2 Timothy 2:8

Good morning, Saylorville! I’ve missed you. It’s good to be back with you! You will thank me for not giving you a pictorial travel log of my sabbatical. I will just give you one picture. We were in Salzburg, home of The Sound of Music, and I was able to get a side by side of Julie Andrews and my wife on the bridge on the Salzburg Bridge. [Laughter] I got a few things done was on sabbatical as well, one was to finish my part in the audio version of my book I wrote a few years ago. And just in time too, because one of our pastors was in a thrift store the other day and what did he find? — but my book. (Laughter) Talk about cultivating humility after humiliation. (Laughter) And then what about this Unsung series we’ve had all summer? It’s been amazing, hasn’t it? Amazing! These guys have been fantastic! In fact, there… I mean, I mean… this was going on in my absence, and I had a good friend the other day say, “You know, I think it’s my favorite summer series we’ve ever had.” I’m going… (Laughter)

I have been praying for you. We have been watching online and visiting other churches, and I’ll come back to that in a little bit. But I would like to pray, though I know that Randy just prayed, and I love Randy Charlton. His prayer was precious and heartfelt and sanctified, and I just want to begin our time talking to God and maybe drop a few names in through my prayer time if you don’t mind. Let’s pray together. Shall we?

Our Father in Heaven, as we come to the Lord’s table and we remember, we also want to remember one another. I thank you for Saylorville Church, for their love and kindness, generosity towards my wife and I, and for this respite of ours, and to come back and to be able to preach the Word, and what wonderful elders we have here that I get to serve alongside preaching wonderful messages and encouraging the saints. But there are many burdens in our midst and so I name them. I pray Lord. I’m not going to name them all because I couldn’t possibly do that. But I pray for Bill. I pray for Mark Rice. I pray for Brad Gates, for Kermit McElvain. pray for Brian Near, for Carol Luke, for Noah Swanson, and I pray for all of the others who are struggling physically, physical burdens, they need Your mercies, Lord, and I pray that You would grant them to them, and grant them their hearts desire, and to remind them at the same time that they are eternal souls who know you and will enjoy You forever, regardless of what happens in their lives. I pray for those who are struggling with their children, and some among us their hearts are breaking because of this or that.  Uphold them as only You can do with Your strength. And help us today, Lord, to remember, perhaps in some cases as never before. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Remember. I preached in one of our Engage churches a few weeks ago, and as I approached the church a month or so in advance I went to my brother. My brother, who led me to Christ… is a part of that church, an active part of that church. And so I said, “Mike,” I said, “what… as you look at your church and its needs, what do you think…? What do you want me to come with?” And without hesitation, he said, “Pat, we need to remember.” And that just stuck, because he was thinking about the calling, the Gospel, what we’re supposed to be all about. How easily it is for us to get distracted about other things. Remember. We remember all kinds of things, don’t we? — deadlines, appointments, birthdays, pickin’ up our kids. I say that for my former secretary, Judy Thorson’s sake. She used to say about three o’clock every day,  “Pat, you’re supposed to pick up one of the kids!” — and I’d be running out the door. (audience laughing) We’ve got to remember passwords, and pins, and keys, the name of the dude you met last week.  You ought to remember his name.  You just saw him and… Ugh! … you don’t remember. You ever walk into a room? — and think… ‘Now why did I come in here?’ (Laughter) Sure you have.

When we stop remembering. We call that a disease. And that’s why my brother’s suggestion was filled with irony and it was sobering because it came from a man whose wife, who’s otherwise brilliant, theologically minded discipler of countless women who could no longer remember. She has Alzheimer’s.

What a gift our memory is. God tells us to remember no less than 160 times in His Word. We’re supposed to remember His promises, and they are literally the things that keep us going, aren’t they? Remember when Abraham wielded a knife over his son on Mount Moriah with every intention of plunging it into him and turning him into a burnt offering as God told him to do? He was going to do it until the angel stopped him. What would cause him to be willing to do something unfathomable? — and the answer is the promise of God. And we’re told on the flip side of the Bible as he was wielding that knife, he thought, ‘Well, God said the promise is going to come through Isaac. He’s going to have to raise him up.’ He had never raised anybody up before then. And Abraham believed the promise that He’d raise up Isaac. So promises keep us going.

