Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:1-8
In this message we shall consider the incentive to the inoculator (4:1-8). As we shall see, this incentive is the coming reward.
In 4:1 Paul says to Timothy, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, Who is about to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.” God has given all judgment to Christ because He is a man (John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16). As the righteous Judge (2 Tim. 4:8), He will judge the living from His throne of glory at His second appearing (Matt. 25:31-46), and He will judge the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15).
In 4:1 Paul speaks of Christ’s appearing and His kingdom. Christ’s appearing will be for judgment, to reward each one of us (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12), and His kingdom will be for His reigning with His overcomers (Rev. 20:4, 6). By these two events the apostle charges Timothy to fulfill his ministry of the word faithfully. Here it seems that Paul is saying, “Timothy, you must realize that your life and work today have much to do with the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom. At His appearing will you be praised by the Lord, or will you receive a rebuke from Him? Will you receive a reward or chastisement? Will you be considered qualified to participate in the divine kingship and reign with Christ for a thousand years, or will you be disqualified from reigning with Him? Timothy, you need to think seriously about these things. Thus, I charge you by the Lord’s appearing and kingdom.”
It is a matter of great significance to be charged by the Lord’s appearing and kingdom. As genuine Christians we are saved for eternity, but how are we living our Christian life, and how well are we fulfilling our Christian duty? Are we taking care of God’s New Testament economy? Do we practice the proper church life, the Body life, to express God in Christ through the Spirit? These questions deserve our attention, for the way we answer them may determine our future as far as the Lord’s appearing and coming kingdom are concerned. Do not listen to the superstitious and superficial teachings which tell you that as long as you are saved you cannot have any problems with the Lord at His coming. You may have great problems when you meet Him at the judgment seat. Every believer in Christ, every genuinely saved person, must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be judged by Him not concerning salvation or perdition, but concerning reward or punishment. Because this is a solemn matter, Paul charged Timothy before God and Christ Jesus and by the Lord’s appearing and kingdom.
In verse 2 Paul continues his charge: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” The word Timothy was to preach included what he had learned both of Paul and of the Old Testament (3:14-15). This proves that verses 1 and 2 are a continuation of 3:14-17. In caring for a local church, especially in a time of the church’s decline, the preaching of the Word is vital.
Timothy was not merely to preach a word about salvation from hell to heaven. He was to speak a completing word regarding God’s revelation concerning Christ and the church. Such a healthy word is the truth, the reality of the contents of God’s New Testament economy. Timothy was charged to be ready to preach this word in season and out of season. To preach in season and out of season means to preach whether the situation is opportune or inopportune, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether you are welcome or unwelcome. Furthermore, Timothy was to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. Reprove here means to convict. The adjective all modifies both longsuffering and teaching. It speaks of teaching in many aspects and directions. The carrying out of such teaching requires longsuffering.
Verses 3 and 4 say, “For the time will come when they will not tolerate healthy teaching, but according to their own lusts they will heap up to themselves teachers tickling the ear, and they will turn away their ear from the truth, and will be turned aside to fables.” The time mentioned in verse 3 refers to the time when the decline of the church becomes worse. At that time many will not tolerate healthy teaching, teaching which is healthy in life and which ministers the supply of life. Instead, they will prefer teachers who tickle the ear. This indicates that those who do not tolerate healthy teaching have an itching ear, an ear which seeks pleasing speaking for its own pleasure. Furthermore, such persons will turn away their ear from the truth and will be turned aside to fables. The itching ear that is turned away is the main factor of the worsening decline in the churches.
Many Christians today do not tolerate the healthy teachings related to God’s economy. When we teach that Christ is the God-man, the One who is the embodiment of God as His expression, some accuse us of blasphemy or heresy. Some have even gone so far as to twist our words concerning Christ as the God-man and, in print, to falsely accuse us of teaching that Christ was neither quite God nor quite man. In The Four Major Steps of Christ I say, “We know that Christ is God incarnated as a man. Christ is the God-man. He is not only a man of God, He is also a God-man. Therefore, the incarnation of Christ simply means the mingling of God with humanity” (p. 6). Twisting our words and grossly misrepresenting us, certain of our opposers have written, “This incarnate deity was neither quite God nor quite man; He was a third thing, a mingled God-man.” We believe that because Christ is true God and true man, He is the God-man. He is the perfect God and a complete man as well. Both His divine nature and His human nature, each being complete, concur in His one Person — without separation, without confusion, and without being changed into a third nature. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, one Person with two natures, is worthy to receive our worship and praise forever.
Because many Christians today will not tolerate healthy teaching, they heap up teachers to tickle their itching ears. The teachings in the Lord’s recovery are altogether different. Our teachings do not tickle the ear. Instead, they may operate on the ears of those who hear. Unable to bear such an operation, some turn their ears away from the truth.
We have pointed out again and again that in 1 and 2 Timothy truth refers to the reality of the contents of God’s New Testament economy. This reality consists primarily of Christ as the embodiment of God and of the church as the Body of Christ. Instead of listening to proper teachings concerning Christ and the church, many Christians have turned aside to other things.
