Take your Bibles now and turn
with me to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. 2 Timothy, chapter 2. We'll begin our reading in verse
1. The Scripture says, 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 woreth
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 strive
lawfully. The husbandman that laboreth
must be first partakers of the fruit. Consider what I say. And the Lord give thee understanding
in all things." Consider what I say. The Apostle says here
to us tonight as he said to Timothy, consider what I say. And truly the Lord has to give
you understanding to know it. The Lord has to give us understanding
in these things. Tonight we want to take our text
beginning in verse 3. He says, Thou therefore endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. First thing I want
us to see tonight and consider is that believers in Jesus Christ
are to expect hardness. This word for hardness is also
translated affliction. Affliction. Believers, we are
to expect affliction. Now at this time, as I've said
before, the Apostle Paul was in chains when he wrote this
letter to Timothy. And he was well aware that his
end was near. This was most likely one of,
if not the last letter, the apostle would write. He said in chapter
4 of this same book, verse 6, he says, For I am ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Consider that the church was
in a state of confusion and affliction. Many at this time forsook the
gospel, either because of persecution, and others sought an opportunity
to promote themselves in the church. They saw that the apostle
who opposed them was now in chains. So they felt boldness to stand
up and teach false doctrine. So the church was in a time of
peril, a time of trouble. And so Paul uses this letter
to encourage Timothy to not be shaken or surprised by affliction. He says this, Endure hardness. Endure affliction. This was something that he was
telling Timothy to expect, to expect affliction, expect trouble. Paul says it like this, Peter
says it like this in 1 Peter 4.12, he said, Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try
you, as though some strange thing has happened unto you. But rejoice
insomuch as you are partakers of Christ's suffering." This
is exactly what Paul said before in verse 1 when he told Timothy,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Believers in
Christ, we are to rejoice, as Peter said, and as Paul said,
be strong because of the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus. Rejoice and be strong in the
grace. Rejoice in Jesus Christ and be
strong considering the grace of God. Believer, consider that
it was the grace of God, the sovereign free grace of the Father,
that chose you in Christ from before the foundation of the
world. Let us rejoice in this truth.
Let us rejoice in the truth of God's electing grace that predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of His Son. Rejoice that our
Father chose us because of His eternal love for us. Remember,
He said to us, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Rejoice and be strong,
believer, because we are made accepted in the Beloved. As Paul tells us in Ephesians
chapter 1, that we are made accepted in the Beloved by the election
of God. It is because of our eternal
union with Jesus Christ, which was according to the sovereign
grace and love of the Father, that we have all spiritual blessings. Every spiritual blessing that
God can give to you has already been given to you as you are
in union with His Son. Rejoice and be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus, because God has made Him to be
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. He has made Him to be all these
things for you. He has made us in Him the wisdom
of God, the righteousness of God, sanctification, redemption,
Was it not true of us that we were ignorant by nature? We were
ignorant of God's mercy. We were ignorant of His grace.
And yet, He has before made Christ our wisdom. Our wisdom. We went about to establish our
own righteousness, but in grace, the Holy Spirit quickened us
to life, and we saw our unrighteousness. We saw our hopelessness to redeem
ourselves or sanctify ourselves before God. Therefore by grace
also came faith to behold Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. What is the wisdom? What is the
question that no man by nature can answer? How is it that God
can be just and justify the ungodly? This, by nature, is an unanswerable
question. Only by the gospel of Jesus Christ
is this answered. Only by the wisdom of God. Even because Christ was made
to be our representative before the Father. Consider that. Consider
what I say to you. that God has not only chose you,
but He has given you a representative man, Jesus Christ His Son. Therefore He was made a man,
so that He should be made a high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices
to God that are acceptable. So then what we could not do
Because of our weakness and sinfulness in the flesh, consider this,
Jesus has done it all for us. He has done it all. All the things
we could not do. Obedience to the law. You and
I could not do that. He has done that for you. Consider
that He has satisfied the justice of God by His one offering. How many countless offerings
were offered under the Old Testament law? How many sacrifices? Thousands upon thousands of rams
and bulls and blood was shed and yet not one of them paid
for sin. But Jesus came once into the
world and offered Himself a sacrifice once unto God and then He did
what? He sat down. Those Old Testament
priests, they never sat down. What does false religion do?
