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Timothy, Chapter 2.
Your address, Brother Bill.
Seems to me that in this chapter we have principles that.
A true Philadelphian would value.
That is suitable.
After two.
Thou therefore, my Son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things which thou hast 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 hath chosen him to be a soldier.
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strived lawfully?
The husbandmen that Laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in 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.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's 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 also will 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 thyself 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 under more ungodliness, and their word will eat, as doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have concerning the truth, who concerning the truth have erred saying.
That the resurrection is passed already and overthrilled the faith of some.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure. 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 under every good work.
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Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace.
With them that call on 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 peradventure 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.
The House of God in its order. If you go to the third chapter of first Timothy and verse 15, it says, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Sometimes the church is presented as the body of Christ, but here it is presented as the House of God because there is order in the house. And that's why you have bishops and deacons mentioned in this chapter, and it's because there is an order to God's house. And that's what we have in First Timothy. But in Second Timothy we have, as Bill was mentioning, a time when there is.
Tremendous ruin in the Christian testimony. Even the Apostle Paul has to say in first in the first chapter of Second Timothy, that all those in Asia have forsaken me.
There was Ephesus. She had spent almost three years there ministering the word of God.
Tremendous epistle to the Ephesians that we have of the truth of God. As to the church, wonderful.
But they had turned their back on Paul that forsaken him, and it looked all bleak. And he's trying to encourage Timothy. Brethren, we live in those days.
And so in his encouragement to Timothy, a young man.
We have many young people here. Thank God for your the interest they have. But there are principles in this second chapter that are so important and encouraging for us to appreciate and learn. And he uses figures.
Notice in verse two faithful men, verse 3A soldier.
Verse five, an athlete, verse 6 and husbandman are a farmer. So those are figures that we can draw lessons from, easy to understand, and they all have lessons for us. And so I suggest that.
We take it up in that light. We are living in days of the outward run of the public testimony. Still the truth of God remains, and there is every reason not to be discouraged, but to simply lay hold on the.
Principles, the unchanging principles of the precious Word of God.
And so he starts out this chapter 2 with Thou. Therefore, my son, be strong.
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How are you going to be strong?
In the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
What is going to make us strong, brethren, is not.
Getting a hard legal attitude.
But it is the appreciation of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And when we look at what was done for us on that cross, brethren, by the Lord Jesus, how He laid down his life, the only One who truly had rights, laid down every right He had so that there could be blessing for us.
Now he's brought us into tremendous blessing, not because of any.
Merit of our own, but because of His unbounding grace, and that should touch the heart that brings to the floor in a response from these hearts of ours that will carry us through times of outward ruin. May the Lord encourage us.
Yes, that's very important, isn't it, Bob? If some of us had been writing it, we might have written My son. Be strong in the truth that is in Christ Jesus.
And of course that is important too. But grace is the.
Strongest power to keep us walking in a pathway of faithfulness to the Lord and a sense of His grace is.
Far, far stronger than any, as you say, legal attitude or seeking to, uh, as it were, whip people into shape by human energy. Man tries to do that sometimes, and it may work for a while in an outward way, but the strongest force among believers to follow the Lord is a sense of His grace in our souls.
Of the apostle Paul, isn't it in uh, this, uh, chapter, chapter 4 and uh, verse 22, he says the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit, grace be with you. And so there was, uh, perhaps, uh, in Timothy's day, the tendency to despise those that had not gone on in the truth of God, as the verse chapter one, verse 15 of the first epistle brings before us something of the measure of order. But in this epistle.
There was a giving up, a wholesale giving up of Paul's doctrine and his fellowship and the fellowship of the apostle and what he taught.
And so it required grace. And I think it's very nice that he addresses Timothy as his son because it brings in the thought of relationship. Isn't it wonderful to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus?
And with God we know him as Father, and that is a part of the Christian revelation is to know God as our Father. And so he is addressed as a son. And he had the privilege of serving with the apostle Paul as a son we know.
Maybe that the Apostle Paul was the one that led him to the Lord as he went through Derby, but we have this privilege of reflecting the grace of the Lord Jesus in our lives in the day of ruin.
As we serve, recognizing that we are sons, but reflecting the same grace that Christ would have with his brethren.
This person is connected with chapter one and verse 9.
Speaking of God, who hath saved us?
And called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.
