2nd Timothy chapter 4. I'll read verses 1 to 8. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering 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. Amen.

Opening Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the written word of the living and true God. We thank you for Paul's emphasis to the churches in terms of the gospel ministry. And we ask, Father, again, that you'd bless our brothers that are laboring in the Word and doctrine.

I pray that you'd raise up more men to labor in the Word and doctrine, both here and abroad, that we might see a recovery of the Christian pulpit in our day, that emphasis upon the proclamation of the truth as that means, one of the primary means, by which God is pleased to save sinners. Forgive us now for our sin. Guide us and direct us by your Spirit. And we ask in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. Well,

Introduction

I don't think it would be an underestimation to say that preaching has fallen on difficult times, not in every single place. but in a lot of places. In other words, the emphasis upon the Christian pulpit is not always as strong as it ought to be. We've just come out of a lockdown scenario where I think we saw that in terms of a relinquishment on the part of men of God, charged by God to preach the Word, and they were not doing it. As well recently, the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention has been found out to be a plagiarizer.

Not just a line from a sermon here or a sermon there, but lots of lines from lots of sermons in a lot of his own public ministry. That man has not been fired. That man has not resigned. That man continues to hold his office, which is an affront to everybody, not just preachers, but also students and anybody that traffics in truthful intellectual property.

As we look at the history of the church, the Roman Catholics moved the pulpit to the side and put the altar in the center. Thankfully, at the time of the Protestant Reformation, they removed the altar and put the pulpit in the center. That was not just because that was the best place for the pulpit, but that communicates something. The worship of God is focused upon the Word of God.

We are a people of the Book, and God has been pleased to bless preaching for the salvation of great multitudes, and we have reason to believe that He will continue to do so in the future. So this message is a word for preachers and for those who hear them. I wanna first look at the necessity of the word of God in a general sense, and then secondly, the primacy of the preaching of the word of God. My argument is not that you can't be saved just by reading your Bible.

You can't be saved just by attending family devotions. You most certainly can. Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So if you're reading your Bible, your parents are reading your Bible, or a friend is reading the Bible, that is the means by which the Spirit enables persons to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

But the emphasis on preaching is pretty obvious as we move our way from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. God used prophets. In Deuteronomy chapter 18, he cautioned the nation of Israel from going after the things that the pagans around them used. They used witchcraft, they used soothsayers, they used necromancers, they used those kinds of things, and Israel was forbidden from that.

They were given prophets that would communicate to them the word of the living and true God. Jesus, as I pointed out this morning, the primary emphasis of his ministry was to give himself as an atonement for our sins. In other words, it was redemptive in nature. But a secondary emphasis of his ministry was that of preacher.

Remember when he embarks on his public ministry, he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When the apostles are converted, they're called into service. Yes, they're given authority by Christ to heal people and to cast out demons, but their emphasis as well was to preach. When we go to the pastoral epistles of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, the emphasis does not fall upon the supernatural sign gifts.

The emphasis is not on tongue speaking, the emphasis is not on prophesying as a means by which God reveals himself to the churches, but the emphasis is on sound doctrine and the preaching of it. In fact, here in 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, This is the last official command that the Apostle Paul gives to the church as church. There are other things in the latter half of chapter 4 that are specific with reference to him and Timothy, but in terms of a corporate command, the last epistle written by the Apostle Paul signs off this way. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching.

So there is a great emphasis in scripture on the proclamation of truth.

Necessity of the Word of God

Now, in terms of the necessity of the word of God, God reveals himself in two ways. In the first place, there is what's called general revelation. And in the second place, there is what's called special revelation. We see both aspects there in Psalm 19.

The heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens declare the majesty of God. The heavens declare the righteousness of God. In other words, when we look at the created order, according to Paul as well in Romans chapter 1, it tells us something about God Most High.

It tells us something about His perfections. It tells us something about His deity. It tells us as well that it's righteous with God to judge those who are rebellious against Him. So general revelation is the book of nature.

General and Special Revelation

But then special revelation is the book of redemption. We have that in Genesis to Revelation. And you see a constant emphasis on special revelation as the means by which sinners are saved. Our confession in chapter 1, paragraph 1, says the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.

Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. So general revelation does what God intended for it to do. Special revelation is necessary because of man's condition. In Adam, all die.

