Having illustrated his point by metaphor, Paul now goes on to illustrate this point from experience. He points to the experience of 1. Christ, 2. himself, & 3. other Christians.
- The Experience of Christ
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.2 Timothy 2:8
?Why would Paul tell us to remember Christ??
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures for ever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favour to your people, come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.
6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.
9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.
13¶ But they soon forgotwhat he had done and did not wait for his counsel.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test.
15So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
16In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.
17The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram.
18Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
19At Horeb they made a calf and worshipped an idol cast from metal.
20They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21They forgotthe God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
22miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23So he said he would destroy them–had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
25They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD.
26So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert,
27make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
28They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
30But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked.
31This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.
32By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.
34 ¶ They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,
35butthey mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.
36They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them.
37They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance.
41He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them.
42Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power.
43Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellionand they wasted away in their sin.
44But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;
45for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.
46He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
47Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
48Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD. Psalm 106
? Is the church ever in danger of forgetting Christ??
a. Paul warned the church about being absorbed in barren theology.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Rather, we are to live out our theology in practice:
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another … I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, John 13:34
21that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21
“In John 13 the point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he is not a Christian. [In John 17] Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of Christians … Love – and the unity it attests to – is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.” Francis Schaeffer
b. James warned the church about being absorbed by outward appearances.
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? James 2:1-4
c. Many times today the church is absorbed in humanitarian activity without regard to the gospel. Yet Christ warned;
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36
? What are we to remember about Christ??
a. descended from David
Christ the creator of the world, gave up all of His glory, His place in heaven, to become man.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8
? Are we ready to do this?? Are willing to do this?? Have you done this??
b. risen from the dead
Christ not only left heaven but went to death to gain your salvation.
“When you are tempted to avoid pain, humiliation, suffering or death in your ministry, remember Jesus Christ and think again!” Stott
- The Experience of Paul
This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:9-10
Salvation cannot come apart from the preaching of the gospel and the faithful preaching of the gospel will bring suffering. For Paul that meant chains and death. For us it might mean ridicule, rejection, loss of friends, loss of pride. We see daily that for Christians in muslim countries or muslim dominated areas in Western countries it means death and persecution as ordered by allah in the Quran, and his prophet in the Suna.
But we must be willing to endure this for the sake of the elect.
? Why does Paul say this??
But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14
- The Common Christian Experience
Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13
a. The Christian life is described as a life of dying. We are to die to self. We are to take up the cross and follow Christ.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– Romans 6:3-6
I die every day — I mean that, brothers — just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:31
b. If we deny Christ, if we are not faithful, if we shrink back, Christ will deny us.
If we are faithless, Christ will remain faithful.
? To what will Christ remain faithful??
But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:33
Christ remains faithful to His word. “Faithfulness on His part means carrying out His threats as well as His promises.” Hendriksen
“Why should we expect things to be easy for us or promise an easy time to others? Neither human wisdom [look at soldiers, athletes, farmers] nor divine revelation [look at Christ, Paul, Christians] gives us such an expectation. Why then do we deceive ourselves and others? The truth is the reverse, namely ‘no pains, no gains’ or ‘no cross, no crown’.
This is this principle which took Jesus Christ through a lowly birth and shameful death to His glorious resurrection and heavenly reign. It is this principle which had brought Paul his chains and prison cell, in order that the elect might obtain salvation and glory. It is the same principle which makes the soldier willing to endure hardship, the athlete discipline and the farmer toil. It would be ridiculous, therefore, to expect our Christian life and service to cost us nothing.” Stott
THREE FINAL METAPHORS
Paul has just explained that we, as believers, are not to keep the gift the God has given us, the knowledge of salvation and the Christian life, to ourselves. We are responsible to pass this along to others. This is not optional. What we have heard and seen, we are to pass along to others. And they, in turn are to pass the truth on to others.
Paul began the chapter with three metaphors to illustrate that though we have been given this responsibility we must not be fooled into thinking that our task will be easy. No soldier, or athlete, or farmer can expect results without hard work, dedication, suffering, exertion, and labor.
