Preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:1-8)

By Clif Johnson, President's Message at BMA of America.

Over the last several months I have thought about what I might say to a group of preachers about preaching the Word. This is the epitome of preaching to the choir. But perhaps the reasons Paul needed to tell Timothy to preach the Word may be present in some of us today, and we could use the encouragement as well.

It seems as if Timothy’s gift of preaching was only a glowing ember instead of a roaring fire (1:6), and that he was suffering under a “spirit of fear” (1:7), perhaps even a tad bit of shame at the suffering that Paul was enduring. Maybe he had even lost a little bit of focus as to what his role was as a pastor and needed to be encouraged that, as a soldier of Christ, he was not to get entangled in civilian affairs and needed to work hard at his calling (2:4-6). There would definitely be times of difficulty in dealing with people (3:1).

I wonder if there are any pastors who have been discouraged by seasons of difficult church situations that have made you want to throw up your hands and call it quits. Could it be that there are some pastors who have become distracted by the news and events of civilian affairs so much so that they have lost focus on the real task at hand? Has the fire, the zeal for God’s Word, slowly faded until it is but a faint ember?

Pastoral ministry can do that to a man. But in the midst of all that Timothy was suffering under from the outside and also battling within himself. We find this letter rising to its climax in one clear imperative — “Preach the Word!”

So my assignment is to lay the groundwork for our theme this year — “Preach the Word” — and more precisely to compel you, men, to preach the Word in a hostile cultural context, to persevere in it, to endure the criticism and mockery that comes along with it, and to do it when it is en vogue and also when ears are closed.

From the time God flung the stars into their place, He used the canvas of the created world to preach the message of His glory, character and moral law to all humanity in what is called general revelation. But as the story of the Bible unfolds, it becomes clear that God’s primary vehicle for communicating with mankind is through mankind, particularly the office of prophet.

As Moses prepared the people for entry into a new land, he also prepared them for his removal from leadership as their prophet. Since Moses was prohibited from crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land with the nation of Israel, a natural concern of the Israelites became how God would communicate with them and to whom they were to listen. How would the people know the voice of the Lord if Moses was not there to mediate as God’s prophet? That is the concern. Moses positively answers the anxiety of the people by listing in Deut. 16-18 four sources of authority for the nation — judges, kings, priests and then prophets. Of these four leadership and authoritative positions for the nation of Israel, the role of the prophet is regarded as the most crucial because God promises to put His words in the prophet’s mouth so that the prophet will speak to the Israelites all that God commands him in order to guide the people.

One commentator (Tigay) explains, “In contrast to the king, whose power is limited, Deuteronomy strengthens the authority of the prophet. It affirms that the prophet is the successor of Moses, who was the highest authority during the desert period (v. 15).”

When God promised the Israelites a prophet like Moses, it was a promise that God would “raise up” such a man. Thus began a long line of prophets who served as God’s mouthpiece to the nation of Israel.

The Old Testament prophets removed and anointed kings by God’s command, reflecting the priority of their position as spokespersons for God (I Sam. 10:1, 16:12; I Kings 19:15-16). Eli the priest was rebuked by a “man of God” who started off his message with “Thus the Lord said” in I Sam. 2:27. The prophet Nathan, under the direction of the Lord, stared King David in the face and boldly proclaimed, “You are the man,” exposing the king’s adultery, murder and cover-up in II Samuel 12.

Proclamation through God-called men as God’s chief means of communicating to His people is maintained throughout the New Testament. However, the New Testament church faced the same problem as did the nation of Israel standing at the Jordan River — to whom was she to listen since Jesus had ascended?

Just as God gave the nation of Israel the command to listen to true prophets whom He would raise up and who would preach the covenant Word of God, so too God gives the church preachers who proclaim the revealed Christ and the apostolic message through the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:11). Just as the children of Israel needed prophets to proclaim God’s Word to them to teach them, remind them and warn them as they were living surrounded by hostility and temptation, so to do we need preachers to preach the covenant fulfillment and faithfulness of Christ in the midst of a hostile culture.

