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in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 
2. I had hoped to be in the gospel 
of John this morning. There's a lot going on in that 
prologue in the first several verses. So I think I need another 
week before we start that epistle. We've been dealing with many 
and varied churchly themes with reference to the people of God 
gathered on the Lord's day. I thought we would indeed look 
at the pastoral ministry, 2 Timothy 2, verses one to seven. I'll 
read the whole chapter and then we'll focus in, as I said, on 
verses one to seven. So 2 Timothy chapter 2, beginning 
in verse 1. You therefore, my son, be strong 
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you 
have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful 
men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must 
endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged 
in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life 
that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also, if 
anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes 
according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be 
first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may 
the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that 
Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead 
according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, 
even to the point of chains. But the word of God is not chained. 
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. This is a faithful saying. For 
if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, 
we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will 
deny us. If we are faithless, He remains 
faithful. He cannot deny Himself. Remind 
them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive 
about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent 
to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not 
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane 
and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 
and their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus 
are of this sort, who have strayed, concerning the truth, saying 
that the resurrection has already passed, and they overthrow the 
faith of some. Nevertheless, the solid foundation 
of God stands, having this seal. The Lord knows those who are 
His, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from 
iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of 
gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor 
and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses 
himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified 
and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Flee also 
youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those 
who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. but avoid foolish and 
ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant 
of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to 
teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, 
if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may 
know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and 
escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by 
him to do his will. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the written word of the living God. We thank 
you for these pastoral epistles, these letters written to pastors 
and churches for the good of the church. And I pray that you'd 
give us ears to hear and hearts to receive and understand your 
truth. Again, forgive us for all sin and everything that darkens 
our understanding. Fill us and guide us and illumine 
us by the power and the presence of your Holy Spirit. that God 
may be glorified in this place, and that our church may seek 
by grace to function in a way that you have called us to. Again, 
bless Mike, bless Ryan, bless other men that are laboring in 
the Word and in doctrine, and just look with favor upon them. 
And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, typically on Sunday morning, 
I usually go up to the kitchen and grab a drink of water and 
do any last-minute preparations. And this morning, up on the screen 
there, it said, the good soldier of Jesus Christ, and then it 
had a picture of me. It looked very cheesy in my estimation. That's no offense to the guys 
who are in the media department. But this is not coming from a 
guru. This is not coming from a man 
who has it all figured out. I am under the Word, just like 
everybody else is under the Word, and I need my heart to be chastened, 
to be rebuked, to be corrected, and to be instructed as well. 
But in the larger scheme, in terms of church life, Men of 
God lead the Church of God, and as a result, men of God must 
function in the manner that God calls them to. In other words, 
we're not supposed to disregard passages like 2 Timothy 2, 1-7, 
in the midst of a pandemic. We still need to be faithful, 
we still need to be obedient, and we still need to soldier 
on, as Paul uses the metaphor here, a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ. So the apostle in verses one 
to seven is doing three things. First, there is the command to 
be strong in verse one. Secondly, the duty to train pastors 
in verse two. And then thirdly, the exhortation 
to suffer hardship in verses three to seven. So we'll look 
first at the command to be strong. He says in verse 1 of chapter 
2, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in 
Christ Jesus. The word therefore connects us 
to the context. The word therefore is there for 
a specific reason. Notice back in chapter 1 at verse 
8, Paul tells Timothy, "...therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony 
of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings 
for the gospel according to the power of God." He then goes on 
to indicate or underscore his own faithfulness relative to 
that ministry. Notice what he says in verse 
10, "...but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior 
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality 
to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, 
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, 
I also suffered these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, 
for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able 
to keep what I have committed to him until that day. So Timothy, 
join with me in suffering for the testimony of the Lord. That 
means his gospel, his life, his death, his resurrection, that 
message of the cross. Suffer for it if necessary, Timothy, 
and do not be ashamed of me. In other words, Paul is in prison 
at this particular time, and no doubt persons had said, well, 
he deserves to be in prison. He's got what's coming to him. 
Let him rot there. Paul says to Timothy, another 
faithful man, no, you're not supposed to do that. You're not 
supposed to throw me under the bus. You're to maintain fidelity, 
not only to the Lord, but to his apostle. He then gives him 
a direct exhortation in verses 13 and 14. Hold fast the pattern 
of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love 
which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed 
to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. So, Timothy, 
this is how you're supposed to comply. This is how you're supposed 
to maintain an unashamed allegiance to the Lord Christ and to his 
chief apostle. And then he ends the chapter 
by furnishing a few examples, men that were not faithful, to 
the testimony of the Lord or to the condition of the Apostle 
Paul. Notice in verse 15. While there was the shining example 
in Onesiphorus, all in Asia, and by that he means Asia Minor, 
they had abandoned him. Phygelus and Hermogenes no longer 
wanted to associate with the very thought of knowing the Apostle 
Paul. And so it's on the heels of that, 
or in this context, that he brings these exhortations to Timothy. 
You therefore, my son, that term of affection, be strong in the 
grace that is in Christ Jesus. There is need for strength in 
the Christian ministry. Turn back to 1 Timothy 1, specifically 
at verse 18. This charge I commit to you, 
son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning 
you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. Look at the 
martial language that the Apostle Paul employs. This isn't all 
fun and games. This isn't just wandering our 
way to heaven attended by bluebirds and rose petals. It is a difficult 
situation that we find ourselves in. The world hates Jesus Christ. They despise the God of heaven 
and earth. Things have not significantly 
changed from Psalm 2, where the nations of the earth and the 
kings and the rulers take their stand together against Yahweh 
and against his Christ. That hasn't changed, brethren. 
Look around you and understand the reality that we're involved 
in a warfare. As well, 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, 
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing in 
his kingdom, preach the word. Again, why so epic? Why so dramatic? You can preach 
just about anything today and nobody will ever hinder you. 
