Final Words

A person's last words deserve special attention, especially if they are written down. You know when someone composes their last words, things they want to communicate to family, friends, co-workers, whoever, when they have written them out, you know they've been thought through carefully, they have been measured out for maximum impact. You want to listen, you want to make sure that you get what's being said. I have known some who received a medical diagnosis that they were going to be dying before long and they were young. They had children and they felt that unless God intervened, they may not be able to see some important milestones in their children's lives. So I've known some of those folks who have actually written out letters to their children to be open that certain milestones of their lives, like a driver's license or a graduation from high school or their wedding or their first child. Those would carry tremendous weight to be able to hear the last words of a parent still speaking into a child's life even after they're gone at critical milestones in their lives. And I kind of see Paul's second letter to Timothy that way. We've been in the past story, pistols for some time now, first Timothy and now second Timothy. And we're drawing close to the end. In fact, I thought we would end this week and then as I got into this text, there was just too much. So I've divided it into two messages. We're going to look at verses one through five of second Timothy, chapter four. But Paul's whole letter of second Timothy has been, as we've entitled this series, last words to a son. And as you well know, the tone is very personal. It is urgent. It is Paul pouring out his heart to his young son in the faith, Timothy. In chapter one, he has urged on him the call to be faithful and zealous in his service for God. He has described in chapter two eight character qualities that are essential to do effective ministry. In chapter three, he has issued a caution, a caution to a son. There is trouble in this world. There's trouble facing the church through false teachers. Now here's how to deliver yourself, prepare yourself for that and deliver from that kind of trouble. And as we reach chapter four, he issues a final charge to his son in the faith. The personal passion and urgency reach the highest level in all of the book in these five verses. We know that because of the way Paul introduces them, as we'll see in a moment. Verse one is a very sobering introduction to the charge that he's going to give him. He doesn't do this with quite this sense of passion and urgency anywhere else in the book. So it is as though Paul is saying to Timothy, Timothy, this is the most important thing I will say to you, I've been pouring out my heart. I've been passionately urging upon you your call, the character you must have, cautioning you about danger. But here it is, Timothy, here's the most important thing I want to say to you. And that passion, that that charge to Timothy is intensified because Paul recognizes with burning realization that he is dying, that this is the end of his life. Right after he gives this charge, he will say in verse six of second Timothy four, because I'm giving you this charge because I am already being poured out like a drink offering, the time of my departure is at hand. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith and he talks about the crown of righteousness, which will be laid up for him and all those who love the appearing of Jesus and are living in light of Christ's coming. So there is a heightened sense of passion and urgency and importance to these words because he's drawing his letter to a close at a time when his life is drawing to a close. I feel that same passion and urgency as I draw near the end, hopefully not my life although none of us knows when that will be. But as I draw near the end of 45 years of public ministry, 26 of those years in this place, as I draw near the end, there is a sense of urgency and passion and what I want to communicate to you as well. So Paul's charge to Timothy, a young pastor, becomes my charge today to you. I have sought diligently this week as I've looked at this text to find ways to apply it to all of us as the church and there are ways we'll get to those. But this text in its entirety is primarily given to a young pastor to Timothy. And so this becomes my charge to our young pastors, specifically to my friend Dan, who will assume the lead pastor position in this church in July. And so I give this charge to you, Dan. And also to James, God has blessed my life tremendously by bringing these two young men on our staff and into my life and they have enriched my life in ways that I cannot describe for you. They've been such a blessing to me and it's been a joy to work alongside them and to serve our Lord together. I could mention Jim Naufsinger and Jim Simmons, but they're the old guys. They're beyond this. They're with me, they're my peers. And so really this charge is for as Paul intended for a younger pastor, this charge is for Dan and for James, specifically for Dan as our new lead pastor. But it is also for the church because God intended these passionate individual, personal words of Paul to Timothy to be inscribed in Scripture and to be