|
Author
|
Topic: ENDURE HARDSHIP
|
Eden
unregistered
|
posted
2Ti 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Very nice. I'll lay me down with my head on my helmet and dream of home and the world-to-come.
love, Eden
IP: Logged | 
|
|
Found in Him
Advanced Member
Member # 7596
|
posted
Here Eden, Let me shorten it up a bit just for you so you don't get so weary on us...
2Ti 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
--------------------
~To Him That is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy...to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.~ Jude 24
Posts: 1503 | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Eden
unregistered
|
posted
dear Found in Him, when you post something this long, you encourage my tendency to go look for something to "jot and tittle" on. However, what I read of it, it was a good article.
Eden
IP: Logged |
|
|
Found in Him
Advanced Member
Member # 7596
|
posted
ENDURE HARDSHIP 2 Timothy 2:1-7
Mike Finizio
Be Strong in the Grace v. 1
Paul had just written about the need for true loyalty in the previous chapter Timothy was to be loyal to the Lord Jesus, loyal to the sound doctrine of God’s grace, and loyal to Paul how was this loyalty to come about? through the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
this is why Paul used the word, “Therefore”; be strong in the grace this strength doesn’t refer to physical strength; it is a reference to inward spiritual strength that has a divine origin: from the grace or favor of God‘be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus’: how does one do this?
-the faith and courage to endure hardships and continue to walk that narrow pathway after Christ can only be obtained through God’s grace.
it is grace that is found ONLY in Christ Jesus; it has no other source and the only way to get this kind of grace is to repent of your sins and humble yourself to come into the kingdom of God through faith in Christ. Paul writes about this inward strengthening in the epistle to the Ephesians:
Eph 3:14-21
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. NKJV
Be Steadfast to Disciple Others in Sound Doctrine this inward strength through the grace that is in Christ Jesus was to be the source of steadfastness in discipling others. Timothy had been with Paul for years now; he had been discipled by Paul through life experiences
-he had heard first hand the way Paul had ministered to the believers; he had understood the pattern used by Paul to reason with the detractors. now that Paul is in prison and soon to be executed, he pleads with Timothy to commit that sound doctrine to others the word commit includes the idea of a trust; in other words one is taking that which is very valuable and entrusting it to faithful men part of their faithfulness is in how they will be able to teach others.
this is how the faith is passed down: discipleship, time spent in teaching and instruction, walking alongside others through life laying down that pattern
ENDURE HARDSHIP AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST VV. 3-7
Therefore Endure Hardship
once again Paul uses the word ‘therefore’; what he is about to say is based upon Timothy drawing upon the grace of God to be strengthen inwardly
’to endure hardship’: it is one word in the Greek, which means ‘to endure hardship together with someone else’in other words, Timothy, join with me in the enduring of hardships that are inevitable in the spiritual warfare of the believer.
the Roman soldier was a prime example of an individual having to suffer alongside his fellow soldiers in the service to the Roman Empire how much more should those who serve the King of kings endure hardship!there will be hardships that come to those who follow Christ
those who teach that the believer will never face hardships if he has enough faith are false teachers they set up their listeners for discouragement and confusion.
notice that Paul also uses the word ‘must’; it is part of the calling to fellowship in the sufferings of Christ
Phil 3:10-11
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. NKJV
Three Examples from Life
Armed Forces v. 4
the one goal for every soldier is to be faithful to do his or her part to protect their country even if it means the loss of their life there is the need for the highest discipline to keep the focus because there are so many distractions in the civilian life around them one distraction just at the wrong time could mean the loss of life, either your own or of those in your troop.
it is the overall goal that causes one to endure this hardship as a soldier if one has the wrong goal all the suffering is in vain; if there is no goal at all, then the suffering and discipline are in vain.
Athletics v. 5
we are very familiar with the Olympic disciplines of our day; the many hours of training, the strict regimen of diet, exercise, weights, etc.
if there are performance enhancing substances that are found after testing, they are disqualified, either before they even start or are stripped of their medals afterward but here is how they trained back in those days:
“The Greek athlete was required to spend ten months in preparatory training before the contest. During this time he had to engage in the prescribed exercises and live a strictly separated life in regard to the ordinary and lawful pursuits of life, and he was placed on a rigid diet. Should he break training rules, he would, in the words of the A.V., be a castaway (1 Cor 9:27 , adokimos, “disqualified,” barred from engaging in the athletic contest.”
Jesus is our role model for endurance
Heb 12:1-4
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Agriculture v. 6
the reward for all the hard work and long hours put in by the farmer is in seeing and partaking of the harvest there is a difference between daily grace and reward at the end there are times in this life when we get to see some of the results of our labors in the Lord.
maybe it’s the repentance and conversion of that soul we have prayed for; maybe it’s finally the ability to come out of financial hardship maybe it’s finding that employment that suits your skills to the tee. these aren’t rewards for your faithfulness in the sense of it being the end of the race or the partaking of the harvest
-that comes at the end when we breathe our last and are brought by the angels into the presence of the Lord Jesus
Think on These Things v. 7
notice there is a sowing by remembering on our part and then there is an impartation of grace from the Lord to come to deeper understandings
Matt 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” NKJV
if we don’t lay up the Word of God in our hearts through daily reading and memorizing of important passages, we will be the one’s who suffer. the Lord is poised to give us wisdom and understanding
but when we don’t take the time to look into His Word, the Bible, then we are opening ourselves to take our own feelings and notions and life experiences as the basis for truth
--------------------
~To Him That is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy...to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.~ Jude 24
Posts: 1503 | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
