God Equips Us to Obey

Second Timothy. Pastor was just having the Morton family uh sign a baby dedication letter. And as you know, we've been in the past year or so going through Paul's letter to Timothy. And so we're going to uh I'm going to attempt to summarize uh what Paul has been writing to Timothy. Um but would you just bow with me as we pray? Uh I would like to uh prepare my heart um as we go into God's word tonight. Father, we thank you so much for the uh opportunity that we have just to be able to serve you here at Ohana. Thank you for this church that we have that um you have freely given to us by your son Jesus Christ.

And we're thankful, Lord, that we have scripture that we can be able to read it for ourselves and be able to get to know you for ourselves. And we're thankful that we have pastors that can preach it and teach it to us. But we're also thankful that we can have it for ourselves so we can cross check and see whether those things be what they say. And so, Father, I pray that you would use me tonight as I uh summarize uh this letter that Paul has written to Timothy. And I pray that you would just be able to use me to be a mouthpiece. Father, we love you so much. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right.

So, imagine uh receiving a letter from someone who knows they're about to die. uh if that if you received a letter from somebody that you care about and this is their last letter to you, what what would your reaction be or what would you do with that letter? You would probably cherish it. Uh you would examine it. You would read it over and over and over again. Uh that letter would be of utmost importance to you because it's from somebody that you care about. And as we've studied through second Timothy, this is a letter. It was Paul's final letter. We we know from history that after this letter, maybe a year or so after he um he he dies uh because of the emperor Nero.

Um and so this was Paul's last recorded letter and it was a letter to his son in the faith. It was his prodigy. it was his his favorite person to go to um Timothy and Paul is writing to Timothy and I guess a question that we should ask ourselves as I mean we've already gone through this letter but uh as we take a step back we ask this question what does a man who is facing death say to a young pastor because at that time Timothy was still young who must carry on the work of the gospel And if you've been here the Sunday nights that we've been uh studying this letter, uh you would see what Paul had to say to Timothy.

Um Paul writes from prison in Rome, he knows his life is ending. And in in uh chapter 4 6 of 2 Timothy, he says this, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." Uh, I don't know if maybe Emperor Nero told his guards and said, "Hey, tell Paul that he's going to die on this day." Uh, maybe he got that information. Um, but for some reason, Paul just had a feeling that this is it. I'm close to the end of my life. Timothy is pastoring in Ephesus, as we've as we find out from reading First Timothy. And Timothy is facing a lot of um problems. Uh he is facing uh false teachers.

Um he is going through persecution. Um he is facing just the pressures of ministry. And Paul's goal in writing this letter to Timothy is to strengthen him and to prepare him to continually continue faithfully. And as you see from our uh graphic on the screens here, our the theme that we decided would be fitting for this letter is finish the course. Because at the end of this letter, Paul says this, I have finished he has finished his race. He's essentially at the end of it and it's time for him to be with Jesus Christ. as we take a step back and as I was examining this letter to see okay how can I summarize this letter because just a disclaimer um when uh myself and the other pastors pastor

surface pastor Peter and pastor John uh had a meeting about okay what do we do at the end of this letter now that we've we've gone through it and we've preached through the verses uh how should we summarize it and pastor came up with the uh the idea of okay maybe uh all of us if not a few of us would give a summary uh of Timothy but from our point of view uh the ver the from what we felt like was Paul was really saying to Timothy and so um I got I got tonight's uh challenge and then next week we'll get to hear from pastor John he will summarize in his uh own as well um but as I was thinking okay I could go many ways and although this is the theme that Paul is driving home.

There's a lot of things that we can park on in second Timothy that we could probably elaborate and it would take a lot of time. But as I was looking through this, I I was doing a word study and I came to find out that in second Timothy, Paul gives Timothy 33 commands. Um, and these commands are specifically like what Paul tells Timothy, hey, here's what you need to do. this is what you should do. Um, and so there's about 16 that are like, okay, you have to do these. And 17 of of them are like, okay, you you have to continue to do these things. Um, and um, I don't have time tonight to go through all of them.

