The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying Paul's pastoral Epistles (Letters) to his proteges, Timothy and Titus.
This letter to Timothy are the last know words of Paul. He knew that the time of his death had come. God would soon move Paul off the scene, and Timothy would take his place and continue to give spiritual leadership to the churches. It would not be an easy task, but Timothy could succeed with the Lord’s help.
The Steward
The Soldier
The Athlete
The Farmer
The Workman
The Vessel
The Servant
The second epistle to Timothy contains the last words found from the apostle; they were written from prison shortly before his martyrdom.
God would soon move Paul off the scene, and Timothy would take his place and continue to give spiritual leadership to the churches. It would not be an easy task, but Timothy could succeed with the Lord’s help. Paul gave Timothy three essentials that he must possess to have success.
1. Courageous Enthusiasm (1:1–7)
2. Shameless Suffering (1:8–12)
3. Spiritual Loyalty (1:13–18)
Courageous enthusiasm is essential for success in any kind of work. Paul was encouraging his associate to keep the fire burning brightly so that it might generate spiritual power in his life.
Paul was not ashamed he admonished Timothy not to be ashamed because he as reasons to be encouraged not ashamed.
Be encouraged because God gives power even in suffering
Paul wasn’t ashamed and he admonished Timothy that he should’t be ashamed of him or be ashamed at all because he was not a prisoner of man but he was really the Lord's prisoner and he was suffering because of his appointment as as apostle.
The first essential was Courageous Enthusiasm the second was Shameless Suffering and the third essential that Timothy needed for success was Spiritual Loyalty
Timothy needed to be loyal to God’s word
Paul encourages Timothy to be loyal to him and the lesson for us is to be loyal to one another especially when we are suffering because of the gospel.
Courageous Christians
Paul did not want Timothy to have an identity crisis, so he carefully explained what a pastor is and does. Paul presented seven pictures of the Christian minister (The same principles apply to all Christians)
The Steward 2:1-2
The Soldier 2:3-4, 8-13
The Athelete 2:5
The Farmer 2:6-7
The Workman 2:14-18
The Vessel 2:19-22
The Servant 2:23-26
The Steward
2 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV [1] You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. [2] And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
The ministry is not something we get for ourselves and keep to ourselves. We are stewards of the spiritual treasure God has given us. It is our responsibility to guard the deposit and then invest it in the lives of others. They, in turn, are to share the Word with the next generation of believers..
It is important that we get our original treasure from the Word of God, and not from the ideas and philosophies of men. We do not test modern teachers by their popularity, education, or skill. We test them by the Word of God, and particularly the doctrines of grace.
The ability to study, understand, and teach the Word of God is a gift of God’s grace.
Remember when Paul gave the qualifications for being an overseer, which we also said included the pastor?
1 Timothy 3:2 NIV [2] Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
He said the same thing in
2 Timothy 2:24 NIV [24] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
The ability to teach implies a willingness learn; so a steward must also be a diligent student of the Word of God too.
The key to having any kind of effective ministry is dependent on God’s grace. In fact that’s what Paul said in one of his letters.
1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NIV [9] For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [10] But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
The Soldier
2 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV [3] Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. [4] No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
Timothy 2:8-13 NIV [8] Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. [10] Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. [11] Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; [12] if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; [13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
Paul often used military illustrations in his letters. This is not surprising since he lived in a military state and was in prison himself. He described in these verses the characteristics of a “good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
A good soldier endures hardship
2 Timothy 2:3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Ministry is a hard job and you need endurance, spiritual endurance
Many people have the idea that the ministry is a soft job.
Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV [10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
A good soldier avoids worldly entanglements
2 Timothy 2:4 NIV No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
He is totally committed to his Commanding Officer, the One who enlisted him. In our case, this is Jesus Christ. Soldiers don't concern themselves with non-military matters: they have a job to do. Nor do they worry about issues unrelated to their specific mission.
