2 Timothy 4

The Holy Scriptures have God for their author, salvation for their end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for their matter. Locke.—Were we deprived of the entire testamentary evidence of miracles and the external evidence of prophecy, still the internal constitution of the Scriptures themselves is sufficient to command our assent. No human historian could, as they do, tell all the truth; no human legislator could enact the Ten Commandments; no human genius could conceive the character of Christ; no human morality could ascend to gospel holiness; no human devotion could dictate the Lord’s Prayer; no human mercy could provide gospel grace; no human skill could so search and discover the secrets of the human heart, and at once provide the means of proving its guilt and of cleansing it from all sin. But all these things are done by the Scriptures: they are, therefore, not of man—they must be of God. Cooke.—Not being like man, which knows man’s thoughts by his words, but knowing man’s thoughts immediately, Christ never answered their words, but their thoughts: much in the like manner it is with the Scriptures, which, being written to the thoughts of men, and to the succession of all ages, with a foresight of all heresies, contradictions, differing estates of the Church, yea, and particularly of the elect, are not to be interpreted only according to the latitude of the proper sense of the place, and respectively toward that present occasion whereupon the words were uttered, or in precise congruity or contexture with the words before or after, or in contemplation of the principal scope of the place; but have in themselves, not only totally or collectively, but distributively in clauses and words, infinite springs and streams of doctrine to water the Church in every part. Bacon.

In the Bible there is more that finds me than I have experienced in all other books put together: the words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my being; and whatever finds me brings with it an irresistible evidence of its having proceeded from the Holy Spirit. S. T. C.—Think, when you read the Scriptures, that the word of God himself falls upon your ears; reflect that you are performing a duty, which is an essential part of communion with him. Regard yourself as seeking an oracle for your direction in the very shrine of heaven—an oracle which can not misguide, deceive, or lie. Be assured that, since God had before him when he inspired the Holy Scriptures the knowledge of future events and of all emergencies which should arise to his people, there is some utterance in that holy book which is designed to meet the deepest needs of thy heart. And read it with all the reverence, simplicity, and awe which this thought, if duly weighed, will inspire. E. M. G.

1. I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick 2 and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out 3 of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap 4 to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the 5 truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do 6 the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be 7 offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have fin- 8 ished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- eousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved 10 this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dal- 11 matin. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable 12 to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at 13 Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the

14 parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

16. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear:

18 and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

19. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Or that great Roman Emperor, Augustus Cesar, it is related that, on the morning of his death, sensible of his approaching end, he called for a mirror, and desired his gray hairs and beard to be decently arranged. Then, asking of his friends whether he had played well his part in the drama of life, he muttered a verse from a comic epilogue, inviting them to greet his last exit with applause. Who does not gaze in pity on that—an emperor’s deathbed? Who does not feel a painful contrast between his last hours, and the exultant triumph of “such an one as Paul the aged,” writing with manacled hand from his chill prison, on the eve of martyrdom—“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness”? One wants the voice of praise and flattery to cheer his dying hour. The other is looking forward to the “well done” of the great Judge. One feels that his jeweled crown will no longer cover that gray head, ripe for the sickle of the great Reaper. The other is assured of an everlasting crown, such as senates can not grant, nor death take away. One looks back on a life of successful but selfish ambition. The other has the testimony of a good conscience that he has lived to serve God. One has climbed the heights of power and surrounded himself with the pageants of wealth and feasts and splendor, only to die like a play-actor. The other has deliberately chosen a path which, through mobs, and prisons, and scorn, and hardships unnumbered, leads him to a martyr’s death, but a martyr’s triumph. Both wrought with rare ability and rare energy. Both exerted a powerful influence on the history of the world. Each in a measure attained his end. But in the final result the sceptered hand grasped a bubble, and the manacled hand grasped a crown. E. H. G.

1. I solemnly charge thee before God, and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge living and dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. This is the apostle’s last charge to Timothy—the last in this Epistle, and not improbably the last absolutely; and he therefore puts it in the most solemn form, not only delivering it as in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, but also the appearing of Christ and his kingdom. These are obviously added for the purpose of bringing before Timothy the great realities of the future world, which should infinitely outweigh all the present: Christ’s appearing, when everything in the past shall be brought into judgment, and his kingdom, when his faithful servants shall reign with him in glory. P. F.—For the coming of that kingdom all believing souls are praying and toiling. And the appeal has therefore an unlimited application. But with emphasis should it be ever pondered by the called teacher of truth and exemplar of duty, ordained and unordained, in the pulpit, in the class, and in the household. “If such,” says Burkitt, “in the last judgment, who neglected to feed the poor with material bread, shall be placed at Christ’s left hand, how can they who are called to dispense spiritual bread, if they neglect to do it, escape condemnation”? B.

