“Unchained and Standing Firm”

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:8-19

It is generally believed that this letter was written about the same time as the great fire in Rome – this is the same fire that led to the saying “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”. And as history tells us, whatever the actual cause of the fire was, the Christian community was blamed for the great destruction and loss of life. Paul, the recognized leader of the church, was named, therefore, as the chief “conspirator”, was arrested, and imprisoned.

If found guilty, he would have been charged with destruction of the city and the murder of countless Roman citizens – a capital crime in Rome. And yet, even as a prisoner of the Roman Empire, he continued his work for the kingdom of God. He wrote letters, he proclaimed Jesus Christ to all who would listen, he encouraged the Church to remain firm and to continue their mission to the people of earth.

As we continue with this letter to Timothy, we see the lengths that this prisoner of Rome would go to show others how to be a true “prisoner of Jesus Christ”.

Read 2 Timothy 2:8-10

His chains were real, but while the Emperor thought that he could destroy the gospel message through control of the messenger, Paul knows that nothing - not hatred, not evil, not violence, not lies nor anything else – could ever keep the truth and hope of Jesus Christ from spreading throughout the world. The word of God is carried through the work of the Holy Spirit, and by those who love the Lord, and as we know from history, the more that the Church comes under attack, the more that the word will spread.

It’s a little like a drop of mercury. If you step on it, if you try to squash it into oblivion, it just spreads out in far more pieces than you had at first. That’s what faith in Christ does – in Mark 6:10-11, we read “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Mercury! The gospel spreads like mercury – it will never be destroyed, it will never be contained, and it will live forever.

Paul also knew that his refusal to flee from the world’s hatred and persecution, regardless of how intense it may become, and in spite of the consequence that it might bring, it was worthy of a herald of God and had a divine purpose that even the faithful might not fully understand. The Church needs to be reminded, sometimes over and over again, of what Jesus suffered on our behalf. And if our Almighty God would accept such depravity just to give us the chance to gain eternal life, shouldn’t we be willing to follow his example of what loving others fully entails?

Read 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Remember Jesus’ parable of the Ten Minas? In Luke 19:11-27, we read of the ten servants who were placed in change of portions of the master’s estate while he would be out of town. Only two would be faithful to their charge, and their reward for faithfulness would be far greater than anything they might have done for the master while living in this life. And those who refused to carry out the master’s will would suffer greatly, without any reward in either this life or the next.

Paul is telling us that a faithful life in the here and now will bring rewards that dwarf anything that we will ever know. If we suffer, and even die, in our faithfulness, we will discover that life with our Lord and King will be greater than anything we could ever possibly gain here on earth. And if we endure the hatred and condemnation that the people of earth bring down upon us, we will not only live forever with Christ, we will also reign with him!

Of course, Paul also has to lay out the consequences of our failure to be faithful to Christ. Denial and rejection of his Lordship will bring God’s denial and rejection of us at the Judgment. But the apostle offers two more important thoughts that we need to consider.

First, “if we are faithless” toward him, his faithful heart will always remain faithful. Does that mean that we just might get a pass on our sin? Unfortunately, it means that God will never deviate from his great plan of salvation – that eternal life is, and always will be, dependent on our faith and obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ. But it also means that the promise of forgiveness when we repent of our wayward lives, is also always before us, regardless of how vicious we may have been previously toward the truth of Christ.

And the second thought is this – that God “cannot disown himself”. The truth of this issue is that even though we may be able to change our minds, God cannot! Our cognitive abilities, our ability to reason and analyze ideas, is anything but perfect. We make mistakes because our personal understanding is seriously flawed and limited, but the Lord’s understanding is complete and perfect.

Ephesians 4:18 – “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their hearts.”
Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We are ignorant of the greater things, while the Lord is all knowing, but if we rest our understanding in the truth, and the wisdom, and the infinite grace of Jesus Christ, he “will guard our hearts and minds” from the darkened ignorance of the world. And in this promise, God will never allow us to submit to the world’s condemnation.

Read 2 Timothy 2:14-19

In essence, Paul is warning us against falling for the lies that the world will try to force on us – “beware of false teachers” is a constant theme through many of Paul’s letters, and rightly so. These are what lead us away from the Lord’s truth! And it’s quite a list that he warns us against-
Don’t argue over words – quarreling just introduces confusion.
Don’t be ashamed of the gospel – just stay true to its message for our lives.
Godless gossip is just that – it’s a conversation that has no connection to the Lord or his word, and which will only lead us farther and farther from the truth of Christ. Stay faithful to what Jesus has taught, and let the rest fall by the wayside.

Paul mentions two men who had been teaching false ways to the people. It is possible that they had been preaching that resurrection came in the moment of baptism – dying with Christ to live again in him – while true resurrection of the faithful will occur when Jesus returns to claim his Church. He describes this as “gangrene”, a decay that must be cut out of our lives.

But the bottom line is this – that no matter how smooth we may talk, no matter how convincing our arguments may be, no matter how much good we may do, it all comes down to this – do we truly know Jesus, and does he know us? And that relationship can only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider Jesus’ teaching in John 10:14-16 – “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me –“. And in Philippians 2:9-11 – “… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”. We can never have a Christ centered life if our allegiance is still in the ways of the world.

Paul’s body may have been chained in a Roman prison, but his spirit could never be controlled by any physical means, for it was given by God and existed to the glory of God – period.
There was no shame for his imprisonment, and no shame for what he had been proclaiming to the people. It was the truth of Christ, and his service in Christ, and the only shame was in the unbelief that the godless of earth held within their lives.
There was no waffling in his faith, there was no hesitation in his witness, there was no fear of what the world could do to him, and there would never be any regret in his response to Christ’s call on his life.

May each one of us release the death grip that we have on the world’s ways and lies, and live unashamed in the gospel of Christ Jesus . There is no better way.