Strong in the Faith

Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 4. We just looked at one verse last week. I think it

2 Timothy 1:4

was a lot of good stuff in there for us to consider so we didn't look at too much. But

tonight we'll continue on. We'll read Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 3 again just for context

2 Timothy 1:3

sake. But then we'll continue on with verses 4 through 7. Second Timothy chapter 1 verses

2 Timothy 1:4–7

4 through 7. Let's pray and then we'll get started. God we come to you. We thank you

for the freedom to come in here tonight. We thank you for the air conditioner that we

have. I thank you for all these good folks. I thank you for the good songs that were picked.

And I thank you for letting us be able to sing out to them. I thank you for Macy for

using her gifts to play for us and to lead us in these songs. I thank you for Jennings

for leading us in these songs dear Lord. And I pray that you just would bless the time

that we have now in your word. I pray that your word would speak to us. That your Holy

Spirit would free us from the distractions and worries and thoughts of the world. But

in these few minutes that you can work in us through your word. And I ask these things

in Jesus name. Amen. Alright Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 3. I thank God whom I serve

2 Timothy 1:3

with a clear conscience as my ancestors did. When I constantly remember you in my prayers

night and day. Okay so we kind of we kind of see this introduction that he's writing

here at the beginning of Second Timothy chapter 1. And so he's telling look God I thank or

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

telling Timothy look I thank God for you Timothy. I pray for you. And he continues on there

in verse 4. Remembering your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

So it appears as though that there were some tears that were shed by Timothy. Now I don't

know exactly what occasion he's speaking of here. If you want some homework you can go

back and you can read Acts chapter 20 tonight. And what you're going to see in Acts chapter

Acts 20 · chapter mention Acts 20 · chapter mention

20 is Paul is going to be with some of his folks and he's going from place to place.

But ultimately when you get to the end of the chapter we see that Paul says look I'm

going back to Jerusalem and I'm not sure what's what's waiting for me there. I don't know

what's going to happen to me. But he tells the people that he's talking to he says but

you'll never see me face to face again is what he tells the folks. And what it says

there at the end of that chapter is that they were all weeping. Now at the beginning of

Acts chapter 20 we see that Timothy is with Paul. So it's possible that this is what's

Acts 20 · chapter mention

being talked about that maybe that's the that's the event that's spoken of there is that when

Paul was getting ready to depart from Ephesus to go back to Jerusalem. And don't forget

this is where Timothy is. He's in Ephesus. We see at the end of that chapter that everybody

was weeping and perhaps this is the occasion. There's no way to know for sure. But that's

one possibility. And so regardless of what the occasion was it's easy for us to understand

when when you say goodbye to somebody and you don't know if you'll get to see him again

or it may be a while before you get to see him again you don't see him very often. We

shed tears sometimes we've all probably done that. Maybe it's a child going away to school

or or maybe it's a spouse going off to fight in the war or whatever it may be. I mean there

are times that that we have to say good maybe people that just visit a relative that we

only get to see every few years. And man we spend the week with him and we love him we

hug him and there's kind of some sadness there. So we understand that that that shedding tears

that you know being sad when you depart from somebody. And Paul acknowledges here he says

remembering your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. Well he remembered

that there was sadness when they departed. But he also acknowledges that there's joy

when when when we're reunited. And so certainly if Paul would ever get to see Timothy again

there would be joy there. Same for you and I. There is great joy there's sadness to see

somebody go but but man there's joy. You cry when your kid goes off to school but you rejoice

when they come back back from school. Probably maybe maybe not. I don't know it just depends

on the kid I guess. But generally speaking right. So we all shed tears sometimes but

but then there's some rejoicing sometimes. And that's what Paul says. Look I'm praying

for you constantly. I thank God for you Timothy. I remember it was tough when we left but

I long for the day and look forward to the day that that there's going to be some joy.

There's sadness now because we're apart. But one day there's going to be joy hopefully.

Verse five clearly recalling your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother

Lois then in your mother Eunice and that I am convinced is also in you. Now this is a

beautiful passage right here. What is Paul acknowledge? He acknowledges Timothy's grandmother

and mother. And what does he say of them? He says that they are women of faith. Now

this is super important because if if if we want to be good mothers and good grandmothers

then then the life we live is going to impact the kids and the grandkids that we raise.

