2 Timothy 2nd chapter - few points...
1st point: Verse 1 "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
In the 2nd chapter, Paul instructs young Timothy to be strong in the grace of the Lord. He tells Timothy to be 'thick skinned', in the sense that every believer should not be bothered too much about what others will think when it comes to the Word of God. Every believer should be firm in his stand for the Lord and should never compromise on Godly standards. In this sense, Paul is telling Timothy to be strong. When young people take a stand for something, they are willing to do anything for that stand. For example, all the terrorists are young, the activists of any party are young people .. if we need to stand for the Lord, we need to take a firm stand and be strong.
2nd point: Verse 3 - 7: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this."
Paul is asking to reflect on what all he is saying because the Lord will give insight into all this. He asks Timothy to be strong in the first verse, and the moment you take a stand, you will immediately face suffering and persecution. So, he tells Timothy to endure suffering like a soldier. What wonderful examples he gives - soldier, athlete and farmer. All three categories are hard working people - people who have a purpose - people who are never ashamed of what they are doing - people who never compromise on standards. We need to think more about these three categories of people and mediate why Paul compared with these three...
3rd point: Verse 9 "...God’s word is not chained..."
What a beautiful verse 'God's word is not chained' - though the messenger is chained, the message is never chained. Paul is imprisoned and writing this letter from the dungeon. He knows for sure that this time he will not come out and he is about to die... but still he is encouraging Timothy and telling him about the importance of the Word of God. We need to be encouraged that God's word is established in Heavens and not a word of it will fail. This verse encourages us to read the Word more and more...
4th point - v13 "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
Here we see the character of God... though we are faithless, he remains faithful and he cannot disown himself. There is a tremendous truth in the statement. Once, Israelites murmured against the Lord and they worshiped the Golden Calf and they proclaimed it as their deliverer... the Lord became angry on the children of Israel... but he again controlled himself and brought them to the promised land... though they were unfaithful and murmuring all the time, God never forgot his promise to his children. How comforting this word is...
5th point - v 15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.'
I like the words ' do your best to present yourself to God as one approved'.
If we have an interview or any important meeting, how much time we spend to present ourselves in our best possible way. We tend to do all that we can do to be approved. How much more we need to prepare so that we can get approval from God. We also need to strive to be our best before the Lord - in secret and in public.
6th point: v 19 “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
This is also a good foundational verse for young people... it tells us that if we confess the name of the Lord, we need to turn away from wickedness... in Prov 8:13 it says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil... if we want to be His children, we need to hate wickedness like anything.. not just dislike, but hate wickedness.
7th point: v 20 - 21 - various vessels
Here Paul explains about different vessels in a house and how they are being used - some for glory and some for mundane activities... if we are clean and holy, God will use us for nice purposes, if we are unholy and unclean, we will be used for some normal purpose.
Imagine, do we use the 'chetta dabba' where we normally throw all the dust to serve anything good? Do we keep unclean plates to guests? Do we ourselves take any unclean vessel to cook? The answer is no. Then how do we think that God can use unclean vessels for His glory... he who sees the heart of every man, knows whether we are clean or unclean.... so let us cleanse ourselves everyday... and be useful for him.
8th point: v 22" Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
This is a very clear and straight forward verse in the Bible. It says 'flee the evil desires of youth'. In another instance, it says 'resist the devil and he will flee from you' but here he is asking us to flee... point to be noted here is that no one can escape the youthful desires...it is a snare...we need to be on guard and run if we face any such temptation... I read in a book sometime ago, that we need to be prepared with the answers for every kind of temptation and we need to practice telling no... because in that moment, we cannot say no because our flesh and our carnal desires will pull towards the sin... better to be careful in this area. In the same verse he says that there are some with a pure heart... we need to join with them and be careful. The company we keep also determines how we react to things.... if we are in the company of people who sin a lot, sin then does not look big, it looks like fun and joy, but if we are in the company of holy people, even a small sin looks very dangerous... so we need to be careful here.
9th point: v 24 - And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Very good verses are found in this chapter of how every believer should be. We need to be kind to everyone and not at all quarrelsome. How nice the world would be if all the christians follow this verse.
