Appearing (2015) (epiphaneia from epi = upon + phaino = to shine; Click study of verb epiphaino; English = epiphany = the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality or any moment of great or sudden revelation) literally means to shine upon and so describes a manifestation or appearance. This word was often used by the Greeks of a glorious manifestation of the gods, and especially of their advent to help. In the NT it is used only of the appearing of Christ. It has been estimated that about 1 in 20 verses in the New Testament speak either directly or indirectly about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. What one is looking for will (should) determine what one is living for! Thayer notes that epiphaneia is used in the NT of "the `advent' of Christ -- not only that which has already taken place and by which his presence and power appear in the saving light he has shed upon mankind (2Ti 1:10-note) but also that illustrious return from heaven to earth hereafter to occur." BDAG adds that epiphaneia was used as a "technical term relating to transcendence it refers to a visible and frequently sudden manifestation of a hidden divinity, either in the form of a personal appearance or by some deed of power or oracular communication by which its presence is made known (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament) Epiphaneia was used to describe the dawning of light upon the darkness and also conveyed the idea of a sudden appearance upon the scene. Thus Paul informed the Thessalonians that the "lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the (sudden) appearance of His coming." (2Th 2:8) Barclay has several notes on epiphaneia (there is some duplication in the following compilation) writing that epiphaneia was used of Roman emperors whose "accession to the throne of the Empire was his epiphaneia (cf Mt 25:31); and in particular—and this is the background of Paul’s thought here—it was used of a visit by the Emperor to any province or town. The emperor’s appearance in any place was his epiphaneia. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order” (cf 1Jn 2:28, cf 2Cor 7:1-note)...(In Comments on James 5 Barclay says) The New Testament also uses the word epiphaneia (Greek #2015) (Titus 2:13; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:9). In ordinary Greek this word has two special usages. It is used of the appearance of a god to his worshipper; and it is used of the accession of an emperor to the imperial power of Rome. So, then, when this word is used of Jesus, it means that his Second Coming is God appearing to his people, both to those who are waiting for him and to those who are disregarding him...(In Barclay's comments on 2Ti 4 he says) Epiphaneia was used in two special ways. It was used for the manifest intervention of some god; and it was specially used in connection with the Roman Emperor. His accession to the throne was his epiphaneia; and in particular--and this is the background of Paul's thought here--it was used of his visit to any province or town. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order. The streets were swept and garnished and all work was brought up-to-date so that the town might be fit for epiphaneia. So Paul says to Timothy: "You know what happens when any town is expecting the epiphaneia of the Emperor; you are expecting the epiphaneia of Jesus Christ. Do your work in such a way that all things will be ready whenever he appears." The Christian should so order life that at any moment he is ready for the coming of Christ. (In another note on 2Ti 1:10 Barclay says the Gospel) was full displayed through Christ's appearance. The word Paul uses for appearance is one with a great history. It is epiphaneia, a word which the Jews repeatedly used of the great saving manifestations of God in the terrible days of the Maccabean struggles, when the enemies of Israel were deliberately seeking to obliterate him. In the days of Onias the High Priest there came a certain Heliodorus to plunder the Temple treasury at Jerusalem. Neither prayers nor entreaties would stop him carrying out this sacrilege. And, so the story runs, as Heliodorus was about to set hands on the treasury, "the Lord of Spirits and the Prince of Power caused a great epiphaneia (Greek #2015).... For there appeared unto them an horse with a terrible rider upon him... and he ran fiercely and smote at Heliodorus with his forefeet.... And Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground and was compassed with great darkness" (2 Maccabees 3:24-30). What exactly happened we may never know; but in Israel's hour of need there came this tremendous epiphaneia of God. When Judas Maccabaeus and his little army were confronted with the might of Nicanor, they prayed: "O Lord, who didst send thine angel in the time of Hezekiah king of Judea, and didst slay in the host of Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand (compare 2 Kings 19:35-36), wherefore now also, O Lord of Heaven, send a good angel before us for a fear and a dread unto them; and through the might of thine arm let those be stricken with terror, that come against thy holy people to blaspheme." And then the story goes on: "Then Nicanor and they that were with him came forward with trumpets and with songs. But Judas and his company encountered the enemy with invocation and prayer. So that, fighting with their hands and praying unto God with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men; for through the epiphaneia (Greek #2015) of God they were greatly cheered" (2 Maccabees 15:22-27). Once again we do not know exactly what happened; but God made a great and saving appearance for his people. To the Jew epiphaneia (Greek #2015) denoted a rescuing intervention of God. To the Greek epiphaneia was an equally great word. The accession of the Emperor to his throne was called his epiphaneia. It was his manifestation. Every Emperor came to the throne with high hopes; his coming was hailed as the dawn of a new and precious day, and of great blessings to come. The gospel was full displayed with the epiphaneia of Jesus (2Ti 1:10); the very word shows that he was God's great, rescuing intervention and manifestation into the world (William Barclay's Daily Study Bible) Epiphaneia - 3x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - 2Sa 7:23; Esther 5:1; Amos 5:22 and Epiphaneia - 6x in the NT. NAS Usage: appearance(1), appearing(5).. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then that lawless one (the antichrist, man of sin, little horn) will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (cf note Revelation 19:11) 1 Timothy 6:14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy 1:10 (note) but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom...4:8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Titus 2:13 (note) looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus Epiphaneia in Trench's Synonyms - Epiphaneia is used only twice in the Septuagint but frequently in 2Maccabees, where it always refers to God's supernatural apparitions in aid of his people. In secular Greek, epiphaneia always refers to the gracious appearances of the higher powers who aided humans. Epiphainein also was used in the same way, though sometimes it had a much humbler meaning. Epiphaneia is used only six times in the New Testament, always in Paul's writings. On five occasions the Authorized translators translated it as "appearing," but on the sixth (2Thessalonians 2:8) they seem to have shrunk from what they thought was a tautology "appearance of his coming" and instead translated epiphaneia tes parousias as "brightness of his coming," thus giving epiphaneia an improper meaning. On one occasion (2 Timothy 1:10, and so epiphainein, Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4), epiphaneia refers to our Lord's first epiphany, his "appearance [epiphaneia] in the flesh," but on all other occasions it refers to his second appearing in glory, the "appearance [epiphaneia] at his parousia"(2 Thessalonians 2:8), "the glorious appearing [epiphaneia] of our great God." In comparison, apokalypsis is the more comprehensive and grander word. It depicts the progressive and immediate unveiling of the otherwise unknown and unknowable God to his church throughout the ages. This revelation is imparted to the body that is thereby designated or constituted as his church, the object of his more immediate care that is called to spread this knowledge of him to the rest of mankind. The world may know something of God (his eternal power and Godhead) from the things that are seen, things that except for the darkening of the human heart through sin would reveal him more clearly (Romans 1:20). But there is no apokalypsis except to the church. The epiphaneiai are contained in the apokalypsis as separate points or moments. If God is to be immediately known to humans, he must in some shape or other appear to those whom he has chosen for this honor. Epiphanies must be theophanies as well. The church has claimed as such not only the communications of the type recorded in Genesis 18:1; Genesis 28:13, but also all of those instances where the angel of the Lord or of the covenant appears. The church has regarded all of these as pre-incarnate appearances of the Son of God, the most glorious epiphany that has yet occurred, though Christ's second coming will be an even more glorious epiphany. (Revelation - Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament) Brian Bill - Epiphaneia was used in two special ways. It was used for the manifest intervention of some god; and it was specially used in connection with the Roman Emperor. His accession to the throne was his epiphaneia; and - it was used of his visit to any province or town. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order. The streets were swept and garnished and all work was brought up-to-date so that the town might be fit for epiphaneia. So Paul says to Timothy: “You know what happens when any town is expecting the epiphaneia of the Emperor; you are expecting the epiphaneia of Jesus Christ. Do your work in such a way that all things will be ready whenever he appears.” So we should so order our life that at any moment we are ready for the coming of Christ. Paul had earlier used epiphaneia to describe Messiah's first coming in which salvation was revealed "by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus" (2Ti 1:10-note). In the present context "His shining upon" clearly is referring to Christ's future visible return when no creature (will be) hidden from His sight, but all things (will be) open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to" give an account (cf He 4:13-note). John gives us a preview of the awesome nature of this moment, writing BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen. (Re 1:7-note) Matthew describing Messiah's return adds that "then the sign of the Son of Man will appear (phaino - shine) in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Mt 24:30,31) If we are convinced that Christ’s return is inevitable, we too like Timothy will be powerfully motivated by that fact (cf 1Jn 2:28, 1Jn 3:2-note, 1Jn 3:3-note, see notes Titus 2:11; 12; 13;14) Christ's last words to mankind in fact were "Behold, I am coming quickly." (Re 22:20-note). Dwight Edwards exhorts all believers writing that "We live in the shadow of Christ's return and our lives should be governed by an attitude of anticipation. The man who is gripped by this perspective finds it difficult to squander his precious hours on earthly trinkets while millions of eternal souls still lie in the balance. Robert Moffatt put it well when he wrote, "We have all eternity to celebrate our victories but one short hour before sunset in which to win them." Today in the Word notes that "Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ—an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!" C H Spurgeon was once addressed by a young preacher once complained to Spurgeon that he did not have as big a church as he deserved. Spurgeon's replied with a question "How many do you preach to?" to which the young preacher replied "Oh, about a hundred". And what did Spurgeon say to him? Solemnly Spurgeon said "That will be enough to give account for on the day of judgment." AND HIS KINGDOM: kai ten basileian autou: (Lk 19:12;15, 23:42; 2Pe 1:11, 17) Other translations - When He appears to set up His Kingdom (NLT); Jesus Christ will come to rule the world (GWT); Jesus has a kingdom, and he is coming again (ICB); and establishes His kingdom (JNT); in the light of His appearance and His reign (Moffatt); because He is coming to rule as King (TEV) Kingdom (932) (basileia from basileus = a sovereign, king, monarch) denotes sovereignty, royal power, dominion and by metonymy (as in the present context) refers to the territory or people over whom a king rules. The Kingdom of Heaven/God is the sphere in which God is acknowledged as King (In hearts giving Him obedience). In this sense (and as elaborated on below) the Kingdom has a spiritual aspect, a present physical aspect, and a future eternal aspect (beginning with the millennium, cf Mt 25:31,34), all of course depending on the context of the passage in which basileia is found. Paul is careful to remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven/God is not in observance of ordinances, external and material, but in the deeper matters of the heart, which are spiritual and essential (Ro 14:17-note) Study uses of the "Kingdom" most of which refer to the Kingdom of Heaven/God. - 162x in 154v - Matt 3:2; 4:8, 17, 23; 5:3, 10, 19f; 6:10, 33; 7:21; 8:11f; 9:35; 10:7; 11:11f; 12:25f, 28; 13:11, 19, 24, 31, 33, 38, 41, 43ff, 47, 52; 16:19, 28; 18:1, 3f, 23; 19:12, 14, 23f; 20:1, 21; 21:31, 43; 22:2; 23:13; 24:7, 14; 25:1, 34; 26:29; Mark 1:15; 3:24; 4:11, 26, 30; 6:23; 9:1, 47; 10:14f, 23ff; 11:10; 12:34; 13:8; 14:25; 15:43; Luke 1:33; 4:5, 43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1, 10; 9:2, 11, 27, 60, 62; 10:9, 11; 11:2, 17f, 20; 12:31f; 13:18, 20, 28f; 14:15; 16:16; 17:20f; 18:16f, 24f, 29; 19:11f, 15; 21:10, 31; 22:16, 18, 29f; 23:42, 51; John 3:3, 5; 18:36; Acts 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; 6:9f; 15:24, 50; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5; Col 1:13; 4:11; 1 Thess 2:12; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 4:1, 18; Heb 1:8; 11:33; 12:28; Jas 2:5; 2 Pet 1:11; Rev 1:6, 9; 5:10; 11:15; 12:10; 16:10; 17:12, 17f See also related discussion on the Kingdom of Heaven - 32x in 31v in the NAS - Matt 3:2; 4:17; 5:3, 10, 19f; 7:21; 8:11; 10:7; 11:11f; 13:11, 24, 31, 33, 44f, 47, 52; 16:19; 18:1, 