I am not ashamed Paul says because I know whom I have believed and I’m persuaded that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick and Colin this is one of your favorite verses. It is one of my favorite verses of scripture probably one of the first that I memorized early in life and you know I’ve found that the Lord brings that back to my memory many times but especially at the times when my back’s really been against the wall at the most difficult times and I think that’s because that’s what it was given you know. Paul was writing to Timothy. He’s not a confident person Timothy. He’s facing a lot of pressure. Paul himself when he wrote these words was in prison and facing great difficulty and loneliness and isolation. You know if you find yourself under great pressure today then we’re going to look at a verse of scripture that is just a gift of God for you and may it be used to bring you strength and comfort as today and in the programs that lie ahead. We immerse ourselves in this marvelous truth of knowing who we believed. Well today we’re in the second book of Timothy chapter 1 so I hope you’ll join us there if you can as we begin the message complete freedom. Here’s Colin. The two letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus that comes next to this one are often referred to in the New Testament as the pastoral epistles and the thing that makes them quite distinct from the other letters of the Apostle Paul is that the other letters were written to churches but these letters were written to just one person whose name of course is Timothy. There was a very very special relationship between Paul and Timothy. In fact Paul had mentored Timothy for years. God willing I hope that in the fall we may actually take a look at their ministry together because it’s a way of looking at much of what happens in the New Testament. It had been a very very close relationship between the senior Apostle and this younger man who now is taking over responsibility and you get a sense of the sheer warmth of the relationship and the personal connection that there is between Paul and Timothy from verse 4 of chapter 1 here where Paul says recalling your tears I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. In other words the last time when they parted it was hard for them to say goodbye hard for Paul to say goodbye to Timothy and he says I just love to be able to see you again that is something that would fill me with joy. So this is a personal letter from one person to another and its unique value to us is really Paul is very self-disclosing about how he faces the pressures in his own life as he writes to Timothy. This is very relational and it seems to me that therefore it offers something very special to us in the revelation that God has given to us in the scripture. Now we’re going to camp out really over this next month on just one verse and that is 2nd Timothy chapter 1 in verse 12 where we have this marvelous statement of Christian confidence. I am not ashamed Paul says because I know whom I have believed and I’m persuaded that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. Now that is a marvelous statement of the Christian faith and you know there really is value in taking time to reflect on a great statement of faith like this to the point where it begins to get into your spiritual bloodstream. To be able to meditate on it until it affects how you think about whatever you are facing in life right now. And can I just say a word at this point about the value of memorizing great texts of the Bible. Those of you younger folks in Iwana who are doing this or perhaps doing it at home I encourage you to memorize great verses of the Bible. This is actually one of the first verses of the Bible that I ever memorized and I have found that God brings it back to my mind often at times when I need it. And you will find that there is great value in getting some great scripture verses into your memory shaping the way that you think so that God may use that to feed you and to strengthen you at times when you need it most. What a great statement. I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and I’m persuaded that he is able to guard what I’ve entrusted to him for that day. Now this morning’s message is really an introduction to this verse and I want to approach it first through the eyes of Timothy and then through the eyes of Paul. See if we’re really to absorb what is being said here it’s helpful for us to stand in Timothy’s shoes. See here he is he gets a personal letter he opens this parchment or the scroll that comes from the Apostle Paul. What was going on in his life when he actually read it? And here’s the Apostle Paul sitting down to write these words on the scroll. What was going on in his life when he wrote it? If we can stand in Timothy’s shoes and then in Paul’s shoes we will be able to relate more fully to how the scripture speaks to our lives today. Well first then looking at it through Timothy’s life what was happening in Timothy’s life when he read this letter I want to suggest to you first a whole lot of doubt. Doubt. Timothy was not a confident person and one of his biggest problems was that he doubted himself. Now you know some folks are just naturally more confident than others. I look at folks who have a natural confidence and I’m tempted to envy it sometimes folks are just at ease with themselves socially sure of their own decisions. Timothy wasn’t like that and you get a flavor of his temperament in chapter 1 in verse 7 where Paul says to him and remember it’s personal now Timothy God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-discipline. You see Timothy needed to hear that because he was always battling against a certain reserve, a shyness, a withdrawing that was there in his own temperament. He was not a natural leader. He lacked confidence. He struggled with self-doubt. Frankly to use a phrase that I’ve come to rather enjoy since I’ve learned it he didn’t know if he could cut the mustard. That was Timothy and that’s how he felt about himself and that was his daily struggle. Not only that but he was about to experience great loss. He was going to lose his closest friend, his mentor, the Apostle Paul. We’ll see in a moment that Paul was at the end of his life very close to death and it’s for that reason in chapter 4 in verse 9 that Paul says to Timothy do your best to come to me quickly. I haven’t got long left in this world. I’m going to go and be with the Lord. Now Timothy I would love to see you one more time so please come but come quickly because I haven’t got long left. And Timothy is facing this immense loss. I mean it is one thing to do ministry as sidekick to the Apostle Paul. It’s entirely another thing when the Apostle Paul is taken and you’re left to say that I’ve got to