Remember, Remember the Flame and the Ember

2 Timothy 2:8-13 February 23, 2025 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis In seasons of spiritual disorientation and suffering, the antidote to fear and confusion is active remembrance of three foundational truths: the risen Christ we follow, the unstoppable Word we proclaim, and our unbreakable union with Christ.

Series

Passing the Torch

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticprophetic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

44 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #14

"Application moving from the Aragorn illustration to direct exhortation to Timothy and the listener. The unit performs the rhetorical move from 'this is like' to 'this is true' to 'therefore do this.' Concrete instruction: when you see nothing else, see Christ and take one step. The call to 'ride' bridges epic literature to Christian obedience."

Doctrinal loci· 12 surfaced

Bibliology · 11 Soteriology · 11 Christology · 8 Sanctification · 8 Providence / Sovereignty · 4 Ecclesiology · 3 Eschatology · 2 Pneumatology · 2 Theology Proper · 2 Covenant Theology · 1 Doxology / Worship · 1 Pastoral Theology · 1

Bible citations· 20

Illustrations· 4

historical example · unit #2 — Introduces the extended metaphor of 'the fog of war' through Clausewitz's military observation—the moment battle begins, all careful plans collapse into chaos and confusion. The illustration bridges military strategy to universal human experience (parenting, business) to establish the sermon's controlling metaphor.
analogy · unit #7 — Introduces a scientific analogy that will structure the rest of the sermon: the three ingredients needed to light a torch (heat, fuel, oxygen) will map onto the three truths Paul wants Timothy to remember. The analogy provides a concrete organizational framework.
personal story · unit #13 — Personal story about reading The Return of the King at age 14—a scrawny, wheezy homeschooler whose heart still swells with the desire to ride with Aragorn. The illustration captures the visceral response to a king worth following and serves the claim that Jesus is the true returned King who elicits that 'let's go' response.
historical example · unit #20 — Extended historical illustration from the Soviet Union: the state tried to chain the Word by warehousing Bibles and imprisoning Christians. The story climaxes in the moment a skeptical young man finds his grandmother's Bible in the warehouse and is undone by it. The illustration demonstrates that the Word cannot be bound—it outlasts empires and reaches across generations to pierce the heart of the skeptic.

Theological claims· 6

Second Timothy is a letter written from and to people in the fog of war—Paul imprisoned and dying, Timothy facing heresy, persecution, and the loss of his mentor. unit #3
Paul's one-word solution to spiritual disorientation is active, continuous remembrance—specifically, remembering three crucial truths that relight our torch. unit #6
The gospel's advance does not depend on Paul, Timothy, or any human effort—it depends entirely on the power of God in the risen Christ, which is why it cannot be stopped. unit #21
The fog of war obscures what is sand (the Roman Empire, temporal power) and what is steel (the church, the Word, the risen Christ)—time reveals that what looked unstoppable was fragile and what looked fragile was eternal. unit #22
Two thousand years of history prove Paul was right: the Roman Empire is gone, but the Word of God continues to prevail. unit #23
The three truths Paul gives Timothy function like heat, fuel, and oxygen to relight our torch: the heat of Christ's risen life, the fuel of the Word's unstoppable power, and the oxygen of union with Christ. unit #34

Quotations· 7

"the fog of war" — Carl von Clausewitz (unit #2)

"everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth" — Mike Tyson (unit #2)

"Other recollections are important, but this is the essential memory. Essential memory, the gospel memory, constantly replayed will enable him to stand and suffer with Paul." — Hughes and Chapel (unit #6)

"the cross, or you could say the gospel in this context is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled. But we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us" — John Stott (unit #7)

"Just as it is not possible to bind a sunbeam or to shut it up within the house, so neither can the preaching of the Word be bound." — John Chrysostom (unit #19)

"One of the helpers was a young man, skeptical, hostile, agnostic, collegian. He had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading Bibles, the young man disappeared. They found him in a corner of the warehouse, weeping. He had slipped away, hoping to quietly take a Bible for himself. What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. He had stolen the very Bible that had belonged to his grandmother. A woman persecuted for her faith all her life. His grandmother had no doubt prayed for him and for her city." — Hughes and Chapel (unit #20)

"God's word can no more be chained than God himself." — Hughes (concluding the warehouse story) (unit #20)

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Full transcript

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0 · Frames 2 Timothy as a 'dying declaration' letter—Paul's final, most urgent words to Timothy carry the weight of last words, making the entire epistle a high-stakes transmission of what matters most

Second Timothy, chapter two is where we will be continuing our series Passing the Torch. As Paul is writing from prison to his protege Timothy, who really is going to carry the torch for Paul as he is not long for this world. And each one of these passages, perhaps more than any other New Testament letter, is markedly intense and earnest. This is one of those letters that is like a dying declaration in, in the state of Texas, if you say something as a dying declaration, you can basically overrule anything else you've ever said in your life. There's actually. You can look it up. It's a law in the books, because in that moment where you're, you're, you're, you know, I'm sure it was like an old gunfighter law. Like, you're in a gunfight and you're passing out in a saloon. Whatever you say. Like you, you know, I'm giving my property to Ed. Whatever it is, it's that moment of clarity that they were like, okay, well, whatever you say at the end, that's where we really see who you were and what you value most. This is a whole letter of that. And so as we read it, let's remember the earnestness and the intensity of this is appropriate.

1 · Public reading of the primary text (2 Timothy 2:8-13) followed by prayer for illumination

Second Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8. This is God's word. 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. 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. The saying is trustworthy. For if we have died with them, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. And if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. This is God's word. Lord, I pray for your blessing on the preaching of the word and the hearing of it today in your presence. Amen.

