How to Lead a Strong Spiritual Life September 2, Timothy 2:1-7

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1 How to Lead a Strong Spiritual Life September 2, Timothy 2:1-7 I. Introduction As most of you know, in my previous life, I was a physics and math teacher at Greendale High School. During those 32 years I was able to watch and even mentor new teachers--some fresh from college; others coming from some other teaching or work experience. The better teachers came full of enthusiasm. They had a plethora of ideas they couldn t wait to use to teach their particular discipline to their eager-tolearn students. But over the weeks and months, for some of those teachers, some of their enthusiasm would start to erode away. You see, some of the newbies were persuaded to become coaches of various sports teams or advisors for extra-curricular activities. Their priorities were tested and some found that their priority had actually changed. Others found that there were more things a teacher did than just teach there was recording daily attendance, turning in weekly lesson plans, tutoring students who missed class, parent-teacher conferences, staff meetings, checking papers after school, and I could go on. Others found that it was just too hard to do a good job supplies may be limited or nonexistent, not all students were eager to learn. It was hard work to engage those who resisted every attempt to teach. Part of my job and other senior teachers was to help these new teachers work through these issues and maintain their level of enthusiasm. The Apostle Paul had similar issues with Timothy. When Timothy had started as a young preacher in Ephesus, he had come filled with enthusiasm and energy. He had come from several successful missionary journeys with Paul, he had seen God at work in Paul s ministry and he was ready to do the same thing at Ephesus. But Timothy had been met with church members who resisted the ideas of this newbie. False teachers had come and their persuasive arguments had driven people away from the church. Persecution had come from outside the church as well and to top things off, Timothy seems to have developed some kind of health issue. If Timothy was going to be the strong spiritual leader that Paul knew he could be, he needed some encouragement and direction from his mentor the Apostle Paul. 1

2 In the beginning of this letter (in 2 Timothy 1:6) Paul had reminded Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you. Last week in 2 Timothy 1:8 we saw that Paul told Timothy do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. Later in verse 14 he wrote, Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. In today s Scripture, Paul went on to tell Timothy how he could lead the strong spiritual life that God had called him to. II. How to Lead a Strong Spiritual life A. The command Summing up what he has just said and was going to say, Paul wrote, You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The tenderness and concern that Paul had for Timothy is seen as Paul called him my son. Because of this love, Paul wanted Timothy to do well so he wrote, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The verb be strong is a command. Because of Timothy s sincere faith and the gift of the Spirit that he had received and because of the power and love and selfdiscipline that Timothy had from the Holy Spirit, there was no reason for not being strong. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Paul reminded Timothy that the strength doesn t come from himself; strength comes in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. There is no way anyone can live the Christian life in his own strength. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we all fall flat on our faces. The same grace that forgives us and makes us holy is the grace that empowers us. The secret of Paul s great ministry was the grace of God in 1 Cor. 15:10 he wrote, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. And by the grace of God, we, too, can be what God wants us to be. As Paul was looking at his coming death, he was concerned about the future. So Paul admonished Timothy to pass along all the things that he had taught him to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. If Christianity is going to spread and not die out, faithful men and women need to teach it to other faithful men and women. This isn t just the pastor of a church, these faithful ones include SS teachers, 2

3 Jr. church teachers, VBS workers, mothers & fathers, and grandparents just to name a few. And note that it is important that what we teach is from the Word of God and not from the ideas and philosophies of men. B. Characteristics of a strong spiritual life. Paul then used three examples to highlight several characteristics or essentials of a strong spiritual life. Paul s first example was The Soldier. Paul often used military illustrations in his letters. This really isn t surprising since he lived in a military state and was in prison himself. In the last chapter of Ephesians Paul wrote that the believer is fighting a spiritual battle and that he needs to put on the armor of God turn to Ephesians 6: Endure hardship The first mark or characteristic of a good soldier is the willingness to endure hardship with us. By adding with us, Paul reminded Timothy that he wasn t asking anything of Timothy that he himself was not doing or willing to do. In our society, we are not faced with loss of job, imprisonment and execution in most instances. But the more faithful a Christian becomes and the more the Lord blesses his work, the more Satan will put up roadblocks, hardships, and rejection, the more evident the spiritual warfare will become, and the more frequent and obvious the hardship will become. As soldiers of Christ we need to be ready to endure hardship. 2. Have the right priorities One serving as a soldier, i.e., a soldier in active service, is a soldier 24 hours a day, every day of the year. His body, his health, his skills, his time all that he is belongs to the military in which he serves. Even when on leave, he is subject to recall at any time, without notice and for any reason. And whenever ordered into dangerous duty, he is expected to put his very life on the line without question or hesitation. Paul wrote that for these reasons No-one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. The second characteristic is have the right priorities. It s not that a soldier shouldn t have contact at all with his former friends and surroundings, but that he is not become caught up or entangled in them. Those things are irrelevant to his soldiering and need to be able to be dropped at a moment s notice. They aren t of a high priority. 3

