Transcript: Finding Strength in God's Grace: 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Good morning and good evening, my dear brothers and sisters. A warm welcome to one and all of you and I greet you in the name of our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I strongly hope and I believe and I trust that God is with you and God has been taking good care of you and His grace and mercies, they are everlasting. God is not running short of grace, mercy or any resources that keeps us going, right? He is full of love, bound to mercies and compassions. Bible says that in Psalms 145, 8 and 9, Psalm 147, 11 and Psalm 103, 11. I'm a strong believer that God is going to definitely take care of all your needs in case if there are certain problems in life. Do not be dismayed. Do not be discouraged. Joshua 1.8 says that. Be strong in the Lord. Today, interestingly, we are going to look something on the same lines as the word of greetings, whatever I had told. we are going to turn your bibles to 2nd timothy chapter 2 verses 1 to 13 is what we are going to meditate now the title is very simple the title is very simple and powerful be strong in grace be strong in grace grace is very strong i don't know how many of you understand the difference between grace and mercy right mercy is old covenant why because you have mercy because you have failed many times. 613 commandments. You fail in the 613th commandment. You get mercy to reappear. But the fact is, you got to start from subject number one. You got to once again write all the examinations and you got to once again clear everything. Only then God is going to accept you, which never happened in any old covenant person. That's why they were all failures. But grace is something like this. You have to only reappear for the 613th commandment. Only for the subject you have failed, you got to reappear. And if you clear, it's like arrears. You all understand arrears, right? Semester exams and arrears. That much our life is made easier to overcome sin. Why? Because Jesus paid that price on the cross. Shedding his precious blood and purchasing you and me for a price. He paid the ransom for our sins. And he had to purchase us and we are his property. We belong to him. Is what Bible says in Acts 2.38, 1 Corinthians 6.20. especially you need to read that. Now, this is called as grace. You want to know more about grace, take and read Titus chapter 2 verses 9 to 15. Lot of explanations Paul would have given. And grace introduces blessed hope. Grace introduces lot of hope, you know, hopeless situations, you know, what can change grace. Why? Because grace is there to lead you from the place where you had left things undone. And not only that, angels will be deployed, Holy Spirit is there to help you guide you our intercessor Jesus is praying for you day and night and father in heaven is anyway not sleeping he neither slumbers nor sleeps he is always watching you and me Psalm 121 7 to 10 you read right so the whole heavens is around us and they are working for us And you don have to be dismayed Only thing just wait in the Lord Those who shall wait in the Lord, they shall renew their strength like eagles. They will never be put to shame. They will run and not be weary at all. No harm shall befall them, Bible says. And you need to believe this. Alright? Now, let's read from 2 Timothy. It's going to be a very short session and we will close on time. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace. that is in Christ Jesus. That's what I explained. Through Jesus, we got something called this grace. Simple explanation and differences between grace and mercy, old covenant and new covenant, also we explained. 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. That's exactly what I am doing as inspired by the Holy Spirit. You also should do the same. The more you speak on Jesus, it's not about religious conviction, but it's about extending that grace given to you and me for free to the mankind, to everyone, to your known ones, dear ones, colleagues, relatives, everyone, neighbors, everyone, right? That you have that responsibility to talk through that grace to everyone. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Now understand this clearly. James 1.12, those who shall endure temptations, only they shall hold the crown of life. Now, how to endure temptation? By your own will, by your own might, by your own capability, by your own talent. If you were to fight against the viles of the devil and the devil is powerful, he has been given powers. But he is not greater than the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. Greater is he within us than there is in this world, 1 John 4.4 says. So, you don't have to be worried. But he has powers and he will be waiting for his time. Right? Every time he will be waiting for his turn and waiting for his chance. That's why we got to walk in diligence. Watch and pray, lest you may enter into temptation because your flesh is weak, Bible says. And he'll be waiting for that moment. He'll be waiting for the chance. And each time you slip away, he knows how to attack you. That's why you need grace to help you, to give you that focus, to give you the direction, to guide you, to cherish you, to nourish you. All this is coming from grace as a free gift. and we are soldiers bible calls you and me as soldiers in other words we are warriors that means christian life is like battlefield you know battlefield right one will be throwing grenade another missile another pistol another machine guns and helicopter will be dropping you need to escape from all of this and still kill your enemy it's not easy right every christian must understand but then if you are a brave soldier you know how to fight because you are trained for lifetime and that's why you have been called a soldier and that's why you have the chance to come and talk sorry come and be that soldier and protecting your nation similarly you are that warrior in christ that's why you need to fight battles for your nation yeah in through prayer battles for your family it not just about you yeah because you you you are appointed as ambassador of christ you are the representative