SERMON OUTLINE:
Background of the letter
Purpose of the letter
Introduction to the letter
Four influences on Timothy:
*1st Influence: His Family (VS 5)
*2nd Influence: The Apostle Paul (VS 3-4)
*3rd Influence: A Gift From God (VS 6)
*4th Influence: Timothy’s Dedication (VS 7)
SERMON BODY:
Background of the letter:
• Second Timothy was probably written a year or so after the first letter to Timothy;
• The background events to this letter;
• Are not recorded for us in the New Testament;
• If you do a little bit of detective work;
• You can trace Paul’s travels from the references given in the New Testament letters.
• i.e. Titus chapter 1 verse 5: He visited Crete.
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 3-4: He visited Ephesus.
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 3: Macedonia
• It is also possible that he also Spain.
• So we get a glimpse from these references of where Paul went in his travels;
• What we do know is that the apostle Paul was rearrested,
• At the time when Nero had unleashed a wave of terrible persecution against Christians.
Note: This second imprisonment would be very different to his first.
(a).
• His first imprisonment was for two years he was under house arrest (Acts chapter 28);
• That means he had a measure of freedom;
• He was allowed to hold meetings in his home.
• And people could openly come and go whenever they wanted too.
• In his second imprisonment he is writing from a little circular Roman prison cell;
• About twenty feet in diameter.
• He is very limited in who he can see and what he can do!
• e.g. Chapter 1 verse 17 tells us he was imprisoned in such an out-of-the-way place;
• That Onesiphorus, a Christian friend,
• Had a great deal of difficulty in actually discovering where he was held.
(c).
• In his first imprisonment, we might say ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel’:
• Paul knew one day he would be free,
• One day he would fulfil his desire, his ambition;
• To stand before Caser and share his faith.
• In this second letter he knows his time on earth is up;
• Only Luke was with him and he longs to see Timothy again before he dies,
• So in chapter 4 verses 9: his request is ‘Come quickly’ – while there is still time.
• We are not told in the New Testament;
• But scholars agree that Paul was most likely beheaded under Nero in A.D. 64.
Note:
• Even though his circumstances are tough;
• Even though his death is imminent.
• There is no hint of self-pity in this letter;
• There is no hint of regrets in this letter;
• His last word is one of encouragement to all who follow after.
• For Paul the race is over – ahead is his reward.
• Note: the description he uses in chapter 1 verse 8: “His Prisoner”
• Paul was a prisoner of Jesus Christ and not ‘a prisoner of Rome’.
• ‘A prisoner of Rome’ might describe his geographical position & his actual state;
• But Paul always saw the bigger picture – his times were in God’s hands.
• And his suffering and imprisonment was part of his ministry & service for God!
Purpose of the letter:
• Timothy is no longer the leader at Ephesus;
• He would appear to be doing a more itinerant ministry.
• Paul’s concern in writing this letter was not for himself but for Timothy
• Paul encourages him to be faithful when others were compromising and even defecting.
• To go on declaring God’s message, come what may.
Ill:
• In the three Pastoral Epistles’ (1 & 2 Timothy & Titus;
• The Greek word ‘Pistos’ (‘Faithful’) is used at least 17 times;
• The them runs through each chapter.
• i.e. Be faithful to the Word,
• i.e. Be faithful to your task,
• i.e. Be faithful to the people to whom you minister
• i.e. Remember that God is faithful.
The apostle Paul reminds Timothy & the Church:
• To be on their watch against false doctrine & false teachers;
• And to guard faithfully the truth entrusted to him.
Quote:
• Dr. Sidlow Baxter in ‘Explore The Book’,
• Points out that the ‘Some’ mentioned in the 1st letter to Timothy;
• Have now become the ‘All’ (‘Everyone’) in the 2nd letter to Timothy.
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6:
• “Some have wandered away”
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 19:
• “Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith”
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 15:
• “Some have already turned away to follow Satan”
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 10:
• “Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith”
• i.e. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 21:
• “Some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith”.
• i.e. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15:
• “You know that everyone has deserted me”
• i.e. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 16:
• “…everyone deserted me”
Paul sees apostasy and deteriorating change all around him and so this is the subject of his letter;
• With intense persecution fast approaching;
• And with problems of defection within the Churches.
