Keep Calm and Carry On Do Not Be Ashamed 2 Timothy 1:8-18

Transcription

1 Keep Calm and Carry On Do Not Be Ashamed 2 Timothy 1: Reality SB Ryan Hillner We are in an 8-part sermon series in the book of 2 nd Timothy. The heading or title we re using for it is Keep Calm & Carry on. SHOW SERIES ART If you weren t here last week we did an introduction to this latter and covered the first 7 verses. The reason why we are calling this series Keep Calm & Carry On is That phrase originated from a WWII British poster intended to boost morale and spur the British citizens on to keep fighting and continue on in the face of opposition during the war. In a similar way, (very different context and time) o In 2 Timothy we ll see that Paul is writing his final letter to Timothy while in prison, facing his own imminent death charging young, timid & fearful Timothy to carry on the Gospel. But this letter is not just intended for young timothy, this charge and Paul s final exhortations and instructions are for all believers. These final words of Paul are for us! In full-time ministry like Timothy or not, we too are all called to be ambassadors, salt & light, to spread the good news, carry on the gospel to the whole world. Re-Cap This past Sunday We concentrated on Paul s first charge to timothy o Which was: Stir up or fan into the flames the gift of God inside of us o Paul started by acknowledging the calling and anointing Timothy had and how Timothy had to walk in that calling, without fear empowered by the Holy Spirit exercising the gifts God had given him. We too were challenged and charged To not only discover what gifts God has given us, but to actively be exercising the gifts and be an active participant in the body of Christ With the intention of giving God glory and edifying or building up the church o Things got a little crazy, but was really good

2 2 This week, we continue on and finish Chapter 1 2 Timothy 1: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him [a] until that day. 13 [b] Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the [c] treasure which has been entrusted to you. 15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in [d] Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my [e] chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. Context: He s doing a few things here He s charging timothy, reminding him of the real reason why he can suffer well, and also bringing us into a bit of backstory of Paul s friends but most importantly why Timothy need not be ashamed 3 points he s making (3 different, connected charges) 1. Join with me in Suffering 2. Guard the treasure that you ve been entrusted with 3. Don t be Ashamed (The Lord, His calling on your life, or of me) Keep the first two rather short, spend more time on the 3 rd (Be unashamed) Join or Share in Suffering If there was anyone that had expertise to speak about suffering It was Paul 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 I more so; in far more labors, in ] far more imprisonments, [c] beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I

3 3 was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, [d] through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and [e] exposure. 28 Apart from such [f] external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches Who says that?? Take about someone that needs counseling or therapy ha-ha But really. Paul is asking Timothy into this This is not the last time in this letter Paul will ask this of Timothy 2 Timothy 2:3 o Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Paul wasn t asking Timothy to suffer for no good reason There was reason and purpose o It was for the Gospel! For the furthering of The Gospel! o Because there was still many more people that did not know the Good news of Jesus Christ! o Paul knew the job wasn t done, it had just begun. Timothy needed to carry on the torch Paul also knew that suffering went hand in hand with following Jesus It was to be part of the norm when spreading the good news of Jesus Christ o Suffering is Normal 1 Peter 4: Dear friends, don t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. It is a great privilege to partake of the blessings of the gospel, but God has ordained that we should not only have a part in these privileges, but that we should also be permitted to suffer for Christ s sake. 1 Whatever suffering is gonna look like in SB Let us join with Paul in the case of the Gospel despite the cost Let s not be surprised when suffering comes 1 H.A. Ironside, 1,2 Timothy, Titus & Philemon (Kregel Publishings, 1947)

4 4 Guard the Treasure that you ve been entrusted with What is the treasure? The Treasure is the Gospel It s the good news of Jesus Christ o It is the most important message ever told o Greater than the cure for cancer, etc. How do we guard it? Verse 13 o Retain the standard of sound words which you heard from me There was back then and there is now People, teachings and outside influences that are intending to mare, strip down, change or corrupt the truth of the gospel It was Timothy s responsibility to preserve sound teaching from becoming corrupted through distortion, dilution, deletion and addition. Heretical teaching was not only a possibility to Paul; it was a constant threat to be guarded against. 2 How will we know what are sound words? How will we know when false teachings come? How will we know what is sound or not? The only way is to know for yourselves what the Bible says and teaches Its not good enough to come to church, listen to some sermons, stream some podcasts, etc. Paul warns Timothy with more detail again in Chapter 3 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. Brothers and sisters Let us at all costs, guard the treasure that is in us by retaining the standard of sound words Don t be Ashamed 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner 2 Walvoord and Zuck, Bible Knowledge Commentary (Chariot Victor, 1983), 751

