Before we begin, let me pray. Heavenly Father, you've promised not only victory that one day we will come to you, all those who trust you, who believe in you, but you promised in this life there would be suffering. And Lord, everyone in this room in one way or another is suffering. Lord, we're suffering relational hardships. We're suffering physical hardships. Lord, and we're suffering in general ways. We could have slept in, we could have avoided the cold today, but in a way, in order to honor you and to love you and to follow Christ our Captain, we get up in the morning, we gather together as the church, We sing songs to one another, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and we sing glorious songs to You. We make it a point to hear from Your Word through the preaching of the Word. Lord, and in this way we could be doing a million other things right now, we have decided, because you are our enlisting officer, that we are going to follow what you have designed for us to do as a church, and that is to hear your word. So Lord, in those various ways that we are suffering, whether it be a general suffering or a particular suffering that we are going through, Lord, I pray that we would hear from you. Lord, I pray that your words would be clear from my mouth. Lord, I am told to be diligent to be diligent to study to prove myself approved, a workman approved. Lord, I pray that through the study of your word through the prayers of the Saints that we would be fed by you now. Lord, I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Let us not be surprised by suffering, brothers and sisters. We were told by the Lord that we would suffer. John 15, 18 says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. He goes on to say, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. We see the suffering of the apostles in the early church in the book of Acts. In Acts 5 and 40, it says that after they called the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak the name of Jesus and then released them so that they went on their way. So when they were released, they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. Also, the Apostle Paul's own experience and testimony is one of suffering. In Acts 14, 22, it says that after Paul had been stoned and dragged out, left for dead. He actually went and proclaimed the gospel yet again in that same city that he was stoned and drug out of, and then he continued on in his ministry. And verse 22 of Acts 14 says, he was strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Romans 8.18 says, for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. And later on in that chapter, starting in verse 35, he says, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation and distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? We were not promised to avoid these things. But Paul continues to say, for it is written, for your sake, we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Or we look in our own letter, Timothy, 2nd Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12 says, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Suffering of all kinds. Persecution of all kinds will come our way. It's a given. For those who want to follow Jesus, it is not all flowers and puppies and joy and happiness, health, wealth, and prosperity. This passage here, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 3 through 7, illuminates for us a particular kind of suffering that a Christian suffers. And not just a Christian, but we know that this letter is written to Timothy himself, Paul's succession plan for the gospel, Paul's protégé. See, Paul's at the end of his life. He has said that he's already being poured out as a drink offering and the time for his departure has come. And so he is pouring into Timothy. And he has just said to Timothy, the things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these two faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And then Paul goes straight into a command to suffer hardship with him. And it's a particular hardship that is for Paul, that is for Timothy, that is for the faithful men that Paul is going to recruit so that their eyes are wide open to what they're walking into. And so that's the initial application is obviously for Timothy, it's obviously for pastors, but this has wider implications to the whole church, to every believer in Christ Jesus. So we'll dive into this passage and we'll see how this passage illuminates to us what suffering, the broad spectrum of suffering, and this is one of those aspects of suffering. He does this with giving two commands, and sandwiched in between the two commands, there are three illustrations. So let's look at the first command in 2 Timothy 2, verse 3. Paul says, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Now this is the third in three successive commands. The first command is in verse one, and that says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The second command is, entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. And then this is the third command. It is, suffer hardship with me. So you have this pattern or this succession of commands. First, Timothy is to be strong. Second, Timothy is to entrust the words of Paul and the words of Christ. And then he is to suffer hardship. What does it mean in this passage to suffer hardship? And this whole passage is about suffering hardship. And it's suffering hardship as a faithful man. So the command here is clear. Paul tells Timothy to suffer hardship. Suffering hardship, enduring hardship is a common theme. This exact same word is used in the first chapter in verse 8. You heard it as Brandon had read the passage. Verse 8 of chapter 1 says, join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. And then later on, Paul says that he endures suffering in verse 11, or no, not verse 11, verse 12. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Then you have chapter 2, you have the suffer hardship with me right here in this verse. Then you have in verse 9, Paul saying, I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal. And then in verse 10, again, he says, for this reason I endure all things. And then in verse 12, again, it says, if we endure, we will also reign with him. In chapter 3, in chapter 3, we have verse 12, no, verse 11 and verse 12, will suffer persecutions and sufferings. Verse 12, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And then you have chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. In chapter 4 it says, but you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. And verse 6 is his own testimony, for I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. Not to mention all the other hardships because of false teachers, because of the abandonment of the gospel by Phygelus and Hermogenes. Because no one stood with him, but God strengthened him in chapter 4, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. There is suffering in the Christian life, and in particular, if you are a good soldier of Christ Jesus, like Paul is telling Timothy to be. So we need to walk into the Christian life and we need to continue to walk in the Christian life with the mindset that we will endure suffering and hardship. That is just what's going to happen. Now there's a couple of things in this verse in particular. So we're still in the first command in this verse in particular. I want to highlight three aspects of this verse or this command. First, we suffer together. Paul says, he could have just said, suffer hardship, but he doesn't. He says, suffer hardship with me. He says, join with me in suffering for the gospel in the first chapter. We do not suffer alone. This is why we have the church. This is one reason why we believe in a plurality of pastors, a plurality of elders. Because it's not just for one man to lead the church by himself as if he's an island. This ministry is done together. And this ministry is done together as a whole church. So, we suffer together. Second, we strive for excellence. He says, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier. That's qualifying what kind of soldier he is going to be. And he says at the end of the letter, chapter 4, verse 7, he says, fight the good fight. A good fight requires a good soldier. We're striving for excellence in this life. And then three, what else about this verse that helps us understand this command? So we're suffering together. We are striving for excellence. And then third, we are striving as soldiers of Christ Jesus. We belong to Christ Jesus. So this particular, when we walk into the rest of the illustrations, the next three illustrations, this illustrates how we suffer as soldiers of Christ Jesus, not just all common suffering. So this is particular, one, to the minister of the gospel, to a pastor, but also, in another sense, we are all Christs if we believe him. Therefore, there are particular ways in which we will all suffer. In all of this, we need to be reminded because chapter one, verse eight says, join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. And the first command in this triad of commands is be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We need to remember that all of this is done because of what Christ has done for us and the empowering work of God. His power. This is not a striving in our own power, this is a striving in God's power. So if you're hearing the sermon and you're thinking, I'm not doing enough, I'm just not white knuckling it enough to just do hard work, pulling myself up by my bootstraps, that's not what this passage is about. It is about suffering hardship and doing excellent work. And all of these illustrations, it is about that, but it is about doing it under the power and grace that is in Christ Jesus. So you have to trust Christ if any of this is going to make sense. With these truths in mind, let's go into the first illustration. The first illustration is in verse 4. It is the single-minded devotion of a soldier. Single-minded devotion of a soldier. Verse 4, it says, No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. A faithful Christian A faithful Christian looks like a soldier on active duty with a single-minded purpose of pleasing the enlisting officer. So you're saying, what is the suffering that the faithful servant has in this? What does the soldier suffer like? Well, there's many ways that a soldier actually suffers. I mean, it suffers training, it suffers, he doesn't have the ability to just leave camp and do whatever he wants. I was never a soldier, so I haven't experienced this personally. But you're told where to go, you're told what to do, you're given what you're going to eat. But here, in particular, Paul qualifies it. No soldier in active service, what? Entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life. That is the particular way in which this soldier suffers. And when we think about this, this isn't like a prohibition for a soldier to go AWOL and all that. This is just a prohibition to a soldier for everyday life things. A soldier sacrifices a certain aspect of his life. He can't just live the same life we all do. In Paul's time, when he was writing, a soldier wasn't allowed to get married. A soldier just couldn't hold another job and just be a soldier. Now, we can't stretch this illustration too far because Paul is not saying that ministers of the gospel can't get married. That would contradict 1 Timothy 4, verse 3. Also, we can't stretch this analogy and say that ministers of the gospel can't hold jobs at the same time as doing ministry because that would contradict Paul's own example of being a tent maker sometimes to