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We are in 2 Timothy chapter number 2 and look at verse number 10 it says therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory it is a faithful saying if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him he will also deny us if we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself and the title of the sermon this evening is if we believe not if we believe not now this morning when I preach a sermon called the major themes of the New Testament and often whether it's Old Testament or New Testament or specific books found within both of those segments you'll often find an overriding theme within each and every one of them you'll find a theme in a chapter you'll find a theme in a book you'll find a theme in the Old Testament you'll also find a theme in the New Testament and of course we have the theme of the entire testament which is Jesus Christ now with that in mind we see that the book of 2 Timothy does have quite a theme that is very evident when you read it from beginning to end and what is that theme well the theme is this is the topic of affliction and persecution you'll often find in every single one of these chapters the topic of affliction the topic of persecution the topic of suffering being talked about over and over and over again and it is a book that's written by the Apostle Paul to Timothy and basically he's encouraging him to remain steadfast in the faith why is that because of persecution you see persecution can cause someone to go to to fall astray to basically you know get out of church to compromise their biblical beliefs and convictions to not read the Bible to not pray to not depend on God why is that because they buckle under the pressure of persecution and in fact the Bible tells us that the seeds that were sown one of the seeds received a seed and the Bible says that they began to grow but because they had no depth they had no root in themselves in a time of persecution they fell away because of the word it says so these are the people that get saved they're going forward but because they're not grounded in the Word of God they're not settled into their what they believe in a time of persecution when the stuff hits the fan guess what happens they fall away now do they lose their salvation no because the Bible tells us that you can never lose your salvation the Bible says that we're not if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him but we are not of them that draw back into perdition but believe to the saving of the soul so what happens when we draw back and we backslide well we're not pleasing the Lord right and why is that because without faith it is impossible to please God now as I mentioned in the book of second Timothy that's primarily what it's dealing with there is this matter of affliction persecution suffering let's look at a couple things here look at chapter number one we'll get into chapter number two in just a bit he said why are you preaching this well we're just gonna basically I'm gonna talk about verse 13 you know if we believe not and just kind of expand upon based upon the chapters previous to chapter two and after chapter two to show you that this does not mean that you can just stop believing that you're saved which you know there's people that believe that they'll say well you know you can just automatically just stop believing that you're saved you know that's a foolish doctrine that's foolish it's not biblical it's impossible to stop believing that you're saved you know as much it would be foolish from for anybody to go to another person and try to convince them that they don't have a mom and dad I mean can I really go to anybody in this room would I be able to convince you that you do not have a mother or father you know no doesn't matter even if even if a person is a bastard for example and they don't know their father they know that they have to have somewhere out there why because no person is in existence without a mom and dad right well in like manner there's no person who is saved who just automatically for some reason just yeah I don't know if you know if I'm really saved or not well if you question whether you're saved or not let me just help you out with that you're not saved let me just say that again if you question whether you're saved or not let me just help you with that it's the not part why is that because in order to be saved you have to believe in eternal security which is once you're saved you're always saved you can never stop believing on the Lord Jesus Christ why because the Bible tells us that the spirit bears witness with our spirit the word the children of God well what if someone gets Alzheimer's you know what if they get amnesia or or dementia well the Bible says that the spirit bears witness with our brain no it says he bears witness with our spirit you see the brain is to be renewed day by day the Bible says that we're supposed to transform our minds by the word of God that's continually being sanctified right on a daily basis whereas the spirit doesn't necessarily need to be saved every single day why because it's already saved and the Bible says that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit he tells us that we're saved okay now I don't want to get ahead of myself but you know this is one of the reasons why I want to talk about this subject but as I was studying 2nd Timothy 2 verses 10 through 13 I really came across some profound truths and really just gave me a greater appreciation for the book of 2nd Timothy you know I know what it's talking about but as I just delved in a little deeper it gave me a greater appreciation and really a greater warning for me as a Christian and I'm gonna explain to you just why so as I mentioned you know this is a talk this entire book is talking about this topic of affliction look at 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 7 it says for God hath not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me as prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God so remember who's this being written to it's being written to Timothy and he's telling Timothy hey don't be afraid why because God didn't give us a spirit of fear but of power love and a sound mind he follows it up with verse 8 and says therefore be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel don't be afraid don't be afraid of the afflictions of the gospel now why is he saying that well because especially during this time the byproduct of preaching the right gospel was persecution from what from the Judaizing Jews you know you guys did you hear about something about that this morning you know those who are persecuting the churches during that time they were against the gospel of Jesus Christ they were against Christians therefore they were persecuting them because of it they were afflicting them they were delivering them to be arrested to be in prison to be in bonds and in fact that's exactly what happened to the Apostle Paul and Paul the Apostle Paul is admonishing Timothy hey be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel don't run away from it don't be a little sissy you know don't be afraid be a partaker why because you have a you have a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind the Bible says okay look at chapter 2 verse number 1 so we see that we see that that those