When we look at the created order, we don't learn of blood atonement. When we look at the created order, we don't learn of hypostatic union. When we look at the created order, we don't learn of the necessity of Christ being crucified and resurrected for our sin. So special revelation is absolutely crucial with reference to the salvation of sinners.

We simply cannot expect the heathen to come to a saving knowledge unless we send preachers to go and testify concerning salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So again, this emphasis in the New Testament specifically in terms of the absolute necessity for the Word of God for salvation. You see it in Romans 1, 16. The apostle says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

He says, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. In other words, it's in the gospel that you learn about not only the perfection of God in terms of righteousness, but with reference to that righteousness that God demands and that he supplies to us in and through the person of his son. You see that emphasis in chapter 10, as I've already mentioned, and we'll look at it in more detail. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 to 4, the apostle rehearses the gospel, and he says, by which you are saved, having believed on it. You see that emphasis in Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, 2 Timothy 3, 15 and 16, James 1.18, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth.

So it is the vehicle by which the Spirit comes and blesses sinners to the saving of their soul. And then 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 23. So we have this necessity of the Word of God that is all throughout Scripture.

Primacy of Preaching the Word

Now in terms, secondly, of the primacy of the preaching of the Word, turn first to Romans chapter 10. We'll just walk our way through three passages just to get this emphasis on preaching. Romans 10, 1 Corinthians 1, and then we'll end up at 2 Timothy 4. But notice in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 to 17.

I'll just read the section.

Romans 10: The Chain of Proclamation

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.

For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So I said, let's, as I said, let's just walk our way through this passage. In the first place, the emphasis is upon salvation for those who believe in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice verse nine, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

What is the grand assumption of the apostle Paul? Well, we don't need to ask. We already know because he stated it in chapters one to three. Man is desperately wicked.

His heart is deceitful above all things. He stands liable to God's just condemnation. Paul, from Romans 1.18 to Romans 3.20, establishes the universal depravity of all mankind. He says that they are lost.

He says that they are dead. He says that they will ultimately be condemned to hell. And so here in Romans chapter 10 at verse 9, this idea of being saved, it's not just saved unto a more fulfilling life. It's not just being saved unto a happier existence in this world.

It's not just being saved unto a better sort of social standing among your peers. It is salvation from hell itself. Because the bottom line is, is that we have defied God. We have rebelled against God.

In the language of the prophet Isaiah, all we like sheep have gone astray. And as a result, God is angry with the wicked every day. such that if we die impenitent, such that if we die unbelieving, we will hear those words from Jesus, depart from me into hell, which was prepared for the devil and for his angels. It is salvation. All of the blessing that God gives to his people is found in that word salvation.

We're saved from damnation. were saved ultimately from God's wrath, were saved unto Him to serve Him and to love Him and to honor Him. Notice then that the sinner does not call on Christ. Notice in verse 13, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then verse 14, how then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?

So the sinner does not call on Christ without having believed. In other words, calling on Christ, verse 13, is further identified in verse 14. It means to believe the gospel. It means to look and live.

It means to relinquish any trust or any hope or any confidence in yourself and look heavenward onto our blessed Savior who lived for us, who died for us, and who was raised again for us. And then notice the sinner does not believe Christ if they have not literally heard Christ. Look again at the translation at the end of verse 14. It says, And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

A better translation is, And how shall they believe him whom they have not heard? See, the New King James translates and interprets in a correct way, assuming the agency of the preacher, but the text literally specifies that the needy sinner hears Jesus. How shall they believe Him whom they have not heard? Now you might ask the question, is Jesus present when the gospel is preached?

You better believe he is. He is the prophet at the right hand of God, of God most high, but he speaks by his word and his spirit to the churches.

Christ Preaches Through His Heralds

If you turn for a moment to Ephesians chapter two, you see this emphasis in another place where Paul highlights the importance of preaching. Ephesians 2 at verse 14, For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. So Christ is the peacemaker according to the apostle in verse 15. And then notice, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Now notice in verse 17, not only is Christ the maker of peace, but Christ is the preacher of peace. Verse 17, and he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through him, we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Now brethren, when you read the book of Acts and you see the ministry in Ephesus and you see what is happening, it's not Jesus physically present, but when the apostles preach the gospel accurately.

