← ArchiveFaith Over FearGospel-Centered BraveryDateNovember 8, 2020SpeakerJared MitchellText—Passages in this sermonMark 814:48Romans 616:24Ephesians 319:19Matthew 1622:09Matthew 524:36John 1130:15TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00*music*0:30Well, good morning again, church family. Man, I don't know about you, but it's been a great morning already. Amen? You know, the reality is, I'm the worship pastor here, and I think one of the greatest blessings about me having the opportunity to preach0:56is that on these mornings I get to sit right there and I get to sing my lungs out for the glory of God with you, and I don't have to worry about what I sound like. It is great. So, Matt, wherever you are, man, I don't know where you're at, but thank you for leading us so faithfully. Today we're going to continue in our current sermon series throughout the book of 2 Timothy, and I'd like to share a story with you as we begin.1:23As you know, we just passed through the month of October. Personally, it is my favorite month. It is the start of fall. It is the start of better weather, kind of, in Alabama. Summer has come back today. It is the start of football season, kind of, in 2020. But to a lot of us, we also know this month as Reformation month. Now, you may be wondering, what is Reformation month?1:52Well, 500 years ago, a man named Martin Luther would start a protest in Europe, and it would go on to explode into a worldwide movement. You see, at that time, Europe lived in the shadow of the Roman Catholic Church. And just like today, everyone had an opinion about the Bible, even though very few of those people had actually read the Bible.2:20So Martin Luther picked up a Bible for himself, and he read it. And what he read was earth-shattering. When he read it, when he studied it, the word made sense. The world around him began to make sense, and Jesus became significant and beautiful. And through reading the same Bible that we get to read today, he came to find the answer for his biggest problem, which was sin.2:49And by the way, that's still our biggest problem today. Luther discovered that he could not do anything to fix this problem himself, but he must rely on the finished work of Christ alone. He discovered a central truth on that day that changed his life, and it would go on to spark the Reformation, which recognized two things:3:15that God's Word is the ultimate authority in this world, and that the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ was and is the only answer for evil. And he is the only basis on which sinners can stand before a holy God. But Martin Luther is not actually who I want to tell you about today.3:41During the Reformation, two men came along by the name of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. And they went about in England, and they were preaching the Gospel. They were holding fast to the truth of God's Word. And they would preach that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And this truth came from Scripture alone. And I think that we can all say amen to that.4:10But during their adult lives, a new queen came into power. Her name was Queen Mary. You may have heard of her, her nickname being Queen Bloody Mary. And she would get this nickname because during her reign, she would go on to end the life of over 260 martyrs holding fast to the truth of God's Word,4:30as they were tried as heretics and they were sentenced to death. Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley would become two of her victims. And on the day of their death, they were bound to wood, and that wood was set to flames. And on that day, as the flames were rising, Hugh looked to Nick and he said,4:55"Stay strong, Nick, and play the man. For on this day and in these flames, they are lighting a candle that by the grace of God will never be put out." And that flame never was put out. That today, we preach and we celebrate that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone.5:23My friends, the Gospel is worth suffering for. The Gospel is worth standing for. The Gospel is worth fighting for. And until our very last breath, even if it comes in the midst of flames, we will preach the Gospel. Amen? You know, just yesterday, somebody found out that I was preaching today and they said,5:48"What are you going to preach now that the election is over, that it just happened?" I said, "I'm going to preach Jesus Christ." That I'm going to preach Christ, and that's what I was going to preach, and that's what I will continue to preach. We need to preach the book. Current events don't dictate what we preach from the pulpit. Because Jesus Christ is the answer. Now, you see these men, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Martin Luther, and so many others,6:16they didn't come up with this on their own. But today, we read its original author in the Bible, a man named Paul. Paul was also familiar with suffering so much that he would also go on to give his life for the sake of the Gospel. And today, through this letter in 2 Timothy, I believe that Paul will show us a few things that I pray, that I pray will lead us to live a life that counts for the cause of Christ.6:38Let me pray for us. Oh God, we need you today. We need you to open our eyes to the truth of your Gospel. Would you open up our ears to hear? Would you open up our minds to understand? Would you open up our hearts to receive?7:05Oh God, we give you all the glory. We give you all the praise. So would you speak now? Your people are listening. Amen. Amen. Now, looking at this letter in 2 Timothy, chapter 1, we're going to be beginning in verse 8. Now, what do we know? We know that Paul is writing to Timothy. And in this passage, Paul is in prison. He is in chains. And that he knew he was ultimately going to be executed for his faith.7:33And he was getting ready to pass this torch of faith on to Timothy. And he's writing in a way that we believe that Timothy is timid for his faith. He's timid about his faith. And he needs encouragement. So in these verses, we'll see Paul give two main exhortations, two main commands, two main encouragements. And we see the first one in verse 8. 