2Ti 4:1-4 | KingComments | STEP | . In the previous verses Paul pointed out to Timothy the situation in professing Christianity where there is no improvement to be expected, but on the contrary deterioration. In the meantime, after many ages of church history that also appeared. But he also pointed out to Timothy resources for difficult times. He did that in a way from which you also may profit. Now Timothy is able and has to get down to work. In a penetrating way Paul places Timothy “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus”, a presence that is reality to Paul himself. He lives before the face of God and of Christ Jesus and not before the face of men. In that way he is like Elijah, who, while he stood before king Ahab, said: “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand” ( ). He wants to give that awareness both to Timothy and to you. The way Paul connects Christ Jesus and God with each other indicates that Christ is God. Then three things of Christ are said that have to do with the fact that He became Man. First of all He “is to judge the living and the dead”. That judgment is given to Him because He is the Son of Man ( ). Then He will visibly appear as Man. Finally He will establish His kingdom. He will execute the judgment on the living and the dead at different times and at different occasions. He will judge the living when He has appeared on earth and is seated on the throne of His glory. The nations living on earth will appear before Him and be judged by Him ( ). He will judge the dead when He is seated on the great white throne, after His millennial kingdom ( ). Just for the record, the sequence of events listed in this verse: 1. First the Lord Jesus will appear on earth; 2. then He will judge the living, while He is seated on the throne of His glory; 3. then He will establish His kingdom and will reign for thousand years; 4. after which He, being seated on the great white throne, will judge the dead. For the sake of completeness, I mention another judgment that takes place earlier than the two just mentioned, namely immediately after the rapture of the church ( ). There the reward is being given to the believer according to the measure of faithfulness with which He served the Lord on earth. As it is said, the charging in the presence of two Divine Persons and the three events to come, underline the gravity of the order that must be fulfilled. But it also includes a great encouragement and that is that you may know that the hard times will come to an end when the Lord Jesus, Who is still being rejected, will return in power and majesty. The thought of His coming to judge makes you free from people and frees you from the fear of men. . Against the background of the command follows in . The thought of His appearance will not paralyze you, but will make you more diligent. When Christ returns He will come with His reward that is determined before the judgment seat. That reward is to be gained by you on earth by using all your efforts and diligence in full dedication to the Lord and to do what He asks of you. In measured terms Paul tells Timothy what is expected of him. The whole point is: “Preach the word.” After the Word of God has become apparent as the equipment of the man of God in the concluding verses of chapter 3 ( ), the next step is that it has to be preached. That is a great duty in all times, but certainly when the church has fallen into decay. ‘Preach’ here means openly proclaim, like the imperial herald did. The message to be brought was not made up by the herald himself. Not listening to the message of a herald was a serious matter. Timothy must always “be ready”. He is supposed to be inwardly always ready to transmit the Word, that is the whole revealed truth of God. He is supposed to be always ready (cf. ), “in season [and] out of season”, which means whether it is convenient for him or not, or whether the circumstances are favorable or not. He is also supposed to ‘reprove’, that is to deliver the convincing proof of the wrong in doctrine or life (cf. ). When that proof has been delivered then ‘rebuke’ should follow. The rebuking or denouncing, the openly indicating, makes clear how wrong the person has spoken or acted. Not only courage is needed for that, but also the right mindset. Acting against evil and “exhort” to prevent evil must happen “with great patience”, that is with long-suffering and self-control and not with a quick temper. That must also be accompanied by “instruction” or education. Both with reproving and rebuking and with teaching the doctrine of the Scripture has to be applied. All these actions are to be explained from the Scripture. Acting on the basis of the Scripture has always been of the greatest importance. As time goes by the importance increases more and more. I hope you are well aware of that or become aware of that. In any case Paul is not to be blamed if you do not consider this. . He warns us that a time