2 Timothy | Chapter 1 – Scripture Supply

2 Timothy Ch. 1

“Living differently in an age of “Deformity”

1:1-5 Introduction:

1:1-2 Greeting

1:3-5 Thanksgiving 1:6-12 Statement of Purpose: “Stay the course.”

1:13-18 BE BOLD Hold fast the course of sound words

1:13-14 The course formed

1:15 The course forgotten

1:16-18 The course followed

2 Timothy 1:1-2

“Not shopping for Jesus”

Vs. 1 No regrets

Vs. 2 Three gifts to keep you

Introduction

Around the year 66-67 AD, the apostle Paul had been rearrested and imprisoned in Rome, confined to a little 20-foot-diameter prison cell awaiting his death by the hands of Caesar Nero (who himself would die in 68 AD). Paul writes what would be his last will and testament to Timothy, who is still across the Aegean and Adriatic Seas in Ephesus. As Paul was facing his final hour, he wanted Timothy to know how to remain strong in the midst of a society that was collapsing.

His emphasis is upon staying the course, not altering or diverting from the course but rather staying on it despite the present outcome. He will write to Timothy four ways in which we all can “live differently in an age of deformity.” Those four phrases from the division in this letter each become a subject that Paul explains to his son in the faith.

The first phrase is found in chapter 1 verses 13-14, where Timothy is told to “hold fast the pattern of sound words.” Simply put, Timothy is being told that the time in which they are living is a time for the believer to “be bold” in the teaching of the word of God.
The next phrase appears in the letter in the 2nd chapter verse 1 where Paul tells Timothy to be “strong in the grace that is in Jesus.” In other words, the times they were living were a time when the believer needed to BE STRONG, fit in the grace that is only in Jesus.
The third phrase that Paul gives Timothy is found in chapter 3 verse 1, where he writes “know this,” as Paul tells Timothy that the time requires the believer to BE WISE.
Finally, Paul gives his final phrase in chapter 4, verse 2, where he says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.” This final phrase is one in which Paul says to BE READY.

I suppose it depends upon your world outlook if you consider this to be an “age of deformity” or not, but regardless of that, I believe that these four phrases (BE BOLD, BE STRONG, BE WISE, and BE READY) to be the marching orders of the church at any age.

Vs. 1: No regrets

Vs. 1 This is not only one of Paul’s pastoral letters; it is also one of his prison letters, as he writes this letter while under incarceration for his faith in Christ. Tradition tells us that shortly after this letter was sent, Paul was taken outside the city of Rome on an April morning and was beheaded. There is a vast difference between this letter and his first letter to Timothy. When Paul wrote his first letter, he had just been released from jail after his first trial before Nero.

Since that time (four to five years), Nero had burned a third of Rome to the ground in a drunken rampage, and to save face, he blamed it upon the Christians, of whom no one in all the world was more visible than Paul. So he had been rearrested and placed not under house arrest but in the darkest jail in all of Rome awaiting his execution. Paul wrote this letter with the full knowledge of his soon departure from this life. The fury of Nero’s persecution had left the church on the brink of extinction.

During this time Christians were called idolaters, atheists, cannibals, and revolutionaries. They were the Bain of all society everywhere, hated by all in the world. They were hunted down, lit on fire as human touches to light Nero’s dinner parties, used as entertainment in the Roman theater for gladiators and lions to devour.

Yet despite these dark days, Paul’s letter is bright with hope, no regrets, and no thoughts of deviating from the course set out by God. Had Christianity been a myth, a fraud, a hoax, then this would have been a great time to deny the faith, but instead Paul doubles down and, not only for himself but for all believers, tells them to stay the course. There is little doubt in this letter that not all so-called believers stood fast for the truth concerning Jesus, as Paul will remark in this letter in chapter 1 verse 15 that those in Asia had turned away. In chapter four verse 11, he says his good friend Demas walked away. Paul anticipates with prophetic clarity that, having stayed the course of faith in Christ, the outcome was soon to be his death. What would you do if you were faced with such a choice as Paul or those in Iraq and other places in the world?

Listen to how Paul describes his circumstances to Timothy: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Jesus Christ.”

