2 Timothy 1:15-18

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15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus. ~ 2 Timothy 1:15-18

Today's text begins with desertion. Everyone had abandoned the Apostle Paul for it was dangerous to be associated with him. This was a dark period for Paul. So dark that it was difficult to recognize what God was really doing. False doctrines were spreading throughout the church, and Paul would have loved to be free to defend the faith—but he was in a Roman prison. 

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:12-14 that his imprisonment happened to advance the gospel. He went on to write in Philippians 3:10, "I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." 

The Lord Jesus endured the desertion of God so that we would not.  Everything that separated us from God was absorbed by the Lord Jesus on His cross so that we might know Him intimately in an increasing way. Pain and suffering is unavoidable in this fallen world, yet, there is a silver lining to this very dark cloud: that we might know Him and make Him known. 

In this passage there are two groups of people: those who deserted Paul and those who helped him. The group we choose to identify with will impact our lives the most. In Hebrews 11 there is a group known for their faith in the God of the Bible. This is the group that we want to be associated with because it is much easier to pull someone down than it is to pull them up.

We read in v.16, "May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains."

But there was one man who dared to leave Ephesus and come to Rome to assist Paul, Onesiphorus whose name means “profit-bearing” or "bringer of help." He certainly lived up to his name and was a profitable friend to Paul. We most often live our lives according to what we are beholding at the moment. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

God made us to receive and to give, and when we give, in some way, we are blessed. Those who live to only get are miserable. We must be careful to follow the example of Onesiphorus by daily looking for those to whom we can be a blessing in one way or another. It may be a simple smile or it may be a long trek from Ephesus to Rome.

There are two bodies of water in the nation of Israel: the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Both have in common an inlet. These bodies of water receive water everyday by way of the Jordan River. But what sets these two bodies of water apart is what makes them different. You see, one of them teams with all forms of life and the other is known for no life in it at all. The difference is only the Sea of Galilee gives. The Dead Sea only gets and it is the worse for it.

According to v.16, Paul prays that the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus because somewhere on his trip back to Ephesus, he somehow died. We do not know how he died and we are not given much about Onesiphorus but he certainly was a tremendous blessing as Paul faced his final days in prison.

In v.17 we read, "On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me."

Onesiphorus, painstakingly, and at great effort, sought and found the Apostle Paul. That was not easy to do because the Romans told no-one where Paul was imprisoned. But Onesiphorus kept looking until he found him. He found him at great risk to his own life, for, to befriend an enemy of Caesar in those days was to put one's own life in peril.

In v.18 we read, "May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus."

When someone is a blessing to us, our hearts well up for them. We find ourselves praying for them more. This was the case here for Paul toward Onesiphorus. Granted, we do not bless to be blessed, but the principle in nonetheless true. Let me encourage you today to ask God to give you the ability to see the needs around you. Then, look for practical ways to be a blessing to those whom He brings into your pathway.

We all have an orientation to life. Most often it is our pain that makes us most useful to others. God redeems our pain as He brings healing through us to those around us. God gives us opportunities to share the Scriptural truths that He has given us as lifelines. And God gives us the privilege of coming alongside people to believe for them and to pray for them. In this type of giving, we even find healing for ourselves.

2 Timothy 1:13-14

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13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. ~ 2 Timothy 1:13-14

In our last passage of study, the Apostle Paul wrote about how his life was entrusted to God. In today's text Paul writes about how God has entrusted the word of God to Timothy. Can you imagine a world without truth? How chaotic it would be. There would be no trust for without the truth trust dies. Trust is quite difficult when we do not know who or what we are trusting.

In v.13 we read, "What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus."

The Apostle begins with, "What you heard from me." The "What" spoken of here in this verse is the truth from God, given to the Apostle Paul. The word "heard" reminds me of Romans 10:17 which reads, "Faith comes by hearing by the word of God." The word used here for "word" is rhema which is the spoken word of God. We do not hear God with our ears, we hear Him with our hearts and minds. It is the experiential word of God that gives birth to faith in our hearts. This is why we must be in the word daily, expecting God to speak to our hearts through His word.

The word “keep,” in our text, means to hold tightly or firmly, to grasp. The idea behind this word is to hold onto in such a way that we interact with it. In this way, it holds on to us. The truth is meant to be interactive. It was given to us by God in order to impact our lives in a qualitative way. We struggle with it and that is good. We must be careful to remain honest with it or we will trump it by what we think is right. Of course, our way is not the way.

