The Foundation of Christian Endurance | 2 Timothy 2:8-13 | Ben Akatsa | April 12, 2026

The scripture reading for today comes from Second Timothy chapter two verses eight through thirteen.

If you have picked up one of the Bibles from over there, you can turn to the page nine thirty-five.

Second Timothy chapter two verses eight through thirteen.

But the word of God is not bound.

Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we deny him, he also will deny us.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

This is the word of God.

Please be seated.

Good morning, Ethnos.

It is my privilege today to bring the word of God.

I'll ask us to go ahead and bow our heads.

I know we've already prayed, but I'd like us to say two prayers.

Please bow your heads with me.

The first prayer I'm gonna ask you to make is for yourself.

Just praise quite simply.

Lord, would you enable me to hear what you have for me?

Just like that.

Enable me to hear what you have for me.

And then the next prayer I'll ask you to make is for me.

And I'll ask you to pray this way.

Lord, would you speak through?

Just like that.

Lord, would you speak through?

And then I'll pray for us.

Lord, we desire to hear from you.

Would you apply this word to each one of our hearts in ways that only your spirit can?

In Jesus' name we pray, and all of God's people said.

Amen.

We are back in 2 Timothy after taking a break for a while.

And 2 Timothy is a letter written by a man called Paul, who was a great Christian leader, written to his protege, to someone he's mentoring called Timothy.

Timothy is likely in a place of the world called Ephesus, which is in modern day Turkey.

Paul had left Timothy there to oversee a church.

This is the very final letter that we have from Paul in the New Testament scriptures.

And one commentator says this the purpose of the letter is to charge Timothy to persevere in the ministry of the gospel, to fill the apostles' immense gospel sandals.

Timothy is being called to persevere in the Christian life.

Recently in the news, we learned about a daring rescue that the US forces carried out in Iran.

Now, regardless of what you feel about the war, whether you support it or don't support it, this is not about that.

But what the US did was pretty amazing.

And the General Dan Cain of the US Air Force said this about those two pilots who were rescued from behind enemy lines.

And I have this phrase, this up on the screen for you.

This is what he said.

Their grit and warfighting tenacity, which is their ability to keep going, is a direct result of the absolute trust they have in our rescue forces, their training, and their will to survive and return.

You see, those pilots show what is true of all of us as human beings.

When we are experiencing something difficult, we need reasons to keep us going through difficulty.

In the Christian life, you and I, just like Timothy, who Paul is writing to, are going to need reasons to endure.

In fact, the word endure in the passage we're looking at today shows up two times.

So we will draw this morning from the passage what I hope will be reasons that support or enable your endurance and mine.

Our message is titled The Foundation of Christian Endurance.

And the first thing we see in verse 8 is this endure because the word of God is powerful.

Endure because the word of God is powerful.

Paul tells Timothy to remember Jesus Christ who's risen from the dead.

Offspring of David has preached in this gospel message, for which his suffering bound with chains as a criminal.

Here it is.

Paul is telling Timothy, the reason that I continue going in the Christian faith is because of the power of God's word.

This message about this risen king who was promised to come, who God said will have an eternal kingdom that will never end, cannot be stopped.

You see, Rome at the time was the world power.

This human power.

It had God's messenger chained.

But Rome soon found out what every other world power has learnt before then and since then.

Regardless of what you do to God's messengers, the messenger cannot be stopped because the word of God is powerful.

Someone said this: for just as it is not possible to bind a sunbeam or to shut it up within the house, so neither the preaching of the word.

Where was Paul?

Prison.

But this passage does not limit what he endures.

He said, I endure all things.

What sort of things I endure everything he said.

What sort of things did Paul endure?

Listen to the list.

Lashes, beaten with rods, pelted with stones, shipwrecked, a night and a day in the open sea, danger from rivers, often gone without sleep, hunger and thirst.

I have been cold and naked, he said.

In the Christian life we may have to endure all sorts of things as we continue walking with the Lord.

A member of a church I once attended was dealing with heart failure and had gone for repeated hospital visits and hospital stays.

During one of the visits, this is what he told me, and I have a picture up for you on the screen.

He said something to this effect.

This hospital bed has now become my pulpit because I share the gospel with everyone who comes to my room.

That is a man who shows us something of what Paul is saying.

Though our suffering may limit us, it does not limit our witness for Jesus.

So long as you can speak, witness for Jesus.

You may have to deal with the hospital bed, you may have to deal with depression, but that does not stop the word of God.

The word is powerful.

The second foundation for Christian endurance is this: endure because the plan is eternal.

I hope you have your Bible open because I get this from verse 10, where Paul says this, therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

That word obtain is important because it has the idea of achieving an end.

The same way someone would shoot an arrow and it gets to a bullseye.

Salvation in Jesus saints.

