Lesson for April 27, 2022
The Book of II Timothy
Chapter 4:9-22
Verses 9-15
“Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me, and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.
These are Paul’s final instructions to Timothy and others shortly before his death. He was setting things in order so the work of the ministry would be carried on by his faithful followers and friends. Paul warned Timothy about a few people who had opposed his teaching and would certainly oppose Timothy’s teaching. Paul’s great desire before departing was to see “his son in the faith,” Timothy. Timothy would have a great deal of responsibility upon Paul’s departure, so Paul wanted to give him a few face-to-face instructions. Paul warned Timothy about Demas (who had deserted Paul) and Alexander in Ephesus (who opposed the teaching of grace).
Verses 16-22
“At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him bethe glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”
The first time Paul had to defend himself before the Roman magistrates, everyone abandoned him. Perhaps they feared for their lives having been associated with Paul. However, under the principle of impersonal love and forgiveness he did not hold this against anyone. Paul was under the protection of God until his mission on earth was completed. Time and again Paul was delivered from peril so he could continue to preach the Gospel. The lion’s mouth seems metaphorical, referring to the Roman Emperor or perhaps the lions in the Coliseum where Nero threw Christians to the lions. Either way, the sovereignty of God protected and delivered Paul. It seems winter was approaching since Paul asked for Timothy to arrive before winter with his cloak. Finally, Paul sent greetings from himself and those with him to certain believers who were friends and fellow workers in the faith.
Paul was the only apostle who was a Roman citizen and was appointed by God as the apostle to the Gentiles. But it took Paul four years of imprisonment to finally discover that his ministry was not to the Jews. Having been a famous Jewish unbeliever, Paul had a great desire to see the Jews come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior (Messiah). He always had a burden for the Jews, but they were not the primary object of his ministry from God. The Jewish unbelievers hated Paul and followed him everywhere and tried to destroy him and his ministry. But God protected Paul and his ministry of evangelism and teaching.
Paul became arguably the greatest believer in the Church Age and accomplish the greatest thing that would ever be done in all the Church Age by writing the Prison Epistles under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. These epistles contain all the details of the Protocol Plan of God, all the mechanics of how to live it, and everything that is significant regarding the Christian life. Paul was the greatest communicator of Bible doctrine in the Church Age. Paul wrote the majority of the books in the New Testament.
Paul led many Jewish unbelievers to Christ and trained many Jewish pastor-teachers of the early church. One of the smartest Jews in history became the apostle to the Gentiles and at the same time became the greatest Roman in all of history. Through the writing of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, Paul fulfilled his apostleship to the Gentiles and provided both the teaching and the mechanics of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age for all believers in the Church Age.
Paul wrote the New Testament epistles as a prisoner after three great missionary journeys. God sovereignly placed Paul in a situation where he was able to do nothing but write the mystery doctrine of the Church Age for which we all benefit. He was detained in Jerusalem during an assassination plot to kill him. More than forty assassins took an oath that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. He was retained in the barracks of the Roman soldiers to protect him and then He was moved and imprisoned two years in Caesarea, the Roman capital of the Province of Judea. He was also imprisoned in Rome, at which time he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, which we call the prison epistles.
His people testing came from the Jews and the Romans and Arabs, and he passed. He faced the vicious attitude of the high priest Ananias in Acts 23-24. He faced the rejection of the Gospel by King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice and the crowd that attended them. He passed system testing which came in the form of the corruption of Roman justice under Felix and then under Festus. Though he was innocent, and everyone recognized that, he was not set free. Paul faced thought testing again and passed when he was bitten by a very poisonous snake in Acts 28:3-6 and when rejected by the Jews in Rome in Acts 23:23-31. On the way to Rome, Paul faced and passed disaster testing in experiencing the storm at sea and the shipwreck onto the island of Malta in Acts 27. After spending the winter in Malta, in A.D. 61, his voyage to Rome was resumed. Paul landed in Puteoli and travelled to Rome, where he was put under house arrest.
In 62 A.D., Paul wrote these words in Ephesians 3:1, “I Paul a prisoner.” The only time he was out of prison in that period was during his trip to Rome. Instead of making a fifth journey to Jerusalem, it was God’s will for the apostle Paul to take a fourth missionary journey into the western part of the Roman Empire to Spain. He was released from prison in 64 A.D. and finally make it to Spain. (Romans 15:24) But that four-year delay in his life was not wasted, because during that time he wrote the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians contain everything we need to become spiritually mature believers. The principle of Ephesians 3:1-3 is that the attainment of spiritual maturity results in a very strong personal sense of destiny. Never again in the lifetime of Paul did he ever doubt his destiny to go to the Gentiles to evangelize and teach them.