Let's open our Bibles to the first of Romans, please. Let me read a few verses together because we're going to find in Romans what we're going to find in our passage in 2 Timothy. Listen to what Paul said as he began this so important letter. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, that gospel which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared the Son of God with power. according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom you are also the called of Jesus Christ, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, call saints, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you join me, please? Our Father, we bow unto Thee, the sovereign God. So small are we that it's hard to think that You would have any thoughts upon us at all. Yet we know that You loved us enough to send Your Son into this world. to redeem us, justify us, and then call us to be your people and separate us out. It says here, call saints. We do pray for the many suffering in the southwestern part of our country and the great losses that so many have known. We pray for our leaders. We pray for those who make decisions to help others. We pray that you would bless the gifts that we give, that they may be multiplied. help so many others. We pray now that you would bless those who are watching and listening by our live streaming and our wonderful congregation that has gathered this morning. Bless us as we sing and as we pray and as we attempt to preach your word. May all honor glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. If you would please take your Bibles and turn to the letter of 2 Timothy. We take up our study in the 8th verse of the 2nd chapter. I want you to look with me please in 2 Timothy in chapter 2 and our text begins with verse number 8. I want to read our verses. that Jesus Christ, seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble 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. It is a faithful saying, for 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. Trouble is all around us. King Uzziah, who lived in the time of Isaiah, said at one point, this is a day of trouble. Eliphaz, one of the so-called friends who spoke to Job, said, neither doth trouble spring up out of the ground, It's obvious. Then he said, yet man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward. And Job responded back when it was his turn to speak to him and he said, man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. Jesus said when his feet were being washed and anointed with oil and sweet perfumes and Mary Magdalene was bothered by the disciples, He said, Why trouble ye the woman? And in Psalm 46 and verse 1, it says that God is our refuge and He is a very present help in trouble. So the Bible doesn't take away trouble. We know that life is filled with trouble. And Paul speaks of trouble. He's having trouble. Timothy's having trouble. Trouble is all around. So I have a question for you this morning. What do we do when trouble comes? What do we do when trouble comes? Well, sometimes there are no solutions to your troubles. That's just, they're just upon you. But what we do have in our passage is Paul gives us five things that we need to think about. when trouble comes. So the first thing he does is he tells us in verse number eight that we need to think about the gospel. You'll notice he used the word remember. That word remember means to pay greater attention than ever. It means to bear in mind or to keep in mind or to think about. So it's to think about. And then he's going to conclude with calling it my gospel. So it's to think about the gospel. He said, remember that Jesus Christ, the son of David, was raised from the dead. As soon as he mentions Jesus, he's talking about Him as the Savior. As soon as he mentions Christ, he's talking about Him as the Messiah. As soon as he mentions Him as the Seed of David, he's talking about His humanity. So here is the Savior of God's people, Here is the Messiah of God's people, and here He is, God, who has become flesh, the seed of David. And this was such an important truth to Paul, that he began his writing to the Romans, saying that same thing, that Christ is the seed of David. He is out of David. It's from the loins of David that he came. And then he says that this is according to my gospel. According to my gospel. Consistent with my gospel. the one most clearly set forth in Romans 1 through 5. We always have to go back because that's where God enabled Paul to have the time and the occasion to write most clearly. So to fail to study, fail to understand Romans 1 through 5 is going to always lead you astray. Many will say to you, well, study what Jesus said, study the Gospels. The Gospels declare and the epistles explain. Let me say that to you again. The Gospels declare, the prophets prophesied, the Gospels declare, and the epistles explain. One is no more inspired than the other. One is no less inspired than the other. So we go to the epistles and spend a heavy amount of time in the epistles because that's where we have our explanation. So when he talks about, according to my gospel, this gospel, Paul began calling it the gospel of God. Then in verse nine, he calls it the gospel of his son. And in verse 17, he called it the gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed. And it's in that verse, in verse 17, that we learn the nature of faith that is revealed