Sunday Sermon: Introduction to 2 Timothy (2 Timothy 1:1-2)

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

New Testament book. On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe. 2

Timothy chapter 1 verses 1 through 7. I'm reading from the English Standard Version.

This is the Apostle Paul writing to his servant Timothy. Hear the word of the Lord. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy and peace from God the

Father and 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 dwells 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 of love and of self control.

You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the study that we just finished in 1st

Timothy, being reminded of what it means to be of the household of God.

What our responsibilities are as a church. And now as we come into this book, and we think about furthermore our responsibilities as Christians in this world, how we go out into the world with this faith that we have, the boldness that we need to have in the face of opposition, the courage that we need to have to share the gospel with others, though they may hate us for it, but we share it because we know it is only this message that can save someone else.

I pray that you would strengthen our faith as we go through this book, that you would give us boldness and courage in these days to stand firmly on the truth so that even if the culture opposes it, we stand with Christ for we know it is only in Christ Jesus that our sins are forgiven and we have the promise of everlasting life.

A solution to our death problem is found in Christ alone. Bless our study and open our hearts to receive your word.

It is in Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, we as human beings tend to cling to the famous last words of the dying.

I don't think this is a cultural thing. I think this is universally across all cultures with all human beings.

You can go on Amazon and you can find books of people that have put together the famous last words of someone.

Some person's last words have been deeply profound and worth remembering and passing on to another generation.

In 1776, before Nathan Hale was hung by the British for being a spy, he said,

I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. There are other words that have been deeply tragic.

John Belushi, the famous Saturday Night Live comedian who died of a drug overdose at the age of 33, it is said that his final words were, don't leave me alone.

Other last words are ironic. While under fire by the Confederates, General John Sedgwick boldly said to his men, they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.

And then he was hit by a bullet and killed. I've always been touched by the accounts of those who were able to address their loved ones with their dying words.

Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach, as he was dying, he turned to his wife and said, happy anniversary,

I love you. And then he died. The late R .C. Sproul talked about his dad's last words to him.

The last words he spoke to anyone, he said to R .C., son,

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

And then he passed. His father's last words were Paul's last words from 2

Timothy 4 .7. Now the book of 2 Timothy, it is indeed the last letter that we have from the apostle

Paul. They weren't exactly his dying words. Evidence even from the letter will suggest that Paul lived several more months after writing this.

In fact, he probably even read or wrote other letters. And I am so very thankful to the

Holy Spirit that he preserved this letter, that we would have 2 Timothy. His time was near as he writes, the time of my departure has come in chapter 4 verse 6, as he was about to be martyred for preaching the gospel.

So for all intents and purposes, these that we read here in 2 Timothy, these are

Paul's famous last words. The message of the letter is to tell

Timothy to guard the gospel and persevere even in the face of suffering.

As said in chapter 1 verse 8, join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.

So if we think of 1 Timothy, if we think of the main message of 1 Timothy being right there in the middle in chapter 3 verse 15, where Paul said,

I write these things to you so that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is his church.

Then the main message for us here in 2 Timothy would be to hold fast to the message of our

Lord God. Join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. There's our key verse there in understanding 2

Timothy. Dr. Votie Bauckham has summarized the central message of 2 Timothy this way,

Timothy, they're about to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do, keep preaching the gospel until they kill you too.

So as we explore this message further, and I would like to note as I said that, keep preaching the gospel.

I had a lot of amens until I said, until they kill you too. You kind of died off there at the end.

But as we look at this together, our outline for this morning, we're going to consider the author and the recipient of the back and the background of the letter.

The book of 2 Timothy is the second of three pastoral letters between 1 Timothy and Titus.

And as we consider those things about 2 Timothy at the very end, we also want to leave room for some application.

So as we study this together, how are we going to apply it? How is this relevant to us even in our present time, in our modern age, even as you live in Southern Arizona?

What does the Holy Spirit have to say to us who live 2000 years later with regards to these final words of the apostle

Paul? Now as I said, we continue a series in the pastoral epistles, 2 Timothy being the second book of those pastoral books.

This is four chapters. It is 83 verses and it is just over 1200 words long, which means if I were to read to you this book out loud, it would only take about 10 minutes.

