As you're seated in your Bible, 2 Timothy chapter 2 this morning, 2 Timothy chapter number 2. In the battle for Texan independence from Mexico, Colonel William Travis and his army of 182 men turned a Spanish mission into a fort and refused to surrender to the Mexicans. Of course, there at the Alamo, They elected to fight and elected to die for what they thought was right. Realizing that no help could be expected from the outside and that Santa Ana would soon take the Alamo, Colonel Travis addressed his men and told them that they were fated to die for the cause of liberty and freedom for Texas. Their only choice was in the way that they would make the sacrifice, and so he outlined three options for them. Option number one, First, he said we can rush the enemy, killing a few but being slaughtered ourselves by the overpowering Mexican force. Option number two, we can surrender, which would eventually lead to our massacre by the Mexicans. Or number three, we can remain in the Alamo and defend it until the last man. And of course, we know the rest of the story. The third choice was the one taken by Colonel Travis, Davy Crockett, and the others at the Alamo. From February 23rd until March 6th of 1836, those men defended against the siege of the Alamo until the last man fell. And subsequently, the battle cry, remember the Alamo, was what gave Sam Houston and the Texas soldiers the motivation to fight for the liberation of Texas. Remember the Alamo become the battle cry for the independence of Texas. Remembering can be a great inspiration and motivation for the present. And in some cases, we remember a regret from our past. And that inspires us and motivates us, protecting us from making the same mistake again. I'm not going to try that again. It didn't work out so well last time. Or remembering, in other cases, remembering a success from our past. can give us courage for the future. In 2 Timothy 2 verse number eight, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and says in verse number eight, remember. Let me go to the Lord in prayer before we study the scripture. God in heaven, it is now that we come to your holy word to read it, to study it, to be instructed by your spirit from it, to be convicted by your spirit from it. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to not only be hearers of the word, but doers also. That we might look into this perfect law of liberty, that we might recognize a change that we need to make and follow through. Lord, in this case, that we might remember so that we might have the proper motivation to go forward. We commit our study to you now, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Second Timothy chapter two, verse number eight, look there with me. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. Number one in your notes, if you're following the outline I've prepared, remember the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks, Christianity is a Christocentric faith. Jesus Christ is the central, preeminent one who is the object of our faith and should be the focus of our worship. As Christians, we remember Jesus in his incarnation. We remember Jesus in his resurrection. His incarnation we remember at Christmas time. His resurrection we remember at Easter time. And then each occasion when we observe the Lord's table, we remember his crucifixion when he died on the cross, shed his blood for our sin. In fact, Paul told the Corinthian believers that he was determined not to know anything among them except or save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Remember Jesus Christ. But what does verse number eight tell us about Jesus Christ? Verse number eight, remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David. What does that mean? It means that in his incarnation Jesus Christ was born as the seed of David according to the flesh, Romans 1 verse number three. It speaks of His royalty, of His majesty, of His kingship, and Jesus was promised to be the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. In fact, the angel told Mary, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Jesus is king of kings and lord of lords. I would say it this way, he is our sovereign. Remember that Jesus Christ is our sovereign. In fact, even before his incarnation, before Jesus was born of the seed of David, Jesus was already the sovereign from eternity past. Colossians chapter 1 says of Jesus, But there's more. Look at verse 8 again. Remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Well, what does that mean? I would give you letter B. He is our Savior. So don't only think of Jesus, the man, in his incarnation. Remember Jesus in his resurrection. You see, if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. If in this life only we have hope in Christ. We are of all men most pitiable, but He is risen. In fact to the Colossians Paul wrote that Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead so that in all things He may have the preeminence. And so folks, remember that through his incarnation, Jesus Christ became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, Philippians chapter two. And then in his resurrection, Jesus Christ removed the sting of death and he conquered the grave. He's risen, he is alive. And what greater motivation can there be for us as New Testament believers than to remember who Jesus is and what he has done for