Greetings, radio friends, in the ever-precious name of the Lord Jesus. Your Bible teacher of the year welcomes you to another series of studies as we continue in the second epistle of Timothy, chapter two. I would like to read for our lesson, beginning at verse seven in this second chapter, down through verse ten, the words of the beloved apostle Paul saying, Consider what I say. And the Lord give the understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seat of David was raised again from the dead, according to my gospel. Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. We have seen in our preceding messages the challenge of the Christian or for the Christian in the last days of Christianity to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to be an athlete that strives for the masteries according to the rules. and to be a laborer who works faithfully in the vengeance of God until the eternal truths will be gathered in. Paul begins to give to us, as we look at verse seven, the consummation of these preceding truths. Asking, consider what I say. Give thought to these facts. and the Lord give the understanding in all things. May the Holy Spirit enable us to realize these truths that the Apostle has revealed for the darkened days of Christianity at the end time should be prayerfully, carefully considered. And then the beloved Apostle reminds us that if we're going to be faithful, If we are going to be soldiers, athletes and laborers, we must follow the path of obedience of the risen and the ascended Lord. For we are not to forget the one whom we serve and the one whom we follow. Paul speaks of him as being Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, raised from the dead, according to the Lord. to my gospel. My beloved radio friends, my fellow believers in particular, we must never remember we serve a living Savior. I serve a living Savior. We often sing in our hymnology. How true it is. Will you and I not remember? Jesus Christ is alive. Though he has been absent from the earth during this present dispensation of the church, When he arose from the dead, he ascended into heaven itself, and he has been alive on the right hand of the throne of God, so that we serve and we follow a risen Christ. Our leader is not dead. Our leader is very much aligned, and very deeply conscious of all that you and I as believers may be passing through as we seek to serve him. Would to God that we had an appreciation and a better appropriation of that blessed truth, we have a living Christ to follow. We are following one who is alive forevermore. And as the apostle speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, he declares this message is according to my gospel. You know, the beloved apostle met that risen Christ. He met him upon the Damascus road. It was the glory of that risen Christ that appeared to Paul and struck him from his horse as he traveled to Damascus to persecute and to imprison the early Christians. And face to face with the glory of that risen Christ, Paul was blinded physically until his eyes were opened later on. But to that blessed apostle, there was the revelation that the Christ whom he thought was dead was living forever. And his devotion to that living Christ followed. For the moment he found who he was, he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? My beloved radio friend, my Christian friend, please may I say, you serve a risen Savior. Our Savior is alive. get your heart centered upon him knowing that in heaven above by faith we see Jesus who is crowned with glory and with honor don't forget it according to the gospel Jesus Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures and because he lives and because Paul preached the risen Christ he suffered trouble wherein I suffer trouble and I am troubled and called an evildoer, and even unto chains or bonds. For when the apostle wrote these words, he was in the prison of Rome, and in the bonds of Rome in power, and waiting the ultimate execution that soon followed under the reign and tyranny of the wicked Emperor Nero. And he was suffering for the gospel's sake. He was suffering being charged as an evildoer and put into chains, all because of preaching Christ. Oh, beloved, you remember back in the early part of the chapter, he said, Endure hardness, meaning accept thy share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And may I say, without any hesitance, the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, as a prisoner of Rome, was because he preached Christ and declared the whole truth of God. He declared not only the truth of the gospel, he declared the truth that we know to be church truth in relation to the responsibility of the testimony of God on the earth today. And for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of the eternal truth of God, he was in bonds. But he said, Lovely truth. The Word of God is not bound. You know, the world can bind the servants of the Lord, but the world can never bound The Word of God. The Word of God is not bound. They cannot tie the Word of God. They cannot keep it from spreading. They cannot keep it from growing. Many attempts have been made by infidelistic men and still being made to put the Word of God away. They'll never be able to do it. One of the strangest analogies and coincidence is the fact that one of the greatest infidels by the name of Thomas Paine Who constantly treats against Christianity and the denial of the Bible as the Word of God and openly practice infidelity? The very room in which this man died a miserable death became the depository of Bibles for the British foreign Bible society in the country of France. Oh, what an analogy. that such men should defy the word of the living God. Bind? Yes, they bind the servants of God. But Paul says the word of God is not bound. Jesus said heaven and earth may pass away, but my word shall never pass away. The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divining of thunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow. My fellow believer, may I say to you today, as well as to my own heart, let us have confidence in the Word of God, though men may throw it out of the schools, cast it out of many public places, and seek to thus strangle the proclamation as well as the publication and the propagation of the Word of God, they never will stop them. Everyone that sought to beat their hammers of violence and opposition against the Word of God, those hammers have broken and become worn out. And those men that have defied the living God have met their just as well as their eternal judgment, and will yet be brought to stand before God to give an account of their defiance against the Word of God. I'd like to ask if there is anyone within the range of this ministry who is opposed to the Word of God. May I say your opposition to the Word of God is fruitless. The Word of God will become victorious and you will be defeated. But may I encourage my fellow Christians, we're on the victory side. For the word of God is not bound. So Paul says because of this fact, I endure everything. I put up with every pain. I put up with every sorrow. I put up with the infirmities. I put up with the imprisonment. I put up with everything that it costs me. And I do it not only because the word of God is not bound, I do it for the sake of God's elect. for my beloved believers I'm willing to suffer all things. For I want them to obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The beloved apostle is the greatest exponent of Christianity that I know. And not only by his teaching, but by his example, the beloved apostle Paul has given to us an encouragement to follow in his steps. We shall see in the third chapter his own personal testimony after his faithfulness to follow the Word of God. But here we find his desire to so do it, that even you and I may go in the same path of obedience, the same path of integrity, the same path of deliberation to be true to the truth of God. that we may not only obtain the salvation which we possess in that glory that is in Christ, but also obtain that salvation with eternal glory. Now may I point out the distinction that is implied here, quickly and carefully. You and I can not only be saved and reach heaven as we know we shall by the saving grace of our Lord Jesus, but I believe with all earnestness that when the Christian reaches heaven, there is more glory that will be given in reward to him and her if we are faithful to the truth of God below. My beloved Christian, it not only means that by grace, through faith, you and I enter heaven, but because of faithfulness to the truth of God and to the Christ of God, We shall also receive added glory. God grant, my fellow believer, you will live, so live, to have that glory added to your testimony in heaven above when Jesus comes. Shall we pray? Father, again we pray particularly for the searching of thy dear people in conscience and heart to live for the glory of their Savior in his own worthy name. Amen.