Second Timothy One
1 ¶
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise
of life which is in Christ Jesus,
·
With the
apostolic proclamation of the resurrection life which is in Christ Jesus there
it the promise and ability for us to live in this quality of life right now.
·
One of the traits
found in the apostolic calling is that he is sent with the full credentials of
power and authority belonging to Christ Himself. The maturing of Christ’s spiritual
gifts is the result of a life of oneness with the resurrected Christ in
uncompromising obedience and purity to Him.
·
The apostle can only proclaim the life of the
resurrected Christ to us to the degree that he lives in it.
Romans
15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders,
by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto
Illyricum, I have fully
preached( I
have filled up the gospel) the gospel of Christ.
·
It is
important for us to be aware that if we are to do our part in filling up the
gospel of Christ it will never be accomplished through our mere preaching of God’s
word. The gospel must be proclaimed in
the power of the signs and wonders that accompany our spiritual gifts.
§
Sign The manifestation of a spiritual gift as
it is focused upon the believer to prove his or her authority as one sent by
God.
§
Wonder
The manifestation of
the same spiritual gift, as it is focuses upon the ones that behold it, to
stimulate them to wonder and amazement and the giving of glory to God.
3
I
thank God, whom I serve(our religious service to the Lord)
from my forefathers with pure
(free from evil, innocent because it is free from evil, and resulting in
nothing that the devil or man can point an accusatory finger at)
conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night
and day;
·
The
conscience is a simple barometer of what dwells in our lives. A pure conscience reflects a life that has
nothing for the devil to hold on to and keep us in bondage, or for the worse of
heathen to lawfully charge us with wrongdoing.
·
Serve: There are different aspects that describe the Christian as a
servant of the Lord. One is the servant
in the capacity of his or her relationship to God. Yes, our relationship with God is always one of sons or
daughters. Our sonship however must be executed
in the capacity of “love slaves” of the Lord Jesus Christ or what is called a “doulos.” The second aspect is the servant in the
capacity of his or her ministry by the use of spiritual gifts. This is the “diakonos”. The third type, which is
the one mentioned in verse three, is the servant in the capacity of rendering general
religious service versus another type of occupation. This is “latreo”
·
The bottom
line is that for believers to serve in their religious occupation, it must be
done with a pure conscience.
4
Greatly
desiring(pursuing with love) to see thee,
being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
·
The defining principle for mentors; spiritual fathers and mothers.
Greek: Paul had an unceasing remembrance of
Timothy; as he daily and nightly longed for him. Paul was reminded of this as he counted his own tears, knowing
that only at seeing Timothy would he be filled with joy.
6¶
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift (charismatic or spiritual gift) of
God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
·
Stir
up Greek: to bring
back to life the dying embers on a grill. When the fire on a
charcoal grill is in danger of going out, we must stir up the breaking pieces
of coal and fan them back into the reddish glow of heat. This is what must be done with our spiritual
gifts. First we must discover what they
are. Sadly to say, most of the body of
Christ has no idea what their spiritual gifts are. Secondly, we must step out in faith with the little in which the
Lord begins to use us in. As we do, the
Lord will give us and we will keep our gifts glowing red for the Lord’s
service.
2
Tim
1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind.
·
The
spirit of fear- The
spirit of cowardice.
·
Sound
mind – Greek: making
wise or understanding. A mind that operates in wisdom is one that
understands the will of God and walks in His ways. This type of thinking matures the believer in spiritual
discernment and discretion, which allows the Christian to refrain from what, is
evil, resulting in self-control. Hence
a “sound mind.”
·
The believer
must live out of God’s dunamis power in the same way that a tree does from its
roots. Such a believer lives out of the
grace or the labor of Christ and goes from glory to glory in the strength of
the Lord.
·
The next two
verses out of Philippians is an expose on Timothy by Paul. This is the description
of the man or woman of God that is compelled by God’s divine and self-sacrificing
love.
Philippians
2:20 For I have no man likeminded ( Greek: of a soul that is of
equal desires to that of Paul) , who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which
are Jesus Christ’s.
Greek: For all are seeking their own
things and “not” (absolute
negative which implies almost like saying “never”) the things that interest
Christ. Was Paul referring to
Christians or heathens? Is this his
definition of the church at large?
·
A
life which is lived out of God’s rhema word and strength; a divine love which
God works to compel the believer to go to the ends of the earth for Him, and a
sound mind that allows the Christian to choose the excellent over the good, is
what will allow Timothy to overcome all obstacles and face all dangers described
in verse eight.
2Tim 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony(martyrdom) of our Lord, nor of me
his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according
to the power of God;
·
The
testimony of our Lord. From the word that mean martyr or martyrdom;
the only way that we can give adequate evidence of the Lord is through our
dying on the cross so that the Christ within us can be revealed for a testimony
to a lost and dying world. Timothy was
to present enough external evidence of the person of the Lord Jesus living
within him, so that his hearers would have a sufficient platform to either
accept or reject the gospel for themselves.
This the meaning of Mat 24:14 and “the gospel of the kingdom
preached in all the world for witness.”
Mat
24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
·
The church
gets flustered and angry with the homosexuals, the abortionists, and so forth. Yes, it is right to have a righteous anger
towards these abominations, but are we doing our part to present the gospel
with an accurate and undeniable evidence (as spiritual martyrs of the Lord)
which will allow for the jury of the world to either accept or reject it contingent
upon our testimony of it?
