2 TIMOTHY 1:1-72008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Timothy 1:1-7

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. We're beginning 2 Timothy and man, it was such a wonderful time going through the grace of God and all of the different verses regarding grace, all of the different aspects of grace and definitions of grace that we are able to see today.

But for me as well, it's also so refreshing just to get back in the verse-by-verse study and sharing of the scriptures. And so we're continuing on, picking back up in 2 Timothy, and we'll continue to go through 2 Timothy and on as the Lord leads. But man, it's just awesome to be able to get back and remember some of the things about Timothy that we have learned. Now, at this time, the person writing this book is the Apostle Paul.

And he's writing to Timothy from prison. And most people believe this is Paul's second imprisonment. That Acts chapter 28, there Paul is in prison. He's in Rome. He's waiting. He's appealed to Caesar. And so he's waiting to appear before Caesar to give his defense. And it just leaves it there in Acts chapter 28. And we don't really find out what happens to Paul.

But based upon tradition and history and some other sources, most scholars believe that Paul was released from that imprisonment that is recorded there in Acts chapter 28. And that he goes around, he does a little bit more ministry, but then he's taken captive again by Rome, put in prison again. And that imprisonment is during that time that Paul was writing here to Timothy and

It's towards the end of his life. He expresses that he believes, he's anticipating that the end is near, that he's going to die there. And so this is probably the last letter that the Apostle Paul wrote. And he writes it to this young man named Timothy.

Timothy, if you remember, he is a younger man. He's probably in his 30s or so, and they're ministering at the church in Ephesus. And it was a difficult task. There was lots of false doctrine. There was lots of opposition, lots of things going on that Timothy needed to address. And as we looked through 1 Timothy, Paul was over and over encouraging him and reminding him to really do the work that God had called him to do.

that we get the impression from the things that Paul says to Timothy that he was holding back, he was fearful, he wasn't really taking charge and using the authority that God had given him as a pastor. And so he was not really fulfilling his ministry. And Paul kept telling him, hey, stir up the gift. Don't neglect what God has given to you. Deal with this issue. Address this thing. Take care of these areas because they need to be taken care of.

And so Timothy was a young man that it's easy for us to relate to because we all know what it's like to

feel overwhelmed or inadequate for the things that God has called us to do. We can all feel like Timothy, timid or fearful. We can hold back and not fulfill the ministry that God has given to us. And so as we go through second Timothy, like we did in first Timothy, I will be encouraging you and reminding you of this thing. And that is that you are Timothy. Timothy.

This isn't just to a young man thousands of years ago in the city of Ephesus pastoring the church. But as Paul is writing to him, God included it in the scriptures because we are Timothy's as well. And we need to hear the words of the Apostle Paul. We need to be encouraged and we need to go forward in the ministry that God has given to us. Every believer in Jesus Christ is called into the ministry.

Not every believer is called to pastor a church like Timothy was, but every believer is called to ministry. In Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 and 20, Jesus gives his disciples, that's the followers of Jesus Christ, the command to go and make disciples.

That is the commission, the task, the responsibility of every believer in Jesus Christ. That we are called to go and share the good news that Jesus Christ has died for us. He paid the price and that we can have life in his name by putting our faith and trust in him. Ephesians chapter 4, as Paul is giving some insight about the body of Christ says,

goes into detail to make sure that we know that every part is necessary, that every part needs to do its share. Every believer in Jesus Christ has a role in the body of Christ, has a part to play, a responsibility, something that God has designated for each individual to do, to be used for his glory, to accomplish his work, and to impact people's lives for the rest of eternity.

So you are Timothy. I am Timothy. This letter is for us that we might grow and be strengthened and do the things that God has called us to do. This letter is for you this morning. And I want to encourage you as you have time to spend some time and read through this epistle just all the way through. It's only four chapters long. It's not very, very long. It won't take you a whole lot of time. But just spend some time with the understanding that this is me. God wants to speak to me.

as Paul is writing to Timothy. And I would encourage you because I know that God will speak to you and minister to your heart. Well, we start here in verse one. It says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul, at the beginning of his letter, introduces himself as was normal and customary in all of his epistles. He introduces himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, one who is sent. And of course, we're familiar with this element of Paul's ministry. He says it was by the will of God, which means it wasn't his will. It's not that he had this ambition, but it's what God had called him to do. God appointed him to this position. God is the one who sent him.

