January 19, 2020

2 Timothy 2:8-13: Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: 2 Timothy: Faithful to the End Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:8–13

2 Timothy 2:8-13: Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus

Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 2. If you’re using one of the Bibles we provide, that’s on page 834. We’ve been working our way through Paul’s second letter to Timothy passage by passage, and today we find ourselves in 2 Timothy 2:8-13. 2 Timothy 2:8-13: 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 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. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. 

Several weeks ago, I was on the phone with a health insurance representative getting everything ready for our family for this upcoming year. And on that call, I came quite close to having a rather embarrassing experience. This representative began to ask me about each of the four children we have and started with my oldest son Caleb, asking for his middle name. And as the representative was typing in the information, I was thinking ahead to the rest of the children and, for some reason, I just couldn’t remember my youngest child Luke’s middle name. Now, it was pretty early in the morning, so that was probably part of the reason, but I was still a bit flustered that, for the life of me, I just couldn’t remember what Luke’s middle name is. So I asked the representative to hold on and then ran up to my bedroom, dug around in the fireproof box until I located Luke’s social security card, and finally saw that his middle name is indeed Alexander. How in the world could I ever forget that? 

Yet, so often, we do forget very important and fundamental things that you’d think we’d always remember. And believe it or not, we sometimes even forget Jesus. That’s why Paul has to remind Timothy in the very first words of our main passage to “remember Jesus Christ.” Why does he say that? Well, sometimes we forget. Somehow, we leave Christ out of Christianity. We get so wrapped up in activities and responsibilities and other forms of busyness and other cares and concerns that we lose sight of the One who’s at the very center of the Christian faith—Jesus himself. It’s like we have spiritual amnesia. That’s why it’s so important for us to do what Paul says here and deliberately “remember Jesus Christ.” Those three words are the main idea of this passage. “Remember Jesus Christ.” That’s how Paul says Timothy should be faithful in doing the things he urged him to do in the previous passage. You may recall from last week that in the previous passage Paul urges Timothy to pass on what’s been entrusted to him and to exhibit the focus of a soldier, the obedience of an athlete, and the hard work of a farmer. The point of all these illustrations is for Timothy to be faithful in the ministry God’s called him to. And now in the present passage, we see that the key to doing that is to “remember Jesus Christ.” And there are three specific ways I’d like to look at in which we “remember Jesus Christ,” all three of which are absolutely essential if we want to be faithful in our service to God. We want to be, number one, focused on the gospel of Jesus. Number two, empowered by the grace of Jesus. And number three, inspired by the person of Jesus. These are the ways in which we “remember Jesus Christ.

Focused on the Gospel of Jesus

So first, we need to be focused on the gospel of Jesus. The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” It’s the good news of who Jesus is and what he’s done to save us. Jesus existed as God but entered this world as a real human being—“the offspring of David,” verse 8 says. And he did that on a mission to rescue us from our sins. You see, each one of us has sinned against God and deserves to face God’s punishment forever in hell. Not only that, we’re also enslaved to sin, meaning that our will is in a state of bondage to our own sinful desires. And try as we might, there’s nothing we can do to escape from this wretched condition we’re in. That’s why we need Jesus—because, you see, after living a life of perfect obedience to God’s law, Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He took every bit of the wrath that we deserved and suffered it in our place—as our substitute. That’s how much he cares for us. That’s how much he loves us. Even though we’ve done nothing but sin against him for our entire lives, he loves us with a love that’s beyond our comprehension. Not only that, but Jesus is now, as this verse says, “risen from the dead” and stands ready to save everyone who will put their trust in him do so. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, Jesus stands ready to save you from both the guilt of your sin and from the power of sin in your life. Now you can see why we call this message the gospel—the good news. It’s the best news anyone could ever receive. 

Yet even though this message is such good news, for some reason, it’s very easy for us as Christians to lose sight of it and get distracted with other things. For example, sometimes Christians will become so concerned about social justice issues that they forget the foundational gospel realities that should inspire our pursuit of justice in the first place. In addition to that, I’ve also seen many Christians get so carried away with discussions and even disputes over secondary doctrinal matters that they lose sight of what Paul calls in 1 Corinthians 15, a message “of first importance”—which of course is the gospel. And then, sometimes Christians will become so focused on what they’re supposed to be doing in their lives as faithful servants of Jesus that they forget what Jesus has done for them. 

So you can see that, in a variety of different ways, it’s actually quite easy for us to gradually drift away from the gospel message of Jesus. Kind of like someone might drift away in a boat on the ocean. Imagine someone falling asleep in a boat that’s tied to a dock, but while they’re sleeping the boat somehow becomes untied. If that happens, the boat will start drifting, right? Especially if it’s on the ocean, it’s not just going to stay where it is. The oceans currents and waves will carry that boat further and further away from shore. And in a similar way, there seem to be invisible currents that are constantly pulling us away from the gospel so that, unless we make a conscious effort to focus on the gospel, we’ll end up getting pulled further and further away from it and eventually losing sight of it. That’s why our church strives to be what we call “gospel-centered.” If there’s one label that we like to use to describe our church, it’s not “evangelical” or even “Baptist” but rather “gospel-centered.” We worship God in light of the gospel, we serve God and obey God in light of the gospel, we approach every text of Scripture in light of the gospel, and we view everything about ourselves and our identity and our mission all in light of the gospel. We are a gospel-centered church.

