Level Up – The Epistles Summer 2024
II Timothy
◼ Introduction – NIV Study Bible
o Author
▪ Paul (1:1)
o Date and Place of Writing
▪ A.D. 64-67
▪ Prison in Rome (Nero)
o Recipients
▪ Timothy primarily, the church secondary (4:22 – The Lord be with your (singular) spirit. Grace be with you (plural).
o Purpose – Why did Paul write this letter?
▪ Paul is lonely (1:15; 4:10).
▪ Paul was concerned about the welfare of the churches during Nero’s persecution. He tells Timothy to guard the gospel (1:14), to persevere in it (3:14), to keep on preaching it (4:2), and if necessary to suffer for it (1:8; 2:3).
▪ Paul appeals to Timothy to remain loyal to Christ and to the gospel as he contemplates the end of his life.
◼ The Bible Project – highlights
o This is Paul's final and most personal letter.
▪ He wrote it from yet another time in prison in Rome.
▪ It is addressed to Paul's dear co-worker and protégé, the young Timothy.
o Paul is in the middle of his court trial. He is pretty sure he is not going to survive this one.
▪ Out of this very dark situation, Paul appeals to Timothy to come be with him in prison so Paul can pass on to him the church planting mission he started.
o The letter's design is pretty simple. There are two large sections:
▪ Paul challenges Timothy first to accept his calling as a leader.
▪ Then, before he comes to Paul, to deal with the corrupt teachers that are still causing problems in Ephesus.
▪ After this Paul concludes the letter.
o Paul begins by thanking God for Timothy and his family, specifically for his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice.
▪ They immersed the young Timothy in the story of the Old Testament Scriptures.
▪ They instilled in him a deep faith in the Messiah Jesus.
▪ Because of that firm faith, Paul offers his first challenge to Timothy. He calls him to reject any temptation to be ashamed of the good news about Jesus or of Paul, who is suffering in prison for announcing that good news.
o Many of Paul's coworkers are walking away from Paul.
▪ He mentions two guys: Phygelus and Hermogenes. He contrasts their example with Onesiphorus who was not ashamed of Paul’s chains.
▪ Paul asked Timothy to reject any fear of shame and to come see him.
▪ Paul knows that this is a costly request. It could put Timothy at risk.
▪ He reminds Timothy that Jesus' grace is a source of power, which is really important.
▪ You are going to need it because following Jesus is not easy. It requires everything that you have.
o Paul likens following Jesus to several things.
▪ Enrolling as a soldier who is striving to please their commanding officer.
▪ An athlete who is training their body for a competition.
▪ A hard-working dedicated farmer.
▪ All three of these metaphors involve a person who is committed to something bigger than themselves and who is willing to sacrifice and endure challenges to accomplish a greater goal.
o Of course, the highest example of this is Jesus himself.
▪ Because of his commitment to the Father, he suffered crucifixion by the Romans.
▪ Similarly, Paul himself is now suffering in a Roman prison.
▪ Hardship and sacrifice are inherent to the Christian life. This is why Jesus' resurrection is the foundation of Christian hope.
▪ Or, as Paul puts it in a short and very powerful poem,
• if we died with him then we will live with him.
• If we endure then we will reign with him.
• If we deny him then he will deny us.
• If we are unfaithful, he will remain faithful, for he is unable to deny his own nature.
▪ God's love for our world has opened up a new hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
▪ So for those who will take the risk of trusting and following Jesus, God promises vindication and life.
▪ For those who reject him, God will honor that decision and do the same.
▪ But people's faithlessness will never compel God to abandon his faithfulness
▪ Paul calls Timothy to faithfulness, knowing that it may come with a cost.
o Paul moves into the second half of the letter, calling Timothy to confront the corrupt teachers in Ephesus before he comes to Rome.
▪ Their teaching is spreading in the Ephesian church like a cancer.
▪ They have targeted and corrupted a number of influential women in the church. These are likely the wealthy women that Paul had to deal with in his first letter to Timothy.
▪ He does not offer much detail about the teachers’ bad theology but he does give us one hint He says they teach that the resurrection has already taken place.
• We do not know if the teachers are following a Greek philosophical rejection of the whole idea of bodily resurrection and they think it is only really about spiritual experience.
• Or it could be that they have simply distorted Paul's teaching about the resurrection life that begins now through the power of the Spirit.
• Either way, the problem is that they have abandoned the robust future hope of resurrection and of new creation. They have embraced instead a private, hyper spiritualized Christianity that is disconnected from day-to-day life.
o So Paul calls Timothy to raise up faithful leaders who are going to teach the real good news about Jesus.
▪ They should avoid senseless arguments that result from debating the teachers.
▪ In contrast, Timothy and his leadership team are to keep the main thing the main thing.
