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Pastoral Epistles - Lesson 15

2 Timothy 1:1–11

Paul begins his letter to his best friend by encouraging him to continue in ministry. If ever there were a model for how you encourage someone, especially someone who looks up to you, this is the chapter. The best thing you can do is find how many ways Paul encourages Timothy, and then see how to apply those points in your own life and ministry.

Bill Mounce
Pastoral Epistles
Lesson 15
Watching Now
2 Timothy 1:1–11

2 Tim 1:1-14

Introduction

1:1-2 STANDARD GREETING

1:3-4 — I serve God “as my forefathers did”

#1 — Timothy is not alone

1:5 — How does Timothy’s spiritual heritage encourage him?

#2. Acts of remembering often encourages

#3. Spiritual heritage

1:6 — Gifted

#4. God hasn’t called Timothy to a task, without equipping him to do so.

1:7 — Spirit of power

#5. Empowered by the powerful Holy Spirit

1:8 — Not be ashamed

#6. Challenge

1:9-11A — This is the message worth being proud of

#7. The gospel is worth suffering for

Connection of justification and sanctification

1:12 — Paul now specifies why he is not ashamed

1:13-14 — Protect the gospel

2 Timothy 1:15–18

Friends who were failures (V 15)

One friend who was victorious


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Transcript
  • Dr. Mounce introduces himself and covers the traditional issues in introductions, including his historical reconstruction of the writing and history behind the Pastorals, basic misconceptions people have of the Pastorals, and the survey of the critical issues often raised.

  • Paul begins by reminding Timothy of an earlier visit, and encourages Timothy to stay on at Ephesus, dealing with the issues in the church. Paul's goal is love, which stands in stark contrast to the work of the false teachers. Throughout 1 Timothy 1, Dr. Mounce is enumerating the ways in which Timothy (and we) should deal with false teaching.

  • Paul gives the theological argument up front as to why the false teachers were wrong and Timothy needs to silence them. They are legalists, applying the Mosaic Law to all Chrsitians. Rather, salvation is by God's mercy and grace as seen in Paul's conversion. But things have gotten bad in Ephesus, and Paul had to take a firm stance on dealing with two of the leaders of the opposition.

  • Having looked at the core teaching on why the false teachers were wrong, the class now looks at the other main pasages in the Pastorals that deal theologically with the false teaching.

  • Paul begins a two chapter discussion on issues of leadership in the Ephesian church. He begins by critiquing their habit of praying only for some people, which shows their legalistic way of looking at salvation. Then he deals with issues of public worship, first men then women. These are issues that the leaderhip should have been dealing with but most likely were being caused by poor leadership.

  • While this paragraph is not a matter of orthodoxy, it is nevertheless important since there are so many women in the church. Paul lays out the basic principle that women should learn with a submissive attitude, and then restates that principle with an eye to application; they cannot teach certain people in certain situations. Paul looks to the pre-Fall creation and the relationship that Adam and Eve were created to fulfill, and then spells out a consequence of what happens when that relationship is not honored. Because Paul references Genesis 2 and not Genesis 3, this is not a cultural teaching but transcultural.

  • After dealing with some questions, the class resumes by finishing the last two verses in chapter 2.

  • Paul gives four basic requirements for the leaders of a church. He beghins by emphasizing that leadership is a good thing and insists that leaders must be a certain kind of person, a person's who character is above repreoach. To appoint unqualified people to leadership is a sin, and those appointing them share in the responsibiiltiy when they fail and damage the church. But elders must also have a proven managerial ability of people, be spiritually mature, and have a good reputation in the eyes of people outside the church.

  • We conclude our discussion of elders by looking at two other passages on the role, Titus 1:5–9 and 1 Timothy 5:17–25.

  • We now move into the discussion of deacons in 1 Tim 3:8–13. There is much overlap between elders and deacons, and yet deacons are more involved in the day-to-day service of the church and are not required to be able to teach. The major interpretive decision is in v 11 as to whether it refers to women (i.e., deaconnesses) or wives (of the deacons).

  • This paragraph is the heart of the letter, putting everything that Paul has been discussing into perspective and giving it context. The church is precious, and we should protect the gospel because of the truths it teaches.

  • Paul goes back to addressing the needs of the Ephesian church. He deals in summary fashion with people of different ages, with a special note of concern for Timothy in how he deals with young women, which leads him into a discussion of young widows. His concern is that the church care for those who are "truly widows," i.e., who are old, truly alone, and have lived godly lives. Younger widows, however, should remarry and not burden the church. The church has limited resources, and it should initially care for those who are the most vulnerable.

  • Paul concludes his letter with a series of different and not always related topics. He deals with slaves, and begins to lay the groundwork for abolition, gives Timothy two tests for correct theology and spells out the download spiral and eventual destruction of the false teacher especially related to their love of money, and then encourages Timothy three ways. And in proper biblical fashion, he concludes with a doxology. The final paragraph (skipped by Dr. Mounce, is a final word to the rich in the church and a final plea to Timothy to be careful.

  • Most of the content of Titus has been covered in the lectures over 1 Timothy. However, the letter does have something to add to the discussion of leadership, and its two salvific hymns raise the issue of the reationship between justification and sanctification.

  • Paul begins his letter to his best friend by encouraging him to continue in ministry. If ever there were a model for how you encourage someone, especially someone who looks up to you, this is the chapter. The best thing you can do is find how many ways Paul encourages Timothy, and then see how to apply those points in your own life and ministry.

  • Paul concludes his encouragement to Timothy, and points out examples of faithless friends, and of one faithful friend.

  • Paul continues to encourage the discouraged Timothy, reminding him of the glorious gospel that he proclaims. Even if Paul himself is bound, the gospel is not.

