An Appeal to Guard the Gospel (2 Tim 1:1-18)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to 2 Timothy 1:1-18.

While you’re turning there, I want to let you know why exactly I chose to preach through 2 Timothy at this time. As everyone in this room knows, we’ve all been through a significant ordeal that didn’t work out the way that it was supposed to. I’m not going to go into detail about that right now (we’ll talk about that after worship this morning), but we can all acknowledge that we’re going through a rather difficult season—in many ways, we’ve been coming through a desert on the way to what we hope is the promised land.

Likewise, Paul in 2 Timothy has gone through a significant ordeal. 2 Timothy was written towards the end of his life and as he’s writing this letter to Timothy, he is in prison suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ. He knows that he’s about to die; in fact, he tells Timothy in this letter that he’s about to die—we see it in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [or death] has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

So, we know that Paul is in prison about to die and he writes Timothy this letter and there are two specific reasons for this letter that is clearly evident: (1) he is exhorting or encouraging Timothy to do something—in particular, he’s encouraging Timothy to be bold, to endure, to be faithful especially in a place where false teaching was so prevalent. (2) he’s telling Timothy to keep His eyes on the Gospel—stay rooted and grounded in it, keep preaching and teaching it, be firm in it because God’ Word, which reveals the Gospel is breathed out by Him and is profitable for all things.

What Paul is essentially doing is this: he is giving Timothy some last bits of advice and encouragement before his demise as a martyr.

Keep this in mind as we read 2 Timothy 1:1-18 together:

2 Timothy 1:1–18 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore 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, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through 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 apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

As we study this passage together, I’m going to break it into two parts: (1) Introduction to 2 Timothy (1-7) and (2) Paul’s Two-Fold Appeal (8-18). The first seven verses speaks about the relationship that Timothy and Paul has—and it is important for us to see this relationship because it shows us how Paul and Timothy relate with one another (i.e., what compels Paul to write a letter like this). The last eleven verses then starts this letter with two appeals that are actually tied together—and the appeals are tied together because they relate to the Gospel and what Timothy ought to do now that he knows that Paul might not be around much longer. This sermon will encourage us despite the precarious situation that we find ourselves in, to be all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ—in what we do, in what we say, and in how we live. We ought to stay absolutely focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Illumination

Introduction to 2 Timothy (1-7)

Our text starts like all New Testament (and really, all first century) letters started. Paul announces who the author of the letter is before stating who the recipient of the letter is. He writes “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Let’s pause here. In Paul’s announcement, there are some details worth noting:

We already know who the two parties of the letter are—we know that Paul is an apostle and we know that Timothy is a pastor (we know that from the previous letter as well as Ephesians and Acts).

We know that they do have a relationship that’s close, they traveled together extensively while Paul preached the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean region; and we know that Timothy has this pastoral role in Ephesus because Paul placed him there.

And from 2 Timothy 2, we see that Paul considers Timothy to be like his child—primarily in the faith, but also, just in regular life—Paul taught Timothy and trained him and prepared him for the work of ministry.

We can also see from these two verses some thoughts concerning who Paul knows himself to be.

He calls himself an apostle of Christ Jesus, which is just a reference to his role—he has seen Jesus face to face and he had been commissioned by Jesus to go proclaim a message.

That message is “according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus” or what we would simply refer to as the Gospel. Paul is a commissioned messenger of the Gospel who saw Jesus face to face.

Thus, not only does he have some authority because of their father-son relationship, but he has added authority in this letter simply because he was an apostle chosen by Jesus and sent out according to the will of God.

This adds validity and importance to the letter itself.

Now the “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” is what we would consider a nicety.

The only thing about this that’s unique from a tradition first century letter is the fact that Paul is expressing well-wishes from a Christian perspective rather than a non-Christian perspective.

He wants Timothy to experience grace, mercy, and peace, which is only from God and through Jesus their our Lord.

After this initial opening, we find five verses in which Paul expresses thanksgiving for Timothy and the way that he was raised.

We see Paul stating that he thanks God as he prays for Timothy day and night.

In particular, he thanks God because of Timothy’s sincere faith, which is something that dwells in him, but he had seen exhibited in Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois.

In other words, Paul is thankful that Timothy genuinely believes in Jesus Christ; and he’s thankful that Timothy’s mom and grandmother exhibited true faith in Jesus as well.

It is that genuine faith that Paul is certain that Timothy has that then lays the foundation for vv. 6-7.

Paul states that since Timothy has sincere faith or true, genuine belief, he needs to “fan the flame of the gift of God” within him.

