Category Archives: Second Timothy

There is no fine print in the gospel

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“Indeed, all who desire to live godly  in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (Second Timothy 3:12).

Driving along the interstate from Mobile to New Orleans recently, I was struck by the relentless assault of billboards promoting the numerous casinos along the coast.  One after another shouted about shows and concerts, giveaways, jackpots, winners, great food, and fine hotels.  But not one word was said regarding the massive amounts of money people lose in those places, or the gambling addiction that ruins their lives, or the personal problems resulting from casinos.

Some have even noted that when bettors lose big and take their lives in the casino parking lots, not a word will appear in the local newspapers about it.  Is there a conspiracy of some kind to protect this industry?

The government which requires truth in advertising might want to give attention to the oversights associated with gambling in this country.

Then again, I wonder sometimes what if our churches were required to tell the “full story” in all our advertisements….

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A rhapsody on the theme of the Apostle Paul: His final words

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“…the time of my departure has come” (II Timothy 4:6).

This is about the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy.  These are Paul’s last recorded words.

It’s good to know when your task is complete and that you are about to be recalled home.  It concentrates the mind, as they say.

Paul knew he was on schedule, that his earthly ministry was coming to an end and the bus home was about to arrive.

There is a peace about his pronouncements in Second Timothy, even when he speaks of his coming re-trial before Caesar.  The Lord had been alongside him during the first and will be there during the second, even though Paul does not expect to be set free.  The apostle knows where he is and how things are done in Rome.  But far from growing bitter toward the government–Christians in America might want to take note!–his eyes were on Jesus Christ and the things of God.

There is much to love in this little epistle. It is unlike anything else in Scripture and, in some respects, the most passionate thing we have from the hands of Paul.

Paul is about to die. And, in the words of Dr. Samuel Johnson, nothing concentrates the mind like knowing you’re going to be hanged “in a fortnight.”

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The other reason I believe so strongly

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“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel….” (II Timothy 2:8)

Asking thoughtful believers why they are so dadburn confident of the truth of Jesus Christ will result in a hundred different answers.

My pastor says for him, it’s the Lord’s resurrection. It’s as historically verifiable as anything in ancient times and perhaps more. And if Jesus rose, then He’s still alive and how good is that!

In a recent blog here, I said that to me the scriptures “fit” and  just “feel right,” providing the number one assurance for this country boy. I recognize the arbitrary and subjective nature of that, but there it is.

Other reasons believers give range from the archaeological evidence to the miracles they’ve experienced or their grandma’s testimony.

But there’s something else that looms large in my mind, a fact that dominates almost everything else.

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How we know these things are true

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“….(He) abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…. for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced….” (2 Timothy 1:10,12)

The Christian faith makes audacious claims, no doubt about it: a relationship with the God of the universe, an eternity with Him in His house, forgiveness of sin, and a power for living, and that’s just for starters.

The obvious question–and one every claimant to these wonders should be able to answer–is how do you know?  How can one be sure of such amazing promises and their reality?

My pastor said Sunday that he knows the Christian faith is true by the resurrection of Jesus.

I agree. No argument with that at all. The return of the Lord Jesus from that tomb confirmed His identity, sealed every promise He made, and assures us that there is One in the universe who can be trusted in these matters.  And only one so far, since no one else has returned from the grave (see John 3:13) and thus possesses such credentials. In Revelation 1:18, John sees the risen Jesus holding the keys to death, hell and the grave.  Those are the credentials!

But lately, as I edge closer and closer to the finish line of these earthly years, something else is looming large in my mind and heart. While the historical fact of the resurrection is a solid basis on which to stand, I find myself more and more holding on to the assurance of Jesus and His promises because it feels right.

That requires some explaining.

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To those of us who love money

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“Now, the Pharisees who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him” (Luke 16:14).

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money….” (II Timothy 3:1-2).

We are conditioned from infancy to love money.

In childhood: Family and friends come to the house and they give the kids money. You go into the hospital for a tonsillectomy and people give you money. You go to church and they ask for money. Your dad takes a job in a distant state and the family relocates there, all for money.  A few years later, the business shuts down and dad is jobless and the family moves back South and you say goodbye to your friends, because there is no money.

And later: You go to college and they ask for money. You take a part-time job to make spending money. You are walking along the sidewalk and you find money. You take a job working in a church and to your surprise, they pay you. You go to a larger church and they pay you more, which is a good thing since you now have to buy a house and send kids to school.

And so goes life.

