A Letter to a Young Preacher

I want to speak to you this morning
from the book of 2 Timothy. If you have your Bibles and would
like to follow as I read the scriptures, turn to 2 Timothy
1, verse 8. Now, the title of this message
is A Letter to a Young Pastor. A Letter to a Young Pastor. You
might call it excerpts from A Letter to a Young Pastor. But this is
one of my favorite passages of scripture. Now, the Apostle Paul
was in prison in Rome, and he was in prison for preaching the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul did not call himself
the prisoner of the Roman Empire or the prisoner of Nero or the
prisoner of the religious leaders. He called himself the prisoner
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Paul knew that these
experiences through which the Lord was taking him was for the
glory of God and for the good of his people. He talked about
over in the second chapter of this same epistle how that he
was in bonds, in jail, in fetters. But the word of God was not bound.
And he said, I endure these things I endure these things for the
elect's sake." That's why I'm here. I'm here for the glory
of God, and I'm here for the good of God's people. So even
in prison, he was not defeated, and he was not discouraged. He
said, oh, I'm cast down, but I'm not destroyed. I'm perplexed,
but I'm not in despair. Because I have learned in whatsoever
state I am to be content. So I'm content with beholding
His face. my all to his pleasure resigned,
and no changes of season or place would make any change in my mind.
While blessed with a sense of God's love, a palace, a toy would
appear, and prisons would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with
me there." So the Apostle Paul is in prison, and he's writing
a letter, an epistle, to a young preacher, to a young pastor by
the name of Timothy. Paul called him his son in the
ministry. My son. And Paul has some instructions
for this young man. And I want you to go with me
to verse 8. Verse 8, 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8. And the first
thing that Paul says to young Timothy is this. He says, now
Timothy, don't you be ashamed. of the gospel of our Lord. Don't
you be ashamed of the testimony. When he uses the word testimony,
he means the gospel. Don't you be ashamed of the gospel
of God's grace and God's mercy in Christ Jesus. It's offensive. It's offensive to the natural
man. In fact, Paul uses two words to describe the response of the
average person to the gospel. Two words. one in first Corinthians
and one in book of Galatians. There are two words that describe
the response of the natural man to the gospel, even the religious
man. The first word is foolishness,
sheer nonsense. Paul said, the preaching of the
gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ is to those who are perishing,
foolishness, sheer nonsense. They see no beauty in it. They
see no glory in the cross. They see no need of the cross.
So it's foolishness. The other word that Paul uses
to describe the response of a natural man to the gospel of Christ is
the word offensive. It's not only foolishness to
him, but it's offensive. And I'll tell you this, when
you tell a man that he's a sinner, it's offensive. It offends his
dignity. Highly offended if you tell him
he's a sinner. Oh, he'll say something like
well, we've all seen we're not all none of us are perfect But
he doesn't mean himself. He means you you tell him what
the Word of God says about him All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God man. His best state is altogether
vanity You tell him from the sole of his feet to the top of
his head There's nothing in him that will please the Holy God
and he'll be offended You've offended his dignity. But that's
what the gospel says. It not only tells us who God
is, the gospel tells us who we are. And then when you tell a
man that the gospel must be revealed, that the natural man receiveth
not the things of God, because their spirits are discerned,
and he's not a spiritual creature. He doesn't have a spiritual mind
or heart. And you tell him that these things must be revealed
by the Spirit of God, and that'll offend him. That's offensive.
It offends his wisdom. He thinks he knows everything.
And then you tell a man that salvation is by grace alone,
not by works, not by merit, not by duties, not by religious ceremony. Salvation is by the grace of
God and grace alone. And you've offended his pride.
That's offensive. And then when you preach, when
you preach the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as our Lord said to the
rich young rulers, Sell what you have and give it to people
that need it. And you come take your cross
and follow me. Bow to my authority. Bow to the
Lordship of Christ. Count your life and possessions
as nothing and Christ as all things. That's offensive. It
offends a man's love for the world. So Paul tells Timothy,
don't you be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord. Even though it is
offensive to the natural man, and nonsense to those that are
perishing. It's the power of God and the
wisdom of God to those who believe. And then he says this. Watch
this carefully. Do not be ashamed of me, his prisoner. In other words, don't be ashamed.
