Stir Up the Gift

2 Timothy 1, starting at verse 1, reads: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day. I greatly desire to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that it is in you also.

Wherefore, I put you in remembrance to stir up the gift of God which is in you by the putting on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this cause, I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Hold fast the form of sound words which you have heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto you keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwells in us. This you know, that all they which are in Asia have turned away from me, of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, you know very well.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look into this portion of Scripture tonight, I do ask that you would help us to make application from these words here, this letter that Paul wrote. Lord, that you would speak clearly to us as you spoke clearly to Timothy all those years ago.

Lord, help us to see tonight the heart that You have for us, the heart that You desire to give to us. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated.

As you probably recall, this letter written by Paul, this epistle, was the last letter that Paul wrote. This letter was written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. He had gone to Rome prior to this point and was under house arrest. This was the second time he had been arrested and put in prison. This time, he was no longer in his own house under house arrest; he had found himself in a prison, in a dungeon in Rome. He had been condemned to die by Caesar Nero at this time. It was somewhere around 67 AD when Paul, in that prison, knowing that the day of his death was coming near and that his time here on earth was short, picked up the pen and began to write a letter.

Most of Paul's letters, you might recall, were written to large groups of people, to whole churches, to fellowships that were meeting in different people's houses in various cities. Consider the letters written to the church at Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, or Colossae. However, this book, this letter, was written to a person, as was 1 Timothy, the book of Titus, and Philemon. Only four of Paul's letters were written to specific individuals, and this one is addressed to Paul's dearly beloved son, as he calls him in verse 2.

As Paul begins his letter, he states, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ." Many of Paul's letters, in fact, nine of them, were written in this form. They all began with "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ." By saying this, he declares that he is one who has been commissioned and sent. He is an ambassador of Christ, sent with a message and a purpose. This was Paul's declaration when he began this letter. He emphasizes that he has a message and a purpose, and he has been sent by God to take this message to the rest of the world. That is his purpose.

He states that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. In the book of Galatians, as he wrote to the church there, he said that he was an apostle not of men nor by men, but by Jesus Christ. It was not something that he had made up or commissioned himself to do. He was not self-ordained or self-promoted. He was not one who declared, "This is what I'm going to go out and do."

It wasn't his ambition. We've seen what Paul's ambition did. If you look back in the Book of Acts, before he was Paul the Apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus. Under his own ambition, he went to the high priest and sought letters for himself so that he might go to Damascus, north of Jerusalem, and seek out any who would be of "the Way," to find anybody who was following the way that Christ lived, following the doctrine and the teaching of Jesus.

He didn't want to find them so that he could fellowship with them. He wasn't seeking them out to hang out with them. Rather, he was seeking them out so that he might hang them, that he might get rid of them. He was a self-promoted and ambitious person, Saul of Tarsus. He was sent out by the high priest in Acts chapter 9 to go and find these people. He was there as an ambassador, an apostle of men, sent by the high priest.

Yet, as he was on the road to Damascus, a bright light shone around him, and he fell off his donkey and onto the ground. He heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He responded, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." From that point on, Paul's life changed. He rose up, and the Lord told him to go into Damascus to a certain house. He was led to this place, and for three days, he was without sight.

Then the Lord appeared to a man named Ananias in Damascus and told him to go and speak with Paul, lay hands on him, pray for him, and share with him what things he might suffer for the Lord. After arguing with the Lord a little bit about his call and commission, Ananias went. He laid hands on Saul of Tarsus, this blind persecutor of the church, and scales fell from his eyes.

From that point on, we see that he immediately began to preach the Gospel, preaching Christ in the synagogue. For a time, he went into the wilderness, into the area around Damascus, the desert, for three years to seek the Lord. The Lord began to do a great work in Saul, changing him from a man who was to be desired—his name meant "desired"—to a new man, Paul, which means "little." For the rest of his life, he would take this message of the one who appeared to him on that road.

He would take the good news, the Gospel, of that one who shone about him with that bright light, who blinded his ambitions on that day and opened his eyes to a new call, a new life. Paul had lived that life to the fullest. He had fought the good fight. He was a bold witness and proclaimer of the Gospel. So much so, you've heard it many times before, that wherever Paul went, there was either a revival or a whole bunch of people stood up to try and kill him. He was outspoken for the Lord. He was beaten many times for his testimony. He was stoned with rocks in Lystra for his testimony.

It was in the city of Lystra that Timothy was found. He began to follow Paul on his second missionary journey. Paul started to teach this young man and train him up. As Paul ministered and traveled through these areas of Asia Minor, Greece, and on into Rome, he left Timothy in a city called Ephesus to pastor or minister at the church that was planted there by Paul while he was there for a couple of years.