Saying yes to Jesus, yes, is part of it.

But that's not the end.

It has an end goal.

It has an end goal.

What is the end goal?

This is how Romans 8 speaks about it.

Glory.

And Paul says it right here with eternal glory.

Here's the thing, saints.

There is a transformation that believers are headed for, that will be real, that will be tangible, that all our senses will experience.

There is an exalted state of perfection that God will grant to all who have believed in Jesus.

This is not the end.

There is an end goal.

And the end goal is called glory.

This would have been an old wife's tale, saints, if it wasn't for the fact that there was a real Jesus who lived on this planet in the Middle East and walked this earth and was killed.

And guess what?

He rose again.

This would have been a myth if there was no real Jesus.

Do you know what Saints?

At the beginning of Christianity, there was no question that Jesus was a real man.

Do you know what their question was?

No, there was no question that Jesus was divine.

Sorry.

What they always wondered is was he really a man?

Ever since enlightenment and onward.

Our question today is this.

Yes, Jesus was a man.

There's somebody who says you will not find a credible modern historian who will refuse that Jesus was a man.

Most people will ask, was he divine?

Jesus was divine.

Jesus was a man.

Both of them truly God, truly man.

If that were not true, there would be no glory.

Paul says a really important word for the sake of the elect.

Do you know what the elect means?

You'll see it up on the screen.

It's those whom God has freely and graciously chosen to be his.

Ephesians 1:3 says this.

Ephesians 1:3

I'm going to read it.

It's up.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Even as he did what?

Even as he chose us, that's the same word in him.

When did he choose?

That's the same word elect.

When did God elect?

Before the foundation of the world.

What that verse is teaching is God has an eternal plan.

A plan that was already decided before He created the world.

And in His plan, He chose those who would be His.

Acts 13, 48 says this.

When it comes to God, no one qualifies to be chosen.

The only thing you and I qualify for is judgment because of our sin.

If you're here and you believe in Jesus, you were chosen.

God chose you.

Not because of anything you said, not because of anything you did, not because of anything that you will ever do.

Because He wanted to, because it delighted Him to choose you.

You were chosen.

You were chosen.

And if you're here and you do not know Jesus Christ.

This whole thing about God choosing Psalm to be His sounds really strange.

I know.

But the question for you is not, Am I chosen?

The right question for you is Are you going to say yes to Jesus?

Because the fact that you're here and you're hearing me talk, even if you don't understand everything I'm saying, means God is wooing you to Him.

And the question for you is not, Am I chosen?

Is what are you gonna do with what you're hearing?

Because this is what the Bible says, today, if you hear the word of God, do not harden your heart.

Today is the day of salvation.

There's a Christian group that sang, Oh, tomorrow I'll give my life tomorrow.

I thought about today, but it's so much easier to say tomorrow.

Who promised you tomorrow?

Better choose the Lord today, for tomorrow might as well be too late.

If you do not know Jesus Christ, today is the day of salvation.

Now, understood correctly, election, God choosing some and not choosing others, brings questions about God's justice.

Is he just if he chooses some and not others?

Is he really good if he chooses some and not others?

So this this is my these are my uh thoughts for you.

I call these pastoral thoughts to keep in mind about election.

And I have them up on the screen.

Take the posture of humility.

Humility accepts what it cannot understand in God, but pride makes itself his judge.

As tempting as it is, do not make yourself God's judge.

This is how Romans 9 says it.

Just listen to these words, it's up on the screen as well.

Well then you might say, why does God blame people for not responding?

Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?

No, don't say that.

Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God?

That's a very pointed question.

Another thought I comment to us.

Let us remind our hearts that election does not violate justice.

Otherwise, God would relinquish his place as judge of all.

Where do I get this?

Romans 3, 5 through 6.

This is what the apostle Paul says.

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?

I speak in a human way.

By no means, because if he was unrighteous, listen to the Apostle Paul's question.

For then how could God judge the world?

Deuteronomy puts it like this: everything he does, listen to this saints, is just and fair.

He is a faithful God who does what?

No wrong.

Let us remind our hearts that election does not violate justice.

Otherwise, God would relinquish his place as judge of all.

This truth about election is consistent with human responsibility.

Listen to the words of Jesus in John 5.

You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.

And it is they that bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have eternal life.

Jesus is telling the Jews who are listening to him, you are responsible to respond to me.

And then later on in John 6, he says this.

Humans are responsible, God draws them, which is it?

Jesus says it is both, and both of them are consistent.

That's just the teaching of Scripture.

And the last thing I'll I'll comment to you is do not disconnect the teaching of election from God's goodness.

I get this from Exodus 33, 18 through 19.

This is where Moses tells God, I want to see you.

Show me your glory.

I want to see you with my eyes.

And then God responds.

God responds, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name of the Lord.

