Introduction

We must all listen carefully and take note of what is required of Timothy to see more clearly what is required of us. But we have to do this with some discernment since Paul gives a charge to an individual at a point in time historically and Timothy is addressed as a pastor (the letter to Timothy is called a pastoral epistle).

We have to remember that the duties of the minister give insight into the duties of the flock of God and the duties of the flock give insight into the duties of the minister. Furthermore, the book of Timothy along with the charge contained within it is given to the church as part of the NT to guide the church in the time between the comings of Christ. Thus as the church looks at Timothy’s duties it learns what is required of the church in qualifying men for the pastorate. Paul’s charge to Timothy tells the church what to look for in a pastor at the same time that it gives exhortation to the pastor. In more ways than one, this is a charge to the flock with an accent on the pastor-shepherd. Therefore, this is a good text to consider in relation to the "business" of the church.

Listen again to Paul’s charge: "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: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ 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, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵ As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Tim. 4:1-5).

I want to discuss three things about this charge: its heart, ground, and summary. Paul begins with some very forceful words (2 Tim. 4:1-2). They immediately grab our attention. They sent us directly to the heart of his charge in verse 2 and following. This suggests that we start with verse 2 rather than verse one.

1A. The heart of the charge

We get to the heart of things by asking some questions.

1) What is primary and should have priority over all else?

It is the word that is to be preached: "preach the word." The minister’s job is one of pointing the people of God to the word of God. This refers to the Scriptures of the OT and the NT. He is to concentrate on the writings that are God’s speech given infallibly by the Holy Spirit through prophets and apostles. That is the word that is profitable for teaching, reproof, and correction (2 Tim. 3:16); that is the word that he is to proclaim as an evangelist (2 Tim. 4:5).

God’s infallible word that we have in the sixty-six books of the Bible is primary and should have priority over all else. We are bound to 39 books of the OT on the authority of Christ and to the 27 books of the NT on the promise of Christ (for more on this see the sermons on March 10, 17, and 24, 2002).

2) How is it given priority?

The word is given its due place in its proclamation. It is to be preached. Preaching refers to a complex of things. It has various dimensions to it. Let’s list them. They include readiness, reproof, rebuke, exhortation, patience, and teaching. There is no theoretical/practical disjunction here.

We might think that this is an odd collection of things to put in the same basket. But they go fittingly together. Preaching involves the challenge of time (whether it is harvest time or not). The sheep stray from the green meadows and need reproof and rebuke. The lambs get discouraged and weary needing encouragement and exhortation. The people of God are sinner/saints and saintly/sinners so the minister must preach the word with great patience waiting expectantly for the spiritual harvest that only comes by the diligent work of gospel sowing. The time of reaping comes in God’s time: an entire life may be spent scratching, digging and planting without reaping (cf. Spurgeon’s ministry could easily be classified as a reaping ministry). Much, perhaps most of the fruit grows in unseen, unnoticed, and unexpected ways (so patience is a number one personal quality that a pastor ought to have as he pursues completeness in his teaching of sound doctrine).

3) What is the cross current that adds difficulty?

There is a significant cross current that adds complexity and difficulty to this work (4:3-4). The time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine. They seek teachers who will scratch their itching ears in a way that suits their passions and lusts. This is religious! This cross current manifests itself in relation to the primacy of preaching. It manifests itself in a listening problem. They will not endure sound doctrine; they turn away from listening to the truth preached and taught. In its place they wander off into myths. They want to listen to a different gospel, one that suits them and is fitted to their wants, desires, passions, and lusts (one that scratches their itching ears).

4) What is the danger here for the minister?

There are religious ways of appealing as a minister to the lusts of the listeners that will be popular and gain a hearing because the people are disposed in this direction and are seeking this kind of religion. The danger for the minister is to think that he must follow the interests of the listener and govern the nature of ministry of the word according to their interests. This is the danger of being "men pleasers" instead of ministers of Christ seeking only to please Him (cf. 1 Thess. 2:3-8).

5) What is the way past the pitfalls?

Paul’s charge is that though major obstacles will confront you and challenge you at the very heart of your calling, do not turn to the right or the left to please and entertain: preach the whole counsel of God given infallibly in the OT and NT. Give primacy to the word by teaching sound doctrine with correction and encouragement tightly woven together into the very fabric of your preaching.

