Power for this Purpose - 2 Timothy 1:8-18

Sermon Series: Burning Out?

On both June 29, 2002 and July 21, 2007, then President George W. Bush chose to invoke Section 3 of the 25^th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The 25^th Amendment of the United States Constitution deals with the succession to the Presidency, and Section 3 states that the President can make a written declaration to both the Senate and Congress that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.  And until the President can make a written declaration to both the Senate and Congress that he is able to discharge the powers and duties of his office once again those powers and duties will be discharged by the Vice President as the Acting President.  On both June 29, 2002 and July 21, 2007, then President George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy and had to be put to sleep for the procedure.  During the time of the procedure and while he was still under the effects of the sedative President George W. Bush transferred his power and duties as President to Vice President Dick Cheney.  By doing this, George W. Bush was making sure that the governing of the United States of America could continue on unhindered if a national emergency took place during the time that he was asleep and would not be able to govern.  So Dick Cheney was given the power of the Presidency for the purpose of making sure the governing of our country continued on without interruption.

The duties that Dick Cheney had to assume during those few hours were not his normal duties and not under his normal authority.  So the power that he was given for those few hours on those particular days was something he needed to carry out the duties of the Presidency.  And he needed to be given that power by the one who had the power.  For us, we experience something very similar when we become followers of Christ.  When we place our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God asks us to carry out certain duties that were not part of our lives prior to becoming followers of Christ.  And in order for us to carry out those duties we need a certain power – one that doesn’t naturally reside in us.  Like Vice President Cheney we need power to be given to us by the only One who does possess it.  In the verses we examine today Paul makes it clear that God has given Timothy power that he will need to carry out his duties as a follower of Christ.  But perhaps what’s more important is understanding the duties, or purposes, for which God gave Timothy those powers.  So the question we’ll attempt to answer this week is “For what purposes does God give power to those who are believers in and followers of Christ?”

Last week as we covered verses 3 through 7 we noted that Paul was certain of Timothy’s sincere faith (vs. 5) but that the context of verse 6 seemed to indicate that Timothy’s faith might not have been burning as strong as it once had.  So Paul encouraged Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God” – to do what was necessary to strengthen his faith so that it would once again burn hot and once again have an impact on both the believers and the non-believers around him.  Being fully convinced that Timothy would indeed fan the flame of his faith and put his talents and abilities to use for the sake of the gospel, Paul reminded him in verse 7, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  With his faith burning strong, his service to God would cause him to encounter difficult situations in which he would have to be dependent upon the power of God to carry out the task; he would have to be dependent upon the love of God to love his opponents; and he would have to be dependent upon God for self-control while warning and correcting those who were teaching false doctrine.  One of the truths that is consistently taught throughout the NT is that when individuals have surrendered their lives to Christ and are living out their faith, that they will, like Christ, suffer various hardships and trials (e.g. see 1 Peter 3:13-15; 4:1-2, 12-13).  Paul makes clear this very idea later in this same letter to Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).  Paul, having charged Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God, and fully expecting him to do so, also reminded Timothy of the spirit which God had given him, so that he would be certain that he possessed the power, love, and self-control he would need to carry out his ministry.

The Two Purposes Stated

Paul’s reminder to Timothy of the spirit which God had given him would also serve as re-assurance in two additional charges that Paul was about to give to Timothy.  Paul says in verse 8, “Therefore . . .” – because of the spirit of power that God has placed in you – “do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”  In verse 8 Paul charges Timothy (1) not to be ashamed of the testimony of Christ (the gospel) and (2) to share in suffering for the gospel.  At the heart of both of these charges is the good news of salvation that is made available through Jesus.  At the core of both of these charges is the truth that Jesus died for sin, that He was buried, and that He overcame the power of both sin and death by rising from the grave three days later.  It is the foolishness of the message of the gospel that sometimes causes believers in Christ to be ashamed of the message.  Think about it – if we profess our faith in Christ and believe that His death was a substitution for ours, then we proclaim to the world that we are broken and sinful people.  We proclaim that our sin made us a helpless and hopeless people.  And we proclaim that our hope of reconciliation with God lies entirely in the humiliating death of Jesus on a cross and His resurrection from the grave.  While I believe these things whole-heartedly, having examined the claims of Christ and God’s plan for salvation throughout Scripture, the reality is those claims can sometimes sound crazy to those who aren’t believers in Christ.  Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of that message, or to be ashamed of him, who is currently experiencing imprisonment for his steadfast proclamation of the message.  And if the perceived foolishness of the message wasn’t a big enough challenge, there was also the certainty of suffering that accompanies the message of the gospel that also presents itself as a challenge to believers in Christ.  There isn’t any certainty in regards to what shape or form the suffering will take in the lives of believers, but there is certainty that suffering will come when we stand steadfastly resolved in our faith in the gospel as believers.  These are difficult challenges and Paul tells Timothy that the only way for him to carry out these charges was by the power of God, which Paul notes in verses 7 and 8 (on both ends of the charges).

