WITH THE GRACE OF CHRIST:
1. ENDURE IN SUFFERING. (2:1–13).
A. WORKING HARD FOR A FAITHFUL GOD.
B. HOLDING STEADFAST TO THE TRUTH.
2. STAY CREDITABLE. (2:14–26).
C. KEEPING THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING.
WORK HARD, DON'T QUIT, STAY FOCUSED.
I. WITH THE GRACE OF CHRIST,
ENDURE IN SUFFERING. (2:1–7).
AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF CHRIST JESUS.
A. WORKING HARD FOR A FAITHFUL GOD. (1-7).
1. BE STRONG IN GRACE.
A. Be Strong:
In The Encouragement That Is In Christ Jesus.
B. Be Strong:
In The Strength That Is In Christ Jesus.
C. Be Strong:
In The Grace That Is In Christ Jesus:
2. SPREAD THE WORD AMONG FAITHFUL MEN.
A. The Words You Have Heard From Me Among Witnesses:
The Body Of Truth That He Had Heard From The Apostle In The Presence Of Many Others.
B. Commit These To Faithful Men:
God Gave Ministry Responsibility To Timothy.
Not For Him To Keep To Himself,
But For Him To Pass On To Others.
AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HIS WORK AS A PASTOR
WAS TO POUR INTO OTHERS
WHAT GOD HAD COMMITTED TO HIM.
Timothy Was To Teach Others:
Simple Apostolic Doctrine.
Simple Examples That He Had Heard From Paul.
When Timothy Looked For Those Whom:
He Could Pour Apostolic Doctrine And Practice Into.
He Was To Look For The Quality Of Faithfulness.
Paul Told Him To Look For Faithful Men.
He Didn’t Need To Find Smart Men, Popular Men,
Strong Men, Easy Men, Perfect Men, Handsome Men.
C. Who Will Be Able To Teach Others:
HE WAS TRAINING OTHERS TO TRAIN OTHERS.
THIS PATTERN WAS TO PERPETUATE THE GOSPEL.
3. PERSEVERE FOR GOD WITH A SOLDIER’S ATTITUDE.
A. You Therefore MUST:
This Was Not A Suggestion.
It Carries The Sense Of A Command.
There Was Something That Timothy Had To Do.
B. Endure Hardship As A Good Solider:
Timothy Must Take The Attitude Of Soldier.
Expect To Endure Hardship For The Cause.
No Real Solider Gives Up Because Of Hardship.
C. No One Engaged In Warfare Entangles Himself With The Affairs Of This Life:
Timothy Must Take The Attitude Of A Solider,
Who Willingly Separates Himself From Civilian Life.
Soliders HaveTo Give Up Many Things.
Some Of Them Are Bad Things.
(Pride, Independence, Self-Will),
Some Of Them Are Good Things.
(His Home, His Family).
A SOLDIER NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP
THESE THINGS IS NOT A SOLDIER AT ALL.
D. That He May Please Him Who Enlisted Him:
Soldiers Must Endure.
Soldiers Must Put Away Entanglements For The Mission.
Soldiers Could Now Please Their Commanding Officer.
4. PERSEVERE FOR GOD WITH AN ATHLETE’S ATTITUDE.
A. If Anyone Competes In Athletics:
Paul Often Drew Upon The World Of Athletics For Illustrations Of The Christian Life:
Mentioning Track And Field In Corinthians.
Boxing In Corinthians.
Wrestling In Ephesians.
B. He Is Not Crowned Unless He Competes According To The Rules: The Point Is Clear.
An Athlete Can’t Make Up The Rules As He Pleases.
Do Not Think You Can Make Your Own Rules.
Do Not Think That YOUR Sin Is OKAY With God.
Do Not Think You Have A Special Understanding With Him
This Thinking Goes Against The Rules For A Soldier.
5. PERSEVERE FOR GOD WITH A FARMER'S ATTITUDE.
A. The Hard-Working Farmer:
Timothy Was To Have The Attitude Of A Farmer.
Farmers Are Hard-Working.
All Who Serve The Lord Should Be Hard-Working.
Nothing Glamorous About The Work A Farmer Does.
His Ministry Would Have Been Far Less Than It Was If He
Had Not Worked Hard.
B. Must Be The First To Partake Of The Crops:
When Timothy Had Spiritual Food To Give To The Congregation, He Must Eat Of It First.