  • The false teachers come back into view with a strong emphasis on Timothy's need to remain faithful. But the encouragement is that God's foundation in Timothy's life, and others, is sealed with a promise, and yet Timothy must also pursue righteousness and flee evil. Paul uses his own life as an example of faithfulness, and concludes with a strong admonition to preach the gospel because it comes from the very mouth of God.

  • Paul concludes his discussion of the role of Scripture in Timothy's life, reminding Timothy of Paul's own life of faithfulness. Paul makes some personal remarks about a few people, and references his final trial. He knows he will die, but death is merely a loosening.

The Pastoral Epistles contain some of the most practical advice in the New Testament. Learn how to handle heresy, appoint qualified leaders, take care of those who may not be able to care for themselves, and especially how to encourage one another in ministry. Titus alone contains two of the most powerful salvific statements in all of Scripture. These 13 chapters are worth studying.

Pastoral Epistles

Dr. Bill Mounce

nt630-15

2 Timothy 1:1–11

Lesson Transcript

 

Well, we made it to the last day. Congratulations. I only have had a couple of fade away, but that's good to see. These four days are interesting. They're intensive. In other situations, they teach us in five days. And the fifth is very long. So congratulations on making it. We are going to look at second Timothy today. And second Timothy is my favorite book in the Bible, and it's my favorite because it's the most personal. It's just radically different from first Timothy and Titus. It's a very, very personal look into Paul's heart and his relationship with Timothy, as I said, who I believe is his best friend. And the interesting thing is that it's not like. It's not like second Timothy is like Romans. I mean, it's very straightforward. So we're just kind of go through it. And I've got some things to point out. If you have questions, be sure to ask them. But again, it's especially since we've laid the basis and first Timothy, I think pretty well. And so I don't know how long it'll take to get through. Second, Timothy, a lot of it depends upon how many questions you have. All right. So we'll just kind of go go on through it. All right. All right, let's here let's start with fair. Father again, We are thankful for the week. We are thankful for the opportunities that together I am thankful to meet my new brothers and they are truly my brothers. I thank you, Father, for the strength. I thank you that there are ministries of, for the most part, held together while they've been gone and they've been able to focus concentrate on the study of the pastors and pray today that we will leave not only where the content in the pastoral is, but the truly encouraged as Paul is encouraging.

 

Timothy. Jesus name. Amen. I mean. Well, Paul starts his letter in very normal fashion, as he has in almost every other letter. Author, Recipient. Greetings, Paul. An apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. You remember in first Timothy was command. Second Timothy is radically different. It's a very personal letter. This was not intended for the Vision Church. And so it's you get these little subtle shifts like my parcel ship is by the will of God, and it's according to the promise of a life that is in Christ Jesus. Paul is is thinking about the quality of life both here and in heaven that comes from living in obedience and in relationship with Jesus Christ. To Timothy, my beloved child. Again, he doesn't talk about anyone else in these terms. These these terms of deep affection are for Timothy. Know, Grace, mercy and peace from God. The Father in Christ. Jesus, our Lord. He moves into his thinks normal Thanksgiving pattern. He doesn't do this in first Timothy. He didn't do it. I mean, most of his letters there's a statement of Thanksgiving right after the salutation Galatians. This is the one big exception. And he still ticked the Galatians that he's not about to give thanks to them. He just jumps right into the into the issues. And he does somewhat the same thing at first, Timothy, doesn't he? He just very quickly gets into dealing with the theological problems. So when you don't have a Thanksgiving statement is normally pretty indicative that there's an issue. But he's writing to Timothy, and so he wants to thank God for Timothy. But what I want to do as we go through, especially verses 3 to 8, is I want to identify all the ways in which Paul encourages Timothy.

 

And the challenge is, as you go back into your ministries, ask yourself in your relationship with your staff or your elders or, you know, whatever, be your ministry context. How will you encourage them? All right. So take a look at how the master encourages Timothy. Timothy is is is being beat up, Beat up, beat up, Beat up and beat up. And as we're going to see pretty quickly, the Paul's historical situation is completely changed. He's back in prison. He's been rearrested. And so Timothy knows that Paul, his spiritual father, is back in prison. And so it is a it's a different dynamic in second Timothy. But let's just look at all the ways in which Paul encourages Timothy, because that's the function of the first chapter. It's just it's a chapter of encouragement. We're talking about Philippians is a book of encouragement, but it has nothing on second Timothy one. So he starts and he says, I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. How's Paul encouraging Timothy? Well, he's expressing a is expressing appreciation for him, isn't he. You know, when was the last time we sat down with our youth pastors or pastors and said, You need to know. I. I thank God for you. I really, really do. Thank God for you. And maybe I thank God for you. Not so much for what you do for me. But I just think, Godfrey, because of the kind of person you are. So he starts by encouraging. By thanking him. Secondly, I would say he's encouraging by his reminding Timothy that he's the object of his prayers. All right. I pray for you all the time.

 

Isn't that an encouragement? You know, it's kind of the Christian one of the Christian ways to say goodbye is, Well, I'll pray for you. Yeah, right. I wonder what would happen if we said that. So I'll pray for you. And we said, Really? Are you really going to do that or are you just saying goodbye in Christian is. I woke up a little sarcastic this morning, I think. I. I took a personality test once not to see if I had one, but to see what kind of person I was. And at way at the top of the list, it they said, I think it's the first thing on the list that you think words are important. I remember looking at that and looking at the guy that administered the test, and I went, That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life. I mean, of course, I think words are important. And he just smiled at me. He goes, Oh, Bill said, You know that words aren't that important to most people. I wouldn't really. Really. And I've since then I've learned the words are very, very important to me. I don't like it when people try to read between my like between the lines of what I say. I want them simply I am saying words I am expressing as well as I can what I intend. And I want you to respond to what I say, not to what you think I'm saying. Or what is Bill really mean? Because if I really mean it, I'll say it. It's just my personality, my. Anyway, so I, I just things like, Oh, I'll pray for you. It just bothers me because I think words are important and I think we should mean what we say and say what we mean.

