You therefore, my son, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things which you have heard
from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who
will be able to teach others also. 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. And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does
not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working
farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. (2:1-6 NAS)
…Preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and
instruction.
For the time will come when they will
not endure sound doctrine…
But you, be sober in all things, endure
hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry…I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. (4:2-3, 5, 7-8 NAS)
Paul the Scrapper
These words are almost standard fare for
the Apostle Paul: Words of admonishment, words of advice, explanations of clear
doctrine.
Paul was a fighter. He fought his
whole life.
Before he became a believer in Jesus Christ, he fought the Christians, persecuting them and getting them thrown into prison. After his meeting with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, his life made a 180-degree turn about. That is, he was converted
Before he became a believer in Jesus Christ, he fought the Christians, persecuting them and getting them thrown into prison. After his meeting with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, his life made a 180-degree turn about. That is, he was converted
That is what conversion is, after all—making
a complete turnabout. His zeal, however, remained just as strong; except now he
was fighting all who would oppose the
gospel, instead of fighting the gospel itself.
“You who are full of all deceit and
fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,” he told Elymas
the magician. “Will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the
Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind
and not see the sun for a time” (Acts 13:10-11).
These are not words of a timid man.
This is how we are accustomed to seeing Paul. Never flinching: never backing
down: never giving up.
“All the saints greet you, especially
those of Caesar’s household,” he told the Philippians (4:22).
Paul wrote these words while a prisoner
of Caesar. He was under house arrest and had a Roman guard with him at all
times. It was these of Caesar’s household whom he had led to the Lord.
Even as he was a prisoner of the empire
of Rome, we see Paul as victorious.
It was on the way to Rome that the ship
that Paul was on endured gale force winds. Paul and the rest of the people onboard
were finally shipwrecked. It was only the words of Paul that kept the crew
safe. Without his advice, many, if not all, would have surely perished.
This is Paul—always in control, always
on top of things.
When Paul writes, he writes to teach
doctrine, to give advice, to encourage, and perhaps to reprove. We see the same
type of writing in Second Timothy. As I have said in an earlier chapter of this
book, when we study a book of the Bible, we are accustomed to outlining it and
dissecting it much like a specimen in biology class.
This is not wrong. In fact, it is quite
helpful. It is systematic study, and it is exegesis. By this method, we find
and learn the true doctrines of the Bible and understand who God is in a more
complete manner. Nevertheless, it is also helpful to remember the occasions on
which the passage was written.
A Letter to a Friend
The book of Second Timothy is more than
another book in a series of instructional essays. Of course it is true that
what Paul wrote is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is “profitable for
teaching, reproof, correcting, and for training in righteousness.”
But in addition to this, it is helpful
to remember that it was first and foremost a letter. It was a letter to a
friend. It is true that the book was inspired by the Holy Spirit to also be
used as Scripture, but as well as that, it was a letter that one man wrote to
another.
I think it is important to remember
this fact, because we sometimes get the idea that the men and women of the
first century church, and indeed all the characters of the Bible, were somehow
different than us. We find we have trouble identifying with them.
However, in the second letter to
Timothy, we see the humanness of Paul like nowhere else, except perhaps in his
second letter to the Corinthians. It is especially in these two letters that we see
another side of Paul. In these letters, we see a Paul who is distressed about
something that had happened in his life.
In the second of his letters to Timothy,
despite his words of advice to his young friend, Paul was not on top of things.
He was in prison, but he was not busy converting the Roman guards as he seems
to have been doing when he wrote to the Philippians.
When Paul wrote this letter to his
friend Timothy, he was lonely and languishing in a dungeon. The man Onesiforus,
who visited Paul, and for whose visit Paul was very thankful, had to search
Rome to even find out where Paul was imprisoned. In many ways, Paul felt
abandoned. In many ways, he had been
abandoned.
The New Testament book of Second
Timothy was a letter. Letters have purposes, and letters often can give an
impression of the emotional state of the writer. There is something about an
actual physical letter that is especially given to this. It is more difficult
to get the same sense in an email or a text message. But a pen put to a paper
is more tactile. It puts you more in touch with the writer.
You also may have gotten letters like
that from a friend or family member. As far as the actual words that were
written, there may not be too much that one could place one’s finger on, but we
could tell that the letter was written just because the writer needed someone
to talk to. I think this is how it was for Paul in writing to Timothy.
Paul was nearing the end of his life on
this earth (4:6-7). Second Timothy is his last writing; at least, it is the
last that we now have in existence. Paul was assessing his own life. He was
reminiscing about what had gone well and what had not. I think it was a time of
great introspection for him.
He needed his friend to talk with. Luke
was with him. Luke had been a faithful friend, walked many hundreds of miles
with Paul, and rode the ships of the Mediterranean with him.
Nevertheless, Paul also wanted Timothy
to come, before winter if he could. Paul said, “Oh, and bring my cloak. I left
it in Troas with Carpus.”
Why was he eager for Timothy to come?
It was not because he needed his cloak for the winter. Paul wanted to
strengthen Timothy in the faith. Others of Paul’s helpers had not been so
faithful. This was a great disappointment to Paul, and judging by the tone of
his letter, it hurt him deeply.
A Letter to Affirm a Friendship
“You are aware of the fact that all who
are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes,” Paul
wrote to Timothy (1:15). He then mentions Hymenaeus and Philetus, who had taken
the true doctrine that Paul had taught them and twisted it and perverted it
(2:17-18).
However, I think the person who hurt
Paul the most deeply, and perhaps even what prompted him to write the letter,
is found in this statement: “Make every effort to come to me soon, for Demas,
having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica”
(4:9-10).
Demas, like Timothy, had been one of
Paul’s helpers, one of his co-workers. Demas had been with Paul through many
difficult circumstances. He had even earlier served time with Paul in prison.
But in the end, Demas became tired of
the battle. He decided that the attractions of the world were more appealing
than his work for the gospel. He abandoned Paul. Perhaps it was this, at least
partially, that caused Paul to write to his young friend about “entrusting the
gospel to faithful men,” and that “no soldier in active service entangles
himself in the affairs of everyday life.”
However, despite Paul’s disappointment
with Demas, he had maintained a greater confidence in Timothy. He says, “For I
am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your
grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as
well” (2 Timothy 1:5, NAS). Timothy’s heritage went back to his family.
A Letter to a Family Member
We really do not know very much about
Paul’s personal life, but it may be that Timothy was about as close to family
that Paul had ever had. Paul had poured much of his life into Timothy. He calls
Timothy “my beloved son.”
In his first letter to Timothy, he
calls him “my true child in the faith.” Of course, Timothy was not Paul’s
biological son, but Paul saw in Timothy the fruit of his spiritual life. He
tells Timothy to “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the
laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6, NAS).
I like this illustration of spiritual
fruit. They show that Paul knew Timothy in his formative years, he cultivated
and saw Timothy as he grew, and he knew Timothy as he matured. Paul trusted him
as no other. Paul had many on whom he relied, many people whom he had
discipled, but of Timothy he said to the church at Philippi, “But I hope in the
Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged
when I learn of your condition. For I
have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your
welfare” (Philippians 2:19-20 italics mine).
Others had deserted Paul. This was a
great discouragement to him. Nevertheless, despite that hurt, Paul could go
back to Timothy. He knew Timothy, and he knew of Timothy’s faithfulness. Their
history together was deep.
And now in prison, Paul needed to see
Timothy. He needed the encouragement of his son.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “Make every
effort to come before winter.”
Encouraging One Another
The Proverbs tell us, “A friend loves
at all times, and a brother is born for times of adversity” (Proverbs 17:17).
The writer of Hebrews says, “Encourage
one another every day, so that none of you will find your heart hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin. Let us consider how to inspire one another to have the
courage to love, and to do good.
“Do
not neglect meeting together. This is what some do. But you should encourage
one another—and all the more as you see the final days drawing near” (Hebrews
3:13; 10:24-25).
In my own life, I have been fortunate
in having the great privilege to have many co-workers in the faith in several
countries. Those who are involved with the work of the gospel know the level of
discouragement that can come with it. True workers of the gospel do not work
for a paycheck. If that were all, we could at least see some rewards in our
work every two weeks.
If we were soldiers, we could see
victories in battle.
If we were construction workers, we
could see buildings going up.
In fact, we do not work for anything
that is tangible. We work for nothing that we can put our hands on. We work for
the lives of men and women and of boys and girls. We work that the name of
Jesus and his teaching be known, and that people might put their faith in Jesus
as their Savior.
There is no concrete measure to our
progress in this work, although many try to quantify it by various means. Some
look at things such as attendance numbers, or numbers of “conversion cards”
filled out. But the truth is, no one really knows. Attendance numbers may be
indicators that your work is having some effect, and cards filled out may seem
promising, but these things mean absolutely nothing unless the person has
actually decided to follow Jesus.
The truth is, the results of those who
work for the gospel will never be known in this life. Those results will only
be made known in eternity. That is our reward. That is our crown. But that is
also why our work here is can become discouraging. We do not even know if our
efforts are bearing any lasting results.
And that is why having the
encouragement of brothers and sisters involved in the same work is so
important.
I have been fortunate in my life to
have some of these.
As examples of how we can encourage on
another, here are some words from brothers in other parts of the world that
have encouraged me in the past. I leave the text largely untouched, so it may
read a little broken and peculiar; but remember also, English is the second or
even third language of some of these people. Some of this I have also
translated from Spanish. The following is a compilation from a few different
sources:
Dear fellow co-worker,
Grace, peace, Love, Power, joy and
glory from the father of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ be unto you. We are
very much glad because we believe and trust you are well. We are so glad for
the prayers you are offering for our church. They are availing much because
many souls are being added to the church and to the heaven Kingdom. That is our
purpose—that many come to know the saving grace and accept Jesus as their
personal savior.
Never be afraid nor dismayed of the
people who are trying to hinder you. You will never see them, and our Father
who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light will fight for you.
Beloved the one who has called you and
has watch over you will never sleep or close eyes and ears to your cry, will be
there help you and is closer even now and will make you come out victoriously.
Be assured that God is with you now; He
will be in you then; and He is for you forever, all year round; His words will
not change concerning you despite the attacks and He will guide you to the
success.
May God manifest himself to you always
according to his will, and continue to use your efforts as rocks to build his
kingdom.
Praise to God for your prayers really
we are seeing great work taking place here. Our fellow co-laborer in the lord,
continue doing it for to God it’s not in vain. God has laid reward and crowns
for you in heaven keep up the same spirit.
We thank God for the connection in the spirit and the relationship has
instituted for us to be an encouragement to each other.
***** *************
These have been some who have
encouraged me in the past.
At another time in Paul’s ministry,
before he wrote his last letter to Timothy, he said in a letter to the people of
the church in Colossae, “I want them to be encouraged and knit together by
strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they
understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself” (Colossians 2:2
NLT).
And to the Thessalonians, final words
to them and also to us: “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as
you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
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