2 Timothy 2:8-15
SS Lesson for 04/03/11
Devotional Scripture: Ps 119:33-40, 105-112
The concept of the outline of the lesson came from the Bible Expositor and Illuminator and the detail came from a previous SS Lesson dated 08/15/2004. This week's lesson explains how we should practice Remembering Jesus Christ. The study's aim is to show the importance of remembering Jesus in everything one does. The study's application is to remember our Lord Jesus in all that we do and to be good workmen for Him.
Hymns, Ancient and Modern
The great reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) revolutionized how music was used in church worship. Before Luther, the medieval mass was sung by the choir in the chancel (the raised part of the sanctuary). The people standing in the nave (the lower part of the sanctuary) were not active participants. The service was done in Latin, and the congregants could not understand most of this ceremony. They were expected to be mute spectators. Luther rewrote the procedures to allow for active participation of the congregation through the singing of liturgy and hymns. He believed that the highest purpose of music was to be used as a form of worship. In the preface to his hymnal of 1524, Luther wrote, “I would like to see all the arts, especially music, used in the service of him who gave and made them.” J. S. Bach (1685–1750) later brought Luther’s ideals to glorious fruition. Although Bach is now celebrated for compositions such as his Brandenburg Concertos, he was first and foremost a church musician. He believed both in using music as a vehicle to worship God and in the inclusion of the gathered believers in this musical praise. Luther, Bach, and many others have contributed to the glorious musical heritage of the church. For this we should be grateful. This heritage traces its origins to the Bible itself, for Scripture has always been the primary source for the music of God’s people. Today’s lesson includes an early Christian hymn. Studying it lets us see how the doctrine of the church was incorporated into its music, something still being done today.
Lesson Background
The New Testament offers us two letters to Timothy, a beloved protégé of Paul. Our previous four lessons are drawn from 1 Timothy. The Lesson Background noted in those four studies applies here, and thus need not be repeated. However, the lesson at hand moves us to 2 Timothy. This takes us forward in time about two years; thus there is a bit of additional background to consider. Second Timothy probably is Paul’s final letter. The great apostle wrote from Rome, where he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel (2 Timothy 2:8, 9, part of today’s text). He did not expect to be released, but had prepared himself for death (4:6). Timothy was in Ephesus (4:12), ministering to a church that was very dear to Paul’s heart. Paul wanted very much for Timothy to come to Rome so that he might see him one last time (4:21). We do not know whether Timothy made it in time, and Paul was unsure that this would happen when he wrote the letter. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the letter is a mix of encouragement and doctrinal reminders. There is a certain poignancy in this letter that is equal to, if not greater than, that of any other book of the Bible. Paul expected death, but he had no regrets. He remembered those things that were most precious to him: his Lord, his messages, and his friends. History tells us that Paul was martyred during the latter days of Nero’s reign, probably in ad 67. This letter may have been written just a few days before Paul’s death.
Worship can be viewed from many angles. Worship is manifested in prayer, based on the mystery of godliness in Christ, led by qualified church leaders, and exhibited in various avenues of service to one another. Our lesson will focus more specifically on one aspect of worship—ancient words of praise. But even in this there is great variety. The occasions for praise are as numerous as the experiences that make up life itself, each reflecting a different set of circumstances. This week's lesson directs praise to its proper object, Jesus Christ. It is taken from the last letter Paul wrote, 2 Timothy. We know that this letter embodies the themes that were most important to him because, as he wrote, he knew he was about to die for the gospel of Christ. He was passing on to Timothy information and exhortation about Christian essentials. How often have we found ourselves flat on our faces after we have boastfully thought highly of ourselves and considered ourselves independent and successful? We assumed that we did not need anyone else and that we had arrived there all by ourselves. Sadly, we often think that we did not even need God to climb that ladder. Paul reminds us to remember that if we have accomplished anything in our lives, it is because of our Lord Jesus. We are to remember Him at all times.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel,
9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him- 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.
32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.
45 I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
The elect are the Christians. God has foreseen their faith from eternity past, and has chosen them to spend eternity in Heaven with him. But obtaining this salvation and eternal glory happens only through Christ Jesus. Paul has indeed endured all things for the sake of this group (2 Corinthians 6:3–10; 11:23–33). His upcoming martyrdom will be one more thing he will endure for the elect’s sakes.
19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
24 Even now I rejoice in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf. And in my own person I am making up whatever is still lacking and remains to be completed [on our part] of Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. (Amplified Bible)
11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar.
24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work-which is by faith.
3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
Give diligence, or make an effort so to discharge the duties of the ministerial office as to meet the divine approbation. The object of the ministry is not to please men. Such doctrines should be preached, and such plans formed, and such a manner of life pursued, as God will approve. To do this demands STUDY or CARE, for there are many temptations to the opposite course; there are many things the tendency of which is to lead a minister to seek popular favor rather than the divine approval. If ANY man please God, it will be as the result of deliberate intention and a careful life.
