March 6 we will study II Timothy 4. Discussion questions are:
1.Share a story about procrastinating something that you now regret.
a.How can you be a good mentor to someone who is procrastinating an important spiritual decision?
2. As stewards of the time God allots us, how do we know when we are “wasting time”?
3. What technique do you have for being a good steward of the time God allots you?
4. How would you describe Paul’s attitude about the end of life based on II Timothy 4?
a. What are the key phrases that indicate Paul’s attitude about his last days?
b. In what ways are you doing similar things as you head toward the end of your life?
5.Why does Paul want his “books and parchments”?
a. What does that tell you about the importance of Bible study?
6. Why does Paul talk so much about people in II Timothy 4?
a. What does that tell you about where the focus of your life should be?
Sermon:Come Before Winter
The Bible has a lot to say about time. Time can be used or wasted, it can be invested or squandered, but either way, once used, it can never be regained. Time matters because we have such a limited supply. The most famous Bible passage about time is Ecclesiastes 3:
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance.”
That’s a poetic way of saying, “All of my time belongs to God, therefore how I spend my days is a sacred issue.
There has never been a period in history when people have been more time conscious than 2011. Most of us have around 50 clocks in our possession. They are on the walls of our homes, on the nightstand as we sleep, on our wrists and cell phones, at the bottom of our computer and T.V. screens, in our cars and offices. You cannot drive very far in Ada without seeing a large clock at a bank or business. We have even changed the way we communicate with each other because of our intense concern with time. If you are over 60 you remember handwritten letters. If you are between 40 and 60, you rely on email. If you are under 40, you prefer instant messaging. If you are under 30, you communicate via Facebook. And if you are really on the cutting edge you Twitter. (If you don’t know what that is, just know that it is not what a girl does with her eyes when she is trying to get a boy’s attention.) We will spend money to save time. Our parents spent time to save money. So, to you time obsessed people let me ask, “How much time do you have left?”
I know of a man who has cancer that is in remission but the doctors told him his cancer will almost certainly come back. They plan to do a bone marrow transplant if the cancer comes back, which it probably will but they can’t be sure. So the man doesn’t know whether he is living or dying or both. Let me ask you this, how is his prognosis any different from yours or mine? I stand here today as a dying man speaking to dying people. Time is precious to each of us. Don’t waste it.
As we look at the text in II Timothy today I want you to put yourself in the shoes of young Timothy, the protégé of the great apostle Paul. Paul writes from a cold, damp prison cell in Rome’s infamous Mamertime Prison. His cell is a cave beneath a cave beneath a cave. To leave his cell you have to climb a ladder up to the next cave where you climb a ladder up to the top level cave. His cell is dimly lit, musty,and miserable. From there he writes his final letter to his young friend, Timothy. Paul knew and loved many people but at the top of his list would have been 3 people: Jesus, of whom he wrote, “I can do all things through Christwho strengthens me.”; Luke, of whom he wrote from his prison cell, “Only Luke is with me.”; and Timothy, whom he calls, “My son in the faith.” II Timothy will be the last words Paul ever writes. He has left young Timothy at Ephesus to minister to a church he dearly loved. He writes these sobering words to his son in the gospel:
II Timothy 4:6-13 - For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
9Do your best to come to me quickly, 10for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
He wants Timothy to bring Mark, another young man to whom Paul had developed a close personal relationship. Then he adds, “bring the cloak, my scrolls, and especially the parchments.” Bring “the cloak”. Evidently he had only one. Can you imagine how weathered that old coat was? It had been wet with the brine of the Mediterranean, white with the snows of Galatia, yellow with the dust of the Egnatian Way, and crimson with the blood of his wounds for the sake of Christ. Bring “my scrolls”. What an intriguing request. Here sits the man who wrote one fifth of the Bible and he has a continuing need to learn from the writings of ordinary men. Never again will he preach a sermon or write another inspired letter, yet he still feels the need to read and study. He has seen the Lord and yet he wants books. He has been caught up into the third heaven and heard things which he is prohibited from describing, yet he wants books. Bring “the parchments”. Above all he wants his personal copies of the Old Testament books and perhaps a few letters that would eventually become part of the New Testament.
As Paul finishes his last letter he says something that would surely get Timothy’s attention,“Make every effort to comebeforewinter.” - II Timothy 4:12 He began his final paragraph to Timothy with these ominous words, “The time of my departure is at hand.” I have no doubt what Timothy did as soon as he received that letter. I am certain he quickly packed his bag, got Mark, gathered up the books and parchments and Paul’s cloak, and booked passage to Rome. I can see him climbing down the ladders into the depths of the Mamertime Prison and embracing his old gray-haired mentor. I can envision him reading to Paul by the dim light of a candle. I can imagine him writing some personal letters for an old man whose eyesight is failing and whose hand trembles in the cold. I can see him walking with Paul to his execution, tears streaming down his face as he sees Paul bow his head, the executioner’s sword flashing in the sunlight, and Paul going home to be with the Lord he so loved and served.