When the apostles preach the Word of God in truth, Paul is able to say that Christ came and preached peace to you. It is a most blessed emphasis that we find in the New Testament documents. Christ is not some distant spectator. Christ is not some absentee prophet or priest or king.

But Christ is present with his people when they are gathered together. And when a man is called to preach that word, when he's recognized by the church, we'll see that in just a moment, and when he does so accurately, we can successfully say that Christ came and preached peace to you. Another passage is in 1 Thessalonians 2.13. For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you receive 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.

So going back to Romans 10, verse 14, the latter part says, and how shall they hear without a preacher? In other words, how will men hear Christ if persons don't preach Christ? How will sinners learn the way of salvation? How will they understand who it is they're supposed to call upon, who it is they're supposed to believe upon, unless there are preachers?

Not preachers preaching wokeism, not preachers preaching leftism, not preachers seeking to be inspirational to persons, but preachers preaching Christ. It is in that vein by which we can confidently expect that Christ comes and preaches peace to very needy sinners. So back to Romans 10, notice that a preacher must be sent. Chapter 10, 15a, and how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Now, this isn't magic. This isn't some esoteric thing. We know it's by the agency of the church. The spirit comes to the church in Acts chapter 13, and the spirit tells the leaders of the church to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work that he has purposed for them.

It was the first missionary journey. So the church in which these men labored recognized their giftedness. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 tells the church, we need to examine and test men to make sure they're fit and ready for office. So it is the church that sends men to this task of preaching. The spirit, of course, governed by and aided by the church.

A same emphasis is found in Acts 20, 28. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So the Spirit works in, through, and with the church in order to identify qualified men, to set those men apart, to ordain them into gospel ministry, and then to set them on a path of usefulness in the kingdom of Christ. Notice that Paul in Romans 10 then gives a description of the faithful preacher.

I've often said that my brother-in-law has beautiful feet. I don't know that physically. I don't think I've ever looked at his feet, though at some point I'm sure I've seen them. But with reference to this text, It was my brother-in-law who brought the message of Christ and Him crucified to me.

That man will always have a special esteem in my heart because he was the one with beautiful feet that God sent to me to hear the gospel. Notice in 15b, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. That's a conflation, both Isaiah 52.7 and Nahum 1.15. And then the final observation, or two more observations, notice the rejection of faithful preachers.

Just because a man preaches accurately, just because a man preaches faithfully, just because a man has been identified and sent properly by a church, doesn't mean everybody who hears him is going to be saved. Isaiah laments that in Isaiah 53, one Lord who has believed our report. So Isaiah the prophet understood something about the frustration of Christian ministry that went unrewarded in terms of souls. In fact, that was announced to him in his call to the prophetic ministry in Isaiah 6.

God says, I'm going to send you to these people and they're not going to hear you. They're not going to listen to you. They're not going to believe. They're not going to repent.

In other words, God said to Isaiah, your ministry is ultimately going to be one of condemnation. Now Jonah is just the opposite. God says to Jonah, I'm gonna send you to the Ninevites, and they're actually gonna repent. But Jonah gets angry with God over that very fact.

You can't figure people out sometimes. God blesses, and nevertheless, he's angry with the Lord. So just because there are God-sent preachers doesn't necessarily mean every single person will be saved who hears them. And then he caps this off in verse 17 with this maxim.

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. To summarize, John Murray writes, the main point is that the saving relation to Christ involved in calling upon his name is not something that can occur in a vacuum. It occurs only in a context created by proclamation of the gospel on the part of those commissioned to proclaim it. So in other words, how shall they hear Him whom they have not believed?

Or rather, how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? Now notice, secondly, turn to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

1 Corinthians 1: God Pleased Through Preaching

I hope you're saying, oh, these are familiar passages. They ought to be familiar. There's a reason why familiar passages should be familiar, because they carry so much weight. Not that all of scripture doesn't, but there are certain passages very instructive for church life.

Notice the context. It is reaching God. It is being accepted by God. Notice in verse 21, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God.

So man relying on Socrates and Plato and Aristotle may have figured out a lot of good things about a happy life in this lower world. But men relying on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle would ultimately end in hell. For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, Now in this is not a condemnation of wisdom, it's not a condemnation of philosophy, it is rather a commendation of the foolishness of the message preached. Notice Paul goes on to say, 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.

