The endurance of the faith, the endurance which holds to His gifts in the midst of a world that does not care, nor support, or even outright rejects your faith, is to receive all He promises. The way of endurance is the very thing you are doing right now, gathering around His gifts, confessing your sins, and receiving, again, His compassion and forgiveness.

Every time I read Paul’s letters to Timothy, I find a great amount of comfort and reassurance in them. To be sure, this is because the Apostle is writing to another pastor, a pastor in need of encouragement and guidance as he carries out the duties of his office. You know how sometimes you hear a sermon, and you think to yourself, “Wow, he was speaking right to me.” Well, that is often my reaction to these letters. His second letter to Timothy is a call for courage and strength in the task at hand. Our text begins with Paul saying, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Find your strength not in your own abilities nor your own wisdom or cleverness, but in the grace you have received through Christ. This is your foundation. This is the way forward. He goes on to call Timothy to, “Share in the suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Powerful words, shocking even. The image is of a soldier heading out to war, a soldier who will suffer, but whose suffering is not in vain. In fact, it is the same suffering endured by the one who leads you onto the battlefield. And as you hear these words, you begin to wonder what is in store for Timothy, what the need for strength and encouragement is, and what sort of obstacles await him. Well, though it may be fashionable to think our day is full of new and powerful challenges to the faithful, I really do not believe it was too different in Timothy’s day. He was immersed in a culture that stands opposed to the teachings of Christ. He was living among people who do not encourage or support the convictions of the people of God. The constant reality of false teaching creeping into the church and twisting the hearts and minds of your brothers and sisters was ever present. This is our reality, and it was Timothy’s as well.

Paul knows this. He does not know it in theory or from others’ stories; he knows it in his own life. He says in our text today, at the same time as he is encouraging Timothy, he says, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound in chains as a criminal.” Paul’s own work as an apostle of Christ has landed him in prison, bound in chains for preaching Christ Crucified. Yet, even in chains, he sounds almost joyful as he declares, “But the Word of God is not bound! Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation.” He soldiers on in confidence.

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