And you might say, that would be a good short sermon. That would be all right. By comparison, the Sermon on the

Mount is twice as long as 2 Timothy. And though the Sermon on the Mount is three chapters and 2

Timothy is four, the chapters in 2 Timothy are shorter. The first couple of verses clearly identify for us who wrote this and to whom.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus to Timothy, my beloved child.

Now look at something regarding the structure of just those two verses. A lot of times we just kind of blow past the introduction and we think the meat of the letter is later on.

But Paul always has something profound to say even in his introduction. I want to highlight certain words for you.

And if you're one who likes to underline, maybe these would be the words you would like to underline even in the introduction to this letter.

So notice again in verse 1 that Paul says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. You see that?

And then at the end of verse 1, he says, by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

And he says to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the

Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. So catch those key words of Christ, in Christ, from God the

Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. So Paul recognizing that his ministry is of Christ, in Christ, from Christ, and he wishes these same things for Timothy, that he also would be of Christ, in Christ, from Christ.

And my friends, even though we're hearing this from an apostle to a pastor, yet it should be the same application for us as well, that we would desire these things that are of Christ, that are in Christ, that are from Christ.

The very faith that we have qualifies as that. You would not have faith if it were not of Christ, in Christ, and from Christ.

And that sets a tone for the rest of this letter, that we would be bound up in Christ Jesus to receive the message that Paul has to share in his last words.

Timothy was, of course, not Paul's biological son, but he was a son in the faith.

He is first mentioned in Acts 16 .1 as the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a

Greek. We learn a little bit more about Timothy's backstory, even in this letter.

We saw it here in the introduction. Look at verse 5. I am reminded of the genuine faith within you.

Another way to read that, in fact, is the unhypocritical faith. This is a consistent faith that Timothy has.

And as Paul is writing this, this is not something in which he's going to be rebuking

Timothy, but encouraging Timothy is the very nature of this letter, hence why he would say,

I know of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and in your mother

Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well. At the time

Paul was writing this, Timothy was a pastor of the church in Ephesus, as he also was when we were in 1

Timothy. Paul would have been in prison in Rome, and this is considered to be his second imprisonment.

His first was when he wrote the letters of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, as Pastor Allen had taught from in Sunday school today.

Also the letter to Philemon. These would have been the letters that Paul wrote during his first imprisonment while he was under house arrest, and we see that scenario at the end of the book of Acts.

This imprisonment, when he's writing this letter, is probably a lot less comfortable.

So whereas his first imprisonment, he was under house arrest. He could live in his own home. He was chained to a praetorian guard.

He couldn't go anywhere, but anybody could come to him and he would preach to them as a church would basically gather there in his house in the capital city of the

Roman Empire. But here in this instance, Paul is not in that kind of environment anymore.

He's in a jail cell, probably chained in stocks, like he's got chains on his feet that are chained to the wall.

He can't even walk around in his own cell. It may even be that the conditions were worse than that because some

Roman prisons were just a hole in the ground, and a prisoner would be lowered into that hole and chained to the hole and that would be it.

And they would probably stay there until they died or would be taken out to be martyred. And there would be other prisoners that would be there in that hole along with the apostle

Paul. And there would be people that could go to him and could visit him there, certainly, but it's a lot less great an environment than when he was in his own home.

So it's not like Paul is gathering a church to himself. As a matter of fact, we're going to see toward the end of this letter that in that situation,

Paul was abandoned by a lot of his friends. They didn't want to be there. They didn't want to hang out with a guy in his hole.

And so Paul is in a pretty rough situation, but yet look at the way that we start this letter in verse three,

I thank God whom I serve, that Paul is still grateful to the

Lord for his circumstance and the calling that he had been given in Christ, even though he was in such a horrible situation as he found himself in now, thrown in prison for preaching the gospel.

Now the book of Acts ends in about AD 62 or 63, and since 2nd

Timothy was written shortly before Paul's death, that means it would be dated no later than the year 67.

We have very little information about Paul's ministry in those four years. Most of it comes from church tradition, although we have some hints given to us from scripture as well.

In Romans 15, beginning in verse 23, Paul says this, I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain, for I hope passing through to see you and to be helped on my way there by you when

I have first enjoyed your company for a little while. Then in verse 28, he goes on to say, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

Paul first returned to Jerusalem, and that's where he was arrested and put on a ship for Rome, and that's how we end the book of Acts, as I mentioned, with Paul under house arrest in Rome.

