letter of Timothy. And tonight is going to be an introduction to the letter of 2 Timothy. So that's what we're going to do tonight, just so you know where we're going. This is going to be a treat to go through this letter with all of you to see what God has placed in this letter for our edification. and the glory of Christ. So the letter of 2 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to Timothy. He was writing to encourage Timothy to be a faithful servant of God amid opposition and to not shy away from the consequences a faithful life to Christ would bring. Paul was writing from prison and he knew that he was going to be executed. The traditional date of Paul's death and his martyrdom was around 67 AD. So this letter was written around when Paul's life and ministry was coming to an end. And Paul had discipled Timothy and wanted him to continue preaching the gospel, witnessing to the lost, and shepherding God's people. Paul also wanted Timothy to defend the gospel and God's people against false teaching. So Timothy, because of his youth, the heavy persecution by Nero, and his leader being in prison, who was about to die, started to draw back and become intimidated to the point of contemplating leaving the faith. So Paul writes in 2 Timothy chapter one, verse seven through eight, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. So Paul encourages Timothy to be faithful And faithfulness is the mark of a true servant of God. And Paul was an example of Timothy concerning faithfulness. And Paul says this in 2 Timothy chapter three verses 10 through 11. He says, you, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and sufferings that happened to me at Iconium and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured. Yet from all of them the Lord rescued me. So Paul also encourages Timothy that faithfulness is costly, and that he must embrace the cost for being faithful to God. Paul says to Timothy that the reward which is God himself is worth it all. And that's what 2 Timothy is going to encourage us. So Timothy is to keep the glorious end in mind. when he will stand before the Lord and is crowned by Christ for his suffering and service to the glory of Christ, all by the grace and power of God. Second Timothy chapter one verse 12 says, but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. So the whole point If you wanna walk away with anything tonight, the whole point of the letter of 2 Timothy is this. What do you do when you lose? Let me say that again. The whole point of 2 Timothy, the letter that Paul wrote to Timothy, is what do you do when you lose? So with that said, let's stand and we're gonna pray and read the word of God. Let's pray. Father, we come to your throne of grace with reverence, love, thanksgiving towards you, for you are a good God and there is none like you. We also give thanks to you for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the image of you, the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. It is by Christ that all things were created in heaven and on earth. Those things visible and invisible, whether they are thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Christ and for Christ. Our Lord is before all things, and in him all things hold together, and Christ is the head of the body, the church. And it is in Jesus Christ that the fullness of you, Father, dwells, and it is through Jesus Christ that reconciliation came by the blood of his cross. And for this, we thank you. And because of Christ, we who were once hostile in our minds and doing evil deeds now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is our pledge of the inheritance to come, our joy in spending eternity with Jesus Christ. And we pray that you would keep us faithful, steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel by which we were saved. Father, we pray for salvation for those who do not know you, who have not bowed their knee to you, and to do so before it's too late. And we pray for your blessing on us tonight as we hear your word that our hearts will rejoice in Christ. Please bless CRPC to be a light in our dark world and grant us the privilege to see many souls come to Christ. Bless CRPC to be the, bless Christ for Foreign Presbyterian Church the privilege for the privilege to see those who are saved to grow in their love and knowledge of you, Father, to grow in their love and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to grow in their love and knowledge of the Holy Spirit in all that he has written. And we pray this all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. So our text tonight is 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 8 through 12. And we're going to read 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 to 12. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do." Brothers and sisters, this is the Word of God. Amen. You may be seated. So Paul writes to Timothy, who is in Ephesus overseeing the church there. Yeah, Ephesus was a prominent and wealthy city. Just to give you a little bit of a background, its economy was very strong, and Ephesus had a population of about 100,000 people. Ephesus was also known for the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I mean, this temple was made out of marble. And it was quite a sight to see. The cult in Temple of Artemis was the center of civic and religious life in Ephesus. Artemis was a Greek goddess who brought blessing to the city of Ephesus, as the people believed. And this Greek goddess championed chastity, cared for animals, and helped with childbirth. Emperor worship was a practice as well in Ephesus, and the Temple of Artemis was one of the most famous places for worship in the known world at that time. In Ephesus, Paul started a church, and it is this church that Timothy is now overseeing. And we see this in Acts chapter 19. We wanna go back there tonight. If you wanna turn there in your Bibles, you can. Acts chapter 19, verse one, and then we're gonna read verses eight through 10, and then verses 23 to 28. So why don't we turn there, if you have your Bible, turn to Acts 19. This is gonna be a lengthy read of the scriptures, but I think it's necessary for us to understand the letter of 2 Timothy. We have to understand about how the church was planted and what environment this church was planted in. All right, so I'm going to start Acts chapter 19 verse 1. And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. All right, skip down to verse 8. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. Alright, skip down to verse 23, and then we're gonna read to verse 28. About that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way, for a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said, men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing. and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. And when they heard this, they were enraged and were crying out, greatest Artemis of the Ephesians. And of course that led to a riot and the city was in an uproar and they drug people out to be interrogated. So planning the church in Ephesus was no small task because Ephesus, and you see here in Ephesus that the people were serious about worshiping Artemis and idolatry worship and they wanted to keep their life the way it was. So Paul writes two letters to Timothy while Timothy is in Ephesus. The first letter is to straighten out some of the biggest problems of the church. Let me say that again. The first letter, the first letter of Timothy is to straighten out some of the biggest problems of the church that was happening in the church of Ephesus. Then the second letter was to encourage Timothy to remain faithful even though he may turn out as one of the biggest losers. In order to fully understand the second letter to Timothy, we must understand the issues in the first letter that Paul wrote to Timothy. So we're going to take a jet tour through the letters as an introduction to Second Timothy. So that brings us to our first point. Paul writes First Timothy to address the church's biggest problems. The first and most important issue that was plaguing the church in Ephesus was false teaching and false teachers. There was an attack against sound doctrine and godly teaching. And we see this in First Timothy chapter one, verses three to four. He says, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. which promotes speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. You see this again, First Timothy chapter one, verses five through seven. The aim of our charge is love, that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion designed to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. First Timothy 4.1, Paul says, now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons. So this was not a small problem in the church at Ephesus. He tells Timothy to charge persons not to teach different doctrines. And the word charge is synonymous with command. Paul knew that this day would come. False teachers would arise from within the church to lead people astray. And we see this in Acts chapter 20. Verses 17 to 18, and verses 28 to 30, he says, now from Miletus he's sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not spurring the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. And these false teachers arose from within the church of Ephesus. They were not outsiders. And that's what made them so deadly. They were leaders on the inside teaching false doctrine. First Timothy chapter one verse 18 to 20 says, this charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shitwreck of their faith, among whom are Hamanias and Alexandra, whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. One commentator said these false teachers were primarily but not exclusively Jewish, and Paul regarded their teaching as opposed to Christ's teaching and the apostolic teaching and to the truth. So false teaching in the church is the deadliest of all attacks because it erodes the church from the inside. False doctrine makes the church sick and weak, even unto death if it's left unchallenged. The content of the false doctrine was about myths, genealogies, they were concerned with the law or Jewish orientation and interest in knowledge with a tendency toward arguments, speculation, deceptiveness, immorality, all with the desire to get material gain by means of their teaching. So Paul exhorts Timothy in the first letter to teach sound doctrine. And the word sound in the Greek is where we get our word hygiene. Another word is healthy or health. Sound doctrine, sound theology is healthy for the church. And false doctrine is unhealthy. John Frame said this, the state of teaching is not merely to state the objective truth, but to bring the people to a state of spiritual health. So theology is not merely a means of teaching people how to live, it is life itself. 