Like many preachers who have been discouraged by hateful opposition as they tried to proclaim God’s message">

Fan into Flame the Gift of God: An Overview of Second Timothy By Dan R. Owen   Like many preachers who have been discouraged by hateful opposition as they tried to proclaim God’s message, Timothy may have slipped into a rather passive mode in his ministry at Ephesus when Paul wrote him his second letter. Quarrels about divine truth with certain unidentified teachers were threatening to turn ugly and cause real trouble for Timothy and the Ephesian church (2:14,17-18,24; 3:6-7,12-13; 4:3-4). In any case, Paul urged Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God," (1:6). This gift seems to have been connected to his proclamation of the gospel because Paul follows this exhortation with the admonition, "Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord…but join with me in suffering for the gospel…" (1:8). Whether Timothy’s gift was the gift of prophecy or simply the gift of being an evangelist, he was not being assertive enough with it in preaching the word. Timothy’s antagonists threatened to make things unpleasant for him if he aggressively proclaimed the truth of the gospel. His opponents were propagating both teachings and lifestyles contrary to the gospel, and some in the church were listening to them. Paul warned Timothy to avoid "quarreling about words" with these people because it would have a negative effect on those who listened to the quarrels (2:14,23). Paul criticized those who indulged in "godless chatter." He predicted that they would become more and more ungodly, and that their teaching would spread like gangrene. Paul mentioned two men, specifically, "Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth," (2:16-17). These men taught that the resurrection was already a thing of the past and by their message they were destroying the faith of some people (2:18). In his first letter, Paul had mentioned Hymenaeus and Alexander, saying they had "shipwrecked their faith" and urged that they be delivered unto Satan so they could be taught "not to blaspheme," (1 Timothy 1:20). The same nucleus of troublemakers seems to have still been active when Paul wrote his second letter. Paul insisted again that Timothy must not quarrel, but must gently teach, hoping that God would grant these people "repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth" (2:25). Paul then painted a picture of the godless people who would arise in the last days. He characterized these immoral opponents as people who "hold a form of godliness, but deny its power." He urged Timothy to "have nothing to do with them," (3:6). These people were gaining a following among weak-willed women, who were carried along by their evil desires and were "ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth," (3:6-7). Paul spoke of those who succumbed to the teaching and immoral lifestyle of these heretics as people who would not endure "sound teaching" but gathered around them teachers who would "say what their itching ears want to hear," (4:3). Such people were willing to "turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths," (4:4). The point of Paul’s advice was that Timothy should avoid pointless public arguments with these false teachers because they were unproductive. Instead, Timothy should go about teaching the truth assertively among those who would listen, while demonstrating a godly character to all he taught. If Timothy followed Paul’s advice, he could expect some difficult times. Since Timothy had been teaching the truth of Christian doctrine and lifestyle, his opponents were associating him with Paul who was now a prisoner. Paul encouraged Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel or of the one who was imprisoned for the gospel (1:8). Paul used himself as an example, saying that he often suffered for his preaching, but he was not ashamed (1:12). Paul reminded Timothy of all that had happened to him at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, then added, "yet the Lord rescued me from all of them," (3:11). Then, he reminded Timothy that all who live godly lives in Christ could expect to suffer persecution (3:12). Paul used Onesiphorus as an example because he had ministered to Paul’s needs regardless of what anyone thought about it and he "was not ashamed of my chains," (1:16). Paul insisted that if Timothy handled God’s word correctly and showed himself to be a workman approved by God, he had no need to be ashamed about anything (2:15). Paul encouraged Timothy to "preach the word" and to do this in both good times and bad with great patience and careful instruction (4:4). He made no apologies or excuses to Timothy, but admonished him to "endure hardship" and "do the work of an evangelist," (4:5). Throughout the epistle of Second Timothy, Paul spoke about the pure gospel message that Timothy was to persist in proclaiming. This message was described in a variety of ways. Timothy was not to be ashamed "to testify about our Lord," (1:8). Paul made it clear that this message concerned "the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel," (1:10). The central content of this gospel was about "Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David," (2:8). Paul instructed Timothy, "What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching…" then "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you," (1:13-14). Then, reaffirming that Timothy was to hold firmly to the apostolic teaching, Paul reiterated, "The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others," (2:2). Avoiding the godless chatter of the heretics, Timothy was to correctly handle "the word of truth," (2:15) and to lead others to "a knowledge of the truth," (2:25). The implication of the surrounding discussion is that this truth not only concerned the basic facts of what God had done in Christ, but also instruction about the godly lifestyle of those under the Lordship of Jesus. Paul said, "continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it," (3:14). Then, Paul reminded Timothy that the Holy Scriptures, seen through faith in Christ, were able to make one wise unto salvation. Timothy was to use the sacred Scriptures for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training people in righteousness (3:15-17). When Paul made his final charge to Timothy, he urged him to "preach the word" in good times and bad. In doing this, he was to "correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction," (4:2). Scripture was to be his guide for these actions. The "sound doctrine" or "the truth" which those led by their own desires would not endure, was the truth of God from the Scriptures as seen through faith in Jesus Christ. Certainly, this primarily included the Hebrew Scriptures, though it seems likely that Timothy was also familiar with at least a partial canon of New Testament Scripture, including the gospel of Luke and some Pauline letters (1 Timothy 5:18; Luke 10:7). Paul’s second letter to Timothy was written to cause Timothy to become more assertive and aggressive in the proclamation of the gospel message. Though Timothy had become somewhat timid, in Paul’s view, the message had to be proclaimed at all costs, even if it meant suffering and hardship for Timothy. People might even imprison an evangelist, but, according to the apostle, "the word of God is not chained," (3:9). He assured Timothy that the Lord will take care of his faithful messengers in the end, awarding the crown of righteousness to "all who have longed for his appearing," (4:8). In the face of those who denied the resurrection and perverted the teaching of Jesus about godly lifestyle, Timothy was to continually proclaim the redemptive message of Jesus, the lifestyle enjoined by God for Christians, and the Christian hope of resurrection, reward, and divine retribution. Paul’s final statement of faith is one that every evangelist would do well to heed; "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom," (4:18). May each of us have that same assurance as we persist in boldly proclaiming the message of Christ.