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." So just a few observations in this particular section. In the first place, it is the foolishness of the message preached. I think, concretely, objectively, it is the content of the message.

In other words, it's the content of the message, the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But nevertheless, the content of that message is delivered through preaching. It is delivered through proclamation. It is delivered through the sorts of men that are identified, according to 1 Timothy 3, Titus chapter 1, sent by the church on the task to proclaim the gospel.

Notice secondly, that preaching pleases God. Verse 21b, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For those churches who want to move the pulpit, for those churches who want to substitute something for the pulpit, for those churches who want to engage in a whole host of strategies to try to reach lost men, remember this, Preaching pleases God. Notice thirdly that preaching does not please the natural man.

Preaching does not please the natural man. Look at verse 22. For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. In other words, God is pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Preaching pleases God, but when it comes to the Jews, they want signs. When it comes to the Greeks, they want wisdom. What is that saying? They're not pleased by preaching.

The carnal man doesn't thrive on the proclamation of the truth of God's Word. I had a conversation recently about the planting of a church and someone said, with reference to the planting of said church, will there be opposition to this? I said, of course there will. Do you think people want to go into a church and hear that they're miserable, God-hating, hell-deserving sinners, and their only hope rests on the Son of Man who lived, who died, and who was raised again?

Do you think sinners want that? We have that parable of the soils in Luke 8, where the birds come down and pick up the seed and they take it away. Jesus uses that analogously to the devil. The devil is like the bird.

He comes and he takes the seed. Last person's here and they believe and they are saved. Of course, there's gonna be opposition. The devil hates churches that actually take seriously the mandate to preach the gospel.

The world hates churches that take seriously the mandate to preach the gospel. But oftentimes, even the church hates churches that take seriously the mandate to preach the gospel. Oh, that's just old-fashioned. Oh, that's not the way we reach people.

Oh, don't you know this is the 21st century? Oh, don't you know that you can catch more flies with honey than by preaching hellfire and damnation? We always want to redo what God has ordained. We always want to substitute in the place of God-wrought means those things that are appealing to the flesh.

So yes, there will be opposition to any church worth its salt in terms of proclamation of truth. So preaching pleases God, preaching does not please the natural man, but notice fourthly, preachers nevertheless preach. Okay, so Jews request signs and the Greeks want wisdom. So what do Paul and his companions do?

Do they relinquish the pulpit? Do they say we've got to conjure signs? Do they say we've got to study Socrates and Plato and Aristotle? Do they say we've got to meet them at their own place and try to reason with them in their own cultural milieu?

No! Nevertheless, we preach. Even though the carnal man does not want it, the man of God still preaches. Notice the connection.

Verse 22, for Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. Paul, they don't want that. but we preach Christ crucified. Paul, they want signs, but we preach Christ crucified.

Paul, they want wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. What is Paul saying? It's not the hearers that determine the medium. It's not the hearers that determine the agency of delivery.

It's not the hearers that determine how gospel ministry is to be conducted. It's God the Lord. And God the Lord is well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So we side with God for whom preaching is a blessing.

And then finally, notice the preaching or the fact that preaching is the means to declare Christ, who is the power of God and wisdom of God. So verse 23 again, we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. I think I've told you before, they have found early sort of writings on the wall. It's not just in, you know, nasty bathrooms and in rest stops where people write on bathroom walls, but that was happening in the Roman empire as well.

And they had found, I think it was in a Roman jail where there was a picture of a man with a donkey's head. and he was on a cross, and that's how they depicted the Lord Jesus Christ. As far as the Romans were concerned, this was just abject foolishness. As far as the Jew was concerned, this was a scandal. This was a stumbling block.

A crucified Messiah for the first century, Christ rejecting Jew? That was a scandal to them, and that's why Paul underscores this. Nevertheless, 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.

2 Timothy 4: The Final Apostolic Command

And then turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4 for one more passage dealing with the primacy of preaching. Again, I always feel I need to qualify that. Primacy of preaching does not mean you can't read your Bible or hear the Bible read and be saved. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

So whatever the way the Spirit gets that Word of God into your heart, that is crucial. But when you see this emphasis in the New Testament on church life and proclamation of truth in church life, we see the primacy of preaching. So notice in 2 Timothy 4, the command is very clear, very easy in verse 2. Preach the word.

