Gospel Rescue

Good morning. If you're new with us, we walk through books of a Bible at a time. We're ending a series. We did Titus, one of the pastoral epistles, and now we're concluding 2 Timothy today. One of my favorite parts of ending a book is I get to go back and look at how many minutes I didn't preach in previous sermons and add them to this one. So that's always a wonderful opportunity to make sure we calculate and get all the proper minutes We can. Maybe I'm joking. I don't know. We'll see. We've been in 2 Timothy for a while. This is Paul's last letter that we know of. We believe this is the last letter that is scripture for us. We're going to be looking at what we just heard read in chapter 4. He, like Peter and 2 Peter, foresees, feels as if, understands he is about to die. And he's giving last charges, last instructions to his beloved son. If you're new with us, you can look at that very first kind of heading in chapter one. If you flip over, it's his beloved son. Timothy is well known by Paul. They've traveled together. They've planted churches together. And here we come to a very personal section. It's really been a feast of numerous charges and commands and expectations for Timothy. If I could just go back and highlight some of the significant ones we focused on. A small sampling of the charges. Chapter one, verse six, fan into flame the gift of God. Chapter two, verse one, be strengthened by grace in Jesus Christ. Chapter two, verse 15, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker unashamed, rightly handling the word of God. Chapter three, verse 14, continue in faith. Trust God's word. Chapter four, verse one, charge. There's a charge, in the presence of the Lord, preach the word. All of these, I believe, are saying something very similar in different ways. Paul has been emphasizing the importance of the pastoral role so that Timothy is able to lead the church there in Ephesus to trust the Lord in the midst of their suffering. There's a theme. There's preach the word, teach the word, trust the word. And we see the importance of it. All these charges because what Paul is charging Timothy to engage in is dangerous and difficult work. There's corruption, there's deception, and there's some wolves. One of the themes of 2 Timothy is suffering. If we just go back through very quickly, I wanna give us a nice overview of the book as we end. Chapter one, verse eight, share in suffering. Chapter two, verse three, share in the suffering. Chapter three, verse one, there will be difficulty and we're gonna feel that promise come true today in the sermon, I hope. Chapter three, verse 12, a promise, all who desire to live godly life will be persecuted. Chapter three, verse 14, continue in the way of suffering. And then chapter four, verse three, they will stop wanting to listen. The challenge for Timothy is difficult, but the focus has always been there's a charge and there's always been a promise. Preach the word for it is the truth God's people need. It is able to equip all the saints for the good work. There's great power in the God who has given us the gospel. There's power in those words to rescue, which is the key word for today. There's rescue. He has rescued, He will rescue. If you're looking at chapter four, verses nine to 22, there's really three sections of the text. Nine to 13, we see a need for companionship. Paul begins and ends that section, come to me, do your best to come. And then we see the reason, part of the reason, not just loneliness, but chapter 14 to 18, the Lord rescues in suffering. Alexander the coppersmith has done him great harm, and the Lord stood with him, rescued him, and strengthened him. So 9 to 13, a need for companionship. 14 to 18, the Lord rescued him in suffering. And then 19 to 22, a final greeting. The letter is to a pastor, but I wanna make sure we don't check out. This is for the whole church. There's numerous truths throughout this whole passage that are for us as a whole church. If you look at chapter four, verse 22, notice how it ends. Grace be with you. This is where our English needs to have a little bit more of a southern dialect to it. It really is y'all. This was read publicly to all the Christians. It isn't just for pastors, it's for the whole church to hear. But if I wanna go back through and just highlight the things that Jesus, or sorry, Paul has said for us, for us all. Chapter one, verse eight, Jesus saved us all. Chapter two, verse 11, he says this saying is for all believers. If we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will, Deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. Chapter two, verse 19. The Lord knows who are his. Everyone who calls the name of the Lord departs from iniquity. Chapter two, verse 20 and 21. Anyone who wants to be useful cleanses themselves. Chapter three, verse 12. All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted. Chapter four, verse eight. A crown is stored up for everyone who loves Christ appearing. There's been a feast of commands, high expectations, high calling of suffering, and now we come to this end, and there's a different tone to it. You can hear Paul as a coach, regularly giving high challenges, high callings to Timothy, and now we come to this end, and we see a man who's Well, we see a man who's lonely. We see a man who's hurting and he needs help. We turn here to these very personal, transparent, somewhat vulnerable words of Paul, his last words. If you're taking notes, there's five