When it is Dangerous to Believe A Study of 2 Timothy

When it is Dangerous to Believe A Study of 2 Timothy Sermon Transcript October 16, 2016 Stick Together 2 Timothy 4:9-22 This message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on October 16, 2016 at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, 06109 by Pastor Ryan Warner. This is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio copy of the sermon on CD is available by request at (860) 563-8286. An audio version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at www.wethefc.com. 1

Sermon Text 2 Timothy 4:9-22 9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, [a] Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Introduction This morning we conclude our series examining 2 Timothy, where we ve been talking about what living faithfully looks like when it is truly counter-cultural, when such belief can be considered, in one way or another, dangerous. There is a spirit of fear that can easily be brought on by shifting societal norms, an uncertain political landscape, and even the personal experience of having one s faith become an issue in the workplace. So we ve together sought and I believe have found encouragement from Paul s pastoral letter to Timothy, where while facing imminent death, Paul purposefully instructs Timothy in the work of endurance amidst the constant struggle of following Jesus in a world that doesn t. From the very beginning of this series we have sought confidence from Paul s reminder that God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7) Though fear, anxiety and despair can quickly surround us, we do not have a spirit of fear within. As such, we can face suffering without shame in the gospel, for we know that nothing can separate us from God s love. We can purposefully step in and invest in someone, passing on what has been given to us, because we know God is at work in and through us. We can place our confidence in God s Word, knowing that politicians come and politicians go, that nations come and nations go, but the Word of the Lord stands forever. Our hope is not in the advancement of a political 2

party or agenda, but in the coming return of our King. And we can endure until the end, keeping the faith amidst all sorts of trial and turmoil, living as the bearers of Truth in an age of deception, to one day say, as Paul, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7) All of this is possible through the grace of the Spirit within, a Spirit of power, love and self-control. All of this also leads us up to our passage today, the conclusion of 2 Timothy. It is a uniquely personal passage, Paul expressing his desire to see Timothy as soon as possible, making specific, personal requests and detailing some of the heartache the current season of life has brought him. Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. -2 Timothy 4:9-22 Isolation and Opposition Within these closing instructions we are reminded what comes from the influence of a spirit of fear. A spirit of fear causes isolation. The voice of fear says hide. The voice of fear says stay silent. The voice of fear says you can t tell anyone. The voice of fear says you can t do it. You don t have what it takes. You re not enough. Each and everyone one of us is intimately familiar with that voice. Here Paul laments Demas, who has deserted him and gone to Thessalonica. Don t forget that word, deserted. Demas deserted Paul, he listened to the voice, the spirit of fear. Paul says that he loved the present world in other words, his heart was in the treasure of today, not in the treasure of God s in-breaking Kingdom. Is this not what the voice of fear convinces us, that we if we just had a little more money, a little more spare time, a little more of this or that, then we could go along some grand adventure with God? But not before we have the hope of security that the present world promises but never provides. So Demas isolates himself from his partner in ministry. 3

Furthermore, a spirit of fear sets us against one another. Demas may have deserted Paul, but Alexander the coppersmith did him great harm. He warns Timothy against Alexander, calling him strongly opposed to their message, and leaving it up to God to deal with him appropriately. Did not Alexander, too, listen to the voice of fear? For we know that often our lashing out in anger is rooted in fear be it a fear of insignificance, a fear of harm, or the very plain fear of being wrong. A spirit of fear simply does not allow us to interact with one another as we ought. Pastor Christopher Hemmerich eloquently described the nature and problem with our typical, fear-based response in a blog post examining difficulties in pastoral ministry. When attacks come, he writes, the temptation is to circle the wagons and play defense. Not only does this approach shut down opportunities to heal your attacker with a Christ-like response, but in licking your wounds you can also easily cut yourself off from the rest of your sheep. While these words are directed to pastors, they certainly apply to us all. Paul experienced firsthand the heartache caused when a spirit of fear gains a foothold in the community of faith. Demas deserted, Alexander harmed, no one stood with him at his defense. We are isolated and set opposed to one another when we are driven by a spirit of fear. Yet this passage is not a passage of despair, but of hope. For Demas isn t the only deserter in the passage. He s just the only one still defined by that choice. The Case of John Mark In verse 11, after lamenting those who are no longer by his side, Paul writes, Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. I know, because I am often guilty of this, that it can be so easy to read over an instruction like this as inconsequential, but it is so very fascinating, and I would say beautiful, that moments after naming Demas as one who has deserted him, Paul asks for the presence of Mark. To understand why, we have to visit the book of Acts, where we first meet Mark. It is in Acts 12, when, as John MacArthur astutely notes, he is mentioned purely as a way to identify his mother. For Peter had recently been arrested by Herod, who intended to have him executed, as he had just executed James the brother of John. However, on the night before he was set to die, and angel appeared and miraculously led Peter out of his shackles and past a series of guards right out of the prison and into the city. Peter wasn t sure if this was really happening or if it was a vision, something he d experienced before. It wasn t until the angel left him that he became sure he was being rescued by the Lord, and upon realizing this he went to a house where many were gathered in prayer. A house belonging to Mary. And because pretty much every woman in the Gospels is named Mary, it was necessary to distinguish this Mary from the others. Therefore, we are told in Acts 12:12 that Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark. A little bit later in Acts 12, Barnabas and Saul, or Paul, are set to return to Antioch from Jerusalem, for they had taken a gift to the believers in Jerusalem, when something quite intriguing is mentioned. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. (Acts 12:25) This is the next thing we hear about John Mark, that Barnabas and Paul have brought him along 4

