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Taught by
Stephen ArmstrongThe letter of James opens with a counter-intuitive call for Christians to anticipate and even embrace suffering for the sake of Christ
Any Christian who has contemplated these words has questioned the logic of receiving suffering with joy
The two seem mutually exclusive
We understand that “to suffer” is to be without joy, and to know joy is to be without suffering
So how can one be compatible with the other, we wonder?
Nevertheless, this is the Bible’s teaching on suffering in our faith, and James goes on to explain how suffering is, in fact, a source of joy for every believer
First, we have to understand that the suffering James speaks about is associated with trials the Lord brings us
He’s not speaking about all forms of suffering
Often we suffer as a result of our own sinful choices, and this suffering is not a source of joy but hopefully a cause for repentance
James is referring to suffering for the sake of our testimony, whether by persecutions or other difficulties brought upon us to test our faith
These trials are a source of joy, for they are designed by the Lord to bring opportunities
James says they test our faith, to know if we are willing to stand firm for Christ and for eternal concerns over earthly concerns
In effect, trials are opportunities for us to reaffirm our commitment to our eternal future with Christ over our attachment to this world
With each new opportunity, we gain spiritual strength, like a muscle growing strong under the strain of exercise
This is spiritual endurance, James says
And that endurance will lead to a “perfect” result
It will leave us complete, lacking in nothing, he says
Conversely, a failure to endure well may lead to a loss of something, a lack of completion
What is this thing we will gain by our endurance?
Beyond the spiritual growth and blessings that follow maturity, James is looking forward to eternal blessings of rewards and honor in the kingdom
To be perfect, lacking nothing, refers to gaining a full reward
That reward doesn’t turn on a moment or even a season of our lives
Our progress is only measured at the end, and our reward is only assigned once we’ve run our race
So as we encounter trials, and even if we should stumble at times, nevertheless we still have good incentive to get back up and continue enduring
Because until the end has come, we are still growing
And until our race is over, we still have good cause to endure, since we are still marching toward our reward
Which is why we have reason to count suffering as a source of joy, because it means our race has not ended and opportunity for reward remains open
So if you have successfully withstood trials in the past, then count new trials as opportunities for extra credit
But don’t take your past success for granted, since no one is without the need for more spiritual growth
Or if you have stumbled in the face of trials in the past, rejoice over new trials as a sign the Lord considers you worthy to prove yourself again
And don’t be discouraged by past mistakes, since no Christian arrives in Heaven with a perfect track record
We are all sinners, which is why we all needed grace in the first place
Every trial is a chance to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing, James says, and today in Chapter 2 Paul picks up this same idea as he encourages Timothy to stay faithful in the face of persecution and trials
Last week Paul ended Chapter 1 with a sobering list of men who had failed in this regard
Paul told Timothy these men had walked away from him and even the faith, rather than face persecution
In one case, Paul said he prayed the Lord would forgive Onesiphorus in “the day", a reference to the judgment seat of Christ when rewards are handed out
This man had done much to support Paul in days past, but apparently he too shrunk back when the going got tough
Paul listed these examples to remind and exhort Timothy to do better
And earlier in the chapter Paul gave reason for his willingness to suffer for Christ
He said he knew that Christ was guarding his reward
And therefore, nothing could steal it from Paul
Ironically, the only way Paul’s reward could come into jeopardy was if Paul himself retreated from his service to Christ
This was Paul’s concern for his protege, Timothy
With so many in Asia making the wrong choice, Paul seems worried Timothy might follow suit
So as we move into Chapter 2, Paul continues to reinforce the importance of remaining faithful to his call even in the face of trials
And to make his point, Paul uses three analogies that teach different aspects of God’s reward system
First, Paul offers an introductory encouragement
Coming on the heels of Paul’s list of faithless men in Chapter 1, we see Paul pivoting back to Timothy with a hope for better things
Paul says “you, Timothy” so as to distance Timothy from those others
We can’t know how close Timothy was to following their bad example
Perhaps Paul didn’t know for sure either
But clearly he was concerned, and we can hear him working hard to persuade Timothy not to make the same mistake
Paul implores Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus
We know grace means “unmerited favor”
That is, it’s something God does for us before we even know we need it
In the case of salvation, it’s the choice of God to send His Spirit into our hearts leading us in crying out “Abba, Father!”
