“Preach the Word!”
(2 Timothy 4:1-5)
Series: Faithful to the Finish Line (2 Timothy)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
Please open your Bibles to 2 Timothy, chapter 4 (page 801; YV).
If you’re visiting we are making our way, verse-by-verse, through Paul’s second letter to Timothy, a series of messages entitled, “Faithful to the Finish Line.” God has called us to follow Him in faithfulness, faithfully living for Jesus as we run the race of the Christian life. And we want to be able to say at the end of our days, with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Faithful to the Finish line.
Applying that running metaphor to the chapters of 2 Timothy, you might say we have rounded third base and are heading home. We’ve covered chapters 1, 2, and 3 and are now beginning he last chapter, chapter 4 and our passage is the opening verses, the first five verses of chapter 4.
And as always we are interested in the context of our passage. The chapter division in our English translations may wrongly give us the impression that Paul has begun a new topic, but he continues to build on what he has previously said. And you’ll recall from last time that we considered the supremacy of Scripture in the last two verses of chapter 3, those great verses that reveal to us the power of Scripture—verse 16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” that is, “God-breathed;” the profitability of Scripture—continuing in verse 16, “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;” and then the purpose of Scripture—verse 17, “that,” or, “in order that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
So we talked about those three facts, the power, profitability, and purpose of Scripture. And the main application from last week was the two words: “Read it!” (I received a text last week from one of our members—a picture of this person’s Bible, and a commentary, and the study guide we handed out last week in the bulletin, and the two words, ‘Read it!’) So I hope you took time each day to be in the Word of God, the Word that completes you so you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work and every life change you met throughout the week.
Chapter 4 builds upon what precedes it. When Paul writes in verse 2, “Preach the Word,” he is expanding upon what he has just said at the end of chapter 3. Paul has been writing about our having a high view of Scripture and if we have a high view of the Scripture then we will have a high view of preaching. We will preach the Scriptures, carefully read, rightly interpreted, faithfully applied for our good and for God’s glory.
Let me invite you to stand and hear the Word of God as I read it.
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Pray.
This passage is an excellent passage to use in an ordination service for a man being ordained into Gospel ministry. In fact my records indicate I preached it twice before—once in 2005 when Brother Rich was ordained into Gospel ministry, and then again in 2008 when we ordained Ken’s son, Ryan Martin.
It’s a great text to use in those situations because Paul is writing to a young pastor; Paul, prisoner in Rome at the end of his days—and we’ve seen pictures of the notorious Mamertine Prison where Paul likely was held until he was executed by Nero—Paul was writing to the young pastor Timothy, Timothy pastoring 1200 miles to the East in Ephesus.
And Paul says to Timothy in this chapter (2 Timothy 4:6-7):
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.—(in other words, “I’m dying”)
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
So Paul is writing this letter largely to pass along his teaching and encouragement and charge to Timothy, encouraging him to carry on the work to which he himself had given his life.
In essence Paul is saying to Timothy, “Timothy, they are coming for me. The time of my departure is at hand. They’re going to kill me for preaching the Gospel. And when they kill me, Timothy, you take my place—until they come and kill you, too.”
That is a call to faithfulness, isn’t it?! “They’re going to kill me for preaching the Gospel. And when they kill me, you take my place—until they come and kill you, too.” That’s is a call to faithfulness and an example of leadership development.
Our new vision statement reads that “We exist to develop generations of God-glorifying disciples who make disciples from the community to the continents.”
That’s what Paul is doing in this letter to Timothy, he is one disciple making another. He is one leader pouring into another. “They’re coming for me, Timothy. They are about to kill me for preaching the Gospel. So when they kill me, you take my place—until they kill you, too.”
Well, this charge to Timothy here in the opening verses of chapter 4 may be rightly applied to every Christian. Our Lord Jesus has called us to follow Him with such whole-hearted commitment and devotion. Remember Jesus had said to those following Him to take up their cross as they follow. In Luke 14:33, “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
So these verses rightly apply to each and every one of us running the Christian race, living our lives for Jesus, endeavoring to be faithful to the finish line. So I wrote in my notes this week this phrase:
**What to Remember as we Run to the Finish Line:
Three things to remember, first remember:
The Presence of the Savior (1)
Look again at verse 1:
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing (or, at His return) and His kingdom:
Before Paul stresses the importance of Timothy’s preaching the Word, he reminds Timothy that everything he does is done in the presence of the Lord, everything Timothy says and does is seen by the ever-watching Lord Jesus Christ. He says, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,” the One who will one day judge everyone—the living and the dead—when He returns and sets up His kingdom.
