2nd Timothy 1:8-18
Vern Peterman · Oct 2, 2011
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, No. 14
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926248493764

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, we began 2nd Timothy last week. The handout for last week and this week is there on this little pedestal. So this is the second passage, 2nd Timothy 1, 8-18. And what I discovered in here is I was going through 1st Timothy 8-11, which is the first passage that we look at. I could easily have gone on for a couple more pages with questions just on that passage. So just a caution, we're actually just going to hit the high spots. And maybe we'll get through it. We'll see here.

2 Timothy 1.8-11 reads like this, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me his prisoner, but join me in suffering for the gospel according to, that is consistent with, the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to, or not consistent with, our works, but according to, consistent with, to his own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished, that is made of no effect, even death, and brought life in immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher." Okay. There's Paul with his Roman sentences, right? I see. Okay. Art had a gift for those sorts of things, right? So, let's go back to the beginning. Why would anyone be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of Paul? Why would anyone be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of Paul? Unbelief. Unbelief. Unbelief on the part of who? The one being ashamed. The one being ashamed has unbelief.

Yes, Dan? The Jewish people? Ah, okay. And what's Paul's ethnicity? Jewish, right? There he is. These are my people, right? Bribe of Benjamin. That's a good point. Any other thoughts on that? Well, they could have, people would have looked down on Paul as a common criminal. He's in prison. Yeah. And a lot of people didn't regard the Lord Jesus Christ very favorably. He was crucified as a criminal, and they were preaching this. Yeah.

Think of it, I mean, okay, you say, alright, he ends up in prison once, you kind of may overlook that. But here's a guy, it seems like he just goes from one prison to the next. And, okay, I just got out and now I'm back in, right? And by the way, weren't you in prison in Rome? And now where are you? So, yeah, this guy just seems to keep, you know, Going back to prison, so that's not so good. Let's think about something else about the prisons.

My second son works in the prison in the state of Nevada. He used to work in the max and the worst of the worst. He used to work with prisoners that were so bad that they never let him out. He couldn't let him out. He's now changed to a different role where he is the one transporting prisoners back and forth to everything from, okay, you've paid your debt in this state, now you've got to go to the next one, or we need to take you to the court, or we've got to take you to the hospital, or those kinds of things. But in this situation, the state essentially takes care of the fundamental needs.

Roman times if you did not have friends who are coming to help you in prison you could die there Because they don't say here. Here's your prison garb. Here's your food. They just don't care You know so you better have some friends somewhere or you're going to be in a very bad way and So prison was one of those things It was really wretched And some of them were more wretched than others.

It was only a matter of degrees. Being under house arrest, as he first was, wasn't too bad because you could actually be reasonably taken care of. But being in many of those prisons was a very desperate situation. You had better have friends. Somebody who's going to come in and bring you things and get you some fresh clothing and that kind of thing. bring you food, otherwise you're in trouble. A shameful place, and Paul had likely been through several shameful places, and where he previously was under house arrest having appealed to Caesar, this time it doesn't look that good.

Looks like he's really in prison. The next one, does Paul mean that Christ is the Lord's prisoner held in the Lord's own prison? What does he mean by me his prisoner? Does the Lord have us all in prison? Is that how that works? What does he mean by his prisoner? Yeah, it's interesting to say I'm the Lord's prisoner. It doesn't mean that, hey, this is Jesus' jail, right? And I'm in Jesus' jail and He has me in here.

But in fact, I am a prisoner for whose sake? For Christ's sake, right? I'm a prisoner for Christ's sake. That's why I'm here. It's not that the Lord's got me under lock and key and I'm not getting out because that's what the Lord wants for me. But rather, I'm a prisoner for Christ's sake.

