I'm gonna ask you to take your Bibles and open them up to 2 Timothy 1. As I think about what's going on in our world right now, my heart is burdened. John Hus, the courageous pastor of Prague, was arrested and condemned and sentenced to be burned by the church in 1415. When Hus heard his sentence pronounced, he fell to his knees and he prayed, Lord Jesus, forgive my enemies. Then he was chained to the stake and he prayed in thee, O Lord, do I put my trust? Let me never be ashamed. And then they snuffed out the flame of the morning star of the Reformation. That story can be repeated over and over and over again. If you read books like Fox's Book of Martyrs, you'll find that story over and over and over again of the sustaining grace of God in the face of persecution. And right now, what we are all facing, not just here in the West, but all over the world, it has been happening more and increasingly, is that the Church of Jesus Christ is facing renewed waves of persecution. My concern for us here in the West is that we be prepared, that we not be ashamed. And so in this last letter of the Apostle Paul to his mentored son in the faith, Timothy, is that we heed these words in verse 8. And so let me read them, and then I'm going to ask the Lord to bless our time in the Word this morning. The Word of the living God says this, Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Would you join me in prayer? Heavenly Father, we thank you for the grace that causes us to endure to the very end. And we know, Lord Jesus, that it is the power of God and salvation that we preach when we open our mouths and speak the truth of your word. We do ask you, Lord God, that you would speak to us, for we are listening this morning. Help us, Lord God, to look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, that we might find courage in time of need, that we would never depart from the faith, and that we would pray and that we would seek the lost, and that you would help us in these endeavors, Lord God, that we might please you in all things. It is in Christ Jesus' name that we pray and ask you, amen. When we read of the history of godly men like John Huss or John Bradford or any other godly man or women, we might be tempted to respond with praise for these men because we see in them an example that is a wonderful example of enduring to the very end. And we might even on the other end of that spectrum be fearful that should we face such horrendous persecution that we in our feeble faith might fail. And I want to encourage you from the word this morning to not put your Spotlight, put your emphasis, put your hope in the fact that these great and godly men and women, both of the past and of the present, did anything that should detract from the glory of God in His sustaining grace toward them. And that you would not think that such will not happen to you should you face and endure persecution in your lifetime. God, our God, makes men and women like steel in the furnace of affliction. The same spirit of God that was in John Hus and is in every single martyr for the faith, whether known to us in church history or unknown to us, but known by God himself, he has the same spirit within us. I don't want you to see that, that same spirit that resided in Paul and resided in Timothy resides in you and me and every Christian as well. And it was with holy confidence that the apostle Paul called Timothy to serve him. Now there's a specific danger that Paul saw in Timothy and he wanted to address it in this last letter that he wrote to his young mentor. It was the temptation to be ashamed. If you were to entitle this whole message, it would be simply two words, not ashamed. This word ashamed means to experience a painful feeling or a sense of loss of status because of something that you have done. To feel humiliation and to be disgraced. What was it that Paul was afraid that Timothy would be ashamed of? Well, verse eight, he tells us that there are two things, the testimony about Christ and of Paul himself. Don't be ashamed of the gospel and don't be ashamed of gospel preachers. After Paul warns Timothy about these things, he exhorts Timothy to share in the suffering himself. That's the easy outline for where we're going today. First, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Paul calls it here the testimony about our Lord. This word testimony, interestingly enough, is that Greek word where we get our English word for martyr. But Paul's not speaking here about not being ashamed of dying for Christ. He's talking about the bold proclamation of the gospel message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And that shame would be for Jesus as well as the message that contained his life and preaching. You know, when Paul preached that gospel message in Athens, in front of all of these Greek elite philosophers, they scoffed at him, they mocked him, they considered him an ignorant man speaking of lofty things that were in reality nonsensical. In Acts 17, 18, we read their reaction recorded by Luke. It says some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also converse with him. Some said, what does this babbler wish to say? Others said he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he's preaching Jesus and the resurrection. But what had them really rolling in the aisles was when Paul got to the part of the message of Jesus dying on the cross and then rising again from the grave. Acts 17, 32 says, now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, we will hear you again about this. This isn't the only place, of course, that Paul received such a response. In the Gentile city