Sunday Sermon: Be Strengthened by the Grace of Christ (2 Timothy 2:1-7)

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. Well, good morning.

Good morning. Turn in your Bible, if you will, to 2 Timothy chapter 2 as we continue our series in the book of 2

Timothy. I was reminded this morning from Josiah Shute who was a 17th century

English Puritan, author of the book Ezra's Covenant Renewal. He said the following, in a regenerated person

God's word not only instills a fear of displeasing God but also a determination to strive for complete obedience throughout their life and conduct.

And as we come back into our series here in 2 Timothy, we want to be reminded of the goodness of God that has been shown to us in Christ Jesus that would not only instill in our hearts a fear of God, which we should certainly have, a reverent fear of the

Lord, but a desire to love Him and being obedient to Him, not merely in a season of life but with all our lives to the very end.

Let us stand together as we read in honor of the word of the King. This is 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 7.

I'm reading from the English Standard Version. Hear the word of the Lord. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, as we come back into our passage today,

I pray that you would teach us according to these things as Paul is instructing Timothy here to be a good soldier.

To even think upon this metaphor of an athlete or what it means to be a farmer.

How would these things apply to us? These are to pastors, ministers of the word who are talking, but as these things should be applied in our own lives, what must we do?

What worldly pursuits must we set aside so that our focus would be solely upon Christ?

We not be led astray to the left or to the right, but we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

May those disciplines be before us as we consider our text today. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

In Judges chapters six through eight, we read the famous story of Gideon.

One of the things that Gideon is most well known for is the story of his fleece, wanting to see a sign from God in the dew on the ground, but not in the fleece, and then

I will know that you are with me and you want me to do this thing. But I think what is less considered about the life of Gideon is

Gideon's 300 men. There is a story from history that is often grabbed upon by the historians, by the movie makers, by the storytellers, and that's the story of the 300

Spartans. What a valiant stand they made, 300 Spartans, they all died.

But we don't give as much attention to Gideon's 300 men who fought

Midianites, as said in the book of Judges, that were so numerous they were like locusts that covered the ground.

How many men did Gideon lose of his 300? None of them. And they defeated over 100 ,000 soldiers, just 300 of these men.

Well, Gideon was not a very courageous man, the way that he's introduced in the book of Judges.

He nonetheless did things probably more courageous than many of us would consider doing, but he was kind of timid in his own right.

The Lord said to him that he was going to use Gideon to lead an army against the Midianites, and so Gideon summoned the men from the tribes of Israel to be gathered together for battle.

32 ,000 men showed up. Now that is astonishingly low when you consider that the

Midianites were so numerous you couldn't count them. It's also low when you consider that when the census was taken of abled -bodied men who could fight in the army of Israel, there were over 600 ,000 men.

But here showing up to this summons, only 32 ,000 came. And yet the

Lord said to Gideon, you know, there are too many. So make an announcement to them, tell them something like, you're going to die, so those of you who want to stay, stay, and those of you who want to go home, then go home.

And so Gideon makes an announcement and 22 ,000 go home. That leaves him with 10 ,000 men.

The Lord says, no, still too many of you, lest any of you say that you were the ones that fought off these

Midianites and not give me the glory in the battle. And so the Lord says to Gideon, go down to the brook, have the men take a drink, and those that put their hands to their mouths, when they drink, you're going to keep them.

Those who get down on the ground and lap up from their knees, then you're going to tell them to go home. Well, those that drank from their hands were only 300, and God said, that's it, that's my army.

And Gideon successfully not only fought off the Midianites once, but multiple times, and again, never lost a single soul.

So that it could be said that God was the one who gave them the strength in the battle.

The glory did not belong to Gideon. It did not belong to his 300 men. It belonged to God.

And yet in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 11, Gideon is praised as being one of the

Old Testament faithful in the hall of faith that we often refer to Hebrews 11 as being.

