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Maintaining Spiritual Traction in a Shifting Culture
Part 2 – Crisis of Courage
2 Timothy 1:8-12
Bruce A. Hess
So glad you are here today. Please take out your Bibles and turn in them to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy in the New Testament. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there should be one under a chair in front of you and you can take that Bible and turn to page 165, in the back, and you would be at 2 Timothy.
There was an ad in the London newspaper and it said this,
‘Men wanted for a hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.’
Thousands of men responded to that ad. It was signed by the noted Artic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. That is what really made the difference, because they were drawn to follow Shackleton.
If Jesus Christ had advertised for workers, the announcement might have read something like this,
‘Men and women wanted for difficult task of helping to build My church. You will often be misunderstood; you will face constant attack from an invisible enemy. You may not see the results of your labor and your full reward will not come until after all your work is completed. It may cost you your home, your ambitions, and even your life.’
Well, Jesus Christ is the greatest leader and adventurer ever, far beyond Sir Ernest Shackleton, and helping to build the church of Jesus Christ is the greatest task we could give our life to.
For those who are doing that, in chapter 3, of 2 Timothy, verse 12, he says that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. All will experience suffering.
When you talk about suffering, Biblically, there are really two kinds of suffering that are addressed in the Bible. The first one we might call ‘regular suffering.’ It is suffering we experience because we are human beings. It refers to those daily hardships and those difficulties we experience, just the difficulty of getting older. It is all part of regular suffering.
But, there is also, in the Bible, it talks about what we might call ‘gospel suffering.’ This is suffering we experience because we are a follower of Jesus, because we stand up for Christ, because we stand up for the truth and for the gospel.
Here is what happens, I think, commonly, when we face gospel suffering. We have this tendency, in the face of that, to begin to pull back and to begin to lose some of our courage. When you talk about suffering as a follower of Jesus, that suffering occurs on a spectrum. A huge spectrum. On one hand, you have the spectrum where the result, perhaps of that kind of suffering, might mean that your life could be threatened or your life would be taken. That has been true in the past.
You know the story of William Tyndale, it is a very interesting one, he labored tirelessly to put in the hands of the people, an English Bible that people could understand in their own language and he eventually did, indeed, print the first English New Testament, despite threats to execute anyone who might own a non-Latin language Bible. After suffering shipwreck and loss of manuscripts and exile and pursuit by secret agents and betrayal by a friend, Tyndale was captured, strangled and his dead body burned at the stake.
It is amazing how easy it is to forget the price that was paid to give us a Bible in our own language. You can have that kind of suffering where life is threatened. That was true in the past and it is true right now, today.
I was reading a story of a man named Ishtiaq, a Christian man who went on a bus tour into the country of Pakistan. The bus stopped on the side of the road and Ishtiaq walked up to a tea booth and picked up a bag of tea. Just as he was preparing to pay for the tea, the owner of the booth yelled at him to put down the tea. He was rather shocked at that, confused about what was going on, and he complied and then he realized that the owner was pointing to a sign. That sign said, ‘If you are not a Muslim, you must confess your belief before you can buy anything.’
As Ishtiaq read the sign, the owner noticed that Ishtiaq was wearing a cross around his neck and he began to call out for other people. A total of fourteen men ran over and they began hurling stones at Ishtiaq and they beat him with iron rods and clubs and they stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives as he pleaded for mercy. Some of the others who had been on the bus tour rushed over to help Ishtiaq and were finally able to pull the attackers off of him and they rushed him to the Intensive Care unit there, but it was too late. The doctors said that Ishtiaq died from extensive internal and external injuries, brain damage and a fractured skull.
Talk about gospel suffering, it can happen to us on a spectrum, you have one end of the spectrum, maybe another end of the spectrum doesn’t result in your life being threatened or taken, but maybe it results in your testimony being weakened. This is where we have the pressure, the fear of being ridiculed, the fear of being criticized, the fear of being rejected, so what happens is, we just pull back and we go quiet.
In our culture here in America, today, some day we may be at that first end of the spectrum of suffering, but for now, mostly in our culture we are on this other end, the second end, where we feel this pressure so we just kind of pull back.
I want to share with you some contemporary signs of a crisis in courage for believers. This could be true of a church; this is true of us, as individuals. The first sign is this, that we seek to blend in with the culture. ‘I think I will just blend in with the culture at school, on the campus, at the workplace, or even, maybe in my extended family. I am just going to blend in.’
Secondly, we choose to live a lower profile life. ‘I am going to go low profile here, I don’t want to stir up some criticism. I don’t want to invite any opposition.’
