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| 2 Timothy 2:6 |
The husbandman that laboureth must be
first partaker of the fruits.
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This section has two verses:
2 Timothy 2:6–7
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first
partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee
understanding in all things.
THE WORKER FOR CHRIST
2 Timothy 2:6–7
...in paraphrase
It is the toiling husbandman who must be first to
receive his share of the fruits. Think of what I am
saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in
all things.
To represent the Christian life, Paul has used the
picture of the soldier and of the athlete, and now
he uses the picture of the farmer. It is not the
lazy farmer, but the farmer who works hard, who must
be the first to receive the share of the fruits of
the harvest. What then are the characteristics of
the farmer which Paul would wish to see in the life
of the Christian?
(1) Often, farmers must be content, first to work
and then to wait. More than any other worker,
farmers have to learn that there is no such thing as
quick results. Christians too must learn to work and
to wait. Often, they must sow the good seed of the
word into the hearts and minds of their hearers and
see no immediate result. Teachers often have to
teach and see no difference in those they teach.
Parents often have to seek to train and guide, and
see no difference in the children. It is only when
the years go by that the result is seen; for it
often happens that, when those young people have
grown to adulthood, they are faced with some
irresistible temptation, some terrible decision or
some intolerable effort, and back into their minds
comes some word of God or some flash of remembered
teaching; and the teaching, the guidance and the
discipline bear fruit and bring honour where without
it there would have been dishonour, salvation where
without it there would have been ruin. The farmer
has learned to wait with patience, and so must the
Christian teacher and the Christian parent.
(2) One special thing characterizes the farmer – and
that is a readiness to work at any hour. At harvest
time, we can see farmers at work in their fields as
long as the last streak of light is left; they know
no hours. Neither must the Christian. The trouble
with so much Christianity is that it is spasmodic.
But, from dawn to sunset, Christians must always be
working at their challenge of being Christians.
So God Made a Farmer 2:03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE
One thing remains in all three pictures. The soldier
is upheld by the thought of final victory. The
athlete is upheld by the vision of the crown. The
farmer is upheld by the hope of the harvest. Each
submits to the discipline and the toil for the sake
of the glory which will come in the end. It is the
same with the Christian. The Christian struggle is
not without a goal; it is always going somewhere.
Christians can be certain that after the effort of
the Christian life there comes the joy of [The
Kingdom]; and the greater the struggle,
the greater the joy.
~Barclay commentary
Now to the other commentaries beginning with the
general and going to the specific.
From the Matthew Henry main commentary:
He must be willing to wait for a recompence: The
husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of
the fruits. Or, as it should be read, The husbandman
labouring first must partake of the fruits, as
appears by comparing it with James 5:7. If we would
be partakers of the fruits, we must labour; if we
would gain the prize, we must run the race. And,
further, we must first labour as the husbandman
does, with diligence and patience, before we are
partakers of the fruit; we must do the will of God,
before we receive the promises, for which reason we
have need of patience, Hebrews 10:36.
~Matthew Henry main
commentary
Quoted verses:
James 5:7
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of
the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the
precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Hebrews 10:36
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have
done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
As our trials increase, we need to grow stronger in
that which is good; our faith stronger, our
resolution stronger, our love to God and Christ
stronger. This is opposed to our being strong in our
own strength. All Christians, but especially
ministers, must be faithful to their Captain, and
resolute in his cause. The great care of a Christian
must be to please Christ. We are to strive to get
the mastery of our lusts and corruptions, but we
cannot expect the prize unless we observe the laws.
We must take care that we do good in a right manner,
that our good may not be spoken evil of. Some who
are active, spend their zeal about outward forms and
doubtful disputations. But those who strive lawfully
shall be crowned at last. If we would partake the
fruits, we must labour; if we would gain the prize,
we must run the race. We must do the will of God,
before we receive the promises, for which reason we
have need of patience. Together with our prayers for
others, that the Lord would give them understanding
in all things, we must exhort and stir them up to
consider what they hear or read.
~ Matthew Henry Concise
Now to the specific commentaries:
The verse is in two parts:
1] The husbandman that laboureth.
2] Must be first partaker of the fruits.
1] The husbandman that laboureth.
The husbandman that laboureth
- This third illustration is well known from Paul’s
use, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, where the substantive
corresponding to ‘farmer’ or ‘husbandman’ occurs.
‘Ye are God’s husbandry’; lit., ‘God’s farmed,
tilled, land.’ The stress of meaning lies on the
participle ‘that laboureth’ and we must give the old
full sense to the English word; as the Vulgate
putting the participle in the emphatic first place
in the sentence ‘laborantem agricolam oportet primum
de fructibus percipere.’ See the bearing of the same
word, 1 Timothy 4:10, and especially 1 Timothy 5:17.
