0:01 Welcome once again to Words of Life. We have now come in our study of the Bible to 2 Timothy. This is Paul's last letter. And he knows that he is going to leave 0:25 the world soon. God has shown him that. So, he is much burdened to share his heart with Timothy, his closest co-worker. And this 0:50 book could be titled as the true servant of God and his ministry. Again, he addresses Timothy as his beloved son in verse two. And you see the balance, like we saw in 1:12 1 Timothy, between faith for life and gifts for service. He speaks in verse five and six 1:29 about the faith that Timothy had and the gifts he has. If you want to serve God, you must have a sincere faith in God. The measure of faith is different with 1:50 different people. But whether it's little or much, it must be sincere and genuine. And to serve God, you also need to have spiritual gifts. So, both of these are mentioned in 2:11 verses five and six. And here we read that the faith that Timothy had was first in the heart of his grandmother, Lois. And then in the heart of his mother, Eunice or 2:31 Eunice. Now, we know from Acts chapter 16 that Timothy's father was not a Jew. He was 2:50 a heathen businessman. Um and it's amazing how this girl, Eunice, whose mother was a God-fearing lady, went and married this heathen businessman. She must have been brought up in a good 3:16 way by her mother, Lois. But she must have gone through as a young girl at backslidden period when she went and married this ungodly businessman. And if this Greek man was a religious 3:41 man, then he must have been worshipping idols. But Eunice must have had a time when she repented of her action. And when her son was born, she decided, 4:02 "Okay, I did not live according to the will of God. Let me at least bring up my son She wouldn't have had any help from her 4:19 unconverted husband. And she is an amazing example to all women whose husbands are unconverted. How she brought up her son in such a 4:39 godly way that by the time he was 18 or 19, Paul felt he was fit to be a co-worker in his team. Paul was a very shrewd discerner of 4:57 people. And we read in Acts of the Apostles in chapter 16 that when Paul met this young man, Timothy, Timothy, and the volume he 5:16 he felt he should take him with him. Acts 16 verse one, in Lystra, there was this man called young man called Timothy. Lystra and he was well spoken of not 5:38 only in Lystra but in even in Iconium, people had a good testimony of this young man. And it's amazing that this woman single-handedly brought up this young man to be the man of God that 5:56 he was. She may not have been a great scholar of the Bible. What is it that Paul says she communicated to her son? It says in what 2 Timothy 1:5, a sincere 6:19 faith. Which she got from her mother. That means Timothy would have seen in his mother and his grandmother a trust in God in difficult situations. We don't know, but perhaps Timothy saw 6:47 that his mother faced difficult situations with an unconverted father. And in all those difficult situations, she may he must have seen how his mother trusted God. That brought faith in his heart. 7:12 He decided to be a wholehearted disciple of Jesus. A young man can have a good testimony in his own church and in churches in other places. So, he had this faith in his heart. 7:31 But then he also had a spiritual gift that was given to him when Paul laid his hands on him. In those days, we see how the apostles could transmit spiritual gifts by the laying on of hands. And we see there how 7:55 Timothy received a gift of the Holy Spirit. But just because he received that gift, doesn't mean that he can automatically uh serve God. Paul told him he has got to keep stirring it up and kindling it afresh in 8:14 verse six. The gift of God is like a spark that God puts in our hearts. We have to stir it up and kindle it afresh like blowing a flame so that it 8:32 keeps burning. Otherwise, it'll remain and it'll die out. If we don't exercise the gift and stir it up, whatever gift it is, it'll die out. 8:54 So, Paul says to Timothy, "Stir up the gift that is in you. Neglect it or despise it." I would say to all of you, seek God for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And then one God when God gives it to 9:13 you, stir it up. And he says to Timothy, "God has not given us a spirit of timidity and fear that we hesitate to use the gifts he has given us." God has given us a spirit of power. 9:36 And discipline. Very necessary. Spirit of love. Spirit of self-discipline. The Holy Spirit brings discipline into our lives. Self-control. 