of Corinth, Paul had the equal opportunity of being mocked by three different groups at the same time. Unbelieving Gentiles in the city of Corinth, unbelieving Jews in the city of Corinth, as well as believers in Corinth who were In preference, desiring a polished preacher who could wow them with their style and their so-called wisdom, which was really the wisdom of men. Paul says this instead about what God has actually done in calling those who would be proclaimers of his word and gospel. In 1 Corinthians 1, 26 and following, Paul says, for consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. So that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. So Paul knew well that the temptation was great to give up or even to give in. In Mark 8, 38, Jesus soberly warned, for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Practically, how do we identify with Jesus Christ in the gospel? Well, we do it through our speech, and we do it through our lifestyle. We have to ask ourselves the question, do we speak the word of Christ? When we don't speak the word of Christ, many times it is the effect of being ashamed of the gospel message. And then there are times when we do speak the gospel message, but we must ask ourselves, do we say all that the gospel says, or do we shave off the little bits that are not acceptable by the world? Do we live as Christians so that we are so different that the watching worlds can identify us as belonging to Christ? Or do we seek to mold ourselves into such a way that we are unidentifiable either by word or by lifestyle so that no one would know that we are Christians? Then we have to ask ourselves if those things are not true about us, if we are not by word or by lifestyle reflecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, am I ashamed? One commentary defines shame as a negative feeling about oneself because of one's involvement in an activity that is considered unacceptable by the society to which the person belongs. More and more, our faith is being opposed by the world that we live in. And more and more, we are watching as the Evangelical Christian Church has young people falling away. You can call it becoming an exvangelical. You can call it that you are coming apart, decompressing, decomposing. You're doing whatever you're doing with your faith. But it's being ashamed. There is immense pressure on Christians right now to tone down our gospel message. This world doesn't like the exclusivity of our message. They don't like that we speak of sin and of God's judgments. They hate when we speak of God's anger, righteous anger, against specific sins. It's okay if you just leave it generic, but don't speak about the specifics. Don't speak about adultery or fornication or abortion or homosexuality. And they especially don't like it when we called the world to repent of these things and many others and to bow the knee to Christ. We need to learn to listen to the words of Scripture here and refuse to be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord. He is our Lord. And if he is our Lord, then we don't get to pick and choose the parts that we like and leave out the things that make us feel uncomfortable in our world. We don't get to choose when we get to speak or to whom we speak. We must remain faithful to the very end and make sure that we speak the gospel. So don't be ashamed of that gospel message. The second part of what Timothy says, he says, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. And then he says, nor of me, his prisoner. In other words, don't be ashamed of the gospel preachers. Now, when I say preachers, I don't necessarily mean of those that are standing in pulpits in churches, although that is included, but that means other believers as well that are proclaiming that same true gospel message. Paul refers to himself as his prisoner. Another way that we identify with Christ, other than preaching and living by faith, is through solidarity with God's people, especially those who suffer on his behalf. Shame has a way of growing in influence. Just as cowardice does, timidity grows as well. That we're with people who are ashamed of certain things, we become ashamed of certain things. We become ashamed of those who are preaching the gospel message because we have become ashamed of the gospel. We find that often happens. Right now, it's currently happening because people are getting ashamed of hearing what's going on in the church, that the church of Jesus Christ is opposed to certain sins. And that they respond by saying, well, I'm a Christian. I'm not just, I'm not that kind of a Christian. I'm not a Christian who's against those kinds of things. I love everybody and somehow they distinguish between the love of Christ for the world and yet the need for us to call people to repentance and faith. You know, the gospel message was considered foolish to the Gentile world. It was shameful to the Jews. I mean, think about it. How can anyone believe that the Son of God, the Savior of the world, died a criminal's death in shame, hanging naked upon a cross? Philip Towner helps us understand this. He says, it might seem incredible that anyone would view Jesus in this way, but for both Jews and Gentiles, crucifixion was the supreme emblem of shame and dishonor. And Paul was in prison for preaching this message, an additional shame. that the God that the Christians worshiped died a criminal's death, and that Paul, a preacher of that gospel, had been in prison for preaching that message. We live in a society that doesn't think much of criminals. When we speak of those who have been incarcerated, those who have been released