Sunday Sermon: Remember Jesus Christ, Risen from the Dead (2 Timothy 2:8-13)

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You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

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New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

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Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. Hear the word of the

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Lord. Remember Jesus Christ. Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which

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I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound.

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Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

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The saying is trustworthy. If we have died with him, we will also live with him.

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If we endure, we will also reign with him.

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If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

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You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you receive our worship this morning and that it has been a sweet sound to your ears.

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We pray that in the songs that have already been sung and the scriptures that have been quoted, that our hearts are being filled with the good news of Christ and good reminders of what you have accomplished on our behalf through your son.

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And as we come into this text today, we see this first word, remember, remember

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Jesus Christ. There are so many things that many of us in the years that we have been a church member have heard over and over and over again, so that we may feel like we are experts in those stories or in those passages.

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But we as human beings are weak and prone to forgetfulness. And so Lord, I pray that our hearts and our minds would be open to receive the words that we hear, that they are good reminders implanted upon the soul, and they are producing a harvest in the sanctifying work of the

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Holy Spirit that is being done in our lives. But also that we might become a testament to others of the work of Christ in our lives.

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And may these things come all the more fresh to our memories as we look at the scriptures today. It's in Jesus' name that we pray and all

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God's people said, amen. So as I said, we've been hearing regularly about suffering for the

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Lord. Paul had said in the passage that we had looked at last week in verse three, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ.

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And our theme verse for this letter back in chapter one, verse eight, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

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Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

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As I said in our introduction to 2 Timothy, these are Paul's last words.

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The last words that we have recorded from the apostle before he is to go and be martyred for preaching the gospel.

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And what a letter that he has written here to Timothy to tell him, I'm about to go and die for preaching the gospel.

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And when they kill me, you go preach the gospel until they kill you too.

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Tyler last week reminded me of something that Voddie Bauckham said when he was preaching on this particular book.

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And I remembered hearing Voddie say it as well. He said, this is not the kind of letter that I would have written if I was in a jail hole waiting for my sentence to be carried out.

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I probably would have taken parchment and pen and started writing this letter and saying, hey,

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Timothy, remember when I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and we had like a centurion that came to us and like a whole armed guard to take us from one place to the other.

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Go get those guys and come back to where I am and get me out of this hole and let's go throughout the countryside again preaching the gospel like we were before.

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Maybe that's the kind of letter that you would have written. Let's take up arms. Let's get me out of this place.

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Let's keep on doing the work that needs to be done. But Paul instead is encouraging

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Timothy to share in suffering, to go on preaching the gospel but understanding what will try to stand in your way as you do that work faithfully for the king and his kingdom.

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And so at the very start of this, Paul tells Timothy to remember Christ Jesus.

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That's what we have in verses eight and nine. Remember Christ Jesus risen from the dead for which

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I am suffering, bound in chains as a criminal. But the word of God we are told is not bound.

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The next imperative Paul gives in verse 10 where he says, therefore,

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I endure everything for the sake of the elect. So encouraging Timothy to do the same, that he would endure everything for the sake of the elect.

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And then last of all, we have this trustworthy saying, something of a creed or confession that God is faithful.

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And so we come to understand through this also that God's faithfulness gives us hope.

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So once again, the outline for this morning, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.

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Endure for the sake of the elect, verse 10. And then thirdly, God's faithfulness gives us hope in verses 11 and 13.

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And so likewise, we would also understand just as we did last week, being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, that we would remember

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Jesus Christ and he too would be our hope. That is the main message we wanna be taking away from our passage this morning.

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So let's come back again to verse one or verse one, the first verse, verse eight. Paul says, remember

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Jesus Christ risen from the dead. The offspring of David has preached in my gospel.

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Now before digesting this and understanding what he is preaching here, let's consider first what

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Paul is not saying. Paul is not saying, remember what it takes to attract all kinds of people.

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He's not saying, remember what is going on in the culture and our cultural moment.

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He's not saying, remember what's going on in politics and where we need to get involved in the political system.

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He says, remember Jesus Christ, which by the way, is a statement that should attract a lot of people.

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It is a statement that definitely speaks into our cultural moment. It is even a political statement because when you say

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Jesus Christ is Lord, you're saying that he governs over even

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Caesar. And there is no one that has higher authority and power than Christ. But this is where Paul comes to Timothy in the mission that he is instructing

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Timothy to do. He says, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.

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What's funny about some of those categories that I just listed, they all seem to clash. Remember to be appealing.