This young man, Timothy, was like many of us, tempted to be afraid in the midst of what other people think. Many of us have that very same problem. We're often concerned and worried about what others have to say. Paul was not like that. He said whatever came to his mind, whatever the Lord spoke to him. In fact, in Galatians, we're told that he withstood Peter, the Apostle Peter, to his face. Peter was to be blamed for, among certain people, eating only with the Jews, and then when the Jews weren't there, eating with the Greeks, with the Gentiles. Paul said, "This is wrong what you're doing." He had no problem calling a spade a spade. He had no problem calling sin, sin. Because of this, he sometimes found himself in sticky situations.

Timothy, on the other hand, like many of us, would probably be labeled politically correct. He didn't want to say those things that might offend. He was a little bit fearful and reserved in his speech. Paul, knowing this, sought to encourage him.

Paul wrote to Timothy in the first letter, encouraging him not to neglect the gift that was given to him. He urged Timothy not to hide it or put that light underneath a bushel, but to shine brightly. Paul instructed him to be an example, as stated in 1 Timothy chapter 4. He said, "Let no one despise your youth, Timothy, but be thou an example to the believer in word, deed, conduct, and purity." Several things are mentioned in chapter 4, verse 12 of 1 Timothy.

Paul was training and encouraging this young man to be a bold witness. He wanted Timothy to realize that he too was sent with a message and a purpose. It wasn't by the will of Paul, Titus, Luke, or any other person; it was by the will of God that Timothy was called and set on this path to preach and teach. The same is true in our lives as well. God has called every single one of us to be His special people, His peculiar people. We have been set apart to be priests to this world and to the nation in which we live. This calling is not by the will of Pastor Pat, Josh, Richard, or any of the other pastors here on staff, but by the will of God.

According to verse 1, it is in accordance with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. What is the message we have been given and the purpose we hold? It is to declare this life that has been promised to us. This life that God has extended to us is the reason behind our purpose. Our message is the life that Christ extends to us, a life that is only found in Him.

Jesus spoke of this life, as did John. In John 10, verse 10, Jesus said that the thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but He has come to give us life and that more abundantly. Again, in John 14, verse 6, Jesus spoke with His disciples, saying, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me." He tells us that He has come to give us a life that is more abundant, and that life is only found in Him. You will find it nowhere else. This is the abundant life, the life of Christ, the kingdom life. The Apostle John, in his first epistle,

In chapter 2, he says in verse 25, "And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life." God has promised you and me eternal life in Christ Jesus. That is the gift, that is the promise that He has extended to us. As we have received that gift, we now have a message to bring to the rest of the world, and that is our purpose: to bring that message and to declare that gospel, that good news.

That was the life that Paul lived. He lived the abundant life and went about declaring that abundant life, not just in his words but also in his actions. For example, as I mentioned this last weekend, there are those who can be excellent in word. They can say many great things, but their lives don't back it up. Moses was a man, as Stephen declared just before his death in Acts chapter 7, who was excellent in word and in deed. His deeds backed up his words. Jesus was the same way, and the Apostle Paul lived like that as well.

This was the sole purpose for why he withstood Peter to his face in the first place. There was a discrepancy in Peter's life; he spoke one way but lived another way. Paul wouldn't have that, so he stood up to Peter and said, "It's not to be so." Our lives are to be excellent in word and in deed.

Now, obviously, that is a work that only we can do by the power and the Spirit of God. In Philippians chapter 2, as Paul was writing to the church at Philippi, he says, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." God is the one who works it into us so that we can first even speak these things, and then back those things up with our lives. Paul would say in Philippians chapter 4, "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Truly, the life of Christ is a life that can only be lived by Christ, and it's a life that only we can live as He lives it out through us.

So Paul says to this young man, "Listen, I'm an apostle. I'm a minister. I'm one who's been given this message with a purpose to go out into the world."

To declare this life that God has given to me, it's His will, not mine, that I'm doing this. Timothy, you have been given that as well. Well, in church here, 2,000 years later, the same purpose and the same message remain unchanged. It has been extended to you and to me as well.

Paul continues his letter in verse 2, addressing Timothy as "my dearly beloved son." As Paul sat there in that prison, he considered whether there were any last words he wanted to share with anyone. Were there any final thoughts he needed to express to the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus, or perhaps the church at Philippi? Maybe Colossae had something going on that he needed to address. As he sat there and contemplated, one name came to mind: Timothy, my dearly beloved son.

