1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to

Week 1

Rev. Stanley L. Derickson Ph.D.

II Timothy 1.1-5

A FAITHFUL SERVANT IS PRAISED

A little introduction to the book might be good as we begin.

The book was written to Timothy by the apostle Paul from Prison around 67 A.D.

I would like to just quote Scofield’s note for you. “Quite different in atmosphere from the first letter to Timothy, it is less formal than the other two Pastoral Epistles and far more personal. In the earlier letter to Timothy, Paul expresses, as though he were a free man, his hope soon to be with his “son in the faith.” Here in the second letter alone he speaks of the time of his departure being at hand (4:6). Paul was not only in prison, but he had been abandoned by most of his friends (1:15; 4:16).”

APPLICATION:

1. I know a few pastors that know this feeling – worked their heads off for years and about to croak and everyone leaves them – alone and not a friend to share their burdens with.

Years ago we had the privilege of meeting and becoming friends with an old pastor and his wife. He was in his late 70’s I’d guess – he had been through all the battles, he had pastored through the storms and now he was set aside because he was too old to even teach a Sunday School class – or so the churches thought.

He was very quiet, withdrawn and didn’t have much enthusiasm at all. They had few friends – only some family nearby.

Nothing to really excite their lives. To gain some money they had to sell his model T truck that he had wanted to restore for years and now with the time he had no money nor ability to do the work.

HOWEVER, start a conversation about the Bible and he would light up like a Christmas tree and really become involved.

Question: Why do we let our pastors come to that sort of situation? Something for you to ponder – how can you remedy this in your own church in the future?

2. Timothy was in Ephesus. He had been charged with setting up church leadership, he had been charged with cleaning out false doctrine, he had been charged with weeding out the false teachers, he had been charged with many things – Paul wanted him to assist the church in Ephesus. (I Tim. 1.3-4, 6.20-21; II Tim. 3.1ff)

Question: What can we learn from this? Churches need leaders, churches need purity of doctrine, churches need protection, and churches need someone to assist with problems that come and go in an assembly.

So, problems aren’t new, problems aren’t strange, problems are to be expected. The key is dealing with them as they come along. This is what the leaders are to be doing.

One might wonder about the horror cases of church splits – were the leaders doing their job or were the problems just too large?

It is evident we haven’t learned much in almost 2000 years of church.

As we move forward in our study remember the apostle is long into a long hard life and he is still plugging away at life – at ministry. It is easy to just quite and give up, but it takes strength to continue when you are tired, weary and surrounded by problems and not surrounded by supporters.

II Tim 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, [my] dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from [my] forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

1.1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Paul was an apostle by the will of God. I would like to consider this on three levels.

1. God's sovereignty: God is sovereign in the creation - what He says kind of goes whether the earth, the stars or even man wants it to or not. Nothing happens in the creation without His okay. Man is part of that creation even though we often think we are above creation.

God was the one with the idea for Paul to be an apostle, it was His moving that saved Paul, it was His training that prepared Paul and it was His leading that guided Paul.

2. Man's free will: Having said all of the above I do not for one instant believe that had Paul said no to God that God would have forced Paul to take on that responsibility.

I'm not saying that Paul's life would have been a bed of roses walking against God's will, but he was free to do so. We all are. You might want to review Jonah for a good example of this principle.

3. Man's response to God: Paul's response to his call was one of going forward with all the gusto that he could muster. He did the post salvation job just as well and as actively as he had done his pre-salvation work of persecuting the Christians.

What is being said? God has a will for our lives - it is up to us if we follow it. His sovereignty sets that will and we voluntarily follow or reject.

I don't think Paul woke up one morning to say "Ah, since I am now saved, I think I will be an apostle." He would never have dreamed of such a thing for himself!

I don't know all ministers, but I know enough to know that many would never have picked out their life from all the lives available to them at the time that they were called.

I have often wondered just where I would have ended up if God had not placed a call before me. I rather imagine I would still be a country western nut with a big pickup, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat to cover the bald spot and still smoking, cussing and drinking. Well, I didn’t have the hat back then – didn’t need it. A red neck if you will.

God places a call before some that He chooses to use. In my case when I realized what Christ had done for me there was no real option but to answer the call - He did so much for me, how could I not want to do as much as I could for Him.

Relating to Paul’s apostleship, one might be interested in a couple of passages that mention the requirements to be an apostle. I might mention that Paul was a special case, and since Christ appointed him directly does not necessarily need to be bound to these requirements.

Both of the following texts mention the resurrection and many people state that this is the qualification. Both however mention also witnessing his life in some manner as well as the death and burial.

Acts 1.21 “Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.” Personally the last phrase isn’t a requirement to be an apostle but a job description.

