Chapter 4
The outline of the chapter:
Paul’s last words of exhortation,
verses 1-5.
Paul’s last words of anticipation,
verse 6-18.
Paul’s last words of explanation,
verses 9-22.
Verse 1 deals with the changing of
the guard or the transfer of the colours. “I charge thee” — present middle
indicative of the verb diamarturomai [dia = through or by; maturomai = bear witness, affirm] which is a technical term. As a civilian term
it means to put someone under oath and if they lie they are to be executed or
destroyed in some way. In other words, to be put under and oath which if
violated incurs being put under a curse of some kind. It also is used in the
military sense for a solemn command issued in the changing of the guard or
issued in the transfer of the colours. Perhaps the simplest of all translation
is “I adjure,” which means to command solemnly. It means a command that is so
solemn that if you violate your trust you are automatically executed,
court-martialled, or destroyed. We very easily therefore translate it, “I give
a solemn command.” The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar
action in present time. This is the point of time when Paul passes the colours
to super-grace Timothy who is on his way to ultra-super-grace. He has commanded
Timothy to keep going and warned him about the right and wrong side of history,
and at this historical moment there is the changing of the guard.
A message to the royal family of
God: You will never grow one inch spiritually without taking in doctrine from a
communicator of doctrine. A communicator of doctrine must be an authorised
communicator. The authorisation and commissioning occurs at the point of
salvation when God the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows the spiritual gift. This
means that apart from the ministry of your pastor-teacher you cannot grow.
The apostle takes the regimental
colours [doctrine] and he passes them over to a pastor-teacher, a
representative for all pastor-teachers. When Timothy accepted the colours and
when Timothy accepted the command to carry on he not only accepted them for himself
but he accepted them for all pastor-teachers throughout the Church Age, right
down to the Rapture. The only way anyone has ever grown up in the Church Age is
to get under their right pastor-teacher.
The middle voice: this is a deponent
verb, middle in form, active in meaning. Paul produces the action of the verb.
The indicative mood is declarative representing the action of the verb from the
viewpoint of reality. The solemn connotation of the verb of adjuration, then,
is in keeping with the occasion of passing the colours from Paul to Timothy,
from one spiritual leader of one generation to another. But the historical
emphasis is on the fact that from that time, in AD 68, right down to the
present day the only way that spiritual growth is accomplished under the
principles of the angelic conflict is through the pastor-teachers.
“therefore” is not found in the
original MSS; “before God” — an improper preposition, e)nwpion. The reason this is called an improper preposition
is because it really isn’t a preposition at all, it is an adverb. But the Koine
Greek had developed such a sophisticated form of communication that they took
an adverb and converted it into a preposition. The equivalent to this in a preposition
would be proj, a legitimate preposition. Proj would be Classical Greek, saying it in a way in
which no one could understand it but everyone is impressed! The Koine Greek of
the Bible is street language, down to earth language, “improper language.” One
improper word communicates 1000% better than a lot of beautiful euphemisms. The
object of this preposition, e)nwpion, is in the genitive case — qeoj. This should be translated “in the presence of the
God [God the Father],” but it is not good Greek. it is good English because we
translate as good English.
“and the Lord Jesus Christ” — this
is a transitional use of kai plus the continuation of
the prepositional phrase with the genitive of Xristoj and I)hsou. Kurioj, “Lord,” is not found in the passage.
“who shall judge” — the articular
present active participle of mellw which means to be about to
do something, to be on the point of doing something. Here it means to be
destined. The definite article is used as a relative pronoun, it’s antecedent
in Jesus Christ. The present tense is a futuristic present, it denotes an event
[judgment seat of Christ] which has not yet occurred but is regarded as so
certain that in thought it may be contemplated as already coming to pass. The
verb itself connotes inevitability. The active voice: Jesus Christ is going to
produce the action. The participle is circumstantial. With this is the present
active infinitive of krinw which means to judge or to
evaluate. it means both here because we have two categories. He will evaluate
the believer and judge the unbeliever. The present tense is a static present,
it assumes the fact that Jesus Christ will evaluate the royal family of God
after the Rapture and also will cast into the lake of fire after judgment the
unbeliever. This is confirmed by John 5:22,27. The active voice: Jesus Christ
produces the action of the verb after the Rapture of the Church and at the end
of the Millennium for the unbeliever. The infinitive is the infinitive of
intended result in which the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate aim
or objective in the plan of God. This construction, therefore, is a blending of
purpose and result — “who is destined to judge or evaluate.”
“the quick” — the present active
participle of zaw means “living.” It is a
reference to those believers who are alive at the time of the Rapture. An
entire generation of believers is going to be transferred into eternity without
dying. This is the mortal putting on immortality — 1 Corinthians 15:53.
“the dead” — an accusative plural
direct object from nekroj. It refers to members of
the royal family who die at any time during the Church Age. This is described
as the corruptible putting on incorruption — 1 Corinthians 15:53.
“at his appearing” — an accusative
of reference from e)pifaneia, referring to the Rapture:
“with reference to his appearing.” The appearing is followed by the evaluation
of believers only and the next phrase refers to the judgment of the unbeliever.
“and his kingdom” — an accusative of
reference, basileia. This is used for the
Millennial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in other passages. We also have a
possessive and descriptive genitive singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, emphasising the Lord Jesus Christ as the ruler of
the world during the Millennium. He supersedes Satan as the ruler of this world
and this is a judgment of unbelievers only.
Translation: “I solemnly command you
[Timothy] in the presence of the God, and Christ Jesus, who is destined to
judge the living and the dead, both with reference to his appearance [Rapture]
and with reference to his kingdom [the Great White Throne].”
Summary
1. This verse sets up the occasion,
the changing of the guard, the passing of the colours from one generation to
another but historically from one type of communicator to another.
2. This is the passing of the
colours from the communicator apostle to another type of communicator —
pastor-teacher.
3. Note that in this verse the
apostle Paul with his highest authority as a communicator recognises the mutual
commander-in-chief of all communicators, whether apostles or pastors — “before
the God and Christ Jesus who is destined to judge the living and the dead.”
4. Paul also implies the passing of
the colours from an ultra-super-grace believer to one who is expected to reach
ultra-super-grace very shortly.
5. The implications of future
evaluations of both Paul and Timothy are extremely important. No member of the
royal family should overlook that future evaluation resulting in an eternal
efficiency report.
6. The implication, then, is
obvious. What we do now can glorify God forever. What we fail to do now means
that we will live in eternity without glorifying God. Both the super-grace and
the ultra-super-grace status have great blessing in life, greater blessing in
death, and even greater blessing in eternity.
The doctrine of terminal judgments
1. There is a judgment terminating
spiritual death. This is a reference to the judgment of the cross. With eternal
life the believer is no longer spiritually dead, he is born again. 1 Peter
2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21.
2. There is a judgment terminating
temporal death. This is a reference to the self-judgment of the believer known
as the rebound technique. 1 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 John 1:9.
3. There is also a judgment
terminating human good. This is called the judgment seat of Christ.
2
Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-16; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews
6:7-12.
4. There is a judgment terminating
the unbelievers in the Tribulation — the baptism of fire. The termination for
Jewish unbelievers — Ezekiel 20;34-38; for Gentile unbelievers — Joel 3:11,12;
Matthew 25:31-46.
5. There is a judgment terminating
human revolution. This is the judgment of the Great White Throne in Revelation
20:12-15. The last revolt is put down, the Gog and Magog revolt, and after that
all human revolt is put to an end, all unbelievers either dead or resurrected
or living unbelievers, and all are brought up before the Great White Throne
judgment and cast into the lake of fire forever. That terminates human
revolution.
6. There is a judgment terminating
angelic revolution, the judgment of fallen angels — Matthew 25:41; Revelation
20:10. The termination of both angelic and human revolution means the eternal
state begins at that point.
Verse 2 — a command to carry on. The
changing of the guard has a series of commands. All of these commands are
related to one organisation giving way to another organisation. Paul has said
to Timothy, “Carry on.” This is the way he says it:
“Preach” — aorist active imperative
of the verb khrussw. This means to make a
public proclamation, a herald making a public proclamation. The verb comes from
the herald representing the king — khruc, giving the policy of he
king. The herald as the representative in this case is the representative of
the King of kings, Jesus Christ. The word “preach” is inappropriate for khrussw because khrussw means to delineate policy.
It means to give the policy of the King of kings. The pastor-teacher is the herald
of the King of kings. The King is absent, He is represented by His heralds.
Where does the pastor, the khruc, get his information? He
does not get it directly from the King because the King is seated at the right
hand of the Father and is not speaking any more because it is now in written
form, the canon of scripture. The policies of the King, the plan of the King,
everything that the King wants the Church to know is preserved in the canon of
scripture. In order to read the scriptures you must know the language. The
herald must know the languages, otherwise if he is depending upon a translation
he cannot be sure. Often inaccuracies from the khruc
come from a translation which is not inspired. All scripture is God-breathed,
not translations! The word translated “preach” here means to function as a
herald, to make a proclamation of policy. “Preach” does not mean shouting, it
does not mean eloquence. “Preach” means the announcement of policy, the
announcement of the doctrine of the King of kings. The aorist tense is a
constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It
takes the entire ministry — study and teach — and regardless of its extent or
duration it gathers it up into a single whole. This is the first command ever
given by the dying apostle to the pastor-teacher in the carry on principle.
Every generation of pastors must carry on. They carry on by study and teach,
study and teach… And if they do not you have disaster, spiritual disaster. In
one word a good translation here for khrussw would be “proclaim” if you
understand that the proclamation means a total familiarisation with divine
policy and an eloquent enucleation of it to a group under strict academic
discipline.
“the word” — accusative singular
direct object from the noun logoj, absolutely the most
apropos word that could ever be used. Logoj
means a word, any word. Logoj recognises the fact that
all thinking in the human race is accomplished by the use of words and that no
one can think without words, and that no one can express thought without words.
Words have to be put in a certain order to think. They have to be put into
sentences and paragraphs so that concepts are developed. But the word “word”
here isn’t dealing with your thinking and my thinking, the word here, logoj, is referring to God’s thinking. Immediately we see
the problem because God’s thinking is so infinitely superior to human thinking
that the problem of communication appears on the surface to be impossible. But
it is not impossible because God in His great genius has found languages in
which everything that God wants us to know about salvation, His plan, His
policies, about the angelic conflict and why we are here, and what we are
doing, is communicated. It is all in the scripture in beautiful order but it is
made up of words.
Principle
1. The apostles are departing from
phase two. When John dies in AD 96 the last of the apostles will depart. That
stage of heraldry is gone.
2. The old guard has been removed
from the scene to be replaced by the young guard, generation after generation
of men with the gift of pastor-teacher standing before congregations and
delineating the policy.
3. These heralds must reach
super-grace and go on to ultra-super-grace.
4. As leaders if they cannot reach
maturity by study then the congregation cannot break the maturity barrier by
listening, for the congregation grows by listening to doctrine. The
pastor-teacher breaks the maturity barrier by study. No congregation ever exceeds
the spiritual growth of its pastor-teacher.
5. The pastor must lead his
congregation to the objectives of tactical victory in the angelic conflict. He
leads by study-and-teach.
6. Every generation of history must
have a remnant of super-grace and ultra-super-grace believers to carry their
generation as spiritual Atlases.
“be instant” — the aorist active
imperative of the compound verb e)fisthmi [e)p is the preposition e(pi = by or upon; i(sthmi = to stand] which means to stand by. This is a
military verb which means to stand by, therefore it means to be alert. It also
means to stick to it, to stand over, to be in charge. But the meaning that
really applies here it to be alert or to stick to it. What gives a pastor
alertness? Study of the Word. He goes to the canon of scripture and he digs it
out. This makes him alert as he transfers the doctrine to his own soul. So it
is “stick to studying.” The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist, it states the
present reality of alertness with the certitude of a past event, constant
study. So the dramatic aorist, lots of constant study, means alertness. Hence,
the dramatic aorist emphasises the fact that the pastor must study every day.
The active voice: the pastor-teacher produces the action of the verb by
constant study of the Word of God. The imperative mood is a command to the
pastor to devote his life to the study of the Word.
“in season, out of season” — two
adverbs: e)ukairoj, it means in time of
opportunity, when it is convenient. Do it when it is convenient; a)kairoj, which means “no time,” or in time of no
opportunity, or at a time that it is not convenient.
Summary
1. “Preach the Word,” which is the
first command to carry on emphasises the public teaching of Bible doctrine,
while carry on command number 2 emphasises the importance of studying the Word
in order to have something to proclaim.
2. The consistency of study and
teach is reflected in the two adverbs, e)ukairoj and a)kairoj.
3. Sometimes it is convenient to
study. There are some passages that do not interest us as some others, but it
is all the Word of God and all equally important. It is all a part of the
proclamation passage and whether the pastor is personally interested or not he
still studies, then teaches. Studying the Word is as important to the pastor as
breathing or eating. He must inhale the Word on a daily basis, he must eat the
hidden manna for his own nourishment as well as the nourishment of the sheep.
“reprove” — this is a public thing,
not a private thing. It is the aorist active imperative of e)legxw and it means to convict in a court of law.
Conviction in a court of law is public speaking, the court is filled with
people and you are proving that someone is wrong in front of everyone. This is
talking about a public rebuke but it isn’t a personal public rebuke. The pastor
may be teaching a passage and it covers a certain sin someone in the
congregation may get the impression that the pastor knows something about them.
He doesn’t but he is rebuking in public if that person is guilty. He doesn’t
know who is guilty and who isn’t. And the public doesn’t know the person is
being rebuked. This is a public reprimand, not a personal reprimand, except in
the sense that all Bible teaching must be personal. If you are listening it is
personal to you. It is for you and it is for all of us. E)legxw is a public rebuke but there is nothing personal in
it. It means to rebuke, to discipline, to punish when necessary. You can get
your discipline in Bible class with everyone else, and without anyone knowing
that you are being disciplined or about what. Or you can say no, and not go to
Bible class, and get all your divine discipline on the outside where it is
painful and you learn the hard way. So you have a choice, and the high and
honourable way to get it is to get it with everyone else in public assembly.
This is the constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its
entirety. It takes the entire ministry of the pastor-teacher and gathers it up
into a single whole, the occasions when the teaching of the Word of God results
in discipline, conviction, public rebuke, of someone sitting in the
congregation with the rest of the congregation. The frequency is never noted by
the constative aorist. Frequency depends upon the attitude of the congregation
toward Bible doctrine and the authority of the pastor-teacher. The active
voice: the pastor produces the action by teaching. Public teaching means that
those who have failed in some principle are obviously going to be rebuked,
convicted, reprimanded, disciplined by what they hear. Those who reject the
authority of the pastor, therefore, must either be whipped into line by outside
discipline which is painful or they can listen and get it the right way, the
objective being to rebound and keep moving. The imperative mood is a command to
the pastor.
“rebuke” is not in the public
assembly, although it can be. It is any time that someone is out of line and it
could be in the office, in the hall, in public, in private, it could be
anywhere. This is the aorist active imperative from e)pitimaw [e)pi = upon; timaw = to set a value]. To set a value on something
means to set honour on something. Timaw means both to accord honour
and to blame or punish, and the compound selects the antithetical meaning. It
comes to mean to censor, to punish, to reprimand. This means apart from the
teaching of the Word. Note that apart from Bible doctrine the pastor has the
authority in the local church and has the right to reprimand an individual or a
group of individuals not in teaching but in any function of the church action.
Again we have the constative aorist which gathers it up into one entirety. The
active voice: the pastor alone has this job, he produces the action of the
verb. The imperative mood is a command to the pastor.
“exhort” — while the Greek verb can
be “exhort” it means something else here. It is the aorist active imperative of
the verb parakalew. This word really means to
come in alongside to help someone. It means to summon to one’s side for help,
to comfort, to encourage, to cheer up. Xenophen uses this verb in the military
context for the encouragement of troops. Actually, the word “exhort” means to
encourage, to incite by words or advice. to advise or warn earnestly. We will
use the translation “encourage” in the sense of comfort by doctrine. The aorist
tense is a culminative aorist, it views the teaching of Bible doctrine in its
entirety but it regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, the
encouragement and the comfort of the royal family within the sphere of the
communicator’s ministry. The sphere of the ministry may be the local church, it
may be slightly more extensive. The active voice: the pastor produces the
action of the verb through consistent teaching of the Word of God. There is no
comfort or encouragement apart from the Word. The imperative mood: this is a
command to Timothy, but in reality it is a command to all pastor-teachers
throughout the Church Age.
“with all long-suffering and
doctrine” — this is a preposition phrase with two objects. The word “with” is
the preposition e)n plus paj as the adjective. E)n
can mean several things as a preposition, depending upon whether the object is
in the locative or in the instrumental. In this case we have the instrumental
and it should be either “with” or “by all.” The first noun is the instrumental
singular of makroqumia, meaning steadfastness,
endurance, patience. It does not mean patience in the ordinary sense, no pastor
has that much time. It really means tenacity in fulfilling the purpose of the
ministry which is teaching. Makroqumia is in contrast to another
word which is also translated patience, u(pomonh which means endurance against opposition, against pressure in the
ministry. But makroqumia means steadfastness which
is the quality of being tenacious. It means fixity of purpose, to have an
unshakeable and immovable in the resolution to study and teach and to allow no
one to detract from that function.
