2 Timothy 1:8-18 Not Ashamed of the Truth
2
Timothy is a letter that is filled with emotion.
A) Paul is writing from a
Dungeon in
B) Writing to Timothy, his
beloved Son in the Faith – Passing the Baton of ministry.
C) 16
Specific encouragements Paul gives to Timothy in this letter.
1)First
1:6 Stir up the gift – fan the flame
2)
2nd – 1:7 Paul reminds Timothy – not given a spirit of fear …….
Sound mind
D) Today we see
encouragement #3 V.8 Do not be ashamed of the
TRUTH. Read Verse 8-12
Now
the “therefore in v.8 connects us to what Paul has been saying to Timothy
A) Special calling –
His genuine faith –
His gifting from the Lord –
His equipping – not fear but
power…..
B) Because of all of that
–Timothy, don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me, His prisoner.
C) Notice – Paul doesn’t
consider himself to be a Prisoner of
Timothy
was ministering during a time when being a Christian, let alone a pastor was
becoming very DANGEROUS.
A )Stronger men than Timothy had wilted when
faced with Shame and suffering!
B) The hostility toward Christians
& the message of the gospel was growing.
1)
Christianity was being blamed for much of the problems in the
C) Why would Paul write to Timothy exhorting
him not to be ashamed of the truth or of Paul?
1) Paul knows that deep down
everyone wants to be accepted!
D) Think about what pp will
do to be accepted
1) Dress growing up! Big
Hair – 80’s fro Pick my hair – big hair look –
E)
1) ACCEPTANCE
When
we talk about being a Christian in a secular society – deep down – wrestle
acceptance
A) No one enjoys not being
liked – no one wants to be labeled as the Party Pooper / Kill Joy
B) Universal yearning to be
accepted – to fit in
C) For Timothy not
fitting in cost him his life!
Now we live at
a time in the
A) Hatred is growing – as
seen in some of the letters from recent – Virginia Tech Shooting –
B) The Shooter had an open
hatred of Christians among others. { Isolated
instances
C) But we are no where near
– where the 1st century Church was at during the time of Paul’s
writing
1)
Or even what members of the Church go thru on a daily basis in Communist &
Muslim Countries
D) Where an estimated
150,000 Christians are martyred every year.
So
we are not yet experiencing the type of Persecution that Timothy was up against
A) But it’s going to get
more and more uncomfortable to be a Christian especially if you REALLY – believe the Bible.
B) That is becoming less and
less acceptable!
C) We are living in a Post
Modern Culture! What is that?
1) Modernism is often pictured as pursuing truth, absolutism,
linear thinking, rationalism, and certainty.
D) Those who are
Modernist are often depicted as being rigid and prideful – having a desire to
control.
The
Postmodern thinker. – Says no absolute truth, everything is relative and
because culture is always changing – truth changes with it.
A) So the more that Christians take a stand for truth found in
God’s Word – the more uncomfortable it will become for us in this Post Modern
culture!
B) Over the yrs in an
effort to be more acceptable in our culture- say [for the purpose of reaching people]
1) There has
been a real tendency to water down the truth, redefine truth and even cast
doubt on truth
C) In the seeker
movement terms were redefined:
A) Adultery was
called an affair/ mistake/ a failure anything but a sin.
B) Let’s Not talk about
the Blood – the cross – repentance – the
motivation was to make the “ Seeker” Unbeliever – feel comfortable
1) In reality the
motivation was one of acceptance – The Church wanting to be accepted by
the world.
Today
there is a movement – really an old movement – regaining new momemtum under a
new title –
A) What is the
emerging Church? – Well, on the one hand it is hard to define because it is
broad –
B) No clear definition and
not all those in the movement agree on everything.
1) Accept their
view that Church needs to change
C)
For some that means setting up Contemplative prayer Stations in the Church
1)–Focus on some picture and pray – that is a part of the emerging
Church.
D) Or
Introducing art into the service to stimulate prayer or worship! –
1) Could be a part of the emerging Church in it’s most innocent
forms
But
what is really troubling are some of the statements being made by some of their
foremost leaders.