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Remember your cultural moment. Remember that it's an election year. None of those three categories are on the same page.

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While one group is trying to appeal to the most number of people, another one is drawing lines in the sand, thinning out the numbers and saying, you're with us in this issue or you're sinning.

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You're either all in on this or you are all out. And some Christians will put way more energy in being social justice activists in certain causes rather than evangelists.

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We think that if we can change the law, then we can change the people.

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Listen, events have been going on lately, even here in the state of Arizona, that should prove to you just how foolish a notion that is.

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If we can change the law, then we can change the people. We actually had a law on the books in Arizona since 1864, since the time of the

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Civil War that made it illegal in Arizona to murder unborn children.

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It had been on the books for 160 years and it just got repealed in a bipartisan effort to do away with it.

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That law was on the books, but did it make people in Arizona hate abortion? Was it actually doing its job to save the lives of unborn children?

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Laws do not make people just. Just people make just laws, keep just laws, and enforce just laws.

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We are not a nation of just men, in case you were unaware. Now how can we change that?

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Get Christians involved. Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. That hearts may turn to the

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God of justice and be justified. And if it be the will of God to turn these wicked hearts toward him, only then will a nation of just men cry out the words of Romans 3 31, we uphold the law.

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We establish the law. Some of you are reading Martin Lloyd -Jones together in his book on the

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Sermon on the Mount. It's in that book that he says the following, it is wrong to ask anybody who is not first a

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Christian to try to live or practice the Sermon on the Mount. To expect

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Christian conduct from a person who is not born again is heresy. The appeals of the gospel in terms of conduct and ethics and morality are always based on the assumption that the people to whom the injunctions are addressed are

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Christian, unquote. Now listen, having said that, I'm very thankful for our

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Christian lawmakers. As my brother just said, may more Christians get involved, even in the political process.

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These people that work in these branches of government keep us from sliding down our slippery slopes into more and more depravity.

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And I pray that God would turn the hearts of our elected officials as we are instructed to pray in 1

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Timothy 2 1. But what is of first importance is not to consider our cultural moment.

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What is of first importance is to remember Jesus Christ. And we won't accomplish anything, even in the realm of changing laws or upholding those laws, if the gospel is not forefront in those efforts.

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And there are people out there who are making great changes in the culture who keep the gospel front and center.

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But there are others that think that they are doing the right thing by keeping the issue front and center and will bring the gospel along behind us if we find a place for it.

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This is not the way that Paul presents the mission to Timothy. He presents it as first and foremost, remember

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Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.

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Now remember that Paul has been encouraging Timothy to endure hardship for the sake of the gospel. Their ultimate example for suffering, as I mentioned at the end of the sermon last week, the ultimate example for suffering is

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Christ. Now, it's interesting that Paul first mentions Jesus risen from the dead before he says the offspring of David.

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What would you expect to come first? You would expect that he would first say, remember Jesus Christ, the offspring of David, because first he's born, and then he dies, and then he's glorified.

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But Christ first have to die before he was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the father, where he is seated on his heavenly throne.

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And whose throne is that? God had said to David, on your throne,

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I will establish my kingdom forever. So for Paul to say, remember

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Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David is a declaration of the fact that Christ has fulfilled that Davidic covenant and is therefore seated on his heavenly throne.

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This covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7, 12 to 13, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

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He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

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Now, when God made that covenant with David, the children of Israel surely thought

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Solomon was the guy. Through your offspring, I will establish my kingdom forever.

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And he builds this wonderful temple. And the people of Israel for more than 30 years experienced peace unlike any nation on earth has experienced peace.

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They experienced prosperity. And so that I heard from one commentator, there was so much wealth in Israel in those days that even though it wasn't the largest nation, it was not the most powerful empire, yet per capita, there was more wealth among those people in that nation than there had ever been in any nation in the world in history.

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And yet, what happened to Solomon? His heart went after too many wives.

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His heart went after too many possessions. And instead of loving the

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Lord as God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, he raised up high places to the false gods of his many wives.

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So that God said to Solomon, I'm going to tear your kingdom from you, though it wouldn't be in your lifetime, but it would happen in the lifetime of your sons.

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And we saw immediately after Solomon, the kingdom splits into the northern and the southern kingdom, and things just continued to get worse from there.

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So Solomon wasn't the guy, but through the offspring of David, God would bring that Messiah who would sit on David's throne and is establishing his kingdom forever.

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And this was what Paul preached when he preached the gospel. He talked about these very things as we find it in Luke and in Acts.

