2 Timothy 4:1-8 - Ulrich Zwingli and Preaching the Bible

Introduction

On October 31, 1517, an obscure Augustinian monk, named Martin Luther, posted 95 theses (or arguments) on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg, Germany. While Luther was probably not motivated by anything more than a desire for academic debate (with fellow monks and priests), this singular act has become the legendary match that lit the fuse of the Protestant Reformation powder-keg.

During the month of October, many Protestants… Anglicans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and reformed folk of all sorts… often commemorate Luther’s symbolic mallet and remember at least some of the major benefits we’ve enjoyed because of Martin Luther and other 16th-century reformers.

Historians and regular people alike often speak of the Protestant Reformation as though it was one event or movement. But (as Carlos Eire argued about 10 years ago) it’s more accurate to think of what happened in terms of reformations (plural), not a singular reformation. Indeed, there were many reformers and several places on the European map that experienced a reformation of their own – Luther in Germany, John Calvin in Geneva, Thomas Cranmer in England, John Knox in Scotland. And all had various ideas and themes in common, but each had their own distinctives as well.

One such distinctive reformer was Ulrich Zwingli.

Zwingli was born January 1, 1484, in Sankt Gallen, Switzerland. His father was a free peasant who had become a village magistrate, and so Zwingli was afforded the uncommon luxury of an education.

In those days, education and religion almost always went hand in hand, so upon graduation from university (in 1504), Zwingli was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood. And two years later, he took his post at a church in Glarus.

For the next ten years, Zwingli trained and excelled in Greek and Hebrew, he studied the Bible a lot, he read early Christian theologians, and he served as a chaplain for the Swiss Army. Then, in 1518, Zwingli was appointed the “people’s priest” at the main church in Zurich. And while this appointment did not come with formal influence or income, it did give Zwingli’s preaching a major platform.

In the early 1500s, most Roman Catholic priests rarely or never preached (due in large part to Rome’s emphasis on the sacraments). And when they did preach, it was a short talk aimed at general virtue. But Zwingli preached long sermons (about an hour), without prepared notes, by walking through the biblical text in the original languages – he would translate on the fly and make pastoral applications as he went.

And Zwingli’s main theme was not sacramental Romanism, but joy and assurance in Jesus Christ alone. Zwingli said, “All our work, who preach the Gospel… consists only in preaching how we find the assurance of salvation in the death of the living Son of God.”

Zwingli’s emphasis on expositional or expository preaching straight from the Bible has been a characteristic of Protestant Christianity ever since. We want to know what the Bible says. We want to hear the voice of God. We want to receive the promises of the gospel, and we want to obey the commands of our Savior.

Friends, today we are beginning a very short series (for October) that I’m calling Three Reformers. My goal with this series is not to preach on three men, but rather to preach on three topics that were distinctive contributions of Protestant Christianity, which is our heritage (as Baptists).

I think these three topics are not just important to Protestant history, but these touch foundational Christian beliefs and practices of every age.

I also think that Christians who don’t know much about those who’ve gone before us are impoverished by such ignorance. We’re better for knowing our history.

We aren’t the first Christians to study the Bible, to cling to Christ, to aim for faithful Christian living, or to face social, economic, or political challenges. And when we learn more about the Christians who’ve lived and died before us, we are better able to expose our own blind spots and to benefit from their insights.

Ulrich Zwingli’s particular emphasis was on biblical preaching, but this did not originate with him. We’re going to read a Bible passage today that speaks of biblical preaching and teaching right from the very beginning of Christianity.

Indeed, the Scripture is profitable or useful for teaching, for convicting, for correcting, and for training in righteousness. The Scripture (by the power of God’s Spirit) makes believers skillful in knowing and serving God. And the Scripture equips Christians for every good work in a life of Christian discipleship.

Therefore (as I will argue today), the preacher must preach the Bible, the people must hear the Bible, and in this way, all will receive and keep the faith.

Scripture Reading

2 Timothy 4:1–8 (ESV)

1 I 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: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth 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.

Main Idea:

The preacher must preach the Bible, the people must hear the Bible, and in this way, all will receive and keep the faith.

Sermon

1. Preach the Bible (v1-2, 5)

The preacher must preach the Bible.

Our main passage today is a short portion of Paul’s letter to his young apprentice, Timothy. Paul was an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ who went about preaching the gospel, calling sinners to repent and believe, forming local churches, and raising up and appointing good men to lead those churches after he was gone.

