Do Not Be Ashamed of The Testimony of Our Lord

You know what? What do we do? And I believe the text this morning will tell us exactly how to apply the gospel.

I am so thankful to be your pastor. I'm so grateful to be a part of a church that has a passion for Jesus Christ and a compassion for law souls.

I am so grateful. I cannot say that enough. And a church that believes in prayer humbles ourselves before the throne of God to depend on what the

Lord is going to do and let the Lord lead. As you can tell, we're not into making megachurches here.

We're into what the Lord says and pleasing Him and giving glory to Him.

And we just want to follow what the Scriptures say. Now, we may do it imperfectly, like our

Christian life is. It's very imperfect. But aren't you glad we follow the perfect one, the great example, the

Lord Jesus Christ? And it's God the Father that looks at Him as we depend on the

Lord Jesus Christ. So in saying that, I'd like to give an exhortation. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

Lord. This comes right out of Scripture. And our text this morning is from 2

Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1, part of the pastoral epistle.

You would not think that from prison would actually a letter of encouragement come from.

Prison is the last place from which to expect a letter of encouragement. But this is exactly where Paul's second letter to Timothy originates.

It comes out of a prison. And most of Paul's letters come out of prisons, dungeons.

Isn't that amazing? And he exhorts this young man, Timothy, into faith.

And I'd like to pass that on as we look from the Word of God to just exhort you this morning from the

Word of God, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. So, as you turn there, 2

Timothy 1, let me begin with verse 6 -12, verse 6 -12.

And I'll begin with, you have to read the entire chapter in its whole, but there's the greeting, and then you have

Timothy's faith and heritage. We're going to pick up a little bit on that. Then we're going into not ashamed of the gospel.

Paul speaks about this quite often. You see this in Romans 1, verse 16, 17, and 18 as well.

And then at the closing of chapter 1 here, and it continues to go, it's like a string.

They're broken up in chapters and verses, but the whole letter is just continuous flow.

But it goes to be about being loyal to the faith, about holding fast to the pattern of sound words.

Let me begin with verse 3, so we get the context of what is being said here.

And you can just see, as we read these wonderful words from the Bible, from this wonderful second epistle to Timothy, the heart of the apostle

Paul. He says, I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, and as without ceasing,

I remember you in my prayers night and day. It's a praying man, isn't he?

Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when

I call to remembrance the genuine, and literally means unhypocritical, faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother,

Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

What an encouragement. Verse 6, Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and of love and a sound mind.

Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 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 to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our

Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, to which

I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.

For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom

I have believed in, and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which

I have committed unto Him against that day.

May God bless the reading of His Word from our ears to our hearts this morning. Please bow in prayer with me as we go to the

Lord in prayer and seek His face and favor. Our Father, how holy is

Your name this morning. How holy is Your name throughout all eternity, past and eternity, future.

Lord, we worship You. Bless Your name. Lord, You're so holy.

You're not only holy, You're holy, holy, holy. Lord, we thank

You for this Word this morning. We thank You for Thy Word. Thy Word is truth. Lord, we ask that You would sanctify us,

Your people this morning. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to Your people, the church.

We thank You again for Your Word, which is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. And Lord, You intend to build us up and to equip us for every good work, for Your own purpose, for Your glory.

Lord, again, Your Word is inspired. You have breathed into it.

Every word is pure, without error. Every word of it is the final rule of our faith in life.

So Lord, I would pray this morning by Your Spirit to help me speak

Your Word with boldness, help each and every one of us as we leave this sanctuary this day to go into this world in which

You sent us to be a witness and not to be ashamed of the testimony of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we would ask these things for Your honor and Your glory in Jesus' name.

Amen. As I've said, this letter comes from prison.

We see the heart of the Apostle Paul. He begins by assuring Timothy of his continuing love and prayers.

He reminds him of his spiritual heritage in Christ and his responsibilities.

Timothy's faith and heritage, verse five, the Apostle says, "'When I call to remembrance "'the genuine, unhypocritical faith that is in you, "'which dwelt first in your grandmother

Lois "'and your mother Eunice, "'and I am persuaded is in you also.'"

What an encouragement from the Apostle Paul. And notice he does not leave out, he does not leave out these godly

Jewish women, the grandmother and mother of Timothy.

