Let’s take our Bibles and turn to 2 Timothy 1. We’re going to be looking at verses 6–14 today. The message today is entitled “Fan into Flame.”

God wants us to fan into flame our God-given spiritual gifts. God wants us to fan into flame our allegiance to Christ Jesus. And God wants us to fan into flame our devotion to sound teaching. Everyone with me? I just gave you the three main points for my sermon. But if you missed it, don’t worry. I’ll come back to them later. 

The image I want to plant in your brain is the image of a campfire that has been roaring for a few hours. But now it’s starting to die down. The flames are diminished, but the embers are still hot. How do you get that fire roaring again? It’s cold outside. You’ve got to get that fire going again! What do you do? You fan it. You blow on it. You throw a few fresh logs on the fire and add an accelerant if you’re brave enough to do that! 

My hope for us today is that God would kindle afresh a passion inside of us for his gospel and a passion for his Word. My hope is to reignite a raging inferno of vigor and fervor for God inside this church. That’s my desire for these next few moments together. 

And I don’t want this to be just a “rah-rah” pep-rally kind of thing where we get all emotionally zealous for a day or two and then we fizzle out on Tuesday morning. I’m not praying for an adrenaline rush. I’m praying for a perpetual zeal for God that perseveres all the way to finish line of life. That’s what I’m praying for myself. And that’s what I’m praying for our church. 

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Let’s start here. Look at verse 6. Paul tells Timothy,

6 For this reason 

For what reason? Well for the reason that Paul gave in verse 4, namely that Timothy has a sincere faith. It’s a faith that was passed down from mama Eunice and grandmama Lois. And it’s a sincere faith that came from Paul himself who, as Timothy’s spiritual father, is part of his spiritual heritage.

Paul says, 

6 For this reason I remind you

Let’s notice Paul’s use of language here. In verse 3 he said, “I remember you constantly in my prayers.” In verse 4 he said, “As I remember your tears.” In verse 5 he said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith.” Paul had all kinds of remembrances in the introduction. But now Paul says, “Let me remember you something, Timothy.” 

6 For this reason I remind you

Do you see that? Paul’s very clever with language in his letters. And by the way, the concept of “reminding” has the idea that Paul’s said this before. This is not new material. Paul’s been encouraging Timothy to do this for years. 

Do what? Well, let’s see.   

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame [“to kindle afresh” (NASB)… “to stir up” (KJV)…] the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 

In other words, “Fire it up, Timothy! Fire up that gift! Don’t let that blaze be extinguished inside of you.” 

Here’s the first point of our message today. Write this down:

1. Fire up your God-given spiritual gift (1:6–7)

Now that clarifying hyphenated adjective “God-given” is very important here. Because you need to know that we don’t go to the buffet line and pick out our spiritual gift. God doesn’t auction them off to us when we get saved. It doesn’t work that way. Spiritual gifts are chosen for us and given to us by God.

Let’s keep reading in verse 6.

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.

So just to clarify, God gave us his Spirit. And God gave us the accompanying gifts that go with that Spirit. We don’t choose them ourselves. And Timothy didn’t choose his gift. In fact, I get the impression that maybe Timothy would have picked another gift if he could have. Timothy was a preacher. He was called to lead and instruct the church of God, and it was a hard task. It is still a hard task. I understand where Timothy is coming from. I wish I could have picked out my spiritual gifts. 

As I’ve told you before I’ve always fantasized about being a worship leader. Honestly, there are times when I fantasize about having the gift of hospitality or the gift of service. I would love to come in here on Sunday morning and make coffee, pass out bulletins, and greet people with a smile as they come into the building. Then sit down and listen to another person preach. Then I could give the preacher some helpful critiques afterwards. That would be awesome! 

But I know deep down inside of my soul that God has called me, like Timothy, to preach the Word. And if I don’t do it, there is another kind of fire that rages inside of me, and I feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust. 

Now do I get discouraged sometimes with the use of my gift? Yes. Do I want to jump in a car sometimes on Sunday morning and take off somewhere? Yes. Do I need to sometimes fan into flame the gift that God has given me? Absolutely! I’ve got to stir it up. I’ve got to fire up that spiritual gift that God has given me. Paul Tells Timothy elsewhere, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker… rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15). That’s on me too.

