Chapter 2
STAND FOR SOMETHING: EVERYBODY LEFT BUT ONE
Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for something we shall fall for anything.1 If there was a Mount Rushmore of the great leaders of the Bible, the Apostle Paul’s image would certainly be one of the more prominent faces engraved into that mountain. The transition from Saul the persecutor to Paul the apostle was a journey peppered with pain and salted with success. His conversion became one of the more important chapters in the history of the Church. More than any other character in the New Testament, Paul was responsible for the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church throughout the Roman Empire.
For the first time, we meet his spiritual son, Timothy, in Acts 16. At the beginning of his second missionary journey, Paul arrived in Lystra and Derbe. While in that area, he was introduced to Timothy, whose father was a Greek and mother was a Jew. Timothy had been greatly influenced by the faith of his mother and grandmother. He came to the faith at an early age and was eager to serve God. In the meeting with Paul, a friendship was formed, one that would last for a lifetime. Paul made the decision, one that was received with great joy, that Timothy would join this missionary band. Throughout his life, Paul was clear in his intentions toward Timothy. He found in Timothy a young man who could carry the dreams of Paul into the next generation.
Paul had reached the end of his life and was now ready to pen his final words to his beloved son. We read those words in the two letters he wrote to Timothy. The letters are Paul’s final instructions to his faithful friend.
After Paul’s first release from prison in Rome, he wrote his first letter to Timothy and another to Titus. After those letters he was imprisoned again under the reign of Nero. It was during this timeframe that he crafted his second letter to Timothy. His second incarceration was much different than the first. He was not under house arrest, as in his first stay in prison. This time he was thrown into a cold dungeon and chained like a common criminal. His friends had forsaken him. Most everyone in Asia, including Demas, had abandoned hi
