You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. This is God's word.
If you'll remember, last Lord's Day, Paul said all who were in Asia had turned away from him. They'd all had abandoned him. He was alone, and this was because Paul was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a very offensive message. And people had deserted him and left him, and he reaches out to Timothy, and he says, Timothy, if you're going to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, you too will be deserted. You will be abandoned, and you too will suffer.
So Paul says, but be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Those are Paul's words of encouragement to Timothy. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus is this wonderful doctrine called union with Christ. Paul uses this phrase, in Christ Jesus, over 200 times in the New Testament. And this doctrine of union with Christ, it's expansive. It reaches from eternity past to eternity future, if we can even use those terms. And in Christ, union with Christ is the source of our salvation.
It's the heartbeat of the Christian faith, is that we're either in Adam or we're in Christ Jesus. There are only two teams in this world. They're not any gray, there's no rainbow color, it is black and white. You're either in Adam, dead in your trespasses and sins, or you are in Christ Jesus. How were you chosen before the foundation of the world? In Christ Jesus. How were you predestined? In Christ Jesus. How were you regenerated? In Christ Jesus. How were you justified? In Christ Jesus. How were you adopted? In Christ Jesus. How were you redeemed? In Christ Jesus. How were you reconciled to God? In Christ Jesus. How were you positionally sanctified? In Christ Jesus. How were you progressively sanctified? In Christ Jesus. How are you made a new creation? in Christ Jesus. How do you preserve all the way to the end? How do you persevere to the very last day? It's always in Christ Jesus. How do you get any kind of assurance of your salvation? In Christ Jesus. How do you grow in the grace? In Christ Jesus. How do you accomplish anything in life? You can do nothing apart from me. How do you accomplish anything in life? In Christ Jesus. Where is your life or you have died and your life is hidden? In Christ Jesus. How do you die? In Christ Jesus. How are you resurrected? In Christ Jesus.
This is the wonderful doctrine of union with Christ and the great theologian John Murray says there is no truth therefore more suited to impart confidence and strength comfort and joy in the Lord than this one of union with Christ.
So what does Paul tell Timothy? To strengthen him.
He says you're strengthened in the grace, the grace, the grace in Christ Jesus. You're going to suffer Timothy but you need to be strengthened by that grace that only comes from being in Christ Jesus. Let's take a look at this text. I want you to see two things this morning. The first thing is Paul says to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. So the first word is strengthened. How many of you need to be strengthened today? You feel a little weak and wore out from this past week. I do. Exhausted. I need to be strengthened in Christ Jesus. So he says number one be strengthened. Number two stay focused. Timothy be strengthened but stay focused like the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer. You'll notice those three examples that he's going to give. We'll get to that in just a minute. So number one be strengthened. Go back to the text. Take a look at verses one and two. He says you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard for me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. What does it mean to be strengthened in Christ Jesus? Well this word strengthened, the root word actually is dunamis which would be dynamite. This is a dynamite that's actually a passive verb. So what's Paul saying to Timothy? He says be continually strengthened. This is something that's happening to you. Not something that you're doing but something that's being acted upon you. Remember when Paul's talking about spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter 6 he says finally be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might.
You see Paul's always pointing Christians back to the Lord because man our attention can get off to other things in life can it not? I get strength from here, I get strength, no you get strength from the Lord. Stand in his might because here Paul says that strength is something that God is doing to you in Christ Jesus daily. And how does Timothy have union with Christ? Well there's one word here, grace.
See Paul's not telling Timothy to go off and sing that hymn, I have decided to follow Jesus. No, no, no, no. It's not what Timothy is being told by Paul. Paul just told him that Jesus decided to save Timothy and he will keep Timothy.
Jesus has some very strong words that if you don't remember anything from this sermon or you haven't memorized any scripture in a while turn to John chapter 10 verse 28 and remember, memorize, actually use the brain, don't look up Lord Google, but memorize it for yourself. John chapter 10 verse 28.
