A Spirit of Service

Servace is placed hifgher in the kingdom of God than in any other kingdom. For many having servants is trhe sign of power, but in the king dom, being a servant is te highest form of power.

Luke 22:27 ESV

27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

This is of course because Jesus himself came not to be served but to serve.

Mark 10:45 ESV

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So as a person rises in the ranks of God’s kingdom, that person places more and more value on the humbeling act of servace,

And the matrure believer is always looking for oppertanities to excersise their spiritual gifting in acts of service.

1 Peter 4:10 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

However, all service is sacrifice.

And sometimes, the sacrifice feels more than the blessings of service, and when that happends we get discouraged. We wonder if our effort is worth outcome.

This can and does happen to everyobe who serves, from the tea ladies, to the sunday school teachers, from the youth leadres, to the decons, from the elders to the pastors, from the pastors to the bishops, from bishops to moderators.

In our Text today, we are going to look at The Apostles Paul’s wordsof encouragment to service to Timothy, but on a lrger scale, we will look at5 God’s words of encouragment to each one of us who has taken up the position of servant.

2 Timothy 1:1–5 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 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. 5 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.

This is the setting of our verses.

Timothy is a man called by God, as each of us are, for a work in the kingdom, however, Timothy, like all of od’s faithful servants faces difficulty, opposition and harships in this task.

Timothy was being attacked for the simplicity of the Gospel he preached and that his Mentor was in jail. -So Paul writes:

2 Timothy 1:8 ESV

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

He was attacked because he was bi-racial.

Acts 16:1 ESV

1 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 attacked because some thought he was to young.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

These wrere the problems Timothy faced and i mention them because we all face problems of our own.

People attack us because of our past, our education, our this or that and we get discouraged.

And what happens to Timothy, is the same thing that happens to all of God’s servants:

We take the attacks personally, we stop relying on the Holy Spirit, we end up working in our own strength, we suffer spiritual buyrnout and fear makes its way into our lives.

So pauls, has a few words for Timothy and God has a few words for you:

2 Timothy 1:6 ESV

6 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,

Paul had written in his first letter:

1 Timothy 4:14 ESV

14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Now he added, “Stir up—stir into flame—the gift of God.”

The Holy Spirit does not leave us when we fail.

John 14:16 ESV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

But He cannot fill us, empower us, and use us if we neglect our spiritual lives.

Like I said last week, you can have the presence but not the power of the Holy Spirit.

Never grow weary of your spirit Gift or for the work you do for the Lord - always wrve God with all your heart.

Jeremiah 48:10 ESV

10 “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

But od is not finished, l;ets keep reading:

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

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

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to serve God, and through Him we can overcome fear and weakness.

A Spirit of Fear

The word fear in 2 Timothy 1:7 means “timidity, cowardice.”

In greek Fear - phobia - a fear that prevents… - a fear of hights prevents you from going high. A fear of spiders prevents you from goimng near them - a phobia is a fear that prevents...

This can be a very good thing, for example, a healthy fear of God prevents you from sin.

Exodus 20:20 ESV

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

But on the negative side, this fear also prevents many christians from serving God.

What is it that keeps you from the full potential of your ministry?

Failure? Rejection? Death? Harassment? Mockery?

What keeps you from getting a soap box and preaching on the corner? What is it that makes you too afraid to share the good news with random strangers on the street or on the beach?

If i ask for a testamony, what prevents you from coming forward witha simple word of encouragment?

This is the fear that prevents us from serving.

God has not made you afraid of those things.

The answer to this fear is remeber that our confidance should be in God and not ourselves and when we transfer that confidence over to God our fear dissapears.

Philippians 1:14 ESV

14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

A Spirit of Power

The Holy Spirit gives us power for witness and for service.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Luke 12:11–12 ESV

11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

It is futile for us to try to serve God without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Talent, training, and experience cannot take the place of the power of the Spirit.

A Spirit of love

The Holy Spirit also gives us love.

Galatians 5:22 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

If we have love for lost souls and for the people of God, we will be able to endure suffering and accomplish the work of God.

Selfishness leads to fear because, if we are selfish, we are interested only in what we will get out of serving God, and we will be afraid of losing prestige, power, or money.

Romans 5:5 ESV

5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What is this love?

It is a thirst after the happiness of God’s other people. Not in an envious way, but to seek that they are happy.

Finally,

A Spirit of Self Control:

He is also the One who gives self-control.

This word is related to the words sober and sobriety that we often meet in the pastoral letters.

“Self-discipline”

It describes a person who is sensibly minded and balanced, who has his life under control.

That is to say, wild fantasies do not cloud their minds or judgment - they have a firm hold on reality.

Conclusion

Timothy had every reason to be encouraged and to have spiritual enthusiasm in his ministry.

Paul loved him and prayed for him.

His experiences in life had been preparation for his ministry, and Paul was confident of the genuineness of Timothy’s faith.

The Spirit within him would give all the power needed for ministry. What more could he want?