An Old Friend
2 Timothy 2:2 is one of the first verses that I memorized. It is one of the first passages on which I applied a verse analysis study. While I have studied the book and the passage several times there is a richness there that continues to bear ongoing scrutiny.
Thursday mornings I am in a study with a group of men and we are working through 1 and 2 Timothy. This week we are in 2 Timothy 2 once again. While there is much in that chapter that needs to be addressed look at verse 2 with me one more time.
Lessons Learned
Focus on what Paul exhorts Timothy to do. Specifically, he tells his apprentice to entrust the things he has heard. Now if you are like me, the first questions that leaps to mind is what are those things? There are hints all through 2 Timothy 2 but there is a list in 2 Timothy 3:10 – 11. My response to this was to go back to Acts 16 – 21 and note the lessons that Timothy would have picked up on his journeys with Paul during the 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys. I would recommend that exercise. Some of what I found:
I’ll stop there, there are more, but it will give you a taste… Do the study yourself, it is worth the effort.
One other observation, Paul writes about his ministry experience in 2 Corinthians 6:1 – 10, what “things” would Timothy learn through those experiences.
How Are We Doing With This Example?
This morning I was chatting with a Christian leader in our town. He wondered aloud what we could do in our churches to better equip our people to be engaged like Christ, Paul, and Timothy. One quick observation, both Christ and Paul assembled men and had them with them in ministry. They were intentional in selection, engaging in life with those men, and launching them into ministry experiences that required them to trust God and lean on the Spirit’s gifts in their lives.
Not sure that we do that often in the Church today.
2 Timothy 2:2 is one of the first verses that I memorized. It is one of the first passages on which I applied a verse analysis study. While I have studied the book and the passage several times there is a richness there that continues to bear ongoing scrutiny.
Lessons Learned
Focus on what Paul exhorts Timothy to do. Specifically, he tells his apprentice to entrust the things he has heard. Now if you are like me, the first questions that leaps to mind is what are those things? There are hints all through 2 Timothy 2 but there is a list in 2 Timothy 3:10 – 11. My response to this was to go back to Acts 16 – 21 and note the lessons that Timothy would have picked up on his journeys with Paul during the 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys. I would recommend that exercise. Some of what I found:
| Passage | Lesson |
| Acts 16:6 | The Holy Spirit is in control of the agenda. The leader is the Lord not Paul. Paul was in submission to the Lord. |
| Acts 16:7 | Be consistent in the following of the Holy Spirit’s guidance |
| Acts 16:9 | Paul followed visions. Again the reality of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. |
| Acts 16:18 | Spiritual Warfare |
| Acts 16:19 | Physical resistance |
| Acts 16:23 | Torture and incarceration will be a reality |
| Acts 16:37 | Paul used his citizenship and the law to his advantage |
| Acts 17:1 | Go to the people who are already hungry |
| Acts 17:11 | Connection between the Word of God and belief |
| Acts 17:20 | A major tenant of evangelism look for the God shaped vacuum in the culture |
One other observation, Paul writes about his ministry experience in 2 Corinthians 6:1 – 10, what “things” would Timothy learn through those experiences.
How Are We Doing With This Example?
This morning I was chatting with a Christian leader in our town. He wondered aloud what we could do in our churches to better equip our people to be engaged like Christ, Paul, and Timothy. One quick observation, both Christ and Paul assembled men and had them with them in ministry. They were intentional in selection, engaging in life with those men, and launching them into ministry experiences that required them to trust God and lean on the Spirit’s gifts in their lives.
Not sure that we do that often in the Church today.
PAUL IS A MAN OF GREAT EMOTIONAL WRITINGS ... HE IS FUNNY AND VERY SARCASTIC ...IN CORINTHIANS ... AND VERY VERY DEAD ... SERIOUS ON THE IMPORTANT THINGS OF GOD ...I FIND THAT WHEN HE WRITES HIS BEST STUFF IS WHEN HE IS IN SOME SORT OF TRIBULATION ...DID ANY OF YOU NOTICE THAT??? ... I ALWAYS FOUND THAT TO BE THE MOST ENCOURAGING ... BUT MOST OF ALL THE LOVE AND THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL PAUL WROTE ABOUT IS I BELIEVE SOME OF HIS BEST WORK ... "FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD" ... THE GOSPEL IS THEE POWER OF OUR LORD ... WELL ENOUGH OUT OF ME ... PRAISE BE HIS NAME ...)))
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