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30.
What is the world?
War.
It's such a real church.
The story brought joy.
Oh God.
Thy Lord.
Could be.
Ruined, all of it will stop.
My 4:00.
Great.
Sores.
The Holy.
We see.
And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life.
That he may please him who had chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that Laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding on all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer even unto bonds. But the word of God is not bound.
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Therefore I endure all things for the elects sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
It is a faithful saying, For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself of these things. Put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no prophet, but to the subverting of the hearers study to show they self approved unto God. A Workman that needeth not to be ashamed.
Rightly dividing the word of truth.
But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
And their word will eat, as doth a canker, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth shore having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the masters use and prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts that follow righteousness, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace within the call in the Lord out of a pure heart, but.
Foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender stripes, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men. Apartment to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God prevention will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
It's rather instructive to us how this second chapter begins.
In the first chapter, Paul is laying out, if we could say it, the state of things that had come about.
Culminating in the fact that All Day in Asia had turned away from him, and of course, ultimately turning away from what Paul stood for.
And here was Paul a prisoner and not able to go about and to seek to combat that.
I speak for myself. If I had been writing this, I would probably have written Thou. Therefore, my son, be strong in the truth that is in Christ Jesus.
But that's not the word Paul uses.
I believe Paul recognized that there's always the tendency in the human heart that when spirituality declines and there's a turning away from the truth, there's an attempt to try and maintain things in order with human energy.
And that does not work.
The energy may be well motivated and you might say directed in the right way, but.
The strongest force to keep us in the pathway of faith is a deep understanding of the grace of God. Yes, as we had when Brother Bob took up the House of God. There is discipline in the House of God and there is a need for order there and that needs to be maintained. But the strongest force to keep me to keep you.
Enjoying and going on in the truth of God.
Is a deep sense in my soul of the grace of God that has brought me there and given us that precious truth.
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I think that's because we can never get away from the thought that we are receivers.
No matter what we have, what blessings, what knowledge, whatever it may be, we talk about being those who've been given the highest truth in the Bible, who understand the mystery of Christ. We never step away from the thought that we are receivers because God has chosen to give. If you look at those early verses in Proverbs chapter 2 where he talks, he, he exhorts them, his Son, you know, he uses words that are energy, words like striving the things that you long for that you search after.
Then how does he finish? He says for the Lord.
Gives wisdom.
He is asking us to strive for the things that He gives to us.
And in the 6th of John the Lord, he tells them, you know, don't labor.
For the things that perish, you want to labor. For that which is truly life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. And I remember reading that statement years ago, how our problems, so many of our problems stem from the fact that we lose sight that we are receivers of His grace. And so these things we're talking about here, they're based on that, aren't they? And we're receivers.
Not because of any merit of our own.
And so grace is unmerited favor.
And I love that verse in first Peter chapter 5 where it speaks of God as the God of all grace. He continues to give and give and give and give some more. And so if you need more grace, don't be ashamed to go and ask for more grace. But it's a totally different basis than the system of merit.
Remember when one time in the High Plains of Bolivia they had a time of very hyperinflation and there was need of food? And so we were able, with the help of our brethren up here, to take some foodstuffs up to them. And this lady looking on says, you people must gain a lot of favor with God by doing these things.
Say, lady, we're not doing it to gain any favor with God. I already have complete favor with God because of what Jesus did. But you know what? I feel so tremendously indebted through him for what he's done that I can't do enough to express my gratitude. And that's the sense of grace, isn't it? And that's what will empower us to go on in a day of ruin, like in the public testimony, like we are living in.
And so it is very appropriate that he begins with this.
The grace, be strong in the grace brethren, let's really meditate that that will keep us going on. Brother mentioned in the last meeting that verse in second Corinthians chapter 12. When I am weak, I am strong. And so how are we strong in grace? Well, it's the grace which is in Christ Jesus. That's where you get the grace when we run into situations that need.
Activity or or.
Action. What are we going to do? We go to the Lord, and how would He?
Act. How would he have us do things? And we'll have from him the grace that is needed.
An example isn't it if the Lord Jesus the grace that was in him and is in him because when he was faced with false accusation the stood before Pilate and even when he was on the cross and he was reviled by those thieves, yet the grace shone forth and all of that opposition. He could say Father forgive them for they know not what they do. He could heal the ear of the high priest servant Malcus.
And so in a time of ruin and a time of declension.
