2 Timothy - Rules for Life, 2
Notes
Transcript
Last week we started our study of 2 Timothy. I encourage you to open your bible to 2 Timothy now, so we can continue our study together.
One of the methods I encourage everyone to use for Bible study is to read a passage multiple times. Also, we have the benefit of being able to read a passage in multiple translations in order to help us see things more clearly since most of us can not read the Greek manuscript copies of the original texts.
Last week, we read this passage in the New International Version. Today, we will read the passage we are studying in the New Living Translation. Then, we will dig into the passage a little more deeply.
Let’s read it together.
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus.
I am writing to Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.
Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.
I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.
This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.
For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.
And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.
That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.
Rules for life.
Rules for life.
Paul and Timothy were living in very difficult situations. Paul was in prison, awaiting his execution. He had been abandoned by nearly all of his friends, coworkers, and the people he had served. He felt the sting of rejection and abandonment.
Timothy was facing a lot of opposition from people who hated the church, and from people who had been in the church and were now teaching false doctrines, undermining his ministry.
Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him, and to challenge him to continue pressing on in his service to the Lord.
In these first 14 verses, I see what I call rules for life. Rules that if we keep them, will have a tremendous impact upon our lives. These rules will not necessarily change the circumstances of life, but they will give us what we need for a good life in the circumstances we face.
Pray
The first rule we found was in verse 1,
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
Know who you are, and your purpose!
Know who you are, and your purpose!
Who God says you are! What God says your purpose is.
This is important to keep in mind. If we keep in mind who God says we are, and what his purpose for us is, we will avoid much discouragement, disillusionment, and mistaken paths in life.
We discussed that last week, and I hope you took time to do the homework to focus on these things this week.
Who are you? What does God say?
What is His purpose for you?
Today we move on to Rules 2, 3 and 4, which are found in the next 2 verses.
To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rule number 2 is:
Know from where grace, mercy and peace come
Know from where grace, mercy and peace come
It was common when writing a letter in Paul’s day for the writer to identify himself, then identify to whom he was writing, and finally to give a word of salutation.
Paul followed this in his letters as well. For his salutation, he often used these three words: Grace, mercy and peace.
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is interesting that only in 1 and 2 Timothy does he very this formula from ‘grace and peace’ to ‘grace, mercy and peace’.
Why does he vary it? Well, why in the first place does he use this for a greeting? Why does he just say my best wishes to you?
What are grace, mercy and peace?
Notice where the grace, mercy and peace come from… God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord?
Why is is so important to know from where grace, mercy and peace come?
I want to explore each of these concepts, and ask these questions.
I believe that in this day and age, people need grace mercy and peace. They are looking for it, however all to often we look for it in the wrong places. A rule for life is to Know from where Grace, Mercy and Peace come. Only then will we be able to handle the trials of life.
So let’s look at each concept, and answer the questions of what, why where and how.
First we will look at Grace...
Grace - what is it?
Grace - what is it?
What is Grace? The main of Grace is that it is a gift. It derives from a root word which means to rejoice. So, it is a good gift that causes pleasure and rejoicing. It is not like some gifts, like getting underwear for Christmas. That may be a gift, but it does not cause rejoicing.
A gift is something that is given freely. It is not earned. Have you ever wanted something, and you were told that if you do such and such, you will be given that gift? I know that sometimes my kids get gifts like that. What they have to do to earn it is not much, or even close to the value of what they will receive, but they are still earning it, in that if they choose to not do what is asked, they will not receive it.
Grace is a gift that cannot be earned in any way. It is not contingent upon any amount of effort or work or deed performed in order to receive it. It is freely given.
Grace is a gift that is not repayed. That is, you do not have to pay it back. You rejoice and live in gratitude, but you cannot pay it back.
This is different than some gifts. Some gifts are given with the expectation that you will repay. That was a big part of the culture in Papua New Guinea. We called it the freely-obligatory gift. It was truly given for free. However it was obligatory in that in the future you had better give an equal or greater gift back.
God’s grace is not like that. It is freely given. It cannot be repaid. You live in gratitude, but do not repay God.
Grace, God’s free gift to us that causes rejoicing, and cannot, should not, be repaid.
Grace - why do we need it?
Grace - why do we need it?
Grace lifts our spirits. The first grace we need is in salvation.
We are all sinners. We all do things that are contrary to the Lord, our Creator’s holy, righteous standard. We are all his enemies, and under the sentence of death, eternal separation from Him, the source of life and all that is good.
We cannot begin to earn our salvation. No matter how much good we do, we are still under the penalty for what we do that is wrong.
We cannot earn salvation. We cannot repay our salvation. So, God gives us grace! He gives us a gift; a good gift that causes rejoicing!
He forgives our sin and grants us eternal life!
But he doesn’t stop there. He continues to give us grace through our lives.
