Dr. Martin Alphonse
Talking about the end times is often like a family driving in a car. Throughout the journey, the child sitting in the backseat keeps asking, “Are we there yet, dad?“ In fact, speaking about the second coming of the Lord, we can say that it is close . Another way to look at it is to say, “how can we say with certainty that this is not the time for the Lord coming?”
In Luke 18:1-8, we read the parable of the unrighteous judge. Even though the commonly understood message about the parable was about the persistent prayer of the widow, we see that Jesus closes that parable by wondering if He would find faith on earth at the time of His return. His concern was about whether He will find end-time faith.
I want us to look at Paul’s epistles to Timothy on the subject of faith. I do not want to focus on end-time faith only, but also on everyday faith. The word “faith” in its multiple forms is used so many times in Timothy. 1 Timothy uses it 16 times and 2 Timothy uses it 6 times.
In Timothy, we read about many warnings as concerning the loss of faith:
“keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:19-20 - Hymenaeus and Alexander have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. That indicates those that had faith, but lost it.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” 1 Timothy 4:1 - Again, this speaks about people who fell away from the faith through wrong doctrine and deceitful teachings.
“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8 - Here are those that have denied the faith, if they do not provide for their families.
“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10 - Again here is a warning about the greed for money, causing people to wander away from the faith.
“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11 - Paul warns Timothy about things that he must flee, just like one would need to flee from an approaching fire, such as the one that engulfed areas in California recently. We must instead pursue faith among other things.
“Fight the good fight of faith; O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.” 1 Timothy 6:12, 20-21 - once again, Paul is exhorting his disciple Timothy to guard what’s been given to him, to fight the good fight of faith so that he would not go astray from the faith like some did.
These warnings have clearly been given with a view that it is possible to once have faith and then lose it. So we must be very vigilant in these last days to avoid losing our everyday faith.
In the epistles to Timothy, Paul speaks about faith that has the following characteristics:
Sincere faith
Successive faith.
Survived faith.
Scripture-fed fairh
Spirit-fanned faith
1. Sincere Faith
“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”
2 Timothy 1:5
The use of the phrase “sincere faith” raises the question, “Can faith be insincere?” The answer is yes. Faith can be insincere in its motive and its usage.
“Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Paul connects faith with resurrection and with hope. I see faith and hope as twins. One does not exist without the other. If one has hope only for things of this earth, for material things, they are to be pitied. Such so called Christians are so pathetic.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Matthew 7:21-23
Every time I read this scripture or when I hear someone quote it or when I use it in my own message, I shudder. Millions of people are calling on Jesus right now, “Lord, Lord”. It is not those who called him, “Lord, Lord,” that enters the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father.
Many people prophesied in Jesus name, they cast out demons in Jesus name, they performed miracles and healing in his name. They felt that these actions were proof that God was with them, because they could not perform these miraculous works without the power of the Holy Spirit. However Jesus told them to depart from Him. It is possible that this happens, because faith and the gifts of the spirit are all gifts from God (1 Cor 12). Also, we read in Rom 11:29 that the gifts and the calling are irrevocable. Once God gives His gifts, he does not take them away. How would you use the gifts that God has given you? Will you use them for your glory? Will you use them so that people will come and praise you? Will you use them to make wealth or a name for yourself? No wonder God says to such people that He never knew them.
Paul writes: “ If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” 1 Cor 13:2
Also, Jesus after he cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit, and His disciples were amazed, he said, “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” He speaks about faith that moves the mountains, but He immediately tells them to forgive everyone so that the Lord may forgive their transgressions.
Everyday faith must be sincere.
Pass On Your Faith!
It is like a relay race, where you pass the baton on to the next runner, you ought to pass the faith on to your children. Pass on your faith.
2. Successive Faith
“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” 2 Timothy 1:5
Paul speaks about the faith that was first in his grandmother, then in his mother also lives in Timothy. Three generations successively has that faith. Three generations had the faith successfully passed on. I believe that Lois and Eunice did not forget their Jewish roots.
