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Paul asks that Timothy greet old friends Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. He repeats his request that Timothy try as hard as possible to visit him before his execution. He sends a few greetings from other believers, and encourages Timothy that the Lord is with him.

Paul tends to some personal matters. He urges Timothy to try as hard as he can to see him before he is executed. Most of his other ministry partners are away from him, except Luke. Paul warns Timothy against certain people, like Alexander the coppersmith. He explains how no one supported him at his first defense, but that he does not want God to hold it against these people. He was able to preach the gospel regardless, and eagerly looks forward to joining Jesus in His kingdom after death.

Paul knows he is going to die soon. Unlike other letters, where he writes of running the race to win, now Paul concludes that he has finished the race, he served God unto death. He looks forward to the heavenly reward Christ will give him and all others who endure to the end.

Paul passes the torch of ministry to Timothy, charging him in the presence of God and Christ, to preach the gospel. Timothy must always be ready to teach, at all times of the year, to rebuke and patiently instruct. Eventually people will not be willing to hear the truth of God’s word.

In contrast to the evil way men will behave in the last days, Paul points to himself as an example for Timothy to follow. Timothy spent years being mentored by Paul on missionary journeys. He knows of the many ways Paul suffered for Jesus, because all who walk with Jesus will be persecuted, yet the Lord rescues us and sustains us. Timothy does not need to look only at Paul for an example to imitate; he has known the scriptures since he was a boy. The scriptures are God’s word, given from the highest authority, and they can teach, correct, and equip all people to become who God made us to be.

Paul warns Timothy of the way men will behave in the last days before Christ’s return. Men will love themselves only, seek money, elevate themselves, exploit other people, hate goodness while pretending to be religious. Timothy ought to avoid men like this. These men will be like the two magicians who opposed Moses, with some brief displays of power that will ultimately be shown as nothing in comparison to God’s power. In the end everyone will see that these men wasted their lives.

The armies of the antichrist have gathered to defy Jesus and His heavenly forces. But immediately, the antichrist and his false prophet are grabbed and thrown alive into the lake of fire, perhaps a symbol of Jesus’s fiery judgement. The armies of the antichrist are slain by a word from Jesus’s mouth, presented symbolically as a sword, and the birds come to eat the dead.

An angel calls for birds to gather. The kings, commanders, and warriors of the antichrist are about to be slain, and there will be a "great supper" for the vultures, crows, and so on.  The "beast" (the antichrist) and all his armies assemble to fight Jesus.

John sees the moment of Jesus’s second coming. In contrast to Christ’s first advent (that of a poor suffering servant, born in a stable, riding a donkey), now Christ comes down from Heaven on a white horse, His eyes flaming with fire, crowned with many crowns, His robe dipped in blood, and armies of heaven following Him on white horses. He comes to judge and to wage war on His enemies, a sword proceeding from His mouth. He will rule with a rod of iron, and will crush the antichrist and his followers like grapes in a wine press. He is the King of all kings, and the Lord over all lords.

The speaker who is revealing these things to John tells him to write a statement of blessing to guests invited to the victory feast of Jesus. John falls to the ground and worships the speaker, but the speaker tells him he is only a fellow servant and that John ought to worship God. There is so much glory in Heaven that John is overwhelmed simply by the presence of a fellow believer.

Another assembly of voices from Heaven celebrates the completeness of the old world’s defeat. The corrupted world system which exploited humans and defied God will never return to power. The twenty-four elders, the four living creatures worship God, and many voices like waterfalls and thunder join in by praising God and His rulership.  They speak of celebrating the marriage between the Lamb, Jesus, and His bride, the church. There will be a marriage feast, and the saints will be dressed in fine linen made of their righteous acts of obedience.

The saints and angels in Heaven praise God now that Babylon (the fallen world system) has been defeated. They declare God the Righteous Judge who has rescued the corrupted earth from its evil rulers. He has avenged the believers who were put to death under the antichrist’s reign.

Paul tells the Philippians to imitate him, not other believers who are living contrary to Christ by serving their own immediate desires. They live lives of destroyed opportunity and shameful waste, prioritizing earthly gain. Believers should look beyond the present and beyond the earth, toward Heaven where we truly belong, our true country, where Jesus will one day take us as He remakes our bodies to be sinless and totally in step with Him.

Living out the servant mindset of Jesus is an ongoing process. It is something believers should seek to do for the rest of their lives, daily pressing on toward God's calling for us to have the attitude of Jesus, who lived out faithful obedience to God to the point of death, and was rewarded for it by God.

Paul considers religious practices and custom meaningless compared to the far better value of serving Jesus Christ through the obedience of faith. Following the Jewish Law does not make anyone right in God’s eyes; only faith in Christ does that. But life is more than simply being born into God’s family. There is a future reward for believers who give up worldly concerns, who live out the servant mindset of Christ, obeying Him even if it means giving up everything, even dying for Him, just as He died for the world. Paul makes clear that this reward is worth giving up everything to gain.

Paul warns about teachers who seek to lead the Philippians away from the truth of Christ’s finished work on the cross. These were likely teachers who sought to add to Christ’s gospel, telling Gentiles to rely on religious practice to become righteous. But Paul points out that he is the most Jewish of Jews and yet he does not count on religious practice gaining him benefit in the sight of God; only faith in Christ gains us justification in the sight of God, and only the obedience of faith in Jesus pleases God, and gains us rewards from Him.

With self-awareness, Paul repeats a logical application of his main point to the Philippians to choose the same mindset Jesus chose: rejoice in the Lord. If we have the mindset of Christ, we will believe that whatever God places in our lives is for our best interest. To choose to rejoice is to choose to view all circumstances as an opportunity to gain the great benefit of obedience to Christ.  

God solidifies His rejection of Saul as king over Israel by removing His Spirit from him and sending a tormenting spirit upon the king.

After the sacrifice, Jesse makes each of his sons pass before Samuel. The first seven are not chosen, so lastly they call for David. David was the youngest son and the least likely to be the Lord’s anointed in the eyes of Samuel and in the eyes of Jesse his father.

Samuel travels to Bethlehem to anoint a son of Jesse as king over Israel