At the very end of the day of the Judaism, it didn't change the heart of the Lord at all. And so his heart went out in grace to those that he was ministering to. And so Timothy was going to find himself here and found himself at this time in the day of declension, a day of giving up of Paul's doctrine. And it was a dark day. And yet his spirit needed to be the same as what was found in the Lord Jesus in the day of declension that he had been in, and he was to minister the truth of God.
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And the person of Christ with the same grace that the Lord did. And yet it says the grace which is in Christ Jesus, isn't it? That's so important because the word grace is so misused today, isn't it? It's the grace which is in that is in Christ Jesus. It's been mentioned that in the House of God there's two main themes. I think sometimes we forget that. But if we look at First Timothy, we can see that when is that God be displayed as a savior God to this world?
And that's a wonderful thing. And we've talked about that primarily, I think. But there's a second theme we get in First Timothy, and that is that God be displayed as the creator God. And that's being attacked on all sides today, isn't it? That the relationship, for instance, between the distinctions between genders, that's being completely destroyed today, the relationship of a man with a woman.
How important that is the foundation of the family and the family is being attacked on every side. And so if we read in this in second chapter of first Timothy, for instance, we see that and that's part of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Some people would say, oh, you need to show grace and I want to live how I want to live, but that's not what it says here. It does it. It says the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That's true liberty, isn't it? The law of liberty.
I'd like to suggest that there are.
Seven figures of the believer in this chapter, and I trust we can get through this chapter today, but just to briefly mention them, in verse two we have faithful men. In verse three and four we have a soldier. In verse five we have an athlete. In verse six we have a husbandman or a farmer. In verse 15 we have a Workman.
In verse 20 we have a vessel, and in verse 24 we have a servant.
I suppose you could say it differently, but I think that helps to There are things that we know in natural life and Paul gives them so that we can understand the lesson in these different figures because he has a message to give in them. In fact, he says was mentioned yesterday, verse seven. Consider what I say. So in each of these figures there is a lesson to be learned.
The Lord will give the understanding in all things.
The verse 2 is a faithful man. What is a faithful man?
Mother Dave, what is a faithful man?
The man who walks as a Christian, isn't it?
Obedient man, isn't he?
It's interesting because he says and if you look at verse two closely, there's really 4 generations that are spoken of and it shows how the truth of God is maintained from one generation to another. The things that thou, Timothy hast heard of me Paul, Paul taught Timothy the same. Commit thou to faithful men.
That's the third generation who shall be able to teach others. Also, he doesn't say Timothy. Look for some good preachers or look for some eloquent men.
No. What kind of men will be able to carry on the Christian testimony?
Faithful men. Men who are simply obedient to the precious Word of God. How important it is to be faithful to God's Word.
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It says there among many witnesses.
So if I was the only one that heard what Paul said.
What did he exactly say? You know, maybe I missed something what he said, but there were many witnesses to establish what he really said and what he has as witnesses today, every one of us, we are witnesses of what the Apostle Paul said. Where it has, we have it right here in our hands. Isn't that wonderful? We are the witnesses of that discourse. And So what did he exactly say? We have it here. We have it all the epistles. And that is what the faithful men would do. They would go on with what was committed by the Apostle Paul.
As witnesses of that's exactly what he said And so we have it in English and French, in different languages. We can go and check the original languages, all the tools today and establish this is what he said and go from there.
There's another thought in faithfulness and it's you could connect it. I believe in Galatians chapter 5. We could just quote it, verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
Meekness, temperance against such there is no law. So faith there. I believe Mr. Darby's translation he translates at fidelity. So faithful men are those that are loyal and faithful to Christ, to the person of Christ, to the work of Christ, to the doctrine that honors and glorifies exalts that blessed one. And so I think it has that thought too, doesn't it? Loyalty to Christ, wonderful thing that goes right along with what is obedience to faithful man is is loyal, but he's obedient.
That's the way he shows it.
As I look around the room, I see four generations of faithful men. There's a lot of young men in the room that are faithful coming on. There's middle age and older ones. And as we have these meetings here, we're committing these things to those faithful men. Maybe that's you. Maybe you're one of the faithful men these things are being committed to. We have an example in the end of the chapter, one with Onessa for us. Here's all the in Asia, we're turning away from the Apostle Paul.
