SPEAKER_00 0:05

Would you stand with me as we read the word? Stand in reverence to the word of God as we read it. Second Timothy chapter two, verses one through seven. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him. And if someone likewise competes as an athlete, he is not crowned as victor unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. You may be seated. Brian, if you please come.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

And it is warming up in here. And so we praise God for that gift and the men who are able to get things going. So let's praise him and thank him as we dive in. Father, we are humbled by the fact that you get to, or that you call us and we get to come to worship. We thank you that we get to open your word and be taught and fed and just overwhelmed with joy because of what you and you alone accomplish in your people. Father, transform us in this time. Allow us to be impacted by the truth of your word, by the grace of your Son, and give us the strength we need to fight temptation and to live holy and righteous lives. May your name be glorified in and through us. We pray in Christ. Amen. Well, uh a while ago, um I subjected my family to something I just have to admit I'm not proud of. You know how it is, you think of that something that you watched as a kid and you say to yourself, I'm gonna show this to my family, they're gonna love it. Most of the time, I'm dead wrong. As I watch it with them, I think, what was wrong with me back then? That's not what I remember at all. And give you the example. When I was a kid, I used to watch sports constantly. I used to spend piles and piles of time, just endlessly, really uselessly, watching all kinds of sporting events day in and day out, all day long. One of those that seemed to always fascinate me were the strongman competitions that ESPN always had going in the off hours. If you know what I'm talking about, you know where I'm going with this. I already told you, I'm not proud of subjecting my family, okay? Especially to watching men who can't put their arms down at their sides and wear spandex suits at 300 plus pounds. Not ideal. They spend every waking hour training so they can carry a car further than the guy from Norway named Magnus Vermagnissen. These guys just live a life that revolves around one thing only. And that is being strong. Or being stronger than the next guy. That's the only thing they wanted. Their main goal, their aspiration in life was just to be stronger than the other guy. But here's the thing: being able to pull a truck with your teeth or being able to lift a car and carry it 30 yards means absolutely nothing in eternity. When they stand before their creator, if they don't have a relationship with him, they will be just as feeble and weak and frail as a toddler on their faces. It will be the Christian alone who will boast about strength on that day. Of course, not their strength, but the strength of their mighty God. Think of it, the four-foot-three woman who has never tipped the scale over the hundred-pound mark will rejoice in the presence of the Lord on that day and stand resolute in strength as those giant men fall on their knees or fall on their faces in complete weakness if they don't know the grace of Christ. Even as we live today, the frail 99-year-old man who is dying, who follows Christ, has more strength with his mind, heart, and mouth than all of those supposed strong men combined. Why? Because he can speak of the gospel from experience. He has eternal strength that defies the heart of natural man. He has fearless strength to follow the Lord, and that far surpasses the ability to lift great stones or weights. His strength is from the one who created all things. Now that's strength. Real and lasting strength. And that is the kind of strength that you and I, as Christians, are called to live with. In fact, I would say that we really need muscle mass for one thing, and that is your bones, your muscles, they're all put there to glorify God. That's why you have the body you have, to glorify Him as you use that body for gospel-centered purposes, whatever that looks like in your life. And our lives are different. That's why we have muscles. That's it. And since we're in 2 Timothy looking at the Christian weapons, I want to remind you that we have been given a weapon, if you're in Christ, and that weapon is, as we see here in the first verse, the strength of the Lord. Isn't that good news? We're strengthened by God. So far, we've seen that we are to use the bellows of the word to fan the flame of the spark of faith that is in us, that he gave us. We also saw that we are to live with great courage. And we are to gain and retain right doctrine as we live for him that we looked at last week. But all that is in his strength. Kind of chapter one actually is just pointing us to verse one of chapter two. And so that's of course our weapon for today: strength. So we've got bellows, courage, right doctrine, and now strength. And so as we dive into this passage, what I want us to see is threefold. I want us to see the root, the knowledge, and the application of this mighty weapon that we get to wield. And so let's start with