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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Our focus 
tonight will be the first two verses in 2 Timothy. Essentially 
what we have is Paul's final charge. given to the church. Now, I know it's given to Timothy 
particularly, but it's the last formal command that Paul gives 
to Timothy as Timothy is representative of the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And essentially what we have 
is the command given in verses 1 and 2, and then in verses 3 
to 8 we have two reasons for the command, essentially because 
the church will defect from sound doctrine and Paul is going to 
die. These are the reasons why Paul 
wants Timothy to preach the Word. But I do want to read it in its 
context. We'll pray and then we'll look 
in detail at verses 1 and 2. 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 be aware 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 Anesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but 
Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come 
before winter. Jubilus 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 your Word, and thank you for this opportunity now to come 
and study Scripture. As we just sang, Father, Son, 
and Spirit, we ask that you would grant us grace to receive with 
thanksgiving the Word of God. And may it have an impact upon 
our hearts and lives. May you conform your people evermore 
under the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for those who are 
not your people, we pray you would call them by your grace 
and for your glory. We ask that You would pour out 
Your Holy Spirit upon us, that we would have Him to illumine 
our minds and our hearts, that we may indeed understand the 
Scriptures, and that we may indeed walk accordingly to these truths. We ask that You would forgive 
us for all sin and transgression and all unrighteousness, and 
we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, remember the last several 
times we've been in 2 Timothy, specifically in chapter 3, the 
apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to continue steadfastly in the 
Christian ministry. He exhorts Timothy to maintain 
fidelity in the long run to the very end that he would be a faithful 
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that he sets forth to 
Timothy the reality that Timothy had, in fact, followed Paul's 
example carefully. And then he reminds Timothy that 
Timothy had indeed continued in the things that he had learned. 
Notice in verse 14 of chapter 3, where he was exhorted to. 
You must continue in the things which you have learned and been 
assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that 
from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are 
able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus. So Timothy learned from a grandmother 
and a godly mother. Timothy is well learned from 
the Apostle Paul, and Paul says you need to hold fast to the 
Scriptures that you have been taught. Paul then ends chapter 
3 giving this general statement concerning the usefulness of 
Scripture. He highlights its divine origin. 
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It didn't just come from 
man, but it comes from God. As well, it's profitable or useful, 
and Paul indicates several ways. Verse 16, it's profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And then in verse 17, there's 
a particular application, rather, to the man of God. Notice what 
he says. the man of God, in the context, 
Timothy, the pastor, the man serving in the local church, 
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every 
good work. And that leads us to consider 
what Paul does here in chapter 4. And I think the connection 
is to be seen thus. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, 
and inerrant Word of God. It is profitable for all the 
things that the Apostle has highlighted. Therefore, Paul tells Timothy, 
you need to preach this Word. Now, as I've said often, 2 Timothy 
is the last letter that the Apostle Paul wrote prior to his death. Notice, in verse 6 of chapter 
4, Paul knows that his time is at hand. Paul knows that the 
end of his life has approached. Paul knows that he's going to 
die. This is the last letter that 
he has written. This is the last formal or corporate 
command that he gives. Beginning in verse 9, he gives 
several commands to be sure, but they're private in nature. 
They're to Timothy. Timothy needs to come and see 
Paul. Timothy needs to bring Paul's cloak. Timothy needs to 
bring the books, especially the parchments. So there's a lot 
of commands in chapter 4, but they're not formal, they're not 
corporate. It's not what the church as a 
whole is supposed to take heed to. But verses 1 and 2 are. Paul's 
last formal command to the church is that they preach the Word. So I think we ought to give special 
heed to the apostle in his eleventh hour. When a man comes to die, 
those things that he says just prior to his death demonstrates 
what is closest to his heart and most important in terms of 
his life and of the message that he wants to pass on to his followers. So I want to look at verses 1 
and 2 this evening under two considerations. First, the solemn 
charge. Secondly, the specific command. 
Note the solemn charge in verse 1, I charge you therefore before 
God and the Lord Jesus Christ. This isn't the first time Paul 
uses this convention. Notice in 1 Timothy 5 verse 21, 
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect 
angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing 
nothing with partiality. Again in 2 Timothy chapter 2 
at verse 14, remind them of these things, charging them before 
the Lord, not to strive about words, to no profit, to the ruin 
of the hearers." So he comes now to 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, 
and having made this statement concerning the profitability 
and the divine origin of Scripture, he says, I therefore charge you, 
or I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
therefore, is absent in the newer translations. It's in the King 
James and the New King James tradition. I think it belongs 
there, and I think it highlights or underscores the connection 
between verses 16 and 17 of chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2 of chapter 
4. Since the Bible is what Paul 
says the Bible is, then Timothy is solemnly charged to preach 
it, to declare it, to proclaim it, to highlight it, to underscore 
it, to make sure the church hears it, to make sure that persons 
hear it. The therefore highlights that 
this is an implication of the preceding. Since the Bible is 
what Paul has described it to be, therefore Timothy is to preach 
it. And it is intriguing that Timothy 
is solemnly charged not to be the nicest man on the face of 
the earth, He is solemnly charged not to be the friendliest person 
in Ephesus. He is not solemnly charged to 
be the mover and the shaker that gets things done. But Timothy, 
rather, is solemnly charged to be a faithful preacher of God's 
Holy Word. Notice that this solemn charge 
is under the gaze of God Most High and the Lord Jesus Christ. Something Paul does often, we 
have the Father and we have the Son in close connection. They 
are coordinated, they are joined together by this little word, 
an. In the presence of the Father, in the presence of the Son, Paul 
the Apostle charges Timothy to execute faithfully his duty. 
