Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen (2 Timothy 4:9–22).Introduction
From thoughts of the Lord’s return, the Judgment Seat of Christ, ultimate reward for faithfulness in loving his Lord’s appearing, and a glorious future, the Apostle Paul quickly returns to planet earth. Here, indeed, are the final words of the great apostle and they are filled with personal human touches, as well as vivid insights and practical instruction.
The first thing we want to consider among Paul’s last words is:
His List of Personalities (4:9-13, 14, 19-21)
D. Edmond Hiebert, a Mennonite Brethren Church scholar, wrote a splendid book entitled Personalities Around Paul. This would be a good title for these closing verses wherein the apostle writes of those who in one way or another shared in his ministry. Some receive the highest praise, while others he only mentions, and two he recalls with much disappointment.
Paul had a wide circle of friends and fellow laborers. There are at least one hundred different men and women named in Acts and in his letters. He could never have done what he did on his own, any more than you and I can do the job of faithfully carrying out God’s will by ourselves. My own life and ministry represent one tremendous footnote of indebtedness to others of God’s people, and more particularly to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Having admonished Timothy to travel to Rome as quickly as possible to see him, Paul proceeded to recall many individuals who in various ways were affecting his life in his closing days.
Let’s look first at:
Those Who Hindered (4:10, 14-15)
1. Demas (v. 10)
Demas, whose name means “of the people” or “popular,” had been the apostle’s fellow laborer (Col. 4:14; Philemon 24), but now he had “forsaken” Paul, or as the verb literally reads, he “left me in the lurch” or “abandoned me.” Why? Because Demas “loved this present world.” Evidently he became enamored by the exciting yet passing things of the world (see 1 John 2:15–17). Instead of faithfully sticking by the apostle, he left him and went to Thessalonica.
As Warren W. Wiersbe has reminded us, John Bunyan, in his “Pilgrim’s Progress,” pictured Demas as the keeper of a silver mine at the Hill Lucre. It may have been the love of money that enticed him to leave Paul and the Lord’s service and go back into the world. Whatever it was, the apostle must have been heartbroken to see his close fellow laborer fail so shamefully. Maybe this is why Paul has so much to say about riches in his pastoral letters. One thing is certain. What happened to Demas can happen to any of us if we are not careful and watchful in our daily lives.
2. Alexander the Coppersmith (vv. 14-15)
This Alexander is probably to be distinguished from the Alexander mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20, although of this we cannot be certain. Alexander was a common name in Paul’s day, and he is described here as “the coppersmith” or the metal worker. It’s possible he went to Rome to make things difficult for the apostle. We are told that the words “did me much evil” represent an old legal formula of Roman times, which in today’s language would read, “laid the information against me.” Evidently this heretic testified against Paul before the imperial court, and now the apostle warns Timothy to beware of this probable wolf in sheep’s clothing.
When Paul said, “the Lord reward him according to his works,” he was not praying for retribution to come upon Alexander. Rather, a more accurate translation reads, “the Lord will render to him according to his works” (see Psalm 62:12).
Let’s look now at:
Those Who Helped (4:10-13, 19-21)
1. Crescens (v. 10)
We know nothing about Crescens other than that Paul had sent him to Galatia and that as a faithful laborer he was serving at a crucial time.
2. Titus (v. 10)
Titus was one of Paul’s close and trusted friends. The latter’s Letter to Titus gives us many insights as to this choice servant of Christ. He had helped the apostle in the conflict with the Judaizers (Gal. 2:1–3), and with the problems at Corinth (2 Cor. 7:13–16; 8:6, 16–18; 12:18). Paul had left him in Crete to deal with difficult problems in the churches there. Still further, he had met the apostle at Nicopolis during the period between his arrests (Titus 3:12), and now Paul had sent him to Dalmatia (our modern Yugoslavia).
3. Luke (v. 11)
Luke, “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14), was still another close associate of Paul, having traveled extensively with him (note the “we” sections of Acts). He is the only Gentile writer of the New Testament, having been the human author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts. Paul probably dictated 2 Timothy to him.