You can espouse just about anything today and nobody will ever be 
offended. but preach the gospel, tell sinners 
of their sin, tell them of their need for blood atonement, tell 
them of their need for heaven by grace through faith in Jesus 
Christ, and they shut down. It happens within the church. 
Paul says, one of the reasons why you're to preach the word 
is because the time will come when they will not endure sound 
doctrine. Rather, they'll keep up to themselves 
false teachers that'll simply tickle their ears. So there is 
a warfare at hand, or a war at hand, and Paul tells Timothy 
to be strong. John Gill says to be strong in 
it, to preach it boldly, to defend it bravely, and courageously 
oppose every error and heresy and every abetter thereof. So 
specifically, the man of God, the pastor in the church, needs 
to be strong. But generically or generally, 
that is a duty enjoined upon every believer. Turn to 1 Corinthians 
16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. not just pastors who need to 
be strong in the grace of our Lord, but it's all people who 
confess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 
13, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, let 
all that you do be done with love. That statement, be brave, 
it's from the word that simply means conduct oneself in a manly 
or courageous way. In fact, I think the NASB and 
the ESV are better here. Act like men. It reflects the 
King James tradition. Quit you like men. Women need 
to act like men. Not in the sense that they drag 
their knuckles and pick their noses, but in the sense that 
they have courage. that they stand fast, that they 
hold firmly to the word of truth. Every woman should be diligently 
taught theology and scripture so that she can stand on her 
own. Yes, she submits to her husband, 
and yes, she rules over her kids, but she needs in her own right 
to be mentally alert to the truth of God's holy word, and she needs 
to act like a man. Oh, but Pastor Butler, you don't 
think women ought to preach and teach in the church. I don't 
think that because the Bible says they're not supposed to. 
But that doesn't mean they're supposed to be ignorant. It doesn't 
mean that they're supposed to be mouth breathers. It doesn't 
mean that they're supposed to be fools. They need to know the 
Scriptures and they need to act like men when it comes to defending 
the gospel of free and sovereign grace. So back to 2 Timothy 2, 
verse 1. You therefore, based on everything 
that he has said, my son, be strong. And then he says, in 
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. It's not a strength that's native 
to you, Timothy. It's not something you just reach 
down in your inner depths and pull out. It's not just, you 
know, knuckle under and pull up your bootstraps. It's in the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator says, Timothy 
is to show manly resolution But the real strength of his efforts 
will come from the grace Christ freely gives, which is a wonderful 
statement. So that a man doesn't have to 
be natively strong. He doesn't have to come out of 
the womb ready for combat. He doesn't have to be the guy 
with 18 inch biceps and a 30 inch waist and a chest that's 
just out. He doesn't have to do that. He 
has access to the Lord Jesus. He has access to sovereign grace. He has access to every resource 
that is necessary, furnished by God Most High, such that the 
man of God can stand strong. There is not some sort of a class 
of minister out there that got more natively gifted for this 
particular work. No, the Lord Christ Most High 
offers grace to all who need it. He doesn't go about it in 
a stingy way. He's not a miser. He's not an 
Ebenezer Scrooge. He doesn't just dole it out a 
little bit. We come to the Lord Christ for strength to stand. 
We'll find that the Lord Christ gives strength to stand. It's 
a really an amazing thing. The Lord Jesus does what He promises 
that He'll do. Now notice, secondly, this duty 
to train pastors. Throughout this particular context, 
there is a series of commands given to Timothy so that Timothy 
can maintain fidelity both to the testimony of the Lord and 
with reference to the Apostle Paul. But Timothy, as Paul well 
knows, is going to die. Timothy's not going to live forever. 
There is one, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that 
is the Lord Christ. So in order to propagate the 
Christian gospel throughout the ages, it is most necessary that 
the church take seriously verse 2. And with reference to verse 
2, notice that it's addressed to the church. Now, seminaries 
have their place. Seminaries can be beneficial. Seminaries can be helpful. But 
a seminary that is not closely connected to church is going 
to be problematic. With reference to the necessity 
of training ministers, the Apostle Paul assumes that the Church 
of Jesus Christ can do it. Remember in 1 Timothy chapter 
3, 14 and 15, Paul identifies the church as the house of God, 
the church of the living God, which is what? The pillar and 
ground, not of religious experience, not of existential moment, not 
of religious ecstasy, but it is the pillar and the ground 
of the truth. So as the pillar and the ground of the truth, 
it ought to follow that the church can identify persons, men, that 
should be preachers. And then the church can take 
seriously that activity to train them and fit them for usefulness 
in gospel ministry. When I put that in the update 
yesterday, let me know who you think should be a deacon or an 
elder. That wasn't willy-nilly, it wasn't out of right field. 
At the AGM, I had mentioned that. At the annual general meeting, 
I had mentioned that. Because this month, this year 
thus far has been as topsy-turvy and as weird as last year was, 
it's been difficult to follow up with certain things. So if 
you see a man or men that fit the qualifications or on the 
on their way to meeting those qualifications in 1 Timothy 3. 
For elders and then deacons, let me know. But here's the text, 
or here's one of the passages as to the duty involved with 
reference to the Christian church. Notice back in 1 Timothy 6 at 
verse 20. Paul says, O Timothy, guard what 
was committed to your trust. Paul took pains to commit things 
to Timothy's trust. Notice that he goes on to say, 
avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions 
of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed 
concerning the truth of faith. Grace be with you. Amen. And 
then notice in 2 Timothy 1.14, we've already seen that. That 
good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit 
who dwells in us. So when we get to 2 Timothy 2.2, 
he says, and the things that you have heard from me among 
many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able 
to teach others also. Again, Paul doesn't want the 
church to end in the first century. 2 Timothy is the last letter. He knows that he's going to die. 
