I apologize, my voice is wearing out on me. But I'm gonna do the best I can to speak up. I went back and turned the microphone up a little bit, maybe that'll help. And I do believe, probably a shorter message than normal this morning, but we wanna look at the second Chapter of 2nd Timothy, so 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. Begin reading in verse 8, remember that Jesus Christ The seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. So a very short passage that we're going to look at this morning, but it's packed with a lot in just three short verses. So the title of the message is Christ the Gospel and Suffering with Purpose. So Christ the Gospel and Suffering with Purpose. What I think Paul is really doing in these verses and in this entire epistle as he's writing to Timothy, you know we've been in 2 Timothy long enough to understand that this letter is a lot about Paul encouraging Timothy as he's going to be going through suffering and persecution and resistance and he's encouraging Timothy to be bold and be strong. He said in the first chapter of 2 Timothy, remember in verse 7 he says, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. He started chapter 2, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. So he is clearly trying to encourage Timothy to continue to do the work of the ministry and kind of informing and reinforcing him for the suffering that is gonna be a part of that. Share in suffering is a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he would also say. So that's the overarching theme of this entire chapter and even the whole epistle. And as we go through that, for Timothy to be strong in the grace of Christ and for him to be courageous and confident He's going to give him some things that he can count on, some things that can be a foundation for him as he goes through this work in the ministry and the suffering and the persecution that's going to go along with it. So he wants Timothy to follow that path that brings suffering and embrace it and not run away from it. So in verse eight, he once again, I'll just read that verse and we're going to start there. 2 Timothy 2.8, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. So our first point is remember Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ. It's kind of a strange thing to say to Timothy, isn't it? So Paul says, I know you know Jesus Christ. I want you to remember Jesus Christ, to bring that to your mind. Timothy, you never need to let Jesus Christ be far away from your thoughts. So Timothy, who already knew Jesus, Paul said he needs to remember. But for those who don't know Jesus, the question would be, well, who is Jesus? If we're to remember him, we have to know who he is. If you ask this question today, you'll get a plethora of answers. You'll get all different kinds of answers from all different kinds of people. You'll even get different answers from different Christians. And I mean actual Christians, people that I believe are truly Christians. You'll even get different answers among them. And that's okay because I think there's an understanding there if they're a true Christian and they do understand who Jesus is, they just have some wrong ideas possibly about some of the ways that salvation is applied and different things like that. And that speaks to the character of who Jesus Christ is. So we can, you know, have differences over those things. And I would say that you would even get a different definition from those people. However, you'll also get some definitions that are not even close. So I want to share one of those with you. There is a religion called Scientology. Maybe you've heard of it. And probably if you have heard of it, you've heard of it because of one particular individual. And he's not a religious teacher or anything like that. He's a movie star, Tom Cruise. And he loves to talk about Scientology. So the founder of Scientology, this so-called religion, was asked this question, who is Jesus? And it's actually on video. You can look this up. The name's L. Ron Hubbard. And so they ask him, who is Jesus? He said that this idea was an electronic impulse that was implanted in the mind of someone that was in between incarnations by the true supreme powers of the universe about 600 BC. This implant is labeled R6. So his answer, Jesus is an electronic biological mystic implant And this implant has all the characteristics of a pedophile. That is his opinion of Jesus Christ. Now, that is, you know, that's hard for me to even say, to be honest with you. I thought about not saying it, but I thought, you know what? You need to know. That's what some people view. So-called religion, that's their view of Jesus Christ. Now, that's not just wrong. That's way out there wrong, okay? That is, you know, it's blasphemy of the highest order, is what that is. But truthfully, I want you to think about, that's why I picked such a far out there view. I didn't pick, you know, Buddhism or something like that. I wanted you to see that there's some that are just way out there. Because I want you to think about it in this way too. Truthfully, if you reject the true Christ and you create any other Christ, It doesn't really matter how bizarre or how close your created Christ is to the true Christ, that Christ cannot save your soul. So if you come up with a definition that's really close, maybe you're a Buddhist and you say, well, we believe in Jesus and