Stirring Up Your Gift

Get our Bibles out and let's lift them up and wave them around and make Jesus glad and the devil mad.

Let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, I'm so glad for Wednesday night.

I'm excited about the Word and I'm excited about revelation, knowledge.

My faith is being built brick by brick, precept upon precept, line upon line, and I thank you, lord, that I'm growing, growing in stature, growing in fruit, bearing in Jesus' name.

Amen, amen, all right.

2 Timothy, please tonight.

2 Timothy, 1.

And we'll start reading with verse 1.

Hallelujah, let's read this verse one 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, our Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing, I have remembrance of thee in my prayers, night and day, greatly desiring to see thee being mindful of thy tears.

That I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith which is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother, lois and thy mother, eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also, wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands, for God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.

Be not, thou, therefore, ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner.

And so tonight I want to share a message entitled Stirring Up the Gift.

Let's read verse 6 in the Amplified.

It kind of gives you a little expanded idea of stirring up.

He said in verse 6 in the Amplified it kind of gives you a little expanded idea of stirring up.

He said in verse six in the Amplified I remind you to stir up, that is, rekindle the embers, fan the flame and keep burning the gracious gift of God, the inner fire that is in you, by means of the laying on of my hands.

So here we have Paul writing to Timothy, his son, in the faith.

He's not ashamed to call him his son and he had to remind him to stir up the gift.

And you know, listen, timothy's not a novice, timothy's young, but he stands in the office, the minister office of apostle.

That means he has pastors and churches under him and he's not a novice, he's not a baby Christian by any means.

And yet he found himself in a position of needing to be reminded and we all need to be reminded to stir up the gift of God that's on the inside of us.

And evidently he'd been crying and fainting.

You know, you've got mindful of your tears, see.

So he wrote his father in the faith, about crying and about some of the struggles in ministry that he was having, and so he reminded him of his heritage of faith.

And in verse seven, in the Amplified, god did not give us a spirit of timidity, of cowardice, of craving and cringing, fawning fear, but he gave us a spirit of power and love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

So you know, evidently he Timothy here, you know, even though he's a mature Christian all of us are mature but at times sometimes we need to be reminded to stir up the gift that we have on the inside and not give in to the emotions of the flesh.

He's obviously, according to here in verse 7 or verse 8, he's tempted to be ashamed of the testimony and ashamed of Paul's chain.

In other words, he's his prisoner.

In another verse, down here in verse, he talks about someone else.

He said he's not ashamed of my chain.

So in other words, you know there was persecution, you know you can see how people would, you know, bring their relationship up and say, well, your father in the faith has been arrested.

He's just a jailbird, that type of thing.

You know, the devil tries every way in the world to intimidate and to bring us into a place of shame or embarrassment because of our godly ties to people.

I mean, you know, just listen, we wear it as a badge of honor when people call us names.

And let people call us names, let them call us haters.

We hate the devil, we hate the works of the devil.

We don't hate people because Jesus loves the sinner.

We love sinners enough to tell them when they are sinners.

We love sinners enough to tell them that what they're doing is going to lead to destruction.

That's real love.

Real love preaches the gospel to destruction, that's real love.

Real love preaches the gospel.

So Timothy here had been neglecting the gift.

You know, in chapter four, verse 14.

See that one right here.

It says in the first Timothy, the first Timothy, 4.14,.

That was the other letter that he wrote to Timothy.

He told him in verse 14, neglect not the gift which is in thee by the prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

So you know, this evidently was something that Timothy, a young minister, no less I mean.

He's a mature Christian, but he's young and he's going through some things, as people go through things.

It doesn't I mean maturity, doesn't mean that you don't have trials and tribulations.

It means you have temptations and sometimes you have to have people that love you enough to tell you the truth.

I just think about the love that Paul has for his son in the faith.

But he doesn't mince words, don't neglect the gift, stir it up.

And so he had let Paul's circumstances perhaps adversely affect him emotionally.

The word stir up there in the Thayer's Bible dictionary it means to rekindle, to inflame one's mind, strength and or zeal you know I think about in Psalm 78, it talks about that.

