Kindle Afresh the Gift of God

2 Timothy 1:6-10

Verse 6. "For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands."

"Use it or lose it" remained a popular expression in the late 20th Century, and it was applied to both mental and physical activities. What we have received from God, such as our muscles, should be used if possible or they will atrophy. Most people do not even recognize that God gives additional abilities through His Holy Spirit to those who will receive them, but He does, and Timothy is encouraged here to USE the "gift of God," lest it atrophy within him. Timothy's "gift of God" is not specified, which is just as well because this warning, this concern applies to all who have trusted in the Lord and have received the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are to use what we have been given.

If you have been given a gift of what is called "healing," then keep on praying for the sick, for your gift will grow stronger as it is used and people will be restored. Many of the gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians Chapters 12 and 14, with a break in between, showing us in Chapter 13 that the greatest gift of all is the agape "love" of God in us. Listed in Chapter 12 are, "wisdom... knowledge... faith... healings... miracles... prophecy... discerning of spirits... tongues... (and) interpretation of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:4-10). The gifts take differing forms in different people, and it is likely that each one of us is uniquely gifted, and all of us are absolutely necessary to all others in the body of Christ. So whatever God has gifted you with, "kindle afresh" that gift and use it for the glory of God.

Verse 7. "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."

Actually, the "spirit of timidity" seems to be strangely prevalent in our churches of today. Where currently are the gifts of God mentioned by Paul in Verse 6? Imitations of them abound, but where are the real gifts? Paul had prayed for Timothy, who, as a result received a "gift of God" as a response to the prayerful "laying on of (Paul's) hands" on the younger man. We do not directly know through the context of these verses what that gift might have been, but the fact is, there were many gifts in operation in the church of that time which are not seen today. How often has "discerning of spirits" been used in your church? The answer to the question, "Where did they go?" maybe at least partly due to the fact that most of them are "low-key" in nature and usually not seen by others, but also due to the "timidity" of those in today's church.

Paul is giving us a look at the OPPOSITE of "timidity," which he referred to as "power and love and discipline." The Greek word for "discipline" here can also be translated as "saving the mind" or a "sound mind." Now, none of the three, power, love and a sound mind can be made ours through our own strength and abilities. Paul observes the human tendency toward "timidity," whereas "power and love and discipline" are given to us by God. As is true of all that is given by the Lord, there are indeed imitations of these qualities, but what we need, what the world needs, is that which is directly from the Throne of God to those who have faith in the Lord, through His Holy Spirit.

Verse 8. "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,"

There are two areas of our Christian walk through life in which we can become confused: 1) The Gospel, the Good News about the Lord can be a stumbling block for those who don't fully understand what was done for us as individuals and for humanity; and 2) We can study the lives of Christians we know or hear about and become very troubled because of what they have done and what has happened to them. In the first place it is clear that our Leader, Jesus the Christ who is the "Gospel" incarnate, died the death of a common criminal. Some have stumbled because of the nature of His death. Note that lots of people have died in such a manner, but His was utterly different because it was the only death in human history that offers LIFE to all who place their faith in the One who died and rose again.

Paul was fully aware that some are ashamed, as seen in this verse and in places like Romans 1:16, where he cried out, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Our part is merely to TRUST in what the Lord has done. Paul continued in Romans 1:17, "For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" And we can be put-off by the people who are often called "Christians." Many have become role models for others and then have fallen. Paul did nothing wrong, but was in prison and many were disturbed by what had happened to him. Let's give one another the freedom to repent of what we or they have done, and as to those like Paul who are wrongly convicted by society, by the church, or by our own attitudes, let's become willing to receive them, to surround them with the love of God that is supposed to be in us.

Verse 9. "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,"

Many have been blessed through the centuries by the words of Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." We can all breathe a sigh of relief as we read those words and the words of this verse originally written to Timothy, because it is written that we do not have to strive or work to be saved. Our attitudes are the basis of our outward actions, and all of us have had thoughts that would disqualify us from the kingdom of God. As Paul pointed out in another place, "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

"Works" do not save us, but when we place our faith in the Lord and let Him into our lives, the good works do begin to happen. That can be seen in Ephesians 2:10, where Paul continued, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." God has "His own purpose" for us, and He gives us "grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." The Lord established a blueprint, a plan for each of our lives before we were ever born and when we relax and let ourselves trust in Him, He will bring that blueprint to pass in our lives.

