Last Words to a Son

The picture you're seeing on the screen is a picture of my dad talking with me that picture was taken nine years ago this coming Thursday. I did not know the picture had been taken. I didn't know the existence of this picture until some five months later when my dad passed into the presence of the Lord and the person who had taken this picture who is a friend of ours from Appalachian Bible College put it on the front of a card and sent it to Jeanne and me but I'll never forget that conversation. That conversation took place at a fellowship meal. We had here on June 29th of 2008 the day before I was to leave and assume my responsibilities at Appalachian Bible College and although these were not his last words to me they were some of the most important words he would ever speak to me and I will never forget them. He talked with me about his view of my ministry. He talked with me about my move to Appalachian Bible College. He talked with me mostly for most of that ten minutes where he had my undivided attention. He talked with me about my mom and he already was aware of some changes in her that those the rest of us in the family would not really become fully aware of until later changes in her ability to think that would develop into full blown Alzheimer's and would take her life some years later. But he was already seeing signs and so he wanted to tell me about mom as I know he did my sister Jeanne as well. He wanted to challenge me even though I was leaving Princeton. He didn't know how many more times he would see me. He didn't realize I would be here every Thursday night with them. But he wanted me to take care of mom and he wanted my sister Jeanne to take care of mom. I'll never forget that conversation. They were although not his last words words that still ring in my heart. I still trade her deeply. So this morning we started this series of messages on 2nd Timothy and my heart is very much engaged as I believe Paul's was to his son in communicating these words which I've entitled this entire book last words to a son because that's exactly what Paul is doing in 2nd Timothy. These are his last words to what he calls in verse 2 of chapter 1 Timothy my dear son. He would call him his son again in chapter 2 and verse 1 and these are words he leads with his dear son. We cannot appreciate the passion and urgency of these words unless we understand the background of this book. So I'm going to take a few moments and our introduction to 2nd Timothy this morning to paint a picture of where this letter comes from not only its geographical location but also where it's coming from in Paul's heart as he leaves these last words with his son his dear son. It would understand this book we have to back up four or five years and begin the story at the end of the book of Acts. In the end of Acts Paul is in prison in Rome. This is his first Roman imprisonment and it was more like a house arrest. Acts 28 describes him in his own place guarded yes by Roman soldiers but free to entertain visitors and to send things to churches and to interact with people it was more like a house arrest. Some of what he says in his later epistles lead us to believe that he was released from the prison we know that much and we know that he went on a fourth missionary journey places he talks about visiting in some of his later epistles are not in the book of Acts and so we know that he did a fourth journey and it was on that fourth missionary journey that he sent Timothy to Ephesus to oversee the church there and he also sent Titus to to Crete to oversee the church there and he wrote Timothy the first epistle of Timothy and he wrote Titus the letter to Titus during that missionary trip somewhere along that missionary trip Paul was arrested again New Testament students and scholars are unclear on whether or not Paul made it all the way to Rome again and was arrested there or whether as I think he was snatched up in the port city of Troas and whist away for his second imprisonment in Rome nonetheless this time will be much different than his first imprisonment this time Paul will be in what was called the mammartime prison he would be stuck in a hole in the ground a dismal underground chamber with a single hole in the roof for a little bit of light and a little bit of air to get into that dark dismal dank dungeon it was cold he tells us in this letter in chapter four in verse 13 please with Timothy to bring the cloak he's cold he was in chains he tells us in chapter two in verse nine I'm suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal this is not freedom in his own house to move around and entertain guests he has chained in this dark hole in the ground he tells us in chapter one in verse 17 that his friends even had a hard time finding where he was in Rome he's already given his first defense he tells us in chapter four already given his first defense before Caesar and evidently it has not gone well he says everybody deserted him at that first defense and he asks may the Lord not hold it against him he's lonely he's hurting he writes to his dear son because now that that first defense has been given he knows the next step is his execution he knows he's gonna die and he says to Timothy as he closes this book in chapter four my departure is a hand I know my departure is a hand I'm ready to be offered I'm ready to die he says I've finished my course I've run my race I have fought