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Consider Philippians 2, 6 through 11, which says that Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

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And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every knee should bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. So either you bow or you will be made to bow. And this was in the letter that Paul wrote to the

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Philippians while Paul was in prison. It was his first imprisonment while he was in Rome. And yet, declaring triumphantly, though I have been put in chains because of preaching the gospel,

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Jesus Christ is Lord, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.

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Caesar's would fall, the Roman Empire would fall, but Christ remained seated on his throne, remember

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Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.

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Now, Paul goes on from here in verse 9 to say, for which I am suffering. For the preaching of the gospel, that's exactly why

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I'm in this hole, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound.

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Now, the Greek word here for criminal is kakouragos, meaning evildoer.

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This is a seldom used word in scripture reserved for serious lawbreakers.

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For example, the same word is used for the thieves that hung on either side of Jesus in Luke 23, 32 to 33.

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They were called by this same word. They were these criminals. They were the ones that the

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Roman Empire was making an example of. You'd be like, these guys, this is what will happen to you.

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And Paul is not saying here that he is a criminal, because remember earlier in the chapter, in chapter 1, verse 3, he says that his conscience is clear.

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He has done nothing wrong. He stands before God justified, but he is only being treated as a criminal.

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In the eyes of man, it is a wicked thing to exalt God above Caesar. So in a play on words,

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Paul says that he is bound with chains, but the word of God is not bound.

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He is being in prison for preaching the gospel, but that does not stop the gospel.

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The gospel continues to be preached. It continues to go forth. It continues to change lives.

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I bring back to your attention the story that I mentioned last week of a tin peddler who was faithful to the gospel that he was told, and he hands a book to a young boy who grows and writes more books, who hands off more books, and eventually, this faithfulness in the gospel comes to William Wilberforce, who becomes a

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Christian and abolishes slavery in Europe, which even bleeds over eventually to the

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Americas. Perhaps there would come a time when it would seem to Timothy that the gospel is not advancing.

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Sometimes in our own lifetimes, it can be difficult to see how God is working in the minutia, in the little things.

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Even in big things, we might look at our culture right now, especially every fourth year when we get to these election years.

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We see, man, things are just getting worse, going from bad to worse. How could God possibly be working in the midst of this?

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How can the gospel thrive in the midst of a cultural environment such as this?

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There may be more opposition to the gospel than conversion and church growth. We're being blessed right now with growth.

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But what if our situation was the opposite? What if it was tough to fill the seats in here and it was just a few people showing up?

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Would we sit here and wonder, how's the gospel working in the midst of our community right now?

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Nonetheless, the work of the Holy Spirit is not stalled. Timothy was to persevere faithfully and God will accomplish what he means to accomplish.

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Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

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And you sitting here today is evidence that what Christ said is true and it is still being fulfilled.

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That prophetic claim has been true ever since the gospel was first proclaimed at Pentecost in Acts 2.

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Jesus is building his church through the preaching of the gospel. And it is for that preaching that Paul says,

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I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, but the word of God is not bound.

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So this is what we have, first of all, in this passage we look at today with Paul saying, remember

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Jesus Christ risen from the dead. We've had these constant reminders through this letter, everything coming back to Christ.

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Consider last week, back to chapter 2, verse 1, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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Share in suffering as a soldier of Christ Jesus. Think about what

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I say and the Lord will give you understanding. You think Paul has a point to make here?

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Look to Christ in anything and everything. And so in this next part, the second part in verse 10,

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Paul says he endures everything for the sake of the elect. Look at that there. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

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So considering this statement of enduring everything for the sake of the elect, perhaps you're familiar with something that Paul preached to the

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Corinthians in chapter 9, 1 Corinthians 9, 19. Though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant of all, that I may win more of them.

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I think it's verse 22 where he says, I have become all things to all people that I might save some.

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You're familiar with that? Have you ever heard a preacher use that and say that to justify anything he does?

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I'm just trying to be all things to all people. We got a big helicopter in here, you know, lowering me down to the stage so that I can be all things to all people, so we can attract some more people.

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I'm going to vote Democrat so I can be all things to all people, or I'm going to vote Republican so I can be all things to all people.

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Just whatever to try to justify anything that they do, because I don't want to offend anybody.

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I don't want to push anybody away. But consider that in chapter 1 of that same letter. Paul said, we preach

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Christ, which is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

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Does it sound like that he's trying to do everything that he possibly can, even sinful things, to try to win the most number of people?

