"Weapons of a Christian Soldier: Bellows" - 2 Timothy 1:1-7

And turning your Bibles to 2 Timothy, and I will be reading verses 1 through, excuse me, 1 through 7.

It is important that we pay attention.

It's going to be on the screen behind me as well.

Please read it there.

Read it in your word, in the Bible.

It is important that everybody sees the word and understands it.

That we do not just look to whoever's in the pulpit at the moment, but we need to trust the Lord in his word.

We need to look to this and look to the Lord.

So let us read it together.

2 Timothy, excuse me, I will read it and please read in your scripture with me.

So I'm sorry.

We might have different translations.

That might be interesting.

2 Timothy 1, verses 1 through 7.

2 Timothy 1:1–7

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved Son, grace and mercy and peace from God the Father and Jesus and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, in the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

This is the word of God.

You may be seated.

Pastor Brian, would you please come and lead us in prayer, or in the preaching of the word?

It is a joy and a privilege once again and an honor to be before you for the preaching of the word.

And as we begin this year, again, I just want to say thank you for the privilege of being able to do this week after week.

It is a gift.

Let's pray.

Father, we are needy.

We are needy for your spirit to intercede for the truth of your word to impact us, to refresh us, to embolden us, and to challenge us as we live for Christ, as we live as Christ.

And so use your spirit, Father, in this time we pray to change us.

That we would see the fact that we're not just wanderers here on this earth, but we are soldiers for Christ.

So give us conviction and boldness in this work.

Lead and guide my mouth, my mind, my heart, my brain as I proclaim your truth.

And that we would all receive the truth of your word and your word alone.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Well, as I said, we're blessed to be able to dive into a new study.

I'm excited to be able to read and study through 2 Timothy with you as we begin the new year.

What a gift, what a kind gift of God's grace to allow us to have this rich letter, this treasure of his word.

As I mentioned before, it'll be about two and a half months or so, and we're going to see the beauty of what it looks like to be a soldier for Christ.

Now, this is a theme that Paul really brings out to us in this little letter, and we'll get to more of that later on that he wrote to Timothy.

But this is also a theme of the Bible, and therefore the Church of Jesus Christ.

We will see in chapter two that Paul uses militaristic language to compare and contrast being a soldier in the secular world with being a soldier for Christ, and he identifies some similarities.

And throughout the book, again, the Bible for that matter, we see this same theme being used: being a soldier for Jesus Christ.

I mean, think about Joshua in the Old Testament, that great general, soldiering on all the way down to us today, as we look at 2 Timothy.

What a privilege it is.

And what a time in our lives to be able to study this.

We talked a little bit about these things in our Sunday school this morning.

We see this incredibly politically divisive nature and strife here in our country.

It seemed to be the theme of our major cities for some reason.

We even have still calls to get rid of police and enter into anarchy in our country.

Violence and murder in the largest cities is just kind of normal.

But most importantly, we see a very sharp rise in the persecution of Christians across the globe.

Joe prayed for those of Saudi Arabia.

That was our country of the week, so to speak, in our prayer email.

Think about North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, numerous others, all just ramping up their hatred for Christ by torturing and killing his people.

But it's not just those countries that are led by dictators or terror groups.

Even the Western culture, including here in America, is continuing to legislate heathenism and paganism regularly.

For example, just thinking back, one of the things that struck me was there was a pastor in Canada in 2021 who was pulled over, taken out of his car, and cuffed on the ground, hogtie style, for what?

Going to church.

Holding a worship service on the Lord's Day, as is commanded in the Bible.

This is a year and a half, you probably know that's got to be from COVID, but this is a year and a half after those initial shutdowns.

The SWAT, I'm not exaggerating, the SWAT team in Alberta, Canada.

Canada! That doesn't.

North Korea, okay, makes sense.

But Canada, our neighbor.

The SWAT team was told to use any means necessary to take him in because he held worship service in the church.

And they pulled him over on a highway in front of so many people watching this.

And he did not resist arrest, and yet they hog tied him.

That's just one really small example.

