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Be Strong - Part 3 of 3

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• 2 Timothy chapter 2, and we're going to read through verse 7, beginning with verse 1. This is the third message in the series "Be Strong." I should complete that series today. So if you look in 2 Timothy 2, verse 1, the Scripture says, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. 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. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully."

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• "The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." We've been looking at this brief series where we have been commanded to be strong. We have seen our own impotence, our weakness, and our helplessness. We also have seen the truth that power belongs unto God. He is our strength, and we are to live in His strength and in the power of His might. We also saw how that God has also ordained the armor in which we are to fight. And of course, we cannot fight in our own strength, and like David, we cannot fight in Saul's armor—that is, our own armor. We have to fight in the armor of the Lord. And I suppose that probably the fights that we do lose, it's because we're fighting in our own armor instead of the armor that God has provided. I would encourage each one of you to read Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 18 daily, and note again specifically that which I went over last week, each piece of armor and how it is to be put on on a daily basis and applied so that we can live in the strength and in the power of God.

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• We do not become experts with our weaponry in an instant. Neither do we become experienced with our weaponry without constant use and without repetition. The same is true spiritually speaking, and so therefore we must know Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10-18 like the back of our hand. We also have to understand this: that the smaller battles that we face prepare us for the larger and more exhaustive battles. No one is going to stand faithful and true in a horrific battle until he has learned to remain faithful and true in the smaller battles. That is why the Bible in Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 10 asks this question, "For who hath despised the day of small things?" And when you and I begin to despise small things, we do so at our own peril.

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• Now we've also covered three passages, or at least two of them particularly. We've covered 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13 where God says, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." We've covered Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 where Paul said, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." And today we are going to come to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1 where Paul says, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." We've been commanded to be strong. We've been commanded to be strong in the power of the Lord and in His might. Now we're commanded to be strong, that is, in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. So here's a question: Is there any difference between the command, number one, to be strong in the power of God and in his might, and be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus? I'm going to tell you that I believe that these two commands are reciprocal.

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• By that I mean this: if you're strong in the strength and in the power of God, obviously you're strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you're strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, then obviously you're going to be strong in the might and in the power of God as well. So the phrase, when you look at verse one, "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," teaches us first and foremost the source of grace. Grace is only found in Jesus Christ. There is no other source for saving grace, overcoming grace, persevering grace, or any other kind of grace. All grace is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, this verse also teaches us about the sufficiency of grace. It says, "be strong in the grace that is in our Lord Jesus Christ." So there is plenty of grace in order to make us strong, in order to make us, if we want to call it great, whatever. The point I'm trying to make is this: our Lord does not hoard His blessings, but He freely bestows them upon us.

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• I hope you remember that passage in Ephesians 1 in verse 3 where the Bible says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." So every blessing that we have is in Jesus Christ. Moreover, we're also taught in Romans chapter 8 in verse 32, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

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• So ask yourself this question: If God has given us His greatest gift, that is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, what makes you think that He would not give you the lesser gifts? Notice what He said, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" So let me say it like this: everything that we are, everything that we have, everything that we ever will be is because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Outside of Him we are absolutely nothing. John Trapp, the old Puritan, said this, he said, "Weak grace may evidence pardon of sin, but it is strong grace that can overcome the temptations of Satan and bear up the heart in strong consolation. The blessing upon the man in the first creation was increase and multiply. In the second creation, it's grow in grace and be strong." Since you're in 2 Timothy, look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7.

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• Note, if you would, the Bible says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." So we've been talking about being strong, not only in the might and the power of God, but strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

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• So here's a question that I want to ask, and here's the question that I want to answer: How do we know? How can we tell whether or not we are strong in the grace of Jesus Christ? How do we know, how can we tell whether or not we are strong in the strength and in the power of God? Well, the Apostle Paul gives us several answers and several ways that we can consider and several ways that we can apply and understand our strength and or test our strength. So, how do we know? Well, I want us to look at the pictures that the Apostle has laid down. First of all, in verse 1, he said, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." How do you know whether or not you're strong in that grace? Well, look at the next verse.

