Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20120916.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
2 Timothy: God's Directives For Church Leaders Amid Hardships
Part V: God's Plan For Successful Discipling Amid Ministry Hardships
(2 Timothy 2:2-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. We may know how to use God's gracious provisions for spiritual strength in ministry under hardship (last week's lesson), but, due to the great stresses that often pile up on God's human servant in ministry, we also need to know His plan for us to succeed in discipling others while we face such hardships.
    2. 2 Timothy 2:2-7, a passage God has wonderfully used in helping me in my trials in Christian service, very clearly, concisely and wonderfully clarifies God's plan for successful discipling amid ministry hardships:
  2. God's Plan For Successful Discipling Amid Ministry Hardships, 2 Timothy 2:2-7.
    1. After directing Timothy to be strong in ministry by utilizing the gracious resources supplied in Christ Jesus, resources we learned in our last lesson were itemized in 2 Timothy 1:3-18, Paul directed Timothy to the core goal of his pastoral ministry in 2 Timothy 2:2 (as follows):
      1. What Timothy had heard of Paul among many witnesses he was to "entrust" (paratithemi, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 628) to faithful men to teach others, 2 Timothy 2:2.
      2. This implies several steps: (a) Timothy was himself to dwell on Scripture versus man-authored ideas, 1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 4:2; (b) he was to "entrust" that Scripture to other men, teaching it to them, 2 Tim. 2:2; (c) Timothy was to focus his energies most on "faithful" men and (e) have them teach other men.
    2. However, one can get disillusioned in this effort due to spiritual trials, tempting him to fail at God's assignment, so wonderful guidelines for succeeding in the work are given in 2 Timothy 2:3-7 as follows:
      1. God's servant must stay focused on the 2 Timothy 2:2 core goal of his calling, 2 Timothy 2:3-4:
        1. The servant of God facing ministry hardships is a spiritual soldier in a spiritual war, 2 Timothy 2:3.
        2. As such, he must stay focused on Christ's discipling assignment versus letting himself get distracted by Biblically neutral but side issues or trials "of this earthly life," ( bios, Ibid., p. 141), 2 Tim. 2:4.
      2. God's servant must stay upright in his discipling methods, 2 Timothy 2:5: Paul's call that Timothy be like a man who contends lawfully in athletic games to win the prize reveals the need for God's servant to function in Biblically correct methods if he would gain God's approval in his work.
      3. God's servant must heed God's ongoing experiential evaluations of his ministry efforts, 2 Tim. 2:6:
        1. Paul claimed that the "laboring" (kopiao, Ibid., p. 444) "farmer" (georgos, Ibid., p. 156) of necessity must (dei , Ibid., p. 171) be the first one to partake of the crops, cf. Deuteronomy 20:6; Proverbs 27:18; Wm. Hendriksen, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles (NTC), 1974, p. 249).
        2. Applied to Timothy's effort, Paul held that if Timothy worked well in his ministry of the Scriptures and exampling, he would be the first party nurtured by God in His Word, and he would see others favorably respond to his efforts, and enjoy their responsive appreciation that would arise in various encouraging realms, including the realm of financial remuneration, Ibid.; Psalm 62:12.
        3. The discipler can thus continually evaluate his efforts from God's perspective by heeding God's ongoing experiential signals: if he is being blessed of God in his own life and others are responding well to his ministry, God signals he is doing what God wills. However, if he is not thus blessed, he must reevaluate his efforts in light of 2 Timothy 2:2-6 and make the necessary Biblical corrections.
      4. Wonderfully, 2 Timothy 2:7 asserts that if God's servant does not initially understand what 2 Timothy 2:2-6 teaches, if he reflects on it, God will give him understanding in all (pas, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 733; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 636-639) of it! (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 2 Tim. 2:7) There is no excuse for not knowing how to disciple -- God sees to it if we simply study His Word!
Lesson: God's core goal for his servants facing ministry trials is that they teach Scripture truth to other faithful men who will in turn teach it to other faithful men. To succeed at this, God's servant must stay focused on this core goal, he must minister uprightly as to methods and heed God's experiential signals on how well he is doing, assured God will clarify His leading if he simply reflects on 2 Timothy 2:2-6!

Application: May we heed 2 Timothy 2:2-7 for blessed success in discipling during ministry hardships.