Psalm 136 - His love endures forever

This Psalm is most notable for having the constant refrain "His love endures forever". We do well to remember this, for whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we know that His love will not fail. As Paul says in Romans, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The verses themselves put this love in various contexts. First, He is good, and He is the Lord of lords.  His is the Name above all names, He has all power and authority.

Next we come to His acts. He does great wonders and He created the whole universe. This includes the earth itself, and all the stars and galaxies.

He exerted His power in setting Israel free from slavery in Egypt. After having brought them out, He continued to exert His power in seeing them through the wilderness. God's active love for us did not stop on the cross, He continues to act in our daily lives.

He exerted His power against those who opposed Israel. He remembered His people and provides for us, freeing us from our enemies.

We have a great God who loves us and acts for us. His love endures for ever.

2 Timothy 4:6-22 - Running the race, finishing the race

"Drink offering" is a reference to the Old Testament (Numbers 15:5). Paul knew that his life was nearing its end. This tends to make one think about whether ones life has been worthwhile, and what really matters. Paul counts the fact that he "fought the good fight" as the  most important thing. I.e. he lived his life for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Because of this there is a crown of righteousness awaiting him. This is probably an allusion to the wreath presented to the winner of a race. Christ would present him with this crown. Now this is not a salvation by works teaching, but what we do with our lives matters, and will make a difference in the future. Our lives and works will be judged. Paul will not be the only winner, all who have lived by faith will be winners.

Paul closes his letter with several closing remarks. He refers to Demas who deserted him. He wants Timothy to come and see him.  So his death was not that imminent. Luke and Mark, two of the gospel writers, are mentioned. Remember also that Mark had deserted Paul on an earlier missionary journey (Acts 13:13), but had obviously been restored.

Paul gives a specific warning about Alexander the metal worker. Note that there are a number of places in the letters where Paul mentions specific people who have worked against the gospel. Sometimes Christian leaders are criticised for naming specific people who are giving false teachings or otherwise causing trouble. There are times when it is right and proper to name names. At the same time there needs to be a balance. There are some websites that seem to delight in finding fault and pouring out bile. For almost any notable Christian you will find someone somewhere who has something against them! We need balance and wisdom in this matter.

Paul then notes that no one came to his aid at a trial, but he does not hold this against them. So we see a spirit of forgiveness as well. Even so, the Lord stood by him. Paul's whole life was geared to spreading the gospel (Acts 20:24).

2 Timothy 4:1-5 - Good preaching, rubbish preaching

Paul now gives Timothy a solemn charge. There are several things to note here. The first is that the work we do in the kingdom is not volunteer work, we are working for the king, we are soldiers in the army. The work we do is an act of obedience. To fail to do the work is an act of disobedience. We need to remember that when we go through times when we feel like giving up, or just cannot be bothered (and most of us do go through these times).

Secondly, this point is emphasised by Paul mentioning who he gives this charge in the presence of. It is in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. Jesus will judge the living and the dead (so that includes you and me). He will return, and His kingdom will come. Every other kingdom will fail.

So what is the charge? It is to preach the word, both in season and out of season. I.e. we are to preach it at all times. Preaching involves, correcting, rebuking and encouraging. We are to do this with great patience and careful instruction. It is not simply a matter of preaching a message once and that is it. Teaching involves much persistence. 

Paul then gives another warning of the troubled times that will come. People will no longer want sound doctrine, but ideas to tickle their ears. And they will gather many teachers to give them what they want. They will turn away from the truth to myths. We see this today in many guises. On the liberal side there are those who deny the resurrection, deny Biblical teaching on sexual morality, deny the authority of the Bible. But there are also those who might claim to believe the Bible but teach a load of rubbish, the Charismatic side of the church is rather prone to this. 

We need to be careful that we teach, preach and live the truth, and feed ourselves on the truth, not on rubbish.

So how are we to react? We are to keep calm in all situations and persist in doing the work of an evangelist. The gospel still needs spreading.

