can have wealth, but he that
hath not Christ hath not life. You can have acceptance with
men and a religious confidence. Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, many
had all the confidence of the people, but they didn't have
life. You can have the respect of family
and friends, but if you have not the Son, you have not life.
He that hath the Son hath life. Eternal life is to see the Son
as God has set him forth. And having fully set him forth
in type and figure, the Apostle Paul declares three appearances
of Christ concerning the salvation of his elect. And they're all
three declared over in Hebrews chapter 9. The first appearance
of Christ he declares in Hebrews 9.26. Read it for yourself. Having set forth the ceremonial
law concerning the atonement, the tabernacle of God, having
a place of service in the holy place, a place of service representing
this world and a holy place representing heaven itself. A high priest
representing Christ and a sacrificial lamb representing the death of
the substitute. Once every year, he said, the
high priest alone took the blood of the atonement, entered into
the holy place, sprinkled the blood of the lamb upon the mercy
seat over the Ark of the Covenant. And this he did every year because
the blood of an animal sacrifice was not sufficient to put away
sin, but it was sufficient to set forth the coming Redeemer
in type and figure. He says in verse 25, Know yet
that he should offer himself often as a high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with the blood of others. For
then must he have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now, verse 26, Once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's why he appeared. Did he accomplish what he came
to do? Yes, he did. How do I know that? Because God raised him from the
dead. Deliberate for our offenses.
Now listen, raised again for our justification. I know He
put away my sin. He raised Him from the dead. Not that Christ is not God or
did not exist before His incarnation. He was present from the beginning
and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He tells us
that. He was present and active in the covenant of grace, in
the counsel of God, and in the creation of the world. He had
all kinds of pre-advent appearances. He appeared as Melchizedek to
Abraham. He appeared as the angel of the
Lord. He appeared in a burning bush. He appeared in an oven
with three Hebrew children. One, he said, is like unto the
Son of God. How did he know that was the
Son of God in that hut? Well, how did that heathen know
that? Well, let me tell you something. When God reveals his Son, you'll
know who he is. Heathen or not heathen. But this
appearance of the promised Messiah, this appearance was to accomplish
the redemption of God's people. That's why he appeared. How did
he appear? In the person of a man, a representative
man, a substitute. He did so to put away sin. What's he mean by putting away
sin? What's he talking about? Sin's
still here, isn't it? So that's not what he's talking
about. First of all, he's talking about the filth of it. The filth
of it. All those glistering saints John
saw around the throne had washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. He puts away the filth of it.
Revelation 1, 5 said unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. And God speaks to us in Ezekiel
16 and he describes us in the way he finds us, cast out at
the day of our birth. Our navel was not cut, our umbilical
still hanging out in the world. Neither was thou washed in water
to supple thee, nor salted at all, nor swaddled at all, and
no eye pitied thee to have compassion on thee. Cast out in an open
field subject to beasts and serpents and bugs. And when I passed by,
I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. That's how God found
us. And I said unto thee, when I was in thy blood, live, and
then I spread my skirt over thee. I covered thy nakedness. And
I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord God, and thou becamest mine, and I washed you. I washed you with pure water,
the water of His Word, and the washing of the Spirit.
He said, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and
anointed thee with oil. He put away the filth of our
sin by his own blood. And secondly, he put away the
guilt of it by his atoning sacrifice. He satisfied divine justice when
he put away our sin. And God's elect have been judged,
condemned, and put to death in a substitute. And the death of
their substitutes satisfied the justice of God, and by way of
a representative righteousness they are all justified, and God
is just in that justification. They're perfect. What does a
man have to be to be saved? He has to be perfect. Ha! Ain't nobody perfect. No, they're
not. But they are in Christ. They
are in Him. They're perfect. Near to God,
to him writer said, nearer I cannot be, for in the person of his
son I am as near as he. And then he goes on and says
this, it's God that justifies, who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. And where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. Everything religion
does is an offering for sin. They're trying to make up for
their guilt. And you can't put guilt away
that way. The only way guilt can be put away is through the
sacrifice of Christ. And that's why he talks about
applying the blood or sprinkling the blood on the conscience.
