Just to piggyback on what we spoke about last night in PMIN 101 - Preparation of the Sermon with our 1st Semester Students at CSM&L I would like to share with everyone as it is appropriate for all believers: II Timothy 4:1-2 NKJV 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: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. Observation & Interpretation: The biblical backdrop to this important text is as follows: The Apostle Paul gives a solemn charge to his understudy, Timothy, in one of his pastoral letters here in II Timothy chapter 4 probably in the spring of 68 A.D. just prior to his death in Rome. This therefore carries a lot of spiritual weight with Paul who probably knew he was going to die at the time (see his discourse in v. 6-8). To me Paul is charging Timmy, the young Pastor of the Church at Ephesus, with a tremendous responsibility with eternal implications. He is in effect passing the baton to his faithful disciple and that is pretty special. In fact, if you really step back and take a look at this you will see that Paul is doing exactly what Moses did with Joshua (see Deuteronomy 31:7-8, 23) and what Jesus did with his disciples (see John 13:34-35 as well as John chapter 17). What a leadership principle that is! When you know that your time is drawing to an end, look around for someone you can trust and pour your life into them...charging them to carry on and carry out the important mission just like Moses, Paul, and Jesus. Praise God! In the text then, we see that Jesus himself will judge everyone and everything as one of two divine witnesses. Furthermore we can note that in v. 2 Paul gives 5 words which sum up the ministry: 1) Preach - proclaim the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ 2) Be instant - stay at the ready, be an ever-ready preaching machine 3) Convince - persuade, reprove 4) Rebuke - correct with love and proper humility 5) Exhort - encourage, inspire, equip ...with all long-suffering and doctrine ... meaning when you carry out the mission make sure what you are doing and preaching is pure, true, and long lasting for an eternal impact that will stand the test of time. Again, this is without a doubt an urgent call to action from a man in his mid-sixties who knows God is calling his number! Therefore these imperatives give punch to the urgent nature of Pauls final instructions to Timmy. Application: - Leaders must pass the baton and pour out their lives in others whom they can count on to finish the mission. - Be ready to share Jesus at all times which gives the Holy Spirit something to work with in convicting the hearts of those hearing the Gospel message of Christ. This is a little exegetical breakdown of the text for you guys :) Hope you enjoyed it, Pastor Bill
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:03:33 +0000
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