Preach the Word - 2 Timothy 4:1-8
2 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted
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· 241 viewsPreaching the Word is pivotal to the church and must continue no matter what else might prevent it from happening.
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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.
Let’s pray.
If you have a printed bulletin, you can open it up, and look at the Title of the sermon called Fulfill your Ministry, and you can go ahead and scratch it out. That title wasn’t a typo. The problem is that I’m just a fickle person. The title of this sermon is ‘Preach the Word.’
Here in this morning’s text, Paul gives Timothy his most urgent instruction in this entire letter.
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.
This morning I am preaching about preaching. This morning, right now, we are engaged in the very thing that Paul instructed Timothy to do when he charged him to preach the Word. Right now, our aim is to hear what God says in his Word by opening up the Word. We understand that the Bible is God’s Word. And when the Bible is opened and it is read we hear God speak. But that is not all that goes on when the Word is preached. True preaching happens when the Word is opened, and the mouth of the messenger is opened as well saying the things that God says.
This might seem like a strange sermon for a Sunday service because I am preaching about preaching to a group of people who, for the most part, are not preachers. While it might seem odd for me to preach about preaching to the congregation, I do so because we all must recognize that preaching is pivotal in the life of the church.
I give most of my time in the week to preparing sermons… I believe that preaching is that important that it deserves a great deal of time and effort to craft them.
But it’s not just me who views preaching this way. You’ll remember that an important issue came to the Apostles attention in Acts 6.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
Caring for the widows is an important task in the church.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Do you remember what the solution was to this problem? It wasn’t for the apostles to begin distributing money to the widows themselves. Rather the solution was to appoint other faithful men, the deacons, to do this job. And the reason for appointing them to this important duty is expressed in v 3-4
Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Preaching is pivotal in the for the people of God.
Preaching the Word cannot stop
Come rain or shine
come famine or prosperity
be it convenient or inconvenient
be it popular or unpopular
The Word must be preached
Listen to how Paul said it,
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.
This last week we have been enjoying cherries in our home. Cherries are in season right now so they are easy to come by. But soon enough it will be difficult to find cherries because they will be out of season.
So too, there are times when the Word is in season so to speak… when the Word is in season, it is popular and accepted by all. And when the Word is in season, the Word must continue be preached.
But there are also times when the Word is out of season. I would say that in 2021, the Word is no longer in season. So then what should we do with the Word when it falls out of season by the masses? We must preach the Word.
Paul told Timothy, to be ready, in season and out of season, to preach the Word.
But the Word doesn’t just go out of season in the world. We as the church go through various seasons as well, and there are seasons in our lives where we might find the Word to be out of season. Maybe it’s because the business in our homes or at work. It might be due to grief or loss. The Word might fall out of seasons in our lives when leisure and ease come through vacation or retirement. Or perhaps the Word falls out of season in our own hearts simply because we don’t enjoy God’s Word.
Regardless of the season and time, Timothy must be ready to preach the Word.
because preaching the Word cannot be stop… and it cannot be replaced.
There is no substitute for the preaching of God’s Word
Reading books about the Bible are not are sufficient replacements for the preached Word.
Listening to podcast about the Bible, while they are helpful, are no replacement for the proclamation of the Word.
We can even go so far to say that listing to preaching podcasts are not even adequate for the life of the local church. The reason for this is because of what Paul said next
v2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort.”
Reprove - means to reprimand or correct
to rebuke similarly means to voice a sharp disapproval for ones actions
Often times when we hear the words reprove and rebuke, we might get a bit uncomfortable. Some us might even say that such words are harsh, cruel, or even abusive. To be clear, a rebuke can be done in the wrong way (we will get to that in a moment). But a a rebuke to a person who is in danger is the most loving thing we can do for them.
The other day, my two year old son was running straight towards a fire pit I reproved him… and when I corrected him I may have even startled him in the moment. But reproving my son as he was running straight towards the fire was done in love, for it is far better for me to correct him strongly than for him to fall into the flames.
