Let us turn to our Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. Let us listen attentively to the word of God. 2 Timothy 2.15. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, let us pray. In these words, God Almighty, we see, of course, the admonition of the apostle Paul, the mentor of Timothy, and the duty that Timothy has as a pastor to do these things.
But we, I hope and pray that this morning we see this is also a command and call for all of us to be diligent with whatever calling and vocation in life that we have. And although we are not called to publicly divide and to preach and to teach the word of God, we are still called to maintain right or orthodox preaching and teaching in our lives, Lord, to listen to them and, Lord, to examine, of course, what we hear according to the word of God and to embrace straight teaching thereby. Help us to this end to be encouraged and equipped further again, Lord, to do due diligence in our holy walk of sanctification.
Amen. So, obviously, this verse has clear application to ministers beyond Timothy’s time for the likes of me. That’s what I covered last week.
Less obvious, perhaps, is how this is still relevant to you and applicable to everyone else in the church of God. When we understand that Paul’s teaching to Timothy includes much that is rooted in the same moral truths but applied more specifically to his office, we’re already halfway there. In this text, Paul is urging Timothy to be diligent as a church officer, as a public teacher.
Yet diligence is certainly not quality only reserved for church officers. I think we can all agree on that, that we’re all called to be diligent, to be hard workers, to pay attention and do our due duty. So, let us see what ways and domains we are called to follow the words of Paul here.
I will go in reverse order. I will first explain about our calling and vocations in life, then I will expand the responsibilities common to all of us here. We are called, first of all, to be faithful in your vocation or callings in life.
Be Faithful in Your Vocation
I use them as synonyms. The word calling, as I grew up with that word from the 80s as a young Christian teenager, can be confusing when used, when not explained perhaps. It’s used almost in a semi-technical way in my experience in the churches at times.
In many Christian circles, it seems to be something like a special job or ability. I’m a believer, but what’s my calling in life? What am I called to do here in this church or elsewhere in God’s kingdom? And in those circles, it seems to be something granted by the Spirit later on in the Christian walk, something often in a mystical way, unclear to me. But that’s not what I mean by calling.
I mean vocation or duty or responsibility. That’s why I prefer the word vocation, but I’ll often use the two interchangeably. What I mean by that, I’m using language of our forefathers, is the duty God has placed upon us through Providence that we have, or we like to say perhaps the different hats that we wear as a mother, as an employer, as a citizen.
These are all callings and vocations that we have. We have many. It’s a duty that is what we are commanded and called to do with respect to that requirements and that position in society and life.
It’s often geographical, of course, that wherever we find ourselves in our community, our city, our nation, we are called to work therein and be responsible therein. And it is often rooted biologically. That is, the first place you start out your calling and vocational life is in your family.
And from there on out, that is a big influence in everything else that you do. Myself as a pastor, that’s one calling and vocation I have. I’m still a son to my father.
That does not change. So this is a very important point I’ll highlight in a little bit. And the duty here is primarily social, although not exclusively social.
That is, our vocation and callings in life is not just between me and God. It’s what we are called as believers with respect to one another in this world and in the world around us, not just within the church but without the church as well. And society, as I said, citizenship is a calling and vocation.
It’s a duty and responsibility. It’s social, of course. Now, you have your personal duties to preserve your health, that others can’t do much for you.
Of course, when you get older, someone may take care of your health for you. That’s true. That’s included in your calling and vocation that as a father, as a citizen, as a member of the church, as human, you are called to preserve and protect yourself and take care of your body.
That’s a calling. But that’s just one. Everything else is social.
And of course, your private also has social implications. You’re not taking care of yourself. That’s going to affect how you take care of your family.
You’re always sick because you refuse to slow down or something and take care of what you need to take care of. Now, it’s your identity as well. I know that word is overused in our society at times.
It’s that which you should hold dearly and without shame, this calling and vocation that you identify with in the sense of it is yours and owned by you. It’s part of who you are and what God has given you and granted and put upon you often in providence and without shame. And I highlight this because part of our calling and vocation is to be a man or a woman.
You can’t get out of that. And you should do it without shame. Our society has shame.
They shame people who are one gender or another. And so they tell them that you’re not a boy or you’re not a girl. And we see the sad effects, the dangerous effects of this in society and it affects the rest of us.
But we are what God has made us in his providence. And we should embrace that for his glory and not back down from that. It’s our responsibility, the domain of activity in our life that we are called wherever we are.