2 · Introduces the extended metaphor of 'the fog of war' through Clausewitz's military observation—the moment battle begins, all careful plans collapse into chaos and confusion

Well, you've probably never heard of the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz. If you have, I would love to talk to you more just about your hobbies, about what you're into these days. Probably don't know. I didn't know anything about him, but I discovered this week he was the one that coined the phrase the fog of war. The fog of war, because he was a Prussian military man who fought both for and against Napoleon in the Napoleonic wars of Europe. And he. He had this beautiful observation that's not just true on the battlefield. It's true really in all of life. And his observation was that before you went into the battle, you'd have a nice clean map of the battlefield. You would have, you know, the little wooden horses that you'd push around on the sticks, and you'd say, okay, we're going to move these guys here and those guys there, and here's the river. And this is what's going to happen, and that's what's going to happen. And so you get everything nicely laid out, and you say, all right, here we go. And then as soon as the first gunshot went off, it's just chaos, right? All of a sudden, it gets windy. People can't yell back and forth at one another, and they don't know what position it is. You have a guy reading the map upside down. You've got a road that's not where it's supposed to be because it got washed out by the river. The river is bigger or smaller, or the snow falls, or you run out of ammunition, or it's too dry or it's too moist or whatever it is, the fog of war sets in, and all the plans you had go out the window. It's a great observation, and it's true in all of life. It's true with business, it's true with parenting, right? Everybody has a great plan for their children before their kids are born and then just check in with everyone at age one and a half, right? We had it all laid out. I don't know what we're doing now. Anybody who's ever started a business, anybody who's ever done anything right, the fog of war sets in.

3 · Applies the fog-of-war metaphor directly to Paul and Timothy's historical situation

And this letter, second Timothy, is written in the midst of the fog of war. The fog of war has Settled in on both Paul and Timothy. Paul is in the middle of a Roman jail cell, probably physically chained up to a soldier and probably chained also to the wall. He is hurting. He is furiously trying to write letters to manage the churches that he has planted. Timothy is a young pastor. He is facing, on one side winds of heresy that are sweeping into the church. On the other side, he's facing rising Roman persecution. He is trying to figure out ministry. His mentor, Paul, is dying in Rome and the fog of war has set in.

4 · Bridges from Paul and Timothy's fog of war to the listener's fog of war

And that's why Paul's words here are so helpful. They are written to people in the fog of war, in all of our lives, we think we've got a plan until fear and suffering come in and obscure everything. Or as famous philosopher Mike Tyson once said, everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth, right? You just have to. I'm not going to do the Mike Tyson voice. You have to do that on your own. I thought about it, but no. You probably have faced the reality that things that once seem so clear in your Christian life suddenly seem blurry and difficult to see.

5 · A moment of sudden pastoral vulnerability—Ricky steps out of the exposition to admit he is preaching from within his own fog of war this very week

That was this week for me. I think it's an irony in the Lord's providence that I'm preaching this this week because this feels like one of the foggiest weeks I have had in a long time. This was one of those weeks that the week was already full before it began. Assuming nothing went wrong, everything would be fine. And then I woke up sick. In the beginning of the week, I've been fighting this thing that's just been hanging on allergies, whatever it is, and my head's been fuzzy. And then unexpected things have happened and work. And then unexpected parenting challenges came up. And it just feels like everything has been foggy this week. And at one point, I even thought to myself, I can't preach this week. I don't even know what I'm doing. I can't tell other people what they should be doing.

6 · Establishes the sermon's organizing principle and main thesis: Paul's one-word solution to the fog of war is 'remember' (continuous, active remembering)

And the good news, though, is this. This text is written for people like me, for people like you, for people in the midst of the fog of war that can't see two feet in front of their faces. And Paul has a one word solution for those who find themselves in the fog of war. That solution is simple but profound. Remember, remember, if applied rightly, this simple word, this simple command is like relighting our torch in the midst of the fog of war so that we can begin to see again. This phrase. Remember, the original phrasing in the Greek language is remember. And Keep remembering. It's not just remember once, it means continue to remember. And this is a pattern across all of scripture. In the Old Testament, often God calls his people to remember. To remember. It's built into all of the practices of God's people. And so Paul is going to call Timothy to remember three crucial truths that will help relight our torch so that we can see through the fog of war.

7 · Introduces a scientific analogy that will structure the rest of the sermon: the three ingredients needed to light a torch (heat, fuel, oxygen) will map onto the three truths Paul wants Timothy to remember

To light a torch I discovered this week, you need three simple ingredients. You need heat, you need fuel and you need oxygen. Right? Glad there's no like 10 year olds here going like, cool, I got it. Heat, you know, like that kid in everybody, every house has one. Those three ingredients, heat, fuel, oxygen.

8 · Explicit structural signal announcing the sermon's first major movement

That is what Paul is going to give to us today. These three truths are going to function in that way. So the first, the first thing to remember is this. Remember who you follow and his power.

9 · Opens the exposition of verse 8 by connecting the human instinct in disorientation (looking for someone to follow) to Paul's command to Timothy: remember Jesus Christ

Look at verse 8. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached in my gospel. Now, when you're in the fog of war, one of the things everybody does is they look around for someone to follow. They're like, man, does anybody else see where we're going? Does anybody else see what we're supposed to be doing? You're kind of grabbing, okay, it's instinctively a kid. When it's dark outside, what do kids do? They grab onto mom or dad's leg or hand or, you know, they want to hold on. They need to know somebody knows what they're doing. And so we are, in our culture, we are constantly looking to influencers or to this relationship with a boyfriend or a girlfriend or maybe even the voice of our parents from years ago we're looking for. Who do I follow? In the middle of this, Paul says, timothy, Timothy, remember, don't just grasp for someone to follow. Remember who you follow. Remember Jesus Christ. Now you might not think Timothy would need to be reminded as a Christian pastor about Jesus Christ. That's a weird thing to tell a pastor. Hey, hey, pastor, remember Jesus Christ. You're like, do you see the big cross? You see the name of the church? We got, we're good, we got it. Paul does not assume that Timothy's got it. Neither should we assume that we've got it. Remember Jesus Christ.