Just the other day, I was reunited with a friend I’d led to Christ a couple of years ago… began to disciple him, and he sort of fell off the radar, and I just wasn’t hardly hearing from him even though I really was confident that he was saved. And then just a few weeks ago, he got back with me. He’s getting back in the game! He’s reading his Bible. He was studying the Gospel of John. He sent me this text the other day. “I see Jesus as my Savior, the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice for my sin.” And then he concluded the text with these words. “… And yet I sin,” — or, “yet I still sin.” What was I supposed to do at this point? I reminded him. I reminded him of a promise of God.

[Philippians 1:6] ‘Being confident of this very thing, He who began a good work and you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ.’

He was actually a living illustration of that promise of what God starts He finishes. We’re told to remember the Sabbath in Exodus, chapter 20. We’re told in Psalm 111… I just read this this morning in Psalm 111… We’re told to remember the mighty acts of God in history where it says in Psalm 111 verse 4:

Psalm 111:4, “He has made His wonderful works to be remembered...”

Have you ever read that? You haven’t heard that line for a while, have you? We’re told to remember Lot’s wife whenever you’re tempted to ignore the warnings that God gives us. Paul tells us to remember the poor in Galatians Chapter 2. Told when we’re in a funk… and some of you are there. You’re struggling You’re questioning. You’re wondering what God is up to in your life physically, socially, in many areas, and you’re wondering what are you going to do because you’re in this funk? And God tells this to us in Psalm 143, verse 5, ‘You ought to remember what I’ve done before to lift you out of that funk.’ And David says:

Psalm 143:5, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”

And that’s how we come out of this from time to time, by just remembering. And here at the Lord’s table we’re told twice to remember.

So I’d like you take your Bibles and find second Timothy chapter two, if you would please. Real simple message here this morning on my return, what God has burdened me to share with you.

The year is 66 AD, The church at the time has entered into its second generation. If a generation is about 30 years in length, give or take, they are now into their second generation. And by the way, the second generation is rarely as fervent as the first generation. It happens sometimes but not very often. The Apostle Paul is in a Roman Mamertine Prison… I’ve actually been in this prison. It’s incredibly depressing…. And he knows he’s going to die. This is the book where he says at the end:

2 Timothy 4:6, ‘… I know that the time of my departure is at hand.’

So he knows he’s gonna… in a matter of months… he’s a dead man. And he knows it.

The church, according to D. Edmond Hiebert, was, quote: “… trembling on the brink of annihilation.”

And Paul is writing his… for all intents and purposes his… last will and testament. What are you going say to the church going into the next generation, maybe not as fervent? What are you going to say to them? You know, he does? And this is basically an outline of 2 Timothy. He tells them to remember! In essence, he says:

Remember to fan the flame of the Spirit of God within you.

Remember to not be ashamed.

Remember to pass the truth to the next generation.

Remember to be a faithful soldier, a disciplined athlete, a patient farmer.

Remember that suffering leads to glory.

Remember to live holy lives.

Remember that evil men and imposter are going to get worse and worse. (Can I get an ‘Amen?’ Paul says that)

Remember to follow godly examples.

Remember to believe the word, know the word, preach the word, fight good fights, finish your race and die for the glory of God.

And above all, above it all, Paul says to Timothy:

[2 Timothy 2:8] “Remember Jesus Christ… risen from the dead… the offspring of David… as preached in my Gospel.”

And that’s where we’re going to be today. Remember. And we’re just going to use that scripture as the outline.

“Remember Jesus Christ.” This comes off like a war cry. Like remember the Alamo.

No… remember Jesus Christ. The word “remember” here, the Greek word conveys rehearsing, like if you’ve ever been in a play or you had to remember a line in some situation, you rehearsed it over and over and over again, right? — in order to get it right at the right time. I’ve done some rehearsing in this message.

A few weeks ago we were in a church not in the Engage Network. It was from outside the Network, but some dear friends were in the church and so we went to visit them. And we were sitting there toward the front… not at the front… my wife and I. And one of the leaders comes up to us… I’m not kidding you… like two minutes before the service and says, “Hey, Pastor Nemmers and Marilyn, we are so honored to have the two of you here! So what we would like you to do is, we want to honor you by having you serve us communion.” You should have seen the look in my wife’s face! “There are two places,” she goes, ‘Hey, he says, hey,‘ “It’s not a big deal. It’s real simple. Just stand behind the table and tear off pieces of bread and say, “This represents the body of Christ given for you.” “Okay. You got it?” — and they walked away! (congregation laughing) And Marilyn’s like… I said… “We’ve got to do this.” “What… what did he say?” “This is the body of Christ. This… no, no, no. This represents the body of Christ given for you.” “Okay, okay.” So we sang a couple of songs… “What are we supposed to remember again?” “This is the body of Christ. This represents the body of Christ given for you. This represents the body of Christ… This represents the body…” “Now, what are we supposed to say again?” (congregation laughing) We rehearsed it all the way up to… we got it, we got it, we got it!” That’s the idea in this word. Remember Jesus Christ! That’s what we’re to remember.

