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, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching, 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. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. This is God's word.
Life becomes very clear when you're about to die. The view at death sobers us all up. Because we can become inebriated and intoxicated with the cares of this world, and we begin to think the cares of this world are so important, and so we will do anything and everything to harness the things of this world. And the Apostle Paul is at the precipice, where he knows he's about to die.
He's underneath the hand of a tyrannical Roman emperor who wants to put him to death. So what does Paul do? By the leading of the Holy Spirit, because Peter tells us that all Scripture is done by the leading of the Holy Spirit. He leads us along as he wrote the Scripture. So what does God see as preeminent that he wants to speak through the Apostle Paul? Because the Apostle Paul had an incredible life. The things that he was able to accomplish and to see and to do, and yet at the very end of his life, when he's most sober, and that's what he told Timothy just here, sober-minded, he's so sober-minded, but he says something very specific. And this goes for Timothy, but it goes for the church. The church of Jesus Christ today, still, in 2023.
What does he say? Well, I want you to see three things from this passage. He says, preach.
Now, preaching has fallen on hard times for many years. Preaching. The church usually doesn't have a high view of preaching. There's a whole lot of other things they have a high view of, but preaching is supposed to have its preeminent place in the church. When you gather together on the Lord's Day, it's not there to just share a testimony. You're not just coming together to just fellowship. Those things are great. Those things are important. But the Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, says, Timothy, preach. Preach the good news. Herald the good news. Preach with some zeal. Not dead, just reading an academic lesson. Preach as though the Holy Spirit is there working among his people. Preach the word of God. Be ready in season and out of season.
But he also says you need to preach because people have sinful passions.
Epithumia is the Greek word. We'll get to it in just a minute. But you have to preach because the only ordained, God-ordained way to combat against people's sinful passions is preaching the word of God. That's it. That's it. That's our only hope. Oh, and then he tells Timothy at the very end, you got to preach, there's people with sinful passions, they're not going to want to listen, but you need to persevere. You need to do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry. So let's take a look at preaching number one. Go back to the text. He says, 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, preach the word. Be ready in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. What's infinitely important to God and thereby imperative for Paul to stress to Timothy, preach. Preach the word, a loud declaration. When you hear preaching, it shouldn't be whispering, Jesus loves you, do you know that Jesus loves you? It's not a conversation. It's a declaration. It's a one, I'm giving you the word and I'm preaching with all I've got in me. Do that, Timothy. Don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Greek word is keruso, and it means to raise your voice. If you don't like when people raise your voice, you might have trouble in heaven because there'll be a whole lot of people raising their voice, praising God around that throne, and all of the old saints of God preached the word. You ever heard of C.H. Spurgeon? He didn't have implication like this, how's the Holy Spirit going to work unless you yell? Now I have implication, I'll try not to yell, I do get a little excited about Jesus sometimes. He says preach the word, preach it, keep preaching it. But what is he preaching? He's going to preach the logos, the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory. Glory is the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, Timothy. It's the only way for salvation. Yes, preach the totality of the scripture, yes, preach redemptive historical exegesis if you want to get academic about it. Yes, preach creation, fall, redemption, recreation, yeah, let's get really bugged out with our theology for a second, that would be great, but preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you fail to do anything else, preach the gospel. It's the only means for salvation, preaching.
Now Paul, he may be plagiarizing here. I'd like to submit to you something this morning. When Paul's writing this to Timothy, and he seems to be a little excited in the Greek if you go back and read it in the original language, why is he so excited? Because Paul's taking it probably from the Old Testament because Paul read his Old Testament which we all should read our Old Testament. And Paul may be taking this from, well, I don't know, Ezekiel 37, Valley of Dry Bones. Have you ever heard of that one before? Remember, those bones are laying there, they're dead. And God says to Ezekiel, I want you to prophesy, I want you to preach to these dead bones. That's really dumb, God. They're bones. Why would I preach to them?