“and doctrine” — a continuation of
the prepositional phrase. Kai is simply a conjunction to
show that there are two objects of the preposition. This time the instrumental
is the noun didaxh which emphasises the
message of the pastor. This message, of course, must be the content of the Word
of God assimilated into his own soul and then communicated to the congregation.
Without the missing link of the pastor-teacher there is no spiritual growth,
there is no attainment of super-grace or ultra-super-grace, no tactical
victory, no being on the right side of history.
Translation: “Proclaim the word; be
alert when it is convenient, when it is not convenient; discipline, reprimand,
encourage [comfort] by means of steadfastness and by means of doctrine.”
In the first three verses we have
the changing of the guard. In verse 1 we have the ceremony: the changing of the
guard; verse 2: the commands to the new guard in replacing the old guard;
verses 3,4: those who will disobey the commands. In verse 5 there is a second
set of carryon commands for Timothy in anticipation of recent
ultra-super-grace.
The doctrine of pastor-teacher
1. Definition and concept. Since
every believer is a priest, a member of the royal family of God and therefore a
royal priest, it is imperative to understand the system of authority which God
has delegated to the pastor-teacher, as well as to understand something of his
responsibility. Every believer needs to realise exactly what a pastor-teacher
should do and exactly how much authority he possesses.
2. Nomenclature.
Khruc, which means a herald. a
herald is someone who announces the policy of a king. The pastor-teacher has
the job of disseminating the policy of the King of kings. The policy of the
King of kings is in the Word of God. The thinking of the King has been reduced
to writing. Once the herald understands the policy of the King he communicates
it. The King is absent. The herald carries the same authority as the King in
delineating the King’s policy.
Presbuteroj merely means “elder” or “old man” for the person
with the authority. It should be translated probably either “overseer” or
“commanding officer.”
The function of the pastor is given
in Ephesians 4:11 under the title of pastor-teacher, and it is really
shepherd-teacher. Poimhnoj means a shepherd. A
shepherd is a lot stronger and wiser than the sheep and his job is not only to
feed the sheep but to protect them by his wisdom, his strength, and whatever he
has organised. So the word “pastor” actually means shepherd and the implication
is that the sheep must be fed, must be led, must be protected.
The policy-making concept of the
pastor comes from the noun e)piskopoj. This word is used many
times in the sense of bishop [there really is no such thing] and it really
means the guardian of the church, the policy-maker, the one who enforces the
policy.
The administrative function of the
pastor is in the word “minister” — diakonoj. Actually, all
administrative power is vested in the pastor. But the pastor must delegate
administrative functions and therefore there is another use for the word diakonoj and that is where we get the word deacon. That means
they have received administrative power delegated by the pastor in order to
carry out administration.
3. The purpose of the pastor-teacher
found in Ephesians 4:12,13.
a) “For the purpose of
training and equipping the royal family” — accomplished by teaching.
b) “For the purpose of
vocation of the ministry” — the administration.
c) “For the purpose of
the edification of the body of Christ” — the teaching leading to spiritual
growth.
“Until we all have attained the
goal, because of the consistency of doctrine and the e)pigniwsij [full knowledge] of the Son of God, with reference
to mature noblemen [mature believers], to the standard of maturity which
belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
4. The function of the
pastor-teacher — Ephesians 3:20-21. The function is summarised by the verb didaskw which means to teach. From this comes a title for
the pastor: didaskaloj. Like khruc for herald it refers to the public assembly of the
local church as a classroom for this dispensation. The pastor is the teacher
and the congregation are students without portfolio. The pastor establishes his
authority by faithful teaching of the Word of God. He must have the proper
spiritual gift otherwise he will simply evangelise and give little devotionals,
for without the proper spiritual gift he cannot go directly to the Word. He
must also from his own gift study and mature personally. He must also have
academic preparation, self-discipline. The public assembly of the church is
designed to provide privacy for each member. The believer is assembled and when
he comes in he is called maqhthj. Unfortunately this word is
not really understood. It is translated “disciple,” a word that comes from
discipline. It means to be under strict academic discipline. A disciple is a
student or a learner, a person who learns doctrine under strict discipline.
Since every believer is royal family he must learn under conditions of privacy
which means monologue in a group — the public assembly. This is to offset the
concept that the pastor sits around a table with a group of people and they
exchange ideas.
Verses 3 and 4, we have believers
who fail to execute the carryon command. They are believers who resist the
authority of the pastor-teacher. These are believers who are a law unto
themselves. In their inflexibility they are not teachable.
Verse 3 — “For the time will come.”
The word “for” is the explanatory use of the conjunctive particle gar. It emphasises the fact that many believers will
not follow the colours by the daily function of GAP, they will become
casualties in their own generation and they will live on the wrong side of
history under the influence of evil. Some of these believers have learned
enough doctrine so that they have made progress in the spiritual life. Some
believers have started out with great enthusiasm for the Word and moved rapidly
from babyhood to adolescence, have moved up to the maturity barrier, moved on
the other side into super-grace, but they were overtaken by historical disaster
and they didn’t have enough doctrine at that time to cope and therefore they
took a nose-dive into reversionism. The ended up on the wrong side of history
and never seemed to recover or catch on, and eventually lived a miserable life
resulting in the sin unto death and departing from this life without any of the
blessings of paragraph SG2, dying grace or surpassing grace.
There is also a nominative singular
subject from the noun kairoj, emphasising any generation
in which the believer in the royal family will reject doctrine and enter into
reversionism, or will be overtaken by some disaster which causes a reaction in
which doctrine is included and the person dives into reversionism; “will come”
is the future active indicative of e)imi which means “to be,” not to
“come.” The future tense is a gnomic future, it states the fact that negative
volition toward doctrine or resisting doctrinal teaching results in
reversionism. It therefore further indicates a believer being influenced by
evil and living his whole lifetime on the wrong side of history. The active
voice: the negative believer produces the action of the verb. This verse
emphasises the believer rejecting doctrine with the result that he goes into
reversionism.
“when they will not endure” — there
is a temporal particle o(te here which is used as a
temporal conjunction: “when.” It is literally, “For the time will be when.”
Plus the strong negative o)uk portraying bullheadedness,
strong negative volition toward Bible doctrine; plus the future middle
indicative from the compound verb a)nexomai [a)na = again and again; nexw
= to have] which means to have again and again, to have and to hold again. It
means, therefore, to endure, to bear, to bear up with someone, to put up with
someone. It means here to listen willingly but with the negative it means not
to listen willingly. The future tense is a predictive future which foretells a
trend which is expected to occur in any generation of the Church Age. The
middle voice is the direct middle in which the agent, the believer who is
negative toward doctrine and Bible teaching from a right pastor, acts with a
view toward participating in the outcome of his negative volition. He is
listening but he is negative, critical, and not absorbing. He becomes
subjective in listening, not objective. The indicative mood is declarative
viewing the verbal action from the standpoint of historical reality.
“sound doctrine” — the objective
singular from the present active participle u(giainw. It is where we get our English word hygiene from. It is used here as
an ascriptive adjectival participle and we translate it “sound” or “healthy.”
The objective genitive singular from the noun didaskalia is the word for “doctrine,” the public teaching of the Word. Sound
doctrine is the communication of a passage accurately in the local church under
strict academic discipline. The subject is the believer negative toward Bible
teaching from whomever his right pastor happens to be.
“but” — the adversative conjunction a)lla which sets up a contrast. They won’t listen to
their pastor but they will listen to someone. The contrast is between the
negative attitude of the reversionist toward doctrine and the positive attitude
toward false doctrine. Whenever you find a person who resists doctrine and says
no to true doctrine then you can count on it he is going to say yes to false
doctrine, to Satanic policies, and accept them as true. This is why there are
some generations where very few pastor-teachers are able to obey the carryon
commands because there is no one to listen.
“after their own lusts” — kata the preposition plus the accusative plural of the
adjective i)dioj which means one’s own
personal in contrast to public; plus the accusative plural from e)piqumia for the noun — but according to their own lusts.”
This means that everyone has a different area of lust, everyone will not go for
the same false doctrine, but everyone goes for something that is false. I)dioj mean that each one of us has such a potential lust
in the old sin nature but no two of us have exactly the same.
“shall they heap” — future active
indicative of e)piswreuw which means to accumulate.
The future tense predicts the positive volition of the reversionistic believer
towards Satanic doctrine. He has a predilection for evil, he is evangelised by
evil. The active voice: the negative believer in reversionism living on the
wrong side of history produces the action of the verb, accumulating false
teachers. The indicative mood is for the historical reality of this trend of
apostasy.
“to themselves” — the dative of disadvantage
plural from the reflexive pronoun e(autou. The reflexive pronoun
refers the action of the verb back to its own subject which is the
reversionistic believer negative toward doctrine.
“teachers” is the accusative plural
direct object referring to false teachers here — didaskaloj. These are Satan’s apostles of apostasy, evangelists of evil. They
communicate doctrine from pulpits, they communicate doctrine to groups in all
types of circumstances. They are public communicators of information.
“having itching ears” — present
passive participle from the verb knhqw which means to itch, but in
the passive voice it means to have an itch. The present tense is retroactive
progressive present, it denotes what was begun in the past with reversionism
and continues into the present time. They are under the influence of evil and
the more false doctrine they hear the more they want to hear and it becomes an
itch which they scratch vigorously. This participle is a causal participle, so
it should be translated “because they have an itch in their faculty of
hearing.” They are consciously anxious to hear new false doctrine so that they
can be stimulated in some course of what we call today “social action.”
Translation: “For the time will come
when they [reversionists] will listen not listen willingly to sound doctrine;
but according to their own lusts they will accumulate to themselves false
teachers, because they have an itch in their faculty of hearing.”
Negative volition toward doctrine
keeps the believer from obeying the command to carry on. Instead of following
the colours to the high ground of super-grace and ultra-super-grace this
believer becomes a casualty, he becomes a resistor of the doctrine, and by
virtue of his intensity of resisting the truth he accepts all the false
doctrine there is. This verse describes why so many believers live out their
life on earth on the wrong side of history. They fall because they fail to
seize the colours from the next generation. They instead are negative toward
doctrine, they react, they become reversionistic, they live their lives on the
wrong side of history and are deprived of blessing in time by their own
negative volition, they have deprived themselves of blessing in dying and the
most phenomenal blessing for all eternity.
Verse 4 — “And they shall turn away”
begins with the emphatic use of the conjunction kai.
This conjunction is translated “In fact” here. Whenever you have an emphatic
use of the conjunction it changes from “and, also, even.” There are many
correct translations of kai, depending on its use in
the sentence. Plus the future active indicative from the compound verb a)postrefw [a)po = away from’ strefw = to turn] which means to turn away from, therefore
to reject or to repudiate. The future tense is a progressive future used to
indicate retrogression. The active voice: the reversionistic believer continues
to repudiate or reject Bible doctrine which is his only hope for understanding
why he is here, why he is sustained, and what the objectives of the individual
believer in the angelic conflict happened to be. The indicative mood is for
historical reality. Plus the word “ears” which is the accusative singular from
the definite article used as a possessive pronoun, plus the accusative singular
direct object from the noun a)koh which means the faculty of
hearing or, of course, the ear. Altogether, so far, we have, “In fact they will
continue to turn away their ears.” This is an idiom in order to indicate
negative volition toward doctrine.
It is this negative volition that
makes it impossible to carry on and fulfil the objectives for which God leaves
us all alive in the devil’s world. All believers have a choice. They have a
choice as of the moment of salvation to either go the way of doctrine or to go
the way of no doctrine. Bible doctrine is the only information we have in this
life with regard to God, His plan, the angelic conflict, the reason for sin in
the world, all of the problems related to Satan’s rulership. All of these
things are found in Bible doctrine. The believer who goes the way of Bible
doctrine goes the way of blessing. The believer who rejects doctrine goes the
way of cursing. Whichever way the believer takes he is a believer, he is born
again, he is a child of God, and he will experience the love of God. This way
is the love of God in divine discipline, whereas the positive believer takes
the way of the love of God in divine blessing.
“from the truth” is the deviation
area, the preposition a)po plus the ablative of a)lehqeia. This refers to Bible doctrine taken from the Word
of God by the pastor-teacher communicated to the congregation.
“and” is the continuative use of the
enclitic particle de. It is used to demonstrate
the result of turning their hearing faculty away from doctrine, turning from
doctrine, and it should be translated “then.”
“shall be turned” — the future
passive indicative of the compound e)ktrepw which means to swerve. The
future tense is a gnomic future for the normal performance of the
reversionistic believer under the influence of evil and on the wrong side of
history. Any believer who rejects Bible doctrine is not only in reversionism,
he is on the wrong side of history and he is constantly swerving and out of
control. Being out of control he will accept anything that is false, i.e. in
this passage “fables” or “myths.” The passive voice: the reversionist receives
the action of the verb as a result of rejecting Bible doctrine. The indicative
mood is for the historical reality of this type of reversionism.
“unto fables” — the preposition e)pi plus the accusative of muqoj
which is the Greek word for “myths.”
Translation: “In fact they will
continue to turn away their ears from doctrine, then they shall swerve out of
control toward the myths [of evil].”
No believer ever stands still with
regard to indoctrination. Either he is indoctrinated into the plan of grace or
he is indoctrinated into the plan of Satan, but no believer ever stands still.
To reject Bible doctrine is to be indoctrinated into the plan of evil, Satan’s
plan.
Verse 5 — there is a second command
to carry on, having noted those who will not. This command is given to the
ultra-super-grace believer and this anticipates that Timothy very shortly will
be in ultra-super-grace.
“But” is the enclitic particle de here, it sets up a contrast this time, a contrast
between those who are going to make it in this passage and in the previous
passage those who are not. Believers in the previous passage swerved toward the
myths of evil but the persons in this verse are going to turn toward God’s
plan. So this word is translated simply “But.” Those who fail to execute the
command are out and those who execute the command are in.
We also have a second personal
singular pronoun su in the proleptic position
here which means that this particular pronoun is the means of emphasising
Timothy and all communicators of Bible doctrine. The pronoun emphasises that
Timothy as a believer has obeyed the commands of the Lord and has not only recovered
from reversionism but has moved to super-grace and is now on his way to
ultra-super-grace.
“watch” — present active imperative
from the verb nhfw which does not mean to
watch, it means to be sober in the sense of non-intoxicated, to be
self-controlled or self-disciplined. The present tense of duration denotes that
Timothy’s self-discipline in reversion recovery and self-discipline in reaching
super-grace is his present status, and it implies that his self-discipline will
carry him to ultra-super-grace. The self-discipline for the communicator is his
personal study of the Word of God on a daily basis. The active voice: Timothy
produces the self-discipline through the daily function of GAP, his own
personal study by which he not only recovered from reversionism but by which he
attained super-grace, is now moving to ultra-super-grace, and will function as
an ultra-super-grace believer. The imperative mood is a command to perpetuate
the self-discipline by which he recovered from reversionism, by which he
attained super-grace, and by which he will go on to ultra-super-grace. “But you
be self-disciplined.”
“in all things” — a prepositional
phrase, e)n plus the locative plural of
the adjective paj. This connotes
subordination of everything in the life to the daily function of GAP and it
brings up again the fact that the pastor is different from all other believers
in that his spiritual gift of pastor-teacher takes him into direct with the
Word in the original languages, and his spiritual growth as well as his
messages, as well as everything that he will communicate to the congregation
comes from his own personal study. Therefore every pastor-teacher, regardless
of his personality or anything else, he must have phenomenal self-discipline
and he must study all the time.
The importance of self-discipline
1. Self-discipline links the
believer’s volition with the function of GAP. You would never function under
GAP unless you had self-discipline whereby you consistently took in the Bible
classes.
2. Under self-discipline the
believer links his volition with the number one priority of the royal family
which is the inculcation of Bible doctrine.
3. Self-discipline, then, is the
believer priest regulating his life in compatibility with the grace objectives
of phase two.
4. Self-discipline sets aside the
superficialities of life and concentrates on the essentials of life.
5. Self-discipline avoids
distractions of pleasure, social life, and all the things which would conflict
with the daily intake of doctrine. This does not imply that you do not have pleasure
or social life but it does indicate that if it conflicts with the intake of
doctrine it is placed into a secondary role as nonessential.
6. Super-grace is the beginning of
spiritual maturity, not the end. It is achieved by self-discipline related to
the function of GAP and it is perpetuated in exactly the same way.
7. Super-grace, therefore, not only
is the place of great blessing — paragraph SG2 — but in a sense it
becomes the staging area for the next objective which is ultra-super-grace.
8. The believer in the attainment of
super-grace does not stop and try to rest on his laurels. To halt is to go
backwards in the spiritual life. Therefore the believe must press on to the
next objective which is ultra-super-grace. Continuous pressure and opposition
from the Satanic forces of evil will be obvious at that stage.
