God’s Word for You

2 Timothy 4:17-18 safely to his heavenly kingdom

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, July 18, 2026

17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the mouth of the lion. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul has talked about the various people who were not there with him, some because he sent them away, one at least who turned on him and abandoned him, and some who were too frightened, perhaps, to stand with him. But now he sets all of that aside and marvels at who was indeed with him: “The Lord stood at my side.” This does not mean that Christ was there in the form of a phantom or an angel, but that Paul was strengthened during his trial by Christ’s promises; the word of God, and this came from God. He had, after all, been chosen by Christ on the road to Damascus, and then set aside for his mission work by the Holy Spirit. He knew that what he was doing was truly blessed and the design and will of God.

“Through me,” he says, “the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” Had he been everywhere in the Gentile world? Not everywhere. He had preached in the Middle East, in Asia Minor, in Greece, in Spain perhaps, and now in Italy. But this last opportunity was remarkable. Just as he had a remarkable audience in Athens when he spoke with the philosophers on Mars Hill, so now he got to speak in the capital of the world, at the highest earthly tribunal, perhaps even in the Roman forum. We don’t know whether he actually spoke before Caesar Nero, but he had appealed to Caesar in order to get here (Acts 25:11-12). Certainly a great many Romans heard Paul speak when he had that first hearing, the one where only the Lord stood with him. And Paul had written many letters (this was his thirteenth) that were being read in the churches by both Jews and Gentiles alike, and are still being read and pondered today, at this very moment.

What does Paul mean when he says that he was rescued “from the mouth of the lion”? I have translated this to show that the word “lion” is singular, but Paul is probably quoting Psalm 22:21, “Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,” which is singular both in Hebrew and in the Greek translation, although some English versions (NIV) make it plural. Paul was a Roman citizen, so this could not refer to being thrown to the lions in the arena. I think that Paul is simply using this expression as a way of talking about execution in general; he was spared for a little while.

What “evil attacks” could Paul be talking about in verse 18, attacks that would keep him or might keep him from God’s heavenly kingdom? These could be attacks of doubts and similar temptations, the kind of things that plague and assail a lonely man’s mind when he stands alone against accusations, false doctrine, or other assaults of the devil.

In the words, “and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom,” we have one of the clear passages of the Bible that tells us that when we die, our souls are separated from our flesh and immediately, carried by angels (Luke 16:22), taken to heaven. There is no other place, no concern for the believer or a place where we might go. There are myths in the world about a purgatory, but there is no passage in the Bible nor even in the Apocrypha that hints about such a place.

If we must prove this, then note that 2 Maccabees 12:43-46 is about unbelievers, idolaters, and not at all about believers who might be scrubbing away their sins in the afterlife. The prayer that Judas Maccabaeus prays is for his living men not to fall into a similar sin, and is a righteous prayer of a righteous man. Also, in the Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-6, which some people claim talks about purging sins “like gold in a furnace,” there is no reason to take the words there except in the context of men who suffered for their faith in this lifetime (“their departure was thought to be an affliction,” 3:2). But what does the writer then say? “But they are at peace” (3:3). That can in no way mean any suffering such as the myth of Purgatory. No, the Bible is clear that when the body dies, the soul of the believer is carried at once to heaven, and the soul of the unbeliever is thrown at once into hell. There is nothing else. We are saved by faith in Christ, who paid all of the punishment for sin on the cross, “once for all to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Paul’s confidence is that this is what awaits him—a man who once opposed Christ and who persecuted Christians. Has he anything to pay for? No, because Christ already paid it all. Paid in full. Paul believes in Christ, and that is all he needs. And you also: You believe in Christ, and that is all you need.

So Paul adds a doxology, a quick burst of praise: “To him be glory forever and ever!” We who are carried to heaven will join in the hymn of praise and the shout of joy that will give him glory forever, but God would have glory even without us. What a privilege, what a blessing, to be called into that eternal choir of praise and delight! And in the vernacular of the day we live in, Paul adds a “mic drop.” He says “Amen.” This is most certainly true.

Let me sit with you in the pew to listen to my wife’s father once again: “Jesus will open his arms wide to us and invite us to come and live with him in the joys of heaven. ‘Come,’ he will say to us, ‘Come and enjoy the kingdom that has been prepared for you. Come and be happy forever with me.’ And as we then hear from the Lord, ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord’ (1 Thessalonians 4:17). May God keep each one of us faithful to him, so the crown of righteousness might be ours on the day of Jesus’ appearing in glory. Amen.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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