Strathalbyn Church of Christ

2 Timothy 1. Theme: Guard the Gospel.

Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 17 Jan 2021

Prayer: Lord, make us uncomfortable when we become complacent; encourage us when we grow dispirited and renew us when we become tired. Amen.

Old man Paul was facing execution. Like Christ, he was abandoned by friends, alone and in chains. Most of his churches had fallen away. He writes to his dear son in the faith, passing on the baton to him. But will young Timothy prove up to it? Or will he too desert, faced with such suffering, such wholesale desertion? Might Timothy even give up his faith?

So, what would you tell Timothy, if you were in Paul’s shoes, or rather, his chains? What message does Paul have for the church today? The church in the West is in great trouble. Churches are aging, pastors are ageing. Many Christians no longer trust the bible. Who will carry on the gospel to the next generation in Strathalbyn?

Paul gives Timothy three charges:

- to remember

- to suffer and

- to guard.

First, Timothy, you are to remember, verses 1-7.

Paul uses words of great affection. Timothy is his beloved son in Christ. Paul recalls Timothy’s tears at their last parting. And Paul has good reason to be strongly moved. He awaits death, yet he calls himself an apostle “for the promise of life”, life that is in Christ (verse 1). This promise of life, this gospel, wasn’t some new invention. Paul reminds Timothy that he, Timothy, stands in a long line of gospel carriers – and Paul charges Timothy to continue this ministry.

Having worked with Paul for years, Timothy hardly needed reminding of all this, did he? But that is precisely where Paul starts. Four times he uses the same Greek root word, meaning “remember” or “remind”. “I remember you … I remember your tears … I am reminded of your … faith … I remind you to rekindle …” (verses 3-6).

Why this focus on remembering? We forget. We are forgetful by nature and by inclination. God knows this, so again and again in the Bible we are called to remember! Memory is an odd thing. It is easier to remember the bad news rather than good. Easier to remember the lies than the truth. So, in the face of the relentless onslaught of lies in the media, movies, advertising and on social media, we need to constantly immerse ourselves in the truth. We need to remember God’s truth.

So, Timothy, says Paul, many have fallen away, but you remember. Paul remembers his own fathers in faith when he prays for Timothy, “I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, as did my fathers, when I remember you constantly in my prayers” (verse 3). And he remembers Timothy’s faith learnt in the nursery, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you” (verse 5). Remember your heritage, your godly mother and grandmother, your spiritual fathers. Remember their faithfulness. Don’t betray them.

We too have mothers and fathers in the faith going back to our father Abraham; perhaps too a grandmother who prayed for you, perhaps a friend who led you to faith. When tempted to slacken off, remember their faithfulness. How will you continue their legacy? Who will you be a father or mother to? Who can you encourage in the faith? Who can you pray for? The impact of what children learn can last for a lifetime, even when it has been for a time forgotten. But Timothy is not to forget, he must remember his fathers and mothers; he must also remember to rekindle, to fan into flame, his gift.

The nature of Timothy’s gift is not stated, but that is not important. What is important is that Timothy doesn’t let it die out. Remember what camping was like before firelighters? A few dying embers, some damp grass and green twigs; it was touch and go whether you would kill it completely. You can’t blow too hard or it goes out. To rekindle a fire takes a lot of work, focus and skill - and a face full of ashes!

Now in this work of rekindling, it takes two to tango. Timothy is not on his own, he had been gifted by the Spirit: “rekindle the gift of God that is within you … for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (verses 6-7). But Timothy has to work as well, he has to use all his mind, faith, talents and strength to rekindle the Spirit’s fire.

We all have gifts (1 Peter 4:10). Are yours in use? Or like a rusted hinge, are they so out of use that they are nearly useless? Muscles wither if they are not used. How fit are your spiritual muscles? What can you do to exercise them? Well, you might start with praying, spending time in the word and looking for chances to serve.

