Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, good morning, NBC.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh, that video is a snapshot of what you will experience if you choose to become a Colson Fellow in training this coming year.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Our next class begins April um not April August the first, and we are can uh currently accepting applications uh for the program.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And as you saw in the testimonies there, I think if you choose to take this bold step, it will be nothing short of transformational.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now we have an information session next Sunday, March the 29th, in between the two services at 1015 in YFMB 201.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh, we'd love to talk with you more about that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now you might be asking the question, why become a Coulson fellow?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is it really worth my time and money?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I want to argue today, yes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh, and I want to start here because your training in the Colson program, should you choose to accept, will give you courage in our current culture.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh, one of their mottos is this faith is always personal but never private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Faith is always personal but never private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it's too many Christians in today's world that want to keep their faith private because we fear pushback from friends or coworkers or even family.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so we stay silent.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We keep certain topics off limits.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We don't want to offend.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Why is that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, the one woman in the video stated the answer I hear most often, and that's this I didn't feel equipped.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I didn't feel equipped.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you didn't feel equipped?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Oh, you might say, well, yeah, I know a lot of Bible verses.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I can quote John 3.16, uh, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, Romans 12, 1 and 2.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I know those like the back of my hand, but I don't know how to apply those to the complex topics of our day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that is what the Colson Fellows program will equip you to do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so, as you heard, if you have a hunger for this deeper formation, I can guarantee you it will be a five-course meal.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And at the end of the day, you will be full and ready to live as a 21st century Christian witness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You'll develop clarity for the mind, confidence for your soul, and courage for faithful living.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, providentially, that is the topic that Paul addresses in 2 Timothy 1, 6 through 18.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's where we'll be this morning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: 2 Timothy 1, 6-18.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Uh, join me in your Bibles there.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul shows Timothy in this passage how to develop courage under fire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Courage under fire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, you might be thinking, well, Pastor Bob, that all sounds good, this Colson stuff.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I like the equipping part.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want the clarity, I want the confidence, uh, but I don't know about this courage thing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I don't know if I can handle the pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And no, it will not be easy, but when you step into that uncomfortable place, that's when I think God opens doors.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let's talk about some pushback stories in today's world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you remember the news story about Dodgers pitcher Blake Trainin from 2023?
Pastor Bob Erbig: That due to his devout Christian faith, he publicly criticized the team for inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a satirical LGBTQ charity group, to perform at uh Pride Night at Dodgers Stadium.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he specifically stated his issue was the blasphemous use of Christian imagery.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that took courage to make a public statement, and he was mocked online for his stance.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Our northern neighbors in Canada are not an exception to pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In the province of Alberta, education minister Demetrios Nicolains faced severe public backlash this past December for merely mentioning Jesus during his Christmas message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Critics on social media called for his termination due to the far-right messaging.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Just for mentioning Jesus at Christmas.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you're a faithful Christian in Nigeria, not a day goes by when your life is not on the line.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In 2025, an average of 32 Christians were killed per day across the country due to violence from the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, and others.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Perhaps you saw the viral videos of Nigerian pastors calling attention to this genocide.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that is pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, friends, I don't know what your story is, but I'm willing to bet you've received some pushback on your Christian faith in this life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it's in those moments that it's tempting to keep your faith private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's natural to say, I'm not equipped, I'm not ready.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Yet while our faith is always personal, always, always personal, it should never be private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When we live faithfully, pushbacks are inevitable.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so the question we should ask, and the one I think Paul answers today, is this how do we respond when our faith costs us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: If we are to be a faithful church for the next 175 years, we need courage amidst the pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, how do we get this courage?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, Paul gives us three action steps in 2 Timothy 1, and I'll voice them this way.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, you need to fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, you need to shun the shame, and then finally, you break the chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's look at each of those in turn and let's pray before we get there.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for each person who's here today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Thank you for those that are in person, those that are with us online, those that are watching or listening later on to this message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I pray that you would convict us, Lord.