Overview
Rev. Ed Horney continues through 2 Timothy 2 using Paul’s illustrations of the athlete and the laboring farmer. Christian leadership requires disciplined participation according to God’s Word, patient work before visible fruit, thoughtful consideration, and an experiential understanding that is strengthened in a team-oriented household of faith.
Transcript
Loved by God and Enabled to Lead
We're going to continue with chapter 2 of 2nd Timothy and I'd like you to welcome with me Reverend Ed Horning. You're very kind. Thank you.
God loves you. We heard that in manifestations this morning. What an amazing reminder.
Why does he think he needs to remind us so frequently of that? Because we need it. He loves us. He loves all of us.
Because God loves us, we can love him back. That's an expression of our desire to be a mystery-minded leader. We love him back.
And we can all love each other enough to want to do things like that. To do the greatness of what we just heard this morning and what we're going to look at a little bit more. It enables us.
The love of God enables us to do what God wants us to do. He didn't just say, go do this. Figure it out.
He said, I love you. I enable you. I work within you to willing to do my good pleasure and I'm going to see you through this, baby.
You're going to be able to help other people the way your heart's desire is to help other people. We're going to look at 2nd Timothy. If you aren't there yet, you can turn there.
2nd Timothy chapter 2. We're going to look at verses 5 through 7. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. Strive lawfully. We better dig into that and find out what that is.
The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. What's a husbandman and what's that have to do with mystery-minded leadership? We better take a look. Consider what I say.
Consider what I say and the Lord give the understanding in all things. That's colossal. God's going to give us understanding and all these details we need to understand.
Yep, that's what he says. The Lord's going to give us the understanding. We better get started here on in 2nd Timothy chapter 5. Strive for masteries.
Strive for masteries is translated from the one Greek word athleo from which we get the English word aardvark. No! What English word do we get from that? Athlete. So this is talking about an athlete.
An athletic competition here is what we're going to take a look at. The greatness of the word is bringing our attention to an athlete as an illustration, to the competition as an illustration of what it means to be a leader. So we better take a look.
We're going to take a look. We're taking a look now. That's what we're doing here.
Are you in the correct room? An athlete. And we're going to look at the pristine, wonderful, premier qualities of the athletic competition because God wants us to see this in light of us being a leader in the body of Christ. That's why he's bringing it up.
In that time when this was written, we had understanding. They had understanding in their culture of what athletics was about. To one degree or another, they knew what an athlete was.
They knew what the athletic competition was. How convenient that we still do in our day and time as we're reading this now. The husbandman, the cultivator, the one who is a farmer, the one who understands agricultural realities.
They knew what that was. We still do. Look how God planned this baby out.
It's awesome. And we're looking at the quality of an athlete, the wonderful qualities of the athletic competition that God wants us to see here. That's what we're taking a look at.
We're not looking at the quality of an athlete that can sometimes happen where someone is just in it for themselves, where they're ready to win at all costs. They're ready to run over somebody else in order to get what they are striving for, the athletic competition, the win. They're willing to do whatever it takes to win no matter what it takes to get there.
We're not talking about that. We're talking about the spiritual competition. And you know what? The spiritual competition is a team sport.
We need each other. It's a team sport. Yeah, we're going for the win.
We're not in this thing for a participation trophy, folks. We're out to defeat the adversary. We're in this thing for a win.
The spiritual competition is a team sport, and we help bring out the best in one another as a team. We help one another get to where we need to be. We help each other bring out long suits.
We help each other live large with our long suits. If you have a long suit, one of the things we have talked to people about in our area in northern Nevada, if you have a long suit in other places too, if you've got a long suit, here's how to develop it. Do it every chance you get.
There's a quality of a leader. You see somebody's long suits, help them do it every chance they get. Help them utilize, bring out those long suits.
Help them live them. Do it every chance you get. Well, how hard with everything you got? Do it every chance you get with everything you got.
That's what we do. We bring out the best in the other team members in the body of Christ. That's a leader.
It's not complicated, but it is pure. It's wonderful. So genuine leaders help bring out the best in each other's lives, in the rest of the team's lives.
So I say it's a team sport. You think of the sport of wrestling, that comes up in the Word of God as well, doesn't it, in Ephesians chapter 6. It talks about wrestling, so you think, well, that's an individual sport. What are you talking about, Horny? But the wrestling competition, I wrestled in high school, and one of the things I recognized and did myself was at the end of the match, you know where I looked? I looked up at the scoreboard, and what was on the scoreboard was a compilation of all the points of each individual competitor, and who had the most points at the end of that match won the competition because of the accumulation.
