CHAPTER 4
Preach the Gospel and Teach the Truth (4:1-5)
v1 This command I give to you with God and the Lord Jesus as my witnesses. This Lord Jesus will soon be the judge of all who are alive. And he will be the judge of all who have died. He will do this when he appears. Then his kingdom will begin. v2 You must preach God’s message all the time whether it is easy or hard. You must correct people. And you must show them where they are wrong. Be patient and encourage them. And teach them how to live good lives. v3 The time is coming when people will not listen to good teachers. Instead, they will get many teachers to suit their own desires. These will not speak the truth. But will tell them only what they want to hear. v4 They will turn away from hearing the truth. They will go the wrong way and listen to false stories. v5 But you must keep calm in all circumstances. And you must be ready to suffer if necessary. Do the work of one who preaches the gospel. Complete all the work that God has called you to do.
Commentary
Verse 1 Paul calls on God and the Lord Jesus to be witnesses. He is telling Timothy what he must do. The task that Timothy has to do is a serious one. He will have to account to the Lord for how he does it.
When the Lord Jesus appears again he will be the judge. All those who have died will have to stand before him. And so will all those who are then alive. He will examine all that they have done. Then he will decide what to do with them. Knowing this should make us all more careful to do what the Lord wants us to do.
When Jesus comes, he will not only be the judge. He will be the king too. This too should encourage us to work for him now.
Verse 2 The false teachers spoke from their own ideas and not from God. But Timothy must be sure to teach the word of God and not his own opinions. He is to be ready at all times to share the good news of Jesus Christ. No matter how hard it may seem, he must not be afraid or shy to do so.
As a leader, he has to do more than just teach. He must lead those who believe. He must educate them. And he must show them how they should live. So he must show them where they are wrong. He must reason with them so that they may see their errors. He must urge them to change and to follow the truth. If they will not accept this, they may need some discipline.
He must be gentle and patient with all the people. He should encourage them and teach them the principles of the word of God.
Verse 3 The task that Timothy has is urgent. While he has the chance, he must preach the truth. This is because Paul is warning him about a future time. At that time, the people will not listen to the truth. The truth would make them uneasy because of their sin. It would demand that they repent and change. Many will then oppose the good news of Jesus Christ.
Instead of the truth, they would rather hear what pleases them. They will gather many teachers. And these teachers will tell them what they want to hear. These teachers will not question what they do. They may amuse them, or interest them in some new thing. But the result will be that they will not change. They will go on living for themselves and for their own desires.
Verse 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth so that they cannot hear it. They will choose not to listen to the truth. They will prefer that which is new or strange. So, they will believe false ideas and refuse the word of God.
Verse 5 As for Timothy, he must be aware of what is happening. He needs to be in control of himself at all times. As he lives for the truth, he may well have to suffer what other people will do against him.
There are some to whom the Lord gives a special task. That task is to preach the gospel. But all Christians should spread the good news of Christ. Paul tells Timothy that he should do the work of one who preaches the good news.
The Lord has called Timothy to be a leader in the church. In this role, he has many tasks to perform. Paul urges him to do these things. Then he will complete all that God wants him to do.
Paul is Ready to Die (4:6-8)
v6 As for me, my life is like a sacrifice that priests poured out. The time for me to die has come. v7 I have fought in the good struggle. I have finished the race. I have believed to the end. v8 Now for me, there is the crown of righteousness. The Lord will give it to me on the day when he comes. He will come as the judge who does what is right. It is not only to me that he will give a crown like that. He will give one to all who are waiting for him to appear.
Commentary
Verse 6 Timothy must continue to do the work. Paul can do no more because he is going to die.
The priests of the Jews had to make sacrifices to God. They had to burn animals. But, before they burned them, they had to pour some drink over them. This drink was part of the sacrifice (Numbers 28:24). The priest poured it out. Paul says that his life is like that drink. He is offering his life to God.
He is in prison in Rome. He knows that he will never be free again. He says that the time has come for his departure. One day very soon, those who are keeping him in prison will kill him.
The word that Paul used had an idea of success in it. The word that he used we could translate as departure. But it has the idea of success and setting free. To him death would make him free from this life and be the way to a better life.
Verse 7 Paul had told Timothy that, as he trusted in Christ, life would be a struggle (1 Timothy 6:12). This struggle is for God and the gospel. That is why he calls it a good struggle. Paul looks back on his own life. He can say with some satisfaction that he fought well. For him the struggle is now over and he has finished his fight.
Life is like the race that those who compete have to run. They have to work hard to run the distance. They have to reach the end of the race. Paul says that he has finished the race. That race was the work that the Lord had given him to do. He has completed that task.