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I pray that you would exhort us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I pray that you would give us confidence that we never thought we could have because of the work that you have done on the cross, Lord Jesus, for the fact that you are sovereign over all things.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Help us to rest, to hold on to that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: To you, Lord Jesus, the object of our faith, who are ever who is our ever secure.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would you be with us as we look at your word today and open our eyes in Jesus' name?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So first, you gotta you gotta fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, if you received the bookmark last week, you can take that out, or if you got a connection card in the front row that Pastor Dave was talking about, take those out and give yourself a little fan right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You gotta fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now imagine if your hair was on fire and you were fanning the flame and you were keeping to do that, what would happen?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or imagine that your wife decides to turn her blow dryer on you when your hair is on fire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What would happen?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Hopefully this has never happened to you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The fire would spread.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Keep that image in your mind as we read the text.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at verse six.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul writes, For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, before I break this down, if you missed week one, let me remind you of the context.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is writing this letter to Timothy, his protege, his spiritual son in the faith, while in a Roman prison awaiting execution.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The persecution under Emperor Nero is growing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul knows his days are numbered, and he opens this letter by exhorting Timothy to remember the faith that was passed down to him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now we don't know Timothy's exact location or mindset when he reads this letter, but I'm sure he is feeling some of the cultural pushback from the empire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Christians have targets on their backs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it's in this moment that Paul says, for this reason, fan into flame the gift of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, because Timothy has a sincere personal faith in Jesus Christ, passed down from his mother and grandmother.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We learned about that last week.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It can't simply be private, it must be shared.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The flame of the Spirit must spread.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, this command, fan into flame, the gift, has a dual meaning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, it describes a fire burning at its brightest intensity.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But second, it also conveys the image of a rekindling of fire that is fading.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Both are vivid images highlighting the intensity of Paul's command.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Greek word is in the present tense, meaning it's a progressive action.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You don't just fan once, you have to keep fanning that flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, to help you visualize this, let me give you another illustration.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have a shared interest group here at MBC.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Go check out our shared interest page if you want to know more about those groups.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But one of them, one of those groups, they love to camp, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it would not be a camping trip without a campfire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So imagine you are camping, you're roasting those marshmallows on the fire, and your face now is covered, it's smeared in chocolate because you ate one too many s'mores, and the fire is dwindling, everybody's ready to hop into bed, they're tired, they want to get in the tent and curl up in that sleeping bag.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then somebody, that late-night person, you know who you are, grabs a stick and starts to poke the fire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then they start adding some kindling and they blow on the fire.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then maybe they add some gasoline to the fire and it becomes an inferno.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then nobody's going to bed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is the image that Paul is getting at, that these coals, this firewood may be fading in the midst of persecution, Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But underneath it's still got some hot embers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you don't poke them, if you don't fan them, the fire is going to go out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You'll miss the delicious reward of the s'mores at the end.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now a campfire keeps you warm, but picture a forge.
Pastor Bob Erbig: A forge changes the shape of things.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When a blacksmith heats the iron to the point where it glows, he doesn't stand back and admire the light that the fire created.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He puts it to work.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's hammering, he's shaping, he's forming something useful out of that raw material because the fire isn't the point.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What the fire makes possible is the point.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And this is what God intends when he calls you to fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not a faith that glows warmly in private and keeps you comfortable, but a faith that is hot enough to be worked to transform your home, your workplace, your neighborhood.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Spirit doesn't give you fire so you can sit by it, he gives you fire so he can put you to work.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The gift of God in verse 6 refers to the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts he bestows on the Christians, specifically Timothy in this context.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But later in chapter 4, Paul will offer a charge to Timothy very famously preach the word in season and at a season, that Timothy must bring gospel heat to a dying world despite the pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now there's a famous quote attributed to the preacher John Wesley.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When asked why so many people came to hear him preach, this is his answer.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I just go and set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now there's no solid evidence that Wesley actually said that, but it does preach.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would that we would have more preachers like that that would say, Lord, would you set me on fire right now?