 

Um, I think, I think it's also important for those know, you know, that Paul has been praying and, you know, encouragement all that. Just have heard the words that Paul is saying. Now, when you face support for him, that's another. Right? Yeah. Yeah. To know that not only he is praying, but he has been praying for him that when we went to China, there was a couple of couples that committed to pray for us. They won. And I said, Well, that's really nice. Sarcasm kicked in. Yeah, that's right. They're going to pray for us. My wife said, No, no, they want the itinerary. They want to know where we are every day. They want to know the topic of what you'll be teaching on. They want to have informed prayers that one wo they really will pray. And it really was an encouragement and Robin especially was communicating with them when we were in China saying, hey, this is going well, this isn't going quite so well, please pray about this. And I mean, it was it was encouraging. To know that these couples were, in fact, praying for us. And, you know, a lot of this just you have to decide, does prayer mean anything? And I think that's one of the things that we all have to decide is does prayer mean something? I, I kind of laugh in that my life's not the right word, but I enjoy being around more charismatic folk, being at a Foursquare church now, you know, in Baptist circles. You say all this prayer, move God. Oh, no. God's sovereign. He. He. He's. Prayer is all about changing the person praying. I went off. It may be true, but it's not in the Bible. Charismatics actually think that God listens and cares, not grow stereotypes.

 

I know that. But it it it's been kind of fun to be around people that actually believe that God really listens and is going to respond. Now, I know that some Baptists do, but I I'm not convinced that a lot of my Calvinist folk that that convinced that prayer moves God anyway. GROSS stereotype. I know. Don't get after me. The saying I came up with was that prayer moves God to do things that he might not otherwise do. And I really believe that. Yeah, prayer changes the prayer, but I think that God does some things, whether we ask him or not. But I think much of the time, maybe most of the time he's sitting there. Please ask, please ask. Please ask. Shoot. He didn't ask. Well, okay. Another time. Yeah. Yes. He. He loves me enough and he trusts me enough to ask and I'm going to act. That's just kind of where I came out in prayer. So, you know, I read this and I got. You got Paul encouraging Timothy. I'm praying for you. And my prayers matter. My prayers are going to move God to do things he might not otherwise do. Now, there's two things that I that I try not to say. One is I love you, and the other is that I pray for you. I mean, I do love people, but I get tired of hearing people say, Hey, love you. And I go, Hmm. Or I'll pray for you. And then nothing. Nothing comes out of it. I just. We just have Christians expressions, and I think we need to stay away from them anyway. I thank God. So the creation of a number one is that he's expressing intimacy, that he is the object of his prayers and that he's so thankful for who he is.

 

And second of all, that this is something that has been going on and will continue to go on on a regular basis. So two forms of encouragement. Verse four or the translation of the phrase, as did my ancestors, is really hard because it's generally understood that Paul is not attaching with a clear conscience to the ancestors. He is attaching to whom I serve. And so if you look at the translations, you'll see the kind of struggle, because he doesn't want to say that the Jewish ancestors necessarily had a clear conscience. It's his conscience that's clear. But it's really hard because of the way English functions to make that. But I'm serving God. My ancestors serve God, but I'm serving God with a clear conscience. Isn't interested in even in this point in life, Paul still sees Judaism as his spiritual heritage. I'm sure by this time the Jews wanted to completely disown him and say that, you know, they have no connection with him at all and that he's not really a Jew or however you might want to say it. But Paul still sees himself as the inheritor of a Jewish heritage and as a fulfillment of the Jewish hope, even at the end of his life. So as far as I remember your tears. What's that all about? Well, this is what we call the tearful visit. And we're guessing that this is the visit that Timothy made to Paul when he first got out of prison. Paul and first Timothy one. Paul was on his way to Macedonia, and Timothy went to seemed to rejoice with his spiritual father being acquitted and get out of jail. That that particular visit, the term for it is the tearful visit. And it comes out of this, um, this verse as I remember your tears.

 

In other words, he's he's looking back at their last visit and he's reminding Timothy that he remembers how painful it was for Timothy. Perhaps tears of joy that Paul was released. Perhaps tears of sorrow that Paul didn't come to emphasize and help him. But it wasn't a very emotional experience. And so I have in my list number three, he reminds Timothy of their friendship. That's one way encourages them. He says, I remember how close we are. I remember your tears, let's say tears of joy when we were last together. And sometimes, especially in the heat of ministry and the busyness and ministry, there are times in which you just got to remind one another. Man, It's good to be a friend, isn't it? It's good to be a friend. I mean, this is something that Matt and I have to do periodically. I'm not explicitly said this to Matt, but as we're running biblical training, you know, we're 3000 miles apart. And just every once in a while, I have to remind myself, okay, this is Matt. He was the voice on the other end. But this is a great friend, a student, a friend without and wouldn't have started. You know, we're just really good friends. And at times you got to kind of forget the questions and the mundane day to day stuff and just remind yourselves and we get we're, we're good friends. We're good friends. Matthew Yeah. So, um, I remember your tears. So it's a reminder of, of friendship. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. So, again, this is Paul talking about we're such good friends. I just. I can't wait to see you again. I've got a side note here in my notes that I used in one of my sermons.

