PREACH THE WORD.
2 Timothy 4:1-5.
Paul has just given Timothy the assurance that “ALL Scripture is out-breathed by God and is profitable… that the man of God may be” complete, fully equipped for whatever work God has for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
“I charge you therefore before God,” continues Paul. This is an emphatic exhortation, such as we might hear in a court room: ‘I adjure you by God.’ Paul reinforces the solemnity of what he is saying by adding the name of “the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). What great motivations to preaching: not only the commission of God, but also the prospect of Christ’s appearing and kingdom.
Against a background of false teachers, and hypocritical hearers who will not endure sound teaching, Paul exhorted Timothy to urgently preach the word (2 Timothy 4:2a). The young minister was to do this both when it seemed comfortable and seasonable (to the preacher) to do so, and when it seemed incredibly difficult.
To “preach the word” is to proclaim the message that God has already spoken. “The Word” is a name for Scripture: but “the Word” is also a name for Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:1). If we are truly preaching the Bible, then ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ will be at the very centre of our message (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:2).
The preacher is a herald, making the message of the gospel known through all legitimate means: whether as the man in the pulpit in a church building; the person conducting gospel meetings in their own home; the broadcaster using the vast resources of television, radio, and internet to reach the widest possible audience; or as a town-crier in the market place. Or the scattered church, ‘gossiping the gospel’ wherever they go (cf. Acts 8:4).
Preaching involves reproof, rebuke, and exhortation (2 Timothy 4:2b). Reproof is an act of persuasion, exposing wrong thinking in a call to true repentance and amendment of life. Rebuke is sterner, confronting those who rebel against the word of God. Exhortation draws alongside and encourages.
All this is to be done with patience, and above all with “doctrine” = sound teaching. The preacher is also to be a teacher, whether in challenging the unconverted, or in building up believers in their most holy faith.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3). The time has come, and has long been present, when even in the churches sound gospel preachers have been marginalised, and “teachers” of ideas more palatable to the modern “ear” are sought after.
The fact of the matter is that people cannot bear to hear the truth. “And they shall turn their ears away from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4). In other words, people shall perish for the lack of pure gospel preaching!
“But you,” says Paul to the preacher (2 Timothy 4:5).
“Watch in all things.” In other words, be steady. Dare to be different, to fly in the face of modern trends.
“Endure afflictions.” Persevere in sound teaching, even when people have a bad reaction to it.
“Do the work of an evangelist.” Make the gospel known, without watering it down.
“Make full proof of your ministry.” Keep at it, until your life’s work is done!
