In this chapter Paul is closing out his second letter to Timothy. He knows he's going to die soon, so he knows he must give Timothy---his son in the faith and the heir of his ministry---all the advice and encouragement he can. Today he tells him to be prepared at all times to share the gospel and to give godly advice to others. Without actually saying so, he tells Timothy to use him (Paul) as an example, for Paul is about to finish the race and he is finishing strong.
"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage---with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:1-2) Timothy has been called by God to be a minister of the gospel. He is to fulfill his calling by preaching the gospel in good times and in bad times. He is to know the word of God so well that he will be able to give Scriptural advice whenever he's asked for it. I'm sure that church pastors often have church members bringing questions or problems to them that shock them or catch them off guard, but Timothy is to be so grounded in the word of God and so sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that even when confronted with a question or problem he doesn't expect, he will know how to instruct the person in a way that honors the Lord.
It's important for Timothy (and for us) to feel an urgency about sharing the gospel. We don't know how much longer we have to share it. We don't know how much longer we will have the strength or the life to keep sharing it, or whether persecution will come that is so fierce that we will be prevented from sharing it, or whether today might be the day the Lord calls His church out of the world. In Timothy's day, there was a very real danger that he might lose his life for the gospel. Not only that, but since the Bible tells us that opposition to the gospel message is going to grow as time goes on, sound doctrine must be preached as much as possible while there are still people who are willing to hear it. "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:3-5)
Not everyone wants to hear the truth. This is because the truth doesn't say what they want it to say. The truth doesn't give them permission to do what they want to do. Instead of submitting to the Lord and obeying His laws and commandments, they adhere to an altered form of the truth. They twist the word of God to make it say something it doesn't say, or they claim that the word of God doesn't actually say what it says. All my life I've heard this argument against the Scriptures, "The Bible has been translated many times and the translators have translated it to conform to their own beliefs." Well, that's simply not true. For example, the New Testament was written in Greek. It was not written in a "lost language" or in an obscure and hard-to-understand language. If you can't read Greek (and most or all of us studying together on this blog can't) you can use a Greek concordance while studying the Bible. Strong's Greek Bible Concordance is my personal favorite, and you don't even have to buy the book because you can use the online version. You can look up pretty much each word of the Bible in the original Greek and see what the definition of that word is in Greek. I have not found any word yet in the Greek concordance that doesn't line up with the way the word has been translated into English.
Some who don't want to hear the truth will reject God's word altogether, not even trying to twist it to suit their own desires, and will follow false religions. Paul and Timothy were ministers to the Gentiles, so they dealt every day with people who followed false religions. Many of them converted to Christianity, but many of them clung to their pagan gods because the pagan gods didn't require the level of holy living that God requires. There are people in our own times who get caught up in false religions and cults because the teachings of these groups don't require them to repent of the things that God commands them to repent of, or because their cults and false religions don't require them to submit to God's authority over them.
Paul is telling Timothy all the things he's telling him in these two letters because he knows his time is short. He will soon be martyred for the faith, so he's trying to say everything he needs to say to Timothy while he still can. "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near." (2 Timothy 4:6) In my background study I found two reasons why Paul may be referring to the loss of his life as a drink offering. A drink offering in the Old Testament was a type of sacrificial offering that would be poured out on the Lord's altar. So in this sense Paul is saying he's giving his life for the Lord, symbolically laying down his life on the Lord's altar. The other reason may have to do with a Roman custom that signified an ending. At the end of a meal, ancient Romans would pour out a drink offering as thanks to their gods. In that sense Paul is saying that his time on earth is ending and he is pouring out his life in thanks to God.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7) Paul faced opposition every day of his thirty or so years of ministry, but he kept going. The finish line is now in sight and he intends to finish strong. Timothy is to follow his example, and so are we.
Paul has done what God commissioned him to do. When he sees the Lord face to face, there will be a reward for his obedience. "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8) We who have put our trust and faith in the Lord can also say, "There is in store for me the crown of righteousness," because Paul says this crown belongs to all of us who long to see the Lord. The crown Paul refers to is not a royal crown like a king or queen would wear, but the type of crown that is given to the person who has won the victory in an athletic event. It's the type of crown that's given to winners, and winners are what we are in Christ Jesus, for in Christ we are "more than conquerors". (Romans 8:37)
Paul is going to die with his boots on, so to speak, because he is fighting for the gospel til his last breath. He's encouraging Timothy, and all of us, to do the same. Our passage today reminds me of an old hymn that a married couple used to sing at my church. Every time I heard it I felt encouraged to go out of this world with my battle boots on, so I'm posting a link below so you can hear the song for yourselves.
I'm Gonna Die On The Battlefield
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