9:56 Disciplined in sleeping, eating, in sleeping, eating, everything in our life, the use of time. And no fear at all. All fear, intimidation, and hesitation is not from the Holy Spirit. All fear, 10:15 intimidation, and hesitation is not from the And the Holy Spirit fills us, he makes us bold to exercise whatever gift he gives us. Then he tells Timothy, "Don't be ashamed of me because I'm in prison. 10:35 Many people were ashamed to acknowledge that they were friends with Paul because he was a prisoner now. Paul is put in the prison and he is a prisoner. And he says, "Don't be ashamed of the Lord and don't be ashamed of me." 10:50 Many people have spirit of timidity are ashamed to confess Christ. Even though Paul laid his hands and he received a spiritual gift, still Timothy was needed an exhortation, "Don't be ashamed of Christ." And then Paul says these wonderful words 11:13 in verse 12. I know whom I believed and I'm a convinced that he's able to guard what I've committed unto him until the Paul urges Timothy to keep the standard of the Christian faith in verse 13 and 11:30 never to go down from that standard. Again, you notice these two words, faith and love, which we see in so many of Paul's letters. The New Testament, if you read it, 11:48 you'll find a tremendous emphasis on faith and love. You hardly ever read these words in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament epistles, there's so much of this. Jesus emphasized faith so much. 12:11 He said love is the mark of his disciples. Faith towards God and love towards one another. That is the primary mark of a disciple of Jesus. And then Paul says to Timothy, 12:30 The Holy Spirit that has come in you is someone who will empower you to carefully guard whatever God has committed to you without losing anything that God has given you. You are supposing you're working in a 12:49 company in Bangalore and they give you 500,000 rupees in cash and say, "Please take this safely in a train to Delhi and deposit it, give it in the headquarters there." Train to Delhi takes 2 days. You won't even get any sleep in the 13:12 train. Because you'll be guarding this money. Because when you reach the other end you will have to count and give out exactly the amount you got here. And so we see 13:30 that this is somewhat similar here. When we get up to heaven at the end of our journey we are given account to God concerning all the things that God entrusted to us on this journey. It's a treasure God has given us here. 13:55 Paul says, "Guard it safely. You need the Holy Spirit's power for that." That's another reason why God has given us the Holy Spirit. So that we can safely take whatever God has keep all that God has committed to us and preserve it till the day he 14:11 comes. In chapter 2 we read Paul mentioning six characteristics of a true servant of God. First of all, he says 14:32 the true servant of God is a faithful teacher. He says to him, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and faithfully teach what you have 14:48 learned, verse 2, to other people." Paul had a great burden not only for the next generation but for the fourth generation. See, Paul knew that the continuance of 15:07 the gospel in its purity depended on faithful teachers. And he had trained Timothy to convey that message. We're not just talking about 15:26 understanding the doctrine. Because then he would have said "Please entrust these to clever men." But he doesn't say that. He says, "Entrust it to faithful men." Now, a clever man may be a faithful man 15:44 but may not be a faithful man also. But another person may not be so clever but he may be faithful. Or he may be unfaithful. So, the important thing is not whether he's clever or not. Is he faithful? 16:04 If he's faithful, it doesn't matter whether he's a clever man like Paul or a person who doesn't understand much like Peter. So, Paul says Timothy is the only one among my 16:22 coworkers who's a faithful man. I have many clever coworkers. Timothy is the one who is faithful. So, he tells Timothy, "What you have heard from me you are the second generation. 16:41 You got it. Now, you must do to others what I've done to you. Where you go around, look around for faithful men. People who are faithful in their life and who can teach and make them teach the fourth 17:04 generation." Timothy is the second generation. He's got to look for people of the third generation who are faithful. And he must select such people who will teach other people in the fourth generation. What a burden Paul had. 17:28 We must have a burden, too. Everything God has entrusted to us we carefully communicate to another generation. A true servant of God has to be a good soldier. Christian life is a battle. 17:50 And the main thing he says here is that he's a soldier in active service. Verse 4 does not entangle himself in the affairs of everyday life. Because he wants to please the one who has enlisted him. So, Paul says 18:13 Timothy you must be willing to be a soldier. Soldiers who go into the battlefield, what a lot they're willing to suffer. They're not going for a picnic, they're going for battle. And they're willing to suffer hardship. 