Writing Your Epitaph, 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Today we are looking at the last chapter that Paul ever wrote, and writing what we might call his own epitaph. An epitaph is a statement written about a person who has died, which often says something about the person’s legacy. You know, important people, such as President’s, are always concerned about their legacy, what history will say about them. I think it’s indicative of their own sense of self importance that they are so concerned about it that they build libraries in their own honor to try to mold people’s opinion. So an epitaph is written on a tombstone.

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The Quick and the Dead, 2 Timothy 4:1-5

I’ve titled today’s message the quick and the dead. That phrase is found in vs 1 of our text in the KJV. That title does not really describe the major content of my message, but I thought it sounded cool, so I decided to make it my title. If it sounds like the title to a western movie, it’s because it actually is. It was used for at least two movies by that name. One was what is called a revisionist western, which had cast some sultry actress as the gunslinger. I never bothered to watch that. As someone who

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Surviving Perilous Times, 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Last week we studied a rather grim message that Paul gave Timothy regarding the last days. And as a reminder, the last days is a phrase that refers to the time period between Christ’s first appearing and His second coming. It is sometimes called the church age, which is the age Timothy was living in, and which we are living in. Obviously, we are living in the latter days of the last days, but we don’t know how much longer there is until Christ comes back. But I say it was a grim message because Paul said there would be

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Perilous times, 2 Timothy 3:1-9

As a surfer, I look forward to hurricane season with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. Hurricane season can bring epic waves to the East Coast, which are for the most part much better than the normal summer fare. But at the same time, those hurricanes are best enjoyed when they are hundreds of miles offshore. When they get close to land, or make landfall, they can be extremely dangerous. We are now in hurricane season, and the waves we have this morning are the result of Hurricane Earl which is churning away somewhere off the coast of Greenland this

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An unashamed workman, 2 Timothy 2:14-26     

In the previous section which we looked at last week, Paul said in his admonition to Timothy that he was to be like a strong warrior, that he should be unafraid of making the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. As a warrior for the kingdom of God, he should not shrink back from affliction, persecution or even death, because of the eternal glory that awaited him. Today in this next passage, Paul changes analogies, saying that Timothy needed to be a workman that was not ashamed. And he uses yet another analogy, he was to be a

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Remember Jesus! 2 Timothy 2:8-13

I have read many commentaries, and listened to very many sermons by preachers who for the most part I admire, who seem to deride Timothy as a weak man, a timid man, a fearful man.  And they say such things with such certainty and conviction, that I suppose I have been prone to almost believe them.  I say almost, because I don’t really believe them.  They say that poor Timmy was young and timid and being fearful and shy had caused him to have poor digestion and a continually upset stomach. I said in our previous study I am not

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Four exercises for building faith, 2 Timothy 2:1-7     

At this point in the letter, in light of all that has been said before, Paul is now telling Timothy, his son in the faith, to grow stronger in his faith, to be strengthened in his faith. He says in vs 1, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” What Paul is calling for is simply for Timothy to grow stronger in his salvation. The grace that is in Christ Jesus is just another way of referring to salvation, which he said in ch.1 vs 5 he is sure that Timothy had, just

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Guard the gospel, 2 Timothy 1:13-18  

I want to first review the overall theme of this first chapter before we consider the details of this last couple of paragraphs at the end. Sometimes, I think that in attempting to exposit the word, verse by verse, we fall victim to the old adage that we can’t see the forest for the trees. We have spent weeks now going verse by verse through this chapter, and it’s good if we remind ourselves of the main thought and purpose that Paul is trying to convey. So to begin with, we need to remember that Paul is in prison as

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Unashamed of the gospel, 2 Timothy 1:8-12

Last time, as we introduced this letter of Paul to Timothy, his son in the faith, we noted that it was the faith of his fathers that Paul said he was passing on to Timothy. In that statement, Paul was referencing the faith of the patriarchs, the prophets and other saints of the Old Testament period, which he said was the same faith that he had. And I extrapolated from that passage the exhortation that we should endeavor to pass on our faith to our children, from our generation to the next. I also talked from a personal perspective as

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Faith of our fathers,  2 Timothy 1: 1-7  

Paul writes this second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy.  He says in vs2, “to Timothy my beloved son.” Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father.  Timothy’s natural father had died early in his life, from what we understand from scripture. His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois raised him, presumably without a father figure in his life until the apostle Paul came on the scene. And at that point, Paul became his spiritual father, possibly leading Timothy to the Lord. Paul went on to mentor Timothy as a disciple in the faith, and then later as a brother in

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