2 Timothy 2:1-26

The Christian's Titles

2 Timothy 2:1

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

We will discuss the seven distinctive names under which Paul addressed his son in the faith. As a prelude to these seven names, it might be helpful to suggest seven titles of our Lord under which the titles given His children are made possible and forceful.

There is a verse which says: "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord." We will discuss the disciple, and servant; we will discuss the Lord, and Master.

The word "Master" as found in the New Testament is translated from seven distinctive Greek words. Here they are:

1. Didaskelos Teacher. You find this expression in Matthew 10:24; John 11:28, and elsewhere. When Mary called the Lord, "Master," she used this term, "Didaskelos." She sat at the Master's feet, that is, the Teacher's feet.

It was the Teacher who came and called for her upon the occasion of the dead and buried Lazarus. Jesus Christ, as a Teacher, was indeed the Master Teacher. The words He spoke were truth, apart from all error. He could teach all things because He knew all things. Let us crown Him as our Teacher.

2. Rabboni Great Chief. This was the word which the scribes and Pharisees delighted to be called. Our Lord, however, said; "Be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master." In the Garden when Mary Magdalene saw the Risen Christ she said unto Him, "Rabboni." Let us crown Him as our Chieftain.

3. Curios Lord. This is, perhaps, the name most commonly used in reference to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. In Matthew 6:24, we read: "No man can serve two masters." The Greek word there is "Curios." There is but one Lord. Let us crown Him Lord of All.

However, let us not call Him Lord unless we do the things which He has commanded us.

4. Kathagetes Leader. Here is a name for our Master which we need to consider thoughtfully. In Matthew 23:1 we read: "One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." Here again does the Lord say, "Neither be ye called masters."

If there is one thing that men covet, it is to be a recognized leader among men. Let us be very cautious, because it is not in a man to direct his own steps, let alone the steps of his fellow men.

5. Epistata Master of the elements. In Luke 8:24 one of the disciples came to Jesus, when the ship was in the storm, and their lives were in jeopardy. It was then that the disciple said, "Master, Master, we perish." Here the word "Epistata" is used. Thank God, that we have such a Master.

6. Despotes Potentate. This word is translated "Master" in 2 Timothy 2:21. It speaks of a vessel cleansed, sanctified, and made meet for the Master's use. This speaks of the believer's position as one of abject servitude, to One who has absolute authority. Thank God, however, we know our Potentate, our Despot.

The Christian who is not willing to call himself the bondslave of Jesus Christ dare not call his Lord, "Master" (Despotes).

7. Oiko Despotes Potentate, or Despot of the House. It is in Luke 13:25 that our Lord is spoken of as Master-of-the-House. Here is the quotation, "When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door." The thought here is that the same Lord, who is Master of our lives individually, is also Master of His saints, collectively. Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father and clothed with all authority and with all power, is the Head of the Church and the Master of His house.

I. THE CHRISTIAN AS A SON (2 Timothy 2:1)

1. A son begotten of the Spirit, born from above. That is the position of the believer. We do not understand our first birth, but we know the fact that we are born. We do not understand our second birth, and yet there is no doubt about the fact that we were just as truly born the second time, as we were born the first time. Here is the statement of Scripture: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

It was to this birth that Christ referred when He said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again," and when He also said: "So is every one that is born of the Spirit."

2. God's call to sons. We read: "As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." Again we read about our coming into the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We are urged to be henceforth, "No more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." The one ambition of the son should be to go on unto full growth, and this let us do, if God permit.

3. The privilege of sons. Here is the way our key verse reads: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." The privilege of sonship is fellowship. If we are sons, why should we prefer to dwell in the far country, feeding the swine? Why not take up our place in the home? If we are sons, why should we prefer to live under the ban and displeasure of our Heavenly Father? As sons, let us keep in the sunshine of His grace. This is the way it is written in the Book of Jude, "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

II. THE CHRISTIAN AS A SOLDIER (2 Timothy 2:3)

1. Life is a field of conflict. There is something in the spirit of young men and young women to which the heroic appeals. We have all seen the great groups of young men marching the streets en route to war.

