1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,500 Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 4. We just looked at one verse last week. I think it 2 00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:18,960 was a lot of good stuff in there for us to consider so we didn't look at too much. But 3 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:26,320 tonight we'll continue on. We'll read Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 3 again just for context 4 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:34,120 sake. But then we'll continue on with verses 4 through 7. Second Timothy chapter 1 verses 5 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:41,000 4 through 7. Let's pray and then we'll get started. God we come to you. We thank you 6 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,040 for the freedom to come in here tonight. We thank you for the air conditioner that we 7 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,760 have. I thank you for all these good folks. I thank you for the good songs that were picked. 8 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:54,320 And I thank you for letting us be able to sing out to them. I thank you for Macy for 9 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,560 using her gifts to play for us and to lead us in these songs. I thank you for Jennings 10 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,720 for leading us in these songs dear Lord. And I pray that you just would bless the time 11 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,200 that we have now in your word. I pray that your word would speak to us. That your Holy 12 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,920 Spirit would free us from the distractions and worries and thoughts of the world. But 13 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,600 in these few minutes that you can work in us through your word. And I ask these things 14 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:22,880 in Jesus name. Amen. Alright Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 3. I thank God whom I serve 15 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:29,800 with a clear conscience as my ancestors did. When I constantly remember you in my prayers 16 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,400 night and day. Okay so we kind of we kind of see this introduction that he's writing 17 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:40,120 here at the beginning of Second Timothy chapter 1. And so he's telling look God I thank or 18 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:46,560 telling Timothy look I thank God for you Timothy. I pray for you. And he continues on there 19 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:53,920 in verse 4. Remembering your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 20 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:59,200 So it appears as though that there were some tears that were shed by Timothy. Now I don't 21 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:04,480 know exactly what occasion he's speaking of here. If you want some homework you can go 22 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,560 back and you can read Acts chapter 20 tonight. And what you're going to see in Acts chapter 23 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,100 20 is Paul is going to be with some of his folks and he's going from place to place. 24 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:19,480 But ultimately when you get to the end of the chapter we see that Paul says look I'm 25 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:24,000 going back to Jerusalem and I'm not sure what's what's waiting for me there. I don't know 26 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,320 what's going to happen to me. But he tells the people that he's talking to he says but 27 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,320 you'll never see me face to face again is what he tells the folks. And what it says 28 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:39,280 there at the end of that chapter is that they were all weeping. Now at the beginning of 29 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:45,860 Acts chapter 20 we see that Timothy is with Paul. So it's possible that this is what's 30 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:50,600 being talked about that maybe that's the that's the event that's spoken of there is that when 31 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:56,100 Paul was getting ready to depart from Ephesus to go back to Jerusalem. And don't forget 32 00:02:56,100 --> 00:03:00,920 this is where Timothy is. He's in Ephesus. We see at the end of that chapter that everybody 33 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:05,160 was weeping and perhaps this is the occasion. There's no way to know for sure. But that's 34 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:12,560 one possibility. And so regardless of what the occasion was it's easy for us to understand 35 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,520 when when you say goodbye to somebody and you don't know if you'll get to see him again 36 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,000 or it may be a while before you get to see him again you don't see him very often. We 37 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,840 shed tears sometimes we've all probably done that. Maybe it's a child going away to school 38 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:32,200 or or maybe it's a spouse going off to fight in the war or whatever it may be. I mean there 39 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,200 are times that that we have to say good maybe people that just visit a relative that we 40 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,240 only get to see every few years. And man we spend the week with him and we love him we 41 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,600 hug him and there's kind of some sadness there. So we understand that that that shedding tears 42 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:51,240 that you know being sad when you depart from somebody. And Paul acknowledges here he says 43 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,840 remembering your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. Well he remembered 44 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,760 that there was sadness when they departed. But he also acknowledges that there's joy 45 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:07,760 when when when we're reunited. And so certainly if Paul would ever get to see Timothy again 46 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,120 there would be joy there. Same for you and I. There is great joy there's sadness to see 47 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:17,680 somebody go but but man there's joy. You cry when your kid goes off to school but you rejoice 48 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,820 when they come back back from school. Probably maybe maybe not. I don't know it just depends 49 00:04:21,820 --> 00:04:26,520 on the kid I guess. But generally speaking right. So we all shed tears sometimes but 50 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,400 but then there's some rejoicing sometimes. And that's what Paul says. Look I'm praying 51 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,160 for you constantly. I thank God for you Timothy. I remember it was tough when we left but 52 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,040 I long for the day and look forward to the day that that there's going to be some joy. 53 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,640 There's sadness now because we're apart. But one day there's going to be joy hopefully. 