Alright, so we are back into 2 Timothy.
So if you have your Bible, you can open it up to 2 Timothy.
And we're in chapter 2 this morning.
And we're looking at the first seven verses of chapter 2 here this morning.
Let me just read it for us and then we'll dive straight into things here.
So Paul's writing to Timothy and he says,
No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules.
The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.
Reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
So the Apostle Paul is continuing to give instruction to the younger Timothy.
And we see here this morning that there are four imperatives, four commands, four instructions.
And we're just going to work our way through these things one at a time.
And the first one we find is right up at the top in verse 1.
Paul says,
Now why does Paul say this?
What does Timothy need strength for?
Well, Paul has just finished giving examples of other believers in the previous verses.
Some who have turned their backs on him and are ashamed of his chains.
And the example of one man in his household who has stayed true to Paul and to the Lord.
Onesiphorus.
All of this is with persecution going on.
And we noticed a couple weeks ago that both of these are examples of men that Timothy knows right there from his own province.
His own region.
So Timothy and the household of Onesiphorus, they're living in the midst of a province where the majority of Christians have turned their backs on Paul.
And Paul has been writing to Timothy up until this point in this letter, urging him not to give in to fear.
Not to let his spiritual gift go unused.
He's been urging Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel.
And then he gave these examples of these men.
Some have turned away.
And the household of Onesiphorus, which has stayed true.
And so this is what Timothy needs strength for.
You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
So Timothy needs strengthening from God.
In order to persevere.
In order to keep on preaching.
In order to keep on teaching about Jesus while he's surrounded by opposition.
He needs strengthening from God to keep going while the majority of the Christians in the province are floundering in their faith.
Paul's reminding Timothy here that even though things are really difficult,
Timothy, you're not alone.
It's not just up to you and your own resources and your own strength.
There is strength.
There is power.
There is help to be found.
And it's look to heaven, Timothy.
That's where you'll find it.
Be strengthened in the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Look to him.
Well, what is grace?
Grace, by definition, is that unmerited goodness or favor of God.
And we notice here that Paul is not so specific about this.
He just says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And so Timothy might be thinking, well, what grace is that?
We might be thinking the same thing.
What is the grace that is in Christ Jesus?
And as I was thinking about that this week, I thought, maybe that's the point.
Maybe he had deliberately left it unspecific so that we would begin to ask the question,
what grace of God is there for us in Christ Jesus?
What goodness, what blessing, what undeserved favor, what help comes to us through Christ Jesus?
And I think as we start to think about that, we realize that that's a long list.
And forgiveness is just one of the things on the list.
We might wonder, Paul, are you telling Timothy that he should be strengthened in the grace that's already shown through Christ Jesus?
Like, look back on what Christ did for you when he lived among us and when he died for us.
Or are you telling Timothy to be strengthened in the grace that God gives us right now in the present?
Like the day-to-day meeting of our needs and help and sustaining that he does by his spirit who lives in us.
Or are you talking about the grace that God intends to give us in the future?
The hope of resurrection, eternal life, heaven.
And I think Paul might have left it open so that Timothy and we might reflect on all of it.
Past, present, and future grace.
All the good things that are given to us freely and generously as gifts from God through our relationship with King Jesus.
And when we begin to reflect on all of these things, when we begin to fix our eyes on these things and trust in these things with all our heart,
that's when we are strengthened.
That's how we are strengthened.
The countless gifts of God's grace that are ours in Christ Jesus give us strength to face whatever challenges,
whatever hardships, whatever difficulties come our way in life.
And sometimes when those things come, it's just easy to lose our way, lose our focus, lose our sight.
But when the going gets tough, don't forget, Timothy.
Take courage, take strength in remembering all that God has given in his son, through his son to us.
This is going to help you stay true.
This is going to help you walk faithfully.
So that's the first imperative.
Very simply, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Next, in verse 2, Paul says,
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses,
entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
And Paul, we heard something similar to this already back in chapter 1 just a couple weeks ago.