And no doubt if Timothy's grandmother and mother were women of faith that probably shaped

who he was. Timothy is just not by coincidence that he turned out to be a godly man who's

gifted by God and who's serving God. No it seems apparent here that Paul is acknowledging

okay you come from a good good background. You come from good family. You had a good

mother and a good grandmother and they were women who were strong in the faith. And I'm

convinced Paul says I'm convinced that you too that you're going to be strong in the

faith that you're going to follow in their footsteps. And so it's good for for us women

to realize that we have an impact. You mothers, you grandmothers, you have an impact. You

mothers to be one day you'll be a mother one day you'll be a grandmother Lord willing.

You're going to have an impact on those kids that you're going to to raise and bring into

this world. If you are strong in the faith then there's a good chance that your your

sons and your daughters will be strong in the faith as well. Verse six therefore I remind

you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

So he gives him a he gives him kind of a challenge here. He gives him a kind of an urge here

and he says therefore I urge you to keep ablaze. Now some of your translations may say something

different may say something like rekindle or are kindling new or something along those

lines or fan the flame. And so there could be different ways that we could we could see

this. Now if he if we if we take a translation that says something like fan the flame then

what he's saying is hey you're on fire for God and you need to let that fire it needs

to ignite. It needs to go from a from a small fire. It needs to ignite. You're doing the

work of God. You continue doing the work of God. You continue seeking God and you let

the Holy Spirit fan that flame. You let God work in you so that he grows in you and he

grows your ministry and the work that you're doing for the kingdom. That's one way that

we could look at it if we're fanning a flame that's already there. However some translations

will use a word like like rekindle. You need to rekindle the fire. Well that kind of gives

a whole different impression. Maybe what Paul is saying here is that is that Timothy's kind

of in a in a dry season maybe maybe Timothy's not doing so good. Maybe maybe Tim Paul is

saying look you used to be on fire for the Lord and you need to you need to rekindle

that. You need to make sure that you stay on fire for the Lord. Now I'm not sure which

of those interpretations would be correct in this instance but both of those things

may be true for us tonight. It may be that you're doing good and you need to keep doing

good and keep seeking God and fan those flames. Continue to grow in the Lord. It may be that

we need to rekindle our flame. It may be that you know there was a time that we were more

on fire for God than we are today and maybe this is a good reminder for us. Now we might

not be serving in the same capacity as a Timothy was serving here but nonetheless even as Christians

there are times that we need to be rekindled that we need to be revived. Oftentimes we

see that when we have a revival. It's a time that we come and lots of times we feel revived

and why is that? Because we know that that's a good time and we go into it with the right

heart and we say okay God I want to see you. I want to experience you. I want to feel you

and so we begin to pray and we begin to open our heart and we begin to see God and then

when revival comes we are revived and we are reignited and we are rekindled. Why? Because

we have prepared our heart for that. Now maybe we could have more of those seasons in our

life if we earnestly prayed to God to seek him all the time and maybe we do or maybe

we don't but it just kind of becomes routine right? Church kind of becomes routine and

we go through the motions. It's not that we don't love God. It's not that we are faking

it but sometimes we need those moments to be reignited to be rekindled and so that's

why we have things like revival. It's good for us to get new people in here that sing

different songs and that preach different messages and that make different points and

that use different illustrations and they come ready to go and we come ready to hear

something that's different, that's unique, that's a change of pace that kind of shakes

us and wakes us up and maybe that's what Paul was telling Timothy here. Maybe he's just

saying Timothy you're doing a really good job and you just need to keep growing. You

need to fan that flame. Don't let it die or maybe he's saying look Timothy I know that

you're struggling right now but God has gifted you and you need to rekindle that. You need

to light that thing up. You need to make sure that you stay on fire. It's not burning bright

right now. Your fire's not burning but you need to rekindle that. Both of those things

may be true for us at different times in our life. Verse 7, for God has not given us a

spirit of fearfulness but one of power, love and a sound judgment. Now I don't know why

Paul is writing this but maybe he knows something that we don't know. Maybe there was some struggle

in Timothy's life. Now maybe there's a specific something that's going on and maybe Paul knows

that Timothy is struggling and so he gives him this verse of encouragement. Hey, God

hadn't given you a spirit of fear so don't be afraid. Maybe Timothy's doing great. Maybe

there's no problem at all. Maybe Paul is just saying this as an encouraging word. Hey, you're

doing the work of God. You have nothing to be afraid of while you do the work of God.

