Title: 13
Author: Joe Griffin
Last saved by: PaulD
Company: GDC

The Church of the Living God

		09-02-08-B.FBC08-75 /

2 Timothy 2:2 -	The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses [ students of Paul’s ], entrust [ parat…qhmi, paratithēmi ] these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
1.	The word paratithēmi is a financial term that refers to an investment.  Paul invested doctrine into the soul of Timothy who, as a pastor-teacher, is to invest that very same doctrine into the souls of his assigned flock.  This deposit will earn interest when Timothy teachers it to his flock, and especially as those with the gift of pastor-teacher begin to exercise it.
2 Timothy 2:3 -	Suffer hardship with me, as an honorable soldier [ stratièthj, stratiōtēs: infantry soldier ] of Christ Jesus.
2.	As the colors of biblical truth are passed down from a pastor-teacher to those of the next generation, it is the responsibility of the latter to take the deposit they have received in grace and convey it accurately to their assigned flock.
3.	To do this they must be “honorable soldiers of Christ Jesus.”  The tragedy in our day is that so many who were drawn to doctrine, who grew in grace through dynamic presentations of the Word of God, and who reached a level of competency to command a flock of positive believers, have not kept their first estate.
4.	Instead, there are doctrinal pastors who have deviated from the literal-grammatical-historical system of hermeneutics, strayed from a clear presentation of the gospel, and abandoned dispensational theology.
5.	In doing so they are leading God’s sheep astray and in doing so are contributing to the decline of the client nation by teaching false doctrine.
6.	When the person in leadership becomes dishonorable then those who follow him, usually unwittingly, become emissaries for the Dark Side.  Such cannot fulfill the mandate to become “honorable soldiers for Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 2:4 -	No soldier serving on active duty entangles himself in the affairs of civilian life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a solder.
7.	Paul now leaves the banking term to teach this doctrine and moves to a military illustration.  The Christian soldier must always consider himself to be on active duty.  He must be ever vigilant in remaining loyal to the biblical truth in his soul.
8.	If the believer turns from biblical guidance and moves into human viewpoint and evil then he is like the soldier who decides to ignore the orders of his superiors and instead become a “defector from Christ Jesus.”
9.	I am quick to recognize the right of any pastor to teach whatever he wishes from his pulpit.  This is called both freedom of speech and “free exercise” of his beliefs, but I am not shy about identifying the message of those who deviate from sound biblical hermeneutics as being apostate, heretical, or blasphemous.
10.	Paul’s next illustration is from the field of athletics:
2 Timothy 2:5 -	Now if anyone competes in the athletic games, he does not receive a winner’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.
11.	Paul’s use of athletic metaphors draw heavily from the Greek games of which there were four and which followed a four year cycle: Year 1: the Olympic Games at Olympus; year 2: the Isthmian \is'‑mē‑an\ Games at Corinth and the Nemean \nē‑mē'‑an\ Games at Nemea \nē'‑mē‑a\; year 3: the Pythian \pi'‑thē‑an\ Games at Delphi \del'‑fī\; and year 4: the Isthmian and Nemean Games.
12.	Athletes who sought to compete in these games entered into a ten-month training program that required the following:
(1) 	Greek citizenship.
(2)	Submission to the authority of the gumnasi£rcoj, gumnasiarchos, the superintendent of athletic training, and his staff.
(3)	Attend all scheduled individual and group training exercises.
(4)	Submit to a regimented diet.
(5)	Full attendance for the ten-month period with absolutely no exceptions.
(6)	Sexual abstinence.
(7)	A single violation of any of these regulations resulted in dismissal.
13.	Those who completed training were permitted to compete in the Games.  Awards were given to the winners only in the several events of the competition: (1) Boxing: no rounds and bare-fisted; could hit downed opponent, (2) Chariot Racing: 2- and 4‑horse: 12 stadia (9 miles), (3) Riding: bareback: 6‑stadia (4½ miles), (4) Pancratium: Boxing & Wrestling: compare #1 and #7 (early-day UFC), (5) Pentathlon: a. Discus, b. Javelin, c. Broad Jump, d. Running, and e. wrestling, (6) Running: a. 1‑Stade: 211 yards, b. 2‑Stadea: 422 yards, and c. 4‑Stadea: 845 yards with hoplite armor. (7) Wrestling: 3 throws to the ground landing on hip, shoulder, or back; no biting or genital holds, but breaking fingers was permitted.

© 2009 by Joe Griffin Media Ministries.  All rights reserved.	www.joegriffin.org