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I want to start back at verse one of chapter two and get a running start on our passage this morning.
2 Timothy 2:1-7, You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Here Paul gives Timothy four illustrations or pictures of what a Christian’s life should look like: a faithful teacher, a loyal soldier, a winning athlete, and a hard-working farmer. Since it is Father’s Day, we can turn these into a father’s counsel to his son – Paul to Timothy, our heavenly Father to each of us. “Son, here’s how to succeed in your Christian life. It will require discipline.” I can’t imagine any Christian who doesn’t want his or her life to count for eternity, or more specifically, to bring glory to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The most wonderful moment for believers will be when you stand before Christ and hear Him say to you, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.” You’ll be fully aware that anything you accomplished for Christ was purely by His grace. That’s why Paul started in verse one with that focus on the strength that only Christ through His grace can give. And it’s a strength that will empower you to be all God wants you to be. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So, let’s look at these four illustrations that hopefully God will use to motivate you onward to greater service for Christ.
#1 GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE A FAITHFUL TEACHER.
2 Timothy 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
We saw this a couple weeks ago, but let’s briefly revisit it again. You may remember the theme of 2 Timothy is to guard the truth (ch. 1), teach the truth (ch. 2), apply the truth (ch. 3), and preach the truth (ch. 4). God has given us a body of revelation, the truth of Scripture, and all of us have a responsibility to learn it and pass it along to others. This is mainly what discipling is all about. It was exciting this week in VBS to hear all the good teaching from Creation to Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation.
Being faithful means we will measure everything we read or hear by the Scriptures. Being faithful means we want to be as accurate as possible when we interpret the Scripture. And being faithful means we want to pass on the truths of God’s Word to the next generation. We want you to know it, love it, obey it, teach it, whether you’re a father, mother, single adult, or teenager. John wrote to younger men:
1 John 2:14b, I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
#2 GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE A LOYAL SOLDIER.
2 Timothy 2:3-4, Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
We’re in a spiritual battle. It is a war against our flesh, the godless ideologies of our world, and the devil. We need to remain loyal to our Lord Jesus Christ. That means handling hardships that come our way without compromising, quitting, or turning bitter under the hardships of the fight. Hardships are any trials or difficulties or persecution or opposition that come your way, circumstances you didn’t plan on. Paul speaks from lots of experience. Just listen to a few of his hardships in 2 Corinthians 11:27, “I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”
The Puritan Thomas Boston wrote a little book entitled The Crook In the Lot, based on Ecclesiastes 7:13.
Ecclesiastes 7:13, Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? (KJV)
The “crook” in your lot is something God brings into your life (your lot), which you can’t change or straighten out. Someone said Boston’s book is “one of the most profound and influential Christian texts ever written.” Thomas Boston knew hardship. He was prone to discouragement, was often in poor health, his wife suffered from chronic illness, and their greatest hardship (or crook in their lot) was to lose six of their ten babies. He was qualified to deal with the subject of the “crook” in his lot. Boston gives numerous biblical ways to handle the “crook” or the hardships that come your way. Here are just a few of them.
- Recognize God’s sovereignty – Ecclesiastes 7:13, “Which He has made crooked.” Whatever hardship you face, God is in it.
- Embrace humility like Job did – Job 1:21, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed by the name of the Lord.”
- Be assured of God’s love – Hebrews 12:6, “for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines.”
- Submit to God’s will like Christ did – Luke 22:42, “Yet not My will but Yours be done.”
- Seek Christ’s grace like Paul did when he struggled with that thorn in his flesh – 2 Cor. 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Christ assured Paul and all of us, however hard the battle, there is sufficient grace.
- Profit from the hardships – Romans 5:3, “We exult in tribulations, knowing tribulations work endurance.” John Knox wrote, “Trials are divine sculptors. They chisel away at our pride, carving us into humble vessels of His grace.”
- Keep an eternal perspective – 2 Corinthians 4:18, “We look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen.” The things seen are temporal; the things not seen are eternal.
A loyal soldier endures hardships. He stays in the battle, even when he feels terrible. He doesn’t turn back or quit. He keeps his heart free from distractions in order to please the Commander, Jesus Christ. God calls you to be a loyal, committed soldier in your Christian life.
