2 Timothy 2:1-15 - Can not be bound

God, thank you for the rain.

Thank you for the chance, just the change and the and the fresh, new um just feel outside right now.

Uh Lord, I pray for safety for the people that have to travel and have to be out, and I pray for us as we go home.

Um in this moment, Lord, as we come and we look at your word, Lord, I pray that we can look at the soldier and the athlete and the farmer and just take these metaphors to heart and just work and strive like you desire us to be doing, Lord.

And yet let us not focus on our works, but on your grace above all.

We are so grateful for how good you are to us, Lord.

Hide me behind your words, your message, and it's your son's name that we pray.

Amen.

All right, Billy, I may need to borrow your clicker because this one's busted.

They're not working, so thank you, sir.

Cool.

All right, there we go.

Let's go ahead and read our text.

We are in 2 Timothy chapter 2, and uh we're gonna go 1 through 15 tonight.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

So it says, You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And the teachings you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to others.

Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please it, please his commanding officer.

Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive a victor's crown except by competing according to the rules.

The hard working farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops.

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Remember, Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.

This is my gospel for which I am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal.

But God's word is not chained.

Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Here's a trustworthy saying If we died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we disown him, he will disown us.

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

Keep reminding God's people of these things.

Warn them before God against quarreling about words.

It is of no value, only ruins those who listen.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Last week we talked about this tone, and you can hear it in this of this idea of almost packing for a trip, of trying to prepare Timothy for a journey.

Um we used I've done a lot of trips.

I think I tallied it up one time as far as going on camps and different things with youth groups, and uh me and my wife sat around and we talked how many different youth camps we've been to, and between the two of us, it was over 150, I think.

I mean, just different trips.

We've just gotten too many.

And one of our favorite trips that we ever got to do was we would take kids down to Mexico.

Um and we'd go to Mexico to Tijuana, um, to one of the suburbs there, and we would build homes.

And um, I mean, home is a really loose word.

I mean, these are you know 11 by 22 foot homes that are just two rooms, no plumbing or electricity or anything, but it was a roof over their head and they could upgrade it and stuff.

But we would go down and do this.

Um, one day though, we were carpooling down and we we did our work and then we were getting ready to come back, and I had borrowed somebody's Ford Expedition, right?

And so it was a car I was unfamiliar with, but it could fit a lot of kids and it had a lot of ground clearance, so it was perfect for Mexico.

And so I'm driving back as we get ready to go, we're getting ready to leave that day, and we've got to make the trip all the way back up to Orange, California, and so I we have to go get gas.

And so the gas um pumps in Mexico are quite a bit different, if you've never done it, because they have a problem with people driving up, filling up, and driving off.

You have to go up, and then somebody else, you're not allowed to like pump the gas, they tell you, like, you have to tell them how many you know, liters you want, and then they yell to the guy, and the guy cuts it off.

They turn off how many liters after you pay.

So I get up there and I was not expecting that.

I'd never been to a gas station like that.

And so I give up, I go to pull up and get gas because I couldn't make it across the border, because at that point, you didn't know how long the border crossing was gonna be.

You could be sitting at the border for hours, and so you had to get gas.

And so they asked me, like, how many liters?

And I was in my broken Spanish and just like in the moment, I was like, what's going on?

And I did my conversion backwards from gallons to liters, right?

And so yeah, I needed many more liters, but I was like, seven, like I had no idea, right?

Like, and I can only count to 12, so I couldn't go above 12, right?

And so I was just like, I just like set a number.

I don't even remember how many.

And um, I get in the car after they fill it up, and I'm like, I'm trying to be cool too.

Like, yeah, I do this all the time.

So I'm like washing the windshield, I'm like, I'm I got out of the car for a reason, right?

And after I pay them and I'm doing that, and I get in, I turn the car on, and the gas mileage like just goes up, or the gas tank just goes up a little bit, and I was like, that'll be fine, right?