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• He said, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." First of all, if we are strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, if we are strong in the might and power of God, there will be faithfulness as a teacher in our lives. He said, "the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

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• Whether you are a pastor, or a preacher, or a Christian—you just simply call yourself an ordinary everyday Christian—you are a steward. You are a steward of the truth. And the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 2, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." Faithfulness is an attribute of someone who is strong in grace and someone who is strong in the power and might of the Lord. Every true teacher wishes to communicate truth.

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• We want to reproduce that which we know in others. And this is especially true when it comes to communicating what you and I would call biblical principles. What are the greatest failings in our day and time? And let me go further, one of the greatest failings in our churches, one of the greatest failings among pastors and preachers is simply this: a failure to teach the truth in such a way that the truth can not only be understood, but applied and practiced in daily lives.

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• So the problem is this: you may go to a church and you may hear a good sermon, you walk out and you say, "But how does that apply to me? How am I to live? How is that to change my life?" So if you are really interested in communicating the truth, there is a strong desire in you that others know the truth as well. And so what the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy in verse 2 is that he is to make sure that truth continues by finding faithful men, communicating that truth to them so that they may be able to teach others also. Now let me tell you an implication in this verse. Here's basically what Paul is telling Timothy—good South Georgia lingo—"You ain't gonna live forever. You better pass on what I taught you. You better pass it on to faithful men who will be able to teach others as well." Now I want you to note that Paul told him to find faithful men. And this term "faithful men" does not simply refer to men of faith, that is men who are believers, but rather it refers to men who are believers who are faithful.

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• Men who have consistent, constant track records. Men who are known for their faithfulness. And he said, once you find a faithful man, and especially a man who has an ability to teach, you are to communicate this truth to him.

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• Now, I want you to note something else. God does not expect a pastor or a teacher to chase his pupils down and cram truth down their throats. No. Paul tells Timothy, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men." That is men who are going to come consistently, regularly, faithfully to hear the truth expounded and taught and applied. Men who are willing to sacrifice their time. Men who are willing to sit and learn and study. Those are the men that you are to teach. So it's not just faithful men that he was to teach, but he was also to teach men of ability. Men who had the ability to communicate. That doesn't necessarily have to be a pastor.

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• It can be a regular Christian who happens to have the gift of teaching as well. But let me just point out the fact: not everyone can teach. Not everyone can teach. Just simply because a man has been ordained does not mean that he can teach. Just because a man has a university degree does not mean that he can teach. The truth of the matter is this: I have known men with earned PhDs that could not teach their way out of a wet paper bag. It is just simply one of those things, because teaching is a gift of God.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles very quickly to 1 Timothy chapter 3, and let me show you something. In 1 Timothy chapter 3 the Apostle Paul is laying out some qualifications for a pastor, for a teacher. And look what he says, verse 2, "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach."

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• And then he goes on. Now, let me explain it like this. I could take the Bible and show you where every one of these characteristics, every one of these attributes that God requires of a pastor is required of every Christian with one exception. And that one exception is "apt to teach." Are you required by God to be hospitable? Of course you are. Are you required of God to have good behavior? Yes. Are you required of God to be not given to much wine? Of course. Are you required to know how to run your own house? And the answer is yes. Are you required to be blameless? Yes. The only difference is this: all of these traits should be found in a pastor preeminently.

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• They should be eminently displayed in him. But the only difference between a pastor and the regular Christian is he has to be apt to teach.

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• Now, the Greek word literally is didaktikos, and literally it means apt and skillful in teaching. It means here's a man that's not only ready to teach, he's skillful in teaching, he's adept in teaching. Teaching is his life. He lives it. He breathes it. He does not and cannot continue without it. It's very difficult sometimes to demonstrate to people the passion that a real Bible teacher has. I'm serious.

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• I have a good friend. He was poor for the longest and he found out how to make money and he's making money hand over fist. I mean chunks and chunks of money. Well, he calls me, he wants me to get involved in this, and I finally just told him, "Look, I'm not interested."