But what really caught my attention here in verse one is the next phrase when he says, according to the promise of life.

The promise of life. And that was a phrase I've been meditating upon all week. Just what does that mean? The promise of life that we have in Jesus Christ. What is the promise of life that we have in Jesus Christ? I'm sure there's many things that we could look to. We could look, first of all, at eternal life. We have the promise of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. First John chapter two, verse twenty five tells us this is the promise that he has promised us.

Eternal life that we have eternity to look forward to, not just, well, I don't know what's going to happen. You know, hopefully I'll get to heaven. But we have a confidence, a hope, a surety that by believing in Jesus Christ, we have eternal life, that we will get to spend eternity with him, that we

Every tear will be removed and there will be no more sorrow and no more pain. That there's great and wonderful things that God has in store for us. And if I may remind you, it's all by His grace. We looked at that during our grace series. A good hope by grace. We have this future eternity in store for us, not because of our good works or what we do or how great we are, but because of the work of Jesus Christ. It's the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.

But this phrase isn't limited to eternity. God's not just interested in giving us eternal life. He also came and he also promised that we would have life as we're here on this earth. In John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus made the statement that the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, he says, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus didn't just come to give us eternal life. Of course, that's important and that's what's longest lasting. And so that's what should be a great concern for us. But he also came to give us life more abundantly right now.

He said the thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. The enemy comes. The enemy would like nothing better than to destroy our lives, to steal and to kill us, to just really make us rebel against God and take us to eternity away from God.

But Jesus says, I've come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus's promise of life is for eternity, but it's also for right now that we would have abundant life, overflowing life, an incredible life. You need to know, I hope you do know, real life is only found in relationship with Jesus. You can't find life any other way.

There's lots of things in this world that can appeal to us and we can think, man, if only we could get there, then life would be just awesome. It would be just so incredible if we were in this role or this position or had this popularity or this money. If only we could be there, then life would be great.

But all of those things, and we have celebrity after celebrity prove to us that those achievements and those attainments, they don't fulfill. Those aren't the abundant life. Instead, it seems it's an empty life. And there's a lot of emptiness and trouble and sorrow because, well, real life is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

There's a story, maybe you've heard it. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's the story of a wealthy Texan. He had worked very hard during his life and was not very successful. But finally, towards the end of his life, he struck oil, became rich, very wealthy. And so he was enjoying life. And in his will, he noted that he wanted to be buried when he came to die.

He wanted to be buried in his favorite kind of Texas cowboy outfit with his big 10-gallon hat on and his brand new boots. And he wanted to be buried sitting up in the driver's seat of his Cadillac. Cadillac and all just submerged under the earth. And so the story goes that at the burial, they did that. They grabbed a crane. They were lowering this man sitting up at the driver's seat inside the grave.

And it said that there is a man who is there, one of the guy's friends who nudged his other friend and said, man, now that's living. And he's looking at this situation and it's not living. It's dying. He's looking and saying, hey, being buried in your Cadillac, being buried with all, you know, all this, this. It's not living.

You can attain all the things that you want in this world, but it's not life. It won't satisfy. That's not living. That's dying. The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy. But Jesus says, I've come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Real life is a life that's filled with joy.

It's a life that's filled with peace and hope and purpose and fulfillment. And it's the life that Jesus offers to us. Not just a little bit of joy, but an abundance of joy. Not just a little bit of peace, but abundance of peace. Not just a little bit of purpose, but abundance of purpose. God has an abundant life in store for those who will walk with him. Now, that does not mean that we will never have problems or hard times.

Of course, he's not talking about that as Paul is writing this. He's in prison. There will be difficulties. There will be times. But here's the point. Even in those hard times, we will have an abundance of joy and peace and hope and purpose and fulfillment and overwhelming joy.

Abundant life is what Jesus offers to us. He came to give us life. And I would ask you this morning, and I would ask that you would challenge your own heart. Are you experiencing an overflowing, abundant life? Are you really struggling? Is there emptiness and despair? Jesus offers to us life and life more abundant. Let's go on in verses 2 and 3. It says to Timothy.

As Paul goes on, he has introduced himself. Now he writes who he is writing to, and that is to Timothy. We've talked about him there pastoring a church in Ephesus.

