June 24, 2025 • 45 mins
In this compelling kickoff to a new sermon series on Second Timothy, Pastor Karl dives into the heartfelt final letter of the Apostle Paul, written from a Roman dungeon as he faced imminent execution. Set against the backdrop of Nero’s brutal persecution of Christians, Paul’s words to Timothy—a young pastor and his beloved mentee—carry profound urgency and clarity. Pastor Karl unpacks the historical context of Paul’s imprisonment and the demonic wave of persecution under Nero, emphasizing Paul’s unwavering focus on the promise of life in Christ Jesus, even in the face of death.
The central message of this episode revolves around Paul’s charge to Timothy to "fan into flame" the gift of God within him. Pastor Karl challenges listeners to reflect on their own spiritual fire: has it dwindled to embers, or is it burning brightly? He stresses that God ignites the fire of faith, but it’s our responsibility to fuel it through daily habits like Scripture reading, worship, and service. With vivid illustrations and practical wisdom, Pastor Karl warns against letting fear or neglect extinguish our faith, urging us to live boldly and offensively for Christ, embracing the power, love, and sound mind God provides.
This episode is a stirring call to action for believers to stoke their spiritual gifts, reject fear, and let their lives burn brightly for God’s kingdom. Perfect for anyone seeking renewed passion and purpose in their faith journey. Join Pastor Karl as he sets the stage for an inspiring exploration of Second Timothy.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
We're starting
a new series and new series,just a new book in the series
from Second Timothy chapter and chapterone this morning we just got done
looking through first Timothy and Jeffdid a great job wrapping up last week.
Thank you my friend. Great job.
Good job on that song too.
That hit like I wanted it to.That's good stuff.
Y'all need to look up that song on Spotifyand download it
(00:26):
and let it play in your ears all day long.
Anyway, second Timothy,
let me just kind of set the backgroundhere.
Paul wrote,I think, four letters to individuals.
Most of his letterswere to people groups in churches,
but four of them were two individuals,the Apostle Paul.
First Timothy,second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
(00:48):
were the only four writtento specific individuals.
And so this is really, really,
really unique territory that we're inas far as the Scripture is concerned.
And this letter
he wrote somewhere around 64 to 65 A.D.
and the occasion of this letteris he's in prison now.
He's been in prison before,but it was a different scenario.
(01:09):
The first time he was a prisoner in Rome,he was under house arrest
and allowed a great deal of libertyto travel and have visitors.
And a guard was always with them.
But he had a great freedom in Rome.
The first time.
And then we know he was releasedfrom custody for a while
and for,I don't know, maybe 5 or 6 years or so.
He was free to travel.He wasn't in custody anymore.
(01:32):
And so he made some travels.
He always wanted to go to
what was known as Asia back then,and we think he made it there.
But he gets arrested a second time,
taken back to Rome,and now he's in prison.
But this is a differentscenario. Is not under house arrest.
Now, as an old man, he's in his 60s is in
(01:52):
what we most commonlythink of as a prison in Rome.
And what was unique about this prison is
there were basically cisterns or dungeons
in it, big circular underground rooms
with no windows, no light,
no access to anything, just a stone hole.
(02:14):
And over the roof was an o,a circular opening where the prisoners
could, or the prison guardscould drop food down to the prisoner.
And it was like on death row,and you knew when you were there
your execution was going to be soon.
And so this is where he is
when he writes this letter to secondTimothy.
(02:34):
It's the last known writingwe have of the Apostle Paul.
He knowshis beheading is going to be beheaded.
He knows that's coming soon.
And he wants to impart to Timothy,who's in his 30 probably,
that he's been mentoringthese final instructions.
(02:57):
He was eventually beheadedin about 67 A.D.
under the,
the auspices of, Caesar Nero.
The interesting thing about Nero is
Nero was a brilliant builder.
But he just went crazy,
and I think he just got possessed,demonically.
(03:18):
And and he so badly wanted to rebuildRome.
This was all whilst Paul was still like heso badly wanted to rebuild Rome
that he asked the Senate for permissionto leverage the
the state taxesso that he could rebuild Rome.
He was a brilliant builder and the Senatesaid, we don't have enough money
in the coffers of the state for you to gothrough the process of rebuilding Rome.
(03:42):
So what did Caesar do? What did Nero do?
He lit on fire.
He lit. He lit Rome on fire.
Haven't ever heard that.
The saying that that, See, Caesar, fiddledwhile he watched Rome burn.
You ever heard that?
Well, he did watch Rome burn.
He didn't play a fiddle. Fiddles run.
And then I think till, like, the 15or 14 hundreds or so. So?
(04:04):
So, like he didn't play a fiddle,but he probably played a harmonica.
I don't know, he just, like he wrote.
He he destroyedten of the 14 districts of Rome by fire.
Completely burned it down.
He had to have a scapegoat for the firebecause he couldn't claim.
Well, I didn't like you told me. No. So I.
(04:24):
So the scapegoat or the Christians
and so demonically possessed was Nero.
That in what started was probablythe one of the greatest
waves of persecution against the churchthat the world has seen.
It was so brutal and grotesque
that Caesar would douse Christians in oil,tie them to stakes around his garden
(04:49):
and light them on fireso he could look at his garden at night.
So brutal was it that he would cover
Christians in in animal skins,give them a head start,
and then turn the hunting dogsloose on them?
I mean, it was just demonic in nature.
And it's under this Caesar Nerothat Paul is arrested,
(05:11):
sitting in maritime jail,knowing that his beheading is coming soon.
And so he writes this final letter.
You know, there's.
There's
an overlooked benefit
to knowing your death is near.
(05:33):
Because when you have those, though,the honor of knowing
that it can bring great clarity
and if need be, correction. Right.
And so Paul's
using this time to look back on his 30plus years
of ministry and church plantingand this incredible work of God.
(05:54):
And he's looking back thinking,what is it like?
Have you ever thought, like, if you knew
with like sometimethis year, you were going to die,
have you ever thought about whatyour words
would be to those you're leaving behind?
Have you ever thought about scriptingthat out?
(06:14):
Probably not.
So many of us do.
Like, oh, this is kind of a downer,but this is where Paul is in.
So look,I know that I'm going to die soon.
And so one of the last thingsI want to say,
and he writes this letterto Timothy called Second Timothy.
So we're just going to go through this andand I'm going to bring some things out.
But, but here's the big idea for this,for this whole mess.
(06:37):
Here's the big Paul's.
One big idea for Timothy is God lightsthe fire, but you better bring the wood
like God's lights the fire in us.
We don't choose God first.
He chooses us first.That's what the Bible says.
And by the grace of God,
he extends the first invitationto have a relationship with him.
We don't seek him out.
He seeks us out first,and then we respond to his seeking.
(07:02):
That's all done by grace.
So he starts that fire.
But it's our
responsibility now.
After accepting him as our Savior,
to bring the wood,to keep the fire burning.
You understand, I'm saying.
And so this one is going to tell Timothy.
So I've been praying forthe last couple of days that God gives me,
(07:24):
a pace and a temper about this,
that isn't overwhelming.
And and I don't present itwith both barrels blazing.
And so I'm going to do my best to be calm
and to just walk through this
like a gentle pastor
who don't laugh because I said so.
(07:46):
Anyway, verses one two, three here
this Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,by the will of God,
according to the promise of the lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
To Timothy, my belovedchild, he's in his 30s, but grace,
mercy, and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Verse three I thank God whom I serve,as did my ancestors,
with a clear conscience, as I remember youconstantly in my prayers night and day.
(08:10):
Let me start in verse one.
Paul identifies I am Paul and he says, I'man apostle of Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of the lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
He he reasserts his calland at the end of his life.
And this is what's so great
about knowing that you're walkingtowards the finish line.
(08:32):
You start to assesswhat has has God called me to do?
Who has God called me to be?
And when that becomes clear, then you canassess, have I accomplished that task?
Have I fulfilled that purpose?
And Paul says, God, by the will of God,he has called me as an apostle.
I wasn't put in this positionby a vote of a congregation.
(08:54):
I wasn't appointed this by a man.
This was God's call from God himself to me
of my role in this world for his kingdom.
And he is, he asserts that,and he solidifies that again in his mind
because he knows
I need to know
who I am and what God has called me to do.