Let's look back for a second to verse 13 and 14 of chapter 1.
Paul said there,
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching.
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you.
Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
And we talked about how that good deposit is the gospel.
It is the teaching that has come from Christ through the apostles to us and to Timothy.
Well, here again in verse 2, Paul's saying it again.
He's saying,
I know it says people on screen there, but men is going to be the better translation.
We've talked about this looking at some of the other epistles and letters.
The word is masculine.
It's men.
You can blame the translation.
I won't be offended.
So, here he says it again.
The things you have heard me say and trust to reliable men.
So, let's hear this again.
Timothy's not to come up with his own original teaching.
He is to carefully and faithfully pass on the things that he has heard from Paul.
Paul is the apostle of Christ Jesus.
It's Paul that speaks authoritatively on behalf of Jesus himself.
And so, Timothy's job is to just take those things that he has heard through the apostle, through Paul, and pass them on.
This ought to be the role of the teachers and the preachers in the church.
Simply to pass on the things that Paul has said and taught.
Because Paul was speaking on behalf of Christ.
We're not looking to reinvent.
We're not looking to refresh.
We're not looking to change the teaching of the church from generation to generation.
Because what we have here in the apostles' own words is the good deposit.
It is the blueprint for sound teaching that's been given to us.
And so, we need to follow this blueprint.
We need to teach these same things from generation to generation.
And not just try to come up with our own new thoughts, new ideas.
But we do notice at least one new emphasis of Paul here.
The things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses.
Entrust those things to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
So, don't just guard it.
Don't just keep it.
Don't just teach it to everyone.
But specifically, be sure, Timothy, that you teach these words, this truth of Jesus,
to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach it to others.
This is a bit of a new focus in this epistle.
So, Timothy's not just done his job by getting up on Sunday morning and giving a good sermon from what Paul has taught him.
It's also his job to see that this teaching is passed on to others who will then be able to teach it to others, to still others.
This is one of the evidences that the time of the apostles was drawing to a close.
That God didn't intend to send and gift apostles through every generation right up until today.
What is the succession plan for Paul?
I mean, he's near the end here.
He's soon to die.
Paul doesn't say, Timothy, when I die, Jesus is going to make you an apostle.
And then speak directly through you, just as he has through me.
He didn't say, Timothy, when I die, God's going to raise up a new generation of apostles.
And you should listen to them because they are going to speak directly on behalf of Jesus, just like Jesus has through me.
No.
If that was the case, there'd be no need to guard this good deposit and be so careful to entrust it from generation to generation to reliable men who are able to teach it to others.
No, it seems that God's plan was that the time of the apostles would draw to a close.
It would come to an end and that for the generations that would follow, we would just keep passing on these same words, this same good deposit from generation to generation, from reliable men to reliable men and so on and so forth.
Notice Paul's double emphasis on the quality of the men.
Entrust to reliable, or as another translation says, faithful men, that's probably more literal.
Entrust to faithful men.
These are to be trustworthy men.
Men who can be depended on and counted on.
This brings to mind the words that Paul wrote to Timothy in the first letter, which we looked at a while back, about elders and how they must be men of proven character.
They must be men of integrity.
They must be faithful to their wives.
Faithful overseers of their own households.
Faithful in their interactions with outsiders.
And, remember back then in 1 Timothy, elders are to be able to teach.
It also brings to mind the words Paul wrote to Titus about elders, where he said that they must be men who hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught,
so that they in turn can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
So, entrust these words to faithful men.
Men of good, godly character.
But also men who will be qualified, who will be literally able to teach others.
This is the plan of God for his word.
For his gospel to be passed on from generation to generation.
Not new apostles in every generation, but faithful men in every generation.
Passing the words of the apostles on to faithful men, who are then able to teach it to others.
And it just keeps going on and on, from generation to generation.