There are some exceptions because some pastor’s must work to survive but like we read in 1 Timothy if possible the church should support the pastor so that they don’t have to spend more time just trying to survive than on their churches and the needs of the members.
A good soldier magnifies Jesus Christ
Timothy 2:8-9 NIV [8] Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.
“Remember Jesus Christ!” sounds almost like a war cry, like “Remember the Alamo!” or “Remember Pearl Harbor!”
Our purpose is to bring honor and glory to Jesus. What an encouragement Jesus Christ is to a suffering Christian soldier! For He died and rose again, proving that suffering leads to glory, and that seeming defeat leads to victory.
The best way to magnify Christ is through the ministry of the Word, which can’t be stopped by chains like Paul when he was in prison.
Philippians 1:12-14 NIV [12] Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. [13] As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. [14] And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
Paul was bound, but God’s Word cannot be bound.
A good soldier thinks about his fellow soldier not just himself
2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
“The elect” are God’s people, chosen by His grace and called by His Spirit.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NIV [13] But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. [14] He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A soldier who thinks only of himself is disloyal and undependable.
Finally a good soldier trusts his Commanding Officer
2 Timothy 2: 11-13 [11] Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; [12] if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; [13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
This “faithful saying” is probably part of an early statement of faith recited by believers.
We have nothing to fear! The important thing is that we not “disown” our Lord, for if we disown Him here, He will disown us before the Father.
Matthew 10:32-33 NIV [32] “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. [33] But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
By the way I don’t believe that a true believer can disown Jesus. However if we are not good soldier I believe that we can lose out on the rewards.
God will give rewards in heaven at the or the judgment seat of Christ, based on our faithfulness in service to Him.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NIV [6] Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. [7] For we live by faith, not by sight. [8] We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. [9] So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The rewards will show that God makes good on His promise that our labor in the Lord is not in vain
1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV [58] Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Our own doubt and unbelief cannot change Him
2 Timothy 2:13 [13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
We do not put faith in our faith or in our feelings, because they will change and fail. We put our faith in Christ. “It is not by trying to be faithful, but in looking to the Faithful One, that we win the victory.”
We’ve looked at Paul’s picture of the Christian as a steward and a soldier he also pictures the Christian as an athlete
2 Timothy 2:5 NIV [5] Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
An athlete in order to win must play by the rules. Now Paul admonished him to obey the rules.
The Greeks and the Romans were enthusiastic about sports, and the Olympic and Isthmian Games were important events to them.
A person who strives as an athlete to win a game and get a crown must be careful to obey all the rules of the game. In the Greek games in particular, the judges were most careful about enforcing the rules. Each competitor had to be a citizen of his nation, with a good reputation. In his preparations for the event, he had to follow specific standards. If an athlete was found defective in any matter, he was disqualified from competing. If, after he had competed and won, he was found to have broken some rule, he then lost his crown.
From the human point of view, Paul was a loser. There was nobody in the grandstands cheering him, for “all they which are in Asia” had turned away from him (2 Tim. 1:15). He was in prison, suffering as an evildoer. Yet, Paul was a winner! He had kept the rules laid down in the Word of God, and one day he would get his reward from Jesus Christ. Paul was saying to young Timothy, “The important thing is that you obey the Word of God, no matter what people may say. You are not running the race to please people or to get fame. You are running to please Jesus Christ.”
Paul paints a picture of the Christian as a farmer
2 Timothy 2:6-7 NIV [6] The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. [7] Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
Paul once compared the local church to a cultivated field in which all the believers worked together. Each Christian has his particular task to perform—plowing, sowing, watering, or harvesting—but it is God alone who gives the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 NIV [5] What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. [6] I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. [7] So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. [8] The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. [9] For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Some important things about farmers.
A farmer has to work.
If you leave a field to itself, it will produce mostly weeds.
Proverbs 24:30-34 NIV [30] I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; [31] thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. [32] I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: [33] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— [34] and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Real ministry is hard work, and pastors (and church members) ought to work in their spiritual fields as diligently as farmers work in their fields.
A farmer needs patience.
