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It was at the home of Abinadab that the Ark of the Lord was returned after the Philistines

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had it.

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It was kept there for a number of years until the time that David felt that it was right

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to bring the Ark of the Lord to the city of Jerusalem.

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A great celebration was planned for that occasion.

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A new cart was made upon which to transport the Ark to the city, howbeit that God had

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said in His Word that there were certain men who were to carry it on their shoulders.

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Nonetheless, a new cart was made to carry the Ark to a new location.

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When the day came, the two sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio, no relation to the state,

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escorted the Ark toward its new location.

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As they arrived at the threshing floor of a man by the name of Obed Edom, who was a

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Gittite, the oxen seemed to stumble, the cart jilted, and it appeared as though the Ark

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of the Lord was going to fall to the ground.

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Uzzah, feeling some responsibility to get the Ark there safely because it had been kept

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in his father's house, and undoubtedly out of a sincere desire to serve the Lord, reached

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up with his hands to hold the Ark onto the cart.

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And the Word of God says, And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck

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him down there for his irreverence, and he died.

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Uzzah was sincere in what he did in serving God.

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He was afraid the Ark was going to be damaged.

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He wanted to prevent that.

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All he did was to reach out with his hand to prevent the Ark from falling, and God killed

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him just like that.

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That seems like a strange event, doesn't it?

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It seems as though that is a different God than the God of the New Testament.

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Perhaps that is because we don't have a very balanced view of God.

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It is possible to serve the Lord and even be sincere about it, and yet to serve Him

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in such a way that He is not pleased.

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Understanding what it means to serve God in an acceptable way to Him is vitally important

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for all of us.

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That is the theme of 2 Timothy chapters 1 and 2, serving acceptably.

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Chapters 3 and 4 deal with serving expectantly.

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We will get to those chapters later.

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But today our text begins with the second chapter of 2 Timothy.

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In chapter 1 in our study we observe that there are certain essentials, seven of them

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in number, suggested as preconditions for serving the Lord acceptably.

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They are a genuine faith, verse 5, a clear conscience, verse 3, a fervent zeal, verse

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6, a bold spirit, verse 7, a willing identification with the gospel and with those who suffer

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for it, verses 8 through 11, a confident expectation in Christ's power to eternally keep us,

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verse 12.

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And finally, a true loyalty, verses 13 through 18, a loyalty to the Word of God and to the

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servant of God, especially to the one who is under attack, in this case the Apostle

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Paul.

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That brings us to chapter 2.

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We must not be fooled into thinking that serving God is something that can be shoddily done

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or carelessly, half-heartedly attempted.

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Serving God calls for the very best that you have and that you are.

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It calls for hardship, discipline, single-mindedness, faithfulness.

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But for all of the cost it's worth it.

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John has said that serving the Lord costs, but not serving the Lord costs even more.

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He was right.

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For the one who serves the Lord in an acceptable way, there is eternal glory promised and reigning

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with Christ.

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You and I are not left, thank God, to serving the Lord in our own strength.

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For our own strength quickly fails the test.

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That is why the Apostle begins where he does in verse 1 in the second chapter.

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You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust

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to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

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Remember hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

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No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he

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may please the one who has enlisted him as a soldier.

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And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes

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according to the rules.

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The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

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Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

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Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David according to my gospel,

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for which I suffer hardship, even to imprisonment as a criminal.

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But the word of God is not imprisoned.

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For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also

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may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

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It is a trustworthy statement, for if we died with him, we shall also live with him.

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If we endure, we shall also reign with him.

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If we deny him, he also will deny us.

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If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

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Our Heavenly Father, we would today consider what the Apostle has written by the inspiration

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of the Spirit.

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We have the promise here in this text that you will give us understanding in everything.

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And so we claim that promise, and we ask that you would teach our hearts and bring us to

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the place of complete obedience in our lives, so that we may indeed serve you acceptably.

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Amen.

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Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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The grace in Christ Jesus certainly includes the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit

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who is imparted to us.

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We are not expected to serve the Lord in our own feeble strength, but we have available

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to us through the Holy Spirit the very grace of Jesus Christ, so that we may by that grace

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and by that strength serve God acceptably.

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Now in chapter 2 there are seven illustrations or pictures that show us what it means to

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serve God acceptably.

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These paint helpful images on the canvas of our minds, giving a clearer understanding

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of what's involved in serving God in a way that he finds pleasing and acceptable.

