But *thou*, be sober in all things, bear evils, do [the] work of an evangelist, fill up the full measure of thy ministry.
Paul has just warned that people will stop putting up with sound teaching. They will pile up teachers who tell them what they want to hear. Against that, he gives Timothy four short commands. Commentators read them as the shape of faithful service when everything is going wrong.
Older translations put the first command as "watch." One writer weighs the Greek and settles on a different sense:
A workman and leader needs more in a day of widespread and dangerous decline, when intoxicating influences were as common as they were varied: "But you, be sober in all things." The word does not mean vigilance, as the Authorized Version has it, nor a sound mind, though that sense is close. It means sobriety of judgment. Timothy was to keep clear of anything that excites or dulls the mind. Others were drifting with the crowd, away from the truth and into fables.
Another writer names what clouds the mind today:
He is to "watch," or rather "be sober" in all things. The word used means "that sober clearness of mind that comes from being free of false influences — not muddled by the influence of what intoxicates." This is a very important word for all of us. Nothing so intoxicates the mind and muddles the perceptions as the false modern teaching we have just mentioned.
Timothy had already been told to suffer. Here the call is wider:
He is called to "suffer evils," or hardships, and this in the most general way. In 2 Timothy 1:8 it was to suffer evil "with the gospel"... In 2 Timothy 2:3 the thought is different. There Timothy takes his part in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Here all idea of "sharing" is left out. Readiness to endure ills in his place and service is what the apostle claims. Paul did not lay a burden on his young colleague which he himself had not long and fully borne.
Hardship is not a signal to stop:
The enemy watches for any chance to spoil the testimony given to Christ. Afflictions are not sent to turn us aside, but to be endured.
Why tell Timothy this at all? One writer points to the troubles inside the church:
People often misunderstand the next call. They read it as if the apostle meant Timothy to do an evangelist's work when he did not have that gift, and so was not really an evangelist! There is not the shadow of a sound reason for such a reading. The real danger was different. The growing difficulties and troubles of the church might distract the young and sensitive worker. Demands from inside might make him give up the gift he truly had for work outside, though it was not his only gift.
One writer sets the question of gift aside:
Do the work of the evangelist. People ask me, "Are you an evangelist?" "I don't know," I reply. I do not know or care whether I am one or not, if only I can do the work of one. The work of the evangelist is to bring Christ before souls, and to bring souls to Christ. In a day when everything is out of order, the servant of Christ is to be a "man of all work."
Paul wrote it with his own death close at hand:
The very last instruction of a public nature given by the apostle Paul was that Timothy should "do the work of an evangelist"... He was about to drop his pen forever and lay down his life for the sake of Christ and the Church. With his parting breath, and in view of all the coming ruin that would fall on the Church, this devoted servant charged his son in the faith to attend to the work of the gospel. It was no question of gift, but of heart for Christ's interests.
The closing command gathers up the rest. The Greek word points to filling something up to the brim:
Lastly, Timothy is told "fully to perform" his ministry (v. 5)... It means filling his service to the full measure. Evangelizing binds the one who has the gift. Even so, it was not the whole of the ministry Timothy had received in the Lord, and he is told here to fulfil all of it.
That leaves no room for a job left three-quarters done:
The Lord's work is not to be half done. We are to seek to finish to perfection what He gives us to do.
- Sober — the first command guards the mind. Keep clear judgment while the crowd drifts into fables.
- Steady — hardship comes with the work. Endure afflictions; they do not come to turn the servant aside.
- Sent — keep the gospel work going however bad the day gets. The question is a heart for Christ's interests, not a title.
- Full — "fulfil" means filling service up to its measure. Evangelizing was real work, but not all of Timothy's ministry.
- Finished — the Lord's work is not to be half done; the aim is to finish what He gives.
For *I* am already being poured out, and the time of my release is come.
Paul writes with his death close, and he makes his own ending the reason Timothy must throw himself into the work. The verse gives two pictures: a drink offering poured out, and a departure. Both raise the same question. How does a servant of Christ face the end of his own life?
The older translation reads "I am now ready to be offered." That softens what the original says is already happening.
The Authorized Version does not give the form correctly. "Now ready to be offered" differs in several ways from "am already being poured out," which is the exact sense of the original. This is not the first time the apostle uses the picture of a drink offering. A little earlier he wrote to his dear friends at Philippi, "But if also I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith …" (Phil. 2:17). Now he drops every condition, because his release is in view. He speaks as though the drink offering were already being poured out.
The picture comes from the law, where wine was poured over other sacrifices.
The word "offered" in Philippians 2:17 is "poured out," as the margin shows. Paul uses the same word in 2 Timothy 4:6, when his death as a martyr was close. He was pointing, of course, to the drink offerings the law required. A "fourth part of a hin of wine" had to be poured over certain sacrifices, before the Lord.
A drink offering was never the main sacrifice. It was poured over another offering.
