II Timothy

HOW TO FINISH STRONG IN THE LORD

by LARRY CORY

A SUMMARY OF THE MESSAGE OF
II TIMOTHY

Greetings (1:1-2)

Paul's past strong pattern of ministry toward Timothy (1:3-18)

Therefore be strong and pass your ministry to reliable men (2:1-13)

Avoid getting into foolish arguments (2:14-26)

Why we need to stay strong in the Lord (3:1-9)

Be strong in the Lord as Paul was strong in the Lord (3:10-17)

The exalted purpose of the church (4:1-5)

Paul's pattern of ministry and his reward (4:6-18)

Final Greetings (4:19-22)

Introductory Information About the Book of II Timothy

     1. Its author: The letter claims to be a letter from Paul the Apostle. Other than one heretic named Marcion, many early church leaders after Bible times believed it was written by Paul the Apostle.
     2. Its circumstances: The comments in II Timothy by Paul about his circumstances and visits that he recently had made tell us much about where he was when he wrote this letter to Timothy and when it was that he wrote it. In II Timothy 1:17, we learn that Onesiphorus had to search hard to find him. The location of his imprisonment in Rome that is recorded in the book of Acts was well-known, and he was also easily accessible to large crowds during that imprisonment. He lived "two whole years . . . in his own rented house." (Acts 28:30) Also, according to 1:17, Onesiphorus was taking a risk to visit him in the imprisonment described in II Timothy. It appears that the imprisonment described in II Timothy was a different imprisonment than the one described in the last chapters of the book of Acts; for in the imprisonment described in the book of Acts, large crowds visited Paul safely, and it was public knowledge where Paul was imprisoned. See also 1:16, 2:9
Also, the visits that Paul describes in II Timothy are not recorded in the book of Acts. I Timothy and Titus appear to have been written after Paul's first imprisonment. In these 2 books, Paul refers to travels that are not described in the book of Acts (Titus – to Crete, Titus 1:5 and to Nicapolis, Titus 3:12; I Timothy – to Ephesus and Macedonia, I Timothy 1:3). II Timothy also describes travels not recorded in the book of Acts: to Troas-II Timothy 4:13 and to Miletus and Corinth-II Timothy 4:20.
     John Stott summarizes Paul's travels after his first imprisonment in Rome as follows: "It seems that, after being released from his earlier imprisonment (the house arrest in Rome described at the end of Acts), Paul 'again journeyed on the ministry of preaching'. [he quotes Eusebius] He went to Crete where he left Titus behind (Tit. 1:5), and then to Ephesus where he left Timothy behind (I Tim. 1:3, 4). He may well have gone on to Colosse to see Philemon, as he had planned (Phm. 22) and he certainly reached Macedonia (I Tim. 1:3). Of the Macedonian cities he visited, one will have been Philippi (Phil. 2:24). From Macedonia he addressed his first letter to Timothy in Ephesus and his letter to Titus in Crete. He told Titus his intention to spend the winter at Nicopolis (Tit. 3:12), a town in Epirus on the west (Adriatic) coast of Greece. . . It is safe to assume that he later kept his promise to visit Timothy in Ephesus (I Tim. 3:14,15). From there his itinerary seems to have taken him to the nearby port of Miletus, where he had to leave Trophimus behind ill (2 Tim. 4:20), to Troas . . . where he stayed with Carpus and left his cloak and some books behind (2 Tim. 4:13), to Corinth where Erastus left the party (2 Tim. 4:20; cf. Rom 16;23), and so to Rome. Somewhere on this journey he must have been re-arrested . . . And the tradition is likely to be correct that Paul was condemned to death and then beheaded (as a Roman citizen would have been) on the Ostian Way about three miles outside the city. Eusebius quotes Dyonisius of Corinth that Paul and Peter 'were martyred on the same occasion', though he adds that Paul's execution was by beheading and Peter's (at his own request) by crucifixion 'head-downwards'." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press."
     Tradition tells us that Paul died in prison in Rome during the reign of Nero. It is likely, then, that Paul wrote II Timothy shortly before his death.
     3. The recipient of the letter: Timothy was raised in Lystra (it was located in what was then called Galatia). This region where Timothy lived is now part of the country of Turkey. His father was Greek, and his mother was Jewish (Acts 16:1). Both his mother and grandmother were God-fearing Jews (II Timothy 1:5). They taught him from infancy about the Scriptures in such a way that he was prepared to hear the Gospel message-that Jesus was Israel's promised Messiah who died for him on the cross to pay the penalty for his sins (I Timothy 3:15).
     Timothy may have been Paul's most faithful and reliable disciple. He had been by Paul's side through many of the trials that Paul had undergone, yet he shared Paul's mission and continued to support him until the end. See 3:10,11 Timothy's faithfulness becomes even more admirable as we learn that he had a number of personal struggles: (1) he appears to have been temperamentally shy and sensitive (See 1:7,8; I Corinthians 16:10,11; I Timothy 4:12); (2) he suffered from frequent illnesses (See I Timothy 5:23).   So, Paul needed to encourage him to overcome his fears and physical struggles and to persevere in faithfulness to the ministry of the gospel to the churches that had been established by Paul. We see in II Timothy how Paul passed his ministry on to his faithful though often struggling follower. See 2:2,3, 3:12, 4:5 He was apparently shy and sensitive by temperament. For Paul tells him in II Timothy 1:7,8a the following: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or ashamed of me his prisoner." In I Corinthians 16:10, Paul speaks to the church at Corinth in the following words: "If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you." There is a possibility that part of the reason that Paul sent such a strong letter to Corinth after he sent I Corinthians to them was because they had so badly mistreated Timothy during his visit with them.
Some have used the name "a Timothy" to describe a younger Christian who is being trained by a more mature Christian leader. Someone may refer to this young leader-in-training as that person's "Timothy." See I Corinthians 4:17; I Timothy 1:2; Romans 16:21; I Thessalonians 3:2; Philippians 2:20-22
    Timothy was probably in Ephesus when he received this letter. He was in Ephesus when he received I Timothy. See I Timothy 1:3 In II Timothy we learn that he was to greet Onesiphorus' family who was in Ephesus (See 1:6-8, 4:19) and Tychicus was being sent to Ephesus to take Timothy's place there. See 4:11,12

A TRIBUTE TO JIM MCBRIDE

In II Timothy 2:2 it says "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Years ago my wife and I had the privilege of sharing the gospel message with Jim and Mary McBride. Through the 30 years since then we have kept loving contact with each other. It has been our great joy to watch them be faithful in following and serving Jesus Christ. Jim's sense of humor and his encouragements were a joy and a help to me. During the writing of this Digging for Gold study, Jim went to be with the Lord. This study is a tribute to Jim who was a "reliable man" who also taught others God's Word and lived out his faith in God before his family and his church.

THE MESSAGE OF II TIMOTHY

Most of us have a few dear friends that we can share anything with. We are able to share our pain, failures, struggles, weaknesses, and how our walk with God is going. Paul had that type of relationship with Timothy. We can look deeply into the heart of Paul as we read this transparent letter. Also, as we read this final letter of Paul to his closest follower, we learn what kept him strong in his relationship with God through the many trials and discouragements that he faced. In II Timothy, he passed this strong ministry on to Timothy. May he pass it on to us as well.

GREETINGS (1:1,2)
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

Thought Question: Why do you believe Paul started out his letter to Timothy with these words?

Paul begins by introducing himself, then he describes Timothy, and then he follows with a warm and meaningful greeting to him. He begins by describing himself: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God." Paul includes himself among the unique men upon whom the church was built: "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." (Ephesians 2:20) He includes himself as being on the same status level as the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ; for he was also an Apostle.

Some have asked why Paul begins this letter to his close friend and follower by declaring himself to be an Apostle. Certainly Timothy knew that he was an Apostle. A possible answer is that this letter is very close to being Paul's own eulogy. His ministry as an Apostle was coming to an end. Also, undoubtedly many were challenging his Apostleship due to his imprisonment. That happened during his first imprisonment. See Philippians 1:12-18 For these reasons it makes sense that Paul would describe himself as an "an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God." Earlier, Paul defended his Apostleship by claiming that he had seen the resurrected Lord See I Corinthians 15:8,9; Acts 1;21-26, 9:1-8, 26:16-18; Romans 11:13; Galatians 1:11,12,15,15, 2:9

Next, Paul mentions the purpose of his Apostleship: "according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus." It is interesting that Paul focuses on "life" while he is on the verge of death at the hands of Nero. His whole gospel message, that he had been so strong in proclaiming, pointed to the resurrection of the dead unto life that is eternal. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10) See also I John 5:11,12

Paul, next, describes Timothy: "To Timothy, my dear son." Paul saw himself as a spiritual father to Timothy. Timothy probably heard the gospel for the first time from the lips of Paul during Paul's first missionary journey in his home town of Lystra. See Acts 14;6,7 When Paul returned to Lystra on his second missionary journey, he heard of Timothy's sincere faith and he took Timothy along on his journey and made him his disciple. See Acts 16:1-3 and Matthew28:19,20

Now, we focus on Paul's warm and meaningful greeting to Timothy: "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." These words are foundational words that are shared by all believers in Jesus Christ. "Grace and mercy" speaks of each Christian's recognition of his or her sinfulness and our need for God's grace and mercy. "Peace" speaks of reconciliation for our sins that has resulted in peace between God and us. "from God the Father" reminds us of John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son . . . " And, "Christ Jesus our Lord" reminds us of the new relationship that now exists between Jesus Christ and each Christian. He is now our Lord. "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:15) Christians who have "the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus" are those who live in obedience to "Christ Jesus our Lord."

PAUL'S PAST STRONG PATTERN OF MINISTRY TO TIMOTHY (1:3-7)

1. He had maintained a pure testimony before Timothy (1:3a)

"I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience . . . "

Thought Question #1: Why do you believe that Paul, who was in prison at the time he wrote this letter, could "thank God"?

Thought Question #2: What part do you believe a "clear conscience" plays in the Christian life?

Paul begins with "I thank God." He is in prison and he is also about to die, yet he starts by thanking God. Paul is following the instructions that he gave many years before to the Thessalonian Christians: "Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (I Thessalonians 5:16-8)

How could he genuinely give thanks while he was in prison where he might soon be executed? You may find yourself in difficult times as you read these words and you may find it hard to give thanks. But you, like Paul, have much to be thankful for: you are forgiven of sin, eternally loved, an heir along with God's Son, and your trials are being used for good. See Romans 8:17,18; Ephesians 1:3-14

The Paul continues: "whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience." In I Timothy 1:5, Paul said the following about the goal of the church: "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Then, in I Timothy 3:9, Paul says of deacons that "They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience." Through the nearly 40 years that I have been a Christian, I have sadly learned that many of those who were my spiritual heroes at one time have not kept a "clear conscience." Many, for example, became involved in extramarital affairs. Because they did not keep a "clear conscience," they did not stay strong in their relationship with God. There are many ways that we can go against our conscience: we can do what we know is wrong sexually, financially, with regard to telling the truth, and by being selfish rather than doing what is loving. Paul kept a "clear conscience" until the very end of his life! He finished strong!

Who were the "forefathers" who also kept a "clear conscience"? Paul saw himself as one of those in a long line of followers of God in Israel who had kept the faith in spite of rejection and persecution: Listen to these words of Jesus: ""Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)

2. He prayed for Timothy night and day. (1:3b)

"as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers."

Thought Question #1: Why do you think that Paul prayed night and day for Timothy?

Thought Question #2: Do you pray for anyone night and day? If yes, why do you do it?

Should intensity be a part of the Christian life? We see intensity in many football stadiums as the hometown fans cheer and rock the stadium as their team battles against the hated rival. We see intensity as the pre-med student tries to make all "A"s as he seeks to be selected to the medical school of his choice. Are we as Christians to be intense at all? Here we see Paul expressing an intensity of concern for Timothy and his ministry. Jesus said in Revelation 3:15,16 that he wishes Christians were either hot or cold rather than lukewarm. I am presently reading a biography of George Whitfield by John Pollock. He was like the Apostle Paul during his lifetime. For he also had an intensity of concern for the people of Britain and America during the 1700s. Paul prayed night and day for Timothy. I do not believe it was a duty or a Christian discipline that enabled him to pray like he did. It was a deep-hearted concern for Timothy and for God's work.

3. He expressed his deep concern for Timothy. (1:4)

"Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy."

Thought Question: Is there anyone that has been close to you in ministry that you long to see as Paul longed to see Timothy? If the answer is yes, why do you long to see him or her?

As I write these words, my wife Shirley and I have been apart for a little over a week. She is helping out with our grandson of 1 ½ years while our daughter-in-law is focusing on a newborn baby. Our son Stephen is soon to be gone for 3 weeks of severe army survival training. The reason that I mention this is that I can easily identify with Paul's longing to see Timothy. It will be 3 or 4 more weeks before I see Shirley again, but when we see each other again we will "be filled with joy." (I later surprised her by traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas, to be with our daughter and her family when our son and his family drove up from Alabama with Shirley to share in Thanksgiving dinner. Shirley was "filled with joy" when she first realized that I was going to be there with them all for Thanksgiving.)

Also, we see here how close Paul and Timothy were, for when they last parted from each other, Timothy was "in tears." Here we see what types of relationships can develop between those who are united in ministry together. Our relationships can become so close that both "tears" and "joy" become part of them. See Acts 20:36-38

4. He encouraged Timothy to also be strong in ministry. (1:5-7)

One pastor expressed his belief that his success would be measured by how well his church did after he was gone. If Paul's ministry had not continued strong after he left, Christianity would have been dealt a severe blow; for much of the Gentile church had been started and maintained by Paul's ministry. In these verses and through the remainder of this book we learn how Paul handed over his strong ministry to Timothy. In these verses, he urges Timothy to stay strong.

a. Paul reminded Timothy of Timothy's strong foundation. (1:5)

"I have been 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."

Thought Question: Paul knew that Timothy's faith in God was "sincere"; how would someone know that your faith is "sincere"?

Here, we learn of why Timothy responded so well to Paul's message about Jesus Christ. His "sincere faith" in God had been handed down to him by his "grandmother Lois" and his "mother Eunice." See 3:15 The Greek verb Paul chose to use that is translated "lived in" is the word for "home." So, it was the faith that was at home in "Lois" and "Eunice" and, of course, was now at home in Timothy.

Sometimes we can wonder if we can be confident of someone's faith in God. Well, in this verse we learn that Paul was confident of Timothy's "sincere faith" in God. As Paul "reminded" Timothy of his faith, his confidence in Timothy's "sincere faith" must have been a great encouragement to Timothy, strengthening him for the long struggle in ministry that lay ahead of him.

"Sincere faith" speaks of a faith that is not hypocritical. Paul was encouraging Timothy by saying that he was confident that Timothy was not in any way a hypocrite. He was completely "sincere." Again, what a wonderful encouragement this must have been for Timothy as he read these words coming from Paul. May we also encourage others in this way.

We learn in Acts 16:1 the following about Timothy's mother: "He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek." It appears that Timothy's mother was not only a believer in God, but that she had, through Paul ministry, become a believer in Jesus Christ. See Acts 16:14,15,31,34 Timothy's "grandmother Eunice" may also have become a believer in Jesus Christ.

Paul knew that Timothy's faith was "sincere." How would someone know that your faith and my faith are "sincere"? The faith of Timothy's grandmother and mother had been passed on to him. But, how did Paul know their faith was "sincere"? Certainly, he saw it in their actions, their priorities, and their lifestyle. It is not what someone says that is important, but it is what they do in response to what they believe that is important. True belief will be acted upon.

b. Paul encouraged Timothy to fan his gifting into a full flame. (1:6)

"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."

Thought Question #1: What do you believe was the "gift of God" that was in Timothy?

Thought Question #2: Do you believe that you have a "gift of God" in you? If the answer is yes, what do you believe it is?

Thought Question #3: How could Timothy "fan into flame the gift of God" and how can you "fan into flame the gift of God" that is in you?

Thought Question #4: Do you believe that "the laying on" of hands should still be practiced in the church in the way that Paul describes here? Please explain your answer.

Paul reminded Timothy of the strong foundation of faith he had which had come to him through his grandmother and his mother. Now, Paul reminds Timothy of his dramatic beginning in the ministry.

The pattern in the New Testament is to first describe the grace that is given to us by God and, and after we learn of God's grace toward us, we are urged to live our lives as those who are supported and strengthened by God's grace. Timothy had been given some grace-gifting to enable him to minister in the power of God's Spirit. It was given him officially by the laying on of the hands of the Apostle Paul. The laying on of hands had also, from what we are told in I Timothy 4:14, included the laying on of the hands of the elders: "Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you." (I Timothy 4:14) We can see here that he received his gifting very dramatically accompanied by a prophetic message. The gifting he received could have been the gifting to be an evangelist: "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:5)

Paul encourages him to "fan into flame the gift of God that is in you." In the NASV it is translated "kindle afresh" and "stir up" in the NKJV. Home Kent has the following to say about the meaning of these words: "The responsibility of Timothy toward this gift is dramatically stated in the words, 'continue rekindling' (anazopurein). This present infinitive emphasizes the continual stirring up into a flame which necessary. Just as fire must be constantly stirred up lest it die out, so Timothy and all Christians must be constantly at work exercising the gifts which God had bestowed. There is no intimation here that Timothy had been failing. Rather, he is told to continue doing what he had been doing, for soon Paul will be removed from the scene and Timothy will be no longer an assistant but the head in Ephesus." "Taken from THE PASTORAL EPISTLES by Homer Kent. Copyright 1958 by Moody Press."

We all need to continually "fan into flame" God's gifting for ministry within us. Each of us, as a member of Christ's Body, the Church, is gifted for some area of ministry. But, the ministry can be discouraging, intimidating, and tiresome. The flame that we had at some early year in our Christian life can start to flicker and weaken through the rigors and years of ministry. I have heard some prominent people in ministry say that they feel like quitting almost every week. I personally try to schedule in every year some type of Christian conference to get my batteries recharged. But, I also seek to schedule in each day a time alone with God so I can hear from Him afresh. We all need to continually "fan into flame" God's gifting within us.

c. He reminded Timothy of the strong and godly ability that the Holy Spirit

had provided to him to empower his life and character (1:7)
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Thought Question: Are you one of those who struggle with "a spirit of timidity"? If the answer is "yes," how are Paul's words to Timothy here helpful to you?

We may be by temperament, timid and shy – we, then, have a spirit of fear, but God in us can embolden and strengthen us with His power, love, and self-control to serve God fearlessly. We can focus on ourselves with our human weaknesses and tendencies, or we can focus on Him and the strong abilities He gives to us.

Let's focus on the abilities that God gives to us. First of all, God gives us "power." In Colossians, we read these words from Paul about "power": "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father. . . . " (Colossians 1:9-12) We need God's power to endure with patience. Timothy could not, in his weakness, continue strongly in the ministry; but God could strengthen him to fight the good fight to the end just as Paul did.

Next, God enabled him to "love." In I Timothy 1:5, Paul explained the goal of the Christian ministry: "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Also, we read in I John 4:18: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." A love relationship with God removes fear. Again, on his own, Timothy could be nothing but selfish, but God in him would enable him to live a life of genuine and fearless love toward those to whom he was ministering.

Finally, God enabled him to have "self-discipline." In 2:22-26 and 4:5 of this book, Paul says to Timothy: "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:22-26) "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:5) In Timothy's ministry he needed "self-discipline" to continue to stay strong as he faced all kinds of people-related difficulties.

We need, just as Timothy needed, God's "spirit of power, of love and self-discipline" so that we also will continue strong in the ministry!

TIMOTHY NEEDED TO STAY STRONG IN THE MINISTRY
(1:8-12)

1. Timothy needed to stay strong in the ministry by not being ashamed of

the gospel. (1:8a)
"So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner."

Thought Question #1: What is there in your life that could intimidate you into being "ashamed to testify about our Lord"?

Thought Question #2: What can you do so that you will not be intimidated into being ashamed?

One way we show whether or not we, as a Christian, have a "spirit of timidity" or a "spirit of power, of love and self-discipline" is whether or not we are timid or strong in sharing the gospel message-whether or not we are "ashamed to testify about our Lord." Kenneth Wuest and Homer Kent emphasize that from the type of verb used, the exhortation to Timothy does not mean that Timothy was ashamed and needed not to be ashamed. "'Be not ashamed' does not mean that Timothy was ashamed. Had that been the case, Paul would have used the present imperative, which with the negative, forbids the continuance of an action already going. Here he uses aorist subjunctive with the negative which forbids the doing of an act not yet begun." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co."

Paul instructs Timothy, who apparently had a shy temperament, not to ever give in to this shyness and become ashamed of the gospel message or to start being ashamed that his father in the faith was in prison. There were those who used Paul's former imprisonment against Paul. See Philippians 1:15-18 Timothy was not to allow this type of intimidation to influence him into becoming weak and ashamed. See 1:15, 4:16; Mark 8:38; Romans 1:16

Notice that Paul sees himself as a "prisoner of the Lord." Even his imprisonment was part of God's sovereign plan. When we get into the ministry, we need to be told, as Paul tells Timothy here, that being part of God work will lead to persecution. For Paul it led to imprisonment and death. Paul urges Timothy to realize this and not to be weakened by it, but be emboldened because of Paul's willingness to share the gospel-even though it led to imprisonment and death.

2. Timothy needed to stay strong in the ministry by being willing to suffer for

the gospel (1:8b)
"But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,"

Thought Question: Are you going through any type of suffering right now as a result of the Christian ministry? If your answer is yes, how are these words an encouragement to you?

