TPreach the word. Three simple words. One powerful command.

The message of the passage is straightforward. You must faithfully proclaim God's word and sound teaching regardless of the world's acceptance or hostility. So, how can you faithfully obey this command to preach the word?

This passage teaches three things that are required of you to be faithful to preach the word.

To endure the hostilities of this world, you must remain faithful to the word of God, even if it requires you to stand apart from the world and unfaithful Christians.

Paul had known persecution and great suffering for the gospel. He knew that Timothy and the faithful church would likewise experience the world's hostility and the abuse of false teachers. He knew that under these pressures, there would be a great temptation to abandon the foundation of the faith.

Faced with the ever-growing threat of worldly hostility and spiritual imposters, how can you remain faithful to the Lord and mature in the faith? The Bible's answer is plain and simple: Hold firm to your faith and God's word.

This passage contains two commands that, when obeyed, provide for believers to remain faithful in a hostile world.

Knowledge and understanding give perspective and hope in the midst of difficult times. 2 Timothy chapter 3 begins with the description of difficult days that the church will endure. Paul writes these words to inform Timothy that he might have knowledge and understanding to help him endure. These words are for the church today, so you also will have knowledge and understanding to help you endure.

This passage teaches three things that enable you to endure these difficult days.

To be useful to God, you must be set apart from sin and the world. And if you are to be used by God to rescue those who have swerved from the truth, you must reject the temptation to be quarrelsome and instead teach the truth with the gentleness and patience of Christ.

This passage has two commands required of those who desire to be ready for every good work and a good servant of the Lord.

Competence and skill are not declared but demonstrated. The evidence of a workman’s competence and skill is proved over time when their work proves to be able to endure the test of time.

The primary task of every ministry of the gospel is to rightly and faithfully make God’s word known. There are temptations that work against this, but Paul warns Timothy not to swerve from the truth.

In this passage, the Bible gives two commands to keep you from swerving from the truth so that you might be an approved and unashamed workman. It also gives a test that testifies to the genuineness of your faith and approval before God.

I hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas celebration and a happy new year.

Podcast episodes post a week and a half after the date I preach the sermon. Usually, for podcast listeners, this makes little difference. However, during special occasions like Christmas, it is more obvious that the podcast episodes are behind.

I had the opportunity to hear a fellow pastor in our community preach, and I was out of the pulpit for a Sunday, so I do not have a current sermon for the podcast this week. So, I have pulled one from the archives for today's podcast. In 2020, I preached through the book of James. Originally preached on August 2, 2020, this is the third sermon I preached from James. The sermon is titled Be Doers of the Word, and it is from James 1:19-27.

This simple command – be doers of the word and not hears only – is a much more difficult command to obey and a much more costly truth than you may realize. Many believers have the desire to live out the word in their lives. However, desire is not a guarantee of doing. James teaches that constant, conscious, and conspicuous efforts must be made to demonstrate that your faith is more than a facade and is what is true of who you are.

The world is defined by theology. Whatever you hold as true defines how you see the world. Whatever you believe has the power to save has your heart's affection, and it will motivate you to fight for it passionately.

Common throughout psalm 119 is a focus on God's word. One of the basics of being a Christian is knowing and obeying the word of God. If you are a Christian, your faith began when you confessed Jesus as your Lord. If Jesus is your Lord, then you obey His commands. The commands of Jesus are known through His word, the Bible.

In this sermon, I make a case that your devotion to the word of God does not begin with determination but with devotion.

Hope in God's word. Love God's word. And be transformed by God's word.

Paul knew something about the blindness of sin and the brilliance of the gospel light. He was given the name of Saul at birth, and from his earliest years, he was devoted to keeping the law.

The first introduction we have to Saul in scripture comes in Acts 7 at the stoning of Stephen. As Stephen was stoned to death, Saul watched over the coats of the men who threw the stones. (Acts 7:58) The next chapter describes how Saul became an enthusiastic persecutor of the early Christians (Acts 8:3).

As Saul grew in notoriety for his persecution, he asked the high priest for the authority to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem. After receiving this authority, he made his way to Damascus, but before he arrived, he was confronted by a light from heaven.

Saul’s physical blindness would result in spiritual sight. (Acts 9) God would send a Christian named Ananias to Saul to pray for him. Once God removed the veil of blindness from Saul, God changed his name to Paul.

Paul knew what it was to be blinded to the truth. Paul knew what it was to be blinded to who Jesus is. And Paul knew what it was to see the gospel light. In Corinthians 4, he teaches on the transformation of the gospel, the opposing work of Satan, and the truth that only God can shine the light of knowledge that reveals His glory through Jesus.

Exercise has some benefits for the body, but it is temporary. However, when we develop lives of godliness through being nourished by the word and disciplining ourselves for God – these benefits are known for eternity.

Give your minds to the word of God. Feed on it. Consume it. Let it penetrate and saturate every part of your mind and heart. Add to this a life of discipline. Be disciplined for godliness – rejecting what does not honor God and pursuing what the Lord loves. And never lose sight of the goal. Do not live for today alone. Live for eternity. That you may attaint the hope of salvation and that you might be a witness to many more for their salvation.

The book of 2 Timothy was written by Paul to Timothy as a letter of instruction as to how he was to pastor and lead the church. This passage (4:1-5), is often used when giving a charge to a newly ordained pastor – and rightly so.

Yet we should not see this passage as only speaking to or applying to pastors. The books of our New Testament were mostly letters written to encourage individuals and specific churches in their living out of the gospel. Being inspired by the Holy Spirit, the church recognized that these letters were instructive for the whole church and thus passed them around to others for their edification. Thus with a passage like this one, we can appreciate how it speaks to a particular group, but we must not lose sight that all of scripture is instructive and beneficial to the whole church.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 commands us to preach the word, minister the word both for God's glory and man's blessing.