and are now even free, that label of ex-con is not a compliment. People that have spent time in jail and in prison don't go around putting that purposely on their resumes. They hide it because of the stigma that's attached to it. And people became ashamed of Paul for that very reason. But notice that Paul's not saying that he's a prisoner of Rome. He says he is his prisoner. The Lord's prisoner. He's there in prison because Christ is his Lord. And Paul is willing to submit in any way that the master called him to do so. Verse seven refers to the spirit of God and that same spirit of verse seven that gave Timothy power has now empowered Paul as well to endure suffering for Christ. It was the love of Christ that drove Paul's obedience so that he preached the gospel, even though it caused him to end up in jail. John Kitchen has said, bonds of love always hold more firmly than shackles of iron. because Paul loved Jesus so deeply. He was willing to go to prison for the gospel sake because he loved Christ and he loved the church and he loved the lost that he would not be silent. There is a great pool to be considered respectable and to be considered honorable in this world. And nothing can sink your hopes of climbing up that ladder of respectability than to be associated with outcasts. I will tell you this, that many of you are not going into ministry per se, but you're going out into the workforce, and I'm praising the Lord for that. but there will be a great temptation to remain silent about your faith in Jesus Christ so that you can get higher in your career. And to separate yourselves, separate yourselves from the faith of your parents and your grandparents, separate the faith of your church, separate yourself from the faith of Bob Jones University, separate your faith from conservative Christianity, and to say, that's not what I believe. So many publicly known Christians, whether they be musicians or YouTube stars or sports stars, coming out of the woodwork to say, I don't identify with those things. I'm not that kind of a Christian. So that they might continue to ascend in the popularity of the world's eyes. Don't do it, brothers and sisters. 1 Corinthians 4, Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their arrogance and their pride in these things. They thought too well of themselves and they were in danger of totally abandoning Christ. Paul says mockingly, already you have all you want. Already you've become rich. Without us, you've become kings. And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands. When we're viled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. Paul knows that in Christ, we are beloved children. But to the world, we are the scum of the earth. We are the dregs of society. Shame tries to reverse that and gain respectability. It seeks the praises of men and notoriety, and this is a danger. And it will lead to the abandonments, not only of solidarity with the faithful gospel preachers, but the abandonment of the gospel itself and then of Christ. Follow Christ. You will be canceled, but follow Christ. So what do we do? The last phrase of verse eight, but share in the suffering, in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Share in the shame. Share in the suffering. Do it for the gospel. Do it for the gospel. Paul's not calling us to chase after shame. but to understand that as a faithful servant, we are not only to share in the glory, but also in the shame. In 2 Timothy 2.3, the reality is that we are part of the army of the Lord. We need to understand that you don't join the army because it has good benefits. They've got a great exercise program. You get a free night sleep every night and you look really good in green camo. That's not why you join the army. You join the army to defend your country, knowing that they'll require suffering and training and that you might quite possibly go to war. How foolish is the person who joins in the army and never expects to go to war. Paul is giving Timothy a command. He's not saying, if you'd like, share in the suffering. He is saying, Timothy, share in the suffering. Suffering is by the power of God though. When we suffer for Christ, we will be given all that we need to endure. Everything we need will be given to us in that moment. Warren Wiersbe told the story he read a few years ago. He said, I read about a Christian who was in prison because of his faith. He was to be burned at the stake and he was certain he would never be able to endure the suffering. One night he experimented with pain by putting his little finger into the candle flame. Of course it hurt, it burned his finger and he immediately withdrew it. And he said to himself, I will disgrace my Lord. I can't bear the pain. But you know what? When the hour came for him to die, he praised God, he gave a noble witness for Jesus Christ, and he endured to the very end. God gave him the power when he needed it and not before. So whether it is mockery for your faith or something much worse, God will strengthen you to endure it. The days ahead are coming. Your faith will be tested. We need to prepare ourselves now because our society is growing darker and more antagonistic. We can't be silent and we cannot fear men. We cannot be fearful. Our Lord has called us to shine like lights in this world, like a city on a hill, which cannot be hidden, like a lamp that cannot be placed under a basket. We can do nothing other than shine brightly for Christ. I pray that you would live and speak for him, come what may. And when the suffering comes, we can be confident that the Lord will give us the strength to endure for His glory and honor.