Shabbat Shalom. Please open your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 9 to 22. The Word of the Lord is before us. It's so precious because God's Word is here to encourage us, to instruct us, and to set our affection on the person of Yeshua, the promised Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world. So Paul is writing to Timothy and he says in verse 9, Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica. Christens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus, the cloak that I left at Troas with Karpus, When thou comest, bring with thee and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Of whom be thou well also, for he has greatly withstood our words. At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray, God, that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might heal, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus, Ephrassus, abode at Corinth, but Trophimius have I left at Milterum sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter, Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. Boy, when I was reading this passage in preparation for the message, it makes you wonder what Paul was sharing with Timothy when he was writing to him this list of individuals that were very important for Shaul Paul in his ministry.

Some were positive individuals that helped him and assisted him, and others were opposing the message of the gospel and the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But we learn from these brothers and sisters that now in these last words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, Timothy was ministering in Ephesus, Paul was in jail, in prison, in a dungeon there in Rome, Knowing that the time will come and he is ready to leave this scene, this world, to be with Yeshua, his Messiah. But you notice that we read those passages here, verses 9 to verse 22, how important people have been in the life of Shaul Paul. You see, he was not having one-man ministry.

He never assumed for a moment, because he was an apostle, a shaliach, that he can do everything on his own, and he doesn't need anyone else. The apostle Paul knew very well the importance of individuals to participate in the work of the Lord. While he was in prison now, he is reminded of certain individuals that he was still connected with, and he was sending them to one place or another, and they were doing the work of the ministry, Because the body of Messiah, the body of Yeshua, the body of Christ is a composition of many people. Jewish people, non-Jewish people, male, female, bond, free, all have entered into this one body by the Holy Spirit of God.

Everyone is an important member of the body of Mashiach. Just the same like our human body, our hands, and our feet, and our head, and our ears, and our eyes, and our nose, and our mouth. All are members of this one single human body. And it is the same thing among the body of believers. Everyone is important, and everyone is called to be used to serve among the people of God and to participate in the work of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Well, I want you immediately to notice in these last verses that both in verse 9 and in verse 21, it's like a sandwich.

You can see that in the beginning of this portion I read and at the end of the portion that I read, the apostle Paul is urging Timothy to do diligence in coming to see him. Notice I'm reading verse 9. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. Notice verse 21. Do thy diligence to come before winter. You see, Paul knew very well that he was going to die. As we read in our last ministry meeting, 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, 7, and 8, he says, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.

he's just anticipating now to be taken by Nero to be placed before the Roman Emperor and he will allow him to be executed and killed about 67 AD and now he's writing to Timothy apparently the winter hasn't arrived as yet before the winter of 67 AD Paul is in the dungeon in prison in Rome he's writing this letter and he's sent it by a messenger to the man by the name of Timothy who is living in an area in a city called Ephesus. And he's eagerly want to see Timothy. You just imagine, brothers and sisters, what Shaul Paul have felt. He was in prison, all alone, perhaps had been treated terrible by the Romans, living in such a condition, and he so much longed to see the one that is called in the book of Timothy a son in the faith of the Apostle Paul.

The Lord used Shaul Paul to lead this man by the name of Timothy to himself. To accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Timothy apparently had been such a faithful servant of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. he was the one that was willing to identify with Paul in the testimony of the gospel of the Lord he must have faced opposition, rejection he must have lost a lot of friends and people that perhaps were very dear to him but for the sake of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah Timothy was a faithful servant who followed Yeshua the Messiah and assisted the apostle Paul in the ministry of the gospel.

So Paul is desiring so much to see Timothy. He longed to see Timothy. That's why he said to him in verse 9, Do thy diligence to come shortly to me. In verse 21 he says, Timothy, do thy diligence to come before winter will arrive. You see, it will be a treacherous traveling to go from Ephesus all the way to Rome. And the winter will come in and there will be no more ability to sail. Timothy will have to come in one way or another to the Apostle Paul to Rome. And he's eagerly asking him to come as quick as he can to the city of Rome. Because Paul wanted some comfort in his own heart.