And those 300 men that were along with him, surely they had great courage because who in their right mind would stand there and go, yeah, let's go.

Let's fight over 100 ,000 Midianites. We'll do great here. And so great courage they had, but their courage was not in themselves.

Their courage was not in their number. Their courage was in God. And knowing that God was the one who was going to give them the victory because he said that he would.

And here you may have noticed, as we consider this address from the apostle

Paul to his servant Timothy, what does Paul tell Timothy to be like? He tells him to be as a good soldier, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Even more than this, gives a couple of other metaphors, even compares him to being like an athlete and comparing him to being like a farmer.

Now this is a Baptist's dream text because I have three examples given to me already and that's a

Baptist three -point sermon right there. But that's actually not the point of this passage.

It's not just to be a good soldier and a good farmer and a good athlete. But very specifically,

Paul says, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ. That's what we have in verse one. In verse three, he says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ.

And then in verse seven, think over what I say and the Lord will give you understanding.

So you see these three imperatives in this passage, be strengthened, share in suffering, think over what

I say. But in each one of those three imperatives, the emphasis is on Christ.

Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ. Share in suffering as a good soldier in Christ.

Think on what I say and the Lord will give you understanding.

So we see these instructions that Paul gives to Timothy and may we find application for our lives as well, but recognizing that the instructions that are being given are not left up to us by our strength and our power to carry them out.

But we rely upon the strength of Christ. The main thrust of this letter back in 2

Timothy 1 -8 is Paul saying to Timothy, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our

God, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

And we see that come back in here in these instructions that he gives also in chapter 2.

Let's look again at verse 1 where Paul says here, you then my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

So first of all, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ. Remember the way that we ended last week at the end of chapter 1.

Follow the pattern of the sound words you've heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ and by the

Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit that has been entrusted to you.

So it's on the heels of that instruction that Paul then says here in chapter 2 verse 1, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

So once again, we've seen these instructions to share in suffering. And Paul again reminds

Timothy to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ. Now I found that to be a puzzling statement when

I was studying on that earlier this week. Be strengthened by Christ would seem to be a more understandable statement.

Something would be easier to apply. Be strengthened by Christ. Certainly, I look to Christ and I'm strengthened by him.

I don't rely on my own strength or my own ability, but I look to the Lord and he will give me strength.

But that's not the way that Paul says it. He says be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Now I understand grace to be unmerited favor. I don't deserve the favor of God, but he shows it to me anyway.

Because God is good, not because of anything good that I have done, but because he has been good to me.

Another definition that I've heard of grace beyond unmerited favor is even demerited favor.

Why is it demerited favor? Because what do I deserve from God? To be destroyed.

I deserve destruction because I've sinned against God. I have disobeyed his law.

Everyone has done this. Romans 3 .23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And Romans 6 .23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve. And even more than being killed,

I deserve to be eternally separated from God, suffering under his wrath forever. But God who is rich in mercy didn't leave me dead in my sins.

He made me alive together with Christ. So grace is demerited favor in the sense that what

I deserve is death and God doesn't just not kill me. He gives me life in Christ and makes me a fellow heir with Christ of his eternal kingdom.

What incredible favor God shows us. Demerited favor is the definition that we have of grace.

So that's how I understand grace. So therefore, how am I strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus?

I'm strengthened in knowing that my sins have been forgiven and that God holds nothing against me.

And as the apostle Paul said to the Romans in Romans chapter eight, if God is for us, who can be against us?

And so if I know I've been made right with God, shouldn't that be the greatest boldness, the greatest courage that I can have to face those things that are in front of me?

This morning, I was listening to John MacArthur on Grace to You. And MacArthur said what the church is desperately in need of in our present day is a little bit of persecution, because that will very quickly weed out those who are serious and those who are not.

When you have to suffer a little bit for that which you believe, it is really gonna put your feet to the fire to demonstrate whether you truly believe what it is that you say that you believe, or you're just going through the motions on something.