We struggle with doubting the veracity of truth and this is normal. The Lord Jesus consistently made a distinction between doubt and unbelief, not doubt and faith. Doubt is the shadow cast by faith. Doubt is can’t believe, whereas unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is honestly wrestling with the truth, but unbelief is being obstinate with the truth. Doubt is looking for light whereas unbelief is content with the darkness.

The word  “pattern," means "an architect’s sketch.” In v,13 Paul writes, "keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus." This means the pattern came from the architect, God Himself. He is the architect of the truth and we are not making it, it is making us. 

The word "sound" means "healthful and whole," words that will lead us to wholesome living. In Proverbs 14:12 we read,  "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death." There is our way that leads to destruction or there is God's way which leads us to a life filled with "faith and love which are in Christ Jesus."

It was the Holy Spirit who committed the truth to Paul, and then, Paul committed God's truth to Timothy. Apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we are in the dark when it comes to having the truth and understanding it. God's word is so important because in it, God has shown us the way, the truth, and the life. And, from the beginning of human history, Satan has opposed God’s Word because "it is the power of God unto salvation for all who choose to believe it."

In v.14 we read, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."

This word "guard" means to retain the standard of sound, wholesome, life-giving words. Be committed to it, to the proper theological structure, the proper interpretation of Scripture, the proper outline of the truth that produces spiritual growth, spiritual maturity. This will result in sound theology.

We live in a world where people get squeamish when we have biblically based convictions, but those with strong convictions must be bold. The "good deposit" is the Scriptures. Though the word truth does not actually appear in this verse, we are to "guard the truth with the help of the Spirit." The glory of Christianity is that it is knowledge that can free us from the lies that the world in its blindness is following to its own destruction.

It is not merely the words of the Bible that make it powerful, rather it is the presence of the Holy Spirit enlightening the words of God contained in the Bible. The Spirit illuminates the Bible so that we can take it to heart. He makes the words of the Bible living words that enlighten our minds, pierce our hearts, words that produce profound changes in attitude and behavior in us that we can't produce ourselves. This is the reason we must keep and guard it because it keeps and guards us.

2 Timothy 1:11-12

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11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. ~ 2 Timothy 1:11-12

Faithful til the end is the overarching theme of 2 Timothy. Faithful, as we considered yesterday, is to be full of faith which always has a forward lean to it. Our problem with this is: we do not do well with trusting, especially if those whom we should have been able to trust were not all that faithful to us when we were in our formative years.

I have a dog that my son and daughter-in-law rescued out of a park near downtown Columbia. Although, for two years now, I have been nothing but loving to Millie, she sometimes struggles with trusting me. When we brought her home with us, she was five months old. I've often wondered, "What happened in her life in those first five months that makes her struggle with trusting me?" You see this truth is not only true for dogs, it is true for us.

Another problem that we have with faith is we do not know what tomorrow will bring. But, we can trust the God of the Bible who has always been faithful to His promises. Of course, we must give Him time to bring about His promises and His timetable is not on par with ours. Corrie ten Boom said it well when she said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

Today's text begins with, "And of this gospel I was appointed a herald." The focus of all things must be the gospel which includes the utter helplessness of man, the coming of the Savior, His death, burial and resurrection. And, most importantly, that we believe it, that we trust in His gospel. And, for fallen people, trusting is a very hard thing to do.

Think of the Apostle Paul as he wrote this, he was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon. This is where the gospel led him and he was not daunted in his faith. Why? Because through the darkness a light shined forth which never stopped lighting. He was strategically abandoned by all who had helped him to that point. I say strategically because we will never be convince that the Lord Jesus is all we need until He is all we have.

The Apostle Paul was appointed, as we all are. You and I are appointed to the advancement of the gospel in one sphere or another. As the Apostle Paul was called to be a herald, so are you and I. And, I might add, people are convince more by our deeds than they are by our words. We must keep the message simple. We must focus on the gospel and share it consistently and all the rest, God will see fit to teach. He may use you and me to do the further teaching, but we must be patient to give people the time to process the gospel first.

In v.12 we read, "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day."

Paul's confidence was in Christ because he knew His faithfulness. Notice his emphasis on the person of Christ: “I know whom I have believed.” As you probably already know, Paul went through hell on earth to garner such confidence in the Savior. This is how it works in a fallen world. And, we have to trust that even the bad stuff is used of God for our good. Our problem is our definition of what is good. If we allow God to define things for us, we will have a biblical understanding of what is good.

