Unashamed
2 Timothy 1:8-14
August 15, 2021
This morning we come to what has quickly become
One of my favorite services here at First Baptist Church.
It is our annual School Commissioning Service.
• I like it, certainly, because I think it is important to pray for our teachers and students as they return.
• But I also like it because, if nothing else, it gives us a Sunday where we can reevaluate and refocus on the mission of the church.
It is a mission that is true for every single believer.
• And it doesn’t matter if you are a common worker
• It doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home mom
• It doesn’t matter if you are a student in school
If you are a believer in Christ, you have 1 primary purpose.
And that purpose is the growth of the kingdom of God
Through the proclamation of the gospel.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT we were studying with the youth and we’ve been going through the gospel of John for about 3 years now.
But we came to:
John 20:21 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
That’s a pretty remarkable statement.
We are now called by Christ to be His presence in the world.
And, as I told them Wednesday night, that FALLS TO EVERY BELIEVER.
• If you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord.
• If you are His follower.
• You are called to be a witness for Him.
And it’s not like anyone is too old or too young to do this.
If He has SAVED YOU, and He has seen fit to LEAVE YOU HERE,
Then you are EXPECTED to be a witness for Him.
That holds true for the teenager in the classroom
And that holds true for the retired man or woman at the coffee shop.
This service is an annual reminder of that truth.
Well this morning we are going to look at 2 Timothy 1:8-14.
We actually looked at this passage 3 years ago at this very service.
Only then our primary focus was on verse 7 of 2 Timothy 1.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
And our focus then was that if you have the Spirit of God within you
Then there is no need for you to walk in fear.
Rather, you have “a spirit of…power and love and discipline.”
That is your equipping.
THIS MORNING I want to look at some other parts of this passage.
And the focus of our study this morning
Is really going to center around the first half of verse 9.
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”
Paul calls Timothy (and by extension each of us) to be UNASHAMED.
And it is a familiar thought in Scripture.
Mark 8:38 “For whoever is 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 the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Certainly we remember:
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
And here Paul is calling Timothy to also be unashamed of the gospel.
Perhaps of primary importance here are THE COMMANDS of the chapter.
The imperatives are not hard to see.
You’d do good to underline them:
• (8) “Therefore do not be ashamed”
• (8) “join with me in suffering”
• (13) “Retain the standard of sound words”
• (14) “Guard…the treasure”
Those are the four commands.
Everything else in this text sort of yields itself to enforcing those commands.
It is clear that Paul wants Timothy to stand up, be unashamed,
Join the suffering, hold on to the gospel, and defend it.
You are likely aware by now that
Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus to put things in order.
• Timothy had found this job to be quite difficult.
• In addition Nero is emperor and persecution is intense.
• In fact, 2 Timothy will be Paul’s last letter before he is beheaded.
• And it is often noted that perhaps Timothy was ready to quit.
• At the very least he is distressed.
2 Timothy 1:3-4 “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.”
It was hard.
But the fact that serving Christ faithfully was hard,
Was not an excuse not to do it.
And in this final letter of Paul, he writes to Timothy to ask him to
PUT SHAME ASIDE AND TO JOIN IN THE FIGHT.
We are going to examine this plea this morning.
Now, we are going to look at this text a little different this morning
Because I want to make sure that the main point is evident.
You have here is Paul calling Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel,
But in typical Paul fashion, he also reminds
What the gospel is, and what it is Timothy is fighting for.
I want to look at that first quickly and then we’ll get to the commands.
It is in verses 9-10 where Paul outlines this gospel
That he wants Timothy to stand up for.
“who 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 granted us in Jesus Christ from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”
Now, I know that is a mouthful,
But let’s make sure we understand at least the high points.
GOD SAVED US
“who has saved us”
• We didn’t save ourselves, He saved us.
• We didn’t even help in salvation.
• Paul makes it clear that salvation was “not according to our works”
We didn’t add anything to it.
But rather, according to God’s sovereign prerogative
God chose before the foundation of the world that He would save us.
God saved us “according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
Not only did God save us, but His salvation WASN’T REACTIONARY.
God determined from eternity past that He was going to save us.
Paul said it in Ephesians 1:4
Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
That means that before time began God had a plan
To save sinners who could not save themselves.
Paul reminds Timothy that they were those sinners whom God saved.
• Can you forget the fact that God purposed to save you from eternity past?
