Never be Ashamed! - 2 Timothy 1:5-10

Never be Ashamed! - 2 Timothy 1:5-10
By Pastor Lee Hemen
July 17, 2011 AM

C. H. Spurgeon a 19th century Baptist preacher wrote about what it meant to be a Christian. He related that “we share heaven’s honors... for we are already sons of God, already princes of the blood imperial; already we wear the spotless robe of Jesus’ righteousness; already we have angels for our servitors, saints for our companions, Christ for our Brother, God for our Father, and a crown of immortality for our reward!” Wow, what an assessment concerning the Christian! You would think that anyone who truly understood what Spurgeon wrote would want to tell others about it. Yet, why then do so many believers never actually share their faith with another person? I believe that perhaps it is because Christians may be ashamed to out of personal fear.

Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...” (Romans 1:16 NIV) You may declare, “Well that was Paul, you know, an Apostle!” However, Paul was no different from any other Christian! Paul realized that people struggled with sharing Christ. He also knew they should not be afraid to do so. Christians do not have to be ashamed of whom we have believed. The world needs the good news of Jesus! We should never be ashamed. Let’s find out how...

READ: 2 Timothy 1:5-10


Thomas A. Kempis, a late medieval Catholic monk and author of “The Imitation of Christ”, encouraged his readers by telling them that, "Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You are what you are and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God’s sight. If you consider well what you are within, you will not care what men say about you. They look to appearances but God looks to the heart. They consider the deed but God weighs the motive.” Kempis was not writing about simply having good intentions. The road to hell is paved with those; rather he wanted folks to concentrate on what they know. This helps Christians to remember that we do not need to be ashamed of our testimony in Christ. Therefore…

I. We need to remember the heartfelt faith that lives in us! (v. 5)

1. Kempis would remind us that, “The glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience!”
1) Paul told timothy, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith.” Paul was writing about Timothy's sincere unfeigned faith that lived and dwelt in his mother and grandmother and now dwelt in him! It was not only “in-house” from his foremothers, so-to-speak, but Paul also was encouraging Timothy to tell others about the faith that lived in him as well! Someone once quipped that, “A living faith is a lived in faith!” Was it true for Timothy is it true for your faith? Timothy needed to remember that when he believed in Jesus, Jesus came to live in him! Paul reminded him of this fact: Believers have Christ living, dwelling, and active in them! Paul would write, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11 NIV) Jesus gives us both eternal spiritual and physical life! Paul would also say, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV) This is a tremendous encouragement for the believer knowing that the life we now live is to be lived for Jesus! That’s genuine faith! Therefore, if Christ lives in us we can then tell others about Jesus because of our genuine faith! Paul said, “I have become its [meaning the gospel’s] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him... so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ!” (Colossians 1:25-28 NIV) As Christians, we need to remember the heartfelt faith that lives in us!

EXAMPLE: When a popular local gardener was asked why people liked his radio show so much he replied, “I guess it’s because I like to talk about what I know. And people like that.” That is true for the believer as well. We should talk about what we know -- Jesus Christ! Yet many of us do not. The reason may be obvious -- we could be ashamed of our faith. Like Timothy, we need to remember the genuine faith that lives in each of us when we placed our faith and trust in Christ!

Charles Spurgeon in talking about Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, stated that, “As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. I will not believe that if you have tasted of the honey of the gospel that you can eat it all yourself! True grace puts an end to all spiritual monopoly.” However, some believers hold onto their faith as if they were Ebenezer Scrooge hoarding gold coins! We monopolize it for ourselves alone. Christians have become spiritual gluttons. Shame on us! However, we do not need to be embarrassed. Instead, we need to soften our hearts anew to the plight of a spiritually lost and dying world. Therefore…