He was in a terrible condition there before he passed out of this world to the presence of the Lord. So verse 9 and verse 21 is like, you might say, the two ends of a bookcase. It's the beginning appealing to Timothy to come. He's closing the message and appealing for Timothy to come. And in between, we learn a few things about the reasons that Apostle Paul wanted Timothy to come. And also, we learn the kind of feeling that Paul have experienced from other believers, of people who have been exposed to the gospel, and how he had been treated by some. And you know that, brothers and sisters?

If you are going to follow the Lord, and live for the Lord, and seek to serve the Lord, you will find very quickly that you will be disappointed. First of all, you yourself disappoint yourself. We often disappoint ourselves. But secondly, you will find out that people disappoint us. Not because we are better than others and others better than us. It's simply because we are people. And we often disappoint one another. Notice the first man that he mentioned here in verse 10a. He's mentioning a man by the name of Demas. He said, for Demas, notice the word for, is following immediately after verse 9. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, for, here is the reason, because Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica.

Now it is interesting, if you read it in the scripture, the man by the name of Demas, according to the scripture, When Paul wrote to Philemon in verse 24 of the book of Philemon, he said about Demas that he was a fellow laborer. He started very well. He was a fellow laborer. He was participating in the labor of the gospel with the Apostle Paul. But then later on, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 4 and verse 14, And he doesn't anymore so much mention the word fellow laborer about Demas. He only mentioned his name. Demas is with us. But by the time we get to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, Demas have forsaken the apostle Paul in the work of the ministry.

He started very well. He continued for a while longer bearing with the things of the Lord and identifying with the Apostle Paul. But when things went hard and the opposition had increased, Demas made a choice. He actually, according to verse 10, he forsook the Apostle Paul, Demas have forsaken me. And notice what it says in the second part of verse 10, having loved this present world. In other words, as I mentioned many times, that we have three enemies that are constantly going to attack us as we walk with the Lord. The closest enemy is the flesh. The flesh has no good in it. I know, Paul said in Romans 7, that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

The second enemy that we have is Satan himself. And Satan constantly, according to Ephesians 6, shooting darts at us, trying to find fault in us in order to cause us to stumble. But we have a third enemy. And that enemy is the world around us. This is the world and its system that deny the Messiah, that reject the Bible, that reject the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, They draw us away from the things of the Lord. It is called here this evil or this present world. In other passages, it is called present evil world. It's a system that choose man and Satan and his way rather than God and the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah.

A denial of the Messiah. Now, it can very well happen that a believer drawn away from the things of the Lord by these enemies. We never read that Demas was not a believer. We see that he was walking with the Apostle Paul for a while. And then later on, he continued to bore with him for a while. But when things went kind of difficult a little bit, Demas made a choice. And he chose to love this present world. You know, it reminds me of Moshe, that we read of him in Hebrews chapter 11. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.

Moshe had to make that choice when he was in the land of Egypt, before he came out with our own nation Israel to the promised land. He also made this choice. And you and I have to make those choices in our life as well, a time we're being drawn away by the world and its system. And so the apostle Paul saying about Demas, he said, he loved this world and he left me, forsook me. Now turn with me to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 4. Let me just show you a verse that speaks about this world. Paul wrote to the Galatians and he said to them at the end of verse 3, Our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who gave himself for our sins.

Why? That he might deliver us from this present evil world. That's the reason why Yeshua, the Messiah, came. So he will deliver us from this present evil world. And that's what he did when he died for us on the tree. But Demas apparently made a choice. He began well as a fellow worker. Continue on for a while, a little bit longer. But by the time we read 2 Timothy chapter 4, Demas have forsaken the apostle Paul, loving this present world. Do you remember what John said in 1 John chapter 2? Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and it is not of the Father.