Which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
We're going to take up a chapter which Paul is exhorting Timothy, and much of the chapter is exhortation to Timothy of things that he needs to do to walk in a very difficult day in which Timothy lived.
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And he lived in just as difficult a day as we do today.
We sometimes think all the world's getting terrible and it's awful, and it is. But brethren.
The condition of the world today is no worse than it was on the day of the crucifixion. That's the worst day of the whole world. And the condition that the Saints had to face in that day for many of them was far more severe than any of us are facing in this room tonight or today. But the point in Chapter 9 or verse nine is you can't.
Walk for the Lord in a difficult day unless you are firmly founded in what God's thoughts and purposes for you are.
We have to have that as the foundation or the chapters exhortations to us are going to seem too difficult and too hard. But before Paul takes them up with Timothy, he establishes very clearly what the grace of God that he was to be strong in meant for him. And so it says God.
Who has saved us?
Timothy was to have a complete confidence that he was in the hands of a God who had saved him.
Not according to what he had done.
But what according to God's own purpose, Is God going to have a purpose for Timothy that he will not fulfill, he will not keep? Of course not. And so it was according to his own purpose and grace toward Timothy. And I'm using him as one example. But we all come under the same purpose and grace.
According to his own purpose and grace.
Which was given to Timothy in Christ Jesus before the world began.
And he brought him into the relationship with himself, with God.
According to that purpose to be a son.
Now Timothy had a firm foundation, as is described later in the chapter. He had a very strong firm foundation on which to live. And we need to have established in our souls that strong firm foundation that I was purposed in the grace of God to be His Son before this world was ever created. And now in the little while that's given in this life to walk according to the day in which we live.
In that faithfulness that corresponds to the great grace on which we stand the great favor of God. Because he won't, as it says later, He won't deny himself. He'll be faithful to his promises and to his calling. And yet He would have us to walk worthy of that calling while we're here and not give it up.
The Christian life isn't it? And it says in Titus.
To that the grace of God teaches us.
It's not the law that teaches us. Some people say that after you're saved, the lies a rule of life.
No.
The law is what provokes our sin nature.
And that's not the rule of life. It's the grace of God that teaches us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live righteously and wholly in this present world.
Looking for that present blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. It is the strongest motivator to living a godly life is the sense of grace in our souls. Brethren, the Lord help us to understand it. It's another verse I really has provoked me is First Corinthians chapter 15.
And it's in connection with the Apostle Paul and how he labored for the Lord.
Verse 10 First Corinthians 1510 and it says.
But by the grace of God, I am what I am.
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And His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain.
But I labored more abundantly than they all.
How did he do that?
Yet not I, but the grace of God which was within me, which was in me, with with me. So does the grace of God having the sense of God being the God of all grace. And in that way, brethren, that is what touches the heart. And the heart is the main spring of Christian life, and that is what will carry us through.
These times of outward ruin, Lord, help us to understand it.
One more verse in Romans chapter 5 and verse 2.
Romans chapter 5 and verse 2 by whom?
By Jesus Christ also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
That is.
We stand in our position before God in His favor.
God looks upon us with all the love of His heart.
In favor.
This is my child, this is my son in whom I'm finding delight, and that's our position before God. He looks upon us and all that.
I favor toward us and that's the grace, that favor in which we stand. And so he says if you have that, as he says later in Romans, if God is for us, who can be against us if he had the eternal purpose that I am to be with him and like his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, you gonna abandoned his purpose. Is he gonna not fulfill it for us?
We stand in it. And so, he says, we rejoice in hope.
A firm, fixed expectation, not a hope of maybe or maybe not, but a confident hope that what's ahead of us is the glory of God and to live in it. And so he says in the next verse of that chapter, which Timothy was feeling in his day with Paul speaking to him. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations.
And so on. And so even the difficulty could be looked at as something God was using for the fulfilling of that purpose of good. And so if we stand strong in the grace of God, we will also be able to look at the tribulations that come with it as those things that God is using for good and for blessing, rather than, as Timothy had a tendency to be, fearful.
And sort of not wanting to face it.
Is unmerited favor.
None of us deserve any favors from God when we consider what we are by nature.
We've turned our back on God.
And yet God is willing to show favor.
To you and to me, and we need to keep, I believe, in the enjoyment of God's goodness to us. Now reference has been made to Titus chapter 2 with respect to the grace of God, but I was noticing in chapter 3, it tells us here what we were in verse three, Titus 3:00 and 3:00.
