400 years ago, 1628, John Bunyan was born.
Bunyan was born to a poor family near Bedford, England and he was
not well educated, but he was extremely rebellious.
He was known especially for his frequent cursing.
By age 16 he joined the army and he fought in the English Civil
War. By 1646, he was discharged after
a near death experience and the following year he got married
and that's really when everything in his life started
to change. We don't know the name of
Bunyan's wife, but we know these newlyweds were dirt, were
absolutely dirt poor. Any newlyweds out there know
what that's like? Bunyan said.
We didn't have so much household stuff as a dish or a spoon
between us. That's not much.
But his wife did bring into marriage two books.
There were two Puritan books. And Bunyan read the books and he
was convicted of his sin. So he started attending church,
and he tried to stop cursing. After months of attending his
parish church, he actually met some women from another church.
He came across them and he heard how they joyfully and zealously
talked about Jesus Christ. And that's when Bunyan realized
through their spiritual conversation that he was lost,
that he had no joy, that he had no Christ.
So in 1651, those women introduced Bunyan to their
pastor, John Gifford. And it was Gifford that God used
to lead Bunyan to repent of his sins and to believe in Jesus
Christ. Eventually, Bunyan and his wife
and he had four little children, would have moved to Bedford to
where they'd become a member of Giffords Church.
He was a member there and soon after he became a Deacon.
And then just a little later he started preaching and then he
started writing and he wrote a lot.
He published over 50 books, 50 books.
You might be familiar with one of them.
His most famous one is called The Pilgrim's Progress.
That book, Pilgrim's Progress might be one of the most famous
books ever written in English during his own lifetime.
It sold over 100,000 copies. Today, over 250 million copies
have been sold. In fact, since it's been in
print, which was way back in 1677, it's never been out of
print. Friends, you should read it.
Kids, I hope your parents have read it to you.
If not, ask them to buy you a copy of Pilgrim's Progress and
to read it with you. Pilgrim's Progress is an
allegorical retelling of the Christian life.
The main character's name is Christian, and he's on a journey
from the city of Destruction, the world to heaven, which
Bunyan calls the Celestial City. But there's many troubles along
the way. In 1688, Bunyan made it to the
Celestial City. He caught a fever, and he died
soon after. But before he died, his friends
gathered around his deathbed, and Bunyan encouraged them.
He encouraged them, and he told them that his greatest desire
was to be with Christ. And when he died, he lifted his
arms to heaven, and he cried out.
Take me, for I come to thee. And Bunyan finished his race.
He entered glory. His faith became sight.
How can we finish the race? How can we cross that finish
line and enter the Celestial City and see our Savior?
Friends, if you have your Bible, please turn to Second Timothy,
chapter 1. If you don't have a Bible, maybe
you forgot one. Maybe you don't even own one.
Just raise your hand now. Somebody would be glad to bring
you a Bible so you can follow along in the text.
We're in second Timothy. If you're not familiar with the
Bible, those big numbers, those are the chapters and the little
numbers, those are the verses. We're in Second Timothy, chapter
1, verses 6 to 12. This is the Apostle Paul's last
letter. It's a letter he wrote to
Timothy from a Roman prison while he awaited his execution.
And with his final words, the apostle Paul assures us in
chapter 4, I have fought the good fight.
I have finished the race. I have kept the faith as I read
verses 6 to 12. Hear the word of the Lord.
For this reason I remind you to fan and to flame the gift of
God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
For God gave us a spirit, not a fear, but of power and love and
self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of
the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but
share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God, who
saved us and called us to a holy calling.
Not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and
grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing
of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life
and immortality to light through the Gospel, For which I was
appointed A preacher, an apostle and teacher.
Which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed, and I'm convinced that he is able to
guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
Here's the Apostle Paul's invitation this morning.
Share in suffering for the gospel.
That's his invitation to you, believer.
Share in suffering for the gospel.
It's it's a striking it. And if we're honest, it's a
strange invitation. Share in suffering.
Who? Who wants to share in suffering?
If you're not a believer in Jesus, I want you to see that if
you want to follow Jesus, following Jesus comes with a
cross. The gospel entails suffering,
and I want you to see this morning that Jesus is worth
suffering for. That's what the apostle Paul
tells us with his last words. There's three points to the
sermon. If you're following along, .1 is
the gospel invites suffering, .1 verses 6-8 the gospel invites
suffering. Look at verse 6.