54 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:50,360 Verse five clearly recalling your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother 55 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:56,200 Lois then in your mother Eunice and that I am convinced is also in you. Now this is a 56 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:02,680 beautiful passage right here. What is Paul acknowledge? He acknowledges Timothy's grandmother 57 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:07,480 and mother. And what does he say of them? He says that they are women of faith. Now 58 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:13,780 this is super important because if if if we want to be good mothers and good grandmothers 59 00:05:13,780 --> 00:05:20,000 then then the life we live is going to impact the kids and the grandkids that we raise. 60 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:26,040 And no doubt if Timothy's grandmother and mother were women of faith that probably shaped 61 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:31,640 who he was. Timothy is just not by coincidence that he turned out to be a godly man who's 62 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:37,920 gifted by God and who's serving God. No it seems apparent here that Paul is acknowledging 63 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,160 okay you come from a good good background. You come from good family. You had a good 64 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,920 mother and a good grandmother and they were women who were strong in the faith. And I'm 65 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,000 convinced Paul says I'm convinced that you too that you're going to be strong in the 66 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,200 faith that you're going to follow in their footsteps. And so it's good for for us women 67 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:01,280 to realize that we have an impact. You mothers, you grandmothers, you have an impact. You 68 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,640 mothers to be one day you'll be a mother one day you'll be a grandmother Lord willing. 69 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,160 You're going to have an impact on those kids that you're going to to raise and bring into 70 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,480 this world. If you are strong in the faith then there's a good chance that your your 71 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:21,640 sons and your daughters will be strong in the faith as well. Verse six therefore I remind 72 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:29,480 you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. 73 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,600 So he gives him a he gives him kind of a challenge here. He gives him a kind of an urge here 74 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:40,760 and he says therefore I urge you to keep ablaze. Now some of your translations may say something 75 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:46,320 different may say something like rekindle or are kindling new or something along those 76 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:51,680 lines or fan the flame. And so there could be different ways that we could we could see 77 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:57,480 this. Now if he if we if we take a translation that says something like fan the flame then 78 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:02,280 what he's saying is hey you're on fire for God and you need to let that fire it needs 79 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:07,400 to ignite. It needs to go from a from a small fire. It needs to ignite. You're doing the 80 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:12,040 work of God. You continue doing the work of God. You continue seeking God and you let 81 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:17,520 the Holy Spirit fan that flame. You let God work in you so that he grows in you and he 82 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,200 grows your ministry and the work that you're doing for the kingdom. That's one way that 83 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,080 we could look at it if we're fanning a flame that's already there. However some translations 84 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:31,240 will use a word like like rekindle. You need to rekindle the fire. Well that kind of gives 85 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:36,680 a whole different impression. Maybe what Paul is saying here is that is that Timothy's kind 86 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:42,480 of in a in a dry season maybe maybe Timothy's not doing so good. Maybe maybe Tim Paul is 87 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:47,680 saying look you used to be on fire for the Lord and you need to you need to rekindle 88 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,040 that. You need to make sure that you stay on fire for the Lord. Now I'm not sure which 89 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,800 of those interpretations would be correct in this instance but both of those things 90 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,440 may be true for us tonight. It may be that you're doing good and you need to keep doing 91 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:06,660 good and keep seeking God and fan those flames. Continue to grow in the Lord. It may be that 92 00:08:06,660 --> 00:08:10,800 we need to rekindle our flame. It may be that you know there was a time that we were more 93 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:15,480 on fire for God than we are today and maybe this is a good reminder for us. Now we might 94 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:22,480 not be serving in the same capacity as a Timothy was serving here but nonetheless even as Christians 95 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,800 there are times that we need to be rekindled that we need to be revived. Oftentimes