handed down through the centuries for the church. He intended for the church to hear this as well. And I believe he wants us as the church to feel the urgency and the passion of these words as to what should be expected of your pastor, particularly the one who's responsible to open the word and feed the flock every week. This is what the church should expect. This is what the church should understand about his ministry. And so the charge is for all of us to hear, to heed, to understand. Paul begins this charge to Timothy, these final words by emphasizing the seriousness of this charge. It's in verse one. There's nothing else like it anywhere in these two letters. Paul begins. It's almost as though he backs up, picks a deep breath and then wades into the seriousness of this charge, verse one, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead and in view of his appearing and his kingdom. I give you this charge. Oh, those are wady words. Those are serious words. Paul gets three reasons in this verse why this charge must be taken seriously. Three sobering realities that keep Paul accountable as he issues this charge and should also keep Timothy accountable as he hears and fulfills this charge. What are these three sobering realities that will keep us on task and keep us faithful in this charge? The first sobering reality is this. We are in his presence. That is a sobering reality indeed to know that everything we do, as believers, all of us, but more specifically, everything we do in serving God as pastors is done in his presence. He says in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, I give you this charge. God is always present. He is present with Paul as he writes this charge. Yes, in a very real special sense of inspiring him by the Holy Spirit, putting the thoughts, the very words into his mind and guiding him, bearing him along as he wrote these words so that they would be exactly the words God would want, in-air at words, perfect words, true words to be recorded in his word. God was with him, present in that sense, but he was also present in the bigger sense of watching Paul as he serves him. God was present with Timothy as he would first read this charge. God was observing his heart and his mind as he responded inwardly to the words of Paul, and God would be watching Timothy with loving concern and care and power and strength every day, as Timothy carried out this charge. He served in the presence of God that is an awesome responsibility to know that God is watching every word, every thought, every work of service for him. I charge you, he says, we are in his presence and given that this charge is so serious, but there's a second sobering reality that holds us accountable to this charge, and it's this. Not only are we in his presence, but we will be at his judgment. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead. Paul reminds Timothy that he will stand before God someday in judgment, and the one he will face, the one in whose eyes he will look, is none other than Jesus Christ. Christ is the judge of the living and the dead. Jesus himself said in John chapter 5, the Father judges no one, but he has committed all judgment to the Son. It is Christ who will carry out every future judgment, whether it is the judgment of believers, at what the Bible calls the judgment seat of Christ, or at the great white throne judgment, the judgment of all unbelievers. Jesus is the one on the throne, the one before whom we stand, and Paul urges Timothy to do everything you do in your ministry, recognizing that someday you will look Jesus into face, and you will give an account to him for everything you have done. That should encourage us to do our work carefully and faithfully. It should also deliver us from the fear of man, because we want to please him more than anyone else. We do not fear what people will think or say we shouldn't, in our flesh sometimes we do. But we must recognize we are to please him because it is to him primarily we get an account, recognizing that we will bid at his judgment should strengthen our resolve when the critics attack, because we answer first and foremost to him. But it should also make a sensitive to the truth that critics may share with us that we need to learn from, because they can help us grow and be better to stand before him someday. We will be judged someday, and knowing that will also keep us going when we face difficult personal challenges, difficult ministry challenges. We must serve and live every moment, knowing that we will stand before him in judgment. That's true for all of us, but especially in this passage directed specifically to pastors and their ministry, their charge, we are in his presence. We will be at his judgment, and then thirdly another sobering reality. We will be in his kingdom. He said, John, wait a second, I thought we were already in his kingdom. And in a sense we are, there is a sense in which his kingdom is operative now. He is our Lord and the sovereign on the throne even now. But Jesus kingdom will find its fullest expression on this earth. In a literal earthly kingdom, we call it the millennium, thousand year rule of Christ on this earth from the city of Jerusalem. It will be a literal kingdom on this earth. And I believe