He says that this gift was confirmed through the laying on of Paul’s own hands, which refers to the pattern of what we typically refer to as ordination today.

When the local church recognizes the gifts and the calling of God upon a believer for the work of the ministry and the men who are already elders lay their hands upon someone else and commissions them for the work of the ministry.

Paul says that Timothy has a gift given by God to be utilized as he pastors the church in Ephesus and he needs to fan the flame of that gift.

Think of how you fan a wood-burning fire to increase the amount of oxygen flow and get that fire to grow—it’s the same idea.

V. 7 gives another reason for him to build up this gift and it is simple, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Paul reminds Timothy that God is not a god of confusion and fear, but rather one who has power and love and self-control, who then gives us power and love and self-control.

Now, why exactly does Paul feel the need to remind Timothy of his ordination and his giftedness and really, the goodness of God?

We don’t really know, but it could stem from a previous encouragement given by Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12 “12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

It could be that Timothy was still struggling with leading the church in Ephesus because people denigrated him for his youthfulness, but this is purely speculative, we don’t know for sure.

So, Paul reminds Timothy of who God is—that God is a God of power, love, and self-control; and He gives that power, love, and self-control. Paul reminds Timothy of his ordination—that the Holy Spirit has gifted him to serve in the local church in a pastoral role. And he’s doing this to encourage and exhort him for a specific duty, which he gives in vv. 8-18 and it’s all about the Gospel. Let’s take a look at those verses.

Paul’s Two-Fold Appeal (8-18)

2 Timothy 1:8–18 ESV

8 Therefore 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, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through 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 apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Paul says in v. 8 that Timothy ought not be ashamed of the Gospel, “therefore 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.”

Paul refers to “the testimony about our Lord,” but I think you can tell what he means by that statement. He’s speaking about the Gospel itself.

The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus—the fact that through His death, He has paid for our sins, and through His resurrection, He brings about new life for those who believe. We see that idea expounded on as the passage continues.

If you look at vv. 9-10, you can see the Gospel clearly spelled out, “[Jesus] saved us and called us to a holy calling . . . because of his own purpose and grace . . . which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.”

Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of this truth, which means that some might assume that there’s a reason to be ashamed about the Gospel. What might those reasons be?

In our current world, it could just be a feeling of shame based on how people typically respond to religious beliefs—it could be that we would assume that unbelievers would think that our religious beliefs were foolish and thus, we would feel ashamed of what we believe.

In Timothy’s case, because of his youth, those around him might assume that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he’s so young. Also, because of his youth, there could be a tendency to be timid rather than bold, which would translate into being ashamed.

But Paul tells Timothy to not be ashamed of the Gospel, rather “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.”

Not only be bold about the Gospel, not only be firm on the Gospel, not only be unashamed of the Gospel, but be willing to suffer for the Gospel.

And Paul can say that because he’s in prison as he writes this, which is why he asks Timothy not to be ashamed of him as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Paul is definitely suffering for the Gospel and he wants Timothy to be willing to suffer if it comes to it for the Gospel.

I want to point out that Paul is so invested in the proclamation of the Gospel that it is part of his identity. After describing the Gospel, we read vv. 11-12, the Gospel is “for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

Paul is so invested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he recognizes that it is for the Gospel’s sake that he was appointed as a preacher or proclaiming of the truth, as an apostle or appointed messenger of the truth, and as a teacher of the truth.

Paul is so invested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he realizes that the Gospel is the reason for his suffering and he is perfectly willing and fine to suffer for the Gospel.

Paul is so invested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that he has no shame concerning the Gospel.

And he is so confident in Jesus and what He has promised that he is fully convinced that Jesus will protect and guard the Gospel itself. He’s so confident that Jesus will protect the Gospel; and yet, he encourages Timothy to remain firm on the Gospel and guard it just like he has guarded it. Take a look at vv. 13-14, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Though Paul knows that Jesus will protect his Gospel, he recognizes that there will still be those who seek to destroy the Gospel or at very least, are ashamed of the Gospel.

In fact, he mentions some examples of those who hoped to subvert and denigrate the Gospel in v. 15, “You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.”

In the case of Phygelus and Hermogenes, it seems as if they were more ashamed of Paul than of the Gospel and yet, Paul still mentions them in context of being ashamed of the Gospel; and that could simply be because Paul was an apostle of Jesus so by rejecting Paul’s teachings, they’ve rejected the Gospel.

The Gospel is always under attack by those who refuse to believe it, but Jesus will protect His Gospel; and Paul protected Jesus’ Gospel; and Timothy is expected to protect Jesus’ Gospel.