And if I were in your shoes right now, here’s what I would expect from my Timothy, the pastor of this church. I would expect him to use his gift. I would expect him to study hard and “rightly [handle] the word of truth.” I would expect him to “fan into flame” his gift and grow that gift as a herald, as a preacher/teacher in the church. That is a good and right expectation. And so I say to you, “Bring that expectation on. I already have that expectation of myself and the elders likewise have that of me.” 

But here’s the other side of that. The same intensity that I bring to my spiritual gift of teaching and leading, you in the congregation need to bring to your spiritual gift. You might say, “I’m not a full-time pastor, Tony. I can’t devote the same time to my gift that you devote to yours.” I understand that. I didn’t say “time.” I said “intensity.” The same intensity that I bring to my spiritual gift of teaching and leading, others in our congregation need to bring to their spiritual gifts. 

If you have the spiritual gift of service. Fire that up! If you have the gift of encouragement, you fire that up. If you have the gift of hospitality, fire that up! Invite some people over to your house and “hospitalize” them. That’s probably the wrong word for what I’m describing. Be hospitable to them, right? 

If you have the gift of teaching, fire it up. If you have the gift of helps or giving or mercy or evangelism, set that gift ablaze inside of you. If you have the gift of leadership, elders especially, douse that gift with lighter fluid and strike a match. (Does that speak to the pyromaniac inside of you?) Fire it up! Elders, you lead with the same verve and vigor that you expect the preaching pastor to bring to his task. 

Now I’m about to say something that is hopelessly idealistic, so I hope you’ll forgive me this. Are you ready? A church should never, ever have to make requests for volunteers in the church. Does that sound hopelessly idealistic? The onus is on you, church, to utilize your gifts for the benefit of the church and beat down doors until you find a place to use those gifts in the church. The onus is on you to fire up your own gift. 

Now here’s why I say that. We will still make volunteer requests, by the way, but I just want to challenge you for a second. If I call you up and say we need someone to teach in children’s ministry and you seem like you could serve in that capacity, and you say “ho-hum… I guess I can do it.” And I say “No, no you can do it! I know you can do it! Use your gift. Bless our kids.” Who’s firing who up in that scenario? 

Don’t we do our children a disservice when we give them “fireless” volunteers to teach and lead them? And I’m not saying you need to go into children’s ministry and freak them out with your intensity. “Mommy, my teacher scared me today.” Don’t do that! But you need to fire up that gift inside of you, and then get to work using it for the edification of the church. Same with the gift of hospitality. Same with the gift of service. Same with the gift of evangelism and the gift of mercy.

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Write this down as a second thing to fire up in your life. Fire up your spiritual gift. But also, 

2. Fire up your allegiance to Christ (1:8–12)

The reason Paul is concerned about Timothy, the reason I believe he wrote this letter, is because Timothy is discouraged. And that happens in ministry. And that’s why Paul writes in verse 7:

7 for God gave us a spirit 

I think that should be capital-S “Spirit” by the way. He’s referencing the Spirit that indwells us at salvation. And that Holy Spirit brings with him spiritual gifts. 

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear [i.e. not of cowardice] but of power and love and self-control.

My guess is that Timothy was discouraged. Probably he’s getting attacked as a leader in the church. Probably he’s getting challenged by false teachers. Probably he’s getting ostracized and persecuted by those in the city of Ephesus who think he’s crazy for believing in a crucified God of the universe. 

That’s understandable, because Timothy is in the city of Ephesus where people ran around screaming, “GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS.” This is the city where Paul suffered and built a church in pagan, hostile lands, and he left young Timothy to pastor it. 

And remember now, Timothy didn’t grow up with a God-fearing father. He’s a mama’s boy. And he’s not like his spiritual mentor, Paul. He’s less credentialed. He’s probably more apprehensive than Paul. And he doesn’t have the same pedigree as Paul, the great apostle who was raised as a well-educated, God-fearing Jew. 

And that’s why Paul says in this letter, “You do have a great pedigree, Timothy. It was passed down by Lois and Eunice. You’re my ‘spiritual son.’ My heritage is your heritage.” And besides all that Paul reminds him where the real power ultimately comes from anyway. “God has not given us a [S]pirit of fear but of power.” Paul is saying to Timothy, “the same Spirit of power that dwells in me, dwells in you!”