For this reason, Paul writes to Timothy, I remind you to fan
into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the
laying on of my hands. If you remember last week in
verses 3 to 5, Paul remembered Timothy's sincere faith.
His grandmother and his mother taught him about the Lord, and
Timothy ministered alongside Paul for over 15 years and
Timothy's pastoring the church in Ephesus.
But his service to God is not finished.
So now Paul reminds him to fan into flame the gift of God.
What is this gift of God that Timothy has?
I think the gift is Timothy's pastor.
In other words, Paul's referring to Timothy's installation as a
pastor. Notice Paul says it's in him
through the laying on of Paul's hands.
That was a pattern recognizing leaders by laying hands on them.
It was a pattern that was seen in the Old Testament.
In the book of Numbers, Moses is transitioning leadership to
Joshua and in Numbers 27 the Lord tells him, take Joshua, a
man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.
And this was done publicly, it was done before the whole camp
of Israel. And that pattern in the Old
Testament continues in the New Testament.
In Acts 6, when the Church of Jerusalem recognizes these proto
deacons, they prayed and they laid their hands on them.
In Acts 13 when the church at Antioch commissions Paul and
Barnabas for missions for church planning, they laid their hands
on them and they sent them off. And that's why in First Timothy
4, Paul previously tells Timothy, don't neglect the gift
you have which is in you, which was given to you by prophecy
when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
It's also why Paul warns Timothy in First Timothy 5.
He says don't be hasty in the laying on of hands, meaning
don't be hasty in appointing new elders.
And that's exactly what you witnessed earlier in the service
here with me. Ashok and Brandon laid hands on
me as a public recognition of something the congregation
affirmed last week in a vote. But some Baptist churches
understand the pastor it a little differently.
They might understand as a permanent role.
Once you become a pastor, you're always pastor.
You know, you could be a pastor even if you're not a pastor of
any specific church. And the Roman Catholic Church
and some Anglican churches also understand this laying on of
hands a little differently. They would say that those set
apart for ministry are understood to receive some
special grace from God for that ministry.
But the pattern in the New Testament is that the ability to
hold the office of pastor depends on just two things.
One, well, the man has to meet the qualifications.
Those are listed out in first and V3 and in Titus 1 he has to
meet those. And then second, a congregation
has to affirm that man as their pastor.
That's it, those two things. So the laying on of hands is not
when some special grace is imparted to a man for pastoral
ministry. It's when the congregation
affirms the work of the Holy Spirit in a man's life.
But how do all these things work?
You have the elders and you have the congregation, and then you
have the Spirit. We get a little picture in Acts
20. In Acts 20, Paul's addressing
the Ephesian elders, and there he says to the Ephesian elders,
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
How does it all work? Well, it's in many ways the same
as it's worked in our church. The elders lead Brandon Ashok,
we're leading in the process. And then the congregation
affirms what the spirits doing. That's how it all plays
together. So basically Paul is saying
here, Timothy, don't neglect your pastoral ministry.
Don't slack on your teaching. Pay attention to your preaching.
He says, fan it into flame. And in that sense, pastoral
ministry is much like a muscle. If you work out, which I'm sure
some of some of you do, what happens when you skip the gym
for a week? Well, not a lot happens.
Actually. You don't really notice
anything. But what if you stay away for a
month, or a year or a decade? Your muscles that you work so
hard to get will wither away. You'll grow weak.
Your muscles will atrophy. Or, to use Paul's analogy,
ministry is like a fire. What happens if you start a fire
but you don't tend to it? Well, nothing happens
immediately, but eventually, if you do nothing, if you don't
stoke the flames, eventually the fire dies out.
It grows cold. So Paul tells Timothy, fan it
into flame. Exercise your pastoral muscles.
It's very similar to what he charged Timothy in First Timothy
for there. He said, practice these things,
immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress.
Perhaps you have been going to the gym and you've been working
hard and then months later someone looks at you and goes,
you look different, something's different about you.
Have you been working out? They notice it.
The exact same thing is supposed to happen with your pastors.
They should grow. They've not arrived.
So your pastor that you have today, like me and Ashok and
Brandon, five years from now, 10 years from now, if we're still
pastoring, by God's grace, you should say you've made some
progress. Your preaching's gotten better,
your praying is more edifying. You're more wise today.
That's the work of the Spirit, and we have a role to play in
it. Fan it into flame and Paul
charges Timothy. He grounds the charge in verse
7, the gift of God's spirit. Look at verse 7, for God gave us
a spirit, not a fear, but of power and love and self-control.
Notice those three things, Power, love, self-control.