verses there in chapter 1 look at chapter 2 verse 1 thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou has heard of me among me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ now whenever you see the word therefore you need to figure out what is there for and verse 3 says thou therefore why because you're teaching other men to observe the things because you're the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses you're committing to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also thou therefore should endure hardness as a good soldier why is he telling him that well the reason he's telling to endure hardness is so he can be an example unto those who are following him you see the worst example you can have as a leader is a sissy just weakling leader who's afraid of persecution who's afraid of the hardships who's afraid of the afflictions why because it's gonna cause you to be afraid as well because like it or not leaders are an example okay and they were they they're used by God as a template of what you're supposed to strive for whose faith followed the Bible says right and it's not referring to whose faith like believe on Jesus Christ it's talking about the faith exercising the faith okay unto good works so he says in verse 3 thou therefore endure hardness is a good soldier of Jesus Christ no man that worth entangled with himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier and if a man also strive for masteries yet is he not crowned except that he strive lawfully the husband men that laborer must be first partaker of the fruit now enduring afflictions is what's being emphasized here suffering look at verse 7 consider what I say in the Lord give the understanding in all things remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer even unto bonds so what is he saying there I'm suffering as an evildoer and he specifically makes reference to how he's suffering by being in prison when it talks about even unto bonds he's referring to being arrested he's referring to being imprisoned okay that's what that's talking about so he's suffering trouble because of what he's preached as an evildoer even unto bonds but the Word of God is not bound therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory now this verse right here in verse number 10 you know I hit on Zionism this morning and to be honest I was quite nice in comparison to a lot of the other sermons that I preached against the Jews but one of the things that I talked about was this word elect and a lot of people who believe that the Jews are God's chosen people believe that this is in reference to them so we you know and I've heard people say that Paul the Apostle endured all things for for the Jews sake so that they can be saved I was like man I didn't know there's there's that way of getting saved you endure and then someone gets saved because of your endurance is that what that's referring to no you know he's not enduring all things for the elect's sake which is the Jews because the Jews are not the elect who are the elect save people okay so he says here I'm enduring all things that means in the midst of a trial in the midst of him being in prison in the midst of suffering he's keeping in mind that he has to make it through why for the elect's sake and it says there that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with the eternal glory you know what hold on a second if the elect already saved believers why is he enduring hardness for their salvation well keep in mind that in the Bible the word salvation is not always in reference to the salvation of the soul we would often you know make reference to that and it is true but there are times when salvation is referring to the salvation of the flesh okay and in fact a synonym of that word salvation is what deliverance okay so what he's stating here he's saying I'm enduring all things for the elect's sake so that they can see the deliverance of the Lord now what is he talking about specifically go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3 2nd Timothy chapter number 3 and this is this is something that we see throughout the Bible as well you see that because Jeremiah endured afflictions though he was threatened though he was persecuted he never lost his life whereas the other counterpart that prophet who was afraid fled to Egypt and what happened he died he was killed because of that okay so what does this teach us here that we should endure afflictions not be afraid when persecutions come why because at the end of the day God is able to deliver us from those things okay look at verse 10 of chapter 3 so keep that in mind he says I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory look at verse 10 but thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch at Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endured but out of them all the Lord delivered me so what was the byproduct of him enduring those persecutions God delivered him out of those things okay and look what he says in verse 12 yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution so he's admonishing them hey you're gonna be persecuted you're gonna be afflicted but use me as an example because when I endured that suffering the Lord delivered me the Lord rescued my flesh he didn't allow me to die he didn't allow me to be consumed by my enemies and in fact if you study the life of Paul it doesn't really look like he was beheaded or anything right look like he just died in an old age that's what he states at the end of the chapter look at chapter 4 so we see the theme there in chapter 1 right he says be a partaker of the affliction of the gospel we see in chapter 2 endure harness as a good soldier we see chapter 3 persecutions afflictions what persecutions I endured but out of them all the Lord delivered me yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution look at chapter 4 verse number 2 preach the word be in stay in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears then they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables but watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry so why is he telling them endure afflictions well because he's telling them preach the word and when you preach the word you're in stay in season out of season you're approving rebuking exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine that's gonna cause people to persecute you that's gonna cause people to afflict you to bring suffering upon your life and therefore he's telling them watch down all things endure afflictions look at verse number six so he's telling them watch down all things endure afflictions for I am now ready to be offered in the time of my departures at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I've kept the faith now is he talking about he's kept he just kept believing to be saved I've kept I mean there's not one day you know I did my best to just keep believing that I'm saved I think I'm saved I think I'm saved I think I'm saved I think I'm saved kept the faith is referring to the faith of the Bible that's what that's referring to and we'll look at it later on but the Bible says that we're we go from faith to faith faith and believing on Jesus Christ and then what we keep exercising faith in God that he's gonna provide for us that he's gonna protect us he's gonna deliver us the hue that he will continue to