Just the other day, this very same friend who’s now come back to his walk with God, texted me. He said, “The hardest thing for me is my tendency to drift away from Jesus in my day to day life.” The answer to that is to remember. This word “remember” doesn’t just mean rehearsing. It’s actually a present imperative. All that means is you keep remembering and it’s a command to do so. Remember and keep remembering Jesus Christ. Some of you have heard the expression:

“You should preach the Gospel to yourself every day.”

I… to be very candid… I didn’t quite understand that when I first heard… ’cause it was just so natural for me to think about the Gospel. But I think the idea in that expression is right here. We’ve gotta remember Jesus, because we get off on so many other things. We can teach messages, we can preach messages, we can do that, and forget Jesus in any part of it. Preach the Gospel to yourself. Remember… not the book that helped you in your depression, not the program that you got through, not the health regimen that you are adhering to, not the friend who’s always been there. And these are all good! The clarion call is remember Jesus Christ.

Now look, you still have to face your trials. You still have to endure the losses. Acknowledge the failures, confess the sins, repent of the sins. You still have to suffer heart aches and heart breaks. But if you are a true follower of Jesus, you do so from victory, not for victory, because:

[Romans 8:37, “… we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Amen? And after all, it’s not your faithfulness that saves you. It’s God’s faithfulness! Look at the context here. Skip down to verse 11. This is so powerful. These couplets are very powerful, worth memorizing. But I want you to get your eyes on them. He says:

[2 Timothy 2:11-13]

11 ‘The saying is trustworthy for: If we have died with Him, (we will what?) we’ll live with Him.

12 If we endure, we’ll also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us (and, watch this) 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful. (Why? — Because He can’t take back His word. That’s why.) He can’t deny Himself.’

This is so powerful!

My sister-in-law lost her memory. She didn’t lose her faith. And it wasn’t her faith anyway. It was the faith God gave her, And if He gave it, He’s gonna keep it. And that’s true of you. The security of the believer is real. And here it is, right here. If we become faithless because of a mental situation, whoever God remains faithful. Why? — because He can’t deny Himself. That‘s why. Remember that.

Remember Jesus Christ, secondly, risen from the dead. Not risen from a sick bed. Risen from the dead. The Greek word “nekros” It literally means “corpse,” means “lifeless.” It means “that which the spirit has left.” This is our hope! — the resurrected Jesus Christ… and:

[Romans 15:13] ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’

In believing, do you believe in the risen Jesus? He’s risen. Look at that word… He’s risen. That’s not present tense, that’s perfect tense. The perfect tense describes something that’s already happened, but it has ongoing results. Why is that important? — because Jesus is still alive! Oh, let me illustrate.

One of everyone’s favorite stories in the Bible… or should be… is the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Remember that? So here’s Lazarus. You know, he’s died. He’s been in the grave for four days. Jesus finally shows up… on purpose. You know, so He said, by now he’s stinking. ‘You’re gonna pull him out of there?’ ‘Yeah… Hey, Lazarus… come forth!’ You know the story… He comes forth… amazing! This is in the context of Jesus saying:

[John 11:25] “… I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die yet shall he live, and he who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

That’s what He asked. But here’s the deal. Lazarus died… again. He died twice actually. I mean, in the very next chapter, he’s sitting around a table eating with Jesus… but he would die. Jesus lived to never die again! And it’s our hope. This week, bank everything on the resurrected Jesus!

I have very few theological pet peeves, but one of them is when somebody says the Gospel is that Christ died for your sins. That is not the Gospel! That’s just halfway! Thank the Lord for the sacrifice! Amen? — but that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day, because He is alive! — so we will live! That‘s the Good News. That’s why my friend I hang out with every week, says, “I’m sorry, I can’t believe.  It defies science.” “I know! That’s why you need to believe it!” In His resurrection chapter 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says:

[1 Corinthians 15:14] ‘If Christ isn’t risen, if it’s true that all you’ve gotta do is say, ‘Christ died for your sins,’ then he goes on, “… my preaching is empty. Your faith is vain.”

So think about that the next time you leave out the resurrection. But I love it in the context!

[1 Corinthians 15:20] ‘But Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who believe.’