Now look at verse 8.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, 

Whose prisoner? Paul’s in prison in Rome, but he says I’m a prisoner of the Lord. That’s interesting. Paul’s not there because the Romans want him there. Paul’s there because God put him there. 

And being in prison is a shameful thing. It’s shameful even in our day to say, “Yeah, my dad’s in prison. He’s serving a ten-year sentence over in Huntsville.” Even in a case like Paul’s where he is wrongfully imprisoned, it would be shameful. But Paul says, “Don’t you be ashamed of that! And don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” 

Why would Timothy be ashamed of the testimony about Christ? Well, think from a first century perspective. Christ was crucified. To be crucified was a great dishonor in Roman culture. That was the worst form of punishment that could be administered in that society. In polite Roman society, you wouldn’t even mention the word “crucifixion” or a relative that had been “crucified” because it was that shameful. Paul says, “Don’t you be ashamed of him, Timothy. Don’t you be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me either!”

Likewise I would tell you, church, in this world that is increasingly hostile to Christianity and our Savior, “Don’t you be ashamed of him either! Don’t back down, when the world tries to humiliate you because of your faith.” Your allegiance to Christ needs to grow in a period of suffering.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, 

but [instead] share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 

  Church, if you have to lose a promotion because of your commitment to Christ, so be it. If you have to lose a few friendships because of your commitment to Christ, so be it. If you have to lose respectability in front of your coworkers or your family or your classmates because of your commitment to Christ, so be it!

“Why, Pastor Tony? Why should we be so committed to Christ?” “Why should we be willing to suffer for Christ?” Well Paul answers that in verse 9.

share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 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, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 

Hallelujah, that’s an amazing passage! Do you feel an allegiance to Christ rising up inside of you as you read that? That right there, verses 9–10 is a magnificent doxological statement! 

And Paul, who loves run-on sentences, just keeps on going. Look at verse 11.

11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, 

“I’m in jail, Timothy, for preaching Christ. I’m going to be executed soon, but I’m not ashamed.” “So, Timothy, you don’t be ashamed either.” 

for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he [that’s Christ] is able to guard until that Day [that’s the final Day of judgment] what has been entrusted to me [that’s Paul’s faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ]. 

Okay, there’s a lot going on in these verses. If you’re like me, it would be easy to get lost in any number of details written there. So let me just reiterate the main thought of verses 8–12. The main thought is “Don’t be ashamed.” That’s how Paul starts in verse 8 when he says:

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner

And that’s how he ends it in verse 12.

But I am not ashamed, [because] I know whom I have believed, 

So “Don’t be ashamed, Timothy!” Or this is how I’ve worded it, “Fire up, Timothy, your allegiance to Christ.” Now if that’s the main thought of this paragraph, then how do we put together all these constituent parts? 

Well here’s how I’ll do it. I want to list out for you five things that can quench your spiritual fervor for Christ. And my refrain through these five things is, “Don’t let that happen. Don’t let these things put the fire out.” 

Five things, church. Write these down in your notes as a, b, c, d, and e:

a) Don’t let cowardice quench your passion for Christ

Listen, God has not given you a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of courageousness. Do you understand what I’m saying? That little voice that says, “Don’t say anything about Jesus… don’t rock the boat… don’t jeopardize anything… don’t be one of those Christ-loving fanatics.” That is not the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking inside of you. 

And for the record, courageousness in the Christian life doesn’t mean obnoxiousness. We can be courageous without being obnoxious. Courageousness for Christ means taking a bold, uncompromising stand for Christ. It’s a person that stays committed to the Lord, regardless of what people say, regardless of what the government does, regardless of what the media thinks, or what your family thinks, or what your co-workers think, or even what your kids think. And you say boldly, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I will die on this hill if I have to.” 

I get the sense in our day that Satan and the world are conspiring to bully Christians into silence. I’ll tell you right now church, “I will not be silent.” 

