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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadEzekiel, Jonah, and Pastoral Epistles by Patrick Fairbairn - 2 Timothy 4:5 - 4:5
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Ver. 5. But watch thou in all things; endure hardship; do the work of an evangelist; fully perform thy ministry. It is as much as to say: Whatever others may do, and whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear, this is what thou must do. First, watch, íῆöå , or be sober, in all things. The being sober is the primary meaning of the word—sober in the literal sense; but when used metaphorically, as it is here, it denotes more than we commonly understand by being sober—a vigilant, wakeful, considerate frame of mind, which takes good heed to what is proceeding around, and with calm and steady aim pursues its course. It is an exhortation to maintain the clear perception and even balance of the mind, so as not to be entrapped by false appearances, or by undue excitement turned aside from the onward path of truth and duty. Suffer hardship, or tribulation, in respect to which the apostle had already referred to himself as an example (2Ti_2:9). In such times Timothy would plainly be required to show that he had somewhat of the same resolute and hardy spirit. Do the work of an evangelist—much the same as a preacher or missionary of the gospel, a carrier of its good tidings, without, as in the case of a pastor, being fixed to any definite locality. In the apostolic age, persons recognised as evangelists seem to have occupied a position between apostles and pastors (Eph_4:11), and to have stood in a certain relation to the former with regard to the diffusion of the gospel and the planting of churches. In some respects, therefore, “they were nearest to the apostles, and had an office cognate to these; in respect to dignity alone they were inferior. For at the command of the apostles [sometimes, indeed, without this; Act_8:5, Act_8:40] they went forth to various churches in order to preach the gospel, and to perfect the work which had been begun by the apostles “(Suicer). Or it might be in the inverse order, the apostles came to perfect what the evangelists had begun; for the relations so far do not seem to have been exactly determined. Fully perform thy ministry, ðëçñïöüñçóïí —not, as in the Authorized Version, after Beza, “make full proof of;” but as the Vulg. ministerium tuum imple—fill it up, perform it fully, or make it, as far as you can, a complete and effective service.