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Well, you may turn in your Bibles 
to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Last time we considered the solemn 
charge in verse 1, and then the specific command in verse 2, 
where the apostle gives the last official command to the church. He will certainly make other 
commands upon Timothy in this chapter, but they are personal 
in nature and specific to the context. Here is the last command 
the Apostle gives in terms of a corporate responsibility. This 
is what was of concern to the Apostle Paul in the eleventh 
hour prior to his death. He wanted Timothy and ministers 
subsequent to preach the Word. We'll all read beginning in chapter 
4 at verse 1. I charge you, therefore, before 
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and 
the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word, 
be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort 
with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, 
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves 
teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth 
and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, 
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your 
ministry. For I am already being poured 
out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at 
hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, 
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to 
me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Be 
diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me. having loved this present world, 
and has departed for Thessalonica, Crescens for Galatia, Titus for 
Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark 
and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry, 
and Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with 
Carpus at Troas when you come, and the books, especially the 
parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did 
me much harm, May the Lord repay him according to his works. You 
also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words. 
At my first offense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. 
May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with 
me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached 
fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also, 
I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will 
deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly 
kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet Prisca and Aquila 
and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but 
Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come 
before winter. Ubilis greets you, as well as 
Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus 
Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank you 
for this letter to Timothy. We thank you for the instruction 
for the Church. We pray that we would take these 
things to heart, that we would see the seriousness of these 
things, and that, Lord God, by your grace and the power of your 
Holy Spirit, we would seek to apply these things as a local 
body. We ask, our Father, that you 
would cause us to be faithful, cause us to persevere, cause 
us to endure to the very end, doing what you have commanded. 
We know you're not looking for creators or innovators, but you're 
looking for obedient worshippers. God help us in this pursuit. 
Again, forgive us for all of our sins now as we come to Scripture 
and fill us with your Holy Spirit. And we ask these things through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. So the command is given. Preach the Word. Be ready in 
season and out of season. And Paul will now give reasons 
for the command. If we were Timothy and we asked 
Paul, why are you commanding us to preach the Word? Well, 
that is precisely what he does here in verses 3 to 8. We're 
going to look at verses 3 to 5 this evening. Specifically, 
we'll look at two reasons. The rejection of the truth and 
the ministry of Timothy. So Paul says, preach the word, 
be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort 
with all longsuffering and teaching. And the first reason that Timothy 
is to do that is because the time will come when they will 
not endure sound doctrine. So the rejection of the truth 
argues for the presentation of the truth. In other words, we 
do not cater to people, we do not let them think that they 
are the ones that are able to see what is best for themselves, 
but rather we do what God commands. And the four things that Paul 
says here concerning this rejection of truth seem to build upon one 
another. One commentator, Towner, says, 
four succeeding statements may envisage apostasy as a sequence 
of steps. So we see four things that sort 
of go along here. In the first place, Paul says, 
they will not endure sound doctrine. Notice in verse 3, the time will 
come. That is one of those out-of-season 
moments when the church, the professing people of God, those 
who name the name of Jesus Christ, they will not endure sound doctrine. And the particular word here 
means to bear up. It means to endure or to put 
up with and it may have shades of boredom, apathy, or annoyance. So you can see where this might 
be the first step. It's not full-blown apostasy. 
We see that in the fourth step. But here specifically, there's 
this boredom with the Word of God. There is this apathy with 
the Word of God. There may even be annoyance with 
the Word of God. And not only with the Word of 
God, but with ministers of that particular Word. It's not something, 
ultimately, that they're interested in. And I think we all would 
do well to take heed to ourselves and to make sure that these things 
do not find their way into our hearts. We will see they never 
stay dormant, or they never just stay small, but it builds upon 
one another. We begin to get bored with Scripture. 
We begin to get bored with church worship. We begin to get apathetic 
to it. That means we can take it or 
leave it. Missing church no longer becomes that big of a deal. Missing 
the people of God really isn't affecting us anymore. Being absent 
from the house of God when the Word of God is preached or when 
the Lord's Supper is observed, you know, we have this sort of 
take it or leave it mentality. Brethren, it won't stay there. 
