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As a fresh-faced college student, I got my feet wet in pastoral ministry through serving in two churches. In one I faked being a music minister! Don’t get me wrong. I did not tell them that I knew music. Rather I was asked to lead music in a church—they were desperate. The qualification seemed pretty simple: able to carry a tune in a bucket most of the time. I agreed if they would let me work with their students to teach them the Word. The church consented, so my roommate gave me a crash course in 4/4 timing and I was off to my first church position! Needless to say, I left music ministry to others!
My next church began as an internship working with youth then developed into a staff position. I taught, preached, visited, led discipleship groups, and counseled. Lasting friendships were made. Fruit was borne that continues to this day. But, how little I knew about ministry! Graduating from college and leaving that church position, I settled in for study at seminary, thinking that seminary would surely prepare me for pastoral ministry! While it certainly helped in many areas, I learned over the next few years that pastoral ministry is not an exact science. One does not read a textbook and walk out with a thorough knowledge of how to pastor people. Instead, while there are common practices across the board, every situation differs because the people and circumstances differ.
Now, after 32 years of pastoral ministry, I realize that every year brings new challenges, new personalities to learn and work with, changing cultural issues, new joys, new grief, new problems, and new opportunities. I can assure you that life never gets boring for me! Every year appears to teach me a little different angle on how inadequate I am for the demands of ministry yet how rich and plentiful the grace of God comes to fill the inadequacies! I am learning, and I believe you are learning with me, that our ministry together as a church depends on the grace of God.
I do not say that lightly. I mean it with every ounce of my being. How do we face the sorrow of death among each other without the grace of God? We’ve walked through that dark valley together this year from the death of a precious little one to loss of parents, siblings, and friends. How do we go through the agony of exercising church discipline on those we love apart from an outpouring of God’s grace? We’ve walked together through that most gut-wrenching experience of a church. How do we truly explain the gospel to others apart from grace to speak with clarity and power? We’ve known God’s kindness in sharing the gospel with others and seeing some come to faith in Christ. How do we handle the hurts brought on by the sinful world about us, and even our own weaknesses in the flesh, unless God meets us with grace? We’ve learned together to rely on God’s grace through the agony of broken relationships, job loss, rebellious children, health issues, declining bank accounts, and an array of disappointments. How do we cross cultural barriers at home and internationally to communicate the gospel apart from the richness of God’s grace in Christ enabling us? We’ve known such grace in our community, in the Muslim world, and other places.
We have been learning to walk in the grace of God day after day. And what shall we learn as we embark on 2010? It is a new year with challenges and surprises sprinkled along the way. What they are, we do not know, so how do we approach the year? More than ever, we rely on the grace of God enabling us to be good soldiers of Christ Jesus. None of us is the captain. That title belongs to Jesus Christ alone. We’re soldiers together in a mighty army sent into spiritual battle. Our unit must work together under the steady command of our great Captain Jesus Christ. We need not fear what the enemy sends our way. We need only be faithful by the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus. How shall we steady ourselves for the battles and opportunities ahead? Paul instructs us in our text to give careful attention to four areas in our lives. Let’s study these together.
“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Paul does not casually toss out a “therefore,” so we must not casually pass over it. He’s calling for dependence upon God’s grace but he does so due to specific issues that he’s already spelled out to Timothy in the first chapter. We see four areas identified that affect this need for grace.
(1) The commands and exhortations given call for grace. “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you…do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God…retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me…guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (1:6, 8, 13-14).
(2) The doctrines that bind us together call for grace to understand and practice. “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline…God…has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity…our Savior Christ Jesus…has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (7, 9-10, 12).
(3) The bonds of fellowship call for grace to strengthen these ties. “To Timothy, my beloved son…I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother…and mother…and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2-5)
(4) The challenge of relationships demand that we rely on God’s grace. “You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains” (15-16).
Whether in light of God’s commands or understanding and practicing doctrine or living in the bonds of Christian fellowship or facing the challenge of relationships that might leave us in the lurch or refresh us, we must walk in the grace of God. “You therefore, my son,” in light of these four areas, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The wellspring that flows with constant supply to enable you to obey, learn, live in fellowship, and face even bitter times without malice or anger is the grace of God found in your union with Jesus Christ.
