Courage Under Fire | 2 Timothy 1:6-18 | Pastor Bob Erbig

Well, good morning, NBC.

Uh, that video is a snapshot of what you will experience if you choose to become a Colson Fellow in training this coming year.

Our next class begins April um not April August the first, and we are can uh currently accepting applications uh for the program.

And as you saw in the testimonies there, I think if you choose to take this bold step, it will be nothing short of transformational.

Now we have an information session next Sunday, March the 29th, in between the two services at 1015 in YFMB 201.

Uh, we'd love to talk with you more about that.

Now you might be asking the question, why become a Coulson fellow?

Is it really worth my time and money?

And I want to argue today, yes.

Uh, and I want to start here because your training in the Colson program, should you choose to accept, will give you courage in our current culture.

Uh, one of their mottos is this faith is always personal but never private.

Faith is always personal but never private.

And it's too many Christians in today's world that want to keep their faith private because we fear pushback from friends or coworkers or even family.

And so we stay silent.

We keep certain topics off limits.

We don't want to offend.

Why is that?

Well, the one woman in the video stated the answer I hear most often, and that's this I didn't feel equipped.

I didn't feel equipped.

Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you didn't feel equipped?

Oh, you might say, well, yeah, I know a lot of Bible verses.

I can quote John 3.16, uh, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, Romans 12, 1 and 2.

I know those like the back of my hand, but I don't know how to apply those to the complex topics of our day.

And that is what the Colson Fellows program will equip you to do.

And so, as you heard, if you have a hunger for this deeper formation, I can guarantee you it will be a five-course meal.

And at the end of the day, you will be full and ready to live as a 21st century Christian witness.

You'll develop clarity for the mind, confidence for your soul, and courage for faithful living.

Now, providentially, that is the topic that Paul addresses in 2 Timothy 1, 6 through 18.

That's where we'll be this morning.

2 Timothy 1, 6-18.

Uh, join me in your Bibles there.

Paul shows Timothy in this passage how to develop courage under fire.

Courage under fire.

Now, you might be thinking, well, Pastor Bob, that all sounds good, this Colson stuff.

I like the equipping part.

I want the clarity, I want the confidence, uh, but I don't know about this courage thing.

I don't know if I can handle the pushback.

And no, it will not be easy, but when you step into that uncomfortable place, that's when I think God opens doors.

So let's talk about some pushback stories in today's world.

Do you remember the news story about Dodgers pitcher Blake Trainin from 2023?

That due to his devout Christian faith, he publicly criticized the team for inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a satirical LGBTQ charity group, to perform at uh Pride Night at Dodgers Stadium.

And he specifically stated his issue was the blasphemous use of Christian imagery.

Now that took courage to make a public statement, and he was mocked online for his stance.

Our northern neighbors in Canada are not an exception to pushback.

In the province of Alberta, education minister Demetrios Nicolains faced severe public backlash this past December for merely mentioning Jesus during his Christmas message.

Critics on social media called for his termination due to the far-right messaging.

Just for mentioning Jesus at Christmas.

Now, if you're a faithful Christian in Nigeria, not a day goes by when your life is not on the line.

In 2025, an average of 32 Christians were killed per day across the country due to violence from the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, and others.

Perhaps you saw the viral videos of Nigerian pastors calling attention to this genocide.

Now that is pushback.

Now, friends, I don't know what your story is, but I'm willing to bet you've received some pushback on your Christian faith in this life.

And it's in those moments that it's tempting to keep your faith private.

It's natural to say, I'm not equipped, I'm not ready.

Yet while our faith is always personal, always, always personal, it should never be private.

When we live faithfully, pushbacks are inevitable.

And so the question we should ask, and the one I think Paul answers today, is this how do we respond when our faith costs us?

If we are to be a faithful church for the next 175 years, we need courage amidst the pushback.

Now, how do we get this courage?

Well, Paul gives us three action steps in 2 Timothy 1, and I'll voice them this way.

First, you need to fan the flame.

Second, you need to shun the shame, and then finally, you break the chain.

Let's look at each of those in turn and let's pray before we get there.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for each person who's here today.

Thank you for those that are in person, those that are with us online, those that are watching or listening later on to this message.

I pray that you would convict us, Lord.

I pray that you would exhort us.

I pray that you would give us confidence that we never thought we could have because of the work that you have done on the cross, Lord Jesus, for the fact that you are sovereign over all things.