With regards to the course of his life, Paul listed being sent out to be Christ’s ambassador as the highest and most privileged course he had ever known.
With regards to where that course had taken him, Paul considered it the “will of God.” Paul did not see himself as a victim of Rome but rather as a champion of Christ’s.
With regards to the outcome of this course, he was not facing “certain death,” he was facing “certain life!” There is no sound or tone in those words of a man with great regrets in his life with how things have turned out. Instead, there is an anthem of praise and thanksgiving that he had been chosen to run such a race.

To Paul, life was not soon ending; it was soon beginning, and he had actively waited for such a time as this. He didn’t write to Timothy about the fact that he was going to lose his head; no, he wrote as a man who was soon going to gain his life. It is one thing to live triumphantly when you are facing no trials in this life and another to live victoriously when the world and everyone in it is falling apart.

The doubters and atheists can deny all they want, but they cannot deny the truth lived out in our lives. Here was a man who, according to the prevailing thought in society, was insane at best and a criminal at worst, judged by society to not be worthy to breathe the same air on this planet, and his response to such was, “Man, am I ever blessed!” Saints, there is nothing the world or anyone in it can do to a person who, despite the situation or circumstances, stays steadfast upon the promises of life in Christ.

Vs. 2: Three gifts to keep you

Vs. 2 In the 2nd verse, we have the necessary gifts from God that produced such heroic faith: “Grace, mercy, and peace”! Over the years, I’ve noticed that there is a difference between believers in the early church and many in the church today in the way they view their faith. Many view their faith in Christ as something they place in their lives. One day while at a grocery store, I witnessed the perfect example of how many in the church look at their faith. Many of today’s Christians go to the shelf of Jesus and get a 3 oz package of Jesus and put him into their shopping cart. Others use Jesus a little more, and they prefer the 8-ounce Jesus. Then there are those super saints who use Jesus a lot and prefer the jumbo Jesus and get the 32-ounce package. All these “Jesus shoppers” tend to think they are better than the other shoppers because they are adding Jesus to their diet, where others aren’t.

The 8-ounce Jesus users think that they are better than the 3-ounce users. The 32-ounce jumbo users are far better than the 8- and 3-ounce users. But in truth, all of these folks are just consumers; some are just adding more of Jesus than others. They all place other products in varying degrees that they believe are essential to life, and Jesus is just one of the “many products” that each person places in the shopping cart. But the early church didn’t add more of Jesus to their shopping cart than we do.

No, the difference is not in the amount of Jesus the early church had in their diet; it is that they didn’t shop for Jesus at all, as He wasn’t “in the shopping cart; He WAS the shopping cart”! He was their life, and what they added to Him was always in accordance with what He desired for each person. Nothing was ever added to Him that He didn’t ordain! The healthy spiritual diet is not to be found in how much Jesus you put into your life; it is rather to be found in whom you allow to do the shopping!

When Jesus is my shopping cart, He will give a healthy dose of “grace, mercy, and peace.” The great part of these three things is that they will be able to sustain you no matter what you are facing in life. There are a great many people who, though they have added Jesus to their cart, are munching on other things expecting to have “grace, mercy, and peace,” but when their lives are depleted due to adversity, they realize that what they have been feeding on just won’t suffice. I love the fact that in this greeting Paul says from experience that these three ingredients that will sustain and stabilize you will always and will only be found in “God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Grace is the consciousness of God’s love and presence. His goodness towards us that not only forgives our sins but enables us to experience the truth that we are a part of His family. It’s this reality that gives the believer the sense of power to obey God’s word and choose Him rather than our fallen flesh. These are all a part of grace, which we don’t earn by works but rather by His work that works.
Mercy withholds that which we do deserve. It’s God’s mercy that tempers the trails of our lives and adjusts them to our weakness of faith and flesh. Jeremiah said it this way in Lamentations 3:22: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” Because we struggle with our fallen flesh and live in a sin-cursing world, every day ought to be complete and absolute chaos, but the truth is those things are tempered by His mercy.
Peace is that inner sense of well-being. It occurs when we realize that, no matter how dark and dismal the circumstances may be, Jesus will never leave you or forsake you, and He is not only in control; He is going with you through the trial. This inner calm causes us to be panic-proof.

