2 Timothy 3:10

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch and Iconium and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul's final letter from a dungeon is an end-time survival guide: follow, continue, remember, connect, and hold to the Word.

Why Paul Wrote This Letter

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, who was working in the church at Ephesus. The first question I asked myself is, why do we bother to write letters? Nowadays it's almost a lost art. About the only time I sit down and handwrite anything is birthday cards—mediums where you can't copy and paste. When we commit things to a permanent medium, we do it because we believe it's valuable, that it should last longer than our spoken word.

Consider what was going on in Paul's life. He writes at a time when he is fairly certain he's at the end of his life. In the last chapter he says he's poured out like a drink offering and his time is coming to a close. He's been moved from house arrest to a dungeon, and he's actually in chains. From that dungeon he writes partly to encourage Timothy, and through Timothy the church at Ephesus, so they would be prepared for the persecution that's coming and likely to get worse.

I find that ironic, because if I were in chains in a dungeon, I don't know that my thought would be encouraging others—I'd probably be having a pity party. Thank God it was him and not me. Paul was also lonely. We forget that the people in Scripture were people. Everyone had deserted him; Luke alone was with him, and twice he begs Timothy, "Come quickly, come visit me." Paul knows this is likely his last chance to speak to Timothy, and through him to the churches he loved and founded. So he gives his final instructions—a guide to surviving the persecution coming against the church.

Timothy Followed by Doing Life Together

He begins by contrasting Timothy's conduct with the world and with those inside the church who oppose Jesus. In the first half of the chapter—which Miles covered last week—Paul described people who are lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, slanderous, without self-control. Avoid them, he says, and he even starts naming names, which always makes people uncomfortable.

But then he turns: "You, however," Timothy, in contrast with the others, "have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings." Paul led Timothy to the Lord, trained him, brought him along on his journeys, and eventually released him to serve at Ephesus. For a good portion of Paul's ministry he did life with Timothy.

So these things Timothy followed weren't a series of seminars or classes. They didn't sit down and do "My Aim in Life 101." Timothy saw and learned these things because they did them together—day to day, ups and downs, good, bad, and ugly. That's where Paul poured into Timothy: not as a student taking classes, but as a son or apprentice learning from his father.

Who Are You Following—and Leading?

So who are we following? Paul gave Timothy a living, breathing example of following Jesus. Paul follows Jesus, Paul leads Timothy, Timothy follows Jesus, Timothy leads the Ephesians. There's a pattern. In our culture we're not good at following people—unless it's Twitter or Instagram, then we follow plenty. But actually finding someone to mentor us isn't a hallmark of our culture. We tend to be lone rangers. Yet we're created to follow the same way we're created to lead, because if we don't learn to follow, we'll never learn to lead. Timothy did both.

Paul mentions persecutions in three places: Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Paul generally went to a city, taught in the synagogue—he was Jewish and loved the Jews—and the same pattern followed: the people got upset and chased him out or tried to kill him. They were chased from Antioch by an angry mob. At Iconium people followed from Antioch, stirred up the crowd, and hatched a plot to kill Paul, so he slipped out. At Lystra they caught him; Paul was stoned and left for dead. That evening he got up, walked back into the city, and the next morning went on to Derbe.

Timothy was not learning remotely. Timothy was there. Timothy probably had blood spatter on his clothes as Paul was being stoned. He was intimately connected with Paul. This wasn't learning from a video—it was participation in Paul's life and work.

A Promise of Persecution

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." That's a promise. Everyone who fits the criteria. And the word "desire" isn't like "I desire pancakes." It's not a feeling. It's full of purpose and resolve—more like a wedding vow than a craving. Everyone who has that resolve to live a godly life that glorifies God by loving Him, following Him, and leading others to Him, will be persecuted. Not might. Not could. Will.

This is a promise from God—embroider it on a pillow, put it on a mug, post it on your Instagram story. We don't usually do that with this one because we like the happy promises, but this is a gift. If we know it's coming, we can be prepared. We may be surprised by the circumstances, but we won't be surprised that it happened.

Some say, "I've never been persecuted." Then either it hasn't come yet, or run back through the criteria and make sure you're in those things. Remember, Paul is warning Timothy about people inside the church who maybe even think they're following Jesus but aren't. If you're superglued to a life where Jesus is evident, persecution will come. But if you live a compromising life, hiding your light under a basket, you probably won't see persecution—because you're no threat to the devil and no asset to the kingdom of God. Hard words.