Help us to rest, to hold on to that.

To you, Lord Jesus, the object of our faith, who are ever who is our ever secure.

Would you be with us as we look at your word today and open our eyes in Jesus' name?

Amen.

Amen.

So first, you gotta you gotta fan the flame.

Now, if you received the bookmark last week, you can take that out, or if you got a connection card in the front row that Pastor Dave was talking about, take those out and give yourself a little fan right now.

You gotta fan the flame.

Fan the flame.

Now imagine if your hair was on fire and you were fanning the flame and you were keeping to do that, what would happen?

Or imagine that your wife decides to turn her blow dryer on you when your hair is on fire.

What would happen?

Hopefully this has never happened to you.

The fire would spread.

Keep that image in your mind as we read the text.

Look at verse six.

Paul writes, For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Now, before I break this down, if you missed week one, let me remind you of the context.

Paul is writing this letter to Timothy, his protege, his spiritual son in the faith, while in a Roman prison awaiting execution.

The persecution under Emperor Nero is growing.

Paul knows his days are numbered, and he opens this letter by exhorting Timothy to remember the faith that was passed down to him.

Now we don't know Timothy's exact location or mindset when he reads this letter, but I'm sure he is feeling some of the cultural pushback from the empire.

Christians have targets on their backs.

And it's in this moment that Paul says, for this reason, fan into flame the gift of God.

In other words, because Timothy has a sincere personal faith in Jesus Christ, passed down from his mother and grandmother.

We learned about that last week.

It can't simply be private, it must be shared.

The flame of the Spirit must spread.

Now, this command, fan into flame, the gift, has a dual meaning.

First, it describes a fire burning at its brightest intensity.

But second, it also conveys the image of a rekindling of fire that is fading.

Both are vivid images highlighting the intensity of Paul's command.

The Greek word is in the present tense, meaning it's a progressive action.

You don't just fan once, you have to keep fanning that flame.

Now, to help you visualize this, let me give you another illustration.

We have a shared interest group here at MBC.

Go check out our shared interest page if you want to know more about those groups.

But one of them, one of those groups, they love to camp, right?

And it would not be a camping trip without a campfire.

So imagine you are camping, you're roasting those marshmallows on the fire, and your face now is covered, it's smeared in chocolate because you ate one too many s'mores, and the fire is dwindling, everybody's ready to hop into bed, they're tired, they want to get in the tent and curl up in that sleeping bag.

And then somebody, that late-night person, you know who you are, grabs a stick and starts to poke the fire.

Right?

And then they start adding some kindling and they blow on the fire.

And then maybe they add some gasoline to the fire and it becomes an inferno.

And then nobody's going to bed.

This is the image that Paul is getting at, that these coals, this firewood may be fading in the midst of persecution, Timothy.

But underneath it's still got some hot embers.

And if you don't poke them, if you don't fan them, the fire is going to go out.

You'll miss the delicious reward of the s'mores at the end.

Now a campfire keeps you warm, but picture a forge.

A forge changes the shape of things.

When a blacksmith heats the iron to the point where it glows, he doesn't stand back and admire the light that the fire created.

He puts it to work.

He's hammering, he's shaping, he's forming something useful out of that raw material because the fire isn't the point.

What the fire makes possible is the point.

And this is what God intends when he calls you to fan the flame.

Not a faith that glows warmly in private and keeps you comfortable, but a faith that is hot enough to be worked to transform your home, your workplace, your neighborhood.

The Spirit doesn't give you fire so you can sit by it, he gives you fire so he can put you to work.

The gift of God in verse 6 refers to the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts he bestows on the Christians, specifically Timothy in this context.

But later in chapter 4, Paul will offer a charge to Timothy very famously preach the word in season and at a season, that Timothy must bring gospel heat to a dying world despite the pushback.

Now there's a famous quote attributed to the preacher John Wesley.

When asked why so many people came to hear him preach, this is his answer.

I just go and set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.

Now there's no solid evidence that Wesley actually said that, but it does preach.

Would that we would have more preachers like that that would say, Lord, would you set me on fire right now?

When was the last time you asked the Lord to set you on fire for him?

Now, Paul anchors his reminder in a moment.

He talks about Timothy's ordination to gospel ministry.

This was the laying on of my hands, which was a formal commissioning ritual to affirm a calling to a pastorate.

Both Paul and the elders would lay their hands on Timothy.