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• Now, certainly I want enough money to pay my bills. I want enough money to live on. You understand that. Those are necessities. But I have no desire to be wealthy. I have no desire to be rich. My desire is simply to preach and teach the Word of God. That's it. That's what I live for. That's what I long for. That's what I like to do. And the truth of the matter is, you know, he said, "Well, if you have all this money, you can do what you want to do." I'm already doing what I want to do. You know, it's just that simple. So the word actually means someone who gives his life to teaching. And so Timothy then was looking for men of integrity, and faithfulness, and ability to make sure that the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God continued. So the point I'm trying to make is this: the true line of succession is to be found in good men who are qualified to preach and teach, who have the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and not merely in someone who has a degree.

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• Or not merely in someone who happens to be ordained or receive some honor from some university. No, it is in someone who is faithful and has the ability to teach. The interesting thing is this: when God told Moses in Numbers chapter 27 that he was to be gathered to his own people as was Aaron, pointedly God says, "Moses, you are fixing to die." Do you know what Moses' first request was when he found out he was going to die? It also happened to be his final request.

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• Let me read it for you. Numbers chapter 27, verses 15 and 17. Here is what Moses asked for when he found out he was going to die. "And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD

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• be not as sheep which have no shepherd." What did he ask for? Someone to lead and to teach the people. That's what he wanted. So the first picture then that the Apostle Paul gives us so that we can test whether or not we are strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, or strong in His might and in His power, is the test of the driving force of faithfulness in a teacher to communicate and continue the truth. So we have to ask ourselves, do I desire to communicate the truth? How strong is that desire? Am I faithful in that desire?

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• Do I want that more than anything else? And let me tell you something, folks. You should want that truth communicated to your children, to your grandchildren, to your friends, to your neighbors, so you could take every opportunity to teach. Then you have to ask yourself, am I willing to faithfully attend the teaching and preaching of the Word of God so that I may learn and communicate? So the very first picture that He gives us in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1 is that of the faithfulness of a teacher. But if you will look in verses 3 and 4, here is a second picture. He says in verse 3, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

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• "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." Here's the question: Have you ever considered hardness as a Christian virtue? We often consider compassion and love and meekness, but we seldom ever hear of hardness. And yet the apostle says that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The Greek word here is kakopatheo, and it has a reference to enduring hardness, suffering, trouble, enduring afflictions and putting up with hardships and troubles.

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• What Paul is trying to tell us is this: If we are going to be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and strong in the power of His might, that does not mean that everything is going to be a bed of roses. In fact, if you look back in chapter 1 and verse 8, 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, look what Paul tells Timothy here. He says, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." The power of God does not keep you from afflictions; the power of God will enable you to endure and survive those afflictions, but it does not keep you from those afflictions at all. So he tells us that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And I want you to listen to the comment that Calvin made on this verse.

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• I think it is so appropriate. He said, "These are matters on which it is highly necessary for us to meditate. We see how many there are every day that throw away their spears, who formerly made a great show of valor. Whence does this arise? Because they cannot become inured to the cross. First, they are so effeminate that they shrink from warfare.

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• Next, they do not know any other way of fighting than to contend haughtily and fiercely with their adversaries, and they cannot bear to learn what it is to possess their souls in patience." He says there are too many who have already thrown away their weaponry. They have thrown away their spears. Soldiers often endure great privations and great afflictions. And as ministers of Jesus Christ, and as Christians, we have to understand that the Christian life is not necessarily a bed of ease. We too are going to face innumerable hazards and dangers. But He's telling us those hazards and those dangers and those afflictions and those sufferings have to be patiently endured. So he says we have to learn to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

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• That means those things that happen to us that we don't like, they are not going to change us in the sense that they are going to make us cease serving Him, or cease being faithful. They are not going to change that fact. We are just going to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. If you look in verse 4 there is another requirement there of enduring as a soldier. He says, "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." This verse is not a prohibition against having other areas of interest or projects in which one is able to provide for himself and his family.