These are the three ingredients of “the promise of life,” which is in Christ Jesus. These are the three that were being experienced as Paul wrote this letter filled with such hope while he lived in the darkness of deformity. The very purpose of this letter is given to us in chapter 1, verse 6, “Stir up the gift.” The season of dysfunction is not the time to retreat but to advance.

2 Timothy 1:3-7

“Unforgettable”

Vs. 3 Prison of Prayer

Vs. 4-7 Four marks of living in joy

Introduction

The second part of the greeting is what is called “thanksgiving,” aptly called this as most often the writer would put down the things that they were thankful towards as it related to the recipient of the letter. Most of Paul’s letters begin with a section of thanksgiving; many of those were written during times of great difficulties, but one could argue that Paul still had the hope of things turning around.

But here in this letter the sentence has been handed down; he awaits his beheading on a chilly spring morning with not a friend in sight. There will be no appeal, yet Paul praises God and prays for a friend. Let the critics malign, let the deniers hate, but whatever possessed Paul to live the way he did with thanksgiving and concern for others all the while dealing with the worst of man’s inhumanity to their fellow man while his only crime was a belief that differed from theirs;

I want; give me a full dose of what Paul had! I want his mantle at whatever the cost. Furthermore, if the church would join me in this, we would change the world as he and others did in the early church. Dear ones, the world has reduced our happiness to only occurring when situations and circumstances meet our fickle expectations. It’s because of this that there are few of us happy for any length of time, as seldom do things meet our expectations. In Christ, it is perfectly normal to be ecstatic when everything is falling apart because our happiness isn’t based upon life meeting our expectations.

Vs. 3 Prison of Prayer

Vs. 3 Paul turned his dungeon into a prayer room in verse 3 as he prayed for Timothy. He said, “How about it? Do you feel imprisoned or trapped in a situation or circumstance? Why not turn that into a prayer room instead of a complaint department? Take those things that are driving you nuts and allow them to drive you to the throne! There is no greater need today than those who are committed to praying night and day for others. When a believer has the opportunity to know that their time on this earth is short, they, like Paul, evaluate their life not by what they accumulated or accomplished but rather by their faithfulness and obedience to Christ. What matters most at the end of our days is not what we have or what we have done but WHO we have walked with!

Paul says, “I have joy in God.” One of our problems when it comes to experiencing lasting happiness is that we place experiencing joy in such small objects that it has little chance of achieving any lasting happiness. Paul says that this joy is secured because it is in God but also because he has a “pure conscience.” The word “pure” here is a word that can also mean “cleansed,” which I believe is the right translation. Our joy is established from being found in God with a “cleansed conscience,” one in which we have owned our failure and allowed the Lord to correct us. Our mistakes and our failures need not keep us from lasting joy, Paul tells Timothy. Just agree with the Lord about such shortfalls, and you will regain joy through a clean conscience.

Vs. 4-7 Four marks of living in joy

Vs.4 A quick character study on Timothy will reveal that he often battled health issues, that he fought being timid, and here we see that he was on the sensitive side as he wept when Paul was rearrested. Timothy was not your prototypical “man’s man,” but in 1 Timothy 6:11 Paul calls him a “man of God.” God has only one mold for godliness, and it is His only Son, Jesus. He takes great delight in calling the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Paul looks out over the years of a joy-filled life that he and Timothy shared, and he records four unforgettable marks that living in joy produced in Timothy.

Legitimate Love: “Being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy.” Having Christ as the sole source of happiness had produced “love,” and the love that it produced was not a self-love but that of others, and Paul had personally seen and experienced Timothy’s love towards him. Paul’s heart was fixed on the genuine demonstration of love that Timothy had shone in his tears as Paul’s was rearrested. When our joy is in our relationship with God, our tears are not primarily shed upon our missed fortune but rather upon others. Our hearts ought to break for the sufferings of others more than our expectations of being met.

Vs. 5 Fixed Faith: “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you.” When Timothy had young believers in his teens, Paul had witnessed a genuine faith in Lystra. Throughout the years, Paul continued to observe a steady growth and maturity in Timothy’s relationship with Jesus. Along with the love of others, we will see Christian maturity as a mark of a person who has made a relationship with God the basis of a joy-filled life. Living with God as your source of joy will produce a steady maturity in our faith, and I believe a lack of that maturity is evidence that our joy is not fixed in our relationship with Jesus but rather upon situation and circumstances meeting our expectations.

