2 Timothy 4.5d-Timothy Must Continue Making it His Habit of Fulfilling His Ministry
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 3, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 4:5d-Timothy Must Continue to Make it His Habit of Fulfilling His Ministry
Lesson # 93
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. 3 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 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (NASB95)
Paul employs one last time here in verse 5 the figure of asyndeton which is emphasizing the solemn nature of this fourth and final command and its critical importance for the success of Timothy’s ministry and the spiritual growth of the church.
“Fulfill your ministry” is composed of the following: (1) articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun diakonia (διακονία), “ministry” (2) genitive second personal singular form of the personal pronoun su (σύ), “your” (3) second person singular aorist active imperative form of the verb plērophoreō (πληροφορέω), “fulfill.”
The verb plērophoreō means “to fulfill, to accomplish, to fully carry out, to fully accomplish the task which has been assigned to you.”
Here it of course is used in relation to Timothy and in regards to his service for the Lord.
Therefore, this verb plērophoreō indicates that Paul is commanding Timothy to make it a priority to fulfill his ministry or service on behalf of the Lord.
It speaks of Timothy being a faithful steward with regards to the task assigned to him by the Lord of communicating the gospel to the Christian and non-Christian communities throughout the Roman Empire and in particular the Roman province of Asia.
The aorist imperative form of the verb plērophoreomai is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes solemnity or urgency of the action.
The constative aorist imperative which again emphasizes solemnity or urgency of the action and does not stress “beginning an action,” nor “continuing to act.”
The idea is that one must “make this their top priority.”
Therefore, the aorist imperative form of this verb is emphasizing how important it is for Timothy to fulfill his ministry.
The aorist imperative expresses the idea that this is to be a top priority in Timothy’s life and expresses the fact that this command is very solemn and expresses the critical nature of this command.
The noun diakonia means “service” and pertains to a position or role of service.
Here it is used in relation to Timothy and his particular function in the body of Christ.
Specifically, it refers to Timothy’s service as a pastor-teacher.
This is indicated by the genitive second personal singular form of the personal pronoun su, “your,” which refers of course to Timothy and is employed with the articular construction of this word diakonia to denote possession.
Timothy’s service as a pastor-teacher would include the responsibilities of studying the Word of God in order to teaching the body of Christ the Word of God.
It would also include interceding in prayer for the body of Christ and exemplifying godliness to the Christian community.
Second Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge in the presence of God (the Father) as well as the Christ who is Jesus, who is inevitably going to judge the living as well as the dead and in addition by His appearing as well as by His kingdom: 2 to make it your top priority of publically proclaiming with authority as a herald the message. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority of always being prepared to perform this task whether the circumstance is favorable or unfavorable. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to convict. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to rebuke. I solemnly charge you to make it your top priority to exhort with a patience which is absolute as well as by means of instruction. 3 The reason for this is that the time will come when they will no longer tolerate sound doctrine. But rather, they will, as a certainty accumulate for themselves teachers because of their own sinful desires because they will as a certainty want to have their ears tickled. 4 Consequently, on the one hand, they will, as a certainty turn their ears away from the truth while on the other hand, they will, as a certainty be turned away from the truth because of myths. 5 However, you in contrast to them, continue making it your habit of being sober with respect to each and every thing. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of enduring hardship. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of performing an evangelist’s duty. I solemnly charge you to make it a priority of fulfilling your ministry. (Author’s translation)
The fourth and final command which the apostle Paul issues Timothy in Second Timothy 4:5 is also another solemn command.
It required that Timothy make it a priority in life to fulfill his ministry.
Paul is commanding Timothy to make it a priority in life to fulfill his ministry or service on behalf of the Lord.
It speaks of Timothy being a faithful steward with regards to the task assigned to him by the Lord of communicating the gospel to the Christian and non-Christian communities throughout the Roman Empire and in particular the Roman province of Asia.
Timothy’s service as a pastor-teacher would include the responsibilities of studying the Word of God in order to teaching the body of Christ the Word of God.
It would also include interceding in prayer for the body of Christ and exemplifying godliness to the Christian community.
Now, interestingly, the verb nēphō in the first command is in the present imperative form whereas the other three verbs in the following three commands are all in the aorist imperative form.
The aorist imperatives are emphasizing with Timothy that he must have a sense of urgency in enduring hardship, performing an evangelist’s duty and fulfilling his ministry.
On the other hand, the present imperative is emphasizing with Timothy that he must continue to maintain his fellowship with God which he would do if he remained sober in all that he did.
If he does not continue to maintain fellowship with God he cannot carry out the aorist imperatives.
The present imperative is employed in the first command because this command addresses Timothy’s mental attitude whereas the other commands are addressing his conduct.
Paul wants Timothy to continue to maintain a godly attitude in order that he will be able to endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist and fulfill his ministry.
Therefore, the reason why the verb in the first command is a present imperative and the others are in aorist imperatives is that Paul is emphasizing that the continuance of a godly attitude is essential if Timothy was endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist and fulfill his ministry.
So the first command in Second Timothy 4:5 addresses the proper mental attitude that Timothy must continue to maintain if he is fulfill his responsibilities in relation to the Lord, the Christian community and the non-Christian community.
In fact, by obeying the first command, he would be able to successfully fulfill the other three commands since a godly attitude is essential in order to manifest godly conduct.
The third command which required Timothy to make it a priority of performing the duty of an evangelist addresses his relationship and responsibility to the non-Christian community.
The fourth command addresses his relationship and responsibility to the Christian community.
The second command addresses the problem of undeserved suffering which he will have to endure if he is to fulfill his responsibility to the non-Christian and Christian communities.