that first portion, the first point there. What is the root of the soldier's strength? Verse 1. Look at it again. Grace. It says grace, doesn't it? Grace is what saves us. I like what Michael Lawrence once said. He said, grace is what saves, faith is the instrument, which means that we're not actually saved by faith. Remember, we are rather saved by grace, and faith receives that grace. And I would add that that faith is a gift. That's why we say we are saved by grace through faith, as Brother Joel read Ephesians 2 earlier. But that's not where the grace of God ends, is it? His grace is so wonderful, so beautiful, so multifaceted that our being saved unto eternal life, believe it or not, is not the end of the gospel, nor of the grace of God. God's grace is also the ongoing means of what we call our sanctification or our being kept for salvation, the Bible says. It also gives us the ability, therefore, to remain in Christ, to remain in the Lord, and grow in Christ's likeness. Therefore, it is through the power of his grace that we now find strength. And the ability to wield that strength daily. You see, the beauty of this command by Paul, and that's just what it is, by the way, this is a command, when he tells Timothy to be strong, to wield that weapon, if you will, uh it's not a suggestion. It's not a recommendation, it's not a request, it's just one more command of the New Testament. But the beauty is that it isn't a command that we cannot fulfill like what we see from that wonderful Old Testament law. We can actually fulfill this command. How? Look again in verse 1. The root of the soldier's strength is God's grace. It's by his grace. God's grace to us is absolutely stunningly amazing. I mean, he saves us by his grace. As I said, he sanctifies us through his grace. He gives us all that we need for life and godliness in his grace. Everything. And this is the same God, by the same grace, it gives us strength. The strength needed to fight. And yeah, we're called to fight. It says we're soldiers. To fight to fend off the temptations that come at us from the world, or false religions, and to live for his glory. It is by his grace that we are strengthened to really just stay on the battlefield of faith as we wield our weapon that was forged in and used by nothing short of the grace of the God of the universe. And think about this. Jesus never once fails to provide the strength through his grace to each and every one of his people every day. Not once. Not once does he fail us. Every single believer in this room, every single Christian in all the true churches of Grant County, all the people in the churches worshiping Christ in the state of Oregon, all those faithful bodies of believers coming together on the Lord's Day in our country, and really all Christians from all corners of the globe that worship Christ, all have been given and will continue to be given at precisely the needed time, the strength that they need to endure day to day by his grace. Isn't that encouraging? We truly serve an awesome God, don't we? There's no situation in your life, no event, no circumstance, no moment in church history where the grace of our Lord ceased to be effectual and therefore poured out in the perfection of his timing, bringing hope to the world and strength to his people. Not one thing can you imagine in your mind where that wasn't present. Because he is the root of our strength. It's not found in the inner being of humanity. It's not found in you and I working hard enough. It's not found in being smart enough or quick-witted. Our strength finds its root simply in the wonderful, complete, and unmerited favor of our God to us, his people, his saints. How did the dead become alive in Ephesians chapter 2? God's power. Shown by God's grace. And what's the call for those who have been shown the grace? Repent and believe. Repent and confess. How did the Israelites of old escape from Egypt? God's power, shown by His grace, and they're simply told on the way out, yeah, go ahead and plunder the Egyptians so that you have everything you need. How did the waters part in the Red Sea? God's power, shown by His grace, and they were called to simply what? Walk through it by faith. How did the Israelites defeat all of those living in the land flowing with milk and honey? God's power, shown by his grace, and they were just obedient to do all that he commanded. You get the theme? Men can do nothing, nothing that takes real strength without his grace exceeding to us. Again, doesn't matter how much we can lift. Doesn't matter how strong we are when things come at us. We can do nothing without his grace. These dead bones right here will not rise to do anything until the Lord gives me the strength of his grace. Therefore, since we have this grace to us from the Lord, giving us the ability to wield the weapon of being strong in him, it means we've got to use it. It can't sit dormant. We are empowered by Christ's grace to be strong, but we are called to use it for his glory, to work hard with it at fighting off the temptations to be weak or to be like what we saw those guys last time, Philus and Hermogenes, and instead we got to live like Paul or Omisophorus and trust