Introduction

Do you recognize this building? It is the famous Alcatraz Prison.  Do you know what Paul would have said if you would show him this prison?  He would have said, “that’s like a RESORT!”  Compared to where he went to prison, Alcatraz would have seemed like it’s Tlaquepaque.

Modern prisons have fresh air, running water, beds with mattresses, sheets and pillows, a library, correspondence college courses, a chapel, recreation time, basketball courts, workout room, three meals a day, indoor plumbing with toilets and showers and soap.  Many prisons today often have chapel services, computers with internet, and sometimes there are even musical groups that stop by for concerts.

It would have seemed like a vacation at a resort to him… especially if you compare it to the prison that Paul stayed at when he was writing 2 Timothy.  Let me tell you about Paul’s prison cell.

Paul’s Cell

As Paul wrote this letter, he was being held in a Roman dungeon.  The conditions in this cell were absolutely inhumane.  There was no law on the books that required a fast trial.  A prisoner who was controversial, like Paul, would often be given a court date only after they were abandoned and forgotten by their supporters.

The kind of prison that held Paul was likely underground and dug out of solid rock.  The only entrance and exit to the cell was a manhole sized opening in the roof.  I thought it might be helpful to show you a typical Roman prison.  .

Here is the top floor of the ancient Mamertine Prison. Tradition tells us that this building may have been the actual cell where Paul was kept while he was writing 2 Timothy… (but we can’t be absolutely certain). Regardless of whether or not this was the actual place, Paul was put into a prison very similar to this one.   Notice the hole in the floor.  It is covered by grate.  Paul would have been lowered down a hole like this one and held in a stone dungeon below the surface.

An entrance in the ceiling like this one would have been the only way in and out for the prisoners, the guards and any visitors.  When people came to visit Paul, they would have needed to be lowered down a hole and then they were totally dependent on the guards to pull them back out again.  Visiting Christians in prison could be a life-threatening endeavor.

Both Paul and Peter would have been held in a cell like this one before they were executed.  Often prisoners were beaten severely before they were thrown down into the prison pit and then they were chained to the wall in painful shackles.

Clothes that were torn and stained with blood after their beatings were not replaced.  The prison was often very cold.  Inadequate clothing and the damp, dark, cold conditions likely led Paul to ask for his cloak at the end of chapter 4 (vs13).

Wounds from the beatings were left untreated.  The lack of restroom facilities made the smell unbearable and the unsanitary conditions were ideal for infection and disease to spread.  When food was available, it was usually rotten. Often prisoners had to rely on outsiders to bring them food.

Paul’s final imprisonment was in the worst imaginable conditions.  Paul knew that he was simply awaiting execution.  The war-torn apostle is probably well past 60 years of age.  I can’t imagine how slowly the time must have gone by as he sat in that dark, foul-smelling cell, in the cold, without even a chair, chained to the wall with barely any light.  So what was Paul doing during this time?

He may not have had a pulpit to preach in, but he was doing the work of the ministry right there in that dungeon.  Church tradition says that he was actively sharing his faith in that cell.  We don’t know for sure if he was “preaching,” but we know for sure that he was writing.

He was writing his final words to his young apprentice, Timothy.  Whenever someone expresses their last wishes, those requests come with great significance.  Not only are these the final words of a man about to be executed, but these are the words of an Apostle charging his young apprentice, Timothy, to carry on with the work of the ministry.

About Timothy

Paul had probably met Timothy during his first missionary journey when he visited the town of Lystra.  We have an account of that trip in Acts 14.  Many people believe that Timothy was saved as Paul preached the gospel during that first trip and when he returned to Lystra again on his second missionary journey, Luke reports in Acts 16…

“Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ² He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.”

Luke reports that Paul recruited Timothy to be a part of his ministry team during that second  missionary journey.  That began a process where Timothy was being personally mentored by the Apostle Paul.

Timothy was shaped through mentoring

Look at the beginning of today’s text

“1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
² To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul viewed Timothy as his own spiritual child.

• In 1 Timothy 4:17, Paul calls Timothy his “beloved and faithful child in the Lord.”
• When Paul talked to the Philippians, he said that Timothy had “proven worth” and that he had served with him in the gospel ministry “as a son with a father.”

As he opens up this letter, Paul highlights the incredible love of God.  Although Paul’s suffering was intense, he knew that these trials were temporary.  Previously, Paul had written to the Corinthians that “…this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Cor 4:17).  Paul was getting ready for the eternal weight of Glory and he began this final letter by stressing once again the incredible love of God.

Someone might ask, if God loves Paul so much, why is He letting Paul go through such a hard time?  To answer that question, let’s look at situation from the perspective of Paul’s history with the Lord…

Paul is not just throwing words around here.  His time is short so that his words carry with them an added intensity. When Paul highlights the grace, love and peace of God, he is not just writing niceties.  These are attributes of God that he is hanging on to with everything he’s got.  These are three huge theological ideals that Paul was willing to die for.   As Timothy’s mentor, he was reminding Timothy of what he had been taught.

