I will start off by confessing right off the bat that this opening scenario is very morbid because I'm going to ask you to imagine that you are dying. And I don't just mean that fact that you're one day closer to your demise. What I mean is that you have exactly 60 seconds left to live. Now you are not in pain. You're fully cognizant. You're fine. But you just know, you have the knowledge that you have 60 seconds left on this earth.
Now along with this, I want you to imagine that you have one person with you. Because this is already really creepy, I'm going to let you imagine who that person is. Maybe if you're married, you want to pick your spouse to be your one. Maybe you want one of your children. Maybe it's someone you haven't seen in a long time. Maybe it's a brother or sister or a really close friend who's closer than a brother or sister. You get to decide who is your one.
And the thing about your one is that they also know you have exactly 60 seconds to live. Now, this is not an atomic bomb situation. They're going to keep living. They know though you are going to die. So, with your last 60 seconds, as you get this one minute with this person of your choosing, what are you going to say?
Some of you are going to look at that person and you're going to say, "I love you. I am so thankful for you." Some of you are going to look at that person and you're going to say, "I'm sorry. I realized that I did this and that hurt you." Some of you, you're going to find yourself confessing because you realize this is it. This is my last opportunity. I have to make things right. So, you're going to confess something to them. Some of you, depending on the person you chose, you're going to want to give them some sort of piece of advice like here is what's most important that I really want you to know here as I get ready to leave.
Last words matter. If you've ever been in a hospital room or a hospice care situation where the person on the bed is actively dying, when they speak, you lean in because you know last words matter. That's why when you have your last minute, you're not going to take time to say, "Oh, hey, don't forget to fill the water softener on Wednesday with salt and hey, remember every time you put the mail out, just put the little flag up." You're not going to waste your time with those things. You're going to say, "I love you. I'm sorry. I confess." Here is the absolute most important thing I could share with you in this moment.
The reason we're starting off with this little scenario is because this is basically what we see Paul do in Second Timothy. This was probably the last letter that Paul ever wrote. In chapter 4 verses 6-8, Paul said: "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up 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 loved his appearing."
Paul knows that he is in his proverbial last 60 seconds. He's coming to the end. He's being poured out and this is it. No more missionary journeys, no more planting of churches, no more writing letters to encourage the churches and help people understand the gospel. He's coming to the end.
And what is it with his last words that he wants to convey so strongly to Timothy? We're going to see that he's telling him that spiritually healthy lives will focus on the word.
The two verses that actually help explain all of chapter 3 and what we're going to see in chapter 4 are the first two verses of chapter 4: "I 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, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching."
Paul knows that he is already being poured out like a drink offering. He knows that the time of his departure has come. And so with his last words to really add weight to what he's about to say, he starts this off by saying, "So Timothy, I charge you." Like I so strongly encourage you. This is so important. I wish I could command you to do this. But as if that's not weight enough, he says, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus."
In other words, Paul is saying, as I sit here in prison in Rome, knowing that I'm not getting out, that this is the end, I sit in the presence of the omnipresent father and the omnipresent son, the one who said in Matthew 28 that he would be with us always, even to the end of the age. Well, as I'm now coming to the end of my age, I sit here in the presence of my omnipresent father and son, knowing that you weeks later are reading this letter in the presence of the omnipresent father and the son. I charge you this.
And yet, he's still not ready. He's got to add even a little more weight to this. Just so Timothy pays even that much more close attention, he describes the son, Jesus Christ. He says, "Who is to judge the living and the dead." As we heard from verses 6 through 8, he's already talked about Jesus as being the righteous judge who judges the living. And he knows he will be judged on what he's done. And he's fine with that because he knows he's going to receive his just reward. He's done exactly what God's called him to. But now, if he's in his proverbial last minute, he knows pretty soon he will be standing before Jesus as the judge of the dead. That he's going to see his Messiah face to face.
So, he's not just flippantly saying these words. This is serious. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and witness and Jesus Christ. Listen up. This is what matters. And what is it he wants to get across? Verse two: preach the word.
Notice what he says to preach this word in season and out of season. Like an athlete who needs to be ready in season to have to walk onto the court or have to walk out onto the field, he is to be ready to do it when it's in season, when it's natural, to preach the word on Sunday with his church, to preach the word when he's meeting one-on-one with someone, to disciple them, to preach the word when he's sitting with a small group of elders or other leaders. He needs to be ready when it's natural, when it's in season. But he also needs to be ready to preach and speak this word when it's out of season to continue to be trained through his own study of the word, but then to be able to talk about it on Monday when he's out about in the community when he's off at work with someone when he's outside of the church walls. He needs to be ready in season and out of season because it is so crucial.
But why do you think Paul tells him here at the end the most important thing I could say to you right now Timothy is preach the word? Why not Timothy the last thing I have to say love one another? Or why not say to him hey in the presence of the omnipresent father and son I charge you have big faith in God. Or why not say, "Hey, Timothy, the most important thing I could tell you is bring peace to this broken world." Why preach the word?
Because when the word is taught correctly and accurately, it teaches people about the love of God and how to love one another. It fills people with a big faith as they're reminded of all the things that God can and has done. When they are lacking peace, the word teaches them the peace is found in Christ. Preaching the word helps bring hope to people. It gives them direction. It will solve all of those things. So that's why the most important thing that he could do right now is preach the word. Give this to everybody because it is so key and crucial.
Paul knows that when you focus on the word, it's going to do three things in your life: it will first positively change you from the inside out. It is also going to spiritually protect you and it's going to emotionally sustain you.