• Can you forget the fact that while we were enemies of God and children of wrath He saw fit to save us?
• Can you forget that?
And it’s not like God’s plan of salvation was nothing but an empty dream.
What God purposed to do God actually did.
This salvation “has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
God sent His Son!
• Jesus took on flesh and entered this world.
• He was born under the Law, and He fulfilled it.
• He resisted every temptation and He earned a righteous standing.
• He then faced death on our behalf and conquered it.
And He provides “life and immortality” to those who believe in Him.
What a promise!
THIS IS THE GOSPEL.
It is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
• He took on flesh and lived among us
• That He might save us from our sin and grant us eternal life.
GOD DID THIS.
• We didn’t do this.
GOD PURPOSED THIS.
• We didn’t purpose this.
GOD FULFILLED THIS.
• We didn’t fulfill this.
IT IS ALL GOD’S DOING.
He “has saved us”
But that’s not all Paul reminded Timothy of; He also told Timothy that:
GOD CALLED US.
He “has saved us and called us with a holy calling”
We aren’t just on the list of the REDEEMED,
We are on the list of the COMMISSIONED.
In fact, look at verse 11, “for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.”
Paul reminds Timothy that
He was “appointed”; that he was “called”
Paul says, “I am here for the gospel”
Can I ask you: WHY ARE YOU HERE?
What do you think is your purpose in life?
Have we not been studying Ecclesiastes and seen all the futility of the various worldly pursuits?
• Do you really think the primary reason God sends you to school is so you can
get knowledge?
• Do you really think the primary reason God employed you in the school is to
teach algebra or science or history?
Again, I’m NOT SAYING that knowledge is a bad thing. We know “knowledge exceeds folly as light exceeds darkness”. Ecclesiastes taught us that.
BUT THAT IS NOT OUR PURPOSE.
• That is NOT why we are here.
• That is NOT why you are in that school.
• That is NOT why you go to work.
There was a man who used to sit up across the road from us at the First Monday Trade Days in Canton.
HE SOLD SOCKS.
• One day he asked me, “Do you know the purpose of a sock factory?”
• I said, “To make socks.”
• He said, “No. The purpose of a sock factory is to make money.”
Do you know why God saved you while you were still in school?
Do you know why God saved you and caused you to be employed at that school?
FOR THE GOSPEL.
Be a good student… Be a good teacher…
But neither of those are your primary purpose.
We are “saved” and we are “called”
God has enlisted those He saved into His service to publish the gospel.
NOW LISTEN TO ME HERE.
That makes a refusal to join in the work of the gospel
• As the ultimate DISOBEDIENCE
• And the ultimate INGRATITUDE.
That’s just the fact.
As God’s children we have received a salvation we did not earn
And a calling we cannot ignore.
I HOPE YOU SEE THAT.
That truth is the basis for what Paul is going to tell Timothy.
• Paul is speaking to a man who has been saved and who has been called.
• And if you are a child of God those criteria fit you as well.
Well now, let’s look at those commands.
#1 JOIN THE FIGHT
2 Timothy 1:8-12
Even though we read 5 verses there, the main point does jump out at us.
“do not be ashamed”
• And Paul even returns to it in verse 12 saying, “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed…”
• Specifically Paul tells Timothy not to be “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner,”
There is a massive temptation to sort of omit the gospel.
There is a massive temptation to omit any association with Paul.
It is a time when it would be much easier
To keep your mouth closed and your head down.
Survival would seem to be the name of the game.
And yet Paul says, “do not be ashamed”
And in case there is any confusion regarding exactly what he means,
Paul says, “but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”
There is no confusion here as to what Paul wants.
• He wants Timothy to stand up and be counted.
• He wants Timothy to join the fight.
Will that mean suffering for Timothy? Yes, most certainly.
But Paul calls Timothy to do it anyway.
• It was a time when Christians were being arrested.
• It was a time when Christians were having their property seized.
• It was a time when Christians were being killed in the coliseum.
And so it was a time when Christians were tempted
To put their light under a bushel.
Paul called for just the opposite.
Stand up, “do not be ashamed…join with me in suffering”
Now, I just want us to PAUSE for a moment and LET THAT SINK IN.
I think sometimes in modern day Christianity
We have convinced ourselves that THREAT of suffering
Is an ACCEPTABLE REASON not to do something.
Perhaps the prosperity gospel has made too many inroads into our thinking and caused us to believe that God never intends for His people to suffer.