5 Of the Lord And of Paul 5 3 Times Paul says this in these 10 verses First, From Paul about Timothy Second, Paul s own declaration Thirdly, when he speaks about his friend Onesiphorus Why does Paul mention this so many times? Why was this such a big deal? The context of Paul s World: Paul s world had a highly developed set of codes for honor and shame, and everyone knew how they worked. There were all kinds of things that could bring shame on a person, or a family or a city. Many of them related to their visible status in relation to the power structures of the day. No surprise then for guessing where Paul came within these social scales. He was in prison! Paul knows that even his friends and colleagues may feel under pressure to distance themselves from him, and to be ashamed of him. Even Timothy may be tempted to give into this pressure. - N.T. Wright 3 Most Everyone has turned their back on him Calls two guys by names (Phygelus and Hermogenes) o We don t have any other mention of these two o What we can gather is that they were at one time fellow workers or friends and due to Paul s recent imprisonment they had turned away from him. He does specifically mention Onesiphorus One As the only one that was not ashamed o Specifically, did not care of being associated with Paul and journeyed from afar to care for and encourage Paul But still what s the big deal We need to remember what Paul just told timothy that we studied last week o Paul s charge was Do not fear o Now it s Do not be Ashamed What s the Difference between Fear & Shame? Yesterday I called a good friend of mine that is getting her doctorate in Clinical Psychology 3 N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone, The Pastoral Epistles (Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) 88-89

6 And tried to figure a bit more what Paul is doing here? And what the difference is and how fear and shame are connected. 6 This is what she said May get some of it wrong (ha-ha) Fear & Shame are very connected But also they are very different Shame is actually the layer below fear See a fearful response in a certain situation may be brought on because of the shame it will cause you o But shame at its root is fear of rejection o It s the fear of disconnect in a relationship Example: We don t share our faith with our co-workers, because we fear that they may be offensive and our co-workers may treat us differently In some cases, were fearful they wont talk to us anymore or our relationship will change, etc. We become ashamed to share our faith out of fear of rejection Shame is caused by the fear of rejection in a relationship See the cycle here? o You do or don t do something out of fear o You become ashamed of something when you fear rejection by that person or party. Fear of rejection causes shame which causes fear of an action Or Fear causes an action (or inaction), which is triggered by shame which is brought on by rejection Deep down we all have a real fear of rejection We all want and are designed by God to be connected, o Have relational connection with himself and others. o That s how were made When we are disconnected from someone, we feel rejection Ok, out of the Therapy session for a second. Here s why this is so crucial & important to get It goes back to the garden (Gen 3:6-10) Let me read this and see for yourself

7 7 Genesis 3: The woman (Eve) was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man [a] and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, Where are you? 10 He replied, I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked. All was good and shame did not exist until sin entered the world Sin disconnected them from God, and that disconnection caused shame And that shame caused them fear, fear enough to hide from God Do you see that shame was the first thing that sin produced??? Back to timothy for a moment, this is real. The risk of rejection is at his doorstep. Paul himself had been rejected by most everyone. If timothy were to do what Paul was asking of him, there s almost 100% chance he end up in Paul s exact spot. For us: The circumstance will look extremely different, but being ashamed of Christ, his calling in our lives can be really real for us. Example: o Many of us may have a real genuine fear of rejection by others when it comes to sharing our faith o Or we have experienced rejection by others by doing so, which causes shame which in turn will cause us to act or not act in fear. o Do you see how damaging and paralyzing shame can be for a believer? o Not only on a deep personal level but detrimental in any effort to spread the gospel So how can Paul himself say he s not ashamed and be ok in his present circumstances?? (Abandonment, persecution, Jail, death, etc.) Verse o For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him [a] until that day.

8 8 He s said this before: Romans 1:16 16 o For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. THE REASON = Its because he knew he was adopted, accepted and was in Christ! Rejection of man did not phase him He could care less if he was accepted by man, because he was fully accepted by God He had such a grand view of Christ and knew of his standing. o He did not care what man thought or did to him was of no value and had no power over him Verses 9-10 is the foundation to Paul s own suffering and charge to Timothy who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, The reason why Paul could suffer well and was not ashamed was he had a grand view of who Christ was and who he was in Christ Luckily the Story of Genesis 3 was not the end. What Jesus did on the cross was to restore a broken relationship o Rejection is now replaced with acceptance o Shame is now replaced by love Look at what scripture tells us: Adopted as sons and daughters (Romans 8:15) We are no longer slaves, but sons & heirs to God (Galatians 4:7) We have been reconciled to God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18) We are brought near to Christ by His blood (Ephesians 2:13) Fear and shame are done away with at the cross Let s walk in these truths and our standing in Christ! Let us be unashamed of the Gospel as we proclaim Christ to a lost and dying world!