we believe he's a good teacher and he's one of many gods. That's closer than what I just said, right? That's a little bit, you know, that sounds better. That Jesus can't save your soul. If he is one of many gods, then he's not the Christ of the Bible. He's not Jesus Christ whom we serve. So what does the Bible say about that? If any man preaches another Christ, let him be what? Accursed. Let him be accursed. The true Christ is exclusively the savior of sinners. Exclusively. There is no other. There's no other way to view him. And God does not accept that as some kind of implicit faith in himself. That is not true. So when we say, remember Jesus Christ, we have to know the true Jesus Christ of the Bible. Your created Christ, like we said, cannot save your soul. So Timothy said, in this epistle in Timothy, two major things about Jesus Christ in this text. Paul says to Timothy, two major things about Jesus Christ in this text, and then he referred him to his gospel as well, and I'll explain why I think that's important in just a minute. But he said, first, Jesus is the son of David, and secondly, Jesus rose from the dead. Both of those things are really important. Now is that all that there is to be important about Jesus Christ? There's much more, and I think that's why he included at the end of that verse, if we look back in our text, he said, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. So he's pointing out two aspects of the fuller gospel that he taught, and Timothy knew that gospel. He had heard that from Paul. But he focuses in on these two specific things. Now, the first one that he says, remember Jesus Christ, the offspring of David, or there's several different ways to say that, but the seed of David, the different interpretations say it differently. But why does Paul say that? Why would Paul bring up that he is of the seed of David? And the reason why is because every single Jewish person alive at that time would have known what he was talking about. They would have known what he was referring to there, and that is that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is the one that was foretold to come, that he was the one that the Old Testament prophesied that would come. And they knew by that language what he meant. So let's see a couple examples of that. Let's go to John, the Gospel of John 7, chapter 7, verse 42. 7 verse 42 Hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was So you see they're equating the seed of David the son of David with the Messiah Go to Matthew 9 27 We'll see several different examples here, because any Jewish person of this day would have recognized that language right away. Matthew 9, 27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying and saying, thou son of David, have mercy on us. Luke 18, 38 and 39, kind of the same thing. We're not gonna turn there for time's sake, He cries out to Jesus, thou son of David. Matthew 12, 23, another example. And we could show many more. But what I want to turn to is Luke 20. Luke chapter 20. So this title for Christ, the son of David, is important to understand that he is the Messiah. Luke chapter 20 and verse 41. We read in verse 41, and he said unto them, how say they that Christ is David's son? Now this is interesting. If you remember right above this in the passage, they tried to, they did this all the time, right? They tried to trip Jesus up with questions and they would ask him a question and then he would answer it and they would, Oh no. And then they'd walk away and then they'd come back and ask him, no, no, no. We're going to get him this time. And then, oh no. And so right before this, right before our passage, it says, then certain of the scribes answering said, master thou has well said. And after that, they durst not ask him any question at all. So they had kind of learned their lesson at this point. But then Jesus says, and he said unto them, how say they that Christ is David's son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore calleth him Lord. How is he then his son? So he's kind of turning this back around. He asked them a pretty tough one this time. But then he turns, in the audience of all the people, he said unto his disciples, beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the high seats in the synagogue, and the chief rooms at feasts, which devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers, the same shall receive greater damnation. Now that, that's pretty tough. So he says, first, he asked him this question, and he says, how is it that Jesus can be the son of David, that the Christ, let me rephrase that, how is it that the Christ can be the son of David when David called him Lord? It's because he's both. He is of the seed of David, but he's also God, and that's important as well. And I believe what he's really doing there is he is kind of showing to his disciples, because you remember, he turns to his disciples in front of all the audience. He made sure that everybody heard what he said. He didn't turn around and whisper to them. He said it in front of the whole audience. He turns to them and says, you need to beware of these scribes, because they have no understanding. They don't understand who I am. They don't understand. All they're worried about is their system, and their power, and their authority, and all the benefits that that brings to them. That's what they're concerned about. And that is not what the Messiah is