The Last Letter of Paul — Carter Conlon

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P .O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903 -963 -8626.

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Paul's Last Letter and the Christian Legacy

Turn with me, please, in your Bibles to the book of 2 Timothy in the New Testament, Chapter 2. 2 Timothy, Chapter 2. I'm going to preach tonight a message called The Last Letter of Paul. The Last Letter of Paul.

Let's pray together tonight. Father, I thank you for the abiding anointing of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, that you are building something into this church. Lord, I know it in my heart. Guide us now.

Beloved God, guide us. I ask you for an empowerment, a quickening on my mind and body that, Lord, I may disappear, that you may appear, that your word might be spoken through me. I ask you, Holy Spirit, that even the animations of my voice might come from your heart.

Help me to disappear. Let no name ever be named but the name of Jesus Christ in this house. Father, I pray, God, that you would encourage an advance in truth, in the knowledge and embracing of truth, this church.

Father, I give you the glory, and I ask you, Jesus, to be absolutely glorified. Vanquish darkness tonight. Let the kingdom of God come, and I ask it in Jesus' name. The last letter of Paul, 2 Timothy, chapter 2, beginning at verse 1.

Paul says, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard among many witnesses. The same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Verse 4,. No man that woreth entangled himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him, has chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. And Paul says something very seemingly strange. He says, Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Lastly, in verse 8, he says, Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

Now Paul's last letter was, in a sense, a commission to a young believer, even a slightly fearful one. Paul had met Timothy under earlier circumstances. We don't know what those circumstances were. But Paul saw something in this young man.

And these are the last words that Paul is penning. As far as he's concerned, he's about to die. And Paul is actually correct in that. It was not very long after that he was imprisoned and lost his life.

And now he's commissioning a fearful young man that he met along the way, that he saw something in. And he's writing a letter to this young man. The Holy Spirit has obviously burdened him to do this, and God's Spirit is pouring through him.

Second Timothy as Paul's Spiritual Testament

But 2 Timothy, if you and I had time tonight to really tear this apart, this is almost a summation of Paul's life and his theology. In these four chapters of 2 Timothy, the life and theology of Paul is almost wrapped into what I call Paul's last will and testament.

I don't think he had a lot of material goods. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly sure of that. But he's leaving to Timothy what he does have. He has learned something about God, and he's penning it in this letter.

And he's leaving behind that legacy as it is of what God has written in his heart. Paul is writing it on paper and giving it to Timothy. Beloved, I tell you with all my heart that the ultimate cry of the true Christian is the cry of Paul that says, that I may know him, that I may be conformed, that I may walk through his sufferings with him, that I may be conformed to the image of his resurrection, that I may be able to say to the next generation, safely follow me as I have followed Christ.

That's the life. That's the desire of every Christian. It should be in this place. If there is another generation after ours, God should be able to write his testimony in us and through us to this next generation so that they have as it is a living testimony of who Christ is and what he can do.

Timothy's Commission to Preach the Word

Paul was about to depart, and he's giving a charge in chapter 4, verse 1. We're going to sporadically look at different parts of this entire book. But in chapter 4, verse 1, Paul says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick, that means the living and the dead, at his appearing in his kingdom.

Remember, this is to Timothy. He says, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So this entire, really, this letter is a charge to Timothy.

It's a commission to Timothy. Timothy, I'm passing on the life of Christ that I have learned to you, and now you're going to be the next torchbearer as it is for the kingdom of God. I remember Jack West, when the last time he preached here, he was an evangelist for those who don't know it.

He was 80 years of age, and he used to preach regularly here. Wonderful passion for the lost, a man of incredible integrity. And I remember the last time he preached here, I knew it in my heart. I leaned over to Pastor Neal, I said, I don't believe we'll ever see Brother West again after tonight.

Something the Holy Spirit just spoke, said he's going home to glory. And he did. We never saw him again. And I remember he stood in this pulpit, and on that last message, he said there was a poem, he said, that's in my heart, and it was called In Flanders Fields.

It was a soldier's poem. And he quoted that poem, and there was a line in it that just jumped out at me, and he said, to you, from failing hands, we throw the torch. If you break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow or blow, whatever it is in Flanders Fields.

It's amazing. And as he spoke those words, I felt the torch just being thrown towards Pastor Neal and I and Pastor Patrick, the younger ministers on the platform. It's as if an old warrior of the cross was leaving, and he had written something of God into my heart.

And there was almost a trembling because when you see these warriors of the cross pass on, you begin to realize that we are the next generation for that short period of time. And I felt a torch literally flung towards us as he shared this.

