Jeff Schreve - A Lion On The Loose
What are we to do when difficult times come in our wicked world? Hey, that’s the situation that Timothy found himself in as Paul, his mentor, was nearing the end of his earthly journey and his ministry for the Lord. Now, how could Timothy find the strength to go on without Paul? How could he find the strength to overcome the obstacles before him? Open your Bible to the book of 2 Timothy as we study «A Lion on the Loose».
I want us to talk about Paul’s last letter, 2 Timothy chapter 1. His last letter to his true child in the faith, Timothy, a young boy that he met on his first missionary journey and then on his second missionary journey, had him come with Paul and Silas and say, «Be on the team». And he was from Lystra. That was where Paul went on his first and second missionary journeys. Lystra, if you know anything about Lystra, Lystra is where Paul got stoned. Now, not that kind of stoned. He got hit with stones at Lystra. Wasn’t that he had, whoa, he relapsed, he got stoned in Lystra. No, he was hit with stones in Lystra. They thought he was dead. But God either brought him back to life or sustained his life. But he was witnessing in Lystra and he witnessed to Lois and Eunice.
Lois was Timothy’s grandmother, Eunice was his mother. And they had had such an impact on this guy’s life, and Paul said, «We’re taking you with us». And Timothy became the pastor of the church in Ephesus. And you remember in the book of Acts that Paul, when he began preaching there and built the church there, people started turning away from paganism, and Demetrius, a silversmith who made little idols to the temple of Diana, he was all upset. He said, «If people turn away from… of Artemus…» Artemus and Diana. Artemus is the Greek; Diana is the Roman. It’s the same god. «But if people turn away, then it’s gonna put our business in trouble». And so he stirred up a big fuss and they all went into the amphitheater and for 2 hours, they shouted, «Great is Artemis of the Ephesians».
I’ve been in the amphitheater. That thing held 25,000 people. And historians would base the size of a city based on how big the amphitheater was. And they said the amphitheater was 1/10 the size of the city. So 250,000 people lived in Ephesus, so it was a big city, a pagan city. Well, Paul had been there and now he turns the reins over to Timothy. Well, can you imagine following Paul? That would be a scary deal, to follow Paul, because Paul is just this larger-than-life guy, and Timothy is not quite as choleric as Paul in his personality. And so Paul has to encourage him to be bold as a lion, and to let the lion of the tribe of Judah who lives inside, let him loose.
And so this is what he says in 2 Timothy chapter 1: «Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher».
A lion on the loose. Hey, here’s a question. What are we to do when things are tough, when difficult times have come, when things are scary, when things are increasingly wicked? That’s the situation that Timothy found himself in and his mentor, the apostle Paul, is getting ready to be killed, martyred, for his faith in Christ. What are we to do? Well, there are three essentials, to let the lion loose, the lion of the tribe of Judah who lives inside, to let him loose. Three essentials. Essential number one: Kindle afresh your call from God. Kindle afresh your call from God. Now, in verses 6:5-6, he reminds Timothy of his faith, his sincere faith. And then he tells him to kindle afresh the gift of God.
Look at it again. «For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I’m sure that it is in you as well. And for this reason,» because you have genuine, sincere faith, «I remind you to stir up, to kindle afresh, the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands». It is important to remember what the Lord did in our lives when we first met him. Colossians chapter 1 says: «For he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins».
Now, do you remember the day you met the Lord? Do you remember what happened? Do you remember the circumstances when you really came to know Christ, when you were forgiven and set free? He is telling Timothy, «I remember your sincere faith. Do you remember your sincere faith, your genuine faith, just like your grandmother had it, just like your mother had it? And I know that it’s in you as well». So when we kindle afresh the call from God, we remember our salvation experience. We remember how we came to know the Lord. We remember when we went from darkness into light. We remember when Jesus became real to us, when it went from head knowledge to heart knowledge.
See, because most of us had some head knowledge about the Lord, and many of us, especially if you grew up going to church, before you became a Christian, you knew about the Lord. And I mean, I went to church, Catholic Church, and I was an altar boy and I went to Catholic school and I knew things about the Lord and I didn’t doubt any of that. I didn’t doubt that Jesus Christ was God. I didn’t doubt that he died on the cross. I didn’t doubt that he rose again from the dead. It was all just knowledge in my head. When I became a Christian on Monday night in January of 1980, head knowledge became heart knowledge. And I still remember that day and it was, at the time, I didn’t understand everything about it, but it was the beginning point of everything changing in my life. Remember your salvation. And Paul reminds Timothy of his sincere faith. It was genuine, it was true. It’s not perfect faith. It’s sincere faith.
