Art Linkletter used to host the show, “Kids say the Darndest Things“. He parlayed that into a number of books. All of them came from the same premise: Ask a child a question, and his answer will come from the mysterious store of his own understanding. Sometimes they completely got the idea of the question wrong! The truth is, in life, so do we…
Key Principle: Since “life comes at you fast”, having a firm grasp of the basic skills you will need to navigate life is essential.
Paul was running out of time to say to Tim what he most wanted to say. Tim had been at the job long enough to see what was and was not working, but he needed a second pair of eyes on his life (as we all do) to help him see what he was not getting right. Paul’s Instructions were:
1. Understand You are Accountable (4:1): 2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly 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:” (NASB)
Paul opened this short series of closing instructions to his final letter recorded in Scripture with the truth that Timothy was under authority –“I charge you”. Timothy needed to know that he was accountable to both Paul’s authority (4;1) and “presence of God”– God’s authority (4:1b).
Principle: I must know I am not MINE. As long as I believe I am in charge of my own destiny, and can run my own life apart from the constant watchful eye of both my partners in life and my God, I am destined to fail God’s purpose for me… period.
2. Don’t hide your foundation (4:2a): “preach the word…”
Because Timothy’s function in the Body of Messiah was to be a teacher to the Bible study leaders that made up the house churches of a whole city, Paul addressed another direct call for him to “DO HIS JOB”. At the same time, every believer is called to model the truth before the world. The command to “preach the Word” includes the verb “kerudzon”: which is to ‘publicly cry out in order to persuade with’. Our lives should model both truth and a positive perspective to life that people are drawn to Jesus. Take God’s word and thoroughly proclaim its message. Never depend on your own message imposed on the text but allow the Holy Spirit to speak the point GOD had in the text – faithfully given through you. Preach the actual Word not just from books and quotes about the word.
Principle: If we lift him up properly, Jesus will draw men to Himself. If no one wants what we have, we might begin to ask the question, “Do I have a life that reflects who God really is?”
It is easy for us to become unbalanced and portray only “one facet” of God’s nature. We can become judgmental and share with everyone that they are “getting what they deserve”. Though that may be true, that doesn’t express the GRACE of the Lord. At the same time, we may share the love of God with others and never express a frank comment about their agreement with error that is sowing the seeds of their destruction. That isn’t God’s kind of love – that is sentimentalism that won’t help the person when tragedy strikes and they ask, “Did you see this coming?”
The Word of God includes instruction, modeling and encouragement. It houses truth that cuts me, and truth that heals me. Sometimes I need surgery, sometimes I need a hug. When I share truth with others I have to remember they are like that as well. My life should reflect truth in all its facets – and not just one or two.
3. Grasp the Bigger Picture of Truth 4:2b “be ready in season and out of season…”
In addition to the command to make sure Tim was sharing the Word, there was a flag of caution that Paul added. He said to “be ready” whether it seemed in season or not, to share the Word with people. When Paul said “be ready”, he used the term “ephistemi”, which means ‘to stand upon’. The idea was not simply to make sure he was prepared, but rather to TAKE HIS STAND on the Word. It is possible that even a man of God could make his stand on his own preferences and opinions. Never let the turning away from the truth by people affect your teaching it.
In addition, Paul warned that there would be “seasons” of the truth – times when some tantalizing tidbit would become the focus of the masses. The idea of “in season” or out of season is taken from the Greek word “eukairos” a word that is compound of “in time” which was meant to say ‘opportunely or conveniently’.
Principle: The bigger picture is NOT just what is HOT today, but standing with the truth taught broadly and systematically delivered over the longer span that will train us to become what we need to be. Fads come and go. They aren’t wrong, but they aren’t necessary if people are learning the whole context of God’s truth. You can chase them, but the temptation will be to become imbalanced.
4. Don’t just know WHAT the tool is for but HOW to use it: 4:2b: “…reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.“
I heard recently a Pastor share this passage and he noted something I have to share with you, because I thought he said it so well. He said we must communicate the Bible specifically, prophetically, expectantly, patiently and intelligently. I want to show you in Scripture what he was saying (I wish I could remember who taught this!).
There are three TIMES we apply truth, and three WAYS we present it:
Reprove (elegcho – el-eng’-kho: to convict, tell a fault, explain what underlying belief has been wrongly accepted.) We need to We’re also to communicate the Bible specifically. The word “correct” here means “to show someone what they are doing is wrong.” This can only be done when we communicate the Bible in very specific ways.