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Be strong through the grace of Christ, says the Word of God, because serving God acceptably

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means being a steward, a soldier, an athlete, a farmer, a laborer, a vessel, and a slave.

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That is an outline for our study today and next Lord's Day, the Lord willing.

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Be strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, because serving him means in the first place

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being a steward, verse 2.

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A steward was one in that day responsible for the affairs of another.

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Those who were wealthy employed such people as administrators of their estates.

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The most important qualification without a doubt of a steward was that a man be found

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what?

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Faithful, right, 2 Corinthians 4, 2.

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To be found faithful to Jesus Christ he had to be trustworthy and reliable of a proven

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character.

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That was entrusted to such people as this, such proven individuals who could be trusted.

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Abraham selected Eliezer as his steward.

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To this, the oldest of his servants, Abraham even committed the responsibility of finding

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his son Isaac a wife.

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Imagine that.

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Abraham was sold as a slave into Egypt, but eventually became the steward of Potiphar

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because of his trustworthy character.

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You see a steward was a most responsible and honorable position.

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The fact that the Bible suggests that God has called us to be stewards means that God

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has called us to a responsible, trustworthy position.

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To the Apostle Paul in our text, God had entrusted the Gospel of Christ.

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Paul then had given that truth of the Gospel to Timothy.

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Back in chapter 1 verse 13 he says to this young man, retain the standard of sound words

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which you have heard from me.

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Then in verse 14 he says, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure

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which has been entrusted to you.

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So you see the process.

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God had given to the Apostle Paul the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that treasure.

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Paul in turn had passed it on to Timothy.

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Now Paul writes to Timothy and he suggests to him that he too is a steward.

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He says, now you pass that on to others who are competent, who are trustworthy, who are

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proven so that they in turn can pass it on to yet others who can do the same thing.

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This is a key verse in the New Testament on discipleship.

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It is what is called the ministry of multiplication.

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It is God's way of propagating the Gospel of Christ to each new generation in the world.

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We must see ourselves as stewards of what God has given to us.

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To whom are you passing on the truth that has been committed to you?

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For wherever you are today in your spiritual walk and understanding, someone has entrusted

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to you spiritual truth, a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a discipler, a friend, a co-worker.

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Spiritual truth has been entrusted to your care.

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Now the Word of God says to each of us, pass it on to others and encourage them to do the

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same to pass it on to yet others.

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Who will do the same and pass it on to yet others?

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You see that is the work of a steward.

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We are told, yes, to guard the Gospel, chapter 1 verse 14, but our guarding the Gospel is

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not to be like the bank guard who is sure that the money is kept safe in the vault and

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stands there to protect it, to keep it from being taken.

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The guarding we are to do is more like the employee of the water department who is to

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guard the water system.

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That doesn't mean that he keeps it dammed up in the reservoir.

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It means that as that water passes through his care, he guards to make sure that the

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water has not been contaminated in some way, that it's still pure and fit to drink.

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So you and I are to guard the Gospel in the sense that as it passes through our lives

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to other people, we guard it from impurities.

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But the point is that it's passed on, you see.

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We're stewards of it.

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You and I are stewards of all that God has given us.

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We are stewards not only of the Gospel and spiritual truth, we are stewards of the spiritual

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gifts God has given us.

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We are stewards of our financial and other kinds of resources.

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We are stewards of our reputation.

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We are stewards of our families.

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Folks, if we are going to serve God acceptably, we have to see ourselves as stewards, those

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that God has called as responsible and trustworthy.

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We are to oversee what God has given to us and pass it on to others and use it wisely

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so that one day when we stand before our Lord and give account, He may say to us, well done

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thou good and faithful steward.

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So we must see ourselves as stewards and serve God in the grace of Christ.

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We must also see ourselves as soldiers, verses 3 and 4.

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A good soldier suffers hardship.

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It's not easy to be a soldier.

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He faces the hardship not only of the elements but the enemy of course.

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For a soldier is in a fight for his life.

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Our battlefield is in the spiritual realm.

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The Bible calls it the heavenlies.

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And I recognize that the battle overflows into the world around us, into our circumstances.

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But look, never forget that the battle is not with flesh and blood.

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The heart of the battle is not with people, with tangible things.

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The heart of the battle, folks, is in the spiritual realm.

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Remember that.

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It's in the realm where Satan is.

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It's the invisible but very real realm of the Spirit.

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That is our battlefield.

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Satan is our adversary.

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He uses all of his weapons against us.

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Those would include direct demonic attack.