Psalm 78, verse 42 says: «They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary». Do you have a day? Do you know the day that the Lord redeemed you? Do you know the season? Maybe you don’t have a specific day, but you know the season. You have to remember something about it. If you say, «All of that is a blur, I don’t remember anything about that,» something’s wrong with that because the day that you come to eternal life, you come to faith in the Lord Jesus, your eyes are opened, and you don’t have any concept of that, you don’t remember that at all, you know, becoming a Christian is kind of like getting married. You have to have a point in time where you say, «I do». Nobody has always been married, although it can feel like that at times. Nobody has always been married.
You have to say, «I do,» and we have to do that same thing with the Lord and put our faith and trust in him. So he says, «Remember your salvation and then fan the flame of your gift for service. And for this reason,» because you have genuine faith, verse 6, «I remind you to kindle afresh, the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands». No doubt when they set Timothy apart for the ministry to be a missionary with the apostle Paul, they laid hands on them and we do that when we ordain pastors or deacons, we lay hands on them. It’s not that there’s power in that; it symbolizes God’s power on that person, and that office that is being applied to that person.
And the apostle Paul did that for Timothy. And he said, you remember the gift that God gave you, Timothy, because you were called to be a missionary. You were called to be a pastor. You were called to be a preacher. You were called to be a teacher. And so what does a pastor, a preacher, a teacher need? He needs the gift to preach and teach and lead. If he doesn’t have that, he’s not going to be effective. 1 Peter 4:10 says: «As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God». Every Christian, the moment you receive Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, Jesus comes into your life through the Holy Spirit of God. See, Jesus, to get real technical, Jesus ascended to heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God. He said, «It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Holy Spirit will not come».
So Jesus is in heaven, He sends His Spirit. And the moment that we believe, we receive the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus who comes to live inside our hearts. And the Spirit comes in with a spiritual gift. You have a spiritual gift if you know Jesus. If there’s sincere faith, if you have a day of salvation that you can point to and you know that Christ lives in you through his Spirit, well, there’s a gift there, as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another. How do we let the lion loose? Well, «kindle afresh your gift from God». Essential number two: hold fast to the truth, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of how wicked, how scary, how difficult, how anti-Christian our world may get. Hold fast to the truth. Verse 7: «For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline».
The spirit, King James says, of fear. And that word in the Greek means fearfulness, cowardice. And the implication is faithlessness. God hasn’t given us that. You know, if you say, «Well, I get ready to witness or I get ready to serve or I get ready to do something in Jesus’s name and I get so afraid and so I just can’t do it because I’m just too afraid». That’s not coming from God. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, a spirit of timidity, a spirit of cowardice. Hold fast to the truth, regardless of the circumstances. And remember who lives inside you as a believer: the lion of the tribe of Judah. 1 Corinthians 6:19: «What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God»? Your body is literally the Holy of Holies.
This is where God dwells. He dwells inside believers. In the Old Testament, God had a temple for Hs people, and in the New Testament, God has a people for His temple. 1 John chapter 4, verse 4 says: «Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world». So when you feel the fear, say, «That’s not from God, because God hasn’t given me a spirit of fear and cowardice». And we need to remember who lives within us, and remember what you have in Jesus: power, love, discipline. Acts chapter 1, verse 8: «But you shall receive power,» dunamis. We get our English word, «dynamite,» from that Greek word. «You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth,» power. «Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world».
God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and we lose sight of the power that we have in the Lord. Do you remember when Goliath was taunting the people of God? They were having a big battle. They gathered for battle, the Israelites on one side, the Philistines on another side, and then the champion of Philistines came out, Goliath of Gath, who was 9 feet, 9 inches tall. And he says, «Hey, are you not servants of Saul? And we Philistines? Give us a man,» and he said, «Let’s just, we don’t have to kill each other like this. You send a representative, I’m the representative of the Philistines and we’ll fight and if I defeat him, then you’ll be our servants. But if he defeats me, then we’ll be your servants». And then he says, «I defy the ranks of Israel this day, send me a man that we may fight together». He did that for 40 days, morning and evening. «I defy the ranks of Israel. I defy the ranks of Israel. I defy the ranks of Israel».
Went on, the 81st day, David happened to come. David’s dad said, «Go check on the battle. I haven’t heard, I don’t know what’s going on». So David went to where the battle was in the Valley of Elah. And when he got there, Goliath was coming down from the mountain like he had been doing for 40 days. And he said, «I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together». And Israel ran away. They were so afraid of this guy. And David said to the soldiers, «Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God»?