 

The value of celebrating. We need memories that motivate. We need to celebrate those special moments of God's calling and God's victory. And that's and those memories often motivate us during the darker times in our lives. And that's that's what Paul's doing. He's just reminding Timothy of their deep, deep friendship. One of one of joy. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. Then in verse five, he goes, I'm reminded of your sincere faith. Affirmation. Number four is, is isn't is this an affirmation that Timothy truly is fully committed to this Lord Jesus Christ? He says, I know. And if I could expand it. I know you're getting beat up. I know the fusion elders are being jerks. I know that they're despising you and looking down on you and opposing you and teaching things that are contrary. And you know, who knows what else they were doing to Timothy. But he says, I know your faith is sincere. And so it's a really strong affirmation that in the midst of conflict, that Timothy is the good guy. And Paul knows he's a good guy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith. Of faith. The dwelt. First of all, in your grandmother, Lois. And your mother, Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. After encouragement. Number five is Timothy's spiritual heritage. Reminding Timothy that he lives in a long line of believers. And I think that's encouraging. And there are certain advantages, I understand, to being a first generation Christian, among other things, that you really can understand your depravity better and you can understand God's grace and mercy better from saving you from the wretch that you were to what you have become. I mean, there's advantages to first generation Christians, but there's also advantages to being a multigenerational Christian where one, you didn't have to go through all that yuck that so often happens.

 

But you also see yourself in a lineage. You have to go a long way back in my family to find a nonbeliever. And there's something that's really encouraging, too, knowing that all my siblings are following Christ at my parents level, they're all following Christ and at their parents level, they were all following Christ. And that's just part of the Mount's DNA. You have to go back four or five generations in my family to really find an example of, well, as my great great grandfather, someone murdered him in the force and left him and everyone rejoiced and he just rotted there. So, you know, you got to go back a ways before you can find that kind of character in my family. And there are disadvantages of this. I mean, it's it's it's a little hard. To think that really I am a wretch saved by God's grace and mercy. Because I'm not that bad of a person. Right. I mean, any of us who are multigenerational Christians probably struggle with that. But Paul is encouraging Timothy to say, you're in a you're in a lineage here. You've got a mom and you've got a grandma. You know, I know your dad's a Greek. He's a nonbeliever. We've already taken care of that. But, you know, you have a spiritual heritage and that should encourage you. That should encourage you. Having given this Thanksgiving. He calls Timothy to. Well, to persevere, he starts in, is calling to persevere. And again, when he calls Timothy persevere, Does it mean that Timothy is failing? Some of the commentaries will you know this fan into the flame business, the give the impression that you know, Timothy spirituality had died down to a few embers and Paul is reprimanding him and I just I don't the words don't mean it and I just I can't bring that into compliance with what we know of Timothy elsewhere.

 

This is just Timothy. Just keep going. Keep going. You can do it. You can do it. It's just Paul being a cheerleader, calling him to persevere. So he says. For this reason, because of all the things that I've said, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. So the laying on of my hands. In other words, he's saying he's encouraging him to just keep it going, keep it going, keep it going, keep, keep, keep the newspaper fanning the flame that you've got it and keep the flame burning. Bright is what he's saying. And the encouragement. Number six is to remind him, you're gifted to do this. You're gifted to do this, Paul. God has not sent you. Paul says God has not sent you into ministry without giving you the gifts to do the ministry. I think this is a really important encouragement, isn't it? I think it's something that we all need to hear because we all have good days and bad days up, days and down days. And when the days are down and you're frustrated and you go, you know, not another Easter, please. I'm all out of Easter sermons or Oh, here we go again with the same family, I mean, or I'm so exhausted, I haven't had a break in five months or, you know, whatever. Be the case we all have down days, right? Okay. You guys like a little nodding. We're getting there. It's been four days now. You know, we all we all have down days. And and we need to have someone tell us to defend our gift, to keep to keep going, to persevere. And I think one of the greatest ways to encourage people is to affirm to them the fact that they're gifted to do it.

 

You're gifted in your evangelism or you're gifted in your teaching. And this is the third reference to this event that Paul has already alluded to twice the laying on of my hands. So this is a time when all the elders got together and apparently Paul was there. They laid hands on him. There were prophecies that were made about Timothy's giftedness, his call tune, evangelistic and teaching ministry. This is the third time that Paul has referred back to that event. And here just as a way to really encourage Timothy. Okay, I know it's difficult. I can imagine I'm making up words for Paul, but you know, I can imagine, Timothy, what they're saying about you. But remember what the people said that matter the most to you. All right, Remember those? And they they affirmed your gifting. They affirmed your calling, the wonderful encouragement number six, and then it continues in seven. I'm. And he continues in seven four. This is another reason why he used to keep the flame burning bright for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And before we get into the details, just basically principle number seven is to remind Timothy of the power that he possesses. This is related to the idea of giftedness, but there is because Timothy is in dwarfed by this spirit, there is a power that he has. So he's been gifted and he's got the power to do what what Paul set him to do in emphasis. So on the spirit of power, by the way, we're not talking about a forceful personality. We're talking about God's gifts are powerful gifts. They are to be exercised in powerful ways because they are, in fact, gifts of the spirit.

