Grace to Timothy & Titus

There are times when we are faithless. There are times when we stumble and fall. Yet he remains faithful even when we are faithless, he remains faithful and when our grip on him, weakens his grip on us remains forever strong and secure about what he does." Welcome to the Saturday addition to Renewing Your Mind. We will when we received when we've been regenerated one from death to life we experience fellowship with God fellowship that isn't broken by your weaknesses or even our nagging doubts in our unfolding series on the doctrines of grace we now come to what is known as the pastoral epistles.

These are first and second Timothy and Titus and they were written by Paul to these two young pastors. These two young ministers in order to give them instruction regarding the church and ministry, and being the man of God as they were written after Paul's release from his first Roman imprisonment and second Timothy was written during Paul's second Roman imprisonment so these are here in Scripture in the canon of Scripture to direct every pastor and every elder and every deacon who provide leadership in the church and in the course of these three epistles. We again find the doctrines of sovereign grace which are so very important to every pastor but also every flock to whom they preach. I want to begin in first Timothy chapter 1 and verse 16 and I want you to know that the end of verse 16 that those who believe in Jesus Christ do so for eternal life. Now if you could be a Christian for five years and then lose your salvation you would've had five year life if you could be a Christian for 10 years and then fall from grace. What you would've had would have been to in your life, but this says we have eternal life, and that which is settled for eternity cannot be undone within time literally eternal life speaks to both the quality of life and the duration of life eternal life means the life of the ages to come, that the life of God himself has already come to indwell us.

That's what the new birth is this the life of God in the soul of a man is more than just bookkeeping in heaven that we have been moved from this line over to this line and there now has been posted certain things to our account like the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ that has happened is all glorious but it's even more than that is more than just paperwork in heaven.

It is that we have in our soul experientially.

We have received while on this earth. The life of God has come to dwell within us and it is referred to as internal life. That means the life of the ages to come, which is in reality the life of God is already within us is not that one day when we die we enter into heaven, and then God will give us eternal life.

No, we receive eternal life. The moment we believe in Jesus Christ but it also speaks to the duration of this life. It is a never ending life is a life that will go on throughout all of the ages to come. We have already received this life and so again this speaks very clearly to the eternal security of the believer, you have eternal life long before you step into eternity.

Before you go to heaven. Heaven is already come to you and this eternal life is within us in chapter 2 verse Timothy chapter 2 want to address a verse that is sometimes misunderstood.

I love the quote.

These two verses when I preach the word of God beginning in verse five of chapter 2.

There is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus pause there for a moment there are as many mediators between God and man as there are gods. There's only one God and there's only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. There is no other way to come to the father except through the son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now the next verse, verse six, who referring to Jesus Christ gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony given at the proper time and it would be easy to read that and go now wait a minute, this looks like he made a universal sacrifice that he died for all, so can we address this with the definite atonement in particular redemption. We need understand the word all sometimes all refers to all without exception. Sometimes it refers to all without distinction, meaning all kinds of people. The context is always king the context determines. Do we take it is all without exception are all without distinction will if you look at the previous verses, it becomes very clear. He says beginning in verse one urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of here's our word. All men, only just asking just common sense. Do you think that Paul is saying to Timothy, I want you to pray for every single person on planet Earth and let's start with South Africa and then moved to South America and then work our way up to Mexico. I don't want you to get up from your knees until you have prayed for every single person in the human race. In fact, I want you to go all the way back to Adam and I want you to pray for every single person. Up to now and I want you to speculate everyone else is gonna live in this world. No, that's not what all means here.

It means all kinds of people. I want to pray for these kind and these people. I want you to pray for it.

For these and these a sampling of all kinds, and it becomes obvious when we look at the next verse. So, what kinds of people are we to pray for. He says well 14 six and all who are in authority, meaning all kinds of people who are in authority, judges and princes and magistrates and kings and monarchs all kinds so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity is see what Paul is directing Timothy to do is to pray for those who are in authority over him.

Why so that he will have peaceful conditions in which he can preach the gospel. That's what he wants religious freedom, we would say today so that I can preach the gospel, unhindered to apply this to us, we would pray for those who are in authority directly over us who make decisions that affect the open doors that are set before us to minister the word of God so Paul tells Timothy.

I want you to pray for all kinds of people. Not all people. That's impossible, totally, completely impossible all kinds of people.

For example, kings and all who are in authority meeting directly over you Timothy where you are where you find yourself in Ephesus so that you have freedom to preach the gospel.