Love not the world. In other words, he doesn't talk about not loving people. He speaks about a system that denies the Messiah, that denies the God of the Bible, that denies the truth of the gospel. Love not this world, because this world is not of the Father. It is not of the Father, because this only will draw us away from the things of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And here we see that Demas was drawn away. He was drawn away. Maybe later on, we do not know what happened to Demas later on in his life. The Lord, I'm sure, has spoken to him, and in due time, perhaps he restored him back to himself.

We're going to find this in another person later on. In other words, the Lord is working, but the Apostle Paul felt this when he was in prison there in a dungeon there, and one of the people who were fellow workers have gone, no longer there. Demas have forsaken me, loving this present world, and he's departed unto Thessalonica. He went back to the city of Thessalonica. Notice now verse 10b, we have two more men, one of them is named Crescens, he says he went to Galatia. And then another one by the name of Titus, he went unto Dalmatia. In other words, here's two servants that the Apostle Paul sent them into two other areas to minister the word of God.

About them, he doesn't say that they forsook him, but about Demas, he said, Demas had forsaken me, having loved this present world. The others were sent to minister. So beautiful to see that even though the Apostle Paul is in prison, and even though he is bound, you might say, perhaps they allow him to receive some visits here and there, and he was still delegating the responsibility to others and giving them the responsibility to minister the Word of God in various cities there. Now notice in verse 11, we continue and we find out name after name. In In verse 11a, there was a man by the name of Luke.

He says, only Luke is with me. You know, Luke apparently was a doctor. According to Colossians chapter 4 and verse 14, he was a physician. And it is interesting that he, throughout the journey of the Apostle Paul of Shaul, he joined him and he ministered to him. And perhaps because the Apostle Paul also was a Roman citizen, a Roman citizen was allowed to take with him a slave. To remind you, brothers and sisters, that in Rome there were probably more slaves than people who were free. There were so many slaves and the Romans could take with them slaves to serve them. Now, Luke was not his slave, but Paul as a Roman citizen took the opportunity to say, you know what, Luke, you stay with me and we're going to serve the Lord together.

And Luke stayed with him and also assisted him when the Apostle Paul had some problems, maybe health issues. And he remained with the Apostle Paul, even though the Apostle Paul was now in prison. We continue on with the list. And I want you to notice now, he is asking Timothy to bring a man by the name of Mark with him. Now, it is interesting about this Mark, because it says in verse 11b, Take Mark... And bring him with thee, for he is profitable unto me for the ministry. Now, if you will read carefully in the book of Acts, Mark is actually John Mark. He is the one that left the ministry a little bit earlier in chapter 13 of the book of Acts.

he went back home and he did not continue in a ministry to serve among the people with the apostle Paul. So there was a time of his departure. He was perhaps going backwards. He was discouraged and he perhaps didn't feel comfortable to continue on to follow with the apostle Paul and to serve him. But apparently, beloved brothers and sisters, by the time that he's writing to Timothy to come to him before he dies, before he's departing, the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, you know, Timothy, bring Mark back with you. And because now he's profitable for the ministry, profitable to me for the ministry. We learn a great lesson that even when we turn away from the Lord the time.

And we get discouraged in the ministry and maybe disappoint the Lord. The Lord is always willing to restore us. We are always able to be restored to the ministry to serve Him. You know, remind me, Yonah Hanavi, Jonah, the prophet of Israel, when he didn't follow the Lord's instruction, when the Lord told him to go to Nineveh and to preach the message of God's Word to the Ninevites so instead of going he had gone in another direction and then the Lord allowed him to go through experience you remember he was in a ship and then they cast him out of the ship and then the big fish had swallowed him and spewed him back on shore you remember what happened in the time of Yonah Hanavi Jonah the prophet and then the Lord sent him again and Jonah was sent again to give a message for 40 days and judgment is coming and the whole city have repented so there is always an opportunity to be restored to the Lord even though at time we fail the Lord and we don't continue to be faithful there is always a way of restoration and if you or I at time get so discouraged and we are not necessarily stay close to the Lord and perhaps deviate from one way or another the Lord is always willing to restore us back to himself.