(09:15):
And he says, he's called methat according to the promise of the life
that is in Christ Jesus.
He knows he's going to die,and his focus is not on his death.
His focus is on what
he just said it according
to the promise of lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
He knows his.
He's going to be beheaded soon,but his focus isn't on his beheading.
(09:37):
His focus isn't on his death.
His focus is onwhat life that is in Christ Jesus.
Most of us, when we and I've been witha lot of people in those final moments,
and as they get the newsthat that time is coming sooner than later
than they didn't expect it,most of the focus of that is on death.
Why God, why don't you?
(10:00):
When will you?
I mean, I understand humanly,I understand the focus on the death part.
But Paul,
having a transformed mind
is not focused on his death.
He's focused on the life that is.
He is in Christ Jesus
is a different breed.
(10:24):
And this is what Christ
followers in Scripture did. Did.
If any of you have had the privilegeof sitting in a school like this,
teaching and preaching, you know what?
I know that
sometimes you preach it to yourselfbefore you preach it him for years, right?
I think that's what Paul's doing.
He's reminded himself,Paul, God has called me.
(10:46):
I've run this race
and I'm focused on the lifethat is mine in Christ Jesus.
Like he's preaching to himself.
He's preaching fear out of his mind.
You know what I'm saying?
And sometimes we gotta do that.
And he says to Timothy, my beloved, grace,
mercy and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
(11:07):
When Paul writes to churchesand, and, and, and groups,
he always starts with grace and peacefrom God to you.
Whenever he writes to the individuals,Timothy,
Titus for them,he adds this issue of mercy. Why?
Because he knows individuals need mercy.
Yeah. And especially pastors,
(11:29):
these are pastoral epistles.
You're right.
Timothy was a pastor. Titus was a pastor.
He knows how much mercyhe has needed from God.
And he says, if you're in a leadershipposition, guess what?
You need the mercy of God.
And so includes it here.
So that's all the setup, he says, I thankGod whom I serve, as did my ancestors.
(11:49):
The clear conscience as I rememberyou constantly in my prayers.
Night and day.
Did you know thatPaul only prayed two times
whenever it was night,whenever it was day?
Night and day.
Sometimes
God puts us in positions of dungeonsand isolation
(12:14):
as preparation, not as punishment.
And we seem to not understand thatwhen we go through those seasons in life
where it is completely isolated,
lonely and places of desolation,we think God, why?
Why, what have I donethat this is happening
(12:34):
and something not all, but sometimes
those are places not of punishment.
Those are places of preparation.
Because it's in those times that God says,
if I don't strip everything away from youright now,
you will not approach me in desperationthat you need to.
You won't.
You'll get so sidetrackedby everything else.
(12:57):
And sometimes I gotta put you in a dungeonso you'll realize that I'm all you got.
I'm all you need.
And this intimacywith you and me gets revealed.
What happens is,
most of the time when we're in thosethose seasons of desolation
and isolation, we turn to all kindsof other things before God.
And when we turn to God, it'snot a complaint, not intimacy.
We'll turn to drink.
(13:18):
We'll turn to distraction.
We'll turn to hobbies.We'll turn to other people.
But we will not in, in, in, in humbleddesperation, seek the face of God.
To understand, understand.
And so, Paul, God puts Paul in this place.
He's got nothing else
(13:39):
but God
because Paul knewthat's all he ever needed.
And so what does Paul do?
There's nobody to preach to.
There's no missionary journey.So what does he do?
He prays
because Paul knowsprayer is the greater work.
It doesn't prepare for the greater work.
It is the greater work.
(14:01):
S.D. Gordon has a great quote abouthe says this
you can do more than pray after you pray,
but you cannot do more than prayuntil you pray.
Like prayer is not all we get to do.
We can do all kinds of stuffafter we pray, but we can't do anything
until we pray.
You follow
friends.
(14:22):
This is why our first Tuesdaything is so important,
is so important.
When we get together, we see God's heart
according to how Jesus taught us to pray.
And it's just as intimate communication
praising him for who he is, thanking himfor what he's done.
(14:43):
Affirmingyour will needs to be done on this earth.
Your kingdom needs to come
and then bring his supplicationsand requests,
seeking God of forgiveness.
Like a church that tries to do stuff
before it does that it's useless.
(15:06):
And I'm so proud of the
five or 6 or 7 of us that do that
every month.
Verse four.
As I remember your tears, I longto see you, that I may be filled with joy.
Have you ever, if you ever hadthose people in your life that
(15:30):
God put their
to bring you joy?
Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying?
Like you probably got we probably gota lot of people in my life.
I like a.
But there are some.
That it's like you are
like God's joy in my life.
(15:52):
And Paul is saying, Timothy,that was you, man.
And I thank God for you.
Verse five, I'm reminded of your sincerefaith, of faith that dwelt
first in your grandmother Loisand your mother Eunice.
And now, I'm sure, dwells in you as well.
So look, Timothy, I'm so thankful.
I'm so thankful
that you've got this grandma
(16:14):
who loved the Lordand this mom who loved the Lord.
I'm so thankful that that you had thatfoundation because what Paul knows is this
that second hand faith can't feelfirst hand relationship.
And so Paul says, I'm glad you had thatheritage and the foundation.
But he says, but
(16:34):
I'm sure dwells in you as well.
Just because the foundationis there at home doesn't mean it's
transferredinto the into the child at home.
Now it's it's God has ordained itso that it goes
from the grandparentto the parent to the child.
But just because the parent,the grandparent, the parent have
(16:55):
it doesn't mean the child will.
And so he's affirming.
Timothy, I'm glad that you have chosenthe head of the faith heritage
that was modeled to you.
Now, let me say this.
There are some parents and grandparentsin this church
have done an amazing job at layinga faith foundation for their kids.
Amazing job.
And you stand before Godwith a clear conscience
(17:17):
that father, we have done the bestwe could at laying the foundation.
And though you've done the bestyou could lay the foundation.
Your kids still have not accepted him
as their Savior and continued in himand have rather rejected him.
And that hurts.
And that's painful.
But please understand
(17:39):
that a child walking with Jesus
is not because the parents
have done a great job, and a childnot walk with
Jesus doesn't meanthe parents have not done a great job.
It's by the grace of God in that child.
Yes, that that child has to accept
and has to bend the knee of submission.
(18:01):
Our job is to do our job
and trust that God, in his mercy
and grace, allows that child to get towhatever point they need to get to.
So they willthen bend the knee of salvation.
And so, parents,thank you for the job you've done.
Grandparents,thank you for the job you've done.
You've done all you could do.
(18:23):
Now we trust the mercy and grace of Godto do what he does get.
Understand? I'm saying.
But don't neglect your job.
And says, Timothy,you have the foundation,
and I'm thankful that you've chosenthat as well for your life.
(18:44):
And then the charge
for this reason,I remind you to fan into flame
the gift of God which is in youthrough the laying on of my hands.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear,but of power and love and self-control.
This is the crux of what Paul'smessage will be to this man
at the end of Paul's life.
Fan into flame.
(19:06):
The Greek word for fan into flame
is ana zo perreo. The.
You aren't going to remember that,and I'm not going to ask you to say it,
but think of the word pyro,
okay?
A pyro is someone who what
starts fires like big ones.
That's this word.
(19:27):
And what he's saying is Timothy.
Timothy, this fire was started
in you through your grandma and your mom.
And by the grace of God,he lit this fire in you.
But over these past seven years or so,you're letting that fire die out.
It's getting cold and nobody can seethe flames in your life anymore.
(19:50):
Here's this whole picturethat Paul's encouraging to fan into flame
is that of a campfire,or in your house of a of a fireplace.
And the the flames used to be there,and now it's kind of died down.
But you still, if you look closely,you can see the glowing embers.
Right. You understand?
You know, if you look close,like you don't see the flame.
(20:12):
But if you, if you, if you investigate,
you'll see some,you'll see some coals grow in there.
He said, listen,you let the flame die down into embers,
and someone has to look real closeto see if there's any fire burning.
Stoke it into flame. Timothy. Yeah.
Quite saying.
And similarly, in our
lives, God has started something.
(20:36):
And maybe the flameused to burn bright and hot,
but now it's kind of dwindle.
And if people look close,they'll see the ember.