He says, preach, preach to them. And the bones begin to rock back and forth and flesh begins to attach itself and God breathes into these dead bones and the people rise. See, these were the people of God, so to speak. You see what Paul's doing, he's plagiarizing, he's taking something from the Old Testament and he's telling Timothy the same thing. When you preach, preach, and it's going to be a whole bunch of a valley of dry bones. They're dead. They're sleepy. They're non-existent. God, the Holy Spirit, has not regenerated their hearts and there's only one way to do it. Oh, and if they have been regenerated, they've been so inoculated with the things of this world that they need to be preached to.
I'm going to tell you, I preach to myself every day. I have to. That's why God makes me teach this stuff every day, because I need multiple exposures to the gospel and I need to preach it to myself. And by the way, I listen to a lot of preaching, usually of old dead guys, but I listen to a lot of preaching, whether it's I'm reading their sermons or I'm listening to someone like Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. I need to hear preaching myself, good preaching, God-centered preaching, Jesus Christ exalting preaching, preaching for men who get excited about the Word as though it actually matters, that it's actually saving people, that it's actually waking up dead, sleepy Christians who sit in the pews and do nothing all week except entertain themselves with the crud of this world.
I got an amen over there. Oh my goodness gracious, a revival might break out this morning at a quasi-reformed Presbyterian church. This might be exciting.
Nonetheless, he says, preach the Word, but where does he say preach the Word? Well, he says, I charge you, Paul, you didn't have to go there, did you? I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead. This is an eschatological courtroom. Timothy, you're going to have to give an account for what you do with your ministry. Oh, and by the way, if you're here today, you're going to have to give an account for what you do with your ministry. And you have a ministry.
Each and every one of you have a ministry. Do you understand that? This is why it's all the saints. It's not just one ordained holy guy who stands up front. That's where the Catholic church got it wrong. It's where many churches get it wrong today. Even Presbyterian churches get it wrong today. You have a ministry. You need to fulfill your ministry. Why? Because you are going to have to give an account.
We just read a minute ago, 2 Corinthians 5.10, I'll read it again. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That's all. All of us. So that each may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Now, does Timothy have the liberty of changing this message? Absolutely not. It's one message. It's Christ.
Now, as he says, the logos, this is an all encompassing term here. When Timothy preaches, he needs to preach Jesus Christ. He needs to preach salvation by grace. He needs to preach salvation, sanctification, justification. He needs to preach glorification.
And this is what is radically different about the Christian faith. Is that we have a, as Peter says, a living hope right now. What is that living hope? The living hope is not some guy who claimed to be God in the flesh and died on the cross but never rose. When Paul was evangelizing, he always gets to Jesus, but he always talks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because the resurrection changes everything. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus actually says, if you believe in me, you too shall rise. Read the book of Acts. Paul can't stop talking about the resurrection. Why does the resurrection matter? The resurrection matters because if Christ never rose, then you are the most to be pitied if you call yourself a Christian.
That's what 1 Corinthians tells us. Oh, but there's great implications of a resurrection for you in particular, if you personally have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know what's going to happen in the resurrection? All people will rise. All people will be judged. Some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation. And the great truth of scripture about the resurrection is this, you and I will rise and we will get the body we never had. Oh, death, where is your sting? Have you been to a funeral? It's right there in the casket. It's a sting. It hurts. It's painful. But Paul's kind of going, na-na-na-na-boo-boo, you can't touch me. Oh, death, where is your sting? The gospel of Jesus Christ says that Jesus took that sting. Jesus took that poison. Why? So we can have eternal life. So that death, well, it's just a fading shadow, rolls across. And when we rise, we're not going to float in the kingdom of God. We're not going to float in heaven. We're not going to sit on a cloud and play a harp. What are we going to do? We're going to run on the streets of gold. We're going to march on the streets of gold. We're going to proclaim the goodness of our God through Jesus Christ. We're going to eat. We're going to be able to touch one another. We're actually going to be able to love each other like we've never loved each other before.
Man, I'm looking forward to that day. And the best part of all of it is that Jesus will be there. And Jesus, we will get to experience His love unhindered, fully open like you've never experienced it before. Jesus, the one who knows you more intimately than anyone. See, my wife and I know each other pretty intimately, but we'd rather not talk to each other about our own sins, right? I mean, that's the way you are too. We just don't want to talk about our sins. And we love each other, but there's a certain extent where we kind of don't want to love each other when we see each other sin. Jesus knows you to your deepest, darkest sin, and He still saved you by His grace. What a God. There's no other God who offers this in all of the world's religions.