And in the case of facing trials of one kind or another, Paul says there is yet another form of grace given us in Christ Jesus
This form of grace comes “in” Christ for it is only available to those who are Christ’s by faith
This grace enables the believer to stand strong against the temptation to be unfaithful
This form of God’s grace is an enabling power, but it does not guarantee a positive outcome, as men like Onesiphorus demonstrate
Therefore, we must conclude that believers possess a God-given power to stand firm against temptations to flee persecution in unfaithful ways
Yet we must avail ourselves of this grace to benefit from it
As a matter of faith itself, we must first decide to remain faithful rather than shrinking back
And then by the grace of God, we will be strengthened in our decision to stand
That’s what Paul means when he calls upon Timothy to be strong
He’s calling Timothy to use the strength God has made available by His grace
But even the decision to be strong depends on something else
For what explains why one believer stands when another doesn’t?
The Bible’s answer is that believers must renew their minds
We must take up a process of obtaining the mind of Christ so that we will make different decisions in moments of crisis
In the past, the old self made decisions based on earthly values and fleshly desires
Now our new self is called to make decisions based on the mind of Christ and the leading of His Spirit living in us
We must train our mind to think like Christ so that we might live like Him
The Bible calls this training process the renewing of our mind
Making it new, changing it from the depraved ways we knew before faith and into likeness with Christ
For example, Paul says in Romans:
Paul says our walk must be transformed by a renewing of our mind
That renewing comes only through a study of God’s Word
By knowing Christ’s Word, we move away from conforming to the world and toward the likeness of Christ
By this transformation, Paul says we will live out the will of God
We will show the world by our new thinking and new behaviors what is good and acceptable and perfect to God
Secondly, Paul says this is a daily renewal in our inner person which leads us to eternal glory
Our outer, sinful nature is decaying and fading even as we are renewing our inner person day by day
Notice again that this renewing of the inner person will be tested by momentary, light affliction
Testing gives opportunity for our new self to be made visible as we live it out before the world
And as we endure that affliction, we gain the benefit of eternal, weighty glory far beyond comparison
And now we see how transforming our mind brings us to the point where we can count all suffering as joy
By the counsel of scripture we gain the mind of Christ so we come to see our trials the way Jesus saw His trials
We come to understand that our afflictions for the sake of Christ are the fertile ground where God plants seeds of opportunity
The opportunity to respond in faith, sacrificing earthly things to the glory of Christ and for the potential of heavenly reward
The grace of Christ working in us gives us the power to stand in the moment
That’s why Paul emphasizes that Timothy must ensure that the teaching Paul left with him in Ephesus be shared widely by trustworthy men
Notice in v.2 Paul places this demand on Timothy
If the church in Ephesus was to withstand the coming persecution successfully, then it must be prepared with proper teaching
Renewing their minds was the necessary prerequisite to making the right choices
But if the church made the choice to remain faithful as Paul did, then the grace of God would give them the strength to follow through
Then Paul moves to teaching Timothy on the very point of suffering, using three analogies to drive home the logic for why suffering in trials is worthwhile for a believer
For the second time in as many chapters, Paul calls Timothy to suffer hardship as Paul did
And to explain the sensibility of such a call, Paul draws upon three analogies
First, Paul says that suffering hardship for the sake of the Gospel is like a soldier called for duty
I have some qualification to speak on this analogy
I spent 9 years in the US Air Force, not counting the four years I spent as a cadet at the Air Force Academy
This gives me a first-hand sense of what Paul means when he compares serving Christ to military service
Although my Army brothers and sisters might argue that serving in the Air Force doesn’t qualify as being a soldier
As it turns out, life in the military is great preparation for life in ministry
A soldier must be 100% committed to the mission and to his or her role
Because the mission is too important to tolerate a half-hearted effort
Paul says we must be a “good” soldier, and the Greek word for good means wise
In the context of soldiering, being wise means setting the right priorities in life
And specifically, a soldier must set aside pursuit of the world at least to some degree
What passes as normal life for a civilian can’t hold for a soldier
Military service is an all-consuming lifestyle in most cases, especially in times of war
Therefore, Paul says a good soldier can’t concern himself with the affairs of everyday life
Instead, the only desire of a soldier is pleasing the one who enlisted him
Pleasing his sergeant, pleasing his commander, ultimately pleasing the nation he serves
Military life has no place for token contributions
Paul says Christians are to serve in battle in a similar way
Christ has called us to duty as His soldiers
We have a new mission in life, one that’s eternally important
It’s a battle against the enemy and the world and even our own flesh
Imagine if soldiers routinely ran from the battlefield at the first signs of conflict declaring they weren’t prepared for such trials?