3f, 23; 19:12, 14, 23; 20:1; 22:2; 23:13; 25:1) Kingdom of God - 66x in 55v in the NAS - Matt 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43; Mark 1:15; 4:11, 26, 30; 9:1, 47; 10:14f, 23ff; 12:34; 14:25; 15:43; Luke 4:43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1, 10; 9:2, 11, 27, 60, 62; 10:9, 11; 11:20; 13:18, 20, 28f; 14:15; 16:16; 17:20f; 18:16f, 24f, 29; 19:11; 21:31; 22:16, 18; 23:51; John 3:3, 5; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; 6:9f; 15:50; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11; 2 Thess 1:5. (Offsite resources: Kingdom of God • Kingdom Of God (Of Heaven), The • Kingdom of Heaven) In this present age preceding the coming Messianic (see note Millennium) Kingdom, the Kingdom of God is the sphere in which God is acknowledged as King in hearts of those who give Him obedience. In summary, the Kingdom of God and Christ has a spiritual aspect, a present physical aspect, and a future eternal aspect. This phrase in context refers to the kingdom that the Messiah will set up when He returns thus inaugurating the glorious righteous 1000 year reign of the Messiah. The kingdom now is the sphere in which, at any given time, Christ's rule is acknowledged. And so here we see two additional facts ("His appearing... His kingdom") the contemplation of which should stimulate Timothy (and us) to faithful proclamation of the gospel of God, that men might receive it and be saved from the wrath to come. In Warren Wiersbe’s Meet Yourself in the Psalms, he tells about a frontier town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before had saved his life; so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced his plea Young man, then I was your savior (cf 2Ti 1:10-note); today I am your judge (cf He 9:27, 28-notes), and I must sentence you to be hanged One day Jesus Christ will say to rebellious sinners, During that long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I would have forgiven you. But today I am your Judge. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!” (Mt 25:41, Re 20:11, 12, 13,1 4, 15-see notes Rev 20:11; 12; 13; 14;15) McGee sums this section up by noting that "Paul is saying, In view of the fact that you, Timothy, are going to stand before Him to have your life judged, this is what you are to do.” These instructions to Timothy are just as pertinent in our day as at the time they were given by the mouth of Paul. This is what God is saying to you and me right now." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) A W Tozer has a prayer in his chapter on "Holiness" (from "The Attributes of God") that is apropos in light of the truths in this last chapter of 2 Timothy: Oh God, time is running, flying like a frightened bird. The bird of time is on the wing and has a little way to flutter. The wine of life is oozing drop by drop, and the leaves of life are falling one by one. Soon, before the Ineffable every man must appear to give an account for the deeds done in the body. Oh, Father, keep upon us a sense of holiness that we can’t sin and excuse it, but that repentance will be as deep as our lives. This we ask in Christ’s name. Amen. For those of you who were raised in a more liturgical church Paul's phraseology probably recalls to your mind the familiar words from the Nicene Creed: (An excellent creed but "one baptism for the remission of sins" in my humble opinion does not refer to remission of sins vis-à -vis a man's work of being baptized into water for this act although clearly instructed by our Lord Jesus is more accurately interpreted as a symbolic picture and public proclamation of the Holy Spirit's supernatural work of baptizing believers into mystical union with Christ upon exercise of personal saving faith, the act of faith in Christ's finished work resulting in remission of sins and reckoning of Christ's righteousness to our spiritual account -- cf Gal 3:27, Ro 6:3, 4-see notes Ro 6:3; 6:4, Col 2:11, 12- notes) Ray Pritchard applies this passage writing that... For the preacher, these are awesome words because they tell us that God pays attention to what happens in the pulpit. Every pastor stands in the very presence of God as he delivers his message to his people. Someday he will give an account for what he has said week by week, sermon by sermon. There is a real sense in which the preacher has an audience of one—God. He first must preach so that the Lord is pleased with his message. If the Lord is pleased, it matters not what men say. If the Lord is not pleased, the applause of millions will make no difference... ...the pastor’s first priority must be the public ministry of the Word of God. Nothing else can be more important than this. And nothing else can take its place. A pastor may be an able administrator, a charming personality, a good fundraiser, a gifted counselor and a popular storyteller. He may be well-liked and even