And so I'm like, eh, I just gotta get across the border, and then once I get across the border, I can get gas, and I know gallons and I know how it works, right?

So I do that.

So we get there, we pack up everything, we drive, we cross the border.

We sat there not for a huge amount of time, for a good chunk of time, burned a lot of gas.

We get across the border, and our trip leader was just um the other guy who's kind of in charge, just was kind of had his foot like he wanted to get home, right?

And so he's like, no stopping, let's go.

And I was like, I'm fine, right?

Okay, sure.

And so we start driving, and now we have to drive the 112 miles back to Orange, California, right?

And so we start up the five.

We go through San Diego, we're passing gas stations left and right.

Do I stop?

Nah, because it'll be fine, right?

And I'm just watching that gas cage go down, and I'm in an unfamiliar car, so I have no idea like how far past E, you know, and then all of a sudden we're getting in.

I'm like, okay, we made it into the bottom of Orange County and into South County.

I'm like, okay, we might do this.

This all right, let's see.

And so we get there and that needle hits E and that light comes on, right?

And I'm figuring, okay, 14 miles a gallon, maybe 15 if I'm doing that.

I slow down a little bit, and I'm just trying to run the calculations in my head.

I'm just like, hmm, inside, it's like two hamsters fighting over the wheel, right?

Everything, my anxiety is outside, I'm just playing it cool, just driving, right?

We get there, and we get finally, we're going up the five, and we get off the 55 or onto the 55 freeway, which is where our church is off of, right?

And I'm like, okay, we're doing okay.

We're gonna make it, right?

And I see it, and it's all of a sudden Lincoln Avenue.

Exit for Lincoln is coming up five miles.

We're doing all right, and got gas mileage, gas tank going down, right?

And it's like three miles, okay, all right, two miles, okay.

And I'm looking and I'm like, and I'm kind of chewing on some sticks or whatever, and I'm wondering.

And we get there, and I go to my friend Gary, who's sitting next to me, and I go, Gary, I think we might make it.

And he's like, What do you mean, think you might make it?

Because I had informed Gary of this situation.

And he looks at me, and he's just like, wait, what?

And he looks over at the needle and he goes, Oh, Jared, we're fine, right?

And so we get there, all of a sudden the next exit is Lincoln.

Yes.

And about a quarter mile before the exit, the car just goes and shuts off.

And so I throw it in a neutral and I go to Gary, Gary, we just ran out of gas.

And Gary freaks out, announces to every kid in the car, we just ran out of gas, we just ran out of gas! Right?

And they're going crazy.

Meanwhile, we're fine.

Right?

We just play it cool.

And this is the best part.

We get off, and luckily, Lincoln is a downhill turn.

Now we go off the exit, and then you have to make a left turn, there's a stop sign.

So if there's any traffic, we're gonna lose all momentum, and you have to make a left turn, and then another left turn at a light.

But if you hit the stop sign and you go right, or if and what's nice is if there's an extra right where it doesn't have a stop sign, there's a gas station.

So we're coasting there.

And I'm like, Lord, this would be pretty fantastic.

We coast down the off-ramp, turn the corner, pull in with the momentum to pull up to the pump.

We're fine.

It was just, I mean, you we put every ounce of fumes to work and just barely made it there.

But it was my lack of planning or understanding, I didn't have it right.

And so we ended up, we could have been in a very bad situation because there's been other times.

I've run out of gas on the freeway.

It's not fun.

And I didn't want to do it with a car full of kids either.

But we made it by the grace of God.

Paul, when he starts this book, he starts talking about, okay, you're gonna be ready for this journey, right?

At the end of chapter one, he ends it by telling Timothy, he says, Listen, you know everybody in the province of Asia has left me.

Everybody, and includes, he names people in the name by Phigelis and Hermones, or Hermogenes.

Those, they've walked away.

We don't know why, but it's like it's almost like if these guys are looking at this journey, they didn't fill up their tank.