That’s the situation when a Christian run from trials or abandons their testimony altogether
It means they weren’t educated in the realities of serving Christ
You are soldiers, which means you are preparing for battle
Therefore when the fight comes, you can’t shrink back
You must remain in place to serve and glorify the One Who enlisted you
So Paul’s first example emphasizes our outlook and preparation for service as Christians
We must understand our role and mission will eventually bring us into conflict with an enemy
Therefore, be ready to take up the fight
Secondly, in v.5 Paul uses the example of an athlete running in a race
Now, Paul has moved from how we prepare for service to how we pursue our service
An athlete must compete well to receive a prize, Paul says
The Greek word compete can also be translated strive
The emphasis here is in the striving, a constant expending of effort toward a goal
For who competes without a desire for the reward?
Today it’s fashionable, especially with young children, to assign everyone an award at the end of a competition
There can be no losers or winners
We all know this isn’t real life
And I suspect most children aren’t fooled by this charade either
We may not be keeping score at the game, but you can bet they are
Because winning is a primal motivation for striving
And the incentive for striving in any competition is the prospect of a prize at the end for those who compete well
But as Paul says, if we want that prize, we must follow the rules
We must compete according to the way the race requires
If the rules require we stay inside our lane, then we can’t stray
And if the rules require we cross the finish line, then we can’t stop running before we reach that point
In other words, if we don't give our best, we cannot succeed which is the whole point in competing in the first place
In the same way, Paul says every disciple of Christ has entered a race of sorts
The race began the moment we became a believer in Jesus Christ
It continues until we die and enter the Lord’s presence
During this time, we are competing for rewards, eternal rewards
Only in this particular race, we don’t compete against other athletes
Instead, we’re competing against ourselves
Against our fleshly desires and selfish nature, against our fears and the temptations offered by the world to draw us astray
Our challenge is to compete according to the rules
And the rules of this race are simple
Stay inside your lane and finish the race
The world, the enemy and our flesh are always attempting to draw us outside the lines God set for us
Whether by sins of one kind or another, or distractions of earthly gain or pleasure, we are presented with opportunities every day to leave our lane
And sometimes the enemy, or our flesh or the world, places hurdles in our path
And as we come upon these trials, the challenge makes us consider giving up or going another way
To become like Onesiphorus, establishing a track record of running well only to stray off the track and forfeit the prize
Likewise, we must bring an eternal outlook to our walk as Christians
We must commit to running well, according to the rules, so that we may receive a reward
We must give our best to Christ, in whatever form our service to Him may take
We must guard our own lives to ensure we stay in our lanes, so to speak
So the second example of an athlete reminds us that serving Christ requires a missional mind, one that isn’t easily distracted
Finally, Paul compares our life of Christian service to that of a farmer
And in this example, Paul emphasizes that the farmer is hard-working
The word for hard-working in Greek literally means weary
So our farmer is a weary sort
The life of a farmer is certainly filled with long days of back-breaking work
A farmer prepares the field, sows seed to produce a harvest
Paul says only after the harvest arrives, only then does the farmer receive his payment
His payment is a portion of what has been harvested, the fruit of his field
