How Can
I Persevere?
April
5, 2006
Pastor
Matt Black
Midweek
Service
2 Timothy
2:1-5
Discipleship: Let’s review our discipleship
questions… (For our purposes you do not need to memorize the references.)
What are the Ten Commandments of God’s moral law?
(Quote them.)
Catechism
Questions
Q1. Who is the first and best of beings?
A. God is the first and best of beings.
Q2. What is the chief end of man?
A. To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
Q3. How do we know there is a God?
A. The light of nature in man and
the works of God plainly declare that there is a God, but His Word and Spirit
only do effectually reveal Him unto us for our salvation.
Q4. What is the Word of God?
A. The Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the
only infallible rule of faith and obedience.
Open your
Bibles tonight to 2 Timothy 2:1-13. Tonight we are going to take a detour
from our Baptist Catechism series. The
title of tonight’s message is “How Can I Persevere?” I could have also titled it negatively “How
to Keep Yourself from Quitting.”
2 Timothy 2:1-13
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 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. 3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ. 4 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. 5
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not
crowned, except he strive lawfully. 6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 7 Consider what I
say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the
seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: 9 Wherein I suffer
trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not
bound. 10 Therefore
I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the
salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 It is a faithful saying:
For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:
if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny
himself.
Illustration: Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour de
France cycling victories—7 in a row!—it is amazing the physical punishment he
put himself through. Most
of the year he was training in the most difficult weather conditions—cycling up
mountains up hill in the freezing rain.
How did he do it? He had one
motto: “Pain is temporary; Quitting is forever.”
Introduction: It is easy to
become discouraged—to become fainthearted.
We wonder if it’s even worth the effort.
Perhaps you are thinking seriously about changing your occupation—maybe
you want to go to outfitter’s school to become a guide in
How can we endure the fight of this life? How can we persevere for the sake of Jesus
Christ?
2 Timothy 2:1-13
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 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. 3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ. 4 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. 5
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not
crowned, except he strive lawfully.
A good minister always preaches by WORD and then by EXAMPLE. The promise of life that Jesus gives is to
OVERCOMERS. This perseverance in the
faith and the work of the Gospel that we are all in, is not to be painfully
endured, but with joy and increasing strength.
This evening we come to a very simple text. There are very simple directions and
forthright instructions. We can
summarize this text under four headings.
Paul’s word to Timothy was “Don’t quit!” We find ourselves in the battle in whatever
place God has put you. God’s Word to us
is “Don’t quit.”
I. LOOK TO CHRIST!!
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus.
Your strength will come from Christ! BE Strong—the command is the
declaration of God’s will, for what God commands is His will. It is His will for us to be strong. Don’t quit! How? By being strong! How can we be strong? It is our obligation and duty to make our
will conformed to His. Be strong in the
grace that is in Christ. Our personal intensity and urgency. There is no slacking here. The Lord doesn’t tell us to do our best to be
strong or to TRY to be strong. He just
flat out commands us to be strong.
Illustration (Joshua): Perhaps you are discouraged at your job. Joshua had a huge job offer. Moses said, Hey, guess what? You are going to lead the children of
Deuteronomy 31:7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all
This perseverance is not only necessary, but it is also possible.
How can we be strong? You
might as well tell me to be tall. I have
no power to be tall. You can command me
all day to be tall, but I cannot increase my stature. It seems to be an impossible demand that the
Lord has for us. I don’t have the
ability to be strong—it seems to be an unreasonable demand.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We are to be strong by means of the grace
that is found within the sphere of Christ Jesus. Here is the secret of strength. This command cannot be obeyed by desire
alone. I have the desire to be strong,
but that desire will not enable me to obey the command. I cannot obey the command by stirring myself
up. It’s not generated by will
power. This command is only obeyed only
through FAITH. Grace comes by looking to
Christ Jesus in FAITH!!
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.
The context of the above verse was Paul’s conclusion about living
in poverty and living in luxury. He
could do both. He had the power to live
in poverty depending on the Lord, and live in luxury depending on the
Lord. He was not bitter in poverty, nor
was he proud and self-sufficient in luxury.
We can do all things through Christ!!
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might.
This power is Christ-supplied.
How simple that is. The text is
very clear. It is by means of grace—that
is it is given by GOD!! That power is to
be found in Jesus Christ. How do we get
it? By believing God. Believe God!
