2 Timothy: Maintain Spiritual Courage

In this opening message from 2 Timothy 1:1–7, we explore the Apostle Paul's final recorded letter and his heartfelt encouragement to Timothy. Facing death and persecution, Paul urges his young protégé to maintain spiritual courage through prayer, appreciation, investment, and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. This message challenges believers to encourage others, honor those who have poured into their lives, and fan into flame the gifts God has given them.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Caribbean Grace Chapel Podcast, where we value the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of life transformation. If you have your Bible, I would encourage you to open it to 2 Timothy. We are beginning a new expository series out of 2 Timothy. One caveat before we begin. That would be this is an intensely personal letter from Paul to Timothy. You can tell the relationship that Paul and Timothy share here in these opening passages that we're going to deal with today. Paul was very vulnerable in this message, in this letter. And so I just want to tell you up front that there may be a couple of sermons in this series that'll probably take me 12 to get through the book of 2 Timothy. But there may be a couple of sermons that I'll be a little bit more vulnerable than I normally am in the pulpit. I normally don't uh like to use myself or my family as illustrations because you didn't come to hear about Jason Murphy, you came to hear about Jesus Christ. But at the same time, I think the best way to present this letter is to show the heart of a pastor every now and then. So hopefully that will come through in the series. So here you are in 2 Timothy. Every pastor, every church member come to the point of realization that they're not going to be here forever. And when that time comes, the only appropriate course of action is to prepare for your departure and to train the next generation to take the baton of leadership and lead for the future. In 2 Timothy, it is apparent that the Apostle Paul has come to the realization, or came to the realization, that he was not going to survive. He was not going to be around forever. And so he prepared for his departure. And he prepared to pass the baton of leadership to Timothy for him to lead the church in the future. Now, by way of background, let's kind of set the stage for what's happening in 2 Timothy. The Apostle Paul had been arrested by Rome once before. But he was released from his first Roman imprisonment, and he continued on in his missionary journeys. He evangelized, he planted churches, he established elders, he placed structure inside of the church. But things changed. A man named Nero came to power. And Nero was a deranged individual who hated Christians. And because of that, the whole tide of the Roman Empire began to turn against Christians and Christianity, and there was a wave of persecution that was unleashed. Many Christians were arrested and persecuted. Among those who were arrested was the Apostle Paul. Now, as I mentioned in the first Roman imprisonment, the Apostle Paul was under house arrest. And even though it was difficult, he still had a certain degree of freedom. He could receive friends, he could receive guests, he could preach, he could teach, he could write, and so on. But this second Roman imprisonment was much different. He was sent to a prison known as the car car. It was the name of the Roman jail, the Roman prison where the most hated criminals were sent. And it had two levels. It was an upper level and a lower level. And the upper level, you know, was the main level, and there was a hole in the floor of that main level, and they would cram as many of their hated criminals as they could in one particular cell, and then as they were getting ready to execute them, they would lower the criminals through that hole in the floor down to the lowest level of the prison. And the only light that they could have was whatever happened to trickle through the bodies in the upper level and through the hole into the bottom. Needless to say, it was not very much light. It was cold, it was dark, it was damp. Just on the other side of the wall was the city sewer system. So you can imagine the smell that those prisoners had to endure. They would lower those criminals or those prisoners down into the lower level, and eventually a soldier would come in and carry out the execution, open the door, and dump the dead bodies into the sewer system. The apostle Paul was lowered into that lower level. He knew he was going to die. But they didn't execute him in the jail cell. Instead, they brought him out to one of the main thoroughfares coming into Rome, and they beheaded him in a public spectacle. Such was the hatred of Nero for the Apostle Paul. It's in that context that the Apostle Paul wrote, from our perspective, the last known letter that he ever wrote. And he wrote it to Timothy. It is loaded with love and advice. And it is worth our study. You are in 2 Timothy. We will read verses 1 through 7 for our text, our reading from the English Standard Version. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 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. For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And that's the reading of God's word. We could take that paragraph, those scriptures, and distill the meaning down to one sentence. It would be as follows. Paul wrote Timothy and motivated him to maintain spiritual courage. Christians must be motivated to maintain spiritual courage. What motivates Christians to maintain spiritual courage? There are four motivations to maintain spiritual courage. The first motivation to maintain spiritual courage is prayer. It's prayer. Look at the text, it's 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. Now, the opening of this personal letter is quite interesting. It follows the standard letter of the day when Paul wrote. Now, Timothy was not Paul's biological child. Nonetheless, he referred to him as my beloved child. In other words, there was a unique relationship that Paul and Timothy shared. It was certainly a mentor, mentee relationship, but it probably more resembled something like a father-son relationship. Paul loved Timothy like a son. And that's unique and that's interesting. But what's even more interesting in the opening of the letter is that Paul identified himself and gave his apostolic credentials. He said, you know, I'm an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ by the will of God, you know. Now, isn't that interesting? Like Paul and Timothy knew each other really well. I mean, Timothy had been, you know, serving with the Apostle Paul, traveling with the Apostle Paul since he was a young man. They knew each other really well. So why did the apostle Paul take the time to address this letter to Timothy and then say, Oh, I'm an apostle, you know, of Jesus Christ by the will of God? Well, the answer is this: even though this was a personal letter between Paul and Timothy, the letter was intended to be read aloud to the congregation. And the apostle Paul knew that he was getting ready to give Timothy some instructions and that it would help Timothy if the church understood that the things that were about to take place, some of the decisions that Timothy was going to make, he was doing so under the directive of the apostle. And it helped the congregation to support Timothy and what needed to be done at the church in Ephesus. And the first part of this letter is crafted in such a way that the apostle Paul wanted to motivate Timothy to maintain spiritual courage that was needed to make the decisions that needed to be made for the church. And one of the first motivations to maintain spiritual courage was prayer. And the apostle Paul said he remembered him daily, constantly in his prayers. Timothy was a constant uh you know, prayer bulletin. He was on his, he was on his prayer list, like point number one or two, like he was up there daily. And the awareness and the acknowledge that Paul was praying for Timothy was used as a motivation for Timothy, Timothy to maintain that spiritual courage. It was a hard church. And the church had fallen on hard times. The previous pastor was a crook who spent time in jail for what had occurred. The church split. The average age was in the upper sixties. The attendance was in the lower forties. The church had a bad reputation in the community. And the people sitting in the pews had a profound distrust for pastors. And rightfully so. It was intimidating for a young man who was pastoring his first church. And sometimes the pastor would come up against circumstances that he wasn't quite sure what to do. And he would call his older minister that he knew that would kind of functioned as a mentor to him. It was someone who'd been in the ministry for many, many years and had planted several churches. And this pastor would call. And one of the unique things about that relationship was as soon as the older pastor or mentor would answer the phone, his first words were, son, I've been praying. He didn't have to tell him what was going on. The Holy Spirit had already informed him. And he would spend the rest of the conversation giving advice. To this day, I can still hear those words in my head. Sorry. Now it turned out that church was a really good church. They took a chance on a young preacher and a young preacher took a chance on them, and the Holy Spirit was gracious. And it turned into a really good church and to this day. To this day. We have very good friends in that church and in that area. And the thought and the awareness that I knew that somebody else was praying gave me the spiritual courage that I needed. And it allowed me to maintain that spiritual courage. For the attitudes that needed to be confronted, the the ministries that needed to be confronted and changed and so on. You know, prayer is a powerful thing. And among other things, prayer motivates Christians to maintain spiritual courage, especially when the one being prayed for knows he's being prayed for. To this day, I receive text from family, friends, fellow ministers who let me know that they're praying for me. As our church is going through these circumstances and somewhat rebooting. And it encourages me to maintain that spiritual strength. Just this morning. Just this morning. I received such a text. The thing is, I'm not unique or special. The same that is true for me is the same that is true for you. We are commanded to pray for one another throughout the scripture. And so here's my application for this particular point this morning. Those you are praying