Preach the Word

The Charge to Preach to the End

In 1922, the craftsman commissioned to etch the 2nd Inaugural Address on to the wall of the Lincoln Memorial made a mistake. Instead of etching in stone, “Hope for the Future,” he put “Hope for the Euture” replacing the F with an E. There is no spell check when you are working with stone. Can you imagine that craftsman looking at the wall with pride when someone comes next to him and points out the mistake? If I noticed the mistake, I’d probably say, “Bro, you had one job.” 

You had one job. If someone has ever said this to you, it probably means you have messed up pretty bad. My first year of marriage Ellen sent me to the store to get peaches and ice cream so she could make peach cobbler for company. I came home with frozen peaches and cookies and cream ice cream. Dave, you had one job. After 20 years of marriage, I still return from the grocery store and hear, “You had one job,” after I return with the one thing I was sent for.  

No one wants to hear it, but mistakes are bound to happen. Although we can laugh at ourselves when things don't go as planned, there are certain times we never want to hear, “You had one job.” As a pastor one day I will stand before the Lord and I do not want to hear, “Dave, you had one job.” 2 Timothy 4:1-5 lays out the “one job” of pastors. Of course, pastors are called to do many things, but the one thing they must do is preach the Word. Paul has just encouraged Timothy to continue in what he has learned and firmly believed. And then writes of the Word of God, 2 Timothy 3:16–17,

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

Paul has given his young protege a strong foundation in the Word of God and its importance. Timothy knows the Word and loves the Word, but now he will be charged, yet again, to preach the Word. Timothy, you have one job. Preach the Word. 

The Charge of the Word (2 Tim 4:1)

Paul wants to ensure Timothy understands the weight of the responsibility to preach the Word. He begins not with the task itself, but the one who is given the task. 2 Timothy 4:1,

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: 

Can you feel the weightiness of this prelude to the command? This is not a normal charge. This is one of supreme seriousness and substance. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. Timothy knows that whatever comes after this is of extreme importance. Paul does not use this language often but when he does, he knows he should pay attention. 

First, he charges him in the presence of God. God is everywhere. As the Psalmist says, Psalm 139:7–10

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me. 

This is both an encouragement and a warning. It is a warning to Timothy that God is always watching. There is nothing we do in this life absent of the presence of God. He is everywhere. We may be tempted to slack off on our work, when the boss is not around, but the Boss of bosses is always around. God is ever-present. And that should also be an encouragement to Timothy. God is with you. He will work in and through his word for his good purposes. What an encouragement to Timothy! 

Paul highlights the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ placing him right next to God the Father. They are one. Paul adds more than merely the presence of the Lord Jesus but heightens the charge by placing it in an eternal context. The preaching is merely for this life, but it is for eternity as Jesus who will judge the living and the dead. Jesus is over all. Every soul will answer to him. Jesus has absolute authority.

Friend, how do you respond to hearing those words, “Jesus, who is to judge the living and dead?” Are you ready for that judgment? Are you ready to stand before Jesus Christ? Friend, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ I hope you would consider those words: Jesus, who is to judge the living and dead. You are either living or dead and both will be judged. 

As a pastor, we have to keep the judgment of Jesus in the forefront of our minds. The most important thing in our ministry is not what happens today, but what happens on THAT day. Of course, we are concerned with your temporal comforts and the things causing stress or worry today, but we are supremely concerned with what will happen to you when you die. Paul goes on to say, “and by his appearing and kingdom.” The appearing could refer to his first appearing as a man from Nazareth who died on a cross and was raised from the dead. It also could mean his future appearing at the end of days when he returns as Lord and Judge. The Kingdom also has both a present-day and future reality. 

I think Paul has both in view. He wants Timothy to preach right now with an eye on eternity. In my own preaching, one of the most helpful realities is that my main audience is not the people in the pews, but I preach in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. I want my words to be pleasing to the Father and to the Lord Jesus. And this has helped me to preach with boldness to man as I try to humble myself to God. Will I preach what people want to hear or will I preach to please God the Father and Christ Jesus? Do I have eternity in view? Have I lifted my eyes from the temporal to the eternal? 

My one job as I stand in this pulpit is to preach Christ and him crucified. To prepare you to live and die for Jesus Christ. Are you ready to die? Are you ready for the judgment of God? And this is why we preach Christ and him crucified. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only way we can withstand the judgment of God. We must believe. We must believe we are sinners and Jesus is the Savior. We must believe the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, do not delay. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. This weekend we had several sixteen year olds driving in a golf cart around their neighborhood. They were simply being kids when the careless negligence of one driver hit them head on. Killing one instantly and sending the others to the hospital. Our hearts are grieving for those families. Their world was changed in an instant. And it is a reminder, yours could be too. Are you ready for the judgment?

The Command of the Word (2 Tim 4:2)

After the charge, after the reminder of eternal realities and the coming judgment of Christ, Paul gives the command to Timothy. 2 Timothy 4:2,

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 

There are five commands here, not merely one. The Christian minister must preach the Word. The word preach has a connotation of herald proclaiming the message from the king. It is not merely teaching but it is not less. 

