D.A. Carson on 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8

Don Carson, From the Resurrection to His Return: Living Faithfully in the Last Days (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2010), 48pp., ISBN 9781845505776.

£2.99 for 48 pages, and small ones at that, makes this a fairly self-indulgent purchase, not least since the material is freely available online in several places in its original sermon format. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will doubtless turn to it again at some point.

It’s effectively a running exposition of 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8, Paul’s final charge to Timothy. The first chapter, based on 3:1-9, introduces the theme of ‘living in the last days’, understood as the entire period between Christ’s first and second comings. Thereafter come four main points about ‘living in the last days’:

1. Hold the right mentors in high regard (3:10-11)
2. Hold few illusions about the world (3:12-13)
3. Hold on to the Bible (3:14-17)
4. Hold out the Bible to others (4:1-8)

The exposition is brief, but suggestive, and it wouldn’t take too much to expand it into a short series of sermons or house-group sessions, using the material to encourage others to live faithfully in the last days.