#3 GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE A WINNING ATHLETE.
2 Timothy 2:5, Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
Paul was very familiar with Greek sports. He knew if you’re in it to win it, certain things are required including discipline and following the rules. One toe out of bounds may cost you the game. One drop of behavior-enhancing drugs has eliminated otherwise winners. One night of indulging the flesh has ruined many Christian leaders. But notice, we’re not running the race to be saved but because we are saved. Christ has qualified and equipped you to run. Tragically, many run a race their entire lives and get to the end and discover they’ve been running the wrong race. Every believer in this room is God’s cross-country runner – a heavenly footman, as John Bunyan called us.
Let’s look at Paul’s own protocol for running the race for Christ in 1 Corinthians 9.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
That is so good! Paul was running for an eternal reward, an imperishable crown. He was in it to win it. What’s involved?
A winner’s mentality – “Run in such a way that you may win!” This is the purpose of a race. You don’t find godly men and women coasting into heaven on beds of ease. Athletes don’t compete hoping to lose; neither are they passive about winning or losing. Athletes are there to win! The Greeks made a big deal out of winners. Winners were greatly celebrated, lifted on shoulders to the applause of the crowd, and showered with flowers. They rode home in a triumphal chariot and the walls of their city were broken down if necessary to give them entrance. Some were supported by the public treasury and exempted from taxes. Imagine the heavenly reception of God’s spiritual athletes – those steadfast believers who were burned, drowned, and tortured but remained faithful. They loved Christ, loved God, walked with God, and when they left this world, they knew it was worth it all, like the chorus says, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!”
Personal discipline – If you’re going to win spiritually you must discipline yourself and exercise self-control. What does self-control mean? It means controlling yourself. It means making your body do what your mind knows you should do. You’re in control, not your body. In verse 27 Paul says he disciplines his body and makes it his slave.” Discipline (hupopiadzo) means to beat myself under the eye, in the face. That’s self-control. That’s doing the right thing when everything in you is screaming to back off. Anyone who is going to win that imperishable wreath of victory is going to develop the Christian disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, attending church, and making yourself available to others. You’re going to work hard to deny the desires of the body, but rather put on the fruit of the Spirit. Maybe it means dragging your sack of bones out of bed to spend some time in the Word before starting your day. Or maybe it is speaking up for Christ when you are tempted to keep silent.
There’s a story from 1954 of two runners who competed for the mile. Roger Bannister had become the first man in history to run a mile in less than four minutes, in 3.59 minutes. Two months later John Landy beat that record by 1.4 seconds. On August 7, 1954, the two met for a historic race. Landy was ahead as they headed into the last lap. As he ran, Landy wondered where Bannister was. He turned his head to look and that’s when Bannister took the lead. Landy told a reporter, “If I hadn’t looked back, I would have won.” When the Lord told Lot and his family to flee Sodom, He warned them, “Don’t look back.” That was Mrs. Lot’s fatal mistake. Her heart was still in Sodom, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Hebrews 12:1-2 calls us to run the race with endurance, looking where? “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Play by the rules – Winning Christian athletes must play by the rules. How do people cheat in their Christian lives? You can’t preach purity to your children or others all the while feeding your lusts on pornography or letting your eyes go where they shouldn’t or dressing seductively. You’ve got to walk closely with God like Enoch. You must feed on God’s Word like the Psalmist, “O how I love your law; it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). You must take time for prayer and meditation. You must keep short accounts with your sin by confessing to God. You must turn away from every rising sin, fleshly attraction, malicious spirit, pride, arrogance, and resenting correction and discipline. Guard your tongue. Redeem your time – don’t waste it on worthless pursuits. Take heed to yourself, as Paul told Timothy. Keep your heart tender and responsive to God. Don’t quit and don’t get distracted by the world like Demas, who loved this present world. Don’t become a Christian casualty. We’ve seen one Christian leader after another go out of bounds. And remember, your strength is not in yourself. You can’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Run to God who is your strength; it’s in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Second Timothy 2:1 – His grace is sufficient for every one of us.
