Notes from a sermon heard on Sunday 10 March 2013
2
Timothy 1 verses 1 – 7, chapter 3 verses 13 – 17
Paul was writing to this young man
Timothy. He was looking after the church
in Ephesus and Paul had seen great blessing in this church. Now he was writing to Timothy to encourage
him. He knew he would not be coming out
of his prison cell – “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand.” (2 Timothy 4 verse 6)
The
influence of the women of God. Paul spoke of 3 generations in this chapter,
ladies who had such an influence on the life of Timothy. He remembered Timothy’s grandmother Lois and
his mother Eunice. Grandmothers and
mothers have been a great influence in our own lives. When Paul spoke of these 2 women he referred
to their faith, their experience of God that became real to Timothy. It was not something just believed in their
heart but a deep conviction within their heart.
These ladies were Jewesses and were brought up as such, would have been
taught the Old Testament scriptures, how the Israelite people were brought out
of Egypt. Their faith was much more than
head knowledge but rather something personal and real to them. It was a faith convicted of the reality of
God. They knew the experience of God in
their lives. In the day in which we live
there are many people who claim to be Christian, claim to be Protestant, church
people, believe in the Bible, people who believe in a God who created the
world, that Christ came and died and rose again and is coming back. All of it is intellectual knowledge but not a
deep conviction in the heart. These
women were such an influence on this young boy growing up. They had such a personal experience that God
was real to them. Not only a real
conviction in their own lives but a faith that was communicated to
Timothy. They could speak of it because they
had it themselves. They maybe could have
taught him many things but that would never have brought him to the conviction
of sin. They communicated their faith to
Timothy. What a responsibility we have
to our children not just to put food on the table, clothes on their backs, to
take them to all the organisations – our responsibility is to see them moulded
and directed to the word of God. It is
like a young sapling tree. When it is
young it can be moulded, shaped and it will remain that way for life. When it gets to maturity you cannot mould it,
it becomes too strong. When it comes to
people most people have come to Christ at an early age because of the influence
of a godly mother. We have that responsibility
to our children, they are given to us by God.
When Hannah went to Shiloh to pray God gave her Samuel and she replied
“for this child I have asked of God.”(1 Samuel 1 verse 27) Samuel was a special gift from God to Hannah. If God has given us children with them comes the
responsibility to see they are directed in the things of God. The influence towards Christ - kept away from
the world and its evil influences. We
see from this incident an influence of the women of God.
Notice Paul also spoke of the impact of the word of God. “Thou hast known the holy scriptures.” It is the only means, set apart because it
tells us the way of salvation. This is
the purpose of the holy scriptures, to make us wise unto salvation, to show us
the way to God, to heaven, to know it and to experience the reality of God in
our lives. Verse 16 states “all
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The impact of the word of God on this young
man’s life. The Bible tells us we have
gone wrong, reproofs us from our sin. “The
wages of sin is death.”(Romans 6 verse 23)
Every man shall die from his own sin.
“Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.”(Romans 5 verse 12) God cannot allow sin into heaven. We will never be there until sin is dealt
with, until we come to hear the word of God.
God will reprove and rebuke you through the word of God. Have you felt God troubling you about your
sin? Maybe you memorised the scriptures
as a child and now it is becoming real. The
Bible is not only given for reproof but also correction. It tells us about the Lord “he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”(Isaiah 53 verse 5) God has provided the way for our sin to be
forgiven. John tells us of Jesus. “He came unto his own and his own received
him not. But as many as received him, to
them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name.”(John 1 verses 11 and 12) You
can know the faith Lois and Eunice knew in their heart not just an intellectual
faith but the real experience of God in your heart. It is only at the cross, by coming to
Christ. “If we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”(1 John 1 verse 9) God
instructs us day by day how to live, he doesn’t leave us, he is always with us
through the journey of life.
The
importance of the work of God. Timothy had a good mother and grandmother, we
don’t know anything about his father, perhaps he was Greek. Maybe he was a believer, maybe not. It was not enough for Timothy. He had to have the personal work of God in
his own life. He knew the experience in
his own life. That is why he ended up
where he was, that is why he went out to preach, to do the work of an
evangelist. Paul was able to say ‘I am
ready to go but I am glad I have a young man coming after me.’ In this work some of the original members
have gone home to the Lord, those who are here are moving on to eternity but
God is looking for young men and women to continue the work of God in this
place. If there are those in our
congregation who want to do the best for our families it would be best for them
to get to know God and then communicate God to their children. Perhaps you are a young person who knows
about the faith in your father and mother but you do not know the reality of it
in your own life.
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