Fighting The Good Fight (2 Timothy)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7, the apostle Paul wrote, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith. Let's pray. Father, how thankful we are for all that you've done for us. Lord, you created us. You sustain us. You have given us everything that we need for life and godliness. You even sent your only son to give his life for us.

So because of that, may we be willing to give our lives for him. Lord, keep us in your will, I pray. Help us to continue to fight the good fight of faith and to finish the race strong. I ask all of this in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. So before we look at this passage from 2 Timothy chapter 4 a little more closely, let's go back to chapter 1 for a moment, because many believe that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy because he was worried about his young protege in the faith.

He was worried that Timothy was starting to waffle or that he was worried Timothy might start to waffle a little bit. And before you wonder if this, because Timothy is a young man, does this really fit with the idea of finishing strong?

Isn't that for older folks? Remember, we don't know how long we're going to live. Jesus was crucified at age 33. The Apostle James died young, but then the Apostle John died as an old man. So we don't really know how much time we have left.

That way, if we remain faithful, serving God right now, whenever the time is, whether it's the Lord's return and glory, and I pray that we see that, or if we go by the way of physical death. Either way, as long as we remain faithful, we can finish strong.

2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 1, Paul begins, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus to Timothy, a beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God, the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord.

I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

So Paul knew that Timothy loved the Lord, and Timothy, of course, knew of Paul's commitment to serving Christ. But the two men who loved each other so very much, the two men, Paul and Timothy, had been separated.

Paul was now in prison, and Timothy had to kind of go it alone, so to speak. And isn't this true? When brothers and sisters in Christ are separated, that's painful. It really is. It's painful, and we feel the loss.

So this is likely the reason for Timothy's tears. And with the rise of Christian persecution, Paul seems to be a little concerned about this young pastor. He knows that he trained Timothy well, as well as he could, but Paul notices people are dropping out left and right.

I mean, this guy, I thought he was faithful. He's bailed out. This guy, he's no longer around. People are dropping out left and right, and Paul wants to make sure this doesn't happen to Timothy. Timothy, don't be like Demas.

I think that's one of the messages that's implied. We'll see this later on. Faithful servants, that Paul never expected, were dropping out. And he probably, what caused Paul to write this letter, he probably heard maybe a concerning thing or two about Timothy.

Look at verse 6. It's probably why Paul says this in verse 6. Therefore, Timothy, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So with the rise of Christian persecution, not only by the Jews, but now by the Romans, Timothy, don't be afraid. God is with you. One commentator writes this about verse 6. This seems to indicate Paul was unsatisfied with Timothy's current level of faithfulness.

Stir up literally means keep the fire alive. And we need to do that in this world today. Things are not getting easier. You know this. Being a Christian, trying to serve the Lord, things are not getting easier.

So keep the fire alive. The mention of gift refers to the believer's spiritual gift. Paul reminds Timothy that as a faithful steward, God has given him this gift. Timothy, you cannot allow it to fall into disuse.

Timothy was a good preacher, a good teacher. He evangelized the loss. Paul says, keep that going. When Paul wrote this letter, as I said, Christian persecution was on the rise. Who is Caesar at this time?

Does anyone know? How many of you have heard of Nero? Most people have heard of Nero. It's believed that Nero was Caesar at this moment. So not only did Timothy have to deal with Roman oppression and the constant Jewish persecution, they also had to contend with the false teachers.

That was always the case. And maybe even people in his own church, because at this moment, it's believed that Timothy was the pastor of the church of Ephesus. So in other words, this is no time to back down, Timothy.

This is no time to start getting timid and being afraid or God forbid, thinking about giving up. So Paul reminds him of these things. God has not given us a spirit of fear. If the Holy Spirit is within you, the Holy Spirit is not a spirit of fear.

Amen? Proverbs 28 verse one says, the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. So God has not given us a spirit of fear. I want you to, because I see a lot of people in the world fearful today.

And there's people that want to make us fearful. The devil wants us to be fearful. So say it along with me. God has not given us a spirit of fear. Say it along with me. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Therefore, verse eight, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. Now skip over to chapter two, second Timothy chapter two, that statement, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.

I think we all understand by now, if you haven't figured it out by now, you're never going to, but I think we all get it. Things have really changed in the last several years, the last five years, last seven years.

And of course the last two years, there's a lot has changed. And the changes say in our nation, and even in some of our churches, the change for the most part doesn't seem to be positive. I don't think I'm going out on a limb saying that, but keep this in mind.

Difficulty, radical change. This has happened before, right? What does the Bible say? There's nothing new under the sun. Don't get that woe at all, man. We've never seen anything like this. What are we going to do?

It's happened before. It's nothing new. And what? The Christian church still marches on. It's still here. And it will always be here until the Lord comes for us. So sure, some were bailing out going back to Paul's day, and Paul had a lot worse than we do, by the way.

Some were bailing out. That's true, but that's to be expected. And if some bail out today, don't be discouraged. What we want to do is we want to encourage those who are remaining with us. We want to encourage those who remain faithful.

The times we are living in may be difficult, but again, the first century was way, way worse. That's what I always tell myself, and I've told you this. When things seem really bad, I always tell myself what?

It could always be worse. Maybe that doesn't help you, but it helps me, so I'm sticking with it, okay? It could always be worse. And I don't want to downplay anyone's pain and suffering, because I know some of the things people are going through are really, really hard.

I'm not downplaying that at all. But things could be worse, and in some ways, we don't realize, in some ways, how good we still have it. So we need to keep on assembling together. Paul, I'm sure, would have given Timothy that same advice.

Keep on assembling. Stir up one another. I believe Paul wrote Hebrews, and this is what he says. Keep stirring up one another to love and good works, so much the more as you see the day approaching. And as far as this idea of finish strong, I want you to know, I want everyone listening to know, I preach a sermon like this because I love and care about you, and I know that you all love and care about each other, and we want to see each other and encourage each other to finish the race strong.

The end might be a lot closer than we think, not in a morbid way, but in the return of the Lord. This is no time to waffle. This is no time to drop out of the fight. Besides, our heavenly rewards depend on it.

So by God's grace, I'm here to tell you this morning, by God's grace, you are well able to persevere. So Paul is doing everything to encourage Timothy and to remind him to be strong in grace, to be strong in grace.

Look at 2 Timothy 2 verse 1. You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. In the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

You, therefore, must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So Paul was in prison, and what was happening now in Paul's life, he always had critics. We've seen this going through 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians.

Paul had a lot of critics, but when he was in prison, he only seemed to have more critics. In fact, there were some people, Christian ministers it seems, that were saying things about the Apostle Paul.

Oh, Paul is in prison. God must be punishing Paul. God must be done with Paul. God has set Paul on the shelf. I guess this is the end of his ministry. And that would be, if you're Paul, that would be pretty discouraging to hear that people are saying things like that.

Sometimes we get a little critical about things we see out there going on. We don't wanna be criticizing each other. If somebody is a faithful saint in the Lord, you know they're saved. Don't criticize that person.

Encourage that person. Well, some people were taking some shots at the Apostle Paul, and he knew that was normal. And Timothy, some people are gonna say things about you it comes with the territory. So he's telling Timothy that he must endure hardships.

This goes with the job. But while Paul could have been discouraged, hearing what people are saying about him, Paul could have been discouraged. He could have thrown in the towel, but was that his mindset?

No way. God forbid. Giving up was the last thing on the Apostle Paul's mind. And it should be the last thing on our mind. Besides, Paul's critics were wrong about him. His first imprisonment, he got out and he continued ministering.

But while he was in prison first, he did some of his best work. He wrote the prison epistles, the book of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornet Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornetChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.