There are restrictions, of course, in some vocations and callings like children can’t do as much. They’re under their parents until they come of age and show maturity and responsibility. There are requirements for the adults as well that even restrict them.
Parents have greater responsibility towards their children. More burden, we say. I use that word in a neutral or even a good sense.
It’s a good burden to take care of our kids. Although the kids wish they had not to be kids and they could be adults and get away with all kinds of stuff. But as we know, as you get older in your callings and vocations, you have more responsibilities, more duties, and it actually limits you in some ways.
And we should, again, not fight against that. We should accept that. This is part of what it means to be human, frankly, and to be mature and growing up under our callings and vocations.
And whatever we have, it is ours and we should be learning it and understanding what it means to be a child, what it means to be a parent, what it means to be a mother, what it means to be a citizen, so that we know what we can and cannot do and what we should and should not do for the good of others. The vocations and callings in life. You see I’m highlighting here, it’s especially for the good of one another.
This is what Paul is doing here with Timothy. He’s telling him, you have a duty, you have a job, and it’s not just for himself, but for the sake of the church, that he would rightly divide the word of truth. He doesn’t finish it here, but obviously he means for the sake of the church, that you’re preaching Timothy to them.
You ought to do it correctly, teach and preach straight teaching, plow straight down the middle is what that word is, straight line. And so too with us. It’s a social matter and almost everything that we have in our life as Christians and humans, frankly.
And there are multiple callings, I already talked about this. We wear multiple hats, we say, that is responsibilities that we have in our life. A magistrate is still a child of a parent.
It’s like I’m still a child of a parent and I have duties towards my parents that you don’t need to exercise, I need to exercise. I don’t exercise it as a pastor or a magistrate, I exercise it as a son and I do things differently. So around his parents, of course, he would not treat them like subjects.
But of course, if they end up in court, he will have to treat them like a subject. That’s one of the interesting dynamics, having multiple vocations and callings, right? When you deal with people close to you. Now there’s a division of vocations.
I make the division. I think you recognize this division by now. Natural and for want of a better word, I use the word supernatural, that is granted to us by the Spirit of God.
I don’t mean miraculous and things like that, I just mean from on high, that is we’re born again. That’s not a natural occurrence. It comes from the power of the Holy Spirit.
And he therefore creates in the natural world this thing called the church. That’s what they say in theology, super added to the existing structure of nature. So natural vocations and callings is that which is common to all mankind.
We deal with it every day, our employer, our employees, the HOAs, in fact, clubs. This is part of all these responsibilities and different hats and callings and vocations that we have. Citizenship, magistrates, mother, father, child, and the most fundamental of all this is male and female, underlining all other vocations.
If you are a citizen and if you are married, being a mother, that is being a woman, excuse me, or a man makes a difference in your calling. When you’re married, of course, as a woman, you are now a mother and you act like a mother and you do motherly things. That’s why I’m highlighting here that male and female is the most basic, one of the most basic callings that we have.
And it affects everything that we do to one degree or another, directly or indirectly. Male-female differences are fundamental, therefore, foundational to society. Without them, society slips into chaos.
And we’re seeing this, unfortunately, in real time, in your lifetime and my lifetime. And again, any other calling is based upon this even being in the church, a church member, it makes a difference. We see this with Paul.
We see this in 1 Corinthians 11 and the like, where he points out in social gatherings, et cetera, that there’s a difference between male and female should be reflected in society. And therefore, being natural distinctions, natural callings, natural placements in our life, male and female, and above that, husband, wife, mother, father, child, citizen, magistrate, HOA, director, whatever, all these other additional callings upon us that we use what God has granted us in this world, the natural gifts He has given us, physical and mental, our body, our mind, our mouth, our ears, and a common sense way to do our duty, therefore, whatever it is that God has granted us. And again, there’s limitations upon it.
And I know Americans don’t like that. They like to hear you can be all that you can be, frankly, and nothing can stop me. It influences the church.
Don’t forget that. That’s why I highlight this once in a while. Remember that you are influenced by the world, sometimes more than you realize.
And it slips into the church thinking, I’m not satisfied with whatever limitation I have as a male or a female and the duties and responsibilities I have. We should embrace them. So that’s the first division of callings and vocations that we are called to be diligent therein and work hard thereby as a male or a female, as a man or a woman.
