Enduring to the End

Attention

We spent most of this past school year on Acts, tracing the expansion of the gospel through the Roman world until Paul’s first arrest

Following that arrest, Christian tradition tells us Paul made it to Spain and then eventually back to Rome, where he was arrested for a second time which would eventually lead to his death.

Background info on 2 Timothy, reminders about facts of letter

2 Timothy is the last surviving writing of Paul that has been preserved by the church. It is a very personal letter that serves as the final marching orders to Paul’s younger protege, Timothy, as well as a personal plea to come to him in Rome so that he’s not alone.

Timothy had been serving in Ephesus overseeing the work there. His work was to protect the churches from false teachers.

This week we’re going to finish our time in the letter by focusing in on Paul’s final instructions to Timothy.

Letters of this time period of greco-roman history had a very particular format, which we talked at some length about this past Wednesday. Our passage today reflects the conventions of the day, particularly in the closing of the letter as Paul relates to Timothy about some coworkers, gives final instructions, requests his presence and gives final greetings and a doxology and benediction.

2 Timothy 4 ESV

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up 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 loved his appearing. Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Contextual understanding and exposition

Verses 1-8

Paul begins the concluding thoughts of his letter by making a charge to Timothy. Paul is deadly serious about what he’s about to tell Timothy. As Paul is prepared to give account for his life and ministry, he’s charging Timothy to have the same readiness, knowing that he too will have to give account. Jewish tradition demands two witnesses when making charge, and so Paul, here induces the presence of God and Jesus to bear witness to the charge.

Paul does not take for granted the presence of God in the life of the believer (Timothy) rather he uses the actual presence of God as a reminder to Timothy to discharge his duties. If God is with us in a real sense, then it ought to be a positive motivator to do what is right in order to honor and please him. It’s not as if the presence of God is like that of an angry overseer ensuring that Timothy does what he’s supposed to do, rather it is the picture of a father watching with hope as his son discharges a duty that the father has given. In this case the Father’s presence is a motivator to do well in order to please the father, not in order to avoid his wrath. This type of presence and judgment is for all believers. We will all give account when the time comes, but we do so having had the presence of God with us the whole time, we’re never left to figure it out on our own.

Christ’s appearing and his kingdom are invoked as a way to remind Timothy that it is God who is Sovereign over all the people and kingdoms of the world. It is an already and not-yet reality that is a typical way for Paul to talk about the reality of Christ’s kingdom.

Paul’s charge is to

English Standard Version 2 Timothy 4:2

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching

Another list of commands:

preach the word (gospel)

be ready

reprove

rebuke

exhort with patience and teaching

These are connected to the use of Scripture from 2 Tim 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” With our chapter breaks its easy to miss the connection between these two sets of verses.

By saying “in season and out of season,” Paul is talking about whether Timothy feels like it or not, and whether it seems to be a fruitful season or not. There’s a sense of steadfastness that Paul is urging in Timothy that pushes him toward endurance regardless of external or internal circumstances.

The reproving, rebuking and exhortation, or urging, that are to mark Timothy’s ministry are to be done with complete patience and teaching. Complete, or great, patience is an underestimated, but required, characteristic of Christians. We are to be patient beyond what would be even thought acceptable by society’s standards. And Timothy in his pastoral role is to demonstrate that patience especially among those who are to be reproved, rebuked, and corrected.

With that patience he is to teach or instruct. The word for teaching refers to holistic teaching: it’s content and application; doctrine and practice. It's the name a 2nd century writing that describes the life and teachings of the early church in very practical details (short 15 minute read). These are the practices just as much as they are the teachings. Here’s just a little excerpt:

Be patient, and merciful, and sincere, and quiet, and kind, and always fearing the words which you have heard. Do not praise yourself, and do not let arrogance enter your soul. Do not join your soul with a pompous person, but walk only with the righteous and the humble.

Whatever happens to you, accept it as good, knowing that nothing is done without God.

My child, remember him who proclaims to you the word of God. Remember him night and day, and honor him as the Lord; for wherever he speaks, the Lord himself is there.

Every day, seek out the company of the saints, that you may find rest in their words. Do not cause division, but bring peace between those who dispute. Judge righteously.

Often we think of Bible teaching as abstract ideas that present ideals, but when the Bible teaches us something, it is meant to actually impact our way of life. It should change how we live.

Paul’s command to preach the word is not about delivering a 40 minute expositional sermon, nor should that be what we expect of our pastors and leaders. Rather that the proclamation of the gospel would be part of regular conversation with individuals, small groups, in the marketplace, and wherever the Lord takes them.

It’s easy for us to look at this and conclude that these are intellectual concepts, but I think that correction, rebuke and encouragement have to do with the action of the one receiving more so than the thinking. They are often related, but the action belies the belief. If your actions have not changed as a result of what you have heard, you haven’t learned.