in God. More on that in just a few moments, but that's the root. It's Christ's power, his grace in us that gives us strength. And so this is humbling and wonderful at the same time. If you and I try to muster it ourselves, we will fail all day long every day. We rest in Him. I don't care if you can go out and lift up a pickup truck. It means nothing. It means nothing. You are not strong until you have Christ in you. His grace is the root of our strength. So with that established, let's look at the second point. And that is that I would say remembrance produces strength. Look at the first part of verse 2. Paul begins verse 2 by saying this. He says, The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. The things that you have heard from me in the presence. What is he talking about here? A lot. Really, he is collectively speaking of the great and grand things of the Lord, of salvation, of grace, of doctrine, like what we spoke about last time, of the truth of the Lord and his resurrection. No doubt Paul is also referring to the quote-unquote ordination of Timothy, where he lays hands on him for the work of the ministry and shepherding the people of God, and there's other godly witnesses there. But he's also referring to all that he had taught Timothy along the way about the gospel as they traveled and as they ministered together, even from his youth. So let's be reminded, as we see in this verse, let's be reminded here today, that's the call for the people of God, always. Remember. Remember the gospel. Remember the Lord's goodness. Whenever the people around you fail you, whenever trials and sufferings come your way, whatever they are, maybe a pandemic circumnavigates the globe. When persecutions come, when you give yourself over to anxieties and insecurities, when the doubts of the world, the lust of and love of the world, really, when those things weigh up on you, and you just you just can't anymore. You ever said that to yourself? Remember. Remember what you've heard. Remember what you know to be true. Remember the gospel. Remember your Savior. Remember the Lord that came and defeated sin and death. Remember that he rose again and ascended on high to be at the right hand of the Father. Remember that he has saved you, and as the Bible says, is saving you. Remember what you know to be eternally true as those temporary ills and difficulties of the world that thrust upon you. Think of Paul. As he's writing this, he's been abandoned, beaten. He's been stoned, shipwrecked, I mean, on and on down the list. Right now he's in a dungeon as a prisoner for what? God and his gospel. What else did he have to cling to at this time other than remembering the promises of the Lord? You see, if we focus on the sin of this world, if we focus and give life to our anxieties, for example, if we drill home our fears at night, if we live in maybe the fear of death or just having unhealth, we will live in despair and deny the Lord's goodness by how we live. But if we remember that Christ came, if we recall to mind this baby that came and took on flesh so that he could die in our place eventually and take our sin and have his righteousness credited to our account, if we remember that there is an eternal home of pure bliss set aside for us, then ours will end up being that of godly strength. We will wield the weapon of true, real, and eternal strength, the likes of which the world cannot know, no matter how many cars it can pull. Although 2 Peter and 2 Peter, we read in the second chapter a lot about false teachings, false teachers, and what's coming for them. And then in chapter 3, he says this in verse 2. He says, Remember the words. Remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Again, how do we combat? How do we combat false teachings? How do we combat fear as a good soldier of Christ? How do we live strong in the Lord's grace? How do we crush our own fleshly desires or insecurities or anxieties? I can't emphasize this enough. We remember. Use your memory, even if it's not great. You have a Bible. Recall to your mind the beauty of the king and his gospel and what he calls you now as his child. Remember his promises and about forgiveness and eternal life as you swing the weapon of strength as his soldier. The things which you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses. Remember. But then what? What do we do next with this gospel that we remember? With our renewed strength as we remember? What do we do with this weapon as a church together? Look at the second part of verse 2 again, and even into the first part of verse 3. He says, The things which you've heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And then he says, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. First, here's what we do with it. We entrust it to others. First and foremost, we teach the gospel message to others. We teach them of the beauty of the good news of Christ Jesus. That keeps us on that track of being strong in Christ. And in the context here, here's the interesting thing. Paul is really aiming those words at those who would be teachers, like Timothy. Those who would take that apostolic message of the gospel of Christ, he's going to