truths that I hope we gain from this ending. To write down just one word for each. First, disappointment, disappointment. Second, devotion. Third, restoration. Fourth, persecution. And then, presence. Disappointment, devotion, restoration, persecution, and presence. If we look back here to chapter four, verse nine to 13, we're gonna see six names, and most of them are pretty well known to us. Do your best to come to me soon for Demas, who's been mentioned in Colossians and Philemon. In love the present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus, that's the pastor we were just studying the letter to him previously, he's gone to Dalmatia. Luke, who we know as the physician and the author of Luke and Acts. He's alone with me. Get Mark, that is John Mark, the author of the gospel of Mark, Bring him with you for he is very useful for me To me for ministry and ticket guess I have sent to Ephesus When you come bring my cloak for I have left it at Carpus with Carpus at Troas also the books and above all the parchments Take I guess we've seen because he's probably carrying this letter. He carried the letter to Colossae. He carried the letter to Ephesus I wanna begin here with just looking at verse nine. Do your best to come to me soon. This is the same language used in chapter two, verse 15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. Now he's saying do your best to come to me. Paul has given charge after charge after charge. Do your work before the Lord. Fan the flame, fulfill your calling, fulfill your ministry. He's actually saying take a break from that work. Kind of an odd transition here. The final call was, I charge in the presence of the Lord to preach the word to your people, but now he's gonna say, I'm gonna send Tychicus, and he's gonna relieve you so you can actually take a break from that high calling, and I need you, Timothy. Some people say, Paul's being selfish here. I think he's just being honest. Paul needs Timothy, his beloved son, to come to him. Why? Go back to chapter one, verse four. He's already mentioned this. I'll begin reading verse three. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience. I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. Paul wants to see a fellow disciple, a fellow worker, a son of the ministry. But why, what's going on? Remember, Paul's in great pain here. He's in prison. This isn't a house arrest. He's in a cell that is cold and wet. He has to have food brought to him by others. He's in great need, and he's saying, I need you to do your best to come to me as soon as possible. Paul's gonna die in about 67 AD, we understand. This letter was written sometime between 65 and 67. Paul is one of Nero's first martyrs. He's in chains, but the chains aren't what's so painful. It's the lack of other Christians being present with him. It's the lack of faithful devotion among other believers. We look at these names, Titus, a pastor we know of. Luke, one of the gospel writers and fellow workers with Paul. Mark, another gospel writer. Take a guess. We see great faithful men, but we're gonna focus here on Demas. Our first point, disappointment. Demas. Something we can take away from here. There will be disappointment among God's people. There will be disappointment within the church of Christ. Demas, in love with the present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. The word deserted there is the same word that we would see in Psalm 22, verse one, and the same word that Christ quotes from Psalm 22, verse one. Forsaken, abandoned. Many believe that Psalm 22 is actually alluded to throughout this ending intentionally, and that would make sense. Paul is a Christian, which means little Christ, and he sees himself suffering in very similar ways as Jesus, and he tries to imitate and follow Jesus. He wants Timothy. beloved son, his fellow worker to come soon and the first reason is this great disappointment. Demas has abandoned him. It's painful. It's painful for the reason giving in love with the present world. There's two interpretations here. The milder one simply says that this means he loved this present world so much he wasn't willing to risk his life He didn't deny Christ, he just wasn't willing to be associated with Paul, and out of fear of the persecution, he flees back home to Thessalonica. What I think is more likely is, this is referring to apostasy, an actual denial of Jesus Christ. Demas has denied Jesus, and Jesus will deny him. Notice the reason is in love with the present world. This is in contrast to a rescue and looking forward to the kingdom of heaven. Paul has charged us over and over again, be a soldier, be a good soldier, don't get involved in civilian affairs. Run the race that's before you. Paul is warning Timothy over and over again to not fall in love with the world that is full of the lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Like demons. This is painful. We can look back again to Colossians 4 verse 14 and Philemon verse 24. He's a coworker. Demas was, at one time, part of this very tight inner circle, a band of brothers that labored together, that traveled together, that did mission work together, that built churches and planted churches and preached the gospel together. And now he's dealing with this confusion and discouragement. He's been abandoned by someone he loved. Still loves, probably. He desires his good, he longed for future fellowship, he wanted to keep laboring with him, but now Demas has left. Believer, as we