[0:00] Seeking the Lord's blessing, let us now turn back to the portion of scripture that we read together in the second epistle of Paul to Timothy and chapter 2 and we'll read from the beginning.
[0:12] Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
[0:28] Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
[0:43] And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
[0:54] Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Three of Paul's letters are known as pastoral epistles, namely 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus.
[1:18] We are not to take from that that these letters are merely for pastors or Christian leaders, but these letters are for every Christian.
[1:29] However, these three letters are very different from all the other letters that Paul wrote for the fact that they were not written to churches, but they were written to two individuals.
[1:44] They were written to Timothy at Ephesus and Titus at Crete. Timothy was a young man born of mixed parentage.
[1:56] His mother was a Jewess, while his father was a Greek. Nevertheless, he was brought up in a religious home where his grandmother Loose and his mother Eunice are commended by Paul for their faith.
[2:12] It would seem that Timothy was led to faith by Paul, and that explains the reason why Paul called Timothy my own son in the faith.
[2:26] Timothy was younger than Paul. Timothy was probably in his 30s. But he had assisted Paul on several occasions. And so Paul stationed him at Ephesus to do the difficult work of establishing the church there and combating false teaching.
[2:51] Paul wrote two letters to Timothy. The first letter was written by Paul when he was on the move. He was hoping that he would be able to come and visit Timothy at Ephesus.
[3:02] In that letter, he provided instruction how the local church should be managed and encouraged him to enforce his own authority as a servant of God.
[3:16] But Paul, in his second letter, focuses more on the personal ministry of Timothy himself. According to tradition, Paul wrote this second letter from prison.
[3:30] And he was expecting, actually, to be executed very soon after writing this letter. For at the end of the letter, he says, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
[3:47] I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
[4:09] Paul mentions here in this letter that Luke is with him, although, sadly, he must also tell us that Demas has forsaken him, having loved this present world.
[4:24] In the letter, he wanted his cloak, his scrolls, and especially his parchments. And also, he has a desire to see Mark and Timothy.
[4:39] But in the letter, we see that Paul's great concern was not for himself in this very difficult situation that he was in, and just looking for his execution, but that his concern is with Timothy and the success of the gospel ministry.
[5:02] John Stott says that Paul's preoccupation in writing to Timothy was with the gospel, the deposit of truth which had been revealed and committed to him by God.
[5:17] And so he outlines the letter into four parts. He says that chapter one is about guarding the gospel. Chapter two, suffering for the gospel.
[5:29] Chapter three, to continue in the gospel. And chapter four, to proclaim the gospel. We already know how passionate Paul was for the gospel.
[5:46] In Romans chapter one, he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God and to salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
[6:03] In 1 Corinthians 15, he says, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
[6:26] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.
[6:41] It is because the gospel is of crucial importance, that he can cry out, Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.
[6:56] To the Galatians he said, Though we are an angel of heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
[7:07] Now why would Paul use such language? It is the expression of a deeply held conviction that the gospel he preaches is divine in origin, and divine also in content.
[7:26] That deep conviction must be held by all who is involved in preaching the gospel, and those who hear the gospel, that it is divine in origin and content.
[7:40] The gospel is about Jesus Christ. Here he says, Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my gospel.
[7:56] And the gospel is also personal. It must be received personally by faith. The gospel is the message that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
[8:12] That Jesus has offered himself as the ransom price for our sin. That he has bought redemption for the sinner.
[8:23] So we can see why Paul focuses and lays so much emphasis upon the gospel, and why he is concerned, even in prison, waiting for his execution.
[8:36] Why he is concerned that the gospel would be preached faithfully, and that the gospel would prosper. In chapter 1, Paul writes regarding those who have deserted him in Asia.
[8:52] And so he impresses upon Timothy the need to endure. And he points the way to endure requires that he would be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
[9:09] He was to live each day, depending upon the enabling grace that comes from being united to Christ by faith.
[9:25] Paul himself is a great example of a person who is totally dependent upon the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
[9:38] In another letter he says, But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all.
[9:54] Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. When he was troubled by a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be exalted above measure, he says, For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
[10:18] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[10:38] Our strength is not in ourselves. Our strength is not how much knowledge we have of the Bible. But our strength is in the grace that there is in Jesus Christ.
[10:54] It is grace that saved us. And it is grace that makes us to persevere. And it is grace that shall bring us to heaven.
[11:06] There are times when we may feel powerless. There are times when we may feel discouraged and tempted, perhaps, to conclude what is the sense of it all.
[11:22] The enemy is so strong on such occasions that we truly do need the prayer that was offered by another called Jehoshaphat, who cried out to God, O our God, will thou not judge them?
