Remember Jesus Christ

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 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. 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 also will deny us;
    if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself. 

—2 Timothy 2:8-13 (ESV)

• Automated Transcription

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  First, I want to make a quick introduction to, to all of you. Many of you are new to our church in the last year and a half. And so our speaker this morning is may be unfamiliar to you. Many of us know what a treat we're in for. About a year and a half ago, we sent out Paul Funches, along with many other beloved members of our church to go plant a new work in Spokane Valley called Trinity Church. And Paul, tell us a little bit more about that. But it's it's it's been a blessing to us to see that, that work, bear fruit and growing. And so it's a blessing to have you here with us this morning, Paul.
  
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  Well, good morning. It is good to be with you this morning. Trinity Church. Since its greetings to you, they were excited to have Dan with them. This morning, I will tell you, I'll confess a little bit it's it's it's a little awkward. I'm here preparing a message for you this last week, and to be in the same town of the church that you pastor and you're not with him. It's a little it's a little different. But what a joy it is to be with you and to see so many familiar faces. My wife and kids were here during the first service. And hopefully you were able to see them out there in between services. We, for those of you like John said, many of you don't don't know who I am. And that's that's fine. You don't you're not losing out because you don't know who I am. We covenant together here in this room. Trinity Church covenanted together, January 9, of 2022. And that's when our church began, we met the following week, January 16, for our first gathering as a church. And we've been meeting for a year and a half. We took that Sunday we took with us, you set out 65. Members and in their children. And we have grown, the Lord has been faithful and good and has grown Trinity Church on Sunday morning, regular Sunday morning. I think we have about 120 members now. And on a Sunday morning, there'll be 150 to 160 people, on average there on a Sunday morning. So the Lord has been and I know I only give that because I know people will be asking how many people how many people are coming to Trinity Church these days. And I don't have to answer that on your times. But it's it's it's been it's been wonderful year and a half. I've grown tremendously as a person. As a Christian, I believe the Lord is growing us together. And it's wonderful because of the size of our church. I can know everyone in the church still, right? So I can look out and see faces. And I know when people aren't there and I can text them, Hey, where were you this morning and all that kind of thing. And so it's really been a joy. And we've seen people baptized we've seen people come to Christ in the last year and a half. And just really thrilled for what the Lord is doing there. We've moved into a permanent location so we have a building. I don't know if some of you that have been around Spokane area for a long time. You might know the old I Tron building out in North Sullivan. So the old I Tron building. Now, now, there are several tenants in that building several different companies that that lease part of that building. We are on the second story of the ability Trinity Church leases space, up there on the second store about 1000 square feet. And that's where we gather every Sunday morning. If you're ever out there and want to visit, we would love to see you at nine o'clock on Sunday morning. Dan and I got together a few weeks ago, and we thought this would be a good a good message, right? Trading Spaces, trading pulpits just to communicate our unity and our love for one another. We're really we're doing the same work. We're together in this and we're still for each other. And we wanted to communicate that. And we thought it'd be really great to preach from the same passage together. So we talked together over coffee and came to this passage. He's preaching this passage over Trinity and I'm preaching it here. Second Timothy, chapter number two, would you turn to Second Timothy chapter two with me? And our text for this morning is verse eight through 13. Second Timothy chapter two verse eight through 13. I'll read that section and you will follow along. If you'll stand with me for the reading of God's word out of honor for God's word. Verse eight through 13 This is the apostle Paul speaking to Timothy right before the Apostle Paul is about to die. Second Timothy chapter two verse a 13. He says this. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached to my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the lacked, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we also will live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us if we are faithless, he remains faithful. For he cannot deny himself this is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
  
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  How would you describe the Christian life? What adjectives or descriptors would you give? For the Christian life? Or for what the Christian ought to be? How would you describe the Christian and their life? Maybe you would use descriptions like week struggling, hard. Broken. Maybe you would use words like joyful, victorious, bold, courageous.
  