 

And I'm sure Gordon feel would argue that the yes here should be capitalized so that when I have the new and I've open is is capitalized on spirit. Yeah that's yeah. And so God gave us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit isn't, isn't a is, isn't a a person, a God of fear. He's he's a god of power and love and self-control. Let me talk about this word fear, because this is one of the most grossly mistranslated words in the entire Bible. You're all used to seeing the word. Timid, right? God did not give us a spirit of timidity. And so people look at the word timid, and then they look at Timothy's weak stomach and his frequent illnesses and first Timothy five. And they have this pic, this picture of Timothy as this week cowardly kind of person whose ministry has died down to an ember. And Paul's having to say, Come on, Timothy, get your stuff together. I mean, that's the standard view of Timothy, and it's just wrong. And the reason we know it's wrong, among other things, is the Greek word translated Fear here often translated timid. It is impossible for the word to mean timid. Little dramatic pause. Let that sink in. You look at what this word means. And even if the dictionary says TimIt, if you look at the references to it, what you will realize is the word doesn't mean timid. Yeah, well, it's wrong. It is. I mean, it doesn't it? It's one of these things where you say, Oh, that's interesting. What other, what other definition would you like to make up for a word? The word cannot mean timid. It means cowardice. Fearful. It's a much stronger word. And my guess is what happened is that a while back and the translation history that came along and they said, God, give us the spirit of this spirit of this word.

 

And and I could see a translator saying, well, there's no way that Paul would be calling Timothy this abject coward. We need to soften. What can we soften it to us or timid? I mean, I'm guessing it's something like that. I don't know. I'm guessing is something like that. This is one of those metaphorical structures where he says, what something isn't to be a foil to say what something is. In other words, Paul is not saying that Timothy is fearful and even as the word meant timid. He's not saying that he is timid. It is it is simply a foil for saying the main point. So it's saying the opposite in order to enforce the positive lead is not into temptation, but deliver us from evil is the same construction. There's a word for it in English. I forget what it is called, but you know God doesn't lead us into temptation. So why should we pray that do not lead us into temptation? All the word means testing lead us not into testing. Well, that's not a valid prayer, because testing is good for us, right? Rejoice in the testing and the tribulations. Trials because of what they produce. What do you do with the Lord's Prayer? Well, it's the same kind of construction where you're stating the opposite, not because it's true, but because you want to make a forceful comparison. The latest not under the temptation is really, Lord, thank you that you don't lead us to temptation, but you do the exact opposite. You protect us from Satan. I mean, that's that's my handling of the Lord's Prayer. I think the same thing is going on here, that God isn't a God of fear. He doesn't give us the spirit. It doesn't have to do with cowardice, but rather it's a he's the spirit of power and love and self-control.

 

And that's who you are, Timothy. There's just no way. This word means timid, and there's no way that Paul is calling Timothy a timid person. If Timothy were a timid person, fine. I won't have a problem with that. I just can't fit the idea of timidity anywhere into the picture of of Timothy. I mean, Timothy is the guy that Paul sends to the worst situations, right? Sends them to Corinth, leaves them up in Thessalonica when he is running out to get down south because the Jews are coming down to persecute him, who gets stuck behind Silas and Timothy. And so it's kind of like this. There's nowhere in Timothy's profile is this oh kind of scenario. Um. At the risk of offending people who may not like the generic use, the use of man. Timothy was a man. You know, my definition of a man is a man is someone who does the right thing at the right time, in the right way. Um, Timothy was that kind of man. And there are women that are that kind of person as well. But, you know, the expression there is there is no question that as you go through this book, you see Paul getting Timothy ready for the fact that he's about to die. So, no. Yeah, that's that's true. At this point in the letter with with with everything being so encouraging. I think that's kind of where I think the focus is. I know who knows what Paul was doing, you know, behind the scenes or between the lines kind of stuff. But I just think Timothy is getting beat up so badly in the if he's in church that just there's so much focus on encouraging him. And, you know, we don't know how long it was between first Timothy and second Timothy.

 

It was long enough for Paul to go to trial, be acquitted, go to Spain, go to Crete. Get rearrested. To go through the first stage of the trial. We're going to find out and get to a point where he knows he's going to die this time and that whole time. Timothy's been stuck in Ephesus. So what is that? For years. I mean, what's tradition as Paul dying in 67? Beheaded in 67. I think it is the date we have for first. Timothy is around 62 to 63, somewhere around then. Timothy's been stuck in Ephesus a long time. We know that he came to visit Paul, but it appears that he was in emphasis this whole time. So Timothy's been this is this is not a short interim ministry. This is this has been a long term. Timothy is being beaten up a lot, hence the need for such extreme encouragement. Okay. God. And again, understand if I felt the text said Timothy was a timid guy, I would really emphasize that because there are timid people called to pastoral ministry to be really fun, to use Timothy as an example of how effective a timid person in personality could actually be in ministry. I just don't think that's what's going on here. I think I think and Tim and Tim is just saying, we know that you're not you don't have a spirit of cowardice. God has given us the spirit. And the spirit is about power and love and self-control. So the encouragement is, is that you have the power to do this. You have the spirit within you. Verse eight. Then it continues therefore. In other words, again, if you're following the phrasing, therefore, because you have this spirit of power, therefore don't be ashamed.

 

And don't be ashamed about the testimony of our Lord. Objective generative is a testimony that is about the Lord. In other words, the gospel message. And don't be ashamed of me, even though I'm his prisoner. Look, we're as we're going to see in a couple of verses, there were a lot of people that were ashamed to be connected with Paul because he was a prisoner and a soon to be condemned prisoner. And they pulled away from him. And he I think in terms of encouragement, number eight, this is just he challenging him. And sometimes when we get discouraged or we really need encouragement, times are difficult. I think sometimes the best way to encourage someone is to challenge them. Just say no. No. Let me sometimes say, you know, you need a sabbatical. I think other times encouragement takes the shape of know what we need to get our eyes off the issues and we need to get challenged to move forward. And I think challenging can be in the right in the right place. A real encouraging. So he says he challenged them not don't don't worry about me. Don't don't, don't pull back at all from the gospel or what you're saying. And then he says, But share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. I'm just checking my notes. I'm sorry. Um, encouragement. Number nine is the gospel is worth struggling about. In other words, suffering for the gospel is not something to be avoided. It is is I mean, sometimes in suffering comes you think you've done something wrong, right? And maybe you did. Maybe you did something stupid and you're paying the price. Okay? But the mere fact that someone is struggling for the gospel is not necessarily a bad sign.

