HFL
FEB. 20, 2011
2 TIM. 1: 3-7
3I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
INTRO; EVERY NOW AND THEN, I GET ONE OF THOSE EMAILS THAT BRINGS TEARS TO MY EYES. THE STORY IS ONE THAT JUST TUGS AT YOUR HEART. IN MY OLDER YEARS I HAVE FOUND A SENSITIVE SIDE THAT IS TOUCHED BY THOSE THINGS. WHEN I WAS A YOUNGSTER, THE RULE WAS, BOYS DON’T CRY. I DON’T CARE HOW BAD IT HURTS, DON’T LET IT SHOW. I DON’T REMEMBER WHO TAUGHT US THAT RULE, BUT WE LEARNED IT SOMEHOW. IT IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT I THINK WE LEARNED WRONG. THERE IS A PART OF EACH OF US, THAT MUST BE SENSITIVE TO OUR EMOTIONS.
PAUL IN WRITING THIS LETTER TO TIMOTHY IS SHOWING US SOME OF THOSE EMOTIONS. IF WE WERE TO TAKE THE TIME; WE WOULD FIND TIMOTHY TO BE AN EMOTIONAL PERSON. PAUL SAYS ABOUT HIM, I REMEMBER YOUR TEARS. TIMOTHY FIRST CAME ON THE SCENE IN ACTS 16. HE JOINED PAUL AND BECAME A FELLOW WORKER WITH HIM IN HIS MISSIONARY JOURNEYS. IN MANY REGARDS, PAUL THINKS OF TIMOTHY AS HIS SON IN THE FAITH.
NOW IN WRITING THIS SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY, PAUL IS IN PRISON IN ROME. BEFORE HE WAS UNDER HOUSE ARREST, HE HAD SOME FREEDOM. THIS TIME, HE IS UNDER LOCK AND KEY, WITH A GUARD STANDING OVER HIM. MANY SUGGEST THAT 2 TIMOTHY WAS THE LAST THAT PAUL EVER WROTE. SOON AFTER THIS WRITING HE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH.
PAUL BEGINS THIS AS HE DOES MANY OF HIS LETTERS, WITH THANKS GIVING. I THANK GOD FOR YOU. YOU ARE IN MY CONSTANT PRAYER.
THEN HE SAYS, I LONG TO SEE YOU. THIS IS AN EARNEST DESIRE AND IT REFERS TO THE INWARD IMPULSE. MY FATHER HAD DIFFICULTY TALKING ON THE PHONE, SO WHEN I WOULD CALL, I WOULD TALK TO MOM, AND HAVE HER RELATE IT TO HIM. MY FATHER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER, AND AT HIS AGE AND HEALTH, NOTHING WAS GOING TO BE DONE FOR HIM EXCEPT TO MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE. WE WOULD TAKE OUR VACATION TO FLORIDA AND SPEND TWO WEEKS, AND I SPENT MOST OF MY TIME IN THE LIVING ROOM WITH MY DAD. KNOWING HE WOULDN’T SURVIVE THIS TERRIBLE ILLNESS, I HAD THE SAME DESIRE TO SEE DAD AS PAUL SPEAKS OF TO TIMOTHY.
PAUL ADDS TO THIS, SO THAT I MAY BE FILLED WITH JOY. PAUL DESIRES FOR TIMOTHY TO COME TO ROME AND SEE HIM. HE KNOWS THE JOY THAT BOTH WILL EXPERIENCE AT THAT REUNION.
THEN, HE DOES WHAT I FIND MANY OF MY OLDER FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS DOING, HE TAKES A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE. HE THINKS OF TIMOTHY’S MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER, AND HOW THEY RAISED TIMOTHY IN THE FAITH. THEY MADE SURE THAT HE LEARNED AND UNDERSTOOD THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS. THEY PLANTED IN HIM THE SEED OF FAITH. I GIVE THANKS TO MY PARENTS WHO DID THE SAME WITH ME. THEY TOOK ME TO SUNDAY SCHOOL, THEY DIDN’T SEND ME. THEN THEY LIVED OUT THE FAITH IN A REAL WAY, SO THAT I COULD SEE HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIVED. IT FALLS ON EVERY PARENT TO PLACE WITHIN THEIR CHILDREN THAT SEED OF FAITH.