God, verse 38, god did not stir up all his wrath.

Proverbs 15, one grievous words stir up anger.

You know, if, if, if, if we can stir the negative up, how much more can we stir up the positive?

We can stir up the gift of God.

See, your mind is the battleground.

You know you can get disappointed, you can get under pressure.

You can get, you know you can get to start thinking wrong thoughts.

But Romans 12, 1 and 2 says that you're in charge of your body and you're in charge of your mind.

I mean, your mind is under your authority.

Who are you?

Well, you're a spirit, you live in a body and you have a mind, a soul.

Mind, will and intellect is your soul.

And Paul said present soul, mind, will and intellect is your soul.

And Paul said present your body, a living sacrifice.

And then he said be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

You renew your mind, you refresh.

The word renew means to refresh your mind, another word for stirring it up.

You'd have to stir up the right thoughts.

You know, if you've got bad thoughts coming towards, you got the negativity of this world.

I mean boy, I mean on every side.

We're being, you know, persecuted for our faith.

We're being talked about in the most negative of terms and the more you look at that, the more you think about that.

The more you think about that, the more you meditate on that.

You know it can cause you to become negative.

So we need to stir our gift of God up.

You know, I like what the old timers.

I heard an old timer say this.

You know, flies can't lie down a hot stove.

We need to keep that fire burning on the inside and be spiritually Ephesians 4, 23, be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

In other words, let's not have a carnal mind that's controlled by negative thoughts and emotions, but let's be spiritually minded.

To be spiritually minded is life and peace.

To be carnally minded is death.

This is what, even though we're talking about a young man with a great spiritual heritage.

He's got a great history.

I mean, he's an apostle, there's no question about it.

He stands in the office of an apostle, but that doesn't make him immune from temptation or exempt him from pressure, and so he needed his father in the faith to tell him the truth in a kind way but yet very direct, so he doesn't get confused.

We all need that.

We all need truth tellers.

We need to surround ourselves with people who love us enough to tell us the truth.

Not be condemning, not to condemn us, but to encourage us and exhort us.

You know, in Hebrews 13, just a few pages here forward to the right, hebrews 13, 7.

It says here remember them which have the rule over you.

It says here remember them which have the rule over you.

Another translation in my margin.

It says who are the guides, who are your spiritual guides?

That would include me, your pastor, that would include anybody that maybe.

We have teams here at the church.

It would mean your team leader, remember those which have the rule over you.

Who are your spiritual guides?

Who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

So, in other words, you know you should follow and imitate the faith of your leadership.

To follow and imitate the faith of your leadership, and that's why God doesn't use novices in positions of authority, because they are examples.

And when you're not mature enough to be a leader, then you need to be someone that follows a leader and someone who emulates and watches a leader.

See, a leader has got a lot of responsibility.

I mean, they're not only responsible for their own lives, but they're responsible for those that are watching and looking after them, and we need to be good examples.

We just had a wonderful series of teachings on our family and our parents need to be examples to their children.

You know, you're taught.

You teach your children by precept and example, and really example is one of the most important ways that children are taught.

Well, it's the same.

In church People are taught by example, the example of the leadership.

Church people are taught by example, the example of the leadership.

And so he's reminding his son in the faith, timothy, he said, man, you've got a spiritual heritage your mother, your grandmother.

I mean you need to remember them.

You remember how you got where you're at.

I think about the spiritual heritage, I didn't really have much spiritual heritage in my family, my earthly family.

My father started going to church in his 50s and he was christened, baptized as a Catholic.

He started going to Catholic church.

My mother was Catholic in those days.

I think he had a life change.

We didn't hear the word born again in the Catholic church, but I believe he qualified because his life did change.

He made a move toward God and he gave himself to learning about God and he gave himself to coming to church and praying and doing good works and so forth and so on.

I saw a change in my father as a child.

But as far as like a spiritual heritage, I didn't have that much in my home.

I mean, yes, my parents made sure where we went to church growing up, but I wasn't saved till I was an adult.

