College & Career Men-2 Timothy 12 — 2 Timothy 1-2

0:00 Once again, good morning. Good morning. I know I already wish you all good morning, but I hope now is really good because now I'm up here.

0:14 Alright.

0:25 Let's open with a word of prayer. Heavenly father, I come before you, and we thank you for everything that you have blessed us with. And we thank you that you are the author and the finisher of our faith. And we ask that you would bless our time together this morning and that you would let your word flow freely through myself, Jacob, and Justin, and that you would be glorified through this this morning. And I pray these things in Jesus' name.

0:58 Amen. What is one of the biggest problems that the world has with Christians today? I'm a ask that again. What is one of the biggest problems that the world has with Christians today? For many of us, it is our lack of a genuine...

1:22 Of a of a truly genuine faith. Now, take for example, when you see or or when you... Yeah. When you see let me figure out how to say this. I have my notes here, but it's not flowing right now.

1:46 When we when we see, like on TV or in pictures or anywhere, pictures of the Hinduism or or the Hindu religion or the Islamic religion, think about how free and open they are to express that, and well, whether they are open to, they do it. We see them, you know, it's an outward appearance by wearing the whatever it is that they wear on their heads, but in other words, it's very open. We're gonna take a look at a couple of points in second Timothy one that show us how and why we should and can have a sincere faith and use our God given gifts effectively and for his glory. While you all are turning there, I'm going to take a minute and sort of go over a couple of synonyms for the word genuine. I looked it up, you know, not in a real dictionary because I don't know how to use those, but I looked it up online and I found a couple of synonyms that I really liked and they were authentic, unaffected, open, honest, and forthright or straightforward and direct.

3:04 I'm going read through that again. So here are synonyms for genuine, authentic, unaffected, open, honest, and forthright or straightforward and direct. I'm gonna read second Timothy chapter one. My focus here is gonna be verses five through seven. When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

3:36 Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. So my first point this morning is in verse five where Timothy... Or Paul is writing to Timothy about his genuine faith. Now we know that Timothy had a genuine faith and Paul had somehow been reminded of this as he's writing this to Timothy and thought it was important to touch on it.

4:12 Now, when we say Timothy had a genuine faith, by definition, that means Timothy's face was was sincere, true, and did not wear a mask or it was open. Also, we see that Timothy was not the first in his family to have been saved. His grandmother Lois as well as his mother Eunice had been saved prior to himself being saved. Because of because of this, because of his grandmother and his mother, Timothy had learned the great truths of the Christian faith and represented the third generation of believers. If you go back to acts, we're pretty sure that Timothy's father, however, was not a believer, but because his grandmother and mother did have sincere faith, he was able to, you know, like I already said, learn the great truth of the of the faith.

5:07 Now, although faith is not inherited through generations. So, in other words, it's not passed down from, you know, you know, through the bloodline if you will because of the household principles of having a Christian home. Timothy was able to almost inherit this faith as well. We also see that if you if you read through some of the gospels, god likes to save entire families. He doesn't usually he doesn't usually...

5:40 He doesn't like to have members of the family unsaved. So, we will read... Well, won't actually read it this morning, but you can read where God will say, you know, and and this man and his household were saved, and this man and his household were saved. So so that leads me to believe that most of the time God likes to save whole families versus, you know, just one member or two members or something because it's also much more... I'm up here like, oh my goodness.

6:11 I'm sorry. It's very... When when you have a whole family that's saved, it's much more powerful, I think, to me as, you know, growing up in a Christian home than it is just kinda out there by yourself and I'm the only member of my family that's saved. So I think that's really great. Going back to Timothy's mother and grandmother, the faith abided in them which mean it lived in them all the time.

6:59 So, that's a little bit about Timothy's background going on to point two which is verse six. I'm going read verse six really quick. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of god which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Because of Timothy's background and his own faith, Timothy was urged to stir up the gift of God which is in him. So in other words, stop.

7:25 In other words, stop not using his gift. We know that the gift was a gift of leadership and teaching because of the way that, you know, Paul was approaching Timothy and was kind of guiding Timothy to be a teacher. Also, Paul is encouraging Timothy to not be discouraged by the general failure that is around him. So by stirring up this gift, he's not, you know, being put down and also should not be put into a lapse routine. In other words, he shouldn't lapse into a routine.

8:03 I'm sorry. Mixed up my words in my notes there. Having a routine is not is not really by lapsing into the routine, your gift can die. He should use his gift more and more as the days in that time were growing darker and darker and as we see this today, the days are growing darker and darker. So, in this...