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  The way you would describe the Christian life, the way you would describe the Christian actually says a lot about you. It says a lot about possible your family background. Maybe your life experience, maybe your church experience, what kind of church you grew up in? What kind of doctrine you were taught along the way.
  
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  But if we're going to describe the Christian life, we're not left to our own descriptions. Paul, the apostle here in this chapter gives us a description of the Christian life. And maybe I don't want to assume everybody knows who Paul the apostle is, it would seem like everybody ought to know who the Apostle Paul is. But remember who the Apostle Paul is. The apostle Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees in the first century, he was a devout
  
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  Jewish man. So devout, so committed to the God of his father's that when this new
  
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  way sprung up, these followers of Jesus, the apostle Paul, as Saul, remember, he persecuted the church more than any other even pursuing them to foreign cities. He went to foreign cities to to find these Jewish people who are following the way following Jesus and to bring them in to drag them in before the authorities and even assenting to their death to the Apostle Paul is but one day on the way to Damascus as he was on his way to one of these cities. God confronted Paul in his way with the truth of who Jesus is. Paul was knocked down on his face. And there he met and understood who Jesus was. Paul was converted He went from being the greatest persecutor of the church, to the greatest missionary of the church, instead of going to cities to pursue Christians and kill them, he was going to cities all over the known world, preaching and proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom, established in the name of his son, King Jesus. On a second missionary journey, well we call it a second missionary journey. Paul meets a young man in Lystra, named Timothy. Timothy his father's a Greek but his mother is a Jewish woman. And his mother and grandmother had been faithful to teach him the Old Testament Scriptures, And He has come to faith in Christ through the Old Testament scriptures. Politics Timothy with him on the second missionary journey, and Timothy becomes an essential part of Paul's ministry. Timothy travels in Paul's name to many places, many churches where they have started these churches, Timothy will visit and strengthen the churches and encourage the churches and ministering the churches. Timothy is like Paul's son. Paul, the apostle now is getting ready to die. That's what Second Timothy is all about. If you want to know what a Christian should look like, if you want to get a good description, if you want a good description for what the Christian ought to be what the Christian ought to look like, you might want to ask the man who's about to have his head lopped off for the sake of
  
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  Christ. You might want to ask him what a Christian should be.
  
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  And that's exactly what Paul gives Timothy. Here in verse one through seven, our text is verse eight through 13, but the context is actually verse one through seven. And we need that context to understand verse eight through 13. So let's look at that context. Real quick. Look at verse one. This is Paul describing for Timothy what his life is going to look like and should look like, this is what he says, you then my child, again, their tenderness, and the intimacy there between Paul and Timothy, you, then my child, be strengthened, implying that it's going to be a hard road. be strengthened how, 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. So he says, Take this gospel that I've been faithful to proclaim, take this gospel that I proclaimed, and you've heard me proclaim, and entrust this gospel to other faithful men, so that they can also entrust it to other faithful men. There's this generational passing down of the gospel message. Be strict, and he says, pass this message down. And then verse three, look at verse three, share in suffering, participate with me, Timothy, in suffering. And Paul gives three analogies. This is a message in and of itself. These analogies are powerful. we all we all like pictures and illustrations, he gives us three illustrations of what the Christian life ought to look like. To see what he says. Look at it there in verse three Sharon's suffering, he says, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. What do you think of when you think of soldier? Maybe you grew up in the military. Maybe you yourself, were in the military. You have a lot of bad images, maybe. Maybe it's emotionless, maybe it's stoic orders. Or you have bad commanding officers? I don't know. I've talked to a lot of people the military, they always talk about how bad the commission officers are right. noncommissioned officers, they were they were one of us, but all the other guys yeah. What does Paul say about a soldier he says Sharon, suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Verse four, no soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since because his aim is to please the one who enlisted him So here's what Paul says about the Christian life. You are to live as a good soldier. A good soldier has one concern, and that is to obey his commanding officer to submit his will to the will of the one who enlisted him the one who's in charge.
  
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  Is that how you think about your Christian life? Is Jesus your co pilot. He's here to help you get through stuff, or when you need him.
  
