2 Timothy 1

[0:00] so we're starting this book into Timothy as you might know there's two letters that Paul wrote to Timothy his apprentice you might call him a young minister had lots to learn under Paul but then was a pastor in the day and Paul wrote to him as a younger minister trying to encourage him in his ministry encourage him in the faith and what that might look like for his life and in reading it it's really they're really important letters for us to grab a hold of because essentially what we're learning from them, there's lots of big things that it says about Jesus but it assures us of what does Christian living look like what does Christian ministry look like and where does our motivation come from, what is it grounded in to keep going when living as a Christian is difficult and so there's lots of big things that it touches upon and I hope we'll touch on some of it today and more as we go through the book the question that

[1:12] I want us to start with is it's really this morning one of the things that it touches is the positive view of fear that might sound like something you've never heard before the positive view of fear and I wonder this morning what is it that you fear losing in your life just a question to start with what is it that you fear losing in your life however you answer that question however you answer that question is really interesting because you can almost guarantee that there is a direct correlation in how you live in your life with what you put in place to guard or to protect against that loss from happening against losing the thing that you fear losing I just want to just I'll give you an easy example if you fear being broken into if you fear being burgled the extent to how big that fear is will correlate to how much you protect or guard your house and like I said in many respects that's not a bad thing is it we want our houses to be secure but there's lots of things we could do you could get a house alarm you could get a guard dog those might seem reasonable measures that most people take but if you had a lot to lose you might take that one step further you could get a security guard you could get security cameras a security gate you could get a panic room you could get bodyguards there's lots of you've got one there are lots of things you can do to protect yourself and your family and what I'm trying to say is the degree to which you analyse the threat it sort of causes the type of response that you're going to make and maybe perhaps the the more you think you have to lose the more you want to guard or seek to protect it there's this kind of direct correlation with what we fear and how we live and the fear really is that if you if you don't make the changes if you don't put the guard in place that these we think we think that these measures are necessary because if we don't then we'll lose the thing that we want to hold on to however you answer that answer that question yourself it goes right to the heart of what we really care about and so

[3:36] I just wonder how do you answer that question what do you fear losing recently me and Annabelle it doesn't have to be material things recently if you want to see this really clearly me and Annabelle watched a program it's on Disney Plus it's a great documentary with Chris Hemsworth you know the guy he plays Thor in the Marvel movies and these all the episodes I can't remember the name of it but they focus on Chris Hemsworth's biggest fear which is of losing his memory when he gets older and each episode looks at different things that he can do in his life now as a nearly 40 year old that will help him sustain his brain for when he gets older but don't get me wrong as I said some of those things are really helpful I've thought maybe I should adopt maybe having an ice bath every morning I haven't done it yet but that's just one of the things that he says that might keep his brain going so I say some of these things aren't bad and you might go as far to say we often think that fear is a bad thing but actually fear fear it is an emotive response that is given to us by God and it's not necessarily a bad thing it's given to us by God in order to protect the things that matter it's part of

[5:00] God's way of alerting us to harm so that we guard against it when we fear the way that it works out in your body you get that rush of adrenaline don't you that rush of adrenaline there's two ways that you respond we often know it as the fight or flight response and it's there to protect or to guard we either run from it or we fight it and so what does that have to do with 2 Timothy well the book that we're starting as I mentioned it's written by the apostle Paul to the younger pastor Timothy it's written to encourage Timothy in his ministry but what we see from the author I think is that Paul has a healthy fear he has a healthy fear of the gospel message being lost and he has a healthy fear of what will Timothy do in his ministry when the going gets tough perhaps the key verse in chapter 1 comes with it's all about the whole first chapter is all about guarding and the key verse in chapter 1 comes a bit later down when Paul says to

[6:13] Timothy guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us now we don't know what Timothy is going through as a young man but we do get an idea of his character we might he seems like a sort of timid fellow he seems like a timid blood we get that later on and so the message that Paul wants to send to his young apprentice is guard the gospel guard your faith and I suppose this morning if you're not a Christian here today what we're getting here is an insight into the things that matter the most to God's people to Christians and why Christians are called to spiritually fight tooth and nail to guard to do everything to ensure that the message about Jesus Christ is not lost or changed but the truth is contained in the Holy Bible is guarded and protected and that actually there's a healthy way to be concerned or to fear that from happening in someone that we should have that adrenaline of where we want to fight for it and so that's what we're going to be thinking about this morning is guarding the good deposit our faith and we're going to just think about that in just two points guard the faith handed down to you and then guard the faith with loyalty to

