SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=202788" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=95 BGCOLOR="#330066" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="048005f0dkblkv.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Preach The Word</b></FONT><B>     </b><B>|    </b><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B> </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preach The Word"><U><B>home</b></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2 Timothy"><U><B>2 Timothy</b></U></A><B>   I   </b><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DANIEL"><U><B>Daniel</b></U></A><B>   I   </b><A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ZECHARIAH: "><U><B>Zechariah</b></U></A><B>   I   </b><A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MARK"><U><B>Mark</b></U></A><B>    I    </b><A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TOPICAL STUDIES"><U><B>Topical Studies</b></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=385 BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER</b></div> <div> 2 Timothy 2:8-13</div> <bR> <bR> <div> I'm sure most of us would agree that, as human beings, we are quite prone to forget.  And too often we forget things that we really can't afford to, unless we're ready to bear the negative consequences.  Examples: Marriage Vows / Baptismal Vows / Sodom & Gomorra / Universal Flood.</div> <bR> <div> Knowing this, God has given ways to His people that would serve to help them continually remember things that we really can't afford to forget.  Israel: Rocks (upon entering the Promised Land) / Holy Holidays & Feasts.  These are memorials to God's Faithfulness & Covenant relationship with His Chosen People of Israel.  The Church: The Lord's Table <I>(</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"Do this in remembrance of me."</FONT>)  The Corinthian Christians weren't really doing it "in Remembrance" to the Lord and paid dearly for it (1Co.11).</div> <bR> <div> Here, in 2 Timothy, Paul is seeking to uplift a discouraged young Pastor.  And in 2:8-13 he does this by bringing to his attention 4 important things that will help any discouraged Christian not to get side-tracked as he finds himself under fire at the Frontlines of the Greatest Spiritual Battle this fallen World will ever know.  These <B>4 important things</b> to remember are: <B>1)</b>REMEMBER THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,  <B>2)</b> REMEMBER THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD,  <B>3)</b> REMEMBER OUR PRIMARY REASON FOR BEING HERE, and  <B>4)</b> REMEMBER HOW GOD RICHLY REWARDS TRUE FAITHFULNESS.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1. REMEMBER THE LORD JESUS CHRIST  (8)</b></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>A. Remember How His Faithfulness To The Father Brought Him Much Suffering</b><B>.</b></div> <bR> <div> "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." Jn.1:11</div> <bR> <div> He was rejected by his own family, his own hometown, the Religious community, one of his own Apostles and by his own countrymen. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">His Family</U></b></div> <bR> <div> "Even his own brothers did not believe in him."  Jn.7:5</div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">His Hometown</U></b></div> <bR> <div> "Jesus…coming to his home town, he began teaching the people in their synagogues…and they took offense at him."  Mt.13:53-57</div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Religious Community</U></b></div> <bR> <div> "He is worthy of death!"  Mt.26:66<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   Because He claimed to be the Son of God.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Judas</U></b></div> <bR> <div> "Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"  Luke 22:48</div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011800000000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Countrymen</U></b></div> <bR> <div> "All the people answered (Pilot): "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"  Mt.27:25</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Remember: The Son of God came into the World to bring us spiritual light and life and we crucified Him on a Cross!  Remember that when most people around you refuse to honor God and His Word.</div> <bR> <div> "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it's own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you."  John 15:19</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>B. Remember How Jesus sufferings were followed By Glorious Triumph.</b><B> </b><B> (8b)</b></div> <bR> <div> "Raised from the dead"<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> This is so well pointed out in <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Hebrew 12.2-3</FONT> that I just have to turn there.</div> <bR> <div> We tend to think that when Jesus came to Earth it wasn't really "that bad" for Him, like it is for us, because, after all, "He was God"!  Yes, he was!  But that's only half story. Read: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Luke 22.39-46</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Oh, he suffered like most of us will never have to.  