Having illustrated his point by metaphor Paul next goes on to illustrate this point from experience. He points to the experience of 1. Christ, 2. himself, & 3. other Christians.
Paul closes out the chapter by giving us three additional metaphors.
- Workman
- Vessel
- Servant
- Metaphor #4: THE WORKMAN
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:14-19
? What kind of workman are we to be??
a. correctly handles
orthotomeo: cut straight, cut a path in a straight direction, cut a road across difficult terrain in a straight direction.
he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6
The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them. Proverbs 11:5
We are to teach the Word of God plainly and accurately. Through all of the difficult terrain of life we are to clearly and accurately teach God’s truth.
As opposed to:
b. those who, in their teaching have, wandered away.
astocheo: [derived from stochos; target] to miss the mark, to deviate from something.
God’s truth is our target. It is what we should strive for in our lives and in our teaching. It is what we are responsible, as workmen, to pass on to others. It is our assigned job. We are not to miss that mark, we are not swerve from the truth, we are not to shoot wide.
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith. 9 But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? Acts 13:6-10
False teaching has two effects:
It is godless. It leads people away from God.
It is gangrenous. It infects the community. It spreads and ruins its hearers.
They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for base gain what they have no right to teach. Titus 1:11
If we confess the name of the Lord we must turn away from false teaching and we must silence those who bring false teaching into the church.
- Metaphor #5: THE CLEAN VESSEL
In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. 21 If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work.
22 So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:20-22
In the visible church there are both authentic followers of Christ like Paul and false followers such as Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul wants Timothy as well as his future readers to make sure that they are consecrated,useful and ready for any good work. We are to be pure in both doctrine, the teachings of the Lord, and in practice, the way we live our lives.
Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
29 But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Matthew 13:24-30
consecrated: permanently set apart
useful: of service
ready for any good work: Are you ready? Prepared? Seeking opportunity?
Timothy is to shun youthful passions.
Shun;Pheugo, seek safety in flight, escape.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13
Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Luke 21:21-22
Youthful passions: lust, self-assertion, self-indulgence, selfish ambition, self-centeredness, obstinacy, arrogance, sloth.
“We are to recognize sin as something dangerous to the soul. We are not to come to terms with it, or even negotiate with it. We are not to linger in its presence like Lot in Sodom, Genesis 19:15-16. On the contrary we are to get as far away from it as possible as quickly as possible. Like Joseph, when Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce him, we are to take to our heels and run, Genesis 39:12.” Stott
Aim at; dioko, run after, pursue, chase, hunt, in hot pursuit
Aim at,
a. righteousness
b. faith
c. love
d. peace
e. along with those who share the same hunger for righteousness.
Run from spiritual danger and run to spiritual good.
- Metaphor #6: THE LORD’S SERVANT
Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:23-26
servant: doulos, slave
Our Lord and Master has ordered us, His slaves, to be people of good character.
a. We are not to be quarrelsome. We are to avoid stupid and senseless controversies, that is we should hold to the Scriptures but not fight over things that God has chosen to not reveal to us.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. 1 Corinthians 13:12
Such speculation produces fights, envy, dissension, discord, slander, suspicion, gossip, and division in the body of Christ.
we must rather:
b. teach the truth and be ready to correct those in error with
kindness: mild like nursing mother
forbearing: bearing evil without resentment, in other words, forbearing others unkindness, patient even with difficult and foolish people
gentleness: humility, courtesy, considerateness, meekness
? Does this picture remind you of anyone??
“Everybody knows that our belief conditions our behavior, but not everybody is so clear that our behavior also conditions our belief … Only if we give ourselves without reserve to our soldiering, running, and farming can we expect results. Only if we cut the truth straight and do not swerve from it shall we be approved by God and have no need to be ashamed. Only if we purify ourselves from what is ignoble, from all sin and error, shall we be vessles for noble use, serviceable to the Master of the house. Only if we are gentle and not quarrelsome, as the Lord’s true servants, will God grant our adversaries repentance, knowledge of the truth and deliverance from the devil.” Stott
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