“Paul’s Eight Secrets for Serving Jesus” – 2 Timothy 4

The great violinist, Nicolo Paganini, willed his marvelous violin to Genoa — the city of his birth — but only on condition that the instrument never be played upon. It was an unfortunate condition, for it is a peculiarity of wood that as long as it is used and handled, it shows little wear. As soon as it is discarded, it begins to decay. The exquisite, mellow-toned violin has become worm-eaten in its beautiful case, valueless except as a relic. The moldering instrument is a reminder that a life withdrawn from all service to others loses its meaning. Bits & Pieces, June 25, 1992.

Though Paul was set aside in prison, nearing the end of his life, he knew what truly worked in sharing with people a message that lasted. He did not ask to become a relic. He wanted to pass the secrets that God had shown him in a lifetime of ministry. He gave the inside scoop on EIGHT THINGS he learned along the way:

Key Principle: Real ministry is not a “show” – it is loving people, sharing with people and caring for people with the truth of God’s Word.

Paul learned over a lifetime of service to the King eight simple but vital lessons:

POWERFUL MINISTRY: In the end, Paul knew what changed lives:

2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Paul foresaw rising troubles and persecution. He knew people were hurting, and it was going to get tough very quickly. With that in mind, he took his experiences of ministry and told Tim several things:

First, he charged him (diamarturomai: diá, “thoroughly” and martýromai, “witness, testify”), using a formula that gave the sound of a courtroom testimony before the ultimate judge – God Himself – that what the world needed was a complete and careful exposure to God’s Word. Paul was convinced that there was nothing people needed more than God’s Word spoken clearly. New methods would fade, gimmicks would burn out – by truth would sustain people through all.

Second, Paul pressed Timothy to study and be prepared (yoo-kah’-ee-roce: or “in season” is “at an opportune time”) whether people appeared to be interested in knowing God’s Word or not. People do not always know what they need. The bottom line is this: God knows how things work. God shared them, but we are often too distracted to really listen to what He said. The point is not how willing people appear to be, but how ready you are to represent God’s Word in a compelling way. They can chose to reject it, but you dare not choose to withhold it.

Third, the process of giving God’s Word to people includes some basic elements:

• Reprove: (el-eng’-kho – to convince with solid, compelling evidence). CONVINCE.
• Rebuke: (epitimáō- epí, “suitably on,” which intensifies timáō, “esteem, place value”) – properly, assign value as is fitting the situation, building on the situation to correct. CORRECT.
• Exhort: parakaléō (from pará, “from close-beside” and kaléō, “to call”) – properly, “make a call” from being “close-up and personal.”; refers to believers offering up evidence that stands up in God’s court. Connect with God’s big plan and therewith offer COMFORT.

Fourth, the hearer bares some responsibility in opening their heart to the message of the Word. If they choose to go where the ear is “tickled” they get what they choose. Myths attract crowds like dessert tables. Yet, it is meat and potatoes of the Word people will need to endure tough times. Positive thinking and powerful motivational speeches are simply no match to systematically teaching God’s Word.

PROBLEMS IN MINISTRY: Paul knew what distracted God’s workers:

• Sometimes the ministry is difficult because God’s people aren’t vigilant: 2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober (nēphe: “be sober, unintoxicated”; refers to having clear judgment, enabling someone to be self-controlled) in all things, endure hardship… If we let down our guard about controls, we open the flesh to wander, the world to entice and the devil to drive hooks of guilt into our hearts. Control frees me to serve Christ with my heart! The issue can be LAZINESS.

• Sometime people start ministry and are distracted by other things: 2 Timothy 4:10 for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…(deserted is “egkataleípō” abandoned in dire circumstances). Jesus said that the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” ensnared people during His ministry as well (Mt. 13:1ff). We must remember that this is not home, and this is not Heaven. We must set our minds on things above and not on the earth. The issue can be DISTRACTION.

• Sometimes the ministry is difficult because the enemy has planted opposition. 2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. Some men show what they have inside by what they do to God’s message and God’s people. Alexander was filled with “kaka” the ancient expression of foul, rotten  or malicious – and a modern Italian word for animal droppings. The issue can be ATTACK.

Let’s be careful here. Some people are busy blaming everything on a demonic attack. They had a heart attack, and they blame Satan. “God wouldn’t want me to suffer a heart attack as a believer, would He?” They reason. Yet, they forget the excessive weight they have put on, the physical exercise they have put off, or any other contributing factor. Some things ARE an attack of the enemy – and others are a manifestation of my own laziness and undisciplined nature that is easily distracted into whatever seems to offer immediate gratification.

PRIORITIES OF MINISTRY: Paul knew raising another generation of believers was essential:

2 Timothy 4:5b “…do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Paul told Timothy that the work he was to do in shepherding INCLUDED outreach. He was to personally do the actions (ergon) of an evangelist (one who offers a convincing presentation of the truth of the Gospel). Why did he need to tell him this? Because some go into ministry with an inordinate need to be loved by people. They mean well, but they lead by consensus. As a result, bringing a message to people that may reject it is uncomfortable. In addition, in a time of rising persecution – it is natural to stand back and allow outreach to grow quieter. Holy boldness must be prayed for, exercised and developed. It takes practice, work and persistence.