(Haddon Robinson, Making A Difference in Preaching p. 93). In a town many years ago that revolved around the lumber business The town decided that they to hire a new pastor for the town church. One day, the new pastor saw some of his church members dragging logs which had floated down the river from another village upstream. Each log was marked with the owner’s stamp on the end of the log, much like a cattle brand. But to his dismay, this pastor saw his church members sawing off the ends of the logs where the owners stamp appeared. That Sunday the pastor preached a sermon on the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” After the sermon people said, “Great sermon pastor” and “mighty fine preaching.” But the next week they were back to stealing logs. So the next Sunday the pastor preached the same sermon, but he ended the sermon by saying, “And thou shalt not cut off the end of thy neighbor’s logs.” When he finished that sermon they ran him out of town. Now I don’t know if that’s a true story or not, but it does illustrate the nee
d to communicate the Bible specifically.
Rebuke (epitimao – ep-ee-tee-mah’-o: to censure or forbid). We also need to communicate the Bible prophetically. The word “rebuke” is “to express strong disapproval about something.” Most of the Biblical prophets didn’t spend a lot of time “making predictions” but openly stating truth against the grain of their culture’s value system. The fallen culture has impacted and infected all of us, and we need to be courageous to communicate the whole Bible – including those aspects that disapprove of our culture’s values. We need to be careful always to speak in love, but to speak. We cannot simply roll over in the ever growing darkness of our world. We must rebuke prophetically – and that will always cause some to conclude we are “too negative”. The important thing is to keep your focus on whether you are being harsh because you are upset, or if you are speaking truth from a broken heart for poor choices.
Exhort (parakaleo: to call near, to invite and give comfort) ALL with great patience and with a view to training! We also need to communicate the Bible expectantly. As we encourage, we should anticipate that some will respond to the message.
Don’t forget – all three presentations must be in the context of communicating the Bible patiently. We find this in the phrase “with great patience.” Sometimes we can be tempted to give up on people when they don’t get it the first time. We can get irritated when people don’t respond to a biblical principle the first time they hear about it.
In addition to patiently, we are told to use the Bible for INSTRUCTION (didache: instruction or authoritative answer). We need to communicate the Bible intelligently. We communicate the Bible intelligently when we not only show people what the Bible means and how it applies, but also why the Bible makes the claims that it does. Some people believe that thinking deeply is somehow unspiritual, forgetting that the Bible tells us to not only love God with all our hearts but also with all our minds.
I was shopping for illustrations for a teaching I had to do in the first message on Jehu killing off Ahab’s family in 2 Kings 9. I found only a few messages on the text I was getting ready to preach, but one particularly intrigued me. A Pastor was using the text of 2 Kings 9:20 that says: “The watchman reported, “He came even to them, and he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” He decided to preach on the evils of drunk driving from this text! He evidently thought this was appropriate, but didn’t take into consideration that the text had no drinking in it, and that Jehu was fulfilling a mission from God. By that method, I could prove that “furious driving” was actually an act of a godly man on a great mission – the very opposite of the truth he was preaching. Communicating bits and pieces of the Bible rather than communicating the whole Bible intelligently is devastating to our outreach across the country. We must be committed to communicating the whole Bible in its context and in its timeless truths!
5. Remain calm in the storm (4:3 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, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
- Defection from truth is a Reality: We shouldn’t be surprised that error will become very popular – the “time will come”. Note he didn’t say “might come”. God chooses His words very carefully.
- Defection from truth can be Recognized: People “will not endure” is an interesting idea in the original language. After the negative “will not” is the word “anechomai”: to hold oneself up against, to forbear, suffer. “sound doctrine” the phrase that means “healthy instruction”. In other words, the time was coming when people would simply NOT HOLD THEMSELVES ACCOUNTABLE TO TEACHING THAT IS HEALTHY(“hugiaino”: healthy and wholesome, plus the word “didaskalia”: instruction or teaching).
- Defection from truth has a Reason: Note what happens next. First, people reject the hearing of the truth. Next, they seek out someone who will tell them a LIE that matches their inner desires to do the things that God has said wilol hurt them and violate His holy plan (epithumia: longing or burning to do that which God has forbidden).