NOW LET’S GET TO THE MEAT OF THE MATTER. WITHIN EACH OF US, IS THIS SEED OF FAITH. THIS SEED, LIKE ALL SEEDS HAS A PURPOSE, AND THAT IS TO GROW, TO BE BROUGHT TO LIFE. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.
FIRST; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT. THE FIRST THING TO NOTE IS; IT IS A GIFT. THE GIVER OF THIS GIFT IS GOD. WE MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE VERY NATURE OF A GIFT IS; THERE ARE NO STRINGS ATTACHED. YOU DON’T BEG AND PLEAD FOR IT, YOU DON’T BUY IT, AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT, YOU MUST ACCEPT IT. SINCE THE GIVER IS GOD, YOU KNOW THAT THIS GIFT IS EXACTLY RIGHT. LET ME TELL YOU THE ONE THING I HATE. I HATE BUYING A GIFT FOR A PERSON, AND THEN HAVING THEM RETURN IT. YOU KNOW; WRONG SIZE, WRONG COLOR, SOMETHING THEY ALREADY HAVE AND DON’T NEED. WITH THIS GIFT FROM GOD, THERE IS NO RETURNING IT. THERE IS NEVER A REASON TO RETURN IT, BC IT IS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY. THIS GIFT WAS IN HIS PLAN FROM BEFORE THE BEGINNING. THIS GIFT IS THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE WORD THAT WE TRANSLATE AS GIFT FROM THE GREEK WAS CHARISMA. THE ROOT OF THIS WORD IS CHARIS; WHICH MEANS GRACE.
PAUL SAYS TO TIMOTHY, YOU RECEIVED THIS GIFT BY THE LAYING ON OF MY HANDS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT AN APOSTLE COULD DO WAS LAY ON HANDS AND THE PERSON WOULD RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. THAT ABILITY STOPPED WHEN THE APOSTLES WERE ALL GONE.
WE READ IN ACTS 2;17 ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit
on all people. THIS WAS A PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET JOEL. WE SEE
THE FULFILLMENT OF IT IN ACTS 2;38 38Peter replied, “Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” AGAIN, WE SEE IT
CALLED THE GIFT. AGAIN IN ACTS 5;32 WE READ; We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” THIS GIFT IS GIVEN TO ALL WHO OBEY GOD.
PAUL SAYS TO TIMOTHY ABOUT THIS GIFT, STIR IT INTO FLAMES. THE PICTURE IS THAT OF A BELLOWS BEING USED TO BRING A COAL INTO FIRE. IT IS THAT AIR FORCED ONTO THAT COAL THAT IGNITES IT. SOMETIMES, EVEN IN THE MOST DEVOUT BELIEVER, THE FIRE BEGINS TO GO OUT. IT NEEDS TO BE STIRRED, IT NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT INTO FLAME.
But of power—Power to encounter foes and dangers; power to bear up under trials; power to triumph in persecutions. That is, it is the nature of the gospel to inspire the mind with holy courage .
And of love—Love to God and to the souls of men. The tendency of THIS, also, is to “cast out fear” 1 John 4:18, and to make the mind bold and constant. Nothing will do more to inspire courage, to make a man fearless of danger, or ready to endure privation and persecution, than “love.” The love of country, and wife, and children, and home, makes the most timid bold when they are assailed; and the love of Christ and of a dying world nerves the soul to great enterprises, and sustains it in the deepest sorrows.
And of a sound mind—The Greek word denotes one of sober mind; a man of prudence and discretion. The state referred to here is that in which the mind is well balanced, and under right influences; in which it sees things in their just proportions and relations; in which it is not feverish and excited, but when everything is in its proper place. It was this state of mind which Timothy was exhorted to cultivate; this which Paul regarded as so necessary to the performance of the duties of his office. It is as needful now for the minister of religion as it was then.