Timothy was not Paul's physical son, but spiritually, it seems that while Paul was preaching the Gospel in Lystra, Timothy came to faith under Paul's ministry. He was truly a disciple of Paul, one who followed him closely. As Pastor Pat went through the book of 1 Timothy, he noted that Timothy was a disciple of Christ under Paul. He was like a son to Paul, and Paul loved this young man. He says, "You are my dearly beloved son."

In verse 2, Paul extends a blessing to Timothy: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Most of Paul's letters began with this same sort of salutation: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." He would often extend grace and peace to whoever he was writing. However, to only two people did he address his letters with grace, mercy, and peace. The first was to Timothy, and the second was to Titus.

In these two epistles—first and second Timothy, and also the letter to Titus—known as the pastoral epistles, he wrote to these young pastors, "Grace, mercy, and peace." He added mercy specifically for them. May the Lord extend to you mercy.

I think it is important that every pastor have that within his heart. Jesus would say in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The implication here, as Paul says, "Grace and mercy to you," is that Timothy, you would receive mercy; you too should be merciful. You too should be one who extends mercy to others.

In the book of Micah, chapter 6, verse 8, the Lord says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord doth require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." In Exodus chapter 34, many of you have read this passage even in recent days as you're going through your Bible reading for the year. In Exodus 34, when the Lord passes by Moses and declares His name, revealing to Moses the glory of the Lord, He says, "The Lord, the Lord God."

How does He define His name? What is the very first thing He says? Merciful. It is the very heart of our God. It is the very nature of our God that He is merciful. I am blessed by the fact that when God passed by Moses, He didn't say, "The Lord, the Lord God, vengeful," although He is. He didn't say, "The Lord, the Lord God, full of justice," although that would be true. Instead, the very first thing that He announces about His nature is, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful."

He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord doth require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy. Paul would say to Timothy, "Grace, mercy, and peace." It is important, I believe, for every pastor and everyone who would minister in the name of the Lord to have the same Christ-likeness in this area, that their nature would also be one of mercy, filled with this attribute of mercy.

Sadly, as you look at church history and over the years at those who have become great preachers, mercy sometimes is not listed among the definitions of their name or their life. This is a sad thing, I believe, also to the heart of God. It grieves my heart, and I believe the Lord would desire...

That we would seek after mercy. That we would be those who would be filled with mercy. Be merciful to others and thus obtain mercy—mercy from the Lord.

At the very onset of his letter, Paul says, "Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace to you." And where do these things come from? He says they come from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. You've heard it said many times, if you've gone to Calvary Chapel here for any length of time, that you always see these things together: grace and peace or grace, mercy, and peace. Grace always comes before the others because before we can receive grace, we need to receive the peace of God and peace with God. We need to receive and take His grace.

These three things only come from God. Genuine grace, genuine mercy, and genuine peace only come from Him. The world is seeking after these things, especially peace. There are many in our world today who will cry, "Peace, peace," but what did Jesus say in those last days? There will be no peace. Our Father in Heaven is the only One who can truly give us grace, mercy, and peace. To seek it from any other source would be vanity and foolishness. To go and try to find it anywhere else would be despicable because it is only found in the Lord. It is only given from His hand.

I believe that it's important for us, when we pray for our brothers and sisters in the Lord, to pray the very same thing that Paul prays here: a blessing of grace, mercy, and peace upon their lives. Paul says to Timothy, "My dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience. Without ceasing, I have remembrance of you in my prayers. Underline in your Bibles there, "pure conscience." I think it's a wonderful blessing to be able to serve the Lord with that pure conscience, without a condemning heart. And yet, as I consider it,

Paul was formerly a persecutor of the church. He consented to the death of Stephen as they stoned him, as recorded in Acts 7. He sought letters from the chief priests in Acts 9 to go to Damascus and eliminate Christians. He confessed in Philippians 3 that he was a persecutor of the church. In his heart, Paul was a murderer.

Yet now he says to Timothy, "I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience." He was able to lay all those things aside and serve the Lord without being condemned by his past actions. There are many, and I have met quite a few over the years that I've been serving the Lord, who have a hard time accepting Him. They struggle to serve the Lord because they say, "I can't do that. You don't understand what I've done. You don't understand the things that I have in my past. The Lord doesn't want me to serve Him. I'm too wicked."

They express their love for going to church, for sitting and hearing about the Lord, and for worshiping Him, but they feel unworthy to serve because of their past. They say, "I was this" or "I was that." They list their sins: "I was a liar. I was a reviler. I was an extortioner. I was an adulterer. I was a fornicator." It encompasses all these different things.

However, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have all turned away from God. As we read in Isaiah 53, "All like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each to our own way." But the verse continues to say that all of that was laid upon Christ.

