II Timothy 2:1-15
Audio of this message at the end of the text.
Paul writes to Timothy to help him stay on track.
Verse one says, "So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me...." What had Timothy already heard?Audio of this message at the end of the text.
See the basic teaching in verses 11-13.
"If we die with Christ, we'll live with him.
If we stick it out with him, we'll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he'll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up--
for there's no way he can be false to himself."
Next, in verse 14 Paul is clear that we are not to argue over small points. My father was working in Illinois as a pastor and was told by a man, "the problem in the town is right there." My father thought he was pointing to a saloon or a strip joint but the man was pointing to a Christian church of a different denomination. It is a waste of our valuable time, Paul says, to fight over small things as long as we agree that Jesus Christ is our personal savior and the savior of any individual who invites Christ into his or her heart. That is the gospel we are to teach and live out in our lives.
Look at verse 15 to see how we are to live out our faith in Christ. It says, "Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple."
A glance back at verse 6 shows us that Paul does not expect us all to be preachers. We are all to work at the thing we do best and all work can be done to bring glory to God. And, when we bring glory to God we attract the attention of our co-workers, our boss, our customers and our family. We attract positive attention because our lives are being lived by putting others first. When we strive to stay close to God, we teach the gospel with our lives.