Next, he invites Timothy to join in with him in the sharing of the gospel, even though it will lead to suffering. See Philippians 1:29,30, 3:10-12; Colossians 1:24; Romans 8:17; II Corinthians 1:5; I Peter 4:12,13 When we go through any type of suffering as a result of serving God, we can remember that we are following men like Paul and Timothy in "suffering for the gospel."

How could Timothy endure sufferings and stay strong? (How can we endure sufferings and stay strong?) God's power would enable him to stay strong in his sufferings for the sake of the gospel just as God's power had enabled Paul to stay strong. "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth." (2 Timothy 4:17)

3. Timothy should join Paul in remembering the eternal purpose and power

of the gospel. (1:8c-10)
"by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

a. The eternal purpose of the gospel (1:8c,9)

"by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,"

Thought Question: What is there in these verses that gives you confidence as you serve God where He has directed you to serve?

It is profound and very meaningful to realize that our ministry in God's work is not something that we have chosen to do and come up with on our own. No, it was in God's mind "before the beginning of time." It was in God's mind to save us from our sins and call us to a "holy life" through the death of God's Son Jesus Christ. Recently, a fine young mother said in a Bible study that it was good to know that God was not caught off guard by our sin and then had to scramble for some type of solution. Instead, God eternally had a plan in place before we even sinned. He had a plan in place from eternity, and that plan was that His Son would pay the penalty for our sins and that the Holy Spirit would indwell those who believe in His Son so that we would ultimately be able to be like Him in holiness. See Colossians 1:27; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:11,12

Paul points out here that God provided this eternally-planned solution to our desperate need as a free gift; it came to us through God's grace. See Ephesians 1:5-8, 2:8,9; Romans 6:23 The message that had become Timothy's ministry to proclaim was an eternally-planned gospel. In Ecclesiastes 1:11 we are told that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." Paul, Timothy, and we have been given an eternally-meaningful mission. It was planned in eternity past, is relevant in the present, and has eternally significant consequences for all eternity in the future. What can be more encouraging, strengthening, and meaningful than to learn that we have become part of God's eternal plan? See I Timothy 1:15 and particularly focus on 1:17

But, Paul provides us with even more incentive to be part of the gospel ministry. The gospel is free to all who will receive it. We are not high pressure salesmen who are trying to get people to buy our product so that we will benefit financially if we are able to close our sale. Now, what we offer is free and will eternally benefit those who choose to receive the gospel.

b. The power of the gospel (1:10)

"but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Thought Question: What in these verses encourages you as you and those you love face death?

The gospel purposed by God from eternity entered time "through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus." He came at God's perfect time. See Galatians 4:4,5

Now, Paul speaks of the power of the gospel: "Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." First of all, Jesus "destroyed death." Shortly before writing these words, I received a phone call and learned that a close friend in the Lord for over thirty years had just died. My wife Shirley and I were there when he and his wife put their faith in the gospel message. We have enjoyed his unique sense of humor and his love for God and his family over the richest years of our lives. He had been near death for over a year. The Greek word that is translated "destroyed" is katargeo. Itmeans to render powerless. This means that our friend's physical death was immediately rendered powerless as he is now more fully alive than he has ever been, and he is now in the presence of the Lord! He fell asleep and then experienced the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (I Corinthians 15:21) "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting'?'" (I Corinthians 15:54,55) Jesus' death destroyed death for our good friend and for all of us who have put our trust in Jesus.

Just as removing the sting from a wasp would render that wasp a harmless insect, so removing the consequences of sin from death renders death a harmless prelude to eternal life. Death, for the Christian is like falling asleep and waking up to complete glory!

Next, Jesus "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." It is possible to hear words like "eternal life" and "immortality" and not grasp the significance of them. I know, because I spent 27 years not understanding the significance of them. I, like many others, had heard the words of John 3:16: "shall not perish but have eternal life." My response for many years was, "ho hum." Then, one day, I saw these words in the light and God's Spirit made them real to me: "ETERNAL life!" I will be able to live forever! God wants to give us "eternal life" and "immortality" through belief in Jesus' death for our sins. At death, as it says in the verse in I Corinthians I just quoted: "the mortal [is clothed] with immortality." (I Corinthians 15:59) Paul, as he was writing these words, much like our friend Jim, was facing his death. Paul, and our friend Jim faced death with confidence due to their faith in Jesus. John Stott said these words: "The proper epitaph to write for a Christian believer is not a dismal and uncertain, R.I.P. [rest in peace], . . . but a joyful and certain affirmation, C.A.D. (Christ abolished death)"

4. That is why Paul was willing to suffer for the gospel. (1:11-12)

a. Paul was appointed to pass this gospel on to others. (1:11)

"And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher."

Thought Question: Paul exults in his great privilege to have been "a herald and an apostle and a teacher" of the gospel message. As you look at your life, what part of God's work has it been your great privilege to do?

It is clear from these words that the gospel had become Paul's purpose in life. He was a "herald" of the gospel. He was like the "imperial Herald who made a public proclamation of the emperor's message with that formality, gravity, and authority which must be heeded." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." In 4:2 Paul uses the verbal form of this word "herald": "Preach [herald) the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction." Timothy was to carry on after Paul and also be a "herald" of the gospel; he was to proclaim the gospel in such a way that people needed to take heed to what he was proclaiming.

He was also an "apostle" of the gospel. He was one of the few chosen by Jesus Christ as a "sent out one." The Greek word that is translated "apostle" is apostalos. It can be broken down into 2 parts: apo = out and stalos or stello = sent; so "sent out one." Timothy was "sent out" by Jesus Christ to spread the message that Jesus had died to pay the penalty for all men's sins.

Finally, he was a "teacher." The "teacher" of the gospel is one who explains the meaning and practical application of the gospel. He patiently explains our need for a Savior, teaches how the gospel is to be received by us, and presents to us what we have received as a result of putting our faith in Jesus. He also defends the gospel against those who would argue against it. Without question, Paul was "a herald and an apostle and a teacher" of the gospel.

He appears in this verse to be exulting in the great privilege he has had. We can understand why he would express this great privilege of his at this time when he was in prison and near death. He was exulting in the great privilege and grace that he had experienced during his life, even though his death neared and his life was about to come to an end. His words, though, have not come to an end and his great privilege continues as his 13 books in the New Testament continue to "herald" and "teach" the gospel!

b. He was willing to suffer for the gospel. (1:12a)

"That is why I am suffering as I am."

Thought Question: Why must suffering and sharing the gospel always be linked together?

John Stott asks: Why must suffering and the gospel be linked together? His answer is that the gospel message and our pride do not go together. We do not like to hear about our sin and the need for a Savior. It is an unpopular message for most, but for others it is the wonderful message of God's love that completely transformed their lives. But, when we continually share the gospel we will also continually offend those who, in pride, reject this message. The sharing of the gospel will always result in those who lovingly receive it and those who hatefully reject it. The more effective we are in sharing the gospel; the more likely it is that we will be persecuted by those who hate our message. See Acts 17:1-9; I Corinthians 1:18-25; II Corinthians 2:15; Galatians 5:11, 6:12

We would all like it if we could boldly share the gospel and also not ever offend anyone. But, this desire to not offend anyone will greatly hinder the spreading of the gospel; for if the message is to get out to everyone, we must, like Paul, be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. See Acts 5:40-42 As Paul penned these words, he was in prison and near to the time of his death as a result of his sharing of the gospel.

c. He was not ashamed of the gospel. (1:12b)

"Yet I am not ashamed,"

Thought Question: What are some of the public pressures that are put on us to be ashamed of what we believe?

Our society has become adept at portraying evangelical Christians as buffoons, narrow-minded bigots, fools, arrogant and the list goes on. The goal is to make us ashamed of the gospel message that they despise. Paul had experienced the same type of thing, particularly from his own race the Jews. Yet, Paul would not allow them to coerce him into being ashamed of the gospel. At one point, he went to Jerusalem even though he knew he would be imprisoned when he got there. Jesus said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12) Listen to the words of Isaiah: "Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." (Isaiah 50:7) Next, God says these words to Ezekiel: "But the house of Israel is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hardened and obstinate. But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house." (Ezekiel 3:7-9) Paul, like Isaiah and Ezekiel was not ashamed!

d. God will ensure that his gospel ministry will have successful results in the

end (1:12c) See 1:14; I Timothy 6:2a
"because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

Thought Question: What is there in this verse that encourages you to not be ashamed of what you believe?

Why was Paul not ashamed? Paul gives these words as the reason that he was not ashamed. How can we, in our generation, be bold and unashamed as we also face opposition to the gospel message? Paul's words in this part of verse 12 can also enable us not to be ashamed.

First of all, it was his faith in God that enabled him to be unashamed: "because I know whom I have believed." As bond-servants of Jesus Christ we are ministering before an audience of One! See Galatians 1:10 When we believe that He approves of what we are doing; we can be unashamed no matter how many disapprove of us.

Secondly, Paul was "convinced" that his gospel ministry would ultimately produce successful results. Why could he be so sure? He was "convinced" that God would guard the results of his ministry so that in the end the fruit of his ministry in people's lives would remain.

Paul was convinced that on "that day" all will see that God has guarded the results of his ministry. In 1:14, Paul expresses his desire that his good friend Onesiphorus would receive "mercy from the Lord on that day." In 4:8, Paul describes what he is confident that he will receive: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." In II Thessalonians 4:10, Paul is more specific about when that day will be: "on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. . . . It is the day when the glorified Son of God returns to judge the world and reward His people: Paul focused not on his present suffering, but upon his certain and future reward! See I Corinthians 3:13

Paul was firmly and completely persuaded that all of this was true. Both the Greek word translated "believed" and "convinced" are in the perfect tense. The tense describes something that was true in the past and continues to be true in the present. Paul "believed" and was "convinced" fully in the past and continued in his firm and unyielding confidence in the present. May we who are not at the very final days of our ministry as Paul was, boldly and unashamedly continue in the gospel ministry being confident that in the end, God will ensure that our ministry will be triumphant "on that day"! See II Corinthians 2:14

Some commentators believe that "what I have entrusted to him" refers to Paul's salvation. But in the context, Paul is concerned that Timothy not be ashamed of the gospel or of Paul's imprisonment. See 1:8 The context indicates that what Paul has entrusted to God is the results of his gospel ministry. see 1:14, 4:7,8; I Timothy 6:20 Wuest, Kent, Guthrie, and Vincent agree with this interpretation.

5. Timothy, be strong in ministry by following Paul's strong pattern of

ministry. (1:13-18)

a. Follow Paul's pattern of sound teaching (1:13)

"What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus."

Thought Question: How can you help ensure that what Paul taught continues to be what is taught in your church?

Paul is passing on the content of his teaching to Timothy like a relay racer passing the baton to the next runner. The problem, though, in passing on a message to another person is that the next person may alter and change the message.

There is a game that can be used as mixer called "Gossip" or "Telephone." A group of people form a circle. Someone in the circle writes on a piece of paper a description of something that has happened to him or her. That person then whispers what was written on that paper to the person on his or her right. This person whispers it to the next person and so on around the circle until everyone has done it. The reason it is fun is that what is written on the paper is usually altered in a funny way. This is very common when some information is passed on to others. That is why Paul is concerned that what Timothy had "heard from" him would be kept the same after Paul was gone.

Because we still have Paul's 13 books in the New Testament, Paul's message has been kept the same up to this day. But, like the "Gossip" game, there have been many, through the years, who have altered what is in these 13 books, and their groups have taken many on a myriad of different roads away from the narrow road described in Paul's writing.

The book of Jude describes what each of us is to do now that the baton has been passed on to our generation: "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (Jude 3) ("the faith" is the content of our faith; what we put our faith in) Then, Jude goes on in the book of Jude to describe the type of people who will alter the Bible's message for their own selfish and prideful reasons. We need to be very careful that the message is not changed, and we also need to keep Paul's "pattern of sound teaching." See I Timothy 6:3-5; Titus 1:9, 2:1

Next, Paul describes the way the "sound teaching" is to be passed on to others: "with faith and love in Christ Jesus." First of all, Timothy and we are to teach God's Word "with faith." It is an empty message if we do not really believe it. There are charlatans who have shows on television that teach that if you send them money, God will make you rich. It is very unlikely that they believe their own message. If they did, they would be the ones sending money to needy people or to ministries rather than the ones asking for money. Instead, the people who give them money are becoming poorer as they make these false teachers richer.

We need to demonstrate by our lives that we trust God. Paul had trusted God, for he continues to trust in God in spite of his being in prison and near death. In fact, the whole letter of II Timothy is an expression of his faith. We also are to teach with his type of faith. See Hebrews 11; especially 11:6

Next, to follow Paul's pattern of teaching, Timothy and we are to teach "love in Christ Jesus." The Bible can be used in many ways. Most of us, at one time or another, have experienced someone using the Bible as a weapon in an attempt to force us to see things their way or to do what they want us to do. That is not the way the Bible is to be used. Paul did not use it that way. We see that in Romans 9:1-4a: "I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. . . ." Paul loved those who were opposed to him and was willing to make whatever sacrifice he could make to reach them. We must never use the Bible to win an argument, but always to minister to others in love. See 2:24-26 May we minister using the Bible with this type of love, a love that comes to us from "Christ Jesus."

So, Paul urges Timothy to keep or hold on to the same "pattern" as Paul had modeled for him. This "pattern" includes what is taught and how it is taught. May we also follow Paul's "pattern" of teaching by teaching what he taught and by teaching in the way that he taught; "with faith and love in Christ Jesus."

b. Guard what has been "entrusted to you." (1:14)

"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you---guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."

Thought Question: How do you believe that the Holy Spirit has enabled the church (each of us) to protect the written message from God that has been entrusted to the church through the ages?

The "good deposit" can also be translated "precious deposit" or "beautiful deposit." What Paul had passed on to Timothy was more precious and valuable than anything else that was ever passed on from one person to another. What if Paul had kept the gospel message to himself or if Timothy had treated it as unimportant? But, both Paul and Timothy treated it as a precious treasure that was meant to be shared by all and, as a result, the gospel message was passed on successfully from their generation to the next. Others also treated it as precious and it has been passed on to us. May we also treat it as precious and pass it on the next generation.

Paul said that Timothy was to "guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." God has given us the most important responsibility that men can have, to share and protect God's message from error and to pass it in its original form to the next generation. But, like Timothy, we are weak and fallible. How can we accomplish this daunting task? God promises here in His word through the words of Paul that the Holy Spirit who indwells within us will help us to accomplish this task. We are to continually seek the Holy Spirit's help. The Christian ministry was always meant to be a Spirit-empowered and Spirit-directed ministry. "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:29)

c. Continue on strong even when people desert you, as they deserted Paul.

(1:15)
"You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes."

Thought Question: If you have experienced a significant rejection in your life, how does the fact that Paul also experienced a painful rejection help you in what you have had to go through?

Timothy was well aware of the rejection and desertion that Paul mentions here. Paul's ministry was not a socially popular one. As Paul says in I Corinthians, it was "a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles." (I Corinthians 1:23) Now, he had been imprisoned. Who would continue to stand with him in suffering for the gospel? We learn in the next verses that Onesiphorus was a Christian from Asia who "was not ashamed of his chains" and did not desert him. A likely interpretation of these verses is that the Christians from Asia who were in Rome did desert him, out of fear, when he was arrested and put in prison. He uses "everyone" as a figure of speech called a "hyperbole." It is a purposeful exaggeration to show how strongly their abandonment of him had disappointed him. One commentator suggests that they may not have given him any assistance at his trial. They may have taken the safe road rather than endangering themselves by testifying for him or associating themselves with him after he was arrested by the Romans and imprisoned as a criminal.

"Phygelus and Hermogenes" are mentioned in the Bible only in this verse. They appear to have been the key people in the desertion of Paul. Possibly, they were people of influence who played a key role in this rejection of Paul. They may have been able to have influenced the outcome of Paul's trial or they may have been able to have influenced Asiatic Christians to continue to stand behind Paul. They are some of the few Christians of New Testament times who were mentioned by name.

If we were there during Paul's time, would we have been like Onesiphorus who did not abandon Paul or would we have been like Phygelus and Hermogenes who, out of fear of imprisonment and death, did abandon him?

Another possibility is that Paul heard that Phygelus and Hermogenes, who were still in Asia, had led the Christians there in turning away from Paul, now that he was in prison. The Asia of Paul's time is now modern-day Turkey and at that time it contained the church of Ephesus and the other 6 churches that Jesus described in Revelation 2 and 3. It may be that Paul had learned of their defection from Onesiphorus when he talked to him.

However this rejection of Paul had occurred, it was a painful experience for him. Those he had ministered to while he was in Ephesus in particular had turned away from him. How difficult it is for us who are Christians to continue strong in the ministry after there has been a major rejection of us and our ministry. Paul continued strong and he urged Timothy to do the same.

d. Continue on strong, for there will those who continue to support you; even

as Onesiphorus strongly supported Paul. (1:16-18)
"May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus."

Thought Question: Who are those who have been there for you when you needed them most? (How did they help you?)

Many of us have gone through difficult times where it appears that there is no one or few who understand or care. Then, there is someone who is the hero of the moment; someone who does understand and does care. That was what Onesiphorus was like to Paul. It was not only Onesiphorus who was the hero, but his whole "household" that reached out to Paul in his time of need. It appears that Paul learned from Onesiphorus, when he visited him in prison, that his whole "household" was supportive of him. They may have provided financially so that Onesiphorus could visit Paul and encourage him.

What stood out for Paul is that Onesiphorus was "unashamed of his chains." "Ashamed" is a very key work in II Timothy. See 1:8,12 It is the opposite of being strong. Onesiphorus, in the strength of God, overcame fear and sought out Paul, though he was in prison and in "chains."

How did "Onesiphorus" "refresh" Paul? He may have brought him food and gifts, much like visitors to someone in jail today bring them something to pick up their spirits. "Onesiphorus" "refreshed" Paul like this "often"; he did it on a number of different occasions. See Hebrews 13:3

"On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me." Paul's place of imprisonment appears to not have been well-known as it was in his first imprisonment in Rome. See Acts 28:30 The fact that he "searched" hard for Paul indicates that Onesiphorus made a tiring search undoubtedly full of dead-ends and frustrations until he finally found Paul. All through this arduous search Onesiphorus knew that he was placing himself in grave danger. As Barclay states: "it was dangerous to keep asking where a certain criminal could be found; it was dangerous to visit him; it was still more dangerous to keep on visiting him; but that is what Onesiphorus did." "Taken from THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON by William Barclay. Copyright 1956 by The Westminster Press."

Paul starts out these verses with: "May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus. . . ." And near the end of this section we find these words: "May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!" In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said these words: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Whatever we get from the Lord as a reward is not what we earn, but it is always God's merciful and gracious response to our choosing to walk and live according to His gracious enablement of us. What we receive in Heaven and in this life is not a merited reward, but it is God's grace. In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul lists all that we have as a result of God's grace and mercy. Here Paul prayed that God will be gracious and merciful in response to Onesiphorus' mercy to him.

He prays that Onesiphorus will receive "mercy from the Lord on that day!" "At the judgment seat of Christ there will be the ultimate recognition of the value of Christian living. "Taken from THE PASTORAL EPISTLES by Homer Kent. Copyright 1958 by Moody Press."

Paul also prayed in 1:16 that Onesiphorus' "household" would also receive "mercy." Some have conjectured that Paul made requests for mercy for his household because Onesiphorus had died. Therefore, Paul's prayer in 1:16 was a prayer for the dead. Roman Catholics use this verse to justify praying for the dead. But it could simply mean that Paul prayed first for Onesiphorus' family and then for Onesiphorus because they were separated geographical. Onesiphorus may have been in Rome and his family had remained in Ephesus. Since there are no exhortations in the Bible to pray for the dead and there are no examples of someone praying for the dead, except this verse where there is no mention of Onesiphorus being dead, there is no Biblical support for us to pray for those who are dead.

"You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus."

Timothy was in Ephesus and appeared to have been an eyewitness to the "many ways" Onesiphorus had supported Paul in Ephesus.

THEREFORE, BE STRONG AND PASS YOUR MINISTRY ON TO RELIABLE MEN. (2:1-13)

1. "Be strong in grace that is in Christ Jesus."

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

Thought Question: How can we "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus"?

This verse is a key verse in Paul's last letter to Timothy his closest friend; his dear "son" in the faith. Timothy was able to strongly carry on the ministry that was passed to him because the strength he needed would not come from himself but from the grace that would be provided to Him through Jesus Christ. I am writing these words after returning from a men's retreat. The speaker spoke on Ephesians 6:10-18. Verse 10 makes the following exhortation: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." We each are to "be strong in the Lord." Because God will also provide us with the strength to do it, we can do the ministry that God has called us to. He provides us with His Divine strength.

Although Timothy was not to be strong in his own strength, that did not mean that he was to be passive and not to do anything; he is exhorted to "be strong." We have God's strength available to us, but we must choose to be strong in that strength. We must believe that we now in Christ's power can be strong. We must choose daily to depend on that strength. For example, as it says in Ephesians 6, we must choose to rely on our spiritual armor "so that when the day of evil comes" we will be able to stand strong like a valiant Roman soldier. The men's retreat speaker emphasized that we are to be "valiant"! God has given us the seed–His strength in us; we are to cultivate the soil which is our thinking so that we will walk in that strength. Throughout the book of II Timothy, Paul emphasizes to Timothy that he should carry on with Paul's ministry in Christ's strength as Paul had already carried out his ministry relying on that greater strength from Jesus Christ that was daily made available to him. See 1:6-8, 14, 2:3-7, 4:17; See also I Timothy 1:12; Philippians 4:13; Colossians 1:28,29

2. Pass on your ministry to reliable (faithful) men who will pass it on to

others. (2:2)
"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

Thought Question #1: What do you believe is the importance of what is taught in these verses in the history of the church?

