55 Preaching Teaching: 2 Timothy 1: The Fuel for Worship

The One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven!

Kids portion of the message:

What are some things you can’t do at your house?

Have a food fight.

Eat unlimited candy.

What if you could do one of those things...

Did you know that there is something really good we get to do here on earth that we cannot do in heaven.

We get to tell people about God’s love.

Telling people about God’s love is one of the most exciting things that you can ever do.

I remember one of the first times I told someone about the love of God. His name was Roberto and he was from Nicaragua and when I told him that God loves him and that God wanted a relationship with him guess what he said? He said he wanted to start a relationship with God. Guess hat Roberto did, that summer when he went home he told his mom about God’s love and she began a relationship with God.

Who are some people you can share the love of God with?

This week I want to encourage all of us to do the one thing we cannot do in heaven.

Intro story about how much shame I had for letting my friend and his girlfriend into my house.

The command of the passage

EOT - Paul challenges Timothy to join him in suffering for the gospel.

EOS-Called to something Greater-

DDS-Every person will take a step of courage for the gospel this week.

Have you ever pictured what heaven is going to be like. Here is a lot of people’s view of heaven. You are on a cloud playing a harp.

The greatest thing we can do in heaven is worship the king. But I think heaven is going to be so great and so awesome that we can’t even get our minds around it.

One of my favorite places to go is Colorado and one of the reasons it is my favorite is because my wife is from there.

I love Colorado’s beauty and remember many times I have been there and have just stood and looked at the mountains, and once I saw it just was a moment of pure enjoyment and worship.

Heaven is going to be amazing.

However there are some things we will not be able to do in heaven. Obviously we will not be able to sin in heaven. But one of the greatest things we get to do as a church, share the perfect love of God, some call it evangelism or witnessing, we will not be able to do this in heaven.

As a result we are titling this talk the one thing you cannot do in heaven.

Isn’t it crazy to think that the one thing we cannot do in heaven is the means God uses to get people into heaven.

I had just become a believer in Jesus and I was excited about him.

I remember I wanted to tell the world about this amazing God. One of my friends at the time as well was getting into the Bible and I remember I called him and told him you need to go to my house and tell my brother about Jesus.

One time for fun I went to a mall when I was going to college in Arkansas and we began to share the good news wherever we went. We were asked to leave by a security officer.

When I came home from college that summer my new found faith was not celebrated with all of my friends.

Renovation city church growth over graduation

One of the things we value at RCC is growing as a disciple.

Four areas we talk about a lot are Word and Prayer and fellowship and evangelism.

Out of these four what is your strongest?

What is your weakest.

God wants us to be growing in all of them.

Today we are going to talk about Evangelism. and today’s talk is titled the one thing you can’t do in heaven.

Think about this in heaven you can do a lot of things, our primary thing is worship God, but their is one thing we will not be able to do in Heaven. is share the good news.

If you want to do the one thing you can’t do in heaven:

1. You must be fueled by the gospel (8-10).

What motivates you.

What fuels you.

The gospel means good news and it is so good that it should fuel us.

It was not just meant to save and rescue us, which it does it was meant to guide and direct us.

2 Timothy 1:8 (NASB95)

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

a. Sharing the gospel is courageous

Have you ever thought about this, we share the things we are passionate about. Nate was taking his driving test last week, and yes he did pass, and as we were signing in I told the Lady about Nate and his opportunity to play college basketball. It was not hard. Why because I am excited about his opportunity. We share what we are excite about.

When was the last time you were excited about Jesus?

When is the last time you were courageous for God?

Think about this: Peter, a man who was boisterous was ashamed to share the gospel.

We have to recognize that sharing the love of Jesus is hard

The story went like this-Peter said Jesus I will never desert you or in other words I will never be ashamed of you. Remember what Jesus said, You will deny me three times. Man if Jesus makes a prediction that is bad that is not a good thing. Because what God says comes true. I remind us about this story because it is hard to share good news. Even the great Peter could be ashamed of Jesus. I was reminded by how hard it is for us as believers to share good news. I was meeting with a group of students and they were their every time the doors opened. Then I told them at a meeting next week we are going to go out and have some conversations about Christ. They stopped showing up.

I think we need to say this because the Christian faith is not easy.

Joining with other believers, and joining with ultimately Paul is not easy.

Suffering is not something we naturally want to sign up for.

Crystal Clear Gospel

Isn’t it amazing that before God tells us what to do he tells us who we are.

In the book of Ephesians which is 6 chapters long, the first three chapters he just tells us who we are, it is like a love poem.

2 Timothy 1:9 (NASB95)

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

God Saved us-We were in need of rescue, we did not save ourselves. We were not in a good situation.

Called us-This is not just a regular old calling, this is a holy Calling.

“If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?” ― David Livingstone

According to his works, so many people today think the way to heaven is based on your performance and on what you do. I ask people regularly what do you think it takes to get to heaven-Good works. Our works actually condemn us because we are sinners.

God has some amazing works-His creation being one.

But the work he wants to do in you is even greater.

Grace-What’s so amazing about grace? Once you experience grace nothing in this world compares to it. It is so marvelous. And it is so amazing that from all eternity it was God’s plan because he knew nothing else could ever compare to his amazing grace.

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

He enables us to achieve this purpose by His sufficient grace that comes to us in Christ (cf. Eph. 2:8–9).