I Cor. 15.3 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”

The qualification might be seen in my mind as one that had witnessed the life of the Savior and then known personally of the events surrounding his resurrection. This did not automatically make one an apostle, but made one available as a possible person to become an apostle. In short a good knowledge of Christ’s work on earth and the ability to witness to that knowledge to the world would be the requirement in my mind.

1.2 To Timothy, [my] dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Grace, mercy, and peace - come from God - why would we ever look for them from any other source.

Many in our world look for peace in material gain, in marital bliss, or mental gymnastics (philosophy), but only God can give real true peace. The other may give a sense of peace for a time but all reveal themselves ultimately as false peace.

Note that Paul uses a very endearing greeting with Timothy. Most agree that Paul may have lead Timothy to the Lord, or at the least had a great impact on his life - they were spiritual father and son or very nearly so.

Paul knew Timothy well spiritually. He declared that Christ was "their" Lord - he knew where Timothy lived in relation to God.

Now, this business of Christ being Lord is the relationship all believers should have with God, but not all do - many there are that believe but hold God out at arms length and never make Him Lord.

Recently I read an article that set forth the premise that pastors should not preach expositorally but that they should preach evangelistically. The author’s thinking was that since most of the congregation is most likely lost that the pastor ought to try to get them saved. I would add that he might want to give a dose of Lordship teaching as well – those that do believe in our churches aren’t living like it.

1.3 I thank God, whom I serve from [my] forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

I might be making more of this than Paul meant, but the phrase "I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience...." seems to say to me that Paul was at complete peace about what he had done all of his life - even when thinking back to his days of persecuting Christians he was with a clear conscience. This would be an amazing truth to some people that struggle with past sins - there is a time in their future of a clear conscience. It should be part of their growth – realizing all is past.

Not that he liked what he had done, but he had come to grips with it and knew that God had completely wiped that guilt away, not just covered it but eliminated it - that he had a good and complete standing with God.

Many there are that are weighed down with their past sin – this ought not be their plight – they should be finding God’s forgiveness and understand what that forgiveness gives – PEACE.

He thanks God for the burden of having Timothy on his mind night and day in prayer.

He had joy in prayer, he had joy in bringing Timothy before the Lord twice a day - if not most likely much more. He knew this ministry of prayer was a privilege that he had on Timothy's behalf.

I trust that you either have now, or will have one day the joy of ministering to another through night and day prayer for them. It is a real privilege and a real need.

1.4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

Hummm, when is the last time your superior let loose with a statement like that? What a thrill it would be for your superior to feel that way about seeing you.

Filled to the brim, filled to the top wanting nothing is the thought of this word. Paul will be filled to bursting with joy when he sees Timothy.

Now, that would be another great day when your superior was that excited about seeing you - true this was indicative of the close spiritual and emotional bond they had together - but imagine how that must have felt for Timothy to sit down and read these comments.

1.5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

Unfeigned is a big word that really just means honest - undisguised - sincere - Timothy's faith was right out there in front of him, not tucked away in his tunic or head covering (if he wore one) - his faith was open for the world to see.

Not like some of us - we as Christians, I fear, all too often travel incognito. Nobody around us knows that we are a follower of Christ.

You know, like when you are in the break room and everyone is talking about all those things that you disagree with and you quietly sip your coffee trying to be inconspicuous so that no one asks you what you think. Probably enough said.

This same faith was in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice - indeed, they probably had a lot to do with the faith of Timothy. (Lois means agreeable and Eunice means good victory.)

What a telling passage - the importance of a woman’s touch in a man's life as he grows up – at least a spiritual touch - the importance of spiritual upbringing in a person’s life - the importance of the extended family being involved in the person's life.

I can’t say that my mother brought me along spiritually, she did make me go to Sunday school and church – my grandmother also made me go to church when I spent week ends with her but both my mother and grandmother, like our pastor and my Sunday school teachers failed to check into my personal relationship with Christ. All in the church assumed my salvation – when a teenager, I had no idea why Christ died on the cross and wondered of the subject from time to time.

Parents have a real responsibility to watch for their children’s welfare, both in the physical/material realm, and in the spiritual realm.

I might add in here a little item of thought. I had always been taught that this passage pictured a Godly grandmother and mother raising a small son into a Godly man. I have also been taught that Paul most likely led Timothy to the Lord. There has always been a disconnect between the two facts in my mind. I think that the answer to this is that Eunice and Lois most likely raised Timothy as a good Jewish – Godly person and when Paul came to Ephesus it would be consistent if Paul lead them all or at least Timothy to their Messiah. Since we aren’t told I would never jump up and down and demand this interpretation, but it does fit the facts of the Word quite well.