guide us okay it says there I have kept the faith henceforth there is later for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing skip down to verse 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil the Lord reward him according to his works of whom be thou where also for he hath greatly withstood our words so who's Alexander he's someone who persecuted Paul because when it says that he would stood his words that's the same terminology that we see when the Bible tells us that as Janice and Jamboree's withstood Moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprimand concern in the faith what stood means they resisted him okay verse 16 and my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me I pray God that it may not be laid to their own to their charge notwithstanding in reference to this persecution that he's receiving notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me there by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion so throughout this persecution by Alexander the coppersmith who was you know he would stood Paul he was persecuting Paul you know the Bible tells us here that God delivered him out of the mouth of that lion which obviously the lion is reference to who Satan verse 18 and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever amen so what does he say God will deliver me he's gonna preserve me he's not gonna allow me to be handed over to my aunt but to my enemies now is this the case with everyone in the Bible no you have special cases of those who are martyred in the Bible yes Stephen who was martyred you know you have John the Baptist or martyred but the vast majority if you study it the vast majority of those in the Bible you know we're gonna look at Hebrews 11 by the way and we're this is where it gets deep in Hebrews 11 in regards to the constant that we're seeing here the vast majority of them they were delivered by their flesh and in fact if you don't believe that think about the last 75 days of great tribulation they that endure into the end the same shall be saved say what their spirit no their flesh they that endure afflictions they then endure that persecution that suffering all those afflictions are going to come upon them that great tribulation they shall they shall be saved that's a promise so we see here that the Apostle Paul's explained to Timothy the hardness that he has endured the afflictions persecutions and the reason he's doing this is to be an example unto Timothy because he's passing off the scene he's kind of passing off the baton to Timothy and he's telling him hey you got to make sure that you're in door you got to make sure that you have thick skin don't be a little sissy you know have me your forehead be be be be as Flint you got to make sure that you're strong in the Lord and in the power of his might make sure you're grounded in door and don't worry God's gonna deliver you okay now go back to chapter 2 and remember look at verse 14 says of these things put them in remembrance charging them before the Lord that they strive not about with words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers now who's the them well in the beginning of the chapter the them are the faithful men who Timothy is teaching that's the them that he's referring to because they charge them before the Lord okay now look at hold your place there in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 1 go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 1 so again this theme we could obviously see that throughout the book of 2nd Timothy it's constantly hit on this part of endure afflictions endure hardness for the elect's sake okay verse 3 of 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 we also see this concept here it said blessed be God even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforted us in all our tribulation that we may be able to what comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we we ourselves are comforted of God for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded by Christ what is he saying the more you suffer the more you're comforted right so the more difficulties you go through the more a measure of comfort is given unto you because of that affliction look at verse 6 and whether we be afflicted it is for who your consolation and what salvation so he says if we be afflicted it's for your consolation and salvation he's talking to save people right he's not saying that they're not saying he says this is for your consolation and salvation let's read on which is effectual it's only effective in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted is for your consolation and salvation what is the same you'll be delivered your flesh will be saved if you also endure right because he says there which you we also suffer whether we be comforted I'm sorry which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer look at verse 7 and our hope of you is steadfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolation for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia that we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we were despaired even of life so they're suffering such persecution that they're just like I'm ready to die you know I don't know if there's anybody in here who's gone through something so difficult that they're just like I'm just ready to give up on life and that happens you see Elijah went through something like that right or he's just like I'm ready to die take my life the the affliction was so difficult that they just wanted to end their life and that's how he's a in so much that we despaired even of life for we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God which raised it the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us you see that ye also helping together by prayer for us that that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf so what is he saying here second Corinthians he said look we're enduring these afflictions so I can relate to you you see my example of enduring that affliction and by that you will be saved from your your flesh will be saved when you're enduring afflictions and persecutions you see what I'm saying so what he's stating here is that when Christians have the fortitude to withstand persecution they can inherit the promise that God's going to deliver them from that from that persecution that affliction that death and look the Apostle Paul is one of the greatest examples of these in the New Testament why is that because you see throughout the entire New Testament him being afflicted always I mean he's shipwrecked he's you know false brethren are rising up and try to put him to death people are chasing him they're they're threatening his life and what happens he's he was delivered out of all of those things I mean when you're shipwrecked out in the sea you know I'm shocked that he lived but you know what the Lord delivered him from that you know the Lord delivered him from his enemies from those who desire to persecute him because he endured okay now go to Philippians chapter one so we see that in second Corinthians chapter two look at Philippians chapter number one and make no mistake about it the Christian life brings suffering if you if you live godly in Christ Jesus you know if you actually adhere to the Bible and you start practicing it and you have these radical beliefs it's going to