Our scripture reading this morning is from the book of 2nd Timothy, Paul's second letter to Timothy, and we'll read chapter 1, the first 14 verses. 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, from verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you, through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifest through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher which is why I suffer as I do but I am not ashamed For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." This is God's Word. Today is Pentecost, as we've already said, and so today is the day in which we remember when the Holy Spirit was poured into the New Testament Church. The ascension of Christ 10 days before, and the resurrection of Christ 50 days before, took place as milestones, as it were, markers in Christ's exaltation. And He ascended into heaven, and from there, He, together with the Father, have sent the Spirit without measure into the church. And the Spirit is poured out at Pentecost, the event celebrated in Acts chapter two. And it's not just Acts chapter two that we celebrate this event, but every year we remember. We remember what this means for the church and commemorate what has happened. The Spirit comes to the church. He fills believers, the people of God, and unites them with Christ and unites them with each other. And the Church is encouraged by the Spirit. The Church is filled by the Spirit. The Church is encouraged or motivated to worship and love by the Spirit. And the Church is empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness of Christ in the way they live and all that they do. And so now as a result of that, even 2,000 years later, we commemorate what the Spirit has done in the Church, or is doing, rather, I should say, in the Churches among us. There are actually two themes I was thinking about earlier this week, or last week, as I was preparing this message. Two themes, Gospel Fellowship and Gospel Witness. These two themes are related to Pentecost. Gospel Fellowship is the unity we have with Christ by the Spirit, and of course the unity that we have with each other by the same Spirit. Our fellowship in the Gospel. We are made one in Christ. made one with the triune God by the power of the Holy Spirit on the merits of Christ, and made one with each other, our fellowship. And even though we are somewhat separated from each other during this time of lockdown, well, even then we enjoy fellowship, don't we? We can enjoy fellowship through various mediums, and certainly as we speak with each other, and we long for that fellowship fully restored as we can fellowship together in worship, singing together, and praying together, and ministering together. This gospel fellowship is a very important part of what took place first in Pentecost, as you read it in Acts chapter two, and that we continue to enjoy because of the coming of the Holy Spirit. And then the other is gospel witness, the testimony of our Lord, the witness of Christ, to share with other people the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are two themes that we always think of at Pentecost and certainly other times. And these are two themes that are found in our text, the words of our text this morning. We read together from 2 Timothy chapter 2, and I want to look with you, well, we're going to look at the verses we read, verses 3 through 14, but particularly verses 8 and the first part of verse 9. Let me read it again with you now. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 8 and 9. Therefore, says Paul, do not be ashamed of the testimony, the witness about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel. by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling. As we reflect on this truth of gospel fellowship, gospel witness, and even gospel suffering, as we do so on this day of Pentecost, this day of prayer as well for the church, I want to use this passage to explain this passage as we reflect on these themes. Now, first of all, when did Paul write these words to Timothy? Second Timothy is written from Paul to Timothy, that's clear. In fact, it's probably the last letter of the New Testament, the inspired New Testament of Paul that was written by him, probably just before he died. He refers to several places in the letter, also the last chapter, chapter toward the end. Probably around the year 65 AD, he was in prison, almost certainly in the Roman prison. from this prison where he was deserted and suffering actually, quite cold it seems there and deserted. He says no one stood with him. He writes this letter to Timothy to encourage Timothy. Now Paul is at the end of his life. It would have been a faithful life actually the last 30 years or so since his conversion. He had seen the progress of the gospel. After Pentecost of course, the witness of the early church, the rapid growth the church planting efforts that Paul was also part of, leadership issues and other challenges that Paul was part of, and now Paul at