look at this disappointment, the first thing we need to realize is there's a warning here. Guard your heart. Guard your treasure. It is easy to fall in love with this present world because it makes so many promises. It's always right in front of our face. What is it he fell in love with specifically? We don't know. Going back to Thessalonica, maybe that's back home. Certainly would be a lot easier than in Rome where persecution is rising. Maybe there's a woman back there. Maybe there's a promise of wealth, of peace, comfort. There's a warning. Beware of how we're spending our love. We like to believe this idea that we can love these things and still love God. No, you cannot love God in this world. There's also a reality that there's a disappointment that takes place because some will fall away. We see they're also listed, Crescens and Titus. They do not seem to be associated with the same kind of abandonment. They've just simply gone out to different places without the love of this present world being associated with them. I believe they've gone out in just different areas where they're not with Paul anymore. Now we come to our second point. Devotion. Verse 11. Come to me. The disappointment of Demas is overwhelming, and I'm mostly alone. Here we see there's a need for devotion. These other people have left him. He's sending out Tychicus. There's a need for devotion. Luke alone is with me. He's not entirely abandoned. And Luke, he's a physician. He's a pretty good guy you want next to your side at this point. This is the author of Luke and Acts. He's traveled with Paul. He knows Paul. But yeah, I kind of just back up for a moment. Remember, Paul is an apostle untimely called. He never walked with Jesus in the flesh. He was converted while persecuting the church. He went and spent a three-year personal discipleship to become an apostle. He was given the specific task of being an apostle to the Gentiles. Half of the New Testament is written by him. The book of Acts transitions to him being the central figure of the spread of the gospel. He seems to be kind of a big deal. But here, he feels alone. This is the man who said, I can do all things through Christ, whose strength is me. Philippians 4.13. I don't think he was playing sports at that moment. He's referring to being able to endure all things because of Christ, but here he's being honest. Yes, Christ strengthens me, and we'll see that a little bit later, but he needs devoted Christians around him. He's built this circle of friends, and they've abandoned him. This doesn't sound like the powerhouse of individual faith we read in other places. He needs fellowship. He's feeling the full pain of isolation. Christian, I believe there's a warning for us here as we hear Paul asking, requesting, do your best to come to me, I'm alone. There's a warning against our tendency to self-isolate. That is incredibly dangerous. to want to isolate ourselves in the midst of pain or fear. It's incredibly natural. Because let's be honest, people disappoint. We just looked at that. There's a way in which people can be so difficult, troubling. We want to back away. People can be, quite frankly, horrible. We saw this in chapter three, verse two. Difficulty will come. There'll be slanderous, abusive, brutal, treacherous, reckless. Church, there's something very true here. There's a promise there will be difficulty in the church. That is not why we want to avoid it. That is not a reason to avoid it. That's not a reason to isolate and stand back from it. No, that's a reason to invest more in it. See, the calling of the Christian is to stand with Christ together. We pretend one of those two things has to be more important than the other, or to the isolation of the other. No, we stand with Christ together. There's a secular notion that institutions are not helpful. There's a secular notion that we just are true to ourselves, we don't need institutions. The Bible says the opposite. Institutions are good, especially those ordained by Christ as the only institution that's going to be here until he comes back. church. The training ground for the soul that allows us to see with God's Word and His Spirit what kinds of things in me do not belong. Do not be true to yourself. There's some parts of yourself that you need to deny to put off repentance. Something important here. I hear oftentimes people come and they say, I'm looking for community. I wanna find community. Community, true Christian community is not something you find, it's something you build. This kind of band of brothers that leaves Paul disappointed, this kind of band of brothers that Paul can say, come to me soon because I need your fellowship, I'm hurting. Luke is with me because he's a faithful brother. That's something that was built, not discovered. The church is like ever the community. If you're looking for something casual and convenient, it isn't going to work. The church, like every community, requires devotion and dependability. One of the very first descriptions of the church in Acts 2, they were devoted to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. It's important to realize we need this kind of devotion, we need this kind of church, we need this kind of community, because there will be times where we are facing some kind of persecution, some kind of trial, and we want to know who we can say, come to me quickly. Do your best, so that I'm not alone in my trial, to come to me soon. If you're inclined to stay away from other