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
Well, if this is our condition.
What sort of favors do we deserve?
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Nothing.
And I believe the apostle Paul, as he writes this to Titus, was thinking about the fact that he was in this category.
But in verse four he says, But after that, the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man appeared.
And so on. And then he speaks of God's mercy and also how we are justified by grace in verse 7.
But I feel that in my own experience.
When there's persecution.
Because of testimony for Christ, the tendency, perhaps is to become resentful.
And to become.
Even rather antagonistic.
But that's my old nature.
And if one was strong in the grace that was in Christ Jesus, one would realize.
That I don't deserve any good, any favor and God.
In Spite of Oneself has shown it to me, and I think if we appreciate this, we're going to be more.
In the right attitude toward those that oppose us.
And the apostle Paul, I believe he must have felt opposition from the enemy like no one else, no other servant apart from Christ himself.
You know, was it that, uh, Lystra?
The parcel. He was stoned.
And he thought he was dead.
And they're standing around.
Well, he rises up.
Is that dead or what is he gonna do?
He goes to the next town.
And continues the glorious message of the gospel. He's still giving out the glad tidings. He doesn't resent the treatment that he received at Lystra. In fact, I believe he goes right back to that place later on.
So I just mentioned this because.
We want to have the right attitude toward those that oppose us, and we really cannot unless we're enjoying the grace of God in our souls. Infinite grace of God.
Couple of other the other apostles and what they said about grace as well. I know the apostle Paul was speaking to Timothy here, but really the last words of Peter the apostle, he addresses a situation where there was umm a falling away really in connection with practical godliness in life and umm among the believers in his day. And he says in second Peter chapter 3 verse 18, but grow in grace.
And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever. And then in Revelation, where we were reading this afternoon, they laid a sea in character of the Church in its latter days.
Now the apostle John spoke of and in the very last verse of what he writes in Revelation chapter 22 verse 21, he says the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Oh, man, so there's grace needed not only when there's breakdown in the testimony in the House of God, but there's grace that's required in connection with what we see perhaps among the Saints of God, a lot of loose living.
And dishonouring of the Lord in that way, And then perhaps the coldness or an indifference to the glory of Christ, and the cooling of the affections. Why, we have the same grace that is presented as the.
That which is needed in the day that we live in. So why does he address here? Umm, he? Why does he use the title of Christ Jesus? Why isn't it Jesus Christ?
In verse one.
Ford's present, uh, exaltation at the right hand of God, uh.
Isn't that the thought when the apostle uses Christ Jesus that?
He is considering the Lord now as exalted.
God's right hand.
As a man.
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Jesus is that which Scripture uses to emphasize.
The place that we have been brought into before God in Christ.
And when Christ is used first in contrast to Jesus Christ used.
They're both brought together, but the emphasis first is Timothy, it's important to recognize that what grace has done has brought you into the place before God that you enjoy in Christ Jesus. And so it brings before us our place before God in his person, through what he has done, if any man be in Christ.
He is a new creation.
When it's Jesus, it's generally first. It is the thought of what God is doing for us through the person that he has sent into this world as a man.
And what God is accomplishing by that man, Jesus Christ.
But when Christ is given first, generally in the Epistles alone, or even in connection with Jesus, it is more the thought of what we have been brought into the place that we have before the eye of God.
Through his person and his work.
And so through the person and work of Christ, we have been brought into a new creation, and we stand before God as children in Christ Jesus before God. We don't stand before God in Adam.
We stand before God in Christ we were before. God is children of Adam.
But not anymore.
We've been brought into a new place.
By.
Christ Jesus to stand before God in new creation, and that's part of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And so as it says in Romans referring to it again, chapter 5, verse two, that place of favor in which we stand would not be possible.
Except for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
God could not put us in the place of favor before His eye, except He could bring us into it through the death and resurrection and then association of us with Himself in Christ Jesus.
And that's what brings us into new creation. And so we stand now in that new position in His favor toward us, which is unchanging and will be toward us forever. It's not only individual acts of favor that's in view, but it's our position itself is eternally before His eye, as according to His delight and His favor. Hmm.
Well, we're not to keep that grace to ourselves, are we?
Verse two brings before us that.
What Timothy had learned.
He was to commit to faithful men. This is one verse that forever and there are others, that deals a death blow to any thought of Apostolic succession, doesn't it? God never intended that apostles or others should be the custodians of the faith and that they would continue to carry on, but there was a way.
