2 Timothy— Preach the Word
4.26.23
Preach the Word; be earnest in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:2)
As noted last week, Timothy had a godly heritage (2 Tim 1:5). He was the son of a Gentile father and Jewish mother. Paul likely had been instrumental in his salvation. He had traveled with Paul on his 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys, and was one of his closest companions.
Timothy seems to have been a frail man, of nervous temperament (1:7) with some physical weakness (1 Tim 5:23). Yet he was a faithful man of God, highly trusted by the Apostle Paul.
Timothy had been serving as Paul’s apostolic representative in the city of Ephesus. Paul had stayed for two years there. It was no small task for Timothy to assume Paul’s role, but Paul had great confidence in him (Phil 2:19-23).
This is the last writing of the great Apostle that has been preserved for us by the Holy Spirit of God. He was in prison, awaiting a hearing before the Emperor Nero, who was on a rampage. It was a dangerous thing to confess Christ. Paul wrote not long before he was executed (4:6; likely in AD 67).
During Paul’s first imprisonment, he had some liberty and was accessible to his friends. Now, however, he was in close confinement, and was difficult to locate (1:17). Because of the great persecution, he had been deserted by many of his former associates (1:15). There are strains of loneliness and urgency running through this epistle.
His theme to Timothy is to ‘Preach the Word.’ While the first epistle is a charge to Timothy, this second constitutes a challenge. Paul continued to encourage and instruct his protégé in his pastoral work. He desired that Timothy hasten to Rome so that he might have the comfort of his companionship (1:4; 4:9, 21). He also needed his coat in the dank dungeon, and he wanted the Scriptures (4:13).
There is also the matter, noted in our study of 1Timothy, of the many people who forsook the Gospel, departing from the faith. Now, in this second epistle, we find that virtually all had turned away (1:15; 4:16), likely in many cases, because of the threat of death.
Some have said that 2 Timothy 2 should be regularly required reading for every pastor and Christian worker. Therein we find spiritual reproduction (1, 2), the reminder of the charge to keep (2), and the necessities of endurance (3-13), study (14-18), and holiness (19-26).
Here also Paul portrays the believer in various terms: as a soldier who must endure, as an athlete striving to obey the rules, as a farmer sharing in the fruit of his labor, as a worker seeking God’s approval, as vessels that are clean, and as servants who patiently help others. .
Above all, Timothy is urged to keep his focus on the Word and the proclamation of the whole counsel of God.
The Person of Christ is predominate. He is shown to be the One who abolished death and rose from the dead (1:10; 2:8), the One who gives salvation and eternal glory (2:10), and the One with whom the believer will reign with a crown of righteousness (2:11-13; 4:8).
Where do you stand in your relationship to the Lord Jesus?