Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the NT book of 2 Timothy. And as you are turning there, I want to quote a passage from one of the first books of the Bible that Paul wrote. 2 Timothy was written sometime around A.D. 67, as we saw last week. It was the thirteenth of Paul’s thirteen letters in the NT. But about fifteen years before that, he wrote his second letter, the letter of 1 Thessalonians. And it was in that book that a younger, less experienced Apostle Paul would write, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). Did Paul really mean that? Is that really possible in all circumstances? 

Well, we see that it is in 2 Timothy 1:1–5. Because Paul, in the very worst of circumstances, is able to start this great letter to Timothy with thanksgivings. 

Paul’s second letter to Timothy is a book of both misgivings and thanksgivings. Paul has some misgivings about some folks who have deserted him. But that’s not where Paul starts this book. Paul starts with thankfulness. He starts by giving a thanksgiving report wrapped up inside of his greeting in verses 1–5. 

This book, as a whole, has a very serious tone to it. Some of that is because Paul knows that he is just months, maybe weeks, maybe even hours away from his execution. And that’s not unusual for Paul. He’s been close to death for years. He’s been in prison multiple times. His life has been threatened by storms and soldiers and Jews and Gentiles alike. He’s had one foot in the coffin for years. But he’s always managed… or should I say… God has always managed to protect him and preserve him, because he wasn’t done with him yet. 

But now in 2 Timothy, it truly is the end of Paul’s life. And even with that sober reality hovering over this book, this is not a sad, glum, or misanthropic book. Paul is not sullen or morose as he writes. In fact, there’s a discernable cheerfulness as he begins this letter. 

Paul says, “I thank God for you, Timothy. I thank God for your faith. I thank God for your faithfulness in the church. I thank God for your mama and your granny.” Paul says here, “I pray for you constantly, Timothy. You are the source of so much joy for me.” 

There’s no “woe is me” here. There’s no “won’t you feel sorry for me, Timothy, I’ve had such a hard life.” There’s none of that.

In fact when I look at these first five verses, the statement that sticks out the most is the statement in verse 3, “I thank God whom I serve…” Really, Paul? Really? Shouldn’t you be angry at God? Shouldn’t you be depressed? He’s not. He says, “I thank God whom I serve…” 

Literally verse three says, “I have grace [χάρις] to God.” The word χάρις is the word for “grace,” but it also conveys the idea of “thankfulness” or “gratefulness” or “goodwill.” Paul has grace-laden thankfulness and goodwill towards the Lord despite his suffering. And in these verses, Paul gives explicit reasons for why he’s so thankful to God. And he’s not faking it or trying to work it up disingenuously. He is genuinely thankful to God, despite his hardships.

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And so, here’s what I want to do today. I want to give you four reasons why we should be thankful to God as well. I’m calling these,

Four things we should thank God for: 

Can we be thankful even during a period of suffering? Can we be joyful even, while suffering? I think so. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive. And I’ve often found that a spirit of thankfulness is the key to joyfulness in a period of suffering. 

So here’s the first thing for us to be thankful to God for. Write this down.

1) The dependable promise of life to come (1:1)

Paul starts this epistle by saying,

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God 

The word “apostle” means “sent one” (Greek: ἀπόστολος). It’s based on the Greek verb ἀποστέλλω which means “to send.” So we need to be clear about “apostles.” This is not a self-authenticating office. God sends apostles. 

And that’s abundantly clear here because Paul was called to be an apostle “by the will of God.” It wasn’t his own will that called him. If it was up to Paul, he would probably still be killing Christians in Damascus or elsewhere. Or he would just expand his tentmaking business into a multinational conglomerate. But that’s not what happened. God stepped in and said, “Nuh-uh! I’ve got plans for you. You’re on my payroll now. And you’re going to be my apostle!” 

And similarly I believe that all offices of the NT church are God-called and God-authenticated. God created the offices of apostles, elders, and deacons, and he fills them with those whom he has called. And when it comes time for us to fill leadership positions in our church, we don’t just come to men and say, “Hey we need to fill the office of elder here at our church. Can you fill that role for us?” If you find yourself at a church like that, run from that church! That’s how you get poorly qualified people into positions of leadership.