Timothy was just such a man. Earlier Paul had come to Lystra (preaching and teaching), and there he met Timothy. Timothy (we’re told in Acts 16) was a “disciple” or Christian, and he was “well spoken of by the brothers” (Acts 16:2). For some reason (the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why), Paul wanted Timothy to join him in his missionary efforts, and so he did.

At some point, Paul started using and depending on Timothy as a co-worker in his pastoral ministry. Paul sent Timothy to help churches at Thessalonica, at Corinth, at Philippi, and at Berea. It seems that Timothy’s longest pastoral post was probably with the church at Ephesus, and that’s where Timothy was when he received both of Paul’s pastoral letters (1 and 2 Timothy) as well as Paul’s church letter (Ephesians).

This letter we’re reading from today (2 Timothy) was probably Paul’s last correspondence (at least the last one included in the Bible), and Paul’s main concern throughout was Timothy’s faithfulness to the pastoral ministry despite various obstacles he would face from within the church.

We can see it here in v5 – Paul says, “As for you, always be sober-minded, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5). But what was Timothy’s “work,” and how would he “fulfill” his “ministry”?

Well, Paul makes that clear in the first two verses of chapter 4. Paul says, “I 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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:1-2).

Friends, there are many good things a pastor might do, but there is one thing a pastor must do – he must “preach the word”… he must (“with complete patience and teaching”) open up the Bible to explain it and apply it… he must be “ready” at all times to correct error and promote the truth of God’s word.

This is (first and foremost) because the Bible is the very word of God. Just before Paul gave Timothy this pastoral charge, he reminded him (in ch. 3, v16) that “All Scripture is breathed out by God…” (2 Tim. 3:16). This means that God Himself speaks to His people in and through the Bible.

The Bible is the voice of God – here we learn what we cannot know merely from experience or from study of science or philosophy.

The God of heaven speaks, and we have His voice right here.

The Bible is the breath of God – here we are exposed to the life-giving breath of God.

Just as God breathed upon the dirt of the ground to create Adam, so too God breathes upon dead sinners (with His word) to make them spiritually alive (this is what happens when we understand the gospel of Christ and believe and love and follow Him).

The Bible is the word of God – here we have a word that is our highest authority… telling us what is true and telling us what to do.

We may hear all sorts of truth-claims and words of counsel, but Scripture gives us a definitive word from the mouth of God, and we can bank our lives upon its truth and wisdom and goodness.

Friends, the Bible is God’s word to us. It is God’s revelation of Himself. It is God’s answer to our most pressing questions. It is God’s instruction for the best way to live. As the psalmist proclaims, the Bible (i.e., God’s word) revives the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, warns the wayward, and rewards the obedient (Ps. 19:7-11).

Because this is true, pastors must preach and teach the Bible.

Pastors must look to the Scriptures (not culture or experience or personal interests) for what to preach about.

Zwingli said, “When I entered the pulpit (in Zurich), I did not preach from the… lesson appointed (by the Church calendar), but rather from the biblical text alone.”

Pastors must also let the Scriptures dictate the themes and tones and content of what is preached from week to week.

When Zwingli began his preaching ministry, he simply opened to the Gospel of Matthew and preached straight through it… And he said, “The effect was wonderful.”

And Pastors must bring the Scriptures to bear (and not their own words, however wise they might seem to be)… they must bring the Scriptures to bear on the beliefs and actions of those under their care.

Zwingli studied the Bible, he said, “so that he could properly teach his people and rescue their souls.”

Friends, whatever else you may tolerate from your pastors (their personality quirks, their style, their weaknesses, or their errors), you should never tolerate a pastor who does not preach and teach the Scriptures.

Demand it. Expect it. Look forward to it each Sunday. Do what you can to encourage it from your pastors. And consider it a great privilege of God’s grace to you… when your pastors preach the Bible.

This is the pastor’s charge. He must preach the word. He must give himself to the study and application of the Bible in his own life… and he must do his best to help others understand and apply the Bible to their lives.

It is in this way that both preacher and hearer will receive and keep the faith.

2. Hear the Bible (v3-4)

The people must hear the Bible.

Looking now at v3-4 of our main passage, it seems that Paul’s pastoral charge to Timothy (i.e., “preach the word”) was the antidote or solution for a problem Paul knew the church would face. Paul said, “preach the word” (v2) “For” or because (v3) “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Friends, it is not only the pastors’ job to preach the word, but it’s also the people’s responsibility to hear the Bible (or to hear sound teaching).