Thought Question #2: Who were the reliable people that passed the gospel and the truths in the Bible on to you?

Thought Question #3: Who are the reliable people that you are passing the gospel and the truths in the Bible on to?

How has the church continued to stay strong for so many centuries and how has the gospel remained the gospel of John 3:16? The answer to this question is found in this verse that is packed with significance and practicality.

First of all, Paul chose Timothy, a "reliable" man. Timothy was there with Paul during his ministry and "heard" him "say" before "many witnesses" the type of words that we find in Paul's 13 letters to the churches in the New Testament. Timothy "heard" Paul present the gospel message and explain how it applies to our lives.

Some believe that there was one specific time when Timothy "heard" Paul "say" what Paul is referring to here. For example, they would say that Paul is here referring to the time when Timothy was ordained into the ministry before many witnesses. The Greek translated "heard" is in the aorist tense and it could be taken to mean that Timothy heard it once; but it can also be interpreted to mean that he "heard" Paul on many occasions. Since Paul does not designate a specific occasion, the most natural way to interpret Paul's words is that he is speaking of all of Timothy's experience of listening to Paul before "many witnesses" combined into one "heard."

What Timothy "heard" was Paul's public ministry, where he taught and declared the truths God had revealed to him about how one becomes a member of the church and how we are to build up the church. Now, Timothy was to pass all of what he had "heard" from Paul on to others.

Paul's message had been "heard" in public. This is the opposite of the "secret" knowledge of the Gnostics who were beginning to be a threat to the early church. Their knowledge was given only to those who were in their inner circles and was not given out in public.

Next, Timothy is told that he is to pass all that he had "heard" from Paul on to "reliable men." "The idea is clearly to entrust something to another for safe keeping and in the present context this notion is of great significance. The transmission of Christian truth must never be left to chance, and it is clearly not committed fortuitously to every Christian but only to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." "Taken from THE PASTORAL EPISTLES by Donald Guthrie. Copyright 1957 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company." Someone has said that what is everybody's responsibility often becomes no one's responsibility. Paul had found "reliable men" like Timothy to pass on the message given to him by God. How would Paul's message go on beyond Timothy? Timothy must in turn also find "reliable men" who would also pass on the message to other "reliable men." "Reliable men" are those who can be depended on to pass God's message on to other "reliable men."

Notice that there are four generations of Christians presented here: first, there is Paul; second, there is Timothy, third, there are the "reliable men" that Timothy is instructed to find; and fourth, there are the "others" that learn from the teachings of Timothy's "reliable men." This is the strong chain by which the truth of the Bible has been passed on from generation to generation up to our present time. The obvious questions that we need to ask ourselves the following: (1) Are you and I part of this strong chain of "reliable" people? (2) Are we passing God's message on to others who will dependably pass it on to still others.

"Reliable men" is clearly a generic term for both men and women, for Paul previously points out that Timothy's "grandmother Lois" and his "mother Eunice" passed on their "sincere faith" to Timothy. See 1:5 We also, then, are to find those who are faithful and dependable people to pass on the message to; for we do not want to be the last generation who faithfully teaches Bible truth and passes it on to others. We, instead, want to be one more generation that faithfully fulfills our purpose and passes on God's truths to the faithful men and women of our day.

"Reliable men" are those who were like Timothy and who eagerly received the message and then passed it on in spite of any difficulty to do so. "Reliable men" are not those like Demas who left Paul "because he loved this present world" more than the gospel (4:10). We are to find people who are like Timothy and not like Demas, so that we can successfully pass the message of God's truth on the next generation.

Paul's words, "will also be qualified to teach others," tell us that what we pass on is a careful teaching of gospel truths. We need to learn the teaching of the Bible well and then teach others well so that they will carefully teach the Bible well to still others. We should commend our Bible colleges, seminaries, Sunday school classes, Bible study teachers, and expository Bible preachers who seek to clearly teach the Bible to our generation. We also, though, each have the responsibility to disciple and teach those in our families and in our churches. May we nurture men and women in the way that Jesus nurtured His disciples and Paul nurtured Timothy. I recommend to you books on discipleship like THE MASTERPLAN OF EVANGELISM by Coleman, THE TRAINING OF THE TWELVE by A. B. Bruce, and DISCIPLES ARE MADE NOT BORN by Henrichsen.

3. Ways to be strong (2:3-7)

a. Endure hardship like a good soldier (2:3-4)

"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer."

Thought Question: When you look at yourself as a "soldier" in God's army, how will that affect the way you look at your life?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones comments that some see the church as a spiritual hospital where we are being treated for our various ailments. But Lloyd-Jones says that this is not the way that Paul describes the church, for Paul describes the church as an army in which we are God's soldiers. These verses support what Lloyd-Jones states. We are to "endure hardship" like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. See Philippians 2:25; Philemon 2

Notice also that Paul says, "endure hardship with us." In 1:8 Paul said: "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." And in 3:12 he says: "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" "With us"-with whom? We are to "endure hardship" together with all those who faithfully serve God by seeking after his goals and suffer "hardship" as a result.

What we learn here is that the church is an army rather than a pleasant building where we can listen to entertaining messages and pleasant music. The church is in a battle and each of us who are Christians is in a war. We need to realize that following Christ will be rough and difficult as we together daily face God's enemies in a world that is hostile to Him.

How are we to fight in this war? "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer." What does Paul mean by this statement? A soldier's primary job is fighting the war that he has been assigned to by his "commanding officer." A good soldier will not allow any non-war concerns and activities to distract from his primary job. For example, a stockbroker who goes to war as a colonel will not be a good soldier if he tries to fight in the war as a soldier and at the same time is consumed with watching the stock market and continually is buying and selling stock. His army unit would be severely affected by his divided focus. So, we are to focus our concerns primarily on the war that we are fighting. This focus includes, of course, our families; for our enemy targets our families. Our primary concerns are not such things as seeking to get rich. See 4:10; I Timothy 6:9

"Gets involved in civilian affairs" describes getting so entangled with things outside of the battle that the Christian is severely hampered from being an effective and "good soldier of Jesus Christ." It does not, of course, rule out working to provide for our needs and our family's needs. That is part of our battle. See I Timothy 5:8; I Thessalonians 5:11; II Thessalonians 3:11,12; I Corinthians 7:32-34 We are not to do anything, though, that unnecessarily hinders our focus on our task as a "good soldier of Jesus Christ." As Jesus said, we are to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" and He promises that God will take care of our needs. (Matthew 6:33) See also Philippians 4:19

But our service to God may call us to make sacrifices for the sake of winning the war. "In the Second World War people frequently said to each other with a wry smile 'there's a war on'---a watchword sufficient to justify an austerity, self-denial or abstention from innocent activities because of the current emergency." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press." So, we are also called to make sacrifices in the spiritual war that is presently taking place, for the need for victory in this war is far more important than victory in any earthly war!

What should be the primary focus of our lives? Paul states that here: "to please his commanding officer." See I Thessalonians 2:4; Galatians 1:10; I John 3:22 Like many men and women in our country, I went through military boot camp. The purpose of boot camp, as I learned later, was to train us so that we would operate cooperatively under military authority. In a crisis, we were to submit quickly to those in the chain of command who were over us. We were not to operate like a football huddle without a quarterback or a coach. We were to seek to do that which would "please" our "commanding officer." As Christians we are to seek to "please" our "commanding officer," the Lord Jesus Christ.

Timothy followed Paul's pattern, for we learn in Hebrews 13:23 the following: "I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you." Timothy continued on after Paul's death in the "good fight." See 4:7; I Timothy 1:18 He continued on as "a good soldier of Jesus Christ," just as Paul had done before him. The baton was passed on to a faithful man!

John Stott shares this truth with us: "Soldiers on active service do not expect a safe or easy time. They take hardship, risk and suffering as a matter of course. These things are part and parcel of a soldier's calling." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press." We, as soldiers of Christ, also need to realize that Christian service will necessarily include hardship and suffering. We need to in the strength of God enlist ourselves fully in military service in God's army.

b. Compete according to the rules. (2:5)

"Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules."

Thought Question #1: How is Christian service like athletes who compete "according to the rules"?

Thought Question #2: What are some of the rules that Christians need to follow?

In recent years, professional sports have been severely tainted because some of our most famous athletes have admitted to or are strongly suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs. They competed, but they did not compete "according to the rules." As a result, they will lose their gold medal or their place in a hall of fame. They won because they had an illegal chemical advantage over the other athletes against whom they were competing.

What does an athlete competing "according to the rules" have to do with the Christian life and serving in Christian ministry? In the New Testament there are a number of times when the Christian life is compared to a race. See 4:7,8; I Corinthians 9;24-27; Hebrews 12:1,2; Philippians 3:12-14. We, like those in athletics, must also compete "according to the rules." Later in this chapter, Paul gives some of the rules: "And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

We could resort to flattery, bribery, deception, and immorality. Many ministries have come crashing down due to one of these types of practices being uncovered. Those who win using these types of tactics lose in the end. The secular media has uncovered many who did not play according to God's rules for ministry. You can twist the Scriptures to get verses in the Bible to say what people want to hear so that you can get faster results. But, we who are Christians must never seek to further the ministry with anything that is not fully Christian. We may appear to come out second in the race to someone who does not compete "according to the rules," but in the end we will win the victor's crown; for only those who compete in the race according to God's rules will win the "victor's crown." Paul did compete "according to the rules" and he did win the "victor's crown": "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)

c. Work like a good farmer. (2:6)

"The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops."

Thought Question: List some ways that farming and Christian ministry are similar.

A big issue in our American society is who genuinely needs to receive one of the various types of welfare checks that our government gives out? Most would agree that it should not be given to someone who is too lazy to work. The Bible agrees with this position: See I Thessalonians 4:11,12, 5:14; II Thessalonians 3:6,7,10-12; Proverbs 20:4; 24:30,31 But there is no question at all about whether or not the hardworking person should receive pay for their work from their employers. Those who work hard should be rewarded for their efforts. Also, "the hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops." See Romans 1:13; Philippians 1:22-24; Proverbs 27:18; Galatians 6:7

There is something, though, a little different about most hardworking laborers receiving their pay and the "hardworking farmer" receiving a good crop; for the farmer does not receive his crop right away. He needs to wait until the crop grows and is harvested. Some commentators believe that Paul is saying here that Timothy deserves a salary. But, in the context, this would be an unusual change of subject. What fits is as follows: like the "hardworking farmer" eventually produces a good crop, so toil in Christian service will eventually bear a good spiritual crop. In each of Paul's illustrations, there is a reward: the soldier pleases "his commanding officer"; the athlete receives the "victor's crown"; and "the hardworking farmer" receives "a share of the crops."

Earlier I spoke of Jim who went to be with the Lord while I was writing this Digging for Gold study. He called me the first Easter after he learned that he was going to die in a few months and thanked me for sharing the gospel with him and his wife Mary, and he urged me to continue to endure in Christian work. It had been over 30 years since my wife and I first shared the gospel with him, but through Jim, God allowed me to enjoy a "share of the crops" by the joy I felt as he shared these words of gratitude and encouragement with me. See III John 4 But, even though God often gives Christians the joy of seeing the fruits of their labor, each of us who are Christian laborers needs to always remember that it is God who gives the growth and enables there to be a harvest. See I Corinthians 3:6-9

The Greek word translated "hardworking" is "to grow weary, exhausted, to labor with wearisome effort, toil." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." Many in Christian service and probably all in Christian service have had a time when they are very tired and wonder if there is something wrong with their approach to the ministry. Should I be so exhausted so often? Paul answers that question here and in a number of places. Spiritual ministry is a very tiresome toil. The weight of concern for others never leaves you. There are always those who are going through great trials, many who are drifting away from God, and millions who do not know the Lord. See II Corinthians 1:8,9, 4:8-12, 6:3-10, 11:23-29; Colossians 1:29-2:1; Romans 16:6,12; I Corinthians 15:10; I Timothy
4:8-10

d. Reflect on Paul's words, for God's Spirit will use them to strengthen you.

(2:7)
"Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this." (2 Timothy 2:7)

Thought Question: According to this verse, how are we to come to a greater understanding of God's word?

We see a summary of how we are to seek to understand what God has written to us in His word: (1) We are to "reflect" on God's words. (2) "The Lord will give [us] insight" so that we can understand His thoughts.

The Bible encourages us to think deeply about, ponder upon, and meditate on the words that are found within it. "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts." (Psalm 119:97-100) See also Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2, 77:12, 119:15,27,48; Colossians 3:16 In these studies, I have offered what I call "Thought Questions." They were designed to encourage you who read these questions to ponder and meditate on the Scriptural verses that are covered and to seek after an answer to what these verses mean and how they apply to your life.

The second part of Paul's exhortation to Timothy is that "The Lord will give you insight into all of this." Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things." (John 14:26) Paul said of all Christians: "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." (1 Corinthians 2:12) As we ponder upon God's truths, God gives us the spiritual ability to understand what is in His words and how they apply to our lives. See James 1:5

Both parts of Paul's exhortation to Timothy---we must "reflect" on the Bible and we must look to the Lord to give us "insight"--- need to be kept in balance with each other. There are errors when one side is emphasized to the extreme. It is possible to study thoroughly while not seeking God's spiritual help. It is also possible to seek spiritual insight without making a thorough effort to understand the true meaning of the Bible. We are encouraged here to do both, to "reflect" and to seek God's "insight."

Timothy undoubtedly did follow Paul's instructions and was encouraged as he reflected on Paul's illustrations that he should minister as a "good soldier," as a competitive "athlete," and as a "hardworking farmer." Not only did he understand, he also undoubtedly served God in the manner of all three for the rest of his life, and finished strong just as Paul had done before him. May we also minister as they did and also finish strong!

4. Why Paul remained strong (2:8-13)

a. He remembered the power of the gospel (2:8-9)

"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained."

Thought Question #1: What do you learn about Jesus Christ and the gospel from these verses?

Thought Question #2: What is there in these verses that are an encouragement to you personally?

Paul urges Timothy to remember the good news that Paul refers to as "my gospel." Here, Paul summarizes our Christian message. First of all, "Jesus Christ, raised from the dead." In Romans, Paul described the gospel in a similar way as he does here: "regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:3,4) Jesus' resurrection from the dead declares that He was not a mere man like the rest of us; He was and is God! See Acts 2:24 But, He also was a man who was "descended from David." Jesus fulfilled the ancient prophesies that the Messiah would come from the line of David. See Isaiah 11;15; II Samuel 9;12,13; Psalms 89:28,29; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:27; 32,33; John 7:42; Acts 2:30; Romans 1:32; Revelation 5:5 So, Jesus is the one unique God/man who is the fulfillment of many prophecies in the Old Testament.

Paul had not been willing to compromise this most important message of all time, even if it led to him being "chained like a criminal." Paul wanted Timothy to be willing to defend and proclaim this singularly most important message of all even if he would need to suffer for it. Our daughter shared the gospel with a young teenager recently and received an angry phone call from this girl's friend. Our daughter is the sweetest person I know and I am sure that she did nothing to offend anyone when she shared the gospel. They were not offended by her, but by the gospel message. She also learned what Paul learned here, that suffering often comes along with presenting the gospel message.

When Paul presented Jesus as "raised from the dead," he uses the perfect participle "referring to an action completed in the past having present results." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." Jesus was resurrected from the dead in the past, He continued to be Paul's resurrected Lord, and He continues to be our resurrected Lord.

Paul then describes what sharing this wonderful gospel message had resulted in; "suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal." The wonderful gospel message that so dominated his life that he called it "my gospel," had resulted in him, as tradition tells us, being imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Nero and ultimately being executed by him. Paul, who was preaching the good news, was imprisoned as an evil doer. He followed in Jesus' steps, the One who always did good and yet was crucified as a criminal between 2 criminals. See Luke 23:32,33

"But God’s word is not chained." "Not chained" is in the perfect tense, which says that it has not been chained in the past and continues not to be chained when Paul wrote these words. It also continues not to be chained today. In short, Paul is saying that though he is chained and prevented from actively sharing the gospel as he previously had been doing, God's word continues to have its impact on people. See Isaiah 40:8, 55:11; Philippians 1:12-14 Paul was chained when he wrote this second letter Timothy, but God's words to Timothy through Paul would have its powerful impact on Timothy; and these words to Timothy and Paul's other 12 letters are continuing to have their powerful impact today. God's word can never be "chained."

b. Paul's concern for the elect kept him going strong. (2:10)

"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory"

Thought Question: Why do you believe that we need to "endure everything for the sake of the elect," when they are already chosen by God and are certain to become Christians?

Most Christians have at one time thought, "If God has already chosen those who are going to be saved, "the elect," then why do I need to pray for people's salvation and seek to reach them with the gospel message?" Yet, here Paul says that he is willing to suffer and to "endure everything," which included the imprisonment that he was at that time enduring, "for the sake of the elect," that they might "obtain . . . salvation." It is obvious, from Paul's words, that included with the election of specific people to salvation is our doing all we can to reach them with the gospel. How can we both be "elect" for all eternity and we also need to be reached with the gospel by the efforts of faithful Christians? Paul answers that question in Romans 11:33: "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" Though we cannot figure out how our responsibility to reach people with the gospel and God's sovereign election of them for eternity both are true, we are to labor in the ministry, to pray for everyone, and to seek to reach everyone we can reach out to with the gospel message, just as Paul said he did in this verse. See I Timothy 2:1-3 A focus on the sovereignty of God gives us assurance that there will be those who will be saved – those who are "the elect." A focus on our responsibility causes us to realize that we need to do all we can to reach them with the good news that salvation is available to them; for to be saved they need to hear the gospel and to choose to believe it.

The word "salvation" is used in 3 ways in the Bible. There is salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin (See Romans 1:16,17 ); salvation from the power of sin (See Philippians 2:12; Titus 2:11,12); and salvation from the presence of sin (See Hebrews 1:14, 5:9). It appears Paul is speaking of all 3 aspects of "salvation" here. For, once a person has believed and received "salvation" from the penalty of sin, Paul continued to labor for that person's "salvation" from the power of sin until he receives, in eternity, "salvation" from the presence of sin and "eternal glory." See II Thessalonians 2;13,14

c. If we endure we will reign with Jesus. (2:11-13)

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

Thought Question #1: In a few words, according to these verses, what must we do?

Thought Question #2: Are there any situations in your life that this applies to right now?

Why did Paul endure everything for the sake of the elect? (2:10) The reason is given in these 3 verses, which appear to have been a Christian hymn of Paul's time. He begins by saying that he agrees with these words that they were familiar with (it is "a trustworthy saying"). Because the conditional phrases in their Greek form state a certainty, they describe what will certainly occur if we "endure," "disown him," or "are faithless." The "if-we-do-something, something-is-certain-to-occur" statements lead to one sure conclusion, "We must endure"! We must not "disown" Christ; we must not be "faithless" to Him!

"If we died with him, we will also live with him." In Romans 6:3, Paul says: "Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Water baptism symbolizes the death of the old man that we were before becoming born again and the birth of the new man by the infusion of Jesus' life in us through our resurrection with Christ. See Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20 If we died with Him, we have also resurrected with Him to a new life; "we will also live with him."

Some see these words of Paul as speaking of martyrdom, since Paul is about to die for Christ. "If we die of martyrdom for Christ, we will also live with him." The interpretation I gave in the last paragraph, however, seems more plausible as it applies to every Christian and not just to Paul. Also, the "died with him" is in the verb tense which refers to something that has already taken place.

Another possible interpretation is that "died with him" refers to a death to pursuing a worldly life for Christ's sake-a death to selfishness, comfort, and safety. See I Corinthians 15:31; II Corinthians 4:10 This interpretation is part of the death with Christ symbolized in our baptism which refers to a death to the old style of life and the beginning of a new life with Christ.

Paul, next, moves beyond the beginning of the new life with Christ to what is necessary as we live out our new life in Christ: "if we endure, we will also reign with him." The Greek word "endure" is the same Greek word translated "endure" in verse 10: "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect." Paul did "endure" and he, therefore, certainly also now reigns with Christ. See 4:7,8 He is reigning with Christ right now! See Revelation 3:21; I Corinthians 6:2,3

The Greek verb form of "endure" is in the present tense indicating that the enduring needs to continue to happen. If we continue to "endure" like Paul endured to the end, then we will also "reign" with Christ.

"If we disown him, he will also disown us." Jesus' words in Matthew 10:32,33 gave exactly the same warning: "“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." See also Luke 9:26 Again, if we "disown him," the consequences are certain; He will certainly "disown us." Disowning Christ was not a consideration for Timothy, nor is it a consideration for us. Our son Stephen just went through a military survival school where he was trained on how to endure an imprisonment by the enemy. In short, they are being trained on how to "return with honor." May we also determine that we will enter God's presence with honor because we have not disowned Jesus Christ before men.

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." What is meant by these words? They seem to contradict the previous phrase. There we are told that God will disown us if we disown Him. Here, Paul seems to be saying, that if we are faithless, He will not disown us but be faithful. What, then, is the proper interpretation? First of all, we know that Paul did not contradict himself. Here, then, is one possible interpretation of the phrase in verse 13 that does not contradict the previous phrase: "If we are faithless," God will remain faithful to His promise to disown us, for He always is "faithful" to keep His promise to disown us, for He always is faithful to keep His warnings to us. For, the one thing that God cannot do is act contrary to Himself.

One concern with this first interpretation, however, is that though God is always "faithful," we each have had times when we know that we have failed in some way to be faithful to God. Peter even denied Jesus. See Matthew 26:72, 25:12 So, I offer a second way to interpret what Paul is saying in this verse and that is that Jesus is still "faithful" to us in those times when we are not faithful to God. In this second possible interpretation, our being "faithless" is not a once and for all disowning of Jesus, but it is a failing that is common to us weak and failing people. In other words, when we fail God, He still does not fail us. The reason that we can count on Him being faithful is that it is impossible for God to disown who He is. We may not always trust in Him faithfully, but He never fails to be a faithful God. See I Thessalonians 5:24; II Thessalonians 3:3; I Corinthians 10:13; II Corinthians 1:15; Habakkuk 3:23; Numbers 23:19

Being faithless to God and disowning Him, then, must not be the same, for Peter failed to be faithful and even denied Jesus Christ, yet Jesus did not disown Him. Disowning Jesus appears to be what Judas did and being faithless appears to be what Peter did. If anyone does what Judas did and does not repent, Jesus will disown him. If someone does what Peter did and does repent, Jesus will continue to be "faithful" to him.

This second interpretation appears to be correct; for it appears that Jesus being "faithful" is not a certainty that He will disown us, but a certainty that He will maintain being "faithful" to us even when we are not "faithful" to Him. The reason that He will be "faithful" to us is that He never changes and will remain true to Himself. See II Corinthians 1:19,20; Hebrews 6:18 So, this ancient hymn ends on the positive note of God's faithfulness.

STAY STRONG BY AVOIDING FOOLISH ARGUMENTS. (2:14-18)
"Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some."

1. Do not argue about words. (2:14)

"Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen." See 2:16,23-24; I Timothy 6:14

Thought Question: What would you say is the difference between an appropriate time and way to discuss a disagreement and what Paul is describing here that "only ruins those who listen"?

"Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words." In I Timothy 6:4,5, Paul says the following about someone who quarrels "about words": "he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind. . . . " In my comments on these verses I said the following: "These people are sick because they do not enjoy seeking after the truth, but they enjoy winning arguments." Getting into arguments with people like those referred to here will result in "constant friction" or in modern terms, more heat than light; as it says in Proverbs 18:2, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."

The problem is that some do not seek after truth because they have not allowed themselves to be humbled by the truth. Jesus said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." (Matthew 5:3) The "poor in spirit" are those who have come to recognize their neediness as sinners before a holy God. They seek the truth because they recognize their neediness and they seek after God's truth and grace to help them. They seek God's help because they recognize their inability to help themselves. The proud do not believe that they need help. They desire, instead, to show others what they have learned and accomplished.

To get involved with word battles with those who are not truly interested in seeking the truth "is of no value and only ruins those who listen." You may even win the battle of the words, but in the end everyone really loses. It is a "lose, lose" situation rather than a "win, lose" one. No one is truly built up and you may in the end only have a stronger enemy. Also, if you appear to lose an argument like this because your opponent is a better arguer and a better debater, it can lead to others feeling that Christianity has also lost the argument. Instead of our words leading to others being built up in the faith, it can result in others' faith being ruined. The Greek word for "ruins" is a word from which we have gotten our English word "catastrophe." The Greek word is catastrophe. "Quarreling about words" will lead to catastrophic results.

2. Work hard at handling God's word correctly. (2:15)

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

Thought Question: What can you do to ensure that you are "correctly" handling "the word of truth"?

In this part of Paul's letter, Paul contrasts good workmen "who correctly" handle God's truth in the Bible with bad workmen who incorrectly handle God's truth. We will learn in the coming verses that Hymaneus and Philetus were examples of bad workmen, for they had "wandered away from the truth."
(2:17-18) In every generation there have been and will be both good and bad workmen; there are those who properly handle the Bible and those who mishandle the Bible.

Paul exhorts Timothy to be one of those who is eager and who works hard at correctly handling "the word of truth." Doing "your best" is the opposite of doing something half-hearted. When we pour our lives into someone else, it can be disappointing if we give it everything we have and the other person is only half-hearted. Instead of our whole-heartedness being passed on to the next generation, the other person's half-heartedness will be passed on to others. This lack of wholeheartedness will continue on to the next generation and so on until the ember dies out.

Paul's goal for Timothy was that he would do his "best" so that he would be able to "present" himself "to God as one approved." A good friend is about to take his national chemical dependency counselor's test. His goal is that he will measure up so that he will be approved as a chemical dependency counselor. He admits to having test anxiety, but he is wholeheartedly seeking to pass this test and to be approved nationally as a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. We should be seeking to correctly handle God's truths so that He will see each of us as an "approved" workman. That we will be approved by God in how we handle His book should concern us greatly. It is my full desire that He approves of how I have handled II Timothy in this Digging for Gold study.

"a workman who does not need to be ashamed" Many of us have had supervisors over us who have periodically examined our work. Our fear was that our supervisor would find some serious flaw in our work and we would be "ashamed" because we did not measure up to our supervisor's standards. Each of us who are Christians constantly labor before the Great Supervisor in heaven as we seek to minister to others with His word. We do not want to be ashamed because we have not measured up to His standards for how He wants us to handle His word. See Philippians 1:20

"and who correctly handles the word of truth." "Correctly handles" comes from one Greek word that means "to cut straight." It can mean keeping on the correct path when we go on a walking trip; it means the opposite of wandering off the path. In most jobs there is a correct way to do it. For example, a cook in a fast food restaurant needs to cook fast, but he or she also needs to cook the food thoroughly so that the customers will not get sick from eating underdone food. We want to handle God's word in the proper way also, so that people are built up by it and not led down the wrong path because we have mishandled God's truth. When we have finished ministering God's truth, we want it to continue to be God's truth and not a distortion of it. We want to use God's word "correctly" so that it will take us and those we have ministered to straight toward God's goals. See Acts 13:10 where you will see an example of one who mishandled God's truth.

This verse is what the AWANA'S children program is based on: Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. It is a ministry that I have worked with for many years. May we each be "approved" "workmen" who need not be "ashamed" of our use of God's word in our ministries.

3. Avoid godless chatter that leads to godlessness. (2:16-18)

"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some."

a. Avoid godless chatter for it leads to godlessness. (2:16)

"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly."

Thought Question: How can we recognize the "godless chatter" that we are to "avoid"?

In Acts 20:29-30, Paul predicts that false teachers will be a part of the future of the church at Ephesus: "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." Paul's prediction was correct for both in I Timothy and in II Timothy we learn that Timothy, in his ministry in Ephesus, was dealing with false teaching that had become a threat to his ministry in that city. See I Timothy 1:4, 4:7, 6:4,20, II Timothy 1:18,23, 2:23 How should Timothy and we handle such false teaching? Paul instructs Timothy to avoid debating with them. He explains here that if he debates with them, it will not result in the false teacher coming closer to God, but in Timothy (and us) moving farther away from God and His ways; "those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly." The only ones who draw closer to God are those who have become humble and "poor in spirit." (Matthew 5:3) On the other hand, those who are proud and believe they can outdebate us are unconcerned about whether or not what we are presenting is true or false, they just want to win the argument. As has been said many times, no one wins an argument. After the argument, both parties are even more entrenched in their views. A hot debate usually ends up with both sides farther apart from each other than before the debate.

Listen to Paul's words in Titus 3:9,10: "But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him." "Paul says here that we can try twice to reason with someone, but if they persist in their twisted viewpoints, it shows that they are willfully rejecting God's truth. They have purposely blinded themselves and they want to stay blind. They gather arguments to protect their twisted views, rather than using that energy to seek for the truth." "Taken from Digging for Gold in Titus" Paul's point in this verse in II Timothy is that it is futile to engage them in discussions; instead you should "avoid" them.

What does Paul mean by "godless chatter"? The meaning of the Greek word translated "godless" could also be translated, "unholy" or "profane." These possible translations provide us with the reason why we should "avoid" these false teachers; their talk is unholy and it will have an unholy effect on us. It is like being around and talking with those who continually use God's name as a swear word. It eventually will have its effect on us by contaminating us with their profanity. Even though we do not allow ourselves to be dragged down by their false teaching; we will be pulled down by their polluted desire to argue.

The Greek word translated "chatter" includes within its meaning the idea of "empty words." Their words have no value and no purpose. Talking with them is a waste of our time. We should "avoid" wasting our time by engaging in conversations with those whose talk gets them and us nowhere. Talking with them is like talking to the fool described in the book of Proverbs: "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." (Proverbs 18:2) See also Proverbs 1:7, 23:9

Paul's instruction to Timothy to "avoid" these false teachers carries with it the idea of them and their teaching being loathsome. It is natural to avoid something that is loathsome. I recently cooked some French toast and then noticed that the bread had mold on it. I immediately threw it away and washed the fry pan thoroughly. We are to avoid false teachers because we do not want to be affected by their loathsome teachings as they grow more and more ungodly.

b. Avoid them for their teaching will spread like gangrene. (2:17-18)

"Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some."

Thought Question #1: Why do you believe that the false teaching of these two men "that the resurrection" had "already taken place" was so destructive?

Thought Question #2: Is there a false teaching today that is similar to the false teaching of these two men?

The Greek word translated "gangrene" is gaggraina, the word from which we get the English word, "gangrene," so it is easy for it to be translated, "gangrene." If a wound goes from being infected to becoming gangrenous, it is beyond help; that part of the body needs to be amputated so that the "gangrene" does not spread to other parts of the body. Paul could not have been clearer about the grave danger of the false teaching. Their teaching was spreading like "gangrene" and leaving behind destroyed lives.

"Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus," In I Timothy 1:19,20, Paul says: "holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these ["faith and a good conscience"] and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme." The "Hymaneus" in I Timothy 1:20 and the "Hymaneus" in this verse is likely the same person. False teachers are those who have "wandered away from the truth," and they have done it by choosing to do what their conscience says is wrong; they have continued to go against their consciences until their consciences become calloused. See Titus 3:10; I Timothy 4:2 They had become able to do what is wrong without feeling at all bad about it.

"who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." What is "the resurrection" that these 2 men taught had "already taken place"? These 2 false teachers appear to have been teaching that there is no actual physical resurrection, but that there is only a spiritual resurrection. They may have believed that becoming a Christian is the only "resurrection" that will take place. The Sadducees of Jesus' time did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. This heresy that Paul refers to here sounds like it was a belief similar to what the Sadducees believed in. We can see how this would "destroy the faith of some." The liberals of our day have denied the miracles of the Bible, including the miracle of the resurrection from the dead. Has their teaching spread like "gangrene"? Has their teaching destroyed "the faith of some"? Their teaching has infected whole denominations. Many Christians have had to leave the mainline denominations and began new evangelical denominations because what their former denominations believed no longer resembled what is taught in the Bible. Whole denominations have "wandered from the truth"!

The Bible, however, does clearly teach the resurrection from the dead. A whole chapter, I Corinthians 15, is devoted to this subject. In that chapter, Paul says: "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . . Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (1 Corinthians 15:14,17,18-19) As Jesus surely rose from the dead, we who have put faith in Him will also surely rise from the dead! See Philippians 3:20-21; John 5:28-29

THE GODLY TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS (2:19-26)

1. The godly turn away from wickedness by maintaining a strong

foundation.
(2:19)
"Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”"

Thought Question: In the midst of all the false teaching in the world today, in what ways is this verse a personal comfort to you?

There will always be false teachers like the ones Paul described in the previous verses. See I John 2:19 Nevertheless, "God's solid foundation," His truth and those who believe it, will stand "firm." See Hebrews 12:28 In short, in the midst of all of the false teaching, the true church will always stand; as it is standing today. " . . . God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15b)

"sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”" The words are quoted from Numbers 16:5 in the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint. In this chapter in Numbers, there is a description of a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The Lord sovereignly chose Moses and Aaron. In this chapter we learn that the false leaders who challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron were judged by being immediately buried alive when the earth opened up and swallowed them. Paul's point is that the true church has been authorized and supported by God Himself. It will continue to exist and God will enable it to stand strong against all the tides of false teaching that come against it. God knows today "those who are his"; just as He knew Moses and Aaron.

"“Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”" Just as Moses, Aaron and God's people turned away from the wickedness of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, so did God's people of Paul's time turned away from the false teachers and the "wickedness" of their time.

The same is true today. Today, God's true people will "turn away from wickedness." See John 10:14,28 God has chosen a people who will show that they are His people by turning "from wickedness." See I Peter 1:1,2; II Corinthians 6:17,18; Numbers 16:26; Isaiah 52:11; Luke 13:27 If we are truly God's people, we will detest and turn away from what God hates. We will turn away from men's wickedness.

If we focus on Satan's false teachers and their success, we can become discouraged. God wants us to know that there will always be God's people in our world. We can continue to labor in God's harvest field knowing that there will always be those who have been reached with the gospel message, and those who will soon be reached.

2. One becomes an instrument for noble purposes when he cleanses himself

from wickedness. (2:20-21)
"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."

Thought Question: What do these verses tell us about how we can be "useful" to God?

This is a picture of a rich person's mansion in which there are dishes, silverware, and other "articles" that are used for very special occasions. But there are also dishes, silverware and other "articles" that are everyday house ware that are used for the ordinary meals of the family. We have a choice as to what type of "articles" we become in God's work. Are we going to be used by God for "noble purposes" or for "ignoble" purposes? God used even the wicked Pharaoh of Moses' time for His purposes. He used him in an "ignoble" way. See Romans 9:17,22; Titus 1:16

How can we be "useful" to the Master and "prepared to do any good work"? See 4:11; Philemon 11 We must choose to cleanse ourselves. Most of us regularly cleanse ourselves physically. When we get our hands dirty, we wash them. In a restaurant, an owner and the health department require employers to regularly wash their hands. They are not ready to cook and handle food until their hands are well washed. We are not ready, according to Paul, to be used by God until we have cleansed ourselves morally, spiritually, and doctrinally. All three are found in the verses surrounding 2:20-21: (1) morally and spiritually – "turn away from wickedness" (2:19) and "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace." (2:22a); (2) doctrinally – "Their teaching will spread like gangrene." (2:17)

How do we cleanse ourselves? In I Timothy 1:19, Paul instructs Timothy to hold "on to faith and a good conscience." Then, in the verse after these two verses in II Timothy, Paul says: "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." In I John 1:1:9, we are told: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." In Romans 6:12-13, Paul says: "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." In short, our lives are to be dedicated to the pursuit of holiness. When we sin or realize in a new way that we fall short of God's ways in an area of our lives, we need to confess our sin and turn from it and continue to pursue after God's holy ways. We need to pursue God's truth in His book. See 3:14-4:2

What should be our highest desire as a Christian? I believe the answer is found in these 2 verses: to be used by Jesus Christ for His holy purposes! If we are to be used by Him, we must wholeheartedly and fully seek after moral and doctrinal purity. May this be our highest goal!

3. Flee evil desires (2:22a)

"Flee the evil desires of youth,"

Thought Question#1: What, do you believe, are the "evil desires of youth"?

Thought Question #2: What have you needed to flee from that is like what Paul describes here?

Hendriksen estimates that Timothy was "37-42 years of age" when he wrote this letter. "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books." So, Timothy was still a young man who knew about the "desires of youth." Although the Greek word translated "desires," like our word "desires," can mean good or evil "desires"; it is clear that if Timothy is to "flee" from them, Paul means evil "desires."

What are the "desires" that Paul is speaking of? Certainly, it is the "desires" that tend to get an addictive hold on us and dominate us, particularly when we are young: sexual "desires," addiction to alcohol and drugs, thrill-seeking, greed for possessions, pleasure-seeking, fame-seeking, and more.

Timothy was to "flee" these. A story is told of Augustine, who had lived a wild life before he became a Christian, who had to literally run away from a woman he had known in his pre-Christian days. She yelled after him, "It is only I!" He yelled back, "It is no longer I!" I heard the story so long ago that I do not know, now, how to verify whether or not it is true, but it does illustrate well what Paul teaches here. An example, though, that you can easily find is Joseph fleeing from Potipher's wife who was pursuing him. See Genesis 39:11-12

The desire for some things can quickly get a hold on our lives, so we must be even quicker at fleeing from them before we come under their control. There are some things in life that require that we flee from them. If we disturb a bee's nest, our only hope is to "flee" from the bees immediately. If we discover a fire is roaring through a building that we are in, our only hope is for us to "flee." When we learn that certain "desires" can quickly control us, we also need to "flee" from them. While we are still in control and they are not yet in control of us, we must quickly "flee" from them while we still can!

4. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. (2:22b)

"pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

Thought Question: How can you pursue each of the character qualities that Paul mentions here?

"righteousness" -

"faith" -

"love" -

"peace" –

Some things we are to run away from, but there are others that we are to run toward. The best way not to think about what we do not want to think about is to have our mind regularly and intensely focused on something else. As a Christian, we are to focus our mind and life on pursuing godliness.

First of all, we are to "pursue righteousness." Some teach a passive type of Christianity. "Let go and let God" applies in some areas. For example, we are to "Cast all [our] anxiety on him because he cares for [us]." (1 Peter 5:7) But letting go and letting God does not apply to growing as a Christian. We are to actively "pursue" developing righteous and godly character. See I Timothy 6:11; II Peter 1:5-7; Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 3:10,11 "Righteousness" will not just happen because we are a Christian, we must "pursue" it. "Righteousness" is the very opposite of the impure and evil "desires" from which we are to flee. We are to cultivate a pure heart in our attitude toward the opposite sex. We are to seek to bring all of our physical desires under the control of God's Spirit. See I Corinthians 9:27; Romans 6:13,14; I Thessalonians 4:3-7; Galatians 5:16

Next, we are to "pursue . . . faith." We are to grow in our trust in God. Our faith grows when we can trust Him when there is little visible evidence that God is doing something. It is during those dark times when it does not appear that God has heard our prayers that our faith is tested. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." We grow in faith in the dark times when we choose to believe in what the Bible says is true, even though we do not see it and it has not happened yet. In Hebrews 11:6, it says "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." We are to rigorously "pursue" after being men and women of "faith."

Then, we are to "pursue . . . love." Love can be defined as "seeking another person's best regardless of the cost or the circumstances." We are to "pursue . . . love." When others irritate us, brag about their successes, resist our love, sin against us, and are very hard to love, we are nevertheless to seek to continue to love them. Our love will grow as we "pursue" seeking people's best in any and all circumstances.

Finally, we are to "pursue . . . peace." In Romans 12:18, Paul tells us to seek to "live at peace with everyone." Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." (Matthew 5:9) In James 3:17,18, we find these words: "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." We who are to seek after being at peace with all men.

If we wholeheartedly "pursue" after these godly virtues, we will be in very good company. We will be among those "who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." The cleansing that Paul spoke of in verse 21 is a cleansing of the heart: "If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." We are to pursue an inner cleansing that enables us to "call on the Lord" without any pangs of our consciences that accuse us before God. See I Timothy 1:15; Romans 2:15

5. Avoid foolish arguments (2:23)

"Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." See 2:14; I Timothy 1:4,7, 4:7, 6:3-5, 20,21; Titus 3:9

Thought Question: According to this verse, what subjects and situations do you believe God wants you to avoid, so that you will not get into fruitless and destructive arguments?

There are some character qualities that we are to pursue in the Christian life and there are other character patterns that we are to make an equal effort to avoid. We should avoid getting into arguments with those who are not actually seeking the truth. In Martyn Lloyd-Jones' commentary on Romans 14:1-17, he gives and excellent description of the difference between an argument and a discussion. "The essential difference, then, between a discussion and an argument is this: If you are in an argument you are generally just out to win, and to prove that you are right, and that is why argumentation is generally bad . . . The trouble with an argument is that in the end you are more certain of your own position, but so is the other person. You have hardened his position and have probably made him more obstinate. He sees that you are trying to put him down, and that makes him determined to defend his position at all costs, and so agreement is ruled out. The spirit on both sides is wrong, and the result is that an argument always does more harm than good." "Taken from ROMANS Exposition of chapter 14:1-17 (pages 29-31) by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Copyright 2003 by Banner of Truth."

In I Timothy 6:3-5, we learn the following about the false teachers that Timothy was to avoid: "If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain." The false teachers were "conceited" and they enjoyed arguing. We are to avoid engaging these types of people in arguments. It will not go anywhere and will only result in divisive arguments. Some months ago, I read a book about a controversy over one of the major doctrines of faith. It was written by two different well-known authors who presented only their side of the argument. The book was not at all a discussion, but was a divisive argument. What was most apparent to me was that there was no love between these two opponents. It was for me the most unchristian book I have ever read that was written by two Christians. Neither author won; they both lost. There was much more heat than light.

The book of Proverbs describes those we are to avoid as fools. "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." (Proverbs 18:2) "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." (Proverbs 13:20) "Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips." (Proverbs 14:7) "If a wise man goes to court with a fool, the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace." (Proverbs 29:9) Here, Paul says that those we are to avoid are those with "foolish and stupid" arguments; those who argue, those who are unwilling to seek after the truth, and those whose only goal is to win an argument.

How, then, should a Christian go about handling controversial subjects with those who oppose us? The answer is found in the remaining verses of chapter two.

6. A strong bond-servant of Jesus Christ gently and patiently handles

opposition. (2:24-26)
"And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." See II Corinthians 4:5

Thought Question #1: How can we avoid arguments, but also do what Timothy is instructed to do in 4:2: "correct, rebuke and encourage"?

