The Need for Fellowship and Study

There is a portrait of William Tyndale that hangs in my study. I look at it often. You may know his name because he gave us the first English Bible translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. But think about him not as a scholar or a hero of the Reformation, but as a man sitting in a cold prison cell in the winter of 1535, in Vilvoorde Castle in Belgium, facing execution. He had been there over a year. He knew his end was near. And so he did what a man does when he has very little time and very little left: he wrote a letter.

He asked the prison governor for a warmer cap, a warmer coat, a piece of cloth to patch his leggings, and permission to have a lamp in the evening because, as he put it, it is wearisome to sit alone in the dark. Those are human requests. But then he wrote something that has stayed with me ever since I read it. He said, "But above all, I entreat and beseech your clemency that I may have my Hebrew Bible, my Hebrew Grammar, and my Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend my time in that study."

He was facing death. He had already given England the New Testament and the Pentateuch in its own tongue. And what he wanted most in that cell was his Bible and his books.

Fifteen hundred years before Tyndale, another man in another prison wrote something that sounds very much the same.

Paul was at the end of his ministry. He was writing to the younger Timothy, giving serious direction in what would turn out to be his most personal epistle. And in the middle of that letter, tucked between the names of friends and enemies, he makes a request that reveals two things the old apostle still needed even as death drew near: the fellowship of God's people and the Word of God.

The Charge and the Coming Danger

The chapter opens with one of the most solemn charges in all of Scripture.

And then the warning: a time was coming, and has now come, when people would rather hear stories than good sound preaching. They would accumulate teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear. Look around and ask yourself, is this time now? I believe it is.

Paul was already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of his departure had come. He had fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith. We rejoice knowing that as that old soldier of the cross came to the end of the course, he must have had a big old smile on his battle-weary face as he thought about what was to come. And we thank God he was inspired to write that the things he was looking for were not just for him but also for all who have loved His appearing.

Paul was ready to die, and he was ready to meet his Lord. But he was not yet done living. So he writes to Timothy with some very specific and very human requests. The first is for fellowship.

The Need for Fellowship

As tough as Paul was, he still longed for some good fellowship. Oh, dear child of God, hear me now: you need the fellowship of God's people. You need to be in church, and as much as you can you ought to get together with your brothers and sisters through the week. A phone call. A visit. Those things are needed in the world we live in.

In verses 10 through 12, we begin to read names. Don't be a Demas or an Alexander. Be a Luke. Read through the book of Acts and rejoice as we follow the missionary journeys of Paul, with Luke going with him even to Rome when he was in trouble (Acts 16:10, 27:1).

"Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service" (2 Timothy 4:11). Do you understand what a big deal this is? Go back to Acts 15:36–38. Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement over Mark because Mark had abandoned them on an earlier journey. Some Baptists I know would have held onto that until they died. But not Paul. He was looking for reasons for fellowship, not for reasons to break fellowship.

Be a Tychicus. Paul couldn't go to Ephesus, so Tychicus was willing and able to go instead. And be a Timothy. Paul knew he could count on him. Notice: "When you come," he says in verse 13. Not "if you come." Paul was in trouble, charged with a capital crime. He had asked many of the Christians in Asia to come and be with him for support, perhaps even to testify on his behalf. But none would dare come. I ask you: where would you be if the missionary needed help? Where would you be if the pastor needed you?

The Need for Study

So Paul needed his people. He needed a Timothy, a Luke, a Tychicus. That is the first great need in this passage. But there is a second, and it takes us right to the heart of verse 13. Paul also needed his books. And what he says here should stop every one of us cold.

Not just any cloak, but "the cloak I left at Troas with Carpus." The scrolls were written on papyrus, not the kind of books you or I might have in our libraries today. Very fragile and perishable. And then, "especially the parchments." Parchments were, according to Hezekiah Harvey in his commentary on 2 Timothy, costly and doubtless writings of higher importance. The parchment material was made from the skins of sheep or goats, which gradually supplanted papyrus because of its durability.

John Gill speculated that these might contain Paul's own writings he wished to revise before his death, or some observations he had made in his travels. Though it is most likely that these were the books of the Old Testament, which were written on parchments and rolled up together. And these the apostle had a special regard for, that whatever was neglected, he desired that these might not, but be carefully brought unto him.

These were things Paul left behind in the hurry of leaving because of persecution. He could not just obtain them at the corner market. There was no WalMart, Amazon, or Kindle.

We Are Blessed

As you read your Bibles, you need to be struck with a realization: you and I are blessed in a way the early churches were not. You and I have our Bibles in a nice, leather-bound book holding all 66 books. The early churches did not. Many times they had scrolls or pieces of them. The church at Thessalonica was confused about the order of the coming of the Lord. In and around the area of Galatia, there were Jews who proclaimed a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. These problems arose in part because the early churches did not have a complete Bible the way we do today.

Think about that. The apostle Paul, who had been caught up to the third heaven, who had written fourteen books of the New Testament, who had carried the gospel across the known world, was sitting in a prison cell asking for his books. The love of study never left him. It should never leave us either.

No matter how seasoned a saint you are, no matter how mature you become, you will never outgrow the need to study. And you will never outgrow the need for the fellowship of God's people.

Rightly Dividing the Word

Paul admonished Timothy to be diligent to show himself approved. A workman that does not need to be ashamed, either when he presents the Word or when he stands before the Judge. Rightly dividing the Word of truth. The allusion is just as Paul was accustomed to measuring the material of the tent and cutting it precisely so the tent would be perfect. Even so, the Word of God needed to be measured, rightly divided. And we must be careful, because if it can be rightly divided then it can be wrongly divided.

A Warning

Paul was not out for revenge. Alexander the Coppersmith had done him wrong, but the Lord will award him according to his deeds. At the same time, Paul was not ashamed to warn Timothy about him. Don't be an Alexander. But don't let an Alexander steal your joy either.

The Faithfulness of the Lord

We love fellowship, but sometimes men will not stand with us. Don't let that get you down too much. Find your strength in the Lord and your friendship there.

It's not in the number of friends you have in this life but the quality. You'll never have a better friend than Jesus. Paul had some good friends in the ministry, male and female. But the best friend Paul had was Jesus.

The Gospel in This Passage

I want to make sure that before we leave this passage, I say plainly what it means when we call Jesus the friend who sticks closer than a brother, because it is not just a warm sentiment. The reason Jesus can be called a friend who sticks closer than a brother is that He went to a cross for His people. He bore the wrath that His people deserved. He took the sin, the guilt, the condemnation, and He nailed it there. He rose from the dead. And now through the preaching of the gospel this is offered to anyone who will turn from their sin and trust in Him. If you have never done that, that is your need today. Not a cloak. Not a book. A Savior.

And if you have trusted Him, then you know what Paul knew: that no prison, no desertion, no Alexander the Coppersmith, no cold cell, and no martyr's death can separate you from that friendship. He is the friend who will never leave you nor forsake you, and He is better than any fellowship this side of heaven.

Two Charges

First, the fellowship charge. Before this week is out, reach out to one of God's people. Not a text with a thumbs up. A phone call. A visit. A note. Paul wanted Timothy, and he could not have him yet. You likely can have your Timothy. Do not waste that. The days are short and the world is cold, and your brothers and sisters need you more than you know.

Second, the study charge. Open your Bible this week with intention. Not just a verse on your phone. Sit down with it. Read a chapter. Read it slowly. William Tyndale died for the right to put that book in your hands, and Paul wanted his copy so badly he asked for it from a prison cell. The least we can do is open ours.