Blake Jennings 2 Timothy 2:17 Sermon September 11, 2016 Turn to 2 Timothy 2 4 steps to succeed in life as a follower of Christ: 1. Be Strong in Grace Read v1 my son not speaking as Tim s boss, speaking like a father giving life advice to son be strong = be empowered/strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus o in Greek passive tense verb not make yourself strong but be made strong by something outside of yourself o The Christian life is not about pulling yourself up by your boot straps There are no selfmade men or women in the family of God o The Christian life is about receiving strength from God through grace We studied grace last week = getting something good you don t deserve o What good does God give us? EVERYTHING that s good in your life! o James 1:17 o Anything that is good in your life it comes from God o Most important: the hope you have in the next life: from God; He saves you And all of this grace comes into your life in Christ Jesus o It is because of Jesus that we receive good things from God o Because we don t deserve good things Rom 1:18 o We deserve bad things from God, not good o But Jesus went to the cross to take all of the bad from God that we deserve He suffered and died in our place so that God could give us grace And that grace is available to anyone who s willing to receive it o God won t force grace upon you you must say yes 1
For some that will mean saying yes for the first time o Maybe you thought you didn t need grace because you re American, a good person, baptized Hopefully now you realize none of that can save you o Maybe you knew you needed grace, so you try to earn it good deeds, church Hopefully now you realize: God doesn t make you earn it it s a free gift! o All you must do is say yes to God s gift of grace choose to believe Thank you God for saving me through Jesus. For those of us who have said, yes to the gospel Find strength to make it through the day in the grace of God we ve already received o Where do you find your strength and security when life gets hard? o Do you turn to yourself for strength your intellect, looks, wealth, influence? o Problem: if you rely on yourself for strength you re bound to be disappointed! o 2 Cor 4:7 We have this treasure in jars of clay We are clay pots easily broken Only what to make it through life in 1 piece: find strength outside yourself in grace How do you do that? Stop and REMEMBER o When I feel discouraged, anxious, afraid, alone... o REMEMBER His power displayed in the creation of the earth, sun, moon, stars o REMEMBER His kindness in giving you food, clothing, shelter o REMEMBER His grace in giving you Jesus His Son to be your Savior o REMEMBER His love that He is your Father who knows you by name and loves you more than you can imagine Remember the grace of God and it will make you strong 2
2. Pass the Baton Read v2 The things which you have heard from me o = whole Christian faith all beliefs and practices of Christianity Timothy was to take all he had learned and entrust it to others who would do the same o faithful men" because Tim was a man if written to a woman, women o ENTRUST = to deliver something valuable to someone for safekeeping Take something precious and carefully hand it to another who will do same Makes me think of a RELAY RACE o What s the most important rule of running a relay? Don t drop the baton!! o Your primary job in a relay = receive the baton and then pass it on So here I am in life I have received the baton from some faithful runners Now I don t want to be the one to drop it!! o I don t want to be the weak link in this chain of faith o My primary goal in life = pass the baton on to the next generation o That s why I m preaching to you this morning hope I m passing the baton o That s why we share our faith: raise up next generation of runners til every nation hears the gospel Our primary job on earth = pass baton of gospel & Christian faith to next generation o All other Christian things we ll do better in heaven worship, prayer, Bible study And for those of us who are parents that begins with our kids o Parents we can t farm that out! Churches and schools can help us but never replace us It s our responsibility to pass the baton We can t control whether they receive it but can control whether we try For all of us: primary mission in life = pass the baton of faith to the next generation o To your kids, your roommates, your coworkers, your classmates, grandkids 3
So to whom are we passing the baton? o Name one person you are investing in could be unbeliever or believer o If you can t think of anyone that needs to change you are unemployed!! Pray that God would bring someone into your life to invest in 3. Endure the Pain Read v3 hardship o Not necessarily persecution, though that would be included o Broad word = all the unavoidable hardships that are part of life in a broken world Life is hard for everyone without exception Job 5:7 Life will be hard How you respond will largely depend on your expectations o What do you expect in life? o Do you expect an easy life? Then when life gets hard you ll be crushed o Do you expect a soldier s life? Then when it gets hard you won t be surprised Paul is framing our expectations because your expectations determine your response o If you expect a civilian s life, then suffering will surprise you o If you expect a soldier s life, then you ll be ready when suffering comes And v3 is clear: there are no civilians in the kingdom of God! We are all soldiers o We are all called to suffer for the gospel and even give our lives for it o ALL CALLED to be SOLDIERS fight kingdom of darkness by sharing light You need to believe that about yourself so it can shape how you see your life o So you ll be mentally and spiritually ready to face hardship in the grace of God All believers are soldiers good soldiers expect hardship & endure through God s grace 4
4. Run for the Prize Read v4 o We are all soldiers in active service to Jesus o We must therefore not become entangled in the affairs of everyday life o Affairs of everyday life = good things that are normal part of life in world o Key: soldiers don t let themselves get entangled by these good things entangled = wrapped up to the point of immobility lit: a sheep whose wool gets caught in thorns so it can t move o We are soldiers in the kingdom of God that comes first o If you ll stay focused on the mission you will please the one who enlisted! Read Matt 25:21 = what Jesus will say to believers who complete mission of passing baton Be a good soldier and Jesus will be pleased with you! Read v5 o Relay race to win at Olympic level you must make incredible sacrifices o But if you do sacrifice the prize will be worth all the pain o When we stand before Jesus He will reward His faithful servants Read v6 o Hardworking farmer receives the first fruits = the best of the harvest Point of all 3 metaphors is the same: o If we work hard in this life for Jesus, then Jesus will reward us with glory and joy that will make all the sacrifice worth it 5
Run for the prize because it will be worth it! o Whatever you give up in this life to run your relay race will pale in comparison with the glory God has in store for you when you cross the finish line! So what must we do to succeed in life? Be Strong in Grace trust in Jesus and, whenever you struggle, stop and remember all that God has done for you. Remember His grace it will make you strong. Pass the Baton look for someone who you can share the gospel with who you can mentor who you can entrust with what God has taught you. Endure Hardship by believing that you are a soldier and so life will be hard! Don t be surprised when it is don t let suffering prevent you from fulfilling your mission Run for the Prize fix your hope on the reward to come in the next life live for the next life, not this life and you will find true success in life. 6