A Call to Arms

II Timothy 2

Introduction:
II Timothy is Paul’s “last will and testament” to his spiritual son, Timothy. Paul was at
the end of his life and had written Timothy to leave his legacy in the event that Paul did
not live to see his friend again. II Timothy, along with the other pastoral epistles, were
written under Roman imprisonment in the late 60’s and are, essentially, the summation of
Paul’s teachings to his protégé’s and, thankfully, to us in the later generations. One of
the central themes of II Timothy is found in II Tim 2:2 “And the things which you have
heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will
be able to teach others also”.

The Draft:
* The mission is simple: Suffer hardship as a GOOD soldier of Christ. A soldier is not a
passive being.
• Neither is the life easy. A soldier is always prepared for battle. It’s a hard life.
• V.4—he (the soldier) is single-minded. He is not distracted. He has orders that must
be carried out. (I Tim 1:18). A soldier wants to please his general (or the one that
called him to service). Who is our general? We WANT to please Him as our
commander.

The Mission:
• Why should we suffer? Since when does suffering pay off?
• Consider the athlete (v.5). They suffer in training and in adherence to the rules of the
game. The farmer works himself to death to enjoy his harvest (v.6)
• Great. That’s good for them, what about the Christian. Paul does a great job of
pulling aside and making us think. Once we understand the lesson here, God can
show us more (v 7). Verse 8 then takes us up a level by calling in the Resurrection.
This reminds us WHY we suffer. If there were no Resurrection, then our suffering
would be in vain. We could live how we wanted. However, we are called by an
eternal general who has conquered death to endure hardship for this brief moment in
order to enjoy the eternal reward.
• V. 10. This is what motivates Paul. Endure the hardships for Christ so that others
will obtain salvation and enjoy the eternal rewards.

Our Leadership:
• Our general is faithful and sure.
• (v 11-13) If we are dead to this world (Gal 2:20), we will live with Him.
• If we endure, we will reign with Him. This is the reward mentioned earlier. Endure,
push on…we have a prize ahead of us.
• If we deny Him, He will deny us. The unforgivable sin.
• If we fall, He will not fall. He cannot deny Himself. We have “Christ in us” (Gal
2:20). How can He deny Himself if He is in us. We cannot loose our salvation.
Our Intelligence:
• We have ONE source of intelligence as a Christian soldier, and that’s from God.
• Paul, in v 14, 16-18 warns us to avoid the “worldly chatter” arising from false
teaching. The Church is not to allow word games and quibbles over wordy
controversies. Paul says this is profitless and damaging to those who hear.
Presumably, not only the believer, but the non-believer who listens and is turned off
by the Church’s internal strife. Does this happen today? Does the Church argue
amongst itself over petty issues? How do some denominations organize a church?
What do some teach on baptism? (Matthew Henry’s Commentary: “If people did but
consider of what little use most of the controversies in religion are, they would not be
so zealouss in their strifes of words.)
• This chatter leads to ungodliness. Verses 17-18 tell us of one such “chatter” but there
are thousands more. How many read The DaVinci Code?
• So, what do we do? Verse 15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a
workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.”
Who should be prouder, the car mechanic who does the right thing for your car at the
right time…or the guy who rips you off? The point: a workman who studies, who
works diligently, who is skillful has NO reason to be ashamed. Our work is
“handling accurately the word of truth”. (Ephesians 6:17)
• Our job is to handle our sword. Learn to be a great swordsman. This does not mean
memorizing Bible verses. That’s just memorizing parts of the sword. It’s important,
but doesn’t teach you how to use the sword. Apply what you have learned, that’s
what “handling accurately” means. A fencer can name the parts on the sword easily,
BUT, they know how to use it…when to parry, when to thrust, when to use the point,
when to make a sweeping blow…all of these things comes from enduring practice
and rightly applying what has been shown them.

Our Preparation:
• This is not a one-time preparation…this is a constant check-up of our current status
before our general.
• Verse 20. There will be evil men and women in any church. Trying to find a church
or group where everyone is truly following God is futile. Think about any church trip
you went on…was EVERYONE there to seek God’s face? Those that weren’t were
like vessels of mud and wood…the Bible says they do dishonor. And do not be
discouraged by this fact…remember this goes both ways. While there are vessels of
mud and wood (people superficially professing faith), there are still vessels of gold
and silver.
• We are to be gold and silver vessels. We need to be useful for the general’s service.
How?
• Keeping ourselves pure. Verses 22 and 23 “Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue
righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure
heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce
quarrels.” Lust here doesn’t JUST mean immoral lust…it’s referring to all the worldly
desires in our flesh. Also, foolish and ignorant speculations speak to immaturity. (I
 Cor 13:11). As we mature physically, as Christians we should mature spiritually.
Flee sinful desires/thoughts by refusing the childish and immature things in our lives.

Our Action Plan:

• To teach others…Then we must prepare to be taught ourselves!
• Not quarrelsome, kind to all, patient when wronged. This is not just good advice, this
is what allows us to teach. Verses 25-26 show us. With a kind and gentle answer,
correct our opposition. This is not the wordy quarrelling over petty issues earlier.
This is discussion, spirit-led discussion, that points to the Truth. It is through our
kind, gentle answers that God is free to work a miracle in the soul of the unsaved and
release them from Satan’s trap.

Conclusion:
Sounds boring doesn’t it? Endure suffering for Christ so that when I die 80 years from
now, I’ll get a reward. Yes, that’s true, but is it the drab, dreary lifestyle that the world
has been led to believe? NO!!! Jesus attended parties, Paul was well-respected amongst
believer and non-believers alike. Do you become well-respected if you are pain in the
neck to be around? This is not an indictment on fun…nor is it saying that you must not
enjoy this life you have here on earth.

But, if you are committed to living for Him, you WILL face hardships. Your faith WILL
be tested. You probably WILL be made fun of by those in the world. It’s not an issue of
fun and a list of “Thou shalt not’s”…it’s an issue of where your heart and your focus is
set. If your focus and your heart is set in the world, then yeah, the Christian life is a pain
and gets in the way of a good time. If your focus is God, then it’s the most rewarding life
you can lead.

We are called to be soldiers. We have our orders. We are to prepare for battle. Learn
our weapon. Submit to our general and then, attack the enemy and rescue the lost in a
manner that is pleasing to our commander.