One of the things that we should be thankful for as a church is reliable church leaders who are God-sent and therefore a godsend. Thank God for that! And we can and should thank God for the Apostle Paul, even as we recognize that the office of Apostle doesn’t exist today. God established apostleship in the first century for the leading of the early church and the writing of Scripture. Even though that office doesn’t exist today, we can still thank God for the leaders that he’s given both past and present.

And as part of Paul’s office of apostleship, he says at the end of verse one, 

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 

Why is this important? Why does Paul invoke the promise of life to come here? Well, if you remember, 2 Timothy was written from prison. Paul was one of those Christians who was imprisoned and eventually executed by the Emperor Nero. In fact, Christian history tells us that Paul was beheaded, just like John the Baptist after being imprisoned by Nero. So when Paul was writing 2 Timothy from prison, he knew that execution was imminent. He was at death’s door. In fact he was surrounded by death. 

And yet what does he write to Timothy in the first sentence of his letter. He writes about “life.” “According to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.” What kind of “life” is Paul talking about there? Eternal Life! Paul said earlier in his life, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55). So of course he’s emphasizing the promise of life to come at the end of his life.

In fact, if you read commentaries on 2 Timothy, you’ll notice how commentators link the introduction to 1 Timothy with the introduction to 2 Timothy. They’re very similar. But one striking difference is this statement about “the promise of the life that is in Jesus Christ.” 

Question: Why does Paul mention that in 2 Timothy and not 1 Timothy? Why does he say, “according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus?” Answer: Because death is an ever-present reality for Paul when he writes 2 Timothy. At any moment he’s going to have his head severed and removed from his body. 

So does he write a “woe is me” “please feel sorry for me” letter to Timothy? No! Forget that. He writes about his calling as an apostle and the promise of eternal life that has been purchased for him by Jesus Christ. 

Similarly what do we give thanks for no matter what we deal with in this life? What do we celebrate even when we are at death’s door? We thank God for the dependable promise of life to come.

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Write this down as a second thing to thank God for.

2) Loyal disciples who never stop following Christ (1:2)

Paul says, 

2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Paul never had a son, not biologically anyway. And Timothy’s biological father wasn’t a spiritual father. His father was a Greek, and may have died before Timothy became a Christian. Timothy’s spiritual heritage was passed down from his mother and grandmother. We’ll talk more about that later. 

But God graciously provided a spiritual father in Timothy’s life, and it was the Apostle Paul. So much so that Paul would actually call him, “my beloved child.” You’ll notice as we read this, that there’s a lot of tenderness displayed between Paul and Timothy. Some of that is because they have a great relationship. They love each other. Some of that is because Paul has been abandoned by some of the people that he loved dearly. 

In 2 Timothy we’ll read about a man named, “Alexander [a] coppersmith” who Paul says, “did me great harm” (4:14). We’ll also read about a man named Demas whose love for worldliness caused him to desert the Apostle Paul (4:10). We’ll also read about two men named “Hymenaeus and Philetus” whose false teaching began to “spread like gangrene” in the church (2:17). These are men that Paul spent time with. He discipled them, and he possibly baptized them. He poured into these men, and yet now they are intentionally harming Paul. And even worse than that, they are harming the church by teaching false doctrines. 

If you’ve ever experienced personal betrayal like this… if you’ve ever poured your life into someone and did your best to disciple them and bless them and grow them up as followers of Jesus Christ, only to be stabbed in the back later by them later … then you know how painful a thing this must have been for Paul. At the end of this book Paul writes, “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me” (4:16), except for his trusted friend Luke (4:11). 

And in light of these circumstances, that explains why Paul is so tenderly and affectionately speaking of Timothy as his beloved son. Paul’s alone in Rome. He’s lonely. He’s been betrayed by close friends. He’s stuck in some dark, dank dungeon of a prison. And he’s taking stock of his life. And despite many who have deserted him, there is one faithful disciple who is sticking by him through thick and thin. And not only that, but he’s also pressing on through the difficulties of pastoring a church in Ephesus and he’s not giving up. That’s Timothy, his beloved child.