Pastor Bob Erbig: When was the last time you asked the Lord to set you on fire for him?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, Paul anchors his reminder in a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He talks about Timothy's ordination to gospel ministry.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This was the laying on of my hands, which was a formal commissioning ritual to affirm a calling to a pastorate.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Both Paul and the elders would lay their hands on Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's a practice we still do today.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, I remember ten years ago when I was ordained to gospel ministry.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Here's a collage of pictures that the late Jim Flood put together for me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I received charges and the elders laid their hands on me to affirm my call to commit my life to gospel ministry.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so I resonate with this passage because my own spiritual mentor preached that day from 1 Timothy, encouraging me to always remember the gift of God in my life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That if you want to have courage, you must fan the flame continuously, because the enemy would love nothing better than seeing the flame go out in your life, Christian.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Similarly, in the Colson Fellows program, we do a commissioning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That Chuck Coulson was a Marine and he didn't like the idea of graduation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Instead, you were commissioned to go out and live in service to Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, on June 6th, we're going to host a commissioning service for our first class of Coulson Fellows, and then recognize them at the annual anniversary service on June 7th.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And afterwards, they must live a commissioned life, always fanning the flame, even when our faith costs us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And my prayer is that the Spirit would set them aflame for the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How will you respond when your faith costs you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You have to fan the flame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, Paul takes it a step further and tells Timothy where his power comes from.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at verse 7.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So after encouraging Timothy about this gift from God, he now explains what the gift is not.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The clause begins in the negative.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What type of spirit did God give us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not of fear.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I want you to hear that, church, because we don't need to be afraid.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Too many Christians in this world live in fear of things that have no power over us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Greek word for fear is very important here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It is the word dahlia.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's used only here in the New Testament, and it must not be confused with the fear of the Lord, which is a different word entirely.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Dahlia is always, always in the negative, and it refers to moral cowardice.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a character defect.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, I love how the contemporary English version translates this clause.
Pastor Bob Erbig: God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I want the significance of that to sit with you for a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That Christians are not cowards.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Over the course of church history, if you go back and look, Christians have always taken risks for the spread of the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Read the book of Acts.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul enters towns to tell people about Jesus and they try to stone him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Today, missionaries enter closed countries where their lives are at risk to bring the kingdom of God and share the life-altering message of Jesus, and many have died on that mission.
Pastor Bob Erbig: MBC, if you want to fan the flame, Dahlia has no place here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We need courage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We cannot be silent when issues arise, when the name of Jesus is mocked.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so it's worth reflecting: is there any fear in my life that needs to go?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Where do I need to fan the flame?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, this past fall, we hosted a showing of the documentary Truth Rising, produced by the Colson Center and focus on the family.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the film highlights the decline of truth and the Christian worldview in the West and calls Christians to courageously lit out their faith publicly.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The film serves as a framework for the Colson Fellows program.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's just been turned into a study, and in fact, there's a few happening, and you can jump in on them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Several Christian leaders were highlighted in the film, one of whom was Katie Faust, the founder of Them Before Us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, some of you might remember that four years ago we hosted Katie for an underground sessions event before she became rather big time right now.
Pastor Bob Erbig: She's very a very compelling speaker and has a remarkable testimony.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But in the film, she documents how God challenged her to step out in faith, despite her fear, and speak for the rights of children.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Her thesis is this: all children have a natural right to their biological mother and father, and anything that violates this violates the natural right of a child.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So this led her to take some bold steps despite cultural pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in the film, she gives us a challenge.
Pastor Bob Erbig: She says this the lived-out Christian life is genuinely high risk.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But the problem is that too many Christians don't want to risk anything.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We want our faith to be personal and private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is that what God calls us to?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is that what Paul is saying to Timothy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, right now she is leading a new initiative called Greater Than, which means children's rights are greater than adults' desires.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The goal, one of the goals, is overturning the Obergefeld decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now that's rather bold.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It seems crazy, but many people thought Roe vs.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Wade wouldn't be overturned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so to speak up courageously like that, you need the power of God's spirit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Christians aren't cowards.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We are bold because the lion of the tribe of Judah is behind us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, another quote attributed to St.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Augustine captures our challenge.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The truth is like a lion.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You don't have to defend it, you just let it loose and it will defend itself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Again, no evidence that Augustine actually said that, but it preaches.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now the temptation to fear in Timothy's day was not irrational.
Pastor Bob Erbig: To understand why Paul has to say, don't be afraid, you have to understand what fear looked like in Timothy's world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Emperor Nero declared Christians enemies of the state.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That was not abstract.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Nero had Christians lit on fire to illustrate what would happen.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He would put them on stakes as they were on fire in his garden for parties.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He had believers sewn into animal skins and then thrown to the dogs and lions in the arena.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He crucified them along the Appian way in public spectacle.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, the Roman historian Tacitus, no friend of Christians, called it a display of savage cruelty.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that was the empire that Timothy was living in.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's what was happening when Paul writes this letter to be publicly identified as a follower of Jesus Christ was not merely socially awkward.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was potentially a death sentence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So when Paul says, fan the flame, don't be ashamed, he's not offering a motivational slogan.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's asking Timothy to do something genuinely dangerous.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The temptation to keep faith private wasn't weakness, it was survival instinct.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And Paul says, fan the flame anyway.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what would you have done if you were Timothy?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would the fear or temptation grip your heart?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or would you have leaned into God's spirit?