the end of his life is looking back in somewhat of a farewell letter. He had worked tirelessly for Christ and now in this cold prison cell, he looks back on his life and he probably feels somewhat betrayed. In fact, that's probably what happened. He was probably betrayed, maybe by Alexander or one of the others he mentions. He was captured, he was imprisoned, And soon, history tells us he was beheaded. No one stood with him at first, it seems. And so, with this farewell letter, Paul reaches out to Timothy. But it's not about Paul, this letter. It's to Timothy. It's written to encourage Timothy, the young minister, to encourage and to motivate him, to stir him up, despite the hardship and suffering that he was facing. And so the letter starts from Paul to Timothy, his beloved son, Timothy, who had grown up in the faith, Paul had watched this, his grandmother, his mother Eunice as well, and Paul knew Timothy. Paul probably knew that Timothy, well, it seemed that he was somewhat timid, perhaps, and certainly young, and maybe at times weak. He was ministering in Ephesus at this time, the letter is written, and Ephesus was known for its false teachers and opposition, and so it's almost certain Timothy was facing quite a bit of opposition, as this letter also refers to, false teachers causing trouble, And so he needs to be encouraged. He's discouraged, perhaps even ready to give up at times. And so Paul writes this letter to Timothy to encourage him. And how does he start? Well, after a few preliminaries and remembering of Timothy's past, verse eight is where we see a command. Look at it with me, verse eight, please. Therefore, Paul says to Timothy, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me as prisoner. Paul, the prisoner, writes this to Timothy, do not be ashamed. Now, what does that word ashamed mean? Well, I think we can pretty much identify with this, to feel fear or embarrassment about a certain situation, to be hesitant, to be reluctant because of fear of humiliation, or to be afraid or to lack courage perhaps to stand up for something or someone or some truth. That's what it means to be ashamed. And we've all had times where we felt shame. We even see it in little children, don't we? Where they're ashamed of something or other they've done or not done. And certainly in adults as well, we see this, we feel this, we know what this is like. Paul says to Timothy, don't be ashamed. In fact, Paul, who's soon gonna be killed, beheaded for the faith, he says, don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed as you need to stand up to false teachers. Do not be ashamed, as you need to clarify, when you have much opposition. Do not be ashamed when you feel your own weaknesses. There's many reasons why we could be ashamed. Paul says, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Do not be ashamed, Timothy, of the gospel, the testimony by our Lord. And so Paul encourages Timothy because, well, there are many reasons why he would certainly be ashamed soon if he wasn't already. Paul's gonna be killed soon, the opposition, like I've mentioned, and even his own doubts and fears, perhaps. Often Satan uses the attacks without to somehow conspire with the fears within. And maybe Timothy, in his leadership, was facing fears or doubts or weaknesses even, and he knew his own weaknesses. And so maybe he was tempted, tempted to be ashamed of the gospel, tempted to give in, tempted not to stand up. The devil often does that to us, doesn't he? He often tempts us to be ashamed, ashamed of Christ, ashamed of his truth, ashamed of the gospel message. Do you know times like that, my friends? You know, the social negativity toward the church is a bad thing. I was thinking as I was looking through the news this week, reading different articles, and of course there's different views and different positions. I'm not taking sides here, but we all know, of course, the president gave permission to religious leaders to open up churches again in a controlled way. Now, it was interesting to see the media's reaction to this. There was a lot of negativity, surprising amount of negativity. It blew me away in some ways, how negative people were toward the church. And perhaps there's justification in part, people, so-called church leaders who have abused the situation in the past, or prophets of doom in other situations that are not right, false teachers. but there was an uncritical negativity toward the church and toward Christianity. And we don't just see this in South Africa, we especially don't, we see it in the West, in Europe, in America, an animosity, a despising, a marginalization of God's people. They're no longer valued. And yeah, we need to recognize this and be aware of this. It's a truth that we cannot ignore. And we should expect probably to see more negativity, certainly in the Western cultures, more negativity about Christians, They're misunderstood, and they're marginalized, and even misrepresented at times. And so, we are often