First, God gave grace to the desperate.  It is the essence of the gospel itself.  Without Christ, mankind is in a terrible position.  Our fallen nature and our bondage to sin was condemning us, but God did not turn His back on us although we were condemned.  Paul wrote in Romans 5:8,“…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God reached out in love and sent his very own Son to live among us and then to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross.  It is no small thing to say that God grants us underserved riches at Christ’s expense.  God is a God of incredible, unbelievable grace.

Secondly, God gave mercy to the guilty.  God saw that mankind was in bondage to sin and unable to help himself. God had no obligation to assist us, but in His great love and through His super-abounding grace, God granted us mercy. It was that very mercy that found Saul on the road to Damascus on his way to persecute the church.  (On his way to hunt down and murder Christians in cold blood)  Instead of condemning Saul and sending him to Hell like he deserved, it was God in his mercy that opened the eyes of Saul’s murderous heart to see Jesus who called out to Saul saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  That encounter with Jesus changed everything with Saul. Changing his name to Paul, it was the beginning of his ministry as an Apostle.

Lastly, God granted peace to the hopeless.  He reconciled us to himself through the person and work of his Son Jesus Christ so that we have peace with God.  We just finished studying Romans 5 last December where Paul wrote, “…since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 5:1)  We were enemies of God, but He made a way for us to reconcile our relationship with Him and then He gave us the promise of eternal life.

It is no small thing that Paul served a God who gives grace to the desperate, mercy to the guilty and peace to the hopeless – all through the person of Jesus Christ.  This message was the very hope that Israel had been waiting for. Paul was proclaiming the long-awaited Messiah and he was willing to die so that both he and his hearers might know Jesus.  He says in Philippians 3:8-11 (one of my favorite passages)

“⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul had attained salvation.  He knew the Lord Jesus Christ. He was saved from Hell.  Prison would not make his faith falter because no matter how dire his circumstance, he served a God of grace and mercy and peace that lavished his love on His children.

Paul was not being disloyal to the Jewish cause by proclaiming this message.  Believing in Jesus is the most Jewish thing a Jew can do!  Faith in Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the faith and the hope Jews were holding onto as the chosen people.  When Jews came to know Jesus as their Savior and as their Messiah, they were, in a sense, coming home… all the way home.  That compels Paul to say in verse 3,

“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience,”

The next line is very personal and speaks of the close mentoring relationship that existed between Paul and Timothy.  Paul and Timothy had been through a lot together and there was a deep bond between these two men.  Paul had been investing in Timothy’s discipleship for years and he assures Timothy that during their separation and in the midst of his tremendous afflictions, he is constantly thinking about and praying for Timothy.  He says:

• (verse 3b)  “I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”
• (verse 4)    “I remember your tears.”
• (verse 5)    “I am reminded of your sincere faith”

We don’t know for sure the source of the tears they shed together.  There are a couple of good possibilities:

• 1 Timothy dealt largely with false teachers in the church.  Perhaps they shed tears of frustration as the two battled those false teachers in Timothy’s ministry to the Ephesians.
• Or perhaps they were tears of sorrow when he and Timothy said good-bye… knowing that they may not ever see one another again.

Either way, Timothy’s faith was sincere and even though Paul was in chains, he was not finished with his ministry to Timothy quite yet.  As Paul sat in that cell, he prayed for his young disciple and he longed to see him again.

Verse 4 says, “⁴ As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.”  This is a moving picture of a loving mentor’s attitude toward his disciple.  The relationship between Paul and Timothy is a picture of life-on-life discipleship.  At Canyon we often say that discipleship is a long journey together in the right direction with the same people.  Canyon has a desire to be a church that doesn’t just fill up seats, but that makes disciples.

Mini Application

Disciple-making takes an intentional effort.  We are all called to make disciples and to be disciples.  We are all caretakers of the incredible message of salvation that we call the Gospel. If you have been walking with the Lord for a while, it’s time to invest in the discipleship of younger believers.  Here are a couple of ways that you might be able to do that:

• Be in the Word all the time.  The best place to learn about the Lord is in his written Word.  As you grow in your understanding and your application of the Word, you will also grow in your ministry to others.  Your faithfulness in the Word has an effect on the spiritual development of other people here at our church.
• Share with another person what you know about the Lord.What if you treated the water cooler as your own, personal soapbox? Instead of gossiping at the water cooler, talk about Jesus at the water cooler!  If you have been entrusted with any degree of spiritual knowledge or spiritual maturity, it is time to pass on that knowledge and experience to somebody else who is growing in their faith.
• Encourage another believer to use their gifts. Sometimes we all need other people to help point the way and encourage us to invest our gifts in kingdom work.