Salvation is not the result of believing certain doctrines, though doctrines are important. A sinner is saved because he believes in a Person—Jesus Christ the Savior. Paul had deposited his soul in the care and keeping of the Savior, and Paul was sure that Jesus Christ would faithfully guard that deposit. 

In these difficult days that we live in, it is important that we stand true to Christ and be willing to suffer for Him. We may not be put into prison, as was Paul, but we will suffer in other ways: the loss of friends, being bypassed for a promotion, loss of customers, being snubbed by people, and so forth. 

Our text for today ends with, "and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." Paul had sunk to the lowest lows, yet he was at the highest heights regarding his faith, his heart's ability to see God. It is at rock bottom that we realize the bed-rock nature of our God's faithfulness. The key is that we learn to use the unwanteds of life as a means to knowing the Lord Jesus. This is what it means to "entrust" it to Him. Taking all of our stuff, both good and bad, and giving it to Him, and trusting Him with the outcome. And, God writes a far better story than we.

2 Timothy. 1:9-10

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9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ~ 2 Timothy 1:9-10

Martin Luther once said, “Where the battle rages, there, the loyalty of the soldier is proved.” We come back to the book which has as its theme: Faithful til the end. In order to remain faithful to the end, we must recognize truth for what it is; sometimes it is pleasant, and, at others, it is the hardest thing to embrace. One thing is for sure, the truth is the only thing that we can count on in this fallen world and our lack of faithfulness to it is not wise.

Once we embrace the truth, we must learn to look at life as a voyage of discovery, all the while running the risk of disappointment, fear and failure. As C.S. Lewis once said, "You can't have the love without the pain." Those who find a way to be defined by God's truth will be more faithful to it than those who hide behind the less substantive things of this world. To be faithful is to be filled with faith. When we are not defined by the truth, we will struggle at discovering our true identity.

In v.9 we read, "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time."

God made the choice to call us to Himself by His grace “before the beginning of time.” He is transcendent which means He is not bound by time and space as we are. Given our fallen state, He had to allow pain and suffering to be part of His sovereign plan, otherwise we would have been programmed, and, where is the love in that? It is difficult to understand that the bad things that have happened to us throughout our lives are useful in the loving hands of this One who love us more than we can fathom.

The emphasis in this verse is on grace. God had to sacrifice His Son in order to make it possible for mankind to be saved because we lack the ability to save ourselves. He called us to Himself, not on the basis of our good works, but totally on the basis of His favor that we can never merit. And, our pain and suffering enables our ears to hear His gracious call. Once we hear, we discover that it is His purpose that we wisely want, and if these purposes include suffering, then we can accept it by faith and know that God’s will is best. All of this grace was given to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Notice the reason God saved us by His grace: So that we might experience His holiness. His holiness lacks nothing. Unlike Him, mankind lacks, and, this is the root to all of our problems, we lack. This is why we covet. My mother died when I was five years old and I desperately lacked the affection that I did not get from her. That lack defined me so deeply that I made many bad and destructive choices until I came to the place of understanding His holiness.

When God's holiness defines us, our lack problem will increasingly be addressed until the point where we will experience His wholeness. His wholeness will never be perfect in us this side of heaven, yet, it gradually murders our insecurities, if we let it. And, the freedom that comes to the once shackeled soul is as liberating as when Frodo dropped that ring into the pit of fire at Mount Doom. 

There have been times in my life when it was as if I could hear the chains clang in my mind as they fell to the floor of my existence and I was freed from my own demise. It wasn't the demise of God or my mother, it was my demise. I came to understand that ninety percent of life is how I respond to the ten percent that happens to me.

In v.10 we read, "but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Through His resurrection, Christ has defeated our last and ultimate enemy: death. He not only destroyed death, He revealed life and immortality. In the Old Testament the doctrines of eternal life, death, and the resurrection were kept in the shadows. Then, the Lord Jesus Christ came shining His light on all that is really real, and, through His teachings, He has pulled back that stiff curtain that separated us from all that is substantive, enabling us to see the real which garners for us assurance of the life to come.

“Immortality” is “incorruptibility” which will be the believer's eventual condition and experience. Our present bodies are corruptible thus they will die and decay. But our eventual bodies will be like His, never again subject to decay or death. The grave and the terror death has held over us all of these years will be vanquished, and, we will know our heavenly inheritance in an upclose way.

We must fight against allowing the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to become mechanical and indifferent to us. These are at the heart of the Christian faith. We must live so close to the cross that we find ourselves in danger of getting splinters in our noses. This is why, by the way, God gave us the Lord' Supper. As often as we remember Him on that cross, the more our hearts will possibly be engulfed in His.