Now some may hear this as a burden too hard. You may be utterly defeated or unwell, with no energy left. You may feel that anything you try will end in failure, so why bother, why even try. Be encouraged. God helps us in our weakness, especially in our weakness. We don’t do the rekindling on our own. We rekindle in God’s power. And our Saviour is a gentle saviour. You may feel your ember is so dead that even the very ashes are long grown cold. But Christ “will not snuff out a smouldering wick” (Isaiah 42:3). Think of a wick with no flame, only the last whisps of smoke. But our Lord can even restore such a weak faith. Actually, it is when we are utterly weak that he displays his strength. So be encouraged.

Like soldiers in an army, we each have a role in saving souls. But the Church is beset by the “someone else” syndrome. I can’t speak, someone else can do it; I don’t have the gift, I’m not called, I’m not confident, I’m not trained – so someone else can do it. Well, someone else was an old missionary who went out in his 70s. Astounded people asked why. His reply, “When the young won’t go, the old must”. Now, you may not be able to go to Pakistan, like some friends did in their 70s, but you can do much – you can pray, you can give, you can speak. How will you use the years that are yet before you to promote the gospel?

So, the first charge – Remember. Remember you stand in a line of godly gospel carriers. Remember to rekindle your gifts to carry on the gospel.

The second charge is to suffer, to suffer for the gospel, verses 8-12.

Speaking the gospel is not for the faint hearted. Paul urges Timothy: “Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel …” (verse 8). These same 3 ideas are repeated in verse 11: gospel, suffering and shame. “For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed.” So, don’t be ashamed of the gospel – rather suffer for it.

Well, what is this gospel? This good news? Simply put, Christ “abolished death” (verse 10). Christ in dying abolished death. More than that, he “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. Through the preaching of the gospel, eternal life is given. There is no greater news than this.

So why does this great news, this gospel bring suffering? The gospel truly preached provokes a reaction: it lays bare our sin, the judgment we deserve and our inability to change this. “God … saved us and called us … not in virtue of our works …” (verse 9). We are utterly incapable of saving ourselves. And pride cannot live with this reality – it must either repent or reject the truth. Pride cannot sit on the fence in the face of the gospel.

As the gospel brought death on Christ and on Paul, so the gospel will – not may – but will bring suffering. “For this gospel I was appointed a preacher … and therefore I suffer” (verse 12). In case you missed the point, Paul takes it up again in 3:12, “Indeed all who desire to lead a godly life will be persecuted …”. The gospel brings suffering.

Do you suffer rejection, humiliation, loss of friends for your faith? No? Then you are not speaking the gospel – the full gospel. Telling people Jesus loves them will not bring suffering, but then that is not the full gospel. The full gospel truly spoken will bring suffering.

So, I’ve talked of suffering and the gospel. What of shame? Paul wrote: “Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner” (verse 8).

God in his eternal purpose chose you, “he saved you and called you with a holy calling” (verse 9). A calling not to live a quiet life but to be a witness to his gospel. We cannot know who he will call, but we do know how he does it: he uses ordinary people like you and me to testify to his gospel. He may have called you so that one day, even at the age of 90, you will say something that will have eternal consequences. A word from you may bring the salvation of the next Billy Graham. You don’t need to say anything wise or profound. But you do need a willingness, a willingness to suffer shame.

Listen to this tale:

Mary was asked, “how was your day?”

“I pruned the roses, and oh, yeah, went to church, just the normal.”

Let’s stop the tape and re-run that. “I heard a sermon – about Jesus – who abolished death. Jesus in dying abolished death. That’s what it was about.”

The reaction of 9 in 10 – “Mary is another wierdo to avoid”.

But for 1 in 10. “I don’t know anything about Jesus. Tell me more.”

Do you love your neighbour enough to be a fool for him?

Paul was not ashamed because he knew Christ, “_But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believe_d” (verse 12). When you are tempted to shame, remember Christ. Jesus endured the shame of the cross for you. Will you endure the shame of humiliation for him?

So, suffer for the gospel, Paul’s second charge. Suffer by testifying to the gospel. But don’t just testify, guard the gospel – the third charge, verses 13-18.

