Introduction: The importance of Second Timothy, the Apostle Paul's second letter to this young pastor, who is affectionally referred to by Paul as his "son in the faith" and "dearly beloved son" (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; 2:1), is that it contains the last recorded words of the Apostle Paul to Christian posterity. It is the great missionary apostle's spiritual swan song.
2 Timothy 1:7 — God hasn't given the Christian a spirit of cowardice, but of confidence. He hasn't given the Christian a spirit of loathsomeness toward others, but of love toward others. And God hasn't given the Christian a panic-stricken mind, but a calm and clear-thinking mind.
2 Timothy 1:12 — The Christian Faith is not a matter of what we believe and know, but of whom we believe and know.
2 Timothy 2:14-17 — It is the viral words of men, more than the Wuhan virus that is imperiling our representative republic. For they not only spread faster than the virus, but also ruin those who listen to them and increase ungodliness throughout our land.
2 Timothy 2:16-19 — The firm foundation of God’s truth is not threatened by traitors to the truth who twist it and turn others from it, since it is unshakable and unalterable, as well as attested to and affirmed by those who are true to God, which proves them to be truly His.
2 Timothy 2:19 — The foundational truth of the Gospel is that God knows those who turn to Christ and away from evil. Therefore, evildoers cannot possibly be acquaintances of God.
2 Timothy 2:24-25 — The true servant of the Lord is a patient winner of souls, not a pugnacious wrangler with sinners.
Sinners cannot be argued into acknowledging the truth by the saints, but only brought around to do so by God-given repentance.
2 Timothy 2:25-26 — To escape from a snare of the devil, by which we’ve been taken captive to do his bidding, requires a God-given repentance that makes our satanic subjugation insufferable.
2 Timothy 2:26 — The fowler the Psalmist warns us about in the Old Testament (Psalm 91:3) is identified by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. It is the devil who seeks to craftily ensnare us in order to cunningly employ us in the execution of his will.
2 Timothy 3:12 — If you're not being persecuted, you're not living godly!
2 Timothy 3:12 — The Christian should not only expect persecution, but excite it by living a godly life. Since the persecution of the godly is inevitable in this godless world, anyone not being persecuted is proven to be ungodly.
2 Timothy 3:16 — The Greek word Paul uses for “inspiration” in this verse means “God breathed.” All Scripture, according to the Apostle Paul, is God-breathed; that is, divinely inspired by God.
As is proven by God breathed Scripture, God’s breath is never wasted.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 — The divinely inspired Scripture is the God-breathed means by which truth is confirmed, sin is convicted, error is corrected, righteousness is coached, and God’s work in man is consummated.
As is proven by God-breathed Scripture, God's breath is never wasted.
2 Timothy 4:3 — While men may not always endure sound doctrine, sound doctrine will always endure, for the truths of God's Word are eternal, regardless of whether or not men find them tolerable.
Truth is not determined at the polls or by public opinion, but the more detestable it is found to be, the more the public will drift from it and despise those who declare it.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 — Most churchgoers today want tickled ears, not tingling ones. (Jeremiah 19:3)
2 Timothy 4:6-8 — Having lived his life faithfully to Christ, Paul was ready to finish his life by dying for Christ. It is, after all, only those who are ready to faithfully offer themselves for Christ in death, who are truly resolved to fully obey Christ in life.
Unlike those waiting for their last moment to offer Christ a deathbed confession, it is those who offer Christ a death cell confession, while awaiting their martyrdom, who can count on a crown of righteousness from Christ.
2 Timothy 4:13 — Facing his martyrdom alone, abandoned, and cold, in Rome's infamous Mamertine Prison, the Apostle Paul, in his Swan Song to Christian posterity, asked his young prodigy Timothy to bring him his cloak and scrolls, "but especially his parchments"⏤the Scriptures.
I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever;
For though all things shall pass away,
His Word shall stand forever.
When you're through learning, you're through!