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No, the faithfulness was to the gospel. I'm going to be all things to all people, but I'm not going to go beyond the bounds of recognizing that what we preach is going to be offensive to most people, and they're going to hate it on the grounds that they hate

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Christ is really what it comes down to. I want to be all things to all people does not mean

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I have to become a sinner to save sinners. Christ didn't do that, and neither should we.

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So what does Paul mean here when he says, I endure everything for the sake of the elect?

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Paul knows the gospel is going to spread, and nothing is going to stop this move of God. My friends,

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God does not need me. If I should find myself unqualified for the role that I have as a pastor and I must be removed,

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God forbid, but say something like that were to happen, this church would live on, and the gospel would continue to be preached, and God would continue to accomplish his purposes.

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He would just do it without me, and it is a privilege and a blessing that he would include me in that mission.

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That's why I love to be here, and I love to preach the word, because I am so unworthy of this.

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I'm only made worthy by the righteousness of Christ that is imputed to me because of what

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Christ did on the cross. Because it is by grace I have been saved through faith and not of works.

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It is the gift of God, not of myself, so I have no cause to boast. And some of you might say, but Gabe, you have such a great radio voice.

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Yes, by the grace of God. I inherited that. I didn't do anything to accomplish that.

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My dad sounds even better than I do. So I want to use those opportunities and the tools that God has given to me to the glory of his kingdom for the advancement of the gospel of Christ.

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What a privilege to be included in that. There's always somebody better than me. There's always somebody better than me that can come along and just as easily take my spot or attract whatever number of people.

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It is a privilege that I would have this opportunity to be able to do this, and I desire to do it faithfully for my king.

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So Paul endures everything so that others may hear and believe.

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And he never complained. Point out to me one place in the epistles of Paul where he complained about his situation and circumstance.

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And my friends, if there is anybody who had a place to complain about his situation and circumstance, it was

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Paul. When he's on the island of Malta in Acts, and he's gathering sticks to throw into the fire, and as he's picking up sticks, anybody remember what happens?

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A snake jumps out and bites him on the hand. You know, at some point I would have to, like, God, come on!

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I am preaching the gospel for you. We were just shipwrecked, and here I am trying to build a fire for these guys, and a viper's going to come out and bite my hand?

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But he shakes the snake off into the fire, and what results from that? The people see he's unharmed, and there are people that glorify

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God and worship him. Not a single complaint comes out of Paul's mouth. And in fact, to the

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Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11, he goes through a list of all the stuff that has happened to him for preaching the gospel and saying,

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I'm going to rejoice in Christ. Chapter 12, I rejoice in Christ for all of my weaknesses, hardships, and persecutions, because where I'm weak, he's strong, that the gospel of Christ may be proclaimed so Paul doesn't complain.

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Even while in chains, he wrote to the Philippians, do all things without grumbling or disputing.

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I can't even begin to tell you how convicted I was by that verse, Philippians 2 .14,

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when I read it as a teenager, because I complained a lot as a teenager. And yet here's this man who's in prison for preaching the gospel, and he's saying, do all things without grumbling or disputing.

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And rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. As that was

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Paul's attitude, so should it be Timothy's. And my brothers and sisters, so should it be yours and mine.

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I'm convicted daily over the things that I complain about.

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But I get to the end of my day and realize I have nothing to complain about, for God has been merciful to me.

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The elect, Paul says, obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

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Now the Greek word here for elect is eclektos, meaning select or chosen.

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It is always in reference to those whom God has chosen from mankind to save.

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Romans 8 .33 says, who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

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It is God who justifies. Colossians 3 .12 says, put on then as God's elect, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

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And at the beginning of his letter to Titus, Paul says that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

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Now we do not know whom God has chosen from before the foundation of the world.

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It's very plainly stated in Ephesians 1 .4. God has chosen from the foundation of the world those whom he is going to make holy in Christ.

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Only God knows who the elect are. We must preach the gospel to everyone without prejudice, knowing that the gospel is not bound and it will accomplish its purpose.

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Charles Spurgeon said, if I knew that all the elect were marked with a yellow X, then I could just go around and lift up the back of their shirts and go, ah, you've got an

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X, so I can just preach to you. But that's not the way things work. God knows the elect.

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We don't. And so we must preach to all. Isaiah 55, 10 through 11 says, for as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

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It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which

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I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

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On Saturday evening, before I preach this message on Sunday morning,

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I will either in my office at my house or I will come over to the church and I will preach to an empty room.

