Especially the Parchments

What things are important when times are hard, dangerous, uncertain, and possibly short? God, family, close friends and church family would be important. There is a sobriety when people are conflicted because of circumstances and when decisions must be made. This morning a little after midnight, Deb had fallen asleep and I began to think about the Apostle Paul. I love Paul, his life, and his writings. Paul was facing a situation that was hard, dangerous, and possibly short when shackled in Rome in his second letter to young Timothy, his son in the faith. Some of those that made up his missionary team had fallen by the wayside and was a source of discouragement. Think Demas (4:10). The unsaved were opposing his message at every turn. Think Alexander the coppersmith (4:14). It was well over forty years ago when this verse was the text of a sermon or Sunday school lesson and I have never read this verse since without thinking about that day. 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.”

Notice three things he mentions in our main verse.
1. The cloke. Winter was coming quickly and if his situation lingered he would need something for warmth. Carpus was a Christian and when Paul had last visited Troas, he stayed in his home. This may be the passage in Acts 20:6-12. This is the only mention of Carpus in the NT but he was a hospitable man giving food and shelter to the Apostle. I think it is wonderful when God’s people are blessed with beautiful clothes. Dr. Cecil Hodges, the pastor of the church I was saved at, and his sweet wife Kitty would travel from Savannah to Atlanta every year for a shopping spree. They both, as they say, “dressed to the nines.” They stayed at the same hotel off Clairmont Road and for a couple of days just shopped at Lennox Mall. Seldom did you see him without every hair in place and dressed ready for any occasion. Paul wasn’t looking for a package from Lennox, he was simply wanting to be warm. The coat was important.

2. The books. What type of books would he be interested in? I think there are most likely two types. First, it could have been letters from a few trusted friends or contempories that had written about important matters for doctrine sake. Perhaps he wished to pass those epistles along to some special people as a source of encouragement. The second type may have been more personal and wished to read them again. I have had family members that received letters from loved ones, and each received letter once read then re-read, would be placed in a bundle. My wife has my letters from our courtship days. (No, you can’t see them.) The stack tied securely together with some type of band or cord, kept for reading another day. These would have been a source of joy for Paul. I love books but libraries are going by the way of the “dodo” bird. Many books are now read via our computers, tablets and phones. I use mostly electronic means for my study but I still like holding a regular book, reading with a yellow highlighter next to me so I can mark special portions in my hands. I like the smell of books and being in a room with many books is special to me and always has been. Paul tells young Timothy “and the books” as a reminder to not forget them.

3. The Parchments. The most important was the spiritual. Cloaks and books are wonderful. Wardrobes and libraries are awesome but the most important aspects of our lives revolve around the spiritual. Parchments were material on which the inspired books which we know as Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, etc. would have been penned. These would have been copied several times for distribution among the Christian community. Perhaps Paul wished to inspect them for accuracy before checking off on distribution. It may also have been certain parts of the Bible that Jesus and Paul used. Do you know what Bible they used? It was the Hebrew Old Testament. The one we have in our Bibles today. The bible ought to be a daily part of our life. The feeding on the word of God is sustenance for the soul and it is more important than physical bread. How much time do we actually spend on our spiritual part? If we look at Paul’s instruction to Timothy we see his priority. Cloaks are needed, especially when the cold winter winds are about to arrive. Books are wonderful to stimulate the mind, helping us recall friends but it was the parchments that were at the top of the list. Let’s think about Paul’s priorities and seek to make them ours.