We could go to beheadings, we could go to horrible things that Christians suffer all over the world right now for the sake of Christ.

Think about those in Afghanistan with the Taliban or Al-Qaeda or Nigeria with those Muslim groups.

Boko Haram, I mean, just on and on and on.

Soldiers for Christ.

So I just want to say, brothers and sisters, no matter what it is like for us here in this free country currently, we must be ready.

We must be ready to take that torch of faith and display it proudly as we live for Christ, to the glory of Christ, no matter what comes our way.

We're soldiers.

And we have a heavenly general who will make sure that we see eternal victory, because the battle's already won, isn't it?

And so let us strive to serve our captain as good soldiers together.

Therefore, as we study 2 Timothy, each message, week after week, on the Lord's Day, we're going to see a new weapon that the Christian soldier has to use and to employ in this battle.

And it is a battle.

Now, as we dive into this, I want you to remember these weapons aren't for the gun case.

Okay?

They're not for the museum, like the weapons of the wars of old that we've set aside and encased as monuments.

These weapons are to be used, they are to be active, we are to be continually training with these weapons, drilling and drilling and drilling on them as we polish them and clean them daily and for daily use.

You know, when the Korean War came about, we as a country, we were so ill-prepared because it was only around five years after the conclusion of World War II, we literally had to take tanks off of their platforms at visitor museums and put them into the front lines.

Detach them from their shiny spots at these military museums and put them back into service.

That kind of thing can never happen with the weapons that we use as Christian soldiers.

There is no safe to go set them aside for the next use.

The reason is, for one, we're never going to come up with more advanced weaponry than what the Bible has already given us.

And for two, again and again, use them daily.

He's given them to us.

And so let's dive into this passage and see what we're to be utilizing and training with.

And first, as we do this, as we look into this series and this passage, I want us to be reminded before we get to that of the authority of this little letter or book.

Again, the reason Paul starts off like he does here, he's not bragging, he's not being arrogant.

I am an apostle.

It's not that.

He's identifying himself as a servant of God, as a servant of Christ Jesus, because he wants to validate the authority.

Now here's the thing.

I don't have to tell you that we have much debate today as to what books are what we call canonical or what are a part of the complete word of God in Scripture.

We have the Catholics who, for example, have the Apocrypha.

We have many people who doubt the sufficiency of Scripture as they add man's creations, such as the Gospel of Thomas or the Book of Enoch.

Those are not God's word.

They are exclusively from the pen of men.

Now, without getting into the exclusivicity of what we call the canon of Scripture, the complete word of God, and how we can be assured that we have it, we can have that conversation, but not here, right now.

What we see here, though, from the pen of Paul as he begins the letter, is a wonderful assurance that this letter is from the Holy Spirit.

Paul, the apostle, himself wrote it, or at least dictated it while in prison.

And so this letter has behind it apostolic authority.

You can take to the bank that the Holy Spirit inspired 2 Timothy.

This is God's word to us.

And so what's coming must be vital.

Interestingly, this, as we know, is Paul's last letter written around A.D.

66.

Because Paul had been taken from the relative comforts of his own lodging in Rome under house arrest to now being in the Roman dungeon nearing the end of his life.

He's old at this time and he's ill.

Verse 16 of the first chapter speaks of his chains, and as we'll see in verse 6 of the fourth chapter, he knows that the time of death is near.

And it reminds me of something George Whitfield said a couple hundred years ago-ish about John Bunyan's writings.

Maybe you've heard of the Pilgrim's Progress and some of his other writings.

George Whitfield said when he read them, he realized they smelled of prison.

They smelled of prison.

That's the same thing with 2 Timothy.

It smells of prison.

And it's glorious.

But as always, when Paul begins his letter, he is not thinking of self.

He's thinking of Timothy.

And he's thinking of Timothy's need to stay strong and lead well.

It becomes somewhat obvious as you read through 1 and 2 Timothy that Timothy kind of struggles with fear or timidity.

It's mentioned a few times.

Have you ever felt timid in your faith before?