Not in any way, of course, uh, denigrating the word of God. That was going to be very important. But at the same time there was a responsibility to communicate that which Timothy had received of Paul and to pass it on to faithful men. What were they to do?
Pass it on to others, and the Word of God would be the safeguard that it was passed on in a pure form. We know, of course, that it was not done that way. We know that failure came in. We know that bad doctrine came in. And so quickly after John wrote this that actually those who knew and were conversing with the apostle John were in some cases instrumental in.
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Taking the truth away and substituting for that which was not according to the word of God.
But this is what God intended, didn't he?
As well as known in the head, and this way of transferring or passing the truth of God on from generation to generation must be walked in or we can't keep it and hold it. And so the way Paul speaks about it here emphasizes that no doubt Paul was feeling very much those in Asia that had turned away.
From his doctrine, I don't believe they'd given up all New Testament truth, but they had specially given up Hall's ministry and Paul was the one who saw the Lord in glory. We were.
We are emphasizing what the meaning of Christ Jesus is, and that's how Paul came to know Jesus as his Lord in glory, and so that characterizes his ministry.
And this ministry of the heavenly calling of where Jesus is now and where our destiny is, that is the, uh, a truth that is very precious. It was to Paul. And he wanted to be sure that Timothy, uh, uh, valued that and would pass it on to those who would responsibly walk in there.
Diligent in.
Learning Halls doctrine and he turned back to the uh, the 4th chapter of first Timothy, verse six. If thou with the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good.
Minister of Jesus Christ, nurished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, where unto thou hast attained. So I believe that Timothy had been diligent in taking in Paul's doctrine and walking in it, and.
He was a faithful brother. It doesn't say commit thou to gifted brethren, but to faithful men.
That's what God is looking for. And, uh, it was to be passed on in the same form in which it was received.
Which, you know, they'll be. Timothy did did so.
So he says in that First Timothy 4IN verse.
12 Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in Word.
Conversation, that's manner of life and charity, that's love and spirit and faith and purity. In other words, he was to walk according to the truth that he was learning and had received in his personal conduct. The Lord Jesus who said, I am the truth also said, I am altogether that which I say unto you.
In other words, his life was the living, perfect expression of all that he said.
And he's the model.
That's true faithfulness when the life is the expression of that which is taught.
That faithfulness, and it's the only true way that truth can be passed on, because if we don't express the heart of God.
It's not possible to express the truth of God, and God is holy and God is love, and if we do not express in what we say is doctrine.
The expression of what God is in his own being of light and love, then we are not expressing properly the truth of God. And so in this expression, faithful men, it didn't have really anything particularly to say to give.
Gift has its place, but the important, overwhelmingly important thing is that having received it for oneself is to be held in one's own life properly and then expressed to others.
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Chapter one and verse five the Lord speaks to UMM.
These seven assemblies, but the first thing he says he begins to say in verse 5 from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness.
And the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
We find in the scriptures often times those that were faithful witnesses paid a very steep price and the Lord Jesus paid the price to be a faithful witness. But then a little further on in Revelation chapter 19.
He's given a new title in verse 11. I saw heaven opened, and behold, a White Horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful.
And true. And so Timothy in First Corinthians chapter 4, the apostle Paul speaks of him, and he says in verse 17, First Corinthians 417 For this cause of Isen unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son.
And faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. So Timothy knew what it was to walk with Paul, faithful man.
And he too, the Spirit of God records was faithful. And we find in, I think it's the first Peter chapter 5 that Umm Sylvanus is referred to. And in the new translation he says Sylvanus, the faithful brother. So every one of us has the opportunity and the day that we live in to be faithful and the Lord is going to judge us on our faithfulness.
To His Word and to His cause, not our intelligence as to what it is, not as to really the gift that we have. Every one of us has the potential to be faithful to Christ, to the Person of the Lord, and to the truth that we know.
So there's four generations mentioned in verse 2.
Paul taught Timothy.
Timothy was to commit what he had learned to faithful men.
And they in turn were to be able to teach others also. This is the way God's testimony is to be carried on from generation to generation. As has been said, not through necessarily gifted men, although everyone has a gift and there is gift, but it is through faithful men. But I'd like to mention here he says what thou hast heard of me among many witnesses. I think that is a a good.
Thing to think about.
When we have a reading meeting, as we are now, the scripture says in First Corinthians 14 the prophets speak two or three and let the others judge.
