Transcript

In the British Museum in London, there is an old mariner’s chart drawn in 1525 outlining the North American coastline. The cartographer who created the map did so from information gleaned from ocean-going crews of the day.

There were notations on where reefs might be, and where the best harbors could be found. But there were certain sections that were relatively blank. And in those sections were notations like the following:

“Here be giants!” “Here be fiery scorpions!” “Here be dragons.”

Before the map made its way to the British Museum however, it was the prized possession of a British explorer by the name of Sir John Franklin in the 1800’s.

But in spite of its value, Sir John Franklin was offended by the fear that the ancient mariners had. And so he scratched out the inscriptions. And in place of the phrases that had once read: “Here be giants!” “Here be fiery scorpions!” “Here be dragons.”

He wrote these words across the map: “Here is God, here is God, here is God.”

Verse 7 says that God has not given us the spirit of fear. Knowing of God’s presence in our lives and wherever we go, we can live fearlessly and boldly for Christ.

In unknown and uncertain things in life that make us fearful we know that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but He does give us power, love and a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:1-2: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is the final will and testament of the Apostle Paul. These are his last words and thus with anyone’s final words, this should cause us to listen to them with concern and commitment. Paul had been arrested a second time and imprisoned because of his faith in Christ. He’s awaiting his execution as he writes this letter.

The name “Paul” means small or little. But the Apostle Paul’s ministry and impact for Christ was anything but small and little.

Paul became a very different man after his salvation on the Damascus Road. On that day, the greatest persecutor of the Kingdom church became “little” before his Master and Lord, and then from that point on His Savior used him greatly in his humility.

And “by the will of God,” Paul was called to be an apostle, a sent-one by Jesus Christ. And he was not so, as a result of the kingdom program needing another apostle.

Paul’s apostleship was unique as he was called to be an apostle by the will of God in order that God might reveal a message to him, which had been kept secret and hid in the mind of God, and then that Paul might make that message known as the apostle of the Gentiles.

Paul did not put himself in that position as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was sent by Christ. Paul was a man under orders from the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ.

As an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, the content of his epistles are not suggestions. He is conveying the words and will of Jesus Christ to the Body of Christ.

His words are authoritative. In that authority, Paul gives commands. And this letter is loaded with imperatives and exhortation.

Things like: Be not ashamed, be strong in the grace, commit to faithful men, endure hardness, study to show thyself approved, preach the Word, and so on.

And these exhortations are to be carried out without the spirit of fear, but with power, love, and a sound mind.

Paul wrote that his apostleship was “according to the promise of life.” The thought of “the promise of life” must have been a comforting thought for the apostle as he faced his death, knowing he had eternal life according to God’s promise who cannot lie.

That promise of life is comforting for all of us in our mortality, knowing that we have the sure hope of life in Christ Jesus. It allows us to face our death without the spirit of fear.

Paul goes on to further speak of “the promise of life” in verse 10, stating how Christ, “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

The promise of life and life eternal is based “in Christ Jesus” and what He has done for us through His death and resurrection.

Paul’s ministry and message as an apostle was based on and “according to the promise of life,” as revealed to him in the revelation of the Mystery, which shows how all can receive eternal life today under Grace, through faith alone in Christ’s death and resurrection.

And to the gospel of grace, Paul had been “appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles” (v. 11), as it was given to him to proclaim this good news to all.

Paul’s life, ministry, and message didn’t have a random focus. The razor-sharp focus of it was the gospel, this good news of “the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.”

The promise of life comforted Paul as he faced his death. And he took comfort in writing his faithful fellow-laborer, Timothy, his “dearly beloved son” as he calls him.

Many years had passed since the Lord had used Paul to lead Timothy to the Savior and Paul had watched him mature in the faith and grow strong spiritually and Timothy had become very near and dear to the heart of Paul.

To Timothy, Paul wrote, “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 2).

Given Paul’s circumstances, he might have written, “Pain, mistreatment, and misery accompany me,” but instead he selflessly writes Timothy, “Grace, mercy and peace” to you.