I'll just give you a couple examples. In chapter 1, verse number six, the Bible says this or Paul tells Timothy, "Stir up the gift." In uh, verse number eight, he says, "Don't be ashamed or be not ashamed." Uh in verse number 13 he says hold fast sound words. In verse 14 he says keep the good deposit. Uh in chapter 2 verse one he says be strong. Uh in chapter 2 verse two he says commit true to faithful men. Uh in verse number three he says to endure hardness. In verse number 15 of chapter 2 he says study to show thyself approved unto God. In verse 22 he says flee youthful lust. Uh in chapter 3:14 he says continue in the things learned.

Uh in chapter 4 number two he says preach the word. He says be instant in season and out of season. There's there's many more but these are just a few of those 33 commands that Paul specifically gave to Timothy. And at first glance this might feel overwhelming if all you're looking at are just those commands. You might think, "Wow, that's a lot of thing to do as a young preacher, as a as a minister of God in Ephesus." But notice this. Paul doesn't just tell Timothy what to do. He actually reminds him that God provides everything he needs to do those things. And the focus tonight that I want to draw out of this letter to Timothy is that God doesn't just command us to live out our faith, but God actually provides us the things that are that are necessary to live out our faith.

And here's here's the reality. You can actually do all of these commands by yourself in your own strength, and that's fine. But I don't think that's the way to do it. Because as we see scripture, Paul actually points to a source, a source that will help us to be able to live this these commands out. And Paul actually says that God provides power. He provides the Holy Spirit. He provides grace. Um he provides scripture. and he also provides his own presence um but in it would actually be uh the example of other believers. So in this case would be Paul's example and so the main point is this Paul isn't saying to Timothy try harder because you can always try harder and I think if you if you were honest with yourself you will say that I've tried and I failed and I've tried and I failed.

That's not the point. The point is that God equips us to obey and remain faithful. And the point is that it's not what we do. It's what God does. And if you think about it, that actually points back to the gospel. Cuz that's what the gospel was. The gospel is what saved us. And a lot of the truth that a lot of us Christians miss is that the gospel keeps us. So, we get saved not by what we do. So, we don't get saved because we come to church. And we don't get saved because we read our Bibles. We don't get saved because we give into the offerings. We don't get saved because we're such good people.

We get saved because Jesus Christ died on the cross for us sinful human beings. As I was reading the Old Testament, I'm in Deuteronomy and I was coming through where Moses is like um just charging the Israelites to get ready to go conquer the promised land. And before he does uh before they go to the promised land, Moses reminds the Israelites, hey, when you go into the promised land, remember this. You're not there or you're not getting the promised land because of your righteousness. You're not getting the promised land because of what you've done because and then Moses goes on a rabbit trail like because if you remember what you did, you do not you did not deserve the promised land.

But what what uh God actually said through Moses was that the promised land is yours. First of all, because these people are so wicked, they've they've actually this like they've sacrificed their children to their gods. And that's the reason why God is driving those inhabitants of those that promised land, but also because God promised Abraham and the forefathers of the Israelites that he will give them the promised land. That's the picture of the gospel. The gospel is we get saved and we become children of God, not because of what we've done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. And so once we're at that stage though and we're saved, we're now we have a relationship with God, it has to continue that way.

What I mean by that is we have a good relationship with God not because of what we do, but because of what God has done for us. We don't we don't earn more of God's love because we come to church every Sunday. And we don't lose God's love because we don't go to church on Sunday. God's love is unconditional, which is actually what he says in this ver this one of the things that helps us to live out our faith. It's agape love and it's a love that is one way. But here's five things that I believe Paul is telling Timothy that God has provided us that will help us to live out our faith or to remain faithful in this race that we're running.

And the Bible says this and the first uh the first help that I see from scripture from second Timothy is this. We are helped by the power of God. God gives us his power. In uh 2 Timothy chapter number one verse number 7 to8 the Bible says this. For God had not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. So the command we see in here is that be not ashamed. But how do we do that command? How do we not be ashamed of this this the gospel of Christ?

