THE PREACHER’S CHARGE

2 Timothy 4:1-4 (KJV)

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

This passage, especially verses 1-3, is a favorite of us Baptist preachers.[1]

I have heard it probably dozens of times at ordination services.

I have preached from it myself at ordinations, pastor’s fellowships and at church.

For those of us who see preaching as “the power of God”[2] it is

·   Inspirational

·   Instructive and

·   Emotionally charged

As I was meditating up it for this lesson, I was drawn to it’s connection with the passage just previous and the lesson we had last week,

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Word of God:

·   Has the power to save

·   Is given to us from God and

·   I profitable for our perfecting

And it is because of those things that we have this passage

·   Because the Word can save

·   Because the Word is given by God and

·   Because the Word is profitable

Therefore, 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word.”

I want to take you through these four verses noting

First

*I. THE PREACHER’S CHARGE

2 Timothy 4:1-2 (KJV)

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Preach the word; ….

This idea of a charge is one of Paul’s favorite terms in his letters to Timothy.

It’s a serious and solemn exhortation.

It’s not a command – because it does not affect the preacher’s salvation or relationship to Christ but

It’s more than a plea - because it is essential to the future of God’s churches

It is an urgent instruction.

Much of the Bible is given to us in this manner:

The great commission, for instance.

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

If every Christian from this day forth refuses to practice the Great Commission

·   Those Christians will still go to heaven

·   Those Christians will still be able to claim to be Christians

·   Those Christians will be able to pray, read their Bibles and serve in churches

A Christian can live a lifetime without obeying the Great Commission without doing much damage to their own faith.

But if too many Christians do that, it won’t be long before there are no Christians left.

You don’t have to do it, but it does have to be done.

Notice secondly,

*II. THE PREACHER’S BUSINESS

2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

A. The preacher is to preach

·   He isn’t charged to visit

·   He isn’t charged to attend functions

·   He isn’t charged to perform weddings and burials

He may do all of those things, and it is good if he does.

But the one thing that is essential he do is preach the Word.

B. The preacher is to preach the Word

·   Not philosophy

·   Not politics

·   Not self-help speeches

·   It is the Word of God that is able to save the lost

·   It is the Word of God that is given by God and

·   It is the Word of God that is profitable for perfecting

Therefore it is the Word of God that he must preach.

C. The preacher is to preach at all times

·   When it is in season and convenient to do

·   When it is out of season and not convenient to do

Here in the United States, preaching was in season for something like 150 years.

The season seems to be closing these days. It isn’t nearly as popular as it was even 38 years ago, when I first heard it.

D. The preacher is to preach patiently

·   He reproves

·   He reproves and

·   He exhorts

His congregations. Notice that two out of the three are negative.

He isn’t always going to make you feel great that you were in church!

He preaches with all longsuffering – that means he keeps hammering away, he doesn’t change.

He preaches with doctrine – he doesn’t need to wander off into worldly ideas and entertaining ways to get people. He preaches the Bible lessons.

The preachers business is to preach the Word.

Notice thirdly

*III. THE PREACHER’S CHALLENGE

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (KJV)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The Bible doesn’t promise that we will be successful in changing the world.

What the Bible does promise is that we will be rewarded for our faithfulness.

The challenge for the preacher is to stay faithful

A. When people will not endure sound doctrine

They won’t put up with it very long.

The preacher will be tempted to deliver shorter and shorter messages with content and give more and more activities with entertainment value.

Keep it up long enough and there won’t be any truth and only entertainment.

Stay faithful

B. When people heap to themselves teachers

People, who won’t endure sound doctrine but still want to feel of Christianity, will find a way to get so called preachers after their own sort.

I think that is one of the reasons why there are so many denominations – especially the more modern ones.

People have searched out a church like atmosphere with a man who is more than willing to do what they like for him to do – as long as they pay him to do it.

Stay faithful

C. When people turn away from truth to fables

There sure are a lot of those today:

·   The fable that a priest can turn a piece of cracker into the body of Christ

·   The fable that a man can whack you on the forehead and you will be healed

·   The fable that baptism can wash away your sins

·   The fable that if you give certain preachers your “seed money” God will make you wealthy

The challenge for the preacher, and his charge from God is to preach the Word of God regardless.

·   Keep at it

·   Keep faithful

·   Keep chipping away at the fables

And all the while keep his eyes on the Lord Jesus who is coming again, sooner today than He was yesterday.

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[1] I don’t know about any other group. I have very little experience in their ordination services or preacher training institutions. What I know of many of the denominations, preaching would not be top of their list of priorities.

[2] 1 Corinthians 1:18