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  But he doesn't have much command of your life. Paul says no, be a good soldier whose only aim it is to please the one who enlisted in a soldier, a good soldier knows that he's going to be in danger. A good soldier doesn't retreat. A good soldier continues because his commanding officer has given him orders. The second analogy he gives is that of an athlete. I can't relate to that. But I've heard of athletes. I've watched a lot of athletes. Verse five, he says an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. So here's the second analogy. He says the Christian life Timothy, your life is to be like a good soldier.
  
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  That's to be like an athlete. Striving to win the prize. I know I know, sports can become an idol. A form of worship for a lot of us, right. But Paul says there's two things we learned from an athlete. Two Truths here that I don't want you to miss. Number one. There are winners and there are losers. There are winners and there are losers.
  
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  I don't know that our society gets this too much anymore. Because everybody that shows up gets a participation prize. Everybody gets a participation award. Everybody's awesome. You did so good. I'm coaching my son's little league baseball team. They asked me hey, can we need a coach? I'm like, sure I'll coach. It's a lot of fun. They're seven and eight years old. I was out there the other day, we were out there and it was hot. And the kids were more interested in what one of the kids was kids was like, when he would go to Taco Bell. Literal literal statement he made in the middle of the game looking at that. When do we go to Taco Bell? Do you think about talking about right now. We got a game going on. If you've ever wants to coach pitch baseball, right? Some of the kids can really hit they throw, not all of them can and so I got this one kid he's he's he's a big kid, he should be able to throw a baseball right? He's he was playing shortstop for me and that ball came to him and he kind of like walked over to the ball and got a half hearted got down and the ball went off his shin, you know, and then he walked over again and kind of picks it up and then throws it out into the middle of nowhere. I won't use his name, he's not my son. But I say hey, go get the ball, pick it up and throw it the first base that we got to push toward some effort be engaged right? So you're constantly having to say that Alright, guys, get ready, get down, get ready, get engaged balls coming to you. They're thinking the ball is not coming to me. This kid goes over just fumbling around and throws out the middle of nowhere and I say you need to go get that ball and throw it coach on the other team. So hey, hey, they're just seven and eight years old I was I wasn't I we were just we were trying to get in play the game so well, there's just seven and eight years old. My Hey, we're on a baseball field here. If we're gonna be on the field, we need to play the game. Or we just need to go home. It's more comfortable there Right?
  
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  And then the person said but it's hot. What? Let's play the game. That's our mentality right? everybody gets an award. Everybody's just know Paul says there's a crown to be won. And not everyone will win it. It's first thing he says there's winners and losers. And second of all, you've got to play according to the rules.
  
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  There's a right way to run the race. Not everybody wins the prize. Now we don't we don't like that description of the Christian life. Again, I think we often fall into the same type of mentality when it approaches the Christian life. Well, everybody gets the prize. No, no, there are many. And I'll say it right up front in the front of the message. There are a lot of people who seem to begin in the Christian life, who do not finish
  
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  and those who do not finish are not saved. That's what the Bible teaches. You've got to run the race. Now, hopefully, there's some encouragement coming to you as we go through the message, but he says, Your life is like a soldier Sharon, suffering like a good soldier.
  
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  And athlete, he's got to run to win the crown. And then he uses the analogy of a farmer, the farmer now in this area, we have a lot of people who are very familiar with farming. You know, farmers, maybe you grew up on a farm, maybe you are a farmer. You know all that for I'm not going to try to talk shop about farming because I know nothing about farming. I've met a lot of farmers in my life. You've met a lot of farmers in your life. They can be a lot of things. They can be a little ornery sometimes. Maybe cantankerous, maybe stubborn. You ever met a stubborn farmer? I don't need any help. Right? We don't myself. I don't know why farmer talks like that. But that's what a farmer talks like. For whatever a farmer is, have you ever have you ever met a lazy farmer? No, because lazy farmers don't stay in farming. Lazy farmers don't eat. How many times I've sat with people when they talk about their dad or their mom, as farmers grew up, and they were working before the light came up in the sky. Right? They worked? Because that's what farmers do. They said, Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, this is this is the life that you're called to a good soldier, an athlete who runs to win. And a farmer, hardworking farmer. That's what the Christian life is.
  