In some circles, preachers seem to have an idea that they must make the Christian life in the eyes of the young people no more than a playhouse, a passing show.

Our conviction is that true Christian youths both male and female want Christ to mean something to them, and they want to mean something to Christ. They count no sacrifice too hard, no call to separation too great, when they realize that Christ is real and that salvation is worth the while.

2. The appeal to enduring hardness. The Lord Jesus never made the Christian's life easy, in order to get disciples. He asked young men and young women to leave their nets, to leave their seat in the customs, to leave father, mother, brother, sister, houses, lands, everything, to follow Him.

The Apostle Paul said, that we should endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. He threw the tasks, the trials, the testings of the battlefield before Timothy. He lay out in pictorial vision the thunderings of a battlefield, the wounded and the dying lying around, and then he said: "Be a soldier."

III. THE CHRISTIAN AS A WRESTLER (2 Timothy 2:4)

1. The vision of the great crowd. When we think of a wrestler, we cannot think of him apart from the arena, and we cannot think of the arena apart from the crowd of spectators. Let young men and young women know that God is looking down, that the angels are intent as they watch their activities, that men are gathered around. In Hebrews we read these words: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses."

2. The vision of the preparation for battle. Our key text says, "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life." We know that the runner in the races, as well as the wrestlers in the matches, must all lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset them.

Let young people know, therefore, if they would enter the Heavenly games, they must be willing to pay the price of necessary separation from worldly and carnal things, that they may successfully compete.

3. The vision of the rules of the battle. Our key text says: They must "strive lawfully." No wrestler could throw the rules of the game to the winds. He had to strive lawfully, or else he was counted out. We too must observe the laws and the rules laid down by our Lord.

The laws of our game will include our attitude toward those against whom we wrestle. We must love them; we must be all things to all men; we must preach the message which God gives us to preach, and preach it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then will the Lord of the games give us our crown.

IV. THE CHRISTIAN AS A HUSBANDMAN (2 Timothy 2:6)

1. The husbandman, first, knows the sowing of the seed. We might say that prior to the sowing of the seed, the fertile soil must be fully prepared for sowing. Following this, there is the choice of the seed to be sown. Then, there is the correct method in which the seed is to be scattered and covered. All of these things precede the harvesting. It has been rightly said that the tree is in the acorn, the fruit is in the flower, the harvest is in the sowing.

If a young man, therefore, or a young woman would rejoice in the harvesting of their field, they must be cautious in the sowing of their seeds.

2. The husbandman, secondly, is a partaker of the fruit. He is spoken of in our key verse as being the "first partaker of the fruit." This might be stated, the partaker of the first fruits. It is not that all of the fruits do not belong to him. The message is the fact that the first fruits bespeak an assured garner of the harvest which is about ready for the cutting.

2 Timothy 2:7 says: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." This verse, in connection with 2 Timothy 2:8, which follows, concerning "Jesus Christ, of the seed of David was raised from the dead," makes us think of Paul's statement to the Corinthians, "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." This ail asserts that the resurrection of Christ, the first fruit, assures the resurrection of all saints, when the full harvest is gathered in.

3. The time of the harvest. 2 Timothy 2:7 and 2 Timothy 2:8 which we have just read in the light of the husbandman, and the first fruits, reminds us that the harvest of our service for Christ will be gathered in and garnered at the Second Coming of Christ. It is then, and not till then, that we shall know the fruitage of our labors.

Let us remember how the husbandman, according to James, must have long patience until he receive the early and the latter rain; so must we be patient, because the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

V. THE CHRISTIAN AS A WORKMAN (2 Timothy 2:15)

1. We admire the youth who makes preparation for toil. We showed that there was a preparation necessary for harvesting seed. We find there is also a preparation for a workman. That preparation is disclosed by one word, "Study." The workman must know his tools. He must know how to use them. So, there is, of necessity, a period of preparation which precedes any real work for God. We may first be students, sitting at the feet of Jesus; then we may, next, be apprentices doing the simpler tasks. Afterward, the Lord will be able to send us into the more difficult and intricate service for Him.