It won't be the case that that's all that affects you. Ultimately, 
it will grow and it will build, and it could end in utter defection 
or apostasy from the very truth of God Most High. This whole 
idea involved, this boredom, this apathy, or again, even annoyance. We're annoyed at some of the 
application. We're annoyed with the way that 
the preacher seeks to apply the passage of Scripture. We're even 
annoyed with the Scripture itself, that it would dare point to our 
particular pet sin. Perhaps we're engaged in a secret 
life of wickedness, and we come to the house of God, and we hear 
something that seeks to deal with that, and instead of embracing 
it, thanking the Lord God Most High that He's showing us our 
sin, we get annoyed with what is happening. And I've always 
found it intriguing that Paul says, preach the Word, and then 
he says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound 
doctrine. I love the connection there. I've said it before, I'll 
say it again. If I was Timothy and I emailed Paul and I said, 
look Paul, there is a time in our church when they will not 
endure sound doctrine, what am I supposed to do? Paul would 
email back and say, preach the Word. I'd email back and say, 
Paul, didn't you hear me? They don't want me to preach 
the Word. Paul would email back, I want you to preach the Word. 
I might do it one more time and say, Paul, they don't want the 
preaching of the Word. And he would one more time email 
back and say, preach the Word. The church is not the arbiter 
of what is necessary for them. The church is given very clear 
instruction what is needful. The church is given this particular 
mandate, that she make everything out of the Word of God. The connection 
is beautiful. The time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine, so Timothy, you are to preach 
to them sound doctrine. Note this second step in the 
rejection of the truth. They will heap up false teachers. 
They will heap up false teachers. The time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, 
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves 
teachers." Now, your Bible translation may give it a bit of a different 
rendering. It may have something like tickling ears or whatnot, 
but the image is clear one way or another. They're yearning 
for and longing for something they're not getting through faithful 
gospel preaching. They're yearning for and longing 
for something they're not getting through faithful ministry of 
the Word. And because they're not getting that, because they 
have these itching ears, they're going to heap up for themselves 
teachers that will tell them what they want to hear. This 
is absolutely wretched. You do not walk into your doctor's 
office and take his prescription pad and write down what you think 
you need. This is Lloyd-Jones' analogy, 
by the way. I never let the patient write 
the prescription. Lloyd-Jones, of course, was a 
medical doctor before he became a pastor. I think it means the 
same in both contexts. I never, as a medical doctor, 
let the patient write the prescription. Well, neither does the faithful 
gospel minister let the patient write the prescription. You don't 
ask your child every day, what do you want for supper? Well, 
I want cakes, and I want treats, and I want candy, and I want 
sugar, and I want all those sorts of things that will rot my teeth 
and rot my insides. Well, okay, junior, let's just 
give you those things. Absolutely not. The image is 
powerful, the image is strong, and the reality is prevalent 
today. Because they have itching ears, 
because they have these wretched desires, they reject the truth 
of the gospel, they will not endure sound doctrine, they become 
bored, they become apathetic, they have become annoyed. So 
they go after the Benny Hinns. They go after the big-haired 
preachers. They go after the guys that are 
going to make every day like a Friday. They're going to go 
after the guys that make you your best self now. That's the 
image that is employed by Paul. And certainly we could explore 
this further in our own culture and see the rampant abuse with 
reference to 2 Timothy chapter 4. Their particular remedy is 
to heap up the sort of teachers that are acceptable to them. 
Now, I'm not saying go sit under preaching that makes you mad, 
makes you want to go bananas and nuts, and it's terrible. 
I think that preaching should be engaging. I think that preaching 
should be interesting. I think, ultimately, preaching 
should be faithful and accurate exposition of the Word of God. But if, for some reason, the 
preaching you're under just makes you want to stick forks in your 
eyes, yeah, find another preacher to be sure. But the idea here 
is to heap up teachers that tell you what you want to hear. To 
heap up teachers that make you feel better about yourself. Now, 
I don't think you should always feel miserable about yourself, 
but if you're always feeling better about yourself after a 
worship service, perhaps the preaching isn't faithful. Perhaps 
the preaching isn't accurate. Preaching should tear down, but 
ultimately build us up in our Lord Jesus. As Ryle says, concerning 
that first beatitude, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven. If we would build high, we must 
first start low. And I think that's what faithful 
exposition of the Word of God does. But in this particular 
instance, these persons, and many persons today, will heap 
up teachers according to their own desires. That's terrible, 
isn't it? Is that the way we function in 
any other context? Well, it's all about me. Actually, 
it is. But we shouldn't encourage that. 