And Paul says to Timothy, preach that gospel. Preach the resurrection.
First Timothy 3.16 says, He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations. He's proclaimed, He was preached, and He's still being preached today, today in India. Right now, they're preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people who are preaching the gospel in China today. Right now, as we're here in the United States of America, the gospel is going out. People are coming to faith, and dead religious people who think they were saved 40 years ago finally come to faith in Jesus Christ because the Word is preached and the Holy Spirit brings regeneration. That's why Paul tells Timothy, preach the Word. Don't get confused about all the other stuff that people want to do. Preach the Word. Preach it.
But how? He says, go back to the text, be ready, be ready, be on high alert, be ready, in season and out of season, be ready, be ready, be ready. Be ready.
This means every opportunity that the Lord might present to you, even maybe when you're at the bank and somebody says, you know, so-and-so is having this kind of trouble, this relative of mine is having trouble, you know, I'm having these health conditions.
Don't just say, we're going to pray for you.
Actually stop and pray for them right there. Maybe even through the little crazy drive-thru part where it's crackling and you can't understand what the person is saying. Stop and pray for them right there because you may never know how God the Holy Spirit might save that person or He may encourage that person to go share the good news with someone else. You sharing the good news matters. That's why Paul says preach. Preach the Word. Preach it. But why? Why do we preach? Why do we elevate preaching to such a high level? Well, go back to the text. He answers it for us. Look at number two, point number two, verses three and four. This is about passions. He says, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. And 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. What was Paul's major concern for Timothy? Preach the Word. Why? Why? Because there are people who have epithumia, a heightened sinful desires, and they won't want to listen to sound doctrine. They'll want to have someone scratch their itching ears. They will want to accumulate for themselves. Do you notice that word, accumulate? This is consumeristic Christianity.
I don't really like the way he preaches and I don't like the word he says. I got to go find someone that I like who speaks to me. Maybe we should be less concerned about preacher idolatry and more concerned about the message.
This is one of the wonderful things at Businessman's Bible Study I love the most because when James Scott teaches, I know we're going to be Tommy Gunned with scripture. That's what we need. We don't need a show. We don't need entertainment. We need the Word of God because the Word of God will not return void. And oh, we're just reading the scripture. Yeah, it's powerful. Watch out. It just might save you.
Here he says, there's going to be people who don't want to endure that because they have sinful passions. They want to go to Costco and buy some truth-canceling earphones and not listen to the truth. Unfortunately in our day, and it's been happening for a long time, is we have churches all around us that have pastors who would rather give you a wifey back rub than to give you, well, a true deep-tissue massage.
Now, I will fake any injury to get my wife to rub my back. Oh, like, oh, it hurts right here. I can't move. I'm going to need you to rub my back, please. But the Bible is not that kind of a back rub.
The Word of God, when it's preached truly, will convict you to your heart. It will feel like you just got through with a deep-tissue massage. How many have ever gotten a deep-tissue massage? I had it once. I swear I'd never do it again. I was more sore. Oh, awful. It should be the same thing with church, should it not?
When we leave here, there should be a heart wound, but there should also be the healing balm of the gospel that comes throughout the week because you heard the truth.
Jesus did this. Jesus preached this same kind of message. Here's what Jesus says in Matthew 5.3. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do you see the context of Jesus' day? That's appalling.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Seriously? Do you know what Jesus just said? He said, the kingdom of heaven is not for the arrogant, bombastic, or prideful. It's for those who walk in humility, those who are willing to say, I'm a sinner, a full-fledged sinner in need of a Savior, and there's only one Savior, Jesus Christ. That's it. That's a heart wound. That's hard to submit to something that says, I can't save myself.
Here he says, they like to accumulate teachers for their own passions so that they can tickle their ears.
If you go back to verses 1 and 2, I want you to see something, and I did this on purpose. But in verses 1 and 2, he says to be ready in season and out of season. Why is that? Because people have sinful passions all the time, do they not? However, keep going, he says, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
What does it mean to reprove? Well, first, preacher must give good arguments.