Then, a third sign of a crisis in courage is that we decide not to speak up about what is right and true. You know, the subject matter of things like abortion, same sex issues…whoa…’I’m not going to talk about that, I don’t want to be falsely accused, I don’t want my motives being questioned.’
Then, a fourth sign of a crisis in courage is that we keep silent about our relationship with Christ. ‘I don’t want people laughing at me and ridiculing me.’
When you look at all of those signs, Timothy was feeling that and more. As Paul writes this second letter to him, he gives to Timothy straight forward counsel. It is straight forward counsel, not only for Timothy, but also for us.
If you have your Bibles open to 2 Timothy, chapter 1, I want to read verses 8-12, and I would invite you to follow along in your Bible as I am reading what Paul conveys to Timothy. He says, in verse 8, “Therefore 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, 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 Christ Jesus 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, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 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.”
Last week, as we began our new study that we have entitled, ‘Maintaining Spiritual Traction in a Shifting Culture,’ we took a closer look; we zoomed in a little bit on the apostle Paul. You might remember that the apostle Paul was one of those high level, doer type guys; he was a hard driver in his personality. He was a natural born leader; it was very obvious, even before he came to know Christ. He was an overtly expressive individual and he was a mentor to Timothy.
I find it fascinating, here you have two spiritual leaders, Paul and Timothy, and they have such different personalities. Timothy was considerably younger than Paul. Five years before this letter was written, when he wrote the letter of 1 Timothy, in chapter 4, verse 12, he says to Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, Timothy, you are young, but don’t let that stop you.” As he writes this letter, in chapter 2, verse 22, he says to Timothy, “Flee youthful lusts.” Timothy was definitely younger than Paul, had a different personality type.
Timothy seems to be someone who had a more tender-hearted personality. Look at chapter 1; verse 4, Paul says to Timothy, “I’m longing to see you, even as I recall your tears.” I remember how tender-hearted you were, Timothy, when we had to go our separate ways and tears came down your face. It appears that Timothy’s personality was more introverted, more reserved, thus you have statements like verse 7, when he says to Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity.” We also know that his health wasn’t particularly robust. That is actually understating the case, we learn from I Timothy 5:23, when Paul says to Timothy, ‘You need to take some wine for your stomach’ and then he adds this little phrase, ‘and for your frequent ailments.’
Timothy and Paul were very different people, but isn’t it encouraging that faithfulness in ministry goes beyond personality? It doesn’t make any difference if you are one of those Type-A, [very ambitious, high-achieving] hard driver people or whether you are just a little more introverted and reserved, maybe a little more tender-hearted. God can use you.
There are some main points in verses 8-12 that Paul wishes to communicate to Timothy and to us, today. Here are the three main points.
- Number one, there is going to be a call to stand strong in the face of suffering. We are going to see that in verse 8.
- The second main point that he wants to make is that courageous faith is energized by God’s amazing grace in salvation. We are going to see that in verses 9, 10, and 11.
- Then, the third main point he is going to make today is that God won’t let you down. We are going to see that in verse 12.
So, let’s look at these three main points that Paul wishes to make, that he wrote so many hundred years ago, but which are just as pertinent for you and me, today.
Let’s begin by looking at the call to stand strong in the face of suffering. Notice verse 8 begins with the word, “Therefore,” it points back to the previous verse. “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed.” That little directive there is structured in such a way, in the original language, I want you to understand that he was not saying to Timothy, ‘hey, stop being ashamed.’ He was basically saying, ‘Don’t let yourself be ashamed. Don’t let yourself be embarrassed.’ “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord or of me His prisoner.”
You read that and…I find it fascinating…there are just times when you need to slow down for a moment, who was Paul really a prisoner of? Remember from last week? He is a prisoner of the Roman government. He is really a prisoner of Nero. But, that is not what he says. He says, ‘Don’t be ashamed of the Lord or of me, the Lord’s prisoner.’ It gives us real insight into Paul’s everyday perspective. He basically knew he was in jail, he knew that the government had put him there, that Nero was behind all of that, but he said, ‘I am the Lord’s prisoner.’ His attitude was, ‘I am in this situation, this sticky spot, by the decree of the King of kings.’ He knew that God is not the source of evil and injustice, but he still rules over all of that. There seems to be this calmness, this rested-ness and no matter what his situation was, it was part of the plan and providence of God.
