The Lord Who Stands With Us

The Lord Who Stands With Us

“The Lord Who Stands With Us”
(2 Timothy 4:16-18)
Series: Faithful to the Finish Line (2 Timothy)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

Take your Bibles and join me in 2 Timothy, chapter 4 (page 802; YV).

While you are finding that, I want to share with you that on Wednesdays beginning in January I will be leading a new study through Wayne Grudem’s, Systematic Theology. We are beginning a new cycle, reading a chapter a week and coming together to discuss what we have read. Each Wednesday beginning in January and going through the year. Theology is simply the study of God so it is a rich study of the Bible—who is God, what is salvation, what is heaven, hell, and so on. So if you’re not already plugged in somewhere on Wednesdays, I’d like to invite you to begin this study with me next year every Wednesday at 6PM here in the sanctuary. We’ll order a new supply of books and make them available to you for sale.

We are nearing the end of our study in 2 Timothy, at the end of chapter 4. We’ll finish the letter next week on the 17th, Lord willing, and then the following Sunday we’ll be gathering for Christmas at the Fine Arts Center.

So we’re in chapter 4 where Paul is giving last instructions to Timothy. Remember this letter is Paul’s last letter in the New Testament. He is in a Roman prison, or dungeon, imprisoned for his faith, awaiting his execution under the Roman Emperor Nero. Last week we read of those who had abandoned him or harmed him, harming him and his ministry—namely a guy named Alexander the coppersmith, a fella whom Paul said did him “much harm” and Paul warned Timothy to beware of him.

We pick up our study right there in verse 16. Paul refers to what he calls his “first defense,” his first hearing or arraignment for preaching the Gospel. Remember that 2 Timothy may be paraphrased as Paul’s saying, “Timothy, they’re going to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do, take my place until they come and kill you, too.” It is a call for faithfulness. We are each of us called to be faithful to our Lord Jesus, running the Christian race, faithful to the finish line.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Pray.

One of the most enriching exercises in reading the Bible is discovering what it teaches us about the Lord. What it teaches us about Jesus. If you’ve marked out time on your calendar for your DQ, your time of Daily Quiet, then you enter into that time anticipating encountering the Lord Jesus. Your DQ. Daily Quiet. Someone shared with me Wednesday you can also think of your DQ as “Don’t quit.” I like that, too. Don’t quite your time of Daily Quiet!” You open your Bible and you read a passage of Scripture and you ask questions of the text, questions like, “Is there a truth to believe,” or, “Is there something for which to praise God?’

And a passage like this one this morning blesses us with truth about the Lord Jesus for which we may praise Him, truth that will inspire us and encourage us as we run the Christian race this week. We’re running the Christian race together. As we run we are encouraging one another, helping one another, running together so that we can say—like Paul in chapter 4 verse 7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

In my study this week, I made these observations, truths about the Lord Jesus that inspire me and encourage me as I live for Jesus. And I want to share them with you in the hopes that they inspire and encourage you this week. So draw a line in the middle of your note page. Three truths and then three reminders. First, know this about the Lord Jesus, number one:

He Stands with us in Difficulty (16-17a)

This is largely a reminder that the Lord is always with us. That while we may at times feel lonely, we are never alone. Others may abandon us or forsake us, but the Lord never abandons and never forsakes us. He is with us through thick and thin. He stands with us in times of difficulty. Verse 16:

16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…

And we’ll stop right there for the moment, noting the contrast between the first few words of verse 16 and the first few words of verse 17. Verse 16, “At my first defense no one stood with me,” now verse 17, “But the Lord stood with me…”

Where others are unfaithful, the Lord is faithful. “At my first defense no one stood with me…but the Lord stood with me.” The Lord stands with me always. He stands with me not only in delightful times, but in difficult times.

This was a difficult time for Paul. It was his “first defense,” probably a reference to his arraignment or his preliminary hearing before the Roman tribunal, the Roman court where the charges would be read, charges about his being a Christian and preaching the gospel—something considered scandalous in the Roman Empire. It was illegal.

So Paul says, “There I am at my first defense and there’s not another person standing with me.” We read last week that some of Paul’s friends had been sent out to do ministry, but others had forsaken him, others like Demas (verse 10) who had forsaken him for love of this present world. He says in verse 11, “Only Luke is with me,” but apparently Luke arrived later, after Paul appeared at his preliminary hearing, his first defense. There was no one. I can imagine Paul singing that chorus we often sing:

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
You’re my one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Again, verse 16, “No one stood with me, but all forsook me.” It’s hard to imagine. We would think surely some would stand with Paul, but he says, “No one stood with me.”

Now our fallen tendency would be to respond to such abandonment with anger and resentment. It seems it would be difficult not to become embittered by such abandonment of our Christian friends. Maybe Paul would become one of those guys who was supposedly “burned by the church,” we talked about that last time. Who hasn’t been burned by the church?!

You heard about the man who was shipwrecked on a deserted island. He was all alone, not a single person on that island except himself. He spent several years there all alone, built shelter and lived there all alone for many years. One day a ship was sailing by and someone saw the man and rescued him.

