Diligently preach God's
Word
Key Verses: 2, 4, 6, 8, 13,
Paul
wants one thing from Timothy, that he continue to proclaim the Gospel, even in
the face of such opposition. This is a hard thing to do, to keep telling the
truth even when those who oppose you are laughing in your face. I don’t want to
point to a certain VP Debate…. It is even harder when you are preaching,
proclaiming, sharing the Truth of the Gospel and people dismiss you, ridicule
you, belittle you, but that is what we are called to do. Continue to tell the
Truth.
If we
don’t continue to proclaim in the face of opposition we fail to proclaim. There
is a time coming, and I think it certainly is here, that people will simply
align themselves with teachers/preachers who are affirming their view of self
and God. There is no challenge to sinful lifestyles or attitudes, just a pat on
the back and the words “God loves you” and off they go. There should be times
we feel uncomfortable when we hear a sermon; truth will force us to examine
what we believe and bring that belief into alignment with the truth. Truth is
truth. Spiritual truths are just as true as gravity. You can’t escape their
pull. Be careful if you are never challenged in what you believe or practice
when you go to church.
Paul’s
experience was one of giving, giving to the point that he felt empty. Just a
side note: the words “I am already being poured out like a drink offering” are
all one word in the original Greek. English just doesn’t have a word for this
concept, so it takes extra words to make the meaning plain to us English
speakers. It is a word used when an offering is given to a god, and poured out
on the altar in sacrifice. It means that everything is given; nothing is held
back. That was Paul.
We will
get a victor’s reward. There is a gold medal waiting for us in heaven. We get
the First Place trophy. We get keys to the city. The greatest and best reward
possible awaits Paul and us. The condition of that reward: long for His
appearing. Do you want Him to return, or do you like this world too much? Does
your stuff have a hold on you?
Paul
wants something from Timothy, or should I say, he wants Timothy to run an
errand for him. He left copies of the Scriptures in Troas. Most people feel
that this is a reference to copies of the Gospels, as well as a personal copy the
Old Testament writings. We don’t know for certain, but these copies of
something were very important to Paul. How important is having a copy of the
Scriptures to you? In parts of the world today, they don’t have a copy of the
Scriptures, let alone one in their own language. People have died trying to get
a copy for themselves. Do you value what you have?