Love God. You will have
strength. If you are struggling with
despair, you need to stop looking at the waves around you and look to Christ!
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by
sight.
Look at Matthew 14:23-33
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was
now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth
watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for
fear. 27 But
straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not
afraid. 28 And
Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the
water. 29 And
he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the
water, to go to Jesus. 30
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his
hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt? 32
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that
were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son
of God.
We draw from grace when we fix our minds upon Christ. If we have a mind set fixed upon Christ, we
will not faint!
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is
stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
What did Christ say to His disciples before He was betrayed? Before the greatest trial
in the history of the universe—the crucifixion of the Son of God?
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
Fix your mind on Christ!
All your might should fix on Him!
Our weakness comes, our strength fails, discouragement sets in, we begin to despair when we become conscious of the things
that are against us. When
we look at the time that is working against us. We look at what we think we should be and
realize you’re not there, and you’ll never get there! That’s when we get discouraged. Fix your mind on Christ! If you are still hanging on to aspirations,
then you are fixing your eyes on something other than Christ.
There seems to be failure at other turn. We get so taken over by what we see. All of those things that
are coming at us from the outside.
It’s so easy to be weak, but we are commanded to be strong.
Get your heart fixed on Christ!
Be strong!
Resolving to be strong is one thing. Knowing how to be strong is something
else.
II. ENDURE HARDNESS
(hardship)
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Some of you know first hand what it is to be a soldier.
A soldier involves a life of
This is the command for every soldier. Battles are grueling.
Soldiers are not enlisted to ease—they are enlisted to
hardship! We sing the song—
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?
Are you looking for a life of ease? The cause of the Lamb causes us to
FIGHT! Endure the battle. There’s going to be hardships and
difficulties. That’s all part of the
Christian life.
But it is a blessing to know as well that this endurance is not
only for the individual soldier, but for the whole platoon.
Illustration: War is ugly. Not long ago I saw a news report with three
or four soldiers from
All of us that are enlisted in this army of the Lord, a
soldier of the Cross. The hardships are going to be distributed
right through the ranks, but none the less, we feel them by ourselves. Our fellow soldiers may sometimes be out of
site, but we are never a one man army; we are never alone.
The feelings of isolation give us the strong temptation to
quit. We feel like we are by
ourselves. We feel so
insignificant! What can I really
accomplish anyway? Yet we are NEVER
ALONE. Fellow soldiers may be out of
sight, but the commander never abandons.
Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
3. REMEMBER YOUR DUTY
(CALLING)!
4 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.
We must focus on the duty before us. Focus on the call. Avoid the distractions of life. This is a dangerous environment! He cannot be distracted! You see there may not be constant battle, and
it is a temptation get intrigued with some distraction.
Illustration: When did George Washington cross the
There are no holidays for the Christian soldier!
. 4 No man that warreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life
The word “warreth” has the idea of
serving as a soldier. It does not mean
that he’s in the midst of the battle. He
may be training, he may be in the barracks, he may be
in the mess hall. The enemy can come at
any time! Where’s your focus?
Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
No matter where you are, you can never let your guard down. You avoid all your worldly cares. Personal desires and interests must be set
aside or they will distract from your calling.
It will put not only your life, but the life of others in jeopardy. We must focus upon our duty, our cause in
which we are battling.
that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier.
The end that we are seeking to achieve is to PLEASE GOD!!
We must be consumed and overwhelmed with the will of the
Commander. We want to hear His
well-done. Every thing we need, He will supply.
He will not send us out on our own.
who hath chosen him to be a
soldier.
Do you realize that God has chosen you for this battle. God knows your beginning and your end
right?
Hebrews 12:2 tells us he is the author and finisher of our faith!
Our duty is to please Him and obey Him.
4. Die to SELF! (BE DISCIPLINED)!
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.
The one that strives for the games. The one
who is an athlete. There is the
discipline. You give up things that others
may eat. Athletic fitness doesn’t “just
happen.” You have to work for it. The
desire for the crown becomes so overwhelming that you have a willingness to
endure all of the training, and all of the exercise.
Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Hebrews 12:1 Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith;
Conclusion: Don’t Quit! Here’s a poem I’ve often read. The author is unknown, but the truth is well
founded!
When things go wrong as they sometimes will.
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill.
When funds are low and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit.
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about.
When he might have won had he stuck it out:
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far:
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
Be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and don’t ever, ever quit!!
Closing Hymn: 333 Open Our Eyes Lord