about. See, they were looking for the Son of David to come and free the nation. and set up an earthly kingdom. That's who they were looking for, the son of David, who would come and set up an earthly kingdom. And they knew a lot of facts about the God of the Old Testament, and yet they were face to face with the Son of God and rejected Him, didn't recognize Him, didn't know who He was. They thought they knew all about the Messiah. They knew all of the prophecies. They knew exactly how this was going to go. And yet the Messiah was standing face to face with them, and yet they didn't know Him. So how did Jesus react to this? You remember what we were talking about earlier when we talked about that you have to know who Jesus really is. So when they didn't know who Jesus was, how did he react to that? Did he say, well, that's okay, we need to have a conversation. We need to sit down and let's come together on those things that we hold in common. Let's find common ground. It's not what Jesus said. Jesus completely just turned them away and said they're going to face greater damnation. That's pretty intense to say that they're going to face greater damnation. So he didn't say it's time to have a conversation. He didn't say that there was common ground. He just said very plainly if they reject Jesus Christ, if they reject the Christ, then they are not of his children. They are not of his elect people. In the next chapter, Jesus, we're not gonna go down in there, but in Luke chapter 21, Jesus spoke more about the judgment that would fall on them, and it's really kind of interesting there in verse five and six, he says, and some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts. And he said, as for these things which ye behold, the days will come in which there shall not be one stone left upon another that shall not be thrown down. So see, they're bragging about the way the temple looks and the stones in the temple, and he said, not one of those stones is gonna be sitting on another one. It's gonna be completely demolished. Your system of religion is no more. It's gonna be judged. It's gonna be wiped out. There's not gonna be anything of it left. There's not gonna be one stone on top of another. So the fact that they rejected who Christ was, Christ didn't make excuses for that. He didn't beat around the bush about that. When they rejected who Christ was, he said they were gonna face a greater damnation. The true Christ, the son of David, is also risen from the dead, and he reigns over the world forever. That sets him apart. There's many sons of David. That just means he's of that line. He's of the royal line of the family of David. But there's many sons of David, but none of them were raised from the dead. So, how do we link this then to the bigger message of the book? Why would he be saying this to Timothy? If the theme of the book is to endure suffering, then why would that be important? Because it's also very important that Christ rose from the dead. He says the second thing about Christ, is that he is risen from the dead. That is the sign of all signs that he truly was the Son of God, that he truly was the Messiah. You remember in Corinthians chapter 15, what does Paul say about it? If Christ be not risen, then you are yet in your sins. That's a pretty big deal. He says our preaching's vain, we might as well pack it up and go to the house. We might as well go home. If Christ is not risen, then we have no hope. And so it is, it's very important that Christ also is he that is risen from the dead. And that's what I think really ties this in to the link, then links us to this theme of enduring suffering as a, as a, even just a child of God, especially in the ministry. If Christ has conquered the last enemy, then what can man do to you? If we serve a risen Savior, then it's true, there's gonna be suffering, there's gonna be all these things, but ultimately, what can they do to you, Timothy? Because you are, this is just temporary for you, you're just passing through, and there's a better life, there's a better reward that's awaiting you. In Romans 8-11, Romans 8-11, let's turn there. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. That's a comforting verse, because it says if Jesus was raised from the dead, and if you're his child, you're gonna be also raised from the dead. Your mortal bodies are gonna be raised from the dead by that same power. The same power that he rose from the dead, you will also be raised from the dead. So this means, Timothy, that no matter how serious your suffering becomes, the worst that they can do to you on this earth is kill you. And Jesus has taken the sting out of death. He has conquered death, hell, and the grave. And so we no longer have to fear those things. Do not fear those who can kill the body. but he that could kill the soul. That is the concept, I think, that Paul is teaching here to Timothy in Matthew 10, 28, same concept. So this was Paul's gospel. Jesus Christ, the root of David, the Son of God, born of a virgin, fully God, fully man, the sinless Lamb of God, crucified to die and pay the penalty for the sins of all the elect, is also risen for our justification. You just kind of take that, that's a summary of Paul's gospel. Now he didn't mention all of that in this text, but we have plenty of examples of where Paul preaches the gospel. That's his gospel, that's what Paul had placed his hope in and that's what he preached. And