Sermon Tone Analysis

“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.

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

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

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, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

[1]

“I thank God … as I remember you constantly in my prayers.”

Is there someone for whom you constantly give thanks to God?

Is there someone whom you mentored, whom you instructed in righteousness, whom you encouraged to walk in the Faith?

I am grateful for the Apostle’s words to Timothy; they encourage us to invest ourselves in someone to ensure that the Faith is perpetuated and that God is glorified through the salvation of souls.

This letter is the final missive written by Paul to have been included in the Canon of Scripture.

Facing imminent execution, the Apostle appears to have been in a reflective mood.

As he begins the letter, he recalls Timothy’s sorrow at their parting, and he remembers the young theologue’s rich and blessed heritage.

He treasures a memory of the godly heritage with which Timothy had been blessed.

Then, building on that memory, Paul urges Him to act in a conscientious and godly manner to fulfil his ministry.

A PORTRAIT OF TIMOTHY — What do we know of Timothy?

Though we could recite some details of where he lived when Paul met him and even draw some tentative conclusions concerning his ministry, we have only a few hints suggesting his character.

Yet, those hints reveal more than we might imagine about this young servant of the Lord.

Paul begins this letter with a personal expression of appreciation for Timothy.

He speaks of his gratitude to God each time he mentions Timothy before the Lord.

Something in the events swirling about Paul during the days of his imprisonment prompted a memory of Timothy’s tears.

We don’t know the precise reference, but that shouldn’t stop us from applying what we do know from the Word of God.

Some event made Paul remember Timothy’s tears.

I know something of the frustration and fear that comes from inability to resolve conflict in the church.

Timothy faced some great problems in the church in Ephesus, and it is possible that he had written Paul about his discouragement arising from his inability to resolve the problems created by opponents to his ministry.

Well-meaning people can create some of the greatest disappointments in the ministry.

They sometimes are determined to have their way, even if it means harm to the cause of Christ and to His church.

Such attitudes tear at the heart of a preacher.

I cannot help but wonder if such was the cause for Timothy’s tears.

Perhaps it is more reasonable to think that Timothy’s tears were spilled as the Apostle was carried off to Rome.

Paul had been arrested at the instigation of zealous Jewish leaders who were angered at his effective evangelism.

We know that the civil authorities were not eager to release him from imprisonment.

They gave every indication that they were willing to show favouritism toward the Jewish leadership by sentencing Paul to death, or at least to turn their head should the leaders arrange for his death.

Because of this, Paul was compelled to appeal to Caesar, as was his right as a Roman citizen.

He was transported to Rome where he was held under house arrest for at least two years.

Whether he was released temporarily and then rearrested is not clear.

Multiple sources indicate that Paul was executed in Rome during Nero’s reign.

Paul is writing this letter near the end of his final days of imprisonment in Rome; his execution is imminent as he writes.

Timothy must surely have realised that his mentor and friend in the ministry faced considerable jeopardy when he was arrested, and he must have surely known his imprisonment could eventuate in his execution.

There were scant comforts afforded the old man in prison, his memories of service to Christ and the knowledge that God had worked powerfully through him to the salvation of many people being one of the few comforts afforded him.

So, it seems reasonable to imagine that as he reviews the compassion and concern he had witnessed in Timothy at their last meeting that he would recall the young man’s tears.

Paul had met Timothy during his second missionary journey.

Paul and Silas came to Lystra where they heard of a young man that merited the praise of the brothers.

Listen to the account given in ACTS 16:1, 2. “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.

A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer but his father was a Greek.

He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.”

Timothy’s mother was a Jewess who had become a believer in Jesus as the fulfilment of messianic prophecy.

Likewise, Timothy’s grandmother was Jewish, although she, also, had become a believer in Jesus the Messiah.

Though it is speculation on my part, it is reasonable to conclude that these women had been among those coming to faith during the first missionary venture by Paul and Barnabas.

Since we are told nothing further concerning Timothy’s father after this brief account introducing us to the young man, we would likely be correct in concluding that he was not a believer.

Therefore, I believe that Timothy had been raised in a divided home where his father was not a believer in Christ the Lord, though his mother and grandmother were believers.

At some point, Timothy had adopted his mother’s faith, becoming a believer in Christ Jesus the Lord.