They shouldn't have to look close.
You understand?
And he's saying, fuel that,
get some oxygen in it, feed it,
(20:56):
put some fuel on itbecause it's got to come back to life.
Most.
So here's my question.
How are you fueling the flame?
If your fuel consists of one daya week, listen to me.
(21:19):
I'm glad you're here,but that's not much fuel.
Fanning the flame.
The gift of God. That word. Gift.
It's a Greek word. Charismatic.
It means the spiritual gift given to youby discretion of the father.
Through the Holy Spirit.
When you acceptedJesus, he gave you a spiritual gift,
at least onethat is to be used in the service.
(21:41):
The further so the kingdom,through the church and he's saying,
you have to understand what that isand fuel that so that it rages fire.
You let it grow cold.
Nobody can even see the giftyou of God's given you,
because you don't use itand you're not feeding it.
(22:02):
Fuel it.
Notice what he says.
Fuel. Fan the flame.
The gift God gave you.
Notice what he doesn't say.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your hobby.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your career.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
(22:23):
Your education.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your athletic acumen.
Not that those are bad things,
but he says what you put fire to
is the gift of God and His testimonythrough you to the world,
through the church.
(22:45):
He doesn't say fan into flamethe potential that is in you.
I get so sick and tired of peopletalking about personal potential
that's such a dangerous,potentially evil word. Why?
Because your personal potentialcan you lead you away from the kingdom?
Because my personal potential
is based on who I am, my desires,my skills.
(23:12):
And it's so dangerous.
When parents focus on the potentialof their children.
Don't focus on potential.
Focus on calling
potential a self-serving,
calling his kingdom.
We got to be very careful.
So a lot of good things aren't there,
(23:32):
but they'll let us away from the kingdom.
I think every Christian would say,oh no, the kingdom is really,
really,really important to us. Absolutely.
Unless the pursuit of my potentialhe has, you know, comes in conflict
with a Sunday morningor Wednesday night or giving finances in,
I'm up to see my potential.
I wish
(23:54):
I could talk to every young parent
personally
and encourage them.
Listen as you raise your children,
be very
mindful of what you champion and critique
and what you celebrateand what you criticize.
Make sure that what you championand critique, celebrate and criticize
(24:17):
is leading towards the 30 yearold Christian disciple
you're raising, rather than the 11 yearold athletic
prodigy.
Against an.
Parents you're raising
(24:39):
think you should be raising 30 yearold disciples right now.
Not successful high school kids.
You get that in your headthat will change everything
that you celebrate and promoteand invest in.
Is it any wonder why kids
(24:59):
graduate high school,go to college, and get seduced
by progressive liberalismand walk away from the church?
It's really no surprise,
because most people have made the mistakeof celebrating
and championing their kidspotential rather than their calling.
(25:25):
You okay?
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
How do you know the.
Well, how do you know?
How do you know personallywhat you're supposed to fan into flame?
Because it's different.
God gifting of you.
What he's given you and asked of youis different than what he has to me.
How do you know? I'm going to tell you,
if God were to call you asideand you and it's
(25:48):
just you and God talking one on one,
and God were to say, hey,
I want to talk to you about that one area
that I gave you that you let get cold.
What would he say that one area is
if we're just you and him?
And he said, hey, I want
I want to talk to you about this, this onearea that you need to stoke in flame.
(26:11):
What would that one that
you know what it is.
See what happens
is that our fire doesn't die.
It doesn't.
It's not from attack. It's from neglect.
Yeah. Oh, yes.
You understand that, Sean, thank you forverbalizing what other people are saying.
(26:32):
But then everybody else is like, oh, I'mnot going to say anything other than me.
Oh, this seriously, some of you went tohe was like, oh yeah.
You're like, oh, that's what he said.
I mean, right, I, you
like that fire.
It's it's, it'sit doesn't die from attack from outside.
(26:52):
It dies out from neglect inside.
Listen, don't give anything more fuel
than you give your faith.
For God
gave us a spirit not of fear, but of powerand of love and of self-control.
Whatever you live
(27:13):
in fear of did not come from God.
Let me say it again.
Whatever you live in fear ofdid not come from God because he has not
given you a spirit of fear or timidity,
but of power and love and a sound mind.
Every fear that we have learned
(27:33):
to let control our lives is a learned fear
that's come to us from a lifefrom the devil.
Humans are only born digital, humansonly born
with two fears, the fear of loud noisesand the fear of falling.
Every other fear that we haveis a learned, accepted fear
and it didn't come to us from God.
(27:55):
Most fears, more commonly, are the resultof believing the lies of the devil.
The fears in your life are not becauseof the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Think about it
like if, if,
if I were standing right hereand Jesus was right here,
like if you show him bodily form, we.
(28:19):
What would I be fearful of?
Not seeing,
right?
Like after the resurrection,all 11 of the apostles died
a violent martyr's death.
Fearless. Why? Because the resurrection.
Because there's no fear in a Christfollower of a resurrected Jesus.
(28:40):
So every fear that we let controlour lives is a life from the devil.
It's not because we're close to Jesus.
Don't mean to push us more.
Every fear you have of your child,
for your child,
it's not because you're walking closeto Jesus that you're fearful for him.
(29:03):
I understand being concerned.
I'm not saying don't be concerned.You're a parent. You better be concerned.
But you don't parent out of fear.
You don't control out of fear.
All that hell stuff you're dealing with.
Paul started
this whole thingbecause I'm convinced the life
that is mine,not the death that's impending,
(29:25):
fearless.
Right.
All right.
Is giving us
a spirit of power and of loveand of a sound mind.
A sound mind
doesn't give in to the spirit of fear.
When you and I are paralyzed by fear,
(29:46):
we are acting against the spirit.
God has given us.
Because a peaceful mind lives in starkcontrast
to a panic, fearand chaos of a frightful mind.
So some of you
may need to pray
that the God
(30:08):
of the resurrected
Christ
gives you more of histransforming presence in your life,
and lay hold of the sound mind
that he's already provided for you,that you have neglected
receiving.
(30:28):
And I never want to beone of those pastors says,
hey, maybe you should prayand then don't give him a chance to pray.
And so
for all of the fearful ones
who have lived in a spirit of fear.
I want to give you a chance to pray.
If you are Christ's and he is yours,
(30:49):
and accept the gift of a sound mind
that is already yours.
Some of you need this.
And so let's pray.
In your own words.
But let me just walk you through it.
It's real simple.
It's already been granted you.
(31:09):
It's already been gifted you.
You might not have received it yet,
but I would invite you
to say something along the lines of, Lord,I am sorry
that I have let fear run my mind.
Chaos rule my life.
That's not the spirit you've given me.
That's not the spirit from you.
(31:32):
I have given myself to the liesand the worries of the evil one.
And this morning I reject those.
In the authority
of the name of Jesus, I accept.
And I receive the spirit of power
and loveand a sound mind that are already mine.
(31:55):
Help me live in
and help me live with that spirit.
It's already mine.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
Listen.
That government.
I know what time it is.
(32:16):
Come. You'd like it.
More verses.
I'll do chunk.
So to go quick. No.
Look at verse 889 ten.
Therefore don't be ashamed
of the testimony about our Lord, nor of mehis prisoner, but share in suffering
and share in suffering for the gospelby the power of God, who saved us
and called us to be to a holy calling,not because our works,
(32:37):
but because of his own purpose and grace,
which he gave us in ChristJesus before the ages began,
and which now has been manifestedthrough the appearing
of our SaviorChrist Jesus, who abolished death
and brought life and immortalityto light through the gospel.
He said, don't be ashamed.
Now the testimony thisthis is solid stuff.
(32:58):
You grab on to this stuff.Don't be ashamed of this stuff.
Share in the verse eight.
Share in the suffering of the gospelby the power of God.
Paul's invitation to Timothy on behalf
of Jesusis to share in the suffering for Jesus.
That's not a popular invitation.
We want to add Jesus to our lifeto alleviate suffering.
(33:20):
Jesus said, in this world,you're going to have trouble.
It hit him. He's going to hit you too.
Paul says, I want to invite youinto suffering for Jesus.
Listen, if you are living a life of aof an
on fire person for Christ, it'sgoing to cause you trouble.
It just is.
