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00:00:00 today scripture reading is from 2 Timothy chapter 2 ver 1 to se you Then my son Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many Witnesses and trust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others join with me in suffering like a good sold of Christ Jesus No one as a soldier gets entangled in civilian Affairs But rather tries to please his commanding officer similarly anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the vict
00:00:44 crown except by competing according to the rules the hard working farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops reflect on what I am saying for the Lord will give you insight into all this This is the word of God brothers and sisters gives me great pleasure to introduce our speaker for this morning He is Pastor Louis ag and some of You might know him He is Actually the pastor of the Filipino congregation who worships regularly at the Transit lounge past Louis came to Malaysia 9 years
00:01:28 ago for work and the Lord laid upon his heart to start a congregation for his fellow countrymen and a lot of them are Actually foreign workers living here in Malaysia It was a very important work you know and for n years the blessing of fbc he grew a congregation of up to Uh 30 people you know regular worshippers prior to the pandemic even managing to start a second service somewhere in K This is important because as you can imagine you know a lot of them who works overseas are typically far away from
00:02:08 home from their families for long periods of time um and Pastor Louis was able to minister Uh to these people Uh as with a of sadness that I am calling him up um because he is leaving us for Good So after 33 years working in the secular world He's decided to call it the day retire right and Uh when I was talking to him earlier on he says he aspired to live Uh a simple life right Uh and and that's very admirable because you know in red race of the world that we live in you know saying No to the world right Uh is quite a challenge but
00:02:50 He's decided to do So and with his wife Uh Marian They are both going to leave us um to go to head back to the Philippines where you know I Heard That Uh he aspires to plant a a garden you know I don't know whether he has got green fingers or not okay but one thing is for sure Although he has stopped his secular work right the work of the kingdom continues for him he says he will continue to plant and s the seed of The Gospel Uh which I'm sure the Lord through him will bless many um you know we like to show our appreciation to
00:03:28 Pastor Louis for his work and to his come [Palakpakan] as Mar Mar so that we and Oh good We have a small token for past to say a few right I get my fellow elder arold to come up and get ready to pray for this wonderful couple Well I will say everything in my in my in my message Okay so I will do that all right All right so I ask to pray for them Let's pray Lord we are sent tr that going back and we Thank you for the Ministry here in MBC faitfully ministering to the Filipinos we pray for P G and wife
00:04:44 Marian as they go back that in the new season of their life in Philippines whatever they do we ask that they sense Your Presence that they are known to you and you know them and whatever they do we are that they will prosper your kingdom for you right now for us We in fbc have a responsibility we have to ask ourselves for the Filipinos in mids they are our kakin Lord we ask that we don't just say this with our lips but we Say this with our heart we ask ourselves a question Where would they go if they are
00:05:27 simulated back to us in the main service and we say the are kaki are we just going guiltily just say hi and walk away or we going to consciously say they are they are our family so this are hard questions we been following the last few weeks and we ask you speak to our hearts Lord and so this morning we G Thank You For once again for pasa and maran Ministry here and we ask as the att what you say Jesus name we Say this am Thank you Good morning church How are you today I hope this will not be the last
00:06:43 message I will be Sharing with you all especially for to the Filipino congregation here in first Baptist Church subang Jaya My secular job here in Malaysia has ended and we will be leaving very soon if the Lord permit We will stay in the Philippines for good and I believe that God has a purpose to retire me in my career life now that I am already in my Senior age but I also believe that as a worker in his vineyard He is not retiring me from The Lord's work right surely God is directing me to dedicate the rest of my life in another
00:07:24 Ministry to a place where I could continue to serve him with my wife and so I would like to thank the Lord for the opportunity given me through the first Baptist Church in order to minister to pelo Filipinos in Malaysia and to their families for a total of n9 years and 3 months and I encourage everyone especially the leadership of this church in collaboration with the leaders of the Filipino Ministry to continue the mission for the Filipinos in Malaysia for the last 9 years Let me know how to operate