sought after in the community. All those things are well and good, and they are not to be despised. But the pastor must first of all be a man of the Word. In the early days of the church, a dispute arose between the Greek-speaking widows and the Aramaic-speaking widows in Jerusalem that threatened to consume all the time and energy of the apostles and take them away from more important tasks. Their solution was simple: “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’” That’s Acts 6:2, 3, 4. Taking care of the widows is important; it’s vital and necessary. If you were a Greek-speaking widow, and you hadn’t eaten in two days, nothing would matter to you more than food. Then as now, the church must care for its widows. But for the leaders, the ministry of the Word comes first. The pastor must give himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word. First things first! Shortly after I came as your pastor in August 1989, we invited the three living former pastors back to preach at Calvary as part of our 75th anniversary celebration. That’s how I met John Emmans, who was the pastor here from 1952-1958. In those days the church was located a few blocks from here and was much smaller than it is now. It was called Madison Street Bible Church. Pastor Emmans was a great Bible preacher who loved to preach expository sermons through books of the Bible. When he came to the church, he was a young man and the leaders of the church were quite a bit older than he was. One of the elders was a man by the name of R. E. Nicholas. Mr. Nicholas was a fine businessman who is remembered as one of the developers of downtown Oak Park. He was also a godly man, an elder of this church, and he understood the principle of “First Things First.” Pastor Emmans told me that when he came to our church, the elders (led by Mr. Nicholas) gave him a sign to put on his office door that read, “Do not disturb. In study and in prayer.” They told him that they knew there would be many demands on his time, and they knew that it would be easy to get involved in peripheral matters that would drain his time and energy. Giving him the sign was a way of saying, “We want you to keep the main thing the main thing. Put this sign on your door and we’ll see that you are not disturbed. We want a pastor who studies and prays.” God bless those elders. They had the right idea. And may I say that our elders today have the same idea. I know it’s very popular to talk about the pastor as the CEO of the church, but you won’t find that in the New Testament. The pastor is to be a shepherd and a teacher first and foremost. Our elders understand that whatever blessing we have experienced has come because for 88 years, this church has preached the Word, correcting, rebuking, encouraging, with patience and with careful instruction. As the 12th pastor of this church, I am happy to say that this church was preaching the Word long before I arrived on the scene 14 years ago this week. By God’s grace, it will continue until Jesus returns. (2 Timothy 4:1-5: Preach the Word!) F B Meyer has the following homily on the Lord Jesus Christ, the soon coming righteous Judge... Professor Rendel Harris reminds us that an early piece of Christian literature, called the Second Epistle of Clement, opens with these words: “Brethren, we ought to think of Jesus Christ as God, as the Judge of quick and dead. And we ought not to think meanly of our salvation; for when we think meanly of Him, meanly also do we expect to receive.” In the view of this holy soul there was a very deep and necessary connection between creed and character. Those who esteem Him most worthily will derive most from Him. Large thoughts of Christ are necessary to holiness. — Unless we think of Christ as the Ideal Man, in whom there was no flaw or stain, how can we make Him the model of our daily life? Unless we think of Him as the Son of God, able to subdue all things to Himself, how can we dare to hope to become like Him? “I should die, O my Lord,” cried a saint in a moment of religious ecstasy, “if I thought that I should fail of loving Thee with all my heart.” Large thoughts of Christ are necessary to prayer. — He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the Rewarder. Bethink thee well before thou openest thy lips in the first entreaty, who He is whom thou addressest, and forthwith great and far-reaching petitions will naturally form themselves within thine heart. Large thoughts of Christ are necessary for Christian work. — The solid belief that Christ has redeemed our race, and that the Father has given Him the kingdom over all the world, is absolutely necessary before there can be any enthusiastic effort on our part to make Him King and secure for Him actually the kingdom, the power, and the glory. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily) "He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end"