Sermons on 2 Timothy (Page 2)
The most important determining factor in a person’s life is their character. Your character includes all aspects of your inner being— your social awareness, your intelligence quotient (IQ), your emotional quotient (EQ), and your spiritual maturity. If someone is deficient in one of these areas it will limit their ability to be the person that God wants them to be! So Paul encourages Timothy to reject his immature tendencies of adolescents and diligently pursue the heart of God.
Character or competency—which is most important? Too many people today consider competency the most important factor for a successful life. Admittedly, there are some jobs out there that are benefited by a lack of moral character in their employees; but when it comes to living the Christian life, character is paramount! Those who are Christ followers are God’s vessels, but our lives determine whether we are vessels “for honorable use… [or] for dishonorable”—will we be faithful to God and His Word or unfaithful?
Every follower of Jesus Christ attempts to understand and apply God’s Word to his life. This is not necessarily an easy task! There are principles that we must follow for properly handling the Word of Truth—the Bible. The process of discovering the meaning of Scripture objectively is called exegesis. In this passage, Paul challenges believers to use the Bible for what God intended—reproof, rebuke, teaching and training in righteousness—not for debating, arguing and babbling on incessantly. Understanding and applying the Bible properly is hard work that should not be taken lightly.
One thing that I really love to do is to get together with old friends and reminisce about all the crazy stuff that we used to do. Remembering the good things in life is a healthy thing, so long as we don’t live in the past. God encouraged His people to remember—remember the Passover, the Law, entering the Promised Land. He wants us to remember the great, spiritual moments of our lives as well, for when we remember God’s goodness to us in the past we will have hope for God’s goodness in the present! Remember!
In the previous chapter, Timothy is encouraged to follow the pattern of Paul’s life in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in chapter 2, Paul challenges him to pour himself into others so that he can multiply the ministry by entrusting it to others. He closes this section by sharing three analogies of what faithfulness looks like in a believer. A faithful believer is single-minded in his commitment, disciplined in his actions, and diligent in his work in the ministry.
God is looking for ordinary, regular people who realize that they are not able to serve God without His intervention and help. They know that they cannot succeed without His power at work in and through them. As Oswald Chambers said, “All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used sombodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.”
In the last days of his life, the Apostle Paul found himself in a dreadful situation—imprisoned and deserted by almost all of his companions. It was in these circumstances that Paul wrote to his ‘beloved’ son in the ministry, Timothy. In spite of his own depressing circumstances, Paul sought to encourage and instruct his disciple—and every disciple of Christ since—to not be fearful but to be ever-increasing in his dependence on the Holy Spirit of God in every aspect of his life.
When you place your trust in Jesus Christ—His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave—there is no need to fear death!
It does not matter what I’ve done… Jesus died in my place to pay for my sins—I must simply trust in Him!
We can face life with confidence, because “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
A Biblical Solution to FEAR
Sermon Video and Audio at http://www.templerogers.org/sermons/working-through-our-fear/