Run for an imperishable crown – Paul says we’re running for an imperishable crown, not just a laurel crown that will be wilted before you even get home. We’re running for eternity! We’re running to win. We’re not running to be saved, but because we are saved. There should be an enthusiastic aggressiveness about our Christian lives. In Philippians 3:12 Paul says he pressed on. And in verse 13 he’s reaching forward, stretching out toward the goal of that imperishable wreath, which is probably Christ’s “Well done!” In 2 Timothy 4 Paul rejoices in his imminent homecoming like this.
2 Timothy 4:7-8, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
God’s calling all of us to be faithful teachers, loyal soldiers, winning athletes, and now…
#4 GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE A HARD-WORKING FARMER.
2 Timothy 2:6, The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
I want to introduce you to George, the hard-working farmer. The Greek word for farmer is georgon or worker of the earth, i.e. George! If there is one thing about farmers, at least successful ones, they are hard workers. They don’t sit under their vine and fig tree and just watch the harvest fall into their laps. What does a farmer do? He gets up at 4:30 in the morning to milk and feed the cows. Then gather the eggs and feed the pigs. He must prepare the fields, plowing, fertilizing, cultivating, sowing, weeding, harvesting, fixing broken fences and equipment. Plus, farmers have to deal with frequent disappointments of early frosts, blight, weeds, drought, floods. Farmers must have a long view. You don’t plant and harvest in a week or even a month. But after months of labor and hope, there comes the joy of harvesting and reaping the fruit of all that work.
God expects you and me to work hard in our Christian lives. There is always something we can do to serve the Lord. This is not a time for spiritual sluggards. The word “hard-working” is the Greek word kopiao, which has the idea of working to the point of exhaustion. Paul commended Mary and Persis, who both worked hard in the Lord (Rom. 16:6,12). The former thief in Ephesians 4:28 is to learn to work hard so he will have something to share with others who have need. First Thessalonians 5:18 says we should appreciate those who diligently labor among us. And 1 Timothy 5:17 says we’re to work hard at preaching and teaching.
On the other hand, Jesus told the story about the three slaves who were given ten, five, and one talent. The first two diligently worked with their talents and doubled them. They were both well-rewarded for their labors. But the slave who only got one talent buried it, afraid of his Master. The Master sharply rebuked him as a wicked, lazy slave and cast him to outer darkness. God expects us to use the gifts and talents He has given us, to invest them for His glory.
We must be willing to sow and water and then trust God for the increase without getting discouraged. We’re not in charge of the harvest; we need to be faithful in giving the message. First Corinthians 3:6-9 says some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. There are times when you may sow and sow and sow, and it seems your seed just gets washed away by the world. Keep sowing. That’s what hard-working farmers do. They don’t quit. They replant.
Paul says the farmer must first feed himself before he feeds others. That just makes sense. If you don’t eat from your harvest, you soon won’t have strength to harvest. Before you can feed others God’s message, you need to feed on God and His truth yourself. To fail to feed yourself is to make yourself worthless to feed others. Like oxygen in airplanes, first put the mask on yourself; then you’ll be able to put one on your child. So, before we can effectively feed others God’s Word, we must feed on it, meditate on it, pray over it ourselves. Every sermon a pastor prepares, he must preach to himself first.
GOD WANTS YOU TO THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT ALL THIS.
2 Timothy 2:7, Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Ponder, cogitate, meditate, think carefully about how all this applies to your life. All these pictures of the Christian’s life – teaching, fighting, running, and working speak of endurance, self-control, discipline, pleasing our Commander, gaining the eternal prize and reward – never quitting or being slothful, or lazy. These qualities are just what we need to serve the Lord and win that imperishable crown Paul talked about.
SO WHAT?
So, what about you? First, are you running God’s race, on God’s team, working in God’s field? Do you know Christ as the Lord and King over your life? Have you bowed your knee to Christ as your Lord and Savior who went up on that cross to die in the place of sinners?
Are you disciplining yourself under the control of God’s Spirit, willing to forgo some things that may be legitimate for the sake of coming in a winner for Christ. Are you being faithful to the end?
Are you running according to the rules? Are you staying within God’s boundaries of His Word?
Are you working hard as a Christian or just lollygagging your way along, a sluggard taking up God’s space? Are you cultivating your heart and planting it with the seeds of God’s Word and prayer? Like a well-trained soldier, do you have the disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, teaching your family, your own children?