We’ve come to our final day looking at 2 Timothy. Yesterday, we saw that our endurance in ministry shouldn’t be left up to other Christians. Because they’ll often let us down. They let Paul down, so why should we expect it to be any different with us?

But today, we look at the flip-side to this: how other Christians can often be a great support in ministry, helping us to endure.

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The last part of Paul’s second letter to Timothy is what’s often called the personalia section of a letter. I like to call it “epistolary shrapnel.” It’s the bit you don’t want to have to preach on because most of it seems very specific to the first-century situation, there’s often little in the way of a unifying theme, and it’s full of foreign names you have to pronounce like you know what you’re doing. And that’s where we’re at today.

But take heart: I think there is a unifying theme. It’s just a bit of a depressing one, in one sense, in that it shows Paul being let down by his fellow Christians. But it also reminds us not to allow the behaviour of other people in our church or in our ministry team to determine how we minister, or how we evaluate our ministry, or whether in fact we endure in ministry.

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Over the last two days we’ve seen Paul warn Timothy that if he fulfils his commission to be a faithful teacher, he’ll face opposition. He’ll need to endure. And so, at the end of this charge to Timothy, he reflects on his own life. His endurance. And the sacrifice that is Christian ministry.

Ministry is sacrifice

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We ended last week with Paul’s charge to Timothy, encouraging him to follow Paul’s example in being a faithful teacher. As well as teaching by example, teaching confidence in the truth, and teaching behaviour (not just knowledge), we saw that faithful teachers continue teaching even when the teaching isn’t received well. We proclaim the message “in season and out of season” – but, we were reminded, with “great patience and careful instruction.”

Today, we see Paul telling Timothy why the season for God’s word may be unfavourable:

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This is the last section of Paul’s charge to Timothy, encouraging him to follow Paul’s example in being a faithful teacher. So far, we’ve found that faithful teachers:

• teach by example
• teach confidence in the truth
• teach behaviour, not just knowledge

Today, the focus is on faithful teaching even when the times are hard and it’s received with hostility and opposition.

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Yesterday, we looked at how to be a faithful teacher, from the example Paul passed down to Timothy. We saw that faithful teachers teach by example; and that faithful teachers teach confidence in the truth.

Teach to impact behaviour

Today, we see that faithful teachers teach to impact behaviour. To change the way people live. Just like our teaching is worthless if we ourselves don’t live it – it’s also worthless if our hearers don’t live it. We teach behaviour, not mere content. Let’s start by looking at verses 15-17:

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The next major section of 2 Timothy deals with faithful teaching. (After all, we’ve just spent the first half of the chapter talking about unfaithful teachers.) Here, Paul reMinds Timothy of his Model in teaching, so that Timothy can iMitate it. (See the introductory post if you’re wondering why the weird capital Ms.)

Teach by example

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