10 · Theological development of what it means to remember Jesus Christ—it is the 'essential memory' that enables suffering

Hughes and Chapel in their commentary say this. Other recollections are important, but this is the essential memory. Essential memory, the gospel memory, constantly replayed will enable him to stand and suffer with Paul. Jesus Christ is the resurrected living Messiah. He is everything we need for life and, and salvation. So in the Midst of a foggy day, a foggy week, a foggy year, we need to reignite the memory of who it is that we follow. Jesus our Savior. Christ the Messiah, King. We follow the Savior, King, we. As Paul has been repeatedly reminding Timothy, we must see clearly, even if we see nothing else, who it is that we are following. And in that, what we find, it has an effect on us. John Stott, in a quote that I have remembered for 20 years and I hope you remember for 20 years, says this, the cross, or you could say the gospel in this context is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled. But we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us, right? So Paul is saying, get, get. When you, when your torch is flickering out, Timothy, get close to the flame. Get near enough to Christ that you remember. Yes, that's right. Jesus Christ saved me. I follow him. That's where I'm going. That's what I'm doing. Remember Jesus Christ.

11 · Expositional focus on 'risen from the dead'—Paul is pointing Timothy past his own impending death to an unkillable King

Notice what Paul said. He has two qualifiers. Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Now, this is important, this is urgent in light of what is about to happen. Paul knows that Timothy is about to lose his mentor. He's about to lose his father in the faith. Timothy's fear is that one day he's going to get a letter from Paul saying, this is the end. They're taking me to the executioner's acts and Paul will be left without a leader of follow. And. And Paul is saying, timothy, look at me. You're not going to leave. I'm not leaving you alone. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. What Paul wants Timothy to remember when he is gone is that Timothy is not following a inspirational memory of a Christian martyr. Paul is not leaving with Timothy with an idea. Paul is not leaving Timothy with a set of principles. No, Paul is calling Timothy to remember. He follows a risen king who has beaten death itself. And because of that, if Jesus lives, so will we, unafraid even in the face of death. Piper says this, which at first I thought, did I read that sentence right? This is what he says. He says this means that no matter how serious the suffering becomes, the worst that it can do on this earth is kill you. And I was like, is that encouraging? And he says, no, it is. He goes on to say, Jesus has taken the sting out of that enemy death. He is alive and you will be alive. So in the middle of the fog of war, he's saying, Timothy, remember who you're following. Remember, he is the unkillable savior king, so keep your eyes on him.

12 · Expositional focus on 'offspring of David'—Paul is invoking the entire Davidic covenant and Old Testament messianic expectation

And he is the offspring of David. Now, so much packed into that. All of the promises about the Messiah in the Old Testament are loaded into this phrase, the offspring of David. This is a fulfillment, a explicit kind of name check of the Davidic covenant where God promised that a king of David's line would sit on the throne forever. And Paul is calling back to Timothy's mind. Remember Timothy, the entire Old Testament has been focused on the coming of the risen, unkillable savior King Jesus, the source and fulfillment of every promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament. He is here. He is alive. He is advancing.

13 · Personal story about reading The Return of the King at age 14—a scrawny, wheezy homeschooler whose heart still swells with the desire to ride with Aragorn

Now, I thought of this week, the first time I ever read the third book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Return of the King. Now I read Lord of the Rings really incorrectly. My mom encouraged me to read them. Cause she was like, you know, you'd probably like this stuff. So I was like, cool. So I got into the library. They didn't have either of the first two books, but I didn't care because they had the third book, which is called the Return of the King. And I was like, that sounds like the good one, right? The other one, the two towers, like, oh, great, there's two towers. So cool. No. The Return of the King. And so it just starts right in the middle of this epic battle where the long lost king of this kingdom takes the dangerous and deadly paths of the dead to raise an army and return in the nick of time to save his city. Now look at age 14, right? I'm like a little scrawny homeschooler that taking a ton of allergy medication. Cause I can't run for 20 minutes without getting wheezy. But as I'm there with my little scrawny arms wrapped around this library book, in my heart, I'm like, let's go. I will ride with you, Aragorn. Right? There's something in your heart that's just like, let's go, let's get after it. And here's what's funny. I think we all have, in the right movie, the right context, the right story, something that rises up in our hearts that goes, if he's worth following, if the cause is worth dying for, let's go, let's go.

14 · Application moving from the Aragorn illustration to direct exhortation to Timothy and the listener

And that is what Paul is reminding Timothy of. Timothy, this isn't a story. This is real. This king has taken the paths of the dead. This king is remaking the world. This king is unkillable. And if you follow him, so will you be. Timothy. Remember Jesus Christ. In the fog of war, you may not be able to see to the left, see to the right, but you can see him. So ride. Ride, Timothy. Ride hard after him. Brother or sister. Today maybe you are in a season where you're like, I don't know where I've been. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what's on the left of me or to the right of me. I don't even know how to decide about tomorrow. What am I even doing? You can remember one thing, Jesus Christ, the unkillable king, the Savior of all, and follow him. And some days all you could do is just take one step and then another, and then another. But that is enough. Remember Jesus Christ.

15 · Direct evangelistic address to non-Christians in the room

And look, maybe if you're here today and you don't know Jesus, this is why we follow Jesus, by the way. We're not following a set of ideas, we're not following a set of principles. We're not following kind of reliving the memory of this great martyr. We are following a risen king who saved us from our sins and is worth following all. And. And so if you're not a Christian, you're on an outside looking in. Just want you to know what you're looking at. You're not like, well, let me look at these moral principles versus these moral principles. No, we're the people that have the unkillable undead king riding to victory. That's why we're here, right? And so there's always room. Get in line, grab a torch, let's go claim him as your savior, King, and you can be part of this.