 

And what Paul is saying to Timothy is he's encouraging together, you and I together. We are going to share Suffer for the Gospel by the power of God. And so it's a call to to realize that the gospel is worth suffering about. You get this message And Peter. Right. You know, if you're persecuted because you've done stupid things, that's one thing. But if you're persecuted for the gospel, that's a good thing. Paul later is going to say, anyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. The sign of persecution is sometimes a bad thing, but I think often for a Christian, when you're being persecuted for being a Christian, it's a good thing. I don't know. Just get in your church situation and really start preaching the gospel hard and see what happens. You'll be persecuted there. There will be people that will be convicted by the words of God expressed through the experiences of your life. And they're not going to like it. And the attacks are going to come. And I think Tim Pawlenty is saying be encouraged because what we're suffering together with and I guess that's kind of an encouragement to, you know, you're not alone. We're together in this, Timothy, but the gospel is we're suffering over. I mean, this is a good thing. This is fighting the good war because it's a it's a war that matters. So we're down to what number nine on them. Any comments or questions? I guess in my notes of four for the first eight, my encouragement was that we're doing this together. We're sharing in suffering for the gospel together. All right. Share in suffering. And then what I did for number ten was a reminder of what the gospel is and that the gospel is worth suffering for.

 

Because you got this wonderful statement of the gospel in relative to the gospel and about God who saved us first night. Who saved us. He called us to a holy calling not because of work, but because of his own purpose and grace. And that purpose and grace was given to us in Christ Jesus. It was given to us before the ages began, but which now has been manifested, is that grace has now been seen, and it was manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And what did Jesus Christ do? He abolished death. What did Jesus Christ do? He brought life and immortality to light. He made it visible. How did he do it? He did it through the Gospel. What do I need to tell you about the gospel? Is the ills for the Gospel that I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. And it was because of my appointment as an apostle and a teacher and a preacher. That's why I'm suffering. Not suffering because I'm the jerk. I'm suffering because that is the nature of the gospel. In a sinful world. This is a great passage, isn't it? Some people argue that this is a hymn that Paul's quoting. I'm not convinced that it is. But it's there's a lot of rhetorical parallelism going on. It's a powerful passage. I didn't want to stop partway through it. So let's let's get back up to verse ten. How is Paul encouraging Timothy number ten? He's reminding Timothy what God has done. When I. When I left teaching college. Um. Everyone at my school had two jobs just to make a living. And so mine was teaching and programing and I was often up to three in the morning programing.

 

And I wrote a church management package and a fundraising nonprofit software package, and I couldn't take it any longer. So we quit our teaching job and there was a company in San Francisco that was going to sell the software when Cool. And we went up to Spokane. And found out within a matter of weeks that they had no intention of paying. That they weren't going to market it. It just it was a dead product. So we're sitting up there and there is nothing more on Hirable than a Ph.D. in Bible in Spokane, let me tell you. Didn't have an M.D. of there, so no church would look at me. She didn't do any good there. It's kind of like we were stuck. I mean, really, really stuck. Plus, we had been told that if we bought this house, there would be we could there was no ongoing debt related to the house. We found out that the realtor had not been honest with us about capital gains. So not only am I sitting in Spokane without a job, without the potential of a job, but now I've got debt. Great. And it was the best five years of our life. It was absolutely the best five years of our married life because. We God put us in a situation where we had to be reminded that he was the God who would provide. And I mentioned this earlier. I mean, the the breadbox simply didn't get empty. The car didn't break. Incredible mileage for a van. I mean, just things just. Wonderful. We got a robin who walked downstairs one day and I was talking to someone on the phone and she said, three talking to. And I told him it was a long distance call.

 

And that's back when long distance phone calls cost. And she said, okay, I'm okay with this, but you need to know we have $10. You may want to get off the phone. So I got off the phone, but it was God just put us in a position where he said, I'm going to teach you that I will care for you, and in fact I'll be lavish and caring for you. And he was. And, you know, there are times now where I have to look back at that and be reminded of what God has done. Not only that he has saved us, but that he has provided and cared for us. And it is such an encouragement that if God provided for me and for my family in that situation, you know, then I can trust them now. I think that's some of the power of memories and reflecting on things and rejoicing in them. And that's not exactly what's going on in verse nine was the best illustration I could think of. The encouragement is just you got to think back to what God has done for you. Timothy, don't, don't, don't. Oh, I knew where I was going with that. What had happened to me theologically is that God had become very, very small. And all the weight had been placed on my shoulders. I was in a theological context earlier that it it wasn't a Calvinist context. It wasn't a a holiness and majesty and John Piper's kind of context. It was well, you know, there's a lot of things you have to do. And I was talking, I think it was to my mom, and she said, you need to read Jamie Phillips book, Your God is Too Small. And I had read it a long time ago, but I'd forgotten that she said, you need to read it.