tempted, and no doubt will be tempted, to be ashamed of the gospel. Increasingly, to compromise our biblical values. Values that are misunderstood, values that are misrepresented in the media, perhaps, values that are seen as actually not values at all, but bad things, not good, we are gonna be tempted increasingly to compromise our biblical values and to be silent when we should speak. Paul says to Timothy, do not be ashamed. When you even face situations like this, opposition, false teaching, persecution, suffering, do not be ashamed. That's what the Holy Spirit actually says to us today through these same words, doesn't he? He says, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. Why do we not need to be ashamed of this testimony, this gospel truth? Well, Paul goes on. He says, don't be ashamed, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. First of all, the testimony of our Lord, it's a phrase referring to the witness of Christ, or a testimony, a message about Christ, the facts of the gospel, Christ coming in the incarnation, his suffering, his death, The truth about Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the coming into the church, his poured out into the church, his filling the church, his witness, the witness of the gospel. These are all truths, truths that the church confessed, that Timothy confessed, and that we confess as well. The testimony of our Lord. We don't need to be ashamed of these facts, the truths of God's Word. Paul goes on, not just the gospel truth, but also He says, the gospel by the power of God. Now, this is an interesting phrase that Paul adds here. It's the end of his life, but 10 years ago, when he had written to the Roman Christians, he had used that same phrase, actually. Romans chapter one, verse 16. He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Years before, Paul had said, I am not ashamed of the gospel because It is the power of God. And now toward the end of his life, before he's killed, again he says, it is the power of God, this gospel. The power of God. Because you see, this gospel truth is more than just a fact. More than just a book that we find in the library. More than just a knowledge, a collective knowledge that we rejoice in. Gospel power is the word about Christ that is true and real. And it's the spirit of Jesus Christ who is true and real. Paul had witnessed for his 30-some years of ministry, he had witnessed the power of God at work through the word of the gospel, the Holy Spirit changing wicked sinners, converting them. He himself had been changed. For 30 years, the Spirit had ministered through the words of Paul, no, the words of Christ that Paul spoke. Paul knew the power of God, and so he reminds Timothy of this power, the Holy Spirit working through the word of the gospel. We look at circumstances, aren't we? We're often tempted to look at the circumstances around us, the opposition, the false teaching, the misrepresentation of the gospel, and we are discouraged by it, and rightfully so. We're tempted to be ashamed. We shouldn't be, but we are. We're tempted to be ashamed of the gospel. But considering the power of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul speaks of, well, then we're encouraged, aren't we? We're encouraged. And like Paul, we can make this confession. Look at what Paul says in In verse 12 now, as he continues, he's encouraging Timothy here, and listen to what he says in verse 12. He says, but I am not ashamed. Timothy, you should not be ashamed because I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. My friends, do you know the power of God? Do you know his power at work? More than just the fact of Pentecost 2,000 years ago, The fact that Christ came and suffered and died and rose again? The fact about salvation and God's forgiveness or church membership? No. This is a question, a personal question. Has the power of God been at work in your life? Do you know this power personally? The Holy Spirit at work through the word of Christ. Can you make this confession with Paul? I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able. to keep what I've committed unto Him against that day. Can you make that confession? You see, it's the Holy Spirit who works in our hearts, who turns us away from the sin and darkness within, and gives us the light of the glorious gospel truth about Jesus Christ. It's the Holy Spirit who gives us faith to believe in Christ with heart and soul. It's the Holy Spirit. He gives us grace to obey Christ with love and joy and peace to celebrate this truth. It's the Holy Spirit who takes away our fear and gives us love and self-control. He empowers us not to be ashamed of the gospel, but rather to boldly witness for Christ. Paul knew this spirit, and Timothy did too. And so here Paul encourages Timothy by stirring him up, by reminding him of this truth, the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the gospel. This is our confession, isn't it? We're not ashamed of the gospel. By God's