Vs. 6 Growing Gifts: “I remind you to stir up the gift of God.” We aren’t given the exact time when leadership came together and prayed over Timothy as they laid hands upon him for the gifts that God would give him in his calling to service. But it is clear that there was such an occasion. Paul reminds Timothy of that time and that this needs to be “stirred up,” cultivated, and challenged periodically in our lives. When our joy is fixed upon Christ, we will not want to be passive in our growth; instead, we will be active, desiring to go further in our usefulness, not content to maintain the status quo.

We aren’t certain what area or areas Paul had in mind for Timothy; perhaps it was in the area of evangelism, as later in this letter he will be reminded to “do the work of an evangelist.” Timothy lacked nothing; he didn’t need more education, some new spiritual tool, or more experience to be more effective in his service. No, he needed only to stir up what was already in place. Timothy needed to “fan the flame” so that he would catch on fire! If we have all the ingredients to burn but fail to do so, all we need to do is stir the embers!

V. 7 Sound in the Spirit: “God has NOT given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The final unforgettable mark of a joy-filled life in Christ is a constant and consistent contact with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul lists two ways in which the continual work of the Holy Spirit will impact a person who finds their sole source of joy in a relationship with God:

Negatively: We won’t have a spirit of fear! When Christ is our joy, we won’t be anxiety-ridden worrywarts! Those fears aren’t from God, and they reveal that our focus is upon our situations and circumstances meeting our expectations. The words “fear not” appear 100’s of times in the Bible; one can quickly get the impression that fear is forbidden in the Bible. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Thus, we need to be sound in the Spirit so that our hearts don’t get weighted down in fear.

Positively: In contrast to fear, our hearts, when filled with the Holy Spirit will demonstrate three positive characteristics.

Power: Where the spirit of God is at work in our lives, not only will there be an absence of fear, there will be a manifestation of power. Consider the time in Jesus’ life just prior to His death when instead of fear ruling His life, we saw the demonstration of power when He said that no one takes His life; He lays it down and He will raise it up! This power of the Holy Spirit is released upon those who obey despite the consequences. You won’t necessarily feel more powerful, but strength will be imparted as we walk in obedience to Him.

Love: Next, where the Holy Spirit is present, there will be a spirit of love, which, as we read in 1st John, casts out fear. We won’t be experiencing anxiety over our lives; we will be manifesting love towards others. There is perhaps no greater evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit than a loving concern for somebody else’s situation above our own!

Sound mind: The final evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in a joy-filled life is a sound mind. The phrase speaks of a spiritual sobriety that manifests itself in a steadfast momentum that understands the real situation but does the right thing without regard to the present outcome. The Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion, nor is He the author of convenience; He will not have us opt for what is expedient and beneficial to our self-interests. Instead, He will give us a sound mind and a firm judgment!

There are a lot of things being passed off as the work of the Holy Spirit that possess none of these three traits mentioned by Paul as being positive attributes to the work of the Holy Spirit. I tend to believe that if what is being passed off as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit doesn’t have these three characteristics, then it is not a manifestation of the Holy Spirit; it is rather a work of the flesh! These words were meant to encourage Timothy to “stay the course,” to not grow weary in doing good works, nor to allow the enemy to divert us off the course. Throughout his life, Paul found the secret of a joy-filled existence: SERVE CHRIST!

2 Timothy 1:8-13.

“Standing strong in a wilting world”

Vs. 8a: Do not be ashamed.

Vs. 8b-10 Two words, so we will not

Vs. 11-13 Two things to remember about your life

Introduction

In every generation, be that in a family, a business, or a church, an event will take place about every 25 years. If this event is not done successfully, then whatever the institution is, it risks a bleak future that could spell out its own end. Ah, but get it right, and it will accomplish more than it had done through the previous leadership. The event is the passing of the torch to a new generation. Paul’s last will and testament” to Timothy is just that passing of baptism, as in chapter 4 v6-7s 6-7 he will say, “The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Though the circumstances of Paul’s end were discouraging, he didn’t want that to hinder Timothy’s race. Paul has two phrases of encouragement in this section; the first one is placed in the negative andve, and the second one is spoken in the positive.