Paul’s usual salutation was “grace and peace” in 10 of the 13 letters he wrote, but he added “mercy” here to the salutation. In 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus he added “mercy” and no doubt this was because of the troublous times and circumstances these men of God labored under. Paul knew that pastors needed the mercy of God.

They needed mercy because of the difficulties of ministry and in dealing with different problems and also because of their own weaknesses in life. And so grace is needed for every service, mercy for every failure, and peace for every circumstance.

Every single letter that Paul writes, without exception, all thirteen of them, begins with some form of the words “grace to you.” And every single one of them ends with some form of the words “grace be with you.” There are no exceptions.

So why is it always “grace to you” at the beginning of the letters and “grace be with you” at the end of the letters? Here’s something for you to consider.

As the letters begin, God’s grace and peace is being given and mediated to the readers by the words and the truth of each letter from God the Father and the Son, by the Spirit.

As the letters end, people have received grace from God through the reading or hearing of these truths. But Paul knew that the readers would then leave and return to the troubles and daily grind of life in this world.

Thus, Paul prayed that this grace, which they had now received through the Word of God, would “be with” them as they returned to their daily lives, that they would remember, carry, and apply these truths to their hearts and lives. And as we do this with God’s Word, it gives us strength and drives the spirit of fear away.

2 Timothy 1:3-5: “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

“Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Paul didn’t write, “I thank you Timothy,” because he knew all that Timothy was in his faith and character, was because God had made him what he was. God had saved him, transformed him, and used his life. So it was God that he thanked for Timothy.

And he thanked the God, whom he served from, or as did, his forefathers with pure conscience (v. 3). As Paul awaited the executioner’s sword, he reflected back on his life, and took comfort in the fact that he had always served God with a pure conscience.

Paul recalled various things in verses 3-5, and in verse 3, he told Timothy that he remembered him constantly in his prayers.

Paul prayed with feeling and heart, and as he prayed for Timothy, he did so “without ceasing…night and day,” emphasizing to Timothy that he prayed for him all the time at all hours of the day.

Paul knew that his own time of service was rapidly drawing to a close. He knew that Timothy would be left alone, humanly speaking, to carry on as a witness for Christ and to stand for the truth of the message of grace. He knew of the difficulties that Timothy would face, and so Paul prayed continually for his son in the faith.

And Paul “greatly” desired to see Timothy. Later in the book he wrote in 4:9,21: “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me…Do thy diligence to come before winter.” Paul really wanted Timothy to come to him in Rome, and for Timothy to be diligent in doing so.

In other words he wanted him to hurry. He needed to be comforted by his presence. The presence of other believers helps us overcome the spirit of fear, as we draw on their faith.

It seems that the last time they had been together and parted that Timothy broke down in tears. This may have been when Paul was arrested. But his tears had made a deep impression on Paul, and he could not forget Timothy’s tears as he prayed for him.

Paul says that he longed and greatly desired to see Timothy, so that he “may be filled with joy.” The implication is that he didn’t have full joy. And one of Paul’s last requests before he left this world was that he might see Timothy just once more, because in seeing him he would be filled with joy.

As Paul recalled Timothy’s tears, he also remembered his “unfeigned” faith. “Unfeigned” has the idea of unhypocritical, genuine, sincere, having no mask, no phoniness.

And he reminded Timothy that this kind of faith also dwelt in his grandma Lois and in his mom, Eunice.

By their genuine faith, they had influenced Timothy and taught him the Scriptures as he grew up. 2 Timothy 3:15 reads, “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.”

Paul reminded Timothy of the privilege he had by his mother and grandmother’s godly influence and true faith, and how he needed to glory in this and be thankful for it.

2 Timothy 1:6-7: “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

The following story by an unknown author gives an illustration of how one believer not exercising their gift in the Body can affect the message produced by the entire Body. It’s called: A Brokxn Kxy.

Evxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works quitx wxll xxcxpt for onx of the kxys. I havx many timxs wishxd that it workxd pxrfxctly.