Now, we don't know exactly how they came about, but we could,

I would suggest, probably in Paul's first missionary journey, when Paul was alongside his mentor,

Barnabas, at that time, in Acts 13 to Acts 14, 21, that possibly that the

Apostle Paul led them to faith in Jesus Christ, became acquainted with them, with Timothy and his family.

And this is also an encouragement to grandmothers and mothers that your place is very important.

And look at Timothy, these were influencers to Timothy. These women of God were the influencers of the faith.

It's said that the fathers that are parents to children, they are the protectors, they're the guardians.

They set the example, they're the leaders, servant leaders, but the women, the wives, the mothers, the grandmothers are the influencers to the children.

And no doubt, no doubt, here is a word of encouragement to the grandmother

Lois and the mother Eunice, that they encouraged young Timothy into faith and bringing him to faith in Jesus Christ.

Possibly that they, in the early stages in which chapter three speaks of, that in verse 15, that from childhood, he's speaking to Timothy, you have known the

Holy Scriptures. How did he know? Through his parents, through his grandmother and his mother as well, through Lois and Eunice.

So what did they teach them? From childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able.

Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that a beautiful word? That the Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

And then Paul gives that wonderful verse in verse 16, all Scriptures, not some, but all

Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

That's what equips us for the good work. That's what equips us for evangelism. And it's through prayer, and we bathe ourselves in prayer, but it's through the

Scriptures that equips us to know how to be wise and to salvation, to tell a lost and dying world about Jesus Christ and who

He is and what He's done for us. So that's what it's all about, is the gospel. So this here, you see in verse six, therefore,

Paul says, I remind you to stir up the gift, to stir up the gift of God, which comes about faith, by the way.

Faith is outside of ourself. It's not something that originates with us. Faith is a gift from God.

For by faith, you've been saved. It is the gift of God. So he says, which is in you.

It's in you, through the laying on of my hands. So there's an impartation there that Paul laid hands on him.

And so this seems, MacArthur says here, quote, this seems to indicate Paul was unsatisfied with Timothy's level of current faithfulness.

Interesting. So he says, he reminds them to stir up. Don't you love that word?

To stir up, literally means to keep the fire alive.

To keep it blazing. To keep it red hot. It reminds me in my mind, how do we do that?

You know, when we get a campfire together, you always notice that if you take a coal that's hot, it could be red hot, and you separate it from all the coals that's in the center and take it to the right or to the left and separate it from the bundle of coals, it seems to fizzle out and get cold.

But all those coals, those embers that are together have a way to stay hot.

They are together. And the fire continues to burn. And keep the fire alive.

And Paul is saying this gift that God has given in you by faith refers to the believer's spiritual gift, by the way,

Paul's reminding Timothy to stir it up. I like the, another translation means to rekindle.

I like that word. Rekindle it. Rekindle the gift of God.

And this is what Paul's telling young Timothy. Rekindle that gift. Rekindle it.

Spurgeon says this. There are many kinds of gifts and all Christians have some gift, but some may have but one talent.

Jesus speaks of this, by the way. But all have at least one, at least one.

And every living saint, Spurgeon goes on to say, has his charge to keep his talent over which he has as a steward, a measure of the gift.

Right out of scripture, Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians. It's all of, is in all of us needing to be stirred up needs to be stirred up.

We need to stir up one another, provoke one another to love and good works, as Hebrew says. Spurgeon goes on to say, these should be used well.

It should be used well. In other words, we should be careful how we use it. And he closes with this, that which is expended in the master's service is laid up in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, end quote.

Wonderful, wonderful quote. Now, Paul reminds Timothy to stir up, fan the flame, fan it.

Keep it alive. Keep that fire alive. Keep it red hot. Keep it hot.

And we all can do this and encouraging one another, exhorting one another to the faith that was once delivered to the saints, as Jude says.

Now, it is to be revived by a fanning it, blowing upon it. And how is this done?

Well, there's by encouraging one another, but that's corporately. But it is also primarily in private, isn't it?

Before God and prayer. This is done by revivalization, the gift of the

Holy Spirit, which is in us through prayer, saturating ourselves in prayer.