so all of those things are part of this, of knowing who Christ is. And we must know who Christ is to be able to endure suffering. So that's the lesson here for Timothy. He says, remember Jesus Christ. You know, so many times, the reason our suffering gets so bad is because we take our eyes off of Christ and put it on the suffering itself, rather than enduring the suffering with our eyes on him. That'll change your perspective as you go through persecution and trials. Now secondly, in verse nine, we'll move on, he says here, 2nd Timothy 2.9, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. I'm going to focus in on just one phrase in this verse, and that's the very last part. The gospel is not bound. The gospel is not bound. But let's go through and kind of unpack the first part of that verse first. Paul says that Here in verse 9, he says that he is suffering trouble because of the gospel. If you go back to the previous verse, dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble because of the gospel. So Paul, why is Paul in trouble? Did he do anything wrong? You know, I'm sure he had sinned, but that's not why he's in jail. The reason he's in jail is because he's a Christian, and he's a Christian who's making disciples, and he's going out and sharing the word of God, and so he is suffering for that cause. So, for which I'm suffering, bound with chains, he is, you know, not just suffering, but he's also in chains, and then because of the reason, he says, you know, the real reason is because he's a Christian, but the public's view of him is that he's what? An evildoer. He's a criminal. He's a bad guy. So three things really there. First, he's suffering. Secondly, he's in chains. And third, he's accused of being an evildoer, all for the sake of the gospel. So his suffering is not viewed as honorable or noble, but he's accused publicly of being evil. And he says he's telling Timothy this because this is what Timothy has to look forward to in his ministry if he's faithful in his ministry. But then he gives the foundation for why Timothy can have courage and confidence even in that situation by saying the word of God is not bound. So Paul is bound, and he is suffering, and he is in chains, and he is considered an evildoer, but the word of God is not bound. So what does he mean by that? The word of God is not bound. You can almost hear him telling Timothy, Timothy, if you're ever in prison, and you're chained to the wall, and you know that the end, remember, this is Paul's second imprisonment. So this letter is written right at the end for Paul. Paul has been jailed the second time, he's in jail, and he is facing execution. So this is right at the end for Paul. You can almost hear him telling Timothy that if you find yourself in this situation, before you begin to feel defeated or feel like there's, you know, man, there's nothing I can do. I failed. Even if you're in prison, the word of God is not in prison. The enemies of the gospel, they might can imprison the preachers of the gospel, but they cannot imprison the gospel itself. In fact, even the imprisonment of the preachers, Paul says in Philippians, he says that even that works for the furtherance of the gospel. Now, wouldn't that be frustrating if you were the one trying to work against it? You think, man, I got Paul and I got him in prison, so this thing's gonna slow down. And Paul says, even in my bonds, well, let's just go there. Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one, Verse 12, But I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident in my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." So you know, it's one of those times where Satan thinks he's got it. I got Paul right where I want him, and instead, the gospel flourished with Paul in bonds. He said it worked out for the furtherance of the gospel, for the advance of the gospel, even to the point that the gospel reached Caesar's household. and his own guards. It's amazing how God used that. And not only in Paul's ministry, but also to embolden others. He says, others became more bold to speak because of Paul's bonds. So, the gospel is not bound. Well, what does that mean for us today? Let's apply it today. Because that's their situation. What's our situation? If the United States continues to steadily descend into secular humanistic philosophy and laws are passed that ban the preaching of the truth or the sharing of the gospel or that will keep us from preaching certain things, maybe it's not complete but maybe it's partial, The good news is, what this scripture tells us is, all those laws can be passed, all those things can be done, and yet that will not hinder the king of the universe from delivering his message to even just one of his elect children. God's hands are not tied by those kinds of things. The word of God is not bound. Isaiah 55, 11. Let's turn there. Isaiah 55, 11 in the Old Testament. You see, from our perspective, we would see that as a very negative thing. If they passed a law tomorrow in the Congress, and I don't think it's wrong for us to get upset about that. I don't think it, I'm not saying that I think it's wrong. However, we would just, we would probably fret to the point of, you know, oh no, what's going on? If they passed a law and said we could no longer preach or no longer hold services here, and yet, There's a part of me that thinks that that very possibly could be the beginning of the biggest