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Second Timothy was written for our day. It’s like the ink is still wet. It describes the last days as a brutal time of rank selfishness when people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, arrogant and ungrateful, conceited and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. That description is in chapter 3. Second Timothy is counsel for the last days…for our days.
These are Paul’s last words to the church. Paul writes from prison in Rome, and he knows his departure from earth is near. I am reminded of Gen. Douglas MacArthur as he gave his last talk to the cadets at West Point on May 12, 1962, just two years before his death. His last farewell ended like this:
In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and reechoes in my ears – Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps. I bid you farewell!
These were words of a seasoned soldier. Sadly, it looks like the woke mob has removed the words “Duty, Honor, Country” from West Point’s mission statement. In contrast, we are not removing one word from God’s written words to us, including this great last testimony of the Apostle Paul. Here is a seasoned soldier of Christ making his final roll call. Calvin says Paul anticipates his coming death “as a conqueror hastening to a glorious triumph.”
Paul’s last counsel for young Timothy is to stand firm for Christ and be faithful in a world hurtling away from God and His truth. It won’t be easy. Paul encourages him to be courageous and fearless in the last days. How we need this today!
Timothy, a young soldier of Christ, is Paul’s deeply loved and faithful disciple. In verse two Paul addresses the letter “to Timothy, my beloved son.” Paul found him in Lystra in Asia Minor on his second missionary journey. Luke describes this providential meeting in Acts.
Acts 16:1-3 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As we’ll see, Timothy had been faithfully instructed in the Scriptures by his grandmother and mother, and from this point on Timothy was usually at Paul’s side. As mentor and disciple, they served the Lord together. No one excelled Timothy in being a faithful, loyal, and trustworthy helper in the ministry.
Philippians 2:20-22, I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.
As one of our own seasoned saints said the other day, “What a refreshing joy it is to meet young people, teens and young adults who have a love and fervency for Jesus Christ; committed to purity, to ministering, to evangelizing, to walking with God.” To every middle schooler, teenager, and young adult here – learn of Timothy and what Paul has to say to him. Make Timothy a role model for your Christian lives.
THE THEME
What is the theme of this letter? It is interesting what Paul doesn’t talk about. Satan is only mentioned once in chapter two, and there’s nothing about health, wealth, and prosperity. In fact, Paul says in 4:20 that he left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Paul gives no spectacular techniques or methods for building a megachurch or how to persuade people to give. Nothing here about signs and wonders, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, or getting messages straight from God. In Douglas MacArthur’s last speech, the theme was Duty, Honor, and Country. For Paul, the big issue is TRUTH – sound doctrine, the Scriptures, the testimony of Christ, the gospel, the teaching, the sacred writings.
Paul is calling on Timothy to commit himself constantly and completely to the Word of God. Be like Luther when he boldly declared at the Diet of Worms, “My conscience is bound by the Word of God.” Paul knows the importance of truth and that Satan’s object of attack is the truth of the gospel. Paul wants his young disciple to have a life and heart saturated with God’s Word! Paul’s theme in Second Timothy is TRUTH.
What a message for our day! David Wells in his book, God In the Wasteland, rightly said this about today’s church culture: “God and His truth weigh lightly on the church.” There may be lip service, but little personal obedience to the truth. Many Christians today want good spiritual feelings, mystical experiences, a god to cater to their carnal desires and wants but have little desire for the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible. Even those who attend church have little awareness of the God who rules as the holy, sovereign God of judgment and wrath. Some of us here may wander to a place of wanting a god who makes us feel good, who helps us out of our problems, a nice cuddly god who gives no consequences for our behavior.
So, Paul’s great concern is for Timothy to be faithful to the Truth of God, chapter by chapter. Chapter One – You need courage to Guard the Truth. Chapter Two – You need determination to Teach the Truth. Chapter Three – You need discernment to Apply the Truth. Chapter four – You need conviction to Preach the Truth. Let’s see the big picture this morning. We’re looking at the forest today. We’ll look at the trees in the months ahead. Open your Bibles and follow me chapter by chapter.
CHAPTER ONE – YOU NEED COURAGE TO GUARD THE TRUTH.