will come that people and especially nominal Christians “will not endure sound doctrine”. We have definitely arrived in that time right now. Just tell nominal Christians about ‘the sound doctrine’ of marriage for instance. There is a great chance that they will laugh at you and label you as old-fashioned and that your ideas are outdated. In that way they reject the doctrine that is sound in itself and in its effect. They choose for a free experience of sexuality. They do not want to realize that this has been the cause and the spread of a disease like aids. They prefer to hold a ‘Day for aids’ to focus the attention on the problem and they give money in order to overcome this disease themselves. Getting to the root of the problem and living a healthy life in this regard, that is, in accordance with sound doctrine, they have no ears for that. On the contrary, they listen to teachers who say things they love to hear; who bring a message that smoothly enter into their ears. They have no lack of variation. A church may then chose or appoint a preacher who has a nice way of preaching. The truth content is not important to them, as long as it offers spiritual amusement and it caresses the spiritual feelings. The same happens with people who follow preachers whom they like, without asking themselves whether the preaching is biblical. . The result of this all will be that such people turn away their heads when once they really are confronted with the truth. They don’t want to hear the truth at all, but consciously turn their ear away from it time and time again. The automatic consequence is that they turn aside under the influence of “myths”. It is ironic if you think that modern, liberal theologians are now trying to ‘demythologize’ the Bible, which means that they indicate the myths in the Bible in order to rob the Bible from its power. They label the wonders of the Bible as myths and they even consider them as fairy tales. But they take refuge in the myths themselves by turning away from the truth. Paul rejects all expressions of modern thinkers and preachers, who base their allegations on science, with one word: fables. A quite recent example of a fable, a myth, is the Da Vinci Code, a book that is full of ridiculous religious mysteries, distortions of the truth and blasphemous allegations about the Lord Jesus. This book, out of which they also made a movie, has captivated millions. It has been sold more than thirty six million times and has already been translated into more than forty languages. Isn’t it shocking that such a huge number of people turn aside to myths? It is preparation for embracing the antichrist when he reveals himself. . Again you hear “but you”. Paul is warning you not to let yourself be dragged down by this strong antichristian movement. “Be sober in all things.” Be sure to remain free from false influences, for these will hinder you to keep a sober, biblical view on all things. Don’t be gullible and don’t let people encourage you for ideas that have no basis in the truth. Make well-considered decisions. Submit your plans to the Lord in prayer and always consult His Word. Be willing to carry the consequences of such a way of life and “endure hardship”. People will not thank and welcome you for your witness to the truth. Remain merciful to the lost people and “do the work of an evangelist”. Don’t hide behind the thought that you possibly don’t have the gift of an evangelist. That is not what it is about. The point is that whenever you have the opportunity to point to the Savior you must do that. The ministry of Timothy is extensive. He is supposed to fully accomplish each aspect of it, that nothing will be left undone. The Lord also expects of you to fully fulfill what He has ordered you to do. Thereby you may be sure that if the Lord commands you to do something He also gives you the strength and the means to do it. . Paul calls on Timothy’s attention for all these things, because he himself will soon disappear from the earthly scene. His departure is another exhortation for Timothy to fully fulfill his ministry. Now he has to work hard himself. But he can build on the foundation that the apostle himself has laid. Paul compares his departure with the outpouring of a “drink offering” ( ). In the offering service of Israel a drink offering was added to the burnt offering, which was the main offering ( ). His whole life in service to the Lord has been a life of full dedication and in that sense a burnt offering. Now he is close to pass away he sees his “departure” as a drink offering. A drink offering consists of wine and speaks of joy. He knows that he will enter into the joy of his Lord ( ). The word ‘depart’ has the meaning of ‘to unloose’ ( ) and refers to the loosening of a connection. Paul doesn’t see the execution, but the liberation! That that moment has come, means joy to him. Now read 2 Timothy 4:1-6 again. Reflection: Do you do the work of an evangelist?

