2 Timothy 4 Sermon Notes

2 Timothy 4 Bible Study Notes

4:1 - "...in view of His appearing and His kingdom"

·         Paul still believed in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

·         Paul was in ministry for 30 years and his earliest letters mentioned the return of Jesus and now so many years and experiences later, he still believed it with all his heart.

4:2 - "Preach the Word!"

·         Paul's emphasis on the Word of God has been constant

·         There are 36 or so references of the true Gospel (not Paul's) in this letter

·         There are 17 or so references to false teachings as well

                        "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (2TIM1:8)

                        "Hold fast the pattern of sound words" (2TIM1:13)

                        "The things that you have hear from me among many witnesses, commit                                                          these to faithful men." (2TIM2:2)

                        "Rightly dividing the Word of truth." (2TIM2:15)

                        "A servant of the Lord must be... able to teach." (2TIM2:24)

                        "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." (2TIM3:16)

·         Preach the Word! Not ourselves.

                  -Not everyone who opens a Bible and starts talking is preaching                                                  the  Word.

                  -We must always remember to be preaching the WORD

   - "Be ready in season and out of season"

·         A pastor should always be ready. We should always be ready. To preach the Word when it's easy and when it's hard. We should preach when the fruit is evident or when the fruit seems invisible. We should just preach.

                                    - Preach (v) - to make known

   - "Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching"

·         Simply hold up the Word of God and let God do the work.

·         Preach the Word of God and let Holy Spirit do the rest!

4:3, 4 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

·         Man by natural instinct does not want God's revelation. Truth is the opposite of sin. We are sin fallen man and naturally don't respond well to truth. We naturally are rebellious and stubborn in nature because we are from the seed of Adam, who was the fallen man. But because we are born again by the seed of Christ we are hungry for and crave God's Word. So if someone is operating or living life in the old ways of the seed of Adam, then they won't be in the victory of the seed of Christ and they won't want to hear the truth.

·         Everyone wants to hear what they want to hear. This is so applicable to today.      

"They will heap up for themselves teachers."

·         Popular teachers aren't necessarily the most faithful teachers.

·         We shouldn't assume a teacher is "scratching itching ears just because he is popular, but neither should we assume that he is faithful to God's Word just because he is popular. 

"And be turned aside to fables"

            "When a man rejects God's truth, it isn't that he believes in nothing; he will                          believe in anything." (Guzik)

·         Here are some Fables that "Church" goers believe

                                    1. You must earn your way before God

                                    2. God only loves you when you are good    

                                    3. You are better than others cause you are Christian

                                                ---THESE ARE FABLES/LIES---

4:5 - "BUT you, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry"

                        "But you"

·         is a contrast word against the people mentioned previously who believe in Fables and follow False Teachers.

·         Paul wanted to encourage Timothy to be even more dedicated to doing what God wanted him to do. Their presence wasn't to make him discouraged, but more dedicated.

            "The more determined men become to despise the teachings of Christ, the more      zealous should godly ministers be to assert it and the more strenuous their efforts   to preserve it entire." (Calvin)

            "endure afflictions"

·         ministry isn't just awesome Jesus moments all the time, there are plenty of wonderful blessings in serving God but there are also afflictions to be endured.

            "fulfill your ministry"

·         Paul gave similar commands to others throughout his life (Archippus - Colossians 4:17) and he knew what it was to fulfill his own ministry (Acts 12:25)

·         Here are some of the many reasons why someone's ministry goes unfulfilled

                                   

                                    -Fear   

                                    -Unbelief

                                    -The cares of the world

                                    -The fear of man

                                    -Criticism and discouragement

                                    -Besetting sin

4:6, 7 - "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

·         A drink offering brought wine before the Lord and poured it out at His altar. It was a way to give the Lord a sacrifice, just as they used to do with animals.

·         If you want to look at where "drink offerings" are first presented you can find that in Genesis 35:14 where Jacob poured out a drink offering before the Lord as a sacrifice. You can also find it in the Mosaic Law in Exodus 29:40-41 and Leviticus 23:13

·         "Poured out" has the idea of complete giving, with no reservation. The liquid is completely emptied from the cup, and totally give to God.

·         This is really intense! Remember Paul is in prison facing execution. He was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice!

                        "He considers himself as on the eve of being sacrificed, and looks upon his blood as the libation which was poured on the sacrificial offering. He   could not have spoken thus positively had not the sentence of death been already passed upon him." (Clarke)

"the time of my departure is at hand."

·         This exhortation to Timothy is even more meaningful because he knew he was passing from the scene and Timothy must carry the torch. God's workmen pass on, but God's work continues.

"I have finished the race"

·         Paul like using the picture of the race and the Christian being an athlete, we see     that in Philippians 3:12-14, Acts 20:24, 1 Corinthians 9:24, and Hebrews 12:1 - and now we see that Paul knew his race was just about finished

4:8 - "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."

·         Paul knew there was a crown waiting for him in heaven and he was ready to receive it and he was certain of it.

·         There are 2 crowns mentioned in the NT, one is a royal crown and one is the victors crown (stephanos). Paul here is referring to the victors crown, essentially like a trophy.

·         Before Paul was a Christian he supervised the execution of the first martyr and then began to kill as many other Christians as he could. But now at the end of his life he was ready to receive a crown - a stephanos. It is likely that he remembered the name of the first martyr who died at his own hands: Stephanos (Stephen)

                                    What a story of redemption! The Lord can use anyone to accomplish great things for His Kingdom!

·         Some people wonder if we will be walking around in heaven with crowns on, and everyone will see whose is bigger and whose is smaller. But in Revelation 4:10 we see that the elders surrounding the throne of God take their crowns and cast them before Jesus - giving any trophy they have received right back to Jesus.

"Which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day"

            "This is most probably the last letter the apostle ever wrote and it is impossible to see him in a more advantageous point of view than he now appears, standing on the verge of eternity, full of God, and strongly anticipating an eternity of glory." (Clarke)

·         Some Christians worry about their crown... if they will get one, if it is small, if the  Lord will be disappointed in you... don't! Ignore speculations and simply serve and glorify God and the crown will take care of itself. Remember that Jesus Christ has already given us His crown and took our crown of thorns.

4:9-13

·         These verses just show that Paul is human... He wanted them to come quickly because he was simply lonely. This also showed that Paul only had a cloak and some books and some parchment with the Old Testament on it. He was a true missionary, a man of few earthly possessions.

4:16-18

            "May it not be held against them" shows that Paul wasn't bitter toward all the people who                        forsook him or deserted him. This is powerful evidence of a great work of grace and spiritual                        maturity.

·         Paul knew that God would always deliver him. Out of the mouth of the lion or being brought home to His heavenly Kingdom.

            "To Him be the glory forever and ever."              

·         This shows unreasonable optimism and joy. Paul faced his last moments of life and he was, but many accounts, penniless, friendless, possession-less, cold, without adequate clothing, and destined for soon death. Yet, especially knowing the heavenly reward waiting for him, he would not trade his place with anyone.

4:22

            "Amen" - Paul invited Timothy to affirm all this by an agreeing "amen". Paul had fulfilled his ministry and was ready to receive his reward and he wanted Timothy to do the same.