They didn't do the conversion, they didn't put liters instead of gallons.

I mean, they didn't make it, and so they turned back from the mission.

We don't know if they walked away from God or if they just walked away from the mission that they were with on pa with Paul.

But he says, listen, all these guys have walked away.

Everybody in the province of Asia has done this.

And he starts chapter two by saying, You then, my son.

See, he starts off by saying, This is what everybody else has done.

All these other guys, everybody in the province of Asia, they ran out of gas.

They didn't have enough energy to make it to the cross back to the church.

They didn't have enough energy to cross the finish line.

But you, Timothy, you need to be different.

See, you need to stand up and you need to do this.

And he gives them instruction.

This is how you're gonna make sure your tank is full, so to speak.

You're gonna make sure by doing that, by being strong in the grace of God.

He says, You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

See, everyone else is walking away.

Everybody else in the midst, Timothy, in the midst of everybody else turning away, he calls on Timothy to stay strong, to be strong in the grace of God.

Everybody else is running out of gas, but you, Timothy, need to make sure your tank is full.

And you need to make sure that you're ready to go.

Now, he doesn't tell Timothy, be strong, Timothy.

You know, grit your teeth, Timothy, bear through it.

You know, just put another backpack on, stretch out, man up, you're gonna do this.

He doesn't tell Timothy to be strong.

He tells Timothy, be strong in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Because in fact, there are times, and and you've got to look at it, what is the grace that he's talking about?

In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9, it says this.

Ephesians 2:8

He talks about the grace of Jesus Christ.

He says, For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, and it's not from yourselves, not that it is the gift of God, not by work, so that no man may boast.

See, it's not that Timothy needs to work harder or by Timothy's abilities that he's going to be to do this, be able to make it through, but it is only by the grace of God.

It's an unearned free favor of God.

And what's beautiful is over and over, Paul and the authors in the New Testament tell us that that grace becomes most evident when we are weak.

Paul in 2 Corinthians says, in verse 12, chapter 9 or chapter 12, verse 9, says, But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in your weakness.

Or in Hebrews chapter 4, 16, it says, Let us approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

See, Timothy wasn't strong enough to do these things.

There are times where we are not going to be able to handle it.

There are times we we will not have the strength to go on.

And he knew there were times like that with Timothy.

So he's saying, Timothy, fill up your tank.

Don't be strong on your own.

Be strong in the grace of God.

There's gonna be times, guys, when that diagnosis is gonna come.

Or when that you get that call about one of your kids.

Or when your boss is at work and you just can't look him in the eye any longer.

Or there's gonna be those nights where you don't not sure you want to wake up the next morning.

Or that day when you look at your bank statement and you're not sure how you're gonna make the bills this month or you're gonna be able to eat.

And yet in those moments, we are probably not strong enough.

But God is.

And in those moments of panic and weakness is when God's strength is the greatest.

And so that's why Paul tells Timothy, be strong in the grace of God.

Not just be strong on your own, Timothy, be strong in his grace.

Now he goes on and he says, not only be strong, but he invites him into this suffering.

He says, it's gonna be hard, but come on and join me.

And he says in verse 3, he says, Join with me in the suffering, like a good, reliable, I'm sorry, and join with me in the suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

You ever think about this is kind of a weird thing to have an invite to, right?

Join in the suffering.

Like, could you imagine if somebody called you up, one of your friends is like, hey, Terry, let's go on a trip.

How about me and you?

We go somewhere, and you're like, this sounds great.

Where do you want to go?

You want to go to the beach or something?

No, no, no.

I got an idea.

Let's go to a swamp.

And you're like, wait, what?

Go to Florida?

No, no, Florida would be nice, but no, we're gonna go to a really swampy swamp.

I mean, the mosquitoes there will tear you up.

Okay.

And there are poisonous snakes there too.

Oh, but they don't bite people.

Oh no, they were totally gonna bite you.

But come on.

Like, that's weird.