There are some times when we are in sticky situations when we need to remember that, too. That we are always there by the plan and providence of God. “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me,” I like the way the New Living Translation puts it, “Be ready to suffer with me,” “Join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.” Again, the New Living Translation says, ‘You do this with the strength that God gives you.’
It is interesting, historically what happened to Timothy, at some point Timothy also was arrested. We learn about that from the book of Hebrews, in the thirteenth chapter, verse 23, because it refers to Timothy being arrested. We know that the book of Hebrews was written within two years of 2 Timothy, so sometime from when this letter came to him, and within two years Timothy, himself, had been arrested. Now, we may not face that kind of persecution, where we are in danger of arrest or of death, but we do, even in this culture, have to stand strong in the face of the pressure that can come to us, the pressure that might result in ridicule or criticism or false accusation, where we just decide we are going to pull back. ‘I’m pulling back, I’m going quiet in this situation.’
What can help someone to stand strong? He is given him this call, ‘Stand strong in the face of the pressure.’ But, what really helps you to do that? That leads to the second point that he wants to make and that is that courageous faith is energized by God’s amazing grace in salvation.
When I was studying through this passage, it is just fascinating to me, the detail that he goes into in verses 9 and 10. Part of you wants to say, ‘Wait a minute, don’t you understand, these are followers of Jesus? These are people who trusted in Him as Savior. Those of us who are reading this, do we really need to go into this kind of detail? I mean, we already know this, that He saved us and called us with a holy calling. He did it, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose in grace, which He granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. That’s old news, in a sense, to us, isn’t it? But, now it has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, and He abolished death and He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Isn’t this just old news? Why is it here? Why does he go into that kind of detail for us who know the gospel message?’
I think, the reason is, sometimes we lose sight of the wonder of the gospel message.
Author, Philip Yancey, visited Yellowstone National Park and he went to a restaurant there that had these large windows looking out on Old Faithful. He was noticing something while he was sitting there having lunch, that whenever the famous geyser would erupt, he noticed that those who were there eating were just drawn and in complete wonder to the sight. And every time it happened they were just sort of in awe. But, he also noticed that the servers in the restaurant, the wait staff, had a completely different reaction. The geyser would go off and they would never even glance over. They wouldn’t even look, because it no longer really captured their attention. They weren’t feeling any awe. You see, they had lost sight of the wonder and I think the same thing can happen to me and to you. What we need to do, Paul is saying, especially when we are facing some opposition and some pressure, is we need to revel again in the gospel message.
So, he goes into some detail. He is talking about, “the gospel, which is according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,” Just think about that one phrase, He saved us, He delivered us, He rescued us and called us with a holy calling. I like the way Charles Ray put it, he says, ‘It is like the President asking a person who never went beyond third grade, to be Secretary of Education.’ If that happened, you would say, ‘We are undeserving,’ and yet He is still going to let us do that anyway.
The same thing is true in salvation. We are completely undeserving of being called with a holy calling and yet He lets us experience that anyway.
“He saved us,” verse 9, “and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works.” We didn’t earn it, we didn’t just finally become good enough that now you get into the family of God. He did it, rather, according to His own purpose and grace. You know, one thing you can say about grace is that grace is unforeseen, it is unexpected, it is completely undeserved.
Mary Ann Bird, in her book entitled, The Whisper Test, expressed how she experienced grace that was unforeseen, unexpected and undeserved. This is what she writes (I love this story) “I grew up knowing that I was different and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to other people, the little girl with the misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth and garbled speech. When classmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I would tell them that I had fallen and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different.
I was convinced that no one outside of my family could love me. There was, however, a teacher in the second grade, whom we all adored, Mrs. Leonard, by name. She was short, round, happy, a sparkling lady. Annually we had a hearing test. Mrs. Leonard gave the test to everyone in the class and finally it was my turn. I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher, whoever that would be, would be sitting at her desk and would whisper something and we would have to repeat it back. Things like, ‘The sky is blue,’ or ‘Do you have new shoes?’ I waited there for those words that God must have put into her mouth, those seven words that changed my life. Mrs. Leonard said in her whisper, ‘I wish you were my little girl.’
See, that is unforeseen, unexpected, undeserved grace by God and that is what He does in salvation. He basically, leans forward and He says, ‘I want you to be my son. I want you to be my daughter.’ And, He says that to people who have ugly rebellion in their soul. Ugly rebellion that had earned us hell and our marred hearts had earned us eternal torment. But, God comes along with His amazing grace, His grace that is unforeseen, unexpected and yes, incredibly undeserved. “He 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 Christ Jesus from all eternity,”
It reminds me of one of my favorite passages a few books to the left in your Bible, Ephesians, chapter 1. I love this section of Scripture, it says, I am going to read verses 4-8 of Ephesians 1, it says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”
You know, men and women, the whole point of all of that is, that is energizing. When we are reasserting and returning around the wonder of all of this, it is energizing to us. He goes on to say, back in 2 Timothy 1, verse 10, “It now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus.”
