Stir Up The Gifts Series

Stir up the Gifts

Theme:

Text: 1 Timothy 1:1-8

1 ¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 6 ¶ Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou there-fore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Introduction

Can’t you just feel the love and affection that Paul has for Timothy in these verses? Many times in his writings to Timothy, Paul refers to himself as his “spiritual father”. Paul met him on one of his missionary journey’s to Lystra. Timothy was already a solid Christian because of the faith of his mother and grandmother and despite of his Greek believing father.

Soon Paul and Timothy would travel together. Paul and Timothy became very close. Paul acted as an mentor to the ministry of Timothy. Timothy was young and timid and needed someone to lift him up and carry him.

As I have told you before Timothy reminds me of myself. I thank God for the many men who have become my mentors over the years. Men who I can lean on. Men who I can trust. Men who have experience who I can go to with advice. We all need someone like that.

Anyway after a while Timothy picks up his own ministry in Ephesus and Paul continues his missionary journeys, encouraging the churches. Paul wrote 1 Timothy to Timothy and Titus as a guide for the church.

2 Timothy was written from a Roman prison. Here Paul is writing his finally memories. Soon he would be beheaded. This is why you feel so much affection between these two leaders in the early church. You feel such a connection. Paul is desiring to once again see Timothy. It seems from the scripture that he made it just before he was beheaded.

Paul here is wanting to give some spiritual advice to a young minister. I don’t mean young by the age but I also mean young by the maturity in the ministry.

Stir up the Gifts

So now we come to verse 6.

1 Timothy 1:6 ¶ Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Paul is reminded Timothy of his calling. This calling was not placed in him or put in him by man but is a divine calling for Christ himself. This calling was affirms and gifts were transferred by the “laying on of hands”.

James tells us that it is connected with physical healing. In the book of Acts we see that often times in scripture that people were baptized in the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. Here and in 1 Timothy 4:14 we see that laying on of hands was used to impart a spiritual gift. 1 Timothy 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

This is something we don’t need to be afraid of. It also explains why many times when a person comes for prayer automatically people begin to lay hands on them.

Yet Paul’s main focus is to Timothy to “stir up the gift.” These words can mean two things, both are powerful. 1. “to keep blazing and to keep the flame of fire burning”. 2. “to rekindle and to restir the flame”. It is not that the flame has gone out but that it needs some stirring up. It needs some rekindling.