• Paul realized that he himself was about to depart and be with the Lord,
• He would not be around to support and build up the Churches,
• And so in this letter he is writing to ‘pass on the torch’ to this younger man.
• Now this letter from the Apostle Paul's pen is the last letter that we have from him;
• It constitutes his swan song, his last words of exhortation.
Now he has four things that he wants to say to Timothy:
• All of them important to him and all of them important to us.
• He puts them in the form of charges, or exhortations.
• One in each chapter.
• The first one is found in chapter 1 verse 14: "guard the truth,"
• The second is in chapter 2 verse 1, "be strong in the Lord,"
• The third is in chapter 3 verse 5, "have nothing to do with them”
• To paraphrase: “avoid traps and pitfalls along the way,"
• And fourth is in chapter 4 verse 2: "preach the word."
• If you were giving advice to someone today,
• I am sure I could never find anything better to say than those four exhortations.
Introduction to the letter (vs 1-7):
Ill:
• Dr. John Geddie was a Scots-Canadian missionary who was known as "the father of Presbyterian missions in the South Seas;
• In 1848 he pioneered missionary work in the New Hebrides islands, Aneityum (Anatom);
• And worked there for God for 24 years.
• On the tablet erected to his memory these words are inscribed:
• ‘When he landed, in 1848, there were no Christians.
• When he left, in 1872, there were no heathen’.
Wow! That is what you call having an influence on people:
• In these few verses we are reminded of four influences in Timothy’s life;
• Four inspirations & encouragements are mentioned.
FIRST INFLUENCE: HIS FAMILY (VS 5)
“I have been 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 big advantage in his life that I for one did not have:
• He had a praying family!
• A mother and grandmother who prayed for him each day.
ill:
• Ruth Donaghy of this fellowship child-minds;
• She looks after children between the end of school until parents finish work & can collect them.
• She was talking to some of the children she looks after about prayer;
• One of the girls said; “We don’t know how to pray!”
• Ruth explained praying is just talking to God;
• She then said, “Don’t you know anyone who prays?”
• One of the girls replied;
• “Only Gordon Curley – he prays when he comes into our school to do an assembly!”
• How sad these kids have no-one who prays for them!
• In my family my kids have never had a day when someone has not prayed for them!
Timothy had at least two people who prayed for him regularly:
• He had a Jewish mother called Lois, who was a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
• She was the first one in the family to come to faith.
• Timothy also had a Jewish grandmother called Eunice;
• She was also a follower of Jesus Christ.
• And according to chapter 3 verse 15, they did something else that was important;
• They taught Timothy the holy scriptures, the Bible.
Timothy’s family was a deep influence on him for good:
• These two simple verses teach us some important things;
• They show us the effect that a godly grandmother and mother had on this one child.
Quote: BILLY GRAHAM who said:
“Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents.
Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy”.
• Timothy’s mother and grandmother had given him something that gold and silver cannot buy.
• A sincere faith, that brought him into contact with the living Christ.
• Timothy saw Christ living in them, and such was their influence on him;
• That it paved the way for him to come to faith in Jesus Christ as well!
Ill:
• The word translated as ‘sincere' in verse 5 literally means 'without wax'.
• The Romans carved great pillars out of stone and in time they became chipped and worn.
• Some cowboy builders repaired the damage pillars;
• By filling the holes with wax coloured the same as stone.
• There was hardly any trace of the repair, but the wax didn't last long.
• By then, of course, the cowboy builders had moved on.
• Genuine craftsmen advertised their skills by putting words
• 'Without Wax' on their signboards.
• It meant they only used genuine building materials.
• In other words, they were honest - sincere.
• The sincere faith of Lois and Eunice:
• Made a deep impact on the life of Timothy.
SECOND INFLUENCE: APOSTLE PAUL (VS 3-4)
“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”.
• Every day Timothy experienced his mother and grandmother;
• Living out before him their faith.
• And although they were far from perfect;
• The witness of a consistent Christ cantered life never goes unnoticed.