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They would also include the deceitfulness of our own indwelling sin, which he uses to

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blind us and deceive us.

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His weapons include the various lusts of the world system, which John describes in the

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second chapter of his first epistle.

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Every day that you wake up, you are on a battlefield.

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You are a soldier.

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You must see yourself that way.

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A good soldier above all must be disciplined.

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He must be alert to danger while he is on duty.

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Now, of a soldier in our national army, we can say that there are times he is not on

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duty.

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There are times even when he is on leave.

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But that is not true of the Christian soldier.

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We are always on duty.

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There is not a moment of our hours when we are not on duty and responsible to fight as

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soldiers of Jesus Christ.

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We must be on the alert.

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Now, the specific warning in the text is found in verse 4, where he warns us about entangling

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ourselves in the affairs of everyday life.

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That last phrase is a very interesting one.

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It comes from a Greek word that says in the English, pragmatics.

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Perhaps the greatest danger to the Christian soldier is the pragmatics of everyday living,

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the routines that we go through.

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You see, we get so caught up in our busy schedules, our social calendars, our financial pressures,

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our personal problems, our people conflicts, goal pursuits, demands of circumstances, etc.,

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etc.

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We get so caught up in these pragmatics of everyday life that we forget that we are primarily

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soldiers of Jesus Christ and we have an enemy to fight on the battlefield.

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We get entangled in these things and we lose our priorities.

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A soldier must seek to please his commander.

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A soldier does not have to please the public.

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He does not have to please his other soldiers with whom he works.

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The one he has to please is his commander, and so it is with us.

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Jesus Christ is the one who has enlisted us into his army.

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We are to focus upon what he says to us and beware of the entanglements of everyday life.

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Now we have to face them.

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We have to live through them.

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That's part of living.

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We have all these pressures and circumstances, etc., etc. ad nauseum.

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We all do.

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But the point is, folks, don't get entangled in these things so that you focus on them

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and lose sight of what God has called you to be, a soldier for Jesus Christ.

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If you and I are going to serve God acceptably, we have to see ourselves in that role.

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We have been enlisted by Christ to fight for his cause in the world, and we must serve

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him with the singleness of mind and of purpose.

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That is a soldier's.

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If we would serve Jesus Christ acceptably, we must see ourselves as stewards and as soldiers,

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thirdly as athletes, in verse 5.

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Now there are some of us who would like to think of ourselves as athletes.

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There are others of us that shy away from the word.

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The point is not whether you're an athlete in this world in a physical sense.

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The point is this, you are an athlete as far as God is concerned.

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God calls you an athlete in his word.

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And the real heart of this verse, verse 5, is that there is a prize to be won at the

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end of the race.

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I have never met an athlete who's in it just for the pain.

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An athlete is in there to win the game, to receive the trophy or the ribbon, or to have

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his name listed 640th in the results on the marathon.

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At least his name is there, you see.

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An athlete is not in it just for the pain.

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He's in there for what he's going to receive from it, albeit even small.

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God has given us an incentive as athletes.

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He says there is a reward at the finish line.

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But don't you think for a moment that it's unspiritual to think that way.

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God himself tells us about it.

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It is right for us to think about rewards and about serving God and having that incentive

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to receive the reward from the Lord.

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The reward here is a crown.

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The word is stefanos, which refers to the wreath, usually of green, that was given to

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those Greek Roman athletes.

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Sometimes it was a wreath of gold leaf.

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The point is that it's that kind of a crown, a stefanos, a wreath.

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God is going to give to us.

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God has a reward system of some kind.

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And some day He's going to give rewards to His athletes.

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Now to win, an athlete has to keep the rules.

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That's what the verse says.

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An athlete doesn't get the prize unless he competes according to the rules.

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I was watching my nephew play in Little League a couple of weeks ago.

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There was one of his team members on third base who decided to try to steal home.

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A noble venture, however unsuccessful.

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As he got between third base and home, someone threw the ball to the catcher and the catcher

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was standing right there in the baseline to get him.

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And this little guy had it figured out.

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He ran about 15 yards around the catcher and got over to home base.

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He got there, alright, but it didn't count.

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Because you see the rule is you have to stay in the baselines.

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There are not rewards unless we obey the rules of the game.

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What are the rules of the game as far as we're concerned?

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Let me suggest to you just four of them.

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Unless we obey these rules, folks, we will not be rewarded as God's athletes.

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The first rule is a clean lifestyle, separated from worldliness and impurity.

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I understand as much as you do the pressures in the ungodly and filthy society around us.

