II Timothy 3: 14 - 4: 5

II Timothy 3: 14-4:5

NIV ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   4  ¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

 

 

The Message   ^{14 -17}But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us^{1 -2}I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple. ^{3 -5}You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant.

 

Who is Timothy?

He was Paul’s spiritual child (1 Tim 1: 2; 2 Tim 1: 2), fellow-traveler and official representative. His character was a blend of amiability and faithfulness in spite of natural timidity. Just knowing something about Timothy helps us understand that God can and does work through us no matter what our personalities. Here was a young man who was definitely non-assertive and yet was a successful proclaimer of Christ. I have often heard people make statements like, “I don’t have the gift of evangelism, so I can’t do that.” Only to discover that through their other gifts they talk easily of Jesus and help people in His name. None of Paul’s companions are mentioned as often and are with him as constantly as is Timothy. Timothy was young (1 Tim 4: 12); timid (1 Cor 16: 10); frequent ailments (1 Tim 4: 12) despite this he was willing to leave home to accompany Paul on dangerous journeys, to be sent on difficult errands, and to remain to the very end Christ’s faithful servant. Once again Timothy’s personality traits did not keep him in bondage nor the circumstances – “young, frequent ailments” and he was still effective. Timothy is first mentioned in Acts 16: 1, as an inhabitant of Lystra (where Lydia was from). He was from a mixed marriage; with a Greek pagan father and a devout Jewish mother, Eunice. Our past, our upbringing, who we are doesn’t have to dictate what we become.  From his childhood he had been instructed from the scriptures. First grandmother Lois, then Eunice became followers of Christ, as a result of their cooperation with Paul, Timothy also did so. Christian Moms and Grandma’s if you have non-believing offspring keep praying, loving and teaching, look where it got Timothy! According to tradition in Ephesus he became its first bishop, and was stoned to death there when he opposed the pagan festival of Katagogian in honor of Diana. Paul wrote two letters to Timothy, one written about 65 AD from Macedonia and the second from Rome while he was in prison awaiting execution.

 

Background and purpose of 2 Timothy

Emperor Nero, blamed for Rome’s burning (AD 64), in turn blamed Christians, who suffered frightful persecution. Paul was imprisoned (second Roman imprisonment). He faced death (2 Tim 1: 16-17: 2:9); Luke alone was with him. Others had left him, either on legitimate missions or because they had become enamored of the present world. Meanwhile, soul-destroying error continued in Timothy’s Ephesus. The letter’s purpose was to urge Timothy to come to Rome as soon as possible in view of the apostle’s impending departure from this life and to bring Mark with him as well as Paul’s things. Paul also wants to encourage Timothy to cling to sound doctrine, defending against all error. The theme of 2^nd Timothy is sound doctrine, chapter 3 is to abide in it, knowing that enemies will arise, and that it is based on the sacred writing. Chapter 4 is to preach it, in season, out of season. A call to Timothy to remain faithful in view of the fact that Paul is about to die. The letter is a message of farewell from a man who knows that death is very near.

 

Now to the text…

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Our reading this week begins with the word but, therefore, we must look back. Beginning in verse 12 we see that Paul is convinced that there is no easy road for the children of God. Jesus declared the cross would be inescapable for those who followed Him. To live in defiance of God’s will and/or to give oneself to errors in the end will bring shame and deception. Anyone who allowed himself to be seduced by error could expect deepening blindness. With Timothy it is different, he had the benefit of many Christian teachers, chiefly Paul. Timothy had a foundation of truth. This is a tribute to the faithful instruction he had received from his godly mother and grandmother. Instruction in the Scriptures (Old Testament) was regarded as a sacred responsibility in every orthodox Jewish home and should be regarded with equal seriousness in every Christian home. You can’t read this passage and not realize the importance of what is taught in the home! In Christian circles it seems very common to see that Sunday School, Bible School, worship services, Christian Education, etc. are how children learn about the grace of God through Jesus. BUT this is a lie from the pit! These are wonderful tools for families, but it is in the home where we teach godly concepts, principles and Scripture. Personal confession, J. and I didn’t do very well here and we are paying a dear price. I read my Bible and prayed but I did not CONSISTENTLY include them in that process. Some people say, “Well, I don’t want to stuff religion down their throat.” Trust me, stuff!  Please listen to my heart, whatever it takes in your life style, change or do, so that your home is the first CONSISTENT place your children learn about Christ and the Bible. Do not put all your expectations in the church, it wasn’t meant to be the primary scriptural teaching avenue, your home is. If you must throw the TV out the window, do it! If you must pull them out of a school event, do it! If you have to make them mad by choosing their friends, do it! Whatever it takes to make time to teach them about our loving, forgiving Father in heaven and His blessed Word it’s worth it.