▪ They should focus on the core storyline and message of the Scriptures. In Paul's day, this meant primarily the Old Testament.
▪ These scriptures, Paul says, are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in the Messiah, Jesus.
▪ He is saying the whole point of the scriptures is to tell you a unified story that leads to Jesus and that has wisdom to offer the whole world.
o Paul talks about scripture's nature and purpose.
▪ He says all Scripture is divinely breathed literally, "God's Spirited".
▪ It is a reference to the Spirit's role in guiding the biblical authors so that what they wrote is what God wanted his people to hear.
▪ God speaks to his people in the scriptures for a very practical purpose.
• He says they are useful for teaching, telling me things I did not know before.
• They are useful for challenging, getting in my face about the things I say I believe but I do not actually live consistently with.
• They are useful for correcting me, exposing my messed up ways of thinking and behaving.
• And they are useful for training me in righteousness, showing me a new way to be truly human.
• All this is so that God's people will be prepared for doing good.
o Paul closes the letter by reminding Timothy that he is probably not going to make it out of prison alive.
▪ He asks Timothy to come as soon as possible before winter.
▪ He does not want to freeze in his cell. So he is going to need his heavy coat that he had to leave behind.
▪ Also, could Timothy please bring those personal documents that he left in Troas, likely when he got arrested?
▪ He also mentions Alexander who is an especially dangerous man that Timothy should avoid. He is possibly responsible for Paul's most recent arrest.
▪ Paul concludes by mentioning how nearly everyone has abandoned him in prison. His only source of comfort now is the personal presence of Jesus who stands with him and will deliver him, even if he dies.
o The letter of 2 Timothy stands as a reminder that Paul's very influential life and mission were marked by persistent challenge, suffering and struggle.
▪ Following Jesus involves risk and sacrifice.
▪ It means inviting tension and discomfort into your life.
▪ These things are not a sign of Jesus' absence. Rather, as Paul discovered with generations of Christians after him, that precisely in
those dark and difficult moments, Jesus' love and faithfulness can become the most tangible in real.
◼ What does the beginning of the letter tell us?
o Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience,as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and selfdiscipline.
1. Fan into flame the gift of God.
2. Like many of you, I have traveled the YouTube rabbit trail. Start watching a video on the French Revolution and they say, “Oh you watched THIS? Well, you will love THAT.” Eventually you end up on a video about making soufflés or something (they are both French, I guess).
3. So I was watching these “Winter in Colorado” video where the guy takes a tent up into the mountains and shows you how to survive the elements. Those videos took me to other posts about surviving in the wilderness, including several on how to start a fire with no lighter or matches.
4. I learned that fires just don’t “start themselves.” These guys would use flint rocks and sticks and magnifying glasses and all sorts of mumbo-jumbo to make the magic happen.
5. But even with all those efforts, fire requires (at least) three things. No three things, no fire.
6. It’s called the Fire Triangle: oxygen, heat, and fuel. You need enough oxygen to get and sustain combustion. You need enough heat to raise the material to its ignition temperature. And you need something to burn.
7. Paul told Timothy: For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God (II Timothy 1:6).
8. You see, the flame doesn’t just happen. Paul says it – there are REASONS why this flame exists and has the potential to grow.
9. Start at the beginning: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (II Timothy 1:1-2).
10.There are two letters from Paul to Timothy that we have available to us. The first letter was written to a church. The second is written to a man. This one is personal. Did you hear it? To Timothy, my dear son. In ITimothy, he gets the title that Titus would get, “my true son.” The focus of I Timothy and Titus are on the faith, the doctrine that drives the church and its members. But II Timothy? It’s personal. My dear son.
11.I often wonder how Timothy would have heard these words. There is only one reference in the Bible to Timothy’s dad. To find it, you have to go all the way back to
Acts 16 when young Timothy is introduced: Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek (Acts 16:1).
12.Man, there is a lifetime in this verse. A mother who grew up in the old covenant until she met the resurrected Jesus, and a father who just didn’t get it.
13.Do you hear Paul’s words, reserved here alone, just for Timothy? “My dear son.” To a young person struggling to be God’s man in Ephesus with the mission to raise up Godly leaders, Paul gives him the encouragement that an earthly father would give.
14.If you want to fan into flame the gift of God, then invest in the generation behind you.
a. Get involved in Kids’ World.
b. Take on a younger person or couple here that needs your wisdom.
15.I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers (II Timothy 1:3).
16.It’s so short you might just miss it. Did you hear what Paul said? “I thank my God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did…”
17.It’s tucked away toward the beginning of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. You rarely see this part engraved on markers in front of courthouses because it’s a little lengthy. But when God told Moses to instruct the people not to make any graven images, He also said this: You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:5-6).
