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Good morning, everyone. Have you ever stopped to think that perhaps the greatest challenge to living a God-honouring life may be your love of comfort?

I have always loved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. And in case you didn’t know it already, hobbits are not particularly remarkable. They eat a lot and tend to be fat, they love to laugh, and enjoy living comfortably. They prefer to live quiet and static lives, avoiding adventure because they are unknown, scary, and can ruin one’s reputation. They also have the added inconvenience of potentially disrupting a Hobbit’s ideal meal schedule. Just like the hobbits, we can accept a mundane life; living out our routines, and going through life just checking off boxes. This, however, is not how we are meant to live. We are designed to live with purpose. And just like hobbits, one of the unspoken rules of our culture is to avoid risk at all costs. “Take care!” we are told. “Stay safe!” So, we have insurance policies against every conceivable eventuality to protect ourselves against unforeseen dangers. Apparently at one time you could buy holiday insurance against ‘death caused by a falling coconut’. It is not just the goal of hobbits to play it safe and to arrive peacefully at a comfortable death at a respectable age.

But total safety simply cannot be guaranteed; cars are safer than they ever have been, yet around 1,700 people are still killed in car crashes in the UK each year. Perhaps, looking back on it, one of the great lessons of the COVID pandemic is that risk may be minimised (at great expense and immense inconvenience), but never eradicated. Our existence on this planet is more fragile than we would like to think. Humans have always sought immortality, from the mythical “elixir of life” of medieval alchemy through to cryogenic freezing and the “superfoods” which can cure any illness. We’re kidding ourselves. Life is temporary, brief, easily lost.

So, is a love of comfort, and a fear of risk keeping us (keeping you) from stepping out in faith-filled adventures in service of our great God and King? Turn with me in your bible to page 995 and to the next part of 2 Timothy which we’re working our way through in these autumn months. We’re looking at 2 Timothy 2.8-13. We see here (and this is my first point):

1. Paul’s purpose in life was to make Jesus known and he was single-minded in pursuit of this mission even when it came at a cost.

Look with me at 2 Timothy 2.10. These words were written by Paul, one of the earliest church leaders. He first wrote these words to his friend and younger church leader Timothy. And as this letter is part of God’s Word, he also speaks to each one of us:

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.

In other words, Paul’s purpose in life is to bring the good news about salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen. And Paul was willing to endure anything if it means that can happen. Paul’s own life had been turned around by the gospel. He had been saved from death and the darkness of rejecting God, and because of Jesus Christ and not his own efforts now instead had everlasting life and light. But he knew that being saved also meant being given a purpose in life; a holy calling to become more like Jesus and to make Jesus known to others. Listen to how he puts it in 2 Timothy 1.9-10:

[God] 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, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

His purpose in life was to make Jesus known and he was single-minded in pursuit of this mission even when it came at a cost. That didn’t mean he only ever preached or led Bible studies. His profession was to make tents and other leather goods but whatever he was doing he wanted to live for Jesus. Paul’s example is very moving. Take for example what happened when he went to Corinth to tell them about Jesus. In Acts 18.6 we read that he was opposed and reviled because he spoke about Jesus. The natural response is to stop speaking about him, because that would immediately make life easier. Instead, Acts 18.9-10:

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

He endured. Why? Because God reminded him that I have many people in this city. So for the sake of the elect, those God would save through the message of the gospel when they hear it, he did not stop speaking about Jesus. Our vicar, David Holloway, together with his wife Joy, have also endured in gospel ministry at our church for very close to 50 years now. That has not been without cost to them as they labour day and night to make Jesus known. It also hasn’t been easy when doing that involved saying or doing things that have not been popular in our culture or to some in the wider church. Let’s pray that future leaders of our church will in the same way be willing to suffer and labour for the gospel. We thank God for them, as well as for those who have been sent out from this church, often at considerable personal cost, to make Jesus known throughout the world. But it is not just vicars and missionaries that are play their part in making Jesus known to the whole world. The good news of Jesus is something we all have a part in sharing through our everyday lives (in the local playground, at the bus stop or over a cup of tea), we all have amazing opportunities to introduce people to Jesus.

