¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:1-7 Keep the Flame Blazing

1:1-7 Keep the Flame Blazing

·         Read through the entire letter out loud.  (When I did this it took just under 10 minutes.) 

·         Overview: After reading through the letter, what seem to be reoccurring themes in it?  [Some include: suffering, courage, perseverance, confidence in Christ to save, guarding the truth, passing on the faith, false teaching, the Scriptures, and the things that are most important for Christian ministry.]

·         1: The ancient church historian Eusebius records that Paul was martyred sometime during the persecution of Nero.  Severe persecution began in AD 64 and ended in AD 68.  The letter was probably written in the year 64 or 65 AD, though some place it as late as 67 AD. 

·         1-2: As Paul wrote this letter he was sitting in a Roman prison awaiting his death.  This time, he knew that the end was near.  The previous time Paul was in prison—when he wrote the prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon—Paul was under house arrest and had certain comforts and freedoms.  This time he was imprisoned in a dungeon.  If it was the Mamertine prison in Rome, as many believe, it was a underground cell with a single hole in the ceiling for light and air.  The previous time, he could write that he expected to be released (Philippians 1:20-26, especially vs. 25).  This time he did not have that hope (2 Tim. 4:6-8).  Paul is also feeling very alone.  At the end of the letter, in 4:9-18, Paul speaks of those who had left him.  He states that at his first trial, “no one came to my defense, but everyone deserted me” (4:16).  Only Luke is with him now (4:11).  This letter is the last words that Paul would write which are included in the New Testament.  Reading this letter what all of that in mind, we can sense the gravity of Paul’s words as he wrote to Timothy, a young man that he was training to carry on the ministry.  We will see this especially in the passionate charge that Paul gives to Timothy in chapter 4:1-5. 

·         1: With this background in mind, do you think it is significant that Paul wrote the phrase “according to the promise of life”?  Life is the Greek word zoe, which is used in the NT “of the supernatural life belonging to God and Christ, which believers will receive in the future, but which they also enjoy here and now” (Knight, 364, quoting BAGD).

·         3: Paul, at the end of his life, was able to say that he served God with a clear conscience.  The word for clear means literally clean or pure.  How important do you think it will be, at the end of your life, to be able to look back on your life and say that you served God with a clear conscience?  If that is one of your goals, think about what you need to be doing today to live in light of that goal.

·         3: What can you learn here about Paul’s prayer life?  He is the one in prison facing death, yet he is constantly keeping Timothy in his prayers.  Why?

·         4: We can see Paul’s deep fatherly affection for Timothy.  (Most commentators feel that the tears were from their last time of parting.  John Piper speculates that they were from Timothy’s ordination.)

·         5: Sincere is literally unhypocritical.  Timothy’s love and trust of Christ is not acting.  Unfortunately, Paul cannot say the same thing for Demas who deserted Paul “because he loved this world” (4:10).

·         5: From this verse what can you learn about Timothy’s life?  Does it seem that he had a godly father in his life?  [Acts 16:1 tells us that Timothy’s mother was a Jewess and a believers, but his father was an unbelieving Greek.] Timothy didn’t have a godly father, but what did he have? 

·         5: What can you learn from this passage about the importance of passing on the faith?  What can you learn from this about the influence that a mother or a grandmother can have in someone’s life?  Think about the legacy that Lois and Eunice have because they passed on their faith to Timothy.

·         5: What specific things can a Christian parent do to help pass on their faith to their children or grandchildren?  [Some examples would include:

·         6: The gift of God here seems to be something that was given to Timothy when Paul and the elders ordained him for ministry.  If this is a spiritual gift, it would be an atypical situation since believers, since Acts 2, receive their spiritual gift(s) at the moment of their salvation (1 Cor. 12; Gal. 3:2; Rm. 8:9.)  Some think that Timothy’s ministry itself was the gift, since it was given at Timothy’s ordination.  The gift could also be a reference to the work of the Spirit in Timothy’s life helping him to serve God with power, love, and self-discipline. 

·         6: Fan into flame can be translated as “keep constantly blazing” (Wuest).  It does not necessarily mean that the fire had gone out or died down, but it points to the fact that Timothy had to work to keep the fire going all of the time.  It is an ongoing task.  Fires burn out and die unless there are maintained.  How does this apply to us as well?  What will happen to our flame if we do not attend to the fire?  [It may not go out, but it may smolder.]  How does a person tend to a real fire?  How does a Christian attend to the fire of their faith?  [There is more than one way that a fire can go out.  A fire needs fuel and a fire needs oxygen.  In the same way, we need to keep fueling our fire with things such as the Word of God as fuel and dependence on the Holy Spirit as oxygen.  We need to keep the fire stirred by Christian work, ministry and service.  And just as coals burn hotter when close together, we need Christian fellowship to keep our fire hot.  I don't want to get allegorical, but these are some of the things that the Bible calls us to do.  The key point is that we need to attend to our spiritual lives constantly.  When we don’t keep watch, or when we don’t put forth any effort, the fire will not blaze as it once did.]

·         7: What kind of spirit did God not give Timothy?  What kind of spirit did God give to Timothy?  Notice that Paul says that this spirit was given to “us.”  This is a spirit that was given to both Timothy and Paul.  It is likely that this is a reference not just to a spirit in the sense of an attitude, but to the Holy Spirit that God gives to all genuine believers at salvation.  (Capitalization is a decision of the translators.)  Thus God also did not give you a Spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.  Talk about each of those and how realizing this should impact our lives.

·         7: This is one of several passages that hint that Timothy had a timid personality by nature.  You yourself may not consider yourself to be bold by nature.  Neither did Timothy, and yet God used him in a mighty way.  It is not how you feel about yourself that matters, or your natural personality or your personality profile.  What matters is the power of God in your life.  He will use you beyond what you could ever expect by nature. 

·         “If you sense that God is calling you to do something far beyond your natural capabilities, you can take heart from Timothy’s life.  In truth, God always calls us to minister beyond our natural endowments, no matter how great they are.  You may be naturally eloquent, but your giftedness will never be sufficient to preach the Word.  You may be merciful my nature, but that is not enough to be able to live out the full call of God to be merciful.  Take heart!  God’s call is always too great for us to do in ourselves.  But if he calls you, he will equip and enable you to do it.”  -R. Kent Hughes, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, 172-3.

·         “God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them.  All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace.  He choose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.”  -Oswald Chambers, quoted in Hughes, 174.

⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

2 Timothy 1:8-12 Do Not Be Ashamed         

1:8-12 Do Not Be Ashamed

·         As an exercise in observation, go through chapter 1 and underline or highlight every imperative, every command that is in this chapter.  These are the specific things that Paul is telling Timothy to do.  When you get your results, look at them and notice any themes that you see.

·         8: What is Paul telling Timothy to do here?  What two commands are in this verse?  [“Do not be ashamed”, and “Join with me in suffering”]  What reason might Timothy have had to feel ashamed to testify about the Lord?  [The Christian message was something that was considered foolish by the people of that day.  In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Paul taught that, “Christ crucified [is] a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles” (vs. 23).  Crucifixion was considered so scandalous in that day that polite people wouldn’t even mention it in public.  So to think that salvation would come from a crucified backwater Jew was ridiculous to the Greeks.  The unbelieving Jews considered a crucified Messiah to be a failure.  In addition to that, people do not like to be convicted of their sin and told that they must be saved completely by grace because they are helpless to save themselves.  Because of these reasons and more, it took courage to keep on proclaiming the message about Christ without shame.]  Why might Timothy be ashamed of Paul?  [Paul had made enemies, both from unbelievers and from false believers.  As Paul wrote, he was in prison on trumped up charges.  Many others had abandoned Paul since associating with him would be a quick way to have same people upset them them.]  What situations today might be like this?   

·         8: The unmodified gospel tends to be just as unpopular to many people today.  What are some of the ways that Christianity is unpopular today? 

• People don’t like to be told they are sinners. 

• People don’t like being told that they can’t contribute anything to their salvation. 

• Some people think that anyone who would really believe the Bible is uneducated. 

• Christianity is looked down because it is “narrow-minded” and “intolerant.” 

• It isn’t politically correct to say that there is only one truth and only one way to heaven.  (Although Jesus Himself taught this in John 14:6.)

• t isn’t politically correct to say, or even believe, that homosexual acts are sinful, or that the only real marriage is between one man and one woman.

• People generally don’t like anything that gets in the way of what they want to do.  They don’t want to be knocked off the throne.  