grace, we're not ashamed. We're not silenced by the social negativity that we experience against Christianity. By God's grace, we're not quieted when the truth of Christ needs to be spoken, when Christ is scorned, when his word is scoffed at, mocked. No, no. Then we speak. We speak with love and humility, but we speak by the power of the Holy Spirit. even to the point of being willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. And that's how Paul continues. I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed. The Holy Spirit continues to work this in us. He takes away the shame and he gives us boldness to witness of Christ. Now, Paul goes on as well. It's not just this negative, do not be ashamed, but there's a positive here as well. In fact, what is he doing, Paul doing? Verses three through six, Paul is reminding Timothy of his past confession. The word remember is used several times there. Remember, remember, remember. You see, Paul reminds Timothy of his past experiences. Experientially and historically, he brings these things to Timothy's mind. But then he regrounds Timothy in the truth of the gospel. Look at verse nine with me. Do not be ashamed, Paul says, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. who saved us and called us. How does the Holy Spirit work powerfully in us this boldness, this courage, this clarity of thinking and clarity of speaking? Well, it begins by grounding us. He begins by grounding us in the truths of God's gospel, the gospel of grace. The gospel is the message of God who saves. It is about our salvation in Christ Jesus. It's about Christ himself, isn't it? how He came to save sinners, to bring an end to death that we deserve, and give eternal life that He has merited for us. Paul summarizes this gospel under two main headings, and I want to do that with you just briefly now. Two main headings that Paul uses, verse 9, God who saved us and who calls us. Those two headings. First, we are saved from death by grace in Christ alone. And Paul says all of that, he packs it all together, just there in verse 9 and 10. Look again with me. The power of God who saved us, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Several important truths here, friends. First, God saved us. We're not saved by ourselves. No, he saved us. This is central to Paul's teaching. Saved us from our own death, from our own sin and guilt, from the power of the devil. And he saves us unto eternal life. He saves us for light and life and love and fellowship with God. And then secondly, he says, we are saved not because of our own works. Now, we've talked about this many times. Many of Paul's teachings deal with this very subject. It's not any merit of our own. In fact, this is a very common trap the devil uses, doesn't he? He gets us to somehow think that we save ourselves Something we do actually brings us close to God. No, no, no. Salvation is of the Lord. Paul teaches it elsewhere in Scripture as well. Jonah confesses that in the belly of the whale. Salvation is of the Lord. God saves us, and we respond in thankfulness. It's by grace alone, in Christ alone. Not because of our works, but because of his own purpose, think election, and grace. Think of what Christ has done for us. By grace alone, we are saved. In Christ alone, Remember Christ's prayer with his disciples, John 17, verse 9. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. God saves us. And that's the first pillar of the gospel, as it were, the foundation. The Holy Spirit here through Paul reminds Timothy and he reminds us of these foundational gospel truths. If we believe this for ourselves, we know the power of God. But if we do not believe this, we do not have the power of God. We're trusting somehow in our own merit or our own works or the power of others, but not in God. So that's the first gospel truth that Paul touches here as he's encouraging Timothy. And the second gospel truth he expands on as well. God saves us, the power of God who saves us, but also who calls us to a holy calling, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Now, how does Paul unpack this? I'm gonna be brief here again as well. But Paul says we are not called, this idea of Christian calling, the way Christians are to live, how we are to behave, how we are to be guided in this lifestyle of Christianity, guided by the Holy Spirit. We are not called, verse seven, to live in fear, fear of the unknown, fear of things out there, fear of what might happen to us, financial situations or anxieties over challenging circumstances. God gave us not a spirit of fear, verse seven, but rather he gave us a spirit of love and self-control. The Spirit's gift of love, the Spirit's gift of self-control. These are graces worked in us. So God doesn't just save us from sin to life. God gives us these graces through the power of the Holy Spirit, love and self-control. And beyond that, he says, Therefore do not be ashamed, we're not called to live in shame, but rather, instead of this