And that's a practice we still do today.

In fact, I remember ten years ago when I was ordained to gospel ministry.

Here's a collage of pictures that the late Jim Flood put together for me.

I received charges and the elders laid their hands on me to affirm my call to commit my life to gospel ministry.

And so I resonate with this passage because my own spiritual mentor preached that day from 1 Timothy, encouraging me to always remember the gift of God in my life.

That if you want to have courage, you must fan the flame continuously, because the enemy would love nothing better than seeing the flame go out in your life, Christian.

Similarly, in the Colson Fellows program, we do a commissioning.

That Chuck Coulson was a Marine and he didn't like the idea of graduation.

Instead, you were commissioned to go out and live in service to Christ.

In fact, on June 6th, we're going to host a commissioning service for our first class of Coulson Fellows, and then recognize them at the annual anniversary service on June 7th.

And afterwards, they must live a commissioned life, always fanning the flame, even when our faith costs us.

And my prayer is that the Spirit would set them aflame for the gospel.

How will you respond when your faith costs you?

You have to fan the flame.

Now, Paul takes it a step further and tells Timothy where his power comes from.

Look at verse 7.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.

So after encouraging Timothy about this gift from God, he now explains what the gift is not.

The clause begins in the negative.

What type of spirit did God give us?

Not of fear.

And I want you to hear that, church, because we don't need to be afraid.

Too many Christians in this world live in fear of things that have no power over us.

The Greek word for fear is very important here.

It is the word dahlia.

It's used only here in the New Testament, and it must not be confused with the fear of the Lord, which is a different word entirely.

Dahlia is always, always in the negative, and it refers to moral cowardice.

It's a character defect.

In fact, I love how the contemporary English version translates this clause.

God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us.

I want the significance of that to sit with you for a moment.

That Christians are not cowards.

Over the course of church history, if you go back and look, Christians have always taken risks for the spread of the gospel.

Read the book of Acts.

Paul enters towns to tell people about Jesus and they try to stone him.

Today, missionaries enter closed countries where their lives are at risk to bring the kingdom of God and share the life-altering message of Jesus, and many have died on that mission.

MBC, if you want to fan the flame, Dahlia has no place here.

We need courage.

We cannot be silent when issues arise, when the name of Jesus is mocked.

And so it's worth reflecting: is there any fear in my life that needs to go?

Where do I need to fan the flame?

Now, this past fall, we hosted a showing of the documentary Truth Rising, produced by the Colson Center and focus on the family.

And the film highlights the decline of truth and the Christian worldview in the West and calls Christians to courageously lit out their faith publicly.

The film serves as a framework for the Colson Fellows program.

It's just been turned into a study, and in fact, there's a few happening, and you can jump in on them.

Several Christian leaders were highlighted in the film, one of whom was Katie Faust, the founder of Them Before Us.

Now, some of you might remember that four years ago we hosted Katie for an underground sessions event before she became rather big time right now.

She's very a very compelling speaker and has a remarkable testimony.

But in the film, she documents how God challenged her to step out in faith, despite her fear, and speak for the rights of children.

Her thesis is this: all children have a natural right to their biological mother and father, and anything that violates this violates the natural right of a child.

So this led her to take some bold steps despite cultural pushback.

And in the film, she gives us a challenge.

She says this the lived-out Christian life is genuinely high risk.

But the problem is that too many Christians don't want to risk anything.

We want our faith to be personal and private.

Is that what God calls us to?

Is that what Paul is saying to Timothy?

In fact, right now she is leading a new initiative called Greater Than, which means children's rights are greater than adults' desires.

The goal, one of the goals, is overturning the Obergefeld decision that legalized same-sex marriage.

Now that's rather bold.

It seems crazy, but many people thought Roe vs.

Wade wouldn't be overturned.

And so to speak up courageously like that, you need the power of God's spirit.

Because Christians aren't cowards.

We are bold because the lion of the tribe of Judah is behind us.

In fact, another quote attributed to St.

Augustine captures our challenge.

The truth is like a lion.

You don't have to defend it, you just let it loose and it will defend itself.

Again, no evidence that Augustine actually said that, but it preaches.

Now the temptation to fear in Timothy's day was not irrational.

To understand why Paul has to say, don't be afraid, you have to understand what fear looked like in Timothy's world.

Emperor Nero declared Christians enemies of the state.

That was not abstract.