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 4:9
“Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.” Joel 1:3
It is like a relay race, where you pass the baton on to the next runner, you ought to pass the faith on to your children. Pass on your faith.
In Luke 15, we read about the parable of the lost sheep. But that is not the first time Jesus spoke about it. In Matt 18, Jesus spoke about children saying that unless one changes and becomes like little children, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. He goes on in the same passage and speaks about the lost sheep. The same story that he speaks in the context of adults, he speaks in the context of children. We have to pass on our everyday faith to children.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. Matt 18:12-14
3. Scripture-Fed Faith
There is a prayer called “Shema Yisrael” in Deut 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
This prayer was repeated by the Israelites at least twice a day. In the morning when they woke up and at night when they were putting the kids to bed, they said this as the last prayer. This is the first thing that a child would hear when they wake up and the last thing they hear before they go to bed. Imagine how sweet their dreams would be!
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim 3:14,15
From infancy Timothy knew the scriptures. My wife is a Montessori teacher. The founder Maria Montessori found in her research that 3-month old babies can understand what you are saying. The Bible confirms this finding! “From infancy” Timothy knew the scriptures!
Continue in what you learned. What did you learn? You learned about salvation. Who did you learn from? From your mother and grandmother. How did you learn? From infancy you learned the scriptures.
Rather than let children learn from mobile phones and social media, let the mothers and fathers be the first source of learning. And it’s a dangerous world, let them learn the scriptures.
4. Survived Faith
Paul speaks about Timothy’s grandmother and mother. What about his father? His father was not a believer. He was a Greek. Acts 16:1 says, “Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.”
It was a requirement to be circumcised. Why wasn’t Timothy circumcised as a Jewish boy? Maybe because Timothy’s father was a Greek and not a believer. We don’t know anything more about his father. We only know that Eunice raised him as a single mother. Paul adopts him as a spiritual son. Looking at the possibilities, Timothy had many influences when he was growing up:
His mother’s side was Jewish who passed on Jewish culture to him. He spoke Hebrew and Aramaic.
On his father’s side, his uncles, aunts, cousins, were all Greek. So he spoke Greek and had influence of the Greek culture.
Finally the ruling power was Roman. So he had the influence of the Roman culture as well.
Three cultures converged in Timothy’s life. Just like for Indian children growing up in America. They have the Sub-Indian culture such as Malayali, Telugu, or Tamil. Then they have the American influence. My friend Sam George calls the children the coconut generation: brown outside, but white inside. And over that, they have the church culture.
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Tim 1:2
Again multiple generations are spoken of here.
Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 2 Tim 2:3-6
Paul uses three comparisons here referencing the three major influences in Timothy’s life:
Soldier: The Roman soldiers were the greatest fighting power of the time. But Timothy’s commander now is Jesus
Athlete: The Greek were the best athletes of the times, inventing the Olympic games. Compete according to rules and be disciplined.
Farmer: The best farmers are Jews. Jesus used so many parables from farming and agriculture.
Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 2 Tim 2:7
Towards the end of the letter in 2 Tim 4 also Paul goes back to the same theme while providing his parting words:
I fought a good fight (like the Roman soldier)
I have finished the race (like the Greek athlete)
I have kept the faith (the Jewish faith)
End time faith requires us to fight a good fight and finish the race and keep the faith. You cannot do the others without faith, because faith is foundational.
5. Spirit-Fanned Faith
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 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. 2 Tim 1:5-6
What was the gift of God? The Holy Spirit of God as well as the faith itself!
The gift of God that was within you by the laying on of hands. “ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Tim 1:7, 8
Don’t let the gift in you become inactive. Keep stirring it. Fan it to flame. I grew up in a small village where the wooden stoves were kept aflame with a pipe through which you blew air to fan the flames to burn brighter.
I get energized by the words in Eph 3:20, 21:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
There are four things that we hear here:
God is able
To do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine
According to His power
Which is at work within us already
God’s power is already within us. Keep stirring the gift of God that is within you.
This is the kind of faith that God wants us to have in these last times.