We have previously seen in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 that we live in a world that doesn’t take naturally to the truth of God’s Word. This is confirmed once more in our text, in 4:3,4, in which we shall see that
people do not naturally love to listen to sound, plain teaching from the Word of God [cf. 2 Cor. 4:1ff].
Even though the Bible is an extra ordinary, God inspired book book, we find
that we are not naturally drawn to the reading of the Bible
and to the listening of the simple
and clear exposition of the Bible,
without gimmicks added.
We struggle to keep
up a basic discipline to read the Word regularly and systematically and to sit
regularly under public Bible teaching. By nature people are more inclined to love myth. By nature they love drama and hype and noise., and therefore they would far sooner gather around themselves teachers who tell them
what they want to hear, rather than what they
need to hear.
Our appetite for truth
and obedience and love for
God does not come naturally, even after we are converted.
We struggle because our old nature battles with the new nature which we have received
at conversion (Eph.4 :17ff).
In truth it sometimes
feels as if two
dogs were living inside of us – a
good dog and an evil one, and, depending
on which dog we feed more – that dog wins
the battle for our heart and minds. Because of this, Christians that frequently wander
away from the Lord tend to struggle with depression.
All this is due to the fact that we continue to live in a
fallen word in which there is a fallen being, which the Bible calls Satan. John
says that the world is in the grip of the evil one (1 Jn. 5:19). The apostle John
calls this the spirit of the anti-Christ (1 Jn.
2:18,22). The apostle Paul calls this “the
devil’s schemes”, the “powers of this
dark world … spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms“. Paul also
reminds us in Ephesians 6:10-18, that our
life is a battle against the devil who
seeks to control and manipulate this
world which God has created.
This battle manifests itself primarily in a dislike for absolute
truth. The Bible claims such status for itself: It is absolute truth (John 17:17), and for this reason Satan
among many other schemes has made sure
that there would be a massive battle for the reliability, authority and
trustworthiness of the Bible in the last century. Satan knows that God’s
truth is against him. And so he tries to minimize and relativize the
significance of God’s Word. Satan’s strategy in the garden of Eden, by
which he deceived Eve is still the same strategy which he uses today. He still whispers into our ears, “Has God really said … Did He really mean this?” (Gen. 3:1) He wants us to
question God. He wants us to question God’s authority. And people under his
power do the same.
Thankfully, I can tell you this on the authority of God’s
word, that this battle, though it is often
very testing and trying, it is ultimately
a battle
which belongs to the Lord. Our text here
in 2 Tim 3:14 - 4:2 teaches us a high view of God’s Word, and it speaks to us of the fact that there
will be a day of vindication, ‘by his
appearing and his kingdom’, when
Christ shall instantly overturn the
works of Satan, and when His truth shall reign.
Having then discussed
the state of the world in 3: 1-9, and having established the
basis for the inevitability of evil and
suffering and the Christian’s
perpetual struggle against it (in 3:10-13) and having given the antidote
against all evil and deception
by holding on to the authority of the
Word of God ( in 3:14-17), Paul now makes a
solemn charge to Timothy, pastor in the
city of Ephesus in 4:1-4.
Observe then:
·
V.1
The seriousness of the charge.
·
V.2
The content of that charge.
·
Vv.
3,4 The
context to this charge.
1. A serious charge (v.1)
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. You and I are living in the midst of
this great battle for faith. What must Timothy do – what must we do in the meantime, while we wait for Christ’s appearing and kingdom? Paul is giving
a solemn charge, and it sounds almost like
a charge made at an ordination
service or the administration of an oath
in which he calls on God to be a witness.
In doing so he piles up five solemn phrases: (i) “I charge you....” (ii) “ in the presence of God” (iii)
“and of Christ Jesus“ (iv) “Who
is to judge the living and the dead”
(v) “and
by his appearing and his kingdom”.
What Paul is about to say is a very weighty matter. “In the light of all that I have said before
I am charging you before God with this, Timothy! In the
light of the days that we are living in and the circumstances that we are
living under, don’t fail in this! For this you will have to give account ultimately not to me or to your congregation. You will have to give an account to God the Father and the Lord Jesus (and
I want to add, the Holy Spirit
because he has inspired the Word cf. 2
Tim. 3:16) – the Tri-une God is the
One we have to look to and give
account to!
2. The content of the
charge (v.2)
‘Preach the word. Be ready in season and
out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.’ Take note of the 5 imperatives: preach, be ready, reprove, rebuke, and
exhort. All this is contained in the duty of preaching the Word in these
days.
Preach! (Gr. kērussō – to
announce/ herald - making a
public announcement). Publicly proclaim
the divinely authorized message from God to man. This is really the same work
that the Lord Jesus came to do (e.g. Matt.