We're in this thing to strive together, to work together, to believe together, to love together. That great love of God enables us to get where we need to go with God. So a leader loves.
A leader loves. A leader brings out the best in the other team members. A leader takes care of the folks and helps to bring out the best in them.
Let's look at 1 Corinthians 9. We'll see a little bit more about this, striving for the masteries. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 23, and this I do for the gospel's sake. So we even see a pure motive here, don't we? This I do for the gospel's sake.
Why do I want to be a leader? For me? No, for the folks that I'm going to lead, the folks that I'm going to help bring out the best in. That's why we do it for the gospel's sake, and this isn't talking about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is it here? This is talking about the gospel of the mystery, being living and real so we can live the mystery, Judeans, Gentiles, fellow heirs, and of the same body. With Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The Athlete Must Strive Lawfully
That's the best. We help bring out that in other folks. That's the best of us, the Christ in us.
Isn't that awesome? We've got all the equipment we need. We just need to cultivate it. We'll get to that in a minute.
So here in 1 Corinthians 9, and this I do for the gospel's sake. That's my motive, to see the mystery live that I might be partaker thereof with you. It's a team sport.
See that aspect? With you. That's so awesome that God knows that. You know, He wanted to communicate that to us so well.
He says that over and over in the grace administration, that it's a team sport, that we're in this together, that we need each other like we saw earlier in Ephesians chapter four. We need each other to function so a leader helps one another function. We help people live large with their long suits.
We help bring out the best in one another. You get the point? And we have this motive in 23. Verse 24, know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize.
And God even says, so run that you may win. Obtain means win. Trust me on that.
You can look it up yourself. You probably already have. So run that you may obtain.
Obtain. Not a participation trophy, but obtain the prize. Win in the spiritual competition.
That's our goal. We've got to have a goal. If you aim at nothing, you're sure to hit it.
You've got to have a goal. It's beautiful the way God lays this out in His word. It's as if He planned it.
He did. So run that you may obtain. Win.
So God says to win and He tells us how. He gives us a motive. He says win.
Hey, while you're at it, win in the spiritual competition. Verse 25, and every man that striveth through the mastery is temperate in all things. We exercise self-control in all disciplined training.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. Win at all costs. Win if you run over some people.
But not us, but we and incorruptible. See, when we utilize that love of God, that's why that's such a key ingredient. That's why I started with that.
God loves you. God loves me. God loves us.
Wow. That'll get you juiced up in the morning. That'll get you ready to go.
If you really, really know, when I really know that God loves me, I'm motivated. I want to go. I want to help.
I want to bring out the best in others. I want to help people win in the spiritual competition because it's a team effort. We need each other.
We bring out the best in one another. And every man that striveth through mastery is temperate in all things. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible that fades not away.
That's talking about eternal rewards. You know how long eternal rewards last? Forever! That's something we want in our lives. You get the point.
26, I therefore so run not as uncertainly. We got to have a goal. It's for the gospel's sake.
We got to have a motive. We want to win. So fight I not as one that beateth the air.
We have impact. We have impact when we do it with the love of God. Remember, though I speak with tongues and manners of angels, I do all these things I believe to remove mountains.
I become nothing without the love of God. So just have the love of God. He equipped us with it, didn't he? He must want us to use it.
It's great. It energizes everything. Not as one that beateth the air.
We have impact. Verse 27, I think of a time when I was leading a hike. So here's a key for leadership too.
If you're leading a group of people, make sure you've got followers. And if you're doing it with the love of God, you're doing it with everything you got. You're doing it every chance you get.
You're going to have followers. People love the love of God. You're going to have followers.
So there I was around 13,000 feet. We're climbing a 14 plus thousand foot mountain. Who cares? But that's what we were doing with a group of leaders, leadership trainees in Colorado.
Maybe you've been there. I see folks out here that have been there. So the air gets a little thin.
The steps get a little shorter. The eyes and the faces and everything else goes towards the ground because gravity feels like it is much more intense at 13,000 feet than it did down on the ground when everybody was excited to go do this thing. So I knew in my heart that I needed to do something as the leader.
I needed to encourage and help bring out the best in folks. I knew I had been there before. I had done this before, this particular mountain.
I knew that we were at the steepest part and this was the tough part. This was the most challenging part. So I turned around and I said, you bunch of slackers.
My grandma can hike faster than that. I didn't do anything of the sort. That wouldn't have been encouraging, would it? Here's what I did do.
Leadership as a Team Sport
But I keep under my body and I bring it into subjection. Lest it by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. You're going to do this.