Jesus says I give them eternal life. Who gives eternal life? Do you? Does anyone else? No. Jesus says I give eternal life and they will never perish and no one will be able to pluck them from my hand. This is passive. We're passive in this. God is active in Christ Jesus strengthening us. If we'll just go back and read his word and see what he has done for us in the past, what he's doing for us right now, we are being strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You know Jude actually says to keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves? Well how do we keep ourselves in the love of God? Well Jude 1 actually says this, to those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
Jesus does the keeping. What Jesus saves Jesus will not lose. So how could Timothy be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Well Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6 that God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That is one verse with three points of doctrine of union with Christ. It's always about being in Christ. It's always about him doing the strengthening. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 Paul actually says that God the Father has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
You know what that means for you and I? It means we have to sit down and read our Bibles and think about what God says.
Boy the world, the flesh, and the devil creep in don't they?
How many of you have heard noise this week? The white noise of the world. Commercials, movies, radio programs.
Paul says Timothy tune in to your union with Christ so that you be strengthened. But there's another way you can be strengthened. Go back to the text look at it. He says and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust the faithful men who will be able to teach others also. First Paul preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and Timothy he came to faith. Secondly Timothy you came to faith in Christ. You're not crazy because there are other men who have come to faith in Christ since you shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know you're not crazy. You can see these people coming to faith strong in their faith walking with the Lord Jesus Christ in Christ Jesus and thirdly he says you should entrust it to faithful men who are able to teach.
Side caveat. Did that say women? Women should be teaching as well. Their children, their grandchildren. But this is where the Christian faith takes a stand isn't it? Especially against our cultural norms and this has crept into the church. If any of you have been a part of a PCUSA church you will see there are women who are ordained as elders. Some churches have women who are ordained as pastors.
Paul was pretty specific here even in the original Greek and why? Because man was made first and man actually needs to lead the family the way God designed it but because we like to abdicate our responsibility because it's hard because maybe our kids and our wife may not want to go the same direction we become wimps.
Christian faith is calling us back to the foundation of Genesis the way God designed it to be for the men to lead in the church for the men to love their wives and their families.
Paul says here give this to other men who are able to teach this same doctrine to strengthen others in the faith. This is a cogent argument for suffering for the gospel of Jesus Christ because there are many who have come to faith and who are still waiting. You will see that Paul says in the verses after this that he does everything for the sake of the elect. Those are Paul's words.
He says I evangelize for the sake of the elect. Why do I go to a high school to share the gospel of Jesus Christ? I do everything for the sake of the elect because there are some who are going to come to faith in Jesus Christ. There's a guarantee from God. That strengthens. Knowing that when you share the good news there are people who are coming to faith. It's not well I sure hope they make a good decision for Christ. I hope I educate them well.
No, Paul says he's a preacher of the gospel. Preaching is foolishness to man who is dying and perishing.
I was told years ago that preaching is out of date. You need just to communicate. Be a warm communicator. The Bible says, Paul says, Timothy, preach. Proclaim the good news. Be a man who's not afraid of a culture, but you stand up and you preach that there are sinners in need of a Savior and you're doomed for eternal hell if you do not turn to him.
So be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. But how can he be strengthened? Paul gives him three examples. Go back to the text. He talks about a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Look at verses 3 through 7. He says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. First, Paul talks about a soldier. Are soldiers strong? Yes. What do soldiers do? They have to fight. What is Paul saying to Timothy? You're probably going to have to fight, Timothy.
None of us want to fight. Timothy didn't want to fight because Timothy was timid. But Paul says, you need to be a good, strong soldier. What do soldiers do? They stay focused on the mission. What's the mission? Jesus Christ gave us the mission. If we just go back to his word and remember what he said, he came to seek and to save the lost. But because of sin, we complicate things, don't we?
Here he says, be a good soldier. Share in the suffering. Be a good soldier. Be strengthened. Stay focused on the task.
You see what Paul's saying to Timothy? He says, you cannot have spiritual ADD. You cannot have attention deficit disorder, Timothy. Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Stay focused on Jesus. What did Jesus tell us? Soldiers.
In our day, men and women get to enlist in the military. But what does the Bible say about those in the Lord's army? Well, go back to the text, look at it. It says, your aim is to please the one who enlisted you.
Uh-oh.