In our text for consideration, we see that Paul was calling upon Timothy to be one of those preachers; and the Holy Spirit, is calling upon you — pastor, missionary, church planter, evangelist — to be one as well. That command is set within a scriptural context, giving us at least four areas of concern when it comes to this preaching task. The gravity of the charge, the consistency needed, the contents of the charge and then, finally, the cultural context. One command, four areas of concern.

The one command, the one imperative is easy — “Preach the Word” — announce, cry out, testify to, speak boldly, sing out, make known, proclaim, herald. All of these different words are, at one time or another, translated as “preach” in the Old Testament and New Testament. The point is to make something clearly known with your voice. And what we are to make known are the sacred writings which make you wise for salvation, all Scripture, as Paul calls them.

This must be priority for the pastor — to preach the Word. It is no wonder that Paul says to the church in Corinth in I Cor. 14:1 “…eagerly desire the gifts, especially prophecy.” Earnestly desire — we are to be zealous for the operation of spiritual gifts within our church. This word has, at its root, a type of striving after something. Paul was zealous for the Corinthians and their obedience to the gospel. Here, Paul is telling the church to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, not so you can tell everyone what your gift is, but so you can use your gift within the church. But then he adds, “especially prophecy.” The church should eagerly desire, pursue, anticipate and long for the gift of prophecy to be used, to be front and center in the church. And if it is to be front and center in the church, it had better be your priority, pastor.

• The gravity of the charge — “the Presence of God.”Paul made Timothy very aware of the seriousness of the task by whom he brought to the witness stand. “Timothy, I am charging you to preach the word, and I am making my charge in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.”

In other words, Paul knew the seriousness and gravity that was involved with preaching the Word. The task at hand was not some side-hustle, it was the main thing, and Paul was willing to stake his life on it by calling the divine to witness him saying it. Paul was ready to stand before the councils of eternity and give an account of his time spent on earth, and he wanted Timothy to be able to do the same.

Timothy was perhaps waiting on a letter from Paul that said, “You gave it your best shot. You tried your hardest. Let’s move on to something else.” So you can imagine the lump in Timothy’s throat when he read this verse and wrestled with the atmosphere that was laid before him, that God was a witness over this endeavor.

Do you feel the gravity of your calling, pastor?

There are some incentives here. Notice that we are given three features about Christ — He will make another appearance, He will return, He will judge the living and the dead and He will consummate His kingdom.

“Timothy, I know you. I know your personality. I know your fears and reservations. I know the fights that lie ahead. But in spite of all of that, I am charging you, in the presence of God and Christ, to preach the Word. And don’t forget, the Christ you preach is the Victor. He is returning. He is the King, and His kingdom will be made fully known at His return.”

This was the inspired motivation Timothy needed, and it is the inspired motivation we need today, men. Never forget the seriousness of what we have been called to do in preaching the Word. The most important audience you preach in front of, the most important eyes and ears that lay hold of your message, are not the eyes and ears of the people out in front of you, but the Triune God who reigns over you. Be faithful to Him!

The great glory of preaching this Word in such a hostile context is that we are not as those who preach hoping we end up with a victory. We have the King in our corner and His charge in our hand. Preach the Word!

• The consistency that is called for of the charge — “be ready in season and out of season…” Paul called on Timothy to be prepared to carry out this charge under all circumstances. I have often heard the “in season and out season” explained that we are to have something prepared to preach at all times, so that if you are visiting a church and the pastor calls on you at the last moment to preach, you need to be ready preach. While it may be true that preachers should be ready to preach at the drop of a hat, I think the scenario in our text was a bit more consequential than that.