When you and I startspeaking up on behalf of Christ
(33:40):
to those who are degrading him, it'sgoing to cause some issue, he said.
I'm inviting you into that, Timothy.
Embrace that. Don't run away from it.
You don't have a spirit of fear, timidityabout what others might say or think.
Or do you have others?
Do you have a spirit of power, of loveand sound so pressed into that?
Engage in that it's okay and you'll suffer
(34:00):
well when you have the Spirit of Godand the power of God in you.
So here's a question.
Do you know thatkind of power in your life?
Can you
suffer willingly and press into thatand suffer with joy?
That's the power of God.
Send that into flame.
Speak up when others are speaking down.
(34:21):
Yeah,
he said, he's called us sinnersfrom the beginning of time.
By his grace, he'sthe one that sought us out.
We don't seek him out.
We respond to his seeking.
But by his grace he seeks us.
And then in response, we say, okay,
I'll follow you and I'll give you my life.
And he says,all of this has been manifested, verse
(34:42):
ten, through the appearing of our SaviorJesus Christ.
He said, So Jesus illuminated this.
And what did he illuminate?
He illuminated life and immortalityis brought to light through the gospel.
Verse ten says,if you look through the Old Testament,
death and eternity is really a mystery,
like some people have a kind of developedunderstanding, some not so much.
And it's realkind of really all over the map.
(35:04):
But after Jesus, his deathand his resurrection,
Paul says Jesus illuminatedlife and immortality.
Now there'sno more question. There's no more chaos
becauseof Jesus, his death and his resurrection.
He illuminates what life is all aboutand the reality of immortality
and eternal life.
So we don't question it.
(35:25):
There's no fear, there's no chaos.
It's all been brought to light by Jesus.
Now watch this.
For which I was appointed a preacher,an apostle and a teacher,
which is why I suffer as I do.
But I'm not ashamed, for I know who I am.
I have believed, and I'm convincedthat he's able to guard it until the day,
(35:47):
until that day,what has been entrusted me?
He said, look, Jesus.
He called me out of his grace.
I responded, I'm not ashamed.
And he made me. What do you say?
A preacher, an apostle,a teacher, three rolls of Paul.
He's a God. Ask this of me and a preacher.
I'm refer claim the gospel of Jesusand all kinds of people God saved.
(36:08):
I'm an apostle.
He traveled around the worldstarting churches. That's what.
That's the gift of apostleship.
And I'm a teacher. It'swhat we do on Sunday morning.
We go into doctrine, he said.
These are my three rules that God gave meto do because of God's grace.
And I did them,and because I was faithful to God
and because I did what God damn itled me to do.
Now I'm in a dungeonwaiting to be beheaded.
Welcome to Christianity. Yes. Yeah.
(36:32):
Right, right.
Okay. Whoa, wait, wait.
Hold on. God, I served you.
I let people to you.
I built churches for you.I taught sound doctrine.
And this is how you're going to pay meback for it, right?
Right. Wouldn't that be our response?
I've done all this.
And look at what you've done for me.
(36:52):
Nothing.
And Paul says,
I did it all, and that's why I suffer.
And I would do it again and againand again
and again and again.
I regret that I have
but one life to live and diefor the kingdom of God.
Amen.
(37:15):
Vanity.
The flame.
Right, right.
God. So good.
Jim Elliot, great missionary
who literally lost his headby the Indians headhunters before he died.
Obviously
he said he is no fool who gives what hecannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
(37:37):
Listen, you're no fool to givewhat you cannot
keep your life to gainwhat you could never lose.
Eternity.
I'll do it all over again.
My one regret at the end of my lifewill be that
I don't have another life to do it again.
30. 40.
(37:57):
I'm almost done.
He says I'm convinced that itGod is able to guard it until that day.
Like God will take care of me.
I don't have any doubt about that.
Verse 13 follow the pattern of the soundwords that you have heard from me
in the faith and lovethat are in Christ Jesus.
When Paul uses that word sound words,it literally means healthy words
like I've given you doctrine that are it'sgood for you, it's healthy for you.
(38:20):
Follow that guard at Timothyand guide people into it.
That's why we call the soul seriesguard and Guide.
These are healthy words by the Holy Spiritwho dwells within us.
Guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
Verse 15.
You are aware that all who are in Asiaturned away from me,
among whom are the jealous and homogenize.
(38:42):
So look, at the end of theday, everybody walked away.
Like I
startedwith, some people aren't with me anymore.
And it's not because they moved.
It's because they don'twant to be with me anymore.
And they left.
And he calls to them out by name.
I guess Paul didn't realizeyou're not supposed to call people
(39:04):
on the carpet in public,but he does the jealous and homogenize
says the only place in all Scripturethese two men are listed
there. Lasting life.
Legacy is a legacy of the desertion.
Here's the warning.
Don't let that be your legacy
(39:25):
of deserting
the call of God on your life.
That you neglect the flame so much
it dwindles to nothingness,
and the only thing you're remembered for
is quitting.
It's been said the only thing worsethan quitting is being remembered for it.
(39:51):
May the Lord grant mercy of the householdof honor.
Suffer us, for he often reached, refreshme, and was not ashamed of my change.
But when he arrived in Rome,he searched for me earnestly and found me.
May the Lord grant him to find mercyfrom the Lord on that day,
and you will know all the servicehe rendered in Ephesus.
Those two are contrastedby the one on the Severus,
(40:11):
who fanned the flame,and was of good service to the kingdom.
Let that be our story.
I finish with this band.
Come on up here. I finished with this.
We are either fire extinguishers
or fire fuels.
That's it.
We're going to extinguish the fire in usand others, or we're going to fuel it.
(40:35):
Fan into flame.
Verse six.
For this reason I remind you to faninto the flame that gift of God in you.
And so, friends, please, in
light of that verse,in light of the big idea,
make a habit of that which fuels the fire.
(40:57):
Make a habit.
Here's here's our as a Christian.
And if you're if you haven't accepted thisyet here here's
the difference in religionand Christianity.
Religion says I'm going
to live defensively,and I'm going to make sure
I try to avoid everythingthat might make me a bad person.
Good luck.
(41:18):
You'll never succeed.
The call is to live offensively
and pursuethose things that fanned the flame.
Give a shout out, I'm saying.
So there's a lot of people in churchwho are trying to live defensively,
and the flame is going out, becauseall you're doing is trying to avoid.
(41:38):
And Paul says,
press in, do those thingsthat fanned the flames.
What are those?
Well, the things like reading yourscripture for yourself, being at worship.
I'm proud of you today.
Giving and sacrificing and serving.
What are those thingsthat fuel faithful living?
(41:59):
Here's the deal.
When you're fueling the fire,
there's nothing going to come againstthat is going to put it out
the way you put outfires, cut off the fuel.
Do you understand?
Because.
So what are those things that are going
to advance the faith in your life?
(42:21):
The flames that are apparentso people don't have
to look and investigate for embers
fan that.
So the question, the commitment
will you commit to fanning the
flame daily?
To burn bright
(42:42):
and to burn faithful.
Someone said their greatest desires
that God would light a fireand light them on fire.
So the world could watch and burn.
That's the goal.
God, light a fire in me and let the world
watch me burn.
(43:03):
I want you to pray with me, father.
Thank you.
Thank you for your amazing gracethat calls people like me
and people like us.
I pray that because of your amazing grace
that calls us, that we would respond.
And that we would add wood
to the fire that you've started.
(43:24):
That you would light us on fire
and let the world watch us burn.
Friends,if you were here who have never accepted
Jesus as your Savior,I would invite you in this moment.
It's real simple.It'll cost you everything.
But you begin it
just simply by a statement of faithin your heart.
(43:46):
God, I admit I'ma sinner, separated from you by sin.
Jesus, thank you that you diedon the cross so I could be forgiven.
I accept what you did on the crossfor my forgiveness.
And this morning I trust you as my Savior.
It's that simple.
(44:07):
But if you do,
it'll cost you everything.
And you will gain everything
in eternity.
If you're already Christian,
would you.
Would you dare to pray?
God, be clear with me.
What's the one thingI need to fan into flame?
(44:27):
And I commit to you to fanning itevery day?
Would you tell them God set me on fire?
Let this world watch me burn.
I'll gladly burn for you.
Because your grace have been so great.