2 Timothy, chapter 1, starting in verse 8.8:02Paul writes, "So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord." Okay, so let's stop right there immediately. We see the first command that Paul is giving Timothy, and he's giving to us as well. Don't be ashamed of the Gospel. Don't be ashamed of the Gospel. Now, at the very beginning of this verse, you see the word, "So." If you have another translation, you may see the word, "Therefore."8:30So whenever we see one of these two verses, we want to go back. So we'll go back to the verses that Pastor Josh covered last Sunday. And in the first six verses of this letter, Paul is writing, "Timothy, I thank God when I think of you." He says, "I remember that your faith is real. It is sincere. So rekindle and remember that faith." It's like Paul is saying, "Timothy, listen, I know you may be scared, but I have all of the confidence in you.8:58I believe in you." And I have to believe that when Timothy received this letter and he read these words, that he was filled with a spirit of perseverance and filled with faith. And Paul writes in verse seven that we read last week, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment."9:21This is a verse that just reminds us of God's mighty work in the believer. So we get to verse eight and Paul is writing to Timothy saying, "I believe in the man that God has made you to be, and I believe in the God that works within you, and he has delivered you from fear. So because of these things, so therefore, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."9:47So what is the testimony of our Lord? Simply put, it is the gospel message. It is the testimony of Jesus Christ that Jesus came into this world and he lived a perfect life that we could never live and he died a death that we could never die in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. And Paul is urging Timothy and he's urging us as well, don't be ashamed of this gospel.10:16Now a little context, we want to realize that during this time, Timothy was in a really tough place. He had every reason to be struggling. He was in a tough city of Ephesus in which there were a lot of competing worldviews and a lot of competing religious systems, just like today really. And Paul believed that Timothy had found himself to be timid, even ashamed of his faith.10:45And I have to wonder, I have to ask the question, have any of us ever been there or are any of us there right now? And this is a dangerous place to be for the Christian. Because the reality is that when we become timid with our faith, we stop sharing our faith. I remember the day that I moved to college and this was really the first time that I was out on my own.11:13I was out of my parents' house and I knew that I was called to ministry. I wanted my faith to be real. I wanted it to be seen by everyone that I was around. And I remember that in high school and in my home church that I grew up in and my family, it was an easy thing to talk about my faith. That I was around people that I knew.11:41I was around people that generally believed what I believed. So it was really easy to talk about what God was doing in my life. And then I get to college and it's a little bit of a different story. I remember one of my first semesters there, I went to a conference at a local church. And it was an evangelism conference all about sharing your faith. And that next week I stepped back onto my college campus completely fired up, ready to share the gospel.12:07And I come face to face with someone. It's another guy that I truly believe that he's not a Christian. I don't believe that he is a believer so we get into a conversation. And I don't know what happened that day. I guess I froze up. I guess I got scared. I guess I was ashamed. And I don't know why.12:36But we would go on. We would talk about sports. We would talk about class. We would talk about everything but my faith. And then he leaves and all the while I knew that I had just missed this opportunity that God had put in front of me. And I remember praying immediately saying, God, I won't let this happen again. The next time I get an opportunity down the road, whenever that day comes, I will be ready. And I will not be scared. God must have a sense of humor because about five minutes later this very same guy walks right back in.13:05And he comes back. We're in the cafeteria. And he says, hey, it's raining so I want the rain to leave before I go across campus to my next class. Okay, God, I see you. I hear you. So I went on to talk about my faith with him. And we became friends and we stayed friends. And for some reason I was ashamed to talk about my faith and what a dangerous place this is to be. And I want to ask, are you there?13:34Are you there even today? I think