Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 4:19-22

Helpful thoughts:

• Prisca and Aquila are the same as Priscilla and Aquila from Acts 18.
• Paul wanted Timothy to arrive before winter if possible:
  • He was bringing his cloak! (Verse 13)
  • He was near death.
  • Travel at that time stopped in the winter due to safety concerns.
    • If Timothy didn’t make it before winter, he would be delayed much further.
• Though Paul had been deserted by some (Verse 17), others had come (Verse 21).

Questions to consider:

1. What does the fact that Trophimus remained ill tell us about the trending of the apostolic gifts near the end of the life of the Apostles?  Were miraculous healings to be expected all the time?  If someone is trying to use healing today to get us to listen to them, should that draw our attention or cause us to turn away?
2. What must Paul have known if he is asking Timothy to hurry and also gave final instructions for ministry to him in this book?  Paul certainly hopes to see Timothy again, but does it look like he is certain he will?
3. What important truth has stuck with you as you have read through the Apostle Paul’s final epistle?  What will you seek to apply?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 4:9-18

Helpful thoughts:

• Paul now begins the conclusion of the letter, which is full of information.
• Paul maintained an eternal focus and was able to persevere through much suffering to the end.  Demas loved this present world and deserted the work.
• With Demas and Mark we see an important contrast.
  • Demas started well, and looks to have finished poorly. (Colossians 4:14)
  • Mark started poorly, but finished well. (Acts 15:36-40)
    • Be encouraged to finish well!  Pray for others who are not presently serving the Lord to do the same.

Questions to consider:

1. Even though Paul said he had “finished his race,” what did he still want Timothy to bring to him?  When should we “retire” from pursuing and serving the Lord?
2. In what way was Paul to be finally “rescued?”  When a persecutors believes they have killed a Christian, what have they truly done?  Can a Christian ever lose?
3. What role do we see relationships playing in Paul’s life and service of Christ?  Did he do things alone if he could help it?  What did he hope for other believers, even when they did wrong?  Who did he untrust to judge justly?  How would his life have pointed others to Christ?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Helpful thoughts:

• Paul is writing this letter to Timothy knowing that he is about to die.
• He compares his soon martyrdom as a drink offering, being poured out before the Lord as an act of worship (Genesis 35:14).
• Paul had urged Timothy to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12), he had spoken of pressing on toward the goal (Philippians 3:14-16),  and the writer of Hebrews commands the reader to run the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2).  By God’s grace, Paul did these things.  Now, he was ready to see His Lord and Savior and receive his reward on “that day”.

Questions to consider:

1. Is the “Crown of Righteousness” something special that only Paul will receive?  Who is this reward for?  Do you think this is a literal crown or do you think Paul is referring to being “crowned” with complete righteousness by God’s grace?  Or both?
2. Why does it make absolute sense why Paul would be so excited to go to Heaven at this point?  What do you look forward to in Heaven?  How wonderful will it be to have no more sin, no more suffering, and to be with our Lord?
3. What is the race that is still set before you before that day comes?  What is the purpose of our lives while we await or eternal rest and joy? (Philippians 1:21)

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Helpful thoughts:

• If Timothy was wondering where the content of his sermons and teaching was supposed to come from, Paul made it very clear: Preach the Word!
  • This charge was not just from Paul, but in the presence of God the Father and God the Son, who is the rightful judge of all and coming again to rule as King.  What a responsibility!
  • This preaching is to consist of reproving, rebuking, and exhortation.
    • Reprove – To scrutinize or examine carefully, bring to light, expose, set forth.  To bring a person to the point of recognizing wrongdoing, convict, convince.
    • Rebuke – To express strong disapproval of someone…warn in order to prevent an action or bring one to an end.
    • Exhort – To urge strongly, appeal to, urge, exhort, encourage.
      • Definitions from the “Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature” – University of Chicago Press.
  • And this preaching is to be done with patience and with careful teaching.  Sanctification is progressive.  The faithful preaching of the Word over long periods of time is critical to the spiritual growth of the church.
• In Timothy’s time, and in our day, and perhaps until Jesus comes again, there will be people who want to go to “church” but do not want to hear the whole counsel of the Word of God.  Their passions (There desires/wants) will result in the call of teachers/preachers who speak for the praise of man.
• Verse 5 and verse 1 are like antitodes for the poison of the fear of man in preaching and teaching.

Questions to consider:

1. To whom does the preacher and/or teacher of the Word ultimately answer for what is proclaimed to the church?  How does this help you to pray for your pastor(s) and teachers?
2. Some people like to differentiate between churches that are evangelistic and churches that are more geared toward discipleship.  What does Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in verse 5 (“Do the work of an evangelist”) along with the rest of the commands in this passage say to the idea that a church could be either or?  If we are not evangelizing, are our people being rightly discipled?
3. What is to be the result of preaching and teaching in the church?  What makes a sermon enjoyable?  What makes a sermon truly fruitful?  If a congregant continually enjoys the sermons but no fruit comes, what might be going wrong?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Helpful thoughts:

• Suffering is part of being a Christian.  Levels of suffering surely vary in different times and different cultures.  But when a person lives for Jesus in this world, there will be some push back.
• When we remember that persecution comes from those who are deceived and being deceived, it helps us to faithfully continue on in what we have learned and believe.
• The Bible is God’s work, His word, His message to us.
  • From the ESV Study Bible: “Equipped for every good work – In a broad sense this includes everything that God calls a believer to do.  But, in a specific sense, this also supports the doctrine of the “sufficiency of Scripture,” that is, the idea that the truth contained in Scripture is sufficient in all matters pertaining to doctrine and moral behavior.”

