2 Timothy 4:18-22 - Grace be with you all

4:18

Paul knew that his time on earth was short, but also knew that God would take him safely to His heavenly kingdom. There are some who place an emphasis on the fact that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, so the popular concept of “going to heaven” is indeed incomplete at best. However, there is still an element of “going to heaven”, so it should not be jettisoned completely.

4:19-22

Paul closes with a few greetings, Priscilla and Aquila receive several mentions in the New Testament, with Priscilla often being mentioned first. Paul wants Timothy to get to him before winter if possible. Once winter arrived travelling would be out of the question, and Paul may well have been dead after the winter. 

2 Timothy 4:12-17 - Be on your guard against him

4:12,13

Tychicus is mentioned in Acts 20:4 and Ephesians 6:21, and he sometimes travelled as Paul’s representative. Paul asks Timothy to bring a cloak and some scrolls. The cloak would probably be a large heavy garment, and scrolls were somewhat heavier than books! 

4:14,15

We then come to another person who actively opposed Paul, Alexander the metalworker. This may be the same person mentioned in 1 Tim 1:20, but Alexander was a very common name, so there can be no certainty about this.. Whatever the case, he “strongly opposed the message”, and did great harm to Paul. Paul is not afraid to tell Timothy to be on his guard. We need to be realistic about what some people can be like.

4:16,17

Paul would have appeared in court, but no one came to his defence. However, Paul does not want it held against them. It is one thing to stand with persecuted Christians in distant lands, it is quite another to do it for those in your own land. For in the latter course you will be putting yourself at potential risk as well, and there will also be all sorts of slander against the Christian who is on trial. However, the Lord stood by Paul. God gave him strength so that he could proclaim the message. Proclaiming the gospel was the motivating force in Paul’s life. Paul himself would not be at risk of being thrown to the lions as he was a Roman citizen, but he uses the analogy because Nero was doing this sort of thing.

2 Timothy 4:8-11 - The crown of righteousness

4:8

Paul’s life had, in many ways, been extremely difficult, with regular periods of imprisonment, beatings, accusations etc. However, he knew what lay in store for him, what lay ahead, and that was the crown of righteousness. This would be given to him by the “Lord, the righteous judge”. Paul did not think he was special in that regard, for it would also be given to all who “long for Christ’s appearing”, all who put their trust and hope in Christ. If we are to live this life properly we need to have an eternal perspective, otherwise we are liable to make wrong decisions, decisions based on short-term pressures.

4:9-11

The letter then closes with a number of personal remarks. Paul was this great apostle, fighting valiantly for the gospel, but he was also a human being with feelings. A number of people who had been with Paul had deserted him. If we give up we let others down, we cause pain to other people. Luke had remained with Paul, which lends further evidence to the Lucan authorship of Acts, and that Luke worked closely with Paul for a time. Remember that at one time Mark had let Paul down (at least in Paul’s eyes) (Acts 15:36-40). That was not the end, and Mark had proved himself to be a good servant of Christ.

2 Timothy 4:6,7 - I have fought the good fight

4:6

Why is Paul giving these firm instructions to Timothy? It is because Paul knows his days are almost at an end, he is “being poured out like a drink offering”. So he is doing two things. He is encouraging Timothy to learn from him, and he is seeking to ensure that the work of the gospel continues. And the work of the gospel continues when people are prepared to pay a price. Serving Christ is a costly business.

4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. There is fight to be fought. Living the Christian life does bring blessings, but it is not a walk in the park. There are struggles of many and various sorts, and we need to be prepared to fight. We need to finish the race. There are many who start, but less who finish. We have all experienced times when people volunteer full of eagerness, but then give up. And there are probably times when we have done this ourselves. We need to keep the faith. It is no use being committed to something that is not the gospel.

2 Timothy 4:3-5 - Do the work of an evangelist

4:3

Jesus said that as long as it is day we must do the works of God, for a time is coming when no one can work (John 9:4). Timothy, and us, must teach and preach the truth as long as we can, whenever we have opportunity. For a time will come when we cannot. A time when people are not interested in sound doctrine, not interested in the truth. One might think that we are very close to that situation now. Instead, the world has a great number of teachers who reinforce the lies it likes to hear. So we should preach the gospel whenever, and wherever, we can.

