(4:1-5)

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (4:1–5)

     The final section of 2 Timothy, which begins with this passage, contains the last inspired words penned by Paul, who knew that his earthly life was nearing its end. “I am already being poured out as a drink offering,” he wrote, “and the time of my departure has come” (v. 6). With that bittersweet prospect in mind (cf. Phil. 1:23), in his final charge he beseeched his beloved Timothy to be faithful in his ministry to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In what had been an exemplary church at Ephesus, some believers, including men in positions of leadership, had begun to defect, just as Paul predicted (Acts 20:28–31). Timothy had been placed by the apostle as defender of the faith in that congregation, where sound doctrine and godliness had lost their primacy.

Empire-wide persecution of the church was well under way and doubtless was responsible for much of the defection. Those who were loyal in easier times deserted when discipleship became costly.

In this second letter, Paul already has admonished Timothy “to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (1:6). As with every genuine preacher of the gospel, Timothy did not choose his ministry but was appointed to it by God. The Lord had set him apart for the preaching and teaching of His Word. He ministered under divine authority and divine obligation. Just as God had sovereignly called Timothy to salvation, He also had sovereignly appointed him to preach the gospel. Timothy could say with his mentor, “I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

Paul did not focus on the visible success of Timothy’s ministry but on the excellence of his service. He focused not on Timothy’s opportunities but on his commitment, not on his personal prominence but on his character. He expressed no concern for the young pastor’s acceptance or reputation but great concern for his faithfulness and godliness. He did not emphasize the size, wealth, or influence of the church at Ephesus but rather its spiritual life and health under Timothy’s care. He did not concentrate even on Timothy’s spiritual gifts, important as those were, but on his spiritual life and his spiritual service. His advice to Timothy could be summarized in his charge to believers in Corinth: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Regardless of how things may appear to the world, to the rest of the church, or even to ourselves, God’s Word assures us that the best of life belongs to those who know Christ as Savior and Lord and who give themselves up for His service and His glory. The central truth of the Beatitudes could be condensed to “Blessed, happy, and satisfied are those who love and serve the Lord.”

Unfortunately, many Christians, including some pastors and other leaders, seek for success rather than excellence. But success focuses on the external rather than the internal, on the temporal rather than the eternal, and is measured by human standards rather than by divine. Desire for success comes from pride, whereas genuine desire for excellence comes from humility.

In his book Christian Excellence, John Johnstone rightfully maintains that success and excellence are competing ideals and that everything a believer does, whether consciously or not, is devoted to one of those ideals or the other. It is not that excellence in a believer precludes every form of outward success but that any success that comes from the pursuit of excellence is incidental. Success is not to be sought or to be gloried in if it is achieved.

Success is attaining cultural goals that elevate one’s importance in the eyes of society and generally is marked by power, prestige, wealth, and privilege, according to Johnstone. Excellence, on the other hand, is the pursuit of the highest quality in one’s work and effort, whether others recognize and approve it or not. Success is measured in relation to others, whereas excellence is measured by one’s own God-given potential and calling. Success seeks to please men; excellence seeks to please God. Success rewards only a few, whereas excellence is available to any believer who is willing to pay the price. Success pertains to possessions and reputation, whereas excellence pertains to character. Success can be cheap, attained by shortcuts, lying, and stealing. The price of excellence is never discounted, never available for anything less than full price. (This paragraph is adapted from Johnstone.)

Although directed first of all to Timothy, Paul’s commission in 2 Timothy 4:1–5 applies to every minister of the gospel in every age, every place, and every circumstance. In a broader way it can be applied to every faithful believer, because it is essential for every congregation to know and understand this charge. Churches are responsible, under God and with God, to hold their pastors accountable to these divine precepts.

The role of the preacher in Christ’s church is vital, and God has ordained that His people be taught and shepherded by Spirit-gifted, Spirit-led, and Spirit-empowered men. The spiritual life and faithfulness of a congregation always is closely related to the spiritual life and faithfulness of its pastor.

Scripture is not nebulous about what the Lord expects of those He calls to preach, teach, and pastor His people. Among the many other qualifications and standards for such men given in the New Testament, are the eight which Paul mentions in the present text: the seriousness (v. 1), content (v. 2a), scope (v. 2b), urgency (vv. 3–4), attitude (v. 5a), cost (v. 5b), extent (v. 5c), and goal (v. 5d).