And this is also something we ought to appreciate. The pastor, 
the minister, the man who studies the Word to preach the Word according 
to 2 Timothy chapter 2, he studies to show himself approved unto 
God. He doesn't study to show himself 
approved to men. He doesn't study to show himself 
something to the eyes of those who hear him, or to the ears 
of those who hear him. And in the same token, when the 
man of God comes before the people of God to preach, his eye is 
to be heavenward. He is to understand that he is 
preaching to men, to be sure, but the divine audience is Father, 
Son, and I would essentially say as well, the Spirit of God, 
because he's never far off, obviously. Paul charges Timothy before God 
and the Lord Jesus Christ. So Timothy must be mindful that 
when he goes into the pulpit, when he sets forth the word of 
truth, when he expounds it and applies it, it is the audience 
of the triune God that he has an eye toward. That is a sober 
reality. But Paul doesn't stop there. 
In the present, Timothy is to consider father and son. But 
Timothy must also have a future orientation. He must have an 
eye to the coming judgment day. Notice what Paul says, I charge 
you therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, And then 
he speaks specifically of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge 
the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Timothy, when he goes about to 
preach, ought not simply to think, well, I've got to get through 
this day. I've got to finish my tasks. I've got to do my job 
so that everybody will be happy and we can go home. No, Timothy 
must be mindful of the coming judgment of God Most High. Why? Why would Paul do this? Why would Paul charge him? Why 
would Paul remind him concerning that Christ is going to come 
again to judge the living and the dead? I think it goes in 
two particular ways. In the first place, I think it 
underscores what James tells us in James chapter 3. He says, 
let not many of you become teachers, for we shall incur, or we shall 
receive, a stricter judgment. Now, if a doctor messes somebody 
up, let's say a hip, for instance, they cut out the wrong bone and 
they put it together poorly, that doctor certainly can be 
sued for malpractice. I don't know how effective that 
is in Canada. I think you have to take on the 
whole government. But I know in the United States, at least 
it used to be, if somebody messed up, you could sue them. They're 
held accountable for that misstep. Well, in the same way, the preacher 
of the Word of God is held accountable for the things he says in the 
name of God. This is why we don't want men 
to share their hearts. This is why we don't want men 
to tell stories. This is why we don't want men 
to come and give us soothing tidbits for our busy lives. We want men to preach the Word 
of Truth. We want men to engage in faithful 
exposition of God's Holy Word, drawing out blessed implications 
and applications of that Word, and bringing it to bear upon 
the people of God. The minister of the Gospel will 
incur a stricter judgment if he compromises the truth, if 
he distorts the truth, if he shaves off edges, if he makes 
it fit a particular model that is not God's, then he is going 
to receive judgment from on high. Paul the Apostle in Galatians 
1, how does he start that letter? He gives a very brief greeting 
to the people of the Galatian churches and then he says, I 
am amazed that you are so quickly turning from him who called you. by another gospel, and then he 
pronounces an anathema upon any and all that would twist the 
word of the living God. Now, think about that. The doctor 
who messes up a hip is not anathematized. The doctor who messes up a kidney 
operation is not anathematized. He is not consigned to hell for 
having wrecked your body. He may have a financial payment 
to make, his life may be ruined on this side of heaven to be 
sure, but there's redemption, there's forgiveness, there's 
mercy, there's grace to be had. He can go to the Lord God and 
say, cleanse me in the blood of Jesus because I've ruined 
this person's life by taking out the wrong kidney or removing 
a section of the brain that controls their motor skills and functions. 
This is serious to be sure, but he's not consigned to hell. This 
is what Paul does in Galatians 1. In fact, turn there just so 
you understand the gravity involved and why Paul is reminding Timothy 
concerning the coming judgment day when the Lord Jesus will 
judge the living and the dead. Galatians 1.6. And again, this 
is very intriguing. You have to understand. I think 
it was Machen who said that the epistle to the Galatians is a 
fighting epistle. It is a fighting epistle. Paul 
comes right out of the gate. When you look at 1 Corinthians, 
for instance, the Corinthian church was filled with sin, wasn't 
it? I mean, sin after sin after sin 
after sin after sin in the Corinthian church. But if you look at the 
opening greeting, it's long, it's flowery, it's lovey, it's 
dovey, it's the Apostle Paul just oozing and pouring out his 
love upon these brethren. You see, those were errors concerning 
sanctification, and certainly Paul combats those errors concerning 
sanctification. But in Galatians, the gospel's 
at stake. The doctrine of justification 
by faith alone is in danger of being compromised. That's why 
He comes out of the gate. That's why He attacks. Notice 
in Galatians 1.6, I marvel that you are turning away so soon 
from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different 
gospel, which is not another. But there are some who trouble 
you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or 
an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what 
we have preached to you, let him be accursed. This translates 
the Greek word anathema, which is the Greek word for the Hebrew 
word, which means something that is devoted to destruction. Remember 
when the children of Israel went into certain cities and they 
were told not to take things that were under the ban. They 
were told not to take things that were devoted to destruction. 