Have you ever had that experience of feeling as though the fear of man, the world, the doubts of all kinds are just kind of this crushing weight?

Where you're doubting the Lord's goodness.

Maybe his kindness.

Maybe you're doubting his justice.

I see this.

Maybe you're even doubting his existence.

Or you have.

You wouldn't be the first person.

You wouldn't even be the first person right now within the walls of this church who has had those kind of doubts.

You definitely wouldn't be the first person in church history to have a timid faith.

And I'm not just speaking of being timid and making disciples, though that definitely applies.

Have you ever been timid before others, before the world, maybe even before the man or woman in the mirror?

Therefore, before the God of the very universe.

Well, if that's been you, don't despair.

You're not alone.

In fact, I'd say you're in good company in your need for growth.

Not that you should stay there, of course, as the Lord works through his word in you, but remember, even giants in the faith have been timid at one time in their lives.

It's been a constant struggle for some folks.

Our brother Timothy, Paul's treasured son in the faith, seems to struggle just like this.

Seems to be why Paul starts off 2 Timothy like he does.

As Paul is in prison, most of his companions have abandoned him.

So he wants to encourage the shy Timothy to remain steadfast in his faith.

That's a challenge, isn't it?

Paul's in prison.

We all have things that are challenging for us, things that lead us to be timid or maybe even prone to sin.

And for this brother, I think what we can draw is for Timothy, it's his timidity in regards to leadership.

He has a timid spirit in trying to lead the people as an elder pastor of the church.

Timothy may not have even sinned in that, but since Paul knew him well, he knew his propensities, he writes him in this way to encourage him and to warn him and to strengthen him.

Maybe for many of us, we're timid because we fear death.

We fear death.

He says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Jesus.

According to the promise of life in Jesus.

In Christ Jesus.

Maybe it's those wars, maybe it's unjust laws, maybe it's pestilence or, oh no, a new variant, a new flu, a new this, a new that.

It's always something.

Maybe it's pain, maybe it's persecutions.

Paul gives Timothy, the young man in the faith, and us here today, the antidote.

Jesus promises life.

We're not talking about tomorrow.

I'm talking heaven.

Therefore, Paul says, fast forwarding a bit to verse 6, kindle the flame of faith in you, brother.

Kindle it! My family loves campfires.

In fact, we love them so much we try to heat our house exclusively with wood.

And to do this, as you know, you've got to have kindling to get it going.

For any good fire, you need oxygen, right?

So in getting a fire going, what you need to do to get it nice and hot is to fan the flame.

Maybe to blow on the flame.

That beginning point.

Therefore, I would say the first weapon in the arsenal for the Christian soldier is maybe a little bit weird for you, but I'm calling it bellows.

The bellows, not pillows.

Don't hear me wrong.

We don't lie down on a pillow until the Lord comes.

That's not a weapon, that's a weakness.

No, we take our bellows out and we fan the flame of faith.

We kindle it up.

That's what Paul says.

Timothy, you're shy, you're timid.

Grab the bellows.

Grab it.

Now, bellows, if you're unfamiliar, is a device that fills with air when expanded.

And when the two handles are squeezed together, the bag type material at the end, you can tell I'm really skilled in this, a bag-type material at the end of the two handles then forces the air out.

And it's aimed at the coals at the start of a fire, and they end up providing a more robust flame, and it gets it going.

And the flame that comes from the stoking of a bellows is it ends up being a fierce fire that burns hot and provides both heat and light.

Bellows.

Rapid oxygen given to a small flame through the bellows is a great way to think of the weapons of a soldier.

I know.

It's probably not the weapon that the boys in here were hoping for.

But it is a needed weapon in the arsenal for the Christian.

Because the flame of our faith needs to be kindled and fanned, and we need the bellows of the Word of God to be that thing that stokes our lives into lives that glow brightly and provide light to the sinner and warmth and resolve and conviction to our own souls.

We have the promise of eternal life with the King of Kings.

Fan that flame.

Remind yourself of that assured hope by reading the word, relishing in his promise.

Timothy is the immediate recipient of this letter, is being challenged by Paul to once again fan your flame of faith, brother.