His provision is entirely dependent on producing a successful harvest
The farmer can’t give up before the harvest arrives
If he does, he would be left with nothing to show for his efforts
But if he perseveres, then he knows he will be the first to profit
A farmer’s reward comes at the end, which leads him to be patient in the long hours of the work and willing to suffer hardship
Giving up early means gaining nothing in the end
Likewise, Christians cannot lose sight of our goal in serving the Lord
Our service will be difficult at times
There will be many days when we waver in the face of suffering
Perhaps the trials will be intensely personal, as the Lord works to uncover our weaknesses so we can be strengthened for greater service
And sometimes our trials will come as public suffering for Christ under persecution
We may feel like quitting, we may wonder if it’s all worth it
But if we think like a farmer, we understand the fruit of our labors won’t be revealed until the final harvest
If a farmer can show patience for a few months in pursuit of a crop of grain
Certainly, we can endure a lifetime of serving Christ for the glories to be found in the kingdom
How can we tell Jesus that He’s asking too much of us when so often we willingly sacrifice much more, for lessor worldly goals
How many years will we invest in education or training for a sport or some profession
How many hours, how much money has been invested in meaningless things that perish with us?
Is seeking the pleasure of your Lord worthy of less sacrifice and effort?
Can we see Paul’s point? Farmers understand that their work will be hard
But they also understand the reward is worth the investment
And they know if they give up early, they profit nothing
We need to think of our walk in service to Christ in the same way
So the first example emphasized the preparation for service
The second example illustrated the proper pursuit of service
And the final example reminds us of the need for persistence in our service even as we may grow weary
Simply put, if you know God to be good – and certainly He is
Then you can be sure that when all is said and done, we will all agree that our sacrifices were worth it
Trust Him in that even now, and serve Him well
Now Paul offers one more example, the chief example for all Christians – Christ Himself
There can be no better example, of course, than Jesus Himself
Paul alludes to Jesus’ example in all three of these qualities
First, Paul refers to Christ rising from the dead
This statement immediately draws our attention to Jesus’ suffering and death
No follower of Jesus Christ will ever be able to say they suffered more in serving Christ than He did in serving us
He is our ultimate example of suffering in obedience to the call of God
Jesus willingly suffered in obedience to the Father
And He did so to serve God in an eternal mission
Secondly, Jesus was resurrected from the dead
So His service in suffering brought glory to Him in the end
But His suffering had to proceed His glory
He had to persevere and finish the race set before Him
Then Paul adds Jesus was the descendant of David
Paul is alluding to the Davidic Covenant, which established that David’s descendant would rule over Israel and all nations
That promise was directed at Jesus of course
In a day to come in the Kingdom, Jesus will receive the rule that the Father promised to Him
In fact, Jesus has yet to receive this reward since it’s waiting for the arrival of the Kingdom
The point is that Christ Himself is still waiting for His reward
Like us, He is still showing patience since what He died to receive hasn’t yet been awarded to Him by the Father
He hasn’t received His Bride in full and He hasn’t inherited the Kingdom
So if Christ suffered willingly for eternal glory, and if He persevered even to the point of death, and if He is showing patience for His reward…
How can we not be willing to do the same?
