Entrust

2 Tim. 2:1-15

Entrusted with the Truth

MP - In order to entrust the message of the gospel faithfully I must trust in the power of Christ.

The Charge to Dependance

The Condition of the Word.

The Comfort found in Adversity.

The Consistency of the work.

Intro |

This year I decided to start training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This is something I have wanted to do for a while now, so when a training school opened across from my house I had no excuses. This has not been easy, it has even been painful at times, but I trust the professor of the school. I trust that he has been trained by competent people, he is a 3rd degree black belt, and that his desire is to train competent people in an art that he loves.

Now, I could have jumped on Youtube, bought a few mats off of Amazon, and invited some of you to come figure it out with me in my garage, but that would have been foolish. Though we have watched a few videos and may even be good fighters, neither of us have been trained rightly, neither of us knows what is safe, and neither of us can pass on what we think we know.

We would be unconsciously incompetent.

We don’t know what we don’t know.

I believe this is the state of the church today. We have been told to do certain things, we have an idea of what those things should look like, but we have never been taught in a reproducible way how the message and the method of God was entrusted to us.

We don’t know what we don’t know.

This then leaves us trying to figure things out own our own. Struggling like my friend and me in the garage. We feel unsure if we are doing it right, if we are being faithful, and when times get hard we just revert back to what we are comfortable with or we quit all together.

Paul here is telling Timothy not to revert back to where he is comfortable and surely not to quit, but to entrust others with the life giving, life changing, always relevant word of Christ.

He wanted him to realize that…

1. In Christ you have the strength to be entrusted with the gospel. (vv.1,7)

In order to live out the mission of engaging, equipping, and entrusting we must recognize where our ability comes from.

Illustration - On June 12, 1979, a young man-made aviation history when he flew a pedal-powered plane across the English Channel. Taking off from England, he flew for three hours, rarely more than fifteen feet above the water. Finally, after covering twenty-two miles, he landed exhausted on the coast of France. As dramatic as this was, man-powered flight will never be practical. A man simply cannot maintain the necessary energy output for extended flights.

In the same way, no one can live the Christian life pedaling on their own power. It is only through the enabling power of Christ that we can consistently live the Christian life.

Phil 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

· Too often this verse is used way out of context.

· This verse is rightly applied here. It is through Christ strengthening us that we can know the truth and entrust it to others regardless the cost.

· This verse is about so much more than making a good grade on a test, your kid scoring a soccer goal, your advancing in your job , or flying across the English Channel – its about God’s kingdom advancing in his strength by his people.

v.1 - Paul wanted Timothy to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

v. 7 - Paul wanted to Timothy to think about the work he has been called to, so that the Lord would give understanding.

Comfort - Friends, what comfort it is to know that the multigenerational impact of the gospel is not dependent on us.

Confront - But friends, in light of the what Christ has done for us through his death, burial, and resurrection we should live as if the generational impact of the gospel depends on us.

Ex. - Share the gospel like it the worlds salvation depends on me, and I am going to pray knowing that it doesn’t.

AS YOU LIVE TO ENTRUST THE GOSPEL TO OTHERS IS YOUR STRENGTH FOUND IN CHRIST?

2. In Christ you have the story to be passed on. (vv.1-2; 2 Tim.1:13&14,)

I’m afraid that we are hesitant to entrust the work of ministry to others because we are afraid they will not do it as good as us.

This shows that we don’t know or believe the story of scripture.

vv.1-2 - Paul refers to Timothy as his “child” because he trusted that he believed in the “sound words” that he shared with him.

· The fulfillment of the Great Commission is not dependent on you. but God has chosen to use believers like you! Remember your strength is in Christ alone.

· Matt. 16:18 - I” will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Many of us think about this backward. We see the church holding on for all that it has. With the world, the flesh, and the devil tearing down the gates, destroying the church, and all that God desires And we must defend it.

That is not at all what Jesus is saying!

This has the advancement of the Kingdom of God as an offensive front.

Think about it, the advancement of the kingdom of God looks far different than I would have thought.

Mark 4:30– It is like mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds yet when it is planted it grows up larger than all of the other garden plants.

I heard one pastor say that “it is in INCONSPICUOUS ways that God builds his kingdom.”

Inconspicuous - not clearly visible or attracting attention.

He uses inconspicuous people to do conspicuous things in very inconspicuous ways.

In order to entrust the story of the gospel to those around us we must believe in the power of the gospel in their lives

Listen to Paul’s ordinary example in the book of Acts.

§ Acts 20:17-21– Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

It could be said- The story of the bible is one of an extraordinary God doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people.

Let’s show that we trust him by entrusting the work of ministry to those around us.

Ordinary people equipped to do extraordinary things. Not perfectly, but dependently!

Ex. Little League parents

The root of the word ENTRUST is TRUST. The question is, “do we?”

3. In Christ you have the stamina to faithfully carry out the mission. (vv.3-6; 2Tim. 1:8-9)

· V.4 - Soldier – (2 Tim 4:7) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

· V.5 - Athlete – (1 Cor. 9:24-27) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So, run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So, I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Ex. – In the 2008 Olympics the men and women’s 400-meter relay teams were destined for gold. But, they failed to properly run the race.

In the third leg of the men’s race they dropped the baton while trying to pass it. One of the racers made a final lunge to get the stick to the other before he ran out of the passing zone, but as his hand closed, the stick wasn't in it. It bounced off the rain-slick track, and the crowd gasped. The men did not finish the race and were disqualified.

The women had a similar problem, but when they dropped the baton the stop, picked it up, and ran to the finish line only seconds slower than the winner.

It is crucial that we pass the baton of gospel ministry to the next generation. That we don’t hold on to it, that we don’t drop it, but that we look to place it in the hands of the next capable person God is raising up.

This will take discipline and sacrifice; it will even seem hard at times, but, as Paul says in v.8 “Remember Christ risen from the dead, he could not be bound by death, and his word will never be bound.

It will not be an easy task, but remember Christ is risen from the dead!

Paul knew that had and would face much for the sake of the gospel. But in all things he remembered Christ.

risen from the dead.

fulfillment of the Prophets - he was the offspring of David.

The surety of eternal glory for God’s people.

vv.11-13 Paul shows the foundation of his hope in passing on the ministry to Timothy - it is the faithfulness of Christ!

If we died with him , we will be raised with him - for he died and he was raised.

If we endure, we will reign - for he endured and he reigns.

If we are faithless, he is faithful - for he trustworthy! He will judge the righteous and the unrighteous

Application | In order to entrust the message of the gospel faithfully I must trust in the power of Christ.

1. Participate by trusting in the power of Christ– Dear Christian do not get caught up in the popular topics of the day,

2. Pray, trusting in the power of Christ – Look to the risen Christ, the one who died so you can live, endured so you can reign, and is faithful at all times.

3. & Pass on the gospel by the power of Christ – trust in the faithfulness of God to reach the next generation through the equipping efforts of His church .

Engage the world as we embrace and share the life giving word of Christ

Equip the Church as we embrace and share the life changing word of Christ.

Entrust the next generation as we embrace and share the always relevant word of Christ.