WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:01.520 Amen. 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:04.559 Well, what a beautiful, good morning it is to you guys. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:06.320 My name is Justin. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.640 I'm one of the pastors here at Sacred Mission. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:18.719 It's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning as we kick off a brand new sermon series working verse by verse through the book of 2 Timothy. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:23.280 So our focus this year at Sacred Mission is going to be on discipleship. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:33.679 We looked at what it means to be a disciple in the first part of the year, and now we're going to be breaking into our normal rhythm of preaching through books of the Bible. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.520 We've got some great ones coming up this year. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:42.079 2 Timothy, Daniel, Acts, and so we're really excited about this series. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:57.759 But before we really get dive into the text this morning, I would love to take a moment, as I've been uh preparing this sermon, thinking through uh 2 Timothy and so forth, it just reminded me of the persecuted church. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:05.200 That there are people throughout the world who are facing uh the loss of their life because they claim the name of Jesus. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:13.920 And not only that, but there are people willingly risking their life to make Jesus known to others who don't know him yet. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:16.239 And so we want to pray for them. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:37.840 We we want to be a church that is aware of that reality, conscious of that reality, leaning into this global reality of the church that we do share in the very sufferings of these brothers and sisters who are worthy by the Lord to be considered to suffer in such a way. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:44.719 And so let's take a moment and just pray for the persecuted church and we'll dive into our text this morning. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:55.120 Lord, your name is the only name worthy to suffer for. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:13.039 Your promises are the only promises that are guaranteed to us in the face of any circumstance that we could face, no matter how dire or despairing it might be. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.599 Your promises endure. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:26.240 And that needs to give us courage and confidence to be able to face whatever this world has to throw at us. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:40.800 And Lord, there are brothers and sisters throughout the world that are facing the very loss of their life even today, because they claim your name and they stand upon your promises. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:44.080 And so, Lord, we pray for them. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.560 We pray that you would comfort them. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:03:10.639 We pray that you would give them courage and boldness, that they would not allow fear and timidity, anxiousness and worry to overwhelm them, but they would be driven by mission to see others come to know the saving work of your death and resurrection. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:21.919 And that, Lord, the church would flourish even in these persecuted areas for the glory of your name and the good of your people. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:43.520 Lord, may we desire to continually lift them up in prayer, to be a position of support and strength for them, interceding for them and their welfare and their well-being as they face circumstances and trials that we could never even imagine? 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:55.280 Lord, let us be a great cloud of witnesses, cheering them on to the end of the race of which you've called them to. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:57.919 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:03:58.800 Amen. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:00.400 Amen. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:13.759 So what words would you pin if you knew that they would be remembered as your final instruction before your death? 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.120 What would you say? 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:22.800 What urgency would you feel of communicating these things? 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.040 You see, this is the context of the letter of 2 Timothy. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.839 This is Paul's final and most personal letter. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:40.079 Most scholars place the actual timing of the letter just a matter of days before he would go and be beheaded. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:47.040 Paul's residing in a prison in Rome awaiting his execution. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:58.079 He's suffered abandonment by most of his friends and fellow gospel laborers out of a growing fear that they would actually meet his same fate. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:04.720 You see, the persecution of Christians was growing stronger under the tyranny of Emperor Nero. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:14.240 And there was a true and present danger in simply being a Christian, let alone being a leader within the church. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:18.560 Paul knows his ministry is coming to an end. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.519 That soon he will face death. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:34.879 And so he writes to Timothy, not only one of his few remaining co-laborers in gospel ministry, but it's his beloved child in the faith. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:48.480 He desires to exhort Timothy to boldness, to endurance and faithfulness, and the ever-increasing dread of opposition and persecution that he faces. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:06:02.959 Paul sets out to remind Timothy that following Jesus involves risk, sacrifice, and it invites tension and discomfort into your life. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:17.680 He reminds Timothy that dark, painful, or difficult moments are not a sign of Jesus' absence in his life, but it's an opportunity for Jesus' love and faithfulness to be most tangible to him. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:32.959 If anything, this letter works to steady Timothy's feet, to recapture his focus and to impart to him courage for the mission. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:46.879 Verse 1, we read just a moment ago, but it says this Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:52.800 Paul's introduction actually seems pretty unnatural at first reading. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.120 Acts 16 records this calling of Timothy for us. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:26.560 It says this Paul came also to Derby and to Lystra. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:34.000 A disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.399 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra in Iconium. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:49.040 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:56.800 So Timothy was very familiar with the reality that Paul was an apostle. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:08.480 An apostle within Jesus' church, one who had seen the risen and resurrected Christ, and who had been chosen and commissioned by Jesus himself. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:11.120 Timothy knew this about Paul. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.959 Now, for certain, Paul had struggled with his identity as an apostle. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:24.000 And he faced many who opposed the genuineness of his claim. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:30.399 We see this even indirectly being addressed in his letter to the church at Corinth. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:38.240 In 1 Corinthians 15, 8 through 9, Paul says, Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:46.799 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be to even be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:09:02.720 Now, Paul may have struggled with his position and his office and the genuineness of his calling, but it's hard to believe that Timothy would ever struggle to know and see Paul as the apostle that he truly was. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:10.639 I think there are two reasons for Paul opening the letter here with this formal greeting. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:15.360 Number one, I believe that Paul wants Timothy to know that this isn't a casual letter. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:24.159 I think that Paul wants to grab Timothy's attention right from the beginning with the gravity of this letter. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.639 And two, this letter isn't just for Timothy. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.759 But it's intended to be shared with the whole church in Ephesus. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:45.200 We see later in the letter that it contains instructions and guidance for church leadership that would be relevant to the entire congregation, not just for Timothy, who was their lead pastor. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:56.159 Paul characterizes his apostleship as by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.679 You see, his situation would appear to be very dreadful. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.039 He's imprisoned for a second time there in Rome. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:14.480 He's abandoned by most of those whom he loved and trusted and had poured his life out into. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:21.840 He's awaiting the very outcome of his trial that he knew was surely going to end in death. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:36.480 And Paul says all of this suffering is by the glorious and sovereign purpose of God that he might know and obtain the promise of life that is only found in Jesus. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:50.960 I'm here, Timothy, in this prison cell, suffering this way, not because I've made bad choices in my life, but because I'm called by the will of God for the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, his son. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:11:06.480 So you may look at my circumstance, Timothy, and it may be filling you with fear and worry and anxiousness, but I want you to know I'm here because God's will is on me. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.000 His sovereign hand has led me. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.279 You see, this is important. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:25.440 And it's important that Paul brings it up at the very beginning of this letter because as we study 2 Timothy, it's going to talk a lot about the cost of following Jesus. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:30.559 It's going to talk a lot about the cost of suffering for Jesus. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:37.440 And that being faithful to Jesus invites a great risk to our natural well-being. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:45.440 And there's this question that actually underlies itself throughout the entire letter. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:48.720 Is this all worth it? 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:52.240 Is this all worth it? 00:11:53.039 --> 00:12:03.360 If Timothy's fate looks like that, rotting in a prison cell or waiting for some tyrannical leader to cut your head off. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.360 Is this worth it? 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.639 Is this worth everyone that you've known and loved abandoning you? 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.639 Deserting you at your greatest moment of need. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.080 Is this worth it? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.879 That's the question that Paul's trying to answer for Timothy. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.919 Is it worth it? 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:44.559 You see, looking at the miserable condition that Paul's life has culminated into, if there isn't a promise on the other side of the chopping block that stands before him, then Timothy should flee into the same selfish self-preservation that the other unfaithful men have cowarded into. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:51.679 Timothy, if there's nothing after this, then run. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.360 But I'm telling you, Timothy, there's life. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:11.360 So Paul wants Timothy to know right here, right now, though you see me in my imprisonment and despair, know that there's the promise of eternal life before me. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.080 Timothy, it's worth it. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:23.200 Verse 2 to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.399 Timothy was Paul's spiritual son and co-laborer in the gospel. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:36.080 He says in his letter to the Philippians of Timothy, I have no one else like him. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:46.480 He was charged to remain in Ephesus by Paul to pastor the church there that had actually been established through their gospel witness and labor. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:48.399 He was young. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:57.919 And he was prone to feelings of inadequacy, often in need of being encouraged and reminded of the work of God in his life. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:13.840 In fact, Paul writes in his first letter to young Timothy, he exhorts him to say this in 1 Timothy 4.12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and purity. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.639 Timothy, don't doubt yourself. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.360 I see a work of God in you. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.360 Now be faithful unto the calling. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:36.480 You can gain a sense of their cherished relationship with one another as Paul calls him my beloved child. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:47.919 Though, to the best of our knowledge, historically speaking, Paul had no biological children, but yet he fathered Timothy in every sense of the word. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:53.200 I love how Charles Spurgeon speaks of their relationship. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:59.279 He says this this is a relationship that even death will not destroy. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:05.279 When all the ties of natural descent shall be forgotten, sonship in Christ will continue. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:11.519 I do not doubt that in heaven Timothy is still Paul's son, and Paul is still father to Timothy. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.559 What a glorious picture that is. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:29.600 Grace, receiving the blessing and favor of God that we do not deserve. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.600 Timothy, you've been graced. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:34.480 Mercy. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:42.399 Not receiving the punishment of God's wrath against our rebellion and sin, which we do deserve. 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.039 Timothy, you've received mercy. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.200 And peace. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:55.919 Being reconciled into wholeness and completeness in relationship with God our Father. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.720 Timothy, you have peace. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:06.000 You see, the reminder of these spiritual gifts were customary for Paul's letters, undoubtedly. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:12.399 But surely they would carry a distinct weightiness to them as Timothy would continue reading this letter. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:18.399 Timothy, let me remind you, you've been given grace, mercy, and peace. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.519 My beloved son, don't forget these things. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.120 Verse three. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.240 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:50.159 I am reminded of your sincere faith, of faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.639 Do you hear Paul's encouragement to Timothy? 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:04.480 This fake faith we've witnessed in these other men who have ran into their coward hiding. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:07.599 No, no, no, Timothy, I see something different in you. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:11.359 It's a sincere and genuine faith that I see in you. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:21.119 And it's not even of your own fully, but it's been a heritage that has been passed down to you by faithful women who have given you the scriptures from birth. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:38.160 Paul opens the very body of this letter by giving God thanks for Timothy and letting him know that whenever his mind is set to prayer, it is also set on remembering his true child in the faith. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:47.200 And remembering Timothy, Paul remembers the tears that he shed the last time that they were together. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:18:07.279 Now, we're not very sure of the exact instance that Paul is speaking of, but it very well may have been his farewell to the elders in Ephesus that we read about in Acts 20, as he's exhorting them and challenging them to be sober-minded because fierce wolves will rise up. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.200 And he tells them, I'm not going to see you after I depart from here. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:18.480 We read in Acts 20, 36 through 37, and when he had said these things, he knelt down and he prayed with them all. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.759 And there was much weeping on the part of all. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.880 They embraced Paul and they kissed him. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:31.920 You see, Paul had told them even then that they would not see his face again, that this was it. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:34.079 He knew what was waiting for him. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:41.039 But yet he still desperately wanted to see Timothy one last time. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.519 So he could be filled with joy by his presence. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:19:04.480 If this doesn't show us this relationship of fatherhood, throughout the scriptures, what we actually see is in this understanding of joy, it's rooted and established in this premise of God's face shining upon his people. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:08.880 That he's actually glad to be in their presence. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:17.440 When we look at the blessing of numbers, it actually declares, Lord, cause your face to shine upon your people. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:27.440 At the most historical moment of the absence of joy was when the father turns his face away from his son. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.240 So think about this. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:37.599 Paul wants his face to shine on Timothy one last time. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.960 That his joy might be filled. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.519 He just wants to look upon his son. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:48.880 This is the heart of a father for his son. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:58.880 If death was standing before him, then he's praying to let his eyes close in the sight of Timothy's face. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:10.880 He then goes on to remind Timothy of the sincere and genuine faith that he has had and from where he inherited this rich spiritual heritage. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.920 His grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:24.079 Now we know they played a big role in Timothy's life because later in the letter in chapter 3, Paul writes these words in 2 Timothy 3. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:41.119 But as for you, Timothy, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:49.759 John Calvin writes that it's as if Timothy took in Scripture with his mother's milk. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.599 From infancy, he's been taught and prayed for. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:04.400 You see, in a time of Timothy's life and ministry where he may be tempted to feel isolated and alone, he needs to be reminded that he's not. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:13.359 That he needs to be reminded of the people who have stood with him and poured out their life into him to become the man of God that he is. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:20.960 That God's purpose and plan for his life was always bigger than the circumstances that stood right before him. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:27.039 For his sovereign hand had been nurturing him from birth to fulfill this calling. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:45.200 Young Timothy, whose spiritual father is in chains and soon to be put to death, whose fellow elders are showing themselves to be fierce wolves, masquerading as shepherds, who sees his brothers and sisters being hauled off in chains. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:51.279 Young Timothy, who doesn't know if he has the grit to keep going any longer. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:57.279 Young Timothy, he needs courage for the mission. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.400 Paul was writing to embolden Timothy. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:11.119 Everything that he saw, everything that he was experiencing would have caused him to desire to give up. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:13.599 Is this going to be worth it? 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:20.480 Paul's about to be executed, my spiritual father, my elders are rising up as wolves against me. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.240 All of those whom we did gospel ministry with are abandoning the faith and cowarding. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.160 Is this worth it? 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:38.720 But Paul wanted to spur him on in the work of ministry to remind him that even if it costs him his life, it's worth it. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.240 That's why he goes quickly into verse 6. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:52.480 For this reason, 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. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:23:00.319 For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.240 You see, Paul is speaking of Timothy's ordination into the ministry. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:16.799 We see in his letter of 1 Timothy, where he called and appointed Timothy to be the lead pastor there in Ephesus. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:29.839 And what Paul wants to help him understand is that where God calls him to, he will supernaturally gift to accomplish. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:44.079 In 1 Timothy 4 14, we actually see the felt need that Paul has to continue to remind Timothy that though he may feel inadequate, God has gifted and graced him for this purpose. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:52.720 Do not neglect the gift that you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:24:00.319 Timothy, remember, where God calls you, he will supernaturally gift you to accomplish the calling. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:13.680 You see, the laying on of hands by the elders was an affirmation that of what they witnessed and observed with inside the life of Timothy. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:21.200 One thing we have to remember as a church: pastors are never made, they are simply affirmed. 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.319 We can't make pastors and leaders within the church. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:40.000 We can work to equip and build up and train and encourage, but at the end of the day, if the Spirit of God hasn't called this man and gifted him into this office, then we can't do anything about it. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:45.200 We don't make pastors, we simply affirm them. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:48.160 And this is what the men did there with Timothy. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:54.559 They observed a gifting and a calling in his life, and they affirmed it by the laying on of hands. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:06.240 Paul's final words of encouragement before he gets into the very substance of this letter is to remind Timothy of the very Spirit of God that resides within him. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:11.599 You see, God did not give Timothy a spirit of fear. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:26.240 So to be afraid, timid, anxious, fretful, that would be fundamentally contrary to what God had established within him. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:32.160 What lives in Timothy is a spirit of power, love, and self-control. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.200 And he would need to cultivate these attributes if he was going to finish well. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:43.599 If he was going to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:51.759 Another theme that we see within this letter is Paul showing us how to finish well. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:26:00.079 And it's seen most clearly in his faithfulness to the gospel. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:18.960 And he's saying, Timothy, if you allow this lie of fear, if you allow this lie of worry to overwhelm you, you won't finish well. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.240 But God didn't give you that. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:27.839 God gave you a spirit of power, of love, and self-control. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.839 Timothy, finish well. 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:42.079 If Timothy was going to grow in courage, he would need to look outside of himself to the people who had labored with him to become the man that he was. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:49.359 And he would need to look inward to the gift and grace of God that had equipped him for the battle ahead. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:27:02.559 I think the primary theme of this letter is courageously proclaiming Christ and courageously suffering for Christ. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:13.519 The overarching theme of this letter: courageously proclaiming Christ and courageously suffering for Christ. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:23.920 If Timothy was going to continue in the mission, because there was still work to do, Paul was going to be dead soon, but that didn't mean that the end of work was before them. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.799 It meant that there must be a transfer, a handoff. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:31.200 Someone needs to stand up and continue what needs to be done. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:46.240 If the mission was going to drive forward, if he was going to continue in preaching the gospel, making disciples, equipping the saints, planting churches, he was going to need courage. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:54.319 Because looking out across the circumstances of his life, it all didn't appear to be worth it. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.559 Especially if he was going to end up in the same situation as Paul. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:12.160 We struggle with this inherently within our very life. 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:15.279 Is it worth it? 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:24.400 Is it worth losing the relationships that we are threatened to lose because we name Christ and because we desire for them to know Christ? 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:27.039 Is it worth the loss of status? 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.119 Is it worth the loss of job? 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:31.920 Is it worth the loss of life? 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:33.279 Is it worth it? 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:42.000 And maybe many of us have believed the very same lie that Timothy was tempted to believe. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.200 Son, you ain't got it in you. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:48.799 Who do you think you are? 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.119 Look at what's happening to all these other men. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:55.920 Look what's happening to the people who said that they cared for you and were standing beside you. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:58.720 Look at Paul, your own father in the faith. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:00.000 Look at him. 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:07.759 The best thing you can do is shut your mouth and just live out the rest of your days in safety and self-preservation. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:16.640 And all of that thought is rooted in this question. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.720 Is this worth it? 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:32.640 This letter is the final words of a spiritual father to his beloved son, ensuring him above all things that it's worth it. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:42.319 Because on the other side of death awaits the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:43.119 Amen.