Empowered by the Grace of Jesus

In addition, as we think about what it means to do what Paul says and “remember Jesus Christ,” we want to make sure that we’re not only focused on the gospel of Jesus but also empowered by the grace of Jesus. Empowered by the grace of Jesus. Earlier in the chapter, in 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul told Timothy, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” That’s the only way Timothy would be able to do what Paul tells him to do in the subsequent verses and the only way we can do what God calls us to do as well. We have to be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” In other words, we need the gracious empowerment for life and ministry that God provides in our union with Christ. That’s what “the grace that is in Christ Jesus” refers to. It’s the gracious empowerment for life and ministry that God provides in our union with Christ.

You see, the Bible teaches that, when someone becomes a Christian, they’re united with Christ. They have a real, though mysterious, union with him. That’s a theme that runs throughout the New Testament. We’re united with Christ in the sense that we’re in him and he’s in us. One passage where this is taught quite clearly is in John 15:4, where Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” So we’re supposed to abide in Jesus just like a branch abides in the vine. And since we don’t really have that many vines around here, I guess we could probably say just a like a branch abides in the rest of the tree. If you cut a branch off of the rest of the tree, it doesn’t just keep on living after that. It dies. Its fate is sealed from the moment it’s cut. And that’s how we are apart from Jesus. It’s only by virtue of our union with him—where we’re in him and he’s in us—that we’re able to bear fruit in our lives. So, in the words of 2 Timothy 2:1, that’s what it means to be “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” It means his grace is flowing into us just like a tree’s nutrients flow into a branch. And that’s the only way we can ever bear fruit. All fruit-bearing in our lives and ministries comes from our union with Christ. And looking back to our main text, that’s one of the ways in which we “remember Jesus Christ.” We recognize that we can’t do anything apart from him and instead draw on his grace, his strength, his enablement to do what he’s called us to do. 

Inspired by the Person of Jesus

Then not only do we “remember Jesus Christ” by being focused on the gospel of Jesus and empowered by the grace of Jesus, we also do so—number three—by being inspired by the person of Jesus. And when I say “the person of Jesus,” I mean everything about him—the totality of his being. That’s what inspires us to do the things we do. Kind of like a soldier serving in the Middle East. I would imagine that most soldiers carry with them pictures of their loved ones—especially pictures of their wife and children. And those pictures motivate them to continue serving our country the way they are. When the going gets rough and the missions are dangerous, those pictures inspire them to stay strong. Likewise, Paul tells Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ” so as to be inspired by him. 

Because, here’s the truth: when you—as a born-again Christian with a regenerate heart—start thinking about Jesus Christ and really contemplate who he is as we see him revealed in the Bible, he captivates you. Everything about him captivates you. His love in dying for us even “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8), his righteousness as “a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19), his supremacy as the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16), his faithfulness as the one who “will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3), his patience in delaying his return “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), his gentleness and care as “the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11), his judgment as one who will be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8), and his power as one who is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25)—everything about him—all that he is and does—strikes you as perfect in every way, if your heart has been changed. And indeed it is perfect in every way. In his book Habits of Grace, David Mathis writes that true worship involves what he calls “the joy of self-forgetfulness—as we become preoccupied…with Jesus and his manifold perfections.” Is that something you regularly experience? Do you regularly see the beauty of Christ in such a way that you forget all about yourself and are just swept away by him and his “manifold perfections”?

That’s what Paul means in our main passage when he says to “remember Jesus Christ.” He means to spend time contemplating the manifold perfections of Jesus and, in that way, be motivated to serve him and live for him. So as we think about the gospel mission we’ve been given, let’s remember that we’re not ultimately serving an institution or an organization or even a cause. We’re serving Jesus himself. And when you’re serving Jesus himself, none of the effort you exert is merely a duty. Instead, it’s a delight—a delight that we get to serve one who’s so lovely and worthy and perfect in every way. So are you moving further and further beyond the realm of mere duty and into the realm of delight?  

Conclusion

And here’s the thing: whenever you “remember Jesus Christ” in this way, there’s nothing you won’t do for him. You’ll be willing to give up whatever you have to give up and suffer whatever you have to suffer for the sake of his gospel and his Kingdom. That’s why Paul says this in verses 9-10. He refers to the gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 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. So Paul, as he wrote this, was “bound with chains as a criminal.” He wrote this letter from a Roman prison cell, having been imprisoned because of his gospel ministry. Yet even though Paul was bound, the word of God was not bound, he says. The Roman authorities may have been able to imprison him, but they couldn’t imprison the gospel. They were powerless to stop the gospel’s advance. And the reason the gospel’s unstoppable is because God’s unstoppable. As Revelation 3:7 says, the door he shuts no one can open, and the door he opens no one can shut. 

