SERMON OUTLINE

Fan the Flame   2 Timothy 1.3-7

Sincere Faith

-Not an “I honestly believe” faith. Many who are sincere will not go to heaven.

–False faith puts trust in devotion to religion, or in a sense of personal goodness, or in doing good works, or in a false belief that a loving God would not send anyone to hell

–Genuine faith recognizes that sin separates from God and that Jesus is God’s just payment for sin and results in forgiveness and the filling (flame) of the Holy Spirit.

Background

-Paul anticipates his death. 2 Timothy 4.6-8

-Persecution may spread to Asia where Timothy serves

-Timothy will be grieving the loss of Paul

-Timothy will be taking on more leadership

-Timothy is prone to discouragement and fear

-Paul wants to prepare Timothy for what is coming

Anazopurein

-From “ana” = again or up, “zoe” = life or alive, “pur” = fire, coal, ember, meaning to make the fire alive again or to bring up the life of the fire

-Present continuous, “Keep fanning into flame”

-2 Timothy 2.14, 3.14, 4.2. Keep reminding, Continue, Be prepared

The Gift of God

-Not emotions, mind, gifts

-The indwelling Holy Spirit. To feed it and to work it out in character and ministry. Philippians 2.12-13

Conclusion        

-Fan the Flame so you will be ready to meet and continue in all circumstances.

SERMON NOTES

Fanning the Flame (1)                  2 Timothy 1.3-7

-In verse 5, Paul tells Timothy that he is persuaded of Timothy’s sincere faith. Paul had this sincere faith, and so did Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Many throughout history and today have this sincere faith. If you do not already have this sincere faith, God offers it to you today. Listen carefully.

-What Paul means by a sincere faith is not an “I  believe in God or I am religious” faith. Many sincere people will not make it to heaven because they are sincerely believing in lies and not in the truth of God. Many sincere Hindus and Buddhists and even Baptists will not be in heaven. A sincere faith means real faith, genuine faith, the kind of faith the Bible teaches that all of us need and should have.

-What does the Bible call genuine faith, and what is the result of genuine faith? Let me begin by saying that much of what is called faith today is not the real faith that the Bible calls us to. This false faith puts its trust in devotion to religion, or in a sense of personal goodness, or in doing good works, or in a false belief that a loving God would not send anyone to hell. This is not a faith that will bring a person into relationship with God and into heaven, no matter how sincere. Only faith that is focused on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sin can save the sinner from sin and hell and can bring a person into relationship with God and put them on the path to heaven. So make sure you have the right faith. Sincerity is not enough. You faith must be in what is true and in Who can save you, which is Jesus Christ.

-A genuine faith begins when a person recognizes that they are separated from God because of their sin and are under the condemnation of God because of sin. They recognize that if they died in that condition they would certainly go to hell. Do you know yourself as a condemned sinner before a Holy God? Then you are ready for this true faith.

-Genuine faith also recognizes that the death of Jesus on the Christ paid the penalty for sin, and trusts God for the just payment of sin in the death of Christ. Have you acknowledged before God that you have received the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as the full payment for your sin? When you receive Jesus Christ as the full payment for your sin then you can also receive God’s forgiveness for all your sin and the peace of God in your conscience.

-The result of this genuine faith is the filling of the Holy Spirit. In response to genuine faith the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in the new believer and renews the believer’s dead spirit, giving the believer a desire for the things of God and the assurance of eternal life in Christ. To put it another way, when the Holy Spirit comes He lights a flame for God in the believer’s heart. Like the tongues of fire that rested on the believers on the day of Pentecost so the Holy Spirit lights a flame of life in the spirit of every genuine believer. Do you have the flame of God’s Holy Spirit burning in your heart? God offers that new life to you today in Jesus Christ. Ask God to save you from your sin and to fill you with His Spirit of life in Jesus Christ.

-Timothy had this flame burning within him as all genuine believers do. Paul’s charge to Timothy was to continue to fan the flame of this gift of God inside of him.

-If God were to speak directly to us this morning I think this is what He would say. “By My free gift of grace in Jesus Christ I have given you genuine faith, and true salvation, and I have made you alive by My Spirit. Making yourself spiritually alive is something you could never possibly do on your own. I was the only One who could give you life from the death of sin. But now that you have My flame in your spirit, you are responsible to fan it and to keep it burning strong. I asked nothing from you for salvation because there was nothing you could give toward your salvation, but now that you have my salvation I ask for your all in order to keep your new life in Christ burning strong.”

-This was Paul’s message to Timothy and that is God’s message to us through His Word today.

-Let me give you some background information on this last letter that we have from the hand of Paul. This letter was written by Paul to Timothy only a few months before Paul’s execution under the emperor Nero. Paul anticipates his coming death. He writes in chapter 4.6-8, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

-Paul also anticipates that the persecution of the Christians in Rome will spread to other areas of the empire and to Asia as well where Timothy is in charge of the churches.

-The death of Paul will leave a leadership vacuum at just the time when leadership will be most needed in the churches. Paul has trained and expects Timothy to take over that leadership in the churches.

