Fanning The Flames

Fanning into the Flame

2 Timothy 1 :1-7

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

From the dark, dreary, cold underground chamber in Rome’s Mamertine prison apostle Paul puts to pen what would be his very last communication with the outside world. Though he had been in prison before, flogged severely, had received from the Jews forty lashes minus one, had been beaten with rods and pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked and was constantly in danger of being killed by bandits, Jews and the Gentile people (2 Corinthians 11:21-29); apostle Paul had always been at peace that his promised persecution (Acts 9:15-16) would not lead to his demise! This time was different for his court appointment had been set (2 Timothy 4:16-18) and in his heart Paul knew that emperor Nero who had the reputation of being exceptionally cruel to believers would not be satisfied until he had severed his head from his body! In this dark chamber with “a single hole in the ceiling for light and air” Paul was incredibly lonely due to most of his friends having abandoned him! Barnabas and John Mark had long left him, Demas had left him because he loved this world, Crescens had gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia (4:10). He only had Luke by his side. It near wintertime (4:21) and from his cold, lonely dungy prison Paul was faced with the daunting task of writing what would be his last will and testament. While he longed to see many of his Gospel coworkers it was his own true and beloved child Timothy, the “disciple that whom Paul loved,” that he most yearned to see and speak truth into his life! It was not just because Paul was instrumental in Timothy’s conversion at the tender age of fifteen or the fact that Timothy co-authored so many of his letters; but the fact that he had no one like Timothy whom he trusted to handle the most delicate and confidential missions and because he always put the interests of Jesus Christ first in his life (Philippians 2:20-24). As his spiritual father Paul trusted his son Timothy with what was most sacred, taking his place in proclaiming and defending the Gospel message! In the face of great heresy Paul knew Timothy was tiring out so despite his own bleak circumstances Paul wrote the words of encouragement that his son desperately needed to hear to fan the flames of his dedication to the Lord!

Reflection: Do you often feel like the ministry God has called you too is so difficult that you are getting worn out? Would you like to be mightily used in God’s kingdom to do good deeds that point to God the Father in heaven? Do you have a spiritual mentor and are you mentoring someone else so that they might benefit from your grace, mercy, love, and wisdom that you have acquired from the Holy Spirit?

The Writer

“Paul, and apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus” (1)

In great humiliation by men and lying in the dark, cold prison Paul begins his last will and testament to his son Timothy and the church by reminding them of the supremacy of the Gospel message. Paul states that the words given in his letter comes to them with the authority of a divinely inspired apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ! His apostleship was not based on self-appointment, “personal qualifications, political skill, or other purely immanent factors” but was based solely on the will of God who set him apart and called him by grace to reveal the Gospel message to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13; Galatians 1:15, 16). Although he considered himself the “least of the apostles,” due to having earlier in his life persecuted the church (1 Corinthians 15:9), the truth remained that Paul was “in the camp of the twelve apostles” whom God had appointed with authority to speak divine truth. The church of Ephesus where Timothy was pastoring at was “under siege from heretics” which spurred apostle Paul to boldly state his last will and testament was that Timothy would “fill his immense Gospel sandals” and preach in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus (1:1). The heart of the Gospel message is in the person of Jesus Christ who “abolished death and brought life and immorality to light through the Gospel (1:10).” Jesus Christ is the only way, truth, and life” (John 14:6) and as such the only source of a person being born again and eternally adopted into God’s family as heirs! The loyalty and faith Paul has in Jesus was so intense that his last wish upon this earth was that Timothy, his son, might take over for him and “guard, suffer for, continue in, and proclaim the Gospel message” lest in a single generation and amid so many Romans gods the truth might become lost in a sea of indifference or become outright rejected by the many.