Preach The Word

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.

Let us go to the Lord for a word of prayer.

Prayer

Thank you, you may be seated.

We live in a time where we are told truth is relative. You can believe whatever you want to and nobody can tell you that you are wrong. You can change your gender if you want to. If it is true for you then that is your truth. There are no losers in life. There are many ways to heaven. You don’t have to believe a certain way. God loves all people equally.

And this thinking and lack of reason is not only true out in the world, but this is becoming the truth in many churches today. And it all goes back to whether or not a church faithfully teaches the Word of God.

And we are going to see today as we look at this great text of Scripture the urgent need for the teaching and preaching of the Word of God and the spreading of the Gospel.

This passage is Paul’s final charge to Timothy. It was his last act of ministry before his death. He knew he was about to die as he writes later in this chapter. So he was giving his last words of wisdom and instruction to his young pastor star pupil. And when someone knows that they are about to die they tend to only bring up things that are of the highest importance to them and that is exactly what Paul has done here with Timothy.

So this morning we are going to look at this charge and see how it applies to us today. And I think that by the time we are done this morning you are going to see that there is nothing new going on today that was not already going on back 2,000 years ago in the first century. And because of that, when we read this passage, it is like the Apostle Paul is speaking directly to us, it is like he knows the exact situation we are in right now.

The first verse is simply Paul giving a charge, a plea, an urgent warning to Timothy under the authority of Jesus Christ. He makes this more emphatic by saying both God and Jesus Christ showing double emphasis of this authority. This was not just some other command. This is what Paul thought was the most important thing he could tell Timothy and he wanted to make sure that Timothy paid close attention to this.

The overall theme of this charge, the whole purpose of this instruction is to tell Timothy to preach the Word! Preach the Word. But not only does Paul emphasize that Timothy is to preach the Word, he gives him three specific instructions on how and why we preach the Word.

We don’t just blindly proclaim the Gospel. NO! God has a purpose for the preaching of His Word and that is what Paul is trying to get across here. So we are going to look at these three instructions in detail this morning because there is a lot of truth packed into each one of them.

First, we are to preach the Word at all times. Preach the Word at all times. It says in verse two to be ready both in and out of season. Well what does that mean? Well John MacArthur simply puts it like this. You have in season, and when is something not in season? When it is out of season. There is not a time that these two periods, in season and out of season do not touch. Therefore, you preach the Word at all times.

On a deeper level, it literally has the sense of preaching when it is convenient and when it is not convenient. When you go and apply for a job they usually have on an application what your availability to work is going to be. But God doesn’t ask us to check a box on an application when we become a Christian to say what our availability is for being a witness. No! It is all the time. Not just when you feel like it, not just when you feel comfortable. God doesn’t care when or who it is He wants you to teach and preach the Word now! And this is not just for preachers, this is for everyone. It’s the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18–19 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That’s not just for preachers. Yes, it was given to the 11 disciples, but look what verse 20 says, to observe all He commanded. He told them to go and make disciples and you can’t do that without proclaiming the Gospel. Church, I ask you today, when was the last time you shared the Gospel message with someone? When was the last time you told someone what Christ did for you? I’m not talking about inviting someone to church. Now, don’t misunderstand me, that is great if you do that. I’d love to see them here. But when did you personally tell someone your story about the love of our great Savior? When did you tell them that the God of the universe sent His only Son down to this wretched earth to die an excruciating death on the cross so that you and I and all who believe could have eternal life? I’ll be honest, I feel convicted when I hear those words. I don’t do that often enough. It is easy and convenient to preach the word here in the pulpit. It is not so easy to speak the truth everywhere we go at all times when it is not as convenient.

We need to preach the Word at all times.

The second thing that Paul wants us to do is preach the Word both accurately and faithfully. We can’t just preach the Word in whatever way we please. In fact, you can literally make the Bible say anything you want to if you do not use proper interpretation techniques. Brother Paul and I saw this on display in a big way this weekend at our denomination’s general conference. People were twisting Scripture in every possible way imaginable to try and argue for their point. But that is not how we are to approach Scripture, we must preach faithfully and accurately. And we preach the Word accurately in several ways.

The passage says that we preach accurately to reprove, or correct, false teachings. When we know the Bible says one thing and we hear someone teaching something else it is our duty to correct them. We cannot sit by and let false teaching go unchecked. Paul gave this same instruction to Titus.

Titus 1:10–14 ESV

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

In the 16th Century, Martin Luther, the great reformer, was summoned by Charles V to come and answer for his accused teachings against the Roman Catholic Church. Luther had returned to a true biblical understanding of the Scriptures that we do not obtain Salvation by works and indulgences as the Roman Catholic Church taught, but by faith alone. At the Diet of Worms, the judicial court for the time, Luther was told to recant the teachings that were in his books. Luther, feeling the weight of this moment on his shoulders, ask for one day to consider the request.

