I Endure All Things #1 (No Baptisms)

So this morning, we're going to be continuing on in our study of 2 Timothy in chapter 2. We've been studying verses 1 through 7. This week we're going to be moving on to and reading verses 8 through 13, though my sermon is largely just from verse 8. We'll be going into the following verses in weeks to come. Up to this point in 2 Timothy, this whole epistle has been aimed at moving Timothy To be willing to suffer hardship along with Paul and along with Jesus Christ. To be faithful in his work as a minister of the gospel. As I consider this passage and the baptisms that we have coming up later, I've become convinced that second to baptism, suffering is God's mark that he places on his people, on his chosen ones. And he does it for many reasons. He does it to purge us of our sins, to make us more holy.

He does it to make us feel our daily need of him and his mercy because of how quick and how often we are to go astray. He also does it to reveal himself to the watching world as they observe his faithfulness being demonstrated through his people as they suffer. And so as we come to our text this morning, I want you to know that the theme of this book has been suffering. And this morning, what we're going to be considering is that suffering is often the instrument that's in God's hand as he works on us and makes us more like his son Jesus. And so Paul's been driving at this point. And in our text this morning, his argument comes to its highest point. He's called Timothy to be like him, be like me, suffer hardship like me, to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He's used military service. He's used athletes as an example. He used farmers as an example, all with the focus of getting Timothy to be willing to be faithful and to suffer. This morning, he moves beyond all of those arguments to the height of his argument, the pinnacle of it, and he calls him not to be like Paul or any other man, but to be exactly like Jesus Christ as he considers the cost of faithfulness to the Lord. And so this morning, as I said, we'll be focusing on verse 8.

And my hope is that as we work through this passage, you'll be strengthened to suffer as our Lord did, having the same hope as he had. Would you please stand now as we read the word of the Lord? From 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 8 to 13. This is the word of the Lord, and it is eternally true. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal, But the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement. For if we 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. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Now, if we were to consider Timothy and his temperament going back into the book of 1 Timothy and this far in 2 Timothy, it would be fair to say that Timothy was in constant need of strengthening. He was probably a timid man by nature. He was not the kind of guy who would have said, yes, put the spotlight on me and I'll stand there and bear it. And that way, perhaps he was different than Paul. And so you can understand in Timothy that the thing he would have been most averse to, the thing that would have been the hardest pill to swallow in suffering was that suffering often leads to death. Sometimes that suffering leads to death in the instance, you know, as Paul's suffering has led to death. Paul has suffered as he's proclaimed and he's imprisoned and he writes this letter as he's about to, about to suffer death.

for his faithfulness. Sometimes suffering precedes death in that we're faithful, we seek to be faithful in our suffering throughout our lives, but it culminates in our death at the end of it all, sometimes near and sometimes far away. And so as Timothy's being called to be a faithful minister, his and ours greatest aversion to suffering is that it leads to death. Whenever we suffer, And then under whatever terms we suffer, the thing that comes to the forefront of our minds is our own mortality. This is what pain brings to our face and makes us look at it. Whenever you've had pain, even if your pain was simply physical pain and was not the result of your faithfulness to God, if you just had broken a bone in your body, you would think this is suffering and this hurts.

and I'm not going to die. And so suffering always brings with it the thought of death. We work hard to divorce the two, to separate them, to think and to speak of suffering as though what it will produce in us is a victory. And it is true that it does produce victory, as we'll see later. But a part of that victory is death, and it's inescapable. And so it hangs over our heads as a cloud and as a weight that we try to free ourselves from. And so this is Timothy's greatest hurdle to his faithfulness, he has to consider his own weakness, his own suffering, and ultimately his own death. When we think of death or suffering, oftentimes it's easy to think of our suffering as being random, or maybe we consider it as being out of our control. We don't know why we're suffering. Though if we were to think about it, not always, but many times, We could trace the line of our suffering back to decisions and choices that we've made in our past. And as I said, not always, but sometimes. And so our choices and our actions, they accrue over time and eventually bear the fruit of our suffering that reminds us of our death that's to come. And so we work daily to avoid the thought of it. And because this type of suffering is often gradual in our lives, we try to negotiate our way through it, making small changes, just enough.

