Summary:

Paul had been sentenced to die (4:6) and so asks Timothy to come see him. Paul craved fellowship (cf. II Cor. 2:12,13) and, staring death in the face, asked Timothy to come “diligently.” That word is used in some serious ways (Deut. 17:2-5; 24:8; Titus 3:13), so Paul must have been serious about wanting to see Timothy.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “If Paul could write Timothy, why couldn’t Timothy write Paul and comfort him that way?” Well, a letter can be comforting, but it is no substitute for fellowship. Similarly, a church’s internet ministry might be comforting, but it is no substitute for being in church.

Paul craved Timothy’s fellowship all the more in the wake of losing Demas (4:10). He was one of Paul’s “fellow-labourers” (Phile. 1:24). His fellowlaborers were like family to Paul, as the Lord’s were to Him (Mt. 12:47-50). The Lord found it unbearable to lose one of His laborers (Ps. 55:12-14), and I’m sure Paul felt the loss of Demas just as keenly.

Demas “loved this present world” (4:10), the world the Lord died to save us from (Gal.1:4). The secret to not loving the world is to love His appearing (cf. 4:8; Tit. 2:12-14). The only way to resist the attraction of the world is to look beyond the world to the next world (Col. 3:1,2).

Demas perhaps went “to Thessalonica” because they had trouble with fornication in the church (I Thes. 4:3-5). What better church to go to if you love the world? But Crescens perhaps went to Galatia because he had the opposite problem, legalism. Not everyone that leaves the faith goes into carnality, some go into legalism, thinking grace pastors are too soft on sin. Lordship Salvationists are good for this.

Of course it doesn’t say Crescens forsook Paul and the context isn’t just the apostasy of Demas, it’s also the loneliness of Paul. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since love “believeth all things”(I Cor. 13:7),i.e.,believes the best about someone when there is a doubt about their character. We’ll also believe the best about Titus, who left for Dalmatia.

But if rough and tumble Titus did forsake Paul, and meek Timothy didn’t, that shows that spiritual fortitude isn’t always tied to personal manliness.

At least Paul had Luke (4:11), a kingdom saint who wrote a kingdom book of the Bible, but became Paul’s traveling companion in Acts once God put the kingdom program on hold. His skill as a doctor (Col. 4:14) would come in handy to Paul’s battered body (cf. II Cor. 11:23-33).

“Mark” (4:11) didn’t start out “profitable” to Paul, or the Lord either. When Mark wrote the Lord “cometh” with the 12 for the last supper, that meant it was at his house, so he was probably the one awakened by the hymn (Mt. 26:30) and who followed the Lord out in a sheet, deserting Him when they arrested Him (Mark 14:50-52). Mark is the only gospel writer who records this. Similarly, Mark served as Paul’s gopher (Acts 12:25; 13:5) but left when the going got scary (Acts 13:13). This caused Paul to form a low opinion of him (Acts 14:36-38). But Barnabas knew Mark better, being related to him (Col. 4:10), and knew he was a “profitable” man, and eventually so did Paul!

You’d think Timothy would jump at the chance to come comfort his father in the faith, but he was surely concerned about his church in Ephesus (cf. I Tim.1:3). So Paul assures him, “Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus” (4:12). Hearing that, Timothy would know his church was in good hands, for he would know what Paul said about Tychicus (Eph. 6.21; Col.4:7).

Paul gave Mark a second chance because he knew that God is a God of second chances. Aren’t you glad he gave Adam one? And Moses, David, Jonah, Peter and many others are glad for their second chances as well. If you’re thinking Mark couldn’t be as used of God as before he failed Paul, think again. God used Mark to write a book of the Bible, and not just any book, the book that presents Christ as a servant. Matthew presents Him as king, Luke as a man, John as God, but Mark presents Him as the perfect servant of the Lord. Written from the unique perspective of a man who failed as a servant. What grace!

Summary:

Paul calls his death a departure (4:6) because when we die our soul and spirit departs our body (Gen. 35:18; Eccl. 12:7). The Greek word for “depart” is analusis, from which we get our word analyze, which means to break something down into its component parts—like our body, soul & spirit.

Paul also called his death an offering (4:6). Israel’s priests offered the lives of animals to pay for sins (Heb. 5:1), but Paul knew better than to think his death paid for his sins. Of course, religion doesn’t! One religion says that dying for the Lord makes you a martyr and you don’t have to pay for your sins in Purgatory. Paul knew there’s no Purgatory (Heb. 1:3; 10:12), so why’d he call his death an offering?