support the ministry. But what it does mean is there are certain good things. Marriage is a good thing, but the soldier wasn't allowed to do it. There are certain good things that Pastors in particular have to give up for the sake of active service, active duty service as a soldier of Christ Jesus. And we see this too in our own lives. We know there are good things that we will have to prioritize as lesser things because we are Christians, because there are duties, there are things we must do. On a Sunday morning, it could be a good thing to get together with your neighbor, shovel his driveway, salt it so that he doesn't slip and fall on the driveway. That could be a good thing. But guess what? We prioritize gathering together as saints. So therefore, we are We are enjoying Christ. We are being good soldiers by pleasing him, by doing the things that he desires us to actually do. So there are some things that we just won't do. We will give up some aspects of everyday life. We will give up some aspects of our Christian liberty for the sake of gospel ministry. But in fact, every single thing we do, unlike the unbeliever, every single thing a Christian does, he is singularly focused on pleasing his enlisting officer. Therefore, everything the Christian does, whether it is relationships with neighbors, co-workers, whether it is shoveling a driveway or driving in general, whether it is parenting or political engagement, it just doesn't matter. The singular focus is, does this please Christ? Am I pleasing Christ at this time? Because just as a soldier doesn't ever get to think of himself not as a soldier, the Christian doesn't ever get to think of him or herself as just an ordinary person without a thought about Jesus. I think of 1 Corinthians 10 31. There Paul says, whether then you eat or drink. What could be more basic than just eating or drinking? There's nothing more basic. Whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. So as you drive home, as you watch the Minnesota Vikings maybe lose, who cares anymore? suffering as a Minnesotan, I guess, right? I suppose we could choose to cheer for the Packers, but, I mean, only crazy people choose to cheer for the Packers. Whatever you do, you're sitting down to eat with family or friends, you're walking into work, you're interacting with people, You are feeding chickens. You are building a room in the church for nursing mothers. Whatever you're doing, do for the glory of God. This is the single-minded focus that we need to have. And there are plenty of things that we will not do, maybe good things, because you can't do it with a single-minded focus on Christ Jesus. There are things that I've put out of my own life, things that are not necessarily bad or sinful, but I have just found that I can't do them to the glory of God myself. Therefore, I just won't do them. It's just what happens in the Christian life. The Holy Spirit comes and convicts you, and the suffering is, I put that away. So whatever you do, do for the glory of God. The question is, is Christ worth more than all of your possessions or pleasures or your other duties? Paul said in Philippians 3.8, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It is better to suffer loss of something you enjoy that is not sinful than to do that thing you enjoy without a focus of Christ Jesus and pleasing Him. Is it worth doing things or abstaining from things to please Christ? That's the question we need to ask. And Paul is saying that is suffering in some sense. Having a single-minded focus to please Christ, it is suffering for the Christian in one sense or another. But that's what Paul is calling Timothy to. That's what Timothy is going to be calling faithful men to. A faithful man suffers by having a singular focus on pleasing Christ Jesus. The next illustration is the strenuous training of an athlete in verse 5. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. Moving from the illustration from a soldier to an athlete, these two are actually connected grammatically through the conjunction and, coordinating conjunction and, but then he adds also. So some of your translations might say and also. Mine only says also, but it very well could be and also if anyone competes as an athlete. It's very similar. There are parallels to this that I'll get into next, but the faithful people suffer as an athlete, as an athlete studies and trains and practices and competes in order to win a prize, works hard. In order to win a prize, you're gonna have to work really hard. The concept of competing according to the rules. There are two thoughts on this. Either it's meticulously holding to every rule and following every rule of the game. and therefore you're going to compete according exactly to those rules and then you'll win or there's a thought that this is a you compete you you compete according to the rules of the training of the game which encompasses the knowledge of the game but it also encompasses the detailed training regimen. So the commentators are saying there is a 10-month period that an athlete would train for the Olympics. 