Timothy had the life-long struggle with timidity, and Paul exhorts him to be bold for God. Don’t be ashamed. “Kindle afresh” in verse six means “get the fire roaring again.” It was used for rousing a horse to its utmost. Our spiritual lives can become as exciting as cold spaghetti or warm Pepsi unless we get before God and by His grace stir our hearts with God’s truth. That’s one of my regular prayers: “Fire me up when my zeal is smoldering.” I’m reminded of Moses’ strong words to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7-8.
Deuteronomy 31:7, Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance, 8 And the LORD is the one who is going ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not desert you or abandon you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”
Paul reminds Timothy in verse seven, “God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of power, and love, and a sound mind.” Paul nurtures in Timothy an unflinching, fearless faith. About 100 years before Luther, John Hus, who was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415, prayed, “Give me a fearless heart, a right faith, a firm hope, a perfect love, that for Thy sake I may lay down my life with patience and joy. Amen.” He also declared, “It is better to die well than to live badly.”
“Retain” in 2 Timothy 1:13 means to hold to a pattern or standard. Get a grip on that sound doctrine, that healthy teaching, and don’t let go. In 1 Timothy 4:6 Paul had already charged Timothy, “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.”
“Guard” in verse 14 is that Greek word “phulasso”, used of soldiers guarding prisoners. There is something very important and very precious here, so you are to guard it with your life! We are given this responsibility. Grasp the truth and guard it from anything that would attack or destroy it.
CHAPTER TWO – YOU NEED DETERMINATION TO TEACH THE TRUTH.
Paul says in verse one, “Be strong in Christ’s grace.” This truth was for Timothy and God’s people everywhere: Christ’s grace is your strength, your soul fuel. Christ told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” His power giving grace was sufficient for Paul and Timothy and that same grace is sufficient for you and me!
Paul then lays on Timothy the four-fold “relay” of teaching the truth in 2 Timothy 2:2. Paul received the truth from God and gave the truth to Timothy, then Timothy passed the truth on to faithful men, then faithful men passed the truth on to others. But how do you teach the truth? Some of you are familiar with the AWANA motto – “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed.” That motto comes from verse 15 and here is where Paul tells us how to teach the truth.
2 Timothy 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
Truth must be handled carefully and accurately. Accurately means make a straight cut (ortho – straight, and tomeo – cut). Like a skilled stone mason or carpenter—carefully cut straight the Word of truth. No shoddy workmanship. I recall installing a new tub in my previous home. I had a level but didn’t use it carefully enough. By the time everything was installed, I realized the tub was not quite level and some water would gather to one side rather than completely down the drain. Paul says be diligent to carefully and accurately handle God’s Word.
Paul’s talking about hermeneutics here: principles to guide you in interpreting Scripture. Not eisegesis (reading your thoughts into the text), but exegesis where you draw out of the text what God is saying! Truth isn’t determined by the traditions of the church, nor by human reason, and not by feelings, experiences, or opinions. Truth is determined by the actual authoritative statements of the Scriptures.
We’ve recently seen a plethora of YouTube’s about what God is saying to us through tomorrow’s eclipse. Teachers and books claim that through recent computer technology, previously embedded secrets in the Bible have now been revealed. Friends, that’s not how we determine the truth. If Christ and Paul didn’t know it, I’m convinced it is not in there and I don’t need to know it. This kind of thing just sensationalizes the Bible and Christianity for the religiously untrained masses, plus it sells books. The Bible is pure, unadulterated truth! Paul says be diligent to interpret it carefully and accurately. Then teach it.
In 2 Timothy 2:17 Paul warns Timothy about false teachers and even names some. Verse 24 says, “There will be those who oppose the truth.” How are we to handle opposers? Paul tells Timothy, “with patience and gentleness, correcting those who oppose.” Maybe God will give them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
CHAPTER THREE – YOU NEED DISCERNMENT TO APPLY THE TRUTH
Chapter three is a Red Alert for the church and seems to be written for our times. Danger is imminent; it is close, quickly approaching. Savage or violent (kalepos) times will come (vs 1). In verse two, Paul gives three deadly and damning loves which will saturate the culture: love of self, love of money, and love of pleasure. When life is purely for self-gratification and the fear of God and awareness of coming judgment is washed out, you have what 2 Timothy 3:3-4 describe: unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited. Today we see a growing, galloping confusion about the whole purpose of life. Along with our population gorging itself on self-gratification and being their own authentic selves, we see rampant greed, materialism, decadence, and increasing violence every day. These are brutal days.