that's what Paul is talking about. Obviously he ties it to the appearing of Christ, to the coming of Christ. We must recognize and remember that when Jesus comes, we will rule and reign with him in his kingdom. And the sobering reality is this, our responsibilities in his kingdom are determined by our faithfulness now. That's true for all of us. But again, Paul is speaking specifically to Timothy. Our responsibilities in his future kingdom will be dictated by how faithful we are to him now in our service. Jesus sometimes told stories, parables, illustrations to illustrate. In a couple of occasions, he illustrated what his kingdom would be like by giving a parable. One of those is in Matthew 25. And in verse 21 of Matthew 25, he said this as a part of his kingdom and rewarding his servants. He says, his master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Even more specifically in Luke's account in Luke 19 verse 17, Jesus said this, well done, my good servant, his master replied, because you have been trustworthy and very small matter, take charge of pen cities. Very clearly, very literally, a portion of responsibility in Christ's earthly kingdom of taking charge of a certain number of cities, because there has been faithful service here, it will be rewarded with faithful service, responsibility in the kingdom. So that's why Paul reminds him that we'll be in his kingdom someday. It's not just a reminder that we'll be in heaven and we'll be lying on a cloud somewhere, strolling a heart, drinking, pink lemonade. That's not the idea of the kingdom. The kingdom is active service, doing something, ruling over cities, going out to minister to people. It's active service, but the activity in our service for Christ and his kingdom will be dictated by our faithfulness now. And that's why he says, Timothy, keep that sobering reality before you. We are always in his presence. We will be at his judgment and we will be in his kingdom. Always, we must, especially those of us who minister the word, keep those sobering realities before us. They will add steel to our soul and they will ignite our hearts to fulfill this charge. That prefaces the charge. He hasn't even gotten to the charge yet. That is the seriousness of this charge. Timothy, don't ever forget these sobering realities as you serve God. But what is the charge? What is the substance of the charge? He gives us that in verses two through five. The substance of the charge is found in a series of sharp, abrupt commands, the very sharpness and abruptness of them highlights their urgency and their importance. And it seems from what we know about Timothy, as we have journeyed with Paul through these two letters, we've picked up hints and even direct references about Timothy's nature. And we come to know him as a faithful, godly young man who had some hesitancy, some timidity in areas of his life. And it is clear that some of these commands, sharp, urgent, important commands, are designed at some of Timothy's natural hesitancies. Some of the things Paul is saying that Timothy, you will be required to do in ministry. You may not like doing. They may not come natural to you. Let you in on a little secret. Not everything in ministry is enjoyable. And not everything does every pastor look forward to doing. There are some difficult tasks. There are some tasks that are not suited to our personalities. Let me just give you a little bit of a personal illustration here. When I first went into pastoral ministry at age 21, I was way and over my head. I still am, but I was way and over my head then. And there were some things that I wasn't confident about at all. I grew up more like my dad, more reserved, more shy. I've had to learn to overcome some of that to be able to do the people tasks of ministry. But when I first got started, the thought of going to the hospital to visit people, the thought of knocking on someone's door to go in their home and witness to them scared me to death. It was not natural to me. It was didn't fit my personality. And there were days when I can remember there were visits that needed to be made. And it was as though God had to tug me away to do it. I didn't really want to do that. I'd come to love it, to enjoy it. But there will be things in ministry that don't come natural to you. And God is stealing the soul, STEL, the soul of Timothy, providing that substance and strength for him. Even in areas that may not come natural to him. And I believe again, that's the reason for what he said in verse 1. Timothy, this is not just what comes natural to you or what you enjoy. Remember you have responsibilities. You will give an account to God for. And God will be watching you as you do them, giving you the strength and power. And you'll be in His kingdom someday. So here's the charge. Here's the charge. He groups it under two categories. The first charge is controlled by one main charge, the beginning of verse 2. And then he expresses how it's to be done through verse 4. But one main charge there. And then the second charge is in verse 5. And it's a combination of four quick, sharp commands. But look at the first one. In verse 2, Timothy, here's the charge. In verse 2, Timothy, here's the charge. Preach the word. Preach the word, Timothy. That is his