negative, do not be ashamed of the gospel, Paul says we are called to share in the suffering of the gospel. Verse eight, but share in the suffering of the gospel by the power of God. Now I'm gonna unpack this a bit more, but first, just let's pause here a bit more to think about this holy calling that we've been given if we are in Christ by the Spirit. It's a holy confession that we've already seen. Verse 12, Paul says, I am not ashamed for I know whom I believe and I'm convinced that he's able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. A holy confession, what we say with our lips. But not just a confession, but it's a profession, how we live out these truth claims. And this is really where the reality of Christianity is seen, isn't it? It's one thing to say we are a Christian. It's one thing to be a member of some Christian church and attend from time to time, but it's a profession. Paul speaks about the fact that he is called as a witness and as an evangelist and as a missionary and as a teacher. Now, we might not be a full-time gospel worker, but certainly we are called to be witnesses, witnesses of Christ, and I'll unpack that a bit later as well. So you see, it's Paul here inviting Timothy to confess with him the gospel of Jesus Christ. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Did Timothy follow Paul in suffering? Yes, we know from history that he did. Was he strong as he opposed the false teachers in Ephesus? Was he strong when he confronted confusion and ignorance of the opposition that he faced there? Was he strong when he saw his own weaknesses? But we don't know, no doubt he had challenging circumstances, up times and down times. But by God's grace, history says he followed, he followed Paul. And will we follow Paul as he invites us? Will we follow Paul? You know, we can look at our own weaknesses, we can look at our own challenging circumstances. We're often tempted to be discouraged when we see these things. Maybe we know our own evil hearts and the sin that often clings to us. Look at verse 14 with me. Paul doesn't leave us without hope. He says, by the Holy Spirit. How is this possible? How can we follow Paul and not just Paul, but many others in this holy calling to which we have been called? By the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. You see, that's how Paul makes this bold confession of faith. God has saved him and God has called him and he makes his unashamed confession and he died for it not many days later, actually. by the power of the Holy Spirit, verse 14, because the spirit of Pentecost, the spirit of Christ was within him, preserving him even to his final day. It's the Holy Spirit who empowers us in this calling to make us not ashamed, to give us that assurance of faith. I am convinced, Paul says, that these things are true, to help us confess Christ and preserve us until that final day. Now, Paul is speaking to Timothy, like we said, He's encouraging Timothy. He's encouraging Timothy to gospel fellowship. Do not be ashamed of the gospel. He's encouraging Timothy to gospel witness. Know what you believe and confess it. But think of Paul there in that cold prison in Rome. He actually asked Timothy to bring him a cloak and the parchments. He was probably lonely and cold and longing for fellowship. And he can't see Timothy. Verse four, he says he wants to. Verse four, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. But he can't. Paul is suffering. He's suffering there in that cold prison. But beside that, he doesn't focus on these things. No, his goal now is to encourage Timothy. And he uses the means available to stir him up. And there's one more phrase I wanna look at with you before we make a few applications. One more phrase. Verse eight to nine again. What does Paul say? He says, therefore do not be ashamed of the gospel, but share in suffering for the gospel. Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. I want to end with this bit here as we unpack this last phrase. What does Paul mean by sharing in suffering? We've looked at the fellowship of the gospel, the gospel witness, and not to be ashamed, but now this last phrase that Paul uses, to share in suffering. It's a very interesting term he uses here. It's only used here in 2 Timothy, also chapter two, verse three. This idea of sharing or suffering together is the idea. It's one word in the Greek. Altogether, it's suffering together. There's actually common phrases in our own languages. This is a common concern. We might hear people say that, or maybe you hear it more in a more common language. We're all in this together. We're facing this together. And that's the idea Paul uses here, to share in suffering, to undergo affliction or hardship along with someone. to suffer together, to join in suffering. Now it's interesting, Paul speaks about the fellowship of suffering, or to share in suffering. He says the same actually in 2 Timothy 2 now, verses 3 and 4, he says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. share