16 · Structural hinge marking the move from the first major point (remember who you follow) to the second (remember what you proclaim)

Second. So much more I can say Second, remember what you proclaim and its power.

17 · Exposition of verse 9 focusing on the dramatic contrast Paul draws: he is physically bound, but the Word of God is not

Paul then in verse nine, says, talks about how he preached the gospel for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. And there's almost this pause, this breath, but the word of God is not bound. Now, Paul sets up this contrast because he literally is bound by chains in a Roman jail, right? There was not a moment in Paul's life at this time that he was unaware that he was physically tied either to a Roman guard or to the wall inside a locked cell. And so the Roman emperor thought, okay, this guy Paul, he's been causing trouble. Let's chain him, let's put him down. Let's put him in a dungeon with two locks and a key and a couple guards. That should take care of this. And Paul, defiant, shouts. But the word of God is not bound because meanwhile, while he has been chained up, the gospel's continuing to advance.

18 · Canonical survey of Acts showing Luke's repeated refrain: 'the word of God continued to increase

Timothy knows this well. Timothy, even while Paul has been in prison, has seen the gospel continue on city after city. In fact, there's this beautiful pattern in the New Testament where in the Book of Acts, what you expect to read Paul, Luke, the historian that wrote the Book of Acts at the end of each section has a particular phrase. He closes the section and starts a new one with. And you expect the phrase to be something like, so the apostles were bold and they preached and they advanced. You know, know. Or the church was very strong and was solid and advanced. That's not it at all. You know what the phrase is again and again, Acts 6, 7, but the word of God continued to increase. Or Acts 13:14, 13:49, rather, the word of God increased and multiplied. Or in Acts 13:49, the word was spreading. Or in Acts 19:20, the word of God continued to increase. And I love this prevail mightily, right? It's like the word of God, the message of the gospel itself has power behind it. It is no dead set of precepts, a dead message. It is powerful. It is alive. Why? Because the Savior it proclaims is alive and the spirit of God that brings people's hearts from death to life is alive. And so there's no killing it, there's no stopping it. There's no holding it back.

19 · Chrysostom quotation illustrating the unbindable nature of the Word—you cannot chain a sunbeam any more than you can chain the gospel

John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers, says it this way. Just as it is not possible to bind a sunbeam or to shut it up within the house, so neither can the preaching of the Word be bound. It's like trying to shut a sunbeam up, right? Just. Oh, yeah, you ought to throw some chains on that. It's not going to work.

20 · Extended historical illustration from the Soviet Union: the state tried to chain the Word by warehousing Bibles and imprisoning Christians

One story on this. We could. Thousands of stories, probably from church history could be told here. But I want to just relate one particular story. This is from Hughes and Chapel and their commentary on this text. They talk about how in the Stalinist era, the Soviet Union tried to persuade, purge all Bibles from the Soviet Union. So they, they literally, their plan was literally, okay, Christians are a problem. We don't want Christians. So we're just going to take their book and chain it and put it in warehouses. And then we'll take the people talking too much and we'll put them in gulags. And that should, that should be good. We should be able to kill Christianity within a few years. Now, turns out, spoiler, they didn't. So at the end of the communist regime. One of these big warehouses of Bibles were found. And there was a missionary organization that got permission, I think, really, because they just wanted the warehouse cleared out to take all the Bibles and redistribute them if people wanted them. And so they began to do that and they hired people to just unload and move books and things. Hughes relates this story. One of the helpers was a young man, skeptical, hostile, agnostic, collegian. He had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading Bibles, the young man disappeared. They found him in a corner of the warehouse, weeping. He had slipped away, hoping to quietly take a Bible for himself. What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. He had stolen the very Bible that had belonged to his grandmother. A woman persecuted for her faith all her life. His grandmother had no doubt prayed for him and for her city. Hughes concludes, God's word. Word can no more be chained than God himself.

21 · Synthesizes the exposition of the Word's power into a direct theological claim: the gospel's advance does not depend on Paul, Timothy, or any human agency—it depends on God's power in the risen Christ

Do you see why Paul is giving this to us? He is bound. Timothy is concerned. The fog of war has set in. But Paul wants Timothy to have this unshakable confidence that what is advancing the gospel and the cause of Christ is not him. It's not Timothy. It's not even the wisdom of the church fathers. It is the power of God himself in the risen Christ and the Gospel of the risen Christ. It is prevailing mightily out there.

22 · Introduces the sand-versus-steel metaphor to distinguish temporal power from eternal reality

And one of the things that happens is in the middle of the fog of war, you can't tell what's really important. You can't really tell. The way I would say this, you can't tell what sand and what steel, right? You see shapes in the fog, and some of these shapes look like, okay, well, that seems important. Maybe that's gonna be around, and maybe that looks unimportant. I don't think that. And then all of a sudden what happens is the fog clears. And all of a sudden you see, oh, those are built out of sand, and that's built out of steel. That's what Paul is trying to help Timothy. See? See, Timothy, look, the Roman Empire around me. It looks strong, it looks powerful, it looks unstoppable. This is sand. Just a century or two, all of these men will be gone and their names forgotten. But you know what? Steal. You know what? Steal. The Church of Jesus Christ, the power of the Word, the risen Savior himself. These things will not move.

23 · Looks back across 2000 years of church history to validate Paul's claim: the empire fell, the Word prevailed

And we, friends, we have the advantage of looking back after 2000 years of history and seeing Paul was right. The Roman Empire is long gone, but the word of God continues to prevail.

