Fan Into Flame
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Recently, Pastor Kim and I have started this thing;
It’s nothing revolutionary or earth-shattering…
In fact it’s something we did without thinking about for years when we were younger.
We’ve decided that we cannot leave each other without a kiss and I love you.
That’s pretty normal I feel for most couples.
But what if we were just making a quick trip to the store down the street?
What if we were in the middle of a disagreement and it was time for one of us to leave for an appointment or work?
What if we didn’t feel like saying “I love you” and giving each other a kiss at the moment?
What happened? What changed?
It happened, one time, while Pastor Kim was out.
She almost got into a very bad accident.
The thought occurred to her, was that the last time I would have left him?
Was that the last memory he would have of me?
Not one of us is promised another hour or another week - there’s a time appointed to every man - scripture promises us; and for that reason we have decided to make sure, no matter what, that we give each a sincere kiss, and tell each other that we love each other, regardless of the moment, because those words are truer than anything else that’s going on or how much of a hurry we are in.
How you leave things matter.
Hanging on the wall, here in our living room, is a letter of sorts that Kim’ mom left us.
As cancer was beginning to do what it does to a person’s mental faculties in her last days, her moments of lucidity became fewer and fewer.
She had a thought during one of those moments,
she desired to make sure that she relayed her memories, those things about us which stood out to her
were documented.
She wanted us to know we were on her mind, what little she could hold onto, and that we all mattered to her.
She left us her last letter.
The reason I bring these things up is because today we begin 2 Timothy, Part 4 in our Ephesus series.
It’s a short letter.
But’s it’s Paul last letter to Timothy.
It’s filled with important, final statements which Paul will make to Timothy.
Paul knew this was would be his last letter, so he writes as one who is making every attempt to write him those things which mattered.
The Last Letter
The Last Letter
The year was 64AD. The day was July 19th. A fire erupted in Rome.
You’ve probably — maybe only vaguely — heard about it.
The infamous fire where, supposedly, Nero watched Rome burn while playing his violin.
In truth, the raging inferno lasted six days and seven nights. After that, the fire continued to flare sporadically for another three days.
Most historians believe the fire probably started accidentally in one of the city’s oil
warehouses. But rumors spread quickly that Emperor Nero himself had ordered the fire so he could rebuild Rome according to his own vision.
Obviously, an emperor cannot allow those kinds of rumors to spread among the people.
So Nero needed a scapegoat.
Two districts of Rome had been mostly untouched by the fire, and they were heavily populated by Christians.
Perfect.
“They must have started the fire.”
Suddenly hatred toward Christians burned hotter than the fire itself.
Christians were arrested and fed to lions. Some were clothed in animal skins and chased by dogs. Some were crucified. Others were wrapped in robes soaked with pitch and set on fire at night to illuminate Nero’s gardens and the circus of the Vatican.
By the time we arrive at 2 Timothy, Paul has been arrested again.
His first imprisonment had been much different.
That first arrest was more like house arrest. One guard watched him. He had no chains.
People could visit frequently. He was treated relatively well because he was a Roman citizen.
But this second imprisonment was entirely different.
Paul had now been sentenced as a dangerous criminal.
He was charged with treason.
Hatred of mankind.
Even blamed as one of the ring leaders behind the fire.
Paul was sentenced to death.
He was placed in Mamertine Prison — sometimes called “The House of Darkness.”
Few prisons in the Roman world were as filthy, dim, damp, and terrifying as the lower chamber
where Paul was held. This section of the prison was known as the Tullianum Dungeon.
Roman historian Sallust described its “neglect, darkness, and stench” as giving it a “hideousand terrifying appearance.”
This time Paul was chained.
Hard to reach.
Harder to communicate with.
Under strict guard.
He was hated by both guards and prisoners alike.
And it is in these conditions that we open 2 Timothy and read these words:
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.
Paul immediately reminds Timothy that he did not become an apostle because he chose it.
Nobody elected him.
Nobody appointed him.
God chose him.
By the will of God.
And notice the confidence with which Paul writes about death.
“According to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”
Some scholars note the phrase could be translated “for the promise of life,” meaning Paul’s
entire calling pointed toward that final destination — eternal life with Christ.
Paul often wrote about eternity with joy and certainty.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Paul knew exactly what was waiting for him.