This is something we all need to practice more and more. Amen. We all fall short of this.

Lord, help us to pray without ceasing. Spurgeon, once again, said we need to pray without ceasing because we sin without ceasing.

How true that is. It's through prayer by the Holy Spirit, studying the

Scriptures, meditating on the Scriptures. So prayer and the Word of God and being diligent and faithful, attending to the calling that the

Lord gives us. So we see this, that the spiritual heritage in Christ and responsibilities, only the one who perseveres and continues, whether he's a soldier, whether he's an athlete, and Paul speaks of these analogies, a farmer or a minister of Jesus Christ, whether he's just a common lay person, whether you're a blue collar worker or a white collar worker, whether you dig ditches or you're in the office, we will reap the reward on that day of judgment when we stand before the

Lord Jesus Christ. And what a glorious day that will be. So what Paul the Apostle was reminding

Timothy and us as a church, as members of the body of Christ in verses eight or six through 12, but eight through 12 as well, that Paul's telling you and me why he is able to endure hardship and trials and suffering for the

Lord Jesus Christ and to endure them by the grace that is all -sufficient. God's grace is all -sufficient and Paul found this to be so true.

Without shame, without embarrassment, without any sense that the Lord has let us down, without any sense that the

Lord has not got his eye upon him, without any sense that something's wrong with his ministry, no.

Paul was in prison. He was suffering for Christ's sake. He was in chains, but yet he had the boldness and even in his writings to say, but the word of God is not bound.

Nothing stops the word of God. And God can use whomever he pleases to use.

But may we desire to be used of the Lord, amen, to come humbly before him.

And I'm gonna kind of throw this in as a footnote. God will not use a prideful person.

You can mark that down, beloved. We better make sure we humble ourselves before God because the scripture says,

God humbles and brings down the prideful, but those who humble themselves before him, he will lift up.

That's the way it works in God's economy. Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up.

But if you're prideful, he knows how to bring you down. So may God help us to be humble before him that we may be useful for his kingdom.

So how is he able to do that for us? Well, he tells us in verse eight to 12. And of course it culminates with the glorious expression of his confidence in the person of Jesus Christ.

And that's exactly what we're gonna see very quickly this morning in this exhortation. Very quickly, my outline is in verse eight, the choice, the choice, do not be ashamed of the gospel testimony.

Second, in verse nine and 10, the challenge, our conversion and our calling, our conversion and our calling.

And third, remember God's servant. Remember God's servant in verse 11 and 12.

And there's notable examples that I'd like to bring in of application. Let's look at the choice, verse eight.

That is, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

Lord. The first word that's found here is an important word. It's therefore. Therefore is there for a reason, right?

It points to verse seven. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, that means timidity, but of power, that means dunamis, and of love, that means agape in the

Greek, and of a sound mind, that basically means a mind that is disciplined, a mind that is self -controlled.

And that's what the Holy Spirit produces. Paul called upon Timothy to dispel his fears, to develop his faith, to depend on the

Lord. He exhorted him to remember that the ever -present Spirit of God is a healthy counterbalance to his anxieties in which he had, and fear was one of them.

God has not given you the spirit of fear. That's the first exhortation He gives here. And we all, as followers of Jesus Christ, have a weakness time and time again to give in to our fears at one time or another, don't we, if we're really honest?

How many times did God, in Scripture, says, fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not, fear not?

What an exhortation, an encouragement to us. We can fear, and we're not to forget that this is how our enemy,

Satan, seeks to paralyze Christians too, is with fear.

And fear, the opposite of fear is what? Faith. It's not what we think it is, it's faith.

Faith is what God, that's what we grow in, that's the gift in which

Paul is saying to stir up that gift of faith. Make it red hot.

You know, think of it, here's some examples I'm thinking of here. Peter was paralyzed at one time from fear when he stood around the high priest in the garden, and he repeatedly, three times, denied the

Lord Jesus Christ. He denied all the knowledge of the Lord, and even then was on trial for his life.

Yet Christ restores Peter in that way with His great love to encourage him to the faith.

And Jesus even said to him at one time, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you.