18:35 Christian life is a battle. Here, first of all, the Christian life is like a school where teachers need to teach. Secondly, the Christian life is a battle. It requires soldiers who are detached 18:52 from earthly things. If you want to be a really good soldier you must have minimum occupation with earthly things. Of course, we need to be occupied with earthly things to earn our living, to 19:11 look after our family. We're not to be like monks and sannyasis who got nothing to do with our work. Jesus himself worked as a carpenter for many years to support his family. He's an example for us. 19:34 But we don't get entangled in that. And that's the word used here. You you can go into something and get entangled there. Entangled is like a rope going around your legs and hands and everything and you're a slave now. You're 19:52 You're not free. You can allow your profession or your work to just go round and round and round you and then you're not free to do anything for the Lord. You have to be careful when we go and do 20:14 secular work that that doesn't entangle us. And then thirdly, he says that Christian servant of God must be in like an athlete who runs according to the rules. He must run according to the rules. 20:42 You know, in every race, there are rules. Olympic games, there are rules. It says you must stay within your track, otherwise you'll be disqualified. If you're in a walking competition, 21:00 you're not allowed to run. You're supposed to walk. They have 50 km walk. If a person runs a little bit there, the video camera will catch him and he'll be disqualified. No, he says, "If you don't run according 21:21 to the rules, you won't get a prize." A servant of God is an athlete who has to be very careful to do exactly what God has said. And then fourthly, 21:39 he must be like a farmer who works hard, verse six, to sow the crops and get a harvest. There he's comparing a lazy farmer with 21:57 a hard-working farmer. A lazy farmer is not going to get a good crop. Don't think that you can be an effective servant of God if you're not willing to 22:15 work hard. There is a poem written by worldly poet who says like this, "The heights that great men in the world have achieved, they did not reach there by one sudden 22:36 flight." No. But while all their friends were sleeping, they were climbing upwards in the night. And they climbed up, climbed up, climbed up, finally they reached the great height. And that's really true in the Lord's 22:55 work, too. You can't be an effective servant of God if you're not willing to work hard. Work hard in studying the word. Work hard in laboring in God's vineyard. Naturally, a hard-working farmer will 23:17 get the first share of the crop. And the lazy person will miss out on God's best. So, those are the first four things that he mentions here. And then he says, "Think about all these 23:37 things that I'm saying, verse seven." And the Lord will give you an understanding. And that's what we've been thinking about now. We've been going what Paul says. And we are able to get an understanding of what these 23:55 pictures refer to. And then he says, "I want you also to think about what I'm going to say and the Lord will give you understanding on this." And remember that Jesus Christ 24:13 was of the seed of David and he rose from the dead. And the word, the Greek word there for seed is sperm. He's born of the sperm of David. That's how Mary was born. 24:36 And from Mary's egg, Jesus' body was born. The Holy Spirit did the work of the Father. Joseph had no part in that. So, Joseph had no part in that. But the mother's part, that egg was 24:54 offered by Mary. from her body. She That's the only way Jesus could be completely identified with our race. He was born of the seed of David. 25:15 And from the seed of David, nobody has ever risen from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead. He overcame sin. That's what he's referring to. That is my gospel. 25:33 "Think about this," he says. Think about what it involves. If somebody from the seed of David can overcome, you can also overcome. Think about this and the Lord will give you understanding. May God give us understanding, too. 25:53 Amen. Welcome once again to Words of Life. We now come to Second Timothy chapter two in our study through the Bible. In our last study in this chapter, we 26:15 saw how Paul was describing the characteristics of a true servant of God to Timothy. Seven things. First of all, he must be a faithful 26:32 teacher. Verse two. Second, he must be a detached soldier. And third, he must be a hard-working farmer. Sorry. Uh 26:50 athlete who runs according to the rules. And then fourthly, he must be like a hard-working farmer who doesn't take it easy. And then fifthly, he must be a diligent 27:11 workman, verse 15, who studies the word of God accurately. A workman who can offer himself to God and gets God's approval. One who's very diligent. 