The Spirit Moves On

 

Text: 1 Timothy 1:7-14

Focus: How God keeps us in the faith

Function: to help build confidence in the faith.

⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, ⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, ¹²and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him. ¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Well, there is good news this morning. I hope the sermons are good news every week, for if it isn’t good news, then I don’t believe it is the gospel.

And the good news this morning is that we are on a hiatus from talking about money for a while.

This morning’s message is a message about the hope that we have through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I love the end of verse 12, we sing it in a hymn. “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able, to keep that which I have delivered to Him against that day.”

“That day” being the day of judgment. And we have entrusted our souls to the saving grace of God’s mercy proven to us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as He showed us how to live and to die. He lived and died trusting in God. He lived by faith. And He died by faith. He died knowing that God would raised Him from the dead. And therefore, whatever suffering that He had to endure while here on earth, He did as an example to us to live with love for others as the primary direction of our lives regardless of what it costs us.

Paul assures Timothy, and through this assurance, us as well, that on the day of judgment God will take into account the love and sacrifice that we have shown God through the way that we have saved up for ourselves treasures in heaven by living sacrificial lives on behalf of the poor and dispossessed.

We, as believers, let that assurance control our lives as we face hardship and difficulty. We learn from scripture that at times our faith will be tested. God will allow circumstances that are painful distractions from our peace and purpose.

Look at these verses from 1 Peter 4 about trials: ¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. ¹⁶Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. ¹⁷For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
¹⁸And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

It is almost as if it is a promise that our faith will be tested. And the testing of my faith has most often been in dealing with forgiveness and healing in conflict.

I have found tests most often in conflict when either I or a person who situates themselves as an opponent to me lets pride get in the way and we cannot resolve differences.

Or, in situations of health when it fails and we wonder where the ancient miracles that happened in the time of Jesus are today and we hope for the impossible.

Sometimes, we have seen God do the impossible and all we can do is sit back and say with grateful hearts: “Thank You!”

But then there are the times when God gives us the strength to overcome in the middle of bad circumstances.

Let me re-read the last verse from the text in 1 Peter: ¹⁹Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

At the tomb of Lazarus, when Jesus saw the sorrow of Mary and Martha, His friends, He wept. He is in tune with human suffering.

I don’t believe that God causes it, but there are ways that we suffer for the Kingdom that God allows.

It feels like suffering when we are called to forgive someone who has harmed us.

The frustrations of our vocation can feel like suffering. Especially if our vocation is something where we are doing some good and contributing to society.

We pray and God promises to give us the strength to face the struggles of each and every day.

If we are suffering, it seems as if there is a promise that we can find by resting in God.

I love Isaiah 40: They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength…

I think maybe the greatest example of forgiveness during suffering happened right before all of humanity on the cross when Jesus, as God, looked down on the people who had crucified Him -His murderers- and forgave them.

At that point, I am afraid that I would be crying out for revenge.

But vengeance belongs to God. And God in God’s mercy will perform just vengeance on behalf of every victim.

Penal substitutionary theology teaches that on the Cross Jesus suffered the punishment for all of sin of all of mankind at that moment.

2 Corinthians says, He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become just in Christ.

I believe that this justice that overcomes us is a result of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That is the promise from today’s scripture.

I believe I mentioned before how during a period of rebellion from Christ I developed a racial bigotry.

And one of the first things I noticed when I was restored back to Christ was an overwhelming sense of love for that same racial group.

I had not consciously thought about it, but I noticed a change, a prompting, a move by the Spirit of God to love others bubbling out toward them.

The last verse of our text is this: Guard the good treasure entrusted to you with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The good treasure, I believe in the context of this passage is the assurance that God will keep us in the faith until we die. God is faithful and we now belong to God. Nothing, we believe, is greater than God and God promises to keep us safe in the day of judgment.

And it happens by walking by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will struggle at times. But living by faith is a chance for God to show God’s love and provision for us.

Let us rest in God’s peace for us.