Day #358

Sermon - Audio
2 Timothy - Reading
2 Timothy - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Salvation History:

Timothy is in Ephesus and facing false teachers. Paul writes to him to encourage him as well as call for Timothy to visit him.

Themes
Main Theme: God inspires Paul, near the end of his life, to express his love and concern for Timothy and the churches
Other Themes:

• Suffering is a standard part of Christian experience.
• The Christian response to suffering is faithful perseverance by God's power.
• The gospel is the ground for the Christian's endurance.
• The Scriptures have power to save and preserve.
• True believers will persevere; failure to persevere proves one is not converted.
• False teaching is deadly and must be dealt with firmly.

Text:

Call to Endure for the Gospel (1:3–2:13)

• 1.7: In the face of persecution Paul calls Timothy to lead a life of power, love, and self control, not fear.
• 1:10–12: Paul gives reasons that we can be strong in the face of persecution.
• 2:1–2: Paul is continually concerned about passing on the true faith.
• 2:11–13: These verses contain one of the most miss interpreted parts of Scripture. People assume that they tell us that God will remain faithful to us even if we are unfaithful to him. However, verse 13 refers not to Christ’s faithfulness to us but his faithfulness to himself. Even if we deny, he will not deny the truth about himself.

Dealing with False Teachers (2:14–3:9)

• 3:4: “… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” These words seem to apply to almost every generation. In our pleasure driven society we are always faced with the question of whether we love God more or pleasure more.
• 3:6: “… capture weak women…” Weak women are those who are young in the faith and so easily swayed by every wind of doctrine (see Ephesians 4).

Exhortation to Timothy in Contrast to False Teachers (3:10–4:8)

• 3:10-17: Paul’s call to imitate him is concluded by grounding all of life in Scripture. Scripture is profitable for our walk.
• 3.16-17: These are some of the most important verses that point out that Scripture comes not from human beings but finds its genesis in God.
• 4.1-2: Since scripture is so important preaching and teaching the word are essential.
• 4.13: Even though Paul is expecting to die soon he still wants the tools necessary to carry out his work for as long as he is on earth. It is an amazing testimony in light of many in our day who believe that retirement means no longer participating in God’s mission.

Texts:

2 Timothy 2:15

• Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

2 Timothy 4.7

• I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.