Those are things that all Christians possess by the
Spirit. Jesus promised the apostles you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
And then we see in Galatians 5, the fruit of every Christian by
the Spirit is, among other things, love and self-control.
So Timothy, by God's Spirit, is equipped with everything he
needs for faithful and fruitful ministry.
But Timothy faces a challenge in ministry, which is really the
challenge of every pastor. Cowardice.
That's what Paul refers to in that phrase.
God gave us a spirit, not a fear.
He's not talking about fear alone, but a fear that makes you
freeze, a fear that stops you in your tracks when you're supposed
to act in the face of danger. Perhaps you've been in a
situation like that. A dangerous situation arises and
you just freeze. You don't know what to do, so
you do nothing. Pastors can't be cowards, but
that's the temptation and we get it because no one wants to be on
a church members bad side. No one wants to have that hard
conversation. No one wants to confront those
false teachers or that false teaching.
But if a pastor lacks courage, if they fail to act, who suffers
for it? The congregation.
Pastors must take on trouble to spare the congregation from
trouble. It's not that pastors must be
fearless, like they never have any fears or they're never
anxious about anything. They must be courageous in the
face of those fears. Jesus gives us a picture of
pastoral ministry in John chapter 10.
He shows the difference between a shepherd and a hired hand.
When trouble comes, when there's wolves attacking the flock, what
does a hired hand do? They flee, but a shepherd
doesn't, and Jesus gives himself as a picture of a faithful
shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep church.
Pray that God would give your pastors even more courage.
Pray that we would fear God and not fear you.
Pray that we wouldn't check it out when God calls us to step
up. Brothers who aspire to pastor
you desire a noble task. Keep making progress in your
teaching. Be a man of courage in a world
of cowards. But notice that Paul's focus is
not just on courage. It's also love and self-control.
Meaning that if you want a pastor, you must be courageous,
but you cannot be careless. You must be careful with the
sheep. Every action must be constrained
by love for the sheep and love for the Lord.
You must be compassionate and tender.
You must be able to restore sinners in a spirit of
gentleness. Church, look for elders.
Look for men who are courageous and careful.
Those are the men you want to shepherd your soul.
Now in verse 8, Paul gives Timothy his invitation.
Look at verse 8. Therefore, do not be ashamed of
the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but
share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
It's because Timothy has the Spirit that he must not be
ashamed of the gospel, and he must not be ashamed of gospel
workers, gospel workers like Paul, who Withers away in
prison. Instead, he must share, he must
participate. He must join Paul and Jesus
Christ in suffering for the gospel.
His willingness to suffer for the gospel is actually evidence
and proof that he's not ashamed of the gospel.
Now put yourself in Timothy's shoes.
You can imagine how tempting and convenient it would have been to
just forget about Paul, who's in prison, 1600 miles separate
them. There's no FaceTime.
There's just letters that you can send, and it will take
months to get to its destination.
It would have been easy. And in fact, that's what many of
Paul's ministry associates did in his final hour.
Paul says in First and Second Timothy, many of them deserted
him, but not Timothy. And so Paul reminds Timothy to
share in his suffering. He reminds Timothy that he has
the power of God, that God has given him the Spirit to do the
very work required of him. Now you might wonder, what
difference does the Spirit make to share in suffering?
Remember the apostle Peter at Jesus Christ's arrest, a servant
girl asked him, weren't you with Jesus?
Peter said, don't know him. Another servant girl sees him
later and she says to everyone, hey, that man, he was with
Jesus. But this time, Peter says with
an oath. I don't know the man. 1/3 time
someone says to Peter, I can tell by your accent you're one
of his followers. And this time Peter invokes a
curse on himself, and he swears I don't know the man. 3 denials
When it came to suffering with the suffering servant, Peter was
ashamed. But that was Peter before he
received the Spirit of God. After receiving the Spirit at
Pentecost. It was Peter who powerfully
preached at Pentecost. And it was Peter who is charged
not to speak in the name of Jesus.
But he said we cannot speak of what we have seen and heard.
And it was Peter who told the high priest himself who charged
him not to preach Christ. We must obey God rather than men
empowered by the Spirit. Peter shared in suffering for
his Savior. That's what God's Spirit
produces in his people. He empowers us and he enables us
to not be ashamed of the gospel, but to share in suffering for
the gospel. Now, friends, we should always
feel shame when we sin. We should never feel shame for
the gospel. But if we're honest, each of us
are far more sensitive to the court of public opinion than
we'd like to admit. Don't you find that to be true
in your own life? We feel pressure come people's
opinions and we're tempted to cave.