4. Mark (v. 11)
Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, Paul’s first missionary partner. His mother, Mary, was an outstanding Christian in Jerusalem (Acts 12:5, 12). Unfortunately, John Mark met with failure on that first missionary journey and this led to a falling-out between Paul and Barnabas because Paul refused to take the young man on a second journey (Acts 13:5, 13; 15:36–41). Later, Mark was restored to the apostle’s favor and here Paul states that he is a valuable servant and requests his presence.
John Mark’s life reminds us that although we may meet with failure in the work of the Lord, we need not remain on the shelf. Whatever additional service he may have rendered, he was used by the Spirit of God to write the Gospel of Mark which presents the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Perfect Servant. Thus Mark, the imperfect servant, was divinely chosen to write of God’s Perfect Servant. Like John Mark, we are all imperfect servants, yet by God’s grace may we go on to become profitable and successful failures.
5. Tychicus (v. 12)
Tychicus was from the province of Asia (Acts 20:4). He both accompanied and assisted Paul on several occasions (Ephesians 6:21–22; Colossians 4:7–8). On one occasion he was sent to Crete to relieve Titus (Titus 3:12), and now Paul was sending him to Ephesus to relieve Timothy. Tychicus was one of Paul’s outstanding fellow laborers, a beloved friend and brother in Christ who was totally dependable.
6. Carpus (v. 13)
Carpus lived at Troas and provided hospitality when Paul needed it. It may be that the apostle was seized in Carpus’s house by his persecutors, and this, without warning. If this was so, then we can readily understand how in his forced and hurried departure he left his few prized possessions behind.
Again, here was a trusted brother who was faithful in those little tasks. Yet, as someone has said, “A small deed done in Jesus’ name is no small deed.”
7. Priscilla and Aquila (v. 19)
This husband and wife team were key people in Paul’s life and assisted him in many ways (Acts 18:1–3, 24–28; Romans 16:3–4; 1 Corinthians 16:19). Now they were in Ephesus helping Timothy.
8. Onesiphorus (v. 19; see 1:16-18)
Onesiphorus, whose name means “profit-bringer,” was still another faithful and devoted friend of the apostle who brought much profit to Paul both at Rome and at Ephesus. In fact, it was probably at great personal risk that he sought Paul out in Rome and ministered to him. It’s fitting, that at the close of his letter the apostle still has Onesiphorus in mind, requesting that Timothy convey his Christian greetings to his beloved friend’s household. Some think that by the time Paul wrote these words Onesiphorus had already died. This is a possibility, since the apostle does not send greetings directly to him.
9. Erastus (v. 20)
This brother may have been the city treasurer at Corinth (Romans 16:23), and he is possibly the same person who served with Timothy in Macedonia (Acts 19:22).
10. Trophimus (v. 20)
Trophimus was from Ephesus (Acts 20:4). It was his presence with Paul that helped incite the riot at Jerusalem (Acts 21:28–29). He had been serving in Miletus, an ancient seaport in Asia Minor, but he was now ill. Why didn’t Paul heal him? Evidently, it wasn’t God’s will that he be healed miraculously.
11. Eubulus; 12. Pudens; 13. Linus; and 14. Claudia (v. 21)
Of these, we know nothing about them other than that they were dear to Paul and, above all, to the Lord Himself. From the apostle’s lengthy list of fellow laborers, we turn now to:
His Light on Prison Circumstances (4:13; see Acts 28:30-31)
The prison at Rome would have been damp and cold, coupled with the fact that winter was coming. Thus Paul asked for his “cloak,” a sleeveless, circular garment, with a hole in the middle for slipping it over the head. Such was usually made of heavy material and would be needed in prisons of that day, especially in winter.