The time of his departure is at hand, he says in 2 Timothy 
chapter 4. He has fought the fight. He has 
run the race. He has kept the faith. There's 
a crown laid up for him. He knows he's going to die. But 
as I said, he knows that Timothy's going to die. And so a duty or 
responsibility of the church is to identify men, to train 
those men, to see those men fit and qualified, and then to ordain 
those men and to use those men. And if things keep going the 
way they're going in our generation, If there is this continual hindrance 
on the part of the government relative to the Church of Christ, 
this passage is going to become crucial. Because they're going 
to have to be the kinds of men that stand strong. They're going 
to have to be the kinds of men that are good soldiers in Christ 
Jesus. They're going to have to be the 
sorts of men that are like the athlete, and like the farmer, 
and the devoted disciple. They're going to have to be the 
kinds of men that stand up in the midst of opposition and nevertheless 
preach the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. So with reference to 
the church of our Lord Jesus, notice the instruction in verse 
2. Commit these to faithful men. Now every man should be faithful. Every man should be diligent. 
Every man should imitate what is written in the qualifications 
in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1. That ought not to surprise any 
of us. If an elder, a man desires the 
office of a bishop, it's a good work that he desires and he must 
be these things. The only significant distinctive 
with reference to the eldership is that he must be apt to teach. 
But in terms of the virtue, in terms of the quality, in terms 
of the characteristics, all those things ought to be what every 
man is pursuing every day as a believer in Jesus Christ. But 
we identify faithful men who have demonstrated a degree of 
achievement in those areas. We identify faithful men as men, 
if not fully qualified, on their way to qualification. And so 
this assumes that the church of Jesus Christ is going to look 
at and look for faithful men. It's not the case that I just 
show up one day and say, hey, we got a ringer from without 
and he's your new pastor. No, that's not how we do things. 
We identify men, we then commit these things to them. Notice 
what he says, the things that you have heard from me among 
many witnesses. In other words, the Bible. In 
other words, good theology. In other words, everything that 
Paul had spent time teaching Timothy was absolutely crucial 
for the church today. This idea, well, you know, he 
can't really preach or teach, and he doesn't really know a 
whole lot, but he's sure a nice fellow. Well, he could be a nice 
fellow anywhere else, but not in the Christian pulpit. This 
idea that, oh no, you've set the bar too high. Brethren, God 
sets the bar high. He must be apt to teach. He must 
be faithful in terms of his own appreciation of that truth, and 
he must be faithful in terms of his articulation of that truth. That's not me. It's not Spurgeon. It's not Thornwell. It's not 
the proven masters in the past that wrote upon these things. 
It's God. So this idea, yeah, he's not, 
I don't know that he can recite the books of the Bible, but he 
has coffee with us every week. He doesn't know what the hypostatic 
union is, but boy, he's sure friendly. Brethren, that's okay. Be friendly, be happy, be joyful, 
be wonderful. But don't enter into a pulpit 
if you don't know what the hypostatic union is. If you can't define 
justification by faith alone. If you don't have a semblance 
of an appreciation for the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. A guy 
may be the nicest and most godly fellow in the world, but if he 
is not apt to teach, he is not apt to be a pastor. It is that 
simple. And that's not sin. You're not 
a sinner because you're not a pastor. Some guys get this bee in their 
bonnet, and it's always just amazed me. Oh, no, this is my 
life calling because Aunt Betty, when I was two, laid her hands 
and prayed over me and said, you're going to be a missionary. 
Yeah, but you can't preach. Aunt Betty was wrong. Oh no, 
Aunt Betty wasn't wrong, you're wrong. It's a terrible way to 
approach life. It is not a sin to not be a pastor. On that day of judgment, you're 
not going to hear, and you never became a pastor, so away with 
it. That's not a sin. Don't treat 
it that way. But with reference to our church, 
with reference to us as the people of God, we identify faithful 
men and then we commit truth into their capable hands so that, 
notice the purpose, Faithful men who will be able to teach 
others also. One of the things that's so beautiful 
about the Bible is that it's others-oriented. If you are a 
narcissist, the Bible isn't going to be your favorite book. The 
Bible is about everything other than you. It's about God first 
and foremost, and then it's about others, and then finally it's 
about you. In other words, we want to identify 
men, we want to commit truth to these men, so that they can 
now go out and teach others that truth as well. See, as a church 
that takes seriously the Word of God and good Christian theology, 
I feel peculiar necessity at this particular 
task. I live in this world. I see what's 
going on in other churches. I see the theological shallowness 
and the lack of biblical conviction that is out there. So with reference 
to that, it seems to me imperative that we as a church take these 
mandates seriously. Again, in a wartime setting, 
there might be field promotions from time to time. We talk about 
the situation in Vernon, how long? I'm not going to attach 
a particular time frame on there. I'm going to say that brother 
needs to be ready and the people need to be ready, but it's say, 
oh, four, five, eight, 10, 15 years. We need churches open, 
brethren. I don't know if anybody's observed 
that recently. My brother-in-law asked my beloved 
the other day, did all these other churches who have said 
they're going to open up, open up? Well, I don't know. I'm not 
privy to that. I mean, I still have the alliance 
with the two men that we have been with since the very beginning. 
I think a couple others along the way have opened up, but it's 
not like driving to church on Sunday morning. You're passing 
by all these open churches. So, the idea is that this is 
most essential, this is most necessary, this is something 
that is crucial. There's a lot of things that, 
in the midst of a pandemic, we may suspend, but when it comes 
to identifying men, and committing these things to men, so that 
those men can in turn teach others? This is a most blessed privilege 
given by Christ to His church, and one that we must rise to, 
and one that we must take seriously. The fact is, brethren, is that 
there is a dearth in the land of the kind of guys that Paul 
is telling Timothy he needs to be in this particular passage. Now notice thirdly, the exhortation 
to suffer hardship in verses 3 to 7. He first states a command 
in verse three. You therefore must endure hardship. You therefore must endure hardship. Turn back to 1 Timothy 4, verse 
10. For to this end, we both labor 
and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who 
is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Again, 
have you ever pondered that reality? All we're doing is preaching 
the true and living God. All we're doing is telling people 
how to get saved. All we're doing is telling people 
that bought atonement is necessary in order for a guilty sinner 
to enter into the presence of a holy God. You think the world 
would welcome such information. You think they would love to 
hear such information. But it's just the opposite. As 
I said earlier, you can espouse anything today. You can hold 
to anything today. And you are encouraged to do 
so by the powers that be. You can deny all scientific evidence 
relative to gender. You can deny all scientific evidence 
relative to babies in the womb. relative to elderly people, relative 
to mentally ill people. You can deny all that. You can 
embrace the voodoo and the superstition and the garbagey witchcraft that 
is espoused by government today. But the moment a man of God stands 
in a pulpit and preaches the truth of God, that's when you 
suffer reproach? That's when you're castigated? 