We're almost there. Let's get to the top together. Come on guys and gals.
We got this. They were encouraged. I had to yell because the line was about 150 yards long.
But I yelled with love. That verse of scripture was the right word at the right time. That's what a leader does for people.
He gives them the right word at the right time. He gives them the word that pertains to the subject. He gives them the word that will help them then and then they can take the next step.
Well the steps got a little larger. The breathing got a little more free. People were looking up a little bit more even though it was a steep part.
And you know what? We made it to the top together. It was awesome. That word works.
That's what we give people with the love of God. That word works. Just this last summer we were with a group of eight people.
I was hiking along behind one of these wonderful ladies and we were in the Bob Marshall Wilderness there in Montana. So some of you know where Montana is. Anybody? Anybody? Okay.
So we're in Bob Marshall Wilderness. It's a five-day hike and the lady in front of me that was leading the hike at this time was very loquacious, bubbly. She'd inspire a rock to smile along the trail and she had done that many times.
But here we were and I hadn't heard her talk for several minutes. We're going uphill again. That darn gravity stuff.
It's always there. You can't get away from it. We're going uphill and I told her the incident I just shared with you and you know what? She started to talk about a time when that verse, 1 Corinthians 9 27, had been part of the athletic conference that she was at and how inspired that had gotten her and how fired up she had been.
And you know what? She was talking again. She was inspiring rocks but she was inspiring me too. She was helping people along that hike again.
The right word at the right time with the love of God. What word of God pertains to this given subject, this given task, this given scenario, give it to people. It'll help them.
It works and that's how God says to do it. Remember, spiritual competition is a team sport. So this thing lawfully in verse 5, it means righteously with our freedom in Christ to function together.
We all need each other if we're going to strive lawfully. Yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. We want the reward, sure, but lawfully means to strive also with the love of God.
It's come up before. The love of God. Remember, the love of God behaveth not itself unseemly, is not puffed up, it envieth not, it's kind, it rejoices in the truth.
That's the love of God. That's striving lawfully, folks. You know that.
We're doing it together here right now. We're striving lawfully. See, you're bringing out the best in me and I'm believing to bring out the best in you.
We're striving together according to the word of God. We're doing it right now. This mutual believing is happening.
I wasn't fired up at all sitting backstage. I'm kidding, but I'm more fired up now because of the mutual believing. We need each other.
It's a team sport, this spiritual competition. We want to win and we're winning. It's beautiful.
And free will, free will has to be a major part of any leadership endeavor. Free will, that's God's way. God's way is the free will way.
You came here not by coercion, not because somebody had a gun to your head, not because somebody guilted you into it. You came here because you wanted to be here. Free will is a major aspect of mystery-minded leadership.
Free will. We inspire, we encourage, we don't coerce, we don't demand. We inspire and encourage.
We do it with the love of God. We give people the word that's pertaining to that part of their lives that's going to best help them. Philemon brings this up.
Free will is a big part of striving lawfully. Philemon, Timothy Titus, Philemon. We're going to look at just a few of the verses.
Somebody has one chapter, that's why I didn't say a chapter number. So Philemon verse 5, we're talking about striving lawfully here. A major aspect of it is free will.
Verse 5, hearing of thy what? Love and believing. Look what God lists first, because look at that. Gets their attention first.
Love and believing which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus and to who else? And toward all saints. That's what makes the big time. That's what makes the book.
That's what makes the revelation. Thy love and thy believing. Wow.
Verse 7, for we have great joy and consolation in thy what? Here it is again. Love. Whose love? Philemon's love.
He was the leader that Paul was addressing by revelation here. And here's another place that Timothy is mentioned up in the salutation like was just pointed out by John. Timothy was included.
For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee what? Brother. Brother. That brings up a great point I want to bring up here.
As if God planned this too. But we're brothers and sisters. I'm looking out here and every male in this room is my brother.
The Laboring Farmer Works First
My brother. It's close. Spirit is thicker than blood.
Spirit is thicker than a hotshot team. I saw a movie about that recently. They were tight.
They fought for each other. They were in it together. Spirit is thicker than blood.
You're my brother. You're my sister. Nobody gets between you and any harm.
If I'm there, you're my sister. You're my brother. That's what we do for God's people.
They're God's kids. God's kids. We take care of them.
And we get taken care of. God makes sure we get taken care of. That's in the next verse.
We'll look at it there in 2nd Timothy. Verse 8. Wherefore though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient. The word enjoin means order.
Command. Paul says, this is where Paul could have done this. I'm the apostle.
