The second letter of Paul to Timothy written in 67/68 AD is a
very special, beautiful, fatherly letter written to a beloved son in the faith.
Jesus had his beloved disciple John, and Paul had his beloved Timothy.
These are Paul’s last recorded words that we know of. Paul knows that he is going home to be with
Jesus very soon (4:7, 8, 18). Last
words are significant. They are weighty and in true apostolic fashion they are
prophetic and thus by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he writes to
help Timothy and the church at Ephesus over which the Holy Spirit had made him
a pastor. And he helps us here today. The message of the Bible, the inspired Word of God is timeless and for
all ages, and remains an important counselling tool for us.
Paul is in chains (1:16).
He is imprisoned, under house-arrest, but as we see in Acts 28:30,31 he initially
has significant liberties. He can receive visitors
and he is free to preach the gospel to all who come to see him. However, his liberties in preaching the gospel will only increase the hate of those
that oppose the gospel and so it appears
in this letter that Paul knows
that soon he will be dead (cf. 4:6-8).The time has come. His work is
done, and what a work that was! After
Christ’s death, and following Pentecost
many were converted under the missionary labours of the apostle Paul. But Satan who always opposes the gospel through
people who he has taken captive to do his will, will always make sure that God’s work would be opposed (cf. Acts 20:29,30). Here is an
instance.
In A.D. 64, a few years before
Paul’s second letter to Timothy was composed, the emperor Nero caused Rome to
burn and he conveniently blamed it on the Christians, because Christianity was
beginning to make a real impact upon Roman society. So Satan inspired men like Nero to start a
cruel persecution of Christians. Being a Christian was now no longer a novelty.
It was dangerous, and it led to apostasy on the part of many whose hearts
weren’t truly settled in Christ.
But in addition to the persecution of the church there was
also the deception of the church. Paul had warned the Ephesian elders about
this in Acts 20:29, 30. False
teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing
as he calls them, were upsetting the faith of many and so Paul
also includes a pointed warning in this letter concerning the coming times of
difficulty (3:1ff) along with encouragement
to stand steadfast in the gospel (4:1ff).
Another thing… at this time Paul found himself virtually
abandoned in Rome (vv. 15-17).
So with all this in mind we now simply wish to consider the nature
of Paul’s relationship with this young pastor, whom we know as Timothy.
PAUL AN APOSTLE OF
CHRIST JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD…
This letter to Timothy came with a particular authority. Yes, Paul was indeed Timothy’s mentor and father
in the faith and as such that fact would have carried much weight, but notice
that the weight of his words does not come from his special relationship
with Timothy. Paul was not a self-styled guru, a magnetic personality, to whom
people are attracted and devoted. Paul did not appear to have such qualities in
any case[1].
No, these words came from an apostle
of Christ Jesus – an appointed messenger, a dedicated messenger of the Lord
Jesus. These words come ultimately to Timothy from God Himself.
Paul was appointed a messenger of divine truth by the will of God. And Paul did not call
himself to this ministry. God sovereignly chose him before he was born (Gal. 1:15). And he was called to be an apostle in time by
the Lord Jesus, whilst on the road to Damascus with the intention to persecute
Christians (Acts 9:3ff). You may
choose to become a painter or a construction worker, a designer or a policeman,
but you do not choose to become an apostle. That, incidentally, is true for all
spiritual gifts. They are callings. Spiritual
gifts are sovereignly granted and appointed by the Holy Spirit, who gives as He
wills (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:7,8,11).
Paul, by trade and skill was a tentmaker, and by calling he was an apostle of
Jesus Christ.
As an apostle he had the God given authority and calling from
God to be a reliable truth bearer after
Christ had ascended to heaven. He was
able to speak and provide reliable doctrine (God -breathed Scripture cf. 3:16)
for the young church, and to have these reliable words written down for future
use. In this letter he is concerned to
help his young pastor friend (who also has a divine calling) to pass on
this apostolic doctrine to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also (2:2). Timothy, apart from teaching sound words to his congregation (1:13) and having a high regard for the
Scriptures (3:16, 17), must mentor others who will also teach (2:2). He must be a balanced man,
and careful with words (2:14). He
must be sound and balanced in the presentation of his doctrine. He must not engage
in foolish controversy (2:23) nor be
quarrelsome, but be kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,
correcting his opponents with gentleness (2:24,
25). He must understand the rebellious nature of the people that he
ministers to (3:1-9; 4:3-4). He must
be a ready preacher of the Word of God (4:1)
- an evangelist; a preacher of the gospel of Jesus at all times (4:5). In all this, Paul was a true
model of a balanced gospel ministry. There
is no real Christianity without learning from Jesus and His apostles. That is
why we (beginning with pastors, elders, deacons, heads of families, fathers,
mothers) must get to know the Bible and make its teachings our lifestyle.
