I. Introduction
A. This is the final sermon in a three week series on worship.
B. Our passage is some of Paul’s final words to his dear friend and #1 disciple in 2Timothy 4:1-4 “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.”
II. Preaching and teaching in the NT
A. There was a practice in synagogues in the days before Jesus came, where the Scripture was read within assemblies for public worship and then expounded and applied by a teacher.
B. Jesus routinely participated in this practice, expounding the word of God:
1. "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (Matt. 9:35; cf. 4:23).
C. Thus it is not surprising to see the apostles adopting the same pattern:
1. Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
2. Acts 15:35 Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord. (Cf. Acts 20:7).
3. There are numerous passages in the NT illustrating the apostolic practice of expounding the scriptures. It was obviously a regular part of public worship.
a. Hence the apostolic admonition in 2Tim.4:1-4.
III. Explanation of 2Timothy 4:1–4
A. 1 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:
1. Paul reminds Timothy that preaching is serious business by reminding him that he has received this assignment from Christ Jesus Himself, who will judge all men on the day of His return.
B. 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
1. It seems to me that we have four things going on here, four things being urged on Timothy.
a. Faithfulness: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season
(1) There will be times when people will welcome the truth and celebrate it. There will be other times when people will not want to hear it.
(2) Indeed, every age considers some things the Bible says to be scandalous.
(3) But a faithful preacher must preach God’s word in season and out of season, not yielding to human pressure.
b. Urging: It’s not enough to merely declare the truth, the faithful preacher must reprove, rebuke, and exhort, urging people to believe it and obey it and correcting people who disregard it.
c. Teaching: It’s not just all about the application and the urging. It must be done with careful teaching and explanation re: what the Bible says and means.
d. Complete patience: The faithful preacher knows there are many human foibles which slow the process of spiritual development. He must realize that preaching is a long-term project requiring much patience. It’s like watering a garden: you can’t do it too fast or you damage the very plants you are trying to help.
2. Then, following up on v.2, he says in 3-4:
C. 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.
1. There is always strong pressure to be political, to adapt what we say to what people want to hear. There is always strong pressure to try to be flashy instead of faithful.
2. For some it’s “Just adjust a little here and leave out a little there and you can be so much more effective!” (And when you say effective you really mean successful.)
3. For others, it’s “There’s a nice profit to be made here telling people what they want to hear.”
4. It wasn’t that long ago that condemning racism from the Bible right here in Virginia would have meant the end of your preaching career. You could preach all the rest, just don’t go there.
5. And there are heroes who did just that in spite of the danger, heroes whose names we don’t know but who refused to capitulate simply because God said, “Preach the word in season and out of season.”
6. Among many the PCA is known as being very theologically conservative.
a. I’ll tell you what I think. I think that among denominations in the USA, the PCA is doing one of the best jobs of holding onto the truth of the Bible even as it gets less and less popular.
7. I want to tell you the story of the prophet Micaiah from 1Kings 22.
a. It was in the days when God’s people were divided into two nations: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. And yet the two nations were friendly with one another.
b. One day (evil) King Ahab of Israel asked his counterpart, (generally good) King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “Will you go with me to battle against Syria?”
c. Jehoshaphat responded, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses, but could we first inquire for the word of the LORD?”
d. So Ahab gathered his 400 prophets together, asking them: “Shall we go to battle, or refrain?”
e. And with one accord they all said, “Go up, for the Lord will give the enemy into your hands.” 400 prophets in agreement! One of them even fashioned some horns out of iron and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
f. But Jehoshaphat wasn’t satisfied. He said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD we can ask?”
g. To which Ahab replied: “There is still one guy by whom we can inquire of the LORD, Micaiah, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but only evil.”
h. But they went ahead and sent for Micaiah. And the messenger who went to retrieve Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets have all given favorable feedback to the king. Make sure your prophecy is the same.”
i. But Micaiah said, “Whatever the LORD says to me, I will speak.”
j. And when Micaiah came in, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to battle, or not?”
k. And this is what Micaiah prophesied: “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” In other words, I see a vision in which the king of Israel is dead.
l. And Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he wouldn’t prophesy good concerning me?”
m. Then one of the 400 prophets came over and slapped Micaiah on the face.
n. And Ahab said, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I return from the battle in peace.”
o. To which Micaiah added, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.”
