2 Timothy 04: Finish the Race

What would you do if you knew your time was running out? Join us as we explore the powerful farewell of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy, chapter 4. In this episode titled "Finish the Race," we uncover Paul's impassioned call for believers to preach the word steadfastly, even when it’s inconvenient. Through personal anecdotes, we reveal the unique challenges pastors face and the essential role of patience and readiness. We also delve into the sobering reality Paul faced as he neared the end of his life, celebrating his unwavering dedication to his faith and ministry.

The journey continues with "Faithful Journeys of Mark and Timothy," where we delve into the redemption story of John Mark and his eventual collaboration with Paul, despite their rocky start. We examine Mark's transformation from a deserter to a pivotal figure in the early church, and Timothy's steadfast leadership in the face of adversity in Ephesus. Concluding with "Embracing the Legacy of Faith," we reflect on the lasting power of scripture and offer a heartfelt prayer for strength to continue our own spiritual journey. Get ready to be inspired as we prepare to transition into the next chapter: Esther 1.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Finish the Race

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, 2 Timothy, chapter 4, the grand finale, and today's title is Finish the Race. Finish the Race. We're going to get into that in just a moment, but, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you're leaving us a five-star review. It really does help, and we all gather together at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find. This is the last part of the last letter that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write before he is later going to be martyred for his faith, and we get to the end of the chapter. I'm going to tell you what happened to Paul and, according to history, what happened to Timothy as well, but I love this idea of this final moment. And what I love about this is Paul isn't going out with a whimper, right, he's not slowly fading away, but if you've been with us over the past three chapters, he is just laying down just amazing, amazing thoughts and ideas of just standing strong, fighting the good fight and never giving up. And that's the overall theme of 2 Timothy, and that is fight the good, fight and keep the faith. So we're going to dive into this and just watch how this great man of God is finishing up and he's just celebrating in the middle of a Roman prison. So let's read this together and see what God's word will say to us today. You ready? 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 1, says this I solemnly urge you, in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes up to set up his kingdom, preach the word of God, be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not, patiently correct, rebuke and encourage your people with good teaching. I'll pause for a moment. Can I tell you, as a pastor, that is one of my least favorite scriptures, and here's the only reason why. The only reason why is because every once in a while I'll go to an event or I'll do something like that, and someone will be like hey, pastor, do you mind praying over this food? Or hey, pastor, you got a few words for us and I am so very honored that people would ask me to do things like that. But sometimes, like I'm like, I'm like not thinking like that, I'm thinking about something else. I mean I got a family too, and so I'm trying to figure out what's going on and everything and I'll be like, okay, hang on just a moment. I noticed and I cannot tell you how many times this will happen People will come up to me and in season and out of season, so you better have something ready. Ha ha ha. And I want to ha ha ha them upside the head.

Speaker 1 2:28

And I heard a guy one time who said man, I hate that verse because that basically means they think they can just call on me at any time to do whatever it is they want me to do. And so he said the next time that somebody came up and really kind of put spot, you got to be prepared in season and out of season. Ha ha ha. And he had learned this scripture. He said that's perfect. Do you want me to correct you, rebuke you or encourage you? Which one would you like? I want to go with the rebuke part, don't do that to me. He just he, like he knew the rest of the verse and he said that guy was like uh, it's like exactly so, it is important. But that was just my little soapbox for a moment. Yes, pastors are supposed to be ready to preach the word and be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. I don't know if that necessarily means to pray over your dinner. I'm glad to do it, but don't quote that scripture at me or I might start saying which one you want me to do Correct you, rebuke you or encourage you with good teaching.

Speaker 1 3:20

Verse number three For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. So, in other words, back up, because I got sidetracked. He said be prepared whether the time is favorable or not, because a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and they will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear, and they will reject the truth and chase after myths. Remember what did he say before that Be prepared to teach correctly, rebuking and encouraging people.

Speaker 1 3:54

Why? Because there's going to be people that's not going to want to hear correction, not going to want to hear rebuke. And here's the truth. I don't either. I don't want to hear those things unless I know who it's coming from. When I don't either. I don't want to hear those things unless I know who it's coming from, when I know it's coming from God's word and I know that God's word. His only desire is for me to grow and to develop then I will hear correction. I will hear rebuke from someone who I know is sharing God's word with me and he's saying that's what you got to do, because the time is coming when people aren't going to want to hear God's word. They're going to want to hear what makes them feel better. They're going to hear all the things that makes them feel good. He's like. But God's word isn't always supposed to make us feel good. Sandpaper doesn't feel good, but it sure does get the job done Verse five.