and now I'm ready to be offered up he knows the executioner's axe is ready to sever his head from his body which is exactly what would happen a short time after he wrote this book and so he writes to his dear son he's lonely and he wants to see Timothy he says in chapter one verse four recalling your tears I long to see you he says in verse 15 you know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me he says in chapter four in verse nine do your best to come to me quickly for demons having loved this world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica Crescent has gone to Malaysia Titus to Dalmatia only Luke is with me get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in ministry I sit Titicus to Ephesus and it would be easy to kind of slide over that if you don't realize that Ephesus is where Timothy is the only reason he would send Titicus to Ephesus is to take Timothy's place so that Timothy will feel the freedom to leave that post of service and come visit him in Rome and so he pleads with him to bring the cloak when he comes and in verse 21 he ends with through your best to get here before winter this is a passionate appeal on the part of a lonely herding apostle for his dear son to come to see him before he dies it's a gripping letter you see this is this is more than just a lonely apostle though asking for his son to come see him this really is a last will and testament Paul is leaving with his dear son his last will and testament for ministry the first epistle first entity was more like a church manual it was more like this is what God expects church to be Timothy how the church is to be run and this is how God expects pastors operate and manage the church and this is how God expects you to serve as a pastor it was more that kind of how to type thing and warnings for him as a pastor this one is so much more urgent passionate impence personal it is as though he is writing not just with ink but with his own blood it is as though as he pins this letter all the passion and urgency of a heart wide open is filling out onto the pages of this parchment so he writes this passionate last will and testament to his dear son in the faith I must tell you this is my heart in preaching this book unashamedly I want to pour out my heart as Paul did to Timothy to young men to young men that God has allowed my life to connect with over the past 44 years in God's amazing grace he has allowed my life to intersect with a number of young men 14 of whom I still have contact with today and who asked me to serve as a mentor or at least that may be a kind way of saying let me learn from your mistakes which are many but it has been my great privilege to connect with these sons in the faith and so unashamedly I dedicate this series of messages to them I dedicated to Dan and James and Brian and Jeff and Ben in West Virginia to John and Kevin and Michael in Virginia to Brian in North Carolina to Matt in Maryland to read in Indiana to Nate in Texas and to tray in California and to the church I love I leave you this last will and testament the passion of my heart giving you these words from Paul to his son Timothy these are not the last words I will speak to you just like those were not the last words my dad spoke to me but they are from my heart some of the most important that I've ever shared with you in the 26 years I've been here and I see them as a last will and testament that God has called me to leave you and if any of those 14 young men hear this it is specifically directed to them my sons in the faith I've been privileged to be asked to be a part of their lives and it has been a joy Timothy Paul rather begins these last words to Timothy with words of greeting these last words this last will and testament begins with a greeting to his dear son in verses one and two notice if you will the greeter Paul and a fossil of Christ Jesus by the will of God in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus that seemed like a formal introduction and for that reason some have indicated that Paul must have really intended this letter for a wider audience and there is some indication at the end of the book that he addresses it to the church as well but this letter is really an intense personal appeal to his son Timothy and it really is directed toward him so the only reason why I can figure why Paul would begin with such an official declaration of his status of his ministry and a fossil of Christ Jesus by the will of God is that Paul could never get over the grace of God in calling him to be an apostle he didn't need to inform Timothy that he was an apostle Timothy knows that better than anyone but Paul can never forget the noble work to which God has called him by his will he has placed him in the ministry and not just in the ministry not just as a missionary or pastor or church planner as an apostle and Paul could never get over the grace of God in doing that you see there are only a handful of apostles there are no apostles today if you go by the biblical definition of an apostle in Acts 1 and a apostle had to be one who walked with Jesus in his ministry and was personally entrusted with the ministry of following him and carrying his gospel for the ends of the earth by Jesus himself and so these were men who lived in a limited period of history Paul himself says I was like one born out of due season I came along a little bit later he says in 1 Corinthians 15 