The Introduction We have reached the end of the second letter of Timothy. Let me remind us what was the purpose of Paul in writing this letter not only to Timothy or to the church in Ephesus but to the people of God as a whole. In Paul’s first letter, he called out what Christians now get to do. In other words, since we are in Christ, how do we get to serve, minister, give, assemble, worship, and pray among many things....
The Introduction 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (CSB) All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Because the Bible is supernaturally inspired by the Almighty God on high, what are we to do with this word? The Bible is outside-of-us, beyond-us, greater than our intellect, bigger than our emotions, grander than our hearts, and more powerful than our wills....
The Introduction It’s been a moment since we have been in the Pastoral Epistles. We made the distinction between the two letters, written by Paul, to the young pastor of the church of Ephesus. First letter to Timothy was Paul’s instruction and guidance on how elders and deacons are to minister to the church–including the qualifications and character of the ministers. We are in chapter 3 of the second letter to Timothy....
The Introduction Walking through the Paul’s second letter to Timothy has really been a walkthrough to how God really saves us–beyond the sinner’s prayer when we were little kids. In everything, we should praise God - 2 Timothy 1:1-7 We are saved only by God - 1:8-12 We are to be instructed by God - 1:13-2:2 We have been made fully alive by God - 2:3-14 We can understand the absolute truth by God - 2:15-19 We are chosen by God - 2:20-26 All of those wonderful things don’t come fast nor cheap....
The Introduction To be saved by God is an amazing thing. First of all, it is beyond our own goodness–I don’t care how much self-righteousness you think you have. Second of all, it is beyond our own power–you and I are too terribly weak to save ourselves. Lastly, it is beyond our will. Let me put that into plain English: apart from God, we do not want any part of God....
The Introduction Last week, we examine our lives in Christ and by Christ and how it looks much different than living in this world. Paul calls us soldiers, athletes, and farmers–not in the way that you might think. (2 Timothy 2:3-7) We are to suffer like Christ, receive righteousness by Christ and let the indwelling of the Spirit produce fruit in us like Christ. Out of that, we preach and live our lives out for the sake of the gospel....
The Introduction Is the gospel of God and the word of God relevant to our culture today? As the tides of history continuously move on, the world will come up with a set of questions that they think are original. But the why and the heart of those questions are all the same. We have questions on same-sex attraction and those who say, “there is nothing wrong with it” would point out that the Bible never mentions “homosexuality” and “those passages in Leviticus, the Gospels, and Romans are all outdated and don’t mean what you think they mean....
The Introduction I told you that in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, Paul is going to get a lot more personal–not only speaking to Timothy but calling out a few people in Timothy’s church by name. I have often preached against gossip and slander. Is this what Paul did? We are about to find out but that is not the point of the passage. What is the point is what God has done and what is this new life we get to live all because of what God has done in us....
The Introduction With both 1st and 2nd Timothy, we have the tale of two letters. In Paul’s first letter, the overarching theme and testimony is “This is what you need to do in order to minister to you church.” It dealt with a lot of the problems that churches and the people of God have not outgrown and evolved past ever since Adam and Eve. But in Paul’s second letter, this now deals with the person that is Timothy....
The Introduction You have walked with us through Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Remember all the things that Paul addressed and helped Pastor Timothy with? teaching false doctrine listening to silly, pointless myths leaving the church leaving the faith loud rambunctious overly rebellious against authorities corporately worshipping God while hating and despising others women dressing immodestly overly aggressive women passive men unqualified leaders entertaining demons demonic teaching anti-gospel teaching ageism lack of support for widows not honoring elders not paying full-time elders prejudice favoritism lack of self-care rich people That is a truckload of ministry and learning how to minister....