BE LOYAL

APRIL 14, 2013           

·         This book was written by Paul from Rome around 67 A.D., just a short time before his death, around 68 A.D.

·         He was in prison in Rome...His race was just about finished.

·         Paul was confident of his salvation and the hope he placed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

·         He knew that the time of his death was near and he was ready for it.

·         Paul also speaks of the ultimate outcome of gospel preaching.

·         It will not be the total conversion of mankind, nor will it usher in the Millennium.

·         There are two departures that will occur at the end of the age.

o   One is the departure of the Church, which we call the Rapture.

o   The second is when the believers are gone; the old shell of the church that is left down here will totally depart from the faith.

·         This view is not in keeping with the social gospel today, which expects to transform the world.

·         Such vain optimists have no patience with the doleful words of 2 Timothy.

·         But, in spite of that, the cold and hard facts of history and the events of the present hour demonstrate the accuracy of Paul.

·         The visible church has entered the orbit of an awful apostasy.

·         The invisible Church - that is, the real body of believers - is not affected.

·         The gospel rests upon a tremendous fact, and that fact is the total depravity of man. 

1.     REMEMBER YOUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE (2 TIMOTHY 1:3-8)

2 Timothy 1:3-8

3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,

NASB 

Verse 3:

·         He knew that God had forgiven him, and that his sins were under the blood.

·         After his salvation, most of the New Testament testifies why Paul could have a pure conscience in serving God.

·         Though he will soon die the death of a criminal, Paul is not afraid to speak of serving God.

·         Paul always preached that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was not a NEW religion for the Jews.

·         It was the same religion, the same God, whom the forefathers of the Jews also served.

·         Essentially what Paul believed in what Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, and all the pious ancestors also believed.

·         They looked forward to the coming Messiah; Paul proclaims the same Messiah who had actually made His appearance.

Verse 4:

·         It is probably that when Paul and Timothy separated for the last time that Timothy had shed tears. By means of his tears the younger man had shown how wholehearted and genuine was his devotion to Paul.

·         It is obvious that Paul and Timothy loved each other in the Lord. The fact that Paul has been arrested, is back in prison, and even faces death really affects Timothy.

Verse 5:

·         It seems that Lois and Eunice had been converted, so that they saw in Christ the fulfillment of the promises, and placed their trust in Him; and that these two women, in turn, had cooperated with Paul in that glorious work of grace which resulted in Timothy's conversion.

·         It is apparent that Timothy was raised in a Christian home and that both his mother and grandmother were Christians.

·         But, the thrust of this verse is FAITH, which the Apostle Paul never misses an opportunity to recognize and compliment.

Verse 6:

·         Timothy had problems that could cause his zeal to serve the Lord to wane.

1.      Timothy was handicapped by physical ailments

2.      Timothy was naturally timid.

3.      Timothy was a young man who might feel ill at ease among elders.

4.      The Ephesian errorists who opposed him were very determined.

5.      Christians were being persecuted by Rome in Timothy's day.

·         Apparently the flame had not gone out, but it probably seemed to Paul that it was burning slowly and had to be agitated.

Verse 7:

·         We have the power of God, not the strength of men.

Verse 8:

·         Here Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel.

·         Not to be ashamed of the Gospel is to be proud of it.

·         Paul was not a prisoner of Nero, but of the Lord.

·         Paul is telling Timothy that he must be willing to bear "sufferings" or "ill treatment", to take his share of persecution; and this not in his own power, which would be impossible, but "according to the power of God."

·         That power is infinite and enables a person to endure even unto death. 

2.     REMEMBER THE GREATNESS OF SALVAVTION (2 TIMOTHY 1:9-10)

2 Timothy 1:9-10

9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

NASB 

Verse 9:

·         God has delivered us from the greatest of all evils and He has placed us in possession of the greatest of all blessings.

·         But in saving us He made us the recipients of the effective gospel call, which is always a "holy calling."

·         This "holy calling" not only reveals God's holiness but it is also distinctly a call unto holiness of life, unto a holy task, and unto a condition of everlasting singleness and virtue.

·         Salvation is not based on our accomplishments but on God's sovereign purpose, His wise (not arbitrary) fixed, and definite plan; and therefore on His grace or sovereign favor.

·         Grace precedes works, for we were already its objects before time began.

Verse 10:

·         That grace of God which "saved us, and called us with a holy calling" was hidden from before the foundation of the world and was only dimly discerned in the old dispensation "has not been revealed or manifested."

·         Paul is talking about spiritual death, eternal death, which is separation from God for all time to come. 

3.     FOLLOW THOSE WHO ARE UNASHAMED (2 TIMOTHY 1:11-15)

2 Timothy 1:11-15

 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

NASB 

Verse 11:

·         As a preacher (herald) Paul must announce and loudly proclaim that Gospel.

·         As an apostle he must say and do nothing except that which he has been commanded to say and to do.

·         As a teacher he must impart carefully instruction in the things pertaining to salvation and the glory of God, and he must admonish unto faith and obedience.

Verse 12:

·         Paul was in prison and the sentence of death was upon him, he was not ashamed of the Gospel.

·         At the time of writing this epistle, he was imprisoned in a dismal underground dungeon with a hole in the ceiling for light and air - with the prospect of being executed as a criminal!

·         Paul deposited his faith in Christ until the Day of Judgment.

Verse 13:

·         The slogan, so popular today, "It does not matter what you believe, just so you are serious in whatever you believe," is flatly contradicted in the Bible!

·         Apart from His merits, His Spirit, and His example, there can be no spiritual faith and love.

Verse 14:

·         It is precious or excellent because it belongs to God and results in His glory though the salvation of those who accept it by sovereign grace.

·         Timothy must defend "the treasure which has been entrusted to you" from every attack and never allow it to be changed or modified in the slightest degree.

·         Since the enemy is strong and Timothy, Paul very wisely adds, "through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us."

·         It is important to see that the Christian life can be lived only in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 15:

·         Paul gives the actual names of those who have been unfaithful to him.

·         As we can see, apostasy does not occur only in the last days of the church. 

4.     SUPPORT THOSE WHO ARE UNASHAMED (2 TIMOTHY 1:16-18)

2 Timothy 1:16-18

16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me, and found me —  18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day —  and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.

NASB 

Verse 16:

·         Onesiphorus had shown mercy to Paul in his dungeon at Rome.

·         Perhaps Onesiphorus had been executed for identifying himself with Paul; hence, Paul expresses the wish that the Lord might grant mercy to his household.

·       The presence of Onesiphorus was undoubted a great comfort to Paul.

Verse 17:

·         Onesiphorus had to search diligently to find Paul because he had probably never been in Rome and did not know his way around, or part of the city had been destroyed by a great fire which caused confusion, or for a while the place of Paul's imprisonment was not known even to believers who lived in Rome.

Verse 18:

·         Onesiphorus had rendered many valued services to the cause of the Gospel.

·         This labor of love had been performed under the very eyes of Timothy.

·         Hence, Paul says, "you know very well."