because I didn't walk in Christ with Christ in his ministry so he says I was hand picked by Jesus on the road to Damascus he intercepted my life in a very miraculous way but I was out of sync with the other apostles and timing I didn't walk with him in his earthly ministry he realized that was rare that was unique so there are no apostles today and Paul could never get over the fact that he was called to be an apostle he was deeply conscious of God's purpose in his life that was so dramatically unfolding at his conversion on the road to Damascus and the events that would follow that as God told him to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles but notice he says this high calling was in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus and that really summarizes his ministry and message he was called by the will of God to be an apostle but he was sent with the message of eternal life which comes in Christ comes through Christ and only through Christ he never forgot his ministry but he never forgot his message either the Paul taught a lot of things he taught as he told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 he taught the full counsel of God all of the word of God he summarized and he fed doctrine to the people that he won to Christ I mean he was in Thessalonica three weeks and he had already given them a full understanding of the day of the Lord and the future coming of Christ they were just a little confused about the rapture and so he wrote first Thessalonians to correct that but man in three weeks he was already given them some pretty deep doctrine so he taught the full counsel of God but the center piece of his message he never forgot was that eternal life comes through Christ that's the essence of the gospel message and he never forgot that that was the center of everything he preached and so I would remind all of those who preach and all of those who hear that the centerpiece of ministry is that eternal life is found in Christ Jesus that we come into this world without that life we come into this world separated from God dead in our trespasses and sins as Jim prayed earlier without help and without Christ without God in this world Paul describes in Ephesians 4 but God didn't want that state to continue and so in great love and mercy he said his son Jesus to rescue us he lived the pure and sinless life so that he morally was qualified to take our place on the cross he had no sin of his own to die for or to pay for no wrath of God upon him the wrath of God that was fall upon him would be the wrath that was intended for you and me because of our sin and so he took our place became our substitute died in our place on the cross so that he might through faith in him confidence and trust in him he might give us the gracious gift of eternal life eternal life comes only through the cross of Christ and through recognizing that as a sinner that is our only hope of heaven it is not church membership it is not baptism it is not you reforming your own life and turning things around it is not you trying to do better it is Christ and Christ alone who can say he said all the work needed on the cross Paul never forgot that's my message and so it begins this way because he wants to reinforce to his dear son that we are in ministry by the call of God and we proclaim the gospel never forget that Timothy so it begins with the greeter expressing himself but look at the greeting in verse two to Timothy my dear son he shows affectionate esteem for this young man he is my dear son and then he gives a triple blessing he says grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord what a blessing to confer upon a young son in the faith three of the most important things needed by all of us and for Timothy especially those in ministry we need the grace of God because we are so undeserving of anything we need the mercy of God because we are so helpless on our own and we need the peace of God to still our restless anxious worried hearts so all of us need this blessing but especially directed to Timothy and those who follow him in this grand ministry of preaching the word we are undeserving so we need his grace we are helpless in ourselves so we need his mercy and we are restless worried anxious people and we need his peace I cannot leave these first two verses without noting as maybe you picked up two that Paul mentions Christ Jesus three times in these two verses he is an apostle of Christ Jesus the eternal life comes in Christ Jesus and this grace mercy and peace come from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord I think by that very emphasis he's reminding Timothy of the fact as I write you my dear son your ministry and my ministry is not about us it is about Christ Jesus our Lord he is the focal point of ministry he is the focal point of all of life he is the focal point for all of us of our Christian life it's all about Jesus it's not about us it's all about Christ and so these words of greeting are packed full of paythas of emotion of urgency the greeter knows who he is by the grace of God and he confers and prays for that grace and mercy and peace to his young dear son in the faith but they quickly lose from words of greeting to words of remembrance and again I want you to see the feeling the emotion that Paul is expressing here in verses three through six he uses some form of the word remember four times so it's obviously a reminiscent