2 Timothy 2:10

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Tabernacle Talk, and we are in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 10 today, and a really, really good verse that we've got, and I'm sure it will cause no controversy with anyone.

Paul is encouraging Timothy to think about Jesus and to allow Jesus to guide him through persecution and suffering and difficulty.

Even as that was Paul's pursuit, he says, I'm suffering like a criminal here in this Roman prison for the sake of the Gospel, because I was telling people about Jesus, and so I was imprisoned and I appealed to Caesar, so that way I could share the

Gospel with people in Italy, in Rome. And so I'm here right now because I am sharing my faith. And he says, even though I'm chained right now, even though I'm bound, the Word of God is not chained or limited or bound.

And he says, this is why I endure all things for the elect, so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Okay, a couple of really cool things that are here.

First off, I want to notice that he says, this is why I endure all things. This would be the word hypomeno. It's to remain, to stay, to reside in one place.

He says, I stick around, I remain through the hard times, through the difficulties. And he says, I'm not just doing that because I am like stuck here in Rome. That's not why I'm going through this.

You can think back to when he was first in Timothy's hometown of Lystra. He could have given up after being stoned by the people there and just said, you know, I love Jesus, but this is just too much.

And I'm not willing to go through bodily harm in order to tell other people about Jesus. But he still went on for multiple more missionary journeys. He went through shipwrecks.

He went through physical beatings. He went through being taken advantage of. And he says, I stay through all these things for the elect so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

OK, this brings us to the next question. I do want to mention one very light thing first. Paul said, I endure all things for other people to come to know Christ, that they would experience salvation.

For you today, what will you stick around through in order to let other people know about Jesus? Will you stick around through some awkwardness, some uncomfortability in order to tell someone else about the gospel?

I promise you, you will not be beaten up today for your faith. You will not be taken out of the city and have stones thrown at you. You will not be thrown in prison if you share your faith today.

And if Paul went through all of his difficulties and he says, I stick around through all of it so that people can know Christ, is that how you will live your life today? Because you're going to have it way easier.

But will you press through so that other people can know Jesus? And he says, I endure all these things for the elect, that is those that are chosen, the people that God has known from all eternity pasts and has claimed as his children.

This particular word is used 22 times in the New Testament, and every single time it is talking about those that are God's people. And specifically, those that are going to be saved. You can look at Romans 8 and verse 33.

Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the one that justifies. You can look there in Titus chapter 1 and verse 1.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness. Or another way that this word is translated in the New Testament is the word chosen.

1 Peter 2, 9, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And Paul here says, I do everything I do for the people that belong to God.

And he says, there are people that belong to God and they don't know yet that they are going to belong to God, that God from all eternity past has known that their salvation was coming.

And he planned it and he bought it and he did all of the work to make that a reality. And he says, Paul says, I'm not going around trying to like convince people to know Jesus. I'm not convincing people to be saved.

If you will, our sharing of the gospel is not us trying to have enough good reasons or trying to get people's minds to change.

We are simply announcing what God has done and we are letting people know of what God has done for them and the response that they are called to have as a result of it.

And he says, I endure all these things so that they may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. As those that are truly God's elect hear the gospel, they will accept him and they will be saved. And what joy there is in that moment.

Now, the question is, okay, well, how do I know who's elect? How do I know who are God's people? How do I know who will respond with a yes to what God's salvation message is?

And I love what Charles Spurgeon, an 18th century preacher said. He says, if I knew that the elect had like yellow polka dots on their back, I would lift up everyone's shirt in Britain and find them.

He says, but since that isn't how God has set it up, I'm just going to preach the gospel to everyone. And I know that everyone that responds in faith is the elect. Paul says, I go through everything to tell people about Jesus.

Will we do the same today? Thanks for tuning in. A little bit longer episode, but had to deal with a very fancy term in the elect.

And I hope that today was an encouragement for you. See you next time.