Pastor Bob Erbig: A spirit, he says, of power and love and self-control.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Power is the dynamic, explosive capacity from God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The word behind this is where we get our English word dynamite.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When a hostile colleague challenges your faith in a meeting, this power is what enables you to answer with clarity rather than shrinking.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You draw on God's power, not your own eloquence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, Amy Huber was telling me the other day that she was speaking with Mark Schaaf from Walk Through the Bible, and he's got contacts in Iran, and the church is exploding there despite what's happening.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's the power of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Unconditional, others-directed love.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The spiritual power Paul describes is never self-serving.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That when the cultural pushback comes, when we are labeled a bigot for what we believe, this love keeps you engaged with people rather than retreating from them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You speak truth, but you speak it for their sake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So imagine Timothy doing this for his persecutors.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then finally, self-control.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That disciplined steadiness, a sober, sound mind.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When the internet is on fire and everyone around you is reacting with outrage, Christians do not.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They speak with measured courage rather than heated emotion.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when the winds blow, Christians stand.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So ask yourself, church, is there a place in my life where fear, where moral cowardice has settled in?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Where have I gone silent when I should have spoken?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Where do I need to fan the flame?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because when our faith costs us, Paul tells us that is what we should do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fan the flame of the dying embers in your heart.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a constant battle.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But when we do, it enables us to live out point number two shun the shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fan the flame, shun the shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now I'm going for the memorable alliteration here, but just so we're clear, uh, the definition of shun is to avoid using, accepting, engaging in, or partaking of.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In other words, you gotta stay away from shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, this is not an easy task in today's world because we live in a cancel culture moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That people will shame you on the internet more quickly than they'll shame you in person.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There are several stories of people being shamed or shunned in the Truth Rising film.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's not terribly different from Paul and Timothy's time.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The Greco-Roman world was what sociologists called an honor and shame culture.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In Roman society, it was all about what?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Strength and honor, right?
Pastor Bob Erbig: You've seen Gladiator.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Shame was something to be avoided.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Historian John Dixon says this in his book, Humilitas.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Much of public life revolved around ensuring you and your family received public honor and avoided public shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in Nero's Rome, the ultimate public shame was confessing Jesus before a watching world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what is the honor-shame code of today?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are there labels we want to avoid?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Believing what Scripture says about modern-day issues might get you called a homophobe or an anti-abortion advocate or even a Christian nationalist.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, those might not be fair, but in our current discussion, they are meant to bring public shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But Christians must not be ashamed of their testimony.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And it's striking now that Paul uses the Greek word for ashamed in his argument.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He uses this word three times to make his argument.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's the backbone of the rest of the section.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at verse 8.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He writes, Therefore, first, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not ashamed is the beating heart of this section.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Author Alfred Garvey comments that not ashamed for Paul was not mere emotional resilience, but assurance that his trust in God will ultimately vindicate him rather than leave him disillusioned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So first, Paul encourages Timothy not to be ashamed about his testimony for Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's true of every Christian's witness, but church, you have to ask, are you ashamed to mention the name of Jesus to others?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you go to work and no one knows you have faith in the Lord?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if so, maybe ask why.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As Christians, we should want to tell people about all the Lord has done in our lives and make a public profession.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of him or his suffering.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that point is also applicable for us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Has there ever been a time when someone you knew stood up for the Lord and you made sure to let people know you had nothing to do with them?
Pastor Bob Erbig: When the suffering comes, you will find out who your true friends are and who really loves Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul is calling Timothy to be a co-sufferer with him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul will also give examples later of people who walked away from him, and those who stood by his side even searched for him in prison at great personal risk.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because to be a Christian is to be an outsider in this world, and we will only have the strength to suffer by God's power.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But the gospel is worth that pushback.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so now Paul launches into a long and beautiful explanation of the riches of the gospel message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And as we read, I want you to ask yourself: is this gift worth suffering for?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Is it worth shunning the world, the shunning, shunning the shame the world throws at us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul writes that Jesus is the one who saved us and called us to a holy calling.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher, and apostle, and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, do you see what he just wrote?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Sit and savor those words for a moment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's meditate on them.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We don't do that enough.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Friends, we will have no motivation to fan the flame or shun the shame if you do not believe in Jesus' fame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's what Paul's saying here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is powerful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have to be clear on the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So let's break it down.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, he says Jesus saved us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That Jesus Christ loved you so much, he left his place in heaven and came to earth on a rescue mission.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Speaking of cost.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Your salvation cost Jesus his life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Speaking of shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Picture hanging naked on a tree while people mock you and spit upon you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Jesus shunned the shame.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, Jesus called us to salvation through the power of his spirit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He reached out, he grabbed your dead heart, and he infused spiritual life into it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That dunamis, the power of the spirit, comes through, courses through your heart because Jesus called you, he awakened you, he made you alive.