revival that this country's ever seen. Because God could use that to embolden us to begin to really serve him for the right reasons and maybe we've got it too easy. Isaiah 55, 11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it. I believe this verse. I believe it just like it's written. I love John Gill's commentary on this, on that last part where it says, it shall not return to me void. I just want to read it to you. I don't like to do that a lot, but I think this one is just worded very well. It shall not return to me void. It is accompanied with a divine energy. It is the power of God to salvation. But it shall accomplish that which I please, in the conversion of sinners, in the comfort of saints, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it, whether it be the saver of life unto life or the saver of death unto death. whether for the quickening of sinners and reviving of saints, or whether for the hardening of men and leaving them without excuse to perish in their sins, both in the Jewish and Gentile world. Think up in the very top of that when he says, in the conversion of sinners in the comfort of saints. That's the part that I focused on so much. The word of God in the conversion of sinners I believe is effectual. God will get his message to his people, and he's not bound by using Paul. That's the message of this passage. Paul says, look, I'm bound, but the word of God is not bound. God did not have to have Paul. He can use another man or another man, or he's the sovereign king of the universe. He can do that as he sees fit. Chains or no chains, the word of God is not bound, and it cannot be defeated. but only advanced by the suffering of his servants. Isn't that amazing? You see, the devil would try to then hinder the word of God by persecuting the ministers of God and the disciples of Christ, and he would think that would snuff this thing out. But it works exactly the opposite. It says, what our passage tells us is that even if we're in chains in a prison, the word of God still is not bound by those things. So the sovereignty of God and the salvation of sinners. It's pure and simple what this is. I truly believe in the sovereignty of God and the salvation of his people. God is sovereign over that. There is nothing that the devil, there's nothing that the enemies of Jesus Christ, there's nothing that our enemies can do against that. God chooses, God draws, God quickens, God forgives, and God holds you. From beginning to end, it is God that is sovereign in salvation. And because of that, we can say the word of God is not bound. Because if it's up to me, and it's up to just the ministers of the gospel, and it's up to certain people, and those people are bound, then the gospel's bound. But if it's of the Lord, who's gonna bind the Lord? There's no man able to bind him. So that's why it's so important that we understand and believe the sovereignty of God in salvation. Now, We're gonna move on very quickly. A lot could be said about that. But I'm afraid I'm gonna run out of voice before I get to the end. So we're gonna move on. Thirdly, he says here, back in our text, in 2 Timothy, therefore, because of that, because the word of God is not bound, because I'm suffering, Because of all of those things, therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake. That's really interesting wording, I want to point that out again. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. So Paul says that his suffering has a very important purpose. And he endures all things for the sake of the elect. Now you might think that Paul's just simply here kind of building on the previous point a little bit and adding a little bit to it. But if you really look carefully at the words, it kind of changes it a little bit. He doesn't say, I endure all of these things for the lost. Not what he says. He says, I endure all of these things for the sake of the elect, for the elect's sakes. Because the tone of this to Timothy, this is not a depressing passage, and I hope it hasn't come across that way. This is a victorious passage. This is a passage of confidence and certainty. Because what Paul is saying is, I endure these things for the sake of the elect, because I know that the word of God is not bound. that even if I'm in prison, even if I'm in jail, God will accomplish salvation in the elect because the word of God is not bound. So that's the message here that Paul's delivering to Timothy. We all know what the word elect means, but we'll take a moment. That means God has a people, a particular chosen people that he chose before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1.4. He chose them in love before the foundation of the world. He predestinated them. He, before time began, before anyone did any good or evil, before any of those things, God chose a people. So he's telling Timothy in this ministry, God will not fail. God will call his elect. And if Paul's in chains, he'll accomplish it. The word of God is still not bound. So when we handle doctrines like election, and that's what Paul brings up here, is election, right in the middle of this verse on suffering and the gospel. And you say, how do those two things go together? It's because of what I believe about the gospel and the elect. So he kinda guards between two, for lack of a better term, we'll say two extremes. Or we always say, stay in the middle of the road, don't get in either ditch. Well, there's two