It was as though he was a drink offering, poured out on the far greater offering of his Lord. This showed his joy in the One who was the true grain offering, whose perfection and beauty shine out even in suffering and death. For the drink offering was poured over the grain offering (Ex. 29:40, 41).
Some translations render "departure" as "release."
The end of his devoted life, and of the persecution from the world that came with it, was so near that he could say, "I am already being poured out." He speaks of his departure as the time of his "release." Leaving this scene released him from a body that kept him from Christ. Yet he uses it as a reason for Timothy to fill up the full measure of his ministry. How often since that day has the Lord used the removal of a devoted servant to stir up those who remain to active service.
Paul's certainty about his own death was unusual. Commentators warn against making it the normal Christian hope.
Only a special, personal word from the Lord could have enabled Paul, like Peter (2 Peter 1:14), to speak with such certainty about his own death. But the very fact that he was an exception here confirms that the general hope of believers was not to depart and be with Christ, but the Lord's coming to receive them to Himself.
The verse begins with "For." Paul's death is the reason for the charge he has just given Timothy. When Paul went, apostolic ministry went with him.
So the absence of apostolic ministry — a serious thing for the position of the church — makes the duty of the man of God more urgent. Paul's absence is a reason for working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. In the same way, it is a reason for anyone doing the work of the gospel to give himself to his ministry more than ever.
What remains for those who come after is not to repeat what Paul did, but to build on it.
We cannot be apostles, or lay the foundation of the church. That is already done. But we can build on that foundation: with the truth we have received from the apostle, with the Scriptures God has given us, and with a tireless love in the truth for souls. The foundation is not to be laid a second time.
The pouring out was not only the moment of death. It was the shape of the whole life that led to it.
Paul was about to be poured out as a drink offering — a precious ending to a devoted life, and a wonderful privilege. His life on earth had come to its close. Before he left the arena where his very life went up to God as a sacrifice, he could say that he had fought the good fight, finished his course, and kept the faith. It is a wonderful passage, and it should wake us up to ask whether each one of us is finishing his course as the Lord wants.
- Already — the verb is present, not future: the pouring out has begun. Paul is not bracing for sacrifice; he is in the middle of one.
- Poured — the drink offering was wine poured over another sacrifice. Paul's death is the addition, laid on the far greater offering of his Lord.
- Released — "departure" also means release. For Paul it meant leaving a body that kept him from Christ. He speaks of his own end with a certainty given him personally, not one every believer should expect.
- Passed on — apostolic ministry was leaving the scene, so Timothy's duty grew more urgent, not less. The Lord still uses a servant's removal to stir up those left behind.
- Built on — the foundation is laid once. Our work is to build on it, with Scripture and tireless love for souls. And to ask whether we are finishing our own course as the Lord wants.
I have combated the good combat, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul writes these words with his own death in view, and he sums up his whole life in three short claims. Commentators ask two things about it. What was he claiming, and could anyone else say the same?
The verse holds three images side by side, each drawn from a different arena.
Paul speaks of his past life in three ways. As a Christian soldier, he has "fought the good fight." As a runner, he has "finished his course." As a witness for God in this world, he has "kept the faith."
The wording matters. Paul does not say a good fight, as though he were rating his own performance.
As he faces death there is no hint of disappointment or regret, but fresh, living joy. He had "fought the good fight," not "a good fight." He was not drawing attention to his own fighting. He meant the fight that all Christianity fights, against evil and for the glory of God. His part in it was about to end. He had finished the course, he had kept the faith. He is not saying how well he had fought, or how well he had run, or how well he had kept the faith. God would judge those things. But there was no other good fight, no other proper course, no other true faith except Christianity. In this he had continued to the finish.
Another writer makes the same distinction from the side of the conflict itself: Paul knew the fight was a good one, and "only speaks of the character of the conflict, and not of the manner in which he had carried it on." That the words could be written at all is treated as a mercy — "precious grace of God to His devoted servant, to permit him to write such words with the unerring pen of inspiration."
Paul had longed for this end long before. Now the word "finished" is his to say.
No end is more triumphant than this. He had held that hope dear before, when he said, "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus." Now he was getting that wish… so there was a charm, with the last contest over, in saying, "I have finished." He knew he had left nothing undone, or half-done, in all his wide service.
Paul kept the faith by losing everything else.
The effort of the enemy is to rob us of the precious faith. Whatever we may lose in the battle is not really loss if we keep the faith. Paul lost everything in defence of the faith. He lost his property, reputation, religion, liberty and life. But he kept the faith… It is a great thing to say, when the battle is over, "I have kept the faith."
Paul had already listed many who did not keep it. That list runs through both of his letters to Timothy.
In these two letters he has spoken of people who failed over the faith. Some have "made shipwreck of their faith" (1 Timothy 1:19). Some "depart from the faith" (1 Timothy 4:1). Some have "denied the faith" (1 Timothy 5:8). Some have "wandered away from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10). Some have "swerved from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:21). Others are "upsetting the faith of some" (2 Timothy 2:18). Others are "disqualified regarding the faith" (2 Timothy 3:8). But he had kept the truth God gave him. So he could say, "I have kept the faith." The devil wants us, dear friends, to give up what God has given us.
