Journey Through 2 Timothy
God is so very good to give us faithful ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am a minister, but let me testify as a Christian and as a church member. I am so grateful for the faithful pastors whom I have been under. People who have loved the Lord, loved me, and taught me the truth. And I want to reiterate, as we are studying through the pastoral epistles right now, that you ought to praise the Lord for your minister. We now begin our journey through 2 Timothy
Listen: Journeying through 2 Timothy
Overview of 2 Timothy
In many respects, 2 Timothy addresses many aspects of the minister’s life.
- Chapter one talks about the minister’s confidence in God.
- Chapter two talks about the minister’s conduct.
- Chapter three talks about the minister’s continuing.
- Chapter four talks about the minister’s crown.
You can study 2 Timothy from the minister’s perspective. But I would remind you that 2 Timothy, though it was written to a minister, was not written just for ministers. It was for all of God’s people.
Key Verses of 2 Timothy
As a matter of fact, the key verse of the book is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
That is not just for the minister, it is for all those he ministers to. I need the Word of God. You need the Word of God. It is the only all-sufficient thing we have outside of the person of Christ Himself. It is profitable. We need doctrine, we need to be reproved, we need to be corrected, we need to be instructed in righteousness, and we need to be perfected and matured. How does it happen? It happens through the Word of God.
Last Words
2 Timothy is Paul’s last letter. They say that a man’s last words are the most significant. That is especially true for someone writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And not only is it Paul’s last letter, but it also gives us some insight into the last days. So it is not just set 2,000 years ago. This is the setting that we find ourselves living in today. An age of apostasy, of people who have departed from the truth.
Someone said about this letter that it is a letter of mingled gloom and glory, and they are right. For example, there is a note of sadness throughout it. He says in 2 Timothy 2:9, “…I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds…”.
He says in 2 Timothy 4:6, “…the time of my departure is at hand.” In chapter four, he says things like “Demas hath forsaken me” (2 Timothy 4:10). “Alexander the Coppersmith did me much evil” (2 Timothy 4:14). “No man stood with me” (2 Timothy 4:16). You may say, “Wow, that is depressing.” No, because with the note of sadness and trouble, there is a resounding note of victory.
Messages of Victory
- 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
- 2 Timothy 1:12: “…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
- 2 Timothy 2:9: “…the word of God is not bound.”
- 2 Timothy 2:13: “…He abideth faithful.”
- 2 Timothy 4:8: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness…”
- 2 Timothy 4:17: “…the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me…”
There is always going to be trouble in this life. But for the believer, there is not only trouble, but there is also trial, and our triumph is both present tense and future. We have victory now and hereafter. So, whatever you are dealing with today, whoever you are facing today, whatever the spiritual temperature is, know this: God and God’s Word are more than enough.
Theme of 2 Timothy
The theme of the book is this: an antidote for apostasy. The word apostasy means to turn from revealed truth. That sounds a lot like our world, doesn’t it? People do not want the truth anymore. They shut their ears to it. They shake their head at it. They scream against it. They do not want the truth. They have turned from God’s truth. Is there any answer to that? There has always been apostasy. In 1 Timothy, when Paul wrote his first letter, He used a word frequently. It was the word “some.”
He said, “some having swerved” (1 Timothy 1:6). He said, “some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck” (1 Timothy 1:19). “Some are already turned aside after Satan” (1 Timothy 5:15). “Some professing have erred concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:21). That was the first letter.
But when you get to the second letter, 2 Timothy, he says a different word. He uses the word all, “all they which are in Asia be turned away from me”(2 Timothy 1:15). “All men forsook me” (2 Timothy 4:16). In other words, he seemed now to see the apostasy not in some places, but in all places. It was like a cancer that was spreading. Thankfully, the truth is both the prevention and cure for error.
Emphasis of 2 Timothy
What is the answer? Read 2 Timothy. Do you know what the great emphasis of 2 Timothy is? It is the Word of God. It is the Scriptures. The only thing that deals with lies is truth. The only thing that pierces darkness is light. And the only antidote for apostasy is the truth of the Word of God.
2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The best defense is a good offense.
The Word Still Works
What can we do in our world filled with darkness and error? We can hold the Word of God high, and we can sound it out. We can preach it, teach it, and share it. We can give people the only eternal truth, and that is the truth found in the Word of God. In my travels, there is one verse that I hear people quoting all the time. People say, “Well, you know what the Bible says? It says in 2 Timothy 3:13, ‘But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.’” And I say, “Yes, it does say that. But could I remind you that when it says that, it does not say that the power of the gospel will wax less and less?” But rather, that we must “Continue…”
The Word of God is as powerful as it has ever been. It is still a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces, a light to our path, and water that washes the mind and heart. I am telling you, this is the day to know what you believe and why you believe what you believe. (Read about the importance of being ready to defend your faith HERE).
Last Requests
At the very end of Paul’s life, in 2 Timothy 4:13, he writes to Timothy, and he says, I need you to bring some things. I need you to bring my coat and my cloak. It is cold; winter has come on. I left it in Troas. He said, I want you to bring the book so I can read. That has always challenged me. Here is a man nearing the end, but still hungry to grow and learn. That is a mark of a great student. But then he said this: especially, if you forget everything else when you are packing, please do not forget this. Especially bring the parchments.
And what’s the difference between the parchments and the books? The books were the writings of men, but on the parchments were the writings of God. He was referring here to the inspired Scriptures, the God-breathed Word. And here is a man at the end of his life in an evil age, who said, the most important thing to me is that you bring me the Word of God. If Paul, who was writing Scripture, needed God’s Word, I promise you we need God’s Word.
You can’t give out what you have never taken in. You cannot share with others in a dark world what you have not meditated on and studied for yourself. So, I want to challenge you to fall in love with your Bible all over again. To get into the Scripture fresh and new, and let the Scriptures get in you. And in the words of Paul, “especially the parchments,” above all else. (Learn how to study the Bible HERE.)
Paul’s Needs are Our Needs
Paul needed something for his body. That is his coat. He needed something for his soul. That is the book. But he needed something for his spirit, which was the parchment. And while we are feeding our bodies and clothing our bodies, while we are feeding our minds and hearts with education and training and new ideas and technology, do not neglect your spirit, your inner man. You need the Word of God more than you need anything else on earth.
It may be like the Apostle Paul, that you will come to the end, and you will die and leave this world. Or it may be like Paul wrote about in this book, that the Lord Jesus Christ will appear and rapture us out of here. But either way, the one tool, the one resource you have until the day you see Jesus, is you have His word.
If you stood before the Lord today and he said, “Have you read my book?” what would you say? George Whitefield said, “God condescended to become an author, but most men will never even read the book he wrote.” I want to challenge you from the last book Paul wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to fall in love with the Word of God all over again today.
Related Article: 5 Ways to Get More Out of Your Bible Reading
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