Pastor Bob Erbig: John Scott captures this magnificently when he writes this in his commentary.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Salvation is a majestic word, denoting the comprehensive purpose of God by which he justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies his people.
Pastor Bob Erbig: First, he pardons our offenses and accepts us as righteous in his sight through Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Then he progressively transforms us by his spirit into the image of his son until finally we become like Christ in heaven with new bodies and a new world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The broad scope, magnificence of salvation, friends.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's good news.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How does he do that?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He does it by grace.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Note that Paul specifically says our works have nothing to do with this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: God saves us because of his own purpose and grace.
Pastor Bob Erbig: His unmerited favor rests on us because of Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I want to emphasize that important point because too many Christians, maybe some even here today, still instinctively believe that our works have something to do with our salvation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We can still think, I gotta be a good person.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I gotta get that done for Jesus to love me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the reason we have so much fear in our lives is because we don't think that Jesus is enough.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We're trusting in the other saviors of money or acceptance or romance or power, people pleasing.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But when God saves us by grace, nothing else matters, and there's nothing that God cannot ask of us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He owns it all.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So, fourth, this idea, this was God's idea from the beginning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Before the ages began, he knew your name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He knew he was going to call you to himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And now Jesus Christ, the Savior, has come to earth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And what did he do?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He abolished death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That is a powerful word.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He abolished death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Death has no power.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We spoke about that a few weeks ago.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then he brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Death is dead, but everlasting life is here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Easter's coming.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now it's worth noting that humans, in and of themselves, are not immortal.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Only God possesses immortality, but it's through the gospel that Jesus shares that immortality through our resurrection bodies.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then finally, this is why Paul preaches.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is why he suffers.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is why he can shun the shame of the world because Jesus is enough.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do you believe that, church?
Pastor Bob Erbig: When you do, you can shun whatever shame is thrown at you, even if it costs you everything.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, Paul emphasizes this in verse 12.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He continues.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Secondly, again, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he's able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Guard the good, deposit, and trusted to you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, why is Paul not ashamed?
Pastor Bob Erbig: I know whom I have believed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or a better translation would be, I know whom I have trusted, whom I have trusted with my life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then he uses the interesting phrase, he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, what is this is speaking of Jesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What is Jesus guarding?
Pastor Bob Erbig: The very gospel message itself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: That Paul's trust is fully in Jesus, that even if Paul dies, Jesus will raise up more preachers to tell the world the message of salvation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so Paul can face his death bravely and with confidence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But then there's the flip side.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul turns to Timothy and says, You also have to guard the good deposit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: By the power of the Holy Spirit, Timothy must guard the message and keep it pure.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so Paul is saying to him, listen, the Roman world will try to shame you, Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It will tempt you to compromise the gospel message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It will make you comfortable with its wealth and try to distract you from the truth.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And if you don't follow the pattern of this world, they will try to cancel you and shame you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he says, Timothy, don't fall for it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Even if they try to kill you, don't fall for it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: By the power of the Holy Spirit, guard the good deposit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So, MBC, how about us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are we willing to shun the shame to guard the deposit entrusted to us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now it's very easy to say, well, Pastor Bob and Pastor Dave, they can do the guarding, and I'm just along for the ride.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'll give the money so they can do the work.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now we do take preaching seriously, but God has called the church to keep proper doctrine.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have to tell people about the gospel message, and we have to ensure it is the true message.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that may require shunning the shame of the world.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But don't worry, we're in good company from church history.
Pastor Bob Erbig: In fact, let me tell you a story.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Very famous one, you might know it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It was around A.D.
