Context: Paul is encouraging a young pastor and a suffering church.
2Timothy 2:1-4 — You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
“Be strengthened” is a present passive imperative; it is command to “keep on being empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
The reason we need to stay empowered is because of the daunting task before us of “teaching others.” We have received the Truth of the Gospel and we should both guard it and give it away to others who will also guard it and give it away.
So the Apostle Paul is saying, “Look, Timothy, you can’t quit, you can’t bail out, you can’t drop the baton, you cannot step out of the line. You are a link in a living chain and somebody, namely me, gave the truth to you and there are faithful and competent men waiting for you to give it to them so they can give it to others.”
A strong believer is one who has the truth and guards it and gives it away. So a strong Christian is a diligent student of Scripture. A strong Christian is faithful to articulate that Scripture. A strong Christian is loyal to the intent and content of that Scripture and involved in the training of others who can train others still.
We are teachers…every believer has received truth to be passed on. Great Commission!
What does it take to be successful in this endeavor? Paul give us three metaphors to illustrate what is required of us in order to be successful in the Christian life and the Christian endeavor: we mut be like soldiers, athletes and farmers.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 — Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
Consider the following characteristic of a successful soldier of Christ:
I. Realizes that we are at war
Paul does not hesitate to use this military metaphor: I Cor. 9; II Cor. 10; I Tim. 1; and called people fellow soldiers in Phil. 2:25; Philemon 2. In Ephesians 6:10 Paul teaches us about the armor of God and fighting spiritual battles. In 2 Cor. 10:3-6 he teaches us that the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but supernatural, to the pulling down of Satanic fortresses.
II. Requires heroism
2Tim. 2:3 says, “ Share in suffering as a good soldier”
That wonderful beautiful word translated “good” is the Greek word kalos which means noble or excellent. We’re not just calle to be dutiful soldiers, we are called to be excellent soldiers. We’re not called to be just functionary soldiers, we are called to be noble soldiers. If you will, we are called to be heroic soldiers.
Christianity is not a spectator event…not a game. Christianity is a war. And a war calls for heroism. I am thankful that Murrieta Valley Church is full of heroes.
III. Reminded that we are not alone
Paul says in 2Tim 2:3 that we are to “Share in suffering…”
Togetherness is implied. I am so thankful as a soldier that I am not alone. Sometimes in the fog of war, in the darkness of night after a long battle and many causualties I cry out, “Do I have any brothers or sisters out there?” And the dreadful silence of the night is broken by a faint voice from another foxhole, “Yes… Pastor Jason, I’m still here.” And my level of hope rises; I’m not alone; we will survive.
IV. Recognizes the Reality of Hardship
Paul says in verse three: Share in suffering… or “Endure affliction together…or take your share of suffering…or take your share of rough treatment”.
I don’t hear anybody saying, “Come to Christ and pick up your armor and go to the front line and fight a life long war with the demons of hell.” But that’s the reality. And this kind of dishonest approach to salvation that asks people to come to Jesus so that they can eliminate all conflict is just not true.
This is war and you should expect that you’re going to get your share of suffering. You’re going to have your wounds and your pain, it’s just how it is in war. There are no people who are in R&R in this army. In fact, there’s no place but the front line. There we suffer along with everybody else.
If you think you should be free from any suffering or avoid any conflict in your life? Wrong. The Apostle calls upon us to take our fair share like others.
You say, “Well, I don’t choose to fight.” Then you’re just lying around waiting to be shot.
V. Resists Distractions
Paul continues in verse four: “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
The word “entangle” is translated from the Greek term empleko which means to twist or interweave.
Paul is reminding us that no noble soldier in active service entangles himself in the civil pursuits (pragmateia) of every day existence in this life. There is a lot of “stuff” in the world (and in every person’s own heart) that is fighting for attention. If a person ever gives in to the temptation, they will become double-minded, distracted, and dangerous to both themselves and their fellow soldiers.
VI. Respects the Commander
Paul says in 2Timothy 2:4, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.”
The noble, honorable, heroic soldier really does what he does to please the Commander in Chief, the Lord God, to complete the Great Commission.
As the Apostle said in 1Thessalonians 2:4, “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.”
In summary, the Apostle Paul compares a Christian to a teacher, an soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. The imagery is very vivid. Each one of these, in a sense, has the idea of self-denial.
The teacher who spends his life to produce other teachers…
The soldier who give his life in the duties of battle…
The athlete who restricts his life for the sake of maximum effort…
The farmer who literally expends his life to produce the crop.
It is obvious that the Lord is calling for us to give ourselves away. There are some things we have to endure in giving ourselves away…suffering, discipline, exhaustion. There are some things we have to avoid, all the entanglement of the world and breaking the rules, unholiness, sin. There are some things we have to obey, and that is the rules that God has set down and the orders of our commander and the laws of sowing and reaping.
But we must never forget that there are some things that we are to enjoy: seeing students succeed, seeing battles won, the thrill of victoriously crossing the finish line, and satisfactorily tasting the first fruits of the harvest.
In the end, I hope to never be counted among the deserters, quitters, cowards, or casualties?
Tweet
Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.