(This is a hybrid between a sermon manuscript and a sermon outline. I hope you can follow it and flesh it out in your own words as the Lord leads you.)
Please open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 2:1-13 which we will read in a few minutes.
1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus are letters written to specific individuals by Paul.
Timothy and Titus were pastors so these letters are referred to as the Pastoral Epistles or the Pastoral Letters.
Yes, epistles are formal letters and NOT the wives of the apostles!
Because they were written to pastors it does not mean that they are not useful for non-pastors as well; they are certainly very beneficial to all Christians!
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read 2 Timothy 2:1-13.
(The target verses we will be looking at are verses 11-13 but take the time to comment on anything in the earlier verses that may need some clarification as you read through them.)
May the Lord bless the reading of His Holy Word (followed by a short prayer)
Here is a trustworthy saying …
- All of God’s word is trustworthy!
- Paul is saying, "This is something important … pay attention!"
- It does not say “these are trustworthy sayings”
- The Holy Spirit, through Paul, is declaring a serious matter
- In the sequence of these verses you will find one of the biggest little words in the Bible … it’s only two letters long … what is that word? (If)
If we died with Him, we will also live with Him …
- This is not talking literal dying although that may be necessary at some time
- Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ”
- Romans 6:11 - … count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”
- Romans 6 – dead to sin – alive in Christ
- Romans 7 – trying to live a holy life without the help of the Holy Spirit
- We will live with Him on earth
- We will live with Him in eternity
- This is where we should be as Christians
o This is where Jesus wants us to be
o This should be the goal and desire of our hearts
- If we died with Him, we will also live with Him
- If we do not die with Him, we will NOT live with Him on earth or in eternity
If we endure, we will also reign with Him …
If we persevere, we will also rule with Him …
KJV - If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him … (suffer as in long suffering)
- What’s this talking about, endure?
- John 15:5-6
o Speaking about those who are in the Vine – in Christ
o Verse 38 – If you do not remain in me … If you do not endure
o Branch that has fallen from a tree
? Branch was in the tree
? Branch was alive
? Disease or injury entered into the branch
? Branch no long received nutrition from the tree
? Branch died and fell off
? Branch picked up and cast into the fire
? Branch did not endure
? No fault of the tree
- Paul is warning us here that we must endure and not to rest on our current standing with the Lord
If we disown Him, He will also disown us …
If we deny Him, He also will deny us …
If we deny and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us.
- Is this the next step for someone who is not enduring in His relationship with the Lord?
- Who do we know in the Bible who denied and disowned Jesus? (Judas / Peter)
- Matthew 10:32-33 - “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven.”
- This is getting downright scary!
- Luke 9:26 – “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
- There’s a lot of this going around today!
o Jesus is a popular guy … unless you insist that He is the only way to find eternal life
o The Bible is pretty popular … if you read it as literature and do not insist that it is the spoken Word of God and that it must be obeyed
o You can live in a radical Muslim country and talk about Jesus as long as the Jesus you talk about is the Jesus of the Quran and not the Jesus of the Bible
- The “If” of this verse carries great importance and it applies to those who have never accepted Jesus as their Savior as well as those who once were in Christ.
- (Repeat) Matthew 10:32-33 - “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven.”
- The Lord is faithful to warn us of impending doom! Thank you Jesus!
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.
If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.
- This is often interpreted as “if we are faithless to Him, He will remain faithful to us.” – Is that an accurate reading?
- It would be except for the fact that there is another phrase attached to the end of the verse – “for He cannot disown Himself”
- If we are faithless, He remains faithful … to whom?
o To us?
o To Himself?
o If He remains faithful to us and not to His Word then He is unfaithful to Himself and He cannot deny Himself
- But you may quote … Hebrews 13:5b, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- That is absolutely true!
- He will never leave us or forsake us ... but ... this verse does not preclude us disowning Him!
- Suppose Fred marries Wilma and promises to be true to her the rest of his life
- Wilma leaves Fred and marries Barney
- Fred keeps his vow to Wilma and moves in with Barney and Wilma
- Hebrews 13:5b doesn’t say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you and you will never be able to leave Me or forsake Me even if you want to do so!”
- Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am persuaded that neither …
- What is the one person in those verses who is not mentioned? You!
2 Timothy 2:11-13 is a scary Scripture … if you don't remain faithful!
Is it really possible for a person who has died with Christ to fail to endure until the end and then to disown Christ and then to become faithless altogether????
Is that really possible?
Is that something we need to be aware of and guard against?
Listen to 2 Peter 2:20-22 when he speaks about false teachers who were once faithful teachers…
“If they (the false teachers) have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
“It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
“Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.’”
I know that that is not inspiring. I know that you may very well leave here today thinking that that is the most depressing sermon you have ever heard but there are at least two things we need to draw from this Scripture.
- Dying to self and living in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the goal of God for every person on the faith of the earth.
- After you are saved it is possible to reject Christ and abandon the Kingdom of God.
- We need to be aware of our own spiritual condition and keep a close eye on our relationship with Jesus
- Do we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?
- Is our love for Him becoming lukewarm?
- Is our life a series of actions that only mimic the life of a Christian?
- Is our life fill and overflowing with the power and vitality that comes with the fullness of the Holy Spirit?
Final comments
Possible invitation
Closing prayer