When the Lord Jesus destroyed the power of death, He eliminated it. The word destroyed is the Greek word that means "to bring to nothing."  But the practical aspects of a destroyed death is yet to be realized by us. There will come a day when we will know nothing but life, death will be a thing of the past.

Our text today ends with, "immortality to light through the gospel." The Old Testament does not give a lot of information on what lies beyond, but when the Lord Jesus came, He made clear that our long dark struggle with sin and death will soon be over. Then, we will live life to its fullest, permanently enjoyed into our everlasting future.

The word "life" here is a reference to the change that will take place when we are given new bodies, but it also refers to that which occurs in our hearts when we are invaded by God's presence. The new quality of life that was imparted to us was delivered by the Lord Jesus. He made it visible to us through the paradox of His death and resurrection.

It is the power of God that brings that kind of certainty and hope into our lives, if we choose to be defined by it. It is the gospel, and it is the answer to the deepest longings of people everywhere. We live in a world of the superficial. When we allow it to define us, we find ourselves trapped by the fallen devices of the enemy. The reality is, when we examine what is real, we are left with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus which not only rescues us from death but frees us from the obnoxious lack that has plagued us from birth. 

2 Timothy 1:6-8

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6 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. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. ~ 2 Timothy 1:6-8

The emphasis in this second letter written by Paul to Timothy is remaining faithful to God til the end. When Timothy came to Christ, like all believers, he received the incredible gift of a personal relationship with God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. As we learned in Paul's first letter to Timothy, a prophetic utterance was given that indicated that Timothy was a young man who would be greatly used of God. 

Paul wrote,"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God." 

Every Christian does not have the same spiritual gift(s), but every Christian has the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the believer in Christ yields to the Holy Spirit, we make it possible for the Holy Spirit to freely work in and through our lives in such a way that God is glorified. The ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit is to aid us in knowing God and the advancement of God's kingdom in the sphere wherein we operate. To do this we must fan into flame the gift of God.

The verb “flame” means to get the fire going and keep it blazing. The believer must not put the fire out; we must fan it by feeding the Holy Spirit rather than our flesh. Like getting oxygen into a struggling fire, we feed the Spirit by walking in God's will, by praying, reading His word, and sharing our findings with others. To fan the flame is to practice the presence of God in our lives and to yield to His daily leading.

In v.7 we read, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

At the time of the writing of this second letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, Paul was in a Roman dungeon. This was Paul's last will and testament, so to speak, his final words. That dungeon that he was in was dark and cold, yet, it was a great reminder of the need of a warm flame. Paul's conditions no doubt aided his thoughts as they were penned. 

The most often repeated command in the Bible is "Fear not!" When we fan the flame or give freedom to the Holy Spirit to do His work in and through us, we experience His power. Through His power the enemy is broken and God enables us to see the validity and fulfillment of His will in our lives. 

The word “power” is the Greek word from which we get our English word dynamite. It means dynamic energy and it doesn’t matter how powerful the adversary is, the power of God will always trump him, and enable us in our yielded state, to accomplish that which God has called us to do.

God's power is released to and in us when we choose to obey God. He does not make us feel powerful, we still struggle with our feelings of weakness, but His strength is imparted to us to see and follow the truth, as we serve Him in this dark and dreadful world. Our courage rises out of a sense of our calling and giftedness. When we know our calling and our giftedness, we will not be ashamed because this is what we are designed to do while we are in this world. This is what the Spirit of God has enabled and empowered us to do, and it is from the Holy Spirit that we gain the motivation to do it.

In addition to providing the power that we need to overcome our fears, the Holy Spirit provides us with God's love to share the truth with others. This is commitment love. It is the highest type of love wherein we volitionally choose to love another. 

As we grow in our understanding of God's love for us, we will subsequently see others through His eyes of love and compassion. Nothing gives more proof that a person is filled with the Spirit than when he evidences concern for somebody else's eternity.

In addition to power and love, the Holy Spirit provides the yielded believer self-discipline which means the control of one’s self, no matter the circumstances. This is the only time this Greek word is used in the Bible. It is that sound judgment that takes every feature of life and makes it positive for the advancement of the kingdom of God. It’s more than wisdom. It’s the application of  wisdom. And, every believer in Christ has access to this resource.

Finally, in v.8 we read, "So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." 

The believer in Christ must be programmed for rejection and the threats from people who say that if we don’t change our message or stop sharing it, they’re going to sue us. Therefore, we must not be reluctant to preach the Gospel of Christ in word and in deed.

