Scripture Meditation: 2 Timothy 2:1-13
INTRODUCTION
- The late Jim Croce had a hit song that offered this advice:
- You don't tug on Superman's cape- you don't spit into the wind- you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
- Growing up in South Africa I guess Rory Sabbatini never heard of Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
- Cause if he had he would known better than to tick off Mr. Tiger Woods
- In May- after losing to Tiger at the Wachovia®- Sabbatini was asked his opinion about the greatest golfer on the planet
- Rory said: "I want to take him on again. I think he's more beatable than ever"
- Sabbatini got a chance to test that theory last Sunday
- Going into the final round of the Bridgestone WGC® he lead Tiger by one stroke
- Which meant the two were paired together in the final round
- It was not a pretty sight
- Tiger proceeded to crush, humiliate, emasculate, eviscerate and destroy Sabbatini
- Winning the tournament by an incredible eight strokes in the process
- All of which proves one thing: You should never- no not ever- doubt or question Tiger Woods' talent on a golf course
TRANSITION
- Essentially Paul makes the same point about God in 2 Timothy chapter 2
- You should never- no not ever- doubt or question God's faithfulness
- Please read what it says in verse 13:
- Folks-
- This is one of the most important verses of Scripture in the Bible
- Because it PROVES that a genuinely born-again Christian can not lose their salvation
- Now obviously- we're going to spend time focusing on this verse this morning
- But there are many other important truths packed into the second chapter of 2 Timothy
- So let's get started with the first verse
If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
THE THINGS YOU HAVE HEARD ME SAY
2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- As Paul wrote this letter to Timothy he knows he's near the end of his life
- Maybe he'll live another year- or five years
- But Paul knows he'll soon go on to be with Jesus
- Now Paul isn't afraid to die
- Remember- this is the man who wrote-
- For me to live is Christ and to die is gain
- I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
- The bedrock certainty of Paul's life was that he was saved- and that he would spend eternity in the presence of His Lord
- But in spite of all that- Paul was worried
- He knew that after he died
- Someone else would have to assume the burden of sharing Jesus with a lost and dying world
- Paul was absolutely convinced Timothy was up to the task
- He'd already proven that he was a genuine and faithful man of God
- But the question was:
- What would happen after Timothy died?
- Who would carry the message of Jesus to the next generation?
- Folks- this is a challenge Christians still face today
- Our responsibility is to reach this generation for Christ
- Then train them so that they'll be able to reach the next generation of people who need the Lord
- Folks- as your pastor I want you to know...
- What you believe
- Why you believe it
- And how you can share it with someone who is lost
- That's my job and if...
- I fulfill myself responsibility of equipping you for mission and ministry
- And together we fulfill our responsibility of sharing Christ's love with a lost and dying world
- Someday we're going to hear God say:
2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
"Well done, good and faithful servant(s)! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"
REFLECT ON WHAT I AM SAYING
- Let's read on- verses 3
- Endure hardship with us is a translation of a compounding Greek word- synkakopatheson
- Compounding words happen when you take several little words and combine them into one big word
- In this case synkakopatheson is a compound of:
- patheo- which means ‘suffer'
- kakos- which means ‘bad'
- And syn- which means ‘together'
- It literally means: Together we suffer evil treatment
- Not exactly something you want to put on your church marquee
- Come join us as together we suffer evil treatment
- You know- these days we want to cover-up the true cost of following Christ
- Let's all be happy and live for Jesus!
- It's easy! It's simple! It's pain-free!
- No mess! No worry! No bother!
- But that's not what...
- Jesus told His disciples
- Paul told Timothy
- Jesus said.../ Paul told Timothy...
- Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt. 5:11-12)
- Be prepared to join together with me in suffering evil treatment for the cause of Christ
- And folks- when it came to suffering for Jesus
- Paul knew what he was talking about
- Please read what he writes in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
- I wonder how many of us would be willing to endure a tenth of what Paul endured for the sake of the Gospel
- Shoot- most Christians today:
- Aren't even willing to venture outside their comfort zone
- Let alone suffer evil treatment for the cause of Christ
- Maybe that's why billions of people around the world are lost and doomed to an eternity spent in hell
- And just for the record- God hasn't failed
- We've failed by being a bunch of gutless, spineless cowards!
- I want you to notice what's going on here:
- Paul takes three role-models from the real world
- A soldier
- An athlete
- And a farmer
- To give Timothy an idea of what it means to be the Lord's faithful servant
- Take the solider.
- Paul says a soldier's life is characterized by three things:
- A willingness to endure hardship for a greater cause
- The avoidance of worldly entanglements that might hinder his mission
- And a fierce desire to please his commander- and do his duty
- Paul's point is that faithful Christians are required to do these three things if they want to please God
- As for an athlete
- He has to endure the rigors of discipline and training to compete- and win- at the highest levels of sport
- Same thing is true in the Christian life
- A born-again believer has to discipline and train themselves to fulfill God's Will for their life
- It's what Paul talks about in verse 15:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. - Finally- there's the hard-working farmer
- Think about it: Farmers have to live a life of patient faithfulness
- The can plow their fields, plant their seeds and cultivate their crop
- But ultimately a farmer has to patiently trust the Lord to bring the harvest
- In the same way- God expects Christians
- To faithfully tell people about Jesus- and share His love with others
- Then patiently and prayerfully let the Holy Spirit bring the lost to salvation
7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST
- Let's continue on with 2 Timothy 2:8-9
- Remember Jesus Christ
- In the Greek this is written in the present tense
- It literally means: Keep on remembering Jesus Christ
- I don't know about you- but sometimes I forget about Jesus
- It usually happens just before I fall into some kind of sin
- See- here's the thing:
- If your heart is set on sinning against God
- You've got to forget about Jesus
- Now don't get me wrong:
- You don't forget that Jesus...
