Unashamed of the Gospel

2 Timothy 1:8-14

Immanuel – 5/3/26

          I’ve changed their names, but Himal and Sudip are two men we met in India.

Himal is a catalytic leader who travels throughout the region preaching Christ and raising up others to do the same. By God’s grace, he has planted dozens of churches. Those he has led to Christ have planted more. Those they discipled have planted still more. Today, there is a network of over 800 churches spread across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Tibet. All because one man remained faithful to the gospel—and committed himself to raising up others in that same faithfulness.

Sudip was one of those men. At the time, Sudip was a teacher in a Christian school. He was respected, well-liked, and by Indian standards, living a fairly comfortable life. He had stability, security, a good reputation. He could serve Christ in ways that felt safe and manageable.

Then Himal came to his school to train students in gospel conversations. As Sudip listened, he heard story after story of people coming to Christ, of churches multiplying, of men and women risking everything for the sake of Jesus. And as he listened, something happened: His heart caught fire.

Sudip realized he had not been placed in that room for his students’ sake alone. God had put him there to confront him. Afterward, Sudip pulled Himal aside and flooded him with questions. Himal listened, watched, and finally said, “Come with me.”

All that night Sudip wrestled with what he heard. He wrestled in prayer. And the very next morning he walked into that school and quit his job. He walked away from comfort, away from ease, away from the quiet assumption that following Jesus should fit neatly inside a safe life.

Today, Sudip is one of Himal’s most effective evangelists. They call him “The Bulldozer.” He will go anywhere, speak to anyone, and endure whatever is necessary so others may hear of Christ. He is not reckless—but he is willing to suffer for the gospel. What struck me most was not his boldness, but this: Sudip is not ashamed of the gospel.

And that is exactly where our text takes us today: living unashamed of the gospel. There are two main points here:

1.      Being unashamed of the gospel means being willing to suffer.

2.      We endure suffering because we treasure the God of the gospel!

Read vs 8

          So begins one of Paul’s infamously complex sentences, from verse 8 to the middle of 12—105 words in Greek, 108 in English.

You’ll notice it begins with “therefore,” linking Paul’s current thought to what came before. In the opening verses of 2 Timothy, we saw Paul do two things for his beloved son in the faith: he healed and strengthened Timothy’s heart through encouragement, and he exhorted him to fan into flame the gift of God within him. Paul assured Timothy that his faith was sincere and that the Spirit dwelling within him was not one of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

But encouragement alone is not enough for the road ahead. For once the heart is strengthened and the fire fanned, the question becomes: what will that fire cost you? What happens when living for Christ brings opposition, hardship, and suffering?

          The answer to that question is what Paul wants Timothy to remember. Because Timothy is struggling and he might be tempted to take his foot off the gas pedal. Faith is not meant to be hidden, like a flame under a basket. There is an outward expression, an unashamed brilliance to faith. Right after “therefore” comes the command, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” The testimony about Jesus is synonymous with the gospel. Paul is saying, “Do not be ashamed of the gospel!”

          Shame in Paul’s world was not merely an inward feeling. It is more than embarrassment. Shame means public distancing from what the world considers disgraceful.

          India is an honor/shame culture. If you are a person on which shame has come, you become untouchable. Association itself becomes costly. People will distance themselves from you. They will be ashamed of you.

          So, when social pressures come on you, when you might be perceived as offensive or foolish, do not distance yourself from the testimony of Jesus. Do not be ashamed of the gospel!

As Paul says to the church in Corinth:

          For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.              1 Corinthians 1:18

          Then Paul adds, “Do not be ashamed about me, a prisoner for Christ.” Last week we learned that Paul was imprisoned in Rome as a criminal (2:9), sentenced to execution. Next week, in 1:15, we will see nearly everyone abandoned Paul. They were ashamed to be associated with him. They were afraid that if they would be found as his associates, they too would be crushed by “Roman justice.” Peter denied Jesus for very similar reasons.

          To be ashamed of Jesus in his sufferings, to be ashamed of Paul’s chains, is to be ashamed of the gospel. When Peter realized he was ashamed of his friend and Lord, it broke him. “Not you Timothy! Do not be ashamed of the gospel!”

          And then Paul says something that runs against the grain of so much American Christianity: share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

          Our culture is addicted to comfort, to security, to pleasure. We want people around us who make us feel good. We want work that makes us feel good. We want a faith that makes us feel good. And into that saccharine delusion Paul says, share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

He said it to the Romans too.

          The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.               -Romans 8:16-17

          Before glory comes suffering. If we want to follow Jesus, we must take up our cross, daily.

          This is not to say we go out looking for suffering. Rather, more than all the things that keep us safe and comfortable and familiar, we must treasure God enough to forsake them all. Suffering will come as we battle temptation and fight to kill sin. The burdens we shoulder for one another will bring suffering. Sharing the gospel when everything in you doesn’t feel like it, when you might come across as offensive, when it might put you in danger, that is suffering for the gospel. We each need to ask the question, what happens when living for Christ brings opposition, hardship, and suffering? Do we treasure Christ enough to let go of what is safe and comfortable?

          Paul was in chains for the sake of the gospel. Paul suffered for the gospel not by his own strength, not because he was gritty and radical. He suffered for the gospel by the power of God. God held him there. And God would bring him through.

In other words, Paul endured suffering because he had found someone more valuable than comfort, safety, and life itself—the God of the gospel! When Paul launches into an exposition of the gospel, it becomes so clear where his power comes from.

Read vs 9-12a

          The structure of these verses is complex, and the theology is very deep. Without exaggeration, I could preach a month’s worth of sermons on this gospel exposition. Instead, you’ll get it in a few minutes.