2. We admire the youth anxious to get out into Divine service. They must remember, however, that when they do get out, they can accomplish more, having been prepared, than they could ever do without preparation.

Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant youth, thoroughly educated at the feet of Gamaliel. Nevertheless, before the Lord thrust Saul out into his world-task, He gave him fourteen years of instruction in Arabia. It was during those times that Paul received his revelations from God. The Bible definitely says: "Lay hands suddenly on no man." It also warns us against letting a novice undertake the Lord's heavier work.

3. What preparation includes. Preparation includes the rightly dividing of the Word of Truth. It is necessary for the one who is to preach the Word, to know the Word. He must know the Word in its right relationships, correctly presenting God's message concerning the Church, its call, its sphere of activity, and its final rewards.

It is for this cause that we have our Young People's meetings that we may learn to know God and His testimony.

There is a negative thing that should not be overlooked, the young man is not only to rightly divide the Word of Truth, but he is to shun profane and vain babblings. Let him never imagine that a workman is to become a proficient storyteller, or a juggler of crowds. He is commanded to preach the Word.

VI. THE CHRISTIAN AS A VESSEL (2 Timothy 2:20)

The various kinds of vessels are set forth in 2 Timothy 2:20. We read: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth."

1. Various kinds of vessels. Let no young person imagine that God can use only the cup of "gold." We do not all have the same abilities, neither do we all have the same calling. Shall the hand, therefore, say of the foot, because it is not a hand it is not of the body? The eye is as much of the body, as is the ear; the mouth has as definite a part to play in the body, as does the nose. God tempers the body as it pleases Him.

2. The one necessity for all vessels. 2 Timothy 2:21 says: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour." Mark you, the Spirit did not say, if a man, therefore, is a vessel of gold, he will be unto honor; nor did He say, if he be a vessel of earth, he will be unto honor. The vessel unto honor, is the vessel that is purged, that is clean. This statement is enforced by 2 Timothy 2:22, which says: "Flee also youthful lusts."

VII. THE CHRISTIAN AS A SERVANT (2 Timothy 2:24)

1. Servants are bondslaves. We must not for one moment imagine that the servant of the Lord is anything less than one who has had his ears bored as a slave. We must not buck or vault our will, against the will of the Master.

2. Servants are given instructions.

(1) They must not strive. We may contend for the faith; we may not do it contentiously. Debating, arguing, is entirely out of the realm of God's servants.

(2) They must be gentle unto all men. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. A preacher cannot please God by driving his audience, by bitter denunciations.

(3) They must be apt to teach. If we would serve the Lord, we must be ready to open up the Scriptures, to teach men the way of life, to set forth the matchless story of Christ Crucified, Risen, and Coming Again.

(4) They must be patient. Here is something that belongs to servants. The servant must not give up, and quit under every stress of circumstance, he must plod along. It is written: "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

(5) He must be meek. 2 Timothy 2:25 speaks thus: "In meekness instructing those who oppose themselves." We must not instruct as a "know it all." We must think of ourselves as the voice of one that crieth in the wilderness. We are not to lord it over God's heritage.

AN ILLUSTRATION

Rev. F. B. Meyer once said, "We (Christians) are either Bibles or libels."

The professed Christian is the only Bible the average American sinner will read, and the question is, What sort of doctrine or precept is he learning from your life? That unconverted neighbor of yours is reading a chapter from your thoughts every day, for "as (a man) thinketh * *, so is he"; what is your neighbor's conclusion as to your thoughts by what he sees of you practically?

That person under your own roof, whether close relative or friendly visitor, is judging your life Scripture by the spirit you show and the words you speak. What is his verdict likely to be of yourself as a walking Bible? H.