I have prayed that your faith would not fail. And Christ prays for us today,

His church, that your faith will not fail, beloved. In the

Old Testament, I think of King Saul, the first king of Israel. He was paralyzed with fear in the sight of the giant

Goliath. He became afraid, yet God had a young, rooty shepherd boy out in the back of the desert who shepherded faithfully and tended to the sheep.

And he said that God delivered him out of the hand of the bear and the lion, and God had delivered me from this unruly pagan that defies the armies of the living

God and mocks God. God had, this young man had the faith of a child and the grain, as of the grain of a mustard seed to defeat this

Goliath with one small stone in the name of the Lord. This is the way

God works, folks. How about a father Abraham, the father of our faith?

One time, as you well know, he was motivated by fear when he denied his wife

Sarah in Egypt. We see a failure on his part. That was fear, beloved. We're talking about fear.

Fear moved him to lie at that part in that time. Yet we see this great patriarch of God later.

He had the faith of a giant to offer his one and only son

Isaac to the Lord. You see that in chapter 22. You see he grows and becomes trusting in the

Lord. So fear not, beloved. The Lord says time and time again, put your confidence in Him and not in the arm of flesh.

Put your confidence in God. No matter what you're facing today, you can depend on God because God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all what we can ask or think.

Therefore, do not be ashamed of Christ. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

Lord. It's mentioned here, verse eight. It's mentioned in verse 12. It's mentioned in verse 16.

Three times we see the apostle Paul speaks of the issue of not to be ashamed of Jesus Christ.

To see how serious it is to be ashamed of Christ, there's a portion of scripture that comes to my mind here in reference to what

Paul is saying here, not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord Jesus.

Our Lord himself speaks of this in Matthew chapter 10. Let's turn with me very quickly to Matthew 10.

And Jesus speaks about confessing Him before men. What does He say about confessing

Him before men? It's not just a one -time confession, is it? We talk about evangelism here, speaking of the testimony of the

Lord Jesus Christ in verse 32. And it's interesting in verse 31,

Jesus says, do not fear. Isn't that interesting? He says, do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.

Me and the children today was listening to that wonderful song as we were coming to church. His eye is upon the sparrow, and I know

He watches after me. What a comfort. Now, that could be a comfort to God's people, but to those that are lost, that's not such a comfort because they're hiding from God.

They're running from God. And it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. But when Jesus says, do not fear,

He's speaking to His own. He says, you do not have to be anxious. You do not have to worry about this.

You do not have to worry. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't worry about these things.

And then He says in verse 32 of chapter 10, therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him will

I also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him will

I also deny before My Father who is in heaven. That's heavy language, isn't it? That's very heavy.

But in other words, Jesus is saying that everyone who openly, unashamedly, with conviction, speaks

My name before men, I will speak their name before My Father in heaven. Glorious, isn't it?

In other words, if you claim

Me, Jesus is saying, if you claim who I am, you will openly, unashamedly, speak of Me before people, before the world.

I like what Spurgeon says, we're missionaries or imposters. You don't have anything else.

You are a missionary or an imposter. Now, we're dealing with a very serious issue, my friends.

If you're continuously and constantly ashamed to confess Christ, then the

Lord Himself will be ashamed to confess your name before the Father, that you don't belong to Him.

And if He doesn't belong to you. And now, if you won't acknowledge Him, He won't acknowledge you. The implication here, basically, is that there's a price to pay for that.

There is a cost. So, what does Jesus say? Verse 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.

I did not come to bring a peace, but a sword. I divide. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law.

And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.

He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

That's the cost. But isn't He worth it? He's worth every bit of it.

Praise His name. So, we should willingly confess

Christ, willingly to take what rejection comes our way for His name's sake.

And if you're willing to give your life over to Christ unto death, even unto death, if it need be, then the

Lord Jesus Christ says, I'll confess you before My Father in heaven. That's well worth it. That's well worth it.

If we honestly see the cost. Well, if you're ashamed, again, the opposite of Christ, continually ashamed, you basically then don't have a relationship with Christ.

He says, He will not claim us. And this is very important.

Well, there's another reference, Mark 8, 38. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous sinful generation, of him the

Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

So, we see that is so serious. But it's all worth it for the

Lord Jesus Christ. So, back to what Paul is exhorting Timothy to do. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

Lord. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. He writes to His Son in the faith.