Have you ever had a difficult time in your life and received true grace, true gifts that were given to you as a blessing? How did that make you feel? Did it help you get through the hard time? Grace does not remove the trial, but it can lift your spirits and help you through.
Paul and Timothy were going through real trials. Paul wanted Timothy to know God’s grace, the gifts that God gives to encourage him.
Grace is a gift freely given without being earned, which causes rejoicing, and does not come with an strings attached.
Grace - where does it come from?
Grace - where does it come from?
We can receive grace from other people. However, real grace, the grace we truly need for life comes from the Lord.
He alone can give us the grace of forgiveness. He alone can give us the grace of eternal life.
How good to know when we go through a trial that He will forgive. He will give life. He will be there for us, even when we don’t deserve it.
After sinning again, after doing what I know he does not want for me, how good to know God’s grace, again.
We all need God’s grace. He alone forgives sin and restores us when we fall.
Grace - how do we get it?
Grace - how do we get it?
Grace is not earned. So, how do you get grace? Some traditions teach of means of grace. There are certain acts required by the person in order for them to receive grace. They must do so much in order to receive God’s grace.
Sadly, that goes against the very nature and definition of grace. It clouds the mind with thoughts of having to earn God’s favor. It keeps people from receiving God’s favor. “I cannot do enough.” “I couldn’t earn it.” “I am too bad, too far gone.”
To which God says, you are right. That is why I give grace. Grace is not earned. The means of grace is receiving the gift. Receiving what God wants to do for you.
Paul says that is why he was shown grace.
And Grace is not just for our salvation. Grace is God’s continued work in us to make us who we are meant to be: His servants, His blessed children who live to honor Him.
As Paul put it...
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Two or three years before the death of John Newton, when his sight was so dim that he was no longer able to read, a friend and brother in the ministry called to have breakfast with him. Their custom was to read the Word of God following mealtime, after which Newton would make a few short remarks on the Biblical passage, and then appropriate prayer would be offered. That day, however, there was silence after the words of Scripture “by the grace of God I am what I am” were read.
Finally, after several minutes, Newton spoke, “I am not what I ought to be! How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall be out of mortality, and with it all sin and imperfection. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!” Then, after a pause, he said. “Now let us pray!”
Mercy - what is it?
Mercy - what is it?
Mercy is translated different ways in different verses. Mercy is compassion. Kindness. Pity.
Mercy is a kindness shown, when it is not deserved. Often Mercy is the compassion that holds back from giving us what we deserve.
I love the way Jeremiah wrote about it in Lamentations 3:22-24.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is compassionate and gracious. He does not give us what our sin deserves. Look at the sunshine outside. Look at the rain we had earlier in the week that causes things to grow. In this fallen world where people use his name as a curse, where people want to deny and reject Him, He still has mercy. He constantly shows His kindness!
Mercy - Why do we need it?
Mercy - Why do we need it?
We need it every day, do we not? We may look at the world around us and think how evident God’s mercy is that He is still allowing all of this good to befall even those who are so rebellious against Him, but we are just like them… actually worse. We know Him. We know His standard. Yet you and I still sin.
Let’s not just judge the world of sinners around us. Let’s look at ourselves. As Paul wrote,
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
How many of us make mistakes? How many times do we fail to live up to what God says? How many times do we know to do what is right, and yet we choose to do what is wrong? Yet, God shows us kindness, wanting us to come back to Him, our loving Father.
Mercy - God’s kindness that leads us back to Him.
Mercy - Where do we get it?
Mercy - Where do we get it?
We all need mercy. We do want mercy. We want to be shown kindness, even when we make mistakes. Often when going through a hard time we want people to give us a little compassion. However, often, the people from whom we expect some mercy do not give it.
I imagine Paul and Timothy saw that. Paul likely expected some kindness when he was arrested and tried, yet his coworker, and most of his friends left and abandoned him. They did not show mercy. They did not have compassion on him. But then came Onesiphorus.
Paul truly appreciated the kindness and compassions of Onesiphorus. However, when he wanted to encourage Timothy, he pointed Timothy to God’s kindness.
Paul knew when he wrote 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy that Timothy needed to be reminded of where to find mercy.
In 1 Timothy, we read about Paul’s instructions for how the church was to truly function. We can figure out that he wrote that because the church was not functioning properly.
Even among the saints, there is often a lack of mercy shown to one another. A lack of kindness and patience. We are all still sinful ourselves, so it is too often that we lack mercy.
Paul knew about the accusations Timothy would face. He knew that there were those in the church who would look for Timothy to make a mistake. They would jump on anything that they perceived as wrong and attack. They would not show mercy.
No, Timothy needed to learn to not look for mercy from people. He needed to find mercy from the true source of mercy - The Lord! The God of compassion!
Even when we make mistakes, God is there to show mercy. We may have discipline from the Lord to train us to not go down that road again, but God is also showing kindness to us. Even His discipline is a kindness as it is done in love for our good!
Mercy is the kindness, the compassion that God shows us when we are so undeserving. It is shown that we might come back to Him.