[11:40] For we have no mind against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
[11:50] So Paul urges Timothy here to endure, to endure to the strength that there is in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[12:08] There is nothing in the end whereby we can stand and wherein we can stand, but in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[12:20] That is what we shall bring to the judgment seat of Christ. We shall stand there in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[12:34] Now Paul says to Timothy to pass this gospel to others. It is important for us to pass the gospel to the next generation.
[12:50] And here we find that to inspire Timothy for faithfulness in ministry, Paul uses three simple but powerful images.
[13:04] First of all, he gives to us a soldier, though therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Then he gives us the image of the athlete.
[13:17] And if a man also strives for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strives lawfully. And then he gives us the image of the farmer, the husbandman that laboureth must first partake of the fruit.
[13:33] All these images teach us that the Christian life is a life of rigorous demand. The image of the soldier, the image of the athlete, and the image of the farmer.
[13:52] And for a short time, we shall look at these three images that is brought before us and what they teach us. First, we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
[14:09] A soldier is aware that a war is going on. And that must be true for every Christian. We must be aware that we are a people who are called to war.
[14:26] We have an enemy who is seeking us out all the time. Paul says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
[14:44] Therefore, Paul urges us to put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand.
[15:05] To soldier is an arduous work. It is a demanding work. It is a taxing work. It is a tough work. To be a soldier reminds us that we are going to be moving in a hostile environment.
[15:23] Hostility there will always be. Hostility against you in one form or another. To be a soldier means that you are willing to sacrifice.
[15:39] You are willing to sacrifice even your life. to be in the army of God means that you are always alert.
[15:51] You are always on watch. Paul tells us that the enemy is very cunning. He is like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour.
[16:05] He is always looking for any weakness so that he can attack. attack. Remember there is no demobilisation for the child of God until we reach heaven.
[16:22] We are always involved in a war. and this battle is not only outward but inward as well.
[16:36] The Bible reminds us that the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.
[16:52] this battle that is not merely outwardly in the hostility that is in the world against our faith and against the Christian but it is also inwardly.
[17:07] For the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do. Now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me we are always in battle against indwelling sin.
[17:27] Another thing about a person who is in the army that is that he must perform his duty wholeheartedly and that is also true spiritually and that is why Paul adds these words in verse 4 no man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life.
[17:55] What Paul means here is that we are not to get distracted by the things that does not matter. Those things that would prevent us from serving wholeheartedly the person in the army must be fully committed and so we also must be fully committed.
[18:25] For instance later on in the letter he says not to strive about words he says to shun provain and vain babblings he says to flee from youthful lusts and he tells us to avoid foolish and unlearned questions that knowing that they only gender strife.
[18:56] Do not get distracted by those things but be committed to the things that matter. Do not get entangled with those things that distract you from wholeheartedly serving God.
[19:18] Because those things can take up so much of our time. There are many things with which we can become so preoccupied with that it takes away our time to serve the Lord.
[19:38] And our main concern as a good shoulder of Jesus Christ should be to please him who hath chosen us to be a soldier.
[19:56] To please Christ. Our main concern should be to please him who has chosen us.
[20:10] He chose us not because of any merit in ourselves not because of any goodness that he saw in us but he chose us simply by his grace.
[20:29] Then secondly to inspire Timothy for faithfulness in ministry and in serving Paul now uses the image of an athlete. Paul often uses illustrations from the sporting world in his writings.
[20:47] He speaks of wrestling, of boxing, of running, of exercising and so on. And here he reminds us that for the Christian God has marked out a race or a course of life.
[21:05] In this race there are things that we must do and there are many challenges that we must face. The metaphor of our race is one that Paul uses often.
[21:19] For instance, in 1 Corinthians 9, he tells the Christians the Christians, know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize.
[21:31] So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth on the master is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corrupt but cloud, but we an incorrupt able.
[21:45] The writer to the Hebrews uses a similar image when he writes, let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
[22:03] The Christian is expected to run with patience or perseverance or endurance. That is what Paul says there to the Corinthians.
[22:18] Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receive at the price so run that ye may obtain run with perseverance and with endurance.
[22:32] But this is only possible as we look to Christ alone. It is a race of faith and it is a race of faith in the living God alone.
[22:48] We are told to hold fast to the end. Whatever circumstances or situations that may confront us we are told here to persevere to endure in this race that is set before us.
[23:07] The athlete is aware of rival attractions trying to divert him or her and calls for their attention. But the Christian is to have his or her eyes firmly focused on Jesus Christ alone.
[23:27] He himself, Jesus Christ, is a great example for us where it says in Hebrews who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame.
[23:41] What was the joy that was set before him? Well, the bringing of many sons to glory undoubtedly was his delight. He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied says the prophet.