Every claim here is in the past tense. Paul says it only at the end.
Paul was leaving the battlefield. He was putting off his armour. He had given a good account of himself, not in his own power, but in the power of God… He does not boast until the battle is over. The time to boast is not when the armour is being put on, but when it is being put off. Peter boasted too early, and so did all the disciples. Failure taught them how foolish that was.
Paul was speaking from the finish line. The reader is not.
The Apostle could say that he had fought a good fight, that he had finished his course and had kept the faith. He was at the finish, we are in the middle of the fight. Do we sleep on beds of ease? Are we taking our place in the fight of faith?
Another writer turns it into a question for every reader:
This should wake us up to ask if each one of us is finishing his course according to the Lord's mind.
- The fight — Paul names the fight all Christianity fights, not the quality of his own fighting. God alone judges how well he fought.
- The course — "Finished" means Paul left nothing undone or half-done. The end he had longed for was the end he got.
- The faith — He lost property, reputation, liberty and life. Nothing lost in the battle is real loss as long as you keep the faith.
- The timing — He boasts only as the armour comes off. Peter boasted too early, and failure taught him the folly of it.
- The turn — Paul stands at the finish; we stand in the middle. The question is whether we are finishing our course according to the Lord's mind.
Henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will render to me in that day; but not only to me, but also to all who love his appearing.
Paul writes with death close at hand, looking back on a finished race and forward to a day of reward. Three questions follow: what is this crown, why is it a crown of righteousness, and who else receives it?
The same Lord meets the believer at the start and at the finish, but in different characters:
These verses show the two ends of the Christian course here on earth. At the start the chief of sinners receives salvation and accepts that trustworthy saying. At the end the same man looks forward to a crown of righteousness, which he is sure is kept ready for him. And let us note it well. The One who gives salvation at the beginning as the Saviour gives the crown at the end as the righteous Judge, to all who have loved and do love His appearing.
Its name points to the One who gives it, and to the fairness of the gift:
There is a crown of righteousness promised to those who love the Lord's appearing. Why is it called a crown of righteousness? Because He will give it to those to whom it is righteous to give it: "which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me" (2 Tim. 4:8). And God "is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name" (Heb. 6:10).
Human courts have taught us to expect unfairness. This title of Christ answers that:
It is a happy thing for us that we have a righteous Judge. He makes no mistakes when He gives out justice, whether to saints or to sinners. We have seen so much injustice that a truly just judge is hard to imagine. But the righteous Judge will give a crown of righteousness to Paul, and to all those who love His appearing. The setting up of that kingdom, when the glorified saints will reign with Jesus, is seen as the end of the warfare. All who are for Him, and who have fought loyally for Him while He has been away, will receive the honour and glory due to their faithfulness in that day.
The crown comes not when the Lord takes His own to Himself, but when He appears in public view:
His coming for us would not fit here. That would simply mean being caught up to be forever with Him. But His appearing is the day that brings faithfulness into the open and shows the work of each one. If the work stands the test of that day, each will receive reward according to his own labour.
The last clause is a searching test, because that day closes down everything the world enjoys:
"Love!" — do you love, can you love, that which will put a stop to everything that is pleasant in the world? It asks the heart. How this marks a spirit entirely in contrast with the spirit of the world!
Nor is this love merely about what we will gain when He comes:
It is fitting for the Christian to "love His appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8). We should love it not for the relief and reward it will bring us, but for what that Day will mean for Christ. We love that Day in advance; we delight to think of the vindication and glory it will yield to the Lord Jesus.
Commentators differ on how wide the promise runs. Some tie the crown to a faithful walk, not to being a Christian:
The crown the Apostle speaks of is not given for being a Christian, but for a faithful walk. Poor Lot will not have it, nor Demas... All are to be in glory on the ground of free grace. But Christ watches to see if we run well. He will give a reward where there has been faithfulness, and a crown of righteousness if we have loved His appearing.
Others say the final phrase covers every believer, though rewards will still differ:
"All who have loved His appearing" describes all believers, but not all will have the same crown. All alike, as subjects of grace, will be conformed to Christ in glory. But rewards will differ, and the righteous Judge will hand them out. So they will follow His judgment, which never fails... This too is of grace, for if Paul laboured more than the other apostles, it was by the grace of God.
- Saviour, then Judge. He saves the chief of sinners at the start. At the finish He meets the same man as the righteous Judge, with a crown.
- Righteous, not random. God calls it a crown of righteousness because giving it is right; He does not forget work done for His name.
- Reserved, not held back. The crown lies ready now. The Lord awards it at His appearing, the day that brings each one's work into the open.
- Loved, not merely awaited. The final phrase tests the heart: only a heart out of step with the world can love the day that ends it.
- Shared, not exclusive. Paul does not keep the promise to himself. Commentators differ: some tie the crown to faithful service, others give it to every believer who loves His appearing.