A few years ago, the Evangelical Alliance conducted some research called Talking Jesus and that found that 1 in 5 non-Christians in the UK, after a conversation with a Christian, want to know more about Jesus. They repeated that same research after the COVID pandemic and found that statistic had changed to 1 in 3. Isn’t that exciting?! So why not listen and talk, and pray that God would guide you to the 1 in 3 who’d be keen to know more about Jesus? We won’t always be sure how it will be received, but those we rub shoulders with day in and day out, those we bump into in our daily life, need to the hear the gospel. In this country we’ve got probably the greatest freedoms in the world to speak up and demonstrate the love of God and the transforming power of Jesus in our communities. That is a privilege so why do we not make more use of it?

It helps to take on board that a commitment to Christ is costly. We need to get away from the expectation that following Jesus ought to lead to a comfortable and pleasant life. We also need to recognise that following Christ is worth any cost. In the parable of the pearl of great price the man sells everything he has (everything) to be able to buy the pearl. Are we prepared to give up everything we have for the sake of Christ? It is surely no accident that the story of the expansion of the Christian faith around the world is littered with examples of men and women who did precisely that. So, we too are to make it our purpose to make Jesus known even when it comes at a cost. But what will help us to be more outward-focused and what will help us to keep doing that when it is hard? That brings me to my second point. And that is to:

2. Remember Jesus Christ.

We see this in 2 Timothy 2.8-9:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

Paul tells Timothy to remember Jesus. What does that mean? He focuses Timothy’s attention on Jesus himself in his power and glorious majesty. The purpose of a follower of Jesus is to ‘big-up’ Christ, to tell everyone who will listen why he is so amazing. So we need to remember the beauty, grace, and love of the Lord Jesus (we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus), so that our words are about Him. Did Timothy really need to be reminded to remember Jesus? Yes he did– and so do we. How easy it is to get so busy in our work for him, that we forget Jesus is not information to share but a person to relate to, to love and to worship. But we also need to remember Jesus because he is the ultimate example of 2 Timothy 2.10. Jesus is the one who endured everything for our sake so that we may obtain salvation now and eternal glory. As we consider his example, so we will be helped to keep enduring despite suffering and cost. And there are two particular truths about Jesus that he highlights here: his resurrection and his kingship. He is (2 Timothy 2.8):

…risen from the dead, the offspring of David…

Jesus is risen from the dead. Remember that Jesus suffered the cross before he went to heaven. He suffered death, but it was not the final word. Christ triumphed over sin, death, hell, and Satan. Because Jesus rose from the dead we can be confident that this world is not all there is. One day we will have everlasting life with him in heaven – 2 Timothy 2.10 calls it eternal glory. He conquered the darkness. He conquered death. On the cross he promised the good thief that that very day he could be with him in paradise. Three days later, through his resurrection he promised those who love and follow Him that they too will join Him in paradise, where we will bask in His glorious light and be relieved of all the suffering and hardships of our earthly journey.

For many of us, life is sufficiently pleasant that we are not inclined to think much about the hope of heaven, but if we really understood what it will mean to be resurrected with Jesus, we would find it easier to live wholeheartedly and self-sacrificially for him now. Remember Jesus: risen from the dead!

Jesus is the offspring of David. God promised King David that one of his descendants would rule forever. Jesus is great King David’s greater son! This truth highlight Jesus’ power and majesty, and because of that his word is powerful too. The Roman authorities tried to stop Paul travelling to preach by chaining him in a prison, but they had no control to stop God’s word spreading. Even when his servants are in chains, his Word is never bound, but will go forward with power and be effective. Jesus is the offspring of David, and he continues to work by his Word and Spirit, bringing all of his chosen ones to salvation and eternal glory. So remembering Jesus; his beauty, his example, his resurrection, and his power, is what will help us to be more outward-focused and what will help us to keep doing that when it is hard. The third and final point is this:

3. Enduring suffering for Jesus now will be worth it in the end

We see that in 2 Timothy 2.11-13, where Paul most likely quotes part of a well-known confession or hymn in the early church:

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.