I'm just doing it because all my friends are here. I'm just doing it because it's convenient in my life right now to be a

Christian, but when something hard comes along, are you gonna remain steadfast in that?

Are you gonna demonstrate, I truly believe that this is true. So that even if someone takes my life,

God is the one who upholds me. The greatest strength and the greatest courage that we can have is gonna be in knowing that our sins are forgiven and believing it.

And that courage and that boldness carries through our days to face whatever it is that may come our way.

Listen to what Charles Ellicott has to say about this phrase. Ellicott says the following, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

That is, be strong in the power of that inward sanctification which enables a man to will and to do according to what

God has commanded. A power which alone proceeds from Christ and which will never be wanting to anyone who is in Christ.

In other words, none of us will feel like we need more than this. I don't have enough strength here.

I need something else. We will feel like we have enough because we have the power of Christ.

As Ephesians 6 .10 tells us, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

And that's the instruction that Paul is giving to Timothy here. As we had considered about Timothy at the beginning of this study, at the start of the letter, when we were kind of doing our background, understanding who

Paul is, understanding who Timothy is, there are some theologians, some commentarians on 2

Timothy that will say that Timothy was kind of a timid guy. And maybe he was starting to be a little bit concerned about the task that was in front of him, which is why

Paul was saying some of the things that he did. Maybe Timothy was starting to shrink back a little bit from that.

I didn't take that position necessarily, because Paul has been thrown in prison.

Yeah, there is that possibility that Timothy is thinking to himself, that's happened to Paul, that's happened to my mentor.

He's preaching the gospel and he's been thrown in a hole in Rome. What will happen to me? There surely would have been those kinds of questions on Timothy's mind, but not to the extent that he was ready to give up the fight.

Paul, writing as one who has been a father to Timothy, who has guided Timothy, is just helping to give that strength in those places where Timothy might start asking those questions.

And Paul's saying, I am confident of this. We remember back at the beginning of the letter, I am reminded of your sincere faith.

Paul knows Timothy has a sincere faith. Why would he doubt Timothy's position even in the present day? And so Paul gives this reminder to Timothy to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ.

Timothy, don't think to yourself that it's going to be dependent upon you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

To be thinking, you know what, when life hands me lemons, I'm going to make lemonade. Those kinds of platitudes are not going to help you endure for the things that you have to face that are coming your way.

The strength that you need won't be in yourself. It is in Christ.

Now let me give some application to this before we continue. Application that would be readily understandable to all of us.

We're going to be faced with things every day. And maybe you won't be faced with some kind of persecution today.

But you are faced with temptations today. You are surrounded by wicked people.

You probably work in secular jobs in which the people that you work with are not believers.

Maybe even by the very way that they talk, you can tell that they're not Christians. At men's study this past Wednesday night, we were talking about the different jobs that we have.

And somebody had said something like, unless you work in vocational ministry, you know, you're probably working in a secular job like this.

And at one point I said, I think I'm the only one here that is not working around unbelievers.

I have the privilege of being able to dedicate myself to full -time ministry. But as part of my ministry will entail going into Casa Grande or a surrounding area and sharing the gospel, then no doubt

I'm going to encounter believers. And there is going to be that kind of pushback. So I will face that along with you, just not working in that same sort of environment.

But you're probably working around people. You're surrounded by people who are unbelievers. They're wicked.

They're evil. Their thoughts are not of God. Their thoughts are opposed to God. Why would

God, in saving you, continue to surround you with wicked men and women? The answer to that is to test you, that you would not give in to the things that they love, that make them happy, giving in to maybe a temptation that you have in your flesh to want to make them happy.

So I'm going to do the same things that you do so that my friends will like me. But you continue even in those moments to hold fast to Christ, turning away from the world, turning away from the desires of your own flesh, and continuing to cling to Christ and His goodness and His righteousness, which

He has given to you by faith. And the strength to endure, again, is not on you.