How many of you heard a preacher just sit there and spews stuff, and he never actually puts himself in the seat of the hearers? He never ever raises any kind of objections to the Christian faith. And the good news from the scripture is that Paul actually presents arguments that he knows his hearers are having trouble with.
So for instance, 1 Corinthians 15, 12, and 14, it says, but if we preach Christ and he's raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection from the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. That's a rebuttal, is it not?
Paul says, I'm reaching out to the hearers. I'm putting my fanny in the seat where they sit, and I'm going to give objections to the Christian faith. This is something we should do. See, this is one of the reasons why I honestly didn't want to come to faith as a kid. Because there were so many objections, and I never heard any objections raised, and the answer is given, and I wanted to poke theological holes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now some of you may not have that same disposition. You just may take it and receive it, great, good, that's how God's wired you. Some of us are skeptics. Some of us want to argue. And guess what? Go ahead, argue with God, and God will answer every single one of your objections. He not only says to reprove, but he says also to rebuke. Oh, no, Paul, don't say that to Timothy, rebuke. Don't ever rebuke anybody. Well, it's scriptural. And by the way, Paul actually shows us what a rebuke is from Galatians, Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 and 7. He says, I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one. Do you see Paul rebukes the Galatians? He says you've turned away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. You've drifted back into works-based salvation. Yes, you were very religious in every way, but you forgot the gospel that you're saved by grace. Are you extending grace? Are you living a life of grace? Or have you defaulted back to your works-based salvation? And everyone around you knows it because you are a fuddy-duddy, West Cop term, you're welcome.
Thirdly, he says to exhort, exhort. Preachers are to strongly encourage the congregation. This is where people say you're stepping on toes. You should have your toes stepped on at church because you're not going to get it anywhere else.
Jesus actually stepped on the toes of people. In John chapter 15, Jesus, oh, this guy who spoke truth and it cut to the heart and he was polarizing. Even his own disciples, there were some who turned and left, they couldn't handle the words of Jesus. If people can handle everything you're saying, you may not be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. That's not what we're supposed to say today. That's not politically correct. That's not all inclusive. We're supposed to welcome all people. He says, no, apart from me, you'll never be able to do anything of any kind of substance in your life. Turn to me, embrace me, live through me, preach through me.
Consequently, how is Timothy supposed to do that? We'll go back to verse two. He says, with all complete patience and teaching. Bummer. Pastors don't want to do that. With patience?
You know, Jesus calls us stupid sheep, doesn't he? Sorry for the swear word. Apologize. He does. He calls us really dumb sheep.
And some of us take it to a whole nother level and we are just dumb donkeys.
You know what the difference is between a donkey and a sheep? Sheep, you can at least kick them, move them, tug them, and they'll follow. How about a donkey? No. Donkey's going to fight you with everything he's got. And some of us are donkeys.
But the pastor has to do this with patience and teaching, with the heart of a teacher. And that's why Paul says, point number three, Timothy, you're going to need to persevere because it's going to be difficult as you preach not only to the congregation, but also to the outside world. Go back to the text. I want you to see verse five with me. He says, but as for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. What's Paul's final exhortation? Well, in short, Timothy, you need to persevere. And he says this in a very personal way. He says, as for you. This is not just a general exhortation. This is a personal exhortation. And yes, this applies to Timothy, but it also applies to you and to me.
As for you. Proverbs tells us that we are to stand in the day adversity. If we don't, our strength is small. Paul says in Ephesians six, sometimes we just need to stand and keep on standing and you just keep on standing and people will wear you out, but you keep on standing. You personally.
One of the great things I learned from the book of Jeremiah is that I really don't need to worry about my reputation. That goes for all Christians. Don't worry about your reputation. We do. We usually sometimes even have a reputation as a God. Like I want all people to love me. I want all people to like me, especially when you're in leadership. By the way, in leadership, you make any decisions, it's going to be polarizing. People are going to love you. People are going to hate you. It just happens. Because guess what? You can't make everybody happy. And if you try, then you will be a cousin of the devil.