teach it to others. And so Paul is really encouraging Timothy to surround himself with brothers in the faith, men who will be able to teach alongside of him. And that's the need in the church. Brother Matt prayed for the men to be faithful and strong and leaders in their homes and in this church. That's exactly what Paul is talking about here. You see, there are many neat organizations, parachurch ministries. They do some cool stuff. There are para-church organizations that feed the poor, minister to the prisoners, send out evangelists, or do things with youth. But those are not the way in which the Lord has called us to be the primary teachers and preachers of the gospel. It's actually his bride, his church. Local churches just like this one that are all over the globe. Those are the ways in which the Lord has called the gospel to go forward. And what this means is that each church has to have men who are called by his grace to teach and preach Christ. It is the church that is the means by which the gospel is communicated and taught to the people. Does that not require strength? The strength of God. And it's not enough that the minister of the gospel, or the elder, if you will, lives out the gospel, though that's vitally important. It's also absolutely imperative that this leader in the church is competent to teach that which his life ascribes to. If you can recall back to last summer, as we went through Paul's first letter to Timothy, Paul gives really specific instructions to the church as to who is qualified for this kind of task. Listen again to 1 Timothy 3, verses 1 and 2. He says it's a trustworthy statement if any man aspires to the office. Of overseer. It is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer then must be above reproach. The husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. And then the list goes on for the next five or so verses for the qualifications. Men, and like we studied before, God has so ordained it that it is men alone, godly men who are to be the teachers and preachers over the whole church. Therefore, as this passage says, they need to be able to teach. I love the King James, it says apt to teach. It just helps me remember. Why am I speaking about that in this context? Because I think Paul is speaking about the same thing that we saw in the first chapter, and that's what he calls the treasure, the treasure of the gospel. The church needs strong men who thrive in the grace of God, that will stand fast in the truth of the word of God in the midst of a world of wickedness and false teachings. We have to have it. The local church needs men who will guard that treasure that has been entrusted to them. Timothy needs to entrust the gospel to faithful men around him. That is called strength and action together. Now, can and should women be teachers of other women and children? Absolutely. Do women play an absolutely vital role in the local church? 100%, of course they do. But it is the men who are entrusted with being the teachers and preachers of the flock, men and men alone. That's how God has ordained it. And if you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, it is what you see. But notice also what Paul is saying here. Timothy is not to go at it alone. So he says, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Guess what would have happened to Timothy and all the other guys that are his contemporaries in that same age if they refused to entrust it to other men? What do we have today? Nothing. We wouldn't know. Because it would have been silenced. But no, it's because men taught men to teach men to train them up into the gospel ministry. That's why we stand here today on the shoulders of those who have gone on before us. Timothy cannot do it alone. It's not good for him to do it alone. This is why we are a church with a plurality, a team of elders. Praise be to God. And so it's up to the elders, plural of the church, to teach the whole council of God. And how do we do that? We preach Christ and Him crucified. To all those in this church, and even, of course, extending to the world. We are called to teach the people of the local church the entirety of the Word of God. That is the call, that is the charge, that is what we are entrusted with. That's what Paul's getting at. We are to therefore take that and equip you, the saints, for the work of the ministry, as Paul says in Ephesians. But to do that faithfully, to do that daily, it takes strength. Because it's a sacrificing of time and energy. It's a standing for truth, even in the face of threats or persecutions. Studying the word fervently so that we know how to answer those who are in error and how to help each other. It's not going to be popular many times, not even in the evangelical realm. But the elder must wield the weapon of strength as he courageously stands on the shoulders of those who have gone on before him, all the while clinging to Christ for the strength he needs. And so again, the other thing that Paul is getting at here is that teachers are called to teach teachers. As God raises up other men who are equipped to teach, the leaders of the church are called to be a part of that teaching, those men whom the sound