THE SERIOUSNESS OF HIS COMMISSION

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: (4:1)

     Paul first points out the seriousness of Timothy’s divine commission. Solemnly charge translates a form of the verb diamarturomai, which here carries the idea of giving a forceful order or directive. The apostle has twice before used the verb to admonish Timothy (1 Tim. 5:21; 2 Tim. 2:14; cf. 1 Tim. 6:13). The aged warrior of the faith, whose godly life was totally committed to the service of Christ, again seeks to capture Timothy’s undivided attention for what he is about to say. The devotion of Paul himself was not unlike that of John Knox, who prayed, “Give me Scotland or I die,” yet who, when later compelled to preach, locked himself in his room and wept for days because of the fearful seriousness of that calling. The apostle’s deepest desire for Timothy was for him to share that seriousness and devotion.

The solemnity of Paul’s charge is drawn from the fact that it is tied directly to the awesome majesty of the One who commissions men to divine service. Those who are called to proclaim and interpret the Word of God have the most profound responsibility that the Lord places on any man. It is for that reason that James warns, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well” (James 3:1–2). No human being apart from Jesus has ever spoken perfectly, not even the prophets or apostles, except when recording God’s revealed Word. James readily included himself (“for we all stumble”) among those who speak imperfectly and who therefore must take special care to prevent their imperfections from clouding their testimony and besmirching their Lord’s name.

That responsibility is especially fearsome in that it is carried out in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. The Greek construction also allows the rendering “in the presence of God, even Christ Jesus.” That wording seems especially appropriate in this context because of Paul’s following reference to Christ as Judge. Jesus said, “Not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22; cf. vv. 26–27). It is not, of course, that a believer ever lives or ministers apart from the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. But Paul here emphasizes the believer’s unique accountability to the Son—not as Savior and Lord but as Judge. The point of the first half of the sentence is that every minister who is called by Christ Jesus, the Son, constantly ministers under the omniscient scrutiny of His divine presence.

The phrase in the presence of parallels a common format used in Roman courts and legal documents and would have been familiar to Timothy and others of that day. A typical summons might have begun: “The case will be drawn up against you in the court at Hierapolis, in the presence of the honorable judge Festus, chief magistrate.”

Service of Christ Jesus not only is done before His constant watchful eye but also will be subject to the judgment of this infinitely greater Magistrate, who is to judge the living and the dead (cf. Matt. 25:34–41; Acts 10:42; 17:30–31).

In the New Testament, krinō (to judge) has numerous shades of meaning, ranging from the broad and usually positive sense of forming an opinion or of resolving an issue (as in Luke 7:43; Acts 4:19) to the immeasurably more serious and negative sense of condemning or damning (as in John 12:48; Acts 13:27; 2 Thess. 2:12).

The New Testament reveals three distinct judgments of human beings that Christ will conduct: the bema seat judgment of believers only (1 Cor. 3:12–15; 2 Cor. 5:10); the sheep and goats judgment of the nations, in which believers will be separated from unbelievers (Matt. 25:31–33); and the great white throne judgment of unbelievers only (Rev. 20:11–15).

In the present text, Paul’s focus is on the Lord’s judgment of believers, all of whom one day will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. 1 Cor. 3:12–15). And the emphasis is not so much on the preacher’s proclaiming that truth to others, although that idea is implied, as on the excellence of his own ministry in light of that judgment.

In marked contrast to human courts, in the bar of divine judgment—whether for reward, separation, or condemnation—there will be no argument, no new evidence to be revealed, no cross-examination, no witnesses to call, no excuses, no jury of peers, and no appeal. In the most absolute way, the Judge’s decision will be final.

When we stand before our omniscient Lord, He already will know, far better than we ourselves can know even in our most honest moments, exactly how faithful and godly our life has been. Not a year or a month, not an hour, minute, or second escapes His notice or His judgment. Paul could say with complete honesty, “I am conscious of nothing against myself.” Nevertheless, he went on to say, “Yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:4–5).

The grammatical construction of 2 Timothy 4:1 suggests the idea of imminency, that Christ Jesus … is about to judge momentarily, and gives a second reason for Paul’s solemn charge to Timothy.

As already noted, this particular judgment will be the bema seat judgment of all believers, both the living and the dead, after Christ Jesus takes them to be with Himself at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–8). The apostle exults a few verses later that “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). It was in light of that same judgment and reward that, in his previous letter, Paul admonished Timothy to “keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). In his letter to Titus, written perhaps a year before 2 Timothy, the apostle wrote, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:11–13).

