2 Timothy 4.1-Paul Solemnly Gives Timothy Four Reasons Why He Must Obey His Five Commands in Verse 2
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 13, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:1-Paul Solemnly Gives Timothy Four Reasons Why He Must Obey His Commands In Second Timothy 4:2
Lesson # 84
2 Timothy 4:1 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, 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (NASB95)
The apostle Paul is employing the figure of asyndeton meaning he is not using a connective word between his statement in Second Timothy 3:17 and the five commands he issues Timothy here in Second Timothy 4:1-2.
The purpose of this figure is to emphasize with Timothy the solemn nature of these commands.
The apostle Paul issues five commands in Second Timothy 4:2 and in Second Timothy 4:1, he is expressing the solemn nature of these commands.
He is emphasizing how important it is for Timothy to obey these commands.
He is also emphasizing how important his obedience to these commands are for the Christian community.
Furthermore, in verse 1, Paul gives four reasons why Timothy must obey these commands.
The first is that Paul is issuing these commands in the presence of the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
The implication is that Timothy must obey these commands because ultimately they come from both the Father and the Son.
The second is that Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead.
The implication is that Timothy will have to give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat to determine if he merits rewards for faithfulness or not.
The third reason is Jesus Christ’s appearance at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
The implication is that since Timothy is about to receive a resurrection body from the Lord Jesus Christ and will thus be perfected, out of gratitude to the Lord for this, he should obey these five commands in verse 2.
The other obvious implication is that since Jesus Christ is about to appear to Timothy at the rapture, Timothy should live in light of this fact and obey the commands because he would not want to be ashamed in the presence of Jesus Christ for failing to do so.
The fourth and final reason is Jesus Christ’s millennial kingdom.
The implication is that Timothy should obey these commands in view of the fact that he will be rewarded for his faithfulness by being given a position of authority in this kingdom.
So all of this was designed to motivate Timothy to remain faithful to Paul’s apostolic teaching.
The solemnity of Paul’s charge and the reasons he gives to Timothy as to why he should obey his commands in Second Timothy 4:2 are all designed to encourage Timothy and motivate him to continue making it his habit of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ since there are consequences, both good and bad.
The good is that he will be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat and one of those rewards will be reigning with the Lord in His millennial government.
The bad consequence is that he will lose this great reward if he is unfaithful.
Therefore, Timothy’s life was to be governed by the imminent return of Christ at the rapture and subsequent evaluation of his service at the Bema Seat and if he remained faithful, he would be rewarded by the Lord with a position in His millennial government.
All of these reasons describe for Timothy different aspects of Jesus Christ if you notice.
The mention of being in the presence of Jesus Christ speaks of the fact that He is immanent meaning that He is involved intimately with Timothy’s life.
The mention of Jesus Christ judging the living and the dead speaks of His sovereignty and that He is the judge of the human race.
The reference to Jesus Christ appearing speaks of the fact that He is the Savior of the church since at the rapture of the church, He will deliver the church from the Tribulation period.
He will complete the church age believer’s salvation by giving them a resurrection body.
Lastly, the mention of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is a reference to the fact that He is indeed a king and specifically the King over all kings.
Everything that Paul says to Timothy in Second Timothy 4:1-2 is applicable to every pastor-teacher today in the twenty-first century.
Thus, they should take to heart Paul’s charge to Timothy and govern their lives in light of this charge.
So here in Second Timothy 4:1, Paul is imposing upon Timothy as his duty and responsibility as Paul’s delegate to the Ephesian Christian community and as a pastor-teacher to obey his five commands in Second Timothy 4:2.
He is reminding Timothy that he represents the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is emphasizing with Timothy how important that he obey these five commands since the spiritual growth of the church was at stake because failure to obey these commands would hinder the spiritual growth of not only Timothy but the Ephesian Christian community.
He is also emphasizing how important Timothy obey these five commands since it would protect the church from false doctrine which was being taught by the apostate pastors in Ephesus and in the Roman province of Asia.
When Paul mentions being in the presence of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ, he is emphasizing with Timothy that he is living and acting in the presence of the Father and the Son.
He is emphasizing with him that he will be held accountable with regards to these five commands.
These commands come ultimately from the Father and the Son and that these two are observing Timothy’s actions to testify to his faithfulness or unfaithfulness, which will be determined by his observance of these commands or failure to do so.
Thus, this constitutes the first reason why Timothy must obey the commands of Second Timothy 4:2.
In Second Timothy 4:1, Paul describes Jesus Christ as the one who will judge the living and the dead.
This constitutes the second reason why Timothy should obey Paul’s commands in Second Timothy 4:2.
Again, the implication for Timothy is that Jesus Christ will inevitably judge him.
Specifically, Jesus Christ will inevitably evaluate Timothy’s service on the Lord’s behalf.
Therefore, in light of the fact that Paul is addressing Timothy, the reference to Jesus Christ judging the living and the dead is alluding to the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
The third reason why Timothy must obey the five commands in Second Timothy 4:2 is the imminent return of Jesus Christ at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
The implication is that Timothy must obey these commands in view of the fact that Jesus Christ is about to appear to give resurrection bodies to the individual members of his body, the church.
Specifically, Timothy must obey these commands in view of the fact that Jesus Christ is about to appear to the church to give him a resurrection body.
At the rapture or resurrection of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ will appear visibly to the church and not the rest of the world in order to give her individual members their resurrection body.
Paul is not referring to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ in which Jesus Christ will visibly appear to all the earth so as to end Daniel’s seventieth week and to deliver Israel from Satan and Antichrist.
Rather it refers to the rapture since Paul is giving reasons to Timothy as to why he must obey his command to preach the Word of God and Timothy is a church age believer who will appear to Timothy and all church age believers at the rapture of the church.
Lastly, in Second Timothy 4:1, the apostle Paul presents to Timothy a fourth and final reason why he must obey the commands in Second Timothy 4:2.
He must do so in light of the fact that Jesus Christ is about to reign for a thousand years on the earth and if he is faithful Timothy will reign in this millennial government.