Suffering for the Gospel: An Introduction to 2 Timothy - Part 1

Suffering for the Gospel in Paul’s Final Letter

You are about to die. You await your scheduled execution in a cold jail cell. The charge against you, preaching a message, a message you have suffered for mightily. You have been stoned and left for dead for this message.

Close encounters with death beginning to be more than you can count for this message. You have been ridiculed from this message. You have lost friends and companions for this message. Imprisoned multiple times for this message.

Entire governments have turned on you because of this message. You are now older and awaiting death and find yourself with one last opportunity to share this message. The you in this story is not you nor I.

It is Paul as we find him writing the letter. And the message is the glorious gospel of Christ. Turn with me this evening, turn with me this evening to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. This evening I will attempt an introduction to the letter of 2 Timothy.

And there is gravity to this letter. I have struggled with preparing to preach this. Not because it is not rich and not because there is nothing in it that is needed to be preached. As you read 2 Timothy, these things, they leap off the page at you.

But I have struggled with the gravity of this letter. The gravity of the duty of the preacher. The gravity of the life of a Christian. As I have struggled with this, the crushing, there is a weight to this letter that at times can be crushing and can be too much for us to bear.

But however, however the heavy it may be and the gravity of it, I find comfort in our text which comes from 2 Timothy chapter 2 beginning in verse 1. For those of you that can, let us stand as we reverence the reading of God's holy word.

2 Timothy chapter 2 beginning in verse 1. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust of faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Let us go to the Lord in prayer.

Father God, as we come before you, Lord, as we open your word this evening, Father, and we read your word, I pray, Father God, that we would do it with humble hearts, Father. That, Lord, as we read these pages, Father, that were written under the divine inspiration of your Spirit, that we would understand that we are reading the words of God.

That they wouldn't pass us by, Father. That the weight of these words, Lord God, would not pass us by. Lord, that I, as a weak man, Father, as I prepare to preach, I ask for your help because without it I cannot do it, without it I cannot preach.

I can do nothing without you. So, Father, I pray that I would be nothing more than an instrument for your use, Father God. Lord, I pray that as the word is brought forth, that you would soften hearts to your word.

That, Lord, if there be any that don't know you, that have not been born again, I pray, Father, that you would draw them unto repentance. And I pray for the Christian here that, Lord God, they would be strengthened by your word.

And we ask all of these things in your Son's precious and holy name.

Amen.

The Pastoral Epistle and Paul’s Imminent Martyrdom

Some things, just a few things that we need to know before we get going. Some things about 2 Timothy is, firstly, it is a pastoral epistle. It is a pastoral epistle along with 1 Timothy and Titus. Those are considered your pastoral epistles.

Many are of the belief that this is something written that is only of application to ministers. And we cannot mistake the context that this is indeed a letter written to Timothy as a charge to the minister of the gospel.

It is a necessity for preachers of the gospel to study this letter and the charge given in its words. But however, the words of this text are necessary for every believer as well. So, it is a pastoral epistle.

It is Paul's final letter before he was killed, before he died as a martyr. He was imprisoned in Rome for the second time. And unlike the first time, we find Paul not under house arrest, but verse 9 of this chapter tells us that he is in chains.

We find Paul in a jail cell in chains and he is waiting his execution. Paul knows that his death is imminent and he highlights that in 2 Timothy 4, 6 -8. For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. And he says, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, but not unto me only, but unto all them that love his appearing.

That is Paul writing in some of his final words in chapter 4 to Timothy. Votibachum sums up 2 Timothy like this. The message of 2 Timothy is this. Timothy, they are about to kill me for preaching the gospel.

When they do, you preach the gospel until they kill you. That is the setting that is so important as we read this, that we understand what is going on here in 2 Timothy. And so we come here to our text and you'll understand why for an intro I chose right in the middle of the letter.

But 2 Timothy 2, verse 1 we find where it says, you then, you then, both the King James and the LSB both have a therefore here. So you've probably heard somebody say the therefore. What's the therefore?