2 Timothy 3:10-16 - Toughen up

Paul now tells Timothy how he is to react and live, and he does so first by drawing attention to his own life. We are to be living examples of the life of Christ. So the things he draws attention to are his:

• way of life;
• teaching;
• purpose;
• faith;
• love;
• endurance, persecutions and suffering

Paul had to endure much, but the Lord rescued him from them all. So we are to maintain a godly life in all circumstances, to stay focused on our purpose, and to endure all things. Then we can also be sure that the Lord will help us.

Paul then makes the comforting statement that anyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. It is not just a possibility, but an almost certainty. Moreover, evil people will go from bad to worst. This counters both the falsehoods of some so-called prosperity teaching, and the "everyone is nice really" attitude of some soft/liberal religions. The Bible is our best guide on all matters.

As Christians we are to be tough, resolved to continue in the way of faith at all times. We should look to the Bible for our instruction and encouragement and strengthening. For all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for equipping and training. 

2 Timothy 3:1-9 - False teachers and dark days

Paul now gives Timothy a severe warning about what will happen. There will be terrible times in the last days. There are things we can and must do to counter false teaching in the church, but even so a time will come when things get really difficult. 

"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". This is a painfully accurate description of features of our own society. Now we need to be careful here. This does not mean the end is imminent (it might be, but this on its own does not prove that it is). Rather we see signs of the end. In fact in the last days things will be far worse than they are now. 

They will have a form of godliness but deny its power. So there will be a form of religion or "spirituality" about such people, but the power of the gospel will be denied. What is this power it is talking of here? It is probably not the power of miracles, rather it is likely to be the power of the gospel to transform lives, to deal with the sin in our lives.

False teachers have a habit of worming their way into the lives of of gullible women. This is a recurrent feature that is seen in such situations. Jannes and Jambres were, according to Jewish tradition, two of the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses. Just as the Egyptian magicians ultimately failed, so will false teachers. We need to take matters seriously, but we do not need to be afraid.

2 Timothy 2:14-26 - Living carefully

We are to continually remind people of the truth. Sound doctrine will always come under attack, for truth does matter. Therefore we have to consistently fight for the truth. At the same time we need to beware of getting obsessed with minutiae. There are things that really do not matter, and getting obsessed with them at best does no good, at worst causes serious damage. So wisdom is needed here, for those who argue about "words" will always say that what they are obsessed about is vitally important. 

As leaders we need to train ourselves as people who "handle the word of God correctly". We present ourselves to God and should be worthy of respect. We also need to beware of "godless chatter", or perhaps we should use the word "godless banter" today. What we say does matter and does have an effect. False teaching can spread like a disease, and Paul mentions two contemporary examples. They claimed the resurrection had already taken place, and some believed them. Similarly today there are those who say the resurrection was purely spiritual, and there some who believe them. But the truth remains, whatever supposedly clever people mike claim. Note also the instruction to turn away from wickedness.

We should seek to be used by God for special purposes, and we achieve this by cleansing ourselves, ie living lives worthy of respect. Note that "special purposes" involved being "prepared to do any good work". It does not mean purposes that will make us popular or well known. Some tasks will be difficult, involve suffering, and bring persecution.

We are to flee the evil desires of youth. Some of us have advanced somewhat beyond that stage, but we need to beware the effect of our hormones! Part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. 

Timothy is again reminded to avoid silly arguments. At the same time he is to correct people gently. The aim is not to defeat people in argument, but to see them come to repentance.   

2 Timothy 2:8-13 - Fighting with Christ

We should always look to Jesus and remember who He is and how He lived when He was on the earth. He was raised from the dead and descended from David. At various points in history people will question the truth of the gospel, and the church has spent a lot of time fighting false doctrines, often over the divinity or humanity of Christ. So the fact that we have to fight battles today is nothing new.

Paul was in chains because of his preaching, but although he was chained, the word of God was not. So instead of giving up he kept on going, knowing that his work was achieving an eternal purpose. 

v11-13 are very sobering, and make it clear that following Christ and working for Him is not a hobby, but a serious matter with eternal consequences. If we died with Him (ie in baptism) then we will live with Him. If endure and remain faithful then we will reign with Him.. But if we disown Him, He will disown us. Now we might think this is a bit tough, but it is what Christ Hinself said. We might change our minds, but He will not.. He will remain true to His word.