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  Our text, then, is the answer to how Paul says to Timothy, you need to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You need to share in suffering. You need to endure Timothy to the end. And verse eight through 13 tells us how how do we endure? How do we work hard? How do we keep going? How do we run the race? This is what he says. Remember Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ and go all in on the gospel. Because God will keep his word remembered Jesus Christ. Go all in on the gospel. For God will keep his word and this is how we are to endure. First then, Paul says verse eight, remember Jesus Christ. Now when you and I use the word remember, you know we use it differently. Hey, you remember when we went out to the lake that one summer? That was fun. If you look at some pictures, hey, remember that time? We have some memory we want to remember. That's not what Paul's saying here. When Paul uses the word remember what he's saying is Keep your mind on Jesus Christ. Always. Keep your mind on Jesus Christ. If you're going to endure your focus, your mind can only be in one place. It needs to be on Jesus. Keep your mind on Jesus Christ. Keep your mind on your Savior and Lord. Remember who he is. Remember what he's done. That's what he says, Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. He says, Remember his victory. So when you say remember his victory, remember that he has conquered the grave. Which by implication means he went to the grave. Jesus, he put on flesh, He became a man, real man, flesh and blood man like you and me, flesh and blood, human. Everything that can be experienced in this life, he's experienced that. A lot of times when we think of his humiliation, we only think of the cross but No, his his whole life was an act of humiliation. Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a man
  
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  and humbled himself to the death of a cross. Jesus suffered. There is no one who has suffered. As Jesus has suffered, he suffered, he died. And he rose from the dead. He is the victorious Savior the conquering king. Speaking of King, that's what he goes on to say, Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
  
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  The offspring of David, what is he talking about? They're the offspring of David. See, the Old Testament, again, which is, which is what they had at this point, the Old Testament, spoke of a Promised Messiah and Anointed One of God. The expectation, the hope of the Jewish people was in this messianic figure, this messianic figure, this king, this Anointed One, this Chosen One of God would come and lead his people lead the people of Israel out of exile, into victory. But Paul, once he's converted, begins to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you remember where he goes, every time he goes into a city? Where does he go? Where does Paul go? Every time he goes into a city reading the book of Acts, we've been going through the book of Acts at Trinity Church, we're almost done with it. It's amazing. Every time he goes into a new city, where does he go? He goes to the synagogue. He goes to the synagogue because that's where the Jewish people are. They're the ones that have the Old Testament scriptures. They're the ones that possess the scriptures that he's gonna base his message on. So it goes into the synagogue. And He teaches he proclaimed to them, he reasons with them, that according to the Scriptures, the Messiah, that they have been anticipating the Messiah, stay with me here. According to the Scriptures, the Messiah must suffer and die, according to the Scriptures. And that that Messiah, the messianic figure must also rise from the dead. This is taught in the Old Testament. It goes into the synagogue and he says, your scriptures tell you to expect the messianic king to come to die, and then to rise from the dead. And this Christ is Jesus. He's the messianic king. He's the Anointed One of God. Peter has a similar message and Acts chapter two. You remember Acts chapter two. Peter is preaching the gospel to the Jewish people there in Jerusalem. And here's his message, the king that you've been anticipating the king that you wanted to see he came, he was here
  
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  And you killed him. But God has raised him up. And they said, What should we do? What should we do? Peter says, God has raised Him up and made Him both Lord and Christ.
  
