In our study today we come to the 4th chapter of 2nd Timothy. We indicated the first three chapters capture the essence of 2nd Timothy 4:7, the verse I chose as the key verse in our focus and amplify study of the book.
Here is the outline we developed: the title for the focus of the book would be, “Passing the Baton in the Relay Race of Life.” Amplifying that focus, the first chapter could be titled: Keeping the faith. The second chapter: Running the race. The third chapter: Fighting the good fight. Chapter four would then amplify what is involved in passing the baton on to your mentoree.
To amplify chapter 4 I thought it would be good to use the devotional study method, answering the questions: Who? When? Where? Why? What? How?
It is clear, this chapter and book were written by Paul to Timothy. The other names in the chapter were about fellow teammates and friends. This was written while Paul was in prison in Rome awaiting his execution. He was hoping Timothy would come to him so they could have one final time of fellowship before his death. In case that didn’t materialize he wanted to encourage and challenge Timothy one more time, and this provides the answer to the why question?
He wanted Timothy to realize there’s an audience listening to what he says and watching what he does. Let me share who’s in this audience. First and foremost, Paul reminds Timothy his charge to him is given “in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ.” This could be phrased, “in the presence of our God, even Christ Jesus.”
Remember, He’s watching!