‏ 2 Timothy 4:1-4

Preach the Word

2Tim 4:1. In the previous verses Paul pointed out to Timothy the situation in professing Christianity where there is no improvement to be expected, but on the contrary deterioration. In the meantime, after many ages of church history that also appeared. But he also pointed out to Timothy resources for difficult times. He did that in a way from which you also may profit.

Now Timothy is able and has to get down to work. In a penetrating way Paul places Timothy “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus”, a presence that is reality to Paul himself. He lives before the face of God and of Christ Jesus and not before the face of men. In that way he is like Elijah, who, while he stood before king Ahab, said: “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand” (1Kgs 17:1). He wants to give that awareness both to Timothy and to you.

The way Paul connects Christ Jesus and God with each other indicates that Christ is God. Then three things of Christ are said that have to do with the fact that He became Man. First of all He “is to judge the living and the dead”. That judgment is given to Him because He is the Son of Man (Jn 5:27). Then He will visibly appear as Man. Finally He will establish His kingdom.

He will execute the judgment on the living and the dead at different times and at different occasions. He will judge the living when He has appeared on earth and is seated on the throne of His glory. The nations living on earth will appear before Him and be judged by Him (Mt 25:31-46). He will judge the dead when He is seated on the great white throne, after His millennial kingdom (Rev 20:11-12).

Just for the record, the sequence of events listed in this verse:

1. First the Lord Jesus will appear on earth;

2. then He will judge the living, while He is seated on the throne of His glory;

3. then He will establish His kingdom and will reign for thousand years;

4. after which He, being seated on the great white throne, will judge the dead.

For the sake of completeness, I mention another judgment that takes place earlier than the two just mentioned, namely immediately after the rapture of the church (2Cor 5:10). There the reward is being given to the believer according to the measure of faithfulness with which He served the Lord on earth.

As it is said, the charging in the presence of two Divine Persons and the three events to come, underline the gravity of the order that must be fulfilled. But it also includes a great encouragement and that is that you may know that the hard times will come to an end when the Lord Jesus, Who is still being rejected, will return in power and majesty. The thought of His coming to judge makes you free from people and frees you from the fear of men.

2Tim 4:2. Against the background of 2Tim 4:1 the command follows in 2Tim 4:2. The thought of His appearance will not paralyze you, but will make you more diligent. When Christ returns He will come with His reward that is determined before the judgment seat. That reward is to be gained by you on earth by using all your efforts and diligence in full dedication to the Lord and to do what He asks of you.

In measured terms Paul tells Timothy what is expected of him. The whole point is: “Preach the word.” After the Word of God has become apparent as the equipment of the man of God in the concluding verses of chapter 3 (2Tim 3:16-17), the next step is that it has to be preached. That is a great duty in all times, but certainly when the church has fallen into decay.

‘Preach’ here means openly proclaim, like the imperial herald did. The message to be brought was not made up by the herald himself. Not listening to the message of a herald was a serious matter.

Timothy must always “be ready”. He is supposed to be inwardly always ready to transmit the Word, that is the whole revealed truth of God. He is supposed to be always ready (cf. 1Pet 3:15), “in season [and] out of season”, which means whether it is convenient for him or not, or whether the circumstances are favorable or not. He is also supposed to ‘reprove’, that is to deliver the convincing proof of the wrong in doctrine or life (cf. Jn 16:8). When that proof has been delivered then ‘rebuke’ should follow. The rebuking or denouncing, the openly indicating, makes clear how wrong the person has spoken or acted.

Not only courage is needed for that, but also the right mindset. Acting against evil and “exhort” to prevent evil must happen “with great patience”, that is with long-suffering and self-control and not with a quick temper. That must also be accompanied by “instruction” or education. Both with reproving and rebuking and with teaching the doctrine of the Scripture has to be applied. All these actions are to be explained from the Scripture.

Acting on the basis of the Scripture has always been of the greatest importance. As time goes by the importance increases more and more. I hope you are well aware of that or become aware of that. In any case Paul is not to be blamed if you do not consider this.