4:4,5

People will turn to myths, preferring to listen to nonsense rather than God’s truth. This happens both within and without the church. What was Timothy to do? What are we to do? First, we are to keep our heads. In the Olivet discourse Jesus told His disciples not to be alarmed (Matt 24:6). We are to keep calm and carry on! We are to endure hardship, for it won’t always be easy, and we are to make it our goal to do the work of God. We should note that Paul wrote this almost 2000 years ago. We have this great urge to know when the very end will come. It is futile to try and work that out. The things that Paul has been speaking of have occurred at various times in history. He is giving practical advice and instruction that is valid in almost every age.

2 Timothy 4:1,2 - I give you this charge

4:1

Paul expresses his charge to Timothy in very serious terms. We do well to remember this. For all of us, especially if we are in positions of leadership, there are times when we come under great pressure. We can feel unable to carry on, we may have no desire to carry on, we may long for an easy life. One of the things we need to do is to remember that we have to answer to God (and note how Christ is equated with God, here, He will judge the living and the dead), we will have to give an account. One day He will return to earth with His kingdom, all other kingdoms will fall. We can so easily give in to temporary desires of  the flesh when we want to give up. Reminding ourselves of who is Lord can help us to resist the urge to give up.

4:2

So what are we to continue doing? We are to preach the word, and to do so in season and out of season. It is never a mistake to preach the word of God. We are also to “correct, rebuke and encourage”. And we are to do this with all patience and careful instruction. Notice how often the enemy seeks to discourage us from doing these things. We need to resist this discouragement.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed

3:15

Then we come to the Scriptures. Timothy was instructed in the Scriptures from infancy. There is great value in teaching our children Biblical truths from childhood. Some call this indoctrination, but they are going to be indoctrinated with something, it is far better that it be the truth of God’s word, rather than the lies of the world. The Scriptures make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”. The word of God is powerful and useful.

3:16

This is one of the most famous verses on the authority of Scripture, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. We must remember that at the time they had the Old Testament, and some of the letters, maybe one or two gospels. This is referring primarily to the Old Testament at the time, so people who somehow consider the Old Testament to be inferior to the New are on very dodgy ground. Notice that it says Scripture is “God-breathed”. It is not dictated. The human element is important, as is obvious of we just look at Scripture. We see historical narrative, we see prophecy, we see heart-felt Psalms, we see the outpouring of Job’s anguish. The human element is essential, but it is God-breathed. At the same time it comes from the heart of God, expressing what God wanted it to express. God fulfilling His purposes through men and women does not mean that men and women were controlled like robots, but nor does it mean that God was not in control.

3:17

It is the word of God that makes us fully equipped for every good work. And if we see the latter part of 3:16, that includes bing rebuked and corrected. We are taught by Scripture. Unless we are taught by Scripture then we are very lacking in our learning. The word of God is God’s primary means of speaking to us, of revealing His will to us, of revealing His heart to us.

2 Timothy 3:12-14 - All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted

3:12,13

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted”. For a long time this has not been very true in the West with Christianity has been the “state religion”. However, in those days there have been times of persecution. Latimer and Ridley were burnt at the stake in Oxford. The Huguenots were persecuted in France. However, we now live in an age when Biblical Christian teaching, particularly on sexual morality, is considered to be utterly against society’s “morals”. Moreover, there are numerous countries in the world where Christians do suffer real persecution. This is normal. At the same time “evildoers” and “imposters” will go from bad to worse. Paul has a rather dim, but realistic picture of the world.

3:14

Again, Timothy’s response is to be the complete opposite of that of the evildoers. He is to continue is what he has learnt, and note the twofold motivation, or basis, for doing this. One is Scripture, which comes in the next verse, but the first reason is that Timothy knows those from whom he has learnt the gospel truths. He has seen the reality of it in their lives. The gospel is not a philosophy, nor an ideology. It is incarnational. The greatest revelation that God has given to us is His Son Jesus Christ. The gospel is communicated by words and explanation, but it is also communicated through our lives. Both go together. Timothy was convinced of the truth both by the message itself, and what he saw in the lives of people like Paul.

2 Timothy 3:8-11 - They will not get very far

3:8,9

Who were Jannes and Jambres? They aren’t mentioned in the Bible (except here). According to Jewish tradition they were two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses (Ex 7:11). This myth must have been known about and Paul is likening to false teachers to these two men. Yet again we see Paul speaking most bluntly about the false teachers, they are men of depraved minds, who are rejected according to the faith. What they taught had no relationship with the truth. There are times when we should take an equally robust approach towards false teachings today. However, Paul does not think they will get very far, just as Jannes and Jambres did not.