So too, when a preacher reproves and rebukes those who are living in sin, it is an act of love. For those who are playing with sin are are in fact playing with fire. But if sin is NOT rebuked and those in sin do NOT repent, then those who are in sin will fall headlong into the fires of hell.
So Timothy, preach the Word. reprove rebuke and exhort -or the NIV translates exhort, encourage. Exhortation means to strongly encourage a person to do something.
Reprove and rebuke, are both the negative form of instruction… preaching the Word requires that we call correct those in sin, but preaching does not stop there. Exhortation is needed. We don’t just tell people to turn from sins, but we encourage people to turn to Christ.
Hopefully you recognize that preaching is pivotal in the church…
1. Preaching is pivotal because it preserves us from the penalty of sin.
1. Preaching is pivotal because it preserves us from the penalty of sin.
When we are rebuked because of our sin in our life, and when we respond to this rebuke by confessing and repenting of those sins, then we are spared from the penalty of sin which is death.
But in order for us to repent, we need to recognize our sins. And in order to recognize our sins, we need to hear the Word.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Confessing sin leads to our cleansing from all unrighteousness. But if we deny that we have sin, it is owing to the fact that the Word is not in us. We need the Word preached to us so that we might recognize our sin and turn away from it. This is why Jesus came into the world. He came to bear our sins upon the cross so that through him we might have life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
When Jesus came some two thousand years ago, it was not for the purpose of condemnation or judgment. Rather, Jesus came to save sinners. But confuse the way Jesus came in his first advent with how he will come in the second advent. Jesus will return again… and when he does it will not be to forgive the world of sin. Rather when he returns, Jesus Christ will come to judge the world for sin.
This is how Paul begins his Charge to Timothy;
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.
Jesus will return… Timothy. And he will comes, Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead.
So because of this you need to preach the Word. You need to reprove, rebuke, and exhort those who are living in sin.
And for those who are living in unrepentant sin… watch out because Jesus will return in judgment when you least expect him.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
We need to hear the preached Word, because because our sin needs to be corrected so that we might turn from our sins which will lead to death and turn to Christ wich leads to life.
Paul concludes the nature of preaching this way,
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Consider what that last part means… preach the word… with complete patience and teaching.
We hear about preaching that lacks patience from Nehemiah. In Nehemiah, remember, the Israelites had returned to Jerusalem from exile, but when they did the people also returned to their sins. They were marrying the pagan people from the land, and so Nehemiah reproved, rebuked and exhorted… but he wasn’t patient. Listen to how Nehemiah preached;
25 And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
None of us want a pastor like Nehemiah. And Paul doesn’t want Timothy to preach this way either. Sure, Nehemiah is heard reproving, rebuking, and exhorting… and the Israelites certainly needed to be reproved, rebuked and exhorted. But Nehemiah was far from a model for how for how a the Word is to be preached. For he was far from having complete patience and teaching.
There is a need for correction when the Word is preached. But such correction must be done with complete patience. And the reason for complete patience becomes clear as Paul continues.
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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
This passage describes people’s inability to sit under the preached Word. Such people are described as having itching ears.
I love pulling pranks on people who I love. When I was young I would prank my siblings by tickling their ear with a feather. If you’ve ever done this to someone, or had this done to you, then you know what happens. Even though my siblings would be sound asleep, they would begin rubbing their ear because of the irritant of the feather that was ticking their ear…
In v 3 Paul describes those who do not like the Word as it is preached as have itching ears. An itching ear is an irritant, and one will do whatever they can to be rid of the annoyance. And the cause of this itch is not a feather that is tickling them, but rather, the irritant is the preaching of the Word. People are often irritated when they are reproved, rebuked, and exhorted. The preached Word can be so irritating to some people, that they will do whatever they can to be rid of that irritant. So what will they do about it? They will find a different voice to listen to. They will stop listening to the Word of God that is profitable to equip the man of God for every good work. So instead they will listen to the voice of Satan who only questions the Word of God. This is Satan’s only tactic against God’s people; he gives us a different word that goes against God’s word. “Did God actually say, ‘you shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3.1) We must be watchful of Satan’s craftiness. And in the place of his voice, we must listen to the preached Word.
It is because people are prone to wander.