I remember a day back in 1983 when I was punched in the face for giving testimony of Christ. I was working in a Pawn Shop in Savannah, Georgia. It was a Saturday morning and I was listening to Charles Stanley on the radio. A man who also worked at the Pawn Shop turned off the radio. At the time, I didn't realize that he had turned it off, so I went over and turned it back on. After that this colleague came over and punched me in the face and said to me, "I do not want to hear that @#&%!"

I was startled, caught between two great emotions: love and anger. I wanted to punch him in his fat gut. I immediately walked away. About fifteen minutes later he came and appologized to me. I will never forget that moment for it was the first time I had ever experienced any type of persecution for the Lord Jesus. And, although it was hard, it felt good. I was happy that I could suffer for the name of Christ. I only hope it aided that man in coming to the Lord Jesus before he entered eternity just a few years later.

2 Timothy 1:1-5

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1 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.~ 2 Timothy 1:1-5

When Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy, his situation had changed drastically. The Apostle was now a prisoner in Rome and was facing certain death. However, Paul’s concern was for Timothy. As in his first letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged him to remain faithful to the One who died for him. This second letter was probably written about four or five years after 1 Timothy.

In v.1 we read, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus."

Although Paul’s own circumstances were difficult, he was granted a really big view of God. That is the way it works: we gain a big view of God at the expense of the trouble that we go through in this life. I have found that my most profound observations about the Lord and life have come into my purview through the hardest moments. Like Paul, I am discovering that whatever happens in my life, I am in the hands of God, and I have no reason to fear. This is possible, because like Paul, I have “the promise of life that is in Jesus Christ."

Everybody, everywhere, has a hunger for this kind of life Paul references here. Nobody wants meaninglessness or emptiness. We all want to experience excitement and to feel alive. This is what makes us vulnerable to the appeals of the world, which constantly reminds us that we only go around once and we must grab it while we can. The problem with the world's proposition, it doesn't come near to delivering what it promises. It is amazing how desperate we all are for this world's lies.

In v.2 we read, "To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

This verse literally reads, “Timothy, my dearly beloved son.” This greeting is much stronger than the one the Apostle gave in his first letter to Timothy which was: “Timothy, my own son in the faith.” It is not that Paul loved Timothy less when he wrote that first letter, Paul's ability to love has increased and that increase parallels the depths he has gone through with the Lord Jesus. As Paul’s life drew to a close, he realized in a deeper way how dear the Lord Jesus was to him. And, when the Lord Jesus becomes more dear to us, those that are most dear to Him become more dear to us.

Sixty-five year old Paul, wished grace, mercy and peace upon thirty-five year old Timothy. “Grace” is God’s undeserved favor given to rebellious at heart sinners to free us from sin, enabling us to live a life from eternities view. “Mercy” is God’s undeserved compassion in freeing us from the misery that our sin created. And “peace” is the heart tranquility and settled relationship with God that results from grace and mercy. It is God's grace that covers our sin, His mercy that overrules our misery, and, it is His peace that guides us through this distracting world to the things that are most important.

In v.3 we read, "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."

Paul was in prison in Rome and he had a lot of time on his hands to pray. This is usually the way it works: we experience isolation like imprisonment, hospitalisation or retirement, in order to get to the most important. If we lack the wisdom to see God's design in this, we will not pray. But, when we embrace Him through it, we become a player in the cosmic battle which rages. Knowing that he would soon die, Paul factors in most greatly in the advancement of the kingdom of God in the hearts of people through prayer.

Incarcerated in that dark dungeon, crowded with criminals, facing an unjust execution, Paul thinks about Timothy. Sweet memories flood his heart. No complaints. No bitterness. No anger. No vengeance. He writes, “night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.” 

Prayer is the cornerstone of the Christian life because it acknowledges God's presence in our lives. It also recognizes our utter dependence upon our Father in heaven. Prayer is the cry of a beloved child to his faithful father. Frequently it is the cry of a lost child who does not know his way, who is lost in dark woods, with strange and frightening noises. The child may cry out to be led to an open road or to be home safe in bed or at least to see a light in the distance so he can know his way. Yet this prayer is not always answered that way, for God is our Father and, as the Lord Jesus once said, He knows already what we have need of before we pray. 

In v.4 we read, "Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy." Sometimes, our tears are necessary. It is often our tears or the cause of them that we are made more ardent in prayer through which we gain an angle that enables us to see the heart of our Father better. This is when joy is often heightened in our lives. In fact, Nehemiah reminds us through the most stressful time of his life that "the joy of the LORD is our strength." God's joy comes most often into our lives through our tears.