Vs. 8: Do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord.

Vs. 13: Hold fast the pattern of sound words.

Vs. 8a: Do not be ashamed.

Vs. 8a Based upon this passage, there are three things that Christians have a tendency to be ashamed of with regards to their Christian faith. This tells me that Paul himself had experienced these same three things, as they are common to all of us.

“Testimony of our Lord”: When we speak to people about our love and devotion to Jesus, folks have a difficult time understanding this. Why would we have such passion for someone, in their opinion, we have never met? They observe our lives with great skepticism and wonder, as they can’t fathom anyone devoting their lives around a dead peasant religious figure that died 2000 years ago.

They watch us speak of Him; they hear us talk to Him, and they don’t see or hear Him. At times the “invisibility” of our Lord to those who are our critics causes us to be silent about our faith, and we become closer Christians. Most of us have experienced this embarrassment when around those in the world or our unbelieving family and friends. Paul will offer those of us who have gone through this an answer to our critics with regards to Jesus’ visibility.

“Of me His prisoner”: The second embarrassment is being associated with other Christians who have become, in the eyes of the world, “extremists.” The world will say things to us like, “I’m glad you aren’t one of those weird Born Again freaks; they are troublemakers, and the world would be better off without those religious fanatics.” I am not speaking of believers who behave badly, but faith like Paul’s that caused him not to be politically correct with the majority of the Roman Empire. He was viewed by the leaders as subversive and destructive in society. Paul will also address how to overcome this shame as a believer.

“The sufferings for the gospel”: Finally Paul speaks of the shame and embarrassment we can experience for what he calls the sufferings for the gospel. The gospel revolves around the embarrassing simplicity in the message that doesn’t attract the intellectual pride that people are prone to boast in. Paul experienced this when he spoke on Mars Hill to the professors of his day about the unknown God and the hope of the resurrection, which they mocked. At the center of the gospel message is that man is hopelessly lost and not “basically good,” as society loves to brag upon. This offends our pride, and we are not comfortable telling folks that we are helpless and hopeless, left to our own devices. Paul will also address this embarrassment for believers.

Vs. 8b-10 Two words, so we will not

Vs. 8b-9 Paul reminds Timothy of two truths that counter our embarrassment:

Vs. 8b, “The power of God”

Vs. 13a, “The pattern of sound words.”

Paul’s argument against these three sources of embarrassment is very logical, as he says you have nothing to be embarrassed about when what you believe works! Each of these three areas is answered when you consider the four ways Paul says that Jesus proved he has power:

Vs. 9: ““Who has saved us…”: The power of God was on display at our conversion. Every new birth is evidence that trusting in God works. Every single believer is a living walking miracle, a demonstration of the power of God to transform lives. Folks can debate the validity of ancient documents, but they cannot debate the countless numbers of everyday individual lives who have been transformed by trusting in the risen savior.

“And called us with a holy calling.” The power of God is also evident in our continual growth throughout our lives through our sanctification. Every believer is a living demonstration that the power of God continually transforms us, degree by degree, more into the image of Jesus. The power of God is always on display, as people can see us becoming better and better instead of bitter and bitter!

“Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace.” The power of God is on display, as it cannot be attributed to our work. Yes, we chose to obey the word, but it is not our work that works; it’s trusting in His work that works, as it is “according to His own purpose and grace.” Paul says that not only is His power on display according to His own purpose, it has been operating before time began. God alone knows how to work His power through and in the weakness of man so that His purposes are clearly visible.

Vs. 10 “has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Paul writes to Timothy that the power of God was visible in two ways in Jesus:

Abolishing death: Jesus alone conquered death, as the grave could not hold Him. I love this phrase as Paul was awaiting his own death and wrote to Timothy that Jesus “above death.” The word in the Greek means to “nullify or bring to nothing.” Jesus didn’t just eke out a narrow victory of the grave; he destroyed its undefeated streak by shutting out death; it didn’t even come close to holding Jesus in the grave. I read of a story where a doctor told a patient that was in hospice that he wouldn’t make it through the night, and the fellow became so excited that he would be rid of his dying body, and in his glorified body, the old body released so much adrenaline that he lived for two more weeks.