The temptation Paul highlights here is something we all face – we can all be tempted toward teaching that “suits” our “own passions” (v3), and we can all be tempted to “wander off into myths” or empty words (v4).

The word “passions” here is referring to “desires” or “cravings” or “appetites,” and it does not necessarily refer to something bad. For example, Jesus “desired” (same word) to eat the Passover with His disciples before He died (Lk. 22:15). And the Apostle Paul “desired” (same word) to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23).

So, we might think of Paul’s warning here as a prediction that the natural preferences of sinful people like you and me are bent toward hearing a kind of preaching or teaching that appeals to our appetites (even if those appetites may not necessarily be sinful in themselves).

When our preferences or appetites distract us from the truth of Scripture, then those preferences can become soul-destroying. And some examples of this in our day (as I understand Paul’s meaning here) might be sentimental preaching, or therapeutic preaching, or motivational preaching, or moralistic preaching.

Sentimental preaching is the sort that is full of feeling and emotion, but the substance of doctrine and the urgency of command is absent. A preacher can tell a few heart-warming stories, and he can reminisce with you about stuff that makes us all feel good. But if he omits the weighty truth-claims of the Bible… if he fails to press upon you that you must turn away from sin and error… if he does not demand that you believe and obey Christ… then he is merely tickling your ears.

Therapeutic preaching has become quite common over the last 10-20 years, and this is the kind that turns the preacher into more of a therapist or counselor. He doesn’t tell you that you’re wicked; he thinks of you as merely broken or hurting. He never supposes that you’re rebelling against God; he excuses you for being confused or addicted. He doesn’t speak of sin as an abomination; it’s just a mistake or brief lapse in judgment. Friends, you and I don’t just have a disorder; we’ve got a will that is naturally bent away from believing and obeying the God who made us.

Motivational preaching is always popular, and it’s the kind of preaching that sounds like a football coach during a half-time speech. The preacher talks as though his hearers are a team who just needs the right motivation to get out there and face their giants, overcome their obstacles, or win their victories. And while motivational preaching might get us revved up to “do something great” (whatever that means), it doesn’t do much to answer our hard questions, to confront our real problems, or to help us understand how to persevere in the faithful and ordinary Christian life.

Moralistic preaching has always been around, and it is more insidious than the rest (at least from my perspective). This is the kind of preaching that often uses the Bible as a rulebook. The preacher tells us what we’re doing wrong, and he commands us to do better, but he doesn’t give us much more than a fatherly lecture. It is true that Christians need to know what the Bible commands, but the Bible calls us to obey from a renewed heart and mind. We need to know what to believe, not just what to do; and we need to know why this way is better than that one.

Now, I’m not saying that preaching should never be sentimental or motivational. I’m not saying that none of us are broken or hurting or confused. And I’m not saying that we don’t need to understand and obey the moral or ethical commands in the Bible.

But what I am saying is that all of these ways of preaching by themselves fall short of God’s intended purpose for preaching.

God means to speak into our hearts and minds, and He does this through exposure to His word (not just wise counsel or heart-warming stories). There is something supernatural happening when a preacher opens up the Bible to explain it and apply it to the lives of his hearers. God Himself is at work in this (by His Spirit) to create spiritual life, to give the gift of faith, to transform our desires, and to shape and form us into the image of Christ.

If we turn our noses up at biblical preaching because the sermon hasn’t made us feel good, or because the preacher hasn’t treated us as a therapy patient, or because he hasn’t inspired us, or because we can’t easily see how this sermon will immediately make my kids behave or make my marriage better… if we turn away from the week-in and week-out exposition and application of the Bible, then we are in danger of losing “sound teaching” for the kind that will “suit” our “passions.”

Instead (God forbid it), we will “wander off into myths” (v4)… we will listen to empty words or even untrue words.

But, friends, we want to know what is true, we want to understand the Bible, we want to hear the kind of preaching that exposes us to the judgment and glory of God, to the grace and lordship of Christ, and to the power and work of God’s Spirit.

Let me point out five ways that we can make it our aim to hear the Bible preached and to attune our ears to sound preaching. (I’ve drawn some of these from Christopher Ash’s book Listen Up: A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons.)

First, we can expect God to speak through His word. If the preacher is faithfully explaining and applying the Bible, then there is a sense in which the sermon itself is God speaking. The Apostle Peter wrote, “As each has received a gift [from God’s Spirit], use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, [do it] as one who speaks oracles [or sayings] of God” (1 Pet. 4:11).