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

This last part that's in red, Paul quotes in Romans 9 when he's explaining election.

This is where Paul is getting it from.

And this election is grounded in God's goodness.

If you put it all together, God's glory, all that is wonderful about him, is his goodness on display.

And that goodness is most sin in his exercise of election.

If God chose none, none would come.

None would come.

And this is why our statement of faith has these words.

Election is consistent with the free agency of man.

That's what Jesus was talking about.

Human responsibility.

It's consistent with human responsibility and comprehends all the means in connection with the end here.

It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness.

That's where our statement of faith gets these teachings from.

I was at a conference once where a parent who was really bothered in her heart sent a question and said, How do I know if God has chosen my children?

Because that's where a teaching like this, that's where the rubber meets the road.

How do I know?

And I love what the conference speaker told her.

He said, Trust God's goodness.

The judge of all the earth will do right to pray for to pray for.

Endure because the plan is eternal.

This is important because someone said this.

One of the fundamental reasons people turn to Islam is a search for deeper meaning and purpose in life beyond the confines of materialism.

End of quote.

Made the conclusion that the reason people are turning to Islam is because of a search for deeper meaning and purpose.

Now, here's the thing.

If Jesus Christ had not risen from the dead to prove he is who he said he is, then it would just be a competition of ideas and worldviews.

But Jesus is who he said he is.

He is the one who, according to Paul, is risen from the dead in verse 8.

The offspring of David, the one who will have the eternal kingdom.

The one who, when you give his message, those whom God has chosen from eternity past will come.

The people who participate in this plan, telling others about Jesus, are participating in the one history that's worth.

Participating in that will outlast all other histories because this is eternal.

Talk about a deeper meaning and purpose.

Endure because the plan is eternal.

Ethno students, if you're in middle school and higher, make sure you I have your eyes right now.

Listen.

Jesus gives meaning and purpose.

Serving Jesus, telling others about Jesus.

That will give you meaning and purpose.

And when you do that, you know what?

You will not be a footnote in history.

Do you know what a footnote is?

I have an image up on the screen.

So look at this.

It's where you have a document where you have the main part of the document, and then you have footnotes at the bottom, which are normally in very little letters.

It's not like they're unimportant, but they are so small you have to go looking for them.

If you are participating in this eternal plan, you will not be a footnote in history.

You'll be part of the main cause.

Those who lead others to righteousness, the book of Daniel says, will shine like stars forever.

Talk about meaning and purpose.

Third reason: endure because the reward is certain.

And this I get from verse 12.

So verse 11, the saying is trustworthy, meaning you can take this to the bank.

If we died with him, we will also live with him.

That word, if we have died, is a completed action and could be a way of speaking of when you and I came to faith in Christ.

Those who come to faith in Christ will live with him one day.

There will be eternal life.

And then the second line: if we endure, if we endure, if we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

That's reward.

It reminds us that this Jesus, who's a descendant of David, who gets this eternal kingdom, that those who endure in the profession of faith, regardless of difficulty, will reign with him.

How often do you consider that Jesus will reward you?

Revelation 3.21 says, Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my father on his throne.

Later on in 2 Timothy, Paul says this: I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith.

That's a good description of enduring, a fight, a race, and keeping the faith in it all.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will do what?

Award to me on that day.

And not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Since that last part is you and me.

If we endure, we also will get that award.

An award is something that is due.

It does not negate grace.

What this award does, it brings together grace and justice.

You see, Paul says Jesus is the righteous judge.

In his grace, he has saved you.

Yet he is just enough to say, anything you do for me, I will reward you.

Grace and justice.

That's that reward.

There's a pastor called Tony Evans.

In 2019, his wife died after a long illness.

And he tells this, you can find it on YouTube, that when she was close to the end, as she was beginning to see what's on the other side, she said, award! Award! They are calling me for an award.

They are just waiting for the song.

Now I don't know if you and I, when we're close to the end, will get to see what's on the other side.

But on the witness of Scripture, there is a crown of righteousness that Jesus, the righteous judge, will award to you and to me.

I wish I could look you all in the eye and tell you there is a crown of righteousness that Jesus will award to you and to me if we endure.

The reward is certain.

Award.

Award.

They're calling me for an award.

They're just waiting for the song.

Line three says, if we deny him, he will deny us.

To deny has a range of expressions, which in the New Testament goes from a refusal to believe in Jesus to completely abandoning the faith.

You do not see it in this translation.

But if we deny has a future tense.

Meaning if we will deny.

So I see this as pointing not to a momentary failure such as Peter's, because that same word, if you know the story of the disciples, Peter denied Jesus, it's used of Peter.

I see it not pointing to something like that, but to a final and settled decision to refuse Jesus because of suffering.

Those who deny Jesus in this sense show they are not his.

So his response to them affirms what they have shown already to be true.