If He Wasn’t Being Fed From The Word Of God, He Couldn’t Really Feed Others.
6. LOOKING TO THE LORD FOR UNDERSTANDING.
A. Consider What I Say:
A Soldier, An Athlete, A Farmer.
Each Occupation Needs
Great Perseverance To Succeed.
The Solider Who Stops Fighting
Before The Battle Is Finished Will Never See Victory.
The Athlete Who Stops Running
Before The Race Is Over Will Never Win The Race.
The Farmer Who Stops Working
Before The Harvest Is Complete Will Never See The Fruit.
AGAIN: WITH THE GRACE OF CHRIST,
ENDURE IN SUFFERING. (2:8–13).
HOLD ON TILL THE END.
B. HOLDING STEADFAST TO THE TRUTH. (8-13).
THE CONTENT OF THE GOOD NEWS.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE GOOD NEWS.
1. THE CONTENT OF PAUL’S GOSPEL.
Remember: Keep This In The Forefront Of His Ministry.
A. Jesus Christ, Of The Seed Of David:
Timothy Needed To Keep The Fact That Jesus Was The Messiah Of Israel – The Seed Of David – In The Forefront Of His Preaching.
This Statement Means That Jesus Was Fully Man.
Raised From The Dead Means Jesus Was Fully God.
Remember And Teach The Truth About Who Jesus Was.
B. Who Was Raised From The Dead:
This Is The Great Fact.
The Great Credential Of The Authenticity Of Jesus Christ. His Resurrection From The Dead.
C. According To My Gospel:
The Gospel Belonged To Paul:
In The Sense That He Preached It.
The Gospel Belonged To Him:
In The Sense That He Believed It.
For Paul, The Best News Was NOT About More Money, More Love, More Status, Or More Stuff.
The Good News Was About A Real Relationship With God Thru The Finished Work Of Jesus Christ On The Cross.
2. THE CONSEQUENCES OF PAUL’S GOSPEL.
A. For Which I Suffer:
This Gospel Did Not Bring Paul A Life Of Glamour And Ease. It Brought Him A Life Full Of Adventure And Challenge, And A Life Also Marked By Suffering.
B. To The Point Of Chains;
But The Word Of God Is Not Chained:
Paul’s Wrist Was Shackled While Writing This.
PAUL ENDURES THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE GOSPEL.
A. I Endure All Things For The Sake Of The Elect:
Love For God Could Reliably Be Measured By Love Others.
B. That They May Obtain The Salvation:
Paul’s Life Was Not Spent Merely In Getting People Rescued In Jesus, But Also In Seeing Them Grow And Become Complete In Their Relationship With Him.
C. Eternal Glory:
The Idea Of Eternal Glory Is Hard For Us To Comprehend. The Bible Tells Us There Is A Glory That Belongs To The People Of God In Eternity That Is Greater Than Any Earthly Glory.
ETERNAL GLORY IS WORTH
MUCH MORE
THAN EARTHLY GLORY.
PAUL DESCRIBES HIS GOSPEL WITH A FAITHFUL SAYING.
A. This Is A Faithful Saying:
An Early Christian Hymn Known To His Audience.
B. For If We Died With Him, We Shall Also Live With Him:
A Promise Of Resurrection To Those Who Died In Christ.
C. If We Endure, We Shall Also Reign With Him:
The Song Assures The Faithful Believer Of Eternal Reward.
D. If We Deny Him, He Also Will Deny Us:
The Song Warns To Deny Jesus Is For Him To Deny Them.
E. If We Are Faithless, He Still Remains Faithful:
We Cannot Deny Jesus And We Must Keep Our Allegiance.
2. WITH THE GRACE OF CHRIST,
STAY CREDITABLE. (2:14–26).
FOCUS ON THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
C. KEEPING THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING.
1. KEEP FOCUSED;
A. Remind Them Of These Things:
The Church Is Constantly Tempted To Lose Focus.
Is Tempted To Become An Entertainment Center,
A Social Service Agency, Or Any Number Of Other Things.
But This Temptation Must Be Resisted.
B. Strive Not About Words That Profit Nothing:
The Church Must Stand For The Truth,
It Must Not Become A Debating Society.
C. To The Ruin Of The Hearers:
If We Take The Focus Off The Message Of God
And Put The Focus On Human Opinions And Debates,
IT WILL RESULT IN THE RUIN OF THE HEARERS.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LIFE AND MINISTRY.