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• You have to remember according to Acts 18, Paul was a tent maker. He made tents to support himself. Peter was a fisherman. Luke was a physician. So this verse then is not a verse that prohibits us from working and supporting ourselves and our families. But this verse does prohibit us from becoming entangled and over-engrossed in our work and in supporting ourselves, that we forget our duties as a soldier, our responsibilities as a soldier. Matthew Henry, in commenting on this passage, says this: "A soldier, when he has enlisted, leaves his calling and all the business

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• of it that he may attend his captain's orders. If we have given up ourselves to be Christ's soldiers, we must sit loose to this world. Although there is no remedy but we must employ ourselves in the affairs of this life while we're here, we have something to do here, we must not entangle ourselves with those affairs, so as by them to be diverted and drawn aside from our duty to God and the great concerns of our Christianity. Those who will war the good warfare must sit loose to the world, that we may please him who has chosen us to be soldiers." I like that phrase, "sit loose to the world." Every one of us will confess and acknowledge the world is not our home. And we can confess with Abraham, we're just pilgrims and passing through. So very clearly we need to learn to sit loose. Isaac Watts was a great hymn writer, a great Christian.

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• I have seen his tomb in England. He also wrote the hymn, "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" And I believe that hymn pretty well illustrates what the Apostle Paul is telling us in verses three and four. Let me give you the stanzas. "Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I fear to own his cause, or blush to speak his name?

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• Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God? Sure I must fight if I would win; increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word. Thy saints in all this glorious war shall conquer, though they die.

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• They see the triumph from afar by faith's discerning eye. When that illustrious day shall rise, and all Thy armies shine in robes of victory through the skies, the glory shall be Thine." But I love that stanza. "Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?" No. No. "Are there no foes for me to face?" Of course there are.

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• And we're to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And we are to not entangle ourselves with the affairs of this world so to the extent that we begin to think this world is our home and that somehow we are going to be here permanently. We are not. J. William Jones was a pastor, a preacher, a chaplain, and an author. He was a chaplain in the War of Northern Aggression, the Confederacy. He wrote the book, "Christ in the Camp." It is a wonderful book, everyone should read it.

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• He tells about the two great revivals in the Confederate armies where approximately 150,000 men were converted. But he was appealing for chaplains, for men to come and preach to the soldiers. And here is what he wrote, and I want you to think as I read this about today's pastors and see how many of us would qualify. Listen to what he wrote. He writes to the churches and he says, "Send us the names of good men. And here I repeat, we want none others. Our object being not merely to fill up the regiments with nominal chaplains, but to fill the vacancies with efficient, working men, we want effective gospel preachers whose burden shall be Christ and Him crucified. It is a common mistake to think that anyone will do to preach to soldiers. The great business of the chaplain is to preach Christ publicly and from tent to tent. And the temporal welfare of the soldiers should be made subordinate to this. We want men physically able as well as willing to endure hardships and privations.

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• If a chaplain would live up to the full measure of his usefulness, he must be with his regiment on the weary march, frequently resigning his horse to some footsore soldier, which means he's walking, lie with them around the bivouac fire after evening prayers are over, be drenched on the outpost, or face the pelting snowstorm, divide with some hungry soldier his last hard cracker, and in a word share with his regiment whatever hardships they may be called on to endure. Now, if a brother is physically unable to endure these hardships, he had best not enter the work. But there is no question that many a delicate brother would have his health permanently improved if he would thus learn to endure hardness as a good soldier." Wow! Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the average pastor today walking mile after mile in the snow and in the rain, sharing the last hard cracker with some hungry soldier, doing without, and yet that's exactly what the Apostle Paul says, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

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• 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." So God tells us that we are to examine ourselves to determine whether or not we are strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ and strong in the power of His might by seeing if we are faithful as a teacher, and if we are enduring hardness as a soldier.

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• Thirdly, if you look in verse 5, He gives us another picture. He said, "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." Wow! In other words, there must be discipline as an athlete. One of our greatest failures today is a failure in discipline. Normally speaking, athletes are very disciplined, especially if they have a desire to win. I think that any of us who have ever watched gymnastics would have to consider the fact that those young ladies and those young men put in hour after hour after hour after hour practice.

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• The same is true with a weightlifter. The same is true with men and women who run track. We lack the discipline. Years ago we had a missionary come to our church and the missionary happened to also be a concert pianist, and so I asked him if he would play for us, and he graciously consented and sat down at the piano with no music in front of him whatsoever.