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We all face the same temptations in our world and our culture.

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But I want you to know something.

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Jesus Christ has called us to be athletes.

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We have to see ourselves as athletes.

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And unless we obey this rule in the game, there's no prize at the end of the race.

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This rule is that we separate ourselves from ungodliness, that we keep our lifestyles clean

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and pure and godly.

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God has called us to holiness.

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Now I recognize that we all sin.

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God has given us a wonderful remedy for that.

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It's called confession.

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Confession in the claiming of His forgiveness for our sins.

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It's called self-judgment in 1 Corinthians 11, where we judge ourselves and confess our

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sins to God.

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Then we go on in the race.

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So the point here I'm trying to make is not that we must be sinless, but it's that the

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bent of our lives must be toward purity, toward being clean people in our lifestyle and then

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dealing with our sins as God tells us to.

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Secondly, another rule, we must have a heart of agape love.

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A heart that constrains us even to sacrificial acts of kindness toward others.

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I want to tell you, unless we obey that rule, there is no prize at the end of the race.

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Unless we are constrained by the love of Christ to serve others at our own expense and cost,

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we have become disqualified.

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A third rule, humility of heart.

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God will not reward the arrogant, those who work for themselves and boast of themselves.

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We must be those who obey the rule of humility.

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We must be those who are willing to be a servant and who will say, whatever needs to be done,

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I will do it.

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I don't care if I get applause for it.

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I don't care if I'm recognized.

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I just want to serve the Lord.

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Boy, when we keep in the baselines of that rule, God moves us right on to the finish

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and we receive the reward.

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Then a fourth rule I'd like to suggest is that we must keep proclaiming the truth of

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the gospel.

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We are not called to proclaim man-created doctrines or our own personal ideas or opinions

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about things in the world, social issues, etc., etc.

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One of the rules that we must realize as a part of our race is that we keep in the truth

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of God's word.

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That becomes the focus of our proclamation, our sharing with other people.

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Those are the rules.

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Many of us are devoted to athletics.

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I want to ask you a question.

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Is your devotion to serving Jesus Christ as great as your devotion to athletics?

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Are you as faithful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and being in worship with His people

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as you are being at the ball game or in the bowling team that you're a part of?

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Are you as concerned about serving the Lord as you are seeing that ball game this afternoon

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on television?

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If we are more devoted as earthly athletes and spectators of athletics, then we are devoted

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as Christian athletes who are disciplined in the rules of our race, then we will never

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receive the reward of the crown at the finish line.

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May God give us the same kind of devotion and discipline in our race as Christian athletes

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as we would have in our earthly athletics.

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See yourself today as an athlete with God-given rules to be kept in a disciplined lifestyle.

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Finally I would urge you this morning to see yourself as a farmer.

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If we would serve Jesus Christ acceptably, we must see ourselves as farmers.

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The emphasis in verse 6 grammatically is on hard working.

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The contrast is to the lazy farmer.

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He says the hard working farmer.

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That's the kind of a farmer we're to be.

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I tell you farmers work hard.

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There's no one that works harder than a farmer who toils in the soil.

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Let us never think that our service for Jesus Christ is going to be any easier than farming.

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Serving Jesus Christ is hard work.

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I mean that's the bottom line folks.

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There are no easy roles in serving Christ.

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We are all farmers.

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Whether we're teaching a Sunday school class or witnessing to a co-worker, cleaning up after

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a social, welcoming newcomers into the church, working with teenagers, counseling troubled

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people, serving as a flocks leader, discipling a new convert, passing out of track, whatever

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we do, whatever we do in serving the Lord, it's going to be hard work.

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We have to realize that.

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It's not going to be easy.

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God didn't say it would be easy.

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He just said that if we work hard, it will be worth it.

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Because as in a couple of the other pictures, the farmer who works hard eventually sees

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the produce of his efforts.

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If you would serve Jesus Christ acceptably, you must see yourself as a farmer who is called

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to work hard, work hard in your service for the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now Paul concludes or continues rather with two examples and two encouragements in verses

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seven through thirteen.

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When it comes to serving the Lord, there is no greater example than the servant, capital

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S of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

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So he says remember Jesus Christ.

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You want to talk about one who is disciplined?

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You want to talk about one who is devoted?

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You want to talk about one who is determined and faithful?

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You want to talk about one who gave himself even to death for our sins?

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Remember Jesus Christ.

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You want to remember that it's worth it to serve the Lord God?