There is a lot of animosity towards him both in the, in the world and in the in the church. But yet this one man was from Asia. He didn't turn away from the Apostle Paul and he sought him out diligently. And Paul wants him to be remembered in that day when the rewards are given out. He was a faithful man. So he's a good example of a faithful man. And he needed grace to continue on. And I know especially for some of the young brothers who.
Want to be faithful and they want to take a step out and be a help in their assembly. And maybe they'll make a comment or two. But I know it's, it's unfortunate because some of the other young men will, will make fun of that man, that brother, if he gives out a him or if he reads some verses or makes a comment. And so it's very, very difficult for a young man to take that step to exercise his faithfulness. And so we need to encourage one another.
And it's going to take a lot of grace to go on in this day when people are giving up as they did here in this day, though they in Asia were giving up. And as people are giving up today. And we try to be faithful, it's not going to be easy. It's going to be difficult at times. And so we need that grace that is in Christ Jesus to, to go on as a faithful man.
So this is the succession that we see you. You hear about succession in the Catholics believe in Apostolic succession. This is the succession that we see for the truth being conveyed from one generation to another.
Our knowledge of how the early church.
Transmitted the truth from one generation to another is very scanty. There's not much that's known. That's why we come back to a scripture like this and we see.
It's the responsibility of those who are older, who take up the word to convey it to the others. We've mentioned before that the generations pass. There comes a time when those that we used to listen to, we used to appreciate their ministry, those who gave direction, they're home with the Lord now.
And justice, like Brother Tim says. We can look around the room here I can see young men who are 10 years old.
00:25:01
You're going to be sitting behind this microphone.
If the Lord leaves us here, 1520 year old men, I can look around and I can see your faces and the hope is is that there will be preparation on your part so that you will be able to do that.
So that maybe the Lord doesn't have to raise up somebody else to do it. When is the time to prepare for that? Right now.
Today.
Out.
Well, listening.
Taking an interest and I would say this also young people as you as you are growing up and and going through your early years.
Learn to identify things of value in life.
In in no other day.
Has there been such a plethora of worthless stuff to occupy your minds and to take you away from things of true value? And I'll tell you, all of us who are older, we know that for ourselves, too. We've had to ask ourselves, did I really need to know that maybe my time would have been better spent if I would have been studying Romans or the Gospels or whatever it might have been. We have a.
A deficit of attention among us today because everybody is vying for your attention, largely because they want you to buy their products.
Or to go to the movie that they produced or something like that. Learn to identify things of value in life.
Learn to listen. Listen carefully to what you are hearing. All of the things that are vying for your attention. Pay attention.
How does that apply to the young sisters also?
I think it applies in the same way your wife is sitting next to you who spent more time with your children.
She did.
You know, in business we had a little expression. It's a parasitic load and we need to get rid of the parasitic loads so that we can devote ourselves to a load, to an effort that is worth the effort. And so we find a lesson in Barnabas that says that he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost. And so he didn't have room for those parasitic loads that took his time, just 5 minutes at a time, 30 seconds. I, I don't know what the.
Frequency is, but some people check their emails, you know, 60 times an hour or something. It's, it's too much. There's a parasitic load. But we need to be filled with the spirit. How do we learn the truth? How do we become faithful? I think there's a little bit of a, a hint in Second Thessalonians chapter 2.
2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions or the traditional teachings.
Which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle. So we learn by the listening to the truth being taught at meetings like this, at addresses and so on. But we also need to read, we need the epistles. And Paul spoke the truth, and then he also wrote it down. And by inspiration we have it today. But we need both. And so I would just say that to become faithful men.
We need to be empowered by the Spirit of God. We are indwelled with the Spirit, but we need to give ourselves to the things of God and make it a priority. Not give the Lord the leftovers, give him the 1St place.
And Mark, we hear, we read that it says take heed how ye hear. And that requires faith and in addition to obedience, doesn't it? Faithful man obviously has to have faith. In reading recently about David, there was times when he had great faith when he went out against Goliath and when he went into Saul's camp at night. You can imagine right where he was in the middle of 3000 of his soldiers and the Lord kept them all quiet.
That was real faith. But what did he do next? He said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I have to leave. He went over to the Philistines. So a faithful man needs faith, doesn't he? Believing what God says. So it says in end, Mark, take heed how you hear. But then a little bit later it says, take heed what ye hear. We have to do both, don't we? We have to hear in faith, believing what God says and know what God's purpose is and God's counsels are and have faith in that. That's a tremendous blessing and privilege.
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And then also we have to filter things out. Take heed what she hear.