A preacher’s ultimate accountability is not to a board, a local church, a denomination, or any other human institution, no matter how doctrinally sound and godly it may be, but to the Lord, who has called and empowered him and who one day will judge him. Paul both preached and lived in the light of that truth. He could therefore ask Galatian believers rhetorically, “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). For the sake of example, a faithful minister is concerned about the things in his life and ministry that others can see. But he is supremely concerned about the things that only the Lord can see. And probably more often than not, the quality of the things that only God can see will eventually become evident in the quality of the things that men can see.

When the French sculptor created the magnificent Statue of Liberty as a gift from his own country to the United States, there were no airplanes or helicopters. Yet he made that statue in such complete detail that even the top of its head was perfectly sculpted. Little did the artist know that one day tens of thousands of people a year would fly over the statue and be able to appreciate the full excellency of his work. It was such concern for excellency that motivated Paul’s ministry, a concern which he desired his beloved Timothy to share.

Epiphaneia (appearing) literally means “a shining forth” and was used by the ancient Greeks of the supposed appearance of a pagan god to men. William Barclay notes that it also was used of Roman emperors. “His accession to the throne of the Empire was his epiphaneia; and in particular—and this is the background of Paul’s thought here—it was used of a visit by the Emperor to any province or town. The emperor’s appearance in any place was his epiphaneia. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order” (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1957], 233).

In the New Testament, the noun epiphaneia is found only in the letters of Paul. He uses it once of Christ’s incarnation (2 Tim. 1:10) and once of His coming to destroy Antichrist at the end of the Great Tribulation (2 Thess. 2:8). In all four of the other instances, he uses it of Christ’s taking His saints to be with Himself at the Rapture (here; in 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:8; and Titus 2:13).

This particular judgment also will have a special relation to Christ’s earthly kingdom, His thousand-year reign, which will begin after the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon and ultimately merge into the eternal state. At that time, the Lord’s resurrected, raptured, and rewarded saints will return with Him to establish His millennial kingdom. “He who overcomes,” He promises, “I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21). When they stand before the Lamb on His heavenly throne, the four creatures and the twenty-four elders will sing, “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev. 5:10).

THE CONTENT OF HIS COMMISSION

preach the word; (4:2a)

     The faithful minister of Jesus Christ is commanded to preach the word, which focuses on the content of what is proclaimed. Preach translates the first of nine imperatives Paul uses in this passage, five of them in verse 2 (preach, be ready, reprove, rebuke, exhort) and four in verse 5 (be sober, endure, do, fulfill).

Preach is from kērussō, which means to herald, to proclaim publicly. In New Testament times, the herald, acting as imperial messenger, would go through the streets of a city to announce special events, such as the appearing of the emperor. His duties also included public announcement of new laws or government policies and actions.

Paul himself not only was appointed an apostle but also, like Timothy, was appointed a preacher (1 Tim. 2:7; cf. 2 Tim. 1:11). But because of Timothy’s timid spirit, that task was especially challenging for him. He did not have the naturally strong and aggressive personality or constitution of his mentor. He also may not have had the formal training or intellectual skill to argue successfully on a human level with more sophisticated and experienced errorists in and around the church. He doubtless felt inadequate and intimidated when they presented arguments for which he had not yet developed a successful apologetic or polemic. And in the eyes of some believers in Ephesus, he also was handicapped because of his youthfulness, although Paul had earlier counseled him to disregard such criticism (1 Tim. 4:12). In addition to resistance within the church, Timothy faced growing hostility from unbelieving Jews and from the Roman government. It was persecution by those enemies that had put Paul in prison.

There were other reasons why Timothy might have been tempted to muffle his proclamation, especially that of evangelism, which Paul mentions in verse 5. Timothy realized that the idea of salvation solely through God’s grace runs totally counter to the thinking of natural men and is often met with anger or indifference. But when preaching to unbelievers, whether Jew or Gentile, Timothy was to be like Noah, who “was a righteous man, blameless in his time; [and] walked with God” (Gen. 6:9; cf. Heb. 11:7). Timothy also was to be like Noah in being “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Long before God made His covenant with Abraham, before He made His covenant with Israel and gave them the law at Sinai, and still longer before He made the final and perfect covenant through His Son, Jesus Christ, Noah preached God’s righteousness to the ever-more-wicked antediluvians. As far as we know, Noah was not persecuted, but we do know that his preaching for a hundred years while he was building the ark fell on completely indifferent ears, because not a single soul outside his immediate family trusted in God and was saved.