          First, let me point out how Paul bookends his gospel exposition (diagram on screen). In verses 9 and 10 Paul explains the gospel. But look what happens on either side. In verse 8 he says, “Do not be ashamed of the gospel.” In verses 11 and 12 he writes, “Through the gospel…I am not ashamed.”

          There’s something about the gospel that makes Paul courageous, unashamed, and willing to suffer. So let’s look at what he says about this great gospel.

          God is the one who saves us. We did not do this for ourselves. We are lost to our sins, dead in our trespasses. We are totally depraved – meaning every part of us is corrupted by sin. But God initiates salvation in human hearts.

          And God is the one who gives us a holy calling. A holy calling is a life lived unto God and not yourself, where you walk by the Spirit and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, you did not choose this life for yourself, but God is the one who called you into it.

          God’s calling is effectual. God places his affection on you, and he calls into your heart, “Dave, I shall be your God and you shall be of my people.” “Sue, I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my daughter!” In the moment he calls, we are his and he is ours! God’s calling is effectual!

          There is not a single person who is worthy of God’s call. Not one has deserved salvation. God’s favor is unmerited, and his election is unconditional.

          God saves and calls according to his own gracious plan. He chooses whom he will. He elects people according to his own pleasure and purpose. Which means your salvation is not as fragile as your feelings. It rests in the eternal purpose of God. Yes, God is saving you, even when it doesn’t feel like it, even when you endure suffering.

          And God graciously purposed this in eternity past, before the foundations of the earth were laid. This means if you believe in Jesus, treasuring God more than comfort, safety, or life itself, then God chose you before the ages began. Before you ever sought him, before you ever breathed, before you ever failed him—he already set his love upon you. He has loved you before you were you.

          God planned to give us these graces in eternity past.

          But there was a day that eternal purpose went public—or, was made manifest. For millennia it was secret, hidden from human eyes, whispered about in the pages of Scripture. But then Jesus appeared!

          By his death he abolished our death! On the cross he paid the price of our sins. He was crushed for our iniquity. When he died, our death died with him!

But he did not stay dead. He burst from the grave; flinging wide the doors of everlasting life. And Paul says immortality was brought to light through the gospel; meaning there is news about how immortality can become ours. That good news, that gospel, was revealed so that it can be proclaimed!

That is exactly why Paul was appointed a preacher, apostle, and teacher. In large part, this is why we have been given a holy calling. We are the ambassadors of the kingdom, the heralds of Christ, “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! The King has good news for his rebel subjects. He has decreed, at the cost of his son’s life, an amnesty for all who would lay down their arms and plead mercy from the king. He will accept you!”

          Yes, God’s purposes are so gracious—as Paul says—because God freely gives salvation to any who trust in Jesus and his completed work.

What a salvation! What a holy calling—planned before the ages began, revealed in Christ Jesus, a salvation that is ours forever, and must be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. Who could be ashamed of such a gospel? Never! And this is why Paul suffers as he does (vs 12).

Do not be ashamed of the gospel, for through the gospel I am not ashamed.

You will endure suffering if you treasure the God revealed in this great gospel! The gospel is not just facts. It is not just good news. Behind the gospel there is a person, and Paul knows in whom he has believed.

          Read vs 12b-14

          In verse 12 Paul talks about something that has been entrusted to him. In verse 14, something is entrusted to Timothy. What is it that God has entrusted to these men? We know the answer from verse 9: God has entrusted salvation and a holy calling to them, just as he has entrusted these to all whom he has called.

          This calling is too great. Our spiritual enemies storm against us, the world beneath us is as unstable as tossing water, and temptations constantly batter our hearts. Left to myself I would shipwreck my faith on the shoals of selfishness and pride and unbelief. So would you.

          How can any of us hope to hold back all that surges against us? We cannot! But praise God, for according to his gracious and eternal purposes, he is the one who will guard what has been entrusted to us.

          When, in verse 14, Paul exhorts Timothy to guard the deposit entrusted to him, he says, guard it by the Holy Spirit. It is God the Spirit who guards you. But there is a participation in that guardianship, and this is what we saw last week when Paul said, fan into flame the gift of God. Faith is not passive, and we do not follow Jesus from an armchair. We follow him, desire him, obey him—unashamed of the gospel!

          But it is too much for you. So as you guard the deposit entrusted to you, God will cause his saints to persevere. God is the final and ultimate protector of your salvation and your calling.

          I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.                                        -Philippians 1:6

          Here’s how Paul knows God will guard our faith and cause us to persevere, and this is why Paul can suffer for the gospel, this is why he can ask anyone to share in his sufferings. Because he knows the God of the gospel. He believes him. He trusts him. He treasures Him. And because of the character of this good and gracious God, Paul is convinced he is exerting his eternal power to keep us in his holy calling, even through suffering.

“I know God, my Father. I know his gracious purposes. I know he loved me as a Father before the ages began. I know he paid a tremendous price in his Son’s crucifixion. I know Jesus’s resurrection secured my everlasting life. I know this God—my God—and he is worthy, worthy, worthy!”

          He is worth enduring any suffering for—more than my comforts, more than my reputation, more than my pleasures, more than even my own life. We endure suffering because we treasure the God of the gospel.

          So we shall live and die unashamed of the gospel!

          Head: Suffering for Christ is not abnormal—it’s part of faithful discipleship. Jesus does not promise comfort, but he gives us a holy calling and sustains us by his power.

          Heart: God is worthy of every sacrifice because he loved us before time, saved us in Christ, and will keep us to the end.

          Hands: Refuse to distance yourself from Christ. Speak the gospel boldly, endure hardship faithfully, and guard the calling God has entrusted to you.