[7:43] Jesus guard the faith handed down to you and then guard the faith with loyalty to Jesus in the opening seven verses of chapter one Paul reminds Timothy of the rich heritage to which Timothy belongs and he appeals to three relationships the first one is regarding the origins of the faith that has been passed down to both of them to Timothy and to Paul you look at with me in verse three he writes I thank God whom I serve as my ancestors did with a clear conscience as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers the ancestors he says to Timothy the ancestors of our faith that's Moses Abraham David Jacob the heroes of the Old Testament that served God are Timothy's ancestors they're Paul's ancestors Paul suddenly highlights how both his and Timothy's ministry aligns with that of the heroes of the past it is a rich heritage that they both belong to and we follow in the same tradition the ministry that we're involved with has been passed down our ancestors are Paul and Timothy and the ones who've gone before them so that's the first reason the way that it's been passed down in verse four we observe that there's a deep connection that Paul has with Timothy himself verse four recalling your tears

[9:17] I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy not only do they have this rich historical heritage but they have a very close personal relationship with one another Paul remembers how Timothy cried how they cried together Timothy grew in his faith under Paul's mentorship these are people who have a deep spiritual connection together and there are people in our own life who we have a deep spiritual connection with who taught us the faith who mentored us who passed it down to us and then in verse five we have the third relationship it's very powerful it's very powerful he reminds Timothy of the faith in Timothy's own family verse five I am reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother

[10:20] Lois and in your mother Eunice Paul purposefully makes the connection between the faith of his immediate relatives and of Timothy verse five I am persuaded now lives in you also he makes the connection between the faith of those who've gone before and the role they've played in his life his ancestors Paul himself and his family it is a highly charged emotional plea to Timothy what are you going to do Timothy with this faith passed down to you you you remember you do remember don't you Timothy where your faith came from you do remember don't you Timothy how the faith of your own mother now lives in you you know that gift you know the gift Timothy of that faith that lives in you a few years ago now

[11:23] I think it was 2018 my grandad died a few years ago and as my dad and the rest of the family were going through some of his old possessions they found his old bugle and my dad said as they were going through he's told me since that it was a lasting memory from his childhood that it hung on the back of the back door it was also always something as he would go up to bed when he saw my grandad's bugle and as they were going through the possessions my uncle sort of just said at the time holding the bugle would anyone like to have this and as soon as he looked my old man shouted yes that's mine now it to other people this old sort of tatty bent bugle might not mean that much to anyone else but to my dad this is a family heirloom and no doubt it will get passed on I've heard the story of the battered bugle on the back of the back door and it brings back happy memories and hopefully there'll be a story in years to come

[12:33] I'll own I'll tell the story of the battered bugle on the back of my granddad's back door and tell it to my own children it's the family heirloom there is an heirloom here in the bible that is being passed on the heirloom is faith it is the most precious heirloom and just as a side point I just want to turn if you didn't grow up in a Christian family it was still passed on to you by someone you became part of God's family through your spiritual parents you just got passed on differently and we accept that but the real point that Paul wants to bring home to Timothy is what are you going to do with your spiritual heirloom what are you going to do with the gift of faith and he says it in verse 6 for this reason for this reason he said because you have the gift of faith because you have this treasured heirloom passed down from your ancestors from me from your own granny and mommy because

[13:46] God lives in you verse 6 fan that gift into flame fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands fan into flame and what it really suggests is that Paul is writing to Timothy because he fears that flame looks like it might be going out that Timothy's flame his faith is not burning as bright as it once did when they were together we know what Timothy is he's a pastor but my guess is he's burnt out he's scared and maybe even thinking that serving God in the way he once did is not for him anymore he needs encouragement to remember who he is where he's came from what God has done through him that God dwells in him lives in him by his spirit and that the spirit that lives in him is the one in verse 7 that does not make him timid but gives him power love and self control or self discipline as our text puts in and so is that you today does your faith need fanning into flame maybe maybe we're feeling a little bit like