8. Sometimes it’s 400 to 1. Sometimes you have to say what nobody wants to hear. Sometimes standing on the word of God will get you being mocked, discounted, ridiculed, even fired or imprisoned.
9. When the crowd is screaming at us, the preacher has to remember that he stands in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. We have to remember that one day He and his kingdom will appear to judge the living and the dead. And on that day, what the crowd thought will not matter, what was considered important in the culture will make no difference. It will all come down to what we did with what God said.
IV. The listener’s job: Doesn’t this imply something about the listener’s job?
A. V.1 If God is so serious about the preaching of the word, He must be likewise concerned about the listening part of the equation.
1. He’s going to hold you accountable for your part of the process as well.
2. So, how is the ministry of the preaching of God’s word going in your life? And what are you doing in order to help make it successful in your life?
a. praying for the preaching? — “Bad preaching is God’s judgment on a prayerless congregation.”
b. Praying God will speak to us through His word?
c. Preparing for the sermon? We expect the preacher to prepare, but do we prepare?
d. Are we attentive, eagerly listening for God’s message?
e. Are we praying for grace to put His word into effect?
f. Do we review? — If you know my preaching, you know that I’m not just about inspiring people for the week ahead, but imparting a Bible education you will need and use the rest of your life.
B. V.2 You’re going to hear some things which are hard to hear. You’re going to be rebuked and exhorted. You’re going to hear things that insult your self-esteem. You’re going to hear things that fly in the face of what is the popular way to think. How are you going to react?
1. Proverbs 9:8–9 “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser.”
C. V.3-4 There is a temptation to suit your own desires, to turn away from faithful preaching in order to find something that suits your fancy.
1. When you look for movies, video games, food, music, etc., you look for what gives you a kick. But be careful about doing that with sermons or preachers.
2. If the preaching enterprise is not working, it isn’t necessarily the preacher’s fault.
3. Just because it seems boring or irrelevant or too heavy doesn’t mean that the problem lies with the preacher or the sermon.
4. Now God knows that we preachers can do a terrible job of preaching. We can be — and often are — boring, irrelevant or too heavy. "One of the best proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is that it has withstood so much preaching." – Dr. A.T. Robertson
5. But that’s not the only factor at work. The failures of the listener are also part of the picture.
6. There is a temptation to be one of those who doesn’t want to hear the adulterated word of God, whatever it says, a temptation to want to hear what you want to hear.
D. If you love Jesus you must "listen to Him."
1. Luke 9:35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” \
2. Don’t think of a sermon as a lecture given by some old guy, think of it as an opportunity to hear God speak to you and teach you through one of His servants.
V. Several things I’d like to say in conclusion:
A. There are many preachers much better than me, and many you can learn more from than you can learn from me. But one thing I’ve realized is that if you’re hungry for God’s truth, you’ll be eager to learn it from whomever you can.
B. I know that some people who love the Bible have no love for Jesus. Their love for the Bible is in vain. But it is also vain to love Jesus and not be interested in the Bible. You know why? It's impossible. You can't love Jesus and not love what he says to you. Some of us really don't think we need the Bible.
C. I am jealous of your view of me and attitude toward me, not because I like to be liked, but because if you have no respect for me, you won’t be able to listen to the word of God through me. Please meet with me if there are barriers in your heart toward me.
D. One of the great blessings I have been given as a preacher is that I come to preaching expecting that I’m addressing people who want to know what God’s word says.
1. So many of you have made my job a joy. In so many ways, it’s been so easy.
2. As you pray for the Lord to give me strength to preach the word no matter how unpopular it becomes, so I pray for you that you would hear Jesus through my preaching, and that you would listen to Him.