Good morning, everyone. It's good to be here again this morning. I haven't done this in a while, so if I seem out of practice, that's why. We're going to start a new book this morning, the book of 2 Timothy, and so we won't start with the scripture reading, we'll actually finish with the scripture reading this morning, but I would like to start with a word of prayer. Let's pray together and ask God's blessing on the preaching of this word. Father, you are God, and there is no other. Father, you sit enthroned in heaven. You are praised eternally by the cherubim and the seraphim. They cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Father, you are the one who dwells in unapproachable light. You are the one who no one has ever seen or can see. Father, you are the one who declares the end from the beginning, the one who speaks, and things that are not in existence obey. Father, we come to worship you this morning. And as we stand before you, we recognize how small and insignificant we are, and more than that, we recognize how sinful and unworthy we are to come into your presence. So Father, we come to worship you because you are great, but even more, we come to worship you because you are gracious, and you have shown your grace in the person and the work of your Son, Jesus Christ. And so, Father, we come with grateful hearts for that work, what he has done on our behalf, that he has called us together this morning, that he has washed us and redeemed us and brought us into your presence and given us a hope of eternal life and a hope of an eternal inheritance. Father, we see those things and we stand in awe and we're amazed. And so, Father, we want to see more of those things. We want to understand more of who Christ is, more of what he has done for us and rejoice more in those things. Father, that's why we turn to your Word this morning, because it is through your Word that we see Christ. So, Father, I pray that you would exalt your Word in our midst this morning, and that in doing so, that you would exalt Christ in our midst. Father, I pray that everyone here would see the glory of Christ clearer because of your Word, that we would walk out of this place ready to worship better because of what we've seen of Christ. Father, I pray that you would Open our ears as we listen to your word. Open our eyes to see correctly what you have to teach us. Father, I pray for myself particularly. I pray that you would fill me with your spirit and give me words that are true and honoring to Christ, words that are for Christ's glory and words that are beneficial to build those who are hearing here up. So Father, I entrust this time to you and pray that you would exalt your son in Christ. and move the table, because I'm not going to be still and I'm going to hit that over and over again. Also, apparently, there's no lapel mic, so I'm going to try to stand here. If I wander over there, somebody should just raise your hand and tell me to come back. So this morning, we're going to start a new book called Second Timothy. And so our introduction, I've titled it, Serving the Gospel Isn't Easy, But It's Always Worth It. But actually, before we dive into Second Timothy, I want to say it's good to be back from sabbatical. And thank you all for giving me a time of refreshment and rest. I very much enjoyed sabbatical. I did have an excellent time of rest, an excellent time of fellowship with the Flax and the Bridgemans and all the brothers and sisters at Riverbend, but it's good to be back with our church family again. And during sabbatical, I devoted myself to several things during my time in sabbatical, but one thing that I did intentionally was I spent time studying 2 Timothy, not necessarily because I was gonna come preach it, that came later, but because I wanted a study to do during sabbatical. And 2 Timothy I chose as a specific study during sabbatical, first because it's a letter of encouragement to a younger pastor, and I consider myself clearly a younger pastor, although there's probably a sunset date on that. identification, but I'll still call myself a younger pastor for right now. So that's the first reason I chose 2 Timothy, but then in many ways I consider Bob Flack to be my spiritual father, much like Paul was to Timothy. That's something we're going to hear very strongly in 2 Timothy, is Paul's care for his son, Timothy. We'll define what that means in a few minutes. But in many ways, my sabbatical could be summed up by 2 Timothy, especially the phrase which we're gonna see is very central to the book at the beginning of chapter two. Having an older season pastor told me, you then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And so that's what I wanna do, is I wanna share what I've studied over sabbatical with you over the next several months, and we'll go through 2 Timothy this morning. We'll just do a quick overview of the book. And so my proposition for this morning is this, that 2 Timothy is a final letter of personal encouragement to a well-loved younger pastor. Paul wants Timothy to know that he too has suffered, and he encourages Timothy to keep pursuing his ministry, knowing that Christ and his word is enough. We'll do several things as we go through that this morning. I have six points. It's a little odd. I usually try not to have that many points, but it's an introductory and we'll go short through all the points. We're gonna first look at what is the setting of 2 Timothy? Where is this coming from? What's happening during 2 Timothy? And then we'll transition and think about what is the purpose of 2 Timothy? Why is Paul writing this letter? We'll think