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  Repent, be baptized in his name, for the forgiveness, the remission of your sins. Jesus is the suffering servant who has accomplished victory over the grave. He is the Exalted Messiah, the Lord and the Christ, the Anointed One of God. He is the eternal Son of God, who became the incarnate Son of God, he put on flesh. He's the eternal Son of God, who became the incarnate Son of God and submitted Himself in His incarnation. In his humiliation, He is the eternal Son of God who became the incarnate Son of God so that he can be appointed the Davidic Son of God, the Messiah, the king, of God's kingdom. That's who Jesus is. Is the eternal Son of God, who became the incarnate Son of God, to be declared the Davidic, Son of God by His resurrection. You say, Well, why is this important for us? Oh, it's everything. It's everything. Don't Don't miss this. Don't miss this. I'm afraid that so many people don't know their Bibles very well. Don't miss this. God's promises for his people, God's promises for his people. Are you his people this morning? You don't have to answer out loud. You don't have to raise your hand. Are you his people, God's promises for his people are found and secured in Jesus Christ. What that means is, God doesn't have any promises for you outside of Jesus Christ. God doesn't have any promises for you, outside of Jesus Christ, and with Christ, He has given you everything. God hasn't promised you health. God hasn't promised you wealth. God hasn't promised you ease far from it. God hasn't promised you a spouse that will love you. God hasn't promised you a spouse at all. God, it's amazing how often we we try to cling to these promises and and maybe God has failed me because he hasn't given me all these things. No, he's never promised you any of those things. All that he has promised you is found in Jesus Christ. And he is all you need. It if you're struggling with I would just encourage you and challenge you go deeper in your understanding of the gospel, and the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's what should shape our entire lives. All of God's promises for his people are found in his son King in Jesus Christ. So Paul says, Remember Jesus Christ. Keep your mind on Jesus Christ. And then he says this. Go all in on the gospel. Where does he say that? Well, he says it by his life. Look at it there. Verse eight, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preacher My Gospel says, This is the message for which I am suffering. for which the message I'm suffering for this message. He said, Well, that didn't work out very well for Paul did it. He gave his life to this message. He gave his life to Jesus and look at what it got him. Paul by by building his argument this way, what he's what he's actually doing is he's saying to Timothy, Timothy, remember Jesus Christ, and remember me and the pattern of life you've seen in me. He says, I am suffering bound with chains as a criminal for this message, just as Jesus was bound as a criminal. I am now bound as a criminal. I am suffering for the sake of the gospel. He puts himself forth as the pattern the example of the cross shaped life. This is what he is calling Timothy two. This is what he's calling all of us to his saying, share in this suffering. See those who claim Jesus as Lord. Those who claim Jesus as Lord are called to put on his life and the shape of his life. See, for some of us, we think, Well, that means I need to be good to people. No, Jesus, you want to love people, right? But But Jesus, humbled himself and died, rose and gained victory over the grave, and has now been exalted in glory. That is the shape of the Christian life,
  
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  death, then victory, then glory. That's the life you're called to. Your glory is not found in this life. We're headed to glory. That's what we were singing earlier.
  
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  Paul says go all in on the gospel. He says to Timothy, this will cost you this will cost you will cost you your life. Is it this true of what Jesus said to though? You read the gospels? It's striking to me how often Jesus is trying to send people away. He's trying to get rid of people. You're never noticed that as a church planter, right, people come in the door, and I'm like, oh, people, we don't know them. How can we get them to stay? Oh, we need to make sure that to talk to those people. No, don't talk to those. Talk to these other people. I wonder what they think about our music. I wonder what they think about our our facility? What do they think about me? Hope they like me. Just being honest with you, right? Those are the thoughts that go through our head. Jesus had 1000s of people come after him. 1000s What did he say to them? If you want to follow me pick up your cross. Pick up your cross. It will cost you everything to follow me. Where it is that in our version of the Christian life. This is not an easy road. It is one that will require death. Death to self. Death to sin. Death to what I want. This is what he's called us to. It will cost you but Paul goes on to say go he says go all in on the gauze. And you know this picture of go all in. You know what I mean by that? You know when you're visual. I'm like a poker table. Right? You've got all your chips. And you're going all I know Christians don't play poker, right? Nobody plays poker. Just ask Brian Sayers what pokers like, he can help you with that, you know? If you don't know, I'm really good friends with Brian. So, when I preach, I always make fun of him at least once in every sermon. Go all in, put all your chips in the middle of the table, everything, put everything on the gospel. And he tells Timothy to put everything on the gospel, for which he is suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, then look at the universe nine, but the Word of God is not bound. The Word of God will accomplish what he has sent it to accomplish. victory is assured he will build His kingdom by his word.
  