00:08:10 this okay for the last 9 years by the grace of God We have seen how the Ministry grew from a bond of attend to a bigger congregation by focusing on evangelism and discipleship God even extended the ministry in Kuala Lumpur which led us to a regular afternoon worship service from 2017 2019 until the Rise of the covid pandemic and meeting face to face came to a halt many Filipinos had lost their job and Had to go home but The Salvation that God offers by his Grace and Wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit the remnants of the Filipino
00:09:06 Ministry envision to continue an outreach through Zoom to their families in the Philippines and several areas Where they lived kids Youth and parents discipleship and Fellowship ministries were established there was a regular once a week and twice a month discipleship meeting for every Ministry during the time and then December of last year these ministries formed in the philippineshead the task of finding indigent families and the respective areas whom they could minister to and with the financial support of the
00:09:45 members of the Filipino Ministry in Malaysia Christmas food packages and gospel trucks were given to almost 6060 Families after the pandemic these kids Youth and parents were C to a nearby Christian churches Although some still join the Fb live worship service Every Sunday before leaving Malaysia together with my wife while waiting for God's leading to a specific Ministry I want to share this message with you hoping that it will motivate will encourage will strengthen all believers and Christian leaders to continue the
00:10:27 work God has started not not only for the Filipinos but for every Ministry we have been called to serve him and from the verses that we have read We will expound every verse every praise and learn how Paul motivates Timothy to be strong to set things order in the church which is the main message in paul's first epistle to him and in the second epistle Paul to strengthen Timothy because he's doing his duty for the Christians in ephesus Timothy had to run into some tremendous opposition and was weakening
00:11:13 Timothy Was Young fighting all kinds of battles in his own personal life Battles of his own holiness and purity and some were saying that he was too young to be a leader He was going through a time in his life when he was not functioning as it should be he had fallen into weakness and so the heart of this w epel comes to us in the second chapter with the words in verse one Be strong that's really What Paul wants to say to Timothy in this chapter in fact It's really the the whole idea of the second
00:11:53 letter now the little praise Be strong means in the Greek language it would be translated to us keep on being empowered keep us being empowered it's not being strong in your own strength but to allow God's power to flow through you It's like what he says in ephesians 6:10 finally Be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might it's not our own strength that we are strong it is in the strength of the lord you see Paul Paul now is writing the last letter he will ever write he will give his life for the cost of ch of
00:12:34 christ momentarily and so he wants to pass The Baton to Timothy and he doesn't want Timothy to take it in weakness he wants him to be strong Because He knows the church is in the midst of persecution from the Roman government He knows that Timothy is being hit with those who don't want the change that Timothy wants to bring He knows He is young He knows He is by nature a rather timid young man and Paul wants him to be strong This is the same message I want to pass onto the Filipino Ministry and
00:13:13 all believers here with the help of the leadership of this church there are still many Filipinos around that needs the saving Grace of God many churches Slow down not only this Ministry but every church suffered du to the pandemic we need to keep strong the Filipino Ministry will have a void to continue to minister since we have only two young able men at this moment We need support encouragement motivation for those men and women who will be Left Behind to continue the Ministry so we need a strong leadership
00:13:53 We will carry the burden to continue spreading the gospel to our kababayans to our Filipinos in this part of the world the fruit will surely be exponential as every person saved will share the message first to their loved ones and then to their fellow men also notice that in verse one it starts with two words you therefore now the therefore is there to take us back to chapter 1 where he has called Timothy not to be ashamed three times in that chapter he Talks about not being ashamed He's calling for Timothy
00:14:39 to be bold and courageous He's saying you therefore Be strong because of all that I have said and all that God demands and all that God expects be strong Timothy fulfill it all now that is a word of authority you therefore Be strong that's an imperative that's word of of authority and Paul speaks to Timothy with authority but he wonderfully balances it with the little praise my son and that is love that's the Intimacy of Love On the one hand is authority on the other hand is love and Paul is balancing the two you therefore my son
