A Message From the Salutation

II Timothy 4:19-22

Over the years I have had the privilege of attending many church meetings from local, to state, to the national/international level. I have also had the opportunity to travel to Canada and Costa Rica on mission trips. There is something special about meeting Christians from around the world. You make friends that you would not otherwise have a reason to know. However, there comes a time when you have to leave those meetings and the friends you make go back to their homes or mission fields. Sometimes this happens in our local churches, as well. People we grow close to move on to a different area because they are going where God leads them to do His work.

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"Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Era stus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen."

II Timothy 4:19-22

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We only know a little about the people listed in these scriptures. That being said, they were all important to Paul. So important in fact, that Paul's final words of his final letter are about those he had left behind in different ministry locations. He wanted to greet the friends who were with Timothy. He gave a report on one brother who was sick. Then he sent the greetings from the friends that were with him to Timothy and the church he was at. When he could have been focused on his own plight, he was not. He was instructing, encouraging, and simply loving those he had invested in.

Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila had been with Paul since very early in his ministry (Acts 18). Paul had stayed with them and made tents with them. Then they had joined his mission team. They had spent time discipling Apollos who became a missionary himself. It is hard to spend that much time with someone and not love them life family.

Onesiphorus is someone we read about in the beginning of this letter:

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"The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus."

II Timothy 1:16-18

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Apparently this poor saint was in poor health and would soon be in Heaven. He had ministered to Paul during his first Roman imprisonment. He had gone and looked for Paul so that he could care for him. Paul ends this passage by telling us that Onesiphorus had also ministered to Paul in Ephesus. This man was a servant who cared for other Christians. It is no wonder that Paul sent a greeting to his family.

After mentioning others, Paul tells Timothy to come to him before winter. After writing all this, why did Paul want Timothy to come see him? I believe the answer is in verse 2 of chapter 1. Paul said that Timothy was "a beloved son". What father would not want to see his son one last time? Not only is this a nice sentiment, but it is models for us how we should be as well. There are a few lessons we can learn from Paul and the people he mentions here in the end of the letter.

1. Make friends along the way - No matter where we go, we need to make friends that encourage us and that we can encourage as well.

2. Help others along the way - You reap what you sow. When God gives us the ability to help others we should. We never know when we will be the one in need of help.

3. Pray for others along the way - We should pray for the sick, like Trophimus. We should pray for the grieving, like the family of Onesiphorus. We should pray for those who labor in the ministry, like Aquila and Priscilla, Timothy, and Erastus.

4. Mentor/Disciple others along the way - There has to be someone to continue on after our ministry ends. We need to be intentional about planning for the next generation of workers.

Father, thank You for the friends we make along the way. May we be diligent to pray for those friends, to encourage them, and to teach those whom You lead us to prepare to carry on the ministry of the Gospel. Strengthen and equip us for this work.