Thought Question #2: From these verses, list what is God's part, your part, and Satan's part:

God's part:

Your part:

Satan's part:

Paul uses a number of words to describe what we will be like when we are a "servant" of our Lord. First of all, we "must not quarrel." The "must not" translates the Greek word for "it is necessary" that we do not quarrel. As Paul said in 2:23, avoid getting into arguments. We are not to argue our opponents into submission. There is an old saying that remains true today: "He who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." We are to avoid argumentation. This does not mean, though, that we are not to teach and correct someone.

How do we avoid arguments with those who are opposed to us and to our teaching? We are not to respond to those who are argumentative with the same type of spirit that they show toward us. They are harsh; we are to be "kind" or "gentle." "But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children." (1 Thessalonians 2:7) "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." (1 Peter 2:21-23) See also Matthew 11:28-30, 12:18-21

True love seeks another's best regardless of the circumstances or cost. A "servant" of Jesus Christ will seek to reach them even when they do wrong to us. Becoming "resentful" toward them will not help us to reach them nor will it do any good for them, so it is not to be a practice of a bondservant of Jesus Christ: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 4:29-5:2)

Also, as "servants" of Jesus Christ, we are to continue to reach out to those who oppose us by "gently" instructing them or by "gently" correcting them. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. . . " (2 Timothy 3:16)

The goal of our gentle instruction is that they will voluntarily choose to turn from being opponents of the truth to being supporters of the truth. In these verses we are told how that can take place. In this process there is our part, God's part, their part, and Satan's part. Paul begins with our part. We are not to argue, but we are to be gentle with them. We are not to make it harder for them to turn to God by having a harsh attitude toward them. Next, we come to God's essential role in their change of attitude and direction. Because no one draws near to God "unless the Father . . . draws" him or her (John 6:44); it must be God who causes someone who is a rebel against Him to become someone who humbly becomes a follower of His. This change of direction also, though, will include their part. They must voluntarily choose to repent.

Finally, Paul describes Satan's part. Previous to their repentance, he had "taken them captive to his will." Those who are opposed to us are blinded by Satan to God's love for them and they are trapped by him. See II Corinthians 4:4 and Ephesians 2:1,2 So, to reach them, we must gently and lovingly respond to their sarcasm, cynicism, ridicule, insults, and mockery. But, it is only God who can rescue them from the powerful and evil clutches of the evil one.

Paul describes what will happen when they do repent: "they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." The words "come to their senses" describes coming to sobriety out of a drunken state. Those who oppose the truth are trapped by Satan's intoxication until they are unable to understand the truth. "Come to their senses" reminds us of the prodigal son returning to his father "when he came to his senses." (Luke 15:17) See I Corinthians 15:33,34; I Timothy 2:4

There is a difference of opinion among commentators about whom it is that "has taken them captive to do his will." Are the words, "and escape the trap of the devil," parenthetical and is the one who "has taken them captive to do his will" God who has enabled them to come to their senses? Or, on the other hand, is Satan the "one who has taken them captive to do his will"? It is certainly Satan who has entrapped them. The context best fits Satan as being the one who has "taken them captive." John Stott states that most commentators hold this view. He comes to the following conclusion based on his belief that it is Satan who Paul is referring to here: "Behind the scenes, invisible to men on the stage and in the audience, a spiritual battle is being fought out. The devil's grim activity is graphically depicted. He is likened to a hunter who captures his quarry alive in some clever 'snare' or trap. He also drugs or inebriates, for the word used of his captives' escape (ananepho) means literally to 'become sober' or 'come to one's senses again' . . . after a period of diabolical intoxication. From such a captivity, in which men are both trapped and doped by the devil, only God can deliver them by giving them repentance unto an acknowledgment of the truth. Yet he affects the rescue through the human ministry of one of his servants, who avoids quarreling and teaches with kindness, forbearance and gentleness." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press."

There is one last consideration that we need to make before we leave these verses. In Titus 3:10, we find these words: "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him." This verse in Titus and the verses that we are now studying seem to contradict each other. In Titus 3:10 we are to try twice to reason with someone who is opposed to the truth and then we are to "have nothing to do with him." But, here in these verses we are told to patiently persevere with those who oppose us, in hope that they will repent. Which is true? A "divisive person" is one who will want to argue. We are to take the initiative to seek to reach them, but when they continue to resist, they show us their heart's attitude toward the truth. Nevertheless, though we may seek to avoid them, they may not avoid us. Also, we may find ourselves in situations where we cannot avoid them. In short, we should not respond to them out of selfishness, bitterness, or anger. We should always respond to them selflessly, seeking to do that which is best for them and God's church. That may even include dealing with them strongly: "This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith" (Titus 1:13) We must always respond as the "Lord's servant" and not as someone who is impatient and angry.

WHY WE NEED TO STAY STRONG IN THE LORD (3:1-9)

1. There will be terrible times in the last days. (3:1-5a)

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power." See also Romans 1:28-32

Thought Question #1: Give current day examples of what is on this list in our day.

Thought Question #2: What is the characteristic of the "last days" that is the hardest for you to deal with? Why is it so hard for you to deal with?

If there was not a chapter break at this point, we would see more clearly that Paul is here explaining why Timothy should stay strong in his ministry as a servant of Jesus Christ. It is because the society as a whole is strongly going in the very opposite direction from where God wants Timothy to lead people in the church. In short, Paul is saying: "Timothy, it is going to be tough to serve the Lord in these "last days."

When exactly do these "last days" take place? According to the New Testament, we are now in "the last days" and have been in "last days" since the church began: " In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." (Hebrews 1:1-2) See also I Timothy 4:1; I John 2:18; I Peter 1:20 As Hendriksen points out, the "last days" here could not refer to some future time thousands of years after Timothy's time, for then it would not have applied at all to Timothy. The "last days" occurred in Timothy's time and is also occurring in our time.

Paul exhorts Timothy to constantly "mark this," or constantly be aware. It is very human for our focus to shrink and for us to end up focusing on ourselves alone. See Numbers 11:10-15; I Kings 19:10,14 But it always helps to look at the big picture. The big picture includes the hardness of people's hearts in these "last days." When the ministry gets very tough, we need to remember that God's word tells us that our ministry to Him is going to be very difficult. For example, a UPS driver was told by his boss: "The roads are very difficult today; I know that you will have difficulty today getting your deliveries completed in time." This statement of the difficulty of his job on that day would help the driver as he went through the difficult days; for his boss understood what he was going through and would be surprised if he completed his job on time. The fact that Paul understood the difficulty of Timothy's task would help Timothy during the days of ministry when Paul was no longer alive. It helps us in our ministries when we have our three-steps-forward-and-two-steps-backward types of ministry today.

The Scriptures teach us that the description of the "last days" given in these verses will increase in intensity as the birth pains of a mother increase in intensity just before the birth of a child: "All these are the beginning of birth pains. . . . Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." (Matthew 24:8,12) See also II Thessalonians 2:1-12 So, we who are ministering nearly 2,000 years after Timothy's time should not be surprised that our ministry is growing more difficult. We, like Timothy, need to remain strong and to finish strong.

Paul says that in these "last days," there will be times when it will be hard for us to continue in the ministry. Paul is not saying that it will always be like this, but that there will be certain times when it will be particularly difficult. But he is also saying that these difficult seasons will get worse as it nears the very end of the "last days": ". . . evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:13)

Now, let us look at what Paul says that these "terrible times" will be like: First of all, "people will be lovers of themselves." John Stott reminds us that it is "people" themselves who are the cause of the "terrible times." "Lovers of themselves" is the Greek word philantos: phileo = love and autos = self; therefore "self lovers." Today, we are told that you cannot love others until you love yourselves. There is no place in the Bible that teaches this favorite contemporary teaching. Instead, the Bible teaches that we must deny self: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."" (Matthew 16:24,25) Jesus also taught each of us to "love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 19:19); but he does not ever command us to love our self. He assumes that we already do that.

Selfishness is to seek our best regardless of what it costs others; the greatest selfishness is to expect others to lay down their lives for us. In our society, pregnant mothers do this when they get an abortion. In our society this evil is called good. After all, if we do not think about our self, who will? But, children do not need society to tell them to love themselves, they do quite well at it without any instructor. What they need is for parents and adults to teach and guide them to share with others. The "terrible times" come when our society becomes nearly completely selfish like untrained children, each person only caring about his or herself. Christians are taught to act in the very opposite way: "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:15)

Next, the "terrible times" come when people are "lovers of money." In Luke 16:13, Jesus said: "“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”" Consider now the Pharisees response to His words: "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus." (Luke 16:14) We cannot love money and also love God. The love of money is one form of selfishness, for we do not love money so that we can give it to others or so that it can be used for God's unselfish purposes; we love it so that it can be used to buy nice things for ourselves. See Revelation 18:9-20

"Terrible times" occur when people are "boastful, proud"; they will be characterized by an arrogant and boastful spirit. Jesus wanted us to compare the difference between a "boastful, proud" Pharisee and a humble tax-collector: " To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”" (Luke 18:9-14) The Pharisee saw himself as better than other men. The boaster or the braggart proclaims himself as better than other men; while those like the tax-collector have a true assessment of themselves. "Terrible times" come when we have a world full of people like the Pharisees and only a few like the tax-collectors. See also James 4:6; I Peter 5:5; I John 2:16; Revelation 3:17

The Greek word for "boastful" portrays a traveling medicine man who boasts that he has a medicine that will cure everything when it actually will cure nothing. They are those who give the impression that they are better than they are. The Greek word for "proud" portrays someone who sees himself as above others. Our modern term, "stuck-up" captures the meaning of this word. Those who are described by these two words are difficult to reach with the gospel message until they are humbled and broken by the consequences of their own haughtiness.

During the "terrible times" people will be "abusive." The Greek word translated "abusive" is blasphemos. Wuest give this expanded translation: "speaking evil, slanderous, reproachful, reviling, railing, abusive." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." The arrogance mentioned earlier expresses itself in abusive, malicious, and disrespectful words toward others. It is not easy to minister to those who believe themselves better than you and others. It is not easy to minister when there are those who are abusive to you and others. "Abusive" is a good translation, of the Greek word "blasphemos" for in this context Paul is describing speaking against a human being and he is not referring to speaking against God.

Another characteristic of the "terrible times" is that children will be "disobedient to their parents." The arrogant spirit that has already been mentioned will also result in children being disrespectful and "disobedient to their parents." Today, there is an emphasis on children's rights and not on children's responsibilities. We characteristically challenge authority as a society and thereby justify rebellion against authority, particularly God's authority. But it is our Creator who has established authority and who commands children to obey their parents. See Romans 13:1-7; Exodus 20:12; Colossians 3:30 Most of us have heard from older teachers that they find it less enjoyable teaching now because of the increase in discipline problems.

People, in these times will be "ungrateful." In Romans 1:21, Paul says the following: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." There are days in our society that we set apart so that we will focus on being thankful: Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Presidents' Day, and the Fourth of July. Most of us who are older have seen these days lose their original meaning and become little more than a 3-day weekend. Selfishness leads to ingratitude. "Terrible times" are when we lose all gratitude.

In these days, people will be "unholy." In Leviticus 18, the Lord lists for Moses the unholy practices of the people of Canaan, the people that inhabited the Promised Land before Israel was to enter it. The people were to despise and reject these despicable practices. In our society, moral filth is slowly becoming less shameful and, in some cases, it is even being called good. For example, shortly before the time in which I am writing these words there was at the local university what they called "The Great Porn Debate." The majority of the students who attended or at least the more outspoken of those who attended applauded the representative who was pro-pornography. The sad part of all of this is that the university sponsored this debate. What I have described reveals that the "terrible times" are already becoming more "terrible."

Furthermore, people during "the terrible times" will be "without love." "Without love" has also been translated "inhuman" (NRSV), "without natural affection" (KJV), "heartless" (ESV), "unfeeling" (ISV). Here, Paul is saying that "terrible times" come when men and women lose even their natural and human type of love for each other. The Greek word is astorgos; without storgos or without a family type of love. Our reality shows are often entertainment at the expense of others. We have come to enjoy watching people being humiliated. We easily recognize how horrible it was when the crowds at the Roman arenas were entertained by watching people being killed by gladiators and wild beasts. All of this type of behavior can only occur when natural human concern for others grows icy cold. Jesus also predicted what Paul predicts here. He also predicted that the last days would be a time when "the love of most will grow cold." (Matthew 24:12)

During these difficult days, people will be "unforgiving." The Greek word is aspondos. Spondos is entering into a treaty and an alpha or an "a" in front of it means refusing to enter into a treaty. "Unforgiving" fits the meaning because is describes someone who refuses to either make a relationship or restore a relationship. Some time ago a friend told me what happened between a neighbor lady and him. She had called him after both of their children had just returned on the bus from school. His young son had kissed her daughter on the bus. In the phone call she was very attacking against my friend and his son. My friend reacted to her tirade against the two of them. Afterwards, he felt bad and decided to go to her home and apologize to her for his reaction. He met her husband outside their house. My friend explained to this man what had happened and that he wanted to apologize to his wife. The husband said, "It is too late, my wife never forgives." His prediction was correct. When I visited him for some time after that, I would hear about how she was carrying on her feud against him and his family. She refused to have a good relationship with my friend who is, incidentally, a very friendly and personable fellow.

Paul here is describing a time when this type of unforgiveness is common. You can easily see why it is a "terrible time." In the Middle East there has been this type of unforgiveness taking place between the Palestinians and the Jews for centuries. It is a "terrible time" right now.

This list of characteristics is quite long and I could have summarized them rather than going through them one by one, but there is a need, I believe, to understand each one well so that we can see what it is like to act in the very opposite way from which we who are Christians are to act. Also, there may be someone right now who is selfish toward you in one of the ways that we have just described. As Paul experienced those who were very selfish and made life difficult for him, so you are now experiencing this same type of selfishness and it is also making life difficult for you. See II Timothy 4:15,16 May you be encouraged that the Christian life has been and always will be lived during times when people are hardened in their selfishness. Your experience with the selfish person that you have a relationship with is what was also experienced by Christians in the past. They were victorious in their time. If we follow the instructions given in II Timothy, we will also be victorious in our time. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

As we continue on through Paul's description of what characterizes the "terrible times," we come to "slanderers." The Greek word is diaboloi, the word that is often translated "devil." The devil is a slanderer. Listen to Barclay as he describes the wickedness of slander: "There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a man's goods are stolen, he can set to and buildup his fortunes again; but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It is one thing to start an evil untrue report on its malicious way; it is entirely another thing to stop it. . . Many men and women, who would never dream of stealing, think nothing---even find pleasure---in passing on a story which ruins someone else's good name, without even trying to find out whether or not it is true. There is slander enough in many a church to make the recording angel weep as he records it." "Taken from THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON by William Barclay. Copyright 1956 by The Westminster Press." See Romans 3:8

As we continue on in this list of the worst that can occur in society, we come to "without self-control." Kratein is the Greek word for "control"; akrates mean "without control." Our desires were meant to be our servants and they were to be kept under our control. When they control us, we become their slaves. A society becomes "terrible" when self-control is gone. That is what characterized Sodom and Gomorrah. See Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27 The beast takes over in men and women when we lose our fear of God. See Ephesians 4:17-19

And when the beast takes over, they also will be "brutal." "It denotes a savagery which has neither sensitiveness nor sympathy." "Taken from THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON by William Barclay. Copyright 1956 by The Westminster Press." See Psalm 22:12,13,16,21

They will be characteristically "not lovers of the good": aphilagoatos. Phileo is "love," a is "not," and agathos is "good" = not love good. At the time that I am writing these words, candidates for the presidency of the United States are placing ads on television. One candidate has professed that he is a Christian and has placed a warm Christmas greeting as an ad. It is obvious by the reaction to it, that the news media hated it and everything that is Christian about this candidate. Movies with Christian themes have been well-attended lately. It is obvious that there are those that despise the success of these attempts to promote that which is good and wholesome. Those who are reacting against Christian morality are "not lovers of the good." Their goal is to find something to criticize about these movies with a Christian emphasis and to focus on that rather than focus on anything in the movies that might be perceived as good. There are those who are militantly seeking to remove the word morality from our society. They are also systematically seeking to eliminate the distinction between good and bad. See Isaiah 5:20; Romans 1:32; Psalms 94:21

"Terrible times" come when men are "treacherous, rash, conceited." "Treacherous" can also be translated by the word, "traitorous." "Rash" describes people who regularly make unwise, unloving, and impulsive decisions. "Conceited" describes those who are blinded by their own egos. So, you have those who will quickly and easily turn on you out of an exaggerated sense of their own importance. Paul describes an ugly picture of the very opposite of what is meant to take place in the kingdom of God.

As we near the end of our list we come to "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." It would appear from these words that it is wrong for us to enjoy pleasures. However, we can tell from I Timothy 4:3-5 that God desires that we enjoy the pleasures that He has provided for us: "They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." The problem is not whether or not we should enjoy "pleasure," but whether or not pleasure is our lord rather than God being our Lord. In a recent Sunday morning message the pastor at the church where our son and his family attend spoke on fasting. He quoted someone who referred to being controlled by food as being ruled by "King Stomach." Is our Ruler God or are we being ruled by king pleasure?

We are not called to live monastic and pleasureless lives, but we are also not to live primarily for pleasure. Our society, though, is clearly oriented that way, after all, we deserve it (or at least advertisements tell us we do). What dominates our lives, the pursuit of pleasure or the pursuit of God? The church can cater to this pursuit of pleasure by primarily trying to seek membership by giving people a pleasurable experience. It becomes difficult to appeal to people to live the self-sacrificing lives that Jesus calls us to when there is so much that is pleasurable that competes with our every appeal: "Come to our prayer meeting where we will be praying for the lost and for missionaries"; "Please reach out to a needy family"; and "We urge you to dedicate yourselves to fulfilling God's desire to build up the Body of Christ." There are great needs for finances in God's work throughout the world. What will come first, our personal pleasure or our pursuit of God's will? Each of us, in our pleasure-fulfilling society struggles many times as they need to answer this question, "Will I seek pleasure for myself or will I sacrificially pursue after God's will. What we do not want to be is, "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

As we come to the end of Paul's list, we read these words: "having a form of godliness but denying its power." So, this list does not just refer to those outside of the church, but these worldly patterns of the last days will also permeate the church. All that has been described can be the heart motives of those who call themselves Christians; though it is covered with a veneer of "godliness." Even the Pharisees who engineered the murder of Jesus had "a form of godliness." "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:25) See also Jude 4-19 It is possible to go through all the right motions, but what shows on the outside is not present on the inside. See Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:7-9; Titus 1:16

What does Paul mean by "denying its power"? As a young man I was raised in a church that emphasized the morality that is taught in the Bible, but it did not teach about the power through the indwelling life of Christ in the believer to live that life. In fact, in the type of church that I was raised in, there was a denial of the miraculous. It was truly a church that had "a form of godliness," but they denied that God would give us the "power" to live that life. It was partly due to my own inability to live the life that this church urged us to live that I turned from the church for a number of years. A friend described this type of church as a "Rotary Club with pews." They believed in doing what was good, but they did not teach about how we can be empowered to live this type of good life.

2. Stay strong by having nothing to do with them (3:5b)

"have nothing to do with them."

Thought Question: How can we apply Paul's instruction not to have anything to do with the people like those described in 3:1-4?

Paul concludes his list with these words: "have nothing to do with them." It is similar to what Jesus did with the Pharisees. They were the religious people of his time and He is Son of God. It would seem that He and they would become united, but the very opposite is what occurred. He did not pursue after becoming one of them. Instead, it became clear that He was opposed to their type of religiosity. So we also are not to associate with the false religiosity that has a form of true religion, but does not have a God-empowered life; that has the form of religion, but is characterized by ugly selfishness and not by Christ-empowered godliness. See II John 10,11; I Corinthians 5:1-13; I Timothy 1:19,20

3. An example of what people will be like during the terrible times (3:6-9)

"They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone."

Thought Question #1: According to this description of false teachers, how can we tell that someone is a false teacher?

Thought Question #2: According to these verses, how does someone become a false teacher?

Paul describes the type of false leaders that Timothy is to avoid. Timothy would become at Paul's death, one of the key leaders in the true church. He is to despise and reject the false teaching and false teachers that would become a threat to the church after Paul was gone.

We see in these verses what false teachers do: "worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women." "Worm their way" describes those who slyly come up with strategies to fool and manipulate people. The cults are trained in how to discredit the evangelical faith. Other false teachers are found on television. They promise riches to their television viewers if they will plant a seed of faith by sending them money. Other false teachers join a church with a strategy of gaining a following of disciples from that church. "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." (Acts 20:28-31)

The church at Corinth had those who were seeking to replace Paul and become the leaders of the church by leading that church in a different direction from the way that Paul had taught them. "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. . . . For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:3,4, 13-15)

"gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." Here Paul describes a type of woman who is easily led astray by false teachers. He describes a woman who not only has a pattern of sinning, but also one who has not properly confessed those sins nor repented of them. Paul, in I Timothy described women who were "loaded down with sins": "Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to." (I Timothy 5:13)

False teachers "gain control" or entrap this type of woman through sly deception. How do they "gain control"? Paul does not say, but Jude gives one way it takes place: "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." (Jude 4) These false teachers described in Jude were able to "gain control" of people by telling them that their immorality was acceptable. One cult, which I am familiar with, used a verse in Titus to accomplish this control of women: "To the pure, all things are pure," (Titus 1:15) They used this verse to justify sex outside of marriage and sex between multiple partners. The leader of the movement taught that if you are pure in your motives, sex outside of marriage and sex with multiple partners is pure.