Questions to consider:

1. What role should the Bible have in the ministry of a pastor? In the life of any and every believer?
2. What is the difference between the authority of God’s Word and the sufficiency of God’s Word?  Why are both doctrines so important?
3. How can these doctrines give us assurance and confidence to obey the Lord when we know persecution might be at hand?  When the temptation to be quiet or to change our words comes in the face of rejection, how does the authority and the sufficiency of God’s Word spur us on to obedience?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Helpful thoughts:

• The “last days” Paul speaks of in this passage are the days after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ.
  • The list of characteristics and sins in theses verses were occurring when Paul wrote this letter, and they continue to happen now.
• We can certainly see these sins in our culture, but Paul is warning about the ways they creep into the life of the church.
  • When people portray an appearance of godliness but deny its power and exhibit the carnality and self-centeredness as described in these verses, we are not to fellowship with them.  We are to avoid them.
• Jannes and Jambres are the names that were believed to be the Egyptian “magicians” who contested Moses in Exodus 7:8-13.  They could “do miraculous things” too.
  • When people have big stories and unbelievable experiences (“God stories” to share), when these stories are used to “prove” how in tune they are with God (Most often, particularly with the Spirit), and when these stories come with the expectation that you join them, affirm them, marvel at them, give to them…watch out!

Questions to consider:

1. How does the person we are being warned of in this passage compare to the person of chapter 2:15?  What place does the Word of God have in relation to our experiences (Which one holds authority)?
2. How does being a “lover of self” correlate with not being that interested in truly learning and applying the Word of God?  How does being a “lover of self” set the stage for every other sin in this passage?
3. Why was Timothy (Serving as a pastor) told to avoid such people?  Was Timothy to be concerned for his own well-being or was he being tasked with protecting others (Verse 6)?  How does our pursuit of knowledge and obedience (Fearing God over man) benefit others in the church?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 2:22-26

Helpful thoughts:

• It will be helpful to go back and read verses 20-21 to get the context of the passage.  The first word of verse 22, “So” means what comes next is building upon what was previously written (“Therefore”).
• In order to flee passions that are typically associated with youth (Such as, being hot-headed and argumentative), the believer must pursue what is right.
  • Put off the old man, put on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24).
• When talking to unbelievers who treat us poorly, we are called to patiently endure evil with the hope that those unbelievers might escape the snare of the devil.

Questions to consider:

1. Are we to work alone in putting on righteousness?  What does the end of verse 22 tell us to do?  With whom should we strive for godliness?  Why do we need to grow together in community, in relationships with other believers?
2. Can you be kind to someone and also believe they are doing something wrong (Verses 24-25)?  How does the Word of God say this is done, and how to do it?
3. What has God saved us from?  When we share the gospel message, what are we hoping God will save those people from?  How does remembering who we are and why we are now Christians help us to show kindness to others who aren’t being kind to us?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Helpful thoughts:

• In verse 19, Christians are reminded, we are to depart from iniquity (To pursue victory over sin).
• In this context and illustration, both doctrinal error and immoral actions are being referred to as “what is dishonorable.”
• The Christian who is pursuing truth and renewing his/her mind with the Word of God and who is actively pursuing righteousness and fighting against sin is a Christians who is ready to be used by God.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way do the concepts of these verses seem elementary to many Christians?  As obvious as it may seem, how hard is it to consistently, purposefully, grow in God’s Word and in fight against sin?  Or, how easy is it to settle and get complacent?
2. What is hard about being “set apart?”  In a crowd of people (Or in a culture) what are we prone to want to be?  Do we want to be considered “normal?”
3. How does going to church (Gathering together with the people of God – Hebrews 10:23-25) and building relationships with other Christians help us remember and be comfortable with the fact that it is “normal” for the people of God to be “abnormal” in the world?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 2:14-19

Helpful thoughts:

• The faithful saying of verses 11-13 was not just for Paul and Timothy, but for all of us (Verse 14, “Remind them of these things.”)
• Doctrine matters.  Bad doctrine upsets the faith of God’s people.  Good doctrine (Which results from rightly handling the truth) produces workers who have no need to be ashamed.
• When false teaching is going on, God and His elect will remain faithful (Verse 19).

Questions to consider:

1. Based on what we have been reading, what kinds of issues are worth the argument and what kind of issues aren’t in the church?  What is the difference between quarreling about words and defending the faith?
2. What does Paul compare the spread of irreverent and incorrect teaching and debating (Verse 17)?  Is the spread of gangrene pleasant or repulsive?  How can our church be a “sweet smelling savor” to the Lord and our other believers? (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)
3. The existence of false teaching should add to our motivation to study and know God’s Word, but it should cause us to fear, why not?  Why can we have assurance and confidence in the success of the ministry of the truth of God’s Word?

Today’s passage: 2 Timothy 2:8-13

Helpful thoughts:

• Chains may bind a person, but they will never bind the spread of the gospel.
  • No one knew this better than Paul/Saul (Acts 8:1, Acts 11:19-26).
• The doctrine of election (Verse 10) does not put a damper on evangelism, it guarantees its success!
  • There are people out in the world who will be saved!  Christians must obey the Great Commission and take the gospel to them (Matthew 28:18-20).
• The saying of verses 11-13 confirm Paul’s charge to Timothy:
  • Christ’s mission will not fail.
  • Not even the failure of any Christian or apostate cannot thwart it.

Questions to consider:

1. Why wasn’t Paul feeling defeated though he was in chains, bound up like a criminal?  In whose power and sovereignty does our victory lie?
2. When we are worried about how people will respond to our efforts to share the gospel, what truth can change our perspective?  Why can we be eager to see how they will respond?  How will God be glorified through our obedience, even when people reject him?
3. Why is the saying in verses 11-13 so compelling?  What challenge does it present?  What promise does it present?  How does a passage like Romans 8:29-30 encourage us to receive this saying with confidence?