And if you would kind of um look at Timothy for a second and see his context and see what was happening around him. Um the context and the culture in which Paul is writing to Timothy, there's a lot of persecutions of Christians. Um, Emperor Nero came onto the stage at about AD54 until about AD68. Paul, um, I think he was martyed according to history, he was probably martyed around AD65 to68. So that in that time frame um, but Emperor Nero was one of the worst. Uh, he was very bad for Christians. Uh, he persecuted Christians. Um there's a study that showed that he um he would burn Christians on fire and hang them just so he could see his garden.

Uh and they would also use Christians um they would throw them into arenas where there would be these wild animals and so that people could watch these wild animals tear apart these Christians. That's not a safe society culture to be in. And that is the societ that is the world that Timothy is serving in as a pastor of the church in Ephesus. And Paul is writing this here saying God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind. And I think he's writing that because I think Timothy is scared. I think he is timid. I I think Timothy was discouraged that he's having to serve in a society like this and he's I mean he's the leader.

So imagine as the leader who is being scared how your flock is also being scared the Christians in his church and how they would have felt in that culture. Paul reminds Timothy that standing for the gospel is dangerous and we see that from just the the context. But Paul commands Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel, but to participate in the afflictions of the gospel. And and Paul tells Timothy three things. God helps us by uh providing his power. And the power here is just the strength. Uh it doesn't always have to be physical, but it's the the spiritual strength to be able to endure the persecutions.

Uh he provides love, and the word love here is agape, which is where we get unconditional love. It's a type of love that human beings cannot have because we are we are frail and we we may claim that we have agape love but so many times when somebody messes up we just like we switch and we don't forgive right away until God has to give us grace and then then we take on that agape love but that's that's God again loving people through us but when we love people by our flesh by our own selves it's very hard to do so and so God provides that agape a love and then he also provides us with the sound mind and sound mind here comes from the idea of just self-control uh it's clear judgment uh and a a

sound mind here has to do with somebody that regardless of what is happening in their world whether it's very positive or very negative they're going to be straight and they're not going to be moved by any of that because they have sound mind there's self-discipline and so they're not going to be moved by their emotions. They're not going to be moved by how negative the society or how how much violence is going on. They're just going to be constant. It'll be steady. And that's what God provides. And so when fear creeps in, God helps us by providing these things. And I think a lot of the the area that we struggle as Christians and um we don't face persecution like other Christians in other countries um but we do uh have our battles that we face.

And I think when it comes to the gospel, we get scared to share the gospel with our neighbors. Uh we get scared to share the gospel with somebody that's maybe at uh at a counter uh or wherever it is. But that's we we get scared to do that. And Paul, if if that was Timothy, Paul would remind him, God has not given us the spirit of fear to be scared to share the greatest news in the world. The news that God, the creator of this world, came down to save humankind in which we're all sinners and we're on our way to hell, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. Like, that is such a great news.

But when we see somebody that looks mean or and we're intimidated, we're just like, yeah, maybe they don't deserve that news. And God has given us a the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. And so we see here um there's many pro probably many areas in which we get fearful in our own faith. Um for some it's being a parent or be becoming a parent for the first time. Uh for some maybe it's moving to a new state for the first time. uh those are minor in a sense to some people who are actually facing persecution, but those are pretty big in your in in your own lives. And the encouragement is that God gives us the ability to be able to go through whatever it is that we're facing because it's not our power, it's God that's helping us through that.

And ultimately, if it's for the gospel, it's going to be good. It's going to be it's going to help us. And so the only thing though, the only way that we can get this power and love and sound mind is really through the Holy Spirit. And that's the next thing that um I see in second Timothy is we are helped by the by the Holy Spirit. The power comes from the Holy Spirit. The Bible says this in verse number 14, chapter number one. Second Timothy says that good that good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. Um, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.

And I've been convicted lately of this uh this because all my life as a Christian, I am so focused on God the Father and God the Son because I mean that's who we hear from scripture. But I often neglect the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is God. And the Holy Spirit is is why we have scripture. The Holy Spirit is um why we have wisdom. But often times I don't even I I feel like I just ignore the Holy Spirit. But the reality is the Holy Spirit is God himself. And the Bible says that as when Jesus was leaving, he to he promised his disciples that he's going to send a comforter.