The Two Purposes Expounded – The Gospel of which we are not to be Ashamed

In verses 9 and 10 Paul reminds Timothy of what the gospel ‘is,’ which he ought not to be ashamed of.  The message of the gospel is that God has “saved us.”  Saved us from what?  God has saved us from sin and its consequences.  When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Ephesus he described to the church their state of existence before Jesus saved them.  He wrote, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3).  These verses describe well what God saved us from.  The Bible teaches that sin is master over every human individual.  When we come into life we live under its power and control, and we continue in that state.  Because sin is an offense to God and His holiness, God’s only just action against sin is to separate it from Himself and to punish it by sending His wrath against it.  So the reality is while we may appear to be alive and well in the physical sense, spiritually we are dead and standing in the cross-hairs of God’s coming wrath.  But this is what God saved us from.  God did not want the crown jewel of His creation, the one part of His creation which was made in His image, to be without hope.  So God wrapped Himself in flesh by sending His Son Jesus to earth to rescue a hopeless people.  Jesus, who was the only person to go through life without committing any sin and being the only one in life to be undeserving of separation from God and God’s wrath, stepped into the cross-hairs of God’s wrath for us.  The Bible teaches that God, in His great love for us, sent Jesus to rescue us by bearing our sin and enduring our punishment so that we wouldn’t have to.  Listen to Paul’s words to the church at Corinth, “For our sake He [God] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Jesus came to earth where He willingly suffered death on the cross.  On the cross Jesus took all of the sins of humanity upon His shoulders and received the wrath of God poured out on Him, so that we would not have to.  Now let me be clear on one issue.  While Jesus’ death was sufficient to cover the sins of all humanity in that it was enough to pay the price for every sin that has been and will ever be committed, it is not applied to every sinner.  The gift of forgiveness and cleansing is extended to all, but it is not applied to all.  The forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus made available is only applied to those who recognize Jesus’ death on their behalf and in faith take possession of that gift and surrender their lives to a new master – Jesus.  For every person who understands the consequences of their sin, who recognizes their need for a Savior, who believes that Jesus suffered God’s wrath on their behalf, and who turns control of his life over to Christ, the Bible teaches that the forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus purchased on the cross is applied to their lives, so that their sin is no longer counted against them.  They become recipients of an unbelievable exchange – instead of their sin being credited to them, Jesus’ righteousness is credited to them.  For everyone else – they continue to be mastered by sin, and continue to await the wrath of God against them.  So the gospel is the message that God has saved us!

The gospel is also a message about God’s call to us.  The Bible teaches that salvation isn’t something that we stumble upon, nor is it something that we happen to be lucky enough to hear about and respond to.  The Bible teaches that God plays a much bigger part in our salvation.  God, in His sovereignty, calls (or draws) individuals to the salvation that He offers.  He works in individuals’ lives to position them to hear the good news of Jesus, He works through the Holy Spirit to convict them of the reality of sin in their lives, and He helps them to understand the truth of the gospel.  So it is God who is ‘calling’ us to salvation - God who is initiating this transforming work in our lives.  And when we have been transformed by the gift of salvation we live new and holy lives; lives no longer lived for our own glory or to make much of ourselves, but lives dedicated to the purpose of glorifying our holy God and making much of Him.  So Paul says that this ‘gospel’ message is a message of how God has both saved us and about how God has chosen and called us to live lives set apart for Him.

What makes God’s salvation and calling even more incredible is that neither are extended to us based on our worth or our works.  The gifts of salvation and calling are extended to us according to Paul, “not because of our works but because of His [God’s] own purpose and grace.”  Despite popular belief, God isn’t examining our lives to determine if we have been good enough to receive His forgiveness.  He doesn’t have a set of scales on which He is weighing out our good deeds on one side and our bad deeds on another side.  Nor is God grading the lives of people on a curve where He compares our lives to the lives of others to see if we should receive His forgiveness and cleansing.  When God looks at our lives and examines our lives He does so in light of Himself.  So when God looks at people (even the very best of people) he still sees guilty sinners who are deserving of His wrath.  This may seem like discouraging news at first – that there is nothing we can do to earn, deserve, or merit God’s favor and forgiveness.  And if God had not acted on our behalf then it absolutely would be.  But because God has looked on our helpless state and has done for us what we were helpless to do, this news becomes extraordinary news.  God, by His grace alone, has made this salvation possible.  And this has been his plan verse 9 says from before time began.  Then it was put on display (or ‘manifested’) when Jesus came to earth.  You see prior to Jesus’ coming, salvation was a ‘promise’ – something which God had said was coming, but was still needing to be fleshed out.  But when Jesus came, God’s promise became visible.  God had fulfilled His promise through His Son.  Jesus came and made it possible for people’s spiritual death to be abolished and to receive life in Him (not just eternal life in the future, but new life in the here and now).

Paul says in verse 11 that this is the ‘gospel’ message which he had been appointed to proclaim and to teach.  This was the message and ‘testimony about our Lord” of which he was not to be ashamed.  This was the message that he had received the spirit of power from God to take to people all throughout the Roman empire.  And this was the message that he was commending to Timothy and charging Timothy not to be ashamed of.