mood with which Paul begins this letter he says in verse three I remember you in prayer he says in verse four I recall your tears he says in verse five I'm reminded of your sincere faith and in verse six I remind you so four times some form of that word remember or remind it used he's obviously in a reminiscent mood here he's thinking about his past his ministry and also the intersection of his life with Timothy in the past and how that is grown and flourished and developed and where it is now so in these words of remembrance he begins by telling Timothy I remember you in prayer he remembers him in prayer look at it in verse three I thank God who I serve as my ancestors did and let me just pause there to say Paul is placing himself in that long line of those servants who proclaim the word of God that goes back to his ancestors his forefathers even the Old Testament prophets remember he did that with Timothy in chapter six the first Timothy when he called him man of God a term which is used throughout the Old Testament of prophetic spokesman for God those who preach the word and so he's placing himself also with Timothy in that long line of those who proclaim the word of God he says I've served as my ancestors did he says with a clear conscience what an amazing wonderful thing to be able to say at the end of your ministry and Paul knowing that death is the next step for him knowing that his ministry except for maybe a letter like this is done he has finished his course he has run his race knowing that from this dark and day and dismal dungeon awaiting the executioners acts he says I have ministered I have served with a clear conscience that doesn't mean he was perfect doesn't mean he was seamless it simply means that he was faithful he was faithful to his call and he was faithful to the gospel the very things that he's remind the Timothy of here and throughout the first epistle to be faithful to the call of God on your life and to be faithful to the message don't twist turn change add to the track from the message of the gospel of the word of God take it as it is proclaim it forcefully fearlessly as it is the word of God Paul says I have a clear conscience as I come to the end that I've done that and I think that serves as a challenge to Timothy as well and a challenge to all of us who are in ministry may we strive and set our face like a flint to the finish line that the finish line will find us faithful faithful to the call of God on our lives and faithful to the gospel and the message of the word of God without wavering he reminds Timothy that by God's grace he can say I have a clear conscience as I come to the end and then he says with that clear conscience he says as might and day I constantly remember you in my prayers his Paul exaggerating here I don't think so remember where he is is very little light no opportunity to get out and preach or do anything else he's able to write an occasional letter like this one but he doesn't offer a lot of praying you know when God puts us in places where we're stripped of everything else that we have once done for him or could do for him there is something that should never stop and that is ceaseless earnest fervent prayer for others and so now that Paul is severely restricted and unable to do a lot of things that he once did he's not given up he's just shifted the focus of his ministry so he prays constantly day and night probably for all the churches that he's been used of God to establish all the believers that can have mentioned but certainly he mentions here specifically Timothy no doubt his closest associates in ministry he prayed fervently for and so he wants to remind Timothy I remember you in prayer and I don't know if many of those 14 young men that have asked me to be a part of their lives will ever even hear this message but if they do I want them to know I pray for them every day I have a list of those young men that God has intersected my life with and I pray for them every day as they minister and serve God he remembers him in prayer but he also in verse four remembers a close relationship notice he says recalling your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy he remembers a close relationship with Timothy he says I recall your tears and that leads me to believe that he's referring to that time when they were torn apart and Timothy is weeping Timothy is broken hearted to see him go I think it may refer to the same thing he's talking about in verse 13 of chapter four when he says when you come bring the cloak that I left with carpus at Troas and my scrolls especially the parchments have Paul didn't go anywhere without his cloak I mean that was common garment of the day around garment with a hole in the middle to put over your head it was warned to keep you warm and sometimes he used it as a blanket at night he didn't go anywhere without that certainly didn't go anywhere without his scrolls his books his parchments parchments were the Old Testament scriptures that he studied when he went into a town to claim the word of God and the gospel he didn't go places without those that leads me to believe that he was arrested quickly in Troas and had to leave all of that behind Timothy may have been with him at his arrest and was separated from him maybe violently maybe wanted to go with Paul and was restrained by Roman soldiers from going with him and he went bitterly his heart was broken as he saw Paul