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is for him to follow the Gospel, which Timothy heard from Paul. To follow in love and in faith. And then through the power of the Holy Spirit, guard the Gospel, which has been entrusted to him.

Timothy is to protect the Gospel by standing firm on the truth and by following the Words of God in faith.

Or, in other words, we could say it like this: Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is for Timothy to be like Paul—absolutely and completely all about Jesus and the Gospel.

Paul wants Timothy to be so invested in the Gospel that even when when he faces suffering for the sake of the Gospel, he’s firm in the truth and he’s willing to guard the Gospel with his life.

Paul wants Timothy to be so invested with the Gospel that He literally bleeds the Gospel when he is cut.

Which honestly, this idea makes sense when you consider what the Gospel means, what it does, how it effects us, and just how important it is.

The Gospel includes the idea that Jesus was born of a virgin; lived a perfect, sinless life; was crucified, died, and was buried; that he arose and is seated at the right hand of the Father. The Gospel also includes the fact that through Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, he not only takes the punishment for our sins, but He reconciles us to the Father—we are saved through the cross.

Previously, we were Ephesians 2:1 “dead in [our] trespasses and sins,” but through Jesus, we Ephesians 2:4-6 have been made “alive together with Christ,” who saved us.

Isn’t this idea that Jesus literally saves us worth being absolutely invested in? Isn’t it worth being so utterly consumed the Gospel that we would literally bleed and die for the Gospel? Isn’t it worth the giving up of our lives for the one who accomplishes our salvation through the Gospel?

No wonder we need to guard the Gospel, which was entrusted to us.

Paul then closes the with just a few verses and the first of which is the example of two people who were ashamed of the Gospel, Phygelus and Hermogenes, but the rest of the text mentions a person who wasn’t ashamed at all. A man by the name of Onesiphorus and his whole household weren’t ashamed, but served Paul both in Ephesus and in Rome.

Which leads us this morning to our application and you might be wondering, how exactly do we apply a passage that was partially just an introduction to the letter? How do we apply a passage that seems to be completely fixated on what Timothy ought to do? So, let me help you with this.

Application

There are two primary ways that this text can and should be applied, but let me first state that the first way that this can be applied might seem like a side-note, but it actually isn’t.

Starting with the beginning, Introduction to 2 Timothy (1-7) — Paul reminds Timothy of three specific things. He reminds him (1) of his Christian upbringing, (2) of his gifting, and (3) how other people had affirmed his gifting.

Paul is doing this on purpose because he’s trying to help him as he prepares to defend the Gospel.

So, Paul reminds Timothy of his mom and his grandmother who raise him to be in the faith.

And Paul reminds Timothy of his spiritual gifts, which he has been gifted with for the very purpose of leading the church in Ephesus.

And then Paul reminds him that other people had confirmed that he was gifted and suitable for the role that God had given him in the church of Ephesus.

Why do you think Paul is doing this? It’s so that he remembers that he actually knows what he’s talking about, that God had given him all that he needs, and that other faithful Christians confirmed all this.

Or, in other words, he’s doing this to build up some confidence within Timothy to prepare Timothy for the task ahead.

And there’s a lot that we can learn from this because we have also been given a task that is significant—as Matthew 28 teaches, we are to go and make disciples of every nation.

We can feel completely unqualified to do this, we can feel inadequate when it comes to accomplishing this task, but consider all that God has providentially utilized to bring you to the point that you’re in now.

You might not have had parents and grandparents who invested in you and your faith, but you’ve had pastors and the church invest in your spiritual growth.

You might not be completely confident in what your spiritual gifts are, but you have been given spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit to be utilized within the local church now.

And you have had godly and spiritual influences around you that have confirmed your giftedness before encouraging you to go and serve the church in and around Philipsburg.

Not to mention 1 Cor 1:26-31 “26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””

God chooses those who might seem unqualified or inadequate and then He equips them.

When you feel inadequate to serve the Lord—consider everything that God has done to providentially lead you to where you are now and remember that He equips those whom He calls.

Now, let’s look at the second part, Paul’s Two-fold Appeal (8-18) — In the final section of the passage, Paul gives two appeals that are essentially tied together: (1) don’t be ashamed of the Gospel and (2) be prepared to guard the Gospel. The same applications that Paul gives to Timothy concerning these appeals are applicable to us as well.

You have been saved according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ—you shouldn’t be ashamed of the Gospel.

That sounds like common sense, but just consider your own life. How often do you choose not to proclaim the Gospel out of some sort of fear?

For instance, you don’t mention your belief in Jesus when you’re at work because you’re fearful of what might happen.