Just enough change along the way so that we can circumvent the worst possible outcomes, the worst types of suffering. But Paul calls Timothy to a different type of suffering. He doesn't call him to a suffering that's random, that's out of his control. He says, no, I'm calling you to a type of suffering that's voluntary, one that you choose. To suffer as Paul had, to suffer as Timothy's being called to do, is, in other words, to be... to intentionally put yourself in harm's way for the sake of others. Paul tells us just in a few verses later, in verse 10, as he writes this letter, as he sits in Roman prison awaiting his execution for proclaiming the gospel, he tells us why he suffers. He says, I suffer, I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with an eternal glory. In other words, he says, I'm willing to suffer.

Even unto death for the sake of others. The other choice, of course, is to say, my life is precious to myself. Suffering is too high of a calling, too difficult of a burden. I cannot bear it. And so the others will have to find their own way. That Paul calls Timothy not to think of himself, but to think of others. And to join with him, voluntarily putting his life in harm's way so that others might hear and believe. And so Timothy can see the cost of faithfulness. a letter coming from his spiritual father. He's about to die, and he says, this is what you want me to do. Your desire is not first and foremost that I would live a long, happy life, but that I'd live a faithful life however long it may be, and that the length of my life should not be the determining factor of my faithfulness. And so this is the backdrop to Paul telling Timothy to remember Jesus Christ. Jesus is a better example of suffering than Paul or any of the others he's given up to this point.

First, because Paul writes as a man who hasn't yet died. And I want you to consider, if you were Timothy for a moment, if you were his son having come to faith through his ministry, and he sat in prison, condemned to death, what would your singular desire have been for Paul? Would you not have wanted him to, by some miracle, to be freed from prison and to continue to live because of your love for him? Rescue him, Lord. Through whatever means are possible from the hand of his oppressors and allow him to continue to live and to minister. This would have been Timothy's desire. The very fact that Timothy's heart would have been inclined in this way is the first reason Paul tells him to remember Jesus Christ. Because when we remember Jesus Christ, we remember that even at the last hour, he was not delivered from the hand of his oppressors. But that he was faithful even unto death. Even as he prayed.

to his father in heaven. If there be another way, may it be done. Nevertheless, not my will be done, but your will be done. Paul calls Timothy to look at Jesus Christ to remember that suffering does lead to death. And wherever your desires may lie for me as your father, we can see that Jesus has gone before and the love of his perfect father in heaven didn't bring him to a save at the last second. Instead, When we remember Jesus Christ, we remember that God poured out all of his wrath reserved for us on his own son. And so remember him, Paul says, who bore the sins of the world. Remember him and see what your sins rightly deserve. And what those around you who don't know Jesus Christ, what their sins rightly deserve. Remember Jesus Christ as you consider the cost of suffering. Now I think when we are told to remember Jesus Christ, What I've just said to you is often what we remember. We remember his death. And it's appropriate that we would. But it's inappropriate that we would divorce or separate his death from his conquering of death. Which is exactly what Paul calls Timothy to remember. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. If we only consider Jesus' death, which one of us won't be reduced to a heap on the floor of sorrow and grief?

with no strength in us. So Paul calls Timothy to remember Jesus not in his death only, but primarily in his resurrection, his victory over death. Now throughout history, there have been heresies of various sorts that have arisen concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some of the heresies would arise and they'd say, Jesus, there is no resurrection. All of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul aims at dispelling this idea that there's no resurrection for the dead. In that chapter of Scripture, Paul says, if there's no resurrection, if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then we above all men are most to be pitied because we're still in our sins. Others have argued that the resurrection had already happened and that we were to live as those who were left behind in this world. But today, these are not the arguments concerning the resurrection. Today, our interaction with the resurrection is simply to ignore it.

to not consider that it's happened and what the implications are of it are in our lives. When we think of Jesus Christ, we think often of his death, perhaps of his mercy to sinners, of his miracles, of his teaching, of his strength in opposing those who would do him harm. There are many things that we can remember, but I think too often we leave aside the resurrection not remembering it. And that's exactly what Paul, in the face of suffering, calls Timothy to remember. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. And so we live in our day with a resurrection that if it's to be, is very small. And even if it's to be big, it has little impact on our lives and the way that we live. This is the best motivation, the best lever that Paul has to give to Timothy.