But it seems apparent that FEAR OF REPERCUSSION
Has been a more than SUCCESSFUL DETERRENT
To keep Christians from sharing the gospel.
And I just want to make sure you see clearly this morning that
• Suffering was intense in Timothy’s world
• And he got a letter from a condemned man, who was about to be executed,
• Telling him to step up and join the suffering.
DO YOU SEE THAT?
IN FACT,
The way Paul writes to Timothy insinuates that
• If Timothy fails to “join…in suffering”
• Then Timothy is “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”
DOES EVERYONE SEE THAT?
You either step up and join the suffering or be ashamed of the gospel.
This is a heavy call from Paul to Timothy.
I would imagine that the initial reading of this letter
Put a knot in Timothy’s stomach.
Now, just for a moment we are going to BRING THIS PART HOME.
• We’re about to send teachers into the school this week.
• We’re about to send students into the school this week.
And I simply want you to understand that
Fear of suffering is not an acceptable reason to neglect the gospel.
We are called to be those who confess Christ before men.
We are called to be those who are unashamed.
Perhaps that puts a knot in your stomach like it must have Timothy’s.
Paul knows that.
SO HE HAS SOME IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION FOR TIMOTHY.
Notice Paul says in verse 8, “join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”
What does that mean?
“according to the power of God”
Well, it is a reference to what Paul said previously.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
Paul reminded Timothy that he
Had been supernaturally gifted by God for this task.
When Timothy faced the world, he did not face the world alone.
Timothy, as a believer in Jesus, had the Holy Spirit.
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT AFRAID.
• Paul said, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (cowardice), but of power and love and discipline.”
And this is what Paul means when he tells Timothy here to suffer “according to the power of God.”
• Later Paul will say, (14) “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
In other words, Timothy, as you face suffering, rely on God’s Spirit.
• Don’t face this challenge in the flesh.
• Don’t face this battle in your own strength.
• You must rely on the Spirit of God.
And if we had time we’d go into all the details of what it means
To be “filled with the Spirit” or to “walk by the Spirit”.
But for time’s sake, I’ll just tell you.
GET IN THE WORD!
Paul is not telling Timothy to face this battle on his own,
But rather to face this calling and the threat of suffering
With the strength that God has already provided.
THERE IS POWER FOR THIS.
And there is FOR YOU as well if you are a child of God.
God has more than enough power for you to go into the school
And be a witness for Christ, face that calling with His power.
Now that is sort of the INITIAL MANDATE from Paul to Timothy.
• Don’t be ashamed.
• Join the suffering and stand in God’s power when you do it.
And then Paul expounds on the gospel (which we looked at.)
• Timothy, God saved us.
• Timothy, God called us.
• Timothy, God chose us before the foundation of the world.
• Timothy, God sent His Son into this world to fulfill His purpose.
• Timothy, Jesus abolished death and granted immortality.
You cannot let suffering cause you to be silent about that.
Timothy, you cannot be ashamed of what Jesus did.
And that is an important reminder for each one of us.
• We are the redeemed.
• We are the saved.
• We are the called.
• We are the chosen.
• We are the commissioned.
Jesus came to this earth, fulfilled our righteousness,
Bore our punishment, and granted us eternal life.
And He has called us to stand up and proclaim that message to the world.
• We cannot be ashamed.
• We cannot be deterred by suffering.
• We have been saved and we have been called.
And incidentally, notice Paul’s example.
(12) “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
It’s not like Paul was asking Timothy to do something that he was unwilling to do.
• At the present Paul was in the infamous Mamertine Prison.
• He would soon be beheaded.
• At the end of this letter he reveals that he has been abandoned by everyone.
2 Timothy 4:9-11 “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”
Here is God’s apostle, all but alone.
2 Timothy 4:16 “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.”
• Paul had faced arrest and imprisonment.
• Paul had faced the abandonment of all his companions.
• Paul now faced death.
But despite all that he said, “but I am not ashamed”
WHY?
“for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
Paul was not ashamed,
NOT BECAUSE he knew the gospel,
BUT BECAUSE he believed the gospel.
• He believed in Jesus Christ.
• He believed that Jesus Christ could save Him.
• He believed that Jesus Christ would save Him.
And thus, Paul had no problem confessing His Savior before men.
Let me tell it to you like this.
AT THE HEART OF EVANGELISM IS FAITH.