·
The witness
of the Lord was to be manifested through Timothy’s use of his spiritual gifts
as found in verse six. The purpose of
spiritual gifts is to manifest externally in plain evidence the Lord Jesus
Christ who lives within us in a mystery .
2Tim 1:8 Be
not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony(martyrdom) of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
·
Partaker
of the afflictions –
A co- sharer in the hardships, afflictions and evils brought upon us by the
gospel. We are to be partakers of these
hardships together with Paul for the purpose of bringing salvation to men and
women.
Colossians 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up( supplement) that which is behind( deficient) of
the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
·
Paul saw Christ’s
sufferings in the believer (not those brought forth by sin or maliciously by
Satan) as the source of what supplements what is deficient in the
church. Any man or woman of God desirous
to be used greatly in supplementing and meeting the deficiencies of the church
will only do so through the avenue of suffering and sacrifice.
2Tim 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of
the testimony(martyrdom) of our Lord, nor of me
his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according
to the power of God;
·
According
to the power of God - There is nothing worse than to see a
believer ministering according to his own power, programs, or psychological Christianity. What we minister without must be restricted
to what we see Christ labor within.
Ephesians 3:7
Whereof I was made a
minister, according
to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.(
the energy of His dunamis
power)
·
Paul was
made a minister in relationship to the grace of God which is the labor of
Christ within him.
·
Effectual working of his power.
The grace of Christ therefore is defined as the energy put out by His
dunamis power. We must learn to ride on
the crest of the wave of this superhuman power and not our own strength.
2 Tim
1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
·
Called
us with an holy calling
The holiness of the Lord
is what cuts or sets us apart from the world so that God can utilize us for His
sacred, uniquely rare, and highly specialized eternal purposes. This is the opposite of what the world is
involved at large. The common purposes entangling the masses are what God calls
the profane. My father
has always told me “Jose, remember, the crowd is usually wrong.” Boy, has that proved to be right, even in
the church!
·
Ezekiel
44:23 And they shall teach my people
the difference
between the holy
and profane, and
cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
·
The calling
of God entails first an invitation for us to become born again. This calling however must lead us into our
spiritual vocation, which is holy, cut from the world, and highly specialized
in a military fashion of sorts. If as
believers we are simply content to become born again, but do not allow the Lord
to separate us enough from the profane, we will not enter into the fullness of
our spiritual vocation and will have missed our calling.
2 Tim
1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us
with an holy calling, not
according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began
·
Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace.
·
It is important
to know that with every God given vocation, the Lord Jesus will also equip us
spiritually and materially fully so that we can execute this calling successfully.
The grace or labor of Christ’s endows
us with all that is necessary. If we
are not operating within our calling, the grace of Christ will not be fully present
and neither will be His endowments. As I teach everywhere, we must realize the
difference between being religiously busy, versus walking in our calling. This difference is huge!
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel:
·
(Greek: appearing “epiphany”).
In Christ’s appearing resides His labor or grace, which is proportional
to how much He is manifested. This is
because Christ is always laboring for the salvation of men. Even in heaven, Christ is constantly
interceding. His labor always brings
forth the incorruptness of eternal life, which we are commanded to take a hold
of and make our own. Knowing Christ is
the same as taking a hold of this life. It is never enough for us to simply become saved.
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
1
Tim
1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the
Gentiles.
·
In
relationship to the revelation of Christ who call us into our vocation by His
grace and superhuman energy, we receive our ministries. True ministries can never be the planning of
men but must come as the vocations brought to us by the revealed Christ. Some of the riches found in Christ are the
ministries and spiritual gifts dwelling within Him.
12 or the which cause I also suffer these
things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day.
·
The
sufferings of Christ come to us in proportion to our spiritual vocations. The greater the calling, the more intense
and longer will be our period of training.
·
Paul is
convinced in verse twelve that God is of sufficient power to guard the very calling
the He gave to Paul in the first place until the commencement of the eternal
ages. The guarding of God here does not
simply mean the watchful eye of God hovering over Paul. God’s mode of guarding is to lead, labor,
and supply continuously within Paul so that the apostle might be faithful to
execute his ministerial responsibilities till the consummation of his earthly
life.
13Hold
fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus.
Greek: Hold fast the outline or pattern of
healthy words…in a world that belongs to faith and love.
·
Here is one
way of our fulfilling all that Paul has spoken to us since the chapter began. Only
the outline of the healthy words (comprised of the gospel) placed before
our eyes can accomplish this. Doctrines
of men such as selfish financial prosperity and our “American Santa Claus God”
who has come to make us materially wealthy, and shower us with continuous gifts
of miracles and blessings, is not the form of healthy words.
14 That good thing which was committed unto
thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
·
The Holy
Spirit is He who guards the gifts of the Spirit as well as the words of the
gospel within the believer. A life of
disobedience results in the enemy making inroads into our lives by the landing
strip that we create for him to fly in and land upon us.
Ephesians
4:27 Neither give place ( a space which has been marked off)
to the devil.
15 ¶ This thou knowest, that all they which
are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
·
Verse fifteen
should help me when I am rejected for the gospel’s sake.
16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of
Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed
( to cool as with a
breeze) me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
17 But,
when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
·
He sought
out Paul with great diligence.
18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find
mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at
Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
·
Greek paraphrase:
He ministered extremely well to Paul in relationship to his ministry and
giftings.
God Bless
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