I love finishing things. One of the greatest joys in my life is marking all the items off my checklist. If that’s you, then you will be happy to know we are finishing our time in 2 Timothy. It’s been an incredible book. Think of these verses: ⁶ This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. ¹⁴ Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. ⁹ And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained. ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. ⁵ But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. My hope is that our time in this book of the Bible has been encouraging, challenging, and transformational. We come to the ending of Paul’s letter to Timothy, and on the surface, it seems peculiar. His final words contain some personal requests. Paul is going to ask someone to bring him a coat. Which, I can relate to because I hate being cold. It’s also peculiar because he mentions 18 different names of people. I can imagine that as this letter was being read out loud to Timothy and the church at Ephesus, that people started perking up when they were hearing names. Some may have been terrified about the possibility and there are others that were like, “I hope he says my name!” There’s a part of us that likes to see and hear our own names.

Opening Illustration: Finding my book in Barnes and Noble. Many years ago, I wrote a book with my dad. I was in Barnes and Noble with my wife and we ventured off in different directions. Well, you know where I went – to look for my book. I found the book, but it was buried beneath some other books. So, I moved some books around and made it was extremely visible when you walk by. I made my way back to Rachel and convinced her to go look in the “Christianity and Faith” section – and what did she see? “Jess, there is your book!” “There is your name!” And I smiled and nodded…The possibility of someone speaking or writing your name brings some kind of emotion because you want to know what is being connected with your names. It had to be same for those who heard the reading of this letter. For each of these names in these final verses, there are positive, neutral, and negative situations.

You might be thinking – and I have this week as well – “Why does 2 Timothy end this way? I think one of the reasons God led Paul down this path to end his letter is this reminder about the complexity and necessity of the Christian community. I think another reason is a reminder of the one relationship we need that never fails us. So today, we are finishing 2 Timothy. We end with an encouragement and challenge: Since Jesus stands with you, stand with Him and stand with others. If you haven’t already, open your Bibles 2 Timothy 4. God Word is alive and powerful, so let’s read it with expectancy. Read 2 Timothy 4:9-22. Pray. This text has a natural “choppiness” to it. It’s a bit of a roll call that jumps back and forth. But when you step back and look at the totality of the passage, it shows us all the brothers and sisters in Christ that Paul had. So, we begin with this: You need a church family. 

1) You need a church family. (vs. 9-13, 16) Look at how Paul starts this final section in verse 9: ⁹ Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Paul really wanted to see Timothy. It’s evident their friendship was strong. The way Paul started off the letter showed how highly Paul viewed Timothy. It’s not surprising that Paul would make this request to Timothy. What is a bit interesting is what Paul said just before verse 9. Do you remember how our time in God’s Word last week ended? What did Paul write in verse 8? ⁸ And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. Paul goes from “I can’t wait to see Jesus” to “Timothy, I really want to see you again.” Paul isn’t contradicting himself, rather, he’s providing a duality that should exist in all of us. Just because longs to see Jesus doesn’t mean he’s lost interest in seeing Timothy. Paul wants both – and so should you. You need Christian friendships. You need a church family.

I don’t believe that God intended our spiritual growth to lessen our Christian relationships. There are some people who become so heavenly-minded that they abandon all earthly matters. That’s not what we see in this passage. What we see is that Paul’s heavenly mindedness enhances his earthly relationships. Now, when we focus on heaven, do material things lessen? Of course. The more you long for heaven, the less you care about what care you drive. But when it comes to relationships, the opposite is true. The more you long for heaven, the more you long for those you will be with in heaven. One of the outcomes of Jesus’ earthly ministry was the creation of Christ-exalting relationships. Our connection to Christ creates a connection to each other. Illustration: 328K Miles Honda Ridgeline Guy. This past week, I was driving down Port Royal Road and stopped at a light. I looked out my right window and I see this guy in his vehicle staring at me. And then he starts giving me the universal “roll the window down” hand gesture (which these younger generations have no idea what that is…). I had that moment of discernment, but the look on his face was that he was so excited to tell me something. So, I gave the window about 1/3 roll down and he enthusiastically shouts, “I’ve got 328 on this one!” I just stared at him because I had no idea what he was saying. He shouted again, “My Honda has 328k miles on it!” It hit me what he was saying. We have the same truck and he was letting me know the potentially longevity of my truck. Because our trucks were the same, he saw a connection between us. How much more should our connection in Christ, drive us into fuller relationships with each other? How much more should we be investing in those that we call brothers and sisters in Christ?

Each one of you bring something to this church family. Look at the names in these verses.

Verse 11: ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. There’s no indication that Luke was a dynamic leader or compelling evangelist. But do we know about Luke? He was a faithful friend. And God used Him to write one of the gospel accounts.

Verse 12: ¹² I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. What do we know about Tychicus? He was the one that Paul trusted to bring the letters to the churches at Ephesus and Colossians. I don’t know if he knew it at the time, but he delivered God’s Word.

Verse 10: ¹⁰ Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Titus was a strong equipper of leaders. And we don’t know anything about Crescens, but his name is on the list!

Verse 13: ¹³ When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers. Carpus may have had the most important job because he had Paul’s coat! If I’m ever Roman jail, someone please bring me my heated blanket. And those papers he had – who knows – maybe it was the very papers the gospel of Luke and Mark we written on.