As the skipper of the ship met the man, he looked around at the island and saw three buildings, huts, the man had built. He said, “I see you’ve been building here on the island, what are those three big huts?”

The man said, “Well, that hut over there is my home. And that hut right over there is where I go to church.” The skipper was impressed with the man’s spirituality; the fact that he went to church even though he was all alone on that island. Then he asked him, “But what about that third hut you built over there? What’s that?” The man hung his head in disgust and said, “That’s where I used to go to church!” Burned by the church!

So we might expect Paul to say something like, “Because no one stood with me, I’ll never stand with them!” You know, “Just you wait till you get into a similar fix! See who’s not standing with you. Get what you deserve. I don’t get mad, I get even!”

But look again at verse 16: “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me.” Now this statement—don’t miss it!—“May it not be charged against them.”

Paul loves those who hurt him. Man! He knows how to live the Christian life. The Christian virtues just spill out of Him. Love, patience, forgiveness. May it not be charged against them. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Our Lord Jesus, from the cross, says in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Or Stephen in the Book of Acts, Acts 7. Stephen is dying the death of a martyr, the unbelieving Jews stoning him to death, and there is a younger Apostle Paul watching the whole thing. And he watches as Stephen, moments before death, kneels down and cries out: “Lord, do not charge them with this sin (Acts 7:58-60).”

That’s almost exactly what Paul says here! “May it not be charged against them.” Paul had heard those words from Stephen years ago before he himself was even a follower of Jesus. The impact our words have upon the lost! Don’t ever assume people are not listening to what you say!

Now let’s not place Paul into the category of “super spiritual” and we could never forgive like he forgives. It’s not only unhelpful. It’s unbiblical. Ephesians 4:32, “…forgive one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” You not only can forgive, you must forgive. It’s an evidence that the Lord is with you and has changed you.

Remember the contrast: verse 16, “No one stood with me,” verse 17: “But the Lord stood with me…” Paul can forgive others who have not stood with him, because he is a follower of the Lord who will always stand with him.

Others will fail us, but He will not. Your spouse will let you down. But the Lord will stand with you. Your co-worker will let you down. Can you love your co-worker anyway and say, “May it not be charged against him?” The Lord will stand with you. He is faithful. Your friend will hurt you—a close friend—can you say, “May it not be charged against him?” Your boss will let you down, your son or daughter, your church, your pastor. It’s the reality of the situation. We must still love and forgive. And we can do that because while others may not stand with us, the Lord will always stand with us.

The Lord stands with us in difficulty. There may be times we feel lonely, but we are never alone. He is with us. We have his presence with us in the race. So He strands with us in difficulty. Second truth about our Lord from this text, number two:

He Strengthens us for Ministry (17)

He strengthens us with His power. Standing before the Roman tribunal during his hearing, we may imagine Paul’s becoming so fearful that his knees might start knocking together and he would just fall to the ground. But, verse 17:

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…

The Lord gives us strength—often a supernatural kind of strength—to get through difficult times and to do difficult things. The Lord strengthens us.

So I imagine Paul singing again, this time “The Solid Rock.” Singing of the Lord:

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ the Solid rock I stand—all other ground is sinking sand. The Lord stands with us in difficulty. And the Lord strengthens us in that difficulty—strengthening us for ministry. This is important. The Lord’s presence with us in not simply so can sit back and sort of bask in HIs presence as though it were an end in itself. The Lord’s presence is with purpose.

The Lord’s presence is for the purpose of ministry, namely our sharing the Gospel. Look more closely at verse 17:

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that (purpose clause! The Lord strengthened me for this purpose, for this reason) the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear…

The Lord’s presence is for a purpose, the purpose of ministry. This is the same idea in Matthew 28, the Great Commission. Our Lord Jesus says, “I am with you always,” yet that’s not just an end in itself. There’s a purpose for the Lord’s presence, a reason for His presence with us. It’s not just the comfort of “I am with you always,” but the commission preceding the comfort: “Go and share the Gospel with the nations…and behold I am with you always, even to the end…”

The Lord strengthens us with His abiding presence not just so we will hole away somewhere by ourselves and never venture outside of our little time of DQ, as important as that is to have, our time of Daily Quiet—the Lord strengthens us for ministry. He empowers us with His presence so that when we get up from our DQ we go out to do the work of ministry, sharing the gospel this week, we will remember that He is with us, strengthening us for the task to which He has called us.

Paul says the Lord stood with him and strengthened him for this purpose, verse 17, “so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear…”

I believe Paul is talking about what he said during his preliminary hearing before the Roman tribunal. Rome was the center of the Gentile world. Paul understands that his imprisonment—and now this hearing—is a providential opportunity for him to get the message out. So he stands before that Roman, Gentile court of justice, and—just as he had done in Acts 26 where he preached in Caesarea before King Agrippa—so here in Rome he shares the gospel so that “all the Gentiles” gathered around him that day “might hear,” might hear the gospel.

He strengthens us for ministry. Paul adds at the end of verse 17:

17…Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

That could be a metaphor to convey the idea of being delivered from danger like when the Psalmist says in Psalm 22:1, “Save Me from the lion’s mouth…” also Psalm 35:17.