Father, we love you.
Thank you for your word.
In your name I pray. Amen. Amen.
(44:49):
Hey. We okay?
Oh, yeah. Go. Go back and read this week.
First Timothy twoor first Timothy or second Timothy one.
I'm getting dyslexic with my numbers.
Second Timothy one.
And we'll keep going through Timothyand dive into it.
Throughout this next month or so.
I love you.
I would love to talk to youabout accepting Jesus,
(45:09):
about following him,about whatever that is.
You want to talk to meafter church or Jeff or Allie or anybody?
We'd love to. We'd love to talk with you.
All right, one more song here.
Amazing Grace. Let's sing our blessing.
We're starting
a new series and new series,just a new book in the series
from Second Timothy chapter and chapterone this morning we just got done
looking through first Timothy and Jeffdid a great job wrapping up last week.
Thank you my friend. Great job.
Good job on that song too.
That hit like I wanted it to.That's good stuff.
Y'all need to look up that song on Spotifyand download it
(00:26):
and let it play in your ears all day long.
Anyway, second Timothy,
let me just kind of set the backgroundhere.
Paul wrote,I think, four letters to individuals.
Most of his letterswere to people groups in churches,
but four of them were two individuals,the Apostle Paul.
First Timothy,second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
(00:48):
were the only four writtento specific individuals.
And so this is really, really,
really unique territory that we're inas far as the Scripture is concerned.
And this letter
he wrote somewhere around 64 to 65 A.D.
and the occasion of this letteris he's in prison now.
He's been in prison before,but it was a different scenario.
(01:09):
The first time he was a prisoner in Rome,he was under house arrest
and allowed a great deal of libertyto travel and have visitors.
And a guard was always with them.
But he had a great freedom in Rome.
The first time.
And then we know he was releasedfrom custody for a while
and for,I don't know, maybe 5 or 6 years or so.
He was free to travel.He wasn't in custody anymore.
(01:32):
And so he made some travels.
He always wanted to go to
what was known as Asia back then,and we think he made it there.
But he gets arrested a second time,
taken back to Rome,and now he's in prison.
But this is a differentscenario. Is not under house arrest.
Now, as an old man, he's in his 60s is in
(01:52):
what we most commonlythink of as a prison in Rome.
And what was unique about this prison is
there were basically cisterns or dungeons
in it, big circular underground rooms
with no windows, no light,
no access to anything, just a stone hole.
(02:14):
And over the roof was an o,a circular opening where the prisoners
could, or the prison guardscould drop food down to the prisoner.
And it was like on death row,and you knew when you were there
your execution was going to be soon.
And so this is where he is
when he writes this letter to secondTimothy.
(02:34):
It's the last known writingwe have of the Apostle Paul.
He knowshis beheading is going to be beheaded.
He knows that's coming soon.
And he wants to impart to Timothy,who's in his 30 probably,
that he's been mentoringthese final instructions.
(02:57):
He was eventually beheadedin about 67 A.D.
under the,
the auspices of, Caesar Nero.
The interesting thing about Nero is
Nero was a brilliant builder.
But he just went crazy,
and I think he just got possessed,demonically.
(03:18):
And and he so badly wanted to rebuildRome.
This was all whilst Paul was still like heso badly wanted to rebuild Rome
that he asked the Senate for permissionto leverage the
the state taxesso that he could rebuild Rome.
He was a brilliant builder and the Senatesaid, we don't have enough money
in the coffers of the state for you to gothrough the process of rebuilding Rome.
(03:42):
So what did Caesar do? What did Nero do?
He lit on fire.
He lit. He lit Rome on fire.
Haven't ever heard that.
The saying that that, See, Caesar, fiddledwhile he watched Rome burn.
You ever heard that?
Well, he did watch Rome burn.
He didn't play a fiddle. Fiddles run.
And then I think till, like, the 15or 14 hundreds or so. So?
(04:04):
So, like he didn't play a fiddle,but he probably played a harmonica.
I don't know, he just, like he wrote.
He he destroyedten of the 14 districts of Rome by fire.
Completely burned it down.
He had to have a scapegoat for the firebecause he couldn't claim.
Well, I didn't like you told me. No. So I.
(04:24):
So the scapegoat or the Christians
and so demonically possessed was Nero.
That in what started was probablythe one of the greatest
waves of persecution against the churchthat the world has seen.
It was so brutal and grotesque
that Caesar would douse Christians in oil,tie them to stakes around his garden
(04:49):
and light them on fireso he could look at his garden at night.
So brutal was it that he would cover
Christians in in animal skins,give them a head start,
and then turn the hunting dogsloose on them?
I mean, it was just demonic in nature.
And it's under this Caesar Nerothat Paul is arrested,
(05:11):
sitting in maritime jail,knowing that his beheading is coming soon.
And so he writes this final letter.
You know, there's.
There's
an overlooked benefit
to knowing your death is near.
(05:33):
Because when you have those, though,the honor of knowing
that it can bring great clarity
and if need be, correction. Right.
And so Paul's
using this time to look back on his 30plus years
of ministry and church plantingand this incredible work of God.
(05:54):
And he's looking back thinking,what is it like?
Have you ever thought, like, if you knew
with like sometimethis year, you were going to die,
have you ever thought about whatyour words
would be to those you're leaving behind?
Have you ever thought about scriptingthat out?
(06:14):
Probably not.
So many of us do.
Like, oh, this is kind of a downer,but this is where Paul is in.
So look,I know that I'm going to die soon.
And so one of the last thingsI want to say,
and he writes this letterto Timothy called Second Timothy.
So we're just going to go through this andand I'm going to bring some things out.
But, but here's the big idea for this,for this whole mess.
(06:37):
Here's the big Paul's.
One big idea for Timothy is God lightsthe fire, but you better bring the wood
like God's lights the fire in us.
We don't choose God first.
He chooses us first.That's what the Bible says.
And by the grace of God,
he extends the first invitationto have a relationship with him.
We don't seek him out.
He seeks us out first,and then we respond to his seeking.
(07:02):
That's all done by grace.
So he starts that fire.
But it's our
responsibility now.
After accepting him as our Savior,
to bring the wood,to keep the fire burning.
You understand, I'm saying.
And so this one is going to tell Timothy.
So I've been praying forthe last couple of days that God gives me,
(07:24):
a pace and a temper about this,
that isn't overwhelming.
And and I don't present itwith both barrels blazing.
And so I'm going to do my best to be calm
and to just walk through this
like a gentle pastor
who don't laugh because I said so.
(07:46):
Anyway, verses one two, three here
this Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus,by the will of God,
according to the promise of the lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
To Timothy, my belovedchild, he's in his 30s, but grace,
mercy, and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Verse three I thank God whom I serve,as did my ancestors,
with a clear conscience, as I remember youconstantly in my prayers night and day.
(08:10):
Let me start in verse one.
Paul identifies I am Paul and he says, I'man apostle of Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of the lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
He he reasserts his calland at the end of his life.
And this is what's so great
about knowing that you're walkingtowards the finish line.
(08:32):
You start to assesswhat has has God called me to do?
Who has God called me to be?
And when that becomes clear, then you canassess, have I accomplished that task?
Have I fulfilled that purpose?
And Paul says, God, by the will of God,he has called me as an apostle.
I wasn't put in this positionby a vote of a congregation.
(08:54):
I wasn't appointed this by a man.
This was God's call from God himself to me
of my role in this world for his kingdom.
And he is, he asserts that,and he solidifies that again in his mind
because he knows
I need to know
who I am and what God has called me to do.
(09:15):
And he says, he's called methat according to the promise of the life
that is in Christ Jesus.
He knows he's going to die,and his focus is not on his death.
His focus is on what
he just said it according
to the promise of lifethat is in Christ Jesus.
He knows his.
He's going to be beheaded soon,but his focus isn't on his beheading.
(09:37):
His focus isn't on his death.
His focus is onwhat life that is in Christ Jesus.
Most of us, when we and I've been witha lot of people in those final moments,
and as they get the newsthat that time is coming sooner than later
than they didn't expect it,most of the focus of that is on death.
Why God, why don't you?
(10:00):
When will you?
I mean, I understand humanly,I understand the focus on the death part.
But Paul,
having a transformed mind
is not focused on his death.