we can all think of someone that we need to be sharing our faith with. Maybe it's a classmate at school. Maybe it's a coworker. Maybe it is a family member. And listen, I'm not saying that this is necessarily an easy thing. That living a bold life for your faith is easy. I think that the first thing that Paul would tell you is that a life for Christ is not an easy life. And it will cost you something, if not everything, but it is worth it.14:02That eternity is too long. Hell is too real. And time is much too short. And the gospel is too beautiful for us to sit back and be timid with our faith. The gospel is worth sharing. And the reality is that when we are timid, when we are timid with our faith, we are really actually ashamed of what we believe in.14:27Now, I know that timid is an easier word to hear, but I do believe the word ashamed fits better. Apparently, Paul thought it did because it's the word that he used. And I'm reminded of Mark chapter eight where Jesus says, "For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life?"14:48"For what can anyone give in exchange life for whoever is what ashamed of me?" And my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in glory. We are called to make our lives count. We are called to live with a gospel-centered bravery that says, "No matter what comes my way, no matter who is elected, I will stand with Jesus, I will stand with his words, and I will let the chips fall where they fall."15:16Church, how I pray that we as a church, we as Christians in this world, we would be the last ones standing for the sake of the gospel, not the first ones to go.15:35Let's look at the second part of verse eight. Paul writes, "So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner." Now this is crucial to see in the text because, yes, Paul claims to be a prisoner here, but he calls himself a prisoner of who?15:58A prisoner of Christ. And this is huge because even though Paul was in worldly chains, he knew that he was ultimately a slave to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. So quickly, I want to go over to Romans chapter six.16:24Paul's also writing here. And he writes about this very topic and he gives us a much better understanding of what it means to be enslaved to Christ, to be a prisoner of Christ. Romans chapter six, starting in verse 15, Paul writes, "What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not. For don't you know that if you offer yourselves as someone as obedient slaves, then you are slaves of that one which you obey?16:51Either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over. And having being set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness." Now I'm using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh.17:19For just as you offer the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things that you're now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death.17:47But now, since you have been set free from sin, and you have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification, and the outcome is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Christians, we are not slaves in this world. We are not slaves to this world.18:16And we are no longer, because of Jesus, slaves to sin, but we are enslaved to righteousness, which results in sanctification. And the outcome of that is eternal life. When we become enslaved to righteousness, that means we have found freedom in Jesus Christ. And this is why we can make our lives count. We can decide to give our lives for the sake of the gospel.18:44Because if I am to suffer in this world, then I want to suffer for the sake of righteousness. As a slave to only one almighty king in his name is Jesus Christ. Amen. You see, we are not ashamed of the one that we are enslaved by when he loves us and we love him. We can trust our owner and we can trust our king because he's good.19:13And when we are his, we can believe what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3. He says, "Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Works in us. Now remember the first six verses of this letter. Paul urges Timothy, "Remember the power of God that works in you." The power of God does not only work for us or beside us, it works in us.19:40Listen, if you want to put me in chains for the sake of the gospel, that's fine. Because I've been enslaved for a long time and it's not to anyone on this side of heaven. But I am enslaved to righteousness. I am enslaved to a king and I can trust him that he is working. I can trust him that he is working.20:07And Christians, in the midst of the storm, we don't have to be afraid. Because we know the maker of the storm. And he knows us. Trust. Trust in Jesus. Trust in the power of the gospel working in you and through you. Church, we have nothing to be ashamed of, but we have everything worth fighting for.20:30And that is the name of Jesus to be proclaimed from right here at Bethel Baptist Church to St. Clair County to the ends of the world. And that is our aim. So Paul writes in verse 8, don't be ashamed of the gospel in verse 8. But instead, instead, share in suffering for the gospel.20:55So we see this next exhortation, this next command that Paul gives Timothy and he's giving us. Suffer for the gospel. By relying on the power of God, he has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.21:16And this has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has what? He has abolished death. He has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So we see Paul calling Timothy and calling us, don't be ashamed, but instead, join in. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel.21:42Now, can you imagine getting this letter, if you're Timothy, and maybe you're feeling this right now, that you're saying, okay, okay, don't be ashamed, got it. I will not be ashamed. But now you want me to suffer? Now you're telling me to suffer? It doesn't seem like the greatest exchange of ideas. But Paul knew the cost. And he knew that the cost was great. And we need to realize when Jesus said, if anyone wants to follow after me, Matthew 16, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.22:09For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus was serious. And Paul knew that the cost is great. Just a few weeks ago, Pastor Josh preached that this Christian life is a fight worth fighting. And in this fight, suffering is to be expected.22:37And in reality, it is to be welcomed and shared in. But if we are, if we are to share in suffering, how do we do it? And Paul quickly writes how we suffer. He gives us a way to endure it. What does he say at the end of verse eight? That we share in suffering for the gospel. What? By relying on the power of God.23:04By relying on the power of God. This is no small statement for Christians. Remember back verses one through six. Paul is urging Timothy, remember the power of God that works within you because you are going to need it. And today we need to remember that the same power of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power that lives and is alive in us today.23:25And we can take on suffering. Because there is a marvelous mystery in strength through weakness that this world will never understand. Just last week in this room, we held a funeral here for Miss Jeanette Johnson, a long time member here.23:52You might, you know her and her son, Steven Johnson, and her husband, Mr. Wesley Johnson. Mr. Wesley and Miss Jeanette, they were married for 70 years. Now to put that in perspective, I've been married for only seven years. My wife may tell you it feels like it's been longer than that. But I cannot wait to get to 70. And you know, I don't think that any of us will forget what we experienced in the room that day.24:21But during the entire service, Mr. Wesley sat right here, holding the hand of his wife. It was one of the most beautiful pictures of the gospel that I have ever seen. And I was reminded of Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." And Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, Jesus says, "My grace is sufficient for you.24:46For my power is perfected in weakness. So that I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses. So that Christ's power may reside in me." So guess what? I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties for the sake of Christ. When I am weak, I am strong.25:15The world does not understand this. And that afternoon in this very room, as we sang and as we prayed, and as we read the word with this sweet family, there was a strength in this room and there was a peace in the room that the world will not understand because Jesus was there. And Jesus makes all the difference. When we face opposition, when we face persecution, when we face weakness, when we face suffering, Jesus provides strength.25:40So we see Paul calling Timothy to share in suffering. He says how we share in suffering, by relying on the power of God, and now he tells us why we suffer. Now hold your places in verse 9 and 10 because there's just simply too much there to not unpack it. But I want to go to verse 11 because Paul gives us the why.26:07He says, "For this gospel I was appointed a herald, an apostle, a teacher, and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted with me until that day." So in this verse Paul is saying, he's writing that it is for this gospel that I suffer. This gospel, the truth of this gospel is the reason that I suffer.26:37You know there are a lot, there are a lot of things in this world that we could suffer for. And not many of those things are worth suffering for and none are greater than the gospel of Jesus Christ. So verses 9 and 10 I want to go back where Paul gives an incredible explanation of this gospel in just a few verses. So I'll read them one more time for us, 9 and 10.27:07For he has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Jesus Christ before time began. And this has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. These two verses hold a wealth of theological truth. And when we read these verses, when we capture these verses into our hearts, then we should be filled with a faith that knows no bounds.27:37So what do we see here? We see the absolute greatness of God in salvation. That he has saved us, he has called us, and he has brought life and immortality to light. It is clear that it is God alone who saves and he is worthy of our worship.28:03For the life of the believer, this is the greatness of God played out in your life. Here it is. And we see three theological truths and realities that I believe spur us on to greater faith in Jesus. Number one, we see the reality of justification. Now I'm going to give you three words that start with P that may help you if you're taking notes.28:33The reality of justification that through faith in Jesus, we have been saved from the penalty of sin. That he has saved us and he has called us with a holy