Or, it could be a literal danger as in Daniel 6. Though it seems too early in Christian history to assume that he would be thrown to the lions in the nearby amphitheater as some have suggested.

Paul may simply mean that he did not immediately go to death after his first hearing, and that his life was spared until a later time.

Or, it may well be that Paul’s saying, “I was delivered out of the most of the lion” was simply another way of referring to Satan, Satan’s being called a lion, for example in 1 Peter 5:

1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…””

So maybe when Paul says, “I was delivered out of the most of the lion,” he is saying, “God, kept me from Satan’s devices, Satan’s always trying to get me to be unfaithful.”

He stands with us in difficulty, He strengthens us for ministry, thirdly:

He Secures us for Eternity (18)

In verse 18 Paul directs his gaze beyond his present circumstances, recalling the truth that the Lord who began a good work in him many years earlier will be faithful to complete it at his final salvation. Verse 18:

18 And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Here is Paul’s assurance that in the end all will be well. Yes, he will face execution and he knows that. He knows, as he said back in verse 7, that the time of his departure is at hand. He does not expect to be released from prison. He’s just got his eyes on what is beyond—that the Lord has preserved and secured his soul for all eternity!

He knows that this world is not all there is. That the Lord who saved Him on the Road to Damascus years over 30 years earlier is the same Lord who will usher him into His eternal kingdom the moment he is martyred here. As he wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

Paul has a heavenly perspective! Paul knows that, as he wrote in Romans 3, his ultimate salvation is now nearer than when he first believed (Romans 13:11).

As he wrote to the church in Philippi, in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Paul has a heavenly perspective. For this reason, I see him sitting in that Roman dungeon, the Mamertine Prison there in Rome, and as he thinks about the future, he raises his hands in praise and concludes verse 18 with, “To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

And we join him in praise this morning, praising the Lord for being the one who stands with us in difficulty. He strengthens us for ministry. He secures us for eternity. We have His presence with us, His power to us, and His preservation of us.

Now, before we respond through the invitation, very quickly and briefly, three important reminders:

**Important (!) Reminders…

1) While He Stands with us in Difficulty…

Remember: The Lord’s faithfulness to us is never meant to be a substitute for the unfaithfulness of others

Paul was abandoned and forsaken. And while he was lonely, he was never alone. We praise God for that. At the same time, however, that does not mean that he did not need nor desire relationships with other believers.

Remember that he told Timothy back in verse 9 to, “Come quickly.” He’ll plead down in verse 21, “Come before winter.” And he’ll talk about others he misses. He’ll say in verse 19, “Greet Prisca and Aquila” and so on.

He yearns for emotional and relational fellowship with other believers. So it’s not like, “Well, everyone else has forsaken me, but I’ve got Jesus and that’s all I need, baby! Just forget about everyone else!” No, that’s not it. The Lord’s faithfulness is never meant to be a substitute for the unfaithfulness of others.

We need one another. We need others. The church is about our gathering together with one another. We need each other as we run the Christian race together. Second reminder:

2) While He Strengthens us for Ministry…

Remember: That doesn’t mean Christians will never suffer harm

Paul suffered a great deal of harm, suffering in that Roman dungeon, awaiting his execution. He was faithful to the Lord, but his faithfulness was no guarantee that others would not oppose him or that he would always be “safe” and never suffer physical harm.

The Lord strengthens us for the work to which He calls us to do, but that work often involves sacrifice and may ultimately require the sacrifice of our very lives. The Lord stands with us and strengthens us. Third reminder:

3) While He Secures us for Eternity…

Remember: Nothing is more important than our present faithfulness to Jesus

Yes, Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “…to die is gain,” but he said in the first part, “To live is Christ.”

To live with a view to eternity, we must live for the Lord in the present.

We don’t ever want to become like Demas who—may we never forget!—who, verse 10, had forsaken Paul, “having loved this present world.” We must not fall in love with this present world. While the Lord secures us for eternity, nothing is more important than our present faithfulness to Jesus!

We want to be faithful to the finish line.

Will you stand for prayer? We’re going go pray in just a moment and then we are going to respond to God as we sing.

So consider the truths in this passage…

The Lord stands with you, strengthens you, and secures you—He secures you for eternity.

Some of you this morning are Christians and may just need to say, “Have thine own way, Lord, I believe you will stand with me and strengthen me…”

Others of you, God is leading you to get connected to this church family. Remember that the Lord’s faithfulness to us and His abiding presence with us is never meant to be a substitute for others. We need one another. Come unite with this church family this morning.

Paul had the assurance of salvation…do you? In a moment when we sing, you come, trusting Him…

Nothing is more important than our present faithfulness to Jesus. Repent! Don’t love the world…

Let’s pray…Thank you for being so faithful to us. We want to be faithful to you. We know that nothing is more important than our present faithfulness to Jesus. Help us respond to your truth as we sing…

**Let’s sing now and you respond, however you need to respond.

****

1. Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.

2. Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.

3. Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

4. Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

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