Paul had kept the faith. His trust in Christ never failed. He believed in Christ to the end. God had trusted him with the truth and he had kept it. He had been loyal to the Lord and to the gospel of Christ.
Verse 8 Paul has spoken about life as if it was a race. He has run that race and the prize is waiting for him. In those times, the man who won the race had a crown of leaves. Paul had finished his race. All that remained was for him to receive his reward. This crown is not a crown of leaves but a crown of righteousness.
The Lord had prepared that crown. Paul had worked hard to achieve all that the Lord asked of him. The crown is a reward for those who are righteous. But Paul would not claim that he was righteous by himself. The good news is that Jesus is righteous. He gives that righteousness to all who trust him for it.
There will be a day when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again. He will be the judge of all that men and women have done. He will then give that crown as a reward to Paul. He will change Paul to be perfect as he himself is perfect.
This promise is not only for Paul. This same promise is for all who love Christ. It is for all those who are waiting for him to appear. They too will receive this crown. They will become like the Lord Jesus and be perfect.
Personal Words to Timothy (4:9-18)
v9 Try hard to come to me soon. v10 I need you because Demas loved the things of this world. He loved them so much that he left me. He went to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. v11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come. Bring him because he is useful. And he will help me in my work. v12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. v13 I left a coat with Carpus at Troas. Bring it when you come. Bring my books and most important of all bring my papers. v14 Alexander, who works with metal, caused me a lot of trouble. The Lord will punish him for what he has done. v15 You too should guard yourself against him. He has been strong to oppose what we preach. v16 When I first went to the court, no one stood with me to help me. Everyone left me. I ask that this will not count against them. v17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength. I was then able to tell his message in full for all the Gentiles to hear. He rescued me from that court. It was as if he took me from the mouth of a lion. v18 The Lord will rescue me from all evil. And he will take me to heaven where he is the king. All the glory is his now and to the end of time. Amen.
Commentary
Verse 9 Paul had just said that he was going to die. By this, he meant that his death would happen soon. But he could not know how long he would have to remain in prison before that event. In the short while that he had left, he really wanted to see Timothy. So, he urges Timothy to come as quickly as he can.
Verse 10 It seems that Paul was almost alone. Those who had been close to him had left him for one reason or another. Demas was one of these.
Demas had been a friend whom Paul trusted. The first time Paul was in prison in Rome, Demas supported him well. When writing to Philemon Paul refers to Demas as one who worked with him (Philemon 24). But now Demas had gone from him.
Demas left because he loved this world. Paul did not say what the cause of this was. It must have been hard and perhaps dangerous to be a friend of Paul in Rome. Demas was not ready to share or risk the same kind of suffering that Paul had. Perhaps he wanted an easier life. Perhaps a desire for money caused him to leave Paul. Whatever the reason, he did leave Paul and went to Thessalonica.
Paul does not seem to complain that Crescens and Titus had gone away. We are not told the reason why these two men left Paul at Rome. It could be that Paul had sent them to continue the work of the gospel.
Verse 11 All the rest had gone and only Luke had stayed with Paul. Luke had traveled much with him. Luke had looked after Paul because Luke was a doctor. Paul refers to him as the much loved doctor (Colossians 4:14). Luke was also the writer of the Gospel of Luke and of the Acts.
Paul asks Timothy, when he comes, to bring Mark with him. Mark was probably not in Ephesus with Timothy. Paul is asking Timothy to bring Mark from wherever he was.
When the angel freed Peter from prison, he went to the house of Mary (Acts 12:12). This Mary was the mother of John who was called Mark. Barnabas and Paul took Mark to Antioch (Acts 12:25). On their first journey, Barnabas and Paul took Mark with them (Acts 13:5). For some reason he left them and returned home (Acts 13:13). Because of this, Paul refused to take him on the next journey (Acts 15:36-40). Mark, who at first failed, later proved his worth. While Paul was in prison the first time, Mark was a great help to him (Colossians 4:10). Since that early failure, Mark had served the Lord and Paul in the spread of the gospel. Now Paul is eager for Mark to come and help him again.
Verse 12 Tychicus had been with Paul on his last visit to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). Paul calls him a brother whom he loved. And he calls him a man who served the Lord. Paul had sent him with his letters to Ephesus and to the Colossians (Ephesians 6:22-23; Colossians 4:7-8).
Paul has now sent him with this letter to Timothy in Ephesus. Perhaps Paul sent Tychicus to replace Timothy while he came to Rome.
Perhaps Paul wanted Mark to come to replace Tychicus.
Verse 13 Later in the letter, Paul asks Timothy to try as hard as he can to come before winter (4:21). It could be quite cold at that time of year in a Roman prison. He had left his coat with a man called Carpus who was in the town of Troas. He would need that coat when the weather turned cold. When he comes, Timothy will have to go to Troas first in order to get the coat for Paul.