Value of verse seven. I encourage young brothers, you might not understand everything that is said in a meeting like this, but like Dave says, listen.
I have found that sometimes I didn't quite catch that. What was that?
And verse seven says, consider what I say. And the Lord give the understanding in all things. In other words, we understand as we grow. You don't understand a child of six years old to understand algebra. What's wrong with that child? Nothing wrong with him. Give him time to grow. And sometimes understanding comes in time with growth. But listen.
And those things I found in time, as time went on, it came clear what it was that was meant, and it clicks. And the Spirit of God is in us to give testimony to the truth of God. What a blessing to have the Spirit of God at liberty to use maybe human instruments, but one way or the other to learn it to consider.
And the Lord gives understanding.
So before we pass on to verse seven, you, you mentioned we have these images of, of the ones that we could say are faithful, the obedient man. And you listed off seven of those. And here we have the soldier and we have the athlete and we have the farmer. And there is a common denominator. And I think that helps us to go on all three of those. They're under some sort of discipline. We have farmers in the room here as they can tell you they're not out harvesting today.
There is something that has to be done before they reap the harvest and that involves a discipline, it involves watching the weather and when you do this process and when you do that process, you know an athlete, he doesn't just go out and win the gold medal.
We don't have to say what goes on before that.
And the soldier, he goes through a period of training and the thought is with a man like Timothy, there's a period of training before you reap the rewards that that training and skill would bring you into. And that is an image of the Christian life, the Christian life here in this world. We're, we're not at home yet. There's going to be a time when we will be at home, but we are not at home yet, so.
Now is the time to learn the discipline of the training and the tools that God has given us to use in order to walk the Christian life so that we can be in the reality of these things.
A soldier has to understand his priorities.
Good and the soldier have a business on the side. I suppose he could.
But he has to know that when his commander speaks, that is number one priority. There is nothing that can take the place of that. And so those are things that are established.
And young people, this book is number one priority when there's something I, I, I really feel we are, we are compromising, we are losing by.
May be taking up studies when there's the reading meeting.
And I must say, before I remember young men, I remember a young man that I lived with who is studying medicine, pretty hard course of study.
And the next day, he had a test.
Exam, but that night was the reading meeting.
He said I am going to be in the reading meeting first, then I will study after. Well, he knew what his priorities were and I think so. We so often leave. Well, everybody will understand. I got a test tomorrow. Come on.
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Do you have your priorities right? And so the soldier knows he might have an other affairs, but he doesn't entangle himself.
He has to be at the command of his superior. And when he gives the command that is to be obeyed, I mean, he might not understand why he's been given that, understand that command. Maybe he's going into the face of direct fire. But when the commander says advance, he doesn't say I might get killed. He doesn't. I didn't think about that. He only thinks about the command.
I'm here to obey and so it's really an important command. In Luke Chapter 9 we have some that were had met with the Lord and I just want to point out that what was the problem?
The Lord Jesus in Luke Chapter 9 and verse 59, he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my Father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. And another also said unto him, I will follow thee, but let me first.
Go bid them farewell, which are at home at my Father's house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.
We live in a ME first generation and it's hard.
I recognize we live in, you know. It just seems to me, brethren, that we are being robbed by the humanism of our culture. Me first, my interests. If I don't look after my interest, nobody else will.
We're being robbed by that. Let's get our priorities straight.
Isn't it right, brother Bob, that if I say I, if I don't look after my own interests, nobody else will? I am wrong.
If you and I look after the Lords interest, won't he look after ours? Indeed he will. Your father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
So I would suggest the keyword in verse four is entangleth.
We all have to deal with the affairs of this life. We all have to deal with making a living. And it can be very complicated and very difficult Today. Often, for example, the job may be in a big city and yet the housing is out of reach and therefore certain things tend to be accommodated in order to make it work. And various things have to be sacrificed and maybe both husband and wife have to work. And I'm not going to sit here and say that that's always 100% wrong.
But I do say that if you and I as believers go to the Lord and say Lord, I want your things to be a priority in my life.
I believe we can count on him to make a way for it.
And how he does it, that's an individual thing. He does it differently for each one. But I can very much say that the Lord, the Lord will undertake.
Could I say something in connection with that verse in Luke and also?
You know, temporal responsibility. I remember a brother told me once he said I want the Lord to call me to forsake my wife and my children so I could go serve them. Well. There's ample scripture to say that's not what the Lord would want from him to take care of his family first. If anyone doesn't care for his own, he's worse than an infidel. And so when it's that verse also in Luke to bury your father, I I wouldn't understand that the man had just lost his father.