That's the word that's used here. Paul says, let them be anathema. 
Let them be condemned to hell. Let the wrath and fury and judgment 
of God Most High fall upon any man that would twist the doctrine 
of justification by faith alone. Paul includes himself in this 
anathema. Even if we, or an angel from 
heaven, Should it be the case that a holy angel should come 
down out of heaven and occupy a pulpit and teach you justification 
by faith plus words, may he be anathema. May he be damned to 
hell. May he suffer under the wrath 
and fury and judgment of God. And in case the Galatians missed 
this, notice in verse 9, as we have said before, so now I say 
again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, then what 
you have received, let him be accursed. So going back to 2 
Timothy 4, verse 1, this solemn charge, the audience is the Father 
and the Son. The orientation is present. Consider 
the fact that the Father and the Son are the audience that 
oversee your preaching. But consider the future as well, 
when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear, and He will judge the 
living and the dead. Timothy, if you wrongly handle 
the Word of God, if you twist the Scriptures, if you distort 
the words of life, then you will be under that judgment. But I 
think it goes another way as well. Timothy, do this because 
Christ is going to come again to judge the living and the dead. 
Presumably those living and the dead that sat under your ministry. Prepare them for the judgment 
to come. Prepare them for the glory of 
heaven. Warn them concerning the terrors 
of hell. Timothy, there is a judgment 
coming. If it wasn't this way, if the 
stakes were not so high, you could be everybody's buddy. You 
could be the life coach. You could be the encourager. 
You could be the cheerleader. You could be the inspirer. You 
could be the one who ladles out the chicken soup for the soul. 
I understand this morning I kept saying chicken soul for the soup. 
You know those books, I see multitudes of them at the thrift store, 
and that makes me rejoice. I don't see multitudes of John 
Owen, I don't see multitudes of John Calvin, I don't see multitudes 
of Puritan authors. I mean, once in a while, you'll 
stumble into the BFM and you'll find something. I've been known 
to do a little holy jig in the hallway there when I find these 
good books, but there's a whole raft of chicken soup for the 
teenage soul, or the adult soul, or the elderly soul, or the whatever 
soul. If the stakes were not so high, the preacher could simply 
pour out this chicken soup to give you a bit of encouragement 
for your life here on earth. But no, Timothy, these people 
are going to meet Jesus. These people are going to stand 
before God. These people are going to give 
an account for deeds done in the body, whether good or evil. 
Timothy, do not play games. Preach the Word to them so that 
they receive the Gospel by the grace of God. And on that day 
when He comes in His appearing and in His Kingdom, they will 
be fit and ready to enter in. to the presence of the Lamb of 
God Most High. If Christ was not going to judge, 
we could gather together simply as a social club. We could gather 
together simply for some helpful life lessons along the path that 
we find ourselves on. But that's not the case. It's 
heaven to be won by the grace of God, or it's hell to suffer 
in because of our rebellion against God. So that's the solemn charge. Notice, secondly, the specific 
command. And there are two things we ought to consider here. First, 
the command stated, and secondly, the manner specified. Note the 
command. He says, preach. We'll get to 
the word in just a moment, but preach. See, I think we fail 
to remember that in the first century, they had a whole host 
of media available to them. They didn't have the Internet, 
so they didn't have Facebook, and they didn't have Twitter. 
They didn't have the social media that we have today that is digital, 
that is computer, that is internet. I don't even know what all happens 
to make it appear there. But they didn't have that. But 
they had several forms of media. They had drama. They had stage. They had mime. They had a whole 
host of ways to take messages and bring them to bear upon an 
audience. But notice what God the Lord 
chose. He chose preaching. Now, this 
does not mean that you can't be saved apart from preaching. 
You take your Bible home tonight, you're unsaved, and you read 
in the Gospel of John, the Lord God Most High certainly can save 
you. It is through the instrumentality of the Word. The primary means 
in terms of the corporate gathering of God's people is the preaching 
of the Word. And the preaching, or the word 
preach, comes from, or is connected to, the herald. Now, this is 
something that was common in the first century. Here's what 
one lexicon defines the K. Rooks, that's the word, a herald 
or a preacher. The verbal form is K. Rooks on, 
to preach. But the K. Rooks, the herald 
or the preacher, Rogers and Rogers say, the herald was someone who 
had important news to bring. He often announced an athletic 
event or religious festival, or functioned as a messenger, 
the bringer of some news or command from the king's court. He was 
to have a strong voice and proclaim his message with vigor, without 
lingering to discuss it. The herald's most important qualification 
was that he faithfully represent or report the word of the one 
by whom he had been sent. This is crucial. Let me just 
read that again. The herald's most important qualification 
was that he faithfully represent or report the word of the one 
by whom he had been sent. He was not to be original, his 
message was to be that of another. You understand? The K-roots, 
the herald, the preacher, he didn't come to share his heart. 
He didn't come to be innovative. He didn't come to be creative. 