 

And if you guys know the book, the J.B. Phillips you got is too small and it's all you have to do is read the first half and you get halfway through it and you're reminded of the immensity of who God is. And what his glory and what his power really is. And I can remember repenting because I had stopped trusting him. I had thought that it was all my responsibility. And I think when I when I was preaching, this was one of the things I try to do, I think more than almost anything else. I don't know if I succeeded it or not. But I wanted to paint a grand, glorious vision of an immense, loving God, because I don't think there's anything that encourages people more to remember that they're not in this world alone and that God is not some weak little deity that, you know, can't really affect change and doesn't really care that you pray or that he's going to do anything. We have to be reminded of the immensity of who God is and what he has done and how he's committed himself to us. And that is encouraging, isn't it? In fact, if you if you were to come by the house and you see me staring at Hubble Space Telescope pictures, you know, I'm probably struggling a bit because that's what I do. I go to the Hubble space website and I just start looking at pictures and I go, okay, this is the God who loves me. This is the guy that I serve. Nothing happens that isn't filtered through his hands. Nothing surprises him. This is my God. And that the the pictures of of galaxies do that for me. And this what Timothy is what Paul's doing is said Timothy, remember who God is and remember what he has done.

 

He's saved us. And he's called us to a holy calling. He didn't save us and abandoned us. He's called us and he's called us to a life of holiness and doing things that matter. I, I feel bad for people that aren't in some area of. Well, everyone's is almost messed up. My doctrine of vocation. All people, plumbers and pastors alike, are called to live out Christ in this world, aren't they? And the idea that some vocations are holier than others is just wrong. I almost, almost made that vocational mistake, didn't I? Yeah. You'll love your neighbor by doing your job well. The and I just think but I think especially for people who are up front, it's just really important to to remember what you're doing, who you're doing it with, who you're doing it for, who is empowering you to do the task. And, you know, you may look out and see 100 people, 99 of whom are nodding off. I don't know. Um, but the God who called you to ministry saved you, and he called you to a holy calling. And you need we all need to be reminded of that from time to time. So encouragement number ten is to is to remind people what God has done for them. Encouragement. Number 11 is, is to understand that we have, um, we have work to do that this God who is, who has saved us. And this overlaps the earlier part of nine is called us to a holy calling. That calling isn't because we deserved it. The calling is it because of our works. But it's but it's because he has his own purposes and he has his own grace. In other words, it's not about us and it's not like we deserved it, but it is God who is called us to whatever task we are, whether it's a plumber or a lawyer or a teacher or a mom or a preacher.

 

God has. God has called us not because we somehow deserve it or earn it or anything like that, because God has his own purposes and God is graciously calling people to come alongside and to accomplish his purposes. Do you ever do you ever marvel at how God uses people? God doesn't need any of us, right? I mean, we could all just simply disappear and the life life would go on just fine without us. For the most part, the world to keep spinning on its axis. But God is just interrelationships. That's just. He just. He is interrelationships. I love that phrase in Hebrews that angels are ministering spirits set out to do as well. As he was right. It's Friday, so my mind's going a little. I go, okay. God, What? What? Why do it that way? Why don't you just do it? I think it's. Hey, I really like my angels. I really like working through them. The story and Daniel, where Daniel prayed and the angel God sent the angel. And the angel took a long time to get to Daniel because. The Yeah. He got stopped by the it was it was a free. Anyway, it's Satan. The angel got into a debate with Satan or got into a fight with Satan. And sometimes I wonder at that point you're saying, okay, God, you sent me to go visit Daniel. Why don't you just kind of do it yourself, or why don't you just. Well, I mean, but they fought for a long time, right? And it was a battle. And I look at that go. Wow. You really enjoy your angel's God, don't you? I mean, you could just do it and answer Daniel's plea, but he didn't. He sent the angel knowing that the angel was going to be doing battle with Satan and that the angel ultimately would persevere.

 

And we'll get to Daniel. Daniel? Old times scratching his head, going, What's going on? I think that's a very interesting story because at times in my life, I go, God, why don't you just do it? You don't need me. I want. And the answer is, I'm going to do it through you. I've got a I've got my own purposes and I've got my grace to empower you. And I've called you to a holy calling. And I really enjoy working through my children. Don't have to work through my children, but I really, really enjoy it. So I think encouragement number 11 is this whole idea that we have a holy calling and we're called to it. And it's that's how God purposes things. That's how he wants to do things. I mean, sometimes snaps his finger, things happen, right? At other times. Often he works through his children. Anyway, I just think it's encouragement to know that we have a holy calling that's based on his purposes. And even when we can't, I'm sure Timothy had to think, Why am I stuck in emphasis? I mean, year after year, same old, same old. I you know why? Goddesses purposes. He has his plans. We don't always know what they are. He continues in talking about God's purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I think there's a a couple of different things involved that again, if I were Timothy, I would find incredibly encouraging. I would say number 12 is. That our lives it all of this is because of God is not because of us. We serve a greater purpose. All believers serve a greater purpose.

 

And. You know, this whole thing is not because somehow I earned it or I deserve it. It's not dependent upon me, but I find great encouragement in knowing that. Again, God has his plans and this has been given to us. I guess that's the word I'm focusing on. He gave us in Christ Jesus. Matt. And I believe that biblical training is a ministry that's been given to us. It's one that God has called us to do. And when things get frustrating and discouraged, sometimes we have to remember that this is a ministry that, according to God's purposes, we believe was given to us to accomplish and will be accomplished by his power. I'm sure that Frank, at times in this school gets frustrated and has to remind himself, I'm here because of God's calling. This is something that's been given to us in Christ Jesus. And to follow it through. I mean, send your thinking to the poor. Going to add in another thing. What are we? My numbering is a little off, so I'm going to have to think how many we have so far. We've done we've done 12. I think I'm going to add a 13 and it really looks at versus versus nine and ten. And certainly just the very nature of the nature of the gospel should be an encouragement to us. And what I mean by that is we're not self-help people. We're not giving people our best ideas. We're not encouraging people to be the best that they can be. All right. We're not Marine recruiters. The very fact of the incredible illness of the gospel message. And be reminded. That's what we preach. That's what we teach. That's what we share. You know this. We're not we're not, you know, pushing a new kind of soap.