Fan it.

Get it going.

How does Paul do this?

What does Paul say to him?

Same thing we need to hear today.

If we are timid in our faith, maybe we're not timid in the faith, we still need to hear it.

With the doubts of the world and the fear of man all around us.

And so let's look at these things.

First, back to verse 1.

As we've already spoken of, remember that it is the very will of God that not only called Paul to be an apostle, but it is by his very will that we have the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Death has no sting to the man or woman who is in Christ.

But Jesus did not only just defeat death and leave it there, he provides life.

Not just the life that we live here.

He does give that in abundance, doesn't he?

Praise God.

Even through this suffering, there's abundant life.

But let us never see that as the great gift.

He promises and assures us eternal life.

And one of Satan's great deceptions is for us to have a focus of this life only.

We die, that's it.

Therefore, live for this life now.

Is your best life now?

That's garbage.

That's not true.

It's all about that life to come.

Because living for this life ends up being a pitiful existence.

We have the promise of eternal life, according to the grace of Christ Jesus.

Kindle that in yourself with your weapon.

Put the bellows to it and fan that day by day as you remember the promises.

Second, look at verses 2 to 5.

We are to have the bellows of each other in intimate and closer than blood relationship.

What I mean is that a big part of us having our faith kindled afresh is to be with and live with each other in the church of Christ.

Look at what Paul says.

I thank God whom I serve.

Why?

Because I remember you.

You longing to see you, longing to be with you, he says.

With tears.

Don't we?

He longs to be with the people.

Do you long on Monday morning to see your people again?

Hebrews 10 25 teaches us to never forsake our assembling together.

That doesn't mean that you can never miss a day of Lord's uh of worship on the Lord's Day, but what it means is that our brothers and sisters should be so, oh, where are they at?

Are they okay?

Why?

Because the Christian's new desire, the soldier's new desire, is to be together with his people, with his brigade, if you will, before the general.

The follower of Christ can hardly wait to worship again with his brothers and sisters.

Now, if that doesn't describe you, it's okay to feel the sting of not loving the gathering time with God's people.

But don't let that describe you any longer.

Beg God for mercy and having a right desire for the things of God and his word, starting today.

Beg him to give you a love for the people in this church that is far beyond anything you've ever known.

You see, it is abnormal for the people of God not to be together on Sunday mornings and even throughout the week, but the Sunday morning gathering time is the time that we set aside for this corporate worship.

And as the passage in Hebrews 10, 25, as it goes on to teach us, one of the things we do when we gather for worship is we encourage one another.

It says right before that in verse 24 that we are to consider how to stimulate one another on to love and good deeds, all the while we're waiting for the return of the King, King Jesus.

Now, so much could be said on that, but I just simply say, I'm thankful to the Lord for this time when we get to come together.

This gathering.

I long to see you.

I love to be with you.

Is that you?

The reason I ask that is because I would say it's a part of our kindling faith.

We need each other.

You and I need each other to have the bellows.

Not that the person next to you is a windbag, but that their life in Christ would be that which fans your flame of faith and solidifies your resolve to live out the word and to live for Christ.

We need each other.

You can't do it alone.

As we talked about in Sunday school again, there is no Lone Ranger Christian.

It's not possible.

The Bible's clear.

That's why Paul speaks so tenderly of Timothy.

He calls him, oh, you're my son in the faith.

My beloved son.

No, Paul is not his biological dad.

He did not adopt him.

He is speaking of a bond that's stronger than that, more precious than that.

He is speaking to the fatherly role he plays in his spiritual life before the Lord.

So he challenges him.

Remain strong.

Kindle your faith.

This is what brothers and sisters do.

We challenge one another as we encourage one another.

We need each other day by day to do this.

We're family.

Eternal, godly, heavenly family in Christ, and us being together, living out the Lord's will and word, will necessarily fan the flame of faith in one another as we even pray for one another, as Paul says here.

Diligently.

Verse 4, he says he longs to see him and recalls to mind the tears in that beautiful gospel relationship that they have.