His body may have been in chains… but his hope was not.
And maybe that raises a question for us:
Are you certain?
Are you excited about eternity?
Paul immediately turns toward encouraging Timothy.
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.
Paul prayed day and night in prison.
And it’s tempting to say:
“Well… he had plenty of time.”
But honestly? We’ve had time too.
The truth is, most of us don’t struggle with having time to pray…
we struggle with wanting to pray.
We fill silence with noise.
We fill waiting with scrolling.
We fill exhaustion with distraction.
But Paul sat in a dungeon awaiting execution…
and still returned to God day and night.
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day
that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”
— John Piper
Paul says he served God with a clear conscience because he had seen faith modeled beforehim.
Faith is often learned before it is understood.
Paul had watched people who loved God when nobody applauded them.
People who stayed faithful when obedience cost them something.
People who prayed when life was hard.
Timothy inherited that kind of faith.
And maybe you had that too.
Maybe you had parents or grandparents who modeled genuine faith.
People who showed you what it looked like to love Christ sincerely.But maybe you didn’t.
Maybe nobody showed you the way.
Then maybe God intends for you to become the one who changes the direction of your family.
Maybe generations after you will look back and say:
“That’s where faith started in our family.”
4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
Paul remembered Timothy’s tears.
Could Timothy have somehow sensed this was the last time they would ever see each other?
In the ancient world there was never certainty when someone departed on a journey.
War.
Sickness.
Persecution.
And Timothy knew Paul would never stop preaching Jesus no matter the cost.
This wasn’t simple nostalgia.
Timothy loved Paul like a father.
The Bible was written in tears and to tears it will yield its best treasure. God has nothing to say
to the frivolous man.
— A.W. Tozer
This thing we live is powerful, emotional, intense.
A godly life is one that runs deep, feels deeply, and transverses temporal and eternal, life and death.
The fact that we are moved to tears with love for one another, at the thought of losing someone, only means that we value what God has given… our tears are a mix of joy and grief.
Paul wrote Timothy of his “sincere faith” — when he thought back to Timothy, this one thing stood out…
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.
Why was Paul suddenly thinking about Timothy’s sincere faith?
Perhaps because Paul had recently experienced the exact opposite.
Have you ever felt abandoned?
Betrayed?
Left behind when you needed someone most?
Paul had.
Have you ever heard of Demas?
Paul once called him a fellow worker.
A ministry partner.
A trusted helper.
But then came Paul’s final imprisonment.
A few chapters from now, he explains a little more about his predicament…
10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
Picture Demas looking at Paul’s chains.
The danger.
The uncertainty.
The exhaustion.
The persecution.
And eventually deciding:
“This costs too much.”
From his book, “The Cost of Discipleship” , we read these words of Bonhoeffer,
“Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The world didn’t seduce Demas with atheism.
It seduced him with relief.
A warm bed.
A safe street.
A quieter life.
A future without suffering.
And honestly… that’s how it usually happens.
Most believers will never wake up and say, “I hate Jesus.”
They just slowly grow tired.
Tired of sacrifice.
Tired of standing out.
Tired of swimming against culture.
And little by little…
comfort becomes more attractive than conviction.
That’s why Timothy’s sincere faith meant so much to Paul.
Timothy stayed faithful.
Dependable.
Genuine.
And Paul knew exactly where that faith began.
Paul reminds Timothy that he is not and will not be alone — before Paul came along, there were two critically important people who led the way to where Timothy was at that moment…
Lois and Eunice.
Timothy’s father was likely spiritually absent.
But the gospel still survived in that house because two women refused to let the fire die.
History remembers Timothy the preacher…
but heaven remembers Lois and Eunice who built him.
Some of the greatest spiritual movements in history began with a grandmother praying at a kitchen table…
a mother opening the Scriptures…
someone faithfully carrying Jesus into a home where nobody else would.
Those women planted seeds long before Paul ever reaped the harvest.
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.
Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God.
God places gifts within us — but we must stir them up by faith.
Fanning the Flame
Fanning the Flame
Throughout Scripture, fire often represents the presence and activity of God.
When Moses encountered God…
it was a bush that burned with fire yet was not consumed.
When Israel wandered through the wilderness…
God led them by a pillar of fire.
When Elijah stood on Mount Carmel…
fire fell from heaven.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the early church in Acts 2…
tongues like fire rested upon them.