for, let them know you are praying for them. Today, send them a text. Call them. Let them know you are praying for them. See, I believe in the divine sovereignty of God. It is not by accident that I'm starting 2 Timothy today, and today I'm talking about prayer, and I'm challenging you to reach out to someone who you've been praying for because I guarantee you someone needs that information. So that they can maintain the spiritual courage that they need to continue the faith. The first motivation to maintain spiritual courage is prayer. The second motivation to maintain spiritual courage is appreciation. Appreciation. Look, if you will, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 3 through 4. The text reads, I thank God, whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. Paul informed Timothy that he appreciated him. Now, Paul showed that appreciation for Timothy by informing him that he constantly prayed for him and that he thanked God for him. But part of Paul's prayer for Timothy, you know, wasn't like uh, it wasn't loaded with, God, change Timothy, get a hold of him. It was more like, God, I'm so thankful for Timothy. That you've raised up a faithful preacher of the gospel. Give him wisdom, give him courage, and so on. And so part of showing appreciation for Timothy was to let him know that he was praying for him, that Paul was praying for him, and that Paul was thankful for God for him, and that he thought about Timothy and those special moments that they shared together. It's why that strange little phrase here in 1 Timothy, where it reads verse 4, as I remember your tears. I'd long to see you that I may be filled with joy. Isn't that strange? Man, when I think about you crying, I want to, that just fills me with joy. But but but see, the idea was, or at least what scholars tend to think, and I think it makes sense, um, when Paul was arrested by Rome, Timothy shared tears over that event. He shed tears over that event. Some scholars think they could have been together in some ministry endeavor when Rome just ripped Paul away and took him to prison. We don't know. But something happened in the life of the Apostle Paul in their ministry, that Timothy was crying about it. And when Paul thinks about Timothy and he thinks about those tears, he's like, Man, I just want to see that guy again because it fills me with joy, because I know when I see this guy that man, he he loves me. And he'll be glad. He'll be glad to see me, and he'll be filled with joy, and that'll be a good thing. In other words, they were bonded and there was some appreciation there. And the apostle Paul took time to appreciate him. And that was motivation for Timothy to maintain spiritual courage. I hesitate to use this illustration because I do not want anyone to think that I'm campaigning for anything. But again, this is an intensely personal letter that Paul is writing to Timothy, and I think it's the best way to present the message for a pastor to be that vulnerable with the church. In the past. The church celebrated what is commonly referred to as Pastor Appreciation Day. You know, the leaders would select a Sunday, and the church would receive a love offering, and there was typically a table set up in the sanctuary, and people could bring gifts and cards and things and put on the table, and there was usually some type of fellowship meal. And you know how that is. If a preacher is involved, there's probably fried chicken. There's been many a chicken that have sacrificed for the ministry. You know what I'm saying? From a pastor's perspective, that was a great day. Sure, the love offerings are a blessing. They're fantastic, right? I mean, who of course. Who wouldn't like a shot in the arm financially? You know, but see, from a pastor's perspective, there is no overtime. Pay. There's certainly overtime. You know what I mean? Many of you know that. And I'm certainly not perfect. You know, but if you call or text me the middle of the night, if I hear, I'm, I respond. Pray for you. Marriages that are falling apart that counseled over the years. Wave where children and grandchildren I've counseled over the years and prayed for. People in crisis and financially and food and all kinds of things that, you know, happen in the life of ministry that I don't ever stand in the pulpit and talk about because it's quite frankly none of your business. But it matters to the people that I've ministered to. There's no overtime pay. Of course the love offering is wonderful. But more than the monetary value of the day is the appreciation value of the day. And this is standard for all the pastors that I've talked to. I'm sure there's some narcissist and money hungry pastors out there. Of course they are. But they're not really pastors. I'm talking about real pastors. More than the monetary value of the day is the appreciation value of the day. You guys don't know this, but I keep a lot of the cards. A vast majority of them. Because I know that it took time, effort, energy, and expense. For many of you to go to the store and pick out a card, it's kind of difficult. You know, unfortunately, in our culture today, it's not like you can go to the local store in the corner and just find cards that are all about pastors. You know, so it takes a little energy. Some people actually make cards on the computer and