I wonder what your famous last words would be.
If you knew you were about to die,
what would your parting message be
!
Lawrence Oates, he sacrificed himself.
He knew he was going to die,
and he sacrificed himself by walking out into a blizzard
to spare his fellow explorers from having to care for him.
And his famous last words as he walked out of that tent
to a certain death were these,
I'm just going outside, and maybe some time.
Or in 1863,
it has been reported that surgeon Joseph Henry Green
he was checking his own pulse as he lay dying,
and apparently his last word was stopped.
Well, the letter of 2 Timothy
contains the Apostle Paul's last recorded words,
and these are written to his son in the faith
and his successor, Timothy.
This is the man who would continue
to build up the early church.
And in chapter 4 that we've just read,
we have Paul's famous last words,
and they may be summed up with these three words.
Verse 2,
Preach the word.
This command is the crux of the whole letter.
If Timothy was to take anything away from this letter,
it was this one single thing.
This was the thing that he had to commit himself to
for the rest of his life.
It would be to obey these famous last words.
Preach the word.
Now, Paul could have left behind his top ten ministry tips,
but instead he wants to leave these three words
ringing in Timothy's ears.
So Paul has reached the end of his life.
It's the end of his ministry as well.
His life of faith and his ministry
that Jesus tasked him with,
these two things are closely intertwined.
And as Paul senses the executioner's block,
he finds himself at the crucial Baton Pass.
This is the moment that he hands on the task
of leading and building up the church,
and he wants to make sure the Baton is firmly
in Timothy's hand as he dies.
Paul's reached the end of his leg of the relay race,
and now it's time for Timothy to take on the gospel path,
Baton forwards into the next generation.
So we're going to go through verses 1 to 8,
this famous passage,
and we're going to consider
why preaching the word specifically
was supposed to be Timothy's central task.
Then we're going to look at two things
which await Timothy in his ministry.
So there's a day coming
when people are going to reject the truth,
but then there's another day coming
when faithful word ministers
and all faithful followers of Jesus
will be rewarded for sticking with Jesus.
So we're going to look at the first two verses now.
So a central task.
A central task.
So in the first couple of verses of chapter 4,
it is crystal clear
what Timothy must commit himself to
as he leads the church.
He must preach the word.
But did you notice how strongly
Paul instructs him to do this?
If you look at verse 1 again,
it says,
In the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing
and his kingdom,
I give you this charge.
Preach the word.
God the Father
and Jesus the Son
are my witnesses,
Paul says,
Paul reminds Timothy
that Jesus is coming again
and he's going to judge
the living and the dead
and Jesus will weigh
all of Timothy's works in the balance.
Therefore,
Timothy must take this command
very seriously.
He must preach the word.
Now,
preaching the whole counsel of God,
it's not a preference for Timothy
or for anyone who teaches the Bible,
but it's a serious injunction
from the apostle Paul.
It bears apostolic weight,
but it's also an injunction
that Jesus made,
that,
sorry,
was made with Jesus as witness.
We saw that.
Jesus is my witness.
So,
also bears divine weight as well.
This is no throwaway ministry tip.
It is a command as weighty
as the commands written in stone.
So,
let's pause briefly
and let's just ask ourselves,
what does it actually mean
to preach the word?
That might be a silly question to ask,
maybe an obvious question to ask,
but put simply,
preaching the word,
it means saying
what the Bible says
in the way that it says it.
Saying what the Bible says
in the way that the Bible says it.
So,
it's not to be taken out of context.
It's not with our hobby horses
plastered all over it.
The Bible is God's breathed out
authoritative word
and the Bible unveils God's plan
for the world
and it's the Bible that sets the agenda
when we open it up.
So,
preaching the word,
it means saying what the Bible says
in the way that it says it.
Thinking about it in a bigger way,
preaching the word
is when God's people are gathered,
just like this,
or on a Sunday morning,
and the Bible is carefully read
and unpacked
so that
unbelievers
might come to faith
as they hear about Jesus
and
so that
believers
will be
made wise
so that believers
might be taught
what the Bible says,
challenged
to live God's way,
corrected
of sinful ways,
brought in line
with God's good desires
for them,
trained
in righteousness
so that
they will resemble
Jesus more and more,
strengthened
so that
they might stand firm
in the storms of life,
and thoroughly
equipped
so that they might
serve him faithfully
in all the good works
that God has given them
to do.
So this is what happens
when God's
word is
preached.
So Timothy
is not to preach
philosophy,
he's not to preach
politics,
or good morals,
or to put on a good show,
he's to teach
what the Bible says
and the way
that it says it.