What is this “grace that is in Christ Jesus”? It is all the resources of His redemptive work now yours in Christ. It is His love in you loving, His joy in you singing, His power in you enabling, His compassion in you feeling, His boldness in you speaking, His tenderness in you relating, His mind in you understanding, His disposition in you moderating, His faithfulness in you persevering. You do not see these qualities apart from Christ. They are not naturally resident in your life. They are yours by new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the great generosity of the heavenly Father. His grace supplies what you lack, precedes where you must go, fills when you are drained, energizes when you lack strength, refreshes when you are weary, invigorates where you feel lifeless, articulates when you do not have the right words to speak. Grace! It comes in whatever measure we need but not too early and not too late. Are you learning to rely on the wellspring of grace in Christ Jesus?
Paul’s use of the present passive verb means that we look outside ourselves for grace, and we do so constantly. It is found “in Christ Jesus,” in our union with Him. We must beware of the subtle substitutes in cultural Christianity for the grace of God. Rather than learning to depend upon Christ, growing regularly in the grace He richly supplies, far too often we run to another source for strength to walk as Christians. We try some quick fix or legalistic pattern instead of the steady, deliberate walk in grace. God deliver us!
Grace is something that you grow in day by day. “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” calls for daily reliance upon Christ and all that He has done for us in His redemptive work. If we try to find grace in other things we will soon run dry. I remember going on a survival trip when in high school in the dead of winter. My dad was familiar with the land where my friends and I would live for four days. He told me where to find a spring bubbling out of a hillside that never stopped running in winter or summer. Thirsty and tired from walking in hunt for food, I came to the spring and drank until my energy renewed. I could not get water from a rock or from a tree or drink from the muddy creek below but that spring would never cease to satisfy my thirst.
Here’s what I call on us to do each day. Go to the wellspring of grace in Christ Jesus—go daily, go often in the day, rely upon Him, trust in His resources, nurture your life in the richness of His person and the satisfaction of His saving work. Begin the day with Him. Treasure His Word. Devote yourself to prayer. Trust in His promises.
Though a young man, Timothy was serving as a pastor in Ephesus with all the daunting challenges of relationships, pagan culture, false teachers, immoral practices that you would expect to find in a metropolitan area. He probably felt as though the weight of the church rested only upon his shoulders! That’s why Paul gave him instructions in the first epistle to appoint qualified men to serve as elders and deacons. And it is why he calls on him, in this case, to recognize his limitations, understand the giftedness of the body of Christ, and entrust the ministry of the Word to others. “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Paul was not calling on Timothy to be novel when it came to the Word of God. No gimmicks were needed. Instead, it was “the things which you heard from me in the presence of many witnesses,” that must remain his priority. Repetitive truth, sound interpretation of Scripture would be the content he passed along for others to continue teaching. Why is this important to see? In a world that lives in sound bites, we sometime think that if we’re going to be “cutting edge” with the world, we’ve got to come up with some new ideas about Christian living. We’ve got to come up with new steps, new secrets, and new keys to making things fly spiritually. Unfortunately, many people search for novelty and jump on the bandwagon when it comes their way. It often takes them down paths of terrible ruin. Paul objected to such nonsense. It’s those things that you’ve heard over and over, Timothy. It’s the truths that I’ve expounded in the presence of others who validated the truth. There were no secret truths only for the initiated, no hidden agendas, and no special knowledge for a select few. No, none of that: just the Word of God opened and expounded for all to hear and understand!
We stand on the shoulders of those who have faithfully, openly, and clearly interpreted and expounded God’s Word over the centuries. We have no backroom teaching for the super-spiritual or Christian elite. We’re called to just “preach the Word” so that the text of Scripture itself speaks to our need. That must ever remain our ministry’s priority!
