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PAUL’S FINAL CHARGE TO TIMOTHY. II Timothy 4:1-5. 11/27/2022. #12.
1 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: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 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; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
1. Strongest imaginable charge
a. Paul gives his final charge to Timothy
a1. Right after admonishing him to trust in and obey the Word of God (his guidebook)
a2. Just before Paul’s final farewell and blessing
b. Paul had admonished Timothy to stand strong, be faithful, use the Word, rebuke evil, and stay true to his calling
c. Paul’s charge to Timothy is as strong as it could be
a1. God is Paul’s witness
a2. Jesus will judge the works of the living (a reference to both the rapture and Judgment of the Nations) and dead (the believers for rewards and lost for eternal condemnation)
a3. Jesus will set all things aright when he appears and sets up his kingdom (Matthew 25)
d. Timothy (and all) will give an account of their calling
a1. Timothy must keep his accountability in mind
a2. Those who triumph through trials do so eternally (I Corinthians 3:12-15)
2. Ministry of the Word of God
a. Timothy is told to preach (proclaim, announce) the Word
a1. Always ready in season and out of season (formal teaching times and daily unplanned encounters with people)
a2. The gospel message is paramount (rescue)
b. Fivefold approach to witnessing:
a1. CONVINCE – to convict of error or reprove (to boldly demonstrate sinful life of hearer)
a2. REBUKE – to adjudicate or censure (to warn of dire consequences for sin)
a3. EXHORT – to admonish, beseech, or urge (parakaleo – called alongside, in this case, not to comfort, but to encourage repentance)
a4. IN ALL LONGSUFFERING – patience, endurance, perseverance (makrothumia – long tempered; neither quitting or wrathful)
b1. Even though we try to convince the lost of sin and call to repentance, we are called to be patient and loving doing so
b2. An angry witness is fleshly and not led by the Holy Spirit
b3. The Lord and Paul saved angry rebukes for false teachers and hypocrites
a5. TEACHING – instruction in truth and guidance
c. Paul gives four final admonitions:
a1. BE WATCHFUL – to soberly be alert (refers to both alertness to leading of Spirit and of the opposition of evil against truth)
a2. ENDURE AFFLICTIONS – “remain under” trials while serving the Lord (neither quitting or complaining – great testimony to endure)
a3. EVANGELIZE – share good news; no matter what our calling, all believers are witnesses
a4. FULFILL YOUR MINISTRY – complete the course God has set before you
3. Warning of opposition
a. Men will increasingly not endure sound doctrine
a1. Chase fables and seek pleasure (Matthew 24:3-14)
a2. They will hate those who witness of Christ, refusing to submit to the Lord and Savior
b. Having itching ears (desiring to hear pleasing things), they flock to teachers who tell them what they desire
c. Timothy is to continue to preach the truth in face of both opposition and rejection as a testimony and warning
Key Verse: Matthew 24:3-14
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.