The Imperative To Preach The Word

2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5
A WORD OF ADJURATION V. 1
The importance of these final words
Paul points to the second coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom as the impetus for faithfulness to the calling of God.

The Imminence of Divine Judgment: this is not the white throne judgment, but the judgment for the believing community.

THE APPEAL V. 2

The five Imperatives or Exhortations from Paul to Timothy.

Timothy was a pastor in the Church of Ephesus.
These statements are not suggestions; they are commands to be obeyed.

EXHORTATION TO PREACH THE WORD

1. The Reason for the preaching of the word
2. The Second advent of Christ
3. The approaching judgment

THE MEANING OF THE WORD
The Greek term (logon) derives from logos.

John uses the same word to express the preexistence of Jesus (John 1:1). A second term that is important: (kerusson). It means to preach, proclaim, to herald. It does not mean debate, argue, or seek others’ opinions. The word kerruso connotes the idea that the preacher is a herald sent on behalf of the Lord. Therefore, we are not called to preach our ideas, philosophy, psychology, or politics.

1. A herald does not speak his mind.
2. A herald speaks the exact message of the one who sent him,
3. A herald has no message of his own.
4. Therefore, we are to preach straight from the Word of God.
5. The Bible is God’s manual for His children.
6. It is His blue print for our lives.

7. We are not to go look for a topic or subject outside the Bible. The Bible should be our text and our title or topic should derive from the Bible.

The Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God. We are to preach the whole counsel of God from the Word of God. A pastor should never say, I don’t know what to preach this Sunday or next Sunday.

B. EXHORTATION FOR READINESS
Like a soldier on duty, we must always be ready. We must be on duty constantly, ready for any emergency. We must always be ready to proclaim the Word of God whether the occasion is right or not. Therefore, don’t change your message on Sunday when many of your church members don’t show up.

C. EXHORTATION TO CORRECT
The word correct is the same as convict or reprove. It has an idea of moral weakness that needs to be corrected with the Word of God. Today many pastors are afraid to correct people when they are wrong. Many pastors don’t want to offend people; therefore, they don’t correct them.

D. EXHORTATION TO REBUKE
It carries the idea of censure or admonish. This presupposes calling someone to the carpet. Confronting people is not pleasant but sometimes we have to do it to prevent disaster or sinful behavior.

E. THE NECESSITY OF ENCOURAGEMENT
The word encourage is the same as comfort, or to exhort. While the pastor is to correct and to rebuke, he is also called to encourage, especially when the people of God are down. When a pastor encourages people when they are discouraged, he is more like the Holy Spirit. The word that is used for “encourage” comes from the root word from which we get the word Paraclete, which the Apostle John uses in John 14-16 for the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul then states that these exhortations are to be done with patience and instructions. The patience is the manner in which the exhortations are to be carried out and the method in which it is to be done is instruction. The instruction comes from the Word of God and practical life.

THE PURPOSE FOR THESE EXHORTATIONS VV. 4-5

The Apostle Paul knew that a time would come when people would not want this kind of ministry but would prefer smooth talk. They would settle for the lie than the truth. They would want to hear something that would tickle their ear than something that would reveal their sinful lifestyle and challenge them to repent and change the way they live. The question is, are you going to join the slick ministers who tickle their ears of people or are you going to stand up for the truth and preach the Word of God unapologetically? Our work is cut out for us. The carnal heart prefers senseless myths than solid truth. My challenge to us is that let us stand for the truth and preach the truth of God’s Word, because Christ is coming with His judgment.

Finally, we are to be sober, that is self-controlled, endure hardship, and evangelists who point people to Christ. It is not wrong to preach and give invitation and ask people to come give their lives to Christ. Be careful of the persons you invite to preach from your pulpit.