cause persecution in your personal life you know but you know what happens and this I believe everyone in here could attest to this that when you see someone boldly standing for the word of God when you see someone stand on the Bible and what the Bible says in spite of how popular or not popular it is in our culture when you see someone stand alone what does that do to you it creates zeal within you it encourages you and in fact if you at that one time you were fearful you know what that does that emboldens you to take that same stance when you see someone up there ripping face on the fags you see them just ripping face on the homos and on false prophets and false teachers if you had a spirit of fear guess what happens you get the spirit of power love and a sound mind you know why because examples help us to do that that's why we look at the examples of the men in the Bible we look at examples of men of today and we see their stance and their boldness in the Lord and the spirit filled and what does that do that embolden it gives us boldness to do the same thing why because examples help us to do just that things are rather caught than taught boldness is rather caught than taught zeal is rather caught than taught when you see someone zealous and excited for the things of God when they're enthusiastic taking a stand for God that encourages you and makes you think you know what if he did it I'm gonna do it too now look what Philippians 1 27 says only let your conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me the Bible says so what he's saying look strive together for the faith of the gospel stand together in one mind for the faith of the gospel why because God's will is not only do you believe on Christ but it's also that you suffer for his name's sake as well okay now thankfully you know we don't have to suffer in order to be saved all we have to do is believe but you know what even after believing there's still a will for your God still has a will for your life you know the works that you had that he wants you to do you have a choice you have your own volition to be to do that or not to do that but at the end of the day that is still his will he says not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake it's funny how he couples that with the big prior verse of striving together for the faith of the gospel why because the gospel what does it do it creates persecution and when persecution and afflictions come they need to remember God's will is that we suffer sometimes God's will is that we have persecution at times God's will is that we have affliction at times now look at verse 12 go back to verse 12 why because Paul knew what he was talking about look at verse 12 it says but I would you should understand brethren that the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in the palace he's writing this from prison that's where he's writing this from uh so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in other places and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear so they're like man Paul's in prison this guy does you know he's like solid this guy is legit and you know what they did they waxed bold in the Lord they were more bold to speak the word without fear you know what that tells us is that prior to this they had some fear they were afraid but you know what happened they saw the example of Paul how he walked the walk and he talked the talk and he's in prison he's telling them rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice believe on Christ yes of course but another thing is that you have to suffer for his name's sake and what happened they're like man let's preach the word of God too we go to prison we go to prison let's preach the Bible why because that's what examples do to us it causes us to realize if God did it for Paul he'll do it for me too if God delivered Paul from the enemies of God guess what he can deliver us too now you know an example of this is when I first joined the movement a lot of people don't want to join the movement because they're afraid of persecution or they're a part of the movement but they're kind of like closet listeners you know they come home from their old IFB church and they pop in some new IFB preaching and they're kind of like on the sidelines kind of you know because they love the preaching they love you know the stance they love the boldness they just don't have the guts yet to just actually go to a new IFB church or something and enjoying themselves to a church like that because they're kind of they're a little afraid and look I think I think all of us have been there I've been there before but at the end of the day when we look at the examples of others who made that decision we stepped out in faith and you saying have you suffered persecution yeah have you suffered affliction yeah you know have you had your family threatened yeah have you had your children threatened yes I've had some of the worst most heinous things said to my children I hope they die I hope your son Bruce dies in a car accident I hope they get brain cancer and die I hope they get AIDS and die I hope this and that that's persecution that's affliction you know you think a dad wants to hear that you know you think you think I like the fact that some reprobate faggot out there you know wants to just destroy my family's life absolutely not but you know that comes with the territory okay you say well aren't you afraid something's gonna happen to them no aren't you afraid that they might actually come and and do something in your church no aren't you afraid they might come to your house no all right but what about your children I love my children but you know what I trust in the Lord you know and if they if anybody by the way I'm look I'm not saying that if they come I'm just gonna be like oh no the prophecy's being fulfilled you know I'm whooping some rear ends obviously okay and look these people who try to threaten you online and stuff like that they don't have the guts and the stones to come to a place like this why because they can hear you guys you know online they see and hear me but they also hear you guys okay and they don't like the fact that you say amen to stuff like that they're like that sounds like there's quite a bit of men over there you know but at the end of the day you know that's a factor that people have in their mind like man if I am joined to like a movement like this what if we get persecuted you know well this is what happens this is what you do you look at an example of someone who's endured persecutions and afflictions and you understand hey if the Lord did it for pastor Stephen Anderson you do it for me if the Lord did it for pastor Jimenez the Lord do it for me if the Lord did it for any other pastor who has suffered persecution he can do it for me and look if the Lord doesn't deliver me my flesh guess what I still come out winning why because I get to go home early I get to be a martyr for Christ it's a great reward now so that's what we see there he said look the brethren are more bold to speak the word without fear okay go to first peter chapter two first peter chapter two when we suffer rightfully we become an example okay and look fear is a part of life at times there's times when we are afraid and how do we overcome that fear well one we got to confess it because it's sinful two we need to grow in faith