You're not. You're just this lowly fellowship coordinator. I'm telling you what to do now.
In case you aren't noticing, I want you to do this. I'm ordering you. Makes you want to regurgitate, to use a politically correct word.
Just this once. Enjoin thee that which is convenient. He could have done that, but instead what did he do? Yet for love's sake.
Wow. God seems to make a point here about love in this wonderful leadership epistle. This is a leadership epistle too.
Look what God's emphasizing. It's beautiful, isn't it? Brother. Sister.
It's beautiful. And we can do that because God put that love in us. It's in us.
And we can manifest it whenever we decide to. So Paul could have done that, yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee. Lovingly implore you.
Beg you. Encourage you. Being such in one as Paul the agent, he'd been around a little bit.
He could have said, just do this. Shut up. Why? Because I said so.
But he didn't do that. Yet for love's sake, being such in one as Paul the agent, now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, he beseeched. He beseeched.
He implored. He encouraged. He begged.
Verse 14. Look at this. But without thy mind.
That word mind could be translated opinion. Without your opinion would I do how much? Say it loud. I wouldn't do anything without your opinion.
Fine layman. That's respect. That's mutual respect there, baby.
Isn't that awesome? Without thy opinion would I do what? Nothing that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity. I don't even want you to benefit because you have to. Look how amazing, how premium this truth is.
That thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity but what? Willingly. Great leaders help people be encouraged to do it because they want to, not because they have to. Thy willingly.
Thy willingness is involved. That's what we encourage people with. God's love and the great free will decisions we get to make because of God's love.
It's very logical to go the next steps after God loves us so much and we really understand it but with God's love we can do whatever needs to be done to win in the spiritual competition together as a team. Yeah, baby. Back to 2nd Timothy.
While you're turning there I'll tell you another little story. We were on that same hike in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and at one point we were at the end of the first day of hiking and we had hiked some thought 30 miles, some thought 5 miles. It actually was about 12 miles and we were there.
We were tired and we were talking about the rest of the hike. We had 5 days allotted. We were going to do things in 5 days hence.
Therefore we're talking about do we want to just go up to our destination? We wanted to see this place called the Chinese Wall which we renamed to the American Wall because when we got there it was the 4th of freaking July. We're not going to call it the Chinese Wall. It's the American Wall on the 4th of July.
We didn't change the maps and do all that stuff. Don't worry. It's still the Chinese Wall on the map.
We decided that here's how this is going to roll because one guy made a decision and everybody else looked down and said okay. No, that isn't how we did it. I brought up a suggestion.
Hey, think about this. What if we just went up to our destination instead of making the big loop? The last day we didn't know exactly how long that hike was going to be but some would have estimated 500 miles. Some would have estimated 8. It would have been a long hike the last day.
Instead of making the big loop, why don't we go up to our destination, come back and we turn around. Everything is going to look different anyway. It's 180 degrees to turn.
Different view on the way back, right? I said that's not the decision. That's a possibility. Talk about it.
Think about it. When we did, everybody concluded willingly that that's what we all wanted to do. That's what we did and we had a great time doing it together.
Consider What Paul Says
That's a win in the spirit of competition, folks. Now back to verse 6 in 2 Timothy chapter 2. The husband men. What's that mean? We're going to take a look.
That laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. Husbandman simply means a farmer, a cultivator. He plants, he or she plants, cultivates.
Well, have you ever planted a seed? Remember that when we were kids we planted those seeds in the little glass thing so we could see the things sprout up out of the soil. You plant that seed, it has the soil, it has some light and the seed has life in itself and after a couple of days, you put a little water on it, and after a couple of days the temptation could be, will you grow already? Come here. Reach down into the soil, grab the little green sprout.
Come on up, out of the ground. Let's do it now. That's not how growth works, does it? A husbandman realizes the growth process takes some time.
The growth process takes time. So as a leader we realize that, we recognize that. We're providing nourishment, we're providing proper light, proper sustenance of the Word of God.
What do plants need? Light, nourishment. What do God's kids need? Light, nourishment. Isn't that awesome? So a great leader learns and does this.
Must be first partaker of the fruits. We got to recognize and realize that we need that growth life in our lives, we need the fruit in our lives, then we can help bless others with the things that we've received as well. John 15, let's look at that real quick.
John 15 talks about the husbandman and look who the star of the show is here. I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. So who's Jesus Christ talking about here? Verse 1 of John 15.
I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me, Jesus Christ, that beareth not fruit, he, God, taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. So God prunes the vine.