Third bullet there, if Timothy joins Paul in suffering, is he a masochist or what is he? Is this a good thing? I mean, do you really want people to join you in suffering? What's that all about? Well, he has the same testimony as Paul has. You say that again? He has the same testimony as Paul has. Well, what's that? spreading the gospel. Okay, he has the same testimony, the bottom line, the gospel, okay, he is, he, Timothy, has the same claim to everyone as Paul does. So, yeah, just as eligible, yes. Ah, okay, yeah, this is not a good political move. Right. Not a good political move. Good point. What about this joining me in suffering? Shouldn't Paul be saying, you know, really, I'm here and the Lord wants me here, but be careful, don't get where I'm at. What does he mean, join me in suffering? Is that strange?

Alright. By the way, do we have any evidence that Timothy ever spent time in prison? Yes. Hebrews. Book of Hebrews. The last part of the book of Hebrews refers to Timothy getting out of prison. So Timothy himself would also spend time. At this point, we don't know if he has yet done so, but Hebrews was written about the same time as this letter. Probably within a year of each other, possibly less. So yeah, here's Timothy. Join me. Here's the next one.

How should Timothy go about joining with Paul in suffering, and how should he do it according to the power of God? Isn't a person who is suffering in prison powerless? Suffering in prison and according to the power of God, how does that mix? When you think of the power of God, do you think of some guy locked up in some dismal, grungy dungeon kind of prison? Is that what you think of when you think of the power of God? It almost is a disconnect, isn't it? It is, in our usual thinking, not consistent. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, it's how am I going to get through this and not just how am I going to survive.

Remember when Paul and Silas were in Philippi and they were put in stocks which were really miserable. You know, they didn't clean up from the guy previous that didn't get let go to go to the bathroom. And really raunchy, stinky, smelly place, poor ventilation. And so what do Paul and Silas do? Do they gripe through the night? Do they moan and groan and say, oh, this stinks? Do they just try to fight back the barfing? Or what do they do? They sing songs until midnight.

Wow, so it isn't, the power of God isn't just survival, but it's in circumstances that you would in no wise think is going to stimulate someone to sing. I would venture to say that the Philippian jailer had never had anybody singing in the stocks before.

Right? This was unique. Yes, Randy? to bring people to minister in the Gospels. I'm here at this location because I must need to preach the Gospel here. Yeah, God has me here. Is this nice? If somebody said, hey, this is great. It's either this or a cruise. Which one would you sign up for? in jail is a tremendous witnessing opportunity. Yes. Yeah. It just doesn't get any better than this. Right? Yeah. I have a captive audience. And they will not have the slightest idea why I am singing based on my circumstances. It will draw their curiosity. Why the opportunity doesn't get any better than that.

Right? Yeah. You're thinking these guys are crazy. Right? Yeah. Yeah, this is a tremendous opportunity. What does it mean to be saved and called with a holy calling? Is that the cell phone ringing? Zing, zing, zing. You know these days how the cell phones can say anything. Hey, you, get the phone! Yeah. Yeah? That would be sanctified. Sanctified? Alright, so we have a holy calling set apart for a holy purpose. Can you do that in prison? Can you do that when the prison stinks? Can you do that when it's really uncomfortable? Yeah, frankly you can't. It's the Lord that does it, right? Yeah, it's the Lord that does it. Let's look at the next set of bullets there.

If our salvation is not according to our works, should we not concern ourselves with works from here on out? Should we just forget about works altogether? Is that what Paul says? Look man. I'm not saved by works. So just forget about works. You know I'm gonna you know take a shower when I want and eat when I want and you know sleep when I feel like I need to sleep and And that's it. I'm just not gonna worry about works or concern myself with it or even think about it anymore I'm just waiting until I go to heaven But God doesn't indicate that there's a work in Ephesians 2, 8-10.

Those are the works He has planned. He has prepared good works. Oh, okay, so there is something I need to think about on that. They don't save me. They don't save me. But He has prepared good works that I might walk in them. So there are works, even good works, to concern myself with, but they're not the means by which I'm saved. They're the outcome of being saved, not the means to gain it. Next bullet.