24 · Exposition of verse 10—Paul's 'therefore' statement

And so Paul is saying, Timothy, in light of this, 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. So much we could say about this, but he's saying, Timothy, look, follow my example. I will do everything. I will endure anything and everything. Because I know a couple things. Jesus is alive, the Word is going forth mightily, and the elect, God's people, they. I am laboring that they would obtain the salvation that Christ has brought to them through the gospel. Meaning that the work itself is foolproof, the work itself is not in doubt. So Timothy in the middle of the fog. Hold on. Endure. Remember,

25 · Structural hinge marking the move to the sermon's third and final major point: remember where you are linked (union with Christ)

third and last section. Remember where you are linked. And his power.

26 · Introduces the third movement—union with Christ—and frames verses 11-13 as a poem, creed, or hymn

Paul's reminded Timothy of who he's following. He's reminded Timothy of the power of gospel ministry. But then third, he, he turns his attention to unity with Christ. And I'm so grateful for Sal preaching this so well last week because it is the very doctrinal truth that Paul is holding out to Timothy in this third section, while there's a bunch going on in this poem slash creed slash hymn, the theme is unity with Christ. And when Paul says this is a trustworthy saying, he might mean that this is a song that Timothy knows, right? Which is one of the reasons I'm so grateful for the worship leaders and those on our team picking so songs that we could sing around hospital beds because we. Those are the songs you want to hold on to, right? It could have been one of those, or it could have been an early creed, right? An early statement that the church would say together. Or it could just be Paul at the end of his life writing poetry because he can't help himself. We don't know what it is, but it's a packed a. A poetic packing of truth about unity with Christ.

27 · Introduces the logical structure of Paul's poem—syllogisms, the if-then statements used by Greek philosophers

And so let's break this down because it's a bunch of if then statements. If we died with him, we will live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. Now those are called syllogisms and they were created by ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, who would, would set up major premise, minor premise conclusions. And so, for example, to answer the question, will Socrates live forever? Here's his syllogism. Premise A, all humans are mortal. Premise B, Socrates is a human. Conclusion, Socrates is going to die, right? Like, and so if you're like, I'M going to live forever. Socrates is like, I'd like to have a word with you. You know all those, like, every once in a while there's always a pop song that's like, yo, we're gonna live forever, we're gonna never die. Socrates is like, excuse me, I have a syllogism for you, but that's what this is.

28 · Exposition of the first syllogism: if Christ died and rose, and you are united with Christ, then you have died and risen with Christ

And it's, it's a statement that Paul is using really beautifully and intentionally with Timothy to in a healthy way, trap Timothy into believing the goodness of the gospel. Cause remember, Timothy, like me, like you, is fearful, he's anxious, he gets self conscious, it seems like at times. And Paul is going, timothy, okay, just stick with me. Okay? Here is what you need to believe. Premise A, if Christ has died and risen again, Premise B, you are united with Christ, then conclusion, you have died and risen with Christ. That's that phrase. If we have died with him, we will also live with him. Timothy's going, but I'm not sure. I do believe I died with Christ. But what's going to happen after death? What's going to happen if the Romans capture me? Paul is saying, timothy, if you're united with Christ, you have already died and risen again. What have you to fear?

29 · Exposition of the second syllogism: if Christ's road was suffering-to-glory, and you are united with Christ, then your suffering is proof you are on the road to glory

Timothy's going, okay, that's right, that's right. This is. Paul is helping him. Or a second phrase. If we endure, we will also reign with him. So again, premise A, if Christ's road was suffering to glory, and premise B, we are united with Christ on the road to suffering and glory, then conclusion, our suffering is only proof that we are on the road to glory. Right? Do you see that? It's like, well, maybe we're on the wrong road, Timothy. No, you're not. Do you remember the road of Christ suffering to glory? Do you see where you are suffering? Then what, Timothy? Then what? Glory? Don't be afraid, Timothy. Stay the course, Timothy.

30 · Exposition of the third line: 'if we deny him, he will deny us

And then the third section is a gut check for Timothy. If we deny him, he will also deny us. Now this is very important, related to the unity with Christ doctrinal framework. Because Christians, in order to be Christians, must be united with Christ. But if you do not deny being united with Christ, then you are not a Christian. Now that's so important. Paul is helping Timothy. See, look, you can't pull these things apart. You can't say, well, I would just like to sign up for the glory part, not the suffering part. You know, I think there's a lot of churches, unfortunately, a lot of Christians that are like, we just like to do the Glory part, not the suffering part. And Paul is saying, no, if you're united with Christ, you're united for it all. So, Timothy, remember, don't get fearful. You have to be united with Christ.

31 · Exposition of the climactic fourth line: 'if we are faithless, he remains faithful

But then this last surprising M. Night Shyamalan ending to the poem is this we expect to read. If we are faithless, he will cast us off. He will deny us. He will treat us as faithless. No, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. Now, these are not contradictory, because what Paul is saying is this. If you are united with Christ, and if Christ is always faithful to his people, then Christ will be faithful to you. Right? There's no. In other words, your relative faithfulness, your relative gray doesn't even factor into it. It's very simple. God is faithful to his people. You're one of God's people. God will be faithful to you. That's it. And again, remember what he's not saying. He's not saying, okay, well, you just live however you want. No, no, no. You. You have to be tied into the vine. You have to be united with Christ. But maybe being united with Christ, maybe you and me, like Timothy, are very aware man. We get fearful, we get anxious. We. We have bad weeks. We take two steps forward and one step back and sometimes three steps back. And all we can do is cling to Christ in that moment. And we wonder, is our faithlessness gonna result in Christ denying us? And Paul says, no, God is faithful to his people. You are one of his people. God will be faithful to you.

32 · Exposition of the final phrase: 'he cannot deny himself

4. Notice this. He cannot deny himself. God's faithfulness is not tied into our relative faithfulness or unfaithful. God's faithfulness is tied to his character because he has pledged himself to be faithful to us. He can no more turn away than he can stop being God. He is faithful because that is his very character. And so when he looks down at a struggling saint like you or me, he's not going well, okay, I'm going to cut him loose. He's looking down and going, that's one of my children. I pledge to myself in faithfulness to my children. I will be faithful to them.

