Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20120826.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
2 Timothy: God's Directives For Church Leaders Amid Hardships
Part II: Focusing On The Basis And Source Of Courageous Service In A Hostile World
(2 Timothy 1:8-12)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the great hardships local church leaders face is intense persecution for their ministry efforts.
    2. Paul and Timothy faced this problem, but 2 Timothy 1:8-12 reveals how Paul exampled how to counter the lure to be intimidated by it so as to shrink back from it in shame, so we view the passage for our help:
  2. Focusing On The Basis And Source Of Courageous Service In A Hostile World, 2 Timothy 1:8-12.
    1. Paul's second epistle to Timothy was written when both men faced intense trials from godless sources:
      1. Paul was about to be martyred for his Christian faith and ministry, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, an event that tradition claims occurred on the Ostian Way west of Rome, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1716.
      2. Thus, Timothy would lose the one who personally discipled him (Acts 16:1-3) and with whom he had extensively traveled and served the Lord, Rom. 16:21; 1 Cor. 16:10-11; Phil. 1:1; 2:19 et al.
      3. Paul's martyrdom reflected the larger trial of Roman Emperor Nero's persecution of the Church, Ibid.
      4. Timothy also faced an ongoing trial of intimidation before godless men, 1 Cor. 16:10-11; 2 Tim. 1:4, 7.
    2. One of the ways Timothy was to counter these trials was by following the examples of faith in both his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice, 2 Timothy 1:5. However, Paul's own example was also to be heeded for such trials, a truth explained in 2 Timothy 1:8-12 (as follows):
      1. Paul urged Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of his Lord, nor of Paul, the prisoner of the Lord, that is, a prisoner by the permissive will of God, 2 Timothy 1:8a. He was to overlook Paul's culturally degrading imprisonment in realizing that this role was the Lord's calling for Paul at the time.
      2. Then, like Paul, Timothy was to shoulder afflictions faced in standing for and ministering the Gospel of Christ by means of God's power, 2 Timothy 1:8b. Timothy was to rely on the Holy Spirit to keep standing for the Gospel in his life and ministry in facing ungodly opponents, Gal. 5:16-23; 2 Tim. 1:14.
      3. To clarify the value of that truth as motivation to bear suffering for upholding it in life and service, Paul launched into a moving description of this value in 2 Timothy 1:9-11 (as follows):
        1. God has saved every believer by faith in the Gospel from eternal damnation, making what sufferings in life and service each faces in ministering that Gospel logically readily acceptable, 2 Timothy 1:9a.
        2. Also, those who presented the Gospel of Christ to the world were called with a holy calling, one that was separate from sin and the sinful world, a calling thus directing them to avoid sin in faithfully heeding God's assignment regardless of the ungodly opposition they faced, 2 Timothy 1:9b.
        3. Besides, that calling was not based on the believer's works, but was made in line with God's purpose according to His unmerited favor, which favor was granted to the believer in Christ (lit.) "before the time (chronos, Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1967, p. 896) of the ages," or "before the beginning of time," 2 Timothy 1:9c NIV ["before the ages began" ESV]! Thus, though the believer did not earn or deserve the right to have such a ministry, it was graciously granted to him by God before the beginning of time, so its importance transcends the events of this life, including what suffering he might face in serving the Lord!
        4. On top of this, that ministry of the Gospel, being revealed in Christ, is through His cross the means of abolishing death and illuminating the truths of eternal life and immortality for men, making one's service of the Gospel worth the suffering and loss of life faced to uphold it, 2 Timothy 1:10-11.
      4. Thus, Paul suffered for his ministry of the Gospel without being ashamed of it, trusting God to preserve him and his salvation so he might fulfill God's calling of his ministry that Paul might gain God's great reward, 2 Tim. 1:12; Wm. Hendriksen, Expos. of the Pastoral Epistles (NTC), 1974, p. 234-235.
Lesson Application: We should be highly motivated to face godless suffering to fulfill God's calling of upholding His truth, for (1) that work eternally saves souls, making temporal suffering for it logically readily bearable, (2) it is a holy, (3) gracious calling, (4) it transcends in importance all other events in history and (5) it provides life and immortality to those who believe it! May we then entrust ourselves and our salvation to Christ that we might fulfill His calling in the face of suffering for eternal reward.