If our salvation is consistent with His own purpose and grace granted to us from all eternity, what does that mean? By the way, if something is from all eternity, what is that telling us? Which eternity are we talking about? Huh? The past. Isn't that interesting? From all eternity is in the past. How would you say the future forever? For or into all eternity would be future, right? This is from all eternity. I mean, you didn't even exist back in eternity past. What's this talking about? Yeah, bud? Yeah. Here's what's interesting.

God didn't just kind of make things. Let there be light. Let's separate the light from the darkness. Let's make this mountain go here and the water go there. Let's make these critters and creatures fly and swim. Let's make some people. And then centuries go by and God goes, wow, look! Here's this guy Vern that showed up. Boy, what are we going to do with this guy?

So we can sometimes think that that's how God does things, but the reality is that what God has in mind, what He is doing in our lives, started before He said, let there be light. So here we are gathering here this morning, looking at this, learning about this, and the realization is that before God said, let there be light, He's already thought about you and he's already got something in mind and he's already saying, and this is the eternity future that I have in mind for this believer and this believer and this believer and this believer and this believer. He's already thought that all through. Isn't that cool?

And it also says that God cares about you individually and personally. Like, oh, to be with the Lord, it won't be like, man, about two miles away with a whole bunch of people in front of me, there's the Lord somewhere up there. I hope He can see me. Hey, Lord, I'm back here. We've got a minute. I'd like to talk to you. It's not like that, is it? He is caring about each and every one of us individually from eternity past before He said, let there be light. That is neat. That's really cool. That's really cool. So, let's look at this.

Grant us small eternity. Does that mean that God just doesn't care about sin anymore? He just loves us the way we are and wants to move on. So God's just kind of gotten a little... He's just not very uptight. Is that the deal? God's just not very uptight anymore. Is that the deal?

Or what's this talking about? The grace which He granted us in Christ from all eternity. Is grace what we needed? Did we go up to God's kind of service counter And we ask for something and God says, well, I haven't got any of that, but here's some grace. Is that the way it works?

Grace is exactly what we needed. And it's abundant. It's, as Ephesians chapter 2 puts it, the over-the-top, surpassing, overthrown wealth of this grace. That's exactly what we needed in an immense amount. You see, here's grace granted us from eternity past, and what are we going to be occupied with regarding grace in eternity future?

Ephesians 2.7, he is going to show, to visibly demonstrate, grace into the rolling ages to come into all eternity. So here's grace starting from eternity past, before he said let there be light, and now we're talking grace that goes on into an eternity future, Ephesians 2-7. Lots of grace, plenty of it. Mountains and fountains of grace.

From time to time, Paul writes, but now. Why is it that God cannot just simply be obsessed with sin? How could that be? After all, here are all these people that, you know, Even now, we do things that aren't perfect. So does that mean God just kind of throws up His hands and says, I don't care? Or why is it that God can deal with us so immensely graciously? Why? Yes. He has absolutely, righteously, and completely dealt with all sin of all time.

Here's Christ on the cross, and in the English, this is from the Gospel of John, the English just says, it is finished, but in the Greek it was just one word, tetelestai, and that was written in the perfect tense, and it was an accounting term. It meant, it's all paid. And so it is all, every bit, completely paid for all time. With nothing sticking out around the edges. No leaks. Every single little thing is all paid for. All at God's own expense. And it's done. Completely. All the way done. So really think about it, as a Christian, in terms of your standing with God, there's nothing at issue. It's all completely paid for.

So why does God care about sin in the life of the believer now anyway at all? Because it breaks our fellowship. See, it's not that God cares about sin. In one way, He just wants to get it out of the way so He can fellowship with you. That's all. And that's the only reason God cares about sin. It's not that God's obsessed about sin and just can't get it out of His mind. He just wants it out of the way.

Why? Because He wants fellowship with you. That's the only reason that sin matters at all. Because it's been done and done with eternally in Christ's death on the cross. So the only possible problem from it is that it's going to get in the way of that fellowship that he wants. Stan?

I can say I know a lot of people who are, not a lot of people, but I know Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and New Age people that say the same thing, that they have full forgiveness because of that, that they don't understand what they were saying, how they received their righteousness. No. No. It's one of the reasons why here at Holly Hills we focus quite a bit on grace. Various groups have been christened, I will call it, misunderstand grace.