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  He will build His kingdom through the gospel. Put all of your hope in that word. The message of God's kingdom established in the name and work of his son King.
  
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  That message will not be hindered again. We've been going through the book of Acts if you want. If you want to see this go to the book of Acts read every single page on every page. The gospel is being opposed. It's opposed by the Jewish people. It's opposed by the ruling Authorities it's opposed by sin within it's opposed by those outside, it's opposed by even the weather. It's opposed at every page. And yet it prevails. Nothing can keep the word from going forth. pulses here I sit and change as a criminal, but the Word of God is not bound. God is going to keep doing what he's doing. what Paul's saying with that says, so important. Paul is saying, Timothy, my life is not bigger than the gospel. My life is not bigger than the gospel. The message of God's Kingdom is what he's accomplishing. The proclamation of that message is what he's accomplishing. And that's not going to be limited. In fact, he'll use my chains, he'll use my chains, Timothy, to cause it to go forth even farther.
  
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  Go all in on the gospel. He says, Because victory is assured. And then he says this, look at verse number 10. This is a, this is a logical connection here. He's basing then his life on this reality that the Word of God is not bound. He says, Therefore, therefore, because of this, because Because God's Word would prevail, says, 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. Paul says, my whole ministry, my whole motivation is based on this reality that God's word will prevail, the gospel will prevail. The gospel is the only message we need. It is the message and this is so important. This is the message the gospel message is the means that God has ordained to bring his people all the way to glory. We say that again. Paul knows and this is what he's telling him as he says, go all in on the gospel. It'll cost you everything. But victory is assured Timothy. This is he says, This is why I endure everything. For the sake of God's elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. He says this gospel message Timothy is what God has ordained to bring his people all the way to glory, all the way home.
  
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  The gospels all we need for life and godliness. For obedience, there is nothing else.
  
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  The gospel is the message that the discouraged need. The gospel is the message that the tired and weary need.
  
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  The gospel is the message that the broken need, the failing. The The Gospel is the message that those who are constantly stuck in this pattern of sin. The gospel is the message that they need to hear and embrace. The gospel is the message that the proud need. I don't know anybody who truly understands the Gospel who can remain in their pride. The gospel is the message that the self righteous need. The gospel is the message that that independent, self dependent farmer needs, right. The gospel is the message that the lonely need. The gospel is the message that the morning need the grieving need. The gospel is the message that you and I need, not just on Sunday, but on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday and Saturday, every single day. We need to remember Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying. The gospel is the message that we all need every one of those there's no one exempt from that. The gospel is the message that God has ordained to bring his people all the way home, all the way to glory. And that's what Paul says I've given my life for the sake of the electorate, they too may obtain In the salvation, that they too may obtain that prize that they seek after. So he says, go all in on the gospel. That's all we need Timothy. And then lastly, he says this, remember Jesus Christ, remember your Lord and Savior, go all in on the gospel. For because he will keep his word. This little, it looks like a poem, or a saying, or a hymn. This is from an early church, saying that they would have quoted together to encourage one another. He says, verse 11, this saying is trustworthy, it's reliable, it's reliable. He says, For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. So look at that promise. there is great reward for those who endure. If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. So these are pointing back to what he said earlier about Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, hey, if we've died with Him, we will also rise just like he's risen. If we endure, we will reign with Him just as He is the king in his glory. If we endure we also will reign in his glory with him as the promise, what a glorious promise. We have died, we will live. If we endure, we will reign with Him. But then he gives the negative. Again, this is motivation warning. If we have died with Him, we will live also with Him. If we endure we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him. He also will deny us.
  