You're enlisted by God. Divinely drafted, hand-picked. There's no draft dodgers in this one. God's the one who divinely picked you to be in his army as a soldier. That's great comfort, isn't it? If God's the one who says, you're mine, you're thinking, I'm not a blue chipper. I mean, I didn't make very high on the SAT. I went to public school. I'm not that smart. And yet God says, you've been enlisted by me. You're in my army. You're my soldier. You're going to battle for me. That's what Paul is telling Timothy. And that's what he's telling Christians for 2,000 years through his word. And when God picks someone, he sticks with them. And he strengthens them so they can stay focused. Secondly, he says, Timothy, remember the athlete. Consider the athlete. An athlete is crowned, is not crowned, unless he competes according to the rules. Are athletes strong? Yes. They're lean machines. They have to work out. They have to train their bodies. They beat their bodies in submission.
That's why you can tell an athlete, you can tell one who's been performing at a high level, their body frame and style looks a little different. Their lifestyle is completely different than the people around them. And here he says, you have to compete according to the rules. You're spiritually fit. Timothy, you're spiritually fit. God has made you a soldier, but you're also an athlete. And if you remember, historically speaking, at this time when Paul writes it, the evergreen leaf would have been that crown, would have been that reward when you compete as an athlete. But Paul says something in 2 Timothy 4, 7. He says, I have fought the good fight. I finished the race. I've kept the faith.
Henceforth, there's 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. What does Paul say in 2 Timothy? He says, Jesus is your reward. You're an athlete. You're going through spiritual fitness. The great pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones has a whole sermon on God's gymnasium. And he says, the world that we live in today is God's gymnasium. And if you're in Christ Jesus, he's taking you through a workout regimen. You're doing cardio. You're doing push-ups. You're doing sit-ups. I mean, how many of you love doing push-ups? That's what I thought.
Every day, you're doing spiritual push-ups, though. God's putting you through things. I remember we studied James. We were to count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know, the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Spiritual push-ups. Every day, walking you through the highs and the lows and the ordinary of life. Yes, even the ordinary. We do not live in the extraordinary 100% of the time. That's like saying I'm completely infatuated with my life after 50 years of marriage. Does that happen for anyone who's in here when you're 60 years in marriage? No, you learn you're a sinner. And you're a sinner, too.
Ordinary, everyday life, day in and day out, being spiritually built up and rooted in Christ. And that's what he says for an athlete. An athlete wakes up every morning at the same time. He gets up. He hits the road. He's running. He has to get his workout in. Then he eats his good food. He goes off and does other training. And that's what Paul's telling Timothy. Stay focused. Be disciplined. These are words that are easy to say, hard to do. But did you notice the third example? Go back to your text. He talks about a farmer.
Now, just for a second, isn't this a little awkward? It's a little off, isn't it? I mean, a soldier, an athlete, farmer. Soldiers, athletes, you know, people love soldiers and athletes. They receive accolades, rewards, medallions. What about farmers? Well, Jesus says no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. The farmer's life is completely different than the soldier or the athlete. Why?
Yes, they have some similarities. You get up every morning early. You get going. You're busy. You're disciplined. Yes. But when's the last time you were sitting around your dinner table with your family, with your kids, your grandkids, your great-grandkids, and someone had a piece of broccoli and they began to chew on it and they said, way to go, farmer.
Awesome. Thank you so much for that piece of broccoli.
Doesn't happen, does it? I mean, nobody's doing the farmer tomahawk chop, right? Because he's a farmer. Nobody sees him. Nobody cares about him. He's up early. He goes to bed late. He's in the extreme cold, the extreme heat. He's in the dust. That's why they call it a farmer's blow. Does anybody know what that means? We'll talk about it later. It's a hard-working man who's not seen by anyone and yet here it says he should get the first share of the crops. He should get the best. Why? Because he's working and he's not asking anyone to pat him on the back.
You see the progression here. Timothy, be a soldier. Be an athlete. But Timothy, be the farmer. You know, your true religion is what happens when no one's looking. It's easy to show up on Sunday. It's easy to go to a 6 a.m. Bible study. Okay, I may be lying,
but it's difficult day in and day out to pick up this thing as the first thing you pick up in the morning.
As soon as you get out of bed, you're saying, I can't wait to spend some time with you. I need to hear from you. No, it's reading.