It is true, as the Wise man says, ‘the profit of the
earth is for all,’ Ecclesiastes 5:9, and the laziest
vagabond can claim from the Poor-law his ‘right to
live.’ But the husbandman who has ‘toiled with
honest sweat,’ putting sinews, brains, and
conscience into his work, must be the first to
partake of the fruits, as the R.V. rightly renders,
more clearly shewing the point. If the Christian
knight wishes for any prize worth having, the
farmer’s, as well as the athlete’s and the soldier’s
life, will say ‘no pains no gains.'
~Cambridge Bible
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 3:6-9
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing,
neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:
and every man shall receive his own reward according
to his own labour.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are
God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
1 Timothy 4:10
[see
lesson]
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach,
because we trust in the living God, who is the
Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
1 Timothy 5:17 [see
lesson]
And these things give in charge, that they may be
blameless.
Ecclesiastes 5:9
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the
king himself is served by the field.
The husbandman that laboureth
- That is: The husbandman must first till his ground
before he can expect a crop; and he must till it
according to the proper rules of agriculture, else
he cannot have a crop. The combatant must fight and
conquer, and fight according to the laws of the
agones, before he can be crowned; so the Christian
minister must labor in the spiritual vineyard, and
labor too under the eye and according to the
direction of his Master, before he can expect that
crown of righteousness that fadeth not away.
~Adam Clarke
The husbandman that laboureth
- The margin is, “labouring first, must be
partaker.” The idea, according to the translation in
the text, is, that there is a fitness or propriety
that the man who cultivates the earth, should enjoy
the fruits of his labor. See the same image
explained at 1 Corinthians 9:10. But if this be the
meaning here, it is not easy to see why the apostle
introduces it. According to the marginal reading,
the word “first” is introduced in connection with
the word “labour” - “labouring first, must be
partaker.” That is, it is a great law that the
husbandman must work before be receives a harvest.
This sense will accord with the purpose of the
apostle. It was to remind Timothy that labor must
precede reward; that if a man would reap, he must
sow; that he could hope for no fruits, unless he
toiled for them. The point was not that the
husbandman would be the first one who would partake
of the fruits; but that he must first labor before
he obtained the reward. Thus understood, this would
be an encouragement to Timothy to persevere in his
toils, looking onward to the reward. The Greek will
bear this construction, though it is not the most
obvious one. ~Barnes Notes
The husbandman that laboreth
- The farmer has the first right to the fruits.
Three illustrations, that of the soldier, the
athlete, and the farmer are here given. They all
bear on the life of Timothy. "All three must deny
themselves and suffer, in order to receive the
reward. The soldier denies himself the world; the
athlete obeys rigid laws; the husbandman labors and
waits for a reward. So you must be content to deny
yourself, to suffer, and to wait for your reward."
~People's New Testament
2] Must be first partaker of the
fruits.
Must be first partaker of the
fruits - of his labour, before others; and
the design may be to observe that the ministers of
the word ought first to be partakers of the grace of
God, the fruits of the Spirit, and of the Gospel,
and rightly and spiritually understand it, before
they preach it to others; or that such who labour in
the word and doctrine, ought in the first place to
be taken care of, and have a sufficient maintenance
provided for them, 1 Corinthians 9:7 or that as they
shall have in the first place some seals and fruits
of their ministry, in the conversion of souls, so
they shall shine in the [Kingdom
of God] as the brightness of the
firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever.
Though the words may be rendered, and which seems
more agreeable to the context, and to the apostle's
argument, "the husbandman must first labour before
he partakes of the fruits"; so a minister of the
Gospel must first labour, and endure hardships in
this life, before he sits down in the [Kingdom
of God], and takes his rest, and enjoys
the crown of glory, which fades not away, which the
chief Shepherd shall give unto him.
~John Gill
Quoted verses:
1 Corinthians 9:7
Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who
planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit
thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of
the milk of the flock?
Notice more scriptures on this:
1 Corinthians 9:23
And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be
partaker thereof with you.
Hebrews 10:36
For ye have need of
patience, that, after ye have done the will of God,
ye might receive the promise.
Recap of the main points:
--Paul uses three illustrations, those of the
soldier, athlete and in this verse, the farmer.
--We must work hard, like the farmer if we are to
reap the harvest. We must work hard in the Salvation
Process.
--In the Salvation Process, save miracles, there are
no quick results.
--Firstfruits must learn and know how to both work
and to wait, like the farmer. Patience must be
invoked.
--There are no time clocks with firstfruits. They
must be willing to do their duty to God 24 hours a
day or at any time.
--As trials increase, we must grow stronger in that
which is good; our faith stronger, our resolution
stronger, our love to God and Christ stronger.
--All the work we do is by the power of God rather
than our own power and will.
--Work to please Christ.
--We must take care that we do good in a right
manner.
--We must do the will of God, before we receive the
promises.
--Some individuals in and around the Body of Christ
put in effort but mostly in outward shows and false
doctrines.
--The firstfruit must work before he receives the
prize...eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Labor
must precede reward.
--Paul's illustrations are clear: The soldier denies
himself the world; the athlete obeys rigid laws; the
husbandman labors and waits for a reward.
--To gain the Kingdom, we must be looking at the
Kingdom. Our eyes must be on the reward. |
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