Our Lord sees everything we do and we will give an accounting of it on the day of judgment—when Jesus comes “to judge the living and the dead at His appearing,” when He returns to set up His kingdom on earth. Now, if we have been saved from the penalty of sin, we have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior, then we do not fear the judgment to come insofar as we would be afraid of entering into hell. God has saved us and justified us, declared us righteous, and not guilty of all sin.
Christians will, however, give an accounting for how they have lived their lives as Christians. And our judgment will be about our faithfulness. We will be judged on the basis of what we have done for the Lord and He will reward us—or withhold reward—based upon how we have lived for Him.
So you see how this reminder of the Lord’s presence is at once comforting as well as convicting. Christians will stand before the Lord one day to give an accounting for how they used their time, treasure, and talents.
This is likely why Paul opens chapter 4 as he does, solemnly charging Timothy in this manner, “I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,” the coming Judge. He sees all we do. This is similar to what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in his second letter to them. He was defending his ministry and he wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.”
We speak in the sight of God in Christ. We do what we do very much aware that all we do is under the ever-watching eye of the Lord. He sees how we we use the Word, how we treat it, how we read it, whether we read it, whether we submit to it. He sees all these things. It should be convicting. It should motivate us to take seriously His Word and read it, breathe it, live it, teach it, pass it along to others.
2 Timothy 2:2, “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Remembering the presence of the Savior is not only convicting, but comforting. To know that He who sees us is always with us! He is never far away, so no matter what we are going through, He is there! He loves us and will care for us.
I was reading in my devotion time the other morning, reading in the psalms, and Charles Spurgeon, reflecting on Psalm 10 made this observation about the presence of God. He said: “The presence of God is the joy of His people…let us, then, ever remember that the Lord is near us.” And then he talked about how the Lord allows us to go through fiery trials in an effort to refine our faith. We’ve used that illustration more than once—God allows us to go through the furnace sometimes so that He can remove impurities and strengthen our faith and so on—but it was this phrase that especially encouraged me that morning. Spurgeon said:
“The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when His gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the midst of the flames when His holy children are cast into them.”
The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when His gold is in the fire. Whatever fire you find yourself in, remember that as a child of God you are as gold to the refiner. And when you are really going through the fiery trials of life, you remember that the refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace. Jesus Christ is there. He loves you. He will guide you, direct you, and walk with you. He loves you.
So be encouraged this morning as you run your Christian life faithfully to the finish line. Be encouraged to remember the presence of the Savior. Secondly, remember:
The Primacy Scripture (2-4)
In verses 2 and following, Paul demonstrates that a high view of Scripture leads to a high view of preaching and teaching the Scripture. Verse 2:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching.
The word “preach” here is “to herald,” to announce good news. Like, “Hark the herald angels sing.” Herald isn’t the name of the angels! Hark, or listen to, the heralding angels. And what is the message the angels herald? “There’s a newborn king, glory is due Him.” Preach. Announce. Herald the Word. Proclaim the Word. Preach the Word.
And “the Word” most specifically refers to the the “good news,” about which Paul had been writing in the previous chapters—as early as verse 8 of chapter 1, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”
More broadly, “the Word” is the entirety of the Scriptures because all of the Scripture points to Christ. That’s why all Scripture is profitable as we saw last time. For this reason, the best way to herald or preach the Gospel is to preach all of Scripture, expounding the Scriptures.
Remember that in his previous letter, Paul told Pastor Timothy to, “give attention to reading,” to the reading of Scripture (1 Timothy 4:13). Here is the benefit of reading Scripture together as a congregation as we have been doing in recent weeks. It’s biblical! If God can move through the Word sung, certainly He can move through the Word read!!
Paul writes, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season,” that is when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient. Preach it and teach it when people are eager to hear and when they’re not eager to hear. Be ready always to share the Gospel.
If someone were to call on you to preach the Word, would you be ready? I mean, I realize that not all are called to preach in the sense of pastoring a church. But all of us are called to share the Gospel in the sense of “heralding the Good News.” So if someone came to you and handed you the Bible, where would you turn to share the Good News? For me, that would be Ephesians 2:1-10. I feel I could turn to that text and preach for a couple hours. It’s a passage on the Gospel and it is so good!
“Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching.”
Sometimes we need “Convincing,” sometimes “rebuking,” and sometimes “exhorting.” These three helps are part and parcel of the “profitability of all Scripture,” about which we read last time, that all Scripture is profitable with a view towards completing the Christian, that the man of God and woman of God “may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17).”
To convince is to “correct,” like correcting wrong thinking, wrong teaching, and so on. To “rebuke” is to address wrong living, ungodliness. To “exhort” is to encourage others when they are facing difficult times or living in fear or anxiety. The Word of God is sufficient to address every situation we face this week.
Now, don’t miss this: Paul says to Timothy, “convince, rebuke, exhort,”— “with all long-suffering…”
“with all long-suffering,” or, with patience! Sanctification takes time; preaching does not always see immediate results, growth takes time; that’s why it’s called—growth!! We’re all growing, patience is necessary when preaching and teaching the Word of God.
When you are discipling a younger believer, be patient! When you are teaching the Bible in Sunday school or leading a small group study, be patient! Growth takes time. You can plant an apple tree today, but it may take as long as 2-5 years before it bears fruit. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering—with patience.
The last word there in verse 2 is the word “teaching.” See it there? Verse 2: “Convince, rebuke, exhort, will all long-suffering and teaching.”
Tony Merida is helpful here. He explains that while “heralding” is the publishing of “headlines,” teaching is the explaining of the actual event. He writes:
Preaching is heralding the facts, while teaching is explaining the facts. When you say, “The tomb is empty! The throne is occupied!”— then you are preaching. You are declaring the news. Teaching must follow these news headlines and explain who Jesus is, why Jesus was crucified and buried, and what it means for Him to be the King.
This is why teaching in the pulpit is so important. Just as if you read only the headlines of a newspaper. You know, the headline doesn’t always convey everything in the story, and sometimes we think the headline means one thing and it turns out to mean something else. So if we merely herald in the pulpit, folks will hear only the headlines and not know the full story. Or they’ll draw the wrong conclusion from the headline.
So Paul says, “and teaching,” teaching the Word, explaining the Scriptures, teaching what they mean and how they apply. Teaching is especially important in light of what Paul warns will happen in the future, verses 3 and 4:
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
This is remarkable, really. Paul warns Timothy of a time in his ministry when folks gathering in churches “will not endure sound doctrine,” will not be able to tolerate it, will not be able even to sit patiently and listen to it.
This time that will come, according to Paul, is a time that has come in many churches. There are churches meeting right now whose members “will not endure sound doctrine,” folks who cannot take more than 10 or 12 minutes, if that. These are folks who view biblical preaching no differently than principles taught in a Dale Carnegie course. You know, “Speak just a few minutes with an engaging story or two and a humorous anecdote and be done with it.” They cannot endure sound teaching, endure, to listen for a long period of time to sound, biblical, orthodox, doctrinal teaching.
By the way, no offense to Dale Carnegie and related communication helps. But we are foolish to view the proclaiming of the message of the Bible as equal to the proclaiming of any other message. The Bible is not just any other message. The Bible is God’s Word—recall from last time that this is what makes the Bible so powerful. It is the very Word of God, God-breathed. It has an inherent, intrinsic value when it is read, taught, and preached. It is the Holy Scriptures, Paul said, “which are able to make you wise for salvation.” This is no mere book of moral imperatives with the ultimate aim of making one more successful. No, this is God’s Word to convince, rebuke, and exhort. This is God’s Word to address the human condition of our sin, to lead us to repentance, and to point us to the only Savior.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
The ESV Study Bible notes, “Itching ears indicates a yearning for novelty that results in a pursuit of teachers who will tell people what they want to hear (to suit their own passions) instead of orthodox teachers like Timothy.”
And so, verse 4, “4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
They’ll believe things that aren’t true because they have rejected the truth.
Again, they’ll “pursue teachers who will tell people what they want to hear (to suit their own passions) instead of orthodox teachers like Timothy.”
Often what we want to hear and what we need to hear are not the same.
Think how cruel it would be for a physical doctor to withhold truth to a patient, thus withholding treatment, a cure of some kind, withholding that treatment from a person who is fatally ill. The doctor knows the bad news of his patient’s illness will be hard for him to take, as well as the ensuing tests, treatments, surgeries, and necessary change of lifestyle so rather than giving the patient the truth about his illness and providing a strategy for physical healing and improvement, imagine the doctor tells him everything is okay. He’s doing fine. Why, we would think such acts to be criminal! And we would be right.