Fire represents the presence of God…
the holiness of God…
the power of God at work among His people.
Acts 2:3 says:
“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”
Notice:
the fire rested ON them…
but now through Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, the fire of God dwells WITHIN believers.
The Spirit of God is not distant from the Christian.
He resides within us.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
That means when Paul tells Timothy to “fan into flame” the gift of God…
he’s not telling Timothy to manufacture something that isn’t there.
He’s telling him to stir up what God already deposited within him.
The flame already exists.
The Holy Spirit already dwells within the believer.
But like embers in a fire pit…
if neglected…
they can begin to dim.
Not because God has left…
but because we have stopped feeding the flame.
Prayer feeds the flame.
Worship feeds the flame.
Scripture feeds the flame.
Obedience feeds the flame.
Faith feeds the flame.
And compromise…
distraction…
sin…
apathy…
they smother it.
So Paul says:
Fan it into flame.
Blow on the embers.
Wake up what has grown dormant.
Stir up what heaven placed inside you.
What’s that going to look like for you?
That may mean you worship more deeply
That may mean you pray more fervently
That may mean you read with greater intention
That may mean you are more bold with the gospel than ever before!
That may mean you pray more openly with those in need…
God gave you a deposit
You have the inheritance…
Now what are you going to do with it?
Are you going to let it sit there or are you fan it into flame?
Fanning the Deposit
Fanning the Deposit
Jesus once told a parable about a master who entrusted resources to his servants before leaving on a journey.
One received five talents.
One received two.
One received one.
Each servant was responsible for what had been deposited into their hands.
Two of them cultivated what they had been given.
They invested it.
Used it.
Multiplied it.
But one servant buried what had been entrusted to him.
Not rebellion.
Not hatred.
Just neglect.
Fear.
Passivity.
Avoidance.
And when the master returned, the issue wasn’t whether the servant had received something.
The issue was:
“What did you do with what I placed inside you?”
18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
And honestly… a lot of believers live spiritually like that servant.
God deposits His Spirit within them…
places gifts within them…
calls them…
stirs them…
invites them into His mission…
…but instead of fanning it into flame…
they bury it.
Bury their calling.
Bury their boldness.
Bury their passion.
Bury their obedience.
Not because they hate God…
but because fear, comfort, distraction, or insecurity convinces them to live safely.
But Paul tells Timothy:
Do not bury what God deposited within you.
Fan it into flame.
The Holy Spirit was never meant to remain a hidden ember buried beneath comfort and fear.
God placed His Spirit within you so the fire would burn brightly enough to give light to others.
What are you doing with what God deposited in you?
Are you feeding the flame…
or burying it?
Because Paul does not tell Timothy to sit passively waiting for boldness to magically appear.
He tells him to stir it up.
Fan it into flame.
Because God did not give us fear and timidity.
He gave power.
Love.
Self-control.
Over and over throughout these letters Paul urges Timothy not to shrink back.
Why?
Because boldness is required to follow Jesus in a resistant world.
People love comfort more than sacrifice.
People love convenience more than obedience.
And maybe that’s the real question tonight…What’s happening to your flame?
Because flames rarely die all at once.
They fade slowly.
One compromise.
One distraction.
One wound.
One disappointment at a time.
Demas didn’t wake up hating Jesus.
He slowly loved comfort more.
And Paul, sitting in a dungeon awaiting execution, writes to Timothy and says:
“Don’t let that happen to you.”
Fan it into flame.
Not emotional hype.
Not personality.
The gift of God within you.
Some of you need to fan prayer back into flame.
Some of you need to fan holiness back into flame.
Some of you need to fan passion for Scripture back into flame.
Some of you used to speak openly about Jesus…
used to worship freely…
used to burn with excitement for the things of God……but life happened.
Pain happened.
Disappointment happened.
Comfort happened.
And the fire got low.
But low fire is not dead fire.
Paul says: “Stir it up again.”
“Blow on the embers again.”
“Return to the presence of God again.”
Because the same God who sustained Paul in a dungeon…
is able to sustain you right now.
And maybe years from now your children…
your grandchildren…
your church…
will look back and say:
“There was something sincere about their faith.”
Not perfect.
Not flashy.
Not famous.
But real.
And it pointed me to Jesus.
