I solemnly charge you...

2 Timothy 4 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴ and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; ⁸ in the future 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.

⁹ Make every effort to come to me soon; ¹⁰ for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. ¹² But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. ¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.

¹⁶ At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹ Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. ²¹ Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

In today’s text we see that Paul knew his days on earth were numbered. He says:   the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.     Paul is secure in his faith, confident in his future, in today’s text he says:   in the future 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. Previously, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul said:    For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.  But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;  yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.   Paul’s life was not his own. He lived for Christ who died for him. We too, if we would live our lives for Christ’s sake, would be fully confident in our future and secure in every circumstance. In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul says:    Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.    If we do all things for Christ, we can do all things through Christ.     Jesus says:   “if you have faith  the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”        It’s not in our own strength or abilities that we accomplish anything of eternal significance, but rather through our faith in Christ, even a tiny grain of faith in Christ, strengthens and enables us to do great things for the kingdom.

In today’s text, Paul speaking what may well be his final instruction to Timothy says:  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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.  But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.       I am certain that Timothy did see and experience some of what Paul warned him of here. How much more though, in our day and in our culture do we see those who:  will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,  and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.    People today will flock to teachers who teach only the good and positive parts of the gospel message, the love, the grace, the come as you are parts; and while all those things are true, they are only part of the gospel message. Jesus was indeed a friend of sinners, outcasts and the unlovely of society. It is true:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  Jesus does indeed say:    “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  We are to come to Him, just as we are. We cannot change ourselves to make us worthy of Him, nor should we expect that of others. Yet Jesus follows the invitation to come to Him saying:  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)   The rest Christ offers is in being yoked to Him, not forcibly but in choosing, in voluntarily surrendering ourselves to Him, to walk with Him and work with Him. We come to Christ by grace, because of His love, just as we are, but He calls us to change, to learn from Him, to become like Him.

Many people, wanting to have their ears tickled, treat the Bible, even Jesus own words, like a buffet, going through their days only partaking of the sweetest, most desirable, self gratifying offerings.  Paul’s charge to Timothy is:   be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction... be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.     If we too are to fulfill our ministry, if we are to be yoked to Christ, to work with Him and walk with Him, we must know Him and all He says. We need to know what Jesus says, to know Him, so that we can be ready for whatever God brings to us each day. We should be ready, not just on Sundays or the other times when we fellowship with believers, but we should be ready daily, in season and out of season to:  reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.      Like Jesus, we must begin with grace and love. We must love people just as they are. Just as He did for us, Christ died for them, even while they are sinners. Christ indeed says:     “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  The truth of the gospel though is that to know Christ’s rest, you must be yoked to Him. We draw others to Christ with love and grace, just as they are. But it is not love to leave them as we find them. It is not love to leave them bound to sin rather than yoked to Christ. If we will love them as Christ loves us and them, we will: reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction...   Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthian 13)

Endure all things, in love, through love, through Christ who strengthens you.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.