Nero had Christians lit on fire to illustrate what would happen.

He would put them on stakes as they were on fire in his garden for parties.

He had believers sewn into animal skins and then thrown to the dogs and lions in the arena.

He crucified them along the Appian way in public spectacle.

In fact, the Roman historian Tacitus, no friend of Christians, called it a display of savage cruelty.

And that was the empire that Timothy was living in.

That's what was happening when Paul writes this letter to be publicly identified as a follower of Jesus Christ was not merely socially awkward.

It was potentially a death sentence.

So when Paul says, fan the flame, don't be ashamed, he's not offering a motivational slogan.

He's asking Timothy to do something genuinely dangerous.

The temptation to keep faith private wasn't weakness, it was survival instinct.

And Paul says, fan the flame anyway.

Now, what would you have done if you were Timothy?

Would the fear or temptation grip your heart?

Or would you have leaned into God's spirit?

A spirit, he says, of power and love and self-control.

Power is the dynamic, explosive capacity from God.

The word behind this is where we get our English word dynamite.

When a hostile colleague challenges your faith in a meeting, this power is what enables you to answer with clarity rather than shrinking.

You draw on God's power, not your own eloquence.

In fact, Amy Huber was telling me the other day that she was speaking with Mark Schaaf from Walk Through the Bible, and he's got contacts in Iran, and the church is exploding there despite what's happening.

That's the power of God.

Love.

Unconditional, others-directed love.

The spiritual power Paul describes is never self-serving.

That when the cultural pushback comes, when we are labeled a bigot for what we believe, this love keeps you engaged with people rather than retreating from them.

You speak truth, but you speak it for their sake.

So imagine Timothy doing this for his persecutors.

And then finally, self-control.

That disciplined steadiness, a sober, sound mind.

When the internet is on fire and everyone around you is reacting with outrage, Christians do not.

They speak with measured courage rather than heated emotion.

And when the winds blow, Christians stand.

So ask yourself, church, is there a place in my life where fear, where moral cowardice has settled in?

Where have I gone silent when I should have spoken?

Where do I need to fan the flame?

Because when our faith costs us, Paul tells us that is what we should do.

Fan the flame of the dying embers in your heart.

It's a constant battle.

But when we do, it enables us to live out point number two shun the shame.

Fan the flame, shun the shame.

Now I'm going for the memorable alliteration here, but just so we're clear, uh, the definition of shun is to avoid using, accepting, engaging in, or partaking of.

In other words, you gotta stay away from shame.

Now, this is not an easy task in today's world because we live in a cancel culture moment.

That people will shame you on the internet more quickly than they'll shame you in person.

There are several stories of people being shamed or shunned in the Truth Rising film.

And that's not terribly different from Paul and Timothy's time.

The Greco-Roman world was what sociologists called an honor and shame culture.

In Roman society, it was all about what?

Strength and honor, right?

You've seen Gladiator.

Shame was something to be avoided.

Historian John Dixon says this in his book, Humilitas.

Much of public life revolved around ensuring you and your family received public honor and avoided public shame.

And in Nero's Rome, the ultimate public shame was confessing Jesus before a watching world.

Now, what is the honor-shame code of today?

Are there labels we want to avoid?

Believing what Scripture says about modern-day issues might get you called a homophobe or an anti-abortion advocate or even a Christian nationalist.

Now, those might not be fair, but in our current discussion, they are meant to bring public shame.

But Christians must not be ashamed of their testimony.

And it's striking now that Paul uses the Greek word for ashamed in his argument.

He uses this word three times to make his argument.

It's the backbone of the rest of the section.

Look at verse 8.

He writes, Therefore, first, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

Not ashamed is the beating heart of this section.

Author Alfred Garvey comments that not ashamed for Paul was not mere emotional resilience, but assurance that his trust in God will ultimately vindicate him rather than leave him disillusioned.

So first, Paul encourages Timothy not to be ashamed about his testimony for Jesus.

And that's true of every Christian's witness, but church, you have to ask, are you ashamed to mention the name of Jesus to others?

Do you go to work and no one knows you have faith in the Lord?

And if so, maybe ask why.

As Christians, we should want to tell people about all the Lord has done in our lives and make a public profession.

Second, Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of him or his suffering.

And that point is also applicable for us.

Has there ever been a time when someone you knew stood up for the Lord and you made sure to let people know you had nothing to do with them?