8:30 So we're going to... Okay. I'm sorry. The gift was given to Timothy through Paul by the literal laying on of Paul's hands. So Paul did not give Timothy the gift.

8:47 The gift was channeled through Paul from God when Paul laid his hands on Timothy. Now to me that would have just been really cool thing to have witnessed. You know, you see you see Paul laying his hands on Timothy and then Timothy is given this gift, you know, through Paul. That's just that's just really neat, really neat thought. Now you might ask, does...

9:08 Can this type of activity happen today? Now, I don't think that it can because the power to give gifts through the laying on of hands was given to Paul as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Because we do not have apostles in the same sense today, we no longer have the power to perform these apostolic miracles. So that was something that, you know, was given, you know, to Paul back in the day back when they had the... That power was given.

9:36 So in in summary of that, by the formal act on Paul's part, the lord gave Timothy a spiritual gift through the channel which was Paul. So, I thought that was really neat. Moving on to point three which is verse seven. For god has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now, Paul, who at this time was facing martyrdom himself takes time to remind Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear as there isn't time for fearfulness.

10:13 God gave us a spirit of power. Would you think... If you think that God gave us a spirit of power that I kind of broke that down. Unlimited strength, you could call God's power is unlimited. So we have unlimited strength at our disposal through Christ if we choose to use it.

10:33 That that's right there. I got stuck on that right there. We have unlimited strength at our disposal through Christ. Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to serve valiantly, endure patiently, suffer triumphantly, and die gloriously if that's what we're called to do. And I understand that we're not probably all of us gonna go, you know, die or get, you know, killed because of our belief here.

11:34 That's another thought that I could get stuck on, but I... Because of the time constraint, can't. But because of this love, we are also able to endure all kinds of persecution and repay with kindness. Finally, God has given us a spirit of a sound mind or discipline. Now it says sound mind, and I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna take that to mean discipline here.

11:56 Sound mind doesn't mean... This this passage can sometimes be taken to mean if we walk closely with God and we have a good relationship with him, the sound mind can be interpreted that we will not have mental breakdowns or get nervous or suffer from mental ailments. I don't think that that's what it's saying at this point. The sound mind, I think, means discipline. The verse teaches us that god...

12:25 This verse has... Teaches us that god has given us a spirit of self discipline or self mastery. We are able to use discretion and not to act rashly, hastily, or foolishly. No matter how adverse our circumstances, we should maintain balanced judgment and act soberly because of the spirit of sound mind. My conclusion and application is this, Timothy had lost heart.

12:56 This is why Paul is writing to him and telling him to stir up stir up this this gift that's in him because if Timothy hadn't lost heart there, I don't think there... You know, Paul would have had to written that to him. Through these few verses... Oh, I just covered that. We also should not lose heart in spite of the general failings around us.

13:17 Instead, it should make us want to live with a more passion and use our gifts, whatever they may be, more and more for his glory. What can we do to rekindle the flame of our gifts? Remember when you received the gift or discovered when you had it. So, of you is gonna be different. Remember when you received the gift or discovered when you had it.

13:44 Remember a time when god used your giftedness. See the situation today with fresh eyes as if it's your first day. So, try to get as excited today of going forward as it was as if it was your first day, and then remove the influences that extinguish that flame. So the spirit of power, in order to utilize the spirit of power more, I think that what we need to do is pray more. And and this is this is very personal to me because, you know, in order to use that spirit of power, have to pray.

14:22 The spirit of love. Get right with someone with whom you are not and or refuse to go or walk with individuals who grumble. That is not gonna help you get a spirit of love. Self discipline. Give god the best, the best, and refuse to give in or give up.

14:44 I'm gonna end with a poem that I found by anonymous. I I don't know who it's by, and it's it's it's... I don't know the title either, but here it is. My church is is composed of people like me. We make it what it is.

15:01 It will be friendly if I am. Its pews will be filled if I help fill them. It will do great work if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am a generous giver. It will bring other people into its worship and fellowship if I bring them.

15:24 It will be a church of loyalty and love, a fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit if I, who make it what it is, am filled with these traits. Therefore, with the help of God, I shall dedicate myself to the task of being all the things that I want my church to be. That's it. Thank

16:19 I'd to start off with a short story from D. L. Moody. Once when walking down a certain street in Chicago, D. L.

16:27 Moody stepped up to a man, a perfect stranger to him, and said, sir, are you a Christian? You mind your own business was the reply. Witty replied, this is my business. So if you turn to second Timothy chapter one, we're looking at some certain key characteristics of this passage. First off, some background.