We should discourage that, especially in the church of Christ, because 
our Christ as prophet knows what's best for His people. And if Christ 
tells Paul to write to Timothy by the Spirit, preach the Word, 
then that is what is important for the church today, not the 
sorts of things that go on unchecked. The ultimate thing that persons 
ought to be looking for in churches are what the Reformed called 
the marks of the church. Now, there are two in some schemes, 
three in other schemes. The Belgic has, or the Belgic 
Confession has the three that I think are generally accepted 
among the Reformed today. The preaching of the word. the 
administration of the sacraments, and the execution of church discipline. Maybe we should say administration 
of discipline. Execution and discipline, everybody 
might conjure up images of old covenant Israel, and we take 
them outside the camp and we let them have it. The sacraments, 
the proclamation of the truth, and the administration of church 
discipline. Is that what people are looking 
for in churches today? I think I've shared before, people 
will call and say, what do you offer? We have a Wednesday night 
study and we meet on Sunday. There's this awkward pause. And 
I know what they want to say, that's it? You don't have puppets, 
ponies and programs? You don't make my little Johnny 
feel wonderful? You don't have things to entertain 
him and make him feel complete and whole? That's your job as 
a parent. Our job as a church is to preach 
sound doctrine. to administer baptism in the 
supper, and to engage in faithful church discipline. That's it. Do people, if I can use the word, 
shop for churches this way? No, it's about programs, it's 
about youth, it's about fun, it's about entertainment, it's 
about what can you do for me? It's just a wretched mindset. 
There is a consumerism that has infected the professing people 
of God, and unfortunately has infected the professing church 
of God, because churches tailor themselves to be competitive 
in such a market. such that if you call them and 
you ask, what do you offer, we'll form one age group. We have this 
for the old folks, we have this for the middle, we have this 
for the singles, we have this for the married, we have this 
for the kids, we have, you know, a three-ring circus going on. 
Do you preach the word? Well, yeah, yeah, we have helpful 
messages. We have relevant studies. Do 
you engage in church discipline? No, we don't want to be judgmental. 
What about sacraments? Yeah, you know, we baptize if 
people want to be baptized. That's good. See, brethren, the 
marks of the church ought to be what we operate according 
to. With this ilk, or these persons and their ilk, they heap up teachers 
according to their own desires because their ears are itching. They want them scratched. Calvin 
makes this observation, he says, Heap up, by which he means that 
the madness of men will be so great that they will not be satisfied 
with a few deceivers, but will desire to have a vast multitude. There is no shortage of these 
sorts of men out there today. Sometimes on Saturday afternoon, 
after the sermons are written, I'll watch clips of bad preaching. It really motivates me. It really 
fires me up. And YouTube is a treasure trove 
for bad preaching. You watch 10 or 15-minute clips 
of that, you think, praise God, this is what we're supposed to 
be doing. Whatever it is, they are not. Brethren, this is the 
day in which we live. Towner says, this group has a 
curiosity so active and a craving for novelty so insatiable that 
they are driven to extremes and without any discretion for judging 
between truth and error. It's terrible when persons can't 
make rational determinations based on Scripture on what is 
right and what is wrong in terms of preaching. Notice, thirdly, 
they go from not enduring sound doctrine of boredom and apathy 
or annoyance to heaping up false teachers. We're bored, we're 
apathetic, and we're annoyed with the true preachers, so we've 
got to get guys that tell us what we want to hear. And this 
inevitably leads to a turning away from the truth. Notice, 
the language is that of apostasy. But according to their own desires, 
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves 
teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth. So 
boredom, apathy and annoyance become active turning away. Notice, from the truth. We are 
to turn away from heresy. We are to turn away from falsehood. 