“Guard the truth that has been entrusted to you” (verse 14). Why guard? What’s the danger? The gospel is under attack. “All in Asia have turned away” (verse 15).

Like Jesus, Paul was deserted and betrayed by those closest to him. All his churches in Asia (Turkey) had abandoned the faith. This abandonment is called apostasy. The church is only ever one generation away from apostasy. It happened in Paul’s day; it is happening in ours. We need to guard the truth if we are to keep it. Apostasy starts not by rejecting the truth outright but tinkering with it, making it a little more palatable.

You might simply subtract from it. Some argue, “Let’s dismiss the idea that God is angry and sends people to hell. Let’s just talk of God’s love.” By taking out wrath and hell, the gospel is more acceptable. But by subtracting bits out, it is no longer the gospel. We can also add to it. This is not a new thing. Even the early church fathers insisted on adding to the gospel[1]. Free grace just seemed too good to be true. So, you needed grace and love to be saved, or grace and martyrdom, or grace and works. But by addition, it is no longer the gospel.

Many churches and Christian schools face pressure to change the bible’s teaching on traditional marriage and to line up with the current fashions. So, as Phygelus and Hermogenes turned away from the truth (verse 15), many church leaders today are abandoning the truth. No, we must guard the truth.

How then should Timothy guard the truth? Not by inventing clever new teachings; nor by simply parroting off verses from scripture. Rather Paul wrote: “Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me” (verse 13). That is, we allow the word to dwell in our hearts and minds, we follow the pattern – the blueprint – of the words of scripture. “Let the word dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16). That is, let God’s word inform the way you speak. “Whoever speaks let it be as one speaking the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

Now how do we speak the truth? We “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15) and ”in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 1:13). In guarding the truth against enemy attack, we must love those enemies. For truth without love is hypocrisy – isn’t it? The flipside is love without truth is cowardice. But we need both, we need to “speak the truth in love”.

So, Christians should never be guilty of hate speech! Christ died for the Muslim terrorist. Christ died for the gay man who rants against Christians. We must love our enemies, and we must speak the truth in love.

We guard the truth by serving it. Guarding the truth is not just up to preachers, but relies on others to stand with and support them and the truth. Unlike Phygelus and Hermogenes, Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul or his message, verse 15. Rather he put his own life on the line. “Onesiphorus …was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me eagerly and found me” (verses 16, 17).

Roman prisons were underground cesspits. Prisoners relied on friends to supply them with food and drink or they starved. Paul was facing execution, so any mates who turned up risked the same fate. Onesiphorus risked much more than dysentery in going from one rat-infested cell to another patiently searching for Paul. By doing so, Onesiphorus was guarding the gospel.

Christians are often imprisoned or put in danger for their faith. Recently, we heard from Marg H. about her work with the Syrian women. We can help by prayer, by giving, sometimes by writing letters. We can help them guard the gospel in Syria.

We guard the truth knowing it is already guarded by the holy spirit. Twice Paul speaks of guarding the truth entrusted to us, “I am sure that he is able to guard … what has been entrusted to me … guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit” (verses 12, 14). The Spirit is our guarantee that the truth will be guarded, even as many fall away. So, we can speak with great confidence, for the Spirit is both giver and guarantor of the truth. This is a huge encouragement to anyone sharing the gospel. In faith, we speak God’s words in the Spirit’s power – the Spirit at work in our hearers drawing them to God. Like Moses with his feeble lips, he can use even my bumbling words to achieve his eternal purposes.

So, Paul’s charges to Timothy, and to us:

· Remember. Remember you stand in a line of godly gospel carriers. Remember to rekindle your gifts to carry on the gospel.

· Suffer for the gospel.

· Guard the gospel.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the good news, the great news that you abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Lord, help us to be ever willing to suffer for the gospel, to guard your gospel.

Sources: Conversations with Rev Chris Jolliffe, Trinity Aldgate.

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[1] Torrance, Thomas F., The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1948.

Series: 2 Timothy

Topics: #2 Timothy