The Holy Spirit was telling me, you're not going to see this man again. I hope you've learned something from what I've written and then through his life. Paul says in chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, I'm now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Paul says, I've fought a good fight, and I've finished the course, and I've kept the faith. And now Paul is saying, I'm leaving now, Timothy, and I'm charging you to preach the gospel as you've seen it in me.

You've known my life. You've understood my ministry. And right back in the beginning, as Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 4, he says to Timothy, I'm greatly desiring to see thee being mindful of thy tears that I might be filled with joy.

Timothy's Tears and Unfeigned Faith

His tears. Paul remembered the tears of this young man. I don't know the circumstances. I remember when I was a new Christian, I used to weep at the drop of a hat. Somebody get up and tell some hokey old story they've told a hundred times, and I'd cry like a baby.

I used to cry with Brother West when he told about Uncle Tommy's conversion. You remember Uncle Tommy? I heard it 28 times here in this pulpit. I cried along with him every time. There's something so precious in a soul that loves God, in a person that has a passion for the work of God.

And Paul looks at this fearful young man and his memory of Timothy is not so much that he's a powerhouse, but he has a tender heart. And Paul says, oh, I long to see you again, Timothy, because I remember your tender heart.

I remember perhaps when I used to preach and I would talk about what God will do for those who turn to him, and I would see the tears in your eyes. Or perhaps it was a moment when Timothy finally realized his own need of God.

Timothy, of course, was raised by a godly mother, who was in turn raised by another godly mother. There's no evidence that Timothy had a godly father, for all the single mothers take hope in that who are here tonight.

Paul says, I remember the faith that was in your grandmother and also in your mother, and I'm persuaded is in you also. And Paul says, I remember your tears. Maybe it was the day of his own personal salvation.

Maybe it was the day of his dedication. Maybe Timothy finally, in all of his fearfulness, got up and said, I'm going all the way with God. And perhaps Paul was the one who had preached a message and seen him.

I've seen many at this altar here in Times Square Church over the last 10 years, and I've seen many with tears. And it always means something when somebody has, especially if it's an altar call to give yourself to the purposes of God, and you see those tears coming so freely to the eyes.

He says, I call to remembrance in chapter 1, verse 5, the unfeigned faith that is in you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I'm persuaded that is in thee also. The unfeigned means, he said, you have an unpretended faith.

You had tears. You want to be given to God, and God gave you an unpretended faith. Timothy, yes, you're fearful. He said, but God's not given us his spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. He said, but you have an unpretended faith, and that's always the evidence of sincerity.

If you are sincere about following Christ, God himself will plant in your heart an unpretended faith. You don't have to put on an act. It is real. It's in you. You do trust God. There's an evidence. There's a constant growth because that faith is a reality.

Stirring Up the Grace of God

Then in verse 6 in chapter 1, he says, wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands, and Paul says to Timothy, when I set you apart for the ministry, God used my life to touch yours, and through me a knowledge of his grace was given to you.

That's the only desire of my heart as a pastor here at Times Square Church, and I know I speak for Pastor Neil, Pastor Patrick, for Pastor Dave, for Teresa, and others who step in this pulpit. There's only a desire in our hearts that through us a knowledge of God's grace will be given to you.

And Paul says, Timothy, it was me that God used. It was my hands that God used to be laid upon you as it is. And when I touched you, or God touched your life through my hands or my preaching, there was an impartation as it is into your heart of an understanding of God's grace.

And he says, I ask you, Timothy, to stir up this gift. Actually, the word gift in the Greek really is the word for grace. He says, stir up this grace. Fan it back into flames again. It's by the goodness of God that we live, Timothy.

It's not by natural power or ability. We live and move and have our being in him. It's all about him. And God used me to touch your life and to tell you that this fearfulness, you don't have to live under this fearfulness anymore.

You have the power of God within you now. You have the spirit of God upon you. The greatest thing that God could ever do through my life as a pastor in this pulpit is somehow by faith impart that into your heart, that you can lay hold of this and say what God has done for our pastors, God can do for me.

God has taken them as fearful people and God has taken them in their weaknesses and with their confusions and failings. And God has put his power upon them and made them into what they could never hope to be in their own strength.

God has taken them and brought them into places where his life and testimony is glorified through them. Wherefore, God do that for them. God can do that for me. That's the hope of preaching the gospel.

It's not that we make a name for ourselves or have some kind of a reputation. The hope of preaching the gospel is that you would lay hold of the faith that has put us where God has us today. By his grace.