“endure afflictions” — the aorist
active imperative of the compound verb kakopaqew [kakoj = evil; paqew comes from the verb pasxw
which means to suffer] which means to suffer evil, to endure hardship. Here it
means to endure opposition from evil. So it should be translated “endure
opposition from evil.” This is very, very marked in going from super-grace to
ultra-super-grace. In other words, once you crack the maturity barrier and you
get into super-grace and start moving toward ultra-super-grace, this is where
issues come into focus that have not been there for a long time, and there are
three or four things that can cause you to crash and dive into reversionism.
The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the function of
ultra-super-grace in its entirety. The ultra-super-grace believer receives from
God the highest honour of the spiritual life for time when upon reaching
ultra-super-grace he receives the mantle of perpetual opposition from the
Satanic forces of evil. This honour is stated in Acts 19:15. Timothy will
produce the action of the verb on reaching ultra-super-grace. The imperative
mood is a command to Timothy on reaching ultra-super-grace to endure opposition
from evil. This is the highest honour that God can give to a mature believer in
time.
“do” — the aorist active imperative
of poiew. The aorist tense is a
culminative aorist it views the ultra-super-grace status in its entirety but it
emphasises the existing results of ultra-super-grace in the field of
evangelism. The active voice: in anticipation of reaching ultra-super-grace
Timothy will produce this action at that time. The imperative mood is a command
to Timothy as a potential ultra-super-grace believer on the verge of
ultra-super-grace to do a new type of work. Not evangelism, however.
“the work” — the word for work is
the accusative singular direct object from e)rgon
minus the definite article. This is the anartharous construction and the
anartharous construction, no definite article, empahsises the high quality of
the function, whatever it is.
“of an evangelist” — the descriptive
genitive singular from the noun e)uaggelisthj. While this word is only
used three times in the entire New Testament one time it does mean evangelist,
but not here. Actually, e)uaggelisthj is a non-ecclesiastical
word and it meant originally to communicate an oracle, to forecast the future.
An evangelist was not someone who led people to the Lord, that is something
every believer does, but it was a forecaster of some future event or activity.
On the outside of the New Testament this word always means a forecaster r a
prognosticator. It is used first in Acts 21:8 for Philip who was an evangelist
in the sense that we understand it. Philip was a man who had the gift of
evangelism and he went from place to place giving the gospel to crowds of
people, and he had many converts. In Ephesians 4:11 it is used for the gift of
evangelism which Philip had. So two of our passages use this word, e)uaggelisthj, for evangelism as we understand it. The third use
is right here in our passage — 2 Timothy 4:5 — where as a command to Timothy in
anticipation of reaching ultra-super-grace he is told to do the work or
production of a e)uaggelisthj. The noun does connote both
the function and the office of evangelism. There are other similar nouns that
are generally used, however. Here, what is meant by an evangelist is something
entirely different. It goes back to the Greek language as it was generally
structurised at that time. What it actually means is to go from place to place
and to perform certain functions. To do the work of an evangelist here means
that there are some pastors who travelled. Paul travelled, and when he did he
first of all evangelised. As soon as he had formed a church he left someone
like Timothy in charge. This is what this means: to convert people but then to
train them to reach the people in their own area. So actually what this means
is to do the work of a missionary if you understand what it means to do the
work of a missionary. Doing the work of a missionary is not beating the bushes
for converts but it is to take the converts and train them to reach their own.
This is what is called the indigenous missionary concept. So we will translate
this “do the work of a missionary,” which means that Timothy is eventually
going to leave Ephesus and become a travelling Bible teacher. He will go into
places where he must give the gospel and convert people. Then after they are
converted he will start teaching and training them. He will do exactly what
Paul did.
“make full proof of thy ministry” —
this includes the aorist active imperative from the compound verb plhroforew [plhrhj = filled or full; forew = to carry] which means to completely carry out.
The translation should be “completely carry out.” This is a culminative aorist,
it views ultra-super-grace status in its entirety and emphasises the results in
the function of the ministry. The active voice: in anticipation of Timothy
reaching ultra-super-grace the action of the verb is produced. In other words,
the pastor who reaches ultra-super-grace must completely fulfil his ministry
and he will. The imperative mood is a command to Timothy as a potential
ultra-super-grace believer, and this is a command for all pastors to press on
in their own ministry. We also have the accusative singular of the noun diakonia.
The doctrine of diakonia
1. This is also diakonoj from which we get the word “deacon” but it has many
meanings. The political meaning of the word: The word minister is translated
“minister” and that is all right if it is understood the command is “carry out
to the maximum your ministry.”
The political use for this word is
found in divine institution #4 where diakonoj is used for the head of a
state, one who has the authority to administer capital punishment — Romans
13:3,4. In other words, diakonoj was used in the Bible to
indicate a political ruler, one who had the authority to administer in the
political realm of the national entity.
The second use of the word is the
universal ministry of the believer. There is a sense in which every believer is
a minister and has a responsibility before the Lord. This is for the royal
family of God in the sense that all believers are in full time Christian
service. It empahsises the royal priest as the ambassador for Christ. In 2
Corinthians 3:6 — “… who has appointed us ministers...” Also 2 Corinthians 4:1;
6:1,3.
The third use of diakonoj is connected with the administration of the local
church. The pastor has all of the authority but he delegates authority to
certain men in the church in order to carry on administration. This is where we
get the word “deacon.” Philippians 1:1. So a deacon is a man who has received
delegated authority from the pastor in order to carry on the administrative
activities of the local church.
The fourth use is the pastoral use.
The pastor is also called diakonoj or a minister many times,
and this has to do with the original source of all authority in the local
church. It is delegated to the pastor who in turn delegates it to certain
members in the congregation. All members of the congregation are ministers in the
sense of coming under the teaching of the Word. 1 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians
3:7; Colossians 1:7,23; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Timothy 1:12. This is a
technical use of minister for a pastor-teacher.
A fifth use of diakonoj is the evil usage — 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Verse 6 — the statement that the
apostle Paul is in dying grace. Dying grace is the fifth category of blessing
under his paragraph SG2 and dying grace for the ultra-super-grace
believer means that there is great opposition while he is dying and the
opposition only makes the dying that much more peaceful and tranquil as well as
that much more of a greater blessing.
“For I am now ready to be offered.”
This includes the nominative singular from the proleptic pronoun e)gw. E)gw emphasises the uniqueness
of the apostle Paul as an ultra-super-grace believer, as the greatest of all
the apostles. It emphasises his status of ultra-super-grace and it anticipates
the great blessing that he will have in dying. With it is the explanatory use
of the particle gar and it is translated “For
you see.” Then follows a conjunction which anticipates Paul’s dying grace and
his desire to press on in to eternity and to enjoy the blessing there — “even
now,” referring to the fact that he is dying and that in effect he is passing
the colours on to Timothy and to all pastor-teachers. The adverb is h)dh and it emphasises the fact that he is dying at the
time that he writes. Paul is already in the sphere of dying. His dying will be
very sudden, he will be executed by decapitation, and it will be two or three
months yet before that occurs; but this is his dying bracket of life, ending up
in his decapitation. “I am ready to be offered” is an incorrect translation. We
have here the present passive indicative of the verb spendw: “For even now I am poured out a libation” is what spendw means. Spendw was a famous Greek word
because the Greeks in their worship of their false gods always would go to the
statue of the god carrying a goblet, if they could afford it. If they couldn’t
afford a goblet they would carry a wine skin loaded down with the best wine
they could find. People would save up for even a year just to take into the
temple one goblet of the best beverage of the time. They would walk in with
this and then they would stand in front of the statue of the god and then pour
the whole thing out at the foot of the statue. That is called a libation
offering and the Greek word for it is spendw.
What is Paul saying? He is taking the custom of the Greeks which was passed on
to the Romans and he depicts himself as being the wine in the goblet. That is
his life, and his life is being poured out, he is dying. When the goblet is
empty the soul of Paul will have left the goblet which represents his body.
The present tense is a futuristic
present, it denotes an event that is going on right then and there but it is
not completed yet. It is in the process but it isn’t over. This becomes an
analogy to dying grace. The passive voice: Paul receives the action of the
verb, he is dying. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical
reality of dying grace.
There is another analogy given
immediately. The first merely indicates that Paul is dying, the second
indicates the honour and the blessing of his death: “and the time of my
departure.” We have the continuative use of kai,
the conjunction for “and.” With it is kairoj,
a time word which refers to the final period Paul’s life which is his dying
grace. The word “departure” gives us the next concept of his dying. This is a
descriptive genitive singular from the noun a)nalusij. This word has five different meanings in the Koine Greek and each
meaning is definitely related to Paul’s dying.
First of all, this was a military
word. It was a command given when the bivouac was about to be removed to get on
the march again. It means in the military concept to strike the tent, to break
camp. Paul’s tent was his human body, and when the soul departs from the body
the tent will collapse and he will exchange the bivouac of life for the mansion
in heaven.
The navy also used a)nalusij for the hoisting of the anchor as the ship set sail. In dying grace Paul is hoisting his anchor and is
sailing into the port of eternity.
The farmer also used a)nalusij. His use was to simply unyoke the oxen after a long
day’s work, and to shelter, feed, and reward them with rest. Paul is being
unyoked from life to enter into the glorious blessings and honours that will
belong to him in surpassing grace.
Prisoners also used the word. When a
prisoner was released from jail it was called a)nalusij. Paul is released from the prison of his human body, a body of
corruption, into the glorious freedom of eternal heaven.
The philosopher also used a)nalusij to unravel a mystery or to solve a philosophical
problem. Death unravels the mystery of eternity and dying grace solves the
problem of life.
“is at hand” — perfect active
indicative of the verb e)fisthmi [e)pi = over, above, by; isthmi
= to stand] which means to stand by, to stand near, to be imminent, to
approach. The perfect tense is the dramatic perfect, it indicates a completed
action and the results are going on. The active voice: departure or release
from life produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative, it views the
action of the verb from the viewpoint of dogmatic and historical reality.
Translation: “For you see even now I
am being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure [from life] is
standing by.”
The doctrine of dying grace
1. There are seven different kinds
of death in the Bible.
a) Spiritual death, the
one that occurs at the point of being born into this world. At the point of
birth the human being is physically alive but spiritually dead. At physical
birth God can only give physical life, He cannot give eternal life for we are
all descended from Adam and when the man and the woman sinned they passed on
the old sin nature, which means that the individual born into the world is
physically alive but spiritually dead. He has no relationship with God. God has
provided him physical life in order to enter into the angelic conflict. In his
soul he also has volition and at a proper time he can respond to the gospel. He
has to be born again because he is born spiritually dead. Spiritual death is
separation from God in time. Spiritual death is the penalty of sin. When Christ
was on the cross bearing our sins that is when He died spiritually. The sins of
the old sin nature were poured out upon Christ and judged. When they were
poured out upon Christ and judged Christ kept screaming, “My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?” He was forsaken because He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” So He bore our
sins, He took our place, He provided eternal salvation. That is spiritual
death. His physical death has nothing to do with the phrase, “God commended his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” “Christ
died for us” is spiritual death; Christ’s physical death was simply that His
work was finished. While still very much alive Jesus said, “It is finished.”
Salvation was completed, and therefore He could die physically because the
ministry of the first advent was completed. In Romans 5:12 and 6:23 we have
spiritual death, plus 1 Corinthians 15:52; Ephesians 2:1.
b) Physical death. When
the soul leaves the body you are said to be physically dead — Matthew 8:22;
Romans 8:38,39.
c) The second death is
the final judgment of the unbeliever and fallen angels at the end of the
Millennium. Revelation 20:12-15; Hebrews 9:27.
d) Operational death is
the believer’s failure to produce divine good — James 2:26.
e) Positional death is a
part of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. When the
Lord Jesus Christ was dying on the cross for our sins all of the sins of the
old sin nature were poured out and judged. But the old sin nature also has an
area of strength from which comes all of our human good and all evil. In other
words, this is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought into the life
of every person at the point of his physical birth. This part of the old sin
nature was not judged, it was rejected because human good and evil must be
perpetuated throughout all human history as a major issue in the angelic
conflict. Therefore they were not judged and could not be judged.
When the believer believed in Jesus
Christ God the Holy Spirit took him and entered him into union with Christ as
He is seated at the right hand of the Father. That is called current positional
truth, and at the same time He entered him into union with Christ as He hung
upon the cross and that is retroactive positional truth. In other words, you
are not only identified with Christ in His ascension and session at the right
hand of he Father but you are identified with Christ in His death in order that
you might understand that positionally you have already rejected human good and
evil as a part of Satan’s great thrust as the ruler of this world. Evil is the
policy of Satan; human good is the result of the success of that policy in the
life of any individual, whether a reversionistic believer or an unbeliever. Therefore
at the point of your salvation you have rejected evil, you have rejected human
good, because you are identified with Christ in His death and He rejected them
for you at that point. That is Romans 6. You are also identified with Christ in
His resurrection, ascension and session, and that is why you are a member of
the royal family of God forever. So we have, then, retroactive positional truth
as another type of death, positional death. Romans 6; Colossians 2:12,20; 3:3.
f) Temporal death is
simply the believer being out of fellowship. When we accept Jesus Christ as
saviour we enter into union with Christ seated at the right hand of the Father
and we never get out of that position. But we also have a relationship with God
in time called fellowship — in this dispensation the filling of the Spirit.
Every time we sin we are out of fellowship. Every time we rebound — 1 John 1:9
— we are restored to fellowship or the place of the filling of the Holy Spirit.
So we have another type of death related to this: temporal death is being out
of fellowship. When a believer sins he is out of fellowship. This is called
being temporally dead to God — Romans 8:6,13; Ephesians 5:14; 1 Timothy 5:6;
James 1:15; Revelation 3:1.
g) Sexual death which is
the inability to copulate — Romans 4:17-21; Hebrews 11:11,12. Both passages
relate to Abraham who was unable to have sex at age 99.
2. Physical death.
a) Physical death is
associated with ending revolution — Numbers 16:25-31.
b) Physical death is a
matter of the sovereignty of God. God decides how every person is going to die
— Psalm 68:19,20.
c) There is one thing
that is stronger than death and that is true love — Song of Solomon 8:6; 14:27.
d) God can and does
under certain conditions prolong human life. In other words, the death of an
individual can be postponed for a certain period of time — Psalm
102:19,20,23,24; 118:18; Proverbs 14:27.
e) Women are responders,
and being responders they can never be equal with men and never will be. This
is brought out in death where women must be taught to face the death of loved
ones as responders — Jeremiah 9:20-25.
f) The sin unto death
does not bring glory to God — Isaiah 38:18.
g) Physical death cannot
be faced when the norm/standard functions of the right lobe are destroyed. In
effect, we are talking about reversionism again. The reversionist always loses
the norms and standards that are related to the divine viewpoint of life.
Therefore he cannot face death, the reality of death overwhelms him, he
constantly and completely falls apart when he realises he is going to die
because the norm/standard function of his right lobe has been destroyed —
Lamentations 1:19,20.
h) Dying grace is
promotion for the believer — Philippians 1:21.
i) God provides in dying
grace — Amos 5:8.
j) God delivers the
believer from death — Job 5:20; Psalm 33:19; 56:13; 116:8.
3. Definition: Dying grace is the
death of any believer who by the constant function of GAP has cracked the
maturity barrier, has reached super-grace, has received his paragraph SG2,
and has moved on to ultra-super-grace. Therefore dying grace is the experience
of physical death under special provision of grace whereby the individual is
blessed to the maximum in dying, and the dying is greater than any blessing in
life. This is minimum pain, maximum happiness, fantastic soul stimulation,
during the process of dying.
4. Dying grace, then, is the missing
link between time and eternity. It is the greatest link of happiness in life.
5. Dying grace is for the mature believer
— Psalm 33:18,19.
6. Dying grace removes fear from
death — Psalm 23:4.
7. Dying grace is the blessing of
maturity — Psalm 116:15.
8. Dying grace is the bridge between
super-grace blessings and surpassing grace blessing — Hebrews 11:13 cf.
11:11,12 with 11:9,10, the surpassing grace blessings.
9. Therefore the importance of the
believer seizing the high ground of super-grace becomes the greatest issue in
dying grace — Philippians 3:12-14.
10. The relationship between
super-grace and surpassing grace is found in dying grace — Hebrews 11:13.
11. There are some exceptions to
dying grace. There is the disciplinary exception — the sin unto death. There is
the exception of resurrection for at least one generation, transferring from
time to eternity without dying — the Rapture generation, 1 Corinthians
15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
The best description of dying grace
is probably found in Job 5:19-27.