The Two Purposes Expounded – The Gospel for which we are to Suffer

In verse 12 we also find that this ‘gospel’ message was the reason Paul had suffered so greatly.  In his great resolve to take the good news of Jesus to many of the most significant cities in the world, Paul had encountered many hardships.  Jews who failed to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah wanted Paul put to death for proclaiming Jesus as God and teaching that salvation was through Him, rather than through the Law.  Idolaters wanted Paul imprisoned or put to death because Paul’s message was causing people to turn from the worship of false gods to the worship of the living and true God.  This was having a negative impact on their financial income as the idols made by craftsmen were not being purchased in great quantities and offerings made to the temple were no longer being given.  Some Roman officials also saw a need to imprison and punish Paul for his message.  The Romans had out-lawed any new religions and faith in Jesus was perceived by some as an attempt to rally people against the leadership and cause of Rome.  Paul’s proclamation of the gospel was the reason that Paul suffered so many hardships.  But even though the message of the gospel had brought such hardship into his life, Paul was neither ashamed of the message, nor discouraged with God who had appointed Paul to be a messenger of gospel.  Paul was convinced, even though he had encountered such hardships, that God was the one and only, true God, and that God, Himself, was able to protect the gospel message which He had entrusted to Paul to be a messenger of.    So Paul tells Timothy in verse 13 to follow the example that he had provided for him.  Was it likely that Timothy would encounter some of the same hardships that Paul had encountered?  Probably.  But Timothy wasn’t to fear the suffering that awaited him and water down the message of the gospel in order to avoid it.  Paul exhorted Timothy to follow his example of proclaiming the truth of the gospel in both the faith and love that were his in Christ.  Guarding and passing on the gospel in its genuine and sincere form was what God had appointed Paul to do, and what Paul was exhorting Timothy to continue to do. 

In verses 15 through 18 Paul provides Timothy with a couple of other examples – both good and bad.  Paul reminds Timothy of what he was already aware of.  In verse 15 Paul (probably using a little bit of hyperbole) says that all those who had partnered with him in ministry in Asia had turned away from him.  They had abandoned Paul both physically in that they were not continuing to encourage him or support him in his imprisonment; and spiritually, departing from the teaching and doctrine that Paul had passed on to them.  Among these men were two in particular, Phygelus and Hermongenes.  Apparently, when trials and hardships had come their way because of the gospel these men had cut and run – separating themselves from both Paul and his teachings.  Paul was encouraging Timothy not to go this route.  Instead, Paul encouraged Timothy with the example of another individual named Onesiphorus.  While the others had abandoned Paul, Onesiphorus had endured the hardships that had come his way as a result of the gospel and had also labored to continue to encourage and assist Paul.  While many had lost touch with Paul and his whereabouts, Onesiphorus made his way to Rome and diligently searched until he was able to locate Paul.  Paul wanted Timothy to follow the example of Onesiphorus and continue steadfastly and diligently in the service of the gospel.  Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is one that we should heed as well.

As believers in Christ, God gives us a unique calling – much like He did with Paul.  Jesus, by the will of God, appointed Paul as an apostle.  That was a unique calling only given to a few specific individuals following Jesus’ resurrection.  But every other believer in Christ receives a specific call from God as well.  Paul says in his letter to the church at Corinth, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20).  God has given us a specific call - making known the good news of Jesus!  It’s a task that we are given after we trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior.  And it is a difficult task that requires a certain power.  But the power is not one that we possess on our own – it’s a power that we need to be given by the only One who possesses it.  And Paul assures us that God gives us that power.  So God equips us with the power we need to be His ambassadors, to unashamedly proclaim the good news of the gospel, and to suffer the difficulties that come when we do stand steadfastly resolved in our proclamation of the gospel in its true form.  So as believers in Christ we need to know our calling; we need to recognize the power that we’ve been given; and we need to understand the purposes for which the power of God has been given to us.  When we recognize and understand these things we will be better equipped to carry out the call of ambassador that we have been given.

Small Group Questions for Discussion:  

1. Talk about a time when you were given a task to do but didn't feel like you had the power or ability to carry out that task.  How did that make you feel?  What woud have helped you or encouraged you to carry out that task during that time?

2. As a believer in Jesus, do you ever feel like you're the only one who wrestles with or struggles with the call God has given us to be His ambassadors?  If so, why do you feel that way?  What are some examples of ways that believers in Christ in our age and our culture wrestle with being ashamed of the gospel or suffering for the gospel?

3. Paul was an example to Timothy of faithfulness to the gospel, as was Onesiphorus.  Can you think of any believers in your life that you can look to as examples of faithfulness to the message of the gospel?  Who are they?  How can we do a better job of reminding ourselves of these examples and then following their lead?  

4. Do you believe the positive impacts of the gospel outweigh the suffering that Paul says accompanies the gospel?  If so, in what ways?  If you are a believer in Christ, talk about how the good news of the gospel has positively impacted your life and how that has outweighed any suffering that you have encountered.