Transcript

A doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer are all sentenced to death via the guillotine.

The executioner tells the men, “If I pull the lever and the blade doesn’t drop, you’re free to go. And your sentence will be counted as paid in full.”

As the doctor steps up to the guillotine, the executioner asks, “Would you like to be face down or face up?” The doctor replies, “I’ll go face up. It won’t matter.”

The executioner pulls the lever, but nothing happens. And he tells the doctor, “I guess you’re free to go,” and he is released.

The lawyer steps up to the guillotine. The executioner asks, “Would you like to be face down or face up?” “I’ll go face down. I don’t want to see when it happens.”

Once again, the executioner pulls the lever, and nothing happens. The lawyer is told he is free to go and is released.

The engineer walks up to the guillotine. the executioner asks, “Would you like to be face down or face up?” The engineer responds, “Hmmm. Ah, why not, I’ll go face up.”

As the executioner reaches for the lever, the engineer cries out, “Wait, wait, wait! I think I see the problem!”

Like this joke had 3 men with 3 different professions, Paul challenges the church to carry out their service like 3 different types of people: a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

Each of these fields has a consequence to them, and they all point forward to a time when we will stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Timothy 2:3-4: “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

In this section of Scripture, the Apostle Paul cites three vocations to illustrate to Timothy how he should carry out his ministry and his faithful stand for the truth.

And the first thing that Paul tells Timothy is that he should “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

The metaphor of the Christian life and service as warfare is often used by Paul. This is because the Christian life and ministry is not a playground; but a battlefield where battles are being won and lost in a real spiritual warfare.

Paul desired that in the good fight of the faith that Timothy adopt the focus, perseverance, and courage of a soldier.

And it isn’t just any soldier that Paul has in mind here. Paul does not exhort Timothy to be a common, ordinary soldier, but to be a “GOOD soldier of Jesus Christ.”

All soldiers may not be good soldiers. When the bullets start flying and the battle gets difficult, there are those who courageously stay in the fight and there are those who let fear overwhelm them and they pull back and shrink away.

Paul wanted Timothy to be a “good” soldier in the sense of being noble, useful, brave, and a model of discipline.

And Timothy was to be “a good soldier OF JESUS CHRIST.” He belonged to Christ and was His to engage in the spiritual warfare for Him.

A good soldier named Joshua once met Jesus Christ, the Commander of the host of the LORD. Joshua 5:13-14 reads,

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a Man over against him with his sword drawn in His hand: and Joshua went unto Him, and said unto Him, Art Thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.”

Then in recognition of his Commander’s awesome authority, “Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship.”

The Almighty, the Lord of glory is our Commanding Officer and the One we serve and we owe total obedience to Him as a soldier in His army.

To be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, we must, as verse 1 challenges us, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” A good soldier is one who is obedient to their Commander-in-Chief and who is empowered by and strong in His grace.

And by that grace, Paul challenges Timothy to “endure hardness, as a good soldier.”

Regarding the words “endure hardness, ” Kenneth Wuest pointed out that in the original Greek, it “is a sharp command given with military snap and curtness.”

Ministry and taking a stand for the truth in the spiritual battle involves hardship and we are commanded by the Holy Spirit to endure it as good soldiers.

It’s been said well that “The measure of a good soldier is not how much he can ‘give,’ but how much he can ‘take.’”

God wants us to take the hardships of the spiritual battle and endure through them.

And a willingness to accept an assignment of hardship and trouble and to endure through it is the mark of a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

In verse 4, Paul shows how a deployed soldier is severed from the normal affairs of civilian life, and so a good soldier of Jesus Christ must also refuse to allow the things of the world to distract him as he serves.

A good soldier avoids entangling himself in distractions so he can focus all his energy on accomplishing the goal established by his commanding officer.

The word “entangleth” refers to weaving, twisting together, to entwine and intertwine.