because faith is the opposite of fear so what do you mean by faith you have to like keep believing that you're saved no faith that God will take care of me no matter what okay and then also the example of people because we need a human example to go by we need to see someone who's of like passions right someone who's of like passions they're human just like us and they're enduring the afflictions that we're afraid to endure and what does that do that embolden us that embolden us to actually do the same thing so that we can be delivered as well and preach the word of God without fear look at first peter two verse 18 says servants be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the forward for this is thank worthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief suffering wrongfully for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently but if when you do well and suffer for it you take it patiently this is acceptable with God for even here unto where he called because Christ also suffered for us look what it says leaving us a what an example that ye should follow his steps I mean who's more bold than Jesus Christ you know who the bible says the bible tells us endure excuse me for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds so we have the example of Jesus Christ who bore the sins of the whole world who was persecuted for three years day in day out you know and the bible tells us here that he did it in order to give us an example that we should follow in his steps what are the steps that he's talking about preaching hard against sin not being afraid of man you know following God no matter what happens you know when he talked to her you tell that fox that today I'm gonna walk and tomorrow you know I mean he's like calling the religious leaders vipers generation of vipers hypocrites you know I don't know if he had a band of men with them that were willing to back them up at that moment I know later on you see Peter you know cutting off the ear of Malchus but regardless if he did or not you know he's Jesus Christ and he had the spirit of God was upon him and he left us that as an example that we should follow in those footsteps go with me if you went to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 so what I'm trying to emphasize here is that this concept of being an example okay enduring hardness enduring affliction is twofold what is it twofold it's because one we have faith that God will deliver us from the the the result of that persecution which potentially can be death but it's also to basically be an example to other Christians so that they can have that zeal and that boldness to do the same exact thing okay look at verse 19 it says here but when they deliver you up take no thought how or what you shall speak for it shall be given you in the same hour what you shall speak for it is not ye that speak but the spirit of your father which speaketh in you and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death and the father the child and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death and he shall be hated of all men for my name's sake but he that endureth to the end shall be saved that's not talking about salvation of the soul he's saying look if you're enduring this persecution you shall be saved your flesh shall be saved but when they persecute you in this city flee into another for verily I say to you ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel to the son of man become the disciples not above his master nor the servant above his lord it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his lord if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of this of his household fear them not therefore for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known what I tell you in darkness that speak ye in the light what you hear in the ear that preach ye upon the housetops so what is the instruction there hey don't be afraid whatever I tell you to preach you just preach it you know don't fear any man don't be afraid of them if they threaten you why because I'm telling you to preach the word of God look what it goes on to say and fear not then which which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell what is it redirect your fear to God be afraid what happens if you don't preach the word of God you know and obviously we won't lose our salvation but what he's stating here is that God has the ability if he has such power to destroy both soul and body in hell I mean how much more can he just destroy the lives of his children here on this earth right allow us to suffer shame and reproach if we choose not to obey God okay now so with this clear principle in mind let us go back to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and look the practical application that we get from this is that we need to learn how to endure afflictions regardless of the scope of that affliction maybe it's affliction from your own family people just giving you a hard time for listening to us or for coming to this church or you know for whatever beliefs you may have now look suffer rightfully don't suffer because you're a jerk to your family members you know and you're just you're just trying to call persecution upon yourself because you're just a jerk you don't know you don't have people skills I'm talking about because you believe right and they know you believe right and they give you a hard time because of that you know whether with your family with friends you know people outside of here whatever may be any type of persecution just endure it and sometimes it's not just persecution sometimes it's just afflictions of life difficulties of life things of life taking place can often take you out of church you know what I mean depression anxiety you know all these emotional roller coasters that people go through from time to time don't let that take you out of church endure it because here's the thing if you don't endure you'll actually come back to church a lot weaker than when you left whereas if you just endure those afflictions you actually just increase your strength which is exactly what you need is exactly what you want and you need okay look at verse 10 so he says therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him now why is he saying that well because there are times when afflictions and persecutions do result in death Stephen that's what happened to Steve that's one of John the Baptist there are times when persecutions afflictions will result in death they'll kill you but here's the thing is if we shall be dead with him we shall also live with him what does that mean to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for me to live is Christ and to die is gain that's what he's trying to emphasize there is the fact that look don't worry if you die you'll be present with the Lord you know I remember a preacher back in the day he tried to explain to us what it would be like for a Christian to die like how is that like what is that transition and obviously we can't necessarily say we can only speculate what that transition would feel like you know and the the the avenue by which you get there car accident is obviously something different but the transition how would that be like well he explained to us that potentially could be something like this you know your last breath here could be like your first breath over there as