The charge: Proclaim the tidings, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort, with all forbearance and perseverance in teaching (v. 2). In all things be sober, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, accomplish thy ministry in full measure (v. 5). C.—Proclaim, as a herald, the word of God, the glad tidings disclosed in the Old Testament and the New. (In the New, Timothy had been fully instructed by Paul.) The urgency refers to the utterer of the word. The in season and out of season refers to both utterer and hearer; and respect such points as personal comfort, convenience, or safety. It is not meant that the urgency should be rude, or in any wise unfitting as to time or circumstances. Paul was always courteous; he timed and suited his words most wisely. Yet who than he ever exemplified this injunction more admirably? B.—Have no definite time; let it be always time for thee: not in peace alone, or in quietness, or when sitting in the church

And if you should be in perils, if in prison, if compassed about with chains, if even going forth to death, at that very time convince, withhold not the word of rebuke. For then even rebuking is in season, when the work meets with success. Chrys.—Reprove, or convince: show them their errors. Rebuke: show them their sin. Exhort: show the truth as opposed to their error, the right as opposed to their sin. Riddle.—And all this showing, of error, of sin, of truth and right, is to be performed with all forbearance and perseverance in teaching. Patiently, forbearingly, persevere in instructing men upon these vital matters, whether they hear or forbear.

3,4. The reason is here assigned for this faithful ministry; one that has always been in force, since human nature has always been the same. Men’s own inclinations will become the guide of their conduct concerning truth and duty. Because sound or salutary teaching about their own errors and sins is abasing to their pride and crucifying to their selfish passions, it will not be endured. Yet their minds crave stimulus, and even their moral natures demand some opiate. Hence they will resort to various so-called teachers, in order to obtain fancies that please and rules of life that suit their native tastes. And the effect of this will be that they turn themselves away from truth to falsehood, and are at last given up of God to the fixed delusion of believing a lie, to their own perdition. The picture is sad indeed, and common as sad, in this as in every century and land. None believe so wildly, and none are so hopelessly hardened as those who finally reject the saving truth of God. B.

5. Do the work of an evangelist—much the same as a preacher or missionary of the gospel, a carrier of its good tidings, without, as in the case of a pastor, being fixed to any definite locality. In the apostolic age, persons recognized as evangelists seem to have occupied a position between apostles and pastors, and to have stood in a certain relation to the former with regard to the diffusion of the gospel and the planting of churches. In some respects, therefore, “they were nearest to the apostles, and had an office cognate to these; in respect to dignity alone they were inferior. For at the command of the apostles [sometimes, indeed, without this; Acts 8 : 5, 40] they went forth to various churches in order to preach the gospel, and to perfect the work which had been begun by the apostles” (Suicer). Or it might be in the inverse order, the apostles came to perfect what the evangelists had begun; for the relations so far do not seem to have been exactly determined. P. F.

6-8. Faith’s Triumphant Expectation of an Eternal Reward to Faithfulness.—A death-pean of matchless sublimity, as covering the retrospect and prospect of a Christlike life—a life of loyal love to God and man. B.—He saw before him, at a little distance, the doom of an unrighteous magistrate, and the sword of a blood-stained executioner; but he appealed to the sentence of a juster Judge, who would soon change the fetters of the criminal into the wreath of the conqueror; he looked beyond the transitory present; the tribunal of Nero faded from his sight, and the vista was closed by the judgment-seat of Christ. C.

I am already being poured out as a sacrificial offering, and my departing time is near. Thus he intimates that Timothy is soon to take up his work for Christ. To prepare him and his successors for like fidelity and success, Paul had written these Epistles. And then for the encouragement, not of Timothy only, but of all who serve the Lord in any sphere or measure, and who love his appearing, he calmly affirms his truth and fidelity, and his absolute assurance of triumph and reward at the hand of his sovereign Saviour. And not to me only, he adds, to the end setting himself forth merely as “a pattern for them that should hereafter believe on Christ,” but unto all those that love his appearing. B.

7. It is not strictly correct to render the two Greek words, “I have fought the fight.” The metaphor is taken from the Greek foot-races. I have run the good race would be more exact. The literal English is, I have completed the glorious contest. He adds, I have gone over the whole course marked out for the race. C.

The battle fought, the victory won, nothing remains but to die—and that he accounted nothing. He has no quarrel with death; no fear of it; no battle to fight with it; “I have fought a good fight,” he says—fought it out. It is done and over; and never were silent night and soft couch more welcome at the close of a long day’s journey or of a hard day’s fighting than death and the grave to him who exclaimed, “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” T. G.

8. And, throughout, his faith and fealty had never faltered. His trust in Christ, and the trust reposed in him by Christ, had alike been kept inviolate. No boasting words are these, but truthful utterances, “which the Lord, the righteous judge” who gives the crown, now inspires him to affirm, as he is privileged to stand almost within the veil. Now, while he sees at hand the prize toward which he has been so long pressing, he recognizes it as the gracious reward of divinely prompted and aided service—a gift of grace, and striven for successfully through given grace! And, as if to emphasize all this, to exalt the grace of God alone, we read his very last words (v. 18), expounding even this sublime pean, and fitly crowning and concluding his matchless teachings: The Lord shall deliver me from every evil, and shall preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. B.

The Lord is the righteous Judge: for his judgment is according to truth. The crown of believers is a crown of righteousness, purchased by the righteousness of Christ, and bestowed as the reward of the saints’ righteousness. This crown, which believers shall wear, is laid up for them; they have it not at present, for here they are but heirs; they have it not in possession, and yet it is sure, for it is laid up for them. The righteous Judge will give it to all who love, prepare, and long for his appearing. Henry.—The reward which God has in hand for his faithful servants is no less than a crown of glory. The time when this reward shall be fully and finally dispensed is the great day. It is the property of the godly to look, love, and long for that day. Burkitt.

10. The particular form under which “this present world” seduced Demas from the apostle’s company is not mentioned. It may have been lawful business or unlawful pleasure, an office or emolument, luxury or ease, the solicitations of his family or friends. Enough that the love so interfered with his fidelity to the gospel and its apostle. O. E. D.—When he had to choose between fellowship with the bonds of Paul and the freedom of the world he did not hesitate; he felt then more attracted to the pleasure or profit of Thessalonica than to the dungeon at Rome. He has not asked if it were wise, faithful, Christian, to abandon such a prisoner at such a moment; and when he disappears finally from our view, there is reason to fear that his parting from Paul was and remained a falling away from a faith which, indeed more than aught else, desires from its professors self-denial and crucifying of the flesh. How great the danger of the love of the world even to such as seem to be on the road to the possession of a treasure in heaven! Van O.—He had been a preacher, but he never preached a sermon such as he preaches now—himself the sermon, and these words his text, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. T. G.

11. It is with an ever-deepening sense of wonder we find, as we study his life, that the man lives in the apostle, that none of the most refined fears, cares, joys, cravings, tendernesses of the most passionate human friendship are unknown to him. Nothing, indeed, in the whole range of his writings is more striking or more prophetic than the friendly phrases which constantly recur, and which breathe the very spirit of tender yearning and desire. As we accumulate such phrases as, “Only Luke is with me,” “No man stood by me,” “I thought it good to be left at Athens alone,” and “I have no man likeminded with him,” we feel that we are permitted to look into one of the most sensitive of human hearts, a heart ever craving sympathy and love. Such phrases, and the scenes to which they refer us, reveal the man to us and make him dear to us. Cox.

13. He bids Timothy bring the cloak which he left at Troas, in anticipation of an approaching winter, “and the books, but especially the parchments.” These particulars have seemed to some too frivolous for inspiration, but they have a real purpose and subserve a real end, if they show that even inspiration did not destroy the perfect simplicity and naturalness of those who were the subjects of it. E. M. G.

14. The Lord will requite him according to his works seems clearly the correct reading. The future, as compared with the optative, may be called popularly the milder sense; and Theodoret seems to lay some stress on so explaining: “It is a prediction, not an imprecation; and it was given forth for the purpose of consoling the blessed Timothy, and teaching him not to be disconcerted by the assaults of the adversaries.” In a theological respect, however, there is no material difference; and, if the optative were the correct reading, no one need stumble at it. For, surely, what it is perceived God is going to do, a believer, an apostle, nay, even the purest of angelic natures, may fitly desire to see accomplished. P. F.

17. As the Lord Jesus at the end of his career was left alone, all his disciples having forsaken him and fled, so was Paul in his last sufferings alone. Nevertheless, there was consolation for the forsaken one. As the Master said, “The Father is with me,” so the servant said, “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” D. F.—The faithfulness of the Lord stands forth as in contrast before our eyes in heightened splendor. “All men forsook me; notwithstanding the Lord stood with me.” So sounds forthwith Paul’s vaunt of faith. Jesus departs not hence. Jesus is never nearer than when the Demases become conspicuous through their absence. He has overcome the present world, and he who remains faithful to Him shall share His victory. Van O.

For dignity and usefulness the pastoral office is the first in the Church. None is above it; every other subserves and culminates in it. It is in the pastor that we find the minister in the plenitude of his functions. The pastor is also “a steward of the mysteries of God,” “a teacher,” “a bishop,” “a deacon,” “an ambassador for Christ,” “a ruler,” “an angel,” but the converse is not true; some of these names may be taken as identical in meaning with pastor; otherwise, neither one nor the whole of them has as comprehensive an import. Vinet does not mistake when he makes the pastor essential to the typal man. “It is impossible,” he says, “that

the pastor should not make a part of the ideal of man—impossible that he to whom the perfection of human nature was fully represented should not have been a pastor.” It was necessary, therefore, that Christ, the divine man, should have borne this office; that this “pastor of the worlds in the heavens,” to use the language of Bernard, should also have been the shepherd and bishop of the souls of men. The pastoral office comprises various functions; but first and chief among them is preaching; the proper ministry of the word. T. H. S.