Notice that this work did not belong only to Timothy. It was too big for him. “Entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” The word “entrust” suggests the idea of depositing or committing something for safekeeping. Timothy was to invest much of his ministry in teaching others the truths of God’s Word so that they might do the same. Who would he be able to entrust the truths of God’s Word? “Faithful men.” Look for men of godly character who will love the Word, obey the Word, and cherish passing it along to others.
God is raising up faithful men and women in our midst who will teach others the Word. Some will teach the Word at South Woods, others will serve in other churches, some will go to other people groups, others to plant churches, and still others will faithfully teach as a Christian witness in the community. The Lord has given the local church the task of training every generation in the Scripture. We take this seriously. It is not the responsibility of seminaries or Bible colleges or parachurch groups to do this work. Instead, it belongs to the church. It is part of our divine charter. “Entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” We take this seriously as elders and pastors. I’m encouraged by the hunger that many have to know the Word in order to teach it to others. It’s exciting to see this developing through small group gatherings or our pastoral internship or one-on-one mentoring. My desire is to see us expand this vital work through the church so that we recognize faithfulness in our members who will show diligence to learn Gods’ Word and how “to teach others also.”
This was Paul’s last epistle before he was beheaded for his gospel work. Does it do something to us when we see his emphasis on teaching and preaching the Word as he offers his last instructions to a young pastor? He valued the church’s ministry of teaching; he considered it priority if the present and future generations would truly know the gospel and how to apply it to daily life. Timothy was to “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you by the laying on of my hands”—an indication of gifts for the ministry of the Word. These gifts were to be exercised with boldness not timidity (1:6-7). Paul gloried in his appointment as “a preacher and an apostle and a teacher,” that being the root of his suffering imprisonment (1:11-12). Timothy was to “retain the standard of sound words,” giving careful attention to sound doctrine, guarding the deposit of the gospel (1:13-14). Paul endured treatment as a criminal for the sake of communicating this gospel (2:9-10). Timothy was to remind the church of what mattered through teaching the basics of the gospel (2:14). He was to be diligent as a student who could handle accurately the Scripture (2:15). He was not to be quarrelsome but kind to all and able to teach, offering correction to those in opposition (2:24-25). He was to keep following Paul’s teaching (3:10, 14-15). Timothy was to remember that Scripture is God-breathed and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (3:16-17). Paul solemnly charged Timothy in the face of God to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (4:1-2). He was to endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist and fulfill his ministry (4:5). And as a final reminder, Paul called for Timothy to bring with him “the books, especially the parchments,” so that the old Apostle could continue his study (4:13). Then he reminded Timothy that the Lord had stood with him and strengthened him in the proclamation of the gospel so that all the Gentiles might hear the good news (4:17). This simply follows the responsibilities given to the church by our Lord: make disciples, baptize them, and go on teaching them all that He has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Let us persist in placing the same value upon our teaching ministry by prioritizing the Word.
I intentionally used an adverb to convey what I think Paul calls for: be dependably Christian. He does this by calling on us to suffer hardship together with him as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. The soldier metaphor spoke volumes to Timothy and those in the first century. They knew the dependability of Roman soldiers, marked by discipline, loyalty, and tenacity with all the responsibilities given to them. Whether in preparation or actual battle, these soldiers took seriously being soldiers. So Paul could write, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Timothy was not “an army of one,” nor is any of us. The soldier “belongs to a company bigger than himself” [Ronald Ward, Commentary on 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus, 161]. We are connected to each other in the body of Christ and particularly in the local church. Our effectiveness as soldiers depends on learning to serve alongside one other, with each doing his/her part in serving Christ, encouraging the body, and testifying to the gospel in the world. Yet faithfulness as a Christian soldier inevitably brings on affliction by the world. We live in an environment hostile to faithful Christianity. Paul later tells Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (3:12), so he calls on believers to share together in that suffering. What qualities were evident in “a good soldier”? Cleon Rogers, Jr. summarizes ancient documents on Roman soldiers with this assessment.
The soldier who was always ready to faithfully obey his commander without grumbling and complaining; to be constantly in training whatever hardships must be endured; to fight bravely, never leaving his post even if it meant death; to work with his company as a unit, carrying out his specific task, was the one who received the praise from his commander and was rewarded for his service. He was a good soldier [The Topical Josephus, 114].