[15:19] Timothy burnt out scared and that serving Jesus feels difficult and onerous as opposed to when we first came to know him if that's you then let me assure you that the same spirit that lives in Paul and in Timothy and in your ancestors and in whoever it was that taught you to love Jesus that same spirit lives in you the same spirit fanning to flame the gift of faith fanning to flame because that spirit is a spirit of power love and self control the power of God more powerful than the most ferocious storm more powerful than anything in the whole of the cosmos the love of God the same love that God has for his own son and the self-control the self-discipline the same self-control that enabled

[16:19] Jesus to obey his father every time that same spirit lives in you today and if you're not a Christian this is unopportunity this is unopportunity if you're feeling burnt out and broken and worn down this is unopportunity this is the faith and the doubt that Paul wants Timothy to guard and how we protect it is what I'm going to read on to how we guard it as our second point guard the faith by loyalty to Jesus after telling Timothy to fan this gift this flame the gift of God his faith Paul spells out what it looks like it looks like loyalty to Jesus and here he spells it out in two particular areas of Christian living two things it's loyalty in the face of suffering and it's loyalty to the gospel of truth and we're just going to look at two this point sort of comes in two sub points and we're going to look at one at a time so the first one is that our loyalty to Jesus what is our loyalty to Jesus in the face of suffering

[17:39] Paul exhorts and encourages Timothy to demonstrate his loyalty to the Lord Jesus by suffering with him with Paul which is only actually possible because of what he's just said in verse 7 the reason that he can suffer to be loyal to Jesus in the face of adversity is because of that spirit that dwells in him of power love and self control it's why Paul can say to Timothy verse 8 do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner rather join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God suffering let's just be clear suffering for the gospel is suffering for Jesus the two are totally synonymous things suffering for the gospel is suffering for Jesus Paul has suffered for Jesus for the gospel and we can read that all of his accounts in Acts or other letters he's suffered in prison beaten whipped shipwrecked humiliated but he suffers because he's loyal to

[18:45] Jesus verse 11 he says in this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and as a teacher that is why I am suffering as I am yet this is no cause for shame because I know who might believe and I'm convinced that he's able to God what I've entrusted to him until that day he's saying to Timothy Timothy stick with me stick with me don't be ashamed about the Lord don't be ashamed about me he'll look after us Timothy he'll guard us Timothy if you do this Timothy you'll become a target but stick with me and as if there's any clearer about what he wanted to say he gives concrete examples at the end of the chapter of what that might look like to not stick with Paul or to stick with him we've got two examples verse 15 what it doesn't look like is verse 15 you know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me including

[19:45] Phileas and Homogeones but what does it look like it looks like verse 17 may the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains he searched hard for me until he found me Timothy don't be like the five viewers and I'm not sure don't desert me be like Onesiphorus Timothy not ashamed but searched found and refreshed me be like Onesiphorus and fan that gift into flame in sport the fans that disappear when their team is losing have a name and they're called we often have this phrase they're called fair weather fans sure they're there when the team is winning but when the sun is shining but what about when the team goes on a bad road when it's doom and gloom who's still left singing for their team don't be fair weather

[20:57] Timothy suffer with me Timothy be loyal to Jesus Timothy be like Onesiphorus Timothy family gifts into flame guard the good deposit I just wonder who might be our modern day Onesiphorus who wasn't ashamed of Jesus who wasn't ashamed of Paul I think there's one in the public eye right at the minute we see what Kate Forbes has had to face this week in the media are we going to stick with her I don't mean her politics we're not going to get into whether we agree with what she thinks politically but when the question comes which it may well do you're a Christian I've been reading about Kate Forbes and what she believes in the newspaper what do you think of that who would be willing to be associated with her beliefs in the public eye sticking with those who are publicly taking it in the neck for Jesus don't be fair weather

[22:18] Timothy suffer with me Timothy be like Onesiphorus Timothy lastly our loyalty to Jesus by proclaiming the good news Paul in the middle of this reminds Timothy of the good news what Jesus has done not just for him but for them notice how he says us from verse 9 he includes them together in this he has saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything we've done but because of his own purpose and grace this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before we have been revealed through the appearing of our saviour Jesus Christ who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel this is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ which is true for Timothy true for Paul and true for anyone who puts their trust in him

