II TIMOTHY---PROTECTION, PROMULGATION AND PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION

1.    II Timothy is the last letter Paul wrote.

A.   He wrote it from a Roman prison, having been incarcerated for the second time.

B.   He wrote it just prior to his death at the hands of the Empire.

C.   It is more personal than I Timothy, and shows how difficult was his life during his last days.

1)    He longs to see Timothy once more before his death and urges him to “Do your utmost to come unto me soon”. (4:9, 21)

2)    All his companions except Luke had deserted him. (4:11)

3)    He is now in a cold, damp dungeon and desires Timothy to bring his cloak to him. (4:13)

D.   It is a testimony of the triumph with which Paul faced death. (4:6-8)

2.    Considering the circumstances of Paul, we are amazed at the contents of the letter.

A.   “This greatest of saints and servants does not, in this dark hour, morbidly contemplate his coming decease, but is filled with love and desire for the welfare of Timothy, and the future of the church. With his last breath, as it were, he exhorts all who are entrusted with the Gospel to zeal, courage, and steadfastness, and warns against cowardice, infidelity and worldliness.” --Scroggie

B.   “Knowing that he may not write again, the Apostle foretells by the Spirit the further corruption of Christendom; of the coming of self-lovers, money-lovers, pleasure-lovers, and not God-lovers, men of corrupt minds and devoid of judgment concerning the faith. Surely we may say that the time which Paul predicted is even now come, and that we are not merely in the ‘latter times’, but in the ‘last days’.” --Scroggie

C.   II Timothy, like I Timothy, is occupied with the exercise of the ministry within the local church.

DATE: About 67 A.D.

PLACE OF WRITING: A Roman prison

KEY WORD: ashamed (1:8, 12, 16; 2:15)

KEY VERSES: 2:15; 3:16

THEME: The protection and defense of the faith

PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

1.    Paul’s concern for Timothy as he was confronted by the false teachers of his day

2.    Paul’s desire for fellowship with his most trusted and faithful co-worker

3.    Paul’s need of the cloak, books, and parchments which he had left at Troas

FALSE TEACHINGS

1.    False teachers were multiplying rapidly. (4:3, 4)

2.    False teachers were deceiving the saints. (3:13) They were literally leading them away from the truth.

3.    False teachers were tickling the ears of the people with their “fables”. (4:4)

A.   A fable is literally a “myth”.

B.   “One of the most successful arts of the adversary of souls has been to mingle fable with truth; and when he cannot overthrow the truth by direct opposition, to neutralize it by mingling with it much that is fake and frivolous.” --Barnes

4.    False teachers were teaching that the resurrection was past already. (2:18)

A PICTURE OF PAUL “The athlete” (4:6-8)

1.    “I have fought a good fight” - refers to the wrestler who is in mortal combat in the arena of faith.

2.    “I have finished my course” - his whole life was lived with the same determination as the Olympic athlete who strives for the goal. (cf. Phil. 3:13, 14; Heb. 12:1, 2)

3.    “I have kept the faith” - refers to a trustee who has been strong, thorough and faithful.

4.    “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” - Paul, as a winner on the racecourse of life in Christ, anticipated an honor greater than those who were victors in the Olympic games.

A PICTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN (ch. 2)

1.    A son (v. 1)

2.    A soldier (vs. 3, 4)

3.    An athlete (v. 5)

4.    A farmer (v. 6)

5.    A workman (v. 15)

6.    A vessel (v. 21)

7.    A slave (v. 24)

A SALUTE TO A GREAT SOLDIER

Dean Farrar, after detailing the course of Nero and of Paul, goes on to say: “These two men were brought face to face - imperial power and abject weakness; youth cankered with guilt, and old age crowned with holiness; he whose life had consummated the degradation, and he whose life had achieved the enfranchisement of mankind.

They stood face to face, the representatives of two races - the Semitic in its richest glory, the Aryan in its extremist degradation: the representatives of two trainings - the life of utter sacrifice, and the life of unfathomable self-indulgence: the representatives of two religions - Christianity in its dawning brightness, Paganism in its effete despair: the representatives of two theories of life - the simplicity of self-denying endurance ready to give up life itself for the good of others, the luxuries of shameless Hedonism which valued no consideration divine or human in comparison with a new sensation: the representatives of two spiritual powers - the slave of Christ and the incarnation of Antichrist.”

Scroggie follows with this: “There they were face to face; the one about thirty-one years old and the other about sixty-six. The one went to hell, and the other to heaven. Each looked on the other for the last time - the one eternally to die, and the other eternally to live. The memory of the one is loathsome and execrable, and of the other, challenging and inspiring.”

OUTLINE OF THE BOOK

  I.     INTRODUCTION (1:1-5)

 II.    EXHORTATION TO TIMOTHY (1:6-2:26)

A.   To steadfastness in the Gospel (1:6-18)

B.   To patient endurance of suffering (2:1-13)

C.   To faithfulness as a pastor (2:14-26)

III.   WARNINGS TO TIMOTHY (3:1-4:5)

A.   Concerning the perilous times to come (3:1-13)

B.   Concerning duties in such times (3:14-4:5)

IV.   PAUL’S FAREWELL (4:6-18)

A.   His satisfaction with life, and his hope at death (4:6-8)

B.   His hope during his loneliness and need (4:9-18)

V.   CONCLUSION (4:19-22)