It is to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated and refers to the act of getting so involved in something that one then becomes caught, restricted, and controlled, no longer free to do what one should do.

Like a good soldier we are to have a singleness of purpose and unquestioning obedience to our Commanding Officer, so that we “may please Him Who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” We are to remain free from entanglement with other lesser goals than this.

A good soldier of Jesus Christ is to not entangle himself from the affairs of this life in the sense that we are not to allow the things of this world to cause us to control us, ensnare us, or take the focus of our life away from Christ and from pleasing Him.

As our Lord said in His earthly ministry, “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). Christ does not want the affairs of this life and this world to be our master, but rather that our deepest devotion and steady focus be to faithfully serve and please Him.

Enduring hardship in the good fight of the faith, not being entangled and distracted by the affairs of this life, keeping our focus on Christ and on pleasing Him, are all issues that will be raised when we stand before our Commanding Officer one day at the Judgment Seat.

These things affect the rewards or loss of rewards that will be decided at that day. To please Christ in this life means that at the Judgment Seat in the future, we will be rewarded by Him. But to displease Christ will result in the loss of reward.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:9: “Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of [or well-pleasing to] Him.”

2 Timothy 2:5: “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”

From the figure of a soldier, Paul turns to that of an athlete. The words “strive for masteries,” is the Greek word “athleo,” from which we get our English word, athlete. The word means to contend in the games or compete in a contest.

Athletes strive, contend, and compete with great determination to win. They deny, control, and discipline themselves in order that they might put forth a maximum effort in their event to compete their best and win the prize.

The Christian life is compared with an athletic competition here, but we are not competing against each other in the Church. Rather this analogy challenges the Church to serve with the effort, self-control, and determination of an athlete who is going for the prize that we might complete the race God has given us and be rewarded at that day.

But Paul gives a serious warning here regarding these athletes that give a full effort, “yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”

The words “strive lawfully” means to compete according to the rules of the event. Those who compete to win their contest and gain the crown must conform to the rules.

To be a good athlete, yes it requires dedication, self-control, and effort, but it also requires abiding by the rules. Break the rules and they would not be crowned as a victor in the games, no matter how hard they trained or how much effort they put into the event.

All of an athlete’s hard work and discipline would be wasted if he or she fails to compete according to the rules. This is a call to obey the Word of God in the pursuit of spiritual victory and gaining the crown at the Judgment Seat.

The “rules” or instructions for the spiritual race we run in this life are found in the Word of God, and like 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, God’s Word must be rightly divided. To do so, we will then “strive lawfully” or according to the rules for this current dispensation.

Paul is saying that spiritual activity and service must be conducted within the directives of sound doctrine. Like an athlete breaking the rules of their event, to defect from the true doctrine for the Church today is to not strive lawfully and will result in not being crowned.

For example, many are not striving lawfully today because they try to live by 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This verse puts a yoke of bondage on any who try to live by it. It will hinder one’s Christian life under grace. To try to apply this verse to your life today is to not strive lawfully or according to the rules of the race.

To live your life in a constant state of fear, always attempting to confess your sins, worrying about overlooking a sin, thinking you might not be forgiven and in danger of hell, is not to compete according to the rules in this dispensation of grace.

God gave 1 John 1:9 to Israel according to the terms of the gospel of the kingdom. This verse is not written to the Church, the Body of Christ and does NOT apply to us.

Today, according to the gospel of God’s grace, we are set free from all our sins, the moment we trust that Christ died for us and rose again. All our sins, past, present, and future are paid for, gone, forgiven, and washed away by Christ’s shed blood the moment you believe.

We run the race knowing all our sins have been forgiven in Christ and that we are reconciled and redeemed and belong wholly to God.

We then run with a full effort in the strength of God’s grace, out of gratitude that we are complete in Christ and we serve Him with all our heart to bring honor to our Savior.

In our service to God, this analogy teaches us to serve like a dedicated, disciplined athlete who gives a strong and determined effort when they compete to win their prize.

