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Reading 2 Timothy 1:1-7 and giving background on Paul's final letter before his death, featuring special guest Stephen Melniszyn. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
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Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. Well, today we begin a brand new study in 2 Timothy. I'm going to read in chapter 1, starting in verse 1 and go through about verse 7 here. So Paul introducing himself, 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 in Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
As I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well.
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. So that's the introduction to this letter that Paul writes to Timothy.
The second one that we have in canon and Paul's final letter, even though we've got another letter coming up in the pastoral letters, which is Paul's letter to Titus, this, as far as the chronology of letters goes, that Paul had written is his final letter before he was led away to be executed, martyred for the faith.
And joining me today on the podcast to help me talk about this letter to 2 Timothy is the bald Calvinist, Stephen Melanson. How are you doing, Stephen? Hey, Gabe.
Thanks for having me on. It's a privilege to be here with you today and actually spend the weekend with you and your family. So me and my wife are happy to be here and happy to be on vacation and up here spending time with you and had a great time this morning hearing you preach on 2 Corinthians and being in church with you guys.
So it's a privilege to be here. So thank you for having me on.
You're welcome. It was great to have you. And you're welcome back anytime because Stephen makes a wonderful chicken parmesan. Oh yeah. Is that what you call it? Chicken parmesan.
I know it was yummy in my tummy. That's all I knew about it. So well, it's great to be here and to be among you guys and just have that fellowship. So it's a real blessing and a real energizer to you spiritually.
So thank you for having me and my wife up here and being able to kind of crash with you and your family for the weekend.
It's a privilege. So thank you. So tell me a little bit about your church in Tulsa where you come from and what you're teaching through there.
Okay. So our church is in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma or in Tulsa. We're called Grace Community Church of Oklahoma or Tulsa. We are pastored by Pastor Douglas Heck. Some of you out there may recognize the last name Heck.
Actually the wife Susan Heck is a women's teacher. She travels nationally and sometimes globally teaching women. She's a very sound teacher. So I would invite if you're looking for a good women's teacher who's sound on doctrine, Susan Heck would be it.
I think Michelle Leslie's written about her too.
Yeah, she has. And there's actually a conference happening in October. Might as well plug it since I'm on here in October 26th to 28th, I think. I can't be for sure, but it's on our website with Martha Peace is going to be in Tulsa and our church, our women's group is sponsoring that.
You can go online to withthemaster .com or .org and register there. And it's October for about through Friday through Saturday, I believe. And Susan Heck will be there with her books too. So she's a very big blessing, especially in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
We're surrounded by many charismatic false teachers and to have a woman who is sound is quite a blessing. But our pastor is Doug Heck and Doug Heck was roommates with Phil Johnson at Moody College. Yeah, I heard about that.
So they got some wild stories, especially the escape wedding. I'll talk more about that on the podcast, but it was an interesting story of Doug Heck getting married to Susan and Phil Johnson was a getaway driver for this wedding.
So it's quite an interesting story. But we're a small church out there, we're in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. If you want to look us up, we're on GCCofTulsa .org. And then we have a Facebook page too, GCCTulsa .org, so you can look on there.
We have services Sunday morning, Sunday school at 930, main service at 1030. And I had the privilege of starting to teach First Peter come April 22nd. So my research and my study right now has been for studying Peter and First Peter.
So is there anything, as we're jumping into Second Timothy here, of course, Paul is in prison. This is his last letter before he's about to be martyred. And Timothy, or I'm sorry, Peter, likewise, was writing on the cusp of him also being martyred.
And it's believed that he was killed first before Paul was, correct? Yeah, that is correct.
Tradition says that Peter went to Rome and commentators believe that Paul made his way to Spain, but we don't know for a fact that he made it there or not. Because had Paul had been there, Peter would have greeted him in the epistle of Peter.
So Peter shows up in his first letter, first epistle is written somewhere between AD 62, AD 63, right before this great fire of Rome broke out and Nero would cast the blame on the Christians. And thus persecution would spread from Rome and all the way down to the different provinces of that time.
But Peter would be there and be executed first. Even tradition says that as Peter was crucified, so was his wife. His wife traveled with him on all his ministry journeys. And history says, or tradition for that fact says, that both Peter and his wife were crucified and they were probably executed before Paul, and then Paul would come in later, as we see in 2 Timothy.
A little bit later in Nero's reign, Nero would commit suicide somewhere in his 30s in AD 68. So somewhere just before that, Paul would be executed at the time. We're just kind of guessing on that. We don't know the exact date.
But yeah, and it's funny to see Peter in Rome, Paul's not there, and Peter's directing his letter to a scattered group of Christians known as the dispersion out in the Asian minor provinces, which would be modern day Turkey nowadays.