In his letter to the Philippians, which was written during that time of imprisonment, he talked about whether he should go and die and be with the

Lord or remain for their benefit. In chapter one, verse 25, he says, convinced of this,

I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith.

So it wasn't in that imprisonment that he was martyred. In fact,

Acts 28 30 says, he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him.

So the implication is, even according to Luke, that Paul did not die in that first imprisonment.

He was held for two years, and then he was released. Beyond that, we have no biblical account that Paul made it to Spain, but we do have some extra biblical evidence.

Clement of Rome, one of the early church fathers, said that Paul had reached the furthest limits of the

West. The Muratorian canon, about 80 years after Clement, said that Luke, in writing the book of Acts, omitted the martyrdom of Peter as well as the departure of Paul from the city of Rome when he journeyed to Spain.

So church tradition maintains that Paul did make it as far West as Spain.

And then it was perhaps as he was traveling back East that he was arrested again and imprisoned in Rome a second time.

And at the end of that time, he was executed, probably under the reign of Nero.

So it's during that second imprisonment that he wrote this letter. Under persecution for the gospel of Christ, which

Timothy witnessed in Paul's ministry, Paul encouraged Timothy to guard the gospel and to share in suffering.

So that is our main theme for this letter, guarding the gospel and sharing in suffering.

So having considered the author and the recipient of this letter and the background for the letter, let's consider next the occasion for the letter and some of the themes that we will see as we go through the letter together.

What does a man on death row for preaching the gospel have to say to his son in the faith?

As Paul wants him to continue preaching the gospel with all boldness, it could be that Paul wanted to write one last letter to Timothy and encourage him, strengthening him in his role as a preacher.

So we have here nothing but positive. That's really what Paul intends here. I know that Timothy's a strong young man in the faith.

I just want to write one last letter to him and encourage him in those things that I know he's already doing well.

But it could also be that Paul was concerned about Timothy's steadfastness in the mission.

And I've heard this presented both ways. So I've heard some preachers that will say, you know, Timothy was kind of struggling.

So Paul was writing him a letter like, come on, Timothy, you got to hold fast. You got to continue strong.

Finish the race. I'm finishing the race. You've got to finish the race strong as well. Could be that that was Paul's motivation.

And it could be that, again, Timothy already was a strong, bold man in the faith, and Paul is just meaning to encourage him all the more.

I don't think that we can definitively settle on either approach. But we can consider that Paul was motivated in one of these two ways, either to just encourage an already strong young man or encourage a young man that was starting to weaken a little bit, that he might become all the more bold in this commission that he's been given.

So in verses six through eight, Paul says, for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has given us not a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self -control.

Going on to verse eight, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

And again, that could just be because Paul wants to encourage Timothy. In Philippians 3 .1,

Paul wrote, finally, brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it's a safeguard for you.

That could have been his same motivation for writing to Timothy. I'm telling you stuff I've already told you, and it's no trouble for you to hear this again.

It's a safeguard for you, and it's a joy to me to write these things to you. Or it could have been that he was concerned that Timothy was in danger of becoming spiritually weak.

Maybe Timothy was becoming like those people that the Philippians were troubled by.

There were certain preachers that once Paul had been arrested and thrown in jail, those preachers were going, well,

I don't want to be associated with Paul because I might get arrested too and thrown in jail for preaching the gospel like he was.

And there were others that were even competitive with Paul. They were trying to say, if he's thrown in jail, must have been for a legitimate reason.

So we're not with Paul. We have a cleaner record than Paul does. So don't think that we're the criminals like Paul is.

And maybe Timothy, in his own way, may have been troubled in his spirit, thinking my mentor has preached the gospel, and now he's been thrown in a hole.

I don't want to be thrown in a hole for preaching the gospel. So maybe Timothy's starting to rethink some things himself.

And so Paul encourages Timothy to be strong in the truth, verses 13 and 14.

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me and the faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus by the

Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit that has been entrusted to you.

He tells Timothy to be strengthened, chapter 2, verse 1. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And he also tells Timothy to preach the word, verse 2. Preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

As John MacArthur notes, quote, these final words to Timothy include few commendations, but many admonitions, including 25 imperatives, unquote.

That's 25 instructions or commands that this teacher has for his student.