find a way of doing this myself. And that was the situation that Timothy was in when Paul wrote to him. I want to suggest thirdly therefore that there was a great deal of fear. What was the future going to be like? And it seems to me that this speaks to us right into Memorial Day. I mean if there is one day of the year that reminds us of the uncertainty of life, this is that day, Memorial Day. This day reminds us there is war in every generation and people die in these wars. And it will be so until Jesus comes. So that’s what terrorist strikes like September the 11th do for us. They they waken us up from our false sense of security that the world is as it is and everything is ordered as we like it. And then something happens in the nation and and a catastrophe comes and we’re all shaken. And we realize that this world in which we live is so so much less certain than we delude ourselves into thinking that it is. It’s what Hurricane Katrina does for us. Where is the next natural disaster in our world going to be? What if it’s here? See the real question that we’re facing is how do we live in this uncertain world? How do you do it? And that is precisely the situation that Timothy was finding himself in when he opens the scroll. The questions in his mind are how in all the world do I live in a world like this? You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message Complete Freedom. It’s part of our series One Thing I Know and it’s all about having Christian confidence in an uncertain world. And if you miss any of the series or if you’d like to go back and listen again you can always do that by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk. There you can listen to any of our messages which have already been broadcast. You can also find the messages as podcasts if that’s a more convenient way for you to listen to Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching. And you’ll find those on your regular podcasting site. Just search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates. Back to our message now we’re in the second book of Timothy chapter 1. Here’s Pastor Colin. Now what about the Apostle Paul? Let’s take a moment to look at it through his eyes. What was happening in Paul’s life when he sat down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write these words that we’re going to ponder together? Well first let me suggest that he was experiencing great loneliness. We know from chapter 1 in verse 8 that he was in prison. And this was his second imprisonment. Earlier Paul had been under a house arrest in Rome. His second imprisonment in Rome. There were several others of course. But he had earlier been under a house arrest where he had a certain amount of liberty and could continue in ministry. We read about that in the book of Acts. But this was worse. William Hendrickson says in his commentary that Paul was quote incarcerated in some dismal underground dungeon with a hole in the ceiling for light and air. He’s basically in an extended hole in the ground. It’s very interesting as you follow the clues to his situation that in chapter 1 in verse 17 we read about this good man Anesiphorus who was a friend of the Apostle Paul’s and really wanted to visit him but could only find him after a painstaking search throughout the capital city of Rome. See this man was hidden. Folks couldn’t even find where he was in prison to get to see him without a painstaking search. And when Anesiphorus saw him in chapter 1 verse 16 he found him in chains. And it seems clear from chapter 4 in verse 13 where Paul says to Timothy please bring my cloak. He was obviously cold sitting in this hole in the ground with a light, a hole above him for light and for air. And on top of that this intense loneliness comes through in chapter 4 in verse 9. Demas has forsaken me. And then he says Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. So I’m just missing the team and I’m experiencing intense loneliness. Now some of us might just say you know if Paul is writing out of the experience of deep loneliness I want to know what he has to say because that’s what I am. Not only was he lonely he had experienced great disappointment. Chapter 4 in verse 14 Alexander the metal worker did me great harm. Don’t know much about this character or what he did but he sure didn’t make life easy for the Apostle Paul. Verse 16 at my first defense no one came to my support but everyone deserted me. Now you can’t read that without feeling the disappointment. Of course there is no self-pity here. He goes on to testify about how God stood with him but but you can’t avoid the disappointment. And you can’t get through life without experiencing disappointment. People will let you down and a large part of your life and mine will turn on how we handle these experiences. And some of us will be saying now boy if Paul is writing about how to cope with disappointment as a Christian then I really need to know what he has to say because that’s what I’m at. And then thirdly the Apostle Paul was facing the prospect of death fairly soon. He knew that he didn’t have long left to live. He didn’t know exactly how long but he says in chapter 4 in verse 6 I’m already being poured out like a drink offering. The beginning of the end as it were has come he’s saying and the time has come for my departure. He’s speaking about his death and so here he writes out of the situation where he is facing the prospect of this great transition and translation into the presence of Christ and and if Paul writes at that moment in his life we’ll be saying we want to hear what he has to say. Now what we find here as we open the scroll is something absolutely amazing because in the middle of these circumstances we find a note of triumph and of confidence and of joy. Listen to it. I am not ashamed. I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I’ve committed to him against that day. There is there is a note of confidence of being able to live in all the uncertainty and in all the pressure of these circumstances in which he finds himself. Now I find great help here again looking at some comments of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones who says on this passage here that what we see in the Apostle Paul is more than stoicism. Now you know what stoicism is. Stoicism is the stiff upper lip. Stoicism is okay life’s not as I want it to be but you know grin and bear it. We can we can do that. We can do that. And stoicism is is good especially in particularly hard times but Paul has something far far more than stoicism. I guess I connected with that comment because stoicism the stiff upper lip is ingrained in the culture from which I come. You know what I mean? We’re famous for it. In the early part of the Second World War London was being bombed night after night and