-Timothy is about to suffer a deep loss in the death of Paul and is going to be called to a trying position of leadership under growing persecution and Paul is writing this letter to encourage Timothy to be strong in the Lord and to continue in his service to the churches that God has called him to. Timothy is prone to discouragement and cowardice and will be strongly tempted to pull back and to protect himself when the leadership responsibilities and persecution fully come upon him.

-So many things both inside of us and outside of us work to diminish and even put out the flame of God inside of us. You may encounter some very difficult trials this year that will blow hard against that flame in your spirit. Over the next couple of weeks, as we study these verses, I want us to think together on how we can fan the flame that is in us to accomplish God’s purposes for us and to bring Glory to God in all our circumstances.

-We have good reason to believe that Timothy did go on in both his Christian life and in his ministry and leadership of the churches. Hebrews 13.23 tells us that Timothy was in jail but was released and seems to be continuing in Christian ministry.

-“Fan into flame” translates the Greek word “anazopurein”. “Anazopurein” is made up of three Greek words, “ana” which means again or up, “zoe” which means life or alive, and “pur” which means fire, coal, ember. So this verb means to make the fire alive again or to bring up the life of the fire.

-This word describes you blowing on that little bit of glowing ember in the campfire to get that piece of newspaper to catch into flame so that those small branches can catch fire and build up the campfire all over again. Or the picture is of a man with bellows blowing on the embers of a fireplace or the blacksmith heating up his fire red hot in order to heat up his steel to make it malleable so he can shape it. The picture is of rekindling a dying flame to its original heat or of making a flame that is much hotter.

-Many of us have read these verses and thought that Timothy has backslidden and given in to fear and shame, and that Paul is calling Timothy to renew his faith, but that is not what the grammar in this verse tells us. The verb, “fan into flame” is in the present tense which calls for a continuing action to take place. It can easily be translated as “keep fanning into flame”. Knowing the grief and the increased leadership burdens that Timothy is about to encounter, Paul is reminding Timothy to keep fanning the flame of God’s gift in him. More than ever Timothy is going to have to be strong in the Lord and will have to take courage and stand in God’s call upon his life and trust in God’s power.

-Paul says much the same thing to Timothy in 2.14, where he commands Timothy “Keep reminding them of these things” or in 3.14 when he says, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of” or in 4.2, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season”. Timothy is to press on in his calling and ministry by continuing to renew his passion for God and God’s work. Timothy is to keep his heart full so he can serve God no matter what new circumstances come upon him, including the death of Paul and the persecution of the churches.

-Now it is interesting to note what Paul calls Timothy to fan into flame. Timothy is to fan into flame the gift of God which is in him through the laying on of Paul’s hands. Paul does not remind Timothy to fan into flame his emotions, to pump himself up, to grab a couple of cans of Red Bull and pump himself up emotionally for the day ahead. Paul does not call Timothy to mental concentration, to psych himself up through visualizing a successful outcome to his tasks for that day, to think positively and to get rid of his negative thoughts. Paul does not remind Timothy to fan into flame his spiritual gifts of teaching and leadership over the churches. Paul calls Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God which he attained through the laying on of Paul’s hands.

-This gift of God is the indwelling Holy Spirit Who plants in our spirit the flame of God’s eternal life. Paul is not calling Timothy to make any improvements to the indwelling life of the Spirit but to feed that life. Paul is calling Timothy to work that life out in his own life and ministry and not to neglect the outworking and application of the Spirit’s life because of fear and shame. Timothy is to feed himself spiritually and then work out God’s plan for him through obedience. Timothy is to let the life of the Holy Spirit rule his life, and he is not to let his emotions, fears, desires and the judgments of men rule him.

-Paul taught the same thing to the Philippians (2.12-13) when he wrote to them, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”

-Next week I want to look with you at how this fanning into flame is to take place in our life and what hinders this fanning into flame. This morning the message to you and I is that God has put a flame into our spirits which we could never ever have placed there ourselves. We were under the curse of God and on our way to hell when the Grace of God saved us from sin and put the flame of his life into our spirits. Now God asks us to put every effort into feeding that flame of the life of God and allowing it to consume our every attitude, thought, word, and action. God will not do that for you or me but He has given you and I all that we need to accomplish His calling on our lives.

-When you experience a power failure is not when you want to find out that the batteries are dead in your flashlight. You want to keep those batteries charged up in readiness at all times. Many of the new flashlights always stay plugged into the wall sockets to keep the batteries charged enabling the flashlight to be ready to be used. Their flame is always being fanned and is in readiness.

-I was visiting a friend who told me he got a flashlight for Christmas and asked if I wanted to see it and went and got it out for me. John’s flashlight has a lens on it about 8 inches in diameter. It is a spotlight more than a flashlight. You could use this flashlight for filming a movie. Not only is it a powerful flashlight but it also has a huge battery which can be charged. There is a cigarette lighter socket on this thing to plug in accessories, and all sorts of other options on it. When John’s flashlight is powered up he not only has power for himself but he has power that he can share with others. He is ready to meet the circumstances he will encounter on the road or in the house or at the campsite.

-God has put the flame of his life in us and God wants us to keep fanning the flame of that new life. We will talk more about how to do that next week.