That's when you're cut off? Yeah, exactly. Greg Bonson once 
made the illustration concerning the works of Socrates and Jesus. 
It was in an article on textual criticism. Textual criticism 
isn't being critical of the text. I don't like you. Textual criticism 
is simply examining the extant manuscripts and seeing the patterns 
and seeing the families and seeing the tradition and then categorizing 
those texts into family types. Now, God breathed out His Word. 
It was given by inspiration. It's profitable for everything 
Paul says it is. But once people started copying 
it down and sending it to other churches, there were what were 
called variant readings that were introduced in the text. 
Sometimes scribes made errors. Sometimes persons, when they 
looked at a line, they wrote a different line. That has happened. But in terms of the extant manuscripts 
of the New Testament, we have over 5,000. 5,000, more than 5,000. That doesn't 
mean fully Matthew to Revelation, but it's bits and pieces and 
parts, and then there's a whole lot of those that do contain 
a big swath of Holy Scripture. Well, Bonson mentioned, and I 
think it was Socrates, it was Plato. Plato, the works of Plato 
that you buy at your college bookstore, the oldest extant 
manuscript was from the 9th century AD. The 9th century AD, and there 
was one of them. You get students at the campuses 
saying, well, I don't think Plato actually said this. I don't think 
Plato actually said or wrote this. They do it all the time 
with the scriptures. Why is that? Because man is sinner, 
and man hates creator, and man is going to oppose the word of 
God every step of the way if he is able. So it ought not to 
alarm us that there's reproach, It ought not to alarm us that 
there's suffering. It ought not to alarm us that 
there's hardship. Rather, it should underscore 
the doctrine of total depravity. Sinners don't like to hear that 
they're sinners. Sinners don't like to hear that 
they're going to hell apart from blood atonement. Sinners don't 
like to hear all that negativity. Sinners need positive outlooks. 
Sinners need happiness. Sinners need all of this sort 
of thing. And then us old-fashioned preachers come along and tell 
them that they're wretches. Yeah, they don't like it. They 
get upset. So Paul the Apostle tells Timothy to endure. To endure, you must endure hardship. Again, back in, let's see, a 
couple other passages. Notice 2 Timothy 1.8. 2 Timothy 
1.8, already read it. Therefore, do not be ashamed 
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but 
share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the 
power of God. We worked our way through the 
book of Acts. What was Paul's crime? He preached Jesus as the 
Messiah. That's it. That was his crime. That's what brought him before 
Felix, Festus, Agrippa, and then ultimately Nero. It was the crime 
of preaching Christ as the Messiah. Unbelieving Jews resisted that. 
Unbelieving Jews rejected that. Unbelieving Jews despised that, 
as Paul will tell us in 1 Corinthians 1. The idea or concept of a crucified 
Messiah was a scandal to the Jewish mind. So that was his 
crime. He was treated poorly. 2 Timothy 
4, you can turn there. Look at verse 6. For I am already 
being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure 
is at hand. I have fought the good fight, 
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there 
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. and not to 
me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. He 
knows he's going to die. History tells us that he did 
die. It was under Nero. He lost his 
head. He had his head chopped off. 
Again, what was your crime, Paul? I preach Jesus as the Messiah. 
So Paul understands the risks involved with being a minister 
of the Christian gospel. And understanding the risks involved 
with being a minister of the Christian gospel, he wants to 
prepare Timothy. He wants Timothy to be strong 
in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But as well, he wants 
Timothy to endure hardship. Suffer if necessary. Go through 
the afflictions and the pain. You must endure hardship and 
then notice the metaphor as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. This 
isn't the only place that the apostle uses that military imagery 
for the man of God. He uses it in several places 
in the New Testament. Again, it's not facilitator, 
it's not drama instructor, it's not some sort of a community 
organizer. It's a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ. The language itself suggests 
the difficulty involved. If you contact Pastor Kirkpatrick, 
not today, he's busy, but if you contact him during the week 
and ask him about his internship that he had here the first summer 
off from seminary, the second summer he went to Singapore, 
the first summer he was an intern here. Ask him what much of the 
instruction was taken up with. He'll probably tell you, Pastor 
Butler tried to talk me out of going into the Christian ministry. 
Pastor Butler tried to talk me into going into electrician work. 
That's what he had originally anticipated at one point in his 
life. Pastor Butler tried to dissuade me. Not, I don't think, 
in a vicious, horrific way. I mean, I didn't hit him, or 
clobber him, or yell at him, or spit on him, or buffet him, 
or anything like that. But the idea is simple. James 
3, 1 is a reality. Let not many of you become teachers, 
for we shall incur a stricter judgment. If a blind man leads 
the blind, they both fall into the pit. But I'm sure the man 
that's leading is more culpable and responsible than those lemmings 
who happily followed him into the pit. And so there is great 
responsibility involved. And so he tells Timothy, you 
must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. That's 
the metaphor that he uses to liken the Christian ministry 
to. It's like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, the weapons of our warfare, 
they're not carnal. We're not strapped to the hip 
with the Glock and the shotgun and the AR and all that sort 
of thing. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they 
are there. We are in a war and those weapons 
are to be employed, preaching, prayer, those things that God 
specifies are offensive in terms of the enemy. So with reference 
to this reality, the metaphor that the apostle uses is that 
you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The 
obvious presupposition is that there will be hardship. This 
has really surprised me about the response of the church to 
this particular lockdown mandate. Again, I should qualify a billion 
more times. I'm not suggesting there's no 
virus. I am saying that it's not what they told us it was 
going to be. And now almost two years into 
the lockdowns, two years into this, we know who's vulnerable, 
we know who's at risk, we know what to do, and in my mind, what 
we have in terms of our government is a disobedience to the Charter 
of Rights and Freedoms. It is them that are in defiance 
and not us. Now having said all that, when 
the order comes to shut the churches, I remember getting that order. 