The Scriptures tell us in 2 Corinthians 5 that Paul would say, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All the old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." We have been made new creations in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul would say to the church at Corinth, "And such were some of you. But you have been washed and cleaned by the Lord. You have been sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit."

See, Paul knew these things well. God had taken this man.

Who was a wicked man and had transformed him? He didn't just change his name from Saul of Tarsus to Paul the Apostle; God changed his heart. He gave him a new heart, a new life set before him. Paul could see that he was a new creation in Christ. In past times, he was a wicked man, but the Lord had cleansed him from dead works. He could say there in Romans 8, verse 1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." He knew very well that the Lord had cleaned him, transformed him, and made him new.

However, there are still those who tonight desire to serve the Lord, yet their hearts condemn them. The Apostle John tells us in 1 John that if your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart, and He knows all things. God desires that we would be loosed from those things, those dead works. In Hebrews 9, verse 13, we read, "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of heifers sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, will purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

God desires that His blood, shed for the remission of our sins, would not only touch our sin but also our conscience, which is oftentimes filled with those dead works, so that we might serve Him with a pure conscience as Paul did. There are many in the church who are filled with guilt over their past sins and have a hard time moving forward to serve the Lord. Paul was no different from us, except there was something different about Paul's life that allowed him to step out from that place, to be purged in his conscience of these dead works, and to serve the living God.

The first thing was that he grasped the grace of God. We too need to grab hold of the grace of God.

As we begin to understand what it is that Christ did for us, we look at His Word, particularly Romans 5. It tells us that while we were yet dead in trespasses and sins, Christ died for us. While we were His enemies, having turned our hearts and backs from Him, walking contrary to His direction, that is when He reached out to save us. When we were in the midst of those dead works, in Egypt and bondage, that is when the Lord came with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm to redeem us.

We need to realize that it is by grace that we have been saved, not of works. If it were about works, then we would all be condemned, because we could never do the works that the Lord desires and sets before us. By grace we have been saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. God has saved us by His grace, and we need to search the Scriptures so that we might grasp His grace a little bit more, see how loving He is, and understand how much He has done for us to save us.

Secondly, after Paul grasped the grace of God, he was washed by the water of the Word. It is the Word of God that can wash away the conscience of dead works that we so often cling to. As we read His Word and spend time with Him, He begins to wash us, cleanse us, and renew us. We can then say with Paul, "I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience." Truly, we will begin to thank the Lord as well for removing from our consciousness the dead works we once lived in. We once walked in the course of this world, but no longer. The Lord has saved us and transformed us.

It says in Psalm 103, many of you have heard the verse before. Psalm 103, verse 12 states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has the Lord removed our sins from us." God has removed our sin from us.

As far as the east is from the west, and yet so many times we hang on to it. We hold on to it. In Isaiah chapter 43, verse 25, the Lord said, "I, even I, am the Lord who blots out the transgressions for mine own sake, and I will remember your sins no more." The Lord has chosen to forget our sins. He has removed them from us as far as the east is from the west, and yet we still go oftentimes and dig up the old dead man. We uncover the grave and sit there, looking over the grave of our old dead sin, weeping over our old wickedness. And yet the Lord has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. He has chosen to forget it.

He speaks to us through Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 33: "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more."

Paul had a pure conscience and could serve the Lord with that pure conscience because he knew that God had removed his sin from him and had cleansed him. Although in times past he was a wicked man, a persecutor of the church, a murderer in his heart, covetous, and all these different things, he knew that was who he was. But his old man had been crucified with Christ, and he no longer lived that old man. The life that Paul now lived, he lived by faith in the Son of Man who died for him and gave His life for him.

So, Paul could walk in that pure conscience and serve the Lord. I believe the Lord desires that we too would have that pure conscience. If I wanted to, I could sit down tonight and make a long list of past sins, things that I've done, but those are things that God has forgiven. He nailed those to the cross and desires that I would leave them there and not unearth them again.

Notice what Paul says: "I thank God whom I serve for my forefathers with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of Thee in my prayers night and day."

One of the biggest things that is hindered when we are focused on our past sin is our prayer life. When we constantly look back at our past sins, we find ourselves confessing over and over again those things we have confessed a million times before. Every time we go into prayer, we sit down and say, "Oh Lord, would You forgive me for this? I'm such a wicked person." I believe sometimes the Lord says, "I've forgiven you. I've removed that as far as the east is from the west. I'm choosing to remember that no longer." Yet, we are so focused on it that our prayer life is hindered.

