2 Timothy 2:1, 2 says,...
Today's verses are 2 Timothy 2:1, 2, which read,
v.1 - You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul is writing from this cold dark dungeon cell somewhere in Rome to Timothy who is his spiritual son. Timothy has had great spiritual upbringing in his home and has been mentored by Paul. He has watched Paul, firsthand, even from prison, hold to the faith. Even as many desert Paul, Paul stands firm to continue to proclaim the gospel.
Timothy is witness to all of this and therefore, Paul instructs him to stand firm and to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Could this be because Timothy has drifted some? Paul has spent a whole chapter just building a case for Timothy to not waver. Valleys of spiritual dryness come to all Christians and we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to address our walk with the Lord. We need to be reminded to think of the grace that has been given to us through the cross of Christ Jesus. We need to dive back into the Scriptures that we have been taught by others. We need to think of those who have gone before us and set an example that we have witnessed that shows us genuine salvation and service of the Lord. This could be a spiritual pep talk to Timothy to stay strong.
v.2 - The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
I see five generations given here. The first generation is God giving grace and faith to Paul; the second generation is Paul speaking and living this out in front of others and Timothy becomes a saving witness of this; the third generation is Timothy who is being spiritually mentored by Paul; the fourth generation is the faithful men that Timothy is speaking and living this out in front of; and the fifth generation is the others also that the faithful men are speaking and living this out in front of. This is to continue on generation by generation down to us and then from us onto the next generation.
We need to think of the word "generation" not just in terms of older to younger in a physical sense but also as the next generation of Christians who could be of any age. As churches, we need another generational age of Christians coming up who have been mentored by older Christians who are living and displaying the gifts of the Spirit. This should be a constant prayer of the church but also a constant focus of our very lives.
Who is our Paul? Who is our Timothy? Who are the faithful ones we are sharing our lives with? Who are the others who are coming up beyond them? Do we see the progression of saints in our churches? If not, then we are not only in trouble but we are not following the pattern given to us in the Scriptures of how this is suppose to work.
Many times we rely on other things to see the church "grow" but that is not how it "spiritually" grows. It may grow in physical size with whatever form is popular at the time but it will not spiritually grow in size without discipleship just as Jesus did with His disciples for 3 years before departing to heaven. Every generation has it's style and they come and go but the growth of the church is not based on that. The spiritual growth of the church is based on one saved sinner telling and showing with their very lives Christ to another sinner and God uses "His" style to build "His" church. Let's pray.
"Lord, we get hung up on the latest thing even in the church culture but the latest thing keeps changing. Help us to not neglect Your instruction on what we are to be doing within whatever style we are in at the moment. Because of You, may we be a Paul to a Timothy and see a line of faithful follow with messages of a saved life out to the others. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1 - You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul is writing from this cold dark dungeon cell somewhere in Rome to Timothy who is his spiritual son. Timothy has had great spiritual upbringing in his home and has been mentored by Paul. He has watched Paul, firsthand, even from prison, hold to the faith. Even as many desert Paul, Paul stands firm to continue to proclaim the gospel.
Timothy is witness to all of this and therefore, Paul instructs him to stand firm and to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Could this be because Timothy has drifted some? Paul has spent a whole chapter just building a case for Timothy to not waver. Valleys of spiritual dryness come to all Christians and we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to address our walk with the Lord. We need to be reminded to think of the grace that has been given to us through the cross of Christ Jesus. We need to dive back into the Scriptures that we have been taught by others. We need to think of those who have gone before us and set an example that we have witnessed that shows us genuine salvation and service of the Lord. This could be a spiritual pep talk to Timothy to stay strong.
v.2 - The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
I see five generations given here. The first generation is God giving grace and faith to Paul; the second generation is Paul speaking and living this out in front of others and Timothy becomes a saving witness of this; the third generation is Timothy who is being spiritually mentored by Paul; the fourth generation is the faithful men that Timothy is speaking and living this out in front of; and the fifth generation is the others also that the faithful men are speaking and living this out in front of. This is to continue on generation by generation down to us and then from us onto the next generation.
We need to think of the word "generation" not just in terms of older to younger in a physical sense but also as the next generation of Christians who could be of any age. As churches, we need another generational age of Christians coming up who have been mentored by older Christians who are living and displaying the gifts of the Spirit. This should be a constant prayer of the church but also a constant focus of our very lives.
Who is our Paul? Who is our Timothy? Who are the faithful ones we are sharing our lives with? Who are the others who are coming up beyond them? Do we see the progression of saints in our churches? If not, then we are not only in trouble but we are not following the pattern given to us in the Scriptures of how this is suppose to work.
Many times we rely on other things to see the church "grow" but that is not how it "spiritually" grows. It may grow in physical size with whatever form is popular at the time but it will not spiritually grow in size without discipleship just as Jesus did with His disciples for 3 years before departing to heaven. Every generation has it's style and they come and go but the growth of the church is not based on that. The spiritual growth of the church is based on one saved sinner telling and showing with their very lives Christ to another sinner and God uses "His" style to build "His" church. Let's pray.
"Lord, we get hung up on the latest thing even in the church culture but the latest thing keeps changing. Help us to not neglect Your instruction on what we are to be doing within whatever style we are in at the moment. Because of You, may we be a Paul to a Timothy and see a line of faithful follow with messages of a saved life out to the others. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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