52 He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
6 If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
We use many techniques to help us remember things. I used to put a rubber band around my wrist to help me remember that I needed to stop by the grocery store. For years, I used an electronic personal digital assistant (PDA) to beep when I had an upcoming appointment. I have had successes and failures with such techniques. How do we remember the great, comforting doctrines of the faith? One way that is ancient yet still viable is to place core teachings in verse. Even more effective for some is to combine these verses with song. See if you can complete the following lines of well-known hymns: “For still our ancient foe, …” (a doctrinal reminder of Satan’s purpose); “I once was lost but now …” (a doctrinal statement about the regenerative power of salvation); “And sinners plunged beneath the flood lose …” (an expression of the doctrine of the atonement). See, you may have memorized more than you realize! Let us never grow tired of filling our minds and hearts with Scripture and the great truths of the Christian faith. They will be a resource of strength in time of need.
As church leaders today, we can easily become disheartened over any number of tests and trials as did the early pastors and elders. Those things that do not discourage us would be the shorter list. Because every believer is in Christian ministry, Jesus must always be the focus. He is the answer to every troublesome situation. Paul wrote that remembering how Christ suffered for the ungodly encouraged him through his adversity. Reflecting on Jesus immediately brings to mind that He said, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). As followers of Christ, we must share Christ's desire that no person should perish but that everyone should come to repentance (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). Like the Apostle Paul, when God's will becomes our will, we are ready to become martyrs for lost sinners and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Paul parallels man's "conditional ifs" of service to God with God's faithfulness to man. If we die to this world, we will live with Christ in the world to come. If we endure affliction, and we know that many are the afflictions of the righteous (cf. Ps. 34:19), we shall rule with Christ. If we say, like Peter, "I know not this man" (Mark 14:71), Christ cannot own us before our Father. Our ungodliness does not prohibit Christ's faithfulness and love toward His children. He loves us unconditionally. Church leaders must hold themselves and those they lead accountable before God and avoid becoming distracted by those who would argue doctrine in an attempt to devalue God's holy Word. Believers should in no way be a stumbling block to lost sinners or a cause for weak Christians to falter. To demonstrate obedience to God's Word, the believer must diligently embrace the Word and share it with confidence.
1. Christ's resurrection is the essence of the gospel and a great comfort in times of trouble (2 Tim. 2:8)
2. We may feel helpless as we preach the gospel, but the gospel is always powerful (vs. 9)
3. Life and honor with Christ is for those who die to self and share His cross (vs. 10-12)
4. Faith is the hinge on which our salvation swings; unbelief bars the way to life (vs. 13)
5. Prideful arguments waste the church's energies and ruin its testimony (vs. 14)
6. It takes diligence and reliance on the Holy Spirit to rightly teach the Bible (vs. 15)
The Christian faith is really about only one thing: Jesus. It is about His life, death, resurrection, and continuing ministry for His people. We must not forget that, or we will not be successful in living the Christian life.
Paul told Timothy that Jesus was from the line of King David. Timothy knew this; from his earliest days, his mother and grandmother had taught him about Christ (1:5). It is clear that this letter was to be read by more than just Timothy. Matthew and Luke make clear who Jesus was in their Gospels, but we also need to be reminded in other contexts. David had many descendants. What makes Jesus' uniqueness very evident is that He was raised from the dead. Jesus was not the only person in the history of humanity to be raised from the dead, nor was He the first. So when the Apostle John wrote that He was "the first begotten of the dead" (Rev. 1:5), what are we to make of that? The Greek word for "first begotten" is prototokos, which can mean "firstborn" in a temporal sense; but it can also refer to first in order of priority. That is clearly the meaning here. Jesus is the first in terms of priority of those who were raised from the dead, in part because He never died again. That is one of the ways He is unique.
In these verses, it appears that Paul was quoting a well-known hymn about Jesus. One of the important points made here is that Jesus remains faithful. In addition, His faithfulness is tied to His Person. If He were unfaithful, He would "deny himself." Jesus' faithfulness is part of His continuing ministry to His people. And it is not just about Him always being there for us. Quite often that is how we view a person's faithfulness. But for Jesus, being faithful means that He will endure. Nothing can prevent Him from being faithful. Each of us wants to be there for our children. That is natural. But sometimes things get in the way of our desires. That cannot happen with Jesus. Since He is God, nothing can prevent Him from doing whatever He wants to do. And that includes being there for each of His people.
Our lesson text ends with a reminder about diligence. The word "study" really means that we are to do our best. We are to work hard, to be diligent. We are to work hard at showing ourselves "approved unto God." That is easy to say but difficult to do. That is why Paul urged Timothy to do his best to show himself approved to God. It is hard work. Yes, the Christian life is hard. It has been said that it is impossible. It is impossible because Jesus is the only one who can live it successfully. Jesus lived a perfect life, apart from any sin (1 Pet. 2:22). We cannot do that. It is true that no one can go even a single day without committing some sin. But what we cannot do, Jesus can. That is why we must trust Him. Paul said to the Galatians that as we live, it is Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). And that is what gives us our success. In fact, our success is assured by the saving work of Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit!