A friendly welcome
back to Daily Bread. Our study of Paul’s second letter to Timothy continues,
and you may have noticed, that several times now in this letter, Paul
stresses to Timothy how important teaching is. Preach the Word, admonish,
exhort, teach, testify, instruct, pass it on! Paul knows that those who
believe, get a seat (in Heaven), and when the music stops, like in musical
chairs, he doesn’t want to see anyone still standing. He wants as many as
possible to become believers.
Another thing you
may notice in the upcoming letters from other Apostles, is that they all
spoke as if the End
Times was at hand in their own lifetimes. That’s because Jesus said to
be ready (Matthew
24:42-44) and that nobody knows when that time will be (Mark
13:32).
For some people it
may seem silly to live your life preparing for something that you aren’t
certain will happen in your lifetime, but if you ask the residents of New
Orleans if they wish they had prepared for hurricane Katrina, you’d surely
get an emphatic YES to your question, and friends, if you’ve ever
read the Olivet Discourse (Matthew, Chapter 24) or The Revelation of Jesus
Christ to St. John, the End Times makes hurricane Katrina look like a calm
breeze . . . Literally!
Soooooooo, were all the
efforts of the Apostle's in vain cuz the End Times did not come at that
time? God forbid. In fact if ya think about it ... When each soul dies, what
they believed at THAT time is what path they will take after death.
Heaven or Hell.
Now, with that in
mind, you may better appreciate Paul’s sense of urgency to tell Timothy to
get the Word out! So after Paul gives Timothy a little “picture if you will”
scenario about the manner of people who will exist near the end of time (in
Chapter 3 of this
letter), he further urges Timothy:
I charge you (I
give you the obligation) therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom;
preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort (advise) with all patience and doctrine.
Time out for a
little Daily Bread Crumb. What does it mean to be instant in season and out
of season? Well, to be instant is to be readily prepared and the meaning of
season for this intent and purpose is the time or moment when some thing or
circumstance is most useful, valuable or favorable. When you put it all
together, Paul is saying, Man, whether it’s the perfect time or not, BE
PREPARED to spread the Gospel.
You don’t have to
be at a Church or a Bible study to spread the Word. Jesus didn’t only teach
in the Temple. Here’s a comparison. One time He was at a watering well and
spoke soul saving words to a Samaritan woman. Paul says be ready, anytime,
anywhere to share TRUTH. The most out of season times and places are
probably going to be when and where the people are that need to be
introduced to Jesus the most.
Paul writes: A time is
coming when people won’t listen to sound doctrine, but they’ll go find
themselves teachers who preach only the things that they want to hear (not
the truth), having itching ears (eager to hear things that satisfy their own
selfish desires), and they’ll turn their ears away from the truth to be
pacified with lies.
Now, you be
careful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist (a
preacher of the Gospel), making a complete success of your ministry. For I
am now ready to be offered (given to the Lord), and the time of my departure
(end) is near. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race),
I have kept the Faith, so there is a crown of righteousness waiting for me,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day (judgment
day), and not only to me, but to all them also that love His appearing.
Here Paul catches
Timothy up on the whereabouts of some of their mutual friends, as well as
the disloyalty of some others. Try your best to visit me soon, because Demas
has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and he went to
Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia and Titus went to Dalmatia. Only Luke
(Author of the Gospel of Luke) is with me. Bring Mark with you when you
visit, because he is useful to me for the ministry, and I have sent Tychicus
to Ephesus. The coat I left with Carpus in Troas, when you visit, bring it
with you, along with the books, but especially the papers. Alexander, the
coppersmith did me much evil. May the Lord reward him according to his
works, but you beware of him too, because he has greedily fought against our
words.
Nevertheless, the
Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that through me, the preaching might
be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver (rescue) me from
every evil work, and will preserve me for His heavenly kingdom, to whom be
glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Greet Prisca
(short for Priscilla) and Aquila (from
Acts, Chapter 18),
and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained in Corinth but I left
Trophimus in Miletum sick. Try your best to visit before winter. Eubulus
greets you, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Grace be with you.
Amen.
Don’t you love to
receive letters from people who are dear to you? Do you have a shoebox in
your closet that has cherished letters inside that you remember almost every
word of? You may have heard this before, but the Bible is God’s love letter
to us. Ask yourself this question. If I received a letter or an e-mail from
a loved one ... #1, Would I dare think of not reading it? #2, If there was
something in it that I didn’t understand, could I rest if I didn’t search to
find out what it meant? #3, Would there be certain parts I would skip? And
let me ask you this. If your loved one wrote you every day for a year, would
you look forward to checking your mailbox each and every day and sitting
down with your coffee or tea to enjoy and hold on to every word? Sometimes
the angle you use to look at something from, can completely change the way
you see it. What if God felt like you put His love letter to you in a
shoebox and never read it, or brought it out only from time to time to
glance at and then tucked it back up in the closet until the next time
(maybe another few years) you get a hankering to dig it out again? Oh, it
may be right there on the coffee table and get just as little attention as
if it were in the closet. Just something to ponder on.
When Paul wrote,
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, he probably didn’t expect that
the words in his letter would actually become scripture one day, but
they have. Through Paul’s words to Timothy, the
Holy Spirit
is talking to us, giving us encouragement, reminding us of our
responsibilities, telling us to be good soldiers of Christ in our own fight
of Faith. He tells us to persevere, warns us of the adversary and that we
face many challenges ahead. Be strong, be meek. The war that a Christian
soldier fights is not with physical strength, but rather by adhering to HIS
Spirit that you defeat the enemy. The Holy Spirit can sure pack a lot into
one letter.
Just as with any
other letter you receive, you’ll probably want to read it through again
sometime, and you’re sure to find things you missed when you read it the
first time. Hope you enjoyed our study of The Second Epistle of Paul the
Apostle to Timothy and congratulations on completing yet another study in
the New Testament!
P.S. Join us again
next time for The Epistle of Paul to Titus, right here at Daily Bread. God
Bless!
