2 Tim 3:10-4:8 theme verse 2 Tim 4:5
The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.
In this twentieth Sunday after the Pentecost, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we learned that we have to live faithfully in Christ whom we received our Lord. And this week, through the second Epistle to Timothy, we would like to learn few lessons after looking at what the last charge to Timothy was as his last testament.
1) Th second Epistle to Timothy which is known as his last epistle is one of pastoral epistles, the first and second Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus, among thirteen Pauline Epistles. While all other Pauline epistles are addressed to churches except for the epistle to Philemon, in which Paul sent back Onesimus, a slave who ran away from a Christian named Philemon living in Colossae, to ask for forgiveness of him, three epistles such as the first and second Timothy and Titus are called pastoral epistles because they were written for pastors, namely Timothy and Titus, who were doing pastoral work. And these pastoral epistles are known to be written after the Acts 28.
2) As you know very well, the last scene of Acts 28 ends with Paul testifying to the gospel to those who came to see him while he was under house arrest for two years in Rome to waiting for the trial in front of Caesar. The reason he had to wait under the house arrest for two years was that according to Roman law, in order to indict Paul, the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem had to send a delegation to Rome to appear in person at the trial and to prove the facts of the indictment. However, since Jerusalem in the mid 60s was a turbulent time, just before the bloody rebellion of the Zealots that broke out in AD68 and ended in AD70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the Jerusalem Sanhedrin could not send their delegation so that the indictment of Paul could not help but delayed. So, in accordance with the law passed by the Roman Senate in AD61, which prohibited anyone from making frivolous accusations or unduly delaying legal proceedings, Paul was finally released two years later in AD 63. And then as soon as he was released, he went to Spain, which was his long-cherished missionary work, and on his way back, he stopped by Crete to spend some time there, leaving Titus there to continue the ministry in Crete. Then he crossed over to Ephesus, first visited Colossae where Philemon was, and then returned to Ephesus again to spend some time there. And after he assigned Timothy to minister in the church in Ephesus, he crossed over to Macedonia alone, and around AD 63 there, he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus, thinking of his young sons, Timothy and Titus, and then called Titus to Nicopolis, where he spent the winter with him, and then went to Troas, via Corinth and Miletus. And then when Nero’s persecution of Christianity spread from the city of Rome to the entire Roman Empire, he as a Christian leader, was arrested by the Roman soldiers at Troas and taken to Rome, where he was imprisoned in the Mamertine prison near the Roman Forum and was martyred in AD 67. And while he was imprisoned in Rome, it is known he wrote 2 Timothy foreseeing his martyrdom.
3) This second letter to Timothy was to warn his spiritual son, Timothy, against the false teachers who were arising at that time and the numerous apostates due to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, and also to give him a final exhortation. And the main themes of 2 Timothy is to command to preach the gospel like as the testament to Timothy, along with the exhortation to endure suffering for the gospel, and to live a pure and gentle life, and also while warning the corruption of the end era, to exhort to hold on to the truth of the Bible in order to correctly discern the Word.
4) First, looking at the characteristics of this second Epistle to Timothy, according to the ancient epistolary custom, Paul, after starting with the common opening section, in the relatively short thanksgiving section, thanked God as he remembered Timothy in his prayer and disclosed his heart to see Timothy who had a sincere faith which was inherited from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. And finally in the closing section, he ended his letter with benediction of God’s grace to Timothy, after asking to bring his cloak and books from Troas and warning to beware of Temas who deserted him and Alexander who did great harm to him, with greetings to Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus, while sending the greetings of his co-workers.