MacArthur continues, quote, since Timothy was well -versed in Paul's theology, the apostle did not instruct him further in doctrine.

He did, however, allude to several important doctrines, including salvation by God, sovereign grace, chapter 1, verse 9, chapter 2, verse 10, the person of Christ, chapter 4, verse 1 and 8, and perseverance, unquote.

Like Paul's previous letter to Timothy, he makes references to creeds or confessions that Timothy would have learned and were common in the church in the first century.

In 2 Timothy 2, 11 to 13, he said, it is a trustworthy saying. For if we died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

And so as we consider these things, as we go through 2 Timothy together, here are seven main themes that we will find.

Now, these seven themes are made up of six imperatives and then one final word of assurance.

So seven themes, which are six imperatives and a final word of assurance.

So number one, here's the first theme that we will find in 2 Timothy, be sound in doctrine.

We heard that instruction in 1 Timothy, did we not? We see it again in 2 Timothy, be sound in doctrine.

Timothy was to hold fast to the true word that he had been taught from childhood and had also learned and developed all the more from the apostle

Paul. One of the most famous verses in 2 Timothy is chapter 3, verses 16 to 17.

All scripture is God -breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

That the man of God, remember that in 1 Timothy, Paul called Timothy a man of God.

He's the only person in the New Testament that is called man of God. And here, Paul uses that phrase again, that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Timothy was also to pass on this sound teaching to other faithful men, that the work of God would continue from one generation to the next.

In chapter 2, verse 2, Paul says, and the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

In chapter 2, verse 14, Paul says, remind them of these things. Remind them, talking about those faithful men that have been entrusted with these doctrines, solemnly charging them in the presence of God not to dispute about words which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

So our first theme that we'll be finding here in 2 Timothy is be sound in doctrine.

Second theme, avoid error and false teachers. Remember that contrast that we saw in 1

Timothy, be sound in doctrine, avoid false teachers. We're going to see that same contrast come up in 2

Timothy. There is a constant back and forth through the letter with Paul encouraging sound teaching and then warning against false teachers, sometimes calling them out by name.

In chapter 1, verse 15, Paul says, you are aware of this, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are phagellists and hermogenies.

In chapter 4, verse 14, he says, Alexander the coppersmith showed me much harm.

The Lord will reward him according to his deeds.

And I love that reference because it's like, hey, you know Alexander? Not the guy that lives down there, not that guy, the coppersmith.

You know where his shop is? Over there on Pinal in Casa Grande, you know that guy?

Yeah, watch out for that guy, don't have anything to do with him. Jesus confronted the Pharisees to their faces in the midst of a crowd of people.

There are strong themes of calling out false teachers, especially here in 2 Timothy. By keeping his doctrine pure,

Timothy was also to keep himself pure, walking in holiness and not wandering from the truth into sin.

That's where false teaching takes you. It takes you away from the pursuit of holiness in Christ.

It takes you into more and more godlessness. We saw that even at the end of 1 Timothy.

So this is a theme that is shared between 1 and 2 Timothy. Sound doctrine leads to godliness, false doctrine leads to ungodliness.

So our first two themes, be sound in doctrine and avoid error and false teachers.

A third theme that we will see throughout this letter, follow the example that you've been given.

Paul not only names the names of false teachers, but he also gives the names of godly examples.

Go down in chapter 1 where he mentions fagellus and homogenies.

Look at verse 15. You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are fagellus and homogenies.

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly until he found me.

That's one of the hints that we have that Paul was probably not in a jail cell. He was probably thrown in a hole because they couldn't find him.

Where is it that Paul has been thrown? Onesiphorus actually made the effort to go throughout

Rome until he found where the apostle Paul had been kept. He was not ashamed of my chains.

Verse 18. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, and you well know all the service that he rendered to me at Ephesus.

So right after we have this calling out of a false pair of teachers, fagellus and homogenies,

Paul turns around and says, God bless Onesiphorus. So we have good, solid examples that Paul presents before Timothy.

At the conclusion of the letter, there are references to numerous saints. Paul will mention those who wandered away from the faith, like Demas, for example.

But most of all, Timothy has been given an example to follow in the apostle Paul. Chapter 1, verse 13.

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me. And also chapter 3, verse 10.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, and even, verse 11, my persecutions and sufferings.

