Today’s Thoughts – 29 March 2021
By T. S. Candee on March 29, 2021 in Second Timothy Thoughts
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Just as Timothy was charged by Paul to preach the Word, we too must preach the Word. The first question we might have is – why? Because Jesus is coming again soon! He’s going to come to rapture the saints and take us home to heaven. And when we are up in heaven, we will have a one-on-one session with God Almighty where He will judge us as stewards of His Word. He won’t judge our salvation, but rather what we have done for Him while we were on this earth.
Another reason we should preach the Word is that Jesus is coming again soon and that means that we will no longer have a chance to tell people about Jesus. We must be deliberate and prompt about sharing the gospel and preaching the Word.
We must also understand that Paul didn’t tell Timothy to preach _about_ the Word or to preach _from_ the Word. He extolled Timothy (and us by extension) to just preach the Word – preach the Truth. Don’t change the truth, don’t try to make it better, don’t only preach the good parts. Preach the Word – all of it without reservation.
Preaching should be the main part of our services at church. The preaching of the Word should be done in easy times and in hard times. It can be done in the morning and at night. When it seems as though our Pastor is going on and on and the message is over an hour, we should not complain. For he is only doing as God has directed him to do which is to preach the Word diligently, in and out of season.
The preaching of the Word should bring on a few results. First, there is reprove which is the conviction of the soul. As the Pastor is preaching, we should be listening to him and also to the Holy Spirit as He convicts us of sin in our life.
The second result is rebuke which is a warning to us to turn around from our self-willed ways of living. And the final result is exhortation which is comfort for us. The Pastor while warning us about sin may also comfort us when we are afflicted.
The reason we should preach the Word as directed above is that people are not staying true to this doctrine. Sound doctrine is healthy for us. Yet people go looking for another more entertaining ministry that tickles their ears and heart. They are turned off by the gospel and the truth and instead turn to fables and myths.
We must continue on though. We must be faithful! The Lord is coming again, and we should be found faithful in preaching the Word. Even when it is tough, we should preach. When we need to comfort others, we should preach. When many have fallen away to false doctrine, we should preach!