So Peter's writing to the group of Christians in Turkey, whereas Paul is writing to Timothy. And both their letters, both have such a strong intimacy. We see Paul talking to Timothy, who is his spiritual son in the faith, and of course Paul's execution is drawing near.
And I'm sure for Peter too, when Peter writes 2 Timothy, Peter knows that he's about to depart this world and be with Christ. And we see both this with Peter and Paul, that they know they're going to be executed.
But their whole focus is on their readers, not themselves. So it's a pretty interesting, both 1 and 2 Timothy, as well as 1 and 2 Peter, are both interesting studies. So I'm looking forward to diving in the 1 Peter here at the end of the month.
Oh, that's terrific. So about in your estimation, where is this in terms of the timeline, about what year do you think it was that Paul was executed? Because I've read a few different things.
Yeah, the commentators I've come across have all different theories. Some say 80, 68, some say before that, even with Peter. And it's interesting that Peter's letter was written before the persecution started with Nero.
Some say he wrote his letter between 62 and 63, when the fire in Rome kicked out in 64 of July. The first one. The first one, right. The first persecution under Nero. But it's almost as if the Holy Spirit was kind of guiding Peter a little bit to prepare for what was coming.
And of course, we do see that in 1 Peter, you know, suffering with joy and you're in inheritance is not of this world is imperishable. So it's almost as if the Holy Spirit was prompting Peter to write authoritatively, you know, of course, Peter being apostle of Jesus Christ, everything that Peter wrote was from Christ.
But in preparing his people, it's kind of it's weird when you get the dates because there's no concrete date. We can just kind of kind of guesstimate a little bit. Right. When it was written. But I think for Paul, some say 68, 67, but there's no real commentators kind of go up and down with that.
But we know it's probably near the end of Nero's life or it could have been midway through it. But unless you read some commentators, I don't know. But the commentators I read are like, well, 68, 67.
That's about similar. Yeah, similar to the things that I've read. So so the the letter that Paul is addressing here to Timothy, what are some what are some themes that you glean from this particular letter as Paul is issuing his farewell?
So so like you pointed out, he's he's talking to just one person where Peter is talking to a group of people. So what is it he wants Timothy to know?
Well, he wants Peter to stand fast in the faith. Timothy. Timothy. I'm sorry. Mixing up your studies and getting all bunched up here. Yeah, really just an intimate, really, Timothy, who is a spiritual son.
Timothy had been under Paul's wing for quite a while and Paul is departing. He's preparing to go home to heaven. And we know that Paul has been looking forward to this moment. He wants to go home. He's tired.
But at the same time, he doesn't focus on himself. He's focusing on Timothy. And Timothy, of course, is in charge of the Ephesian church. And of course, Timothy would face trials and obstructions going on in his church and false teachers.
So but one thing he does say later in Chapter four of Second Timothy is, as I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge of living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom, he goes on to say in verse two, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching.
He's wanting to make sure Timothy is ready to preach, ready to go into guard to deposit because we see guard to deposit twice in First Timothy at the end of it. And also here, Paul is telling Timothy, guard the deposit, guard the gospel.
And as tradition states, Timothy certainly did guard the gospel. History states that Timothy was out preaching against a pagan mob and they didn't like what he was saying. And he was beaten to death with clubs.
So he did stand fast. He did hold to the faith. But what I see here is Paul making sure that Timothy. Keeps his priorities. Yeah, here's the priority, keep the gospel, preaching for the faith, the same thing we.
Saw in the first letter. So at the very beginning of First Timothy, it was don't let anyone teach any different doctrine comes back to that again in the middle of the letter and then even concluding the letter with if anybody does teach a different doctrine, except that which flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ, that accords with godliness.
He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy. And so in the in the same way, Paul is continuing to encourage Timothy to remain steadfast in preaching the word in season and out of season, as you mentioned.
Right before that, we have one of the most popular passages that comes out of Second Timothy and that Second Timothy three, 16 and 17. 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.
In First Timothy, chapter six, Paul addressed Timothy as a man of God and equating him with the prophets of the Old Testament who were referred to as men of God. So whenever the king would be seeking the word of the Lord, it would say he went to the man of God, which would be the the the main prophet in Israel or in Judah at that particular time.
Samuel referred to as a man of God. Elijah Moses was the first one to be called man of God, at least as far as the the Old Testament text is concerned. And so Paul kind of brings Timothy's attention back to that even again here, knowing that what it is that you have to say, the most important thing that you can say is what you're going to be preaching that comes from the scriptures, because this is God's word and it is profitable for for everything, for for teaching your assignment and what it is that you're going to do.
But any aspect of life in any instruction, we find the answer in the word of God for reproof and for correction. When you call somebody to repentance, may it be done with God's word. I had a listener that wrote in just recently and disagreed with me on something and I responded, well, here's what the scripture says about that.