It is interesting, in the New Testament, when it usually talks about Jesus appearing, it is generally referring to His second coming, when He comes in judgment back to this world. But here, he is referring to the first coming of Jesus, when Jesus came to this planet to die for you and for me. “It has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,” and then there is this little phrase, three words in our English Bible, “who abolished death.”
Now, when I am doing Bible study, there are certain phrases that catch my attention and that was one of them. In fact, I am drawn to that phrase like a fly to light. He abolished death. What does that really mean? That is presented as a past event. How does all of that work? I am thinking to myself, ‘He abolished death? But, I am still going to die. You are still going to die. What does this mean, He abolished death?’
The New Living Translation translates it this way, “He broke the power of death.” The Voice translates it, “He wiped out death through His resurrection.”
I want to zoom in for a moment, on that phrase, “He abolished death.” The word, the verb, that is translated ‘abolished,’ is the word, in the original language, ‘katargeo,’ k-a-t-a-r-g-e-o. And, katargeo has two different meanings to the word, depending on the context.
One is that katargeo means to render something ineffective, to render it powerless, to render it unproductive.
Another meaning to katargeo is to bring something to an end, to destroy it, to annihilate it, to abolish it.
In my opinion, here, when Paul says that Jesus katargeo, abolished death, he had in mind the first meaning. That Jesus rendered death, for a believer, ineffective, powerless and unproductive. See, death, for us, hasn’t been completely annihilated yet. But, because we know Christ, and because He was resurrected from the dead, the power of death has been broken. The power of death has been drained of its terrors.
It doesn’t matter what James Bond movie you watch, but in all James Bond movies somewhere along the line, in the movie, James Bond is going to disarm a bomb, right? You are going to see it happen. What is interesting is, when James Bond disarms a bomb, the bomb is not gone, the bomb is still present, but its destructive power isn’t there any longer, because it has been disarmed. That is the sense, when it says that Jesus, in the past, has rendered death ineffective. It is powerless, it is unproductive.
That is why, as a believer in Jesus Christ, death is pictured, in the New Testament, as falling asleep in Jesus, in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 14.
Death for a follower of Jesus, in the New Testament, in Philippians 1:23, is pictured as just the doorway to go and to be with Christ.
You know, Jesus said this, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me,” and it has to be that trust in Him, “will live even if he dies.” Because I already rendered death ineffective and unproductive.
Because He was raised from the dead, we will be raised from the dead. For a believer, death is not an end to the road, it is just a bend in the road. No matter what we may face, or what we may be going through, we are going to win in the end. It is guaranteed to be true.
“Christ Jesus,” he says in verse 10, “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” It shows us the way to eternal life.
I was doing a little bit of study on this and thinking my way through it. There is a past sense of how katargeo has affected death, but there is also going to be a future event that is coming. You can just jot down 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 26, because it talks about how Christ must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet and it says the last enemy that will be abolished, katargeo, is death. A future event.
In I Corinthians 15:26, it is talking about the second meaning of this word. While he has already rendered death ineffective and unproductive, for a believer in Jesus Christ, there is a day coming when He is going to put an end, He is going to destroy it, He is going to annihilate it, He is going to abolish it. In fact, it is recorded for us in the Bible in Revelation 20:14, where death ends up being tossed into the lake of fire.
Now, all of this, you see, this truth, is very energizing when we are facing opposition and pressure in everyday life. Paul found that very, very much energizing. He goes on to say, in verse 11, “for which, all these things the gospel and all that Christ has done for us, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.” ‘I was an announcer and an establisher and a perpetuator of it. It is motivating to me.’
So, we have this call to stand strong. How do we do that? Well, courageous faith is energized by God’s amazing grace in salvation. The third main point he wants to make to us is that God won’t let you down. He says that with a bang in verse 12. He says, “For this reason,” because of the gospel, ”I also suffer these things.” This is why I am suffering in prison. I understand that. But then, he begins to make a whole series of statements in the rest of verse 12. A whole series of statements where the verb forms are what we call, in the original Greek language, perfect tenses. A perfect tense talks about something that is true at that point in time, but the effect continues on. He is going to make this over and over, this kind of statement. It is true right now in my life and that effect is going to continue on.
