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Sermon Notes of Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley (11-5-1997 Guisborough Evangelical Church)
We come to the last scene from 2 Timothy, the very last
words Paul ever wrote. The end was very close now. As a Roman citizen it was his
privilege to be beheaded rather than crucified. From the Christian point of
view, He was about to be with Christ, in the nearer presence of the Lord, and
into a state far better than this life.
It is a tragic and sad picture
in some ways – sad that he did not leave life in a blaze of glory with friends
and family singing a doxology. He was indeed a creature of flesh and blood, a
frail human being with ordinary human needs. He must have been lonely. He had
been let down by some Christians. It would have been cold. He had nothing to
occupy his mind, no hope of release, only death to await.
He mentions over a dozen names in this chapter, some of whom are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, and some who are only mentioned here. We are going to focus on just four of these names and see what is to be learnt from them. The first was a faithful friend, the second a restored backslider, the third a tragic apostate, and the fourth a confident martyr – Luke, Mark, Demas, and Paul himself.
Only Luke is with me (2
Timothy 4:11). The scene is one of intense loneliness and isolation. He had
plenty of friends, but they were not with him in this, his hour of need. They
were busy of their Master’s business in many places, and could not be with
Paul just when he would have loved to see them for one last time. Luke, the
beloved physician (Colossians 4:14), alone, was with him.
Besides the few dominant
characters in the New Testament, there are many secondary characters, mentioned
only occasionally, and at times we get just a glimpse of the kind of people they
were. Among these is Luke. He had been a good and faithful friend to Paul over
many years, accompanying Paul on his missionary journeys, recording them in
“The Acts of the Apostles”. (Luke’s two books, the Gospel according to
Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, makes up 27% of the New Testament) He had
been at Philippi with Paul, staying in Lydia’s home (Acts 16:11,15), with Paul
on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:6), and on that last treacherous
voyage to Rome when they were shipwrecked (Acts 21:17). He shared Paul’s first
and second imprisonments in Rome (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11).
As both a doctor and a friend, he had ministered to Paul in every way. Paul
called him a “fellow labourer” – he did not just talk – he worked.
Here was a friend who was loyal to death. He was one of the back room boys who made the great apostle’s work possible. He totally dedicated his skills and gifts to the Lord. R.M.McCheyne, who died aged 29 after setting the city of Dundee alight for God, once said he wanted to live so as to be missed. This is certainly how Luke lived his life.
Get Mark and bring him with
you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry (2 Timothy 4:11). It is such
a relief to read these words. For a long time Mark had been a real
disappointment, despite such a promising start. Mary, his mother, had the house
in Jerusalem that was the headquarters of the early church. Mark went with Paul
and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, but returned home when they got as
far as Cyprus (Acts 13:13). His cousin Barnabas wanted to give him a second
chance on the second missionary journey, but Paul was not having it (Acts
15:38). Mark was the cause of a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas,
leading to them going their separate ways, and never working together again.
There is no record of what Mark did over the next twenty years. Then Mark is
mentioned as being with Paul on his first imprisonment when he wrote to the
Colossians (Colossians 4:10). Paul urged the Colossians not to let Mark’s past
stand in the way of welcoming him. And now when the end is very near, Paul
expresses this desire to see Mark again. Though a one time deserter and quitter,
Mark was now a man useful for ministry.
The story of Mark rings a bell
with many of our hearts. This man failed, let the Lord down, and disappointed
others. We have all been there, so we cannot point the finger at him. But the
past can be forgiven, failures can be blotted out. The Lord can deal with the
most shameful burden we may be carrying. Think of the other famous deserter and
quitter in the Old Testament – Jonah – yet: The Word of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time (Jonah 3:1). God gives second chances – and third and
fourth. The Gospel is all about forgiveness, second chances, strength for
weaklings and courage for cowards.
“O
Jesus, full of truth and grace,
More
full of grace than I of sin,
Yet
once again I seek Thy face.
Open
Thine arms and take me in,
And
freely my backslidings heal
And love this faithless sinner still.”
For Demas, because he loved
this world, has deserted me (2 Timothy 4:10). If Mark brought an occasion of
happiness to Paul’s last days, Demas was the cause of grief. Demas is
mentioned three times in the New Testament. In Philemon 24 he is described as
“my fellow labourer”, but now he has deserted, and gone back to Thessalonica
in Greece. Over the years Paul had prayed for Demas, given him endless hours of
teaching, entrusted him with Christian work, and worked side by side with him.
Now he had turned away and left him in the lurch when he needed him most. Demas
went in the opposite direction to Mark. Mark’s lapse was temporary, and caused
by fear and cowardice. But Demas’s backsliding was caused because of his love
of the present age, and it was permanent.
