Your Last Will and Testament (by Walt Henrichsen)

Such a charge is quite predictable; you would expect Paul to admonish his son in the faith to finish the race of life well. What is exceptional is the fact that Paul makes this charge against the backdrop of one disappointment after another. “You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, and among them Phygelus and Hermogenes.”(1) “Hymenaeus and Philetus have swerved from the truth by holding that the resurrection is past already. They are upsetting the faith of some.”(2) “As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith.”(3) ”Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”(4) “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm.”(5) “At my first defense no one took my part; all deserted me.”(6)  Can you imagine a missionary sending agency sending out a person with this kind of record?

Paul charged his friend with the need to remain faithful, for results do not constitute a legitimate basis for evaluation. Rather, you must ask, “Has the Lord called me to this task and has He kept His hand on my life?” That was the encouragement Paul gave Timothy: “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the message fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it.”