The Second Letter to
Timothy
Written by the apostle Paul
Written in prison at Rome
Written to Timothy, Paul's fellow missionary and his "son in the faith" about A.D. 67
Written as a farewell letter to his beloved disciple, encouraging him to preach the gospel with unflagging zeal, whatever the opposition or cost
I PRAY FOR YOU, TIMOTHY Read II Timothy 1:1-5
Paul's second letter to Timothy begins with a fervent expression of personal affection. I have longed to see you [he says]; I pray for you night and day, and I have not forgotten your own tears when we last met. The genuineness of your faith I recognize as having been planted first in your grandmother, Lois, and then in your mother, Eunice, and now in you.
STIR UP GOD'S GIFT IN YOU Read 1:6-10
Let me encourage you to stir up the gift of God, which you received through me at your ordination. It is no cowardly spirit that God has given to us, but rather a spirit of power and love and wise discretion. Don't be timid in witnessing or embarrassed at my imprisonment, Timothy. We are to take the rough with the smooth as we spread the glad tidings of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In any case it is his grace, not our works, that saves us.
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I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED Read 1:11-18
I was appointed a herald and apostle of his message to the nations, and that is why I suffer; yet I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Keep clearly in mind the basic form of the message entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit. You probably know that Phygelus and Hermogenes and the Asian Christians have walked out. But thank God for Onesiphorus, who stood by me in my imprisonment, and refreshed and braced me in Rome — and in Ephesus as well.
HARDEN YOURSELF FOR THE STRUGGLE Read 2:1-7
Get the gospel out to others, so that the witness and the converts will be multiplied. This will require you to discipline and toughen your life. To be a successful fighter, the soldier cannot get involved; to be a competitor in the Olympic Games, an athlete must train; and to share in the fruits of the field, a farmhand has to work.
HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF Read 2:8-13
Right now, because I have preached the glad tidings that Jesus Christ, born of the line of David, rose from the dead, I have been put in jail like a thug. But the word of God is not bound, thank the Lord, and I can endure whatever comes to me for the sake of those whom God has chosen for eternal glory.
There is a faithful saying:
To die with him is to live with him;
To endure for him is to reign with him;
To deny him is to be denied by him;
If we are faithless, he will remain faithful;
For he cannot deny himself.
THE RESURRECTION IS NOT PAST Read 2:14-19
Remind the believers to whom you minister, Timothy, that religious arguments are useless. Make every effort to present yourself
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to the Lord as a proven workman who gets the job done, cutting the word of God straight and true. Stay away from the new teaching of Hymenaeus and Philetus that is spreading like gangrene. They are subverting some Christians by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place. But I am not worried; God has established his work on a solid foundation, and he knows his own.
GOD'S MAN MUST BE PATIENT Read 2:20-26
By purging himself of unrighteousness, a man becomes a useful implement in the hands of his master, available for all good work. So pursue faith, love and peace, and flee . . . youthful lusts and contentious ignorance. God's man must be gentle and patient while he teaches others, if he would bring them to the Lord.
THE END TIMES WILL BE EVIL Read 3:1-9
We know that the end times will be difficult. Men will become prouder and more savage; they will be greedy and without normal family affection; they will have a form of godliness but will deny the power thereof. Such, in fact, are these new teachers now misleading poor, weak, vacillating women, after the fashion of Jannes and Jambres, [the sorcerers of Egypt who opposed Moses]. But the foolishness of these teachers will keep them from getting very far.
ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED Read 3:10-17
You have observed and followed me closely, and you know what I went through in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, and how the Lord delivered me. Those who wish to live in Christ must expect persecution.
No matter how evil the hour, Timothy, remember what you were taught and by whom. The scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through your own faith in Christ, have been made known to you since you were an infant. All scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching the faith, for exposing faults, for correcting, and for discipline in righteousness, so that God's man may be completely outfitted to do God's work.
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DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST Read 4:1-8
Now I shall bind you, my son, before God and Christ Jesus, to proclaim the word with unflagging zeal, by instruction, rebuke and encouragement. For days will come when people will not stand for healthy Christian teaching, but will bypass it in order to have their ears tickled. Take these things as they come; your function is to do the work of an evangelist.
As for me, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. The same reward awaits me that awaits all who love his appearing: the laurel wreath of victory that spells righteousness in God's sight.
SOME PERSONAL MESSAGES Read 4:9-15
Don't postpone your coming, for Demas has deserted me for Thessalonica and the world; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Tychicus to Ephesus, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is here with me. Bring Mark when you come; also my warm winter cloak and the books and parchments. The Lord will judge Alexander the metalsmith for the evil he has done. Keep your eye on that man.
THE LORD STOOD BY AND DELIVERED Read 4:16-18
At my first arraignment everyone left me high and dry; may it not be held against them. God stayed by me, however, and gave me power to proclaim the word, and delivered me; and praise God, he will keep right on delivering me until the last great deliverance, glory to his name!
A CLOSING EXCHANGE OF GREETINGS Read 4:19-22
Greet Prisca and Aquila for me, and Onesiphorus and his family. Get here before winter if you can. Your friends and brethren send their best to you. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
The power and scope of 2nd Timothy is in inverse proportion to its length. Here Paul the prisoner wrote his "swan song," and in
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saying farewell to his young disciple he left us with a testimony that can only be described as magnificent. We can imagine what followed: trial, sentence, execution at the hands of his Roman captors.
Spend considerable time in the second chapter of this letter, for it is the product of a mind honed and tempered in the Scriptures, and a body toughened in the harshest kind of circumstances (II Corinthians 11:24-27). It appears that Paul himself was an athlete at one time (2:5) and perhaps a soldier and a farmer as well. Certainly his letters reflect a broad range of experience.
The famous passage in II Timothy 2:15 deserves examination in a number of translations. A good question for discussion might be, "What is the relation of the word 'tolerance' to 2:19?" Most important of all verses in this letter is 3:16. The way the reader reacts to the teaching of this verse will determine his attitude toward the Christian faith. It should, of course, be inseparable from verse 3:17.
Paul's valedictory in 4:7 is a model for the believer in Jesus Christ, whatever his background, circumstances, or time of life.