00:15:23 Be strong and there is tenderness in the heart of Paul because there is tenderness in the heart of God And when the Lord God himself would exhort us to be strong authoritatively he would also show his love to us and for us to Remember our Intimacy with him The verse also says Be strong in the in the grace that is in Christ Jesus since we have been United with Christ we are in the spar of Grace we are in the spar of his Grace in the grace empowers us We have been saved by Grace right it says in ephesians
00:16:05 29 Grace is undeserved Grace Is empowers Us Grace is favor given to us God Salvation is given to us apart from any merit any earning and any deserving we were saved by Grace but when we were saved by Grace Grace did not stop so live as I do as a believer in the spar of grace God's Grace is always be being applied to our sin he keeps keeps on cleansing us as promised in 1 John 199 why Because we live in a spar of grace when we were saved by Grace we enter the environment of grace where Grace continues to
00:16:54 operate now Grace operates in two ways one the grace of forgiveness to the grace of power it is God's undeserved unmerited Grace that Grant us the power to serve him just as it's God's Grace that grants us forgiveness so God's Grace Is there for forgiveness and God's Grace Is there for power it is God's Grace applied to my sin it is God God's Grace applied to my service so I live in a spirit of grace I don't deserve to be forgiven and I don't deserve to be used by God right in my own strength I can offer God nothing
00:17:40 in my own strength I can do nothing not by might by power but the Holy Spirit says the Lord So it is Grace that forgives me it is Grace that empowers me I need Grace for constant forgiveness I need Grace for constant power and when I confess my sin to the Lord that Grace of forgiveness cleanses me and makes me useful and the grace of power then enables me to serve him and that What is Paul talking about here the grace that is available to us for service so says Timothy you must be strong you must allow yourself to be
00:18:22 continually being empowered through the grace that is available to you in your Union with Christ but we cannot just Live Like That we don't say to people Be strong or they Go Away somewhat frustrated because they say to themselves I want to be strong But how do I do that and I suppose like many of us have grown up hearing those kinds of exhortations But we do not know how to do it and so the next veres that we have just read is intended to strengthen leaders it is written to a choice leader to help him Be strong in the Ministry
00:19:05 God has given to him so in the next verses Paul gives four pictures for us to realize that we have to leave out these roles in order to be in the place to be strong Paul gives us a vivid imagery that we can easily and say to ourselves that's what i am that's what i am to be and when we begin to be behave like that then we are now in the spere Where God's Grace flows through us to powerful service can you still follow me amen and so Paul says Timothy Be strong and here's How You have to see yourself as a teacher as a soldier an
00:19:55 athlete and a farmer and those are the four that he gives us from ver 2 si and these four pictures portray for us a very clear terms what it means to be a strong believer each of them is intended to convey to us some element of spiritual strength that we need to understand that help us to develop in our mind what it is that I am to be that helps us It gives us a goal to move toward that is chr clear This this are the elements of a strong spiritual life so let us expound one by one this elements of a strong spiritual life so
00:20:40 let's look at the first one Paul says First of all Timothy if you're going to be strong You have to see yourself as a teacher Although it comes at the end of the verse the most important term here is to teach it really describes the point of the whole verse is all about the teacher the picture is a picture of teachers and process again I repeat the picture is a picture of teachers in process Paul saying i t you you teach faithful men in a men who will teach others also it covers four generations
00:21:24 Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others also see yourself as the teacher This is the adm admonition of Paul to Timothy and the motivation for us too the teacher is a living link in a chain that goes all the way back to Jesus Christ and this is the only through apostolic succession you see Jesus thought h he thought is 12 H is 12 t the next generation they t the next generation and the next they t the next in the living ch has gone on and on somebody t me and I'm teaching somebody else and somebody t you and you are to teach
00:22:06 somebody else we are in a living chain that take us link by link all the way back to Jesus so Paul is saying to Timothy Timothy you are in a process It's like a delay race somebody gave you The Baton and youve Got to Give the Bon to somebody else you cannot just Slow down or walk off and worse you cannot stop running you cannot do that you are not in this by yourself you cannot do that you have to realize the effort that has already been put out and the training too much has been invested in you the race has to
