10/10/21   2 Timothy 2:8-15     “Get Out of Jail Free!”

08 Oct 10/10/21   2 Timothy 2:8-15     “Get Out of Jail Free!”

10/10/21   2 Timothy 2:8-15     “Get Out of Jail Free!”

Several years ago, I purchased a series of lectures on the Old Testament, New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I thought that it would help me as I was going to school at the time and writing papers.  Boy, was I disappointed!  There is a lot of information on these DVD’s but much of it was so liberal as far as theology is concerned that fairy tales make more sense.  I know that I can glean a lot of good things from these but I also am saddened by how far people are away from the Bible and Jesus when they actually think they are on the right track.  It’s Satan working again.  What is really sad is that there are so many people who buy into the new changed gospel.  So many think that there are shortcuts to heaven and we can do and think whatever we want with our new feel-good bibles.  Well, here is a little tip for everyone looking for that shortcut.  Jesus gave us the real shortcut and that was to believe.  All you have to do for a great life here and beyond is believe in Jesus.  That is about as short a shortcut that you can have.  When people tell you that they have a new shortcut to heaven, it is really a long cut and a wrong way to try to get there.  Today we are going to take a look at some statements on how to live our faith.  In many ways our world is just as tough as it was in Biblical times and we need encouragement also.

Antonio Torrence tells of a time when he was in seminary and he was taking a class on preaching.  I suppose it would be like the one I had a few years ago.  His instructor was a very good preacher and Antonio wanted to learn much from this man so he could also become a very good preacher.  Anyway, this wise old preacher got up in front of the class and he asked them one question.  He asked, “How many Gospels are there?”  This seemed are rather strange question for the class of would-be ministers.  They all knew there were four Gospels.  Right?  I think that everyone here would agree that there are four Gospels, wouldn’t you?  That is what everyone thought but the old professor disagreed with them.  He said that there are five Gospels and he named them.  There is Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and you.

You.  You are a Gospel writer.  Here is what I mean.  Anyone can read the four writers and come away with an understanding of the Bible.  There are preachers who preach like there are only four.  But in order to put real understanding and real power into the Gospel you have to complete these four writings with your story.  This makes the Gospel come alive because you are alive.  You can read about being saved until you are blue in the face.  But we need to know who you were before and after you were saved to bring your story to life.  You bring excitement.  This is the key to being a good preacher according to this expert.

We are going to take a look at four statements that Paul makes that will help us to live the Gospel.  But first I think that we have to look at what is happening to Paul.  Paul is in jail for the second time.  This is probably the last time he was jailed as he would soon be executed for his faith.  I want us to dwell on this for a moment.  Here Paul is chained up in jail in Rome writing a letter of encouragement to Timothy.  Paul isn’t thinking of himself here but of the future of the church.  He wants Timothy to be the best he can be.  This is not unlike our professor who wanted his class to be the best preachers by giving them good advice.

Paul begins by saying that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and this was Paul’s gospel.  This is the Good News.  Paul may be chained up and in jail but the message of God will never be chained.  The word of the Lord will never be stopped.  It hasn’t been stopped in 2000 years and it won’t be stopped in another 10,000 years or ever.

This is the kind of talk that our modern world doesn’t like hear.  They don’t want to know about Jesus because it isn’t politically correct for Jesus to be the only way.  It is ok for the Muslims to have their way.  It’s ok for the Hindus to have their way and the Jews and the Buddhists.  But Christians can’t because if we are right then everyone else is wrong.  And we all know that in our world everyone is correct.  No one is ever wrong anymore!  All I can say to that is “Duh!”

I remember when the 2 churches we served were in the process of going through some kind of revival.  I could feel it every time I got up and preached.  I could feel it where ever I went.  Something was going on there.  And it had nothing to do with me.  Nothing!  It had everything to do with Jesus Christ and His message.  And here is that wonderful message again from Paul.  Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.  He was dead but now He is alive.  Our God is alive and well.  He is everywhere and He loves every one of us.  This is the news to shout about and this was the news that executed Paul.  Don’t ever forget this message.  We may get beat up a little and we may be persecuted but the message will go on and on.

Now I would like to take a look at the four statements that Paul makes.  The first one is “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.”  What Paul is trying to say here is that if we give ourselves over to Christ and forgo the things of this world, then we will be able to live on forever in the next world with Him.

This was a huge problem back in ancient times.  We need to keep in mind that most people had never heard of a religion like this.  They were used to taking a little of this religion and adding another and another until they had a religion that suited them.  They were not used to having one God who was supreme.  Therefore, many of these people who came to Christ, because of their background, would eventually try to add other things to the faith.  They were not used to a religion being quite so simple.

They also had too much to give up.  Often times these people were merchants who were used to being crooked.  Some had money that they could only spend on themselves.  Charity was a totally new concept to many.  They often felt that they would lose too much if they followed Christ.

We are not a lot different today.  There might even be someone here who thinks that there are too many rules to follow Jesus.  I hear this a lot from the secular world.  There are too many rules that Christians have to follow.  All I can say to this is, “Show me one rule.”  We don’t have any rules to follow for our salvation.  God doesn’t say that we have to do this or we have to do that.  If He did, then we would be a works-based religion and just as false as all the other work-based religions of the world, which, by the way, are all work-based.  With Christianity, there are no rules for salvation.