we 96 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:33,200 see that when we have a revival. It's a time that we come and lots of times we feel revived 97 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,320 and why is that? Because we know that that's a good time and we go into it with the right 98 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,440 heart and we say okay God I want to see you. I want to experience you. I want to feel you 99 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,560 and so we begin to pray and we begin to open our heart and we begin to see God and then 100 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:52,920 when revival comes we are revived and we are reignited and we are rekindled. Why? Because 101 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,400 we have prepared our heart for that. Now maybe we could have more of those seasons in our 102 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:03,060 life if we earnestly prayed to God to seek him all the time and maybe we do or maybe 103 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:07,400 we don't but it just kind of becomes routine right? Church kind of becomes routine and 104 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,760 we go through the motions. It's not that we don't love God. It's not that we are faking 105 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:15,760 it but sometimes we need those moments to be reignited to be rekindled and so that's 106 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:20,760 why we have things like revival. It's good for us to get new people in here that sing 107 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:25,080 different songs and that preach different messages and that make different points and 108 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:29,360 that use different illustrations and they come ready to go and we come ready to hear 109 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,400 something that's different, that's unique, that's a change of pace that kind of shakes 110 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,600 us and wakes us up and maybe that's what Paul was telling Timothy here. Maybe he's just 111 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,520 saying Timothy you're doing a really good job and you just need to keep growing. You 112 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,840 need to fan that flame. Don't let it die or maybe he's saying look Timothy I know that 113 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,560 you're struggling right now but God has gifted you and you need to rekindle that. You need 114 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:56,160 to light that thing up. You need to make sure that you stay on fire. It's not burning bright 115 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:00,520 right now. Your fire's not burning but you need to rekindle that. Both of those things 116 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:06,800 may be true for us at different times in our life. Verse 7, for God has not given us a 117 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:15,640 spirit of fearfulness but one of power, love and a sound judgment. Now I don't know why 118 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:21,440 Paul is writing this but maybe he knows something that we don't know. Maybe there was some struggle 119 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:27,200 in Timothy's life. Now maybe there's a specific something that's going on and maybe Paul knows 120 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:33,520 that Timothy is struggling and so he gives him this verse of encouragement. Hey, God 121 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:38,360 hadn't given you a spirit of fear so don't be afraid. Maybe Timothy's doing great. Maybe 122 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:43,920 there's no problem at all. Maybe Paul is just saying this as an encouraging word. Hey, you're 123 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,800 doing the work of God. You have nothing to be afraid of while you do the work of God. 124 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:53,560 You continue doing the work of God. So maybe tonight we're doing good in our walk with 125 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:58,280 God. We're doing good in the way that we live for God. Well, don't fear. You keep on doing 126 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,840 that. Maybe today you're overwhelmed with some fear. Maybe there's something that God's 127 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:08,160 calling you to do and it's kind of scary and it's kind of difficult and it's kind of stressful 128 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:13,180 and it's kind of painful. Maybe there's something in your life that's going on and you need 129 00:11:13,180 --> 00:11:16,880 a little encouragement. Well, this is a good verse of encouragement. For the Lord has not 130 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,600 given us a spirit of fearfulness. Sometimes we're afraid. Well, this is a good verse to 131 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,680 call on when we're afraid. God hasn't given us anything to be afraid of. If God is for 132 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:31,480 us, who could be against us? So the Lord has not given us a spirit of fearfulness. And 133 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:37,400 so if we're living in fear and that's dragging us down and depressing us and making us worry 134 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:42,560 all the time and just anxious, then we need to call on this verse and say, okay, God, 135 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:47,480 you have not given me a spirit of fear. So help me not to be afraid. For the Lord has 136 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:56,000 not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power and of love and of a sound mind. Okay. 137 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,440 So if God hasn't given us a spirit of fear and we call on this verse to help us through 138 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:05,040 that, what does it say right after that? What has he given us? It tells us what he hasn't 139 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,920 given us. So we can stand strong on that, but then we can also stand strong on what 140 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:14,760 he has given us. He's given us a spirit of power. He's given us a spirit of power to 141 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,080 do the things he calls us to do, to stand up in the ways that we need to stand up, to 142 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,920 live for him in the way that we need to live for him. God has given us the power to make 