16:51 Look at Paul. Paul writes to exhort Timothy to stand firm in his holy calling, standing firm in his faith. Paul wrote while chained in Rome. This gives Paul great credibility. This wasn't written by somebody who knew nothing of what he was talking about.

17:09 He had personal experience. Timothy, we know from verse five, as Drew said earlier, that Timothy had a genuine faith. He was a true believer. Tearnes Wilson said in relation to this passage, the exhortation to not be ashamed in no way applies that Peter... Sorry, that Timothy had become a coward in his testimony.

17:36 This passage is for those who are strong in their testimony, but have a... As all of us do, a ability to become weak or for those of us who are weak to become stronger. This is a passage for all believers. So then why did Timothy write to him? Well, there are three key points that I believe Paul wanted Timothy to know.

18:01 First of all, was to not be ashamed of the testimony of our lord. Secondly, to read... To expound upon what our holy calling is and to show the power of it. And thirdly, to talk about persecution because this was a very big thing that was happening on back then, very personal and very violent persecution to Christians. To start off with my first point of not to be ashamed comes from verse eight.

18:34 Second Timothy one verse eight says, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our lord nor of me as prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. He says, do not be ashamed. I'm reminded of Romans one sixteen. Paul says again, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. He says later on, again, I'll get to it later, in this passage that he is not ashamed.

19:09 And not only is his words showing that he's not ashamed, it's his actions. He writes us while in chains. What are we not ashamed of? We're not ashamed of the testimony of our lord. I think of the testimony of our lord.

19:23 I think of what he did for us. It says in scripture that he had no place to lay his head. He lived out exactly what he preached. Again, a perfect example that we should emanate, the testimony of our lord. Nor of me as prisoner, again, referring back to Paul who was in jail, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel.

19:48 Brothers and sisters, we are not in this alone. We are to share with one each other, one with each other in the furtherance of the gospel, and it's all according to the power of God. According to the power of God, as you touched upon in verse seven. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of sound mind. If we try to do it to our own strength, we will fail.

20:35 Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace it was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. But it's now been revealed by the appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality through the gospel. The first thing he says about this is that he has saved us. That in and of itself should give us power to realize what we've been saved from and that surely if we were saved from this, we have a purpose in our lives. He saved us and called us with a holy calling.

21:17 I'd like to make the connection here, that when we are saved, we're not just saved and put on a shelf. We were saved with a definite purpose. It's it says we... Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. This is like part two after he saves us.

21:35 Not according to our works, according to our own strength, we cannot be effective witnesses. He says, but according to his own purpose and grace, which is given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Can I remind you of Ephesians two ten? For we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. We're created for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

22:07 Says, but it has now been revealed by the appearing of our savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death. Again, as spoken in the first meeting, he's abolished the penalty of death, and for us Christians, he's abolished the power of death, and someday, he will abolish the presence of death. He's brought life and immortality through the gospel. That's quite a transition from death, and he's transformed us to life and immortality through the gospel. And he keeps bringing...

22:40 Paul keeps bringing it back to what the gospel has done for us and how we should be excited about it. But for some reason, personally, I kinda get apathetic towards it sometime. It just comes from not being God's word enough and not being stirred up enough. It says in verse 11, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher to the Gentiles. Paul was given a specific task in his calling, and each of us are given that a specific task also.

23:14 Some application is, are we ignoring our calling or perhaps trying to do it by our own power? John fifteen five says, I'm the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit and without me, you can do nothing. Moving on to my third point, persecution. Paul says in verse 12, for this reason, referring back to the gospel and his holy calling.

23:51 For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed. For I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him until that day. For that reason, I suffer these things. If we are not ashamed of the gospel, we will suffer persecution, and it comes in various forms.

24:19 I think of the Christians who are in China, different Middle Eastern countries, they're suffering bodily persecution, and I know there's some of that in The United States. There's other kinds of persecution, you know, shame, I guess, you know, being laughed at, which is seemingly minor in America, but again, it's enough to stumble us. Says, I am not ashamed. I'd like to focus on why he's not ashamed. Says, for I know whom I know whom I have believed.

24:53 In schools today, and I guess in society as a whole, we are told to put our trust in ourselves. And I know personally, that's not a good idea. It doesn't work very well. But here Paul is putting his trust in the creator of the universe, one who can sustain him. I know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him until that day.