3:10,11

Paul then draws a contrast between Timothy and the position of these various false teachers, and Paul draws attention to himself. None of us are perfect, but we should be living examples of the effective grace of God. When we come to Christ, when we are born again, the whole direction of our life changes. Instead of living in rebellion against God we are living as sons and servants of God. So Paul reminded Timothy that he knew all about Paul’s teaching and his way of life. This included his purpose, his faith, his patience, love, endurance, persecutions and sufferings. Paul’s “success” was not merely founded upon having the right doctrine or theology (important though that is) but on patience and endurance. For there will be persecutions and sufferings. Paul pointed to himself and said this how to win the battle. And Paul singles out a couple of specific instances. Yet he finishes by saying that the Lord rescued him from them all.

2 Timothy 3:5-7 - Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power

3:5

“Having a form of godliness but denying its power”. This applies very well to those who claim to be Christians but are affirming of LGBTQ lifestyles. They claim to be acting out of love, even acting in a Christlike manner, but denying the power of the gospel, the power of Jesus to change a man or woman. They deny the power of God to save a man or woman from sin. They claim to be affirming people, but in reality they are affirming sin. This is not a wise thing to do, and we should follow Paul’s words and “have nothing to do with such people”.

3:6,7

False teachers will take particular advantage of women. They worm their way into the homes of gullible women and gain control over them. Now this is not Paul saying all women are like this, nor is he saying women are worse than men. Here it is the men who are the prime culprits, and elsewhere, including in this letter, he says many positive things about women. But there are some women who are like the ones he talks about here. We probably all know women who have been taken advantage of by evil men. These women were “always learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth”. You can know a lot without knowing the truth. God’s truth leads to repentance. So what are we to do? I guess we all know people, men and women, who are “weighed down with sins”. Left alone such people are particularly vulnerable. So it is all the more important that we preach the truth and seek to reach the lost.

2 Timothy 3:3,4 - Lover of pleasure

3:3

The rebels are without love and unforgiving. On the latter point it is so obviously true. In the “woke” community if anyone is found to have said or tweeted anything remotely “unwoke” several years ago then they are utterly castigated. Forgiveness is a foreign word to them. They are slanderous and without self-control. Anyone who questions LGBTQ doctrine, however mildly, is immediately accused of being phobic in one sense or another (depending on which aspect is being questioned).  “without self-control”. The concept of controlling ourselves, particularly in the sexual sphere, is considered to be ridiculous. The Bible teaches a much higher view of humanity than the world does. The world teaches that we are unable to resist any urges or desires that we might have. The Bible teaches self-control, and self-control is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “Brutal, not lovers of good”. Again we see this in many areas of life.

3:4

“lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” is a pretty accurate summary of the present zeitgeist. The woke apologists are certainly rash and conceited, considering themselves to be so much wiser and better than everyone else. And their thinking is rash, not considering the long term consequences of their ideology. 

2 Timothy 3:1,2 - People will be lovers of self

3:1

Paul has already spoken about the need for Timothy to join him in suffering for the gospel (2 Tim 1:8). This letter of Paul is no encouraging Timothy to join him in a superficially wonderful life. Paul is upfront about the realities of being a servant of the gospel. Here he tells Timothy that there will be “terrible times in the last days”. This, of course, was written almost two thousand years ago. The last days have been going on ever since, and will continue to do so until Christ’s return. I also firmly believe that pre-tribulation rapture theology is nonsense. There are numerous warnings from all the New Testament writers, and Jesus Himself, about the need for us to be prepared to suffer for the gospel.

3:2

Paul then gives a lovely catalogue of the features that will characterise these times, and we see so many of these characteristics manifested in our own day. The people will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud and abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy”. Now we can all think of several instances and individuals where this is exemplified. At the same time, it is not true of everyone. We need to be careful when we read these sorts of passages. Paul is not saying that everyone is like this all of the time, but it is increasingly true of a number of people and is becoming more prevalent in society.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 - Be kind to everyone

2.24

We have a habit of being totally non-confrontational, leading to us not addressing seriously enough issues that do require firm action, or to being utterly confrontational, never compromising. The latter will quickly lead to utter disharmony. Neither of these extremes is Biblical or helpful. In the Bible we find a much more balanced approach. One cannot read Paul’s writings without noticing that he was certainly prepared to confront people and issues when necessary, and instructed Timothy and Titus to do likewise. However, he also instructed them to be gentle, as here. They must not be quarrelsome. We must not be the sort of people who look for a fight and if we cannot find one will start one ourselves. Instead we must be “kind to everyone”. We must also be able to teach, not resentful. Controlling our emotions, not reacting to opposition, is important in enabling us to be effective teachers.