He's exhorting Him. He's reminding Him. Encouraging Him as a loving Father of the faith.

And of the household of faith. And Timothy is not to be ashamed. Not to allow himself to be pressured.

To cower down for the gospel's sake. Not to lose heart. Not to lose courage.

Not to be afraid. But to speak for Christ. Because it might even cost

His very life. And Paul did not hold back in telling Him those truths. Psalm 119 verse 46 says this,

I will speak of your testimonies also before kings. And I, he says, and will not be ashamed.

Will not be ashamed even before kings. Because it's the

King of kings that has commissioned us to be His ambassadors. His representative.

Makes me think, we represent Him here on earth. And He represents us in heaven. And He represents us.

He's a faithful God. And therefore we should be faithful to Him. By His grace. So Paul calls

Timothy to have an attitude of courage. Boldness. Paul prayed for boldness. He said, pray that I have boldness.

This is the Apostle Paul. And that is not to be ashamed. To be identified with Jesus Christ.

Even in a hostile, persecuting, deadly environment.

Praise His name. Command everyone here that has stood up to the heathen society.

Brother Zach had a situation yesterday. Gave me a text. Said pray for me.

Gave me some pictures of these hostile crowds. And spoke

Romans 1. They were not angry at his words. It's not our words.

I said, look, just speak the word of God. And look at what happened. One person got right in his face and literally cussed him.

Well, those things are going to happen. Because it's exposing these people for who they are. They're in darkness.

The light is just throwing on the darkness of who they really are. And they don't like to be confronted with that.

But beloved, that is true love. To confront people in their sin.

That's what the gospel does. And if it's not doing that, then it's not the gospel.

People must know their state. That God is angry with the wicked every day. But yet there is a way.

There is a way that's right unto man. The end thereof is death. But there is a right way.

And that is Jesus Christ. Because he said he's the way, the truth, and the life. Paul exhorts

Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. The Lord's testimony.

That's what we've been looking in at John. Who Jesus is. And he also exhorts him not to be ashamed of Paul.

Don't be ashamed of me. Nor of me, his prisoner. Some believers in that time period hoping to save their own skins were already distancing themselves from the apostle.

Demas left the faith. Because he loved this present world.

That man decided. We don't know a lot about Demas. But I kind of see he came along as a disciple.

A so called disciple. But he left. Because his heart was still in the world.

Paul had the Demas. Jesus had Judas. Surely Timothy would not be such a coward.

Not to be timid. Let him hear as of the badge of honor.

More than that, Timothy was Paul's dear son in the faith. His dear son in the faith.

Timothy was to arm himself with the same mind as Nehemiah. Who hurled this defiance into the faces of foes and said this.

And say, should such a man as I flee? God forbid.

Note the apostolic plea. But share. That means to partake.

With me in the sufferings. Notice what he says. The sufferings for the gospel.

According to the power of God. Don't hear much about the sufferings today, do we? But that's part of it.

I remember Elizabeth Ellett years ago in her broadcast. And she said, Christian. She spoke very calm and gently into the radio.

And she said, let me give you a hard truth. But a loving truth. You might as well settle in your mind right now.

Suffering in the Christian life is to be normal. And I thought, wow. That really floored me.

Normal? She said, you might as well settle. Christian, it's to be normal. Jesus Christ suffered his entire life.

But gladly, there was the joy that was set before him. And we should see the same.

There's a great joy. There's a peace that passes all understanding. After we made our peace with God through Jesus Christ by faith.

And faith alone. But there's a peace that passes all understanding. There's a joy unspeakable and full of glory that waits us on the other end.

And folks, this passing life that's like a vapor. And when we do our utmost for our

Lord to be not ashamed of the gospel. We'll be worth it on the other end.

And when you get there and cross the finish line and see Him face to face. And say, well done good and faithful servant.

Welcome into my kingdom. Enter into the joy of the Lord. We'll fall on our faces and say, we'll thank

God for His grace. And say, oh I'm so glad I stood the test by His grace.

Because He's worth it. Amen? He's worth it. Well, the power of God helps us, keeps us.

That's the issue. It's just not suffering for the sin.