Verse 7 — a retrospective resume of
a great man in dying grace, looking back for the moment and viewing the
tactical victory of the ultra-super-grace believer. “I have fought” — perfect
middle indicative of the verb a)gwnizomai which means to carry on a
conflict. It also is used to engage in an athletic contest or competition. But
its primary use at the time of writing is a military one, used by both Polibius
and Plutarch in the sense of fighting in a military situation in a desperate
fight. It is used in the sense of fighting with weapons and that is the sense
in which it is found in this passage. The intensive perfect tense denotes a
completed action with emphasis on existing results. Phase two is over for the
apostle Paul a good . The existing result here is dying grace; the completed
action is ultra-super-grace. The middle voice is an indirect middle, it
emphasises the apostle Paul as the agent producing the action of the verb. He
is an ultra-super-grace believer in this agency and it emphasises the fact that
ultra-super-grace believers have as a part of dying grace the tremendous
satisfaction of looking back on a life and saying, “No regrets.” The indicative
mood is declarative, this is a historical fact that the apostle Paul has not
only fought but as he goes on to say …
“a good fight” — the word “good” is
not the best translation. We have the accusative singular of the definite
article used really here as a demonstrative pronoun. The demonstrative pronoun
emphasises the life of Paul as a believer. Then we have the accusative singular
of the adjective kaloj which doesn’t mean good so
much as noble or honourable. The word for “fight,” the noun, is the cognate a)gwn which means a combat situation. It is a reference
to the phase two struggle of the angelic conflict. Literally, we have: “I have
fought that honourable combat.” This is a reference to the fact that Paul not
only has recovered from his Jerusalem reversionism but he has followed the
colours to the high ground of super-grace and from there he pressed on to the
objective of ultra-super-grace.
“I have finished my course” — the
perfect active indicative of the verb telew.
This word means to bring to an end, to accomplish, to carry out, to complete,
to perform. Paul is referring to phase two, his life on earth. He has
accomplished everything set out for him in eternity past in the divine decrees.
Not only has he accomplished it but he has accomplished it well. The results of
his accomplishing in his life go on for the rest of history and forever, for
those results are recorded in the Pauline epistles. Then active voice: Paul
himself produces the action. The word for “course” is the accusative singular
direct object from the noun dromoj. A dromoj is a race track in a stadium.
“I have kept” — perfect active
indicative of terew which is a military term
which means to stand guard over government property. In this case it means to
stand guard over very valuable property, to guard something which is of great
value. It means also to preserve something of great value. The something of
value which is guarded or preserved is Bible doctrine which is resident in
Paul’s soul. It should be translated “I have guarded [or preserved].” The
perfect tense is a consummative perfect in which the process is emphasised as
being completed. Paul has actually accumulated more doctrine than any believer
in life. Only the Lord Jesus Christ had more doctrine at the point of departure
from this life. It also indicates that the preservation of this doctrine has
led to the dynamic results of his life. The active voice: Paul as an
ultra-super-grace believer produces the action. The indicative mood is
declarative, this is historical reality.
“the faith” — the direct object
accusative of pistij means doctrine. This word
has three meanings in the Koine Greek. The active meaning is to have trust,
faith or confidence. The causative meaning is faithfulness or reliability. The
passive meaning is that which is believed or doctrine. It should be translated
“I have guarded the doctrine.” This is a reference to doctrine in his soul.
Translation: “I have fought that
honourable fight [the attainment of ultra-super-grace], I have finished the
course [dying grace], I have guarded [or preserved] the doctrine [in my soul].”
Verse 8 — Paul’s anticipation of
surpassing grace reward. “Henceforth” is the adverbial accusative of time and a
reference to the adjective loipoj. Loipoj has a number of meanings but here it means “in the
future,” or “beyond this.” In other words, he has turned away now from time
with no regrets and he is looking toward heaven where there is nothing but the
anticipation of unspeakable blessing.
“there is laid up” — present passive
indicative from the verb a)pokeimai which means to lie away, to
put away, to store up, to preserve, to reserve, to be laid up so that is can be
counted on. Here we use the translation, “In the future there is reserved for
me.”
“a crown” — stefanoj which means a wreath, something worn around the
head as the highest possible decoration. The predicate is the present passive
indicative of a)pokeimai which means here to
reserve. The present tense is a static present, it indicates the decoration for
ultra-super-grace as perpetually existing in phase three. There never will be a
time when he will not have this wreath. You will always be able to tell the
apostle Paul in heaven because he will be wearing the greatest of all wreaths.
That wreath that he wears glorifies Jesus Christ throughout all eternity. The
passive voice: Paul receives this decoration at the judgment seat of Christ.
The indicative mood is declarative for the dogmatic reality of the fact that
the decoration will be worn by the ultra-super-grace believer in his
resurrection body forever and ever.
“for me” is one word in the Greek,
the dative of indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw. The dative of indirect object indicates the
ultra-super-grace believer in whose interest the decoration is given. Therefore
it is also a dative of advantage.
“a crown of righteousness” —
nominative singular from the noun stefanoj. It should be translated
“wreath.” “Righteousness” here is dikaiosunh, and it is the suffix, sunh, that gives it an abstract connotation and makes it
technical. The word here is a descriptive genitive singular from the noun and
it connotes fulfilling a divine objective or statute. It does not mean
righteousness in the English sense. Dikaiosunh means to fulfil every
objective that God has set up for the believer in time, total fulfilment of
objective. So dikaiosunh here only means
righteousness in the sense of being a mature believer. It has to do with
maturity, and that has to do with doctrine resident in the soul. Dikaiosunh is the fulfilment of the responsibility of the
royal family of God on earth whereby the believer advances to maturity.
“which the Lord” — the accusative
singular from the relative pronoun o(j. The relative pronoun has an
antecedent, the wreath; o( kurioj, title for the Lord Jesus
Christ as the evaluator, means deity and is used in that sense here. As the
evaluator Jesus Christ is God, He is omniscient and knows all the facts when
evaluating any believer.
“the righteous judge” — the
adjective dikaioj means absolute
incorruptibility, absolute perfection; the noun krithj
means here “evaluator.”
“shall give me” — the future active
indicative of the verb a)podidomi which means to award. It is
used in the Greek for the awarding of decorations, honours. The future tense is
a gnomic future for a statement of fact which may be rightfully expected for
any believer who attains super-grace. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces
the action of the verb at the judgment seat of Christ. Romans 14:10; 2
Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 6:7-12. The indicative mood is
declarative for dogmatic reality. With this verb is a dative of indirect object
from the personal pronoun e)gw in which Paul is referring
to himself. He is in dying grace, he is now anticipating his eternal rewards.
“at that day” — the preposition e)n plus the locative of the remote demonstrative e)keinoj, a remote demonstrative which refers to something
which is a long way off. It is relatively distant in actuality. With it is the
locative singular from the noun h(mera, referring to that period
in heaven which will be at the same time as the Tribulation on the earth.
“and not to me only, but also” — the
adversative conjunction a)lla which reads this into the
picture; “unto all them that love” — the dative plural of paj which is an adjective which includes every
believer, “all.” Plus the articular perfect active participle of a)gapaw, used here to indicate the fact that the love we
have for Jesus Christ is not a strong emotional, sentimental love, it is a
strong mental love and its development into anything beyond that must come
through Bible doctrine in the soul. It is a love that is fed through the
mentality. The perfect tense here is the intensive perfect, it indicates a
completed action which is maximum category #1 love of the super-grace believer
and it emphasises the existing results. The active voice: any mature believer
produces the action of the verb which is maximum love of Jesus Christ and
which, in effect, is occupation with the person of Christ. The participle is
circumstantial and it should be translated “but also to all those who have
loved his appearing.”
“his appearance” — the accusative
singular direct object from e)pifaneia. It means appearance and is
a reference to the Rapture of the Church. With it is the possessive genitive
singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj which emphasises the one
that all mature believers love, the one on whom they focus their attention.
Translation: “In the future [phase
three, eternity] a wreath of that righteousness [total fulfilment of spiritual
progress] is reserved for me, which wreath the Lord, the righteous evaluator,
will award me on that day [judgment seat of Christ]: and not only to me, but
also to all those who have loved his appearance.”
The doctrine of surpassing grace
1. Nomenclature. This is derived
from the literal translation of Ephesians 2:7 — “surpassing grace riches.”
Surpassing grace is the optimum in spiritual achievement, the maximum in
blessing and reward, the ultimate in glorifying God. “Surpassing” connotes
something beyond “super” as well as something beyond time.
2. There are two special blessing
paragraphs in the Word of God — above and beyond the normal blessings of the
spiritual life: SG2 and SG3, for super-grace and
surpassing grace. Surpassing grace is dealing with eternity, reward in
eternity. This is a special blessing and reward concept above and beyond the
basic concepts of ultimate sanctification. Ultimate sanctification is not a
reward, it is a blessing that belongs to all believers.
3. Definition: Surpassing grace is
the status of special blessing and reward in eternity for the believer who
cracks the maturity barrier. These are rewards above and beyond the
resurrection body. Surpassing grace is the status quo above and beyond ultimate
sanctification. It is the ultimate in regenerate mankind glorifying God
forever. The decorations worn not only represent great areas of space belonging
to that individual in eternity — called in the Bible “ruling ten cities, ruling
a hundred cities” — but it also reflects to Jesus Christ forever and ever.
4. The judgment seat of Christ is
the basis for the administration of surpassing grace blessings and rewards.
This is where every believer is going to get his efficiency rating. 2
Corinthians 5:10.
5. The reversionistic believer can
lose his paragraph SG2 and his paragraph SG3 but this
does not imply loss of salvation. 2 Timothy 2:11-13.
6. The judgment seat of Christ
eliminates any necessity of judging or maligning another believer. Romans
14:10.
7. The daily function of GAP is the
key to breaking through the maturity barrier. Breaking through the maturity
barrier included advancing to super-grace, on to ultra-super-grace, and
concludes with a life of dying grace. This is the basis for blessing and reward
in eternity under paragraph SG3. James 1:25; 2:12,13.
8. An analogy to the judgment seat
of Christ — Hebrews 6:7-12. This passage emphasises the importance of Bible
doctrine being transferred from the Word, from the printed page, to the soul.
9. Crowns are the highest
decorations in eternity. All crowns or wreaths are given to believers who break
the maturity barrier by reaching super-grace and then moving on to
ultra-super-grace. There are categories of crowns found in the New Testament. Stefanoj means wreath worn on the head as a high decoration,
not a crown that a king wears [diadhma]. The stefanoj of righteousness is the highest decoration and it
goes to the super-grace believer. The stefanoj of life represents the highest decoration for the ultra-super-grace
believer — James 1:12. The steafanoj of glory is for pastors
only, given for leading other members of he body of Christ, members of one’s
congregation past the maturity barrier.
10. The highest decoration for Old
Testament believers who break the maturity barrier is not called a crown or
wreath. Cities are used to designate rewards in eternity. Hebrews 11:9.
11. The analogy of self-discipline
as related to the rewards and decorations of eternity — 2 Timothy 2:5. To get
into the system of games that the Roman empire had required maximum self
discipline.
a) Entrance into a gym.
It had to be a state gymnasium and you had to prove Roman citizenship. Once you
were in the gym it would be nine months of intensive training. This is a
picture of eternal salvation, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. A person who
entered did so under the strongest system of rules or laws. Breaking any rule
meant that he would lose out and could not even compete in the games. There
were two kinds of athletes in the ancient world. The first is called the a)gonistai, an amateur athlete who went to the local gym just
to improve his health or to shape up. He was not an athlete, he was merely a
body builder. The second was a very serious athlete called a)qlhtai who made a profession of athletics and was very
self-disciplined.
b) The athlete had to
live in the gym for a period of ten months in most cases, prior to the games.
This is analogous to finding your right church, getting under a pastor who is
communicating doctrine and sticking no matter what.
c) The athlete, during
the time that he was in that gym, had to answer every trumpet call. They lived
in a dormitory. There was another area where they ate plus acres of exercise
fields. When a trumpet would blow for exercise, as it did about six times a
day, there was first of all a warning trumpet indicating that they had 15
minutes to be ready. The trainer would then come in and rub them down with oil,
the only thing they were allowed to wear on the exercise field. During ten
months this meant they would endure all kinds of weather and many of these
athletes were out naked on the training fields in the snow. Every trumpet call
had to be answered. The warning call gave the athlete a chance to be prepared
and then the trumpet call finally got him out on the field. In addition to that
the athlete had to exercise under the direction of the exercise master and in
all kinds of weather. This represents the stability of academic discipline and
the importance of positive volition. No believer ever breaks the maturity
barrier without maximum use of self-discipline and academic discipline. Another
rule was that no athlete must have any contact with anyone outside and
especially the opposite sex during the ten months of training. He must avoid
distractions that would lead to a break in his training because a big part of
his training was not the exercise but the self-discipline. The authority and enforcement
of discipline was in the hands of a gumnasiarxoj [a)rxoj = ruler; gumnoj = gymnasium], the ruler of
the gym. The people who most frequently held this job were retired Roman
generals. The winner at the games received a stefanoj made of olive leaves, ivy leaves, pine leaves, whatever the local
trees bore.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 portrays the
principle.
Verse 24 — “Do you not know that
those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way
that you may win.
Verse 25 — “And every one who
competes in the games exercises self-discipline in all things. Now they do it
to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable wreath.
Verse 26 — “Therefore I run in such
a way as not without a goal [I have an objective]; I box in such a way as not
to be beating the air;
Verse 27 — “But I discipline my
body, and I keep it in training [the constant function of GAP], lest having
preached to others, I myself should be disqualified [from the blessings and
rewards of paragraph SG3].”
Principle
1. Self-discipline is living you
life in the light of eternity.
2. Once you get even a small glimpse
of eternity you are motivated to that function of self-discipline which is so
necessary for the consistent function of GAP and resultant spiritual growth.
3. The overriding considerations of
eternity are more important than the distractions of time.
4. Yielding to the distractions of
time can only produce reversionism.
5. Self-discipline counters this
tendency and brings the believer under the academic discipline of the local
church where spiritual growth is accomplished.
6. The persistent function of GAP is
the only source of spiritual growth in time. No system of works or human good
can cause growth.
7. Spiritual growth occurs in the
soul.
a) The soul is the
battleground of the angelic conflict.
b) What causes growth in
the soul is words, but these words have to be in the right lobe.
c) Words produce
concepts which in turn produce technical words.
d) Technical words
produce categories and these categories are a frame of reference for
understanding Bible doctrine.
e) Bible doctrine
residing in the soul categorically means knowledge of doctrine.
f) Knowledge of doctrine
leads to understanding of doctrine, but it isn’t the same.
8. You cannot teach what you cannot
understand.
9. Self-discipline is a major part
of the spiritual progress of any believer. You cannot move forward without
it.
Verses 9-22, Paul’s last words of
explanation.
Verse 9 — “Do they diligence” is the
aorist active imperative from spoudazw which means to hasten or to
make every effort. The ingressive aorist contemplates the action of the verb at
its beginning. This brings up an important point. Timothy has a pastorate, a
very key one in that first century, at Ephesus. He is to leave Ephesus and come
to Rome immediately. There comes a time in the life of every believer when he
forsakes the routine of his life and drops everything to concentrate on one
specific thing. That is exactly what Paul is telling Timothy to do. The active
voice: Timothy is commanded to produce the action of the verb. The imperative
mood is a personal command to Timothy.
“to come” — the aorist active
infinitive of e)rxomai. This is a constative
aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. In other words,
everything that Timothy has to do to get over to Rome. The infinitive is
purpose. The infinitive may be used to express the aim or the action denoted by
the finite verb.
“shortly” — the adverb taxewj which doesn’t mean shortly at all, it means without
delay.
“unto me” — the preposition proj plus the accusative from the personal pronoun e)gw.
Translation: “Make every effort to
come [face to face with me] to me without delay.”
Principle
1. Paul would like to personally
talk with Timothy before he dies.
2. Timothy is not only the new
colour bearer but he is a personal friend of the ultra-supergace apostle.
3. Therefore the importance of
Christian fellowship in dying grace. It emphasises the importance of fellowship
with believers in dying.
4. Paul expresses here and elsewhere
the desire to have his personal friends around him in death.
Verse 10 — we now have a duty
roster. Only Luke is with him at the moment. Those on his missionary team are
scattered all over the empire. This duty roster report actually expresses the
status quo of these Christian soldiers who have served under Paul’s command.
This is, in effect, Paul’s last morning report before his death. The first
person on the duty roster is a casualty — Demas.
“For” is an explanatory use of the
conjunctive particle gar. It should be translated
“For you see” because we now have an explanation of the team; “Demas” — Dhmaj, it is a shorter form, a representation and
nickname for Dhmatriaj. The shorter form means
“popular.” He was a part of Paul’s missionary team and was specifically
mentioned along with Luke in Colossians 4:14. In Philemon 24 Demas is
recognised as a fellow worker along with Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke, written
during Paul’s first imprisonment. This means that six years before the writing
of 2 Timothy Demas had been an active member of the team. Now he is a casualty.
“hath forsaken” — aorist active
indicative of the verb e)gkataleipw. This actually means to go
AWOL, to desert, the abandon, to forsake. We will translate it the fact that he
has “deserted.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist which gathers into one
entirety the action of the verb. The action of the verb is desertion. It takes
the occurrences of Demas’s reversionism and regardless of its extent or
duration gathers it up into a single whole. The active voice: Demas through his
own negative volition toward Bible doctrine has produced the action of the
verb. The indicative mood is declarative recognising the historical reality of
the fact that Demas is a deserter. All reversionists are deserters.