It never sits down. It never stops. Our salvation
has been completed by Jesus Christ absolutely and finally forever. Consider that. Consider that. He justified us. He redeemed
us. He brought us to God. He reconciled
us to God by His blood. Believer, be strong because His
blood has been set forth as a propitiation. That's one of them 50 cent words.
It just means mercy seat. I think that's the best way to
describe it. Remember that lid that stood over the Ark of the
Covenant. And when God sat above the mercy seat, that's where
the Shekinah glory was. And when the priest Aaron were
to come in, he came in not without blood. He sprinkled the blood
on the mercy seat. And what was under the mercy
seat? It was a broken law. Under that mercy seat was justice. We deserve God's justice. What
stood between us and the justice of God was the blood. Jesus made
a propitiation, an atonement for our sins. And God looked
upon the blood. And you know what He didn't see?
He didn't see the broken law. He saw the blood. He saw the
blood. Even so, because of the grace
of God that is in Christ Jesus, we have, listen, we have forgiveness
of sins. Not only did we have forgiveness
of sins, we now have forgiveness of sins. John says, if a man
says he has not sinned, he makes God a liar. You see, believers
confess who we are. We confess we are sinners. But
we know this, it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save, who? Sinners. Sinners of whom I am chief. We confess. And he says, if you
confess your sins, he is faithful and what? Just. I like that. Just. I'll tell you, if God was faithful
to forgive your sins, but He was not just to forgive your
sins, you have no comfort. There's no comfort in that. But
because God is both faithful and He's just to forgive us our
sins, He's just to because Jesus died for them. He cannot demand
twice payment. Isn't that an exciting thing?
That's exciting. I'm glad for that. I rejoice
in that. God will not demand twice payment,
but Christ has satisfied justice. This is the grace that is in
Christ Jesus. This is the grace we are to be
strong in. This is the grace we are to stand
on. This is the grace we are to love
and rejoice in. Behold, how can God be just and
justify the ungodly? Only by imputing the righteousness
and blood of Jesus Christ to us. imputing it and imparting
it to us by faith in Him alone. Alone. Therefore, being justified
by faith, the Scripture says, we have peace with God. Not being justified by your faith,
but the object of your faith. You're justified by Christ, and
He is the object of our faith. He's the resting place for our
souls. He is where we find comfort.
He is where we find joy. In His grace. In His grace. Have you been given such faith
to believe on the Son of God? Have you been given such faith?
Don't take that lightly. Friends, that is a grace. That
is a mercy not given to all men. It's given to God's elect, and
we should rejoice in it, not take it lightly, for it's by
the grace of God that we have faith at all. Then be strong
and rejoice if you have. Be strong in the grace that we
have been given, which we have received now by faith, and of
which grace of God has a never-ceasing supply. Do you realize that, that this
grace has a never-ceasing supply? But God, who is rich in mercy. You think of the richest person
in the world, and I'll tell you, you can count the end of his
money. You can count the end of it.
We say he's a billionaire. Well, how many billion? Five
billion. Well, there's the end of it. He's just got five billion. He hasn't got any more than that.
Our God is infinitely rich in grace, infinitely rich in mercy. How many times have you sinned?
Five billion. Well, He's got infinitely more
than that to forgive you of your sins. Is that not great? Is that
not mercy? That's something we should rejoice
in. Believer, behold Jesus, our Savior, whose blood is the fountain
of God's grace that washes away our sins, that blots them out
before the eyes of the infinite God. And God says, I will not
remember your sins and iniquities anymore. He says in Jeremiah's
gospel, it is Jeremiah's gospel, He says that the sins of Judah shall
be sought for and not be found. Do you realize God searches for
your sins and will not and cannot find them? I know you find them daily. You
find them every moment, but I tell you, because they are washed
in the blood of Christ, God says, I will not and cannot find them.