words that God has spoken. Now, many times this call will end up taking some faithful men to Bible colleges or seminaries, but that does not alleviate the churches, the teachers of the local church's vital response in being a huge and immense part of that training on the front end. And so pray for us elders. We have the charge in leading the church and especially training those up-and-coming leaders and therefore entrusting them with Paul says that good deposit takes strength. Think about it. We take the single most precious thing in the entire universe and we put an arm around those men and we pass it on to them as has been passed on to us. That cannot be done in a day. That takes a lifetime. And again, it takes the strong man to set aside his personal interest in such a way that he can do this with effectiveness. He has to be able to trust that man with doctrine, therefore with his sheep. That takes strength to pour out your life like that. Pray for those who are doing that. Second thing we do with the weapon of strength, verse 3 again, we suffer hardship together. How's that sound? Very encouraging. When Paul calls Timothy to suffer hardship with him, he's not telling him, hey, come jump in the jail cell with me. He's calling Timothy to also remain faithful in the word, in the strength of Christ's grace, as he provides it as it comes his way. And again, in that day and age, it has, and it will happen to him that he will suffer. He'll be persecuted. But the point is, we're all called to do this together. If one of us suffers, guess what the Bible teaches? All of us are suffering. And I'm not just talking about health. That's one way, but the most important way the Bible teaches this is in persecution, in suffering for the name of Christ. And here's the thing. So as we suffer together, the more mature in Christ we become as a church, the more we're going to suffer for his name. But the more strength he gives us in that. And it doesn't mean necessarily that if you grow in Christ's likeness, then you're surely going to be punched by your coworker or fined by the government for the gospel. What this means is that you will be attacked all the more by the evil one. And yeah, probably the world also. But that your strength to endure will also grow. And here's the beauty. We're doing it together. Your church is going to be with you, in it. Isn't that reassuring? Many times I've had comments and ridicule. I mean, nothing like the persecution going on overseas in Iran or North Korea. Nothing like that. But numerous times I've had people say names or call me this or call me that, and I'm sure many of you have as well. Isn't it reassuring that we can go to our brothers and sisters in Christ and just pray together about it and walk that path together? We're not alone, we're not isolated. But it still takes strength, doesn't it? To endure and not lash out or not run away from Christ. And so we've got to wield the weapon of strength that comes by his grace if we are ever to endure suffering for his name or any kind of suffering for that matter. One thing the soldier for Christ must understand, especially in that day and age, is that there needs to be others ready to take the flame of faith and teach it to the people as a need arises to shed their own blood for the gospel. And that takes strength. Again, I've got to remind us that just because we have immense freedom compared to the history of the evangelical church or the Protestant church or even the history or what we see going around in our world right now, just because we have immense freedom right now, don't think that's going to last forever. We've got to be prepared to even give our own blood if needed, to shed blood for the Savior, if that's what he calls us to. Let's move now to look at the examples of what Paul gives us in wielding the weapons of strength. Look at verses 3 to 6 again with me. Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. He begins with. Each of the examples that Paul uses here shows us the strength that it takes to live for Christ in this world. It takes the strength of Christ in us to live for him, and therefore, on the flip side, refuse the allures of the world. This is where we get the theme of being a soldier in this letter. All Christians are called to be soldiers, soldiers for the gospel, godly soldiers, living for the truth of Christ with his strength in them. And this, think of a soldier who's gone into the military in America, okay? What are they initially sent into? Boot camp. Go to boot camp where, as far as I understand it, I haven't been there, but they don't have a whole lot of contact with the outside world, intentionally so. They're restrained from contacting their loved ones on a regular basis. Why? Well, because they need to be shaped into what their commanding officer needs them to be. When they are in the service, they follow orders, they do what they're told, and they do this and are ready for this at any minute of the day. Does not the same go for the man or woman of God as the word is thrust upon them? Do you ever take time off as a Christian? There's never a time when you say, Well, man, I'm so glad that's done. Now I can get back to living for the world. No, that's not how it works, is it? You are a soldier for Christ at all times. 