26 - Paul's Last Itinerary -The Itineraries Of Paul
Paul's Last Itinerary Philemon 23-24: There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. Most of the critical Greek texts indicate that this is incorrectly translated. It should be in the essence that Epaphras, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas and Lucas salute thee. So these men must be with Paul. “All these men salute thee,” it isn’t “you salute them.” That doesn’t necessarily change the order of these epistles. They were all written from Rome, apparently, around this time when Paul was in chains, when all these men were with him. Tychicus had been sent out before and Onesimus. Timothy, he says, is getting ready to go. Hebrews 13:23: Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. “set at liberty” – It’s in the sense that he’s been sent out on a mission. He’s been commissioned. What he had hoped for before, to send him out, has now come to pass by the time he writes the epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews 13:24: Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. Paul is in Italy. This was probably written shortly after these others, before Paul starts out on his last itinerary, during that two year period that he was at Rome in his own hired house. Remember he wants to come to them pretty soon too. He wrote that to the Philippians and to Philemon. He sent out Timothy and he writes this book to the Hebrews. Then he sets out on his last itinerary and it’s during this Itinerary that he writes what we call the pastoral epistles written to those who watch over the body; men and women with ministries or the elders. He tells them how the operation of the ministry is to be run. In these pastoral epistles of I & II Timothy and Titus, he lays the groundwork and the guidelines, not the law, for the organization of the early church. The early church was not run on 325 commandments when Paul was around. It was run by guidelines, pri
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in Christ Jesus. He says to know the scriptures. He says study those scriptures; study, rightly dividing the Word. He was concerned about Timothy studying and rightly dividing God’s Word. The Word that he’d heard from a child; the Old Testament and now the New Testament which has been gradually unfolding. He’s also concerned in verse 2 of chapter 4, that he not only studies the Word but that he preaches the Word. II Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. “Not only study and know it, Timothy, but preach it; declare it herald it.” The other thing is in verse 13 of chapter 4. He wants to keep the Word together. II Timothy 4:13: The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. “Especially the parchments, the ones we worked so har