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A God, our Father.
Give me thanks for these words as we can sing, or thou astronaut us after thee, and let us run, and they retire.
Present shall our comfort be.
And so we just give these thanks that we can have this time before us this morning and we just.
Realize that we need strength to be able to run, and we just desire that.
Portion that would be before us would be food for our souls.
There was always have for us, Father and justice. Pray for Thy health and direction. As far as suggesting a passage, whatever we might take up and whatever comments might be made, just pray that my Spirit would lead and that we would just be blessed as we sit here in my presence, Lord Jesus this morning, so we commit our time into Thy hands and the rest of the day in Jesus name, Amen.
Let it be profitable rather to consider Second Timothy in chapter 2.
For your consideration.
I would read that portion.
2nd.
Second Timothy, chapter 2.
Thou therefore, my Son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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 wore it entangled himself with the affairs of his life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strived for masteries, yet is he not proud except he strive lawfully. The husbandmen that laborers must first be partaker of the Bruce.
Consider what I say and the Lord give the 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, trouble as an evildoer, even as unto bonds.
But the Word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elects sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
There's 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.
And if we believe not yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself a.
These things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord, that they strive not about words of 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.
A Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat, As doth the canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philitus, who concerning the truth of air, 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 name it 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 wooden earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purged himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor.
Sanctified and me for the masters use and for.
Unto every good word. Lee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with all of them to call on the Lord out of the pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they are gender stripes.
Servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men. Apartment to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. It's God for adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they might recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, or take a captive by him at his will.
00:05:28
Started the meetings off singing Oh God of matchless grace.
And it just makes me think of this first verse. Be strong in the grace as in Christ Jesus. Reminds me of that verse. I think it's Hebrews 13.
Says it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with means and we can think that we're strong in a lot of things we can think we have a strong will or we have a lot of knowledge or whatever it is and Timothy certainly was someone who.
Had been faithful in many ways but.
It's just encouraging here, I think, and encouraging for our day that he's encouraged to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I, I take it that that just means that he is to lean on the Lord for his strength and depend on the Lord for his strength, not to.
Look to something else, good teaching or whatever it may be. Not that those things aren't important, but that his strength was to come from the grace of the Lord.
Greece is really such a wonderful thing, isn't it?
And when we have a realization of it in our souls.
And held properly, it really helps us to have the right attitude in the right perspective.
And in all of us were honest deserve.
Never to be able to see the face of God. We deserve the lake of fire.
That's what we by nature and my practice.
Earlier, but when we see that God instead of giving us what we deserve, has given his Son has given us to appreciate what is really like if we can be strong in that that we have been given everything that we have.
Then we can have the right perspective. Are we going to be focused on ourselves?
When God has given us such grace, you know, that's so weird to be strong in, you know, isn't that something that's a challenge for each one of us?
To think about ourselves a lot.
The grace gives us to get outside of ourselves and realize that God wants to glorify His Son. We are connected with Him and we can be strong in that, you know, we can be fruitful, it goes on to say. And the things which thou hast heard of me, you know, it's not just that we would leave the word of God aside in order to be strong in that which we have been given to.
But they're together. It's not one without the other.
And we just appreciate that so much the 2GO together.
We have in verse two it says the same commit that a faithful man we shall be able to teach others also.
So we tend to like to as it goes on in chapter Florida, here's something we haven't heard before, to hear a fresh perspective or something new and exciting. But here it's the same commits out of faithful manner and we can't get beyond appreciating the Lord Jesus, what he has done, who he is.
You know, if we do we've we've got off the top, it doesn't mean we can't have a fresh enjoyment of him.
Of everything that is true, but it's the same. It's not our own perspective that we need to pass on. We don't need to add something to the Word of God to make it better. You need to enjoy what He is given to us.
Saying you know it says commit thou to faithful man who shall be able to teach others also.
There's some here that are that are mothers.
Have opportunities special time with children be able to teach them the truth of and those that perhaps teach in a different capacity, but each one of us it's not just to pass it on to, you know, certain brothers who are going to teach others.
The truth of God is for each one of us to appreciate the Lord Jesus.
00:10:03
I think there's a proper order of things that's brought out here, but I think if each one of us thinks this is to somebody else, we're going to mess up.
The Lord has something for each one, and Timothy obviously is who is being written to here, and there is a specific thing that tendency is to be doing.
I think each one of us can apply it to our own selves. The Word of God is not just for others.
Enjoy the new translation.
False says so, my child.
There's this fatherly care towards this younger brother who had had a.
The occasion to to minister with him, to be with him, as it says here, and learn many things of him.
That was witnessed by many. You know, it was all always transparent. His teaching was was a public teaching. It was consistent. It was over time and and Timothy was with him and he's really, you know, he is really handing off as it were. You know, Paul was an apostle. He had particular authority.
Filleting of the foundation of the assembly, but here he is handing off to a faithful young brother and admonishing this young brother to to entrust the word commit is translated trust these teachings, these words to other faithful men and that's really the way that the the Lord by his grace.
You know, has there is a way there is that's the way things have been handed down. You know there were those that teach you the.