You continue doing the work of God. So maybe tonight we're doing good in our walk with

God. We're doing good in the way that we live for God. Well, don't fear. You keep on doing

that. Maybe today you're overwhelmed with some fear. Maybe there's something that God's

calling you to do and it's kind of scary and it's kind of difficult and it's kind of stressful

and it's kind of painful. Maybe there's something in your life that's going on and you need

a little encouragement. Well, this is a good verse of encouragement. For the Lord has not

given us a spirit of fearfulness. Sometimes we're afraid. Well, this is a good verse to

call on when we're afraid. God hasn't given us anything to be afraid of. If God is for

us, who could be against us? So the Lord has not given us a spirit of fearfulness. And

so if we're living in fear and that's dragging us down and depressing us and making us worry

all the time and just anxious, then we need to call on this verse and say, okay, God,

you have not given me a spirit of fear. So help me not to be afraid. For the Lord has

not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power and of love and of a sound mind. Okay.

So if God hasn't given us a spirit of fear and we call on this verse to help us through

that, what does it say right after that? What has he given us? It tells us what he hasn't

given us. So we can stand strong on that, but then we can also stand strong on what

he has given us. He's given us a spirit of power. He's given us a spirit of power to

do the things he calls us to do, to stand up in the ways that we need to stand up, to

live for him in the way that we need to live for him. God has given us the power to make

it through the toughest times in our life. Cause there are things that go on in your

life. There are things that you're up against in your life and you don't have the power

to get through them. And so you have to call on God and praise the Lord. The Holy Spirit

that indwells in us is a spirit that empowers us, not one that calls us to be fearful and

and fret over what is before us, but a spirit of power and a spirit of what? And a spirit

of love that we know the love of God, that we know God loves us, that we know God will

not leave us. It will not forsake us, that God hears us, that God is with us, that we

are never alone. That's the spirit of love that we see and that we experience. We experience

the power of God and the love of God for the God has not given us a spirit of fear for

us, but one of power of love and of a sound mind or a sound judgment. Some of your translations

may say, okay, so even if it feels like we're losing our mind, well, we need to see God.

He's given us a sound mind. We want to say, okay, God, you need to take control of my

mind. You need to take control of my thoughts. You need to help me to stand firm and stand

strong in you, dear Lord. I don't want to fear these things. Now, I don't know what

Timothy was going through in his life. Maybe, maybe the things that were before him as he

served God were overwhelming. Maybe there were some fear there. Maybe there were some

doubt there. Maybe that's why Paul is giving this instruction, or maybe it's just general

instruction. Hey, stand firm. You're doing the work of God. Don't give up and don't quit

what you're doing. Continue to run the race. And these are good words. Remember, this is

the last letter that Paul wrote that we have in the Bible. Now, maybe he wrote some letters

after this that we don't have access to, but the last letter that we know for sure that

Paul wrote is this one to Timothy. And he's, he's passing this torch on to Timothy. He's

already worked with Timothy. He's already helped teach Timothy and bring Timothy up.

And he's writing him these two letters to say, Hey, Timothy, do the work. Don't give

up. And not only is he telling him what to do, but he showed him what to do because Paul

has been in prison. Maybe he's in prison multiple times. It's hard to know exactly, you know,

what was going on in this timeframe. Maybe he was in prison. Maybe he was out of prison.

But regardless, Paul was one who continued to do the work of Jesus Christ. He continued

to live for Jesus. Even when it was difficult, he continued to preach the gospel. And he

tells Timothy, look, you've got to keep telling people about Jesus. So don't give up. You've

got, you've got faith. You, you were raised by a good family. I see that strength of your

family in your faith. You are a man who is gifted by God. And so you need to allow that

to be ignited and don't worry about what is before you because God is with you. Now, whether

or not we're a missionary or a pastor or in ministry, these words are good for us. These

are good words for us that we want to be those who are strong in the faith, those who are

on fire for God, and those who are not afraid to do whatever God may call us to do. Let's

pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for a good word. I pray that you would help us

to learn from your word tonight, that we would grow from your word tonight, dear Lord, that

you would help us not to have a spirit of faithfulness, but a spirit that trusts in

you, God. I pray that we would be those who are strong in the faith and that we'd be a

good example to our families and those who come after us, dear Lord, that they too would

see our faithfulness and draw closer to you. God, maybe there are some tonight and we're

not as on fire for you as we should be. I pray that if, if there's some here or some

listening that maybe they're not as on fire for you today as they were last week or last

year or whenever it was, I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to fan those flames,

that you would fan them, dear Lord, that you would help us to be those who are on fire

for you and live for you every day. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.