WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.959 Hello everyone, I'm Dr. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:01.679 Steve Holt. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.799 I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.280 Each week we go into God's Word. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.240 We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:15.599 We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:21.280 So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.960 Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:37.039 So uh we're continuing our series called The Way of the Steadfast this morning, and we're kicking off Second Timothy. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:39.840 So Paul's second letter to Timothy. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.600 You can grab your Bible or a Bible in front of you, turn to 2 Timothy 1. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:48.240 I'm gonna give us an introduction and a setting of this letter. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.119 Um in this in this first chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul is gonna give five commissions to Timothy. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:59.200 So I'm calling this message five commissions for steadfast leadership. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:04.400 Uh we know from Pastor Marcus a couple weeks ago that 2 Timothy is one of three pastoral epistles. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.200 So we have 1st and 2 Timothy as well as Titus. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.439 These were all pastors, and the both these guys were pastors in the first century. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:21.599 And Paul wrote these letters as their spiritual father, endeavoring to give them wisdom, doctrine, help them navigate what it looks like to pastor the church or a group of believers. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:26.400 And between last week and this week, we're fast-forwarding about five or six years. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.480 So from the first letter that he wrote to Timothy to now, a lot has happened in his life and also in the life of the church. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:41.359 So most likely he wrote this final letter in around 67 AD. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:43.840 This is the last thing that Paul will write. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.560 And that's very significant to me. 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:57.040 And he's writing from a prison in Rome, and that prison is uh it's a Mamertine prison known as the Carcertulianum. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:12.479 It's located in the Roman Forum, and it was originally made as like a cistern for water, so it's just a big hole in the ground, and Paul is down in there, and they this is where they would keep high-profile prisoners that were on death row or awaiting trial. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.800 So Paul is a high-profile prisoner. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.560 He's like public enemy number one according to Rome. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:24.400 And um he's actually going to be executed later this year, most likely. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:31.840 So Eusebius wrote in his in Chronicles that Nero executed Paul in the 14th year of his reign over Rome. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.479 So that was in 67 AD, likely around the same time that Paul wrote this letter. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:40.159 He's going to be poured out as a drink offering. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:45.360 He says this in chapter 4, verse 6, and the time of his departure is at hand. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:50.159 So Paul's acknowledging I'm about to graduate from earthly ministry to heavenly ministry. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:52.879 And uh Nero's gonna chop his head off. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:54.560 Pretty crazy. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:03:02.560 And he's writing this as a man on death row, as public enemy number one, as a high-profile prisoner. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:07.599 And a few years before this letter in 64 AD, Rome burned. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:18.240 So Tacitus, who was a first century Roman historian and politician, wrote that Nero set fire to Rome because he wanted to do this renovation project for ancient Rome. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:23.599 He had this vision in his mind, we're gonna rebuild this area and we're gonna revamp this area. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:27.280 And he presented it to the Senate, and the Senate said, no, that's gonna cost too much money. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.000 So Nero, being the psychopath that he was, he hired somebody, most likely hired somebody. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:36.080 People say he did it, I doubt he did it himself, to burn Rome to the ground. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:41.039 And ten of the 14 precincts of ancient Rome burned to the ground in 64 AD. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:50.240 And then it was a win-win for Nero because he got to do his renovation project, but he also got to blame that terrorism on the Christians. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:59.360 So from 64 AD on, we see intense, and I mean intense, persecution of believers. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.240 And this is thrilling to Nero. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:09.680 Nero enjoyed dipping Christians in oil and setting them on fire and using them as torches for his garden at night. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.319 So this is the guy we're talking about. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:25.920 This is the guy ruling the world during this time, and Paul is in prison, about to be executed by him, and he's writing this letter to Timothy from Carcertulianum. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:35.519 Most people would agree that this is Paul's second imprisonment in Rome, but in the book of Acts, we end at his first imprisonment. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.079 So Luke finished the book of Acts with Paul being imprisoned the first time in Rome. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:54.399 Most likely he was released and then re-incarcerated later, probably from Troas, because later in this book he's going to ask Timothy to bring him a cloak that he left in Troas, which also tells us about the conditions of his imprisonment. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.959 Rome didn't really care about their prisoners. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.160 They were totally fine with people freezing to death. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.160 They were totally fine with people being naked. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:10.000 Paul is chained up at the bottom of a cistern, a hole in the ground with bars over the top, and he's freezing. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:16.959 And they didn't feed their prisoners then either, unless they absolutely had to, but rarely would they do that. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:20.000 And Paul, I'm sure, is used to starving. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:22.639 He's used to fasting, he's used to going without food. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:27.839 And he's telling Timothy, hey, I want you to come and visit me if you're brave enough. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.839 And I want you to bring my coat, because I'm really cold, and I want you to bring my letters, my writings. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:43.120 So even at the end of his life, the dude loved Scripture and was longing to study Scripture and study his writings, study some scrolls. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:44.560 Pretty amazing stuff. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:52.000 So if you knew you were about to die, what would be the last things you would write to your closest spiritual son? 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:59.199 And this is the letter that Paul writes at the height of his spiritual maturity and the height of his revelation. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.759 You know, he's not going to get smarter than this. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.480 He's not going to know more about God than this until he graduates up to heaven. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:12.879 He's sharing it with his dearest spiritual son from a cold, damp prison impending his martyrdom. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:18.160 And this is the final counsel of the man of God on death row who has done all to stand. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:23.920 Remember, he he said in Ephesians 6, stand, having done all to stand, stand therefore. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:28.560 And he's doing that at the bottom of a cistern prison in chains. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.240 And his chains right now are his only companions. 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:35.839 So we're going to read these first seven verses. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:37.839 I want to pray before we do. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:44.879 Father, I ask you to breathe on this scripture today and make it fresh for us. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:46.079 Apply it to our lives. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:47.199 Speak to our hearts. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:48.720 God, bring conviction. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.439 God, bring encouragement and exhortation. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.639 God, bring comfort in this season that we're in. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.639 Some challenging for others. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.000 It's a great time. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.920 God, would you meet us where we're at? 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:06.720 Would you help me not to speak anything out of turn that's dishonoring or heretical? 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:08.399 Help me not to say anything stupid. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:09.759 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:11.519 Amen. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:14.959 So 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 1 through 7. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:17.040 You can read with me in your Bible. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:27.040 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, a beloved son. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.879 Grace and mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:43.920 It's one of my favorite things. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.519 So the first thing that I wanted to talk about is this word apostle. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:52.160 I haven't heard this taught in detail since I've been here, so I just wanted to highlight this. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:53.839 It's really encouraging to me. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.920 The word apostle was a Greek term. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.680 It's apostolos. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:02.879 And there's three historical meanings for the Greek term apostolos. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:12.639 So anybody that heard that word that was in ancient Rome would have completely understood it because it was coined a few years, a few hundred years before the life of Christ. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:19.439 And the first historical meaning is it was the name of an admiral of a specific fleet of ships. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:27.600 And this fleet of ships would go to conquered but uncolonized provinces of ancient Rome. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:29.519 So they had this fleet of ships. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.879 The admiral of that fleet of ships was known as the Apostolos. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:38.559 And who was on these fleet of ships were language teachers, architects, road builders. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:48.320 There were people that could come in to an uncolonized region and bring the knowledge and culture of Rome until it looked like Rome. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:56.399 So they would build roads, they would change the architecture, they would teach people Greek so that they would be like Roman citizens. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:02.000 So they were taking conquered barbarians and making them into Romans. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.320 That was what an apostolos did. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.639 And then after a few years, once they did their job, they'd pack everything back on the ships and they would go to the next uncolonized land. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.919 And that's what an apostle is supposed to be doing as well. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:27.519 So someone that is an apostle, like Paul or the other writers of Scripture, or the other disciples, or even people like in Romans 16, it talks about Junius being a female apostle and some other people being apostles. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:33.600 Those apostles would come in to an area and they would bring the culture of the kingdom. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:35.519 See what I mean? 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:47.360 So they're coming in as apostolos, bringing the architecture of heaven, bringing the language of the kingdom, bringing the culture of Christ. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:56.559 And their job was to make a conquered land look so much like Rome so that if the emperor ever visited, he felt at home. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:02.559 And that's really what we're doing as Christians is we're colonizing in a kingdom sense. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.879 Don't read the negative sense of that word. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:12.480 I know that's a negative word for a lot of people nowadays, but we're taking the culture of Christ, the culture of heaven, the culture of the kingdom. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:22.639 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, so that when Jesus comes, he feels like he's going from one heaven to another. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:32.159 And I think that that's actually going to happen at one point in the second coming of Christ, but it also can happen now in our churches, in our regions. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.679 What would it look like if Colorado Springs looked just like heaven? 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:46.320 I believe that the presence and the nature and the character of Christ would come in and saturate this region and we would see the culture of heaven before our eyes. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.039 I believe it's available for the road church. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.039 We can be an apostolic people. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:53.120 Okay, I gotta keep going. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.759 The second historical meaning was a passport. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.639 Apostolos was the name for a passport in ancient Rome. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:03.360 So if you wanted to travel from one region to another region, you needed an apostolos. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:09.039 And in the same way, an apostle or an apostolic group of people, we can be an apostolic church. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.919 Remember the five-fold ministry in Ephesians 4? 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:19.440 One of those offices is the apostle, and his job is to equip the saints for the work of apostolic ministry. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.679 So an apostle makes people apostolic. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:23.759 So we're called to be apostolic. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.919 And we can be like a passport for people in Colorado Springs. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:40.720 Remember, Paul wrote in Corinthians about the ministry of the unveiled face, where we come up to people that have veils over their eyes to the gospel, but when they come to us, the veil is taken away so that they can see clearly. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.440 And we can be apostolic to this region. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:48.159 We can do more than preach the gospel as in the saving knowledge of Christ. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.039 We can also preach the culture of the gospel. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.559 We can also shift the way that we see things. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.679 This is a message for Colorado right now, you guys. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:21.600 Our state is looking less and less kingdom because of our legislation, but we as an apostolic people, through our neighbors, through people that we meet, through our friends, through our soon-to-be friends, we can bring the kingdom and the culture of the kingdom and be like a passport that takes people into the kingdom realm, even though they don't have one of their own. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.000 It's interesting that we belong usually before we fully believe. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:35.440 And unbelievers should begin to feel at home around us so that we can function like a passport in their life into revelation. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:42.639 And an apostle even brings Christians into deeper and higher levels of scriptural revelation. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.080 You've probably experienced this. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:54.960 You can tell when somebody has an apostolic call on their life because you're sitting to them, sitting under their teaching, and then something you were trying to figure out all week suddenly makes sense to you. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.759 And it has nothing to do with what they're talking about. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.519 That's the spirit of revelation. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:03.440 It rests on apostolic teachers, it rests on apostolic people. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.080 There's some people you feel smarter around. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:11.600 You're like, man, stuff just makes sense when I talk to this person, and they're not even explaining anything to me. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.320 I just come away from conversations with them, and I'm like, oh, that all makes sense now. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:17.440 That's apostolic. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.919 And the third historical meaning of apostolos was an envoy or an ambassador. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.879 You know, a representative, emissary, messenger, agent. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.519 I think we're all familiar with that. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:33.519 So an apostle was like an admiral, one leading a team to colonize unbelievers and to bring the kingdom of God. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.039 He was like a passport who could take places, people, places spiritually. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.159 You couldn't go on your own. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.360 And he was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:48.159 And Paul says, this is by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:54.320 So it's not by his will, it's not by his own ambition, it's not by the will of man, it's by the will of God that he's called as an apostle. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.080 And it's according to the promise of life. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.600 He never writes the phrase the promise of life in any of his other letters. 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:05.840 So it's interesting to me that coming from a pen of a man who knows he's dying, he's holding on to the promise of life. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:07.200 It's pretty amazing. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:12.639 It's pretty amazing what faith does when you're staring death in the face and you call it the promise of life. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.639 That's incredible. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:16.159 God help us. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:21.919 Because our promise of life is the same as his, and it's also in Christ Jesus. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:22.720 Right? 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:29.519 He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 When this corruptible has put on incorruption, this mortal is put on immortality, it shall be brought to pass. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.960 The saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:34.480 O death, where is your sting? 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.080 O Hades, where is your victory? 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:41.120 This same apostle wrote to the Philippians, To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.200 This isn't something new for him. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.120 He's been preaching this for a while. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.960 He longs to go home and see Christ. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:54.960 Verse 2, to Timothy, a beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.600 Paul is not Timothy's biological father. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.279 He calls him a son in the faith in 1 Timothy 1, verse 2. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:08.960 It's good to have spiritual fathers and mothers, and it's good to be a spiritual father or mother. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:10.639 We should all be striving to do that. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:16.159 I don't care if you're 18, you can be mentoring someone else, you can be pouring into someone else. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.480 Ultimately, God is our father, right? 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.360 Jesus said, call no one your father, call no one your teacher, because God is your father and teacher. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:27.440 But he created us and designed us to need one another. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:28.000 Right? 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:32.000 In Ephesians 4, he said that we're joints of supply. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.799 Ephesians 4, 16, to one another. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:46.799 So we shouldn't be independent from one another, but we should be seeking out spiritual fathering, spiritual mothering, and we should be seeking to be spiritual fathers and mothers. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:49.759 This is a good thing, and it's something that Paul operated in. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:51.759 Verse 3, I thank God. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.840 It's a different kind of faith that keeps a prisoner on death row thankful. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:02.399 We can see from the context, he's primarily thankful for Timothy, his relationship. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:17.360 In fact, he wrote to the Philippians in chapter Philippians 2 19, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state, for I have no one like-minded who will care for your state. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:27.600 So of all the people Paul could send, and I'm sure he had a lot of people that he could send when he wrote Philippians, he said, There's only one person that's like me. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.360 There's only one person that's going to love you well, and that's Timothy. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.879 So Paul's opinion of Timothy is extremely high. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.799 And uh that's very significant to me. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.840 I want to be one that the Lord Jesus can entrust people to. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:35.119 See, when you if you're looking for the Father, you just need to close the door. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.279 Just need to get everybody out of the room and close the door, and you'll find the Father. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:40.240 That's where He lives. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.000 That's where He longs to meet you. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:45.599 As without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.119 Paul was a praying man. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:52.240 He often emphasized the importance of night and day praying, which just means continually. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.559 It at least means twice a day, right? 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:55.519 Night, day. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.920 But I think it probably means more than that. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:17:58.960 It's amazing. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.480 You throw a man of God in prison and he'll thank you for the prayer closet. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:15.039 He's like, wow, this is a really cold prayer closet, but hey, I'm glad I have these chains to keep me company while I pray in tongues more than you all. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:20.240 Verse 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:22.559 So Paul, like any of us, gets joy from family. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.960 It's obvious that he sees Timothy as family. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:31.359 Who knows what Timothy's tears were about, but Paul met him when he was about 15 years old. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:35.119 We can read about that in Acts 16, Acts chapter 16. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:41.759 But most likely, uh these tears were the last time he watched Paul leave. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.880 And uh it's not supposed to be easy to leave. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.960 That's really significant to me. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.799 If it's hard to leave, that's good. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.039 What's not good is being able to go, ah, I don't really like this church anymore, I'm just gonna go to a different one. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.599 It shouldn't be easy to do that. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:04.559 It shouldn't be easy to switch cities, switch churches, switch friend groups. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.440 It's supposed to be really hard to do that. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.519 That's how you know you're loving people well. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:17.200 If it's hard for you to let go of people, if it's hard for you to transition, if it's hard for you to move on, you know. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.240 Uh almost four years ago I came on staff at this church. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.599 Before that, I was at the same church in Pueblo since 2011. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:31.200 You know, they they mentored me, they pastored me, they walked me through really hard seasons, and then they made me a worship leader, and I went from that church to this church. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:33.599 That was really hard for me to do. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.119 I also left a teaching career to go into ministry. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.559 That was really hard for me to do, and I cried a lot. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:46.000 And uh I was really excited, I knew God was sending me, but it was still really hard. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:55.279 And you can ask Pastor Steve, it was probably a little frustrating for him and Pastor Ryan because I kept going, Oh, I don't know, I've I feel like I probably need to do another year. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.079 And they're like, dude, what is going on? 00:19:58.240 --> 00:19:59.119 It was hard. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:04.880 It was hard for me to leave those people because they loved me and I loved them, and that's the way it's supposed to be. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:08.720 So if it's not that way, change something. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:19.680 Verse 5, I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:22.640 So, like I said, Paul met Timothy when he was 15. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:31.440 Timothy's mother and grandmother were both Jewish, and uh Jewish heritage has passed through the maternal side, so that makes Timothy a Jew as well. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:37.119 But uh he wasn't really the traditional Jew because his dad was a non-believing Greek. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:45.680 And it was actually Paul who circumcised Timothy in his teenage years so that he would be more acceptable to Jewish people. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.559 It really gives you a different view of being all things to all people, right? 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:53.839 Timothy's like, you want to do what, Paul? 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:55.440 What's going on here? 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.319 Anyway, I better move on before I get in trouble. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.680 But Paul really stepped in as his dad. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.960 Paul came and found this young 15-year-old gung-ho Christian. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:10.640 His mom and his grandma came to faith because of Paul's preaching. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:15.039 So they were Jews, but they became Messianic Jews because of Paul's teaching. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:20.720 And then it says that their genuine faith became Timothy's inheritance. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.400 So don't underestimate the power of a praying mom. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.079 Don't underestimate the power of a praying grandma. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:32.960 Don't underestimate the power of training up your kids at home. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:45.759 Because we hear about Lois and Eunice, not because they performed signs and wonders, not because they preached a good word, not because they did some huge cultural reform, but because they raised Timothy with faith. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.160 That's a big inheritance. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.359 And they're immortalized in Scripture. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.440 They're known because they were good moms. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:22:05.519 Being a good mom is really important for the Man of God on death row to remind himself of two women's faith. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:07.599 That is significant to me. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:09.279 So hug your mom. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.880 I love he says call to remembrance. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:18.720 That is one Greek word, and it literally means to actively bring to mind and mention out loud. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.279 So Paul is in the bottom of this pit. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:24.160 It's cold, it's damp, he's shivering. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:27.200 He's gonna ask Timothy to bring his cloak later in the letter. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.319 That's how cold it is. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:41.279 And he's chained to the floor, probably, or to the wall, and he is actively bringing Timothy to mind night and day and mentioning him out loud. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.920 Boy, I'd love to be on Paul's prayer list. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.240 That is intercession right there. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:54.559 And uh it's it's an important thing for us to do, and Paul is gonna remind Timothy what he needs to call to remembrance in his own life. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:55.359 Verse 6. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:03.680 Therefore I remind you, he says, I call to remembrance, so now I'm reminding you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:11.359 So there's five commissions that Paul specifically gives to Timothy in this chapter, and the first one is this to stir up the gift of God. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:20.400 He's referring to Timothy's ordination when Paul laid hands on him, and through the ministry of impartation, he imparted the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:29.599 This is the same kind of thing that happened to the early church where Jesus said, Wait in Jerusalem, for you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:30.720 Acts 1.8. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.279 This is what Paul is talking about. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.200 He's exhorting him, stir up the gift of God. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:41.759 And this isn't a stirring up like stirring in a sauce tea or pasta. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.319 This is like stirring up a fire. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:51.759 And it means to stir up, to kindle, to blow upon coals that have grown dormant. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.240 So Paul is saying all this great stuff. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.440 He says, you have genuine faith, but you're growing cold. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:01.680 Timothy, you, your mom, your grandma, you have genuine faith. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.680 But I remember when I laid hands on you and you were so on fire for God. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:13.359 And I want to remind you from my prison cell to stir up the fire. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.400 Stir up the gift of God. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.160 Don't let it grow cold. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.119 Get piping hot with the Holy Spirit. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:22.799 And we're gonna find out why. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:30.160 Verse 7 for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:44.720 Paul's reminding Timothy, he received the gift of the Holy Spirit who will enable him to push through the fear of death and embrace the soundness of mind that comes from the power and the love of the Holy Spirit. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.720 So this word for fear is delia in the Greek, it's not phobos. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:52.079 So this is the only time in the Bible that this word is used. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:25:01.039 So a lot of translations translate it as timidity to differentiate between phobos, which is phobia, you know, fear, perfect love casts out fear. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:09.680 This is the only time that Paul or any of the writers use this word, delia, and it means timidity, cowardice, or fearfulness. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:23.519 It's significant to me because the context of Paul's letter, in the next verse and later in this letter, you'll find that most of the church has abandoned him in his imprisonment and has become ashamed to be affiliated with him. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:28.720 And Paul doesn't want Timothy to fall into the fear, he wants him to be bold. 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:31.920 Don't be timid, Timothy. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:35.839 Be bold, be full of courage. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:36.640 How? 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.640 He's giving him three keys: power, love, and a sound mind. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.880 The word for power is dunamis, it's also the word for miracle, it's where we get dynamite from. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:46.960 It's the explosive power of God. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:52.480 It's the power that came upon the apostles at Pentecost, which by the way, today is Pentecost Sunday. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.480 Happy Pentecost. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:56.319 Yeehaw. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.759 I believe today God wants to pour his power out again. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:01.119 Amen. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:08.000 For those of us that have grown cold, for those of us that have grown timid, guys. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:15.039 I I've been reading this book over and over and just weeping because I relate so much to Timothy right now. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.119 I'm 31, I don't know what I'm doing. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:20.400 I have a music degree and I'm preaching the Bible to people. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:24.880 I look out here and I just see a sea of wisdom, and I'm supposed to teach you. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.839 I'm kind of scared of you, to be honest. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:33.759 You know? 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:43.920 But but the power of God is present to cause me to overcome fearfulness and timidity and to be bold. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:49.519 The second thing that's present to cause me to overcome timidity is love. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.720 You know, you'll do for love what you won't do for anything else. 00:26:52.880 --> 00:27:03.599 If I was on a skyscraper with a two-foot beam connecting to another skyscraper and you put a briefcase on the other side with a million dollars, I'm not walking across there even for a million dollars. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:04.799 I'm gonna die. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:08.799 But if you put my family over there and you say, if you don't get over there, I'm gonna push them off. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:10.640 I'm running across that beam. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.839 What you'll do for fear, you'll put your life at risk for love. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:20.319 That's why John wrote, perfect love casts out fear. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.960 And Paul is giving Timothy another key. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:26.720 If you can stir up love in your heart, this is agape love. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.240 That's the word here. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:32.240 It's selfless love, it's love that seeks others before yourself. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:36.559 It's the same love that God had when he endured the cross. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:40.480 That love will drive you to do things that you're scared to do. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.279 And that's what I feel in my heart toward you guys today. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:46.400 And I look out there and I see people that love me. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.400 And I see people that I love. 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:55.599 So it makes it a lot less scary to stand up here and talk, and I could put my foot in my mouth, and most of you would be like, ah, it's all right. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.359 We love you more for it anyway. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:58.240 You know? 