A Spirit of Courage
2 Timothy 1:1-7
What would you say to someone you loved about your legacy and how to carry on that legacy as you lay on your deathbed? Paul’s second letter to his spiritual son, mentee, and protégé Timothy is a window into how Paul answers this question. As Paul awaits his sentence hearing while imprisoned in Rome for the second time, he encourages and exhorts the young pastor in Ephesus to not only remember his mentor’s legacy but to join him in suffering for the sake of the gospel (1:8, 2:3, 3; 12), to carry the mantle of the ministry of the Word (1:13, 2:15, 4:1), and to correct false teaching and opposition to the faith with gentleness (2:25) as the fulfillment of the ministry to which Timothy has been gifted and called (1:6, 4:5).
As we begin a new sermon series and look at the opening verses of 2 Timothy, we see the secure hope of the gospel grounded in God’s eternal counsel and will. This eternal hope springs Christians, not into a fiery frenzy of uncontrolled emotions, but into a sober, gracious, merciful, disciplined life of warmth and courage as a witness to the Kingdom of God in a fearful and insecure world. Like a stranger wandering the cold wilderness at night, Paul exhorts Timothy to remember the faith of his mother and grandmother and the gift of pastoral ministry he has been given by the Spirit and to “fan into flame” his gift and calling so that others will see and feel the warmth and security of Christ and his gospel in a fear-driven age. Paul exhorts all Christians to the non-anxious and courageous spirit of Christ and to radiate the warmth of his gospel to a fear-driven age.