143 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,440 it through the toughest times in our life. Cause there are things that go on in your 144 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,440 life. There are things that you're up against in your life and you don't have the power 145 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:36,560 to get through them. And so you have to call on God and praise the Lord. The Holy Spirit 146 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:43,320 that indwells in us is a spirit that empowers us, not one that calls us to be fearful and 147 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:49,640 and fret over what is before us, but a spirit of power and a spirit of what? And a spirit 148 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:56,000 of love that we know the love of God, that we know God loves us, that we know God will 149 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,880 not leave us. It will not forsake us, that God hears us, that God is with us, that we 150 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:07,400 are never alone. That's the spirit of love that we see and that we experience. We experience 151 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:13,640 the power of God and the love of God for the God has not given us a spirit of fear for 152 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:20,280 us, but one of power of love and of a sound mind or a sound judgment. Some of your translations 153 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:26,000 may say, okay, so even if it feels like we're losing our mind, well, we need to see God. 154 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,800 He's given us a sound mind. We want to say, okay, God, you need to take control of my 155 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,120 mind. You need to take control of my thoughts. You need to help me to stand firm and stand 156 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:38,440 strong in you, dear Lord. I don't want to fear these things. Now, I don't know what 157 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:43,200 Timothy was going through in his life. Maybe, maybe the things that were before him as he 158 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,160 served God were overwhelming. Maybe there were some fear there. Maybe there were some 159 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,960 doubt there. Maybe that's why Paul is giving this instruction, or maybe it's just general 160 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:58,800 instruction. Hey, stand firm. You're doing the work of God. Don't give up and don't quit 161 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:04,080 what you're doing. Continue to run the race. And these are good words. Remember, this is 162 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,760 the last letter that Paul wrote that we have in the Bible. Now, maybe he wrote some letters 163 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:13,080 after this that we don't have access to, but the last letter that we know for sure that 164 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:19,000 Paul wrote is this one to Timothy. And he's, he's passing this torch on to Timothy. He's 165 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:25,520 already worked with Timothy. He's already helped teach Timothy and bring Timothy up. 166 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:30,760 And he's writing him these two letters to say, Hey, Timothy, do the work. Don't give 167 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:36,080 up. And not only is he telling him what to do, but he showed him what to do because Paul 168 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:42,280 has been in prison. Maybe he's in prison multiple times. It's hard to know exactly, you know, 169 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:46,240 what was going on in this timeframe. Maybe he was in prison. Maybe he was out of prison. 170 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:51,140 But regardless, Paul was one who continued to do the work of Jesus Christ. He continued 171 00:14:51,140 --> 00:14:55,880 to live for Jesus. Even when it was difficult, he continued to preach the gospel. And he 172 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,760 tells Timothy, look, you've got to keep telling people about Jesus. So don't give up. You've 173 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:05,440 got, you've got faith. You, you were raised by a good family. I see that strength of your 174 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:10,960 family in your faith. You are a man who is gifted by God. And so you need to allow that 175 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,880 to be ignited and don't worry about what is before you because God is with you. Now, whether 176 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:21,340 or not we're a missionary or a pastor or in ministry, these words are good for us. These 177 00:15:21,340 --> 00:15:25,640 are good words for us that we want to be those who are strong in the faith, those who are 178 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:31,160 on fire for God, and those who are not afraid to do whatever God may call us to do. Let's 179 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,920 pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for a good word. I pray that you would help us 180 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:40,000 to learn from your word tonight, that we would grow from your word tonight, dear Lord, that 181 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,880 you would help us not to have a spirit of faithfulness, but a spirit that trusts in 182 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,320 you, God. I pray that we would be those who are strong in the faith and that we'd be a 183 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,320 good example to our families and those who come after us, dear Lord, that they too would 184 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:58,040 see our faithfulness and draw closer to you. God, maybe there are some tonight and we're 185 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:03,160 not as on fire for you as we should be. I pray that if, if there's some here or some 186 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:09,200 listening that maybe they're not as on fire for you today as they were last week or last 187 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,320 year or whenever it was, I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to fan those flames, 188 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:17,440 that you would fan them, dear Lord, that you would help us to be those who are on fire 189 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:44,440 for you and live for you every day. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.