Christ did not die so that you can earn your salvation, which is the teaching of many of these groups who, a lot of times we would call them cult groups. Christ did not die so that we could earn our salvation. He completely paid for everything. That's when he said, to tell us to die, it's only one Greek word, but it means he paid everything for all time, completely, totally done. And then grace isn't just God saying, well, okay, now you've got your chance.

In the Seventh-day Adventist teaching, there will be a time when Christ will step away as your advocate and you have to stand on your own merits. The investigative judgment. God will check you out. That's their teaching. But Jesus says, it's all pain, every little bit. Yeah, but... It's often said in the scriptures that Jesus, you know, Christ and the Father were for that moment in time, contrary to all eternity past and eternity future, that moment in time, Christ and the Father were dissociated in fellowship. Why? Because he took our sins, all of them, every single one upon himself.

I heard a radio program that said that's one of the saddest statements in the Bible. Jesus basically quoted in Aramaic Psalm 22. That's out of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so he was there on the cross, and people didn't understand him. As a matter of fact, the gospel records, what's he saying? But he was saying in Aramaic, quoting from Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The next bullet there, from time to time Paul writes, but now, as in Galatians 3.25 and 4.9 and Ephesians 2.13 and 5.8. Why does he write that way from time to time? Why does Paul write, but now? What's the significance of that? Is that just kind of a rhetorical tool or is there a reason why he says, but now?

Yes? Because we're a new creation. We're a new creation. Okay, alright. We're a new creation. Any other observations you see? We have a new relationship based on Christ's death on the cross and also having begun as the church, the body of Christ. and operating under different principles and fundamental truths.

Let's ask Moses. Moses was a believer, right? Was he in Christ? No, Moses was not. How about David? Here's David who was promised to have a descendant on his throne. Was David in Christ? No. It was only starting there in Acts 2 that believers were made to be in Christ. Previously, that was not the case. But now, the Jews were baptized. This is 1 Corinthians 10. The Jews were baptized into Moses as they went through the water and under the cloud. They were baptized into Moses. We are baptized into Christ. That began in Acts 2, that day of Pentecost event. only true for the church. But now, right? But now, God is doing something different with the church than with Israel, which is why we don't just look at the Sermon on the Mount and just take it all straight to heart. Yes, it's a difference between law and grace.

We are people of grace and will be so for all eternity. Imagine what it will be like in the coming reign of Christ. Christ will reign in Israel from Jerusalem as the King of Israel and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the Gentiles and all of the people who have bodies like this will be ruled by law. The Jews will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to know the law from the heart and to live it out. The whole world will be ruled by law.

We will be there. But not in these kinds of bodies, we will all be in resurrection bodies like his, we shall be like him for we'll see him as he is, right? And we will be there in the new, in this new millennial reign of Christ as an island of grace. The world ruled by law. even inspired to do so, that will be the Jews. But we will be an island of grace, says the Bride of Christ. A very unique people.

Oh, and by the way, Ephesians 2.7 says, in the ages to come, he will show, he will visibly demonstrate his grace. Do you think that's going to take a 1,000 year break during the kingdom? No, during the kingdom when everything else is ruled by law, he's going to continue, if that's one of the ages to come, right? He's going to continue showing and demonstrating his grace to us as the people of grace while we're here in new bodies. Those same 600? All 613 laws, yes. Yeah.

People that are saved during that period of time, are they saved in Jesus Christ? All people who are saved are saved by faith, but that does not mean that they are in Christ. Only the believers from the church, Acts 2, to the rapture, to the time when the Lord takes us home, only those believers are in Christ. The others have the substitutionary death of Christ on their behalf. Only we are in Christ.

Like the Old Testament saints? Like the Old Testament saints, yes. The unconverted Jew of today is eligible for this salvation. The unconverted Jew is eligible for? Today is eligible for that salvation. Yes, well certainly, because it's neither Jew nor Gentile, right? Neither Jew nor Greek. There is no distinction now from Acts 2 to the Rapture.