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• And for an hour straight he just played. Hymn after hymn after hymn after hymn. Music, it looked as if the music was flowing out of his fingers. I mean he was just barely touching those keys and yet such wonderful music was coming out. When it was over I went up to him and I said, "Brother, I would give anything to be able to play the piano like that." He said, "Really?"

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• He said, "I practice eight hours a day, six days a week." All of a sudden, I had no further desire to be a concert pianist. And the only reason he was that good was because he was that disciplined.

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• Now I want you to look at verse five. He said, "And if a man also strive for masteries." The Greek word for "strive" here is from athleo. I hope that word sounds familiar to you, athleo. The noun is athlos. It is where we get our word "athletic" from, and it literally refers to a public contest. It refers to one engaged in public games. It refers to someone who's contending for a prize. He said, "So if a man also strive," if he's contending for masteries, he goes on to say, "yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." Now the word "crowned" is the word stephanos, which means to encircle with a crown, to be crowned as a victor.

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• Now, let me show you. I want you to hold 2 Timothy, but turn back in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, because the Apostle Paul uses a very clear illustration. Note, if you would, 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24.

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• Now here he is referring probably to the Grecian games. He says, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." So you may have a hundred men racing, but only one is going to reach that prize. So he said, you've got to run so that you can win. Watch verse 25. "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things."

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• That is, he is disciplined. "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." Then he says this: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

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• So what does he say? I discipline myself. I'm temperate. I keep my body under subjection. I want to continue to preach. I want to continue to teach. I want to be able to serve the Lord. And so he said, I am going to keep my body under subjection. Let me put it to you like this: Discipline is absolute. Discipline is needed. Discipline is necessary. Discipline is required. One of the problems we have today is there is such a lack of discipline in our lives. It's not that we don't discipline our children. We don't even discipline ourselves.

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• We start something and then quit. We cannot even concentrate anymore. We have become so addicted to watching TV we can't even pay attention to something hardly more than 15 seconds. 30 or 40 at the most because then a commercial comes on. I'm just simply saying, the Apostle is saying if we are going to be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ, if we are going to be strong in His strength and in the power of His might, we have to learn discipline. Let me show you something else.

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• If you look back to 2 Timothy 2 in verse 5 he says this, "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." So if you are going to win the crown, you have to strive lawfully. You have to play according to the rules. The word "lawfully" here is the Greek word nomimos, and it refers to that which is lawful. It refers to that which is agreeable to the law.

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• I read this week, and I believe it was in England, and I got a chuckle. There was a homeless man. They were having a big race. I forget how far it was but it was a pretty good sized race, but a homeless man found a number that had fallen off one of the racers. And so he put it around his neck and he joined the race. He ran the last mile or so of it.

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• And he came in third. And he won a big prize. Until they found out he was not the man who had signed the number. And then they arrested him for fraud. Well, I mean, you know, we laugh at that. We smile at that. But it's the truth. If we do not strive lawfully, then we're not going to win. There are many preachers today, many pastors, many Christians who are violating the Scripture. They're violating God's law and they're following humanistic standards thinking somehow they're going to win. No, they're disqualified. They're disqualified. I do not care how big your ministry is. I don't care how many people attend. I don't care how much money you make. I don't care how much money you give. If you do not follow the Scriptures, you're disqualified. It's just that simple. If a man's going to strive for mastery, yet he's not crowned except he strive lawfully. Everyone understands this.

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• If there's a hundred of us running a race that is a mile long, and I'm in that race, and I happen to know a shortcut, and so I leave the race course and cut through the woods and come out in front of everyone and break the string, have I won? No, because I cheated. Did not play according to the rules. And that's exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying. If we're going to be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we're going to be strong in the power of his might, then we must have faithfulness in our lives. We must have hardness in our lives. We must have discipline in our lives. There's something else. And this one is probably the hardest. Look in verse 6 he says, "The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits."