As I said, the last corporate command that the apostle gives, not be the most handsome guy, Timothy, be the most gregarious guy, Timothy, be the guy that is always available to have coffee with everybody, Timothy. No, preach the word. Not that pastors don't do more than preach the word, but they're never to do less. Not that they don't do more, but they're never to do less.

This is the job, the proclamation of the truth. Preach the word. And not only does Paul give the command, but he gives the manner in which the command is to be realized.

The Manner of Faithful Preaching

So he says, preach the word, and then he speaks to timing. Be ready in season and out of season. There's one of two ways we can accept that or understand that rather. In the first place, it's Timothy's season. when he's ready, when he's studied, when he's prayed, when he's, you know, done his work, and his sermon's in his folder, and he steps behind the pulpit, and he's ready to throw down.

Or in those times where a crowd of people happen to gather together, and they say, hey, Timothy, what must we do to be saved? He didn't have that same type of preparation. He didn't have the same sort of backdrop. And yet, nevertheless, he's supposed to preach the word.

Or it has to do with the season with the church. Be ready in season and out of season. I think that verse 3 indicates that this is probably the better understanding. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

There will be those kinds of seasons in the context of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ when they won't endure sound doctrine. They'll want wokeism. They'll want leftism. They'll want social justice warriorism.

They'll want all those other things. They'll want inspiration, not instruction. They'll want encounters and experience, not doctrine. They'll want ecstasy versus exegesis.

So it's probably a reference to the church's time. Whatever season the church happens to find herself in. Whether she's doing well, preach the word. Whether she's not doing well, preach the word.

But then notice he specifies the manner. Convince, rebuke, exhort. In other words, this isn't to be a fireside chat. This isn't supposed to be some sort of a buddy session.

This isn't supposed to be some sort of encounter group. The K-roots, the preacher, the herald, would come into the town and would declare whatever the king had told him. That's the function of the Kerouks in terms of the New Testament. He is a herald.

He is the man of God to cry aloud, to spare not, and to lift up his voice like a trumpet. He has to rebuke. This word presupposes the existence of sin. We have to rebuke.

Why? Because we need that in order to find remedy. Timothy is to rebuke, censure, or prevent an action and bring it to an end. But it's not, I'm sorry, convince first, to prove with demonstrative evidence, to convict, to reprove.

I shouldn't skip that. Brethren, you need to be taught. Not all teaching is preaching, but all preaching is teaching too. In other words, it needs to be exegesis.

It needs to be exposition. It needs to be instruction from the text. The best encouragement that a pastor or preacher can ever hear is somebody saying, oh, I understand that text now. Or, oh, I see where you got your outline.

Or, oh, I see it, it's right there in scripture. That's the job, that's the emphasis. So back to this word convince. The actual word means, with reference to the manner, to prove with demonstrative evidence, to convict, to reprove.

In other words, state the case. Remember that scene in Acts chapter 6 where Stephen meets up with those Hellenists, and Stephen bested them. They could not prevail. So they then have to turn to false accusation.

They then have to turn to, oh, he spoke ill against Moses in the temple. They then had to turn him over to the Sanhedrin, who which ultimately executed him. Brethren, if you have to kill your opponent, they've bested you intellectually. That is simply the bottom line.

So he is to convince, he is to rebuke again, to censure or prevent an action and bring it to an end. But as well, notice to exhort, to urge, to encourage, to admonish. You don't leave sinners laying broken and battered and bruised in the ground. You convince them what the text says, you rebuke them for their departure from it, but you exhort them, you tell them what God would have for them, you point them back to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you seek to apply that balm of Gilead.

But then notice as well, there needs to be patience. He says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering. Long suffering means simply that. It means to suffer long.

It means to have patience. Rome was not built in a day. Any faithful church is not built in a day. There has to be patience on the part of gospel ministry.

Every time that persons try to short circuit this, they end up in misery. We need to do what God says in the way that God says to do it. We don't say, well, you know, it would be so much better to market research. It'd be so much better to walk through the neighborhood and ask people what they want in a church and then take that data and put it together and then tailor a church from that.

Brethren, if that's what happens, that's not going to be a church. It's going to be a social club, it's going to be a gathering of people that want nothing to do ultimately with a sovereign holy God and with a crucified and risen Savior. We cannot do it in that manner, so patience needs to be in place. Paul speaks to this on a couple of occasions.