So here's Paul. Here's Paul, who had gone around trying to kill all the Christians that he could. Matter of fact, he said in Acts, he says, whenever I had a chance, I voted for death. And then he became a believer. And then all of a sudden, he says, all that stuff, it's all skubalon, sewage. compared to knowing Him.

The appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, is that His first coming in this context, or the rapture when Christ comes to take us home with Him, or the second coming? It sounds like the Incarnation because it talks about how He abolished or conquered death.

Okay. The appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death. Now when did He do the abolishing of death? Actually the abolishing of death was what? His resurrection. Right? His resurrection in His first coming. So there's our answer. So the context tells us it is his first coming.

Is who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel? Isn't that kind of redundant? Are these saying slightly different things? Abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Are those all redundant terms or slight differences? Ah, what kind of death is that talking about? He abolished death. Does that mean nobody's going to die anymore? Is that what it meant? I mean, these bodies, nobody's going to die with these bodies? Yeah?

He abolished sin, but that was the death of sin. Okay, now let's look at that we've got death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Well, now spiritual death would be a death of separation, but is that what he's talking about? And by the way, this is what he did in his first coming, right? So what did he do in his first coming that abolished death and brought life and immortality to the light through the gospel?

Okay, it's eternal life. Okay. So it is talking about spiritual change. Okay, there's a spiritual change. Immortality can be eternal. Okay, so it doesn't mean that these bodies won't die. Right? Our soul will never die. Does it mean that unless the Lord comes while we're alive, unless the Lord comes while we're alive, we will experience physical death, right? Is it permanent? No, it's not. Was Jesus' death on the cross and His burial in the tomb permanent? No. Much to the surprise of everyone there, even the disciples. Right? It was not permanent.

You can imagine, here is Jesus as he appears to John in the early part of Revelation. He says, I was dead and now I'm alive. Think about this. John had not seen him for over half a century. And John was around when he saw Christ die. Remember, here's John. And Jesus says, John, behold your mother. There's Mary. And so here's, John saw Jesus on the cross. And he saw Jesus resurrected. And now, over a half a century later, John is hearing Christ say, I was dead and now I'm alive. He was resurrected. So what you see here is a triple statement referring to abolished death, which didn't mean it ended, but it made it of no effect.

Why? Because we are resurrected in new bodies. Yes, in Christ all are made alive. It doesn't mean we get some guarantee you won't die. So when Nancy and I were in college, there was a cult group down in the Bay Area that taught that if you died physically, that meant you weren't a Christian. Most of the people died off, though. It didn't work out. Yeah. Yeah, this is a good question that you ask. It's one that was asked Thursday night, and it was asked while we were practicing music this morning, too.

Let me give you the quick answer, and that is, while Scripture does not explicitly say this, I think that it's consistent with Scripture to have this understanding, that people who have died, believers who have died in the past, are brought forward in time to the time of the rapture, and that's what the Bible means by they are raised first. and we won't precede them. Let's take it for instance, the Apostle Paul, who died about 67-68 AD, just right after this letter was written, is brought forward in time to the time of the rapture.

I don't believe Paul is sitting up here looking at his sundial and saying, boy, when are the rest of these people going to get along here? I mean, this is great up here, but we're sure waiting a while. I don't believe that's the case. I don't believe that Hal and Art are waiting and saying, you know, this is really cool, but, you know, when are the rest of these folks from the Holly Hills going to get here? I don't believe that's the case. What I believe is the case is that those people are brought forward in time so that in the twinkling of an eye, we will all meet with the Lord together.

And so there is no, you know, kind of waiting time. You know, people looking down at their watch and saying, well, this is cool, but, you know, where's the rest of the folk? Yeah, not with ease, right? Yeah, not with ease. That's a quick answer to your question. I realize it's a little brief.

