POWER, LOVE AND SELF-DISCIPLINE (part one)
The back of Sergii's shirt at the Men's Retreat. 2 Tim. 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
1) No fear!
2 Tim. 1:5-7, "I 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. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
We see Paul encouraging Timothy by reminding him that he has sincere faith. He reminds him of the generational aspect of his faith, that started with his grandmother, was seen in his mother and is now in him. Paul wants to show him how the pattern had been set for where Timothy is now.
Timothy was Paul's young protégé. Paul had been grooming him to be a Minister. So, because of Timothy's sincere faith and the calling God gave him, Paul encourages him to fan into the flame the spiritual gift he has been given. The spark that God ignited needed to grow and become a raging fire within Timothy.
But Timothy had an issue with being timid. We might equate timidity with fear. Although there is a connection, being timid can mean I'm shy, nervous, apprehensive, etc. Being young, he was concerned about older men listening to him and respecting his position.
1 Tim. 4:12, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
Paul encouraged Timothy to let the light shine so that his age would cease to be a factor. Timothy had spiritual maturity beyond his years. Physical age isn't that important; it's not indicative of effectiveness for Christ. There are young people who are further along in their spiritual maturity than some of the older folks.
Timothy had a pastoral gift but I'm thinking that scared him more than it excited him. It's interesting how people can see things in us that we can't see ourselves. Sometimes what people see in us is something we might not want to be there. "Oh, I can see you doing this for the Lord" or, "I think you'd be good at this" and we're like, "oh, no, not me; I could never do that".
God is in the business of equipping us to do things that are beyond our current scope of believability. Being a Pastor was something Timothy approached with a certain amount of apprehension. But Paul wasn't going to allow him to 'put out the fire'. Instead, he encouraged him to stir those embers around and get the bellows pumping.
We need people like Paul in our lives to encourage us to use the gifts God has given us. People who motivate, inspire and challenge us to take it to the next level. We might not like their prodding but down the line we'll be thankful that we listened to them.
1 Thess. 5:19 tells us to not quench the spirit's fire. If we quench the flames of fear we'll be able to fan into flame the fires of power, love and self-discipline. It's interesting that Paul lists these three things as a counter to timidity. Why these three? Today we'll look at the first one-power.
2) Power.
2 Tim. 1:8-12, "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."
Can you sense Paul's courage and godly confidence here? Suffering for Christ and being imprisoned for Christ didn't slow Paul down. Paul had this courage and boldness because he knew the power that was at work within him. And he trusted fully the one who gave him that power.
Vs. 8-suffering by the power of God? What's that mean? We can't endure suffering without the power of God; otherwise we will cave in. Serving Jesus will challenge me to go outside of my comfort zone. Serving Jesus will challenge me to overcome my fears. I won't reach my full potential as a follower of Jesus unless I'm willing to face these challenges and trust in Jesus to give me the power I need to succeed.
2 Tim. 4:14-18, "Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Alexander was a Jew who was once a supporter of Paul but at some point turned against him. In 1 Tim. 1:18-20, Paul describes him as someone who had shipwrecked their faith. Paul needed to excommunicate him for blasphemy.
When Paul was arrested he attests to the fact that no one came to his defense. Paul sympathized with them and asked God to forgive them. So Paul had to face his accusers with no support. Have you ever had to face a trying situation alone?
Paul needed strength. For Paul to say the Lord stood at his side and gave him strength means he was feeling weak, possibly afraid. But that's how strong Jesus' presence was; it was as if he was standing right next to him.
Psalm 121:1-2, "I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
The power that enabled Paul to be delivered from the lion's mouth came from the Lord. It's great to have people there to support us and encourage us but if there is no one to help we don't have to fear. The Lord is our help; the Lord is our ever-present help in our time of need. The power to establish inner peace in the storm comes from him.
In 2 Tim. 1:8-12, Paul told Timothy to not be ashamed to testify about Jesus, to not be ashamed of him and that Paul wasn't ashamed. In Rom. 1:16 Paul said he was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. So the question is, 'why would he be tempted to be ashamed?
First, because he abandoned his former life as a persecutor of the faith. Paul was a Pharisee; which meant at one time he believed Jesus was a false prophet and his followers were fools. But, now that he had become one of those "foolish" followers, he would be ridiculed.
In Acts 26, when he was brought before king Agrippa, Paul was talking about how he was a persecutor of Christians until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and it changed his life. Then a man named Festus spoke up and told Paul he was out of his mind; that his great learning had driven him insane. Paul reasoned that he wasn't out of his mind but the point was that by calling Paul crazy, he could've been made to feel ashamed for believing in Jesus.
Christians today are tempted to feel ashamed when scientists say there is no God and to believe in evolution or the big bang theory. People try to shame us for following a God who is against abortion and homosexuality. Christians are told they are narrow-minded, homophobic and out of touch. All of this can cause us to be too timid to speak up for Jesus.
Paul was a prisoner but he told Timothy to not be ashamed of his chains. Perhaps Timothy was ashamed of having a mentor who was in prison. He may have been afraid that if he was bold and outspoken like Paul he would end up in prison. Paul encouraged him to live out his calling and not worry about that. Instead of being ashamed of my chains, be motivated by them.
Phil. 1:14, "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly."
Paul's imprisonment concerned other Christians. If they continue to preach the gospel will they end up in prison too? But something wonderful happened. They weren't debilitated by his imprisonment, they were inspired by it. They preached the word despite their fears and Paul commended them.
Sometimes when we're afraid of something we come to a point when we decide we're not going to allow our fear to hinder us any longer. That's the power of God at work in us. Paul wanted Timothy to reach that point and trust in God to overcome any fear of what might happen to him. Overcoming fear doesn't mean I've eliminated it; it means I've chosen to not be controlled by it.
In 2 Cor. 12, Paul pleaded with Jesus to remove the 'thorn in his flesh'. Paul considered this weakness to be a hindrance to his ministry. Jesus didn't honor Paul's request. Instead he told him in vs. 9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Then Paul understood that when he was weak he would experience the power of Jesus enabling him to overcome and succeed. He realized that in his natural self he was weak but in his spirit he was powerful.
When we are overwhelmed with fear and timidity, we're relying too much on our natural abilities, forgetting that we have the power of God at work within us, enabling us to do everything he tells us to do. God did not give us a spirit of timidity but of power.