You will never suffer for a gospel you do not believe.
Paul IS NOT just calling Timothy to proclaim the gospel,
Paul IS calling Timothy to believe it and to trust it.
• Timothy, do you believe God saved you?
• Timothy, do you believe God called you?
• Timothy, do you believe that Jesus Christ brought immortality to light?
THEN “do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”
Timothy, join the fight.
That is my call to you church.
Whether you are headed into the school or simply into the work place.
• Join the fight.
• Do not be ashamed of the gospel.
• Take it and proclaim it even if it comes with a cost.
That is Paul’s first admonition to Timothy.
One more point we’ll make.
#2 DEFEND THE GOSPEL
2 Timothy 1:13-14
Here you see two imperatives.
“Retain” & “Guard”
“Retain” is the Greek word ECHO
It means “to have and to hold”
Paul tells Timothy first “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
In other words, Timothy own the gospel and hold the gospel.
• Hold on to “the standard of sound words”
• Hold on to the gospel you heard me preach.
And then he says,
“Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
That treasure is the truth.
That treasure is the gospel.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
The church has been entrusted with the truth.
And it must be guarded because men will pervert it.
Listen to the last warning Paul gave Timothy in his first letter to him.
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
There are men who are embracing worldly knowledge
And thus have “gone astray from the faith.”
LET ME TRANSLATE THAT FOR YOU.
There is a message that you can go into the world an preach
Which will not bring about suffering.
• You can embrace “worldly and empty chatter”
• You can embrace “what is falsely called ‘knowledge’”
That is to say that
You can just talk about all the junk the world wants to talk about.
I googled what are the “BIGGEST SOCIAL ISSUES OF 2021”.
I’m sure the list varies from site to site, but this is what I found.
1) The Vaccine
2) Same Sex Marriage
3) Gender Identity
4) Woman Empowerment
5) Hunger and Poverty
6) Overpopulation
7) LGBT adoption rights
8) Climate Change
9) Racism / Religious Discrimination (Islam)
10) Health Care Availability
Now, you can go into the world tomorrow
And you can adopt any one of those 10 subjects
And feel like you are really in the flow of life.
(And that doesn’t even include getting lost in politics.)
And if you listen to social pressure and pick the popular side of those arguments you’ll even “be considered knowledgeable and woke.”
In fact, the world WILL LOVE YOU.
They will embrace you.
And there is no threat of suffering.
BUT IF YOU
• “retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from [Paul]”
• And if you “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
THEN YOU CAN GET READY FOR A FIGHT.
The gospel IS NOT going to endorse same sex marriage or gender identity or LGBT adoption rights.
• The gospel is going to confront those in sexual sin with the Law of God which condemns such behavior.
• And then the gospel is going to offer those in that sin forgiveness and cleansing through Jesus Christ.
The gospel IS NOT going to become preoccupied with things like overpopulation.
• The gospel is going to acknowledge that human life is not a mistake, but rather a divine creation of God, and that God will save any human who will repent and call on His name.
The gospel IS NOT going to get lost in talks of climate change and carbon emissions and saving the planet.
• The gospel is going to remind that this world will last until God destroys it and that one day the earth and even the elements will be destroyed with fire.
• And yet the gospel will offer to any man salvation from this judgment through Christ.
The gospel IS NOT going to turn itself into a social mandate regarding critical race theory or woman empowerment or any other current cause.
• The gospel is going to remind that all people regardless of race or gender are lost and in need of a Savior and that in Christ Jesus there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.”
The gospel IS NOT going to belittle itself to the cause of vaccination or health care availability.
• The gospel is going to remind the world that no one is getting out alive regardless of medication and that the only true hope for humanity is salvation through Jesus Christ.
THE GOSPEL IS FOCUSED ON THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY ONE
THAT SAVES MEN FROM ETERNAL JUDGMENT.
And this is Paul’s call to Timothy.
• Timothy you can spend your life talking about everything but the main thing.
• You can avoid suffering and even be popular by addressing everything except what you have been called to proclaim.
• BUT YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED AND CALLED FOR MORE!
• Retain the gospel.
• Guard the gospel.
• Do not be ashamed of the gospel.
• Suffer for the gospel.
• Proclaim the gospel.
DO NOT GET DISTRACTED.
“Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God”
This is what is asked of the church.
And this week as you go into the school,
Remember why you are there.