Speaking of redundant, how is Paul a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher, all three at once? I mean, shouldn't he have to just pick one? How does he get to be all three? Three separate gifts, aren't they? Okay, let's think about that. In terms of reference to the gift, what is Paul's primary gift? Essentially he's an apostle, but then the preacher, the proclaiming part of it, is proclaiming the gospel in great part, and then the teacher is those who have believed, then are brought along in the faith and built up in the truth. So all within the apostolic gift that he is given. So those are different names given to different roles that Paul has, all kind of under the umbrella of the apostolic gift.

Do we have any apostles around anymore? No. We don't have any apostles around anymore. There are people who have the gift of evangelism. There are people who have the gift of teaching and various other gifts. The apostle is kind of a super gift, included a number of others.

2 Timothy 1.12.13 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know, whom I have believed, also the perfect tense, and I am convinced, that he is able, present tense, to guard that which I have entrusted to him until that day. You must retain the standard of sound. That word sound, Hooky, I know is the word we get our English word hygiene from. It refers to spiritually healthy words, which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

So there goes Paul talking about suffering and being ashamed again. I mean, does he have a problem? But why does he keep, I mean, he's harping on it. It's like, oh, come on, let it go, right? Why does he keep coming back to the suffering and shame theme? Yeah? Yeah. Isn't it interesting that the Lord has appointed him to these things? Now, afterwards, we're going to have people sign up. Anybody who'd like to have some suffering and shame, we'll let you sign up for that and make sure that it happens. Would you like that? It isn't something we'd sign up for, but guess what?

That's what the Lord appointed him to. He keeps coming back to it because that's exactly what the Lord had in mind. You think of an apostle, well that's a nice exalted position. Not so much. Right? Not so much. What's with all the knowing and believing and being convinced? And by the way, they're all in the perfect tense. What do we mean by that, besides being perfectly tense? It's a completed past action. It's the same way we talked about Jesus said, it's finished, to telestai. That's the same thing, perfect tense. A completed past action, ongoing results in the future.

Paul is not partly convinced. He's not believing, kind of, sort of, on the way, you know, getting there. He's not saying, well, I'm kind of getting to know, I'm sort of arriving, you know. He didn't do that. I know completely. Yes. Why does he speak with such specificity and finality? Yes.

I was just going to say where it says, upon whom I have believed is a perfect chance, and without degree, it's difficult to see that what And so a lot of people, if they don't understand that particular verse verb form in Greek, it doesn't see the permanence of that action.

What does this say about someone who said, you know, I put my trust in Christ, but have you ever known anybody that's done that and then walked away? What does this verse say about that person Are they still saved? Or did they lose it? Yeah, in other words, what it says is that which took place back then is still effective even if now I don't stand by it.

Which I think is an important point of comfort if you have friends, relatives, maybe even, you know, daughters, sons, grandsons, granddaughters. If you know somebody, someone who is dear to you that at one point in time believed and then slipped away, fell away, walked away, whatever terms you want, I think we can take comfort in these because these words imply a permanence. Now, and here's something else. I know whom I have believed, and I'm convinced, all those verbs are perfect tense, and he is able, present tense.

If someone believes and then moves away from the faith, does that change God's ability? No, it does not. They have moved away from God's ability. in their daily life, in their condition, as we say, but in their position, God is still completely able. Right? God is able. God is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Yes, bud? The blessed insurance. Assurance. Okay, good.

Yeah, it's a good way to put it. And the thing about, what does this word entrusted mean? What do we mean when we say entrusted? If somebody entrusts something to you, what does that mean? You can count on it. Okay. Pardon? You're expecting someone else to take seriously what you've entrusted to them. So is what he entrusted faith? Belief? Yeah, let's think about what did he entrust?

That's where the gospel comes in. Okay, yeah. Let's open our Bibles. Hopefully we have enough time here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. By the way, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, this is written to a really mature, solid church, right? I mean, this church is really advanced and really down the road spiritually, right? Not so much.

1 Corinthians 1 verse 4 through 9, I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you, you didn't earn it, right, by Christ Jesus that you were enriched in everything in Him in all utterance and knowledge even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you so that You come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Who's faithful? God's faithful, right? And who's going to do the confirming?