Timothy, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Now stay with me.
And don't be ashamed to be identified with others who believe the gospel,
with the prophets of the Word of God. these faithful men who
wrote the scriptures. We're the apostles of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't be ashamed of those who
gave their lives for the gospel. Don't be ashamed of the apostles.
Don't be ashamed of the reformers who continued in their day to
preach the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. Don't be ashamed
of the faithful men and women in your day who preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ. That's one of the ways that we
confess Christ. That's one of the ways that we
confess Christ is being identified with the people of God. If we
love Him, we love those who are begotten of Him. Isn't that right?
But you know it's always been popular to brag on dead preachers
and find fault with living preachers. Oh, it's so easy to talk about
how great Moses was and how great Abraham was and How great Calvin
and Luther and Spurgeon and Whitefield and Knox and all these other
men. How great they were. And then to find fault with those
who preach what they preach. So don't be ashamed of the gospel,
Timothy. Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed
of those who suffer for the gospel. Those who preach the gospel.
Those who are in prison because of the gospel. Those in your
day who proclaim the glory of God. Don't be ashamed of them.
Be identified with him. Now, what's the third thing he
says in verse 8? But be thou, but be thou a partaker
of the afflictions of the gospel. You take your place on the battlefield,
on the front lines, identified with Christ. Something interesting
occurred to me as I read this scripture again today and was
preparing this message. If you are a believer, and I
address myself and you and everyone listening to me, if you're a
believer, how can you be such close friends with people who
hate God? Who hate the gospel? How can
that be? How can you be such close friends
with people who speak evil of God's Word, who speak evil of
God's preacher, How can they maintain close fellowship with
you when they despise those who preach the gospel? How is it
that Paul's in jail for preaching the gospel and the same people
speak well of you that put him in jail? That ought not to be. Our Lord said, Woe unto you when
all men speak well of you, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel. In other words, Paul is saying
here, Timothy, take a stand. Take a firm stand for the gospel. Take a stand that will identify
you with Christ and with His gospel and with His people and
with His sufferings and with His cross and with His atonement. And if the world hate you, Christ
said in John 15, if the world As a result of that, hates you.
You know it hated me before it hated you. Now, he said, if you
were of the world, the world would love its own. But because
you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of the world.
Then the world will hate you. You see that? But Paul said in
the book of Romans, he said, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor to
all who've gone before. I'm a debtor to the prophets
of the Old Testament. I'm a debtor to the apostles
who gave their lives for the gospel. I'm a debtor to the reformers
who wrote the great catechisms and confessions of faith. I'm
a debtor to the man who preached the gospel to me. I'm a debtor
to every believer. I'm a debtor to you to preach
the truth to you, not to compromise the truth, but to declare unto
you the truth of God. I'm a debtor to you to keep your
trust, to be honest with you in my dealings, business dealings,
and in my preaching and in my life and all these other things
because I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God
and the salvation to everyone that believe it. To the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Now look at verse 9. I told you
this is one of my favorite scriptures. Didn't take you long to realize
I've got a throat problem. But maybe that'll help us to
listen a little more carefully. You'll feel sorry for me if you
listen to what I'm having to say. All right, listen to verse
9. Here's the reason for our confidence. And the reason for
our willingness to bear whatever reproach, it doesn't matter.
Whatever affliction we're called upon to bear. Whatever suffering
we're called upon to endure. It doesn't matter. You know why?
Look at verse 9. God had saved us. God had saved
us. How can you be ashamed of one
who saved you? How can you be ashamed of him
who suffered and died for you? Christ has suffered for sin,
the just for the unjust to bring us to God. How can I be ashamed
of Him? You know, I'll go over there
a lot of times to Isaiah 53 and read verse 4 through 6, talking
about the death of our Lord, sacrifice of our Redeemer. It
says, He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities. And I'll put my name in there.
Personal he was wounded for Henry's transgressions He was bruised
for Henry's iniquities the chastisement of Henry's peace was laid upon
him and by his stripes Henry's healed By his stripes I'm here Put your
name in there and be ashamed of him Why he saved us ashamed
of Jesus that dear friend on whom I hope of heaven depends
on No, when I blush, be this my shame that I no more revere
His name. Ashamed of Jesus? Yes, I may.
