Call to Worship:
Today we’re going to be thinking about the sovereignty of God and his providential working that brings his purposes to pass. And we’re going to consider how the Spirit of God uses the doctrine of God’s sovereignty to make us brave.
There’s a classic text in the book of Acts that shows us this very connection.
Specifically Acts 4. Peter and John had been arrested and beaten and then released. And when the disciples all gathered back together they prayed,
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. — Acts 4:29-31
There are certain prayers you should absolutely assume God will answer. Asking him for courage to obey is one of those prayers.
But upon more careful inspection, we see that before praying for boldness and receiving it from the Holy Spirit, the disciples rehearsed what God had revealed to them about the sovereignty of God.
You know earlier I mentioned Acts 4 and the disciple’s prayer for boldness. I only read the second half of the prayer. The first half of the prayer goes like this…
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. — Acts 4:24-28
So what we have here is the not so secret recipe for bravery. By recalling what we know about the sovereignty of God and relying on his spirit — the Lord is faithful to make his people brave.
Sermon Title: Relying on God’s Spirit, Remembering God’s Sovereignty
Text: 2 Timothy 1:6-14
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
In January 2022, the Canadian government enacted Bill C-4, effectively criminalizing Christian preaching, teaching, and counseling that upholds Biblical morality for human sexuality. Many pastors in Canada determined to preach the truth that very next Sunday. That was celebrated last Sunday.
This Sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Do you know how many women have found themselves with an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy and yet looked their fear in the eye and made it serve the Lord? There are probably plenty of us in this room right now who would not be here if our mothers were more fearful and less faithful.
This is precisely the kind of thing that the book of 2 Timothy is about. We saw last week that Paul is encouraging his beloved Timothy to fan his teaching gift into a flame — even though that increased zeal is likely to lead Timothy into certain trials he would not encounter if he’d just ease up on the gas a little bit.
So this little letter is for the purpose of encouragement in the most literal sense of the word. This is meant to impart courage.
That’s what Paul is doing for Timothy. And thanks be to God, he gave us this little letter so that we could be brought along for the ride.
Some of you might benefit from this series more than others because you have a specific action in mind that, if taken, will in the short term, may very well lead to hardship. I really think this sermon and this series can help some take the next step when you know the next step is going to be painful.
Others may be in the middle of something difficult. And you’re sorely tempted to hit the easy button, step outside of the will of God, disobey and bring this difficult season to end by leaning on your own understanding.
But you know, this kind of thing isn’t really uncommon. I bet there are probably things you’re doing… and things you have chosen not to do — that make life harder for you than it would be if you took a path of least resistance. And the only reason you’re doing things the hard way is because the Lord has made it clear to you.
So some of you need encouragement to endure the hard thing you’re already in.
To give generously.
To not give up on someone that is difficult to love.
To press into community when it feels awkward.
In the section of text we will cover this morning, we will see Paul encourage Timothy with two interconnected things: The Spirit of God and the Sovereignty of God.
I. The Spirit of God
Look at vs. 6-7 — “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
For God gave us a spirit— not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
And these are three things you really need when staring down the barrel of a gun. When looking at the prospect of suffering.
A. Power
You need power — because you are, in the flesh, to match for the hardships which come your way. Paul emphasizes the power of God again in vs. 8 where he says, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,”
God may ask you to suffer for his sake. But he will not ask you to suffer with your strength.
If you obey your way into hardship, then you can expect his help. You can expect his power, supplied by the Holy Spirit, to be fully supplied to help you endure.
B. Love
You need love because that’s the seat of courage. As Gilbert Keith Chesterton famously said, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” Paul expresses this kind of thing in chapter 2 when he says, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
But Chesterton’s quote is not complete. The good soldier fights, not only for who is behind him but for who is above him — namely Jesus Christ. As Paul commands Timothy, also in chapter 2, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
C. Self-Control
If we are to be courageous. We must “get a hold of ourselves” when we are afraid. We must not allow the fear we will naturally feel to lead our hearts. We must lead our hearts. The ancient world understood that courage was not an absence of fear but rather a refusal to allow fear to take the lead or have the last word.
I was thinking the other day, “what would my life be like if I was totally unafraid of suffering?” This seemed like a good thing for a second until I realized, if I was totally unafraid of suffering, I would do so many dumb things. I do too many dumb things as it is. But the fear of suffering keeps me from being as dumb as I could be.
Fear is actually God’s gift to us. It keeps us from obeying the short term impulsiveness of the flesh. And when used in that way, it is great benefit. Fear is beneficial when it keeps us from obeying the flesh but is a real liability when it keeps us from obeying God.
And once again, we find the basic challenge of being a fallen human being in a fallen world. God gives us fear as a gift. It was employed by God to Adam and Eve — on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. But after the fall, the gift of fear — just like all the other gifts of God — tends to be heeded over and above the giver of the gift.
So we don’t want to attempt to eliminate fear of suffering. Rather we merely want to subordinate it so that it never keeps us from obeying God. We want to take it captive. Make it serve us and our God and not the other way around.
And all of this comes by the Holy Spirit.
But I want to take a moment to clear up one key misconception about the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God should not be counted on to bring things into being in your soul - ex nihilio - out of nothing. The Holy Spirit does not work that way. In the believer the Holy Spirit does one thing mainly.
He illuminates the scriptures to us. That’s what Jesus tells us about the spirit in John 14.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” — John 14:26
The Holy Spirit deals primarily in the promises of God.
If all believers have the Holy Spirit, why do some seem to be so much more under his influence than others? One key reason for that phenomenon, which I am sure we have all observed, is the amount of bible the Holy Spirit has to work with.