And then their response came back to me. You know, I still don't know that I see it the same way that you do, but I appreciate that when you responded, you pointed to the scripture instead of giving your opinion, because when it comes to understanding the things of God, when it comes to growing in doctrine and theology, this is all we have is the Bible.
It all comes back to the scriptures. And so Paul drawing Timothy's attention back to that as well as Paul knows he is about to depart from this world. Remember the things that I taught you, that it comes back to the scriptures.
Everything that I taught in my gospel was a fulfillment of the scriptures. It all pointed back to the Old Testament, Old Testament pointing toward what was fulfilled in Christ Jesus. And so even when it comes to correcting one another and training each other in righteousness, it's all done by the word of God.
Verse 17, that the man of God may be complete. And Paul, in this case, referring to Timothy, since he's already called him man of God once, that this is how you will grow in the faith. But furthermore, this is going to be how you grow men of God, that you're going to apply them to the scripture so that they may be complete and equipped for every good work.
So we have and then going into the section that you mentioned, preach the word and be ready in season and out of season. So we see the relevance to that instruction in realizing that what we have in the Bible is God's word.
It is inerrant. It's a perfect word and furthermore, sufficient for our every need. As Paul ticks off those those needs, teaching, reproof, correction, training and righteousness, that we may be complete and equipped for every good work.
Indeed, indeed, because we see later in verse three of chapter four, why? Why be ready? Why be going to 16 and 17 all scripture? Why go? Why go? Protecting that and all scriptures are sufficient. And we see in verse three through verse four, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine.
Yeah. And having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves. Teachers to suit their own passions. And we've been seeing that I'm not going to bring up the topic, but we've been seeing that over the past couple of days.
Yeah, certainly where people have equate a man, a sinful man who lived in sin, but are somehow making him a golden calf of the evangelical movement as if this is the man we need to pay attention to, but not but not his sins.
Well, we'll give him credit for what he did.
Ignore his sins or soften his sins. Exactly. Say them as being as less severe than they really were. Yeah. Not even paying attention to where he was wrong in his doctrine. It's not necessary for us to explore that because we see so much good in his life.
So therefore, since there was this good, he must have been godly. But as I just pointed out, I just pointed out to my church today in preaching, well, at the time that this this is airing, it would have been this is on a Monday.
So but anyway, so as I just addressed with my congregation, atheists know how to do nice things for people. And you can see atheists do incredibly sacrificial things for other people. Yet how worthy is that act before God?
According to Isaiah 64, six, it's as good as a soiled garment. And actually, it's a little bit more detailed than that. But I was asked by a particular listener, please don't repeat what that really is.
I was waiting for you to say that in the congregation today. I'm like, is he really going to say it?
Yeah. No, I withheld. We had some little kids. Yeah. So I decided I decided not to say exactly what kind of soiled garment we're talking about there. But that that's that's as good as our deeds are before a holy God.
Yeah. They're they're worthless. They're worth nothing. You might as well throw them in the trash and have them burned up because our best deeds do not count as righteousness before God. It is that we've been given the righteousness of Christ and the mark of a true believer in Christ is going to be that they have a love for sound doctrine and are growing at it.
So as I've as I've said, time and time again, I've heard Votie Bockham say this over and over again. But doctrine and theology matter. They do. They really do matter. They do. And it is it's we're not afforded to just sweep those things under the rug as though they're not important.
No, no. In fact, John MacArthur, you know, I think he wrote a book called The Hard Sayings of Christ. Yeah. And we tend to want to avoid the hard sayings of Christ. We want we want to avoid the topics of hell.
We want to avoid the doctrine of sin and repentance. And we want to a cushy social Jesus who is going to come back and pat everybody on the head. But that's not the Jesus that is returning. In fact, preaching out of Revelation, I finished off last month.
We see a Christ who's coming back to slaughter his enemies. We're not talking about he's going to come back and put people in hell with puppy dogs and pancakes like a Joe Osteen would or would say. But we're talking about a Christ who's going to come back, who's going to lay out vengeance against the unrighteous.
And of course, this propels evangelism. We're going out there telling them this is what this is, the real Christ. Yes. But unfortunately, in our world, just like Paul says, the time is coming and we're in that time.
People don't want sound doctrine. They don't they want anything that appeases their hearts and makes them feel happy, makes them feel secure in their life, that it's OK to go on sinning. But you can sign this card and say this prayer and you'll be fine.
Right. But we don't see that in scripture at all. We don't. And it's a shame. I saw a quote from somebody recently.
I can't remember who said this, though. But forgiveness is a wonderful idea until you have something to forgive. And so that's that's another thing. So everybody else is wrong. They've all got problems they have to fix.
