2 Timothy 4:9-22

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 12:1-6
• Prayer of Invocation
• Catechism Recitation — Sixth Commandment (Westminster Shorter Catechism)
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 1:1-16
• Membership Vows — Reception of Communicant Member
• Prayer for New Member
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn — To God Be the Glory
• Sermon
• Hymn — Day by Day
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: The Companionship Paul Longed for at the End of His Life

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:9-22

I. The Companionship of Friends

A. Paul urgently calls Timothy to come before winter — his beloved son in the faith

1. The ports close in winter, so Timothy must come soon (2 Timothy 4:9, 21)
2. Paul also needs his cloak left with Carpus at Troas for the coming cold (2 Timothy 4:13)

B. Demas has deserted Paul out of love for the present world (2 Timothy 4:10; cf. Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24)

1. Paul's heart is set on the heavenly kingdom; Demas's heart is set on earthly pleasures
2. The desertion stings — Demas was once a member of Paul's inner circle

C. Mark is a picture of forgiveness and reconciliation (2 Timothy 4:11)

1. Mark had abandoned Paul on the first missionary journey (Acts 13) and caused a sharp dispute with Barnabas (Acts 15)
2. Now Paul wants Mark by his side — he is useful for the ministry
3. Paul does not want to die with bitterness or unresolved division among brothers

D. Luke's faithful companionship reflects God's sweet providence (2 Timothy 4:11)

1. Luke accompanied Paul through his third missionary journey, arrest, shipwreck, Malta, and both Roman imprisonments
2. Luke was a physician — God in his goodness gave Paul's closest companion the gifts Paul needed most

E. Paul longed specifically for Christian friends — companions who share in the eternal things of Christ, not merely passing interests of this world

II. The Companionship of Books

A. Paul requests the books and parchments left at Troas (2 Timothy 4:13)

1. The books were likely papyrus scrolls; the parchments were durable and expensive goatskin or sheepskin writing surfaces
2. Most likely these contained at least portions of the Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint), and possibly other writings to lift Paul's soul

B. The written word has a unique power over the human soul

1. Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death, late 1980s) noted that reading demands serious intellectual engagement — the reader must come armed and alone with the text
2. Postman observed that Christianity, being based on the written word, is a demanding and serious religion; when delivered as easy entertainment, it becomes something else altogether
3. God chose to reveal himself through the written word — the Reformation took flight precisely when Scripture was printed and spread in the language of ordinary people

C. Paul, who had been caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12), still longed for books — not another grand vision

1. John Calvin on this passage: let all — great and small, learned and simple — profit their whole lives so that they never cease learning until they no longer see in part but behold the glory of God face to face
2. If Paul continued learning as he neared death, how much more must we continue to grow in the knowledge of God's Word

III. The Companionship of Christ

A. At his first defense Paul stood completely alone — no advocate, no support (2 Timothy 4:16)

1. He forgives those who did not come, just as Christ received his disciples who had fled in fear
2. The church in Rome likely stayed away out of fear of suffering the same fate

B. The Lord stood by Paul and strengthened him to fully proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (2 Timothy 4:17)

1. This fulfilled the promise of Acts 23:11: Take courage — as you have testified in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome
2. Paul was rescued from the lion's mouth — metaphorical for death, not a literal arena (Paul as a Roman citizen would be beheaded, not fed to beasts)
3. Paul routinely turned his defense trials into gospel proclamations, putting his accusers on the defensive (before Felix, Festus, and now in Rome)

C. The word courage (tharsei) is spoken only by Jesus in the New Testament

1. Matthew 9:2 — to the paralytic: Take courage, your sins are forgiven
2. Matthew 9:22 — to the woman with the discharge of blood: Take courage, your faith has healed you
3. Matthew 14:27 — to frightened disciples on the storm-tossed sea: Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid
4. John 16:33 — in the upper room: Take courage, I have overcome the world
5. Acts 23:11 — to Paul in prison: Take courage
6. Christ speaks this word to the weak, guilty, and struggling — turning their gaze from their circumstances to himself

D. Paul knows that death will not destroy him but usher him into the heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18)

1. His heavenly advocate stands at God's right hand, interceding for him — and for all who belong to Christ
2. Paul's doxology: To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Conclusion: What Paul longed for throughout his life is what he longed for at its end — the companionship of the church, the companionship of the written Word, and the companionship of Christ. The same Christ who stood by Paul stands by every believer, saying: Courage — I have overcome the world.