By: Dale Weckbacher
2 Timothy 4:16-17
At my first defense no
one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged
against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me
and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was
rescued from the lion's mouth.
(ESV)
In the account of creation, God declared His creation good
and seemingly contradicts Himself by saying, it is not good for man to be alone
(Genesis
2:18). After not finding a suitable
helper for Adam among the animals God had created, God creates Eve to be Adam’s
helper (Genesis
2:19-25). There is no biblical
conflict here for God’s creation of man was good, but God knew that for man to
thrive, they need interaction and community with others.
Paul has reached the end of his life with his martyrdom for
the Lord eminent. He could have spent
these last few days complaining or pleading with his Roman captors for his
release but instead gives his protégé final instructions. In these instructions we see,
1)
A sense of urgency (2
Timothy 4:9-12) – Everyone except for Luke has deserted Paul in his time of
greatest need. Demas has fallen in love
with the world and gone to Thessalonica.
Crescens and Titus have also abandoned Paul, but Paul gives us no
insight as to why. Luke remains faithful
perhaps dedicated to addressing the health issues Paul alluded to earlier as
his thorn in the flesh (2
Corinthians 12:7-10). Timothy is
about to carry on the work of the ministry Paul began and with his death
imminent, Paul has a sense of urgency to meet with him. This is also a test to determine if Timothy
will join the others in the abandonment of Paul or come to him.
2)
Paul’s desire to continue his study of God’s
Word till his death (2
Timothy 4:13) – Paul is about to die so why does he need his cloak, books,
and the parchments. Paul’s Roman prison
cell would have been cold and damp, so the cloak is for Paul’s physical comfort. However, his request for the books and
especially the parchments indicate a heart desire to continue the study of
Scripture until the time of his death and coming into the presence of the
Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote about the
ongoing process of spiritual renewal (Romans
12:2) and has a desire to finish his race strong (2
Timothy 4:6-8).
3)
Remain diligent and alert (2
Timothy 4:14-15) – Paul specifically mentions Alexander the Coppersmith and
warns Timothy about him. This could be
the same Alexander mentioned in 1
Timothy 1:20 whom Paul, along with Hymenaeus, handed over to Satan. The full context of 1
Timothy 1:12-20 tells us that Paul handed these two men over to Satan for
their failure to believe in the truth of God’s Word leading to the shipwreck
and not the growth of their faith in God.
This additional mention of Alexander as one bringing harm to Paul
alludes to the possibility Alexander’s opposition to Paul became vile and violent. Paul uses this as an example of why Timothy
must be diligent and alert because he is engaged in spiritual warfare (1
Timothy 1:18).
4)
Extend grace and forgiveness to those that wrong
us (2
Timothy 4:16) – Paul continues by telling Timothy that no one came to his
defense or stood by him when imprisoned for his faith. Once again Paul could have lashed out at this
lack of support but instead extends grace and forgives them. It is possible that Paul remembers standing
in the crowd that stoned Stephen for his faith when he asked the Lord to forgive
those stoning him (Acts
7:59-60). Or possibly he remembered
witnesses telling him about how Jesus forgave those that called for his
crucifixion (Luke
23:34). Whatever the reason for Paul
forgiving his accusers, he wants his protégé to also forgive those that will
desert or wrong him during his ministry.
We too must learn to extend grace and forgiveness to any rejecting or
deserting us for our faith, even if it is on social media where it is easy to
lash out from the anonymity of the keyboard.
5)
Rely on strength from the Lord (2
Timothy 4:17-18) – Paul is about to face death, something that would make
most people weak but, in his weakness, he relies on strength from the
Lord. Unlike Daniel in the lion’s den,
Paul will die for his faith but finds strength in knowing his death means being
with the Lord for eternity (2
Corinthians 5:8). Once again Paul’s
thoughts may have returned to Stephen and his strength in the Lord while the
crowd stoned him to death (Acts
7:54-60). The Apostle Paul may have
also found strength in knowing that like Stephen, he will have the opportunity
to share the Gospel with his executioners (Acts
7:1-53). Paul may be weak physically,
but his spirit is strong because he has the Holy Spirit living in him. This is the strength all believers in Jesus
Christ must rely on in the last days.
6)
Maintain connections with other believers (2
Timothy 4:19-22) – Since creation, God has understood the human need for
connection with others. In large churches,
one can connect through regular attendance each week but the connections at
this level are more like godly acquaintances where we know each other but do
not know much about each other. This is
why many large churches have small groups meeting regularly where individuals
can develop a closer connection with each other. It is in these smaller groups that
individuals connect at a level where they feel free to share their needs, pray
for each other, and learn from each other's experience. In these small groups, new believers also can
connect with more spiritually mature believers and gain strength and wisdom in
their walk with the Lord. These small
group connections are where the Romans
12:2 transformation occurs. Paul’s
final instructions to Timothy in 2
Timothy 4:19-22 are a reminder to Timothy of the connections he must maintain
to remain strong.
The many sports references by Paul in the epistles indicate
he must have been a sports fan. He most
likely saw a relay race and had a deep desire to cleanly pass the baton on to
his protégé, Timothy. Those of us that
are mature in our walk with the Lord carry the baton of the Gospel and must not
hesitate to pass it on as the Lord directs. While many reading this may not be
ministers, we all have a ministry to those God has placed around us. My prayer is that each of us will cleanly
pass our baton of the Gospel to those God places in our path.
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