I think cowardice can quench our passion for Christ. I think cowardice likewise can hinder our service to Christ in the church. I think some people don’t serve and don’t use their gifts because they think, “Well shucks what if people don’t like me?” “What if it’s hard?” “What if it’s time-consuming?” “What if… What if… What if…”

Look I’ll tell you right now, “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be time-consuming, not excessively so, but it will require time. And you are probably going to have to do some things from time to time that are stretching and uncomfortable and require growth and development. Don’t let cowardice… actually let me change that word… don’t let fear quench your passion for Christ or your passion for serving Christ in the local church.   

b) Don’t let hardships quench your passion for Christ 

There are several references to suffering in these verses. Paul says, “share in suffering for the gospel, [Timothy]” (1:8). Paul says, “I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do” (1:10–11). 

Let me tell you something, church. Here’s a little pastoral confession for you. There have been dozens of times in my ministry, where the difficulties of pastoral ministry have tempted me to quit serving Christ. Sometimes those difficulties have been self-inflicted. More often than not, though, they haven’t been. 

And I foolishly thought as a young pastor that if I just did my job, loved the Lord, and preached the gospel everything would be hunky-dory. And I would never have to endure hardships. I knew better than that from the Scriptures, but somehow that false thinking crept into my subconscious. 

But listen, nobody ever promised us that serving Christ would be easy. Nobody ever said that everything will go swimmingly if you love and follow Christ. In fact, when you choose to follow Christ, you actually put a target on your back and say, “Come get me, Satan. I’m going to stand for Christ.”

But do you know what? Christ is worth it. He’s worthy. And he will give you the strength to press on. So “Don’t let hardships quench your passion for Christ.”

c) Don’t let self-reliance quench your passion for Christ

There’s this great statement at the end of verse 8. Don’t miss this. I’ll read it for you again.

8 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

Everyone see that? This is not a “muster it up in the flesh” kind of thing. Paul says that God has given you a “Spirit” of power. That Spirit has been given. We access it. We harness the power given to us. We don’t generate it ourselves.

So let me say it this way—if your power to serve Christ is a dinghy, God’s power is an aircraft carrier. If your vitality in serving Christ is a double-A battery, God’s vitality is a nuclear power plant. If your personal potency in serving Christ is a bicycle, God’s potency is an armored assault tank. 

Those little analogies don’t even begin to illustrate how vast God’s power is in comparison to ours. I’m just trying to guard against the possibility of you serving Christ in your own power. This is a God-given power. It’s not self-reliance; it’s a deeper reliance upon the God of the Universe. So don’t let self-reliance quench your passion for Christ.

d) Don’t let forgetfulness quench your passion for Christ

Paul says in verse 9,

9[God] saved us

Let’s just say Timothy was starting to question his calling and whether or not it’s all worth it to preach and suffer for Christ. And he says to Paul, “Why should I fan into flame my gift?” “Why should I put up with these burdensome leadership tasks?” Maybe some of you are asking that same question right now. Why should I serve Christ or continue serving Christ?

Because, Paul says very simply, “he saved us.” How easy it is at times for us to fixate on our own little precarious predicaments and forget what Christ has done for us! 

Paul says…

9[God] 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 [Literally “before times eternal”], 

In other words, God chose you before the foundation of the world. It wasn’t because you were a good boy or girl. It wasn’t because of your works. It was because God does what God wants to do. How does that fit together with human responsibility? I can’t say for sure. People have been trying to sort that out for centuries. But no person should be patting themselves on the back for being smart enough to choose Jesus. Our salvation is a result of God’s grace. God chose us before the ages began.

And now in verse 10, Paul says that grace …  

10 … has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death 

In other words, he “rendered death inoperative!”

and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

Hallelujah! That is an awesome verse right there! You want to live forever, church? You want to conquer death? You want to experience everlasting life and immortality and the ecstasies of life in God’s presence for the next ten billion years and more? You can! It’s called believing the gospel. It’s simply a matter of repenting of your sins and believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Do that right now, if you haven’t done that already.

You might say, “How do I know if I’m one of the called? How do I know if I was chosen before the ages began?” Don’t worry about that. You don’t know that. I don’t know that. Only God knows that and he tells men everywhere to repent and believe for the gift of eternal life. We’re on a “need-to-know” basis and that’s all you need to know. Repent and believe for the gift of eternal life.

Write this down under letter e.

e) Don’t let shortsightedness quench your passion for Christ

Now that might sound very similar to forgetfulness, but whereas I meant to emphasize the past actions of God with forgetfulness (i.e. his work on the cross; his purpose in election before the foundation of the world), here I want to emphasize the future. In other words, Paul tells Timothy to take the long view in life. Take the eternal view, not the temporal view. Don’t be shortsighted.