We sense shame for what we think or believe.
We want to shy away. Christian, how are you tempted
to feel shame for the gospel? Could it be that shame is what's
keeping you from sharing the gospel with your neighbors
because you're fearful of what they might think about you?
Or could it be that shame's keeping you from acknowledging
Christ at your workplace because you're afraid you might miss a
promotion? Or could it be that shame is
keeping you from boldness with your family because you're
worried you're nervous about what they might say behind your
back? Ask yourself this.
Why am I excessively sensitive to the opinions of others?
What do my fears say about me and about what I prioritize and
ask God for help? Turn to him humbly.
He sent you, the Spirit, to be your helper.
On your own. You can do nothing to fight your
fears, But you, believer, have the power of God by the Spirit
of God. So ask that God might stretch
out his mighty hand and free you from your fears so that you can
share in suffering for the gospel.
It's the gospel that Paul turns in verses 9 and 10.2.
The gospel is worth our suffering.
In verses 9 and 10, Paul really double clicks on that word
that's in verse eight. Look at verse 8.
There's the word, the gospel. He double clicks on it.
And so as we stare at these verses, verses 9 and 10, I just
want you to let the good news soak in.
He says God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not
because of our works, but because of His own purpose and
grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began and which now has been manifested through the appearing
of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolish death and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.
What is the gospel? That is the most important
question you can ask, and Paul gives us the answer in verses 9
and 10. It's how God save sinners.
Verse 9 he tells us how. Verse 10 He tells us why.
Flip that. In verse 9 He tells us why.
In verse 10 He tells us how First, why.
Why does God save sinners? Look carefully at verse 9.
Notice what the answer is not. It is not because of our works.
Did you see that, friends? Look, look at verse 9.
Not because of our works. God does not save sinners
because of their good works. God doesn't save sinners because
they try their best. God doesn't save sinners because
they do their best. God doesn't save sinners because
of anything they've done at all, which is the opposite message of
every major religion. The message of every major
religion is you must do something to be saved.
That's the message of Islam. Islam teaches you must follow
the five pillars. Declare that there is no God but
God and that Muhammad is his prophet.
Say your prayers five times a day.
Give to the poor, fast during Ramadan, travel, make your trip
up to Mecca. That's the message of Hinduism.
Hinduism teaches karma, that your deeds become your destiny,
that what goes around comes around, that you need to do
enough good deeds to liberate you from the endless cycle of
rebirth. It's the message of Roman, an
Eastern Orthodoxy, which teach that there's grace, but you must
also work. You must do good works, which
together the grace and your good works participate for your
salvation. In other words, every major
religion is a message of self help.
Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.
Fake it till you make it garbage.
That's what Paul's assessment is.
He says he'll have none of it. He says not because of our
works, kids. That means that going to church
won't save you, or being born in a Christian family won't save
you, or reading your Bible enough won't save you, or
obeying your parents won't save you.
God won't save you because of anything you've done.
So we have to ask Paul, why then does God save sinners?
He says in verse 9, because because of his own purpose and
grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages
began. Christian, on what does your
salvation depend? Not your works, but God's grace.
Not you, but God. Trace the timeline of your
salvation. How far back do you need to go?
Paul says before the ages began. Well, how far back is that?
Go to your date of birth. You have to keep going.
Go back hundreds of years after that, you need to keep going.
Go back another thousand years after that and you need to keep
going. Go back before time itself
began. OK, now we're there.
And what exactly were you doing way back then?
Nothing. Don't you see Paul's point?
When you trace the river of your salvation to its source, it will
not lead to you or to your works, but to God and His grace.
God is the one who calls sinners.
God is the one who chooses sinners.
God is the one who saves sinners.
So salvation does not depend on human effort or initiative or
merit at all. It depends on God.
He chooses, He saves, He calls. That's why God saves, because of
his purpose, because of his grace.
But how? How does God save?
Look at verse 10. How does God save sinners?
Paul says, and which now has been manifested through the
appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
When you trace the river of your salvation to its source, it will
lead you to Christ, to grace that's given in Christ Jesus in
eternity before the ages began appeared 2000 years ago when our
Savior Christ Jesus was born. Sin brought death and judgement
into the world, and since we're all sinners, we each deserve
death and judgement. But when Christ came into the
world, he abolished death and brought life and immortality to
light. Through his death and
resurrection, he received the eternal judgement that sinners
deserve, and he defeated death and gave eternal life to
undeserving sinners. That's what happened on the
cross. He died for sinners and had his
resurrection. He rose for sinners, and it's
all grace. It's not because of works, it's
God's work. It's not ours, friends.