so on. And people write handwritten notes. Some people don't even do that. They write on a loose leaf sheet of paper or they write on the back of a tithing envelope. I keep the vast majority of them. I have them stored away. There's some that make the, well, I'm not gonna tell you where they are. They're close to me in my office. I don't want you to break in there and get them. And every now and then when things are extremely difficult, I pull them out and read them. Because it helps me refocus why I'm doing what I'm doing. And when I read those letters and I can remember sometimes what the person gave me if it was a gift or something like that, man, it prompts me to pray for that person, but it also helps me to maintain that spiritual courage that I need to keep going. You know, the word of God is very clear on this matter. We should show appreciation for others. In Romans chapter 12, the apostle Paul gave the Christian community some instructions on how to live and operate, you know, share life together in the context of a local church. And among other things, he said this and or wrote this in Romans 12 and verse 10. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Did you catch that? Love one another with brotherly affection and outdo one another in showing honor. We should show appreciation for one another. So again, my challenge to you today is if you're praying for people, let them know you're praying for them. Send them texts and say, I'm praying for you. Write them a letter, call them. The second thing is this: those who you appreciate in your life, let them know that you appreciate them. You never know how that word can encourage them to maintain the spiritual courage that they need. And I want to challenge you with this thought. Tell them you appreciate them while they're alive. Don't wait till you're standing at the graveside to say it. They're dead. So they can receive that. And so they can turn around and encourage you as well. Appreciate you. What Paul tells us to do in Romans twelve. They can support it for a church to do that. So tell them. The second motivation to maintain spiritual courage is appreciation. The third motivation to maintain spiritual courage is investment. Investment. Look, if you will, 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. For I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. Now, there's no doubt. You can read through the New Testament, and you know there is absolutely no doubt that Paul invested in Timothy. How many had to travel with him at an early age? Paul trained him in the ministry, taught him things of ministry, no doubt, taught him how to preach and so on. Put him in churches, gave him examples and instructions and advice on how to pastor the churches. I mean, Paul prayed for him constantly. We've already read some of these things, right? So no doubt the Apostle Paul invested in Timothy. But the Apostle Paul didn't stop there. He wanted to remind him that there have been other people that invested in him as well. And he specifically mentioned his grandmother and his mother. Now we know from Acts chapter 16 that Timothy's mother was a Jew and she was married to a Greek. At some point she became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and obviously the grandmother as well. And if we were to fast forward to the book of 2 Timothy, we would get to chapter 3, where we're clearly told that Timothy was taught the scriptures from an early age that were able to lead him to salvation. So the point is this the grandmother and the mother certainly invested in Timothy. They taught him to know Jesus, to serve the Lord, to be committed to the things of God. And when the call came for Timothy to join the missionary travels of the Apostle Paul, they let him go so that he could fulfill the will of God. And no doubt this text doesn't say it, but I'm sure that they continued to pray for Timothy. No doubt that grandmama prayed for Timothy. No doubt that his mama prayed for him and continued to invest in him along the way. And the reason Paul brought this up to Timothy was to remind him that there have been many people that invested in him, and therefore that should be used as motivation for him to maintain spiritual strength. Because to live in fear and not follow Christ is to dishonor all those who have invested in him. But to maintain spiritual courage and to faithfully follow God was to honor those who invested in him. Again, this is a personally intense, you know, um intensely personal letter. And when Paul and Timothy, where Paul was thinking about Timothy's background and upbringing, you know, obviously he knew that the grandmother and the mother had spent time pouring into him and investing in Timothy. When I think back over my life, I am extremely blessed and I am extremely fortunate. And my wife Kelly as well. Both of us come from a long and strong line of Christians. Both sides, our grandparents, Christians. They invested in us. Our parents were and are Christians. I say were because my dad has passed on. But they invested in us. Through the years of ministry, I had older preachers invest in me, pour into me. And when I think about quitting, their faces, their names, the conversations we've had, the prayers they prayed over us come rushing to my mind. And for me to quit would be to dishonor God. And it