The strength to endure is on Christ. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, Paul says, and going on in verse 2, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, reminding again of those things that Timothy had heard

Paul teach. Remember, it was a couple of sermons ago. We had those constant reminders, verses 3 through 7 of chapter 1.

I'm reminded of your tears. I'm reminded of your sincere faith. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is given to you.

And we're going to hear this coming up again next week in verse 8 where Paul says, remember Christ Jesus risen from the dead.

So Paul constantly brings back to attention to Timothy these reminders.

And he says so again here, what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, he says, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Now remember, Timothy is a pastor in Ephesus. That's where Paul had left him, caring for that church, which

Paul loved so dearly. There are other elders there. Timothy has the responsibility of not only training those elders, but even training up other men.

So one of the things that this says here in the mission that Paul is giving to Timothy is that his job as a pastor means more than just preaching.

But there's more work that he has to do like entrusting these things to other men who can also teach.

Last week I said to you that 2 Timothy is the pure pastoral letter.

And what I mean by that is 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus we consider to be the three pastoral letters.

Paul is writing to pastors. But 1 Timothy is written in such a way that the things that Paul is telling Timothy, he's going to tell the whole church.

Titus we even see at the end of that letter to Titus, Paul says, My greetings I send to all.

So he's addressing not just Titus, but the other people that will read the letter as well. But this letter between Paul and Timothy, Paul gives instructions that pertain to just Timothy and just the job that he is going to give to other men who will be teaching the word as Paul taught

Timothy to teach it. Now again, as I said last week, there's still application for all of us in this.

But as far as the one -on -one is concerned, this is a truly pastoral letter.

With Paul saying, I'm a pastor, you're a pastor, here's the things you need to do as a pastor, and you're going to be training up other pastors.

That's in this instruction here where he says, Entrust these things that you have learned to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

You need to know how to teach them. They need to know how to teach others. And continuing to train each other up in the discipline and the instruction of the

Lord. And so we're going to see that come back into the letter occasionally as well, this reference to other men.

Later on in the letter, Paul is going to say to Timothy, To flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the

Lord from a pure heart. So even in that instruction, that instruction to be holy, Paul doesn't tell

Timothy to live on an island somewhere. Go just live isolated from the rest of wicked people and there you can just be holy by yourself, just you and God, Jesus and my

Bible, and here we go. That's the Christian faith. That's not what Paul tells Timothy. But to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with others who call on the

Lord from a pure heart. And so Paul continues to encourage

Timothy in those things here. Entrust to faithful men these things which we'll be able to teach others also.

And our mission as a church even is not just that we would gather together and we would have a place to gather together and we have

Sunday school lessons and there's curriculum for us to follow. But we should want to as a church desire to teach others.

That's why we have the Sunday school classes. That's why we have our breakouts on Wednesday or even the focus on what we do on Sunday night.

It's so that we can teach others and they may go out and do and there would be others who are added to the service of God.

As Ephesians 4, 11 to 12 say, God gave the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to prepare the saints for the work of ministry.

So we all have a call in this to do the ministry of God. So this is the first portion of this passage where first of all

Paul says be strengthened. And he says to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Part two begins in verse three where Paul gives examples. He gives metaphors of this.

And he starts by saying share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Now this is something Paul makes reference to a lot. He often makes references to a soldier and not just because they lived in the

Roman Empire and there are soldiers all over the place. Whenever we go to Ephesians chapter 6 and we read about putting on the armor of God.

I don't know how many commentaries you've ever read on that but most of the time a commentary is going to tell you that Paul was surrounded by Roman soldiers all the time.

So even as he's sitting in a jail cell he's looking at that Roman soldier right there and he's talking about the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, all these different instruments or armor that the soldier might have on him.

Well that wasn't really Paul's inspiration at all. Paul was repeating the armor of God that Isaiah talked about in the prophets.

These things come up repeatedly throughout the scriptures of being a soldier, of being a good soldier.