That is the Apostle Paul's unpacking of that little word
gospel. There's a scene in the movie
Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, which I think depicts
this very well. It's the scene, the Battle of
Helms D If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.
King Theoden and his people are being attacked by an army of
orcs. They're in a mountain fortress
with a huge wall between them and an ocean of enemies.
And on the 5th day of this siege, the wall breaks, the
enemies flood in, and it seems like all is lost.
It seems like this is the end. But the wizard Gandalf told one
of them, look to my coming at first light on the 5th day at
dawn, look to the east. And it's just when you think
it's all lost that Aragorn looks up to the Ridge on the east and
the sun begins to rise and peek through, and there's Gandalf
with an army to save them all from their enemies.
If you're not a believer. When it seems like all hope is
lost when Christ is crucified, when he's died and darkness
descends in Jerusalem and he's in the grave for three days and
all his followers are mourning because they think it's over.
It's then that life and immortality are brought to light
through the gospel. Because on Sunday, on the third
day, Christ rises from the grave and that's when the enemies are
defeated forever. If you're not a believer, do you
see the light dawning in the darkness?
Do you feel the warmth of Christ's love for sinners?
Do you understand? Do you believe that there's
nothing you can do to save yourself?
You contribute nothing, but Christ has done it all by grace.
Will you this morning leave behind your sin and trust in
Jesus Christ for salvation? Church, If there's no gospel,
there's no light, and there's no life without Christ, we'd be
walking in darkness today. Or, CS Lewis said it would
remain always winter but never Christmas.
But the light has dawned and death has been defeated, and
Christ has risen victorious. Which is why you and I need the
gospel preached to us every single week.
Think about this for a moment. The apostle Paul ministered
alongside Timothy for over 15 years.
Timothy was even a pastor of the church at Ephesus.
And yet here Paul reminds Timothy of the gospel because in
the face of suffering, he needed a reminder of what he was
suffering for. And that's a reminder each of us
need. We need to be regularly reminded
of why God saved us and how God saved us.
And we need to regularly remind one another that this gospel is
worth suffering for. In fact, this gospel is the very
motivation to share in suffering.
It was Paul's motivation, which we'll see in point 3.3.
Our suffering can't stop the gospel.
Friends, I want you to see how this passage fits together.
In verse 8, Paul challenges Timothy.
Timothy, don't be ashamed. Share in suffering for the
gospel. And then in the middle verses,
verses 9 and 10, you have the gospel that's worth suffering
for. Here we are.
Now in verses 11 and 12, Paul does not issue a challenge.
He comforts Timothy. He puts his arm around Timothy.
He says to Timothy, Timothy, I've suffered too.
I'm not ashamed. God's going to take care of
everything. Verses 11 and 12 look at verse
11. Paul says, for which I was
appointed A preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I
suffer as I do. God's the one who appointed Paul
to his ministry. He appointed him to be a
preacher and teacher and apostle of the gospel.
Remember back to Acts 9, which was read early in the service.
Paul was promised suffering. Jesus told Ananias that Paul was
his chosen instrument. He said I will show him how much
he must suffer for the sake of my name.
Christian, do you see the intrinsic connection between
preaching the gospel and suffering for the gospel?
That's what Christ promised Paul.
That's what Paul knew himself by experience.
Paul does not then ask Timothy to do something that he's not
willing to do himself. He practices what he preaches.
He preaches and that is why he suffers.
Brothers and sisters, we need to set our expectations of the
Christian life accordingly. Following Jesus is costly.
Christians and non Christians like face God's bitter
Providence, sickness, the loss of a job.
But suffering for the gospel is exclusive to following Jesus
Christ. For following Jesus Christ comes
with a cross, and sharing the gospel invites suffering itself.
It is why Paul suffers, but he's not ashamed.
Verse 12. I'm not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed, and I'm convinced that he is able to
guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
Notice Paul's great confidence in prison.
I know whom I have believed. He's met Jesus Christ.
He's believed in Jesus Christ. He's not ashamed of Jesus
Christ. And notice what Paul's convinced
of in prison. He's convinced that God is able
to guard what's been entrusted to him.
What has God entrusted Paul with?
The gospel. He's been entrusted with the
gospel. Yes, his life is in danger, and
he does trust God with his life also.