 

And I'm glad for new kinds of soap that don't dry out my skin. It's a valuable ministry to me. All right. I'm good. I'm glad for good. So. But the nature of our calling and the nature of our vocation is at times we have to step back and realize. Oh, my goodness. And my phrases were heralds of the king. You guys, especially every Sunday morning when you stand up to preach, you are a herald of the king. And there's nothing like that. I've done a lot of things in my life. I've taught a lot. I've been in business. There is nothing like being a herald of the King. And I know some of this is a calling thing and whatnot, but what you guys get to do every day is you get to proclaim in one way or another the message that God saved us. He's called us to a holy calling, not because we deserve it, but because God has his own purposes and grace, which was hidden for a long time, manifested in the person of the work of Jesus Christ, who actually abolished death and made life and immortality a possibility for all people. Now, if that doesn't excite you, I don't know what does. I mean. I mean, if that doesn't excite you, you're dead. Of course you are dead. So I think just in terms of, um, encouragement. I think we just have to remember the magnificence. You guys need to understand and to be reminded of the magnificence of what you get to do day in and day out, but especially Sunday morning or perhaps in your church Saturday night. You get to proclaim the gospel. That's pretty cool. So I'm sorry. What number is that? That was 13.

 

Okay, well, we can't end on 13. Um. Abolish death and brought life and immortality light through the Gospel. For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. A teacher. Which is why I suffer eyes as I do. We'll make this the last one here. And that is just it is an encouragement that when you suffer, that you understand what you're suffering for. All of us are going to be persecuted. That if you proclaim righteousness, you will be persecuted. The surprising thing is when it comes from the sheep, right? When it comes from within. And the fact of the matter is, in our context, most of the conflict in our lives is going to come from within the church. Right? Now, if you were living in North Korea, that that wouldn't be true because first of all, you wouldn't have social Christians that are showing up because it's good for business. You know, if you're going to if you're going to be a Christian, if you're going to meet as a Christian, North Korea is going to be real in your life. Um, but in our context, at least for now. And my guess is it's going to be radically different in 20 years in this country. Um, that, um, a lot of the persecution is going to come from within. And I think at times you just got to remind yourself, I mean, you have to ask yourself, are they, are they mad at me or are they persecuting me because I'm a jerk? Did I do something wrong? Was I mean, did I say something the wrong way or am I simply being a persecuted my simply being persecuted because I am faithfully proclaiming the full gospel as laid out in Scripture? Because as you do proclaim the full gospel, you will be persecuted.

 

That's just the way it is. That's the way it is. And so I think as a as a source of encouragement, Paul wants Timothy to remember that in the midst of his intense persecution he's been experiencing probably for years. He says you're you're being persecuted because you're an evangelist and the teacher of this marvelous truth that many people in this world do not want to hear. Remember what we was preaching through the Lord's Prayer, our Lord's Supper. Sermon on the Mount, The Sermon on the Mount, which contains the Lord's Prayer. And I had preached the previous week on the passage that if you, you know, say Rocca to your brother, you know, you're liable of the judgments of fire. You know that passage. And right before the service started and a young man came up to me is that was a friend of mine was heavily involved in the church. I knew him to be a good person. And he said, I just want you to know I was finally able to forgive you. Okay. What did I do? He said your sermon last week made me question my salvation, and I. I've finally been able to forgive you. Hmm. I said, what? Did I say? Anything wrong in the sermon? Well, you you made me question my salvation. I said, but. But is there anything that I said that wasn't in the text? I mean, did I did I say things in a way that wasn't appropriate for the text? You made me question once. And I said, okay, well, thank you for forgiving me. The fact of the matter is, there was nothing to be forgiving about. Jesus's words? No, I didn't know he was a good kid and he was like 25.

 

And he was into this really in the process, a form of being formed by Christ. And I was thankful that he was sensitive enough to the Word of God and the working of the Spirit, that the words of Jesus were deeply into his heart. And it convicted him about something. And so I was thankful for that. But and that's not really persecution, but it was real conflict. Um, but it was conflict because I had faithfully preached a very difficult passage, and I let Jesus say what Jesus said. And it bothered some people. Preach the gospel, you're going to bother people. Hopefully they'll have enough integrity to come up to you and talk to you about it and a process with you anyway. Wonderful, wonderful encouragement in this particular passage. Let me see if we can close this passage off before break. Which is why I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed. Um actually is another kind of encouragement isn't. He goes, I'm not ashamed, Timothy. You shouldn't be ashamed either. In other words, to follow my example, I'm. I'm. I'm not ashamed. Even though I'm suffering, I'm not ashamed of the of the suffering that's happened. But why am I not ashamed? Well, two reasons. One. I know who might have believed. Get a start. You know, start humming the old song in my head. Yeah. You. I know whom I have believed. In other words, I know this is about God. At the end of the day, all the persecution and all the suffering and and all the discouragement, none of it. I'm not going to back away from any of it. I'm not going to be ashamed of anything because I know the God in whom I've believed. And I am convinced that he is able to guard.

 

Until that day, what was entrusted to me. A very, very difficult passage to translate. But when it comes to the whole issue of encouragement, well, what do you want to call this? Um. I don't have a word written down for this. How is Paul? Paul was able to look through the temporary notice of the persecution, the temporary ness of the conflict and to God and to realize that God holds him in his hands. So what should we call that for encouragement. Sovereignty of God. You mine that power of God, the greatness of God. Um, just being reminded that no matter what happens to us in life. Guard. God is there to guard.