He came to bring the message that his superior sent him to 
bring. He was to be faithful. He was 
to be diligent. He was to be earnest. I like 
the way it says, he was to speak loudly, right? Without public 
address systems, a man who didn't speak loudly wouldn't be heard. 
C.H. Spurgeon, in his lectures to 
his students, talking about men in the ministry, he says, for 
you men with narrow chests, this is why we have dumbbells in the 
basement of the college. I quite like that. Go expand 
that chest. Get bigger, stronger, and more 
able to cry aloud. Spare not. Lift up your voice 
like a trumpet to declare to Israel her sins, and the judgment, 
and the mercy of God Most High. So that's the K roots. This is 
a particular choice made by God. Again, several forms of media 
were available, but the Lord God chose preaching. Go to 1 
Corinthians chapter 1. We'll see this highlighted as 
well, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20. Well, verse 18, for the message 
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but 
to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is 
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing 
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the 
scribe? Where is the disputer of this 
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For 
since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did 
not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the 
message preached to save those who believe." Now, as Pastor 
Tom Lyon points out, it's the content of the message that is 
salvific. It is the content of the message 
that is salvific, the reality that Christ lived, Christ died, 
and Christ rose again. Nevertheless, that content is 
preached. So the emphasis falls on the 
message itself, but in this context we see it nevertheless as a message 
that is preached. Since in the wisdom of God, the 
world through wisdom, through Socrates and Plato and Aristotle, 
through Thales and Heraclitus and through the philosophers, 
In the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. 
They couldn't penetrate heaven, they couldn't get to the triune 
God. Through those secular philosophers, it pleased God through the foolishness 
of the message preached to save those who believe. Now notice 
what he goes on to say in verse 23. For Jews request a sign, 
and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, 
to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. 
But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ 
the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness 
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger 
than men." Now with that section of Scripture in your mind, consider 
that preaching pleases God. That's a simple observation that 
I actually got from Pastor Tom Lyon. It's so simple. It's one 
of those things that's so simple, you just kind of navigate right 
over. God's pleased through preaching. 
And brethren, when we compare Scripture with Scripture, we 
see that God is pleased with preaching even when sinners aren't 
saved. Paul speaks to that in 2 Corinthians. He says, when 
that word goes forth, we are a fragrance to our God. And he 
says, to the one, life leading unto life, and to the other, 
death leading unto death. It's the proclamation of truth 
that pleases God and brings Him glory. You see, I think there 
is in us this idea that when we pass out tracts, or we witness 
to that person at work, or when gospel preaching goes out on 
the Lord's Day at our churches, if no one gets saved, it was 
unsuccessful. Mr. Lawson often points out, 
with reference to the Puritans, for them a successful church 
service was that the Word was faithfully preached. It's not 
the results, it's not what's happened, it's that God is glorified 
through the proclamation of the Word. As well, notice, in this 
context, preaching does not please the natural man. It pleases God, 
but it doesn't please man. Why? Because Jews seek after 
signs, right? Greeks seek after wisdom. So when Paul and his brothers, 
his ministerial companions, come to preach, the Greeks want signs 
or wisdom. Go to the Areopagus in Acts 17. They wanted to hear from Paul 
concerning Jesus and the resurrection. But they didn't fall down in 
mass and bow before the Lord Christ. They didn't like that. 
Same with the Jews. They wanted signs, the same sort 
of thing that Jesus confronted in his earthly ministry. Notice 
as well, preachers nevertheless preach. The Jews seek signs, 
Greeks seek wisdom. What do preachers do? Well, let's 
get you some signs. Let's get you some wisdom. No, 
that's not what they do. They preach. Right? Do you see that there? I want 
you to see that. For Jews request a sign, Greeks 
seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. What's Paul 
saying? The Jews and the Greeks do not 
define or determine what it is gospel ministers do. The Jews 
and the Greeks do not define the scope of the church. They 
do not define the mission of the church. They do not define 
what ministers are supposed to do. This is precisely where the 
church is faltering in our current generation. We want to be relevant. We want to just give chicken 
soup for the soul. We just want to be life coaches. We just want to encourage. We 
just want you to be a happier you. No, that's not what we're 
supposed to do. If God is pleased through the 
foolishness of the message preached, it doesn't matter if Jews and 
Greeks reject it, we will nevertheless preach Christ and Him crucified. And then notice, preaching is 
the means to declare Christ who is the power of God and wisdom 
of God. This is a perpetual obligation. If the Apostle Paul sets this 
forth in the eleventh hour as that which is determinative for 
church conduct and practice in Timothy's day, then why have 
we got it into our heads that this is no longer relevant? You 
know, we live in a visual culture today. Preaching simply doesn't 
connect with most people, especially when you go 45 minutes or 50 
minutes or 55 minutes or an hour. Persons just can't deal with 
that. You know what God would say? Persons ought to learn to 
deal with that. Persons ought to buck up and 
act like men, because persons can watch a hockey game for three 
hours. Persons can do whatever it is they're really interested 
in for three hours, and persons can get really fired up about 
that. And yet, when it comes to a church 
service, man, if the minister goes a little long, we're all 
ready to commit mutiny. The Lord God Most High, through 
the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4-2, says to Timothy, Preach. Why in the world would we abandon 
that God-sanctioned, God-ordained means and substitute it with 
something other? Notice, the object preached. 
