成績單

In England in the early 1500s, Bibles were written in Latin and considered the private property of the church. Only priests were allowed to read and interpret the Scriptures. One man challenged his religious world and laid the groundwork for the coming English Reformation.

It began when William Tyndale decided to translate the Bible into English so that, he said, the plowboy—the farmhand—could have a copy of the Bible he could read for himself. Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament was eventually printed, and the medieval church mounted a vicious attack against it. Anyone found with a copy of Tyndale’s Bible would be burned at the stake, often with the Bible tied around his neck.

Tyndale himself was eventually captured, and after eighteen months in prison, he was burned at the stake. His last words before he died were these: “Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!”

Well, nearly a century later, God would answer his prayer when King James of England authorized an English translation of the Bible. And here is the irony: when the first edition of the King James Bible was published in 1611, some 90 percent of William Tyndale’s translation was incorporated into it. “Oh, Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!” And God moved to answer that prayer, many years later.[1]

How often the apostle Paul must have prayed a similar prayer for the emperor of his day. And like William Tyndale, he would pay for his commitment to Christ with his own life.

As Paul writes 2 Timothy 4, he is incarcerated in a prison nicknamed “The Rat’s Nest.” Because he knows his execution is just around the corner, he closes his final letter to Timothy with some powerful words.

You might notice how solemn he sounds in his final charge here in verses 1-2:

I 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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

There you have it—the one thing that is most on Paul’s mind as death approaches. He tells Timothy to preach the Word. He has already explained that the Bible is God-breathed—divinely inspired—and adequate for equipping every believer for life. And now, he simply charges Timothy to preach it.

This Greek word translated “preach” (kērussō) simply means to herald the message. The pastor’s role is not to communicate what he thinks but what God thinks. He is not coming up with his message but preaching God’s message. I heard one pastor of a large church say that he did not want to be called a preacher; he wanted to be called a communicator. A communicator can come up with his own message, but a preacher, like a herald in days of old, is simply to cry out, “Hear ye, Hear ye,” and then deliver the message of the king.

Depending on the king’s message, that herald might become rather unpopular. So, Paul reminds Timothy here to “be ready, in season and out of season.” In other words, when it is convenient and appreciated or when it is ridiculed and ignored.

True biblical preaching will lead the preacher “to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Paul then tells Timothy why preaching is not going to be all that popular: 

The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. (verse 3)

If that time had not yet arrived in Timothy’s day, it sure has today. The largest churches in our country today are led by pastors who refuse to confront sin and point to repentance and faith in Christ alone. People’s ears are itching for somebody to tell them how to shape their own destiny—to declare their own potential.

Rather than rail at them, however, Paul says to reach them: “As for you [Timothy], always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (verse 5). Those last three words sum up Paul’s final charge: “Fulfill your ministry”—that is, fully and faithfully carry out every aspect of your pastoral duties.

Paul writes some of his most moving words in verse 6: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” In Israel’s worship, a “a drink offering [was] poured on the lamb of sacrifice just before it was burned on the altar.”[2] The smoke would ascend upward as a sweet-smelling mist. Paul is happy to be just that brief wisp of smoke, ascending by death into the presence of Christ.

He goes on to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (verse 7). Paul is anticipating that eternal reward, represented by a “crown of righteousness” (verse 8), which represents the gift of righteousness offered through Christ alone.

By his words and example, Paul is telling Timothy, “Press on, do not give up, do not change your message, stick to the Word of God.”

In the remainder of this chapter, we have Paul’s final requests. He is setting his affairs in order as he anticipates his soon death by the decree of Nero, the Roman emperor.

His primary desire at this point is for Timothy to come visit him. He writes in verse 9, “Do your best to come to me soon.”

He then explains in verses 10-12 that only his friend Dr. Luke is with him. Paul is a little homesick and lonely. A man named Demas has abandoned Paul to go back into the world; his fellow workers have scattered abroad in ministry—“Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia” (verse 10). And in verse 12, Paul writes, “Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.” More than likely, Tychicus is heading to Timothy there in Ephesus to deliver this very letter we call 2 Timothy.

Paul writes something wonderfully surprising in verse 11: “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” You might remember that Mark had abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, and Paul was not interested in using Mark again (Acts 15:36-39). Now he offers this interesting commendation of Mark. Evidently, over the years, Mark had matured, and Paul had mellowed. This is a wonderful illustration that failure does not have to be final. It is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

Paul now admits that he has three special needs. These needs might seem unimportant for a man about to die; but as he languishes in prison, Paul writes with honest transparency. First, he seeks assistance for his physical needs—he wants his heavy cloak to keep him warm in that cold prison. Second, he has intellectual and spiritual needs, so he asks for his books and parchments. Certainly the parchments were copies of Old Testament Scriptures; the books may have included his collection of poetry from which he quoted. Then third, for his emotional needs, he wants his Christian friends to come visit him.

Paul then warns Timothy of a difficult opponent named Alexander. He also admits, with a touch of sadness, that none of the church in Rome stood with him in his defense at an earlier hearing.

Still, Paul is going to end his letter with forward-thinking optimism. He writes in verse 18, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”

With that, Paul concludes his letter in typical fashion, sending greetings to friends and fellow workers by name. This is his final farewell. He has indeed fought a good fight, he has finished his race, he has kept the faith.