Thirsting Souls Bible Teaching

(2Ti 1:5) “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”  “Unfeigned”: without hypocrisy. Faith is not a profession; it is action based upon belief. It is not what we say that counts before God. It is what we do based upon our trust in Him. I ask you, “Is this the kind of faith you live?”

(2Ti 1:4) “Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;”  Timothy was sent away from the imprisoned Paul because God’s people had need of guidance. It hurt Timothy to leave him and certainly hurt Paul who must have drawn comfort from this man’s love. In this life, the work of the Lord is to come first before ourselves and at times our own family. Why? The Lord God and the souls of others is why each of the saved are still on this earth.  

(2Ti 1:3) “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”  Prayer is not a vain thing, for the Lord commanded us to “pray without ceasing”.  When you think of a particular person, pray for that person. It does not have to be a long prayer. We are not heard for our many words or the beauty of those words. We are heard because we have been made the children of God though Jesus’ blood. Friend, I don’t know about you, but I need help from my Lord with the little things of life as well as the big. Pray.

(2Ti 1:3) “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience,…”  How is it the Apostle Paul could say, “I have served with pure conscience”? He is not saying, “I have served perfectly”. He is saying, “I have done the best I can, therefore my conscience does not condemn me.” Few can say, “I have served the best I can.” What we can and should say is, “Lord, help me to serve you better”, mean it, and then continue on to the best of our ability.

(2Ti 1:2) “To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Notice Paul’s embracing of Timothy as his son. Paul has never been married. At the point of your salvation experience, you were adopted into God’s family: (Rom 8:15b) “…. ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” The saved, your local church, is your family. Yet, the average person keeps themselves away enough never to develop the relationship, much less the Bible mentality. This is a great failing.

(2Ti 1:1) “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,” I am so afraid that there are “many” who, though professing to believe they will go to heaven because of Christ’s sacrifice, in reality are trusting in their goodness, their human efforts, their sincerity of heart, to warrant them a place. Friend, our works are defiled. They are tainted by our pride. Throw yourself at the foot of the cross and plead for mercy: “not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved (s) us.” (Titus 3:5)

(2Ti 1:1) “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,”  Interesting – “…the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus” rather than saying, “…the promise of eternal life which is in Christ Jesus”. No doubt that is what is being referred unto. Although a lost soul is alive, breathing, eating, progressing through the years of physical life; yet they are not alive as God would have them live. He wishes to give them eternal life, spirit life, that they may live as He desires, in fellowship with He Who is Spirit. This is a wholly different kind of life! 

(1Ti 6:20) “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: (21)  Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” We are to hold before us the Word of God as the supreme authority in our life. There are no other work which has the stamp of God as the authority. Our thinking is to be programmed by God’s Word alone. It is a trust committed to you who know Him as your Savior. Do not err in this matter from the faith.

 (1Ti 6:17) “Charge them that are rich in this world, … (19)  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”  “Lay hold of eternal life” here does not mean if one doesn’t, they will lose the gift God gave. It means to live in the mindset of one who will live eternally, for thoughts dictate actions. Lord help us: believers are too earthly minded. We have failed to reprogram our minds to God’s Word. Therefore, we think like the world. No wonder they do not see Christ in us!