you're closing your eyes here you're opening your eyes up there because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so we need to make sure that we're constantly thinking about eternity you know because the apostle Paul stated you know I'm in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better you know I don't know if there's anybody in here who would actually say with all honesty I can't wait to depart I have a desire to just die you know to desire to depart is like far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you you know why because Paul was heavily minded now he was not so heavily minded that he was no earthly good we saw him do a lot of work but he had a good balance that he understood that he had to set his affections on things above none of the things of this earth and that's why he was able to say you know to depart is far better now verse 12 look at verse 12 so that's what he said that he says you know if we be dead with him we shall also live with him okay if the sufferings and persecutions cause you to die don't worry you're still alive okay verse 12 if we suffer we shall also reign with him so what is he saying well if we die we live if we suffer guess what we get a reward what is that reward we get to reign with Christ so he's basically giving him giving Timothy a little motivation you know a little motivation to say hey look no if you're suffering don't worry because that means you're gonna reign with him now go to uh go to Romans chapter number eight hold your place there in second timothy go to Romans chapter eight i'm gonna reach you from matthew chapter 5 verse 10 it says blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad why for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you so it's not saying like rejoice because it's just suffering is just feels so stinking good it says rejoice because guess what that means your reward is that much greater when you suffer because look the vast majority of Christians when i talk about Christians obviously i'm referring to those who are saved they're not going to get any rewards you know the vast majority of the people that we lead to the lord when we're going out so many they probably are not going to step into any church their entire life unfortunately and you know what they get eternal life but that's all they get which is still good amen but he's saying there they're not going to get a reward because the rewards are for them who are actually working for the lord who are suffering for his name's sake that's why he tells him hey rejoice when you're suffering why because when you're suffering you're in sorrow you're sad it's painful but he said rejoice and be exceeding glad because your reward is great in heaven okay god will shortchange no man god shortchanges no man look at romans 8 verse 15 so in second Timothy chapter 2 he says if we suffer we shall also reign with him why does he say that well look at romans 8 verse 15 it says for you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba father what by the way that's a good verse to use to understand that we can't stop believing because we don't have a spirit of fear like oh man did i lose my salvation what's going on i don't know did i stop believing no we've received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry what Abba father because we know we have a heavenly father right just thought i'd throw that in there okay for good measure the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of god and if children then heirs heirs of god so what happens when we get saved we get to be heirs with god we get to be heirs with them we have the inheritance of eternal life and look what it says and joint heirs with christ this is something different if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together why does it say that we may be glorified together because the bible tells us that there are certain people that when they suffer for christ's sake receive a better resurrection first corinthians 15 is an entire chapter explaining to us how some resurrected bodies actually look a little better than others they're actually going to shine brighter than others and i'm not talking about you know one will have a four pack and the other one have a eight pack or a six pack one will one will be completely bald and the other one will have just golden locks of hair just flowing okay that's not what i'm talking about i don't know what that's going to look like we we can speculate according to the bible that you're going to shine your glory is going to be a lot more brighter okay but that comes with the cost what does it cost that you suffer with him that's why the apostle paul stated that i may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his what suffering being made conformable unto his death why is it being made conformable well just the same reason he said at the end of verse 17 that we may be also glorified together verse 18 for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us so you say look the sufferings they're hard and we can say the apostle paul went through a lot of sufferings but he said they're not worthy to be compared to the reward that we're going to receive when we're glorified okay go to hebrews chapter 11 hebrews chapter 11 so if we suffer we shall also reign with him now why does it say reign with him though you say you you're saying well you know brother me here you explain the fact that we get a better glorified body well i believe according to the bible that those who work for the lord those who suffer for his name's sake will actually get to reign in the millennial reign rule and reign with christ in the millennial reign those positions over the entire earth will be uh specifically designated for those who work for the lord and suffered for his name's sake i mean that's what it says if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him okay look at hebrews 11 verse 24 now i'm sorry let's see here oh yeah hebrews 11 yeah let's do verse 24 we're going to come back to hebrews 11 but let's read verse 24 here by faith moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season so we see moses making a good decision here you know he was in egypt he obviously had the best training there as far as like a secular training is concerned and the bible says here that he chose to suffer with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season he was he was willing rather to enjoin himself with the people of god knowing that he was going to suffer instead of being in egypt and just kind of taking it easy the easy route and what was why did he do that verse 6 26 esteeming the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures in egypt for he had a respect into the recompense of the reward he says i'm going to suffer because i'm going to get a reward for this no matter and it's it exceeds the reward the recompense exceeds the riches in egypt that's what he's stating there now go back to second timothy chapter two so that's what he's saying here so these verses that we're looking at in second timothy they're making sense a lot of sense why because we see that it's all in context of suffering for his name's sake it's all in context of affliction it's in context of persecution that's why he's stating all these things he said look if we die with him we shall listen well we shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him