A) One of the leading
spokesman & thinkers for the
B) Former Pastor – now an
author and a speaker
1) Always
a Dangerous combo – always leary of someone tells me how to do my Job –
he is no longer doing it – maybe didn’t do it well in the first place.
C) McLaren is the spokesman
He was recently picked by Time Mag as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the
Brian
McLaren sums up his views on orthodoxy, certainty, and the question of whether
the truths of Christianity are sound and reliable .
How
ironic that I am writing about orthodoxy, which implies to many a final
capturing of the truth about God, which is the glory of God.
Sit down here next to me in this little
restaurant and ask me if Christianity (my version of it, yours, the Pope’s,
whoever’s) is orthodox, meaning true, and here’s my honest answer: a little,
but not yet.
He
continues
Assuming
by Christianity you mean the Christian understanding of the world and God,
Christian opinions on soul, text, and culture . . . I’d have to say that we
probably have a couple of things right, but a lot of things wrong.
McLaren
suggests that clarity itself is of dubious value. He clearly prefers
am/bi/guity, and his books are therefore full of deliberate doublespeak.
A) In his introduction to A
Generous Orthodoxy, he admits,
“I have gone out of my way to be provocative,
mischievous, and unclear, reflecting my belief that clarity is sometimes
overrated, and that shock, obscurity, playfulness, and intrigue (carefully
articulated) often stimulate more thought than clarity.”[2]
B)
A common theme that runs throughout most of McLaren’s writings is the idea that “there is
great danger in the quest to be right.”[3]
C)
He is good with words and speaks in a way – where one might say: Wow that was
heavy – but when pressed, not be able to tell you what he said
His
approach and message is very appealing to the younger Generation that wants to
question everything
A) McLaren calls the
Traditional view of Hell and the cross false advertising for God. –
B) He endorses a book by
another writer that calls the cross a vile doctrine
1)
McLaren refuses to take a stand on the
issue of Homosexaulity and gay marriage because He can’t do so without hurting
someone.
McLaren
says “I am not sure what we should think about Homosexuality. He called for a
five year moratorium on making pronouncements about whether homosexuality is a
sin or not. Then in five years, if we have clarity, we'll speak; if not,
we'll set another five years for ongoing reflection.”
The
main motivation in all of this is acceptance!
Dan
Kimball's new book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church – writing about
how the Postmodern individual has been turned off by Church –
but
Kimball asserts that is changing now – largely due to the efforts of those like
himself & McLaren, leaders in the emergent Church movement.
Kimball says these are
"exciting times" we live in "when Jesus is becoming more and
more respected in our culture by non-churchgoing people (p. 12).
According
to Kimball, it is vitally important that we as Christians be accepted by
non-Christians and not thought of as abnormal or strange.
A) But in order to do that,
he says we must change the way we live and behave.
Kimball
insists (p. 19) that "those who are rejecting faith in Jesus" do so
because of their views of Christians and the church. But he makes it clear
throughout the book that these distorted views are not the fault of the
unbeliever but are the fault of Christians, but not all Christians, just those
fundamentalist ones - who take the Bible literally, believe that
homosexuality is a sin and think certain things are wrong and harmful to
society ... and actually speak up about these things.
In
the eyes of the
Kimball says
"Fundamentalist Christians are now the foreigners in a post-Christian
culture, and we have got to wake up to this reality if we haven't" (p. 30).
Isn’t that exactly what Jesus
said would be the case
A) Christians have
always been foreigners in the world, and they have suffered terribly for it.
B) Throughout Christian
history, there have been countless murders and atrocities that have been
committed against Christians.
Jesus said, "I am not of this world" (John 8:23) and also: "My
kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).
The apostle Paul said: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from
which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious
body...."
(Philippians 3:20),
and Jesus said: "I have
given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world." (John 17:14)
John
3:20
20 For everyone practicing evil hates
the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed
John
15:18-20
"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it
hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you
out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
That
is precisely the point that Paul is making here to Timothy –
A)
Paul in writing to Timothy is not encouraging him to find a way to fit in – but
on the contrary – not be ashamed to be different – be prepared to suffer.