[23:20] Paul is reminding Timothy about the gospel that they both believe in this is the faith that was passed and this is the heirloom because the heirloom is more than just a message the heirloom is a person it is Jesus Christ himself and we inherit him and whilst we're at this juncture if yet again if you're here and you're not Christian yet this precious family heirloom is offered to you Jesus Christ is offered to you in the good news when Jesus Christ appeared in history the salvation that was planned before the beginning of time was revealed it was understood for the first time before Jesus came there was hope but it was like looking at your reflection in water in still water you ever tried that you can see partially what you look like but you don't get a true picture of your true reflection in Jesus life his death and his rising from the dead the picture becomes clear it's like looking in the clearest mirror for the first time because in dying and rising to new life the nature of what eternity of life after death looks like becomes clear in Jesus death and rising to new life and his overcoming of death we see immortality this is what

[24:46] Jesus promises and offers to us all the call goes out to all people today and the greatest thing we all fear is death itself but Jesus has defeated it Jesus promises a way out of our greatest fear the thing we all try actually to guard against and he's reminding Timothy verse 11 of this gospel this gospel here that I've just written to you about it's this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher not another gospel this gospel this good news that your slate is wiped clean that whatever you've done in your life that may make you feel like you're not worthy is cleansed that Jesus now puts a banner over your life that says forgiven and accepted and the life you were made for is restored this is the only gospel the only good news that can save you which is why Timothy we must do everything we can to protect and to guard it know the gospel can save there is no other person that can forgive you and promise this to you of this gospel the life changing death defeating peace promising gospel of which

[26:01] Paul is a herald and herald is such an excellent word when I think of herald the classic picture that comes to mind and it's quite relevant just recently Charles was crowned king and there's the role of the English herald he's if you can't remember who the English herald is he's the bloke wearing the royal standard with the scroll who with trumpets announced the reign of the new king as the herald he heralded the start of this new reign and Paul is saying Timothy this gospel this good news I'm herald I'm herald in the reign of the new king the Lord Jesus verse 13 what you have heard from me Timothy keep as the pattern of sound teaching with faith and love in Christ

[27:01] Jesus this is what it looks like to be loyal to Jesus to join with me in suffering and to herald the gospel this is what it looks like to guard the good deposit heralding the reign of the new king heralding the good news and we have this responsibility of guarding the faith of fanning it into flame by heralding it like someone heralded it to us it was passed on and we are responsible of protecting it we must guard the good deposit by passing it on by handing down the heirloom of faith the most precious treasured gift and so as we come in for landing let's remind ourselves that Jesus has called you to a holy calling each one of those who puts their faith in him shares that calling together that there's lots of things that we fear where we don't need to but that there is a healthy fear of loving the gospel and loving

[28:11] Jesus and being concerned for the church to such an extent that we're willing to suffer and willing to be loyal to Jesus and to be loyal to the message that we want to guard it at all costs the reason we can do that is because of verse 7 because the spirit who lives in us is not a spirit of fear but of power of love and self control that Jesus is worth fighting for and he's given us his spirit to fight for him Jesus came to save each one of us you for me to call you to give you this life and he loves you and he wants to bless you and he doesn't want your flame to die but he wants it to burst and to be shining brightly in a community that doesn't know him he wants you to be set ablaze for him keep on finding it gather the deposit that's been entrusted to you let me pray almighty almighty god i do praise you and i give you great thanks for the gospel i thank you that you have indeed called us and saved us and rescued us redeemed us given us hope and peace and wiped our slate clean that we have a banner over us that says we're forgiven and accepted and approved by the one whose opinion is the only one that actually really matters i praise you for this and god i just pray for for each one of us wherever we're at you know our hearts and you know there's times when we go through things and we do feel burnt out and broken and worn down and we do question things i pray that you'd build us up that you'd edify us and i pray that you'd that the same spirit that was passed down to us that same holy spirit that lives in the lord jesus and paul and timothy and our ancestors through the ages that was passed down to us i pray that you'd find it into flame every day that we would burn brightly for you equip us lord jesus we're dependent on you i thank you that you do actually choose to guard the good deposit through us and i pray that you do that keep us loyal to you in the face of suffering keep us loyal to the message keep us pray that we would never even think of changing one iota of it help us to be alert and discerning of where we see that lord jesus and that we be ready and willing to speak the true gospel to one another i pray that you would burn brightly for you into a world that is to many people that have never known the light of jesus christ that's for all this in jesus name amen to thank you so thank you

[31:49] Y