Listen to this quote from John MacArthur: “Many Christians are under the illusion that God’s Word has been influential in the Western world, especially in such democracies as the United States, primarily because of legal guarantees of freedom of religion, and that the fight to keep that freedom is therefore a fight to preserve the power of the gospel. In fact, some Christians who would never think of confronting society with the bold and demanding gospel and being censured for it will strongly fight for some social or political issue in ways that might get them arrested. Religious freedom is certainly commendable, and Christians who enjoy it should be grateful for and take advantage of the opportunities it affords for worship, witness, and service. But the power of God’s Word has never been dependent on man’s protection or subject to man’s restriction.” So we can praise God for the religious freedom we enjoy in this country and yet, at the same time, recognize that it’s not necessary for us to have religious freedom in order to spread the gospel. We don’t have anything to be afraid of. God’s more than able to advance his gospel even when an earthly government doesn’t permit religious freedom. And we can see this not only with the apostle Paul and his situation but also in dozens, if not hundreds, of other situations throughout church history. 

For example, after the quote I gave a moment ago, MacArthur brings up the story of John Bunyan, the Christian pastor of the 1600’s who wrote the famous book Pilgrim’s Progress. Bunyan was imprisoned for a total of twelve years for the crime of holding religious gatherings that the governing authorities didn’t approve of.  Yet from his prison cell, Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, which subsequently went on for several centuries to the second bestselling book in the world—second only to the Bible itself. But even beyond Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan was able to keep preaching the gospel with his own mouth. You see, his jail cell had a window that faced a high stone wall—a wall that surrounded the entire prison. However, on many days, Bunyan would preach loudly enough for his voice to be heard on the other side of the wall, where hundreds of listeners—consisting of both Christians and non-Christians—eagerly awaited his proclamation of God’s Word, which was unconfined by the stone walls or iron bars. So Bunyan may have been imprisoned, but God’s Word wasn’t. 

Also, on a much larger scale, consider what happened in China. Before the Communist takeover of China in mid-1900’s, there were about 700,000 Christians in China. However, when the Communists took over, they slaughtered about 30 million people, including all of the Christians they could find. Yet after more than 40 years of brutal oppression and imprisonments and executions, it was estimated that there were between 30-100 million Christians in China—despite such severe persecution. God’s Word can’t be bound. The more it’s assailed, the more it prevails. As Martin Luther so famously wrote, “The body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever.” And by the way, thinking of the Apostle Paul as he wrote this passage in 2 Timothy, keep in mind that this wasn’t merely some theological or theoretical exercise for Paul. Paul himself had—in the words of one commentator—been converted from a terrorist to an evangelist—that is, from a man who was doing everything in his power to stamp out the gospel to a man who was giving his life to proclaim the gospel. So he knew from experience that God’s Word can’t be bound but rather overcomes all opposition. 

Therefore,” he says in verse 10, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Paul’s confidence in the unstoppable triumph of the gospel led him to endure everything he was enduring in that Roman prison cell “for the sake of the elect.” In case you’re not familiar with that term, the “elect,” it nothing to do with politics or government elections but is rather a special term in the Bible that refers to God’s decision made in eternity past to save certain people. Those people are referred to in the Bible as God’s “elect”—as his chosen ones. And by the way, notice here that the reality of election didn’t make Paul’s preaching of the gospel unnecessary. It made it essential. Because God has chosen certain people for salvation, that makes it all the more critical and urgent that we share the gospel with them, because that’s the means God uses to save them. He uses our gospel witness. 

And that witness can be quite costly. Just ask Paul. It can land you in a prison cell or even result in your death. Yet what gives us the strength to persevere in our witness even in the midst of suffering and persecution? Again, “Remember Jesus Christ.” That’s the key to all of this. “Remember Jesus Christ.” And “remember Jesus Christ” not only in light of what he’s done but also in light of what he will do and what he’ll bring. Notice that Paul talks about the elect obtaining “the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” “Eternal glory.” That is the great missionary hope. Paul then expands on that idea of eternal glory in verses 11-13. He writes, 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. These verses contain a wonderful promise and a sobering warning. The promise comes first: “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.” But then, in parallel form, we find the warning: “if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful”—that is, faithful to judge. So again, we need to “remember Jesus Christ” not only in light of what he’s done but also in light of what he will do—save his children and punish his enemies. 

And for us as his children, that’s wonderful news. Just think of it! We’ll actually get to “live with him” as we see in verse 11 and “reign with him” as we see in verse 12. So “remember Jesus Christ.” Remember who he is. Remember what he’s done. Remember what he will do. And let that remembrance drive you to spend your life for the sake of the gospel. Spend everything you’ve got for the gospel. Have the mindset of Paul, who said in Romans 14:8, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

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2 Timothy 4:6-8: Finishing Well

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:6–8 Series: 2 Timothy: Faithful to the End

Mar 8

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