Sermon Tone Analysis

Fanning the Flame

2 Timothy

The commitment we are given here is to expository preaching and teaching God’s word week in and week out — to explain the meaning and this morning we come to the book of 2 Timothy in our series of Bible Surveys of each and every book of the Bible.

One message of each book each week, from Genesis to Revelation.

Around AD 64, Nero began aggressively persecuting believers in which Paul was found and thrown into Mamortine Prison in Rome.

Mamortine was literally a dungeon in the ground.

It was a circular pit of 30 feet in diameter with a hole at the top a little larger than a manhole in the street.

30 to 35 prisoners were placed in hole.

They were there for execution.

In order to make room for the next group of prisoners, the door would be pulled open and the dungeon would fill with the sewage that drowned all the prisoners.

When you think about the life of Paul, a life or self-sacrifice on behalf of spreading the Gospel, so that men might know joy and grace and mercy and forgiveness of sin and peace with God, it’s tragic to think that Paul is in the Mamortine Prison.

And fearful of their own persecution, nearly all those close to Paul had abandoned him.

Facing imminent execution, Paul wrote Timothy, urging him to hurry to Rome for one last visit.

2 Timothy

We don’t know that Timothy every made it to see Paul.

But he remained in the prison until he was executed.

It was at this time that Paul chose to write to Timothy.

He wrote as it was his last will and testament.

Concerned that Timothy was becoming intimidated by the severe persecution and the great difficulties that he faced pastoring the Church at Ephesus, Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him to Fan the Flame — Fan the Flame of the Gift of God that is in you.

And so, in a personal letter of instruction Paul gives encouragement to young Timothy to use the resources God has given to him in verse 7:

And you will notice throughout the letter Paul gives command after command after command.

He commands based on his authority.

He begins like this in verse 1 establishing that authority.

He gives him his credentials and appeals to Timothy as his “dearly loved son.”

There is a very simple and basic axiom here — And this is the basis of Paul’s letter — and it’s this: Intimacy never precludes authority.

And we can think about this as a Father.

Try dealing with your children strictly on a friendship basis and not authority.

It doesn’t work.

Try running your business with your employees strictly on the basis of friendship and not authority.

It doesn’t work.

Intimacy, friendship, fellowship, love bond, all of that never precludes authority.

So, Paul begins with authority, continues with authority throughout the letter, and ends it with authority, as we’ll see.

And so all throughout the epistle it is command after command.

So, with that in mind let me summarize this epistle of commands as Paul looks to motivate and encourage Timothy with these 5 Command: Be not Ashamed; Be Strong; Be Diligent; Be Aware; and Preach the Word.

Be not Ashamed

Be Strong

Be Strong

Be Diligent

Be Aware

Preach the Word

Be Diligent

Be not Ashamed

Be Aware

Be Strong

Preach the Word

Be Diligent

Be Aware

Be Aware

Preach the Word

Preach the Word

Let’s begin with — Be not Ashamed.

I. Be not Ashamed

Be not Ashamed.

This is two-fold: Be not Ashamed of Christ or Christ’s servant, specifically here — Paul.

Do not be ashamed of Christ — Guard against being ashamed of Christ.

The command that Paul gives Timothy is to prepare himself for misunderstanding, animosity — even outright rejection because those things are going to come.

I want you to notice the word Therefore at the beginning of verse 8. Therefore refers back to the divinely bestowed gift and resources mentioned in verses 6-7.

The Gift is Preaching the Word.

We’ll say more about this when we get down to chapter 4. But it’s that spiritual gift of preaching which Timothy received through laying on of Paul’s hands.

Now, don’t misunderstand, this gift of Preaching the Word comes from the Lord.

It’s God’s Word, it’s God’s call to Timothy to Preach.

But the issue of Laying on of Hands by the Elders of the Church is important because it demonstrates that God’s people, led by the Elders, God’s appointed leaders, recognize God’s calling on the man.

Let me put it this way.

No man is outside of the authority of the local church.

Every man has to be submissive to authority — authority of men.

No man is unto himself.

Many seminaries recognize this and some won’t allow a man to continue studies and preparation at the seminary without the full support of the man’s local church to assure that man’s growth in submission.

You cannot submit to God when you won’t submit to men.

That’s the Gift — Preaching the Word.

The Resources are Power, Love, and Sound Judgment (or Discipline).

Power denotes the great force or energy — that is the effective, productive energy.

This is not unhinged, raw, unbridled energy.

God provides us with His Power in order for us to be effective in His service.

Love is the Divine Love — the love that is volitional and selfless love that desires and works for the best interests of the one loved.

Think about God’s love.

It is constant, not ebbing and flowing — but constant, consistent.

It’s the sincere love for the brethren, the fervently love from the heart for one another Peter talks about in .

It’s the love we are willing to expend ourselves for others.

You think again about where Paul is.

And it’s really a sad time.

He has come to the end of his ministry, the end of his life.

And we read in 4:10, “Demas…has deserted me.”

And what’s Paul’s concern — Timothy and through Timothy — the church at Ephesus, and the furtherance of the Gospel!

And you can see it in the way Paul speaks to Timothy.

Sound Judgment — This is literally a secure and sound mind, but we can understand this more as Discipline — discipline of self-control, properly prioritized mind.

God give us the resource of controlling every element of our lives — but it is enacted in Discipline.

To live with Sound Judgment is to live a Divinely Disciplined life, Divinely ordered, with Godly Wisdom applied in every situation.

In other words, it means our priorities are place in the right order.

This is how we can live our lives and Not be ashamed of our Lord and His servants.

This is how we can actually suffer for the Gospel.

How could Paul suffer what he has and be so concerned for Timothy and the church at Ephesus?

It’s because he is not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord.

And this lives out in the suffering because Paul has such a trust in the Lord and what He’s doing in Paul’s life as he sits in this jail awaiting execution.

2 Timothy

So, Paul instructs Timothy to:

Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching, in verse 13, which he heard Paul teach.

AND

Guard the Good Thing (the Treasure) — This is the Word, which is the sound teaching, the Truth, Doctrine.

Do you have a full confidence in God’s Word?

There are those who don’t — Phygelus and Hermogenes.