us. After all He's done for me, after all He's done for me, how can I do less than give Him my best and live for Him completely after all He's done for me? Remember Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse number nine. for which, for what is that? It is for Jesus Christ. It is for the risen Jesus Christ. It is for the gospel for which I suffer trouble, verse number nine, as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. But the word of God is not chained. Now, when we think of this letter from Paul to Timothy, we think of 2 Timothy as a pastoral epistle written from the apostle to the young pastor Timothy. However, this letter is also a prison epistle. For Paul was imprisoned in Rome at the writing of this letter. He's suffering as an evildoer, bound and chained for the gospel. And we can imagine that there were perhaps shackles on Paul's wrists. and there were shackles on his ankles. We can imagine that his cell door was chained. He was suffering as an evildoer for preaching the gospel, but the Word of God was not. The Word of God was not bound or chained. Paul was restrained and bound, but not the Word of God. I would suggest, number two, we need to remember the Word of God. Remember the word of God. And Paul is contrasting his own imprisonment to the freedom of the word of God, which is not imprisoned. Paul is shackled, but God's word is not. And to the Philippians, Paul wrote, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which have happened to me, namely Roman imprisonment, have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. What if, what if it could be said that for every calamity we experience, It is for the furtherance of the gospel. The COVID-19 global pandemic has worked out for the furtherance of the gospel. That's Paul's attitude about his imprisonment. He says, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear. When my word goes forth, God said to the prophet Isaiah, it shall not return to me void. It shall accomplish what I please, and it will prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Regardless of the chains, God's Word is free. And I want us to remember the Word of God in these ways. First, remember the power of God's Word. Its power is proven by its preservation. Its power is proven by its preservation. At one time, there were some 600 miles of catacombs under the city of Rome. Nearly all of them dug and used by 10 generations of Christians over a period of 300 years. In the early centuries of the church, the catacombs served as meeting places and burial places for as many as four million Christians. It was the original underground church, if you will. And a common inscription found on the walls of those catacombs is this. This is what's written on the walls of those ancient catacombs. And someday I would love to visit those and see this for myself. But here's what was written by the Christians. The word of God is not bound. How about that? Perhaps in response to this very text. In AD 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian thought he had destroyed every Bible. He erected a column of victory over the embers of burned Bibles that read, extinct is the name of Christian. Centuries later, the famous French atheist Voltaire said that within 100 years after his death, there would not be a remaining Bible on the earth. However, 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society bought his house and used it to print and distribute millions of Bibles. Isn't that good? I love that. During his rule from 1929 until his death in 1953, the bloody butcher of Russia That is Joseph Stalin issued a ban the Bible purge from the USSR such as had never been witnessed in the history of the world. Yet folks the Bible has endured. I've got a copy of the Holy Scriptures right here and so do you. Martin Luther in his famous hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God who wrote the body they may kill. But God's truth abideth still. And the power of God's word is proven in its preservation. But while God's Word has been preserved providentially, it's not just a point of preservation, also a point of transformation supernaturally. Its power is proven in its transformation, supernaturally changing lives. And our faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The transformation from death to life, from sin to the Savior, is by the Word of God. It's not just our salvation, it's also our sanctification. In Ephesians 5, 26, Paul said that he might sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of water, by the Word. How does that work? God's Word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart, the very core of our being, God's Word goes to. So that when the psalmist David asked the question, how shall a young man cleanse his way? How can a young man be transformed? He answered his own question in Psalm 119 by taking heed according to your word. Folks, I hope that God's Word has transformed you from death to life. I hope that you have been born again by the incorruptible seed of God's Word. I hope that the Bible is precious to you. I hope that you read it and memorize it and meditate upon it often. I hope that you take heed to it. And to the degree that God's Word has changed your lives, and you remember that, we remember that, it ought to inspire and motivate us to live it, to maybe even die for it. Remember the Word of