This binds the minister to preach and teach (cf. as pastor-teacher, Eph. 4:11) the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27, publicly and house to house) with an emphasis on the grace of God in the gospel of Christ (Acts 20:24) to be plainly stated (Col. 4:4; clear includes contrasting sound doctrine with its opposite, so clarity demands an "is" and "is not" statement in the process of complete teaching, cf. Titus 1:9). It is to be stated, restated, iterated and reiterated so that the Lord’s people will know the doctrines of grace and recall them in their daily lives (2 Pet. 1:10-15, Peter is emphatic!).

2A. The ground of the charge

It is given in verse one. We cannot help but hear the word judge as a key word that jumps off the page. But we should notice that Paul does not say, do your work in light of the fact that you will be judged. As a matter of fact, that thought would be motivating in only a very narrow and negative sense; it could even discourage as pastors grapple honestly with their own sins. The ground that moves to this gospel duty is much richer and far more encouraging than that. It moves in a different orbit of thought; this ground hangs on much better hinges. Let’s see if we can bring this out with some of its fullness.

1) In this context, if the pastor considers Jesus as judge, he is directed to do so with an acute sense that the world will be judged and his flock will be judged. Of course, he knows that he will be judged but the accent is on preaching the word of Christ because that is the message that God uses to save sinners from condemnation. Thus, Paul encourages the duty of ministry. Take it up in this spirit. Do not do your daily work in the gospel with a truncated view of the gospel. Do not think first of your works that God is going to judge. Think first that God is going to judge all. Think of those to whom you are sent.

2) But there is much more here in the reference to the living and the dead. It informs us about Christ. That He is judge of living and dead is a way of saying that all people of all time (past, present, and future) are under His authority and answer to Him. He is the one to whom all will give an accounting of their lives on this earth. But it does not focus our attention on the final judgment (like is done in Matt. 25 or Rev. 20). Again, what this does is it tells us something about Christ. It tells us that He has an authority that transcends life and death.

• He has authority over all flesh to give eternal life to those given to Him by the Father.
• He has life in Himself and can give it to whosoever He will.
• He knows the Father and can make the Father known to whomever He chooses.
• He has been given all authority in heaven and earth.

The words "therefore lift your head high and preach sound doctrine courageously, firmly, and patiently" can be expressed after each of the points cited above. He has an authority that transcends life and death, so preach sound doctrine with complete teaching and patience. He has authority over all flesh to give eternal life to those given to Him by the Father so be thorough and preach the pattern of sound words. He has life in Himself and can give it to whosoever He will so preach the word. He knows the Father and can make the Father known to whomever He chooses so in His name preach the word. He has been given all authority in heaven and earth so make the word, sound doctrine, the truth of the risen Christ that which is primary in your labors and that has the distinct place of priority over everything else.

Therefore, preach the word. Give primacy to the saving word. Do so with an aggressive readiness and willingness. Preach and teach, teach and preach. Challenge, rebuke, correct, and encourage the lambs and sheep of Christ.

3) "In the presence of God and Christ Jesus who will judge" are not words given to reinforce the idea of judgment (as we have seen the introduction of judgment is a subordinate point that sets the authority of Christ out in bold relief). This is a reference to God’s providential care and rule over history. He is there with us at every moment. We are not alone. He sees. We are under watching eyes: everything is open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. But again, the idea is not to threaten with judgment but to entice by love. We are under His watch care. He knows our way, behind and before, and all our steps; this means that He cares, loves, and guides our steps. There are many challenges, pitfalls, trials, and discouragements on the way to the celestial city but He will see us through by giving new mercies every morning.

4) "By his appearing and kingdom" are not words intended to raise the thought of judgment as an imminent threat. It is that of course and the judgment theme does hang in the picture as a threatening reality. The appearing of Christ is His return (all the uses in the NT suggest that his appearing refers to the second coming: 2 Thess. 2:8; 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 1:10; 4:1, 8; Tit. 2:13). So the kingdom that He is now forming in the building of His church will be culminated.