00:22:49 keep Going for the Filipino Ministry we cannot do that either we cannot run away we cannot Slow Down we cannot walk away we cannot give up this Ministry we do not have the right We are not in this alone the things which we have heard from the Lord through his word and the very men and women who accepted the saving Grace of Jesus Christ on the cross are the Witnesses that we must commit to faithful men Who then must teach others also so we have to we have to got to keep this thing going It's not
00:23:29 going to stop with me or you either and I don't want to be the broken link it got to keep going we have to pass on what we have been taught and what does it mean we have to pass on what we have been taught What does it mean what do Paul mean when he said in verse 2 about the things which you have heard from me you see the word heard in the original translation is the verb para it I me which means to deposit for safe keeping the noun form of has already been used in 2 Timothy 1 excuse me please Where he Talks about the treasure
00:24:14 in verse 14 which was entrusted to Timothy it's the same word uses there the deposit which was deposited and you so in 2 Timothy 11 he says Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you guard it with the help of the ho Spirit who lives in Us it is also the same thing Paul is talking about in verse 12 that is why I am suffering as I am yet This is no cause for shame because I know whom I have believed and I convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him Until that day What Paul is saying to Timothy is
00:24:55 that the Lord is going to Guard the treasure that was the deposited to him and that he has to guard What He's deposited to him and that is his word the general way What Paul is saying is that the things you heard from me means is the deposit of truth of the revelation of God Which I gave you and then he adds in the presence of many Witnesses this praise is translated supported by the confirming testimony of many In other words Paul is saying I give you the revelation of God and you know it was not just my teaching because
00:25:35 there were many others who confirm it as the word of God that's the idea I give you truth confirm in the mouth of many Witnesses to be the word of God you see Paul as we know was accompanied by many teachers it says in acts 24 He was accompanied by soper son of perus from beria arist cus and secundus from thessalonica Gus from Derby Timothy also and ta kikos and tropos from the province of Asia These are the many teachers who were with Paul and when god spoke to Paul and Paul spoke God's word they affirm that Indeed
00:26:18 it was the word of God And when he was a Pastor in antioch Timothy was one of the many teachers with Paul and there was confirmation of the word of God so Paul is saying the things which you have heard from me not just my ideas but is the word of God confirmed by many Witnesses that's the idea Paul is telling Timothy I am passing it to you it cannot stop there the whole team running through these epistles is that primary responsibility of spiritual leadership is to Guard the truth to protect tr but now we're going to go come to a
00:27:02 second dimension not only to not only to guard it and to protect it but almost ironically to give it away It's too I am to guard its purity I am to maintain its integrity I Am To Be sure that it's never deviated from from or adulterated and I am to it with firmness and at the same time I am to it on on its guarded form to the next generation and so he says back back to verse 2 again entrust this to faithful Men what does he mean by this well King James says the same that is the teaching you got the apostle doctrine entrust it
00:27:49 to faithful men pass it on deposit it for safekeeping there's that word deposit it for safekeeping God deposits his word with us to be guarded keep pure and we deposit it it with someone else intact with no impurity it is a Secure trust Because God has mandated us to pass the truth to the next generation so we have to raise godly leaders if the church is weak It's because its leaders are weak if it's going to be strong it has to have strong leaders in the Lord so we have to build We can't leave the job to somebody else
00:28:32 We want to take choice from young people and produce a generation of fks who will Hold the truth of God and trust in purity that's the vision that's the purpose they exist to Guard the truth Paul then tells us the kind of people that we to pass it look back at verse 2 what kind of people do we pass it to he says give the deposit for safekeeping to faithful men who will be able to teach others also if I have to pour my life or you pour your life to someone who is He is going to be What kind of men I am or you
00:29:15 are looking for First of all faithful men Now you have to be selective he doesn't say give it to anybody and everybody There's a sense in which a preacher preaches to everyone but Paul is going beyond that he is not just saying to Timothy preach the word but he says in 2 Timothy 42 preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebu exhort with great patience and instructions faithful men are those who speaks of their province spiritual character their proven spiritual character trustworthy men men who can be