Hallelujah. And Paul says, God used me and it were my hands, Timothy, that God used to touch you and my voice that God used to speak into you. So stir up the grace. This understanding that I have been tempted to put into your life.

The Gospel Must Be Experienced Before It Is Preached

Therefore, he says in 2nd Timothy, chapter two, now in verse six, the things that we opened with, he said, the husbandman that labors must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Remember that Jesus Christ at the seat of David was raised from the dead, according to my gospel. Paul says, Timothy, there are some things that you must first experience before you can preach them. You've got to go through them first before you can be a witness for Jesus Christ or you will have no power in your preaching.

There'll be no evidence of God's life. You'll be all theology with no power. You'll have a knowledge of God, but no power. You won't understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. You will have no evidence in your life.

It will be all empty, hollow theology and it can't touch anybody. It can't do anything for anybody. There's no power behind it. There's no evidence in the vessel and the Holy Spirit cannot back a vessel is not living in reality.

He says, but Timothy in verse eight, remember that the gospel is about humanity. You see, he says, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David. Now it's very important. He puts that in there because Jesus was the son of God, but he was also a fully human as well as fully God.

He was of the seed of God, but he was of the seed of David. He was also a man. And he says, now I want you to remember that Jesus Christ being fully human was raised from the dead by the power of God.

Timothy, you have to know this because this is the very seed bed as it is of your faith. You have to understand that the gospel is about a dead man living. That's what the gospel is about. That's your salvation and that's your hope.

It's about one dead man living, but the scripture says he is the first fruits among. He's the first born among many brethren as he lived from the dead. So you and I will too, if we will trust in him, if we will allow his promises to come into our heart, if we allow his life to be our life, we too will be raised from the dead.

We too will not have to live under the confines of culture, class, education, things that have been imposed on us. Words of death that have been spoken into us, physical, mental limitations are gone. We're raised from the dead.

We're born again by the spirit of God. He says, Timothy, remember this, remember this, because you see, this is your hope. Paul knew it. Paul was a lunatic before he came to Christ. He was he was he would be branded in the papers today in the New York Times that they would write about Paul in our generation.

They'd say mass murderer on the loose because that's what he was hauling people off into prison who believed in Christ, causing them to blaspheme. The scripture says the name of God. In other words, torturing them until I suppose some gave in to the torture.

He says, I did these things ignorantly and unbelief, and God forgave me. He was out of his mind literally to do the things that he did, but he even thought he was doing them in the name of God. Paul says to Timothy in 2nd Timothy, chapter one and verse eight, he says, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Enduring Affliction Through God's Purpose and Grace

Now, Paul says, Timothy, don't shy away from those things that you cannot possibly hope to endure or accomplish in the flesh. Do not be ashamed, Timothy. In other words, the word ashamed really means to be triumphed over.

Timothy, don't be triumphed over when you have to go through the things that God will have to take you through to make you into a man of God. But walk into the same difficulties that you've seen me have to go through.

You've seen, Timothy, that God has kept me. God has always had a purpose for my life. You know, I walked through storm. You walked me, walked through betrayal. You've seen me wounded beyond belief. You've understood that I was pressed even beyond measure so that I even despaired of life in Asia.

Timothy, you're familiar with the testimony, but all through these things, God kept me and he had a purpose for everything he brought me through. He has shown you, Timothy, through my life that he's able to keep to the very end those who put their trust in him.

He's brought me through flood and fire and water and betrayal and pain and difficulty and confusion and wounding and isolation and despair. I've come through all these trials and I'm more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ.

That's why Paul can say, I believe that there's no power in heaven or on earth, no angels, powers, principalities, nothing can separate me from the love of God. Paul says, I'm not aware of any more that could happen to me.

And all these things I've known and understood that I'm more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me. I've learned to have everything. I've learned to have nothing. I'm poor, yet I seem to possess all things.

I've become made all things to all men. God has enabled me to go into every environment, every group of people, whether rich or poor, Pharisees or those who are ignorant of God. And he's been my supply.

I've had a word in season. I've been able to speak to the wise, to the ignorant, to kings and rulers, to the poorest of the land, to prisoners and prison guards. I've been everywhere that you can go in the leading of God and God has never failed me.

Hallelujah. He says, Timothy, don't shy away. Don't try to run from the afflictions of the gospel. There are hard times that have to come to everyone who's ever going to preach the gospel. Be a testimony for Christ.

Don't run through these things, but find the power of God in the midst of them. You see, that would be your testimony. He said, don't be ashamed of the testimony. Verse nine, he said, but God has called us with a holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

He says, Timothy, it's not according to our abilities, but a predetermined plan that God had for us. He's called us according to his own purpose. He had a purpose for your life, Timothy. He called you.