Deceiving and Being Deceived

"Meanwhile evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." The evil people are those openly opposed to Jesus. The imposters are those who make a pretense of following Jesus but don't. They were working into the early church—because there is power to be had, money to be made, and followings to build. People with false intentions try to take those things over, and they go from bad to worse.

We see this in my own lifetime. In 1973 the battle cry for abortion was "safe and seldom"; now it's considered a basic human right by many—from bad to worse in one lifetime. The lies are many, well thought out, and convincing. Working with high schoolers and walking through what's being taught in schools—especially in gender issues and homosexuality—the lies are effective, and coupled with persecution they're dangerous.

But notice: they are "deceiving and being deceived." We don't fight flesh and blood. We tend to make the people on the other side the problem. They are made in the image of God, people Jesus died for and loves. We're fighting principalities and powers, not people. Even on the cross Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing." So as the church we must not present a face of hate. Truth, absolutely—but truth tempered with love. If we offer hate, that's not Jesus, and it's attractive to no one.

"But As For You" — Continue

Verse 14 is the meat of the chapter and arguably of the whole book—the end-time survival guide. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it." Let me break it out by phrase.

He starts: "As for you, Timothy"—not the imposters, not the evildoers. The "you" is key. I can't control your actions, but I'm called to control mine. I can't change your thoughts, but I can deal with mine. Any parent knows you can occasionally change what your kids do, but not their hearts. God gave us all free will. We live in a 24-hour news cycle with curated feeds built specifically for us, and we get wrapped up worrying about everybody else. Others will go from bad to worse, but the key is not what they do—it's what I can do.

Continue means to keep going—one more step. It's like a hike. We took the high school and college groups to Yosemite. Everywhere you go from the valley is up—seven miles of up. Around mile three you can't conceive of another mile, much less three. We reached a crowded overlook with just enough room for a couple people—and realized someone had thrown up right where we stood, which is why no one was there. The important point: you might not conceive of another mile, but you can take another step. One more step, one more step.

The friend I was hiking with hit a slight downhill and groaned, "Great, now we'll have to go uphill on the way back." I said, "You're looking at this wrong—enjoy the downhill." Enjoy the times without persecution, when family and friends are around. Don't borrow trouble. Matthew 6:34 says, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Enjoy the downhills when they come, and make one more step.

What Timothy Had Learned

"In what you have learned"—what had Timothy learned? Go back to verse 10: Paul's teaching, conduct, aim in life, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, and sufferings. Timothy had been discipled by Paul—not "let's go to Starbucks for 45 minutes once a week with a book" discipleship, but everyday, ups-and-downs, good-bad-and-ugly, living-life-together discipleship. Timothy hadn't heard about following Jesus from Paul; he had followed Jesus with Paul. It wasn't head knowledge—it was relationship centered on Christ.

So who are you connected to in Christ? Who are you learning from? We're individualistic and self-sufficient, and finding someone to learn from is hard. But here's why it matters. I coached football when my two oldest sons played. Every practice we ran tackling drills over and over, because it's not enough to know in your head how to tackle correctly—you have to do it correctly through repetition so you don't get injured. Drive from the legs, eyes to the thighs, lead with the shoulder, head trailing the body. It's not enough to read it; you have to live it for it to take root.

Recently with the high schoolers we talked about setting up our own "advisory council"—it sounds pretentious, and I meant it to, because I want all of us to have someone we have permission to call and ask, "I'm thinking about making this decision—what would be right?" When we decide alone, we fall prey to gigantic blind spots. If someone has evidence of loving Jesus in their life, grab them and ask. But for this to work we have to be willing to be vulnerable and open—two more things we're not good at. We have to let people into our lives. That's why at Cross Connection we push connect groups: a place to find people who love Jesus and will grow to love you, and to do life together.

Learning Shows Its Value in the Doing

Point two: learning shows its value in the doing. There's a definite difference between reading instructions and doing something. I drive a 25-ish-year-old truck. Around 25 years, Chevy doors start to sag and get harder and harder to close. I decided to replace the hinge pins—well, the bushings, but you don't need that detail. I watched YouTube videos; they made it look easy. (Thank God for YouTube over the old Chilton's books, where you got one picture for a 32-step process.)

YouTube is great for taking a small problem, making it bigger, and paying someone else to fix it—but I got this one right. Still, there was a drastic difference between watching and doing. I had theoretical knowledge but not practical knowledge until I actually did it, ending up holding a heavy door and yelling for one of my kids to come help.

Timothy learned by doing life with Paul. So who are you teaching? Who are you dragging along like Paul and Timothy, saying, "Follow me as I follow Jesus"? Some are built in—spouses, children. But beyond that, who are you pouring into? We're all part of a chain that goes back to Jesus, with people leading us and people we should be leading. Find someone newer in their walk—or someone with no walk at all, how awesome would that be—grab them, do life with them, and let them see Jesus.

