PT-1 “The Scope of His Commission” (2 Timothy 4:2b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/03/2025 9:33 AM

 My Worship Time                                                Focus: PT-1 “The Scope of His Commission”  

 Bible Reading & Meditation                                                             Reference:  2 Timothy 4:2b

            Message of the verse:  “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

            Now in order to be an effective, a faithful preacher one must understand the scope of his commission, and as we will see Paul will summarize it here in this section and in this verse.

            An effective Pastor must be like any effective worker, as he must be ready.  Being ready is the second command Paul uses in verse 2 and this translates ephistemi, which has a broad range of meanings according to John MacArthur, as determined by tense, mood, and voice. I certainly have to admit that I don’t understand a lot about the Greek language, and am thankful that I can read these types of things from MacArthur’s commentaries and thus pass them on in my Spiritual Diaries.  MacArthur writes “It often connotes suddenness, as in Luke 2:9 (‘suddenly stood before’) and in Acts 12:7 (‘suddenly appeared’; cf. 1 Thess. 5:3); or forcefulness, as in Luke 20:1 (‘confronted’) and Acts 4:1; 6:12; 23:27 (‘came upon’).  In the aorist active imperative, as here, the word carries the complementary ideas of urgency, preparedness, and readiness.  It could be used of a soldier who is ready to go into battle on a moment’s notice or a guard who keeps continually alert for any threat of infiltration or attack by the enemy.”

            Now that MacArthur as given us some great examples we now want to look at this as the verse speaks of a faithful preacher is to be ready as it carries similar meanings of gravity and vigilance.  He should feel like Jeremiah who felt under divine compulsion to prophesy.  Here is an example of this from Jeremiah 20:9 “But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.”  This can be compared with Jeremiah 5:14 “Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.”

            Seeing how this is a holiday in our country I will make this SD a bit shorter, and will end it by quoting two paragraphs from MacArthur’s commentary.

            “While Paul stayed in Caesarea for a few days on his way back to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey, the prophet Agabus ‘took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’’…the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.’  But Paul’s immediate reply was, ‘what are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?  For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 21:11-13).

            “Such a sense of readiness and willingness to serve the Lord at any cost and at any time not only should characterize every faithful preacher but also every faithful Christian.  Peter exhorted his readers, most of whom were suffering severe persecution from Rome, ‘Sanctify Christ as Lord in you r hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Peter 3:15).  Writing to believers in the church where Timothy now was ministering, Paul implored, ‘Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil’ (Eph. 5:15-16).”

            Lord willing I will pick up where I have left off in tomorrow morning’s SD.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to continue to trust the Lord each and every day in order to be doing the things that He has called me to do for the cause of Christ, to continue learning from His Word and obeying what I learn for the cause of Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to guide my wife as she seeks homeopathic care for any remaining cancer that may be in her body.  I am thankful she is getting stronger after her major surgery which happened on the 29^th of April.  I am thankful that the Lord is in control of this situation and it is our hope that all of this will bring glory to the Lord.

7/4/2025 11:00 AM