Moore Press
FAITH & FIRE

Mysteries of God

The Secrets of the Lord are With Those Who Fear Him

2 Tim 2:1-7 Be Strong in the Grace That-is in Christ Jesus

v2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. v3 You MUST therefore endure hardship as a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ. v4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. v5 Also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. v6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. v7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

From v2, Paul speaks of “things” which were spoken by Paul previously but cannot-be mentioned in the Letter.

WHAT ARE THESE THINGS & WHY CAN’T THEY BE MENTIONED?

Paul says “Commit them to faithful men.” So far he hasn’t disclosed what these things are but continues to speak in parables & riddles. Why is that? Because these things are only committed to faithful men.

This is why there are in our lives seemingly arbitrary & useless Rules. Why are we able to smoke cigarettes but vapes are outlawed? TO TEST YOUR FAITHFULNESS; CAN YOU BE TRUSTED? Who is in charge, you — your ego: I do what I want to do; or are you submitted to God?

And if you are submitted to God, it must be made known that God has an established order which even God in the flesh Himself followed.

You might say, “What is he talking about?” Remember Jesus? Remember John the Baptist? Let’s make this quick.

Quickly turn to the Baptism of Jesus in Matt 3:13-17

v13 Jesus came to be baptized by John at the Jordan. v14 John said “I need to be baptized by you & are you coming to me” v15 Jesus answered “Permit-it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” v16 And when He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the Heavens were opened to Him.

Now isn’t this Fascinating?

  • We want to Prepare for 2 Seconds for a lifetime instead of a lifetime for 2 Seconds

  • By doing that we end up living a lifetime of mediocrity, instead of spending a lifetime preparing for something of Excellence

  • Jesus spent 18 yrs in Obscurity & 30 yrs Preparing for 3½ yrs. And those 3½ yrs marked Him for 2000 yrs

  • Then Comes out of Obscurity w/a Beard; He did not wear the TAPHILEM & the TALIT — Now He wears Both.

Jesus — He is a Scholar, He is called by His Peers: Rabone or Teacher

  1. There are echoes that He might-be the Maschiach, the Christos, the Anointed One
  2. Men watch Him w/slanted eyes
  3. The Pharisees worry about His Stature
  4. Common Men Fall in Love w/Him
  5. Sinners are enthralled w/His Person
  6. Righteous People are intimidated
  7. Politicians Became Nervous
  8. High Priests Begin to Pack Their Bags

And tho He was Greater Than John, He found Something to Submit To.

Jesus Christ; God in the flesh Himself submitted to the established order of His time, but we can’t? Not even in the smallest of things, like a vape, to show our faithfulness & trustworthiness. Then we expect to receive something from God. We cannot show our love for God by submission to the simplest of House Rules & we expect God to come thru to give us a supernatural Grace Power to overcome a lifetime of addiction habits? WE ALL KNOW WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO.

And the more important part is that the unseen Realm of faith activated Response of Heaven is connected to our submission to authority, open with me to Matt 8:7-10

v7 Jesus said, “I will come heal him.” v8 Centurion said “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word & my Servant will Be Healed v9 For I am also a man under authority & have servants under me. I say to this one go & he goes, to the other one come & he comes, & to this one do this & he does it v10 When Jesus heard this, He MARVELED, & said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such a great faith, not even in Israel.”

Faith, we see, is connected to the Submission to the Spiritual Structure of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Produces Accountability, which in Turn Produces Humility → which is the Pre-Requisite to Having any Influence in Heaven or Spiritual Power From That Realm, as Humility is the Established order of God. Hence, God Took on Flesh

The Lord Tests the Hearts of Men Tested for Faithfulness; only then will • Your ♥ will be Revealed of which Paul Spoke — “THOSE THINGS BE”

Now, what is Paul saying about the Next Requirement?

v2 “WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS”

Once again it is not about you → its to get it thru you to others. You must die to self & live for the benefit of others.

1st Req is to be Faithful; then the Desire to Teach but to Teach you have to be Teachable → & that Requires Humility: BUT YOU AREN’T EVEN ABLE TO STEP ON YOUR EGO OF “I WANTS” THIS & I WANTS THAT LONG ENOUGH TO GET A VAPE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH.