00:29:59 trusted with the things of God men who are reliable men who are loyal to the word of God this speaks of their spiritual character secondly he says not only are you to invest yourself in faithful men We will be will be able to teach others also or competent to teach those who will in the future be competent to teach so we are investing now in people who in the future will teach some we have to be a teacher maker Timothy has to be a teacher maker that's the role of one who leads in the church we are to invest in
00:30:41 people who have the character in the giftedness to reproduce so Paul says look Timothy as a spiritual leader if you're going to be strong You have to see yourself as a teacher and that means that you must find those are loyal to the truth and able to teach it and pour your life into those people you say well How does that relate to us if we are to be teaching God's word and passing it along We can see that what we are to be also maybe at a different point in life at a different level in the church with
00:31:24 a different function but we are all involved in passing God's word We are all be able to articulate the faith to an unbeliever to nish a new Christian to strengthen a pillow believer in some area where he doesn't understand God's word every One Of Us are called to work hard in the area of passing truth to the next generation find somebody who knows less than you do and teach them what you know find somebody who knows more than you do and learn what they know Let us get into the process be a teacher always Keep in mind what We
00:32:06 teach we retain what we don't teach we forget so let us look at the second one Timothy if you're going to be strong You have to see yourself as a soldier This is a call to recognize that we are a soldier we are in a spiritual war and are called to be at the forefront of battle it Reminds us What Paul mentioned in ephesians 6:10 to 12 to be strong in the Lord in the power of his might take unto you the wool armor of God that you may stand against the schemes of Satan for weel Wrestle not against flesh and
00:32:48 blood and he goes on to describe the Demons host against whom we do battle spiritual conflicts in ephesians Chapter 6 and then describes our armor we are soldiers that is the intent that Paul has in mind for us to understand not just soldiers The verse says we are to be good soldiers that beautiful word good in original word kalos which means noble or excellent we are not just dutiful soldiers we are excellent soldiers we are not just functionary soldiers we are Noble soldiers if you will we are heroic
00:33:32 soldiers Christianity is not a game Christianity is a war but we live in an environment where It's hard to understand that we are at war It is because when we hear the world war We always think some something physical that requires heroism right our society does not demand heroism being a Christian won't alienate us socially in every area it won't keep us from going to universities from getting a good job being a Christians it won't restrict How much income we can have it won't get us thrown in jail and therefore for us to
00:34:14 be heroic in this environment is indeed a difficult thing it would be easier to be heroic in an oppressive persecuted society Where heroism is force On Us that is to be spiritual heroic in the kind of Christianity we experience and so we tend not to even recognize that we are in a Warfare but the Bible says that we are in a spiritual Warfare as ephesians 61 says for our struggle is not against fles and blood but against the rulers against the powers against the world Forces of this Darkness against the
00:34:55 spiritual Forces of wickedness in the Heaven places I remember we had several bible studies since the Ministry started while Sharing the good news of salvation We also learn about the lives and situations of many Filipinos in Malaysia most of the time they share the sad and painful reason why they left their families and chose to work here also their experiences in their work with some mean employers working long hours every day and even working during weekends some are not given up days even on
00:35:35 sundays some are prohibited from using their cellphones and could hardly communicate with their loved ones in the Philippines we encountered many of those attending bible studies were runways absconding from work because of maltreatment overworking and not receiving the salaries on time some decided to run away for freelance jobs to Gain more Freedom to earn more while risking the legality of their employment as some of them have already expired working visas They were always in fear of arrest Wherever They see government
00:36:13 authorities with their situation How will you share the goodness of God to them How will you share that God is loving and his Grace will help them ease their Burden in their lives I am sure Satan is eagerly working and their lives at the same time to bring them away from the Lord so This Is War and that is the battle we have to win we have to be a good soldier to be able to win against the enemy Who wants to get ahead and tries to Sway people from the Lord by questioning him with their sufferings ephesians 6:17 says instruct