Firmly Believed — Remember Your Milestones

"And have firmly believed." The fact that something must be firmly believed means it's something we're likely to doubt. I don't have to firmly believe in gravity—I wake up, my feet hit the floor, the spit goes in the sink; I never remind myself it's there. But if I have to firmly believe something, it's something I'll be tempted to question.

Point three: remember your milestones. Timothy shared milestones with Paul—Antioch, Iconium, Lystra. In difficult times he could look back, even hear and smell those places in his mind, and see the power of God and how things worked out. So set your own milestones. The Yosemite hike is a milestone for me—when I want to quit, I tell myself, "One more step." If you don't have any milestones, make one. Do a 24-hour fast. I did one recently for the first time in a long while; it was far worse in my mind than in practice. Now I can look at it and say, "I can do that."

I keep a nondescript piece of wood in my office—Mopani wood from Mozambique, from my trip in 2013. On that trip we saw amazing things, went to places that had never seen white faces, and brought the gospel to people who'd never heard the Word of God. When I'm tempted to get lazy or doubt what God can do in someone's life, I look at my desk and remember I was there—the sights, the sounds, the smells. I remember Mike Phillips jonesing for papaya (if you ever need a gift for Mike, get him papaya). I remember Rich Wall putting the same septic system in twice in one day with a smile.

We need these milestones because dark times will come, times of doubt, times we wonder if it's even true. V. Raymond Edman said, "Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light." When things get tough, we go back to the milestones and say, "No—I've seen this, I've done this, I know what it is." Life is full of dark times. Hold on to the light.

Shared Experience Is Shared Strength

"Knowing from whom you learned it." Timothy hadn't just read about Paul's life, watched a movie, or listened to a sermon—good things in their place. He had walked with Paul and seen what Jesus did in Paul's life. Point four: shared experience in Christ is shared strength in our lives. Who are you connected with that you're learning from? Who is learning from you?

Think chain mail. In junior high, the Society for Creative Anachronism visited our school. Usually when visitors come to junior high, it's "oh boy, here we go." But these people showed up dressed as medieval knights with big padded weapons, and they beat the snot out of each other—the greatest thing I'd seen in my life to that point. I decided I'd be a knight. First you need a weapon, so I fashioned horrific weaponry in my room. Then you need armor. Chain mail is expensive, so being a good Dutch boy I decided to make my own—and discovered why it's expensive: every little link is connected to the others, an enormous amount of work. I never finished it.

We are all part of that same chain mail, that suit of armor God is creating in the body of Christ—all connected. Who are you connected to? This doesn't happen without effort. A cry that went around our office became a quote: "Life in connection is exhausting." It is. We all have days when we don't want to "people" anymore—even with the people in our own house. But find those people. Put in the work. Join a connect group. Find a group that loves Jesus and loves you—because shared experience in Christ is shared strength.

The Word That Lights the Path

Verse 15: "And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." Timothy had a heritage centered around the Scriptures; he was raised in them. Because he had a history of Scripture's influence, he had an advantage in his future.

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles—set the children in your family up for success by exposing them to Scripture early and often. There are so many great resources, especially Bible storybooks for little kids. But here's the thing: they'll only value it if they see you value it. It does no good to say, "Here, go read this." Let them see you love it, live it, and read it. That pulls them in—because the people I love, love Jesus, and I want that. Timothy learned from Paul through shared life, by watching and walking with him. Share it.

Timothy had no doubt read Psalm 119:105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Who needs a lamp? People in dark times. Timothy is heading into very dark times, and Scripture is part of the lamp lighting his way. Point five: the Word of God is the lamp that lights our path to Jesus.

Salvation Through Faith in Christ Jesus

The last phrase: "for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The whole point of this is salvation through faith in Jesus. He died for us, paying a debt we had no ability to pay. He died a death we could not die, lived a life we couldn't live, and rose from the dead to bring us freedom. That's what we remember in communion.

Communion isn't a magical process; the bread and the juice are a milestone—something to sit with and remember. Jesus said do this as often as you think of it, in remembrance of Him. So we're going to share this milestone together.

<<<CLOSING PRAYER>>>

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we dig into Your Word today and pray that You would speak to us, that You would reveal truth to us, that You would strengthen the things that are weak, that You would bind up the things that are broken, and that You, Lord, would be glorified through what we learn—and more importantly, how we put it into practice. So, Father, we give You this time. We ask that You would move mightily in it. We pray these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.