Sermon Tone Analysis

“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, 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.”

[1]

She was a gracious lady who had walked with the Lord for many years.

She was widowed earlier in life and had remarried a gentleman.

Garnet was a good man.

He had served in the Canadian Forces during the Second World War, seeing perhaps more death than anyone should ever have to witness.

He was a member of the lodge, having advanced to some of the highest ranks within that particular organisation; and though he faithfully attended the services of the church, there was a sense of unease concerning his relationship to the Master.

On one occasion while I visited in their home, that gracious lady confronted him, saying, “Garnet, if you were going to take a trip to Montreal, you would prepare for that journey.

You would purchase your ticket; you would pack your luggage and arrange for a place to stay.

You say you’re going to Heaven.

However, I never see you preparing for that trip.

You never read your Bible.

You never pray.

You never speak of that journey.

Are you certain you are going to make that trip?”

“I’m okay,” he assured that dear lady, “I have done what was necessary.”

However, there was never any indication that he had a relationship to Christ the Lord.

I understand that it I am not to pronounce judgement, but I never witnessed any fruit evident in that gentleman’s life.

Only a matter of months after that conversation, I preached his funeral.

Though he said he had done all that was necessary, there was scant evidence of transformation.

Death is the last thing we talk about in modern life.

Those who sell life insurance can relate multiplied stories about how difficult it can be for people to think about what is inevitable.

I have frequently observed with deep sorrow how widows or widowers are unprepared when death comes—their loved one never prepared for death.

Whether death for a loved one comes suddenly and unexpectedly, or whether the death followed a lingering illness, few people are actually prepared.

Surely the poet penned a great truth when he wrote,

“And come he slow, or come he fast,

It is but Death who comes at last.” [2]

Almost incidentally, the Apostle speaks a glorious truth concerning Jesus our Saviour.

Paul testifies that Christ Jesus abolished death.

Though we are believers in the Risen Son of God, we still find this truth difficult to believe at times.

When our beloved family member is laid to rest for the final time, we hurt terribly and at that moment we know that our loved one is no longer with us.

The familiar voice, the warming smile, the gentle touch are but a memory at that time.

How can we imagine that they are alive?

Nevertheless, we who are twice-born are “alive in Christ” [e.g., see ROMANS 6:11].

The evidence is witnessed in multiple ways.

We understand that the body is dying; but our spirit has been made new in Christ Jesus and our soul is redeemed from death.

We know God who is life.

We are brought into the presence of the True and Living God.

By faith, we now walk with the Risen Son of God.

And yet, we witnessed the daily dying of this frail flesh.

We who are believers in the Living Saviour need to be reminded from time-to-time what Christ has accomplished and how we benefit from His rich provision.

Paul’s words penned in our text afford opportunity to remind us, as Christians, of what we possess in Christ our Lord.

*CHRIST JESUS ABOLISHED DEATH* — “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, 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” [2 TIMOTHY 1:8-10].

It is easy to be caught up in the exciting news that Christ has abolished death while missing an important fact—the subject of VERSE TEN is grace.

If we are focused on the present life, we can become discouraged and disheartened.

Trials and testing, suffering and sorrow are the lot of the people of God in this present age.

While we tend to relegate such statements to the difficulties that are common to all people, Paul had far more extensive attacks against himself and all the saints when he penned these words.

I do not want to depreciate the difficulties faced in the loss of a loved one, in the uncertainties of daily life or even those which we face in our struggles to maintain a measure of health.

However, we must admit we do not suffer assault as do many of the saints in this present day.

There is a world-wide assault against Christians.

That assault does not discriminate by denomination or race—it is focused on those who dare identify as believers in the Son of God.

Certainly, repeated attacks of various Islamists in Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Syria fill the newscasts each week [3].

Even individuals unaware of major news items know of the beheadings of Christians in various locals, though we quickly forget those Christians who have been killed in Indonesia [4], Nigeria and other sub-Saharan nations.

However, less well-publicised in the west are the repeated attacks against Christians perpetuated by other religions such as Buddhists [5] and Hindus [6] and state-sponsored attacks.

[7] What is obvious is that Christians do suffer death because of their faith in Christ the Lord.

When various religiously motivated zealots take the life of those who follow Christ, they do not distinguish between sects and denominations—all alike who name the Name of Christ are killed.

This bitter assault against the faithful reveals the veracity of the Master’s words.

Though you know them well, please listen again in light of contemporary rage against followers of the Christ.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me hates my Father also” [JOHN 15:18-23].

Since so many of the people of God have suffered—and even now are suffering to the point of death, perhaps we are presumptuous in speaking of Christ conquering death.

Some scholars who study persecution of the faithful suggest that more Christians have been martyred in this present era than in any other period in history.

Some organisations aver that over 100,000 Christians are martyred each year.

[8] Students of the Faith suggest that 70 million Christians have been martyred since the time of Christ, and that 45 million of those martyred died during the past century!

This means that Christians are being brutally murdered at an astounding rate.

In fact some calculate that the rate of slaughter is eleven Christians martyred each hour for the past ten years.

What is more terrible still is that the slaughter continues and is even accelerating at this present time.

[9] Yet, the text pointedly asserts that “our Saviour Jesus Christ … “abolished death.”

We sometimes become so focused on our present condition that we forget who we are.

We are physical beings; and as such, we are consumed by physical realities.

The correlation of this condition is that we frequently forget that we are spiritual beings.

We are living souls with a spirit; we were created to know God who is Spirit.

When we speak of death, it is helpful to know what we are talking about.

So, what do we mean when we speak of “death?”

Man is a tripartite being; that is, he has a body, but he is a soul with a spirit.

Paul speaks of this when he writes the Thessalonian believers.

As he concludes his first letter to those persecuted saints, the Apostle pens a prayer for his readers.

“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:23].

I realise that many fine Christians are prepared to argue that soul and spirit are synonymous, and that man is thus a dichotomous entity (body and spirit).

I would only caution that the writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians makes an insightful assertion when he writes, “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” [HEBREWS 4:12].

What is important for the purpose of our present study is to understand that whenever we speak of death, we cannot ignore the spiritual aspects of our being.

To die physically is to have soul and spirit separated from the body.

The soul is the life force, the animation of the physical; when the soul is absent, the body is no longer animated and we realise the person is dead.

By birth and by choice, people are dead in trespass and sin; and we remain in this state of death until redeemed by the Son of God.

Hence, the soul is dead to God; it cannot recognise God.

God is Spirit [see JOHN 4:24]; thus, the unregenerate spirit is dead.

Redemption, then, is a three-fold affair.

The spirit is made new in Christ the Lord.

The soul is redeemed from condemnation.

And we receive the promise of a new body.

Armed with this knowledge, we begin to understand what is meant when the Apostle speaks of Christ abolishing death.

This is brought forcefully into focus when reading Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

There, in the second chapter, we read, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” [EPHESIANS 2:1-3].

This is the condition of all mankind in the natural state.

We are born dying.