Verses 3 and 4 go on to talk about what the people will want of him. They don’t want sound teaching, they want what suits their passions and in doing so will walk away from the truth. The metaphor that Paul uses is one of itching ears. Lea and Griffen describe the metaphor this way:

This description refers to people who crave spicy bits of information due to mere curiosity. This statement explains the reason for which people have gathered around them teachers who suit their desires. They have a desire to dabble with novelty. They covet new, fashionable ideas and long for the excitement of having their ears teased by the satisfying but harmless mumbling of pseudoscholarship

This idea of itching ears described the people of Athens in Acts 17:21 “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” There was no interest in application, but merely learning more.

Though this is a letter to a pastor, there is application for those of us who sit under a pastor. This also speaks to our tendency to judge a church on the quality or likability of the pastor’s sermons rather than the content of his character confirmed by the content of his sermons. People often go to a church to hear a good sermon and be made to think, but how often do we put it into practice? Are we more interested in our entertainment and having our ears tickled or are we interested in applying what is presented to us? As readers of this letter, we ought to seek to be the type of people that want to be pastored well and are willing to endure teaching, correction, rebuke. It’s through these means that we are made more like Christ within the community.

Instead of being a teacher that allows people to wander into myths, Timothy is to stand firm in the truth regardless of what people want to hear. He was to stand firm and endure while fulfilling his ministry. Ministry is a broad word that applies to Christians of all ages, maturities, vocations, and giftings. This isn’t just for Timothy and pastoral workers, but for all of us. We have a service to the Lord that is unique to us. In fact Paul writes in Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Everything we do is our service to the Lord, it all reflects on him if we have given him our allegiance.

It seems to me that Paul is suggesting that being sober minded, enduring suffering, doing the work of an evangelist and fulfilling his ministry will keep him from wandering off or becoming one who teaches to suit his own passions. It reminds me of 2 Peter 1:5-8 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, if you maintain your steadfastness and grow in it, you will not be wrenched out of joint from the truth and into myths.

As Paul very typically will do, he turns to his own example as a model to follow in verses 2 Tim 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up 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 loved his appearing.”

There’s an already/not-yet tone underlying this statement: I have been poured out and I will be poured out (to completion) as a result of my current imprisonment. Just as Paul has pointed to Jesus’ presence and his future coming, the already and the not-yet, Paul sees the same to be true of his life. He is being poured out and the time of his emptying is not quite here but will be soon enough. He’s expressing that his life has been a sacrifice and will be a sacrifice upon his impending death.

Paul’s example is one that points to his partnership with God in all things. He fought the fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. But he did all these things in conjunction with the Spirit of God. If we are striving for the ministry he has set before us, we are partnering with him to accomplish what he has set us out to do. This is why we apply what we learn, so we can strive for greater partnership with God.

Sports: we learn the basics and then we either continue to practice them or we become spectators.

- Watching without practicing doesn’t make us better.

- Understanding the theory of the game doesn’t make us better.

- It’s the time and effort we put in that helps us contribute to the team in our unique way.

- Understanding theology is good, but won’t make us holy

- It’s when we apply the theology to our way of life and live in response that will make us more like Jesus.

- It requires training and effort.

For Paul, finishing the race was about completing what was set before him, the course laid out by God. Each person’s course is unique to them, we cannot compare our race to someone else’s, their race is different than ours. It does us no good to compare ourselves to other race runners. Some started long before us, some after us and they will all end at different times. Our job is to run our race, set before us, to the best of our abilities, again partnering with God in our efforts not to achieve salvation but as a response to it.

Verses 9-22

At this point, Paul transitions to the closing of his letter. The last 14 verses contain very typical greco-roman letter content. In this section, we see an update of colleagues, travel plans (or wishes for Timothy’s travel) and instructions, greetings from and to others as well as some final blessings.

Verses 9-12 describe the state of the contingent of coworkers that Paul apparently had taken with him to Rome. The list includes Demas, Crescens, Titus, Luke, and Tychicus. Demas is the only one who is noted for a negative reason. He has deserted Paul because of his love for the world. What’s sad to me is the fact that Demas is part of the contingent that contributed to two letters, Colossians and Philemon, and was apparently a companion of Paul’s for many years. His love for the world caused him to flee suffering and is placed in direct contrast to the endurance that Paul mentions of himself in the verses prior.

What we see played out is that we can only have allegiance to one kingdom. Either we will have allegiance to Jesus and stand firm in him, or we will be allegiant to the world and the evil rulers of it. And this is the crux of the gospel. Jesus is king over all creation. He has come to reconcile the world to himself and through his death he has redeemed all of creation. Our role is to respond to that reality: either we will give him the allegiance he deserves resulting in the crown of righteousness as Paul described in verse 8 or we will continue to follow the rulers of the earth resulting in our death. This is our choice, just as it was for Demas.

Of the other four men mentioned, Crescens, Titus and Tychicus were all on assignment. Luke alone has stayed with Paul. With all but Luke gone Paul is expressing a deep loneliness that he hopes that Timothy will help cure. Paul was a man with emotions, hopes, desires, and feelings and it is clear that this is a hard time for him.

