2 Timothy 2:1-7

2 Timothy 2:1–7 “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 hard-working 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.”

Let’s make a deal

Be Strong

Not just unashamed

By grace

Paul does not leave be strong vague

Examples of Strength

Teacher

What role he is in

Then the analogies

Soldier

A reminder that he is an enlisted man in the Lord’s arm

Athlete

Competing accord to the rules

and go into strict training

Farmer

Works heard to produce fruit

How Paul leads him to strength

HE COMMANDS Verse 1 You then,

You therefore

Do not be ashamed

Be strong

Identify with ON uh SIF phorus

Not Phygelus or Hermogenes

HE LOVES My son

Balanced love and authority

It’s because of this you need to be strong

Because you of your faith

passed down by mother and grandmother

your calling for ministry and preaching the word

You must be strong my child

Command mixed with belief in Timothy to achieve

This is how a father does not exasperate his child

HOW to be STRONG

Be strong and keep being strengthened

Passive keep on being

by the grace of Jesus Christ

Titus 2:11–13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”

Stay where we can receive that strength and power

You must

In obedience

If it’s by his grace stay in it

Grace forgiveness and power

power not weakness

to serve him

to not be damned

His grace even works in our service

In his word

In prayer

In faith

In hope

In love

Here is something concrete for you to see what I mean

Teacher

This is what he is

Instruction in a formal and informal setting

I teach you and you teach me

You have the deposit entrusted

Guard and entrust in others

keep it pure and pass it on

to faithful men

trustworthy

not like those who left Paul

James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

No control

speak about things they don’t know about

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,”

Relay race

all need to be teachers

we need more and more to be leaders in this area

they must be trustworthy

There is a duty in teaching in both ways in church and in the family

Are you strong enough to teach others

Some don’t feel adequate because of sin is not keeping you in the Lord

You must be willing to be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might

It’s time to put it away so that you can be in place to be strengthened

Becoming obiedent to him as a good athlete

meaning we learn to love and strive after the standard of his excellence

Hardworking farmer who through his teach others produces a fruit that he can share with others

Do you need strength?

Soldier

A citizen; bound to military service

This is anyone who makes the decision to pick-up the cross

We our bound to military work

This is war times

Ephesians 6:10–11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

Good

He is moral in his behavior

Who defines morals other than our commander in chief

What makes him good is his obedience to that which he has enlisted to

He has enlisted

Why does someone enlist

For the benefits or the a bigger reason?

And that is where there is sacrifice

Only a fool would enlist and expect benefits without the risk of doing battle

He knows there will be suffering

We suffer from not knowing what it means to be a hero

We will suffer

Our culture has somewhat made it hard

It doesn’t call for heroes

Suffer along with

take up your share of suffering

He is one who has and continues to engage in battle

Serves as a soldier

His service is singular

To the one he is enlisted to

Doesn’t get entangled civilian pursuits

He’s talking about the practicality of pursuits for where we find ourselves

Luke 9:57–58 “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.””

Luke 9:62 “Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””

Luke 10:41–42 “But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.””

The aim is to please not the civilian but the one who enlisted him

Please God

Not man

Athlete

Engages in athletic competition/a competitor

Competes

A competitive spirit about this person

doesn’t take moments off

Keeps his focus

According to the rules

1 Timothy 1:8 “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,”

It’s the rules that make the competition legitimate

Likewise it is the doing things according to God’s command that make our competition legitimate

We don’t make the rules, we compete under them

Farmer

This is a tenant farmer

Working on a land not their own to produce fruit

Word used by Jesus often translated tenant

Hard working

Not just easy work

In work there is difficulty and trouble

we toil and labor

tired

weary from the work

In his example of the teacher

2 Peter 3:15–17 “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.”

Paul’s example of this

1 Thessalonians 2:9 “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”

2 Thessalonians 3:8 “nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.”

First fruit

He receives the first reward

Really all in all wake up and do the same work everyday

But through hard work he can reap reward in this life even

Conclusion

All this work takes sacrifice

The soldier who has victory

The athlete who trains to compete

The farmer who works hard

Are you willing to

Put down your sin and take up arms

Put yourself inline with God’s will his rules for your living and compete

Sacrifice yourself to toil and labor to provide fruit for you and others

And in the end realize and believe

To God be the Glory