Now you're clean through the Word which I have spoken you. There's a key ingredient for any growth. The Word.
We're clean through the Word which has been spoken to us. Verse 4. Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me.
He's talking about fellowship. Another key ingredient. I am the vine and you are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me can you do nothing. So the key ingredients we saw here with God as the husbandmen are the Word and fellowship with God and Christ and us and with one another. Key ingredients for leadership.
That's what we encourage. That's what we provide as nourishment so that God's people, God's kids, can grow. We brought that up in the class we just finished.
Jackie and I, my wife, just finished a class called Growing with God's Power. First words growing, isn't it? And what we emphasized in that class over a hundred times, somebody counted it, but over a hundred times we emphasized the importance in order to walk with God we need to fellowship with God. That relationship with God is of primary importance.
So as a leader we can encourage that, we can help people with that, we can teach about that, we can help people, we can mentor people into that fellowship with God. Beautiful. And James, let's look at James, another verse about this husbandman.
James 5 verse 7. This just wraps it up here real well. Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord. We get to do this until Christ comes back.
Isn't that awesome? Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. He doesn't reach down to the ground like my silly illustration and try to pull the green sprig out of the ground. That would be called uprooting.
That's not a good way to cultivate God's people and bless them. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. He waits and hath long patience for it until he received the early and the latter rain.
We give the ingredients for God's folks, God's kiddos, we give nourishment, the Word of God, we provide the light of God's Word, we provide that great love of God, and then they're going to grow. Don't have to worry about it. And finally in verse 7 of 2nd Timothy, consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
That's something to realize. Consider is no-eh-oh. It's a fun Greek word to say.
Say it seven times in a row. No, don't do that. You'll miss my last point.
But no-eh-oh means use your entire mind. It's the verb form of noose. Use your entire mind.
Consider these things that we've just looked at. Use your mind to really contemplate these realities. Perceive these things would be another thing, way to look at it.
And the Lord give thee understanding in all things. How great is that? In each situation. This is one of the things that communicates to my heart.
God works in each individual. God works in you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, three hundred times, and me. God works in each individual situation.
So ascribe that to folks. Realize that God is working in them as well as in you. It's a team sport, remember? God is working in each individual and he'll provide the understanding.
He's big enough to do that in multiple folks consistently and at the same time, simultaneously. Isn't that beautiful? And we recognize and we encourage that. God's working in you to willing to do of his good pleasure.
Thanks for being part of this team. That's a long suit in your life. Let's have you do that a lot.
Let's have you do that in fellowship next time. We encourage that as a wonderful leader with God's love. This is the seventh time sunesis is used, the final time.
This word understanding, that's important. It's a spiritually perfect word. Consider these things and the Lord give the understanding like two rivers flowing together into one bigger river.
Instant insight into anything you need to know about. God is willing and able and he wants to bring that understanding as we consider these things. It's awesome.
And Colossians 2 is where we'll finish up. Here's what this whole package looks like in one verse. I could have just read this and we could save some time.
However, now with this background, let's take a look at Colossians chapter two, verse two, that their hearts might be comforted. There is again, plural, being knit together. Look at that team sport reality, knit together in what? Love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding.
There it is again, sunesis, sixth time it's used to the full experiential acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the father and of Christ. Mystery minded leadership promotes, encourages with the love of God, the living of the mystery. God bless you.
Understanding the Mystery Together
You're awesome.
Key Takeaways
- The athlete must compete lawfully; sincere effort does not replace alignment with God’s instructions.
- Leadership is a team reality in which believers strengthen and support one another.
- The laboring farmer works first and patiently before partaking of the fruit.
- Paul tells Timothy to consider the illustrations, expecting the Lord to give understanding.
- Mystery-minded leadership promotes love, mutual contribution, and lived understanding of the mystery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the athlete illustration teach?
It teaches that disciplined effort must remain within the boundaries God supplies. A person is not crowned merely for striving, but for striving lawfully.
Why does Paul use the example of a farmer?
The farmer illustrates patient labor, cultivation, and the principle that fruit follows faithful work rather than appearing instantly.
How does this passage relate to leadership in the body of Christ?
It presents leadership as disciplined and thoughtful participation within a team, where believers are knit together in love and help one another live the mystery.
Scripture References
2 Timothy 2:5–7; Colossians 2:2; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 9; John 15; James 5; Colossians 2
Verification Note
Prepared from a recovered transcript with a legacy numeric filename. Verify Greek terms, proper names, quotations, verse references, punctuation, and unclear phrases against the original recording and a Bible before publication.
