Fan into flame the gift of God
2 Timothy 13-14
Introduction-
Good morning to you. My prayer this week has been that we would come together desiring that God would speak to the things that keep you up at night. Those things that overwhelm you… those things that appear beyond your control…those things that you have been dealing with and have seen no results.
What would that be for you?
Don’t blurt it out… as if you would- but be thinking of it as we go to the text this morning.
There is a song that just keeps running through my head- it is the song “I know” by Big Daddy Weave. That doesn’t sound like a normal Christian artist but his words have pierced my soul.
You don't answer all my questions
But You hear me when I speak
You don't keep my heart from breakin'
But when it does, You weep with me
You're so close that I can feel You
When I've lost the words to pray
And though my eyes have never seen You
I've seen enough to say
I know that You are good
I know that You are kind
I know that You are so much more
Than what I leave behind
I know that I am loved
I know that I am safe
'Cause even in the fire, to live is Christ, to die is gain
I know that You are good
We have started a new series entitled “Solutions”.
Last week we looked at the power of God to save- A big problem today is people know of Jesus but do not know him as Lord and Savior and their lives are a mess.
They do not know where to turn because they do not have a relationship with the Lord.
We saw that Apostle Paul’s life was changed dramatically when he had a Demascus Road experience and meet Jesus.
He went from asking Jesus “who are you” to fully trusting him and willing to give his life for Jesus.
He went from one extreme to another. He went from the person persecuting the church to the one willing to die for the church and the sake of the gospel.
He went from being ignorant of the things of God to fully serving God because he began searching out the things of God.
His life before Jesus, he was a blasphemer, he persecuted the church and he had no idea that the church was God’s idea not man’s.
The church is to be a place to worship, a place of discipleship and learning, a place of fellowship with people of like-minded faith.
When Paul fully grasped the gospel and his relationship with the Lord, his life changed forever.
You come to church to receive from the Lord and to give back to the Lord.
Daily conversation with the Lord and God’s people.
You cannot undo Jesus. I could not pretend that I never knew Jesus because the Demascus road experience I had was real.
I cannot deny it.
I can however if I am not careful in my walk with Jesus be overwhelmed by dry times, tough times, challenges times that let situations, circumstances, personal hurts, selfishness blind me from my relationship with Jesus.
Let’s pray-
Father, today as we look at the letter of Paul to Timothy, we also should see a letter addressed to each one of us. Apostle Paul’s heart included those that would come after him to realize that the most important decision each one of us would ever make was weather we would accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in our lives. The second most important and I believe is lacking in believers today is to be empowered by the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Paul has a heart to heart with Timothy and with each of us today as we open this text. Help us Lord to receive it in the love that it was meant to be given. In Jesus Name Amen!
Text- 2 Timothy 1:3-14 NIV
Encouragement is contagious! Once you give some- you want to give some more- once you receive some, it energizes you to get through tough times!
We are going to look at two things we can draw out of these passages from Paul.
Defining sincere faith
Guarding what has been given you from the Holy Spirit.
Everything said here for encouragement hangs on those two observations.
(5) “I have been reminded of your sincere faith.”
He starts by saying that faith was in his grandmother and his mother. That is a good place to start but sincere faith is not what someone else has, it is what you have. He says that he thanks God day and night as he remembers Timothy in prayer.
For a devote Jew, he was saying that from his morning prayer to the evening prayer that he was lifting Timothy before the Lord.
Recalling the tears they shed together when they last seen each other to the time they again are seeing each other, he has joy for him.
Let’s think a minute about faith- what is the difference between faith and sincere faith?
Stop and think about what some people say about faith and more important their faith.
It is all over the board, right? To some faith is a feeling- to some faith is just what they believe and it has no back up.
As a preacher, I hear all kinds of definitions of faith and let me tell you, most do not pass the litmus test. They are without merit because they do not have support.
Faith in a chair is one thing- sitting in the chair is another.
A faith that cannot be trusted is not faith.
A faith in something that cannot be backed up is a belief and beliefs are a dime a dozen.
Characteristics of worldly believers
Worldly faith lacks Intimacy with God. ...