It was on a Thursday afternoon, November 19th. I remember going, 
Man, that wasn't supposed to happen. Man, that's a tough one 
to deal with. Man, I feel disenfranchised by 
my own government. And of course, I knew what we 
needed to do. We need to stay open. We need 
to persevere. Because remember, back in November, 
we knew who was at risk. We knew the vulnerable. We knew 
that you should take vitamin D, which is not fake news, by 
the way. Vitamin D has been noted from the beginning as something 
helpful in the mitigation of COVID-19, that our health minister 
relegates it to fake news. It's hard to take that seriously, 
brethren, to say fake news of the great Barrington Declaration 
to these men that have spent their lives in epidemiology, 
their lives in virology and all that. Oh, that's just fake news. 
Why? Because it disagrees with the 
dogma promoted from on high. That's misinformation. See, science 
is about debate. Science is about discussion. 
Science is about testing hypotheses. Science is about two or three 
witnesses. Science is about rejecting things that don't work. Science 
is about utilizing things that do work. And science is about 
realizing that it's fluid. It changes. Life is weird. Nature is difficult to pin down. Viruses are going to virus. It's 
a tough world that we live in. But going back to November 19, 
yeah, it was a shock. But there have been some that 
have responded like, I cannot believe this. Why not? It never 
occurred to you that our government might take a turn against the 
church? It's kind of like somebody who joins up for military service 
and then finds himself in Afghanistan saying, I never signed up for 
this. Oh, yes, you did. That's why you need to think 
twice before you put your name on the paper. That's why you 
need to think twice before you raise your hand and say, yes, 
I want to be a pastor. You want to think twice because 
you need to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The metaphor that is employed 
here highlights the nature of the task. For the most part, 
it's not that way. For the most part, ministers 
study, they pray, they preach, they visit people, they do those 
things. For the most part, you don't 
hear the bullets whizzing overhead. You don't hear that or smell 
the smell of napalm in the morning. You don't get all that. But there 
are those seasons and those instances where soldier ship is absolutely 
requisite. And what we have witnessed is 
the relinquishment of that calling. That ought not to be, brethren. 
Notice what he goes on to say in terms of the reason, the rationale. We're still in verse 4. He says 
in verse 3, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ. And now he gives a reason for 
that in verse 4. He says, no one engaged in warfare 
entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please 
him who enlisted him as a soldier. Now, he is engaged in warfare. Again, we've already looked at 
that, we've seen that, but the bottom line is that he's not 
to entangle himself with the affairs of this life. That doesn't 
mean monkery. That doesn't mean sitting on 
a pole out in the wilderness. That's what monks used to do. 
I don't know, do they still do that? I haven't heard of the 
order of pole-sitting monks anymore, but that's kind of the stuff 
they used to do. Remember asceticism? The end 
of Colossians chapter 2, don't touch, don't taste, don't feel. 
That means holiness. So the monks would go out and 
live out in the wilderness. Jerome was a monk, and he said 
when he was out there in the wilderness, all he had visions 
of were dancing girls. See, the idea is, is that try 
as you may to get away from everything sinful, the biggest enemy happens 
to be your own heart. So monkery doesn't work. But 
when Paul says he doesn't entangle himself in the affairs of this 
world, the Roman soldier didn't sell real estate. The Roman soldier 
didn't bake. The Roman soldier didn't farm. 
The Roman soldier killed people and broke things. That's what 
the Roman soldier did. And so that's the emphasis of 
the apostle in verse 4. No one engaged in warfare entangles 
himself with the affairs of this life. George Knight says, thus 
this passage does not teach that Timothy or any other minister 
should withdraw from everyday life, but that he should not 
let it and its affairs distract him from service to his commander. So the idea here is the devotion 
of the soldier. The devotion of the soldier. Listen to what I'm saying, because 
there's going to be a couple other Ds. We're going to alliterate 
today so that everybody can take this home and pray about it with 
reference to the guys we know and love and with reference to 
other pastors that they would manifest these Ds and these particular 
persons that the Ds describe. So he is a devoted soldier. But 
notice before we move from verse 4. No one engaged in warfare 
entangles himself with the affairs of this life. Now note that he 
may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." Notice that the 
gospel minister is to please him who enlisted him. That's Christ. I love you, brethren. I do what I do because I love 
you, brethren. I wish I did it better because I love you, brethren. 
But ultimately, it's Christ to whom I answer. See, when it comes 
to these shutdowns, I've heard a few occasions, you know, the 
pastors want to keep their churches open, but it's the people. Well, 
it seems to me that we're in the same problem that we are 
with the government closing it down. If a group of people can 
shut down the church of Jesus Christ, what difference does 
it make if that group is the government or the church herself? 
See, Christ never gives us that liberty to shut his church. That's 
just not an option. That's a non-negotiable. Again, if bombs are dropping 
or the snow is piling, we take necessary means to ensure safety 
and protection for life. But in a world where there's 
lots of illness, in a world where there's lots of risk, in a world 
where there's lots of dangers involved, Why has COVID-19 been 
magnified as the one alone in whom we ought to fear? Brethren, 
I'm not having it. Obviously you're not having it 
because you're here today. The bottom line is, is that pastors 
are not in the first place to please their people. Pastors 
are in the first place to please their Christ. Notice analogously 
in 2 Timothy 2.50, be diligent to present yourself approved 
to the people, approved to the world, approved to your civil 
government, approved to God. In other words, when a man of 
God goes to the study of God's Word, he has, with a single-minded 
emphasis, the pleasure of God. It is a most blessed and wonderful 
thing. And then the blood-bought, who 
are possessed by and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, 
will be happy. Because if the minister is shooting 
to impress the Lord Jesus, not impress, but not to anger the 
Lord Jesus, if the minister is seeking things in its proper 
priority structure, the people of God will benefit. They will 
be blessed. They will be happy. Same thing 
obtains in 2 Timothy 4.1. Notice, I charge you therefore, 
before what? Before the church you serve? 