We do not know what the books and papers were. But they were very valuable to Paul. He was most eager for Timothy to bring his papers.
Verse 14 We do not know when, where, or how Alexander caused Paul a great deal of trouble. All we know about him is that he worked with metal. Alexander was a common name. A Jew called Alexander tried to stop the angry crowd in Ephesus (Acts 19:33-34). There was another man called Alexander whom Paul put out of the church there (1 Timothy 1:19-20). It could have been either of these men or some other man with the same name.
Paul is not asking the Lord to punish him. This is not a prayer but a statement of fact. The Lord will punish him for the evil that he has done.
Verse 15 Paul warns Timothy that Alexander is a dangerous man. As he has troubled Paul, he could well attack Timothy. He opposed the Christian teachers as they taught the truth. He was an enemy of the gospel of Christ. He may also have spoken in the courts against Paul.
Verse 16 When Paul first had to go in front of the judge he was alone. He had expected some of his friends to be there. They could have helped him to answer those who accused him. They could have encouraged him. This was the custom in those days. But none of them came and stood with him. They all left him to answer for himself. It may be that they were afraid to stand with him.
Paul did not blame them although they had failed him. They had done wrong but Paul forgave them. He did not want the Lord to hold it against them.
Verse 17 All his friends had left him and failed to help him. But he did not lack the help that he needed. That was because the Lord was there. The Lord gave him the strength to answer those who accused him. The result of this was that Paul was able to speak about the gospel. So, all who were in the court heard the good news about Jesus Christ.
He was able to preach the message in full. His task was to preach the gospel. He felt that now he had preached it in Rome he had completed that task. He had finished all that the Lord had given him to do.
This first time in court went well for Paul. The judge did not at that time order his death. But now he expected that they would kill him.
The Lord saved him from the mouth of the lion. Since Paul was a Roman citizen, by law they could not throw him to the lions. He may have used the word lion to refer to the *emperor whose name was Nero. Tradition has it that sometime later Emperor Nero ordered the death of Paul. But more likely, he used the phrase ‘mouth of the lion’ to mean extreme danger.
Verse 18 Paul is confident that the Lord will save him from everything evil. He is not here thinking about being set free from prison. He does not expect to be free again. He is sure that the next time he comes before the judge it will not go well. He believes that the judge will decide that he should die. Paul means that the Lord will save him when he dies. The Lord will rescue him from death and raise him to a new life.
When he dies, Paul believes that the *Lord will take him into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord is the king there. Nothing that is evil can get into that place. It is where the Christ will live with his people. And there shall be no end to that life.
As he thinks of what Christ has done, Paul praises him. He appreciates the goodness of the Lord, which shines like a bright light. All glory belongs to Christ for who he is. And for what he has done. His glory will never end.
Final Remarks and Greeting (4:19-22)
v19 I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and to the family of Onesiphorus. v20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus, because he was sick. v21 Try as hard as you can to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia send their greetings, and so do all the other Christians. v22 The Lord be with your spirit and give his grace to all of you.
Commentary
Verse 19 Priscilla and Aquila were old friends of Paul. When he first arrived in Corinth, he lived and worked with them. Like him, they made tents (Acts 18:2-3). They had not been in Corinth long but had come from Rome. They then went with Paul to Ephesus and stayed there (Acts 18:18-19). Sometime later they went back to Rome and Paul sent greetings to them (Romans 16:3-4). But now they were once more in Ephesus.
Paul sent greetings to the family of Onesiphorus. Earlier in this letter he had asked the Lord to be kind to them (1:16).
Verse 20 When Paul wrote to Rome from Corinth, he sent greetings from Erastus. This man had an important job in that city (Romans 16:23). There was also a man called Erastus who, with Timothy, helped Paul when he was in Ephesus (Acts 19:22). We do not know whether these two are the same person.
Trophimus went with Paul when he took the gifts to the poor Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). The Jews had seen him there with Paul. They thought that Paul had taken Trophimus into the temple where he should not go (Acts 21:29).
Verse 21 Perhaps Paul is starting to feel the cold and the damp in the prison. Soon it will be winter and he will suffer with the cold weather. He needs that coat which he had asked Timothy to bring. So, he urges him to try as hard as he can to come before winter. It may not be possible for Timothy to make that voyage in the winter months. To wait for spring could be too late. By then, Paul may have been to the court for the final time. The result of that would probably be his death.
Paul sends greetings from four members of the church at Rome. The rest of the church there also sends greetings.
Verse 22 Paul gives a blessing to Timothy first and then to all the Christians in the church at Ephesus. He prays that the Lord will be with Timothy. Then he ends as he prays for the grace of the Lord to be with them all.
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