Sermon Tone Analysis

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

[1]

Anticipate opposition and hostility if you are a Christian.

Don’t seek conflict; but don’t be surprised when opposition arises.

We Christians seek peace with all people and we will do all possible to make peace.

Nevertheless, the successful Christian will experience opposition and hostility because he is a Christian.

It is not merely that the believer will experience opposition—the believer will reveal his or her relationship to the Master through standing firm in the face of hostility and opposition.

I am not counselling stoic resolution in the face of torment; I am counselling a steadfast faith despite opposition.

In a similar vein, the successful Christian will be compelled to avoid certain actions and attitudes if he will be successful in the Christian life.

Many tasks assigned to believers will seem mundane, pedestrian, ordinary; and the believer will be tempted to ignore such seemingly banal, prosaic tasks.

He must faithfully fulfil all that Christ assigns because the One assigning the believer’s tasks is Master of life.

In the same manner, there will be victories that the spiritual Christian will enjoy as God directs his path through this fallen world.

Paul has been advising the young minister to whom the Apostle had entrusted so much responsibility.

Timothy had been mentored by the Apostle to the Gentiles, had no doubt been corrected on occasion and frequently admonished as he observed and learned of the work of service to the churches.

One lesson he had no doubt heard was repeated in various ways in what was likely the final letter that Paul would pen to the young pastor.

The Apostle had no doubt taught, and now was stressing, the necessity of delayed gratification in Christian service.

As we have seen through our studies, Paul penned three metaphors Timothy was to ponder as he pursued his role as a teacher.

Pastors are to be teachers of the Word.

As such, they are to be always sensitive to those who will in turn be appointed by God to the task of declaring the Word of God.

Be cautious in imagining that a church seeks out a teacher.

God appoints whom He wills and the church is responsible to receive God’s appointment.

One of the grave responsibilities for any teacher of the Word is to ensure that a teacher is raised up to follow him.

The Apostle spoke of the labours of a teacher with a student when he wrote, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” [2 TIMOTHY 2:2].

If done properly, teaching is demanding work.

The wise teacher understands she is moulding young minds, stimulating them to acquire knowledge and enabling them to build on that knowledge.

The finished product will not be seen for many years.build

spaceships that will transport mankind to the planets.

Likewise, the man who teaches others in righteousness is not merely laying down rules by which listeners are to live; he is equipping parishioners to excel in godliness.

Perhaps among those who listen and absorb what is taught is one who will one day speak for God to great numbers of people, building them in this most holy Faith.

Perhaps a family will be restored or someone in the grip of sin will be victorious because of what is taught.

Among the students I taught while in Dallas are men who are today pastoring large congregations, building multiplied numbers of believers in the Faith.

I know of other former students who have established churches where there were none.

Other students are themselves teaching university students and equipping preachers to stand firm on the front lines of the Faith.

I’m always humbled when I see the name of a former student who today serves as President of one of the great seminaries of the world.

I shared in shaping his life to the glory of God.

The Apostle also spoke, as he often did, of a soldier.

[2] He urged Timothy, “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” [2 TIMOTHY 2:3, 4].

Soldiers are required to be single-minded in pursuit of fulfilling the mission.

The soldier must adapt, innovate and persevere to accomplish the labour assigned.

Combat is not glorious; whatever glory there is comes only after the mission is completed.

Then Paul wrote of an athlete.

This was another theme often found in the Apostle’s missives.

[3] You will recall from previous messages that we explored what Paul meant when he wrote, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” [2 TIMOTHY 2:5].

Champions are not automatically awarded ribbons or medals; these are awards for those who excel in a given sport because they disciplined their bodies both to compete and to win.

Super bowl rings are only awarded to the team that plays with the greatest discipline and which exhibits the greatest teamwork.

That well-ordered team is the result of days and nights of hard work to move together in order to win the most games.

Finally, the Apostle spoke of a farmer.

In this, he was perhaps echoing the frequent parables of the Master who spoke frequently of themes drawn from farming.

[4] Paul wrote, “It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops” [2 TIMOTHY 2:6].

This was a reminder that a farmer must be willing to prepare the soil, plant his seed in anticipation of a harvest, constantly working to ensure that the crop is safe from pests and from those who might steal what

The teacher instructing a child in the mathematic times tables isn’t simply teaching the child to memorise some numbers—she is laying a foundation for that child’s future—perhaps to become an accountant, to employ mathematics to he has laboured over.

His harvest is always months after he had planted his seed.

Having presented these verbal images of delayed gratification, Paul insists that Timothy, and hence all who would read these words, must not only acknowledge that what he wrote is true, but they must take it to heart and act on what is said.

That is the message today.

*THINK ABOUT IT* — “Think over what I say.”

Well, what has Paul said?

Whatever the man of God said, it must have been important.

It behooves us to read carefully and to consider wisely what has been said.

When we read Scripture, many times we read the words and fail to grasp the message.

I suspect that to be the case too often as we read the admonition Paul has given in this portion of his final missive to the young theologue.

“Think over” translates a Greek word which is written as a present imperative.

As he read Paul’s words, Timothy would have understood that Paul was saying that he was to repeatedly, habitually ponder what Paul had just written.

In short, the word pictures Paul has drawn are essential for understanding.

Ignoring these truths must lead to disaster in Christian service.

The word Paul used means, in itself, to understand a point through reflection and contemplation.

Timothy was to incorporate the truth that Paul had presented so that it would be thoroughly integrated into his life.

That Paul was specifically commanding Timothy to focus on what he had just written is evident from the phrase, “what I say.”

As previously stated, the Apostle had presented three metaphors while emphasising the necessity of being a wise teacher.

I emphasise the underlying theme again in part because it is neglected in this day; yet, the teaching is essential.

The teaching in question is this—/those who serve must not expect immediate gratification as result of their labours/.

Christians, and especially those who labour behind the sacred desk, must maintain a long view of their service.

We teach in expectation that we are building a holy temple to the glory of God.

The message we bring is meant to strengthen the people of God, equipping them for holy service and preparing them to meet the Risen Saviour face-to-face.

Service before the Lord and to His people has one singular aim—to present God’s people mature in Christ.

In the Ephesian encyclical, Paul provides necessary insight into how the Master works among His people.

This is what the Apostle has written: “[Christ the Lord] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” [EPHESIANS 4:11-16].

God’s purpose is to ensure that the saints are provided the incentive and the means to mature.

Mature manhood is the goal.

Ladies, don’t take umbrage at that, for the goal is assumption of responsibility as one who serves under divine appointment.

The goal is to focus on the goal of maturity rather than seeking only to serve for what you can get out of it.

He is every bit as pointed in his letter to the saints in Philippi.

There, the Apostles writes, “My brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Only let us hold true to what we have attained” [PHILIPPIANS 3:1-16].

The labours of the Apostle were marked by trial from those who opposed him and the message of grace.

Some who opposed the Apostle were so tied to either Jewish or pagan religion that they were threatened by the freedom in Christ which Paul presented.

Others, professing Christians, endeavoured to advance themselves through opposing the Apostle.

Such individuals, puffed up with pride and intent on promoting themselves through making disciples for themselves plague the churches to this day.

Of his labours and the testing he endured, the Apostle has written, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.