So Paul sets himself even as an example for Timothy to follow. And this is not in any way arrogant because this is a guy riding from a hole in the ground.

He's not boasting in himself, but encouraging Timothy to follow the good examples of those sound teachers that have been set before him.

A fourth theme that we will find in 2 Timothy is the encouragement to persevere in the midst of hardship.

Timothy was to be ready to suffer persecution and all other kinds of trials. In chapter 3, verse 12,

Paul says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Underline that verse. Memorize it. Be reminded of it.

You will be hated just because you want to live a godly life. You don't have to go downtown and stand on a box and preach the gospel.

You just want to live an ethical, godly life. And because you won't fall in line with the world, they will hate you for that.

And Paul says, just by desiring to live a godly life, you'll be persecuted. Sometimes he might even find himself deserted by those he thought were his friends, as Paul had been.

In chapter 4, he mentions that Demas, in love with this world, deserted him and went back to Thessalonica.

He says in verse 16 of chapter 4, at my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me.

Yet, he graciously adds, may it not be counted against them, giving

Timothy another example to follow. And I am reminded of the words of our Lord Christ.

We'll consider this when we get there to chapter 4. But what did Jesus pray from the cross? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

This is, after all, how Jesus responded when his own disciples deserted him when he was arrested.

Christ didn't, on the cross, say, well, this mission is over. All of my disciples ran away when

I was hanging on this cross. In fact, after Jesus rose from the dead, he comes back to Peter and asks him three times,

Peter, do you love me? After Peter denied him three times. As we've seen the same diligence and love and mercy that has come from our

Lord Christ, so Paul follows that example and sets that example before Timothy as well.

We must be gracious and willing to forgive one another. And this is part of persevering in the midst of hardship.

Number five, a fifth theme that we will see here in this letter,

Paul encourages Timothy to be a good soldier, a good athlete, and a good farmer.

Like these are themes that we see that come up in the letter and they are repeated throughout 2 Timothy.

Paul introduces these metaphors in chapter two, but elements of each example occur throughout the letter.

Chapter two, verses three through six, Paul says, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, Paul says, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

And through these metaphors, we recognize that the soldier represents duty, the runner, self -discipline, and the farmer, patience.

When Paul says in chapter two, verse 14, charge them before God not to quarrel about words.

Well, that sounds like a soldier giving orders and is not to be entangled in the affairs of everyday life. When Paul says in chapter two, verse 22, flee youthful passions.

That sounds like a runner who's supposed to run far away, right? When Paul says in chapter four, verse two, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season.

That is the daily work of a farmer. Farmers are farming in season and out of season.

Doesn't matter whether your crop is in season, a farmer still has work to do. And at the end of the letter,

Paul repeats those themes again when he says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith. We see the themes of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

A sixth theme that we will see throughout this letter, Paul will encourage

Timothy, he will instruct Timothy, preach the gospel without ceasing.

No matter what happens, Timothy was to continue preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another way of understanding this is that Timothy needed to fulfill the requirements of his office as a pastor.

Back to chapter four, verse two again, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season.

Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and teaching. As I've heard Steve Lawson explain this, be ready in season and out of season.

It's another way of saying 24 -7, 365. All the time, you need to be ready to preach the word.

There's never a time when it is out of season. It's just a way to say that all the time, you should be ready to fulfill the role of your office.

Preach the word is the office. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and teaching are the requirements of that office.

So in Timothy's role as a pastor, if he persevered in this work, he would receive a great reward of God at the very end.

In verse eight, Paul says, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day, and not only me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

And so Paul promises that this promise of reward, this is bound up with preaching the gospel without ceasing.

So we see in two verses 11 and 12, if we have died with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him. And in chapter four, verse eight, we will receive the crown of righteousness if we endure to the end.

Now, finally, so we've had these six themes, and these have been the six imperatives.

Be sound in doctrine. Avoid error and false teachers. Follow the example you've been given.

Persevere in the midst of hardship. Be a good soldier, athlete, and farmer. And preach the gospel without ceasing.

So there's our six imperatives. And now, finally, a seventh theme, which is a word of encouragement.

The Lord will be with you. Timothy would persevere in all these things, not by his own strength, but by the power of the

Holy Spirit working within him. In chapter two, verse one, Paul says, you therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Even if no one else stood with Timothy, the Lord would be with him.