about the introduction of 2 Timothy, so I'm gonna pull out those first two verses and look at them. They're similar to openings in other books that Paul has written, but there's some distinct differences as well, and I wanna pull those differences out, because they give us a hint of what Paul is gonna be doing as he goes through this book. And then we'll briefly look at a broad perspective of what the message and the outline of 2 Timothy are. And then we're going to be doing application as we go through each passage, so it's not like I'm going to play every part of the entire book this morning. But I do want to step back and think about what does this book mean for us? Especially sitting in your chairs this morning, it would be an honest and probably a good question to ask. What does a book written to a pastor nearly or maybe more than 2,000 years ago have to do with me? So we'll try to answer that question. And then finally, we'll finish by reading 2 Timothy. It's not a long book, so we can just go through the whole thing this morning together and hear it as it was written. So we'll start by looking at the setting of 2 Timothy. So 2 Timothy is a letter from Paul. to Timothy, and you might guess by the term second that it's the second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy. So it's the second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy. And actually, to understand this letter, I think we need to understand who are Paul and Timothy. We probably all have a decent idea. Paul is the apostle sent out on missionary journeys. The apostle called an abnormal way, seeing the glory of God on the road to Damascus, and then sent to the Gentiles to proclaim the glories of Christ to the Gentiles. Timothy is a guy that Paul found along the way. But I think we need to look at Paul and Timothy's relationship particularly. So the Apostle Paul had met Timothy in a town in Asia Minor, what is now Turkey, a town called Lystra, early on in his second missionary journey. We see that in Acts 16. It's not overly explained, just as he met them. And then when he left Lifestrike, he said, Timothy, you should come with me. Somehow, Timothy had impressed Paul during his time in Lystra. And Paul said, you know what? You'd be a good companion to have with me. If we take a step back, this is right after Paul and Barnabas decided to go their separate ways. And so Paul needed a new partner. And it seems that Timothy filled that role. Barnabas went off on his own. Paul went off on his own. Paul said, Timothy, you'd be a good person to take with me. to serve in the gospel. So now Timothy travels along with Paul, and actually we see Paul put a whole lot of trust in Timothy, and actually he uses Timothy to be his representative in many places, either going on ahead or staying behind to accomplish what Paul's goals for that place were. So we see in Acts that Timothy stayed behind in Berea, and he stayed behind in Macedonia, and Paul went on to keep going forward and spreading the gospel. Timothy stayed behind to finish up what Paul had started. Then as we go through the rest of the Bible, we see that Timothy was the one who carried the letter of 1 Corinthians to Corinth. So Paul wrote a letter. He said, Timothy, go carry this letter to Corinth. And then as it goes on, Paul decides, you know what? Timothy is so important to my ministry that for the rest of the letters he writes, Timothy is going to be a co-author on those letters. So he co-authors the second letter to the Corinthians. He co-authors the letter to the Philippians, to the Colossians, both letters to the Thessalonians. And he co-authors the letter to Philemon. So clearly, Peter, I'm sorry, Paul and Timothy were very close. And that's what I really want to highlight. Paul and Timothy were very, very close. And Paul considered himself a father to Timothy. We're going to see that over and over again. We see that in 1 Corinthians 4.17. We see that in 1 Timothy 1.2. in 1 Timothy 1.18 and 2 Timothy 1.2 and 2 Timothy 2.1. Whenever Paul talks to Timothy or about Timothy, he refers to Timothy as my son. No, Timothy wasn't Paul's son, and to our best understanding, Paul was never married, never had any children, but Timothy was important to him like a son, and there was an important relationship between the two. And actually, as we look at scripture, it's interesting. Paul calls Timothy a son, and Timothy's father is never mentioned. There's a lot we could draw out of that. I'm not going to ponder on that too deeply right now, because there's a lot we could draw out of that on the shape of the New Testament family. But the thing that I want to highlight for 2 Timothy is how close the relationship was and how deeply Paul cared for Timothy, because that's going to be an important background to what's going on. So as we get closer to where are we in this letter, during Paul's first imprisonment, he sent Timothy to Ephesus to pastor and organize the church in Ephesus. And we could argue about what his title is. I'm not sure pastor is exactly the best title, but he had many functions like a pastor and was to appoint elders to organize the church. And this was a long visit that lasted several years. And then things get a little bit muddy in Scripture. But early during his time in Ephesus, Paul sent him a personal letter. That's going to be the letter of 1 Timothy. We've been through that. Dan preached through it early in 2022, I think, through the middle of 2022. I don't know. Detailing what he hoped Timothy would do in Ephesus. And so we've gone through that book. It was a letter primarily of charge. These are why I sent