first command. It's the one he spends the overwhelming amount of his time on. And he will expand on it in verses 2 through 4. But the weight he gives to that in these three verses indicates that it is the significant task of a pastor. It is the signature task of a pastor, especially a lead pastor. Then you well know there are many other responsibilities and tasks worthy tasks that will demand your time and energy. But this is primary. This is primary. There are many things you'll be called upon to do. The flock needs tending, shepherding. There's oversight, oversight of staff, oversight of deacons, oversight of other groups in the church, oversight generally of all the ministries of the church that requires lots and lots of meetings of a lead pastor, lots of working through problems, issues, questions, concerns. There will be visits to be made, there will be people to be comforted, there will be funerals to perform. And weddings to perform. There will be babies to see born into the world and dear saints to usher out into the world as I had the privilege of doing Wednesday. When I arrived at the home of Eddie Absher, and just a few minutes after I arrived he breathed his last breath and we rejoiced at his home going. There are all of those responsibilities, included many worthy tasks, administrative duties, pastoral duties, people responsibilities, but there will always be consistently every week, day in, day out. This command, preach the word. It is primary. Most will not understand that this is the primary task of a lead pastor. There will be many who do not see that because the preparation for it is done behind the scenes and back in an office where nobody sees it and nobody sees what is being done. It does not play the same as the visit in a home or the hospital, but it is primary and it must be done in order to feed the flock well. It is not a matter of natural preference or ability. It is a matter of obedience and priority. First and foremost, Timothy, preach the word and then he tells him how to do it. The next three verses flesh this out, fill it out with how to preach the word. First he says to Timothy, preach with authority. It is in the very charge. He says, preach the word. There is authority in that statement. We are to preach the word with the authority of a herald. Actually, the word preach is a particular word which had a very narrow meaning in the first century. When Paul used that word, it was used for proclaiming like a herald. You see, we are so far removed in time and distance from what Paul said that we lose some of the punch of it. Let me give you the historical contextual background of this. Everybody reading this in the first century would immediately identify with what he was talking about. A herald, a K-Rookson, which is the word Paul uses here, a herald was a special emissary, a messenger of a ruler, sent to a town, to a village, to a city, to make a royal announcement to the people. There were no TV broadcasts. There were no West Wing Oval Office broadcasts to the nation in that day. If a Roman ruler, there was no internet. There were no tweets in that day. If you wanted to communicate something, you did it through a herald, and the herald would take the message, the announcement of a king, spying the largest town square and a loud and clear voice, give the announcement of the message of the king. This is not the same as an ambassador or a diplomat who sits around the table and negotiates two-way communication with people. This is a different task. This is a different word. This is one-way communication. This is getting the people together, and heralding out the message of the king, announcing the king's message. The herald did not give his own thoughts. He did not read from a script he himself had prepared. He was responsible to herald forth the message of the king, and he dare not play loose with that message. He must be faithful to that message. The proclamation of the king is to be heard and to be heated. There is a place in ministry for discussion. There is a place for the classroom. Any of you who are in the grow class on Wednesday night know how much I love the classroom setting where there's given take and questions and discussion and catch me off guard. I can't answer something. I love it. It's fun. I love that kind of setting. But this is different. In addition to that, there must be the preaching, the heralding forth of the truth. Nothing can take the place of that. That is the primary command for a lead pastor. Preach, herald forth, the announcement of the king. Preach the word. Preach with the authority of a herald. But preach also with the authority of the word. Preach, herald forth, announce the word. The word of God. That is our message. That is our text. We are to preach the word. Preaching is not some kind of subjective sharing. Preaching is not self-expression. Preaching is not sharing our feelings or giving my take. What's your take? I'll give you my take on a particular passage. That's not preaching. Preaching is mining out, digging out the intent of the text, the meaning of the text, explaining, applying, illustrating it so that it's understandable to people. We preach not ourselves, but the word. That's exactly what Paul said. Paul said to the Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, for what we preach is not ourselves. This is not a self-revelation, a sharing of my heart. This is not a preaching of ourself, but we preach Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. Timothy preached the word. Paul, when he gathers the Ephesian pastors, the pastors in the area around Ephesus, as he's passing through on his way to Jerusalem. And a prophet has already indicated to Paul that he will be arrested in Jerusalem. And he knows he'll probably be sent to Cessaria or Rome. He doesn't know what will happen to him there, but he doesn't think he'll ever be through this area again. And so he calls the pastors and the church of Ephesus together at the seaport where he's passing through at Meletus. And he says this to them among many other things. He says in Acts 20 and verse 17, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole council of God. Paul said, I did not shrink away from this task. And the task was to declare to you the whole council of God speaking of the Word of God. That is the subject of our preaching. You've heard me mention his name before. Kent Hughes is one of my favorite commentaries and authors and one of my favorite mentors from a distance. He was formerly before he retired, the pastor of college church in Wheaton, Illinois. It was a bastion of Bible preaching. He was a faithful preacher of the Word. I had the privilege of having him for a class and one of my seminary classes and just an amazing man of God who was a fervent preacher of the Word. He's written a whole set of commentaries on the New Testament entitled Fittingly Preaching the Word. And in one of those commentaries on the book of 2 Timothy, he gives the exposition of this preach the Word. It just so happens that as he was coming to this text, his 30th sermon in the series, his series on the past orally pistols, as he was coming to this text, his own son was in the audience. The very next morning his son would leave to start his first pastorate in California. And so as he was preaching with all the passion of his heart, he was preaching to his own son. And this is what he said to his son. Be a man of the Word, study it, learn the themes and outlines of all the books, memorize the great passages, immerse yourself in its narratives. Know its great souls, walk in and with them, make your blood bibline to your Spurgeon's term. And when you preach, put all the Bible you can into it, let the Word do the work. I have every confidence that Pastor Dan will be doing that with you in the future. I know that he will and I challenge you as my brother and my friend and soon to be my pastor. Preach the Word, preach it with authority. But also secondly, he says preach it with consistency. Notice the next phrase, preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Interesting terminology, in season, out of season. It means Timothy preached the Word when it's convenient to do so, when it is not convenient to do so. When your schedule naturally lends itself to all the time you need to prepare that sermon. And also in those weeks when your schedule goes absolutely bonkers and emergencies come up every day and your time is stolen away. Still, Timothy, in season, out of season, preach the Word. Preach the Word when you feel like it. Preach the Word when you don't feel like it. You say, oh, John, are there times when you don't feel like preaching the Word? Yes, there are. There are times when just like you, I don't feel like coming to church. Believe it or not, there really are. There are times when I do not feel physically, emotionally, even spiritually ready to come up these steps and deliver the Word of God. And yet even when it's out of season, when it's not convenient, when you don't feel good, when you don't feel like it, when you've been on an emotional high and things are going well or when you've been so emotionally distraught because of life's trials. Still preach the Word. Whether your personal life is going great, whether or not it is fraught with all the challenges that we all face in our families or our own personal lives or physical well-being, regardless, regardless, preach the Word. One commentator has called it a ruthless persistence. Preach the Word in season and out of season. Someone has likened preaching to giving birth to a child. Now, I know that some of you ladies are looking at me very skeptically right now. Oh, yeah, John, what do you know about giving birth to a child? Well, obviously I don't. But it is a biblical metaphor. It is a biblical word picture. Paul told the Galatians in Galatians 4.19, my dear Galatians, for whom I labor, prevail in childbirth until Christ be formed in you. He was talking about his ministry of the Word. It was as though he was giving birth every time he preached the Word. There is a very real sense in which that is emotionally, spiritually true. God develops a sermon within you. Within your heart it grows through the week. Everything that happens feeds into it. Your study of the text, personal experiences, lying awake at night, thinking through the text that all feeds into it. And that sermon grows and develops. And then I only at those who have preached can really understand what Saturday night is like. And the increasing