4:17). He made a public announcement: “Repent
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
That same work He gave His disciples to do at various times and in the
great commission (Matt. 28:18-20).
This became the work of the apostles and many others after Pentecost. They
preached the word of the gospel to all nations!
Why is it so crucial and so very urgent that this same Word
needs to be preached today? Because every new generation needs to hear this. Because there is a judgment to come!
When does the Word of God need to be
preached? In season (Gr. eukairos) – when the time is opportune and when people are eager to hear, and out
of season (Gr. akairos) when, as in the
days of Jeremiah nobody wants to listen. The Word from God needs
to be preached whether people think it is relevant or not; when people
are responsive or not.
How does this word need to be preached?
· “Reprove and rebuke…”. Preaching is not only the
proclaiming of what the Bible teaches positively. Preaching needs to contain warning.
There is no prophet in the Bible that did not, in the Name of God, warn the people of his day. The work of the
prophet was to hold the Word of God before people and to warn them concerning their sins. They spoke to the people’s conscience,
and they aimed for conviction with a view to repentance. The prophet reminded people of the
consequences of sin, and he wasn’t allowed to water down the truth. It is very tempting to focus only on
positives, and never say what is wrong. Preachers need to do both, and people need to
know the difference, and that means being both positive and negative in our
proclamation.
· Exhort (Gr. parakaleo – admonish, urge). Get alongside them and speak to them in a fatherly or motherly way. Persuade them
to turn from wrong things or from a wrong course of action. Encourage them to do what is right in God’s eyes.
Remember that the
power for salvation lies in the preaching of the Word [Rom. 1:16-17] "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believes; to the Jew first, and also to the gentile."
3. The Context of this Charge: (vv. 3,4)
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.
Timothy needs to keep on preaching the truth, because a time
is coming when people will prefer myths to truth. They will prefer messages
that their itching ears want to hear. They will prefer that to listening to God’s
Word, and in the midst of such times there needs to be the proclamation of that
unchanging prophetic Word of God, standing out as a tall beacon of eternal truth, even when men
and women prefer myths.
The task of preaching the Word of God is so urgent because of the imminent spiritual dangers to the flock
of God, and in the light of His appearing. Let me say this again. The world is for ever
pressurizing the church to of compromise the truth. And it’s a subtle pressure.
But it always relates to the seriousness with which we regard the Word of Truth.
And so we find that churches no longer read the Bible publicly. We find services
where the word of God may be read, and then the message has absolutely nothing
to do with it; and then we have services which lead the people astray with
false teaching. We see this everywhere and I have to deal with this on an almost
weekly basis.
And the preaching of
the Word is so urgent because of
the fact that God has appointed a
time of accounting when at
the time of His appearing He will judge ALL people by the standard of His Word. Flee from the wrath that is to come! (Lk. 3:7)
More than ever we need
to be urged to preach the Word because of these days that are reflected in vv. 3 & 4 , are reflected in our own times. God’s
kingdom is appearing. Every day, hour, minute and second it is coming nearer.
The Judge is standing at the door (James 5:9). And when He is here
the day of salvation is over. That is why the counsel of Hebrews is
critical- “TODAY, if you hear his voice … do not harden your hearts” (Hebr. 3:7,15;4:6)
Now, you may be saying, ‘That's
all very fine and good’. This is not for
me. This is a word for preachers. But
think very carefully about your response
.
·
This is a word for you too because you have people in your
circle that no pastor- preacher can reach.
Have you not been entrusted with the gospel? In fact, your pastor
preacher is there to equip you to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12).
·
This is a word for you. You need to hear the urgency of the Word - ”by
his appearing and his kingdom:
PREACH THE WORD!” When this season of grace is over men and women will have
to give an account of themselves before God. And it will be gnashing of teeth for many. Tell them now before it’s too late.
·
This is a word for you. We need faithful, systematic biblical
teaching and expository preaching, giving us the whole counsel of God. You don’t
need psychological pep talks and feel good sermons. No, you need God's logic- God's way of thinking about this world! Granted, it can be challenging to sit under God's Word because it convicts you in areas that you might not want to have touched or addressed. The Word of God plainly spoken has the habit to invade places in your inner being that you have been trying to keep
God out of. That can be very painful,
and yet, it is so very necessary that God should do this work in us, for the Word of God is given to cure us of our spiritual (and associated) diseases.
That is why we remain committed to expository preaching. When you’re preaching God's word, you are
giving people answers to the real questions and issues in life. So this is relevant for you, for it
helps you to pray for your preachers who are charged to preach the Word and who lead by example.
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