Speaker 1 4:32

But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the good news and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. Others the good news and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have remained faithful and now the prize awaits me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give me on the day of his. So what Paul is saying is I know I'm about to die, I know it's just about over with. I have lived a long life and I have been faithful, and now A prize awaits for me.

Speaker 1 5:22

Verse 9. Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica, cretans has gone to Galatia and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when he comes, for he has been faithful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left in Carpus of Troas. Also, bring the books, and especially my papers.

Speaker 1 5:52

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said. The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me, but it may not be counted against them. The Lord stood with me and gave me the strength so that I might preach the good news in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear, and he has rescued me from certain death. Yes, the Lord will deliver me from every attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. All glory to God, forever and ever. Amen. Give greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, to those living in the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth and I left Tromethus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Elubulus sends you greetings and so do Pudens, linus, claudia and all the brothers and sisters. May the Lord be with your spirit and may his grace be with all of you.

Speaker 1 6:55

Wow, well, there's one verse I want to go back to, and then I'm going to tell you what happened to Paul and then later to Timothy. I love where, verse 11, it says only Luke is with me by the way, this is the Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles and then it says bring Mark with you when you come, for he has been helpful to me in my ministry. Now that is Mark. His name is actually John Mark, the guy who wrote the gospel of Mark. But what you may not know is in the book of Acts, when Paul and Barnabas were on their first missionary journey, they took John Mark with them on their journey.

Speaker 1 7:32

We don't know exactly what happened, but along the journey at some point it got really hard, got really difficult, and John Mark, the guy he's talking about he left them. He went on back home. And so then when they came home, and everything was okay, they were getting ready to go on their second missionary journey. Barnabas and Paul were trying to figure out who was going to go, and Barnabas wanted to bring Mark again and he was like, hey, man, he's better now we want to take him. And Paul said, no, he left us the first time, I'm not letting him go again, I don't want anything to do with him. And it said the argument got so bad and Paul, that Barnabas went one way and Paul went another. And then Barnabas took Mark, but Paul wanted nothing to do with him.

Speaker 1 8:07

But what's amazing is is sometime after that. It seems like that is when Mark went with a guy named Peter to Rome, and because Peter learned Greek, he had to, but because he was in a Roman province, he probably wasn't that good at it, and so what he needed was a translator. And so, according to history, what happened was is John Mark went with Peter to Rome and he would translate for Peter the stories that he would tell to talk about Jesus and the veracity that he was God. And then later what he would do is he would go back and he wrote down the stories that Paul excuse me that Peter had and the Holy Spirit was inspiring him, and that's what became the Gospel of Mark. And then many people think that was actually the first gospel that started getting circulated, because he was writing them down and he started sharing that letter that he wrote and people would copy it and that's what started going around. So Mark is actually the stories of Peter and so basically, mark was the ghostwriter for Peter and what we have is the gospel of Mark. And then later, as he's continued to be faithful, that something happened in there to where Peter or, excuse me, paul and Mark were able to come back together until finally, as he's kind of making amends in his last letter, paul says bring Mark with you. The Mark that he has said couldn't come with him Now as he is on death row, he's saying bring Mark when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. Wow, what a wonderful Testament that just because you have a disagreement in one season doesn't mean the relationship is over forever, but God always provides an opportunity in the end.

Speaker 1 9:44

Now let's finish it up. I want to tell you what happened to Paul. I'll tell you what happened to Timothy. Well, as I told you in 2 Timothy 1, the intro, that Rome had burned and Nero needed to blame somebody, so he blamed the Christians and he started persecuting the Christians horribly. This is where we started to see Christians taken to the Colosseum, and they were taken again later by another emperor, but they started taking to the Colosseum. They started developing what they called Roman candles, which is what they would do all throughout Rome is they would impale someone, mostly Christians, on a spike and then they would set them on fire and they would watch them burn and as they would burn, it would light up the area around them and they called them Roman candles.