So, what do we do in times like these? Look at verses 14-15: You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Our response and hope to the end time apostasy and chaos must be – continue in God’s Word. The only way to discern error is to keep growing in the truth and applying it to our lives. If we neglect God’s Word, we have no discernment against the deceptions of our day, we have no standard by which to measure life, we have no answer to the eternal needs of people, and we will not be equipped to serve Christ in our day. God’s incredible Library is right before us! It is accessible to hold in our very hands! They are pages of God-breathed sixty-six books that teach, convict, correct and train us on how to know and please the Lord (vs. 16). Consider how precious they are. Don’t lay them aside. Don’t ignore them. Love the truth, read the truth, study the truth, meditate on it, live it, obey it!
CHAPTER FOUR – YOU NEED CONVICTION TO PREACH THE TRUTH
In 2 Timothy 4:1-2 Paul lays on Timothy a solemn charge: preach the Word. Keep on communicating the Word of God to others. Never stop preaching the Bible. Don’t preach your opinions, philosophy, current events, mystical experiences, psychobabble, or what people want to hear. Paul reminds Timothy there will always be those people who want their ears tickled, who turn away from the truth and turn to myths. So, preach the Word of God! Preach TRUTH. Keep at it when you feel like it or when you don’t, “in season and out of season.” Reprove, rebuke, exhort! The Word feeds and the Word protects. The Word gives discernment. Start with a high view of God, the depravity and guilt of man, and that glorious saving power of the gospel in justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Preach the truth about the holy, righteous God who declares guilty sinners perfectly righteous through faith in His Son, our sin bearer and our righteousness.
“Preach the Word!” This is Paul’s last but strongest counsel to his beloved Timothy. Some years ago, John MacArthur was asked in an interview, “How does the preacher committed to teaching the Scriptures address people who come to church hoping to leave feeling better about themselves?” John’s answer is classic. He said, As people come in, everything is wonderful – the landscaping, the buildings, the friendly and welcoming people, the comfortable auditorium, an orchestra with beautiful music, everyone is feeling good – until I get up to preach. As soon as I get up, that good and comfortable feeling will disappear, because my goal in preaching is to confront you with what God has to say about life.” (Communicate With Power, p. 129).
Doesn’t that sound like Paul’s charge to Timothy in chapter 4, verses 1-2? Preaching prepares men and women to face God, and God uses preaching to change lives for time and eternity. When the “Ear Ticklers Society” wants us to water down the truth to make it appealing to the flesh, there is only one answer: keep preaching the Word.
Paul’s final comments in chapter 4 are endearing. Paul bares his soul to Timothy about faithful and unfaithful men. “Demas has forsaken me” (vs. 10). And in verse 13 he urges Timothy to come to Rome before the cold of winter to bring his cloak and books and also Mark, who now is useful for the ministry. Paul’s sincere love for Timothy is evident as he concludes to his beloved child in the faith: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you” (verse 22).
That’s 2 Timothy, friends. Courage to guard the truth; determination to teach the truth; discernment to apply the truth; and conviction to preach the truth. Paul gives his final shout of victory by the grace of God in Chapter 4, verse 7. He finished well, ran the race, and is ready to launch to be with Jesus – certainly the aspiration of every genuine child of God.
What do we take with us?
First, be completely committed to God’s Word. Make His truth your daily bread. Learn it, love it, live it.
Second, in these 2 Timothy 3 days in which you live, let God’s truth strengthen you to be bold for God, to stand strongly against the forces of evil all around you, and to be unashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Shame may be what is keeping some of you from confessing Christ as your Savior. Do you believe God is holy and you are a sinner? Have you offended God in deed, word, attitude? Do you believe Christ came to save those who have offended Him, who have sinned against Him? Tell God that. Trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior today.