Why would anybody invite you into the suffering?

But that's exactly like if somebody invited you to a party or a vacation like that, it'd be like, you know what, I'm busy.

I didn't tell you the dates yet.

I'm still busy, right?

I mean, it just wouldn't, you wouldn't go for it.

And yet Paul invites him into the suffering.

He says, Join me in the suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officers.

Similarly, anyone who can competes as an athlete does not receive the victor crown except by competing, competing according to the rules.

The hard working farmer should be the first to receive his share of the crops.

Reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this.

And so he tells him, first thing he says, be like a good soldier.

A good soldier doesn't get inv involved in civilian affairs.

Right?

And that's kind of a weird thing.

I love the New King James translation, it has a different way of saying it.

In that translation, it says, No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may be pleased who him who enlisted him as a soldier.

See, this idea is that if we are soldiers of Christ, then we have a mission.

We've got something that we've got our eye on that we're going to do.

Other things that don't have anything to do with our mission, we leave behind.

So he says, join in the suffering and stay on task.

Do this.

Leave those other things.

Don't do that.

And the other thing, a soldier, when he's a soldier, knows that there is not safety guaranteed, nor is it going to be easy.

But we've got a task to do.

Then he also throws this parallel, or if you're running a race, like the athlete, no one's serving as a soldier and gets entangled in civilian affairs.

Similarly, no one um, or similarly, anyone who competes in the athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules.

Right?

And so he has these two kind of parallel things.

Uh it's interesting.

I was looking up and I just like, as I was doing my sermon prep, I was like, oh, hey, how about marathon cheaters?

Because I was looking for classic ones, because there's some really funny ones throughout history.

But then I found some as recently as last month.

Um there's actually somebody last month in Berlin at the Berlin Marathon.

This lady, she's an influencer from China.

Her handle or whatever is uh a beer, I don't know what it means in Chinese or why it's significant.

But this lady um was sponsored by Brooks, and so she went and then the last she got p pictures taken of her because the last five kilometers or three miles or so, she had a friend pick her up on a bike.

And so she rode on the back of a bike for the last three kilometers or five kilometers, jumped off, and then pretended to run across the finish line.

She totally cheated, right?

The funny thing is she put a time up of four hours, fifty-three minutes, and forty-six seconds.

Her personal best, is what she said.

Right?

Just to give you a heads up, this is how pointless her cheating was.

The winner of that marathon was two hours and eleven minutes.

So she was over double.

She wasn't even like close to winning.

She had no reason to cheat, like the she had no benefit except that she could say, That's the best I've ever done.

It's so funny, but and I think it's really funny just to ride on the back of somebody's bicycle anyway.

But then, like, can you imagine?

That's a good friend.

Like, yeah, come bring your sweaty body and press it again to mine, and I'll ride you across like that's just weird, right?

But she does this post that, and then she gets defrauded, and she got a bunch of backlash and different things happen.

But it's ridiculous that you would cheat.

Now, the thing is, did she cross the finish line?

Yeah, she did.

But did she do it according to the rules?

No.

And who is ending up losing?

Her.

See, Paul says, if you're an athlete, don't get distracted.

Stay on a task.

In the race that we're running for Christ, we're competing for the crown that lasts forever.

He talked about in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.

Don't cheat just thinking that you're gonna get there in an easier way.

And then he has this odd thing, and he throws in a third parable.

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

So it's interesting, it's it's odd, not because it's wrong, but it's odd because it doesn't fit with the other two.

The other two don't get distracted, follow on the task.

But this one is really, it says the hardworking father, the actual translation is the toiling father, the farmer that has to put in the work.

So the work seems to be the emphasis.

See, in some circles in Christian world today, especially in America, it seems like talking about Christian service as hard work is something they don't want anything to do with.

They they they would avoid it, they would feel like they this no, that no, living the Christian life is the best, easiest life there is, and that's simply not true.

And I don't want anybody to ever think that.