00:36:53 us as Soldiers of Christ to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God We are soldiers and we are in a war with the Forces of Hell against whom we Wrestle now being soldier involves several things and are expected to him expected of him now look in verse 3 first thing he says suffer hardship with me or It Could Be translated perhaps best ure affliction together or take your share of suffering In other words look this is a war and we expect that we are going to get our share of
00:37:34 suffering We are going to have our wounds and Our pain it's just how it is in war we need to understand it I think there are people running around Sharing the idea that when you become a Christian Everything is Just perfect that all Jesus wants you to do is come to give your life to him and he will take away all your anxieties all difficulties all trials we seldom hear somebody saying come to Christ and pick up your armor and go to the front line and fight a lifelong war with the spiritual enemies but that's the issue that's the
00:38:17 reality Paul is calling for us to recognize that we are in a war The verse provides a lot of very important perceptions that we must have for example in verse four he mentioned the word active service no Christians are back at the base no Christians are unlisted undrafted untrained un un uniformed or uninvolved we are in the war There's no place but the front line this war only has a front line and we are all in it together and so Paul says we since we are all in active service all the the time and we are all
00:38:59 always on the Battlefront Then we all expect hard times second it is also mention mentioned in verse 4 that he says no soldier in active service entangles himself in the Affairs of Everyday Life That's a very very important thought Paul is not necessarily talking about Evil things He is just talking about the object of our existence some people leave for that stuff whatever it is some people's entire life is all w in trivia nonsense things that Absolutely Don't Matter at all and picture them as soldiers on the
00:39:40 front line in the midst of a battle Playing Games with each other we live in a battle front that demands that we be dis entangled from the stuff of life and luk 9 Do you remember the teaching of our Lord starting in verse 57 as They were going Along The Road someone said to him I will follow you Wherever you go and Jesus said the Foxes have holes the birds have the of the air have Nest the son of man has nowhere to lay it What does this imply Well for the man That's not what was in his mind so He left and Jesus said to another follow
00:40:23 me and the man said permit me first to go and bury my father In other words He was saying my brother has not even died yet I want to hang around to get my inheritance Jesus Jesus said let the Dead bury their own Dead As for you go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God in another said I will follow you Lord But first permit me to say goodbye to those at home and Jesus said to him No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God therefore We better get
00:41:05 the trivia out of our lives very basic a Christian is a soldier at all times a soldier is in active Duty at all times a soldier in active Duty is on the front at all times and should disentangle himself from anything irrelevant that makes him ineffective third at the end of verse 4 he says he does what he does So that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier the one who enlisted him here is the commander in Chief that's what the writer has in mind he does what he does to please this Lord
00:41:52 He is loyal to his Lord like what Paul said serving the lord with all humanity of m and that is what he says in acts 202 but I do not consider my life of an account as to myself so that I may finish my course in the Ministry which iive from the Lord Jesus to testify solly of The Gospel of the Grace of god So paul's desire was to be a faithful steward a loyal Soldier Of Christ as soldiers we do what we do to please our commander It's Jesus Christ of course was the perfect example of whom His Father said I am well please and the
00:42:36 greatest joy of the Soldier would be to hear from his Commander in Chief Well done good and faithful soldier look at the third one Timothy if you're going to be strong You have to see yourself as an athlete so Paul says you are not only a teacher Whose primary job is to guard and pass on truth But you are a soldier and you must understand you are in a war furthermore there's another picture you're an athlete and then he says if you're going to be an athlete There's a basic principle that you must adhere to HE
00:43:17 says you cannot win the price unless you keep the rules and the statement is loaded with instructive information First of all the very essence of Athletics is effort What separates the winners from the losers is not always Talent but it is always effort it not just the effort in the event itself but the effort long before the event ever beg if anyone is going to compete as an athlete there is a tremendous price to pay in terms of discipline in terms of preparation just very basic an athlete wants to win the price and there has to
