Opening illustration: Felipe Massa of Brazil should have won the Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore in September 2008. But as he drove off from a refueling stop while in the lead, the fuel hose was still attached. By the time his team removed the hose, he had lost so much time that he finished 13th.
The apostle Paul warned Timothy of another kind of attachment that would cause him defeat—“the affairs of this life” (2 Timothy 2: 4). He urged Timothy not to let anything slow him down or distract him from the cause of his Lord and Master.
There are many attractive things in our world that are so easy to get entangled with—hobbies, sports, TV, computer games. These may start off as “refueling” activities, but later they can take up so much of our time and thought that they interfere with the purpose for which God created us: to share the good news of Christ, serve Him with our gifts, and bring glory to Him.
Paul told Timothy why he ought not to be entangled with this world’s affairs: So that he could “please Him” (v. 4). If your desire is to please the Lord Jesus, you will want to stay untangled from the world. As John reminds us, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2: 17).
Introduction: Following his release from house arrest in Rome in A.D. 62, Paul resumed his itinerant ministry in the Mediterranean world. Writing to Titus from somewhere in Macedonia, probably between A.D. 62 and 66, he said that he planned to visit Nicapolis (Titus 3: 12). Assuming that he did visit Nicapolis, Paul went from there to Rome, evidently indirectly. His visit to Troas (2 Timothy 4: 13) probably took place shortly before he wrote 2 Timothy. It may be that Paul’s arrest required his leaving his cloak, books, and parchments there, but that is only speculation. In any case, Paul ended up in Rome as a prisoner again (2: 9). He had already had his initial hearing and was awaiting trial when he wrote this epistle (4: 16). He believed that the Roman authorities would execute him soon (4: 6). Ever since Rome had burned in July of A.D. 64 and Nero had blamed the Christians, it had become dangerous to be a Christian. It was also dangerous to have contact with leaders of the church such as Paul. Consequently many believers, including some of Paul’s coworkers, had chosen to seek a much lower profile and become less aggressive in their ministries. Timothy faced temptation to do the same. Paul wrote this epistle to urge him to remain faithful to his calling and loyal to his father in the faith. Timothy needed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Paul and the other believers and to continue to "preach the Word" as he had done.
As our trials increase, we need to grow stronger in that which is good; our faith stronger, our resolution stronger, our love to God and Christ stronger. This is opposed to our being strong in our own strength. All Christians, but especially ministers, must be faithful to their Captain, and resolute in his cause. The great care of a Christian must be to please Christ. We are to strive to get the mastery of our lusts and corruptions, but we cannot expect the prize unless we observe the laws. We must take care that we do good in a right manner, that our good may not be spoken evil of. Some, who are active, spend their zeal about outward forms and doubtful disputations. But those who strive lawfully shall be crowned at last. If we would partake in the fruits, we must labor; if we would gain the prize, we must run the race. We must do the will of God, before we receive the promises, for which reason we have need of patience. Together with our prayers for others, that the Lord would give them understanding in all things, we must exhort and stir them up to consider what they hear or read.
How to be a strong man/woman of God?
1. Good Learner & Mentor (vs. 1-2)
How can someone be strong in grace? Grace means undeserved favor. Just as we are saved by grace, we should live by grace. This means trusting completely in Christ and His power, and not trying to live for Christ in our strength alone. Receive and utilize Christ’s power. He will give you the strength to do His work. If the church were to consistently follow this advice, it would expand geometrically and well-taught believers would teach others and commission them, in turn to teach others. Disciples need to be equipped to pass on their faith; our work is not done until new believers are able to make disciples of others.
Paul is outlining two major things ~ the reception and transmission of the Christian faith.
The apprehension of spiritual truth is not primarily a matter of mental acumen but of spiritual teachableness. The reception of the faith is founded in two things ~ Hearing and Application. It is not only a privilege to receive the Christian faith; it is a duty to transmit it. Every Christian must look on himself as a link between two generations. Not only has he received the faith; he must also pass it on. The faith is to be transmitted to faithful men who in their turn will teach it to others. The church is dependent on an unbroken chain of teachers. The teacher is a link in the living chain which stretches unbroken from this present moment back to Jesus Christ. The glory of teaching is that it links the present with the earthly life of Jesus Christ.
The teachers are to be faithful men. The Greek word used for faithful ~ ‘pistos’ apparently means believing, loyal, reliable and depended upon. Falconer said that these believing men are such, “that they will yield neither to persecution nor to error.” The teacher’s heart must be stayed on Christ and steadfast that nothing will be able to lure him from the path of loyalty or seduce him to stray from the path of truth. After having stayed on Christ, he is the one who sets the bar and standards not only for himself but for all those who come after him, and lives up to the expectations of being a faithful disciple of Christ. He is a good student as well as a worthy mentor.
Illustration: My own mentor …
2. Endures Hardships & Focused (vs. 3-4)
Such hardship as a soldier is called to endure. The apostle supposes that a minister of the gospel might be called to endure hardships, and that it is reasonable that he should be as ready to do it as a soldier is. Soldiers often endure great privations. Taken from their homes and friends; exposed to cold, or heat, or storms, or fatiguing marches; sustained on coarse fare, or almost destitute of food, they are often compelled to endure as much as the human frame can bear, and often indeed, sink under their burdens, and die. If, for reward or their country’s sake, they are willing to do this, the soldier of the cross should be willing to do it for his Savior’s sake, and for the good of the human race. Hence, let no man seek the office of the ministry as a place of ease. Let no one come into it merely to enjoy himself. Let no one enter it that is not prepared to lead a soldier’s life and to welcome hardship and trial as his portion. He would make a bad soldier, who, at his enlistment, should make it a condition that he should be permitted to sleep on a bed of down, and always be well clothed and fed, and never exposed to peril, or compelled to pursue a wearisome march. Yet do not some men enter the ministry, making these the conditions? And would they enter the ministry on any other terms?