Which means that we need to not be just concerned about having a pastor.
And keeping a pastor.
So that the teaching of our church will be good.
But we need to be concerned about training up new elders.
New pastors.
New teachers for the generations that will follow ours.
And there are a few different ways to do this.
One of those ways is through supporting Bible colleges and seminaries.
Training up faithful men who are able to teach is not an easy thing.
And so that's probably why we do this.
We partner together as churches and support our Bible colleges and seminaries.
And some of them do a very good job.
That's one way we can do it.
But we can and we should also do this within the local church.
Perhaps in our Christian culture we've maybe gone a little bit too far
into this idea that the teachers in the church must be professionals.
Must be the paid pastor who has completed at least four years of theological study in a good Bible college.
I mean think about this.
How many Bible colleges were there in Timothy's day in the province of Asia
that he could send his faithful men to where they could become able to teach?
We can and we should be doing this within the local church.
Nurturing, growing, encouraging faithful men into able teachers for future generations.
We often lament the decline that we see in various denominations and churches around us here in North America.
Could it be that one of the big factors in some of those stories is simply a failure
to entrust the good deposit to reliable men who were able to teach?
So let's continue to support our Bible colleges.
But let's also look to the men among us.
God is calling all of us as men, at the least, to be faithful men.
Men of character and integrity.
And from among those who are faithful, some must rise to the challenge of teaching others.
And so may the Lord give us courage.
May the Lord give us wisdom to know how and who in our little local church here.
So this is the second imperative.
Entrust the things that you have heard me say to faithful men who will be able to teach others.
The third imperative comes in verse 3.
Paul says, join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
This is now the second time that Paul has called Timothy to suffer with him.
Look back to chapter 1, verse 8.
Whoa, I got the wrong verse on screen there.
It should be 2 Timothy.
But if you look in your Bible, 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, Paul says,
Join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
So are we noticing a theme here?
Are we noticing an emphasis?
Do these words make you squirm a bit?
Join with me in suffering.
It's not every day a person earnestly pleads with you to suffer with them.
That's exactly what Paul, though, is saying here to Timothy.
Paul is under heavy fire from his opponents because of his preaching the name of Jesus.
He's firmly in their sights.
He's in their crosshairs.
The first big Roman trial in the sequence that will lead to his death has happened.
And what's Paul asking Timothy?
He's saying, come stand with me here in the crosshairs.
Here in the sights of these opponents where I am under heavy fire.
Come into the trench with me.
It's a big ask of Timothy.
But let's not forget the first imperative.
There is strength to be found in the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus
so that Timothy can say, yes, I'm willing to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.
So this is the third imperative.
Suffer hardship with me, Timothy.
And with this imperative, Paul gives Timothy three analogies.
That of the soldier in verses 3 and 4.
That of the athlete in verse 5.
And that of the farmer in verse 6.
Let's look at these for a moment.
First, this analogy of the soldier.
He says, join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs,
but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
So what we're experiencing right now, Timothy, is like a battle.
A great battle.
And we're like soldiers.
Good soldiers.
On the good side.
Soldiers of King Jesus.
That's what this persecution that's happening,
that's what this suffering that we're facing is all about.
It's because of this conflict.
It's because of this battle that we're in.
This great spiritual battle.
Think for a moment of the allied soldiers in the trenches of Europe in World War II.
Fighting to liberate.
Fighting to put an end to the tyrannical madness and violence of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.
If you were out there as a soldier,
I mean, danger just comes with every day.
It's to be expected.
Suffering is part of the cause.
Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to live in those trenches for days,
hunkered down.
The sound of bullets being fired off
and the spraying of them across the battlefield.
The pounding explosions of artillery.
The wounded there and the dead all around.
Would they be enjoying a good night's sleep every night?
Would they be enjoying a good home-cooked meal every day?
There were no lazy boys in the trenches.
No pillows in the trenches.
It was about staying alive and, if possible, fulfilling the mission.
