SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/20/2025 9:31 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 "Intro to 2 Timothy 4:1-5)
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Tim. 4:1-5
Message of the verses: “1 I solemnly
charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge
the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own
desires, 4 and will turn away
their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in
all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.”
We are looking at this time the introduction to 2
Timothy 4:1-5, and in today’s SD I want to begin to quote from the sermon by John
MacArthur which comes from 1988 in order for us to better understand the
introduction to these very important verses.
“
Let’s look at verses 1 to 5. Paul, writing to this young Timothy in his late
thirties about to take up the baton on his behalf, says, “I solemnly charge you
in the presence of God and” – literally should read – “even Christ Jesus, who
is about to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His
kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears
tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their
own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned
aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work
of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
“In
these five verses, I believe we have a graphic portrait of a faithful preacher.
We’ve entitled this “The Marks of a Faithful Preacher.” While it is Paul to
Timothy, it is instruction to every preacher. Now someone might be saying,
“Well if this is instruction to the preacher, what reference does it have to
us, the people?” And I would say that while obviously it is directed from Paul
to one who is responsible as a pastor and preacher, the implications to you are
very, very important. For whatever is true for the preacher, you must hold the
preacher to.
“That
is to say if you are doing your job as a congregation, you are demanding then
that the preacher do the things that are written here in the performance of his
duty. It is a point of accountability. For me, publicly to affirm that I
believe these things is to go on record as saying to you, hold me responsible
for what I said I believe. The congregation, the people, the leadership of the
church has the responsibility, first to understand the calling of God, to
understand what He demands of His preachers and then hold them to it. So this
is to me, in one sense, to others who preach the Word of God, and yet in the
very truest sense it is to be known by you who must hold us accountable.
“It
serves then as a final summary not only to Timothy but as a final summary of
the portrait of the faithful preacher, for even myself and any who would
proclaim the gospel of Christ. Paul is saying to Timothy, “You have to conform
to the standard. There is a standard; you must conform to it.” I’ll tell you,
folks, the Bible is not nebulous about what God expects from the preacher. The
Bible is not nebulous about what God expects from one who pastors His people.
“The
Bible is very, very explicit. The pattern is as obvious as it could possibly
be. And I am bound by that and you are bound to bind me to that. There are in
this particular five verses nine imperative verbs, that is nine commands. The
text is exhortative in style. It lays demands on Timothy. They are not
suggestions. They are not ideas. They are not points of discussion; they are
commands. This is the pattern for the faithful preacher, this is his
responsibility to fulfill, Timothy and all who stand in a like place.
“Now
I hope you understand that the role of the preacher is vital, that God has
designed that His people be taught by gifted men, that they be proclaimed to by
gifted men and that much of their spiritual life and their spiritual growth and
their ministry function and their evangelism will be directly related and
connected to the effectiveness of those whose preaching they are under. That’s
God’s design. It’s a serious issue with God that preachers be what God designed
them to be, that people hold them to that, maintaining that accountability and
that the people also respond to the proper preaching.
“One
of the sad things, when you think about our nation today and where Protestant
religion has gone, is the demise of really faithful, consistent, uncompromising
biblical preaching. And you can lay the blame at the preacher’s feet, if you
want. It certainly belongs there. But I’m convinced that it belongs not only at
the feet of the preacher but at the feet of the people who fail to hold the
preacher accountable for what God said he was to be. It’s a dual responsibility.
“Those
of us who have profited through the years from reading Pilgrim’s Progress – and
I’m sure there are a number of us here this morning – will remember that
wonderful beginning of the Christian life upon which Pilgrim embarked when he
went through the Wicket Gate. I read Pilgrim’s Progress as a child; I read it
again as a young man. I’ve read it twice as our – as our family read it in the
time our children were growing up. And I have read it periodically in points
over the years. Pilgrim’s Progress is an analogy or an allegory of the
Christian life written by John Bunyan, the great English preacher who really
wrote that from the Bedford Jail where he was imprisoned for preaching.
“And
as he tried to draw an allegory to paint the picture of the Christian life, he
begins with Pilgrim who is the one who becomes a Christian. He enters through
the narrow gate which he calls the Wicket Gate, and embarks upon the Christian
journey. The first thing he is to do is to be taken to Interpreter’s house
because as you begin your Christian walk there’s some things you have to know,
some things have to be taught to you, interpreted for you so that your
pilgrimage can be successful.
“So
the first thing that happens to Pilgrim after he goes through the gate is a
trip to Interpreter’s house to learn the things that are necessary to have a
successful spiritual journey. When Pilgrim goes into Interpreter’s house, the
first thing that he is shown is a painting and it is a painting of the
preacher. He is to see the portrait of the preacher at the very outset so that
he understands the importance of that office, so that he understands how that
man of God is set apart to assist him in his spiritual growth, his spiritual
development. That new convert must be impressed with the importance of the man
who proclaims the Word of the living God.
“Now
the painting of the – of the preacher is quite interesting. Bunyan describes
the preacher with these words: “He has eyes lifted to heaven. He has the best
of books in his hand. He has the law of truth written upon his lips. The world
was behind his back. He had a posture as if pleading with men and a crown of
gold did hang over his head.” What a picture. His eyes were lifted toward
heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth written on his lips,
the world behind his back, a posture of pleading with men, and a crown of gold
hanging over his head. The picture of the preacher.
“Paul
paints such a picture here not with a brush but like Bunyan with words. Only
this one is inspired by God. This portrait of the preacher is equally
instructive and much more binding. And the crucial aspect of the preacher’s
role is delineated here in unmistakable terms. It’s important that you
understand them because you want to understand the obligation of the preacher,
you want to realize the important role that biblical preachers, teachers,
pastors play in your life. It’s very much an essential. And what Paul writes
here, I believe, he writes with deep emotion, as I said a few moments ago. He
writes with a compelling spirit because he’s coming to the end of his life. He
is a prisoner. He’s older now. The work on earth is passed.”
Spiritual Meaning
for my Life Today: This morning
I just listened to a program on my phone which I listen to each day. “Boots On the Ground” is a program from TBN
which comes out of Israel, and at this time Israel is in a war with Iran, and
this war that they are fighting effects a great deal of our world today because
it is a fight between good and evil, as Iran is trying to get an atomic bomb so
that they can destroy Israel. I watch
this program on YouTube each day as you get the best and true news of what is
going on in Israel, and so if you search for this program and subscribe to it
and watch it each day you will learn the truth of what is going on over
there. I love the people of Israel, as
my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in Israel and so this truth gives me a
great love for the Jewish people. I
realize this part of my SD really has nothing to do with these verses, but it
is what is on my heart today, and for many years. When God called Abram in the 12th
chapter of Genesis he told him the following: “Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth
from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the
land which I will show you; 2 And I will
make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so
you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless
you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of
the earth will be blessed.’” Notice
the highlighted part of verse three, and like the Psalmist says “Pray for the peach
of Jerusalem.”
6/20/2025 10:43 AM
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