When you are as rich as Donald Trump, the actual money no longer matters.  One can only eat so much food, wear so many clothes, drive so many automobiles, and live in so many houses.  “Money is how you keep score,” Mr. Trump says.

It turns out money is the smoking gun.  The Pharisees who were the Tea Party of their day–and by that we mean the diehard conservatives, the only true traditionalists, they felt–could be almost excused for their opposition to Jesus on the grounds that He was reinterpreting all the scriptures as they understood them.  Except that their motives were not quite that pure. They lived for money, in the same way untold generations before and after have done.

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Why this generation is so lost

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“…holding to a form of godliness, althought they have denied its power….always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:5,7).

Anyone looking for the smoking gun which will explain this generation’s gradual, casual descent into despair and darkness need look no further.

In Second Timothy chapter 3, the Apostle Paul, facing a second trial before Caesar which would end in his beheading, is alerting God’s people to the dangers awaiting them. He says, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, althought they have denied its power, and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

And that’s just the church people! (see note at the end)

Two things in particular stand out about this generation–if indeed we apply the term “the last days” to our own generation–and qualify as “the smoking gun,” referred to above.

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The church membership in the last days

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“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power.  And that’s just the Christians!” (II Timothy 3:1-5)

I added that last line. Forgive me.

I did it to make a point: Paul is not talking about the world’s crowd here.

The people of the world have always been self-centered, money-mad and pleasure-driven.

It’s God’s people–the redeemed, the members of His churches, those entrusted with the gospel–who will be this way.

Read that and weep.

Some observations on what this means for ministry in these last days…

1) This is not all bad.

Everyone is welcome at church, so we have always had a mixture of the good and evil in the pews, and that’s how it should be.  (See Matthew 22:10 where both evil and good people became guests at the banquet.)

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How God’s children can have a nice quarrel

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“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition….” (Second Timothy 2:24ff.)

Just because we are not to be quarrelsome doesn’t mean we can’t have a good old-fashioned argument.

We just can’t have a “good old-fashioned knock-down fight.”

No one must be hurt in the process.

We can have differences of opinions, and conflicts of convictions. Since the church is composed of partially developed, not-yet-finished specimens of God’s grace–people like you and me–we’re going to have differences. That is a given, a fact of life.

If my wife and I, we who love each other most of the time and have lived together as husband and wife for going-on 52 years, if we have differences of opinions and occasionally outright arguments, it figures that rank strangers would.

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The strangest race you will ever run

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“I have finished the course” (2 Timothy 4:7).

“But flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness….” (2 Timothy 2:22)

If you think of life on earth as a race, the Christian life is the strangest one ever.

Okay, let’s think of life as a race.

And we don’t mean ‘rat race.’

Recently, I conducted the funeral of a 53-year-old man whose death was sudden and completely unexpected.  Two weeks later, the coroner has still not figured out why he died.

This gentleman was a runner and a longtime member of a local track club which oversees dozens of races of all kinds every year.  Several members of the club eulogized him during our service.

While they were speaking, something occurred to me.

Imagine a race where you have no idea how long it is or when it will end.  You don’t know whether it’s a sprint or a marathon.  It could be short, it could be long.  You would not be so foolish as to save your energy for that final burst at the end, that sprint to the finish line, the way so many runners do. 

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As a mop bucket, dishpan, or dinner plate–your choice, Lord. Just use me please.

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” Now, in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and earthenware, some of them to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel of honor–sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (Second Timothy 2:20-21).

We do love the practicality and earthiness of the Bible’s metaphors.

Paul was in a jail cell, and had access to several kinds of vessels. Roman guards served his food on some kind of plate. Drink came in a glass or cup of some type. And then, there was the chamber pot.

Chamber pots are not mentioned as such in Scripture to my knowledge, but you can bet they were in the homes of most people, Jew or Gentile, believer or pagan.

There is an old story about a preacher going far into the country to preach at a rural church, and then taking Sunday dinner with a farm family.  The setting was far more primitive than anything he had ever experienced, with the farm animals coming right into the house and eating what fell (or was tossed) from the table.

As a dog kept brushing up against the preacher’s leg, the man of God, hoping to get the host to do something, said, “That sure is a friendly dog.”  The farmer said, “Nah, it’s just that you’re eating out of his plate and he wants it back.”

We hope it’s apocryphal, but having known a few families along the way who let the animals roam everywhere, I would not bet against it.

So long as the dish is thoroughly washed and sterilized, it’s safe to use, no matter how it was employed earlier.

Some people feel forever stained by their sordid past.

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