in suffering. What does he mean by this? Well, I want to use an example. In the news media, international news actually, the last few weeks, there has been this example, I don't know if you saw it, Captain Thomas Moore in Britain. And now this man, Captain Moore, he's 99, right now he's 100 years old. He's an old man. He's a British, old British soldier actually, 100 years old now, and he's raised $37 million actually. for national health care by walking laps in his garden during the lockdown of the COVID pandemic. So this old British soldier, 99 years old, you can actually see pictures of him online with his walker. He's now 100 years old, just turned 100. And before his 100th birthday, he actually got some pledges to raise money for support of national health care. And he walked laps in his garden. I forget how many miles he actually walked in his garden. This soldier, though 100 years old, is still on active duty, as it were. He's sharing in the suffering of the nation as they suffered through the lockdown. He's a soldier for life, and he's actually been rewarded for that, actually. You can read about that in the media. Now, Paul uses a similar example. He says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And he's not talking about some British or South African military. He's speaking about a spiritual warfare, a spiritual battle. Here he is speaking to Timothy. Timothy who's tempted to be discouraged perhaps by challenges within or challenges without or maybe some of both. Timothy who knows his own weaknesses. Timothy who can be ashamed at times perhaps of the gospel or at least tempted to. And not just Paul speaking to Timothy, but the Holy Spirit speaking to us. Maybe us, we are ashamed to witness of Christ. We are ashamed to declare the truth of Christ when others are mocking. We are ashamed to defend What is right and true and good as the Bible teaches us when science or other things would say we're all fools for what we believe? Well, Paul is speaking to us, really, the Holy Spirit speaking to us through Paul. Be a good soldier for Jesus Christ. Share in suffering. You see, we're all in this together. It's not just a pandemic or a lockdown that we're experiencing. No, this is a Christian warfare, a Christian lifestyle. And Paul says, let's share in suffering as a good soldier. Christ suffered, didn't he? Now we need to follow in his footsteps. Paul says, follow me insofar as I follow Christ. We share in the sufferings of Christ in a very real way. God calls us to suffer at times, to endure hardships or loneliness or brokenness because of all that our God sees fit to put us in those circumstances. To endure shame and mockery and scorn when the world laughs at us for our beliefs. To endure opposition when we want to live according to biblical principles, but the world would want us to live otherwise and doesn't have those values. Endure suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Share in this suffering. You see, Paul doesn't just say, don't be ashamed, Timothy, and stop there. No, no, in the spirit of Pentecost, the spirit of Christ who empowers us, he says, go on in the fellowship of suffering. And not just the sufferings of Christ, Paul says elsewhere, when one member suffers, then we all suffer. We share in suffering, we're in this together. When one of us, when one believer suffers, when those who are experiencing hunger are suffering, Christians who have economic challenges now, we share in suffering. When the persecuted church is facing real challenges, we share in suffering, praying with them. When refugees around the world are in dire circumstances now With the pandemic, we share in suffering. When one member suffers, when one is going through a hard time or a sickness, we join in prayer, don't we? This is what it means to be a Christian. We share in suffering with Christ and with other believers. We're not ashamed. We're not ashamed to follow Christ in suffering. In the Roman world where Paul was in prison, the suffering of Christ was seen as a foolish thing. The Jews wanted power. And the Greeks sought after wisdom, but Christ, the one who suffered, was seen as a fool. And those who followed him were fools too. At least that was the thinking of the world. And many things haven't changed, have they? Still today, those who would follow Christ are often seen as, well, a little bit funny, a little bit strange. Paul says, no, as good soldiers, let's share in suffering. Don't be ashamed. Rather, Take up this cross, share in suffering, in faithful witness, in prayer and fasting. Do your part. What is your part, actually, my friends? What is your part? We're all in this together, all of us as believers, as followers of Christ. The Spirit unites us together, doesn't he? He unites us into this cause. Let us share in suffering. Let's do our part. We're committed to something bigger than just ourselves, I should think. Paul says to Timothy, Now, let's share in what we are called, how we are called