Pastor Bob Erbig: 155 when the Roman proconsul had Polycarp, the age bishop of Smyrna, and disciple of the Apostle John, dragged into the Roman arena.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The crowd was bloodthirsty.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the official gave him a way out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He said, Swear by Caesar, curse the name of Christ, save yourself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now Polycarp's answer very famously has echoed through 20 centuries.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He said, 86 years.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Imagine being in the arena at 86.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I've served him.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he has done me no wrong.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How can I blaspheme my king who saved me?
Pastor Bob Erbig: And the crowd erupted.
Pastor Bob Erbig: They screamed the Roman slur they loved to hurl at Christians.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Away with the atheists.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because Christians refused to worship the gods of Rome.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in their world, if you wouldn't bow down to Caesar's pantheon, you were the godless one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then Polycarp did something rather stunning.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He turned.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He looked out over this roaring pagan mob, the magistrates, the idol worshippers, the Caesar fearers, and with a sweep of his hand toward them, he said it right back.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Away with the atheists.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And he wasn't returning insult for insult.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He was making a theological declaration that you are the ones who do not know God.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I stand in the presence of the living Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The shame you are heaping upon me, I refuse it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It belongs to you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And they burned him at the stake.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now the world still plays this game.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It still calls faithfulness foolishness, holiness, bigotry, and the gospel an embarrassment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It still wants you to feel the heat of social pressure and recant.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Quietly, politely, just tone it down enough to survive.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul's word to Timothy is God's word to us.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do not be ashamed.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Guard the good deposit.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Hold to the pattern of sound words.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not because it's easy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul wrote this again from a Roman prison, but because the one you serve is not ashamed of you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He has saved you, he has called you with a holy calling.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He's abolished death itself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And when the world says, away with the faithful, you know how the faithful should answer.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How will you respond when your faith costs you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fan the flame, and it may need to be rekindled.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Shun the shame, because the world will throw shade on the Christians.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Jesus promised this.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But finally, and for the sake of your ministry and the world around you, break the chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, during your quiet time with the Lord this week, I would encourage you to take a heart inventory and ask: are there any areas of my life where I need to shun the shame of the world?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do I need to fan the flame of my heart?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Say, Lord, help me live for you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Set me on fire so the world can watch me burn with passion for you.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because if I love this world too much, loosen its grip, break the chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, before we read this final section, let me just explain what I mean by breaking the chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you go back to verse 7, Paul said, God did not give us a spirit of fear, of moral cowardice.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that word pictures something that wraps itself around our hearts and holds it in place.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fear is a chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It looks dramatically, it rarely looks dramatic.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Most of the time it looks like silence.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It looks like changing the subject.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It looks like Figellus and Hermogenes, who knew Paul was in prison and simply didn't show up.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The chain of fear doesn't announce itself, it just keeps you from moving.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But by the Spirit of God is stronger than any chain fear can forge.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And in this final section, Paul gives us two portraits to show us what breaking it looks like and what it looks like when you don't.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As we read, ask yourself, which would it be, which would I be?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Here's portrait number one.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phigellus and Hermogenes.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We don't know much about Phigellus and Hermogenes, but when Scripture mentions your name, it's intentional.
Pastor Bob Erbig: There's a lot of times that people don't get names in Scriptures.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So it's not a good thing that they're called out here.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And sadly, the world's chain must have been around their hearts to some extent.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This is a painful admission that Paul is making to Timothy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Turned away from me can be translated as deserted me, a decisive rejection.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This would have included many of Paul's close friends from Ephesus, where he spent three years.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This likely means these believers did not stand with him during his trials or imprisonment at the end of his life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not necessarily that they abandoned the gospel itself, but equally painful.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, here at MBC, we believe in team ministry.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We have a team of elders, we have a pastoral leadership team.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'm thankful for Pastor Dave, who's a strong partner in ministry in our elder team here at NBC.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'm thankful for our staff who give countless hours advancing the gospel.
Pastor Bob Erbig: I'm thankful for faithful leaders who make our church what it is.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now imagine that if one day the state were to come after me for preaching the gospel and I was put on trial and thrown in prison, and nobody stood by me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How painful would that be?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Because that's what Paul's talking about.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so now he offers a second positive portrait.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Look at verse 16.
Pastor Bob Erbig: May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Oneciphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Onesiphorus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Now, for those in the audience saying, I'm glad I'm not in professional ministry, Onesiporus is a layman, not a pastor, not an elder, he's just a member of the church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What does he do for Paul?