Why do you think that is? Why do you think he repeats in several places to greet one another with a holy kiss? because we don't do those things. And we need to be told over and over again, not to do those things. Now, as Asheoble said, there'll be no holy kissing here.

But in terms of the patience emphasis, look back at 2 Timothy 2, verse 24. Servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition. Really, God? You mean we can't just give them a good shake?

We can't just scream at them and yell at them. We can't slap them. I'm not speaking physically, I'm speaking spiritually, metaphorically. We can't just give them a good shake so that, no, the servant of Christ must be Christ-like in his service to Christ.

If he's not, he is betraying the calling that has been placed upon him. So again, verse 24, a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. And then notice in 3.10, But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, what persecutions I endured." So the man of God is to preach the Word, is to be ready in season and out of season. He is to convince, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering, and there it is again.

Teaching. It's not just a rah-rah session. It's not just a, we've got to get everybody ginned up and we've got to get everybody ready to go out and do battle for the kingdom of God. We've got to do that, but it has to come because of the truth. because of the proper exegesis of scripture.

We don't bypass the head going to the heart. We affect both with the word of truth, such that when the people of God are fired up to do what God calls them to do, it's because the Bible says so. So as I said, not all teaching is preaching, but all preaching better include teaching. And then, well, before and then, I want to read Martin Lloyd-Jones here.

He 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 it 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

Two Reasons for the Command

Paul gives the command, verse two, he gives the manner by which the command is to be carried out, verse two, and then he gives two reasons for the command. The first is found in verses three to five, and the second is found in verses six to eight. The second we'll take up first. Notice it is the departure of Paul.

Why does Paul want Timothy to preach the word? Why does Paul want Timothy to be ready in season and out of season? Why does Paul want Timothy to convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching? Verse 6, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

The older pastor that's about to die, the older apostle that knows he's going to die at the hands of Nero, is telling his young protege to preach the word. In fact, Timothy, the last thing I have to say to you with reference to a corporate application in the life and context of the church is to preach the word. Paul is going to die. So Paul therefore passes the baton on to Timothy so that Timothy and others like him can preach the word.

Why? Because God is pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So it's the departure of Paul as the second reason, but the first is the departure of the church. Notice in verses three to five.

He says, the command, preach the word, gives the manner, convince, rebuke, exhort, and then verse three. Notice it starts with four, just like verse six starts with four. That means reason, that means explanation, that means rationale. So in verse three, 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." So it's a very simple argument. The time will come, Timothy, when they won't want what you're going to give them. But that doesn't matter, Timothy. They're not the ones that get to call the shot.

None of us say to our children, you can have candy all day long. You can have all the candy you want. If it's candy you want and you keep expressing that, we're going to keep shoving it down your gullet. We're going to shove so much sugar down your throat that you're going to bounce off the ceiling.

You're going to bounce from wall to wall. We would never do that. You need protein, you need fat, you need roughage, you need good macronutrients in your life. You are not the determiner of a good sound diet when you're five years old.

You're not a good determiner of a good sound diet when you're a sinner. You are not the one who is able to rightly understand and rightly speak to and provide remedy to the church of Jesus Christ. No, we're supposed to simply listen. We're supposed to obey.

We're supposed to do what God has called us to do. So the time will come when they will not endorse sound doctrine. And the antidote to that is to preach sound doctrine. Spurgeon on Matthew 4.9 says, may thy church never yield to the world with the idea of setting up the kingdom of Christ in a more easy and rapid manner than by the simple preaching of the gospel.

Now in terms of confessional statements, listen to these. The Didache, it's an early Christian manual dated around AD 100. 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.

Our confession in chapter 14 says the grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also and by the administration of baptism in the Lord's Supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened." Again, brethren, there's no simple path to holiness. There's no simple path to a life of obedience. There's no simple path to sanctification. It is the intake of God's Word, accompanied by the Spirit, working upon our hearts and conforming us daily unto the image of Jesus Christ.

Beware of the man who comes with the simple antidote to your holiness. Beware of the second work of blessing or the second work of grace. Beware of those trends in the context of the history of the church where persons have wanted to short-circuit the means and methods that God has demanded in terms of church life. Westminster Larger, number 155.

