May God be pleased to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to Paul's
2nd epistle to Timothy chapter 2 and reading verse 3. The 2nd
epistle of Paul to Timothy chapter 2 and reading verse 3. Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ Paul the Apostle is addressing
or writing to his son in the faith Timothy and he is describing
to him really what he should do and what he should expect And there are many words of instruction
in these letters to Timothy that he wrote. We cannot go through
them all but tonight we will just try and concentrate on this
statement in this third verse. Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Apostle uses a military expression
he speaks of Timothy as being a soldier and of course really he was a
soldier he was a soldier in the king's army he was one of those witnesses
that the Lord had called and as the apostle said to him my
son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things
that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit
thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also
the apostle was not ashamed of what he said not ashamed of the
gospel that he declared and he desired therefore that Timothy
might declare the same truths and therefore that he may be
numbered as it were with the apostle and be part of the king's
army well they had received a call
from God I wonder if you and I have received
that call to join the king's army to be numbered amongst those
who are called to fight a good warfare those who are we described
as the Lord's witnesses as we walk on this earth now if it is so and may it be
so may we be found numbered with Timothy as the apostle addresses
him and it's good that the apostle doesn't pretend that Christian
life is easy he clearly declares to him this
truth thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ
he's telling him what he should expect and is telling him what
he must do. So today we should likewise expect
hardness in our Christian pathway and we should also be aware that
there is an enduring. We are very foolish aren't we?
We think that little trials and difficulties We'll just pass
away and then life will be nice and smooth. The Apostle doesn't
give us any encouragement. He tells us it's an enduring.
Thou therefore endure. And this word endure can also
be translated like this to survive. Or perhaps that gives us a deeper
understanding of what this is like it's a real battle and it's
a question of surviving and it's a question of surviving against
the enemy and as we know I'm sure the great enemy of our souls
is the devil and he will use every artillery in his possession
to try and slay us and try to turn us away from the truth of
God and therefore how necessary it is for us in our lives today
to understand it is a survival it's a hard battle you think
sometimes of surviving and here are people don't we surviving
they did perhaps A long time in difficult situations and they
managed to survive. Hasn't been easy. Sometimes people
have been amazed at how people have been able to survive. Well, there is a necessity then
in the Christian life, the Christian battle to survive. And what I
mean by that is this. There will be many temptations
to give up the fight. To give up the fight. And one
of those ways will be to throw in our sword. As you see when confronted by
the enemy. In days past people would throw
down their weapons and indicate that they were surrendering.
They were giving up. No doubt there is that temptation
sometimes to throw down our sword. What is that? Well, it's the
Word of God. The Word of God. It tempts us
to say, well, it's no use me reading it anymore. I've read
it and I've searched it and I've desired to be directed and blessed
by it and there's nothing. Well, Don't be discouraged by
that. You know, there was that occasion
when Elisha's servant was sent up the hill, the mountain, to
see if there was any sign of rain. He came back on six occasions
and said, there's nothing. There's nothing. and so it may be in your life
you may have been seeking for something some favour, some blessing,
some direction and you've gone up to look you've come back and
you said there's nothing well Elisha's servant was told
to go again and on the seventh occasion He saw just a little
cloud, a little cloud in the distance. But what was it? It was a sign
of an abundance of rain. It was a sign of the abundance
of blessing. He didn't cease, and we are not
to cease. We are to therefore endure. press on against all the opposition
the temptations that come into our lives to give up and call no more on Jesus name
it's a great temptation sometimes and therefore the Apostle says
to Timothy thou therefore endure I'm telling you, Timothy, there
will be a need for this. There will be a need for surviving
because of the great opposition that you are likely to encounter.
We should not think today, in our lives, we will be relieved
of any situation other than this. There will be battles. Yes, there
will be times when we feel perhaps the heat is just too much we can't go on we have to give up Timothy was told to endure and
you and I tonight are told to endure because the Lord would
and will bring the blessing And so there will be that evidence
then of this survival and this enduring and this hardness. Hardness. And again this word
hardness can be translated as afflictions. You might perhaps
understand that a bit easier. Afflictions. And they come in
various forms. They come in physical afflictions.