27:36 And who knows how to accurately handle God's word. And in order to be like that, again, he warns him, numerous times he's warned him, "Avoid worldly and empty 27:56 chatter, verse 16." In all of Paul's letters, you never find so much exhortation to avoid worldly conversation like in his letter to Timothy. Because that will lead to more 28:19 ungodliness. And he says it will spread like gangrene. Such conversation. And again, he names two people who've gone astray from the truth. So, if we are to be diligent workmen who 28:41 offer ourselves to be approved to God, we have to be very careful that of our conversation. And then, in verse 19, he speaks 28:58 about our calling. In the Christian circles, there's a great controversy concerning whether God has elected us or whether we choose to accept Christ. And in theological circles, they are 29:21 divided into two opposite camps. Some who say God chose us. Therefore, we will never be lost. And the others who say, "No, we must 29:38 endure until the end." What is the truth? The truth is in found in both these. Not by choosing one or the other. But choosing both. Both are mentioned in this word. 30:02 It says this is the firm foundation of God. And it has got a seal to it. From God's side the seal says the Lord knows those who are his. That is from God's side. 30:22 So if God were to if we were to look into God's book and see all people from God's viewpoint, we would know definitely who's saved and who's not saved. God knows the future. 30:42 So we know definitely who's going to be saved and who's not going to be saved if we could look at it from God's viewpoint. God knows that. But we cannot see from that viewpoint. We cannot have a look into the book of life. 31:03 But God knows. So he in his sovereignty knows from the beginning who all are his children. From the manward side the seal says let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from sin. So that that that 31:25 that is how we identify a child of God. Because that's the only way we can identify from the human standpoint. So both these things are true. God has elected and he knows those who are his. Unfortunately, we don't know that. 31:47 But we identify people by the fact that they give up sin and turn away. So if I see a person who is claims to be a believer but doesn't give up sin I would say well, he's probably once upon a time he may have trusted the 32:07 Lord, but he's certainly not a child of God today. Then we move on to a sixth characteristic that should be true of a servant of God. He must 32:23 be a clean valuable vessel. And here in verse 20 to 21 he uses the example of different type of vessels in a house. We know in our houses we have vessels 32:41 made of different material. Many of us may not have many gold and silver vessels in our house. But he says in a large rich person's house there are gold and silver vessels also. And there are also wooden crates and 33:05 earthenware pots. Wooden boxes. And earthenware pots in which they keep water. All these are useful. Wooden boxes are useful. 33:25 Earthenware pots are useful. Gold and silver vessels on the dining table are useful. But not all of these have got equal value. If the house catches fire, the owner is not going to carry out the wooden pots, 33:44 boxes, and earthenware pots. No, he will take the gold and silver vessels out. So it's not a question of being useful. Many people say God must use me. 34:08 Well, God a man uses wooden boxes and earthenware pots. And so Paul is saying here if you want to be a vessel for honor and sanctified and useful to the master like the gold and silver vessels 34:32 don't just think of being used but think of intrinsic value. And for that in the New Testament church there is a way by which a wooden box can become a golden vessel. It can't happen in the world, but it can 34:57 happen in the church. How? Verse 21, if a man cleanses himself from sin in his life But there are two cleansings. One is God cleanses us from the guilt of our past life. In the blood of Christ. 