Or, you don’t bring it up when you’re with certain friends because you worry about what they’ll say.

Or, you pretend like you don’t believe when you hear people start to talk trash about Christianity.

Maybe we ought to look at it in a different way. The Bible teaches us that those who truly believe in Jesus ought to make a public profession of their faith through baptism by immersion.

Have you actually professed your faith in Jesus Christ? Or are you worried about what people might think?

Have you been baptized? Or are you holding off because you don’t necessarily want people to know you believe?

Do people know that you genuinely believe in Jesus? Or are you ashamed that you believe in Jesus Christ.

True Christianity results in Gospel proclamation because of the realization of what the Gospel actually means and accomplishes within you.

You can’t be ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God through which He saves.

Because the Gospel is the only way for salvation, you need to Guard the Gospel.

The Gospel is the most important information that you can possible have because it is what informs us of the truth of who Jesus are and why we need Him.

It is by a great margin, the most important news that you could possibly give to anyone in existence—it is the most important truth in not just our modern age, but in every age since Genesis 3.

And ever since Genesis 3, the Satan, the deceiver has been asking the very same question over and over and over again—is that what God really said?

The Gospel is constantly under attack, which is precisely why you as a believer ought to be ready and willing to defend it and to guard it and to prevent its subversion. Now, you might ask how exactly do I do this?

It’s rather simple—first off, Jesus protects His own Gospel—we know that first and foremost, from His own character.

Jesus is a covenant-keeping God and His covenant is found primarily through His Gospel. For Him to keep the covenant found in His Gospel, He has to protect His own Gospel.

Not to mention, you can see God’s providential hand in protecting His Gospel throughout church history—even when it seemed the light of the Gospel had been extinguished, God always protected it and kept it lit for following generations.

Second, the little bit of protection that you do for the Gospel is found in two ways:

You protect the Gospel by simply knowing the Gospel well—You cannot possibly protect something that you don’t know. And you can’t protect something well unless you know it well.

As a Christian, you ought to be so familiar with the Gospel that if someone asked you to describe it in less than a minute you could—you could explain how God created all things and He designed it in a way to function in perfect but mankind rebelled against Him in sin.

You should be able to explain that the sin that started our rebellion against God results in destruction, death, and ultimately separation from God and that we cannot possibly work to fix that relationship with Him—we just simply cannot be good enough, work hard enough, or earn enough to save ourselves.

But God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ; who lived that perfect, sinless life and died on the cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins.

He saves us and the Gospel is that we obtain that salvation not by being good enough, working hard enough, or earning enough, but rather through faith and by grace—we repent of our sins and we cry out to Jesus and place all our hope in Him.

This is the Gospel and you ought to know it so well that you could tell anyone at a moment’s notice.

And you protect the Gospel by speaking the truth in a world full of lies—the Gospel itself is antithetical to the world that we live in. We live in a pluralistic society that claims that truth is relative.

But Jesus says that the truth is that we’re all sinners in need of a Savior and He is that Savior. There is nothing relative about that statement. It’s true whether you want to believe it or not.

Because we live in a pluralistic society that believes in relative truth, the idea that most people have is that there is no one way to God, but rather there are multiple ways to God and just as long as you try to reach God, you’ll be saved.

But Jesus says that He is the only way to the Father and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Do you see where I’m going with this?

It doesn’t protect the Gospel when we develop a pluralistic mindset in an effort to appease the world or make other people feel comfortable. In fact, it does significant harm to the cause of Christ in the lives of people around us when we don’t lovingly point them at the truth.

It does significant harm to those around us when we lie to them and tell them that they’re alright in their sins or they’re ok in their false beliefs and we never bother to actually give them the Gospel; and when you lie to them about their sins or their false beliefs—you are damaging their understanding the Gospel rather than protecting their understanding of the Gospel.

But the Gospel is the most important piece of news they could possibly have—we ought to be willing to suffer for it, to die for it, to protect it at all costs.

It’s a high goal, but remember, Jesus protects His Gospel, which means that if you’re willing to suffer for it, to die for it, to protect it at all costs, it’s because He has enabled you and empowered you to do so.

You need to be unashamed of the Gospel and you need to protect the Gospel with your life.

Put simply, what Paul teaches us in 2 Timothy 1:1-18 is that the Gospel is worth defending, in fact, it is worth dying for—so we shouldn’t be ashamed of the Gospel, but rather, we need to (1) be prepared to guard the Gospel and (2) remember that through the process of guarding the Gospel, Jesus equips us to protect His truth—so rely on Him.

Pastoral Prayer