Stir up the gift

S. Sekou. Abodunrin

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands 2 Tim 1:6

Paul writes this when his ministry was close to its end. Usually folks say the important things then.

You need to remember that the instructions in the book of Timothy are quite unlike the other epistles of Paul. They give us a peep into the type of instruction that one minister gave to a younger minister by the Spirit of God. The things of the Spirit of God can be learned and we should endeavour to press into this knowledge and walk.

There is a growing number that believe that what transpired between Paul and Timothy was that a spiritual gift was imparted when Paul laid his hands on Timothy. However, while this is a sacred cow for many, you cannot really find an instance in scripture where spiritual gifts were communicated from one human to another. Some would even cite the things that Paul told timothy above.

I want you to notice that Paul did not say to Timothy …..stir up the gifts of the Spirit, which is in thee .. Did he? Look at it again - He didn't.

What he said is that Timothy should stir up the gift of God, which was in him. Whatever it was then that was communicated to Timothy by the laying on of hands is not the gifts of the Spirit, but the gift of God. This is not just semantics :)

The exercise of Spiritual gifts is really governed by the Spirit of God and not by man. It is not safe to exercise a gift just because you choose to. There is something about learning to wait for the timing of God for the exercise of that which is given to you by God through his Spirit. We get over into fleshly operations when we try to exercise gifts of the Spirit thinking that we just “stir it up” - if you are conversant with the flow of the Spirit you realise that you don't just “stir up a gift”, but that you wait on the Lord who governs the exercise of these gifts of the Spirit.
The instruction of Paul to timothy obviously implies that this “gift of God” could be stirred up by Timothy; the implication is that minister Timothy can do this whenever he chooses. This is scriptural and valid and more of us should practice this instruction.

Stirring up the gift is your responsibility; scripturally speaking, no other person can do it for you. So do not try to get another person to do for you that which the Spirit will teach you to do. You have no business sitting down there like you have nothing residing deep within for you do. You do not need hands laid again, what you must do is stir it up. Paul told timothy in effect that it is what he has within that counts. Do not go about chasing some extra anointing - use the one that you already have by firstly stirring it up. When we do not stir up the gift, we loose awareness of spiritual things and begin to think that what we need is some extra thing that's out there somewhere.

Some folks are always looking for someone to stir them. There is something not right about that. Timothy had a memory problem -he forgot some things. He forgot the important things and began to rest on his age and his inabilities in the natural. This tendency to forget the things that really mattered got him into timidity and fear and made him shy away from the development of that which God had committed to his charge. Paul says what you need is to bring these facts to your mind then get stirred up by stirring the gift of God within.

So what is this “gift of God” that Paul instructed Timothy to stir up?

17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost
18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money Acts 8: 17 - 20

The Apostles Peter and John laid hands because they had a ministry in this area. Phillip had stirred the whole city and he could have ministered the Holy Ghost to these Christians, but they recognised that Peter and John were “specialists” in this area and so Phillip opened the door for the expression of this ministry. The point I want you to see is that they ministered the Holy Ghost through the LAYING ON OF HANDS.

Simon recognised that there was a power by which the Apostles ministered the Holy Ghost. He wanted this power. He had watched the Apostles minister the Holy Ghost; he knew exactly how they ministered - through the laying on of hands.

There is a lot that we can glean from this passage. We have a scarcity of Peter's response in our day. People talk of a money-anointing connection. I guess in our day some would say he was sowing “into the anointing” or “plugging into the anointing” in the Apostolic office by sowing money! Apparently Peter 's theology didn't recognise such. He said - your money perish with thee :)

Peter linked this with the “gift of God”. Clearly then, the gift of God refers to what we know as the baptism of the Spirit.

We can then say that the “gift of God” that comes through the laying on of hands is the baptism in the Holy Ghost. Some could say that eternal life is the “gift of God”, while that is true, it cannot be what Paul had in mind because salvation is neither communicated nor received through the laying on of hands.

We understand then that Paul is teaching timothy primarily that speaking in other tongues, which originates from the baptism of the Spirit, is the valid way to get stirred up. If you link this with 2 Tim 1.7 it means that as you speak in other tongues your mind will get past certain ministerial fears more quickly and a divine boldness will awaken out of you with power.
Getting past these fears and operating in a sound mind is what is called edification.

You do not need to run around town looking for extra anointing or extra hands laid on you. Now, I didn't say that it is wrong to have hands laid on you, but asides the case of healing, it seems laying on of hands is initiated by God and not man. What you need is edification - you can initiate this. Edification hands you over to boldness and fearlessness. Naturally, this means that you will be able to stand in your call more fully with precision. You see, that which stirs the gift of God will take you into the fullness of God and hand you over to the greater anointings that should be your walk.

If I place the word on my lips and boldly declare it, I will get stirred. The same is true of worship and recalling the private conversations you have had with the Lord.

…. To be continued