UNCHAINED

At the door of the church, and old fellow said to his young pastor. “Young man, did anyione ever tell you they could listen to you all day?” “No sir, they didn’t,” he said. “Then where in the wold did you get such an idea,” he asked?

Paul was writing his final letter to Timothy. For many years they had been like father and son, ministered together, and served God. Now the time of Paul's death was quickly approaching. This would be Paul’s final epistle as he prepared to meet the Savior he had long preached of. We find that Paul was in prison, and most likely chained to a Roman soldier, it was customary to attach a roman soldier to prisoners, to prevent escape.

Paul references himself as an apostle in an attempt to show authority and urgency in this letter. He was attempting to persuade Timothy to give head to his words.

Here we see in verse one that Paul refers to Timothy as my dearly beloved son, this is again in contrast to the reference in I Timothy 1 where Paul calls Timothy his true son. In 1 Timothy Paul was trying top give Timothy legitimacy but in 2 Timothy Paul is appealing directly to Timothy.

In verse 3 Paul is letting Timothy know that he believes in the authenticity of Timothy’s conversion. Paul says that he remembers Timothy serving as did Paul and their ancestors. There is also a point that Paul and Timothy are worshiping the same God as did those who had came before them, who didn’t now Jesus. This is a subtle verification of the God-ness of Jesus.

In verse 4 Paul says that he was mindful of Timothy’s tears. What the source of those tears is may never be known but it i possible that they were caused by the departure of Paul. Paul wanted to see Timothy so that his heart would be joyful. This would again show a possibility that the tears were caused by Paul’s departure. They were suffering persecution, abandonment, and uncertainty and in the midst of this Paul leaves. Maybe it was the thoughts of loneliness that caused Timothy to weep. Maybe it was because he knew that Paul would soon die? Or maybe Timothy felt that he was not ready for the task that Paul had intrusted him with. What we do know is that something had overwhelmed Timothy and Paul knew of his distress.

One redeeming characteristic of Timothy was his faith. Verse five deals with both the faith of Timothy and the godly heritage that he had. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your testimony and the impact that we may have on our children.

In verse 6, Paul gets to the heart of the matter. The introduction and greetings are behind and Paul begins to pour out his heart. Paul, living in bondage of the flesh is still free in his spirit. His desire is that Timothy will do the same. Paul’s request is for Timothy to fan the flames of God’s gift in his life.

Paul knew that God had a plan and purpose for Timothy and desired that Timothy would seek to grow in power, wisdom, and capabilities. To fan the flame, is a reference to blowing on coals that have reduced to an ember. It is the same thing you would do to a dying campfire. You can not blow upon a peace of wood and have a sound expectation of fire. However, if a coal already exist then by laborious blowing (fanning), the fire can be reborn.

Timothy, it would appear, had either already began to loose his zeal, or was in immediate danger of doing so. Paul looked at Timothy and knew that he was vital to the ministry of God and was warning him against the dangers of apathy. The greatest danger to the gifts of God, is apathy. Without a constant stirring, the flames will began to dwindle.

A young Timothy, due to fear, was wavering in his faith. Before we jump to judgement to swiftly, lets place ourselves in Timothy’s shoes for a moment. He had just witnessed his mentor leave and then be arrested by the Romans. No doubt he had seen Paul’s many beatings, imprisonments, and teachings of the persecution that would become followers of Jesus. To say that Timothy was affected by fear is not unjust but rather to be expected. Paul’s message was not necessarily one of condemnation but rather of encouragement.

Like Timothy, there are many circumstances in life that can cause us to be fearful, and often justifiably. To have fear is not wrong the danger is when we live by fear instead of from fear.

Instead of fear there are three things that Paul said we should live from. These are the means by which we can live unchained from the fears, disappointments and failures of life.

Power- or boldness. This is a power that will cause us to maintain our character in the face of adversity.

Love- This is more of a love that will lead us to forgive those who have brought us contempt. A love that will empower us to forgive instead of seek revenge. This is a love that will break the chains of bitterness and hatred.

Sound-mind, or self-control/discipline. The self-discipline refers to a “wise head,” which provides wise guidance for the use of power and love.

Lea, T. D., & Griffin, H. P. (1992). 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (Vol. 34, p. 189). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.