from faith to faith. It's revealed out of faith and into faith. Out of the settled body of truth into faith in us. Personal faith. Out of that settled body of truth and into us. That's what faith is. It's revelation. Faith is not appropriation. Faith is the revelation of the truth. So what he begins with in declaring that gospel is he begins with righteousness revealed and he concludes in chapter 5 with righteousness imputed. He begins with God's people under a just condemnation and he begins with them under a executed justification. So just as they were justly condemned, they were also justly justified. That is Paul's argument as to what the gospel is. He's saying that the gospel is not something we do in our heart, it is something that God did in Christ. It's all together outside of us. And so he says that he was raised from the dead. And this resurrection from the dead is the declaration of the whole truth of the death, burial, and the resurrection of Christ. In His death, our sins were taken away. In His burial, He shows that it was completely put away. It was exhausted. And in the resurrection is the proof that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one Savior of His people and that God's people are indeed justified. So this truth of the resurrection is not just a fact. It's the truth that declares the whole of the death, burial, and resurrection, as he said in 1 Corinthians, according to the scriptures. So think about the gospel. That's the first thing, is always think about something that is greater than yourself and greater than your problems. think about the Gospel. But not only think about the Gospel, but if you'll look in verse 9, we are to know that God's Word cannot be imprisoned. He said, wherein I suffer trouble. And then he said, as an evil doer. Paul had his trouble, Timothy had his trouble. Timothy is over in Ephesus. People have been coming to worship. They've been coming in large numbers. And now that there is persecution that's taking place, you remember that poor Timothy is facing a congregation that is dwindling and going to nothing. And when we come to the last book of the Bible in the Revelation, what does it say about the church in Ephesus? It says that they have now left the first love. The one they were so excited about, now they have departed from Him. Apostasy is everywhere. The history of the church is all about those who depart for one reason or another. But in Ephesus, that's what Timothy is facing. Paul is facing, of course, being imprisoned. And yet, he said, what I want you to know is that God's Word is NOT imprisoned. He said, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer. Now think about this. This Paul was raised in a home where he was a Roman citizen. His father or his grandfather had been granted rights and land by the Roman authorities. They were powerful and respected people. There's no way that he would have thought when he was a youngster that the very nation that he was a citizen of would put him in the maritime prison. But not only that, he was a Jewish Pharisee. He was an upright man. There was none more upright than the Apostle Paul, but here he is, now he's in his late 60s, and here he is in this nasty, rat-infested, cold, wet, damp, terrible food, terrible air, terrible water, he's in that prison, trouble. When you think you've got trouble, think about those two men, of all the troubles they face. He's being called an evildoer, a defendant of the state, a criminal. It tells us in Acts 24 in verse 5, For we have found this man, Paul, a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition among the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect called the Nazarenes. Called a sect? They were called sectarian. They were referred to as those who are outside of the normal run of the ring of religion. Would we not also be part of a sect? Would we not be called a sect if people thought very much about us at all? I think we would. He's called an evildoer. And he says, even unto bonds, even unto bond." So he's been put in prison, an unfathomable situation for him. And he's lost his first defense. You remember that? We went through that, and I showed you how he had lost his first defense. He had stood up without a lawyer, no doubt, to try to defend himself, but he had lost, and he's still in prison. He said, but nevertheless, I want you to look at this, look at that big little three-letter word. Are you looking in verse 9? I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds." But notice that three-letter word, but, but, the Word of God is not bound. Now, when he says the Word of God is not bound, he means the Gospel. So what he called the Gospel in verse 8, now he calls it the Word of God. The Word of God, the Gospel, is not imprisoned. I'm imprisoned, he said, but the gospel is not imprisoned. I have fetters on my ankles and fetters on my hands. I'm being held in irons, but the gospel is not held. What Paul believed is what you and I believe, and that is that the gospel is going out to God's people all over the world. And from the four corners of the globe, God is bringing His people to the truth. It tells us in Isaiah 43 and verse 1, O Jacob, when He says, O Jacob, He means, O mine elect, O mine elect, Jacob, O Jacob. He that formed thee, O Israel, mine elect Israel, He means, my Israel within Israel, my Jacob within Israel. He says, fear