He's focused on the life that is.
He is in Christ Jesus
is a different breed.
(10:24):
And this is what Christ
followers in Scripture did. Did.
If any of you have had the privilegeof sitting in a school like this,
teaching and preaching, you know what?
I know that
sometimes you preach it to yourselfbefore you preach it him for years, right?
I think that's what Paul's doing.
He's reminded himself,Paul, God has called me.
(10:46):
I've run this race
and I'm focused on the lifethat is mine in Christ Jesus.
Like he's preaching to himself.
He's preaching fear out of his mind.
You know what I'm saying?
And sometimes we gotta do that.
And he says to Timothy, my beloved, grace,
mercy and peace from Godthe Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
(11:07):
When Paul writes to churchesand, and, and, and groups,
he always starts with grace and peacefrom God to you.
Whenever he writes to the individuals,Timothy,
Titus for them,he adds this issue of mercy. Why?
Because he knows individuals need mercy.
Yeah. And especially pastors,
(11:29):
these are pastoral epistles.
You're right.
Timothy was a pastor. Titus was a pastor.
He knows how much mercyhe has needed from God.
And he says, if you're in a leadershipposition, guess what?
You need the mercy of God.
And so includes it here.
So that's all the setup, he says, I thankGod whom I serve, as did my ancestors.
(11:49):
The clear conscience as I rememberyou constantly in my prayers.
Night and day.
Did you know thatPaul only prayed two times
whenever it was night,whenever it was day?
Night and day.
Sometimes
God puts us in positions of dungeonsand isolation
(12:14):
as preparation, not as punishment.
And we seem to not understand thatwhen we go through those seasons in life
where it is completely isolated,
lonely and places of desolation,we think God, why?
Why, what have I donethat this is happening
(12:34):
and something not all, but sometimes
those are places not of punishment.
Those are places of preparation.
Because it's in those times that God says,
if I don't strip everything away from youright now,
you will not approach me in desperationthat you need to.
You won't.
You'll get so sidetrackedby everything else.
(12:57):
And sometimes I gotta put you in a dungeonso you'll realize that I'm all you got.
I'm all you need.
And this intimacywith you and me gets revealed.
What happens is,
most of the time when we're in thosethose seasons of desolation
and isolation, we turn to all kindsof other things before God.
And when we turn to God, it'snot a complaint, not intimacy.
We'll turn to drink.
(13:18):
We'll turn to distraction.
We'll turn to hobbies.We'll turn to other people.
But we will not in, in, in, in humbleddesperation, seek the face of God.
To understand, understand.
And so, Paul, God puts Paul in this place.
He's got nothing else
(13:39):
but God
because Paul knewthat's all he ever needed.
And so what does Paul do?
There's nobody to preach to.
There's no missionary journey.So what does he do?
He prays
because Paul knowsprayer is the greater work.
It doesn't prepare for the greater work.
It is the greater work.
(14:01):
S.D. Gordon has a great quote abouthe says this
you can do more than pray after you pray,
but you cannot do more than prayuntil you pray.
Like prayer is not all we get to do.
We can do all kinds of stuffafter we pray, but we can't do anything
until we pray.
You follow
friends.
(14:22):
This is why our first Tuesdaything is so important,
is so important.
When we get together, we see God's heart
according to how Jesus taught us to pray.
And it's just as intimate communication
praising him for who he is, thanking himfor what he's done.
(14:43):
Affirmingyour will needs to be done on this earth.
Your kingdom needs to come
and then bring his supplicationsand requests,
seeking God of forgiveness.
Like a church that tries to do stuff
before it does that it's useless.
(15:06):
And I'm so proud of the
five or 6 or 7 of us that do that
every month.
Verse four.
As I remember your tears, I longto see you, that I may be filled with joy.
Have you ever, if you ever hadthose people in your life that
(15:30):
God put their
to bring you joy?
Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying?
Like you probably got we probably gota lot of people in my life.
I like a.
But there are some.
That it's like you are
like God's joy in my life.
(15:52):
And Paul is saying, Timothy,that was you, man.
And I thank God for you.
Verse five, I'm reminded of your sincerefaith, of faith that dwelt
first in your grandmother Loisand your mother Eunice.
And now, I'm sure, dwells in you as well.
So look, Timothy, I'm so thankful.
I'm so thankful
that you've got this grandma
(16:14):
who loved the Lordand this mom who loved the Lord.
I'm so thankful that that you had thatfoundation because what Paul knows is this
that second hand faith can't feelfirst hand relationship.
And so Paul says, I'm glad you had thatheritage and the foundation.
But he says, but
(16:34):
I'm sure dwells in you as well.
Just because the foundationis there at home doesn't mean it's
transferredinto the into the child at home.
Now it's it's God has ordained itso that it goes
from the grandparentto the parent to the child.
But just because the parent,the grandparent, the parent have
(16:55):
it doesn't mean the child will.
And so he's affirming.
Timothy, I'm glad that you have chosenthe head of the faith heritage
that was modeled to you.
Now, let me say this.
There are some parents and grandparentsin this church
have done an amazing job at layinga faith foundation for their kids.
Amazing job.
And you stand before Godwith a clear conscience
(17:17):
that father, we have done the bestwe could at laying the foundation.
And though you've done the bestyou could lay the foundation.
Your kids still have not accepted him
as their Savior and continued in himand have rather rejected him.
And that hurts.
And that's painful.
But please understand
(17:39):
that a child walking with Jesus
is not because the parents
have done a great job, and a childnot walk with
Jesus doesn't meanthe parents have not done a great job.
It's by the grace of God in that child.
Yes, that that child has to accept
and has to bend the knee of submission.
(18:01):
Our job is to do our job
and trust that God, in his mercy
and grace, allows that child to get towhatever point they need to get to.
So they willthen bend the knee of salvation.
And so, parents,thank you for the job you've done.
Grandparents,thank you for the job you've done.
You've done all you could do.
(18:23):
Now we trust the mercy and grace of Godto do what he does get.
Understand? I'm saying.
But don't neglect your job.
And says, Timothy,you have the foundation,
and I'm thankful that you've chosenthat as well for your life.
(18:44):
And then the charge
for this reason,I remind you to fan into flame
the gift of God which is in youthrough the laying on of my hands.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear,but of power and love and self-control.
This is the crux of what Paul'smessage will be to this man
at the end of Paul's life.
Fan into flame.
(19:06):
The Greek word for fan into flame
is ana zo perreo. The.
You aren't going to remember that,and I'm not going to ask you to say it,
but think of the word pyro,
okay?
A pyro is someone who what
starts fires like big ones.
That's this word.
(19:27):
And what he's saying is Timothy.
Timothy, this fire was started
in you through your grandma and your mom.
And by the grace of God,he lit this fire in you.
But over these past seven years or so,you're letting that fire die out.
It's getting cold and nobody can seethe flames in your life anymore.
(19:50):
Here's this whole picturethat Paul's encouraging to fan into flame
is that of a campfire,or in your house of a of a fireplace.
And the the flames used to be there,and now it's kind of died down.
But you still, if you look closely,you can see the glowing embers.
Right. You understand?
You know, if you look close,like you don't see the flame.
(20:12):
But if you, if you, if you investigate,
you'll see some,you'll see some coals grow in there.
He said, listen,you let the flame die down into embers,
and someone has to look real closeto see if there's any fire burning.
Stoke it into flame. Timothy. Yeah.
Quite saying.
And similarly, in our
lives, God has started something.
(20:36):
And maybe the flameused to burn bright and hot,
but now it's kind of dwindle.
And if people look close,they'll see the ember.
They shouldn't have to look close.
You understand?
And he's saying, fuel that,
get some oxygen in it, feed it,
(20:56):
put some fuel on itbecause it's got to come back to life.
Most.
So here's my question.
How are you fueling the flame?
If your fuel consists of one daya week, listen to me.
(21:19):
I'm glad you're here,but that's not much fuel.
Fanning the flame.
The gift of God. That word. Gift.
It's a Greek word. Charismatic.
It means the spiritual gift given to youby discretion of the father.
Through the Holy Spirit.
When you acceptedJesus, he gave you a spiritual gift,
at least onethat is to be used in the service.
(21:41):
The further so the kingdom,through the church and he's saying,
you have to understand what that isand fuel that so that it rages fire.