Reversionism is the status quo of being AWOL.
“me” is the accusative singular
direct object from the personal pronoun e)gw.
There is some explanation as to the nature of Demas’s reversionism in the
participle which follows.
“having loved” — the aorist active
participle from a)gapaw, not used so much here for
love as it is for setting up in one’s thinking a scale of values. Something
went wrong with the scale of values of Demas at some point and he lost track of
what was truly and really important. His scale of values changed. The culminative
aorist views the reversion of Demas in its entirety but it emphasises the
existing results. He went in a certain direction — the influence of evil and
his scale of values was unable to cope with the great pressures that came his
way. The active voice: Demas produces the action, he failed in the area of the
scale of values. This is a causal participle plus the fact that the action of
the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. The desertion came
after Demas went into reversionism, after his scale of values changed.
“this present world” — the
accusative singular of the definite article plus and adverb of time, nun, translated here “present,” plus an accusative
singular direct object from the noun a)iwn which really means “age,”
and also means “life” and exactly what it means here. “For you see because he
has loved the present life Demas has deserted me.”
Whatever happened to Demas by way of
the change in his scale of values he had opportunity for advancement in another
place, in Thessalonica. So instead of staying with Paul, as was his particular
responsibility, he took off for a place of better advancement, a place of
convenience, a place that would lead to his own persona success and pleasure;
an offer really by Satan himself to any believer who gets under the influence
of evil. This is Satan’s way of distracting certain believers from the number
one priority of the life of a believer which is doctrine.
In order to understanding the noun a)iwn there are a number of things that need to be
brought to our attention. The etymology is used in a prolonged sense and is
translated in the prolonged sense “eternity.” Prolonged time is one of the
meanings of a)iwn.
A)iwn doubled
means eternal life. It is also used in the sense of time in the world and is
therefore the basic word for dispensations or ages. A)iwn
is also used as time or the course of the world and is therefore translated
“world.” The Hellenistic mysteries often equated a)iwn
with kosmoj, the word for the organised
world, the world that Satan rules. That is why it is occasionally translated
“world.” Homer, in both the Iliad and the Odyssey used a)iwn as the force in life and finally life itself.
Therefore this is one of the oldest meanings of the word. A)iwn was used by Xenephon for “generation,” so it has a
variety of opportunities for translation and the general context has to
determine which is the meanings is applicable in any situation. Here it has to
do with life. There was something in life that was much more important to Demas
than Bible doctrine and therefore he lose the whole meaning of life.
Principles
1. When the believer enters the
various stages of reversionism he eventually is taken over in the soul the
Satanic policies of evil.
2. This influence of evil causes the
believer to change his priorities so that they are totally incompatible with
God’s plan of grace. Therefore he thinks like an unbeliever.
3. Two things, therefore, are
excluded from the thinking of the believer under the influence of evil.
4. First, the priorities of phase
two, namely the breaking of the maturity barrier and moving toward the
objectives of super-grace and ultra-super-grace.
5. The second, the blackout of any
blessings and rewards of phase three which glorify the God forever. Once your
priorities are destroyed by the influence of evil then you lose SG2
and you lose SG3.
6. The reversionistic believer is
totally ignorant of the three crowns or decorations which are not only heaven’s
highest decorations for the mature believer but constitute maximum
glorification of Jesus Christ forever and ever. The eternal future of phase
three is a mental blackout to the reversionistic believer. A person like Demas
is not living his life in the light of eternity, nor is he living his life
under the divine blessings of time. Satan superimposes his genius type thinking
on reversionists like Demas because reversionism makes them vulnerable. Reversionistic
believers like Demas emphasise their own concepts in the present life rather
than God’s concepts. In other words, for every believer there are two plans.
There is God’s plan for his life and there is his own plan for his life. God’s
plan calls for the advance from salvation, past the maturity barrier to
ultra-super-grace and dying grace. But his own plan can only eventuate in his
use of his own resources and going into reversionism. The ultimate in God’s
plan is dying grace. The greatest blessings in life come to the believer in
dying grace. The ultimate in our own planning will be the sin unto death for
reversionism. So the type of death that we die definitely indicates whether we
did God’s plan or our won. When, like Demas, you switch priorities from God’s
plan to your own plan then the trouble begins. This is an explanation as to why
Demas is a casualty on the morning report.
“and is departed” — the continuative
use of the conjunction kai plus the aorist middle
indicative of poreuomai which means to depart from
someone. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it is used here for a
momentary action that occurred in past time. The middle voice is a dynamic
middle, it emphasises the part taken by the agent or the subject in the action of
the verb — the departure, desertion. The indicative mood is declarative for the
historical reality of the fact that Demas, once a vital member of Paul’s
missionary team, has now deserted.
“unto Thessalonica” — e)ij plus the accusative. This gives direction. Demas is
a casualty in the angelic conflict. Having rejected doctrine, having changed
his priorities, he became involved in some sort of a plan, his own plan for
promoting and pushing his own life, his own seeking of happiness. Therefore he
changed geographically from Rome to Thessalonica, and in that change he lost
out completely. Apart from reversion recovery Demas will arrive in phase three
with nothing to show for his life on earth and he will miss all of the
blessings that God had for him in every phase of his paragraph SG2.
The second entry on the morning report is Cressens.
“Cressens” in the Greek is Krhskhj and it means “increasing.” If any significance
could be attached to his name it obviously means that he is a super-grace
believer and pressing on. It is interesting that his name should come after
Demas whose name means “popular.” Apart from this reference we know nothing
more about Cressens, but one reference is enough to recognise a principle:
Every believer is as much in full time Christian service as any pastor,
missionary, or evangelist. Therefore this one phrase, “Cressens to Galatia,”
expresses the power of the ordinary life.
The dynamics of the ordinary life
1. The ordinary Christian is defined
as that believer whose spiritual gift is not related to spiritual leadership,
i.e. his spiritual gift is not related to communication of doctrine.
2. Every believer or member of the
royal family of God is in full-time Christian service. Whether in the ranks or
an officer depends on spiritual gift, its exploitation, and the system of
authority set up by God. The system of authority set up by God resides in the
pastor-teacher. This means, of course, that there is no such thing as
dedicating one’s self to “full time Christian service” because you are a full
time Christian — either in reversionism or advancing.
3. Production or works is not the
major issue in the Christian way of life or phase two. The major issue is
growth, spiritual growth. The objectives are defined in terms of maturity —
super-grace, ultra-super-grace, dying grace. Production is not the means of
spiritual growth, production at best is a result of spiritual growth but never
a means. All objectives in the spiritual life are attained by the transfer of
Bible doctrine from the page of the Word to your soul by a pastor-teacher
communicator. All objectives in the Christian life are attained through the
persistent function of GAP.
4. Private Cressens is mentioned in
the last morning report of Paul as a dedication to the ordinary Christian. Like
Cressens, believers do not have to live in the limelight to be great with the
Lord.
5. In many ways the ordinary life is
the most difficult life. It has fewer moments of recognition, fewer moments of
approbation and stimulation. Therefore the ordinary life requires greater
self-discipline and persistence in the daily function of GAP.
6. Cressens in a Bible memorial to
the ordinary believer who lives the extraordinary life without publicity,
without recognition. He breaks the maturity barrier by his daily function of
GAP, he goes to super-grace with the magnificent blessings of paragraph SG2,
he presses on to ultra-super-grace without fanfare or encouragement from
others. He is the kind who becomes a great prayer warrior because his maturity
gives him the ability to produce. Therefore his works are effective. He is a
great prayer warrior, he is a great witness for Christ, he becomes highly
effective in the function of the local church and administration, there are
many wonderful things that he does, he doesn’t talk about what he is doing, he
does it as unto the Lord, and his greatness is registered forever in heaven and
will become apparent at the judgment seat of Christ.
7. The believer in ranks may be out
of sight in the Christian community, he may not have worldly recognition, but
he is never out of God’s sight.
a) His production
reflects Bible doctrine in his soul.
b) He is free from
arrogance and its counterparts.
c) He is free from the
influence of evil and reversionism.
d) He serves the Lord in
his own quiet way without blowing his trumpet, like the Pharisees, or trying to
impress others with what he is doing.
e) He is free from
approbation and power lust. His head is never turned by compliments.
f) He is unknown to
others but well known to the opposition, i.e. Satan and the demons.
g) He carries his
generation in history as a spiritual Atlas.
h) He is a blessing to
all associated with him and he enjoys in turn perfect happiness and blessing in
life.
8. The believer in ranks has a true
perspective regarding service. He understands that Christian service is not
what we do for the Lord but what the Lord’s grace does through us. Therefore he
sees Christian service as a channel for the expression of grace rather than the
means of making Brownie points with the Lord. Therefore Christian service must
reflect his spiritual growth in his progress. This is only possible where there
is maximum doctrine resident in his soul. Therefore maximum doctrine resident
in his soul exploits the balance of residency between the filling of the Spirit
and that doctrine. The Christian way of life is not activity nor productivity
but conductivity. We are transmitters of God’s grace, not creators of God’s
grace.
9. Therefore the private in God’s
army is just as much in full-time Christian service as the general in God’s
army. The angelic conflict is resolved by the advance of ordinary people, like
private Cressens, as much as the advance of great people like the apostle Paul.
Here, then, is a monument to the effectiveness of the rank and file Christian:
“Cressens has gone to Galatia.”
Verse 10b— the combat officer. His
name was Titus — Titoj
e)ij Dalmatian.
Titus was one of Paul’s theological students in the ambulatory theological
seminary. He is called in Titus 1:4 Teknon which means “student,” not
“son.”
Titus
a) He is probably the
brother of Luke which explains the absence of his name in Acts. He was,
incidentally, a test case in Jerusalem — Galatians 2:1-3.
b) Titus could handle a
tough situation where others failed, therefore he became the great
troubleshooter in Paul’s missionary team.
c) Timothy failed
miserable at Corinth because Timothy wasn’t tough. In fact, Timothy had a
tendency to be sweet and wimpyish so he failed miserably with the Corinthians.
In 2 Corinthians 2:13; 12:18 we have two beautiful declarations that Titus went
in there and squared them away but good.
d) Having straightened
out the Corinthians church Titus rejoined Paul and turned Paul’s depression
into great happiness over the Corinthian case — 2 Corinthians 7:5-7, 13-15.
e) During the first and
second Roman imprisonments Paul and Titus visited Crete, a trouble spot. Titus
was left behind to take command of a very sticky situation — Titus 1:5.
f) Trouble had now
broken out in Dalmatia, a Roman province in the eastern Adriatic. It is a part
of the present Yugoslavia.
g) Tradition indicates
that Titus returned to Crete and commanded there until his death. He died at a
ripe old age and he was the only one who could ever hold the Cretians in line
in that generation. The Cretians were tricky, sneaky, liars, hypocrites, phoney,
and an ordinary pastor could go in there and give them all that sweetness and
light and brotherly love and the Cretians would laugh themselves sick and move
into reversionism. Titus went in there, was smarter than they were, caught on
to their hypocrisies, caught them in their lies, straightened them out, and
kept them moving. The only reason there was anyone in Crete who ever became a
super-grace believer in that generation was because of Titus.
Translation: “For you see, because
he has loved the present life Demas has deserted me, and has gone to
Thessalonica; Cressens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”
Verse 11 — Luke is Paul’s executive
officer. “Only Luke is with me” — the present active indicative of the verb e)imi, the verb to be. This is a retroactive progressive
present, it denotes what has happened in the past and continues into the
present time. This is the present tense of duration. The active voice: Luke
produces the action of the verb. Here is a person whose profession was medicine
but whose abilities were diversified and magnificent. He had true executive
ability and he represents the whole concept of administration. While he is a
writer of scripture, a great historian, and has written unique books of the New
Testament, his greatness was really administration. No organisation of any kind
can function effectively with a bunch of committees having meetings all the time,
or just a group of people just deciding what to do. There has to be someone
with authority who can make some instant decisions and get things cracking. So,
the verb to be, “only Luke keeps on being.” That is, he has to be there. He is
Paul’s administrator and therefore he is present. The indicative mood is
declarative for historical reality. We also have an adjective, monoj, used as a predicate nominative. It means “alone.”
Luke is alone with Paul. “With me” is a prepositional phrase, meta plus the genitive of the personal pronoun e)gw.
The interesting thing is that
apparently Timothy is going to inherit Paul’s combat team. Paul is passing the
colours on to Timothy, therefore it is imperative for Timothy to get there, not
only to see Paul but to be read into the picture by Paul’s executive officer,
Luke himself. “Luke is alone with me” is the correct translation.
Luke
a) Background. Luke is an extremely
well-educated Gentile from Antioch that he does and everything that is said
about him speaks of education. He writes, by the way, in Classical Greek. Luke
1:1-4 is pure Attic Greek, demonstrating his phenomenal education. By contrast,
many of the other men on the Pauline combat team are not educated at all.
Education is really not for everyone anyway. But there is a place for it and
there certainly is with Luke. Luke does not hesitate to advance himself also as
an expert historian contending a thorough investigation and collection of data
prior to his contact with Christianity. Luke had extensive contact with the
early church leaders, including Paul, Timothy, Philip, Silas, Mark, Barnabas,
and James. Therefore he qualifies in every way as an excellent historian.
b) Luke is the brother of Titus. We
learn this from the Greek of 2 Corinthians 8:18 in which the definite article
is used as a personal pronoun in front if a)delfoj which means “brother.” The definite article means “his” brother, i.e.
Titus.
c) Luke has a great relationship
with Paul.
1. He joined the
apostolic team at Troy on the 2nd missionary journey — Acts 16:10-11.
2. He accompanied Paul
to Philippi but was not involved in the persecutions of Paul and Silas recorded
in Acts 16.
3. When Paul left
Philippi after his deliverance from jail Luke remained behind in order to help
out in starting the new church. Comparing the pronoun “we” in Acts 16:10, it
becomes “they” in Acts 16:40.
4. Luke rejoined Paul on
his third missionary journey when Paul came back to Philippi.
5. He was from that time
appointed Paul’s executive officer and he remained with Paul until his death.
6. For example, Luke
shared in Paul’s Jerusalem reversionism. Even though Paul went into
reversionism Luke knew he was wrong and stuck right with him as a good
executive officer — Acts 20:6-21:18.
7. He shared in the
Caesarean imprisonment of two years.
8. He made the famous
shipwreck voyage to Rome — Acts 27:1; 28:2.
9. He was with Paul
during the first Roman imprisonment — Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24.
10. As noted in this
context Luke was with Paul during his second Roman imprisonment — “Luke is
alone with me.” 2 Timothy 4:11.
d)
The extra-biblical legend that Luke died in Greece at the age of 84. In
addition to being the medical officer for the team was the team historian and
he kept the duty roster for them. His loyalty and faithfulness to Paul is
emphasised in this context. It takes a truly great believer with magnificent
honour and integrity to take second place to the great apostle Paul. This is
perhaps one of the most outstanding things about Luke. He had greatness of his
own but he never allowed his own personal greatness to not subordinate himself
to the great apostle. Even though he was great in his own right his personal
greatness was never in conflict with the principle of subordination of himself
to the authority of the ultra-super-grace apostle. He stayed with Paul to the
very end of his life and not once did he ever think of bucking Paul’s authority
or going out on his own. He had no hang-ups related to playing second fiddle to
Paul.
“Take Mark” — the aorist active
participle from the compound verb a)nalambanw [a)na = again and again or up; lambanw = to receive, to take] comes to mean to take up in
order to carry, which we call simply to pick up. This is exactly what it means
here, to pick up en route. The aorist tense is an ingressive aorist, it
contemplates the action of the verb at its beginning. It is translated “Pick up
Mark en route.” The active voice: this is a command to Timothy who on his way
to Rome will pick up Mark and bring him along also. The participle is used here
as an imperative. The imperative use of the participle is simply Paul issuing
another command to Timothy. The word “Mark” is in the accusative singular
direct object from the proper noun in the Greek, Markoj.
“bring him” — present active
imperative of a)gw. The imperative mood here
is a command. The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in
present time. The active voice: Timothy must obey the command.
“with thee” — the preposition meta plus the genitive of a reflexive pronoun seautou which means “with yourself.”
“for” is the explanatory use of gar; “he is” — present active indicative of e)imi, “he keeps on being.” The customary present denotes
what may be reasonably expected from a believer who has recovered from
reversionism and broken the maturity barrier. That is the story of John Mark.
At this time Mark is either in super-grace or ultra-super-grace. Mark produces
the action of being profitable. The indicative mood is declarative for the
historical reality of the fact that Mark who was once despised by Paul is now
totally appreciated.
“profitable” is the predicate
nominative from e)uxrhstoj which means “useful,
serviceable, profitable.”
“to me” is dative of advantage, the
persona pronoun e)gw. Paul is referring to
himself.