The Gospel must be shared. We dare not leave the work for others! Miguel de Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher who died in the 1930s told some excellent stories. One of my favorite lines of his is thins: “A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about.”

Another little story he told was this:

There was a Roman aqueduct at Segovia, in his native Spain. It was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, “This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor.” They did; they laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated. Resource, Sept./ Oct., 1992, p. 4.

PASSAGES THROUGH MINISTRY: Paul recognized that earthly ministry is only for a season:

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up 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 loved His appearing.

Paul uses in these verses a series of metaphors, or word pictures.

• First, he used a battle language. Before going into a battle, Roman soldiers recited a “DEVOTIO” to their commander. They didn’t simply fight for Rome. They didn’t fight for some distant Emperor they had never seen. They fought for their general, and they fought for one another. They were prepared to die to demonstrate their “WIRTUS” (virtue) and show themselves to be a man. Real Romans died with honor.

• Next, he used the language of the gladiatorial battles that were played out to recall great battles of the Roman past. Often in the amphitheatre, the battles of gladiators were picturesque ways of bringing Rome’s victories to the masses – like a World War II movie! Paul used the fight language, and the “stephanos” – a victor crown – that was etched onto the house of people who won – denoting a family with honors. One important point Paul made was that the only REAL judge was Jesus Himself, and that judgment would not come in this life!

PEOPLE CENTERED MINISTRY: Paul’s love for his team was real and deep:

2 Timothy 4:9 Make every effort to come to me soon…21 Make every effort to come before winter….2 Timothy 4:10b Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. 12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus… 19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus…. 21b Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.

I have looked at this list of people many time. You can hear as you read the words a crack in Paul’s once strong voice. He is reflecting on people he loves, knowing he will not see them again. He is a man writing a letter on a battle field that knows it will not be read until he has left this earth. Listen to the names: Timothy, Crescent, Titus, Lucius, Tychicus, Prisca, Aquila, Onesiphorus, Erastus, Trophimus, Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia.

Some of them will become important in coming days. All the ancient records of the Roman bishops including Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, Hippolytus, Eusebius, and the Liberian catalogue of 354 CE, place the name of Linus as the Bishop of Rome after the death of the Apostle Peter.

Paul’s life was not a sterile scroll filled monastery. Paul was about PEOPLE. Ministry is to, through and for PEOPLE. His whole life was a series of people he deeply appreciated. Courageous people who stood for Jesus that would only have a footnote in the New Testament – and that was more than the scores they represent. Paul did not celebrate crowds, concerts or cash – he celebrated the changed lives of ordinary people called to do extraordinary things by the power and presence of God.

PASSION FOR MINISTRY: Paul kept his desire to learn and grow:

2 Timothy 4:13 When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.

Look at what Paul missed. He missed being WARM. He loaned his cloak to someone when he stayed with Carpus, and now needed it back. He had no wealth to spare for more creature comforts. His was a dwindling account – the last of his funds likely used to send out this message to Timothy in Ephesus. He wanted to get his hands on two other things – his books (bib-lee’-on – papyrus roll) and his parchments (mem-bran’-ah: a parchment leaf used for permanent writing and important notes. Perhaps he was arrested on the way without his things, and now he desired to have them back. I find it particularly interesting that he wanted to keep studying and learning. His passion to share the truth and to continue to sharpen himself did not wane with the prospect of death!

PURPOSE FOR MINISTRY: Paul knew His life was to tell God’s story:

2 Timothy 4:16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

• Paul recognized that God would stand with him if NO ONE ELSE would!

• Paul understood that God gave him a unique opportunity to spread the Gospel in a very unique way. He celebrated the reality that the Gospel went into rooms that men could not stop.

• Paul did not view RESCUE as physical safety – quite the opposite. He had been physically rescued when it suited God. At the same time, he knew that God would use his life and he trusted God when the end came. Oh that I would have such trust!

PLEASED IN MINISTRY: Paul felt thankful for each team member, regardless of their faults:

2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Paul closed with two simple ideas: God’s Spirit keep you.. and Tim…thanks. The letter ended with the thanksgiving that is began with. Paul was thankful for life, thankful for team, thankful for the Gospel, thankful for the chance to share in Christ’s sufferings, thankful for each day. He was also specifically thankful to a young man that, although faltering at times, would one day take the reigns of the ministry. He simple offered a word: GRACE. (Xáris: “grace” could be favor, but is simply a word like “bless you!”. It is used, in this case, the way we would thank someone we were deeply touched by. Paul was touched by Timothy, and showed his love in a simple final few words recorded by God in the Epistle — a simple end to a man who projected a simple faith, and a frank love for other. Real ministry is not a “show” – it is loving people, sharing with people and caring for people with the truth of God’s Word.