Friends, if we will come together each Sunday with an expectation that God is going to speak to us through the sermon, it will affect the way we listen to it.

Second, we can admit that God knows us better than we do. Whatever we might want to hear on a given Sunday, God knows what we need to hear. And if we will adjust our expectations by remembering that God means not only to answer our questions but also tell us what questions we ought to be asking, then we will be better able to hear what God wants to say.

Third, we can make sure the preacher says what the Bible says. Whether you think I’ve come up with something clever or not, the most important thing for the preacher to do is to stay on the line or stay true to the biblical text. If I speak with any authority at all on a given Sunday, it is not because of my role or office as a pastor, nor is it because I’ve got some superior knowledge or experience. Rather, my authority as a preacher is based on the fact that I’m saying what the Bible has already said. And if we will follow along with the sermon as it arises from the Scripture itself, then we will be followers of Christ and not just followers of a preacher.

Fourth, we can make it a habit to read the Bible passage before it’s preached. This helps us prepare to be a good listener. If we’ll read the passage a time or two during the week, then when we hear it preached, we’ll be better able to hear and understand it during the sermon. You might even consider reading a bit above and below the specific passage each week. Some of you could read and re-read whatever book we’re going through each week, and you’d be surprised by what you gain.

Fifth, we can pray that God will help us to believe or to do one thing we’ve heard from the sermon. I try to help us to know at least a few things we ought to believe or do based on our passage each week. Consider my main idea today – the preacher must preach the Bible, and the people must hear the Bible. There might be many good things to pray for here, but we can pray today that God will help us be better hearers of the Bible when it is preached.

Friends, what kind of listener are you when the preacher opens the book?

Do you come with an expectation that God has a word for you?

Do you listen to the sermon with a humble posture, ready to believe what the Bible says and ready to do what the Bible commands?

Do you read and consider the Bible throughout the week?

Do you talk about the Bible with others, looking for ways to better understand it yourself, and looking for opportunities to explain it to those who do not understand it as well as you do?

The preacher must preach the Bible, but the people must hear the Bible. We must expect to hear it, we must prepare to hear it, and we must hear it with an eager anticipation to believe and to do as the Bible says.

And if we will do this, then we will all receive and keep the faith.

3. Keep the Faith (v6-8)

By preaching and hearing the Bible, all will receive and keep the faith.

Looking now at v6-8 of our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul closes out his exhortation and warning to Timothy by pointing to his own example of a faithful minister. Paul says, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day…” (2 Tim. 4:6-8).

Paul was facing the end of his own mortal life, and he was able to look back on his experience as one who had remained faithful – faithful to Christ and faithful in his ministry as a preacher of the Scriptures.

This is the hope of all Christians. We all want to be able to face our own death as those who have “kept the faith.” We all want to be able to look through the veil (that curtain which separates this world from the next), and we want to see “the crown of righteousness” which “the Lord” Himself will “award” us on that day.

Indeed, Paul says as much at the end of v8! He says that his reward from Christ is “not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).

More than anything else, this is our hope and aim. We don’t merely want to be better men and women (though we do want that!). We don’t just want to be better parents or grandparents (though we certainly want that too!). We don’t just want to know how Christianity might speak to important questions of our day – questions about marriage, or work, or money, or politics (those these are definitely important).

What we want to know for sure is “What is our only hope in life and death?”

The Heidelberg Catechism was published in 1563 as a rallying summary of what all Protestants could affirm. As most of you know, a catechism is just a question and answer outline of basic Christian belief. And the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism is exactly that – “What is our only hope in life and death?”

The answer follows – “That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.”

Friends, this is the sort of thing we can only learn from the Bible. And this is the glorious testimony the Bible proclaims to us.

This is why we want the Bible (and not just experience, or sentiment, or entertainment, or motivation, or moral rules)… we want the Bible to be the substance of our preaching.

The Bible teaches us that we are sinners (not just confused or disordered).

The Bible teaches us that Christ is the Savior of all who turn from sin and trust in Him.

The Bible teaches believers that God is our heavenly Father who works all things for the good and salvation of those He loves.

And the Bible teaches believers that God is working in us (even now) by His Spirit to make us willing and ready to serve Him and also to assure us that we are His forevermore.

Friends, the Bible is where we learn this stuff. And so, when we gather as a church each week, we want a preacher who will preach the Bible, we want to be the sort of people who hear the Bible, and we want to receive and keep the faith that only God can give through His word.