The pattern is easy to spot! If we…he will also…

When the going gets tough, it is easy to wonder if following Jesus is all worth it. Why miss out on all life has to offer? We’re not the first disciples to wonder that. As we heard in the reading from the students at Nokuphila school (Luke 18.28):

And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.”

For a number of our mission partners that is literally what they have done. Is it all worth it? Yes it is! (Luke 18.29-30):

And [Jesus] said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Paul’s point in these final few verses is that suffering for Jesus now will be worth it in the end. He wants us to endure, to keep playing our part in getting the good news about Jesus out there, whatever the cost. He does that by reminding us of the benefits of faithfulness and warns us against unfaithfulness. There is a promise and a warning. You see that in the two lines of 2 Timothy 2.12:

if we endure, we will also reign with him;if we deny him, he also will deny us;

Those who endure will reign with the divine, powerful King. As he rose from the dead, so we too will rise from the dead to eternal glory. This suffering is just for a short time, that will be for ever. If we are to have the courage to suffer we need to hold firmly to the promise that this world is not all there is, and that one day we will be raised and will reign with him. Those are the benefits of faithfulness. But Paul also warns us against unfaithfulness. Paul reminds us that Jesus told us that he will deny those who deny him. Here is Matthew 10.32-33 (we’ll come to this in our evening series next week):

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

The final line of this confession is the most difficult to interpret and the most debated (2 Timothy 2.13):

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

The key question is: what does God’s faithfulness refer to here? Does God remain faithful to bring his people to salvation even when they are faithless? Is he ending on a positive note highlighting God’s sovereignty and control over his people, even when they prove temporarily faithless? Or does God remain faithful to his promise to judge to those who prove faithless? In which case is 2 Timothy 2.13 a repeat of the warning in the second half of 2 Timothy 2.12, just as 2 Timothy 2.11 is a repeat of the promise of the promise in the first half of 2 Timothy 2.12? I think it’s probably the second of those. But either way, Paul emphasizes the urgent necessity of faithfulness—both in holding to the faith and in gospel witness. Despite the threat of persecution, imprisonment, and death, Timothy must be faithful in serving Christ. Great rewards are stored up for those who endure, but judgment awaits those who fall away. Christians must live the Christian life not focused on rewards of this life, but with eternity in view. And we must always remember that the eternal destiny of men and women is at stake.

Adoniram and Ann Judson were American missionaries who founded the church in what is now Myanmar. He was jailed and tortured for 20 months, sometimes suspended from his ankles from the ceiling of a rat-infested jail, and as soon as he was released his wife died from stress, followed by their tiny baby. In 37 years of work he took only one trip back to the USA. Myanmar now has 4.4million Christians but believers are still severely persecuted. There are countless more examples of brothers and sisters throughout the world who have remembered Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit run their race with endurance. What about you? Will love of comfort and fear of risk prevents you from stepping out in faith-filled adventures in service of our great God and King? Might God want you to deliberately move somewhere so that those who are not currently reached can hear the good news about Jesus?

Those who do this are not more important or more spiritual than those who don't, but it is an important question to ask because one of the things the church can and should do in response to unreached people groups around the globe is to help identify, send and support those who God is specifically calling to invest in a lifetime of cross-cultural work. How will you know if that’s for you? Get involved where you can and see where it leads. Make the most of the incredible opportunities to reach students and others from across the globe from unreached people groups, or join a short-term mission team. Or perhaps move across town to Wallsend and help our mission partner Ben Cadoux-Hudson plant a new church in that part of our city?

We won’t all play the same role - God has gifted us differently and at different stages in life we have different pressures and opportunities. Remember one thing we can all do is pray. Don't underestimate the power of prayer! So, if you don't do this already, start praying for the world. Make contact with one or two of our church’s mission partners and pray for them regularly. Or maybe you can give financially to help to spread the gospel to all the world. Following Jesus is the single greatest source of joy in the world. We forget that far too easily. Let us remember Jesus and dwell on the sheer, soaring joy of following our saviour who we will spend eternity with. And then let’s joyfully play our part in making him known.