people out of a fear of man, that is perfectly logical. However, if you're professing faith in the God of grace, there's a calling to love one another as Christ loved us. Here, I believe Paul is actually declaring, I need your help. I'm lonely. And this kind of relationship was built up over a real devotion. Third, restoration. Christ's church is a place of restoration and reconciliation. Luke alone is with me. He has this one friend. He still needs Timothy to come. And this next declaration, get Mark and bring him with you. for he is very useful to me for ministry. This is fantastic. This is John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark. We believe he actually wrote while in Rome next to Peter while he's in prison. This is the same dude back in Acts 13 who abandoned the mission. He's recruited by Paul and Barnabas to be part of the very first missionary journey and doesn't last but two or three cities and without any explanation he just disappears off the scene and goes back home. We assume because it was too difficult, too daunting, out of fear. So we see John Mark was not a faithful man in Acts 13. Well then we come to Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas, they commit to one another, we're gonna go, we're gonna travel to other churches, we're gonna encourage the other churches. And Barnabas says, I wanna take John Mark with me. Paul says, no, not that guy again. He left us last time. Now Paul and Barnabas, that's your dynamic duo of missionary partnership. They've labored together, they've worked together. And they're gonna have a sharp disagreement over this. They're gonna divide because Barnabas says, no, I'm taking John Mark, and Paul says, no, I don't trust him. Hear that, to really feel the force of what he's gonna say now about John Mark. Paul was willing to separate from what would look like his best friend, one of the best friends someone could have, Barnabas, because he did not trust or find any usefulness And John Mark. And as John Mark's thought at some level, he abandoned the task. Barnabas being Barnabas says, no, we're gonna be an encouragement. We're gonna keep him steady. Get Mark. Bring him with you. He's very useful. Do you hear the restoration in that? We don't know what happened between those 15 years. We know in Colossians, he says Mark is useful there, but here, he says he's a fellow worker. The man I was willing to disagree sharply and separate Barnabas with, he has been restored. We have no idea what happened, but it had to include this. Mark growing up, repenting of fear, Becoming strong in the Lord, proving himself. Get Mark, bring him with you. He is very useful. What does it take to be useful? Anybody remember chapter 2 verse 20 and 21? The only thing it takes to be useful in the kingdom of God is to cleanse yourself from sin. Mark's repented of whatever has caused him to flee rather than stay faithful. Mark has been restored. Paul now sees him as so helpful, he wants him to come, and it's most likely he's saying for the ministry, he wants Mark to start taking up the pastoral, some kind of pastoral role there in Rome. Church, something we need to hear, something you need to hear. Do not let past failures make you a future failure. The gospel is one of restoration. The gospel is one of reconciliation. We can repent. We can be cleansed. We need to realize that any failure that hinders us, any failure that brings overwhelming guilt, where sin abounds, grace abounds. Christian, or to be a community that desires restoration and reconciliation, we do not seek revenge. We do not say that's the way they're always gonna be, that's who they are and their sin, they're never gonna be trusted again. That is a denial of the gospel. To say God cannot change me or you is a denial of the power of God's grace in the gospel. We see it here demonstrated in John Mark. There's a restoration. Before we move on to the next point, let me just point out here this other verse 13. He bookends it. Do your best to come to me, and when you come to me, bring the cloak. Okay, just fantastically human of Paul. He most likely was arrested in Troas, so he left his cloak in Troas, and now he's in Rome. Winter is coming, and he wants his cloak. That just makes sense. Also the books, and above all, the parchments. Paul is the author of half of the New Testament. He's a writer of God's word. He's been called up to the third heaven and seen the glorious things that can't even be spoken of, and here in prison, expecting to die, he wants books. He wants parcels. We don't know what these are. Maybe they're Scripture, maybe they're his notes. There's something fantastic here in that he's not just studying to prepare for something in the future, he's reading things that are going to be encouraging to him now. He's a student. He wants to learn, to read. There's an important, powerful point of, we need to be students. Fourth, persecution. It begins a new section. There's a transition here. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. We transition from come, come, bring books, bring Mark, be careful now of Alexander the coppersmith. Let me read this section in its entirety, 14 to 18. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first offense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me, may it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Persecution. Christ Church will be attacked. Alexander the coppersmith, we're not quite sure who this is. Alexander was a very common name. This could be the same Alexander that was mentioned in 1 Timothy 1.20 who lives in Ephesus. He had shipwrecked his faith. Possibly the same guy. Stronger possibility is this is a different Alexander who lives in Troas. And the reasoning is this. Paul is telling Timothy to be careful of Alexander as he's telling him, go to Troas. Troas is where he was arrested. Most likely, the great harm was Alexander the Great bringing false accusations or accusations against him, turning him over to the authorities for being a Christian. We don't know for sure, but my assumption is, based upon reasoning, is Alexander the Coppersmith is in Troas, a different Alexander. What we have in the text is enough to understand he's done him great harm. He's an opponent of the gospel truth. Look at verse 15. He has strongly opposed the message. He's against the gospel. And that's why he's against these Christians, and he's doing them harm. Notice Paul is very clear. He has done me great harm, The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. The word repay is give back. We talked about it last week as render. There will be a judgment that Christians, when we stand before Christ, we will have to give an answer for how we lived our lives. There will be some kind of payback, a reward for those who are faithful. Here it's a different kind of payback, give back. Here we see Paul practicing what he preaches. In Romans 12, he says, do not avenge yourselves. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. As I just said earlier, the church is not a place where we're seeking revenge. No, we're trusting God. Here, Alexander the Coppersmith has done him great harm, and he is going to trust the Lord to be the one who brings justice. At the same time, he tells Timothy, beware of him. He's an opponent. He's dangerous. He's not with us. He's gonna fight against you. He will do you great harm. Be very aware. He's an enemy. And we can just pull back here for a second and realize Jesus talks about how we should treat our enemies. There's a couple easy commands. Greet them, pray for them. Greet them, pray for them. You don't completely avoid and ignore an enemy, you greet them, there's a common courtesy you can have, but there's no way he's going to trust him. And then he's gonna do what's most powerful, and that is pray for him. There's persecution, and then that persecution gets ratcheted up for Paul, verse 16. At my first defense. This is a preliminary hearing, most likely. At this arrest, he would go before a court to decide if there's any witnesses that would come in Paul's defense and say, these things are not true, or he's an upstanding citizen, we should trust him. He says, no one came to stand by me. No one. They all deserted me. Again, that word forsaken. The tight inner circle that Paul had, they had all abandoned him at this point. When he needed them, being accused, being on trial to see if he was gonna go through to be in prison, he's all alone. Notice what he says about them. May it not be charged against them. There's a wonderful contrast here. Alger the coppersmith, an opponent and enemy, We trust the Lord will judge them. His beloved fellow disciples and brothers in Christ and fellow co-workers, even though they did not stand with him and he felt forsaken, he is merciful. May it not be charged against them. You see forgiveness. You see him living out the very life of Christ here. Forgive them for they know not what they do. You see Paul being merciful. To the opponent, you trust God with a vengeance. To a friend who disappoints or fails, you show mercy. How can he do that? How do you show such kindness to not seek vengeance? How do you show such kindness to say, let it not be charged against them? Verse 17. But the Lord stood by me. The Lord stood by me. Our fifth point, presence. The Lord was with me and strengthened me. Though everyone even stand against me, if the Lord is with me, well, what can they do? The Lord stood by and we see how God in his presence gave him the grace he needed. And what's amazing is we've heard over and over again throughout the letter, preach the word, teach the word, cut straight the word, handle it rightly. Here, all alone, before the courts, the Lord stood by me, he strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. The Lord stood by me. What happens here is Jesus is actually fulfilling his promise he made in Matthew 10. In Matthew 10, he promises the disciples, you will be turned over to the nations. You'll be handed over before the Gentiles. Do not be anxious what you will say. The spirit of your father will speak through you. Paul is opposed to, he is abandoned by his friends, he's still on task because of the Lord's strength. It's possible Acts 26 is referring to this, a long gospel presentation he gives. It's other likely that that is not the final word there, but remember Agrippa after Paul's presentation of the gospel. Would you persuade me to be a Christian? Paul uses the opportunity of being on trial to proclaim Christ. The Lord stood by me. He strengthened me. And then look at that last declaration of verse 17. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. It's possible this is actually a reference to a real lion in a real coliseum. They did feed Christians to beasts. Possible this is a reference back to Psalm 22 again. What we know is that Paul can say and look back as he has elsewhere, the Lord rescued me. Even though I'm still in chains, the Lord rescued me. He said the same thing in chapter three, verse 11. The Lord has rescued me, but here I'm in chains. He looks back, and he can see how the Lord has been with him, strengthened him, and rescued him. But then he makes this other transition, verse 18. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and bring me safely into his kingdom. When you see words of rescue, deliverance, you should immediately think of Exodus. The whole idea there is an Exodus moment. Israel is enslaved to Egypt. They're being abused. They're not the promised land. They're not worshiping God the way they should be or where they should be. So God says, I'll deliver you. And it was a great deliverance that showed the glory of God over the nations. But here, this is a rescue so that Paul would actually proclaim the whole gospel to all the nations. To say rescue implies immediately there is a danger. The Lord will, future tense, rescue me. From every evil deed, from every evil action, the Lord will bring a final rescue and then look at the parallel declaration and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. There is a rescue out of and a bringing safely into. That bringing safely, that's the word for salvation or healing. or General Declaration of Salvation from Sozo. These two phrases, they parallel each other. He takes us out of slavery and darkness and brings us into the freedom of the kingdom. Notice this is future tense. He's been rescued, he will be rescued. Believer, Paul has continued to ground every command in the gospel. The gospel truths are what helps him and causes him to tell Timothy and for his own perseverance in suffering. Perseverance in suffering because of the gospel. We can go back and look at all the things God has given to us to understand how he is with us. We look at chapter one, verse six, faint into flame. Well, the reason is God has given us a spirit. The call to fan and to flame is because God has given. Chapter one, verse eight, sharing the suffering. The suffering of what? For the gospel. Because the gospel is the power of God to save us. Chapter two, verse eight, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David. Chapter two, verse 11 and 13, we read those earlier. We've died with him, we will live with him. Chapter two, verse 19, the Lord knows who are his. 2 to 3, verse 11, the Lord has rescued me. 2 to 3, verse 15, the word of God makes us wise to salvation. 2 to 4, 6 to 8, we're called to love his appearing when he'll come back and give rewards. And now here, the Lord has rescued me, he will rescue me. Salvation is deliverance out of God's judgment. It's forgiveness. We no longer have to be afraid of standing before a holy God because Christ died to wash us of our sins, to forgive us of our sins. We no longer have to be afraid and bow down to the temptation of sin. We no longer have to be deceived by the devil. There's salvation. There's a longing for a perfect world where the Lord will be with us forever, where we are with him and his kingdom. We could be like Demas. We could abandon that good gospel. We could actually be so discouraged by other Christians that we could abandon the savior of our lives. We can be so discouraged by everything around us, we could run away out of a love for this present world because it just seems so appealing sometimes. We can stay focused. The Lord has rescued me. He's promised to come back. He will rescue me. Do not abandon Christ. He will rescue you. We see there in verses 19 to 21 other names that are familiar with us. I'm gonna drop down to verse 22. Do not read over these greetings quickly. The Lord be with your spirit. The Lord has stood by me, he strengthened me, he will rescue me. And now, the last word he wants to give to Timothy, the Lord be with your spirit. That is a singular, he's speaking just to Timothy here. The Lord be with you. That itself is a sweet little gospel summary. One of the great themes of the Old Testament is God saying, I am your God and you are my people. I am with you, I am for you. That's the covenant language of God. Remember what happened when God sent Moses to go speak to Pharaoh the first time? Moses said, what? I'm not so good at talking. God didn't say, well, no, you got this. He said, I'm with you. I'm with you. When Israel goes out, God says, I am now your God and I am with you. And he brought down his thunder and his lightning and gave them his law and said, I will be your God and you will be my people. And while he's doing that, they're making a golden calf. And God wants to smite these people, rightly so. In the midst of that moment, Moses says in Exodus 33 verse 15, God, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. That's called faith. I can't do it without you, God. I won't even take a step out. I can't do this. We can't do this. We're gonna be stuck here forever in the wilderness unless you and your presence will go with us. Because your presence. Strengthen us, because your presence is all we need. There's great hope. The Lord is with us. We can actually do what he has called us to do. It is daunting. It is dangerous. It is difficult. There'll be discouragement. There'll be disappointment. But the Lord will finish his task. We are called to persevere in faith. Finally, we see that last declaration, grace be with you all. As a church, we're called to be a people of grace, trusting the grace that saves us, extending that grace to one another in forgiveness and reconciliation, and proclaiming that grace to the nations. Will you pray with me?