Read 2 Timothy 1:6–12
Questions from the Scripture text: How do we know that Paul has given the instruction in 2 Timothy 1:6 before? What is Timothy to stir up? Where is this gift found? Through what did this gift come? What might get in the way of stirring up this gift (2 Timothy 1:7)? But what three aspects of the Spirit’s work in believers and ministers counter this fear? What, more specifically, must Timothy resist in order to stir up the gift (2 Timothy 1:8)? Of what two things is he tempted to be ashamed? To Whom does each belong? What does Paul invite Timothy to share with him in? For what do they suffer? How are they enabled to suffer? What two things has God done for them in 2 Timothy 1:9? What sort of calling was this? Not according to what? According to what two things of God’s instead? Purpose and grace given In Whom? When? What has revealed this purpose and this grace (2 Timothy 1:10)? What is Jesus Christ called here? What has He abolished? What two things has He brought to light? How does He bring them to light? What three relationships does Paul have to this gospel (2 Timothy 1:11)? For whom? What happens to Paul on account of this calling (2 Timothy 1:12)? Nevertheless, what does not happen to him? Why—what (Whom!) does he know? Of what is he persuaded? To Whom has Paul committed the calling that has been committed to him? Until when?
How should believers approach difficulty in their callings? 2 Timothy 1:6–12 looks forward to the second reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers should not shrink from difficulty but embrace it as a privilege that comes with our callings—a privilege planned and obtained for us from eternity in Christ, and now applied to us by His Spirit Who shall surely carry us all the way through.
Timothy has been given the gift of a calling to preach and teach (2 Timothy 1:11) gospel life and immortality (2 Timothy 1:10) in Jesus Christ our Savior. This calling to preach the gospel includes suffering for that gospel (2 Timothy 1:8). But ministers must not shrink from this suffering or be ashamed of the gospel; rather, they must stir up this gift (2 Timothy 1:6).
How? The Spirit Whom God has given them for the ministry. The Spirit sustains them by the power of God Himself, motivates them by the love of God Himself, and stabilizes them by a sound mind to perceive the truth about God Himself (2 Timothy 1:7).
And what has Jesus’s appearing revealed about God? That from before time began, God purposed to save and call men not by what they would do but by the grace of what He would do (2 Timothy 1:9). He Who has called men unto this from before the first day will surely keep them until the last day; so, let them commit unto Him their hope for fulfilling their calling. This is how Paul fulfilled his calling. This is how Timothy was to fulfill his calling. This is how every minister and every Christian are to fulfill their callings. What God purposed in grace, God will accomplish in grace.
What are your various callings before God, in your home, and in your congregation? How do they relate to the good news about Christ abolishing death and bringing life and immortality? What sufferings come with these callings? How will you persist in the calling and not fall into being ashamed of the gospel?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for purposing to save us by Your grace and call us by Your grace. Forgive us for how we shrink from suffering. Too often, we fulfill our callings half-heartedly or not at all. Forgive us and sustain us by Your Spirit, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
ARP23B “The Lord’s My Shepherd” or TPH517 “I Know Whom I Have Believed”
No comments:
Post a Comment