Then in verse 5, Paul says that he's mindful of the sincere faith that Timothy has.

And finally in verse 6, he says, he gives them the charge to kindle his faith.

Timothy wasn't wavering whether or not God is real.

We have no indication of him saying, I don't think Jesus is God who came in the flesh.

It's not that.

Timothy's struggling with having courage, having boldness to lead people, to shut down divisions, to halt the wayward living, to silence the false teachers.

Don't be timid, Paul says.

Remember the faith that was impressed upon you by the Lord's grace.

Remember it.

Remember, I even laid my hands on you for the work of shepherding the flock of God.

And as we read in the book of Acts, his mother Eunice is known out one of the converts, it came by God's grace through the mouth of Paul.

We even see here that his grandmother Lois was also saved, undoubtedly, by one of Paul's mission trips as he came to Lystra.

And so by God's mighty grace, Timothy has been brought up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Isn't that beautiful?

Talk about being kindled, having the bellows.

Now I'm not going to spend a ton of time in this here, but parents, please hear this.

Timothy ended up as a giant in the faith, a famous Christian, a man who led the great Ephesian church, even with his struggles.

He became the son of Paul by Paul's own words.

He became this great man that we speak of often in the church.

We name our kids after him, all by God's grace, but it came through the witness and shaping of his mother and grandmother.

We're not told specifically, but his dad's not a believer and not around.

But his mom and his grandma blessed him in this way.

Parents, if you train up your child in the faith, if you show them the gospel daily in and through the scriptures and in how you live, then you will give them an incredible leg up when it comes to following after Christ.

You can't save them, but you can take them.

You are the bellows that will do one of two things.

You will either remain dormant and useless if you refuse to bless your children and lead them in the gospel and family worship, or you will be the bellows that are full of air, stoking, fanning the flame of heat and light, the heat and light of the word, preparing your child to have that unique ability to respond to the gospel with a surety when the Lord plows up their heart.

How will they know, the Bible says?

How will they know without a preacher?

Your words, your life, your worship preaches either Christ or the world.

For Timothy, he has been blessed to have both his mother and his grandmother be the bellows of his spark of faith.

Yeah, men in here, dads, especially, that is for you first.

That's your charge in the home.

Church, that doesn't alleviate our responsibility to these little ones.

Whether you have kids, whether you have kids in this church or not, your job is to be an active part of fanning the flame of faith in the children.

They're the next generation of members.

Guess what?

We're not going to live forever.

Be the bellows of faithfulness and presence that they're desperately needed.

Invest in them.

Show them what it looks like to study the word, show them what it looks like to live for Christ.

I love Titus 2.

It tells us that the older men are to train up the younger men, the older women are to train up the younger ones.

Yeah, it is parents first and foremost, but the church is also called to make disciples, and it's not just over in Uganda.

What about those ones right here?

In whatever way the Lord would lead you, invest in them, pray for them daily as they grow.

And please, please, please pray for the parents.

Pray that God would even raise up a Timothy right here in Prairie Baptist Church.

So in light of his faith from his youth, Paul says to Timothy, remember what you were taught.

Remember what your mother and grandmother said.

Remember what I've trained you in.

He doesn't doubt Timothy's faith because he needs to stand strong and be challenged.

He's saying, Remember the faith, remember the gospel, remember what the Lord has done, allow the bellows of the recalled word of God that you heard in the faith, allow that thing to be the thing that sparks your faith to stand firm and have the power to love and walk in discipline.

To lead unashamedly with truth.

One way to kindle the fire of faith that resides in the believer is just to remember the gospel, to proclaim it to yourself every day.

And I would say, beg God that He would allow your bones to burn with the fierce fire of gospel remembrance each time you fall into anxiety.

Each time you're shy in your faith.

Each time you doubt God's goodness.

Allow the gospel and the truth of it that is on your hearts and minds to just burn with ferocious flame from the dual handles of grace and truth on the bellows of faith.

Remember the sincere faith that dawned on your heart.

Take out the weapon of bellows, out of your armory, out of that case, and put it in both hands.