Canyon is intentionally a multi-generational church and it is my goal to see the older believers continually investing into the next generation here at our church.  That is exactly the model we see in Timothy’s life.  Not only was Paul his mentor, but Timothy was equipped to be used mightily by the Lord because of the spiritual investments made by his mother and his grandmother.

Timothy was shaped by a godly mother and a godly grandmother

Ladies, when you make a spiritual investment in a child, that child might grow up to be a powerful leader in the church. Verse 5 says, “⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

Timothy did not only have the privilege of a powerful mentor, but he also had the gift of a godly mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois).  2 Timothy 3:15 says that “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Timothy’s mother had taught him the Old Testament scriptures from an early age and that spiritual investment is now paying off.

Mini – Application

Having children in our home and having children in our church carries with it a tremendous responsibility.  Our kids are constantly being bombarded with all the lies and temptation of this fallen world.  The world is investing in our kids all the time.  The world has no problem teaching kids how to live secular lives.  It’s our job to show how to live Christ-Exalting lives!

We have the responsibility to teach children the scriptures. We have the responsibility to show our kids a sincere faith like Timothy’s mother and grandmother showed him.  We cannot overstate the importance of both instructing our kids in the faith as well as living out our faith in front of them.

Finally, and most significantly, God shaped Timothy into a leader through the presence and the gifting of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Timothy was shaped by the Holy Spirit

Look at verse 6-7, “⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Timothy had some struggles.  Judging by the context of first and second Timothy, in the flesh, Timothy tended to be timid, to be weak and he lacked some maturity.  BUT… God delights in using the weak and the ordinary in order to demonstrate His extraordinary power!

Every person who is saved has been given at least one spiritual gift.  Spiritual gifts are meant to be used and to be given away to others.  Paul urges Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God.”  We aren’t given the exact details of Timothy’s gift, but it was probably related to the gifting needed to carry out the ministry work the Timothy was called to do.

God does not call us to a ministry without giving us the gifts we need in order to carry out that ministry.  God always enables people to be able to carry out the tasks He’s assigned them to do.  Not everyone has an Apostle for a mentor, or even a godly mother of grandmother.  BUT… God invests in every believer to give them the tools they need to complete the work He’s called them to accomplish.

Final application

Exercise your spiritual gifts

Spiritual gifting is like fire.  It goes out if it is not continually refueled.  Paul was urging Timothy to keep the fire alive.  In fact, he was telling him to keep it ablaze!  We keep spiritual fires alive by making full use of the spiritual gifts God has given to each one of us.  He calls us to be passionate and unashamed in our service.  Verse 7 says, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

The well-known missionary, Jim Elliot, said a prayer that captures the spirit behind this verse very well.  He said,

“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn for thee.
Consume my life, my God, for it is thine.
I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.”

Are you spending your spiritual gifts in intentional ministry to others?  Sometimes Christian will be under the impression that they have to wait for a job to open up at the church before they will be able to use their spiritual gifts in the ministry.  Paul used his spiritual gifts in ministry right there in a filthy prison cell.  We have to be careful not to think that ministry work is reserved only for professionals in church environments.  In fact, most ministry activity should be done by regular people outside of a church environment!

• If God has given you the gift to proclaim the gospel, then go find someone to tell about Jesus
• If God has given you the gift of hospitality, then invite some people over and show them the love of Christ
• If God had given you the gift of helps, then go help somebody out in the name of Jesus

Gospel ministry can be done for one person or two people just as well as it can be done for one hundred or one thousand, so plant spiritual seeds where God has planted you. You and I need to be fanning our gifts into flame, even if the setting we are given is not the most glamorous one.  Fanning our gift into flames takes work, effort and intentionality

Maintain your spiritual disciplines

Paul told Timothy that the Holy Spirit within him produces self-control.  Again, look at verse 7, “…God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

This verse is an exhortation to be diligent, to be disciplined and to be brave.  Timothy must have struggled with timidity. Perhaps he was shy when it came to difficult confrontations or when it came to evangelism.  Most people can think of an area of ministry that creates in them a feeling of fear and timidity.  That timidity is not from God.

God has called you to do some kind of ministry, whether that is visiting a friend in the hospital or teaching children or making a meal or leading a Bible study, there is no excuse for not diligently carrying out the mission God has placed on your heart.  God has given us the spiritual gifts and the power necessary to complete the ministry he’s called us to do.

Teaching Outline

Timothy was shaped through mentoring – v. 1-5, 2 Cor. 4:17, Romans 5, Philippians 3:8-11

Timothy was shaped by a godly mother and a godly grandmother – v. 5, 2 Tim. 3:15

Timothy was shaped by the Holy Spirit – v.6-7

Application – v. 7

Exercise your spiritual gifts

Maintain your spiritual disciplines

God has given us the spiritual gifts and the power necessary to complete the ministry he’s called us to do.

“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn for thee.
Consume my life, my God, for it is thine.
I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.”

Jim Elliot