But what God has done in His infinite wisdom is given us a bunch of guidelines to follow for a better life.  You can choose to follow or not to follow.  All God wants for his people is the best life possible.  If you follow His guidelines, it will happen.  Pardon me if I tell you that you will have a much better life if you quit all your lying.  Pardon me if I say you are much better off without pornography.  Pardon me if I say you should quit stealing, or worshipping other gods or any of the other sins we find in the Bible.  Pardon me for wanting you to have a better life.  That is what this is all about.

Our old selves need to die completely along with all these behaviors.  When we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to live in our lives, then these sins can be buried.  But we will not be buried because we will be now living in Jesus Christ.  And when you start to live in Jesus Christ, then all these things that the seculars view as rules will become a way of life.  Your way of life will be with Jesus and Jesus is only good.  Therefore, you can look forward to all the good you will have and do, both here and in heaven as we talked of last week.

Then Paul says the if we endure, then we will also reign with Him.  Once again Paul is telling his audience that things will not be easy following Jesus.  There will be lots of resistance but we need to persevere.  Our reward doesn’t lie in this world.  It is in the next.  They needed to keep the faith through the torture, harassment and all kinds of other bad behaviors that the non-believers inflicted on them.

Once again, we find this in abundance in our world.   We are not very good at perseverance.  I find that if we don’t give up, then we try change the meaning of what is said.  I was telling you about the so-called scholarly DVD series I got.  You wouldn’t believe what these people say about our Bible stories so that they will be believable to the nonbelieving secular world.  They have to try to prove everything from a scientific perspective.  For the most part, these people are stuck on proof.  They think that they have to prove all of these things.  Many people around us feel the same way.  They need proof.  They do not realize that they have all the proof all around them that they need if they would just care to take a look.  The proof is everywhere you look.

It is bad enough that these people don’t believe but they also have to harass those of us who do believe.  It is getting to the point where all other religions can be anywhere but Christians have to stay inside the walls of a church building!  In Muslim countries Christians are killed for their beliefs.  Buddhists do the same thing.  But we need to endure and not lose the faith.  It is not always easy but we need to hang in there with each other.  This is one of the reasons that weekly attendance at church is so important.  We need each other so that you can endure, because when you endure then your reward will be eternity with Jesus in Heaven.  And it doesn’t get any better than that.  Do I hear an “Amen!”

Paul also gives us a warning.  If we disown Jesus, then He will disown us.  I firmly believe that we disown Him because we are a little too thick headed.  We feel that we will get to heaven our way and that is good enough.  Well, good luck with that one!  Anyway, here is a little thought for you.

Heaven is a perfect place and this is the home of God.  God is perfect.  No one can be in His presence who is not perfect.  You cannot be in heaven unless you are perfect.  This, of course, leaves all of us out as no one is perfect.  Our memory verse a couple of weeks ago from Romans 3:23 is “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  No human is welcome in heaven unless, unless they come through Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to this world to die for our sins so that we might be able to get to heaven through Him.  Therefore, it only makes sense that non-believers will not be there.  How tragic!  Many of us have this personal relationship with Jesus and I ask that you keep asking new people to come to our services.  Don’t give up on your family, friends and neighbors.  If you are not sure where you will spend eternity, then give yourself to Jesus today.  Confess all your sins to Him and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and live in your heart.  Then and only then will you be sure, absolutely sure where you will spend eternity.  Please, this is the best decision you could ever make.

Finally, Paul says, “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful for He cannot disown himself.”  At a glance this may seem contradictory to what we just said.  But it is not.  God is there for us all the time.  Wesley called this prevenient grace or the grace that is everywhere in the world.  It is all around us.  God is there for everyone.  We are his creation and he is always there for us.  He cannot disown anyone in the world.  You can come to know Jesus on your death bed and He will take you.  The only thing you have to do is accept the love and grace of Jesus in your lifetime, not after you die.  After we die, then all bets are off.  This is the faith that God has in you.  No matter how you have lived your life up to this point, He will still be there for you so that you may begin a new life.  This is the love that Jesus has for us.  We don’t understand it and we can’t understand it.  We don’t even have to understand it.  We need only believe it. 

Mark Thornton uses this great comparison.  He says that life is kind of like playing the game of Monopoly.  We all remember how to play this.  You go around the board and you buy property.  In the end the person with the most money and property wins.  There is also a space on the board that is called ‘Chance.’  You have to pick up a card from that pile and follow the directions on it.  Sometimes it can lead to something good and sometimes not.   The one card that you don’t want is the ‘Go To Jail, Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200’ card.  Players always get a little tense when they land on this ‘Chance’ space because they might draw this card.  Our lives are the same way.  Every day we land on a different space.  One of the spaces that is on our life board is death and judgment.  We will all end up on this space someday.  Most people fear this spot. But if you are a Christian then you don’t have to fear this at all.  You don’t have to fear because you know Jesus Christ is there and He has a ‘get out of jail card free’ card for you. Isn’t that wonderful!

Jesus has so much faith in us that He will go to bat for anyone who comes to Him.  It doesn’t matter what you have done or who you are or anything.  When Jesus went to that old rugged cross, He did it for all.  And all means all.  Have the faith in Jesus that He has for you.  This is a love and happiness that you can find no place else in the world.  And it is all good!  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.