The older you get the more you start to appreciate loyalty in friendship. People who stand by you through thick and thin, and who aren’t afraid to tell you those hard things that you need to hear. 

If you have friends like that… if you have people you have discipled or who have discipled you and they continue to follow Christ with reckless abandon… thank God for those people. Maybe it’s your parents. Maybe it’s your small group leaders. Maybe it’s your childhood pastor. 

In fact, here’s a homework assignment. If someone particular comes to mind, then I challenge you to get out a letter this week or send an email this week and say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, for being a loyal friend and for being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Don’t give up! Keep going! Finish the race of life! Finish in faith. Keep fighting all the way to the end.” 

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So let’s be thankful for the life to come. Let’s be thankful for loyal disciples. Write this down as a third thing to thank God for.

3) Trustworthy partners in ministry (1:3–4)

Paul says in verse 3,

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 

4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

You can feel the pathos in Paul’s statement here. You can sense just how powerful that connection was between him and his spiritual son, Timothy. The reference to crying here most likely refers to Paul’s last meeting with Timothy, which he spoke about in 1 Timothy 1:3. That’s when Paul urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus and deal with those who were teaching false doctrines. 

I read some commentaries on 2 Timothy that speculated on why Timothy was crying. Some think that Timothy was crying because he thought he was saying goodbye to Paul for the last time, whenever he saw him last. Some people think Timothy was crying because he was so attached to Paul, he didn’t want him to leave. Some speculate that Timothy was crying because church ministry was hard, and Timothy didn’t think he could do it anymore. Probably one or more of those is true. 

There’s a great moment in that movie, “A League of Their Own,” where Tom Hanks plays a crusty old baseball player who takes a job as a manager for a female baseball team. This was set during WWII when a women’s league was set up to replace the men who were fighting in the war. And there’s a scene in that movie where Hanks yells at one of his female players. And when she starts crying, Hanks says, “You’re crying! You’re crying! There’s no crying in baseball!” 

David Livingstone, the missionary doctor to Africa in the nineteenth century, would marvel at how the Africans would get treatment without anesthetics. They wouldn’t cry or whimper or show signs of pain at all. Even when he was cutting out a tumor or repairing a flesh wound; they would just sit there and act like it was a painless procedure. And the reason for that is that if you showed signs of weakness, if you cried or whimpered or acted like it hurt, you would lose face in the tribal community. 

Is that how Paul acted towards the tears of his protégé Timothy? “You’re crying, Timothy? You’re crying? There’s no crying in Pastoral Ministry. Quit blubbering and man up!” No, that was a tender moment for Paul. He remembered that moment when Timothy shed tears, and Paul says that it stimulated him to pray for Timothy. 

By the way one of the most precious passages in the Bible is John 11:35. Do you know what that says? “Jesus wept.” The Bible says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15). The Bible says, “[there’s a] time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Eccl 3:4). The Bible says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt 5:4). The Psalmist says in Psalm 119, “My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law” (119:136).

Rich Mullins sang so many years ago, “Everybody used to tell me big boys don’t cry, but I’ve been around enough to know that was the lie, that held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons.” 

Now let me just point out two more things from verses 3–4. First of all Paul says in verse 3,

3 I thank God whom I serve

That word for “serve” has the idea of worship. The Greek word is λατρεύω, and it has the idea of worship through service. It’s the word used in the Greek translation of the OT for the priests when they serve the Lord in the temple and in the tabernacle. They worshipped through service. 

Sometimes I will walk around before our service here and ask people, “Are you ready to worship?” But I realize that’s the wrong thing to ask. They’ve already been worshipping. They’ve been worshipping through service (e.g. making coffee before the service, greeting people who come in, making up bulletins, passing out bulletins). That’s an aspect of worship too. 

And by the way, while I’m on this topic, let me ask everyone in the room: How do you worship through service in your church? Is it through teaching? Is it on the praise team? Is it on the connection team? Is it through serving as a deacon? Everyone should be worshipping the Lord by shouldering weekly kingdom responsibilities in the church! 