I began with the story of Gideon's 300 and again Gideon being referenced in Hebrews 11 is a man of faith that is to be imitated.

Joshua likewise was a military leader. You don't think of Moses as being a military leader but he was.

He even led the armies of God against the enemies of Israel. We see these examples throughout scripture and here

Paul even uses it when it comes to the spiritual warfare that we will fight every day.

When it comes to the spiritual battle of being focused on the task that is at hand in Christ.

Paul says share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ. And this is going to come up at the end of the letter again where Paul says that I have fought the good fight.

Setting himself as an example to Timothy. As you have seen this done from me so you likewise.

Verse 3 share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ. And then

Paul expounds on that. He expounds on what he means when he says share as a good soldier of Christ.

And then he's also going to provide two other metaphors. The athlete and the farmer. So here's the expounding on the soldier.

Verse 4 no soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

So what does this mean? Now here with this metaphor this could very well tie into what do you see the soldiers doing who are in the

Roman service? No soldier. Look at these guys. They don't get entangled in civilian pursuits.

What is his aim? What is his focus? His focus is to please the one who enlisted him.

So what does this mean? A soldier was in full -time service as a soldier. And he doesn't have his interests divided into other things.

Because if he's doing all this other stuff he's got another job on the side then his heart is not really focused on the job that his commanding officer has for him to do.

So his full -time work is a soldier. I'm not getting messed up in civilian pursuits. I'm going to stay focused on what's in front of me.

When I was in high school I had a friend named Jared who was one of those guys in high school who goes out for everything.

He's got a letterman's jacket. He's got all the letters on it, all the bars on it because he's done every sport and he's done it well.

But our senior year he decided I want to win state. And in a lot of the team sports he knew that our teams probably weren't good enough to go all the way and end up winning state.

So he said what can I focus on and give all my energy to that so I can win the state championship. And he decided cross country was going to be the thing.

And so he dropped out of other sports his senior year and he focused on cross country and he won the state championship for the state of Kansas.

You've probably heard of other athletes doing something similarly. Being focused on one singular thing you get into all these other sports and you can do them well and people will even congratulate you for being a versatile athlete.

But if you want to succeed well and be the champion at one thing then you must focus on that one thing.

And so the same is being said here of the soldier. He doesn't get entangled in all these other civilian pursuits.

His aim is to please the one who has enlisted him. It was important too when

I was hired at this church that my focus was going to be on ministry. And the church wants to care for and provide for my needs so that I can be focused on those things.

Many of you know that my house in Texas hasn't sold yet. It's not preventing me from doing my job but I can tell you it's a distraction.

When I have to think about financially that I'm paying a mortgage and I'm also paying rent. And those things can cause a person to have their interests divided a little bit.

My focus is not where it needs to be some days because there are other things that I have to take care of.

You probably feel this way too. Boy, I'd really like to do this but I've got these bills I've got to pay.

And sometimes our interests can be divided. But here Paul is calling Timothy's attention to be focused on the mission that is at hand.

To please the one who enlisted him. And I don't think Paul is being self -serving here and saying you must go out and do this so you please me because it was

Paul who enlisted Timothy to this work. Paul is going even above that and saying that your desire should be to please

Christ. That you do everything for Christ. And how much are you focusing on those things that you have in front of you keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus?

In Hebrews 12 1 and 2 it says that we are to put off every sin and every weight which so easily entangles and fix our eyes on Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith running with endurance the race that is set before us.

Now that takes us into the next metaphor in verse 6 or verse 5 rather. The athlete.

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

Now I was reading about this what Paul meant by that metaphor. An athlete who competes according to the rules.

Now it might make sense to us in a certain sense let's say we're running track and field or something like that.

Of course if you want to win this event you have to compete according to the rules. You have to stay in your lane when you're running. If you run outside the lines well then you're going to be disqualified.

If you're throwing shot put and you step outside the circle well they're not going to count your throw. Something to that effect.