And also like an athlete, we are to serve in accordance with God’s rules for the current age of Grace, the instructions laid out in His Word that are found in Paul’s letters.

And as we run the race of life in this way, we will be “crowned” at the Judgment Seat.

2 Timothy 2:6: “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”

Diligent toil and faithful service is the issue when Paul speaks of the “husbandman” or farmer in verse 6. As we know, these are the hallmarks of the farmer.

It’s sunup to sundown labor for a farmer: fertilizing, plowing, planting, weeding, protecting, harvesting, storing, transporting, selling, and so on.

Paul knew the value of hard work in the ministry. Comparing himself with the apostles and all the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, he could truthfully say, “I labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Cor. 15:10).

Warren Wiersbe stated the following: “Young ministers often visited the great British preacher G. Campbell Morgan to ask him the secret of his success. When someone inquired of him what he told these aspiring pastors, Morgan replied, ‘I always say to them the same thing—work; hard work; and again, work!’”

Timothy in his service also needed to be like “The husbandman that laboureth.” Paul is urging Timothy not to be lazy or idle, but to work faithfully in his ministry and to do so with a view toward the future and the harvest at the Judgment Seat.

The soldier has the reward of pleasing his commanding officer. The athlete has the reward of a victor’s crown. The farmer’s investment of sweat and toil earns him the reward and right to “be first partaker of the fruits” and to enjoy its bounty.

Paul is teaching here that labor must precede reward; that if a man would reap, he must sow. Faithful toil and hard work for a farmer result in the reward of a bountiful harvest.

Likewise, faithful toil and hard work in our service to God will result in fruits, the fruits of an eternal reward at the Judgment Seat. As 1 Corinthians 3:8 states, “every man shall receive his own reward according to his own LABOUR.”

As he did, like the hardworking farmer has the right and blessing to first partake of his crops, Timothy would rightfully reap the reward and blessings from the fruit of his labor.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be “always abounding in the WORK of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your LABOUR is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

As we faithfully labor and toil for the Lord in our service and stand for the truth, we know our labor is never in vain, and we will reap rewards from Christ at that day.

The truths from these verses are wrapped up in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God,” like a good soldier who keeps his focus on his Commanding Officer to please Him. “A workman that needed not to be ashamed,” like a farmer who labors and works hard to produce a good crop.

“Rightly dividing the word of truth,” like an athlete that strives lawfully and competes according to the rules for the games.

2 Timothy 2:7-10: “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

“Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

Because there was an important message concerning the resurrection committed uniquely to Paul, Paul told Timothy to “Consider what I say” and to “Remember.”

First, Paul is careful to note that he wasn’t proclaiming “another Jesus,” like he said some were doing in 2 Corinthians 11:4, rather it was the same Person, “Jesus Christ of the seed of David.” The same One the prophetic Scriptures predicted should come did come.

Jesus Christ is that seed of David, the rightful King of Israel and the Messiah, and He gloriously arose from the dead.

But Paul wanted Timothy to “remember” that he preached Christ’s resurrection in a completely different light, “according to my gospel,” he says.

There was a two-fold purpose to Christ’s resurrection: a prophesied purpose and a non-prophesied purpose, or a purpose revealed before in the Old Testament and a purpose never revealed until it was made known to the Apostle Paul first in his gospel.

The prophetic purpose as Peter preached it at Pentecost was that Christ had been raised from the dead to sit on David’s throne as Israel’s King (Acts 2:29-31) to reign over Israel and the world in His kingdom on the earth.

The purpose found in the revelation given to Paul shows how Christ was raised from the dead to be exalted at God’s right hand as the Head of the Church, and to reign over the members of the Body of Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 1:20-23).

This is what Paul meant that He was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

Because you can’t find this purpose for Christ’s resurrection in prophecy.

For proclaiming Christ and the gospel of grace that had been revealed and committed to him, Paul says “I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds.”