5) And briefly summarizing the main themes of the body of the epistle, first, Paul exhorted Timothy to suffer together with the gospel by the power of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit as God has given him and Timothy a spirit of power, love, and self-control. By the way, regarding this suffering, while even he said Paul himself suffered many times (in 1:11,12; 2:9,10; 3:11), he repeated his exhortation to suffer to Timothy three times in his letter (1:8, 2:3 and 4:8). And also since those who wanted to live godly cannot help but be persecuted, evangelists cannot avoid suffering so that he said Timothy had to persevere in suffering as it is the basic attitude required of the evangelists. And then he exhorted to entrust the gospel to other faithful people so that they might teach others too. And he continued to exhort to live a life of this discipleship by cleansing himself to be useful to his Master and also being prepared for every good work, while exhorting to admonish gently those who oppose him. And then while he also warned Timothy about the corruption and apostates of the end era, he urged Timothy to continue in what he has learned and has been convinced of, which is the Bible that he had known since childhood. And finally Paul commanded Timothy to preach the gospel in season and out of season and to reprove, admonish and exhort with all patience and teaching, even though in the end era, people would follow worthless things, while they may only hear the teachings easy to their ears, instead of receiving sound teachings. In this way, Paul passed over the mission of preaching the gospel for the crown of righteousness to Timothy as he foresaw his martyrdom.
6) By the way, in today’s text, as Paul passed on the mission to spread the gospel to Timothy as his final testament, he began with a warning about the corruption of the end era. I mean, Paul said that in the end era, people will be lovers of themselves, that is, selfish, lovers of money, that is, materialistic and greedy, and boastful and arrogant, blasphemers of God, and disobedient to parents, ungrateful, profane, unkind, unwilling to reconcile, gossiping, intemperate, violent, evil, betraying, impatient, conceited, and love pleasure more than God, and so they look like religious, but they deny the gospel life and the gospel's renewing power.
7) And then Paul exhorted Timothy to turn away from such people, rather exhort Timothy to continue in the things which he have learned and have become convinced of, namely, in the truth of the Bible. And then he said that the Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness so that people of God may be perfect, equipped for every good work. Here, the first two words, doctrine and reproof, which are διδασκαλία (didaskalia) and ἐλεγμός (elegmos) in Greek, respectively mean to teach the truth and to correct error to stand in the right doctrine. And the last two words, correction and instruction in righteousness, which are ἐπανόρθωσις (epanorthōsis) and παιδεία (paideia) in Greek mean to correct wrong behavior and to discipline them to make them behave righteously. So it means that the Bible helps us stand in the right doctrine and also right behavior, so that we become mature people of God, being equipped to do good works.
8) In the meantime, Paul now told that although people will not receive sound teaching and will follow teachers who please their ears, and will turn away from the truth and follow empty and foolish words, but as for him, he exhorted Timothy to be careful in all things, to endure suffering for the gospel, and to do the work of an evangelist to preach the Word, as he gave Timothy the final exhortation as if it were his last testament, always being ready in season and out of season, for the crown of righteousness.
9) As such, after Paul met Jesus, in his way to Damascus, who is the head of the church that he had been persecuting, and was installed as the apostle for the Gentiles, he devoted his life to preach the Word without hesitation of suffering for the gospel and in the end, he even gave his life as if it were his drink offering. And the reason why he devoted himself to the gospel even sacrificing all his life as his drink offering is because of the very nature of the gospel. I mean, as Jesus bore the pain of life, the pain of death, and the pain of hell which we should take, so that we could receive the forgiveness of sins and enjoy the blessings of eternal life and even in this life. As this is the good news, the Gospel, that’s why even Paul had to suffer for the gospel that he preached, as His disciple and evangelist, as he testified in 1 Cor 4:9-13 that “God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.” I pray that all of us here may realize this very nature of the gospel that is being delivered to us through such sufferings, so that we may all joyfully bear the remaining sufferings of the Lord for this gospel and the church to receive the crown of righteousness when our Lord will come again.
Key Questions as Small Group Activity
Q1 According to today’s text, we can know that the gospel by its very nature requires the suffering. So after reflecting whether we have a chance to participate in suffering for the gospel, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn few lessons.
Q2 And also in today’s text, Paul said that the Bible makes us have right doctrine and behave righteously. So after reflecting our life whether we read, meditate, and act in the Bible, I hope we could share our thought and experience with each other to learn few lessons from each other.
Love you. Thank you. God bless you.
Prayer Note
Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!
Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or even during the week )
Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!
Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),
please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized ).
I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon )
Please help me to live in that ( learned way of life )
I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.
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