As a Christian, he had made a favourable impression on the church in Lystra during the time between Paul’s first missionary journey and his second visit to the city.

He had grown in the faith, pleasing the Lord through his manner of life.

Consequently, Paul and Silas did take the young man with them on the remainder of the second missionary venture, and thenceforth, he accompanied Paul in service to Christ.

During the time Timothy was with Paul, he was tutored in the faith and grew sufficiently that Paul frequently used him as his ministerial legate.

He is named in no less than seven of the Pauline letters as being with the Apostle [ROMANS; 2 CORINTHIANS; PHILIPPIANS; COLOSSIANS; 1 THESSALONIANS; 2 THESSALONIANS; PHILEMON].

In two letters, he is specifically designated as having been dispatched to serve in the place of the Apostle in the churches receiving the letters [1 CORINTHIANS; 1 THESSALONIANS].

Paul’s letters lead me to assume that in contrast to his mentor, Timothy was not very bold in his conduct.

Paul was not at all reticent about confronting Peter when Peters’ conduct threatened Gentile Christians.

Peter’s reputation and standing in the mind of early Christians did not matter to Paul—if Peter’s actions were wrong, he needed to be confronted.

Since no one else was willing to hold Peter accountable, Paul accepted the responsibility to rebuke him.

Not only did he rebuke Peter, but because the situation was serious, threatening the continued existence of the Faith, he did so publicly.

Paul recalls the hypocrisy Peter displayed in Antioch and his own indignation at Peter’s hypocrisy.

That hypocrisy had compelled Paul to rebuke the Apostle to the Jews.

“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews’” [GALATIANS 2:11-14]?

In contradistinction to Paul, Timothy appears to have been somewhat more timid, even to the point of being tempted to remain silent in the face of error.

In the first letter to the young pastor, the Apostle admonished Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” [1 TIMOTHY 4:12].

It leads me to wonder whether Timothy was somewhat hesitant in the pastoral role.

Perhaps he was reluctant to wield the bishop’s staff.

Even in the earliest days of the church, it appears that there were members of the assemblies that thought the role of a pastor was to be nice, to be affirming, to make church fun and entertaining.

They thought that they were assigned the divine role of opposing the pastor, ensuring that he did their bidding within the congregation.

However, a pastor must be prepared to confront error, to rebuke individuals who are straying, and to remind the congregation of the will of God [see 1 TIMOTHY 4:1-11].

Among Paul’s final words is a stern warning to the young pastor.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” [2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5].

Perhaps as some contemporary texts suggests, Paul was small in stature.

Perhaps he was plagued with a deformed body and a voice that was not as robust and powerful as some who were trained rhetoricians; but no one can read his letters without realising that he possessed a vigorous faith and that he was manly in his pursuit of life itself.

Timothy, however, was somewhat frailer.

In 1 TIMOTHY 5:23, Paul encourages the young theologue, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.”

Timothy was perhaps weak—subject to dyspepsia or other stomach disorders.

Such frequent bouts of illness and discomfort undoubtedly would have left him feeling discouraged and vulnerable at times.

He may have shrunk from confronting error and individuals who sought to impose their own desires on the congregation.

Timothy was apparently tempted to make unwarranted concessions to people that appeared stronger, so the Apostle warned him, “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

And the Lord’s servant must … patiently endur[e] evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” [2 TIMOTHY 2:22-26].

When Paul informed the Corinthians that Timothy would serve as his emissary, he cautioned the members of the congregation, “When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.

So let no one despise him.

Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers” [1 CORINTHIANS 16:10, 11].

What can we conclude about Timothy’s character, then?

He appears through the lens of Paul’s letters to have been young, weak and timid.

This is in contrast to Paul who was constitutionally tough, lionhearted, mature and experienced.

Yet, not only did Paul love Timothy, but he believed in him.

More than loving him deeply for his work in the faith, Paul gave God thanks for the young man.

God had made Timothy who he was and God was at work in Timothy, fitting him for the work God had assigned him.

Paul specifically mentions Timothy’s “sincere faith.”

The thought is that Timothy’s life and service were marked by unalloyed faith, or as Phillips translates the term, “genuine” [2] faith.