SELF-HELP IS NO HELP AT ALL
II TIMOTHY 1:3-18(preaching text Luke 9:23-27)
FEBRURAY 11, 2001
INTRODUCTION: I was almost your person today, LORD. Then I thought what it would have been like if Jesus had done the same thing. What if God had almost revealed himself in Jesus Christ? What if Christ were almost born and almost lived and almost died? What if he would have said, “Ask and it will almost be given you; seek and you will almost find; knock and it will almost be opened to you.” What if he would have said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will almost give you rest.” And what if Jesus had told his disciples, “For whosoever would save his life will lose it, and whosoever loses his life for my sake will almost find it.” My almost Christianity took on a much different light. I realized how many times I had played the game of being one of Jesus’ almost disciples. I recalled how many times I had prayed almost believing and walked through my days as if he were almost risen. It was not a question of theology. It was a question of lifestyle. Whether or not I had a lifestyle that could match what I said I believed, whether or not, as some had said, I could walk my talk.” Tim Hansel, When I Relax I Feel Guilty, p.51
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Our text for this day shares the idea of being all for Jesus, or of not having any part of HIM. Paul was trying to encourage his son in the faith. The key term in this Passage is “ASHAMED.” Another passage highligts that same Word, “ASHAMED.” Hear what Jesus has to say as LUKE writes in chapter 9 of his Gospel. READ LUKE 9:23-27!
THESIS SENTENCE: To be ashamed of Jesus in this life is to forfeit knowing HIM in the Life to COME!
WHAT IS JESUS POINT OF VIEW REGARDING HOW WE LIVE CONCERNING HIM?
I. JESUS GETS INTENSE (verse 23)
A. A DEATH TO DIE
1. Jesus has just shared that HE is on the way out. He must suffer!
2. Why must Jesus suffer, CHRISTIANITY 101, HE IS THE MESSIAH! HE HAS COME TO RANSOME US FROM OUR SIN!
B. A CROSS TO BEAR
1. The text gets interesting here. Luke writes that Jesus speaks to all!
2. Who is the all? Was it the Crowd? Was it the Disciples? OR WAS IT INTENDED TO BE READ BY US?
C. WHAT IS THE CROSS WE ARE TO BEAR?
1. Is it about Martyrdom? What do you do with the term “Daily?”
2. Is it about Arthritis, poor grades, an unhappy marriage, or a child on drugs? Are not these Crosses that must be borne? WHAT THEN WOULD WE DO WITH THE TERM “TAKE UP?”
3. To “take up” is a voluntary term, as in having a choice to take up or leave lying around. 4. The CROSS we are called to bear is the CROSS OF JESUS.
5. Which begs the question, “what was the Cross of Jesus?”
6. The “Cross of Jesus” refers to his sacrificial death and life. He was ransomed for us. He voluntarily chose to live and die to accomplish, “YET NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS BE DONE (LUKE 22:42).”
7. The Cross we are to bear is a life, as long as we live LIFE, of living GOD’S WILL NOT OURS. And that translates into meeting human needs, is on a path along which there are crosses, prices to be paid, pain and hurt to be accepted, which is ultimately translated “OBEDIENCE” to the reign of GOD. For a definition of the REIGN OF GOD, we only need to look at the ministry of JESUS.
ILLUSTRATION: Book of worship quote, CS Lewis on mud pies verses a day at the beach.
NOT ONLY DOES JESUS GET INTENSE, THE SITUATION WARRANTED INTENSITY, BUT...
II. HE GETS PROVERBIAL (verses 24-26)
A. THREE PARALLEL SAYINGS: Each of these sayings has a proverb quality about it and therefore contains a kind of truth drawn from experience and observation that can circulate in any culture as wisdom!
1. Hear how the “MESSAGE” translates the first parallel passage in verse 24: “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding your self, your true self.”
a. Verse 24 carries a general truth: self-centeredness is finally counter-productive and destructive.
b. When we serve self, we sever ourselves from the resources that give life. 2. Hear verse 25: “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?”
a. How many folks have worked a life-time to gain wealth and in the process lost their family or ended up with a big bank account and cancer to boot. Jack Smith & Mr. McKinney worked all their lives and retired and died within a year!
b. Jesus told the parable of a man who filled his barns and decided to kick back and relax in Luke 12:19-21, “And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
3. Hear verse 26, “If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels.”
a. Verse 26 relates a truth we all know so well, the one we are ashamed of today may be your judge tomorrow.
b. How many of you made fun of someone in grade school or high school only to run into them years later and find out they are the president of your company or the someone of great significance and they won’t give you the time of day. c. it brings to mind another proverb: you will reap what you sow, so be careful how you sow!