Like every preacher of God’s truth to unbelievers, Timothy also was to be like Jonah, who declared to the wicked pagan city of Nineveh, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). In great contrast to that of Noah, however, Jonah’s preaching produced an amazing response of repentance and faith in the true God. “The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment,” Jesus declared, “and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah” (Matt. 12:41).

Timothy was to be like “John the Baptist [who] came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 3:1–2), and who then proclaimed “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

By the word, Paul doubtless means the entire written Word of God, His complete revealed truth, which the apostle also calls “the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27) and which he has just referred to as “the sacred writings” and the “Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:15–16).

A preacher cannot continue to faithfully preach and teach God’s word unless he carefully protects its truth. “0 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you,” Paul had warned in his previous letter, “avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim. 6:20). Near the beginning of this second letter he admonished, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus,” and, “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:13–14). He also implored Timothy to handle “accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), because truth that is poorly retained, guarded, and handled inevitably will be poorly taught.

After declaring the marvelous truth first proclaimed by the prophet Joel (2:32) that “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved,” Paul asks rhetorically in his letter to the church at Rome, “How then shall they [unbelievers] call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Again quoting from the Old Testament, this time from Isaiah 52:7, the apostle then exults, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom. 10:13–15).

Of his own preaching Paul said,

There are gifted orators who can sway an audience with the power of their persuasive rhetoric. There are men who are erudite, knowledgeable, well-trained, and worldly-wise, who can cause other men to change their minds about certain matters. There are men who can relate moving stories that tug at a hearer’s heart and move him emotionally. Throughout the history of the church, including our own time, God has chosen to endow some ministers with such abilities. But God also has chosen not to bless every faithful preacher in those particular ways. Nevertheless, He charges them with the same task of preaching His Word, because the spiritual power and effectiveness of preaching does not rest in the skill of the speaker but in the truth.

Intellectually brilliant as he was, the apostle testified to believers at Corinth: “Brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:1–5). In his next letter to that church, he said, “We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5).

By far the most reliable and effective way to proclaim all of God’s Word is to preach it expositorially. In his book The Ministry of the Word, the nineteenth-century Scotsman William Taylor writes,

Like countless men before and after his time, Taylor preached expositorially because he wanted to know the mind of the Spirit, because he wanted to know how one Scripture truth bore upon another, and he had to carefully understand what God desired for his people.

For many reasons, faithful and full proclamation of the word is the only right way to preach. First of all, such preaching lets God speak rather than man, because it declares God’s own Word. And it is an incredibly thrilling privilege to give voice to God!

Second, preaching the word is the only right way to preach because it brings the preacher into direct contact with the mind of the Holy Spirit, the author of Scripture. It is for that reason that the preacher of the Word finds the process of study and discovery to be even more rewarding than the preaching that results from it, gratifying as that can be.

It is tragic and puzzling that so many preachers who recognize Scripture to be God’s own Word spend more time investigating and interacting with the limited and imperfect minds of other men than delving into the infinite and holy mind of God. Part of the reason, of course, is that many hearers do not really want to delve into the depths of God’s righteousness and truth, because it exposes their own shallowness and sin. Paul already has warned Timothy about the danger of those who hold “to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). Later in the present passage he will warn again that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; … and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4; cf. Acts 20:29–30).

Third, preaching the word is the only right way to preach because it forces the preacher to proclaim all of God’s revelation, including those truths that even many believers find hard to learn or accept.

Fourth, preaching the word is the only right way to preach because it promotes biblical literacy in a congregation, not only through what is learned from the sermon itself but also through the increased desire to study Scripture more carefully and consistently on their own. The faithful pastor, and all other faithful believers, love to learn God’s Word because they love the God of the Word.

Fifth, preaching the word is the only right way to preach because it carries ultimate authority. It is the complete and perfect self-revelation of God Himself and of His divine will for mankind, which He has created in His own image.

Sixth, preaching the word is the only right way to preach because only that kind of preaching can transform both the preacher and the congregation.

The final and most compelling reason that preaching the word is the only right way to preach is simply that it is His own Word, and only His own Word, that the Lord calls and commissions His preachers to proclaim.

In the book mentioned above, William Taylor writes, “Let it never be forgotten, then, that he who would rise to eminence and usefulness in the pulpit, and become ‘wise in winning souls,’ must say of the work of the ministry, ‘This one thing I do.’ He must focus his whole heart and life upon the pulpit. He must give his days and his nights to the production of those addresses by which he seeks to convince the judgments and move the hearts and elevate the lives of his hearers” (p. 7).

THE SCOPE OF HIS COMMISSION

be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (4:2b)

     In order to be effective, a faithful preacher must understand the scope of his commission, which Paul here summarizes.

Like any other effective worker, he must be ready. This is the second command Paul uses in verse 2 and translates ephistēmi, which has a broad range of meanings as determined by tense, mood, and voice. It often connotes suddenness, as in Luke 2:9 (“suddenly stood before”) and Acts 12:7 (“suddenly appeared”; cf. 1 Thess. 5:3); or force-fulness, as in Luke 20:1 (“confronted”) and Acts 4:1; 6:12; 23:27 (“came upon”). In the aorist active imperative, as here, the word carries the complementary ideas of urgency, preparedness, and readiness. It could be used of a soldier who is ready to go into battle on a moment’s notice or of a guard who keeps continually alert for any threat of infiltration or attack by the enemy.

For the faithful preacher, be ready carries similar meanings of gravity and vigilance. He should feel like Jeremiah, who felt under divine compulsion to prophesy. “If I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’” he testified, “then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it” (Jer. 20:9; cf. 5:14).

While Paul stayed in Caesarea for a few days on his way back to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey, the prophet Agabus “took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, This is what the Holy Spirit says: “In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles,’” … the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.” But Paul’s immediate reply was, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:11–13).

Such a sense of readiness and willingness to serve the Lord at any cost and at any time not only should characterize every faithful preacher but also every faithful Christian. Peter exhorted his readers, most of whom were suffering severe persecution from Rome, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15). Writing to believers in the church where Timothy now was ministering, Paul implored, “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15–16).

In his classic Lectures to My Students, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “What in a Christian minister is the most essential quality for securing success in winning souls for Christ? … earnestness. And if I were asked a second or third time, I should not vary the answer…. Success is proportionate to the preacher’s earnestness” ([Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1955], 305).

Only continual study of God’s Word, fellowship with Him in prayer, and submission to His Holy Spirit can keep alive a sense of exhilarating eagerness to preach. Apart from the Word and from prayer, the most gifted and orthodox preaching will grow spiritually stale, for the preacher and for the hearers. In the book just cited, Spurgeon said, “He, who at the end of twenty years ministry among the same people is more alive than ever, is a great debtor to the quickening Spirit” (Lectures, 309).

The faithful preacher must be ready in season and out of season, when it is convenient and when it is not, when it is immediately satisfying and when it is not, when from a human perspective it seems suitable and when it does not. His proclaiming God’s Word must not be dictated by popular culture and propriety, by tradition, by esteem in the community (or even in the church), but solely by the mandate of the Lord.

Of the next three commands—reprove, rebuke, and exhort— the first two are negative, and third is positive.

Reprove and rebuke are closely related in meaning and are the third and fourth imperatives in this passage. Paul has just declared that all Scripture is “profitable for… reproof” (3:16). As noted in the previous commentary chapter, elegmos (reproof) carries the idea of correcting misbehavior or false doctrine. Reproving may have more to do with affecting the mind, with helping a person understand that what he believes or is doing is wrong. Rebuke, on the other hand, may have to do with the heart, with bringing a person under conviction of guilt. To reprove is to refute error and misconduct with careful biblical argument; to rebuke is to bring the erring person to repentance. The first discloses the sinfulness of sin, whereas the second discloses the sinfulness of the sinner.

The first call of the gospel reflects this reproof by calling for men to repent from sin. In preparing the way for the Messiah, John the Baptist declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). He not only preached against sin in general but against particular sins of particular people. “When Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him [John the Baptist] on account of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and on account of all the wicked things which Herod had done, he added this also to them all, that he locked John up in prison” (Luke 3:19–20).

Like John the Baptist, Jesus began His public ministry by calling sinners to repentance. After being baptized by John and spending forty days and nights in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, “from that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 4:17). Although Jesus mentioned God’s love on several occasions, He never preached a message on that theme. But He preached countless messages on God’s condemnation of sin, on His judgment of sinners, and on the sinner’s need for repentance. The unrepentant sinner has no hope in the love of God, because God’s love is inseparable from His holiness and justice. A person who refuses to be cleansed of his sin by God’s grace has no prospect of being accepted into heaven by His love.

Immediately after Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, his hearers “were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:37–38).

The preacher’s continuing responsibility is to expose, reprove, and rebuke sin. Sin is that which totally separates unbelievers from God and which temporarily separates believers from close fellowship with their Lord. Paul therefore counseled believers in Ephesus, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Eph. 5:11).

He warned Titus about those sinners who infiltrate the church: “There are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain…. For this cause reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:10–11, 13).