Right after Paul tells Timothy to preach the word, he says be ready in season and out of season. And then he says this, reprove, rebuke, and exhort. And he's to do these things with complete patience and with teaching. That language right there mimics what he just said moments ago in the famous verses.
The two most famous verses out of today's passage are 2 Timothy 3:16-17. These verses say, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
Paul is saying, "Hey, all of the scripture, old and new testament, all of it has been breathed out by God. He used human authors to write it, but God is the one who ultimately was writing it through humans, through their quirks, through their personalities, through their viewpoints and backgrounds and cultural context, but it's God who wrote it out and did so because the scriptures are profitable. They're useful for teaching us about God. They are capable of reproving us, rebuking us of our sin. They're helpful in correcting us in our errant thinking, our errant ways, and they're useful for training us in righteousness. Why? So that we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. God wants to do great things in you and also great things through you. And a big part of what he uses are these God breathed holy scriptures.
In verses 3 through 5 of chapter 4, Paul wrote this to Timothy: "But the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
Paul knew that there would be times, seasons, and I think we're in one of those seasons in our modern day here in America, where people don't want to submit their lives to the word of God. They would rather twist the word of God to fit their lives.
Most days, those scriptures teach that if I'm going to follow Jesus, I need to live a generous life. And most days, I want to do that. Every once in a while in my selfish moments, I don't want to. I'd like to keep my money and my time to myself. Thank you very much. It makes me uncomfortable. So, man, if I could find a teacher who's going to say, "Well, actually, what the scriptures teach and make me feel good about my desires." Oh, okay. I like that.
We're all this way deep down. Whether it is with money or time, with sex, with our bodies, with our dreams, with our future, with forgiving others, with trusting God, we would all love to have some pastor, some teacher, some speaker say to us, "Well, actually," and then twist it so that we can make it fit our lives rather than us have to submit our lives to God and his word.
But when we put ourselves in that place where we are twisting the scripture to fit what we want it to say, we actually begin to put ourselves in a very dangerous situation.
These scriptures are written by a God who has created us in his image. Even though he knew we would sin against him, he still created us. He still sent his son to go and live a perfect life to die on the cross in our place so that we could be forgiven of our sin. So why would we not want to submit our lives to this God? Because he is for us.
Maybe his words aren't there to squash our joy or to ruin our lives. Maybe they're actually to bring us joy and protect our lives. Do you know what a life looks like that is not protected by God's word?
Paul actually tells us it's the very beginning of chapter 3. "But understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power."
I have seen these verses come to life. I have witnessed people who at one time would have said, "Oh yeah, I follow Jesus. I submit to the scriptures." And yet, as they run into some things that don't make sense or some hard things happen in life, they begin to question God's power or question God's love or even just question the reality of him. And so, therefore, maybe we can't trust these words. And so, they start wandering away from it. And they start becoming lovers of self or lovers of money or they become proud and arrogant or they become abusive in their words and approach. They become ungrateful. They become unholy. They begin to embody so many of these things we just heard in verses 2 through 5. And when we live that way, we become opposed to God.
When we refuse to submit our lives to God's word and God's way, we become opposed to God and that puts us in a dangerous place. Submit yourself to God's word because it not only can positively change you into the image of Christ, but the word of God will also protect your heart and protect your mind in Christ Jesus.
The third thing we see Paul tell Timothy is that the word of God emotionally strengthens us.
In verse 10 of chapter 3: "You however have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that have happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
Paul begins that little section there saying, "You, however," he's contrasting Timothy to the people, the men who are who are weakened in their minds and their faith, who've disqualified themselves, these men who refuse to submit to God's word and instead try to twist God's word to fit their lives. He's contrasting him saying but you however and then he starts saying you have followed my teaching my conduct my aim in life but then he starts working it to this place he's saying and also my persecutions and sufferings he starts drawing forth these things saying Timothy you know about these things and yet as you saw all that I've been through you've seen that I have endured I have been emotionally strengthened by two things.
The first is Jesus right there in verse 11. He says, "Which these persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me." Jesus carried him through all of those difficult times. But then he goes on to say, "But it was also God's word." And we hear that in verses 14 and 15: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it... and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
Paul's way, his teaching, his everything isn't just because this sounds like a good idea to me. No, his way. Everything has come from the word, from the scriptures, the same scriptures, the same sacred writings that Timothy has known since childhood. And they are able to carry to completion the salvation that God gives us. They continue to teach us about who God is and about his heart for us. They help to positively change us. They help to spiritually protect us, but they also will help folks emotionally sustain us and strengthen us.
Sometimes when you're going through something really difficult, what you need isn't just some magic bullet, some great nugget of wisdom. What you need is just go back to the word and just be reminded of God's heart for you, of his presence, of his power, and let God's word bring you through.
God's word is able to positively change you to spiritually protect you and to emotionally strengthen you. So why would we not submit our lives to it?
Now I can go about giving you Bible reading plans. I can create companion guides. I can even take scripture off the screen to force you to have a Bible with you if you want to read along. I can do all of these things and yet I cannot make you read it. I cannot make you ponder it. I cannot force you to go and study it. I can't make you go and discuss it. That's between you and the Lord.
We can do all we can to put these tools in front of you, but it is you having to decide. I see that God has given us the scripture for a purpose, for a reason. And so I want to submit and surrender my life to him and use it as a tool that will positively change me, spiritually protect me, and emotionally strengthen me. Because when you see those things happen, you will get to experience that spiritually healthy life.