We are to turn away from those things which ultimately damn 
us. We are to turn toward the truth. I love the image that 
we have in Nehemiah chapter 8. That time when Nehemiah, the 
priest rather, going to read the law of the Lord before the 
whole assembly of Israel. They and their little ones. And it says that the assembly 
gathered together and their ear was turned to the law. I love 
that. Their ear is turned to the law. Incidentally, that's the passage 
where they build a pulpit. They build a platform and they 
give the sense of the scripture. They give the sense of the law. 
It is a picture of expository preaching. But as the assembly 
is gathered together, their ear, collectively, is turned to the 
law of the Lord. Not so here. The boredom, the 
apathy, and the annoyance give way to heaping up false teachers. The consequence now is that they 
will indeed turn away from the truth. This is a bad place to 
be. Beware, as I said, of entertaining 
the boredom, the apathy, and the annoyance. This is ultimately 
where it's going to lead. You're not bored and apathetic 
and annoyed and then say, wow, I'm going to be holier and more 
responsive to the truth. No, you're going to seek out 
men that will scratch your itch and then you are going to turn 
away, defect from, apostatize from the truth. And then notice 
the fourth phase or step. They will embrace fables. they 
will embrace fables. They turn their ears away from 
the truth and will be turned aside to fables. This is what 
happens. Men are going to believe something. 
They're either going to believe the truth or they're going to 
believe the fables. Now I ask you, is this what you want? I 
trust that you don't. You're here tonight. Is this 
what you want for your kids? You know, I've always struggled 
with this whole approach that we're going to find a church 
that our kids like. You know, I'm going to find a meal that 
my kids like. I don't live that way. I feed 
them what I know is good for them. Or I did, I don't have 
to now. Rebecca and I buy a block of 
cheese and it's there for two, three, four weeks now. If we 
had boys in our house, if it was there two, three days, it 
would be an amazing thing. But you see, we didn't cater 
to them and we didn't fawn all over them. We didn't say, what 
would you like? And yet persons today look for churches based 
on that very thing. What are you teaching your kids? 
They're more important than God. They're more important than the 
marks of the church. They're more important than faithful 
gospel ministry. Whatever tantalizes and pleases 
and encourages you. Now, kids, I'm not against you 
being happy. I'm not suggesting that we should 
punch you when you walk into the room here and, you know, 
that all bad things should come your way. I am suggesting, however, 
that your parents take their responsibility to heart and realize 
that they are to bring you up in the training and admonition 
of the Lord God Most High. It is ultimately their responsibility. 
The church serves as a help in that particular pursuit. For 
us, when we were younger and we had our younger children, 
truth was paramount. We put our kids under truth. 
That meant, at times, going to nurseries that were less than 
beautiful. I think I've shared before, in 
the church that we first started off, I was a deacon there, we 
had to go on spider patrol before we had Sunday services. We had 
to go through the nursery and get the spiders. These were big 
spiders, we're not talking little spiders. This was the Mojave 
Desert. We had to fish the spiders out before we'd bring the children 
in. I never thought, oh man, my children, no, they need the 
truth, so they're going to go deal with spiders if they have 
to. Not today. If you don't have this, that, 
and the other for the church, we can't be there. I don't know 
what to say, I just say you need to make sure that truth is paramount, 
because the reality is that persons will believe something, either 
truth or heresy, and the gravity is seen in what you ultimately 
hang your soul upon. Is it going to be faithful exposition 
and application of the word of truth, or is it going to be puppets, 
ponies and programs, and those things calculated and structured 
to make you happy? and your five-year-old. Again, 
I'm not against the happiness of five-year-olds, but I think 
five-year-olds ought to be taken to church, they ought to be taught 
to sit still, they ought to be taught to listen, they ought 
to be taught to be respectful, and they ought to realize that 
this is the house of the living God. If the voice of Yahweh shatters 
the cedars of Lebanon, as it does according to Psalm 29, our 
task as parents is to nudge them, It's to direct them, and it's 
to say, listen, pay attention. The preaching of the gospel is 
coming. You need to take heed. That's 
our job as parents, brethren, not to be annoyed, not to be 
apathetic, not to be bored. If you get to that point in your 
church experience, do you think your children aren't going to 
observe that? Do you think they're not going to hear you complain 
about your pastors? Do you think they're not going 
to hear you complain about your boring worship services? And 
then when they get 15 and you say, let's go to church, and 
they're bored, and they're apathetic, and they're annoyed, you're going 
to be shocked and surprised? You've taught them to be bored, 
annoyed, and apathetic. You have taught them because 
of your own example and by your own words. Brethren, as an older 
man now, and I'm not older in the terms of Mr. Bolt or some 
of these other brethren, but having been at this for 18 or 
19 years now, I've started to see some trends and some patterns. Those persons that take seriously 
their responsibility to inculcate in their children respect for 
your elders. I don't just mean old people, 
but church officers. You go to the doctor's office 
and you teach your child to be respectful to doctors, don't 
you? You get pulled over by the RCMP, they'll hear you say, yes, 
sir, no, sir, and yes, officer, no, officer. Yet in the church, 
I mean, encourage your kids to say nice things to the pastors, 
because that's how we get their hearts, and they pay attention, 
and they listen, and they know that we love them, and that we 
pray for them, and that when we preach the gospel to them, 
we want nothing more than for them to embrace it, and to believe, 
and to be saved. Brethren, part of the task of 
bringing up your children in the training and admonition of 
the Lord is the nudge, nudge, pay attention, directing them 
toward listening to the Word of God. Notice, the reasons for 
the command. Timothy, I want you to preach 
the Word. Why? Because they will reject the 
truth. Secondly, because of your own ministry, Timothy, this is 
why you exist. If you were an electrician, Timothy, 
your job is to go out and fix things having to do with electricity. 
If you were a plumber, your job, your reason for existence is 
to plumb and to plumb well. If you are a manager, you're 
an employee, or whatever you are, your task is to do it the 
way the boss commands you to do it, and to do it most excellently. So Timothy, here's why, as well, 
you need to preach the Word, because that's why you're alive. 
That's why God saved you. That's why God called you out 
of darkness into marvelous light. That's why God placed you in 
Ephesus. It's not so you could be the 
happiest, nicest fellow in Ephesus. It's not so you could walk around 
and just ooze your love upon everybody. It's not bad to be 
loving, to be sure. But Timothy, this is the reason 
why you are to do what you are to do. Notice verse 5, But you 
be watchful in all things. This word means to be vigilant, 
to be wakeful, to have a considerate frame of mind, taking heed of 
what is happening and pursuing a course with calm and steady 
aim. I think that's great. Timothy, 
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, 
but according to their own wicked desires, they're going to heap 
up teachers that will scratch their itching ears. Timothy, 
they are going to turn from, apostatize from, defect from 
the truth. They will turn aside the fables. 
What's a Timothy supposed to do? Freak out? Panic, blog, and 
be nasty to those persons? No. Be watchful in all things. Maintain steadiness. It's not 
just the idea of keep calm, but the idea, as Tanner explains, 
is observant alertness. Be mindful. Be careful. Be committed. When the church 
is turning away from the truth and turning aside to fables, 
Timothy is to maintain observant alertness and continue to do 
what God has called him to do. That's the imperative. Notice, 
secondly, Timothy needs to endure. But you be watchful in all things, 
endure afflictions." Now, afflictions will certainly come if Timothy 
is doing what he's supposed to be doing. This has been a repetitive 
theme in this particular letter. Notice in 2 Timothy 1.8. 2 Timothy 
1.8, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, 
nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for 
the gospel according to the power of God. Share with me, Timothy, 
in suffering. Notice in 2.3, You therefore 
must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And 
again in 2.9, For which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even 
to the point of chains. So Timothy needs to endure afflictions. Timothy needs to be persevering. Timothy needs to be watchful, 
and he needs to deal with the problems that come. Gordon Clark 
makes this spectacular observation. Remember, we're dealing with 
the church, aren't we? Timothy's not being told, you 
need to endure afflictions from the pagans. You need to endure 
affliction from the heathen. You need to endure affliction 
from the Roman Empire. No, you need to endure affliction 
in the context of the church in Ephesus, with the people that 
profess to be Christians, but they don't endure sound doctrine, 
the people that heap up false teachers, the people that turn 
away from the truth, and those that turn aside to fables. Timothy, 
in that context, you need to endure affliction. Clark says, 
one may note that the endurance of evil here mentioned is not 
particularly connected with pagan persecutions, but with doctrinal 
attacks by the heretics. That's the affliction that Timothy 
needs to endure through. Notice thirdly, Timothy needs 
to do the work of an evangelist. Now it's tough to know whether 
it's the office here or the function. The office is mentioned in the 
book of Acts with reference to Philip the evangelist, and it's 
mentioned in Ephesians 4.11. It is situated between apostles 
and pastor-teachers. Evangelist is placed right in 
the middle there. So it's hard to know if what 
Paul is saying is Timothy do the work of an evangelist, that 
sort of ministry or that sort of office that's between the 
apostles and between the pastors. Was Timothy an evangelist? There's 
been lots of ink written about this in terms of the official 
office of evangelist. Or it could just be function. 