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:03.359 Can make a fool out of myself, and you guys would just think I'm cool because there's love in your heart. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:04.880 And there's love in my heart. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.880 That's gonna carry us through very difficult times. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:14.079 Love will prevent us from folding to fear, offense, lust, and deception. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:19.519 And we'll be empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome those temptations. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:24.160 And the last thing he gives him as a key is a sound mind. 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:29.359 The word is sopranismos, which comes from the root words sozo and fren. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:35.519 Sozo is the root word of soteria, that's salvation, it's healing, it's deliverance, it's the finished work of the cross. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:39.519 When sozo impacts sickness, you get healed. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.960 When sozo impacts addictions, you get free. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:44.319 That's what sozo does. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:48.000 So sophrenismos is sozo-mindedness. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.279 Fren is a way of thinking, it's a thought process. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:29:04.559 So a sound mind, you could say, or disciplined mind or self-discipline, it actually comes from the understanding and experience of God's salvation impacting your thinking. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:12.400 And Timothy has this opportunity that Paul is reminding him of to put salvation in his mind. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:26.240 You might be scared to preach the gospel, Timothy, but remember the salvation, remember the work of the cross, and put that on your mind and watch yourself become cool, calm, collected, and unwavering. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.359 These are three keys for Timothy. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:32.559 And I love this verse in Revelation 12, 11. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:35.039 We usually quote two-thirds of it. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.200 I'm gonna quote all three parts. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:47.359 They overcame him, him being Satan, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death. 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:56.319 They loved Christ and the elect so much that the fear of death had no hold on them. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:03.200 And it's interesting, most of the places in the book of Revelation that use the word overcomer, they're talking about somebody who's martyred. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:09.599 And the word for testimony is also the word martyr, and the word for witness is also the word martyr. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:19.839 So it tells you that when you lay your life down, both figuratively and literally, because Paul's gonna do that, and Timothy's gonna follow in his footsteps later on in life. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.720 Timothy will also be killed for his faith. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:28.640 When you are martyred, it is the best witness and testimony of Christ you can offer. 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:31.279 The laying down of one's life. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:34.880 Like I said, it you don't have to necessarily die. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:37.440 We know what laying down our lives mean. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.720 That is the best witness we have. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:51.279 When you do what you don't want to do because God's asking you to do it, that grace that comes to empower us to do hard things. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:54.400 That's how we overcome. 00:30:55.200 --> 00:31:09.680 As a church, as believers, these three keys are gonna help Timothy out of cowardice, timidity, and fear by stirring up the fire of God through recalling his mighty acts, receiving prophetic words, receiving the impartation through laying out of hands. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:11.200 We're gonna do that today. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:20.240 We can walk out of timidity and into God's dunimous power, his agape love, his sozo-mindedness that causes us to overwhelmingly conquer, even to the point of death. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:21.440 I gotta get a move on. 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:22.960 Let's go to verse 8. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:29.359 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.240 This is Paul's second commission to Timothy in the first chapter. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.559 Do not be ashamed. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:39.519 Now we have a better view of what Paul has in mind as he's exhorting Timothy out of timidity. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:43.359 He's saying, You might be fearful and become ashamed of the gospel. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:49.359 He's later going to say that others are ashamed of his chains or ashamed of his imprisonment. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:57.039 But verse 8b, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:58.880 This is Paul's third commission. 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:02.160 Embrace suffering for the gospel. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.039 Paul's going to use the word suffering four times in this letter. 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:07.039 So it's a significant theme. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:08.880 It makes sense. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:15.839 Many in our culture have abandoned the inevitable, inevitable necessity of suffering and preaching the gospel. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:20.559 But here we read Paul encouraging his son in the faith to suffer with him. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:23.759 Suffer with me is one word in the Greek. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:29.279 So it's to see someone suffering and choose to engage in their suffering with him. 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:32.799 Paul is telling Timothy, come suffer. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:34.400 Come suffer with me. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:35.759 Come share in my suffering. 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.519