to serve Christ. Now, I want to end with just two applications in the time that remains, just two applications, one specific and one more general. First, I want to speak specifically to some of the young men among us, the young men. Paul here in this passage is writing to Timothy. He's encouraging Timothy. He's stirring up the gift that's within him. He says to Timothy, you got to do your part. God has called you not just as a believer to serve Christ, but as a leader in the church, as a gospel witness. That's why Paul is encouraging Timothy. And this letter is full of that kind of instruction. And so I want to speak particularly to those now whom the Lord may be calling into some specific form of ministry, a vocational ministry, maybe as a gospel minister in the church of God, maybe as an evangelist a missionary of some sort going from one ethnic group to another, one country to another in Africa or elsewhere, a selfless soldier of Jesus Christ. Maybe as a ministry worker, a young man or young women who are called to serve others in ministry in some way or other. I'm speaking specifically to you now. God may be calling you to a task like this. Do not be ashamed of the gospel, my friends. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of Jesus Christ. God often raises up people in this way. He calls us to vocational ministry of some sort or another, not to serve ourselves, but to give ourselves for his service, like a faithful soldier. If God is calling you, do not be ashamed of the gospel, but rather join in this fellowship of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Gospel ministry, it's a very important calling, a high calling, Christ calls us to follow. Paul is encouraging Timothy in this way, specifically, and then more generally as well. On this day of Pentecost, this day of national prayer as well, I want to encourage you all to think about how God is calling each one of us to serve as gospel witnesses. We should not be ashamed, but rather we should speak, we should witness, we should testify to the truth claims of the gospel. And that can be done in many ways. We can display the gospel in our lifestyle to live out gospel principles. Let the gospel adorn us, Paul says, to tight us with good works. Openly live by a worldview, by principles that display biblical values and godliness, the Christian fruits. We can declare the gospel, to speak when we are called to speak, to speak words of encouragement, maybe through a friend, to a friend, Maybe in more general settings or public settings even, however the Lord calls us. Not to keep silence because of fear or shame, but to speak. Paul says in verse 13, follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Speak sound words. And that's why we study this word together every Sunday, isn't it? That's why there's catechism for the young people. That's why we do Bible studies when we can. Well, when we can again, hopefully soon. These things are necessary because we need to know what we believe and we need to not be ashamed of it, but rather confessing it, confessing it to others who would even challenge it and defend it as well. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul says, verse 14, who dwells in us, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Truth is being challenged by our modern world. Truth has been twisted by false teachers and religious syncretism. Truth is being challenged in our world today and in the Western world, particularly in African world, everywhere around the world is being challenged. And we need to speak faithfully and witness faithfully of Christ. Paul calls us to not be ashamed, but rather join in suffering and to speak faithfully this gospel truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. And you see, that's a key in this passage, isn't it? By God's power, the spirit of Christ in us, grounded in the salvation of Christ that we have through his work. This is the power of the gospel. We don't need to be ashamed of the gospel. It is a power of God unto salvation. The Holy Spirit uses the word even as we follow Christ in suffering. The Holy Spirit uses our gospel witness to win many souls for Christ and to bring greater glory to our Lord. And this is our joy. This is our privilege as Christians to not be ashamed of Christ, but rather to to join in suffering and to serve him faithfully as gospel witnesses. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for its transforming power. We thank you for the Holy Spirit who works this truth in us and transforms us from within and causes us to speak the truths that we know from your word, to speak of Christ to others, to share your truth. to trumpet forth this glorious gospel of forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Lord, help us not to be ashamed of what we believe, but rather to confess it, and to live it, and to even be willing to suffer for it, to bring greater glory to your name. These things we pray now, asking this in Christ's name alone, amen.