10th point: v 16 "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly"
Very profound statement, those who indulge in godless chatter will become more and more ungodly. How true it is, everything starts with a few words...
I think I have written a lot, but 2nd chapter contains many more wonderful and profound truths ...
2nd point: Verse 3 - 7: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this."
Paul is asking to reflect on what all he is saying because the Lord will give insight into all this. He asks Timothy to be strong in the first verse, and the moment you take a stand, you will immediately face suffering and persecution. So, he tells Timothy to endure suffering like a soldier. What wonderful examples he gives - soldier, athlete and farmer. All three categories are hard working people - people who have a purpose - people who are never ashamed of what they are doing - people who never compromise on standards. We need to think more about these three categories of people and mediate why Paul compared with these three...
3rd point: Verse 9 "...God’s word is not chained..."
What a beautiful verse 'God's word is not chained' - though the messenger is chained, the message is never chained. Paul is imprisoned and writing this letter from the dungeon. He knows for sure that this time he will not come out and he is about to die... but still he is encouraging Timothy and telling him about the importance of the Word of God. We need to be encouraged that God's word is established in Heavens and not a word of it will fail. This verse encourages us to read the Word more and more...
4th point - v13 "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
Here we see the character of God... though we are faithless, he remains faithful and he cannot disown himself. There is a tremendous truth in the statement. Once, Israelites murmured against the Lord and they worshiped the Golden Calf and they proclaimed it as their deliverer... the Lord became angry on the children of Israel... but he again controlled himself and brought them to the promised land... though they were unfaithful and murmuring all the time, God never forgot his promise to his children. How comforting this word is...
5th point - v 15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.'
I like the words ' do your best to present yourself to God as one approved'.
If we have an interview or any important meeting, how much time we spend to present ourselves in our best possible way. We tend to do all that we can do to be approved. How much more we need to prepare so that we can get approval from God. We also need to strive to be our best before the Lord - in secret and in public.
6th point: v 19 “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
This is also a good foundational verse for young people... it tells us that if we confess the name of the Lord, we need to turn away from wickedness... in Prov 8:13 it says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil... if we want to be His children, we need to hate wickedness like anything.. not just dislike, but hate wickedness.
7th point: v 20 - 21 - various vessels
Here Paul explains about different vessels in a house and how they are being used - some for glory and some for mundane activities... if we are clean and holy, God will use us for nice purposes, if we are unholy and unclean, we will be used for some normal purpose.
Imagine, do we use the 'chetta dabba' where we normally throw all the dust to serve anything good? Do we keep unclean plates to guests? Do we ourselves take any unclean vessel to cook? The answer is no. Then how do we think that God can use unclean vessels for His glory... he who sees the heart of every man, knows whether we are clean or unclean.... so let us cleanse ourselves everyday... and be useful for him.
8th point: v 22" Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
This is a very clear and straight forward verse in the Bible. It says 'flee the evil desires of youth'. In another instance, it says 'resist the devil and he will flee from you' but here he is asking us to flee... point to be noted here is that no one can escape the youthful desires...it is a snare...we need to be on guard and run if we face any such temptation... I read in a book sometime ago, that we need to be prepared with the answers for every kind of temptation and we need to practice telling no... because in that moment, we cannot say no because our flesh and our carnal desires will pull towards the sin... better to be careful in this area. In the same verse he says that there are some with a pure heart... we need to join with them and be careful. The company we keep also determines how we react to things.... if we are in the company of people who sin a lot, sin then does not look big, it looks like fun and joy, but if we are in the company of holy people, even a small sin looks very dangerous... so we need to be careful here.
9th point: v 24 - And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Very good verses are found in this chapter of how every believer should be. We need to be kind to everyone and not at all quarrelsome. How nice the world would be if all the christians follow this verse.
10th point: v 16 "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly"
Very profound statement, those who indulge in godless chatter will become more and more ungodly. How true it is, everything starts with a few words...
I think I have written a lot, but 2nd chapter contains many more wonderful and profound truths ...