When the suffering comes, you will find out who your true friends are and who really loves Jesus.

Paul is calling Timothy to be a co-sufferer with him.

Paul will also give examples later of people who walked away from him, and those who stood by his side even searched for him in prison at great personal risk.

Because to be a Christian is to be an outsider in this world, and we will only have the strength to suffer by God's power.

But the gospel is worth that pushback.

And so now Paul launches into a long and beautiful explanation of the riches of the gospel message.

And as we read, I want you to ask yourself: is this gift worth suffering for?

Is it worth shunning the world, the shunning, shunning the shame the world throws at us?

Paul writes that Jesus is the one who saved us and called us to a holy calling.

Not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher, and apostle, and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.

Now, do you see what he just wrote?

Sit and savor those words for a moment.

Let's meditate on them.

We don't do that enough.

Friends, we will have no motivation to fan the flame or shun the shame if you do not believe in Jesus' fame.

That's what Paul's saying here.

This is powerful.

We have to be clear on the gospel.

So let's break it down.

First, he says Jesus saved us.

That Jesus Christ loved you so much, he left his place in heaven and came to earth on a rescue mission.

Speaking of cost.

Your salvation cost Jesus his life.

Speaking of shame.

Picture hanging naked on a tree while people mock you and spit upon you.

Jesus shunned the shame.

Second, Jesus called us to salvation through the power of his spirit.

He reached out, he grabbed your dead heart, and he infused spiritual life into it.

That dunamis, the power of the spirit, comes through, courses through your heart because Jesus called you, he awakened you, he made you alive.

John Scott captures this magnificently when he writes this in his commentary.

Salvation is a majestic word, denoting the comprehensive purpose of God by which he justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies his people.

First, he pardons our offenses and accepts us as righteous in his sight through Christ.

Then he progressively transforms us by his spirit into the image of his son until finally we become like Christ in heaven with new bodies and a new world.

The broad scope, magnificence of salvation, friends.

That's good news.

How does he do that?

He does it by grace.

Note that Paul specifically says our works have nothing to do with this.

God saves us because of his own purpose and grace.

His unmerited favor rests on us because of Jesus.

And I want to emphasize that important point because too many Christians, maybe some even here today, still instinctively believe that our works have something to do with our salvation.

We can still think, I gotta be a good person.

I gotta get that done for Jesus to love me.

And the reason we have so much fear in our lives is because we don't think that Jesus is enough.

We're trusting in the other saviors of money or acceptance or romance or power, people pleasing.

But when God saves us by grace, nothing else matters, and there's nothing that God cannot ask of us.

He owns it all.

So, fourth, this idea, this was God's idea from the beginning.

Before the ages began, he knew your name.

He knew he was going to call you to himself.

And now Jesus Christ, the Savior, has come to earth.

And what did he do?

He abolished death.

That is a powerful word.

He abolished death.

Death has no power.

We spoke about that a few weeks ago.

And then he brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Death is dead, but everlasting life is here.

Easter's coming.

Now it's worth noting that humans, in and of themselves, are not immortal.

Only God possesses immortality, but it's through the gospel that Jesus shares that immortality through our resurrection bodies.

And then finally, this is why Paul preaches.

This is why he suffers.

This is why he can shun the shame of the world because Jesus is enough.

Do you believe that, church?

When you do, you can shun whatever shame is thrown at you, even if it costs you everything.

Now, Paul emphasizes this in verse 12.

He continues.

Secondly, again, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he's able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

Guard the good, deposit, and trusted to you.

Now, why is Paul not ashamed?

I know whom I have believed.

Or a better translation would be, I know whom I have trusted, whom I have trusted with my life.

And then he uses the interesting phrase, he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me.

Now, what is this is speaking of Jesus.

What is Jesus guarding?

The very gospel message itself.

That Paul's trust is fully in Jesus, that even if Paul dies, Jesus will raise up more preachers to tell the world the message of salvation.

And so Paul can face his death bravely and with confidence.

But then there's the flip side.

Paul turns to Timothy and says, You also have to guard the good deposit.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Timothy must guard the message and keep it pure.

And so Paul is saying to him, listen, the Roman world will try to shame you, Timothy.

It will tempt you to compromise the gospel message.

It will make you comfortable with its wealth and try to distract you from the truth.

And if you don't follow the pattern of this world, they will try to cancel you and shame you.

And he says, Timothy, don't fall for it.