God only reveals His way to the Humble → Ps 25:9 & 12 THE HUMBLE HE GUIDES IN JUSTICE & THE HUMBLE HE TEACHES HIS WAY. THE MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD, HIM SHALL HE TEACH IN THE WAY HE CHOOSES.

Now look @ the latter part of that: He teaches Him in His way. What way? IN THE WAY OF BIG & BETTER HOUSES & BAD GIRLS? No, in the way He chooses — God chooses. Its not your choice — its His. GET OUT OF THE WAY. YIELD & SUBMIT — COMMIT YOUR WAYS UNTO THE LORD & HE WILL DIRECT YOUR STEPS → & ESTABLISH YOUR FUTURE.

Next Paul says “You therefore must endure hardship” its not a choice, its a must, so get ready. But this is the part of it that we can do & have done; WHO HERE HAS BEEN IN A HARD PLACE BEFORE?

Who here has slept on a Hard Surface Before? Most of us have been Homeless Before, so we are used to Hardship, which makes us great candidates to carry the glory of God: ONLY ONE TINY TWEAK TO THAT, ONE CAVEAT.

The KEY to ENDURING HARDSHIP in a Godly way is to do it with joy → w/o complaining or bursting out in anger; w/o lashing out or becoming spiteful.

The Bible Says that a Person who cannot Control His Emotions or Contain His Spirit IS LIKE A CITY WITH BROKEN DOWN WALLS.

We need Solid, mature, Strong men for this job who can handle anything Life throws at them w/o so much as flinching, okay? Reading further v3 “ENDURING HARDSHIP AS A SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST.” Because we are soldiers in the army of Heaven.

Soldiers of Christ, not Soldiers of FB or Soldiers of Business or Soldiers of Breaking Bad.

A Soldier of Christ, not a Soldier of Football. How do I know? Look @ the next verse. v4 NO ONE ENGAGED IN WARFARE ENTANGLES HIMSELF WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE

When our Soldiers were in Iraq or Germany during WWII fighting against Hitler’s Nazi Regime, do you think they were Sitting Around Playing Nintendo or watching TV?

Do You Suppose They were Stampeding Down Normandy Beach chasing a Pig Skinned Rubber Ball or Shooting Artillery @ the Enemy? I think You know the answer to that

And here is the important part — They were on High Alert — Fighting the Enemy, but who is your enemy?

They were in the epicenter of the Battle Around the Clock Fighting the German Enemy, BUT YOUR BATTLE AS A CHRISTIAN IS MOSTLY AGAINST YOURSELF. YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT LITERALLY.

Initially, Right now, Your Submission Mission, and Round-the-Clock Battle Formation is for Yourself & Your Personal Preservation — LEST THE ADDICTION KILL YOU.

But Finally it is for Christ as the Scripture says “NO SOLDIER ENTANGLES HIMSELF WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE → THAT HE MAY PLEASE HIM WHO ENLISTED HIM AS A SOLDIER”

When We Start Its ok to come for Selfish Reasons; when we Initially come into the Kingdom of God it is fine to be there purely because we desire to be saved from ourselves. BUT AFTER WE’VE BEEN THERE FOR A WHILE ITS TIME TO GROW UP.

SCRIPTURE & SERMON RECAP

v5 IF ANYONE COMPETES, HE IS NOT CROWNED UNLESS HE COMPETES ACCORDING TO THE RULES

v6 HARDWORKING FARMER MUST BE 1ST TO PARTAKE OF THE CROPS

v7 CONSIDER WHAT I SAY, AND MAY THE LORD GIVE YOU UNDERSTANDING IN ALL THINGS

Recap: To whom may these Things, These Mysteries of God Be Revealed To: A Disciple who is →

1st Faithful
2nd Teachable
3rd Willing to Teach
4th Able to endure Hardship with a Joyful Spirit
5th Fully Committed to God & Not Entangled with the Affairs of This World

> > > AND 6th → ?