This is the grace of God that is in Christ Jesus. He says in
Zechariah chapter 13, look at this with me, go over to Zechariah
chapter 13. Zechariah chapter 13 and verse
1, look at this. There shall be a fountain open
to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. For what? For sin and uncleanness. Is that not great? This is the
fountain of His blood. It's a never-ceasing fountain.
It never stops flowing for the forgiveness and uncleanness of
His people. Behold that Jesus Christ is that
fountain that washes away our sins. And notice now in verse
9. Look at verse 9, last verse. And he says, I will bring the
third part through fire. Now there are two other parts
he says shall be cut off. But the third part, who is that? That's you. You're the third
part. you're the elect of God. The
third part, he says, I will bring, how? Through the fire. And will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. I was looking through this. The
refining process for silver and gold is much the same. But in
order to melt these metals, a temperature of 1700 degrees Fahrenheit must be reached. Now, I cooked my steaks last
night and that fire was hot. It was only that I got my stakes
to 165 degrees. That's medium rare, just right. I can't fathom 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to melt silver and to
refine gold, it takes a hot fire. A hot fire. In other words, friends, God
promises the third part. He promises you, to whom the
fountain was opened, you who are cleansed by the blood of
the Son. He says, I will bring you through
the fire. This is why the apostles said,
we should be strong in grace, Because affliction is something
common to every believer. To every recipient of grace,
affliction is a common thing. Because God says, I will bring
you through it. Not to destroy you, but to refine
you. To refine you. Yet, so often when trials come
upon the church, and confusion and tribulation set in, what's
the first thing that we do? We're surprised. I'm surprised. Every time I get in trouble,
every time affliction comes, the first response is, I can't
believe this. And yet, The apostles tell us
time and time again, why do you think this is strange? It's not
strange. Peter said, why would you think
that trouble is strange? God said He would try you. God
said He would bring you through the fire. We're often easily troubled when
the waves of this life overflow the bark of our little ship.
Isn't that so? We are so troubled, and we cry
out as if... that if we're so loved of God,
so bought of Christ, such recipients of His grace, then why am I so
troubled? Is that not a question you ask?
Because maybe I'm the only one that asks it. I don't know. I
doubt it. Because God said He would bring
all of us through the fire. And Paul, he says here to Timothy,
when afflictions come, endure them. Endure them. Expect them
and endure them. Believers should not be surprised
by our afflictions, but rather rejoice that we are made partakers
of the sufferings of Christ. When we are afflicted, would
it not do us good to remember that we've been baptized into
His death? Would that not do us good to
remember that He has washed us from all our sins? Would it not
do us good in all of our afflictions to see that He has given us the
righteousness of God? That would do us good in our
affliction. It would strengthen our hearts
to know that He who died for us reigns. Are you in affliction? Listen to me. Consider this and
the Lord make you to understand it. Thy God reigneth. What other strength do we need? What other foundation can we
stand on? Thy God reigneth. Thy God reigneth. Jesus said, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, They will
also persecute you. Do you not consider it strange
sometimes when you preach or teach or show someone the gospel
and there they get upset? Are you confused as to why they
would get upset at such a wonderful message as the free grace of
God? Yet they do. And Christ said
they would. He said they would. The world
hated him before it hated us. Therefore, Paul said, endure
affliction. Endure it. Now then, notice these three
illustrations that he gives us here about enduring afflictions. And I like to call these the
attitude of grace. The attitude of grace. Every
believer during our affliction should have these attitudes.