It's not only that we need grace to be saved, but we need grace to be kept. And the Lord is able to do so. So he's telling to Timothy, Timothy, I want you to bring Mark back now because he's profitable unto me now. You know, earlier, if you read in chapter 15 of the book of Acts, Paul did not want to take Mark. And that's why he was separated from the fellow servants, because he did not want to take Mark. Barnabas, you remember there was a friction between both of them, and Paul went one way, and Barnabas went another way. And the reason was because of the fact that he didn't want to take Mark, because Mark left the ministry and went back home.

But now Paul is saying, you bring back Mark with you. Now he is profitable unto me for the ministry. And so God is able to restore his people back to fellowship with him in order to serve him here in this world. Well, let's continue. Notice in verse 12, we find out a man by the name of Tychicus. He said, I have sent him to Ephesus.

now Ephesus of course is where Timothy is still serving so apparently Tychicus was going to be sent to replace Timothy when Timothy was coming to the apostle Paul to Rome Tychicus was sent to replace him while Timothy is on that journey to the city of Rome so now Paul is continuing to ask timothy to come to see him before he die and then notice how beautiful in verse 13 he's requesting from timothy to bring with him a few things it says in verse 13 the cloak that i left at roas with carpus when thou comest bring with thee and then he had and the books but especially the parchments so when Timothy will travel he

will stop in an area that is called Troas apparently from Troas Paul had to quickly leave Troas so he left there the cloak it's like a garment an overcoat that have a hole in the middle and it keeps you from being cold and then he left there notice the books in Hebrew Sfarim and the parchments this is the leather piece you might say skin pieces upon which was written the word of God and Paul was the kind of a person that always loved to read the scripture and so when he was in prison left Troas earlier had to go away quickly now he is asking from Timothy to bring the books and to bring the

parchments perhaps the books has to do with the Tanakh, the Old Testament scripture that he will read and the parchment upon which he was writing his letters and he was asking for Timothy to bring it you see Paul was reading from the Hebrew scriptures studying the Tanakh what was promised by God about the Messiah and as a revelation was given to him by the glorified Messiah he was writing he wrote 13 letters the book of Romans 1st Corinthians 2nd Corinthians and so on Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians 1st and 2nd Thessalonians all those letters that the Apostle Paul was writing as he was ministering among the Gentile world.

And so he was writing. And so he's asking from Timothy to bring him the books. The books like the scrolls bring the scrolls to me because he wanted to read the scripture. The Apostle Paul was a student of the word let me remind you that as a Jewish man he grew up in the land he was a Pharisee he was a teacher of the word he learned the scripture wherever he have gone he have gone to the synagogue and he opened the scripture he could open in a synagogue the scripture and identify the passage that speaks about Yeshua the Messiah and he was reading it publicly to all our own Jewish people proclaiming that Yeshua was truly and indeed the promised Messiah of Israel and the Savior of this world.

So he was a student of the word and he was writing.

He was one of the apostles that God had given him the gift of being an apostle and the ability to receive revelation from God, from the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, to put it for us on a parchment and to send it from place to place as a doctrine that had been given to the assembly to the believers everywhere around the world so Paul wanted these parchment to come to him he wanted these books perhaps it will be the last time that he was going to see what was written in them and then he will have to leave this scene to go to his master after he pass away after Nero will kill him and ultimately

he will be taken out to the presence of the Lord absent from the body and presence with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah so here he was beautiful to see how he gives those instructions to Timothy was a long journey for Timothy to take winter was approaching and in fact brothers and sisters we don't even know if timothy have actually have arrived to rome to give to shaul paul the cloak the books the parchment we don't even know if he have arrived that perhaps he has but that was the last letter that shaul paul is writing to timothy but now notice what we read paul know people by name right we read about demas we read

about christians we read about titus and luke and mark and Tychicus.