Paul says, "I serve the Lord with a pure conscience." Those things are not filled in his mind any longer. Therefore, without ceasing, he remembers Timothy in his prayers. Paul was a man of prayer, and one of the key aspects of his life being filled with unceasing prayer was that he knew he was forgiven. He could come before the Lord without that always before him, allowing him to pray without ceasing. This was his exhortation to the church at Thessalonica and to many others: that they too would pray without ceasing.

But it wasn't just in word; it was also in deed. Paul lived that life. He said to Timothy, "Without ceasing, I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also." He expressed that he prayed for Timothy every single night and day, greatly desiring to see him.

Paul was mindful of Timothy's tears. When Paul left Timothy in Ephesus, Timothy was brokenhearted. He wanted to be with Paul, his father in the faith, but Paul said, "No, you stay here." Paul reassured Timothy, saying, "I'm mindful of you. I'm mindful of those tears." Yet, he also expressed joy when he remembered the unfeigned faith that Timothy possessed—the genuine and sincere faith that he held onto. It brought Paul joy.

John would say in his third epistle, "I thank God upon..." Actually, I'm sorry. He says in 3 John 4 that he has no greater joy but to see that his children walk in truth. It brought John great joy to see that people he had led to the Lord were walking in truth, that they were founded upon the rock.

Again, it brings Paul great joy here. He says, "I'm filled with joy when I call to remembrance your faith, your genuine faith, that you're walking true, that you're walking strong today." It brings me great joy when I see those who are now walking strong, now in the high school group, who were in the junior high group when I was the junior high pastor, still walking with the Lord. It is an awesome blessing to see many of them leading worship, going with Josh to street witness, seeking the Lord, and having incredible times of prayer. When you watch junior highers at a junior high camp pray out loud, you think, "Gosh, Lord, do I even know you in comparison to this little one?"

But it brings Pat no greater joy than to see that those who have been sitting under his teaching and have been disciples of the Lord for a period of time are still walking strong with the Lord. Paul says, "I'm filled with joy when I have remembrance of this." He remembers their genuine faith that first came in their grandmother Lois and then in their mother Eunice. He is persuaded that this faith is in them also. He is confident that this faith is in them as well.

You know, the best inheritance that you can give to your children, those of you who have children, is a godly heritage. It is to live your life for the Lord. I thank God every day that throughout all the time I can remember growing up, my parents made me go to church. It was until I was a teenager that I decided I wanted to go to church. But when I was younger, they sought the Lord. To see my mom, who has constantly been...

Throughout the years, I have been a prayer warrior and one who daily, every single day, gets up in the morning and spends time with the Lord. My dad gets up at 3 in the morning, and I don't often wake up that early—actually, never. However, I remember one morning when I did get up. I walked out into the living room, and there was my dad sitting there with his Bible. This has happened several times; I walk out and see him there reading the Word. He has told me many times, "I love to read the Gospels. I love to read the words in red to hear what Jesus said."

What an awesome thing it is to have parents and grandparents who love the Lord! My grandmother and my mother are strong believers who have loved the Lord and have been witnesses of that for many years. Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice were examples of believers who followed after the Lord. They had genuine and unfeigned faith, and that faith had gotten into their son's heart as well.

What a powerful witness it is to your children when they see you living out your life with the Lord. What a great inheritance that is to extend to them! Money? Well, the government will get half, and your kids will get more, and they'll spend it on foolish things, maybe. Solomon in Ecclesiastes says, "What good is it if I gain all this stuff and out my life, and then I die and a fool takes it?" Money will come and go, and sure, that's a nice thing to give to your children, but greater than that is a life and witness for the Lord.

In verse 6, it says, "I put thee in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." He says you have faith; you have a genuine and unfeigned faith. You also have this gift that was given to you by God—a spiritual gift that God put upon your life as I prayed for you, Timothy. But you need to stir up that gift which is within you. Stir it up. The word "stir up" here has in its meaning the idea of tending to a fire.

The coals were dying down, and you would go in and begin to stir them up and blow upon them. Our heater doesn't work at my house, so we need to get the gas line fixed. However, we have one of those wood-burning stoves, which is the most wonderful thing about this time of year. As the night goes on and when you get those coals just right, it becomes incredibly hot. Sometimes we have to open the door to let some cool air in because it just gets too hot.