ACCORDING TO THE
PROMISE OF THE LIFE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS…
This is the heart of the apostolic message: “according
to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus”. You can live the Christian
life only by the power that Christ supplies day by day. We get this life only
by being united to Jesus.
TO TIMOTHY MY BELOVED
CHILD…
Timothy represents the new generation of pastors. He himself
is not an apostle. He builds upon the foundation that the apostles and prophets have laid. And Timothy has a special place in Paul’s
heart. In all likelihood he was converted
under Paul’s ministry, and that is special. I have a special affection and love in my
heart for Richard Graham and Buzzy Kloot, students at UCT who first challenged
my lukewarmness in the first half of 1978. I have a special affection for Pastor Frank Retief, the man under who’s preaching
my spiritual eyes were first opened on the 22nd of June 1978 to see
the Lord Jesus for who He is. I have a special love for that loving man Victor
Pearce, now with the Lord, a University chaplain at the Student YMCA. He was
the one who first nurtured me as a raw
convert. And what can I say about my
love and gratitude for my first real pastors at the Walvis Bay Baptist Church,
Don Watson and later Peter Radmanovich? And what can I say about Charles Whitson, the
founding pastor of the Eastside Baptist Church, and his dear wife Betty, (both
now with the Lord Jesus) who have been so kind and loving to me when I first
came to Windhoek in 1983? It was under
Charles Whitson’s ministry that I was encouraged to enrol at the Baptist
Theological Seminary in Cape Town in
1986, and what rich years those were. And in that same year I met the woman who
would love me more than anyone else on this earth.
Timothy my beloved child (or son)… Timothy was truly loved by
Paul and he loved Paul. As already said,
he probably came to know and love the Lord Jesus whom he now served as a pastor,
under Paul’s ministry. And Paul knew
Timothy’s family. He knows that his mother was named Eunice and he even knows
the name of his grandmother, Lois. (1:5)
Timothy was half Gentile and half Jewish. His father was a Greek. He was born
and raised in Lystra where Paul had been nearly stoned to death (Acts 16:1). He was ordained when Paul
and the other elders laid their hands on him (1:6; 1 Tim 4:14). Paul knew Timothy well. He knew that Timothy had
a timid nature (1:7). He knew that he had a
fragile constitution who needed to be urged to take a little wine for his
stomach’s sake and his frequent ailments (1
Tim 5:23).
You really love a person when you take care to get to know
them. Paul really loved Timothy. He took
care to know him. He was not some high minded church leader, aloof and altogether on
another level, mightier than thou, preoccupied with his own importance and
status as an apostle. Paul was like his
Lord Jesus. Jesus, the mighty Son of God Himself was capable of getting down to
the level of the man or woman he would meet along life’s highway. He was able to
love the unlovely. He came for sinners. We read that when he met with the
conceited rich young ruler in Mark 10:21,
that He looked at him and loved him. And
so too we remember that God loved us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8), and the cross is the
profoundest evidence of this fact. Jesus died on the cross for sinners. God so loved the world that He gave ….(Jn. 3:16)
God is love. God loves
us. You, dear believer are made in the image of God. And you are made to imitate the God who loves
you (1 Jn. 3:16; 4:11). You are born again to love God and to love
others. It is the mark of a true Christian.
So, before we get into this
letter, we take note that Paul was not only an apostle. He was a true
child of God characterized by his real love for God and for this individual, called
Timothy and his real love for the lost world of his day. When Paul loved Timothy he showed that he was
a true disciple of the Lord. And because he loved him, he wanted the very best
for him. What is the very best that we could wish for anyone? Grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!
The Grace of God, the mercy of God changed Paul from a hateful
persecutor to a loving man.
SUMMARY
Our first meditation
in this little letter has opened our hearts and minds to the profound apostolic
authority of Paul and the deep love which accompanies this ministry. They belong together as two sides of a coin.
The natural outflow of our apostolic doctrine is that we love God, love one
another and love this lost world. And we
see it consistently reflected in Paul’s life and ministry. And this is all built upon the life and
ministry of our Lord Jesus whose wonderful love we now remember and celebrate in this table [ Lord's Supper] set before us.
[1]
E.g. 2 Corinthians 10:10 English Standard Version (ESV) 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and
strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”
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