In v.5 we read, "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."

Timothy had a sincere faith, the type of faith that was authentic and believable. He had this sincere faith because his mother and grandmother had seen to it that he was taught the Scriptures. Integral to the development of our faith is our consumption of the word of God. Augustine said it well when he said, "The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home."

Prayer and the Word of God go hand in hand in framing up a better understanding of our calling in this sin-sick world. Tim Keller says that prayer is “helplessness accepted and given to God.” Prayer is connecting with God almighty who is faithful to make His word come alive to us in a way that is eternal, exciting, and impactful.

1 Timothy 6:20-21

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20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all. ~ 1 Timothy 6:20-21

Today, we come to the final two verses in 1 Timothy. In these two verses the Apostle Paul issues us a call to guard the truth which is a fitting way to end this letter.

When the Apostle Paul wrote, "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care," he was speaking of the truth as is set forth in the Bible. Just like Timothy, we have all been given the truth, but we tend to take the truth for granted. It is the truth which enables us to know the difference between right and wrong. We live in a world full of deceit and many are being deceived and they do not have one idea of the deception that they are under. 

We "guard" the truth by living by it, and by not allowing anybody to take it away from us, or to water it down with false teachings. The Bible is the self-revelation of God. This is our primary source for all that we know about God. If we say we believe it and we don’t live it, then we are not taking His word seriously. But, the Bible is the most sacred thing we will ever hold in our hands. This is the ultimate sacred trust.

Guarding the truth is not only a matter of right interpretation, it’s a matter of right living. When we think about the sacredness with which people treated the Bible who gave their lives for it, martyrs whose literal blood was poured out in their guarding of God's truth. And then, we have people who treat it flippantly by using the Scriptures to get rich.

In the remainder of v.20 we read, "Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge."

Paul commands us to “Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas.” The word "godless" is the Greek word  bebēlos which originally was used by the Greeks to refer to everything outside the sacred grounds of a temple. It then came to mean anything unsacred. So these so-called intellectual musings that attack the Bible are unsacred, and have no connection with God. All that stuff, Paul says to us, keep turning away from it. 

It seems in America today that education is spending our whole life learning error. To combat this, we must preserve the truth. We must guard and protect the truth. The word there for chatter is meaningless talk unrelated to the truth. Professors, who use “science” to oppose the words of God, say that God didn’t create the universe, it evolved.  However, when applying science to this hypothesis we find that their theory of how we got here cannot be true. It takes more faith to believe in their "science" than in the intelligent Creator who created us all.

In v.21 we read, "knowledge which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all."  

Those who picked up on this "knowledge" have deviated from the faith. And they have led a lot of other people with them. The word Paul uses for departed brings with it the idea that they have lost their way or they have lost sight of the Lord.

The final words in this epistle are: “Grace be with you all.” Paul uses no verb here. It literally reads, “Grace with you all.” The Apostle is very abrupt in this ending, because he knows we can’t do any of this unless the grace of God enable us. We must believe the Word of God to the point that it defines us. Then, we must defend it with our very lives. If we do, we will preserve all that keeps us and our culture from spinning out of control.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

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17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. ~ 1 Timothy 6:17-19

The city of Ephesus where Timothy lived was a center of travel and commerce. Situated on the Aegean Sea, the city was one of the greatest seaports of the ancient world. Three major roads led from the Ephesian seaport. This made commerce explode in that day and it explains why Ephesus was so wealthy.

In today's text, the Apostle Paul reintroduces the subject of money which is a big deal in the Bible. We’re given more instruction in the Bible about money (about 2,000 verses) than almost anything else. 

You will remember that back in 1 Timothy 6:5 Paul described the motive of false teachers: material gain. And then, in 1 Timothy 6:9-10, he underscored the possibility of the rich being more susceptible to falling into the temptations and traps that ultimately could lead one to destruction. And then he made this point: the love of money is the root of all evil. Hosea 13:6 sums up this tragic disparity: “Being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they forgot Me.”  

The Bible does not condemn wealth nor does it teach that all wealth denotes the blessing of God. We must be careful not to equate material blessing with the blessing of God, because riches have a way of pushing us up in our own minds above those who have less. That’s just part of our fallen nature. We tend to look down on people who are lower on the economic ladder than we. 

In v.17 we read, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

When Lucifer placed himself on par with God, he rebelled against Him. This was the first sin ever committed and pride inaugurated sin. Pride is the most difficult of sins because it makes us think we are better than others. If wealth makes us proud, then we do not understand the purpose of wealth. When we are given by God material wealth, we ought to increase in humility and seek for ways to use our wealth to glorify Him for this is its ultimate purpose.