33 · Application synthesizing the exposition of union with Christ

Man, this is such good news. Do you see how this brings oxygen back into your flickering torch a little bit where you're like, I don't know, the wick is smoldering. It doesn't look great. This is oxygen comes back, Timothy, you may not be able to see anything else. You may be able to see nothing. You can't see two feet in front. You can't See two inches in front of your face. But I tell you what, if you can see one truth, you are Christ's. You are united with Christ. You know a few things about your life. One, if you're suffering, it's the road to suffering and glory. If you're dying, it's the road to dying. In a resurrection life, if you are barely hanging on, but are. Are committed to being one of God's people, he will be faithful to his people until the very end. Therefore, Timothy, remember. Remember who you are. Remember who you are united to.

34 · Synthesizes the sermon's three-part structure by returning to the torch analogy: heat (remembering Christ), fuel (remembering the Word's power), oxygen (remembering union with Christ)

Look, this has been such a help for me, right? The way I think about it. Let me sum this up at the end here. If you think about the flame, if you think about, okay, you need heat, you need fuel, you need oxygen. That's what these three truths do for us, right? We need the heat of seeing, okay? We're following Christ. We need the fuel of the power of Christ, and we need the oxygen of being united with Christ. And those three comes back to life.

35 · Transition from theology to practice

And so therefore, we return. How do we take advantage of this? Cause? Look, here's the reality as I'm teaching this, I feel great about this, too, except tomorrow morning when I wake up and I hit my first punch in the face, Mike Tyson style, I'm gonna go, where am I? What are we doing? So how, friends, how do we enter into the good of these things? Paul's one word solution. Remember. Remember.

36 · Introduces the practical method for remembering: make truth sticky and build rhythms

Now, if you want to remember something, there's a couple ways to do it. One, you got to make it sticky. And two, you got to build rhythms around it. And I'm going to exhibit A here at the end. Give you my favorite weirdo holiday. It's celebrated in England. It's called Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates, of all things, a plot to blow up Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. It's a big thing in England, okay? It's got two things going for it. It's a weird. You're thinking, that's a weird holiday. Yep, it's weird. I don't know. It's got two things going for it. One, a cool rhyme that goes like this. Remember, remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. It's pretty catchy, right? You're like, oh, it's pretty good, you know? And then they created an annual national holiday where they set fireworks off. Now, again, the logic of this is a little squishy. They almost blew up Parliament. Let's shoot off fireworks to remember that it's A little weird, but it's very effective and everybody loves it. So we're going to steal something from this. Because, in fact, what God does over and over with his people is he says, okay, the things you need to remember, make them sticky and make them rhythms.

37 · First practical strategy: make truth sticky through memorization (scripture, catechisms, worship songs)

And so first you need to make the truth of God sticky. We need to find ways to embed the truth of these things in our hearts and minds. That's why, listen, we could. There's a million ways you can do this. But that's one reason I want to encourage you to memorize scripture, to get the truth of God's word in your heart. So when those moments come and you're like, I can't see anything, you've got fuel, you've got flint in your soul. You can restrike the match, okay? The other way to do that is with good scriptural truth, right? I know dads and other families that have done catechisms. Our own family of church has just created a new catechism. I hope we create a million more catechisms that are good and solid because they're simple questions and answers. Questions and answers. What is our only hope in life and death? That we belong body and soul, to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Right? That is a piece of flint you can strike your heart on. You want to do this? I mean, maybe it's worship music for you. You want to fill your heart and mind with good, solid worship music.

38 · The preacher shares his personal rhyme created this week to make the sermon's truths sticky: 'Remember, remember the flame and the ember

Maybe you just want to get creative with this. This week I was struggling so much. I was like, okay, I'm just going to write my own version of what Paul is saying. And so it's not great. But here's what I came up with. My attempt at getting this into my heart and mind goes like this. Remember, remember. Sound familiar? Remember, remember the flame and the ember when your fear and suffering take hold. The lost ear are now found. The Word is unbound. United with Christ we are bold. And every morning I just was like, okay, here we go. That's right. Remember the flame in the ember when your fear and suffering take hold. The lost are now found. The word is unbound. United with Christ, we are bold. When I felt like I just. I can't go, okay, let me. Let me go again. Let me strike the match again. It's the first thing.

39 · Second practical strategy: build rhythms of remembrance

Second thing. In addition to making the truth sticky, building rhythms of remembrance. Look, one of the things I love about Sunday mornings is they are a time every week where we all light, we all see lit the flame of Jesus Christ. And we all Put our torches back in and carry them out. That's what we're doing. That's really what community group is doing. It's just a relighting of the torches. That's that early coffee you have with a friend, talking about marriage or life or struggles or hopes and fears, right? It's putting your torch back in and relighting it. Because what happens is over time, it begins to flicker, it begins to fade. And so we build in rhythms in our life where we do this stuff.

40 · Practical instruction on daily rhythms: get in the Word and prayer daily because you forget daily

And then let me encourage you, we don't wanna be legalistic about this and mandate. You gotta have a certain amount of time with God every morning. You gotta do these three things and you gotta do the, look, here's my encouragement. Get with God daily because you forget daily. Get in the word daily. Get in prayer daily, because you will forget daily. And look, man, we might say, great, we meet every Sunday. I'm pretty sure you and I are gonna forget before next Sunday. I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a moment, many probably moments of parenting challenge or whatever between now and next Sunday that you're gonna be going, ah, I can't see. That's what these rhythms are for. You just make it part of your rhythm. Now, look, it's gonna look different if you've got a young infant who's waking up every two hours like our first kid was for months and months and months. It's gonna be real different than if you're retired and you're like, yeah, I just naturally wake up early and it's a beautiful morning and I brew my coffee and I have my dog and I just. The. The morning is open and I'm just spending time with the Lord. Just like, awesome, we're so happy for you. But most of my mornings are. I won't even say which kid. Son, where are your shoes? I don't know. They're your shoes. How do you know that's where my morning is? And so if I head into that where are your shoes? Moment without spending time with the Lord, I'm gonna hit it different. And so we gotta build these rhythms and wherever that is for you.