It's linking the previous chapter. So if we were to take this just to sum up so we have context for our Scriptures this evening, it is linking the previous chapters and we can view it in this way referencing chapter 1.

You then, my child, or my son, Timothy, with the sincere faith that dwelt in your grandmother, your mother, and now you, by the grace of God, we're quickly going through chapter 1, with the God-given spirit of power, love, and self-control, but not fear, not being ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, who we're afraid to share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God, knowing the gospel, following the power of what you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, guard what has been entrusted, seeing those who have turned from me and those who have stayed and not been ashamed.

And now, you then, my child, be strengthened. Be strengthened. Be made strong. Be made strong in what? Be made strong by what? By the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Made strong by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Fully dependent upon the grace that is in Christ Jesus. As Christians, we can do nothing of worth to God without that grace. We can do nothing of worth. There is no Christian who is not dependent upon the grace of God.

Not one. By the grace of God, you then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

This is where we're going to focus on for our introduction to 2 Timothy. On this what you have heard from me. So what was it? What was it that he had heard from Paul that was so important? What is he telling Timothy to entrust to faithful men who will be able to also teach others?

What was it?

It was the Gospel. It was the Gospel.

How do you know? How do you know it was the Gospel? Well, 2 Timothy 1 .13, there's two places we're going to read really quick. 2 Timothy 1 .13 says, Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2 .8, you go down just a little bit from our text. It says, Remember, and we're going to dive into this one tonight, Remember, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, has preached in my Gospel.

So what he's saying is, Paul is telling Timothy, Preach the Gospel, teach it to others so they may teach it to others. Timothy, pretty much he's saying, Timothy, fulfill the great commission of Christ in proclaiming the Gospel.

And so throughout 2 Timothy, throughout this letter, Paul gives Timothy many charges in relation to the Gospel, and we're going to study over these over the next several months. This is going to take a while.

Preaching through a book once a month, we were talking about you may have a few children born by the time, but we're going to get through this. Y 'all have had children born every Sunday preaching through Ephesians, so it'll be no different.

It may just be a little bit longer. But we're going to study these throughout, but we don't have time to go through all of them. We're not going to go through all of them tonight. But I do want to very quickly work through three.

Two tonight, and one here in a few weeks. I believe that these three charges that Paul gives Timothy, if that's what you want to call them, will give us a picture of what we're going to be studying. It'll be an incomplete picture, but nonetheless, it'll give us a picture into the letter of 2 Timothy, and I believe it'll help set a stage for the preaching through this letter.

So three charges given by Paul to Timothy in relation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And before we go through these, let's keep in mind a constant theme throughout this letter, and that theme is suffering.

That theme is suffering. Nobody wants to talk about suffering. Now, that is not something that is something we just jump up and down about hearing about suffering, but that is the theme, a constant theme throughout this letter.

Paul has suffered for the sake of the Gospel, and he is preparing Timothy to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. So with that in mind, he charges Timothy. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, he charges Timothy, firstly, to remember the Gospel.

Remembering the Gospel in the Face of Suffering

Remember the Gospel. Look at verse 8 in chapter 2. It says, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my Gospel. What does he mean by in my Gospel? When he says in my Gospel, the Gospel of Christ that Paul has been entrusted with, as opposed to false Gospels that are being taught by false teachers, he says my Gospel, he's referring to the Gospel of Christ that has been entrusted to Paul.

So, Timothy, as you suffer, as you face persecution, as you face trials, as you face hardship for the sake of Christ,.

Run and hide. Give up.

Or maybe, find your inner you. Whenever you face it, find your inner you. You know, just focus on having your best life now. Be true to your heart. No. No. Timothy, as you suffer, as you face persecution, as you face trials, as you face hardship for the sake of Christ, as you face these things, as they try to kill you, as they stone you, as they spit on you, as they threaten you, as they turn from you, remember Jesus, crucified for the forgiveness of sins and risen from the dead for the justification of sinners.

