We are starting the last chapter of our series in 1 and 2 Timothy, although this is not the last sermon (there will be one more).
Surely you’ve heard the phrase, “I solemnly swear.”
To be solemn about something is to be serious or sincere.
When someone says, “I solemnly swear,” it means that they’re really serious; they are seriously serious.
Well, the apostle Paul is near the end of his second letter to Timothy, and he gets solemn about something.
He starts off in verse 1, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus . . .”
Paul is getting really serious with Timothy, and through the Holy Spirit, he’s getting really serious with us.
So, let’s hear what Paul has to say. Before we do, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Ok, remember that Paul is speaking to Timothy, who is a young pastor, probably still pastoring in Ephesus at the time of Paul’s writing of this letter.
As a pastor, Timothy is a servant of God.
At the same time, there’s a sense in which all of us who belong to Jesus are servants of God, Amen?
All of this is directly applicable to Timothy as a pastor, and to other pastors. Yet, all of us can also learn from these verses as well.
Paul is essentially telling Timothy “How a Servant of God Can Be Read.”
So, let’s discover three ways that a servant of God can be ready for what lies ahead:
First, . . .
I. Be ready to share the message.
Look at verses 1-5:
1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
As we discover this first way that we can get ready as servants of God, I want us to focus on verses 1, 2, and verse 5.
First of all, let’s look at verse 1 again; it’s incredible!
1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ has a kingdom of His own people, He is coming back again when He appears in glory, and when He comes He will judge the living and the dead.
These realities have tremendous implications that call us to share the gospel message with the world.
Jesus is bringing people into His kingdom and He does so through the sharing of the gospel message.
Jesus will judge the living and the dead and they will only escape guilt through the sharing of the gospel message.
Jesus will return one day and take His people into His glory and into His kingdom, and they will only be able to enter through the sharing and their acceptance of the gospel message.
Servants of God: we must be ready to share the gospel message!
Also, look again at verse 2.
Paul says, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season.”
Paul says to be ready in season and out of season. This reminds me of an athlete who may let their health deteriorate during the offseason. If they’re not in shape, it will be hard to compete if they were called to do so during the offseason, because they’re not ready,
Paul says that the servant of God must always be ready to preach the Word of God! Servants of God must be ready to share the message!
Finally, for this point, let’s look at the second part of verse 5.
Paul says, “ . . . do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
Remember, Timothy is a pastor. Yet, Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. Why is that? If he’s a pastor, why he is telling him to do the work of an evangelist?
The reality is, every follower of Jesus Christ should be an evangelist: someone who shares the message that there is forgiveness of sins made available through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We are to be powerful, Holy Spirit-filled witnesses for Jesus! We are to go and make disciples of all nations! We are to do the work of evangelists.
Servants of God must be ready to share the message.
By the way, just as a note, if you need some resources on sharing the gospel, let one of your pastors know. Or, you can see my sermon series on our website, called “Gospel Tools for Gospel People.”
We must be ready to share the message.
Next, we see that we are to . . .
II. Be ready for others to compromise.
We see this reality first in verse 2. Look again at your Bible.
Notice that as the servant of God preaches the Word of God, we are to be prepared to “ . . . rebuke, correct, and encourage.”
The people of God need each other to rebuke each other, correct each other, and encourage each other, with the Word of God.
Left to ourselves, we are sometimes given to compromise. We are prone to wander; we are prone to leave the God we love.
So, we must help each other with the Word of God.
There’s more to this, though.
Paul says in verses 3-4, “3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
Listen, church: this time has already come upon us. There are many people (inside the Christian Church and outside the Christian Church) who will not tolerate sound doctrine.
They don’t want to hear that Jesus is the only way to be rescued from the judgment of God.
They don’t want to hear that we need to forsake sin and pursue holiness.
They don’t want to hear that God has a good design for gender, marriage, and relationships.
They don’t want to hear about sin in sermons, they want to hear feel-good sermons.
They don’t want to hear that church is not about them, rather it’s about the glory of God.
They don’t want to hear about sacrifice, generosity, and humility.
They don’t want to hear that church is not primarily about buildings, meals, and meetings. It’s about the people of God accomplishing the mission of God.
They don’t want to hear that gossiping about one another and complaining about pastors is an evil from the pit of hell.
They don’t want sound doctrine; rather they want what they want to hear. As Paul says in verse 3, they want to hear about their desires, and they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
So, the desires of those who reject false teachings are met by those who will teach what they want to hear. Paul says they will “multiply teachers for themselves.”
Some of these false teachers are very successful in the eyes of the world. Let me warn you about something church: just because someone can gather a crowd, doesn’t mean they’re teaching the Word of God. In fact, sometimes it may mean the exact opposite.
Now, to be clear, I want to draw a crowd! The more people who can hear the Word of God preached, the better! But there will be some who celebrate teachers who teach what they want to hear, rather than sound doctrine.
There are some out there who will compromise the truth, and compromise the gospel.
We must be ready for others to compromise. We should expect this reality.
Finally, a servant of God should . . .
III. Be ready to go home.
Paul’s not quite done with his letter yet, but he is very close. Listen as he pours out his passionate longing for his soon departure from this world.
Look at verses 6-8:
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.
Christians, I don’t know about you, but I am ready to go home.
Don’t you know that there’s no place like home? Just recently I saw some beautiful sights in the countries of Greece and Turkey. I had a great time with some folks from our church and others from another church, but I was so glad to get home!
Jesus told us in John 14 that He is going to prepare a place for us; He’s preparing our home.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:18 “ . . . that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”
When I am home, I have my bed, my toilet, my snack cabinet, my refrigerator, my car, my family; it’s incredible! I had a bed where I was, I had a toilet, I had snacks, I had people; but they didn’t compare to my home.
Listen, Christian: the hardships of this world do not compare with the glory that awaits the Christian when we go to our heavenly home!
As Paul was writing this letter to Timothy, he was experiencing suffering in this world.
He said that he was “being poured out as a drink offering.”
Paul knows that his days are numbered. He says, “ . . . my departure is close.”
Paul is satisfied in the fact that he has lived his Christian life well. He says in verse 7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Paul is not only ready to go see Jesus and experience the glories of heaven, he is also ready in the sense that by God’s grace, he has been faithful in his life and ministry.
What about you, servant of God? Have you been faithful? Are you ready to go home?
Paul says that the righteous Judge, Jesus, will reward him and “all those who have loved his appearing.”
I don’t know about you, but I love the fact that Jesus appeared, and I love the fact that He will appear again one day to take us home and shower us with His presence, His glory, and His reward.
I am ready to go home, and I pray that you are ready to go home.
Let us summarize the message of 2 Timothy 4:1-8 with this bottom line:
Bottom Line: To be ready, the servant of God must remain faithful.
Paul solemnly charged Timothy to hear this final charge. May we receive it as an important, solemn message for us as well.
We must faithfully teach the word of God, we must not be among those who compromise, and we must remain faithful until the return of our King.
Challenge yourself this week in this one major way:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Make a commitment to be ready for the appearing of Jesus.
Are you ready? Perhaps you need to address some things in your life. Perhaps you need to examine your beliefs or your behaviors.
Maybe you value this world more than the home Jesus has prepared for you.
Maybe you are not ready because you have not given yourself to Jesus and you are still lost in your sin.
Are you ready? If not, make a commitment to be ready for the appearing of Jesus.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
(Benediction)
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