But, what we must pay attention to is "<U>how he dealt with His suffering</U>"  He kept His eyes on "the prize" and communed with God.  And so should we.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>C. Remember the Exaltation that Followed His Humiliation</b><B>.  (8c)</b></div> <bR> <div> "Descended from David"</div> <bR> <div> If you were a Jew in Jesus day the words "Son of David"  meant one thing:  The Messiah.  In the Jewish mind David is the greatest King Israel ever had.  The Davidic Covenant guaranties that in the Day of the Lord, the Messiah will Reign over Israel on David's throne and will never be conquered by anyone ever again.  That's the Jewish hope.  That's what Religious Jews wait for even to this day.  And that's why Matthew begins his Gospel with the words.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David…" (1.1) </FONT>  The angel said to Mary<I> </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;  His kingdom will never end."  Luke 1.32-33</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>2. REMEMBER THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD (9)</b></div> <div>  </div> <div> Paul can't make a move, right now, without hearing the clinging of his chains.  He's in prison.  His only crime is to refuse to stop preaching what has been declared an illegal religion. </div> <bR> <div> This is the devil's and an unbelieving world's way of buttoning up his lips.  A prideful, selfish and spiritually dead world doesn't like to be told that it's "sinful".  It doesn't like to be reminded that a day of Judgment is coming and all sinners will be eternally condemned.  So, in order to not be bothered by some overzealous and fanatical Christians, in Paul's days, they just put'em in jail and hope they'll rot there. But what's Paul response?  "You can chain me down, but you can't chain the word of God down!"</div> <bR> <div> Speaking of the Bible, The great Father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther said<I>,  </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" >"Let it loose.  The flame will spread on it's own."</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Why is that?  Why will there never be anyone capable of completely snuffing out God's word from this planet?  Because it's God's Book, not man's book.  And because God  is Eternal, so is His word.</div> <bR> <div> "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For, "all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;  the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stand forever."  1 Peter 1:23-25</div> <bR> <div> So, Paul is saying "Remember Timothy, we're on the winning side.  And nothing will ever change that.  Our message will live on long after me and you are pushing daisies.  So, don't fix your attention on the  spiritual darkness that surrounds us.  Give yourself to the only cause that will last forever and know no end: God's word."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>3. REMEMBER OUR PRIMARY REASON FOR BEING HERE  (10)</b></div> <bR> <div> This is a constant theme throughout the New Testament.  Listen to Jesus' words:</div> <bR> <div> During His Ministry:  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."</FONT></div> <bR> <div> After His Resurrection: <I> </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."  Matt.28.18-19</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Before His Ascension:  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;  and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1.8</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Paul's Commission</b><I>:  </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."  Acts 26.17-18</FONT></div> <bR> <div> The Lord compared His church to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"A light on a hill"  Mt. 5.14</FONT><B> </b>The church is a lighthouse where lost souls that are battered on the sea of a chaotic world can find hope in Jesus Christ.</div> <bR> <div> But how prone we are to try and find other solutions to our world's dilemmas.</div> <bR> <div> -More freedom for women</div> <div> -More condoms for kids</div> <div> -More Daycare Centers for the Community</div> <div> -Better Legislation for homosexuals</div> <div> -Better Education for Criminals</div> <div> -Replace Communism with Democracy</div> <div> -Better Self-esteem</div> <div> -Less Pollution</div> <div> -Green peace; "Save the Planet"</div> <div> -Space travel</div> <bR> <div> Bottom line:  We've tried'em all and it's only getting worse.</div> <bR> <div> Problem is we prefer to be experts in treating the symptom<B>s</b>, rather than listening to our Maker and going to the heart of the problem.  And our maker tells us that the problem is not a lack of Education, but a lack of Regeneration.  Our greatest need is not to be reformed, but rather reborn. A woman<B> </b>is only truly liberated<B> </b>when she experiences spiritual salvation through the blood of Jesus-Christ.  A criminal only stops committing his crimes when he comes to Jesus to gets his sinful heart regenerated. Kids will stop having babies when they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior and commit themselves to God's plan for a healthy sex life.  The only thing an overflow of Self-Esteem will do to an already sinful person is have him continue his evil and see himself as good person in the midst of it.  