Timothy, in all of your contending against the false teachers, Timothy, 
in all of your seeking to inoculate the people of God, Timothy, in 
all of your preaching of the Word, of being ready in season 
and out of season, convincing, rebuking, and exhorting, Timothy, 
don't forget, sinners need the Gospel. Sinners need to hear 
of Jesus and Him crucified. Sinners need to be evangelized. Yes, the church needs to be fed. 
Yes, the church needs to be protected. Yes, the false teachers need 
to be refuted. Yes, the people of God need to 
be inoculated against those false teachers. But Timothy, sinners 
come in, they sit under the preaching of the Word, and you therefore 
must do the work of an evangelist. Explain the glories of the cross. Explain the excellency of Jesus. Tell them about His doing and 
His dying and His rising. Tell them about substitutionary 
atonement. Tell them the good news that 
Christ Jesus saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. Gil is very helpful in this place. He says, "...and to do the work 
of such an one," this is evangelist, "...is not to read lectures on 
morality, or to preach up justification and salvation by the works of 
the law, or to mix law and gospel together and confound them both. but to preach peace, pardon, 
and righteousness, life and salvation alone by Jesus Christ and through 
the free grace of God. Timothy, do the work of an evangelist. And finally, fulfill your ministry. The analogy that I like to think 
of here is the analogy of the husband and wife relationship. 
You know, in Ephesians 5 and in Colossians 3, Paul tells husbands 
they need to love their wives as Christ loved the church and 
gave himself to her. Well, sometimes husbands will 
say, well, she's not very lovely. She's got issues. She's got problems. She doesn't quite please me like 
she used to. You've still got to love her. 
Her conduct does not negate your responsibility. And by the same 
token, A woman is to submit to her own husband as unto the Lord. You exhort and you seek to encourage 
a woman, and she says, well, he's not really worthy of me 
submitting to. He's not the nicest fellow. He 
smells bad. He's not what he used to be. 
It doesn't change your present responsibility. That's a tough 
pill to administer to married people. It's a tough pill that 
we all have to swallow. I am called to love my wife as 
Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Not based on 
if she's worth it, not based on if she's functioning according 
to my thoughts and my perception. I'm just supposed to do it. The 
same token she's supposed to submit to me. Now, the same holds 
true here. Timothy, fulfill your ministry. If professing Christians are 
annoyed, And they're apathetic, and they are bored with you and 
your ministry, Timothy. Fulfill your ministry. If professing 
Christians think they know what is best for them, and they want 
to take the prescription pad and write down for themselves 
that which will most satisfy their itching ears, Timothy, 
you do what you're supposed to do. And Timothy, if the professing 
people of God defect from, apostatize from, or turn away from the truth, 
that does not negate the responsibility for you to preach the Word. And if they happen to turn aside 
to fables, don't feed them more, don't entertain them, don't coddle 
them, don't soothe them, but rather do what you're supposed 
to do. So you see the reasons that Paul 
gives in 2 Timothy 4, 3 to 5, the reasons why Timothy is to 
preach the Word is because there will be defection from the truth 
and because it's Timothy's responsibility. I think thirdly connected to 
this is the departure of Paul. Paul is going to die. He knows 
that in verses 6 to 8. Hence, the emphasis on preaching 
the Word, because there will come a time when men will not 
endure sound doctrine. Timothy, you need to be faithful, 
because Paul says, I'm going to go to heaven, and I want somebody 
there to do the job they're supposed to do. We'll get to 6 to 8, as 
I said, God willing, in a couple of weeks. So, just a few things 
before we close. The responsibility of the Church. 
I think we see that here. The responsibility of the Church. 
It is first to receive the truth. Receive the truth. You know, 
I've met with persons over my time, you know, they say, you 
know, we just don't feel like we're really doing anything. 
We want to serve. Well, there's always things you can do to serve. 
And it doesn't have to be official. You can actually just serve. 
Call someone, visit someone, be nice to someone. You notice 
that Mr. Neufeld isn't here, or Mr. Proctor's not here, or Fran hasn't 
been here. You can call them. That's service. 
You don't need the official sanction of the church to call them. You 
can serve. Go ahead. What about the active 
participation of receiving the truth? You know what encourages 
pastors? I know this is going to sound 
like we lower the bar. It encourages pastors when you 
read five hours a day, and you cite Martin Luther, and you know 
Birkhoff, and you can memorize. When you show up and you pay 
attention, I would imagine that pleases 
a woman who cooks a nice meal, or a man. I don't want to be 
gender-offensive. Men can cook, too. You cook a 
nice meal, you want somebody to eat it, right? You labor in 
the kitchen, you put this together, you want somebody to go, It's 
an act of participation. It is the reception of good giddles 
down one's throat. Your task as church men and women 
is to receive the truth. Because God knows that when you 
receive the truth, when it goes into the head and it permeates 
into the heart, you will do what God's truth says. That's what 
the Spirit uses. Secondly, a responsibility of 
the church is to recognize the mission of the church. We don't 
exist to do everything. We exist to do specific things 
and to seek, by the grace of God, to do them well. When you 
add to the palette a whole host of things that the church has 
never been charged with doing, it causes confusion among Christians. They think the church should 
raise their children. No, you raise your own children. That's your job. You shouldn't 
want the state to raise your children. You don't want me to 
raise your children either. You want me to preach, and you 
want to learn, and you want to teach your children, and you 
want to bring them to a place where they can hear the preaching 
of the Word, but it's your job. When the church jumps into the 
role of child-rearing, she has overstepped her boundaries. of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
I think as well, Pastor Porter reminded us of this two weeks 
ago in our confession study. And our confession says it, but 
I think we need to be reminded. Chapter 26, paragraph 3, the 
purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error. You're not going to find a perfect 
church. You're just not. The moment you 
think, wow, this is the best place, you're going to see me 
do something really stupid. You go, wait a minute, it's not 
the best place. It's not! There's a mixture of error. There is a mixture of these impurities 
that beset us all on this side of heaven. That's why I say those 
marks of the Church are crucial. Are the preaching of the Word, 
and the administration of the sacraments, and the administration 
of discipline, are those things happening? Yes, not perfectly. We could step it up. There's 
some areas, of course, that we need. But you know, by and large, 
those things are in place. That's why it's objectivity that 
goes into Church selection. And then I would suggest the 
responsibility of the Church is to rejoice in the means God 
has ordained for your well-being. He doesn't give us the prescription 
pad and say, I want you to write down what you think will help 
you. God says, I know what's going to help you. You need to 
be happy. You need to be thankful. I saw the surgeon this week, 
and I afterwards shook his hand. I said, thank you very much. 
You have restored some quality of life to me. That is a blessing 
and a good thing. I didn't say a blessing and a 
good thing. This guy had like two minutes with me. I mean, I think 
he does this a lot all day. I said, thank you. This is good. God gives us good things. the 
supper, baptism, prayer, each other. Do we ever stop and say, 
thank you God for giving me what I need? We should. Secondly, 
the warning to professing Christians, to all of us. We need to beware 
of boredom, apathy, or annoyance. Beware of boredom, apathy, and 
annoyance. If those things start to be entertained 
in the heart, there's probably going to be a decline. There's 
probably going to be a spiritual Slippery, slow. Beware of thinking 
you know what's best for you as opposed to God. You don't. God always knows what's best 
for you. God always knows what's best for you. You do not know 
what's best for you. As well, beware of finding teachers 
that tell you what you want to hear rather than what you're 
supposed to hear. You see the distinction? You're 
supposed to find teachers that teach you what you're supposed 
to hear. The Word of God faithfully expounded. You shouldn't ever 
sacrifice that or substitute it for a man or men who are going 
to tell you what you want to hear. And I would suggest as 
well, beware of departures from historic Christian orthodoxy 
under the guise of innovation and novelty. I remember talking 
to a minister several years ago. He said, we don't call them sermons. 
