Second Timothy, part 6
"I charge you therefore
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at
His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their
own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned
aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the
work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1-5, NKJV)
Our last look at Paul's second letter to
Timothy highlights Paul's final exhortation to Timothy. Again, recall that Paul has been imprisoned
again and by all indications believed that his life was coming to an end. However, despite his grim circumstances,
Paul's heart for Timothy is displayed as he gives him some final instructions
before his departure.
"I charge you therefore
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at
His appearing and His kingdom." The
forcefulness of the language here shows the importance of Paul's
exhortation. Remember that Timothy's
faith was weakening. Paul wanted to let
Timothy know that what he was about to say was of extreme importance. This wasn't only a command from Paul, but
also from God and Jesus Christ. And just
so we're not confused which Jesus Christ we're talking about, he is the
one who will judge the living and the dead when he returns.
This phrase, "who will judge the
living and the dead at his appearing," expresses a fundamental Christian
truth, and it is easy to kind of gloss over it because Paul just mentions it in
passing. That truth is Jesus will
return, and when he returns, he will judge "the living and the
dead." What does that mean? It basically means that when Jesus returns,
he will not only judge those who are alive at that time, but also all those who
have ever lived. In what sense will
Christ judge the living and the dead?
Well, there are basically two types of judgment that Christ will
perform: a judgment of believers
and a judgment of unbelievers.
The judgment of believers will be to determine their reward (cf.
1 Corinthians
"Preach the
word!" What is the
specific charge Paul gives to Timothy?
"Preach the word!"
Timothy was the leader of the church at
"Be ready in season and out
of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and
teaching." How is Timothy
to preach the word? He is to be
"ready in season and out of season."
What does this mean? It means
that Timothy was to preach the word whether it was well received or not. This is a tough saying. We are so worried about offending anyone;
especially in this age of "political correctness." We are so sensitive to be
"seeker-friendly" that we have forgotten our charge to preach the
truth! Hell is rarely preached for fear
of scaring away the seekers. The sin of
homosexuality is rarely preached for fear of offending homosexuals. The difference between the roles of men and
women is rarely preached for fear of offending the feminists. And so on.
If we believe that the Bible is God's word, then we should preach it as
such. If people take issue with that,
then they can take it up with God.
Now, we're not called to ram the word of
God down people's throats without any compassion. Paul further instructs Timothy to convince,
rebuke and exhort...how? With all
long-suffering and teaching! In other words,
we are to preach the word as a loving, patient teacher. Never in anger and never
dispassionately. This is vitally
important. There are enough
"legalistic" churches out there that preach in a domineering and
loveless manner. This is not to be our way.
"For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Why is Paul so adamant that Timothy
preach the word "in season and out of season?" Because Paul knew the time would eventually
come (and it always does) when people will not desire sound doctrine. The word "sound" comes from the
Greek word from which we get the English word "hygiene;" it basically
means "healthy." Paul
instructs Timothy to be faithful in teaching healthy doctrine because there
will come a time when people don't want healthy doctrine. Now before we think of people as being intentionally
stupid, we need to understand why they would reject healthy doctrine; no one
would knowingly and intentionally reject doctrine they believed to be
healthy.
Well let's examine the contents of
healthy doctrine. The gospel message is
basically this: the human race is
inherently wretched and sinful; due to our sin, we have offended an holy God;
God requires perfection in order to attain heaven; we will never attain the
necessary perfection on our own, no matter how hard we try; Jesus came to earth
to pay the requirements of God's justice; we attain heaven, not based on what
we do, but based on accepting what Jesus did on the cross and living our lives
in humble obedience to his commands.
This, if properly presented, is not a popular message--especially for
today's ears. No one wants to hear that
they're inherently wretched. No one
wants to hear that they're under divine judgment. No one wants to hear that there's nothing
they can do to get out from under divine judgment. No one wants to hear that they have to be
humble and obedient to some ancient words recorded in a musty tome over 2,000
years old. This is not a winning
message!
But it's the truth! Regardless how we feel about it, it's
the truth! Yet, it's also the truth that
this message turns away many people.
Human beings are masters of self-rationalization. If we don't hear what we like, we'll find
someone who will tell us what we want to hear.
What do most people want to hear?
They they're basically good people; that if they do more good than evil,
they'll go to heaven; that God loves them unconditionally; that God loves them as
they are; that God wants them to be happy and healthy; that God forgives
them; that God is too good and loving to send people to hell; etc. Basically people want to hear good news and
happy endings. But if you go to the
doctor and he finds out you have a fatal disease, the last thing you want him
to tell you is that everything will be alright.
But that's what most of us do. We
don't want to hear that we have a damning spiritual disease called sin. Our rejection of the bad news renders the
good news ineffective. This is a sad,
but true, commentary of the human condition.
Paul
concludes with a final word of encouragement to Timothy: "But you be watchful in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry." This is the last
time we ever hear from the Apostle Paul.
Many scholars believe the Apostle Paul was martyred shortly after this
letter. Here is his last will and
testament: "For I am already
being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also
to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:6-8, NKJV). Paul saw the fulfillment of his life. He had achieved what the Lord wanted him to
do. He had no regrets. He was ready to be with his Lord. Paul was not sad to leave this world
behind. In fact, he considered death
gain (cf. Philippians