But boy, after I got saved.

I think about the spiritual heritage I had at Lakewood Church with Pastor Osteen and Dodie, and I think about all the.

I would listen on the radio every day for a couple of years.

While they were on the radio I'd listen to RW Schambach, derek Prince Charles Capps and Kenneth E Hagen.

They were quite examples to me and I was, you know, able to read their books and they would come to Lakewood and I'd get to go to their meetings and, you know, later in life I actually got to meet these people.

I got to spend some time with them Norval Hayes, and I mean just I think about the spiritual heritage that I have as a young Christian.

Growing up I had examples.

I had a lot of different flavors and different flows of ministry that influenced me and I think about full gospel businessmen.

I was around some great men of God in that and got to know them very well.

They were examples to me and helped to disciple me, and so we need to remember those that are our spiritual examples.

We need to remember that, especially when we're under pressure, let's not throw away our spiritual heritage.

Let's stir up the gift that's been given to us by association and, of course, in this case by the laying on of hands.

He had hands laid upon him by the presbytery.

He had hands laid upon him by Paul.

I've had hands laid upon me.

I mean I was thinking about this the other day but I didn't have a lot of contact with Derek Prince.

Derek Prince lived in Israel for most of his ministry and was on the radio.

I never got a chance to meet him until after we started pastoring and one time he came to TBN here Channel 14, local affiliate back then for TBN and I got a chance to meet him.

I got a chance to tell him how influential he was.

When I was a baby, christian and Gladys and I knelt at his feet and he laid his hands on us and prayed over us there in the green room before we went out and interviewed him.

I mean, what an honor it was to get to complete that circle, you know, to actually get to see him and talk to him, and I think the next year he went to heaven.

I mean, you know, just amazing.

So stir up the gift.

Let's stir up the gift of God that we have in us.

And so I've got four ways that we can do that tonight.

Just simple to put you in remembrance.

Number one stir up the gift by remembering God and his power and his love.

You know, remember.

Let's look at 2 Peter.

You know, sometimes we just need to remember.

Don't forget.

2 Peter 1, verse 13.

2 Peter 1:13

Yea, I think it meet as long as I'm in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.

See, I mean Peter's talking to his disciples.

I'm going to put you in remembrance, see, I mean Peter's talking to his disciples.

I'm going to put you in remembrance, I'm going to stir you up.

And then, in chapter three, verse one, he says the same thing.

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you.

In both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, I'm reminding you of what I've told you.

I'm reminding you of what I've taught you.

You know, it's not new things that we need.

We need to hear the same things over and over.

You know, a few years ago God told me teach what you take for granted.

I've taught these principles over and over again.

I'm going to keep teaching and preaching them because we need to be reminded.

In Psalm 78, you know, the children of Israel forgot.

They forgot God's miracles and they limited God.

So forgetfulness is very costly.

So we need to stir up the gift that we've been given.

The second thing is to stir up the name of Jesus.

Oh, we've been given the exclusive right and privilege to use his name.

No one else besides a born again Christian has the right to use the name of Jesus.

In fact, really, what you hear is people use the name of Jesus in vain, they use it as a curse word.

But we have the ability to use his name when we lay hands on the sick, or when we cast out devils, or when we pray or whenever.

You know, we have the exclusive right to use that mighty name and you've been named with his name.

You know, the Bible says Isaiah.

His name is wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace, everlasting father.

He's known as the king of glory.

He's known as the King of Glory.

He's known as the Lord of the Armies of Heaven.

He's known as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

He's known as the soon-coming King.

I mean he's known in so many ways and we've been named with that name.

I mean we have his precious blood.

I mean I, you know, we have dna and we've got our earthly blood, but really the blood that really counts is the blood by which he redeemed us and bought us.

We've been redeemed by the precious blood of christ as of a lamb without blemish, without spot, and so we have that name that we are able to use.

Hurl that name in the face of the circumstances.

At the face of the circumstances, at the face of the thoughts that the devil throws at your mind.

Quit owning the thoughts that you have.