Entangling with civil affairs, in distinction from military ones, the Roman soldiers might not follow any trade or business of life, or be concerned in husbandry (remain unmarried till he is a soldier), or merchandise of any sort, but were wholly to attend to military exercises, and to the orders of their general; for to be employed in any secular business was reckoned an entangling of them, a taking of them off from, and an hindrance to their military discipline: and by this the apostle suggests that Christ’s people, his soldiers, and especially his ministers, should not be involved and implicated in worldly affairs and cares; for no man can serve two masters, God and mammon; but should wholly give up themselves to the work and service to which they are called; and be ready to part with all worldly enjoyments, and cheerfully suffer the loss of all things, when called to it, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel: He was supposed to stay focused, determined and goal oriented so as to please his enlister ~ Jesus Christ.
Paul’s emphasis in this illustration was on the importance of remaining free from entanglement with other lesser goals and activities while serving the Lord. Obviously Paul did not mean that a minister should always give all of his time to preaching and teaching to the exclusion of any tent-making activities. He meant that he should not let other duties drain off his energies or interests or divert him from his primary responsibilities as a Christian soldier. Demas, whom Paul mentioned later, turned out to be a bad soldier in this respect (cf. 4: 10). As an ordinary soldier must be single-minded in his purpose, rigorous in his self-discipline, and unquestioning in his obedience, so must every soldier of Christ.
The soldiers service must be ~
• A Concentrated service ~ completely focused with no worldly distractions.
• Conditioned to Obedience ~ Shows adherence by obeying the word of command.
• Conditioned to Sacrifice ~ by putting one’s life on the line (this is My body, broken for you … willingly to lay down one’s life for his friend … willing to give up his all …)
• Conditioned to Loyalty ~ The Christian too must be loyal to Christ, through all the chances and the changes of life, down even to the gates of death.
Illustration: Our neighbor’s son returns home half-way through training at the military academy …
3. Disciplined Lifestyle & Diligent (vs. 5-6)
We have already seen the imagery of the soldier that Paul used earlier but now he uses the picture of an athlete. Paul says that the athlete does not win the crown of victory unless he observes the rules of the contest. There is a very interesting point in Greek here which is difficult to bring out in our English translations. The AKJV speaks of striving lawfully. Apparently the Greek phrase used here was to describe a PROFESSIONAL as opposed to an AMATEUR athlete. The man who strove was the man who concentrated everything on his struggle. His struggle was not a spare time thing, as it might be for an amateur; it was a whole-time dedication of his life to excellence in the contest which he had chosen. Here Paul brings about the same idea. Once again we see that a strong Christian’s life must be focused and concentrated. Therefore the life of a spare-time Christian is in contradiction of the one who is a whole-time Christian.
What then are the characteristics of an ‘athlete’ which are in Paul’s mind?
(a) Discipline & Self-Denial ~ An athlete must keep his schedule of training; he must let nothing interfere with it. A strong Christian is always under discipline. He must train himself never to relax in the life-long attempt to make his soul pure and strong.
(b) Observe the Rules ~ After the discipline and the rules of the training, there come the contest and the rules of the contest. An athlete cannot win unless he plays the game. The Christian too is often brought into contest with his fellow men. He must defend the faith … seek to convince and persuade … argue, debate … defend his position … be attacked ruthlessly. He must do all this by Christian rules, no matter how hot the argument … others may lose their cool, but you must not forget your courtesy, be honest, fair and truthful. The hatred of theologians has become a byword and there is no bitterness like religious bitterness. But the strong Christian knows that the supreme rule of the Christian life is LOVE, and he will carry that love into every argument and every debate in which he is engaged.
In verse 6 Paul gives us an illustration of a ‘farmer.’ What are the characters of a farmer which are in Paul’s mind?
(a) He must be content, first, to work, and, then, to wait ~ More than any other workman, the farmer has to learn that there are no such things as quick results or quick fixes. The strong Christian must learn to work and to wait. Sow the seed and wait for the results … possible harvest (long-haul).
(b) Prepared to work anytime and long hours ~ In the harvest time we can see farmers at work in their fields, even till midnight, so long as the last streak of light is left. The farmer knows no hours and neither must a strong Christian. From dawn to dusk, the strong Christian must be forever at his task of being a Christian.
Application: (v. 7) One thing remains in all these three pictures. The soldier is upheld by the thought of final victory. The athlete is upheld by the vision of the crown. The farmer is upheld by the hope of the harvest. Each of them submits to the discipline and the toil for the sake of the glory which shall be. It is so with the Christian. The Christian struggle is not a struggle without a goal; it is not a pointless effort. It is always going somewhere. And the Christian can be very certain that after the effort of Christian life, there comes the joy of heaven; and greater the struggle, the greater the joy.
Although we live in this world, we must declare our allegiance to heaven.
