Paul's Final Instructions (2 Tim 4:9-22)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to 2 Tim 4:9-22.

We are finally to the end of 2 Timothy; and as such, I think it would be wise for me to give you a rundown of everything that we have worked through in this letter that has led to this final bit of Scripture.

There’s a temptation when it comes to texts like this, to just sort of glance over it and not actually bother to try and understand what the point of the passage is because it seems like just a lot of personal details that don’t actually have a point to them, but when we look at it all in context, I think we’ll get a clearer understanding of what can be learned from this passage in general.

So, we’ve worked through 2 Timothy starting in ch. 1, which emphasizes Timothy’s need to stand firm on the Gospel because there will be some who absolutely reject the truth. Timothy ought to stand firm on the Gospel and even be willing to suffer for the Gospel, if necessary. That idea of suffering for the sake of the Gospel continues into ch. 2 in which Paul emphasizes this need for Timothy to be a soldier of Jesus Christ and to be a worker approved by God, which only happens by being able to proclaim the Word of God accurately and lovingly. In ch. 3, we see the issue of godlessness in the last days and how things are going to progressively get worse; and yet, we can still stand firm on the Gospel found in God’s Word, which is breathed out by God.

Throughout the whole letter, we’ve read about this constant problem of false teaching in the city of Ephesus and throughout the whole letter, we’ve seen Paul repeatedly tell Timothy to stay focused on the Gospel, stay firm on the truth, and to reject false teachings and false teachers.

Keep this overarching theme in mind as we read the remaining fourteen verses.

Let’s read 2 Timothy 4:9-22:

2 Timothy 4:9–22 ESV

9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 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. 18 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. 19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Personal Remarks (9-18) and (2) Final Greetings (19-22), which I know aren’t particularly helpful descriptions of what the verses are, but I’m sure you’ve already noticed how much of the text seems to be random ideas that are all coming together as the letter comes to its conclusion. Now, it could be tempting to just jump over the remaining verses, but the reality is that there is still beneficial truth for us in this text that we can learn from if we keep in mind the overall context of the letter. Paul closes this letter off by essentially giving some last statements to Timothy and in it, he essentially shows us the importance of having good friends that aid in fulfilling what God has called you to do. Likewise, he shows us how detrimental it can be to be surrounded by those who reject the truth.

Prayer for Illumination

Personal Remarks (9-18)

Our text starts with Paul encouraging Timothy to visit him soon. He says in v. 9, “Do your best to come to me soon.”

Remember that Paul is in a situation in which he is imprisoned for his faith in Rome.

Because Paul is a Roman citizen and he did appeal to Caesar, there’s a very high chance that him being imprisoned is very much like him being under house arrest, which is why he could ask Timothy to come and see him.

Judging by v. 6, it does seem that Paul believes his execution will come soon, which would then explain why he’s rushing Timothy to come and visit.

Considering it’s the first century and this is a letter that will then be sent by foot to Timothy and it’s traveling from Rome to Ephesus, we could roughly assume a one-month journey from Rome to Ephesus and a one-month journey from Ephesus to Rome.

Thus, Paul’s encouragement for Timothy to come soon is in hopes that Timothy moves quickly so that he can speak with him before his execution, which is imminent.

Paul asks for Timothy to come and see him soon before explaining the situation that he is in. We see that situation spread throughout vv. 10-16.

In vv. 10 and 12, we read about four different people who have left Paul to go elsewhere—Demas deserted him, Crescens went to Galatia, Titus left to go to Dalmatia, and Tychicus was sent by Paul to Ephesus, which implies that he was the one who was sent by Paul to deliver the letter that we’re reading. Not that not all four of them left for bad reasons—Tychicus was sent, Titus and Crescens left, but we don’t know why. It’s only Demas who left for a bad reason and the reason is that he loved the present world—meaning, he was more focused on the world around him rather than the next life.