“for the ministry” — should be “with
reference to the ministry,” e)ij plus the accusative of diakonia.
Translation: “Luke is alone with me.
Pick up Mark en route, bring him with yourself: for he is useful to me with
reference to the ministry.”
Mark
a) John Mark was the son of Mary of
Jerusalem whose home was the place of assembly for the Jerusalem church — Acts
12:12, 25. She was a famous and wealthy woman. Her brother appears to be
Barnabas and was therefore either an uncle or a cousin. Therefore Mark comes
from a VIP home.
b) Barnabas s either his uncle or
his cousin — Colossians 4:10.
c) Mark was converted under the
ministry of Peter — 1 Peter 5:13. Consequently the Gospel of Mark is really
Peter’s Gospel, it presents Peter’s account of our Lord. It explains why it is
terse and short, and when you read the Gospel of Mark in the Greek you know
that you are seeing our Lord’s ministry on the earth through the eyes of Peter.
d) Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas
on the first missionary journey — Acts 12:25; 13:5.
e) As a result of reversionism John
Mark deserted the missionary team and returned to Jerusalem in reversionism and
in disgrace — Acts 13:13.
f) Mark recovered from his
reversionism. Here is the mark of true greatness in the royal family of God —
spiritual resilience, the ability to recover in spite of failure, and also the
ability of withstanding shock without permanent detriment to spiritual life or
rupture of spiritual life.
g) The great controversy. During the
planning stage for the second missionary journey Barnabas and Paul got into a
real donnybrook over the person of John Mark. Paul did not want to take Mark,
did not want to give him another chance. He didn’t want any unreliable, unstable,
coward to go along. Barnabas had recognised Mark’s reversion recovery and
wanted to give him another chance, so there was a great donnybrook. This was at
Antioch of Syria which at that time had a flourishing church. And that church
stayed out of the argument. In other words, there were people in Antioch who
loved Barnabas. There were people who loved Paul. When they got into this
controversy somebody could have said, “Paul is right.” Someone else could have
said, “Barnabas is right.” Sides could have been taken on the basis of
friendship. When two people get into a donnybrook they must be isolated. Wives
get involved, and wives have friends, people get on telephones, people get
talking and pretty soon everyone is divided into two camps. They don’t have the
facts and even if they have the facts it is my friend right or wrong type of
thing. This was a church of mature believers, the first such church. The next
one was Ephesus. Rome never even came close. But notice the greatness of this
church at Antioch, they did not take sides.
The dynamics of grace
1. The church of Antioch delivered
Paul into the Lord’s hands without censor and without approval.
They
continued to recognise Paul’s authority, understanding that the Lord, not they,
possessed the authority to handle the matter.
2. This fantastic grace action on
the part of Barnabas is the last major activity of that particular super-grace
hero. Barnabas now disappears from the book of Acts. He was still alive at the
time that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:6 — AD 57 — and he was still alive at
the time of the writing of Timothy.
3. Historical tradition associates
Barnabas with both Rome and Alexandria. In fact, because of his association
with Alexandria, the Classical Greek academic centre, many conclude that
Barnabas is the human author of Hebrews.
4. If Barnabas did write Hebrews he
is second only to Paul in one of the greatest all-time teachers of doctrine.
5. The silence of scripture
regarding Barnabas does not censure Barnabas but the spotlight from that time
on is no longer focused on Barnabas who was right but it is now focused on Paul
who in this instance was wrong. Being wrong didn’t hinder Paul from having the
greatest ministry anyone has ever had in the communication of doctrine in
history.
6. God had a wonderful plan for
Barnabas, though not recorded in the scriptures.
7. Paul’s failure did not hinder the
great plan that God had for him. Both men travelled the road to glory.
8. The super-grace believers at
Antioch isolated the controversy by not taking sides. Super-grace Barnabas
performed a great act that saved the ministry of John Mark. John Mark goes on
to super-grace and a dynamic ministry. Likewise Paul, like wise Barnabas. So
because of the wisdom of that particular congregation the ministries of three
great men in the early church were saved. The controversy was finally settled.
Paul in super-grace status during his first Roman imprisonment, both in
Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24, mentioned the fact that he was wrong. Once
again he implies it in 2 Timothy 4:11.
9. Mark’s future ministry after the
death of Paul. Mark was sent on a mission to Egypt where he founded the
Alexandrian church, or at least pastored it. As the pastor of that famous
church Mark refused to renounce Christ during a Roman persecution and, once a
coward and once a deserter, he bravely stood up to the Roman tribunal. The
result was that one leg was tied to a Roman chariot going north, one leg was
tied to another going south. he was given his last chance to renounce Christ
and when he said no the Roman gave the command for the chariots to go, they
ripped him to pieces, and his soul entered into eternity.
Verse 12 — the replacement,
Tychicus. “And Tychicus” starts with the post positive conjunctive particle de
used to emphasise a contrast between those leaving Rome and those coming to
Rome. With it is the accusative singular direct object from the proper name Tuxikoj which is transliterated Tychicus.
“have I sent” is the aorist active
indicative from the compound verb a)postellw. It means to send out on an
important mission, to send into action, and in this case it is to send out a
replacement for action. The dramatic aorist tense states the present reality
with the certitude of a past event. The present fact: Tychicus has just left
Rome on his way to Ephesus to replace Timothy at Ephesus. The past event:
Tychicus was sent some time ago to replace Timothy at Ephesus so that Timothy
could leave and get to Rome as quickly as possible. The active voice: Paul in
anticipation of dying grace makes this personal change in personnel. The
indicative mood is the reality of the change.
“to Ephesus” is a prepositional
phrase, e)ij plus the accusative.
Timothy has been stationed there but must be replaced so that he can come to
Rome to be present for the changing of the guard.
Translation: “I have sent out
Tychicus to Ephesus to relieve you.”
The principle behind this: The needs
of the church must come before the personal desires of the great apostle. Paul
would not permit the local church at Ephesus to be without a pastor, it is a
key church at this time in church history. Therefore he sends a replacement to
relieve Timothy while Timothy comes to Rome to receive the final instructions
related to the changing of the guard and the passing on of the colours. So
those who use authority best are those leaders who are the most sensitive to
the needs and the problems of their command. Another principle comes out of
this: Without thoughtfulness and loyalty to those you command authority is
abused and distorted in any sphere of life.
Tychicus
a) He was associated with Paul
during the third missionary journey — Acts 20:4.
b) Along with Trophimus he is called
a native of Asia Minor — Acts 21:29.
c) Therefore Tychicus was the messenger
who carried the prison epistles to their proper destinations. He carried
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon to Asia Minor.
d) During Paul’s reversionistic
journey to Jerusalem Tychicus remained behind at Miletus — Acts 20:15.
e) However, Tychicus joined Paul
during the first Roman imprisonment — Ephesians 6:21,22; Colossians 4:7,8.
f) Paul found Tychicus very
dependable for he then sent him to Crete — Titus 3:12.
g) During Paul’s second Roman
imprisonment he could only depend upon Tychicus to get to Ephesus to relieve
Timothy so that Timothy would be free to come to Rome — 2 Timothy 4:12.
h) Tychicus is mentioned in
dispatches and commended for his faithfulness — Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7.
Verse 13 — begins the logistical
commands of the apostle. Logistics in the military science of supplying,
transporting and quartering troops. In this case logistics are confined to
supply alone. Paul needs something for the body and something for the spirit
and this is brought out in this verse during this period of dying grace.
“The cloak” — the accusative
singular definite article plus the accusative singular of the noun felonhj. The ordinary word for a cloak would be i(matia. There is also a verb involved here and felonhj is the object of the verb to bring. Felonhj is actually a Latin lone word into the Greek
demonstrating once again that the two languages were interchangeable at this
time in history. The Latin word is paenula.
It refers to a very heavy coat, a thick coat with a travelling hood. This kind
of a coat was used for travelling in cold and stormy weather in Roman history.
The Romans used the paenula for
travelling instead of the toga, it was designed for protection against cold and
rain and was considered to be the best of all the coats that the Romans had. It
was made our of either wool or leather. So Paul needed something to warm the
body and keep out the winter weather.
“that I left” — the accusative
singular from the relative pronoun o(j refers to this heavy Roman
coat. With it is the aorist active indicative from the compound a)poleipw. This indicates where the coat can be found. It was
left behind actually. The aorist tense is a constative aorist referring to a
momentary action, it was left behind momentarily. The active voice: Paul in
reversion left it behind. The indicative mood is declarative for reality. The
aorist active imperative of ferw is the command to bring it
along at this time; “at Troas” is really “Troy.” The coat was kept there at the
house of a certain person called Carpus.
There are several biblical
references to Paul’s visits to the famous city of Troy. It is mentioned in
Acts. In chapter 16 the great attempt to evangelise Philippi started from Troy.
In 2 Corinthians 2:12 and here in 2 Timothy 4:13 Toy is mentioned again. It was
during Paul’s fourth missionary journey that he stopped off at Troy and he left
a winter travelling coat. Carpus was a believer who lived there. Paul in a
sense is not only asking for the coat but is giving a brief memorial to an
unknown believer who provided Christian hospitality and a relaxed atmosphere
for one of the greatest men in history.
“when thou comest” is a present
active participle from the verb e)rxomai, the simple word for
coming. This is a futuristic present for an event which has not yet occurred
but is regarded as so certain in thought that in the mind of the writer Timothy
is already there. Timothy did reach Rome in time. The active voice: Timothy
produces the action of the verb en route to Rome. The participle is a temporal
participle.
“bring” — the present active
imperative of the verb ferw. The present tense is
descriptive present, it presents to the mind a picture of the events in the
process of occurring. The active voice: Timothy produces the action. The
imperative mood: it is an order.
“and the books” — the continuative
use of the conjunction kai plus the accusative direct
object from ferw of biblion. It is correctly translated “books” and actually
means the papyrus which would be equivalent to our modern paperback books. This
would be a part of Paul’s reading library and in his dying days Paul intends to
spend a lot of time reading. Reading is an excellent form of relaxation and
Paul was stimulated in his mind by what he read.
There is also a request for the
spirit …
“but especially the parchments” —
the word for “especially” is actually malista, a superlative form in the Greek, a superlative of mala and is correctly translated “above all.” It
indicates that these parchments are more important than anything else. We also
have the noun in the accusative membrana from which we get our
English word “membrane.” It refers to leather type parchments, vellum type
books. This is a permanent type book and probably refers to Paul’s copy of the
scripture as it existed at that time. He wanted his copy of the scripture for
reading and study as well, indicating the fact that even in dying grace the
great apostle did not give up his lifetime habit of study.
Translation: “When you [Timothy]
come, bring the heavy coat and the scrolls, especially the parchments which I
have left behind at Troy with Carpus.”
Summary
1. Paul’s approaching death does not
hinder his enjoyment of life. This is indicative of dying grace.
2. Here is actually the blessing of
ultra-super-grace. Even though Paul has been tried and condemned to death he is
not brooding, pouting, or giving way to any type of vindictiveness. He is now
in the sphere of dying and will very shortly be executed. He is not upset in
any possible way.
3. Neither does he complain in the
next paragraph about the miscarriage of justice.
4. Paul’s capacity for love,
happiness and life, are placed in their proper perspective in this verse. When
you have all this capacity for life it continues even in the sphere of dying
grace.
5. Out of this comes a principle:
The knowledge of death does not hinder either the super-grace or the
ultra-super-grace believer’s capacity for life.
6. Breaking the maturity barrier
takes the sting our of death. Dying will only be a greater blessing than the
blessings of living.
7. Because of his capacity for life
Paul intends to live in the best possible comfort in that uncomfortable
dungeon.
8. Therefore the heavy coat to warm
the body is still a factor in dying grace. He will remain warm and comfortable
regardless of the weather. Why? Because he is enjoying life.
9. Paul will also be surrounded by
friends, loved ones, and his favourite books. He will read and study the Bible
parchments until the day of his execution. Life and all of its blessings goes
on for the ultra-super-grace believer even while he is dying. He does not
change his routine, he does not cater to the fact that he is dying, whatever he
has been doing in life he continues to do right up to the moment of his last
breath.
Verses 14 and 15 — the mantle of
Paul’s ultra-super-grace opposition.
Verse 14 — “Alexander” is A)lecandroj. In a way he was famous as a part of Paul’s
ultra-super-grace decorations. This man probably hated Paul as much as a person
could hate another person. he was a reversionistic believer, he did everything
he could to destroy Paul’s ministry. He never succeeded. Instead, God simply
put him in that wonderful necklace around Paul’s neck, the highest honour in
time. He made him a part of that ultra-super-grace decoration.
“the coppersmith” — that is not
quite correct: o(
xalkeuj
means a metal smith. It means one who works with bronze or silver or gold.
Alexander in Ephesus was a part of Paul’s mantle of opposition in
ultra-super-grace. He first comes into view in the famous Ephesian riot of Acts
chapter 19 which was started by Demetrius the silversmith, and at that time
Alexander was also a silversmith in Ephesus. Acts 19:23ff.
The next reference to Alexander,
after Acts 19, is found in 1 Timothy 1:19,20. The deliverance over to Satan is
intensive discipline leading to the sin unto death. This passage indicates the
perpetuation of the antagonism and persecution of Alexander of Ephesus toward
Paul, opposition and antagonism which continued to the death of both of these
believers. However, the problem here is that even though he was turned over to
Satan he didn’t die because Satan is using this man and he will die at another
time.
“did we much evil” — this is not
referring to Ephesus, the passage in 1 Timothy, it is referring to the trial of
Paul in Rome. It was difficult to find someone who would speak against Paul. It
needed accusation under Roman law, there had to be someone who would bring in
an accusation. This is a reference to that fact. The Greek phrase, polla moi kaka e)nedeizatw is a slightly different phrase. It includes the accusative neuter
plural of polluj — “much.” Alexander did
many evils. With it is the accusative neuter plural direct object kakoj, the word for “evil.” This is the Satanic system of
genius by which he runs the world. Since kakoj
is in the plural we could say many evils, or many categories of evil. Plus a
dative singular from the personal pronoun e)gw
— “to me.” This dative of indirect object indicates the one in whose interest
the opposition is performed. Alexander as a reversionistic believer is under
the influence of evil, he is the lifetime enemy of Paul, and it is for his
purpose that he is doing this. He thinks it is to his advantage to get rid of
Paul, to kill Paul, and therefore he becomes the accuser of Paul. So this is a
dative of advantage from Alexander’s standpoint. It was to Paul’s advantage
also to have this opposition because this opposition becomes a part of the
intensification of Paul’s blessing. Alexander will be in heaven as a classical
illustration of a believer in ultimate sanctification minus anything else.
Principle: Why is Alexander still
alive? The sentence was pronounced, he was under the sin unto death — 1 Timothy
1:20. Two years later he is still alive. God continued the intensity of
Alexander’s discipline. Alexander is only more miserable, and the more
miserable he becomes the more antagonistic he becomes toward the apostle Paul.
So God permits Alexander to continue living in order that Paul’s blessings
might be intensified right down to the moment of his death. And who is better
motivated to intensify Paul’s blessings than this man who despises him so much?
In other words, the mote intense the opposition to Paul the more intense the
ultra-super-grace blessing.
The word “did” is the aorist middle
indicative of the verb e)ndeiknumi [e)n = to, among, on the occasion of; deiknumi = to exhibit, to show] means to show on certain
occasions, and it comes to means to demonstrate or to give proof of. “Alexander
the metal smith gave proof of, demonstrated many categories of evil to me.” The
aorist tense is a constative aorist, it gathers up into one entirety the
hatred, the antagonism, the opposition of Alexander. The middle voice: the
agent Alexander voluntarily yields himself to the results of the action.
“the Lord reward him” — o( kurioj refers to Jesus Christ who not only controls
history in time but is the evaluator of all believers at the judgment seat of
Christ. Jesus Christ has kept Alexander alive so that in the sphere of
ultra-super-grace and in dying grace Paul might have an intensification of
happiness and blessing that few have ever known before he departs from this
life. Alexander contributes to that. The word “reward” is not quite correct.
This is the future active indicative of a)podidomi which means to remit, to pay back, to recompense. “The Lord shall
remit to him.” The future tense is a predictive future, it declares several
events which will occur in the future: a) The execution of the sin unto death.
No one will ever die a more miserable death than Alexander; b) At the
resurrection there will be loss of reward, loss of eternal decorations and
blessings, loss of paragraph SG3 for all eternity. The active voice:
Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is both
historical and prophetical reality. Plus the dative of disadvantage from the
intensive pronoun a)utoj emphasising the total
failure not only of Alexander but all believers who live in reversionism.
“according to his works” — kata plus the accusative plural of e)rgon, “according to his deeds or “with reference to his
deeds.” The point is that any time a believer gets into reversionism he always
is under the mistaken idea that good works cause growth.
Translation: “Alexander the metal
smith demonstrated many categories of evil to me: the Lord shall pay back to
him with reference to his deeds.”
Principles
1. Paul makes it very clear that
this source of opposition in Ephesus must not become a source of a personal
vendetta by Timothy or anyone else. After Paul dies he does not want anyone to
try to get even with Alexander.