You let it grow cold.
Nobody can even see the giftyou of God's given you,
because you don't use itand you're not feeding it.
(22:02):
Fuel it.
Notice what he says.
Fuel. Fan the flame.
The gift God gave you.
Notice what he doesn't say.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your hobby.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your career.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
(22:23):
Your education.
He doesn't say fan into flame.
Your athletic acumen.
Not that those are bad things,
but he says what you put fire to
is the gift of God and His testimonythrough you to the world,
through the church.
(22:45):
He doesn't say fan into flamethe potential that is in you.
I get so sick and tired of peopletalking about personal potential
that's such a dangerous,potentially evil word. Why?
Because your personal potentialcan you lead you away from the kingdom?
Because my personal potential
is based on who I am, my desires,my skills.
(23:12):
And it's so dangerous.
When parents focus on the potentialof their children.
Don't focus on potential.
Focus on calling
potential a self-serving,
calling his kingdom.
We got to be very careful.
So a lot of good things aren't there,
(23:32):
but they'll let us away from the kingdom.
I think every Christian would say,oh no, the kingdom is really,
really,really important to us. Absolutely.
Unless the pursuit of my potentialhe has, you know, comes in conflict
with a Sunday morningor Wednesday night or giving finances in,
I'm up to see my potential.
I wish
(23:54):
I could talk to every young parent
personally
and encourage them.
Listen as you raise your children,
be very
mindful of what you champion and critique
and what you celebrateand what you criticize.
Make sure that what you championand critique, celebrate and criticize
(24:17):
is leading towards the 30 yearold Christian disciple
you're raising, rather than the 11 yearold athletic
prodigy.
Against an.
Parents you're raising
(24:39):
think you should be raising 30 yearold disciples right now.
Not successful high school kids.
You get that in your headthat will change everything
that you celebrate and promoteand invest in.
Is it any wonder why kids
(24:59):
graduate high school,go to college, and get seduced
by progressive liberalismand walk away from the church?
It's really no surprise,
because most people have made the mistakeof celebrating
and championing their kidspotential rather than their calling.
(25:25):
You okay?
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
How do you know the.
Well, how do you know?
How do you know personallywhat you're supposed to fan into flame?
Because it's different.
God gifting of you.
What he's given you and asked of youis different than what he has to me.
How do you know? I'm going to tell you,
if God were to call you asideand you and it's
(25:48):
just you and God talking one on one,
and God were to say, hey,
I want to talk to you about that one area
that I gave you that you let get cold.
What would he say that one area is
if we're just you and him?
And he said, hey, I want
I want to talk to you about this, this onearea that you need to stoke in flame.
(26:11):
What would that one that
you know what it is.
See what happens
is that our fire doesn't die.
It doesn't.
It's not from attack. It's from neglect.
Yeah. Oh, yes.
You understand that, Sean, thank you forverbalizing what other people are saying.
(26:32):
But then everybody else is like, oh, I'mnot going to say anything other than me.
Oh, this seriously, some of you went tohe was like, oh yeah.
You're like, oh, that's what he said.
I mean, right, I, you
like that fire.
It's it's, it'sit doesn't die from attack from outside.
(26:52):
It dies out from neglect inside.
Listen, don't give anything more fuel
than you give your faith.
For God
gave us a spirit not of fear, but of powerand of love and of self-control.
Whatever you live
(27:13):
in fear of did not come from God.
Let me say it again.
Whatever you live in fear ofdid not come from God because he has not
given you a spirit of fear or timidity,
but of power and love and a sound mind.
Every fear that we have learned
(27:33):
to let control our lives is a learned fear
that's come to us from a lifefrom the devil.
Humans are only born digital, humansonly born
with two fears, the fear of loud noisesand the fear of falling.
Every other fear that we haveis a learned, accepted fear
and it didn't come to us from God.
(27:55):
Most fears, more commonly, are the resultof believing the lies of the devil.
The fears in your life are not becauseof the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Think about it
like if, if,
if I were standing right hereand Jesus was right here,
like if you show him bodily form, we.
(28:19):
What would I be fearful of?
Not seeing,
right?
Like after the resurrection,all 11 of the apostles died
a violent martyr's death.
Fearless. Why? Because the resurrection.
Because there's no fear in a Christfollower of a resurrected Jesus.
(28:40):
So every fear that we let controlour lives is a life from the devil.
It's not because we're close to Jesus.
Don't mean to push us more.
Every fear you have of your child,
for your child,
it's not because you're walking closeto Jesus that you're fearful for him.
(29:03):
I understand being concerned.
I'm not saying don't be concerned.You're a parent. You better be concerned.
But you don't parent out of fear.
You don't control out of fear.
All that hell stuff you're dealing with.
Paul started
this whole thingbecause I'm convinced the life
that is mine,not the death that's impending,
(29:25):
fearless.
Right.
All right.
Is giving us
a spirit of power and of loveand of a sound mind.
A sound mind
doesn't give in to the spirit of fear.
When you and I are paralyzed by fear,
(29:46):
we are acting against the spirit.
God has given us.
Because a peaceful mind lives in starkcontrast
to a panic, fearand chaos of a frightful mind.
So some of you
may need to pray
that the God
(30:08):
of the resurrected
Christ
gives you more of histransforming presence in your life,
and lay hold of the sound mind
that he's already provided for you,that you have neglected
receiving.
(30:28):
And I never want to beone of those pastors says,
hey, maybe you should prayand then don't give him a chance to pray.
And so
for all of the fearful ones
who have lived in a spirit of fear.
I want to give you a chance to pray.
If you are Christ's and he is yours,
(30:49):
and accept the gift of a sound mind
that is already yours.
Some of you need this.
And so let's pray.
In your own words.
But let me just walk you through it.
It's real simple.
It's already been granted you.
(31:09):
It's already been gifted you.
You might not have received it yet,
but I would invite you
to say something along the lines of, Lord,I am sorry
that I have let fear run my mind.
Chaos rule my life.
That's not the spirit you've given me.
That's not the spirit from you.
(31:32):
I have given myself to the liesand the worries of the evil one.
And this morning I reject those.
In the authority
of the name of Jesus, I accept.
And I receive the spirit of power
and loveand a sound mind that are already mine.
(31:55):
Help me live in
and help me live with that spirit.
It's already mine.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
Listen.
That government.
I know what time it is.
(32:16):
Come. You'd like it.
More verses.
I'll do chunk.
So to go quick. No.
Look at verse 889 ten.
Therefore don't be ashamed
of the testimony about our Lord, nor of mehis prisoner, but share in suffering
and share in suffering for the gospelby the power of God, who saved us
and called us to be to a holy calling,not because our works,
(32:37):
but because of his own purpose and grace,
which he gave us in ChristJesus before the ages began,
and which now has been manifestedthrough the appearing
of our SaviorChrist Jesus, who abolished death
and brought life and immortalityto light through the gospel.
He said, don't be ashamed.
Now the testimony thisthis is solid stuff.
(32:58):
You grab on to this stuff.Don't be ashamed of this stuff.
Share in the verse eight.
Share in the suffering of the gospelby the power of God.
Paul's invitation to Timothy on behalf
of Jesusis to share in the suffering for Jesus.
That's not a popular invitation.
We want to add Jesus to our lifeto alleviate suffering.
(33:20):
Jesus said, in this world,you're going to have trouble.
It hit him. He's going to hit you too.
Paul says, I want to invite youinto suffering for Jesus.
Listen, if you are living a life of aof an
on fire person for Christ, it'sgoing to cause you trouble.
It just is.
When you and I startspeaking up on behalf of Christ
(33:40):
to those who are degrading him, it'sgoing to cause some issue, he said.
I'm inviting you into that, Timothy.
Embrace that. Don't run away from it.
You don't have a spirit of fear, timidityabout what others might say or think.
Or do you have others?
Do you have a spirit of power, of loveand sound so pressed into that?
Engage in that it's okay and you'll suffer
(34:00):
well when you have the Spirit of Godand the power of God in you.
So here's a question.
Do you know thatkind of power in your life?
Can you
suffer willingly and press into thatand suffer with joy?
That's the power of God.
Send that into flame.
Speak up when others are speaking down.