And he addresses Timothy as a beloved son. We'll come back to that in just a moment. He goes on with grace, mercy and peace. Very normal greeting that Paul used in the pastoral epistles. Grace and peace was often used in all of his letters. But with pastors and writing to pastors, he adds in the word mercy. And that's because pastors need an extra dose of God's mercy, not getting what we deserve. And as he's writing, he says, I thank God.

I serve God just as my forefathers did. And I thank God every time I remember you in my prayers night and day. I'm always praying for you, Timothy. And I'm thanking God for you. And you know what you are to me, Timothy? He said, going back to verse two, he says to Timothy, a beloved son. I think it's important to notice how Paul addresses him here with that phrase, beloved son. This is a very personal letter from the Apostle Paul.

Beloved, it's a word of endearment. It's a word that he's saying, Timothy, I love you very much. You're my beloved son. You're so dear to me. And as he's writing this letter, he's not just writing to a congregation. We've seen the letters of Paul as he's writing to different churches.

But he's writing to this young man, and it's not just an individual he knows, not just an acquaintance, not just someone that has been involved in his life and in the ministry, but it's someone that's very close to the Apostle Paul, someone that he says, you're my beloved son. And how encouraging it must have been for Timothy to have such a relationship with the Apostle Paul.

As we have seen and we'll see again this morning, Timothy was fearful. He was timid. He was holding back in a lot of ways in the ministry that God had called him to. Things were difficult there at Ephesus. They were lonely at many times as many were against what God was doing there. And there was many within the church that Timothy had to deal with. And to be reminded that this man, Paul, loved him so dearly.

Would have brought great warmth and comfort, encouragement to his heart. Isn't it encouraging to know that someone loves you? To be reminded that someone cares for you? To be encouraged, I'm with you, I'm praying for you. Timothy, night and day, I'm thanking God for you. I'm remembering you in my prayers. So important. Now, I will continue to share and remind us that we are all Timothys. But I also want to say that some of you are Pauls.

We're all Timothys in the sense that we've been called to ministry and there's more that God has for us and we need to go forward. But some of you are Pauls. Some of you, like Paul, are more mature in the faith. You've been a Christian for longer. You've seen more. You've experienced much of life and ministry and a relationship with God. And some of you who...

are in that role or that position that you've walked with God for some time, I want to encourage you to follow this model that Paul has given to us. As Paul looks at Timothy and says, Oh, Timothy, my beloved son, that you as a believer in Jesus Christ, more mature in the faith, who's your beloved son or daughter?

Whose life are you influencing? Whose life are you impacting? We can see the picture here of Paul taking Timothy under his wing and really encouraging him and helping him fulfill the things that God had called him to.

And some of you are like Paul, that you've been around, you know the drill, and you know how to walk with God, but you're not passing it on to anybody else. And you're not really encouraging anybody else in their walks, in their faith. There's not really anybody that you could call a beloved son or daughter in the faith. And I want to encourage you, Pauls, to really reach out. There's a lot of people that need that kind of encouragement and strength. Sometimes we wonder if

Why is it that the church loses people in the way that it does? Why are so many young people going astray? Why is there sin happening in the camp? And why is these situations happening? And oftentimes it's simply because there's not someone there acting as a beloved father or a beloved mother. As mature believers, God wants us to pour into those who are younger.

Help them fulfill their ministry. Pray for them continually. You've experienced it. You've walked with Jesus for a long time. So turn around and teach others how to do that, too. You know, we have some new families. We were able to announce Mary and Antoine this morning and Ruthie and Isaac this last week. And they're going to need some encouragement. They're going to need some spiritual encouragement.

Fathers and mothers, people who will pour into them and help them. Hey, this is a new thing. New family, new baby. What do we do? How do we raise our kid in the ways of the Lord? How do we encourage one another? How do we stay close in our marriage in this time as well? Don't just leave that to the pastors here at the church. You're a Paul. Pour into their life. Minister to them. Draw close to them. Encourage them. There's lots of new marriages around here at the church as well.