Look at verses 11–12 with me again. Paul says,

11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 

He’s talking about the gospel there which he referenced at the end of verse 10... the gospel for which Paul was appointed a “preacher,” a “teacher,” and an “apostle.”

12 which is why I suffer as I do. 

“I was appointed to be a preacher, and I was appointed to suffer. That’s our lot in life, Timothy.” Like the Psalmist said, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:71).

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.

Question: What is that Day? What’s he talking about? The day that he’s referring to is the day of judgment. It’s the day when everyone… not just unbelievers, but everyone … will stand before the throne of Jesus Christ and the Bible says that “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10–11).

And Paul is saying here that “that Day” motivates him. He’s not ashamed, because “that Day” is coming. And to lose sight of that is shortsighted. God’s future salvation is coming!

There’s an old saying that goes like this.

“God has saved us in every sense, 

past, present, and future tense.”

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Finally one more thing. Write this down as #3.

1. Fire up your God-given spiritual gift (1:6–7) 

2. Fire up your allegiance to Christ (1:8–12)

3. Fire up your devotion to sound teaching (1:13–14)

Paul says in verse 13,  

13 Follow the pattern of the sound words 

Some English translations say, “sound words.” Some say, “sound teaching.” I think both of those convey the right idea. Literally Paul says, “healthy words.” The idea is the faithful teaching of the Word. That pattern was exemplified by the Apostle Paul. “I was faithful to the Scriptures, Timothy. You be faithful!”  

13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 

14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Preach the Scriptures; guard the gospel. Preach the Scriptures; guard the gospel. Paul is saying here, “Do that, Timothy! Do that until God calls you home or Jesus comes back, whichever comes first! Devote yourself to sound teaching in the church.”

You might say, “What does a pastor devoting himself to sound teaching, what does that look like?” Well it means that you don’t waste your time in the pulpit reading a bunch of cornball stories from Reader’s Digest. It means you don’t preach a bunch of hokum to your parishioners about how “if you vote for Jesus all your wildest dreams come true.” It means that you don’t tolerate false teaching and you abominate false gospels like the prosperity gospel. It means that you open up God’s Word every week and you read and you teach and you explain and you help your congregation understand what God says to us in his Word. 

That’s it. That’s the primary job… that’s not the only job… but it’s the primary job of the preaching elder in the church. 

You might say, “Pastor Tony, these verses are for you.” “You’re our Timothy. You’re the one that has the primary teaching role in this church.” I agree. And I receive this passage as a wonderful reminder to keep fanning into flame my love for and devotion to the Scriptures. It’s as if God is saying here, “Preach the Scriptures, Tony. And guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” 

But this is for you too, church. How do you put this passage into practice? Well first of all I would say 1) Pray for your preaching pastor. Pray that he would rightly divide the word of truth. Pray that he would feed and nourish the church with faithful teaching of Scripture. Pray that he would fire up his spiritual gift and his devotion to sound teaching. 

But also 2) You fire up your devotion to sound teaching. If you’re not a member at a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church, then go be part of one. If not here, then somewhere. And if you’re a member here at Verse By Verse, fire up your devotion to sound teaching. Bring your Bible here every Sunday. Take notes. Answer the application questions in your bulletin. Don’t be just a hearer of God’s Word; be a doer likewise. 

And also 3) Don’t come to church emaciated and starving every Sunday because you’ve failed to feed yourselves. Feed yourself on “healthy words.” Part of what I do here on Sunday is model the way in which we all can rightly divide God’s Word for our own healthy intake. I don’t have a monopoly on that—rightly dividing God’s Word. You don’t have to wait till Sunday to be fed. Feed yourself.  

So we all have a part in this. We both, pastor and parishioner, are responsible for firing up our devotion to sound teaching. And here, I’ll make a deal with you. I promise that if you will faithfully listen and work hard at hearing God’s Word and devoting yourselves to sound teaching, then I will work hard at studying the Scriptures and preparing a life-giving message for you every Sunday.

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And let’s keep fanning these things into flame: 1) Our God-given spiritual gifts, 2) our allegiance to Christ, and 3) our devotion to sound teaching.