But I don't have anything I have to fix. And yet we have the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke, where Jesus says the Pharisee is the one pointing at the at the guy at the tax collector and say, thank you.
I'm not like this guy, that I'm not like adulterers and extortioners and all these other people. But I tithe of everything that I give and, you know, all the all the things the Pharisee is boasting in himself.
Meanwhile, the tax collector is beating his chest and saying, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus said, I tell you, this man has gone to his house justified, whereas the Pharisee has left the temple condemned.
And and so how important it is for us to be humble before the Lord is Jesus goes on to say he who exalts himself will be humbled and the person who humbles himself will be exalted. So even in Second Timothy, as Paul draws near to the letter, he makes references to the Lord will repay someone according to their deeds, that Second Timothy four fourteen.
And then toward more toward the end of the letter, he says the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. And what we don't tend to realize or understand or want to connect the dots on is this means Jesus is going to return to judge those who were evil or who did not do the will of the father.
And everybody wants to think that what they're doing is the will of the father. If I'm if I'm doing something nice, I'm doing something good. I'm doing God's will. But Jesus said, whoever hears these words of mine and keeps them, he is the one who is doing the will of the father.
He is the one who is like the wise man who has built his house upon the rock. And then when judgment comes, we you know, Jesus says the storms, right? We Jesus talks about storms and we equate that to the storms of life when everything everything is, you know, but when when judgment comes upon the world, that house stands because it's on the rock of Christ, whereas the house that is built on sand, anything other than Christ, anything other than sound doctrine that flows from the gospel, it's going to be wiped out in that final judgment.
Indeed. And in fact, in this time with with Paul and Peter, you know, here they are in the midst of persecution from Nero. But these letters would not only be for just these people under the persecution Nero, but also from persecution from the other emperors that would come along in his place, such as Diocletian and Domitian.
Every time you see in the letters, they're telling the believers your inheritance is imperishable, such as Peter says. And first, Peter, he's like he's trying to tell them you're going to lose your homes.
You're going to lose your life. But your transience, your sojourners in this world, your inheritance is in heaven. So you may lose all the stuff here. That's fine. It's just physical, material things.
You may lose your own life. But what waits for you beyond this life is far more amazing, as even Paul says in Second Corinthians, a couple of chapters after chapter three today, he talks about just how suffering and and the persecution is just it's momentary.
The affliction is momentary. Right. Yeah. But they always focus on things eternal. They never focus on things here. And of course, we have the opposite here in the United States. And we have the American dream, which has been injected into American evangelism.
So when persecution does comes, we're going to see two different two different streams kind of appear. We'll see the tears and the and the wheat. Anyway, there we go. But it's just remarkable to see that their whole focus and such as and Timothy would have a burden because he's under the Ephesian church and he's going to have to comfort his people who he's he's shepherding.
And of course, Paul wants to reinforce that, Timothy, you're you're guarding this deposit. This is what they need. They don't need any social justice. They don't need any. Yeah. Any cultural movement.
You don't see them going asking the Romans.
There's no revolt. There's no uprising.
Yeah. Nothing like that. Or we need or we need to be repaid for what you Romans have taken away from us. We never reparations. Yeah. Reparations. We never see that with them. But they're told endure suffering with joy, which runs counter to what we are taught in.
Churches today. That's that's absolutely true. Or even what the culture teaches us. Yeah. The the culture will hand you a license to complain. Yeah. You're free to complain about your circumstance as long as I'm free to complain about mine.
And as long as our complaints don't intersect one another. So but yeah, that's so I think that that's a that's a great place to draw to a conclusion here as we've done our introduction to Second Timothy.
And so we'll pick up where we left off in the reading tomorrow in Second Timothy, Chapter one. Stephen, thank you so much for joining me on the broadcast today.
Well, thanks for having me on, Gabe. I really appreciate it. Your family is quite a blessing and he's quite a pastor. So if you're out there, check Pastor Gabe out in his sermons at Fellowship Baptist.
First Southern Baptist. First Southern Baptist. It's a Baptist church. Very generic name. Yeah. I'm going to put you on the spot here. OK. Would you mind closing us in prayer? Sure. Awesome.
Terrific. Let's do it. That's right. Heavenly Father, our Lord and God, how we thank you for the opportunity to come here to learn about your word and to know that your word is sufficient for all things, that we can go to your word for all things are going on in our life.
And we know that the promises you make, Lord, you will keep your promises. And so, Father, thank you for this time and for the study of your word. We pray that you'll bless this and may it edify anybody out there who's listening.
Thank you, Lord, for your salvation through Christ, that we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to you. May we glorify you with your word. May we start our week looking toward you. And we ask all these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen. Amen.
Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.