In verse 5 Paul says to Timothy, “But you, be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fully accomplish your ministry.” For Timothy to fully accomplish his ministry was for him to fill up the full measure of his ministry. This ministry denotes the ministry of the Word to minister Christ in all His riches (Eph. 3:8) to both sinners and believers for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12). Such a ministry is desperately needed to counter the declining trend, as prophesied in verses 3 and 4.
In verses 6 and 7 Paul testifies concerning himself: “For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” In verse 6 Paul indicates that he was already being poured out as a drink offering. The drink offering was additional to the basic offerings revealed in Leviticus 1 through 7 (Num. 15:1-10; 28:7-10). The basic offerings were types of various aspects of Christ. The drink offering was a type of Christ as enjoyed by His offerer, an enjoyment that filled him with Christ as the heavenly wine and even made him wine to God. The Apostle Paul became such a drink offering by so enjoying Christ that he could be poured out by the actual shedding of his blood. To be poured out here means to shed one’s blood. “Already being poured out” indicates that the process of being offered as a drink offering had begun.
Paul could say that the time of his departure was at hand. This refers to his departure from the world to be with the Lord (Phil. 1:23) through martyrdom. Paul was imprisoned in Rome twice. The first imprisonment, about A.D. 62-64, was due to the Jews’ accusation (Acts 28:17-20). During that time he wrote the Epistles to Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. After his release (which he expected in Philippians 1:25; 2:24; and Philemon 22) from the first imprisonment, he must have visited Ephesus and Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3), where he probably wrote the first Epistle to Timothy. Then he visited Crete (Titus 1:5); Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), where he wrote the Epistle to Titus; Troas; and Miletus (2 Tim. 4:13, 20), where he probably wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. Due to Caesar Nero’s sudden persecution, Paul was imprisoned a second time, about A.D. 65. At that time he wrote the second Epistle to Timothy while expecting his imminent martyrdom for his Master.
In verse 7 Paul mentions three items: fighting the good fight, finishing the course, and keeping the faith. A proper Christian life is threefold. It involves fighting the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of darkness for the interests of God’s kingdom (1 Tim. 6:12), running the course for the carrying out of God’s economy according to His eternal purpose (Heb. 12:1), and keeping the faith for participation in the divine riches in God’s dispensation (Gal. 3:22). In this Paul set up an adequate pattern for us.
Paul began to run the course of the heavenly race after he was taken possession of by the Lord, and he continually ran (1 Cor. 9:24-26; Phil. 3:12-14) that he might finish it (Acts 20:24). Now at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the course.” For this he will receive from the Lord a reward — the crown of righteousness (v. 8).
Paul could testify that he had kept the faith. This means that he kept God’s New Testament economy. To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God — the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the mystery of God and the church as the Body of Christ and the mystery of Christ.
Verse 8 says, “Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me in that day; and not only to me, but also to all those who have loved His appearing.” The crown is a symbol of glory given as a prize, in addition to the Lord’s salvation, to the triumphant runner of the race (1 Cor. 9:25). This prize is neither of grace nor by faith as salvation is (Eph. 2:5, 8-9), but of righteousness through works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). Such a reward will be awarded the believers not according to the grace of the Lord, but according to His righteousness. Hence, it is the crown of righteousness. The One who awards it is the Lord as the righteous Judge, not as the merciful God or the gracious Redeemer. Paul was assured that such a prize was reserved, laid up, for him and would be awarded to him at the day of the Lord’s second appearing.
Paul says that such an award will be given to all who love the Lord’s appearing. The Lord’s appearing, His coming back, is a warning, an encouragement, and an incentive to us. We should love it and look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy. By it, the apostle charged Timothy to fulfill his ministry (vv. 1-2, 5).
The crown of righteousness of which Paul was assured is the incentive to the inoculator. If we are faithful to the healthy word of the truth and if we are faithful inoculators to dispense the ingredients of the divine inoculation into Christians today that they may return to the full knowledge of the truth, this reward will be given to us at the time of the Lord’s appearing. This means that if we are faithful to the Lord’s ministry, we shall receive the crown of righteousness as our reward.
There is a great deal of talk among Christians today concerning the Lord’s second coming. But not many believers realize that when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will not come as the merciful God or as the gracious Savior, but as the righteous Judge. Christians should be warned and encouraged to prepare themselves to stand before this Judge. I hope that many among us will take up the burden in this dark age to bring such a solemn charge to the Lord’s people. We all need to receive this charge before God and before the Lord Jesus, the One who will judge the living and the dead. We must declare the fact that when the Lord comes back, He will be the Judge of all, both believers and unbelievers. According to Matthew 25, all of the Lord’s servants will have to give an account to Him. The Lord will either say, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (v. 21), or, “Evil and slothful slave” (v. 26). In His righteousness the Lord will decide whether or not we receive a reward.
Because the Lord’s coming and His kingdom are solemn matters, Paul gave a serious charge to Timothy in 4:1-8. We should not think that the Lord’s appearing will merely be a time of rapture and excitement. It will also be a time of great solemnity for every believer in Christ. This was the reason Paul charged Timothy by the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom. May we all give heed to this solemn warning.