Official standing down. It's not official. It's faithful men.
And by the grace of God, here we are, 2000 years.
After these words were written almost and we have this word in our hand.
Thank God there have been those faithful ones who have.
Done this, handed this word out and it is as Kevin said, it is the word of God that we have.
The grace of God and the Word of God that will get us through it works.
God's way.
That's to consider. You know, I think of times when we were younger and we had, you know, and I had the privilege of having many people.
Stay at our house and I think it was a time when there was more traveling.
Especially.
Many of the those who were laboring administering amongst the Saints with travel a lot and you had that privilege of.
Having many stay with us and.
I can think of those times.
Often after meeting or at night.
Put the kids to bed and sitting with some of these ones and it was a great privilege and you know.
Be very thankful to be considered one who was a faithful person.
Mean a faithful man, which is a little discretion there, isn't there?
So it's a real.
You know it's a real.
It's it's a real call to do this is care and there's care.
And how the truth is handed on this Karen Witten, the way it is handed on.
I still think of again some of these interactions with like brother Bill Asali.
Norman Berry and.
You know, you know, Fatherly way.
Take a side of young brother and say here.
These are important things.
And you have a responsibility towards that.
I'm giving you these things.
Trusting them to you, it's really something, isn't it, To continue that.
00:15:18
Walk on faithfully in this world.
It's going to require hardship.
And I think all of us have a tendency to, I mean, it's just human nature that we don't like the hard path. We want the easy path. So most men go down the Broad Rd. they don't go down the narrow road. And many Christians take the easy way as opposed to the hard way. And so this is this exhortation is given to Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier.
Of Jesus Christ.
Sally's given me a bit of a love for history, and as I have a long commute to work, I've listened to a few books on history. And it's amazing when you look back in history or even today, of what a soldier has to go through. Even today, what a soldier has to go through, but even more so back in the in this day, it was an incredibly arduous.
Occupation.
Long marches, marching through cold and summer uniforms, through heat and winter uniforms, you know, lugging water, building fortifications, and then of course the ever present danger of death at the next corner. It's really not. It's actually a lifestyle. I know it kind of sounds glamorous, but it really wasn't a very fun or exciting thing.
Most of the time, and it certainly involved an incredible amount of hardship and the Roman soldiers, you know, a little bit about Roman soldiers and how they were drilled. You know, they, you know, decimation happened. Just it's incredible the thing that a soldier is called today or and, and back in in the day when this was written to go through and a lot of times maybe we just think as a Christian that I'm entitled to.
The Lord loves me and the Lord's over also. I really should have a pretty easy life. I don't know why I should really have to go through a lot of hardships. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I mean, I should be able to have a pretty easy life, and it's rare to me anyway. I believe it's rare. But the easy way is the right way, the way that would follow the Lord. And so he calls them to endure hardness as a good soldier.
You have bought a lot of even.
Even today, the present time, a lot of.
What those who are you say in the service having to do? It's, it's continuous, it's monotonous. It's not necessarily interesting. And again, if there are times it may be that, you know, very uncomfortable, certainly today modern soldiers, at least in our country, probably have more creature comforts in many cases. But then there are times when they don't and they're trained for those times, right?
So we all know basic training is the beginning of whatever service you're in and whatever discipline you end up going into in the in the service.
When you end up at a desk job or or firing artillery, you know, they all start with basic training and that's where they have to drill and kind of push the limits.
They have these drill sergeants that yell at them and.
Make them feel not so good to see if they can do it. You know, part of it is that people quit people. Not everybody can endure that. Not everybody can take it. But then again, you know, a lot of the the actual day-to-day.
Service of a soldiers that you know, it's marching, it's the drills, it's the it's just the going on in those things that aren't necessarily fun in themselves and in many cases.
You know our as it says, but yet what you do, you just do it. You do it until you're done. And you know a soldier also.
So I understand. I've never been in service, but I understand.
My person enlists.
00:20:00
They are, they actually sign a paper signing, you know, in the United States military, they sign over really their all their rights to the government.
During the Spirit of God.
So they have no rights.
And the good soldier needs to be focused on the one.
Who had chosen him to be a soldier That's so important?
So these entanglements.
Entanglements is when you get all wound up.
Thanks. And again, soldiers are.
There are strict codes. They can get disciplined for violating these codes and getting involved with things.
That, you know, either bring dishonor or danger, in many cases to to their fellow soldiers and to the government that they serve.
So they wear a uniform. The uniform identifies them.
And.
Other things. And so it is with us.
To be entangled with the affairs of this life.
We're here to please the One who is in heaven.
His his interests are heavenly, not earthly. His interest in the earth or.
With the souls of people who he loves.
He died now that is his interest here in this world.
I think it's so beautiful how in the Scripture, you know, simple illustrations are used that we all can just easily relate to. And the youngest one, well, maybe not absolutely youngest, but you know, the youngest one here with understanding can, can, can relate to and these three are given.
And I know that there may be some of the words or words we don't use so much today.
But the first one is has already been written. It's just how effective is the soldier going to be going into battle if he's busy shopping and busy, you know, checking on his Amazon delivery status and, you know, whatever it is?