They need some encouragement. They need some strength. They need someone to pour into them. There's some younger believers. They need someone to come alongside of them and make disciples. I want to encourage you, Pauls, to look around, to consider and ask, who's my beloved son? Who's my beloved daughter? Who have I been pouring into that they might fulfill the ministry that God has given to them? Let's go on with verse 4. Paul says, "...greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears..."

that I may be filled with joy. We see again Paul's connection and relationship with Timothy, greatly desiring to see him. There's this earnest desire. At the end of the book, he'll be encouraging Timothy, hey, come to me quickly, as soon as you can. He's sensing the urgency, the end of his life is near, and he wants to be able to see Timothy one last time. But he says something as well, there in verse 4, that

Again, gives us a little bit of insight about who Timothy was. He says, I greatly desire to see you being mindful of your tears. Being mindful of your tears. Now, some commentators suggest that these were Timothy's tears from the last time that they had seen each other and parted. And it was a tearful departure. But I disagree. Although that might have happened. But as Paul is writing to Timothy...

He's mindful of his tears because Timothy's been crying. Life's been difficult. Ministry's been tough. He'll go on in the following verses to give him some great encouragement and remind him again to stir up the gifts and to be bold and to do the things that God had called him to do. Because Timothy was in a place where he was overwhelmed to the point of tears. Have you ever been overwhelmed to the point of tears?

Just stressed out, discouraged, bummed out to the point of tears. When I was younger, I was probably about 12 or 13 or so, maybe around there, give or take a couple years. Our family, well, we had a friend and this guy, he owned a half acre and he had a house on it and the backyard was a half acre and

It was filled with tumbleweeds. And I don't know if I was as tall as I am now, but they were taller than I was. So they were, you know, five, six feet tall. I mean, huge, just humongous tumbleweeds. And the whole half acre was just filled with these tumbleweeds. And somehow, I think through some jokes and through some intimidation, he swindled me into working to clean out those tumbleweeds.

I'm just kidding. He didn't really send to me. I think he paid me like 50 bucks or something. And I was like, whoa, that's it's worth any kind of work or any kind of trouble to get 50 bucks. At those days, that was just more money than I'd ever heard of. And so.

He gives me a couple tools, you know, a shovel, and the most exciting thing for me, because I was young, was he gave me a machete, you know, a machete, and so I'm out there whacking away, whacking away, and it's my first day. It's like a Saturday. I start early in the morning. I'm going to work, and I'm thinking, man, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to have $50, and it gets to lunchtime.

And I've only done like, you know, one one hundredth of the yard, you know, and and I'm just completely overwhelmed. And so I'm sitting there eating my lunch. I'm all by myself and and I'm so discouraged. And like a girl, I just begin to cry and I'm.

I'm wiping my tears and eating my sandwich. And like, I don't know how I'm ever going to finish this. This is impossible. It's never going to happen. And I was thinking, man, I was going to be able to do it in one day, maybe two days. And I was so overwhelmed and so discouraged. And my dad came to pick me up later. And he looked at me. And so, you know, I'm crying and I wipe away my tears. I think all the evidence is gone, right? But it's dusty. I'm working in his tracks, you know, down my face with all the tears. He's like, have you been crying? No, I haven't been crying. What are you talking about?

And so my dad being the loving father that he is, I'm his beloved son. So the next week, I didn't know it, but he went and he took care of the whole yard for me. And then so I showed up and it was all done. And I got my 50 bucks and I was all excited. Yeah. But, you know, that's what God does. Here's Timothy. He's overwhelmed. He's discouraged to the point of tears. He sees this work and there's people against him and it's difficult. And there's these issues he has to address. And

And he's overwhelmed to the point of tears, discouraged, downtrodden, man. But in the same way as my father went and did my work for me and I received the benefit, I want to encourage you. Yeah, Timothy knew what it was like to be overwhelmed to the point of tears. But as Paul would go on to tell him, hey, God wants to do the work for you. It's not all up to you. You don't have to be overwhelmed to the point of tears. You don't have to be so burdened down and pressed down. Your heavenly father.

We'll do the work. He wants to accomplish the things that he's laid out before you. As Timothy is there overwhelmed, he's got the ministry in front of him. He's fearful. He's crying. Paul says, hey, I'm mindful of your tears. I know, Timothy. I know it's tough. I know it's difficult. And so here's what you need to go forward. Here's what you need to press on. And he'll go on and give him three words of encouragement. Faith.