Listen, you guys are believing a lie. He’s telling you you’re the ranks of Israel, but we’re not the ranks of Israel. We are the armies of the living God. And God hasn’t given us a spirit of timidity but of power and love and discipline. The wicked flee when no one is «pursuing,» but the righteous are bold as a lion. Remember who lives in you. Remember what you have in Jesus Christ: power. The essentials to let the lion loose: kindle afresh your call from God; hold fast to the truth, regardless of the circumstances. And thirdly, never be ashamed of Jesus and the gospel. Never be ashamed of Jesus and the gospel. Verse 8: «Therefore,» Timothy, «do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God». So, never be ashamed of Jesus and the gospel.
Now a few things I’m gonna just tick off here for you to know. Know that this world hates Jesus Christ. We’re talking about being bold as a lion and letting the lion loose. The world does not love Jesus. You say, «Oh, when Jesus walked the earth, the world loved him». Oh yeah? They said, «Hail him, hail him,» on Palm Sunday. And just a few days later, they were saying, «Nail him, nail him». And Pilate wanted to release him. «Whom shall I release for you? Jesus who is called the Christ, or Barabbas»? «Not this man, but Barabbas». «What then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ»? «Let him be crucified». «Why? What evil has he done»? But they just kept crying out, «Crucify him, crucify him». «Shall I crucify your king»? «We have no king but Caesar,» was the reply. The world hates Jesus.
Now, many come out of the world to love Jesus. They understand, the light comes on, and they put their faith and trust in Jesus. But the world in general, the Bible says in 1 John chapter 5, «The whole world lies in the lap of the evil one. He cradles the world like you would cradle a baby». And the world system is against the Lord. And these guys that say, «Well, you know, if we just preach more like Jesus, we’d have the whole world coming». Well, the world is, they were the ones that nailed him to a tree. So Jesus said, «If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you». Secondly, know that this world hates the gospel and the Bible. He said, why would they hate the gospel? The word «gospel,» euangelion in the Greek, means good news.
Who hates good news? Well, the good news is only good news when you understand the bad news, and the world hates the bad news. Romans 3:23: «All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God». «And the wages of sin is death,» Romans 6:23. We’re all sinners and we’re all shut up under sin. And what is going to be our reward for sin? The wages of sin is death: physical death, spiritual death, eternal death. We’re on the highway to hell, and the world hates that. So they don’t want the good news because they don’t want the bad news. And they hate the Word of God because the Word of God says, there is going to be judgment on every soul.
A man who does evil to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, as Paul when he came into Athens in Acts chapter 17, and he started witnessing to them about their unknown God. He said, «I can tell you who the unknown God is. It’s Jesus, and God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead». And he’s declaring now that all men everywhere should repent, but they don’t want to repent. «Men loved the darkness rather than the light for their deeds are evil». And sad to say there are many preachers today in their quest to win the world, they coddle the world and they compromise the Word of God.
Listen, we want to share far and wide to every single person that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father, but through Him. That all men are in serious trouble because they are on the highway to hell, but «God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life». And if you’ll turn to Jesus, you will not be destroyed in hell. You can have eternal life in Him. That’s what we share with people, but we are not going to compromise the Word of God to change the standards and move the boundary markers to say, «Hey, you’re welcome any way you want». You’re not. And the Lord doesn’t do that.
And if you ever get the idea that, well, surely God won’t judge everybody this harshly, go to Genesis 6 and 7, the antediluvian world, the world of Noah. And God destroyed the millions and millions and millions of people who were wicked and were unreachable. They refused to repent and God saved eight persons through the ark. It’s not because God didn’t want to save more. It’s because more wouldn’t come, just those eight. And if God destroyed that ancient world through a flood, He said, «Listen, I’m not going to destroy it again with a flood. I’m going to destroy it this time with fire». We’re gonna have to deal with a God who is holy, holy, holy. And there’s only one way to deal with a God who is holy, holy, holy, and that is to repent and believe in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is the only remedy for our sins. You try and go any other way, «there’s a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death».
And we are sharing that message and we’re not gonna apologize about that message because that’s the message that God has given us to share. So know that this world will hate you and hate me and hate us for boldly loving Jesus and loving the gospel and loving the Bible. And then know that you have one main purpose in this world, and that is to be his witness. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re here. That’s what we exist for, to be witnesses. «You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses».
He puts it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 5: «God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God». That’s our purpose for being. For such a time as this, we’re here to shine with our life, to share with our lips, to be a witness, to point people to Jesus, to let people know, hey, you’re a sinner and God is gonna judge sin. I’m a sinner and God judged my sin, but he judged my sin in Jesus Christ. So he wrote «not guilty» on my record because I put my sins where God put His wrath, on the Lord Jesus. You put your faith where God put your sins and you’ll be set free. But if you don’t, then you are going to have to pay for your sins. And God doesn’t want that. «He’s not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance».