2 Timothy 4:1-17

12 This is a crucial test of our true state. Are we suffering persecution? If not, are we in earnest in our will to live devoutly in Christ Jesus? All who tread this path will be persecuted. Paul himself delighted in persecutions for Christ's sake (2Co_12:10). His bold stand for the evangel invited them at every turn. At Lystra they stoned him and left him for dead (Act_14:19). Nor are we to look for any improvement in the course of time, for wicked men and swindlers will wax worse and worse, not only deceiving others but being themselves deceived.

14 Again and again the apostle returns to the Sacred Scriptures as the only sufficient recourse; what Timothy had heard from Paul has since been incorporated in them, being recorded in the epistles he has penned, both in his personal letters and in his epistles to the seven ecclesias,

16 The inspired Scriptures are the sole and sufficient equipment for the man of God in these trying times. All else has failed and fallen into ruin. It has become an imperative and absolute necessity that the sacred writings should be recovered in something like their pristine purity, for they alone are the last resort of the saints. Their inspiration is confined to the original text. Whatever promises the closest contact with the inspired records, and the safest index of their contents is the best equipment possible for the man of God. The Concordant Version the consistent sublinear of the Greek Text and its concordance, will, we trust, be used by God to meet the one prime necessity of the times.

3 Proclaim the word! This is the greatest need in the last days. There is no lack of preaching or of proclaiming, but the word of God has entirely too little place in them. The next need is to stand by it, whether it seems opportune or not.

6 The pathos of this passage appears when we recall the many plans of the apostle which it repeals. He intended to go into Spain (Rom_15:24), he wished to winter in Nicopolis (Tit_3:12) and he hoped to be granted to the Colossians (Phm_1:22). There is no record that any of these wishes were fulfilled. Now he faces death with an exultant cry of triumph. His contest is over; his career is ended, the faith is kept, the reward remains. Hitherto the advent filled his heart and his horizon. Now that he realizes the imminence of his dissolution; he passes on that blessed expectation. The wreath of righteousness is promised to all who love His advent. This alone should be a sufficient incentive for us not only to love but to proclaim that blessed expectation. There is no evidence in the Scriptures that Paul was released and later imprisoned a second time. Even if it was a fact, the truth demands the entire removal of everything physical from the scene.

9 "Loving the present eon" is in direct contrast to loving His advent. If the present evil eon appeals to us, and engages our affections, we will have no desire for the glorious grace which His advent will reveal.

11 How touching is this commendation of Mark! He had proven unfaithful (Act_13:13) and Paul had refused his services, notwithstanding it cost him the companionship of Barnabas (Act_15:38). Yet God's grace operates in him so as to win this commendation from Paul and he is inspired to write the account of the Faithful Servant, for that is the character of our Lord in Mark's evangel.

16 There was a custom in Rome that, when a man was tried for any crime; his friends attended him in court to countenance and assist him. Roman law recognized the legality of such assistance and even the emperors did not shun their friends under such circumstances. The early believers were derided because they availed themselves of this privilege. How majestic stands the solitary figure of the apostle! His friends in Asia: had abandoned him (2Ti_1:15). Demas abandoned him (2Ti_4:10). And now all abandoned him to his fate. He stands before his accusers unfriended and alone, except for his faithful Lord. Nor did this embitter him. Like his Lord, he prays, "May it not be reckoned against them!" This is our last glimpse of the apostle of the nations. To the last he stands as God's herald, welcoming death itself if it only gives him an opportunity to proclaim the evangel to all the nations.