MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Text: 2 Timothy 3:10-15
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Intro:
Swindoll summarizes these verses this way:
“The past is like the present (vv. 10-11), and the future will be like the past (vv. 12-13), so, continue in the present as you have in the past to engage the future (vv. 14-15).”
- Ultimately, Paul’s point for Timothy is that Timothy can make a difference in the world and to the people around him in spite of the
1. Look At Where You’ve Been (vv. 10-11)
- Paul just spoke about the depravity of man and these false teachers who creep in and lure people away – those who are ever learning but unable to come to the truth.
V. 10 – Timothy, you are to be different. You are to make a
The verb tense in both of these verses in the Greek is the aorist tense. In English we translate these as past tense verbs “known,” “endured,” and “delivered.”
- Paul was looking back and seeking to turn Timothy’s eyes to the past and see where they had both been
- Paul was looking back and seeking to turn Timothy’s eyes to the past and see where they had both been
Timothy and Paul had a long history in the trenches of Christian ministry. Paul reminds Timothy of nine memories from the years that Timothy has partnered with Paul.
1) Doctrine (teaching): As Timothy read these words from Paul his mind thought back to the personal discipleship he received from Paul. He also thought about the hundreds if not thousands of messages, sermons, and lessons, he had heard Paul teach and preach over the years.
2) Manner of life (
3) Purpose: Paul’s purpose was probably not written out on a piece of paper or even a stated purpose statement, but Timothy knew Paul’s purpose. Paul lived it out right before his very eyes.
4) Faith, longsuffering, charity, and patience: These four words all go together. Timothy observed Paul’s trust and longsuffering in the face of criticism and attack. Timothy saw Paul’s character attacked and his response to it.
5) Persecution and afflictions: Paul reminded Timothy what he saw when Paul was persecuted, afflicted, and even stoned in his hometown. But Paul reminds him, however, that although the ministry has been costly, God has
In these two verses, Paul reviewed Timothy and his history together in order to make a point. God had brought Timothy and Paul this far together through the good and the bad. They were still alive. And they were still engaged in the gospel.
2. Look At Where You’re Headed (vv. 12-13)
The verb tense in these two verses is
Timothy, we looked at where you had
- The persecutions Paul suffered will become the suffering of any believer who strives to live godly and according to the gospel.
Of course,
Here’s where you’re headed, Timothy. If you want to live godly, then you will suffer as a result at the hands of evil men, imposters of the faith.
3. Look At Where You Are (vv. 14-15)
Timothy, I reminded you of the past so that you could have some perspective on a difficult future. You’ve done it before. You can do it again. And you can do it
v. 14 – But YOU continue….You can do it now. You can stay the course. You can make a difference now and continue to do so.
- The word continue is the same word used by Jesus in the upper room discourse when he said “abide in me.” It means “remain,” “live,” “stay.” In essence, Paul’s message to Timothy was to “keep on remaining.”
Hardships will increase as the gospel moves forward, but that doesn’t mean we should do anything different. Continue doing what has been successful.
How do you keep on keeping on?
The word “learned” and “assured of” don’t express the same idea.
- We learn by gaining information, changing perspective, acquiring skills.
To be convinced of something (assured of) deals with our will. This moves into the territory of convictions. Conviction transforms what we know into action. We act on convictions.
Much like “faith without works is dead,” so theological training is pointless unless it moves us to make a difference because of our
Application:
Paul challenged Timothy to make a difference where he lived and served. This is our challenge too.
1) Continue in the things you have learned
This presupposes you have learned.
1] If you don’t have a background with Christian Education, then begin here.
2] If you do have a background with Christian Ed, then reminisce and retrace your Christian heritage.
2) Become convinced of the things you have learned.
We all absorb knowledge, but at some point what you know from the Bible and about Christ has to not only be understood, but believed.
Knowledge has to lead to conviction and our convictions to action.
- If we’re to make a difference where we live and serve then we must act on our convictions.