Worldly faith Lacks Generosity in Their Offerings to God. ...
Worldly faith Have Compromised Morals, Especially When Pressured. ...
Worldly faith Lacks Spiritual Influence.
Worldly faith lacks one key character- it lacks the transformational life change that comes from having an encounter with Jesus.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Jesus speaking- replace the word me with Jesus and it speaks transformational- You will seek Jesus and find Jesus when you seek Jesus with all your heart.
Because Jesus is all-powerful…
Because Jesus is ever-present…
Because Jesus knows everything…
Because Jesus is sovereign…
Because Jesus is holy…
Because Jesus is absolute truth…
I will believe what He says and live accordingly.
“You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32)
Paul tells Timothy that it is good that your grandmother and your mother were believers but the faith of others is not your faith.
I find it hard in this day and age that believers are not able to share what they believe. It is either they do not know what they believe or they need to do a study and be able to share their faith.
long time Christians asked why they believe Christianity and Jesus is the only way to salvation, they cannot answer the question.
To say that it what they were raised to believe- that is okay when you are a kid but not okay if you are an adult.
To say that it is a feeling they have - everyone has passion and feelings about what they believe but feelings never saved anyone.
To not be able to say anything is not going to get someone to believe that Jesus is the only way.
To say that you have blind faith is to say that you do not understand your faith.
Sometimes I have to operate in blind faith because I do not have all the answers to what I am going through, but I do not have blind faith of why I believe in Jesus.
There is evidence and reason and fact and documented truth that Jesus did what He came to this world to do and that was to redeem those that put their faith in the accomplished works of Christ on the cross and His resurrection power.
Our God is absolute truth. It is impossible for Him to be otherwise.
In fact, God is the source of all truth. Our God, who is present everywhere and knows all things, has total understanding of what is real, what is right and what is true. Whatever He says is completely accurate.
Whatever God says is absolutely right. Whatever He promises will always be fulfilled.
God wants us to know the truth.
Jesus prayed for His disciples, asking God to “sanctify them by the truth; His word is truth” John 17:17.
The Bible helps us know and understand the truth about Him, about ourselves and about life.
God also manifested truth to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” John 14:6
While many people claim to know the truth, only Jesus could honestly claim to be the truth.
God also guides us into truth through the working of His Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).
God is our anchor of truth in a society of falsehood.
Do your decisions and lifestyle demonstrate that you are listening to Jesus? Or have you bought into the lies of popular culture?
Are you consistently spending time discovering truth in God’s Word?
Truth will be found only by those who diligently seek it in the right places. Commit yourself daily to walk in the light of God’s truth.
This is why the Apostle Paul says in verse 5- “I have been reminded of your sincere faith… which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I AM, NOW PERSAUDED LIVES IN YOU ALSO.”
Sincere faith number one and number two very quickly found in verse 13-14-
“What you have heard from me, keep as a pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.”
Timothy was told to hold onto sound doctrine and he was told to guard it.
Paul calls it a deposit put into his account.
Timothy can follow Paul because Paul was following Christ. Since he has found sincere and life changing faith, it has been dropped into his account like a deposit in a bank to keep it safe.
He is told to guard it by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift given to a believer to help fulfill their mission and obedience to Christ.
The Holy Spirit will help through trials but not necessarily keep us from trials.
That is why Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God- For a believer, it is the Holy Spirit actively working in our lives to lead us, guide us, and empower us to live the life that Christ called believers to live.
As we close, hear the heart of your pastor-
I know that the Lord can save someone anywhere, but Paul is saying to young Timothy to fan into flame the power of the Holy Spirit that came to him by the laying on of his hands. It is not Paul, it is the power of God. There is a special blessings as God’s people react to the Spirit of God speaking to us.
Like the song I know, God is so good! He sees us and wants so much more than we have been experiencing. D.L Moody said that the world has not seen what one man can do with the power of God working in his life- He said that he wanted to be that man.
How about you this morning? Do you want to be that man? That women? Who would trust God to empower you to live the life He intended for you.
One more solution- To let the Lord empower you by His Spirit and not do things in your own strength but in the power of God.
Prayer-