How effective is he really going to be as he goes into battle? And the answer is obvious. He's not going to be effective because he's not focused on what's in front of him. And then you have the next example in verse five. If a man strive for masteries yet is he not crown except he strive lawfully while striving for masteries is just an old way to say that you're you're in a competition. So you can think of it like a race. And if someone's in a race and then they decide to just.
Cut across, you know they're in some long distance race. Decided to cut across some.
Shortcut in the path? Well, that's all fine and good. It may look to everybody like they won the race.
But as they review, they're not going to be crowned unless they strive lawfully. So there is that principle as well. And we can seek to take shortcuts, avoid hardness. I mean, you think of running. I think we probably all have run. And you can just, you know, you just think of how every every step becomes agony as you get towards, you know, as you get into a race and you just.
Everything is hard, and the thing that you want more than anything is just the race to be over. So if there's a way to take a few shortcuts to make things easier, the temptation is there.
And we can all think back in times and, you know, they're running the Boston Marathon or whatever, and people try to take shortcuts and.
So there's that danger as well that we would seek to avoid hardness by taking, by just bending the rules a little bit, as we might say.
Does it really mean that Exactly. You know, I think the Lord understands.
I think that's a very dangerous statement. And then you have verse six, the husband, and that's just a farmer. The farmer. And it's kind of, I think it's a little clearer. I'll just read it in Darby because it's helpful. I think the husbandmen must labor before partaking of the fruits.
So you can't start, you know, when you're on your, your way. If you see some strawberries and they're not, you know, you have to work at it. You have to put in all the energy ahead of time. It's not until the end that you're able to actually select that that fruit.
And so maybe sometimes we do something for the Lord and we expect some great reward, like right away one, you know, people's adulation or whatever it is.
00:25:10
That's not appropriate. We are looking for our reward in the future time.
Not now.
Yeah, thinking about the farmer, you know, this is the time of year that the seed, the seed catalogs come out.
Get these beautiful pictures and nice bright luscious fruits and vegetables, you know, on some people. Oh, that's great. I'm going to have a garden. And then when it's time, you know, the summer and the garden school release, things don't look quite like the pictures in the seed cattle off because you know, it doesn't. You have to labor. That's what husbandry is that active daily.
Paying attention, you know, the labor is really paying attention on a daily basis to the needs and to the situation. You know, if it's gardening, then it's wedding and dealing with bugs and transplanting and mulching and and then finally, if you do all of that, you get to eat some good stuff.
And you know, whether it's animal husbandry or whatever, it's a care, It's a daily care. You can't, you know, I appreciate one of the things our kids, I think.
Benefited from by having animals to take care of is you know even when you don't feel like getting up early before school or before even extracurricular activities at school to deal with the animals you got to do it anyway you can't say I'll wait till long just.
This doesn't work, so it's a. It's a very good thing to think about.
But daily continuous routine and attentiveness. What it is you're growing or raising?
Just one more comment in regards to the soldier. I was thinking of Uriah, how he was called from the thick of battle to David. David had his own intentions.
In that, but Uriah did not go home to his wife.
He would not entangle his concentration, his battle concentration. He had been called, he expected to be going back to battle. And so he slept, I believe, on the steps of the palace and.
That's the kind of concentration that the soldier has to have, otherwise distraction could cost his life or the life of his comrade.
Consider what I say.
And the Lord gives the understanding in all things.
You know, we don't always have understanding of the things that are being committed to us.
Sometimes we have to.
Gain experience. We have to live life and if we do so.
With the Lord in mind.
Then.
We gain understanding, we go through experiences that show us the truth and the value of the Word of God.
And as we imparted to others, we.
They gained by that experience someone else's experience.
Sometimes we read a scripture.
One more 20 years old.
And we just kind of read over it a few years later or a year later we read it again and well, there seems to be something there, but.
Maybe 10 years later.
Or 20 years later, we go through that passage and we are just amazed, but we've gone through some things.
I like again the new translation says think of what I say.
Or the Lord will give the understanding and you know sometimes.
Sometimes something can be communicated.
And you've got to work. You've got to work at.
Understanding it and, you know, I teach electric theory and such and you know, sometimes I, I, I know I do with a group of students and I put something out and talked about it and they look at me with blank eyes and I've just got to say you just need to just think about it. Just think about it and then sometimes.
00:30:23
Through a lot of struggle, suddenly the lights start coming on and go, wow, yeah, I didn't, I didn't. So you have to work at these things. There's a there is a labor in understanding even, and we don't always understand.
And we understand more.
You know, these little ones understand a certain level of these very same scriptures that we're reading that they've memorized for Sunday school, but.
They grow, they'll understand more.
And that's the way it is. But it takes that, that effort that, you know, the, the chewing on the thinking on the meditation.
Very important.
Could we sing 275?
Our God is light and God.
Of our heartless world.
I like God, our Father would be thank you for.
The word we've been able to enjoy this morning by word.
We just again thank you for diversities to us and thy grace.
Just commit ourselves to be in Jesus name.