Notice what he says, “I am not ashamed” (perfect tense, it is true right now in this point of time and that effect continues on) I am not ashamed for I know (perfect tense, true at this point of time and the effect continues on) I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed (perfect tense, true at the point of time and the effect continues on).”
Isn’t it interesting what he says here? “I know whom I have believed.” This is what is so exciting about Biblical Christianity, it is not about a list of rules, it is not about a religious system, it is about a person, the living Savior, Himself. “I am not ashamed (perfect tense) for I know (perfect tense) whom I have believed (perfect tense) and I am convinced (perfect tense, true at the point of time and the effect continues on) that He is able.” You might underline, if you mark in your Bible, underline those three words, “He is able…He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him.”
That little phrase of entrustment is a legal term of the day, when you would give something for safe keeping. Paul is saying, ‘I know I am suffering these things, but I am not ashamed, I know whom I have believed, I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him. I am entrusting my soul, I am entrusting my life, I am entrusting my destiny. I have put all of those things in His care, in His hands.’ Really what Paul is saying is that His hands are big hands and His hands are steady hands and His hands are secure hands.
“I am not ashamed (perfect tense) for I know (perfect tense) whom I have believed (perfect tense) and I am convinced (perfect tense) that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” Until that day He greets me on the other side of death. Until that day when I walk into the presence of the heavenly kingdom.
What he is really saying here is, no matter what we may be experiencing in terms of this gospel suffering, this pressure that comes upon us because we are followers of Jesus, he is saying God has our back [always looks out for you, protects you]. He will vindicate us, we are on the winning team. When you begin to think that way, it is energizing, you see. Whether you are suffering on the severe end, where there might be jail or torture or death. Or whether you are suffering more on the intimidation end, where there can be concern for the criticism and the ostracizing and the ridicule.
Do you see what Paul is saying to you and to me, right here in these verses? He is saying, basically, this, ‘Don’t seek to merely blend in with the culture. Don’t choose just to live a lower profile life. Don’t decide not to speak up for what is right and true. Don’t keep silent about your relationship with Christ. Instead be courageous.’
It is amazing, as believers in this culture, what we can learn from believers in other cultures. I came across this statement by a young spiritual leader in Zimbabwe, Africa. I think we can learn from this guy. This is what he said, “I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made, I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus.”
Let’s pray together. Father, we thank You so much for the living book, the way that it addresses where we live in everyday life. We know that we face this opposition that is in the world. It comes from people, it comes from the enemy. We don’t know what kind of suffering we may face, even in the years ahead. It doesn’t make any difference, because you are the One, we are just so grateful for the truth that You have shared with us today and how we can find courage and be energized spiritually as we remember all the details of this gospel message, the things that You have accomplished on our behalf.
We are so grateful that the Savior, katargeo, has dealt with death, rendering it ineffective and unproductive, now for us, as believers, but one day, He is going to abolish and annihilate the whole thing. What a joy it is to know a Savior like that. We would pray that our confidence would be the confidence that Paul describes there in verse 12, that we are not ashamed because we know whom we have believed, we are convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that very day when I see Him face to face. May we be men and women of courage, because of how great You are and our Savior is. And we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Questions for Reflection: (week two)
- Have you or anyone you know personally experienced gospel suffering on the more severe end of the spectrum…where one’s person, health, life were threatened? Elaborate.
- How have you experienced gospel suffering on the less severe end of the spectrum…where there was ridicule, criticism, pressure, rejection because of your faith? Share.
- Which of the four signs of a crisis in courage do you struggle with the most?
–Seeking to merely blend in with the culture (at school, work)
–Choosing to live a lower profile life (to avoid criticism/opposition)
–Deciding not to speak up about what is “right and true.”
–Keeping silent about your relationship with Christ (so no conflict)
- Who do you know that is very open about their faith? What can you learn from them?
- Do descriptions like high-level doer, hard driver, natural born leader, dynamically expressive, fit your personality? If not, explain how Timothy might be an encouragement to you.
- Paul viewed himself as the prisoner of the Lord (vs 8). What does this imply about God’s providence in your life?
- How has death touched your life? Explain how you feel about the two-stage effect of Christ on death ( the two meanings of katargeo reflected in vs 10 and 1 Corinthians 15:26)
- God won’t let you down (vs 12)!! Rejoice again in Jesus’ great work on our behalf in salvation. Take time to thank God afresh for His amazing grace.