So although Timothy grew up under the influence of his mother and grandmother:
• It took a travelling itinerant preacher named Paul;
• To help Timothy discover that faith for himself (1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2)
• And we noted in previous studies of the first letter;
• That Paul who wrote these letters to Timothy (1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2);
• He Calls Timothy; “My own (genuine) son in the faith”
Ill:
• To use a farming metaphor;
• We might say ‘He reaped the harvest!’
• But it was his grandmother and mother ‘Who planted the gospel seed in his heart’;
• It was his grandmother and mother who ‘Watered it with their prayers.’
• And when Paul writes this letter to Timothy;
• He reminds him of his godly parentage and the privilege that he experienced.
THIRD INFLUENCE: A GIFT FROM GOD (VS 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”
• A third influence Timothy had was a gift from God.
• Just what this gift was, is not clear.
• There are two possible meanings and the meaning is probably a combination of both!
(a).
• Some believe God’s gift to Timothy was ordination,
• The opportunity to serve the church as its Minister, its Pastor.
• ‘Laying on of hands’ was the apostle Pauls approval that he was God’s man for the task.
(b).
• Others believe ‘the gift’ was a spiritual ability to carry out this task.
• God gave Timothy a task in the church and the supernatural ability to accomplish it.
• This was not a natural ability – it was given by God.
Note:
• A spiritual gift is different to a natural talent.
• Some people are born with natural talents:
Ill:
• i.e. Musical talents.
• i.e. Sporting talents
• i.e. Artistic talents etc..
As I look around there are folks in this room who were born with natural talents:
• Talents were given us at birth, that you have worked to develop & enhance.
• Talents genetically inherited from our parents etc.
Now spiritual gifts are different to natural talents:
• They are given at our conversion by God,
• Given us independent of our parents, (you do not inherit spiritual gifts)
• ill: I may be a preacher, but that does not mean my son Arlo will be!
• He may have a totally different spiritual gifting to me – time will tell.
Quote:
“Spiritual gifts are a skill or ability that enables each Christian to perform a function in the body of Christ with ease and effectiveness”.
• Every Christian has at least one.
• Listen! Nobody got missed out!
• They are given to us by God and he does not make mistakes!
• Now when you discover that gift:
• That is your contribution to the body of Christ, the local Church.
• Romans chapter 12 verse 6: "Let him use it"
Our spiritual gift will influence us:
• i.e. Because I preach I have to study the Bible a lot:
• I have no choice – if I don’t study I have nothing to say.
• i.e. It cause me to pray because I need to know;
• That the messages I am preparing are what God wants me to say
• So my spiritual gift influences my life on a daily basis.
• The apostle Paul said to Timothy his spiritual gift did the same for him!
FOURTH INFLUENCE: TIMOTHY’S DEDICATION (VS 7)
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
• The fourth and final influence is Timothy’s own spiritual dedication.
• The influence of family and friends and even God himself is useless if we resist it;
• And whatever gifts we have are useless if we do not apply them.
Ill:
• Many a footballer (i.e. George Best).
• Such was Best's talent and charisma that he became one of the first celebrity footballers,
• Well know quotation "Maradona good; Pele better; George Best."
• Despite being at a top club,
• Despite having a top manager,
• Due to his lack of self-discipline – much of his life was wasted!
• His footballing career should have been twice as long as it actually was;
• And who knows what he could have achieved as a player!
• And sadly his personal life was shambolic;
• An advert to anyone with a brain that a hedonism lifestyle is not all it claims to be.
• Due to his lack of self-discipline – a wasted talent and an unhappy depressed individual!
Verse 7 tells us what would happen to Timothy if he slacked off;
• A spirit of fear would have dominated him again.
• When we drift from God we soon feel inadequate;
• We soon start thinking about our lack of…
• …courage, lack of money, lack of friends etc.
• We worry about them because we are depending on our own resources, not God.
So in verse 7 Paul tells Timothy to be ‘self-disciplined’.
Ill:
• If the recent Olympics and Para-Olympics have taught us anything;
• It is that self-discipline brings great rewards.
Ill:
• I was reading this week the former bodybuilder & actor Arnold Schwarzenegger:
• On location, a gym goes with him and the workout schedule remains the same.
• He said:
• 'Anyone who wants to be their best, to look their best, must work at it. There are no shortcuts.
Paul is reminding Timothy throughout this letter:
• There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth and reality.
• It takes effort, it takes discipline.