Verse 10. "but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,"

There is so much grief in the world because of death, a humanly irreversible ending for every one of us. It takes those we love, one-by-one, and then we, too, are swept into its grip. "Fear of death" keeps all humanity in bondage, for we have all become its slaves as you can read in Hebrews 2:15. These verses in 2nd Timothy are extremely important because we are shown how we can be released from death altogether. It's as though we are in a crowded theater and someone shouts "Fire, Fire!" We don't want it to be true, but we can smell the smoke and people are running.

And then through the darkness we see the neon sign that says, "Exit." There is a way out and what we must do is go through that door. Our "Exit" door is "our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." As Jesus Himself said, though His listeners at the moment did not understand His words, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved..." (John 10:9). If at this moment you simply allow yourself to have the faith that the "Exit" door offered in Christ will take you to safety, then "death" WILL be "abolished" for you. Your body may die for a time, but you will live. Will you trust in the Lord?

Thank You, Lord, for when You saw our condition, You did not turn Your back on us or destroy us, but came to us, responded to our need and died a terrible death in our place that gives us life. We confess our sins, and ask that You will forgive us. Save us, Lord; we trust in You now. Thank You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

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"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)

Taste and See that the Lord is Good!

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.

The Angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good;

Seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their cry.

The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,

And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

--Psalm 34 (NKJV)

God Gave Himself

Evangelism exists because worship doesn't.

Once Christ returns at the end of this age, all those who have been born again will be with God worshiping him, and missions will no longer be necessary. Worship is eternal, but evangelism is temporary.

Until Christ returns, the purpose of evangelism is to spread a passion for Christ. We evangelize so that all the peoples of the earth will "Sing to the Lord [and] proclaim his salvation day after day" (1 Chronicles 16:23). Said differently, the goal of missions is worship.

Not only is worship the goal of missions, but it is also the fuel of missions. Worship begets missions, and missions begets worship. In the words of pastor and author John Piper, "You can't commend what you don't cherish." If you don't treasure Christ, you won't be compelled to encourage others to treasure him. Where zeal for Christ is lacking, passion for missions will be lukewarm.

Jesus instructs us to spread his name to all peoples (Matthew 28:16-20), but we'll do so only once we come to the same point as the Apostle Paul, who exclaims, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8).

When, like Paul, we treasure Christ above all else, then we will be passionate about missions. But once Christ returns, evangelism will no longer be necessary because he will bring to himself and be worshiped by all those who have been made righteous in Christ. In the meantime, evangelism exists because there are still people called by Christ who are not worshipers of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[Weekly Wisdom - ChristNotes.org]

Awake, O Sword

He...did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.

(Romans 8:32)

We delight to think of the Christ, whose love was stronger than death and who deemed no suffering too great to undergo for His people.  But what must it have meant to the heart of the Father when His Beloved left His heavenly home!  God is love and nothing is so sensitive as love.  Deity is not emotionless and stoic as represented by the schoolmen of the middle ages.  The Father deeply felt the departure of His Son; it was a real sacrifice on His part.

Weigh well the solemn fact underlying the promise that God "did not spare His own Son"!  Expressive, profound, melting words!  Knowing as only He could, all that redemption involved: the Law, rigid and unbending, insisting on perfect obedience and demanding death for transgressors; Justice, stern and inexorable, requiring full satisfaction, refusing to "clear the guilty."  Yet God did not withhold the only suitable sacrifice.

Though He knew full well the humiliation and shame of Bethlehem's manger, the ingratitude of men, the lack of any place to lay His head, the hatred and opposition of the ungodly, the malice and loathing of Satan -- yet He did not hesitate.  God did not relax any of the holy requirements of His throne nor moderate one particle of the awful curse.  No, He "did not spare His own Son."  The last cent must be levied; the final dregs in the cup of wrath must be drained.  Even when His Beloved cried from the garden, "If it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me" (Matthew 26:39), God did not spare Him.  Even when vile hands nailed Him to the tree, God cried, "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!  Strike the shepherd" (Zechariah 13:7).