of christ which means you are a soldier who is always going to be involved in spiritual warfare You should never forget this right And how can you do that? You need grace. Now, therefore, sorry, no one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. See, just now I told about warfare, right? See, Bible is also saying the same thing. You will not be a self-pleaser or you will not be a people-pleaser, but you will do the things rightly according to the will of God, according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he completes according to the rules. Two things. You need to complete the race. Many people have done, right? In the middle of the race, only they will say, I am not able to run. Enough is enough. Christian life is a battlefield I agree brother but I cannot fight these battles they are fed up they are tired and they give up if you give up if you don't want to be an overcomer till your life ends on planet earth you will lose the crown of life which means you will not have entry into the kingdom of heaven and that's the reason why being a Christian is very very tough but it's not at all impossible that's why Jesus came down lived his life in the form of blood and flesh he fought battles for himself and for the mankind and you know that he defeated satan on the cross and the head of the satan was crushed under our feet bible says in genesis 3 15 and roman 16 20 okay so it is not impossible if it was impossible god wouldn't have given to us it is possible right but then finishing there is second thing is running according to the rules that is important you can't step into another person's track you're finished disqualified this is the problem with christians today there are a a lot of disqualified Christians and they don't even know that they have been disqualified. You need to check on your behavior. Romans 12 verses 12 to 22. You need to check on your mark, whether you still have the mark of a Christian on you. 2 Corinthians 6, 1 to 11. And you need to check on your character, right? As a newborn Christian or not. Colossians 3 verses 12 to 17. Another checklist. Are you walking in wisdom, diligence? Are you walking in light? Are you walking according to the leading of the spirit galatians 5 ephesians 5 1 john chapter 2 whole chapter you read you will understand yeah this is the this is the checklist i'm giving him if you don't check on this you are no more soldier you are no more in the race you have already been disqualified you are thinking you are still running running many people know they're very busy christians but they have been disqualified long ago which means you are expelled from the race what a foolish thing to do right then what happens i'll tell you the hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David were raised from the dead according to my gospel for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer even to the point of chains But the word of God is not chained Right What is he trying to say here is the same thing what we explained You are not chained Right Many people feel that they are being chained Without a choice, now I have to fight. No, no, no. It's a privilege to run that race. Never call it a burden. Never call it a yoke on your back. Like how the cattle, there is a yoke placed, you know, they have to carry that load. No, it's a privilege to be a soldier. You talk to any army people, you know, they will feel that patriotic thing. That's why they went and joined army to protect our nation. You will also have the same feeling. Sorry, verse number 10. I am reading from 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 10. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying. For if we died with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. if we deny him he will also deny us if we are faithless he remains faithful he cannot deny himself yes you all understand this now right because God's character doesn't change you are faithless but still he is patient enough to work with you and me and give that faithful attitude and even if you deny he doesn't deny you so that much is a good news for you and me today you have basically given up or you have completed the race in the midway which means you You are definitely not going to receive any reward. Any person who have given up in the middle of the field, will they get any reward? The person who ends up as third spot also will get a reward. Person who ends at his last also, you know, he has still a privilege. I ran in the Olympics, but I finished last. But they also will get some appreciation, some consolation prize. But you won't even get that consolation prize. Another thing is you are disqualified because you violated the laws and commandments. That's why you need to keep on checking who you are. Are you abiding in the laws and commandments of God according to Revelation 22-14? But we all make mistakes. That's what Paul is also telling. But then don't feel that you are chained, you are burdened to do this. No, it's a privilege. Sometimes we fall. As a privileged Christian, we fall. We also lose battles. We also get hit with bullets. Yeah? And because the devil is also powerful, he also has some weapons to throw at you. You want to know the spiritual weapons, how to fight against the viles of the devil? read Ephesians 6, 12 to 19. You will know what it is. Armor of God. The word of God is the helmet of salvation, Bible says, right? All this the Holy Spirit will teach you and never forget that God is faithful. He will give you enormous number of opportunities. That's why it's important to remain strong in the grace, remain confident in the grace, walk consistently in grace. And therefore, you will definitely reach your destiny, what God had predestined for you. God bless you. subscribe to our channel please get access to all our playlist listen to all the videos watch for notifications you will get automatic notification do not miss on any video it's only for your benefit and do not forget to share with your near ones and dear ones target one soul every day may God bless you and continue to remember me and our ministries in your personal prayers I will meet you soon in the next session thank you