The other is supernatural, as I said, that which is super added to the existing natural order. It does not undermine, in other words, the already existing natural order. Becoming a Christian doesn’t make you now androgynous.
There’s no more male or female. Pastor, aren’t you kind of quoting Galatians there? There’s no male or female? Yeah, he does say that. But what does he mean? He means in Christ, that is, in salvation.
Being male doesn’t make you more advantageous to be saved than being female. Being rich doesn’t make you more advantageous to be saved than being poor. Being a slave or a master, being a Jew doesn’t make you more closer to God than a non-Jew or a Gentile.
That’s his point. We should not confuse categories. It’s not a social description there that now we can come into society and say, I have all the answers because I can quote this passage, and now we can destroy all distinctions in nature because we are all one in Christ.
That’s just not true. That’s basically the argument of feminists in the churches. I’ve been reading about that recently on how the Christian Reformed Church, for example, started falling down the road towards female leadership.
That’s part of their arguments in their committee reports. We’re all one in Christ, okay? So you’re not a man anymore? What, we’re going to be cross-dressers? What kind of talk is that? No one really believes that. It’s rhetoric.
Don’t fall for it. This is, in other words, being a Christian doesn’t change the natural. The natural has fallen.
That is, you’re a man and a woman and you’re fallen, but you do your manly things in a sinful way, unfortunately, and you do your female things in a sinful way, unfortunately, or motherly things in a sinful way. Yes, but you’re still what? A mother and a father. That doesn’t change.
You’re supposed to do it in a godly way, in a holy way, and you can by the power of God. And we have, therefore, a calling as a believer, being born again, automatically bestows upon us a vocation as a Christian in this world. We all have a common belief, a common baptism, a common spirit.
Ephesians 4 highlights that, and gifts that the Lord has granted us that, therefore, we could edify or encourage one another with what He has given us, to have a mutual obligation to warn for sin, for example. Galatians 6.1, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted, tempted to sin and to fall. This is a general admonition.
Even if you’re not a church officer, you can help warn the church officers, of course, with proper respect, the proper context, if you are able. Of course, it depends on the circumstances. Sometimes you may have to yell out, watch it, you’re going to get shot, you’re lying in the pulpit or something.
But it’s a common responsibility we all have. So here we have a vocation, a calling as a believer, and it involves a number of common things, but also differences. We don’t all have the same gift in graces, do we? I mean, that’s literally what Paul argues in Corinthians and Romans.
We have different gifts of the Spirit and the body of Christ, just like the body has different parts, and we’re not all an eye, we’re not all a hand, we’re not all a foot. So there’s still diversities therein, just like in, what, natural life, but now redirected and guided towards a good end, a godly end. Now, that’s the general office of believer and some of the general responsibilities we have for one another.
To promote goodness, of course, is the flip side of warning against sin. We have the special offices, the pastor, the minister, or pastor slash minister, ruling elders and deacons. We have three offices in Presbyterianism.
These are chosen by the churches, by you, and they’re therefore designated to work in the church, to be helpful in the church, to guide the church, to protect the church, to use these gifts they have, public gifts in a public way, with public authority for the edification of the body of Christ. Again, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, highlights this truth. There’s a diversity and we’ve got one Spirit.
And of course, there in Corinthians, they were bragging how they had the supernatural gifts, right? They can speak in tongues, they can do miracles, and look how wonderful we are. And Paul’s like, no, no, no, it all comes from the same Spirit. Don’t be so prideful, be humbled, in fact, that you are saved at all and the Spirit has granted you anything, but it should be for the edification of one another, and that’s doubly so for church officers.
We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for you in the position of this authority. This power given us by the Spirit through the church is not to be welded for our own selfish gain, but for your protection and for your edification. Now, we have rightly dividing the word, the very end of verse 15.
Rightly dividing the word, and you may rightly ask, pastor, I’m called to rightly divide the word? I’m not a preacher. I’m not called to preach this way and apply the Word of God. That’s true.
It’s not your job like it is a job of a pastor. It’s not your public formal responsibility at all, but you do have a responsibility insofar as what? Keeping to straight teaching or orthodox teaching. That’s what the word is.
You see ortho in here. It’s a straight down the middle line that you are called to adhere to the Word of God. Not to teach it, that’s true, not to preach it, yes, but still to believe in it, to learn it, and to live it, to speak straight teaching, orthodoxy, to practice it, orthopraxy, a duty for all believers whether you’re a pastor or not.