18.Previous generations always seems to be the people you are living up to…or living down. Anyone here got any nuts on the family tree? That cousin twice removed but never quite far enough? I had a great-uncle who got killed in a barfight with an ax on Christmas Day. I remember telling that story one time and my Dad corrected me: “He got hit with the ax on Christmas Day. He died on the 26th.” OK, thanks Dad.
19.Sin has a way of spreading its cancer to future generations. What did God say here? “To the third and fourth generation.”
20.But don’t miss the hope that is here in Exodus 20. Those who sin affect others to the third and fourth generation. But what about those who love God and do right? How long isTHEIR influence felt? Showing love, God says, to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
21.Paul tells a young and scared preacher: I am here because generations ago, people loved God. There are folks who lived and died at Second that you never met. You know nothing about them. But their legacy, His fingerprints, cover your ministry today.
22.You want to fan into flame the gift of God? Then invest in the future church.
23.If you plant an acorn, how many trees will come from that? You don’t know, but one seed can produce an oak grove.
24.Be willing to put up with stuff you don’t like because the generations behind you do like it and they get to hear about Jesus because of it. Be willing to plant a tree under whose shade you will never sit (Elders at West Side).
25.There are thousands of people across generations who will know the grace of God through Jesus Christ because you took the time to invest in your future.
26.Paul’s letter to Timothy dives into the heart of generational impact: I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also (II Timothy 1:5).
27.Parents and grandparents, thank you.
28.Let me tell you about my mom. I still remember the words of the Phillips, Craig, and Dean song: Mama liked to burn the midnight oil, down on her knees in prayer. And if you asked her why she did it, she did it because she cared. Mama knew that Jesus was waiting when she knelt by her rocking chair. I’m so glad my momma was willing to burn the midnight oil in prayer.
29.I think Paul chose his words well. “I am reminded of your SINCERE faith.” It means “genuine.” It carries the idea of a faith that has been tested through time and remained faithful. That was my mom. And because of my mom, her son is faithful. He married a woman who is faithful. Her grandchildren are faithful. And her great-grandchildren will hear about Jesus.
30.Legacy Coalition Summit Simulcast event at Second – February 22, 2025.
a. Mission – Helping grandparents have a greater spiritual impact on their families.
b. We are resetting our volunteer base so that all grandparents will be able to join us and bask in the encouragement.
31.II Timothy 1 is a story about the men and the women in your lives, a reminder to those beautiful people who stand in the gap for those who come after.
32.What are the elements necessary to fan into flame the gift of God? You invest in our children. You invest in a future. And you invest in your family.
33.Adults, the most important question you will ever answer is NOT what the kids in your life do with Jesus. The most important question you will ever answer is what YOU do with Jesus. It is YOUR sincere faith, your “long obedience in the same direction” as Eugene Peterson described, that makes all the difference. Grandma Lois prayed for Eunice. Eunice prayed for Timothy. And Timothy changed the world.
34.There is so much you can’t control in your family. Man, I get it. I’m not asking you to fix all their problems. What I am asking you to do is to live like the child of God that you are. Put them in His hands and trust in His protection. Choose wisely, love well, serve faithfully, so one day your children will rise up and call you blessed.
Conclusion
1. I said you needed three elements to create fire: oxygen, heat, and fuel. But to make it work, a fourth element is required – the chemical reaction.
2. 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. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline (II Timothy 1:6-7).
3. You want to fan into flame the gift of God? Then by all means invest in the next generation, invest in the church’s future, and invest in your family. But don’t ever forget who makes the fire ignite.
4. Paul reminds Timothy of the role he played in his young protégé. “I was there,” Paul says. But what is all-important is that GOD is there. His Holy Spirit does not make us timid.That’s a battlefield term that means “coward.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t make cowards. He gives us the power to know Him and make Him known, and wraps that
power in a love that would never abuse others and a self-discipline to keep us focused on where we need to go.
5. Invest in your children. Invest in your future. Invest in your family. And trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit to take that ember and make it grow.
6. Is it hard? Yes, it is. You can read the rest of II Timothy to discover the suffering that Paul had endured and was about to endure. Investing in people is hard.They will hurt you. Paul mentions 22 people by name in II Timothy. Some were friends. Others cut him deeply.
7. What Paul told the church at Philippi: I want to know Christ. Yes – to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death and so, somehow, attaining the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:10-14).
8. Do you want to fan into flame the gift of God? Then invest in your walk with Jesus. See where Jesus has gone, and go there. He went to the cross. Go to the cross. He was raised from the dead. Live as resurrected people. He went to the lost. Go to the lost. He spent time with His Father. Spend time with your Father.
9. You want to invest in your kids? Then invest first in your walk with your Father. You want to invest in your future? Then look back and see the empty cross through the lens of an empty tomb. You want to invest in your family?Then invest first in your Daddy.
10.After all, fires don’t start themselves, you know.