10-month period in which there would be intense training. They would just be doing strenuous training all the time. Of course, they need to know the rules and of course, They can't be thinking that they're playing baseball when they're actually playing basketball. So they need to actually know those rules and compete according to those rules unless they'd be disqualified. But really the emphasis here is on the training in order to actually win the prize. Think of Michael Phelps who would spend six hours a day in the water swimming, the most decorated Olympic athlete ever. Think of his regimen of 50 miles of swimming every week, training three days a week on land with heavy weights, never taking a break. Think of coming up to the Winter Olympics. We're going to see some amazing feats happening on the ice with figure skating. I mean, if any one of us would try, well, OK, maybe there's at least one of us who might be able to do some of these. If I tried to get up there and do some figure skating, there is no way. I better have a giant helmet, concussion-proof helmet, because I would die. And I actually know a lot about basketball. I played basketball. I know it doesn't necessarily look like it. That's OK. I've come to terms with it. Don't worry. I'm not Pastor Jason. We know that. But I did play basketball in high school. I know the game really well. I know the rules of the game. But you'll never see me win an NBA championship. The least of which is because I'm not willing to train for it. But the athlete must train. They must train and train and then compete and then train and train and compete. It's every weekday you're training and every weekend you're going to another competition for a decade. And it's strenuous training. This isn't just haphazard training. This isn't just you, okay, I think today I'm going to ice skate a little bit today and I'll be prepared for the Olympics. That's not what this is about. This is about the strenuous study of the competition and the strenuous training so that you will win the prize. You will be the one who will be the victor. The faithful man who desires to be in the succession of Paul, Timothy, faithful man who will be able to train others also, needs to count the cost that it is strenuous training. We're finishing up an educational assignment for Pastor Jeff just these last few weeks because we have assigned him to do strenuous training in academic so that he could fulfill this to train other faithful men who will be able to teach others also. We're literally on the tail end of that academic assignment. We're coming to the homestretch this July where we get to celebrate the finishing of the program. because we take this passage seriously. And Pastor Jeff has to give up good things. He wasn't allowed to preach as much as he wanted to preach these last six weeks. And every time I'm preaching, he looks at the passage and we look at the passage together. He's like, if you don't want to preach this, I'll preach this. And it's like, yeah, I know. I know. I'm not going to let you. I've been assigned to this. The plurality of elders here. But it's strenuous training. But the Christian life itself is strenuous. And if your Christian life is not strenuous, that should be a red light or a red flag. Paul uses the Athleticus illustration in 1 Corinthians 9, verses 24 to 27. I think this helps us understand what he means here. It says in verse 24, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. That requires strenuous training. It says everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Brothers and sisters, we are no mere athletes who will get a gold medallion that will perish. We are spiritual beings with immortal souls that will inherit an immortal reward according to Christ Jesus, according to our faith in Christ Jesus, according to the way that we run. Says, therefore run in such a way as, he says in verse 26, therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I've preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. And that's what we do. Paul goes on to say later in this letter, so 2 Timothy chapter two, we're back there. Verse 15, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Not being like Fidulus and Hermogenes and abandoning the faith. not being like Demas, who we will meet in chapter four, who loved this present world, but being diligent, training strenuously, reading the scriptures strenuously, memorizing the fighter verses so that we might fight like soldiers, that we might be able to run like ones who want to win the prize. We put away those things that, we put away those weekends like the athletes put away the weekends. We submit them to Christ. We say all of our life, our whole calendar, as an athlete's whole calendar is dedicated to winning the prize, our whole calendar when we look at it, when we have it scheduled, meeting here, meeting there, lunch here, dinner there, shovel the driveway, mow the lawn, Do the dishes, and then do them again, and then do the dishes again, because the dishes always need to be done. Change the diaper, feed the baby. As a single person, be productive. As a single person, suffer in your singleness. Do that all. with your hands open to God, saying, God, this is my life. It's for you. I want to please you. My whole calendar is scheduled around running the race properly. So at the end of life, I can say I fought the good fight. I have finished the course. And at the end of your life, you hear, well done, good and faithful servant. We are aiming to receive an imperishable prize. The crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to us on that day, but not, and Paul says, he'll award that crown to me on that day, and not only to me, but all who have loved his appearing, all, all of us. This is not just for pastors, this is for the whole church. But he goes on. He likens this faithful servant and his suffering to being a farmer. A steadfast, the steadfast resilience of a farmer. Verse six, the hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Now, both the soldier and athlete, remember I talked about how they are grammatically connected, they are thematically connected too. Both the soldier and the athlete were thought of highly, or at least they were conspicuous within the culture. Their deeds were seen by someone. Athletes were meant to be seen. Soldiers were meant to be seen by enlisting commanding officers to see if they're doing well and everything. And then he talks about the farmer who goes out to his field alone. tills the ground by himself. I'm not saying this is every farmer. I mean, I'm