So that’s what I mean by, yes, this still has some application insofar as the way I look at it is you have a broad idea of being diligent and being faithful to the right teaching, and that’s now specifically applied by Paul to Timothy with his unique skill set and his responsibilities, but broadly speaking, we all have this. You must find straight and true teaching since pastors and churches are there for our good, for the edification of the body of Christ that we may grow and become more like him. Therefore, we must find faithful churches and get fed the truth therein that your family is thereby equipped with sanctification through this teaching, and, of course, you have a responsibility to make sure you understand what the teaching is so that you can find such churches and where Christ is preached and Him crucified and our redemption is explained.
Find it, Timothy, if you can. You must learn the truth, not just find the truth and find a church that teaches the truth. We are called to maturation as believers, to reflect upon the truth and to learn thereby on our own.
As the saints did there in Acts where Paul commended them, you are honorable than others because you’re going to the Word of God and you’re comparing my preaching and my teaching to what’s there in the Bible, to listen and to read with care and thoughtfulness what He tells us in His Word, what we hear from the pulpit, to receive the truth of love and faith, to even study on our own. Again, not the way a pastor does. That’s more or less my full-time job to study and put this together and give it to you, but you can stay on top of these things through simple Bible reading, small sections at a time.
Commentary, as I mentioned, Matthew Henry is the classical go-to. You can even use the Confession and Catechism where you can do a reverse lookup of the text they use to defend their doctrine and read those texts and try to understand from there where they get the teaching and the like. There’s a number of different ways and I’ve gone over this in Sunday school class.
And not only should you find a place that has straight teaching, rightly dividing the Word of truth, and learn of this straight teaching from the Word of God and through the church, but you must therefore also support orthodox straight teaching and instruction. We must find faithful teaching and learn from it but also support it, not just in tithes and offerings, of course, but in pointing others to such ministries to stand for the truth of Jesus without shame. I covered that in a prior sermon here.
Paul was not shamed of standing for the truth for the sake of God’s people even though he was punished. And to teach our children by word and example to embrace the truth so they can be raised up as a next generation in the church. For kids, watch what we do more than what we say.
Be Diligent in Your Vocation
They do do both. Secondly, be diligent in your vocation. The heart of the matter here, why I wanted to highlight this, be diligent to present yourself approved to God.
Now clearly here in the description by Paul, the calling by Paul out of Timothy that he would be diligent, it’s not the idea of him justifying himself. Well, look how holy of a pastor I am and therefore God will approve me and send me to heaven. That’s not clearly his point at all.
It’s in the context of sanctification that he’s already justified, that he’s already declared righteous on account of Christ’s righteousness is not his own, but in the context of sanctification that he’s working out of salvation with fear and trembling. He’s called as a pastor to do this and to be faithful to the Lord to the best of his ability even though we live in a fallen world. Diligence here.
We already know the word to try hard, to do your best. Ephesians 4.3 uses the word endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. It’s an effort.
It takes work. Hebrews 4.11, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Being a Christian is effort, not again the effort of trying to justify ourselves, to somehow purify ourselves with good works and, hey God, look at me, now bring me to heaven, please.
But rather because we are saved, we desire to follow the holy path of godliness, of sanctification, of holiness, to be more like him, to be obedient, to work out our salvation empowered by the Spirit of God. This is all true, but the point here is you still got work to do. It still takes effort.
So when pastors tell unbelievers that being a Christian fixes it all, they’re setting themselves up for a hard time. We should not be saying this from the pulpit or from the churches or anything else like that. And they are called, what, like Jesus said, to carry the cross, the burden.
After we are saved, we’re just now getting started. The best way, of course, to handle hard work is to anticipate and to know. Hard work’s coming down the line.
We know we got a hard week this week on the job, and so we make sure we set aside our schedules and get good sleep, good food, and now we’re ready and prepared. And the same spiritually. If we are not prepared mentally, spiritually, recognizing it is a hard job to be a Christian, and it takes work and effort by the power of God within us, and we can do it, and then we will fall short often.
Now, hard work does not replace, of course, prayer and faith. That’s part of the hard work insofar as our flesh is weak. As Jesus tells the apostles on the night of his betrayal, you’re falling asleep.
What’s going on here? I’m about to be taken away to the cross, and you’re falling asleep. You should be praying. He was praying to the Lord, but their flesh was very weak in that regard.