We live in a day where people send emoji texts. We've now reverted to hieroglyphics like the Egyptians. Why would we ever put together a sentence? Just thumbs up. Smiley face.
Paul says, be a farmer. Work hard, Timothy. People like to eat the olives, but they don't care about the men who produce it. Farmers are not lazy people. And the Bible warns us about sluggards. And we've already read it, but I'm gonna read it to you again so you can pick up your bulletin.
Proverbs are replete with examples of sluggers. Here's what it says again. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. The slugger does not plow in the autumn. He will seek at harvest and have nothing. The slugger buries his hand in the dish. It wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. I passed by the field of a slugger, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was overgrown with thorns. The ground was covered with nettles and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw, considered, I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man.
Farmers are not lazy people because they know what they reap. They will sow. Whatever you sow, you will reap. Stay focused.
Stay focused. Stay focused on Christ, Timothy.
He's telling us the same thing today, and if we sow, we will reap, but what are we winning?
Well, Proverbs chapter 11, verse 30, Solomon says, he who wins souls is wise. I love that verse. You need to write that down. Proverbs 1130.
Jesus says, the harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest and send out labors into his harvest. What did Paul sow and reap? Well, Paul says in 1st Corinthians, to the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I've become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. What did Paul win? He says, I won them. I. Yes, God the Holy Spirit regenerates people's hearts, but how does he do it? Through his people. We are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. Paul says, I won them. I opened my mouth. I pursued them. I shared the gospel with them. Paul saying this to Timothy as well. You, Timothy, you're going to suffer. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Stay focused on Christ, but win many souls to Christ. Share the good news as much as possible.
And Paul says in 1st Corinthians, but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, but was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
What are you winning today? I know what I want to win.
You know, most of you know this. I played baseball in high school, played baseball in college. I got a scholarship. I love winning. I hate losing. I will do anything to win. I might even cheat. I hate losing.
Do you hate losing for Christ? Do you want to win souls to Christ? Is he really that good to you? Do you really have that close of a relationship where you say, I've got to share this with other people. Other people need to know this good news. They need to know this Savior. I can't hold it in. I've got to tell more people.
That's the way Paul was. That's what he's trying to do with Timothy. Timothy, you know Jesus is good. Jesus is better. He's better than anything you've ever experienced. He's been so good to you. He's been so good to your your mother and your grandmother, your whole family.
Timothy, you've seen all these people come to faith through your preaching in a pagan city. Timothy, go suffer for the sake of the gospel. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and stay focused like the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer. And notice how Paul finishes this section. Go back to the text. He says, think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Paul just plagiarized from Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6, if you ever wondered where that came from. Proverbs 2 6 says, for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
A couple minutes ago, Ed prayed from up here so that we would read our Bibles throughout the week by ourselves, but he also took it a step further and he said for you to study your Bible by yourself. Study. That means to apply. That means to memorize. That means to think deeply. That actually means, as the Puritans were fond of saying, that you need to meditate on the scripture. Meditate, meaning how does this apply to my life right now, because God does not waste time. And if you read a passage like this past week, I'm reading through Deuteronomy.
You read through Deuteronomy thinking, Lord, there's some antiquated things here, and yet God doesn't waste one breath on us because all scripture is God-breathed and profitable.
Read it. Memorize it. Understand it and meditate to ask God, alright Holy Spirit, how does this apply in my life right now, because you're trying to teach me something. Do you want to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you do that best? Word, prayer.
You get to do that every single day. Word, prayer. Nobody's stopping you. You have the ability. You have the opportunity. Word, prayer.
I know it's ordinary, but yet if you stick with those ordinary, there's some extraordinary things that will take place in your life. You will be strengthened in Christ Jesus, and do not neglect to meet together. Meet with other Christians. Pray with other Christians, because God has promised to bless us when we gather together. This morning, our you in Christ Jesus? Maybe you're here and you're not a Christian.
I'd love to talk with you after the service. I'd love to follow up. I'd love to grab lunch. I'd love to talk to you about Christ, because I've already given you full disclosure. I want to win you to Christ, because there is nothing better in this world than to be in Christ Jesus. Let's pray.