I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. II Timothy 2:9. I Peter and II Timothy were written during the time of the emperor Nero and his persecutions of the Jewish Christians as well as the Gentile Christians. That was about thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ, when the world was moving toward Christianity and the Christians were winning many. The persecutions were more intense than you might imagine. At this particular time in history, Nero burned Rome because he wanted to rebuild the city. There was a tremendous uprising against Nero for having burned the greater part of Rome. He did this because he had a flair to build and he wanted to rebuild Rome, and in his insanity and demon possession there was no other way, so he had the entire city burned. But when the evidence was revealed against him, he looked for a scapegoat. He took the Christians who were being persecuted and blamed them for all of it.
At Paul’s first appearing before Nero, he had to answer for his faith in Christ the Lord. He indicated in II Timothy 4:6, … the time of my departure is at hand, and said “I am imprisoned as a criminal” (II Timothy 2:9). He had been at Rome for approximately two years by this time and was there when Rome was burned. Christians were being murdered in the streets because the blame was being placed upon them; to see them was to murder them. And Paul, one of the apostles of the sect, was on trial for his life. The Christians were terrified and many of the apostolic company even wavered and forsook Paul in that hour of need. To stand up with Paul was almost certain death; they would die with him.
This was the time when he called for Mark to come to Rome to be with him. That was ironic, because Mark was so afraid on the first missionary journey that he forsook Paul, and his uncle Barnabas, and went home; he did not want anything more to do with it. On the second missionary journey, Paul would not let him go along, because he had forsaken the work of the Lord. Yet in the end, during the most dangerous hour in the history of the church to that point, when Christians, as Romans 8:36 says, were being killed all the day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter, he called for Mark, because Mark was profitable to stand with him in the ministry and in the service at that critical hour.
For two years Paul had been in prison, and he knew he had no hope at all before the tribunal, before the mad, devil possessed Nero. But Mark came, and Peter probably came with him, because history shows that Peter and Paul died as martyrs in Rome within a short time of each other.
That was such a crucial time, and if you know the Bible and the story of it, certain things mean a great deal. For instance, in II Timothy 4, Paul said, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and that I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. Verse 14–17. This was his first appearing. We understand who Alexander was when we look at I Timothy 1:20. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. Alexander had done a great deal of harm. When he found out that Paul was in jeopardy, he made a journey from Ephesus to Rome, in order to testify against Paul. He had such vengeance and revenge in his heart when he had been turned over to judgment. All of this is painting a background for II Timothy 3 and 4, some of the greatest passages ever written.
In II Timothy 3:10–12, Paul wrote this to Timothy: But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra (Lystra was probably Timothy’s home town); what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
What were these persecutions? It was at Lystra, on the first missionary journey, that Paul was stoned and left for dead. On the second missionary journey, he passed through Lystra again and picked up Timothy, the son of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father. So this epistle is written to a young man who stood by and watched the stoning of the apostle on the first missionary journey. Paul said, “You were witnesses.”
In verse 14 he said, You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Notice the emphasis this man was giving. He was on trial for his life and would say in the next chapter, “The time of my departure has come. I am going to be poured out as a drink offering,” meaning he was going to be beheaded. His blood would be spilled out like a drink offering to the Lord. He knew it was sealed, an accomplished fact that he was going to die. Even Peter was witnessing he was about to die, when he wrote in II Peter 1:14, Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle (this tent), even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
God had prepared these brothers; they were going to die for the cause of Christ. They had been faithful with their apostleship and had laid the foundation. Peter laid the foundation of the faith to the circumcision, and Paul laid the foundation of faith to the uncircumcision. They had seen a great company come into Christ. Yet both wrote their Epistles, II Timothy and I Peter, at this time, knowing that very shortly they were going to die. They wrote respectively to the branches of Christians who were suffering so intensely that it would be impossible for you and I to understand what jeopardy those Christians were under.
The only comparison we could understand would be like Vietnam : a purge and massacre may wipe out a million lives in needless, senseless butchery and vengeance. This is the same thing the Christians knew. When I heard about the fall of the Vietnamese, it did something in my heart, like an ominous cloud settling because I knew how many people would be dying. We ought to begin to prophesy against this move of Satan. If we believe the judgments of God to be in the earth, let’s believe for God to begin to judge and deal with that onslaught.