Paul’s words here are a charge to be consistent with biblical preaching. In other words, “Timothy, there will be times when preaching will produce wonderful results, and you will think, ‘This is what preaching is all about. This is how it should be. I love preaching!’ And then there will be times when it seems like preaching produces nothing but jeers, yawns and fights. People will ignore it, or worse yet, people will protest it. And you will think that preaching is not worth it. You will want to move to something more pragmatic, flashy and culturally acceptable. But you must keep preaching the Word.”

Timothy saw this consistency in action in Paul’s own ministry, like in Thessalonica, when the people received the Word with great joy. Then there were times in Paul’s ministry when the ministry of the Word came with many adversaries, but Paul still showed up to preach.

Maybe that is why Paul told Timothy, in some form or another, to share in suffering in every chapter of this book. He told Timothy in this book that he is to protect and guard God’s Word, which will cause suffering, and that this gospel is to be proclaimed. Protect it, persevere in it and preach it!

Our tendency today is to move to other means when the preaching of the Word seems to be losing its effectiveness. We ask questions like, “What is the culture doing to attract people? What is Disney doing? What about a shortened form of discourse like a TEDTalk (a teaching that presents an idea in 18 minutes or less)?”

Brothers, our calling is a foolish calling by the world’s standards. Our task is a foolish task by the world’s standards. Paul makes this very clear in I Corinthians. He could have come to them with all the eloquence and mastery of philosophy, but he came in the demonstration of the Spirit and power. What was that Spirit-filled, powerful demonstration — preaching Christ-crucified!

So be consistent in preaching the Word of God. This is our attractional feature because it puts on display the wisdom and power and subversive nature of God.

So, what are we to do when we preach?

• The contents of the charge — “rebuke, reprove, correct…”Paul gives us several tools in order to carry out our task effectively. Notice them with me:

Reprove (correct) — The idea of reproving or correcting carries with it the image of herding sheep back to the green grass. There were some people that were upsetting the faith of others, getting them off track, and they needed to be reproved and corrected. You will have to do that in pastoral ministry. Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders will, at times, need to be corrected. They will get off course in their teaching and their understanding of doctrine, and they will need to be guided back to Scripture.

We have to be careful here because there are core doctrines we must not get wrong, that we must not budge on, and there are core ethical outworking of the gospel that we must hold up — things like the inerrancy of Scripture, the atoning work of Christ and the deity of Christ. But then there are interpretative issues, and issues of conscience that we can discuss and debate, and still be in fellowship.

But Timothy needed to correct some men, and you will too in preaching.

Rebuke — If those people do not listen, then you must rebuke them. This word is stronger than reprove and carries with it the sense of warning or punishment that is headed to the person who refuses to heed God’s Word. This is not a fun part of the task, but it is still part of the job. If we are not willing to rebuke, to warn our people of the dangers they are facing by being cavalier with God’s Word or flat out defiant of it, then we are not being loving toward our people or faithful toward God.

No doubt Timothy thought this to be a hard task, but a needed one, nonetheless.

Exhort/encourage — When people do listen to God’s Word, and desire to follow Him, then encourage them. Nurture them. Be their cheerleader. Keep pointing them to find their strength and wisdom in Christ.

With all patience — This is perhaps the most important piece of the preaching mechanics. Be patient. Paul has previously told Timothy about Jesus’ patience with Paul in I Tim. 1:16. Jesus’ patience is perfect patience, complete patience. Preachers, pastors — be patient with your people. Show grace and love. Even in the midst of reproving and rebuking, show grace.

Some of us are not like Timothy, and we are not timid in reproving and rebuking. Perhaps it may be just the opposite. Perhaps you enjoy it too much, which then crosses the line from being biblical to just being a bully. Yes, there are times and moments when you are to stand flat-footed and chest out and unashamedly declare a bold and difficult Word, and you are to do it without apology. But it is all to be done in love, and the love should be evident.