God. We may be living today under restriction because of a global pandemic, but the Word of God is not restrained, it's not restricted, and it has free course to accomplish the purposes which God has for it. Look at verse number 10, verse 10, Because I remember who Jesus is. Because the Word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Number three, remember the work of salvation. Remember the work of salvation because of the preeminence of our Lord Jesus, that's Roman numeral number one from verse number eight. And because of the power of God's word, that's Roman numeral number two from verse number nine. Paul found motivation to endure all things. Well, what things did Paul endure? Well, hardship from this immediate context, if you look back to verse number three as a good soldier, if you look to verse number six as a farmer, certainly in verse number nine as a POW, if you will, as a prisoner, shackled, bound. for the sake of the elect that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. The reason that I serve, Paul says, the reason that I suffer, Paul says, is literally in order that. If we were reading the Greek New Testament, it's a hynna clause with the subjunctive in Greek which denotes a purpose statement. In order that, this is the reason for this purpose that they may obtain salvation. And like his Lord, Paul was not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. And when we remember the work of salvation, it's not our work, it's not our work, but the work of Christ in salvation, the work that provides that great salvation for us, when we remember that, we can be motivated in our Christian witness and walk because we have been saved from the wrath of God upon us. Remember the work of salvation in your own lives. I offer you a brief story, really two, just briefly. It was in 1949 that a drunk 16-year-old teenager from the East Tennessee Hills was charged with murder, with murdering a man with his squirrel rifle. John Currier was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. In the course of time, he was transferred from prison and paroled to work on the Solitude Stock Farm near Nashville, Tennessee. In 1968, Currier's sentence was terminated and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never got the letter. He never saw the letter. And even if he had received the letter, it wouldn't have mattered because he had never learned to read. Life on the farm was hard and without promise for the future, yet John kept doing what he was told, even after the farmer for whom he worked had died. Ten years went by, and then a state parole officer learned about Currier's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated ten years earlier. For ten years, he had been a free man, and he never knew it. because no one had ever told him that he was free. Another story, even more tragic story, is about a man named Henry Future. At 11 p.m. on April 11th, 1902, Missouri Governor Dockery sent a 10-day temporary reprieve of Henry's hanging, his capital punishment, so that they could investigate some newly discovered evidence. But the telegraph was received 35 minutes too late to prevent his hanging. Folks, if we have a message of good news to tell, if we have a life-saving message to tell and we neglect to tell it, to communicate it, Jesus' work on the cross, the work of salvation, is the good news for everyone who is dying. And by the way, we're all dying. Everyone is dying. And we have this message of good news, this message of freedom. Paul was willing to endure all things so that message of salvation could be delivered to those who would believe, the elect Paul calls them. So what is wrong with us? Well, it's not convenient, or it's embarrassing and awkward, or it costs too much. Are you kidding me? We have some good news to share to a dying world. You're free. You can be free in Jesus Christ. I would even just take this moment to speak to those of you that are here, those that are watching the live stream or listening to the radio broadcast and declare to you the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John 3.16 that God so loved the world. Who's the world? It's me and you. That he gave his only begotten son. Who's that? Jesus Christ. That whoever, that includes us all. Whoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life. The work of salvation has been done. It's finished. And we need to simply call on the name of the Lord in faith believing and we will be saved from the death sentence of our sin. That's the gospel. Remember the work of salvation. Look at verse 11 and 12, this is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. Number four, remember the reward of eternity. Remember the reward of eternity. Don't put your things away just yet. I know your outline is complete, but I want you to look at the scripture text and work with me through these verses. The phrase, it is a faithful saying. there at the beginning of verse 11. It's used five times in the New Testament, each time by the Apostle Paul in the pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy and Titus. And it really describes an axiomatic truism of the early church, a truth that was commonly known, understood, and believed. And then these verses, the faithful saying that follows, appear to have been a creed or a hymn sung by the early church. And for that reason, many modern Bible translations