Sermon is bad? Can't say sermon anymore? They're 
messages, Bible-based messages. I'm sorry, brethren, they're 
sermons. Someone else complained once, you guys use the word fellowship? 
What else are we supposed to call it? It's a good one-word 
description of a bunch of people getting together in Jesus' name. 
It's easier to say fellowship. We're in a day and age where 
biblical language is just jettisoned because we don't want to make 
anybody ever think that they're not part of us. Well, maybe if 
they think they're not part of us, they'll believe the gospel 
and be saved by God's grace. I love what our confession says 
in the preface. It's not contained in all of 
the copies that we have here, but there's a preface called, 
To the Judicial and Impartial Reader. They write, we have no 
itch to clog religion with new words, but do readily acquiesce 
in that form of sound words which hath been, in consent with the 
Holy Scriptures, used by others before us. Beware of innovation, 
beware of creativity, beware of departures from the truth 
under the guise of trying to reach people. Now I'm all about 
trying to reach people, but we do it through the Word. And then 
finally, the responsibility of faithful ministers, as outlined 
here, preach the Word in season and out of season, be watchful 
in all things, observe in alertness, not just chill out and be calm, 
but be mindful of what's happening, do not be taken off the path, 
but rather be steady, be persevering, be relentless, because this is 
what God has called you to. Endure afflictions. Persons might 
say, oh, he's boring, or he's this, or he's that, or he yells, 
or he doesn't yell, or he's this. Just endure it. Do the work of 
an evangelist. Preach the gospel. Brethren, 
preach the whole counsel of God. That's what faithful ministers 
do. And fulfill their ministry. Not be the most successful, or 
the most popular, or the best conference speaker. Look at what 
Paul tells Timothy. Fulfill your ministry. I always 
love that. Do what you're supposed to do. 
The final analysis, brethren, isn't that much of what the Christian 
life is all about? Just do what you're supposed 
to do. You ever have that with your kids? Just do what you're 
supposed to do. It hopefully settles them down 
and they do what they're supposed to do. I love what Calvin and 
Gill said concerning this whole sort of context. Calvin said, 
the more extraordinary the eagerness of wicked men to despise the 
doctrine of Christ, the more zealous should godly ministers 
be to defend it. In other words, the more defection, 
the more zeal ought to be in the hearts of the godly minister. And the more strenuous should 
be their efforts to preserve it entire, and not only so, but 
also by their diligence to ward off the attacks of Satan, John 
Gill says, now this being the case, the idea that they will 
not endure sound doctrine, he says, should not discourage but 
rather animate the ministers of the gospel to preach it. For 
should they desist, in all likelihood, the gospel would soon be gone. And the gospel is that blessed 
message from God Most High that is concerned with the Lord Jesus 
in his life of obedience to the Father, his death as a substitute 
at Calvary, his resurrection on the third day, his ascension 
on high, and the reality that all those who believe on him 
will have everlasting life. That is a message we do not want 
to desist. That is a message we want to 
persist. We want it to grow. We want it 
to run swiftly and be glorified. We want it to be propagated through 
the earth. So faithful men of God ought 
to take their cue from 2 Timothy 4 and not the most recent leadership 
conference on how to build your church. Christ is building his 
church and Christ has ordained the means. Faithful men of God 
committed to preaching the whole counsel of God and to do it in 
a manner that is consistent with what we find here. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word and we thank you for the clear prescription given 
to us and help us to receive with thanksgiving the word of 
truth. Go with us now and watch over us in this coming week and 
be glorified in our lives as individuals and be glorified 
in us as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his 
name that we pray. Amen.