It was because he knew that after you are saved by faith in Christ’s sacrifice you can offer your life to God as “a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1). To do that, you have to sacrifice a lot of things, like any animosity you might feel toward others (Eph. 4:32-5:2). The Lord loved your brethren enough to die for them. Can’t you love them enough to forgive them? You have to sacrifice your pride to do that, but Paul compares that sacrifice to the smell of Christ’s sacrifice. He made the same comparison to the financial gift the Philippians gave him (Phil. 4:18). They offered themselves as living sacrifices in doing so (IICor. 8:1-6).

Sometimes we are called upon to be dying sacrifices like Paul. You might be “ready” to die too if you’d been to heaven like Paul (Acts 14:20; II Cor. 12:2-4). If you’ve ever wondered if heaven is all it is cracked up to be, take it from someone who has been there, it is “far better” (Phil. 1:23).

Who makes the bigger sacrifice, one who dies for the Lord or one who lives a long life for Him? If God allowed boasting in heaven, you can imagine how men would boast that the sacrifice they made was bigger. Since God doesn’t allow boasting in heaven, people there are probably telling others that they made bigger sacrifices. Wouldn’t it be heavenly if men did that here? Paul thought so. He said if he poured out his life as a dying sacrifice, that would just be the drink offering on top of the living sacrifice the Philippians had made (Phil. 2:17 cf. Num. 15:5). He rejoiced to think of things that way. And they rejoiced to feel the same way (Phil. 2:18)! This is an example of “let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. 2:3).

Paul wasn’t ready to die because he was “aged” (Phile. 1:9), but because he knew if his imprisonment furthered the gospel, imagine how his death would embolden the brethren (Phil. 1:21-25)! He was also ready because he had finished his course (II Tim. 4:7), all the preaching God gave him to do and all the epistles He needed him to write. Israel’s priesthood was divided into “courses” (II Chron. 31:2), offering animal sacrifices. Paul’s life was a course (Acts 20:24) of offering his life a living sacrifice and then a dying one. When John finished his, his ministry was done (Acts 13:24,25), and so was Paul’s. Paul knew God would protect him till he finished his course (II Tim. 4:17).

“The faith” Paul kept (4:7) is the body of truth given to him (cf. Rev. 14:12). He also “fought” for it (4:7). He told Timothy to fight “the” fight of the faith, but he fought “a” good fight. He’s talking about how well he fought the good fight. Because of that he’d receive the reward (I Cor. 3:13, 14) of a “crown” (4:8) if he strove for it “lawfully” (II Tim. 2:5) by not mixing in the rules of the kingdom gospel.

The crown symbolizes how we’ll “reign” (II Tim. 2:12) over the angels (I Cor. 6:3). Paul says his reward was there “henceforth,” from that time onward. It was there waiting for him (cf. Mt. 6:19,20). It is a “crown of righteousness” because we earned it. That’s different from “the gift of righteousness” we got when we got saved (Rom. 5:17). It’s a crown of righteousness because without an old nature we’ll always judge righteously. The Lord is called “the righteous Judge” because men could charge Him with unrighteousness for making men with dark histories like Paul and ourselves rulers over men. Paul says otherwise! He says all who love His appearing” (v.8) will receive a reward, because only those who live for the Lord love His appearing. Those who live for themselves dread it, for they know they will have to give account of themselves to God.

Summary: 

The “word” Paul wanted preached (4:1,2) was the inspired Word of God that he just finished talking about (3:16,17).

This is so important God (through Paul) charges pastors to do it. It was important for Abraham to go to the Promised Land and start the Hebrew race so God charged him to do it (Gen. 26:2-5). It was important for Moses to lead that race out of Egypt into the wilderness, and it was important that that race be led out of the wilderness into the Promised Land, so God charged men to do these things too (Ex. 6:13; Deut. 3:28). It was important for the angels to protect the Lord till He could finish training the 12 before dying for our sins so God charged them to do it (Ps. 91:11,12). And it must be just as important to preach the Word if God uses that same word “charge” to tell pastors to do it. If you’re not a pastor, you must clamor for it (IPe. 2:2).

When you charge someone before someone else it makes you accountable to them (Num. 27:18,19). Pastors are charged “before God, and the Lord Jesus” to preach the Word (4:1), and we will give account of ourselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ. There the Lord will judge “the quick and the dead” (4:1 cf. II Cor. 5:9,10).

The “kingdom” Paul mentions (4:1) is not the kingdom of heaven on earth, that’s Israel’s hope. It is the kingdom of heaven in heaven we’ll be raptured to (I Cor. 15:50-52). That kingdom will begin for us at the Rapture, and our place in it will be ascribed at the Judgment Seat, where we’ll learn at what level we’ll “reign” with Christ (II Tim.2:12).