Speaker 1 10:22

They started doing all kinds of horrible things, but they also wanted to have kind of the spokesman, the key figures in Rome of Christianity, and to kill them as a way to punish the Christians for what they were accused of doing, even though Christians had nothing to do with the burning of Rome, even though they were blamed for it. And so, among them, they arrested Peter and they arrested Paul, and I had someone ask me one time well, since this was Paul, he wrote 13 letters of the 27 books of the New Testament Such a pillar of our faith. God used him in a mighty way. Was there some kind of special fanfare? Absolutely not. He was considered an enemy of Rome. So most likely, all they did was this great pillar of faith, someone who's gone down in history as the one who helped Christianity get going. Even though God could have used anybody, they used Paul. They probably just took him out back and killed him. They had no idea what they were doing.

Speaker 1 11:14

But here's the reason why Paul was beheaded and Peter was crucified. And they say that Peter asked if he could be crucified upside down, which was something that people did. It wasn't unique. There were people who would get crucified on cross regular T-shaped crosses, x-shaped crosses and upside down and according to legend, he asked to be crucified upside down which, by the way, was even more painful because he said he did not deserve to be crucified in the same fashion as his Savior. The reason why Peter was crucified and Paul was beheaded is because crucifixion was considered to be the worst capital punishment ever. Many people still consider it to be the worst capital punishment ever. As a matter of fact, we invented a word, excruciating, and that is meant to describe what happens to you when you're on a cross. But because it was considered horrible, it was illegal to crucify a Roman citizen. So since Peter was not a Roman citizen, they crucified him. But since Paul was a Roman citizen, he was not allowed to be crucified. He was considered to be worthy of a quote-unquote easy or suitable death for a Roman and that was to be beheaded. So they most likely took him out of prison, took him out back and they killed him.

Speaker 1 12:25

Now, after this happened and we don't know if Timothy got there before he was killed, but what we do know is Timothy went back to Ephesus and he continued to pastor the church for many years. This likely happened between 63 and 65 AD and according to history church history, which we're not entirely sure about this, but according to church history he pastored the church until somewhere around 90 to 93 AD and while he was pastoring the church, ephesus was still a pagan city and they very much worshipped their pagan deities. And one day they had this massive uproar and a massive parade worshipping Artemis, the deity of that area and, according to legend, timothy had been a pastor for years. He had pastored the people faithfully and it was breaking his heart that there were still so many people in the city of Ephesus that was worshiping this pagan deity. So, according to legend, he stood out in front of the parade and he was yelling out that what they were doing was wrong and that Christ loved them and Christ wanted to save them. And he was. He was preaching with all of his heart to this, this group, and they killed him, they trampled him and he died. But he died doing exactly what Paul told him to do. One of the last things Paul said is he said I solemnly urge you, in the presence of God, to preach the word of God, be prepared whether the time is favorable or not. And so we see Timothy on the last day of his life and we don't know.

Speaker 1 13:56

But I wonder if 2 Timothy, chapter 4, which at that point it wasn't a book, it was a letter, but I wonder if that phrase was what was in Timothy's mind At this point. He's an old man, been doing it for a long time and I wonder if he's looking around and he sees this huge group of people and he's sitting there, going. You know, this isn't a good day. Maybe I should wait for another day. And I wonder if he remembers years ago, 30 years earlier, that his mentor the greatest man of God he had ever met, maybe had wrote I am about to die, timothy, and I'm leaving you to continue to spread the gospel. There's a lot of good days, there's a lot of bad days, but I solemnly urge you to preach the word, be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. And I wonder, just using my imagination, if Timothy said okay, that's what I'm going to do. And he stood out in front of that parade and he shouted and he proclaimed the gospel, begging them to turn to Christ, and he was killed for it.

Speaker 1 14:57

But the story lives on. Can I tell you, in our life there's going to be moments when it's favorable, there's going to be moments when it's not going to be favorable, but may the words of God continue to touch us as deeply as it did Timothy. And he says preach the word, share the story, whether it's favorable or not, and God will be with us so we can finish the race. Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, for the wonderful legacy that so much for today. Thank you, god, for the wonderful legacy that you have given us. Thank you, god, for your inspired word that speaks into our heart. Help us, god, to finish the race, to fight the good fight of faith and to keep that faith so that we can give you everything we have. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen. Amen. God's word says in 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 7, god has not given us a spirit of fear or intimidation, but of power, of love and of self-discipline. I love you, I'll see you tomorrow. For Esther, chapter 1.