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Nobody hears what I preach, right? I hear it. And even as I read this word and recite it from my mouth, it's having a sanctifying work on my heart.

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Every time the word of God is uttered, it's accomplishing something.

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And God will complete the purpose that he sends forth his work to accomplish.

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Therefore, Paul says, I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

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Even though God has elected, God has not only decreed the end, but he has decreed the means to that end.

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So though he has elected some for salvation, how does he bring them into that salvation?

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Preaching the gospel. The gospel still has to be preached. And it's by hearing the word, being convicted of sin, and putting faith in Jesus Christ that one is saved.

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And as we continue to hear the word of God preached, as we're being sanctified,

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God is still using that as the means to accomplish the ultimate goal, the end. And what is that end for every one of us?

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That we would stand before God completely sanctified, glorified in his presence by his grace.

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So even though you find yourself one of the elect, I believe and though I've been saved, there is still a work that is being done in your heart through the continual meditation upon the word of God.

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And so Paul continues in this work that others may come to salvation and to eternal glory.

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Last of all here. So we've had remember Jesus Christ. We've had I endure everything for the sake of the elect.

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And lastly, in verse 11, Paul says, or he reminds Timothy of God's faithfulness, which gives us hope.

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Verse 11, the saying is trustworthy. So in light of the fact that God will accomplish all that he means to accomplish,

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Paul offers a trustworthy or faithful saying. And as I've said before, when we were in 1st

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Timothy, this refers to some sort of foundational doctrinal statement. This is like an early creed or a confession in the church.

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And you might notice in your Bible the way that this is paragraphed out. It looks like a poem. It may very well have been song lyrics that Paul was quoting to Timothy in an early church hymn that the church would have sung together there in the 1st century.

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What a time capsule, right? Wondering what kinds of songs that the early church sang.

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Right here, we're seeing some lyrics from one of those choruses. And the saying begins here, you'll notice, if we have died with him, we will also live with him.

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And this is an absolute and comforting promise that Paul reminded

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Timothy of. Paul is about to die as a martyr, yet he will live forever with Christ who raises the dead.

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Now you may have heard this in many funeral sermons before. Grandma is gone, but we're going to see her again, right?

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Yes? A white Ford pickup, your alarm is going off.

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That's what's honking outside. Nobody moves, okay. Now it's off, okay.

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All right. Where was I? So the... Thank you.

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Grandma's dead. My grandma's dead. She is. Both of my grandmothers have since passed.

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Grandma's gone. She has gone to be with the Lord, but we will see her again. It's a comforting promise and it's true.

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But oftentimes what becomes the emphasis in those sermons is the one that we've lost rather than the one who raises her from the dead so that we will all be together with Christ and we get to rejoice in the fact that she's not gone.

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She's not just become worm food. She is being risen again. It is even going to be accomplished for my grandmother what will be accomplished for me in Philippians 3 by the power that Christ possesses.

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He will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.

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If we have died with him, we'll live with him. And what a comfort that would have been to Timothy to read that knowing my mentor is about to go and die.

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This would have stirred confidence in Timothy to be faithful to share the gospel even unto death.

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For though we may die with him, we will also live with him. Very similar statement in Romans 6, 8 which says, now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

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In the next portion in verse 12, look at the next line in the confession. Paul says, if we endure, we will also reign with him.

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We continue the string of good news. If we have died with him, we will live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him.

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Remember that Paul just said that he endured everything for the sake of God's elect knowing the reward for his endurance was eternal life.

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And he reminded Timothy that the same would be true for him and for all believers. Enduring in the faith is an important theme throughout this letter.

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Underline, if you take notes, underline just that word endure. You might have already underlined the whole line.

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This is one of those letters where if you have a highlighter, it's like you're highlighting the whole thing. You're looking back over going, well, goodness,

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I've done everything here up to this point. But just to take a note of that word endure, and as we continue through the letter, how often does it come up?

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How many times does Paul encourage Timothy to endure? The next statement in this saying, the next line, if we deny him, then he also will deny us.

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To deny means to disown or repudiate. And one of the most famous instances of denial in the

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Bible was by Peter, who denied Jesus three times.

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And when Peter realized this, Matthew 26, 75 says, he went out and wept bitterly over his sin.

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And then after Jesus rose from the dead, he asked Peter three times if Peter loved him.

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This is Jesus forgiving Peter of his denial and reinstating him for the mission of the gospel, which we read about in John 21.

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And just like Peter, there are many people today who will deny the name of Christ, and they may outright deny it.