As the coals begin to die down and go a little dim, the house cools down, and the fire starts to go out. But if you go into the living room, open the door of that wood-burning stove, and blow on it—just blow on those coals a little bit and stir them around for a second—they burn brighter and catch fire once again.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul said to Timothy, "Do not neglect the gift that was given to you." If we neglect the gift that God has given to us, like that fire, it will begin to go dim. If we don't use it, it won't increase and burn bright. Paul told him in his first letter, "Do not neglect it. Don't hide it. Don't put it away. But burn brightly for the Lord." It would seem by implication at this point that Timothy didn't heed that word. So Paul writes to him again and says this time, "Stir it up." It's kind of gone dim, Timothy. Stir it up. Stir up that gift that was given to you. Don't let it go dim.

How does it go dim? If you turn in your Bibles to Matthew 25, Jesus, nearing the end of His life and ministry, speaks to His disciples. In Matthew 25, He tells them a parable about three servants who were given talents, or gifts. To one was given five, to another two, and to another one. The master of these servants went away for a period of time. When he returned, the one who had five came and said, "I deposited this with the bankers, and I've traded and sold, and now I've gained five more." The Lord says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the rest." Then the one who had two comes and says...

I too sold and traded, and look, I now have two more. The Lord says to them, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." But then in Matthew 25, we read, "Then he which had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid.' Underline that there: 'And I was afraid.' I went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, thou hast what is thine."

So he gives him back that one talent. The Lord answered and said unto him, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money with the exchangers, and then at my coming, I should have received mine own with interest."

This one who was given one talent says, "I knew that you were this way, and so I was afraid, and I hid your talent. I buried it." What is it that causes us to not use the gifts that God has given to us? Primarily, I believe that it is fear. I believe that it was fear in Timothy's life as well, because the very next verse says in 2 Timothy 1, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear."

He says, "Timothy, stir up the gift that God has given to you, because God has not given to us a spirit of fear." Don't be as the wicked and slothful servant who was afraid of the master and went and hid the talent. Rather, take it out and use it. Take that gift and stir it up that it might be increased.

The only way for those giftings that you and I have to be exercised and increased is to be exercised, to be used. My friend Eric plays drums here, and several months ago, he was telling me that since he started playing drums, the Lord has gifted him in playing drums. He said that since he started playing during worship here on Saturday nights, he has just gotten better and better every week.

It's not like he practices every day. He said, "I don't know what it is. I've gotten better and better at it." I told him, "Well, you're using the gift that God has given to you, and He's multiplying it." That's the way that the Lord works. We should use the gifts that He has given us. However, many times we're afraid to do so for various reasons.

We're fearful to speak up with the gift of exhortation that the Lord has given us because we worry that others might be angry if we say something. Perhaps it's a prophetic gift that the Lord has bestowed upon you. As you go along, the Lord may speak to your heart about something you're supposed to say to someone, and you might think, "No, that's kind of offensive. I'm just going to bury it a little bit longer." You may feel afraid to say it because of what others might think, say, or do.

Timothy was in that place as well. Paul encourages him to stir up the gift that is within him. God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power. He has given you power. The word "power" in Greek is "dunamis." It's the same word found in Acts 1:8, where Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."

So, Paul reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power. That dunamis power comes from the Spirit of God. He has also given you love. Romans 5:5 tells us that the love of God is poured out upon our hearts by the Spirit of God. Therefore, not only does the power come from God through His Spirit, but the love of God also flows through His Spirit.

Additionally, Paul states that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of a sound mind. This sound mind can also be translated as self-control. We know from Galatians 5 that one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. Nowhere in Scripture will you find that God has given you a spirit of fear, timidity, or cowardice. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

God would tell Jeremiah to not be afraid of their faces, for you are to speak whatever I tell you. The words that I tell you to speak, the words that I put in your mouth, you are to speak unto them. Don't be fearful about what they say or how they look when you say it.

Many times, we hide the gift that God has given to us because we're afraid of what others might think or even how they might look at us. Timothy was in that place, and so Paul says, do not shy away or draw back. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, we are told that if anyone draws back, my soul will have no pleasure in them. The Lord desires that we would be those who go forward. Stir up that gift and don't hide it, because He has not given us a spirit of fear, but He has given us His Spirit with power, love, and a sound mind.

Be not thou therefore ashamed. Don't be afraid, Timothy. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Do not be afraid of the message that God has given to you, Timothy, or to the church today here in 2004. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel. For as Paul would say in the book of Romans, chapter 1, I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

The message that we have been given is the very power of God—the same power that worked in Christ to raise Him from the dead. That dynamic and dunamis power flows in the message of the Gospel. So he says, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner. But be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God.

Be a partaker of those afflictions that come with preaching the Gospel. In 2 Timothy, chapter 4, Paul would say that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Jesus told us many times in the Gospels that in the world you will have much tribulation. In the world, you will have trial. In the world, you will have trouble.