"always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." These women were eager to learn. Today, they would be avid book readers, but what they read and learned was not the truth; but, instead, it was some form of false teaching. They are eager to hear teachings, but not eager to hear the truth. "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4) See Ephesians 4:14

Next, Paul describes the false teachers as being like "Jannes and Jambres [who] opposed Moses." Who were these men? Hendriksen gives the following answer to this question: He says, that according to Jewish tradition they were the magicians in Pharaoh's court described in Exodus 7:11,22, 8:7: "If Jewish tradition can be credited in this respect, Jannes and Jambres became proselytes, faking 'conversion' to the Jewish religion. When they saw that they could not prevent Israel's exodus from Egypt, they are said to have joined the departing multitude. Later (according to Jewish tradition) they were the ones who induced the people to make a golden calf and worship it. They were pretenders, therefore; hypocrites, and such were very dangerous.---Similarly, the false leaders whom Paul describes are all the more dangerous because they pretend to be genuine converts to the Christian religion." "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books."

Next, Paul says that these false teachers were "men of depraved minds." We sometimes wonder how people can become false teachers. Paul gives the explanation for how people become false teachers in I Timothy 1:19,20: "holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme." A teacher becomes a false teacher when that person rejects his or her conscience until it becomes hardened. Then, they are able to deceive and do what is wrong without feeling bad about it. See Romans 1:28; I Timothy 4:2, 6:5; Titus 1:15 According to Barclay, "Jannes and Jambres" symbolized all those among the Jews who were in opposition to God. The false teachers that Paul is describing here are like "Jannes and Jambres" in that they opposed God's truth and opposed those who spoke God's truth.

Paul gave them and gives us the following encouragement, though, about these false teachers: "But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone." False teachers will not eradicate the church. Satan's counterfeits are inevitably exposed as false teachers and their teachings will be recognized as being untrue. See 2:17-19 For a while, these false teachers may succeed, but eventually they will be exposed for the charlatans they are. See Matthew 7:15-20 It will be recognized that what they are teaching is foolishness.

INSTEAD, BE STRONG IN THE LORD (3:10-17)

1. Paul's past pattern of staying strong (3:10-11)

"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them."

Thought Question: What do you learn from Paul's example that is helpful to you in persevering and staying strong in the ministry that God has called you to?

How could Timothy stay strong in the Lord when facing the "terrible times" that Paul had just described? How can we stay strong in the Lord as we face the opposition and coldness to God that we face? We are encouraged to stay strong by following the pattern of those in the past who have stayed strong to the end. Paul was one who stayed strong, and we have his description of what he went through and how he stayed strong during his life in these verses. And Timothy was there as he went through the tough times and he saw it all: "You, however, know all about my . . . persecutions, sufferings." Timothy knew all about what Paul went through; and how he went through it with "faith, patience, love, endurance." May we be encouraged to follow Paul's pattern as we read his testimony that he gives here to his young follower.

"You know about my teaching." What did Timothy know? He knew that Paul was in every way the complete opposite of the false teacher. Paul's teaching was accurate about the greatness of man's sin. He did not justify sin, but thoroughly exposed it in all of its ugliness. See Romans 1:18-3:23 He taught of God's grace toward him and toward everyone through the death of Jesus Christ. See Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:8,9; I Timothy 1:12-16 He taught of a sacrificial life, not a self-indulgent life. See II Corinthians 5:15 He called for repentance from sin (See Acts 26:20) and a life of loving service to others (See Ephesians 4:29-5:20). Timothy heard first-hand teachings from the mouth of Paul and they were the very opposite of the teachings of the false teacher.

You "know all about . . . way of life." If Paul had taught about a life of service, for example, his teachings would have been empty and of little worth if he had not lived a life of service. But, Paul had not only taught about selfless service, he had lived it: "You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." (1 Thessalonians 2:5-12)

You "know all about . . . my purpose." Recently, a Christian book has been popular that is titled, The Purpose Driven Life. It is my assessment that this book has been popular because our relativistic-postmodern world provides us with no substantial reason for living. Paul had a clear "purpose" and it was given to him by God: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—" (Romans 1:1) See Acts 9;15,16; Galatians 1:15,16; I Timothy 1:12; Acts 13:2; Romans 1:13 Paul's life, his priorities, his motivation, and his willingness to suffer can be explained by the purpose that God had given to him; he was God's chosen Apostle to reach the Gentile world. Timothy saw that this was the unifying purpose that explained all that Paul did.

You "know all about . . . my . . . faith." I quote from Digging For Gold in I Timothy 6:11b: "Faith is trusting in God's love and power in all circumstances. Our natural tendency is to become anxious when our circumstances are beyond what we can control. So, we must continually pursue after trusting God." Timothy had seen Paul living this type of trust in God. He had seen Paul's life of faith. May Paul's life of faith encourage us to trust God when we come in our service of God to situations that are beyond our ability to deal with.

You "know all about . . . my . . . patience, love, endurance." The Greek word translated "patience" is mackrothumei . It can also be translated, "longsuffering." According to Barclay, the people of that time usually used it to describe "patience" with people. "Love" and "endurance" are part of the list of behaviors that Timothy is urged to do in I Timothy 6:11: " But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." "Love" and "endurance" are the opposite of our most natural inclinations. Our inclination is to be short-suffering, selfish, and to give up on people easily. Timothy saw Paul seek after the best for those he ministered to, even though it involved suffering and even though it meant he must persevere and endure for some time with the many ups and downs in their lives. John Stott helps us to see the distinction in the Greek language between "patience" and "endurance": "'steadfastness' ["endurance"] (hypomone, the patient endurance of trying circumstances, in distinction to makrothymia, the patient endurance of trying people)." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press."

Most of the time, the work of the ministry is 3 steps forward and two steps backward. What is essential and what makes it possible for us to minister with "patience" and "endurance"? We only persevere in ministry to others when we have a genuine "love" for those we are ministering to. If the focus gets on our self, the "patience" and "endurance" ends" "Who are they to make my life so difficult?" But, if we continue to focus on others' needs and what is best for them, we will be patient and we will endure!

You "know all about . . . my . . . persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured." Paul lists for Timothy the persecutions that Paul experienced that Timothy knew about: (1) "in Antioch": "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region." (Acts 13:49-50) (2) "Iconium": "There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country," (Acts 14:5-6) (3) "Lystra": "Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead." (Acts 14:19) The events happened before Timothy became a follower of Paul, but since they happened in Timothy's home region, he had heard of them and he may have been a witness to some of them also, for Timothy was from "Lystra." See Acts 16:1-3

Paul reminds Timothy about what Paul had endured in his lifetime. When Paul returned to the region after enduring the suffering and persecutions, he said these words to the people of that time: "They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,”" (Acts 14:21-22) In these verses we are covering, Timothy is reminded that serving the Lord will be very difficult. We also need to be reminded that serving the Lord will never be easy. To serve the Lord, we must be willing to suffer and persevere as Paul did so many years ago in Timothy's home region.

"Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them." In Psalm 34:17, we read these words: "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles." As I read these words, I thought of a servant of the Lord who is going through a great trial. I immediately emailed him these verses that he might be encouraged as Timothy was certainly encouraged by the way God had rescued Paul. See also Psalm 27:1-6 Paul was about to die when he wrote these words, but he was confident that the Lord would eternally rescue him: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)

2. Remember that everyone who wants to live a godly life will go through

persecution. (3:12-13)
"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

Thought Question #1: Why do you think that all those who "want to live a godly life" "will be persecuted"?

Thought Question #2: In what ways have you been "persecuted" because you are a Christian?

Throughout I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus, Paul exhorts Timothy and Titus to live a godly life. See Acts 14:22; I Timothy 2:2, 4:8, 6:6,,11; II Timothy 2:22, 3:16,17; Titus 1:1,7,8, 2:11,12 But, here, Paul reveals that if Timothy lives the godly life that Paul encourages him to live, he "will be persecuted." Also, if we live a "godly life," we will "be persecuted"; for "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

The question that we must then ask is, "Why are those who want to "live a godly life" always "persecuted"? See Matthew 5:10-12; John 15:18-25; 16:1-4, 33; I Thessalonians 3:4 Those who "want to live a godly life" are resolutely committed to a style of life that is the opposite of the ungodly life that many or even most in the world are pursuing. But, why do those in the world hate and persecute Christians? Here are two reasons why Christians are "persecuted": (1) When we live a Christian life, it shines a light and exposes the ungodliness in those who are choosing to do what is sinful. They feel guilty and/or they resent you condemning the lifestyle that they are choosing to live. You may not even be verbally condemning the way that they are living. It is inevitable that our lifestyle will shine a light on those who choose a sinful pattern and our lifestyle choice will make them feel uncomfortable, guilty, and condemned. See I John 3:12-15

(2) Another reason that seeking "to live a godly life" will lead to persecution is that we are showing by our choice that we desire to submit to God and His directions for living. We are, then, stating by our life choices that we are not free to do whatever we want to do, but we must seek to do what God wants us to do. A big area of controversy in our society is called "pro-choice." The world argues that a woman must be allowed to choose whether or not to keep the baby that has begun its life within her. Christians say that sex outside of marriage and aborting a child that comes from that union is selfish, immoral, and murder. The world hates us for taking these types of godly stands. It is inevitable that the world will resent every moral stand we take.

"While evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse," The reasons that were mentioned above for why the world hates Christians will become even more evident as the world increases in their evil as we grow nearer to the end of the world as we know it. For, here, Paul predicts that evil will increase in the world. At one time there was a view called Postmillennialism that taught that the world will be so influenced by Christians that it will eventually bring in the promised kingdom of God. This verse teaches the very opposite of this view. For, according to this verse, evil will increase and not decrease as we approach the end of time. "Evil men" will hate Christians all the more as they begin to condone such behaviors as homosexuality, pornography, and abortion; and as they also begin to practice these types of sin more openly. As sin comes out of the closet, they will seek to force Christians who are opposed to the sin to go into the closet. This will lead to increased persecution of those who refuse to go into the closet and take an open stand against the sin.

Paul also refers to those who "go from bad to worse" as "imposters," and he says that they will both be "deceiving and being deceived." One of the inevitable results of practicing evil is that there is the need to deny that it is evil. Men and women become experts at deceiving themselves and others that the evil they choose is not evil but an acceptable practice. The man who debated at our local university for pornography was an expert at this type of logical deception. He was a deceiver and at the same time had deceived himself. See II Thessalonians 3:11,12; Romans 1:18,32

3. You, though, continue strongly in the faith (3:14-17)

a. Continue strong in the faith. (3:14a)

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of."

Thought Question: What does this verse teach us about how we can continue to persevere in living a godly life when the world around us becomes more ungodly?

The "evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse," but Timothy in complete contrast to them is to "continue in what" he has "learned." Years ago a revival-type Christian speaker that we heard asked 2 men to come up front. He then asked each of the men to line up vertical to the wall facing us. He said that the wall represented God's holy standards, one man represented the church's standards, and other man represented the world's standards. The man representing the church's standards was placed fairly close to the wall and the man representing the world's standards was placed farther away from the wall. Then he had the man representing the world to move farther away from the wall and God's holy standards. Next, he asked the man that represented the church to move an equal distance, so he still remained the same distance from the world, but now was farther away from the wall and God's holy standards than he had been before. If we only try to not be like the world, we will move farther away from God without realizing it as the world moves farther and farther away from God. Paul instructs Timothy, here, not to move farther and farther away from God as the world moves farther and farther away from God. May we keep our heart and lives focused on God's holy ways and not just try to be not as bad as the world.

"You have learned" is the Greek word emathes. It is the word from which mathetes or disciple comes from. Timothy was a "convinced" learner or disciple. Who are those who can resist the temptation of the world, even though it means that they must continually swim upstream against the current of the world? Only those who are "convinced" that following God is the very best way to live. Jesus said the following about the church at Laodicea: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16) The church at Laodicea was not "convinced" wholeheartedly that following Christ deserved their total and wholehearted devotion. Paul said this about one former follower of Christ: "for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica . . ." (2 Timothy 4:10) Jesus stated the following: "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Matthew 6:24) To follow Christ in a world that is choosing to move farther and farther away from God and His ways requires that we must be "convinced" God's ways are the only way that we want to live.

b. Continue in the faith that you have had since you were an infant.

(3:14b-15)
"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."

Thought Question #1: Who are those whom God has used in your life to convince you to live a godly lifestyle?

Thought Quesiton #2: What did they do that convinced you? (their teaching, lifestyle, etc.)

Timothy had become "convinced" that God's ways were what he should base his life on for three reasons: First of all, it was because of "those from whom" he had "learned it." Those who taught and nurtured Timothy were near and dear to him. We know some of them: his Jewish grandmother, his Jewish mother Eunice (1:15),and Paul (1:13,14, 2:2). Most of our faith in God has been passed on to us from those who have sincerely and conscientiously lived out their faith in our presence. It is very important to not only share the gospel with others, but also to reinforce what the gospel teaches by the way we live our lives in front of others. Timothy had this type of genuineness lived out in front of him. He had seen this type of faith in God lived out in front of him since he was an infant.

"You have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The second reason why Timothy was "convinced" that God's ways were what he should base his life on is that Timothy believed that the Bible is God's book. For in "the holy Scriptures," Timothy had received God's wisdom and that wisdom had led him to a new life in "Christ Jesus." See Proverbs 22:6; Psalm 119:97-105. Paul, himself, combines the Old Testament and the New Testament together as both being Scripture in I Timothy 5:18: "For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”" is partly found in Deuteronomy 25:4 and partly found in Luke 10:7.

c. Continue to be strong in your minister to others using the Scriptures

(3:16-17)
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Thought Question #1: What do these words tell us about how the Bible was written?

Thought Question #2: What do these words tell you about how you are to use what is taught in the Bible?

(1) The Scriptures are God-breathed. (3:16a)

Hendriksen notes that Paul uses two different words for the Bible in verses 15 and 16. In 15, t is hiera grammata referring to that which has been written and in 16 it is grapha which refers to all the writings that are "God-breathed." As Hendriksen points out, it is possible that Paul was at first speaking in particular of the Old Testament (what has been written) and in verse 16 he may be referring to the Old and New Testaments (all the "God-breathed" writings), for by the time that Paul wrote II Timothy most of the New Testament had been written.

The Greek word graphe is used throughout the New Testament to refer to God's written word, the Bible. See Matthew 21:42, 22:29, 26:54,56; John 2:22, 5:39, 10:35; II Peter 1:20, 3:16 and many more.. See also I Thessalonians 2:13; I Corinthians 2:13 where the Bible is referred to without using the word this word "graphe."

Because the first few Greek words of verse 16 are very important with regard to the nature of the Bible, I will focus on them before I continue with the rest of chapter 3. The first Greek words of verse 16 are: pasa ("All" or every), graphe (the "Scripture"), theopneustos ("God-breathed"), and kai ("and"). They read literally: "All (or every) Scripture God-breathed and." Notice that there is no "is." The NIV translates these words as "All Scripture is God-breathed . . . " There are those in liberal Christianity who believe that some of the Bible is God's inspired words and some of it is not (for example, only the words of Jesus are inspired). A couple of years after becoming a born-again Christian in 1968, I returned to the liberal church that I was raised in. The pastor's wife was teaching a singles' adult Sunday school class. She said that the class was coming to a chapter in the Bible, II Thessalonians 2, which was not inspired by God. Also, the liberal Jesus Seminar votes on which parts of the Bible are inspired and which parts of the Bible are not.

On what basis, then, does the NIV and Evangelical Christians interpret the first words of II Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is God-breathed . . ."? As John Stott points out, the little word "and" requires that Paul is "asserting two truths about Scripture, namely that it is both 'inspired' and profitable, not merely one. For this reason we should render the sentence: 'all Scripture is God-inspired [God-breathed] and profitable [useful].'" "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press." Timothy, then, is being assured that because all of the Bible is "God-breathed," all of the Bible is also "useful" for the purposes he lists next.

What, then is meant by "God-breathed"? The Greek word translated "God-breathed" is theopneustos; theo = God and pneustos = breathed. So, "God-breathed" translates the clear meaning of the word.

"God-breathed" also explains how the Bible was written. Peter in II Peter 1:20-21 describes this process: "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21) Although the authors retained their personalities, God guided and directed the understanding of the writers of the Bible as they chose the words and letters that were written: "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words." (1 Corinthians 2:13) "“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18) It can easily be seen why the Bible is called the word of God. See also II Samuel 23:2; Malachi 4:4; Matthew 1:22; John 16:13; Acts 1:16; Romans 3:2; I Corinthians 14:37; Galatians 1:11,12, 3:8,16; I Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 1:1, 3:7-11, 9:18, 10:15,16; Revelation 22:19

(2) The Scriptures are useful for building up God's people (3:16b,17)

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

What can we do about the influence of those who are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" on people in general and on Christians? Paul gives Timothy the effect that the "God-breathed" "Scripture" can have to counter the world's effect. It is "useful" in the following ways:

"for teaching" The Bible teaches us without error about God and His ways. As Paul said in 3:15, the Bible is "able to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The Old Testament reveals man's sinfulness and foretells the coming of Christ. The New Testament reveals the coming of the God-man Jesus Christ and the new life that is now available to those indwelt by Jesus Christ.

"for . . . rebuking, correcting" "Rebuking" occurs when someone is in error. "If reproof stresses the negative aspect of pastoral work, correction emphasizes the positive side. Not only must the sinner be warned to leave the wrong path, but he must also be directed to the right or straight path." "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books." The New Testament letters contain teaching, but they also rebuke: " I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—" (Galatians 1:6) "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:1-3) There is also correction in the New Testament letters: "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Galatians 5:16) The Scriptures can be used today to rebuke those who are getting off track and they can be used to correct those same people by directing them toward God's way of living.

"for . . . training in righteousness" "Training" is an important part of life. We train people about how to do a job. Those who play on an athletic team are trained so that they can efficiently execute the fundamental skills of their sport. But listen to Paul's words in I Timothy 4:8: "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8) God's word provides us with training for life: " But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1 Timothy 6:11) "But godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6)

"so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Bible was not written so that people could become Bible scholars; it was written to train people in a lifestyle of godliness. Those who are trained in this lifestyle of godliness are, then, to train others. "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2) "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20) The Bible is to be used to train Christians to become more mature in godliness and in usefulness to God. While the world is heading toward greater ungodliness, the church is to be heading toward greater godliness as Christians mature and become more fully prepared and equipped for godly service to Jesus Christ.

PAUL'S CHARGE TO TIMOTHY (4:1-5)

1. The charge to Timothy is made in presence of God. (4:1)

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:" See I Thessalonians 5:27

Thought Question #1: What does Paul use here to motivate Timothy?

Thought Question #2: How does what Paul used to motivate Timothy motivate you?

Should we obey Jesus Christ? There are two certainties with regard to obeying Jesus Christ that we must consider. They are both mentioned in this verse. One certainty is that we are living right now in the presence of God. In particular, we are living in the presence of Jesus Christ who will be our Judge one day. See John 5:27-29, 10:42; Acts 17:31; Romans 2:16; I Corinthians 4:5; II Thessalonians 1:7-9 The second certainty is that one day Jesus will appear and take His rightful place as King and Ruler of all. How should these two certainties affect whether or not we obey Jesus Christ?

Paul exhorts Timothy to persevere in the ministry based on these two certainties. See also I Timothy 5:21 The road ahead for Timothy was going to be long and difficult. Paul was soon to die and the shy and sickly Timothy would carry on for him. See II Timothy 1:7, 2:2; I Timothy 5:23 Paul here urges Timothy to endure to the end in the sacred task that has been handed over to him with this solemn charge before God.

The Greek word for "charge" "has legal connections and can mean 'testify under law in a court of law' or to 'adjure' a witness to do so. It is used in the New Testament of any solemn and emphatic utterance." "Taken from GUARD THE GOSPEL by John Stott. Copyright 1973 by Intervarsity Press." Paul, in this verse and with this sacred charge, turns his ministry over to Timothy!

The Greek word for "appearing" is epiphaneia. Barclay gives this interesting insight on its meaning: "Epiphaneia was used in two special ways. It was used for the manifest intervention of some god; and it was specially used in connection with the Roman Emperor. His accession to the throne was his epiphaneia; and in particular---and this is the background of Paul's thought here---it was used of his visit to any province or town. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order. The streets were swept and garnished and all work was brought up-to-date so that the town might be fit for epiphaneia. So Paul says to Timothy: 'You know what happens when any town is expecting the ephiphaneia of the Emperor; you are expecting the epiphaneia of Jesus Christ. Do your work in such a way that all things will be ready when he appears.'" "Taken from THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON by William Barclay. Copyright 1956 by The Westminster Press."

What is contained in the charge? We find the ministry that Timothy is charged with in 4:2-5.

2. Preach the word with enduring patience. (4:2)

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

Thought Question: Think of how someone who has corrected and encouraged you "with great patience." How did it affect you?

Thought Question #2: Describe how you can do what Paul urges Timothy to do?

"Preach the Word" is the first of five imperatives or commands to Timothy that Paul charges him to (1) "Preach the Word"; (2) "be prepared"; (3) "correct"; (4) "rebuke"; and (5) "encourage." First, "preach the word." "The charge is to preach the Word. The English word 'preach' brings to our mind at once the picture of the ordained clergyman standing in his pulpit on the Lord's Day ministering the Word. But the Greek word here (kerusso) left quite a different impression with Timothy. At once it called to his mind the Imperial Herald, spokesman of the Emperor proclaiming in a formal, grave, and authoritative manner which must be listened to, the message which the Emperor gave him to announce. It brought before him the picture of the town official who would make a proclamation in a public gathering. The word is in a construction which makes it a summary command to be obeyed at once. It is a sharp command as in military language. This should be the pattern for the preacher today. His preaching should be characterized by that dignity which comes from the consciousness of the fact that he is an official herald of the King of kings. It should be accompanied by that note of authority which will command the respect, careful attention and proper reaction of the listeners." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." Hendriksen adds these words to the meaning of preaching: "literally, herald,make known officially and publicly a matter of great significance." "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books."