In Nehemiah 8, Ezra gathered all the people and read the Bible and explained it. This is the essence of preaching. Nehemiah 8:1–8,

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 

Notice how attentive the people were to the Word of God. As it was opened, the people stood. It was not merely Ezra, but Ezra along with others. A plurality of leaders has always been God’s plan. And what did these leaders do, they gave the sense of what the Word said. They explained so that the people could understand and obey. We see this pattern continue in the synagogue. Paul’s missionary strategy would be to go to a city and on the Sabbath day go to the synagogue, Acts 13:14b–16,

And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.”

Paul would give a sense to what was read in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been the pattern of God’s prophets and teachers throughout the ages. Read the passage, explain it and call the people to obey it. 

Pastors preach by reading the word and giving the sense so that people can understand and obey. But it is not merely explaining the text but exhorting and persuading people to follow it. Paul charges Timothy to reprove, rebuke and exhort. Timothy must correct people but also charge them to obey the Word. The aim is not mere instruction with an intellectual response but an exhortation that applies to the mind and the heart. The text says to be ready in season and out of season. They must be ready when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient. The Christian minister must always be ready to preach the Word. 

And he must do this with complete patience and teaching. It often takes things a while to sink in and understand. Paul is reminding Timothy not to be harsh with the sheep but tender and patient with them. He needs to teach them again and again, allowing the Spirit to penetrate their hearts and to turn them to the truth. The power is not in the pastor. He cannot cause anyone to change, but it is through the Word. The Word does the work. We preach and pray and God by his grace grows the church. Mark 4:26–29,

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

What a helpful reminder of the patience needed in seed scattering. We plant and water, but God will bring the increase. Let us preach and go to sleep and God will do the work.  

If the command given to Timothy, and by extension to Pastors like him, to preach the Word, what does this mean for the congregation? Let me offer several implications.

First - be those who are ready to hear and obey the Word of God. If God is commanding pastors, to preach in presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, by his appearing and kingdom, then you are commanded to hear the preaching in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, by his appearing and his kingdom. Is that how you hear the Word? Do you have that level or awareness and eagerness  every week? You must be hearers of the Word. And of course we do not want to be hearers only, but doers of the Word. And we can’t be doers of the Word unless we first hear the Word. 

Second - encourage your pastors to preach the Word. Pray for their preaching and for their mind and soul every week. Help them prioritize the preaching of the Word. Each sermon takes time to study and think through all its meaning and how to apply it to the congregation. If possible, as our church has done, give someone the time to dedicate their lives to the preaching of the Word. It is not lost on me of the great privilege it is for me to be freed by this congregation so that I could give myself to the studying, preparing and preaching of God’s Word. 

Third - prepare yourself for Word. Read the passage several times before Sunday. Pray before you arrive for the preaching of the Word and for the reception of the people. Get a good night of sleep so it's easier to focus. Grow your attention span so you can focus clearly for 40-45 minutes without distraction. 

The Conservation of the Word (2 Tim 4:3-4)

Why do we preach? We preach because God has commanded us to preach. And one of the reasons God has commanded us to preach is because people will be enticed and lure by the world to listen to lies and myths over the truth. 2 Timothy 4:3–4,

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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 

Paul reminds Timothy of the day he is living in, the last days, when the times will be difficult. People will not endure sound teaching or they will not put up with sound doctrine. They will not want to listen to what the Word says, but want something to affirm their own desires and passions. They will find teachers to say what they want them to say. This is the challenge of our day and every day until Christ returns. 

People don’t want to hear the truth but only want to hear what they want to hear. This is why Timothy specifically has been charged to rebuke and reprove and exhort. I am so thankful for our congregation in how you love the Word of God. It is a tremendous encouragement that you do, but I am under no illusion that will always be the case. Why? For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from the truth and wander off into myths. 

When you hear that verse I imagine many of you would be like Peter  on the night of the crucifixion, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Peter didn’t even make it through the night, what makes us think we will be any different? We want to believe the best about ourselves, but we must have a realistic understanding of our hearts. The text says people will gather teachers to suit their own passions. So we have to be aware of our own passions. Do you study your desires? Why are you angry? Why do you lust? Why are you filled with jealousy and comparison? Are you away of what teaching may sound appealing to you? 

We want to first hear this text for ourselves and then we hear for those in our lives. There are lots of teachers out there. There are lots of opinions and lots of ideas on how to live and think, but none of those teachers out there are responsible for your souls like the elders of the church. We will be held accountable before God on how we shepherd your souls. And you will be held accountable on how you follow. A couple of years ago we had a family who had started to be sporadic and very inconsistent in their church attendance. I sent a text, “I hope you are doing well. I am praying for you. I haven’t seen you in awhile and I am concerned for you.” Instead of hearing that love, they heard it in suspicion and anger. “Why would he be concerned about me?” They have turned away from listening to the truth. 

I am concerned about who you listen to and whose teaching you are following. There are false prophets all around the world and with the internet they can be streamed into your home. The best way to protect yourself from your own passions is the regular hearing of God’s Word. This gathering week in and week out protects you from you. It helps you be aware of false teaching because you have been formed by correct teaching. The weekly hearing of God's Word is not my idea, but one established in the Scripture and charged by God to uphold. 

The Completion of the Word ( 2 Tim 4:5)

As for you -

Always be Soberminded

Endure Suffering

Do the Work of an Evangelist

Fulfill your ministry