My friends, the devil can produce physical afflictions which can
drag us down. We need to endure such afflictions. The Lord didn't say that he would
remove it, did he? What did Paul find? He had that
thorn in the flesh. That affliction, that hardness. We're not told what it was. But
it's a description, isn't it? A thorn is spiteful, isn't it? And when you're pricked by a
thorn, you know about it. And he asked that it might be
removed. He asked three times. And God said no. I won't remove
it but my grace is sufficient for thee and so there is out
there enduring perhaps in an affliction like that but it's
not removed we might think oh it's wonderful to be able to
think it's going to be removed soon the apostle had to endure
it the apostle had to carry it but He was given grace to bear
it. And when God gives grace to bear
something, then the affliction and the burden becomes very light
by comparison. And I'll tell you what makes
it light and easy. It's when we are directed to
what the Saviour endured and what hardness he faced and what
affliction he endured he never gave up my friends what a great and glorious
example and if we are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ why
should we expect to find our path greatly different from the
Saviour we never have to endure what he did But in measure, in
measure I believe the Church of God are directed in that path
so that they have and know something of the blessing of fellowship
with his sufferings. If you and I never had any afflictions,
never had any hardness in our life, we'd never appreciate what
the Saviour went through. Hezekiah said by these things
men live and he had an affliction he thought he was going to die
by these things men live and he said it was the life of his
soul the life of his soul because it makes us cry unto our God
the life of our soul Now then, in that situation, you would
understand the favour it is to be brought into this path. Thou,
therefore, endure hardness. Don't think it's going to escape,
you don't think it's going to pass you by. We do, don't we? We think somehow there's a different
route for us. We're going to somehow be exempt
from anything like this. where we are to endure this hardness
and how are we to do it? as a good soldier of Jesus Christ
not a bad soldier but a good soldier a good soldier of Jesus
Christ and good here means excellent nature and excellent character. Well that's a tremendous thought
isn't it? If we're a good soldier it will be that we have the favour
of an excellent nature. Goodness it says, once we have
a bad soldier we can easily pass over a simple word like this
but here it was the apostle wrote it to Timothy a good soldier well are we concerned that we
might be a good soldier a good soldier it's a very searchy word
isn't it really If we're in the army of the Lord,
to be walking uprightly, to be marching rightly, and to be an
excellent example in our walk, yes, in our conversation, indeed
in the way that we perhaps wield the sword, the Word of God, how
it's used, to use it wisely, to use it rightly
and to recognise it is sharper than any tourist sword, the word
of God. So that we might be numbered
amongst these good soldiers and to think that we are a good soldier
of none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing
it is to be called up to serve the Lord. Called up to serve
the Lord and to serve self, to serve the Lord. We begin to
get the picture, don't we? Of being what it is to be a soldier. Now then, Usually, especially
in past days, the army was the army of a king, who ruled over
them, and they willingly obeyed the
commands of the king. The army did its bidding, and if you look back in history,
and look back in the Old Testament, And we see how there was that
obedience to the commands of the king. And we today, if we are in this
army, we have a good and gracious and almighty king, who is the
king of kings and the lord of lords. A natural king demands
obedience. Our gracious king demands obedience. Sometimes kings would direct
their armies into very difficult battles, where perhaps the prospect of
victory appears to be very small. Perhaps we may find ourselves
directed into battles where the prospect of victory may seem
very small but remember this the Lord is on our side and the Lord it is that goes
before us and the Lord it is that makes the way and the Lord
it is that really fights the battle for us and the Lord never fails in his
battles. And so to be a willing servant,
an obedient servant to our King, the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. He may cause us to go at his
bidding at any time. A natural King might bid his
troops to go at night time to go forward at night time. It might be in the day. It might
be when the weather wasn't favourable. It might be when the terrain
was very difficult and hard to pass over. And yet the command
was to go forth. and the willing and obedient
servants obeyed the command of their king and so you and I today
are also commanded to do the bidding of our great king and
the best thing for us is the Lord goes with us We don't fight the battles by
ourselves. The Apostle Paul was very familiar
with these terms. He lived in a time when there
was much fighting and he was able to declare when he wrote
to the Philippians, I can do all things through Christ that
strengthens me. Sometimes soldiers become weak
and they need help and need support. We may feel sometimes we become
weak and need support. The Lord has promised us His
aid. And He has also said that He
will not lay upon us more than we are able to bear. we may think that we cannot bear
anything further. I remember hearing a minister once
say that he'd come to the end of everything and he felt really
he couldn't face anything else otherwise he would fall down
and perish. And something further came into
his life and he fell down but where did
he fall? he fell into the arms of Jesus
and he found that underneath were the everlasting arms he comes to the end of all things
but the Lord was there and the Lord was there to save him and
to help him and to strengthen him And so may we be able to
realise the Lord is with us now. In warfare often, in the battle,
there isn't a lot of food. And it's sometimes quite coarse.
And it's sometimes quite sparse. Perhaps you might think, well,
the soldiers they need to be well fed. Yes, but they aren't
always well fed. and some have to go on very short
rations and so it is in the spiritual
warfare we may not always receive the rations that we think we
need but the Lord will supply that which we will need to enable
us to press on day by day press on day by day into the battle
and then to fight the good fight sometimes soldiers are to attack
sometimes they are to defend whatever the situation is and
yet how needful those occasions are and so we have here therefore
Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Well as we go forward today in
our battle, the battle of our life, we perhaps don't like to
think of it in those terms. We don't like to think that our
life is like that. But it is so. And if it isn't
outwardly, you'll find it's inwardly. You'll find the devil won't give
you much peace. If you're truly engaged in warfare,
you won't find as much peace. You won't find as much time for
rest. It'll be a constant warfare, a constant battle. But the favour will be to know
that you are not alone. And you need to receive the support
of your kind and gracious God. Now, the Apostle tells us here,
you see, it's not just being a good soldier, but it's being
a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What a favour it is if you and
I, a number amongst those who have been enlisted to the King's
army. That means the Lord has called
us up to serve him. Called us up to serve him. Many have been passed by. And yet if he's looked upon us
and called us up, we look at ourselves and what do we say? In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing. But what is that? Christ formed
in us the hope of glory. That's what is observed. And
that brings that union and that communion with the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we walk along in battle with
the Lord by our side. We are able to think of those
words, if God before us, who can be against us? If God is
for us, no one can overcome us. And they won't gain the victory.