Gathering with the elders this week as I was onboarding, they gave me a list of those who are sick, and it was quite a list. I prayed over several of them as we began. But I said to my wife a few days earlier, “Am I praying more for Christians… am I praying more to keep Christians out of heaven than I am to deliver the lost out of hell?” And don’t get me wrong. I’m not heartless. I don’t want my loved ones to die before their time. But what does that even mean, “before their time?” Our times are in His hands. Right? Look, if your salvation is secure, so is your resurrection. We’re just going to sing about it at the end. It’s wonderful! It’s secure… and yet we keep chasing the temporal. Some of you have dedicated your entire life to that which is temporal. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be pursuing things that don’t last. I’m saying, when that’s your life, you’re chasing after something that is not going to last. It’s a vain chase!

The name Ben Sasse is not a household name, but it should be amongst Christians. He was the former senator in Nebraska, and more recently, the president at Florida University. He has pancreatic cancer. It’s a death sentence. He’s not that old. He’s got teenage kids. And he’s taking experimental medicine not because he has any illusions that he’s going to live a long life, but we just wants to keep it going so he can speak into his 15-year-old son’s life. It’s pretty noble, I think. And in an interview recently… he’s a fervent follower of Jesus… He said:

“My terminal illness has stripped away my worldly idols.” Ben Sasse

What’s it going to take for you to strip away your worldly idols? — or me? I’ve got a few idols. The resurrection should change everything. Remember that.

Thirdly, Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ…” (There’s the war cry) risen from the dead.“ (That’s our hope) the offspring of David.” Now that seems almost odd, but it shouldn’t be, because all that is saying is He was a human, and He came through the royal line! As scripture said, He had to… and praise God by the way for the virgin conception that canceled out the sin! — But He is the offspring. It’s the word “sperma.” We get a word “sperm” from this. All the reason that I’m bringing this up is He’s 100% human. That’s what He became. And why is that so important? — because Jesus was tempted like you are. And you are. Jesus hungered like you do. He wearied like you do. He suffered like you do. But unlike you, He never sinned in His humanness, He bore our griefs, He carried our sorrows, and He died in our place. Christianity is the only faith… the only faith… whose God became 100% man. And why is that important? I want you to cast your eyes on this from Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. This is why it’s important.

Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, (that”s you and me) He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death (because you can’t kill God unless He becomes a human being… through death) He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…” (Hallelujah!)

That’s why He became human, for you and me, the offspring of David. Remember that.

Fourthly and finally, “as preached in my Gospel.“ I love this! The Apostle Paul refers to my Gospel only three times in the New Testament. He literally bookends his magnum opus, Romans, with this. In fact, I’ll show you the last thing. He says before he signs off to the Romans.

[Romans 16:25] “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel…”

And he does it here… as preached in my gospel. He’s talking about what some of you still need to do, personalize the Gospel. If the Gospel isn’t my Gospel, it’s just a gospel. And to some of you, you’ve never really received the Gospel. And you need to. And if you have received it, you need to make it personal.

Last week, I was privileged to speak at Lakeside Fellowship’s Men’s Steak and Corn event like we had here last week. Two weeks ago, I guess. And I was going to preach my testimony. And I’ve done that countless times… and that’s the problem. I’ve done it countless times. And the Spirit of God convicted me in the week that I was preparing to say, “I don’t care how eloquent you are, how clear you are, how biblical you are, how you bring it home. If I’m not in this, it’s going nowhere!” And I was so humbled by that. I fasted. I sought the Lord and I said, “God, I am Your glove. Put your hand in me,” — and I have to tell you church, I can’t remember a time I preached my testimony, sensing the power of God upon me… ever! Some 25 people placed their faith in Jesus that night! — and I think it’s because I personalized the Gospel. I think that’s what I did. The Gospel must be personalized. If it’s not your Gospel, it’s just a gospel. Is it yours?

Some of you have made it personal. Just a week ago I had a 78 year old former pastor greet me in a coffee shop. I didn’t know who he was. He said, “Hey, I visited your church. I really appreciate you’re doing blah, blah, blah, blah…” And then he said, “I’m actually in a church that’s not very conservative, but I get to preach once in while,” and as I was talking with him, he goes, “Hey, I’ve just gotta tell you something. My wife and I were at a restaurant about a week ago, and one of your people witnessed to us. And when he got done… my wife said to me, “Nobody’s ever witnessed me before!” In my heart, I thank God for whoever you were who personalized the Gospel to that man and his wife! Are you doing that? Remember Jesus Christ, Saylorville Church. Remember Him. He is the eternal Son of God, right? — Who came into this world, laid aside those holy garments for you and for me.