That Holy Spirit is with us. That's why in Hebrews chapter 13, Bible says that I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's because of the Holy Spirit. The only way that you can get the Holy Spirit is if you are a child of God. If you've actually accepted the gospel, that means that the Holy Spirit is is within you. You have the Holy Spirit. If you've never accept accepted the gospel, then you don't have the Holy Spirit. And so, you can't relate in that way. But the Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is the one that indwells every believer and we are never alone in in living out our faith.

And so if you were Timothy and you were hearing this, this is a really good reminder because he's looking around him and there is just persecution and having to live in secrecy because you don't want to be persecuted. The reminder that God is with you in the he's the Holy Spirit is with you is a really good reminder because it'll it'll strengthen. It'll help encourage Timothy to actually live out what he's meant to live out. We see the spirit gives wisdom. He gives courage. He gives strength to obey God. In Galatians chapter number 5:1 16, the Bible says this, "Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

God doesn't just tell us what to do. He gives us what we need to be able to do those things. Timothy was to guard the gospel uh through the spirit um not by human effort but the same spirit that lived in Timothy is the same spirit that we have today. But not only does God gives us the spirit and the power because of the spirit but God also helps us by the grace of Christ. In chapter 2 verse number one, Bible says this, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Um, I think why Paul is reminding Timothy of this is because ministry is very challenging and ministry involves people and people have really um some people have really broken stories.

Uh, and that weighs on a pastor and and having to be the person that either mediates between families or having to uh hear out people of their struggles and having to hold all of that in and having to uh really be affected emotionally because you're the pastor of this church. The Bible tells us that we can have help in the grace of Christ. He says there be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Timothy really cannot rely on his own strength. Uh he needs Christ's grace. And grace is power for today. And it's not just for salvation, but it's it's what we rely on every single day. Paul said it this way.

My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. He said that in 2 Corinthians 12 verse number 9. Paul when he was writing that had a thorn in his flesh and he begged God. Now you have to you have to understand Paul is one of the greatest missionaries that ever lived. Uh how many letters he wrote in the New Testament that is the Bible the word of God that we have today. Um Paul was a great missionary. Now, he had a radical change from being a great persecutor of the brethren to being a person that just shared the gospel everywhere he went. But he had a request and he had a thorn in the flesh.

Nobody knows what it was. Maybe it was his eyesight. Maybe he was blind. Maybe it was because when he went on the road to Damascus and the light show like was there was so bright and when he was speaking to Jesus that maybe that blinded him. And so, um, in one of his letters, he says, "See how large of a letter I'm writing. That that's probably what his thorn in the flesh was. We don't really know what that was, but he had a struggle, and he wanted God to get rid of that struggle." And God said, "This this is good for you." And then Paul, after understanding and putting into perspective where that struggle should live in his life, he said, "That's right."

Because Jesus said, "My grace is sufficient for thee." And I think having struggles sometimes is actually good for us because it keeps us humble. It doesn't get through our heads. When we think that we're actually okay and perfect, that we don't need God. But when we understand that, you know what, I'm broken yet God can still use me, that that's that's amazing. And that is that is the gospel. And that is the grace of God being able to use us. But Paul had a thorn in the flesh and God didn't remove it. And maybe you have something like that. And maybe God won't remove it. But he will always give you grace.

And the grace is what will help you in those moments, in those times where you feel depressed, in those times where you feel very low because you feel like why can't this just be gone? God will give you the grace to be able to endure those things. And so, not only does God give us his power, his love, sound mind, his holy spirit or the grace of Christ, but also he has given us scripture. Scripture helps us to live out our faith. Um, this is a really good reminder for Timothy because as a pastor, um, he didn't have the New Testament to be able to look through. He actually had the Old Testament. So, the Old Testament was what helped Timothy to be able to do what he to preach and to do the things that he was doing there.