Gifting and power. I want to spend our last, well, the remaining time in these three words in verses five and six and seven. Faith, gifting and power. In those times of being overwhelmed to the point of tears, this is what you need.

If you're not experiencing the promise of life that we saw in verse one, the abundant life that Jesus promised, it's because there's a lacking in one of these areas, faith, gifting and power. We need these at work in our lives.

That we may experience the fullness, the abundant life that God has promised to us. Look at verse 5. And we see faith. He says, Paul says, I remember the genuine faith that is in you.

Sometimes godly people need to be reminded that they are in the faith, that there is a genuineness to their faith. Sometimes people who are in ministry, sometimes people who have been Christians for a while, need to be reminded about the reality of the faith that we have in Jesus Christ. Timothy has lost sight. He needs to be reminded.

He needs to be encouraged. I'm sure that you can relate to that. Those times that you're just crushed, you're burdened. And you need to be reminded that the faith in Jesus Christ that you have is real. It's genuine. And Paul establishes this and helps him remember it by looking at the legacy that was left for him. He says, first, it was in your grandmother Lois.

Timothy, this isn't just your own thing. It's not your imagination. It's not just you by yourself. But this is a real faith. Remember your grandmother Lois believed. For some of you who have relatives, grandmothers, grandparents, uncles and aunts that are believers in Jesus Christ, you probably have memories of the things that they've shared, the things that they've done, the ways that God has worked. That's what Paul's reminding Timothy about. Hey, remember? You'd go to grandma's house.

She would share with you the scriptures. She would teach you about God. Remember how she believed in the things that God did for her? Timothy, the faith that you have is genuine. This is not something new or something made up. It's not something that is just a fad. But but there's a reality to this faith, a reality to this God that we believe in. Remember your grandma, the things that she used to share to you and your mom?

It carried on to her as well, your mother Eunice, and the things that she would share with you and the scriptures that she would teach you. 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul will tell Timothy and remind him that he was taught the scriptures since he was very young.

He's reminding Timothy there's a reality to the word of God. There's a reality to this faith. There's a reality to a walk and a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not just a tradition. It's not just something we do on Sundays and going to church and a religion that we carry out. But there's a genuine faith. There's a real faith, a sincere faith and a real relationship that we have in Jesus Christ. Timothy, remember, I remember Paul says.

The great things that God was doing. I remember the faith that you had that was so sincere. Timothy, remember, as believers in Jesus Christ, if you've not encountered those times, you will. We have those times that we need to be reminded that you're a believer. This is real. God is real. He's with you. There'll be times when you need to be reminded. And some of you, again, some of you are Paul's.

There's times that you need to remind others. Hey, remember. Yeah, I know that loss is tough. I know that situation is difficult. But remember, the genuine faith. It's real. There's a reality to it. You walk with God. He's with you. So the first thing that Paul encourages Timothy with is genuine faith. This isn't a game, Timothy. It's not fake. It's not made up. This is real. You have this faith. You believe in God.

It's the first step as we remember and we again put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's we're kind of like Peter. Remember, as Jesus is out there walking on the water and Peter in the boat says, if it's you, Lord, call me out to you. So Jesus says, come on out. And so Peter steps out and he's starting to walk on the water. How incredible. How amazing. And then it says he began to look around and he saw the wind and the waves and he began to sink. And sometimes that's what happens to us.

And he calls out, help me, Lord. And Jesus catches him and he takes him in the boat. And what did Jesus say? Oh, you have little faith. Why did you doubt? Sometimes we need to be reminded. We're like Peter there, like Timothy, overwhelmed to the point of tears. We just feel like we're drowning. And we need to be reminded, believe in Jesus Christ. He can set you free. It's real, this walk with him and what he offers to you. So Paul says, remember the genuineness.

Of the faith that you had and your mother had and your grandmother had this legacy that's before you. Remember the faith. He goes on in verse six to talk about the gift that Timothy had. Verse six says, therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So as he moves from faith to talk now about gifting, he starts verse six with the word, therefore,

connecting it to what he's just been sharing. And I think that's so important because he's saying, look, there's a genuineness of the faith and your grandmother had it and your mother had it. And I'm persuaded it's in you, too. And so since you have this faith, therefore, stir up the gift of God, which is in you. Now, that is so important because we need to understand what faith means. Faith does not mean let me say it the other way.