to goad him to be faithful to the Lord and to suffer and to endure hardship and to love God and his kingdom. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. Make your decisions about what you will say and what you will do and what cost you will pay, remembering that the thing you're most afraid of is that your suffering will lead to death. The thing that you're most afraid of, even that, Jesus Christ overcame and laid it at his feet. And Paul writes this as a man who's not speaking theoretically or primarily theologically, but personally, as he considers his own end. He doesn't call Timothy to believe this as a theological truth to be at work in his head, but as a dying man to his son, join with me. Follow in my train as I follow in Jesus' train. And so if our lives are marked by suffering, whether our suffering is acute, or whether our suffering is chronic, it will attend us in some form or another until we die. And whatever circumstance our suffering finds us in or carries us through, however long it lasts, when we face death as Christians, we ought not to think this is the loss. This is the end. This is the fruit of having done something wrong. There's a song I wish we were singing today. We're not. The song is Jesus Lives and So Shall I.

And toward the end of that song, you find this verse, and I'm not going to sing it for you, but I'll read it to you. Jesus lives and death is now. But he's not saying death is now upon us, oh no, we're about to die. He's saying Jesus lives and death is now. Death now has become, through his resurrection, death has now become my entrance into glory. Courage then, my soul. Take courage then, my soul, as you suffer, for thou hast a crown of life before thee. Thou shall find thy hopes were just. Jesus is the Christian's trust. And so what does this verse call us to do? We sing it often at Easter when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What does it call us to do? It calls us to do exactly what Paul is calling Timothy to do here, which is to lift our eyes above this world and above the things of this world and the people in this world and the cares of this world, to not fear death, because death is no longer able to hold us, able to hold God's people, and that is because Jesus was not able to be held in its bonds. And so we as Christians have to work. day by day, to remember Jesus Christ as we suffer, particularly his resurrection from the dead. So that when we face the prospect of great hardship and sorrow in our own lives, and we say, there's no strength left within me, which is often the feeling. And it would be nice if we would wait until our 50s or our 60s or our 70s in life to get to the point where we think, there's no strength left in my bones. But what child hasn't felt that in this room?

I don't have the strength to bear the hardship and the sorrow and the grief such as it is. So Jesus lives, and death is now but my entrance into glory. Take courage then, for you have before you a crown of life. And you'll find that when you face death, you'll find that your hope and the sufferings that you've endured have been worth it. That God has been alongside you the whole way through, caring for you. strengthening you, bearing you through probably many dangers that you're unaware of, and through death has brought you safely into his kingdom and away from the harm and the sorrow and the pain that marks our lives as Christians. And so this verse of this song captures precisely what Paul is working to communicate to Timothy and to us. Paul meets Timothy at his most vulnerable concern, his own death, and answers it by drawing Timothy's eyes beyond this constraint, encouraging him to entrust himself to his father's care, realizing that even if he dies in service to his Lord, it will not separate him from the love of God, which Paul tells us as much in Romans. Now, what's the temptation when you think of Jesus and the way that he suffered and the way that he bore and him being raised from the dead? I think commonly what we would think is, I can't do that. I don't have strength in me to do that. And what's underneath that temptation

to believe than that lie is to think he's different than me he's the son of god he's perfect and it's true he is perfect in that way he is different than all of us and so paul goes on and says of jesus christ remember him risen from the dead and then says descendant of david now there are many titles that could be given to jesus christ and scripture gives many of them to him a lamb a door a savior a redeemer a king the son of god but here paul gives him The title, Son of David. Why? Because David was a man. David wasn't perfect. David was like Timothy. David was the kind of man where you may hate his sins as you read about them in Scripture. However much you hate them, you can understand them. And so while Jesus is perfect and we are not, he is fully man and understands our weaknesses and our sorrows. Hebrews 4.15 says, cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. And so while it's true that Jesus was perfect and he never succumbs to his temptations, it wasn't that he didn't face them. The very same ones that we face or that Timothy would face as he considers the work before him. Jesus was tempted in just these ways because he was fully human and can sympathize with us and our weaknesses. I think too often when we suffer, we think this is

just God has no place for my weakness, no way to process it, no way to bear with it, no desire to bear with it. And yet Jesus Christ bore with our weaknesses, not as they existed in us, but as they existed in him. And so these words are meant to encourage us and to strengthen us, to take root in our hearts, to be faithful to God, to endure suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, as Jesus himself. did before us. When difficulty comes and suffering comes, I've often used running as an example. And I say, what happens when you get tired of running? I'm no runner. It's obvious. But you set out and you're running and you have a runner's gait. And then your lungs start to burn and your legs get sore. And what happens is you stop breathing well and you start shuffling. You lose strength.