He says, preach the Word. Preach the Word, that Word he's 
just identified in verses 15 to 17 in 2 Timothy 3. That Word that is divine in its 
origin, it is God-breathed. That Word that has utility, profitability 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness. Timothy, that's the Word you're 
supposed to preach. The Word, not stories. The Word, not his heart. The 
Word, not little tidbits. The Word, not your personal example. You have heard that probably 
recently. Someone once said in the history 
of the Church, they've tried to pin it on Francis of Assisi, 
but there's some evidence that he didn't say this. Francis was 
a preacher, but you've heard it perhaps. Preach the Gospel, 
and when possible, use words. You ever heard that? Preach the 
gospel and, when possible, use words. What's the implication? 
That my life and my virtue and my goodness and my holiness will 
communicate the gospel to sinners. Now certainly our lives and our 
virtue and our holiness ought to communicate something to sinners, 
but it doesn't communicate blood atonement. It doesn't communicate 
Golgotha. It doesn't communicate God made 
Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become 
the righteousness of God in Him. Be as holy, as virtuous, and 
as upright as you can possibly be, you will never, ever, ever 
communicate the objective content of the Christian gospel through 
your life. The minister is to preach. J. Gressom Machen comments on this 
whole idea of preaching without words. He says, we can preach 
the gospel, they tell us, by our lives and do not need to 
preach it by our own words. But they are wrong. Men are not 
saved by the exhibition of our glorious Christian virtues. They 
are not saved by the contagion of our experiences. We cannot 
be the instruments of God in saving them if we preach to them 
thus only ourselves. In fact, if you think about it, 
in light of total depravity, and if you reflect for just a 
moment upon your own heart, the last thing you want to preach 
to a sinner is you. You don't want to help them to hell, do 
you? You don't want to facilitate their pathway, do you? I'm just 
kind of kidding there, but the idea is that we need to proclaim 
the objective content of Christianity. Machen goes on to say, "'Nay, 
we must preach to them the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only 
through the gospel which sets him forth that they can be saved.'" 
So when we look at the object preached, it is the Word. And 
I would suggest, submit, and try and argue to you now that 
when the Word is faithfully preached, that is the Word of the living 
God Himself. Ephesians 2, 17, the Apostle 
Paul says this, he says concerning Christ, and He, Christ, came 
and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who 
were near. It's an incredible statement, 
isn't it? Ephesians 2.17, and he came and preached peace to 
you who were afar off and to those who were near. For those 
of you who are thinking, yeah, that's an incredible statement, 
but I'm not getting why it's incredible. Well, let me tell 
you. Jesus never went to Ephesus. Jesus confined his ministry in 
Israel, didn't he? Jesus sent his disciples out 
to make disciples of all the nations. We have the record of 
the gospel going into Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. So when Paul 
and his companions faithfully expounded the word of God, Paul 
can later say that Christ came and preached peace to you. Note what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 
2.13, "...for this reason we also thank God without ceasing, 
because when you received the word of God which you heard from 
us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in 
truth, the word of God which also effectively works in you 
who believe." You say, well, that's the apostles. Yes, it 
is the apostles. And that self-same apostle just 
identified to us that the Word of God comes from God. The Scriptures 
have their origin in the Divine Being, such that when those Scriptures 
are faithfully expounded, it is God the Lord who speaks. So 
you receive the words, not as the words of men, but as they 
are in truth, the Word of God. The Didache, which is an early 
Christian manual, sort of a doctrinal chicken soup for the soul in 
the first or second century church. This is dated very early, probably 
around A.D. 120. I think Michael Kruger says 
it could even be A.D. 110, which that's a very early 
written document that is basically a commentary on the Christian 
life, how to live. which incidentally has a particular 
passage that forbids abortion and infanticide. You see, the 
early church has always preached that it's wrong to murder babies. But Didache 4.1 says, My child, 
remember night and day the one who preaches God's word to you. 
For wherever the Lord's nature is preached, There the Lord is. Now, they're not saying Jim's 
the Lord. The idea is that when the preaching 
of the gospel goes forth, and it is faithfully heralded, the 
Lord is there. You see, this is what we pray 
for, brethren, is that the Spirit of God would come, that He would 
illumine us, that He would teach us, that He would guide us. Well, 
He makes good on that promise. The Second Helvetic Confession 
of 1566. Listen to what it says. The preaching of the Word of 
God is the Word of God. Wherefore, when the Word of God 
is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, 
we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed and received 
by the faithful, and that neither any other Word of God is to be 
invented nor is to be expected from heaven. And that now the 
word itself, which is preached, is to be regarded, not the minister 
that preaches. For even if he be evil and a 
sinner, nevertheless the word of God remains still true and 
good." So you see the specific command, preach. The object, 
the word. Now note the manner that Paul 
specifies. He gives a series of imperatives 
or commands. Now, I don't know that this means 
that in every sermon all those things always have to be present. 
Certainly, it is dependent upon the text of Scripture that one 
is preaching from. But notice in the first place, 
he speaks to the time or the season. He says, be ready in 
season and out of season. Timothy, your task is to preach 
the Word. You need to be ready in season 
and out of season. What does that mean? It could 
just mean a general call to preparedness, It could mean what Calvin suggests, 
an earnestness and a zeal that goes along with such a high and 
noble calling. Preach the word. Do it zealously. Do it earnestly. Do it faithfully. I suspect that it goes two ways. 