Note how in this final section of the letter, Paul doesn’t spend time talking about how awful Demas was for deserting him, or that he took it personally that no one was there. He didn’t assume any ill-intent or blame anyone, he simply expressed his emotions of loneliness. Emotions aren’t the enemy, it is how we act while under their influence. Expressing emotions isn’t sinful, what is sinful is an action that we take because of the emotion that is in direct conflict with Jesus’ command to love.

Paul has fellow believers in Rome as evidenced by verse 21, but there’s a deep connection that Paul wanted and he didn’t have the same type of relationship with them as he had with Timothy. Paul wanted Timothy to come because he needed the encouragement of a close friend. It is so important for us to have people who know us, have walked with us through hard times, and who are able to care for us in ways that only those close friends can.

Timothy is given instructions for the trip: Go get Mark, bring my cloak, my books and parchments, and watch out for Alexander the coppersmith.

Verse 16 gives us some context as to what is happening with Paul. We read 2 Tim 4:16 “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!”

Lea and Griffen say this:

1, 2 Timothy, Titus 2 Timothy 4:16

More recent interpreters view the occasion as a preliminary investigation during a later imprisonment, called in Latin legal language the prima actio. This would have a purpose similar to a grand jury hearing. After this first investigation the judge had been unable to resolve his doubts for or against Paul and called for a further investigation, known as a secunda actio. This would involve considerable delay, and Timothy might not have known about these developments

This is likely what had happened in Acts 28 as well and all of this is possible because he was a citizen of Rome. Upon his arrival in Rome he was likely given an arraignment hearing and then a considerable time went before his eventual release about two years later. Similarly here, he’s probably had that first hearing and is expecting a long period of waiting before his second hearing which it seems that he thinks will lead to his death. The wheels of justice moved slowly in Rome as it does here in America, but it would have been enough time for Timothy to come encourage Paul.

Paul includes some fascinating things as he reflects on his first defense. First is his willing forgiveness of those who had deserted him. “May it not be charged against them” is similar to Jesus’ cry on the cross as well as what Stephen proclaimed before his death by stoning in Acts 7. What are the ways that you respond when people disappoint or desert you? Do you freely forgive and pray that it won’t be held against them or do you cling to your anger and wish ill for them? How do you treat your enemy and those who turn their back on you?

Second, Paul forgives and points to the fact that the Lord was with him and strengthened him. He has personally encountered the living Christ and apparently experienced a special appearance of his presence and strength throughout the defense so that he could continue his mission to proclaim the gospel message to all the Gentiles, small and great.

Lastly we see this metaphor of being rescued from the lion’s mouth and a proclamation that the Lord would rescue him from every evil deed and bring him safely into the heavenly kingdom.

There are only a couple places in the Hebrew Bible, or our Old Testament, that mention the mouth of lions, particularly being delivered from them.

There is definitely a connection to Psalm 22 throughout the passage. It’s the psalm that Jesus quotes verse 1 of on the cross: My God, my God why have you forsaken me. The Psalm goes on to describe the suffering that the psalmist has experienced in figurative language that is represented in many literal ways in Christ’s death on the cross, but the end of the psalm proclaims that God will rescue and vindicate the psalmist and it will result in the praise of God throughout all the earth. Paul can see how Psalm 22 speaks to his situation in many ways.

I think there’s also a hint to another story in the Hebrew Bible from Daniel. Many of you will recall from childhood we were told the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Daniel was humbly serving the Lord and the King, but there were those who didn’t like him and proposed to the King a law that they knew Daniel wouldn’t keep because of his commitment to the Lord. Daniel was arrested for breaking the law and placed in the lion’s den to be devoured by lions. Starting in verse 16 of Daniel 6:16-23

Daniel 6:16–23 ESV

Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

The result comes a few verses later: Daniel 6:25-27 “Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.””

It’s a wonderful little meditation opportunity. I encourage you to go back and read the Lion’s Den story and meditate on the parallels to Paul’s situation and what he wants us to understand about the Christian life by that allusion.

Even when the persecution Paul is to undergo does result in his death, he says with confidence that God will rescue him from every evil. For Paul, deliverance given by God would be seen in his enduring suffering to the end without apostasy or trying to take the easy way out. Paul would go the way of Daniel and endure suffering to the end in faithfulness to God.

As Paul gives his final greetings, he mentions several friends to exchange greetings with and then gives a final blessing. The Lord be with your spirit, or your whole person. and Grace be with you. Throughout the biblical narrative, what set’s God’s people apart is his presence with them. Paul is reminding Timothy that the Lord is with him so that he can fulfill all that the Lord has set before him.

Whether we are clergy or laity, we have a ministry. As part of that ministry we are to become more like Christ. Becoming more like Christ requires more than hearing sermons. We must apply our lives to the text and the text to our lives.

We are bringing in a new Pastor who starts this week. We have an invitation to strive toward being the type of people that are a joy to pastor. We should aim to be people who receive rebuke and correction so that we can become like Christ.

The presence of Jesus is our motivation and the coming of Jesus is our hope

Enduring suffering unto death with faithfulness (letting God handle administering justice) is what it means to be delivered from every evil thing