2nd Timothy #2: Power, Love, Self-Discipline
Chapter One
Now remember Paul is writing from Rome.
Nero Is persecuting and blaming the Christians for Rome’s problems.
Timothy wants to give up, due to the external pressure from Nero and from the internal pressure within the Church at Ephesus.
So, Paul tells Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God. . . For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:6-7 NIV).
1. Fan the Flame: In the Greek it means to literally to “raise up the fiery beast within you.”
2. The Romans would say, “excitare igniculos ingenii,” meaning to, “stir up the sparks of genius.
3. Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit. God in us. Genius within us. The Greatest within us.
4. At salvation the Holy Spirt, it is written, comes and resides in our earthly vessels: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1st Corinthians. 3:16 NAS).
5. He is the mark of our identification with Christ. “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9 NAS).
6. Question: Since the Holy Spirit is a person (and not a force) how does one “fan the flame?”
7. Answer: Repentance, release, and renew.
8. Repentance: The concept “metanoia,” refers to the concept of changing one’s mind with remorse and regret. It wasn’t until the Prodical Son, “Came to his senses” was he able to see the world as it really is and to flee from his self-determined and destructive lifestyle. Timothy had allowed the outside pressure to overwhelm him. He needed to turn from pursuing his ministry in his flesh and rekindle his relationship and sensitivity to the Person of the Holy Spirit.
9. Change of Mind: Timothy needed to be reminded that he was/is under obligation. There is a heritage here (grandmother/mother), a gift that has been given, a destiny to fulfill. This was not the time (difficulty) to pull-up one’s anchor and seek calmer waters. So, Timothy, “fan the flame!”
10. In the book of Revelation God condemns the Church in Ephesus for, “forsaking their first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first”
(Rev. 2:4-5 NIV).
To Be Continued!
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