sure there were collectives that they all did this together, but 85 to 90 percent of the world, when Paul is writing this, were farmers. Just nobody special, just living life. Making their way through this life. No one really watching. No real glory or recognition as being a farmer. But if the farmer does not steadfastly, every day, go to the grind to till the land, to water the garden, to plant seeds, to tend the garden, to pick weeds, every single day, he won't eat. His reward is that he gets to eat. And the suffering here is that it is steadfast every day, doing the work of farming. Not only would the farmer starve, because he's only the first to receive his share of the crops, but the reason why the farmer farms is not just for himself, the farmer farms for his family. And the farmer farms for his household. And the farmer farms for his community. So if he starves, everyone starves. So if the pastor, the one called to ministry, if Timothy starves himself spiritually from the Word, because remember, a couple sermons ago, verses 13 and 14, retain the standard of sound words, guard through the Holy Spirit which dwells within us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. If he is not feeding on that word and learning from that word and knowing that word enough to retain it and also to guard it from false teaching, then he won't be able to teach others also. He won't be able to entrust it to faithful men who would be able to teach others also. And the weeds will come, choke out the fruit, and people will die. So the pastor, the minister, must feed on the Word of God. And you can see so much of this progressive Christianity that's out there. It's not even Christianity at all. They're not faking it anymore with the progressive flags in the background and their new creeds of diversity. I mean, it's just nonsense. It's just nonsense. there was a slippery slope that started going to that trajectory of well we can't say that from the scriptures because you know our culture wouldn't like that so we're going to water it down just a little and then water it down just a little and then water it down just a little and then all of a sudden it's just water and it's good for nothing it will not nourish you so the pastor must give up those other things and he must be steadfast always in the Word of God. And there are things that the pastor doesn't get to do because that's what he does. But it's also, it's what the Christian does. The Christian, like the farmer, is steadfast and continual feeding on the word because you're doing the work of confession, repentance, memorization, forgiveness, reading, praying, hearing the preached word, doing the things that nobody else sees so that you might have fruit to feed yourself and others also. I mean, video games are fine, social media can be fine, getting together with friends, sleeping in on a Saturday, things like that, those are fine. But here's the thing, if we take all these illustrations together, are you pleasing your master with those things that you're doing? And also, are those things that you're doing taking yourself away from this? Are you only feeding yourself on a Sunday morning when somebody with a tie gets up on stage and speaks to you for a half hour and you just, well, okay, what am I saying, half hour? For 53 minutes to 56 minutes. And that's your food for the week. It can't be. You have to be focused on the fact that if we don't till the ground, if we don't repent, if we don't ask forgiveness, if we don't give forgiveness, if we don't pray, if we don't read the scriptures, if we're not praying the scriptures, if we're not singing the scriptures, if we're not memorizing the scriptures, in order for it to grow us, then it's not gonna grow your family. It's not gonna grow your church family. You will have nothing to give. Some of you are saying, why is my soul downcast? And the answer is because you are so far away from the Lord. Now, some of you are saying, why am I so downcast? And you know what? Sometimes it's just because that's what happens. We suffer. We suffer in various ways. You're in the Word, it just doesn't quite seem to be producing its fruit. Be patient. The farmer, when he tills the ground, isn't expecting apples from an apple tree that's not quite there. So continue on with the work. Why is my soul downcast? Be in the Word. Hope in God. Continue to cultivate fruitfulness and faithfulness in the Word. In due season, the fruit will come. And also have an eternal perspective. C.T. Studd, he was a missionary to China and other places, British missionary. He said the famous quote, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. We're looking for eternal fruit. We're looking for eternal prize. We're looking to please the eternal God. And we come to another command. Another command, verse seven. Consider what I say. This is an imperative. He's telling Timothy, consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. This considering, it's a ponder, think about these things. Don't let this just come and then go. Don't let my words that I just say, these illustrations, don't let them just be there and then all of a sudden they're gone. Don't worry about it. It's just good. No. Paul's saying, stop Timothy. Think about what I just said. I said be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I said find faithful men in which to entrust the precepts of God so that they might teach others also so this gospel thing doesn't die. And third, I said, suffer with me. And you're gonna suffer in very mundane ways. You're gonna suffer in ways that you don't think, you might not necessarily grasp how it is suffering, but consider it, mull over it, because when it happens, the Lord will give you understanding in it. In all the situations that you are in, and you start to suffer, you will receive understanding, ah, I