But why does Paul
say that
preaching the word
has to be
the central task?
Why does
that thing
come above
everything else
that we busy
ourselves with
in church?
Well,
preaching the word
must be
the priority
because Jesus
is coming back
and he will judge
the world
and there are
countless people
who are perishing
without knowing him.
Preaching the word
must be the priority
because it is
God's plan
to fill the earth
with people
who resemble
his son Jesus
and these people
will resemble
Jesus more
and more
as they live
in obedience
to his word.
Preaching the word
must be the priority
because if the baton
isn't passed
to the next generation
there will be
catastrophic effects
for the church.
If the good news
of Jesus
isn't proclaimed
then people
won't be saved.
If the Bible
isn't faithfully taught
then God's people
will become
malnourished.
And if people
aren't trained
for ministry
people like Timothy
then there will be
nobody to lead
the church
when our current
leaders step aside.
Paul gives
Timothy
this strict
command
to preach
the word
because if he
doesn't preach
the word
the fledgling
church will not
outlive Timothy
it will fizzle
out as quickly
as it began.
So this is crucial.
But we mustn't
miss how
Timothy
used to preach
the word
so we
stopped
at preach
the word
but the next bit
in verse 2
how is Timothy
to preach
the word?
Well
Timothy
must be
prepared
at all times
to preach
and teach
the truth
and he
must preach
the word
in the ways
that God
has always
intended
his word
to be used.
So we see
that he's
to correct
he's to rebuke
and he's to
encourage
the people
of God
with the word
and he's to
preach the word
with great
patience
and with
careful instruction
because
sheep do not
change their
ways quickly.
He needs
to preach
with patience.
At this point
we must
ask ourselves
where do we
hold
word ministry
in our list
of priorities?
Do we
hold it
in the same
regard
as the
apostle Paul?
Is it a
priority for
us?
Opening
God's word
and letting
it speak
must be
the priority
in every
ministry
of church
life
and maybe
you're involved
in teaching
the Bible
in some way
so maybe
that's up
the front
preaching
or maybe
it's teaching
our children
here
or young
people
or maybe
it's leading
a Bible
study
or maybe
it's giving
a talk
at Christian
union
or a
scripture
union
at school
or maybe
it's sharing
a word
at coffee
at Brunsfield
do we
believe that
God's word
has power
when we
open it?
Will we
get in the
way by
sharing
entertaining
stories or
will we let
God's word
do the
speaking?
So a
central task.
Now a
reality check
so we're
going to
look at
verses
three
to five
now.
So we've
seen how
Paul strongly
commanded
Timothy
to commit
himself to
preaching
the word
but in the
next few
verses
Paul gives
Timothy
a reality
check.
Paul points
forward
to a day
that is coming
when people
are going to
reject the
preaching of
the word.
We see that
in verse
three.
They won't
be able to
stand what
the Bible
has to say.
This day is
coming Paul
says.
Verse four
they will
turn their
ears away
from the
truth and
they'll turn
aside to
myths.
Now
I if you
know me
you know I
love dogs
and I
particularly
love
spaniels
but I
also love
terriers.
The first
family dog
that we
had was a
Jack Russell
and I
love terriers
because they
have great
ears and
the great
thing about
a terrier's
ears is
that you
can tell
what they're
listening to
by looking
at the
direction
that their
ears are
tilted.
In the
same way
there is a
time coming
when people
will not
tilt their
ears
towards the
truth but
they will
turn their
ears away
from the
truth.
And tilt
them towards
things of
no value.
Things like
empty
myths.
And these
people they
won't just
reject the
preaching of
the words
they won't
just turn
their ears
away but
they will
surround
themselves
with teachers
who will
say the
things that
they are
itching to
hear.
Things that
appeal to
their sinful
desires.
So what
might those
sorts of
teachers say
today?
Well they
might say
something like
this.
you can
think
whatever
you want
only your
actions
count.
You can
look at
whatever you
like.
You can
do whatever
you like.
Don't worry
about sinning
because God's
forgiven it
all hasn't
he?
Follow your
desires.
God has
given you
your desires
right?
Or how
about this
morning why
don't we
focus on
all the
ways that
this
controversial
speaker is
wrong?
Wouldn't
it be fun
to take
a pop
at that
guy and
see all
the ways
that he's
got it
wrong?
Or
actually
we're not
going to
look at
the Bible
this morning
because we
can't
actually be
sure if
it's
reliable.
There's a
constant
temptation
for preachers
to avoid
preaching what
God's word
says.