James 5:7 NIV [7] Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
The farmer deserves his share of the harvest.
2 Timothy 2:6 NIV [6] The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.
Talking about pastors here Paul is stating here that a faithful pastor ought to be supported by his church.
This is the same idea here as is
1 Timothy 5:17-18 NIV [17] The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. [18] For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”
As a local church grows and progresses, the people ought to faithfully increase their support of their pastors and other staff members.
1 Corinthians 9:10-11 NIV [10] Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. [11] If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?
Something else is true in this image of the farmer: The spiritual leaders who share the Word with the people are the first ones to enjoy its blessings. The preacher and the teacher always get more out of the sermon or lesson than do the hearers because they put much more into it. They also get great joy out of seeing planted seeds bear fruit in the lives of others. Farming is hard work, and it can have many disappointments; but the rewards are worth it.
Another picture Paul uses is the workman
2 Timothy 2:14-18 NIV [14] Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. [15] Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. [16] Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. [17] Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, [18] who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
A Christian, a Pastor must be diligent, be zealous. The emphasis in this paragraph is that the workman needs to be diligent in his labors so that he will not be ashamed when his work is inspected. “Rightly dividing” means “cutting straight,correctly handling the word of truth. God wants it to be built. But a sloppy worker will handle God’s Word deceitfully in order to make it say what he wants it to say.
The Word is a treasure that the steward must guard and invest. It is the soldier’s sword and the farmer’s seed. But it is also the workman’s tool for building, measuring, and repairing God’s people. The preacher and teacher who use the Word correctly will build their church the way God wants it to be built. But a sloppy worker will handle God’s Word deceitfully in order to make it say what he wants it to say.
An approved worker diligently studies the Word and seeks to apply it to his own life. An ashamed worker wastes his time with other “religious duties”.
An approved worker does not waste his time arguing about stuff that has no value
2 Timothy 2:14 NIV [14] Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
Remember when we were talking about false teachers in 1 Timothy
1 Timothy 6:2-5 NIV [2] Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on. [3] If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, [4] they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions [5] and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
All that arguing does is undermine God’s work.
An approved workman will shun “godless chatter” because he knows it only leads to more ungodliness.
2 Timothy 2:16 NIV [16] Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
An approved workman knows that false doctrine is dangerous, and he will oppose it. Paul compared it to gangrene.
Gangrene spreads, infects, and kills other tissue, so false doctrine spreads and infects the body of believers, the church. This infection must be exposed and removed. Only the “sound [healthy]
2 Timothy 2:17 NIV [17] Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
Only the healthy doctrine” of the Word of God can keep a church healthy and growing.
Paul named two men who were false teachers, and he also identified their error. It is likely that the Hymenaeus named here is the same man named in 1 Timothy 1:20.
1 Timothy 1:20 NIV [20] Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
We know nothing about his associate, Philetus. Both of them “wandered from the truth” by teaching that the resurrection had already taken place.
What they were teaching is that believers shouldn’t expect a physical resurrection. Now denial of a physical resurrection is a serious thing, for it involves the resurrection of Christ and the completion of God’s plan of salvation for His people.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 NIV [12] But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. [15] More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. [19] If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The resurrection is a foundational truth of the gospel. No wonder these false teachers were able to “overthrow the faith of some”.
2 Timothy 2:17-18 NIV [17] Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, [18] who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Each of us as God’s workman will be either approved or ashamed. The word approved means “one who has been tested and found acceptable.” The word was used for testing and approving metals. Each trial that we go through forces us to study the Word to find God’s will. As we rightly use the Word, we succeed in overcoming our trials, and we are approved by God.
What does it mean to be “ashamed”? Certainly it means that such a workman’s work is below standard and cannot be accepted. It means loss of reward. In fact, in Paul’s day, a builder was fined if he failed to follow the specifications. When the Lord judges our works, it will be revealed whether we as workmen have handled the Word of God honestly and carefully.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 NIV [10] By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. [11] For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, [13] their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. [14] If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. [15] If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
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