Here is the gospel right here:

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

“God did not call us because we are holy; God called us to make us holy.”

2 Timothy 1:10 (NASB95)

but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

The Resurrection changes everything

When Jesus appeared everything changed. God’s plan from all eternity was revealed.

Isn’t this message awesome:

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Exposition)

“There are few passages in the New Testament which have in them and behind them such a sense of the sheer grandeur of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Application:

Timothy was on the verge of being ashamed of this message?

He was not fueling up?

Are you being fueled by the gospel?

If you are not you will be in the same spot Timothy is.

You may not rob a bank, you may not do some “Terrible sin” but you won’t do the one thing you can’t do in heaven.

Are you ashamed of the gospel?

If you want to do the one thing you can’t do in heaven:

2. You must be you (11-14).

a. Embrace God’s design on your life!

2 Timothy 1:11 (NASB95)

for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

Paul had a specific calling: he was appointed a preacher (like me) an apostle-this word means sent one and to teach. This is who Paul was and what he was called to do.

What a great calling!

He was called to communicate the gospel.

Do you know that each of you have a calling.

Contrast it to Timothy mom and grandma. They had a calling to raise Timothy up in Christ. This was not a higher calling, this was not a lower calling this was their calling.

One of the best things I learned about preaching, if you want to be good at preaching be you. Isn’t this true in life. There is only one of you in this world. There was only one Timothy in this world, there is only one Paul in this world. There is only one you in the world.

What is God calling you to right now?

Yesterday I was so happy to see Doug. Doug is such a happy guy in general. But he and Peggy invited a family to Fall Festival and he was so happy when they came.

Maybe God is just calling you to be faithful to right where you are.

b. We can live out of conviction.

2 Timothy 1:12 (NASB95)

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Because Paul knew the gospel and he knew his role in the gospel he lived by conviction.

He was willing to suffer-Paul suffered willingly as he was a Christian, one time he was left for dead and he got up and began preaching the next day and now he was in prison looking death in the eye.

He was not going to be ashamed-Because he knew who he was putting his hope in and he is convinced that God was going to come through for him.

Paul was literally entrusting his life over to God.

God is worth trusting our life over to, and when we do we can live out of conviction.

Are you living out of conviction?

C. The message does not change

2 Timothy 1:13 (NASB95)

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

There are a lot of freedoms as a believer but only one message. If God is going to guard what we have entrusted to him can’t we keep his message the message. it is simple-we just saw the good news spelled out. We cannot change this message. We have to keep it pure, we have to keep it the same.

How will we get off as a church?

When we start going away from the Bible.

How will we get off as a church?

When we stop preaching the greatest message ever given.

He says retain the standard of sound words.

This message is the message we stay true to, this was the message that was passed down to us and from Jesus himself. This is message that Paul passed down to faithful people. This is the message that faithful men passed on to the next faithful generation and this is the message we have the opportunity to pass this on to the next generation.

Who are you passing the message on to today?

Who could you pass the message on to today?

2 Timothy 1:14 (NASB95)

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

How can we keep this message pure?

Why do we get to be a part of this?

God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Now I want you to think about this if you were given a ton of money. Would you just put it on your table at your house. No you would guard that money. You would deposit it into a reputable bank.

Well we have something that is worth a lot more than money we have the greatest treasure someone could receive.

Quote the part about Ephesus...

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible Exposition

“The appeal has come full circle. It began with God’s Spirit and his power and it has ended with the Spirit’s enabling power.”

Since Timothy was probably in Ephesus when he received this letter, Paul’s reference to protecting the treasure was an appropriate metaphor. Ephesus was a banking center, and the Temple of Artemis was its main depository.

As great as depositing money is we get to make a deposit into the lives of those around us. We get to deposit this treasure all over Pearland, all over Houston and all over the world. And it is of such significance that we keep this message pure and guard through it.

Who in here likes to make a deposit?

Especially if that check is really big right?

God has made a deposit in us. If you are a believer in Jesus he has deposited the gospel in us?

We have the good news in us. And we have to guard this deposit and give it away.

Are you being you? Are you being all that God has called you to be?

Let’s do the one thing we can’t do in heaven.

If you want to do the one thing you can’t do in heaven:

3. You must take responsibility.

What becomes everyone’s responsibility becomes no ones responsibility.

Every believer has a responsibility to share the love of Christ.

For some it will be to do it like I do, for others it will be to support the work in numerous ways.

We can all share our testimony of how God saved us.

It is not just for super Christians, it was Pauls passion, it was Timothy’s charge and this message has been passed down to you and me. Remember it was Lois and Eunices heritage. We all have a part to play in this. And it is the privilege of you and me to continue to pass it along. Could you picture when it is all said and done if you did not pass it off to a single person.

Prison during this time was different than it is today. The way you were taken care of is if people came and provided for your needs, both food and clothing.

Unfaithful-Who deserted Paul

2 Timothy 1:15 (NASB95)

You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

Paul had been in house prison before.

“These verses [vv. 10, 15, and 16] show that Paul’s current imprisonment was decidedly more severe than the one in Acts 28:23, 30–31.”

But this was different. In this kind of prison you had to go take care of the prisoner.

Faithful Man-

2 Timothy 1:16–18 NASB95

The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

Prisons were different back then-You had to go and take care of the prisoners.

“We will have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few short hours to win them.”

― Amy Carmichael