The Holy Spirit is not a replacement for knowing the Bible. He is fundamentally a teacher. And he teaches from the Bible.
Friends, let’s be honest that there are many churches that, either explicitly or implicitly elevate the holy spirit up here — while putting the scriptures down here. Not only is that unbiblical it is setting people up for disappointment. They’re going to be wondering why they lack victory, courage, etc…
The problem isn’t a lack of the holy spirit, but rather a lack of the holy scriptures — which serve as kindling for the fire of the spirit.
His primary work is to bring to mind all that Jesus has said to us in his word.
Let me give you an example and by way of this example, pivot into the second point.
Example: The Disciple’s Increased Boldness
People have long noted how much boldness was manifested in the lives of the disciples in the book of Acts and beyond. They have noted the incredible change that took place in the lives of men who just weeks prior, had abandoned Jesus when times got tough.
And they note the role of the Spirit. The disciples had received the Holy Spirit. And that this was the source of their increased boldness. To that I would say “yes and amen.”
But the Holy Spirit works in us by illuminating truth and making it real to us. The Holy Spirit does not normally produce feelings in us in a vacuum. Rather the Holy Spirit takes the information, ideas, doctrines of the scriptures and makes them real to us so that we act on the information.
So when we think about how the early disciples became so bold — when they were not bold before — we are only providing half an answer when we credit the Holy Spirit. The full answer is that the disciples in Acts had gained information they did not have beforehand. And the Spirit brought what they learned to life.
What information did they gain?
They began to see the providence of God, the unconquerable purposes of God — in clearer light.
Take for instance the famous story from the Emmaus Road — where the risen Christ walked with some disciples and explained to them that all of the thousands of years of biblical history had all been exquisitely orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God.
That even the cross — which at the time looked like the masterful orchestration of evil, turned out to be part of God’s definite plan. And that God had essentially tricked the darkness into destroying itself.
This was the information the disciples possessed after the resurrection that they did not have before. And it was this insight into the sovereignty of God — illuminated by the Spirit — that provided them with the boldness they needed to voluntarily share in suffering for the gospel.
And this is the next idea Paul presents to Timothy. He says, the spirit will give you power, and he will do so by illuminating the sovereignty of God — specifically in salvation.
II. The Sovereignty of God
Look at vs. 8-9
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
Paul is not content to leave Timothy with a reminder about the spirit’s work in the face of suffering. He wants to arm the Spirit within Timothy by filing Timothy’s mind with gospel truth — related, above all, to the sovereignty of God in salvation.
This is Paul is doing in vs. 8-10. And I want to take a moment to highlight some of the details…
God’s Sovereignty in Salvation Tells Us Four Things About Him:
A. Power
B. Independence
C. Purpose
D. Providence
A. Power
“…who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace.”
Jonathan Edwards once said that converting a sinner is a greater act for God than creating the world because in converting a sinner, God must overcome sin.
The basic math of Christian suffering is this. God has already done the hardest thing. He has already raised us from spiritual death. Anything we might need from him moving forward — hope, encouragement, endurance, words to say, financial provision, new friendships to replace those who desert us, etc… All of that is a much lesser act than what he has already done for us.
And he did the first thing when we are his enemies. How much more will he do for us now that we are his sons and daughters.
B. Independence
“…who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace.”
God did not save us by partnering with us. When it came to raising sinners out of their spiritual death, God did not have any assistance. We were, after all dead in our sins and trespasses. We could do nothing to help him help us. God did not have any assistance. God did not need any assistance.
God. Saves. Sinners. Each of those words is important for understanding what the Bible teaches about salvation. 1. God saves sinners. God, not man, saves. We do not save ourselves. Only God can save. 2. God saves sinners. He does not make us potentially savable. He does not enable us to save ourselves. He saves. 3. God saves sinners. He saves a multitude that no man can number out of a world of human beings who are dead in sin and in utter opposition to his kind and sovereign rule. He saves people who once hated him, ignored him and resisted him. In salvation, God does not help those who help themselves, because no sinner can help himself. We are not “basically good” and in a position to “get by with a little help from” God. We are “without hope save in his sovereign mercy.” — L. Duncan, July 2018
C. Purposes
“…who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace.”
That God loves us is good news. Why God loves is even better news. He loves us because he has decided to.
Let me say something that might seem odd. You don’t want to be God’s why. You want to be caught up in God’s why. But you do not want to be God’s why.
I was reminded of something that Catherine the Great is credited with saying,
I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” — Isaiah 43:25,
D. Providence
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
This phrase, “before the ages began” is a very Pauline statement.
Ephesians 1:4 tells us that were chosen in him before the foundation of the world.
Titus 1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
This is simply referring to God’s skillfully working through countless means to bring you to himself as part of his commitment to bring glory to himself.
“I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes. That every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens. That the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence. The fall of leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.” — Spurgeon
And it is this God who worked your salvation from the foundation of the world.
Conclusion:
Josh read from Heidelberg.
Question 27. What dost thou mean by the providence of God?
Answer: The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but be his fatherly hand.
Let me read you the next question.
Question 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence does still uphold all things?
Answer: That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from his love; since all creatures are so in his hand, that without his will they cannot so much as move.
Now I want to suggest that in addition to giving us patience in adversity, a proper understanding of the providence of God helps us manage fear on the front end of suffering.
When we look at God’s sovereignty over salvation, the Holy Spirit provides us with power, love, and self-control and we are able to overcome fears that would like to keep us from obeying God.
So what do you individually need to do with these insights?