In our passage Paul will be coming again to Corinth, but he tells them he will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost because there is a great door opened there for ministry as well as many adversaries. Paul is being sensitive to the Lords timing and opportunities the Lord is giving him to minister. He tells the Corinthians to not despise his “son in the ministry” Timothy who would be coming to them. Paul gives them in this passage some final words regarding their labor in the Lord, regarding living rightly in the Lord, and loving rightly in the Lord.

In this message we are going to look at the ultimate closing remarks of Paul, in that we will be examining the closing statements of the book of II Timothy and Paul’s last written words.

The Marked Significance of These Remarks

The deathbed statement of any individual has an importance that is not attached to other remarks. This is what lends much significance to II Timothy. It is the final written communication of Paul; it is his final message. It has a note of sadness that is not detected in his other epistles. Nevertheless, there is the overarching tone of triumph, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Paul wrote his own epitaph in chapter four of Second Timothy verses 6-8.

In this passage of Scripture you may start to recognize many of the names Paul mentioned in these closing remarks and start thinking how Paul’s ministry was not just Paul going it alone, but there were many people involved in his great ministry every step of the way. Paul got the headlines. He was the main preacher. He drew the crowds but he also had an amazing, faithful and special team of people behind him, supporting him, praying for him, and doing their part for Christ and His Gospel.

Whose eyes are your actions right in? In whose eyes are your decisions right in? Whose eyes is what we do or actions we take right in? Is it right in our own eyes? Is it right in our friend’s or family’s eyes? Is it right in the world’s eyes? Or is it right in the Lord’s eyes? – We need to make sure our decisions and actions we take are always right in the Lords eyes! For that is what ultimately counts.

It is impossible to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord without this character trait of temperance or self-control. Temperance is the power of God to do what you know you should do. A life that is lived with little or no temperance is a life that is filled with guilt and regret. That is why the Apostle Peter urges us to develop this character trait of temperance. We must learn to exercise self-control, we must learn to say "no" to many things in order to have the time and ability to say "yes" to the things that matter. Temperance can change our life from a life of impulse decisions to a life of purposeful deliberation. 

We see a sorrowful picture of two blind men. They were poor, blind, and helpless. Then came a passing opportunity, followed by an earnest prayer. In this prayer they demonstrated boldness, faith and wisdom. There was also present a rebuking crowd along with a willing Saviour, who extended them a gracious offer and granted them a perfect cure. We may by blind ourselves, have a seemingly insurmountable problem, but we too have a willing and compassionate Saviour, if we have called on Him to save us from our sins, that we can take all our needs to as well. 

We need to be committed to prayer. We need to be committed to praising God. How marvelous are the answers to prayer, when we are committed to praying, committed to trusting, and committed to waiting on the Lord for the answer. In this episode are many illustrations of commitment to prayer and the miraculous answers that come as a result of being committed prayers. 

We need to learn to live and to pray in the eternal presence of God. The Apostle Paul said "God is above all, and through all, and in you all." We need a good comprehension of the omni-presence of the Lord as we pray and as we go through our life. Someone once referred to this aspect of God, His eternal presence, as the Eternal Now; God is always present, He is always with us, He is always everywhere. Learn to pray and live with the awareness of the eternal presence of God. 

Jesus Cares! A different take on this passage about the church at Smyrna. We are looking at only practical and applicable truths from this passage we can use and apply to our everyday life. Yes Jesus does care. He cares about our situation, He cares about our trial, He cares about our problems, He cares about our poverty, He cares!

Prayer does not try to force God. We are to pray with urgency and anguish, but we are not to pray an impetuous type of pray. We are not to try to force God to answer our prayers. Do we pray to receive the answer to our prayer, or do we pray trying to force an answer from God? How we approach God in prayer matters. We need to approach God as a child does a father as he receives a gift, a child is not very successful when he tries to take the gift from his father. The father is much eager to give the gift when the child is anxiously waiting to receive it and not trying to take it. Are we praying to receive the answer or are we praying to force the answer?