25:25 We are secure, and we know who we serve, and someday we'll go and be forever with him in heaven. For sake of time, I don't have time to turn to second Corinthians four eight to 10, but I'd encourage you to read that later. Some application is, if we are facing persecution, it is a pretty good sign that we are fulfilling our holy calling. The converse is also true. As a side note, I probably shouldn't say this, but persecution sometimes comes from other Christians.

26:19 Secondly, to expand... Expound upon, not expand upon, but expound upon our holy calling. And thirdly, to talk about persecution, something that Paul knew very much about firsthand. Let us not dampen our holy calling with just just living everyday life, but rather let our holy calling permeate every area of our lives by the power of God. In conclusion, I'd like to share another short story.

26:51 Many years ago in Saint Louis, a Christian man was completing some business with a lawyer. Before leaving the office, the Christian turned to the lawyer and said, I've often wanted to ask you a question that have been a coward. The lawyer was surprised. I thought you weren't afraid of anything, he said. What is your question?

27:16 The client replied, why aren't you a Christian? Well, said the lawyer, I can't recall that anyone asked me, and I am sure that no one has ever told me how to become a Christian. Before long, the two were praying together and God moved into the lawyer's life. That lawyer was Cyrus l Scofield, who later edited the famous Scofield reference bible. Thank you.

27:49 Hello. Good morning. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here and to be able to share with you guys what the Lord has put on my heart. I want to start off by briefly summarizing what's been shared so far. So first of all, Paul thanks God for Timothy and his faith.

28:13 And then he tells Timothy, do not be afraid to use your gifts. He tells him, do not be ashamed of the gospel or fearful of suffering for it. For it is God who will keep you. And he says, hold fast to what I have taught you. And I'm gonna be reading verses in chapter two of second Timothy, verses one through four.

28:37 I'm just gonna take it one verse at a time, except for actually three and four will be together. It's a combo package. So we're gonna start off with verse one. In two one he says, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I wanna talk about two types of grace here.

28:58 The first type of grace I would like to talk about is saving grace. In John one seventeen, it says, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And in Luke 19, it tells us that Jesus Christ that he came to seek and save that which was lost. An acronym for grace that I like to use is God's redeeming at Christ's expense. Because God came here to redeem us.

29:32 But first, before he can seek and save that what what was lost, we need to realize that we are lost before we can be saved. That we have been separated from God because of our sin. That we deserve punishment. That we deserve to pay the penalty for it. But Christ came, and he suffered in our place, and he took the penalty that we deserved upon himself.

29:59 He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and he was raised proving that the sacrifice had been accepted. And now, all God asks of of us is to believe on Christ and we shall be saved. That is to put our trust in Jesus Christ as our savior. Charles Spurgeon was saved through the passage that says, look unto me and be saved. Salvation is very simple.

30:30 We do not have to do anything to be saved. We do not have to even lift a finger. All we have to do is look unto the savior, and we can be saved, and we can have eternal life. And God has given us everything in his son. And it's no wonder that in Hebrews he says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

30:54 See, Christ came here for us, and he suffered for us, and he died in our place. And how do we expect to escape the wrath of God when he has given everything in our place? And I plead with you that if you have not accepted Christ as your savior, that you might come to that point today. That you might trust in him and be saved from the wrath that is to come. And in exchange, receive all the blessings that are found in him.

31:56 For nobody has another testimony by but a sinner saved by grace. I was saved at the age of 20. Just a few years ago, three years ago, a little over now. And I remember mister Doringer sharing one time that many of us when we were saved by God's grace, we were running in the opposite direction of God. And that's my story.

32:23 That when God called me by his grace, I was running in the complete opposite direction of him, but he surrounded me with Christians who were able to give me the gospel that I might be saved. And by the same grace, he wants to save each and every one of us. And whether you're born and you were saved as a young person in a Christian family, or saved as an older man from a non Christian family, there's no other testimony than to be a sinner saved by grace. And Paul knew that it was grace that he was what he was, and it was grace that was the reason that he was able to do what he can do. In second Corinthians twelve seven through 10, Paul shares about a thorn that he had in the flesh.

33:14 And he says, concerning this thorn in the flesh, I asked the Lord to remove it three times. But God did not remove it. Instead, God's response to him was my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is perfect in your weakness. And I know today, in these days, that many of us go through trials, and go through times, and go through sufferings, and we wonder why God does not answer our questions. Why why do we have to suffer?

33:45 Why is the sting of death still there? Why do I have this illness? But I assure you that God has spoken and he has told us that his grace is sufficient. And if you will simply rely on him, that he will empower you to go through whatever he has called you to go through. So to be strong in grace, we must first remember that is grace that we have been saved by, and that we need to rely on God in that saving grace.

