Last time I had to cut my sermon short, and I am glad I
did, because I could not do justice to
the last few verses
that I wanted to cover. They are deserving of so much more attention than I originally had planned for. This is the mystery of
preaching. I often find that after I have carefully prepared my manuscript, that the burden of the text
grows on my soul while I am preaching, and it goes beyond that which I have written.
The old preachers called
this phenomenon ‘unction’, (Holy Spirit directed counsel) and the problem
with ‘unction’ sometimes is that it clashes with time! There is always so much
more to say and to unpack and to connect from the sacred text. So, due to time constraints I had to leave out my last point, and in one sense I am glad that I did.
Last time I spoke to you from 2
Tim.1:13-14, under the heading “Guard
the Good Deposit”. We saw that the good deposit is the gospel and the leading question we asked was, how
is the gospel to be guarded? I attempted to answer this question from the immediate context in 1:13
- 2:13 in terms of 4 observations, and flowing from the text.
We saw that:
1.
The
gospel must be guarded in Timothy’s (and our) own hearts and lives.(vv. 13,14)
2.
We
must ensure that we raise up a future
generation of faithful gospel messengers (vv.1-2) so that the testimony about
Jesus is guarded in every generation.
3.
We must
remember that the gospel will not be guarded without suffering (vv. 3-10). Paul uses three illustrations (a single minded soldier ; a diligent athlete and a hardworking farmer) to show us anything worth guarding will need to be done with hard work and suffering.
4.
And
now the point that I did not complete is found in that trustworthy saying in vv.
11-13. And here we are helped to see
that in the guarding of the gospel we must hold on to
the gospel by holding on to our faithful Lord Jesus.
So by way of a summary,
· hold on to, and guard the gospel
in yourself through the help of the Holy Spirit (1:14).
· make sure that the gospel is guarded
by handing it on to faithful men in
subsequent generations who will be able
to teach others (2:2)
· do not expect to have an easy
task. Suffering is part of holding on to the gospel. Many unfortunately
cannot handle this (see 1:15; 4:10). But you must persevere. Remember the end is
in sight. This is how Paul comes to his insight in 2:10, when he says, “Therefore
I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the
salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Paul knew how to endure, persevere and hold on to the gospel for the sake of the
future church!
Brothers and sisters, we have Christ and heaven to gain and
eternal separation from God and hell to shun!
Persevere, endure, share in this light momentary suffering for the sake
of the gospel. Hold on and guard that good deposit for your own sake and for
the sake of your children and those that come after you. Paul makes this point with the help of a
trustworthy saying. There are, incidentally five such ‘trustworthy sayings’ found
in the three pastoral epistles.[1]
These trustworthy saying are, as one might expect, truths
well understood, well known and well accepted and often repeated sayings among Christians. Perhaps
these were memorable words
from an ancient hymn of the church.
Perhaps it was something which a
convert recited this at his or her
baptism. We don’t know, but our text in
2:11-13 is one of these faithful sayings and it
is written in poetic form and each line begins with the word ‘if’ (Greek
‘ei’) followed by an implied ‘then’.
· If we have died with Christ… (then) we will also live with Christ.
· If we endure or persevere in this
Christian life (then) we will also reign with
Christ.
· If we deny Christ (then) He will also
deny us.
· If we are faithless to Christ (then)
He still remains faithful, for He cannot be
false to Himself.
Let us consider these 4 lines of this trustworthy saying, as
we need to be encouraged to hold on to that Good deposit of the gospel, for
which Paul endured everything for the sake of the elect. Let us keep our course
through this often challenging, confusing life by looking to Jesus. He is the
subject of our text. He is our goal. Let us further learn from this text how to
persevere with the gospel:
1.
If we have died with Him, we will
also live with Him.
A wonderful promise!
We find these words also in Romans 6:5, and they are implied in
Colossians 2:13. This is a KEY TRUTH for
Christians. It speaks about our identification in the death of Christ and in
the resurrection of Christ. This is what is reflected in baptism.
It all begins when you become a Christian. You are introduced to Jesus, and in looking
to Him you are not left untouched by Him.
He leaves you with a sense of deeply feeling your sin and at once He
lets you know that He is the solution to
your problem. And you cast your sin burden on to Him. You embrace Him for all
that He is. He is God’s solution to your sin. And you embrace Him for the work
that He came to do for the world, in the cross and in the resurrection from the
dead. You see that He is the Way to God, and then you believe and repent.
You turn from your sinful, self- centered life to Jesus , and in response you receive His
forgiving grace and mercy. You
know that the death that Jesus died was for you. You now know that you have a hope and a future
in heaven. You know that not only the first part of the sentence is true (If we have died with him). You know that
the second part is also true, “We will
also live with Him.” When you become a Christian you truly begin to live
now, but more so, you will also live in eternity.