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Remember Jesus Christ who is now exalted to his Father's right hand and seated on a throne

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of eternal glory.

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You want an example of working hard?

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Of serving Christ, being devoted and disciplined, suffering?

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Think of the Apostle Paul, the second example, who suffered hardship even as one who had

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committed a crime though he was innocent.

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Paul wasn't down in the mouth about it.

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He wasn't depressed and discouraged.

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Even his friends had left him.

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Paul was rejoicing because as he says in the last part of verse nine, the word of God is

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not imprisoned.

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And that brings us to the first of the two encouragements.

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The first encouragement I see in this text is this, that opposition and suffering do

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not hinder the purposes of God or the word of God.

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I don't care how much opposition you face in your serving Jesus Christ or how much suffering

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you may have to go through.

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Someday some of you may lay down your lives and pour out your blood on a mission field

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somewhere as a martyr.

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Whatever the cost is in serving Jesus Christ, whatever your personal opposition is, whatever

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suffering you face, remember the word of God is not limited by that.

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And though you may pay the supreme price even as Paul was about to, the word of God will

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go right on and God's purposes will be accomplished, the salvation of His people.

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The second encouragement I see is this, and I've already alluded to it, it is that glory

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and reward await those who serve Christ faithfully.

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He mentions the eternal glory that comes with our salvation in verse 10, verses 11, 12,

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and 13 record what was probably an early hymn of the church.

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But the point is this, that if we serve the Lord faithfully, we will reign with Him.

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We will be rewarded with eternal glory with Christ if we serve Him acceptably.

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And I don't want you to go away from here this morning confusing two very different

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issues.

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One is the reward that I've talked about for service and the other is the gift of salvation.

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The gift of salvation, my friend, is available to you today, to all of us.

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For the Lord Jesus Christ offered up His life, shed His precious blood for sins.

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He was raised from the dead gloriously and He is alive today and able to save everyone

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who will come to Him.

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That is a gift.

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It has nothing to do with our works.

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For by grace you've been saved, not of works.

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If you have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, I call upon you today to trust

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Him, to receive Him into your heart, to believe that He died for your sins.

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Make Him the Lord of your life.

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But there's a second issue that I've been speaking to primarily and that is our service.

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That there is a reward for those who serve the Lord, not just sincerely.

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Notice that.

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Uzzah was sincere, but he was careless and in a moment lost his life because he was careless.

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God had said, don't touch these holy things, but he touched it and he died.

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To serve Christ acceptably means being a disciple and discipling others, passing on what God's

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given us.

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It means being wholeheartedly devoted to Jesus Christ, just like a soldier.

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It means being disciplined like an athlete to avoid disqualification in the race, in

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a moment of carelessness and thoughtlessness.

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It means being diligent and working hard like a farmer.

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When we serve Jesus Christ acceptably, God counts us as a successful person.

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A child who is going to receive a reward at His hands.

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There's nothing that God delights to do more than to reward His faithful servants.

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That is the greatest joy of God's heart and God wants every one of us to be successful

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in our serving Christ.

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That's how we do it.

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That's why we're talking about this.

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I believe that's why, in part at least, 2 Timothy chapter 2 was written.

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To see ourselves as God sees us and serve Him acceptably.

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Let's bow together.

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Would you sing with me?

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I have decided to follow Jesus.

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I have decided to follow Jesus.

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I have decided to follow Jesus.

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No turning back.

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No turning back.

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Do you mean that my friend?

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Even if no one else will do it?

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No one else in your family?

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No one else in your office?

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No one else in your small church?

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Even if you're the only one, will you serve the Lord the way we've talked about this morning?

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Though no one join me, still I will follow.

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Though no one join me, still I will follow.

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No turning back.

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No turning back.

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I can guarantee you that if you mean that, if you're serious about serving the Lord

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in the way that pleases Him, Satan is going to fight.

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All of his weapons are going to be focused on you, but my friend, be strong in the grace

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that is in Christ Jesus.

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And though all the world be against you, recognize that it's behind you.

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The cross of Christ is before you.

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And don't turn back.

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The world behind me.

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The cross before me.

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The world behind me.

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The cross before me.

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The world behind me.

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The cross before me.

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No turning back.

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No turning back.

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Lord, I pray that we may serve you acceptably as faithful stewards, as devoted soldiers,

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disciplined athletes, hardworking and diligent farmers.

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So that one day we may hear your words to us at the judgment seat.

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Well done, good and faithful stewards.

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Amen.