Gospel Coalition live blog 4: Phil Ryken, senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Penn.
Text: 2 Timothy 1:13-2:13
Sometimes we are keenly aware of God’s grace at work in our lives. We can see the Holy Spirit clearly at work.
But there are other times when God seems very distant. In those times we get letters with notes like this (which Ryken read from a letter): “Your preaching is exactly the opposite of what the Word of God says: is that you meant by reformed theology?” (paraphrase as best I could remember). It is in these times that ministry is challenging.
Apostolic call to faithful ministry (1:13-14)
Timothy had been given a sacred trust. A good deposit was entrusted to him. Paul challenged Timothy to follow the pattern of sound words that he had heard from Paul. The call to sound doctrine is a whole way of life. It is a life of faith, in which I am called by God to trust Christ for everything. It is a life of love, as well as faith, in which I give myself away for Jesus.
This is the call that God has placed on your life: a doctrinal call, a practical call. Are you faithful to that call? We need to be clear about God’s definition of faithfulness in ministry. It has nothing to do with size or scope of ministry. It has nothing to do with being traditional, non-traditional or whatever particular style you like.
A successful ministry is a faithful ministry: faithful to Jesus and His Word, faithful in safeguarding His Gospel.
A personal example of faithful ministry (1:15-18)
It is hard to remain faithful in the calling of pastoral ministry. Apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (v. 14), we would surely fall away.
Paul speaks of being grateful for Onesiphorus’ ministry (v. 16). Are we grateful for the ministers around us or do we see them as rivals? Seminary students, do you see other students as rivals? Are you jealous of the gifts of men around you? Pastor, do you secretly wish certain men would experience suffering?
Onesiphorus was fruitful wherever he went (vs. 17-18: Rome and Ephesus). We can understand the principle: a faithful minister is faithful where he goes, always turning out to be a fruitful minister.
A sacred trust transmitted to faithful men (2:1-2)
Christ’s grace is sufficient for us.
Paul tells Timothy to entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. This charge from Paul to Timothy is part of the burden that Tim Keller and Don Carson have in the Gospel Coalition. We know that the church of Jesus Christ will endure until His return.
But we also know that in any particular society the church is only one generation away from extinction. And are charge is to thus pass on the deposit of sound words that has been handed to us. I have a sacred trust I have received that I must pass along to others.
Illustrations of faithful work (2:3-7)
Paul mentions here three of the hardest jobs one can imagine. First, share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2:3). To share in suffering is to share in the very sufferings of Jesus. No one knew this better than the apostle Paul.
Ministry is like being in the military in another respect: it requires total commitment. Paul mentions not getting tangled in civilian pursuits (2:4). If he values his life, a soldier does not have anything else to do in time of war than to focus on the battle. Now, this does not give men license to ignore their families. The first calling of any married man is to his wife and children.
But the point of the verse still stands: don’t get distracted from the ministry that God has called you to do. If you have a sermon to prepare, don’t spend 30 minutes reading the news and visiting a theological blog site. If you have to make hard phone calls, make the phone calls. Limit the amount of time you spend on entertainment and outside interests to an appropriate level given the fact that we live in spiritual wartime not a peacetime.
Second, an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (2:5). Paul highlights another kind of faithfulness: playing according to the rules. But Paul was also referring to the rigorous training regimen required of such athletes. Paul was exhorting men to play by the rules, not falling into envy. But Paul was exhorting men to work hard in the ministry, to be faithful in the ministry.
You have this call to be a faithful minister of the Gospel. When you work hard at it you remain eligible to win the prize. We are looking for the crown of glory that will follow faithful suffering. This crown is not earned by merit, but is a gift of grace to the faithful.
Third, Paul turns from athletics to agriculture. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the good share of the crops (2:6).The most important harvest for a hard working pastor is the one that he reaps for sowing the Word of God, the harvest of the Gospel.
Notice that all three of these occupations require hard work. But they also hold the promise of reward. Are you working faithfully for the Gospel reward?
Command to remember the faithful Savior (2:8-10)
Every faithful ministry is founded on the faithful Savior. Paul tells Timothy to remember the most important thing of all: not to remember the facts of Jesus, but to remember His saving work.
This is the Gospel that Paul was preaching again and again. This is the life-giving source of our salvation and of all ministry. Jesus is the rightful heir and eternal King of the most noble of all kingly thrones: the house of Judah. This was the Gospel that Paul was preaching and for which he was suffering.
Paul was bound with chains, but he said the Word of God was not bound (2:9). It continually amazes me that people look beyond the Word for things that only the Word can do and is sufficient to do. The Word of God works. Indeed, it is the only thing that works. What else shows us that our Savior is sufficient to save us for our sins? What makes evangelism and discipleship effective?
We should be motivated for enduring in the ministry for the sake of Christ’s glory. When Paul speaks of the elect in 2:10, he is primarily thinking of those who have not professed faith in Christ.
Indeed, that is why we are gathered here tonight. It is for the sake of a lost world that we protect and proclaim the Gospel. It is for the sake of our lost next door neighbor. It is for the sake of lost family members. It is for the tens of millions who will go to sleep tonight having never heard of the son of David who died for the sins of the world.
Absolute faithfulness of a faithful God (2:11-13)
These verses promise God’s grace to even those who fail in ministry. Paul takes the faithful that he proclaimed in vs. 8-10 and unites us with Him. We are joined to Christ, by faith and the Holy Spirit. Our sins were put to death in the death of Christ. We have received the eternal life that He brought with Him out of the empty tomb. If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him.
Will we remain faithful? Throughout chapter 2 up to this point, Paul has called Timothy to faithful ministry. If we deny God, He also will deny us. Jesus says this in the gospels. This is why what we do for Jesus is a matter of life and death.
The next phrase being in the same vein, “if we are faithless…” But then comes a strange Gospel twist. What will happen if we are faithless? God will remain faithful for He cannot deny Himself. When Paul says faithless, he is not talking about an irrevocable rejection of Jesus Christ. He is talking about all of the times when we fail to obey God or serve God the way that we should.
How can God be anything but faithful? He would have to “un-God” Himself to be unfaithful. Understand what this means for our ministry. It means that our unfaithfulness cannot stop the advance of the Gospel.
Christ was faithful to die for the sins of Adam, Abraham, David, me and you (conference attendees). And God was faithful through the work of Christ.
Jesus stands at this very point at the Father’s right hand and He is there to defend you against the judgment of God. Jesus does this because every day we are faithless in life and ministry.