Sin must be addressed among believers as well. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul commanded, “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning” (1 Tim. 5:20).

Paul next gives Timothy the positive imperative to exhort, which is from parakaleō, a common New Testament word that can range in meaning from simply calling out to someone to admonishing, which is clearly the meaning in this context. It also carries the idea of encouragement. After having reproved and rebuked disobedient believers under his care, the faithful preacher is then to come alongside them in love and encourage them to spiritual change.

That is the spirit in which Paul himself pastored those under his care. He reminded believers in Thessalonica, “You know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:11–12; cf. Col. 1:28). Later in the letter he counseled those believers to do as he had done, saying, “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men” (5:14).

Not only are the things a preacher says and does important but also the way he says them and does them. He is to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with patience. Makrothumē (patience) means literally to “abide under” and therefore is often translated “endurance” (see, e.g., Luke 21:19; 2 Cor. 6:4; James 1:3) or “perseverance” (see, e.g., James 1:12; 2 Cor. 12:12). But here Paul is speaking specifically of patience with people, with members of a flock who may have been persistently stubborn and were resisting their pastor’s admonitions. But the shepherd is not to become exasperated or angry, remembering that he himself is firmly but lovingly and patiently held accountable by the Great Shepherd, our supreme example of patience. Paul cautioned believers in Rome, “Do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:3–4). If the perfect Son of God is so kind, forbearing, and patient with sinners, how much are His people obliged to have those attitudes?

Although mentioned at the end of the verse, didachē (instruction) is foundational to preaching, reproving, rebuking, and exhortation. It is only through careful teaching of the Word that those tasks can be successfully carried out by a pastor. An unbeliever will not be convicted of his sin and come to salvation apart from some instruction from God’s Word about his lost condition and his need for saving faith in Jesus Christ. Nor will a believer be convicted of his sin and brought to repentance and restoration apart from the work of the Word in his heart.

It is not by a preacher’s personal authority or persuasiveness—no matter how well he knows Scripture or how highly he is gifted—but solely by the authority and power of Scripture itself, illuminated and applied by the Holy Spirit, that any ministry or Christian service can be spiritually effective and pleasing to the Lord. In 4:2 Paul essentially reiterates what he has just declared, namely, that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (3:16–17).

THE URGENCY OF HIS COMMISSION

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. (4:3–4)

     After calling Timothy to excellence in preaching and teaching, Paul now informs him about the opposition he eventually will face because of that preaching and teaching. For the second time in this letter (see 3:1–5; cf. 1 Tim. 4:1–3), the apostle prophesies about the end times, saying, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

Because there is no antecedent for they, this pronoun possibly could refer to the unbelieving world, which, of course, is opposed by nature to God’s truth (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4). But Paul’s reference to the time will come implies a change of mind, from once enduring to not enduring, in which case they refers to unbelievers who become nominal believers in the church, whose profession of faith was only superficial. They are men and women whose hearts are rocky and in whom the seed of God’s Word does not produce fruit. In the words of Jesus’ parable, the seed immediately springs up in their lives, but because there is no depth of belief there is no spiritual root. Therefore when they are tested by the heat of the ungodly world, their superficial profession is “scorched” and quickly withers (Matt. 13:5–6). That describes the urgency of Timothy’s commission: Many nominal believers (they) in the church at Ephesus eventually would come to reject his faithful preaching of the Word, a pattern repeated through the centuries.

Kairos does not refer to chronological but epochal time, a period or era of time. It is the same word Paul uses in the previous chapter in regard to “dangerous times” that would come “in the last days,” and doubtless refers to the same period of time as here.

Jesus gave a similar warning early in His ministry:

Near the end of His ministry, as He shared the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus again warned, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me” (John 15:18–21; 16:1–2).

Because of what lay ahead for Timothy, the need for his fearless, uncompromising preaching of the Word became all the more compelling. The time would come, perhaps not long off, when he would have less and less opportunity to preach and less and less response to the truth he proclaimed.

Anechō (endure) has the basic idea of holding up or holding onto, especially in face of difficulty, and also can be rendered “tolerate.” Many people in the church at Ephesus would become intolerant of the unadulterated word, of sound doctrine, and of Timothy’s preaching of it. Sound translates a form of the verb hugiainō, which means to be healthy, and is the term from which we derive “hygiene.” It is rendered “safe and sound” in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:27). Timothy would face increasing resistance to doctrine that was spiritually healthy and nourishing, that was true to God’s Word—to “the sacred writings” (3:15), to God-breathed “Scripture” (v. 16).