So as we come down to verse six, when he says he gave himself as a ransom for all. What that means in context, is the word all has Artie been used in verse one and twice in verse two and again in verse four, all here refers to all kinds of people.

And Jesus did die for all kinds of people. He died for juicy died for Gentiles.

He died for male and female he died for educated and uneducated. He died for barbarians and those who are very civilized in an cultured. He died for the circumcised. He died for the uncircumcised. He died for all kinds of people. That's how we are to understand and take this now as we continue to look, there's one more passage that's a little troublesome. First Timothy four and verse 10 and we read, for it is for this we laborers drive because we have fixed our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers now all men is not to be taken as every single person who has ever lived in the human race that would be rank universalism. Hell would be empty fact he'll probably would be annihilated. Everyone is saved in the enemy there some wacky people even believe the devil will be saved. In the end know all men here, the Savior of all men, especially of believers really could just as easily be translated, that is specifically believers it's only believers who know God as their Savior right so again this a little bit troublesome text that needs careful handling.

Well, I want you to come to second Timothy with me and this was written while Paul is in Rome. We believe he's in solitary confinement in the memory team presented is his second Roman imprisonment. These are the last words to ever come from the apostle Paul. This is his 13th and final epistle. This is no time to minutes words this is time to speak that which is most important is been well said last word should be lasting words and so Paul wants to leave this with his young son in the faith Timothy and in verse 12 of chapter 1 he wants to remind Timothy that God is able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day. Paul is looking death square in the face and it will be a very short period of time. From this we don't know how long but very short. He'll be taken out of that solitary confinement.

He will be taken to what tradition says the ocean way his head will be severed. He will be martyred for being a preacher of the gospel, and as he is looking death square in the face.

Paul does not blink because he knows that death will simply be the passage by which he goes directly to heaven to be with the Lord forever and ever. And so he says in verse 12 that God is able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day will what has he entrusted to him his life his soul that this is a synonymous statement for saving faith.

That's what you do when you believe in Jesus Christ you entrusted God your soul and your life you give him everything about you from the top your head to the bottom of your feet and Paul acknowledges that God is able to guard his very life that he has entrusted to him and not only that God is able to guard your life in your soul and not one of the sheep will perish will come to chapter 2. Please if you would chapter 2 in verses nine and 10. I love these verses your love these verses because again Paul is in solitary confinement. He's in a hole in the ground awful sanitary conditions there there just lowering occasionally some food down there. Paul is completely imprisoned and there will be no escape except to put him to death, and so he says in verse nine I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal know he's not a criminal. But he is being charged and indicted with being a criminal. Paul says the word of God is not imprisoned that they can lock me up but they cannot stop the advancement of the word of God. The word of God will carry out God's purposes as it spreads here upon the earth, and now what he says in verse 10 is why he is so confident that the word of God can never be imprisoned. He says in verse 10. For this reason I endure all things and that refers to this imprisonment in his sufferings in his hardship for the sake of those who are chosen so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. And what's implied here is that those who are chosen not all of them have yet come to faith in Jesus Christ there out there and when the word of God reaches them. They will be called by the spirit of God, and they will be brought into union with with Jesus Christ. But Paul's confidence is in the doctrine of sovereign election listen, you can imprison me but you cannot support the eternal purpose of God. It will go forward.

Every single one of God's elect will be saved. This didn't demotivate Paul, it motivated Paul to hang in there during tough times to keep on preaching. Keep on riding keep on discipling. Even when his back is up against the wall and humanly speaking, there is no way out. Paul finds greatest confidence in ministry in the eternal sovereign electing purposes of God. And so mostly so mostly well, let's look at another verse. Look at verse 13.

As long as were so close. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself, and there are times when we are faithless and there are times when we stumble and fall.

There are times when we disappoint the Lord.

Yet he remains faithful even when we are faithless, he remains faithful and when our grip on him, weakens his grip on us remains forever strong and secure look. Later in this chapter. If you would, in verses 25 and 26 with gentleness. Verse 25 correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

The only way anyone comes to the knowledge of the truth is for God to grant them repentance. Repentance does not well up from within ourselves, were not the source of our own repentance that were not the author of our own repentance.

We are responsible to repent. But we can only repent with the repentance which the Lord grants to us. It's all from him and threw him into him even our repentance.

And it's so necessary because of what we read in the next verse in verse 26 of the second Timothy two and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. Listen site is not gonna let go of anyone. Everyone who is an unbeliever has the devil as their father there really two families in the world there is the family of God and the family of site that that's all that there is an everyone who is in the family of God that had been born again by the spirit of God and belong to him, but those who have not been regenerated remain in the family of Satan. In John eight verse 44 Jesus said your of your father the devil in the last of him, he shall do.