[John 1:1] “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.” (Amen?)

‘He was in the world, [John 1:10] and the world was made by Him and the world didn’t know Him. [John 1:11] He came into His own people and His own people would not receive Him, [John 1:12] but as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the children of God to those who believe in His name.’

And then in [John 1] verse 14, “The Word became flesh” (and moved into our neighborhood) And dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace, full of truth.’

And when you sit before God at the Lord’s table and you hold those elements and you hold the bread and you remember His beautiful life, when you remember His powerful miracles, when you remember His successful resistance of sin… unlike you… And it’s all pictured in the bread.

Our very own Hannah Hardie wrote this poem, I think last Easter or the Easter before, called Wandering Wonder. And she wrote:

“Vainglory never captured Him,

Self-pity never entangled Him,

Impatience never defeated Him,

Suffering never embittered Him,

Mistreatment never defined Him and

Disappointment never ruled Him.”

He is the God-man. Amen? And then when you hold the juice, you remember His suffering, His bleeding, His dying as pictured in the juice. And personalize this!

Just the other day at our Men’s Steak and Corn Feed… biggest crowd we’ve ever had… over 400 men! And Colonel Randall Stanford… a Colonel in the United States Army, a dear friend, came to Christ a few years ago… shared his testimony. It was captivating! For the first time in any memory I’ve ever had, over 400 men gave him a standing ovation because it was so powerful and so captivating! And I asked myself, why, why was this so powerful? Why was this so captivating? And I’m telling you, it’s because he screwed the Gospel into his testimony, and he remembered Jesus Christ, and he made it personal and many were saved! Hallelujah!

Now some of you here this morning, you don’t need to remember. You need to believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because if you don’t, you will remember.

The Lord Jesus gave a story one day, and it’s the scariest story found in Scripture. [Luke 16] Two men die. One goes to paradise. The other goes to hell having rejected God. And there’s a dialogue with a chasm between, between the man in hell and the man in heaven. And the man in hell is under extreme pain… (The Greek word, “basanos.” It’s the most descriptive word in all the New Testament for pain) and he says to Abraham on the other side of the chasm,

[Luke 16:25] ‘Abraham, send Lazarus, (the man who’s in glory) send Lazarus to me with a drop of water to bring me relief.’ And as Abraham responds to the man in hell, he does so with two words to begin with… He says, “Son, remember…“

If you die in your sins dear friend, you will take your memory with you into darkness, into hell, and you will remember this moment. You will never forget this moment. In all the other moments you had, place your faith in Jesus to be your Savior. You’re going to remember one way or another. Why not remember now? Why not remember now? Today, if you will hear His voice, don’t harden your heart. Today… Let today be the day of salvation for you. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Will you do that?

And for those of you who know Him, as we go to prayer, and we settle our hearts around the Lord’s table here, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached by my Gospel. Let’s pray together.

Our Father in heaven, we want to remember, rehearse, and never forget Jesus Christ. Times are changing, a new generation is coming, and we are so easily distracted. We so easily drift. And we drift into good things Lord, but they’re not the most important things. I pray, Lord, You would forgive us, those of us who know you, for drifting away from Jesus being the center of our lives. And may we daily preach the Gospel to ourselves, remembering Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David and make it personal, Lord, according to my Gospel. I pray for those here, right now, that…  you know who you are… you have not received Jesus, but your heart is tender. You know that He died… for you. You know that He rose again… for you. You believe that He rose from the dead. With all of your heart, pray something like this: ‘Lord, I’m a sinner. I am lost. I’m a sinner. I believe Jesus died for me. I believe he rose again for me. Take my sins away and be my Savior and Lord.’ Would you do that? And now Lord, as we remember Your perfect life and sacrificial death, we give You the glory for it’s in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

I think it’s because even those who have a relationship with Jesus tend to have spiritual Alzheimer’s that God tells us that we should do this regularly. That is, celebrate the Lord’s table. On the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and He broke it and distributed it amongst His disciples. And He said, “Take and eat this. This is my body given to you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And then after supper He took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it,” and again… Let’s stand and pray.

Our loving Father, we come before You with gratitude, grateful hearts, Lord, grateful hearts. And we thank You for these prodding reminders that You give us repeatedly in Scripture, because we need them, because we have a tendency to drift into other things… good things even… but away from Your Son. And we have been admonished in Your word today to remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached by my Gospel. And again, Lord, I pray that we would make THE Gospel… each of us individually who know You… our Gospel, my Gospel, and take that Gospel into the world. We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen. [Music]