� � of 4 1The Good Fight, Week of December 3, 2017

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

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HIGHLIGHT: 2 Timothy 4:9-22 9 Make every effort to come to me soon, 10 because Demas has deserted me, since he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works. 15 Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words.

16 At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus has remained at Corinth; I left Trophimus sick at Miletus. 21 Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

EXPLAIN

Our study of 2 Timothy comes to a close with one of the most human looks at Paul that we have. Here he is at the close of his final letter, literally at the doorstep of eternity, communicating how important it is to finish the race we’ve started. We can examine our own lives in light of his closing instructions: the way we treat others, the types of people we want to be, and what kinds of refuge we seek when the road ahead seems too difficult to walk.

v.10 Demas is probably short for Demetrias, and indicates that Paul was likely close with this person. It’s likely that this is the same Demas from Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24, which means that he was once fully committed to the Gospel, no matter where it took him. Now, however, Paul is heartbroken that he has

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opted not to join in the kind of suffering Paul was experiencing. It would not be right to assume that Demas had forsaken the faith, just that he took a look at the coming martyr’s death and decided against it. While he was once fully committed to Christ and whatever end He called him to, he’d moved back home to continue living in a more comfortable, safe environment.

v.11 “Only Luke is with me.” Paul had known all sorts of imprisonment in his life. At the end of Acts, Paul is in prison and Luke records that “he welcomed all who visited him,” sharing the gospel boldly all the while (Acts 28:30). Here, that same author is with Paul again, but this time he is the only one. At the end of his life and ministry, Paul had not amassed fame or good standing with men, but the opposite. He was alone, save for Luke.

“Bring Mark with you” is the resolution to the conflict raised in Acts 15. When Paul was in Pamphylia, Mark had parted ways with him and the fellow missionaries because of a disagreement. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas have a disagreement about whether to include him again—to the point that they split company again. As we might say with Demas, neither Mark nor Barnabas forsook their faith, since these splits allowed the gospel to move into more places than if had been one party alone. Perhaps Paul was reflecting on the Gospel’s providential move across now-Europe and Asia. On one hand, Paul’s solitude was deep, but he also saw this as an opportunity to restore Mark because of his work for the Gospel in Cyprus.

v.13 Paul’s cloak was likely what we might call a poncho: a circular cape that had a hole in the middle for his head. Since winter was approaching, that cloak would come in handy soon. But notice what this left-behind cloak tells us about Paul, per David Guzik:

• He gave up everything he had to serve Jesus. The only things he had at the

end of his life, assuming Timothy brought them after receiving the letter, were a winter coat and a few books.

• He was almost completely forsaken by his friends. If he’d had friends in Rome, he could have borrowed a cloak for the winter.

• He was an ordinary man with ordinary needs.

v.14 In 1 Timothy 1:20, Paul mentioned someone named Alexander who had “shipwrecked his faith.” Several scholars argue that Paul’s distinction of “Alexander the coppersmith” proves this is not the same Alexander (Alexander was probably a common name in that time and place—Alexander the Great had died not too long before this). Whatever the case, this Alexander may well have been someone from within the Christian community who ended up turning around and trying to sabotage Paul’s ministry

v.22 Paul ends an emotionally intense section dealing with loneliness and isolation with a prayer. When all seemed lost and he was running out of options, he knew he was never truly alone: he had his King and he still had a purpose. Paul understood something we can take to heart: the quality of your life is not determined by your comfort level, but by how faithful you are to the call that God has given you.

� � of 4 3The Good Fight, Week of December 3, 2017

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

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APPLY

1. What stuck out to you or challenged you in what you heard in the sermon or read in the text?

2. Read over today’s passage. Notice Paul’s tone. How do you think he’s feeling? Why? Share about a time when you have felt deserted or lonely and how you dealt with it.

3. Paul was upset with Mark for abandoning them on the mission field. Talk about a time when the Holy Spirit was leading you one direction but you chose not to obey. How did that affect the people around you? How did you get “restored” like Mark was?

4. Paul’s situation may have looked bad, but he retained his hope because he know what he was working for. When things looked bad for Paul, what did he ask for? Why did he want those things? How do you “recharge” when you’re drained or going through difficult times?

RESPOND

• Consider the different people mentioned in this passage. • Are you the one who’s fallen away? Know that moment does not define you. It’s

not too late to come back. • Are you the one who’s come back? What brought you back, and what’s next? • Are you the one being called out? Where are you being sent?