And I thought it wasn't sensitive to his grief, but rather that his father was still living.
And that like Abraham of old, he didn't enter into the land till his father passed away. So I think we need to balance that out because our religious spirit would be even fanatical to a point. We would use scripture, one scripture to pit it against another and give a dishonor to the Lord Jesus. You know, the Apostle Paul, we're talking about doctrine before and being faithful while he was not only teaching, he was living out what he was teaching. He didn't have the responsibilities of a wife and children to provide for.
00:40:24
But his example was to be followed. And so with us, if we're going to be faithful in what the Lord has committed to us in revelation, it's going to be carried out in our behavior, and I believe it will be characterized by grace.
Before we get to four, I'd like to go back to the brother's question about about the women and their faithfulness. We look around and see a lot of faithful men. We also see a lot of faithful women too here. And how can they go on in faith? Well, let's look at First Timothy chapter 2.
And verse 11 and 12 let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Then we go in First Corinthians 14, the position of the woman in relation to the man. But yet if you look at verse 15, we see how the woman can overcome that position. If you want to use that term, the position in the church.
Says, notwithstanding she shall be saved, that's not her salvation of her soul, that's perhaps the salvation of her position in the Church. And notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing. If they continue in faith, there's the faith, charity and holiness with sobriety. So as the woman, she, as was mentioned, she, she's in the home, she's with the children more than the man.
In the way society works. And so the woman has a big influence on the children. There's a saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world well, as the as the as you see all the men in the faithful men and women in this world who raised these men and women while their mother did. Guess the father has influence too, but the woman has more influence. And so the woman has if she's remains faithful.
In charity and holiness with sobriety, she can raise those children.
To serve the Lord, to be faithful men and women that can be raised up to serve the Lord and to be faithful husbands and wives. But then you might say, but I'm not married, maybe I'll never be married. How can I be faithful to the Lord? And there's, there's instruction back in First Corinthians 7 for that.
And verse 34, First Corinthians 734.
There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord that she may be both, she may be holy both in body and in spirit. And so the the woman who is unmarried or the man, if you'll read verse 33, the man who is unmarried doesn't mean he's unfruitful. It doesn't mean he doesn't have any value in the church, doesn't mean he has any value for the Lord. The woman has much value for the Lord.
And she can serve him and she's much freer to serve him when she's not married to bring honor and glory to the Lord. But how? But as our brother said, they can be faithful. They can learn to be faithful in the same way as the men to, to, to read the word of God, to study it, to listen. And, and we all grow the same way. And, but God has given us different, different doors in which we can go through to serve him and to be faithful.
I think of that verse.
As you're speaking 1St Corinthians 11 verse 11, however, neither is woman without man nor man without woman.
That's a very important principle. And as an example, when we address young men and we talk about the future that they might have in the things of God, that future has to include the young women as well. You know, the young sisters. You can lead a man down one path or you can lead him down the opposite path. And every one of us has a responsibility this this thought of obedience, of walking as a Christian according to the word of God.
00:45:05
Applies to both the man and the woman. Each has their place.
And The Walking by faith.
The young woman the young the man has to learn to walk by faith as Lord leads, even when he can't see clearly the.
Next step.
He has to walk in submission in many areas of life, even when it doesn't quite seem right. What does the woman have to do? Walk in submission, trusting that the Lord will guide.
Where she can't see clearly.
But it's still by faith we walk, everyone of us.
It's really verse 6, isn't it? We don't look for results here. It's the husbandman that laborers must be first partaker of the fruits. It's a clear translation in the new translation, the husbandman must labor before partaking of the fruits. So we're not going to be the Lord isn't looking for us to get results down here. He's looking for faithfulness. He's looking for devotedness to His cause.
And to do the planting he will do. He's the Lord of the harvest, and he will get the fruit, that the fruit belongs to him. But we are to be faithful. And so as the farmer plants and he waters the crops, the crops are watered, perhaps irrigated, or they're from the heaven itself, He waits for the results. He waits for the fruit. And so God is going to hold us. He's not holding us responsible for the results.
He's holding us responsible to be faithful. And so this is, I believe, the picture that's given to us in verse 6.
So don't get discouraged if you don't see results. Gospel preachers perhaps have that.