back to Antioch, for in some sense he was useful to them. As the story continues in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are soon sent off on their first missionary journey, and verse 5 tells us they had John to assist them. And again, MacArthur points out, this is the only description of him that tells us anything about the kind of ministry he had. He assisted. He was a helper. It isn t long before these missionaries encounter great opposition, and it wasn t long after that that we read in verse 13, Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. Now, as we read this, it seems John Mark s leaving could be completely innocuous. No reason is given for him to have left, it isn t dwelt upon at all, however we do see that he returned home to Jerusalem, and not to Antioch. However, a while later, in Acts 15 we learn what happened. And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are. Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15:36-40) So now we know that when John Mark left, it wasn t innocuous after all. It was desertion. Paul had not forgotten, so much so that a sharp disagreement arose between Paul and Barnabas when Barnabas wanted to take him along again. I can only try to imagine what a sharp disagreement between these two men looked like. I greatly appreciate the way Eugene Peterson translates this passage in the Message, writing, Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn t have him; he wasn t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways. That feels, to me, like it captures the sentiment Paul has towards John Mark, and then, towards Barnabas for defending him. And this is the man, the one man, that when he is knowingly near his death, Paul asks Timothy to bring with him. Something beautiful has clearly happened. John Mark is, in fact, mentioned in two additional letters of Paul his letter to Philemon, where Mark sends his greetings, and his letter to the Colossians, where we learn that Paul is sending Mark himself! So Mark has gone from deserter, from quitter, to entrusted, to useful, to desired. As an aside, remember how we first were introduced to John Mark when Peter visited his house? Somewhere in the midst of all this, we know from 1 Peter chapter 5 that Mark had reconnected with Peter Peter calls him his son. And our earliest church histories testify that this quitter, Mark, wrote the Gospel of Mark from the testimony of Peter. Now, we don t know what happened to Demas. Jon Bloom wonders in an article, Maybe Demas feared being executed with Paul and fled to safety. Or maybe he succumbed to immorality. Or maybe he simply caved in to the relentless temptation of a more comfortable, prosperous life in 5