34:25 In verse two, it says, and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Now, we remember that Paul was imprisoned here and he's as we're passing on the torch to Timothy, he reminds Timothy of two important things later. One in verse three sixteen, in this same book, that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. And in verse four seven, he reminds him, he says of how he kept the faith. And that is that he guarded the faith as a soldier.

35:01 That he watched out for the faith and kept it. And I asked, what is one way that false teaching can get into a church? I suppose there's many ways, but one easy way false teaching can get into a church is if we stop teaching and equipping faithful men. It is so important for discipleship to be going on and for continued discipleship to be going on. That is the men higher up teach these guys, who teach these guys, who teach these guys.

36:11 This is how you use the sword defensively. Justin, don't let down your sword because you leave yourself open to be attacked. I can't... I left my sword down once, and these are the scars because of the attack when I left my sword down. Then I would be able to learn from that person and from their mistakes that they had made.

36:34 We had a man one time in our bible study who shared with us about mistakes or maybe a lack of discernment that he had had in his past, and he shared with us the consequences of it. And I cannot tell you how much that blessed me to hear from him, to be able to learn from he... What happened to him that I might not go and make those same mistakes. It blessed me so much to be able to learn from him. And when somebody teaches you, this is a way that you can learn when you're teaching somebody by which men are faithful and which ones aren't.

37:17 Because I've had both reactions to people. I've been foolish to people teaching me, and I've been wise at times. But I've learned through the years it's much better to learn from others mistakes than from your own. But a foolish man might give this answer, and this is the answer I used to give. You made that mistake.

37:38 Let me do the same thing. Now there's not much common logic to it, yet we hear it all the time. But a wise man's gonna learn from that mistake. They're gonna hear the word and say, wow, I see how that happened to you. Can you maybe tell me reasons why?

37:56 Can you tell me how you fell into that? That I might learn from it and not make the same mistakes. So in order for us to be able to teach faithful men, we need to first be searching for faithful men. Then we need to be able to recognize and pursue faithful men who we trust will hold fast to the word of God. And verses three and four, it says, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

38:26 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Now here, Paul tells Timothy to endure hardships as a good soldier of Christ and not to entangle himself with things of the world. We have a good example of this for us in scripture. Because of David's dealings with Bathsheba, he sent for Uriah. And Uriah came to him, and David was trying to cover up his sin.

39:00 And he asked Uriah how the war was going. And Uriah told them... And he told him... Then David told Uriah to go home and wash his feet. But instead, Uriah was found the next morning at the door of David's house.

39:18 And when David saw him, he went to him and he asked him, Uriah, did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go home? And Uriah's answer was, the ark in Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents. And my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink and to lie with my wife?

39:42 As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. In other words, Uriah is saying, king David, we're in a war. There's men out there of our people that are suffering, that are staying in tents, that are away from their families, away from their homes, away from the goodness that we have here. Who would I be to return here and entangle myself with the things of this world when there are men, our brothers and sisters out there at war suffering? For whether I am here or there, I am your servant.

40:26 And this ought to be our same reaction. And I just wanna say this was very convicting to me with Voice of the Martyrs. I get the Voice of the Martyrs magazines, and often, I tend to just set it aside and not even read it. But the truth is, if I take the chance and read that word, read what they're telling me about, that our brothers and sisters are out there and our brothers and sisters are still suffering. They're suffering for the same faith that we have in Christ, for the same grace that we've been given.

41:01 And I hardly lift a finger for them. We have brothers and sisters out there who are in need of our prayer. They're in need of our resources, and we need to do what we can to be able to help them. So let us not entangle ourselves with the things of this world, for we were bought with a price, a very costly price. And let us remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the same faith that we have.

41:40 In summary, Paul is saying in this passage, as I have guarded the faith, Timothy, so you guard the faith. As I have taught you the faith, so you teach others the faith. As I have suffered and endured hardships for the faith, so you suffer and endure hardships for the faith. And as I have done this by the strength that I find in the grace of God, so you do this by the strength that you will find in the grace of God. And I would just like to read a poem to close out.

42:13 It's by Annie Johnson Flint. It's called he giveth more. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more strength when the labors increase. To added affliction, he addeth his mercy.

42:28 To multiplied trials, his multiplied peace. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed or the day is half done, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our father's forgiving is only begun. His love has no limit, his grace has no measure, his power no boundary known unto men, for out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again. That's that's all I have. Okay.

43:43 And we thank you for this all in Jesus name. Amen.