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The second section of Chapter 4 consists of
three
verses:
2 Timothy 4:6-8
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of
my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.
Let us begin with the Barclay:
PAUL COMES TO THE END
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2 Timothy 4:6-8
…paraphrased
For my life has reached the point when it
must be sacrificed, and the time of my
departure has come. I have fought the good
fight: I have completed the course: I have
kept the faith. As for what remains, there
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness
which on that day the Lord, the righteous
judge, will give to me – and not only to me,
but also to all who have loved his
appearing. |
For Paul, the end is very near, and he knows
it. When the Dutch reformer Erasmus was growing old,
he said: ‘I am a veteran, and have earned my
discharge, and must leave the fighting to younger
men.’ Paul, the veteran warrior, is laying down his
arms in order that Timothy may take them up.
No passage in the New Testament [has
more] vivid pictures than this.
‘My life’, says Paul, ‘has reached the point
where it must be sacrificed.’ The word he uses for
sacrifice is the verb spendesthai, which literally
means to pour out as a libation, a drink offering,
[to God]. Every Roman meal ended with a kind of
sacrifice. A cup of wine was taken and was poured
out (spendesthai)
to the gods. It is as if Paul were saying: ‘The day
is ended; it is time to rise and go; and my life
must be poured out as a sacrifice to God.’ He did
not think of himself as going to be executed; he
thought of himself as going to offer his life to
God. Ever since his conversion, he had offered
everything to God – his money, his scholarship, his
time, his physical strength, the acuteness of his
mind and the devotion of his heart. Only life itself
was left to offer, and gladly he was going to lay it
down.
He goes on to say: ‘The time of my departure
has come.’ The word (analusis)
he uses for departure is a vivid one. It contains
many pictures, and each one tells us something about
leaving this life.
(1) It is the word for unyoking an animal
from the shafts of the cart or the plough. Death to
Paul was rest from labour. As Edmund Spenser had it
in The Faerie Queene, sleep after toil, port after
stormy seas, ease after war, death after life, are
lovely things.
(2) It is the word for loosening bonds or
fetters. Death for Paul was a release. He was to
exchange the confines of a Roman prison for the
glorious liberty of the courts of heaven.
(3) It is the word for loosening the ropes of
a tent. For Paul, it was time to strike camp again.
He had made many journeys across the roads of Asia
Minor and of Europe. Now he was setting out on his
last and greatest journey: he was taking the road
that led to God.
(4) It is the word for loosening the mooring
ropes of a ship. On many occasions, Paul had felt
his ship leave the harbor for the deep waters. Now
he is to launch out into the greatest deep of all,
setting sail to cross the waters of death to arrive
in the haven of eternity.
So, for Christians, death is laying down the burden
in order to rest; it is laying aside the shackles in
order to be free; it is dismantling a temporary
campsite in order to take up residence in the
[Kingdom]; it is casting off the ropes which
bind us to this world in order to set sail on the
voyage which ends in the presence of God. Who then
shall fear it? ~Barclay
commentary
Now to the other commentaries.
First, we will go to the general commentaries and
move to the specific. Again Paul is speaking
minister to minister but clearly all these
admonitions speak, in principles and concepts, to
all
Let us begin with the Matthew Henry Main. We are
breaking into commentary covering the first eight
verses.
2. Because Paul for his part had almost done his
work: Do thou make full proof of thy ministry, for I
am now ready to be offered, 2 Timothy 4:6. And,
(1.) “Therefore there will be the more occasion for
thee.” When labourers are removed out of the
vineyard, it is no time for those to loiter that are
left behind, but to double their diligence. The
fewer hands there are to work the more industrious
those hands must be that are at work.
(2.) “I have done the work of my day and generation;
do thou in like manner do the work of thy day and
generation.”
Note: Can we fathom this point? What, me carry on
the work of a Paul or Peter or even Timothy? The
spiritual answer from God to both modern-day
ministry and all firstfruits is YES! Peter, Paul and
Timothy were servants of God and they accomplished
their work by the power of God, the Holy Spirit and
with their maturity, which includes, clearly,
fervency, diligence, zeal and perseverance. God called
Paul. God called you. You both have the same Holy
Spirit in you and the same God is sitting on His
throne in heaven with Jesus Christ at His side. If
anything, we have more of the Word than those
individuals had. We have massive technology and
knowledge that help us in virtually every area of
our God-given duties and the spread of the Gospel.
Paul and Timothy each had angels that were helpers
in their salvation. So do we [Hebrews 1:7, 14]. God
is never going to record that all the spiritual
strength was in the first century of the church. You
will see a multitude of names in that record from
the times you have lived.
Quoted verse:
Hebrews 1:7, 14
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels
spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
14 Are they [the angels] not all ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation?
You and Paul are both heirs of salvation.
