Encouragement to a Fellow Christian

2 Timothy 2:1-7

“Encouragement to a Fellow Christian”

Main Idea: Paul encouraged Timothy to persevere in the faith and ministry given to him.

For us: We should receive the instructions of Paul as points of encouragement to persevere amidst the challenges we face in the Christian life.

Question: How does Paul encourage Timothy through the instructions he gives?

Key Word: Ways

The first way Paul encouraged Timothy was to depend on Jesus Christ. [v. 1]

Be Strong in the grace of the Lord.

The only way Timothy could fulfill God’s calling on his life was to depend on the grace of Jesus.

Application: We must depend on the grace of Jesus—to be strong in Him—if we are to fulfill the calling He has placed on our lives.

The second way Paul encouraged Timothy was to remember to pass along the message of Jesus Christ. [v. 2]

Commit to faithful men.

The point of encouragement was the faithful men who had gone before him—like Paul.

His urgency in instruction was to remember those who had gone before—those who surrounded them as he heard the Gospel—and to then go on teaching and proclaiming the Gospel to others—teaching it to those who would also teach it to others.

Application: We must remember to pass along the message of the Gospel—of Jesus Christ. It was passed down to us by someone who faithfully shared it with us; thus, we should also faithfully share it with others who will pass it on to others, too.

The third way Paul encouraged Timothy was to endure in perseverance. [vv. 3-6]

Share in the suffering as a good soldier of Jesus.

Another way to word this is to endure—persevere—in the suffering involved in the ministry entrusted to him.

Three examples are given to describe how Timothy was to persevere:

Like a soldier with a single-minded focus on his commanding officer. He would be careful to not get entangled with other affairs that would distract him from the mission given to him.

Like an athlete with integrity who competed according to the standards and rules of the game as opposed to cheating or cutting corners to try to win—recognizing that cheating or cutting corners resulted in being penalized instead of being rewarded.

Like a hard-working farmer who faithfully and eagerly works with great anticipation of the fruit or produce from his work.

Application: We should be careful to endure, even through challenges, to be sure that we have a single-minded focus on Jesus, integrity to honor God living according to His standards and not our own, and a work ethic honoring to God looking forward to the fruit of the harvest.

The fourth way Paul encouraged Timothy was to reflect on the teaching that he might gain understanding of the instruction and encouragement provided. [v. 7]

Consider what I say

Paul urged Timothy to carefully reflect on the instruction given so that He might understand the instructions.

Specifically, he suggested that the understanding needed to succeed in this calling was from the Lord and not from the wisdom of man.

Application: We should be careful to reflect on the teaching and instruction of Scripture—considering our calling—and seek understanding from the Lord so that we might faithfully fulfill our calling in a way that honors God.