Sermon Cloud

2 Tim is a very personal letter from a senior pastor to a junior pastor; and all the more so as Paul knows he will probably die soon. So what he says to Timothy has all the greater poignancy.

This last chapter rises to a crescendo with the great charge – 2 Tim 4:2 Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.  

The focus of gospel ministry; the essential “charge”, 1-8

Paul has been working up to this all through this letter. In ch 1 he gave Tim much encouragement to keep going and get the task accomplished – to testify about our Lord, 1:8. In ch 2 Paul made use of his own example to show tim how to be a faithful minister of the gospel, fleeing evil and facing hardships, not getting caught up in trivial issues. In Ch 3 Tim is reminded that he’s in the last days – as we also are – he can expect opposition and is given the authoritative Scriptures to equip him.

Everything builds up to this pertinent charge in 4:2 Preach the word. This is Tim’s task – and ours also - to make Christ known

Paul presses his metaphorical finger into Timothy’s chest and says BUT YOU, 3:10 and again 4:5, thus connecting  3:10-17 to 4:1-7. Tim is to continue in what he’s learnt; he must stand firm in the truth in a way in which others have not. And in contrast to those who constantly adjust their message, 4:5, he is to remain faithful to his calling as a gospel teacher.  Let’s unpack the charge.

Look at its solemnity, 1

In the presence of God, 1. This is designed as a wake up call. Tim was brought up in a godly home from his grandmother and mother; he would have a high view of God. So he would sit up when he read this – and so should we. Here comes a high calling.

But its not only in the presence of God – its in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. Christ, his title coming first. Christ who has done everything possible to restore Paul and Tim and every believer, into a right relationship with God, through his death.

And not only in the presence of God & of Christ Jesus, but Paul adds who will judge the living and the dead. We are all accountable to God; cos you’re either living or dead. Paul’s charge to Tim is therefore extremely serious.  Jesus will appear on earth once again, returning as King in his kingdom.

“In the presence of this God and his Son; with his judgement an appearance before you, Tim I, Paul the apostle from God, give you this most important charge of all, Preach the word.”

Look at its content, 2

Its almost too simple - preach the word.  Ah yes, but its not just any old word, that Tim might like to say -this is the word; the spoken utterance from God. This is the great body of truth that Paul passed on to Tim, and he must now pass on to others.  This is the good deposit of ch 1:14, or what Paul will go on to call the sound teaching, 4:3, the truth, 4:4. This is what we call the Bible; it’s the Holy Scriptures breathed out from God which Timothy has learned and firmly believed, 3:14. 

This same charge is laid upon the church of every age. We have no liberty to make up what we say; our task is to communicate what is given, what God has already spoken, and is now committed to us as a sacred trust. Tim is to preach this word; yes, he must hear it, yes, he must learn it, yes he must obey it, live it, even suffer for it. But he must also preach it.

That doesn’t mean he must stand up in pulpits – they didn’t have such things. It means he must herald it; speak it out, like the town crier. He is to use his voice – not necessarily shouting – but speaking clearly and boldly explaining the truth God has given. And we are to do the same – we are to find all the opportunities we can, to explain, and reason and proclaim the truth of God from the Scriptures. It may be over coffee, or the water-cooler at work one-on-one. It may be with a small group over lunch at the pub; it may be in more organised ways. One reason we use a pulpit is for efficiency; you can speak to a larger group than you could reach one-one-one, and the cong in turn can speak to others.

Look at its urgency, 2

Paul says we are to do this at all times, some convenient, others not – in season and out of season – whether we feel like it or not. There is an urgency here; be prepared is a military term – always be at the ready. We are to grab every opportunity to talk about Christ and the gospel. It’s to be on our lips.

Look at its effect, 2

This word when used well corrects, rebukes and encourages. The first two – correct and rebuke – were highlighted in 3:16 as two of the purposes of the Bible. Some people struggle with wrong understanding of truth – and may well end up with all sorts of doubts. A good explainer uses the Scriptures to correct such faulty understanding, and remove the doubts.

Other people are just living wrongly; they’re enmeshed in their sins and don’t want to break free. They need to be rebuked by the word of God.  But some people are haunted by all sorts of fears; they will be changed by warm encouragement from the Scriptures. All this involves relevant application

Look at its method, 2

But look how its to be done: with great patience and careful instruction. Isn’t that a brilliant corrective to hounding people?  Urgent yet patient. Drive it home, yet never rudely. And its to be done with much thought, careful instruction. Essentially gospel ministry is a teaching ministry; it is word based, so we need careful instruction. This is why we must pray for the planning of our teaching programmes; what books and themes we should study in church and small groups. We must choose carefully.

Look at the problem, 3-4

The problem of people refusing to accept the truth of the Scriptures is nothing new. The reason the charge is so important is because some people shut their ears to the gospel. I suggest they don’t always walk away from church, but sit around amongst us, hear what we say, but refuse to let it change them.  Rather they would listen to those who please them, maybe butter them up, maybe tell them that they’re not too bad at all, in fact they are quite good people really.  This is just what we all like to hear.  But who says we’re good?  Self-salvation is a terrible blight on us. The gospel well applied shows the awful state of our hearts, and encourages us to run to Christ.

Tim is not to walk away – even if others turn away from the truth, and follow silly myths, he is to keep his head in all situations, 5. 

Look at the endurance needed, 5-8

“Tim, keep going my son. Its tough, you may not be a natural evangelist – but keep explaining the truth. I may not be alive much longer, I’ve already fought the fight, but now the responsibilities are falling on you. I will receive my crown; indeed all who long for Jesus’ appearing will get theirs.  So keep going and carry out all your duties”.   That’s the charge. Although each of us is to preach the word, and it may well be tough, we aren’t to do it alone.

The collaboration of  gospel ministry; the essential workers, 9-22

Some have deserted, eg Demas, 10. Some have opposed, eg Alexander, 14.

Tim, Mark and Luke, however remain faithful. But for gospel ministry you need warm clothes and good books, 13 – the new JR translation. You need enough money to live and cloth yourself – even if it is supplied without a regular salary. And you must have the tools – good books.

So .. will you keep going or will you desert?  Will you stick with the gospel, or turn away from it?  Today is the time to decide those issues.  We don’t need any more deserters – our liberal churches are full of people who’ve had conversion experiences, believed the bible once, and have now ditched it. But we do need loads more gospel workers, like Paul and Tim, and Mark and Luke. We need to raise up what an Aussie friend of mine calls BWW – blokes worth watching. We need people who won’t run away, but will keep going even when it gets tough. What will hold us firm – the gospel. We must fight for the gospel. Will you pledge with me to be like Paul and Tim, a gospel fighter?

~~end

Pray: Dear Father God and Judge Jesus, thank you for giving your church the most solemn of all charges – to preach THE word – your word, breathed our from you, inscripturated into our Bibles, and given for us to teach. We take this charge to Timothy to our own hearts this morning, realising that we the church at FBC are now responsible for continuing the same apostolic work. These are pretty dark days spiritually, and yet you haven’t abandoned us – you have your elect even here in this town. Give us the courage and urgency to continue to make Christ known from the Scriptures with great patience and careful instruction. Help us to keep sober about the task, to see how we can build teams to do the work together, and to avoid going down blind mythological alleys.  Give us the grace, the persistence and the joy of encouraging more and more people to trust and follow Christ we pay.

For your glory O Lord, Amen.