The battle may be very fierce. The devil will make it so. But
in that time of battle, in that time of need, what do we do? We don't look to self. We look
to the Lord. And we believe that our strength
is in Him, not in ourselves. In Him, there is a fullness. A fullness resides in Jesus our
Head, which ever abides to answer our need. And that's comprehensive. Whatever
need you have, the Lord will appear. to supply that need. And the Lord knows the end from
the beginning. He knows how to equip us. We will choose the
wrong equipment. The Lord knows the warfare ahead. And we are told to take to us
the whole armour of God. The whole armour of God. Yes,
not just a little, but the whole armour of God. So we may indeed
be prepared for this battle. And it is indeed a favour to
be found enduring and taking to ourselves this great blessing
of this whole armour of God. The Apostle tells us about it
and how encouraging it is as he reminds us of the blessing
and the favour and the strength that it is to us to be equipped
with this whole armour of God. Well, it is a blessing. Yes, the shield of faith. The
shield of faith. You know, when we're fighting,
we need a shield. We need a shield. The whole armour
of God. He says that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. Don't forget, he's very wily. He tells us we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in higher places. They are enemies that we are
not able to see physically, but they are those enemies the devil
brings against us. And so he says, take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore
having your loins girt about with truth, the truth of God. You know the devil hates the
truth. Remember, when the Lord Jesus was tempted, what did he
do? He spoke the word of God. And as the devil may come and
tempt us, or may we speak the truth to him, may we be able
to say, Christ has died. He rather is risen again. He's conquered. He's my conqueror. And he is my hope. And I trust in him. And having
on the breastplate of righteousness, his righteousness, not depending
on our righteousness the devil hates that and your feet shall
be the preparation of the gospel of peace our feet enabling us
to walk a rugged road we need the gospel the gospel of peace
and then above all taking the shield of faith we walk by faith
and not by sight as we are told here to therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ we are to walk by faith believing
in our heart the outcome is assured, victory is assured and so we are able to take this
shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked the devil will throw darts at us
they'll be painful they'll enter into our flesh and sometimes
we'll be able to resist them that shield of faith they won't
be able to penetrate and we'll be able to thank God for it the
helmet of salvation the helmet of salvation directs us to our
head where is our mind and our thoughts and the glory of salvation
What a theme is this as we travel on through this battle. That
great and glorious plan of salvation. Does it not help us? Does it
not strengthen us? As we think of what that means. To realise that the victory has
been gained. The Lord Jesus is conquered.
Sin, death, hell and the grave. He is a victorious king. And
the devil will never be able to defeat because he has gained
the prize. He's gained the victory. And
so, we are to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The helmet of
salvation. Our mind to think of the great
glorious and this wonderful plan and the sword of spirit, which
of course we described as the word of God, which is the word
of God. And then he says, praying, praying. Always, always, with all prayer
and supplication in the spirit what a need there is for that
in our battle today it's a continual battle and here we have a remedy
to the good soldier praying always always the apostle said didn't
he when he wrote to the Thessalonians praying without ceasing Oh, they're
words of good instruction, aren't they? May the Lord help us to
have them apply to our heart and supplication in the Spirit
and watching and watching with expectation that the Lord will
hear and answer prayer and don't forget this, our prayers must
be for the honour and glory of God not to make our lives easier
but for the honour and glory of God and watching there unto
with all perseverance well here we have this word don't we enduring
afflictions hardness, enduring and here we have perseverance
it is persevering day by day day by day how is it to be obtained
the secret is here looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher
of our faith that's the secret of our victory in this warfare
the apostle speaks so beautifully in the twelfth chapter to the
Hebrews as he opens and he says looking unto Jesus the author
and the finisher of our faith and remember the following words
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
now may we by his grace also look forward and in like manner
for the joy that is set before us of glory at last everlasting
happiness, united forever with Christ endured the cross. We are called
to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Oh this blessed Saviour who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the
shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God
for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself lest you be wearied and faint in your mind so consider
him if we feel weak and tired and weary consider the Saviour
remember what he has done as we hear this exhortation to us
today They'll therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ. Oh let us do this, looking to
him. What joy there is in considering
his great victory. And to think how by comparison
our little battle It is so easy. So easy by comparison. It's a
good thing that you and I are given grace to consider what
the Saviour endured. So that as we are called to endure
in our little life and to realize by comparison it's so little
and yet to look forward to that joy prepared for suffering saints
which will make amends for all and it will to be found in glory
forever with Christ and therefore here tonight this gracious exhortation
thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ
Amen