No!  What this world needs is Salvation.  Why? Sin! The root problem. And we, the Church, are the agents God has placed here for that.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>4. REMEMBER HOW GOD RICHLY REWARDS TRUE FAITHFULNESS (11-13)</b></div> <bR> <div> Theologians believe that the following 3 verses (11-13)  were probably used in the Primitive Church either as a Creed or as a Spiritual song.  Be that as it may, they were recognized as part of the canon of Scripture and so we do acknowledge them as words from God. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" >"The point of this quotation is that Christians should be motivated to endure hardship and remain faithful to the Lord in view of what Christ has done and will do." </FONT><B>Constable, Dr. Thomas,</b><B> </b><B>Class notes on 2 Timothy</b><B>.</b></div> <bR> <div> So, what we have here are 4 things that the Lord will do depending on your spiritual state as a Christian or Non-Christian.  We could also say that they are 4 promises that the Lord pronounces to us.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>A) He Promises to Eternally Live With Those Who Come To Him.</b></div> <bR> <div> "If we died with him, We will also live with him." </div> <bR> <div> Turn to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Romans 6:1-8</FONT></div> <bR> <div> "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2.20</div> <bR> <div> If you've truly given your life to Christ, you can be sure of one thing:  Christ lives in you today, tomorrow and forever, Amen.  He will never leave you, ever.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>B) He Promises That True Believers Will Reign With Him In His Kingdom.</b></div> <div> <B> </b></div> <div> "If we endure, we will also reign with him."</div> <bR> <div> The original here is literally "If we keep on enduring."  Endurance in the faith is characteristic of all truly born again believers.  It's what theologians call the "perseverance of the Saints."  Now, does this mean, true Christians never fail or fall?  Absolutely not!  But, the difference between a True and a False Believer is that the true believer falls and gets backup.  While the False Believer falls and cops out. Example: <B>David </b>(Ps 51).</div> <bR> <div> "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.  But, the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and <U>by persevering produce a crop</U>."  Luke 8.14-15</div> <bR> <div> True Believers are promised to share in Christ's reign in the Millennium and throughout Eternity<I>, </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" > "Blessed and holy are those who are  part in the first resurrection.  The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."  Rev. 20.6  </FONT> Differing "degrees" of reigning.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Luke 19 "10 cities", "5 cities".  Rev. 2.26 "nations".</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>C) He Promises To Deny Those Who Deny Him.</b></div> <bR> <div> "If we (disown) deny him, he will also (disown) deny us."</div> <div>  </div> <div> The "denial" here is a permanent one, total and definite Apostasy from all that Christ is and teaches.  Now, I believe, it's important to acknowledge the difference between "momentary" denial and "total" denial.  <U>Examples</U>:  <B>Peter </b>and <B>Judas</b></div> <bR> <div> "Anyone who…does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God." 2 Jn. 9</div> <bR> <div> "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in Heaven,  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in Heaven." Mt. 10.33</div> <bR> <div> The author of Foxes Book of Martyrs states that in Paul's day <U>5 million Christians were martyred </U> because of their faith in Christ.  You think "these" were true believers? No doubt, they were!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </b><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#660033" FACE="Arial" ><B>D) He Promises To Keep His Word Both To False And True Believers.</b></FONT></div> <bR> <div> "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."</div> <bR> <div> "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >Faithless</FONT>" (Apistos) means "unbelieving, having no true faith".  Again, Paul is talking about a fake Christian here.  One who "says" he has faith but lacks true Christian faith like James speaks of when he says<I>: </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >"As a body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead… You believe that there is a God.  Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder."  2.19,26</FONT></div> <bR> <div> So, when you see so-called "Christians" leaving the faith and going into a life of all-out sin, don't forget:  Just because they are "<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >faithless</FONT>", the Lord  <I>"</I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.</FONT><I>"</I>  He said he'll condemn unbelievers, and he will greatly reward believers and, count on it, he will. </div> <bR> <div> "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  Psalm 19:14</div> <bR> <div> Amen and God Bless You All.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>