In v. 11, we see that Paul and Luke are by themselves in Rome and we see Paul’s suggestion to Timothy for him to bring Mark with him. It’s not surprising for Luke to be with Paul in this situation, Luke was a common companion for Paul. It is a little surprising that Paul wants Timothy to bring Mark—if you remember back in Acts 13, John Mark actually left Paul to go back to Jerusalem and this apparently upset Paul significantly because in Acts 15, when Barnabas recommends bringing John Mark along, Paul refuses because of John Mark leaving them before. So, the fact that Paul wants John Mark to come with Timothy in 2 Timothy shows that whatever happened before had been smoothed over and forgiven.

In v. 14, we read about a man named Alexander who was a coppersmith who did great harm to Paul. This is (more than likely) the same person who Paul mentions in his first letter to Timothy when he says, 1 Timothy 1:19–20 “By rejecting [the truth], some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Or, in other words, one of the blatant false teachers that Paul has been warning Timothy about has significantly harmed Paul.

He did so by strongly opposing the message, which we know the message is simply the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the same message that Paul has repeatedly told Timothy in this letter to stand firm on despite persecution.

How exactly Alexander did great harm to Paul beyond just opposing the message, we aren’t really sure. Some have posited the idea that Alexander is the one who convinced the authorities to finally arrest Paul, but we don’t really have evidence for it.

It is notable that despite the great harm that Alexander has caused to Paul, Paul isn’t seeking any sort of retribution against Alexander, he doesn’t want revenge. He simply states that “the Lord will repay [Alexander] according to his deeds.” Or, in other words, God will take care of it. We can learn a lot from this.

Note also, that despite Paul not wanting revenge or retribution, he does warn Timothy about Alexander in v. 15, “Beware of him yourself.”

We see in v. 16, as Paul wraps up about what all is going on around him that “no one came to stand by [him]” during his first defense or his first trial. Everyone deserted him.

I think that despite everything going on, Paul shows us how best to respond in a situation like what he is facing in vv. 13, 17-18.

Note in v. 13, that despite the situation—the situation in which most of us would be panicked, depressed, and discouraged. He’s actually strategic. He asks Timothy to bring him his cloak, his books, and his parchments.

The cloak would be something heavier that would be worn over the rest of his clothes—he could be asking for this because of the trajectory of his life. If he’s about to be martyred, he will eventually be placed in a dungeon for holding, dungeons are usually cold and damp.

The books, which could be translated as scrolls, in this context would typically point to the Old Testament Scriptures.

And, the parchments, would usually refer to blank parchment that he could write on.

So, it seems that he has a strategy to continue his ministry through writing even if he’s in a cold, dark, dungeon-like atmosphere. He has a strategy to continue serving Jesus even as his life comes to an end.

Vv. 17-18 then shows us, that despite the situation, he has absolute hope and trust in God, “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.”

I think we can all admit that Paul is in a desperate situation. He knows he’s probably going to die, he knows that everything seems to be going against him. And I think we can all admit that if we were to be in the same position, we would definitely be struggling with anxiety, depression, and fear.

And yet, Paul doesn’t seem to be struggling with the situation much at all. Instead, he fully trusts and hopes in God. Remember, that what he says here in vv. 17-18 contrasts with the fact that he’s all alone and that people have left him and some have abandoned him.

Despite the situation that he’s in, he states that “The Lord stood by [him] and strengthened [him].”

And there are two results of God staying by him and strengthening him, “that through [him] the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear [the message].”

You might ask, how exactly was the message proclaimed even in the midst of such great distress—it’s actually rather simple. When Paul went to defend himself before the earthly judge, God through His Holy Spirit provided strength for Paul to proclaim the Gospel.

And as he was being questioned, Paul simply spoke the truth in the strength that God had given him. It really ought not surprise us when we read in Acts 22 about Paul doing the exact same thing, and Acts 23, and Acts 24, and Acts 25, and Acts 26, and Acts 28. Paul has a history with being in tremendously difficult situations and being on trial, but still choosing to proclaim the Gospel to those that would listen.