We read about even Karpus in verse 13. This man kept in Troas Paul's cloak, books, and parchment. But now he remembers another man. This name is in verse 14. He was a man by the name of Alexander. Interesting that he mentioned him here, and notice what he said about Alexander and that is rather said in verse 14 and verse 15 Paul points to Alexander he was a coppersmith he was one that worked with copper and apparently what this Alexander did it says here Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil the Lord reward him according to his works you see apparently Alexander have did a lot of harm to the Apostle Paul to Shaul perhaps the reason that Shaul is finding himself in prison is because Alexander was saying and speaking something against Shaul Paul and brought about the fact that he was put in prison he was like informing others about the servant of the Lord in a negative way that brought about the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul.

And so he's telling to Timothy, Timothy, look what this man by the name of Alexander have done. He did me so much evil, so much wrong you have done against me. And he had, in verse 15, he says, Timothy, he says, of whom you beware, Timothy, for he has greatly withstood our words. You know, it is so terrible. When someone infiltrating among the people of God, we're standing against the servants of the Lord, we're standing against them and causing evil against them and ultimately bringing about that they are being imprisoned, like the Apostle Paul, like many others over the generations, that there are those that have been opposing, withstanding the teachings and the words of the servants of the Lord.

John had experienced that. Peter had experienced that. Paul had experienced that. And we know very well that many others, whether it is in the history of the nation of Israel, or history of the body of Messiah, much opposition have come against those that have served the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. There is a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. If you turn with me there for a moment. In verse 9, Paul said that as well. He said, For a great door and effectual is open unto me. But then he doesn't stop. And then he said, and there are many adversaries. There are many who oppose the work of the Lord.

That's how he felt. He had experienced opposition. He had experienced rejection. And here is a man by the name of Alexander. He was a copper smith. He was working with copper. And he was the one that opposed the apostle Paul. Well, he gave a warning to Timothy. And Timothy, listen, he says, you beware of this fellow. You beware because he constantly, greatly withstood our words. And so, as he's writing this letter to Timothy, he's giving him a list of names. Demas, Chrysons, Titus, Luke, Mark, Tychicus. And he continued to mention, now he arrived to a man by the name of Alexander. And so notice, brothers and sisters, in verse 16 now, look how the Apostle Paul have felt when he was there in jail, in prison.

It says, at my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray, God, that it may not be laid to their charge. It might be a very sad ending of his life here. He's just concluding his life, ready to depart out of this world. He says, listen, no man stood with me. All men forsook me. And as we already mentioned earlier, but the demons have forsaken me. He was alone. You know, sometimes when we look at people like the Apostle Paul and Peter and James and Jude and John, and we think what a glorious people they are. They have so much information.

They've written for us the Word of God, the Bible, and we are so much speaking about them, and we look at them, and we learn from them. But these were people that have experienced trials and sufferings in their lives. They didn't have an easy time in their life. No man stood with me. All men forsook me. Demas have forsook me, loving this present world. In fact, the verse in chapter 1 and verse 15, look what he says there. All they which are in Asia be turned away from me. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, Demas forsook me. And now in this verse 16, no man stood with me, all men have forsaken me.

You would think, wow, Paul, you are such an apostle. And everybody should follow you, Paul. And everybody will be willing so much to follow because you are a man of God, you are an apostle, you got information from Yeshua the Messiah. you think that everybody will follow Him. But you know we learn here that the human nature in them and in you and I is just the same. Remember what we read about Yeshua? Smite the shepherd and a flock and a sheep shall be scattered. Even when Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah was on the cross, on the tree when He was smitten by God in a judgment for the world for you and I all the apostles and the disciples forsook him and fled.

You know who was there by the cross actually? There were women who loved him so much. Who appreciated him so much. But the disciples all forsook him and left. Same thing with the apostle Paul. He had experienced rejection, misunderstanding. All men forsook him. No man stood with me. Demas have forsaken me, loving this world. All that which are in Asia have left the Apostle Paul. And he was all alone in a dungeon there. When you look at this, what a sad end, you might say, but yet, brothers and sisters, he was serving the Lord. Look at this, 2,000 years later, a group of people like you and I today reading his word.

