Intro:
1. MacDonald, “The last words of famous people are generally cherished by those who loved the individual…Sitting in the dark dungeon in Rome, was only a hole in the ceiling for light, and awaiting execution by beheading…The now aged and worn out from his long and arduous race for God, pens a final appeal to hold firmly to the truth and life that Timothy has been taught.”
2. It seems to me that Paul reveals that he had everything he needed to face both life and death.
3. The Sufficiency of Christianity.
2 Timothy 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I. First, he had a Labor to do.
A. The Author of this book. [2 Tim. 3:16-17]
Paul - PAUL
at Stephen's murder—Acts 7:58
qualified to tell Jews about Jesus—Acts 7:58
how Jesus broke into his life—Acts 9:2-5
shown Christian love by Ananias—Acts 9:17
shared his new faith with others—Acts 9:20
escaped from Damascus—Acts 9:23
had to change his reputation—Acts 9:26-27
why he returned to Tarsus—Acts 9:30
made Antioch his home base—Acts 11:22
began first missionary journey—Acts 13:2-3(2)
mistaken as a god—Acts 14:11-12
disagreement with Barnabas—Acts 15:36-39
began second missionary journey—Acts 15:40
praised God despite his circumstances—Acts 16:22-25
religious leaders jealous of—Acts 17:5
presented Good News to Greek philosophers—Acts 17:22
a tentmaker—Acts 18:2-3
unjustly charged with treason—Acts 18:13
began third missionary journey—Acts 18:22
wanted to go to Rome—Acts 19:21
took gift to impoverished Jerusalem church—Acts 20:4
young boy saved his life—Acts 23:16-22
sent to Caesarea—Acts 23:23-24
more false accusations against—Acts 24:1
appealed to Caesar—Acts 25:10-11
what he did while imprisoned in Rome—Acts 28:30
tradition says he took fourth missionary journey—Acts 28:30(2)
compared himself to Apollos—1 Cor 3:6
wanted to be thought of as a servant—1 Cor 4:1-2
authority as an apostle—1 Cor 9:1
searched for Titus—2 Cor 2:13
his thorn in the flesh—2 Cor 12:7-8
spent many years preparing for ministry—Gal 2:1(3)
confronted Peter—Gal 2:11ff
imprisoned twice in Rome—Phil 1:19-21
why he had persecuted the church—Phil 3:6
his writings contrasted with Peter's—2 Pet 3:15-18
Life Application Study Bible.
B. The Authority of Paul.
An apostle – mentioned for the benefit of the false teachers.
From the very preface we already perceive that Paul had not in view Timothy alone; other wise he would not have employed such lofty titles in asserting his apostleship; for what purpose would it have served to employ these ornaments of language in writing to one who was fully convinced of the fact? Calvin's Commentaries.
C. The Ability of Paul.
Apostle was a spiritual gift – “a God-given ability for service in the body of Christ.”
In a general sense the word means one who is sent (as used of Epaphroditus in Phil. 2:25). But the technical sense of apostleship refers to the Twelve and possibly a few others like Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:14). The gift was given for the founding of the church and was accredited by special signs (2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:20). This is not a gift that God gives today. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth.
The gift gave Paul a cause in life, his life’s labor was that of planting and nurturing local churches. We all have a labor to do in relationship with the local church. That work will be defined by our spiritual gifts. 1 Pet. 4:10/1 Cor. 7:7
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, likely has the gift of helps or serving. When he left the White House in 1981, he began working with Habitat for Humanity. In the New Yorker he said:
“When Rosalynn and I left the White House, we decided since I was one of the youngest survivors of the office and we had a lot of years ahead of us, and I was deeply interested in human rights, and I didn’t want to just build a library and go back to farming – we would do things that others wouldn’t or couldn’t do. To me, this is part of my duty as a human being. It is part of my duty to capitalize on my reputation and fame and influence as a former President of a great nation. And it’s exciting. It’s unpredictable. It’s gratifying, it’s adventurous. I just enjoy it.”
Jimmy Cater is a Christian who has served many years in a local church as a Sunday School teacher.
Whether a former president or a teenager working at McDonald, all Christians have a special duty, a labor, a calling. Without a cause, a labor, life becomes meaningless and void. But thankfully every Christian has a project, a duty suited for them. While our nation has a high unemployment rate these days, no Christian is ever unemployed but has a wonderful labor to do.
II. Furthermore, he had the Lord.
A. His Possession.
of Jesus Christ – a genitive case.