4 In the same way, a good soldier of Jesus Christ must refuse to allow earthly matters to interfere with the completion of his duty to his Lord. Too many Christians, pastors and churches have lost their effectiveness through concerns and activities social actions that are innocent in themselves but have been allowed to crowd out the primary purpose of serving Jesus Christ. the primary purpose, the highest priority that is found in Matthew 28:19-20: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 3. Obey the rules Paul s second example was The Athlete. Like today, the Greeks and the Romans were great sports enthusiasts. The Olympic and Isthmian games were important events to them. Everyone knew that if one were going to win in a competition, he needed more than ability, determination, and hard work he needed to obey the rules. This is also a characteristic of a strong spiritual life obeys the rules. In the Greek games, every participant had to meet three qualifications those of birth, of training, and of competition. First, he had to be a true-born Greek. Second, he had to prepare at least ten months for the games and swear to that before a statue of Zeus. Third, he had to compete within the specific rules for a given event. To fail in any of those requirements meant automatic disqualification. Comparable rules apply to spiritual Christians. We must be truly born again; we must live according to Christ s divine standards of discipline as found in God s Word, no matter what people may say. We are not running the race to please people or to get fame. We are running the race to please Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 9: Obey the rules of God. There is no shortcut toward living the Christian life. Christianity cannot be condensed into a short course or a few rules and regulations. God gave us 66 books and each one of them is important. We need to study the whole Bible. An athlete cannot cut the corner on a racetrack. A baseball player must touch all the bases to score. If you are going to be successful as a Christian, if you are going to lead a strong spiritual life, if you are going to win, there are no shortcuts. We must obey the rules. 4

5 4. Be hard-working Paul s last example was that of The Farmer, he wrote, The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. The 4 th characteristic of a strong spiritual life is Be hard-working. The hard-working farmer starts his hard and demanding work early and quits late. He endures the cold, the heat, the rain, and the drought. He plows the soil whether it is hard or loose. He does not wait for his own convenience, because the seasons do not wait for him. When the time comes to plant, he must plant; when weeds appear, he must remove them; and when the crop is ripe, he must harvest it. The reason the farmer works so hard is the harvest. Many Christians lives are like the farmer s. Although there may be occasional times of excitement and special satisfaction, the daily routine is often, in itself, unattractive and seemingly unrewarding. But whatever their day-to-day responsibilities may involve, all faithful believers who work hard are promised God s blessing and God s reward. You may be underpaid, treated unfairly by your boss or fellow employees, and misunderstood and unappreciated by fellow Christians, but Christ s reward to His faithful disciples is never deficient, never unfair, never late, and never omitted. The Christian living a strong spiritual life is, like the farmer, working hard to enjoy the harvest. III. Conclusion Paul wrote the conclusion to this section when he wrote, Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Paul was saying to Timothy and to all believers: Under the guidance of the Lord, think over and carefully consider what I have been saying and He will lead you with wisdom and insight as you go forward. Look at your own life and ask yourself if you are a strong Christian, a spiritual Christian, a mature Christian. Are you devoting yourself to guarding and teaching God s Word and not some man s philosophies? Are you willing to endure hardship so that God s will be done? Like a soldier of Christ, do you make Jesus Christ your top priority and count your life as nothing in order to faithfully serve your Lord? Do you keep a distance between yourself and the affairs of the world? Like an athlete, are you walking as your Lord would have you walk or do you go off and do your own thing? Like the farmer, do you 5

6 understand self-denial and self-sacrifice? Are you patient in your hard work, looking to God s reward and to the harvest of other souls for Christ? 6