calling. When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." That penalty of sin no longer has to be paid by us because Jesus paid the ultimate price for that penalty. And now we are saved from the penalty of sin. The reality of justification.29:03Number two, we see the reality of sanctification. Now this is according to God's purpose and his grace that we receive daily. That we aren't only saved from the penalty of sin, but we are being saved from the power of sin. It is a daily decision to turn from my sin that my flesh so strongly desires and wants and to turn to Christ.29:25Remember what we read earlier in Romans 6. Paul writes that since we are free in Christ, should we go on sinning? Absolutely not. For we are being saved from the power of sin and now we are enslaved to righteousness through the grace of God. And I want to pursue that righteousness every day of my life. The reality of justification.29:55The reality of sanctification. And number three, the reality of glorification. That God has brought immortality to light. For the believer, immortality is promised. What a hope we have. Jesus said it in John chapter 11 that I am the resurrection and the life that whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.30:25So we have been saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved from the power of sin. And ultimately, we will be saved from the presence of sin. When we are in the perfect presence of our Savior. My church, it doesn't get any better than this. This is why Paul can tell Timothy, hold fast. Hold on.30:55Hold on. Because one day, this suffering will end. One day, this pain will end because of Jesus. That this has now been made evident through Jesus Christ, who has abolished death. Jesus Christ has abolished death. What a hope we have. Now, this doesn't mean that death is no more.31:22We all know that. But what it does mean for the believer is that even though we all may die physically, we will not die ultimately. Jesus nullified death. An asterisk by death. Because you see, Jesus went to the grave and he came out. And one day, so will we, amen. So if our faith is in Jesus, then we can sing that when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.31:49And when we all see Jesus, we will sing and we will shout in victory. Christian, death is no longer a problem for you. If you turn from your sin and you put your faith in Jesus, you have nothing to fear on this side of heaven.32:16And like Paul, you can say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If you want to keep me here, you get more of Jesus. If you want to kill me, I get more of Jesus. It's up to you. And this is why, like Paul, we can say this, this is why I suffer. This is why I suffer these things. And I know, I know that it is a hard prayer to pray.32:45But church, I want to suffer. I want to suffer. I want to join in. I want to share in suffering for the gospel. I want my daughter to grow up and share in suffering for the gospel. I want you, our church, to share in suffering for the gospel. Would we be the ones that stand up and say, hey, we'll take it.33:12Suffering, suffering has no hold on us. Death has no hold on us. Hell has no hold on us. What are we seeing earlier? Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, hell, where is your victory? But church, come stand in the light because the glory of our God has defeated the night.33:37Listen, we can stand in the midst of darkness and we can take on suffering because through suffering comes light. And through suffering, the gospel will be advanced and Jesus will be found faithful. And I think that the only question for us is, will we be found faithful? You know, we don't know how our earthly story ends.34:06Even as suffering comes, we don't know. But God does. God knows and that is huge. It is everything. So I don't know about you, but I want my life to count. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, I want my life to count for the glory of God. We say this all the time here, this gospel question that we have, we only have one hope in life and death.34:31Only one. And it's that we are not our own, but we belong to God. So would our prayer be like that of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley? Oh God, would you light a flame on this day? Would you light a flame on this day, even if we are in the midst of those flames? Would you light a flame that by your grace will never go out?34:59And Matt and the band, you guys can come on up. And maybe you're here today and you don't know this Savior. And today is the invitation, the invitation is the same for all of us and it's simply to come to the feet of Jesus. That maybe today for the first time, you need to grab hold of the truth that Jesus Christ died on a cross for your sins. So that if you repent and put your faith in Jesus, then you'll no longer be a slave in this world.35:29You will no longer be a slave to sin, but you will become enslaved to righteousness and you will find freedom in Jesus Christ. And there's nothing like it. So we're going to sing and if that's you, and if you want to come down and you want to talk and you want to pray, me and Pastor Josh, we'll both be down here and we'll have our mask on. And if you want to pray, if you want to know more about this Jesus, we would love to talk to you.35:58Let me pray. Oh God.← Previous in Faith Over FearThe Power of Christian RememberingNext in Faith Over Fear →Warning: Difficult Times Ahead