2Tim 4:3. He warns us that a time will come that people and especially nominal Christians “will not endure sound doctrine”. We have definitely arrived in that time right now. Just tell nominal Christians about ‘the sound doctrine’ of marriage for instance. There is a great chance that they will laugh at you and label you as old-fashioned and that your ideas are outdated. In that way they reject the doctrine that is sound in itself and in its effect.

They choose for a free experience of sexuality. They do not want to realize that this has been the cause and the spread of a disease like aids. They prefer to hold a ‘Day for aids’ to focus the attention on the problem and they give money in order to overcome this disease themselves. Getting to the root of the problem and living a healthy life in this regard, that is, in accordance with sound doctrine, they have no ears for that.

On the contrary, they listen to teachers who say things they love to hear; who bring a message that smoothly enter into their ears. They have no lack of variation. A church may then chose or appoint a preacher who has a nice way of preaching. The truth content is not important to them, as long as it offers spiritual amusement and it caresses the spiritual feelings. The same happens with people who follow preachers whom they like, without asking themselves whether the preaching is biblical.

2Tim 4:4. The result of this all will be that such people turn away their heads when once they really are confronted with the truth. They don’t want to hear the truth at all, but consciously turn their ear away from it time and time again.

The automatic consequence is that they turn aside under the influence of “myths”. It is ironic if you think that modern, liberal theologians are now trying to ‘demythologize’ the Bible, which means that they indicate the myths in the Bible in order to rob the Bible from its power. They label the wonders of the Bible as myths and they even consider them as fairy tales. But they take refuge in the myths themselves by turning away from the truth.

Paul rejects all expressions of modern thinkers and preachers, who base their allegations on science, with one word: fables. A quite recent example of a fable, a myth, is the Da Vinci Code, a book that is full of ridiculous religious mysteries, distortions of the truth and blasphemous allegations about the Lord Jesus. This book, out of which they also made a movie, has captivated millions. It has been sold more than thirty six million times and has already been translated into more than forty languages. Isn’t it shocking that such a huge number of people turn aside to myths? It is preparation for embracing the antichrist when he reveals himself.

2Tim 4:5. Again you hear “but you”. Paul is warning you not to let yourself be dragged down by this strong antichristian movement. “Be sober in all things.” Be sure to remain free from false influences, for these will hinder you to keep a sober, biblical view on all things. Don’t be gullible and don’t let people encourage you for ideas that have no basis in the truth. Make well-considered decisions. Submit your plans to the Lord in prayer and always consult His Word.

Be willing to carry the consequences of such a way of life and “endure hardship”. People will not thank and welcome you for your witness to the truth. Remain merciful to the lost people and “do the work of an evangelist”. Don’t hide behind the thought that you possibly don’t have the gift of an evangelist. That is not what it is about. The point is that whenever you have the opportunity to point to the Savior you must do that.

The ministry of Timothy is extensive. He is supposed to fully accomplish each aspect of it, that nothing will be left undone. The Lord also expects of you to fully fulfill what He has ordered you to do. Thereby you may be sure that if the Lord commands you to do something He also gives you the strength and the means to do it.

2Tim 4:6. Paul calls on Timothy’s attention for all these things, because he himself will soon disappear from the earthly scene. His departure is another exhortation for Timothy to fully fulfill his ministry. Now he has to work hard himself. But he can build on the foundation that the apostle himself has laid.

Paul compares his departure with the outpouring of a “drink offering” (Phil 2:17). In the offering service of Israel a drink offering was added to the burnt offering, which was the main offering (Num 28:7-15 ; 24 ; 31 ; Num 29:39). His whole life in service to the Lord has been a life of full dedication and in that sense a burnt offering. Now he is close to pass away he sees his “departure” as a drink offering. A drink offering consists of wine and speaks of joy. He knows that he will enter into the joy of his Lord (Mt 25:21).

The word ‘depart’ has the meaning of ‘to unloose’ (Phil 1:23) and refers to the loosening of a connection. Paul doesn’t see the execution, but the liberation! That that moment has come, means joy to him.

Now read 2 Timothy 4:1-6 again.

Reflection: Do you do the work of an evangelist?