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2 Timothy – Gospel Passion and Urgency Resounding Out of a Roman Dungeon! (2 of 9)
Paul to Timothy: Do your best to come to me soon.
2 Timothy 1:1-2, 4:9, 19-22
Followers of Jesus Christ must courageously hold tightly to the Gospel. We must not allow the pressures all around us to pull us away from courageously believing and proclaiming the Good News. We must boldly choose to filter everything through the lens of God’s Word.
1. We’re face-to-face with a deeply personal and moving appeal from Paul to his longtime friend and partner in Gospel ministry, Timothy.
2 Timothy 1:1-2 (ESV) –
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2 Timothy 1:2 (ESV) –
“...my beloved child...”
2 Timothy 1:1 (ESV) –
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God...”
Acts 9:15 (ESV) –
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”
2 Timothy 1:1 (ESV) –
“...the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus...”
John 14:6 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
1 John 5:12 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
John 3:16 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
These opening verses call us to consider Paul’s radical conversion on the road to Damascus. We’re reminded that Paul was sent as an apostle to carry the message of the promise of life that is in Jesus Christ as a missionary.
2 Timothy 1:2 (ESV) –
“Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Because of Jesus’ substitutionary death and victorious resurrection, peace with God is the possession of all who repent of their sins and receive Him as Savior and Lord.
2 Timothy 4:19-22 (ESV) –
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.
The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”
2 Timothy 4:21 (ESV) –
“Do your best to come before winter.”
2 Timothy 4:9 (ESV) –
“Do your best to come to me soon.”
Paul longed for his friend and partner in ministry to come quickly.
2 Timothy 2:20 (ESV) –
“...I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus.”
Between these opening words of greeting and the final words of the letter we are face-to-face with a deeply moving letter from Paul to Timothy.
Philippians 2:19-20 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.”
Romans 16:21 (ESV) –
“Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you...”
2 Timothy 1:17 (ESV) –
“...but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me...”
2 Timothy 4:6-8 (ESV) –
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
Paul understood that death as a martyr was close at hand and he was passing the baton of ministry to Timothy. The Roman emperor, Nero was known for brutally persecuting Christians.
2. We’re called to courage instead of timidity when the Gospel is opposed.
The Gospel was being opposed and suffering was a reality for those faithful to Christ. Paul was in prison awaiting death and Timothy was having a rough time in the church at Ephesus.
An understandable response to this situation would be to pull back and become timid, to hide, to be quiet and not say much.
2 Timothy 1:6-8 (ESV) –
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God...”
Consider what Paul tells Timothy – Don’t be timid, don’t fear, don’t be ashamed. He calls Timothy to fan the flame of his giftedness for ministry. This is a call for courage in the face of suffering.
2 Timothy 2:1 (ESV) –
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus...”
Acts 4:13 (ESV) –
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
Paul calls Timothy (and us) to bold confidence in God, to not be ashamed of the Gospel and this is possible because of the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit!
Acts 1:8 (ESV) –
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In many cases today the Gospel isn’t popular, people don’t want to hear about their sin and God’s judgment. In an age of self-worship people don’t like to be told that they’re accountable to their Creator. We need to hear – Don’t fear. Don’t be timid. Don’t be ashamed.
3. This letter shows us the realities of suffering and persecution.
2 Timothy 2:8-9 (ESV) –
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
Paul knew that the Gospel is worth suffering for and that brings all of us to a question we all need to face – Do I consider my faith in Jesus Christ worth suffering and even dying for?
2 Timothy 2:9 (ESV) –
“But the word of God is not bound!”
God’s word can’t be chained. They can chain the messenger but they can’t chain the Gospel.
2 Timothy 3:1 (ESV) –
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) –
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...”
John 15:20 (ESV) –
“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”
The reality check that Paul gives Timothy (and us) is – The long-range forecast includes suffering and persecution, don’t be surprised by it.
4. We must hold tightly to the Word of God, to the Bible.
How do we stand firm in the face of all these unsettling realities? How do we stand firm in a culture that has gone crazy? Times have been crazy for a long time. Sin has been around since Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.
1 Corinthians 16:22 (ESV) –
“Our Lord, come.”
2 Timothy 3:1 (ESV) –
“...in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
The answer to the crazy around us is standing on the Word of God, the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) –
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) –
“All Scripture is breathed out by God...”
Nothing judges Scripture and Scripture judges everything. Commit to see everything though the lens of God’s Word. Always ask – What does the Bible say?
How do we make sense of the confusion and craziness around us and face the challenges of our day? We hold tightly to God’s Word and we don’t let go.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 (ESV) –
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
Followers of Jesus Christ must courageously hold tightly to the Gospel. We must not allow the pressures all around us to pull us away from courageously believing and proclaiming the Good News. We must boldly choose to filter everything through the lens of God’s Word.