So we know there's rules. The rules are set there so that the field of play is equal for everyone and that you're able to see which person is truly showing the greatest feat of strength or athletic accomplishment.

So that's how we understand the rules. But what Paul is specifically referring to here when he says an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

Whenever the Greeks would compete in the Olympiad or the Isthmus Games there were more than just the

Olympics at this period of time but there were different games in different regions and a professional athlete would travel to these different places and compete in these various games.

But in order to compete they actually had to sign a covenant and they had to say in this covenant that I have trained for 10 months leading up to this competition.

And the reason why they had to sign that covenant was so we want to be sure as paying customers that we're actually seeing the best athletes.

You have actually dedicated your life to training for this event.

That's what we want to see people competing in. And so when

Paul says the athlete is not crowned the crown is what they received for getting first place.

It wasn't gold, silver and bronze medals. It was actually just a wreath. Might not be all that motivating for people these days to go and it's just a wreath.

I just wear a crown on my head. That's all I get. Well, that's what they were competing for. And the athlete does not get crowned.

The champion, you win. You are the best of all of them. You won't get crowned unless he competed according to the rules.

He actually dedicated his time and gave his body and his mind to this event to be able to compete at it at an elite level.

And so Paul reminds Timothy that athlete doesn't gain the crown unless he competes according to the rules.

Then in verse 6 we have this metaphor. It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

The hardworking farmer. Now I spent most of my life in western

Kansas. Lot of farming community. I didn't do any farming myself. Sometimes I got out and helped paint a barn or throw hay or something like that.

But I wasn't ever really driving combine. I think I drove a truck one summer which was just delivering grain from one location to the other.

When we first moved to Kansas I'd never lived anywhere like that in my life before. I grew up in the

Appalachian Mountains. So when we get to western Kansas there were people at our church who were telling my dad hey bring your kids out to our harvest and we'll let them ride in the combine.

And I remember getting cramped in there in the cab with the farmer and we're going rows and he's harvesting corn or wheat or whatever field we were in that particular day.

It was pretty cool. It was a neat thing that he's got his radio there

AC just sitting in this cab driving along. Now it's great that we have these combines these days these terrific tractors that make the work a whole lot easier but it's still a hard job.

Even with the tractors even with the trucks and stuff that we use today it's still hard work from sun up to sun down.

They continue that work until the harvest is done and even sometimes beyond that. We would be traveling by these fields if we were driving down the road like at 9, 10 o 'clock at night and those combines out there they're all like traveling together in rows and they have these bright lights on the front of them.

If you had never seen this before you would have thought the aliens had landed out here. It looks like UFOs are sitting in the middle of this field with how many lights are on these things as they're harvesting the grain.

But it's hard work being a farmer. And then you've got to be dependent upon it being a good crop in order to make ends meet for this year.

There's a lot of work that goes into it even before you get to the harvest constantly checking your grain or your corn or whatever you're growing.

If you're a rancher checking on your cows constantly caring for these animals that are one day going to be sold off and slaughtered and that's how you make your money for the work that you do.

It is a hard working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

Now it's implied there the way that Paul says that that there is going to be a harvest. So the hard working farmer is going to yield a harvest.

But even beyond that the hard working farmer gains the first share of the crops. This goes right back to the athlete in verse 5.

The athlete is not crowned. There's a reward for this. The athlete receives the crown if he competes according to the rules.

It is the hard working farmer. He puts a lot of hard work into this. A harvest is yielded and then he likewise gets to receive a reward.

He gets the first share of the crops. And so Paul says in verse 7 think over what

I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

Think about these things. Now as Paul gives that imperative there think about this and the

Lord will give you understanding in all of this. These metaphors will come up throughout 2

Timothy. So Paul mentions them here. We've even gotten a little bit of a teaser into them from some of the things that he said in chapter 1.

But then we're going to see the metaphors continue through 2 Timothy and all the way until we get to the end where Paul says

I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come.