Paul says for preaching good news, the good news concerning Christ and His resurrection, I suffer as though I was a doer of evil and a criminal deserving of prison.

Timothy is told this so that he might expect the same as he preached Paul’s gospel, but like Paul, he was to be comforted with the truth that “the Word of God is not bound.”

While the messenger may be in chains, Paul says there are no chains on the message of God’s Word. Its power and truth cannot be contained.

And though he suffered this trouble as an evil doer was in a dark dungeon, Paul wrote that he was willing to “endure all things for the elect’s sake.” Because if it made his message more powerful that he was willing to suffer, go to prison and face death for it and as a result believer’s were helped by it, he was more than willing to endure it.

The final three words of verse 10 hold the key to understanding this somewhat difficult passage. First, the elect is a term of identification with Christ. In Isaiah 42:1, Christ is called “the Elect of God.”

When we trust Christ as our Savior, we are united to Him and are “in Christ,” Who is “the Elect of God.” Thus to be called “the elect” in Scripture is a term synonymous with being a believer who is in Christ.

When Paul wrote that the elect, or believers “may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory,” he is not just talking about believers being saved and going to heaven; he had a greater burden that they would go to heaven “with eternal glory.”

Paul is saying that if his suffering led believers to have greater boldness, a stronger stand, and labor more for Christ, and thus result in more rewards and eternal glory in heaven for these believers, he says I’m more than willing to endure all things for that to be so.

2 Timothy 2:11-13: “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

Speaking of eternal glory, Paul then wrote concerning the glory of the believer’s eternal reigning position with Christ in heaven.

When Paul wrote that this “is a faithful saying,” it means that he is stating a truth that is significant, trustworthy, and sure.

First, “For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.” This is true of every believer. We died with Christ when we trusted Him as our personal Savior.

At that moment of faith in Christ, immediately the Holy Spirit spiritually joined and identified us with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

This is a spiritual reality that we know is true by faith in God’s Word. And nowhere in Scripture does it teach that water baptism symbolizes this reality.

Having died with Christ and being complete in Him, and being joined to Christ’s resurrection and life, we know that we WILL live with Christ eternally in heaven. Thus, in this comforting saying, we find that a believer’s salvation is assured.

However, in what position the believer will live with Christ in heaven for eternity is what Paul goes on to speak about, because there are degrees of reigning with Christ in eternity.

He wrote, “If we suffer,” or if we “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” or we “suffer trouble, even as an evil doer” like Paul did, or are “partaker of the afflictions of the gospel,” or we “live godly in Christ Jesus [and] suffer persecution,” as Paul wrote of all these things in this letter, then “we shall also reign with Him.”

If we take a stand for the truth of Paul’s gospel, serve as a good soldier in the spiritual battle, remain faithful to Christ, and we suffer for it, we will reign and be granted the “eternal glory” of a higher reigning position in heaven at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

But if we “deny Him” or are not a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and we get entangled with the affairs of this life, and like Demas, we love this present world and we depart from the faith, or we are “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, [and] of [Paul] His prisoner,” or we “turn away [our] ears from the truth,” then “He also will deny us.”

If we turn away from the truth, if we turn to the world and depart, if we deny Christ and are ashamed of Paul and the message Christ committed to Him, then He will deny us the “eternal glory” of a higher reigning position in heaven and the unfaithful believer will suffer loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

But then Paul reassures the believer that even “If we believe not,” or are faithless and unfaithful to Christ, “yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny himself.”

Even when believers fail the Savior, He never fails us and He remains faithful to His Word and faithful to us. Christ cannot deny what He has promised us, and He will never abandon us because this would be contrary to His nature of perfect faithfulness.

Thus, Christ is faithful to His Word that “If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.”

What this faithful saying is telling us is that every believer in Christ will live with Christ in heaven. But it’s up to each individual believer and their stand for Christ whether they will live with Him in the “eternal glory” of a higher reigning position.