The Family: Its Dedication

2 Timothy 1:1-11

I. The best inheritance

A. A clear conscience in serving God. (v. 3)

1. “Whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did”

2. Inheritance is a nice thing to get.

a. Zolephad’s daughters in Numbers 27 went to Moses because the law only provided for land inheritance to son’s, and Zolephad had none. Moses (consulting the Lord), responded positively, giving some of the first female rights in all of history.

3. But—“A good name is better than riches”.

4. Would your children be able to serve God with a clear conscience if they serve the way you do?

5. My own forefathers:

a. Full of preachers & deacons.

b. “David Albaugh, the other son, was born in Maryland, April 1, 1760, and after his marriage removed to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He was a preacher in the German Baptist church. He had a large family and one of his sons was Samuel Albaugh, the father of N.H. Albaugh. The writer has briefly sketched the ancestry of Mr. Albaugh, because it is a subject of general interest in this county, and of special interest to the young and rising generation of kinship, who proudly trace their pedigree to the old Bavarian who came from his Fatherland to the new continent, across the wide and restless ocean in search of a home where his spirit of religious and civil liberty was unvexed by a tyrant king or bigoted priests.”

B. A sincere faith. (v. 5)

1. “sincere faith within you…first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice”“and I am sure it is in you as well”

2. What it means: anypokritos—lit. “not hypocritical”

3. What greater blessing than to look at your parents/grandparents and know their faith is real to them.

II. The best Initiative

A. Kindle afresh God’s gift. (v. 6a)

1. anazōpyreō—Pyreo is the word from which we get “pyrotechnics” and other pyro words. Pyro is greek for fire. Ana is greek for “again”. Literally, “re-fire” or “reactivate”.

2. How do you blow the flame on your faith?

a. Stay away from cold water!

b. Keep oxygen at the flame.

c. Quite simply: do spiritual things and avoid fleshly things.

B. Pass it to the next generation. (v. 6b)

1. Through the laying on of hands

2. How can we “lay hands” and ordain our children.

a. Verbally tell them that your goal for them is spiritual health and maturity.

b. Physically provide for them so that spiritual health and maturity is available to them.

III. The best indicator.

A. Your spirit

1. The spirit we should not have:

a. δειλία, ας, ἡ as a shameful state of fear from lack of courage cowardice, timidity[1]

b. “caused by lack of moral strength”

2. The spirit we should have:

a. Power

b. Love

c. Discipline

B. Your public confession

1. No shame

a. “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”

2. No holding back

a. “But join with me in suffering for the Gospel…”

Gospel call—vv. 9-11

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[1]Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg and Neva F. Miller, vol. 4, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Baker's Greek New Testament library (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2000), 105.