How is the Word made effectual to salvation? The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners, of driving them out of themselves and drawing them unto Christ, or conforming them to His image and subduing them to His will, of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions, of building them up in grace and establishing their hearts in holiness, and comfort through faith unto salvation." Brethren, it's never a big surprise when persons say, I'm really struggling, and then in the next breath say, well, I'm not really reading my Bible, and I'm not really going to church, and I'm not really praying. Oh, really? And you're struggling?

Wow, I can't imagine that. Again, it's similar to what you find in the realm of nutrition. If you ingest nothing but sugar and you ingest nothing but simple carbs and you never exercise, you're not going to be well physically fit. It's a very simple parallel and I think one that holds good.

Application: Preachers and Hearers

Now in terms of some final observations, first a longer quote from Lloyd-Jones. Yes, I'm going to quote Lloyd-Jones again. This is the biography of Lloyd-Jones, the first 50 years. Listen to what he says with reference to the primacy of preaching and the church relationship to the world.

Now think about this. He lived a long time ago. He didn't live at the time of Facebook. He didn't live during Twitter.

He didn't live during all the sorts of things that we have seen in the context of the church where, you know, we've got this new remedy. We've got this new way to reach people. We'll make videos and we'll send them out. We'll make movies.

We'll do DVDs. We'll do all this stuff and we'll send it all out. Lloyd-Jones made the observation, the world expects the Christian to be different. The world expects the Christian to be different.

I remember when Mark Driscoll was on his meteoric rise and there was this buzz about how great he was and reaching the grunge rockers in Seattle and all that sort of thing. Brethren, when people come to church that aren't familiar with church, I actually think they expect something like this. I don't think they expect everybody sitting with a latte and, you know, holes in their jeans and just chilling. I think that even the world has a concept of what the church is, but we've seen this sort of emphasis on making the church look as much like the world as we can, so that we can be culturally relevant and so that we can meet them in their needs.

Brethren, if we do that, we have become absolutely contrary to that. We have become completely irrelevant. What this world needs is what God says it needs. So back to Lloyd-Jones.

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 whist drives. That's a sort of holiday, I think, in England, a whist drive.

Fates, which is like a little fair. Dramas, bazaars, and things of that sort, so as to attract people. He says, we are becoming almost as wily as the devil himself, but we are really very bad at it. All our attempts are as hopeless failures and the world laughs at us.

Now, when the world persecutes the church, she 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. 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.

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. I think there's some wisdom in that particular quote. So in terms of preaching, we do ourselves no favor when we sacrifice or relinquish what God has commanded and adopted the weapons that he never has. Remember David and Saul's armor?

He puts that armor on, it just didn't feel right. He took it off, he found five smooth stones, he took his sling and he dropped Goliath with the first stone. Secondly, there is a need for good preachers. Not all who preach are necessarily good at it.

We want good preachers. We want qualified men, according to 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5. Men that will conduct themselves not as celebrities, not as managers, but as men called by God to preach the word of God for proper conduct in the house of God. That is the imperative.

That is the emphasis. And certainly we don't want, again, inspiration versus instruction. That language is Warfield's. He says, if the whole function of the minister is inspirational rather than instructional, then no doubt we may dispense with all serious study of the scripture.

And I would add to this, and I think it's an observation that comes out of the COVID situation, we need not only men who are fit and qualified, but men who will stand up, men who will preach, men who will do what they're supposed to do, men who will not capitulate, men who will not relinquish their responsibility when it comes to pass that the government says that they're supposed to. In other words, courageous men. And again, it's really not a lot of courage, just show up and do what you're supposed to do. If you work in any other situation, you're always having to show up and do what you're supposed to do.

Why do these delicate little preachers not have to imbibe the same ethic? Why are they so sensitive that they don't have to do what every single other man and woman in the face of the earth has to do, show up and do your job? Listen to Calvin with reference to preachers. He says, 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.

Now, brethren, that may hit you hard. You may not like it. You may have to say, oh, Butler, don't say stupid in the pulpit. The new King James uses that language in the Proverbs.

I feel at liberty to utilize it if it's in the Bible. I think it's a legit translation. I think that some of the prophets would make us blush even more than we ever do. And I certainly think Paul would as well.