I have fought the good fight. That's the soldier. I have finished the race.

That's the athlete. I have kept the faith. I worked hard to receive the first share of the crops.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the

Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

And there's ready application in that. So that this isn't just about Paul.

It isn't just about Timothy. And it's not just about the men that Timothy will be raising up and training in these things.

But it is for all of us. For all who have loved his appearing. For all who have their eyes fixed on Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith.

We all receive that eternal reward in the end. But we must remain fixed on Christ.

And you cannot depend upon yourself and your own strength. But you depend upon the strength of Christ.

Earlier where we read here about entrusting to faithful men. Sharing in suffering.

Just that very statement. Share in suffering implies that you're with others. And that we're doing this together.

May we build one another up in this faith as we continue in this. I was listening to a sermon from Kent Hughes.

And he talked about how one little bit of faithfulness that we do.

That we apply ourselves to. Can echo down through centuries.

God can use that to change people's lives well beyond what we thought our faithfulness might have been able to accomplish in the present time that we were applying ourselves to remain faithful in a difficult situation.

And so he said Pastor Hughes said let me give you kind of a small taste of a timeline of things that led to something great because someone was faithful in a little.

He said in the 17th century there was a man named Richard Sibbes. And Sibbes would go on to be a teacher at Cambridge.

But he wrote a book called The Bruised Read. And that book,

The Bruised Read which was about the faithfulness of Christ in the midst of suffering. Those things that Jesus was faithful to do in fulfilling the will of the

Father. There was a tin peddler. A poor man. A commoner.

Don't know his name. We have no idea who he was. We know about him because Richard Baxter wrote about him.

And Richard Baxter who was a Puritan preacher said that he was handed a copy this tin peddler was handed a copy of Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Read.

And it so changed his life that he handed that copy to a boy that he had witness to and that boy was

Richard Baxter. Richard Baxter wrote a book called

A Call to the Unconverted. And that book was read by a man named Philip Doddridge.

Doddridge was an early 18th century minister and hymn writer. And Doddridge would go on to write

The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. And that book would be read by a man named

William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce in case you aren't familiar with that name is the man who led the abolition movement in the

United Kingdom to abolish slavery in England. Now if you have heard of the movie

Amazing Grace this is a movie about William Wilberforce and that fight that he fought against slavery there in the

UK. That movie is kind of comical in a certain sense in that the actor who is playing

Wilberforce is tall and he is good looking and he is articulate and well spoken and healthy and strapping.

He's your typical Hollywood leading man. Well that was not William Wilberforce. He was short and stumpy and very unhealthy and actually did not have a strong presence of voice.

Wilberforce was only about 5 feet tall and because of the different physical ailments that he dealt with in his life he couldn't even hold his own head up straight.

He had to have a metal brace that he wore up his back so that his head would stay upright.

But because he read this book called The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul he came into a service excuse me he came into the service of another famous preacher and was mentored by him.

And that man's name was John Newton the author of Amazing Grace.

And Wilberforce through these men's lives was impassioned to free slaves from the brutal conditions that they faced as they were treated as property in the

North Atlantic slave trade. Wilberforce succeeded in abolishing slavery in the

United Kingdom three days before he died. And because of what

Wilberforce did that fight came over to the United States and slavery was abolished here as well.

A man by the name of James Boswell said of William Wilberforce that shrimp speaking of him as a small man grew and grew and grew until he became a whale and made a huge impact not only in his own country not only in his own city but even in the world.

And it all started with Richard Sibbes writing The Bruised Reed and a tin peddler whose name we don't even know reading that book and being so convicted by it that he shares the gospel with a little boy named

Richard Baxter. And on through that it goes until the

Lord by his providence abolishes slavery. And that's an example of how our little bit of faithfulness in a small period of time can echo out into worldwide changes.

That doesn't happen because you were the bravest person in Casa Grande.