intensity of pressure as you lead up to that preaching, you felt it before Dan, we've talked about it. And as you're ready to present that sermon on Saturday night Sunday morning, the pressure spiritually upon you becomes intense, almost like you're going into labor. And then you deliver the baby on Sunday morning. And you know what? Every Monday morning you wake up pregnant again. There is a ruthless persistence to the ministry of the Word. You're never done. So there are going to be times when you feel like it. And you look forward to it. And there will be times when you're out of season, regardless, preach the Word Timothy. Preach it with authority, preach it with consistency. And then Paul says, preach it with balance. I love this balance that he tells Timothy here. Notice the middle of the verse, correct, rebuke, and encourage. Correct, literally means deal with sin so that people recognize what sin is and how we violate the commands of God. Deal with sin, preach sin, make it clear what sin is from the scriptures so that the Holy Spirit brings conviction in people's lives and then rebuke. The word literally means tell them to stop. That's rebuke. The word of God points out our sin, but rebuke says, now stop it. Stop doing this. This is not right. This is not biblical. This is not Christ's like. This is not compassionate. This is not kind. This is not godly. Stop. The Bible says that's a part of preaching. That means we cannot be people, pleasers. We will not win popularity contests. We're not the seek for that. We are to be faithful to the word to correct and rebuke, but how it's balanced out so beautifully with that third word. Encourage. Encourage. Which means to build up, to comfort, to affirm people in their growth, in their efforts, when they're meager and they don't seem substantial. And also when they far outstrip your own Timothy, affirm them, encourage them, comfort them, bless them in your ministry. What a great balance. I love the way Warren Wearsby says it in his commentary. He says the task of the preacher is to afflict the comfortable and comfortably afflicted. Great balance. Afflick the comfortable Timothy, correct and rebuke, but also comfortably afflicted. Encourage. Affirm. Build up. Strengthen. So preach with balance. Fourthly, Timothy, preach with patience. Notice the end of verse two with great patience. Preaching requires that we be patient with ourselves. First of all, I'll be the first to tell you I do not live up to everything I preach. I want to. It's in my heart too. But God's Word is perfect. I'm not. And sometimes I don't live up to everything that even I tell others they should do. Ask my wife. She knows better than anyone else. And so we've got to be patient with our own spiritual growth. But it also means that as we minister the word, we have to be patient with others. We have to be patient as we give out the Word of God for those who may oppose us. We have to be patient with those who are weak and seemingly can't get what the Word says. We have to be patient with those who fail because we as pastors are also all of the above. We struggle to we're fellow pilgrims pilgrims on the journey. None of us has arrived. And so we have to be patient with people, but we also have to be patient with results. One of the most discouraging things about preaching is most of the time you do not see the results. Most of the time you do not see what God is doing in people's hearts, at least immediately. One of the privileges of a long pastorate is you begin to see some of the results. You begin to see people who are growing. People who are learning. People who are beginning to catch the passion to serve. I will never forget one of you. I'll never forget this. One of you that I went to visit in the hospital when a dear family member was dying. And you said to me, cut me off guard. You said to me, you prepared me for this. Through the faithful preaching of the Word, you prepared me for this. I didn't know what was happening. So preach with patience because God will do His work through His Word over time. And then fifthly, Timothy, preach with depth, preach with depth. The very last two words, careful instruction in verse two. To preach with careful instruction with sound doctrine, some translated. True preaching is not sharing a bunch of stories. All those stories help illustrate Jesus did that. But if it happens at the expense of the Word, that's not biblical preaching. Biblical preaching is the explanation, application, and illustration of the Scriptures. And we must preach doctrine carefully, instruct, teach people the Word of God. Why? Verse three and four, tell us why. Notice verse three starts with four. Because here's the reason why, Timothy, you must teach with special careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. What he does in verses three and four, he describes our natural inclination to wonder and turn away from the truth. And it happens in four discernible stages. The first stage is what he's just said there in verse three. People will not put up with sound doctrine. The verb to put up with is literally a word which means to stand alongside. To stay right there, keep sound doctrine right beside you. To stand alongside it. There comes a time when sometimes people