2 Timothy
Keep the Faith
This is the second letter Paul wrote to Timothy. It is believed by many that Paul was released from his first imprisonment in Rome where he was under house arrest. He was arrested a second time in Ephesus and put in prison in Rome. This time he is chained and treated as a criminal. It appears that most of his friends and support have deserted him perhaps fearing repercussions for befriending Paul. Paul wants Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible and bring Mark with Him.
The message of this letter is “keep the faith no matter what.” There are many places in the world where if a person is found to be a Christian it may cost them their life. We have an enemy that wants to silence the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul has had his trial and he knows the verdict will soon be handed down. He is going to have to hand off the ministry to his “son in the faith.”
As I read this letter from a Bible I used earlier in my ministry I saw that I had marked 21 places where Paul gave specific things to do to keep the faith. Starting with verse 6, of Chapter 1, where Paul tells Timothy to, “Fan into flame the gift of God,” to Chapter 4:18, where Paul gives Timothy 4 instructions, “But you keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry,” it is clear Paul wants Timothy to keep his faith strong and to carry on the work regardless of what happens to Paul.
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that much of what people pursue in this world is vanity or meaningless. That is not true for Christianity. Being a Christian is serious business. We may not all face death for our faith but the enemy wants to put to death our faith in God and silence us. We need to be careful that we don’t let trouble, difficulties, or hardship cause us to abandon our faith only to pursue vain things.
I have had people tell me they tried God but it didn’t work. Or they gave up on God because things in their life were hard and God didn’t fix them and make everything wonderful. Sadly, I have been around long enough to have observed that things only got worse for those who have abandoned their faith. What they did pursue left them empty and many times full of regret. Most often their faith was misplaced and put in what they wanted or expected God to do rather than in trusting God to guide and direct. To them God is the genie in the bottle that gives them three wishes. They may not have started out that way but somewhere along the way their faith got derailed and off track. Don’t let that happen to you. It appears that is what happened to Paul’s friend Demas in Chapter 4 verse 10.
Here are a few of the verses I marked from Chapters 1&2. I encourage you to search for the rest and note them in your bible. More importantly, Guard your faith!
1 Timothy 1:8 (2), 13, 14, 2:1, 2, 3, 8, 14,15, 16, 22, 23,
Keep the faith no matter what!
Pastor Dave