A constant
temptation
to dumb
down the
uncomfortable
parts or
to avoid
them altogether.
things that
God says
about sin
or about
hell or
when God
says things
that go
against the
grain of
our culture.
A constant
temptation.
But if we
dumb down
or if we
dodge these
things what
we're actually
doing is that
we're communicating
that not all
of scripture is
actually for us.
Only the
bits that
affirm us
and make us
feel good.
So I
and anybody
else involved
in teaching
what the
Bible says
at Brunsfield
we must be
careful not
to become
people pleasers
avoiding what
the Bible
says but
we must
make sure
we say
what the
Bible says
in the way
that it
says it.
So Paul's
warning is
clear.
People are
going to
reject the
truth and
they will
appoint yes
men to
lead them
and who
will say
what they
want to
hear and
there will
be many
teachers who
will tell
God's
people all
sorts of
things that
they want
to hear.
These days
are coming
says Paul
but notice
the contrast
in verse
five.
But you
Timothy
when you
preach the
word you
must keep
your head
especially
when people
reject the
teaching.
You must
endure the
hardship that
preaching the
word will
always bring.
you must
do the
work of
an
evangelist
so you
must make
sure that
you keep
preaching the
gospel to
unbelievers
as well as
feeding the
flock with
the meat of
the Bible
and you
need to make
sure that you
fulfill all
your duties.
Don't skip
the hard
bits.
Do all of
it.
As Timothy
commits himself
to preaching
the word
Paul has
pointed to a
future day
when people
are going to
reject it
and hardship
will definitely
come.
We've seen
that all the
way through
the letter
but in
verses 6
to 8
which we're
going to
look at
next
Paul wants
to point
Timothy
to another
day
a day
that's coming
that's going
to be truly
wonderful
and it's
going to
dwarf all
the suffering
and rejection
that Timothy
might face
for preaching
the word.
So let's
look at
verses 6
to 8
and think
about a
future
reward.
A future
reward.
So in
these verses
6 to 8
Paul is
shining the
spotlight now
on his own
life and he
wants to show
us what it
means to
finish well.
So in
verse 6
Paul tells
Timothy that
he's reached
the end of
his life.
He says
the time of
his death
is near.
Now Paul
is holed up
in a Roman
prison at this
point and he
knows he's
going to be
executed soon
but he views
his death
as being
like a
final act
of worship.
Every last
drop of his
life is going
to be poured
out in
worship to
God.
What an
interesting way
to view
your own
death.
An act
of worship.
This is
triumphant
not a sad
whimper.
Paul certainly
doesn't view
the end of his
life as something
to be feared
or to be
sad about.
Not at all.
Paul speaks
about his
demise very
positively.
Now he
looks back
over the
course of
his life
as many
people do
at the
end of
their life.
He thinks
about the
highs and
the lows
and he
can say
with confidence
that he
has fought
the good
fight.
He says
that.
Paul has
fought so
that the
good news
of Jesus
might be
heard
everywhere.
Paul never
drew a
fist but
he had to
keep striving
against evil
opposition by
preaching the
words everywhere
he went even
when threatened
with death.
Paul looks
back over his
life and he
can say with
confidence that
he has finished
the race.
He's kept
the faith.
Just like the
image of the
athlete back in
chapter 2.
Paul has not
cut any
corners.
He's never
given up.
He has
faithfully run
the racetrack
of faith
which God
has set
out for
him.
Now
Bogdan
took us
back to
Antioch
and Iconium
and Lystra
last week.
This is
when Paul
was badly
persecuted
and stoned
to death.
Remember
those times
Paul says
to Timothy
think of
all the
suffering
that I
endured
because I
chose to
keep
preaching
the word.
Paul could
have so
easily thrown
the towel
in at any
moment
but he
didn't.
Maybe
another thing
you might know
about me
other than
that I like
dogs.
I used to
do a lot
of running.
That was my
sport.
And in my
16 years
of running
I competed
in many
races
race.
But there
were many
times when
I was
tempted to
pull out
of a race.
Three
kilometers into
a five
kilometer race.
Man, that
is where it
really hits.
The pain
begins to
mount in
your body
and the
psychological
battle
begins.
Oh, I
can't
possibly keep
going at
this pace.
Goodness me,
I am
suffering.
People are
going past
me.
I've got to
slow down.
This is
really rubbish.
I'm hating
this right
now.
Maybe I
should pull
out and
stop.
People would
understand,
wouldn't they?
I was often
tempted to
quit the race
when it got
painful or
when the race
wasn't going
very well.
I wonder if
we've ever
thought this
way in our
race of
faith.
Have we
ever been
tempted to
give it up?