want to move away from that. We'll not put up with. We'll not stand beside sound doctrine. The second step is instead to suit their own desires. They will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. What a powerful word picture. Looking for someone to scratch an itch for what I really like to hear. For what makes me feel good. You know, it's our natural inclination. Just look at evangelicalism across the board throughout our country. It is our natural inclination to want to be made to feel good. So we like to hear how to be healthy and wealthy, how to be successful. We like for our preachers to preach on politics. If of course it agrees with my politics. We like for our preachers to preach on success. We like for them to tell lots of stories. That's interesting. We like for them to talk about self-help, how I can be better, be more successful, feel better. We like that. We like what makes us feel good. We like the so-called mysterious hidden truths that nobody else has ever discovered in the Bible. Wow, that's exciting, simple-ating. But sound doctrine. That sounds boring, John. But we must preach with depth or people will move away from sound doctrine and find someone that will scratch that itch to make them feel good. And then the third step, this is dangerous. Verse four, they will turn away their ears from the truth. That's a deliberate moving away from the truth. And finally, the last step is turn aside to myths. That's satanic delusion. Once we have not kept truth by our side and have gone where our itching ears want to hear what makes us feel good. We begin to turn away from the truth and we find ourselves attracted to false teaching. That's the warning. That's why when you preach, you must preach with sound instruction. Timothy, preach the word. But I must hasten to give quickly. Verse five, the last, the second, challenge and charge to Timothy. Perform your ministry. Hear four short bursts of commands. But you, Timothy, keep your head in all situations. Endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Discharge all the duties of your ministry. Perform your ministry, Timothy. All of it. Primarily preach the word, but there's a lot more. So perform your ministry. First, perform it with alertness. You see that in verse five, keep your head in all situations. The word literally means a presence of mind to stay cool. To stay unruffled amidst the pressures of ministry in life. Stay unruffled. Stay cool. Keep your head. Keep your head. Be stable. I like to think of it as an airline pilot. No matter what's happening on the airline, what's happening in the plane? You go through a turbulence and the pilot kind of comes on and says, we're going through a little bit of turbulence. Could get a little rocky. Just put your seat belt on. We'll be through it in just a moment. He's calm. He's so calm. You know, it comes on. He says, thank you for flying with our airline today. This is your captain speaking. I know you have many options. Thank you so much for flying with us today. If you look out your window, you'll see a mountain range coming up. We'll be crashing into that mountain range. And oh, about 30 seconds. Thank you for flying with us today. Just so calm, so collected. When everybody else is panicking, Timothy, keep your head. Keep your head. Be cool. Calm, unruffled. So perform your ministry with alertness. Then secondly, perform it with endurance. Indoor hardship. We've seen that several times in the past. Storals. It always has to do with suffering. Timothy, you're going to hurt. You're going to suffer. Indoor it. Indoor the hardness like a good soldier. And then thirdly, perform your ministry with passion. He says, do the work of an evangelist. Now, almost don't have to say this one to Dan. Because this is Dan's passion. This is his heart. He has a passion for the lost. He has a missionary's heart beating inside the pastor. And he longs for people to be saved. He longs to reach to our neighborhoods and our community with the gospel. And Paul says, that's a part of your ministry, Timothy. You pursue it. Perform your ministry with passion. He's talking about passion for the gospel. That's what evangelist is. An evangelist preaches the gospel. Has a passion and a heart to see souls saved. Now, not every message of a pastor can be an evangelistic message because we're also required to feed the flock with careful instruction as we've just seen. But there must always, even in the careful instruction, beat the heart of passion for the lost and for those who need the gospel. Allow Dan to unleash that passion. Allow him to reach this community for Christ in a way that maybe we've never seen before. Paul says to Timothy, have that passion a burden for the lost in your preaching in your life. Live out evangelism. I don't know that anyone has ever modeled that better than Billy Graham. Everything he does is about reaching the loss. Now, he has the gift of evangelism. He is an evangelist through and through. But he models for us what Paul is saying here. There is a firm that was hired many years ago to handle all the media and public relations for the Billy Graham organization. The leader of that firm is a man by the name of Larry Ross. For 23 years, he ran the media relations, public relations