2:25,26

So the first approach to opponents is to gently instruct them, with the hope being that God will lead them to repentance and knowledge of the truth. If we flare up at the first hint of opposition we are addressing the issue with the flesh, and that will not lead to life. If instead we follow Paul’s guidance then we give room for the Holy Spirit to get involved. And note that it is not our job to lead people to repentance, but God’s. By gently instructing people we allow God to do that. Of course, there is no guarantee that that will happen. The person may continue to be stubborn and rebellious, but that is between them and God. A further point is that we sometimes make mistakes, and if we have not flared up in anger it is much easier to recover from any mistakes that we make. Note that false teachings and opposition to godly leadership are traps laid by the devil, and it is the opponent or false teacher who is falling into the trap.

2 Timothy 2:20-23 - Flee youthful passions

2:20,21

Paul again focuses on the part Timothy has to play, using an analogy. In a house there are objects for special purposes, and others for common purposes. If we want to be used for special purposes we need to cleanse ourselves of wickedness, to devote ourselves to faithfully serving Christ. Then we will be used for good works.

2:22

We see here the practicality of Paul and the complete lack of living in unreality. When we are young our hormones are at a higher level, we are more headstrong, and less balanced. Society may even teach us that when we are young we should rebel. The Bible does not teach us to do that, and Paul tells Timothy to “flee the evil desires of youth”, and he was presumably to pass this teaching on to the young people in the church. Instead we are to “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace”. “Along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart”. Not all who are older are wise! But there are some who are, and we should seek to learn from them.

2:23

Timothy is warned to steer clear of foolish and stupid arguments” These things produce nothing good, leading only to quarrels, and therefore to disunity in the body. Now deciding what is “foolish and stupid” is not always easy.

2 Timothy 2:17-19 - The Lord knows those who are His

2:17,18

Now we get to more specific and serious cases, and an example of how godless chatter and controversies led to dangerous teaching. Wrong talk or wrong teaching can spread like gangrene, it is utterly destructive. Paul names two specific individuals. We are wary these days of naming people, and, of course, we should not bandy about accusations of heresy etc. But there is a time to take these things seriously, and to name names. Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that the resurrection had already taken place (referring to the final resurrection, ie the one involving us). This was destroying the faith of some. Why so? Well people would know that they were getting old, and if there is no resurrection to come then quite frankly we are done for! False teaching is not just an alternative view, it is poison with the effects that poison always has.

2:19

False teachers give many clever sounding ideas, but inspection of these ideas will always reveal that they are a very shaky foundation on which to build anything. In fact, they are usually complete nonsense. In contrast, Paul gives Timothy two reliable foundations. Notice that one is God centred, and the other man centred! The God centred one declares that the Lord knows those who are His. The man centred one says that if we truly belong to Christ then we must turn away from wickedness. False teachings will often involve us turning away from Christ and His teachings, rather than turning away from wickedness. Pay attention also to the twofold aspect of this, the God part and our part. Some of the Calvinism-Arminian debates do get rather silly at times. The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by God’s sovereign choice, and that He saves us, but it also clearly teaches that what we do with our lives matters.

2 Timothy 2:15,16 - Avoid irreverent babble

2:15

We are to seek to present ourselves as to God “as one approved”. So God’s opinion of us is to be our first concern. Have we acted in a way that would be pleasing to God? We can worry about what people think of us later. And the aspect that Paul emphasises here is our handling of the word of God. So, with whatever we teach, are we happy to stand before God confident that what we have taught is in line with the word of God, is faithful to His word?

2:16

“Avoid godless chatter ..” Note that initially Paul has not been speaking about out and out heresies or false teaching, but about things that might lead to false teachings or are just unhelpful or destructive. So first we had warnings about pointless controversies, and now godless chatter. Ie talk that had nothing to do with the gospel. Such talk might seem harmless at the beginning, but in time it leads to people becoming more and more ungodly.

2 Timothy 2:11-14 - He cannot deny Himself

2:11-13

The “here is a trustworthy saying” is used several times in the pastoral epistles (eg 1 Tim 1:15). “If we died with Him ...” We died with Christ on the cross (Rom 6:1-5), the corollary of this is that we will also live with Him, we share in the resurrection. “If we endure ..” The Christian life involves enduring, this is such an important thing to learn, to know and to live by. We need to endure. If we do so we will reign with Christ. There is both a now and a future aspect to this. The greatest aspect is the future reigning with Christ, but the now aspect is also important. A key element to achieving things in this life is endurance. The flip side of this is that if we disown Christ, He will disown us (Matt 10:33). There is a great reward for enduring, and a great price to pay for giving up. Men may be faithless, may give up or deny the faith (and we hear of examples of this every week), but Christ remains faithful. Some man or woman may have changed his or her mind, but God hasn’t!