am suffering because of this. I am suffering because I have taken your illustrations, I've applied those illustrations, I've submitted myself to Christ. I desire to be faithful, I desire to be godly in Christ Jesus. Not everybody is a soldier, not everybody is an athlete, not everybody is a farmer. but everybody will suffer. And in the moment in which we are suffering, if we consider what Paul is saying to Timothy, and Timothy is going to say to faithful men who will then say things to other faithful men, all the way down to my speaking right now, the Lord will give understanding in the way you ought to suffer in your own life. In all things. in everything. You're not going to suffer in everything, but in every way that you suffer, the Lord will give you understanding. You might still cry out, why is this happening? And like the farmer, you may not get the fruit right away, but you stay in the word and you will get understanding. Now this reminds us to go to Proverbs chapter 2. If you go to Proverbs chapter 2 with me, I want to highlight what's happening here. How are we going to get this understanding? So in Proverbs chapter 2, it starts with, my son, if you receive my words, so it's, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Chapter 2 of Timothy starts the same as chapter 2 of Proverbs. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding, For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. This is work. This is work, seeking out, considering, asking, searching, inclining your understanding, inclining your heart to these things. So you're going to say, I'm suffering in this way. Why God? And then you're just going to go to work and not think again about it. You're not going to seek understanding. You're not going to make your ear attentive to wisdom. But Paul says, Timothy, consider what I say. Think about it. Consider it. Don't just let it go by. Just like you, don't let this passage of scripture go by and say, I'm good or I don't want anything to do about this with this. But consider it. Think about it. He will give you understanding as you earnestly seek this, as you receive the words. In verse 6 of chapter 2 of Proverbs, Oh, did you see this? In verse 5, Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. Verse six, for the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. So if you consider the words of God, if you consider and you receive what is being said in the right time, you might be like, what does this passage mean to me? I don't understand what this passage means to me. But guess what? He will give you understanding if you seek it out diligently. I just think sometimes we're so busy with everything else We're so busy with everything else, we don't have time to think about, why am I suffering in this way? And we haven't submitted everything that we do, our calendar, our work, our relationships, everything. We haven't submitted it all to God's glory. We're not aiming to please the one who enlisted us into this life. Or we just don't feel the urgency of it because we are comfortable. We don't recognize that we ought to be suffering. I'm not saying suffering necessarily of persecution or anything like that, but we should be giving things up for God's glory. But we live too comfortably. We live very comfortably. Andreas Kolstenberger, the Austrian New Testament scholar from Vienna, I like to mention Vienna any time I can, having been from Vienna, or lived in Vienna. He says, "...Paul is giving an urgency and an intensity that are often lacking in complacent Christianity today." Wow, I really messed that up. I can't read, maybe I should say it in German. No, that's not, okay. So when Paul is talking about the strenuous life, okay, Paul is bringing up an urgency, an intensity, which are often lacking in complacent Christianity today, But that needs to be recovered if the church wants to be a factor in a rapidly unraveling moral fabric, and I would say not just a rapidly unraveling moral fabric, but an increasingly idolatrous, and all sorts of idolatry from actual religions to secular humanism. So if we want to be a factor in this culture, We need to bear bold witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is exactly to the Lord Jesus Christ that Paul then turns in verse 8. He says, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. What has to happen in order for Christ to be risen from the dead, logically? He has to have been dead. Christ has suffered. Christ has suffered greatly. And just as the beginning in verse one, it says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, that grace comes through a faith in Christ Jesus. And not just some, I believe in Christ Jesus, but a trust in him, a trust that he actually came to earth like we celebrate at Christmas time. Our whole culture, the whole Western world is celebrating Christmas, maybe not faithfully, but they're celebrating Christmas, they're celebrating Christ coming to earth. The God-man, living for 30 years, ministering for another three years, And then as was the foreordination of God, he was killed on our behalf. He suffered the crucifixion on the cross, suffering for us. And he suffered eternal hell for those who would believe in him for six hours on the cross. Suffering. He knows it. He understands it. And Paul says, look to Jesus, that crucified Savior, the one who was risen from the dead because he couldn't stay dead because he was perfect. He did all of this perfectly. He was a soldier perfectly. He was an athlete perfectly. He was a farmer perfectly, metaphorically. He did all things that we ought to have done perfectly. So every time we look at what I had said already in this last half hour, a little bit more, everything I had said, and you think, oh, I'm not doing that well enough, I'm not doing that well enough. Guess what? Christ did it well enough, and he was raised from the dead, because he was perfect. And another thing to consider is why did God, why did Christ do this? We look in Hebrews. We look in Hebrews chapter 12. This is where we're gonna close. He says, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. He says, consider the things that I've said, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. So look to Jesus. Chapter 12 of Hebrews, therefore, since we have so great a crowd of witnesses surrounding us. Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance, running again, athlete, with endurance the race that is set before us. Doing what? fixing our eyes, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. If He endured the cross, how much more can we endure giving up a Saturday? giving up a Sunday morning. How much more can we endure that if he endured the cross? He despised the shame and has sat down in glory, in victory, at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, and by considering him what happens, by considering him what happens, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Brothers and sisters, Christ endured everything. He endured the most intense wrath of God on our behalf. And if he has done that, we can walk in a way worthy of the gospel. We can suffer those things as good soldiers of Christ Jesus. We can be single-mindedly focused on Christ as we are supposed to be looking to Him. We can strenuously train as an athlete and strenuously train in our own Christian life. We can now do it because Christ has freed us from the sin and guilt through faith in Him. And we can plod along, be steadfast and resilient in our everyday life, everyday devotion to Christ Jesus, looking to Him through the scriptures, in the scriptures, through the fellowship of the saints, through prayer, through repentance and through faith and forgiveness and through memorization, through all those mundane things. And we can do all of those things because we can be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, verse one, and we can remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, verse eight. And if you have never looked to Jesus before, you must look to Jesus now. You must look to Jesus now. Because you will suffer in life, it's just a given. but it is so much greater to suffer for Christ's sake than for nothing at all. Because if you suffer for Christ's sake, there is an imperishable glory waiting for you in Christ Jesus. You suffer now, you get no reward. So we look to Christ Jesus so that we will not lose heart or grow weary. So consider these things. May the Lord give us understanding in everything. Heavenly Father, Lord, we're coming to a season where the whole world, almost, is looking to Christ Jesus in Christmas. Lord, I pray we would look to Christ Jesus, not just at your birth, but at your perfect life that you lived. You lived it on our behalf because we couldn't live the perfect life. We look to you as dying on the cross in our place because we deserve to die on the cross. You took the sin and shame and you took the full wrath of God on the cross for those who would believe. But you did not stay dead, you rose from the dead. And you sit at the right hand of the Father, interceding for your own. Lord, I pray as the devil is gonna try to accuse us in certain ways, in unique ways this week, Lord, I pray that you would be our defender. And that we would do battle against him with the scriptures. And that we'd be firm in our faith. Well, Lord, I pray that we would do what we can to be single-minded towards you, that we would see, is this what I should be doing? Does this please you? And we submit our whole schedule to you and our whole strength to you and say, we would be strenuous in our search and diligent in our search for the scriptures and training for ministry, for training for what we ought to be doing in parenting, in our work, in relation to our employers and our employees. Lord, in that we would be steadfast in what we are studying. That we'd hide the word in our heart, so at the right time we would bear fruit. And we would have fruit to give to others. Lord, I know there's many who are suffering today. There's some who are not here today because of the weather and there's legitimate concerns about physical danger. Lord, I pray that you'd be with them this week. Lord, there are many who are among us who just haven't been among us physically in a while because they are ill. Lord, I pray for them that you would encourage them that they would not grow weary looking to you who endured an eternity of hell on the cross. Lord, you suffered so much. Lord, I pray that you would cause those among us who are suffering so many physical ailments to look to you and endure. Lord, I'm so grateful for the new babies that are here in our church. Lord, we pray for salvation to them. Lord, I pray that they would see what is required of them in the gospels, in the church, and they would say, I want that for the sake of Christ. Because Christ is worth it all. To please Him is what I want to do. Lord, may our children do that. May our children love you. May our children see our example of our love for you and our love for others. so that they would follow you and trust you. Lord, I pray we're gonna be going through a lot of family gatherings and there's gonna be a lot of pain. Lord, there's gonna be people who are gathering for the first time this year who have lost loved ones this year. There's gonna be a lot of pain. Lord, there's some here who just don't have a family and the holiday seasons are one of loneliness. Lord, I pray that you would sustain them knowing that you were lonely. Lord, you walked this earth knowing all of our suffering. Lord, may we look to you. May we look to you and not grow weary or lose heart. Praise things in Christ's name, amen.