Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture from the book of 2nd Timothy.
2 Timothy 2 ³ Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
First of all, Jesus chose the disciples to go out and preach the gospel to the world. To ordain somebody in simplistic terms, means to command someone to a specific task or duty, whatever that may be. Some people are chosen to run a large company, and have been ordained to that position by the owners. Your dad might ordain you to take the lawn mower out of the shed and cut the lawn. Jesus ordained His disciples to bring forth Spiritual fruit unto God.
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 15:16
When we believe the truth of the Gospel, men become a part of a royal priesthood of believers and at that point, each of us are ordained to tell others about the death and Resurrection of Jesus, beginning with your own wife and children. You have already been ordained by God to lead your household, and you must take upon yourself that great responsibility of bringing them into obedience to Christ.
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” 1 Peter 2:9
The entire purpose of our life is to bring forth obedient fruit unto God, but rather than do this, many people will become entangled in the cares and the concerns of this world. Other things will become far more important than the salvation of somebody’s soul. Instead of redeeming the time and using it to prepare people for God’s coming Kingdom, they will waste it all on themselves, bringing forth no fruit unto perfection.
“And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” Luke 8:14
The Apostles warned about these fruitless men.
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;” Jude 1:12
Jesus cursed fruitlessness.
Matthew 21 ¹⁸ Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. ¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.
And presently the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
In order to have Spiritual fruit, it will require the dedication of your time, but many people will squander it all on themselves. Rather than being faithful to the commands of Christ, their hearts will be led astray, and will go after the things of this world instead.
“Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.” James 5:5
1 John 2 ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The will of God is to work in His vineyard.
Matthew 21 ²⁸ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. ²⁹ He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. ³⁰ And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. ³¹ Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
The heart can be led away from God when it becomes focused on obtaining the pleasures of the world. Moses turned away from all the treasures in Egypt in order to reap the eternal reward in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 11 ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; ²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; ²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Even though we have the book of Titus, it appears that he forsook the trust and responsibility that the Apostle Paul had bestowed upon Him. He was appointed to preach, but the things of this world became more important to him than faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Throughout the centuries, many men have done the same thing, walking off on their post, and returning to the world instead.
“For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.” 2 Timothy 4:10
2 Corinthians 2 ¹² Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, ¹³ I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother:……
Although it isn’t forbidden, marriage can become a distraction from one’s duties to God, just as it did in the life of Solomon, who began to love his wives more than Christ Jesus.
“And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” 1 Corinthians 7:35
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37
Some people will attempt the Christian Life, but won’t have what it takes to complete it, simply because their hearts and minds will become entangled in the things of this world. In order to please the Lord Jesus, it’s going to require focusing your hearts on the things that pertain to eternal life. The Lord will reward those who faithfully serve Him, as long as you continue…..
…..Standing Post.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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