And when he called you, he wants to do something through your life and he's going to have to take you places where you can't go. He's going to have to make you into things you can't be. He's going to lead you into the land of impossible, where the only possibility of it becoming possible is with the presence of God in your life.

He's going to work in you a testimony of his faithfulness. How many preachers today try to preach about victory through the storm and they never go through a storm? They do everything in their power to avoid the storm.

Church gets a little hot, so they pack up their little briefcase of thirty five messages and head on to the next church. Never walk through the storm, never trust God in the midst of the difficulty, all their lives is flee, flee, flee, flee from the power of God and then go to churches and stand with powerless theology, never willing to walk through the difficulties of life, never willing to ride the storm, never willing to stand in the ferocity of the opposition that comes to every true preacher of the gospel, every witness of Christ.

Paul says to Timothy, everyone who lives godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Everyone he's called us with a holy calling and not according to our own purpose. Not according to our plans, not according to our will, but according to his purpose and grace, you see, God has a purpose, but he's got grace that goes with it.

He's got this strength that only he can give. And this grace was given us in Christ Jesus, he says to Timothy, before the world began. You see, that's how much Paul's take to Timothy. This is how much God is in control.

He gave it to you before you were born. He supplied before the world began. You see, devil's not in control. The storm is not in control. Circumstances are not in control. You see, God has destined to have a testimony through you.

Strength in Grace and the Need for a Teachable Spirit

Now, in Second Timothy, chapter two, again, Paul says to Timothy, you remember he said there are the husbandmen that labors must be first partaker of their fruits. Timothy, if you are going to preach the gospel, there are some things you have to go through first.

Otherwise, it's just all theology and there's no reality to it. You have to go through it. If you want to be used of God, beloved, tonight, education and it's here every over every place where people are listening to my voice.

If you want to be a testimony for God, there are some things you have to go through. You have to be the first partaker of these things. You have to first go through the trial and first be a partaker of the fruit of God's keeping power in the trial to give your witness some power behind it.

You have to go through it. Timothy, in Second Timothy, chapter two, verse one, he says, thou, therefore, and here's the first thing, my son, he says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He says, you must first be a partaker of strength and grace.

Otherwise, you'll have just a theology, but no experience, no life, no power. Paul says in First Corinthians. Chapter two. Versus three to five. Let me read it to you. Paul says, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

He's speaking out of the Corinthian church. My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

It's almost a paradox. Paul says, I was with you and I was weak and I was trembling. And Paul saying to the Corinthians to look at me without Christ, you saw weakness. You look at the human vessel and the human vessel was frail.

And you looked at it, but yet there was this incredible strength. He said, when you also look, you saw something else. But Paul said, it's not me. It's Christ in me that you saw. You saw this incredible keeping power of God.

You you saw that my preaching was not even good. Paul said, I didn't come to you with fanciful theology. I didn't come to you with with words that just dazzle all these brilliant little corners on God.

But they have no power in them. Paul says, no, I came to you with simple speech. But you saw in me the power of God. There was a demonstration in my life of the power of God. Hallelujah. Oh, God, give us simple preachers again in our generation.

Give us simple men and women who know God, who have the power of God in them, who walked through the trials. They walked through the valley of the shadow of death. They speak plainly so that people can understand them.

You saw this incredible keeping power of God and Paul says to the Corinthians so that your faith should not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. You should not have faith in my fanciful speech, but you should have faith in what God is able to do in a surrendered vessel, because you see, that's God's power and plan for your life.

Knowing Whom We Have Believed

In Second Timothy, again, chapter one in verse twelve, Paul says, for the which cause I saw for these things, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. In other words, I'm not triumphed over, for I know whom I believed and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

I know whom I believe. Can you say that tonight? I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he can keep that. I've given him my life, I've given him my testimony, I've given him my past, present, future, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my all in all.

And he's going to keep it in his hand and nobody can take it out of God's hand. I'm convinced, I'm convinced deep down in my heart that nobody can take this testimony from me. Hallelujah. This is Paul's testimony.

He said, Timothy, firstly, you must be strong in grace. You must be strong in God's goodness. It must not be your effort, your amount of Bible reading, your amount of study, your amount of gritting your teeth and with dogged determination saying, I'm able to live this Christian walk.

He says, no, you must be strong in grace. You must be strong. Paul says, when I am weak, then I am strong. I glory in my infirmities. Paul says that the power of God, the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Hallelujah to the natural mind. This is stupidity. What do you talk about a man who says I glory in my weakness? No, Paul says I do because the weaker I am, the more I have to lean on God, the more he comes through, the more his strength is manifested.

