Redefined: Cost

Redefined: Cost
2 Timothy 2:3-7 October 7, 2018
I. Introduction:
A. In Luke 14 Jesus says to count the cost of following Him.
1. He says as a disciple, a follower of Jesus, Jesus has priority in our lives over
our most intimate relationships with mates, children, parents and siblings,
over our own self and desires, and even over our possessions!
2. Jesus is saying if any of these relationships, our possessions or even our own
desires come in conflict with what Jesus wants, a disciple always choses
Jesus.
3. Yes, eternal life, salvation the abundant life comes to us with the warning
label that there is a cost to following Jesus, pain, suffering and sacrifice are
part of the package!
B. We learned this in Philippians 3:10 after Paul spoke about being saved by the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith in Jesus, he then spoke
of the purpose of that salvation
1. Phil 3:10
2. Salvation is a complete package of knowing Jesus and His power as well as
the pain of suffering and the laying down of my life for him and others!
C. I have to admit when I consider the cost I have paid in following Jesus, the small
little sufferings of being mocked or people discontinuing their relationship with
me because of following Jesus, it makes me feel like I have been at a constant
church picnic in comparison to others throughout history and the world who have
experienced extreme suffering, persecutions, imprisonments and even dying for
Jesus.
• Today I want to talk about a different kind of cost in following Jesus, a self-imposed
suffering of hardship in order to do the work of a disciple! Turn in your Bibles to
II. 2 Timothy 2 (overview of 1-7)
A. Context – Paul was in a Roman prison when he wrote this letter to encourage
Timothy join with him in suffering for the gospel and to remain faithful to his
ministry in the face of hardships.
1. Here in chapter 2 Paul was commanding Timothy to pass on to others the
message that he taught to him. We will talk more about this next week.
2. But right after this command, he calls Timothy to suffer hardship with him in
this ministry of making disciples who can make disciples!
3. Paul uses three common illustrations from their world to emphasize how they
can suffer hardship in making disciples. Illustrations are that of soldiers,
athletes and farmers.
B. Watch for this as I read but also note that all of this suffering does not come from
others from the outside but is all self-imposed suffering for the sake of making
disciples! Read 2:1-7
• Let’s take a closer look at the...
III. Three ways to suffer in making disciples
A. First, we learn from the soldier that we are to give our focus and energy to the
service of the Lord. Watch for this as I read v4.
1. Simply he is saying that a good soldier does not get himself all entangled, all
knotted up, ensnared by his personal concerns, pleasures, positions and
possessions.
2. Instead a solider is single-minded on his purpose, rigorously disciplined, and
obedient to the mission that his commanding officer gives him.
3. This will require a personal, intentional and sacrificial choice to make the call
to make disciples the priority of your life!
4. He is a person who does not just add to his life in light of the call to be a
disciple but he actually prunes some of these personal pleasures out in order
to fulfill the call of Jesus on His life!
B. Second, we learn from the athlete that a good solider follows God’s rules for
God’s work as revealed in God’s blueprints, the Bible. Watch for this as I read
v5.
1. Every athletic event has its own boundaries, rules and score keeping!
2. While the solider talked about personal sacrifices the athlete talks about
submission to rules of the one who set up the event!
3. God has given us the guidelines in this book how to make disciples, who to
make disciples of, what to teach them, how a disciple maker lives and the
qualities of their life!
4. Simply I believe he is saying here that it will take submission to God’s Word
on how to follow Jesus and impact others! God is not interested in my best
ideas or best practices apart from His word.
5. As a disciple maker, we know the book and we live by the book. He
sacrifices his own will and ideas to carry out the will and word of God, even
if it will be harder, more painful or uncomfortable to do it that way!
C. Third, we learn from the farmer that a disciple maker works hard at his task.
Watch for this as I read v6
1. Rather than being lazy, idle, giving little effort or constantly putting things
off Paul calls Timothy to suffer hardship by working hard.
2. A hard working farmer normally has two aspects to what he does – he uses a
lot of time and a lot of energy/effort to do his work.
3. Yes, to make disciples is going to cost us time and energy and will require us
to make time in our schedules to do it. It is not just a matter of fitting it in if
I have time, but rather making the time necessary or taking even extra time if
needed to make disciples.
D. But true to God’s grace, He rewards those who do so!
1. The soldier pleases the one who enlisted him and gave him his mission. Read
v4
2. The athlete wins the prize Read v5
3. The farmer gets to be the first one to enjoy the fruits of his work! Read v6
• If we truly want to be a disciple making church we need to be willing to suffer
hardship, self-imposed suffering of our own agendas like a solider, our own ways like
an athlete and even our own time and energy like a farmer! And to do this we need to
look to …
IV. Jesus
A. Read 2 Timothy 2:1 – grace and strength from Him
B. Turn to and read Hebrews 12:1-3
C. As we go to communion, turn to Jesus and consider your life and sacrifices for
Him as a follower of His.
1. Remember Him, fix your eyes on Him, consider both His self-imposed
suffering and His suffering at the hands of sinners so that you will not grow
weary or lose heart!
2. Time to reflect as communion is passed!