41 · Direct, concrete challenge: this week, identify where you will build daily and weekly rhythms of remembrance

So here's my challenge. Look at your week, this week, and go, daily, where can I build in a rhythm of remembrance? And weekly, where can I build in rhythms of remembrance? Make it sticky. Light the torch.

42 · Transition from application to closing prayer, inviting the congregation to stand and prepare their hearts

All right, with that, here's what I want to do. I just would love to have a moment of prayer. And then we're going to end with singing. So would you stand and let's pray together. And I think it would be wise for us to just acknowledge our need for the Lord and ask for his help, which is what he invites us to do. So would you do that with me?

43 · Closing prayer addressing God directly

Oh, Heavenly Father, we come to you as people who forget. Lord, the vividness of this text just in my own heart feels like such a marked contrast for some of those moments during the week where it just feels so blurry, so foggy, so difficult to see. So Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you that this unbound word is continuing to work on us. Thank you that this unbound word is continuing to relight our torch this week. And I pray, Lord, I pray for specifically any saint that has come in today that they are just they came in, they feel like their candle wick is just about to go out. Maybe they're looking at it and thinking, this thing's been out for a while. Would I just pray? Would you meet them in this moment? Would you breathe on them with the breath of the Spirit of God? Would you send the holy word with the risen Christ himself through his immediate presence? Put a hand on their shoulder and would you bring their heart back to life? We need to get near enough to you for your sparks to fall on us. And Lord, I pray if there's anyone here that perhaps they're realizing, I don't have this flame at all. I don't have this fire at all. I don't know Jesus at all. It sounds great, it sounds like an amazing thing, but I don't know Jesus. I'm on the outside. Lord, I pray that in this moment you would send your spirit to draw the them to yourself. Let them not leave here without praying with someone.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Jan 19, 2025

The Lifeblood of the Christian Church

The gospel torch is passed through gospel relationships—vertical transformation with God creates horizontal transformation with others, and this relational transmission is the mechanism by which the faith moves from generation to generation.

2 Timothy 1:1-2

Feb 2, 2025

Tighten Your Grip on the Gospel

Christians must tighten their grip on the gospel—trading temporary cultural shame for eternal gain—because without personally holding the gospel, we cannot pass it on, apply it, or live it out.

2 Timothy 1:8-18

Feb 9, 2025

Notice the Hands of a Christian Worker

The hands of a faithful Christian worker are strong through dependence on God's grace, constantly in motion passing truth to others, and calloused from the hard work of persevering obedience—and this pattern, though costly, is worth it for the eternal glory ahead.

2 Timothy 2:1-7

February 23 · This sermon

Remember, Remember the Flame and the Ember

In seasons of spiritual disorientation and suffering, the antidote to fear and confusion is active remembrance of three foundational truths: the risen Christ we follow, the unstoppable Word we proclaim, and our unbreakable union with Christ.

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

Paul writes this letter from a Roman prison cell, facing execution. What does it tell you about Paul's confidence that his primary concern i…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week, we follow Paul's antidote to spiritual disorientation: three remembrances that relight our torch when the fog of war obscures what we once saw clearly.

Prayer

Father, Relight Our Torch

Father, we come before you in this season of fog and confusion, grateful that you are not confused. You see clearly what we cannot see—the e…

Family table

What Does It Mean to Remember?

This prompt invites kids to think about what 'remembering' actually does—not just recalling facts, but letting a truth change how we act whe…

Couples

Remembering Together in the Fog

What truth from this sermon—about Jesus, about God's Word, or about our union with Christ—did you most need to hear right now?…

Memorize

2 Timothy 2:8

This verse is the heartbeat of the sermon—Paul's one-word solution to spiritual disorientation is 'remember,' and what we must remember first and foremost is the risen Christ himself. When the fog of war obscures everything else, this single truth—that Jesus Christ is alive, that death could not hold him—is the heat that reignites our torch and anchors our courage.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

Paul writes this letter from a Roman prison cell, facing execution. What does it tell you about Paul's confidence that his primary concern is not his own survival, but that Timothy remembers three specific truths? What would you be thinking about if you were in his position?

2 Timothy 2:8-10

→ When you face a season where circumstances are unclear or frightening, what typically occupies your mind first—your circumstances, or the foundational truths about Christ?
The sermon describes the 'fog of war'—a season where fear and suffering obscure what was once clear to you. Where in your own life or in the life of someone you know has the fog of war rolled in? What became hard to see?
Paul's antidote to spiritual disorientation is one word: remember. What is the difference between intellectually knowing something about Jesus and actively remembering it in a season of fear? Why does Paul use the word 'remember' rather than 'believe' or 'understand'?

2 Timothy 2:8

→ What practices or rhythms help you actively remember Christ rather than just passively assent to Christian doctrine?
According to the sermon, Paul points Timothy to remember three truths: (1) the risen Christ he follows, (2) the unstoppable Word he proclaims, and (3) his unbreakable union with Christ. Of these three, which one do you most need to remember right now, and why?

2 Timothy 2:8, 2:9, 2:11-13
The sermon notes that in the fog of war, 'seeing Jesus Christ and taking one step after another in obedience to Him is enough.' What does it look like in your life to obey Christ when you cannot see two feet in front of your face? Where are you being called to take one step?