2. Preaching is pivotal because people are prone to wander.
2. Preaching is pivotal because people are prone to wander.
It’s easy for us to hear this text and think about all the people who are at all the wrong churches. We might think of that person who is at that one church that has given way to the prosperity gospel and others are at that church hardly preaches from the Bible.
V 3-4 don’t just describe people who left LWC and are at the other church across the way. V 3-4 describes you… and it describes me. Friends, I need to hear the Word preached to me, because there are times when I myself think that I know better than God. And in those moments I doubt God’s Word. And I’m sure it’s not just me who wanders from the Word.
Some of us are eager to follow Jesus and be under the Word as it is preached. Or at least we were, until the preacher preached on that one topic.
Perhaps its when someone starts preaching about giving. Much like the rich young ruler, there are some of us who are want to follow Jesus. Or at did until the preacher started talking about your money. But the Word is hardly shy when it comes to talking about money.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
For others, you were all in for Jesus. We love our family. And we love God. But when God calls us to lay our only son on the alter as a sacrifice… or when he tells us to let the dead bury the dead… we might think ‘Who is God that he can call me to such an allegiance to himself so as to call me away from my family?’ And so we don’t listen to God, but instead we find a different teacher to tell us what we’d prefer to hear. But our Lord has told us,
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And how about when we are commanded to forgive our enemies… how many times must I forgive them… seven times? Seventy seven times?! But if God knew what this person did to me, he would make an exception right? Wrong.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We all need the Word preached to us, because we are all prone to wander from the truth.
This is one of the reasons that we preach expository sermons here at LWC. We work our way through a book of the Bible, and we go verse by verse, and chapter, because all Scripture is profitable. And if we didn’t give ourselves to exposition like this, and if it were only left to me to decide on what to preach, I would only preach the passages that I prefer.
If fact, I caught myself sinning in this area the last time I preached before you all. I called a certain passage here in 2 Timothy a doozy. Who am I to think that way about God’s perfect Word? Rather I should do as Paul himself did, when he was speaking to the Ephesians elders, he said,
for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Paul did not hold back anything that God had commanded him to preach. He was faithful to preach the entire Word of God. And any preacher worth his weight ought to do the same.
And this leads us to the next point. Paul returns to instruct Timothy to Preach the Word.
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Don’t be like those people who wander from the truth Timothy. Instead, you must be sober-minded. You’ll need to have your head on straight Timothy. And don’t give way to levity and jokes. Preaching is a serious matter of the utmost importance. So don’t give way to a drunken stupor, but instead be sober-minded so that you can be a persuader of people. And you’ll need to endure suffering along the way, because those who do not like the truth will do all that they can to harm you. Do the work of an evangelist. Preach to all people, for there are those who are outside of the fold that God has called to be a part of the fold. So preach the Word, and fulfill your ministry.
And why must Timothy do this? Paul certainly was doing a fine job at preaching.
For 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.
Timothy must fulfill his ministry, because Paul has fulfilled his.
3. Preaching is pivotal because Paul will pass away.
3. Preaching is pivotal because Paul will pass away.
There is a reason that Paul was so serious about Timothy’s preaching. Paul was about to die. And with his passing, he knows that he must pass the baton to the next generation. There is a constant need for us to be thinking about the next generation as well.
There have been faithful men preaching God’s Word for thousands of years. But with the passing of every generation, so too goes the faithful pastors who have preached the Word. We are watching what I perceive to be another generation of giants who are finishing their race.
More recently I think about men like R.C. Sproul and J.I. Packer. These two men have finished the race well. And even so we are watching as others who like Paul are nearing their end.
Such men have made a tremendous impact through the course of their ministries and even in my own life. And they will continue to teach us through their writings and recorded sermons. But as they finish their race, so too must the baton be passed to new men who must to preach the Word to the next generation. We must recognize that there is a constant need for new pastors.