00:43:58 be a goal in mind the Strong believer then is a competitor who strives to win that's the picture it's the picture of self-discipline it's the picture of self-denial and self-sacrifice and tremendous effort How many times we have seen an athlete run a race and literally at the very peak of their speed come across the penis line and then having totally exhausted all their human abilities fall into a paint and hit the ground having used every ounce of available energy that's the athlete but his effort is
00:44:40 always controlled by one thing his effort is always controlled by one thing if he's going to win the price he has to keep What He was to keep the rules now that goes beyond just the rules of the event so let us get into the Mind of Paul and try to picture What He meant on keeping the rules What is he really saying here Well in the Greek games Olympian games or is mean games there were three prerequisites that every athlete has to fulfill number one he has to be a true born Greek number two he had to prepare
00:45:21 for 10 months and stand before a statue of seos and swear that he had prepared for 10 months and if he had not then he gave Zeus the liberty to take his life thirdly he had to stay within the rules of this event and if he was found not to be a true Greek if it was found that he had not prepared for a 10 full months if it was found that he had in any way violated the rules of this event He was disgraced and instantly disqualified those greeks had to keep the rules the rules of training the rules of birth and
00:46:01 the rules of competition now this describes a professional athlete not an amateure This is one who for 10 months was professionally involved in training for this event the picture then is very clear the Strong believer must be a true born Christian the Strong believer must have train in the matters of self-denial given over himself full time to spiritual training He must be eager to complete to compete He must not be compelled He must be compelled to win He must be motivated by reward and when those things are in
00:46:40 place He's going to be a disciplined competitor the victory belongs to the discipline you know most people never reach their goals never reach their dreams never accomplish what they could accomplish with gift that God has given them because they never learn to discipline themselves to the hard years of effort that it takes to be the best and brothers and sisters I want to tell you Discipline is the mark of spiritual maturity the disciplined person has control of his affection he has control of his emotion he has control of his
00:47:21 moods he has control of priorities that's the disciplined person may the Lord make me the kind of person so Paul says Timothy You are a teacher your job is to pass on truth your soldier recognize you are always in a war and do not be surprised When You suffer expect it thirdly you are an athlet Timothy if it's going to take self denial it's going to take self denial hard work great effort for a long time in a will to win and gain a reward so let us look at the fourth one This Is Where we end the
00:48:03 message Timothy if you're going to be strong You have to see yourself as a farmer finally Paul gives him a forth picture the farmer or Actually the tiller of the ground he says the hard working farmer is a verb which means to work to the point of exhaustion to where yourself out to sweat to strain HE says Timothy You are a farmer and what does the farmer picture mean it pictures A man who works to the point of Total exhaustion in perpetual perpetual Duty not like a soldier who wears the bodes of his courage who knows the glory
00:48:49 of victory not like an athlete Who cares the crown in his head and ends the place where receives the approval of men the farmer he plows and SS and t and rips early and late he fights the cold he fights the heat he fights the rain he fights the drought bugs weeds patiently patiently waits work to see the crop come in and mostly does it all by himself no great excitement no great thrill perpetual monotonous routine that's another part of ministry Ministry is a perpetual routine It's a perpetual Duty you plow you S you tend
00:49:36 you rip you wait you pray you Hope There's no excitement to speak of There's no competition to get your Adrenaline moving it's just hard work Do you agree with me a lot of people are afraid of hard work the things you have to be committed to be successful in the Ministry is a lot of exhausting hard work You toil by yourself all alone and sometimes with other believers sometimes the crops come in the way you Hope and sometimes it doesn't with all the difficulties Why does the farmer do it Why does the
00:50:17 farmer do it it says in verse 6 It is necessary for him to be the first to receive the share of the crops In other words What Paul is saying here look The Man Who work the hardest gets In Line first to get the fruit that's why he does it blessing waits the one who works the hardest you want God's blessing in your Ministry work hard at it be diligent you want to have a life in a Ministry that is blessed of God now and will be also eternally rewarded then work hard work till you're exhausted pour