Faith means that you do great things for God, not that God does great things for you. Faith means that you do great things for God. Now, God will do great things for you. But there is an arena of the Christian faith. Those that will teach that faith means that you can name it and claim it and you can tell God what you want and he's obligated to give it to you. And if you just have enough faith, then you too can be buried in a Cadillac. But faith.

That's not what faith is all about. Faith is about this. Not about God doing great things for you, but you doing great things for God. Paul says, I call to remembrance the genuineness of your faith and your grandmother and your mother. And this faith is in you, too. And since you have this faith, stir up the gift of God, which is in you and do the work that God has called you to do. God has gifted you. Use the gift, Timothy, because you have faith.

Because you are in the faith, because you are of the faith, use the gift that God has given to you. Stir it up and practice it and carry it out. Because we are in the faith means that we can do great things for God. God can use us in mighty ways. He can use us in ways that we can't imagine. The Bible is full of those examples. First one that comes to my mind right now is Gideon. The Lord said, hey, I'm going to use you. And he says, come on, I'm of the least faith.

tribe of Israel and my family is the least of that tribe and I'm the least of my family. I'm a nobody. God says, no, I want to use you. I want to use you to do great things. I want to blow your mind with the ways that I'm going to use you. You're going to deliver the entire nation. Do you believe that God could use you to deliver an entire nation? He could because you're in the faith, because he's gifted you, because he wants to use you to impact people's lives for eternity. He

If you are in the faith, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are gifted by God supernaturally. You have spiritual gifts. They're not natural talents, although you have those, I'm sure, as well. They're not just things that, you know, you inherited or things that you grew up with, although you have those as well. And God wants to use those things. But he also gives you supernaturally to fulfill the role in the body of Christ that he's called you to fulfill.

Ephesians 4.16 tells us that the body grows as every part does its share. There's not an unessential part of the body of Christ, but every member, every believer is necessary. 1 Peter 4.10 tells us that each one has received a gift. Every believer in Jesus Christ is gifted. And since you are in the faith, now I remind you, Timothy, stir up the gift that God has given to you.

What are you doing for the kingdom of God? Now, sometimes, especially when we are overwhelmed like Timothy, we can have our pity parties and life is horrible and everything is miserable. Man, when is God going to get me out of this situation? I meant to sound sorrowful, but I think I sounded a little drunk. I'm sorry about that. Sometimes people turn to the bottle when things are rough. Okay, you're overwhelmed. When is God going to get me out? When is he going to bail me out? What is God going to do for me? God needs to do something great for me. Paul says, look, you're in the faith.

Don't have that attitude. You're overwhelmed. Hey, remember, you're in the faith. Do something great for God, not on your own strength, not with your own talents and abilities, but supernaturally. What are you doing for the kingdom of God? Are you using the gifts that God has given to you? That word gift, it's a word we're familiar with. It's the word charisma in the Greek. Charis being the word for grace that we've just been studying.

Add on the M-A at the end and it means it's the product of or the result of grace. This is a gift that's not earned. Even though we've stumbled, even though we fall short, even though we blow it, it's not because we're so spiritual that we get spiritual gifts. Scripture teaches us that the gifts in the call of God are irrevocable. You've been gifted. God has given you a spiritual gift. What are you doing with it? Are you using the gift that God has given to you?

They're not earned. You don't have to wait to rack up enough spiritual points to be able to use them. You just need to start doing it. Use the gift that God has given to you. Now, Paul uses an interesting word. He says, stir up the gift of God. This word stir up, it's a word picture. It's the idea of fanning into flame a fire that is dying. You know when the fire is just kind of embers there and you can stir it back up and bring it back to life?

Maybe blowing on it a little bit, moving around with the stick and putting some more wood on the fire and rekindling that fire, bringing it back to life. That's the idea that Paul is saying here. Look, Timothy, you're overwhelmed and you're crying and you've got lots of problems and life is difficult. And as a result, you've been neglecting the gift. And now it's just kind of like sitting there like a fire that's about to die. Timothy, you need to stir it up.

Start to use it again. Put it into practice. Bring it back to a roaring flame. Stir up the gift of God which is in you. Paul says, look, we laid hands. Remember, we were praying for you. The elders were praying for you. The prophetic word went forth and you were gifted by God for this task that you're involved in right now. Timothy, stir up that gift.