Completing the assignment.
Carrying out the orders.
We're in a great battle, says Paul.
We are soldiers.
We are like soldiers.
Good soldiers of our commanding King, Jesus Christ.
And doing our duty as soldiers of the King
may require us to suffer at times,
says Paul, who is chained up in a jail cell right now.
And speaking of soldiers, I mean, what else about soldiers?
Paul has one more thing to share with us about this in verse 4.
And I just put it in another translation on the screen there.
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life
so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
What is Paul's point here?
He seems to be saying that a good soldier is focused on doing his duty.
He doesn't let the stuff of everyday life interfere with his job.
I imagine Paul had all kinds of time just to observe the soldiers
in and around where he was being held prisoner.
Did he try to talk to the guards on duty?
Did he find them to be super friendly with him?
Did they play cards with him through the bars?
Or were they just focused on the job?
Maybe, have you ever seen those soldiers standing guard in the UK
with the big black fur hats?
Sometimes it's amazing to watch them, just how still they stand.
Sometimes people even try to make a game of trying to distract them
or trying to get them to smile.
But no, they're focused on doing their duty.
What's the point here?
I think Paul's saying that there are many good things in life.
There are many comforts in life.
Things we might feel inclined to pursue,
but a good soldier doesn't let any such thing distract or entangle him
such that he's not able to do his duty.
There are at times competing desires.
There is the desire of the commanding officer,
and then there is the desire and will of the soldier,
and sometimes those things don't match up.
And a good soldier, while he's on duty,
he just may have to lay aside his interests and desires
and focus on doing the will of his commander,
pleasing his commanding officer.
By way of illustration,
David, who's sitting in the back there,
one of our RCMP guys out at the local detachment from Crake,
he and I have been talking about going kayaking one of these days here.
And as I've discovered, not just from David,
but from others as well,
the schedule of an RCMP officer is challenging at times.
There are times when you're on duty.
There are times when you're on call,
and occasionally you get an actual day off.
But when you're on duty and when you're on call,
in both cases, there's a required readiness.
There's a required readiness.
Can you imagine if David and I went kayaking while he was on duty,
out in the middle of the lake,
and then all of a sudden some emergency happens,
and before he can even get into his police cruiser,
he's got to paddle for like 15 or 20 minutes
before he can even get into the vehicle.
That would be a failure on his part
to do his duty as an officer on active duty.
That would be an example of entangling himself in the stuff of life
such that what he's doing interferes with his ability to perform his job.
Not to mention that it would be quite unpleasant
to paddle around the lake with all that gear on.
Take this principle and apply it to our Christian lives.
We all have a king, Jesus.
He is our commanding officer.
He has given us his word,
clear orders on what we have to do,
and in many cases,
the commands that he gives to us,
they come with a good deal of freedom
so that we can kind of go about our business
and our daily lives
as we do these things,
where we are,
in whatever situation we find ourselves in.
But now there are times
when the commands of the king
conflict with the desires of our hearts
or the cravings of our flesh,
and we really can get all tangled up
in the stuff of life,
in the stuff of this world,
such that we're no longer able
and ready to do these things.
Do you remember the parable of the soils?
Some of the seed, Jesus said,
fell among the weeds,
and the weeds grew up
and choked out that plant,
making it unfruitful.
What did that represent?
Jesus said that it represented
those who hear the word of God,
but then God's word
bears no fruit in their lives.
And the reason why?
Because the word that they heard
was choked out
by life's worries,
by riches,
by the pursuit of wealth
and pleasures
and the desire for other things.
We can so easily get entangled.
This world offers us so much.
We can get entangled
that we're not even able,
we're not even ready
to do the things
that the Lord has commanded us to do.
Maybe you would have had opportunity
to help someone in real need,
but you emptied the bank account
on another thing
that you didn't really need,
just for your own comfort
or pleasure.