I may. When I have no guilt to wash
away, when I have no tear to wipe, no good to crave, no fear
to quell, no soul to save, until then, nor is my boasting vain,
till then I'll boast a Savior slain. And oh, may this my glory
be. that he's not ashamed of me.
Timothy, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Don't be ashamed
of me, his servant. Take a stand. Take a stand. Be thou willing to bear the afflictions
of the gospel. Why? Because he saved us. He
delivered us. And he had 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 before the
world began. How long has God thought on us?
From before the foundation of the world. He saved us. Salutations
of the Lord. He sent his son into this world
to deliver us from the power of sin, from the penalty of sin,
from the presence of sin, from the practice of sin. The son
came and died for us. He exalted him. accepted us in
the Beloved. He saved us. And one day He called
us by His Holy Spirit. He said, You didn't choose me,
I chose you. You didn't seek me, I sought you. He sent His
Spirit and called us out of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom
of God's dear Son. And this salvation and this calling
was not according to our works. I want you to hear me now. Salvation
is not by works. It doesn't rest upon works. It
doesn't depend upon works. Neither before faith or after
faith. Salvation is not by works, either before I believed or after
I believed. It's not by works of righteousness,
which we've done, but according to His mercy, He had saved us. According to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before this world
began. My friends, I am what I am by
the grace of God. That's always been true and always
will be. I know what I know by the grace
of God. I have what I have by the grace of God. Who maketh
thee to differ, said Paul? What do you have you didn't receive?
Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you didn't
receive it? A man can receive nothing except it be given him
from above, for every good gift and perfect gift cometh from
our God. We sing it. Do we believe it? Amazing grace. Amazing grace. Wonderful grace. Sovereign grace. Redeeming grace. Eternal grace. How sweet the
sound. It saved a wretch. Wretches don't
work. Wretches don't merit anything.
Wretches do not deserve anything. They saved a wretch like me.
I was lost. Who found whom? I was lost, but
now I'm found. I was blind. Now I see. It was
grace that taught my heart to fear. It was grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear,
the hour I first believed. He saved me. He called me with
a holy calling, not according to my works. but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ before
the world began. And through many dangers, toils
and snares, I've already come. It's grace that brought me safe
thus far, not works. Grace. And grace will lead me
home. That old hymn writer said, here
I raise mine Ebenezer. You know what the word Ebenezer
means? It means what it says in the next line, hither by thy
help I'm come. That's what Ebenezer means. I
got here by the grace of God. Here I raise mine, Ebenezer,
hither to this point by grace I came. And I hope by thy good
pleasure safely to arrive at home. Oh yeah, don't be ashamed. He saved you, he called you.
Not according to your work, but according to His own purpose
and His grace, given, not sold, given to us in Christ Jesus,
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now, now watch
this carefully, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ. There's first the promise and
then the fulfillment. There's first the purpose And
then the revelation. His purpose and grace was given
to us in Christ before the world began. And the promise and the
purpose and the grace was fulfilled when he came. There he is. John
the Baptist said, there he is, behold, the Lamb of God. There
he is. Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, but is now made manifest in person,
incarnate. Hebrews chapter 10, did you ever
study that chapter? Hebrews chapter 10 says this,
our Lord's talking about the father and he's talking about
the sacrifices of the Old Testament. There's Abel's lamb and Abraham's
lamb and the Passover lamb and the millions and millions of
lambs that were slain and bulls and goats and turtledoves and
heifers and all this blood sacrifices. And our Lord said this about
the father. He said in Hebrews 10, Sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not Neither had any pleasure therein
in other words those sacrifices never gave God satisfaction The
blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin The almighty
God the Holy God of heaven and earth never found any satisfaction
in the blood of an animal But those sacrifices pointed to Christ
the Lamb of God who would fulfill them all and by his precious
blood put away our sins. And he said, Lo, I come. Now these sacrifices never brought
God any satisfaction, never fulfilled or accomplished our salvation.