Maybe it was because he never
was truly converted and his heart was not changed. It is possible to have the
light and not have life. Maybe he was what the Puritans called “a temporary
believer”, like Judas Iscariot. In some cases this happens when there is
family pressure, or pressure from friends, to make a person become a Christian,
or some emotional experience that attracts them to the idea of becoming a
Christian. But like the seed that falls on stony ground (Mark 4), it springs up
at first, but gets scorched by the sun and withers away because there is no
root. Or like the seed on the thorny ground where thorns choke the seed and it
gives no fruit.
There is a world of difference
between a temporary lapse from which there can be recovery in time, and absolute
rejection of the Gospel which was once professed and a return to the world which
has rejected God. “I saw that there was a way to hell even from the very gates
of heaven” (John Bunyan, in Pilgrim’s Progress).
Demas is a warning beacon. Ask God to do a deep and permanent work. Make sure your faith is not resting on emotion or pressure, but from a heart changed by Him, and endeavour by His grace to follow on to know the Lord. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13,14).
We have already seen in passing the unhappy and
undesirable plight of Paul in his very last days on earth. He was lonely and
deserted, with only Luke for companionship, longing that Timothy and Mark might
make it to visit him before winter makes travel dangerous. Besides the sad
memory of Demas, there are bitter memories of Alexander who did him great harm,
acting as an informer (2 Timothy 4:14), and regret at the Christians in the
church at Rome who did not speak up in his defence at his trial (2 Timothy
4:16). Had they been ashamed of him? Did they forget what they owed him? Were
they too busy looking after themselves? If ever an accused man needed help, it
was now – and they deserted him. These must have been hard thoughts to live
with.
But then he recalls his good
friends like Priscilla, Aquila and Erastus. Human friendship and companionship
and nearness and support are very important. We miss it when we have not got it.
Some super spiritual people may claim they are never lonely; they don’t need
friends because they have Christ’s companionship which satisfies all their
needs. But human friendship is a loving provision of God. He blesses and helps
and comforts us through the support of others. The presence of Christ is
wonderful, but it is not intended to replace or displace human friendships.
Besides the need for
companionship, Paul had material needs. He wanted a cloak, an outer garment of
heavy material, to keep him warm. And he wanted his scrolls, especially the
parchments (2 Timothy 4:13). Were the parchments Old Testament Scriptures, or
early drafts of the Gospels about Christ’s life and teaching, or were they
legal documents, including his certificate of Roman citizenship? We do not know.
History has a strange way of
repeating itself. William Tyndale was held in prison in Belgium, awaiting death,
during a cold damp winter, and he sent a message to a friend: “Send me, for
Jesus’ sake, a warm cap, something to patch my leggings, a woollen shirt, and
above all my Hebrew Bible that I may spend my time in that pursuit.”
So we have this sad and in some
ways unhappy picture of the great apostle, at the end of a life of triumphant
service, but now in need of friends, clothing and books. It is not unspiritual
to admit this. These are natural needs of mortal men and women. “Never for one
moment are we de-naturalized by grace” (H.Moule). There is no need to deny our
own frailty and humanity, or pretend that we are more than dust.
The remarkable thing is that
despite these sad circumstances, Paul faces the future with such confidence and
anticipation. He could look back and remember that even when no one came forward
to speak in his defence and support him, the Lord had been there standing with
him. The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength (2 Timothy 4:17). How
reminiscent of his words to the Philippians I can do all things in union with
him who keeps on pouring strength into me (Philippians 4:13). No wonder he
encouraged others to have the same strength: Be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
The Lord made him strong, and
enabled him to boldly witness to the truth of the Gospel, and delivered him from
“the lion’s mouth”, probably a reference to Emperor Nero, or else to Satan
or death. His experience in the past gives him comfort for the present, and
confidence for the future. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and
will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18). He knew he
could never be separated from the love of Christ Jesus, and that immediately on
death he would go straight to the heavenly kingdom. His body would be on the
block, but his soul would be in heaven.
This is the testimony of
Scripture – that death is the gateway to heaven immediately. You guide me
with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory (Psalm 73:24). "I
tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke
23:43). For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians
1:21). We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and
at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).
However black and bleak our
situation, however lonely and discouraged, the believer always has this
confidence. The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength (2 Timothy
4:17).
"When
other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help
of the helpless, O abide with me.”
And in that last dread hour, the believer will go immediately to be with Christ in heaven. He will not merely be in an unconscious state, nor in purgatory, but with Christ at once. No wonder Paul ends with the words, To him be the glory for ever and ever, Amen.