"Preach the Word" It is not a word, but "the Word." It is identical to the "deposit" of chapter one (1:14). And in the fourth chapter is called "sound doctrine" (4:3), "the truth" (4:4), and "the faith." In Acts 20:26,27 Paul declared that he had faithfully preached the whole message of God's word to them: "Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God." Timothy must carry on for Paul and, as Paul had done before him, he must also "preach the Word." See Mark 1:14, 16:15

"be prepared in season and out of season;" "The verb ephistemi means 'to stand by, be at hand', hence the meaning here seems to mean that the Christian minister must always be on duty . . . whether the occasion seems opportune or not." "Taken from The Pastoral Epistles by Donald Guthrie. Copyright 1957 by the The Tyndale Press." Though it is not always the best time for us, it may be the very best time for someone else. So we need to never take a time off from ministry. In Matthew 14:13, we are told that Jesus "withdrew by boat to a private place." He undoubtedly needed some time alone; but the crowds did not give Him the alone time He needed. The "crowds followed Him on foot from the towns." What was Jesus' response to them? Was He irritated that they would not leave Him alone for even a short time? Here is His "out of season" response to them: "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." (Matthew 14:14) Maybe you have heard well-known speakers share of a time on a plane when they were tired from an intensive time of ministry and a door opened to them to minister to the person sitting next to them on the plane. What they really wanted was some down time, but the person next to them was ready to be ministered to by them at that moment. Those times often end up being memorable times of fruitful ministry. We also need to be available for ministry when it is an ideal time for us and when it is a poor time for us.

"correct, rebuke and encourage" Sadly, the NIV translation does us a disservice at this point. The Greek word that was translated "rebuke" in 3:16 is here translated, "correct." Also, the word that they translate "rebuke" here in 4:2 is a different word from the word translated "rebuke" in 3:16. Both the words, though, refer to a rebuke. We can see the meaning of the Greek word that is translated "correct" in I Timothy 5:20, Titus 1:13, 2:15: "Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning." (I Timothy 5:20) "This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith." (Titus 1:13) "These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you." (Titus 2:15) The meaning of first word, the word translated "correct," is made clear by Paul's use of it in these other verses.

How does the second word that is here translated "rebuke" differ from the first word that also is a rebuke? A. T. Robertson has the following to say about the second type of "rebuke": "The word implies a sharp, severe rebuke, with, possibly, a suggestion in some cases of impending penalty . . . To charge on pain of penalty for disobedience implies a menace, in this case of future judgment." "Taken from Word Studies in the New Testament by William Barclay. Copyright 1972 by Associated Publishers and Authors"

Paul is commanding Timothy, in both forms of rebuke to strongly confront sin and false doctrine. Then, he commands him also to "encourage." We are not just to strongly confront wrong action or wrong teaching, but we are also to strongly encourage people to go in the right direction. In I Thessalonians, Paul gives the following instructions to the Thessalonians Christians that is very similar to Paul's words here: "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
(1 Thessalonians 5:14) Although the Greek words are not the same, there is the message of varying our approach according to the needs of the people that we are ministering to. Someone that we rebuke may repent, and then we need to encourage them and exhort them toward a new pattern of life. Barnabas, who was called a "Son of encouragement" in Acts 4:36, encouraged Paul at the very beginning of Paul's ministry. Paul encouraged Timothy to also encourage others. This week I received a card of encouragement from a sister in Christ which was like wind in my sails. May we each find ways to encourage each other.

We are to do all of this "with great patience." How do we respond when those we "rebuke" and "exhort" with God's Word do not repent? We are to respond with "great patience" and longsuffering. "The word 'longsuffering' (macrothumia) ["great patience"] speaks of that temper which does not easily succumb under suffering, of that self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." Paul describes this pattern in 2:24-26: "And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." See also I Thessalonians 5:14; Colossains 1:11 The nature of Christian ministry is to seek the other person's best no matter how long it takes; "Love is patient." (I Corinthians 13:4a) See also Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12

"with . . . careful instruction" The rebuking and encouraging must include instruction from the Word. The teaching from God's fully authoritative Word is the narrow path from which someone may stray. When someone strays, the faithful teacher is to encourage him or her to get back on the path. We are to continually "preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

3. Strongly preach the Word now, for the "the time will come" when people

will no longer listen. (4:3-4)
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

Thought Question: Why do you believe that people seek out teachers who are not telling them the truth?

Men will either listen to what God wants them to hear or they will listen to what they want to hear: "to suit their own desires." In the book of Proverbs there is a contrast between the wise man who listens to the wisdom in God's Word and seeks to apply it to his life and the fool who shuns God's Word and listens only to what he wants to hear. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) See also Proverbs 15:21, 18:2, 23:9 Those who are hardened to God's Word are receptive only to teaching that tells them that their self-devised philosophy or their sin-enslaved life is acceptable; in other words, they will only listen to those that tell them what they "want to hear."

For example, in many church services the people do not hear "sound doctrine," but they hear a twisting of the truth that says that they can earn salvation by good works. See Ephesians 2:8,9 In some church buildings and on television, the listeners are told that God wants everyone to be financially rich. These false preachers are telling people what they "want to hear." They have become ear ticklers, as they pursue after their own profit. See Jeremiah 5:31; II Chronicles 18:3-7; Acts 17:21; II Thessalonians 2:10,11; I Timothy 1:6

"They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." What does Paul mean by "myths"? "Myths" are the teachings that are referred to a number of times in I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus. See I Timothy 1:4,6,7,4:7; Titus 1:14 See also II Peter 1:16 Myths are a part of every society, even our modern society. Today, we can easily read with the help of the internet, all kinds of stories about flying saucers. Why is there such a market for this subject? Some people prefer fantasies to reality. Facing reality also forces us to face our sins and our responsibility before God. Fantasies and myths are entertaining, but nothing more. There are two completely opposite ways of evaluating what we hear: (1) is it true? and/or (2) is it entertaining? There are those who seek after teachers who tell them primarily what is entertaining. There are those who are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." They will seek after those who are entertaining. Timothy and we need to know that not everyone wants to hear the truth, even when it is presented in love "with great patience."

4. Keep your head! (4:5)

"But you, keep your head in all situations,"

Thought Question #1: When is it hard for you to "keep your head"?

Thought Question #2: What is there that you have learned in II Timothy so far that will help you to "keep your head"?

Timothy is not to be like those who listen to "myths." He is to think clearly even when the thinking of others is muddled. See I Peter 4:7 It is very human to lose our calm thinking when others are being outrageous. Leaders are those who keep their heads when others are losing theirs.

These words are being written the week after the Green Bay Packers played the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL playoffs. Green Bay fumbled twice at the beginning of the game and immediately fell behind 14-0. Brett Favre, the veteran quarterback for Green Bay, kept his head and did not panic; and led his team to a 42-20 victory. We who are Christians and Christian leaders also need to keep our heads and not panic, for God will lead us to His victory. See II Corinthians 2:14; Galatians 6:9; I Corinthians 15:58; I Thessalonians 5:16-18

5. Strongly endure hardship. (4:5b)

"endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

Thought Question #1: "Endure hardship" is a command. Why do you think Paul commands Timothy to "endure hardship"?

Thought Question #2: Paul commands Timothy to do the "work" and "duties" God has called him to. What "work" and "duties" has God called you to "discharge" fully?

In 2:3, Paul said: "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." See also 1:8, 2:19, 3:11,12 In this verse and in 2:3, "endure" is in the imperative mood; it is a command. Paul commands Timothy to "endure hardship." "Hardship" and suffering are part of the Christian life. We Christians in the United States know little of the suffering experienced by most of the world's Christians, but Christians in North Korea, China, and Islamic countries know what Paul means when he said, "endure hardship." All Christians, though, need to know and be prepared for hardships. If we expect everyone to love us, welcome us, and cheer us on, we will soon become discouraged when we receive the very opposite of what we expect; and we may completely give up when the hard trials come. On the other hand, if we expect "hardship," we will continue on when the hardships come.

"do the work of an evangelist" In Ephesians 4:11, we read: "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers," And in Acts 21:8, we read: "Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven." The term "evangelist" is used only in these two verses and in this verse in II Timothy. It appears that, like apostles, prophets, and pastor-teachers, there are those gifted by God to be "evangelists." Phillip and Timothy were two of those men gifted in this way at their time. See Acts 8:4-13, 26-40 In our modern times, Billy Graham has been known as an evangelist. Timothy did this type of work in the early church. His job was to build up the church by spreading the gospel to those who were still non-believers. "Evangelist," by definition, is a "good-news" bringer. Timothy's work, that Paul urges him to continue to do, was to bring the good news of Jesus' death for man's sin to the world of his time.

Paul could be telling Timothy to exercise the special gift of evangelism that God had given to him (the Greek scholar Vincent's conclusion). He may also have been saying that Timothy should not just be doing pastoral work among the Christians, but he also should be evangelizing and reaching out to the lost with the gospel message. Wuest believes that, because there is no article in the original Greek before the word "evangelist," that "evangelist" emphasized the type of work Timothy should be doing and not the special gift and work that had been given to him. "The word is not preceded by the definite article. When that is the case, character, quantity or nature are stressed. The idea is, 'Let your work be evangelistic in character. Always be a bringer of good news. Be ever reaching out for lost souls in your teaching and preaching." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co." The commentator Homer Kent also holds this view. If Wuest and Kent are correct, what Paul exhorted Timothy to do, we also need to be exhorted to do: we need to be continually seeking to reach the lost with the gospel message. See I Corinthians 1:17

"discharge all the duties of your ministry."

In this final charge to Timothy, Paul sums it all up: complete all the work that God has called you to do. Paul made a similar charge to Archippus in Colossians 4:17: "Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”" The work of the Christian is difficult and there are many frustrations, discouragements, and opponents along the way. God strengthens us to complete the task. See Colossians 1:28,29; Philppians 4:13 Yet, it is up to us to persevere in all that we are called to do until the very end. In the following verses, Paul proclaims that he (Paul) did complete the work that God called him to. Here, he exhorts Timothy to do the same. May we follow their example! Recently, I was challenged by reading a biography of George Whitfield by John Pollock. George Whitfield literally preached until his last dying breath. He was scheduled to preach on the day he died. He would have preached that one more time; but he was prevented from doing it because he died before he could do it.

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO TIMOTHY: PAUL'S STRONG PATTERN OF MINISTRY AND HIS REWARD (4:6-18)

1. Paul's pattern (4:6,7)

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Thought Question #1: What do these final words of Paul, about the type of life and ministry he had, tell you how he looked on his life?

Thought Question #2: What in Paul's description of his life and ministry speaks to you about what you want also to be true of you?

Paul views his life of ministry as an offering to God. See Romans 15:16 "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering," "According to the law (Numbers 15:1-10), when a lamb was sacrificed, the drink offering consisting of one-fourth of hin of wine (1 hin = slightly more than a gallon); when the offering was a ram, the prescribed libation was one-third of hin; and for a bull it was one-half of a hin. Since the wine was gradually poured out, and was the final act of the ceremony, it pictured mostadequately the gradual ebbing away of Paul's life, the fact that he was presenting this life to God as an offering, and the idea that he viewed his entire career of faith as a 'living sacrifice' (Rom. 12:1; cf 15:16), he looked upon the present stage of his career as being the final sacrificial act." See Philippians 2:17 "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books."

"and the time has come for my departure." It is the picture of a boat or a ship untying the ropes or cables holding it to the dock and departing out into the waters. (The Greek word translated "departure" also describe taking down a tent.) Paul, who was about to die, saw himself as departing from Timothy and from his life of ministry and moving into the presence of the One He has been serving for so many years. "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far." (Philippians 1:23) Soon, Paul would "be with Christ, which is better by far"! No longer was he tied to this life; now he would be free and on his way to a much greater adventure. See II Corinthians 5:8

Paul's message to Timothy is clear. Timothy must continue on strongly in ministry, for Paul' ministry is about to end. See II Peter 1:13,14

Paul's way of viewing his death is an interesting example for all of us. We clearly can see his faith in God here. He does not see himself as helplessly imprisoned and heading toward his death at the hands of Nero-a little mouse about to be tortured and killed by an all-powerful and evil tyrant. No, he sees that God is about to bring his devoted ministry to a victorious and glorious end. He sees his ministry as an acceptable offering to God. See Romans 12:1; II Corinthians 2:14

Now, Paul looks back at his life: "I have fought the good fight" The word translated "fight" is agon and the word translated "fought" is agonizomai. We could put it like this: "I have agonized in the good agony." Today, we have a way of describing athletes who have given their all in an athletic contest. We say that they left it all on the playing field. In other words, when the game was over, there was no energy left in them, for they used it all up in the game. That is what Paul is saying here. He agonized in God's work and in His battle with the forces of evil, using up the last ounce of his energies. He could then say with confidence that he gave his very all for his 30+ years of ministry. May you and I, when we come to the end of our lives, also leave it all on the playing field of life; may we give all our energies as Paul did, in the "good fight." See I Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 6:12

"I have finished my race," Each of the three summary statements of Paul's life has a verb in the perfect tense: "fought," "finished," and "kept." The perfect tense describes an action that was completed in the past but the effects of that action continues to be true. Paul is picturing himself at the end of his life with the "fight," the "race," and the keeping of the "faith" as completed, but the effect of what he has completed will continue on. Since the race that Paul's raced in lasted for more than 30 years, the closest example of the type of race that Paul ran and we are to run is the marathon race of Paul's day and of our day. It is a grueling race. Those who finish it have a definite sense of accomplishment. Paul, as he neared his death, had that sense of accomplishment. He had "finished" the "race"! May we run in the race until the end. See Acts 20:24; I Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 2:16; Hebrews 12:1

"I have kept the faith." In 1:12-14, Paul said: "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." What Paul was urging Timothy to do in chapter one is what Paul is saying he has already done in this verse in chapter four. Paul had "kept the faith." He had not altered God's word or the gospel as the false teachers had done; he had proclaimed it fearlessly, and he had lived his life based on it.

2. Paul's reward (4:8)

"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." See also Colossians 1:5

Thought Question #1: From this verse, describe the vast difference between Nero's final judgment of Paul's life and Jesus' final judgment of Paul's life.

Thought Question #2: What is there in this verse that encourages you in your service of Jesus Christ?

What was stored up for him is "the crown of righteousness." Paul is about to have his life taken away from him by the wicked Emperor Nero. But Paul is completely assured that Nero will not be able to take away from him what is stored up for him in heaven: "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)

"Crown of righteousness" can either mean that the "crown" is "righteousness" or that it is earned because of one being righteous. Because there is a "crown of life" (See James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10) and that crown is not earned, but the crown is the "life," itself, that God will give to us, it also appears that righteousness is the "crown" that God will give to those who finish the "race." See also I Peter 5:4; I Corinthians 9:25; Revelation 22:11 In I John 3:1,2, John says: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

"which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me" Nero, the completely unrighteous judge was about to award Paul a horrible death. But, Paul is confident that Jesus the completely "righteous Judge" will award him with His own righteousness. For when Paul entered His presence, Jesus completed the transformation process and Paul became completely righteous. At that moment Jesus said to Paul, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21) Timothy would learn shortly of Paul's execution; but he would also remember Paul's words and realize that Paul would also receive a much different reception before the true Judge, Jesus Christ! See Romans 2:6; II Corinthians 5:10

"on that day" This phrase is used in 1:12 and 1:18, without any description of it. In II Thessalonians 1:9,10 there is a description of "that day." "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10) It is also the day of His appearing: "while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ," (Titus 2:13) See also Philippians 3:20,21; II Thessalonians 2:8; Hebrews 9:28; I Timothy 6:14 In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats we see Jesus sitting on His throne "in heavenly glory" and judging people "on that day." See Matthew 25:31-46 "On that day," Paul will receive the "crown of righteousness"!

"and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." There are those who fear "his appearing." They fear it because it will be a time of horrible judgment for them. We who have believed in Him, have walked with Him, and have faithfully served Him throughout our lives long "for his appearing." "And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming." (1 John 2:28) Timothy was undoubtedly encouraged to serve God as Paul did so that he would have the same hope as Paul had at the end of his life: "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21) ""Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness."

3. The difficulties Paul faced caused by fellow Christians (4:9-10)

"Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia."

Thought Question #1: Based on these verses, what do you believe that Paul was feeling as he wrote these words?

Thought Question #2: In what ways does it help you to discover in these and other verses in II Timothy that the Apostle Paul was a man like us who struggled with the same feelings of rejection and discouragement that we also face?

"Do your best to come to me quickly," A pattern in Paul's letters is to mention his own needs, but to mention them at the end of his letters. See Romans 15:20-33; I Corinthians 16:18,21; II Corinthians 13:10; Galatians 6:7; Ephesians 6:19-22; Colossians 4:3,4, 7-9, 18

Here, Paul urges Timothy to come to him "quickly." Why is Paul so urgent to see Timothy? We learned in 1:4 that Paul longed to see Timothy. Certainly, Paul felt that the time left before his death was short and that he wanted to have more personal time together with Timothy to more fully pass the baton of leadership off to Timothy. We need to remember that they did not have telephones, internet, or airmail in Paul's day. Because we have so many ways to quickly communicate with even those who are a long distance away, we never feel very far from anyone. That was not true in Paul's day. He needed to have Timothy right in front of him to be able to share what he wanted to share with him so that he could get the immediate feedback from Timothy that he needed.

Because of Paul's dire circumstances, we can see that he also was in need of the encouraging fellowship and support that he would receive from Timothy. The man who wrote this letter was still a man. He was in prison and near death. Some of his closest friends had deserted him. Timothy was his closest follower. He desired to see him, to be with him, and to fellowship with him before his death. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane sought fellowship in His most needy time. See 4:21

"for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." In verse 8 of this chapter, Paul spoke of the reward that will be received by those "who have longed for his appearing." Here, Paul speaks of "Demas" who "loved this world." "Loved" in this verse and "longed for his appearing" in 4:8, though the NIV uses different words, are each forms of the same Greek verb agapao. The word translated "world" is aiona and could also be translated "age." Demas "loved" this present "age" rather than the "age" that will begin when Jesus appears that Paul loved or "longed" for. Paul loved or "longed" for the age to come; "Demas . . . loved this [present] world." It appears that Demas, who we learn about back in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24 (a fellow worker") was a follower of Paul, but we learn here that he, chose to stop following Paul when it got dangerous and difficult. He left Paul in his time of greatest need and turned back to the world. He had put his hand to the plow and had looked back. See Luke 9:62 There is certainly a tone of great sadness in Paul's words as he thinks about Demas.

There is nothing in these words to indicate that Demas had left Christ or became an apostate, though tradition says he did. Paul only expresses that Demas had deserted him, choosing worldly comfort and pleasure over suffering with Paul.

What faced Demas is a choice that each of us who are Christians continually face. It can be as simple as choosing between staying home to watch a sporting event rather than serving the Lord at that time; buying a nice car rather than giving a generous amount to God's work; and choosing a lucrative business where we must move to another area to work at a different job rather than remaining at the local church that needs our service. Some of those in the list of people of faith in Hebrews 11 chose to trust God and serve Him rather than seek after the pleasures of this world: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . . People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. . . . By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. . . . He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time." (Hebrews 11:8-10, 14-16, 24, 25)

We, like them, are to "seek first his Kingdom." (Matthew 6:33) "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (Colossians 3:2)

"Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia." We know nothing about "Crescens" except these words. We also do not know why he left Paul. And "Titus" went to "Dalmatia." "Titus" had taken on Paul's most difficult tasks: He had delivered a strong letter to the Corinthians (See II Corinthians 2:13, 7:13,14, 12:18) and he was sent to lead the ministry among the stubborn Cretans (See Titus 1:14,21). It may be that "Dalmatia" was another difficult region that "Titus" was going to tackle. "Dalmatia" was across the Asiatic sea and directly to the east of Italy in a region called Illyricum (now this region is mostly occupied by Yugoslavia). See Romans 15:19 It was a difficult area to conquer, somewhat similar to our modern-day Afghanistan which has been a difficult area to conquer. We can hope that "Cresens" and "Titus" had also left on missions and that only "Demas" had deserted Paul. Paul, nevertheless, felt their absence in his time of great need.

4. The encouragement provided by fellow Christians (4:11-13)

"Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments."

Thought Question: What do you learn personally about Paul from these verses?

"Only Luke is with me." In Colossians 4:14, Luke is referred to as, "our dear friend Luke, the doctor." It may be that "Luke" remained with him to serve him as his doctor. But, it may also be true that Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, was there because of his deep friendship with Paul. All of the "we's" and "us's" in the book of Acts describe times when Luke was with Paul. See Acts 16:10-17, 20:5-21:18, 27:1-28:16 We can see from the "we's" in Acts 27:1-28:16 that "Luke" was with Paul in his first imprisonment. And, here, we learn that "Luke" was with Paul as a loyal friend in his last imprisonment.

"Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." In these few words there is a heart-touching story. In Acts 15:36-40, we read these words: "Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord." What was the dispute between Paul and Barnabas over? John Mark had deserted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. We are not told why Mark left them. It may have been homesickness, that he had not been up to the difficulties of the trip, or for some other reason; but Mark who had originally committed to going all the way with Paul and Barnabas did not keep his commitment to them. Then, when they were ready to go on the second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance and have him go with them. Paul sharply disagreed with Barnabas. It led to Paul and Barnabas dividing and going separate ways.