Bringing life and immortality to light: There are two things that go unnoticed in this verse: The first is the word “life,” which inek refers to the change in the human heart when a person becomes a believer. The word speaks of a new “quality” of life that has been imparted to you—a visible change in the quality of life that causes others to stand up and take notice. The second is the phrase “immortality to light,” which is saying that this visible change in the quality of life does not end when this body ceases to function; it continues on and is expanded as we will no longer be hindered by this world. In heaven will we be able to say, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Vs. 11-13 Two things to remember about your life

Vs. 11-12 Paul moves from the work of Christ and the work of the gospel to the work of the servant, and why he need not be ashamed and be tempted to pull back. Paul’s preaching and teaching was against what society advocated, and that was the reason for his suffering. Had Paul only gone with the flow of the world, he would have had no problems, but he didn’t as he followed the Master. Success for the kingdom and suffering go hand in hand because our work is not that we would have it easy but rather that people would know the love of Christ. Paul was not ashamed because he understood two great things about his calling: his work and his resource for that work; therefore, he was not looking at the present outcome but rested in the eventual victory!

Vs. 13 Listen to Paul’s words to Timothy at a moment of crisis not for Paul (he had settled this) but rather a moment of crisis for Timothy and the Church: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words.” Despite the tendency to pull back as things were working against Paul, he forged ahead as he was not focusing on his outcome on Christ’s victory. There is an all-out assault on truth and Christianity, and people have compromised and watered it down to such a level that many Christian lives bear no resemblance to New Testament believers at all.

2 Timothy 1:13-18

“Let loose the lion.”

Vs. 13-14 Hold fast to God’s word.

Vs. 15-18 Keep the word by staying connected to God’s people.

Introduction

In what amounts to Paul’s last will and testament, he wrote to Timothy, who might be tempted to look at the adversity that Paul had gone through as an ambassador for Jesus and determine that the way Paul had approached his faith didn’t need to be so radical. So Paul came right out with it and spoke of the three things that believers have an inclination to be embarrassed by with regards to our faith:

The invisible nature of our relationship with Jesus (unbelievers can’t see or hear Him)
The radical nature of our fellow Christians who live their lives 100% for God
The simplicity of the gospel that offends man’s pride of accomplishment

Paul went on to describe two antidotes to those embarrassments:

The Power of God
The pattern of sound words

The progression of Jesus’ Church has not only survived but advanced because of men and women who “held fast the pattern of sound words” while the enemy threw all he had at them. They did so when it would have been convenient and personally beneficial to compromise. Paul was just such a man, and now he encourages Timothy to carry on in that tradition. He tells him two ways that this needs to be accomplished.

Vs. 13-14 Hold fast to God’s word.

Vs. 13-14 Be loyal to God’s word. God had deposited His truth to Paul, and Paul had deposited that same truth to Timothy. Now Timothy needed to “hold fast” and “keep by the Holy Spirit” the truth that had been given to him so that he could pass it along to others. That great English pastor Charles Spurgeon was once asked the best way to defend the scripture; his famous reply was, “Scripture is like a lion. Who ever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself.” Paul gives two admonitions describing just how a person turns loose the lion of scripture.

Vs. 13 Hold fast: Paul tells Timothy, HOLD FAST the pattern of sound words. Notice that Paul says of scripture that it is THE pattern of sound words, not A pattern of sound words! The word “pattern” in Greek describes an architect’s sketch. This tells us that there is a definite “blueprint” of the truth as found in the early church; it is what all succeeding generations ought to use as the plum line when it comes to the Word of God. It is equally clear that this standard of truth was not to be cold orthodoxy, as Paul says that it was to be held in “faith and love,” the measure of which is found in Christ Jesus. We give far too much credit to the limit of the human mind and not enough credit to the limitless wisdom and truth of the Divine.