And you and I as Timothys, we need to stir up our gifts. God has given to us supernaturally gifts. He wants to use us. There's neighbors that need to hear the gospel message. There's people within the body that only you can minister to them. There's co-workers. There's family members. There's a whole lost world out there. You need to use your gift for the kingdom of God. You need to do the work that God has given to you. It's a free gift. Stir it up.

And put it into practice. How do we stir it up? How do we fan into flame that gift? I believe very simply, it's just by using it. Again, it's not waiting until we rack up enough spiritual points or accomplish these things or earn it back again. But it's just practicing it. Living it out. Putting it to work. We'll come back to that in just a moment. But let's move on in verse 7. So, first of all, we've seen Paul encourages him in faith.

Verse five, then in verse six, he encourages them regarding his gifting. And now in verse seven, he encourages them regarding power. Verse seven, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. This is a verse that's familiar maybe to some of you. It's one that we often give to people who are teaching for the first time and are always freaked out. And that's normal.

So we remind each other, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. It's a great verse to remember that as Christians, we have not the spirit of fear. That word fear, it's not the word fear like, as in fearing God, with the reverence, with the awe. It's not the word fear like, you know, something's kind of spooky and you're fearful and so you turn all the lights on in your house. This word fear really...

Could be translated timid or timidity or cowardice. He's saying, look, Timothy, God has not given us a spirit of cowardice. We're not to be cowards as Christians. He's not given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of faith. Like he told Joshua over and over again, God told Joshua, be strong and courageous. Courage is the opposite of cowardice. We're to be courageous in the faith.

Courageous in our work. Courageous in our life. Courageous in what God has given to us. He has not given to us a spirit of fear, of cowardice, of timidity.

One definition I looked up of the word coward, I like one dictionary. What it said was it was a coward is one who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs means he just runs away. He just takes off. Just give me out of the situation. Any type of difficulty, any type of hardship. And I'm out of there. Paul says God hasn't given us that spirit.

That we run at the first sign of difficulty or trouble or danger. Instead, God has given us the spirit of power. Power. Power.

That word power is the word dunamis in the Greek where we get the word dynamic or dynamite from. There's a power, an explosive power that God has given to us. It's not the spirit of fear that we run from everything and that we're timid and cowards, but it's the spirit of power that we have strength, that we have exactly what we need to accomplish what God has set before us.

How does God give to us the spirit of power? Of course, it's through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus tells his disciples. He's given them the task to go and make disciples. But he says, don't go yet. Not yet. You can't do the work God has called you to do until you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Wait here in Jerusalem until that takes place. Until the promise is given.

And he says in Acts chapter 1, 8, you shall receive power. Same word, dunamis power. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

And so Jesus tells his disciples, you have this task, just like you and I as Timothy's. We have the task to go and make disciples. We have a work that God has set before us. We have a gifting. We have a real faith and a real work that God has set before us. But we can't do this work on our own. If we try to do it on our own, we have the spirit of fear in us. We have difficult situations. And we've seen that in the ministry where there's difficulty. And then people run. Any type of adversity or trial happens.

But he's not given to us a spirit of fear. Jesus said, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And as a result of the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, he says, you'll be witnesses to me. You'll be able to fulfill the task that I've given to you. You'll be able to walk in the ministry that I've called you to. You'll be able to do it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I think the disciples are a perfect picture of the power of the Holy Spirit at work.

In John chapter 20, verse 19, we see the disciples. Jesus has died. He's resurrected, but they don't quite believe it yet. And it says that they're gathered together in a room and the doors were shut where they were assembled for fear of the Jews. After Jesus died, every time we see the disciples together, it always reminds us they were gathered together and they were fearful of the Jews. They were in this place because they feared what the Jews were going to do and what they were going to say.

They were fearful, fearful, fearful. God has not given to us a spirit of fear, but of power. But they hadn't received the baptism of the Holy Spirit yet. Jesus tells them in Acts 1, hey, wait. In Acts chapter 2, the promise of the Holy Spirit comes. And the disciples who were fearful, always cowering together in a room, hiding under the table, they now become these great men of God.

Immediately, Peter gets up on the day of Pentecost and preaches to the multitude and 3000 get saved because he was such a charismatic man, because he had such natural talent. No, because of the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit working in his life. And now he was a testimony of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. And then he was going to be a testimony in Judea and then in Samaria and then to the end of the earth.