Not judging persons, but judging what is said. You have the scriptures in front of you.
Look at it as the brethren are talking about it. Is that what it says?
Get it for yourself from the Scriptures and and I, I really appreciate it because there is opportunity in a meeting like we are having now for the Lord to use one brother and another brother to give the right balance to the truth. I'm not really balanced in every way. I need my brethren to help out in that and we need each other.
And so, Paul, what he taught Timothy was not his secret, it was among many witnesses. And so the importance of these reading meetings in public reading and teaching.
Says to be able to teach, that's important to be able to teach others. Also. I was just looking at Ezra Chapter 7. It's beautiful what it says about.
Ezra.
In verse Chapter 7 and verse 10.
Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.
And to do it, there's a faithful man.
And to teach in Israel statutes and judgments how important it is.
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To teach these things.
Bill was mentioning the importance of getting a hold of these precious truths as to the church and our heavenly calling that is being given up in a lot of places in the world. Well, Ezra could teach go to Nehemiah. There was another man who was faithful. Chapter 8 and verse eight it says.
Amongst others was Nehemiah and they read in the book of the law of God distinctly.
And gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. That's the purpose of a reading meeting, to give the sense and to help to understand the scriptures. How important these things are ready.
Hear that?
Uh, they were to go to, uh, Bible college or to, uh, seminary, but, uh, in the bosom of the assembly where the truth was ministered in its purity, uh, they would learn the truth, uh.
That had been committed to the Apostle.
So, uh, we have a wonderful fund of truth amongst brethren, so-called. And, uh, there's nothing that really can compare with it in the systems of men. And so, uh, if we, uh, value that truth and it's, it's ministered in the assembly, we have something that, uh, you won't find in a Bible college.
Yeah, I I thought about that.
Not to speak.
Degradingly of those that want to teach the scriptures but in the Bible college.
A professor is paid to teach.
And it's not for these students if there is an error in what he says to stand up and say. But what does the Scripture say here, Mr. Professor? You can't do that. That's not the context. It's in the assembly when we're gathered together and the Spirit of God is given liberty. I can make mistakes. I have made mistakes, brethren, and thankful for others who caught it.
And were able publicly to say, let's read this other Scripture. And he gives the balance to it. That's the context. And that's why it's the assembly that is the pillar and ground of the truth in First Timothy chapter 3. It is not a Bible school.
Let's not speak degradingly. I'm sure there are many that want to teach and do teach a lot. That's good, but that's not the proper context.
Way 2 doesn't he? In UMM chapter five First Thessalonians he says in verse 19 First Thessalonians 519 Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying.
Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, while they were going to hear things and they needed to prove them by the word of God. And so he says to Thessalonians in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 15. He gives them instruction there. 2nd Thessalonians 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. And so God largely uses those two means to teach us the truth of God by word or by the epistles. And Paul wrote 14 epistles. And we know that there were eight writers of the New Testament. They wrote as well, every one of them. And there's a purpose for every letter that was given to us but Timothy here.
Was to be giving this truth out and to really identify those that would be faithful.
Devoted to Christ and to pass that truth on accurately, not to umm, water it down and perhaps take the sharp edge of the sword off of the truth of God. It was to be delivered the way He got it.
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And how we can be so thankful that the truth that was recovered, as our brother was mentioning earlier, uh, almost 200 years ago now, has been delivered accurately and taught in the writings of our older brethren. And May God give us the grace in these latter days to hold the traditional teachings of Scripture as we have been taught, as we have read in the Word of God, and as we have received from those older brethren.
Connection with this verse in the presence of many witnesses.
The truth of God is to be passed on in a public way.
Umm, when the Lord Jesus was being challenged and put on trial and they asked him of his doctrine, his answer was in secret. Have I said nothing? I taught in the synagogues. He taught in the public place where the Jews came together and he didn't have private.
Secret councils, as the Jewish leaders did for what they were going to do and not to do. And it's always a danger.
If we think we have some knowledge of some kind of a truth that we think we have to share in a private way with some more spiritual eyes or minds or something like this, but it's not suitable for collective benefit, that's a very serious danger. And the Saints of God have gone wrong and people have gone, been misled and gone down wrong roads because it was not the truth being ministered in among many witnesses.