First, Timothy's season. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Timothy, when you're prayed up, when you're studied 
up, when everything is going well, be ready to preach. But 
Timothy, when you're out of season, You haven't had a few hours in 
your study. You haven't had a few hours in 
the prayer closet. You haven't been able to do the thoroughgoing 
exegesis. But if God's people gather together 
and they need to be fed, then be ready, Timothy. Be ready to 
preach, pray, or die. Those are your options as a Christian 
minister, Timothy. You need to accept it. You need 
to go with it. But it probably has reference 
to the time and the seasons that affect the church. The context 
seems to give more weight to this interpretation. Notice, 
be ready in season and out of season. Those seasons where the 
church want the preaching of God's Word. Those seasons where 
the people of God know what's good for their souls and they 
are greedy about it. Those seasons where persons come 
to church and they are wanting to have dealings with God and 
they are appropriating the means of grace that the Lord's ordained 
for their good. Timothy, be ready in those seasons. 
You have a blessed calling in those opportunities. They want 
food, you get to shovel food to them. He says, well, be ready 
out of season when the church doesn't want it. See, Paul speaks 
to that in verse 3. This is one of the reasons why 
he says preach the word. For the time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. So what's Timothy to do? Run 
and hide? Is Timothy supposed to go into his closet and cry? 
Does he suck his thumb and he says the church doesn't want 
the word? So therefore, I'm going to be 
an innovator, I'm going to be creative, I'm going to do some 
mime, I'm going to do some skit, I'm going to repel in from some 
high wire, I'm going to dress like Spider-Man, I'm going to 
dress like Batman, I'm going to try and appeal to them at 
their level. No, that's not what Timothy's supposed to do. When 
the church is out of season, and the church rejects the truth, 
when the church does not want what God is putting down for 
her good, Timothy, your responsibility doesn't change. Whether she wants 
it or whether she doesn't, your responsibility is to preach. That's countercultural with reference 
to the church growth movement, isn't it? Wow, if we do that, 
then we'll chase everybody out. If we do that, we won't grow 
our church. If persons want skit, or they 
want mime, or they want grandma, or they want to move the pulpit 
to the side, and put an easy chair down, and let the minister 
just dole out that soup to them, so that they'll have happy tidbits 
for their happy lives, if we don't do that, then they'll all 
leave. What would God say to that? Then they'll all leave. But probably not all. As Mike 
pointed out in the reading from Ezekiel 6, there's a remnant. 
God always has his people. There's always the 7,000 that 
don't bow their knee to Baal. There are those who want faithful 
exposition of the word. As Pastor Albert N. Martin says, 
faithful preaching, 16 ounces to the pound. Biblical, thoroughgoing, 
expositional preaching. So, Timothy, be ready in season 
and out of season. Timothy, as you preach the Word, 
you need to remember that there's a particular manner. When you 
come to preach, brother, preach, brother. That's what I think 
he's intimating in the following. Preach the Word, be ready in 
season and out of season, convince. Do not suggest. Do not put this 
out there as an option among many that persons are free to 
pick and choose as they like. You can have Socrates, you can 
have Plato, you can have Aristotle, or you can have Jesus. No, you 
convince them. Through faithful exposition of 
the Word of God, by going from Scripture to Scripture to Scripture, 
by looking at it in the context, you get the consciences of people 
to see that what you are preaching is true. This means to prove 
with demonstrative evidence, to convict, to reprove. The task in mind, specifically, 
is to reveal sin, bringing the hearers to the point of awareness 
and acknowledgement that they need God's remedy for their sin. Notice, secondly, rebuke. The 
Word presupposes the existence of sins, and Timothy is therefore 
to rebuke, censure, or prevent an action and bring it to an 
end. Now, we might think this sounds a bit negative. But you 
know, God's purpose in Jesus Christ is our conformity unto 
Christ. That hasn't happened fully yet, 
has it? Anybody here could raise their 
hand and say, yeah, I'm doing pretty well. I'm pretty Christ-like. 
I just look like that divine image. then I would suggest that 
you really, really need some convincing and some reproving. 
You see, in God's plan and purpose, the preaching of the Word comes 
to challenge us. The preaching of the Word comes 
to convict us. The preaching of the Word comes 
to reprove us, such that if we are in patterns of sin, Perhaps 
we're a proud and arrogant person. Perhaps we've got some sort of 
secret sin that we are indulging. Perhaps it's pornography. Perhaps 
we're embittered against our wives. Perhaps, as a woman, we're 
not submissive to our own husbands. Perhaps, as a child, it's disobedience 
and rebellion to your parents. It's insubordination. Perhaps, 
as a father, you exasperate your children instead of bringing 
them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Your arbitrariness, 
your capriciousness, is making them like a ping-pong ball, bouncing 
around, not knowing where to go or what to do. Perhaps we 
are doing those sorts of things, and we come into the place of 
worship, and the Word of God comes. We're not supposed to 
get mad. We're not supposed to rail against 
it. We're not supposed to say, you know, that preacher's overstepping 
his bounds. He is talking about things he 
ought not to talk about. If God the Lord, by His Holy 
Spirit, is convicting you of sin and reproving it, praise 
God that the means are working. Praise God that He loves you 
enough to conform you unto the image of His beloved Son through 
the public ministry of the Word. Praise God, for this is His design. This is what His purpose is. 
