Entrusting Faithful Young Men

Review:

Paul has told Timothy to Stir up his gifts.

To not be embarrassed

To share in the suffering.

To be strong in the faith. (The Power of the Gospel)

Imperative - a Command

Ephesians 6:10–12 “10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

It is trust in the Scripture to be the Living, Powerful Word of God.

Ephesians 4:11–16 “11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Notice that the gift of Jesus are all teachers of the Word.

Notice also how the preach of Doctrine strengthens, guards, grows, unifies, organizes, and energizes the body of Christ.

Conforms it to the image of God’s Son.

Edifies itself in Love.

4 Job Descriptions to help Timothy “Be Strong”.

The Teacher

2 Timothy 2:2 “2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses…

Paul has never been ambiguous about what Timothy is to guard, stir up and preach. It is the Word of God.

2 Timothy 4:2–3 “2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;”

Preach —

To Herald, proclaim, declare… To announce, to make known…

It has the idea of no debate, no discussion. Only the message received is to be given. It is a written, confirmed, sure message. It was most used when a King or authority sent out a message for His people and the “herald, Preacher” “Proclaimed the news.

1 Corinthians 1:21–23 “21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,”

Colossians 1:25–28 “25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

The Word

Here again, the message was complete and sufficient. God was leading the Apostles to write scripture, but they already had a body of truth that was sufficient for all their needs.

2 Peter 1:3–4 “3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

2 Timothy 3:10 “10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,”

2 Timothy 3:14–17 “14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Ephesians 4:14 “14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”

1 Timothy 4:6 “6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”

These things had been confirmed by many witnesses.

God Himself confirmed Paul through signs and wonders.

Acts 19:11–12 “11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”

2 Corinthians 12:12 “12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”

Paul would affirm that when He wrote, this was scripture, received from the Lord, confirmed by Peter and James.

1 Corinthians 14:37–38 “37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

Galatians 1:15–17 “15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.”

Galatians 1:18–19 “18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.”

Galatians 1:23 “23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.””

Peter would confirm the same.

2 Peter 3:14–16 “14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

The presence of many witnesses

Timothy had been with Paul since Acts 16.

Barnabas, Silas, Aquila and Persila,

Philippi when the angel open the prison and saved the jailer.

He had been at Thessalonica.

1 Thessalonians 1:5–10 “5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. 6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

He had been there at Berea.

Acts 17:11–12 “11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.”

He was there at Athens, at Corinth and as he returned to Antioch and then Jerusalem.

In every place, Paul’s message was received and proclaimed as the word of God, witnessed to by God and the growing Church.

Entrust.

Something of Great Value.

To Faithful young men.

The idea of passing the Gospel on to the next generation.

This is the Gospel Relay.

It comes from God. (The message was validated by God and complete with the writing of REvelation.)

It was given by divine inspiration to the Apostles.

It had been passed on to Timothy.

Through life example, messages, school,

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 “6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Timothy was to now imitate this example and choose other faithful young men and pass it on again.

Families.

Friends

disciples.

They are to do this again.

Application

Do we know what we believe?

We must know and understand doctrine. What do we believe and why.

1950-60 the Evangelical Church as defined by their beliefs.

Today we are defined more by our Music and doctrine is down played.

This is the teaching of a systematic Theology.

Systematic theology is a comprehensive study of Bible doctrine that aims to summarize and organize the teachings of the entire Bible on various topics[1][2]. It seeks to answer the question "What does the whole Bible say about X?"[1] and attempts to create a coherent framework or worldview based on Scripture[2]. This discipline assumes the Bible's overall unity while acknowledging the progress of revelation[1]. Systematic theology typically divides its study into at least ten traditional categories[1] and aims to formulate precise and accurate doctrines that define the boundaries between orthodox beliefs and heresy[2]. It develops from exegetical and biblical theology, synthesizing scriptural teachings into major categories that encompass God's written revelation[3]. While some critics argue that systematic theology may impose Western rationality on Scripture or overlook its narrative nature[4], proponents suggest that it can play a crucial role in equipping the church to address cultural questions and correct misunderstandings of biblical teaching[4]. Systematic theology is theocentric (God-centered) in its approach, using the Trinity as its starting point and the inspired revelation of Scripture as its primary data source[5].

[1] Jason S. DeRouchie, How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), 395. [2] Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church: A Guide for Ministry, 9Marks (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 89. [3] John MacArthur, ed., Essential Christian Doctrine: A Handbook on Biblical Truth (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 20. [4] Michael W. Goheen, “A Missional Reading of Scripture for Theological Education and Curriculum,” in Reading the Bible Missionally, ed. Michael W. Goheen and John R. Franke, The Gospel and Our Culture Series (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 319. [5] Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 444.

This is easily express in the confessions. They seek to teach on God, sin, Man, the devil, angels, demons, baptism, the Lord’s table, Salvation, creation, …

Westminster Catechism

Heidelberg Catechism