Perhaps that focus of wondering to see whether there are results, leave the results with Christ.
And the Lord does give us occasional results as an encouragement, doesn't He? We can be thankful for that.
But I I thoroughly agree with that and verse 8.
Perhaps we need to move along in the chapter a bit. Verse eight is also much clearer in the JND translation.
I believe that.
The word that the second word in the verse is left out in the Darby translation. It's not so much the thought that Timothy was to remember the fact of the Lord's resurrection, but he was to remember.
Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead according to my gospel. I would suggest that the thrust of that verse is that the reward for a life of faithfulness will be primarily in resurrection. Is that the thought, Bob? I think I heard you minister on that one time. Is that? Is that the thought? That's the way I understand it, yes. And at the end of his life, the Lord Jesus.
It really looked like complete failure.
Over a life of service to God, how many disciples did he have? 12 Is that all?
One was a traitor.
Another that vowed to be faithful to him to death denied him three times and the rest took off and fled.
And he was condemned as a criminal.
He didn't even open his mouth to defend himself.
And so his death looked like complete failure. But I think that's the point. God's answer to faithfulness is not necessarily here in this world. It is in the other side, in resurrection. Now Paul is talking to Timothy, and where is he in prison?
Timothy, are you following that guy in prison?
Come on, get with life.
And all and for in Asia forsaken him.
And is soon to be taken outside the city of Rome and have his head cut off.
00:50:04
Looks like complete failure again.
But God's answer us on the other side. And so I think that's the point. Yeah. What you say, Bill? Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead according to my gospel. Oh, brethren, let's get a glimpse of the other side.
Just let's say I've been challenged.
Dear brother Eric Smith.
Many of you remember him.
But he gave up a lot of opportunity in New Zealand as a young man and when he told his father I'm going to Bolivia to preach the gospel, his father at that time was not a believer. He said if that's your decision, get out of my house.
And he was able to make his way through two years of medical studies.
He was known in Bolivia as Doctor Smith the Doctor.
But I remember going one of the last times into the area where he began his work amongst the Indians. And there at the end of a long day in the back of a truck, Brother Eric Smith and Ramon Alarcon were up in the cab and they had a little window up into the cab. We could look through there and see them. We came to where the brethren were waiting for us and.
They were singing as we approached and the brother turned off the engine and we sat there and.
I looked through that window. There was Brother Smith with his head down.
The tears streaming down his face.
The fruit of his labor's, but not so much there. But in that coming day when we go on to the other side and see that which remains for all eternity, Are you laboring for what's going to stay here in this world and be burned up? Are you laboring for what's going to last for all eternity? And I remember just buying my head there and say Lord.
Please help me not to be deceived by the material things of this life. Please help me to live for that day.
And that's the point of this verse, I think, verse 8.
I did want to mention verse five. We kind of skipped over that brother and it's the athlete.
It does say if a man also strived for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. In other words, if an athlete is going to win, he has to pay attention to the rules of the game.
Maybe he's running the 440 round a circuit.
He has to make sure to keep in the track. He could cut off the through the middle and get to the goal first. He would be disqualified. He would not be crowned. And so, brethren, it's important to go by all of the scriptures because.
Because if a man strive for masteries, he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Though can we say in these verses then to understand the structure a little bit, it's helpful I think to see the 1St 6 verses give us the principles. Don't they have Christian discipline and grace and truth? And then in verse seven through 10 we have two examples of that. The first being the Lord Jesus himself. So when we read about the Lord Jesus, we see that pathway that he walked as the perfect man. And then secondly, in verses 9:00 and 10:00 we have.
The Apostle Paul as an example.
A faithful man, he didn't give up. As we said, in the face of difficulties and challenges, he kept his eye on the goal and he's exhorting Timothy to do the same in a difficult day.
I've enjoyed it this way and I just want to suggest this.
If it holds water or not, but.
Remember I have it in French here and I did check it that it's in that order in in the Greek. Also remember Jesus Christ risen from among the dead.
Of the seed of David, according to.
My Gospel.
And So what? Really.
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Got me in that thought processes was the mention that of the seed of David?
And so the Lord Jesus he had.
A mission on the Earth.
Connected with the people of Israel.
And what did he have? He had a cross and a rejection. We will not have this man to reign over us.
So he dies and he is risen again, and he goes up in the glory. And what the disciples ask him, is it at this time that you will establish the Kingdom of Israel?