This is what His plan is. But it's not all conviction and 
rebuke. Notice exhortation. He says, convince, rebuke, exhort. Bring that encouragement. Bring 
that comfort from the Scripture. Do not only point out the waywardness 
of people, do not only bring the law of God to bear, do not 
only show where that law is broken and violated, but provide the 
remedy. Speak of the balm of Gilead. 
speak of the glory of the cross, speak of redemption by Jesus. Exhort them that the Spirit of 
the living God is a real person who really occupies their hearts 
and lives, that the Holy Spirit can be trusted and depended upon 
to guide one through those sinful situations and to bring them 
to that place of maturity and Christ-likeness. He says then 
that Timothy must be patient, He must be patient. Preach the 
Word. Convince, rebuke, exhort. With 
all longsuffering, Timothy, you need to realize that the people 
of God are at different places. You can't beat the sheep up. 
You can't make them do things. You can't browbeat the people 
of God. You need to preach. You need 
to be faithful. You need to teach. But you need 
to have longsuffering. You need to be patient. You need 
to know that ultimately, every sheep is God's project. They're 
not the minister's project. Certainly the minister prays 
for the sheep, the minister seeks to feed the sheep, but ultimately 
it's God who is dealing with his people. So Timothy, be patient. It's not the case that Ephesus 
is going to be converted overnight. I remember before I came here 
thinking, wow, wouldn't it be great, you know, if I went and 
preached and God just saved a bunch of people. You know what? That 
just typically doesn't happen, unless you're C.H. Spurgeon or 
you're one of those other champions in the history of the church. 
For the most of us, it's going to take the long haul, faithful 
plotting, diligent and earnest preaching over the long haul. But be patient, Timothy, and 
certainly teach. See, not all teaching is preaching. 
I don't suppose that in your fourth grade class you would 
deem what your teacher is doing as preaching, unless he's, you 
know, doing a John Knox, and too close, too is more. That's 
not preaching. Not all teaching is preaching. 
But all preaching must include teaching. This is an unfortunate 
dichotomy today. Faithful preaching is expositional. Faithful preaching expounds the 
Word. What happens when the Word is 
expounded? The persons who are listening 
learn. They get understanding. Timothy, 
you're not a rabble-rouser. You're not a cheerleader. You 
don't just shake your holy pom-poms and try to get people to do things. 
Timothy, instruct them. It's the Word of God. It is the 
doctrine. It is the truth that is life-changing. It is the truth that is life-shaping. It is the truth that ultimately 
brings conformity unto Jesus. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, what 
is preaching? Logic on fire. Eloquent reason. Are these contradictions? Of course they are not. Reason 
concerning this truth ought to be mightily eloquent, as you 
see in the case of the Apostle Paul and others. It is theology 
on fire. And a theology which does not 
take fire, I maintain, is defective theology. Or at least, the man's 
understanding of it is defective. So you see, for the Apostle Paul, 
in his eleventh hour, prior to his death at the hands of a godless 
beast named Nero, Paul says to Timothy, in his last formal command 
to the Church, Preach the Word. Be ready in season, out of season. 
Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. 
A couple of observations, then we close. First, the necessity 
of biblical preaching. I just want to read a couple 
quotes here. I know that sometimes long quotes 
can be difficult. Lloyd-Jones long quotes, though, 
are pretty easy to get our minds wrapped around. Lloyd-Jones says 
this, The world expects the Christian to be different and looks to 
him for something different, and therein it often shows an 
insight into life that regular churchgoers often lack. The churches 
organize whisked drives, fates, dramas, bazaars, and things of 
that sort. Remember Lloyd-Jones was in Britain, 
so if you don't know what a whisked drive is or a fate, they're sort 
of gathering together of persons in a social setting. when I was 
stationed in the UK, when I was in the US Air Force, we actually 
went to a fete and we met the guy that did a TV show over there 
called The Price is Right. He thought me and my buddy were 
just amazing because we were American policemen and we gave 
him a ball cap. That was a fete, sort of like 
a get-together, a fair. Listen to what Lloyd-Jones says. 
The churches organize whist drives, fates, dramas, bazaars, and things 
of that sort, so as to attract people. Remember, Lloyd-Jones 
isn't living today. Lloyd-Jones lived quite a while 
ago. He lived in the 20th century. He already sees this as a problem 
affecting churches. What would Lloyd-Jones say about 
a man who repels down to his pulpit? What would some of these men 
think when they saw the sorts of things that go on under the 
guise of Christian preaching? What would Owen think? What would 
Gill think? What would Spurgeon think of 
the antics and the foolishness that is employed in the name 
of Christ to try and reach people for Christ? Lloyd-Jones says, 
we are becoming almost as wily as the devil himself, but we 
are really bad at it. He says, all our attempts are 
hopeless failures, and the world laughs at us. Now, when the world 
persecutes the Church, the Church is performing her real mission. 