35:19 But this is a different cleansing. God doesn't do this. I must cleanse myself. I must identify something which I see as dishonoring to Christ in my life and get rid of it. Very simple. For example, you're watching a 35:38 television program which you feel God will not approve of. Stop watching that from now on. Cleanse yourself. And you read certain type of books or go to certain computer websites which Jesus Christ would not approve of. 36:02 Cleanse yourself means don't go to those places. Then what will happen? Then this wooden box will become a golden vessel. You will not only be used, but you will 36:19 be a vessel for honor. So he says flee from all youthful lusts. So that's another thing a servant of God must be a holy vessel. The seventh thing 36:41 the Lord's bondservant must be a gentle servant, verse 24. With gentleness, verse 25, correcting others. We have a tendency to become upset and 37:00 arrogant with others who disagree with us. Especially when somebody wrongs us and does some harm to us. But a Lord's servant must have a testimony, verse 24, that nobody can quarrel with him. He must be kind to everybody. 37:23 Patient when somebody has done some wrong to him. And if he finds people in opposition gently correct them. Perhaps God may give them repentance one day. And thus through your patience you may 37:43 be able to deliver them, verse 26, from the snare of the devil. So there we see seven characteristics So there we see seven characteristics of a true servant of God in chapter two. Then in chapter three Paul warns Timothy that in the last days 38:03 it will become very difficult to be a true Christian. Because he describes men who will be lovers of self, lovers of money, and so many things. Now all the things listed there boastful, arrogant disobedient to parents 38:25 verse three, unloving, irreconcilable verse four, treacherous, reckless, conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God Throughout history there have been such people. All through human history people have 38:45 been like this. Every one of these characteristics But in the last days there will be people who call themselves Christians and disciples of Christ and will also have these characteristics. They will be calling themselves 39:06 believers, but they'll be lovers of money. They will be lovers of self, unwilling to take up the cross. They'll say they are believers, but they are lovers of pleasure. They say they are believers, but they 39:25 are gossips. In the midst of such people very difficult to be a Christian. These are people, verse five, who hold to a form of godliness but don't have its power. The 39:45 The outward form is there. They start saying we follow the pattern. They say all our doctrines are correct. All our doctrines are correct. power to live a holy life. And Paul tells Timothy, "Avoid such people completely." Verse 5. 40:04 Otherwise, you'll be infected. It's a very infectious disease. This type It's very easy to become a backslider by mingling with backsliders. It's like if you pour boiling hot water into a bucket full of lukewarm water, 40:21 what happens? Even that boiling water will become lukewarm. So, mingle with those who are wholehearted for Christ. Don't let your closest friends be half-hearted people like the ones described here. He says, "Not only that." And not only 40:44 that, many of these people, they fool around with women going to their houses when their husbands are not there. There's all types of sin they get into. They learn and learn and learn and learn and learn in the meetings, but they 40:59 never come to the knowledge of the truth. Verse And they oppose God's true servants who preach holiness. I have seen in my life the tremendous opposition to the message of holiness in the last 30 years. The opposition to when I preach you we 41:24 must press on to perfection. That we must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Jesus walked. And all scriptural verses I'm quoting. The opposition has come from believers. 41:45 The opposition has come from believers. Just like verse 8, Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Pharaoh, opposed Moses. So, he says there are people who oppose the truth. But their folly, verse 9, will one day 42:04 become obvious to everybody. That those who oppose my preaching of holiness, one day their folly becomes manifest to everybody. Paul says to Timothy, 42:22 In contrast to all these people, you have seen me. Verse 10. You have not only followed my teaching. You have seen my conduct. How I have lived. You have seen the purpose of my life. You have seen my faith. 42:42 You have seen my patience. You have seen my love. You have seen my perseverance. And you have seen how much persecution and suffering I went through for standing for these things. And I'll tell you something, Timothy. 