In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Paul begins the last chapter of his last epistle by giving Timothy a charge. These divinely inspired words have been preserved for our guidance and we would do well to pay close attention to what is being said here. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, Timothy was, and we are, given a very simple and extremely important charge: Discharge all the duties of your ministry (4:5). Those duties include: preaching the word (4:2), keeping your head (4:5), enduring hardship (4:5), and doing the work of an evangelist (4:5). Why? A time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.