“A Call For Belivers to seek God’s Strength and Faithfulness and we serve Him and others.”
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Quick Welcome:
Prayer:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Down through history there have been many people and many councils that have gathered together to discuss not only on what should be considered part of the cannon or Holy Scriptures but also on who the human author was of each inspired part of Scripture. While there remain some critics who question Paul’s authorship of both letters including this one, arguing that such an intimate letter Paul would not have spent time to write this or address these personal matters. Of course we know that this is not true from the opening salutation or greeting Paul addresses himself. Paul mentions many truths in this Epistle that Timothy already knew and trusted. So, what Paul is doing here is confirming his apostleship in order to help Timothy. He helps Timothy by strengthening him and encouraging him since ministry can often times be so difficult.
Why is ministering often times so difficult?
The 2 Letter of Timothy has often been called Paul’s last will and testament. Why was it called this? Because we know that the time of his departure was near.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Paul’s earthly ministry and his life were now coming to an end.
Background: Before we jump right into this short letter that only has 4 chapters I want to take a moment and explain some background so we understand what is happening behind the scenes. Paul wrote this letter shortly before his death around A.D. 67. However, a few years before Paul writes this letter in A.D. 64 Nero had been suspected of setting his own city Rome on fire. The Roman historian Tacitus tells us this and the fact that the city burned for 6 days. So, not only did all the poor peasants of Rome lose their homes, but also the rich and magnificent temples and shrines were burnt up in this great fire. Tacitus went on to write this about what happened. “All human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the destructive fire was the result ordered by Nero.” Consequently, to get rid of this report, Nero put the guilt and inflicted much of the torture on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the people of the day.
During Paul’s first arrest in Rome we see that he was under house arrest. With that being said, he was allowed to have guests and visitors that would come to him. He was also free to preach and teach. We see this in the book of Acts.
30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
However, as we now come to this letter some 5-6 years later around 66 A.D. Paul was in chains.
16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains,
These Roman jail cells were often know as places that were dark, overcrowded, no sanitation and the only relief was by death. But, this was not the worst of things for Paul. Worse than that, Paul was now deserted by everyone in Asia Minor.
15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
The only people that remained loyal were Onesiphrus and Luke. Paul of course forgave those who turned their back on him, but it did bring him great pain and disappointment not to have any one there to encourage him. Paul, like his Lord understood what it was like to be forsaken by those he loved and served. Paul in fact had led many of these people to the Lord and had helped disciple them as well. It was as if he was a spiritual father and friend to many of them.
The Church: What we do know about the current situation of the church in Ephesus is that it was not good. It had fallen even further into bad theology and ungodly behavior. The church leaders including Timothy to some extent, had become even weaker and less effective then what we saw in the first letter to Timothy. With that said, heresy, apostasy, and even persecution had become more destructive.
With all of this going on and the abandonment by most of his friends Paul desperately wanted to see Timothy, this is why we see that Paul urges him to come and visit as soon as he could.
9 Do your best to come to me soon.
21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.
As Paul knew that his life and ministry were coming to an end, Paul is passing along the ministry baton to Timothy his son in the faith. Paul understood that despite Timothy’s soundness in doctrine and personal godliness he too could wonder away. So, there were many things that Paul addresses here to help Timothy stay the course. He reminds Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. To not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord. To guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. To be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed of the word of truth, and to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness.
Paul’s focus was on the personal ministry of Timothy himself more than the ordering of the church. Paul’s words were not just personal however, because they were also deeply theological. One of the things that we will see throughout this short letter is the Gospel centered message. Commentator John Stott says, Paul’s preoccupation in writing to Timothy was with the gospel, the deposit of truth which had been revealed and committed to him by God. With that being said Stott gives us 2 Timothy in 4 Gospel parts.
Guard the Gospel. Chapter 1.
Suffer fro the Gospel. Chapter 2.
Continue in the Gospel. Chapter 3.
Proclaim the Gospel. Chapter 4.
As we now come to the start of this 2nd Letter to Timothy this letter is both timely and timeless. For what can be more important today that for us to rightly guard and give the gospel to the future generations? It is often said that we are one generation away from losing the gospel. With that in mind, it will be neglected, ignored, and abandoned in the next generation if we are not faithful to proclaim it now. Men, we must keep guarding the gospel. We must suffer and proclaim the gospel.
At the end of Paul’s life, what was Paul most passionate about? He wanted others to know the good news of Jesus. He wanted others to know about the sinless life of Christ, the death, and resurrection of Christ. After all the gospel was most important to Paul.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
Questions:
How is your calling different from Paul’s and how is it the same?
In what way is the gospel like fresh water? How do you explain the gospel to others?
Do you have a spiritual mentor? Do you know someone you can be a mentor too?
(Close in Prayer)