But it's the gospel that's his focus, and it's the gospel that
Paul believes is in good hands. And notice what day is on Paul's
mind in prison That day. Yes, he's going to be executed
shortly. Perhaps he already knows when
that's coming. That's not the day he's thinking
of. He's thinking of the final day
when Christ returns. Christ, second coming and final
judgement. That's where Paul's mind is.
That's where his heart is here in his last days in prison.
Back in college, the Burtons got me into rock climbing.
I started rock climbing. I'd go down to Arkansas and go
to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and there I would climb these 30
foot tall cliffs. And I'm personally afraid of
heights. Rock climbing was one thing that
helped me with that. You get to the top and you need
to clip into anchors. You know, you bring the rope up
yourself. There's these little bolts in
the mountain and you have clips, and every 5 to 8 feet or so you
clip in so that if you fall, you only fall a few feet.
But when you get to the very top, there's these anchors you
need to clip in. And to clip into the anchors,
you have these slings. There are these little cords
this big, less than half an inch thick, and you just take those
two things, you clip them in and then that's it.
Those will hold you. And then you need to feed the
rope in, use your hands. So there's a moment you have to
clip in with the slings and then lean back on them 30 feet in the
air and then use your hands to feed the rope through.
Imagine if you were the one up there. 30 feet in the air and
you've got the clips and it's your first time.
Your slings are on the anchors, but you're a little nervous, as
I can imagine. I've been there.
What encouragements might I yell up your way to get you to
actually let go and lean back? I might tell you, hey, those
little half inch thick slings, they can withstand 11
kilonewtons of force. And you might just stare at me
blankly like you're doing now and I might tell you that's 2500
lbs of force. You know, that's those slings
can hold a small car. You can lean back.
You can trust them. Just do it, lean back.
But the truth is, and maybe you'd know this, the truth is
that even those little slings which can withstand 2500 lbs of
force, well, that's just £2500. There's a breaking point.
There is a point where if you lean back hard enough or
something happened, or you did put a small car there and it was
2600 lbs, those slings would just snap.
You can be confident in them, but only to a certain point.
They're strong, but they have limits.
Friends, the apostle Paul in prison, look where his strength
relies. He says God is able.
He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to
me. He is able.
The apostle all sits in prison with his life on the line.
He remembers that God is able. That's his confidence.
He serves the God who is the Almighty.
He's all powerful. The Old Testament Saints called
him Psalm 46. One our strength.
There's no limit to his power. There's never a single moment
where he's exhausted, Isaiah declared of him, He does not
faint or grow weary. And Jeremiah said, Lord, nothing
is too hard for you. That is our God.
He's able. There's no limits, yet there's
infinite power, which means you and I and our church can have
great confidence as we look to the future of gospel ministry.
Because God is able. We have nothing to worry about.
God is able. We can labor and toil and then
relax and rest because God is able.
We can even share in suffering and take on suffering and trust
that God is able. He is able, called, suffered in
prison, He suffered for the preaching of the gospel.
And he invites Timothy and he invites us to do the same, to
share in suffering for the gospel.
In 1661, John Bunyan was arrested for preaching the
gospel. They threw him into prison, and
they told him that if he wanted to be set free, all he had to do
was stop, stop preaching the gospel, and they're at home.
He had his wife and his four kids, and his first daughter was
blind. They needed his help.
And yet, Bunyan replied, if I'm free today, I will preach
tomorrow. So he remained in prison for a
total of over 12 years. Those days were particularly
hard and painful as he was separated from his family, but
he endured. It was in prison, actually, when
he wrote his famous Pilgrim's Progress.
At one point in Pilgrim's Progress, Christian, the main
character, meets another character named Faith.
And Christian asks Faith about shame, the shame that we might
feel for following Jesus Christ and for suffering for Jesus
Christ. And Faith tells Christian what
God says is best is best, though all the men in the world are
against it, seeing that they make themselves fools.
For the Kingdom of heaven are the wisest, and that the poor
man that loveth Christ is richer than the greatest man in the
world that hates him. Shame depart.
Thou art an enemy to my salvation.
Brothers and sisters, when you're faced with suffering for
Jesus Christ, let's say with Bunyan shame, depart.
Let's share in suffering for the gospel.
Let's pray, Father, we pray that you'd fill us up with the Spirit
so that we can stomach these difficult truths, so that we can
share in suffering for the very gospel that saves us.
And Lord, help us trust that you are the one who's able to guard
until that day what you've entrusted to our church.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.