Look me Back @ the Text, v5 “IF ANYONE COMPETES, HE IS NOT CROWNED UNLESS HE COMPETES ACCORDING TO THE RULES”

As with any other organized event, we wage the Spiritual War with a set of Rules. Many such Rules exist of which we will only mention a few. Paul does not mention them specifically because they are revealed only to those who possess the previous qualifications.

The Rules or the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven that we will mention Here are:

  1. Full Surrender to God

  2. Submission to the Current Spiritual Authority under which you have been placed by God

  3. Continual Prayer (Internal)

  4. Dedication in Prayer (Specific, External & Timely)

  5. Fasting (Humbles the Flesh, Tames the Ego, and Strengthens Your Spirit-Man)

  6. Sexual Purity

  7. Dedications of Silence (Trains the Hearing, 2 ears)

And all 7 may be performed & followed Perfectly with Zero Results IF THE MOTIVE IS NOT PURE. The Remaining Rules to the Disciplined Life or the Life of a Disciple are Revealed to those who have proven themselves to Be Faithful.

The Last PARTICULATE of Verse 5 is the Fact That Paul States That This is a Competition! ANYONE WHO COMPETES IS NOT CROWNED UNLESS...”

THIS IS A COMPETITION & THERE IS A REWARD.

A Competition but not of will power or of Strength. This is a competition against one’s-self. We are competing against ourselves. As Paul says “I PUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND ME, & PRESS ON TOWARD THE MARK OF THE HIGHER CALLING OF JESUS CHRIST.” Paul looks at all of the evident & great achievements that God had done thru him & continues to run the race against his own achievements.

Competing against yourself has a possibility of 2 driving/motivating factors. Its Stimulated by one of 2 ways: EITHER BY EGO OR EGO ABNEGATION. Either Pride pushes you on or Love.

And we see that the power behind Paul’s Pushing onward was the Love He Had for Christ. Because He was forgiven much & saved from Himself by Christ, on that Damascus Road He Pushed Himself to the extreme of outer limits. He Rejected His Own Desires, Needs, & Ego; And In Spite of Himself Pushed On To Be Close To Christ In The Resurrection.

Finally v6 THE HARDWORKING FARMER MUST BE 1ST TO PARTAKE OF THE CROPS Who was the farmer in the parable which was told by Jesus? THE FATHER.

The Father was the farmer, the word of God (Christ) was the Seed, and the crop came up who were the disciples. And God was worthy to reap the Reward of His Suffering → The Apostles gave their lives — too (11/12). THIS IS A TRANSPOSITION OF ROLES

WHAT IS THAT TRANSPOSITION OF ROLES?

As the Father in Heaven, so the fatherhood is reflected on earth thru men. As He is a Farmer, so are you now called to work hard; for the grain is ripe already. And when the crop is ready to partake from, you will be the 1st to see how those who God raised up as a result of your commitment will give their lives up for Him as well. The work shall continue until the last generation.

v7 places the Seal on the Secret Things of God as Paul compels Timothy to think things thru by saying: CONSIDER WHAT I SAY & MAY THE LORD GIVE YOU UNDERSTANDING IN ALL THINGS

This calls Timothy to Consider Carefully & to Meditate on what was said. To Think it Through because it is not plain & visible to all who make an attempt to dive into the Mysteries of God. The Lord Himself gives understanding into all things.

Paul calls Timothy to carefully take into account all the qualities of the Surrounding Disciples. Timothy was to Disclose Certain Things to them & Raise them up in a Proper Way; but only to This Type of Man can the Secrets of God be Revealed.

How do we know this? Look at PSALM 25:14 →

THE HUMBLE HE GUIDES IN JUSTICE & THE HUMBLE HE TEACHES HIS WAY. WHO IS THE MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD, HIM SHALL HE TEACH IN THE WAY HE CHOOSES. THE SECRET OF THE LORD IS WITH THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, AND HE WILL SHOW THEM HIS COVENANT

The Lord has Always Had a Secret Covenant with His Special People & what makes them Special is their Love for Him.