should have these perspectives. First of all, we should have
the attitude of a good soldier. Therefore, endure affliction
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Now Paul surely used these illustrations
because he was continually chained to a soldier. This was something of his daily
process. He was always near a Roman soldier. I know something about being
a soldier. I was once a soldier. As a kid
I enlisted in the United States Army to become an infantry soldier. And I was put into a room with
a hundred other kids just in the same condition that I was
in. They were all from different backgrounds. They were from all
different kinds of families. They were from all different
races. And man, you talk about some
differences. There was a bunch of differences
in that hundred kids in that one room. There was a lot of
differences. But I saw from the first haircut
what they were trying to make us do. They were trying to make
us conform into one unit. To conform, not to be individuals,
but rather to be soldiers and subject to the higher powers,
subject to commanders, to obey their orders as one unit. And we went from being individuals
following our own ways to being soldiers under the order of our
leaders. Believer, know you not that you
are not your own? See, this is what I found out.
What GI government issue was, it was me. They owned me. And I did what they told me to
do. How much more? We are bought. You are not your own. You have
been bought with a price. Even the precious blood of Jesus
as of a lamb slain without spot and without blemish. You're not
your own. Do we not know that we are soldiers
under the direct orders of a king? How shameful is our Our conduct
at times. That we act like we're individuals
and we can do as we please. No! We are soldiers. We are soldiers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been bought. And what is
his command? Occupy till I come. Paul says it this way, Commit
thou the things that thou hast heard of me unto faithful men,
who shall teach others. Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature. Let me ask you, do you suppose
that's a suggestion? Did our Master give us suggestions? Or did He give us orders? I tell you, He gave us orders. And we should follow them. How? With the attitude of a good soldier.
A good soldier. The Apostle said, If any man
or angel preach any other gospel than that which we have preached,
let him be accursed. If we are to be faithful to preach,
support, and affirm the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ,
we should do so with great honor. It is an honor to serve such
a majestic king. I'll tell you, I've served some
sorry leaders before. When I was a soldier, I've had
some bad orders. But I tell you, none of those
came from my Master, Jesus Christ. He does all things well. Yes,
but it seems illogical what He's saying to us. He does all things
well. Why should we question His orders?
He who sees all things. We don't see the end of the day. We don't know what's going to
happen tomorrow. He holds all things in His hand.
Why should we not obey Him? Our human logic means absolutely
nothing when it's in contradiction to the orders of our Master.
You're soldiers, and you should have a good attitude as being
a soldier. Therefore, soldiers of Jesus
Christ, let us endure such afflictions. Let us suffer evil." Well, that
doesn't sound right, does it? Let's just suffer evil? Let's
endure? Not fight back? That's exactly
what he said. Don't resist. Isn't that something? Tell that to these so-called
Christian protesters. You see, Paul never held a picket
sign, did he? Neither do we. Neither do we. This world is not our home. We are passing through, and we're
going to pass through to the kingdom. How? With much affliction. And I tell you, some people in
this world may be forced to be soldiers, but not us. We're not
forced to be soldiers, are we? We are willing. soldiers, willing
soldiers. Therefore, we who believe are
not blind to enlist ourselves in his service, but we are under
his banner to fight the good fight of faith, not for lands
or conquest of this world. Our King already reigns over
it. But we fight not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers
of this dark world. And how shall you fight, soldiers? Not with carnal weapons. Paul said, for the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal, but mighty. Isn't that something?
He said that carnal weapons, they aren't mighty at all. What's
a nuclear weapon? It's nothing compared to the
mighty weapons that we have. The mighty weapons of God is
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you, did this gospel
not turn the world upside down when it was first preached? Can
He not do it again? You bet He can. If he will, he
can. This is our weapon. I remember
when we were soldiers, we'd take apart these weapons. We would
know every spring and every little clip and things that go in it.