you to Ephesus. And we get all of that in 1 Timothy. So now we come to 2 Timothy, a second letter from Paul to Timothy. So we need to jump forward from 1 Timothy. How do we get from 1 Timothy to 2 Timothy now? So as we look at 2 Timothy, it's probably been several years since the book of 1 Timothy was written. And Paul probably, as we try to piece together as best we can, and scholars who do better than I try to piece together as best they can, it seems like Paul had been in prison, he was released from prison, And then he ended up going to prison again, and now he's in prison in Rome again. So now we're probably somewhere between AD 65 and AD 67. And Paul believes that this is the end. He stood up for the gospel, he's proclaimed the gospel in all the places that Christ went in to proclaim the gospel. His last place to proclaim the gospel is before the emperor himself. And he believes his time is short, that Nero is soon to execute him. And so he writes one last letter to his beloved son. And we're gonna hear that. We're gonna hear Paul say, my time is short. I wanna share my heart with you. And it seems like Paul has heard about some of Timothy's struggles. He's not been completely disconnected. Perhaps there'd been messengers or somehow he's heard about what's going on with Timothy. And so he wants to share his heart with them, but he also writes a letter that's dripping with sympathy and with encouragement. And he wants Timothy to stay the course, keep going on in the ministry. My time's almost done, but you've got a long time to go. So keep going. So that's where Paul is when he's writing this letter. So where's Timothy? So it's from Paul to Timothy. Timothy, it appears, has remained in Ephesus. I put an asterisk there because there's some questions, or even some questions still in my mind, and we don't have really clear evidence. There's some things in there that make it sound like maybe he's not in Ephesus, maybe he moved to somewhere else. Actually, I was first convinced he was in Ephesus, and then I got convinced he probably wasn't in Ephesus. I've moved back based on some of the greetings and where families would have been and travels of people that he probably is still in Ephesus, although it's not super important for the letter. But he's probably in Ephesus. If not, he's moved to some other city and is doing a similar thing as when he was in Ephesus. And he's going to continue serving the church there. But it doesn't appear that his time in Ephesus has been easy. There have been people in the church who have opposed Timothy's ministry. There have been people who have opposed the gospel message. There's been people who attempted to sow discord within the church. And from the tone of 2 Timothy, it appears that there's a high likelihood, at least, that Timothy has grown discouraged. He looks at what's going on and he just I don't know what to do next. And Paul probably has heard about that. So now Paul writes a final letter to Timothy. So that's gonna bring us to the purpose of 2 Timothy. What is Paul gonna write Timothy about? Actually, to understand the purpose, I think we just need to read the first couple verses of 2 Timothy. So I'm gonna pull up 2 Timothy 1, three through six. It says, I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Very, very normal start to Paul's letters. He thanks God, remembers the recipient and his prayers, but then the next thing he says is, as I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. So at the start of this book, Paul's thinking about the fact that Timothy was crying. Now, what tears he's remembering, it doesn't exactly say. A lot of commentators would say it's the tears of when Paul left Timothy. It might be. As I go through the book, I'm less and less convinced about that. And so the question is, why is Paul writing this book? Well, he says at the beginning, I'm remembering that you were crying, and I want to share some encouragement with you. Then the question is, why is Timothy crying? What's going on here? that's setting the stage for this book. And as we look at that, I think that as we read through this book, as we look at Paul's ministry, I think we could say something like Paul knows that being a minister of the gospel is not easy. I'm going to flash a ton of verses on the screen. I don't really expect you to read them all or write them all down or anything. I'm just going to go through and pepper some things at you. I put the references on the side if you want to go back and look at them. But Paul knows that being a minister of the gospel is not easy. He knows that preachers and teachers are going to be singled out for suffering. He knows they will be abandoned and betrayed by friends. He knows their message will be rejected, that they will pass during times of difficulty, that their message will be opposed, that people will reject them. and their message, and those people will appear to thrive. He knows that their lives will be poured out as a drink offering, that they will be deserted by friends, that they will be attacked by former friends, that they will often stand alone, that they will be targets of false accusations. And Paul had personally experienced most, if not all, of these things and many more. So we come to, I'm jumping out of the letters to Timothy, but Paul, in one of the places where he summarizes his ministry, he says this. Are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, danger from false brothers and toil and hardship through many a sleepless night and hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure. And apart from all these