Being a Christian at times is extremely difficult.

And especially if you are if you're close to making a decision for Christ, please hear me out.

Living the Christian life is sometimes the hardest way to live, but it also is absolutely the best way to live.

And the rewards are beyond compare.

Also, if you're sharing your faith with somebody, please be upfront and be honest with them.

Don't tell them, oh, it's so easy, everything goes great once you're a Christian.

Because absolutely not true.

Otherwise, Paul would use this parable not of a soldier, but of like a lazy river participant, right?

I mean, if that's what it would be.

Because we're at war and we've chosen a side.

And so if we're sharing our faith, be honest with people.

That way they don't fall away because they got sold something that's just simply not true.

Now, there's a lot more going on here with this parable.

He says, you know, the first or the hardware farmer should be the first to receive a share of crops.

This raises all kinds of questions, right?

What are the crops?

Is it a harvest of souls?

Because that's another parable, or is it a harvest of righteousness or a harvest of peace?

All these different questions, how do we share in it, in fact?

And all these things brought to light.

And instead of answering those things or talking to him about them, I'm going to tell you exactly what Paul says in verse 7.

Reflect on what I'm saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this.

These are great things to think and dwell and be curious about in the weeks to come.

All right, so Paul invites Timothy into his suffering.

And he tells him about the suffering now in verse 8 through 10.

He says, Remember, Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descendant of David.

This is my gospel.

For which I am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal.

But God's word is not chained.

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ within eternal glory.

It's amazing throughout history how Christianity has been oppressed, or governments have tried to oppress the faith.

One of my favorite professors in college was a guy named Alger Fitch, partially because his name was Alger Fitch.

But this guy was amazing.

He wasn't dynamic.

He wasn't like, you know, some of those professors you might have are just, wow, they're charismatic and they just didn't bring you in.

Algar Fitch was kind of boring.

But then one of the craziest things he would do was he would sit on a stool and he'd just lecture.

He was a really big guy, but he'd sit and he'd lecture and he'd go, All right, everybody, turn in your Bible.

And this is what he'd do.

He'd say, Okay, turn in your Bible to John chapter 10, verse 10.

John 10:10

You know, the thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy.

And he would do this.

I'd like, why is he doing that?

He would never hold a Bible, but he would go like this with his hands and turn the pages.

What we found out is that during the Cold War, Russia was oppressing Christianity.

They were outlawed completely, and so Bibles were burned, right?

Algar Fitch memorized the Bible, would fly to Russia as a tourist, and then sneak to the underground churches and recite the books of the Bible, and people would write them down and then translate them into Russian.

He memorized the Bible and could still do it.

It was blew me away, and I was just like, holy cow, I will listen to every word you had to say.

I mean, this guy knew it in and out to memorize it, to hide it in his heart.

See, the Soviet Union tried to oppress the gospel, but you can't hold it back.

The Romans put a preacher in jail, but wait, we have the letters of Timothy and Philippians, all these prison epistles, because they couldn't oppress it.

Even now in America, it's oppressed like in the schools.

Teachers and students are limited on what they can say, mainly teachers.

I was always impressed by my mom.

She was a school teacher, she taught eighth grade English, and she could never speak out about her faith.

And which, you know, I there's some good and bad about that, you know, because there's some people I wouldn't want them talking about their faith to my kids in the school system, right?

But my mom couldn't speak about her faith, but she always made a point to any time she saw a kid with a Christian shirt, hey, that shirt's really nice.

Or anytime, oh, I see that you go to this church.

Just little small things.

Because you could try and put chains on people, but you can't chain the gospel.

And that's what Paul says.

I'm in chains, I'm bound, but the gospel cannot be bound.

I'm bound, I'm in prison, but the gospel is still being preached.

And so you can chain up the preacher, but the gospel cannot be held back.

And Paul tells him this thing, and he tells him this trustworthy saying next.

He says in verse 11, here's a trustworthy saying.