the large, cosmopolitan, pluralistic, wealthy, culturally interesting city of Thessalonica. Whatever it was, Paul saw it as embracing the world. I would simply add, that the driving force in embracing the world in a spirit of fear. As we ve said, this is where the spirit of fear leads, especially in times where it is dangerous to believe. Thankfully, as we have said, we do not have a spirit of fear but of power, of love, and of selfcontrol. In other words, like John Mark, we can also be restored through the grace of God. For the truth is, we are all deserters, quitters who are being restored. As Bloom writes, Demas and Mark serve as contrasts. One provides a word of warning, the other a word of hope. And as people who stumble in many ways, we need both. Demas began well. Four or five years earlier, during another imprisonment, Paul refers to Demas as a fellow worker in the gospel (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:24) But he doesn t appear to end well. Having once fought alongside of Paul in kingdom battles, he seems to have sided with the enemy. So the warning is this: Be soberminded; be watchful. Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8-9) Our enemy is very real and very crafty. He threatens and seduces. And even those who start strong and are leaders, like Demas, are susceptible to his deception. Mark, on the other hand, gives us hope. He had a weak start. He didn t appear to have the right stuff. He disappointed his leaders and friends by leaving them to bear the heat of battle while he went home. But Mark ended well. At some point he rejoined the battle and proved a faithful, trusted, useful warrior. How beautiful is the story of restoration in John Mark s life. How beautiful is the story of restoration in your life and mine. And Paul is never one to allow us to believe this is of our own doing. Returning to our passage in 2 Timothy, Paul proclaims that while no one stood by him at his defense, the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. (2 Timothy 4:17) It is the strength of Christ in us, always, that restores, that strengthens, and that casts out the spirit of fear and gives a spirit of power, love and self-control. So Stick Together, For We Are Useful I am glad about the way John Mark is described, both by Luke in Acts and by Paul in 2 Timothy. In both instances, he is described as useful for ministry. This is worth our consideration, particularly as we discuss what it means to believe within a culture that increasingly does not. We are not told in what particular way John Mark was useful, and while we can at the very least presume some of his gifting from his writing of a gospel account, I think it is helpful that his usefulness is not specifically described. What we are left with is simply seeing that a person who is faithful to Christ and willing to be available to be used is useful in ministry. In other words, we, the church, are people who are useful in ministry. Not all in the same way, to be sure, but all useful just the same. I know many of you are beleaguered by thoughts that you don t have anything to offer, but that is the spirit of fear seeking to isolate you from the body of Christ. You are useful. Better yet, WE are useful. The spirit of fear isolates us and sets us opposed to one another. This we have all experienced in 6

Conclusion some way. But as we see in the relationship between John Mark and Paul, the restorative grace of God draws us together. If fear isolates, then power and love and self-control connect. When heartbroken by the desertion of so many, Paul longs for his pupil Timothy, and his onetime quitter John Mark. We are useful in ministry together, as the church. We are useful for the proclamation of the Truth in a society that is afraid of it. We are useful for lovingly welcoming sinners into the experience of God s grace. We are useful for living as a people trusting in the Kingdom of God rather than the promises of the present world. So stick together. Do not let a spirit of fear drive set you opposed to your brothers and sisters. Engage in community. I hope that your community group is more and more becoming a source of strength and encouragement to you. I hope that you are more and more seeing your usefulness to Christ through sharing life with one another. As a church, serve together. I want you to know that I hope each of you experiences the grace of regularly gathering for worship on Sunday mornings, but none of you settles for only that here. We are useful in ministry together, and I want for all of us to also experience the grace of God using us for his service, by his strength, for his glory. May your community group and your areas of service be sources of strength and encouragement from one another, as Paul found encouragement in fellowship with Timothy and John Mark. In his article, Bloom concluded, Let us also remember that God is in the business of forgiving sins, reconciling stumbling sinners to himself, and restoring them to useful service may our last word be But I received mercy. And whatever may have happened in the past, let us resolve to pursue Jesus as our treasure and seek to live lives of useful service for him from this day forth. Even if it shall become dangerous to believe. by Pastor Ryan Warner - All rights reserved 7

Sermon Title: Encouragement to Endure Sermon Text: 2 Timothy 4:9-22 Sermon Date: October 16, 2016 Getting To Know Me Questions 1. Who is someone who stuck by you during a time of difficulty or need? How did that person s choice encourage you? 2. If you feel comfortable, share about a time you felt deserted in a significant way. How did that experience impact you? 3. Share what you learned from the sermon this week. Diving Into The Word 4. Read 2 Timothy 4:!0 and 1 Peter 5:8-9. Use your imagination. Knowing that Demas served alongside Paul for a number of years, what do you think led to his desertion in the end? 5. Read Acts 15:36-40 and Colossians 4:10. Imagination time again! What do you imagine led to the restoration of trust between Paul and John Mark? 6. Read 2 Timothy 4:11 and Isaiah 40:30-31. What is the hope for you in John Mark s story? Try to avoid generalization and think especially about how this relates to your own story. 7. Read Hebrews 10:23-25. In what circumstances are you tempted to neglect meeting together with the body of Christ? 8. Read 2 Timothy 1:6-7. As we come to the end of 2 Timothy and this series, how has your appreciation for or understanding of this passage grown? Taking It Home 9. Share how you see other individuals within the group, or the group as a whole, as useful for ministry. 8