Oh, I shouldn't think that.

No, you didn't think that the devil threw that thought at you to see what you would do.

Use the name of Jesus to give it right back to him.

Stir up the name of Jesus, praise God, thank you, thank God for the name of Jesus.

It is the name above every name.

Boy, what weapons we have.

Number three stir up the word of God.

I mean, you know, I know I sound like a broken record, but here in 2 Timothy that we just read, we'll go back to that.

2 Timothy 1, in verse 13.

Again, he's talking to his son in the faith who's discouraged.

Obviously he's sad, he's timid, he's afraid, he's taking on shame.

He's got some things going on as a man of God he needs to get a hold of and he needs to get those under his feet.

And so what does he say in verse 13?

Hold fast the form of sound words which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

You know, you know what to say.

You've heard me say it a million times.

You start saying what I'm saying Hold fast.

Hold fast those sound words, so you know what are you saying.

What are you saying about your situation?

Are you using these words?

Do they stir up fear?

Do they stir up shame?

Do they stir up guilt?

Do they stir up you know the up guilt?

Do they stir up the negative or are they stirring up the gift of God?

Say what are you saying out of your mouth.

We've been talking a lot about building our world with words, and so we need to develop a systematic discourse.

It's not what we say once, it's what we keep on saying, and you have negative thoughts.

Well, start answering those thoughts with God's Word and then don't stop one time.

Just keep saying that, keep saying it, keep saying it until the devil is put on the run.

You use the Word of God in the name of Jesus.

The devil will leave you alone.

He might not leave you alone forever, but he will leave you alone.

In this particular situation, you gain the victory over this latest skirmish that you've got.

So we remember God and his power.

Don't forget his love and his power.

He loves you.

He's given you his power.

Stir up the name of Jesus, stir up the word of God and then, finally, you need to stir up your own spirit.

You need to edify yourself.

Stir yourself up.

First, corinthians 14, four says he that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself.

And so we need to do that.

We need to pray much in other tongues.

We need to make it a practice to speak to pray in other tongues.

Why?

Because the Bible says when we pray in other tongues, we need to make it a practice to speak to pray in other tongues.

Why?

Because the Bible says when we pray in other tongues, our spirit prays, so it's spiritual activity, and that we build ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.

Jude, verse 20,.

This says about the same thing as 1 Corinthians 14, 4.

And so when we pray in other tongues, our spirit is edified, our spirit the word edify is kind of like charging a battery.

You know, if you ever had your battery go out on you.

You know it starts with just you know sometimes it's sudden.

You know you don't even have any warning.

These modern cars are kind of strange.

Everything is normal and then all of a sudden one day your car is kind of slow to start, it kind of bogs down.

That might start.

And then the next time you go out there all it's going to do is click Well, you waited too long.

Now your battery's gone.

You might as well get ready to replace your battery, because that's what's going to probably have to happen.

They last about three years.

As long as they last about three years is all they last.

And so you know you need to stir your spirit up, you need to build it up and edify it by praying much in other tongues.

And when you do, then you become more God inside minded.

First, john 4, 4, greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.

When you pray in tongues on a regular basis and build yourself up, you walk around God inside minded.

You know that the Holy Ghost is on the inside of you to put you over in every circumstance you face.

You never feel like you're at a loss, you never feel intimidated.

Why?

Because you're just see, you've just built yourself up, built yourself up by praying in tongues, and so we all need this.

You know he's a veteran.

Timothy's a veteran.

Timothy is a God-called apostle, and yet he was having trouble, that he needed to address these things, and Paul showed him the way out, and the Holy Ghost is showing you the way out today.

If you're on the edges of discouragement, you're on the edges of things that are just afflicting you, hey, there's a way out.

The way out is stir yourself up and build yourself up on your most holy faith.

Praise God, lift your hands and receive tonight.

Thank God for the Holy Ghost, thank God for the gift of God that we have, the spiritual heritage that we have.

Hallelujah.

Stand on the shoulders of great men and women of God that have gone before us and they've imparted to us valuable things.

Praise God, hallelujah.