(34:21):
Yeah,
he said, he's called us sinnersfrom the beginning of time.
By his grace, he'sthe one that sought us out.
We don't seek him out.
We respond to his seeking.
But by his grace he seeks us.
And then in response, we say, okay,
I'll follow you and I'll give you my life.
And he says,all of this has been manifested, verse
(34:42):
ten, through the appearing of our SaviorJesus Christ.
He said, So Jesus illuminated this.
And what did he illuminate?
He illuminated life and immortalityis brought to light through the gospel.
Verse ten says,if you look through the Old Testament,
death and eternity is really a mystery,
like some people have a kind of developedunderstanding, some not so much.
And it's realkind of really all over the map.
(35:04):
But after Jesus, his deathand his resurrection,
Paul says Jesus illuminatedlife and immortality.
Now there'sno more question. There's no more chaos
becauseof Jesus, his death and his resurrection.
He illuminates what life is all aboutand the reality of immortality
and eternal life.
So we don't question it.
(35:25):
There's no fear, there's no chaos.
It's all been brought to light by Jesus.
Now watch this.
For which I was appointed a preacher,an apostle and a teacher,
which is why I suffer as I do.
But I'm not ashamed, for I know who I am.
I have believed, and I'm convincedthat he's able to guard it until the day,
(35:47):
until that day,what has been entrusted me?
He said, look, Jesus.
He called me out of his grace.
I responded, I'm not ashamed.
And he made me. What do you say?
A preacher, an apostle,a teacher, three rolls of Paul.
He's a God. Ask this of me and a preacher.
I'm refer claim the gospel of Jesusand all kinds of people God saved.
(36:08):
I'm an apostle.
He traveled around the worldstarting churches. That's what.
That's the gift of apostleship.
And I'm a teacher. It'swhat we do on Sunday morning.
We go into doctrine, he said.
These are my three rules that God gave meto do because of God's grace.
And I did them,and because I was faithful to God
and because I did what God damn itled me to do.
Now I'm in a dungeonwaiting to be beheaded.
Welcome to Christianity. Yes. Yeah.
(36:32):
Right, right.
Okay. Whoa, wait, wait.
Hold on. God, I served you.
I let people to you.
I built churches for you.I taught sound doctrine.
And this is how you're going to pay meback for it, right?
Right. Wouldn't that be our response?
I've done all this.
And look at what you've done for me.
(36:52):
Nothing.
And Paul says,
I did it all, and that's why I suffer.
And I would do it again and againand again
and again and again.
I regret that I have
but one life to live and diefor the kingdom of God.
Amen.
(37:15):
Vanity.
The flame.
Right, right.
God. So good.
Jim Elliot, great missionary
who literally lost his headby the Indians headhunters before he died.
Obviously
he said he is no fool who gives what hecannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
(37:37):
Listen, you're no fool to givewhat you cannot
keep your life to gainwhat you could never lose.
Eternity.
I'll do it all over again.
My one regret at the end of my lifewill be that
I don't have another life to do it again.
30. 40.
(37:57):
I'm almost done.
He says I'm convinced that itGod is able to guard it until that day.
Like God will take care of me.
I don't have any doubt about that.
Verse 13 follow the pattern of the soundwords that you have heard from me
in the faith and lovethat are in Christ Jesus.
When Paul uses that word sound words,it literally means healthy words
like I've given you doctrine that are it'sgood for you, it's healthy for you.
(38:20):
Follow that guard at Timothyand guide people into it.
That's why we call the soul seriesguard and Guide.
These are healthy words by the Holy Spiritwho dwells within us.
Guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
Verse 15.
You are aware that all who are in Asiaturned away from me,
among whom are the jealous and homogenize.
(38:42):
So look, at the end of theday, everybody walked away.
Like I
startedwith, some people aren't with me anymore.
And it's not because they moved.
It's because they don'twant to be with me anymore.
And they left.
And he calls to them out by name.
I guess Paul didn't realizeyou're not supposed to call people
(39:04):
on the carpet in public,but he does the jealous and homogenize
says the only place in all Scripturethese two men are listed
there. Lasting life.
Legacy is a legacy of the desertion.
Here's the warning.
Don't let that be your legacy
(39:25):
of deserting
the call of God on your life.
That you neglect the flame so much
it dwindles to nothingness,
and the only thing you're remembered for
is quitting.
It's been said the only thing worsethan quitting is being remembered for it.
(39:51):
May the Lord grant mercy of the householdof honor.
Suffer us, for he often reached, refreshme, and was not ashamed of my change.
But when he arrived in Rome,he searched for me earnestly and found me.
May the Lord grant him to find mercyfrom the Lord on that day,
and you will know all the servicehe rendered in Ephesus.
Those two are contrastedby the one on the Severus,
(40:11):
who fanned the flame,and was of good service to the kingdom.
Let that be our story.
I finish with this band.
Come on up here. I finished with this.
We are either fire extinguishers
or fire fuels.
That's it.
We're going to extinguish the fire in usand others, or we're going to fuel it.
(40:35):
Fan into flame.
Verse six.
For this reason I remind you to faninto the flame that gift of God in you.
And so, friends, please, in
light of that verse,in light of the big idea,
make a habit of that which fuels the fire.
(40:57):
Make a habit.
Here's here's our as a Christian.
And if you're if you haven't accepted thisyet here here's
the difference in religionand Christianity.
Religion says I'm going
to live defensively,and I'm going to make sure
I try to avoid everythingthat might make me a bad person.
Good luck.
(41:18):
You'll never succeed.
The call is to live offensively
and pursuethose things that fanned the flame.
Give a shout out, I'm saying.
So there's a lot of people in churchwho are trying to live defensively,
and the flame is going out, becauseall you're doing is trying to avoid.
(41:38):
And Paul says,
press in, do those thingsthat fanned the flames.
What are those?
Well, the things like reading yourscripture for yourself, being at worship.
I'm proud of you today.
Giving and sacrificing and serving.
What are those thingsthat fuel faithful living?
(41:59):
Here's the deal.
When you're fueling the fire,
there's nothing going to come againstthat is going to put it out
the way you put outfires, cut off the fuel.
Do you understand?
Because.
So what are those things that are going
to advance the faith in your life?
(42:21):
The flames that are apparentso people don't have
to look and investigate for embers
fan that.
So the question, the commitment
will you commit to fanning the
flame daily?
To burn bright
(42:42):
and to burn faithful.
Someone said their greatest desires
that God would light a fireand light them on fire.
So the world could watch and burn.
That's the goal.
God, light a fire in me and let the world
watch me burn.
(43:03):
I want you to pray with me, father.
Thank you.
Thank you for your amazing gracethat calls people like me
and people like us.
I pray that because of your amazing grace
that calls us, that we would respond.
And that we would add wood
to the fire that you've started.
(43:24):
That you would light us on fire
and let the world watch us burn.
Friends,if you were here who have never accepted
Jesus as your Savior,I would invite you in this moment.
It's real simple.It'll cost you everything.
But you begin it
just simply by a statement of faithin your heart.
(43:46):
God, I admit I'ma sinner, separated from you by sin.
Jesus, thank you that you diedon the cross so I could be forgiven.
I accept what you did on the crossfor my forgiveness.
And this morning I trust you as my Savior.
It's that simple.
(44:07):
But if you do,
it'll cost you everything.
And you will gain everything
in eternity.
If you're already Christian,
would you.
Would you dare to pray?
God, be clear with me.
What's the one thingI need to fan into flame?
(44:27):
And I commit to you to fanning itevery day?
Would you tell them God set me on fire?
Let this world watch me burn.
I'll gladly burn for you.
Because your grace have been so great.
Father, we love you.
Thank you for your word.
In your name I pray. Amen. Amen.
(44:49):
Hey. We okay?
Oh, yeah. Go. Go back and read this week.
First Timothy twoor first Timothy or second Timothy one.
I'm getting dyslexic with my numbers.
Second Timothy one.
And we'll keep going through Timothyand dive into it.
Throughout this next month or so.
I love you.
I would love to talk to youabout accepting Jesus,
(45:09):
about following him,about whatever that is.
You want to talk to meafter church or Jeff or Allie or anybody?
We'd love to. We'd love to talk with you.
All right, one more song here.
Amazing Grace. Let's sing our blessing.
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