So we should preach the Word “instant” (4:2). What does that mean? Well, being “instant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12) means ready to pray instantly (Neh. 2:4,5), so preaching the Word instant means to be able to preach instantly. To prepare for that, pastors must give themselves “wholly” to the Word (I Tim. 4:15). The Lord did, and so was able to instantly jump on a word to witness to a woman (John 4:9,10). You can do that too if you immerse your mind in the Word.

“In season” (4:2) means “at all seasons” (Ex.18:26). People don’t always have problems at convenient seasons, as those judges learned, and they don’t always ask Bible questions at convenient seasons either, as Timothy would learn.

When people don’t want to listen to the Word pastors must “reprove” them (4:2). You too can reprove people by not joining in their sin (Eph. 5:11). “Rebuke” (4:1) is what you give people who oppose the program of God (Ps. 106:9; Lu. 8:24; Mark 8:33). Today Paul’s gospel is the program of God. Of course, the more pastors “exhort” people (4:2) the less they’ll have to reprove and rebuke them!

This must be done “with all longsuffering” (4:2). Parents don’t give up on kids who don’t listen, and pastors shouldn’t give up on Christians who don’t listen. They must also do it with “doctrine” (4:2). Of course, not listening to doctrine is why they need reproof and rebuke, but God doesn’t have a “Plan B.” If people don’t listen to doctrine, they must be reproved and rebuked with doctrine.

“Itching ears” (4:3) are ears that are itching to hear what they want to hear instead of the Word they need to hear (cf. Micah 2:11). “Fables” (4:4) are stories, they’re what you hear when you hear most preachers preach. But there’s no power in stories, the power of God is in the Word of God.

To guard against all this, pastors must “watch” (4:5). Not watch the people for signs of itching ears, for that wouldn’t change what a pastor is supposed to do, preach the Word. He must watch himself (cf. I Tim. 4:16) for signs of weakening and giving in, and giving people what they want instead of the Word they need. Pastors must also endure the afflictions that Satan will make sure come if you preach the Word (4:5), especially if they “do the work of an evangelist” (4:5).

Summary:

The Bible was written by men like Moses and Paul, but it was Holy Ghost written by God. We know that “scripture” (v.16) means the books of the Bible, for Paul quoted one of them when he asked “what saith the scripture?” (Rom.4:3).

It is taught that a third century council determined the canon of which books should be in the Bible, but Peter knew that Paul’s epistles were “Scripture” as they were being written (II Pet. 3:15,16). The prophets identified which epistles were Scripture (I Cor. 14:37).

We know no books are missing from our Bible because the Bible has 66 books and Isaiah has 66 chapters. The first chapter of Isaiah has things in it that remind you of the first book of the Bible (Isa. 1:2,9), and the last chapter has things that remind you of the last book of the Bible (Isa. 66:22; Rev.21:1). Each chapter in between in Isaiah has things that remind you of the corresponding book in the Bible.

The Greek word for “inspiration” (3:16) means God-breathed. You have to breathe out to form the words that come out of your mouth, and that’s what God did with the words that proceeded out of His mouth in the Bible (Mt. 4:4). The breath of God gives life (Gen.2:7) and the Bible is alive (Heb.4:12) and powerful enough to give life (John 6:63). When you expire the life-breath of God leaves you, so when God inspired the Bible His life breath entered the words.

People say that men wrote the Bible and not God, but one of those men said that God spoke by him (I Sam. 23:2). But they didn’t take dictation, for the Bible writers all had their own style that reflected who they were. Luke was a doctor (Col.4:14) and wrote like one (Acts 3:7). But they all spoke “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Pet. 1:21)

Inspiration is what makes God’s word “profitable” (3:16). God’s Word doesn’t profit us financially if we obey it like it did for Israel, but it can still give us the “profit” of “peace” and “righteousness” (Isaiah 48:17,18). You’ll never have peace without righteousness, by the way. It is “lying words, that cannot profit” that say that salvation delivers you to sin (cf. Jer. 7:8-10).

But the Bible is only profitable if it is rightly divided (II Tim. 2:15). If it isn’t divided at all, you’re going to think obeying God’s word will profit you as it did Abraham and Job. If it is wrongly divided between the Old Testament and New Testament, you’re going to think you’re not saved every time you sin (I John 3:9: 5:18). The Bible must be divided between Paul’s epistles and the rest of the Bible.

But the Scriptures couldn’t profit us unless God preserved them, which He promised He would (Isa. 40:8; Mt.5:18). There are no tittles in our KJV, but we know it is still God’s Word because Paul spoke God’s word in Hebrew (Acts 22:1-22) and it was still God’s word when Luke wrote it down in Greek even though it was a translation. But we know other versions are God’s Word because God knows how to use other words to say “the same words” (Mt. 26:39-44).