for the Billy Graham ministry. He said this, one of the distincties of Mr. Graham's ministry has been his ability to make positive points for the gospel in any situation. You can ask Billy Graham how he gets his suits dry cleaned on the road and he'll turn it into a gospel witness. He goes on to say this, I cut my teeth in the corporate world before I worked with Mr. Graham. And I set up numerous media interviews almost always before a TV interview. They do a microphone check and they ask the interviewee to say something. Anything so they can adjust the audio settings. Often a corporate executive for that check will count to 10 say their ABCs or recite what he had for breakfast. Mr. Graham would always quote John 316. For God so loved the world, we're doing a media check here, check your mic. Okay, here it is. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Mr. Ross said, one time I asked Mr. Graham, why do you do that? And here was his reply. Because that way if I'm not able to communicate the gospel clearly during the interview, at least the cameraman will have heard it. I love that. I wish that were more my passion. I wish I seized those kind of opportunities more regularly. That's what Paul's telling Timothy in your ministry. Do the work of an evangelist and then finally do it with diligence. This charge, he says all the duties of your ministry diligently carry out the full range of responsibilities. And there are many. I love this passage. It is my heartbeat. I love again what Kent Hughes had to say about verse five. He tells the story of meeting one day with Alistair Bagg and some other pastors that he knows well. Alistair Bagg is the well known pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland. He's from Scotland. If you've ever heard him preach, he could read his grocery list and I would be enthralled just to hear him talk. But he's a great preacher of the word. Hughes says late one afternoon, Alistair Bagg was meeting with a number of pastors, including myself. He whispered, quoted this very verse verse five and then said, I increasingly find that verse to be the anchor point for all of my days. I wake up on a Monday morning and say, well, what will I do now? Then I say, well, I think I will try to keep my head in do hard ship, do the work of an evangelist and discharge all the duties of my ministry. And when I am lifted up by a little encouragement, which sometimes comes, I say to myself, well, what shall I do? The answer is keep your head in do hardness. Do the work of an evangelist, perform all the duties of your ministry. He paused, Hughes says, and then he went on and when the waves beat on me and I feel like just running away to the hills somewhere, what should I do? Well, Alistair, just keep your head in do hard ship, do the work of an evangelist and fulfill all the duties of your ministry. A good charge, a good charge. This charge is massive. What a massive charge Paul gives to Timothy. Preach the word with authority, with consistency, with patience, with balance, with patience, with depth. Timothy, perform your ministry, with alertness, with endurance, with passion, with diligence. No one is capable for this task. What a massive charge it is. It involves every waking and sleeping moment and involves every fiber of your soul and your being. No one is capable for this task. So the charge is also a call to a deep dependence on the Spirit of God to motivate and enable us to do this work. I love the writings of Richard Baxter. Richard Baxter was an old Puritan pastor in the 1600s in England. One of the first books I ever got on the ministry early in my ministry was his book entitled The Reformed Pastor. He wrote it in 1656. And I know what you're thinking. You got one of the first copies, didn't you John? In another one of his books called A Treatise of Conversation, written in 1657, he says this, I profess to you, forgive the Shakespearean English, I profess to you, I should take it, but for a paltry profession to ride up and down to preach the gospel and trouble the minds of men in vain and get the ill will of most of our neighbors and tire ourselves in this work if it were not certainly true, which we must tell them. And if the gospel were a fable or human device, if the word of God were not true, ministers have the most unworthy employment upon earth. The truth in those words, but the word of God is true, the gospel is the power of God and the salvation and the charge still rings true, preach the word and perform your ministry. Would you pray with me? Father, what a massive charge it is, I am incapable of it. There is no amount of preparation or experience that can fit one for this charge. Only your spirit's enablement can do that. So I pray that for Dan, I pray that for James, I pray that for others hearing my voice that may be sensing your call. I pray that for those who may listen to a CD and sense God's stirring their hearts to be a pastor. And I pray that for all of us, for indeed your commands here in many ways, apply to all of us standing before you someday and giving an account for how faithful we've been to you. May we always serve in your presence looking for your judgment, knowing we will serve again in your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.