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• Here is patience as a farmer. Patience as a farmer. So there will not only be faithfulness as a teacher, hardness as a soldier, discipline as an athlete, there will be patience as a farmer. Actually the picture that Paul uses in this verse presents a two-fold truth. There is the picture of labor, work, and effort, and then patience in receiving and enjoying the harvest. So here is the first truth that he is giving us: that labor must precede the harvest. In order to reap, one must sow. One must not only sow, he must nourish and he must weed, he must water. He must wait. This is the inevitable law of harvest. Without work, no harvest will be acquired. The Bible warns us over and over against slothfulness. Let me give you another word for slothfulness: laziness. How about another word: indolence? Another word: worthlessness. You know the truth of the matter is this, we have sired a generation of people today who have no idea about a Biblical work ethic.

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• You talk to any employer and they will normally tell you everybody wants a paycheck but nobody wants to work. And there is the old joke that you are teasing someone, we say, "We know, we know you have to back up and put your hand out to receive your paycheck." Because you know they say you are just not working, you are worthless is what it amounts to. Well, when the Scripture is here talking about a farmer, he is talking about hard work, that is for sure. And we have failed to teach everyone a biblical work ethic. And may I remind you that work is not the result of the fall. There was work before the fall. Work just became onerous and more difficult because of our sin. But there was work before the fall.

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• Let me give you some verses on slothfulness. I want you to listen well. Some of these to me are very humorous, but all of them are true. In Proverbs 18 and verse 9 the Bible said, "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster." You know it is interesting, my parents and Alice's parents grew up during the Great Depression. We've known other people that grew up during that time. Those people who were alive back then learned to save practically everything. And they made things work. We had a setting on the farm when I was a boy. Almost all things were held together with haywire. Because we just wired it up, made it work. When I got a tractor from my father when he quit farming, it was a Ford 5000. And on the right wheel, when you come out where it joins the ball joint, the rod there, the steering rod, when it came out, Dad had it wired together with haywire. But you know, I took that tractor to the house, I used it for years.

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• Every time it would fall down, I'd put it back up, I'd wire it back up again. Until one day a mechanic friend came by and he said, "I can fix that." I said, "Well do so then." And he fixed it and it's been working ever since. But I'm just simply saying, those people knew how to make things work. And they did. The Bible said, "He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster." So in other words, if you are lazy, if you are indolent, it's just like the Scripture says that a slothful man will not even roast that which he took in hunting. Why go hunting? Why waste your time if you are not going to eat what you kill? Then Proverbs 19 verse 24, listen to this one, "A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again." He's too lazy to eat. Too sorry to eat. Proverbs 21 verse 25 says this, "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour."

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• Here's a slothful man. "Man, I sure would like to have that new four-wheel drive truck. I sure would like to have that new house. I'd like to have that new furniture. I'd like to have this. I'd like to have..." But he'll never have anything. Why? Because his hands refuse to work. And that is what God is saying, "The desire of the slothful killeth him." He will just sit there and lust and covet and desire, but he will never have anything because he is ashamed to work. Proverbs 22 and verse 13 says this, "The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets." What does he say? Any excuse will do to keep me from work. "There is a lion without, I might get hurt." Got news for you: you might get hurt at home. You might get hurt falling out of the bed. Who knows? Solomon said in Proverbs 24 verse 30, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;" and he goes on saying it was full of nettles and overgrown. Won't take care of anything. And I love Proverbs 26 in verse 14, "As the door turneth upon

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• his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed." He just rolls over, won't get up, won't get out, won't work. You know the Bible says in Hebrews 6 and verse 12, "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." It is the great law of the harvest, that the husbandman must work before he receives the harvest. It's not just that he must be the first one who partakes. He must work before he partakes. Included in this picture is that of patience. There's no one in this room that has planted a garden one day and harvested it the next day. You don't plant a vineyard one day and pick grapes the next day. You don't plant plum trees one week and pick plums the next week.

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• No, there is a time of waiting. There is patience for that crop to mature. That's why the Bible says in Galatians 6 and verse 9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." And of course in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 13 he says, "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing." So you cannot expect a harvest without working, and you cannot expect a harvest without patience.

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• So here is what God is saying: if you want to know whether or not you are strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ, if you want to know whether or not you are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, well check yourself. Is there faithfulness as a teacher? Is there hardness as a soldier? Is there discipline as an athlete?