What does a runner need to see when his lungs and legs are burning? He needs to see the finish line. Why does he need to see the finish line? Because he doesn't think he's going to make it there. And that's what suffering does to us. Suffering brings our world from way out there into right here and right now. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow because I can't even bear today. Jesus, knowing our weakness in another place, tells us. Don't be concerned about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own. He understands our weaknesses and our temptations to be overwhelmed and overcome with the prospect of a lifetime of suffering. And I'm convinced that it's his kindness that he doesn't tell us all at once at the beginning of our lives what we'll have to endure. When he came to Ananias and spoke of Paul, and Ananias says, I don't want to go to him. He's the one who kills us all. He says, Ananias, go to him.

I'll show him how much he has to suffer. And as Paul's life was lived on from that point, his suffering was being revealed to him over time. And when he met with the Ephesian elders toward the end of his life, he still was not clear of what his suffering would be. He says, all I know is that I'm bound for Jerusalem and that harm would become him there. So remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David. And Paul says, because this is my gospel. And it's a strange way to say it. You'd think he would say, this is the gospel. But he says, this is my gospel, for two reasons at least. One is, this is the message he proclaims. But Paul's work is not simply to proclaim the truth and to say, here's the truth for all to know. He claims it as his own because, as you remember, he's writing this from a jail cell, imprisoned as a criminal. And so he's not simply saying, here's the truth of it. He's saying, it's true and it's mine.

As the testimony of my life bears out, I think one of the sweetest things he says in chapter one before this is, I know whom I have believed. I know who I have believed. With all of the suffering and the hardship that he endured and the death that he was about to face and the thought of calling his son to the same work. I said earlier, no son wants to see their father die. But what father wants to call his son to this work? one who's believed the gospel and has made it his own and who will follow the Lord through whatever valleys the Lord takes him through so that he might be received safely on the other side into his rest, receiving his crown and his glory. This is the reason Paul wants Timothy to remember Jesus Christ. He doesn't want to lie to him. He doesn't want to mislead him. He doesn't want to tell him the suffering's not that bad or the suffering's not that long.

Instead, he says, the suffering will lead to your death, and that will be your victory. In the weeks to come, down in verse 12 or 13, it says that if we endure with him, if we endure with him, we will reign with him. We endure now. We'll reign for eternity. And so the question to each of our hearts is, will you endure now so that you can reign later? Will you stand with Jesus now? Suffer alongside of him, remembering his resurrection so that you can stand with him for all eternity. When you suffer, these are the questions to ask yourself. When those that you love suffer, these are the truths to comfort them with. This letter is an intensely personal and sweet letter. Paul is not walloping Timothy with truth. He's pouring out his heart to him and calling him to join him in glory.

I asked earlier, how could a father want his son to suffer in this way? And I say, well, simply, he wants his son with him in glory. And he understands the path and the hardship that it entails. Let's pray. Father, these are heavy things, weighty things, scary things for us to consider. We don't have strength in ourselves to look on this hardship with any confidence. that we will endure. And so we ask, Father, that you would preserve us and give us strength day by day as we need it. As we ask for our daily bread, we ask for daily strength to bear up under the burdens and trials of today, entrusting ourselves to you, who has loved us, who's cared for us, who's blessed us, who's given your only son, that we might become your sons as well.

Father, equip us to do your will, to suffer hardship, to endure it, to rely on you, to take refuge in you and to find our strength from your hand. We pray that as we endure these things, that you would make us faithful, faithful even unto death as our Lord was, who's now risen from the dead, seating at your right hand, preparing a place for us that when he returns, he might welcome us into it. Help us to be faithful in this area, in this regard. Help us not to shirk our responsibilities or redefine faithfulness for the sake of our comforts or according to our fears. Father, we pray that you would help us to bear good fruit. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.