After Paul talked about being deserted, he says in chapter four, verse 17, but the

Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and all the

Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

Now then, as we have considered these things thus far, we've looked at the author and the recipient, the background of the letter.

We've considered the themes of this letter. Let us look at the structure of the letter. I'll go through this very briefly.

Probably be better if I had an outline up on the screen for you here. But a structure of the letter would look like this.

Let me break it down this way. Number one, we have passing the torch, and that's going to be the passage that we look at next week as we come back to verses one through seven.

We have, first of all, this greeting in verses one and two, and then an expression of thankfulness in verses three through eight as Paul prepares to pass the torch onto Timothy.

Secondly, we have hold and guard, and this is in chapter one again, verses eight to 18 through the rest of the chapter.

There's an exhortation in verses eight through 11, and then Paul gives examples in verses 12 to 18.

Remember, you have the example of the false teachers. Don't be like them, but the example of the sound guy, Onesiphorus, be like him in this instruction to hold and guard.

Number three, we have the presentation of the soldier, athlete, and farmer.

This is in chapter two, verses one through seven. Then fourthly, we have the instruction to remember

Christ Jesus, chapter two, verses eight through 13. Fifthly, we have the presentation of approved workers.

This is in chapter two, verses 14 to 19. So you have two words to the approved workers in verse 14, and then two words to Timothy, which will come in verses 15 to 19.

Sixth, there is this metaphor that Paul gives about vessels of honor.

That's in chapter two, verses 20 to 26. And then seventh, he contrasts that with vessels of dishonor.

That's in chapter three, verses one through nine. Eight, Paul says to continue in what you have learned, chapter three, verses 10 through 17.

And he calls Timothy to remember Paul's faithfulness, and then also remember what you've been taught.

It's like we come right back to the theme we saw at the beginning of the letter, where Paul instructed Timothy to remember what

Paul had been through and to remember those things that he had been taught even from his childhood. And then finally, at number nine,

Paul says Christ will judge, chapter four, verses one through eight, and then the

Lord will rescue in chapter four, verses nine through 22. So that's our structure of the letter of 2

Timothy, broken down into 10 parts here. So as we have considered these things now, what are some practical applications?

So we've looked at this letter, we've seen the structure of the letter, and by the way, brilliantly structured letter.

I say that with every book of the Bible that I go through. But it is just a brilliantly written letter.

And when it comes to teaching men how to exegete the scriptures, the first book that I go to is 2

Timothy. Because the way that Paul has laid out this letter, it's short enough and contains such themes and is structured in just such a solid way that it becomes a book that is very easy to go through in teaching other men how to find those themes of the letter, how to exegete scripture, and even to teach it to others.

So what are some practical applications that we might be able to take away from 2 Timothy as we come to this book?

Well, being a pastoral letter, the applications for pastors should be obvious. Preach the word, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Well, in chapter 2 verse 15, we read, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

That's actually the theme verse for Awana, for those of you who grew up in Awana. Later in verse 26,

Paul says, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

But even in this, we should be able to identify those applications that would be given to all of us.

We all need to be unashamed for the gospel. We all need to accurately handle the word of truth.

We all need to persevere in the midst of trials and hardships, lest we show ourselves to have never been believers of the gospel at all.

We all need to be prepared to face persecution and ridicule for what it is that we believe.

And they're not going to call you Christians when they hate you, by the way. As I've heard

Paul Washer say, your suffering will not be noble. I think we all kind of have this idea of suffering for Christ.

It's going to be, yeah, it's going to be painful. It's going to be hard, but people are going to cheer me on. They're going to champion me. Oh, look at that guy who's suffering for the cause of Christ.

Listen, the world won't even acknowledge that you're suffering for the cause of Christ. They're going to call you names like bigots and homophobes and xenophobes and supremacists and Christian nationalists.

And by the way, our culture is already attempting to make a distinction between a

Christian nationalist and a Christian. They won't try to berate the

Christians. They know that's not going to go over well. So instead, we're going to identify the things about them we don't like, and we're going to give them a different name.

We're going to call them Christian nationalists. In February, a

Politico reporter was a guest on MSNBC, and she said the following, quote, the thing that unites them as Christian nationalists, not

Christians, by the way, because Christian nationalism is very different, is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, did not come from any earthly authority.