They are not his.

Peter's example shows you and me that a temporary loss of courage when enduring suffering is possible.

The final foundation of endurance is this.

Endure because Jesus is reliable.

And we get this in verse 13.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself.

While the other three lines of this trustworthy saying, this is a trustworthy saying, are all this, you do this, this happens, a condition, a result, this one is not.

This is a contrast between the nature of human beings and the nature of God.

That word, he remains, remains, is a word for something that stays and does not change.

It describes something in God Himself.

And this is the point of Paul adding the clarification.

He cannot deny himself.

You see, faithfulness is not something God can turn on and off.

If faithfulness was the light, this verse tells us the light is always on, with perfect intensity, with enduring intensity, with impeccable majesty, with never-ending intensity.

Why is this important for Paul to communicate and for Timothy to know?

Well, so far in these letters, some have been unfaithful, such as Hymeneus and Alexander.

In chapter 4, Paul will say, Demas abandoned me because he loved the world.

You see, it is easy for Timothy to see the faithfulness of others and think, if they left the cause of Jesus, if they abandoned the gospel, what does that show about Jesus' commitment to me?

What about me?

You see, your favorite gospel preacher may prove to be faithless, may walk away from Jesus, but do not make the wrong connection, do not make the wrong inference, don't transfer the unfaithfulness of others to Jesus.

You see, it trips us up when we see people deny the faith and walk away from it and think to ourselves if God could not keep them, he cannot be relied on to keep me.

And that's what Paul is denying.

Human unfaithfulness does not equal God's unfaithfulness because God cannot stop being God.

Our confidence should be on God's reliability.

That's the point of that line.

This is what Titus 1 2 says.

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of God's elect.

There's that word again.

And their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness.

In hope of eternal life, which God, who does what?

Never lies, promised before the ages began.

Our confidence is on God's reliability.

Endure?

Because Jesus is reliable.

And this is also a sobering comment for us who are in leadership, Christian leadership, who are teaching Sunday school, who teach the students, the ethno students.

What would it have been like if Paul had abandoned the faith?

Can you imagine what that would have done to Timothy and to countless believers?

What does Paul say at the beginning?

I endure all things for what?

For the sake of the elect.

For all of us who are in some sort of leadership, parents who have children who are looking to us, endure for the sake of your children who have trusted in Jesus or will come to trust in Jesus.

For us who teacheth no students, endure for the sake of these students.

Our endurance, the foundation of our endurance, should be based on the reliability of Jesus.

I have a picture up on the screen for you.

This is an image that my mind comes back to every so often.

That's just this is just a generic image.

I don't know who those are.

But let me ask you a question.

Is that baby holding on to his father?

Yes.

Is the father holding on to the baby?

Yes.

But whose hold is ultimately decisive?

Who's really holding who?

The father is the one who's really holding.

Thank you for wanting to answer, Sophie.

It's really the father who's holding the baby.

That's what election teaches you and me.

What keeps us is he will hold me fast.

For my savior loves me so.

He will hold me fast.

As I finish, I'll ask Tomo to come to the keyboard.

I began with what the general of the US Air Force said about the two pilots who survived behind enemy lines.

I did not read the entire statement in full.

Here it is in full.

It should be up on the screen.

Oh, sorry.

Here we go.

Is there another one or is that it?

Ah, here we go.

Their great and warfighting tenacity, their ability to go on, is a direct result of the absolute trust they have in our rescue forces.

Their training and their will to survive and return.

That's what got them through.

But here's how he finished.

They always knew that we would be ordered to go get them.

And they always knew that we would be coming to get them.

You see, ultimately, in the end, what really kept those pilots going is they knew that the army has made a commitment to them.

And because of that, they endured.

That's really what kept them going.

And this is what Pete Heggs had said about that whole scenario.

From the moment our pilots went down, our mission was unblinking.

The call never dropped.

The meeting never stopped.

The planning never ceased until Jesus gets you home.

The call will never drop.

The meeting will never stop.

The planning will never cease till he gets you home.

The foundation of everything, what really holds everything up, is the reliability of Jesus Christ.

He cannot deny himself.

Therefore, Hebrews 10 38 says, Do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.

Do not throw you away your confidence.

Endure because the word is powerful, endure because the plan is eternal.

Endure because the reward is certain.

And finally, endure because Jesus is reliable.

Let's bow our heads.

Even when you doubt his reliability, guess what?

He remains faithful.

His faithfulness is not conditioned by your ability to believe that he will be faithful because he cannot deny himself.

So even in your moments of doubt, it's okay.

Jesus will be faithful to you.

Whatever it is that he brought you to mind, he brought to your mind about this message.

I mean, as I was speaking this message, I just talked to you.

And then you'll hear my voice again as I come to lead us in the Lord's table.

So just take a