·         8: “Join with me in suffering” is all one word in Greek, synkakopatheson.  “It is a compound of patheo, ‘suffer’; kakos, ‘bad’; and syn, ‘together’ (EBC, 11:395).”  It is a word probably coined by Paul.  When Paul tells Timothy to join him in suffering, he isn’t telling Timothy to do anything that he himself isn’t willing to do.  Paul also isn’t calling Timothy to suffer just for the sake of suffering.  Paul is telling him to be willing to suffer because it is the only way to follow Christ.  In John 15:20 Jesus said, “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.”  A little later in 2 Timothy Paul will write, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted.”  We shouldn’t go looking for persecution, but if we are faithfully following Jesus, it will come to us in one form or another.  Unlike the false message of the “health and wealth” teachers, the Bible does not tell Christians to expect lives without suffering.   

·         8:  In what ways are Christians today tempted to be ashamed of Christ?  When do we show embarrassment of Christ?  [The Life Application Commentary has a helpful application section about this.  It says, “We show that we are embarrassed of Christ when we:

• hope no one will think we are Christians

• decide not to speak up for what is right

• are silent about our relationship with God

• blend into society

• accept our culture’s non-Christian values

By contrast, we testify about him when we:

• live moral, upright, Christ honoring lives

• look for opportunities to share our faith with others

• help others in need

• take a stand for justice [and not just on the socially acceptable issues]

• love others

• acknowledge our loyalty to Christ

• use our lives and resources to carry out his desires rather than our own (p. 164)] 

·         8-10:  Paul tells Timothy to join with him in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.  God will give Timothy the power to endure suffering.  In these verses, look for the ways that the gospel message and God’s power gives us what we need to endure. 

·         9: What can we learn from verse 9 about the gospel?  [God has rescued us, and He has also called us to live a holy life.  This means that God has saved (aorist tense, a definite point in time) us and wants us to live set-apart lives for Him.  God doesn’t save people and they let them continue to live in sin as a legitimate option.  However, the holy life is not what gets us saved and it is not the basis for our salvation.  That is why Paul is quick to remind Timothy that this is “not because of anything we have done”.  Instead, it is because of God’s own purpose and grace.  This verse teaches God’s sovereign grace and the doctrine of unconditional election.  The reason (purpose) why God called us is not because of us; it is because of His sovereign choice, for His own reason.  It is by grace, meaning that it is an undeserved gift, not something we earned at all.  In fact, it was planned to be given to us before the beginning of time, literally, “before times eternal.”  And as R. Kent Hughes writes, “And since God gave grace to us in Christ before history began, it is absolutely certain that salvation is not from our works” (181).  Hughes makes the point that the grace described in verses 9-10 is sovereign, preexistent, and visible.  Although it was planned before creation, it was now made visible through Christ.] 

·         10: What can we learn from verse 10 about the gospel?  [Jesus destroyed death.  Wuest gives the meaning of the word for destroyed or abolished, katargeo, as “to render idle, unemployed, inactive, inoperative, to bring to naught, make of none effect” (122).  Although we will die physically, the second death will not touch us (Rev. 20:6).  As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, death has been swallowed up in victory and has lost its sting.  As Paul sat in prison awaiting his execution, he knew that Jesus had already destroyed death for him.  And in place of death, Christ as brought life and immortaility.] 

·         9-10: How does the message in verses 9 & 10 help us not to be ashamed of Christ and to be willing to suffer for Him?   

·         11: Paul states that God appointed him to be three things for the sake of the gospel: a herald, an apostle, and a teacher.  A herald, kerus, is one who announces and proclaims news.  An apostle, apostolos, is one who is sent with authority.  A teacher, disaskalos, is one who imparts knowledge and gives instruction.  But because it is because of this that Paul is suffering.  If Paul would have kept his mouth shut about Jesus, he wouldn’t be suffering as he is.   

·         12:  Even though he is in prison, according to verse 12, why is Paul not ashamed?  [Paul doesn’t just know what he has believed, he knows whom he has believed.  Christianity isn’t supposed to be an impersonal religion just about facts; it is personal trust and a personal relationship.  Also, when Paul says believed, he means an ongoing trust.  Kenneth Wuest’s expanded translation reads, “But I am not ashamed, for I know with an absolute knowledge the One in whim I have permanently placed my trust” (124).  As Wuest explains, “The word ‘know’ is not ginosko, ‘experiential knowledge,’ but oida, ‘absolute, beyond a peradventure of a doubt knowledge,’ the latter being the stronger word” (123).] 

·         12: Convinced that he is able to guard.  The word for guard or keep, phulasso, is a military term meaning ‘to guard, defend, keep, watch” (Wuest, 124).  However there is a question about who is the one who has entrusted what to whom.  The NIV and NASB Paul has entrusted something to God.  According to the RSV and the ESV, God has entrusted something to Paul.  (In both cases however, God is the One doing the guarding.)  The phrase is literally, “my deposit.”  The more immediate context would suggest that it is a reference to Paul’s ministry, the gospel, or the results of his labors.  However, the larger context of chapter 1 would support the interpretation of the NIV and NASB that the deposit was Paul’s true life, his soul and his eternal life and destiny, entrusted by Paul to God.  (There is a good discussion in Knight, 379-380.  Knight favors the NIV & NASB interpretation.)  To me it also makes more sense that the one to whom the deposit has been given is the one who guards it.   

·         12: There is an application here to how we explain the message of salvation.  What do people mean when they say “Commit your life to Jesus”?  I don’t like the gospel explained this way because I think it is too easy for someone to misunderstand and think that they are saved by their own commitment and dedication, which would be salvation by a work.  However, it they mean that they have committed or entrusted their eternal destiny to Jesus for his safekeeping, then it would reflect salvation by grace alone and faith alone, just like in this passage.   

·         12: There is a great hymn based on this verse, I Know Whom I Have Believed. 

·         12: One pastor from Zimbabwe wrote the following words:

“”I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed.  I have the Holy Spirit’s power.  The die has been cast.  I have stepped over the line.  The decision has been made; I’m a disciple of His!  I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still… I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.  I am a disciple of Jesus.”  (Hughes, 182-3)  

¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

¹⁵You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

 ¹⁶May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. ¹⁷On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. ¹⁸May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 1:13-18 Guard the Good Deposit

1:13-14 Guard the Good Deposit

·         13: We have discussed the fact that people are tempted to be ashamed of the unmodified gospel.  If the unmodified gospel is unpopular, it is a big temptation to modify the gospel to make it more acceptable.  What’s wrong with that?  How do some people modify the gospel?

·         13: Instead of modifying the gospel, what does Paul tell Timothy to do in verse 13?  [Timothy is to “follow the pattern of sound words” (ESV).]  Why does Paul use the word “pattern?”  What is the purpose of a pattern?  [A pattern is used to maintain the sameness of a thing.  Paul is telling Timothy that it is important for the truth to be passed on without being changed.  (Don’t think of the word “pattern” here in the sense of a sequence, such as red-red-blue-red-red-blue.  The way it is being used here is like that of a sketch or an outline, like for sewing or building.)  Christian teaching is not creative writing.]

·         13: Paul also mentions “sound words” in 1 Timothy 6:3.  What does it mean that these words or teachings are sound?  [It means that they are correct, or true.] 

·         13: We are to keep those sound words “with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”  We need to trust Jesus and love Jesus enough to do this.  If we don’t, we are neither being trusting nor loving to Jesus. 

·         14: Paul commands and implores Timothy to “guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you.”  The word “guard” means to “guard, watch, and defend” (Wuest 125).  If something needs to be guarded, what does this imply?  [That it will be attacked.  It has enemies that will seek to do bad thing to it.] 

·         14: If something has been entrusted to you, it means that you have a responsibility to guard it.  This isn’t something that it optional for us, even if we dislike conflict. 

·         14: What are some of the ways that God’s truth has been under attack in the past?  What are some of the ways that God’s truth is under attack today?

·         14: How do we need to guard the good deposit?  [Among other things, we need to live it and to proclaim it!  We also need discernment to see the bold or subtle ways that it is being attacked or modified.  We need to be alert.  We need to be willing to take action, even when it is unpopular or costly.]

·         14: Remember that Christ will be faithful to guard our souls that we have entrusted to Him (vs. 12) while He asks us to guard His truth that He has entrusted to us (vs. 14). 

·         14: Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit to help us to have the courage and wisdom we need to guard the gospel. 

·         It has been well said that “The First generation believes the Gospel.  The next generation assumes the Gospel.  The next generation forgets the Gospel.  And the next generation denies the Gospel.”  Do you see truth to that?  Why and how does this happen?  [We can clearly see this as we look at churches and denominations that were once Bible-believing that have slid into liberalism.  We also see this in what is today called “the emerging church” movement with writers and speakers who question or deny everything from the penal substitutionary atonement, the need for faith in Christ to be saved, the inerrancy of the Bible, the objectivity of truth, gender distinctions, God’s sovereignty and omniscience, authority, hell, God’s disapproval of homosexual acts, etc.]

·         What stage do you think our church is at in this process?  What does this say about what we need to be doing as a church?  What does this say about what our next pastor? 

1:15-18 Counterexamples

·         15: Paul felt that he had been abandoned by everybody.  Later in the letter he mentions that at his first legal defense, no one come to his support but everyone who could have helped him deserted him (2 Tim. 4:16).  Paul lists Phygelus and Hermogenes as two people who should have been there for Paul.  We don’t know anything more about Phygelus and Hermogenes except that they abandoned Paul when times were tough. 

·         15: Why do we sometimes abandon our brothers and sisters in Christ when they need us most?  [Fear, selfishness, self-focus, lack of trust in God…]

·         16-18: In contrast to the others, Paul speaks highly of Onesiphorus.  What does Paul say about Onesiphorus?  How did he help Paul and what did it do to Paul’s spirits?  [He refreshed Paul, probably spiritually and physically.  He was not ashamed of Paul and his imprisonment, but was still willing to be associated with him.  He searched for Paul, and searched hard for him until he found him.  Going to Rome and asking around for someone who is a political prisoner is a dangerous thing to do.  Considering the danger and difficulty, it would have been easy and tempting for Onesiphorus to have looked for a while and then given up, with the excuse that he did his duty and tried.  But he didn’t, he kept looking until he found Paul.]  What are things about Onesiphorus that we should emulate?

·         16-18: There are certain clues that lead some commentators to believe that Onesiphorus might be dead at the time Paul wrote this.  Paul asks for a blessing on Onesiphorus’ household, not Onesiphorus himself (vs. 16).  Paul also hopes for good things for Onesiphorus on his day of judgment (vs. 18).  We can’t know for sure, but these might be clues that Onesiphorus is dead at the time of this writing.  If that is the case, he may even have died because of his service to Paul in Rome.  It certainly would have put him in danger. 

¹You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ²And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. ³Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. ⁵Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

 ¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying:
   If we died with him,
      we will also live with him;
 ¹²if we endure,
      we will also reign with him.
   If we disown him,
      he will also disown us;
 ¹³if we are faithless,
      he will remain faithful,
      for he cannot disown himself.

2 Timothy 2:1-13 Endure Suffering for the Gospel

2:1-2 Passing on the Truth

·         1: What is the command here?  [Be strong (NIV) or be strengthened (ESV) by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.]  What does that mean?  How does grace strengthen a Christian?

·         2: What is the command here?  [The verb here is “entrust.”  Paul wants Timothy to entrust the good deposit, the content of the truth he taught Timothy, to faithful men who can further pass it along to others.]  Why does he tell Timothy to pass it on to faithful men?  [Paul isn’t telling Timothy to keep the truth away from unfaithful men, but he is telling him that he needs to find trustworthy and dependable men to entrust the truth to so that it will continue to be passed down, without change, according to the pattern of sound teaching (1:13).  Timothy needs to find other Christians who will guard the good deposit (1:14).]

·         2: Note the four “generations” mentioned here.  Paul à Timothy à Faithful Men à Others.  What can you learn from this?  How should you apply this? 

·         2: How does this differ from one generation believing the gospel, the next assuming it, the next forgetting it, and the next denying it?  (Note: Timothy was a young man, so the “faithful men” that he would train would not necessarily be from a younger generation chronologically.  Still, there is application to this.) 

·         2: Do you have at least one person in your life that is a Paul to you?  We each need to have someone who is more mature of a Christian in our lives to pour into us.  What are some of the benefits to having a Christian mentor?  How do you find someone like that?

·         2: Do you have someone in your life that you are pouring into?  If not, right now you are a ministry dead end—a black hole.  Instead, we need to be like a lake that has both streams pouring into it and out of it.  Even if you are a new Christian, you can impact the lives of non-Christians around you by pouring into them.  As you mature as a Christian, you can pour yourself out into the lives of others as well. 

·         2: Paul teaches a similar principle for women in Titus 2:3-4 where he calls for older women to train younger women. 

·         2: If you have the attitude of this verse—when you realize that God calls you to be part of a chain—it will transform how you learn.  If you take this verse to heart, you will work to retain what you learn so that you can pass it on to other people.  Don’t just listen to a message for what it can do for you.  You also won’t only be interested in teachings that apply to you, but you will also learn things that you can use to help other people. 

·         2: What would happen if we only have fellowship with those who are of the same spiritual age and maturity as ourselves?

·         2: Age and spiritual maturity don’t always go hand in hand, but they should and they often do.  The older someone is, the more life experience they have and the more time they have had to gain knowledge and wisdom by walking with God.  Unfortunately, it isn’t automatic.  Make it your goal to grow to be a sage so that you can be a tremendous blessing to others.

2:3-7 Soldiers, Athletes and Farmers

·         3-7: Paul mentions three types of people here.  They are each an analogy of what a dedicated Christian should be like.  What are the three professions and what do they have in common?  [Soldiers, athletes and farmers are three groups of people in professions that take an incredible amount of dedication and endurance.  They also each have a reward they look forward to if they are successful: victory, the prize, and the harvest.]

·         3-4: How is Timothy—and us—supposed to be like a soldier?  [First, a soldier endures hardship.  Paul tells Timothy to “endure hardships with us like a good soldier.”  Second, a Christian, like a solder, must live to please Jesus, his commanding officer.  We must submit our will to His will, no matter what He asks, because we seek to please Him.  Third, we must not get entangled in things that would keep us from doing our job.] 

o        3-4: What kind of hardships does a soldier have to endure?  How do these compare with the things a Christian should endure?  [Hard training, combat, stress, authority, lack of comforts, lack of freedoms, etc…] 

o        3-4: As a Christian, do you live to please Jesus as your commanding officer?  Do you submit to His will no matter what?  What kind of a soldier only submits to the commands that he feels like submitting to?  Is Jesus your commander, or just your buddy or advisor?  Does He have your loyalty?  Is He your highest authority?

o        3-4: The ESV’s translation is more descriptive,  “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits.”  The word here is a form of a Greek word meaning “weave in, entwine” (EBC 11:399).  Why does a good soldier keep away from civilian pursuits?  Why can’t he be a soldier and have a business and hobbies on the side?  [A good soldier knows that these other things would entangle his time, priorities, and attention.  A soldier needs to be ready to give his all for his duty at any moment.  He can’t be strapped down by these other things.]  How does this apply to us?  Does this mean that it is wrong to have a business, or hobbies, or extracurricular activities?  When and how do some of these things entangle us?  Give some examples.  [This verse doesn’t mean that there is a big split between “spiritual” and “secular” activities.  All of life should be about Jesus.  Most people will need to work a “secular” job.  However, too many of the things we choose to do are mostly a distraction from our highest calling.  Too many of our hobbies, sports, jobs and activities entangle us and keep us from doing what is most important.  Our time and attention gets distracted.  When there is a conflict, often the other things it made a higher priority and it wins out.  It isn’t that these are all bad things, but they often keep us from better things.  The question is not, “How many sports or hobbies can I have and still be a good Christian?”  Instead, the question is, “What is your highest goal?”  Is it to serve Jesus?  If so, then pick your activities with that goal in mind.  And as we see from this verse, part of living for Christ is making the hard decision not to do some things.]  As you think about your future plans, what might this mean for you?  (For teens, things will only be worse by the time you are a parent.  Think about this now, will you allow your kid to be involved in an activity that will keep them away from church?)

·         How is Timothy—and us—supposed to be like an athlete? 

o        What does Paul emphasis about athletes in this verse?  [Athletes train hard and need to be dedicated to their event.  In the ancient Olympics athletes were required to enter a 10-month period of strict training in which their diet and all areas of their life were disciplined.  However, the thing that Paul stresses here is that they must compete according to the rules.  A great runner can run a great race but lose if she is disqualified.  A great football player can make a great play, but hurt the whole team if they draw a penalty.]  In what ways do Christians need to compete according to the rules?  [For one, we need to stick to God’s truth.  We can’t modify it to get a better response from people.  Many preachers get large congregations but will be disqualified from the victor’s crown because they didn’t guard the good deposit.]

o        When we read 2 Timothy 4:1-8, we will see the “rules” that Paul lays out for Timothy.  In ancient sports, the victor’s crown was a wreath made of leaves.  Instead, Paul is looking forward to the crown of righteousness (4:8). 

·         How is Timothy—and us—supposed to be like a farmer?

o        Farmers are hard working.  The word for “hard-working” means “word hard, toil” and also carries nuances of “strive” and “struggle” (Knight, 394).  Think about how hard farmers work.  They are up early and work long days.  It is very physical work.  It is constant every day; It’s not as if the animals can’t be fed if the farmer doesn’t feel like it.  There is a tremendous amount to do—always more than they can get to.  How is that like the Christian life?

o        Why does the farmer go through all this work?  What does he have to look forward to?  [The farmer looks forward to his share of the crops.  In the same way, the Christian works hard, looking forward to an eternal harvest.  When someone comes to saving faith in Christ, it is all worth it.  The harvest we look forward to is both the results of our work that we see in this life, and the rewards from Christ in eternity.]

·         7: Paul is telling Timothy to continue to think about these things.  (This is a command!)  Don’t just read and move on.  As you go through life, keep the examples of the soldier, the athlete and the farmer in mind.  “Together they speak of a vigorous and undivided service that is rewarded” (Knight, 396).  Keep reflecting on these three models for the Christian life and God will keep giving you more insights. 

2:8-13 Enduring everything for the sake of the elect

·         8: What is Timothy called to keep on remembering?  Who lived a Christian life more dedicated, law abiding, and hard working than any soldier, athlete or farmer?  How was Jesus the supreme example of this type of life?  [Jesus always obeyed His Father’s command, even when it meant death on the cross.  He lived a perfect and sinless life.  He didn’t let Satan’s temptations cause Him to sin, disqualifying Him from His work as Savior.  And finally, in His life and in His death, He worked harder than any farmer.  And He suffered all this for the prize set before Him (Heb. 12:1-2).]

·         8: What two things does Paul point out about Jesus here?  [He is raised from the dead.  He is descended from David.  The historical reality is that Jesus is the Messiah, the descendent of David, and he died and rose from the dead.] 

·         9: According to verse 9, what was chained and what cannot be chained?  [Although Paul was chained, the God’s Word cannot be chained.  It cannot be stopped.  We should never think that persecution and human effort is stronger than God’s power.  In fact, persecution usually just makes the gospel spread faster and more effectively!  In China, millions of Chinese became Christians after the communists ejected all the missionaries.  Let this make you bold.]

·         10: Who are the elect?  Why is Paul willing to endure everything for their sake?  [The word elect (eklektos) means “chosen.”  The elect are those who have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world for salvation (Eph 1:4-5; 2 Thes. 2:13, Rm. 8:29-30; John 6, Rm. 9, Acts 13:48, etc).  Because of the depth of sin in the human heart, each and every one of us would have continued to reject God unless God had chosen to intervene (Rm. 3:10-11; John 6:44, 65; 10:25-30).  The elect are those whose names have been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world (Rev. 17:8).] But if the doctrine of election is true, then shouldn’t this make us want to sit back and do nothing, since it is supposedly going to happen anyway?  That is what people often say.  [That isn’t what Paul taught and it isn’t what Paul believed.  Paul taught predestination and he also sat in prison awaiting execution, enduring everything for the sake of those who will be saved.  He knew that God not only ordains the ends, He also ordains the means.  God has planned who will be saved, and how they will be saved—through the telling of the gospel (Rm. 10:13-15).  Instead of discouraging us from hard work for Jesus, the doctrine of election should encourage us!  It means that God’s plan will not fail and that He can penetrate any heart, like He did with Paul.] 

·         10: What are you willing to endure in order to see people get saved?  Most of us won’t need to endure jail or execution, but are we even willing to endure the smaller things?  Are you willing to endure inconvenience?  Are you willing to endure giving up more of your money than you might like?  Are you willing to endure hard work and loss of free time?  Are you willing to endure “being uncomfortable”?  Are you willing to endure talking to people you might not otherwise have a heart for? 

·         11-13: Here Paul tells a saying that he says in trustworthy.  The saying has four parts, indicating four actions and their outcomes.  What are these four parts and what do you think they mean?  Notice that the first two are positive and the second two are negative.  How should they motivate us?

o        11: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.  This might be a reference being physically killed for the sake of Christ, as was about to happen to Paul.  Or it might mean that all who die spiritually with Christ, as all believers do at the moment of salvation (Romans 6:1-7).  Either way, it means that Christians do not have to fear physical death, for we are promised eternal life with Christ.

o        12: If we endure, we will also reign with Him.  Those Christians who endure to the end, even in the face of suffering, will reign with Christ in His Kingdom.  These promises of future rewards give us even more reason to endure for Christ.

o        12: If we disown Him, He will also disown us.  Although some see this as an indication that a genuine Christian can loose his or her salvation, these people were probably never genuine Christians in the first place.  They are like those that John wrote about in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going out showed that none of them belonged to us.”  This is a more permanent denial than the faithlessness found in the next part of the saying.  As George Knight writes in his commentary, “The finality of his denial of those who have denied him will be as permanent and decisive as theirs has been of him, and will thus not be as in Peter’s case, where forgiveness was sought and received.  For that situation something else must be said, and to that the saying turns with its fourth and last statement” (p. 406). 

o        13: If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.  Even if we have lapse into a kind of faithlessness, like Peter when he denied Christ three times, Christ will continue to be faithful and will not cast us out.  It is not as if these people had no faith their entire lives, otherwise they wouldn’t be saved at all.  Our imperfect Christians lives will not keep God from being faithful to his promise to save those that are His. This should actually give us more reason to be faithful to Him.

¹⁴Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

2 Timothy 2:14-19 A Workman Who Does Not Need to Be Ashamed 

2:14-15 Work hard to become an approved workman

·         Pay attention to the commands in this section.  Watch for the verbs. 

·         14: We forget so easily.  Even when we know God’s truth, it can go off the radar.  That is why Paul told Timothy to “keep reminding” them of God’s truths.  Repetition is the key to learning.  The job of a pastor isn’t to create new truths each week.   

·         14: Paul tells Timothy to tell those he is training not to quarrel about word.  Notice that this whole section is about how Timothy needs to deal with false teachers.  What does he mean and what does he not mean?  [Word mean things.  They are important!  In the early church, there was a long battle whether or not Christ has the same nature as God or a similar nature.  That is a big difference based on just one word.  In fact, in Greek, the difference was just one letter.  In this verse Paul must have been talking about quarreling about insignificant or pointless matters.  Sometimes Christians can get caught up in discussions about things that don’t affect anything, except proving who’s smartest.  There are many teachings—even many that are not “salvation matters”—that are very important and worth contending for, but there are other things that are just a stupid waste of time.]   

·         15: I remember walking past this verse every day in college; it was engraved on the outside wall of my dormitory.  Paul is telling Timothy to work very hard to become a useful tool for God’s service.  What do you think Paul means by “do your best”?  [Personally, I don’t know if “Do your best” (NIV, ESV) really captures level of effort that Paul is encouraging.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that people often say, “I did my best” when they really mean, “Well, at least I tried… somewhat.”  Sometime when someone says, “Do your best” it means “Give it a try but don’t sweat it like your life depends on it.”  That is not what Paul is trying to say here!  He really means that we are supposed to work on this as hard as we can.  The KJV translates it as “study.”  The NASB translates it as “be diligent.”  Wuest translates it as “bend your every effort.”  The point is that growing to become an approved workman for God’s use requires consistent effort and diligence.  We should be willing to endure this so that we can serve God better, especially in the area of handling the Word of God.]  What are some ways to do this better if you are really serious about it?  Will you do this if you tend to view Christianity as a therapeutic program that exists for your personal comfort? 

·         15: What is the goal of this diligence?  [The goal of this diligence and study is to be able to correctly handle the word of truth.  The word for “correctly handle” literally means, “cut straight.”  It was probably used in that day of workmen who cut stone to use in building projects.  If they didn’t cut the stone right, their project would be a disaster.  In the same way, unless a Bible teacher can correctly handle and interpret God’s Word, the result will be a mess.  Sadly, it often is.  But if a Bible teacher will stick to the pattern of sound words (1:13) and be diligent to correctly handle God’s truth, the result can be something of which he is not ashamed.] 

·         15: Most people wonk very hard to impress other people.  But remember, this verse says to present ourselves “to God.”  It is His opinion that really matters.   

·         15: What could be an application here for a Pastor?  Does he need to be a man of the Book?  Where should a large amount of his time be spent?  [In his study with his Bible and study tools.]  What would Paul think about Timothy downloading sermons off the internet to preach?