They don't come from Congress. They don't come from the Supreme Court. They come from God, unquote.

You mean what every true Christian has believed for the last 2 ,000 years of church history?

Hmm, that even our founding fathers believed? The Declaration of Independence says we believe in certain inalienable rights endowed by our creator.

So Christian nationalism is really just a subversive term for Christians. They don't want to say that they're attacking the

Christians, so they'll give it a different label. It's biblical Christianity that they hate.

But they know that if they're going to be blatant about it, they're not going to be able to recruit as many people to their cause.

Even some professing Christians who have taken the bait have joined the fray in calling out

Christian nationalism. And then there are others who have foolishly embraced the term Christian nationalism, even drawing lines in the sand, saying that a person is not being a biblically faithful Christian if they haven't embraced

Christian nationalism. It's all ridiculously confusing. What did

Paul tell Timothy to do? Find the latest cultural trend and either fight it or embrace it.

No, he said preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season.

Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Be a vessel that's worthy of honor.

Don't be a vessel that will be cast to destruction. All of us need to learn how to be good soldiers, focused athletes, patient farmers.

We must fight in the spiritual sense to guard the gospel and share in suffering. And that's not something that we're meant to do alone.

That's something that we do together as the church, as the body of Christ. Just as Timothy was instructed to entrust these things to faithful men who carry the torch of the gospel into the next generation, we need to be able to do the same.

We have a great church here. And being small does not make us any less a great church.

These are wonderful people to fellowship with and worship with and grow in Christ with.

But we can't become complacent in that. There's a whole world that needs to hear the gospel.

And there's a reason why God has this church in Casa Grande. We need to add to these ranks and not primarily fight a culture war, but because if they're not part of the church, we know that they're going to hell.

And that's our motivation for preaching the gospel to others. Because we know the gospel saves, and we need to take that to the world.

We know that this world is a wicked place and that God's judgment is coming against it.

And only the gospel will save a person from the judgment that is to come. Listen, this country is going a very wicked way.

Absolutely it is. But our primary concern is not to change the culture.

Our primary concern is that individual souls are going to hell. And it is only through the gospel that they can be saved.

Maybe God would grant repentance to this nation and it would turn around. We're going to see that come up in chapter two, as a matter of fact.

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. We should pray for that. I would hope to desire that.

But it is God who grants repentance. We must be faithful to those things that we have been called to do.

As I've heard Votie Bauckham say, I'm just in communications. My daddy is the one in sales, and he's the one who closes the deal.

So let us be faithful and concerned with these things, these instructions that we've been given to go out into the world with.

The world that Paul describes in 2 Timothy as being lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self -control, without gentleness, without love for good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

That's chapter three, verses two through four. We know that's going to be the world around us as long as we live here.

And there's nothing in the Bible that says there won't ever be a time where the world won't be like that prior to Christ's return.

But as is said in 2 Timothy 2 26, we are to correct our opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

Not long ago, I was listening to Harry Reader. He was a pastor of a church in Birmingham and passed away just last year.

These were not Reader's last words, but they were the last words that I heard from him before he died.

Harry Reader said, because of the advent of social media, the battle for the gospel is probably not a generation to generation thing anymore.

It's more like a decade to decade thing. And we need to be diligent to be preaching the gospel to one another and to our children.

Reader said, we could have a great sanctuary, a tremendous youth center, and an awesome children's wing.

But if the gospel isn't being preached there, it's just a waste of time and money. Facilities don't save people.

The gospel of Jesus Christ saves people. That's encouraging to us who has a small facility.

So let us together, by the instructions that are given to us by the Holy Spirit of God through this letter in 2

Timothy, guard the gospel and share in suffering from our

Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read to you 2 Timothy 4 .8 once again, and I'm going to replace the word me with the word us.

And we would read it this way. In the future, there is laid up for us the crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge will award to us on that day.

And not only to us, but to all who have loved his appearing.

Through his wounds our joys supply, so that all condemnation cease.

Let hills have no more the level slain, and the wealth of strong ones and the weak are the same under his blood.

For empty hand it all must come to receive his endless love.

So let all condemnation cease, let hills have no more the slain.

Let the devil lose all dominion, for the

Lamb was slain, and the

Lamb was praised.

This is When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours.

But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family. Find a good, gospel -teaching,

Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.