We are not coming to a period again where the Christians are to die; we are coming to the time in which Christ is to be admired in all them that believe (II Thessalonians 1:10). This is to be another outcome completely. We must be much concerned about what is taking place, realizing this is like it was in those days.
We cannot feel II Timothy without feeling the one cry coming out of Paul’s heart: “Timothy, remember the Word. Remember what you saw. Remember the man you saw fall under the stones and thought he was dead. You followed my faith. You followed my persecutions. You have been faithful. But Timothy, only one thing: I want you to remember the word you have heard, the Scriptures God gave you.”
It is in that background and setting that we hear these words: 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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 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; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 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. II Timothy 4:1–8.
What a beautiful passage! Such faith requires faithfulness in us too. This is the way the Church went through its persecutions, almost like a burial period. But we are in the days of restoration. All this, yet they without us are not made perfect (Hebrews 11:40). They fought a good fight; they finished their course; they kept the faith. Now it is our turn. Without us the story will not be complete. Ours is to be the ministry of victory. Ours is to be the ministry of the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). There is the ministry of the suffering and dying Lamb and those came forth in that age and did the will of the Lord.
Paul wrote to Timothy, Make every effort to come to me soon (as in verse 21: “Make every effort to come before winter”); for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia (he did not say that Titus forsook him, but he said that Demas did). Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service (or for ministry). But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. Winter was coming on and it was cold in the Roman dungeons. He called himself “Paul the aged,” shivering in a Roman cell, dragging about a chain, and he wrote, “Don’t forget to bring the cloak!”
Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; but the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. At my first defense no one (not one) supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. That could be a figure of speech, but most likely, at the first hearing, they had determined to feed him to the lions.
The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. We believe in divine healing, and there were many miracles under Paul, but still he left Trophimus sick at Miletus. Sometimes there are physical afflictions and infirmities we have to consider. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. II Timothy 4:9–22.
Seventeen persons are named in these last fourteen verses. It is almost a panoramic view. Some are running; some are still commissioned; here and there some are standing by to help—a few brethren, a handful of corn scattered on the top of the mountain: a few expendable brothers, trying to do the will of God, and walking in it—some deserting, some fearful.
How awesome it was! What would it have been like to slip into the coliseum and look down upon the red sand—red to cover the blood of the saints—to see some of those saints under Nero (about 64 A.D.) as they were sewn into animal skins, then turned loose for wild dogs to worry to death and destroy? What would it have been like for the lions to be turned loose? Can we imagine the debauchery of this time in Roman history? There is no way that we could undergo it or imagine what it was like. Imagine Nero’s mother, the noted poisoner, and Nero, almost insane, reveling in his gardens, riding naked in his chariot (according to history): involved in the debauchery of every kind of sexual excess and depravity to be found.
Sometimes it was the sport of emperors to see how long it would take a slave to die after sampling poisons. Sometimes they trussed the Christians up, tied them securely upon the pillars in the garden, literally coated with pitch, and then set them on fire. In their sadistic way they would laugh and rejoice in their revelry, almost drowned out by the screams of living, flaming torches dying amid the stench of human flesh—people dying—nothing left of the Christian except the charred, blackened mass.
That was the time we are speaking about. “Endure hardness as a good soldier” (II Timothy 2:4). “I have fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). I hope I have painted a picture for you. Did they do it in vain? No, not in vain. That was another time. Over nineteen hundred years have gone by, and now we are right on the threshold of another upheaval, a tremendous change. We are just walking in it. We are right on it. I wish I could give you a sense of destiny, a sense of what God has called you to be. You do not know what is going to happen, but you are going to stand and prophesy; you are going to stand and intercede; you are going to stand and proclaim judgment. You are going to be faithful. You are not going to love your life unto death. You are going to be willing to lay it down for the brethren.
That is the way it will be with us. We do not know all that is ahead of us—they didn’t either—but God give us the faith to stand. At this particular point, to walk in everything we have to do is no longer dependent upon anything. As long as God gives us opportunity, we will publish the Word and send it out, because this is our faithfulness to God. That Living Word we will send out. It is the gospel of the Kingdom. But if all our presses and our books were destroyed overnight, God has still created living epistles who will stand and proclaim the Word of the Lord, and it still must come to pass because God has written it on the tablets of men’s hearts. We are an apostolic company raised up for this purpose.