But when the world laughs at her, she has lost her soul. And 
the world today is laughing at the Church, laughing at her attempts 
to be nice and to make people feel at home. Notice what he 
says. My friends, if you feel at home 
in any church without believing in Christ as your personal Savior, 
then that church is no church at all, but a place of entertainment 
or a social club. He says, for the truth of Christianity 
and the preaching of the gospel should make a church intolerable 
and uncomfortable to all except those who believe. And even they 
should go away feeling chastened and humble. Tom Lyons says, the 
church today is beset with problems. It is continually stumbling upon 
new measures. Problem is, these measures exacerbate 
rather than solve its problems. It dreams of answering felt needs, 
building self-esteem, and motivating purpose-driven or promise-keeping 
lives. But amidst all these fads and 
inventions, the one thing, the only thing, which will serve 
to overcome its distress is a return to God-honored and God-honoring 
preaching. There is a need for biblical 
preaching today, brethren. There is secondly a need for 
biblical preachers. Calvin, writing in his time frame, 
at the present day there are many who are well-nigh sickened 
by the very name of preaching because there are so many stupid, 
ignorant men who blurt out their worthless brainwaves from the 
pulpit. That was in the 1600s, before 
we had the sorts of shenanigans that are going on today. What 
would John Calvin think if he was sitting here and I rappelled 
in wearing a bat cape? Or we had a puppet show. Or we 
had a time to share. Brethren, you don't want me to 
share. You don't want my heart. You want the preaching of God's 
Word. Listen to C.H. Spurgeon, we want again Luther's, 
Calvin's, Bunyan's, Whitfield's, men fit to mark eras whose names 
breathe terror into our foeman's ears. We have dire need of such. When will they come to us? They 
are the gifts of Jesus Christ to the Church and will come again 
in due time. He has power to give us back 
a golden age of preachers, a time as fertile of great divines and 
mighty ministers as was the Puritan age, and when the good old truth 
is once more preached by men whose lips are touched as with 
a live coal from off the altar. This shall be the instrument 
and the hand of the Spirit for bringing about a great and thorough 
revival of religion in the land. He says, I do not look for any 
other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of 
the gospel and the opening of men's ears to hear it. The moment 
the church shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her. That's what Spurgeon said. It 
has been through the ministry that the Lord has always been 
pleased to revive and bless His churches. There is a necessity 
for biblical preaching, there is a necessity for biblical preachers, 
there is a necessity for biblical hearers. You see, if Spurgeon 
or Owen or Gill fell out of heaven and preached the gospel, if people 
aren't listening, if they're not paying attention, if they're 
sneaking looks at their watch and thinking about that roast 
dinner they're going to have when they get home, if they are 
basically rejecting the very word as it comes, that's no good. Ryle says, preaching is an ordinance 
of which the value can never be overrated in the Church of 
Christ. But it should never be forgotten that there must not 
only be good preaching, but good hearing. Spurgeon gives these 
rules based on Mark 4.24 concerning hearing. He says in the first 
place, hear. Hear. It is your wisdom to know 
what God says. He says, secondly, hear well. Hear well. God's teaching deserves 
the deepest attention. It will repay the best consideration. He says, thirdly, hear often. 
He says, waste no Sabbath nor any one of its services. Use 
weekday lectures and prayer meetings. And then he says, fourthly, hear 
better. You will grow the whole ear thereby. You will find heavenly joy by 
hearing with faith. Brethren, this is the mandate 
given by Paul to Timothy in the first century. Somewhere along 
the line, the church thought it was okay to abandon the simple 
command, to abandon the God-ordained means of preaching. Somewhere 
along the line, the church thought it was okay to put down those 
spiritual weapons, to enter into the fray with the world, using 
the world's means and methods. This passage tells us, until 
the Lord Jesus Christ returns, ministers of the gospel have 
a solemn obligation before God, before Christ. In light of the 
fact that Jesus will judge the living and the dead, ministers 
are to preach the Word. They are to be ready in season 
and out of season. They are to convince, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. And you, my dearly 
beloved brethren, as you come, pay attention, listen. Take those 
four simple rules by Spurgeon. If you want them, I will be happy 
to email it to you. And take it to heart. It doesn't 
matter if the preaching is biblical and upright and faithful. If 
you're not paying attention, if you're not listening, if you're 
not receiving the Word of God, it's not going to have the intended 
effect upon your soul, especially if you are not a believer. Faith 
comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ, Romans 10, 
17. Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of Truth, 
that we might become the firstfruits of His creatures, James 1.18. 
If you are not a Christian, the Word of God is your only hope, 
because it tells you about the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the One who came into this world, took on our nature, took on our 
infirmities, yet without sin, who lived and who died and who 
rose again, such that all those who believe in Him will have 
everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we ask that you would help us to be faithful when it comes 
to this command, to preach the Word. Help us to be faithful, 
Lord God, to do this until the Lord Jesus returns. Bless churches 
here in Chilliwack that are faithful in this as well. May you prosper 
them, and may you bless them, and may you grant them great 
grace, and many people that would come and attend the Word of Truth. 
Bless faithful ministers in this city, throughout this country 
and all over the earth. Cause them, Lord God, to go about 
their task under the power and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. 
And may Your Word run swiftly, and may it be glorified throughout 
the earth. And may Christ receive glory 
from the salvation of a great multitude. And we pray these 
things in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then be dismissed.