The Pastoral Epistles: 2 Timothy 4 (7)

Pray Psalm 57.7-10
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.

Review 2 Timothy 4.

Prepare.
1. There is a sense of urgency about this final communication of Paul to Timothy. How cdoan you see that?

2. Imprisoned, poured out, abandoned, and nearly alone. Yet Paul still has the grace to seek grace for Timothy. How can we have that grace each day?

Meditate.
Paul would not allow adversity to keep him from being an agent of grace. He might have sulked and felt sorry for himself, there in that Roman prison. Instead, he drew on the grace of God to instruct Timothy on matters of great importance to his work as a pastor. The book begins acknowledging the grace of God, and it ends the same way. It is an epistle of grace, from beginning to end.

This is the great lesson for us all. As surely as God called Paul and Timothy to their respective works, He has called each one of us, as agents of grace, to fill our world with the presence of Jesus. Opposition must not deter us. Setbacks must not discourage us. Persecution may squeeze us, but that only allows grace to seep out in new and more powerful ways.

As Jesus stood with Paul and Timothy, to strengthen them for their respective callings, so He will stand with us. We can know His Presence, dwell in His promises, and draw on His power to fulfill our calling to His Kingdom and glory, that righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit might be the ambience in which we journey, and that which others experience from us.

The world seems to be descending into a moral and spiritual winter. We need to come to Jesus before winter; sink our roots in the rich soil of His Word, beneath the permafrost of this world’s unbelief; and pray and work for a new spring of grace to blossom throughout over all the earth. That’s Paul’s message to us from this second epistle to Timothy.

Reflect.
1. How was Paul able to rise above his adversity to continue being an agent of grace?

2. What do we learn from Paul about the importance of surrounding ourselves with Kingdom-minded friends?

3. What would you like to say to the apostle Paul in response to this second letter to Timothy?

For we owe “fruits” to those who minister spiritual doctrine to us through their understanding of the divine mysteries. We owe these to them as men. We owe these fruits also to “the living souls” since they offer themselves as examples for us in their own continence. Augustine (354-430), Confessions 13.25.38

Send me out into my Personal Mission Field today, Lord, ready and eager to…

Pray Psalm 57.
This is an excellent psalm to use as you prepare for a day in your Personal Mission Field, anticipating opportunities to witness and challenges to your faith. Let David guide you as he sought the guidance of the Lord in his own time of trial and challenge.

Sing Psalm 57.
Psalm 57 (Faben: Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him!)
Lord, be gracious, gracious to me, for my soul retreats in You.
In Your shadow keep me safely till the storms of life are through.
I will cry to You, the Most High; You do all things well for me.
You will save me when I thus cry, routing all who threaten me.

Send Your truth and lovingkindness; raging lions seek my soul.
Threats and sland’rous words without rest they against me fiercely roll.
Be exalted o’er the heavens, let Your glory fill the earth!
To Your Name all praise be given, let all men proclaim Your worth!

Nets and pits they set before me; overwhelmed, my soul bows down.
Let them all in their own works be thrown and scattered on the ground.
Let my heart no more be shaken, I will sing Your praises, Lord!
Harp and glory, now awaken to extol God’s faithful Word!

Praise and thanks among the nations I will sing with all my might!
For Your truth and love are stationed far above the highest height!
Be exalted o’er the heavens, let Your glory fill the earth!
To Your Name all praise be given, let all men proclaim Your worth!

T. M. Moore

The lessons in this week’s study of the Pastoral Epistles, and all the studies in this series, are available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).