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.

Then he gives us a trustworthy saying, a word intended to guide us in our times of trial. It begins with the language of death and life. It is a promise which roots our experience in the promise of the resurrection. He says, “If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him.” To die with Christ is the way to life. To die with Christ is to live in the promises of the empty tomb and the new Heaven and the new Earth. This is not a way of despair but a way of encouragement. We may understand death in Christ to be death to your passions, death to your old self, death to being your own god, but it encompasses your physical death as well, for none of these pains and sorrows are beyond the work of life that Jesus brings.

In fact, this leads right into the second line, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” 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. And there is a warning attached to this: “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” To deny Christ and His saving work is to deny the very means of endurance and life. To reject Christ is to cut yourself off from the source of salvation itself.

But then he adds a wonderful word of comfort for us all. A word we definitely need as we struggle on as good soldiers of our Lord. He says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful – for He cannot deny Himself.” You are called into His service. You are to serve Him in thought, word, and deed. It is His ministry, His Church, His Word that goes forth. And if you are faithless in this endeavor, if you stumble and fail to carry out the task, He remains faithful. He will not deny Himself. He will not be unfaithful to His promises. So, we are reminded that, despite our failures, the promises of Christ remain.

This is the reality lived out in the life of the baptized. Today, we welcomed a new brother in Christ into our fellowship. Little Brayden was clothed in the garment of salvation as all the promises of Christ were washed over his head, marking him as a child of God. Here he died with Christ and was raised to a new life in Him. Here, the gifts needed for endurance and trust in Christ alone were given by the Holy Spirit’s work. Our God claimed a new soldier, enlisted into His service. And this trustworthy saying will act as a guide to his new life in Christ.

Years ago, I read a letter Luther wrote to one who would serve as a Baptismal sponsor for his son. In asking him if he would fulfill this role, he said that in the waters of baptism, the Devil would be driven from his heart, only to be a lifelong enemy who would hang about his neck. It was into this lifelong battle that the baptismal sponsor would offer prayers and guidance and come to their aid in times of despair and doubt. I think we can all relate to that. You have probably been there. Maybe you wandered for a time from the faith, dogged by sin and shame, turning always inward and away from the Word and gifts of Christ. And certainly, we have watched ones we love and care about seem to cave in to the pressures of this age and turn from promises of our Lord.

But the promise remains, for He remains faithful. Jesus is faithful to His children, faithful to the gifts He gives, faithful to the promises of life and salvation. Our Lord is faithful to what He has said to Brayden, and He is faithful to what He has declared to you, for He cannot deny Himself, and what He gives is Himself. You are the elect of God, for your sins are forgiven. Together, we press on as good soldiers, trusting not in our strength and ability but always in the faithfulness of Christ. This is truly a trustworthy saying.