A. Be Diligent:
Paul Had To Exhort Timothy To Be Brave And Take Action.
B. To Present Yourself Approved To God:
Not For Approval To People, But To God.
C. A Worker Who Does Not Need To Be Ashamed:
The Bible Warns Us That The Work Of Each Christian Will Be Examined At The Judgment Seat Of Christ.
Work Diligently For The Lord
So We Will Not Be Ashamed
When Our Work Is Examined.
D. Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth:
What Was The Focus Of Timothy’s Hard Work.
He Was To Work Hard To Rightly Divide The Word Of God.
To Know What It Said And Didn’t Say,
How It Was To Be Understood
How It Was Not To Be Understood.
It Wasn’t Enough For Timothy To Know Some Bible Stories And Verses And Sprinkle Them Through His Sermons As Illustrations.
RIGHTLY DIVIDING HAS SEVERAL IDEAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANCIENT TERM.
· Rightly Handle The Word Of God,
As One Would Rightly Handle A Sword.
· Plow Straight With The Word Of God,
Properly Presenting The Essential Doctrines.
· Properly Dissect And Arrange The Word Of God,
As A Priest Would Prepare An Animal For Sacrifice.
· Allot To Each Their Portion,
As Someone Distributing Food At A Table.
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS
WRONGLY DIVIDING.
NOT EVERYONE CUTS IT STRAIGHT.
BIBLICAL TRUTH:
Not Just Left Up To Any Interpretation.
Has A Right Way And A Wrong Way To Understand It.
Does Not Mean Just What Anyone Wants It To Mean.
Does Not Mean You Can Twist It To Mean What You Want.
3. THE PRICE OF NOT KEEPING FOCUS:
The Faith Of Some Is Overthrown.
But Reject Profane And Idle Babblings.
For They Will Increase To More Ungodliness.
And Their Message Will Spread Like Cancer.
TWO MEN Strayed From The Truth.
They Did Overthrow The Faith Of Same.
A. But Shun Profane And Idle Babblings:
Profane: Unholy In Contrast To The Holiness Of God’s Word.
Idle: Though People Like To Hear Them But No True Value.
Man’s Opinions, Man’s Teachings, Man’s Opinion Polls, Man’s Stories, Man’s Programs, Are All Profane And Idle Babblings Compared To The Simple Word Of God.
When These Things Become The Focus Of The Message From The Pulpit, It Will Increase To More Ungodliness.
B. Their Message Will Spread Like Cancer:
The Message Of Profane And Idle Babblings
May Spread Quickly And Be Popular.
Like A Cancer Spreads Fast And Captures An Audience.
Apparently,
The Message Was Somewhat Popular, Because It Spread Quickly.
Apparently,
They Started Out Correctly, And Then Strayed From That Correct Position.
Apparently,
They Were Teaching That We Were Already In God’s Millennial Kingdom, Or That There Was No Resurrection To Come – It Had Already Occurred.
Apparently,
They Did Overthrow The Faith Of Some.
Apparently,
This Was Not Their Only Error; And A Fundamental Error In Such An Area Often Leads To Abandonment Of Faith.
MANY TODAY ACCEPT AND HONOR TEACHERS
WHO ARE WAY OFF IN ONE AREA OR ANOTHER;
THEY JUSTIFY IT BY SAYING,
“I EAT THE MEAT AND SPIT OUT THE BONES.”
This Kind Of Thinking Will Certainly Overthrow The Faith Of Some Because Some Will Certainly Choke To Spiritual Death On The Bones You Say You Spit Out.
4. THE REWARD OF FOCUS:
Nevertheless,
The Solid Foundation Of God Stands:
The Lord Knows Those Who Are His:
The First Inscription On The Seal.
If The Faith Of Some Is Overthrown.
But The Lord Knows His Own.
The Second Inscription On The Foundation Of God.
He Calls Those Who Are His To Leave Their Sin.
TO LIVE YOUR LIFE AND BE USED BY GOD.
Sanctified And Useful:
Prepared For Every Good Work:
Flee Also Youthful Lusts:
Pursue Righteousness, Faith, Love, Peace:
SO, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED TODAY?
TO BUILD A FAITHFUL CHURCH THAT WILL LAST :
WORK HARD AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS.
HOLD FIRM TO THE TRUTH TILL THE END.
STAY CREDITABLE AND FOCUS ON THE GOSPEL.
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