Even if they try to kill you, don't fall for it.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, guard the good deposit.

So, MBC, how about us?

Are we willing to shun the shame to guard the deposit entrusted to us?

Now it's very easy to say, well, Pastor Bob and Pastor Dave, they can do the guarding, and I'm just along for the ride.

I'll give the money so they can do the work.

Now we do take preaching seriously, but God has called the church to keep proper doctrine.

We have to tell people about the gospel message, and we have to ensure it is the true message.

And that may require shunning the shame of the world.

But don't worry, we're in good company from church history.

In fact, let me tell you a story.

Very famous one, you might know it.

It was around A.D.

155 when the Roman proconsul had Polycarp, the age bishop of Smyrna, and disciple of the Apostle John, dragged into the Roman arena.

The crowd was bloodthirsty.

And the official gave him a way out.

He said, Swear by Caesar, curse the name of Christ, save yourself.

Now Polycarp's answer very famously has echoed through 20 centuries.

He said, 86 years.

Imagine being in the arena at 86.

I've served him.

And he has done me no wrong.

How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?

And the crowd erupted.

They screamed the Roman slur they loved to hurl at Christians.

Away with the atheists.

Because Christians refused to worship the gods of Rome.

And in their world, if you wouldn't bow down to Caesar's pantheon, you were the godless one.

And then Polycarp did something rather stunning.

He turned.

He looked out over this roaring pagan mob, the magistrates, the idol worshippers, the Caesar fearers, and with a sweep of his hand toward them, he said it right back.

Away with the atheists.

And he wasn't returning insult for insult.

He was making a theological declaration that you are the ones who do not know God.

I stand in the presence of the living Christ.

The shame you are heaping upon me, I refuse it.

It belongs to you.

And they burned him at the stake.

Now the world still plays this game.

It still calls faithfulness foolishness, holiness, bigotry, and the gospel an embarrassment.

It still wants you to feel the heat of social pressure and recant.

Quietly, politely, just tone it down enough to survive.

Paul's word to Timothy is God's word to us.

Do not be ashamed.

Guard the good deposit.

Hold to the pattern of sound words.

Not because it's easy.

Paul wrote this again from a Roman prison, but because the one you serve is not ashamed of you.

He has saved you, he has called you with a holy calling.

He's abolished death itself.

And when the world says, away with the faithful, you know how the faithful should answer.

How will you respond when your faith costs you?

Fan the flame, and it may need to be rekindled.

Shun the shame, because the world will throw shade on the Christians.

Jesus promised this.

But finally, and for the sake of your ministry and the world around you, break the chain.

Now, during your quiet time with the Lord this week, I would encourage you to take a heart inventory and ask: are there any areas of my life where I need to shun the shame of the world?

Do I need to fan the flame of my heart?

Say, Lord, help me live for you.

Set me on fire so the world can watch me burn with passion for you.

Because if I love this world too much, loosen its grip, break the chain.

Now, before we read this final section, let me just explain what I mean by breaking the chain.

If you go back to verse 7, Paul said, God did not give us a spirit of fear, of moral cowardice.

And that word pictures something that wraps itself around our hearts and holds it in place.

Fear is a chain.

It looks dramatically, it rarely looks dramatic.

Most of the time it looks like silence.

It looks like changing the subject.

It looks like Figellus and Hermogenes, who knew Paul was in prison and simply didn't show up.

The chain of fear doesn't announce itself, it just keeps you from moving.

But by the Spirit of God is stronger than any chain fear can forge.

And in this final section, Paul gives us two portraits to show us what breaking it looks like and what it looks like when you don't.

As we read, ask yourself, which would it be, which would I be?

Here's portrait number one.

You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phigellus and Hermogenes.

We don't know much about Phigellus and Hermogenes, but when Scripture mentions your name, it's intentional.

There's a lot of times that people don't get names in Scriptures.

So it's not a good thing that they're called out here.

And sadly, the world's chain must have been around their hearts to some extent.

This is a painful admission that Paul is making to Timothy.

Turned away from me can be translated as deserted me, a decisive rejection.

This would have included many of Paul's close friends from Ephesus, where he spent three years.

This likely means these believers did not stand with him during his trials or imprisonment at the end of his life.

Not necessarily that they abandoned the gospel itself, but equally painful.

Now, here at MBC, we believe in team ministry.

We have a team of elders, we have a pastoral leadership team.