The word enjoyment at the end of v.17 is one of the recurring themes in the Bible. In Ecclesiastes we are told “Enjoy the blessings of life now, because life will end one day.” It is not a sin to enjoy the abundance the Lord chooses to give us.

In v.18 we read, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." 

The real enjoyment that riches bring us is that we might be a blessing to others. God created us with two basic needs: to be loved and to love. This is what creates a sense of joy and gladness in the heart, to know that we are the object of His love and that we have been used by Him to bless others.

In v.19 we read, "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

There are two things in this world that will survive: the Word of God and the souls of people. When we are used of God to bring these two together, we are laying up treasures in heaven. The Lord Jesus taught us to use our money to win friends so that when the money fails our friends will be there to greet us when we get to heaven.

The best investment strategy on earth is putting stock in heaven! In Matthew 6:19-21, the Lord Jesus affirmed this investment strategy when He said to store up treasure in heaven where nothing can destroy it. Godliness that overcomes the craving for material wealth produces great spiritual wealth.

Using money to help people now, makes it more possible that they may come to the Lord Jesus now. When we are used of God to bless others we will experience the excitement and adventure of the life that the Lord Jesus Christ came to give us. Nothing in this world, even prosperity, puts the paddles to the chest of our spirituality. It is when we are living in concert with God's for our lives will we truly be resuscitated by Him.

1 Timothy 6:13-16

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13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. ~ 1 Timothy 6:13-16

We return to the Apostle Paul's instructions to Timothy on how to be a man of God. Nothing helps us to flee sin, to follow the Lord and to fight the good fight more than a closer walk with the Lord Jesus. Our problem is we want to see Him with our eyes, but in order to get this deeper glimpse of Him we must learn to look for Him with our hearts. This is what faith is, the ability to see God with our hearts. 

In v.13 we read, "In the sight of God, who gives life to everything." 

We find ourselves often arriving at the corner of beaten, dejected, and defeated at the same time. Good thing that the God of the Bible is the giver of life. We all have experienced the infusion of new strength, new purpose and new courage from God when we have turned to Him in prayer in the moments of pressure. Why does it require amped up pressure for us to seek Him more diligently? We must learn to live in the sight of God or avail ourselves to Him in the good times, as well as the bad. We do this by seeking Him daily by being in His word daily and by being in prayer or conversation with God as much as we can. This will amp up His presence in our lives and we will see the world anew.

The remainder of v.13 reads, "and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you."

When we remember the good confession of the Lord Jesus as He stood before Pontius Pilate, we gain a perspective that causes us to conclude that God has everything in His sovereign control and we have no need to be discouraged. In sight of Christ's good confession, we gain an endurance which enables us to persevere according to God's calling on our lives. It is at this point that the Lord God provides an infusion of life into our mortal existence, and then we recognize the Lord Jesus is always at the center of all that God does. The Lord Jesus was the Word who spoke all things into existence. The Lord Jesus speaks life into our mortal lives more than we know. As our awareness of Him heightens, the more we will recognize Him and His way of thinking and living. 

By the way, Christ's good confession was His silence. While He didn't defend Himself, He was defending us. He didn't resist the will of God, He embraced it so that He could embrace us.

In Colossians 2 we read, "16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

It is He who is holding us together, so we need not fear. He is like laminin in the human body, the rebar in a sturdy foundation. 

Stanford University is the site of a linear accelerator, a two-mile long atom smasher. It is a great lever with which scientists try to pry the lid off the secrets of matter and discover what is in the miniature world of the atom, the neutron, and the proton. Linear Accelerator scientists have discovered a complexity they never dreamed of, and they have found particles that they cannot even invent enough names for. But one thing they are consistently discovering is that there is some strange force that holds everything together. They call it the cosmic glue that holds things together. This force has a name and it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.14-15 the Apostle Paul charges Timothy "to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords."

Christ's confession produces a continual genuine confession of the gospel in the life of the yielded man of God. Although the Lord Jesus was put to death, He is coming again as the Lord of life. The One who was here in weakness is coming again in great strength and He will exercise His sovereignty over all at that point. When we keep our eyes on Him, we will not be daunted by the distractions that this life throws at us.

The Greek word translated “appearing” in v.14 gives us our English word epiphany, which means “a glorious manifestation.” In Paul’s day, the word was used in the myths to describe the appearing of a god, especially to deliver someone from trouble. Paul used it of the first coming of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 1:10) and of His return (2 Tim. 4:1,8). 