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They may deny it in the sense that they make up a Jesus that is different than the Christ of the Bible, so that people will like my

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Jesus even if you don't like this Jesus. A person may deny

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Jesus is the Christ or any other essential doctrine. Jesus said, everyone who acknowledges me before men,

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I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men,

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I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 10, 32 -33.

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And so look at this last line, verse 13. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

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Now, this has often been misinterpreted, and you've probably been doing it even as you've been sitting there reading it.

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It's been misinterpreted to mean that even if we are faithless to God, he will remain faithful to us.

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After all, Peter acted faithlessly toward Jesus, and yet Jesus was faithful to his previous promise to Peter, whom

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Jesus would use to build his church, back to Matthew 16 -18. And we just considered that God will be faithful to save his elect no matter what.

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And though that's true, and God is indeed gracious to forgive, the context of this line does not seem to fit that explanation that God is holding on to us though we are faithless toward him.

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The first two lines, look at the confession again. The first two lines are about the reward we receive, right?

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Both of those are about enduring in Christ. If we died with him, we will live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him.

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But the next two lines, the third line is, if we deny him, he also will deny us.

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So it doesn't make sense that the fourth line would jump back up to the meaning of the first two.

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It makes more sense that the fourth line would be in the context of the third. Am I making sense?

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Are you following me? So therefore, if we are faithless to him, he remains faithful to himself, to what he has said, to what is written in his word, for he cannot deny himself.

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If he were to go against his own word, it would be to deny himself. So in other words,

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God will be faithful to carry out what he has promised to do to those who do not have faith.

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Did we not just hear this morning as Chris was reading from Revelation 21, these are the people that I will save, and I will be their

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God, and they will be my people. But then Revelation 21 .8,

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here's who's not my people. The cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

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So remember that Paul had talked previously about those who had been faithful to the preaching of the gospel. If you remember back to chapter one, he mentioned

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Onesiphorus. He talked about Timothy being faithful to the gospel. He gave other examples in Timothy's life, his mother and his grandmother who faithfully preached the gospel.

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But then he also gave example of others who have not been faithful and have abandoned Paul. And we'll see more names that will come up even in this letter.

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So this is a warning to all to remain faithful to the end. As Jesus said, the one who endures to the end will be saved,

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Matthew 10 .22. So we have in the first portion, great news, wonderful reminder.

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If we've died with him, we will live with him. If we endure, we will reign with him. But be warned, brothers and sisters, if we deny him, he will deny us.

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And if we are faithless, he remains faithful to what he has said will happen to those who are faithless.

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And so this brings us to the conclusion where we've heard here these reminders from Paul.

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Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.

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And then last of all, this promise that we have of hope for all who are faithful in Christ.

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If I could give some final applications here, how can we therefore apply these things to ourselves?

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Number one, remember. Number two, have hope. And number three, be warned.

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The letter that was written to the Hebrews, which we call Hebrews, the whole book of Hebrews, that whole letter is a reminder.

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It's a sermon preaching that Christ is the greatest. He's above all. He is the greatest word.

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He is the greatest heavenly being. He is the greater Moses. He is the greater sacrifice. He is the greater high priest.

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And then warnings are given to the Hebrews. You know what happened to your fathers in the wilderness. They didn't believe.

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They saw and did not believe. And because of that, they were not permitted to enter into the rest of God.

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And so, Paul quotes from the Psalms, Paul, the preacher of Hebrews, all the controversy of who wrote

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Hebrews. Anyway, the preacher of Hebrews says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

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Therefore, I was provoked with that generation and said, They always go astray in their heart.

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They have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

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Take care, brothers, lest there be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living

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God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

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For we have come to share in Christ. If indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end, as it is said,

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Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

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And so, my friends, may that be of you. You have heard the word preached.

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And as I said in the very beginning, we are so weak in our flesh, weak in pride to think that we know it all, first of all, but then also weak in the sense that we're prone to forgetfulness.

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We need the gospel every day because we forget it every day. And so think on these things that have been said and how you remain faithful to the end, resisting sin and temptation and walking in holiness and righteousness.

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17th century Puritan William Bridge said the following, Though you read much and hear much, if you do not meditate on what you read and hear, it will amount to little, and you will be none the wiser.

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So let us also remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.

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O my help comes from the

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Lord, from the

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Lord Jesus, O my help comes from the

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Lord, from the

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Lord Jesus, O my help comes from the

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Lord, from the Lord Jesus, This is when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

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Find a good, gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again Monday for more