1 Timothy 4, 6, Paul says, if you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 1 Timothy 4, chapter, 1 Timothy 4, verse 13 and verse 16, Paul says, until I come, Devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. So godly sound doctrine leads to godly sound living. Let me say that again. Godly sound doctrine leads to godly sound living. It is the state of the mind that shapes the life of the believer. With false doctrine running rampant in the church at Ephesus, godly living was being hindered. And we see this in first Timothy, the roles of men and women were perverted in the covenant community. The false teachers encouraged the women to be in leadership over the men. Women were adorning themselves in worldly flashy attire, so much so that it was probably taken away from the glory of God in the hearts of the covenant community in the church. Paul exhorted Timothy to set up leaders in the church whose households are in order. They are to be men who are faithful to their wives, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, and able to teach, not drunkards or violent or angry men. Paul's point is that these false teachers in Ephesus, their houses were out of order and had no business being in leadership. First Timothy 3.5 says, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? And the false teachers were forbidding people to get married and having abstinence from certain foods. Many were being influenced that unbiblical abstinence was the way to godliness. In our modern day, you could characterize this teaching as civility. Many were being, then those who were widows, excuse me, then those who were widows who had families that could take care of them or those widows who were young enough to remarry were taking advantage of the church and getting resources where they should not have been. 1 Timothy 5, chapter five, verses five through seven, Paul says, she who is truly a widow left all alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. And he tells Timothy, command these things as well so that they may be without reproach. So ungodly teaching leads to ungodly living, which results to an ungodly witness to the world about Christ. And that is Satan's goal and aim, is to smear the name of Christ in the eyes of the world. For it is only through Christ that one can be saved. There's no other name under the heavens whereby someone can be saved. So where does Satan's go? Let's smear the name of Christ in the eyes of the world. Let's make the covenant community hypocritical. And it was working. Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 13 to 14, I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the letter of 1 Timothy is a charge to all those in God's household to live in accordance with household rules and to love the father of the house through their adoration of Jesus Christ. Paul called Timothy his true child, which is to say that all others who are outside the apostolic teaching through Timothy are bastard children. Timothy was an ethicist to execute Paul's letter to set God's household straight. Listen, with the expectation that Paul would eventually come later to make sure all was well. However, Paul never made it to Timothy. A fire broke out in Rome and many buildings were destroyed. Many were suspicious of the Emperor Nero because he wanted to build, and the fire was a perfect excuse to do so. So, what did Nero do? He blamed the Christians. Nero blamed the Christians for the fire, and from there, widespread persecution started happening to Christians. And many were captured, tortured, and killed. Some historians say some Christians conceded to the fire because they were tortured so badly. So when Paul wrote 1 Timothy and Titus, it was after his first imprisonment. However, when Paul writes 2 Timothy, he is arrested under this heavy persecution of Nero, and he knew that he was not walking away from this. He's to be executed. So, he writes to Timothy and that is the letter of 2 Timothy, which brings us to our last point tonight. Paul writes 2 Timothy to encourage faithfulness even if it means being the biggest loser. So the false teachers, at this point when Timothy receives the letter of 2 Timothy, the false teachers that Paul rebuked, they're not backing up. They're gaining momentum. They're becoming more popular. They're getting mega churches. Nero's persecution of Christians is spreading like wildfire, and Ephesus itself is still resolved to hold on to the worship of Artemis, and those in the church are listening less and less to sound doctrine. We see this in 2 Timothy chapter three, verse eight through nine. Paul says, just as Janice and Jaberiz opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. Paul is trying to encourage Timothy, I know it looks bad, and I know they're gaining popularity, but they're not gonna get far. He's writing Timothy, he says, don't let their popularity deceive you. Paul writes in 2 Timothy chapter four verses three through four, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into the myths. And that was the myths Paul is referring to is what he rebuked in his first letter. So now the church is starting to, you got people exiting out the church and following these leaders. They don't want to lose their economic stability in Ephesus. They don't want to lose their popularity. And the false teachers are saying some good things, really good things. So Timothy, at this point, was standing against the whole known world. Number one, first the people of Ephesus were against the gospel because they were for the worship of Artemis and we saw in Acts how that turned out. The people thought that Artemis was bringing blessing on them since they had plenty of worldly stuff and the economy was booming, it was good. So this was opposition from the outside, from the world. Second, Timothy had to deal with the false teachers who were bringing worldly and perverted doctrine into the church. And these false teachers wanted power, prestige, and money. And listen, people will pay good money for you to soothe their conscience. Just lie to people. You'll start a megachurch real fast. Tell them they're the greatest. Tell them that they're the center of the universe. And that's what these false teachers were doing. So Timothy had to deal with these false teachers who were rising in popularity. Finally, Timothy was fighting against his own fears. Paul is in prison and he had to overcome his own timidity and step up to proclaim the gospel