It is trux that thxrx arx forty-onx kxys that function wxll xnough, but just onx kxy not working makxs thx diffxrxncx. Somxtimxs it sxxms to mx that our church is somxthing likx my typxwritxr—not all thx kxy pxoplx arx working propxrly.

You may say to yoursxlf, “Wxll, I am only onx pxrson, I don’t makx or brxak thx church.”

But it doxs makx a big diffxrxncx, bxcasx a church, to bx xffxctivx, nxxds thx activx participation and gifts of xvxry pxrson.

So, thx nxxt timx your xfforts arx not nxxdxd vxry much, rxmxmbxr my typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf, “I am a kxy pxrson in thx congrxgation and I am nxxdxd vxry much.” This is what happxns to thx wholx church, and multiply this by many timxs—thx whole thing just doxs not makx sxnsx!

Don’t bx likx a brokxn kxy. Utilizx your spiritual gift. Thx local body of Christ nxxds you and cannot bx thx samx without you. It affxcts how thx mxssagx of Christ through thx Church is communicatxd to thx world!

Every believer is strategic, important, and KEY to the Church. We each have a gift that needs to be used in the Church and for it. We also have a responsibility before the Lord to do so, who gave us our gift by His grace.

After sharing with Timothy his remembrances of him, his tears, his faith and the faith of his mother and grandmother, he turned to put Timothy in remembrance of something: “stir up the gift of God which is in thee” (v. 6).

Timothy had a responsibility to use his ability, his gift, for the Lord. Like all believers, he too was KEY to the church.

Paul says “Wherefore,” or in light of that genuine faith that dwells in him, he was to carry out this instruction by faith.

Paul was concerned for Timothy and encouraged him to not waver just when a strong stand was so greatly needed. The term “stir up” means to “fan into flame.”

It has the picture of trying to coax fire from a dying ember, placing dry kindling on a glowing coal and blowing on it or fanning it to create a flame.

Paul’s challenging Timothy to renew his commitment to use the gift of God that’s been given him. He had been designed by God for a certain function, for leadership and instruction as a pastor within the Body of Christ.

Every believer in Christ has been given a spiritual gift. Ephesians 4:7 says “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Every one of us in the Body of Christ has a gift and the ability by the grace of God to use it for Him. All of us in the Body of Christ possess divine enablement to serve the Lord.

Like any gift, you don’t earn it and you don’t choose it. By grace, God gives every believer the spiritual gift that He sovereignly wants to give for our function in the Church.

God gave a gift to Timothy. That gift needed a burning zeal to carry it out and use it. Paul reminds Timothy to get that fire going again, rekindle it, keep it alive, and keep it blazing. And it is God’s will that we also “stir up” our gifts, that we ignite our God-given abilities and use them and ourselves to the utmost for His glory.

Now there is hot and then there is hot. There are degrees of heat. You might say, “I’ve got a fever. I’m really hot.” But I could touch your forehead, and it wouldn’t burn me.

But if you light a large fire, stoke it, and after a while I stick my hand in it—that’s hot. That’s the kind of fire and heat we’re talking about in using our gifts for Him.

God wants our zeal and service to be burning-hot in living for Him. God is worthy of that.

But God makes the degree of the flame of His gifts dependent on His grace, the Holy Spirit, and our fanning them into flame by faith by a continuous action of us using them and growing in our faith.

So like Timothy, we need to keep feeding and using our gifts, fanning them into flame by living for the Lord and making ourselves available in His Church for His use, because our passion for serving God can grow cold and the flame can go out if we don’t.

Timothy had received his pastoral/leadership gift “by the putting on of my hands,” says the apostle in verse 6. The reason he mentioned the laying on of hands is to affirm that Paul KNOWS he had a gift that he needed to stir up.

The question then becomes, “Does this take place today?” The answer is that it does not. The miraculous ability to confer a gift by the laying on of hands was given to Paul as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

At ordinations, when men of God lay hands on someone, it’s just a public recognition of a gift that Christ has already given that person.

Timothy’s gift, however, was conferred to him supernaturally during the Acts transitional period. During this time the sign gifts and miraculous things like this still took place. But the sign gifts ceased with the completion of God’s Word.