That's not exactly something that you hear from many TV evangelists today. I have to be careful because I'm being recorded right now. Many TV evangelists today would say, "Come to the Lord, and you're going to have joy, peace, all these great things." Now, those are byproducts of walking with the Lord. He will give you joy, peace, and love.

However, He also promised us that in the world, you will have much tribulation. That's not exactly a promise of God that we wake up in the morning and claim. You wake up in the morning after you've taken that first breath of morning air, and you get out of bed. You say, "Oh, Lord, thank You for that promise that You've given to me, that any who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." Lord, help me to just suffer persecution today. I don't think we normally pray that, but that is a promise that the Lord has given to us.

I think the reason that He promised that to us and revealed it is so that we wouldn't be so shocked when it happens. We would say, "Well, the Lord said this would happen." But that is inherent in preaching the Gospel. It's part of those who would follow the Lord and preach His Word, speak His Word, and live His Word. Those who would be doers of the Word, those people who desire to live godly, will suffer persecution.

So Paul says to Timothy, "Listen, God's not giving you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." You need to understand that you're called to this, and you're going to suffer. It's foolish to be fearful about that. Instead, he's saying to count on it. It will happen; you will suffer.

There are those in this room tonight who are suffering through certain things because of your witness for the Lord. Now, you may not be in a prison cell like Paul. You may not have the threat of your life being taken from you as Timothy did. But maybe there are those who suffer the loss of a promotion at work because they won't do the things that others will do to get it—ungodly things. There are all sorts of things that we might miss out on or lose because we take a stand for Christ.

Are we ashamed of that? Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but rather be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel. As I mentioned last week, this is the place where we truly get to know the Lord as we partake with Him in the afflictions of the Gospel. Paul would say that I might know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed unto His death, as stated in Philippians 3, verse 10. That I might know Him—truly get to know Him. The only way to truly get to know Him is through suffering alongside Him.

With the One who, in verse 9, has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. We are told that God has saved us, called us, and given us a purpose. He has given us His grace, and all these things were done before the world began. This work of the Gospel was finished before God ever spoke, "Let there be light." Before the foundations of the world, He accomplished the work—finished from the foundation, finished from the start.

Notice verse 10: it is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is as if that whole work, the work that Christ set out to do, was done before the foundation of the world and placed in a dark room. He is the light that came and shone upon it. Done. He is the one who manifests it. He is the one who shows it. He is the one who declares that it is finished. His very words when He died there on the cross were to tell us that it is finished. It's done. It has been done since the foundation of the world, with your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life since then.

But now it has been made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, the One who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. He abolished death.

He has brought life and immortality. These things were finished before the foundation of the world. He just brought them to light through the Gospel, making it so that we could see and lay hold of them. In past times, we walked in darkness, but now He has shed light upon those things through His Gospel.

Paul says, "I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." This is the purpose for which he has been called. The message is laid out in verses 9 and 10: God has saved us and called us. He has given us a purpose and grace. He has abolished death, brought us life, and given us immortality. That is the message that Paul lived his life to declare.

We too need to do the very same thing. We should be those who preach and teach these words. However, I think it is even more important than just preaching and teaching, because anyone can do that. Many people can stand up and give good teachings on these topics. We must also be apostles—those who go forth as ambassadors, taking these words elsewhere. This should not just be through our words but through our lives.

Paul lived a life that carried this message everywhere he went. People could see the message in his life, not just hear it in his words. He could say to others, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." There was something different about his life, not just his words. His life declared something more, something greater than what others in his time lived.

He was an apostle, one sent with a message and a purpose. He was a preacher and a teacher, but people could see in his life that he was a changed man. For this reason, he also suffered these things. This is the reason that he was in prison, Timothy. This is the reason that he had been beaten with rods and whipped with whips.

Stoned with rocks, shipwrecked—I've gone through all these different things for this cause: the cause of the gospel of Christ. I've suffered so much. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.

We went into great depth on that this last Sunday, but underline, if you haven't already, "whom." In verse 12, I know whom I have believed. That was the whole reason he could say, "I'm not ashamed," because I know whom I believe. Not what and not why. You can be a great teacher by just knowing what and why. But to go forth with the message with a purpose, as an apostle, you need to know whom. To live this life so others see it, you've got to know Him.

He continues in verse 13: "Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Timothy, hold on to these things—this form. Not just the words, but the form. Form could be translated as pattern. Hold fast to the pattern, the way I've lived. Not just my words, but the form of sound words. Hold fast to this. Never let it go. Hang on tight to the form of sound words which you've heard of me.