24 hours a day. Every day of your life. When the phone rings, for example, at 4 a.m. from another dear saint that's suffering. You're a Christian, aren't you? What are you going to do? When you're at school and your teacher blasphemes God. When you're driving and that person in front of you. When you're at the church worship service. When you're sitting on your couch. When you're awake in the middle of the night. When you're at work. When you're speaking with a loved one. You are always his soldier called to do what he has commanded you. You do not take time off from this role. You are always dressed in uniform, saluting your officer and obeying his word. That's the life of a Christian soldier by his strength. And one thing I gotta mention, one thing that I haven't mentioned yet that I have to mention right now. It is the greatest life that can ever be lived. Don't forget that. When the world is tempting, think about how great your life is in Christ. And especially eternal life. You wield the weapon of strength, thereby allowing you to remain faithful in all those previously mentioned situations. And you don't just remain faithful, you do it with joy. You do it with happiness because you know the gospel and his eternal promises. You refuse to get all tangled up with the fears and the stresses of the world. What if the economy crashes? Oh no. What if my bank account goes away? What if our country no longer looks like what it used to? Too late. What if my health deteriorates? What if Russia? Maybe you have a tendency to live for money and financial security or physical safety. I mean, think what soldier goes into service to get rich and be safe from harm. That's a really good recruiter, if that's the case. Be strong and courageous, the Bible says. Don't allow yourself to get tangled up in worldliness. Saturate yourself instead with godly teachings, godly conversation, godly news, godly media. Don't allow the lures of the world and its lust to define you and who you are and what you do. No matter the political leaning. Yeah, we're called to live in this world. We're called to minister to this world. We're called to be a part of this world and for us, this country, and its affairs. And so we vote. We live as good citizens, following just laws, but we do not get entangled in the love of it. We're living just like it. Listen to John 17, verses 15 to 21, where we see the beauty of Christ's high priestly prayer for us. He prays this. Think about this in terms of you being a soldier for Christ. He prays, I do not ask you, okay, he's talking to his father, I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. Did you hear that? Us together being kept from the evil one, is us following our commanding officer, not being entangled in worldliness, yet living in the world. But notice the purpose of this. It says, so that the world may believe that you sent me. That's what Jesus prays. If we live and look just like the world as a soldier of the world and therefore Satan, how effective are we going to be at ministers of the God, being ministers of the gospel or witnesses for Christ? If we therefore refuse to wield the weapon of this strength that God's grace has provided, and we instead wield the weak weapon of capitulation to the world and we get all entangled in it, then not only are we not going to be winsome before the world, but we're actually going to be defiant and useless and weak soldiers for Christ, if soldiers at all. Paul also says here in verse 4 that any good soldier, any soldier who is worth their weight in salt, will have it as their aim and purpose to therefore please the one who has enlisted him. That takes strength, doesn't it? The aim and purpose in life of the Christian soldier is to please our Savior, Jesus Christ, our commanding officer, if you will, our general, our champion, the one who has rescued and redeemed us. And how do we do that? By being good and obedient. We don't aim to please him for salvation or even a spot in his army. But because we've already been put in his army, and now we have the strength needed to live for him as we wield the weapon. Isn't that good news? You get to be a soldier, and it's all from him and for him and to him and through him. Next, Paul uses the illustration of an athlete in verse 5. A good athlete. It takes the strength of Christ in us to fight and win with honor as a good athlete. Paul uses this kind of illustration often because in his days sporting events were actually huge. Sounds familiar. Including, I would call it a rudimentary Olympic Games. Paul says here that the good athlete that plays or competes according to the rules is the one who follows Christ. Because any cowardly idiot can cheat, right? I mean, we see it all the time in sports, don't we? The Astros a few years back. What was that? That deflate gate, I think they call it a flattened football thing or whatever. I mean steroids? Bike racing. I mean, it is the worldly and cowardly that resort to cheating. And those are the ones that got caught. A good and true athlete running the race of faith for Christ follows the