Hello and welcome to lesson number four in God's Church Manual, or looking in the book of 2 Timothy. We have seen in previous programs that chapter one deals with how we're to think, chapter two with what we are to be, chapter three what we need to know, and chapter 4, what we need to do. Today we begin in chapter 2. As we said, chapter 1 has to do with thinking right, and now we get into chapter 2, and it has to do with being right. In verse 1, he said, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He said, Be able to teach others also, Verse 4, be a soldier, be first partaker of the fruits, be dead with him. We need to be a workman not to be ashamed. verse 21 be a vessel unto honor and in verse 24 be gentle unto all men looking at verse number one he said thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus now we've said many times when you see the word therefore We need to ask what it's there for, and it's obviously referring to what has just been said. And in chapter 1, it deals with the pastor doing the will of God in spite of a fact that in this age of apostasy, it's going to be a very unpopular thing. He has warned the pastor to hold fast to the things he has learned. And so, if you're gonna hold fast, you're gonna need to be strong, and he says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Now, you need to look at the context when you see this word to try to determine what it means, but in this context, it has to do with the desire and the ability to do God's will. 1 Timothy 3 15 says that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. So, we want to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Be strong. To be strong is to be able to abide or to withstand pressure. We look at Paul the Apostle, probably the greatest example in the New Testament, of someone who was able to withstand pressure. He was threatened in Damascus right after he got saved, threatened again in Jerusalem. He was persecuted and run out of Antioch and Persidia. He faced stoning at Iconium. He was left for dead on the side of the road at Lystra. He experienced the loss of his close friend and co-worker Barnabas there in Acts chapter 15. He was beaten with rods and imprisoned at Philippi. He was then cast out of Philippi. His life was threatened in Thessalonica. He was forced out of Berea. He was mocked when he went to Athens. He was taken before the judgment seat in Corinth. Then he was oppressed by the silversmiths in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. They plotted against him, the Jews did, in Greece in Acts chapter 20. He was apprehended by a mob in Jerusalem in Acts 21. He was arrested and detained by the Romans. He barely escaped being scourged in Acts chapter 22. He was rescued from the Sanhedrin mob, but they were taking action against him. There was an assassination plot against him in Acts 23. He was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea, He was shipwrecked on the island of Malta in Acts chapter 27. He suffered a snake bite in that situation in 1st Romans. At the beginning, he was imprisoned when he first got there in Acts chapter 28. Paul, I think we can say without any doubt, he was able to withstand the pressures of life. He said, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He also said, By the grace of God, I am what I am. So, he said, be strong. The word strong is in the Bible 255 times. The phrase be strong is in the Bible 36 times. Now, to be strong is talking about the emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult. That's the dictionary definition of being strong. Let me read it again. the emotional or mental qualities necessary in dealing with situations or events that are distressing or difficult. How can I have the qualities that are necessary? It's very simple. It's a byproduct. We read way back in Deuteronomy 11, 8, God said, Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whether ye go to possess it. The strength is a byproduct of simply keeping the commandments which God commands us to keep. So he says, Thou therefore, my son, be strong. He also said, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, and that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. He said, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. In verse two, he said, in the things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. He talked about the things that the pastor had heard. He said in chapter 1 and 13, thou has heard of me. Two and two, the things which thou has heard. Again, in chapter 3 and verse 10, thou has fully known. Chapter 3 and 14, thou has learned. Chapter 3 and 15, thou has known the holy scriptures. He says, thou have heard. Now, there's three types of people who are listening in the world today. In Hebrews chapter 5, verse number 11, Paul talking to the Christians there, he said, you're dull of hearing. I met a lot of Christians who are dull of hearing. Second Timothy four, he said, those that are listening, what do they do? They shall turn away their ears from the truth. So we got those that are dull of hearing, they're just dull of hearing. But then we got those who make a decision and they turn away their ears from the truth thankfully there's also those that have an honest and a good heart having heard the word keep it so he says in verse number three thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ we need to endure 2nd Thessalonians 1 for that ye endure 2 Timothy 2.10, Paul said, I endure all things. 2 Timothy 4.3, they will not endure. 2 Timothy 4.5, he said to the pastor, endure afflictions. Hebrews 12.20, they could not endure. And James 5.11, count them happy, which endure. Paul said, I've fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. What we need to do is to endure. Now, the reason that there's so much talk about enduring is because the Christian life is not a recreation room, it's a battlefield. The Bible says, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier." Now, this is written to the pastor. The pastor was to war a good warfare. His warfare was to keep the doctrine scriptural, were to have sound doctrine. His warfare was also to keep his philosophy of ministry scriptural. It's one thing to have a scriptural doctrine, it's another thing to have a philosophy of ministry that is scriptural. What do we mean by philosophy? Philosophy is how we do what we're commanded to do, and all of this here in 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself, the house of God what we need to do is get into 1st Timothy 2nd Timothy and the book of Titus and we got all the directions we need on how to do what we are commanded to do so he's got two battle fronts for the pastor battle front number one The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Sometimes we get a thought that comes into our mind. What we need to do is get rid of it someone has said you make baby can't stop a bird from landing in your hair but you can keep them from building a nest there Ephesians 612 it says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places and so there we have battle number one But battle number two for the pastor, the warfare Paul speaks about in 1 Timothy 1.18, where we read he said, this charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, that thou mightest war a good warfare had to do with a war against the false doctrine that was come creeping into the churches. In the context of this warfare, Paul referred to Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. When Jesus dealt with those who were abusing his Father's house, he took a whip to them. He did not compromise the word of God by holding meetings with those who promoted false teachings in the temple. Nobody had a problem understanding where Jesus stood on the subject of Bible separation, and neither should they have a problem understanding where pastors stand on the subject of separation today. When Nehemiah had to stop the infiltrators in the temple, nobody had to guess where he stood on the issue. We read in chapter 13, he said, I contended with the rulers, I set them in their place, and I testified against them. Well, then Paul uses the analogy of an athlete, and he said, if a man also strives for masteries, Yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 1 Peter 5, 4 speaks of a crown that is reserved for the faithful pastor. However, it says, when the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown. But there's more to getting that crown than having a sign on the office door that says, pastor. Paul said the pastor would not be crowned except he strived lawfully, 2nd Timothy 2 5. In 2nd Timothy 4, Paul said, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. Then he used the analogy of a farmer, he's called the husbandman here, that laboreth, must be first partaker of the fruit. Paul likens the pastor to a husbandman. Jesus used the same analogy in John 15, when he said, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. God demands a healthy harvest. In Isaiah chapter 5, we read, what could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked at it, should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. The result of this husbandman's disobedience is plainly given. Verse 5, he says, and now go to. I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard, I will take away the edge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the walls thereof, and it shall be trodden down, and I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. We have the analogy of the sleeping farmer. The Bible says in Matthew 13, and Jesus said it, and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. Well, we have the sleepy pastor. What happens? The enemy comes and he puts the seeds of apostasy in the wheat bag with the wheat. Then when that sleepy pastor wakes up, he doesn't have any idea that he is actually sowing the tares among the wheat because while he was sleeping, the enemy came and he sowed the tares among the wheat went his way and left the pastor to do the dirty work. Well, that's it for today. We'll look at lesson five in our next lesson. Be sure and tune in us for that lesson.