Pastor Bob Erbig: He refreshed Paul, a word that carries the idea of bringing cool water to someone in the heat.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He was not ashamed of Paul's chains.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He sat with him, he stood by him, he seeks him out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He breaks the chain of fear at great personal risk to himself.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And Paul says that he searched earnestly, which means that there was a zeal, a determination to his efforts.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So seeking out Paul in this prison was a rather courageous move.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The association could have cost him his life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He shows courage in the face of fear.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And so Paul ends chapter one with these words in verse 18.
Pastor Bob Erbig: May the Lord grant him, Onephorus, to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: On that day refers to the future day of judgment.
Pastor Bob Erbig: When Onecephorus stands before the Lord Jesus, may his mercy run deep for the courage he had for the faith.
Pastor Bob Erbig: For 175 years, Millington Baptist Church has been built by people like Onephorus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Not primarily famous people or formal clergy, but laymen and women who refused to let fear chain them, who showed up for their brothers and sisters, guarded the deposit, and kept the flame burning when the culture told them to put it out.
Pastor Bob Erbig: So the question for us today, church, is what is God calling us to do this week?
Pastor Bob Erbig: What has 2 Timothy chapter 1 taught us?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Well, let me come back to that motto from the Colson Center.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Faith is always personal, but never private.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And I pray that you have given your life to Jesus, and if not, I'd love to talk with you today about that.
Pastor Bob Erbig: But let's assume that most of us in this room have given our life to Jesus and it is personal.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Where does your faith need to become public this week?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe it's the dinner table.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And that's where faith is forged first.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Remember, Lois and Eunice, we learned about last week, they passed the faith to Timothy around a table.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Your household is the most important place your faith becomes public.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are your children hearing from you about Jesus?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are they watching you walk in courageous faith?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do not outsource formation of your household to the church alone.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Second, the workplace.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Are there HR policies silencing you from or your colleague of faith?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Be an onesifist, be a co-sufferer.
Pastor Bob Erbig: You are not alone, and neither are they.
Pastor Bob Erbig: The classroom.
Pastor Bob Erbig: If you're a college student or a high school student, following Jesus is increasingly countercultural on campus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It may cost you a grade or a relationship.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Maybe you need to learn to defend what you believe.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Do not shrink from it.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And then, of course, the public square.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Would anyone observing your life, your community involvement, your public speech, your social media activity, your public presence, would they know you're a person shaped by Christ?
Pastor Bob Erbig: That's not a question about argumentation or provocation.
Pastor Bob Erbig: It's a question about witness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: This week, don't let your faith just be personal, make it public.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Like Timothy, guard the good deposit entrusted to you by the power of the Spirit and for God's glory.
Pastor Bob Erbig: How will you respond when your faith costs you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Fan the flame, shun the shame, and break the chain.
Pastor Bob Erbig: As the worship team comes, let me read verse 18 once more.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Paul writes, May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And you know well all the service he rendered at Ephesus.
Pastor Bob Erbig: One day every person in this room will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bob Erbig: He will look back over the whole course of your life.
Pastor Bob Erbig: What will he see?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Will he see people who guarded the good deposit, who fanned the flame when the culture tried to smother it, who shunned the shame the world threw at them, who broke their chains of fear and sought out the suffering?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Or will he see people who kept their faith private, who were afraid of the pushback, and who chose comfort over the chain of faithfulness?
Pastor Bob Erbig: For 175 years, the church here has been filled with onesiphoreses.
Pastor Bob Erbig: People who stood for biblical truth and the hope of the gospel unashamed, not because the cost was low, but because they trusted the one who abolished death.
Pastor Bob Erbig: May we continue that faithfulness.
Pastor Bob Erbig: May we carry with clarity and courage the deposit entrusted to us until that day, with clarity in our minds, with confidence in our souls, and with courage for faithful living.
Pastor Bob Erbig: And on that day, Jesus will say, Well done.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Let's pray.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Heavenly Father, I thank you for your faithful servants here at Millington Baptist Church.
Pastor Bob Erbig: We thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, would you give us courage this week to be public, to speak about you, to clearly share the gospel, Lord God, to live a life in accordance with your call and your standards, and that people would look at us and ask, what why is there hope in you?
Pastor Bob Erbig: Lord, would you would you set us on fire so that people would see us burn with passion for you, Lord Jesus?
Pastor Bob Erbig: We ask that in your name.
Pastor Bob Erbig: Amen.