set it in verse form. And perhaps you see it there in your copy of the New Testament. It's perhaps indented, perhaps it's in italics. It's somehow set apart as a hymn. And what that is communicating is the same thing that Paul wrote to the Romans when explaining that in salvation we are united with Jesus Christ. You know the scripture well. We're buried with him through spirit baptism into death. So that just as Christ was raised from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life. We've died, we've been raised with Christ. For if we've been united together with him and in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. But here in this context, in 2 Timothy 2, I'm not sure that Paul is asserting a positional truth as much as a practical reality. I think Paul is facing his own physical martyrdom. That's what he has in mind as he's writing this letter to Timothy. And he's remembering his chains. Of course, he's bound in this moment. He's facing execution. Verse 12a, if we endure, we shall also reign with him. And this is the reward of eternity that is giving Paul hope and courage in these moments. And as he endures, he reminds himself of the eternal blessing ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ. But if you look at verse 12b, if we deny him, he also will deny us. A person who fails to endure and hold his confession of Christ and denies Christ, perhaps because he never belonged to Christ at all. I cite 2 John verse number nine, whoever does not abide in the doctrine or the teaching of Christ does not have God. He who does abide remains in the doctrine or the teaching of Christ as both the father and the son. Now if you're following me, you should be troubled here at this moment as you feel the tension and you perhaps will say, but pastor, what about individuals like Peter? the apostle Peter who denied Jesus three times. And I would say this to you, Peter, like all of us at times, was a coward when confronted by the cost of discipleship. But I believe that Peter's response to his denial of Christ, after he denied Christ three times on that fateful night, Peter went out and wept bitter tears of repentance. And then Jesus restored Peter and used Peter, leading me to believe that although Peter was truly justified, he was not yet at that point fully sanctified. We know in Acts chapter two God used him to preach on the day of Pentecost with boldness and then he was martyred for his confession of faith. Tradition reports to us that Peter was martyred by crucifixion but asked to be crucified upside down because he didn't feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. And there may be moments or even seasons in a true believer's life when they falter and fail. But I think a demonstration of genuine conversion is this endurance and this perseverance that Paul is describing, motivated by remembering the reward of eternity that is before him. Look at verse 13. If we are faithless, that's the tension that we feel. What happens if or when we are faithless? He remains faithful. For he cannot deny himself. We may deny him in a moment of weakness, but he cannot deny himself, and his faithfulness trumps her own. And really, as a point of interpretation here, we need to know if this is a warning or a promise. Is it a warning like in 12b? Or is it a promise like verse 11 in 12a, if you're looking at the scripture there? I understand this to be a promise of assurance for believers who have failed to endure perfectly, verse 12a. but not to the point of apostasy in verse 12b. And again, I would reference Peter's denial of Christ, but ultimately the promise of eternal blessing is rooted in the character of God. Remember this. Remember this. You may fail. You may fall. You may error. You will sin. But God is faithful. He will not contradict. He will not deny His own person. He will not abandon His own promises to us. We sing the hymn here, when you fear your faith may fail, He will hold you fast. Do you love that hymn? I love that hymn. When we fear our faith will fail, He will hold us fast. And whatever else you may remember or whatever else you may forget, don't miss this. He remains faithful. Let me encourage you to keep on keeping on, to be consistent, to be faithful, to serve the Lord, to endure. Remember these things as a point of motivation and inspiration for you in your Christian walk. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Sovereign, He is our Savior. Remember the Word of God. It has been providentially preserved and it has supernaturally transformed your life. Remember the work of salvation, all that Christ did for us, the gospel. And remember the reward of eternity. We will rule and reign with Him. If you forget the sermon outline, that's okay. Remember this. He remains faithful. Let's pray. God in heaven, I ask that you would encourage us and embolden us with this truth, this faithful saying, this memory that you remain faithful. God, each and every one of us in some way, shape, or form is suffering. We are enduring. We are laboring to persevere. God, there are restrictions upon us. There are limitations to freedom that we might lament, but you are faithful. And God, I pray that you'll help us to remember that in every dark hour of our lives, that we can, with the hymn writer, declare, great is your faithfulness to us. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.