Remember this, Timothy. Remember that He died for the salvation of sinners of His church and that He rose for the justification of those who will put their faith in Him. Remember this, Timothy. Remember, Timothy, that you were dead in your trespasses and were by nature a child of wrath, but God, who is rich in mercy, He called you from out of the muck that you were in and He saved you.

You are redeemed by the blood of Christ, Timothy, and made new. Remember this. For there is nothing more worthy of suffering for than this. Christ is worthy of His name being proclaimed no matter the circumstance and no matter what you face, Timothy.

And what you have been teaching is true. How do we know that? How do we know that? Because it has been confirmed by, it says, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. How the teaching, what we've been teaching, what I've taught you is true.

How do you know it has been confirmed? By the resurrection of Christ. You're not preaching a fairy tale. This is not mythology that I've taught you, Timothy. And we, as an application, we must take the same thing to heart.

We must not be fearful to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. Why were these weak men, these were mere men, why were these weak men so willing to suffer and die for the Gospel? Because they were persuaded of its truth.

They were persuaded of its truth. Christian, remember the Gospel. Remember the Gospel. As you suffer, and we will suffer. We will suffer in various forms. We may not be beheaded as Paul was. We may not be stoned to death.

But there is suffering. There is suffering in the life of a Christian. We will have times of triumph. We will have valleys of defeat, where it feels like we're defeated, I should say. We will suffer. But there's nothing more worth suffering for than the Gospel.

You may be ridiculed for the sake of the Gospel. You may have friends turned. You may not be in the end crowd. You know, a very real thing, you know, that for my son has been saved, it may cost him friends being a Christian.

There's nothing more worthy than Christ. Why such an emphasis, though, on the resurrection? He says, remember Jesus Christ. And we know that Christ died. Why does He say risen? Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.

And why such an emphasis on the resurrection? One, there is the resurrection itself, which a few weeks ago, we spent about three weeks on the resurrection where the resurrection vindicated Christ's claim as the Son of God.

That's important. His resurrection confirms our justification that the payment that Christ made on Calvary when He died by the resurrection is His proof that the payment was accepted by Christ and it was paid in full.

There's no other payment needed. That's important. That the resurrection confirms those who are in Christ's future resurrection. That is important. The other aspect, though, is that He is risen. He is risen.

He's still risen. He is still risen and reigning at the right hand of the Father. This is comforting to Timothy.

Pursuing Righteousness, Faith, Love, and Peace

Why?

Why is it comforting to Timothy that Christ is still risen and is reigning at the right hand of the Father? Look down to 2 Timothy 2, 11 -12. The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him.

If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny us. William Hendrickson writes this about why it's so important to put here Jesus Christ risen from the dead. He says it like this, Timothy.

Constantly remember that as living and reigning Lord, Jesus Christ is able as well as willing to help you and to carry you through. Not Nero, but Jesus Christ exalted at the right hand of the Father has the reins of the universe in His hands and will continue to govern all things in the interest of the church and unto the glory of God.

Hence, whatever happens, never lose courage. We know that to them that love God, all things work together for good. So Timothy, as verse 3 in chapter 2, Timothy, as you suffer as a good soldier of Jesus Christ in verse 9, as you suffer with chains bound like a criminal, as you suffer, remember, Christ is King.

Christ is King and He is reigning still. Christian, though we may suffer, we do not live as one defeated.

We have a hope.

As children of the one true King. He is our risen and reigning Savior.

Remember the Gospel.

Remember the Gospel. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. The offspring of David is preached in my Gospel. First charge. Second charge. Remember the Gospel. Secondly, pursue the righteousness that is found in the Gospel.

But look at verse 22 in chapter 2. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord.

From a pure heart.

So pursue righteousness, but before, we've got to notice the before. Before he charges Timothy with pursuing righteousness, what does he say? Flee youthful passions. So flee youthful passions. What does he mean by youthful passions?

