Pastor's Bible Study

In verse 6 Paul turns his attention away from “you” to “I,” “me,” and “my.” Paul shifts his focus from Timothy to himself. As he nears and approaches what he knows is the end of his earthly life, Paul glances back over his shoulder and then peers into the future as a man prepared to die and do it with no regrets.

AW Tozer - “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. …No people has ever risen above its religion, and…no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”

This lesson presents 6 philosophical arguments for the existence of God.

Paul encourages Timothy to preach the Word. "Timothy, just as I have sought to teach and encourage you, now I want you to teach and encourage others with the Word."
Paul summons Timothy to remember that he will stand before Jesus, the one who called him, to give an account of how he has served. He asks Timothy to do three things: preach the Word, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill his ministry.

Timothy had benefited from the very best training from the earliest days of his life (v. 15), which continued for no less than fifteen years under Paul’s discipling (vv. 10-11). Paul has told Timothy to stick with it, you can do it. You can do it in the future, you can do it now. (vv. 12-15), and you can finish well. Finishing well is predicated on allowing God’s Word to do what it is designed to do in your life.

In these verse Paul encourages Timothy by pointing out that he can make a difference in the world and to the people around him in spite of the depravity of mankind all around him.

As Paul writes this last letter to Timothy, he seeks to encourage Timothy to journey on to spiritual maturity. The journey won’t necessarily be easy, but it will be rewarding in this life and the life to come.

There are two things that we can invest in that will last forever: God's Word and people. As Paul approaches his impending death, he turns his attention and thinking to these two eternal things (God’s Word in vv. 13-14 and people in vv. 15-18). There are so many things that vie for the investment of our attention, time, effort, and energy, but the two most important things we can invest in are God's Word and people. Let's seek to store up God Word in our hearts and invest in the only thing we can take with us to heaven and that is relationships with people.

As Paul continues in the opening chapter, he challenges Timothy to strengthen his resolve. And we need to do this too. Strengthening our resolve is not about drawing on our own power or self-enthusiasm. To strengthen our resolve we must let the Spirit of God work in us and through us to carry out God’s will, in God’s way, in God’s time, and for God’s glory.

As Paul begins his second letter to Timothy he is sitting a jail cell awaiting his imminent execution. He had previously written to Timothy to encourage him. Now he writes to request Timothy to come see him. To do so would bring joy to the apostle's heart.

Paul knows he will soon be leaving this world. He writes to Timothy to inspire confidence in Timothy as Paul will be passing the torch of leadership to him. He speaks of four things that would inspire Timothy's confidence: Paul's love, Paul's prayers, Paul's confidence, God's gift.

As Paul closes his first letter to Timothy, he tells Timothy to "guard it," i.e. guard your ministry and guard the very thing your ministry is all about – God’s Word.