Mercy - How do we get it?
Mercy - How do we get it?
Mercy, like grace, is not earned. Mercy comes because we do not deserve it. Mercy is the kindness shown in spite of what we have done. Mercy is not giving us what we deserve, but rather a kindness.
Paul wrote about it this way in 1 Timothy,
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Mercy is received. Mercy is not earned. Mercy is not repaid. Mercy is simply received.
What is Peace?
What is Peace?
Peace is often looked at as the absence of conflict. Everyone claims to want peace, but there is not absence of conflict in this world. Though there may be periods of supposed peace in this world, there is no true lasting peace, the absence of conflict, in this world.
Another definition of peace is an inner state of calm and wholeness. Though the world around is in turmoil, this peace is possible. There are some who find it, but not many.
Why do we need it?
Why do we need it?
The first reason we need peace is because we are sinners. We do things that are wrong. This robs us of peace in that sin leads to conflict. Sin is our self centered actions carried out. Our sin leads to conflict with others who we hurt through our sin. It leads to conflict with God, the One against whom we sin. It leads to conflict within as we struggle with our God-given conscience.
The second reason we need peace, that inner calm, is because of the trials of this world.
God created us to live in peace. Satan wants us to live in fear, anxiety, and inner turmoil.
Anyone experiencing that today?
This world is bent on driving us to fear and anxiety. If Satan can get us focused on all that is wrong, and all that he wants us to focus on, we will get our eyes off of the Lord, the God of peace.
Where do we find peace?
Where do we find peace?
People look in all kinds of places. We try to find peace by arranging our lives and circumstances.
Have you ever gotten home from the day and just wanted peace? How do you expect to have peace?
House picked up and clean. Food cooking and almost done, ready to eat. Kids playing together nicely, and wanting to greet you, excited to see you. Spouse just happy to see you, no bills or distress going on. Not walking in the door to hear all that is going wrong.
So, how we we find peace? Yell at everyone and tell them to get it right!
Another place people look for peace is from the government. Get things under control! Provide for me. Rule the way I want.
Still another way people seek for peace is through medication. Some choose, chocolate. Some alcohol. Some illegal drugs. Some prescription drugs.
The problem is that when we seek for peace through our circumstances, other people, the government or medicating, we are not really dealing with the heart issues that lead to the fear and anxiety. So, though we may be able to deaden the fear and anxiety for periods of time, it is always there once the medication wears off.
Paul and Timothy certainly knew what it was to have conflicts all around. They knew what it was like to experience fear and anxiety. So, Paul writes to Timothy and reminds him where peace comes from.
Where can we find true peace? We cannot stop all of the conflicts, but we can find the inner peace we crave. Where?
To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is not a new message. All the way through the scriptures we have people experiencing conflicts, persecution, troubles. And in every case, the way to find peace is only from the Lord.
Here are a few other verses about this:
say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
God wants to give us the peace he created us to experience. He is the only One who can give true peace.
How do we find peace?
How do we find peace?
We find peace by coming to God through Jesus!
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
God will give us peace to ease our conscience through forgiveness!
God will give us peace with Himself, no longer in conflict with Him because He restores our relationship with Him!
That conflict is gone! We will be with Him forever! Nothing can separate us from Him and His love for us!
No matter what is going on outside, know that you have peace with the One who truly matters! Your Creator. Your God, Your Lord. Your Father! You have peace with Him. There is nothing between you when you come to Him in Faith.
But what about the other conflicts in life? What about the other troubles of this world?
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
As we saw in the previous verses, peace comes from God. How can we find peace? But keeping our minds steadfast, trusting in Him.
Steadfast. That means that it is set. Staid. Focused.
When we are focused on Him, walking with Him and not in our own strength, we will live as He is, righteously! And, we will not be shaken.
Because we are not trusting ourselves to work things out. We are not trusting the government. We are not trusting something else, or someone else to bring peace. We are focused on Him, the One who has overcome the world. The One who has overcome our sin! The One who is with us, for us. The One who has a place prepared for us! The One who will not allow anything to come between us.
I cannot. He can. He will. He does.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.
They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.
Where are you looking for grace, mercy and peace?
Where are you looking for grace, mercy and peace?
How will we find grace, mercy and peace?
How will we find grace, mercy and peace?
Receive them by Faith! Know what God has said. Know what He has promised. Trust in Him! Focus on Him!
How will we know what he has said?
Spend time in the Word!
How will we keep our focus?
Worship!
Fellowship!
How do we show grace, mercy and peace?
How do we show grace, mercy and peace?
Only as we experience grace, mercy and peace.
God not only wants to give us grace, mercy and peace. He wants us to be his ambassadors of grace, mercy and peace in this world.
If you do not experience your grace, mercy and peace from him, you will not have anything to offer your family. You will have nothing to offer your friends.
Experience His grace, mercy and peace. Share it with others.