And other people elsewhere in every locality who love the word of God, they are studying the word of God, learning from the ministry that the Lord gave to Shaul Paul. It's amazing to see how God is still working, even though a person such as Apostle Paul finds himself in prison. That expression here, all men vasuk me, in Hebrew is kulam azavuni. Everyone has left me, and I'm here in prison all by myself, but he trusted Yeshua the Messiah and he committed himself unto the Lord. So now let's move along because we are going to finish this in verses 17 and 18. We can see that even though everyone left him, the Lord have never forsaken his servant.

Even though he was all by himself in prison, the Lord was faithful to the Apostle Paul, and he knew this in his heart. And so in verse 17, he said, the Lord stood with me. Notice he says in that verse, nevertheless or not withstanding, he says, the Lord stood with me, and he strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the goyim the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion notice this expression nevertheless or notwithstanding even though Demas forsook me even though no man stood with me even though all the time Asia forsook me the Lord have never left me.

He always sensed the presence of the Lord in his life. Yeshua said to the people of Israel and he also threw the apostle in Hebrews chapter 13 that I will never leave you nor forsake you. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew before he went to heaven Yeshua said to the disciples Lo, I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the age. He'll never leave us. A time we maybe feel like if He has left us, He's never going to leave us. And so it's an encouragement. He says, nevertheless, even though everybody left me, the Lord stood with me and He strengthened me.

You know, we constantly need to be strengthened because we are weak, we are feeble. Paul was feeble, he was weak, but the Lord had encouraged him and strengthened him and allowed him to continue to minister the word of God throughout his ministry. And notice it says in verse 17, that by me, verse 17b, the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might heal. Now, you see, the Apostle Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Remember on the way to Damascus? When he got gloriously saved, he had accepted that Yeshua was the Messiah. Yeshua said, you remember, I will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name's sake.

And I will send him to preach the message throughout the Gentile world. And he included the people of Israel and kings and rulers. Well, God used Paul. And he never left him alone. He called Shaul Paul to be the one that will preach the message of the gospel and that the nations, the goyim, will come to faith in a Messiah. Think about it, brothers and sisters. We live here. 2,000 years pass by. Those of us that are among the nations of the world, from the Gentile world, have come to faith in Christ, in a Messiah. And it was because the Apostle Paul was faithful to preach the message of the gospel to the nations of the world.

He went from city to city, in Asia Minor, in elsewhere, in Galatia, and he was ministering the Word of God. And many came to faith in the Messiah. They had no hope before, but they heard the love of God and that the Messiah Jesus died for their sins that he paid in his precious blood when he died for them on the tree and they have accepted him and they receive the gift of salvation that the Gentiles might hear by me that message of the preaching of the word of God so he continued and you notice what he says in verse 17b and verse 18 he used the word deliverance or deliver in three ways Verse 17b, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

This past. Then verse 18, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work. That's the future. And then verse 18b, and he will preserve or deliver me and preserve me unto the heavenly kingdom. He will preserve me now. You see, in verse 17b and verse 18, we have the preservation of the Lord in the past, in the present, and in the future. In the past, he said, I was delivered from the mouth of the lion. That lion was not a literal lion. He's really speaking about Satan himself. Satan is a roaring lion, 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8, seeking to devour the people of God. But the Lord preserved the Apostle Paul.

He delivered him throughout the service of the Apostle Paul in his missionary journey. He delivered him from the mouth of the lion. Satan is like a lion that is roaring and trying to find in order to devour the people of God. But the Lord delivered him from the power of Satan. Satan is desiring to devour you and I. He desires to cause us harm in our life. He desires to cause us to stumble and to fall and to turn away from the Lord. He allows sometimes for us to experience things that are being done by him, imposed upon the people of God. And Satan sometimes acts as a roaring lion and sometimes he's acting as an angel of light.

