"Preaching the word of God" - II Timothy 4:1-4
Let's outline the passage before we read it together.
The Apostle, Paul, in the four verses that we're going to study this morning, does three things:
1. In verse 1, first of all, he explains the seriousness (or the solemnity, or the gravity) of the charge that he is about to give. One of the things you will notice about this whole passage, II Timothy 4:1-4 is that it is a charge; it's an exhortation; it's a solemn adjuration of timothy in a very important task, and he explains the gravity, the seriousness, the solemnity of it in verse 1.
2. Then, in verse 2, he does a second thing: he supplies the content of that charge. He tells you what that charge is, and he gives you the substance of it. He explains what it is that he's charging Timothy and faithful preachers to do.
3. And then thirdly, in verses 3 and 4 you're going to see him give a context to this charge. He's going to explain the human, the earthly, the pastoral situation in which Timothy finds himself (in which all gospel ministers find themselves), which lends the urgency to Timothy's being faithful to respond to the charge that Paul is giving him.
And so, we have the gravity of the charge, the content of the charge, and the context of the charge descirbed for us in this passage today. Let's now turn to God's word and hear it read - and before we do let's look to Him in prayer and ask for His help and blessing.
Let's pray.
Lord God, we acknowledge that Your word is given by Inspiration, that the Scriptures - that all the Scriptures, and every Scripture - is God-breathed and is profitable for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, and it is sufficient to equip us for the living of the Christian life. So we pray, O God, this day that you would make your word to dwell in our hearts richly, and to transform our lives as the Spirit works in us to hear and understand the word; to apply the word to our hearts; and then, to mold our hearts and lives to the very will of God. We as Your help and blessing today, O God our Lord Jesus Christ, as we hear Your word and respond to it. We pray these prayers in JESUS' name. Amen.
Hear the word of God.
"I solemnly charge you in the resence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."
Amen. Thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant word. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.
Paul has moved from exhorting Timothy to live by the Book to charging Timothy to preach the Book. You notice the connection between what Paul says the Scriptures are and this particular exhortation as to what Timothy is to do with those Scriptures. Since those scriptures are not the opinions of man, since they are not the pious reflections of sincere saints on who God is and what He mght want us to do in this life, since they are in fact God's words to us, since they are the only authoritative and final rule of faith and practice, Timothy is supposed to not only live by those words, he is to preach those words. He's to preach the message which is found in the Book. And so, the logic of II Timothy 3 into II timothy 4 is: live by the book; preach the Book.
Now, again, these exhortations here in verses 1-4 are given to a preacher, and by extension to all faithful preachers of the gospel; but even when exhortation are given to preachers in Scripture, there are numerous practical applications for every Christian, and I want you to see some of them today as we work through the three parts of this passage. I want to work through each portion. First, in Paul's words about the gravity of the charge he's going to give (vs. 1); and then, the content of that charge (vs. 2); then, the context of that charge in verses 3 and 4.
The Apostle, Paul, in the four verses that we're going to study this morning, does three things:
1. In verse 1, first of all, he explains the seriousness (or the solemnity, or the gravity) of the charge that he is about to give. One of the things you will notice about this whole passage, II Timothy 4:1-4 is that it is a charge; it's an exhortation; it's a solemn adjuration of timothy in a very important task, and he explains the gravity, the seriousness, the solemnity of it in verse 1.
2. Then, in verse 2, he does a second thing: he supplies the content of that charge. He tells you what that charge is, and he gives you the substance of it. He explains what it is that he's charging Timothy and faithful preachers to do.
3. And then thirdly, in verses 3 and 4 you're going to see him give a context to this charge. He's going to explain the human, the earthly, the pastoral situation in which Timothy finds himself (in which all gospel ministers find themselves), which lends the urgency to Timothy's being faithful to respond to the charge that Paul is giving him.
And so, we have the gravity of the charge, the content of the charge, and the context of the charge descirbed for us in this passage today. Let's now turn to God's word and hear it read - and before we do let's look to Him in prayer and ask for His help and blessing.
Let's pray.
Lord God, we acknowledge that Your word is given by Inspiration, that the Scriptures - that all the Scriptures, and every Scripture - is God-breathed and is profitable for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, and it is sufficient to equip us for the living of the Christian life. So we pray, O God, this day that you would make your word to dwell in our hearts richly, and to transform our lives as the Spirit works in us to hear and understand the word; to apply the word to our hearts; and then, to mold our hearts and lives to the very will of God. We as Your help and blessing today, O God our Lord Jesus Christ, as we hear Your word and respond to it. We pray these prayers in JESUS' name. Amen.
Hear the word of God.
"I solemnly charge you in the resence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."
Amen. Thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant word. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.
Paul has moved from exhorting Timothy to live by the Book to charging Timothy to preach the Book. You notice the connection between what Paul says the Scriptures are and this particular exhortation as to what Timothy is to do with those Scriptures. Since those scriptures are not the opinions of man, since they are not the pious reflections of sincere saints on who God is and what He mght want us to do in this life, since they are in fact God's words to us, since they are the only authoritative and final rule of faith and practice, Timothy is supposed to not only live by those words, he is to preach those words. He's to preach the message which is found in the Book. And so, the logic of II Timothy 3 into II timothy 4 is: live by the book; preach the Book.
Now, again, these exhortations here in verses 1-4 are given to a preacher, and by extension to all faithful preachers of the gospel; but even when exhortation are given to preachers in Scripture, there are numerous practical applications for every Christian, and I want you to see some of them today as we work through the three parts of this passage. I want to work through each portion. First, in Paul's words about the gravity of the charge he's going to give (vs. 1); and then, the content of that charge (vs. 2); then, the context of that charge in verses 3 and 4.
Hebrews 12:1
Personnel Testimony of Our Lord Jesus christ
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