 

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   

In verse 16 again Paul would be referring to O.T. in its entirety. The adjective rendered inspired by God literally means ‘breathed into by God’, it accurately expressed the view of the inspiration of the OT prevalent among Jews of the first century. Because God speaks through the scriptures we can trust them for instruction - a positive source of doctrine; for reproof - for refuting error and rebuking sin; for correction – convincing the misguided of their errors and setting them on the right path; and for training – education. When scripture is used this way it causes people to be complete and equipped for good works. With the development of the NT alongside the OT, it was easy and highly proper for this concept of inspiration to be attributed to the newer writing which developed in the context of the Christian Church.

 

4  ¹In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:

This reference to judgment is appropriate, for it is Christ who at his second coming will judge how far Timothy, and every other minister/teacher of the gospel, has discharged his obligations. This verse has a liturgical ring to it and may have been used as an early baptismal creed. The word “charge” here carries more emphasis that we might catch. The word here is a legal affirmation, a demand.

 

: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

By the word the apostle means the message concerning Christ as Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. This is what the NT means by the proclamation. This is to be the substance of Christian preaching. “in season and out” in the NEB is translated “press it home on all occasions, convenient or inconvenient.”  “In season and out” can have the military meaning ‘be posted, ‘stay at one’s post’, ‘be at one’s task’ brings out exactly what Paul wants to say. This phrase might be paraphrased, “Whether the moment seems opportune or not.” Paul gives the threefold approach to appeal - reason, conscience, and the will. Refute – reasoned argument, rebuke when called for – exhort/encourage – urge. Whatever approach he is using he must never lose patience with people and must always show himself a sound and resourceful teacher of Christian truth. This is a passage for all of us, not only preachers. We will probably never win anyone to the Kingdom by angrily arguing with them or not listening. We need to know our scripture inside and outside because we love God and it is breathed by him. Then present that scripture with love, timing and patience. Far too long it has been the Christian’s “objective” to “win sinners to Christ by all means necessary” this seems just a hair manipulative to me! What ever happened to loving all people because God loves all people or being friends with them not because I want something from them, but simply to be friends, really caring. Jesus came to this earth and gave His life so that we could be reconciled to God, a restored relationship, not so we could pray some little prayer asking Jesus in our heart, then hammering others to do the same but to have a vibrant, intimate friendship with God and with others.

 

³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

People have always had a preference to hear “smooth” positive talk. In Timothy’s day and today people have ears that ‘itch” for the comfortable word and are willing to reward handsomely those who speak it. Hearers of this type have rejected the truth for “what sounds right to me” which often is just opinion or a lie. It was Jesus himself who said, “carry your cross daily” personally, that doesn’t sound too positive but it certainly sounds realistic. What is truth…the longer I live, the more I read, the more school I attend, the more people I know, I am becoming more convinced than ever that the concepts in that “God Breathed” book, the Bible (which is known as special revelation) really is truth. Yes, there is other truth in our world but I’m finding that other truth proceeds from the general revelation (creation/things pertaining to creation) of God. All truth is God’s truth, be very wary of anything else.