2:16-19 The gangrene of false teaching

·         16-17: Again Paul tells Timothy to shun ungodly discussions.  “Ungodly” means the opposite of holy, or honoring to God.  Those who get caught up in these discussions make themselves more and more dishonoring to God.  The teachings produced by these discussions will spread like gangrene.  What does that mean?  [The Greek word gaggraina only appears once in the New Testament.  It was a medical term used by Hippocrates.  It is the spreading decay of tissue in a part of the body where the blood supply is obstructed by disease or injury.]  How is the effect of wrong teaching like that? 

·         16-17: If Paul and Timothy were alive today, do you think Paul would advise Timothy to be involved with one of the current “dialogs” about the church accepting homosexual sex?  [I’m convinced he would tell Timothy to teach the truth, not to compromise in a dialog.]   

·         17-18: Paul mentions Hymenaeus and Philetus as two men who have departed from true teachings.  What were they teaching?  [They were wrecking the confidence of some people by teaching that the resurrection had already happened.  This isn’t about the resurrection of Jesus, which has already taken place.  This is about the physical resurrection of all believers that will happen when Christ returns.  Perhaps Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that our spiritual resurrection that happens when we are born again (Eph. 2:4-6) is the only resurrection we will ever have.  It is easy to see how it would discourage Christians to teach them that their death will be permanent and that they will never live again.]   

·         17-18: For the Biblical teaching on our future physical resurrection, see these passages;

o        1 Cor. 15:20-23: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

o        1 Thes. 4:16-18: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

·         17-18: Is it always wrong to call out a false teacher by name to warn others?  [Obviously it isn’t, since Paul is doing that here.  Sometimes it needs to be done out of love to other Christians who might be messed up by false teaching.  However, we need to watch our heart and our motives, and to make sure we know what we’re talking about.] 

·         17-18: Note: All of the false teachers that Paul names in 1 and 2 Timothy are men.  The reason this is significant is that in 1 Timothy 2:12 Paul states that in a church setting women are not to be teachers over men.  However, there are those today who want to allow women to be teachers over men in a church setting, but to do so they need a way to explain away this verse.  One very common argument is to assert that in Ephesus, where Timothy was located, there was an epidemic of female false teacher.  Because of this, Paul banned all women Bible teachers, but it was only for that specific cultural situation, not for today.  There are several problems with that idea.  Most importantly, it is not the reason that Paul himself gives in 1 Timothy 2:13-14.  Paul doesn’t say, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man because there are so many women false teachers in Ephesus.  Therefore, you’re all banned because of the bad ones.”  Instead, Paul says it is because of the way God created men and women in the beginning.  Also, there is no legitimate historical evidence that Ephesus was overrun by feminists or female false teachers.  (See S.M. Baugh, “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century” in Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, edited by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner.)  That is the point of this observation here: all of the false teachers mentioned in these letters are men.  This doesn’t fit with the assertion that there were so many female false teachers that Paul had to ban all women from teaching.   

·         19: God’s firm foundation stands.  In Ephesians 2:20, Paul wrote that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.”  (See also 1 Cor. 3:10-15.)  God spoke through the apostles and the New Testament prophets, giving the Scriptures through them.  God knows who his true spokesmen are and who the false teachers are.  “The Lord knows those who are His” is a reference to Numbers 16 and the rebellion of Korah.  Koran and his followers rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were destroyed by God. 

·         19: God truth, not false teaching, is permanent.  We can be confident in God’s promises, knowing that false teachers are wrong.  In the case of the resurrection, those who have had their faith upset by Hymenaeus and Philetus need to know that God will not forget those who are His.  He will be true to His promise to give us physical resurrection.  Because of God’s promise and character, we can continue to have this hope.  God knows who is teaching truth and who is teaching error.  We need to turn away from the wickedness of false teachers.   

·         19: Anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ must also turn away from wickedness.  It is not right to claim to be a Christian and go on accepting sin.  We have to fight against it.  Yet it is all too common for Christians to claim to follow Christ but choose to be okay with things that are blatantly sin. 

²⁰In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. ²¹If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

 ²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

2 Timothy 2:20-26 Becoming a Useful Instrument to the Master 

2:20-21 Personal House Cleaning

·         Remember what Paul wrote at the end of verse 19.  “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 

·         20-21: In a large house, in Paul’s day a well-to-do person might have some gold and silver dishes and jars, for honorable purposes.  On the other hand, they would also have some waste boxes and bedpans.  Paul is giving a metaphor here.  What do you think that the “large house” represents?  What do you think that the different vessels represent?  [Some interpreters see the large house as representing the visible church.  The visible church is not the same as the true church; it includes both true Christians and false Christians.  In this view, the vessels for noble purposes are faithful teachers; the vessels for ignoble purposes are false teachers such as Hymenaeus and Philetus.  Other interpreters see the large house as representing Timothy, or any other Christian.  The different vessels are different qualities within our lives—our spiritual strengths on one hand, and weaknesses and sins on the other.  The first view fits better with the verses that go before this passage.  The second view fits better with the verses that go after this passage.  In my opinion, the second view is correct because the things said in verse 21 have to do with individual people.] 

·         20-21: What is Paul saying should happen to the dishonorable items?  [They should be removed.]  What is Paul trying to say here?  [Paul isn’t saying that we all should have solid gold bedpans.  (No illustration is perfect.)  The main point is that we all need to clear the dishonorable things out of our lives.  We need to get rid of the junk in our lives that brings dishonor to God and keeps us from being holy (set apart), useful to the Master, and prepared to do His work.  God wants us to identify the sins, flaws, and weaknesses that are in our lives and work to get rid of them.)  It is one thing to talk about applying this passage.  It is another thing to actually start doing it.   

2:22-26 Flee Youthful Passions

·         22: Paul tells Timothy to flee from youthful desires (NIV), lusts (NASB), passions (ESV).  What do you think this is probably about?  Looking at the context of this section, what might Paul have in mind most specifically?  [One of the first things that comes to mind about this passage is sexual temptation.  Although that is true, it’s probably not the main thing that Paul had in mind.  In the sections before and after this verse, Paul is talking about how Timothy needs to deal with false teachers.  One of the characteristics of young men is that they can be hotheaded.  Sometimes 20-something guys can be like mountain goats looking for a fight to prove themselves.  The zeal can be a good thing, but it needs to be tempered with kindness.] 

·         22: What should Timothy pursue?  [righteousness, faith, love and peace]  Why do you think he says to do this along with other Christians who are also wanting to honor God?     

·         23-24: This verse is similar to verses 14 and 16.  Although it is critical to “guard the good deposit” (2 Tm. 1:14) Paul doesn’t want Timothy to get caught up in stupid pointless discussions.  Wisdom is knowing the difference. 

·         24: Rather than quarreling, what does want his servants to do?  How does He want them to do this? 

o        He must be kind to everyone.  Also notice that verse 25 says that God’s servant is to instruct “gently.”  This is the attitude we should have, even to those who are against us.  It is no good to win the argument but loose the person because of our attitude. 

o        He must be able to teach.  Verse 25 will say more about this.  God wants His servant to know His Word and be able to use it to correct error.  (2 Tm. 3:16)  This means that God’s servant must grow in (a) Scripture knowledge, and (b) the boldness needed to speak, even to those who disagree with the truth.

o        He must be “not resentful” (NIV); “Patiently enduring evil” (EVS); “patient when wronged” (NASB) 

·         25: What is the goal of this correction?  [The goal isn’t to defeat our opponent but to help him.  The goal is to help lead the other person to the truth.  To repent means to change one’s mind.  Our attitude needs to be that we want to see people change their mind from error to truth.  We must do it in the right way, but it is more loving to confront someone and use Scripture to help bring them to the truth than to just let them go their own way.] 

·         25: Who is it that grants repentance?  [God.  God wants His servants to communicate the truth, but it is God who can change the heart.] 

·         26: The devil loves to keep people caught in the trap of false teaching so that he can use them to do his will. 

·         24-26: George W. Knight III gives a good summary of this section in his commentary on the pastoral epistles (p. 427):

“This remarkable and helpful section sets forth the duty of the Lord’s servant and the attitude with which he should conduct himself.  The central focus of this duty is teaching and correcting those in opposition so that they may repent and learn the truth (vv.24-25).  The Lord’s servant must seek to communicate this truth in such a way that opponents embrace it and abandon their error with proper remorse.  God’s servant thus seeks to be the instrument through whose efforts God brings them to himself. 

At the same time, this passage calls on the Lord’s servant not to be quarrelsome but to be kind, forbearing, and gentle, even when he is correcting opponents (cf. Mt. 11:19).  Correction must not degenerate into quarrelsomeness, even when it is wrongly opposed.  The balance called for may be summarized in the Latin proverb suaviter in modo, fortiter in re, gentle in manner, resolute in purpose.

Paul also combines here the responsibility of the Lord’s servant with his dependence on and recognition of God’s sovereignty.  The focal point is what God’s servant is called on to do.  But in the midst of this statement is interjected the truth that God alone gives repentance and brings people to knowledge of the truth, and that he does not do so as automatic response to human labors.  Paul speaks, rather, of God’s action with the cautious language of ‘if perhaps’ (mhpote).  We are reminded of Paul’s earlier statement: ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth’ (1 Cor. 3:6).” 

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

 ⁶They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

2 Timothy 3:1-9 How People Will Be in the Last Days 

3:1-5 Lovers of Themselves rather than Loves of God

·         This is a passage of Scripture that Robert Schuller has said should not be preached!  Schuller teaches that high self-esteem and self-love is the key to the Christian life.  In his book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller wrote, “Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem.” (p. 14)  The following is a transcript of a portion of The White Horse Inn in which Michael Horton interviewed Robert Schuller and confronted him on this teaching:

Horton: “Why should we do anything to encourage people to become lovers of themselves if Paul in fact warned Timothy that that would be the state of godlessness in the last days?”

Schuller: “I hope you don’t preach this.  I hope you don’t.  You can do a lot of damage to a lot of beautiful people.  And so if you preach that text, oh man, they’ll switch you off, they’ll turn on the rock music, Madonna—so please, that stuff.  There are Bible passages—Just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t mean you should preach it.” 

·         1: The “last days” is not merely the days immediately prior to Christ’s return.  Timothy already lived in the last days.    It also includes the entire time from the resurrection to the end, getting even worse at the end.   

·         1-2: Paul wants Timothy to remember that the situation will grow dark in the last days.  Verse 2 begins with the word “for” (which the NIV pointlessly leaves out) which shows us that the reason that times will be difficult is because of the evil characteristics of the people living in the last days.  We need to have a realistic view of fallen human nature.  The reality is that without Christ, people are bad and getting worse.  If Timothy is going to endure in ministry, he needs to take off rose-colored glasses, or else he will end up blindsided and disillusioned.  Paul doesn’t want Timothy to be discourages, but he needs to realize that there will be times that are “terrible.”  

·         2-5: Paul gives a list of the characteristics of people in the last days.  We can plainly see already how prevalent these characteristics already are.  As you think about each of these characteristics, ask yourselves some of these questions:  What does this mean?  What are examples of this characteristic?  What is the opposite of this characteristic?  What makes each characteristic bad?  Also notice how the characteristics relate to the love of self.  Finally, don’t just look for these characteristics in other people; remember to guard against these characteristics in your own life as well.  As society becomes more and more like this, there will be more influence for everyone to think that these things are normal.  (Note: These are characteristics according to the NIV.  If the ESV or NASB give different terms, I will show that to help give a better idea what the Greek term meant.)

o        2: Lovers of themselves: This characteristic dominates the rest of the list.  These people are more fond of themselves then they are of God or others.  Kent Hughes notes, “When love of God is replaced by love of self, all sorts of vices inevitably follow.” (p. 222)  Contrary to Schuller, the Bible says that self-love is at the root of sin.  What we need is not self-esteem, like Satan, but God-esteem. 

o        2: Lovers of money: The love of money is related to the love of self because money is used to make oneself happy. 

o        2: Boastful:  (“proud” ESV)  This word means “impostor” or “braggart.”  This person is a poser.

o        2: Proud:  (“arrogant” ESV & NASB)  The word means “showing ones self above others.” 

o        2: Abusive:  (“revelers” NASB)  This words is blasphemos.  This word means “evil speaking.”

o        2: Disobedient to their parents:  Have children ever been more disobedient to their parents than today? (Note: Except for slanderer, in Greek these next eight words all start with alpha (a) which means no/not/un.)

o        2: Ungrateful: This is the opposite of being thankful.  This is the word acharistoi which combined the word for “no” with the word for “grace.”  When people feel that they are entitled to things, rather than viewing them as a gift they expect and demand them and are not grateful for them.

o        2: Unholy:  These people are not set apart from the world.

o        3: Without love:  (“heartless” ESV; “unloving” NASB)  The Greek term here is astorgoi, which means “without storge.  Storge is the Greek term for the type of love that is natural family affection. 

o        3: Unforgiving:  (“unappeasable” ESV; “irreconcilable” NASB)  This word means “without truce.”  These people are not willing to repair relationships.  They would rather be outraged than reconciled.  Some people never want to give up their victim status.

o        3: Slanderous:  (‘malicious gossips” NASB)  This is the word diaboloi, which could also be translated “devils.”  The word devil means “slanderer.”  These are people that accuse falsely. 

o        3: Without self-control:  This word means “without power.”  These people do not have power over themselves to control their desires.  Society tells us that we must follow our desires and that it is wrong not to let other people follow their desires.  This leads to addictions and bondage to these desires. 

o        3: Brutal: These people act like brutes, like wild beasts.  The word literally means “not tame.”

o        3: Not lovers of the good:  (“haters of good” NASB)  This is one word in Greek, aphilagathos which breaks down to “no-love-good.”  Think about how twisted and wrong it is to not love good. 

o        4: Treacherous: This is a word that is used to describe Judas in Luke 6:16.  It means a betrayer. 

o        4: Rash:  (“reckless” ESV & NASB)  This word means “falling forward, headlong.” 

o        4: Conceited:  (“swollen with conceit” ESV)  “Puffed up”

o        4: Lovers of pleasure: Literally, lovers of hedonism. 

o        4: …rather than lovers of God: Notice that the idea of twisted self-love forms the bookends for the items in verses 2-4.  Paul did this on purpose to show the importance of what our hearts love the most.

o        5: Having the form of godliness but denying its power:  People, especially these counterfeit Christians, will often look very spiritual and pious on the surface.  They have the outer shape, but not the inner reality.  These people want to look godly, but deny (refuse, say no to) to real godliness in their lives because they want to keep loving what they love.   

·         5: What does Paul tell Timothy to do concerning counterfeit Christians like this?  [Have nothing to do with them.]  This also means that we need to avoid all of these characteristics in our own lives as well! 

3:6-9 Charlatans

·         6: What can you learn here about false teachers?  What seem to be their motives?  What are some of their methods?  [At the root, these false teachers have the love of self rather than the love of God.  This usually will also mean the love of money, the love of prestige, and the love of power and influence.  False teachers often prey of the immature and use their emotional states to manipulate them.  They find people who are overwhelmed by their guilt and use this to manipulate them.  This is similar to today’s faith healers who use people’s desire for healing to manipulate them and to get these people to support their “ministry.”]   

·         7:  Those who were listening to these false teachers kept listening and “learning” but acknowledge the truth.  False teachers don’t want people to know the truth.  If a false teacher is using guilt to control people, they don’t want them to know that Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice can set them permanently free of their condemnation and guilt.  In addition, this verse also makes me think of many of today’s postmodern versions of Christianity in which people relish questions, but never seem to arrive at any answers.    

·         8: Why are Jannes and Jambres?  [According to Jewish tradition, Jannes and Jambres are the names attributed to the two Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses when he turned his staff into a snake in Exodus 7.  The names are not actually used in the Old Testament.  They are strong examples and symbols of those who oppose God’s truth.  The false teachers are like these men.]  What else does verse 8 say about these false teachers? [They have depraved minds.  Their minds are twisted by sin.  They are also rejected as far as the faith; they are false Christians.] 

·         9: As it is said: You can fool all the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.  Unfortunately, some false teachers such as Joseph Smith of the Mormons have fooled millions of people for their entire lives.  But in the end, if not before then, the truth will be make known.  Although it may not be clear to those who join the false teachers in their lies, it is clear to all those who have their minds shaped by Scripture. 

¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:10-17 All Scripture is God-Breathed

3:10-13 Everyone Who Wants to Live a Godly Life Will Be Persecuted

·         10-11: Notice the word “however.”  Paul is contrasting his ways with the ways of the false teachers.  From personal experience Timothy is deeply acquainted with the ordeals that Paul went through.  What are the characteristics that Paul lists here?  How are they different than the characteristics of the people in verses 1-9?  [The false teachers had ministries that led to their self-love, money, pride, and pleasure.  Paul’s ministry kept leading to persecution and suffering.]  All things being equal, who is probably telling you the truth, the person who enjoys pleasure because of his story, or the person who endures persecution because of his story?

·         11: Paul told Timothy to remember the persecutions and sufferings that happened to him at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:13-52), Iconium (Acts 14:1-7), and Lystra (Acts 14:8-20).  What happened to him in those places?  [While starting churches in these cities on his first missionary journey, Paul faced serious opposition.  At Lystra, Paul was stoned and dragged outside of the city and left for dead!  (Acts 14:19)  Miraculously, Paul survived and went back into the city to continue doing evangelism and discipleship there!  Now, Timothy was not yet one of Paul’s traveling companions at that time.  He was probably a teenager living in Lystra.  Timothy didn’t join with Paul until Acts 16, on Paul’s second missionary journey.  However, being from Lystra (16:1) Timothy certainly knew all about what happened to Paul the last time he was in his city.  Think about the impact that Paul’s dedication made on young Timothy!]

·         12: Why would Paul say that everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted?  Why would that happen?  [When we live the way that God wants us to live, it goes against the grain of the world.  Other people will be upset with us because, in one way or another, we are spoiling their fun or making them feel guilty because we are reminding them—just by our example—that they are living against God’s will.  People are always more comfortable in sin when other people are sinning with them.]  What are some examples of this? 

·         In The Holiness of God, page 67, R.C. Sproul has a very insightful story on this point. 

·         12: If verse 12 is true, what does it mean if you never face any opposition because of your faith?  [It might mean that you are too much like the rest of the world for them to care.  If you aren’t trying to live a godly life, you aren’t going to make anyone feel uncomfortable about their own sin.  In fact, it makes them feel comfortable when Christians sin along with them.  Also, there are liberal “Christians” who tell people the things they want to hear: God won’t judge anyone; It doesn’t matter who you have sex with; God’s mercy is wide enough to forgive those who don’t believe in Jesus; etc.  Their politically correct teachings keep other people happy.  But on the other hand, Jesus and Paul’s actual teachings were not politically correct.  Jesus Himself said, “A servant is not greater than his master.  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)]

·         13: Those who are evil will go from bad to worse.  Not only will they deceive others, they themselves will be deceived.   

3:14-17 All Scripture is God-Breathed

·         15: Paul is talking about the Old Testament Scriptures here, since the New Testament wasn’t written when Timothy was an infant.  However, his comments in verse 17 and 18 are about all Scripture, including the New Testament.

·         15: What is Scripture able to do according to verse 15?  [It can make us wise for salvation.  It lets us know how we can be saved through faith in Christ.]  According to this verse, what are we saved through?  Who is this faith in?  [Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.]  It is easy to see how the New Testament has to do with Jesus, but what does the Old Testament have to do with Jesus Christ?  [The Old Testament pointed ahead to the Messiah who was coming.  The New Testament points back to the Messiah who came, died, rose, and will come again.  Jesus was promised and predicted in the Old Testament.  Many things in the Old Testament, including the sacrifices, were things that foreshadowed and pointed ahead to the Messiah.]

·         16: Verse 16 is a very important verse.  It is one that Christians should memorize.  What does it mean that Scripture is God-breathed?  [Some translations use the term “inspired” but “God-breathed“ is more literal.  The Bible is not merely inspired in the way that someone might say that the works of Shakespeare are inspired.  God-breathed (theopneustos) means that the Scriptures are literally the words of God.  When Scripture is speaking, God is speaking.  The Holy Spirit guided the human authors so that what they wrote was revelation from God in written form.]

·         What is God-breathed, the writer or the writing?  [The writing.]  What does God do for the writer?  [2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  The writers were “carried along.”  This Greek word was used of the wind pushing a sailboat.  God used the personalities of the writers of Scripture, but He superintended (guided) their writings so that every word that they wrote in the Scriptures was exactly what God wanted written.  The Bible is a book written by men, but it is truly God’s Word and is without error.]

·         16: Why is it important to notice that all Scripture is God-breathed?  [It’s not just the parts we like.  It’s not just the parts that are nice, or politically correct, or culturally acceptable.  It’s not just the New Testament or the red-letter words of Jesus.]  One of the things this means is that we need to learn from all of Scripture.  We tend to ignore the parts that we don’t like or that make us feel uncomfortable.  However, it is probably those parts that we need to focus on because those are the parts that we are out of harmony with.  We need to change; Scripture doesn’t.  (One of the great things about studying the Bible passage by passage is that it forces us to deal with Scripture that we might ignore otherwise.)  

·         Note:  The New Testament is also Scripture.  Jesus had promised the apostles that after He left, He would send the Holy Spirit who would “teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26) and “lead you into all truth” (John 16:13).  In 2 Peter 3:15-16 Peter refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture.  In 1 Timothy 5:18 Paul quotes from the Gospel of Luke as Scripture (Luke 10:7). 

·         16: What are some of the things that are true about Scripture if it is God-breathed?  [It is all true.  It is a message from God.  It has authority.  It is without error (inerrant).  All Scripture is given for a purpose.]

·         16: Scripture is not useless; it is useful!  According to this verse what is Scripture useful for?  [Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.  There seems to be chiastic structure here.  When we put these into a chart we notice some interesting things:

Scripture is useful to tell us what to believe (teaching), what not to believe (rebuking), what not to do (correcting), and what we should do (training in righteousness).  This means that it is useful for every area of our lives.  (Note: The chiastic structure as well as Knight’s comments p. 449 support my interpretation that “rebuking” has to do with refuting error and that “correction” has to do with conduct.)]  What are some examples of each of these? 

·         17: According to verse 17, what is the result of Scripture’s usefulness?  What is it supposed to accomplish?  [It causes the Christian to be fully equipped for every good work.  It doesn’t just give us knowledge, it prepares and equips us to serve God and to make a difference in this world for God’s glory.] 

·         17: Does Scripture just partially equip believers?  [No.  It thoroughly equips believers.]  Why is it important to notice that?  [This means that Scripture is sufficient.  In the Scriptures, God has given us everything that we need to live for Him in this age.  We do not need to seek extra information from gurus, prophets, or church tradition.  This is the Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone.]

Note: This study could easily be split into two weeks.  Focus on verses 10-13 the first study and 14-17 the second week. 

¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

 ⁶For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:1-8 Preach the Word

4:1-5 Paul’s Final Words: “Preach the Word!”

·         1: This paragraph is the climax of everything Paul wanted to say to Timothy before he is executed.  These are essentially Paul’s last words.  When you read them, you can sense the gravity with which Paul wrote them.  With God as his witness—God who will judge all men—Paul gives the charge that will follow in verse 2.  (A charge is a serious and important task or duty given to someone.)  As Paul gives this, he wants Timothy to keep in mind that God will one day come again to set up His kingdom, and He will one day judge each and every person, including Timothy.   

·         2: What is the charge that Paul gives to Timothy?  What is the most important part of it?  [Paul gets right to the point.  The main point is to preach God’s Word!  Everything else ties into this.]  Why was this so important?  (Remember what Paul taught in 3:16-17.)  [God’s Word is what has the power to change lives and glorify God.  The opinions of man do not have this power or authority.  As we saw in 2 Timothy 3:16, God’s Word is useful for every area of life.  It is useful and needs to be used.] 

·         2: “The English word ‘preach’ brings to our mind at once the picture of the ordained clergyman standing in his pulpit on the Lord’s Day ministering the Word.  But the Greek word here (kerusso) left quite a different impression with Timothy.  At once it called to his mind the Imperial Herald, spokesman of the Emperor, proclaiming in a formal, grave, and authoritative manner which must be listened to, the message which the Emperor gave him to announce.  It brought before him the picture of the town official who would make a proclamation in a public gathering.  The word is in a construction which makes it a summary command to be obeyed at once.  It is a sharp command as in military language.  This should be the pattern for the preacher today.  His preaching should be characterized by the dignity which comes from the consciousness of the fact that he is an official herald of the King of kings.”  -Kenneth Wuest, The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament, 154. 

·         2: Since Timothy knew the Old Testament, he would be familiar with Nehemiah 8:8.  Nehemiah 8 describes God’s people worshipping and learning after they had completed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls.  Verse 8:8 says that Ezra and the Levites, “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.”  How does this verse show us what Timothy, and Bible teachers today, are supposed to do?  How does it describe the core of what Bible teaching is supposed to be?  [Basically, preaching is supposed to be explaining the Bible to people.  Ezra (1) told them what God’s Word said, and (2) explained it to them so they could correctly understand what the passage actually meant.  (Later in the chapter is says that the people found out from God’s Word what they were supposed to do, and they did it.)] 