And he does this a lot in 1, 2 Timothy, and Titus, because he's teaching these guys, remember these things that will help you, and this is a thing that helps remember Scripture.

In verse 11, it says, here is a trustworthy saying.

If we died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, he uh we'll also reign with him.

If he if we disown him, he will disown us.

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

Now, how do you do that?

How does this mean?

Now, why does Paul include this?

If you look at it and you break these things down individually, each little line is just a summation of a chunk of Scripture.

Right?

The first one, where he says, um, he says, this is a trustworthy saying, is the first thing.

You know, how do you or uh if we died with him, he will also, we will live with him.

In Romans 6, 2 through 11, it says this exact thing.

This is a summation of that.

Romans 6 uh uh says this, chapter verse 2 we are those who have died to sin.

How can we live any longer in it?

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him, so the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now also, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

And it goes on through verse eleven, but we're going to stop there.

And it just this amazing thing.

And so Paul takes this huge truth of Scripture and breaks it down to this small thing.

If we died with him, we will also live with him.

And he goes farther.

If we endure, we will also reign with him.

Right?

First Peter four three it says this.

Nope, I went too far.

All right, first Peter 4.3, I'm sorry, it says, but rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ Jesus, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

See, if we suffer with him, then we will also reign with him.

We participate in the sufferings, we will be revealed in that.

Um it says, if we disown him, he will also disown us.

And this is exactly what Matthew says or records in his gospel, Matthew 10, 33, but whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

And then again, if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

A summation of 1 Corinthians 1 9.

God is faithful, who's called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Again, just the faithfulness of Christ in these things, faithfulness of God.

And so Paul says, if you're going to stay strong in the grace of God, in the grace of Jesus Christ, make sure you are remembering your scriptures.

Do these things, put in the work, toil like a farmer, stay on course like an athlete, and stay focused like a soldier.

Because others are following away, they're running out of gas, they're dropping off.

But you and I, we are going to suffer.

And so be strong.

And he tells them one more thing.

He says, or he says, endure, because you're faithfully, he rewards the faithful.

And then he tells them this be a workman approved, not ashamed.

And verse 14 and 15, he says exactly that.

Keep reminding God's people of these things.

Warn them before God against quarreling words about or quarreling about words.

It is of no value.

It only ruins those who listen.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.

A worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Now, the work that he talks about, the workman approved, he adds another parable, another metaphor to these other three with the farmer, the soldier, and the athlete.

He says, a workman.

Now, a workman that he's talking about, what's the work?

The work is the great commission that Jesus gave, right?

He said, Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

So we're supposed to go find people and teach them about Jesus Christ.

That is our mission as a church.

That's a mission for you guys who are part of the church, for me also.

And not only are we supposed to tell new people, but then we are supposed to help make those people into disciples by teaching and rebuking, by lifting them up.

Everybody from our own children to our peers to the people who are above us, who are older than us, we need to rebuke and teach and uphold and encourage them.

And how do we do that?

Is through knowing Scripture.

And if we need to, in order to know it, we have to be able to read it and understand it, to study it, to discuss it.

And Paul's going to say in the next chapter that all of Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training.

So if we desire to stand unashamed before God, we must know his word and know how to handle it.

So that when the battle is over for you soldiers, you can stand unashamed before God.

For you runners, for you athletes, when you've crossed the finish line, you're not in a state of shame, but one of excitement.

And when the harvest is in and that you're able to rest because of your toil, you can stand before God and He can say, Well done, good and faithful servants.

We've got to make sure that we are standing strong in the grace of Jesus Christ so that we don't come up short.

So make sure your tank is filled, so to speak, that you as a worker are strong in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Let's go ahead and pray.

Lord, thank you for your goodness.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your word that teaches us, that helps us to know who you are, Lord.

Lord, I pray that we can be faithful to your calling.

Help us to handle your word correctly and well.

It's your son's name that we pray.

Amen.