despite opposition from inside the church and outside the church. He was alone. So looking at the current situation, it is a losing battle. Not only that, Timothy knew that he could end up in prison or even executed if he continued to stand firm on the gospel. Paul, you want me to stand? I might end up like you. So Paul's letter of 2 Timothy is about what you do when you lose. You persevere. You persevere even though you may end up being the biggest loser. You, we persevere even though it may end badly. That's what 2 Timothy is about. And isn't that relevant for today, considering the way our nation is going? Preaching sound doctrine is not very popular these days. So the heart of this letter is our passage for tonight, and it seems to sum up the idea of Paul's encouragement to Timothy to continue forward, even though things do not look well. And so 2 Timothy chapter one, verses eight through 12, I believe is the heart and main thought of the whole letter. Paul says, therefore do not be ashamed, of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. and which now has been manifested through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. Paul says, do not be ashamed of Christ. Do not be ashamed of me and suffer with me for the sake of the gospel. Paul, in that letter to Timothy. calls Timothy to suffer all through the letter. In 2 Timothy 2, verse three, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3, verses 12 to 13, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from being bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You're gonna receive persecution, and they're gonna receive accolades. but they're gonna get worse. 2 Timothy 4, 5, As for you, always be sober-minded, enduring suffering, doing the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. So throughout the letter, Paul tells Timothy why he should continue in the faith and how Timothy is to continue in the faith. 2 Timothy chapter one verse 12 to 14, but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 8 through 10. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. So Paul also encourages Timothy that even though you may be alone, you must stand for the truth. And Timothy was feeling abandoned, wasn't he? He was feeling alone in this fight. And Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, you're in good company. You are with me and we are with Christ. Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter one, verse 15, you are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are for jealous and homogenies. To turn away from Paul is to turn away from the gospel, and to turn away from the gospel is to turn away from Paul. Paul says, you think you're alone? I'm alone. I'm alone. You're in good company, Timothy. Paul says in 2 Timothy 14, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Demas defected, apostatized from the faith. So Paul tells Timothy, you wanna make it through, remember Christ. It is for Christ, that we suffer, and it is like Christ we suffer. If there was anyone who was the biggest loser in the world's eyes, it is Jesus Christ, and we are following in his footsteps. Matthew chapter 10, verse 39, Jesus Christ, whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Paul knew that and was telling Timothy that the biggest loser is the biggest winner. If we follow Christ in his humiliation, we will follow him in his glorification. 2 Timothy 4 7-8, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. So Paul, in 2 Timothy, is encouraging Timothy, encouraging us, be the biggest loser. It's okay. So you might say, man, that's great, it's touching, but what use is this for me in my life, right? So this letter, a lot of people, they call this the pastoral epistles, but this letter's not just for the pastors, it is for pastors, but it's not just for pastors telling the person in ministry to endure, it is also personal and corporate for the church. This letter tells us how to endure trials and how to avoid temptation. And we're gonna go through this letter verse by verse. And we're gonna learn from the Holy Spirit how to live amid external and internal threats to the church. And surely that is needed in our day. To learn how to walk in a way to make it home to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So what about Timothy, right? What happened to him? It is believed that he remained faithful to the end. In Hebrews 13, chapter 13, verse 23, it reads, you should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Timothy was released from where? From prison. Probably being faithful, preaching the gospel. So, beloved, we're going to examine the letter of 2 Timothy again, verse by verse. I'm gonna not move from this book, and we're gonna follow the steps of Timothy, Paul, and most of all, we're gonna follow the steps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Beloved, this was the introduction to 2 Timothy, and I pray you will walk with us through this letter. Let's pray. Father, thank you for tonight. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the example set before us. Thank you most of all for the example of Jesus Christ our Lord, who by the world is deemed as the biggest loser, a man who was probably out of his mind, a man who didn't see victory as he proclaimed victory when he was alive, but we know that he is not the biggest loser, he is the biggest winner. He raised from the dead on the third day, he's seated at the right hand of God, And Father, I pray that as we walk through the letter of Second Timothy, that we'll be encouraged, that we will rejoice in Christ, and that we will walk in the footsteps of these great examples. And we pray that you would build your church up as you have been and encourage us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.