rules. That takes real talent. That takes real power. That is wielding the good weapon of godly strength he's given to us. And so the godly athlete disciplines himself by training hard to study the word of God and his will. They look for help in prayer. They allow themselves to be sharpened by the other ones around them. They have the strength needed to do it the right way, forsaking the pole to disobey the rules that have been laid down by Ten Commandments, for example, and they live now with the strength of a strong man or woman competing to win the prize, the prize being to be with Christ, crowned by him for his glory. That's a real athlete. As a strong athlete. Don't get caught up on the hurdles. And then next in verse 6, Paul turns to the farmer. It takes the strength of Christ in us to be able to work hard for his glory. And notice the work hard part. As we wield the weapon of the strength of the Lord, we will please our commanding officer. We will win the prize of eternal life as the finish line draws near, and we will work hard at this. Like good farmers. We're even going to receive a good and fruitful share of our labor, aren't we? If the farmer doesn't plant his crops when it's time, what's going to happen? He's going to starve. So it is with the Christian man or woman, and especially the teacher of the gospel. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, he planted the seed of the gospel, Paulus waters, God does the growth. The Christian soldier who fights hard with the strength of Christ will then, of course, exhaust himself to see others discipled and his Lord glorified. What else could be better than that, by the way? Bearing fruit, celebrating the harvest of ripe souls? No, that's living. Well, what in your life is better than that? Think of something. I hope you don't. The Christian soldier fights the battle, competes according to the rules, and exhausts himself in order to bear fruit. And that all takes strength, doesn't it? It all takes strength through the grace of Christ. In C.S. Lewis's series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and especially in the book The Lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe, what we find is in partway through that book is the power of the white witch is coming to an end because Aslan has come. We see this rather odd character show up. Maybe you've read this to your kids. Father Christmas shows up for the first time in a hundred years since the witch has reigned with evil, with no Christmas to celebrate. And when he comes, he gives these four gifts to the children, who then become kings and queens. And in that he gives them these gifts of mostly warrior weapons. And as he does that, he says this. He says, Bear them well. The time to use them is at hand. Brothers and sisters, bear your weapons well. The time to use them is at hand. This is the call for us today. Bear your weapons. He's given us strength. Entrusting it by teaching it to others. Being a soldier, an athlete, and a hard-working farmer, all for his glory. All three of those occupational analogies to the Christian walk and work could not just, they contain not just the call to wield the weapon of strength. They contain something far greater. They contain a reward for the active participant. Isn't God gracious? The soldier who fights hard with the strength of Christ in him gains the immeasurable reward of being able to then please God with his life of faithful obedience. The Christian who lives according to the word of God, the Christian who runs the race of faith like an honest and trained athlete, receives a trophy of holy living. And the Christian who works hard at bearing fruit for the gospel gets to partake in this rich reward of seeing the people around them walk in faithfulness and stand before Christ on that day with joy. Therefore I say to you, I encourage you, now I implore you to take up the strength the Lord has given you. Fight your battle. It down, put it away under the bed? I mean, the one side of it, I would say, slices and cuts out false teachings as you cling to the truth of Christ, and the other side ends up cutting into the deep recesses of your own heart to sharpen your godly life as you live for a good soldier of this mighty general. What are you going to do with your weapon? And I just, I want to say this today. Please, please, please. I'm literally begging you. Do not just read. Do not just hear these words. Please don't just nod your head and then go on living in your weakened state as you neglect the gift of strength that you've been given as you get re-tangled up into the world. Please don't lay aside the grand weapons he's given you and continue on living for the world. Ponder and reflect on what Paul says. Look at verse 7. Consider, it says. Consider what Paul is saying. This passage here, this word consider, it's not meaning that you're to go home and think of whether or not it's worth it to follow him. It doesn't mean that you get a chance, maybe you should do something when you get around to reflecting on it. It doesn't mean that since it's getting close to noon now that you got to think about getting out of here so that you got other things to do, right? Other