Pass It On
Paul said in Romans 12, Condescend to men of low estate. God has chosen the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the wise. For the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men and the weakness of God is mightier than men.
Paul was ordained of God with the ministry of an Apostle. As he approached the end of his life, Paul said to his “son in the faith” Timothy, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
When we divert our eyes from following Jesus Christ, we will be caught up in the affairs of this world. Paul continued in 2 Timothy 1:8, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, 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;
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus…
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Paul knew that he was approaching the end of his earthly life and ministry. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul passed the torch of the light of truth to his protege and son in the faith. As Timothy’s mentor and coach, Paul trained him up in God’s truth… to grow up into the man of God for the purpose God intended. Holding fast the sound word that we have heard and witnessed in others, is secured in believing faith, activated by the love of Christ in us.
Paul continued his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 with four illustrations. A Man of God is a teacher of truth, a soldier in the spiritual battle, an athlete in a spiritual completion, and a farmer…. One who sows the seed of the word, waters and tends the crop and, reaps good fruit at harvest time.
2 Timothy 2:2 says, 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.
How do you teach others? How do you commit that which you’ve learned to the next generations? The growth of the church the body of Christ grows exponentially…. Raised to power of 4…. Four Generations to come. To yourself, your children, and your children’s children, and to your children’s children’s children.. Jesus rarely spoke to the multitudes. He had twelve disciples and an inner circle of three men. The question is, who are your twelve and who are your three. 4M is four men, discipling each other in the love of God and the power of God raised to the exponential power of 4.
How do you teach those with whom you associate? You teach by your actions…. As the old poem says, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way.” James said, you say you have faith? Your faith is demonstrated by your actions.
Paul continued his letter to Timothy in verses 3-4, Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
God called his men of God to the front lines of the spiritual battle. The soldier spends his time training for the battle. No soldier in active duty entangles himself with the affairs of this world, that he may please him who has called him and appointed him to be a soldier.
Then in verse 5, Paul likens the calling of a man of God to training for an athletic competition: And if a man also strive for masteries (of the competition,) yet is he not crowned, (with a victory wreath) except he strive lawfully. An athlete must compete according to the rules of the game or he will be disqualified. As spiritual athletes, we must compete, striving according to the righteous standard of God’s spirit…. The spirit of truth… Christ in you the hope of glory.
If we fail to keep the rules and stumble and fall, then we fall into the net of God’s grace…. For if we sin, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In verse 8, Paul compares the man of God to a farmer: The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Paul had said before, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. When the seed of the word of God you sow falls on the good ground of a receptive heart, it will bear much fruit… some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundred fold. There is no glory in the one who sows, plants and waters…. The glory is in God who gives the increase.
If life on earth is a race, the winning is not in finishing first place, but in finishing well…. At the end of his life, Paul handed his ministry to Timothy. Paul’s legacy was that whatever he did, he did all for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul’s benediction is in 2 Timothy 4:6-8:
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
May this also be our own benediction…. That we may live not for our own glory, but to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
