Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / 2 Timothy 4:9-22 - Goodbye, Paul

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2 Timothy 4:9-22 - Goodbye, Paul · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Good morning, faithful listeners, Thank you so much
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Speaker 1: for tuning into the Bible Explain podcast on this absolutely
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Speaker 1: lovely morning. We are finishing up the Book of two
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Speaker 1: Timothy today, and this, in my opinion, is a very
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Speaker 1: sad portion of scripture because I think Paul has the
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Speaker 1: understanding that this is the end for him, that he
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Speaker 1: is going to die shortly after writing this letter. So
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Speaker 1: we will get into the end of tewod Timothy today.
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Speaker 1: Stay tuned for a great episode. Can you believe it
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Speaker 1: that as of today, we have been through sixteen books
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Speaker 1: of the New Testament, and if you've been following along
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Speaker 1: with me in the Old Testament as well, we have
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Speaker 1: been through twenty nine and a half books total. So
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Speaker 1: if you've been following along with me for some time,
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Speaker 1: that is a lot of books of the Bible you've
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Speaker 1: been through. So good job. I commend all of you
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Speaker 1: guys for reading that many books, you know, because usually
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Speaker 1: people tape her out right around at the Book of
1:03
Speaker 1: Leviticus is what I've heard. You know, they get through
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Speaker 1: Genesis and Exodus, then Leviticus hits and they're like, oh boy,
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Speaker 1: I don't understand any of this, and it's it's very hard.
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Speaker 1: So I appreciate all of you guys going through the
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Speaker 1: Bible with me, and you know, I've been learning just
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Speaker 1: as much as all of you have. We were just
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Speaker 1: talking about this yesterday. Actually, I take pottery classes, and
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Speaker 1: my teacher was saying that she actually learns more when
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Speaker 1: she teaches other people, and that is how she's become
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Speaker 1: such a good potter over the years, is actually through
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Speaker 1: the classes that she teaches, it gets solidified in her brain.
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Speaker 1: And it's the same for me. I have been learning
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Speaker 1: so much going through the Bible with you guys. It
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Speaker 1: has been a very fun journey I've been able to
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Speaker 1: do with all of you faithful listeners. And now we're
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Speaker 1: at the end of two Timothy and in the New Testament,
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Speaker 1: we only have eleven books left, and a lot of
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Speaker 1: these books are very small. For example, we're about to
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Speaker 1: move into the Book of Titus, which is only three
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Speaker 1: chapters long, and then Phi Lehman after that is only
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Speaker 1: one chapter long. So we are flying through the New Testament.
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Speaker 1: I actually suspect we will be done with the New
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Speaker 1: Testament by the end of next year, so I don't
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Speaker 1: know what I'll do after that. We'll see but, faithful listeners,
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and finish up Tewod Timothy chapter four today.
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Speaker 1: But before we dive in a quick thanks to our sponsor,
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Speaker 1: who makes episodes like this possible. All right, faithful listeners,
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and read the last half of Tewod
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Speaker 1: Timothy chapter four Versus nine through twenty two. As usual,
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Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the web this morning, but feel
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Speaker 1: free to pause the podcast and grab your favorite version
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Speaker 1: of the Bible, whatever it may be, whether it's the
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Speaker 1: NIV or ESV, whatever you choose to use, and also
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Speaker 1: grab your cup of coffee or your cup of tea
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Speaker 1: this morning as we discuss Tewod Timothy four nine through
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Speaker 1: twenty two. Be diligent to come to me soon, for
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Speaker 1: Demus left me, having loved this present world, and went
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Speaker 1: to Thessalonaika Cretions to Galisha, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only
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Speaker 1: Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with you,
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Speaker 1: for he is useful to me for service. But I
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Speaker 1: sent Tachikus to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left
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Speaker 1: at Trous with Carpus when you come. And the books,
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Speaker 1: especially the parchments Alexander the Coppersmith did much evil to me.
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Speaker 1: The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware
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Speaker 1: of him, for he greatly opposed our words. At my
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Speaker 1: first defense, no one came to help me, but all
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Speaker 1: left me. May it not be held against them. But
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Speaker 1: the Lord stood by me and strengthened me that through
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Speaker 1: me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all
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Speaker 1: the gentiles might hear. So I was delivered out of
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Speaker 1: the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver
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Speaker 1: me from every evil work and will preserve me for
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Speaker 1: his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Speaker 1: Greet Prisca and Aquila and the house of Honocipherus. Erastus
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Speaker 1: remained at Corinth, but I left Trophemus at Melaidus sick,
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Speaker 1: be diligent to come before winter. Eubylus salutes you, as
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Speaker 1: do Pudins, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
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Speaker 1: While reading through that it's the end of Paul's life.
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Speaker 1: And after we've been reading so many of Paul's letters,
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Speaker 1: this is finally the end for him, and he knows,
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Speaker 1: which is why he says right here in verse nine,
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Speaker 1: be diligent to come to me soon. Timothy and Paul
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Speaker 1: were very close friends, if not best friends in a sense.
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Speaker 1: Not to mention, Paul was kind of like a father
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Speaker 1: figure to Timothy. Paul did actually consider himself Timothy's father.
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Speaker 1: On many occasions he'd call Timothy his son, So they
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Speaker 1: had a very special bond. And right now Paul is
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Speaker 1: sitting in prison in Rome most likely, and Timothy is
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Speaker 1: still in Macedonia, in Ephesus specifically. And it could be
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Speaker 1: that Paul wrote this letter very quickly after getting to
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Speaker 1: Rome because he knew that this could be the last
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Speaker 1: time he ever sees Timothy and that he is going
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Speaker 1: to die very quickly. That's why he tells Timothy, be
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Speaker 1: diligent to come to me soon. You can kind of
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Speaker 1: feel the emotion behind those words. Not to mention what
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Speaker 1: he says in verse ten, for Demus left me, having
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Speaker 1: loved this present world, and went to Thessalonaika Cretions to
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Speaker 1: Galicia and Titus to Dalmatia. Now, Demus is mentioned previously
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Speaker 1: in Colossians chapter four, verse fourteen. It says, Luke, the
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Speaker 1: beloved physician, and Demus greet you and I believe Demus
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Speaker 1: is also mentioned in the book of phi Lehman as well.
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Speaker 1: So Demus was with Paul up until the very end,
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Speaker 1: but he abandoned Paul. Is what it says. Demus left
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Speaker 1: me having loved this present world. So even though Demus
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Speaker 1: was with Paul through thick and thin before, things were
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Speaker 1: getting real when Paul was in prison this second time,
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Speaker 1: because Nero was ramping up his persecution of Christians drastically.
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Speaker 1: I've talked a little bit before about what Nero did
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Speaker 1: to Christians and the way he would torture them. But
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Speaker 1: Nero also allowed a good portion of Rome to burn.
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Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys have heard about that. He's often
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Speaker 1: depicted as playing the fiddle while Rome burns, even though
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Speaker 1: fiddles did not exist during the days of Nero. But
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Speaker 1: because of his incompetence allowing his own city to burn,
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Speaker 1: he blamed it on the Christians and started targeting Christians
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Speaker 1: in order to get out of the hot water that
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Speaker 1: he got himself into. He would throw Christians to the
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Speaker 1: lions and let them be eaten alive. He would torture them.
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Speaker 1: He would light them up in his garden in torches,
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Speaker 1: like burning them alive, and that would be his firelight
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Speaker 1: for the parties that he would throw in his garden.
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Speaker 1: He was a really, really nasty guy. And Demus, who
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Speaker 1: was with Paul up until the very end, has now
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Speaker 1: abandoned Paul because he was afraid because things started getting real.
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Speaker 1: It was far more dangerous for Christians during this time
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Speaker 1: than it ever was before. So Demus left Paul and
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Speaker 1: loved the present world and went to Thesalonaika. Right after that,
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Speaker 1: Paul mentions these two other men Cretans and also Titus,
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Speaker 1: but he doesn't mention that these men loved the present
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Speaker 1: world and abandoned him. So most likely Cretians and Titus
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Speaker 1: just had to leave Paul for whatever reason. Cretians had
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Speaker 1: to go to Galatia, and Titus had to go to Dalmatia, which,
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Speaker 1: by the way, not related to Scripture at all. Dalmatia
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Speaker 1: which is on the western side of Greece near the
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Speaker 1: coast that is where the Dalmatian comes from. Fun fact,
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Speaker 1: Paul says these three men left him either because they
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Speaker 1: were scared or because they had legitimate reasons for leaving,
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Speaker 1: whatever it might be. And as far as we know,
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Speaker 1: Ty never abandoned Paul because Paul mentions him up until
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Speaker 1: the very end, but he says, right here in verse eleven,
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Speaker 1: only Luke is with me. Out of all of the
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Speaker 1: friends that Paul had, the only person left with him
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Speaker 1: is Luke. This is very different from Paul's first imprisonment.
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Speaker 1: The first time he was in prison, he actually had
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Speaker 1: a lot of friends coming to visit him. But now,
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Speaker 1: because of fear, there's only one man left with him, Luke.
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Speaker 1: So Paul asks Timothy take Mark and bring him with you,
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Speaker 1: for he is useful to me for service. What's interesting
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Speaker 1: about that verse is years before this, Paul wanted nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with Mark actually, because Mark abandoned Paul and
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Speaker 1: barnabas he left the mission to pursue his own interests,
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Speaker 1: whatever they might be. But it sounds like right here
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Speaker 1: at the end of Paul's life, Paul actually wants Timothy
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Speaker 1: to bring Mark along because he says specifically that Mark
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Speaker 1: is useful to me for service, which means that Mark
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Speaker 1: now has a servant's heart, whereas before he didn't. Years
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Speaker 1: prior to this, Mark became a changed man, and it
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Speaker 1: sounds like Mark was in Ephesus actually with Timothy for
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Speaker 1: whatever reason. Now we do know that Mark was kind
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Speaker 1: of the protege of Peter. From my understanding, Mark was
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Speaker 1: to Peter what Timothy was to Paul. So Mark's change
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Speaker 1: in heart may have actually come from Peter himself. Seeing
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Speaker 1: how Peter lived and learning more and more from Peter
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Speaker 1: over the years, Mark became a man actually worthy of service.
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Speaker 1: So now in verse twelve, it says, I sent Taichikus
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Speaker 1: to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left at Trause
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Speaker 1: with Karpus when you come, and the books, especially the parchments.
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Speaker 1: In the last days of his life, Paul has lost everything.
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Speaker 1: He has lost all of his friends. He doesn't even
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Speaker 1: have a cloak to keep him warm. He doesn't have
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Speaker 1: any books. He doesn't have his parchments, which would have
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Speaker 1: been the scriptures. He doesn't have anything. He left all
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Speaker 1: of these things. It says at Trouse with Carpus. We
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Speaker 1: don't know who Carpus is, but he clearly was somebody
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Speaker 1: that Paul trusted to safeguard these things that he felt
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Speaker 1: was special. Trous was north of Ephesus, by the way,
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Speaker 1: it was still in Asia, and in order for Timothy
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Speaker 1: to travel from Ephesus to Rome, he likely would have
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Speaker 1: gone up to where trous was been able to gather
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Speaker 1: these things that Paul requested. Then he would cross the
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Speaker 1: sea to go into Greece, where he would have been
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Speaker 1: able to actually visit a few of these people that
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Speaker 1: Paul mentioned, specifically Titus, who was in Dalmatia. Timothy would
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Speaker 1: have had to cross Dalmatia in order to get to Rome.
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Speaker 1: So something that my cultural Stufle's Bible pointed out is
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Speaker 1: the reason Paul may have been mentioning the locations of
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Speaker 1: these men was so that Timothy could actually visit these
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Speaker 1: guys when he was traveling to visit Paul, because this
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Speaker 1: would have been a very long and arduous travel. It
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Speaker 1: wasn't like today where you just hop in a car
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Speaker 1: or hop to the airport and take a plane across
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Speaker 1: the entire ocean and arrive six hours later somewhere. This
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Speaker 1: would have been weeks and weeks of travel, so of
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Speaker 1: course Timothy would have to stop and stay places. So
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Speaker 1: it makes a lot of sense for Paul to disclose
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Speaker 1: the location of many of the fellow workers for the
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Speaker 1: Gospel Message so Timothy could stay with them and visit
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Speaker 1: with them as he travels to meet Paul. But going
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Speaker 1: back to the comment that Paul makes about the cloak
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Speaker 1: and also the books that he left in Trouse. Maybe
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Speaker 1: Paul was on his way down to visit Timothy in
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Speaker 1: Ephesus but got arrested in Trouse. He might have even
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Speaker 1: known that he was about to get arrested, which is
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Speaker 1: why he left his special things with this guy named Carpus.
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Speaker 1: Because when a person got arrested, the soldiers could claim
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Speaker 1: a lot of the things that the criminal owned. He
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Speaker 1: may have left his most special things with this guy
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Speaker 1: named Carpus so that the soldiers couldn't just take those
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Speaker 1: things from him. He says, bring the books, especially the parchments. Now,
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Speaker 1: the books Paul's referring to could have been anything. They
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Speaker 1: could have been ordinary books. They could have been religious texts,
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Speaker 1: they could have been poems, who knows. But the parchments
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Speaker 1: would have definitely been the scriptures that Paul had in
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Speaker 1: his possession, which is why he tells Timothy bring especially
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Speaker 1: the parchments. But obviously he wanted his books as well,
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Speaker 1: maybe for entertainment purposes or for studying. And that actually
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Speaker 1: brings up an interesting point. A lot of people think
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Speaker 1: that books that aren't the Bible are inherently evil, but
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Speaker 1: yet Paul talks about reading books himself that are not
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Speaker 1: the Bible, but he gives precedence to the Bible. That's
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Speaker 1: the important thing. Some people say all books other than
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Speaker 1: the Bible are immoral or not necessary, But on the
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Speaker 1: flip side, other people want to read people's opinions about
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Speaker 1: the Bible, or want to read Bible studies instead of
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Speaker 1: the actual Bible, and the books actually take precedence in
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Speaker 1: their lives. Paul's bringing a healthy balance to this where
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Speaker 1: he says, no, not all books are immoral or evil,
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Speaker 1: and you can absolutely read for entertainment or fun or
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Speaker 1: even to gain knowledge about something. But as a Christian,
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Speaker 1: the Bible should take precedence in your life. That is
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Speaker 1: the most important book that you could ever read, which
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Speaker 1: is why he says bring especially the parchments. Then in
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Speaker 1: verse fourteen, he says, Alexander the Coppersmith did much evil
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Speaker 1: to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
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Speaker 1: Beware of him, for he greatly opposed our words. So
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess that Timothy knew who Paul was talking
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Speaker 1: about here, because Paul doesn't go into a lot more
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Speaker 1: detail other than Alexander's name and his profession. Now we
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Speaker 1: have no clue who Alexander the copper Smith is, because
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Speaker 1: Alexander was one of the most common boy names during
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Speaker 1: this time. It's like the name Mike right now. You know,
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Speaker 1: everybody and their brother is named Mike. I have two
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Speaker 1: brothers in laws named Mike, and every single one of
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Speaker 1: my pastors except for my first pastor, has been named Mike.
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Speaker 1: So in the same way that Mike is a very
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Speaker 1: common name, now, Alexander was similarly common in Paul's day.
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Speaker 1: So we don't know who Alexander the Coppersmith is. But
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Speaker 1: there is a guy mentioned in First Timothy one Versus
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Speaker 1: eighteen through twenty named Alexander that Paul could have been
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Speaker 1: talking about. He says, I commit the this instruction to you,
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Speaker 1: my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given
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Speaker 1: to you before that by them you may wage the
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Speaker 1: good warfare, holding faith in a good conscience, which some,
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Speaker 1: having thrust away, made a shipwreck concerning the faith of
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Speaker 1: whom our Hymenus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan,
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Speaker 1: that they might be taught not to blaspheme. So that
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Speaker 1: Alexander mentioned there could be the same Alexander Paul's mentioning
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Speaker 1: in two Timothy chapter four. But honestly, we have no
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Speaker 1: real clue if these two guys are the same, just
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Speaker 1: based on the fact that Alexander was such a common name.
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Speaker 1: It could be that, because of the context of two
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Speaker 1: Timothy four, that Alexander the Coppersmith was actually the guy
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Speaker 1: that turned Paul in to the Roman authorities, and he
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Speaker 1: was the reason why Paul was in prison this second time.
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Speaker 1: If that's the case, Alexander could have betrayed Paul, especially
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Speaker 1: since Paul is writing as if Timothy knows who Alexander
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Speaker 1: the Coppersmith actually is, which means Paul is warning Timothy
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Speaker 1: to beware this guy. That's what he says in verse fifteen.
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Speaker 1: Be aware of him, for he greatly opposed our words.
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Speaker 1: So if Alexander the Coppersmith was a traitor, Timothy would
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Speaker 1: have to beware of him, because it could be that
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Speaker 1: this guy was very friendly in person, but turned around
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Speaker 1: and did as much damage as he possibly could to
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Speaker 1: Paul and to the Gospel message. Then verse sixteen says,
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Speaker 1: and my first defense, no one came to help me,
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Speaker 1: but all left me. May it not be held against them,
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Speaker 1: But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me that
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Speaker 1: through me the message might be fully proclaimed and that
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Speaker 1: all the gentiles might hear. So I was delivered out
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Speaker 1: of the mouth of the lion. Right here, Paul is
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Speaker 1: either talking about his first imprisonment several years before this,
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Speaker 1: or he's talking about his first defense that he recently had,
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Speaker 1: but whether it was the first imprisonment or the second one.
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Speaker 1: Paul says that every person left me except the Lord,
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Speaker 1: but he forgives these people that left him. He says,
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Speaker 1: may it not be held against them, because the Lord
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Speaker 1: stood by my side and protected me and took me
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Speaker 1: away from the mouth of the lion. And that was
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Speaker 1: how Nero would punish the Christians. By the way, like
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Speaker 1: Paul is probably not giving an analogy here, he very
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Speaker 1: likely could have been facing the mouth of the lion,
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Speaker 1: like being thrown into a pit and having people watch
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Speaker 1: him get devoured by lions. But he says, the Lord
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Speaker 1: delivered me from that so that the message will be
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Speaker 1: preached to the gentiles. So that's why a lot of
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Speaker 1: people think that Paul is referring to his first imprisonment here,
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Speaker 1: because obviously he did a lot of good work for
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Speaker 1: the gentile regions. After he got out of prison that
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Speaker 1: first time, he probably was out of prison for several years,
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Speaker 1: and we know he did another missionary journey where most
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Speaker 1: people believe that he made it all the way to Spain.
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Speaker 1: So because of that missionary journey where Paul was like
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Speaker 1: a powerhouse for the gospel after he got out of prison,
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Speaker 1: most people believe that Paul's talking about his first imprisonment
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Speaker 1: when he mentions that no one was there to help him.
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Speaker 1: But I could argue that Paul wrote three other letters
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Speaker 1: when he was in prison the second time, and it
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Speaker 1: could be that Paul's talking about his first defense here
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Speaker 1: that the court let him go back to prison where
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Speaker 1: he wrote the last remaining letters that needed to be
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Speaker 1: written before he died. So Paul could even be talking
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Speaker 1: about those three remaining letters that threw me the message
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Speaker 1: might be fully proclaimed and that all the gentiles might hear.
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Speaker 1: So I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion,
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Speaker 1: and the Lord will deliver me verse eighteen from every
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Speaker 1: evil work and will preserve me for his heavenly kingdom.
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Speaker 1: So he has faith. He says, God is going to
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Speaker 1: deliver me out of every evil and bring me safely
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Speaker 1: into his kingdom, and then he gives glory to God.
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Speaker 1: He says, to him, be the Glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Speaker 1: Paul has joy in spite of the fact that he
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Speaker 1: knows he's about to die, because he knows that God
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Speaker 1: is going to deliver him from this evil world and
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Speaker 1: bring him safely into his kingdom. That is a very
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Speaker 1: different way to look at death. You know, most people
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Speaker 1: think of death as pain and suffering and misery, but
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Speaker 1: Paul looks at it as a release from this life,
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Speaker 1: and that death itself is God safely delivering Paul into
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Speaker 1: the next life. I just heard a testimony from a
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Speaker 1: woman at my church the other day, and she was
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Speaker 1: talking about her three and a half year old baby
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Speaker 1: who had died only a few years ago. But something
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Speaker 1: that she said was really amazing. She said, I am
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Speaker 1: not upset because I know my child is healed and
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Speaker 1: I know I'm going to see him again. And that
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Speaker 1: was amazing for a mother that's grieving to say something
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Speaker 1: like that, to say, my child is in heaven, he
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Speaker 1: is in perfection. It might suck for me, but I
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Speaker 1: know my baby is okay. And that is a similar
20:08
Speaker 1: thing that Paul is saying right here. He's saying, I
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Speaker 1: am not upset that I am about to die, because
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Speaker 1: I know what lies ahead for me after I die.
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Speaker 1: So to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Then,
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Speaker 1: in verses nineteen through twenty two, Paul ends his letter.
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Speaker 1: He says, greet Prisca and Aquilla. So that would be
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Speaker 1: Priscilla and Aquilla and the house of Onnocipherus. So these
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Speaker 1: names you've heard before. These were people important to Paul's ministry,
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Speaker 1: and it sounds like they were either in Ephesus or
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Speaker 1: near Ephesus at the time, or maybe in one of
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Speaker 1: the cities that Timothy was going to have to go
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Speaker 1: through in order to get to Paul. So he says,
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Speaker 1: greet these people. He says, Aristas remained at Corinth, but
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Speaker 1: I left Trophemus at Melaitis sick. And that's a very
20:55
Speaker 1: confusing statement to a lot of people, because he's like,
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Speaker 1: why did Paul leave somebody in a city sick instead
21:02
Speaker 1: of healing him or staying with him. Well, it could
21:04
Speaker 1: be that when Paul was arrested, these two men traveled
21:08
Speaker 1: with Paul, and one of them, Aristys, who I believe
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Speaker 1: is actually mentioned in next chapter nineteen. Aristas went as
21:15
Speaker 1: far as Corinth with Paul when he was arrested, and
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Speaker 1: then Trophemus went as far as Melatis and couldn't go
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Speaker 1: any further because he was sick, and Paul couldn't do
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Speaker 1: anything about it because he was being arrested by the
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Speaker 1: Roman authorities. So that's why he left Trophemus at Meladis
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Speaker 1: sick instead of being able to do something about it.
21:37
Speaker 1: But that's just a theory. We don't actually know why
21:39
Speaker 1: Paul left Trophemus at Melayitis while he was sick. We
21:43
Speaker 1: have no clue. But whatever it was, the reason Paul
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Speaker 1: is mentioning these men is to either let Timothy and
21:49
Speaker 1: the other Christians know how these men are doing, or
21:52
Speaker 1: again that Timothy, if he has time on his way
21:56
Speaker 1: to visit Paul, may actually be able to pop in
21:59
Speaker 1: and see how these men are doing at their various cities.
22:02
Speaker 1: But he says in verse twenty one, however, be diligent
22:05
Speaker 1: to come to me before winter, and the reason being
22:09
Speaker 1: was because winter was an especially difficult time to travel. Basically,
22:14
Speaker 1: nobody traveled in the winter because the seas were very
22:19
Speaker 1: dangerous to travel on, so you had to travel during
22:23
Speaker 1: the spring and summer months. Which is why Paul mentions
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Speaker 1: twice in this little passage that Timothy needs to hurry
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Speaker 1: up and get to him because if he waits till spring,
22:35
Speaker 1: Paul may be dead by that point. Paul has no
22:38
Speaker 1: clue when he's going to die, but he knows his
22:40
Speaker 1: death is imminent, which is why he tells Timothy get
22:43
Speaker 1: here soon, get here before winter. And another reason, being
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Speaker 1: a very small reason, is because Paul may have needed
22:50
Speaker 1: his cloak. Remember he mentions that cloak that he left
22:53
Speaker 1: at Trouse. Paul had nothing to his name when he
22:58
Speaker 1: was about to die. He had no not even a
23:01
Speaker 1: coat to keep him warm. He needed that coat. And
23:05
Speaker 1: maybe he was asking Timothy to hurry up and get
23:07
Speaker 1: to him because if winter hits, he's going to be
23:10
Speaker 1: freezing wherever he is. Then, to conclude, he mentions a
23:13
Speaker 1: few people named Eubulus, Pudins, Linus, and Claudia, whose scholars
23:18
Speaker 1: believe were some of the members of the Church of Rome.
23:22
Speaker 1: He says, Eubulist salutes you, as do Pudins, Linus, Claudia
23:26
Speaker 1: and the brothers. Then he says, the Lord Jesus Christ
23:29
Speaker 1: be with your spirit. Grace be with you, amen, And
23:33
Speaker 1: those are the last words, presumably that Timothy ever read
23:38
Speaker 1: of Paul's letters. But as Paul says in the same chapter,
23:41
Speaker 1: verse six, for I am already being offered, and the
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Speaker 1: time of my departure has come. I've fought the good fight.
23:49
Speaker 1: I've finished the course, I have kept the faith. From
23:53
Speaker 1: now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me,
23:56
Speaker 1: which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give to me
23:58
Speaker 1: on that day, and not to me only, but also
24:01
Speaker 1: to all those who have loved his appearing. Paul knows
24:05
Speaker 1: where he's about to go, So he is not losing faith.
24:08
Speaker 1: He is not losing hope. In fact, he is more
24:11
Speaker 1: hopeful than ever because he understands that God is going
24:15
Speaker 1: to deliver him safely into the life to come. Well,
24:21
Speaker 1: thank you so much, faithful listeners, for being with me
24:24
Speaker 1: through the books of First and Second Timothy. I hope
24:27
Speaker 1: that you enjoyed them. But, faithful listeners, let's hip pause
24:30
Speaker 1: for a sponsor. I'll be back to say goodbye right
24:32
Speaker 1: after that. All righty, faithful listeners. So on Thursday, we're
24:37
Speaker 1: going to be in the Book of Titus. And actually,
24:39
Speaker 1: the Book of Titus in some ways is very similar
24:42
Speaker 1: to the Book of Timothy for the sole reason that
24:46
Speaker 1: Paul is writing to Titus for the same reason he's
24:49
Speaker 1: writing to Timothy, because Titus is going to be a
24:51
Speaker 1: pastor in the area of Crete, whereas Timothy is going
24:55
Speaker 1: to be a pastor in the area of Macedonia. But
24:58
Speaker 1: they're similar in a lot ways, but also very different.
25:02
Speaker 1: And I'm excited to get into the Book of Titus
25:04
Speaker 1: because I actually just talked about it with my students
25:06
Speaker 1: and have done a little bit of pre study with
25:09
Speaker 1: all of them. But I'm happy to dive deeper with
25:11
Speaker 1: you guys. All right, faithful listeners, hopefully all of you
25:14
Speaker 1: will be on tomorrow morning for an episode from Second Chronicles,
25:18
Speaker 1: and then on Thursday, of course, we will begin the
25:20
Speaker 1: Book of Titus. Until tomorrow, happy listening and God bless.
25:31
Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
25:33
Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
25:35
Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
25:37
Speaker 1: lifeaudio dot com you'll find dozens of other faith centered
25:41
Speaker 1: podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting,
25:45
Speaker 1: and more.