dragged off by Roman soldiers Paul says I remember your tears but then he opens up his own heart unashamed the strong stalwart soldier of the cross unashamed to describe his feelings on this occasion I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy that's the passion of a father who has had to say goodbye to a son that's the passion of a mentor who's had to say goodbye to one that is helped train for ministry he says I long to see you my heart is in this he does not disguise his own joy at the possibility of seeing his son his dear son he would be filled with joy he says to be able to see Timothy again I say again Paul was a stalwart soldier of the cross a hard man in that sense that he was able to endure hardness as a good soldier as he will challenge Timothy to do in chapter 2 you read 2 Corinthians 11 all that Paul went through in his ministry he describes the beatings the stonings the shipwrecks the long lonely nights times when he was hungry and he says in addition to all of that the care of the churches he went through a lot as an apostle and a missionary he was a strong man but he's not afraid here to let us see his heart his tender heart this shows that he was indeed human he could be lonely he could miss someone he could long for someone to be there with him in these lonely hard hours he shows that he was discouraged he shows that he was in need of support from others and anyone who tries to bluff his or her way through life thinking they don't need anyone else thinking that shows some kind of strength does not understand what it means to be in the body of Christ because we all need each other there are 15 or 16 one another in the Bible that indicate to us we cannot do the Christian life without one another we need each other this is not a lone ranger proposition you can't do this on your own Paul couldn't do it on his own in this is Timothy he loans for Timothy he would be filled with joy if Timothy could just come he's opening up his heart his heart is spilling out onto these pages he remembers a close relationship with his dear son and then he remembers a third thing as he's in this reminiscent mood he remembers back to Timothy's spiritual heritage he remembers his spiritual heritage that of Timothy I mean verse 5 he says I am reminded of your sincere faith Paul's there just long enough to say this read that in terms of chapter 4 where Paul has been deserted by everybody been abandoned by everybody been betrayed by demons and he says here I remember your sincere faith it was not hypocritical it was a faith that was genuine and true demons left Paul because he loved this present world Paul's questioning whether or not demons was even a true believer but he has no questions like that about Timothy I remember your sincere faith and he describes the heritage where that faith came from he says which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded now lives in you also this this faith faith in Christ a sincere life-changing regenerating course redirecting faith this faith genuine producing fruit leading to growth leading to service Timothy this faith came from your grandmother and your mother notice he does not mention his father we have a hint as to why in act 16 which records Paul's first encounter with Timothy and he describes there that his father was a Greek his mother was a Jew which probably indicates that his mother and grandmother faithfully taught him the word of God which was the Old Testament scriptures his father being a Greek probably was not a believer and so what he learned of the Old Testament he learned from his grandmother and his mother and that prepared his heart in fact chapter three verse 15 of this book says you know that how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus and he probably didn't hear about Christ until Paul came along but his heart had been prepared with the rich background of the Old Testament teaching from his mother and his grandmother to be ready and receptive to be good soil that the seat of the gospel quickly found root in and sprouted forth into life and so Paul when he brings the gospel is just the last link in the chain of leading Timothy to Christ because the work of preparing the soil have already been done faithfully by his grandmother and his mother yes Paul can call him his son in the faith Paul won him the Christ but there'd been a lot of spade work done before that to fill the soil to prepare the heart to getting ready to receive the gospel and Paul gladly remembers that spiritual heritage what a privilege it is for anyone to be brought up in a home that honors the scriptures in a home that not only pays lip service to the scriptures but seeks to teach the word of God and live out the word of God to children who are the blessed recipients from grandmothers and mothers and grandfathers and fathers the precious word of God seeing its importance its value come to no Christ what a spiritual heritage that is and if you have that kind of heritage thank God every day for it it is a blessing indeed Paul remembers that spiritual heritage but then Paul moves from words of greeting in words of remembrance to words of challenge and now that he's kind of introduced this book he lays before his dear son in the faith two challenges the first is this Timothy develop your gift verse six for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying out of my hands now let's understand what he's talking