And that's the character of the assembly, that is, it's public among the Saints of God. And in that place the Spirit of God will. And this is a preservative. The Spirit of God confirms that each person present, if what they're hearing is truth. And if two people say something in the same meeting and they don't agree, we don't have to fight and say no, I can prove I'm right and you're wrong.
The Spirit of God is the one that confirms the truth to the soul, and he, the Spirit will never confirm error to our souls. And so it's essential that the truth be passed on where the Spirit of God has liberty to confirm it to the soul or not confirm it by not confirming it to the soul in the way it's given. So they fact that it was passed on in the presence of many witnesses is also important.
Hmm.
He gets testimony to the truth of God.
There's another passage of scripture that Paul says this. Then in Acts chapter 20 and verse 20 he says Acts 20 verse 20. Now I kept how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you.
And have taught you publicly and from house to house.
He didn't teach one thing publicly and then teach something else privately. Paul was very consistent in his delivery of the truth. And sometimes we might publicly want to say something. We might present ourselves as being very faithful publicly to hold up the truth of God, and perhaps in an assembly or a reading, meeting, whatever. But then privately, maybe not as devoted to Christ and, uh, devoted us to the truth and not as faithful or as accurate as what we might present publicly.
But Paul didn't put any airs on. No airs. What he taught publicly, he taught privately, and he taught the truth in the homes. It's a a good thing. It's well, I know I'm not trying to.
To say that anything differently in connection with what has been just said, but perhaps we could turn to Acts chapter, uh, eighteen. It speaks there of equivalent Priscilla. It's the right way of using the home, but they were supporting the truth in Acts chapter 18 and verse 26, He began to speak boldly of Apollos. It says that he began to speak boldly in a synagogue whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them.
And expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And so perhaps they brought him into the home, and they expounded the way of God more perfectly unto him. It's the right way to use a home. But what we teach in the home is what we teach in the assembly.
01:00:10
There that.
The apostle not only was a great teacher, uh, unexampled that, uh, I would, I would say, uh, in his, uh, ministry of the word and the revelations that he had received from God, but there was also the pastoral aspect, uh, not only publicly, but he was in the homes, uh, ministering and, uh, in a shepherd capacity there.
Uh, to, to, uh, be with the brethren and to, uh, enter into their, uh, their particular needs and, uh, and.
Minister, uh, in that capacity, is that not, uh, the thought in House to House as well as what our brother has said here?
The thought is not that any truth cannot be communicated to from one individual to another. It can, but all truth.
Yeah, it's perfect liberty to share the Word of God with one another. We never should say, oh, I can't say this because it's not in the presence of witnesses. But the thought of God is that the passing on of that which is collectively recognized, as it says the pillar in support of truth is in the assembly, is that which supports what truth is and is to be passed on. And so there's nothing that's to be.
Held privately.
It's all right to communicate it, but it's not to be given that character of private or specially godly ones are supposed to know some things that no one else is allowed to know. And, uh, it's the manner in which the truth is preserved that's in question, not individual use of it for one another.
Hmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm.
Three and four we have the soldier.
And uh, the new translation says, take thy share and suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
How to recognize it's not going to be easy?
So a soldier when he's trained to be a soldier.
Is vigorous.
Discipline, and he learns, above all, obedience.
Sometimes he understands the command and doesn't understand why, but one or the way or the other, it's obedience, and so he might have to suffer.
Durer hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and no man that warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. He has to have firmly established in his soul that the word of his commander is first. Nothing can compare with that that's first.
So often, you know, brethren, we know that Scripture exhorts us to not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. But when it comes to the meeting, assembly meetings, we have excuses for not being there. Brethren, how are we in comparison to this figure of a believer, a soldier?
This is something to think about.
Mary used to have a little expression. Maybe you heard him say it, but he said, uh, when we got saved, we gave up our right to choose.
And so here in verse four it says in the new translation, that he may please him who hath enlisted him.
As a soldier, so when we got saved, we gave up our right to choose and if we truly would acknowledge the Lord Jesus as our Lord and He had Lordship authority in our lives, He could direct us.
And in the path of faith there is suffering if we act in obedience.
In Luke Chapter 9, we have two individuals that came in contact with the Lord and it's interesting what they said.
01:05:06
Verse 59.
He said to another, That's the Lord said to another, Follow me.
But he said, Lord, suffer me first.
To go and bury my father, Me First. That's the culture that we form a part of in United States of America. Me first.
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, go thou and preach the Kingdom of God.
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first.