In his first letter, Paul reminded Timothy that men and women who are “lawless and rebellious, … ungodly and sinners, … unholy and profane,… murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers” live lives that are “contrary to sound teaching” (1 Tim. 1:9–10). It is because sound doctrine is a stinging rebuke to ungodly living that it is unacceptable and intolerable to those who persist in sin. Those who live contrary to sound doctrine resent and resist the teaching of sound doctrine.

Later in that letter, the apostle commanded, “If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim. 6:3–5). It was in face of that danger that, near the beginning of this second letter, Paul admonishes Timothy: “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:13–14; cf. Titus 1:9, 13; 2:8).

After the Lord asked Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” the prophet responded, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa. 6:8). But God warned His willing messenger that the people, His own chosen people, would “keep on listening, but… not perceive; keep on looking, but… not understand,” that “the hearts of this people [would be] insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed” (Isa. 6:8–10).

Timothy soon would face a similar prospect. The more faithfully he proclaimed God’s Word, the more faithless some people in the church would prove themselves to be.

That also is the situation in much of the church today. Even in churches that once were genuinely evangelical, where the Bible was the divine standard for belief and for living, God’s Word is compromised. Sometimes it is stripped of its clear meaning or is relegated to a place of secondary authority behind personal “revelations” claimed to be from God. In many churches who once preached sound doctrine, evils that God’s Word plainly and repeatedly condemns are touted as acceptable. Women are ordained to ministries the Bible restricts to men, and radical feminists even reject the idea of God as heavenly Father. Homosexuals not only are welcomed without reproof or repentance into church fellowship but also are welcomed into the pulpit.

Instead of receiving sound doctrine, such churches fiercely reject it, wanting rather to have their ears tickled with unbiblical notions that raise their comfort level, justify or overlook their sins. They also reject as unloving anyone who presumes to hold them accountable to doctrinal beliefs and moral standards they deem outmoded and irrelevant. Consequently the preacher whom they least like to hear brings the message they need most to hear.

Not surprisingly, therefore, such false Christians will accumulate for themselves ungodly teachers in accordance to their own ungodly desires. Noted Bible scholar Marvin R. Vincent wrote insightfully, “If people desire a calf to worship, a ministerial calf-maker is readily found” (Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 4 [New York: Scribner’s, 19041, 321).

That sad truth was verified repeatedly throughout the history of Israel. Through Jeremiah, the Lord lamented, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!” (Jer. 5:30–31, emphasis added). Not many years later, the Lord told Ezekiel, “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people, and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not practice them” (Ezek. 33:31–32, emphasis added). Apparently this prophet was a captivating speaker to whom the people liked to listen purely for his impressive oratory. But they totally rejected what he had to say, being determined instead to fulfill their “lustful desires” and pursue “their gain.” They were not interested in learning the truth but were much like “all the Athenians and the strangers” whom Paul confronted with the gospel in Athens, who “used to spend their time in onothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21).

It was the self-will of Adam and Eve, their own desires, that led to the Fall, and it is that naturally transmitted self-will that has driven their descendants ever since. It is to please their own desires that so many people today flock to preachers who proffer God’s blessings apart from His forgiveness, His salvation apart from their repentance, His acceptance as their Savior but not as their Lord. Because they love the “ungodliness and unrighteousness” that manifest their own desires, the unsaved “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). In doing so, they turn away their ears from the truth.

The compound verb will turn away is from apostrephō, meaning “to cause to turn away” and is active. Will turn aside is from the closely related ektrepō, meaning “to cause to turn aside” but is passive. The verse therefore can be literally rendered, “And will cause themselves to turn away their ears from the truth, and will be caused to turn aside to myths.” Ektrepō sometimes was used medically to refer to a dislocated joint. The minds and hearts of those who reject God’s truth become spiritually dislocated, knocked out of joint, as it were. Paul used the same verb in his first letter to Timothy of those who had “already turned aside to follow Satan” (1 Tim. 5:15, emphasis added).

“If our gospel is veiled,” Paul explained to the church at Corinth, “it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). When God’s truth is knowingly rejected, Satan’s falsehood is inevitably, though often unknowingly, embraced. In other words, deliberate rejection of God’s truth makes a person vulnerable to Satan’s myths.

Many churches today are filled to overflowing with those who want their ears tickled with the myths of easy-believism and the many variations of selfism and so-called positive thinking. They come to have their egos fed and their sins approved, not to have their hearts cleansed and their souls saved. They want only to feel good, not to be made good. Tragically, such myths serve to religiously insulate people from the true gospel and drive them still further from the Lord.