They’re exhausted apparently. But the motivation and oomph, that idea of diligence that we are called to pray and to obey is what he’s emphasizing here. I mean, diligent in our calling.
Therefore, as Christians, it’s not just a broad abstraction. That’s why I brought up the prior material of what it means to be and to have a vocation of that there’s a biological component to it. And then as a Christian, you’re still a woman, you’re still a man, and therefore you are called to do these things in a Christian way, but still a masculine or a feminine way.
Our calling as a mother, as a student, or whatever else is still going to do a lot of the things the rest of the world does. They work hard, they go to their job, they do whatever that job entails them to do. There’s not a Christian way to cut wood.
There just isn’t. There’s a natural way to cut wood that makes sense, that makes the system work better, so you have a good product at the end. But you do not only the product at the end, which I hope you want to make a good product, but you do it for the glory of God, which the rest of the world does not do.
That’s the big difference. Then you do it with the fruit of the Spirit. And you do it, of course, by not cursing, by being in the like, obedience to the Ten Commandments.
The call here to Timothy and our call by logical extension as all Christians to be diligent in our callings and vocations in life is part of the idea of working on our salvation with fear and troubling. 2 Peter 3.14 we read, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless. You don’t become a Christian, he’s like, okay, this is great, I get to go to heaven, now I can do whatever I want.
I’ve got this warrant, and the warrant says Christ is my righteousness, and lets me into heaven. No, it’s just getting started. Day in and day out, we’re called to fight the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Philippians 2.12 is that passage that I was alluding to earlier. Philippians 2.12.13, Therefore, my beloved, as you’ve always obeyed, not as my presence only, but now much more my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. Both the human and divine are wedded in those two verses.
Not that there’s confusion, like somehow you’re divine and God has now lost his divinity, but I mean the sense of, Paul puts them together, this is the Christian life, you have a duty. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit within you, does not believe in your place, you have to believe. He does not pray in your place, although he prays for you, we know that Romans 8, we have groans and utterings which cannot be understood, but the Spirit understands them, lifts them up before God, but you still have to pray.
You don’t just say, well, the Spirit does it all for me. We know this, this is what we’re called to do, because the Spirit of God is within us, that we can therefore pray, and that we can work out our salvation, that is, of course, our sanctification, the struggle we have against sin, in the here and now, thoroughly work at, it’s the idea here, for the calling of spiritual walk is a hard calling. Paul describes it elsewhere in Corinthians, as we saw, and a little bit in Timothy, as a race.
He uses these metaphors of the Olympics, right in the middle of the Olympics, they’re almost done this week, aren’t they? I think they’re officially done. Isn’t that amazing, it came out before Paul wrote this, they already had the Olympics, but he picks up that imagery saying, it’s a lot of hard work, and it is, I like to see the results of it, these guys are really amazing. I think I like, like my wife said, the winter sports a little better, probably because you can go faster down the hill on sled, but all the effort it took for them to get to that point, we are called to do that in our spiritual walk of obedience, of prayer, of loving one another.
In other words, the fruit of the Spirit, obedience and growing in faith, does not come automatically. You need, it takes time, it takes, sometimes the right environment, you may need to have a little peaceful, quiet, typically, when you do family devotions, for example, turn the TV off, go in a dark corner, or whatever it takes to get people to focus and pay attention, to avoid distractions and sins around us and temptations. All these different approaches and the like, it takes one thing, work, diligence, hard work, perseverance, not giving up, because you will fail, you will stumble, you’ll forget to pray, perhaps you didn’t schedule right, so you got no sleep the night before, so you’re at church and you’re half asleep, that happens, don’t just give up, keep going on, because you have God within you, the Spirit of God within you, and you can.
This too, of course, is a gift of the Spirit within our lives, that we can persevere, that we do persevere, that we do not give up, even though we feel like giving up, we may even talk about giving up at times, but the Spirit of God will not give up on you, and all that we ever do, whatever calling, we must keep working hard, since Satan and sin, what, never rest, they are diligent, they wish to tear you down and drag you back down to hell, and you have to work doubly hard thereby, with conviction and strength by God Almighty, to ever strive forward, enough of the striving forward that you’re not ashamed, in other words, you tried, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, in other words, you tried, I think there’s a massive difference, of course, between not trying and trying, we know this with our kids.