He is a liar and a liar from the beginning, and there is no truth in him. And so the devil holds as his captive unbelievers and he will not let them go and so there must be one who is greater than Satan to come and break even the devil's grip over unbelievers and that one of course is God himself. But it says here in verse 26 at the devil holds unbelievers captive to do his will, God must intervene. God must break the stranglehold.

God must grant repentance and enable that part held in bondage to be turned around to the Lord and then faith given that that one may believe. Well look at chapter 4 and verse eight chapter 4 verse eight.

As Paul comes to the end of his life.

Paul is not cowering as he faces death. Paul is confident as he faces death. He says in verse seven, I fought the good fight, I finished the course, I have kept the faith. He knows the end is at hand.

Verse eight in the future. There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the brightest judge, will award to me on that date. He is certain of this. And then he adds this for our encouragement for Timothy's encouragement and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing every true believer longs for the world to come, longs for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and there is laid up for us as well. The crown of righteousness that will be bestowed upon us and I want you to know as soon as the Lord puts that crown on her head.

It'll be there a millisecond and working to take that crown and cast it immediately back at the feet of the Lord because we know that he chose us he predestined us he called us he justified us.

He kept us he secured as he glorified us this Crandon belong to me. This crown must be cast back at his feet emblematic that all things are from him and through him and to him will look at Titus and will wrap up this session. Titus chapter 1 and verse one again immediately in the first verse, Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God. I don't think this could have been introduced any earlier unless it was in the title of the book here in the very first verse, Paul talks about the faith of those chosen of God.

The doctrine of sovereign election and this is to strengthen the faith of Titus to remind him that he is in the kingdom of heaven by divine choice, and by sovereign grace. Verse two is an interesting verse, he talks about the hope of eternal life, and we've already talked about eternal life in this session and we talked about hope means a certainty about our future life in glory.

But notice the universe to which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago long ages ago means literally before times eternal so before times eternal is before God created anything or anyone. So who's there to whom he can make this promise you, and I worked there. The Angels weren't there. There is only God, God the father, God the son God the Holy Spirit.

This is a promise that God the father made to himself in the presence of the son and the Spirit he has sworn by himself. He has sworn an oath by himself. There is no name any higher than God's own name and God has promised himself that he will bring to pass his sovereign purposes and he is also promised to the sun and promised to the spirit that he will give to the sun. These chosen ones in the sun must now come into this world and lay down his life for these chosen ones and they will be given to the son as his inheritance and as his chosen bride that is an unbreakable promise that the father has made to the sun long ages ago in eternity past, and then the promise to the spirit as well to entrust the same elect ones to him in the sense that the spirit will be sent by the father and the son into this world and the spirit will search them out and find them and call them and convict them and draw them and regenerate them and give them repentance and faith in the spirit will bring them to the sun and the father will make good on his promise that they will be then conformed fully, completely into the image of the sun and they will sing the hallelujah chorus to the sun throughout all the ages to come, the sun will be surrounded by worshipers who will magnify his name and then they will all be made fully in the image of the sun.

What a promise God made long ages ago, before he created anyone or anything promise to himself, promise to the other two persons of the Godhead. What a glorious truth. This is an Paul wanted his two young ministers in the faith to be deeply rooted in the doctrines of sovereign rights. These doctrines of grace remind us that God thought of our salvation before time began. He put the plan of the motion.

As a result, he sovereignly calls us to himself and ensures that his people will never be lost. That's the kind of truth that helps us persevere in trials and find joy in difficulty were glad you Georges for the Saturday addition of Renewing Your Mind. We web in the every Saturday we bring you a message from Dr. Steven Lawson series, foundations of grace New Testament in 24 messages. Dr. Lawson watches through the entire New Testament drawing is that salvation is not the result of man's works were choices. It is the gift of God so that no one can boast God receives all the credit and glory for our salvation.

We invite you to contact us today and request is complete series for your donation of any amount.

We will send you the 24 messages on two DVDs. That's more than eight hours of study. The title again of the series is foundations of grace. New Testament you can reach us by phone at 800-435-4343 or you can go online to Renewing Your Mind.work well what are we to make of those who seemingly come to faith in Christ, yet formal way. Is it possible to lose your salvation. Join us next Saturday is Dr. Lawson continues his look at the foundations of grace by turning to the book of join us for Renewing Your Mind