about here the gift of God no daddy's talking about Timothy's spiritual gift and every believer for chrythians 12 teaches has a spiritual gift say whoa spiritual gift what is that well it's simply an ability sometimes more than one ability that God has given you to serve him and there are lots of ways that he gifts us and enables us to serve him it looks different with every believer sometimes even the same gifts have the different way of expressing themselves different results that come different works and services in which they're used Paul talks about all three of those things in first chrythians 12 verses six through 11 about how all that how looks but he's probably speaking of of Timothy's spiritual gift here and he says that gift was in you through the laying on of my hands that reminds me of what he told him back in the first epistle remember this I know you remember every detail of first Timothy right so you sure you can tell me exactly where this is first epitome before where it was it now verse 14 yeah do not neglect your gift which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you and then he follows up here by saying it was the laying out of my hands that communicated God's gift to you so put those two passages together and here's the picture you get that this was a setting where the hands of the elders were laid on timid hands of other spiritual leaders in the church I take it from Acts 20 other pastors in Ephesus and surrounding area who laid their hands on Timothy to set him apart publicly for the gospel ministry for the ministry got it called into do and during that occasion God supernaturally miraculously revealed to Paul what Timothy's gift was and Paul expressed that to him and it was actually communicated to him as Paul laid his hands on him now remember Paul was an apostle I'm not an apostle Jim is an apostle he might come closer than I do but he's not quite an apostle our other pastors are not apostles there are no apostles today in the technical sense of the term who were qualified by having walked with Jesus in his ministry and been directly commissioned by him to carry it on there are no apostles the apostles were given special miraculous powers and evidently one of those was to receive this kind of direct revelation from God and actually pass along a spiritual gift we do something similar today when we recognize the gift-dness and ability of young men who have been called to ministry and we call a council of other pastors to question them to find out if they know their Bible well enough and they are indeed of sound enough character to be entrusted with that responsibility of the ministry and then we have a service where we lay hands on them and that's basically we don't communicate anything we're not prophesying in their ear what spiritual gift they have that was unique to the apostles but what we do is we recognize that they are one of us and by that act of communion and union with us and setting them apart for the gospel ministry we recognize that they've been called by God to do that so there's something similar to that happening here but there's something a little extra miraculous with that imparting of a spiritual gift happening now Paul says okay you've got this gift it was made clear to you what it was when you were set apart for ministry that you don't need any new gifts you got whatever God gifted you with but Timothy here's the challenge and into flame the gift of God you don't pray for new gifts you don't get new gifts you have that gift it's been yours since it was given to you but you have a responsibility to fan it into flame that word picture reminds me of our first pastor in North Carolina we lived in a house beside the church and it had a fireplace in it not a wood stove the old fireplace and so we used to fix fires in that din quite often especially when one of those North Carolina ice storms would come through and chop off the tops of those long standing pine trees and the power would go out and we would be sometimes several days without power and so we would keep a fire in that fireplace and we would cook in there I can remember some wonderful baked potatoes wrapped in foil stuck under the coals man I'm making you hungry too aren't I we had some great meals on that fireplace and we would pull our mattresses in especially after the kids were born I can remember dragon Amy's crib into that room and us sleeping in that one room of the house that was warm but I also remember that if you had a fireplace not a buck stove now a fireplace you had to do some work to keep that fire going if you didn't I mean we used a pine knot kindling which you could distract a match to and that stuff would fire up so it wasn't too hard to get a fire going we had slab wood from a sawmill guy ran in our church and we'd cut that up and had it stacked out back and we'd stick that on stick it kindling underneath start the fire but you had to keep it going if you didn't put fresh wood on it and if you didn't knock some of those coals that were developing on the bottom side of the fire into the bottom of the fireplace to build you a bed of coals the whole thing would die out quickly and even the coals if they were not stirred and fresh wood put on the fire those coals would quickly turn the ash so it took some work to fan that fire into flame to keep it flaming up Paul uses that work picture of our spiritual gifts when God gives us a spiritual