And stoke up your trust, stoke up your faith in the wondrous beauty of the all-powerful God once again.

Every day.

Day after day, multiple times a day.

Fourth.

Look at verse 6 again.

I would frame this as be catechized by God's word.

Maybe some of you are saying, What did you just say?

For those of us who do not grow up in the rich tradition of being catechized, the word catechism simply means to teach orally or to instruct by word of mouth.

Because here's the deal: there is something catechizing you at all times.

Parents, somebody is catechizing your kids.

Is it you in the Word of God or something else?

Someone or something is catechizing us.

Maybe it's your numerous social media platforms teaching you how to think?

Is it your news outlet of choice?

Are there politicians who teach you how to think?

No, nobody's gonna be like, yeah, he that's I don't think unless he says.

Okay, it's not that.

But are they framing your mind in such a way?

Are the cultural movements of our day speaking to you and teaching you where to stand on things?

Is it your friends, your neighbor, your coworker?

Or is it the very word of God?

For the growing Christian who is shirking his or her natural tendency to be timid or to listen to the world, it is the word of God that comes and becomes impressed upon our hearts by the Spirit in faith.

And so the word of the world diminishes.

But if the voices of the world is what is catechizing you, if you're spending so much time on social media that it then starts to frame how you think, then you will be timid in your faith.

You may be vocal, but you'll be timid in the truth because you don't know it.

Quick survey for you if this has taken place is to ask a question.

Probably know exactly what I'm gonna say.

Do I spend more time on social media or watching the news or whatever it is than I do studying the word and reflecting on the gospel?

If the answer is yes, then you are being catechized by something or something, someone that is not God in his word.

That's what will frame your thoughts and your emotions and your life.

And that thing, I can guarantee you, whatever it is, I don't even have to know whatever it is, I can guarantee you it is two things.

It is exhausting and it is extinguishing if it's not the word.

I'm not saying we can't watch the news, I'm not saying we can't do the things.

But does it consume us?

Does it control us?

Does it teach us?

The things of this world will eventually extinguish the light and flame of faith within you.

They will consume your oxygen of faith.

They will be a shield and a wall against the weapon of bellows that you bear.

But if it is the word, if it is his people, his promises, his gospel, if that's what's catechizing you, teaching you, then the scriptures are now the great and mighty bellows that are beautifully kindling afresh your faith and your hope, and your and your life will one day be these things.

It will one day, it will come to be a life of power, love, and discipline.

Praise be to God.

As verse 7 shows us, the believer's life is to be marked by these things as the timidity of unbelief is crowded out by the flames of faith that are bolstered by the bellows of trust in the Lord.

Look at these three words for just a few moments with me: power, love, discipline.

I remind you, if you're a Christian, God has given you his spirit, the Holy Spirit, a third member of the Trinity, and dwells within you.

Therefore, you do not have the gift of cowardice.

You do not have a spirit, a heart of timidity.

God has gifted you with the spirit or the heart action to be able to walk in power.

And now you are able to fear the Lord with humble reverence.

But you walk in power in the world.

And I love this word power here, the Greek word.

You may know this is dunamis.

What does that sound like?

It's alright.

You guessed it.

Where do we get our word dynamite from?

We have as a gift from God what I would say is dynamic and explosive power.

Not that ridiculous kind with limited or reckless control, like a stick of dynamite being chucked, but the kind that produces high amounts of energy and therefore expansion, obliterating the rocks and walls of timidity and anxiety that block us from Christ.

And here's the amazing part.

Just dipping in just a bit to next week's sermon in verse 8, we see that this power is the very power of God in us.

Not that we're God, please don't ever think that.

Nor are we as powerful as God, not even close.

But that our power source is not some man-made invention.

It is from the hand of the Almighty.

Therefore, kindle it afresh.

Fan the flame of the supernatural power that is within you as you seek to do his will.

And please don't ever make the mistake of thinking that, okay, I'm a Christian, I've got the power of God in me, the Bible says, by the Spirit of God, and so that's awesome.

And now it's to make me something.