George Barna writes, “To the average American, truth is relative to one’s values and circumstances. Only one out of every four adults- and even fewer teenagers- believe that there is such a thing as absolute moral truth.” Barna suggests that this disregard for truth “may be the single most intense threat to the health of the United States and its people.” Barna goes on give the implications of a disregard for the truth: “Without absolute moral truth, there can be no right and wrong. Without right and wrong, there is no such thing as sin. Without sin, there can be no such thing as judgment and no such thing as condemnation. If there is no condemnation, there is no need for a Savior.”
Why tell us these things? God wanted to EXPLAIN the events so that His Word contained a prophetic record. He didn’t leave us in the dark wondering, “Am I following a myth if many or most go the other way?” He told us to SECURE OUR HEARTS in a time when that defection seems huge and rampant. Don’t worry! He knew it would come!
6. Carefully plot a direction forward to the goal (4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The idea of being “sober” is taken from nepho: to abstain from wine or (figuratively) be watchful and alert in all the things happening. I keep running into people who think the best way to answer the defections from truth both in the church and the society are to IGNORE THEM and pretend they aren’t happening. That won’t help. The Greek term for a person “disconnected” from the issues was “IDIOTES”. Paul says, “Tim – don’t be an idiot!” You do not have to be consumed by the enemy to recognize his hand in what is going on. Ignoring it won’t make it go away. Losing your positive grip won’t effectively fight him! What do I do then?
Paul mentions three specific areas to work out the problem:
Endure hardship: “kakopatheo” is a one word phrase meaning “undergo trouble”. Paul isn’t wishing tough times on Tim, he is saying that Tim needs to set his mind on PASSING THROUGH THE STORM. We naturally avoid troubles and try to do only what we see is urgent. Like Tim, we tend to be lazy about many important areas of our work. There is a difference between putting off some issues to deal systematically and putting off because we don’t want to do the hard thing. We must STOP putting energy into AVOIDING issues God has called us to deal with.
Do the work of an evangelist: Paul tells Tim to work at (poieo) the hard toil (ergon) of preaching persuasively to those who are lost (euaggelistes: a preacher of the gospel or evangelist). Tim found other things to do then to focus on working at the GIFTS God gave him to do his part of the work on the field. We are masters at focusing on other people’s works and their ineffectiveness while our own house is burning! We want to remove specks in others while logs hang in the eyes of our own lives. We must START focusing all our energy on using our giftedness to the fullest!
Fulfill your ministry: Paul told Time to stick to the GOAL God had placed in front of him (“plerophoreo” is entirely accomplish your “diakonia” or area of service). Tim wanted to CHANGE to something that would feel new and different than the work he had. We all get “antsy” sometimes to move on, because the work of dealing with people is at times arduous. Commitment over the long haul yields the best results. “Short term yardage keeps you in the game, but wastes a lot of time on the clock.”
In 1968, Tanzania chose John Stephen Akhwari to represent them in the Mexico City Olympics. Along the way as he ran, he stumbled and fell, severely injuring both his knee and ankle. It was 7 PM and a runner from Ethiopia had won the race. Everyone else had finished and there were only a few thousand spectators left in the huge arena. All of a sudden a police siren caught every-one’s attention. Limping through the gate came 36 year old Akhwari with his leg wrapped in a bloody bandage. The people cheered. A reporter at the gate asked him the question that was on everyone’s mind: “Why continue the race after being so badly injured?” He replied, “My country did not send me 7000 miles to begin a race; they sent me to finish a race” (sermon central illustrations)
One Pastor preached that “the things that would make Tim an effective pastor are also things that can make us effective believers in our community and in our church.” We need to see it clearly. People who are effective for God are known for:
What They Know (2 Timothy 4:1): I belong to Him and I am accountable for this life!
What They Communicate (2 Timothy 4:2): The truth is found in His Word and I want to live it! I don’t want to run around and dabble from place to place looking for the “hottest truth”. I want to grow under systematic teaching and learn how to use God’s truth in my daily life!
What They Refuse (2 Timothy 4:3-4) I know my heart will resist truth when it causes discomfort. I refuse to let comfort rule me, and push me to use religion to justify my own wants and desires. I will settle down and stop looking for someone to scratch my ears.
What They Focus On (2 Timothy 4:5): I will stop avoiding the hard stuff, buckle down and work my gifts to His glory and accomplish God’s list for my life.
Key Principle: Since “life comes at you fast”, having a firm grasp of the basic skills you will need to navigate life is essential.