  47:15
  This is Matthew 10. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 10. Matthew 10, Jesus says, Those who acknowledged me before men, I will acknowledge before my father, those who do not acknowledge Me before men, I will not acknowledge before my father. This is a very personal truth for Paul because Paul has been forsaken by almost everyone. He has been forsaken. Once he was bound in chains and suffered there are people that have left him, they fled. They were not good soldiers. They were not wanting to run the race to the end and win the prize they for suck the way. And he's saying Timothy, don't be like that. If we deny Him, He will deny us. And then he follows that up with a with a line that a lot of people debate about but look at it there in verse 13. If we are faithless he remains faithful for he cannot deny Himself. Now there's, there's three ways to interpret that. And really, I found people will interpret it based on their pre formed theology, usually. Okay, that's what people do, they drive the interpretation of the text with their pre formed theology, which is not helpful. So there's, there's three ways to take this on one of the spectrum you have our Minion theology, okay? Our minions teach that you can lose your salvation. You're the one who chose to be saved. And therefore, you can choose to not be saved and lose your salvation. That is not what this is talking about. We believe the Bible teaches those whom He has saved those whom the Father has given to the Son, the Son will lose none of those that the Father has given to Him. Those who are saved, He will keep all the way to the end, they cannot be lost. So we reject that interpretation. But on the other side of the spectrum, you know, all things all these things usually have spectrums, right on the other side. So the the idea that we can lose our salvation, I reject. On the other side, there are people who subscribe to what we call free grace. And here's here's how they interpret this. If we deny Him, He also will deny us who I don't like that. That's really uncomfortable. If we are faithless he really He's faithful. Oh, sure. Okay, good. So, yeah, we should live and we should endure. Yeah, yeah. But if we're faithless, it's gonna be okay in the end anyway, because he'll still save us. I don't think that's what it's saying either. For two reasons, primarily, number one, it doesn't fit the context. It's foreign to the context of what Paul is actually saying. It feels like you're trying to fit in your theological perspective instead of what the text is actually saying. So it's not the language that he's using. It's not the structure of the text. And it doesn't actually match with what we know of salvation.
  
  50:52
  What is he saying, then? If we are faithless, he remains faithful. I believe what he's what he's talking in pointing to here is the faithfulness of God to keep His covenant promises to his people. I just said it a minute ago, all the promises, God's promises for you, all of his promises for you are found in Jesus Christ. He's going to be faithful to those promises. He's going to be faithful to build His kingdom, he's going to be faithful to take the gospel message to the ends of the earth. He's gonna be faithful to his mission. And the faithless will not hinder that mission. Those who are faithless will not keep God from accomplishing again.
  
  51:44
  None of us are bigger than the gospel, and God's mission to take his word to the ends of the earth.
  
  51:51
  And I believe what he's saying, the faithless will not hinder God's promises. And the faithless will have no part with him. They are not His people. Those is very important. And it's two sides of the same coin. But I find we don't have this category in our thinking of salvation. Those who have been saved, He will keep until the end, they can never be lost. Those whom He has saved, will persevere, they will endure and to the end. He will keep them he will preserve them, and they will continue. This is what Paul is saying to Timothy, remember Jesus Christ. Go all in on the gospel. Because God will keep his word. And there will be great reward for those who endure. And there will be great loss for those who do not. Now here's the application. There's only one application given what this text teaches us there's only one application and it goes for all of us here as individuals. And I don't know what it is that you're facing today. I don't know what trouble or trial or hardship or temptation or difficulty, what relationship tension you're experiencing with disappointment or discouraged. I don't know what's going on in your life. But I know that every single one of you need to hear this point in this application. And you as a church, Trinity Church needs to hear this and you all faith Bible Church need to hear this. This is why we chose this passage. Here's the application. Keep going. Keep going. Keep running. Keep pursuing continue.
  