He appears in a very sneaky way and he beguiles the people of God. But if he doesn't work, then he's as a roaring lion, 1 Peter 5, seeking whom he may devour. But the Lord preserved him from the mouth of the lion. Secondly, again, verse 18, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work. He's saying in the future he will deliver. Now Paul, by the way, even though he's ready to die, he doesn't know exactly when he's going to die. But he knows that that's the end because Nero is going to judge him soon. So he might stay another day, another week, another month, another year.

He doesn't really know. Apparently he died sometime in the spring of 68 AD. So he wanted Timothy to come before the winter and to stay with him until the spring and then he will appear before Nero and ultimately he will be executed. And history teaches us that he was taken out of prison, he placed his head on this flat place and the swinging of that knife cut his head and he was actually beheaded by the Romans. And the only reason that he was beheaded is because he was testifying to the person and the work of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So he doesn't know how long time he's going to be alive still here, but he has a confidence in the Lord that the Lord shall deliver him.

Now you and I might say, wait a minute, Paul. If the Lord shall deliver you, how come he allowed you to lose your life by the hands of the Romans? But you see, that's the problem with us sometimes. Sometimes we think that if we are believers, we will never be sick. We will never have trouble. We're supposed to have what you call everything is fine and no problems in our life. You know, we're just simply going to have a hunky-dory life. We are just, after all, we are Christian. We're supposed to have a life easy here in this world. Well, the Apostle Paul teaches us that it is not so.

it's not name it and claim it it is actually saying look at me I believe that the Lord is able to deliver me from every evil thing and even if he choose to take me out of this scene it is still a deliverance absent from the body and presence with the Lord see the Apostle Paul looked at things completely different than what modern ways of thinking is being taught today in the world in which we live in. That's why a believer today is not necessarily going to have an easy road. The more we're going to follow the Lord, the more we're going to find out there will be opposition to us because we identify with Yeshua the Messiah.

So, He has delivered me in the past from the mouth of the lion. He will deliver me in the future, verse 18a, But notice what he says in verse 18b, And He will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom. You see, Paul knew one thing, that the Lord, even in the presence, is able to preserve His own people, so we will be ultimately entering into this heavenly kingdom, The promise that God had given to those that have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. Even though I will die, he said, I know that the Lord will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. Now, some people teach us that we need to preserve ourselves.

We need to keep ourselves in order to enter into the messianic kingdom, into the heavenly kingdom. See, the Apostle Paul doesn't teach that. He says, the Lord will preserve me unto this heavenly kingdom. Not I preserve myself. I'm not able to preserve myself. If entering into God's heavenly kingdom depend upon our performance, we will find very quickly that we will fall short of God's demands. And therefore he says, he is the one that is going to preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. This is verse 18b. then he says to whom be glory forever and ever and he says amen and so brothers and sisters the apostle paul in verses 10 to 16 showed to timothy the reasons why he wants him to come to see him then in verses 17 and 18 he showed to timothy that god is faithful to preserve his own servant even through trials he delivered me he will deliver me in the future and he will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom turn with me to the gospel of matthew chapter 6 verse 9 that's what the lord yeshua said to the disciples in a way that they are to pray for the future day he said in verse 9, after this manner therefore pray, our Father which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name notice that verse 10, thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, look at verse 13, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, notice it says for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen. And then he continued in verse 33 and he said seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Again thy kingdom, the kingdom of God. In Hebrew we call it malchut ha'elohim, ho malchut ha'shamayim the kingdom of heaven. It is belong to the king and he's going to rule not only in heaven he's also going to rule here on earth and we should seek that his kingdom will come that he will rule and will reign over his own people the heavenly company the earthly company the whole world that he will be the king of kings and lord of lord and he will preserve paul and he will preserve you and i unto his heavenly kingdom.

To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And now in final words here about the last verses, verses 19, 20, 21, and 22 is the conclusion of the book of 2 Timothy. And there the apostle is saying those things. First of all, he's talking about Priscilla and Aquila. These are Jewish couple who became believers in Yeshua. Paul met them first in the book of Acts in the city of Corinth. There were Jewish believers who have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And wherever they have gone, they establish in their home a place where the saints, the believers, would come to meet. They have done so in Corinth. Later on, they have done so in Ephesus.