The commands to flee from sin that hinders the gospel from being heard and believed, to pursue the Lord will all of your soul, and to fight the good fight of the faith as mentioned in v.11-12 take on a whole new focus with this fresh infusion of life from God. We live in a volatile world and we are tempted to be overly concerned about what may happen. The believer in Christ has no reason to worry for God has all things in His control. 

In v.16 we read, "who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen."

To be “immortal” is to “not be subject to death.” Man is subject to death, but God is not. Only God has immortality as an essential and inherent part of His being. Since God is not subject to death, He is Life and the Giver of life. He is incorruptible and not subject to decay or change. In this world, we are in mortal bodies, but when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, we shall share His immortality.

For God to "live in unapproachable light" means there is no one remotely like the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can draw near to His light apart from the provision He has made through His finished work on the cross. The great message of the gospel is that the invisible God became visible in a Man. No wonder the Apostle Paul ends this section with worship: "To him be honor and might forever. Amen."

In Isaiah 42:16 we read, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” The question which must be asked at this point is: Are we blind enough to this world to see beyond to this great God whom we serve?

1 Timothy 6:12

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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ~ 1 Timothy 6:12

In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 the Apostle Paul gives to Timothy a threefold formula that will enable him to do the ministry the Lord called him to do there in Ephesus. Having considered the first two imperatives in 1 Timothy 6:11, today we consider the third. These imperatives, when heeded, distinguishes one as a man of God. 

Before we get to this third imperative, though, let me be clear, 1 Timothy 6:11-12 is not justification teaching, this is sanctification teaching. This teaching has nothing to do with us getting into heaven. You will remember that it is only the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross and our trust in that alone which justifies or makes us right with God. 

Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process that we entered into after we had trusted Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. This process is the changing of our souls: our minds, our wills, and our emotions. And, God's goal in our sanctification is that others would see our changed lives and turn to God for salvation for themselves.

The third imperative that leads to a man being called the man of God is he fights the good fight of the faith. The man of God is engaged in a relentless war. He battles the kingdom of darkness which yields its ground very reluctantly. He faces many unseen adversaries, and, he is preoccupied with this unseen battle that is waging every moment of every day.

The greek word that the Apostle Paul uses for fight is agōnizomai, from which we get our English word agonize. It describes a level of concentration, and a level of effort, coupled with discipline and conviction that leads to success. 

In New Testament days, Greek boxers had gloves lined with just a little fur. There was just a little fur and leather, no padding. They were made generally of ox hide. And stitched into the glove at the knuckles was lead and iron. When Paul talks about fighting the good fight, he’s talking about some serious action. And in a Greek boxing match, the loser had his eyes gouged out as emblematic of his failure. Boxing was a death/life struggle. Serious conflict from which you could emerge dead or lifetime blind. 

Notice the second half of today's text, "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 

This means "get a grip on the fact that you’re dealing with eternal issues. This is war, and eternity is at stake." The man of God is called to eternal issues. Having confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, he publicly commits himself to a battle over eternal issues. As long as he lives, he fights the good fight, the noble fight for the souls of men against the kingdom of darkness and against the world, the flesh and the devil. The man of God is marked by what he flees from, by what he follows after and by what he fights for.

This fight is not between believers, it really isn't a fight with the forces of darkness. This fight begins and ends with knowing God. Paul writes, "Take hold of the eternal life." All too often we are preoccupied with Satan more than we are with God. Here, the Apostle Paul writes, "Take hold of," which means grasp and hold on for dear life. The man of God had a dogged determination to know God for himself. 

The story is told of a young man who went to a wise old man for advice. When he found the wise man he was sitting on the banks of a large lake. The young man sat down next to him and asked, "How can I become as wise as you, sir?" At that point the wise old man raised up and plunged the young man's head down into the water and the young man fought hard to raise his head up but to no avail. The young man feared that he was going to die. At the last moment the wise man lifted the young man's head out of the water and said, "When you fight as hard at fighting the good fight as when I held you head under that water, it will be then that you will be wise."

The man of God flees sin, follows God and fights the good fight of faith. The result of this is the man of God is laid hold of by that which he is trying to lay hold of; he is laid hold of by God Himself. And, as the Potter, He shapes us and equips us to fight the good fight of faith. It is this faith or our heart's ability to see God for ourselves which enables us to beat a path to knowing Him for ourselves, and it is this faith which enables us to fight for those who have yet to enter into a personal relationship with God.