You had the best speaking voice. You went and stood up at town council meetings and told everybody you're bureaucratic idiots and you need to listen to me if we want to see real change happen in our city.

Now often times we think the people that are going to effect the most change are going to be those that have the most charismaticism.

But God is using simple and small people. Those that the world would call small.

Those that the world would call insignificant. Those that the world can't even care to remember their names.

And God is using them to save souls and change lives for his kingdom.

And so as we hear to be strengthened in the grace of Christ. Know what

God has done for you. And let that be your strength. Let that be your motivation to remain focused in any and all tasks and circumstances that you have in front of you.

To be a good soldier of Christ. To be an athlete that competes according to the rules.

To be a farmer that works hard and has a share in the crop. In the harvest.

In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 20 these instructions are given to the men of Israel with regards to soldiers fighting in the war.

The Lord says when you go out to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own you shall not be afraid of them.

For the Lord your God is with you who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

My friends our sin is our land of Egypt. And God has brought us up out of that land.

And now as Peter refers to us in 1 Peter 1 now we're exiles. Now we're kind of in between that place where we've been delivered out of our

Egypt. And we're being promised the promised land but we haven't gotten there yet. And so we're exiles and strangers in the world is the way that Peter calls us.

As Christians we're on the way to the promised land as oh

I can't remember the writer Isaac Watts. Isaac Watts as he wrote in the famous hymn we're marching to Zion.

The beautiful city of God. That's where we are right now. We are on our way to Zion. We've been rescued out of our

Egypt. So don't be as Israel did whining and complaining that you're wandering in the wilderness wishing that you could go back to Egypt.

We had it so much better there. No you had the plagues there. You would have been destroyed under God's wrath there.

He rescued you out of that and is giving you a place that is far greater than you could ask for or imagine.

The promised land that we are going to be given is even better than the promised land that Israel got.

The heavenly kingdom of God. So do not be afraid in these days.

God has delivered us out of the hand of slavery. Slavery to our sin. Subjection to the world.

And he has brought us up out of that land and promised us an eternal inheritance. Let me continue on.

Deuteronomy 20 verse 2. And when you draw near to the battle the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them,

Hear O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies. Let not your heart faint.

Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory.

Same thing that God said to Gideon. May we understand that God is promising us the victory as well.

Verse 5. Then the officers shall speak to the people saying, Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it?

Let him go back to his house lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed his fruit?

Let him go back to his house lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her yet?

Let him go back to his house lest he die in the battle and another man take her. So what's being said here to these soldiers?

Don't let your interests be divided. If your interests are divided then you're not going to be focused to fight the battle that is in front of you.

Go back and take care of those things and then come and fight in the battle. But now listen to this part in verse 8.

And the officers shall speak further to the people and say Is there any man who is fearful and faint hearted?

Let him go back to his house lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.

Are you afraid of what's in front of you? So much that when things get hard you might turn away from the battle.

And if you do that, well you wind up taking others with you.

And not only do you come into judgment but you're responsible for bringing others into judgment too.

That's why it's so very important that we be reminded that our strength to fight this is not ours.

Not depending upon yourself and not letting your interests be divided. Not going after things of this world.

Not thinking I can still have these pleasures too, right? I can eat at the table of demons and dine at the table of God.

But Paul says to Timothy Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ.

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, but his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

And again at the conclusion, verse 7, think over what I say. For the

Lord will give you understanding in everything. And so my friends, whatever it is that you have to face, we have many different people here, diverse interests, backgrounds, jobs, going to school, whatever it might happen to be, wherever you are, whatever people you are surrounded by, you need the strength of Christ to face what's in front of you.

Christ himself faced something greater than any of us will ever have to face.

He's about to go to the cross. He's about to die for our sins, where the wrath of God is going to be poured out upon him as an atoning sacrifice.

And he prays in the garden of Gethsemane. Lord, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as you will.

And Christ, in obedience to the Father's will, because of the suffering that he went through, you and I are saved.

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