II. We need to stir up the gift God has entrusted to us! (v. 6)

1. Cold faith can be like a dwindling fire -- it may need a good stirring to get it going again!
1) Paul told Timothy, “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” Timothy just needed to “fan into flame,” re-enkindle or stir it up again the gift of God in his life! The one gift every believer receives is the ability to tell others about Christ. Paul would later write his friend, “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord.” (2 Timothy 1:8 NIV), yet Timothy evidently had become ashamed. Paul did not understand Timothy’s personal embarrassment concerning the gospel. Later, Paul would bluntly write him, “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day!” (2 Timothy 1:12 NIV) If Paul could willingly face suffering for his readiness to share the good news, then certainly Timothy should as well! Timothy's Spiritual gift was probably proclaiming the word yet he had forgotten how his gift had been entrusted to him by his fellow Christians. After all, he was a pastor! They had publicly acknowledged Timothy's gift by “the laying on of hands.” It was a reminder of Timothy's being set aside for the preaching ministry! The Bible makes it clear however, that God has given every Christians the ministry of telling others the good news! Jesus charged his disciples by telling them “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV) All four gospels and the book of Acts give us the same command. We should never be ashamed of the good news. We can stir up the gift God has entrusted to us!

EXAMPLE: Paul wanted to fan into flames Timothy's love of telling others about Christ! I remember reading a story of a little girl who had a birthday party her grandmother was too sick to come downstairs to the festivities and was resting upstairs. The grandmother had asked the little girl to remember everything about her party so she could share it with her later. However, when she would unwrap a present, the girl would immediately run upstairs show it to her grandmother and then run back downstairs! When she was asked why she was doing all that running, she replied, “I didn’t want grandma to miss one thing and I wanted to share it with her right away!” Maybe we need to fan into flames that kind of excitement for telling others about Jesus! We can stir up the gift of God that is in each of us!

It is exciting to see others respond to Christ. Paul told his readers “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us!” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 NIV) Paul loved to share Jesus. Some believe Timothy had become intimidated about witnessing because of his youth. Yet Paul would have none of it. He wanted his friend not to be ashamed to share Christ. We do not need to be ashamed either because…

III. We can remind ourselves of the Holy Spirit that lives in us! (v. 7)

1. To the extent we learn to fear God, we will lose our fear of telling others about Christ!
1) Notice that Paul bluntly tells Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV) It was not some wimpy cowardly spirit of fear but one of forceful strength, sacrificial love, and self-control! The more we focus on Christ, the more empowered our lives become! Paul would remind his readers, “You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:15-16 NIV) It can be easy to forget the power we have living in us! Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be the parakletos - one like himself living in each person that believed in him! (John 14:26; 15:26-27) In fact, later, the Apostle John got so enthused when he talked about this that he wrote, “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit… If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God!” (1 John 4:13-15 NIV) Paul taught that anyone “having believed” was “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13 NIV) I believe there would be far less shame and fear of sharing the gospel if we just remembered the power we already enjoy! Interestingly, Proverbs reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.” (Proverbs 14:27 NIV) Jesus would say, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28 NIV) We need not fear sharing the gospel; we can remind ourselves of the Holy Spirit that lives in us!

EXAMPLE: Do your legs shake and does your mouth dry up at the thought of talking to a nonbeliever about Christ? If so, you are not alone. We fear what others may think of us or how they might respond to us. However, if we truly believe that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart,” (Hebrews 4:12 NIV) then we will share it without any hesitant fear. To the extent we learn to trust God, rely on his Word, and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can overcome our fear of telling people about Christ. As one young woman shared with me, “I simply can’t help myself. God’s love just kind of boils up and overflows within me and I have to just blurt it out and tell someone!” That’s the power of the Holy Spirit within every believer!

Conclusion:

Paul wanted to encourage Timothy to witness. Like many of us, Timothy had gotten scared to share his faith. Paul wanted to remind Timothy of what Jesus taught: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27 NIV) We all can share our faith by remembering the heartfelt faith that lives in us! We can stir up the gift God has entrusted to us! Finally, we can remind ourselves of the Holy Spirit that lives in us!
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Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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