2. After his death there is a
possibility that some misguided believer will seek vengeance and therefore Paul
must be very lucid. Alexander of Ephesus must be left entirely in the Lord’s
hands. No believer must try to take vengeance into his own hands.
3. Principle: Stay out of the way of
the Lord’s justice so that you do not yourself become hurt.
4. However, in the next verse Paul
warns Timothy that not only is he passing the colours on to him but he is
leaving him in Ephesus his mantle of ultra-super-grace opposition. Alexander is
also from Ephesus.
Verse 15 — “Of whom” is the
accusative of reference from the relative pronoun o(j
which means “With reference to whom.” This is a reference to Alexander the
metal smith.
“be thou ware” — the present middle
imperative from the verb fulassw which means to be on guard
or to be alert. The present tense is the present of duration demonstrating what
Timothy has done in the past, he has been alert at the pastor of the Ephesian
church and he must continue to do so. The middle voice is indirect middle in
which Timothy produces the action of the verb as the agent. The imperative
mood: this is a command to Timothy, a command to the one who is to carry the
colours for the next generation. There is also the pronoun su and with the middle voice it gives a reflexive
connotation — “you yourself be on guard [be alert].”
“for” is the explanatory use of the
conjunction gar; “he hath greatly
withstood” — the adverb which is used first here, lian,
is used with verbs preceding them. Hence, lian
goes with fulassw. So it should be translated,
then, “you yourself be extremely alert.” Then we have the aorist active
indicative from the compound verb a)nqisthmi, translated “withstood” but
it means actually to stand against or to oppose in every possible way. We will
use the word “resisted.” The constative aorist gathers up all of Alexander’s
into one entirety. For at least fifteen years now Alexander, day in and day
out, has resisted doctrine and the ministry of the apostle Paul. This
opposition is spread out into a long period of time but it is gathered up here
into one entirety. The active voice: Alexander produces the action of the verb.
The indicative mood is declarative for the historical fact.
“our words” — the adjective h(meroj which means “our.” This word is very important
because it indicates that both Paul and Timothy have studied doctrine and have
learned doctrine, and in their understanding of doctrine have communicated it,
therefore it belongs to them. The dative plural from logoj means “our doctrines.” Logoj
actually means words, in the plural it refers to doctrines.
Translation: “Also with reference to
whom you yourself [Timothy] be extremely alert; for he has resisted our
doctrines.”
Paul and Timothy have faithfully
taught in Ephesus and elsewhere. Alexander has constantly resisted their
teaching ministry, their authority, everything connected with them.
Beginning in verse 16, and for two
verses, we have a summary of Paul’s last trial, held before Nero.
Verse 16 — the trial is mentioned in
the words “My first answer” — e)n plus the locative of the
adjective prwtoj. The word prwtoj can mean first in time or first in sequence or
first in space. Here it means first in rank or degree. It means foremost, most
important or prominent. The noun as the object of the preposition in the
locative is a)pologia. This is where we get the
English word “apology,” but it is an official court action in this particular
passage. There is also a possessive genitive singular from the personal pronoun
e)gw. All together we have
literally, “In my most important [trial] defense.” This is a reference to
Paul’s final trial before Nero.
“no man” — o)udeij indicates the fact that there was not one believer
who could be brought forth into the courtroom and actually give a testimony for
Paul.
“stood with me” — it has to be
remembered that “standing with” here is a very technical term, it means to make
a public appearance in court in order to give testimony that Paul was not
against the Roman empire, that he was not a traitor, and that the charges
against him were false. This is a reference to the believers in Rome. Many of them
knew Paul and any one of them could have vouched for the fact that he was a
loyal citizen of the Roman empire. But they also knew that Paul was persona non grata with the empire and
they did not care to endanger their own lives by standing up and testifying.
Many Christians in Rome could have come to court and given a simple deposition
that would have solved the whole thing, but they did not. Luke was barred
because he was a personal friend of Paul’s and he was disqualified. This is the
aorist middle indicative of the compound verb paraginomai [para = beside; ginomai = to come beside or to stand by the side] which
actually means to make a public appearance on behalf of an accused person and
to give testimony on behalf of an accused person regarding his innocence. The
aorist tense is a dramatic aorist, it states a present reality with the
certitude of a past event, and it is an idiom device for emphasis here. This is
the indirect middle in which the agent, the believers of Rome, produce the
action rather than participating in the results of the action. They were
cowardly and they took off. There were several reasons. It was established not
only by Timothy but by the book of Romans that the Roman church was never a
strong church spiritually, and that when it came down to apostasy the Roman
church would lead the way as it has down through the centuries. The Roman
church was an apostate church even from the start. It was the Ephesian church
that was the great church, the Roman church was the centre for reversionism,
apostasy, cruelty, treachery, instability. And the Roman church never changed.
“but” — a strong adversative
conjunction a)lla and it sets up a strong
contrast between the availability of qualified witnesses who could have refuted
the charges against Paul and the fact that none of these qualified witnesses
took the stand on behalf of Paul.
“all men” — the nominative masculine
plural subject from the adjective paj, meaning “all,” referring
to all the believers in Rome who could have testified in the Roman court on
behalf of Paul. Nero’s recent persecution of the Christians intimidated some of
them but that isn’t the whole story by any manner of means. The Roman church
was filled with reversionism. Most of the believers were under the influence of
evil, many were serving Satan outright, so God uses Paul’s trial before Nero to
demonstrate this reversionistic failure of the Roman church, a failure that
continues to the present time. “forsook
me” — the aorist active indicative of e)gkateleipw which means to desert. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it
gathers into one picture all of the verbal action of desertion. It takes the
various reversionistic believers having opportunity and indicates that every
one of them made a deliberate decision to turn away from Paul. The active
voice: the reversionistic believers deliberately produced the action of the
verb. The indicative mood is declarative, this is an historical fact. With it
is the object of the verb, the personal pronoun e)gw.
“I pray God” is not found in the
original. There is no prayer offered here. We merely have” that it ma not be
laid to their charge,” but it should be translated, “may it not be charged to
them.” There is a very strong aorist passive optative of the verb logizomai. With it is a strong negative mh. Mh is not usually that strong but with logizomai it becomes much stronger. It is not o)u or o)uk because he can’t dictate to
God, but he can express his own mental attitude. We also have a dative plural
indirect object from the intensive pronoun a)utoj which refers to all of the believers in the Roman church, the ones who
had the opportunity of testifying and who deserted Paul during his final trial.
“May it not be charged to them” is an aorist tense, a culminative aorist. It
views the failure of these reversionists in its entirety but it regards it from
the viewpoint of existing results. They not only refused to testify but they
actually did not. The existing result from all of this is the sin unto death
discipline. Paul recognised that some of these reversionists under discipline
will wake up, change their mind and repent, and will go into reversion
recovery. Therefore it is not his desire that their desertion of him hinder
reversion recovery. This is really what he is expressing and why he has to use
the negative mh instead of o)uk. The passive voice plus the negative mh means that Paul does not desire that the deserting
reversionists should receive the action of the verb, the sin unto death. The
optative mood is rather rare, it is a mood of strong contingency, a mood of
probability. It contains no definite anticipation of realisation but it
represents the action as conceivable. This is what is called a voluntative
optative in which the ultra-super-grace Paul expresses his personal wish or
desire in the matter. It means he has an entirely relaxed mental attitude
toward the traitors, those who are responsible for his being under a sentence
and condemnation of death from the emperor of the Roman empire.
Translation: “In my most important
defense [the trial before Nero] no one made a public appearance in court to
testify on my behalf, but all [reversionistic believers] deserted me: may it
not be charged to them.”
Principle
1. “May it not be charged to them”
means “may they not be so disciplined for deserting me when they could possible
come under reversion recovery.” If there is any possibility that they will
change their attitude in the future and that they will desire doctrine and
spiritual growth, “may they have the time in which to recover.”
2. The wish, therefore, expressed by
the voluntative optative mood indicates the phenomenal grace orientation of
ultra-super-grace Paul, and also a very strong relaxed mental attitude.
3. There is no bitterness,
vindictiveness, implacability, recrimination, or desire for vengeance.
4. Therefore this verse expresses
the dynamics of ultra-super-grace mental attitude. There is no way you can
shake the relaxed mental attitude, the tranquillity of soul that Paul possesses
from doctrine. No matter what terrible things people do to him they cannot in
any way disturb the tranquillity of doctrine resident in his soul.
5. Note that Paul is not offering a
prayer for these reversionists, he is merely expressing a mental attitude.
6. Furthermore, the importance of
the grammar here is that Paul is not trying to superimpose his own volition
over God’s sovereign will. Divine sovereignty cannot be coerced and cannot be
changed.
7. No believer can dictate to God or
to the sovereignty of God.
8. Once again, therefore, Paul can
only express his own grace mental attitude toward these reversionists but he
does not and cannot try to dictate to God what should be done with them.
9. God is fair, He has all the facts
and He will make the proper disposition. Therefore the whole thing is in the
hands of the Lord.
Verse 17 — “Notwithstanding” is
simply an enclitic conjunctive particle de.
It is used here to emphasise a contrast between believers deserting Paul in the
previous verse and the Lord’s faithfulness to Paul in not deserting him. There
is no accident in Paul’s life, there is no accident in the life of any
ultra-super-grace believer. It was no accident that all of these phoney
believers deserted him. A super-grace believer never depends on people. You are
not going to get hurt by people and their failures when you are depending on
the Lord.
“the Lord stood with me” — the
active voice: Jesus Christ produced the action of the verb. He stood by — paristhmi which means to stand by the side of. This is a
dramatic aorist, it states the present reality with the certitude of a past
event. This is an idiomatic device for the faithfulness of the Lord to an
ultra-super-grace believer, even though everyone has deserted him. The
declarative indicative mood is for a dogmatic statement of fact; “me” is the
dative singular indirect object from the personal pronoun e)gw. In the indirect object of the personal pronoun it
indicates that it is in Paul’s interest the attitude of divine faithfulness is
performed. So we translated, “the Lord stood by me.”
“and strengthened me” — aorist
active indicative from the compound verb e)ndunomow which means to pour strength into. So it means “and poured the power
into me.” The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the
verb in its entirety but it emphasises the existing results of pouring power
into Paul in this time of his trial. The active voice: the Lord did the
pouring. He poured into Paul the strength over that period of time when he was
under such pressure. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic and
historical fact, the reality of divine empowering of the ultra-super-grace
believer under pressure.
“that by me” — the conjunction i(na, used to introduce a final clause which denotes a
purpose or an objective. The conjunction was used sparingly in the Attic Greek
compared to the Koine but becomes very popular in the New Testament because
there are so many divine objectives that have to be marked out as a divine
purpose, a divine goal. So this became a very important conjunction at the time
of the writing of the New Testament.
“by me” is dia plus the genitive of e)gw
which is “through me.”
“the preaching” — nominative
singular subject from the noun khrugma which means an
announcement, a proclamation by a herald. Here is the public inculcation and
communication of doctrine, Paul’s reaching to the church. The proclamation is
the summary of all Paul’s writings and a summary of all of his teachings that
everyone remembered during his lifetime.
“might be fully known” — the aorist
passive subjunctive from the compound noun plhroforew [plhrw — filled; forew — to bear] which means to carry a full load, to be
completely fulfilled, to be fully convinced, and it means to carry around a
heavy load. That is exactly what many people did as a result of Paul’s
ministry. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views Paul’s ministry of
teaching doctrine, both his written ministry and his teaching ministry
throughout his lifetime as a believer, and pulls it all together but emphasises
the existing results of divine faithfulness and protection so that Paul could
finish his ministry, especially his written ministry. The passive voice: Paul
receives the action of the verb. He receives time from God to complete his doctrinal
ministry. The subjunctive mood goes with i(na
to designate the divine purpose.
“and” in the ascensive use of kai, translated “even.” And in order to smooth out the
English we repeat i(na — “even that.”
“the Gentiles” — e)qnoj, meaning Gentiles or nations; “might hear” — aorist
active subjunctive of the verb a)kouw which means to hear and
understand. It is a word used here for GAP. The constative aorist gathers into
one entirety the ministry of the apostle Paul to the entire world at that time.
The fact that the Gentiles or the people of the Roman empire are the recipients
is confirmed by Acts 18:6; 26:20; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11. The word
Gentiles here means the peoples of the Roman empire. The passive voice: the
Gentiles receive the action of the verb through the written and verbal ministry
of Paul. The subjunctive mood, again, goes with i(na
to designate God’s purpose and objective. As long as God has a plan for your
life you are going to stay alive is the principle from the subjunctive mood here.
Summary
1. The objectives and goals of
Paul’s life were all accomplished before the great apostle was removed from
time to eternity. There is no such thing as a believer departing from this life
until the objectives for his life are fulfilled. The objectives are cancelled
in the case of reversionists and other objectives come into focus. God’s
objective for the reversionist is to discipline him and he keeps him a live to
spank him good since in heaven there is no discipline for the believer.
2. There was a strong possibility
that Paul would never have written Titus and 2 Timothy. Right in the middle of
his trial Nero wanted to send Paul to the lions.
3. However, it was the Lord’s
intention to keep Paul alive to write two more books — Titus and 2 Timothy.
Therefore even though there was a mantle of opposition in which Nero was a part
the Lord kept him alive. No one can remove the believer from history until the
Lord permits it.
“and” — this is the emphatic use of kai and should be translated “in fact.”
“I was delivered” — aorist passive
indicative of the verb ruomai which means to snatch from
danger, to rescue, to deliver. The dramatic aorist here indicates that this was
a very dramatic moment in the history of Paul and in the history of the world.
The passive voice: Paul receives the action of the verb, deliverance from
death. He was delivered from the lions. The indicative mood is the historical
reality that even though Nero wanted to kill him he was delivered from the
lions in the arena.
“out of the mouth of the lion” — e)k plus the ablative of stoma
is from the mouth; then we have the genitive singular leon. Nero’s attempt to throw Paul to the lions in the
Roman arena was frustrated by the Lord Jesus Christ personally intervening in
history. Nero’s revenge was probably forestalled by the fact that Paul was a
Roman citizen and this was proved in court. At this time a Roman citizen could
not be thrown to the lions or be crucified. He either had to be decapitated or
executed in some other way.
Translation: “But the Lord stood by
me, and strengthened me: in order that through me the proclamation
[communication of doctrine] might be fully accomplished, even that all the
Gentiles [population of the Roman empire] might hear: in fact I was delivered
from the mouth of the lion to accomplish this purpose.”
Principle
1. Until God is ready no person, no
power, no angel, no human being can remove a member of the royal family from
life.
2. Jesus Christ controls history
even though Satan is the ruler of this world. Therefore no believer can be
removed from the world apart from the sovereignty of God.
3. So Paul was not torn apart by the
lions in the arena but he had a quiet pleasant death by decapitation several
months after he wrote this passage.
Verse 18 — the principle of Paul’s
ultra-super-grace deliverance. He is going out under dying grace and he is not
going to be thrown to the lions. “And the Lord shall deliver me.” There is no
particular conjunction here, such as the word “and,” it should be literally
translated “The Lord himself shall rescue me.”
We have the nominative o( kurioj — The Lord,” referring to Jesus Christ who provided
special protection for ultra-super-grace believers because they are always
under maximum opposition and pressure from Satanic forces of evil. Because they
are under such pressure they are given very special protection. An
ultra-super-grace believer under maximum opposition from Satan himself is just
as safe as anyone else not even known to the demons. The mantle of opposition
includes many reversionistic believers and unbelievers under the influence of
evil. Their opposition is very intense but the blessings of paragraph SG2
are intensified by that opposition. We also have a future middle indicative of
the verb r(uomai which means to snatch from
danger, to rescue, or to deliver. This is a gnomic future for the statement of
fact and a performance expected under the status of ultra-super-grace. In other
words, any ultra-super-grace believer can count on it: as long as God wants
that ultra-super-grace believer to stay alive, alive he will be, and all hell
can’t cut him down. He is perfectly safe. The middle voice is the indirect
middle in which the Lord as the agent produces the action of the verb rather
than participating in the results. In other words, this is a personal thing.
However many ultra-super-grace believers exist at any time on the earth the
Lord personally protects them. They have the greatest security that has ever
existed. There is no security for the reversionist. The reversionistic believer
is the greatest enemy of Christ on the earth — the enemy of the cross, he is
said to be the enemy of Christ. The worst opposition that Christianity has is
from Christians. There is nothing worse than a reversionistic believer. The
indicative mood is declarative, it views the action of the verb from the
viewpoint of historical reality and absolute dogmatic fact. There is indirect
security for all believers, even reversionists, because they are assigned at
salvation a guardian angel. But the guardian angel is merely a creature too,
and there are other creatures equally as powerful — the fallen angels, the
demons. But the Lord is the security for any ultra-super-grace believer.
“from every evil work” — the
preposition a)po, “from the source of,” plus
the ablative of paj, “every,” plus the ablative
of ponhroj, “evil,” plus the ablative
of e)rgon, “work” or “deed.”