Teaching — Not only are we to preach with complete patience, but also with complete teaching. The idea here is not so much complete content, but rather complete skill. Timothy, preach intelligently, using sound arguments, convincing proofs and consistent application. You are not just a person who stands in front of a group of people and throws words at them. You are a preacher, and within that preaching, there is to be instruction, teaching, explaining, illustrating, applying and guiding. You are a shepherd. You are a leader. You are a disciple-maker and part of that task is teaching them to observe/to do all Christ has commanded. This type of preaching is what anchors God’s people so that they can stand against a hostile culture, which is what Paul moves to next.

• The Context of the Charge — the current cultural context. We now come to two very important reasons why Paul is urgent in his charge to Timothy, to start now with taking up this mantle of preaching the Word in this way particular way.

The Drift is happening — “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions...” Why should pastors and preachers do all that Paul has just commanded Timothy to do so that churches can be grounded in God’s Word? Because there is coming a time when people will not endure sound, healthy teaching.

It wouldn’t be a shock to you to say that we are in that time. We live in a time when objective truth is a thing of the past, and people are more likely to believe a compelling story, a moving story, even one that is filled with error, half-truths, full lies and is missing facts, so long as it moves the emotions. In the post-modern, post-truth culture we find ourselves in, people have stopped trying to make logical arguments to appeal to the mind and have started telling stories that appeal to the heart, no matter if they are stripped of data, analysis or any authority. People in the church world are doing this, which always leads to them following a Jesus of their own making, a Jesus to their liking.

Not only will people not endure healthy, reason-based teaching, but they will gather around themselves, they will heap upon themselves, teachers who tell them what they want to hear. The word for “accumulate” or gather around is an interesting word. It is only used in this one place by Paul, and it means to pile on, or to collect more than enough or more than is needed. As one commentary states, “Just one dubious teacher is too many, but these people heap up a surplus.”

In our day it is not too difficult to find teachers who will gladly tell you what you want to hear. They are all over the bookstores, the internet, podcasts and television. They amass large followings by appealing to what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear. But you preacher, are not to preach to please yourself or your hearers, but rather are to preach as God has spoken in His Word. Remember, He is watching. He is listening. It is in His presence that we live out this charge. Be faithful to Him!

My Departure is coming. Paul gave Timothy another reason why Timothy is to heed this charge — “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.” Paul told Timothy that not only was a drift happening away from sound teaching, but Paul also told Timothy that Paul’s death was imminent, and he is expecting Timothy to take on his mantle of preaching the Word.

Think with me about where Paul was when he wrote this letter and why he was there. Paul was in prison for preaching and living out the gospel, which will lead to his martyrdom. And he is calling on Timothy to do the same thing. Voddie Baucham summed up the book of II Timothy by saying, “Timothy, they are about to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do, take my place and preach the gospel until they kill you, too.”

Men, the health of our association rests on this — the consistent, continual, biblical proclamation of the Word of God near and far. How are they (the world) to hear without someone preaching? How are they to hear that God calls on every man to repent and believe in the good news of the salvation obtained by His Son? How are they to hear that God has made a way, the way, for any man, woman, boy or girl to come to Him by grace through faith in the work of the cross?

Who is to carry the torch? The torch of preaching sound doctrine; the torch of preaching Christ crucified, risen and coming again; the torch of preaching sustainable discipleship; the torch of preaching church planting and missions? Who is to carry the torch?

Some of you are in the sunset of your ministry. And may I encourage you not to retire. Preach until your dying day. It may not look like what it looked like in years past, but don’t retire from ministry. Don’t retire from preaching. We need older men to look younger men squarely in the face and call them to high, biblical expectations of this charge. Then we need those older men to swing their arm around their shoulders and walk with them, encourage them as those younger men set out to do that very thing.

Are you tired, pastor? Are you frustrated at the drift that is taking place? Are you fearful? Preach the Word! Finish the race! Fight the good fight because the King will return. He will return because, as we all preached on Easter Sunday — He rose again. His resurrection power is the same power that enables you to endure, persevere, suffer, do the work and fulfill your ministry.