The Best Last Words

Think of your favorite movie, or book. Can you remember the characters final lines? Were they important? Or before a character died, did it matter what they said? Darth Vader speaks to his son Luke. Dumbledor speaks to Harry. Sometimes these messages are life changing for the listener.

Let’s look at Paul’s final remarks to Timothy. We’ve seen the way Paul has challenged Timothy and all of God’s people. Now we will see how Paul will say “goodbye”.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

(2 Timothy 4:1-2)

Paul sets the stage for his final charge to Timothy by reminding Him: God is watching. Is this charge anything new? No, it’s what Paul has been saying all along. What are the three things him sharing God’s word will do? Correct, rebuke, encourage. When you read your bible I pray that it does these 3 things and I encourage you to ask these questions. Does this correct something I’ve heard, believed, or done this week that was wrong? Have I been living in sin and this rebukes me? Does this encourage me in my relationship with Jesus and in life?

Timothy can only proclaim the gospel because He knows the good news. He knows the Old Testament Scriptures and He knows all that Jesus did for him. If we do not know the Bible, then how can we proclaim it? Timothy is told to teach others from God’s Word about the Truth. How many of you have just read the Bible and been lost or confused? That’s why I encourage you to ask these questions on your own, but this is also why it is so important that you come to church to be taught.

Sometimes I lack the desire to study Scripture. It’s hard to want to put more than a few seconds aside to read Scripture. And when I just read it for the sake of reading it, it feels kind of empty, like it doesn’t mean anything. But! When I take time to study it, like I do before I teach: it comes to life. I start to see the people for who they are: sinners like me who need God. I start to see God in all the details, in the numbers, in the names. The Bible is so rich and I only see what it’s worth when I seek to know it. Church leaders are always supposed to be ready to share these truths with you, with patience and care. If you experience someone in church who says something you don’t think is right, set about learning the truth for yourself. Seek older, wiser people who know the Bible so that they will teach you the truth. And I charge you, with God watching, to KNOW the TRUTH.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

(2 Timothy 4:3-5)

Would you say that this is true today? We want people to say, “You are fine living the way you are living”. My roommate and I would say to each other “you do you booboo”. Everyone wants a message of peace, love, and tolerance. God gives us the message of peace, love, and sacrifice. We have a tendency to gather people around us who are our “yes men”. I don’t want the truth, I want you to flatter me. Social media is full of the kinds of teachers who itch people’s ears. Horoscopes telling us who we are, people using crystals to manipulate situations, even people who used to be “christian” saying they were “brainwashed”, these are false gospels. Jesus is the truth. Everything He proclaimed was true and good, you don’t believe that? Prove me wrong. All that He did was historical and kind. Often, the church fails to live Jesus’ truth: we are hateful, self-righteous, and rude, but that does not change the gospel. Do not turn away from the Bible and from the church because of failures and false teachers.

Something false teachers will say is that life is all about your happiness, but what does Paul say here that most of us would rather skip over? “Endure hardship”. No thanks.

I had to take icebaths in college with my soccer team. They were painful, freezing, and took forever. It felt like death in the moment. But when we got out we felt stronger, refreshed, and encouraged that we could go back to the field and perform our best. When life hits us hard, when we feel depressed, anxious, when our friends leave us feeling lonely, when we get hurt and have to sit out, when we don’t have the grade we wanted, when we try to be kind to someone who spits in our face…Whenever we feel we are suffering, God is with us. If you continue to trust God is with you in the icebath, you will be stronger, refreshed, and encouraged that you can go into your life after suffering and do your best to live out the gospel. Living like Jesus is the work of the evangelist. When you live listening to the truth, when you acknowledge the lies in this world and you share the truth with others, you live like an evangelist. When you listen to good doctrine, don’t turn aside to myths, keep your head, and endure suffering because you know God is with you, you Live the Truth.

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

(2 Timothy 4:6-8)

In preparation this week I was reading Scripture and I didn’t understand what a drink offering was, so I looked it up. Numbers 15 explains that drink offerings go with sacrifices, when the people recognize what God has done for them and rejoice they would pour out wine over the sacrifice. When Jesus’ is eating the last supper with His best friends he explained to them that His blood was like a drink offering. He would pour Himself out so that they could be forgiven of their sin and experience joy and life.

Here, Paul says he has done his best to live like Jesus and has been poured out for the sake of others knowing truth. Paul isn’t mad that he didn’t retire and learn how to play golf, Paul knows that his life has been worthwhile. He lived for God fought every day for the truth; even when he was ship wrecked, thrown in prison, made fun of in public places, Paul kept going. Was is worth it? Was all that suffering worth it?

Some of us can’t imagine that people go to hell because they have chosen to be separated from God. That was the very reason Paul did not stop fighting. He had to share the truth with anyone who would listen. Not only would those who receive the truth get to experience a relationship with God, Paul says that they will receive a crown. God wants you to know His truth, to live His truth, and share His truth. Paul did not do it alone, He had community, some left him, some betrayed him, but God was always with him. I encourage you to read the rest of Paul’s letter to Timothy. It is full of names, and specific tasks. This context helps us know it is historical, it helps us know they were human, it allows us to see that they are practical and planning, and it shows the full community of Christ. It shows that this is truth. And if I can have any last words it is to charge you to: know, live, and share the truth.