That good thing which was committed unto you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us. He said to keep this good word, these good things that have been committed into your care. Hold on to them. Don't let them go. By the Holy Ghost. You see, apart from the work of God in us, as I've already mentioned, we can't live this life. Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord, as He spoke there to Zerubbabel in Zechariah chapter 4.

He says this life that I desire you to live cannot be lived apart from the power that God gives. And so He says to keep those things that were committed into your care by the Holy Spirit. This thou knowest in verse 15: that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. Of whom? Of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes? He says, Timothy, I want you to hold on to these things.

Keep these things. However, there are those in Asia who have not. Many in Asia, including Phygelus and Hermogenes, have turned away from these things. You have seen the form; you have seen the pattern that I live by. Now you have seen what these individuals have done. Take note of what they have done and how I have lived. Do not live their way.

How would you like to have your name written in the Scriptures as one who turned away from the pattern that the Lord had set up to walk in? Some people get upset when they hear Pat, myself, or one of the other pastors here name names of people who are preaching false doctrine or leading others astray. However, I think it is important that those things be brought to light. We must be willing to stand up and say that what that person is saying or doing is wrong. That's exactly what Paul did here. He said to Timothy that many in Asia have been turned away. Many of them in Asia are not following after this form, this pattern, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

Obviously, these were two individuals who seemed to be speaking false doctrine and leading others away from the form that Paul had set up. It is a dangerous thing to lead others astray. Jesus would say it would be more profitable for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and to be cast into the depths of the sea than to lead one of these little ones astray. Thus, it is an important responsibility for those who have been called as preachers, teachers, and apostles to stand and declare, shedding light upon those who are in error. Paul was doing that at this point.

He goes on to say in verse 16, "The Lord give mercy unto Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord on that day." In how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, we can only imagine.

Thou knowest very well. At the finish of chapter 1, Paul says, "But the Lord grant mercy unto Onsiphorus. Watch out for Phygelus and Hermogenes. But the Lord give mercy unto this one, for he was merciful unto me. He wasn't ashamed of my chain. He refreshed me. He came and found me when I was there in Rome in prison. He sought me out very diligently that he might come and find me."

It is thought by some teachers that Onsiphorus was dead at this point in time. That's why Paul says, "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onsiphorus." He speaks much in the past tense, leading many to believe that Onsiphorus was dead. Some believe he was executed while trying to seek out and help Paul. We don't know that for sure, because in verse 18, he prays, "The Lord grant mercy unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." But there is a possibility.

Be that as it may, this man Onsiphorus sought out Paul to refresh him while Paul was in prison. I think of what Jesus said to His disciples when He told them that if any of you give a glass of water to the one who is thirsty, or if you feed the one who is hungry, or clothe the one who needs clothing, or visit those who were in prison, they would ask, "Lord, when did we give you a drink of water? When did we feed you? When did we clothe you? When did we visit you when you were in prison?" He replies, "As often as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me."

I believe Onsiphorus will be one of those whom the Lord will commend in that day, saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." If Paul had never written anything about him, we would never hear of this man. But the Lord knew, and the Lord would reward him openly. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Onsiphorus was one who was merciful to Paul, and Paul says, "The Lord grant mercy unto him."

In verse 15, we are told to watch out for those who are not walking in the way of the Lord. However, in the last verses, 16-18, we are also instructed to watch out for those who are serving diligently and to remember them, following in their pattern.

And so Paul, as he is there in this prison, nearing the day of his execution, writes to his son in the faith to encourage him to stand. He exhorts him to be bold and commends him for his faith. He also warns him to watch out, keep an open eye, and walk circumspectly, for the Lord knows and watches. This is a beautiful letter.

I think that just in the very same way, when Jesus ascended into heaven, His last words were very important to His disciples as He said to them, "Wait in Jerusalem for the power on high." These are the last words of Paul recorded in this last letter, and they contain very important messages. As we go through them over the next few weeks, I encourage you to take careful note of what the Lord would say to His church in this day.

As we continue, we see the prophetic appeal to the church in chapter 3, where he tells us to know also that in the last days, perilous times will come. We are living in those last days, and so these things are very important to us. I believe the Lord would say tonight, "Remember the gift that God has given to you and stir it up." He has saved us, called us, and given us a purpose. He has given us His grace, and therefore, we should speak boldly the truth.

Let's pray. God, would You do this work in us that we cannot accomplish on our own? Truly, it is You who works in us to will and to do for Your good pleasure. Father, I ask that You would work this into my life and into the lives of my brothers and sisters here. Lord, we are weak in and of ourselves, but in our weakness, You are strong. Your strength is made perfect when we are weak. Lord, I thank You for that. Father, help us to do all things by You and to follow hard after You, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.