APPLICATION:

1. Take time right away to consider what you might do in light of this passage. You might consider at length what your spiritual heritage is – what precursors to your salvation occurred, were there people involved, and have you taken time to thank them for their part in your finding God’s mercy?

Years ago I was privileged to speak in the church where I was saved. I told of the many people that had brushed my life and left tidbits of spiritual dust on my soul. I told them that many of them probably didn’t know that they had any effect on me – after the service several confirmed that they had no idea that they had been used of God in my life.

2. Find someone that you can begin building a closer relationship with as a believer. Someone that is equally seeking a deeper spiritual life – someone that will take the time to build this sort of relationship. Not one based on common interest or sports necessarily, but one based on a desire to walk with Christ.

Let Paul and Timothy be your guide to find a deep relationship with someone – someone that will bring you joy when they come around.

3. Why is the grass always greener on the other side? The age old question – why do we perceive that everyone else has it better than we do?

Let us consider for a moment Paul and Timothy. We see Paul telling Timothy nice things which make me think that it must have made Timothy feel very good – to know that someone held him in such a high regard.

On the other hand we think of Paul as being this great man of God that walked the face of the earth spreading the Gospel – what a glory for man – what a way to live your life. As we compare this to our dull drudgery filled life we wonder why God doesn’t use us.

Then on the other hand let us consider Paul’s EVERY DAY life. He walked several miles a day over less than adequate roads when compared to our day – no sidewalks, no smooth blacktop, no green ways to enjoy, no Nikes to comfort his sore feet – just the ruff roads and ditches and weeds of the day.

So, why do we think Paul’s life was so glorious? Isn’t it a combination of highlights and hindsight? We see the highlights of his life; we see the bits and pieces of his life that were recorded. We don’t see the pits and gullies that he had to walk through, we only see the many people he ministered to and those that ministered to him.

Also, aren’t we viewing his life from the other end of things? We see what we see, but don’t see the bad times. We know he had some down times – they are in the Scriptures but we tend to forget them.

It is kind of like the missionaries that come to missions conferences and tell of the great things which they have been able to accomplish for the Lord. They inspire others to go prepare for the mission field and go out into this glorious exciting occupation. Then on the field reality sets in for the new missionary – this is no picnic – it is work – it is plodding – it is one foot in front of the other.

What the missionaries don’t tell you about are the days and days of slogging through rain distributing literature to gain the first contact that leads to many other visits to the person that ultimately might lead the person to the Lord. They tell of the successes and not of the day to day boring drudgery of not seeing anything happen. This is not wrong of the missionary, they like to dwell on the fun parts, they just seldom tell of the low parts.

I was speaking at a missions conference in California years ago and the pastor gave me one specific topic to speak on for one session. “What it is really like to be on deputation” was the requested topic. He specified that he wanted the negative as well as the positive sides of the issue.

I obliged him with the topic and presented it to his church. I was swamped with people thanking me for telling them what it was really like – they had no idea what deputation was really like. I told them of the long drives cross country, of the sleeping in the car, of the leaving home for a month of meetings with no money and only a gas credit card to feed the car, of the pastors that had asked you to their church because they thought you were someone else, of the long days of boredom between meetings etc.

All they ever heard was the highlights – the great things that were happening, not the day to day doing of the work of deputation – you know, like the sending out of one hundred letters of introduction and calling the one hundred pastors in a week and finding that only ten of them were even interested in talking to you and that only one of them would even ask you to speak in their church.

The reality of most missionaries is to speak in one of one hundred churches contacted. The missionary tends only to tell you of the meetings that they have had, not the day to day work of getting that meeting.

I don’t demean anyone in this spin of positivity, it is human nature, it is partly the way we are wired in our minds. When we are a year or two down life’s road from hard times, we tend to forget the bad and remember the good – probably God’s way of allowing us not to be terribly burdened with negativity.

To bring this closer to home for us, we often look at our lives as keeping one foot in front of the other so that we continue forward. We seldom can really see the highlights of our lives. We are too caught up in our drudgery.

We probably won’t get the real picture of our lives until we hear the Lord’s view of them. He has the proper view point of what we have accomplished – this is the grass we need to tend not that which seems greener in someone else’s life.

We shouldn’t count ourselves out because we can’t see that we have accomplished much – what we have accomplished can only be known by God.

We need to get our eyes off the one foot ahead of the other and concentrate on the overall view that God has – His plan for our life! It after all is His plan – His perfect plan. If you dwell on the step to step you will probably demean His plan for you.

I guess what I’m saying is quit coveting His plan for someone else’s life and concentrate on His plan for you.