Follow The Pattern Of Sound Words Series

Introduction

Paul Borthwick served as a professor of Global Christianity at Gordon College for 30 years. In his book titled, Mission 3:16: God’s One-Verse Invitation to Love the World, he writes:

I had the privilege of attending the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, in October 2010….

One evening after the meetings had ended, I was having coffee with a friend when I met David, a leader in Elam, a ministry dedicated to the training of pastors in Iran. I asked David if there were any Iranian pastors at the conference. I had never met an Iranian believer, much less a pastor!

David introduced me and my colleague to Farshid. We were transfixed by his story as he radiated enthusiasm for Jesus. He had become a follower of Jesus Christ out of his Shiite Islamic heritage, and after training, he was now involved in church planting with multiple new congregations made up of Muslim-background believers.

I came home inspired by Farshid’s testimony and his courage to lead in a place where opposition to the gospel is blatant. I committed myself to praying for him. Over two months after the Cape Town congress ended, I received word from a friend at Elam that Farshid had been arrested and sentenced to six years in Rajai Shahr, one of Iran’s worst prisons. His sentence later became seven years. He lost his health, and he released his family to exile (for their safety), but he didn’t lose his faith. Though severely persecuted and tested, Farshid was finally released early in December 2015.

Farshid’s story is a modern story of a Christian maintaining faithfulness to Jesus Christ. He suffered willingly for the sake of the gospel. He was not ashamed of Christ, even though he was arrested and imprisoned for many years.

Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy was written from prison. Paul was anticipating his execution to take place soon. He knew that Timothy was by nature a timid, young man. Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him to stand against the false teaching in Ephesus by teaching the word of God faithfully.

Paul also urged Timothy not to be ashamed of Christ. In 2 Timothy 1:8-12, Paul set down four ways not to be ashamed of Christ. Now, in our text for today, Paul set down two more ways not to be ashamed of Christ.

Scripture

Let’s read 2 Timothy 1:13-18:

13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. (2 Timothy 1:13-18)

Lesson

2 Timothy 1:13-18 shows us two ways Christians guard against being ashamed of Christ.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. By Guarding the Gospel (1:13-14)

2. By Serving the Faithful (1:15-18)

I. By Guarding the Gospel (1:13-14)

First, Christians guard against being ashamed of Christ by guarding the gospel.

In today’s text, 2 Timothy 1:13-18, there are only two commands. One occurs in verse 13 and the second in verse 14. They show us what is involved in guarding the gospel.

A. Following the Pattern of Sound Words (1:13)

First, guarding the gospel involves following the pattern of sound words.

Paul wrote in verse 13, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Paul commanded Timothy to take hold of “the pattern of sound words.” The “sound words” refers to the Scripture and the doctrine that it teaches. Paul himself taught these sound words that Timothy was to follow. “Faith” is the confidence that God’s word is true. “Love” is the kindness that flows from God’s word. Both these virtues are found in union with Christ Jesus and exemplified in the life of Paul. So, Timothy was to follow the pattern of sound words that he heard from Paul.

Whether we like it or not, believers are models of the Christian faith. All believers are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (see 2 Peter 3:18) so that we look more and more like him. The way this is done is by reading and studying and putting God’s word into practice in our lives. One cannot grow in Christ if one does not read God’s word. But reading God’s word is not enough. We must also commit to applying God’s word to our daily lives.