That's what he's talking about. Paul said, we draw near to God
with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
And then thirdly, he put away the punishment of our sins through
his suffering and death. God's not going to punish those
for whom he punished Christ. It's not going to happen. Listen to this. And I tell you,
if you ever get to the place where you understand what you
are, you're going to jump up and down like a holy roller when
you hear this. Romans 8.1 said, There is therefore
now, right now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. No condemnation. You can look at yourself in the
mirror and you can't say that. Ain't no way. You can sit around
with your eyes closed and hope about it, but you can't say that.
The only way you can see that and say that is in Christ. In
Christ. Once, he said, in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And then the second appearance
of Christ you find declared in Hebrews 9.24. He said, For Christ is not entered
into holy places made with hands, which are figures of the truth,
but into heaven itself, now, now watch this, to appear in
the presence of God for us. That same One they walked with,
talked with, ate with, listened to, and were taught by, He appears
now in the presence of God. Why does he ever go up there?
For us. Isn't that what it says? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen, who's even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. His presence at the right hand
of God is all that's needed for intercession. He don't have to
say a word. Just His presence, that's what
makes intercession. His appearance before God. The substitute, the representative,
the one where all provision was made, now sits before God. And He's your intercession. And nothing, listen to this,
he goes on in Romans 8, he says, nothing shall separate you from
the love of God. which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Nothing. Oh, listen to this. John said,
if any man sin, I've always thought that ought to read, when any
man sin, because he gonna sin. If any man sin, listen to this,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. My righteousness is his righteousness. That's mine. Of God are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, listen, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2.6
that all his elect are raised up together in Christ Jesus and
made to sit together in heavenly places in him. There's a man
in glory, and that's my hope. That's my hope. He was there as God from the
beginning, but now as the God-man mediator, and as our representative
and substitute has ascended into glory, he now sits. He now sits, appearing before
God for us. And then lastly, Here's the third
appearance of Christ. Listen to this. Hebrews 9, verse
28. And so, having said all these
things, and so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,
not everybody, but all God's elect. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that looked for him, shall
he appear the second time, but not as a babe in Bethlehem's
manger, and not in the humility of a sacrifice as a substitute. When he appears the second time,
it's without sin unto salvation. And he come as the lowly Jesus
was laid in the manger in Bethlehem. When He comes this time, He's
coming with all the glory of His Father's house. All of the
angels, all of the redeemed, all with Him. To them who look for Him, who
are they? That's those for whom He died,
and those for whom He now appears before God, and those who have
an interest in Him, drawn by the Father to the Son. Those
upon whom the means of grace have been exercised, those are
objects of God's divine mercy and grace and love. Those led
by divine providence to hear, given ears to hear and eyes to
see, made willing in the day of His power, and unto them that
look for Him. Who are they? Those who have looked on Him. and to Him, and are still looking
for Him. That person whose hope is in
Christ, He looks for His return. That one who put away our sin,
entered into heaven without sin, shall appear again without sin,
and receive us unto Himself. That where He is, there we may
be also. That's a good hope, isn't it?
It is for a sinner. Self-righteous man, I haven't
said anything. I don't have anything for self-righteous
people, except a warning. But those in Christ, that's a
good hope. All our hope's in Him, and He's
all. He's all. What better hope could
you want? Huh? What else could you want
besides what God's given you in Christ? It's so far above
anything that you can imagine, ain't worth talking about. Heir
of God. What's that mean? That means
everything in this world is mine. It's mine. God give it to me
if I want it. He gave them Canaan. It didn't
belong to them. It belonged to God. But being
heirs of God, He said, I'm going to take it away from you and
give it to them. It belongs to them. And He does that yet. He uses all ungodly men and services
and things in this world. The only reason he preserves
them and keeps them in this world is for the good of his elect.
That's it. Oh, God help us to see the glory
of his son. And this glory was manifested. Manifested.