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Home » (Through The Bible) – 2 Timothy: Zac Poonen (Transcript)

(Through The Bible) – 2 Timothy: Zac Poonen (Transcript)

Here is the full transcript of Bible teacher Zac Poonen’s teaching on Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy which is part of the popular series called Through The Bible.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy

Let’s turn now to Paul’s second letter to Timothy — 2nd Timothy and chapter 1. This is the last letter that Paul wrote, and he knows that he is going to die soon and leave this world. When he wrote 1 Thessalonians, he said, “We who are alive will be caught up.” He thought he would be alive when Jesus comes again.

That’s the way every Christian should live, with this attitude of “we who are alive,” not “they who are alive,” but “we,” which means he expected to be alive for the coming of the Lord. But 15 years later, when he writes this letter, he says, “The time of my departure is at hand.” He knows that he is not going to be alive when Jesus comes and he is going to depart the world before that. And the theme of 2 Timothy, again, is a true servant of God and his ministry.

Paul’s Burden for the Next Generation

The theme of these three last letters was, as I said, Paul’s burden to communicate to another generation, Timothy and Titus, how to be a good shepherd, how to be a true servant of God. And he points to his own life. Always Paul points to his own life. When he spoke to the elders in Ephesus, he does not say, “Remember the sermons I preached to you?”

No. He says, “Remember the way I lived with you.” And the same thing here he tells Timothy. He says, “I thank God whom I serve, verse 3, with a clear conscience, the way my forefathers did.” He points to the way he himself lived.