B)
4 Motivations - #1 Suffering is normal
2 Timothy
3:12
“All who desire
to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
B)
Good company!
C)
Prophets – Persecuted for Pronouncing truth
1)
Paul was about to be executed for preaching the truth
D)
Jesus was crucified for Declaring the truth.
E)
Timothy, if you are suffering for the sake of the truth – you are in good
company.
1) Must
be more concerned w/ being right before God than ACCEPTED BY THE WORLD.
#2
Remember your Calling V.9
A) A 2nd means
for guarding against being ashamed of Christ is simply to remember our holy
calling from our heavenly Father,
B) who, as Paul has just declared, shares His divine power with His
children.
1) The all-powerful God who has saved us has equally sufficient power
to keep us.
C) When I am more concerned with
being right before God – than I am man –
1) God will supply me with
what I need in the moment it is needed
Corey
Tin Boom – Money trip
#3 It is a great message:
V.9-10
A) Called according to His
grace, not our works – but for His purpose
B) Jesus came and abolished
death – [spiritual death]
Bring immortality and life.
C) It is an Absolute
message: John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by Me!
D )
Maclaren
– advocates Pluralism
A) Biblical Christianity
teaches that there is one road that leads to God – thru Christ
B) Pluralism basically says
– there are many roads that lead to God.
C) “When Christians claim that Jesus is the only way – we are
being elitist.” –
1)
We are cutting others off { Acceptance
D) He says the traditional
view of Christianity is too limiting
1) He Promotes that Islam and Christianity Reach Same God
Through Mystical Experiences
E))
Nouwen
who said:
“Today
I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all
human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not.
Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.”
(Sabbatical
Journey, p. 51, 1998 edition).
Contrast those
statements with those of Paul here:
11
to which I was appointed a preacher, [proclaimer]
an apostle, [one sent out]and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things;
nevertheless I am not ashamed,
A) Paul is not ashamed he exults in his privilege.
His soul dances at the thought of his call:: “That is
why I am suffering as I am” (v. 12a).
“I am suffering because the gospel is so unutterably
glorious. I am suffering because it is so powerful. I am suffering because it
is the only hope of the lost.”
B) Glorious priviledge to preach
the gospel – your faith comes alive – the most when you do.
C)
I envy you- Secular environment – many opportunities –
1) I spend most of my days
with Christians – great pp – Miss those opportunities –full time ministry
D)
Grocery Store / Hotel – Gang up on an Isle
1) Questions – Invigorating
– Blinders lifted
E) Church in
1) Different person.
F) 95% of you are saved –
Teach more than preach
Look forward to the day.
1)
Glorious message
#4
It is worth it. V. 12
I know whom I
have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to
Him until that Day.
A) Investing in the Kingdom
pays eternal dividends
B) Back from the South –
Ground is hard –
C) Love to Encourage those
guys –
1) God is working – Last
time 300pp / this time 600
Last time 30 senior pastors,
this time 70
D) Encouraged – Doing what
God has called them to
1) Results are slow – but
the eternal reward is great
Read Verse 14,
15 – Possibly – thru 18
Closing:
We all want to be accepted!
A) Who doesn’t want tot be
liked – we all have a desire for approval
B) That comes from a drive
deep down inside of us – a desire to be loved
C) Drives for food / Sex /
One of the strongest drives is the drive for acceptance.
1)
God created us with this incredible desire for Love
D) God is love ! – So He
created us to be receptors of that love
1)
It is God’s love they are craving.
The
greatest need is to be accepted by God.
A)
They spend their whole lives looking for love in all the wrong places
B)
God sent Jesus to show us – How much He loves us
C)
Relationship is possible
Mark
8:38
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and
sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in
the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
Hebrews
2:11-12
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified
are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
Those
who take that step of faith live for heaven
Hebrews
11:16
“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared
a city for them.”