On and on and on we go in Acts chapter 3 and Acts chapter 4, 5, 6, 7. We see over and over again the disciples with boldness, with power, doing the work of God. As Jesus said, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind. The spirit of power is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

This love is the product of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. A sound mind or self-control, it's the Holy Spirit working in our lives. We need the power of the Holy Spirit, especially in those times that we're overwhelmed to the point of tears. Things are difficult. There's affliction. There's trial. There's opposition. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul is reminding Timothy, Timothy, remember, there's a reality to this faith.

God's real. He is alive. He's faithful to his promises. He will do what he said he would accomplish. And he's gifted you, Timothy. Use the gift. Stir it up because he's real. Your faith is real. This gift that God has given to you is real and you need to put it into practice. You need to step out in faith and use that gift that God has given to you. But don't do it in your strength. Do it in the spirit of power, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we get the wrong impression that

about the Holy Spirit's working in our life. You need to know that the Holy Spirit works with us and through us, which requires us to take a step of faith. And it means we can't just sit there and wait until it's done. Paul didn't tell Timothy, Timothy, I know you're crying and you're discouraged and life's tough, but here's what you need to do. Just sit there and wait. And then

Finally, when God does the whole work, then you can stand up and take the credit for it. Then he says, yeah, life's tough. Remember, faith, it's real. So use the gift. We have to step out in faith. We have to use the gift. We have to take the step in order to see the spirit work. We like to wait. We want to wait. Okay, spirit work. And then I'll take the step. It's like...

When God was taking the children of Israel through the Jordan River and he tells Joshua, here's how you're going to do it. The priests need to take the Ark of the Covenant before the people and they need to go step into the Jordan River. They got to get their ankles wet. It wasn't like Moses when he said, hold up your rod and then I'll part it. It was a little bit different. You got to get in the water. You got to get a little wet. And as you step into it, then the river will part. And it happened exactly the way God said. But it took a step of faith.

They had to go get their feet wet. They had to step into the river. And then they got to see God work. In the same way, we see all the miracles of the New Testament, all the things that are accounted for us in the book of Acts. How do they happen? They happen as the disciples take steps of faith. As they see that lame man and say, Arise, stand up and walk. They didn't wait for God to do the work. Okay, let's see if he stands up. Okay, he stood up. All right. See, he got up. I did that. God did the work.

No, God was using them. He works with them and through them. They had to take the step. They had to go forward. If you went to a wood shop in school, then you know that wood doesn't cut itself. We've been redoing the stage. You might have noticed. And so we learned that in order to use a saw, you have to plug it in and you have to actually use it. You have to push it and tell it where you want it to go. We don't just set the saw next to the wood and say, OK, hurry up.

We need that, you know, 11 feet and 8 1⁄2 inches. No, you have to do it. But as you use it, the power is at work. As you push it against the wood, the power is at work. As you take the step, as you make the move, the power of the Holy Spirit works with us and through us. And so it requires us to take steps of faith. He's not given to us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power.

We are the instrument of God. We're the power tool. But the power doesn't come from us. It's the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives as we step out and do what God has called us to do. We must be involved in the process of God using us and working in our lives because he works with us and through us. Faith, gifting, and power. Now, I would challenge you with this.

If you're not experiencing the promise of life that Jesus talked about, that Paul made reference to there in verse 1, if you're not experiencing the abundant life, if there's not an overflowing of joy and peace, of hope, of fulfillment, of purpose, there's a lacking in one of these areas. Maybe you've forgotten the genuineness and the reality of faith, the reality of a walk with God, a relationship with God.

Maybe you've allowed the gift of God in your life to become cold, to start to die out like a fire. Maybe you've been walking in fear, wanting to take steps for God, but then things get difficult and so you run away like a coward. If these areas break down in our lives, we will not experience the abundant life that Jesus promised to us. The way to have the abundant life is to walk in these things.

Remember the genuineness of our faith. Remember that you are gifted by God and use that gift right now. Put it to work. Do the work of the kingdom of God and do it in the power of God because he's not given to us a spirit of fear. The worship team is going to come up and we're going to close in a couple songs and we want to allow for God to do the work that he wants to do in you.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.