THE ATTITUDE OF HIS COMMISSION

But you, be sober in all things, (4:5a)

     The faithful preacher is to be sober in all things. Be sober, the sixth imperative in this passage, is from nephō, which literally means to be free of intoxicants. Here, however, it is used metaphorically like its English counterpart, of being level-headed, well-balanced, and in control of one’s faculties. By extension it includes the ideas of being stable, unwavering, steadfast.

The sober preacher is like the diligent athlete, who “exercises self-control in all things,” who, like Paul himself, runs “in such a way, as not without aim,” boxes “in such a way, as not beating the air,” and buffets his body to make it his slave, lest, after having “preached to others, [he himself] should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25–27). In the midst of a changing world, a changing church, and even a changing gospel—which is not really the gospel but a distortion of “the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7; cf. 2 Cor. 11:4)—he remains committed to the changeless truth of God’s Word.

The faithful preacher refuses to be trendy or compromising, to be an ear-tickler and men-pleaser rather than a God-pleaser. He can declare with Paul, “For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed” (1 Thess. 2:3–5). He also could say with the apostle, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man” (Gal. 1:10–11), “for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:5).

THE COST OF HIS COMMISSION

endure hardship, (4:5b)

     Paul’s seventh command to Timothy was to endure hardship. The verb kakopatheō (endure hardship) literally means to suffer evil and was used by Paul earlier in this letter to describe his own suffering for the Lord (2:9). A few verses earlier, the apostle had used a closely related verb in asking Timothy to “suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (v. 3). At the time he wrote these words, he was “already being poured out as a drink offering” (4:6). For many years he had suffered countless hardships. “[I was] beaten times without number,” he said,

Not only that, but, “apart from such external things,” he also suffered “the daily pressure upon [him] of concern for all the churches” (v. 28).

There is no such thing as a faithful ministry that is not costly. A painless ministry is a shallow and fruitless ministry.

Although Paul probably did not write the letter to the Hebrews, the author of that epistle also knew and loved Timothy. He rejoiced “that our brother Timothy has been released [from prison], with whom, if he comes soon, I shall see you” (Heb. 13:23). Because Hebrews likely was written soon after 2 Timothy, this young pastor must have been arrested and jailed while he ministered in Ephesus, soon after he received the letter. The time quickly came (see v. 3) for him to endure hardship in service of His Lord.

THE EXTENT OF HIS COMMISSION

do the work of an evangelist, (4:5c)

     Poieō (do the work), is the eighth imperative that Paul here gives to Timothy. The noun euangelistēs (evangelist) is used only three times in the New Testament, always in reference to a specific office of ministry. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul tells us that Christ “gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). The only person specifically called an evangelist is Philip (Acts 21:8), who was among the first deacons chosen in the church (6:5) and was used by the Lord to bring to salvation the Ethiopian official as he returned from worshiping in Jerusalem (8:26–38).

But the related verb euangelizō (to evangelize) and its compounds are used 54 times, and the noun euangelion (gospel, good news) is used 76 times. Both words are used not only in relation to evangelists but also in relation to the call of every Christian to witness for Christ and of the responsibility of every preacher and teacher to proclaim the gospel of salvation.

It is important to note, therefore, that Paul does not call Timothy an evangelist but rather calls him to do the work of an evangelist. In other words, proclaiming the gospel of salvation was an important part of, but was not all of, Timothy’s ministry. As he preached, taught, and pastored those who already belonged to the Lord, he also was to confront the lost—in particular, nominal Christians within the church—with their need of a Savior.

It is also important to note that the purpose of evangelization—whether by an ordinary Christian to a neighbor, by a pastor to the unsaved in his congregation, or by an evangelist to the general public—is to carefully but simply help unbelievers become aware of their sinfulness and lostness and to proclaim Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord. Any human manipulation in that process, no matter how well intentioned, always becomes a barrier to genuine belief.

THE GOAL OF HIS COMMISSION

fulfill your ministry. (4:5d)

     Finally, Timothy was to fulfill the unique ministry given to him by the Lord. Plērophoreō (fulfill) is the ninth and final imperative and carries the basic idea of giving full measure or bringing to completion. In relation to a person’s work, it also carries the ideas of eagerness and wholeheartedness.

That was the way Paul sought to fulfill his own ministry. He assured the congregation at Colossae,

The apostle wanted Timothy also one day to be able say what he himself was about to say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).