Chapter 4
2 Timothy 4:1 - Three-fold witness of the charge: (1) God and Jesus Christ, (2) Jesus' 2nd coming, (3) Jesus' Kingdom.
2 Timothy 4:2 - "Preach the Word!" We think of the Bible as we have it now, but when Paul told Timothy to preach, he was thinking only of the Old Testament.
2 Timothy 4:3 - The word for "endure" (NASB) in the Greek also means "be patient." This suggests to us that sound doctrine is something that *normally* people have difficulty in swallowing. It is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. It is supposed to make you question yourself and push yourself to be more holy. Thus, Paul is, in a way, instructing the people to be patient with sound teaching. There will come a time when they won't be patient anymore; they won't endure it. The great duty of the Church is to listen and accept sound teaching even though it hurts. The great duty of the preaching is to preach sound teaching, even though it makes the congregation uncomfortable.
Every preacher fancies himself to be preaching "sound doctrine", but how can we test it? (1) Does it line up with the Scriptures? (2) Can you teach it to any person in the world, and it still be applicable? (E.g., Prosperity Gospel is not applicable but in a capitalist economy.) (3) Is it "sound"? What does it mean for something to be sound? This Greek word has also the connotation of "health" (applies also to the Hebrew usage). So we ask the question, "Is it healthy?" Does this teaching have the ability to stand up to the trials of life?" The prosperity Gospel is not sound. People give and give expecting God to make them rich, and they are only poor. It cannot stand against the trials of life. Another way to think of it is "fitness." If a species has a high fitness, it is able to survive. Sound teaching has the ability to survive the most rigorous tests and trials. A great benefit of persecution is to do away with false teachings. "The Christian life is meant to make you happy." Wrong! It is meant to make you holy. Persecution would show that teaching is not sound.
"...according to their own desires, they will accumulate..." I see denominations as a whole doing this, and in particular (because I am most familiar with the Baptists) I see the Baptists falling into this error. For example, the SBC has turned against Calvinism, as a whole, and as an itinerant minister, if I espouse Calvinism, I will have a hard time receiving invitations to preach. The SBC is against drinking alcohol of any kind, and some even say Jesus turned the water into grape juice instead of wine! That is not very sound teaching, but they have accumulated preachers who will tell them what they want to hear.
2 Timothy 4:4 - The word "myth" (NASB) does not necessarily mean what we properly call a "myth" as in mythology. But rather it is something that is just devised by man and is contrary to what the Bible teaches. For example, to say that Jesus turned the water into grape juice is clearly a devise of man to further their belief that Christians should not partake of alcohol. The Greek word in that passage is the word for "wine" and it is used only for alcohol-containing beverages. In other words, there is no mistaking that it was wine and not grape juice.
2 Timothy 4:5 - Paul issues a command, like he did in 3:14, "But you - Be sober!" What is he saying in effect? Think about it before you accept teaching.
Another command to "suffer hardship."
"Do the work of an evangelist." We ask the question, "What is this work?" If you grew up in church, you might think the work of an evangelist is to go from church to church preaching a series of meetings to revive the church and save the lost. But that is not the picture the Bible has of an evangelist. Let's take a peek:
Phillip is the only person in the Bible that is identified as an evangelist (Acts 21:8). We can see Phillips at work in Samaria (Acts 8:4ff). Whatever we see Phillips doing will be what the Bible teaches is the work of an evangelist: (1) Proclaiming Christ and the Kingdom of God (vs. 5 and 12), (2) Performing signs and wonders, (3) casting out evil spirits, and (4) healing the lame and sick. So we may reasonably expect that when Paul said to do the work of an evangelist to Timothy, this is what Paul expected him to do.
Some object by saying, "Oh well, those miraculous things were only for then." But I ask you, "Does not the Bible teach the miraculous? Is not the miraculous taking place in other countries presently (e.g., China and India)? Does the Bible at any point tell us that the miraculous will stop?" The Church is weak, powerless and sick because it has stopped believing in the power of God.
"Fulfill your ministry." Paul was concerned that Timothy would quit or become so spineless that he would be of no use.
2 Timothy 4:6 - Some translations put a paragraph break between vs. 5 and 6. But I do not think it belongs there. (They are not in the original Greek.) Paul is concerned that his protégé continue faithfully, because Paul knows he is about to die. Someone must carry on the work.
2 Timothy 4:7 - Paul is saying this to Timothy to encourage him to do the same. (1) Fight, (2) Finish, (3) Keep the faith. We often forget that we are in a cosmic battle. Accepting Christ makes us a target for Satan. You must fight the good fight! Finish your race. Keep the faith until the very end.
2 Timothy 4:8 - In this verse, to "love His appearing" means to anxiously expect and eagerly await it.
2 Timothy 4:14 - "The Lord will repay him..." This was not a wish of harm for Alexander, this was simply a statement of fact. We must beware that we do not wish harm on people. Paul taught the Romans, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse" (12:14, NASB). If we hold something against another person for a wrong they did to us, the Lord's attention is on us not them. But when we release that person, and cover over their sin against us, it puts that person in the Lord's hands.
2 Timothy 4:16 - Paul wishes, "May it not be considered against them." This is so unlike humanity! If someone does something wrong toward us, we tend to hold it against them. We might talk about it to others so that their wrong might be "counted against them." As we saw in verse 14, by contrast, Paul is wishing no harm on them. He doesn't even really want people to know whom it was so that these persons' reputation might not be blemished. He understands that "...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world..." (Eph 6:12, NASB).
2 Timothy 4:17 - "...all the Gentiles..." is literally in the Greek "all the nations." It is more significant in our common tongue to say the latter because we don't think of the various non-Jewish nations as being Gentiles. We think of them as being nations. Paul's mission was to all the nations he could get his feet into.
"I was delivered out of the lion's mouth" (NASB). In order to be saved from the mouth of a lion, you have to be close enough for him to bite! Christianity in the west has no danger; no risk. Consequently, there is no opportunity to see a great deliverance like this. Paul's choice of words is a clear reference to Daniel being saved in the lion's den (Daniel 6:20-21).
2 Timothy 4:18 - The significance of this verse, really all Paul's reminiscents on his life, is to encourage Timothy that God will do the same for him. Timothy need not fear what man can do to him. The Lord will deliver him.
2 Timothy 4:22 - This is a tender last word to Timothy. "The Lord be with your spirit." Timothy's spirit is crushed from the pressure, the persecution, and all the trials. Paul gives this prayer that the Lord would comfort his spirit and raise him up. He needs courage like Joshua to take possession of the promised land.