- Is the incarnate Son of the Living God
- Died on the Cross for your sin
- Rose from the dead triumphant over sin and death
- Ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father
- Or that He will Come Again as King of kings and Lord of lords over all Creation
- What I'm talking about is forgetting that-
- He's your personal Savior and Lord- that He loves you completely, totally and absolutely
- You've freely made a commitment to love and serve Him with all your heart- with all your mind and with all your strength
- Look- if you take only one thing away from this sermon today learn this:
- ALWAYS keep remembering Jesus
- It's the key to living a life that is pleasing to God!
THAT THEY TOO MAY OBTAIN... SALVATION
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
- If you ever get into a debate about predestination expect to hear this verse
- Predestination is the doctrine that says God has already decided who:
- Will be saved
- And who will be lost
- Someone who believes this will point to verse 10 and say: There it is! Paul is suffering for the sake of the elect- the people God has already chosen to be saved
- There's only one problem with that theory:
- That's not what 2 Timothy 2:10 is saying
- In this case the word elect refers to those people- in all generations- who will freely receive Christ as their Savior
- The key word here is obtain
- If God had already predetermined to save some people- and cast others into hell
- Paul wouldn't be concerned about giving people the chance to obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus
- You don't need to obtain what you already have
- And you can't obtain what is impossible to get
- The fact is the Bible's message of salvation by grace- through faith- is available to ANYONE who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
- Any questions? Let's move on.
HE WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL
- Most Biblical scholars believe verses 11-13 are an early Christian hymn
- It-
- Was probably sung whenever a new believer was baptized
- It's equally possible that Paul may have written the hymn
- In any case- look at what it says
- The idea here is something called corporate identity
- It simply means that by being baptized you have publicly identified yourself with Jesus in His-
- Death
- And His Resurrection
- Romans 6:1-8
- Here's what all this means:
- Being a Christian means you have identified yourself with Jesus' death on the Cross
- The Cross may be a stumbling block to some- a sick, twisted joke to others
- But to those of us who know Christ it is the power of God's grace to save!
- And oh by the way- the Cross is also the reason we can:
- Live an abundant life here on Earth
- And have the assurance of eternal life in heaven!
- A few minutes ago I pointed out that when it came to living a Christian life:
- Jesus never pulled any punches with His disciples
- And Paul never pulled any punches with Timothy
- The fact is being a Christian isn't easy
- Now being SAVED is easy because Jesus did the hard part by dying on the Cross
- But living a life that's pleasing to God in a world that's tainted by sin is really, REALLY, REALLY tough
- It requires endurance
- The Greek word is hypomenomen
- It means ‘the capacity to endure stress- to continue in existence'
- The point Paul is making here in verse 12 is that:
- When you ‘keep on keeping on' in your walk with Jesus- no matter what Satan may throw at you
- Christ will honor you with a throne and crowns of righteousness in the kingdom of heaven
- Earlier we talked about the way some people point to 2 Timothy 2:10 to support their belief in predestination
- Oddly enough people who believe you can loose your salvation point to verse 12 to justify their belief
- They say: Look here! The Bible says if you disown Jesus by denying Him or falling into sin; Jesus will disown you!
- Actually- that's not what God's Word is saying
- Ultimately to deny Jesus is to reject Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord
- In other words:
- If you go through your entire life- and never ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior
- Knowing facts about Jesus won't be enough- He will deny knowing you
- Please read what Jesus said about this thing in John 3:18
- Here's the bottom line of John 3:18. If you-
- Receive Jesus as your Savior during your life here on Earth:
- Judgment is past
- You are eternally saved- and will go to heaven
- Never take Jesus as your Savior during your life here on Earth:
- Judgment is certain
- You are eternally lost- and will be cast out into hell
- Simple as that
- Now at this point somebody might say:
- But wait a minute Steve! What if somebody asked Jesus to be their Savior when they were 11 or 12
- But then they spent the rest of their life living for the devil. Wouldn't they loose their salvation?
- Absolutely not! Read what it says in verse 13:
- Folks- where salvation is concerned...
- Your faithfulness or lack of faithfulness isn't really the issue
- God's faithfulness is what counts-
- And God will ALWAYS be found faithful
- He will ALWAYS keep the promise He's made
- And here's the promise He made:
- Folks- when it comes to salvation:
- God didn't send a team of lawyers to write contracts filled with loopholes, exceptions and out-clauses
- God sent His one and only Son to die on the Cross- and said: whosoever believes in Him shall be saved
- No ‘if's'- no ‘and's'- and no ‘but's'
- Saved. Period. For all eternity.
- That's what we mean when we talk about the security of the believer
- It's all in the hands of God
- Praise God! You can't get any more secure than that!
- Let us pray
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
12 ...If we disown him, he will also disown us;
13 ...if we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.
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