And I believe the Lord Jesus presented to Israel again by the apostles after his resurrection, we have Jesus Christ risen from the dead of the seed of David. And so there is that that possibility that was there for the blessings, the fruit of the Lord to Israel to be established. And it was not what the apostle Paul had a special burden for the people of Israel, did he not?
And so, and that's why he was in prison also because of his desire that his brethren is Jewish brethren should be saved. And so I've, I've read it in this connection and I, I just suggest it to you that the Apostle Paul in his ministry.
Had this particular desire, was it his only one? But he had this particular desire for the blessing of his Jewish brethren. And so he says there in verse 10. This is why I endure all things for the love of the elect, that they may also obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
There was temporal glory for Israel associated with the reception of the Messiah, and it's going to happen.
When the little Jesus comes and he says all Israel will be saved, the Liberator will come from Zion, and you will establish that fruit for the Lord Jesus in that earthly people. But those that were Jews at that time who were part of that chosen people, it was also available for them to participate in the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. So I just enjoyed that in connection with the fact that the Spirit of God brings the seed of David into that thought there.
Perhaps they give us that.
Perspective.
He brings in resurrection here in connection with the Lord Jesus because really that it was God's answer, wasn't it, to the work of the Lord Jesus, to his service. And as it looked like a total loss, as you say, at the end of the life of the Lord Jesus, he had his 12 disciples. And then we know that when the church was formed on the day of Pentecost, there were about 120 in the room. It looked like a 3 1/2 years of service. There was hardly anything to show for it. But what did Paul teach?
It was my gospel.
Well, He had these revelations from God, and he presented to us in the Word the truth that Christ was going to have a church and that was going to be formed out of those that were Gentiles and Jews. And so Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. And so that was what he did. And the result of his laborers was that he was going to have a church.
And so there was a reward. So I'll just suggest too that in connection with ourselves, the Lord says here my inspiration, He says, remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.
At the time of the judgment seat of Christ, we're going to have our rewards.
And so when it's not going to take place, it's very closely connected to the rapture. And so those of us that remain on the earth, we're going to be changed. We're going to be caught up to be with the Lord. We'll meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord? But very shortly thereafter, the judgment seat of Christ will take place. And I'm just suggesting Revelation chapter 22, the very last chapter of our Bibles, and we have the resurrection or the.
Rapture very closely connected with that judgment seat of Christ. Verse 12 And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.
Well, that is brought out, isn't it, in the next few verses, verse 11?
It is a faithful save. If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.
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If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. What a prospect.
And so the pathway of the believer in this dispensation of grace is not one of trying to straighten out this world, nor is it one of taking a high position and being respected in this world. In fact, rather the attempt to gain that has been the bane of the Church.
And Satan, as we have sometimes said, has done a good job of bringing in Judaizing principles to the point where Christianity becomes respectable in the world. And in order to do that.
We have to give up, at least to some extent, our heavenly calling. I'm not talking about what is at the end of the journey, but rather living in this world as those who really belong to another world that is not popular.
And so.
We are called upon to suffer down here, and it may not be as we have often mentioned, as some of our brethren, even at this very moment in countries in the world are being imprisoned and.
Persecuted in some cases even under death.
At the moment we aren't called upon to do that. I'm not saying we won't be.
But our brother mentioned the principle of this school that lost his job, no doubt because of faithfulness to the Lord, and they found Ways and Means apparently to bring accusations against him and to dismiss him. That's the kind of thing we have to expect if there's faithfulness in this world. But again, where's the reward for faithfulness?
In resurrection in a coming day.
And some of us, if we might take a moment to just mention it.
It might be a little difficult to understand the last clause of verse 12.
If we deny him, he also will deny us.
I would make a suggestion that this is not the only place in the word of God. We get it in other places where there is a comment that followed to its logical conclusion applies to an unbeliever. Will the Lord ever in that sense deny you and me even if we are unfaithful? Christians know the next verse settles that he cannot deny himself if we are.
Connected with Christ if we are in Christ, as Paul teaches.
There is no possibility that you and I can be denied.
But.
I believe the moral sense of this exhortation can be applied to us who are believers.
If you and I are unfaithful to the Lord in the day of his rejection, I suggest this carries the force that there will be, and this is just been brought out about the judgment seat of Christ. There will be a loss in that day. There will be a sense of loss of having failed to carry out what we were given to do in the day of the Lord's rejection.
We get a bit of the same thought in Philippians chapter 3 where it talks about those.