he will also deny us now when when this fool made this video you know he wanted to talk about if we believe not you know he abided faithful and this is how devils work okay and i'm sorry if that offends you if i'm calling him a devil this is how devils work they like to put seeds of doubt within the minds of people how do they do that well they quote you an obscure verse and they won't explain it at all because he's saying you know he claims that if we believe not as reference to you know we stop believing that we're saved and he says yeah and even prior to that it says if we deny him he will also deny us and then he just like moves on like okay do you care to expound upon that please what does that mean what are you trying to say it's like when he was talking about being a castaway and then you know he talks about i keep under my body and bring it into subjection unless by any means when i preach to others i myself should be a castaway he says oh by the way in spanish it says i myself should be a reprobate i don't know what is he doing he's trying to cast doubt he's trying to cast doubt on those who don't know what that means that's wicked give the interpretation thereof but you know why he can't give the interpretation thereof because he understands neither what he says nor wherever he affirms and you know what he's a natural man to receive if not the things of the spirit of god okay oh so what does it mean then well i'm not eric so i'm not going to be like i don't know if we deny him you also deny us you know gonna have to figure that out on your own let's move on no that's garbage let me tell you what this means because when it says if we deny him you also deny us number one this is in context of what affliction persecution sufferings he said well a christian deny christ uh yeah you know peter he did it three times and it specifically says that he denied him jesus christ prophesied of him denying him so christians will do it now let me ask you this was peter like you think he was like telling the truth because he had like alzheimer's disease and he just like forgot like i know not the man and then when they came to ask him to like you denied he was just like oh no i just forgot that i was saved i'm sorry that's right i'm i'm saved what was i thinking no it's because he was afraid of the persecution he denied him because he was afraid of the persecution how do we know that because he told jesus you know though i'd be in prison to death you know he's like i'll die with you i'm paraphrasing here and he's like you're gonna deny me thrice yeah so when the persecution came he just buckled is what he did now the bible tells us that satan had desired to sift him as wheat right i think that's the phrase there satan has the desire to sift you sift you as wheat i believe is what it's saying forgive me if i'm misquoting that he says but when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren i pray that thy faith fail not i pray that you don't forget that you're saved though you just still have faith no because when it says that thy faith fail not it's referring to the fact that he has a good report that he's exercising faith that god will deliver him that's what he's talking about hello anybody home that's what he's referring to and he says and when thou art converted not saved again when thou art converted when you're transformed strengthen what thy brethren because what happens when you endure afflictions you actually strengthen the brethren it just fits like a glove doesn't it so if we deny him he will also deny us what does that mean well if we deny him just like peter did what is he going to deny us rewards he's going to deny us a reward he's going to deny us a recompense because that's what he's promising to those who actually confessed to him before men in fact the bible says whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him will i also confess also before my father which is in heaven but whosoever shall deny me before men him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven deny gifts you say ah you know that's a stretch well go to first corinthians chapter three by the way how can we make sure that we're not denied these rewards well the bible tells us if any man come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me you see when you're denying yourself you're not going to deny christ it's when you deny christ that you're not denying yourself why because you're afraid of what might happen to you and the bible tells us that whosoever shall save his life shall lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake what happens shall find it why because the lord will deliver you okay what do i have you turn first corinthians three verse 11 for other foundation can no man lay than that it is laid which is jesus christ now if any man build upon the foundation gold silver precious stones wood haste stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide which he hath built there upon he shall receive a reward if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire what is that saying if you just don't go to church you don't do anything for the lord you don't do any soul winning you don't do any works guess what everything you do is going to burn now you're going to be saved yet so as by fire you will suffer loss what does that mean god will deny you rewards is what he's going to do look i'm thankful to be saved amen but i'm trying to rack up some rewards i want to be rewarded for the things that i'm doing for the lord here if he's promised me why not you know he's coming and he's he has his reward with him i want to be i want to inherit that reward but the way i'm going to do is if i strive lawfully the bible says you know if any man also strive for masteries yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully okay now go back to second timothy chapter two we're almost done here verse 13 it's making sense all this is in context of suffering persecution look at verse 13 if we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself now you know the heretic that was thrown out of our church is claiming that this is talking about just stop believing that you're saved and he uses the example of alzheimer's and it's funny because brother marco's just told me about a story of a guy who has dementia he's like in his 80s and he's losing his mind but guess what he hasn't lost the fact that he's saved he still knows that he still knows that so why because the spirit bears witness not with our brain with our spirit we're the children of god okay now here's the funny thing about this okay what was that mic drop here's the funny thing about this okay because he states you know he says in his video you know you know the possibility even though you know he didn't know if he could stop believing you know he doesn't know i don't know he doesn't know you know look at chapter one verse 12 for the which cause i also suffer these things nevertheless i am not ashamed for i know whom i believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i've committed unto him against that day he doesn't know no he does know he just said it in chapter one verse 12 hello he says yeah but you know he he thinks he can stop believe i'm persuaded that he is able we just saw it what is it give me this 130 go to 139 in your song books we're not going to sing it okay