Speaking of Paul here, but for the gospel. Apostle Peter even speaks about this very thing in 1

Peter 4. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you.

For the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you on their part.

He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. Isn't that wonderful?

That's the way we see it. In other words, don't be ashamed of Christ because you suffer. Be honored because you suffer for Christ.

And this is why the apostles could say, they rejoiced after they beat them. Who in the world would rejoice?

But they rejoiced because they knew who they were suffering for, folks. Paul said, gladly

I bear in my body the marks of Christ. He gladly bore them.

You see that in Galatians 6. The apostle Paul was qualified in the ministry. For he was a chosen vessel of Jesus Christ to suffer.

Many things he would suffer for Christ's sake. For this was the will of God for his life and part of his ministry.

In defense of his apostolic ministry, Paul speaks of his sufferings in 2

Corinthians 11. Verse 22 -28. Let me read it real quick.

2 Corinthians 11. Go through this as fast as I can here because we have communion awaiting us.

But I think this is well worthy to speak of here. Notice what he says.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they of the seed of Abraham?

So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. In labors, more abundant.

In strikes, above measure. In prisons, more frequently. In deaths, open. From the

Jews, five times I received forty strikes minus one. Three times

I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. And night and day

I have been in the deep. In journeys often. In perils of waters.

In perils of robbers. In perils of my own countrymen. In perils of the Gentiles.

In perils in the cities. In perils in the wilderness. In the perils in the sea.

In perils among false brethren. In weariness and toil. Sleeplessness often.

In hunger and thirst. In fastings often. In cold and nakedness. Besides other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches.

Who is weak when I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and not to burn with indignation?

If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under Herodotus, the king, was guarding the city of Damascus with a garrison desiring to arrest me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.

Notice how Paul defends his apostolic ministry through the sufferings for Christ.

Well, that's actually the choice.

Let's go to the challenge. He has saved us who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to His own purpose and grace which

He has given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Verse 10, but He has now been revealed by the appearing of our

Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death, brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Now, I'm telling you, packed into these two verses, beloved, 9 and 10, through the inspiration of the

Spirit of God, Paul gives to us one of the most single, greatest statements of all the pages of Holy Scripture, is the doctrine of salvation is the sovereignty of God, of the election of the saints.

Paul is broadening the base of his appeal to Timothy. He is reminding him of God's salvation and that salvation has come to him.

This is what he's doing. This is how he's exhorting this young man that was timid. He says, look at what

God has done in salvation through you, to you. His conversion,

His call, the God that is sovereign controls all the factors of space and time and it is

God who has saved us. God has saved us. And he's saying in effect to young Timothy, remember your

God. He has saved you. The God that has called you. And this is an effectual call.

An effectual call. When you get discouraged, beloved, remember these things.

We need to remind ourselves of the gospel, right? Preach the gospel to yourself when you are discouraged.

Remember who wrote your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? Rejoice in that. Rejoice that it is the

Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Rejoice in that.

Remember that our salvation is in Christ alone. Rejoice in that.

That's something to rejoice in, isn't it? No one can take that away from you. Jesus once asked the scribes whether it was easier to say, your sins be forgiven or to say, arise and walk.

In Matthew 9, 5. They just seen people being, Jesus, sick people bring to Him.

He's a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. The Lord's first words to the sick man was, son, be of good cheer.

That's His first words, be of good cheer. Your sins have been forgiven you. That's the first thing He says to this man that was paralyzed of the palsy.

Scribes had a problem with that. Scribes and the Pharisees immediately responded to this man, to Jesus, says, this man blasphemes.

Why? Because they said, Jesus, who is

He? Think He is. To forgive this man of his sins. And then to prove that He could both forgive sins and heal the sick,

He instantly healed the man of the palsy lying right in front of Him, at the feet of Jesus.

And then He says, rise up, take up your bed. So the question remains, which is easier?

Think of this, to heal the sickness, Jesus had only to speak the word. To forgive sins,

He had to suffer. To cleanse the leper, raise the dead, and still the storm,

He needed only speak a word. But to forgive our sins,

He had to bleed and die and suffer and go to the cross. What a glorious Savior we have, beloved.

The ability to heal was simply a matter of power. And we'll talk about the one that had all power.

