Timothy Part 3

Introduction

We are in the middle of our series on Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Just to recap.

Paul someone who was once a persecutor of Christians became one of the leaders of Christian though and theology and was called to bring the message of the Gospel to cultures that were not Jewish.

He wrote 2/3 of the new testament and the “book” that we are walking through is actually a letter to someone young leader named Timothy.

Paul is writing the letter while he is in prison and awaiting his execution. So these are, what he thinks, what could be the last words he is speaking to Timothy.

And one of the things that may help us as we read through these texts is to think about those people who mean the most to you and if you were writing them the last thing you may say to them what would it be.

For Paul it is this letter.

Paul is handing over his ministry to Timothy (he had already placed Timothy in charge of the church in Ephesus and Paul is now saying listen there are these false teachers out there undermining the message of the Gospel that I am preaching. I need you to protect the message. Guard it with the help of the holy spirit. Don’t be timid be bold, use the model I gave you, preach the message I gave you and make sure it doesn’t get watered down.

Paul goes on encourage Timothy to live a pure and holy life and to avoid “stupid arguments” Paul’s words not mine, about things that don’t matter. He reminds him that godly people are kind to everyone, not resentful but able to teach patiently not out of wanting to win but in order to free those who are deceived.

Because those days are coming, in fact we are in those days right now, just as much as Timothy was almost two thousand years ago.

This is what Paul says about it (2000 years ago)

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NIV84

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. Have nothing to do with them.

Paul warns us that there will be times where people will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money.

Man things haven’t changed much.

They certainly saw this in the first 1 years of the church and it just kept going. Even though God was and is at work in the lives of His people constantly growing His Kingdom, the enemy of our souls is trying to push back against God’s Kingdom and ultimately he will not succeed, but he keeps trying.