  54:26
  This passage has several seemingly contradictory ideas going on paradox going on. I'm gonna give you the three that I see very clearly. And this should encourage you to keep going, no matter what you're facing. And maybe that's all you needed to hear this morning. I don't know how I could take that next step. But Christ is worth it. And he walked the same road the point of this text is parallel to a passage that you're all familiar with very possibly, Hebrews chapter 12. Remember Hebrews chapter 12. Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, those who've lived and walked the road of faith before us, since we are surrounded by those great, great cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience, the race that is set before us. And then it says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, you know what that means? He's the Trailblazer of our faith. Jesus Himself is the one who blazed the trail. He's the one who actually walked the path that he now is calling us to walk. He's blazed the trail. Hebrews 12 says that he blazed the trail and he has promised to bring us all the way home. He asked us to run that race, the same race that he's run. That's the point of this passage, keep going, keep running. And here's the three seemingly contradictory ideas very quickly. Number one, according to this passage, according to the Christian life, the truth of the Christian life, those who die live, those who die live. He's calling you to death. today. He's calling you to death for the sake of your spouse, he's calling you to death. For the sake of your children, he's calling you to death. For the sake of the Gospel, he's calling you to leave your life. But those who die live. Second paradox those who lose when those who lose actually when Paul is in chains, you remember when he's in chains before a grip of the second at the end of the book of Acts. He stands there before this great king is persuading him to be trying to persuade a grip of the second to be a Christian, that a grip of the second says, Would you so soon persuade me to be a Christian and Paul says whether long or short i don't care i would that everyone not just you, but everyone would be as I am.
  
  57:25
  In other words, he's saying I'm in the position to be envied, not you. Because King, you sit on your throne, but in the end, you lose. The man in chains is the one to be envied.
  
  57:39
  Those who die live those who lose win and those who rest. Those who rest in the promises of God found in Jesus Christ, those who rest, work the hardest. Those who rest run the hardest. Those who rest want to obey Him? When we rest, and the promises of God, this is what motivate motivates us, causes us to run hard. Do you realize this? Your salvation. Beloved is not behind you. People talk about their salvation. I gotta save back in 1977. No, you haven't been saved yet? Oh, no, no, I got saved. 19 Whatever. No, your salvation is before you. Your salvation is still yet in the future. At your moment of conversion, at your moment of regeneration. God gave you a new heart. He gave you His Spirit. He justified you that is he declared you righteous. He forgave your sin. He joined you in union with Christ. He adopted you into his family, he gave you as Ephesians one says, He gave you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, He has given you everything but why so that you will endure all the way to the end. Those whom he's justified, he has glorified. Your conversion and regeneration has been accomplished so that you will continue all the way to the end. Those who rest in God's promises in Christ, those who rest and everything I just said about what God's given you in salvation, those who rest in those realities. They're the ones who run the hardest. They're the ones who work the hardest. They're the ones who keep running to win the crown. On and obtain that salvation that He has saved them for. Your salvation is ahead of you. Go on to salvation. Don't stop. Don't give up. Don't quit. Keep going. Remember Jesus Christ. Go all in on the gospel, because he will keep his promises. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank you for this text. We thank you that you have called us to endurance you have in our Savior Jesus given us everything we need. All of your promises are ours in Jesus. We're lacking nothing. We praise you for that. I pray that you would take your word as it is intended. This text is intended, I pray that you would take this word, and motivate those who are yours. Those who are your people to keep going. I pray for those who are not yours, I pray for those who are still living in their deception. I pray that by your grace, and by your goodness, you would give them the gift of repentance, that they would see their sin for what it truly is, and that they would by your grace, and by your gift, they would see Jesus. They would see his death. The wrath that he has endured for sin, they would see his work on the cross they would see His resurrection. And that they would put all of their hope and all their trust in Christ, turning from their sin, to believe upon him. And pray for all of us as Christians, that we would use your word as our fuel the gospel as our motivation to live this life you've called us to and that you would be glorified in all of it. I pray for this church that this church would continue the preaching of the gospel. Well, we don't take that for granted. Only you can keep us and we must persevere as a church. I pray that faith bible church many years from now, to Terry and you're coming. Many years from now faith Bible Church will be found faithful to your word. We pray all of this for your glory in your name. Amen.

Paul Funchess

Paul is Pastor of Trinity Church in Spokane Valley, planted by Faith Bible Church in 2022. He studied at Shepherd's Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Christie, have eight children: six girls, and two boys!

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