ditches here that we need to avoid. So you could be in this ditch, you could make the mistake of saying, well, if there are people chosen before the foundation of the world, then why do we need to risk our lives to preach the gospel to them? If God just elected them and that's all there is to it, I had a deacon one time, at a church come to me after I had preached on this topic actually about the gospel and he said, I just think you got it all wrong. The only thing that matters is election. All the rest of it's irrelevant. He actually said that to me. I was in a primitive Baptist church. He said, all that matters is election. Anything beyond that is really, it's just a moot point. You know, God elects, and because of that, you're saved. And nothing that happens after that matters at all. Doesn't matter whether you believe. Doesn't matter whether you're called. It doesn't matter whether you hear the gospel. It doesn't matter if you know who Jesus Christ is. None of those things matter. It's just that you are elect. So, basically, if God predestinated a chosen people to be saved, then he doesn't need me to do anything. That sounds really humble, and it is true in a sense, and I think that's even the sense of this passage to a point. Did God have to have Paul? Did he have to have him? He was in jail, and he said, no, but the word of God's not bound. God didn't have to have Paul, but God still accomplished what he intended to accomplish through the gospel. So true in a sense and sounds humble, but because God doesn't need you, because God has chosen a certain people, that's false. What God has chosen is that he's chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's how God's chosen to do it. He tells us that in the scriptures. That's how he's chosen to do it. So that's one kind of extreme that we want to stay away from. First Corinthians 121, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It reminded me of a story Nathan tells, and it's not the whooping story, Drew, so you're still good. But he's told this story before about being at Fellowship Church and sitting in the pew and saying, Lord, Just please, just somebody going down the road, just kind of zap them and just make them turn in the parking lot. Now, can God do that? Yes, he can. I believe that, 100%. I believe he can do that. Is that the way God normally chooses to invite people to your church? No, it's not. He intends for us to go and to invite them and to share the gospel and to witness. Does that need to be our mindset? No, it doesn't need to be our mindset. That's not the biblical answer. So Paul says just the opposite. I endear everything for the sake of the elect that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. The certainty that there are the elect does not make me stop preaching or stop suffering or stop me from doing any of those things. What it does is it makes me confident that my preaching and my suffering will not be in vain because God has a chosen people. So let me break that down a little bit, and I've said this in different ways out of the pulpit before. I don't know that I would be able to handle preaching if I was an Armenian. I just don't know that I would be able to handle it. That's a lot of pressure. So we have to persuade men to make the right decision. And it's up to me, and I have to do that just the right way and put on the right pressure at the right time to get them to make the right decision. That's not what I believe about salvation. I believe that God has an elect people. And that because of that, that message is not gonna return to him void. There is work that goes in by the Holy Spirit before preaching becomes effectual. And I've preached so much on that here, I'm not gonna break that down. But there has to be a regenerative work by the Holy Spirit before conversion is possible in preaching. So a text like Acts 13, 48. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. So Paul preached the gospel. You know, I said earlier there's plenty of examples of Paul's gospel in the scriptures. If you want to see a good example, go look at Acts 13. He goes, he preaches the gospel and at the end we have this verse, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. We also have John 6.37. As many as were given to me by the Father, all of those will believe in me. That's what that text says. That is a surety that as many as were given to him by the Father, those will come to faith in Christ and will not be cast out, John 6, 37. Now let's turn to John chapter 10. The Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 24. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. So we're kind of tying in here with even our first point about who is Jesus Christ. They're saying, if you really are the Messiah, just tell us. You know, just quit talking in riddles and different things and just tell us that you're the Christ. And Jesus answered them, I told you and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, why? Because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That's very plain language. This is Christ saying that his sheep will hear his voice and they will follow him and he knows who his sheep are. Now I don't and you don't. We have to judge by the fruit. That's all we can do. We can't tell if someone's elect or not but Christ knows his sheep and his sheep hear his voice and they follow him. Now the other mistake that we can make, I said there was two, one