But there isn’t just a need for more pastors when others die. There is a need for more pastors even as the church grows. Even for us, here at LWC as we continue to form passionate followers of Jesus by proclaiming the gospel of the glory of God, Lord willing we will also advance the multiplication of gospel saturated churches among all peoples just as we have set out to do. If we intend to multiply in disciples formed and in churches planted, then we will also need to train up more pastors to preach the Word. The need for more pastors and servants is captured in Matthew 9;
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
There is plenty of work to be done in the church, for there are many sheep, and far too few shepherds.
Where do pastors come from, do you know?
Where do the laborers come from?
Where did Timothy come from?
Do they come from the Seminaries?
No… at least that’s not where pastors start. Sure pastors go to Seminary. But before they are in seminary, young men who go on to be preachers are found in the church.
Pastors come from among the congregation of people. Listen, I never imagined that I would go on to preach. I mean it, I don’t even like public speaking. I never thought I would preach… and my guess is that there are some young men, and even some older men who feel the same way.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
There are many men even among us who are called to preach the Word. And not because you are able… but because God is pleased to work through even the weakest vessels like me. Preaching is pivotal in the church… and in order for the Word to be preached there needs to be faithful men who will rise to the task.
And for the women here as well, you all have a part to play in raising up new preachers. Remember it was Timothy’s mother and grandmother who taught him the Scriptures that he was to preach. Mothers, teach your children the Scriptures. Teach them to love the Word of God. Grandmothers, be praying for your children and your grandchildren. And you too much teach other young women how to raise their children in the instruction of the Lord. Fathers and grandfathers, you must do the same.
And for those who are elders, or if there is a guy in the room who is a youth pastor… continue to preach the Word. But don’t stop there… be sure that you are equipping other men, even young men, so that they too might shepherd the flock someday.
The Word must be preached. The life of the church is depending on it.
The preaching of the Word is pivotal
because it preserves us from the penalty of sin
and because people are prone to wander
and preaching must continue because Paul will pass away
4. Preaching is pivotal because there is a prize for those who love Jesus’ appearing.
4. Preaching is pivotal because there is a prize for those who love Jesus’ appearing.
Timothy must get a glimpse of what lies ahead for him… and we must get a glimpse of what lies ahead for us. Because there will be many trials on the way to the celestial city. Along the way we will get weary. And yet Paul has urged Timothy to be sober-minded, to endure suffering, to do the work of an evangelist, and to fulfill his ministry. And in order to help Timothy do this, Paul reminds him of the prize that God promised for those who remain faithful until the end.
For 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, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Paul‘s crown is directly connected to him fighting the good fight. Paul’s prize is a result of him having finished the race. Paul will be, and has been rewarded for having kept the the faith.
Paul has already told Timothy that
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
And Paul has competed well. Listen again to how well he has competed.
For 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, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
So Timothy, fulfil your ministry so that you too might receive the crown of righteousness. Preaching is pivotal if Timothy wishes to receive his prize. But preaching for the prize is not something that is just for the preacher. Preaching also enables others to receive their prize as well… Paul says that the crown of righteousness is not not only for him, but it is also for all who have loved the Lord’s appearing.
It’s a bit difficult to determine exactly what Paul means by “his appearing”
Because it’s used in multiple ways throughout the Scriptures. It can refer to Jesus’ incarnation, it can refer to his resurrection, and it can refer to his return. But regardless of its precise meaning here, one thing is abundantly clear. Those who loved Jesus appearing do so because they recieved the preached Word.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Why must the Word be preached? The Word must be preached so that one get a vision of Jesus. And the only way we see Jesus is through hearing the Word. This was the very purpose for wich Paul was sent as an Apostle; so that peoples eyes would be opened so that they could see Jesus.
But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
And this is exactly what Paul did
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Friends, the Word must be preached.
Preaching is pivotal because:
It preserves us from the penalty of sin
because people are prone to wander
because Paul will pass away
and because there is a prize for those who love Jesus’ appearing.
Martin Lloyd-Jones sums it up well,
”The most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need in the world also.”
We need a vision of Jesus Christ. And the way we will get a glimpse of his glory is through the preached Word. Since true preaching is what we need, let us receive the preached Word in season and out of season. May we listen even when we are reproved, rebuked, and exhorted. May the preaching of the Word glorify God and save the saints.
Let’s pray.