But that is not the end of the story. We read these words in Colossians 4:10: "My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)" The fact that Mark was "the cousin of Barnabas" tells us at least part of the reason why Barnabas stood by Mark. Colossians was written during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome. Paul had already warmed up again in his relationship with Barnabas and Mark. In the letter to Philemon, written at the same time as the letter to the Colossians, we learn that Mark was with Paul in Rome: "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers." (Philemon 23, 24) And here in II Timothy, we learn that Paul was eager to see Mark because he was "helpful" to him in the ministry.

Our God gives people second chances (and third, fourth, etc.) Also, as Paul gave Mark a second chance, we should give our fellow Christians a second chance. By the way, God used Mark to write the Gospel of Mark.

So, if it worked out and Mark did come with Timothy to Rome to spend time with Paul, Paul's 2 young disciples from his 2 missionary journeys came to Rome together (Mark-Paul's young disciple from his first missionary journey who deserted him and Timothy-Paul's young disciple from his second missionary journey who replaced Mark). It must have been a very interesting time of discussion that these 2 men had with each other as they journeyed together on their way to Rome. We can only use our imaginations as we think about what they may have said to each other. See also I Peter 5:13

"I sent Tychicus to Ephesus." Here is my summary of Tychicus' life, ministry, and association with Paul from my Digging for Gold on Colossians 4:7-9: "Tychicus was with Paul when he was forced to leave Ephesus (see Acts 20:4); he was with Paul when he was a prisoner in Rome (from these verses and see Ephesians 6:21,22); he was with Paul after he was released from prison and when he sent a letter to Titus in Crete (see Titus 3:12); and he was with Paul in his final imprisonment (from there he was sent by Paul to Ephesus; see II Timothy 4:12). He was a close Christian friend and a follower of Paul; he was with Paul in heart. Here, he would be one of two men who would deliver this letter to the Colossians (and he also delivered the letter we call Ephesians; see Ephesians 6:21,22). It was as close as Paul could come to visiting them himself. For Tychicus knew Paul's heart and Tychicus was united in heart with Paul."

Here in II Timothy we learn that Tychichus was delivering this letter to Timothy and we learn that he would replace Timothy at Ephesus so that Timothy could go to Paul. Although there were those who had deserted Paul, Tychicus was not one of them. He was faithful to God and to Paul to the end. He must have wanted to stay with Paul, but he put God's purposes over his own desires and selflessly left Paul and went to Ephesus. See also Colossians 4:7

"When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments." The "scrolls" were papyrus "scrolls." The pith of the papyrus plant was cut in strips, the strips were laid over each other at right angles to each other, and then they were pressed together; the finished product was something like our paper. The "parchments" were the skins of animals. In short, though, they were like our books. What were contained in the "scrolls" and the "parchments"? Quite possibly they may have been some of his letters that are now part of the Bible. But, they also could have been other writings, such as the writings of the Apostles and others.

Even though Paul was near death and in a dungeon, as tradition tells us, he desired to continue his rigorous study pattern. Through the years, I have appreciated Bible teachers who have been rigorous in their study. The Bible teacher that I have most appreciated has been Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I have noticed that where some Bible commentators have skipped over difficult passages with little or no comment, he spent more time on them than the easy passages. There are many others that I have grown to appreciate: John Stott, Ray Stedman, John McArthur, Homer Kent, William Hendriksen, D. Edmund Hiebert, Donald Guthrie, Leon Morris, F. F. Bruce, A. W. Pink, Charles Spurgeon, John J. Davis, Luis Palau, Warren Wiersbe, A. B. Bruce, Alfred Edersheim, Leon Wood, Charles Feinberg, John Walvoord, and others. I have personally benefited much from these men's diligent Bible study. Certainly, the people of Paul's time benefited from his diligence. May we also be men and women who diligently study God's Word and the subjects related to it.

The word translated "cloak" ". . . indicates a kind of blanket of coarse wool that was used as an outer garment to protect against the cold and the rain. It had a hole in the middle for the head to pass through. There were no sleeves." "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books." Paul was, as tradition tells us, in a cold dungeon and, therefore, it appears here that he was in need of the "cloak" for warmth, particularly in the cold nights. Also, we will learn that winter was approaching. "Do your best to get here before winter..." (II Timothy 4:21)

5. The severe persecution that Paul faced (4:14-15)

"Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message."

Thought Question: What do you learn from Paul's words here about how we should respond to someone who is a very strong antagonist against our ministry and the gospel message?

It is possible that the reason that Paul left his cloak, scrolls, and parchments at Troas is that Paul was arrested there and that "Alexander the metalworker" was the main reason that he was arrested. Timothy who would be traveling through Troas needed to be warned about him, for he "strongly opposed" the common "message" of Paul and Timothy.

There are 2 men named Alexander that are mentioned in the Bible that Paul knew: in Acts 19:33,34 and I Timothy 1:20. Since the Alexander of Acts 19:33,34 defended Paul and the Alexander that is mentioned in I Timothy 1:20 is said to have "shipwrecked his faith" by not holding "to faith and a good conscience," it is more likely that this Alexander in II Timothy could have been the Alexander of I Timothy who "shipwrecked his faith."

Because the name "Alexander" was a common name, though, we cannot be sure which "Alexander" is being referred to here. See also Acts 4:26 and Mark 15:21 In fact, Paul may have used the designation, "the metal worker," to distinguish him from other men whose names were also "Alexander." Paul's response, however, to this man who purposely and "strongly opposed" Paul and his message, provides us with a model for how we need to respond to those who strongly oppose our message today: "The Lord will repay him for what he has done." See Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:17-19; I Peter 2:23 The tense of the verb "repay" indicates a certainty that something would happen rather than something that Paul desired to happen. This man who was hardened against God would face, from God, the consequences of his defiance. Alexander was not opposing Paul, but he was opposing God. Paul did not turn the conflict between Alexander and himself into a personal one; it was much more significant than that. It was not that "Alexander" did not like him; it was that "Alexander" hated God. When we represent God, we will inevitably find ourselves face to face with those who hate God. We also need to do what Paul did here, realize that it is not a personal issue between that person and us, but an issue between God and that person. God will deal with them justly and not, as we tend to do, respond to them in resentment and retaliation. See Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12; Romans 2:5,6,16; Revelation 2:23, 20;13

What was Paul's attitude about God's certain punishment of Alexander? Was Paul sad over the punishment of "Alexander"? Was Paul sad over this punishment or pleased that he would be judged by God? Here, Paul seems to be pleased that "Alexander" and his evil would not end up victorious. We have seen many evil men receive justice. We have heard about evil men like Hitler, Ted Bundy, Saddam Hussein, and others receive judgment for their evil deeds. Are we also not pleased that their evil was not victorious. See Acts 12:21-23; Revelation 19:19-20:3

6. The difficulties produced by fellow Christians' lack of support (4:16)

"At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them."

Thought Question: Why do you believe that Paul did not want God to punish these who did not come to his defense; whereas he wanted God to punish Alexander (see the previous verses)?

The Greek word that is translated "defense" is apologia. "It was a technical word used in the Greek law courts, referring to verbal defense in a judicial trial, namely, talking oneself off from a charge preferred against one. Paul was offering his defense against the charges of his accusers. But he stood alone, for he says, 'No man stood with me. The word 'stood' ["everyone deserted me"] (paraginomai) is a technical word used of one who appeared in a court of justice in behalf of the accused." "Taken from WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Kenneth Wuest. Copryright 1973 by W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co."

"A Roman trial began with a preliminary examination to formulate the precise charge against the prisoner. When Paul was brought to that preliminary examination, not one of his friends stood by him." "Taken from THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON by William Barclay. Copyright 1956 by The Westminster Press." Paul went on trial for his life because of the gospel message and because of his faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It appears that his Christian friends were afraid to defend him; for fear that they too may end up on trial for their lives. We are reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 10:28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

You may have had a time when you thought that someone or a group of people would stand up for you, but when it came right down to them doing it, they became weak and took the easy way out. It could have been in as non-threatening a situation as a discussion. You knew that they held the same position as you did, but they did not say a word.

Years ago, as a pastor I challenged a university professor on his statement that anyone who knew the facts would become an evolutionist. He invited me to take one of his classes, which I did. In the class, every so often, I would politely challenge what was said in the class. I thought that I was the only Christian in the class with the exception of one Christian who held a view that was closer to evolution than to what is taught in the Bible. Later, however, I learned, as some got bolder, that there were other Christians but they had not previously stood with me in what I had said. Sometimes we need to choose to defend the faith even though we may stand alone. That is what Paul did. See Mark 14:50; John 16:32

"May it not be held against them." We are reminded of Jesus' words on the cross and Stephen's words as he was stoned to death. "Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots." (Luke 23:34) "Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:60) Paul's Christian friends who did not come to his defense were much different than Alexander who "strongly opposed" him and his message. Paul does not want his Christian friends to be punished for their weakness and fear in Paul's time of danger. They were not opposed to God, but fearful of men. Alexander was an enemy of God. Alexander deserved God's judgment; Paul's Christian friends were in need of God's grace, just as Paul was always in need of God's grace. See I Timothy 1:12-16 May we also show Paul's patience and grace toward those who disappoint us.

7. The strong support that God provides for us. (4:17-18)

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Thought Question: Paul was in prison and he knew he was about to die. How can he say what he says in these verses?

There are times when we can feel that we are alone in the stand that we take. We can be the only Christian in a group of people. An issue comes up and we are the only person there who states a Christian position. But, as Paul says here, we are never alone when we side with God. Jesus promised that He would always be with us. " . . . God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength," "Gave me strength" is the same Greek word that is used in Philippians 4:13: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." See also 2:1; I Tim 1:12 Jesus promised his disciples that they would not be alone when they were arrested and brought before a pagan court: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:28-30) Paul had been given this type of strength from the Lord when he was brought before the pagan Roman court.

What appears to have happened is that Paul had been on trail, probably in Rome. God strengthened him and he had been enabled by God to boldly present the gospel message. The trial probably was a highly published event, for the leader of the Christians was on trial for his life. Paul's proclamation of the gospel message, then, would have been broadcast around the world of the Gentiles.

"And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth." In Psalms 22:21, David predicted Jesus' words on the cross: "Rescue me from the mouth of the lions." "Lions" is figurative language for the people who would surround Him while He was on the cross and who would act like cruel and heartless beasts toward Him. "Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me." (Psalm 22:13) See also Daniel 6:20-23 But what does Paul mean here when he says that he "was delivered from the lion's mouth"? Tradition tells us that Paul remained in a Roman dungeon until he was executed by Nero. He also appears to have accepted that he would soon die: "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure." (2 Timothy 4:6) What he says here about being "delivered from the lion's mouth" may mean that he had not yet been killed and was still able to continue his ministry. The other possibility is that his hope in his resurrection from the dead was near. At that time he would be fully and ultimately completely rescued from "the lion's mouth." This last interpretation fits with Paul's words in the next verse.

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." Ultimately, every "evil attack" on him would be unsuccessful for none of them could prevent God from rescuing him by bringing him into God's eternal kingdom. Here, we see the faith of many Christian martyrs throughout the years. Men can kill the body, but they cannot prevent those who trust in God from entering eternal glory with their Lord.

"To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Paul does not focus on his sad predicament and sink into self-pity. Instead, he focuses on the victory over death that God will give him. So, he ends by giving glory to God. He exults that he will give God glory "for ever and ever."

FINAL GREETINGS (4:19-22)
"Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you."

Thought Question #1: These are the last written words of Paul; what do you find in them that encourages you?

Thought Question #2: He left "Trophimus sick in Miletus"; what does that tell us about those who say that the only reason we are sick is because we do not have enough faith?

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila." Demas deserted Paul, but there remained many who were faithful and would pass on the baton after Paul's death: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2) First, there were "Priscilla and Aquila." They were fellow tent makers with Paul and we learn from the book of Acts that they had a significant ministry in the life of Apollos. See Acts 18:18-28 They moved about with Paul and without Paul. They often had a church that met in their home. See Acts 18:18,19; Romans 16:3-5a; I Corinthians 16:19 Paul says in Romans 16:4 that they "risked their lives for me" and that "the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them."

"Priscilla" is named before her husband. Aquila is named first in Acts 18:2 and I Corinthians 16:19 See also Acts 18:18,26 and Romans 16:3 We can only guess as to the reason for "Priscilla" being named first, but it is not hard to conclude that "Priscilla" was a strong woman in the Lord. She may have taken the lead as a teacher (See Acts 18:24-26) or she may have been a wonderful hostess in the house churches (See Romans 16:3-5). The actual Greek word translated "Priscilla" here is actually "Prisca;" whereas it is "Priscilla" in other times her name is mentioned in the Bible.

"Greet . . . the household of Onesiphorus" A tribute to "Onesiphorus" is found in 1:16-18: "May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus." It appears that Paul writes to "Onesiphorus"'s household because he knew that "Onesiphorus" had not yet returned to them. Some have taken this to imply that "Onesiphorus" had died, but there is no reason to conclude this. He could have been absent from them simply because he had travel plans that would take him some time to get back to Ephesus. Paul desires that his family be greeted warmly by Timothy due to "Onesiphorus"'s and their loyal support of him.

"Erastus stayed in Corinth." We learn the following about "Erastus" in Romans 16:23: "Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings." Since Paul was probably in Corinth when he wrote the book of Romans, "Erastus" was probably the "director of public works" in Corinth. The NIV Study Bible has the following note on Romans 16:23: "At Corinth archaeologists have discovered a reused block of stone in a paved square, with the Latin inscription: 'Erastus, commissioner of public works, bore the expense of this pavement'. . . ." This may refer to the Erastus mentioned here." "Taken from The NIV Study Bible. Copyright 1985 by The Zondervan Publishing Corporation."

We probably also read of him in Acts 19:22: "He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer." (Acts 19:22) Paul may have been arrested in Troas or Corinth. "Erastus," for reasons we do not know, remained "in Corinth." Because "Erastus" had been a traveling associate with Timothy, Timothy would have desired to know of his present location "in Corinth."

"And I left Trophimus sick in Miletus." We are introduced to Trophimus in Acts 20:4: "He [Paul] was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia." "Trophimus" was one of a group that had traveled with Paul at the end of his third missionary journey. "Trophimus" traveled with Paul to Jerusalem and was the cause of a riot there: "When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.” (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)" (Acts 21:27-29) Timothy would have wondered why "Trophimus" was not with Paul in Rome.

The fact that Paul "left Trophimus sick in Miletus" clearly refutes those who believe that everyone can be healed if we just have enough faith. Paul certainly had as much faith or more faith than anyone, but he did not heal Trophimus. Then and today, God for His own reasons does not choose to heal everyone. A lady told a Christian radio host that she had been kicked out of her church because she did have enough faith to heal her child who had died. Paul, then, should also have been rejected if we use this standard for measuring a Christian's faith, for he did not, then, have enough faith to heal "Trophimus." Healing, though, is something God can do, but He does not choose to do it at all times for His own reasons. "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33) See also Philippians 2:25-27; I Timothy 5:23; Galatians 4:13: II Kings 13:14 Healing faith occurs when God gives us the confidence that it is His will to heal someone. See James 5:13-15

"Do your best to get here before winter." Once winter arrived, traveling would be difficult. The book of Acts describes in Acts 27 how difficult the travel was during the winter time. Paul was convinced that if Timothy waited until winter, Paul might not see Timothy again before he died.

"Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers." Although there is some speculation about these Paul named here based on church tradition, there is nothing about them in the New Testament. Here is one example of what church tradition tells us: "Tradition has it that after Peter's death this man [Linus] was appointed to the bishopric of the church at Rome (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III iii3; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III IV" "Taken from NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY I – II TIMOTHY by William Hendriksen. Copyright 1957 by Baker Books."

"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you." Paul ends Galatians and Philippians with almost the same words. See Galatians 6:18 and Philippians 4:23 Paul desires that the Lord Jesus strengthen Timothy in his spirit. And, so, the final words of Paul to Timothy were an expression of Paul's encouragement and desire that Timothy would finish strong as he was also finishing strong. How would Paul and Timothy finish strong? It could only take place through God's grace toward them. How can we finish strong in our Christian lives? May Paul's second letter to Timothy, his last words that have been given to us in Scripture, provide us with his and God's guidelines for finishing strong. May they provide us with the instructions that we need so that we will also finish strong. I encourage you to read this letter in one sitting and write down in a list what is of particular help to you, so that it will help so that you will also FINISH STRONG!!

Other Digging For Gold Studies


The Battle For The Sunshine		Psalms Vol I
The Battle For The Sunshine		Psalms Vol II
How To Live A Full Life In An Empty World		Ecclesiastes 1-6
How To Live A Full Life In An Empty World		Ecclesiastes 6-12
God Is Ruler Of The Times Of The Gentiles		Daniel 1-6
God Is Ruler Of The Times Of The Gentiles		Daniel 7-12
When God Seems Far Away		Habakkuk
The Good News About Israel's King		Matthew 1-7
The Good News About Israel's King		Matthew 8-14
The Good News About Israel's King		Matthew 15-22
The Good News About Israel's King		Matthew 23-28
The Good News About The Son Of Man		Luke 1-6
The Good News About The Son Of Man		Luke 7-12
The Good News About The Son Of Man		Luke 13-18
The Word Became Flesh!		John 1-6
The Word Became Flesh!		John 7-12
The Word Became Flesh!		John 13-17
The Word Became Flesh!		John 18-21
Christianity In The Courtroom		Romans 1-4
Christianity In The Courtroom		Romans 5-8
Christianity In The Courtroom		Romans 9-11
Christianity In The Courtroom		Romans 12-16
The Battle For The Sunshine		I Corinthians 1-6
The Battle For The Sunshine		I Corinthians 7-11
The Battle For The Sunshine		I Corinthians 12-16
Paul's Life And Ministry: Triumph Through Weakness		II Corinthians 1-7
Paul's Life And Ministry: Triumph Through Weakness		II Corinthians 8-13
Rediscovering The Joy Of The Gospel		Galatians
Seeing The Church From God's Perspective - Seeing The Riches Of God's Grace!		Ephesians 1-3
Seeing The Church From God's Perspective - Seeing The Riches Of God's Grace!		Ephesians 4-6
How To Be A Joyful And United Church		Philippians
Pursuing Our Fulness In Christ		Colossians
A Message To New Christians		I Thessalonians
A Second Message To New Christians - A Wider Focus On The Christian Life		II Thessalonians
God's Plan For Order In The Church		I Timothy
How To Finish Strong In The Lord		II Timothy
Doing What Is Good		Titus
How To Motivate Others To Do What God Wants Them To Do		Philemon
We Should Always Move Forward In Our Faith		Hebrews 1-9
We Should Always Move Forward In Our Faith		Hebrews 10-13
From Double-Minded To Single-Minded Christianity		James
How To Live In Tough Times With An Eternal Perspective		I Peter
How To Have Wholesome Christian Thinking		II Peter
The Glorious Circle That Is Eternal Life		I John
How Our Joy Can Be Complete & Two Good Examples And One Bad Example		II & III John
What To Do When The Church Gets Off-Track: Contending For The Faith!		Jude
The Unveiling Of The Glorified Jesus Christ And The End Of The Age		Revelation 1-5
The Unveiling Of The Glorified Jesus Christ And The End Of The Age		Revelation 6-11
The Unveiling Of The Glorified Jesus Christ And The End Of The Age		Revelation 12-16
The Unveiling Of The Glorified Jesus Christ And The End Of The Age		Revelation 17-22

The Way of the Cross Diagram	The Way of the Cross The PATH	The Way of the Cross L.I.G.H.T.	The Way of the Cross L.O.V.E.D.
The Way of the Cross L.I.F.E.	The Way of the Cross S.E.L.F.	The Way of the Cross C.R.O.S.S.	The Way of the Cross L.O.V.E.
The Way of the Cross Memory Verses

Table of Contents	Outline	Genesis	Exodus to Deuteronomy
Furniture of the Tabernacle	Dress of Priests and High Priest	Dress of High Priest	Canaan: What Can it Teach Us?
Israel, God's Kingdom	Moses—Failure the Backdoor to Success	The Mosaic Covenant	The Ten Commandments
The Offerings	Uncleanness	The Priesthood	The Festivals
The Nazirite Vow	Joshua to Ruth	Prophecies of the Redeemer—Genesis to Ruth	I and II Samuel
Saul and David Compared	Jonathan and David Compared	The Davidic Covenant	I And II Kings
Israel's and Judah's Kings	Divided Kings who Divided	Criticisms of God's Actions in the Old Testament	Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
Ruth and Esther Compared	Job to Song of Solomon	Proverbs: Wise Man or Fool?	Isaiah
Jeremiah	Daniel	Hosea	Joel
Amos	Obadiah	Jonah	Micah
Nahum	Habakkuk	Zephaniah	Haggai
Zechariah	Malachi

Table of Contents	Introduction	Part 1a	Part 1b
Part 2	Part 3	Part 4	Part 5
Part 6	Part 7	Part 8	Part 9
Part 10	Part 11	Part 12	Part 13
Part 14	Part 15	Part 16	Part 17
Part 18a	Part 18b	Part 19	Part 20
Conclusion	"The Onlys"	A Pastor's Authority	Galatians 6:1-3
George Whitefield's Funeral Service

Download This Study For Free!

II Timothy

Other Digging For Gold Studies