“Paul’s Thankfullness”
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Begin with Prayer:
Read the Text:
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.
The Opening to Paul’s second letter to Timothy looks almost identical to that of his first letter to Timothy. We see many similarities in verse 1 of both letters and the only difference in verse 2 is Paul’s use of beloved or dear son versus his use of true son in 1 Timothy chapter 1.
It is important to mention that beginning in verse 6 we will start to see Paul’s main instruction to Timothy, so here in these verses we not only see the greeting but also a wonderful motivation to Timothy as Paul considers him a dear son in the faith.
I think it is so important for us to motivate others who are growing in their faith as Christians. Many times throughout this life we can be discouraged or dealing with fear and worry and so we need to be motivated and reminded that our hope is in God through what Christ has done for us.
-So men motivate and encourage your spouse and children.
-Men we need to motivate and encourage other men.
1. Let us look at verse one.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
Paul once again lays out some credentials for us. While many times we see that Paul has been called by God to be an apostle, here Paul may be stating this simply out of habit. Clearly, when Paul was on the Damascus Road he was called by Christ and his life was forever changed. We know that he too was counted as an apostle just like the other 12 were as well. The word apostle means literally one who is sent out. They are a messenger of Christ. This representative or ambassador carried authority because they were ultimately representing Christ. All of this helps us to understand that this was ultimately God’s will for Paul that he was an ambassador for the Lord in order to help people taste and see that the Lord is good and come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Paul does say something here that we need to look at. Paul mentions that he is an apostle by the will of God “according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”
As Paul reflects on his apostleship he does so in such a way that he looks forward to that which is to come. The promise of life is futuristic. Paul understands that in a very true sense he was about to depart from this life and to be present with the Lord. The promise of God to Paul was as a believer his eternal home would be with Christ in heaven. However, the promise of life is also in the present, in that we can tell others about Christ. We can proclaim the good news to those who are dead in sin and through the Holy Spirit they can come to Christ. As the Spirit of God open their hearts and minds they come to understand their sin and trust in God.
2. We now come to verse 2.
2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here we see not only Paul’s love for Timothy, but we also see just how close their relationship truly was. Timothy is Paul’s beloved or dear son, as he has always been for Paul.
17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
Three things stand out to us that Paul mentions about his dear or beloved son.
-First of all, like all Christians we are saved by grace through faith. (Eph. 2:8-9.) God’s grace provides to us forgiveness of sins. Paul knew that Timothy had truly experienced God’s grace.
-Second, we see that God had shown His mercy to Timothy. Timothy had been delivered from the bondage and darkness of sin and he desired for Timothy to continue to walk with God and follow Him all of his days.
-Finally, to walk and experience the peace that only comes by following the Lord. Timothy would not have peace by following the ways of this world and so Paul writes that peace comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Men we too should be thankful for the grace, mercy and peace that come to us from our Father and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Lets us now come to see Paul’s thankfulness as we look at verse 3.
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.
One of the things that stand out to us here in verse 3 as we look at Paul’ thankfulness is how much this resembles what we see in Romans chapter 1. So, turn with me to Romans.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
The common practice in a Hellenistic world was to begin letters with a prayer-wish for someones general welfare. Clearly, we see that through Paul’s prayer for Timothy just how thankful he truly was for this dear brother. Timothy was loyal to Paul, they had both persevered in the gospel together. They had both faced hardships, they had a long association, and Paul even knew some family that were close to Timothy. All of these things and many more are why we see a thankfulness from Paul.
As a legalistic Pharisee that was part of Paul’s upbringing he was very familiar with the habit of praying regularly. This practice was now carried over to his Christian faith so that he prayed night and day. Again, these prayers of Paul were prayers of thanksgiving to God for all the saints who were close to Paul. That is why he says, “I constantly remembered you in my prayers.”
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul does not get into the details of what he meant by my ancestors or forefathers as some versions say, but we do know that this would have meant “godly men” who have lived long before Paul like Abraham, Moses and the Prophets.
The next thing that Paul takes time to mention here is the importance of having a clear conscience. A clear conscience was important to Paul because he mentions this several times throughout his first letter and it should be an important qualification for every church leader.
9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
When we reject the truth of God’s Word this can cause our conscience to become progressively less sensitive to sin, as if covered or hardened by layers of sinful scar tissue. Paul’s conscience was very clear and he had a desire to live for God and tell others about his God.
In the end, this help Paul to constantly be praying for Timothy night and day. This shows how faithful Paul was in his praying. He deeply loved and cared for Timothy and went to God for him in regular times of prayer. Even though Paul was away from Timothy he never forgot to go to God on his behalf. Men we should be thankful for the prayers of others who are praying for us. We need others to pray for us and we need to be men who are praying for other men including our families. Let us make it a habit to be prayer warriors.
4. Let’s look at verse 4.
4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
We know that Paul has already call Timothy a beloved or dear son but now he remembers the tears that Timothy shed. We are not certain of why but can only imagine that the last time Paul saw Timothy and when they were departing Timothy began to weep. As the Lord lays people on our hearts and minds there will come times when we will shed tears. We may be reminded of all that they have done for us and God. We may be thankful for their prayers and service to God, and we may be reminded of the difficult things they face. There will come times where we mourn and there will come times where we should rejoice as well.
One thing that we are sure of here is that Paul desires to see Timothy as soon as he can come. Paul may be lonely and he desires Timothy to encourage him. He may desire to see him since he knows that his time is drawing to an end. There is of course unfinished work in Ephesus, so whatever the case may be he longs to see Timothy so that he may be filled with joy.
Anytime we are able to see a brother or sister that we have not seen for a time we can be filled with joy because we know that we share something in common and that is Christ. That is ultimately what brings us joy.
5. Finally, we come to verse 5.
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.
Paul now return to the thanksgiving theme that began in verse 3. The reason for Paul’s gratitude is Timothy’s sincere faith. Timothy’s faith is genuine. His trust in God is real, authentic, and steadfast. The opposite of this is when someones faith is fake or hypocritical. Eventually time will tell if your faith in God is real or fake. Paul was able to get to know Timothy very well and could tell that his faith was sincere. Paul entrusted Timothy with the gospel and to help the church at Ephesus to be a church marked by sound teaching. This could only happen when the leader and leaders had a real genuine faith in Christ.
Paul is now reminded that this same faith that Timothy had he saw somewhere else. He first saw this in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice. Paul is reminding Timothy don’t forget your roots, because they go way back. This suggests that Paul knew both of these women personally and may have been instrumental in telling them about the good news of Jesus during his first missionary journey. By the time of Paul’s second missionary journey, these ladies would have shared with their son and grandson the good news as well.
1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.
Finally, Paul mentions here that he is sure that Christ dwells in Timothy as well. This confidence in Timothy’s genuine faith becomes the diving board for the appeal that follows his main instruction for Timothy.
(Questions)
(Pray and Dismiss)