would be to dishonor those who invested in me. But a lot of you are thinking, wait, you think about quitting? Yeah, like every other Monday. You know, and this is, I don't know the statistics on this, so don't, don't, this may or may not be accurate. It was years ago that the vast majority of pastors who resign do so on a Monday. There's a reason for that. And I'll tell you why. After church, I'm gonna go eat, and then I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna second guess everything that I said, and I'm gonna beat myself up. That's part of it. And then, you know, a lot a lot of times discouragement, discouragement comes. And thank God I had an older minister in my life. Uh I used to take my days off because that was like the standard thing to do, man. If you're in ministry full time, you took my days off. And I had an older pastor told me one day, he said, that's the dumbest thing to do. Don't ever do that. Because you you like, you will, you will hate life, you'll hate yourself, you'll hate every sermon you've ever preached, you'll think it's hard. Don't do that. Do not take my days off. Get up, go to work, stay busy. That's the best thing that you can do. So thank thank God. Proven to be good advice over the years. I I appreciate that. He also said, find that person in the church to ask. No, I'm not gonna say that, because if I ever ask you, you might think that I think you're that person. I'm not gonna do that. You know, thinking about just again, just being just being open here, just being personal. My grandmother was getting older, she was getting to the point of death. Um, you know, Kelly and I would try to go to Louisiana when we could and spend time with them. And uh my grandmother took us into her her bedroom and showed us. It was the green pillow, it's about this big. And she was in her mid to upper 80s. And every morning she still put that pillow beside her bed and she got down on her knees and prayed. I'm sure she prayed about other things. I'm sure she prayed about other family members if you're watching. But she told us that she prayed for us. She actually wrote letters, little sticky notes. I can I still have some of those. Kelly's grandmother was the same way beside her bed, it was literally a worn-out patch of carpet. I mean, it was literally worn down to the bad. I mean, from her praying for us. The other grandmother gave us uh the Bible that she used to read and to study, and in it are all kind of notes. And it was so funny the other day, just kind of glancing through it just for memory's sake, you know, getting ready, preparing for this. There was a note that Kelly's grandmother had written, and she wrote, Jason made a preacher. Praise God. My parents. Kelly's parents. I still picture my dad sitting in his recliner. He taught the adult Sunday school class at the Baptist church where I was reared. I don't know, decades, literally 20-something years, maybe 30-something, something like that. I can still picture him sitting there reading and preparing and studying. What do you think about this? So we'd always ask to start the conversation. I guess here's where I'm trying to go with this. Um They took us to church. Let me let me start this. They also took us to church. Now we went to two different churches growing up. Uh well, I say we, Kelly and I. So I went to one church, she went to another church. We didn't meet till college. That's a whole nother story. Well, I knew who she was, but we didn't start dating. But going to those churches, I'll talk about mine where I was raised. If I close my mind like I am right now, I I can picture the sanctuary. And I can picture who was sitting where. Know what I mean? Humans are creatures of habit. You choose the same pew. Which, from a preacher's perspective, is kind of helpful because I can scan the audience and tell who was there or not there. When you decide to change pew's, it messes me up. So if I ever send you a text, like, man, I missed your church and I didn't you're like, bro, I was there. What's your problem? I'm like, oh, you moved to another pew, didn't you? All right. But for the most part, you know, people tend to sit in the same places, right? I can picture where they are. Man, I could I Sunday school teachers. I mean, I couldn't name them. I remember lessons. And I'm sure, see, here's the thing. I'm sure you can do as I'm talking, hopefully, memories are coming back to you. Okay? This isn't just about Jason. I'm trying to paint a picture in your mind. Like hopefully you're starting to have some. I know some of you got to, you know, get that gray matter moving a little bit, but but eventually, memories should start coming back. What it was like to be in church and all the people that poured into you and invested in you. Now that you're an adult, probably ways that you didn't realize when you were younger. The teacher stopping by the store and buying supplies and goodies and crafts and snacks when they didn't have any money. But they wanted to make sure that that class would be interactive and that kid would learn about Jesus. So whether you come from a long line of Christian believers, or maybe you're a first-generation Christian and your family, here's what I want you to know. People have invested in you. Even if you're first generation, people have invested in you. People have prayed for you, people have witnessed to you, people have preached you the word, people have discipled you. People have invested in you. We should be thankful for those people. Furthermore, you should make it your mission to invest in your children and grandchildren and beyond. Because that's what we're called to do. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9 reads, only take care and keep your soul diligently, lest ye forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children. Christians need to get a long-term vision. We are not living for ourselves. This church is not about us. We should be thinking about our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. I'm praying long enough to see, to know, and to influence my great-grandchildren. Maybe beyond. I don't know. That's up to God, right? Our days are numbered. I don't know what they are, but that's my desire. That's my prayer because that's what scripture teaches. When in a long-term vision. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 6 through 9 reads, And these words that I command you today, they shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontments between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. Obviously, the way we would carry that out today would differ a little bit. But the principle is there. We teach our children the word of God. We teach our grandchildren the word of God. I mean, from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed. And by the way, you can do that without preaching a sermon. You know what I mean? It's an everyday conversation. It's sharing with your children and grandchildren. Hey, this is why we do this. You know, God expects us to do this. God likes when we do this. You can teach them without preaching sermons all the time. And make it your mission to invest in other people, not just your children and grandchildren, but other people. For again, this is what the church is called to do. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, it reads, And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them with the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age. Make disciples of other people, invest in them, pray for them, teach them the word of God. This is what the church is commanded to do. Investing in children and grandchildren and investing in others is a motivation to maintain spiritual courage. The third motivation to maintain spiritual courage is investment. And the fourth motivation to maintain spiritual courage is empowerment. Empowerment. Look, if you will, our last two verses, it is 2 Timothy 1, verses 6 through 7. 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. For in you I'm sorry. Let me start over. Verse 6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands. For my God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, of love, and of self-control. So Paul motivated Timothy to maintain spiritual courage by reminding him that he had been empowered by the Holy Spirit. And he said, Timothy, don't you remember? Don't you remember the gift when I laid my hands on you? Now, this is a reference to Timothy being ordained to the gospel ministry. And as part of that ordination process, the Apostle Paul and no doubt others laid their hands on Timothy and they prayed and they ordained him to the gospel ministry, and the and that that symbolic act of laying hands upon them, praying for them, was to symbolize the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon Timothy, empowering him and gifting him for the gospel ministry. And he went on to say, Timothy, don't you remember? The Holy Spirit didn't give us a spirit of fear. The Holy Spirit didn't give us a spirit of timidity. No doubt you'll see Timothy wrestled with that. He was timid. He said, No, Timothy, God didn't give us a spirit of fear. He didn't give us a spirit of timidity. Instead, he gave us a spirit of power, love, self-control. Power meant the supernatural ability to endure hardship for the Lord Jesus Christ. Love meant compassion for others. And self-control, or some versions or translations will read a sound mind. It's the same. It's to have a sound mind, is to have self-control, to make wise, logical decisions about things that need to be done in the church rather than reacting out of emotion. In other words, Timothy, the Holy Spirit has empowered you for this task. However, over time, those gifts and those talents and those abilities kind of begin to die down most often due to neglect or fear. And they have to be fed back into a flame. Picture camping out deep in the woods. And the only light and the only warmth is coming from that campfire. And you remember when that campfire is first lit, it's like how many flames you know leapt into the air, eight feet. Just huge. And in order to maintain light and heat, someone has to add fuel to that fire. And it don't hurt if you can't blow into those embers and you'll watch it catch right back into fire. Flames come right back. This is the picture that Paul is trying to paint for Timothy. He was saying the gifts, the talents, the abilities are there, Timothy. The Lord gave them to you. Don't let them die down. And if they are dying down, fan it back into a flame. Don't operate in fear. Don't be timid about the gospel. Live for Jesus Christ. You can have courage. Fan that back into a flame. See