things planned today. He is saying, make this the priority of your life until your conviction and therefore life matches up with his word. Look at this passage. Take stock of your life. And don't do anything else until you can confidently understand what he said and where your life lines up. Answer these kinds of questions. Okay? Are you strong in your faith as you rely on his grace? Pretty simple. Have you had the good deposit of the gospel entrusted to you? Maybe not as an elder, but as a witness for him? Do you seek to teach it to others? Is your life all tangled up with the world? Is your life a mirror of what is in the world? Or is it in accord with the very words of your captain? Are you competing according to the world's system for the prize that it offers? There is a prize in the world, isn't there? Or are you running a race of faith seeking to attain true riches? Those that are found in Christ? Are you working hard to please God and bear the fruit of righteousness, or are you working hard to promote your selfish pleasure and do what the world and your own sinful desires want out of you? Your answer to those questions will determine if you gain what verse 7 promises. If you're his, wielding the weapon of Christian strength that comes through his grace, considering, studying, striving to learn his word, your promise that the Lord is going to give you something eternally amazing. And that's just something simple. Understanding. You're going to get understanding. Do you realize why that's so important? Because it is understanding that leads you to worship. It's understanding that leads you to fear. It's understanding that leads you to trust. What I'm getting at is this there is really both a human and a divine element or intelligence needed to grasp what Paul is saying, and we are to give our all to make sure we get it. We're all called, Timothy included, to study, to work hard, to set aside the things in the world so that we may understand God and His Word and where our life lines up with it. And as he does that, as we do that, the Lord will grant us the beauty of understanding. For some, I think, in the evangelical church of today, they think that if they've, you know, read the coffee mug verses or they breeze through their favorite passages in the Bible, I'm fine to live for him. I passed on the Facebook post that had the scripture in it. For others, maybe they think if they dive in deep enough to see what David's five smooth stones represent with Goliath, or how big Gideon's fleece was, I'm going to have all understanding. I got those things. Now, while there's a call and a command to study the word of God, sometimes guess what? Stones are stones. Rocks. And a fleece is just a vessel for what actually matters. Trust. And so we've got to remember that it takes the Spirit of God to illuminate the truth to us. For us to have any meaningful understanding of the Word, it takes more than a breezing through, and it takes more than just those 75 commentaries sitting on our desk. Or maybe today, YouTube pastors. No, no, no. For us to have meaningful understanding, it takes diligent study of the word by yourself. Also, what we're doing right now. Those are the things the Bible gives us is how we get understanding as we walk in the strength of Christ's grace, is to be in the word ourselves and to be in the word together as a church. And I'm telling you, not just because I'm here doing it, but the preaching of the word is absolutely vital, week in and week out, for every Christian in the world. It just is. That's what the Bible teaches. And so I say to you today, consider the word. Consider the gospel. Study it, know it, live it, wield the weapon of strength that comes by his grace, and you will be a pleasing soldier. Do you want that? That victorious and honest athlete. How many of those are there today? That hardworking farmer who bears fruit and gets the taste of it? You will be that trustworthy soldier who gains what the world cannot give, knowledge of eternal things. Clinging to the promises of eternal life. What strength. What power is in that? What a merciful God. Who doesn't want that? You, therefore, my beloved church family, verse one, be strong. Be strong. Work hard. Fight with everything you are to be holy in Christ. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. God's grace is active towards us, but we are not to be passive recipients. We are to be actively pursuing and living out what He has given us. And that includes holy living and gospel proclamation. Let's pray. Father, we ask you to give us strength, to give us boldness not just to be a witness of yours, but to be bold in how we live as holy people. Father, let us not be weak. Let us not be tangled up in worldly affairs day in and day out. That prevents us from being students of your word, that prevents us from being active participants in your church, that prevents us from anything that would benefit our life and faith and trust in you. Strengthen us with resolve, Father, we pray. That as we are strengthened, we would wield that in this world, and that many, many would see and come to know you through it. Change us, challenge us, we pray in Christ. Amen.