·         2: What is it that Timothy is supposed to preach?  [Answer: The Word.  He is supposed to preach God’s Word in Scripture, not his own opinions and ideas or the ideas and opinions of man.  The main task is to explain the Bible to people.]  The main task is not to entertain or amuse people, or just to make them feel good.  The main point is to communicate the message of the Bible text.  Remember, Ezra started with God’s Word and then explained it.  Ezra and the scribes didn’t start with their own ideas and then find passages to back up what they thought.  Many people don’t notice it, but there is a big difference between preaching the Word and merely preaching using the Word.  Almost all pastors will include verses of Scripture in their messages.  But oftentimes the messages aren’t really about these verses.  Many of the sermons that pastors today write (or download from the internet) are really about some sort of gimmick—the latest movie, TV show, song, or pop culture fad—merely using passages of Scripture, sprinkling them here and there.  That is not what Paul meant when he told Timothy to preach the Word.  

·         “The preacher as a herald cannot choose his message.  He is given a message to proclaim by his Sovereign.  If he will not proclaim that, let him step down from his exalted position.”  -Kenneth Wuest 

·         2: What does it mean to be prepared in season and out of season?  [Farmers know the time of year that they are supposed to be ready to do certain tasks.  They also knew that at certain times of year—out of season—they didn’t have to worry about certain tasks, such as harvesting.  However, Paul told Timothy to always be ready!  We need to be willing to communicate God’s message when it is expected, and when it is unexpected; when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient.  God doesn’t stick to our schedule.]  What are some examples of situations when you might be called upon to serve God at an inconvenient or unexpected time?  [For example: A friend starts asking serious questions about God but you have something else you want to do.]  What should you be doing now so that you are better prepared then? 

·         2: Paul tells Timothy to do four things in this verse: preach, correct, rebuke, and encourage.  Paul tells him to do these things with great patience and care.  I think there is a good chance that here Paul is saying the same things from verse 3:16, but using different words.  In 3:16 Paul said what Scripture is useful for.  In 4:2 Paul is saying, “So use it!”  What is the use of something useful if you don’t actually use it? 

·         3-4: What do these verses have to say about sinful human nature?  [Fallen human nature does not want to hear what God has to say.  We don’t like it.  We would rather have God’s message changed to fit what we want to hear.  There are many churches that have grown to big numbers by telling people what they want to hear.]  What are the dangers of this for churches?  What are some examples of this?  (What are the dangers for youth groups, for Christian authors, for everyday Christians?)  Is it better to be politically correct or Biblically correct? 

·         3-4: What does Paul mean by “itching ears?”  [These people are eager to hear something that will please them.  They are like a dog that wants its ears scratched in order to please them.  Some people want them scratched by whatever is new and exciting.  Some people want a message that is hip or cultured.  Some people want to be told that their sin isn’t a big deal so that they can keep doing it without feeling bad about it.]  When our ideas and preferences don’t match with the God’s Word, which one should change?  We like messages that back up our own ideas and preferences.  But in reality, we need messages that we don’t like to hear.  We need messages that change us.   

·         5: Once again Paul returns to the main point of his letter to Timothy: Stay on target!  Even when there is great pressure to turn away, stay on target!  Keep your focus—even when there are distractions and great hardships—in order to help people come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.   

4:6-8 The Time Has Come for My Departure

·         6: Paul knew that the end of his earthly life was near.  He compared himself to a drink offering that would be poured out on the altar of God.   

·         7: What is Paul saying in this verse?   

·         7: Think about the day in the future before you die.  Would you like to be able to look back on your life and honestly be able to say the same things that Paul says in this verse?  (When that day comes, that will be infinitely more important to you than anything else.)  If so, what decisions do you need to make and keep now in order to reach that goal?  What practices do you need to start, or stop?  What do you need to do to train and equip yourself?   

·         8: Enduring for Christ brings precious reward.  We should long for the coming of our righteous Judge. 

⁹Do your best to come to me quickly, ¹⁰for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. ¹²I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

¹⁶At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. ¹⁷But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. ²¹Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.

 ²²The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

2 Timothy 4:9-22 A Few Last Things

4:9-13 Personal needs

·         9: Paul asks Timothy to come quickly.  In verse 21 he tells Timothy to come before winter, since travel in the ancient world largely shuts down at this time.  I’m sure Paul also wanted to have his cloak before it got cold (vs. 13.)  Although Paul expected to die soon, he did not know how soon.   

·         10: This is a very sad and tragic verse that should be a warning to us.  Demas had been one of Paul’s partners in ministry (Col. 4:14; Philemon 24).  However, what does the Bible record about Demas in this verse?  What did Demas do and why did he do it?  [Demas had deserted Paul in his time of great need.  Demas did this because he was “in love with this present world (ESV).”]  What do you think it means that Demas loved this world?  John 3:16 says that God loves the world, so why is that wrong?  What does “world” mean in 2 Timothy 4:10?  [The word “world” is used in different ways in the Bible.  In John 3:16 it means the people of the world that God loves.  However in 1 John 2:15-17 we are told, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of the sinful man, the lusts of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”  This is probably the meaning of “world” here in 2 Timothy 4:10.  Demas had fallen in love with the things that the world had to offer him.  They became more important to him than God, so he decided to stop living for God rather than risk losing the things he loved more.]   

·         10: What are some of the tempting things that the world has to offer us?  Take a look at 1 John 2:15-17 for some help. [Examples include pleasure (the lusts of the flesh), possessions (the lusts of the eyes), power and pride (the boastful pride of life).  Our lives are often controlled and manipulated by these things.  In this sense, “the world” is the system that Satan has set up as a rival kingdom to God’s kingdom.  In includes everything from TV commercials to the ungodly attitudes and assumptions of society.  Satan uses these to pull people away from God.]  How would you like to have this verse in the Bible be about you?  How should this impact your life?  What are the differences between Paul’s eternal perspective and Demas’ worldly perspective? 

·         11: The story of Demas is a story of failing at the end.  The story of Mark is one of redemption.  Mark had accompanied Paul and Barnabas at the beginning of their first missionary journey.  However, when things were just starting to get rough, Mark bailed on them in Pamphylia—before the persecution in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra.  Later, when Paul and Barnabas were getting ready for their second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark along with them again, but Paul did not.  Why do you think that was?  What was the outcome?  Read about this event in Acts 15:36-41.  [Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed.  Because of Mark’s performance last time, Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him again.  In the end, Barnabas took Mark and Paul took Silas and they formed different teams.  We don’t know enough about the situation to know if Paul or Barnabas was making the right decision.  Likely, there was no clear “right” decision at that time.]  With this background in mind, what is so encouraging about what Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:11?  [Now, Paul asks for Mark because “he is helpful to me in my ministry.”  Paul no longer had the same view of Mark that he used to have.]  What application can we draw from this?  [Although Mark had failed at Pamphylia, God was not done using him.  Eventually, he earned back Paul’s respect and showed himself to be useful and reliable.  This is a great story of redemption.  When we fail, it does not have to be the end.] 

·         13: Paul may have been arrested suddenly and was not able to take his cloak with him.  In that day, a cloak like this would have been constructed to last a long time and a normal person would probably only have one of them.  Paul, in his unheated prison cell, hoped that he would be able to have it again before winter set in. 

·         13: Paul also asked for his scrolls and parchments.  These may have been copes of Scripture, or other writings.  Do you think that Paul thought it was important for all Christians to be “life long learners?”  What might this verse have to say about that?  [Although Paul knew that he was going to die soon, he didn’t “retire” from learning or from ministry.  That is why he asked Timothy to bring him his books.]  Do you value these same things?  (He didn’t say, “Bring my XBox.”) 

·         13: “I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off of my Bible.” –R.C. Sproul 

4:14-22 Opposition, Abandonment and Final Greetings

·         14-15: I think this is probably the same Alexander that Paul mentions in 1 Timothy 1:20.  Paul warns Timothy about him and the harm that he is doing to God’s work in people’s lives.  Paul’s response is helpful.  Paul knows that God will judge Alexander in the end.  This frees Paul up from feeling like he needs to punish Alexander himself with his anger.  Paul is applying what he himself taught in Romans 12:17-19.  On the other hand, Paul shows wisdom by warning Timothy against Alexander.  When people wrong us, we need to let God avenge the situation rather than seeking our own revenge.  This allows us to let go of our bitterness toward that person.  However, this does not mean that we should act foolishly in regards to someone that we know is harmful to us or to other people.  In this sense, forgiving does not always mean forgetting. 

·         16-17: Think of the loneliness and abandonment that Paul felt.  However, God stood by his side and gave him strength.  Remember, all human beings will one day let you down.  God never will.  If you are ultimately leaning on another person for your strength, eventually you will be very disappointed.  If you lean on God, you will not be. 

·         18: Paul was confident that the Lord would rescue him, even if that meant bringing him safely into His heavenly kingdom after his death.  God’s protection does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us.  It does mean that God’s love for us will win in the end.