Some new theory quickly becomes a fact that dislodges the truth as we are impressed and dazzled with tidbits that will soon be disproved by some other tidbit a few short years later. Looking out at the landscape of the human mind throughout history is like viewing a desert where the only things that have survived throughout time are the things planted by the Intelligent Designer. Saints, we have in the word of God that which is ultimate reality! It is THE lifeline and ONLY fixed point of reference in a constantly changing world. To let go of “the pattern of sound words” is to cut the tether that keeps us attached to the living God. If God’s Word can’t be trusted as truth, then why would we believe that what He created (mankind), that has become clearly flawed, can be?

Vs. 14 Keep by the Holy Spirit: Paul speaks here of an outward action of guarding the truth by the Holy Spirit. English author Dorothy Sayers once said, “The test of any religion is not that it pleases us, but that it is true.” This is most visible in the gospel accounts when the people heard Jesus say, “You have heard it said, but I tell you…” And the folks would respond by noting that He taught as one having authority. The Bible speaks to our experience, to our unarticulated unconscious, and when we hear the truth of the Word of God, we say, “YES, that’s right, that’s the truth!” It is what caused the religious leaders of Peter and John’s day in Acts chapter 4 verse 13 to note that though they were “uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and realized that they had been with Jesus.”

That is where true education must come from—not from the desks of the great world universities but from the feet of the Great Master, Jesus! It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that works, illuminating the words He gave the author; He brings them home to the heart. It is His work that makes the scriptures “living words” and not just words to live by! Far too many folks in the church are looking for inspirational words and not the transformational word of God. The Word of God by the Spirit of God does not only enlighten the mind; it pierces the heart, as Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 reminds us that the “Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Vs. 15-18 Keep the word by staying connected to God’s people.

Vs. 15-18 Be loyal to God’s servants. Paul gives two personal examples of what he meant:

Vs. 15 Negative: Amazingly, even after the incredible revival that had transpired in this region where 7 churches had been planted around Ephesus during the 3 years Paul was in there during his 3rd missionary journey, he now writes, “All of Asia have turned away from me.” The bold brand of living for the truth that was utilized for their salvation was now an abomination.

We don’t know exactly who Phygelus and Hermogenes were, but apparently they were well-known leaders whom Paul had expected would “hold fast the pattern of sound words… that had been committed to them.” According to the 4th chapter verse 10, even Demas had forsaken him and false teaching abounded. I recently watched a video of a well-known evangelical pastor saying that he now believes that you can be a born-again practicing homosexual. I wondered if he would say that you can be born again and practice immorality on any level. Is there any need in his eyes to turn away from any sin mentioned in the Bible, such as murder or adultery? Could you be a practicing adulterer and still have fellowship with God, or a practicing murderer, or is it only homosexuality that gets a pass? The question is not whether or not someone can profess to know Jesus and habitually practice sin; I’m certain that people are doing that all the time. No, the question they need to ask is whether they can habitually practice sin and have fellowship with God.

I think it is best to ask Jesus that question and see what He has to say, and as you know, He has already answered that question in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21–23, where He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Vs. 16-18 Positive: The bad news was there were those who had failed to “hold fast the pattern of sound words… that had been committed to them.” But that wasn’t the only news, as Paul turns his words to those who had held fast to the pattern of sound words and were committed to them. Onesiphorus traveled from Ephesus to Rome and diligently looked for Paul so he might minister to the prisoner’s needs. Onesiphorus’ name means “bringer of help,” and apparently he had lived up to his name. He seems to have been a wealthy businessman that was prominent in Ephesus while Paul ministered in that city. He had come to Rome after a great deal of effort, and at great risk to himself and his livelihood, he found Paul to minister to him. Onesiphorus was reaching out to an enemy of Rome, and specifically Caesar Nero. Paul mentions what a blessing he had been and prays a blessing over him. The word “refreshed” in verse 16 in the Greek means to be “cool again” and is saying that Onesiphorus was like a breath of fresh air. Here is how you hold fast the pattern of sound words; here is how you keep by the Holy Spirit the Word of God. You live it out no matter what the earthly consequences.

Imagine how your life, the lives of those around you, our community, our state, our country, and the world would be different if believers lived out what they say they believe! But why just imagine? Why not start today with “hold fast the pattern of sound words… that had been committed to YOU?”