Paul
Working with Timothy
Leading the church in Ephesus
Last week
God
Long before Timothy was born
Before time began
Set this in motion
Paul
Confident in God
Vs. 12
Timothy’s call to action last week was: fan into flame
This week: Keep and guard
As Timothy continues this work:
Paul reminds him - God has been working in you
Keep the sound words
Greek word rare in the NT
Handing someone something for them to take care of
Twice in this section
Vs. 12, vs. 14
God’s work!
He does it in vs. 12, and we can only do it by the Spirit in vs. 14
Keep and Guard - it isn’t ours
His story, his message
His redemption, his work
Throughout history, we have this pressure to innovate
Next generation won’t like this part, this part is old-fashioned
If we want to keep going, the church must evolve
Just not true!
We have been given in it on trust, deposit!
We have been entrusted with it
Vs. 2:2 - we entrust it to others
Content and Context
Content of the Gospel -
Listening to make sure we are true and clear
Context - the culture around us
Changes as we move around the globe
Dynamic even in the same place
Listening
How can we best speak the truth in love in this moment to these people?
Church has a long history of messing this up
Missionaries in Africa scolding new Christians about dress and instruments
Jesuits in China in the 1600’s
Our job, from Timothy to us
Bear witness to Christ and his gospel, his reign
Love OUR neighbors
As we looked at last week, this work of joining Christ in mission in every aspect of our lives
It is hard. Paul gives Timothy two examples and one trustworthy saying
1). Paul in chains
Also, end of Chapter 1
2 strayed,
Hard to watch
Jesus - narrow gate
Twice as many people were turned aside
But the one who stayed - what an impact
2). Soldier, Athlete, Farmer
This is how we are to look at it
Long term
Short-term…hard, setbacks, gut-punches
All three of these jobs don’t live for the moment
Lost battles, lost games, lost crops
They live for what isn’t yet there
The final victory, the next game, the harvest to come
Our eyes are on the horizon
Our confidence is in Christ
He has already
We work
Vs. 10
Endure everything
3). Trustworthy saying
Break this down
Two positives
Expect two negatives
Even when we lose heart, God is faithful
He won’t deny himself
Two ways - we are his elect, he chose us…he won’t let us fall
He will keep his promise
He is ours, we are his adopted children
100% his no matter what
Nothing, I mean nothing, can change that
So, we
We
We
Confident in Christ
Without fear
Bearing witness to the unbound gospel of grace