God, so what's happening here? It's not like, boy, you better hang in there to the bitter end, and you better hold on, because if you drop a stitch, you're going to burn in hell. Right? Is that what the Bible says? No. He's writing to this goofy church. Three chapters later, he's going to say, you people are all really fleshly. You've got some serious problems. He's going to start off chapter 4 by saying, you guys need to figure out that we're stewards of the mysteries of God. I mean, these people don't get it.

But he starts off and says, I thank my God for you. And you know what? I know God's faithful. I'm not so sure about you guys, but I know God's faithful. And he's going to pull it off. You can entrust the things that really count to Him. When it comes right down to it, He's trustworthy, and that's where you want to put your trust and confidence. So it depends on who? It depends on God. And God's going to pull it off.

Here's Paul, he looks at these people, he's spent time with them, he's taught them, he's left them with good teachers, and they're goofier than a wooden watch. They're goofier than a wooden watch, but he says, God is faithful, he will pull it off, he will do it, and you can count on him, and he will confirm you to the end. So that's what Paul is saying personally here in 1 Timothy. He says, look, this is all up to God now. I've entrusted him with the things that really count.

Now the difference between Paul and the Corinthians is what? Paul was presently believing all that God had revealed to him. Whereas the people that Paul was writing to in Corinth weren't getting it. But there's no shortcoming on God's part. And it doesn't ultimately depend upon us. It depends upon Him and His character and His faithfulness. So Paul gets it, the Corinthians didn't. At least not as of the first letter. But it depends upon him. And we can count on him. So ultimately, we can't blow it. Are you predestined to be conformed to the image of the sun? Yep. Yeah, it is cool. That's really cool.

See, you know, because it doesn't depend on me. It's not like, boy Vern, you better hold in there to the last stitch or you're just going to go out on a banana peel. No. It doesn't depend on me. It depends on Him. It doesn't depend on my character. It depends on His character. It doesn't depend on, you know, it's not my job to, okay Vern, get yourself conformed. It's not my job to do the conforming.

He's the one who will pull it off and he is the one who is predestined me to be conformed. Depends on him and his character and his promises. The one who had grace from eternity past and will have grace on into eternity future. Lots of it. Yes? I'm going to entrust that to you and I'm not going to run off. Well, let's ask this. If God has promised to do something, should I try to help Him? If I've been predestined to be conformed, we'll say, boy, Lord, that's awful nice of you, but just let me at it, and I'll pull it off here. You don't need to do that. I sure appreciate the thought, but I'll take care of the conforming. Thank you. Yeah, yeah.

Or let's look at 2 Corinthians 3.18.

We're transformed as we behold the Lord Jesus Christ. But who does the transforming? And how do we behold the Lord Jesus Christ in His inspired Word given by the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit does the transforming. I don't come to God and say, you know, that was really cool of you to offer that, but I think I can kind of pull it off myself. Yeah, like I've got anything to offer. It is ultimately a reliance upon Him and His character and His processes and all the things that He has intended to make happen. And that's great.

Because I can't blow it. I can't blow it. Not ultimately. I can blow it here. And in fact, I can lose the opportunity for reward that could have been mine. But there will come a day, blow it or not, there will come a day when I shall be like him, I'll see him as he is. There will come a day when I'll be completely conformed to his image. And that's cool. I can count on it. I can count on it. And I see Brian just poised, ready to hit that button. So we're not going to get through here, but any other thoughts, comments? Inspirations? Exasperations? Perspirations? Conflagrations? Hey, there it goes. Alright, nobody said anything, so let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for what you've revealed here. It is really cool for us to be able to entrust everything until that day, that day when we see you face to face. And may it come soon, Lord, when we all see you face to face. And as we look at this passage, there's certainly a great deal in it. And we thank you for so much to count upon as we see Paul's carefully selected words in his last letter that we know of to Timothy. And we give you thanks, Lord, for what you've revealed because you love us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.