Go and bid them farewell that are at home at my house. There's another me first.
Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, his fit for the Kingdom of God.
Oh, what a tremendous lesson it is to learn it. It dies hard in it. This me first thing.
It's easy to let it predominate a soldier.
Is not a me first person if he's a good soldier.
This is verses three and four. We get both sides of the same coin, don't we?
That is when it says to endure hardness or take your share in suffering. That can take many forms. A soldier, of course, might have to sleep on a pretty hard bed at times. He might have to sleep in a tent. His food might not always be up to what he thought it should be. Many things he might have to do. He might have to slog it out in an unfavorable climate.
For you and for me as believers, it can cover many things, can't it? It can cover what kind of a job we take, what part of the country we live in, what kind of lifestyle we undertake. It can cover many things and there may be some hardness involved in many different aspects of our life that we have to accept.
But then the next verse talks about what we do.
A soldier doesn't ask for hardness, he gets it.
But if we entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life, that's something we choose to do, isn't it?
And that can become a very difficult thing because we need to mind our affairs in an orderly and proper manner. We can't just ignore them and be sloppy about our way of doing things. That's not honoring to the Lord.
But sometimes we have to say.
I can't really serve the Lord. I can't really do what He wants me to do. I can't really go where He wants me to go. I can't do the things that I feel I want to do for Him if I'm in this situation or that situation, if I do this in my life or do that.
And I suppose, and we've used the example before, a good example is an individual who wants to compete in the Olympics.
For about four years, usually. Everything is subservient, isn't it, to that goal?
Doesn't matter what it is in their life every time they think of what they're going to do.
How is it going to affect that coveted gold medal that maybe I'll get down the road? And it ought to be that way with the Christian, shouldn't it? And of course it leads into that in verse five, but.
The entangling ourselves, I say it kindly because I'm guilty of it too, is probably a bigger snare for us in North America than other countries. Would you say, Bob?
It's easy to get entangled here. There's lots of things to tangle us up.
And we spend time on them, and perhaps neglect the Lord's things. And again I speak right here to myself.
Oh no, Oh no. The fact the brother remarked many years ago, he said. The better The thing is, the more dangerous it is. Because it looks good. It may not be evil in itself.
Greatest form of suffering.
Sad to say would be the shame that's associated with taking a stand for Christ in this world.
I can see in my own life and.
From others that I've talked to, the reproach is associated with going into this, uh.
01:10:06
This world around us with a culture that's taken place and to prevent something which others don't wanna hear, uh, we just suffer and, uh, and having to bear a reproach and to take up the cross of Christ. And uh, in the eighth burst of umm, of the first chapter, it says, be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of he is a prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.
Uh, this isn't a question, umm, it's not a question as to whether or not we should bear reproach for God. It's we should, umm, it says be thou partaker of the affliction, doesn't say try to try to scoot around it and do work for and do something for the Lord. Present the gospel where there's not going to be reproach. It says to be a partaker of it and there's joy in that.
The aspect in which is.
It says in the Acts when they first suffered.
Umm, for him that the Lord the apostles, they say.
They rejoiced.
That they were counted worthy to suffer. Why? For His namesake. And it's the attachment of the soul to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes the difference. The moment the point of reference is my suffering or my reproach for His name, but the moment it's the me first, even in the suffering side of it.
It's going to be incredibly more difficult.
But the apostles didn't have themselves as the point of reference. It was rather his name. His name. Not my name, not my suffering, but his name. And they appreciated they had a love for himself that was such that they counted suffering a privilege for his namesake.
And if the soul is attached to the Lord Jesus?
That makes the difference, really, in the willingness to be identified. And so Paul and Galatia said to the Saints in his letter to them, God forbid that I should glory.
Saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom I have been crucified unto the world, and the world unto me. That is, he was personally found his identification with the very thing that caused suffering, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, which represented his rejection by the world. And so he said, I want to be identified with my Lord, my Savior. I love him.
And the consequences be as they may.
And so it is tremendously, practically important that the heart be attached to himself, otherwise the capacity to suffer is greatly diminished.
I must interject.
At this point, I can just hear it, Brother Edgar saying at this moment. Time's up, brethren.
Just a little reminder of our brothers. It's not here.
Hmm.
226.
And art thou grave?
01:15:04
Nsnoise.
Kings chapter 2 and verse seven do not they blasphemy?
That worthy name by which ye are called.
Yes.