And the commands that Paul gives to Timothy, he says, "Preach the word." In chapter 4 in verse number two, Paul says, "Preach the word." He says be instant in season, out of season. Uh he says to rebuke, to exhort, to endure afflictions. And then he also says to continue in the things that he has learned. He said that in chapter 3 verse number 14. But scripture equips Timothy to be able to obey God's commands or to be able to do the things that Paul is is telling Timothy to do. Psalm chapter number 119 verse 105 says this, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Life is going to present difficult choices and temptations and without scripture we can feel lost.

But God's word gives us clarity in what we should do. The Bible says that if we lack wisdom, ask God. If we don't know what to do, turn to scripture. Now, we can go to our pastor and say, "Pastor, what do you think I should do in this situation?" And you know what pastor is going to do? He's going to go to scripture and he's going to search scripture and then he's going to see, "Okay, here's what the Bible says." And then he'll tell you, and it'll interpret it that way. But you have access to the Bible, too. So, you can actually read it. So, you can study it and you can know what does God want me to do in my life?

And God will use scripture to help you in times of trouble, in times of victories, because so often when we're on the mountaintop, we need to be a base and be reminded that you know what, I'm only here because God brought me here, not because of what I've done. And the Bible so many times says that God will draw near to the ones that are humble, that are lowly. But you know what's very hard? It's hard to go through life if you don't know scripture. But you know what's very good and and nice is when you go through life and you do know scripture because when something arises, you're like, I remember reading this in in the Bible and you take wisdom and you apply that scripture that you're reminded of and then you live it out because you're you have wisdom because you have access to wisdom because God gave you that access.

And church is good, but church is good so we can fellowship and we can grow together in scripture. But that's not where you should always get your feeding from. You should get it from the word of God yourself. And God has given us the word to be able to help us to live out our faith, to be able to do the things that God has commanded us to do. And the last thing that I see I see Paul um that I see from this uh scripture actually in in second Timothy is that we are all we can also be encouraged by Paul's example in chapter number 4 verse number 7 to8 the Bible says this Paul said it he said it he said it this way I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness later on he says notwithstanding the Lord stood with me in verse number 17.

And strengthen me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Now, why is Paul reminding Timothy of this or why is Paul even telling Timothy, look, I have done my I have ran my race. I've done my part. And I think it's to remind Timothy to show that Paul isn't just telling Timothy what to do that he hasn't already done. Um it you know that add that phrase uh practice what you preach. Paul was that guy. He lived it. And as he's been mentoring Timothy and he hears of Timothy and maybe Timothy is going through all these struggles or he's being affected by the real world that is happening around him.

Paul, the Holy Spirit through Paul wrote this letter so that Timothy could be encouraged. so that Timothy could see you know what I can stay faithful I can still be faithful to God Paul didn't finish in his own strength though God empowered him throughout and Hebrews chapter number 121-2 says this looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and as we're running the race that God has laid in front of us our personal races Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal it's not necessarily somebody that is in front of us, it's always going to be Jesus Christ. And so, the same God that trengthens us today is the same God that was strengthening Paul and Timothy.

And you and I, we have access to God's word. And we have access to all of these things that Paul has written to Timothy and saying, "Timothy, do this, do this, do this." But by the Holy Ghost, by power, it's by the grace of Christ. It's by scripture. It It's by these things that Paul has written out. And you can look at scripture and you can just look at the commands and you can do all of those commands, but you missed the point because it's not about what you do for God. It's about what God has done through for you and what God can do through you. And the challenge tonight is this. As we continue to live our faith, will we rely on our own strength, on our own flesh, or are we going to trust God to be able to help us through these things?

And we'll rely on his grace, on his power, and on his spirit. Um, I was reading uh the Old Testament and Zechariah. I was reading through uh Zechariah's letter, but ohana used to sing this song. Uh I was there's the scripture that we used to sing but it's not by might nor by power but by my spirit said the lord and zerubabel was the one that led the building of the second temple but god reminded him it's not because you're doing it it's because I'm doing it. And may that be true for us as well as Christians living out our faith. I hope you never get prideful and thinking that you got where you are and you earn more of God's love because what you do because it's not about that. It's about the gospel and the grace of God and how he is able to help you. And it is his power that helps us to live it