PT-3 "Intro to 2 Timothy 4:1-5"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2025 9:51 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-3 "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 continue 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.

 

            “In this very chapter he will say in verse 7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course.” He recognizes that he is at the end of his ministry in this world and he is tremendously impassioned that Timothy carries it on. And so, he affirms in these five verses that Timothy must be faithful. And he sets the standard by which his faithfulness will be measured. Now, I might note to you that this is not the only appeal to Timothy. Paul has appealed to Timothy all through this epistle. He appealed to him in chapter 1 strongly. Verse 6, “I remind you, kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” “God has not given us a spirit of timidity.” “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel.”

            “He appeals to him in verse 13 of that chapter “Guard the standard of sound words which you have heard from me.” He appeals to him in chapter 2 verse 1, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, the things you’ve heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Verse 8, “Remember Jesus Christ.” Verse 14, “Remind them of these things, solemnly charge them in the presence of God.” Chapter 3 verse 14, “Continue in the things you’ve learned, become convinced of.” Many appeals to Timothy here, many. But this is the sum of them all. This is the wrap up. This is Paul’s final words. And this chapter is the last chapter Paul ever wrote the last chapter he ever wrote. And then his life ended.

            “It sums up his hopes for every Christian preacher, every pastor, every minister of Christ. In many ways it’s going to be tougher on Timothy than it was on Paul. As I said a moment ago, Timothy didn’t have the strength of constitution that Paul had and yet Timothy was facing a tougher road in some ways. What do you mean? Well, the church had already begun to defect spiritually. When Paul founded Ephesus it was in the heat of revival. There was enthusiasm and energy and excitement. The thrills were there. Now, a number of years have passed and the church in Ephesus where Timothy is now laboring as he receives the letter has already begun a spiritual decline. They’ve already descended into spiritual error and spiritual defection in their living.

            “Sound doctrine has begun to lose its primacy. Godliness is not the main thing anymore, and the decline has already set in which makes the burden even more difficult for Timothy to bear. Additionally, a rampant wholesale empire-wide persecution is beginning to foment, which can potentially catch up Timothy and cost him his life. It’s not an easy ministry ahead of Timothy. But he must be faithful. In order for him to be faithful he needs to clearly understand the elements, the marks of a faithful preacher. Paul gives him eight of them, eight of them. This morning I want only to deal with one of them. And I say that because it’s so important that it would be unfair to that very principle itself to dilute it by even bringing up the second one, as important as it is.

            “The first element in the portrait comes in verse 1, and we have titled it, “The seriousness of his commission.” There are many elements to this particular charge. The first one is that Timothy must understand the seriousness of his commission. “I solemnly charge you, Paul says, in the presence of God, even Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead and by His appearing and His Kingdom.” Now that verse, we’ll stop at that point and discuss this morning. That speaks of the seriousness of the issue of ministry.

            “It begins with the verb, diamarturomai, I solemnly charge, one word in the Greek, a strong word. It means earnest testimony, solemn commands, strong urging, all inherent in that word. The aged warrior Paul, wanting to give the responsibility, fires a parting charge at his young son in the faith that carries all the seriousness and gravity that one could expect from a godly apostle whose life was totally committed to the service of Christ and who wanted that to be the commitment of his son in the faith.

            “He is not unlike John Knox who on the one hand said, “Give me Scotland or I die,” and on the other hand, when compelled to preach, went into his room, locked himself up and wept for days because of the fearfulness of the seriousness of such a calling. Timothy must know the seriousness of his calling. That seriousness is tied directly to the one in whose view and under whose judgment he serves. Anyone called to preach, anyone called to articulate the Word of God takes on a serious responsibility. In James 3:1, where James is discussing the matter of the tongue, he says, “Stop being so many teachers for theirs is a greater condemnation.” Why? Because the man who doesn’t offend with his tongue is a perfect man and there is no such thing. You’re going to offend with your tongue, now you want to be sure that you don’t rush into the preaching/teaching ministry and then offend with your tongue because your offense is scattered so far and wide that your judgment will be greater.

            “It’s a serious place, it’s a serious ministry. It is a ministry for those who take seriously its tasks. The whole tone of this charge doesn’t look back, it looks forward and it looks forward to the second coming of Christ. We labor, in a sense, in view of the second coming of Jesus Christ. That is the compelling element here. That’s what Paul wants Timothy to grasp. There is an accounting coming. There is a facing of the judge coming where we have to give an account for the ministry. Every preacher is directly responsible not to a church, not to a board, not to a denomination, not to an organization that ordained him or a school that trained him. Every preacher is directly accountable to the judge who is none other than God, even Christ Jesus.”

            Lord will I will continue to quote from this sermon from the very last chapter that Paul would write that is in the Bible, 2 Timothy.

Spiritual Meaning For my Life Today:  I believe that every person that God has called to salvation has a ministry that He has also called for them to do, and God also gives the gifts in order to do this (or these) ministries.  I have stated that I believe that God has given me the ministry of studying the Scriptures and then to post what I am learning onto my Spiritual Diaries which then goes onto my blogs, which the Spirit of God then sends them to those He wants to in order to bring about salvation, and growth. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to make sure that I do the following: “Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

6/21/2025 10:16 AM