00:50:59 your life into it so the Strong Christians then see himself as a farmer willing to work hard exhausting himself to see results patient until success comes filled with anticipation of the joy of the fruit Now and Forever Now When verse 7 comes the conclusion Look at it says in 2 Timothy 27 consider what I say Stop at that point for a minute it means to think over to ponder or understand Paul is saying to Timothy Do you understand what I'm saying Timothy think it over think it over now let me have you do that for a
00:51:44 moment will you do that with me let's do it Let us also ponder on what we have heard look at your own life and ask yourself Am I a strong Christian do I devote myself to safeguarding and proclaiming the truth like a tru teacher think about it are you and then ask yourself this do i deny myself to serve my Commander and give my life as a true soldier at any cost Am I always on the Battlefront think about it are you Am I dis entangled with the trivia of this world think about it and then in terms of an athlete ask
00:52:29 yourself this do I discipline myself to succeed in winning the spiritual race do I understand self-denial do I understand self-sacrifice do I understand the effort do I understand that I must oby the word of God and keep the rules or else I will be disqualified Am I an athlete who runs to win think about it I hard working servant of Christ do I sweat in producing a spiritual crop like the true farmer ask yourself that that is what he means when he says consider what I say consider it and then comes in verse 7 at
00:53:15 the end of the verse for the Lord will give you understanding in everything understanding in every respect it means you think about it and Lord will give you the answer you sit back and contemplate contemplate it and he'll show you where you are if you have the spiritual integrity to do an inventory of your life the Lord will show you right where you are He give you understanding he'll Open your mind and listen to this the common thing through all of this is reward the teacher is rewarded in disciple ship the Soldier is rewarded in
00:53:59 victory the athlete is rewarded in winning The Farmer is rewarded in tasting the fruit and so implied in all of this There's something wonderful out there it Reminds us of hebrews 610 it says God is not unjust He will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them is that wonderful the Lord will not forget your labor Be strong in him there is a reward prepared for you prepared by him The King of Kings and The Lord of Lords Let's pray almost gracious God and
00:54:44 loving father We Worship You in our me Thank you for reminding us again of your word father help us to be faithful to this Lord God give us spiritual strength and Power We want to be being continually empowered by means of the Grace that is ours in Christ Jesus but in order to be so we have to commit ourselves to be teachers in whom the word is continually flowing and out from whom it continually flows to others help us to be a good soldier Lord always active to fight The wies of the devil willing to suffer hardship and we
00:55:26 may show our service dis entangled in the Affairs of Everyday Life that we may please the commander and Chief which is our Lord Jesus help us to be a competitive athlete who strives to win help us to develop our self-discipline self denials and we may be able to go through spiritual training to be a disciplined competitor and be eager to win the priz that we could offer into your throne help us father to be like a hardworking farmer willing to work the hardest and be able to receive the blessing of the fruit of serving
00:56:04 you help us to contemplate where we are as a believers and as you promise you will give us the understanding to be able to develop our spiritual maturity in serving you and you may find ourselves faithful to receive the reward of heaven this we pray in Jesus name amen [Musika] than you pas for the powerful Mage we and respond with the S [Musika] it only tak a spark to get a fire [Musika] going and soon can war up [Musika] in there h with God love once you you spread his love to everyone you want to pass it
00:57:52 [Musika] I wish for you my friend This happiness that I found you can't depend on him it Mat not where our shout is from the M I want my to know the Lord Of Love Has Come to me I want to [Musika] pass it only takes a SP to get a fire go and soon all those can war up in GL That's how it is God love once you experi it you spread his love to everyone you want to pass it on [Musika] I wish for you my friend This happiness that I [Musika] found you can depend on him it Mat not where I shout from the
00:59:51 M I want my word to know the Lord come to me I want to pass it I from the M I want my word to know the Lord Of Love Has Come to me I want [Musika] Let us bow our head for closing prayer and benediction Lord thank you very much for this wonderful morning you have given us and thank you for the message that we have heard Lord help us to contemplate on what we what we hear today and see ourselves where we are and serving you Grant us the grace to our Lord Jesus Christ that we be able to serve you in
01:01:01 our life bless our life Lord and even the things that we are going to do in the coming days to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious Presence without fault and with great Joy To The Only God our savior be Glory majesty power and authority through Jesus Christ Our Lord before all ages Now and Forever more am