whole areas you know the story were being reduced to piles of rubble. Churchill was desperately looking to Roosevelt for help but of course that didn’t come until 1941 and so for this period of time until help came London was being pounded and was largely without defense. And it was a desperate time and the newspapers needed to rally morale and knew that they had a national responsibility to keep the hearts and the minds of the people up and so they coined a phrase that became famous then and it has remained famous ever since. And you have to understand I have to sort of rise to full height and posture to say this. Here’s the phrase. It was all over the newspapers and repeated, London can take it. Now that is pure stoicism. We can take it. We can take it. And what I want us to understand is that good though that may be and certainly it is in times of war for a nation. What Paul is talking about here is not simply the ability to endure great difficulty and still to stand at the end. It is to triumph by the Spirit of Christ in such difficulty so that God’s purpose is advanced in your life. Paul has discovered something better than stoicism. Christian confidence in an uncertain world and he writes to Timothy his dear friend and he says Timothy I’m about to go and be with the Lord now here’s what you’ve got to get hold of how are you going to live in this world? Let me share from my experience what it takes. Now I hope that opens your or whets your appetite for what we’re going to ponder in the Word of God together. Where are we going to find confidence to live in a world like this, an uncertain world like this? Well as we come by way of introduction to this text because we are going to be here for four Sundays it is so rich. Let’s begin here that you need to know who you are in Jesus Christ. That’s the first thing. You need to know who you are in Jesus Christ and I want to draw your attention in a moment to verses 9 through 11. But before we get there let’s think for a moment about how you define yourself. Who are you? How do you think about the very essence of who you are? Because Paul could have defined himself in a number of different ways and let’s see how he doesn’t do it and then we’ll have a greater appreciation for how he does do it. He could have defined himself as some of us tend to define ourselves as a man with a past and he could have done this two ways of course. On the one hand he could tell a very bright past story about my academic achievements, my career success. There was much in Paul’s personal past that he could have looked back on with great pride and satisfaction and it could have been defining for him. He could have talked at length to all his friends about what I’ve done and where I’ve been and all of that. Or he could also have looked at his past in a different way because the truth was it was a blemished past. There was a lot of violence there persecuting Christians. In fact he says to Timothy at one point I was a blasphemer and a violent man and so there was also much in his past that would have caused him to look back with shame. That’s probably true of you as well. Enough success in your past that you could tell a story that might fill you with great pride and satisfaction and also frankly enough sin in your past that if you focus there you might be overwhelmed with failure and with shame. Paul doesn’t do either of these things. He can speak about his past, he speaks about his good past in Philippians chapter 3, he speaks about his bad past in the letter to Timothy, but he will not allow the past to be defining of him. It is what it is. It’s not who I am. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message Complete Freedom which was the first in our series One Thing I Know. It’s all about having Christian confidence in an uncertain world and if you miss any of the series and or if you’d like to go back and listen again do that by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk or you might prefer to listen to Pastor Colin Smith as a podcast and those are available on your regular podcasting site. Just search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates. Also on our website and available as podcasts are Open the Bible Daily, a series of short two to three minute reflections based on Colin Smith’s teaching and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish and those are available as a podcast as well as on our website. Open the Bible is a worldwide ministry and as we approach the end of 2023 and look forward to 2024, Open the Bible has produced a video. It’s called Celebration of Impact and it shows the many aspects of the work of Open the Bible. You can find the video by following a link on our website that’s openthebible.org.uk or you can go to YouTube and search for Open the Bible Celebration of Impact 2023. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners, that’s people just like you and if you’re able this month to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a gift. It’s a book called The Valley of Vision. It’s a book of prayers and Colin what makes this book so special? Well it is a profoundly helpful book of prayers and you know sometimes when we pray we have words and other times you know words don’t come so easily and you know what am I going to say to God today and I find that when you feel dry in that way it’s useful to reach for something that will help you. Sometimes a hymn book may be helpful and just using these words will stimulate the mind and the heart. The Valley of Vision is an absolute gem for stimulating prayer when you feel dry and it is beautiful. These are prayers that were crafted by believers in earlier centuries and they bear not only reading and praying but going back to again and again and again. That’s why they have stood the test over hundreds of years. They have continued to provide value to Christian believers. Let me just read from the first prayer here speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me find your light in my darkness, your life in my death, your joy in my sorrow, your grace in my sin, your riches in my poverty. You know this is a book full of wisdom and a beautiful expression of prayer to God. I think it’s very rich and I think anyone who has this book will find that they’d return to it and use it again and again. Well we’d love to send you a copy of this book and we’ll do that as a free gift if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or more. Full details of this offer and lots more resources on our website that’s openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I very much hope you’ll join us again soon. How do you define yourself? Discover three unhelpful but very common ways that people often define themselves and one very productive way. That’s next time on Open the Bible.