(3.) The comfort and cheerfulness of Paul, in the
prospect of his approaching departure, might
encourage Timothy to the utmost industry, and
diligence, and seriousness in his work. Paul was an
old soldier of Jesus Christ, Timothy was but newly
enlisted. “Come,” says Paul, “I have found our
Master kind and the cause good; I can look back upon
my warfare with a great deal of pleasure and
satisfaction; and therefore be not afraid of the
difficulties thou must meet with. The crown of life
is as sure to thee as if it were already upon thy
head; and therefore endure afflictions, and make
full proof of thy ministry.” The courage and comfort
of dying saints and ministers, and especially dying
martyrs, are a great confirmation of the truth of
the Christian religion, and a great encouragement to
living saints and ministers in their work. Here the
apostle looks forward, upon his death approaching: I
am now ready to be offered. The Holy Spirit
witnessed in every city that bonds and afflictions
did abide him, Acts 20:23 [that is, Christ working
in Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit witnessed in
every city].
Quoted verse:
Acts 20:23
Save that the Holy Ghost [Spirit] witnesseth in
every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide
me.
He was now at Rome, and it is probable that he had
particular intimations from the Spirit that there he
should seal the truth with his blood; and he looks
upon it now as near at hand: I am already poured
out; so it is in the original; that
is, I am already a martyr in affection. It alludes
to the pouring out of the drink-offerings; for the
blood of the martyrs, though it was not a sacrifice
of atonement, was a sacrifice of acknowledgment to
the honour of the grace of God and his truths.
Observe,
[1.] With what pleasure he speaks of dying. He calls
it his departure; though it is probable that he
foresaw he must die a violent bloody death, yet he
calls it his departure, or his release. Death to a
good man is his release from the imprisonment of
this world and his departure to the enjoyments of
another world; he does not cease to be, but is only
removed from one world to another.
~Matthew Henry
Main
Let us look at the Biblical Illustrator:
Ready to be offered
I. Things which make it difficult to say this.
1. The enjoyment of life.
2. Attachment to friends.
3. The anticipated pain of dissolution.
4. Uncertainty about the future.
II. Things which make it easy, at least
comparatively, to say this.
1. The sad experience of life’s ills.
2. The consciousness of having finished one’s
life-work.
3. The pre-decease of Christian friends.
4. An ever-nearing and enlarging prospect of
heaven’s glory. ~Biblical Illustrator
Here is another:
Paul the martyr, Christian, conqueror
I. The information here given of Paul’s death as a
martyr.
1. He looked on his death as an offering on behalf
of the gospel.
2. He looked on his death as a departure from every
temporal bondage.
II. The declaration here given of Paul’s labour as a
Christian.
1. As a soldier in the army.
2. As a runner in a race.
3. As a faithful servant to his Master.
III. The declaration here given of Paul’s reward as
a conqueror,
1. The preciousness of this reward.
2. The excellent Giver of this reward.
3. The solemn time of obtaining this reward.
4. The liberality of the Giver. “Not to me only,”
[see verse 8]
~Biblical Illustrator
Quoted verse:
2 Timothy 4:8 [see
lesson]
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.
Here is a third item from the Biblical Illustrator:
Looking [to the Kingdom]
1. He looks downward into the grave (2 Timothy 4:6)
whither he was going, and there he sees comfort.
2. He looks backward and views his well-spent life
with joy and comfort, and in a holy gloriation
breaks forth, “I have fought the good fight,” etc.
3. He looks upward, and there he sees [the Kingdom]
prepared for him.
But doth not this savor of vain-glory and spiritual
pride?
1. Answer: Not at all, for the apostle speaks not
this proudly, as if he had merited anything at the
hand of God.
2. He speaks this partly to comfort Timothy, and to
encourage him to walk in his steps, keeping faith
and a good conscience.
3. To encourage himself against the reproach of his
reproaching violent death, he eyes that heavenly
reward and that crown of life prepared for such as
have fought the good fight as he had done.
~Biblical Illustrator
Now to the specific commentaries:
This verse is in two parts and divided by the comma.
1. For I am now ready to be offered.
2. And the time of my departure is at hand.
1. For I am now ready to be offered.
For I am now ready to be offered
- Poured out as an
offering by having his blood shed.
~People's New
Testament
For I am ready to be offered
- There is a pathetic
tenderness in the reason thus given. ‘Do thy work
thoroughly, for mine is all but over.’ The Greek is,
however, even more emphatic, ‘I am being offered. My
life is being poured out as a libation.’ That which
in Philippians 2:17 was thought of as probable, had,
after many chances [opportunities/circumstances] and changes, come to be a
reality. ~Popular commentary
For I am now ready to be
offered - I
am already poured out as a libation. See the note on
Philippians 2:17. He considers himself as on the eve
of being sacrificed, and looks upon his blood as the
libation which was poured on the sacrificial
offering. He could not have spoken thus positively
had not the sentence of death been already passed
upon him. ~Adam Clarke
Quoted verse:
Philippians 2:17
Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you
all.