Maybe you have the chance
to serve others
and make disciples
right in front of you,
and you see someone,
but you don't have time for that
because you're too busy,
already committed
to many recreational pursuits
or hobbies.
Sometimes,
many times,
in service of the king,
we must give up
what we want,
what we desire,
so that we can do
what he wants
and what he desires.
Jesus,
the king himself,
said it like this,
whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves
and take up their cross
and follow me.
For whoever wants
to save their life
will lose it,
but whoever loses
their life for me
and for the gospel
will save it.
That's another way
of saying what Paul's saying.
Join with me
in suffering, Timothy,
as a good soldier
of Christ Jesus.
Next,
he gives this analogy
of the athlete.
Similarly,
he says,
anyone who competes
as an athlete
does not receive
the victor's crown
except by competing
according to the rules.
Now,
it's a bit debated
what exactly Paul means
by this.
I mean,
the principle itself
is true,
it's obvious,
but then how does it
apply to Timothy?
How does it apply to us?
When it comes
to the Christian life,
what are the rules
that we must compete
according to?
One commentator
suggests that
the rules of the race
are simply that
those who want
to compete and win
must be willing
to endure
the difficulty
and hardship
of training for it
and then running it
according to the parameters
of the race
or the competition.
there are no shortcuts.
You do not get
to hold
to have
the gold medal
at the end
of the race
if you used
doping
or performance
enhancing drugs.
You do not get
the prize
if you cut across
somewhere in the course
just to save time
and make it easier
on yourself.
You must endure
the hardship
of training.
your body
must suffer
to get stronger
and faster
and then you must
run according to
the rules of the course.
You must suffer
your body
through all of it
otherwise you will
not receive the reward
even if you somehow
managed to cross
the finish line
first.
If we think of how
this applies
to Timothy's situation
Paul may mean
that there is simply
no way around
suffering
and hardship
in the Christian life.
At times
we must face it
and to receive
that victor's crown
that wonderful
glorious reward
from the Lord Jesus
to receive that
well done
good and faithful servant
we must be willing
to push
through the pain.
We must be willing
to endure
opposition
and hardship
and being uncomfortable
and even suffering.
We must be willing
to discipline ourselves
for godliness
and say no
to things that
otherwise
we might like to have
or do.
Things like
the pursuit of wealth
the pursuit of comforts
the pursuit of pleasures
in this world.
And so the Christian life
is both
a battle to be fought
and a race
to be run.
And sometimes
there just are
no shortcuts.
The course
laid out before us
takes us right through
the path of suffering.
Finally he gives
the analogy
of the hardworking farmer.
He says
the hardworking farmer
should be the first
to receive a share
of the crops.
And again
with this one
there's some debate
on precisely
how Paul
means this
and how it applies
to Timothy.
it doesn't really
help that our
modern day farming
is so different
from how farming
was 2,000 years ago.
Today we've got
lots of wonderful
expensive machines
that can do
some of that work
for us
make some of it
easier.
But back then
you were driving
animals.
I mean you were
holding the plow
steady with your
forearms
and your muscles
were screaming
by the end
of the day.
You were swinging
the sickle
by hand
and you were
bundling the sheaves
by hand
and picking them up
and carrying them
by hand
long days
in the hot sun.
And you didn't
do all that
for nothing.
You wouldn't
subject yourself
to that kind of
grueling labor
for nothing.
You did it
to receive
your share
of that harvest
that you were
working on.
Your reward
for the work
you did.
And when it
comes time
to divvy up
the first portions
after we take
out the first
fruits of course
when it comes
time to divvy up
the first portions
of the harvest
as it's coming in
are you going
to give the lazy
guy who just
worked slow
and stood around
looking at everybody
most of the day
are you going
to give him
the first share
of the harvest
or are you going
to give it
to the guy
who busted
his buns
doing two to
three times
as much
as that lazy
guy.
In a day.
Timothy
be like that
hard working farmer
says Paul.