One of the ways we say this is kind of rhetorically, I remember this as a kid, did you even try, you call this a clean room, did you even try, the parents are like, at least try, put something behind it, that’s a different relationship, when you’re in the court, law courts of God, law courts of the land, and you tell the judge, well, I tried to go the speed limit, judge is like, I don’t care, you didn’t go the speed limit, you know, you took the drugs, or whatever crime, or whatever you did, I don’t care, but a father cares, a mother cares, right, did you even try, and that’s the relationship we have with God Almighty.
He’s our Father, and He’s asking us, did you try, at least, I know you’re going to fall, but did you try, because He’s no longer our judge, that’s the difference, that’s the way, this language of be diligent to present yourself, try, work hard, I know you’re going to fail, Peter failed three times, you know what, he failed again later on, remember that, the book of Galatians, he’s like running around, hanging out with the Jews, speaking differently than hanging out with the Gentiles, and he got called out for it publicly, by Paul, the Lord is gracious, brothers and sisters, and receives our trying, yes, it falls short of perfection, but He receives our trying through the mercies of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 6.10, for God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love.
He would be unjust if you forgot it, can you imagine that kind of language, that’s very strong, that you’ve shown towards in His name, and that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister, you’re serving the saints, you’re helping the saints, and God will remember it, of course, not because of your perfection, but because of Christ’s covering us, and this is primarily through the intent of the heart, this is a good passage to put down in your book, usually the little white page somewhere in the back of your Bible, 2 Corinthians 8.12.
2 Corinthians 8.12 is an important truth in the calling of holiness, and our walk in sanctification, because you will fall short, but we read here, for if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, not according to what one, to what he does not have, I have a willing mind to be helpful to the saints, and Paul accepts that, that I accept it according to what you have, you want to help the saints, but you only have a buck, not according to what you don’t have, but you don’t have 100 bucks. Why don’t you have 100 bucks, what’s your problem?
Your intent, in other words, is first and foremost read by the Spirit of God, even though your efforts fall short, because we don’t have 100 bucks, I don’t have $100 worth of good works, as it were, to be helpful in God’s kingdom, but nevertheless, I try, or we try, and you should try, and never stop trying.
If your action is according to God’s Word and is backed up by good intentions, the Lord sees the good intentions and covers the rest by His grace, and even then, I think if you look back upon your life, even now, your feeble efforts in some ways are still rewarded by Him, things still come out well and good for you and your family. Therefore, do not shy back from doing your part in God’s kingdom, don’t think I’ll mess up again, my diligence is just trying, pastor, I haven’t succeeded much, but you’re called to keep on whatever calling vocation you have, and never stop.
Diligence in the various callings of life, I’ll end here with a few practical highlights and suggestions here, for men, keeping your body fit and a good diet is helpful because you are given a larger body to protect and provide, it’s as simple as that, and therefore you’re called to increase those skills, but other skills as well, the mind and whatever else God has granted you naturally to be used for spiritual ends.
Again, becoming Christian doesn’t automatically give you new talents that you never had before, oh great, I’m a great, I’m a better thinker now, I know history much better, no, it still takes work, and you had a lot of that work perhaps before you were even saved, okay, you went to school and whatever else because your parents took care of you and fed you well.
Women, stay healthy and focus on family and friends because you’re created as a helpmate, hone your skills to serve others, and parents, stay alert to the dangers for your kids and teach them, instruct them, nothing fancy, but consistency is important, it may not be a lot, but a little here and a little there throughout the week, and the basics of life, of course.
They must be instructed to live in this world, but also for the next, they must learn of Christ and His gospel, and employees or employers, bosses and workers, look up those passages, it’s there in the Bible, Paul talks about it, Peter talks about it, what your duty and responsibility are in those regards, and that therefore you must be hardworking, but always as unto the Lord, and to care as a boss for those underneath you, even if they aren’t believers.
Brothers and sisters, in all things, never strive to be justified, yes, and amen, but we are nevertheless called to strive to be obedient, to be calling, to do our calling, to do our vocation, and to love and take care for one another, and whatever calling or vocation we have in this life, from parenthood to citizenship, we should be working hard and trying to be helpful and useful in God’s kingdom and in this world as well, that the Lord may be glorified in all that we do, amen, let us pray.
Indeed, God Almighty, may your word be magnified in spite of our limitations and weaknesses, help us to this end, to be diligent, whatever calling, vocation that we have in this world, no matter how much it may change one way or the other, that your name may be glorified, amen, and amen. Let us arise.