I've studied on this for the last few weeks. There are a couple beliefs as to what Paul was referring to here. To put it simply, some believe he is not warning against sin, but rather those things that so often beset young ministers such as vainglory.

While others argue that he is warning against sinful passions. Passions which younger believers are more likely to fall into than those who are more mature and able to rise above these temptations through the sanctifying hand of the Holy Spirit.

William Hendrickson falls into the latter camp. He states that the youthful passions that Timothy is urged to flee can more or less be put into three categories that we don't have time to explore all of them, but are worth mentioning.

He puts them into three categories. Pleasure, power, and possessions. This was helpful. Hendrickson believes these passions that Paul charges Timothy to flee may be best regarded as the antonyms or the opposites of the list that Paul tells Timothy to pursue.

So, as Pastor Quatro put it Wednesday night, he called it the sin and the opposite grace. That's a really good way. I like that. That's a good way of putting it. So let's look at the opposites too. Righteousness, when it says flee youthful passions.

Let's look at the opposites of righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Righteousness. Well, the opposite would be sinfulness or wickedness. Faith. The opposite would be unbelief, doubt, denial, love. The opposite would be hate or animosity.

And then peace.

The opposite would be discord, distress, agitation, and worry. All of these need to be put into the proper context. We'll do that shortly. But I want you to pay a great deal of attention to Paul not stopping there, not stopping with, so flee youthful passions or flee youthful lusts, but he says flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

So flee sinfulness, flee wickedness, and pursue righteousness. Flee unbelief and flee doubt, but pursue faith. Flee hatred and animosity and pursue love. Flee worry and pursue peace. We cannot separate the flee and the pursue in the life of the believer or the life of a minister.

So flee youthful lusts through Christ and pursue the remedy for those lusts.

Through Christ.

Flee the sinful things of the world, but pursue the good things of God. Christian, this is easy to say. Stop being wicked. Be righteous. Stop being sinful. Be righteous. Stop worrying. Have faith. Stop with the hatred for your brother and love them.

Stop with the discord among brothers and have peace. It's easy to say that, but this isn't possible without the Gospel. This is not possible without the Gospel. For someone without Christ, who is not in Christ, to pursue these things, to desire to flee these lusts, and to pursue these things mentioned here without Christ, it is impossible.

It is impossible without the Gospel. Turn to Romans 6. I want you to turn there because we're going to read quite a bit and I want you to follow along. Romans 6, beginning in verse 5. Romans 6, beginning in verse 5.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him for the death He died, He died to sin once and for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God.

So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law,.

But under grace.

By the power of God,.

Christian,.

You have been made alive to God in Christ Jesus. Through that supernatural work, we have been enabled to flee sinful passions, and rather than presenting ourselves as instruments of unrighteousness, we are presented to God as instruments for righteousness.

We must no longer live in subjection to sin. I want to make something clear though. Paul isn't telling Timothy, flee sin, run from sin, and then go pursue these things of God. Flee sin, then go pursue God.

Work your way. Get cleaned up. Flee yourself from sin,.

Then go to Christ.

That is not what Paul is telling. Paul is saying, Timothy, through this Gospel that we preach, and you need to remember, that you need to remember, and by the power of it, you are made to flee from youthful passions and empowered by the Spirit to seek after God.

Without Christ, Timothy would be powerless against Satan and the lust that might be present.

Christian,.

Without Christ, you will not withstand the temptations that will come your way. Unbeliever, you will fall to the wiles of the devil without Christ. He seeks to destroy you, and without Christ, that is exactly what he will do.

In Ephesians 6, 10 -11, it says finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. In the KJV, in the King James Version, the word schemes is replaced there with wiles.

So you have the wiles, you will not be able to withstand the wiles of the devil.

So what's a wile?

What does that mean?