And here he says, Timothy, always be sober minded. Be thinking. You know, it's really easy to defeat a drunk, isn't it? Ever seen a drunk? I went to college. I saw a lot of them. People who maybe had more than one or two drinks, maybe six, seven, eight, nine, ten, maybe a whole case of beer. And you can easily beat them and defeat them. And they have no ability to see right or wrong. They're just sluggish mentally. Do you see what Paul is telling Timothy? Don't be sluggish. How can you not be sluggish? You need to read and read and pray and read and use the ordinary means of grace. You need to ask God, the Holy Spirit, to help you ascertain what is in the pages of Scripture and the gospel of Jesus Christ in particular. How does it apply for everyday life? How can you be sober minded, stay focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith? Don't get off on a tangent in these tertiary matters that really, not really that big of a deal.
Here he says, as for you, always, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, always be sober minded. Peter says the same thing to suffering Christians in 1 Peter 1, verse 13 and 14. He says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. Always be sober minded, always be focused on Christ, always be looking to the gospel about how you're saved by grace, asking how does the gospel of Jesus Christ apply in this situation? How does the gospel of Jesus Christ apply in that situation? How does the gospel of Jesus Christ relate to my relationship with my wife, with my kids, with my husband, my grandkids, my great grandkids, my employers, congregation, pastor? How does grace flow in between? Because grace is how we're saved, and grace is how people are changed. Legalism never changes anybody, just changing the laws changes the external, it never changes the heart.
See, that's why politicians never get it right, because all they're concerned with is writing a new law to change external behavior. And that's why God sent his son, and he was not a politician, he was a preacher, who preached, and that word of being preached was raising a valley of dry bones. People actually having God-breathed language come into them, the Holy Spirit regenerating them, them having a new heart so that they would live out the Ten Commandments.
This is a good thing about preaching, and about what God the Holy Spirit does. Here he says, Timothy, you also need to endure the work of an evangelist, one who spreads the euangelion, the gospel, always keeping focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Are you bored with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Have you gone on to deeper and greater and bigger things?
You may not want to go to heaven then. Because in heaven, heaven's going to be a place of love, heaven's going to be a place where we see the nail-scarred hands and we remember how far he would go for you and for me, and all of our lives in heaven will be one of glorifying him and service to him. Why would you not want to bring heaven down to earth now? When Paul speaks to the Colossians, he says, set your minds on the things that are above.
Did he say set your minds on the things here? Get really overly consumed with everything that's going on here, get so brittle and fragile because of the things that are going on here, oh my goodness!
That's not what he says. He says set your mind on the things above. Bring heaven down to this earth. Stop bringing hell up. How many of this week have we brought hell up into our lives? Guilty.
We brought hell up. Well, you know, we've got to fix this and we've got to do that and we and we and I and I and I and that's when you know you've brought hell up. But you know you brought heaven down when you say he, he needs to do this, he only can do this. That's the message. The good news of Jesus Christ. So do the work of an evangelist and oh, by the way, Timothy, you need to fulfill your ministry. Keep going. Keep preaching. Don't stop. Persevere. There are people who have passions that are sinful. They don't want to listen to the gospel. They don't love the gospel. They love religion, but they don't love the gospel.
Fulfill your ministry.
So gospel reformed church, what are you going to do this week to fulfill your ministry? You say, I don't have a ministry. You do have a ministry. You say, I don't like to speak in front of people. You don't have to speak in front of people to have a ministry.
God has wired each and every one of you. If God's word is true, and it is, Ephesians chapter two, verse 10 says, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, that we would do works that God has prepared beforehand. That means each and every one of you needs to be fulfilling your ministry so that this church can thrive, can grow, can flourish, so the kingdom of God can go forward.
You have to fulfill your ministry.
What are your goals for this church? What are your goals for your life, for your family's life? What are your goals? Have you ever thought about that? Jesus had one goal, and that is to seek and to save the lost. That was his mission statement. Hey, Mick, can you put a mission statement on the website? Can we write down a mission statement? Yeah, I've got one for you. Seeking to save the lost. It's biblical, it's great, and it's straight from what Jesus did. And if we get off into other stuff, we're not going to be seeking and saving anybody except for moaning and groaning and bellyaching about what we think is best. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and do what he called us to do, and that is to seek and to save the lost.
Let's pray.