B. The truth is discipleship
1. These proverbial saying stand in contrast to being the person Jesus calls us to be. 2. Jesus insists that He is the only way to real life. Apart from him, or to be ashamed of him, will only lead to the forfeit of life, regardless of what we might have gained materially in this life!
THE KEY THOUGHT, FOR ME THIS DAY IS THIS IDEA OF SHAME. BOTH OUR TEXT, LUKE 9 AND 2 TIMOTHY 1 DRAW OUR ATTENTION TO THE NEED OF WHOLEHEARTED ALLEGIENCE TO JESUS, WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF BEING “ASHAMED” OF HIM.
What does it look like to be “ASHAMED” of Jesus.
Luke 9 states that to be ashamed of Jesus is to not bear HIS Cross. This would be to not follow in the ministry model He set forth, caring for a lost and dying world.
Luke 9 also teaches that to choose to save our own lives is to be ashamed of him, to not desire His will and His life more than our own.
Luke 9 teaches that to seek to gain the security of this world over the fulfillment and security that comes from Jesus is to be ashamed of Him. No real reference to wealth is mentioned here as a pure negative, but wealth without Jesus is to “lose one’s very self.”
Finally, Luke 9 teaches us that to be ashamed of Jesus is to cause Him to be ashamed of us when He comes to ransom His own!
Matthew 10:32-33 pick up this same theme, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before MY Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before me, I will disown him before my Father in Heaven.
Mark 8:38 continues the thought with an addition, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of Him when He comes in His Father’s Glory.”
Paul changes the negative into a positive in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Paul knew Jesus, what His word taught, and what it meant to all of Humanity. He was not ashamed of Jesus and the salvation He offered.
Paul writes to Timothy and expands on this word, “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join in with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life (2 Timothy 1:8-9a).”
He goes on to say in verse 12, “This is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
Paul also clarifies in verse 16 that to not be “ashamed” is to be used of God to benefit others.
Paul writes to Titus and explains to him that, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good (1:16).” The thought here is that to be ashamed of Jesus is to deny Him by our actions.
On a more Positive note, the writer of Hebrews says, “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers (1:11).” Jesus clearly states that if we are not ashamed of Him, but accept His salvation and sanctification, He will claim us as His own. Just note the two verses that follow. He is more than happy to claim us!
In the faith chapter of Hebrews, the writer makes it clear just who the unashamed are, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their won. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them (11: 13-16).”
ILLUSTRATION: Do you remember Peter and his denial of Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75)? Do you also remember his restoration (John 21:15-19)? Three times Peter denied Jesus. He was ashamed to be called HIS. Three times Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter say’s “YES.” Three time Jesus gives instructions as to what it will look like to not be ashamed of HIM: “Feed my Lambs,” “Take care of My sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.” TO not be ashamed of Jesus is to care for HIS flock!
JESUS HAS SPOKEN WITH INTENSITY AND WITH WISDOM, NOW…
III. JESUS GETS PERSONAL (verse 27)
A. Some will get it. Some will not.
1. Hear how the “Message” puts it, “This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”
2. The problem here is the word some. Some is not all. Some can be a few or a crowd, but it is not all. It is a portion of the whole.
B. Some will get it now!
1. Did you catch that phrase, “Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes…”
2. The key to the thought is that “Some have taken their stand.” That is a past tense phrase.
3. The significance of it all is that it can happen today. Luke says in chapter 4 verse 21, “Today this scripture has been fulfiled.”
4. Today is the day we can stand Unashamed.
CONCLUSION: As Kim signs for us these powerful words, will you agree, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.” Will you stand for Jesus in this “Adulterous and Sinful Generation?” The choice is yours, but it’s really no choice at all. To not stand with Jesus is to be eternally separated from HIM. If you need to pray, the Altar is open!