However, God does still gift believers, giving a special ability to use in His service, but it’s done entirely apart from the laying on of hands.

By faith, Timothy needed to stir up his gift, because it wasn’t a time for letting his fire die in serving the Lord and it wasn’t a time for the spirit of fear.

Police found it hard to believe, but an unarmed housewife once captured three burglars singlehandedly. The woman had come home and found three men loading household items into their car parked in her driveway.

She pulled her van behind their car and then ordered the men to carry her belongings back into the house and sit on the couch until the police arrived.

Later, when asked why they didn’t escape, she replied, “The Lord was with me. I wasn’t going to move my van so they could get away. What was I to do? Run away?” That lady did not have the spirit of fear!

We’re taught here that God has GIVEN me a gift. But He has NOT GIVEN me the spirit of fear. But He has GIVEN me power, love and a sound mind by the Holy Spirit.

We don’t need to accept what God has not given us: the spirit of fear, and we do need to humbly receive and walk in what He has given us: power, love and a sound mind.

Speaking of God not giving us the spirit of fear, in the book of John, we learn how plans had been made by the Jews to seize the Lord and kill Him after Lazarus’ resurrection.

John 11:53,57 states: “Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where He were, He should show it, that they might take Him.”

What follows in John 12 is Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. That bold entrance showed the fearlessness and boldness of our Lord. He made Himself very easy to find as He descended the Mount of Olives with this huge crowd yelling, shouting, and praising Him: “Hosanna! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!”

It was like the Lord saying, “You’re looking for Me!? Here I am!” He couldn’t have made it plainer where He was in His boldness.

He knew they desired to kill Him and were trying to find Him, and He boldly entered the city presenting Himself as the Messiah of Israel. There was no spirit of fear with Christ.

The spirit of fear comes not from God says the apostle. It comes from the weakness of the flesh and it comes from Satan. It is one of the enemy’s greatest weapons used against the believer to hinder the gospel and to keep believers from standing for the truth of Paul’s message of grace for today.

In this context, we see that God did not give us a gift to be used in His service and then give us a spirit of fear that would negate the use of that gift and keep us from using our gifts. But rather He gave us power, love and discipline in order that we might operate that gift to its fullest by Him.

Verse 7 says God has given us, past tense, already in the bank, power, love and sound mind. When you became a believer God gave you power. Because when you became a believer you received the Holy Spirit, and we have the power of God within us. So we are “to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” Eph. 3:16 says.

In the book of Micah, after Micah condemned false prophets, he asserted his own power to reveal God’s Word as a prophet, stating, “But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might” (Mic. 3:8). Likewise, each believer is full of power by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

When you became a believer you received divine capacity to love with God’s love because it says in Romans 5:5 that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Giving us love by the Spirit in turn tells us a lot about the power He has given us by the Spirit. God’s power is expressed in how much we can love others.

On the night before the cross, John 13 states that Christ “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God,” and you see next what He did with all that power: He humbly washed His disciples’ feet.

And when you were saved you received the Holy Spirit who works His fruit out in our lives, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and the last one is temperance, or self-control, discipline, “a sound mind.”

The Greek word translated as “sound mind” has the idea of a calm, self-controlled mind, in contrast to the panic, anxiousness, and confusion that comes in a fearful situation.

So through the Spirit we have “power,” which displaces the spirit of fear and gives us the boldness to stand for the truth, the ability to serve the Lord and others, and strength to be a blazing hot testimony for Christ through the practice and use of our gifts.

Through the Spirit we have “love,” giving us a sensitivity and concern for the lost, giving us compassion and a desire to give our life away for God and others. And “perfect love casts out fear,” 1 John 4:18 says.

Through the Spirit we have “a sound mind,” giving us the discipline and control needed to overcome fear and the worries and lack of control that accompanies fear. A sound mind is about having the mind of Christ. It is to think and live by God’s wisdom in His Word.

In our service to God and stand for the truth, we have power to do the task, love to care and see the importance of the task, and discipline to accomplish the task, all without the spirit of fear.