Paul doesn’t struggle with the situation that he’s facing, he simply chooses to trust God despite the situation—it is God who strengthened him, it is God who gave him the ability to proclaim the message, it is God who rescued him the first time from the lion’s mouth.

Note that in this situation, Paul isn’t anticipating being rescued from death again and he doesn’t expect God to rescue him from his martyrdom. All Paul expects is that God will rescue him from evil and bring him into His heavenly kingdom.

Paul fully anticipates things not going well for him concerning physical life—he fully anticipates being killed for his faith.

And yet, he fully anticipates God taking him home. Essentially, what we see in Paul, here, is how we all ought to think concerning the world that we live in.

We live in a world that is filled with desperate and terrible situations—just seeing what Hamas has done in Israel over the past week validates that statement.

We can get all worked up about it, we can be anxious about it, we can be completely fearful of everything going on in the world around us.

Or, we can place our complete trust and hope in Jesus Christ who will rescue us from every evil deed and will bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom.

Likewise, we can look at every situation in the same light that Paul does here—whether that’s concerning world news like the ordeal in Israel or the ordeal with Russia and Ukraine; or, if it concerns your everyday life.

We can get all worked up about just about anything that happens in our lives—if we fail a test, lose our jobs, get hurt physically or emotionally. We can be anxious every time something that we don’t want to happen happens. We can live our lives in fear of everything that happens to us.

Or, we can place our complete trust and hope in Jesus Christ who will rescue us from every evil deed and will bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom.

We can choose to trust the one who has promised to complete the work within us for His own glory or we can continue in fear, anxiety, and trepidation.

Paul then takes the last four verses to give a few greetings. This is a letter after all and Paul is writing to an actual person in whom he has a relationship with; thus, it makes sense that he would have a few personal statements and greetings to make. Let’s look at vv. 19-22.

Final Greetings (19-22)

2 Timothy 4:19–22 ESV

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Paul sends greetings and well wishes from and to people in Rome and in Ephesus.

We see Paul asking Timothy to send his greetings to at least three people:

We see him specifically greet Prisca and Aquila—Prisca is a different form of the name Priscilla, which tells us that this would be the couple that we first met in Acts 18 when we’re told that they were tentmakers like Paul was a tentmaker. This is the same couple, who in Acts 26 hear Apollos preach, pull him aside to correct his deficient knowledge of the Gospel, before sending him back to continue preaching. It’s interesting to see how that relationship between Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila continues even though they live in completely different areas.

We then see Paul specifically greet the household of Onesiphorus, which is the same man that he mentioned at the beginning of the letter when he commends Onesiphorus for his great hospitality and refusal to be ashamed of Paul’s position in chains in prison.

We see Paul give a brief update about a man named Erastus and a man named Trophimus.

These brief statements do something in particular. It updates Timothy on where these two people are and it informs Timothy that these two people didn’t abandon Paul.

Erastus stayed in Corinth for a specific reason and Trophimus was too sick to continue the journey.

Paul then sends greetings from four specific people and really from everyone.

He states that Eubulus greets Timothy, as well as Pudens, Linus, and Claudia. Along with all the brothers.

Lastly, there is something to be said about Paul’s simple closing of this letter in v. 22, “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”

Despite Paul’s desperate situation in Rome, he has enough trust in the Lord to end his letter by focusing Timothy and really the whole church at Ephesus back towards God.

“The Lord be with your spirit” speaks of a recognition of the Lord’s presence and a desire for Timothy to feel God’s presence.

The “Grace be with you” is actually directed towards everyone who reads it, we know this because in Greek, the you is plural. Meaning, he is hoping for everyone at Ephesus to experience the grace of God.

Which leads us this morning to our application. Now, I know that after all we’ve worked through this morning along with the recognition that these sorts of texts are the texts that are often overlooked—we tend to glance over them or skip them entirely, that you might have some difficulty with trying to apply the text specifically. So, let me help you with that this morning.