“Come before winter!” I want you to imagine Timothy reading those words and deciding, “I’ve got to get to Rome as soon as possible but I need to clear up a few things here in Ephesus first. Then I need to run over to Miletus and ordain some elders. And I promised the brethren over at Colossae I’d come by and have the Lord’s Supper with them. Imagine him taking care of those lesser tasks then rushing down to the dock to try and catch a ship to Rome only to be told, “The last ship before winter has sailed. There will be no more ships going to Italy until spring.” Can you imagine the self-reproach he would feel all winter? And finally, when spring comes, he catches the first ship to Italy. Arriving at Rome he heads straight to the prison where he is turned back at the gate being told, “We have no prisoner named Paul here.” In desperation he makes his way to the house of Claudia. Claudia greets him sympathetically and says, “You’re Timothy aren’t you? Paul talked about you so much I’d recognize you anywhere.” Then she shares the bad news with him, “Paul was beheaded last winter. Every time he heard a key in the cell door he called your name. His last message was, “Give my love to Timothy, my son in the gospel, when he comes.”
Before winter or never! Jesus once said, “The poor you will always have with you,but you will not always have me.” That is true of every person you love and every responsibility you intend to accept. “Come before winter!” There are some things that will never be done if not done before winter. There are doors of opportunity that are open before you today that will never be open again! Sometimes we must respond now, we must answer now, we must act now, we must not wait or delay or put things off. We must not say, “Tomorrow is another day.” The Bible warns, “Listen, you who say, ‘today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:13-14Life can change very quickly. You can be a United States Senator, one of the most powerful men in the world, and one morning you have a seizure and then another one. When the doctors investigate, they discover an inoperable brain tumor. Suddenly your life is measured in terms of how many months you have left. That’s what happened to Ted Kennedy.
I never knew my Uncle Dick Steele. He died as a small boy. He was extremely close to his daddy, my grandfather. His daddy was hours away working for the railroad when he got the message that Dick’s spinal meningitis was worse and he was dying. I don’t know how fast my grandfather moved in response to that message, perhaps as fast as he possibly could, but I do know he missed the train and had to wait hours for the next one. I can imagine him pacing the floor of the train station, alternately looking down the tracks and at his pocket watch, wondering, “When will the next train arrive.” He finally made it back to Van Buren, Arkansas only to be told, “your little boy died calling for you.” My grandfather never got over that. He spent the rest of his life holding his children and grandchildren at arm’s length, determined to never love so deeply again lest he run the risk of being hurt so deeply again. All because he missed the train!
Don’t miss the train! Don’t procrastinate making a decision about your relationship with Christ. “Before winter or never!” Procrastination destroys more good intentions than any other force. We mean to say a word of encouragement, but never get around to it. We mean to write a letter, or make a call but it never gets done. We mean to share Christ with a neighbor; we intend to get serious in our Christian faith. We hope to pray more, we want to read the Bible. We have great dreams and high ideals but time and neglect and the trivia of life sap our energy until the day comes when our resolve is gone, our marriage has grown cold, our children have left home, our spiritual life has grown dull. Come before winter!
What is it that God is calling you to do? What good deed? What act of forgiveness? What step of faith? What sin should you confess? What bad habit must be broken? What service could you render for the Lord and his church? What relationship must you repair? Who in your life needs to know Jesus and you’ve been putting off telling them? Whatever it is, whomever it is, “Come before winter!” Do it. Do it now. If you intend to spend time with your children, do it now. If you knew that today was the last day of your life, who would you call? What would you say? What act of kindnesswould you render? What broken relationship would you try to heal? Do it now. Do it before winter. Before winter or never!
If you intend to serve the Lord someday, why not now? There are things you need to say now: “I love you.” “I’m sorry.” “Please forgive me.” “Thank you.” “I miss you.” “I wanted to see you one more time.” “I wanted to squeeze your hand.” “I wanted to give you a hug.” “I wanted to hear your laughter.” “I wanted to see your beautiful face.” Others of us need to get serious about our relationship with Jesus Christ. If you intend to serve the Lord someday, why not now? If you know that you need to repent and be baptized, why not now? If you know you need to re-dedicate your life to Christ, why not now?
One of the final pictures of Jesus is in Revelation 3 where his is pictured standing at the door of your heart and knocking, waiting for you to invite him in. Don’t turn a deaf ear to his knocking. Open your heart and your life to him now. Before winter or never!
Come before winter – before the snow drifts cover the roads; before the ice coats the bridges; before your heart grows cold; before desire is gone; before life is over. Come before winter!