March 30, 2008
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
In order not to break up the continuity of our 2nd Peter series we will be looking at a parallel passage related to false teachers and teaching here in 2nd Timothy. (Note: this is because of Resurrection Sunday services and guest speakers).
For me, 2 of the most provocative epistles in the NT are 2nd Peter and 2nd Timothy – in part because they are both “death- bed epistles.” In effect, both of these letters are the words of dying men. See 4:6-7.
Background and overview of 2nd Timothy.
Beyond the non-negotiable spiritual and life requirements for pastors found in 1st Timothy 3 and in Titus there are other requirements, or “charges” if you will, found in the NT that pastors need to know and practice.
For example: here in 2nd Tim. 4:1-5 we have the apostle Paul’s charge to his beloved son Timothy to preach the Word and by extension the charge to every pastor to preach the Word – to proclaim without apology and without compromise the whole counsel of God.
I. The basis for the charge. See 4:1.
A. Jesus’ judgment.
1. Paul specifically identifies Jesus (not God the Father) as the one “who will judge the living and the dead.” See John 5:22-23 & 27.
2. This reality of judgment should bear hard on a pastor – and on any Christian for that matter. See 2nd Cor. 5:9-10. Also: James 3:1 and Hebrews 13:17.
B. Jesus’ appearing and His Kingdom.
II. The charge to preach the Word. See 4:2.
5 imperatives or commands in the original Greek
A. Preach the Word.
1. The word “preach” here is κηρυσσχ which means to “proclaim aloud or to herald.” See also 2:8-9 & 15.
2. By placing the command to “preach the Word” first, and then enlarging it with the following imperatives, Paul makes preaching the most important of these 5 commands.
B. Be prepared in season and out of season.
1. Be prepared to preach the Word whether you feel like it or not; whether you’ve lost sleep or not; whether you think anything is happening when you preach or not; when people are happy with your preaching or not happy; whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
2. A pastor, including this one, must be a man of the Word; he must study it; he must know it; he must be as familiar with it as he is with the layout of his home; and when he preaches, he must put all the Bible that he can into his preaching and let the Word do the work.
C. The final 3 imperatives form a group: convince (or correct), rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.
III. The reason for the charge. See 4:3-4
A. Why must Timothy preach the Word? Because people naturally move away from the truth – it’s their bent. One of the key reasons that false teachers are so prolific is because people are naturally bent and inclined towards moving away from the truth.
1. This is seen from Genesis 3 all the way to Revelation. See also Jer. 5:31 and Ez. 33:32.
2. The sad truth is because of the fall, people enjoy hearing things that are different and sensational. Following the pattern we see in the nation of Israel, people who call themselves Christian will find Biblical truth intolerable. We don’t have to go to seminary to understand what’s happening in the world today and in the church today. God have given us the answers right here in His Word.
B. A pastor has to preach the Word in its historical setting; in the context of the whole Bible; connecting the appropriate Biblical dots; and showing all the ways that this book is a revelation of Jesus Christ and as one writer put it: “this is why a pastor must sweat in the study and in the pulpit.”
Conclusion
We are living in perilous and difficult days – and they will not get better – only worse. And yet God’s charges for a pastor’s life and ministry will not change until the blessed return of our Lord Jesus Christ.