The
Five T's
1
& 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
Second Timothy was taught by Dr. James Modlish
Second
Timothy Four (continued)
(PAUL'S
LAST WORDS)
Introduction:
In our last lesson we
studied Paul's last commission to young Timothy in (2
Tim. 4:1-8). The rest of the chapter may be considered
his last will and testament. Paul has no regrets as he
faces eternity: he had been a good soldier, a faithful
runner, a faithful steward of the treasure of the Gospel.
He looked forward to receiving that crown from the Lord!
What was it that kept Paul going during more than thirty
years of toil and suffering? He loved Christ's appearing!
This was the motivation of his life: "The love of Christ
constraineth me!" And all saints who love His appearing
will also be faithful, as Paul was, to serve Him now; and
will, with Paul, receive their reward.
Next to losing one's soul
and going to hell, the greatest tragedy of life would be
to come to the brink of eternity and discover we had
missed God's will and wasted our lives on fruitless,
transient things.
I. The
Forsaken
Paul had experienced
being lonely and forsaken many times in his ministry.
Evidently Demas at one time had been faithful to the Lord
and Paul (Col. 4:14; Phil. 24) but "having loved this
present world, departed."
As to what it was in this
world that Demas let take control of his life, the Word
does not say. This world certainly has many things to
entice believers away from the Lord: sports, politics,
business, amusements, music, and careers to name a few.
Some have tried to use Demas as an example of one losing
their salvation. However, this is not the teaching of the
Scripture. Demas could be well characterized by one who
is choked by the thorns in (Matt. 13:7,22).
Demas is an example of a
Christian who went AWOL and has no record of returning.
Mark on the other hand, had deserted once (Acts 15:37-39;
13:13) but evidently had repented and made things right
as Paul requested his presence (4:11).
Paul had been forsaken by
all his friends when he stood before the councils of
Jewish and Roman governments. He indicates it was because
of the very first thing he said (vs. 16). We do not know
exactly which council or what answer he is referring to
but it could have been the one in Acts 23: 1-3. He later
stood before Felix, Festus, Agrippa and Caesar. This was
forecast as Paul was a type of a Tribulation Saint (Matt.
10:16-20).
II. The
Enemy
Paul warned the saints
about Alexander which is a little unusual for last words.
Alexander had been a cause of division which is
considered to be a great sin (Prov. 6:19). Paul had no
choice for the good of the church but to brand him for
what he was (I Tim. 1:20).
Paul's greatest enemy
however was the same as yours which is described in (vs.
17) as a lion. (I Peter 5:8). (I Kings 13) is an
interesting story about a young prophet who did what God
told him to do, later was disobedient and was slain by a
lion. The application is only too obvious. The enemy
waits to destroy your life.
III. The
Friends
When Paul died there
were very few who really wanted to be called his friend.
Persecution always has a way of revealing the true colors
of a friend. Paul notes in vs. 17 that the friend who
sticks closer than a brother never left him (Matt. 28:20;
Heb. 13:5,6; Jn. 15:14).
The fact that Paul had to
leave Trophimus behind at Miletum sick (vs. 20) is a
clear cut demonstration that the apostolic signs are
fading out with the going out of the greatest
apostle.
There are those who would
say that the only thing this proves is that Trophimus did
not have enough faith as healing is always dependent upon
the faith of the afflicted one. This however cannot be
substantiated from Scripture - please
consider:
A. Healing in (Matt.
17:14-21) was dependent upon the faith of the healer, not
the sick.
B. In (Mark 2:1-5)
God blessed the faith of those who brought the sick
one.
C. In (Acts 3:1-8) it
is not suggested that anyone exercised any
faith.
D. In (Matt. 8:5-13)
a servant is healed because of his masters
faith.
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