And we understand that this is no different than preachers withholding the truth from their hearers in an effort to scratch itching hears, attempting to satisfy the desires of those who will not endure sound doctrine, and thus turn them aside to things that are not true.
I suppose we could go on for quite some time ranting against the smiling prosperity preachers of our day, the health and wealth stuff, the preaching that withholds the doctrines of sin and repentance and the necessity of the blood atonement of a dying Christ upon a cross. You all are sensible people and you know when you are hearing the Gospel—and when you are not hearing the Gospel.
What to remember as we run to the finish line, living faithfully for our Lord:
Remember the presence of the Savior, remember the power of the Scriptures, then a summary statement of Timothy’s call in verse 5 to remember:
The Principles of Success (5)
And this really is a summary of Timothy’s ministry—and by way of application a good summary statement of what is required of all Christians, verse 5:
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
“Be watchful in all things.” Or, as the ESV has it, “Always be sober minded,” or even better is the NIV, “Keep your head in all situations.” That’s good: “Keep your head!”
It reminds me of the opening lines of Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem, “If,” a poem my dad used to read to me when I was small. Kipling writes that one measure of a man is the ability to keep one’s head when everyone around us is losing their heads and blaming it on us. Keep your head. We might say today, “Don’t freak out!”
Don’t freak out as you “endure afflictions.” It recalls 2 Timothy 2:3, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good solder of Jesus Christ” and 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Know that suffering and persecution are simply part of the Christian experience. Have a good theology of suffering so when hard times hit you that you don’t come apart and wrongly conclude that God hates you or has abandoned you.
Remember that Paul likens the Christian life to that of a soldier, an athlete, and a hard-working farmer (2 Timothy 2:4-6). Don’t freak out! Endure afflictions.
And, Paul writes in verse 5, “Do the work of an evangelist.” Paul was not referring to a particular call of an evangelist, as though Timothy were especially or uniquely gifted in that way. Rather, Paul was referring to the work of an evangelist, the same work to which He calls all His children. We are all evangelists. We are all to carry out the Lord’s commission to “Make disciples of all the nations,” we are all to “Be His witnesses.”
Last Sunday evening after we watched the missional movie, “The Insanity of God,” I asked how many were going to be salt and light and share the Gospel this week and I was so encouraged by the number of hands that went up. We’re all called to do this, to share the Good News, to do the work of an evangelist. And it is work!
Remember it was our Lord who said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Gospel work, missional work is hard work. I listened recently to the team that shared a few months ago about their trip to Canada, working with our missional partner there, Robin Wasti, reaching Muslims, Hindus, and Sikh. And Rich talked about Robin and how we need to pray for him and how we ourselves need to continue the work of Gospel missions from our community to the continents. And Rich preached a brief challenge from Joshua 14 where Joshua, now 85 years old, in essence says, “I’m as strong as I was 45 years ago, Caleb, and I will continue to do the work of an evangelist so, give me this mountain!” and off he marched into Hebron.
We sang it earlier:
King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus’ name
Verse 5 ends with Paul’s words: “Fulfill your ministry.” The principles of success are: “Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry,” or complete it. Be faithful to the end, faithful to the finish line.
In the words of Major Ian Thomas, the man who served in the British Expeditionary Force in World War II and later founded the Torchbearers Bible schools, Major Thomas often spoke in a way that summed up the matter of fulfilling our ministry. He often said: to Christians: “Go where you’re sent, stay where you’re put, and give what you’ve got.”
Fulfill your ministry. Go where you’re sent, stay where you’re put, and give what you’ve got.
Let’s bow for prayer.
Response:
What to remember as we run the Christian race this week…in order to be faithful to the finish line…
Remember the presence of the Savior
Remember the power of the Scriptures
Remember the pattern for Success
We talked about the presence of the Lord…judgment…unbelievers judged…
“Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior.”
Christian? Be encouraged by His presence!!!
Read it! Are you? How’d you do last week?
Doing the work of an evangelist…
“Lord, give me an opportunity to share my faith today.
Enable me to recognize this opportunity when it comes.
When it happens, give me the courage to proceed. ”
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Oh soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness to see
There’s a light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free
His words shall not fail you, He promised
Believe Him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell
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