Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Howdy fellas, welcome back. This week we're looking at different passages of Scripture that reveal to us, and remind us, christian men, that we were born for battle. So today we're going to park in 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4. But before I read it we need to kind of set the scene a little bit. So this is a letter from the Apostle Paul to his protege, timothy. This was Paul's final letter that we still have today. Some have called it his last will and testament, if you will. He wrote this while in prison in Rome. This is likely his second imprisonment there. The letter, if you read it which you should is very personal. So it comes off as very pastoral as well and you can tell that he cares very deeply for Timothy and the continuation of his ministry and he wants Timothy to persevere regardless of the circumstances. So he wants Timothy to operate with integrity. He wants Timothy to finish well in his ministry and for the sake of the gospel. So now that we have that context, I'll read 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4 here Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Speaker 2: 1:18

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. So let's actually break that down. Verse three share in suffering. So the Greek word used here literally means that shared in suffering. So suffer together with is what we are called to do. It also shows us that suffering is normative right, in fact it's to be expected, and suffering is a mark of discipleship of Christ. So 1 Peter 4, verses 12 through 14, says this Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. And guys also, our suffering isn't random right. It occurs under the expectant and omniscient sovereignty of our Creator, god.

Speaker 2: 2:16

And then going back to the Scripture here. So Paul is leaning on military imagery here for us, which begs the question does a soldier fight alone? No, of course not. I mean, the whole point of having a soldier in a military context is so that their individual actions can be part of an offensive or defensive whole right. So we you know when you invoke the imagery of a military soldier. You see a call to loyalty, selflessness, preparedness, duty, courage and so on and so forth. And then back to the scripture of Christ Jesus. Simply, we are not called to suffer and endure for the sake of ourselves, I mean, or even our families or our country In this context. We are called to suffer and endure for the cause of Christ and with Christ as our head and as a follower of Christ, we are in union with him. Okay, let's go to verse four.

Speaker 2: 3:13

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits. So the civilian pursuits here are any pursuit attached to everyday worldly concerns or affairs, okay. So by their very nature those can be easily distracting for us and it can distract us away from what Paul is calling Timothy to do. So it's distracting him away from his duty. We are called to be in the world, but not of it, right, in the last part of verse 4 here, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. So in a military context, one of the major aims is to work to satisfy the commanding officer, okay, and to execute on his plans and dictates. And in the content of this letter Paul is obviously saying that our commanding officer is Jesus. Also who enlisted Paul to the spiritual battle, the triune. God did right. He did the same with Timothy and he's doing the same with all of us.

Speaker 2: 4:07

Because, you see, as christians, we love to get wrapped around the axle about what we, or what other men, do for a living, because, as men, that's kind of like our sorting mechanism when we meet someone for the first Time. I mean, if you don't believe me, what? What's one of the first questions that you ask a guy when you're meeting him for the first time? Ah, so what do you do for a living? Right Now, I'm not saying it's an illegitimate question, it's actually a good one, but we ask it so we can gauge who we're talking to, because their answer will give us an idea of how much they make and how much influence they have and how high they've ascended on the corporate ladder or in their industry of choice. Right, but do you know what calling is above any worldly profession? And do you know what calling is above any worldly pursuit? The calling that is actually worth fighting for, the calling to be a soldier for the cause of Christ? Men, we were born for that battle. Come back tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.