I'm thankful for Pastor Dave, who's a strong partner in ministry in our elder team here at NBC.

I'm thankful for our staff who give countless hours advancing the gospel.

I'm thankful for faithful leaders who make our church what it is.

Now imagine that if one day the state were to come after me for preaching the gospel and I was put on trial and thrown in prison, and nobody stood by me.

How painful would that be?

Because that's what Paul's talking about.

And so now he offers a second positive portrait.

Look at verse 16.

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Oneciphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me.

Onesiphorus.

Now, for those in the audience saying, I'm glad I'm not in professional ministry, Onesiporus is a layman, not a pastor, not an elder, he's just a member of the church.

What does he do for Paul?

He refreshed Paul, a word that carries the idea of bringing cool water to someone in the heat.

He was not ashamed of Paul's chains.

He sat with him, he stood by him, he seeks him out.

He breaks the chain of fear at great personal risk to himself.

And Paul says that he searched earnestly, which means that there was a zeal, a determination to his efforts.

So seeking out Paul in this prison was a rather courageous move.

The association could have cost him his life.

He shows courage in the face of fear.

And so Paul ends chapter one with these words in verse 18.

May the Lord grant him, Onephorus, to find mercy from the Lord on that day.

You well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

On that day refers to the future day of judgment.

When Onecephorus stands before the Lord Jesus, may his mercy run deep for the courage he had for the faith.

For 175 years, Millington Baptist Church has been built by people like Onephorus.

Not primarily famous people or formal clergy, but laymen and women who refused to let fear chain them, who showed up for their brothers and sisters, guarded the deposit, and kept the flame burning when the culture told them to put it out.

So the question for us today, church, is what is God calling us to do this week?

What has 2 Timothy chapter 1 taught us?

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Well, let me come back to that motto from the Colson Center.

Faith is always personal, but never private.

Faith is always personal, but never private.

And I pray that you have given your life to Jesus, and if not, I'd love to talk with you today about that.

But let's assume that most of us in this room have given our life to Jesus and it is personal.

Where does your faith need to become public this week?

Maybe it's the dinner table.

And that's where faith is forged first.

Remember, Lois and Eunice, we learned about last week, they passed the faith to Timothy around a table.

Your household is the most important place your faith becomes public.

Are your children hearing from you about Jesus?

Are they watching you walk in courageous faith?

Do not outsource formation of your household to the church alone.

Second, the workplace.

Are there HR policies silencing you from or your colleague of faith?

Be an onesifist, be a co-sufferer.

You are not alone, and neither are they.

The classroom.

If you're a college student or a high school student, following Jesus is increasingly countercultural on campus.

It may cost you a grade or a relationship.

Maybe you need to learn to defend what you believe.

Do not shrink from it.

And then, of course, the public square.

Would anyone observing your life, your community involvement, your public speech, your social media activity, your public presence, would they know you're a person shaped by Christ?

That's not a question about argumentation or provocation.

It's a question about witness.

This week, don't let your faith just be personal, make it public.

Like Timothy, guard the good deposit entrusted to you by the power of the Spirit and for God's glory.

How will you respond when your faith costs you?

Fan the flame, shun the shame, and break the chain.

As the worship team comes, let me read verse 18 once more.

Paul writes, May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.

And you know well all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

One day every person in this room will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will look back over the whole course of your life.

What will he see?

Will he see people who guarded the good deposit, who fanned the flame when the culture tried to smother it, who shunned the shame the world threw at them, who broke their chains of fear and sought out the suffering?

Or will he see people who kept their faith private, who were afraid of the pushback, and who chose comfort over the chain of faithfulness?

For 175 years, the church here has been filled with onesiphoreses.

People who stood for biblical truth and the hope of the gospel unashamed, not because the cost was low, but because they trusted the one who abolished death.

May we continue that faithfulness.

May we carry with clarity and courage the deposit entrusted to us until that day, with clarity in our minds, with confidence in our souls, and with courage for faithful living.

And on that day, Jesus will say, Well done.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your faithful servants here at Millington Baptist Church.

We thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy.

Lord, would you give us courage this week to be public, to speak about you, to clearly share the gospel, Lord God, to live a life in accordance with your call and your standards, and that people would look at us and ask, what why is there hope in you?

Lord, would you would you set us on fire so that people would see us burn with passion for you, Lord Jesus?

We ask that in your name.

Amen.