would be that, well, salvation's all of the Lord, so that means we do nothing. We just don't worry about it. It's all predestinated, and so we become fatalist, and we just say it's all up to God, and he doesn't need me, and all of those things. The opposite would be that when he says, Well, I must preach and suffer to persuade lost people to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved, then there can be no election, because there's only people's choice. So you go completely the other way. In other words, it's all about my preaching. Well, this text throws that away immediately. He says the word of God is not bound. Paul's in prison, and yet there's the furtherance of the gospel while he's in prison. So when Paul says the opposite of that, I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, my commitment to suffer for the gospel doesn't mean that no one has been chosen to believe it. It means that I am God's instrument to bring the good news to those who are chosen by him. That is what the truth is. But as we saw above, he's not dependent on any man. Paul is not bound. Paul is bound, but the gospel is not. So, you know, we can take these extreme positions and we can, you know, parse words and, you know, worry about, you know, the way one word sounds or the other word sounds. But the truth is that if God is sovereign in salvation, it has to be the way that it is. There's no other way around it. If God is sovereign in salvation, he chose people before the foundation of the world, then these things have to be the way that they are. And he says, he adds one more phrase on the end of this that I think is also very important. He tells Timothy, right at the end of the text, let's go back, he doesn't end there. He says that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. with eternal glory. So as Timothy is looking at this big picture and Paul's telling him, yes, there's gonna be suffering, yes, there's gonna be persecution, all of these things accompany the gospel, he says, when you're thinking about this, one of the things you have to remember is that part of our salvation, when we're thinking about our salvation, is eternal glory. And you say, why is that important? When you're in the midst of suffering and you look forward, what do you have to look forward to? 2 Corinthians 4, 17, this light, affliction, preparing us for an eternal weight of glory that's not even worthy to be compared. It's not even worthy to be compared. He says there's no comparison to make. The small, short window of suffering in this life cannot even be compared to all the things that we will experience. in glory, in eternity with Jesus Christ. So, as we think about going through the suffering of this life, and as we think about being faithful in those things, we have to think about the text that says, set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Very similar to the word picture of Peter on the sea. When Peter was looking down at all the suffering and the trouble around him, all the waves and the wind and all of that, he began to sink. When he got his eyes on Christ, Christ reached out and grabbed onto him. That's what we have to do is get our eyes up on Christ rather than on the sufferings of this present time. It's not even worthy to be compared is what the scriptures teach us. So Timothy, you are God's instrument to lead his elect to that heavenly home. The victory of the gospel is sure. He says that the gospel itself is not bound. Christ is risen. He's a king. And not only is he risen and he's a king, but he has a people that he chose before the foundation of the world. And because he's sovereign, because he is the king, because he has sovereign power, There is no doubt, there is no uncertainty about what's gonna happen with his sheep, with what's gonna happen with his elect. Their end is already accomplished, it's already paid for. Their salvation is accomplished. God has a chosen people for eternal glory and he will be faithful in accomplishing and applying their salvation. So endure everything, Timothy, and God will use you to declare freedom to the captives. That's a summary of those first three verses. Endure everything, Timothy, because God will use you to declare freedom to the captives. Now, we've talked a lot about Timothy, so let's apply this personally to us. What does this mean for us? And especially, what does this mean if you're not a minister of the gospel? Well, this means that you can trust also in Christ, a Messiah, who is a king, who is sovereign, who sees all of these things that, you know, sometimes when we get in persecution and troubles, we feel like we're the only ones that know what's going on and we feel lost and alone. Well, you can trust, like he's telling Timothy here, that you're not alone in those things, that you have a Savior who knows all about those things and who has power. to overcome them and you can trust that he's gonna deliver you safely. And that last phrase there, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. That's what we have to look forward to as we endure the sufferings of this life in service to our great king. Hope those things have been a blessing to you. I know that was very quick and short and to the point, but trying to make my voice last through the entire message. And we will probably come back and unpack some of those things a little more as we combine them with the next few verses in our next message.