Whose God is their belly? Who mind earthly things, and the last clause is whose end is destruction?
Well, that could only refer to an unbeliever. But can you and I have our belly, if I could say it this way, as our God? Yes, we can. Can we put me first, as Bob was bringing out? Yes, we can. Can we mind earthly things? Yes, we can. And so the exhortation perhaps ultimately is a warning to someone who masquerades as a Christian.
And isn't even a true believer. And that, of course, was going to be the condition of things in the great house that we get to later on in the chapter. There would be those who were vessels of wood and of earth, not true believers. But the moral instruction in this last clause of verse 12, I suggest, has an application to you and me as believers.
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I was thinking of those in Matthew 7 who had prophesied in the Lord's name and cast out demons in His name and performed lyricals in His name. They were using His name but denying Him. They're coming to the Lord about what they are doing, not about what He has done. So individually, the Lord says, I never knew you away from me in a collective way. Laudicea Revelation, chapter 3. There's this testimony. We're rich. We have need of nothing.
And the Lord is outside. I will spew the out of my mouth. I never knew you. So I think we have examples there too of that kind of a denial of the Lord himself. And the Lord says that's not of me.
1St Corinthians 3, when it speaks about ministry, there is a danger at the judgment seat of suffering loss, isn't there? And so there is that danger here as well. I'd like to read to that verse. That really ends the paragraph. Verse 13 in the new translation I think is much, much clearer. If we are unfaithful, he abides faithful, for he cannot deny himself. That's really the thought, isn't it? It's otherwise kind of unclear in our translation, but.
And this really, I just want to make the comment this, we kind of skipped over it in verse 10, but this is what salvation is in verse 10, that they may also obtain the salvation. It's the present tense of salvation, isn't it? It's not having merely a saved soul. Of course, that's the foundation of everything, but it's having a saved life as well. That's what we're reading about.
The Lord would delight to give us each a full reward, an overabundance of reward. And but it will require suffering if we suffer for His namesake, if we endure all things. Paul said he endured all things for the elect's sake. He suffered because he wanted the people of God to benefit. He was willing to endure the reproach of men, the scorn of the Jews, imprisonments, beatings. He was willing to endure as long as the people of God got a blessing.
And so there's going to be fruit because of his life. But here he gives a little.
Instruction, as it were, He just encourages, Timothy says, you know it's worth suffering for the Lord, it's worth suffering for his cause. And if you suffer and you're faithful for him, you're, he's going to reward you. But if you don't suffer, if you escape the suffering, if you in some way are able to sidestep the suffering and suffering, the reproach for Christ.
You'll deny him the privilege of being able to give you a full reward for having lived for his glory in this scene, beautifully illustrated in Davidde life, isn't it? There was a time when he could no longer be in Saul's presence because Saul would have killed him if he could possibly have done it. And his dearest friend was Jonathan. But Jonathan never went with David to The Cave of Adalam and separated with him.
And so he lost the reward, didn't he? He died on the battlefield of Mount Gilboa with his brothers and his father. That's the sense we have here, isn't it? He lost the blessing. Jonathan said, David, you're going to reign. I know that, and I'm going to be next to you. It didn't happen. He was a man of faith. He was a vessel to honor in so many ways, wasn't he, as we'll see in the following verses. But he wasn't a vessel unto honor, sanctified. He didn't go with David to The Cave of Adon.
And in that last chapter, I think it's chapter 32 of.
Second Samuel, there's 37 men that are named. One of them isn't named, and so he's not on the honor roll by name. It's a solemn thought.
I find it very a bulwark really. Verse 13 brethren, if we are unbelieving.
Or we are unfaithful. Yet he abideth faithful. He is called in revelation the faithful and true witness. It's not a question of my faithfulness, my position. It is a question of his faithfulness. Thank God. Thank God in this day of ruin and so much departure.
He abideth faithful. What a bulwark for our hearts.
Might just mention in connection with that one man in first Peter chapter 5 and was already read to us at this conference, but it says by Sylvanus a faithful brother. Mr. Darby's translation, he translates it Sylvanus the faithful brother and so that's the last mention of his name in the word of God, Silas or Sylvanus and God had his summary of his life.
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And he says Silas or Sylvanus, the faithful brother.
325.
We wait for thee, oh son of God.
We.
Shall.
Bring you.
And shall begin to be the evening of the day.
Surprise.
Shall be hurried, so don't believe me?