[24:00] But surely it also included this that he was doing the father's will. It brought great delight to Jesus to be doing the father's will.
[24:15] It also brings delight to the believer to be doing the father's will. To do thy will I take delight O thou my God that art.
[24:29] But for us to run this race we must also lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us.
[24:42] There will be times when the weights of life hinder our movements in the race and when the sin that clings so closely will impede our progress.
[24:57] The athlete must discard any axis close that may hinder his progress so we are to discard anything that slows us down if we are to run well.
[25:14] And that includes our lifestyles, our hobbies, our friendships. I must ask myself is this a help or a hindrance in my spiritual progress?
[25:33] And if it is a hindrance to our spiritual progress then we are to discard it. We are to lay it aside. And as we have already noted those things that can impede us and the race that can slow us down and the race is not only outwardly but inwardly as well.
[25:55] It speaks of the sin that so easily besets us or the sin that clings so closely to us. And in this matter we need discipline.
[26:10] An athlete has to discipline himself or herself. And those in the spiritual race must observe discipline.
[26:23] That is true in a race of faith. We must exercise discipline upon ourselves. We live in a fallen world, in a world that is full of temptations, that is full of sin.
[26:39] Paul says, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away.
[26:54] David was running this race so well, but sin entangled him when he allowed his eyes to lust after Beth Shepha. And what happened?
[27:06] It took him down. The Christian race of faith we must remember is a long distant race. And what counts in this race is not speed, but perseverance.
[27:26] You may not be running this race at the speed that others are running the race. Others may become far more knowledgeable than you in the Bible and so on.
[27:37] But that's not what counts. What counts is that you persevere in the race. That you endure in the race of faith.
[27:50] That you endure to the end. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strives lawfully.
[28:06] You've got to strive in this race. You've always got to be striving in the Christian life. But an athlete must compete lawfully.
[28:20] That is, he must compete according with the established rules. Or else, he does not receive the crown. Similarly, the person in this race of faith must observe that the rule of truth as it is found in the word of God.
[28:45] The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man.
[28:58] And so, we must run this race observing the role of truth as it is found in the word of God.
[29:09] The important thing is that we obey the word of God no matter what people may say. No matter if people say that the word of God is outdated.
[29:26] That we should not observe it because it belongs to the ancient past. It doesn't matter what people say. Our duty is to observe the word of God and to obey the word of God.
[29:44] We are not running this race to please people or to get fame for ourselves but we are running this race to please Jesus Christ.
[29:58] Paul could say to Timothy I have finished my course I have kept the faith. Paul simply says that he has finished the race.
[30:14] Not that he came first and won the race. What he says is I have finished my course I have kept the faith.
[30:30] earlier he had told the Ephesian elders so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
[30:46] Now he says to young Timothy I have finished my course I have kept the faith. Yes we are to run this race with endurance and perseverance to run the race as we want to win the race to be first in the race but the important thing is not whether we are first in the race but that we finish the race that we endure to the end.
[31:20] And then to inspire Timothy for faithfulness in the ministry Paul now uses the image of a farmer the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
[31:35] He says to the church at Corinth where there were so many divisions some saying I am of Paul others saying I am of Apollos and so on so many divisions but he says to them for we are labourers together with God ye are God's husband tree.
[31:54] reminding us that every Christian has his own task to perform some have to plough some have to sow some have to water we all got our own specific gifts and our own specific tasks to perform but I think one of the things that this image brings before us of the farmer is our dependency upon God whether I am ploughing whether I am sowing whether I am watering whatever task I am involved in in the field of faith I am dependent upon God because as he says to the Corinthians it is God alone that gives the increase our duty is to plough to sow and to water to plough to sow the seed of the word and to water that is our action then we become passive the power for the seed to sprout and grow is not in the farmer it is
[33:12] God alone that gives the increase we are totally dependent upon him in the gospel of Mark Jesus said so is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade then the ear after that the full corn in the ear dependent upon God it also brings before us that it is hard work for we must labor and if we labor then we shall be rewarded for we shall be first partaker of the fruits he that works hard he who is wholeheartedly in this race he who is whole who works hard in his wholeheartedly in the life of faith and who goes in this life according to the truth will receive the blessing that is how
[34:39] Paul urges encourages Timothy in the work of the gospel to be one like who is in the army one who is devoted loyal who is always watchful who is always engaged in battle against those things that are enemy to him a man who strives who is involved in the race of faith a person who works hard who works hard and who is dependent upon God and who is dependent upon the grace of God may that be true of me and you today may it be true of us as we begin another year as the year has gone past wherein we were dependent upon the grace of
[35:47] God may that continue in our lives and we endure and persevere in that to the end may the Lord bless our thoughts let us pray