but i want to show you something in this hymn because obviously this hymn is inspired from this verse okay and it goes great with what the topic at hand because look at the last verse verse number five okay i know not when my lord may come at night or noonday fair nor if i walk the veil with him or meet him in the air now what is that talking about well veil means valley for example the valley the valley of the shadow of death so there's two ways and we always we often talk to people about this when we're out sowing you know you're gonna go to heaven whether christ comes back which is meeting him in the air or you die and you go to heaven so he's saying here i know i know not when my lord may come at night or noonday fair nor if i walk the veil with him in other words die or if i meet him in the air but i know whom i believed in and then persuaded that he is able to keep that which i've committed to him against that day notice another verse to say i know not when i can stop believing mr james mc how do you pronounce that mcgrannham or grandham he's a smart guy he's just like no i already know that i just don't know the things that are there are unstable in this life and specifically if i die i don't know if i'm gonna die and meet him or if i'm gonna meet him in the air those things are uncertain for me but i know whom i've believed in so to use this you you know he apostle paul didn't even know we're you're not in good company eric sorry because the apostle paul knew in fact he said it in the chapter prior i know whom i believed in and then persuaded you know the apostle paul did in heaven when eric said that yeah it's called a face palm yeah it was like now go to colossians chapter two we're pretty much done i'm sorry go go to hebrews 11 i'm going to skip some of this i wanted to talk about the fact that the bible says we live from faith to faith we believe on christ by faith but after that we're still supposed to exercise faith for our daily needs and in fact the bible tells us in colossians 2 verse verse 6 as he have therefore received christ jesus the lord so walking in him so how do we receive christ jesus by faith how we're supposed to walk in him by faith you know that's why james 2 exists so we have a living faith not a dead faith okay now look at hebrews 11 verse 1 it says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for by it the elders obtain a good report so it starts off by telling us that who the bible is about to talk about reference here in chapter 11 they obtained a good report because they had faith okay skip down to verse 32 look what it says here and what shall i more say for the time would fail me to tell of gideon and of barack and of samson of jeptha of david also and samuel and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouth of the mouths of lions quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong wax valiant and fight turned to flight the armors of the aliens it's not referring to et women received their dead raised life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they may obtain a better resurrection so notice here this is a deep truth that when i came across this i was just i was just amazed at this and the reason for this because you have two types of people here one that escaped the sword by faith and one who had the opportunity to escape the sword but they refused deliverance why so they could obtain a better resurrection but they both had a good report so this goes to show us that both of these groups god was going to deliver them the one who was did not accept deliverance that means deliverance was proposed but they chose not to accept that deliverance why because they wanted a better resurrection i mean put that in your pipe and choke on it right there look what it goes on to say and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings they moreover of bonds and imprisonments they were stoned they were sauna sunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in daves and caves of the earth and these all having obtained a good report through faith received not the promise now when it talks about that about faith it's not referring to the fact that they just kept believing that they were saved i think we already understand that faith that god can deliver them faith that god had a better had something better for them faith that they were going to obtain a better resurrection i mean to for for them to say i refuse to be delivered because i want to obtain a better resurrection that's faith that's a lot of faith you know why is that well because they believed on god they believed his promises that his promises are true so the main takeaway look we see that even in the book of daniel misha shadrach and abednego when they're going into the fiery furnace what do they say the lord is able to deliver us but if not we will not bow he's able but if he doesn't we're still not gonna bow you know so the takeaway sir you know the message here is this is that second timothy chapter two is a chapter on suffering and persecution and really helping us to endure that hardness for other people's sake and knowing full well being persuaded that god is able to deliver us from those things look let's say you know you receive persecution even to the point of death you know god is still going to deliver you because what's going to happen the resurrection what's going to happen you know we will meet him in the air they you know the the dead in christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain until the coming of the lord shall meet him in the air that's referring to the last 75 days of the great tribulation either way you get delivered okay so this does not mean you can stop believing no this means you can stop believing that god can deliver you right you know from physical harm you can lack faith you can have a relapse of faith in that or it's just like i don't think i can do this anymore you know and people you know they stop running the race that's set before them that happens it may be said of us that we're not that you know you know if you have a relapse of faith in your personal life just keep doing what you're doing just plow through that thing just endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ amen not only for your sake but for those who are watching you as well spider hasn't have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word of the profound truths found therein i pray god that you'd help us lord there's times i know in my personal life that i'm weak i fear but i pray that in those times in those moments of fear that you would increase our faith help us to be strong in the lord and the power of his might help us to pray our way through it help us to read the bible help us to memorize scripture help us to just meditate on your word and also as we saw here in this chapter help us to look upon those who have gone through the hardships of life and recognize that you know there's no temptation taken us but such as is common to man and so i pray god that you would help us in that area and that we would endure into the end you know that we would endure persecutions and sufferings so we can we can see the deliverance of the lord and if you even if you don't deliver us if we refuse deliverance we know in faith that we will have a better resurrection and thank you so much for all these promises in jesus name amen