To further press this picture, Paul uses three metaphors to apply dependable Christian practice.
(1) Soldier metaphor: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” Here he calls for single-mindedness in Christian practice. Recognizing his corporate connection with the other soldiers, he also knows that his practice affects everyone else. If he entangles himself in mundane civilian enticements, he risks the safety of his fellow soldiers. He must maintain clear priorities if he would be a soldier. He must remember that he is a soldier loyal to his commander. And so must we. The rest of the body counts on how each maintain single-minded devotion to Christ and faithfulness in Christian disciplines. Jesus is our Commander. He enlisted us. Our single-minded aim should be to “please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” Thomas Lea explained, “Servants of Christ are not merely to be well-rounded dabblers in all types of trivial pursuits. They are tough-minded devotees of Christ who constantly choose the right priorities from a list of potential selections” [NAC: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 203]. Do you keep a single-minded devotion to Jesus Christ?
(2) Athletic metaphor: “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.” Ancient athletes competing in games were required to spend ten months in a highly regimented training before competing. They vowed to Zeus that they would discipline themselves or else they would be disqualified for the games. Paul calls for Christians to practice self-discipline. We are not products running down the conveyor belt of Christianity but athletes that must constantly put ourselves through rigorous training in order to fulfill our Christian calling. It demands “stamina” [Lea 204] accompanying self-discipline and integrity that does not cut corners or compromise devotion to Christ and His church.
There were no short-cuts to eligibility for competing in the games. Rigorous self-discipline prepared the athlete for the chance to honor his god by his performance. How much more so should we practice the same kind of rigor in guarding our lives against the entanglements of sin by exercising ourselves for the purpose of godliness! How is your discipline as a Christian? Do you devote yourself to the Word and prayer each day? Do you seek to put to death besetting sins? Do you take seriously the commands of Christ?
(3) Farming metaphor: “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.” Before a farmer can reap a harvest he must prepare the ground, sow the seed, maintain weed and soil control, ensure adequate moisture, guard against insects and pests, and then labor to get the harvest in before foul weather destroys it. He does not have to be flashy, just diligent and patient. Paul uses this to call for the Christian practice of diligence. Months of labor take place before the farmer can enjoy the harvest. But his diligence ensures the future. Often in the Christian life we find ourselves growing slack, looking for the easy way to fruitfulness. We want to be fruitful but we may be short on patience and diligence while looking for quick results. That’s not the kind of Christianity that bears up under suffering or walks joyfully even in hardships or shows steadiness in the face of adversity. Paul reminded the Galatians, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (6:9). So let us be diligent in living and serving as Christians.
Single-mindedness, self-discipline, and diligence must mark us if we would be good soldiers of our great Captain, Jesus Christ.
Paul closes this exhortation by calling for continuing to think and meditate on what he had written. “Consider what I say,” think about it, mull it over, work it out, “for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Two actions are taking place. The believer is using his mind. He’s thinking, engaging in interpretation, and meditating to gain understanding. He’s not a spectator but one diligently seeking to know the Word of God and how to apply it in his life. He has help! That’s the second action as the Lord gives understanding to the believer that seeks to grapple with the Word. The Lord teaches and speaks to us through His Word as the Holy Spirit illumines our minds and understanding. Yet this is not done without our giving attention and using our God-given faculties to try to wrestle with the truths of the Word. We read, study, research, investigate, dig, and think while depending upon the Spirit to direct us in accurately handling the Word. Are you committed to this kind of ongoing Christian study and thought? You cannot grow without the Word. It is your food and life! And you cannot rightly grasp what God is teaching without the Author, the Holy Spirit enabling you to understand. And indeed He does.
Good soldiers of Christ Jesus—that’s what 2010 calls for as we journey together as a church into the unfolding weeks and months. Let’s commit ourselves to giving attention to
(1) our walks—living in the well-spring of grace,
(2) our ministry—prioritizing the Word,
(3) our practice—being dependably Christian through single-mindedness, self-discipline, and diligence, and
(4) our meditation—attending to the details of truth.
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