→ What would change in how you make decisions this week if you believed that obedience to Christ in the fog was enough?
Paul says the Word of God is not bound, even though Paul himself is in chains (2 Timothy 2:9). History proved him right—the Roman Empire fell, but the gospel continues to advance. How does the historical vindication of Paul's claim shape your trust in God's promises when your current circumstances suggest otherwise?

2 Timothy 2:9; Acts 6:7, 13:49, 19:20

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week, we follow Paul's antidote to spiritual disorientation: three remembrances that relight our torch when the fog of war obscures what we once saw clearly.

Monday Acts 6:7

Luke records that 'the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.' This is not the disciples' triumph—it is the Word's own multiplication. When we remember that the proclamation does not depend on our strength or our clarity or even our courage, we are freed from the burden of making it succeed. The Word has its own unbreakable momentum.

Tuesday Acts 13:49

Paul and Barnabas speak in Antioch, and 'the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.' Notice the passive voice—the Word spreads itself. Our job is to speak and to remember; the Word's job is to advance. In seasons when we cannot see the fruit of our faithfulness, this memory anchors us: the Word is doing its work, whether we see it or not.

Wednesday Acts 19:20

Luke writes, 'So the word of the Lord continued to grow and to prevail mightily.' This summary comes after Paul's encounter with demoniacs, silversmiths, and a city thrown into uproar. The Word advances not in spite of opposition but through it, prevailing mightily precisely when circumstances seem to threaten its progress. When the fog of war thickens around us, this history reminds us: the Word's power is not diminished by our suffering or fear.

Thursday 2 Timothy 2:11

Paul writes, 'If we have died with him, we will also live with him.' Our union with Christ is not conditional on our moment-by-moment faithfulness or courage. We are already dead with him and alive in him, and that union holds even when fear clouds our judgment or suffering obscures our vision. This is the oxygen that keeps the torch burning—we are not alone in the fog; we are bound to the risen King.

Friday 2 Timothy 2:13

Paul concludes, 'If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.' This is the heat and fuel and oxygen we need when we stumble, when we doubt, when the fog deepens. Our stability does not rest on our grip on Christ but on his grip on us. Remember this when your grip feels weak: his faithfulness is not a promise He might break. It is who He is. Step forward in the fog, trusting that.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Father, Relight Our Torch

Father, we come before you in this season of fog and confusion, grateful that you are not confused. You see clearly what we cannot see—the end from the beginning. We adore you for the risen Christ, who sits at your right hand, unkillable and eternal, the same yesterday, today, and forever (2 Timothy 2:8). We praise you that his resurrection is not a historical claim but a present power that holds us now.

We confess that fear and suffering have dimmed our vision. We have felt the fog of war close around us—circumstances that obscure what was once clear, doubts that whisper whether the gospel is truly unstoppable, whether our small obedience in a hostile world actually matters. We have forgotten, again and again, that we are not called to see two feet ahead; we are called to see Jesus and take one step after another in obedience to him (2 Timothy 2:10). Forgive us for the times we have acted as though the advance of your kingdom depended on our cleverness, our strength, our visibility—when all along it has depended only on the power of the risen Christ.

Father, we receive again the three truths that relight our torch. We remember Jesus Christ—risen from the dead, the King we follow, who cannot be stopped because death could not stop him. We remember your Word—unbound, unsilenced, advancing with power that no empire, no ideology, no fog can contain (2 Timothy 2:9). And we remember that we are united with Christ in his death and his resurrection (2 Timothy 2:11-12), linked to him by grace alone, held secure not by our faithfulness but by his.

Give us the grace this week to walk in active remembrance. When fear clouds our judgment, teach us to remember. When the culture offers a thousand counterfeits to the gospel, strengthen us to remember what we have been given. Grant us the courage to proclaim your Word even when the fog is thickest, trusting that it advances not by our hand but by your power (2 Timothy 2:13). And when we are tempted to despair, remind us that sand crumbles and steel endures—the empires of this world will fade, but your kingdom and your Word will stand forever. We commit ourselves to you this week, Father, as carriers of your flame. Amen.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Does It Mean to Remember?

For the parent

This prompt invites kids to think about what 'remembering' actually does—not just recalling facts, but letting a truth change how we act when things get scary or confusing. Listen for moments when they connect remembering to courage.

Ricky talked about Paul telling Timothy to 'remember'—not just to think about Jesus, but to actively hold on to what's true when everything feels foggy and confusing. Can you think of a time when you were scared or confused, and remembering something true helped you take the next step? What did you remember, and how did it help you keep going?

works for ages 8+

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Remembering Together in the Fog

What truth from this sermon—about Jesus, about God's Word, or about our union with Christ—did you most need to hear right now?
Where are we experiencing fog in our marriage or faith right now, and how might remembering these three truths together help us take the next faithful step?
What is one way you could pray for me this week to help me actively remember that Christ is risen, his Word is unstoppable, and we are united with him?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

2 Timothy 2:8

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel.

Why this verse: This verse is the heartbeat of the sermon—Paul's one-word solution to spiritual disorientation is 'remember,' and what we must remember first and foremost is the risen Christ himself. When the fog of war obscures everything else, this single truth—that Jesus Christ is alive, that death could not hold him—is the heat that reignites our torch and anchors our courage.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [The Lifeblood of the Christian Church (2 Timothy 1:1-2, 2025-01-19)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/01/the-lifeblood-of-the-christian-church)
- [Tighten Your Grip on the Gospel (2 Timothy 1:8-18, 2025-02-02)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/02/tighten-your-grip-on-the-gospel)
- [Notice the Hands of a Christian Worker (2 Timothy 2:1-7, 2025-02-09)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/02/notice-the-hands-of-a-christian-worker)
- [Remember, Remember the Flame and the Ember (2 Timothy 2:8-13, 2025-02-23)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/02/remember-remember-the-flame-and-the-ember)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
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