I could go deeper into who some of these people were, but I don’t want you to miss the point: We need each other. We need church family. We need to serve each other. You may not be called to teach a community group, but you might be called to serve in Kids Ministry. You may not be called to swing a hammer on the Facilities Team, but you might be called to shake a hand on the Welcome Team. The one thing you can’t do is nothing. (On a side note, go sign up to serve in the lobby or on your Connect Card). We need each other. The body only works when a hand is a hand and a foot is a foot. Be the equipper. Be the encourager. Be the protector. Stand with others. You need a church family. But as I mentioned earlier, church families are necessary and complex. Paul addresses this complex of a church family in these verses as well. Here’s what we see next: People leave. Some come back. Some don’t. 

2) People leave. Some come back. Some don’t. (vs. 10, 11, 14-16) In the midst of these 18 names, there are 3 people that split off from Paul at some point during his ministry years. They each deserted Paul for different reasons. Two left for good, but one returned. Let’s start with verses 14 and 15: ¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. ¹⁵ Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said. The first of these three people was Alexander. We don’t know exactly what Alexander did, but we know that he hurt Paul’s ministry. Alexander was a staunch opponent of Paul – and probably an opponent of the gospel. In this situation, Paul didn’t set out to take out his opponent. Paul left the situation to God. If you are a Christian, people will oppose you because they oppose the gospel. Paul doesn’t indicate that this was someone who was a Christ-follower, but the difficulty was still there. These situations are a little easy to deal with, in some ways, because it’s someone from the outside.

If you jump back to verse 10, then it gets more difficult. Look at verse 10: ¹⁰ Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica…We know Demas wasn’t an outsider to Paul because Demas was mentioned in the book of Colossians. Demas didn’t oppose Paul, but what happened to Demas? He loved the things of this life. You have to contrast verse 10 with verse 8. Paul longed for the day of being with Jesus, but Demas? Demas longed for the things of this world. Demas stopped loving the appearance of Jesus and started loving the world. So Demas deserted Paul. We don’t know exactly what lured Demas away, but he left. Now, I don’t believe Paul wrote Demas off. In fact, in verse 11, we see that isn’t what Paul does. If I had to guess, I bet Paul prayed for Demas. He prayed for his return, not just to Paul, but to Jesus. And that’s our response too: Pray for those who walk away. Have you had a random thought jump into your mind of a person who used to be in your life? What’s your typical response? Do you go to Facebook or Instagram to try to get a read on their life? Do you use that as a way to justify a feeling that you have about them? Or do you stop and pray for them? I believe the Holy Spirit will put a person on your heart and mind so that you can pray for him or her. I challenge you the next time it happens, don’t reach for your phone. Reach up to the heavens on their behalf.

Why is that? Look at verse 11: ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. On Paul’s first missionary journey, (John) Mark went with Paul. Something happened and Mark went back home. On a later missionary trip, Barnabas wanted Paul to take Mark with them. But Paul said, “Nope! He’s a deserter. Ain’t no way.” Because of that Paul and Silas went one way and Barnabas and Mark went another way. They each took their ball and went home! At some point, Paul and Mark are restored. Paul mentions Mark in Colossians, Philemon, and 1 Peter in positive ways. And now, Paul wants Mark to come to him because Mark will be helpful. What a testimony of restoration! Do you want to know why you pray for church family members that walk away? Because our God is a restoring God. Illustration: Restored Vehicles. A couple of weeks ago, we had our Come to Church and Have Fun Day. What did we have lined up on the side of the parking lot? Some really cool cars. No one asked me to park my Honda Ridgeline over there. I mean, how can you not like the “El Camino” of trucks? Most of the cars lined up were restored vehicles. Why do we like seeing these vehicles? Because their story is powerful. Some were  abandoned. Some were neglected. Some were wrecked. But what about now? They are a vibrant story of restoration. Don’t ever write off someone else or yourself because our God is a God of restoration. Even when it gets hard, stand with others. That’s what verse 16 is about – Paul didn’t give up on those who wouldn’t stand with him. But he didn’t stop standing with them. ¹⁶ The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. The only we can stand with others is because of Jesus. Jesus stands with you, so stand with Him.

3) Jesus stands with you, so stand with Him. (vs. 17-18) Verses 17 and 18 are the main point of these final verses: ¹⁷ But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. ¹⁸ Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. As much as need a church family, we need Jesus more. Jesus is only fully reliable friend we’ll have. People will fail you. Some will forget your birthday. Some won’t visit you in the hospital. Some won’t stand with you when your name gets slandered. Some will stop talking with you because you moved away. Some will leave you because you started following Jesus. Not everyone will stand with you, but Jesus will. That means your primary relationship is Jesus. If you depend on other people to keep you close to Jesus, you are at risk. You are at risk that if those people walk away from you, then you’ll walk away from Jesus. When your friends fail you, fly to Jesus. Stand with the one that always stands with you. Paul ends his letter with another handful of names. In verse 21, Paul reminds Timothy to make sure he brings his coat before the winter comes. If Paul didn’t like the winter, then I think that it settles the debate that summer is the best season.

As I close, I want to take one final look at the end of verse 21. I said at the beginning of this message that there is something when we see or hear our name. Well, each one of us are in verse 21: ²¹ Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters. “All the brothers and sisters”. There you are. We have our local church family here, but we are all a part of the big church family of God. We join in line with the brothers and sisters who have gone before us. We don’t know their names, but know their mission. We know their passion. We know their purpose. We know they stood with Jesus. We know they stood with each other. Let’s continue the line. Let’s all resolve that as we stand with Jesus, we will stand with each other. So that one day, those who come after us will take about “all the brothers and sisters”. And we know our name will included because ultimately our name is on the Lamb’s book of life. Let’s look to Jesus and to heaven. And while we do, let’s enjoy our church family. Let’s pray. 

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