The Christian
life
our service
to King Jesus
is like a great
undertaking
in the fields
and we aren't
laboring
we aren't
enduring
all of this
for nothing.
We're working
for a great
harvest
for our Lord
and we are
looking for
the reward
that will be
ours
for our
portion
our share
our reward
for laboring
faithfully.
This is not
saying that somehow
we can earn
our salvation
of course we
can't
but it's saying
that on top of
God's amazing
grace
that all he has
given us
in salvation
he really does
reward us
for persevering
and working
hard and
faithfully
for his
sake.
Finally we
come to the
fourth imperative
in verse
seven.
Reflect on
what I'm
saying
for the Lord
will give you
insight into
all this.
Timothy
think about
these analogies
I'm giving you.
Think about
them as you
face the
difficulty
and the
trouble.
It might
not be
especially
clear
at the first
reading of
this how
these things
relate to
our lives.
Soldier,
athlete,
farmer.
But as you
think about
these things
day by day
God's going
to open
your eyes
to see how
these really
are the
analogies
these really
are the
metaphors
that capture
the true
essence of
our lives
in service
of Jesus.
God's going
to give you
understanding
he's going
to give you
insight
he's going
to help
you see
how to
fight this
battle
how to run
this race
how to
persevere
in this
field work.
So these
are Christ's
instructions
for Timothy
just to
sum up
again.
Be
strengthened
in the
grace
that is
in Christ
Jesus
and trust
the things
that you
heard me
say
to faithful
men who
will also
be able
to teach
others
join with
me
in suffering
like a
soldier
like an
athlete
like a
farmer.
We're
looking to
please
our
commanding
officer.
We're
looking to
get that
victor's
crown.
We're
running
to win.
We're
looking to
get that
share,
that reward
of the
harvest crop
and continue
to reflect
over these
things.
Mull
them over.
God's
going to
help you
see.
He's
going to
help you
understand
just how
they apply
to your
situation.
We may
not have
the same
role as
Timothy
had in
his church
2,000
years later.
We may
not have
the same
climate of
persecution
as he
did in
his
province
here in
ours,
but we
have the
same good
deposit.
We have
the same
gospel.
We have
the same
Lord and
Savior and
King.
May we
not be
found asleep
at the
wheel,
checked
out,
disengaged,
distracted
from the
cause of
Christ.
If in our
corner of the
world right
now it's
easy to
run and
there's minimal
opposition,
then let us
be running.
let us be
working while
we are still
unhindered.
May we not
be found
entangled in
the stuff of
this world.
May we not
be found
unprepared to
use the
gifts that
God has
given us in
the service
of our
King.
May we
not be
found
lollygagging
in the
race that's
set before
us or
lazing around
in the
field we're
given us
to do as
Christians here
in Davidson,
here in
Craig and
from wherever
else you're
visiting from.
May we be
found focused
like that
soldier on
the mission
the Lord has
given us,
carrying out
his commands,
using our
gifts,
playing each
of us our
part in the
body of
Christ,
running our
race as
best we can
to win that
victor's crown,
working hard
toward that
harvest.
Do you
want to
hear that
well done,
good and
faithful servant
from the
Lord Jesus
when he
returns?
I do.
And so
let's keep
on pressing
on,
pressing
forward for
Jesus day
by day,
answering his
call.
Let's pray.
Father in
heaven, we
thank you that
even though you
give us these
challenging words,
this difficult
call,
that there
is grace
that you
offer alongside
of it.
Please give
us that
grace,
fill us
with that
power and
strength
that we
need to
see these
words,
to hear
these words
and be
encouraged
by them,
to be
spurred on
by them.
Our desire
is your
pleasure,
it is your
glory.
And so we
ask that you
would work in
us,
work in all
of us as a
church,
and that
you would
take for
yourself a
great harvest
for your
glory here
in Davidson
and Craig
and in
surrounding
areas.
We ask
this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.