Finally, Paul offers himself as one more example to Timothy
Paul willingly suffered hardship for Christ, he says
To include imprisonment as a criminal
He knew what he was asking of Timothy
He understood the risks, but he wasn’t asking more of Timothy than he was willing to do himself
But then Paul adds that his imprisonment wasn’t at the expense of the mission, for no one can imprison the word of God
Paul means that even as persecution comes against leaders in His church, it has no bearing on God’s ability to deliver the Gospel
Ironically, Paul says in v.10 that he endured these things for the sake of the chosen, that is those who may obtain salvation in Christ
Far from lessening his effectiveness in the mission, he endured persecution in order to accomplish the mission
Persecution accomplishes far more in God’s economy than concession and compromise ever could
When the church stands firm in the face of persecution, it leads to growth of the best kind
It draws attention to the love of God’s people, putting it in stark relief against the hatred and sin of those who oppress believers
Just as Abel’s godliness was amplified by his brother Cain’s persecution and hatred
So will the message of the Gospel be amplified by the world’s hatred of us
As someone once said, the blood of the martyrs waters the seeds of faith
Regrettably, the church has sometimes sought to avoid persecution by compromising with their oppressors
When this happens, the excuse is often that we must make some concessions to the demands of our enemies to ensure the Gospel survives
Paul’s testimony (and the history of the church) proves this to be wrong
Moreover, it’s hubris to think that God needs us to bring His word to the world
The world was made by God’s word
So clearly the world cannot restrain the word of God in any way
Timothy couldn’t use that excuse to avoid the persecutions and trials God may bring, and neither can we
This brings Paul back to summarize his central point with a memorable expression
Paul summarizes the relationship between faith, service and reward by coining a saying or memorable expression
Paul starts with the assurance this is a trustworthy statement, something that you can take to the bank
In Greek, the word Paul used for trustworthy is pistos, which means “this is something we can place faith in”
And the first part of the saying holds that if we died with Christ, then we will also live with him
This is a concise expression of the Gospel message itself
Essentially, the Gospel is a matter of believing in two things
First, that Jesus is the perfect, sinless sacrifice Who died in our place on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins
Secondly, that Jesus was resurrected from grace never to die again
These two parts are neatly summed up in Romans:
When a person places faith in Christ in this way, the Bible says that person has died with Christ
In other words, God assigns Christ’s death in place of the believer’s own death for sin
And in that sense, all believers have died with Christ through their faith in His payment on the cross in their place
So Paul describes saving faith as having died with Christ
Then he goes on to finish the thought saying if we have died with Him, then we can be sure we will live again with Him eternally
Our faith in Christ assures us that the death of our body is not the end of us
We will receive a new body
We will walk the earth again with Christ
And we will never die again
So in v.11 we find a simple summary of the promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Notice the Gospel does not rest on your good works, for human works have no value to the Lord
We cannot work our way out of our debt of sin
We cannot earn the righteousness that comes by faith alone
Only God could pay our debt for us, through His Son on the cross
But since we know that we cannot earn our salvation through works, we may be tempted to think that our works are of no value whatsoever
This must be the thinking of any Christian who shrinks back in the face of trial or persecution
Or they fail to appreciate what’s on the line in eternity
So they think that having saving faith is the end of the story…but it’s just the beginning
In v.12 Paul says if we endure with Christ, we will also reign with Him
The Greek word translated as endure carries the sense of persevering in the face of difficulty, to have patience at a work
Much like the farmer, Paul says if we work patiently serving Christ then we will reign with Him
We know that Paul is no longer addressing the topic of salvation, since he has introduced the necessity of a human work
Instead, Paul has moved to the next step of the Christian walk
Following salvation through faith, we now begin to serve the Lord as His disciple in our walk of faith
As a disciple we’re called to serve faithfully, enduring trials and waiting patiently for a reward
Like a soldier or athlete or farmer
Paul says if we endure in our work, we will reign with Christ, which is a reference to our eternal reward
Scripture teaches that all believers are promised both an inheritance in the kingdom
And we will have the opportunity to reign with Christ in governing the coming Kingdom on Earth
In the Gospels, Jesus explains that our opportunities to reign are determined by our faithfulness to serve Him now
Some believers will receive a greater reward than others
Jesus says that our present time serving Him on Earth is the test of our endurance and faithfulness
And by this test, the Lord will discover who is deserving of greater responsibility in the coming Kingdom
Jesus used a parable to explain how He will assign us responsibility to share in His reign in the Kingdom
In the key statement in the parable, Jesus declares:
We have each received a degree of responsibility to serve Him now
We have opportunities to serve Him in our churches or to witness to Christ in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, & communities
We have been given spiritual gifts for that purpose
And at our judgment, we will be measured for our endurance according to what we have been given
Those who make the most of the time on Earth to serve Christ, will be given the greatest opportunity to serve in the Kingdom
Scripture alludes to greater honor, greater responsibility, a greater inheritance in some form
Having greater things in eternity is much more valuable than having anything in this short life
So while our salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in the death and resurrection of Christ
Our endurance in serving Christ as His disciple grants us opportunity to enjoy greater opportunities to serve Christ in the Kingdom
Paul’s point raises an obvious question…what if a Christian fails to serve Christ faithfully?
