S) "1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction."
2 Timothy 4:1-2 (NASB)
O) Here we see the closing thoughts of Paul's advice and instruction to Timothy. As Paul points out (v.6), he was close to the end of his race. Paul stresses again, the importance of correct teaching, and he warns (vv.3-4), that there will be some people who will not endure sound doctrine much longer. I don't think Paul is talking about an age of some great apostasy, though. Because Paul moves directly from telling Timothy to endure it (v.5), right into talk about his impending departure from this world, it would seem that the two topics are more closely related. The impression I get, is that Paul was, to some degree, able to keep Timothy's church in order. If he was able to reinforce Timothy's leadership, reiterating sound doctrine... if Paul himself, was doing things for Timothy's church, that he mentions in v.2, but then he knew he wasn't going to be able to continue that for much longer, then the rest of the passage would mean that Paul was trying to give Timothy a warning for his own church, a specific struggle he knew was going to afflict Timothy directly. This seems right (as opposed to Paul prophesying about some great apostasy), because this is an easy thing to predict. Throughout Israel's and Judah's histories, there were dozens of times when the people would follow a godly leader well, but as soon as the leadership changed, there would be a falling away. People would try to surround themselves with "yes men" to justify what they wanted to do. But, if Paul saw it coming to Timothy, it seems he instructed him about how to best handle the backlash. By admonishing Timothy to preach the word, Paul was shifting the authority off of Timothy, off of Paul, and placing it back upon what God has said. There can be no justifiable arguments against what God has said. That is the way to handle those who would turn their ears from the truth; preach the truth, appealing only to the authority of God's word.
A) To be sure, there are still people today who behave just as Paul described to Timothy in vv.3-4. So, in the same way that the warning can be applied to my life, so can the instruction. Even though I do not preach much in the contemporary sense, I do preach to my family often. I must preach the word, to my wife and to my kids. I must hold firmly to the truth of Scripture. I used to preach, even often. When I was a youth pastor, I preached every week to the high schoolers. There were also some times I preached in "big church" when the head pastor was away. In that sense, I was in season then and I am out of season now, and I must remain ready. Reproving, rebuking, and exhorting are all similar words, but they have slight differences. All of them are critical in parenting, but also in marriage, and in friendships, mentoring, and of course, more formal roles I might have in a church. Reproving is really a matter of correcting bad teaching. That is, using Scripture to correct a person's misunderstanding or misinterpretation of truth. Rebuking is similar, but in regard to actual behaviors. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, exhorting is about encouraging correct thought and deed. I cannot do any one of these three things, without doing all of them. That last point, Paul makes, is absolutely vital. I must remain patient through this process. Whether it's raising my kids, or loving my brother, if I am not committed to complete patience, then I will hurt where I mean to heal. Where it says, "great patience and instruction." the word is literally, "all patience and instruction." I have to be all-in with my patience. My instruction must be comprehensive. I need to see people as whole people, not just little problems to address.
P) Father, thank You for the grace of Your word. Thank You for my access to Scripture. I don't ever want to take that for granted, because it really is such a vital part of my very life. Help me to hold fast to the authority of the Bible. Let me preach it to my wife and kids, not because I am in charge, but because You are in charge. Help me to be comprehensive in my lead of Kristin, I my parenting, in my friendships and other relationships. Every time I am led to rebuke, let me also reprove and exhort. Help me to see people as whole people in those moments. When I am teaching or preaching, open my eyes and ears, to really see and hear the people before me. In all things, keep me rooted in Christ. He is my judge, and His kingdom is coming in glory. Let me fear Your name above all. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment