An Enduring Impact 2 Timothy 2:1-13

An Enduring Impact 2 Timothy 2:1-13

2 Tim 2:1-13 Introduction Someday we will wake up and find ourselves in the heavenly glory of our Lord’s presence. All our tears will be wiped away, all our problems will be solved and all our hurts will be healed. Sin and death and misery will be nothing but shadowy, unpleasant memories. The presence of God will flood our senses, saturating our hearts and minds with joy.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Introduction But we’re not there yet. (Sorry.) The world we live in is still fallen and full of difficulties. Quick fixes will not work. God is using the trials and troubles of our lives to develop in us the qualities of endurance, faithfulness, patience and perseverance.

2 Tim 2:1-13 The Main Point If we expect our lives to have an enduring impact, then we must be people who are able to endure.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Outline I. II. III. IV. Multiply Yourself 2:1-2 Get Ready to Work Hard 2:3-7 Endure All Things 2:8-10 Be Faithful 2:11-13

Multiply Yourself 2:1-2 2:1 Be strong Paul says about the same thing in Eph 6:10. Grace in this context means: “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life.” (Strong’s)

Multiply Yourself 2:1-2 2:2 Timothy’s job was to multiply himself by communicating the truth he had learned from Paul to others. This is how the church has grown and lasted to this present day. We must do the same thing if we expect our lives or ministries to have an enduring impact.

How Multiplication Works 12 X 2 24 If you start with 12 people and they each reach one more within a year, you get 24. If they each reach one more within a year, you get 48. 24 X 2 48 48 X 2 96 96 X 2 192

How Multiplication Works In 5 years the original 12 grow to 384. In 10 years the original 12 grow to 12,288. In 15 years the original 12 grow to 393,216. In 20 years the 12 grow to 12,582,912. In 25 years the 12 grow to 402,654,184. In 30 years the 12 grow to 12,884,901,888, which is more people than the entire population of planet earth today.

2 Tim 2:1-13 The Main Point If we expect our lives to have an enduring impact, then we must be people who are able to endure.

Get Ready to Work Hard 2:3-7 2:3-4 Three characteristics of a good soldier: – Complete Loyalty – Constant Readiness – A Willingness to Endure Hardship There is nothing wrong with civilian activities – the affairs of this life – until they begin to entangle the soldier and distract him from his duties.

Get Ready to Work Hard 2:3-7 2:5 Three characteristics of a good athlete: – Personal Discipline – Focus or Mental Toughness: “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.” – Yogi Berra – A Willingness to Play by the Rules See 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Get Ready to Work Hard 2:3-7 2:6 Three characteristics of a good farmer: – Willing to Work Hard – Self-Motivated – Patient in Waiting for the Results See James 5:7

2 Tim 2:1-13 The Main Point If we expect our lives to have an enduring impact, then we must be people who are able to endure.

Endure All Things 2:8-10 2:8 This verse reminds us of both the humanity (seed of David) and the divinity (raised from the dead) of Jesus Christ. Paul asks us to remember this verse. 2:9 evildoer The only other place we find this word in the NT is in Luke 23, where it describes the two common criminals who were crucified with Jesus. This shows us the extent of Paul’s humiliation.

Endure All Things 2:8-10 2:9 Contrast Paul’s chains with the absolute freedom of God’s Word: – Isaiah 40:6-8 – Isaiah 55:10-11 “The persecution of Christian leaders may hamper the progress of the gospel, but it cannot imprison the Word of God, nor even prevent its spread.” – Donald Guthrie (1915-1992) of London Bible College

Endure All Things 2:8-10 2:10 for the sake of the elect Paul believed that God guaranteed the ultimate success of his ministry. There were elect who had yet to obtain salvation. We need to have that same confidence.

2 Tim 2:1-13 The Main Point If we expect our lives to have an enduring impact, then we must be people who are able to endure.

Be Faithful 2:11-13 2:11-13 Paul is probably quoting an early Christian hymn. There are five Faithful Sayings of Paul – all of them in the Pastoral Epistles: – 1 Timothy 1:15 – 1 Timothy 3:1 – 1 Timothy 4:8-9 – 2 Timothy 2:11-13 – Titus 3:8

Be Faithful 2:11-13 2:11 Dying with Christ means that we no longer control our own destinies. We have given our lives to Jesus and declared that we really belong to Him. This is symbolized in baptism. – See Romans 6:4 2:12 Your destiny as a Christian is to eternally reign with Christ. Simple endurance is the prerequisite.

Be Faithful 2:11-13 2:11-13 Our faithfulness will teeter and totter from time to time. N.T. Wright makes the following distinction: “There is a world of difference between being blown off the ship’s deck by a hurricane and voluntarily diving into the sea to avoid having to stay at the helm.” For those who are truly struggling he gives the following encouragement.

Be Faithful 2:11-13 “Those under intense pressure, whether political, spiritual, moral, or whatever, will sometimes find themselves weak, faint and helpless. It is at those times that they need to learn a kind of second-order faith, a faith in the utter faithfulness and reliability of God himself, the God we know in and through Jesus, who was himself faithful to death.”

2 Tim 2:1-13 The Main Point If we expect our lives to have an enduring impact, then we must be people who are able to endure.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Conclusions The Lord expects us to multiply ourselves. The church that does not pass on the message of the Bible is only one generation away from extinction. The church that is truly faithful and enduring in multiplying itself is only one generation away from reaching the world.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Conclusions Remember Paul’s three illustrations: The soldier illustrates priority. The athlete illustrates discipline. The farmer illustrates patience. None of these three examples demonstrates a quick fix or an easy way out.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Conclusions If we are to have an enduring impact on this generation in which we live, then we have to take the demands of the Gospel seriously. Paul’s life of suffering and hardship exemplified a commitment to the truth. He knew that if he faithfully proclaimed God’s Word, then God’s Word was powerful enough to accomplish God’s goals in the lives of his hearers.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Conclusions Serving Jesus is a challenge, but it is a challenge with eternal rewards. Endurance now won’t seem like much in eternity – and those whose lives we impact will be there to enjoy it all with us.

2 Tim 2:1-13 Conclusions Closing Passage: Hebrews 12:1-3