It's not there to make you something or to boost your status or promote your agenda and your work and your abilities.

No, the power of God is in you to promote the glory of God and to give you the supernatural ability to powerfully express God's work and will in your own life and the world at large.

Because you see, here's the deal: the hordes of hell, the enemies of Christ, the soldiers of Satan, the host of worldly teachings, a vast camp of false religions, they're all at once going to be on the offensive, attacking, seeking to destroy, to draw our attentions and our affections.

But for the one who has the power of Christ in them, living for him, we will endure and we will stand resolute to live for his will, to live for his purposes in us, because it is power from on high, and it's not about us.

And so as we stoke and fan the flame of power in us to do the will of God with the weapon of the mighty bellows, your fear will shrink back.

Isn't that good news?

Your timidity will be crushed, and we will stand firm for the truth, and we will end up leading others this way because the fire of faith has been kindled in us, and the Lord's grace is upon us, and we have taken up our weapon.

We are cherishing the word, we're being nourished by it, and the heat and the light of our faith is burning brightly with power in the will of God.

Dynamic power.

We're also going to be a people, it says, empowered by love.

In verse 7 again, we can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens us, even unto love.

Love, the likeness of which the world cannot know.

This power, again, is not unbridled power that we see in the world's structures, laced with sin or lust for control.

This power from God is laced with and even tempered by the love of God in us.

And so the word love here is not merely brotherly love that's depicted in the Bible.

It is literally the word agape.

God's love.

God loves with a certain kind of love.

It's not a sensual nor brotherly love, it is a faithful and committed love.

A love that knows no bounds, it is primarily a sacrificial love.

A relentless love.

Notice I didn't use the word reckless, like some of the songs today use.

It is relentless.

And it comes from God alone, and the only way for us to emulate that is by his power in us.

What this means is that this kind of love does not have any conditions attached.

How does that sound?

It's a full love, a vibrant love, a love that comes and is extended no matter the recipient's character nor actions.

It could be our very persecutors that receive that kind of love from us.

Is that you?

Do you have the power of God's love flowing through you to others?

Or are you bound right now to the love of self like the world?

Do you love the people of this church before yourself?

Just simply start there.

Has a right understanding of the church come to you in your life in such a way that you must, and I repeat the word must, seek and regard people's interests in this church over and above your own.

In all things.

Not just being nice, the world can do that.

But selflessly laying down your life and your preferences at their feet.

Timothy was reminded that timidity in the faith is unloving.

In fact, it's unloving to lead with timidity.

It is unloving to live in a spirit of fear, therefore, it is of power to love with the love that Christ shows us and gives us, a sacrificing love.

A love that knows no bounds nor barriers, a love that denies self and serves.

A love that stops the tongue from focusing on self by being slow to speak.

A love that refuses to gossip.

A love that has real power behind it, the love of Christ in us, the power of Christ in us.

You would lay down your life for your brothers and sisters in the faith because of this love in you.

And I'm not just talking about with a bullet, I'm talking about every day.

This kind of love manifests itself first and foremost in loving the love giver.

We love God and seek to be obedient to his will and word, and that is what causes us to be able to fulfill this second greatest commandment, is really what we're talking about.

And it's with that kind of power in us, then and only then, can we then love each other with this godly and self-sacrificing love.

And so I say, fan the flame of loving others by loving your God.

As you love and cherish your creator and Savior, you will then be compelled to love others by the very nature of who you have become.

So again I say, take the bellows of love out of the armory and seek to intensify your love for each other.

As you fuel your love for God by remembering who he is, remembering what he's done, and what he calls you to as you reflect on his word.

Power.

Love.

Fanning the flame in that.

And then lastly, he says discipline.

Discipline.

That's a lost truth in our day and age.

I love the King James that says sound mind.

That doesn't mean that you're insane or out of your mind in the worldly sense, if you're timid or fearful in your life.

But in the spiritual sense of things, I would say it does.

Think about it.

Are you insane?

Think about that.

Are you out of your mind?

What are you afraid of?

Why are you timid?

Why is your faith not growing?

