(c) 2 Timothy 4:1-8. Timothy's Duty in the Crisis. Threatened with such opposition (2 Timothy 3:1-9) and strengthened by such safeguards (2 Timothy 3:10-17), Timothy must persistently teach the positive truth. He should be ready to reprove error and proclaim the gospel, whether the occasion seem propitious or not (2 Timothy 4:2). For Church members as well as false teachers will cause trouble. Anxious for novelty and piling up congenial instructors, they will turn to the familiar myths of the errorists (1 Timothy 1:3-11 *). Timothy, on the contrary, must act with moderation, accept the suffering involved, preach the positive gospel and accomplish all the functions (not as AV) of his ministry. All this Paul urges more earnestly because he himself can no longer act. The final sacrifice has begun (2 Timothy 4:6 a): his death is near. He has waged the good contest (1 Timothy 6:11-16 *) to the end, and the victor's garland the reward for righteousness awaits him. For the truth committed to him has been kept inviolate.
2 Timothy 4:1. and by: not as AV.
2 Timothy 4:5. evangelist: in NT. (elsewhere only Acts 21:8; Ephesians 4:11) denotes a function. The separate order of evangelists is much later.
2 Timothy 4:6. being offered: contrast Php_1:25. This altered outlook marks a later situation. AV mistranslates. For the metaphor of a drink-offering cf. Php_2:17.