Wile is a devious or cunning scheme employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what that one wants. It is a wile. So when I hear wile, I think of Wile E. Coyote. I think of Wile E. Coyote,.

And by the way,.

Wile means full of deceit. So Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. I don't know, I assume they have this in Canada. I assume that it's there too. I'm sure you know. Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. Throughout the entire show, what was Wile E. trying to do?

He was trying to get the Roadrunner. He was trying to catch the Roadrunner. How did he try to catch it? He was trying to catch the Roadrunner. That's what he was trying to do. How was he trying to do it?

Through devious and cunning schemes. Quick-drying cement. A dynamite arrow. He disguised himself as a hitchhiker. He painted a picture of a road continuing when there was actually a cliff. He tried to drop 10 ,000 pounds on the head of the Roadrunner.

He built a brick wall in the road, and so on, and so on, and so on. So he was trying to catch the Roadrunner. How? Through devious and cunning schemes.

Why? Why?

Because he wanted to devour the Roadrunner. He wanted to devour the Roadrunner. Do you see the illustration? 1 Peter 5 .8 Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

You'll never watch that show the same. We have an enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. For he has your worst interest at heart. How can we resist and be able to withstand the wiles or the schemes of the devil?

By being strong. Being strengthened.

In what?

In the Lord and the strength of His might. Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. We mentioned that a major theme of this letter is suffering for the sake of the Gospel. So Paul is writing.

He's saying, Timothy, as you suffer, you may be tempted to give in, to forsake the Gospel and run to these youthful passions. Child of God, in your suffering, the wicked lie of the enemy may come to mind.

Just curse God and die. That's what Job's wife said to him when he was in his suffering. She said, just curse God and die. Just stop. Just give in. It's not worth it. The world can offer you a relief.

Just curse God and die. But he says, no.

Remember the Gospel.

Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness. Cling to Christ. By the power of the Gospel and the work that the Spirit has done within you.

Flee sin.

But Christian, it is not enough simply to flee sin, but we must pursue righteousness, which means to pursue a right standing with God that has been made possible by God. Pursue holiness. Flee sin. Pursue holiness.

Pursue faith. Trusting in Christ. Confident in God. Pursue love. Not the love of or for the world or defined by the world, but to desire, to reflect the love that God has shown to unworthy sinners. Love for God.

Love for His Son, His Spirit, His Word, and His people.

And pursue peace.

Along with these others, peace based on the truth of His Word. The gift of true peace that can only be found for those who rest in Christ. And finally, so flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord.

From a pure heart.

And finally, this is not to be done alone, but rather, fleeing sin, pursuing righteousness, pursuing faith, love, and peace.

As the church of Christ. As the church,.

As the body,.

As the bride of Christ, as a body of believers, we pursue these things together. That we may, when we suffer, when we suffer together, we remember that we serve a risen Savior who has not, He did not just ascend and then He's gone.

Never to return. Never to be heard of, of this world. Never. He's gone. No, He is risen and He is reigning. And He will reign until He returns for His church. As you suffer, as we suffer, remember that we serve a risen Savior who is reigning.

So by the power of God and by the enabling of the Holy Spirit, flee youthful passions. Flee what the world has to offer and pursue the good things of God.

Let us pray.

Father, we are in awe of You. Lord God, we pray that You would receive all the glory that is due Your name. We pray, Father God, that even when we suffer, Father God, even if it comes to the point of suffering in chains as an evildoer, or even if it comes to the point of suffering where we are killed for the gospel, Father, may we do so gladly, Lord, as we are empowered by You, and may we remember Father, Your Son raised and reigning.

And may we submit to Christ our King.

Father, give us strength.

That even in times of suffering we may resist youthful passions, we may flee the lusts of the world, the sin of the world, everything the world entices or tries to offer,. Father God, that You would enable us to pursue righteousness and holiness where You say for us to be holy.

As You are holy.

Lord God, we pray that we would be strengthened, Lord, as a body in unity around the truth of Your Word.

We ask all these things of You.