Jesus said, all power is given unto Me. That's what He said. And Jesus bore the terrible agony of death by the crucifixion, and even greater, more terrible, the agony to be abandoned by God and to bear the wrath of Almighty God.

And He took it all. He took every bit of it. Got a wonderful quote here by, if I can find it, by Octavius Winslow.

Give me one second, and I will find this. This is what he said. Octavius Winslow in his book,

Christ's Sympathy to the Weary Pilgrims. Listen to what he says. Behold the most awful display of God's hatred of sin, finding the sins of the church upon Christ as its surety, substitute, and Savior.

The wrath of God was poured out upon Him without measure. God finded the sins of His people, laid upon His Son, emptied upon His Holy Soul, all the vials of His wrath due to their transgressions.

Go, my soul, to Calvary, and learn how holy

God is and what a monstrous thing sin is. And how imperiously, solemnly, and holily bound

Jehovah is to punish it, either in the person of the sinner or in the person of the surety.

Never was the Son of God dearer to the Father than at the very moment that the sword of divine justice, flaming and flashing, pierced to its hilt

His holy heart. Oh, my beloved, when I think of that, it makes me just want to bow before the feet of Jesus in worship.

Don't you? For what He did, He took our sin,

He even became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling. And this is how

Paul is encouraging his son

Timothy in the faith. He's reminding him of the great cost that Jesus paid.

He shed His blood, His precious blood, and He paid the price.

The challenge reminds him of His conversion. It reminds him of His calling.

Not only saved us, rescued us, but He's also called us with a holy calling. God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light to show forth

His praise, His beloved. The word called, again, it's effectual. The saving call is not here talking about invitation, it's effectual.

It does not mean that He called like to repentance. It is an effectual call to actually saving

Him, securing Him. And when

He saved us from sin, He saved us unto holiness. He separated us to be different.

We're supposed to be different, folks. If we're not different from the world, there's a problem. How can people in darkness know what light is?

And that's what we're to show forth. 1 Peter 2 .9, again, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you effectually out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Well, let me get to the application here very quickly. Verse 11, Paul says,

To which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles, in a deliberate attempt here to dispel

Timothy's fears by means of exhortation and of agape love and his fatherly patience toward this young man that was influenced by a godly grandmother, a godly mother.

Paul comes alongside as a godly father, a mentor of the faith to encourage him.

I really believe, in a sense, that Paul learned a lot of this not only at the feet of Jesus, but he learned it from his old mentor

Barnabas, the son of encouragement. I love Barnabas, don't you? Not much is spoken about him, but he was always encouraging.

But we are to be encouragers. Somebody asked a question one time,

I believe it was to Truett Cathy. He says, Who am

I to encourage? What can I say? Who am I to encourage? He said, Do they have breath? You are to encourage those who have breath.

And we all need encouragement, don't we? Lord, help us to be encouragers.

That's the way we show our love to one another, beloved. And if Timothy needed this in the life of Paul, and Timothy needed a visible, tangible source of encouragement, then let him think of his own beloved father in the faith and who had taught him about the

Lord's triumph over death and immortality, Paul says, because of the gospel.

I, myself, was appointed by God, literally meaning a divine commission.

And we see this. Well, let me wrap this up.

I love the way he brings it down to application. Verse 10,

But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, our

Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and mortality to light through the gospel.

That's the encouragement. That's the exhortation, is the gospel.

And that's what we're not to be ashamed of, beloved. That's what we are to do.

As he said in verse 12, For this reason I also suffer.

In other words, I'm doing my duty. I'm being the apostle that God has called me to be.

His duty, His commission. He loved it, and He loved it unto death.

And Paul speaks of his assurance as to the reliability of the Lord. Keep in mind this, that Paul was finishing his course with joy.

He continued to read 2 Timothy. You see, this is his last will and testament, folks. This is it.

He knew he was facing death. He knew his head was going to be put on the chopping block.

And that's why in chapter 4, he charges Timothy, I charge you.

That's a strong word, folks. It's a charge, a command.

Therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who would judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom.

And what does he tell them? Tell stories? Please the people?

Put on skits? No, that's right. He's listening.