And wherever they have gone, they were serving the people of God. And so notice he mentioned them. He says, salut, prisca, or prisila, in another passage, and equila. Now, I mentioned to you before, and I'm going to mention this once again, every chapter of 2 Timothy, those four chapters, he's presenting before Timothy two individuals in every chapter in relationship to the truth of the Word of God. I mentioned that, and I just want to repeat it one more time. In chapter 1, verse 15, he mentioned Pygilius and Harmognus. He said, they are the ones who turn away from the truth. Then in chapter 2, he mentioned Hymenaeus and Pilatus.

They have erred from the truth. Then in chapter 3, he mentioned, if you remember, Janus and Jambres. He said, they were the ones who resisted the truth. But now in chapter 4, he presents for us another twin, another couple here, Priscilla and Aquila. And they are the ones who maintained the truth. And you see, we have to be so thankful for people like Prisca and Aquila that maintain the truth and they continue on in the things of the Lord. They didn't deviate. They didn't turn away from the truth. They didn't err from the truth. They didn't resist the truth, but they maintain the truth in their lives.

And this is a key, important thing in the life of a believer, just to maintain the truth that had been taught by the Scripture in our own personal life, and to try to teach this to others. So he mentioned them and he greeted them. Prisca and Aquila, he says, really greeted them because they were faithful to maintain the truth. Then he mentioned the household of Onesiphorus, and Onesiphorus was again another person who served the Lord and his household maintain the truth. And they are the ones that the Apostle Paul is greeting. And finally, he's mentioning additional names. He says, Ephrastus, abode in Corinth. But Trofimius have I left in Miltum.

And notice he had the word, he left him sick. Now again, when I'm reading these texts, I'm wondering, I said, Paul, you're an apostle. You could pray over this man and heal him. But Paul says, notice, I left him in Miltium sick. Why, Paul? I mean, you have the gift of healing. Why don't you just heal him? Well, the Apostle Paul teaches us again another important lesson. You know, sometimes believers get sick. Because we live here in a world that is groaning the whole creation. And you and I are groaning because we are part of this world in which we live in. Sometimes we get sick.

Sometimes we have weaknesses and trials. Sometimes we have difficulties in our life. And sometimes we are in a better situation in our life. The Lord is the one that is in control over the life of his own people. Even Paul himself had a thorn in the flesh and he asked three times from the Lord to remove it from him. But the Lord allowed him, he says, My grace is sufficient for thee. And so it's interesting to see that he left Trophimius, he left him in Milton, sick. And apparently, he was another servant of the Lord that had been sick. And finally, brothers and sisters, notice that in verse 21, he says again, do thy diligence to come before winter.

He wanted him so badly to arrive before winter because time is passing by. He knows he has to leave this scene. And he mentioned another four names, Eubulus, Gritti, Pudence, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren, they greet you, Timothy. And please come quickly to Rome. I want to see you before I leave this world. And he concludes with 2 Timothy 4, verse 22. The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. And he used the word, Amen. So he's saying, notice that he's saying here, the Lord be with you, Timothy. That's what I wish for you. Secondly, he says, be also with thy spirit and then grace be with you.

You know, brothers and sisters, if anyone is able to continue on to follow the Lord here in this world, we all need grace. In Hebrew, we say chesed. By grace I saved, through faith. This is in relationship to salvation. But also, we read in Scripture, be strong in getting grace from the Lord. We need more grace in order to be able to follow our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. Well, we conclude here, 2 Timothy. This is the epistle, the last letter that the Apostle Paul wrote. From here on, we never have any more, any of his writings, even though the book of Titus is after. But actually, the book of Titus was written before.

And from here on, the Apostle Paul have died and passed away and have gone to be with Yeshua, the Messiah. And he, with many others who have gone already before, waiting for the day that all believers will be taken and will be in the presence of the Lord to worship him and to praise him forever and ever. May the Lord hasten this day.