43:00 All those, verse 12, who want to live a godly life in any generation in any country will be persecuted. If you're not being persecuted in some way, you need to ask yourself whether you want to live a godly life. Don't think that those true prophets of 43:24 God are going to be Nobel Prize winners and get awards and honor in this world. They will be persecuted and killed. And the people who oppose them, they will be go from bad to worse, it 43:44 says in verse 13. And they will be deceived and deceive other people. So, he says, "You be careful about such people." You know what you learned from me. You know, even a man like Timothy who by 44:03 this age was by this time was about 45 years old. He walked with Paul for maybe 20, 25 years. Look at Paul's heart for this young man. Who is probably more than 20 years younger to Paul. And he is burdened that this man, 44:25 Timothy, must be a wholehearted disciple. Imagine if you got a letter from some respected servant of God. He say he says to you, "My dear brother, 44:44 please run away from the love of money. Please run away from all these sexual lusts." Will you get offended? You think, "What does he think about me?" That is We need such exhortations till the end of our life. Paul recognized that. 45:06 And Timothy was humble enough to receive those corrections. Verse 16 and 17, we are told the purpose with which God has given us scripture. Scripture has been given to us to make 45:23 the man of God perfect. That is the purpose of scripture, not to fill our heads with knowledge. To teach us, verse 16, to reprove us, correct us. And to train us in righteousness. 45:42 So that we become men of God who are perfect. And then he wants he urges Timothy to continue preaching the word. Verse 1 and 2. Christ is going to come back. Preach the word. 46:01 Always be ready to preach the word. What a wonderful word this is. In season, out of season. That means when you feel like it, when you don't feel like it. I can think of numerous times in my life when people have asked me to preach the 46:18 word and I'm so tired I've not felt like preaching. Times when I think, "Okay, I've finally finished preaching my fifth message for the day." And then something else crops up and 46:41 they need somebody else needs another message. And I've had this word to my heart. When you feel like it, and when you don't feel like it, preach the word. 46:58 Always be ready. Because you may not always get this opportunity. The time will come, verse 3, when people will not want to listen to sound doctrine. So, whenever you get an opportunity, give it to them. Most people in the world just want their 47:19 ears tickled with something that allows them to live their sinful life. And their ears will be turned aside to all types of stories. Therefore, you be willing to endure hardship and fulfill your ministry. And especially, he says, "Because I'm 47:41 going away. The Lord has shown me that my time has come. As as I'm concerned, he says, 'I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have not compromised. I have kept the faith. I have not sought any man's honor. 48:00 Now, I'm just waiting for the crown of righteousness the Lord will give me.'" So, Paul is saying, in a sense, Timothy, I want you to get that crown, too. He wants you to fight the good fight. He wants you to finish your course and 48:14 keep the faith. Then, the closing words, he speaks about various people. He says, "Demas has left me, having loved this present world." Verse 10. I think he went after money. He knew that working with Paul, you 48:34 don't get much money. He didn't take a collection from people, first of all. And he works with his hands and tells us also to work. So, he says, "I'd rather leave his team and join some other team where they take a collection and an offering in the 48:51 meetings." And they came up with a new way of doing it. There are Demases. Their doctrine is all right. Their doctrine is all right, but they seek their own. And then he warns about Alexander the coppersmith. Verse 14, he 49:08 says, "Be careful of him." And he says, "When I stood in the court, everybody deserted me." Verse 16. They all stood with Paul before, but when he went to court, they all dropped out. They were afraid they'd also be locked 49:31 up. But he says it didn't matter. The Lord stood with me. Just like Jesus told Jesus told his disciples In the end You will all leave me and go. But I'm not going to be alone. 49:50 The Father is with me. He will not leave me alone. The Lord stood with me. I proclaimed the gospel. I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed. And bring me into his kingdom. 50:12 He mentions Trophimus in verse 20 was sick. Teaching us that even the great Apostle Paul could not heal everybody. And he concludes his message saying the Lord be with your 50:28 spirit and grace be with you. What a letter. burdens He pours out his burden to Timothy. And I believe that if you want to be a faithful servant of God in the day and age we live in Take heed to all these exhortations in 50:50 this book. God bless you.