“This is perhaps the most common and frequent use of the genitive case. Its fundamental meaning denotes Whence? Is clear. From the origin and source naturally flows Possession, especially in the use of the personal pronouns “the daughter of me”: i.e., my daughter; “the disciples of Him” i.e., His disciples. Hence, after the words “son” “brother” “wife” “house” etc. [Figures of Speech Used in the Bible]
As the hymn goes, “Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me…” Paul’s greatest possession was Jesus Christ. And to possess Christ, is to be possessed by Christ. What do we view as our greatest possession? Family, money, health? None these can ultimately satisfy and be depended upon.
I think most of us can identify with Marjorie Holmes prayer:
“Help me not to put too much stock in possessions, Lord. I want things, sure. But life seems to be a continual round of wanting things – from the first toys we fight over as children to our thrilled unwrapping of wedding presents to those we buy in our old age.
Our concern is not primarily love and friends and pride in what we can do, but things.
Sometimes I’m ashamed of how much I want mere possessions – things for my husband and the house and the children. Yes, and things for myself, too. And this hunger is enhanced every time I turn on the television or walk through a shopping mall. My senses are tormented by the dazzling world of things.
Lord, cool these fires of wanting. Help me to realize how futile is this passion for possessions. Because – and this is what strips my values to the bone – one of my best friends died today in the very midst of her possessions. She was in the beautiful home she and her husband worked so hard to achieve, the home that was finally furnished the way she wanted it with the best of everything. She was surrounded by the Oriental rugs she was so proud of, the formal French sofas, the painting, the china and glass, the handsome silver service…
She had been snatched away while silently, almost cruelly, they remain. Lord, I grieve for my friend. My heart hurts that she had so little time to enjoy the things that she had earned and that meant so much to her. But let me learn something from this loss; that possessions are meant to enhance life, not to become the main focus of living. Help me remember that we come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Don’t let me put too much stock into mere possessions.”
Madame Guyon noted:
“If there were no mixture in your soul, the soul would instantly rush toward the all-powerful, irresistible God within, to be lost in Him. But if you are loaded down with many material possessions – or anything else – this attraction is greatly hindered. Many Christians seize some part of this world, or some part of self, with so tight a grip, that they spend their whole lives making only a snails progress toward their Center.”
B. His Position. “in Christ”
Elect and called of God (1 Thess. 1:4; 5:24)
Redeemed by God through the blood of His Son (Col. 1:14)
Reconciled to God by the death of His Son (2 Cor. 5:19)
Sheltered eternally under the propitiation made in the blood of Christ (1 John 2:2)
Forgiven all trespasses, past, present, and future (Col. 2:13)
Condemned no more forever (Rom. 8:1)
Justified freely by His grace (Rom. 3:24)
Sanctified positionally, or set apart to God in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30)
Perfected forever (Heb. 10:14)
Made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12)
Made accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6)
Made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21)
Made nigh to God in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:13)
A child and son of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:3)
Free from the law and dead to the law (Rom. 7:4, 6)
Delivered from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13)
Translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col. 1:13)
Founded on the Rock Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 3:11)
God's gift to Christ (John 17:11-12,20; 10:29)
Circumcised in Christ (Col. 2:11)
A holy priest, chosen and peculiar (1 Pet. 2:5,9)
An object of divine love, grace, power, faithfulness, peace, consolation (Eph. 1:9; 2:4, 8; Heb. 13:5; Col. 3:15; 2 Thess. 2:16)
An object of Christ's intercession (Heb. 7:25)
His inheritance (Eph. 1:18)
Seated in the heavenly in Christ (Eph. 2:6)
A citizen of heaven (Phil. 3:20 R.V.)
Of the family and household of God (Eph. 2:19; 3:15)
Light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8)
In God, in Christ, and in the Spirit (1 Thess. 1:1; John 14:20; Rom. 8:9)
Possessed with the first fruits of the Spirit. Born (John 3:6), baptized (1 Cor. 12:13), indwelt (1 Cor. 6:19), and sealed (Eph. 4:30)
Glorified (Rom. 8:30)
Complete in Him (Col. 2:10)
Possessing every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3)
III. Thirdly, there was a Layed-out Plan.
by the will of God – Paul didn’t have to decide what life was all about; what he needed to
do was arrange his life according to God’s master plan.
A. God’s plan determines what Spiritual gifts we will have. 1 Cor. 12:4-7
B. God’s plan includes Suffering.
1. Paul’s Political world.
A few years earlier Nero had ordered the torching of his own capital city of Rome, which burned furiously for six days and nights. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote:
“But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor and the propitiation of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order by Nero. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most tortures on a class hated for their abominations, call Christian’s by the populace.”