the truth is, if you are a child of God, then you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. The scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13, for in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves are free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. When you are a child of God, you were baptized in the Holy Spirit. And therefore, gifts and the spiritual gifts and talents that are needed for each church and for the advancement of the gospel around the globe is given to you. But we must admit that there are times in our lives that those spiritual gifts and those desires, you know, they begin to die down a little bit. To basically, there's just some ember kind of glowing. The word of the Lord for Timothy is the word of the Lord for you today. You need to fan that back into flame. Put some fuel back on the fire, blow on it, let it come right rushing right back into a mighty fire in your life. How do you do that? How do you add fuel to the fire? Pray, worship, repent. Go tell somebody about Jesus. Make yourself a little uncomfortable. Depend on the Holy Spirit. And all of a sudden, I'm telling you, it'll come burning back, baby. So you have quite a bit of challenges today and application points today. You should let somebody know you're praying for them. You should let somebody know that you appreciate them. Probably wouldn't hurt to thank those who invested in you or turn around and find somebody to invest in. Number four, add some fuel to your fire, man. Find somebody to talk about Jesus to. I'm telling you, they're all around you. It's amazing how when you start looking for something, you see it. I forget what it's called. Somebody may help me out. You know how like I'm just using an example. You buy a yellow convertible. I don't know why you'd want to do that. That'd be an ugly car, but nonetheless. You buy a yellow convertible. I hope nobody has one. Well, we're gonna receive a love offering and get it painted for you. But you know how you buy something like that? Like I've used something kind of out there, right? There's not very many of them. So you buy a yellow convertible. And then you start driving down the road, and guess what? You see every yellow convertible registered in Shelby County. You know what I mean? Like then you just pass them on the road. Why? When you start looking for something, you have a tendency to see it. So in your spiritual life, if the if the man that that fire is kind of just dimmed down, just a little bit of just a little bit of glow of some ember, I'm telling you, add some fuel to the fire. And one of the things you can do is I'll pray. Repent for letting that happen. Pray, and then go look for somebody that you can talk to about Jesus. They're out there. And when you start looking for them, the Holy Spirit will show you who they are. Amen. So the fourth motivation to maintain spiritual courage is empowerment. And that would be the preaching of God's word. Will you stand to your feet with me this morning? Christians must maintain spiritual courage. There are four motivations to maintain spiritual courage. The first motivation to maintain spiritual courage is prayer. The second motivation to maintain spiritual courage is appreciation. The third motivation to maintain spiritual courage is investment. And the fourth motivation to maintain spiritual courage is empowerment. Now, if you're not a Christian, if you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, this message may not have made a lot of sense to you. You may be thinking, what is he even talking about spiritual courage? Well, a real short description would be the courage to live for Jesus right now in the world in which we live. No matter the circumstances, no matter what you're enduring, no matter which way the tide may be blowing, Christian or anti-Christian, you should have spiritual courage to live for Jesus Christ. And the only way that that comes is by repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Christ. And when you place your faith in Christ, He will change you. Your mind will be renewed according to the Word of God. You'll be cleansed. You'll be made new. You'll see things differently. You'll think differently. You'll talk differently. You become a new creation in Jesus Christ. And with that comes the power of the Holy Spirit to have spiritual courage. If you are a Christian this morning, and by the way, if you're not a Christian and you want to be a Christian, then you should repent of your sin and place your faith in Christ. And you can talk to your neighbor, you can talk to me after church, and we'll be more than happy to go over that with you and make sure that you understand what's going on in your life. If you are a Christian, then hopefully this message hit home with you. There are people praying for you. There are people who appreciate you. There are people who invested in you. And the Holy Spirit has empowered you. And I challenge you to let people know that you're praying for them. Let them know that you appreciate them. And find a way to add fuel to your fire to fan things into flame in your life. So go tell others about Jesus. Thank you for listening to the Cairo Volt Grace Chapel podcast. Make sure that you like, share, follow us on socials. I'm Dr. Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.