2.
If we endure (then) we will also
reign with Him.
The Bible leaves us in no doubt that we need to show our true
commitment to Christ by enduring or by persevering. How do we endure? We endure
by continually holding on to that good deposit. We endure by not being like
Phygelus and Hermogenes (1:15); We
endure by being like Onesiphorus who was not ashamed of the gospel (1:16); we endure by being strengthened
by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2:1).
We endure by understanding and accepting that suffering for the sake of the
gospel (i.e. following Christ) is a part of this present life. We endure by
thinking like a focused soldier and like a diligent athlete and like a hard
working farmer (2:3-6). We endure by
remembering Jesus risen from the dead. We endure everything for the sake of the
elect ( God’s chosen people yet to come into the fold) for whose sake we labour in an evangelistic
sense that they may obtain the
salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2:10). That is how we endure,
and if we endure we may be sure that we will obtain the salvation that is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory, and we will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings: “Well done, good and faithful
servant.” So brothers and sisters,
keep the goal in view. The heavenly city is in sight. Stay on the narrow road. We
shall live with Him and we shall reign with Him. Remember Stephen (Acts 7:54 ff). As he was being killed he
was given a vision of the risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ. He saw heaven
opened and he saw our Lord Jesus standing beside the throne, to welcome him. There from that throne we will
judge men and angels. We will reign with Christ. Endure - wait for the promised
reward! These are key concepts in our
Christian thinking.
3.
If we deny Him (then) He will also
deny us.
The third aspect of
this trustworthy saying makes reference to
the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew
10:32-33, “Whoever acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever
disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” There will be many to
whom He will say on that day : “Depart
from me, I never knew you.” (Matt. 7:21-23).
He will deny them. There were those at the trial and the
cross of Jesus said, “We will
not have this man rule over us.” He
will deny them at the judgement and
worse still He will
throw them into a place of everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels and all that deny Him. There are those in time and
history who had no time and gave no
place to the Lord Jesus in their lives. They misused His name , His Word , His Day, His
people, His Holy Spirit, His worship and
these people will be disowned by Jesus before his Father in heaven. Hell is awaiting them. Hell is the terrible logic of
rejecting and denying Christ. Be warned. This is a trustworthy saying. “If we deny him, he will also deny us.”
4. If we are faithless (then) He remains
faithful for He cannot deny Himself
We can understand this in
two senses, and both are possible:
a. It can mean that Jesus remains faithful
to His righteousnessand justice. In that sense we think of Jesus when He warned
the Pharisees (“Woe you scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites”-Matt. 23) and when He spoke of two destinations, of
sheep and goats, saved and lost, light and darkness. This Jesus is faithful in His faithful righteousness and justice to exercise punishment on those who deny Him, because He cannot deny the justice and
holiness of His own being.
b. But it can also mean that the
Lord Jesus, despite our
faithlessness can chose to remain
faithful. Let’s
face it. None of us never sins. None are ever totally free from sin. All we are and all we
do needs forgiveness. And some of our sins are shocking! The Bible has numerous
examples of people falling into sin, and yet they
are not cast aside by our Lord.
- Think of Adam and Eve –our first parents who sinned and yet the Lord had mercy on them.
- Think of Abraham’s lapses of faith, particularly when it came to lying about his wife;
- Think of Lot’s drunkenness and incestuous relationship with his daughters.
- Think of David’s adultery.
- Think of the apostle Peter disowning his Lord three times.
They were all forgiven. They were faithless but the Lord Jesus remained faithful to them because He cannot be unfaithful to His covenant. What a comfort that would have been to Timothy who must have been tempted to give up in Ephesus. What comfort to me, and to you. Here is the great biblical truth to hang on to: God’s mercy is grounded in His covenant keeping love. The God who sent his Son to save Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Lot, and David, and Solomon, and Peter, and countless others is always the same faithful God. We are not like that. We are not always faithful, and like Peter we have had times when we have wept over that. But God and His Son, the Lord Jesus are always faithful. The Holy Spirit is always faithful to His own Word. It is not the nature of the Holy Trinity to be unfaithful.
So then, hold on to the gospel, guard the good deposit.
Remember that at the heart and at the foundation of your faith there is a Living Saviour.
Remember His promises - that if you have
died with Him, you will live with Him; if you endure, you will reign with Him. But also remember His warnings. If you deny Him, he will deny you. That is
terrifying news for the enemies of Christ! But also remember dear child of the covenant… no sin can keep your Saviour from you. His Grace and covenant faithfulness are greater than all our sin. He
will save you from your sin, even if it means that you will carry terrible
scars in this earthly life. He will save you, for He cannot be but faithful.
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