“As Paul wrote this second letter, the Christian church throughout the empire was facing severe persecution and hardship. Emperor Nero had begun a major persecution in AD 64 as part of his plan to pass the blame for the great fire of Rome from himself to the Christians. This persecution spread across the empire and included social ostracism, public torture, and murder.” [Life Application Bible]
2. Paul’s Prison.
During his first imprisonment he was under house arrest, with freedom to have visitors and to share God’s Word (Ac.28:30-31). But now, some 5 years later he was bound (2 Tim.1:16), treated as a criminal (2:9), in a dark damp space. Many believe it was the Mammertine prison Rome, I have been there and it is nothing more then a cave with a hole at the top.
3. Paul’s Partners.
The pain of being deserved by almost everyone (1:15; 4:16), nothing more frustrating then people who jump ship just when you need them most to weather the storm.
4. Paul’s Persecutors. 4:14-15
5. Paul’s was past his Prime of life.
He was now an old man, and that in itself brings pain and misery. As someone said, “I’m deteriorating according to schedule!”
“My deafness I endure
To dentures I’m resigned
Bifocals I manage
But how I miss my mind!”
An old man knelt before an older woman he had been courting, “I have two questions I want to ask you” he said. “The first question is, “Will you marry me?” She said, “Yes, what is the second question?” He said, “Will you help me up!”
6. Paul was also facing the Prospects of death.
He did not have very long to live, and while Paul was looking forward to dying, I am sure he was not overly excited about having his head chopped off!
“Suffering is not an indication that we are out of God’s will. Being in the center of God’s will is always more difficult than being out of it. Doing God’s will usually requires sacrifice and suffering. Choosing to do God’s will for our lives often requires making the same choice as Moses (Heb. 11:25).” [Journey Series]
The point is this, our lives are Layed out for us by a loving, wise, powerful Father (Eph.1:11/Rom.8:28)
Beecher, that great preacher of yesterday once said, “If the architect of a house had one plan and the contractor had another, what conflicts would there be! How many walls would have to come down, how many doors and windows would need to be altered before the two could harmonize!
On the building of life, God is the architect and man is the contractor. God has one plan, and man has another. Is it strange that there are clashing and collisions? How much better if the contractor follows the Architects plan. How wonderful for man to accept God’s will for his life without any questioning whatsoever.”
IV. Fourthly, he had Life.
According to the promise of life in Christ Jesus – nothing more comforting or needed then life for the spiritually dead; and life for those who are facing physical death.
According to the promise of life. That his calling may be the more certain, he connects it with the promises of eternal life; as if he had said, “As from the beginning God promised eternal life in Christ, so now he has appointed me to be the minister for proclaiming that promise.” Thus also he points out the design of his apostleship, namely, to bring men to Christ, that in him they may find life. [Calvin's Commentaries]
This is a precious and repeated promise – Jn. 17:3; 10:28; 6:27/Ac. 13:48/Rom.5:21/Titus 1:1-3; 3:7/ 1 Jn. 1:2, 25; 5:11, 20, etc.
Talk about sufficiency – abundant life for living and eternal life for dying!
During WWII a prisoner wrote, “Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer held a little service which reached the hearts of all. He had hardly finished his prayer, when the door opened. Two evil-looking soldiers came in and barked, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer come with us!” The words meant only one thing, the scaffold. As he bid his fellow prisoners good-bye he said, “For me this is the beginning of a new life, eternal life.”
V. Fifthly, he had seen the Lost saved.
To Timothy – one of his converts.
“He calls him ‘beloved child’ (v.2). The word is not son which indicates maturity and dependence. Paul never calls Timothy huios, but always teknon (I Tim.1:2,18/2 Tim.1:2; 2:1) an appellation of tenderness expressive of the time of his spiritual birth. The noun derives from tikto, to give birth to. We should never forget our children in the faith no matter where their spiritual growth is. At the hour of impending death, remembering how many spiritual children we have helped bring forth spells great comfort.” [New Testament Sermon Starters]
VI. Finally, he had a familiar List.
Grace, mercy, and peace – we have looked at these many times.
A. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.
B. Mercy is God withholding from us what we do deserve.
C. Peace is the result of grace and mercy.
Con:
1. The sufficiency of Christianity.
2. It is more then enough to get us through life.
3. Spurgeon, “God is satisfied with Himself, and sufficient to His own happiness. Therefore, surely there is enough in Him to fill the creature. That which fills an ocean will fill a bucket; that which will fill a gallon will fill a pint; those revenues which will defray an emperor’s expenses are enough for a beggar or poor man.” Didn’t Paul say, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
(Phil. 4:19)?”
Johnny Palmer Jr
www.strugglingthuscriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/strugglingthruscriptures
