The Warning and Report

Jim Butler2 Timothy 4:14–22

Paul closes his final letter by warning Timothy against Alexander the coppersmith, whose opposition was directed not against Paul personally but against the Word of God, and by giving a theologically ordered account of his own imprisonment. The sermon traces how Paul's confidence in God's retributive justice, his experience of the Lord's present strengthening, and his certainty of future heavenly preservation together produce doxology rather than complaint. Seven marks of Paul's apostolic character — vigilance for God's Word, concern for the church, dependence on the Lord, worship, care for friends, hope for glory, and faithful ministry to the end — are set before the congregation as a pattern for gospel ministers and the church alike. The primary application is that faithful proclamation of God's truth, not celebrity or popularity, is what God requires of his ministers.