The Bible is profitable “for doctrine” (3:16) or teaching because it is the only thing that is sure. Peter said it was more sure than what he saw with his eyes and heard with his ears (II Pe. 1:16-19). Yet when we say God no longer gives the gift of healing, our Pentecostal friends often say He is because of something they think they’ve seen.

“Reproof” (3:16) is what you give someone who isn’t acting right. 14 of the 17 times the word appears it is used to speak of how a father reproves his son for not acting right (in Proverbs). Reproof was given to children with the rod (Pr. 29:15). “Correction” (3:16) is what you give someone who isn’t thinking right according to what you taught him (Ps. 94:10,11). Children were corrected with the rod as well (Pr.22:15).

God reproved and corrected the children of Israel with the rod (Jer. 2:19) of Babylon. But God is not reproving us to-day. We are His sons (Gal.4:6) and you correct adult sons with words. God corrects us with the words of Scripture.

Summary:

The mass shootings we’ve been seeing are evil, but the evil that will wax worse (v.13) in the last days (3:1) is the kind associated with “seducers” (v.15). Religious seducers who have a form of godliness (v.5) and seduce people spiritually by creeping into their houses by means of Christian radio, TV, the internet, etc. (v.6). That means our last days will be different than Israel’s last days, when God’s opponents won’t creep into your house to seduce your spiritual life, they’ll bash your door in take your physical life (Mt.24:9).

The reason Paul says seducers will wax “worse” in the last days is because that’s what Satan’s been doing during this entire dispensation, seducing people (II Cor.11:13-15). I Peter 5:8 is what he’ll be doing in the Tribulation, not today. Today Satan is an angel of light, and his ministers are ministers of righteousness. There’s nothing deceptive about a roaring lion!

Paul says in the last days religious charlatans will be “deceiving, and being deceived” (3:13). In time past God said both were His (Job 12:16) because if a prophet was deceived God deceived him (Ezek. 14:9). He did this to make sin worse so He could punish them (14:9,10). Their sin was the “pollution” (14:11) of idols (cf. Ezek. 20:31,39; 23:30) so God judged them by letting them be carried captive to Babylon, a land of idols, so they’d get sick of idols.

But here we have a dispensational difference. God is not deceiving religious leaders so He can judge us. He corrects our sin with grace, not judgment (Titus 2:11,12). He doesn’t judge us for our sin, He reminds us that He judged Christ for our sins. If that doesn’t constrain you to live for the Lord nothing will (II Cor. 5:14,15).

This is why when Paul goes on to tell Timothy what to do when evil men and seducers get worse, he doesn’t tell him to deceive people with error! He tells him to “continue” in the things he learned from Paul (II Tim. 3:14). That’s the cure for the seductions of religious hucksters, as Timothy had been “assured” (v.14).

But how had Timothy been assured of the things he learned from Paul? God assured people of things in different ways. When they killed the Lord, they perhaps thought He could never judge them as He said He would (John 5:22). But God “assured” them He’d judge them by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30,31).

How would that assure Timothy that Paul’s message was true? Well, Paul preached salvation through Christ, and just like a dead judge can’t judge men, a dead Savior can’t save them! When Paul preached a risen Savior, that proved his message was true.

Paul’s manner of life assured the Thessalonians his message was true (I Thes. 1:5) when he didn’t quit in the face of adversity (I Th. 2:1,2), didn’t deceive or flatter men as others did (2:3-5), didn’t seek their money as others (2:6) and didn’t bully them as others (2:7,8). His personal testimony also gave them this assurance (2:10), and that’s an assurance you can give others that Paul’s message was true as well! All these things assured Timothy as well, plus how he saw the grace Paul preached working in his life.

But Timothy needed more than Paul’s message to combat religious seducers. Paul reminds him that he also knew the Old Testament as well (3:15). When he says the OT made him wise to salvation, that sounds like he was saved by reading the OT before he met Paul, but Paul was his father (I Tim. 1:2) not just his teacher (cf. I Cor. 4:15).

When Paul said the Old Testament Scriptures “are able to make the wise unto salvation,” he was referring to a salvation that they could still make Timothy “wise” to (Ps. 19:7).In context, he was talking about being saved from religious seduction. We need a whole Bible to resist that!

This salvation comes “through faith which is in Christ” (3:15). Not faith in Christ, not our faith in Him. Faith which is in Christ, His faithfulness (cf. Rom. 3:3). Deceivers will always say you have to be faithful to God to stay saved. The thing that will save you from that is remembering Christ is faithful to you!