2 Timothy

In 2 Timothy 4 we read the final preserved written words of the powerhouse Apostle Paul. A very personal & heartfelt account. A hint of heartbreak. But strong till the end. Wise council, simple instructions, direct teaching. Summed up effectively in the words of verse 2: Preach the word! Be ready in season & out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering & teaching.

I’m in the final hours of 2025 & I’d like to thank my Lord & Saviour Jesus, for another wonderful year. I did a quick check & it turns out this will be my 167th sermon posted in 2025. Praise God for giving me the motivation to complete these 167 studies. God is indeed mighty.

Today we’re completing our study of 2 Timothy 2. Paul directs Timothy (& all believers) to shun profane & idle babblings. Shun people that have strayed concerning the truth & overthrow the faith of some. The Word of God is our solid foundation. Timothy is instructed to flee youthful lusts. We’ll touch on what Paul may’ve meant by this. Then to close out the chapter, Paul will list 6 traits - all servants of the Lord must display.

Today we’re looking into the first 15 verses of 2 Tim 2. We’ll see Paul’s commands & exhortations to Timothy, desiring to see the Word of God faithfully taught to the people, after his pending death. Even though Paul was soon to depart this earth, his heart was still for the saints he was leaving. Paul couldn’t bare the thought, that wicked men would come after him, twisting & distorting the teachings he had passed from God to the saints. Christians must engage the brains God’s given us, & preserve the simple gospel truth. Jesus died & rose, to bring salvation to the world. Believe in Jesus to be saved. Remain in Christ, endure in Christ, never deny Him, never attempt to add to His saving work. Don’t waste you time engaging in vain & profane arguments & babblings. & we must always rightly divide the word of truth.

Today we come to the personal letter of 2 Timothy. This is after Paul’s 1st imprisonment in Rome, where he was under house arrest. Clement (of the 1st century) documents, that Paul went all the way the Spain to evangelise. The book of Acts finishes, with Paul under house arrest in Rome in the early 60’s. Some believe Paul spoke with Nero & presented the gospel to him, like he did with Agrippa & Berenice. If that did happen, Nero obviously rejected the gospel. After the burning of Rome in AD64, unconfirmed rumours swelled that Nero started the fire. Tacitus (the Roman Senator & historian) claims, Nero blamed the Christians for the fire. Easy targets, as they often spoke of being lights in the world & being on fire for Jesus. Plus it was easy to twist the Christian teaching, saying they were evil cannibals, given their partaking of the Lord’s supper. Approximately 2 years after being released from house arrest, Paul was arrested a 2nd time. In a far more severe dungeon location. It’s from this prison, Paul writes 2 Timothy. Paul knows his earthly days are numbered as he writes this final letter to Timothy. His swan song. Paul would never see earthly freedom again. Likely Nero ordered Paul’s decapitation circa AD67.