other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? who is made to fall, and I am not indignant. Paul had suffered much during his ministry for the gospel. And he looks at Timothy and says, you're suffering too. I know that. But one thing that I want to catch is, in this Corinthians passage, Paul lists a lot of external opposition. But in all the other places, we see that Paul's listing opposition from within the church. He says, there will be The ones that are gonna hurt most, ones that happen over again are those within the church are going to come against you and oppose your ministry. You just have to keep going and keep fulfilling your purpose. In fact, this is all that Jesus had promised. He said, Matthew 10, 16 through 25, Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake. to bear witness before them in the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents, and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household?" So that had been what Jesus had promised to those who would serve in gospel ministry. And actually, we could even look farther back. Jesus is the preeminent statement about this. But actually, if we look across the entire Bible, we see this story played out over and over again. Moses was called to lead God's people, and actually, multiple times, Moses despaired of the work that God had given to him, and cries out to God, why did you give me this people? We see Joshua as he's appointed to take Moses' place. What does God tell him over and over again except be strong and courageous? Why? Because the job you're getting isn't easy. It's gonna be a hard job. We read the story of Elijah. Elijah was the great prophet of God. He called fire from heaven down to destroy the prophets of Baal. And where did Elijah go? He ran out into the wilderness. He said, God, let me die. I'm worthless. My ministry has failed. That's the story of the Bible, is that the ministry of the gospel is not easy. It's gonna be hard. In fact, I think it could be summed up in this. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through that spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we have the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance from death to death. To the other, a fragrance from life to life. And Paul finishes, who is sufficient for these things? Paul's there, Timothy's there. Who could possibly be sufficient for these things? So we come to 1 Timothy 1, three through six, Paul says, I remember your tears. As I remember your tears, I long to be with you so I could be filled with joy. So why is Paul crying, I mean Timothy crying? I think a great answer would be something like this, because gospel ministry is hard, and it's full of suffering. That's the message of the entire Bible. Gospel ministry is hard, and it's full of suffering. So that's going to be behind the letter that Paul's going to write to Timothy. He's going to write a letter of encouragement and say, Timothy, it is hard. It's hard, but... And then he's going to list off a bunch of things that he wants Timothy to read. And so I think we're gonna see what he's gonna list off as we just look at the introduction to 2 Timothy. So I just wanna look at 2 Timothy 1, one through two, work through those for a few minutes. So it says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. So we look at this, in many ways it sounds like an introduction you might put on any of Paul's letter. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints at Philippi. We hear similar words going through here, but we notice some interesting differences as Paul writes to Timothy. And I wanna pull those differences out because I think Paul writes his introductions, his greetings, very carefully. They're formulaic, they're greetings like we would put at the top of a letter, but they're intentionally formulaic. And so what did he change about his greeting? I see several things here that he changed. First, Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. That's like stamped at the top of almost all of Paul's letters. But then he adds this phrase, Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. Paul's gonna look at Timothy and say, your job is hard. No one's denying that. Where do you need to find your strength? It's in that promise. You need to remember that there was a promise and that promise was a great promise. It's a promise of life that was found in Christ Jesus. You went into a hard ministry, but you had a great reward and a great promise to carry with you. You got to bank on that promise if you're going to keep going. He continues, to Timothy, my beloved child. Paul always tells who he's writing to, and he usually adds a little bit about them to tell us something. In this case, he calls him my beloved child. That's not completely out of the norm. Paul's called Timothy his child over and over again. In fact, in the heading of 1 Timothy, he called Timothy his true child in the faith. But he changed it somewhat. He wrote to Timothy the first time, you're my true child in the faith, and this is what I want you to do in Ephesus, 1 Timothy. But now we're years on. Paul writes to Timothy and says, you're my true child in the faith, but here's what I want you to know, Timothy. You're my beloved child. You're the one I care about. You're on my heart and on my mind. When I hear that you're having hardships, I care. And I am with you in this. So we have those two differences, and then we have grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Again, extremely formulaic, like the head of all of Paul's books, except Paul usually says two things. Paul says grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul decided to throw in an extra word here. He says, you know what, Timothy, I'm writing you. You need grace and peace just like everyone else needs grace and peace, but you need something more. You need mercy. Now those are words we throw around all the time. Grace, peace, mercy. And sometimes I think we use them so much that we sometimes forget what they mean. So maybe if we did a little translation. Paul's usually saying, favor and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. That word mercy, a great way to translate that word would be compassion. So he's saying, Timothy, you need the favor and peace of God, but right now, you need compassion as well. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what Paul's after in this. But then we go back to some of the formulaic things. Paul does go and start by, I'm an apostle of Christ Jesus. He says, I've been given a calling, and that calling was by the will of God. And I think that's important here at the start, too, because he says, Timothy, I'm here with you. I hear your suffering. I'm burdened by your suffering. But we've got to remember, we were called to do a task. And that calling wasn't some earthly calling. It was a calling by the very God of the universe, by the will of God. He sent us out to do this task, so we have to keep doing it. And so how are you going to keep doing it? You're going to remember that promise. You're going to remember the love that God has for you and I have for you, and you're going to bank on the compassion of God. And then you're going to be able to fulfill your ministry. And so Paul wants Timothy to know God's promise. He wants Timothy to know God's love, and he wants Timothy to know God's compassion. so that he can fulfill God's calling on his life. Timothy, you have a calling. In fact, we're gonna hear that in the letter as we read it, that he had been called to a holy calling. And we're gonna see, Paul says, Timothy, you gotta fulfill that calling and keep going. This is how you're going to do it. So that's what Paul's gonna wanna get across in 2 Timothy. So now let's go look at 2 Timothy as a whole, the message and the outline of 2 Timothy. If we were to summarize the message in one phrase, I'd say, this is how you'll persevere. Timothy, it's hard. This is how you'll keep going. So as we look at the content of 2 Timothy, we'll say something like, Paul's purpose in 2 Timothy is to encourage Timothy to keep serving Christ in the gospel, even when it's hard. Keep serving Christ in the gospel, even when it's hard. And he's gonna do exactly what he set out in the introduction. He's going to be compassionate towards Timothy. He's gonna remind Timothy of the promises that God has made, and he's gonna call him to keep pursuing the gospel through those promises. And so as we look at the content that's in Timothy, I see especially three types of content throughout 2 Timothy. We're gonna see encouraging exhortation. In fact, that's probably the main thing we're gonna see in 2 Timothy. We're gonna see series of commands or exhortations, charges to Timothy. But interwoven with those charges is gonna be compassionate examples. Paul's gonna talk about his life. He's gonna talk about the hardships he's had. He's gonna commiserate with Timothy and say, this is what happened to me. The background, don't be surprised when it happens to you. With the background, because it happened to Christ. And then third, we're gonna see enduring promise. In the middle, usually in the middle of his exhortations, Paul's gonna get carried away and say, here's the exhortation, do this, Timothy, but here's the promise that stands behind it, this is what God has done. Remember that, remember that, remember that, and then keep going. So we'll see those three. And so as we organize 2 Timothy, actually what we're gonna see as we read this book this morning is you're gonna hear all those exhortations. That's kind of the foundational organization of Timothy is those exhortations. And as we look at them, we see the book that is organized as six sets of exhortations. Six sets of exhortations. I would say six charges, but actually usually it's like pepper fire sets of exhortations, and then a little break, and then some more, and then a little break, and then some more. And then interwoven in those sets of exhortations is going to be those compassionate examples that Paul is talking about. Look at what is happening elsewhere. And so Paul's going to do those six sets of charges punctuated by personal stories from Paul that illustrate these points. But then those six sets of charges can actually be combined a little bit more, and we see two broad sets of charges with three kind of subsets under it. So we have one, two, three in the first, and then we have one, two, three in the second set of charges. And they culminate on two important verses, which is gonna be the third charge in each section. So we're gonna have a first charge, a second charge, and then a third charge, which is gonna be like the head charge of that section, and then a first charge, a second charge, and again a third charge, which is going to kind of be the head charge of that section. So what are those two important charges that Paul's gonna give Timothy? It's gonna come in 2 Timothy 2.1. You then, my child, Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Paul looks at Timothy and says, your job is hard. Here's how you're gonna keep going. First, be strengthened by the gospel. Be strengthened by the gospel. Then we're gonna go through another set of charges. They're gonna build up and we're gonna see their culminate in this, 2 Timothy 4, one through two. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and by his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, and pure of rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Those are gonna be the two headings of the book. The first one is gonna be Timothy. You need to be strengthened by the gospel if you're gonna keep going. And then second, Timothy, you need to be strong in the gospel. You need to be strengthened by the gospel, and you need to be strong in the gospel. And so that's gonna start our, if we're gonna write an outline of the book, those will be our first two points. The first set of exhortations we'll call Be Strong in the Gospel. This is what you need to strengthen you so that you can keep going on in the gospel. And then the second set of exhortations is gonna take that strength and be a servant of the gospel. Keep going in what you're doing. And under them, we're going to see lots of charges. We're going to see three sets of charges. In the first section, he's going to say, Timothy, fan the flame, fan the gift, fan into flame the gift of God that is in you. He's going to say, do not be ashamed of the gospel or of me, his prisoner. And he's going to say, be strengthened by grace. And then the second one, we're going to see him tell Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. We'll see that he says, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. And he's going to say, preach the word. And then we're gonna have an introduction, which we already looked at. It says there's promise, there's compassion, there's love, and there's calling. Those are gonna be the foundations for a ministry. And then there's gonna be a closing. Paul's gonna have a lot of compassionate example in his closing. Paul's gonna say something like this. The service will be hard. Timothy, the service has been hard, but the master is good. So he's gonna keep listing off examples. Finally, Paul's gonna look at himself and say, Here, look at my life. It's about to end, but this is my hope. He's gonna look at the people who've been around him, look at faithless and faithful partners, and then he'll finally give a conclusion and some greetings at the end. So that'll be the outline as we go through this book. We'll split it up into these two sets of exhortations, punctuated by these examples that help us understand what Paul's talking about. So if we were to give a summary statement of this book, it'd be something like this. 2 Timothy tells us that serving the gospel will be hard. 2 Timothy tells us that serving the gospel will be hard, but it's always worth it, so keep pressing into Christ. 2 Timothy tells us that serving the gospel will be hard, but it's always worth it, so keep pressing into Christ. So before we read the book, I do want to ponder that question. What does 2 Timothy have to do with me? Sitting here this morning, what does this book, Written to a Pastor 2,000 Years Ago, have to do with me? As we think about that, I want to think about it in two different ways. As most of you are pastors, and most of you probably will never be pastors, Some of you may be, at which point that will become more applicable to me, but I think there's still two important ways, there's lots of applications we'll make as we go through the book, but two ways that I want the book to apply as a whole to everyone in the congregation. So two things, applications first. If gospel ministry is hard, as we look at 2 Timothy, you should ask yourself, how am I encouraging those devoted to gospel ministry? How am I encouraging those devoted to gospel ministry? Or, on the flip side, is it possible that I'm one of the discouragements? Actually, if you go through 2 Timothy, you're gonna hear lots and lots of names. Lots and lots of names. people that Paul had been close to at various points in time, but then had failed, had done various things to them. We'll hear all sorts of things that go through. He says, there are discouragements. So as we look at that, we want to think about that, and we'll see things like Hebrews 13, 17. It says, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they're keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. The author of Hebrews, which might have been Paul, or somebody close to Paul, says, let them do this with joy and not with murder. Are you encouraging your gospel ministers, or are you discouraging your gospel ministers? He says, if you cause them to do it with groaning, that's not gonna be any advantage to you. Or we could look at other places, 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 through 13. It says, we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and over you in the ward and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. He says, those are the sorts of things that you should be aiming at as a member of a congregation. He says, when you do that, that's gonna promote being at peace among yourselves. And so, as we go through 2 Timothy, that should be a thing, how am I going to encourage those devoted to gospel ministry? But then second, I think there's another way in which this book applies to everyone in this room as a whole book. And it's this, if I'm a Christian, I have a gospel ministry, and 2 Timothy speaks to me in that ministry. If I'm a Christian, I have a gospel ministry, and 2 Timothy speaks to me in that ministry. It doesn't mean you're going to be a pastor, or you are a pastor. Like I said, most Christians will never be a pastor. But every Christian is given a way in which they serve the gospel. You might be a parent. that has to teach the gospel in