Who is God?

Sound mind.

A timid faith is a sterile faith.

A robust faith, a faith of power and love, is a faith.

That is disciplined.

It is enthusiastically disciplined.

It is wise with sound truth and sharp discernment.

A disciplined leader is a good leader, and he's going to enact to make sure that others are of sound mind, disciplined in the faith.

Now, this isn't a fun-killing way of life.

It is a rigid, disciplined way of life and faith that allows for real joy and therefore godly good times as we live and exemplify real love.

Kindle your discipline every day.

Read.

Study the word.

Apply it to your lives.

Be with your people.

Be disciplined in this.

Not mere rigorous routine for routine's sake, but for godliness, for power.

And if you ever want to truly love, this is how it's done.

This too, this discipline is a gift of God's.

He has given us the ability to do something the world cannot.

Self-disciplined.

Pursuing holiness, walking godly.

We can do and be a part of wonderful things now without the stain of pride creeping in.

Doesn't that knowledge just give you a motivation?

We can fail and watch the power of the Spirit in us keep us from being destroyed by the effects of depression and despair.

As long as we're not being timid and fearful.

Because those two devices of the world, they're faith crushers.

That's not what the Lord has given us, the Bible says.

Therefore, we can be assured that if we are fearful of the world and its things, its devices, if we're timid in our faith, not just timid in proclaiming it, but in living it out, then we can know that those are poisonous gifts of the world, like the Trojan horse.

It sneaks in and rots and destroys us from the inside out.

Therefore, again, we have to fan the flames of faith.

That's why he says, Kindle it afresh.

Don't allow it to overtake you.

Don't allow your spark of faith to be put out.

Kindle it afresh.

Those three things are in you if you're in Christ.

Take out the bellows of self-control, of discipline, of being in the sound mind as you stoke awake every day your obedience to Him and His Word.

You cannot conjure these things up in yourself, power, love, and discipline.

You cannot create them yourself.

They are already yours.

As you live by faith in Christ.

You can either squelch them or stoke them.

It's up to us.

You can either grab the bellows destroying harpoon of doubt and fear.

Or you can grab both handles of that sweet oxygen infusing bellows and then fan, stoke, and intensify the flame of faith that the Lord has given you.

What's it going to be, soldier for Christ?

Will you remember the promises of God?

Will you live side by side, day in and day out, with your brothers and sisters in the faith?

Will you kindle afresh your love for the gospel and its author and the sincere faith you have been given?

Will you be taught or catechized by the written word of God alone?

Will you live with God-given power, God-given love, and God-given discipline, or will you shrivel away to look like the world in a community of spiritually anemic people that reside in timidity and fear?

Grab the bellows.

The bellows of faith.

Fan the flame.

Ignite your spark once again, you who have wandered and lacked.

Allow the white hot faith that you have in Christ to once again roar intensely inside of you as you live for your king.

Kindle afresh the gift of God.

Be invigorated in your faith.

You've been given not just salvation, you've been given a mighty armory.

Light it up.

You may have a smoldering coal inside of you of faith right now.

Grab the bellows.

The word.

Power, love, discipline.

Stir it up.

Give it oxygen.

Give it life.

Give it the word.

Give it your people.

No matter what the world is doing.

Heat and light.

Let that be the theme of our faith as we grab the bellows and kindle afresh our resolve.

New year.

Our resolve to live for God as good soldiers.

And so I just say this: pick up your weapon and fight.

Don't be found to be a coward laying on the side, laying down on the fight, pretending to be hurt, pretending to be wounded.

Maybe you are wounded.

Unless it's mortal, pick up your weapon and fight.

Fight for truth.

Fight for one another.

Fight for purity.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us every tool, every weapon we need to live for your glory.

You have given us everything there is for life and for godliness.

And so we ask you to give us resolve.

We ask you that you would change our hearts' motivation to live for your glory and for the good of those around us.

And we ask you that we would stoke a wake a fire in our bones that lives for the gospel of Christ before a dying and hateful world.

May your name be glorified in and through Pray Baptists as we do this together.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.