WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE

2 Timothy 4:9-13 (KJV)

Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:

For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens 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 cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.

My parents live in Finley, WA, just outside of Kennewick, about 225 miles away.

It is challenging to see them very often. They can’t come here and my schedule doesn’t allow lots of visits. It requires two days minimum, and I just can’t afford that much time away.

Consequently I don’t get to go over there very much, but I do communicate with Mom every day.

·   I send her an email every day and she also sends me one

·   I call her once in a while

Very very often in those communications Mom will write something like, “I sure miss you. Wish you could come over.” And I will write back, “I miss you too Mom. I’ll come as soon as I can.”

I mean when I get a chance.

·   No real plan is made

·   No real time for a visit is planned

·   Nothing serious is done about seeing my Mom

But then a few times Mom has called me and said something like, “Can you come over Son? Your dad is having surgery.”

When I get those calls visiting Mom gets bumped up on my list of importance.

Other things get set aside. Some things get trashed.

I do whatever I have to do in order to get there real soon.

I’m diligent about it.

I think, that’s what’s going on in this passage.

Paul isn’t hoping Timothy can come see him sometime soon.

Paul is asking Timothy to do everything possible to come see him as soon as it can be done.

Communication was slower back then.

It was probably at least weeks before Timothy received this letter and would take probably weeks for Timothy to make the arrangements to make a trip of this nature.

But the idea was that Timothy needed to drop everything and come.

I want to give you the reasons why:

I. BECAUSE THE TIME OF PAUL’S DEPARTURE WAS AT HAND

2 Timothy 4:6 (KJV)

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

The more things change, I think, the more things stay the same.

Paul was on death row so to speak, but that did not mean his execution was the next day.

There is no way to guess how much time passed between when the sentence was passed down and when it was executed, but Paul did believe he would pass the winter in a prison cell.

On the other hand, communicate and travel times were much greater than they are in our day. If it took several months to carry out the execution, it might take several weeks to get word to Timothy and for him to arrive.

If Timothy was going to see him, he would have to be diligent about coming.

II. BECAUSE PAUL HAD BEEN LEFT WITHOUT AIDE

2 Timothy 4:10-12 (KJV)

For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens 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.

Not everyone had left and not every who had left had done so for bad reasons.

A. Demas had forsaken him

There is a huge difference between those who leave well and those who don’t and – in how the preacher, as well as the church, ought to respond to those who leave.

There are folk who have moved away from our church that I wasn’t necessarily real happy about them going.

But they left well and I maintain very good relations with them. Some of them I keep in very close contact with.

There are others who have left poorly and I refuse to pretend that everything is all right.

I’m not bitter against them

I don’t hold a grudge and wish evil upon them

But I do recognize that they are out of the way – regardless of whether they go to church or not – and I do pray for their repentance.

Paul said that Demas had forsaken him and that he did it because he loved this present world.

That doesn’t have to mean that Demas walked out on church – it might just mean that he wasn’t willing to risk staying with Paul, who is about to be executed for preaching the same thing Demas had preached.

B. Crescens, Titus and Tychicus, had gone on to other ministries

There are two kinds in this heading:

1. We don’t know why Crescens and Titus left.

We can speculate that they left under good terms because Titus has a book of the Bible written to him (and about this same time.)

Titus is another “Timothy type” under Apostle Paul. Paul loved Titus like he did Timothy.

I could give you a whole list of people who were once here but have moved to other places and I am still very close to them and love them very much.

2. Tychicus, on the other hand, is gone because Paul sent him to Ephesus.

I’ll give you the name of the one who I think of when I think of this – my son, Bohannan.

Bohannan always told me that he believed it was the pastor’s job to send a preacher out from the church. He did not want to find some place else to serve the Lord and pick a time when he would leave and then ask me if he could go, knowing he was going whether I thought it was a good idea or not.

He believed it was my job as is pastor to send him when I thought he was ready where I thought God wanted him.

I have no ill feelings about Bohannan being in Anacortes. I believe it is the will of God. I am glad he is there.

That does not change the fact that I miss him.

Then

C. Luke was still with him

Luke was a physician, and it is very probable that, beyond the other things he was responsible for, Luke helped keep Paul healthy.

He was the indispensible one.

Paul wouldn’t have a ministry without Luke.

Luke was with Paul everywhere. He wrote the book of Acts, an account of Paul’s ministry, from a first hand point of view. He wasn’t told about what Paul did, he lived it.

That reminds me of – you.

This church, this ministry, could never survive without people who are here, who stick with us through thick and thin

Who will go through:

·   Stonings

·   Jailings

·   Rough seas

·   Attacks

·   Threats

And just stay with it.

Of course we are still looking for others to come join us, that’s the nature of the ministry.

We never really come to the place where we can give without receiving.

So Paul told Timothy, Do they diligence to come….

III. BECAUSE PAUL WAS IN NEED OF SOME SIMPLE ITEMS

2 Timothy 4:13 (KJV)

The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.

Paul requests three things:

·   The cloak

·   The books

·   The Parchments (Bible)

A. Something for his body

The cloak was meant to warm his body in the cold winter months.

B. Something for his soul

The books were meant to occupy his mind and expand his knowledge.

C. Something for his spirit

Paul especially wanted the parchments. As needful as the other things were, nothing is as needful – to the very end, as the Word of God.