What if a believer denies the Lord the service He expects?
Paul addresses this possibility in the second half of v.12
He says if we deny Him, then the Lord will deny us
We’re still in the context of enduring and reigning, so now Paul is speaking of the opposite condition, that of failing to endure
Paul describes it as a denial of Christ
That is, denying Christ of our service and our endurance as His disciple
Onesiphorus denied Christ His endurance when he apparently walked away from Paul in the face of persecution
It’s a choice to live for ourself and for this world instead of living for Christ and the Kingdom
In such a case, Paul says the Lord will deny us…which is to say, Christ will deny us some portion of our reward
He will deny us the opportunity to reign with Him in greater ways
Just as when we withheld our obedience to our earthly parents, they denied us privileges and rewards
So it will be for any in the Kingdom who deny Christ their endurance
The prize is for those who compete well
And so God holds out the prize, as motivation for us to serve Him faithfully
Remember, the judgment in these matters comes at the end of the race, not in the middle
So if you are worried your reward has already been lost, you can take comfort knowing that the race is still under way
You need only return to your lane and pick up the pace
Everyone stumbles here and there
No one will reach the end without a testimony of good days and bad days
Don’t let the enemy deceive you into remaining sidelined
Now, some teachers read Paul’s statement in v.12 and come away misunderstanding what Paul is saying
They assume that when Paul says Christ denies us he means that Christ removes salvation, as if a person ceases being saved
They conclude that denying means denying the faith, so therefore Christ will deny us before the Father
But this is not what Paul is trying to teach us
Paul probably wondered if someone might make just such false conclusion at this point
So Paul added one more line to his saying to make sure we didn’t jump to the wrong conclusion
In v.13 Paul adds that even if we are faithless, He will remain faithful
That is to say, in the case where a believer foolishly walked away from Christ (like Onesiphorus), the Spirit will never leave us nor forsake us
The Lord has promised we will be resurrected into eternal life
He has promised we will live forever with Christ in the Kingdom
And the Lord will remain faithful to those promises
Paul added this statement in v.13 to make sure we didn’t go too far with his saying
We don’t earn our salvation by our good works, so we cannot lose salvation by “bad” works
Nevertheless, if we walk away from serving the Lord, we do place our eternal rewards at great risk
We stand to suffer loss in the Kingdom
We will come through our judgment moment as through fire, with nothing to show for our time spent in service to Christ
We must consider carefully our call to be a disciple of the Lord
Are we willing to endure hardship?
Do we make the most of each day to please Him?
Do we avoid being distracted by the concerns of everyday life like a soldier?
Are we running our race with an eye on the prize and competing according to the rules like an athlete?
And are we willing to be patient like the farmer, content to receive our rewards in the Kingdom?
And when trials and persecution come our way, will we have invested the time necessary to renewing our mind by God’s word
So that renewing may prepare us to choose to stand in His power by His grace
A successful walk in Christ begins with an understanding that our service to Christ is a test
One that demands commitment, diligence and endurance
So when you get up in the morning, rise to serve Christ’s agenda
As you seek to serve, meditate on His word
When we become discouraged or struggle with sin or fall into despair, know His grace will grant you the power to stand
Provided you choose that course
When you confront trial, persecution and even death, take comfort knowing your life is poured out for the One Who died for you