Literally, “from every evil deed.”
Evil is the nomenclature for Satan’s
plans and policies as the ruler of this world. What grace is to the believer —
the policy and the plan of God for the believer — evil is to Satan and Satan’s
crowd. Evil and grace are mutually exclusive and antithetical. Grace is the
policy of God; evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world. Grace is
the modus operandi and modus vivendi of God; evil is the modus operandi and
modus vivendi of Satan. So the whole concept of grace and evil is total
antithesis. Just as grace is the name of God’s plan evil is the name of Satan’s
plan. A principle of doctrine, then, emerges: Grace is always the source of
blessing to the believer while evil is always the source of cursing to the
believer. That is because the soul of the believer is the battleground in human
history. It was the battleground in the garden and it is the battleground in
history after the fall. The angelic conflict is being resolved in the souls of
members of the human race. That is why what you think is so important. The
words in your soul that form doctrines and categories and concepts of grace are
more important than anything else.
“and will preserve” — the
continuative use of the conjunction kai plus the future active
indicative of swzw, sometimes translated
“salvation” and it means “deliverance” — “and shall continue to deliver me.”
Salvation is the deliverance. The gnomic future is for a statement of fact and
a performance expected under the status of ultra-super-grace. The active voice:
the Lord produces the action of the verb through the proper performance of the
laws of divine establishment and Bible doctrine resident in the soul. The
indicative mood is declarative, it views the verbal action from the viewpoint
of historical reality.
“unto his heavenly kingdom” — the
preposition e)ij plus the accusative of the
adjective e)pouranioj, plus the noun basileia, meaning “kingdom.” With it is the possessive
genitive singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj
emphasising the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the intensive
pronoun emphasises the royalty of Christ, and this should be literally
translated “into his heavenly kingdom.”
Now after something like that a concept: Where there is
deliverance in dying grace, even as there has been deliverance in
ultra-super-grace, and having experienced this deliverance in three categories
of maturity, he can only now conclude one thing. In the closing sentence of
this verse he says, “to whom be glory” — the dative singular indirect object
from the relative pronoun o(j refers to the Lord Jesus
Christ, the one who has been preserving and pouring power into him. The
antecedent, then, is o( kurioj. It is the dative of
indirect object, it indicates the one, the Lord, in whose interest the action
of preservation is performed. Jesus Christ as the controller of history decides
when any believer is going to leave. It is strictly a matter of His will when
they leave and under what conditions they leave this life. Therefore it is in
the Lord’s interest to preserve ultra-super-grace Paul and all believers for
His heavenly; kingdom and to preserve them under conditions which have been
stated throughout this chapter. After the relative pronoun there is no verb, it
is just “to whom glory.” It is the nominative singular, h( doca, and God is glorified by Paul’s advance to
ultra-super-grace. God is glorified by blessing in ultra-super-grace Paul’s
life, and God is glorified by Paul’s attainment of the tactical victory which
complements His own strategic victory of being seated at the right hand of the
Father. So God is glorified by the preservation of every believer, whether
super-grace or even reversionist, whether spiritual or carnal. God preserves
the reversionist as well, not only for discipline but to act as a testing
ground for believers. The word “glory” here indicates that only God can be
glorified by all of this blessing. The glory is not only in time but for
eternity.
“for ever and ever. Amen.” In other
words, the plan of grace carries eternal glory with it and the glory of time.
But the glory of time which Paul has experienced is nothing compared to the
infinitely greater glory of eternity.
The doctrine of glory
1. There is a Hebrew noun which
occurs many times in the Old Testament — kadodh.
It means not only honour or glory but it means riches, wealth, abundance,
nobility, majesty, and splendour. Therefore glory always connotes connotes
honour, distinction, greatness, fame, renown, being illustrious, eminence,
nobility, and majesty. In the New Testament the word doca has the same connotation exactly. So glory is the
sum total of divine blessing realised by the mature believer in time in
anticipation of infinitely greater blessing in eternity. Glory first of all
emphasises the source of the blessing as being God and nonne of the
characteristics of the essence of God are compromised in providing blessing in
time and infinitely greater blessings in eternity for the mature believer.
Therefore glory indicates that God’s character remains intact in doing this for
the mature believer.
2. Glory is used for the essence of
God — Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 1:17.
3. Glory is used in the Bible for
the indwelling of Jesus Christ — Colossians 1:27, “… Christ in you the
confidence of glory.” The passage is dealing with the divine decrees and how it
is fulfilled in spiritual maturity through the intake of Bible doctrine. The
fact that God the Father decreed to make know His wealth is called “the glory
of the mystery.” Again, the glory is used there for the essence of God the
Father.
4. Glory is used to describe the
maturity of the believer. For example, there is the mature believer from the
basis of his recognition of glory. Mature believers do form a basis for
recognition of glory — Ephesians 1:5,6. The riches of maturity are from the
glory of God — Ephesians 1:17,18. Same concept in Ephesians 3:16. The source of
everything that we have as a blessing is from the essence of God. Essence is
glory and what is provided is glory. Philippians 4:19 — “riches in glory”
refers to the fact that every blessing that you will ever have in time is from
the essence of God. The mature believer is said to have received glory in 1
Peter 1:7,8.
5. Glory is also used to describe
the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict — Hebrews 2:10. Now
glory refers to the blessings of eternity. 1 Timothy 3:16 — “… great is the
mystery with reference to godliness: the unique one [Jesus Christ] who became
visible by means of the flesh, that same one was vindicated by means of the
Holy Spirit, observed by angels, proclaimed among the nations, became the
object of faith in the world, taken up into the place of glory.”
6. The royal family is called to
eternal glory — 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3.
7. Therefore the resurrection body
is described in terms of glory — 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.
8. The right woman is described as
the glory of her right man — 1 Corinthians 11:6,7,14,15.
9. There are additional uses of
glory in the Bible. Glory is used to describe the wonders of the universe — 1
Corinthians 15:40,41. There is a natural glory of the woman described as human
glamour — 1 Peter 1:24; Philippians 3:19.
10. God is glorified and receives
glory forever in the deliverance of the ultra-super-grace believer — 2 Timothy
4:18.
In verses 19 and 20 we have a roster
of super-grace heroes.
Verse 19 — “Salute” is the aorist
middle imperative of a)spazomai. The word means to greet,
but in the ancient world they greeted in several ways. The men in the Roman
world didn’t shake hands like we do, they saluted — in many ways. A close
friend just grabbed the arm and shook it. A)spazomai is used for verbal saluting as well as simply the posturing of
saluting. It should be translated here “acclaim,” as in Mark 15:18, rather than
“salute.” The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist used to state a present reality
with the certitude of a past event.
“Priscilla and Aquila” — they have
cracked the maturity barrier and have reached the super-grace status as a
husband and wife. The middle voice is the indirect middle, it lays stress on
the agent, Timothy, in producing the action of the verb rather than
participating in its results. This is an imperative mood to Timothy, he is to
acclaim Priscilla and Aquila — Priska
kai A)kula.
Priska is merely the nickname for
the full name Priskilla. The husband’s name is A)kulaj. Priscilla and Aquila at the time of writing were
super-grace believers residing in Ephesus where Timothy was the pastor. In the
Greek A)kulaj means “eagle.” Along with
his wife Priscilla, Aquila first met Paul when living in Corinth. When Paul went
to Corinth he was broke so he got a job as a tentmaker and in this job he met
Aquila — Acts 18:2. Aquila was a native of Pontus and a tentmaker by trade. At
the time of this meeting the couple were refugees from a very cruel and unjust
edict by Claudius which in AD 52 expelled all Jews from Rome. Priscilla and
Aquila were Jews and therefore driven out of Rome. They sought refuge in
Corinth where they met Paul during his second missionary journey. Being of the
same trade they not only became acquainted but Paul led both of them to Jesus
Christ. When Paul left Corinth Priscilla and Aquila went with him — Acts 18:18.
After settling down in Ephesus they came into contact with Apollos there. They
noted that Apollos was a very eloquent preacher but was limited in his
understanding of doctrine. So they took him aside and they began to teach him a
little more doctrine to line up with his eloquence — Acts 18:24-26. Priscilla
and Aquila were in Rome on business when Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans
in AD 58 and he sent them a personal greeting from Corinth — Romans 16:3,4.
From Ephesus Paul wrote to the Corinthians. The church at Ephesus was meeting
in the home at this time of Priscilla and Aquila — 1 Corinthians 16:19. It is
the super-grace crowd that holds together any local congregation.
“and the household of Onesiphorus” —
the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai
means “also,” plus the accusative singular direct object from the noun o)ikoj which does not mean household but simply “family.”
So here is the case of an entire super-grace family acting as the basis for
blessing of the local church at Ephesus. “Onesiphorus” means
“benefit-bringing,” and he was a super-grace believer at Ephesus before he went
to Rome and actually gave his life for Paul — 2 Timothy 1:16,18.
Translation: “Acclaim Priscilla and
Aquila, also the family of Onesiphorus.”
This verse depicts super-grace
status in relationship to two divine institutions: marriage and the family.
Marriage is depicted by Priscilla and Aquila — divine institution #2; the
family of Onesiphorus — divine institution #3. Not only does the stability of a
nation depend upon these two areas of establishment but also spiritual
stability and progress depends upon divine institutions #2 & #3.
The doctrine of refreshment
1. Refreshment in the English
language generally connotes food and beverage, or light meal. However it has a
greater connotation in the Bible. It means to restore the strength of soul or
to revive the divine viewpoint in the inner life of the believer. It is
accomplished both with doctrine and with Christian fellowship. It means to
supply what is necessary for spiritual blessing in time and to be able to
handle the disaster of adversity.
2. The alleviation of Saul’s
psychosis. This is a ministry of refreshment to a believer in reversionism.
Interestingly enough, the thing that refreshes the reversionistic believer in
this case is good music — 1 Samuel 16:23ff. We might call this a case of
musical therapy and it did cause temporary alleviation of the symptoms of
psychosis. So we note that refreshment connotes soul recovery from an adverse
condition, which in this case is reversionistic psychosis or neurosis. Almost
always soul refreshment connotes some form of soul recovery as well as soul
blessing.
3. We have a tristitch is Proverbs
on doctrinal refreshment — Proverbs 23:13. Cold water on a hot day. This is an
analogy between the water boy during the harvest who brings the cold water to
the workers and the communicator of doctrine providing spiritual refreshment
for the soul through the communication of doctrine. The pastor-teacher is the
water boy.
4. Rejection of refreshment means
national discipline — Isaiah 28:8-14. They wouldn’t listen to doctrine so they
got the gospel in foreign languages — the gift of tongues. The only way that
refreshment can occur is through the intake of Bible doctrine.
5. The response to the Word of God
is called “refreshment” in Romans 15:32; 2 Corinthians 7:13.
6. The super-grace believer has a
ministry of refreshment — 1 Corinthians 16:17,18; Philemon 7; 2 Timothy 1:16.
Verse 20 — the super-grace nucleus
at this time was scattered all over the Roman empire. Paul is about to leave
the scene of history where as an ultra-super-grace believer he has had a most
dynamic impact. Other places also need the stability of ultra-super-grace, the
mature leadership. Two additional super-grace believers are mentioned, one in
Corinth and one in Miletus.
“Erastus abode at Corinth” — this
includes the nominative which is the subject of the proper name E)rastoj. Erastus was a VIP in the Roman empire. He was the
treasurer of the city of Corinth. He is associate with Timothy being sent with
him from Ephesus to Macedonia, as per Acts 19:22. Writing to Rome from Corinth
Paul concludes in Romans 16:23, “ … Erastus the city treasurer greets you.”
According to this passage Erastus continues at Corinth as a super-grace
believer, a stabiliser, a leader of the local church. These great believers are
scattered out. For a while they were together, they had a wonderful time
together, and now it is all over. These men are going to be scattered all over
the empire in key spots, and Corinth is a key spot. The word “abode” is the
aorist active indicative from the verb menw
which means to remain. The culminative aorist views the residence of Erastus at
Corinth in its entirety but it emphasises the existing results. Corinth will
have dynamic spiritual leadership from an ultra-super-grace believer. The
active voice: Erastus produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative
for historical reality.
We should note a principle in
passing. These names might be only mentioned once in the scripture but these
are great believers that you will recognise in heaven as VIPs. From this
scattering of the ultra-super-grace and super-grace believers we can begin to
see that this is going to be an era of great blessing for the Roman empire. As
these men are scattered out this means that there is great historical blessing
for the empire.
“but Trophimus” — the accusative
singular direct object from the proper noun Trofimoj. With it is an enclitic particle which means “but Trophimus.”
Trophimus was a native of Ephesus. He accompanied Paul on the third missionary
journey, according to Acts 20:4; 21:29. He was the innocent cause of a riot in
Jerusalem by which Paul was disciplined and arrested and taken into Roman
custody — Acts 21:27ff. Trophimus was with Paul on his release from the first
Roman imprisonment of AD 63. He travelled to Philippi and then to Ephesus, and
then went with Paul to the Lycus valley. He was with Paul for two years in
Spain and then came back with Paul to Ephesus.
“have I left” is the aorist active
indicative here indicates simply to be left or to remain behind. The concept is
that he was not a deserter but he had to be left at Miletus because he was sick
— the present active participle from a)sqenew. The present tense is an
historical present, it views the past event (the illness of Trophimus) with the
vividness of a present occurrence. It also has linear aktionsart, he kept on
being sick. The active voice: Trophimus produces the action. This is a causal
participle — “because he was ill.”
Translation:“Erastus remained at
Corinth: but I have left behind Trophimus at Miletus because he was sick.”
Note
that his illness does not connote either carnality or sinfulness on his part,
or any type of divine discipline.
Verse 21 — some orders and
salutations to Timothy. “Do they diligence” the aorist active imperative of the
verb spoudazw. It means to hasten, to
hurry, to make every effort. This is an ingressive aorist, it contemplates the
action of the verb at its beginning. The aorist denotes entrance into a state
of hurrying. The active voice: Timothy executes the command. The imperative
mood: it is a command.
“To come” — the aorist active
infinitive of e)rxomai. The culminative aorist
views the coming of Timothy to Rome in its entirety and it emphasises the fact
that he must hurry. The active voice: Timothy produces the action of the verb
by going from Ephesus to Rome. The infinitive is intended result, it indicates
the fulfilment of a deliberate objective. It blends purpose and result and it
means Timothy is going to definitely come.
“before winter” — the prepositional
phrase pro plus the ablative of xeimwn.
“Eubulus” — E)uouloj means good counsellor or noble counsellor. He is
one of four believers living in Rome at this time who continued to be a
faithful friend of Paul in spite of the mass desertion of apostate believers of
the Roman church. It is obvious that he is a mature believer in super-grace
status because of his courage, his stability, his honour and integrity in
standing by Paul at a time of inconvenience.
“Greeteth thee” — the word “greet”
is the present middle indicative of a)spazomai and it means to salute. It
is an aoristic present tense for punctiliar action. The middle voice is an
indirect middle in which Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia all produce the
action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality
that these four people salute the church at Ephesus. The three words “and”
should be “also,” being the adjunctive use of kai.
“Pudens” — Poudhj means “bashful” or “modest.” A believer who
remained loyal to Paul.
“Linus” — Linoj. Tradition indicates that Linus was the pastor of
the Roman church and that Claudia was his mother.
“Claudia” — Klaudia, the wife of Pudens and the mother of Linus,
according to Irenaus and Eusebius. All three are mentioned in the Epigram of
Marshall. Claudia was the daughter of a British king. She was sent by her
father to Rome to be educated.
“and all the brethren” are growing
believers who have not deserted Paul.
Translation: “Make every effort to
come before winter. Tubules greets you, also Pudens, also Linus, also Claudia,
also all the brethren.”
Verse 22 — death does not stop the
plan of God. There is no one who is irreplaceable in the plan of God. Nothing
can stop the plan of God. “The Lord Jesus Christ” is incorrectly translated.
The last sentence here is very elliptical and it simply says O( Kurioj, “The Lord.” Neither “Jesus” nor “Christ” is here.
Then meta tou pneumatoj — this is a great emphasis
on the living Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, Bible doctrine. Two
things are necessary for the advance to super-grace: occupation with Christ
which comes from maximum doctrine, and the continual intake of doctrine. So we
have the living Word emphasised by o( Kurioj, “The Lord.” We have the
written Word emphasised: “With your spirit” — meta
plus the genitive of pneuma. “The Lord be with your
spirit.” You can take disaster of any kind provided that you have in your human
spirit Bible doctrine being pumped into the right lobe. Paul is saying in
effect, “I am going but doctrine will still be here.”
“Grace be with you” — h( xarij is “grace,” “the grace.” The subject is grace. The
preposition meta plus of su — “with you.” We have two prepositional phrases. In
the first we have a singular, in the second a plural addressed to the entire
royal family of God. Paul is about to die but grace is something you will still
have. The plan of God marches on, the name of the plan of God is grace.
Translation: “The Lord be with your
spirit. Grace be with all of you.”