Before those Christians in Ephesus? Before those government officials 
in Ephesus? No, I charge you, therefore, 
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living 
and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom. Preach the word! 
It ought not to be. Will that offend somebody? I 
don't think pastors are wise as serpents when they needlessly 
offend. I don't think pastors are wise 
as serpents when they needlessly anger people or irritate people. 
I don't think that's part of the calling. Our Lord Jesus at 
times turned over the money changers' tables and drove out the beast, 
but for the most part, that's not the way he conducted his 
ministry. He didn't stand out there with signs. He didn't do 
all those sorts of things that are built to basically irritate 
and frustrate people. But having said that, it ought 
not to be that they're man-pleasers, that they just shoot for the 
common denominator amongst them. Will this offend? Will this hurt? 
Will this make them sad? Again, if it's scriptural, if 
it's biblical, if it's essential, then it doesn't matter, ultimately, 
if you're offended. Sorry, but the bottom line is, 
brethren, there is something far more important than your 
feelings. I know that's tough. I know we're 
delicate snowflakes. I know we're precious little 
individuals. But the bottom line is, is that 
God's Word matters most. So this man of God does not entangle 
himself with the world because He wants to please him who enlisted 
him as a soldier. Philip Towner says, the soldier's 
goal is to please or satisfy the wishes of the commander who 
expects nothing less than complete attention to duty so that the 
military objectives will be accomplished. That's right. For anybody in 
here that has served in the military, that's the way it goes. Well, 
you know, sir, I don't want to go stand out on that fence line. 
You know, sir, I don't want to eat those MREs. You know, sir, 
I don't want to do what you're telling me. You just don't do 
that. That's just not an option. And 
yet the Christian ministry, well, sir, I don't want to. I'm not 
going to. I've got to listen to everybody. 
No, you do what Christ says, and there'll never be problems 
in that way. Now, there will be problems. 
I'm not suggesting there won't be, but there'll be different 
problems. I'd rather have that problem than not doing what my 
master tells me. And then notice thirdly, with 
reference to this head, the examples that he provides. We've seen 
the devotion of the soldier in verses 3 and 4. You therefore 
must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one 
engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this 
life. Again, the idea is not separation to the point of inactivity, 
but it is separation to the point of focus and devotion upon the 
task at hand. So the devotion of the soldier. 
Notice, secondly, the discipline of the athlete in verse 5. And 
also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes 
according to the rules. Paul the Apostle highlights this 
in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24 to 27. We're supposed to run 
the race and fight the enemy in a particular way. It's not 
just for a participation trophy. In fact, turn to 1 Corinthians 
9. They're messing everything up, brethren, sorry. The left 
is killing life as we know it. 1 Corinthians 9, there's something 
more to life than participation trophies. You're supposed to 
teach people to win. Dude, I'm gonna probably go to 
jail after this sermon. Wow, you've really said that? 
Come on. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Do you not know that those who 
run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such 
a way that you may obtain it. See, when I was a kid and we 
lost, they didn't hand us a trophy. They said, work harder. And we 
didn't cry. We didn't stop. We worked harder. It was an interesting thing. 
It was incentivization. See, when you de-incentivize 
people, you end up in the socialistic and communistic nightmare we 
are heading toward. Incentivization is a good thing. Run in such a way that you may 
obtain it. And everyone who competes for 
the prize is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain 
a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable. In other words, 
he's using the athletics of his day. Paul was a tent maker. I would guess that he applied 
his trade at athletic competitions, because you'd need tents to house 
the competitors, to house the viewers, and that sort of thing. 
So he was very well aware of the metaphor that he's employing 
here. And he says, you know, when I'm 
out there selling my tents and I happen to be at these athletic 
games, I see these guys. I see them go to bed early. I 
see them get up early. I see them, you know, run 20 
miles a day. I see them pick heavy stuff up 
and put it down. I see them regulate their diet. I see them fastidious. I see 
them rejecting and refusing partying, rejecting and refusing, you know, 
hanging out with the girls all hours. They are devoted to what? an imperishable crown. He says, 
but we are a perishable ground, but we have an imperishable crown. How much more ought we to be 
in earnest to win it? He says in verse 26, therefore, 
I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who 
beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, 
lest when I preach to others, I myself should be disqualified. So back to 2 Timothy chapter 
2, he uses the discipline of the athlete. Verse 5, and also, 
if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes 
according to the rules, the pattern. He disciplines himself, he trains 
himself, and he does all that in order to obtain the crown. Timothy, as a minister of the 
gospel, be devoted like the soldier, be disciplined like the athlete. And when he says in verse 5, 
unless he competes according to the rules, this is to be understood 
as the rules established by the Lord for that particular work. So when it comes to athletics, 
there are certain rules about getting big and strong. You eat 
properly, and you lift heavy things. You run if you want to 
be cardiovascularly ready to run a marathon. You've got to 
do certain things. You've got to abide by the rules. 
You don't just fall out of bed after a life of inactivity, stand 
up at the starting line, and run a marathon. It just doesn't 
happen. The same with the minister, compete 
according to the rules. Not that there's some rules out 
there established by John Calvin, but as the Lord God Most High 
has called you. So the devotion of the soldier, 
the discipline of the athlete. Notice thirdly, the diligence 
of the farmer in verse 6. He says, the hardworking farmer 
must be first to partake of the crops. Look at Colossians for 
just a moment, Colossians 1. And again, that cheesy picture 
of me next to the words, good soldier of Jesus Christ. This 
isn't a guru speaking, and I'm certainly not here to say, oh, 
please sympathize with me. All I'm simply saying is that 
gospel ministry, if it's carried out effectively, is going to 
be hard work. Colossians 1.28. Colossians 1.28, him we preach, 
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that 
we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus to this end. I also labor, striving according 
to his working, which works in me mightily. What real pastor 
of Jesus Christ in the church doesn't think about the people 
that is in his church pretty much 24 seven. I grant you great 
forgiveness, brethren, if on Thursday morning you don't think 
about me. But typically on a Thursday morning, 
I'm thinking about you in one way or another. And that's not 
to say I'm super holy and way godly and guru and all that. 
But a pastor that labors in the word and doctrine in a particular 
local church, especially for an extended period of time, grows 
quite fond of the people, loves the people, wants the people 
to do well. wants them to be faithful, wants 
them to be successful, not just in the worldly sense, but in 
spiritual things. And so a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ has that devotion. He has the discipline of the 
athlete, and then he has the diligence of the farmer. Notice 
that in verse 6 of 2 Timothy 2, the hardworking farmer must 
be first to partake of the crops. There's a bumper sticker. I see 
it sometimes in town. I doubt it's the only one of 
its sort. But it says vegetarian is an Indian word for poor hunter. Lazy farmer is a phrase for hungry 
man. If he's not hardworking, if he's 
not diligent, he's going to starve. It ought to appeal to our sense 
of sensibility that Paul reaches into the world to get concrete 
examples to bring them to the pulpit. If the man of God is 
not devoted, if the man of God is not disciplined, if the man 
of God is not diligent, throw him out. He is not doing the 
job. He is not doing the work. It is that simple. I mean, grant 
him time to repent, grant him time to do it, grant him all 
that to be sure, but some men in the ministry ought not to 
be in the ministry. And that is the grim reality. 
George Knight says that Paul has called on Timothy to suffer 
hardship and has placed before him three models for him to consider 
in that service. The soldier who pleases his commander 
and is not distracted from his service to him, the law-abiding 
athlete who gains the crown, and the hardworking farmer who 
receives his share of the crops. Together they speak of a vigorous 
and undivided service that is rewarded. Now, how do we fit 
verse 7 into this alliteration? I call it the dedication of the 
disciple. The dedication of the disciple. 
Notice in verse 7, consider what I say. Timothy, don't just let 
this go in one ear and out the other. See, I think at times 
we don't always consider what Paul says. I don't think at times 
we consider everything that the Lord Jesus says. But in this 
instance, in terms of Timothy's responsibility as a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ, Timothy's responsibility as a man who is tasked with finding 
other men and committing these things to them so that they may 
teach others also, Paul says or underscores with verse 7, 
How important this is. Consider what I say. If you don't 
take this seriously, Timothy, and you are a lazy man, you don't 
have that devotion, you don't have that discipline, you don't 
have that diligent. If you don't have the dedication 
of a disciple, then you're not fit for this work. Again, it's 
not sin to not be a pastor, it's sin to remain as a pastor when 
you're doing the exact opposite of what God has called you to. 
And so he tells him, consider what I say. And the idea is that 
Paul wants Timothy to reflect, understand, and apply the things 
that have been spoken to him. And then notice how he ends verse 
seven, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Note the interplay between human 
wisdom and divine empowerment. You're to consider it, Timothy, 
and the spirit brings it home. You're to consider it and the 
Spirit drives it in. It's not an either or, well, 
I just don't have to think about it, the Spirit will lead me. 
No, you need to consider what Paul says. But on the same token, 
it's not the case that I only consider what Paul says, I need 
the grace of the Holy Spirit to drive it into my bones such 
that I will function in the capacity that Christ has called me and 
that which pleases Him, because that is the ultimate goal. I want to conclude with a few 
thoughts. We're almost done. First, the reality of persecution 
in the Christian life and in ministry. We'll focus on ministry 
because this is where this particular passage highlights. Jesus recurringly 
tells his disciples that the world is going to hate them. 
That's a no-brainer. That's a settled sort of principle. It ought not to shock us to the 
point of, wow, I just can't believe it. Again, I have a, wow, I just 
can't believe it, that we're five months in to church closures 
in Canada. I thought this was Canada. I 
didn't know we'd crossed over into China or North Korea. So 
there is that surprise. There is that consternation. 
But at another level, I get it. I understand. I get it all too 
well. The nations plot vain things 
against Yahweh and against his Christ. And then the repeated 
emphasis in the book of Acts and in the history of the church. 
How do we, you know, modern-day pastors celebrate the history 
of the church and pray to God, oh, help us to be faithful in 
times of persecution? And the moment that, by their 
own admission, isn't even persecution, they shut down. That's terrifying, 
brethren. What happens when the persecution 
really starts? If this ain't it, what happens 
when it does come? We need to be aware and we need 
to be on guard and we need to be ready to face the challenges. Secondly, and I'll go back to 
when I first came to Canada, I had made a statement in the 
pulpit one time and a dear brother, a great brother, he's not here 
anymore, but he took me aside and he said, you know, we just 
don't talk like that in Canada. I think I had, well, I don't 
want to use the idiom because you may think that and I don't 
want to offend you, but I'm now a Canadian, so I'm going to just 
read the head as I have it. The need for guts in the Christian 
ministry. The need for guts in the Christian 
ministry. In the first place, the Christian 
ministry ought to realize the reality of internal threats. In fact, if you look at 1 Timothy, 
2 Timothy, and Titus, it's pretty much the internal threat to the 
church that Paul has in mind. In other words, wage the good 
warfare, the Phygelluses, the Hermogenes, the Phyletus, the 
people that deny certain cardinal truths of the faith. Well, they 
were among us. They were in the church, the 
professing church. So the faithful minister of Christ 
understands there are internal threats. We need to preach the 
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That is the best 
antidote to combat the internal threat of heresy or departure 
from scriptural truth or those sorts of things. But secondly, 
the faithful Christian minister needs to realize the presence 
of external threat. Anybody who's read the Old Testament 
will realize that Israel was corrupted, not only by Israel, 
but by forces outside Israel. The Philistines and the Hivites 
and the Hittites and the various persons that hated Israel coming 
in to occupy the land. Brethren, there were those real 
threats. You've got those within the covenant 
community that function as external threats when they're kings over 
the people and they're affecting the people. Get to the New Testament, 
you have the Sanhedrin, both with Jesus and with the Apostle 
Paul. You have the pilots of the world. 
