2 Timothy 2:1-2 // Round Five // Ben Stuart

Welcome back. This is round five of 20 days in 2 Timothy, and we are in chapter two. So let’s read together chapter two beginning in verse one. And it says this. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you’ve heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others, also.

It’s interesting, I teach a Bible study of our team leaders and I’ve done it for years in my life, and I love to ask them at some point, why are we doing this? Why are we sitting in this living room? Why am I teaching you the Bible? And I would ask you that. Why are you doing this? Why? Why are we doing this together? Why do you go to church? Why are you studying along with me? What are we doing here? What’s the goal? 

Well, what’s fascinating is Paul here is going to give us a glimpse into one of the major reasons why we are currently doing what we do here. And we’re going to see it in verses one and two. Verse one, he says. you then my child be strengthened by the grace that’s in Christ Jesus. The then there points you upward. Why does he need to be strengthened? Well, he just told you. There are people who are abandoning a commitment to Jesus, and there’s others who are willing to take the hit to associate with him. And then he flips and the you here is emphatic. And you, Timothy, you make the decision to step into the game and be strengthened by the grace that’s in Christ Jesus. But I want you to notice that. He’s calling Timothy into the game. I want you to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and where’s there’s suffering, I want you to take the hit. But notice how he tells him to do it. There’s no shaming. He calls him my child again. You’re loved, Timothy. And he uses a passive here. Be strengthened, Timothy, to start on this great campaign. Start in a passive posture of receiving strength. 

That’s where we begin our life. The Christian is not someone who musters up a stoic sense of righteousness to the person who admits their weakness. That’s where our gospel begins. I am weak. He is strong. So be strengthened. How? The instrument is the grace. The kindness of God. Not shaming, but love. Draws strength every day from the kindness that’s available to you in the sphere of Christ Jesus. That everyday, you and I have the opportunity to dwell in the word of God, to be filled out by the spirit of God and comforted by the inexhaustible grace of our King Jesus. Start there. And Timothy, once you got that, now, what you’ve heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, in trust, to faithful men, will be able to teach others also. 

He told Timothy previously, this word of God, this precious message about life that’s available from death. Timothy, I want you to hold it. I want you to guard it. And now he says, I want you to entrust it like a quarterback in the middle of a difficult day. You might take a hit, but you grab that ball, tuck it in close, and deliver it to someone who can take it further than you. That’s the idea here. That Timothy, I have passed along to you the words of God. Now it’s your job to pass it onto the next generation.

Do you think this is something that matters to God? Deuteronomy, over and over again in the law, we’re told parents pass along this law to your children. Older priests were told to train the younger as an obligation. And Jesus Christ, when he began his ministry, he spent the majority of his time with 12 men. That I have to have you with me so I can entrust into you this message so you can scatter and get it out. And this methodology of taking the word of God and entrusting it to faithful and able people who will share it with others, was Jesus’ strategy to spread the gospel. And now billions of people around the globe associate themselves with Jesus. Why? Because this strategy works. It’s one of the main reasons we’re here. We get this word in us, and then we entrust it to others. And so when I teach my young men, I tell them, that’s what I’m doing to you. I don’t want you to just get this. I want you to get this and deliver it to whoever God puts you in front of. 

And yet notice where it says to spend your time. With those who are faithful and able. Reliable means they keep showing up. That they want to learn the Bible. We should share the gospel with everybody, but they’ll be people that don’t want it. But if there’s someone that really wants to learn about God, that has sincere questions, that wants to grow. Spend more time with them. Jesus spent more time with the disciples than anyone else because he knew you’re faithful, you’re reliable, you’re here and you’re able. You’re not just here because you’ve got nothing else to do. You’re able to teach others also. You have a gifting, I see, and you’re worth investing in. 

I remember for me, when I started in youth ministry, I did put a lot of youth pastors did. I would chase the popular kids. Oh, if they just came to Jesus, how influential would they be? And yet I realized a lot of them just didn’t want him. And I read this passage and it broke my heart because I realized I’m not looking for the two criteria Paul told us to prioritize. Reliable and able people. And I showed up in my ministry and there were three high school kids there that they were showing up every week at church. They were serving and I just didn’t spend a lot of time with them because I hate to say this, I didn’t think they were as cool, maybe. But God broke my heart. These kids wanted. Invest in them. And I changed the way I lived life. And I started going to coffee with these guys studying the Bible together, reading them and one of them. He became a mentee and then became a dear friend. And even recently, now he contacted me because he’s preaching second Timothy at his church. 

The longer you stay in ministry, the greater it gets because you get to see this wake of blessing come out behind you. That I take what was entrusted to me, and I entrust it to you, you entrust it to others. And as I live my life, a wake of good comes behind me if I hold fast to this word and deliver it to others who can deliver it to others. William Tenet was a preacher in America in the 1700s who was boring. His church tried to get him fired multiple times they were so bored by his sermons. But they couldn’t fire him because he’s Presbyterian. Presbyterian wouldn’t let him. But he would build these little log cabins in the back of his home, and he would teach the Bible to young men. And those young men would leave and they would start churches all across America, and they would build little log cabins in their backyards. And people would make fun of William Tenet and his little log cabin college. But his log cabin college became Princeton and 67 other universities spread out across America. Why? Because people got a fire to hear the word of God, get it delivered into them, and entrust it to others. 

You want to live a life of meaning and purpose? This is the only word that will endure. And one of the reasons we do this, is to get this into us and by the strength of the grace of Jesus, deliver it to the next generation. 

So I don’t know what occupies your time nowadays, but I want to challenge you as you consider your future. Does it involve entrusting the word of God to the next generation? The Psalmist prayed it. Even when I’m old and gray. Lord, don’t forsake me till I deliver your word to those who are to come. And so ask yourself, what might it look like to be someone who takes up this call that by the strength of Jesus, deliver the words of Jesus to the next generation. It’s the best way to live life. I’m cheering you on. I’m praying for you. I’ll see you next time.