But with reference to this reality, there are men out there that shouldn't be in pulpits. I'm sorry, I hate to drop that bomb on people. I hate to say that perhaps your Aunt Betsy was wrong and you should pursue another way to make a living because you can't preach. This is the job, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching.

The Need for Good Hearers

And finally, there is a need for good hearers. If there is a need for, and God is gracious to provide, good preachers, then we need good hearers. Ryle said, 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.

So you might have a 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5 man. You might have that man who's got courage and steel in his veins, and he shows up to preach. And if you don't show up to listen, or when he is preaching, you're not showing up to listen, but your mind is a million miles away. I mean, Spurgeon himself could fall out of heaven occupy a pulpit and preach the golden words that he spoke in his earthly ministry, but if you're not listening and paying attention, it's to no avail.

A. W. Tozer made this observation. He says, many a preacher has been warned about preaching over the people's heads.

I ask, what are people's heads for? God Almighty gave them those heads, and I think they ought to use them. As a preacher, I deny that any of the truths of God are over the heads of the people. I deny it.

Exactly. Why did God give them those heads if it wasn't for the reception of biblical truth? One final statement from C. H.

Spurgeon. This is his notes on Mark 4, 24, the parable of the soil. It's got four points here. Here, H-E-A-R, not here, here, but H-E-A-R, here.

It is your wisdom to know what God says. Second, hear well. God's teaching deserves the deepest attention. It will repay the best consideration.

Three, hear often. Waste no Sabbath nor any one of its services. Use weekday lectures and prayer meetings. And then four, hear better.

You will grow the holier thereby. You will find heavenly joy by hearing with faith. And brethren, as you survey this data, as you look at this material, as you consider the fact that God has given qualifications for elders to function in the capacity of ministers of the word in the church, when you see all of that evidence, all of that weight, you understand that God's heart, again anthropomorphically, is toward the saving of sinners. He not only sent his son into the world to live, to die and to rise again, he not only secured redemption, he not only applies it by the power and aid and ministry of the Holy Spirit, but he's raised up a class of men to preach that gospel such that sinners will be saved.

I think it's one of the prevailing myths in this town under some bad influence that there's only gonna be like a handful of people that make it into heaven. Hyper-Calvinism is a departure from the biblical gospel. Men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation feel the weight, not only of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, but the creation of a class of men that are purposed to preach that gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of sinners. It is another argument for which you must come to our Lord Jesus Christ in faith.

Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for this means that you've ordained for good things in the life and context of the church. We thank you for those men, those women that brought us the truth, that had beautiful feet. We thank you for faithful preachers in this world. I thank you for the brothers that we have forged alliance with over this last several months and pray that you would prosper these men, bless them richly and grant them grace and look with favor upon their churches.

We thank you for the faithfulness of those men in Alberta. We thank you for the faithfulness of those men in Ontario and in places between as well. We know, Lord God, that there may not be a great multitude, that those men that are faithful, those men that are preaching, those men that have served you well, we pray for their prospering and for your blessing upon them. And God, we pray for all of the churches, and we pray for your prospering and your blessing to be upon those men who perhaps just opened their churches.

We pray that you would look with favor upon them, grant them grace, grant them strength, grant them a commitment to the truth of Scripture. And as well, God, throughout the entirety of this earth, We see the blessed reports of Pastor Agalo. We see the long-standing ministry of the Hamiltons and of the Santiago's. We get encouraging reports from all over the earth concerning God's being pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

So God, cause that to flourish, and cause that to prosper, and cause there to be more men that are fit, more men that are qualified, more men that are recognized by the churches, more men to plant faithful churches, more men to go into the mission field to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus Christ our Lord. And God, in this, may you be glorified, may you be honored, may you be praised, and may the blessed church of our Lord Jesus Christ continue to grow and continue to increase. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Deuteronomy 18
• Isaiah 6; 52:7; 53
• Nahum 1:15
• Psalm 19
• Matthew 4:9
• Mark 4:24
• Luke 8
• Acts 6; 13; 20:28
• Romans 1; 1:16; 1:18-3:20; 10; 10:9-17; 10:15; 10:17
• 1 Corinthians 1; 1:21-23; 15:1-4
• Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:14-17
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13
• 1 Timothy 3
• Titus 1
• 2 Timothy 2:24; 3:10; 3:15-16; 4:2-8
• James 1:18
• 1 Peter 1:23; 5