Paul says here, 

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

The second thing I wanted to point out is what Paul says here about his “ancestors.” What’s that about? Well Paul came from a godly line of God-fearing Jews. Paul comes from that great line of leaders that includes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, etc. His father and grandfather and great-grandfathers served God, as Jews, with a clear conscience. And Paul had a legacy passed down to him as part of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil 3:5). 

I remember reading once about Teddy Roosevelt III. When the Americans stormed Utah Beach in 1944, Roosevelt III, the grandson of President Teddy Roosevelt, was there. He saw it as his heritage and right to storm the beaches of Europe just like his grandfather and the Rough Riders had stormed San Juan Hill decades earlier. That was his heritage. 

And Paul similarly invokes his heritage here. But why does Paul make mention of that? What’s he doing with this? Here’s what I think he’s doing. Paul is making a connection between his godly heritage and Timothy’s godly heritage. You might say, “What godly heritage? Timothy’s father was a Greek. His father was probably a Greek pagan polytheist. His paternal grandfather was almost surely a pagan polytheist who knew nothing about the true God of the universe. What heritage could Paul be referring to?” 

Well first of all, Paul has already made mention of Timothy being his spiritual son. Timothy is a partaker of Paul’s godly heritage by adoption. He is the benefactor of all the rich learning and commitments that Paul inherited from his family. 

And secondly, probably more to the point, Paul refers to the maternal heritage of faith, not paternal heritage of faith, that Timothy has had passed down to him by his mother and grandmother.  

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Which leads us to our final point. Write this down as #4, a fourth thing to thank God for.

4. Faithful mothers and grandmothers who pass on their faith (1:5)

Aren’t you thankful for that, church? It’s not Mother’s Day, but we can be thankful for mothers on a day other than Mother’s Day. Can’t we?

Look at verse five:

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice

Now let me just make a grammatical observation here. Verses 3–5 are all one sentence in Greek. So Paul says, “I thank God whom I serve,” and then he follows that with a string of relative clauses. And it’s not until verse 5 that we see what he is ultimately thankful for. 

“What are you thankful for, Paul?” It’s being “reminded of [Timothy’s] sincere faith.” So Paul is saying here, “I thank God, Timothy, because you’re not a poser. You’re not a faker. You’re a legit follower of Christ! Your faith is sincere.”

And the legitimacy of your faith goes all the way back to grandma. It’s a faith that dwelt…

first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

In Acts 16, we learned that Timothy was half-Jewish and half-Gentile. His mother was Jewish, and his dad was a Gentile. 2 Timothy 1:5 says that Timothy’s mother “Eunice” and even his grandmother “Lois” were believers. But his father is never mentioned. That’s conspicuous. 

And by the way, Eunice and Lois had a radical impact on Timothy’s life. It says about Timothy that “from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation” (2 Tim 3:15). How did Timothy have a knowledge of the Scriptures from childhood? It must have been through the ministry of his mama and grandmama. Let me say it this way—spiritually speaking, Timothy was a mama’s boy!

And the faith that dwelt in his mom now dwells in Timothy. And it’s a sincere faith. It’s literally a non-hypocritical faith. It’s not the faith of Demas, Alexander, or Judas. Timothy is the genuine article. 

And by the way, that word for “dwelt” in verse 5 is the Greek ἐνοικέω. This word is used of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. This word is use of God dwelling among his people. Robert Yarborough states that this word “describes divine, dynamic, and transforming presence. The faith of Timothy’s maternal forebears was not passive, merely external, or pro forma but deep and alive.” Timothy’s mother had a genuine, life-transforming faith. And she passed on that faith to her son. 

Moms, listen to me for a second. And grandmothers, you listen up too. It wasn’t Timothy’s dad teaching him the Scriptures. His dad was an unbeliever. So who taught him the Scriptures as a child? His mama taught him the Scriptures. His grandmama taught him the Scriptures. Let me ask you a question, “Can great Christian kids come out of homes with unequally-yoked parents? Yes, they can, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” 

Moms, whatever your marital status: single, unequally yoked, or equally yoked to a godly man, don’t underestimate the impact that you can make on your children. You teach them from a young age the Scriptures. You help them to hide God’s Word in their heart. 