not. For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by my name, thou art mine." If God elected them and Christ died for them, God would say they are mine and they're going to be brought to the knowledge of the truth. It doesn't matter if they're wearing expensive shoes in New York or they have no shoes in the Appalachian Mountains. If God has purpose to set his word upon them, he will call them to the knowledge of the truth. God's word is not bound. Think on that. Think on that. Don't always think that the world is black, the world is about to fall apart. We're not going to make it. I want you to think number one about the gospel and I want you to know that God's gospel is not imprisoned. That's two things to think about. Let me give you a third thing to think about. Look in verse three. I want you to think about God's elect, he said. 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. I'm sure you don't read after the commentators like I do, but I read several commentators on this. Verse 9, they give a long commentary. Verse 8, they give a long commentary. Verse 10, they'll start out and they'll talk about the word, therefore, and I endure. When it comes to the elect, it could be just a little statement, and then they go right on. They want to pass right over that. And I'd love to just stop and talk with you about election again, because we love the truth of it so much. But when we're talking about elect, we're meaning that God, from before the foundation of the world, chose a limited and particular and specific and definite number of people to set his love upon and to redeem in connection with the glorious person and the saving and finished work of Jesus Christ. That is God's elect. You can say you don't believe in election, but you have to believe in some kind of election if you believe in the Bible at all. You either believe you elect yourself or you believe that God elected you, but you have to believe in election of some kind. Well, what we believe the Bible teaches is, what we know it teaches, is that God did the electing. That's what Paul said. He said from before the foundation of the world. When he said, therefore, it literally is, and so. So he says, since the Word of God is not bound, and so, therefore, I endure. I endure these bonds even though the Word of God is not bound. When he said, I endure, he says, I continue to put up with hardships. It's like what he said, what the Apostle said in Hebrews 12 and 2, looking unto Jesus, the author, That is the beginner and the finisher of our faith, the faith. For the joy which is set before Him, He endured the cross. He wasn't giddy about going to the cross, He endured the cross. He endured the cross, why? For the elect's sake. That's why He went to the cross. He went to the cross so that people throughout all the ages who are His, that the Father set His mind upon, His election upon. He chose them and Christ endured the cross for them, for the elect's sake. When you talk about the elect's sake, you're talking about the full doctrine of God's sovereignty. How can God be sovereign if He didn't elect? If you're going to deny election, how can you say you believe in a God who is sovereign? The main thing that God is sovereign in is in election. That's the main truth of the Bible as we go all the way through here. And this is the setting forth of this, that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died for those people. He said, Suffer for the elect's sake. We need to think about one another. Pray for one another. How can you worship with people that you don't love? People that you don't like? People that you wouldn't put your arm around? We need to love one another. We need to endure all things for the elect's sake. That they may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory, not obtained by decisions or deeds, not obtained by works or will, but embrace it with a God-instructed mind, with a spirit-fired affections, with a will that's moved to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. It's turning away from all conditions, but it's turning those things into conditions that is the very nature of the works religion and will worship. And we live in a world of will worship all around us, using many of the same terms that we do. But what we're concerned about is the elect coming to the knowledge of the truth. We know that no one else is going to come to the knowledge of the truth. So when I preach, my mind, I tell you, is always upon the elect, doing exactly what is said right here, embracing, obtaining. to heart and mind, the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. Paul knew that sovereign grace was the moving cause of his own salvation, that's why he said, when he pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. He also knew that he was an example for the rest of the elect. He said, I obtained mercy or I was mercied. And then he says that I might be a pattern to them which would believe after. So Paul's very involved in his thinking about the elect. Think about the gospel. Think about God's Word not being bound. And then think about the elect. And then verse number 11, we have a fourth thing for us to think about. Verse number 11. If you look in your Bible, it says, it is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. Rest in God's faithfulness. That's the next thing to think about. Rest in God's faithfulness. I'm not very faithful, but my God is exceedingly, infinitely faithful. It is a faithful saying because God is faithful. It is a worthy saying, believing that God chose the people and predestined them to salvation and to everlasting life, and that's why He would say it is a faithful saying. But it's also a faithful saying, if we're dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. It's a saying that's hard to come by and hard to comprehend, namely because Death led to life. Suffering rendered salvation. Substitution executed justification. That our death and His death will deliver us to eternal life. Let me say that again. Our death and His death will deliver us to eternal life. Turn with me over to Galatians 2. Look in the second chapter. Look at verse 20. Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ, 220 Galatians. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate or set aside the grace of God. And you would set aside the grace of God if you thought that there was some way that the being crucified in Christ did not render you right in his eyes. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. I am crucified with Christ. Paul understood this very truth. We need to rest in God's faithfulness. But not only think about the gospel, not only know God's Word is not imprisoned, not only think about the elect and rest in God's faithfulness, one more thing, verse 12 and 13, look to eternal things, look to eternal things. If we suffer, verse 12, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny us. If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful He cannot deny Himself. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. What a statement. In Romans 8 and 17, And if we are children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if be so that we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together. We now reign with Him in His kingdom of grace. We now reign with Him in the inner man. And we shall reign with Him in eternal bliss. There is no earthly reign that we're looking forward to. The reign of Christ is in this age. The thousand years that so many refer to is the long period of time from His first coming until His second coming. We're in that right now. That is the thousand years. We're in that period. That's what John was telling us in the Revelation. We're in that period. We're reigning with Him. Him in His kingdom of grace and Him in the hearts of His people." Then he said, if we deny Him, He will also deny us. The Greeks deny Him, mocking at Him, laughing at Him, saying it's ridiculous. And the Jews denied Him by stumbling over Him. They didn't see Him, didn't comprehend Him. They wanted to add to Him. And some profess Him with their lips, but deny Him with their life. And some profess Him in a form of godliness, but deny His power. However it comes about, men who deny Him, He says, I will also deny them. Now listen to me, if you have to take the message of the Gospel to a preacher and have to ask him, do you believe this? And he has to tell you yes or no, I wouldn't listen to him. Because a man preaches what he believes, and he believes what he preaches. And if you have to take the truth of the gospel to him, to get him to swear to you that he believes this, why would you want to give your ear to a preacher like that? Jesus said, but whosoever shall deny me before me and him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. If we believe not, he abideth faithful. A man devoid of faith will not alter his faithfulness. Romans 3 and 3 says, for what if some do not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? And the obvious answer is no. He cannot deny himself. When it says He cannot, it means He does not have the ability. Let me tell you three or four things about this. God does not have the ability to change. He said, I am the Lord, I change not. He changes not in person, in purpose, in predestination, or His promises. God is not able to lie. That's the second thing. God is not a man that He should lie, Numbers 23 and 19. And number three, just like it says here, God is not able to deny Himself. What that means is that God cannot commit apostasy against Himself. He cannot renounce His own character. Jesus isn't able to deny He is the Eternal Logos. Jesus is not able to deny He is the propitiation before God. He is not able to deny that He is the elect substitute. Jesus is not able to sin and Jesus cannot deny His warnings. Now, if Jesus could do any of those things, He wouldn't be God. He wouldn't be God. If He could sin, He wouldn't be God. If He did sin, He wouldn't be God. If He could sin, He wouldn't be God. But here's what it says in Hebrews 10 and 29, How much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God? How has He trodden Him underfoot? by denying Him, denying who He is, denying what He has said about Himself. Pause question. Timothy, what do we do in time of trouble? He said, Timothy, think about the Gospel. Timothy, know that God's Word is not imprisoned. Timothy, endure all things for the elect's sake. Timothy, rest in God's faithfulness. And Timothy, look to eternal things. If it was good for Paul and good for Timothy, brethren, it's good for us. Would you stand with me? Father, now bless Your Word to our hearts. Would You bless us as we fellowship together and as we pray and preach and worship together. May all honor go to our dear and blessed Savior and Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.