Secondly, he says you must be first partaker of something else. He says the things that you've heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit out of faithful men who shall be able to teach others. Also, the first thing or the second thing you must have is a teachable spirit, Timothy, a teachable spirit.

And chapter one, verses 13 to 16, he says to Timothy, hold fast the form of sound words, which you've heard of me and of faith and and love, which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us.

Thou knowest this knowest that all they which are in Asia have turned away from me. Verse 16, he says, the Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he off refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.

Hold fast, he said, Timothy, because everybody in Asia has turned away from me. They're ashamed of my chain. It's really significant. You see, Paul's saying they're ashamed of the trials. They're ashamed of the rejection.

They're ashamed of the imprisonments. They're ashamed of the struggles that I have to go through, that God has destined my life to have to go through, that he might be glorified in me. And they're all in Asia, he said, they're turned away from me because they say, well, this is not the gospel that we want.

This is not the God that we... We want a God who just prospers us. We want a God who makes us healthy and happy all the time. We want to go to a place where we can just clap our hands and live in milk fed Christianity the rest of our lives.

We don't want anything. Whatever Paul has, we don't want it. They didn't turn away from God. They turned away from Paul and they probably started another church. It was probably a prosperity church. They were ashamed of my chain, he said.

They're ashamed of the hard things that I had to go through. I was telling them this is God. I was telling them there's a purpose in this. But they said, no, no, no, no. There's no purpose in having a thorn in your flesh.

No purpose in being whipped and beaten and rejected. There's no purpose in having to go to jail and be in chains and be on a slave ship and bitten by a snake, by a fire. And all of these things that Paul was saying, yes, there's something of God in this.

He's leading me to an understanding of something. Poor imbeciles from Asia didn't know this man's being used of God to write the Bible. You see, but this is this revelation they didn't want. So many today want truth.

Oh, make me a teacher. But they don't have a teachable spirit. It can't be taught. But I want everybody wants to teach. And so we get all of these, these spiritual pigmies running around with their big Bibles and glossy brochures.

And programs on television, they know nothing about God, nothing about the power of God. There's no revelation of Jesus Christ. But everybody's a teacher now. Ashamed, trying to make out Paul to be a prosperity preacher.

Imbeciles, spiritual imbeciles. Using the words of Paul to say we should be rich. Imbeciles, discounting his entire life and ministry. And everything that God did. And then taking and twisting his words, as Peter says, to their own destruction.

They're ashamed of my chain. They're ashamed of what I have to go through. Timothy, he says, study chapter two, verse 15. Study to show thyself approved to God a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Study, Timothy, and you will not be triumphed over, but have a teachable spirit. And when he says rightly dividing, Paul says, Timothy, let the word of God speak to you what it really says. Don't try to modify it to suit your own desires and needs.

Let it speak to you what it says. Just read it. It's not difficult. You know, this Bible is actually very plain. If you really want to understand it, it's very plain. If your life is an open book. Now, if I come to this book and I've got this image of myself and my direction and my future, then I'm not going to understand it.

I'm going to study it, but I'm not going to understand it. And where it speaks something that seems to be contradictory to my viewpoint of what my Christian walk should be, then I'll just gloss it over.

I'll be ashamed of the chain as it is and push it away. But Paul says, Timothy, if you'll study, if you'll rightly divide it, you will not be triumphed over because of a wrong interpretation of truth.

You'll stand in the last day. Again, he says to Timothy, chapter two, verse three, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You see, Paul's entire revelation of God's keeping power had come through affliction.

And he says, Timothy, you're going to have to go through hardness, but endure it as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Timothy, it's here that I found the power of God. It was a theology, but it has become a reality.

I know, he said, whom I have believed in. It's not like I've studied it and I have this knowledge. He said, Timothy, I know whom I have believed. He said, endure hardness. Don't try to escape it. Endure it.

Walk through it. Find the lesson in it. And even if you don't understand the lesson, trust God for the power to get through it. And when you get to the other side, you're going to have a message. You're going to be able to speak to people and say, hey, I've been through.

And God, that's the deepest theology you'll ever find. I said to the music ministry this week, I said, you want to know the difference between an old preacher and a young preacher? I said, an old preacher has more anointing when he clears his throat into the microphone than a young preacher has in the first 15 minutes of his message.

When he gets up and says, would you turn in your Bible? And immediately there's a sense of God because this man has walked through the storm. When I first got here, I used to tell Pastor Neal when I used to almost tremble when I'd have to get up and preach in this pulpit 10 years ago.