I read an article recently that said that the single most important factor for whether or not kids stay in church after they leave the home is whether or not their fathers attend church regularly. If dad shows them the way, then they typically will follow dad’s example. That’s a little motivation right there for you, dads. 

And if you are a single mom or a mom who’s trying to minister to your children all by yourself, you might get discouraged by that statement. But you know what, moms? Here’s how you respond to that? “O yeah, Pastor Tony, what about Eunice? What about Lois? They were the only ones showing Timothy the way to please God and look how that turned out.” And you know what, if you said that, you’d be right. I couldn’t argue with you. Forget the statistics. Set your mind on defying the statistics. 

For my part, I thank God for wonderful godly grandmas in my life. My mom is as rock-solid as they come. She has blessed my life so wonderfully. I praise God for her. And my son has two wonderful godly grandmothers who have passed on the faith to him, one who has already gone home to be with the Lord. And he’s got a rock-solid mama as well, who is daily modeling faith and commitment to the Scriptures to him. I praise God for that. 

Moms and grandmoms, you be those kinds of influences on your sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters. And as a church, let’s thank God for faithful mothers and grandmothers who pass on their faith.

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I want to close with this. I want to close by giving you a closer look at what happened to Timothy and his mom while they were in Lystra. And to do that, turn with me to Acts 14:8. Near the end of what we call Paul’s first missionary journey, he went to this town of Lystra with Barnabas. And it was there that people started to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods after Paul healed a man who was crippled from birth. 

And it says in Acts 14:11, “And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’” They went on to call Barnabas “Zeus,” and they called Paul “Hermes.” And it turned into this sad, embarrassing fiasco. And after Paul and Barnabas protested profusely, the people of the city (egged on by unconverted Jews from Antioch and Iconium) decide to kill them. 

So the townspeople stone them and leave them for dead. But miraculously, they survive. And Paul and Barnabas got up, limped back into Lystra, and just went on preaching. That’s one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Like I said earlier, Paul’s had one foot in the grave for decades.   

Well, fast-forward to Acts 16:1 and to Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul returns to Lystra, this time with Silas instead of Barnabas. And it was there that Paul ran across a woman who was a Jewish believer. She was a Jewess, but she was also a believer in Christ. And although it doesn’t say this expressly, there’s a good chance that this woman got saved under Paul and Barnabas’s earlier ministry. There’s a good chance also that this woman saw Paul stoned and left for dead in Lystra (or at least heard about it). And there’s a good chance that her son saw it too. 

That woman’s name was Eunice. And her son’s name was Timothy. And even if he didn’t see it with his own eyes, I’m sure Timothy was aware of this guy Paul who had been stoned and left for dead and got up and just kept preaching. 

And I guess Timothy figured as a young man, “Whatever that guy Paul has, I want some of that. I want something I believe in so strongly that I’d be willing to die for it.” Timothy got saved! And he became a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. He went with Paul on his second missionary journey. And he became strategic to the early church from that point forward. He’s mentioned in more than half of the books of the NT. And he became this faithful protégé to Paul. 

And here in 2 Timothy, almost twenty years later, Paul is suffering in prison. And Timothy is suffering in Ephesus as a pastor and leader of that church. And they are both running hard after God and serving him faithfully. 

And yet even in the midst of their suffering, Paul finds good reasons to thank God. Because thankfulness and suffering are not mutually exclusive. Even joy and suffering aren’t mutually exclusive. And oftentimes thankfulness is the key to joy in the midst of suffering. 

Paul finds good reasons to thank God in his final season of suffering, and we should too. We should thank him for…

1) The dependable promise of life to come (1:1)

2) Loyal disciples who never stop following Christ (1:2)

3) Trustworthy partners in ministry (1:3–4)

4) Faithful mothers and grandmothers who pass on their faith (1:5)