For I am now ready to be offered - Or poured out, as
a libation, or a drink offering; or as the blood was
poured out at the bottom of the altar; which is
expressive of martyrdom, and shows that the apostle
knew what death he should die; for which he was
habitually ready; and this sacrifice of himself was
not to atone for sin, his own, or others; Christ's
death was the only sacrifice for sin, and that is a
complete one, and needs no other to be added to it;
but this was in the cause of Christ, and for the
confirmation of the Gospel, and the faith of the
saints in it: so covenants have been confirmed by
libations or drink offerings of wine; and this was
an offering acceptable unto God, in whose sight the
death of his saints is precious; as the wine in the
drink offering is said to cheer God, that is, to be
acceptable to him: ~John Gill
2. And the time of my departure is at hand.
The time of my departure
- Death, to Paul, was simply
a departure, a leaving the body and this world for a
better state. ~People's New Testament
At hand. - His death had been predetermined by his
enemies, and was near. ~People's New Testament
The time of my departure is at hand - So undoubtedly
God had shown him. I am ready to be offered up -
Literally, to be poured out, as the wine and oil
were on the ancient sacrifices.
~John Wesley
Explanatory Notes
The time of my departure
- The Greek word is used
here only in the New Testament, and was probably
suggested by the way in which it was commonly
applied to the ‘breaking up’ or ‘dispersion’ of
those who had been gathered together for a
sacrifice. ~Popular commentary
And the time of my departure is at hand
- death is
not an annihilation [total
destruction] of man, neither of his body, nor
of his soul; the one at death returns to dust, and
the other to God that gave it; death is a
dissolution [dissolving
into parts or elements] of soul and body, or a dissolving of the
union that is between them, and a resolution of the
body into its first principles; hence the Syriac
version renders it, "the time in which I shall be
dissolved"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the time
of my resolution". Death analyzes men, and reduces
them to their first original earth; it is a removing
of persons from one place and state to another; from
an house of clay, from this earthly house of our
tabernacle, to an house not made with hands, eternal
in the [ Kingdom], to everlasting habitations, and
mansions in Christ's Father's house. This phrase, "a
departure", is an easy representation of death, and
supposes an existence after it. Now there is a
"time" for this; saints are not to continue here
always; this is a state of pilgrimage, and a time of
sojourning, and which is fixed and settled; the time
for going out of this world, as well as for coming
into it, is determined by God, beyond which there is
no passing; the number of men's days, months, and
years, is with him; and the apostle knew partly from
his age, and partly from his situation, being in
bonds at Rome, and it may be by divine revelation,
that his time of removing out of this world was very
near; and which he mentions, to stir up Timothy to
diligence, since he would not have him long with
him, to give him counsel and advice, to admonish
him, or set him an example. ~John Gill
Recap - What did we learn today?
1] Paul knows his end is near.
2] Paul offered everything in his life to God.
3] Paul is now ready to offer the last thing he has;
his life.
4] Death for Paul was rest from labor.
5] Paul did not fear death. He looked at the grave
as a place of comfort. I have always called the
grave the best place of safety on Earth.
6] Paul is now showing Timothy his opportunity to
take up the plough he is releasing.
7] When one laborer ends his or her work, it is time
for everyone remaining to redouble theirs. There
used to be upwards of 150,000 baptized members in
the Body of Christ. For many years now, this figure
is around just 30,000. I venture to say that these
30,000 are putting in the effort today that matches
and exceeds their efforts then.
8] Paul and Timothy did all Work by the power of the
Holy Spirit in them. So do we.
9] God was sitting on His thrown with Jesus Christ
at His side in Paul's day. He is still there today.
10] Angels have be assigned to be our helpers in
salvation. True in Paul's and Timothy's day and true
now today.
11] Paul invoked joy and cheerfulness in His last
days.
12] Paul was the great encourager. Witness the great
encouragement he is giving Timothy and us in these
two great letters.
13] Death to a good man is his release from the
imprisonment of this world and his departure to the
enjoyments of another world.
14] As with Paul, each of us is a soldier in the
army of Jesus Christ, a runner in the race to
salvation and we are all faithful servants of the
Master.
15] There is a crown of righteousness laid up for
Paul and to all of them that love the appearing of
Jesus Christ.
16] Paul gave all glory to God in all that he did.
17] Paul had a Kingdom perspective [10,000-year
perspective].
18] With a Kingdom perspective, death has no power.
All these are the lessons of verse 6. |