But it's written in the book, in the Bible, but I tell you
it's written in the book which in Revelation chapter 5, John
said, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne
That book was written within and without the purposes of God,
the covenant of God, the mercy of God written in that book.
And no man was found in heaven or earth who could open that
book or look their own. But behold, one of the elders
said, the Lamb, the Lamb of God will open it. And the Lamb came
from the midst of the throne as it had been slain and took
the book out of the hands of him that sat on the throne and
opened the book. That's Christ. That's Christ. Lo, I come, and the volume of
the book is written of me, to do thy will, O God, by the which
will we are sanctified once for all by the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ the Lord." Oh, do you hear that? He saved us.
He called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us
before the world began, but is now manifested. by the appearing,
by the incarnation, by the life and death of our great Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death. Abolished death. What's that talking about? I've
got to die someday unless the Lord comes again soon. I'm in
the sunset years. Some of you are too. It's all
right. It's appointed unto me and wants to die. But He's abolished
death. Not that kind of death. Not physical
death. We've all got to die physically.
But what has He abolished? Listen. The soul that sinneth
shall surely die. Oh, no. No. No. That death's been abolished.
Sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. Oh, no. Not in Christ. He that believeth on me will
never die. The Scripture says they'll be
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. That's
the one that he abolished for his people, for every believer. He abolished death for every
believer and he brought life and immortality to light. This
mortality shall put on immortality. This corruptible shall put on
incorruption. This dishonor shall be made glorious. This weakness shall be made strong. And this unholy shall be made
holy because he has appointed, he has abolished death and brought
to life an immortality for every believer. All right,
verse 11. Whereunto I'm appointed a preacher. I'm appointed an
apostle. I'm appointed a teacher of this
gospel. Paul said, Timothy, you are too.
You're a preacher. You're a teacher of this gospel.
We preach the gospel. If I preach the gospel, I have
nothing to glory of. Necessity is laid upon me. Yea,
woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And I say this, we
preach the gospel as it is to men as they are. When Paul took
his leave of the elders at Ephesus, and he was going up there to
Rome, where he would be put in prison, where he was when he
wrote this epistle. But when he was leaving these
dear friends, he told them, he said, now, I've served the Lord
among you in humility of mind, and I've kept back nothing profitable
unto you. I'm not shunned to declare unto
you the whole counsel of God, and I've not coveted any man's
silver or gold. Now I'm leaving you, and you'll
never see my face again, but I commend you to the gospel,
to the Word of God, and to the living God. Oh, that you and
I, Timothy, that you, that this preacher, everybody listening
to my voice, might have that clear conscience in regard to
our ministry, in regard to our message, in regard to our methods,
in regard to our means, in regard to our motives, in regard to
our manners. I've kept back nothing profitable. I've not shunned to preach the
whole counsel of God. And I've coveted no man's silver
or gold. And for the which cause I suffer
these things." Paul was in prison. Why? For disturbing the peace.
Well, he disturbed their false peace, I'll tell you that. The
religious people came saying, peace, peace, when there is no
peace. Paul came preaching the peace that Christ bought by his
precious blood. And he disturbed their false
peace. But he wasn't there for a misdemeanor. He wasn't there
for crime. He was there for preaching the
gospel. Tulip. Total depravity. Unconditional
election. Limited atonement. Invincible
grace. Perseverance of the saints. Who
Christ is. What Christ did. Why Christ died. Where Christ is now. These men
were not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of him, Paul
said. I'm not ashamed of you, Timothy.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the Word of
God. I'm not ashamed of the truth. I'm not ashamed of the grace
of God. I'm not ashamed of the blood of Christ. I'm not ashamed
of His righteousness. Because, listen to the last verse,
verse 12, I know whom I have believed. I know Him. And I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed to Him against that day. That's
what motivates me. Him, whom to know is life eternal. Back in the days when Christians
were being martyred, they brought a dear woman who was a believer
to be burned at the stake. And before they tied her to the
stake and lit the fire, they said, recant and you'll live.
She said, I didn't come here to deny my Lord. I didn't come
here to deny my Lord. And I didn't come here today
to deny my Lord. Do not be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord. All right, till next week, I
bid you a pleasant good day.

A Letter to a Young Preacher

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A Letter to a Young Preacher

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