Three words. Preach the Word. Preach the

Word. That's enough, isn't it? Preach the Word.

Be ready in season, out of season. Convince. I don't know exactly what that means, but I tell you it means to be ready all the time.

Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering. I love that word longsuffering. It means patience. It means passion, compassion.

And teaching. You see, it's more to it than just speaking before people. It is having compassion.

And Jesus brought that to life because He was the great shepherd of the sheep. And you see, He was moved with compassion.

He loved the people He preached to. Convince, rebuke.

This is the time to rebuke. Exhort, but do it with all longsuffering and teaching.

Then He says this, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires.

We see this, folks, don't we? Even more so today. Because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables, myths.

But you, listen to this word, but you be watchful. Remember what

Jesus said? Watch and pray. Be watchful in all things. I think really that word watchful and watch has a word, it's an encouragement to be discerning.

This is the time that we need to have discernment. Amen? God, give us discernment.

And the only way we can capture that discernment or learn from the discernment is from the word of God, the fear of the

Lord, and to saturate ourselves in this truth. Because the more we saturate ourselves in the truth of God, we know what the genuine is.

This is the genuine. This is the genuine article. And then anything false comes aside, says it's true, but it's false.

We know what is false, right? But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

And then he goes on, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day. And not to me only.

He shares it. He says, this is not about me. Even though he was

God's apostle to the Gentiles, he said, but also to all. To all who have loved his appearing.

Isn't that wonderful? He closes it back to 2

Timothy. He closes with a wonderful word and a wonderful exhortation.

I love this. This is why we sung this wonderful song this morning. Verse 12.

For this reason I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed.

Many times Paul says, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation, to everyone that believes, even to the

Jew first, even to the Greek. Not ashamed of it. For I know whom

I have believed. I know, he said, I know whom

I have believed. Not what

I have believed. His confidence was in who he has believed.

Not what. There's a vast difference. Vast difference. Paul says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.

He always included those sufferings. No power of his resurrection unless we have the fellowship of his sufferings.

Notice Paul's confidence didn't come from a creed, even though we do believe in a creed, but the creed comes from the

Bible. But originally the foundation comes from the rock, Jesus Christ.

Not a creed. It didn't come from a theology. It didn't come from an association.

It didn't come from a denomination. It didn't come from an ordination.

And there's a place for all those things, but it didn't come from anything other than a personal, intimate, first -hand relationship with the living

God on whom he trusted and gave his life to. I know whom

I have believed. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which

I've committed unto him against that day. What a word. Paul's life was not what he knew about God, but knowing

God. Knowing God. His life's theme was

Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ the living

Christ. Not a degree, not a philosophy, but His person and His work.

So as Hebrews 12 .2 says, as we go into the communion and remembering the sufferings and death of our

Lord Jesus Christ, the writer of Hebrews says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider Him, consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

I'll close with this. I love Hudson Taylor. A godly saint came up to him one time and said, you know, you're so much like the

Apostle Paul. And that really upset him. It did. He said, well, you may look at that as a compliment, but lady, that's really not a compliment to me.

She didn't say, you remind me of Jesus.

Your example is like Jesus. That's what he desired. And can't we say amen with Hudson Taylor on that?

People would see Jesus in us. May God help us.

May God help us by His grace to go into a lost and dying world and tell people about our great

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because can I tell you this? Paul reminded even the church of Corinth, did

Paul die for you? No. It's Christ that died for us.

Christ. Praise His name. Let's pray.

Father, bless the time together as we come to the communion. Remember the sufferings, the death of your dear son who paid the ultimate price.

We thank You, Father, for the Apostle Paul, Lord. But everything that is in his life is all because of Jesus.

Lord, may we not forget this, that all that we have and all that we are is all because of Christ.

And the ultimate price that He paid on Calvary shed His precious blood, washed our sins away whiter than snow, and has given us an inheritance in heaven.

Thank You, Father, for Your unspeakable gift, as Paul says, through the

Spirit. Help us, Lord, to love You more, repent more, own up to our sins, because,

Lord, You see us. You see through us, and You desire to see us through. And, Lord, may we be like Paul, but more so like Jesus, to encourage each one in the faith that's once delivered to the saints.