The next day when he came back to the Diet he said that he would not recant and spoke these now famous words:

Pillars of Grace (AD 100–1564) The Diet of Worms: Luther’s Stand

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.”

Luther was convinced that we need to accurately and faithfully preach the Word of God. He was willing to stand against false teachings.

Titus 1:10–14 ESV

Not only are we to reprove false teachers. We are to rebuke sin. In other words, we are to express a strong disapproval of sinful actions. We are to warn people of the consequences of their sin.

I mentioned a moment ago that Brother Paul and I were paying close attention to the Untied Methodist General Conference this past week. The whole focus of the conference was to decide whether or not we were going to affirm the LGBT lifestyle in the denomination. By the grace of God the church voted to stand with Scripture and to not affirm the LGBT lifestyle. But something that we heard over and over is that we should not judge them because Jesus said we are not to judge. This of course comes from Matthew chapter seven. But look at what the entire passage says in context.

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

It does not say do not judge. It says to make sure you are right with God before you worry about the sin of others. So we must rebuke. And with LGBT specifically, standing against that lifestyle is not hatred, it’s not bigotry, it’s not homophobia. If we posture it the right way it can only be seen as love. It is loving them enough to tell them the truth. Loving them enough to tell them the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Loving them enough to care where their soul will spend eternity.

And Paul then says we are to exhort. We are to encourage those who are trying to live the faith. But notice how he says we are to do these things to preach the word accurately and faithfully.

With patience, with love.

The culture today tells us that loving them means accepting them 100% as they are and affirming everything that they do. But that is not love. Reproof, Rebuke, Exhort, that is love. We can be kind while we do this, we do not have to be rude, mean or hateful but we must speak truth. And we must do this with patience. It is hard to share the truth just to be rejected. But remember friends, it is only our job to share the truth, but it is the Holy Spirit that must convict to repentance. So do not be discouraged when the response you wish for is not the response that you get because it is not up to you. Only the Spirit can break down the walls. Pray that the Spirit breaks that person down to be ready to hear. Keep loving them and keep telling them the truth.

But what is the urgency that Paul gives for preaching the Word accurately? Because there is a time coming when people will no longer endure sound teaching. They don’t want to hear the truth. They don’t want to know what the Scriptures really say. Does this sound familiar? They are going to seek out teachers and preachers and churches that will tell them what they want to hear. Is this not exactly what we are seeing today? We have a whole movement that refuses to hear anything and tells us that we must accept their way of life as absolute truth no matter how absurd it is. They go their own way.

And this is becoming more and more prevalent in the American church. And it all stems from the fact that the Word of God is not being faithfully and accurately preached in the church today. Be thankful church that you have a pastor that stands in this pulpit every week faithfully preaching the Word of God. It is becoming the exception in this country and not the rule.

If you don’t believe me just turn on the television and watch some of the preachers. Yes, there are some good ones out there, but there are also preachers that are preaching flat heresy and projecting it as truth. And people flock to these preachers because they tell them what they want to hear. People turn away from the truth.

Paul knew exactly what He was talking about when he penned this letter to Timothy. We are living in that age now. People turning away from the truths of the Word of God seeking after their own passions and desires.

After all of this, Paul leaves Timothy one final instruction that applies to us today in this passage. We are to preach the Word to accomplish our ministry. Preach the Word to accomplish our ministry.

How do we do this? How are we to accomplish our ministry? Paul says first to be sober-minded. Have self-control. Don’t get caught up in the emotions, don’t get caught up in arguments, not exactly a strong suit of mine. I like to debate and argue. Have discipline. Be self-controlled.

Second, he says that we are to endure hardships. Christianity is no longer popular in this country. 50 or 60 years ago if you did not identify with Christianity there was something seriously wrong. Today, there is something seriously wrong if you do as far as the culture is concerned. And because of that, we need to be prepared for persecution. Jesus said in ,

Mark 13:13 ESV

13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

We will be hated for our love of Christ. We will be hated for preaching the Word. But Christ promises that if we endure, we will be rewarded. Paul says this as well right after the passage we are looking at this morning.

2 Timothy 4:7–8 ESV

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.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. What a testimony! Church are you fighting the good fight? Are you running your race? Are you keeping the faith? Be prepared for persecution and hardships to come into your life when you follow Christ. But know you are storing up treasure in Heaven that will last for eternity.

The last way we accomplish our ministry is by doing the work of an evangelist. Spread the Gospel. After all, that is all an evangelist is, someone who proclaims the Gospel. And in order to do that, we must study the Scriptures. Earlier in this letter to Timothy Paul tells him in

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Rightly handling the Word of Truth. We cannot do the work of an evangelist if we do not carefully study and preach the Word of God faithfully and accurately.

Friends we need to preach the Word at all times, no matter if it is convenient or not. We need to preach the Word faithfully and accurately standing firm on the truth. And finally we need to preach the Word to accomplish our ministry by enduring hardships and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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