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• And is there patience as a farmer? Judge your life according to these illustrations and you can determine exactly where you are in grace and exactly where you are in the strength of the Lord.

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• Now, let me make some applications. I want you to listen carefully. The last picture the apostle gives us is that of a husbandman or that of a farmer that labors for his crops. I was raised on a farm, and I do know this, that many times farmers need help. We cannot always do everything ourselves. We had as many as 200 folks in one day working on our farms when I was a boy.

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• Of course, things have changed a lot since then, since all the big, heavy machinery is around. But back then, you needed lots and lots of help. So, when you talk about a farmer needing help, that means this: God has given each one of us a talent. God has given each one of us abilities. We have to learn to work together to produce the harvest that God demands and that God wants and that God desires. There's no way in the world that I can do everything by myself. There's no way that Gary can do everything by himself, or Steve, or David, or anyone. We have to have help. So I can plow my garden, and Andrew may plant my garden, and Alice may water it, and pick it, and put it up, but it requires each one of us to do something.

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• So let me show you. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3. I want you to watch. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 beginning there with verse 5, because the Corinthians were fighting over preachers. Some liked Paul, some liked Apollos, some liked Peter, some tried to be a little more spiritual and said, "Well I just like Jesus." Well, watch if you would, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, notice verse 5, Paul asks, "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,

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• but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour." Wow, it doesn't matter whether you plant, doesn't matter whether you water, doesn't matter whether or not you harvest, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. You remember when Ziklag was captured by the enemy, burned with fire, and David had his family there, his wives, his children. He had 600 men.

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• They had their families there. All their wives and children were stolen as well as whatever goods were in that town. And David said that the men were ready to stone him. Of course, he had nothing to do with it. So he inquired of God. He asked God, "Shall I go after them?" God said, "Yes." He said, "Well, I'll recover all." "Yes, you'll recover everything." So everyone was upset because their wives and children were gone. And when they got to one of the rivers, the creeks, 200 out of the 600 men could not go forward because they were so weak from weeping and crying over the loss of their wives and children. So 400 went with David. And the Bible tells us that David recovered everything. He recovered every woman, every wife, every child, everything that was lost, David recovered all. When they were coming back, some of the children of Belial said, "We're not going to give those 200 men that stayed by the river over there, we're not going to give them anything but their wives and their children and that's it."

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• David said, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren. But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." And David made it a rule from then on. So, what he is saying is this: not everybody can fight, some people have to tarry by the stuff, but they are going to part, and they are going to part alike. And that is exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

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• So, let me show you something else. Go back in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter 2. If you want to know how strong you are in the Lord and in the power of His might, if you want to know how strong you are in Christ Jesus and His grace, look what He said in verse 7, "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So what did Paul say?

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• Stop and think about this. Think about these illustrations. And may God give you understanding in all of this. So if we're going to examine ourselves, we have to examine ourselves according to the Word of God. We have to ask ourselves, are we willing to be faithful teachers? Are we willing to endure hardness as soldiers? Are we willing to discipline ourselves as athletes? Are we willing to be patient as a farmer? How willing are we? How willing are we? The way to judge yourself is not by some man or by some man's standards, but by the Word of God. For the Bible says in Galatians 6 and verse 16, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." And the word "rule" as I've told you before is the Greek word kanon, which means a measuring stick, a measuring rod. So he says, as many as walk according to this measuring stick, this measuring rod, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God.

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• So we have to examine our lives in light of the Word of God. And we can examine our lives in light of these illustrations that Paul has given us, that of a teacher, that of a soldier, that of an athlete, and that of a farmer. And we can look at our lives and compare and consider and determine whether or not we are strong or weak in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of God and His might. Let's pray. Father, we do ask you in the name of Jesus Christ for your grace and help and mercy and truth. And Lord, we do pray that you would make us strong. Help us, Lord, to be faithful as teachers. Help us, Lord, to be enduring hardness as good soldiers. Help us to be disciplined as athletes and patient as farmers. Give us grace, Lord, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:18:39Z