Again, remember the overarching point of 2 Timothy—Paul is about to die, he’s writing a letter to Timothy, who is very much like his son. In this letter, Paul has repeatedly urged Timothy to stand firm on the Gospel, to remain in the Truth, and to reject false teachers and false teachings. With all this in mind and knowing that Paul is about to die, I think we can see two ideas even with the verses that we worked through this morning and they’re all built on the idea of facing desperate situations in life.

I would argue what we see as the letter wraps up includes two applications—(1) you need to develop a strategy when you’re faced with desperate situations and (2) you need to trust in God during these same situations. Of course, these applications are being built on the whole text, not on the divisions we had as we worked through the text. Let’s look at those ideas.

Application

You need to Develop a Strategy for when you face desperate situations in life—Paul’s strategy included asking Timothy to bring him specific items, maneuvering people where they can best serve, and preparing to continue his ministry even in prison. The items that Paul asks for, I mentioned, are typically thought of to be a means to stay warm even in a cold and damp dungeon, Scripture, and paper to write on; the maneuvering of people was a strategy to continue the Gospel proclamation even after his death; and the continuation of his ministry efforts is seen in his willingness to keep writing despite the situation that he’s in. Now, you probably don’t have the authority to maneuver people to different cities and you definitely don’t have the authority to write more Scripture as Paul did with his letters, but a lot of what Paul does are things that you can do as well after we contextualize it. When faced with desperate situations in life, here’s a strategy based on Paul’s own strategy:

First and foremost, get into the Word of God—again, the idea of Timothy bringing the books or the scrolls is that of Timothy bringing Paul his copies of Scripture.

You hear me say it repeatedly, over and over that we live in an era in which we have God’s Word readily available in our own language both digitally and in hard copies and yet, we absolutely take it for granted.

So, instead of getting into God’s Word regularly, we only get into God’s Word occasionally; and when we experience situations that are exceptionally difficult, we tend to go even further from God’s Word.

And yet, Scripture teaches us to meditate on God’s Word, to stand firm on God’s Word, to trust God’s Word because it has been breathed out by God, and to allow it to change you, grow you, and mature you.

The reality is that we ought to be all about the Word of God because it is a book written by God through the Holy Spirit working in men for you and me.

And, if we claim to care about God, to love Jesus, to want to pursue Him, there’s really no better place to start than by simply reading and re-reading and re-reading His Word.

Which is why we emphasize the reading and re-reading and re-reading of His Word so frequently here.

Now, I recognize that life is crazy busy for the majority of us, but I think for most of us, the question is really more a question of what your priorities are.

Most people today will claim that they simply don’t have the time to read Scripture, but if I were to ask you how much time do you spend on social media or watching TV, I’m fairly certain we can find multiple hours a day in which you could read Scripture.

Likewise, we could apply the same metric to anything else—is it more important to read God’s Word or work out? Is it more important to read God’s Word or go to a football game? Is it more important to read God’s Word or really do anything else?

You need to get into the Word of God—preferably every day, at least as often as you can; and you need to do this before you experience great difficulties in your life.

Second, reach out to those who will point you towards Jesus and are already praying for your growth—in Paul’s case, he uses his authority as an apostle to maneuver people where they can best serve and he points out those who have abandoned him and harmed him. What he does as he states this is he makes us aware of two truths:

There will be people who you think are trustworthy and want to work with you who end up leaving you, betraying you, and even attacking you.

And there will be people who you didn’t think were worthwhile before, but through growth and maturity have become people who will be beneficial for you.

The reality is that there will be both types of people in your life and like Paul, we need to be sure that we don’t try to get vengeance or plot our revenge on those who betray us.

Rather, we need to surround ourselves with people who are going to push us to grow and mature. We need to surround ourselves with people who are already praying for us to grow and will consistently point us towards Jesus even when we’re in the darkest moment of our lives.

The reality is that as people, as Christians, we need to constantly be around people who push us closer to Jesus and we need to get as far away as possible from people who pull us away from Him or discourage us when we try to obey Him.

Which, by the way, is one of the main points of the local church—for us all to be encouraging each other to love and good works, to mutually build one another up.

You need to be around people who will constantly point you towards Jesus and want to see you grow—preferably, you should start doing this before you experience great difficulty in your life.

Third, continue ministering where God has placed you—great difficulty in life can cause us to want to pull away from ministry. It can make us want to pull away from people in general, let alone continue to put ourselves in situations where we have to sacrifice of ourselves for other people. If anyone could’ve wanted to end his ministry to focus on himself, it really could’ve been Paul; and yet, he places his focus on continuing his ministry through writing.

When life gets difficult, don’t run and hide. Don’t wallow at home in depression, discouragement, pain, suffering, and struggle.

Instead, keep pushing, keep running towards Jesus, keep serving wherever you can, and keep your eyes focused on God and the Gospel.

Life is filled with desperate situations—so develop your strategy by digging into the Word of God, surrounding yourself with those who point you towards Jesus and pray for you, and continue to serve God.

You need to Trust in God even when you face desperate situations in life—we see Paul outrightly state that his hope is in the God who will rescue him from every evil deed and bring him into the heavenly kingdom. The same God who has already rescued him from the lion’s mouth and has strengthened him and has stood by him even during the midst of his persecutory trials. Now, when faced with desperate situations in life, we tend to lose our hope and we tend to wallow in our own pain, suffering, depression, and anxiety. But the reality is that if we truly believe that God is sovereign and that He’s providentially moving all things for our good, which is exactly what His Word says, then we don’t really have a reason to wallow in our own pain, suffering, depression, and anxiety; rather, we just need to trust Him. Now, I realize that’s usually much harder than it sounds; and it is much easier said than done and more times than not, most people need some practical steps to help them in times of great struggle. When faced with desperate situations in life, let me recommend one last idea to help you trust in God:

Jump into what we typically refer to as the ordinary means of grace.

You’ve heard me talk about the ordinary means of grace several times, but let me just remind you of what they are. The ordinary means of grace are ways that are simple, that are used by God to accomplish something in the lives of Christians. They’re ways in which we, as Christians, experience God’s grace through which, we learn to trust deeper and deeper in God through Jesus Christ.

There are really three ordinary means of grace that we all partake in whether we call them the ordinary means of grace or not.

And they’re these. We experience God’s grace when we interact with God’s Word, when we partake in the ordinances, and when we pray.

God’s Word—this includes reading it, listening to it, hearing good biblical preaching and teaching. It includes every instance where we are drinking in God’s Word and actually allowing it to change us, mold us, and make us more like Jesus.

Ordinances—this includes every instance that we partake in the Lord’s Supper together and when we’re either baptized or we witness someone be baptized. They’re opportunities for us to reflect on our own faith, our own position in Christ, and where we’re at spiritually.

Prayer—this includes both corporate and private prayer. Including when we’re altogether and someone leads us in prayer and when we’re alone praying in our minds and in our heart. It includes when we give thanks, when we praise, and when we make requests to the Lord.

They’re easy to understand, but the ordinary means of grace are often neglected and when we neglect them, we drift further and further away from Jesus.

You need to keep partaking in the ordinary means of grace as often as possible, which will then help you trust God even as life gets difficult.

Put simply, what we learn from 2 Timothy 4:9-22 is this: in life, there are desperate situations. When faced with them (1) develop a strategy that includes getting into God’s Word, reaching out for help, and continuing your ministry; and (2) use the ordinary means of grace to help you trust in God.

What we’ve learned from 2 Timothy is that despite the hardships of life, we need to stay completely focused on the Truth, we need to be rooted and grounded in and on the Gospel, and we need to keep pursuing Jesus.

Pastoral Prayer