More About a Faithful Servant

II Timothy 2:1-8 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that labours must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee under-standing in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

I wonder what people would say if we made a statement like that? “This is true according to my gospel.”

“What do you mean your gospel? It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ!”

The boldness of some of those apostles can stagger the mind. John made a statement in his epistle, saying, We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. I John 4:6. That is boldness! A statement like that today would draw some strange looks. Nevertheless, we should have that kind of boldness. We should know who we are, what we are, where we came from, and speak the Word with boldness. A faithful servant has that kind of boldness.

As we read these verses from II Timothy, several of them stood out. Let’s take a look at them.

II Timothy 2:1-2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Paul had recognized the apostolic calling upon Timothy and taught him well in the things of God. Now he is telling him, “Timothy, I have taught you, and I have imparted to you. Now you take what I have given you and give it to those who will also give it to others.”

It’s a little like a relay race or the old pony express. In a relay race, the first runner takes off with a baton. He runs a certain distance and then gives the baton to another runner. This continues until the race is finished. The team that gets the baton to the predetermined place first is the winner. The pony express riders would carry the mail in a similar way. The first rider would carry the mail, as quickly as possible, to a relay station where another rider with a fresh horse would take it his required distance. Thus the mail would get through.

So Paul is saying, “We’ve got to continue with this message.” And we say the same thing, “This Gospel of the Kingdom must be proclaimed to the four corners of the earth!” It is more than just relaying a message, though. Many of today’s preachers are just delivering sermons that they have derived from the Scriptures according to their particular brand of interpretation. Our responsibility is greater than that. We’re not just relaying a baton or delivering mail. What we’ve got to do is deliver the Messenger along with the message. In other words, we’re not just going to tell people about Jesus Christ, but we are going to present Jesus to them – not just tell people what Jesus had to say, but let Jesus speak to them through us. We’re going to do more than minister the message; we’re going to minister the Messenger. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Commit (make a deposit) thou to faithful men…” What, then, is a faithful servant? A faithful servant is one who delivers the Messenger along with the message.

II Timothy 2:3-6 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that labours must be first partaker of the fruits.

In these verses, Paul alludes to three different aspects of a faithful servant. In verses three and four, he talks about the army of the Lord. Then in verse five, he uses the example of an athlete to present another aspect. And in verse six, he talks about the husbandman, or the farmer.

What does a faithful servant do? Well, for one thing, he enlists in the army of the Lord. Secondly, he is like an athlete who disciplines himself by bringing self under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, a faithful servant is like a farmer. God is expecting a great harvest. So the servant enters into the harvest of the Lord.

What about this warfare? Why does God want an army? Why does He say, You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ? When you enter the army, it is not an eight-hour-a-day job. You are on call; you are on duty twenty-four hours a day. Neither are you a civilian any longer. Civilian life has been cut off. You are now army! Can’t you see some GI trooping up a hill to the front line with a stereo and a tennis racket on his back? He will be one of the first ones shot. He has his mind on other things. So it is with God’s army. No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life. We want to walk in the Kingdom. But too often we try to take things with us that are hindrances. We get entangled with the things of this world, and it is impossible to be totally involved in the Lord as we should be.

Now what about this army? Does God really have an army? Or, is Paul just using a metaphor? He says, You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. There are many scriptures in the Bible referring to the army of the Lord. In Jeremiah 51:20, the Lord says, You are My battle ax and weapons of war. Do you think going into all the world preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom will involve warfare? As a matter of fact, it will! Executing judgment on powers and principalities will go hand in hand with the ministry of the Word.

II Corinthians 10:3-4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.

The average Christian only thinks in the realm of being faithful to go to church and pay their tithes, faithful to pray and read the Bible, remember the golden rule, etc., but very few give thought to being a soldier or of warfare. Paul told Timothy not to entangle himself with the world, that he might be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And in these verses he talks about pulling down strongholds.

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Do you know anything about this wrestling against powers, principalities, and the rulers of darkness? What are principalities anyway?

Maybe you’ve heard of Billy Sunday. He was a baseball player at one time. Then God saved him and called him into the ministry. He was a very intense preacher. In one particular sermon he was talking about fighting the devil and how Satan brings opposition as you try to do the will of God. After the service a man said to him, “Mr. Sunday, I have to disagree with you about the devil. I have never met the devil like that.” Billy Sunday said, “Sir, it is because you’re going in the same direction. If you turn around, you will meet him.” Billy Sunday was quite a man of God.

Hebrews 10:12-13 But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From hence forth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews paints quite a picture here. He says that when Jesus ascended, after He made that one sacrifice for sin for all time, that He sat down at the right hand of God. You almost get a picture of God sitting in a great big throne with another throne next to Him. Then Jesus comes and sits down beside Him. And from that time on Jesus is seated, while expecting His enemies to be made the footstool of His feet. In other words, Jesus did His job by making the provision for the final defeat of His enemies. But it is up to someone else to execute the judgments of God, thereby making His enemies His footstool. Many are of the opinion that Jesus will do that job by Himself, but the writer of the Book of Hebrews says that He will remain seated until it is done.

There is a job that has to be done, and the army of God is going to do it. They will be those Christians who, because of a revelation, say, “I am a servant of the Lord, and I’m going to be a faithful servant. I’m setting my heart to meet His needs!” One of His needs is for His enemies to be made His footstool. And the opportunity to be the executors of His judgments is an honor that He gives His godly ones (Psalm 149:7-9).

It is important to realize that God has an army. It is also necessary to understand that God doesn’t draft. He is looking for those who are willing to enlist. Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power (literal, “army”). Psalm 110:3 (NASB).

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