Having visited Rome in May 1973, the highlight of my memorable two days in that ancient city was seeing the Mamertine Prison from which it is believed that Paul wrote 2 Timothy. The upper chamber, or prison proper, was in ancient times connected to the lower dungeon only by a hole in the rock floor, through which prisoners were thrown down to await death by starvation or at the hands of an executioner in the charnel house below. Writers have always described this prison with horror. One said that it was “exceeding dark, and able to craze any man’s senses.” The only exit from the wretched confines of the lower dungeon was a drain leading to the Cloaca Maxima which was used for the disposal of corpses.
Still further, in connection with Paul’s harsh circumstances, was:
His Love of Good Books (4:13)
Just what the “books…and the parchments” were we do not know. It has been suggested that the “books,” which would have been papyrus scrolls, represented certain choice writings, perhaps even containing some of Paul’s own memoranda. The “parchments,” which the apostle especially desired, could have been scrolls of the Old Testament Scriptures, inscribed on fine animal skins. His request for these things is both interesting and inspirational. Also, it is noteworthy that his earthly possessions were few. In other words, on the road to Glory, his inventory was light. Selah.
We are told that in the 16th century there was a curiously similar request to Paul’s made by William Tyndale, one of the first translators of the English Bible. In 1535, not long before his fiery martyrdom, he wrote a letter in Latin to Marquis of Bergen, Governor of the castle. He said, “I entreat your lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I must remain here for the winter you would beg the Commissary to be so kind as to send me, from the things of mine which he has, a warmer cap; I feel the cold painfully in my head. Also a warmer cloak, for the cloak I have is very thin. He has a woolen shirt of mine, if he will send it. But most of all, my Hebrew Bible, Grammar, and Vocabulary, that I may spend my time in that pursuit.”
We turn now to:
His Lord Who Stood by Him (4:16-18)
There were Christians in Rome and Ephesus who could have stood by Paul in view of his forthcoming trial, but they did not. Yet he prayed for their forgiveness (v. 16). He knew Timothy would not fail him, but best of all, the Lord had not failed him, nor would He (see Acts 18:9–11; 23:11; 27:22ff. with Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).
Observe that in the midst of all this Paul’s concern was not for himself, but for the spread of God’s Word that the Gentiles might be saved (v. 17; see Eph. 3:1–12 with Rom. 1:16). What or who was “the lion” to which the apostle referred in verse 17? As a Roman citizen he could not be thrown to the lions, even if convicted. Instead he would be executed by being beheaded. Was “the lion” Emperor Nero? I doubt it, since this would have meant that Paul had been acquitted, which clearly was not the case. Was it a reference to Satan (see 1 Peter 5:8)? Perhaps, but more than likely it is a reference to having thus far been delivered out of “the jaws” of physical death itself (Psalm 22:21). Finally, we come to:
His Last Benediction (4:22)
How appropriate that one of the last words we have from the great apostle is “grace.” He was indeed, among other things, the great Apostle of Grace.
In verse 21, Paul urged Timothy to “come before winter.” Why? Because it would have been impossible to get a ship during the winter season, since sailing at that time would have been too dangerous. Thus, if Timothy waited too long, he would miss the opportunity to see Paul (see Phil. 2:20–22). In these three words, “come before winter,” lies an important spiritual application. Winter suggests death and coming judgment, and how crucial for every unregenerate sinner to come to Christ before it is eternally too late, before the winter of God’s judgment (Isa. 1:18; 2 Cor. 6:2 with Matt. 11:28).
Notes
- Ross Rainey is an itinerant Bible teacher who resides in Plymouth, Michigan. He has been serving the Lord in North America since 1954 in the areas of evangelism, Bible teaching, conferences, and pastoral ministry. He is a former visiting instructor at Emmaus Bible School in Oak Park and has taught at Kawartha Lakes Bible School in Peterborough, Ontario. Earlier articles on this chapter have appeared in The Emmaus Journal. See W. Ross Rainey, “Portrait of a Preacher: An Exposition of 2 Timothy 4:1–5, ” EmJ. 4(1995): 31-36; “Loving Christ’s Appearing: An Exposition of 2 Timothy 4:6–10, ” EmJ. 8 (1999): 103-108.
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