-- A.W. Pink

Flowing Like a River

If the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

(Romans 5:15)

People talk about grace, but, as a rule, they know very little about it.  Let a businessman visit a banker to borrow a few thousand dollars for sixty or ninety days; if he is well able to pay, the banker will perhaps lend him the money if he can get another responsible man to cosign the note.  They give what they call "three days grace" after the sixty or ninety days have expired; but they will make the borrower pay interest on the money during these three days, and if he does not return both principal and interest at the appointed time, they will sell his possessions.  They will perhaps evict him from his house and take the last piece of furniture he owns.

That is not grace at all, but if fairly illustrates man's idea of it.  Real grace not only frees you from payment of the interest, but of the principal as well.

For many years men tried to find the source of the Nile.  The river of grace has been flowing through this dark earth for six thousand years, and we certainly ought to be more anxious to find that than to discover the source of the Nile.

I remember being in Texas a few years ago, in a place where the country was very dry and parched.  In that dry country there is a beautiful river that springs right out of the ground.  It flows along and on both sides of the river you find life and vegetation.  Grace flows like that river, and you can trace its source right up to the very heart of God.

-- D.L. Moody

One Act, Not Two

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.

(2 John 1:3)

Since sin entered the world, the experience of grace has been different for all of us.  Adam and Eve did not deserve grace, but their lack of desert was not yet accompanied by misery.  Now that sin has entered the world, however, everyone who does not deserve God's goodness is also in a miserable plight.  "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23).

Since sin always brings misery, and misery is always experienced by sinners, therefore all of God's acts of grace are also acts of mercy, and all His acts of mercy are also acts of grace.  It never makes sense to say that sometimes God shows us mercy and sometimes He shows us grace.  Whenever He shows one He is showing the other.  The difference is whether the act of goodness is viewed in relation to our sin or in relation to our misery.

In a courtroom you might look at the same act of acquittal from two angles.  From behind the judge you mihgt see his black robe and huge bench and all the papers with convicting evidence spread out before him.  This would make the acquittal look like an amazing act of grace.  Sin and justice call for conviction, not acquittal.  But if you moved around to the front of the bench and saw the tears in the judge's eyes and noticed the utterly miserable plight of the criminal, this would make the acquittal look like an act of mercy.  The act of goodness is one act, not two.  What changes is the angle from which we view it.

-- John Piper

Are You a Child of the Devil or of God?

In Christ Alone

For His Own Sake

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.

(Isaiah 48:11)

God finds His supreme motive in Himself.  Note how strongly He inists on it: "For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you."  (Isaiah 48:9).  Surely this is a matter for extreme comfort.

If God had saved us because of some trait of natural beauty and attractiveness in us, He might turn from us when it faded through the touch of years.  The woman whose only claim to attention and honor is her face, who has no other qualities to command and retain respect, must dread the inevitable effect of time.  It would be therefore a cause of perpetual unrest to us if God's motive sprang only from pity or complacency.

But God's motive is His character, His name and nature, the maintenance of His honor.  In the face of a universe of intelligent beings, He is too deeply involved in our salvation to show signs of variableness or the shadow of turning.  He did not begin to save us because we were worthy or lovely, but because He chose to; and therefore He will not give up because we prove ourselves weak and worthless and difficult to save.

There are times when we all can do nothing but cast ourselves on His infinite grace and say, "Save me for Your own name's sake." And when we have been overcome by sin, it is good to go to Him and say, "Father, I have nothing to plead but Your own nature and name declared in Jesus; for His sake, because you have made a promise to Him and to me in Him; for Your glory's sake defer Your anger, forgive my sins; save me for Your own name's sake."

-- F.B. Meyer

An Angel Encampment

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7)

We cannot see the angels, but it is enough that they can see us. There is one great Angel of the Covenant, whom not having seen we love, and His eye is always upon us both day and night. He has a host of holy ones under Him, and He causes these to be watchers over His saints and to guard them from all ill. If devils do us mischief, shining ones do us service.

Note that the Lord of angels does not come and go and pay us transient visits, but He and His armies encamp around us. The headquarters of the army of salvation is where those live whose trust is in the living God. This camp surrounds the faithful so that they cannot be attacked from any quarter unless the adversary can break through the entrenchments of the Lord of angels. We have a fixed protection, a permanent watch. Sentineled by the messengers of God, we shall not be surprised by sudden assaults nor swallowed up by overwhelming forces. Deliverance is promised in this verse -- deliverance by the great Captain of our salvation, and that deliverance we shall obtain again and again until our warfare is accomplished and we exchange the field of conflict for the home of rest.

----C.H. Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook 

Clothed With Power