First Things First # 2 – So you want to be a soldier?

Original Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu283eeVLVs Channel Link for your RSS feed reader (copy & paste): https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCSK9NSk5bxOnJB9yNsuqyjQ

Please read the following Bible passage below, after you watched the video above.

II Timothy 2:1 [*Via DBD devotional for February 1st]

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit you to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

The farmer that labours must be first partaker of the fruits.

* Since the daily devotion [DBD] Day By Day By Grace is copyrighted and permission to distribute is granted to CrossWire, it can not be displayed here, but you can install it into the Xiphos Bible program via Edit > Module Manager and the CrossWire repository on your computer.

Note: Quoted from the “Updated King James Version”. After you reflected on the Bible passage above in context, let’s have a look at what the free non-commercial Kingcomments contains, for the understanding of the bible passage in the broader context.

2Tim 2:1. It is not that it doesn’t bother Paul that so many people have abandoned him. He is surely suffering because of that. Yet he is not discouraged. With the words “you therefore”, by which the connection with the previous is indicated, Paul encourages his “son” Timothy not to be like the ‘abandoners’, but like Onesiphorus.

He doesn’t say to Timothy that he shouldn’t care at all about the circumstances and stoically perform his duty. He neither encourages him to introduce all kinds of commands or prohibitions for stopping the continuation of the decay. Legalistic prescriptions, rules and creeds give no power, but they on the contrary cause an increase of narrow-mindedness about being a Christian and do not prevent decay. No, he points out to Timothy what remains and where power is to be found.
Timothy doesn’t need to be depressed or take his refuge in carnal remedies if he strengthens himself in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. This is the grace of chapter 1 (2Tim 1:9). This implies that you are to look up to the other world that is outside the visible one, which has to do with eternal life. Christ has not changed, whatever may be the case with people. Also the power of His grace remains undiminished and great. You may also tap from that source of grace which always remains full. You can also go there to strengthen yourself in your spiritual fight. Only in the power of grace is it possible to resist evil.

2Tim 2:2. Then Paul points his spiritual child to the Word, the truth that he had passed on to him. The many testimonies that went together with it may confirm Timothy in his conviction about the truth. That gives him security about the truth. In that way he is able to recognize and reject everything as false teachings that deviates from the truth that he has heard. (What you must be careful of, however, is holding the truth in the way that suits you best. If so, depending on your tendencies, chances are you will fall into either legalism or liberalism.)

There are no new revelations. With the truths that God has revealed to Paul and which are passed on by him, God has said everything He wanted to make known in His Word (Col 1:25).

Timothy not only receives the confirmation that what he heard from Paul is the truth, he himself must also pass on that truth unchangeably. He has to make sure that the truth will be spread to others after him. That is the normal way to let the truth proceed. You see that Paul doesn’t give Timothy a certain authority or consecrate him in a special way. The Bible is not familiar with such a thing like an official right to preach, something that is only allowed to do by men with a theological training. It is about committing the truth of God’s Word to “faithful men” who in their turn also teach others this truth.
Paul mentions two necessary characteristics that a person should have to be able to teach the truth. A person should be “faithful” and “able”. ‘Faithful’ means reliable, trustworthy in the way of dealing with what is entrusted (cf. 1Cor 4:1-2). He who is faithful has a good spiritual mind. All believers have to be faithful, but unfortunately, not all are (2Thes 3:2b).

In addition to that being ’able’ is necessary to pass on what has been taught. Not all faithful believers have that ability. Herein you recognize the gift of being a teacher. To be able to practice this gift it is necessary for a person to be faithful himself, which means that he lives in accordance to the teaching he teaches to others (cf. 1Tim 4:12-16). The “others” are apparently also teachers that are taught about the truth.

This method of knowledge transfer differs from the manner knowledge is being transferred on theological faculties to which a diploma and an official degree are often connected. There it is (mainly) about intellect, here it goes through the line of faithful people:
Paul – Timothy – people who are faithful and able – other people
It is about the transfer of the irreplaceable truths of the Word of God (definitely not about philosophies or ideas of men) to the next generations, that it may also characterize their lives. This ministry of teachers – and that goes for each ministry or gift of a believer – is not meant for the person himself, but always for others.
From their service you can benefit, for example by reading the commentaries they have written, by attending the Bible lectures they give or by attending conferences where God’s Word is being explained by them. Of course listening to records of bible lectures and conferences is a wonderful possibility to obtain teachings by them from God’s Word (e.g. the audio records of www.oudesporen.nl, ‘Other languages’). And let’s not forget the meetings of the local church. It is crucial for your spiritual growth to faithfully attend these meetings.

