2 TIMOTHY 2:1-7 - PERSEVERING PREACHER: SOLDIER, ATHLETE, FARMER

2 TIMOTHY 2:1-7

PERSEVERING PREACHER:

SOLDIER, ATHLETE, FARMER

2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Susie: Paul had led Timothy to the Lord and discipled him. Therefore, their relationship was like father and son.

Susan: Paul tells Timothy not to be wishy-washy. He did not want his son in the faith to be wimpy, wimpy, wimpy. He is to stand firm in his reliance on Jesus by the power of God’s grace through the Holy Spirit living in him.

Susie: He may have needed encouragement to stay the course, to press on, due to the pressure of people following after false teachers. Paul himself was a good example of standing strong in the gospel despite hardships and persecution.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Susie: When I was in a discipleship group working through books published by the Navigators, this was one of our memory verses. The principle imparted to us was that as we progressed through discipleship training, we should also be leading others to do the same—an each one teach one or two plan. Therefore, when we finished book one, we each enlisted one or two people to take through book one while we progressed to book two.

Susan: Timothy had personally witnessed Paul teaching the gospel truth many different places to many people. He taught alongside prominent teachers such as Luke and Barnabas who were also witnesses to the authenticity of the gospel message.

Susie: Paul urged Timothy to continue in his footsteps by training the future leadership of the Messianic Community, the church of Jesus Christ.

Susan: Timothy was to train those he taught to disseminate the truths of the gospel to the subsequent generation. The gospel, using this paradigm, would spread exponentially.

Susie: As Paul had fathered men such as Timothy and Titus, he expected them to be spiritual fathers to others. We, too, must be a part of spiritual reproduction by sharing what we have learned with the help of the Holy Spirit to those who are newer believers than ourselves.

2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Susie: Paul gives several illustrations for a Christian’s walk with and service for the Lord. The first is that of a soldier.

Susan: Timothy’s first inclination may have been to duck into his shell like a turtle, but Paul challenged him to stand his ground like soldier and to pursue the adversary rather than retreating.

2 Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Susie: When soldiers go out to battle, they do not take their spouses and children with them and continue their day jobs. While they are deployed, their total focus needs to be on the battle plan and following the orders of their superior officer.

Susan: As believers, we are not supposed to be so caught in problems, politics, economies, etc. that we neglect our duties to the Lord. Our main focus it to be on the Lord’s kingdom and its advancement.

Susie: We need to train ourselves, discipline ourselves, to listen for and heed the voice of our Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is done by consistent prayer and Bible study as well as surrounding ourselves with our fellow Christian soldiers, the greatest band of brothers (and sisters) in history.

2 Timothy 2:5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

Susie: “Strive for masteries” was speaking of competing in something like the Olympic Games. If the contestant breaks the rules, he or she is disqualified and cannot earn the medal, or in those days the crown of leaves.

Susan: We must serve the Lord in the way that He has set forth in His word. The end does not justify the means. If we do not do things the way God has set it up, whatever we have done contrary to God’s ways will be burned up.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Susie: What we do in the name of Jesus must be done according to God’s will and ways as revealed in the Bible. The athlete who wins the event has also sacrificially invested tremendous time and effort in training.

2 Timothy 2:6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

Susan: “Laboureth” is to work to the point of exhaustion. Timothy needed to work hard with his eye on the prize that God would bring the harvest in the fullness of time.

Susie: Although ministry may seem to be a thankless job much of the time, those who remain faithful to that which God has called them will certainly be rewarded by the Lord.

1 Corinthians 3:5-8 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

Susan: Timothy needed to ruminate on, think about, ponder all that Paul had written to him and taught him.

Susie: We, too, need to meditate on scripture and on scriptural teaching. We need to absorb the truth not just skim over it. May the Holy Spirit enlighten us as we immerse ourselves in the study of God’s word.

QUESTIONS

1.        Why did Paul address Timothy as “son”?

2.        Do you have a mother or father in the faith who has discipled (mentored) you? Describe that relationship.

3.        Do you have any sons or daughters in the faith?

4.        Memorize and internalize 2 Timothy 2:2. Was God giving this instruction to Timothy only? To pastors only? To Bible Study leaders only?

5.        Think of two believers newer to the faith than yourself. Make a plan for helping them to grow in their walk with the Lord.

6.        To what three occupations did Paul compare the Christian’s commitment? With which of these three do you identify most?

7.        Describe how you can improve in you spiritual training. Do you need a spiritual “personal trainer?” Have you been in the Holy Spirit’s boot camp long enough to become a spiritual personal trainer for someone else?