word and in deed to your children. You might be a mother who stays at home and disciplines and trains your children up. You're going to be a colleague, a companion, a friend, a mentor. In all those places, you're going to be a minister of the gospel, maybe not exactly the same as a pastor, but you have gospel ministries all over your life. And many of the things in 2 Timothy will speak to you there. You're a minister of the gospel. It's going to be hard. There'll be times when it's hard to keep going. But you're a minister of the gospel, you have to remember its promise, and you have to keep being strong in that ministry. And so the primary application is going to be to pastors. It's going to be speaking to a pastor, or somebody at least a lot like a pastor, Timothy. But we're going to be able to draw a lot of those things out and apply them to all sorts of different ways in which we do gospel ministry and say, yes, This is what a pastor needs to do in gospel ministry, but this also maybe with a slight tweak or an understanding is going to be what you do in gospel ministry as a husband, as a wife, as a parent, as whatever you are in life. And so we'll take these and apply them in that way as well. And so I think those are two ways that as we read the book as a whole, we ought to be ready to apply the book of Second Timothy. And we'll probably unpack those as we go through over the next several months. So kids, I will give a kids question for this first one. It's just going to be a summary statement. So it's been a little while, if you don't remember, on the back of the bulletin. If you want to write down the kids question, it's usually there on the back of the bulletin. And a kid's question this morning is, what is 2 Timothy about? 2 Timothy tells us that serving the gospel will be hard, but it's always worth it, so keep pressing into Christ. 2 Timothy tells us that serving the gospel will be hard, but it's always worth it, so keep pressing into Christ. So as we finish this morning, like I said, 2 Timothy is not a long book. So I just want to read it together, hear it as one continuous whole as Paul wrote it. And so if you want to open your Bibles, I encourage you to follow along. Often I have scripture up here on the screen for the whole book. I'm not going to try to do that. That would get tedious. So most of you will know where 2 Timothy is. If you don't, go towards the end of your Bible, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. Hebrews and James. So I'll give you a moment to find 2 Timothy in your Bible, then we'll read it together. 2 Timothy. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan and to flame the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus, before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard until that day that which has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit and trust it to you. You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome, he searched me earnestly and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Sharon's suffering is a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crop. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene, among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the two, saying the resurrection has already happened. They're upsetting the faith of some, but God's firm foundation stands bearing the seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Now in a great house, there are vessels not only of silver and gold, but also of wooden clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from that which is dishonorable, he will be a vessel ready for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies. You know that they break quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may, perhaps, grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit. lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people, for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened by sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Janice and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth, men corrupt in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far. for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore, in the presence of God, and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endorse sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus to Dalmatia. Lucalone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Rez, also the books, and above all, the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first offense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me. so that through me the gospel might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greek Prisa and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained in Corinth and I left Trophimus who was ill with my leprosy. Do your best to come before winter Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens, Linus, and Claudia, and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Let's pray. Father, I pray that as we study this book that Paul wrote to Timothy, that you inspire, that you have caused to be preserved through the millennia. Father, I pray that it will be an honor to Christ and an encouragement to your people. Father, I pray that it will cause us to run towards the gospel all the more, to embrace Christ, to be strengthened in him, to be ready to keep serving the gospel in all the various ways we serve it. Father, I pray that that would be a glory to Christ and would fulfill His purpose. It is in Christ and we pray, amen. Open up for any questions or comments or other discussion. Or if not, I'll turn it over to you.