2Tim 2:3. From this verse some characteristics follow that are of great importance for Timothy in passing on the truth. They are also essential for you. These characteristics enable you to continue the work that the Lord has ordered you to do. They have to do with warfare and patience.

You find yourself on a hostile territory where powers are active that want to hinder you to pass on the truth. Therefore it is important that you endure and suffer (2Tim 2:3), that you are not engaged with the affairs of everyday life (2Tim 2:4), that you fight according to the rules (2Tim 2:5) and that you labor first before you enjoy the fruits (2Tim 2:6).

The first is “suffer hardship”. In connection to the previous verse Paul asks to suffer with him for the truth and the gospel. You are a good soldier if you are aware of the enemy and you discover him before he discovers you. The soldier here is in active service and not in the barracks or on leave. He is in the front line and finds himself continually in a war situation. He receives his orders from his Superior, “Christ Jesus”, and is therefore continuously in contact with Him.
2Tim 2:4. He doesn’t have to worry about anything. His life is not entangled with or engaged in “the affairs of everyday life”. This refers to civilian matters as opposed to the military’s obligations.

This attitude goes for all who serve the Lord and it is not only for the so-called ‘fulltime workers’. When you serve the Lord only one thing is important: how to live to His satisfaction. Demas lost sight of that and was attracted by the pleasure of the world (2Tim 4:10; cf.Lk 8:14). The Lord Jesus is the One Who has enlisted you as a soldier and into service and nobody else, no man or church. Be aware that if you want to satisfy men, you cannot be a soldier of Christ, let alone a good one (Gal 1:10).

2Tim 2:5. Another character you can’t miss in your service is that of someone who “competes as an athlete”. It literally means ‘to fight as an athlete’. The fight of a soldier makes you think of a war situation. The fight of an athlete is about winning the prize, the medal or, as it is here, the crown. The picture of the athlete is derived from a person who participated in the national sports matches of the Greeks. If someone won, he received a crown (2Tim 4:8; 1Cor 9:25; 1Pet 5:4). This crown consisted of a garland, made of branches and leaves of possibly an olive tree. The material value of the crown was nil. But the other side was that the fame this crown represented was extraordinary great (Heb 2:7; 9). If you wanted to receive that you had to win.

Yet, the victory could only be claimed when the athlete considered the rules connected to the match. One of the conditions was for example that the athletes had to be Greeks. They also had to have trained. They had to swear before Zeus that they had trained for ten months and that they would consider the rules of the branch of sports they had subscribed themselves for.
In the same way the servant of the Lord Jesus has to fight according to the rules. That means that he ought to know the rules and that he obeys them. This doesn’t mean obedient to the law but to the Lord and His Word. He may not act on his own discretion.
2Tim 2:6. The last character that Paul mentions is that of a farmer, literally ‘worker of the land or field’ (cf. 1Cor 3:9; 1Cor 9:7). A farmer is the whole year engaged in the production of the fruit. He is not able to accelerate the growth, but he is able to make sure that there are no hindrances for the growth. Therefore he will spud out weeds, trim, nourish, water and protect the plants. Only if that work has been done well and unceasingly, he will see the results of his labor. Then he will see that his efforts are being rewarded and he will be the first to enjoy the fruit. If he gets lazy and impatient and stops halfway he will destroy all the work he has done earlier and will stand with empty hands when the harvest time comes (Pro 20:4; Pro 24:30-31).

Sometimes you get to see some results of your service already on earth. Yet the true enjoyment of all fruits of your service will be only when you are with the Lord.
Therefore you should remember: the Lord takes care of you (2Tim 2:3-4), you are to make sure that you act according to God’s Word (2Tim 2:5) and you can look forward to the coming enjoyment of everything you have done here for the Lord (2Tim 2:6).

Now read 2 Timothy 2:1-6 again.
Reflection: What are the characteristics of a good servant? Which characteristics are not so evident with you? What could you do about that?

Now, let’s finish our bible research about today’s verse, with a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon, for today. Will you be there, as a soldier in the Lord Christ Jesus?

Original Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MxFr9DDNgk Channel Link for your RSS feed reader (copy & paste): https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCSK9NSk5bxOnJB9yNsuqyjQ

Did you love to read C.H. Spurgeon’s sermons about the old and new testament in thy youth, too? The author of these lines, surely did….

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