We would take it apart and put it back together, take it apart
and put it back together. Here is your weapon. You should know. As much as you
can every little spring of it know as much as the lord would
allow you to know May god ever instruct us in his
gospel Then let us therefore proclaim it Support it and defend
it this gospel which is the treasure of God He has given to us in
earthen vessel. You and I are weak, but this
gospel is not weak. It's mighty to the pulling down
of strongholds. Did it not pull down our stronghold
of self-righteousness? Did it not pull down our old
wicked nature and instill in us the reign of the blessed Savior
in our hearts? You bet it did. Can it do it
to others? You bet it can. Therefore, proclaim
it, support it, and defend it as a good soldier. A good soldier
is one that is chosen to fight, to fully engage in his mission. Look at this, he says, no man
that woreth entangle himself with the affairs of this life
that he may please him who had chosen him to be a soldier. Listen to this quote from a lieutenant,
a World War II hero. His name is Ronald Spears, and
this is a quote that was, I believe it was his. I tried to look it
up just to make sure. He said this to a private. One
of the privates had been hiding in a foxhole and wasn't engaging
in the war. And he got down into the foxhole
and he says, you know, why did you hide? And he said, I was
scared. He said, no, that's not why you
hid. We're all scared. He said the reason you hid was
because you still had hope to live. The only hope you have is to
accept the fact that you are already dead. Is this not so with us? Have you not already died in
the Savior? Is your life here or is it hid
with God in Christ? See, if we're not engaging in
the warfare, in the spiritual warfare, it's because we are
entangled with the affairs of this life. Believer, we are already dead
in Christ and our life is hid in Christ. Soldiers of Christ
must not set our affections on this world, but only on Jesus
Christ. Therefore, believer, this is
the attitude we are to have. And we are to set our eyes and
fight the good fight of faith, keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ. That's the attitude of every
good soldier. It is this matter of faith in
Christ. That's how you'll endure. Now,
I'll give you these last two just quickly. He said, if a man
strives for masteries, he is not crowned except he strives
lawfully. This is a runner. I don't know about you, when
I start exercising, the first thing my body does is cry out,
stop. Doesn't it? Stop, you're hurting
me. Well, if an Olympic runner listened
to his body, he would never have the medal, would Believer, don't listen to your
flesh. We are not subject or debtors
to our flesh to fulfill the lust of our flesh. We are debtors
to grace. Debtors to grace. Therefore, we are to run the
course that is set before us. Isn't that what a runner does?
Runs his course? How many of us are so busy about
someone else's course? Man, I wish I had that course.
That course looks pretty easy. I want that course. No, run your
course. That's what Peter did when he
was told what death he would die. And he did, he turned around
and said, what about John? Well, he said, what if I wanted
him to tarry till I come back? What is that to you? Follow thou
me. You follow me. You run your course
that God has set before you. How do we run this course? We
run this course by faith. That's how. Faith in Jesus Christ. And lastly, he said we should
have the attitude of a farmer. Look at this, the husbandman
that laboreth must first partake of the fruits. I know this as
it's been passed down to me because I've never really been one. I
never really wanted to be a farmer. That's hard work. That's hard
work. And I'll tell you what, if you're
a farmer, you're not one by accident. You've got to get out there,
and you've got to plow the dirt. You've got to put the corn into
the ground. And you've got to know what you're
doing. You've got to put it in the right season. You've got
to water it. You've got to make sure that
it's planted properly, that the soil is good. But how much of
this do you actually control as a farmer? Absolutely none. This is the attitude of us who
believe in Christ. Know this, your good works, though
rotten to the core, are accepted. What excuse then do we have not
to labor? Do we have any excuse not to
labor? I just don't think these people
are going to believe. What's that to you? If God has opened
the opportunity, tell them. If God has given you an audience,
tell them. Proclaim the gospel and leave
it to God for the results. Now consider these things. Consider the grace of God. Be
strong in the grace of God because you're going to suffer. And when
you suffer, you should have the attitude of a soldier. You should
have the attitude of a runner, expecting a crown. And you should
have the attitude of a laborer, a farmer, You should be discerning, you
should be ready, and you should work. For salvation? No. Because of it. Because of it. Now may God give
you the understanding. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.