2:14

Having encouraged Timothy to fight the good fight, learning from what Paul has done, we now come to a specific area: dealing with false teachers. This is an area we always have to deal with. The first thing Timothy is told to do is to keep reminding people of the truth. A big mistake we can make is to assume that people know the truth, that because we have told them once we do not need to tell them again. This is wrong, and is unscriptural. The Bible emphasises the need to constantly remind people of the truth. And they are to be warned against “quarreling about words”. Examples today might include numerology, or some obscure teaching. As Paul says, these things are of no value and only ruin lives.

2 Timothy 2:8-10 - The word of God is not bound!

2:8,9

Paul then summarise the gospel, or rather points out two key elements of it. It is about Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, and is descended from David. The resurrection is central, without it there is no gospel. But this did not happen in a vacuum, it is the culmination, the fulfillment of all the promises and plans that are revealed in the Old Testament. There are some apologists who are saying the resurrection is the only thing that matters, and everything else flows from this. On the importance of the resurrection we can wholeheartedly agree, but it does not stand in isolation. It is part of the whole narrative that runs from Genesis to Revelation, and can only be understood in that context. Otherwise it is just a “conjuring trick with bones” as one liberal bishop of Durham once infamously said.

2:10

Paul endures everything for the “sake of the elect. As is often the case in the Bible, we see love for God and love for man being intrinsically linked. The greatest example of this is when Jesus gives the two greatest commandments (Matt 22:36-40). The first is to love God, the second to love our neighbour, and Jesus says the second is like the first. John says that if don’t love our brother then any claim to love God is a sham (1 John 4:20). With Paul we are used to him being happy to suffer for the sake of Christ, but here he also says he is doing it for the sake of the elect. Our society encourages us to be utterly self-centred, and sometimes this ethos creeps into the church. The Bible teaches us to be God-centred and other people-centred. When we do this we truly become alive. We become people whose lives help others to obtain salvation in Christ and to share in eternal glory.

2 Timothy 2:5-7 - The Lord will give you understanding

2:5-7

Paul uses two more analogies here, and then urges Timothy to ponder on these things. The first analogy is that an athlete has to compete by the rules, otherwise they will not receive the victor’s crown. The other is that a hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. So what lessons is Timothy expected to learn? With regard to playing by the rules, one of the rules of the Christian life is that there is no gain without pain. Suffering is part of the deal in following Christ. There are those, such as prosperity gospellers, who seek to promote a suffering free gospel. More subtly, there are those who advocate us going along with society, essentially saying if we are nice enough then people with love us and come to know Jesus. Both of these views are delusions. Then we have that hard work is important. So we need to be prepared to suffer and to work hard. Note also the underlying assumption that there is a reward. In fact this idea of the reward runs throughout the Bible, including the teachings of Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:3,4 - Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ

2:3

How different this is from much of the “motivational” calls either to faith or to “deepening” our commitment. “Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus”. Join with me in suffering! Following Christ, a deeper commitment to Christ, will involve times of suffering. If we are to be effective leaders we need to be able to endure suffering. In many parts of the world this means enduring prison, beatings, or financial loss for the sake of Christ. But even in the West where there is currently very limited (but not zero) persecution, leadership is hard work. Paul believed it was worthwhile, both for the prize that lay ahead, and for what can be achieved now. We should view “ministry” in the sense of being good soldiers, rather than a career move.

2:4

Paul would be under military guard, and he continues the military analogy. We are not to get entangled in civilian affairs. Instead our primary aim is to please our commanding officer, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. So what does this mean? Does it mean we should not have any “outside interests” (eg involvement in sports clubs etc)? Does it mean that we should not get involved in politics? I think the general answer is no,it does not mean that, but we do need to be careful. Involvement in sports or hobbies can start making demands upon us that hinder us from following Christ, they can become all consuming. With politics we need to be careful. There are some issues (eg Brexit, independence for Scotland) where good Christians can hold opposing views. We do not want people to not listen to our preaching or teaching of the gospel because we have an alternative political view to them. So sometimes we should keep quiet about our views if this is going to help further the gospel. But there are times when we as individuals or as churches should be involved in political issues, William Wilberfore and slavery is a prime example. The guiding principle should be whether what we do furthers the gospel or not.