Text: 2 Timothy 2:1–9
Topic: A sobering look at what the Christian life entails

• Be strong. Suffer hardship. Remember Jesus Christ.
• These are Paul's words of counsel to Timothy in a fallen world and imperfect church.
• Paul's words are not only inspired words of counsel suitable for a minister of the gospel, but also for all the people in the Ephesian church.
• These are suitable words for us.

• First of all, Paul says, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
• Paul tells Timothy that Christian life and ministry is characterized by dependent responsibility.
• On the one hand, Timothy is being exhorted to strengthen himself for vigorous, active service for the Lord—a call to personal exertion.
• But Paul is also telling Timothy to be utterly reliant on the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
• In this exhortation we see a summation of the massive biblical truth that all of Christian life is a matter of dependent responsibility.
• Sometimes we live the Christian life as if God has saved us, and now it's up to us.
• Other times we live as though God has saved us, and there's nothing we have to do at all.
• The apostle Paul will never let us rest with either incorrect attitude, because they're unbiblical.
• In every aspect of the Christian life—whether we're worshiping, serving people that are a little bit hard to serve, or attempting a challenging feat of ministry—we must simultaneously serve with every possible resource at our disposal engaged and yet be in utter, humble, dependent reliance upon God.
• This is the way God has created this world: he is the sovereign ruler over all, but he expects us to engage all of our energy for his purposes.
  • Illustration: Consider the prayer of St. Augustine: "Lord, command what you will, but give what you command."
  • Illustration: The old Puritan motto in prayer was: "Pray and Work."
• The Puritans remind us that prayer and work go hand in hand, because depending on God and serving God go hand in hand.
  • Illustration: Duncan tells the story of two different business owners; one works too hard with very little dependence on God, while the other strikes a right balance.
• Whatever activity God calls us to in the Christian life, he supplies the strength for us to do it.

• In verse 3 Paul writes: "Suffer hardship with me."
• Paul is saying: Timothy, don't go into the Christian ministry thinking that the church is always going to come through for you.
• Paul is speaking about the natural hardships of Christian life and Christian ministry.
• Here's the attitude Paul wants Timothy to have: be ready to suffer with me.
• This is important for us to grasp in an affluent society that cherishes ease and comfort.
• Paul says we must have the mindset of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.
• Like Roman soldiers that gave up careers and homes in Paul's day, so must we be ready for the kind of sacrifices and hardships that are called for in the Christian life.
• Like athletes who train hard to compete, so must we engage in grueling training to compete.
• Like the farmer works the stubborn field and endures all the threats that come with weather, so must we toil.
  • Illustration: In Henry V, William Shakespeare describes the moment when King Henry V of England urges his vastly outnumbered troops to glory in the fact that they are there to fight.
• When we are called to experience the wounds of an imperfect church, we should, as Christians in this prosperous society, quickly embrace that opportunity to endure the hurt.

• Paul says one last thing to Timothy in verse 8: "Remember Jesus Christ."
• Paul is reminding Timothy that the Christian life and Christian service is based on the person of Christ, on the work of Christ, and on the truth of Christ.
• He's calling on Timothy to remember the one who is truth and life.
• Within four decades of Paul's death—he died somewhere in the 60s of the first century—all kinds of crazy things were being taught in Christian churches.
• Paul is saying: Timothy, you remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the descendant of David according to my gospel; remember him as he's taught in the Bible.
• Paul's final exhortation is important for us today, because it seems like everywhere you go there's someone who wants to say who they think Jesus is.
• Paul says to us all: Be strong in grace. Be ready to suffer hardship. Remember Jesus Christ preached according to the gospel.