gift he wants us to develop it and to use it fan it into flame don't take it home and set it on the fireplace the mantle or the bookshelf God's given us all spiritual gifts but they are to be used they are to be and into flame develop them put energy into them read learn surround yourself with people that can help teach you different ways of doing the ministry better wherever God wants you to do find your place of service get involved it's wonderful to come to church and worship God and express our love to him and it's wonderful to meet in Bible studies and grow and ask questions and learn that's wonderful but if we don't take that and then fan it in the flame and use it for his glory and serve him in some way the fire will go out and the coals that God's placed in our heart stirred up into a burning flame when we hear his word those coals will start to become gray and lose their glowing imber like quality they will soon turn to ash so we need to take what we learn how we're stirred up and we need to use it for God's glory so I challenge you like Paul challenge Timothy develop your gift enhance it grow it use it don't take it home and say wow look at this on my shelf like a trophy isn't that wonderful you'd do that and it will quickly turn to dying embers and end up in ashes you've got to develop and use and stir up your gift keep it in circulation keep serving God do something for him I read something this week that was actually quite shocking to me this was in the journal of state taxation which I don't read actually that saw this quote from it somewhere else that's not part of my reading material but listen to these startling statistics 39.2% of shoppers will purchase a department store gift card for friends and family followed by a 33.4% of shoppers opting for a restaurant gift card those the top two gifts that are bought for friends and family and we kind of come to expect that in our culture haven't we but listen to this according to estimates reported in the journal of state taxation the typical American home has an average of 300 dollars in unused or unredeemed gift cards do you hey you've got some I'll take them that's that's startled me and here's what it goes on to say these cards are often misplaced accidentally thrown out or only partially redeemed between 2005 and 2011 41 billion dollars in gift cards went unused man are the restaurants who sell these things rack it up 41 billion dollars unused even more tragic than that are the gifts of God's people lying at home unused lying on the shelf unused if God's given you some ability to serve him and he has it's up to you to figure out what it is and there are ways you can do that through the counsel and health of others and through understanding what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts it's up to you to find out what it is and then use it put it in a circulation don't let it sit home on the shelf that's not doing this world any good develop your gift I challenge you all you develop your gift let's use it for Christ and then Paul gives this challenge depend on the spirit in verse seven for the spirit God gave us and I think that's the best translation the the niv has it's not spirit little s this is taught by the Holy Spirit he's just referred to the giving of spiritual gifts in verse six that's done by the Holy Spirit so to continue the train of thought this is the Holy Spirit the Spirit God gives us capital S does not make us timid but gives us power love and self discipline the Holy Spirit does not give us humidity being timid evidently was one of Timothy's greatest weaknesses there's clear evidence of that in the epistles Paul is forcefully but tactfully addressing it here Timothy seems to be the kind of guy that could be intimidated easily by others intimidated by opposition even to the point that he would be willing at times to quit remember we saw that in the first epistle but we also catch other glimpses of it in the epistles look at these strong words from first Corinthians chapter 16 to the church in Corinth about Timothy when Timothy comes Paul tells the church in Corinth when Timothy comes see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you for he is carrying on the work of the Lord just as I am no one then should treat him with contempt send him on his way in peace so that you may return to me I'm expecting him along with the brothers now why why did Paul say that to the church in Corinth you remember the church in Corinth was a church where they both loaded problems and issues they were a difficult church and they could have chewed up Timothy and spit him out Paul knew that Timothy was a sensitive nature guy he was very timid by nature maybe a little shy with drawn and he knew that the church in Corinth could chew him up and spit him out if they chose to do so so he warns them you treating like you would me you don't treat him with contempt send him on his way in peace and then he said to Timothy in first Timothy 412 you remember this one don't let anyone look down on you because you're young evidently Timothy had a tendency to do that to be intimidated by those who were older maybe more mature in the faith so Timothy had this issue of being timid withdrawn shy maybe and it effected him his ministry he could be intimidated by others by opposition and so forth so Paul tells Timothy Timothy don't forget you have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit does not give us this spirit of being timid and weak and withdrawn to the point that we're intimidated and ready to quit that's not coming from the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit will give you three things and he is to depend on the Spirit for these three things first of all power now this is not a natural boldness and powerful personality it's not bad at all the word here means a strength of character a strength of character that enables a person to be bold in the exercise of ministry even though in natural person like Timothy you may be easily intimidated little more withdrawn by nature the Holy Spirit can give you the power and enablement you need for a naturally timid person to have boldness when God calls on you to do some kind of ministry and that's good for all of us to remember some of you are afraid of ever saying anything to anyone about Christ and you're intimidated by that you shrink from that or maybe you're afraid you really don't have much to offer God and he really couldn't use you in any way and there's nothing you could really do to serve him that is a lie of the devil that he will continue to promote in your mind and heart to keep you from being affected for Christ God wants you to know you have the Holy Spirit within you to give you whatever power enablement boldness confidence to do whatever God wants you to do even if that is unnatural for you that's why the Holy Spirit's there to make up the weaknesses that we have to give us the boldness and strength that we need to serve him so he's reminding him an intimidated Timothy you have the spirit that gives you power to you also have the spirit that gives you love it's a great balance love is indispensable in ministry if all you've got to boldness and confidence you'll run rough shot over people so it needs to be administered in love with the kind of tenderness of heart that Jesus had remember Jesus has described as one who would not break a bruised read and would not quench a smoking flex someone whose wick is just about to go out they're just about to be extinguished Jesus wouldn't walk up and say okay you ain't got any more than that you're done Jesus would never do that to somebody and he would not go ahead and break a bruised read he would lovingly pour into that hurt person until they could be strengthened again so the spirit of God gives us not only power but love and then he gives us the text says in verse 7 self discipline some of you may have a translation says sound mind and the word the Greek word really is that which has to do with the mind but it's it's really a disciplined or focused mind is the idea here and so I think the in our these translated it well self discipline but it is a discipline of mind literally what Paul is saying is that you have life under control in the sense that you're able to be sensibly minded and balanced I like what one commentator said when he said when everything and everyone else is coming unglued you have the ability to remain level headed it's that calm perseverance and discipline to perspective on what God wants us to do when all the distraction around you are seeking to pull your way from that that's what he's talking about here and so when you feel overwhelmed Timothy by all the distractions the Holy Spirit is able to give you a clear-minded focus on what God wants you to do that's what he's talking about here that kind of self discipline discipline of mind to be able to focus in the midst of all the distractions what a way to begin this letter certainly personal isn't it it's certainly intense passionate he's telling Timothy Timothy my dear son I remember you constantly in prayer I remember how close we were in your tears when we were forcibly parted I remember the spiritual heritage you have that I simply added to and brought you to Christ what great memories but Timothy now I'm going to challenge you I'm going to challenge you to develop your gift and use it and I'm going to challenge you to depend on the spirit to compensate for your weaknesses to give you strength where you don't have it to give you love where you don't feel like giving it and to give you a focused clear-mindedness in the midst of all the distractions that's why the Holy Spirit's there and that's why it's there for us God wants us to develop our spirit getting gift and to use it not put it on the shelf but to use it for his glory not to misplace it not to leave it unspent but to use it for his glory and God wants us to know that when we feel inadequate and unable and unloving and distracted that the Holy Spirit is given to us to strengthen us in those very areas that's why he's here he can help you he can help me he can help us all to be and do what God wants us to be so I challenge you develop and use your gifts and depend on the Holy Spirit as you do let's pray together Father thank you for letting us sit in with Paul in that dark Roman dungeon and watch as he spills his hearts blood out on these papers as he's writing what a privilege it is by your spirit including this letter in your word to be able to listen in on his passionate appeals to his dear son in the faith and Father these are words that all of us in ministry need to take heat to but all of us in your family need as well Lord I pray for a revival of spirit empowered spirit loving spirit focused people using their gifts for the glory of God and his kingdom would you do it in Jesus name amen