This is an encouragement to preaching all the truth with great teaching and patience because it puts the promise out in front of us again. Jesus is coming and He is the Sabbath king who will so rule history that He will bring fallen image bearers to the marvelous goal of eternal Sabbath rest. Therefore, this charge is grounded in knowing that God through Christ as Sabbath king is providentially governing history, that He is effectually calling out and building His church and with determined love He will see His sheep and lambs, each one, safely home to the glory of eternal Sabbath rest.

No wonder Paul can sort of leap from this ground and encourage all the complexities of pastoral ministry. What a joy to know that Christ is present and active with absolute authority by which the great end of the kingdom of God will be reached. This enforces the duty stated in the charge. It encourages and supports it. This gives the charge its backbone. It sets a tone. Do not carry on your work under this notion of judgment first and foremost though it is a great reality that hangs over us in all of our existence on the earth. First and foremost, carry on your work under the banner of God’s loving providence, the sweetness of fellowship with Him in His presence that has been opened for you by Christ Jesus the mediator. Preach the word in recognition of His loving presence by his appearing and kingdom.

3A. In this light, we can understand Paul’s summary of his charge.

a) First, be serious minded. This is not a summons to be solemn, negative or melancholy. It is to live and work with a due sense of the great realities that stand over us for time and eternity. Judgment is surely one of these realities but that is in the background. Up front we are to recognize that the things with which we have to do include the providential eye of God by which He is working out His eternal purposes in history (we tremble in awe that He is at work in us, Phil.2:12). His purposes include the coming of Christ, His sacrifice, and His coming again. They include the fact that we live in the time between in the dawning of the new day as we move toward high noon. In one sense we can say that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. But in another sense we can say that the day has dawned already and so we are light in the darkness and must cast off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, and walk properly as in the daytime (Rom. 13:11-14). Go about your task clothed with Christ; this is a call to serious mindedness.

b) Second, endure hardship. Suffering is one of the sobering realities that must be faced along the way. In the providence of God and in the certain building of the church by Christ, there is a process that includes ups and downs. The process includes opposition, turning away, disappointment, disloyalty, betrayal, conflicts, and much heartache.

Paul says to the pastor: You must be a soldier in Christ’s army fighting for the cause of the truth of Christ persistently and relentlessly. So you must count the cost. Looking ahead, you must recognize that there will be wounds inflicted on the battlefield. This is especially true when you stand firm in the exposition of sound doctrine that has a cutting edge for the conscience.

c) Third, these things are to be done with a sense of the good news that is at the center of the preached word (do the work of an Evangelist). The good news is that Jesus Christ is Jacob’s ladder, the great high priest of the people of God. In Him we have life, eternal life entered here and now and to be entered in the glory of eternal Sabbath rest yet to come. The fundamental point is that the gospel in the Gospels is good news, the gospel in the NT is good news, and the gospel in the whole counsel of God in the entire Bible is good news. It centers in Christ; we therefore live before Him and for Him with great expectation and anticipation of glory.

d) Finally, he says, "Timothy and pastor fulfill your ministry." The ministry is larger than preaching the word. That is its heart and core. But it includes public and private labors. It includes the management of your household and especially the nurture of your wife in the great truths of Holy Scripture. It involves combining hospitality with sound teaching.

Fill it all out. Bring it all to fullness as good news, with seriousness, and in the face of all opposition but with a great sense of promise that gives strong legs to patience.

Conclusion

Family of God, can you not see that a weighty challenge, awesome privilege, and great responsibility are placed on both our shoulders? This gives me a calling and you a calling as well. The flip side of my preaching is your listening. There is a summons here to patient listening to sound doctrine. You are to listen to exhortation, reproof, rebuke, correction, encouragement, and not turn away. You are to do so without seeking first to be entertained and to have your itching ears and desires govern the diet. This all is very relevant to our times.

What a joy to me to know that that is what you expect of me: preaching sound doctrine as a priority combining graces like hospitality with sound teaching.

What a joy to know that we do these things in the presence of God and Christ Jesus. The one on the throne of the universe as Sabbath king will rule history to its destined goal. In fellowship with Him and under His loving care, we attend to the word that is to have primacy and we give it priority by preaching and listening to preaching!