When it's
gotten painful?
Or when it's
not been
going well?
Or if
we're involved
in teaching
God's word,
have we
ever been
tempted to
throw the
towel in
because it's
really hard
going?
Or it's
costly?
Or maybe
it's not
going well?
Paul tells
Timothy,
you've got to
keep going
because there
is a
magnificent
reward for
all those who
fight the
good fight,
who finish
the race,
and who
keep the
faith.
And we
read about
that in
verse 8.
So let's
read that
again.
Verse 8.
Now,
there is in
store for
me the
crown of
righteousness,
which the
Lord,
the righteous
judge,
will award
to me on
that day,
and not
only to
me,
but also
to all
who have
longed for
his
appearing.
there is
a crown
of
righteousness
stored up
for Paul
and for
everyone who
perseveres in
their faith
to the end.
And Jesus
himself will
reward us with
that crown
on that day,
the day when
he returns and
he establishes
his kingdom
on earth.
And we
will see
Jesus face
to face
in that
moment,
and he
will tell
us,
well done.
I wonder
if you've
ever seen
a medal
presentation,
if you've
ever watched
the Olympics,
you've probably
seen a medal
presentation.
And when you
watch a medal
presentation,
as they stand
up on the
podium,
the thing
you notice
about the
athletes is
the joy
beaming
from their
faces as
the person
comes up
and presents
the medal
to them
and says
to them,
well done.
Paul says,
all Christians
who persevere
to the end
will receive
a crown,
but even
better than
that,
our greatest
reward will
be seeing
Jesus himself
when he
comes up
and he
awards us
with that
crown,
and the
joy that
will beam
from our
faces when
he says to
us,
well done.
That is the
reward that
is waiting
for us
if we
stick to
the end.
So as we
draw things
to a close,
we're going
to think
about two
sticks,
not literal
sticks.
Paul had
reached the
end of his
life,
and he not
only chose
to stick
with Jesus
to the end,
but as a
minister of the
gospel,
he also chose
to stick
to the
central task
of preaching
the word.
word.
And now
the glorious
crown of
righteousness
awaited him,
and at this
key moment
in history,
the death
of the
great apostle
and the
handing of
the baton
on to the
next generation,
Timothy
must now
do the
same.
Timothy
must stick
with Jesus
to the
end,
and Timothy
must stick
to the
central task
of preaching
the word.
So for us
today,
will we
stick with
Jesus till
the end of
our lives,
following him
wherever he
leads us,
even into
pain,
even into
suffering?
I wonder
where is he
leading you
today?
Maybe into
a costly
decision,
perhaps,
maybe into
sharing the
word with
that friend
at work.
Will we
finish the
race and
keep the
faith knowing
that Jesus
himself,
awaits us
with the
crown?
And secondly,
will we
stick to
the central
task of
preaching the
word?
Will we
get behind
leaders who
commit to
this task?
Will we
prioritize
opening the
Bible,
even when it
says difficult
things?
Are we
convinced that
God has
the power
to transform
people through
his word?
Let's pray.
our heavenly
father, we
thank you so,
so much for
giving us
this passage,
this clear
command from
Paul to
Timothy to
preach the
word.
We thank you
that you've
left us your
word, you've
preserved it
for us, and
that we can
learn from it
today.
And the same
command is
true for us
today, to
keep the
opening and
the unfolding
and the
explaining and
the teaching
of your word
as a central
thing that we
do as your
gathered people.
And Lord, we
are sorry for
the times that
we've put that
to one side,
we've not
prioritized it,
we've gone for
the things that
are flashy, or
we've wanted to
avoid what the
Bible has to
say, whether
that's preaching
it or even
conversations with
our friends, we've
wanted to avoid
saying the
things that the
Bible actually
says.
But help us to
be bold like
Paul and to
commit to saying
what the Bible
says in the way
that it says
it, help us
to commit to
that task in
all the ways
that we share
the word with
others.
And I pray that
you would help
us to keep
going to the
end of our
lives, sticking
faithfully to
you, running
well, fighting
the good fight,
contending for
the gospel,
keeping the
faith, knowing
that Jesus
himself awaits
us at the end
of our lives
with the crown
and he will say
well done to
us and award
us if we stick
faithfully to
him.
And if there's
anyone here
that is here
tonight who
hasn't made
the Lord Jesus
their own
personal saviour,
who doesn't
know the
salvation and
the forgiveness
that he offers,
I just pray that
you would convince
those folks by
your spirit to
trust in the
Lord Jesus who
is our only
rescue, our
only way of
salvation.
And we pray
all this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.