You have the beasts of Revelation. There's two beasts in Revelation 
chapter 13. There's a political beast and 
there is a religious beast that helps to facilitate the empowerment 
of the political beast. Faithful gospel ministers have 
to perceive that it's not always the case that threats and dangers 
will only arise from within. There may be a rogue civil government 
that says, oh, I don't know, let's shut the churches down. And if we capitulate to that 
kind of a threat, We'll always capitulate to that kind of a 
threat. We'll always be into that pattern wherein we put to 
rest our public worship of the living God. Third, the necessity 
to man up and deal with internal and external threats in the grace 
that is in Christ Jesus. My brother gave me a beanie many 
years ago. That's what we call it in America. 
You call it a toque. And on that toque, it says, you'll 
never walk alone. You know what I can testify before 
you this day? Never had to walk alone as a 
minister of the gospel. It's been hard. It's been difficult. I think I've shared with you 
at the first part of this church lockdown, Saturday afternoon 
consisted of me putting my head in my wife's lap, shaking at 
the thought of Sunday coming. But always to find out, I'm not 
walking alone. See, pastors that are shut, not 
that I think any of them will ever hear this sermon, but my 
encouragement to them, not my discouragement, not my, oh, you 
terrible people, it's open your churches and test the power of 
Jesus. You'll never walk alone. He sustains 
you. It is the new normal. Going to 
the police station, picking up tickets, getting that number 
really high. It's the new normal. Going to 
court, appealing to decisions. It's the new normal. Lawyers. 
You get used to it, brethren. The human psyche is pretty malleable 
that way. You can embrace the new normal. 
And I think our new normal is probably a whole lot more of 
this kind of stuff in the future, as we see going on. As well, the necessity to function 
always as soldier, athlete, farmer, and disciple. And the necessity 
to train men to do the same thing. And I want to end on this note. 
Actually, I won't end here. I'll end with the gospel. But 
I want to end on a very negative and a very sour note. So that 
if anybody ever does, pastor, tune into this, that's probably 
going to offend them. And they're going to say, well, I'm not going 
to listen to anything else this guy ever said that may have made 
sense. But think about this. The soldier 
who doesn't engage in battle is a traitor. There was a motto 
in one of the squadrons when I went through BMT, basic military 
training, and that motto was fantastic. Lead, follow, or get 
out of the way. Very simple, lead, follow, or 
get out of the way. You see it all the time, brethren. 
If you're in a combat situation and you refuse to engage the 
enemy, most countries, well, I'm most familiar with the US, 
that is treason. That is a capital offense on 
the battlefield. When you don't take up arms against 
the enemy, you are a traitor, according to most law of the 
land. Secondly, the athlete who doesn't 
train, what do we call him? A loser, right? You fall out 
of bed after 35 years of butter and inactivity, and you stand 
up at the starting line to run a marathon? Guess what, loser? There's no help for you. You're 
not gonna win. It just doesn't happen. God's 
not gonna bless that. Well, I'm just gonna win because 
I trust in the Lord. You know those texts that are often misused, 
Philippians 4. I can do all things through Christ 
who strengthens me. Not running a marathon without 
any training. Do not take that text and teach 
that people can fall out of bed after a diet of butter and inactivity 
and run marathons. That's not what Paul means in 
Philippians chapter 4. We call athletes who don't train 
losers. Thirdly, the farmer who doesn't 
work, we call him, again, a hungry man. Or we say, he will starve, 
right? It's just that simple. I mean, 
it's you in that field. If you don't dig it, if you don't 
hoe it, you don't seed it, you don't water it, you don't get 
light to shine upon it, you're going to starve. It's just that 
simple. And then the disciple who doesn't 
follow First, I would say, I'm going to try to soften the blow 
a little bit. First, I would say, demonstrates a need for 
repentance. A disciple who doesn't follow 
demonstrates a need for repentance on the part of the disciple. 
But a disciple who consistently doesn't follow illustrates what 
John says in 1 John 2.19. They went out from us, but they 
were not of us. For if they were of us, they 
would have continued with us. But they went out to make manifest 
that they were never of us to begin with. They didn't lose 
their salvation. They were never saved to begin 
with. These are hard words, I understand 
that, I appreciate that reality, but that is the demands exegetically 
of the text relative to Christian ministry. The devotion of the 
soldier, the discipline of the athlete, the diligence of the 
farmer, and the devotion of the disciple is absolutely paramount 
with reference to the Christian ministry. A man who does not 
have that ought not to be in the Christian ministry. And the 
beauty of all of this, why does Paul say this? Why is the bar 
set this high? Why is the necessity so acute 
with the mind and the heart of the apostle? Because of the subject 
matter, because of the dignity of the calling. Martin Lloyd-Jones 
was a successful and famous and renowned doctor, and he relinquished 
that to become a pastor. people thought that was a step 
down and people would suggest as much to him and he would say 
things like there is no higher dignity on the face of the earth 
than to get the privilege to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ 
to sinners it is is most glorious, and the faithful minister who 
goes after it in this matter seeks the glory of God, the edification 
of God's people, and ultimately the salvation of sinners by grace 
through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, let us pray. 
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for 
its clarity at the point of gospel ministry. And Lord God, we pray 
for Your blessing upon gospel ministers all throughout Canada, 
that You would bless and embolden and empower each and every one 
that they may take that blessed privilege each and every Sunday 
to stand in the presence of God Almighty, to stand before the 
Lord Christ and the holy angels, to stand before congregations, 
and to preach the everlasting gospel. Lord, bless your men, 
cause them to persevere, cause them to be faithful, and cause 
them to bring glory and honor and praise unto you. And we ask 
in Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.