God’s plan for saving man includes man. Please observe the role of man in his own salvation. Man crucified Jesus (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Man witnessed the resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:33-35). Man announced the first message (Acts 2; 11:14). Now, it is spread through the preached and written word (2 Timothy 3.16-17; John 4.35, 39, 42; Romans 1:14-15).
Preaching has been used by God throughout the centuries to motivate His human creation to respond to Him. In the Old Testament, as early as Enoch, the seventh from Adam, God sent prophets into the world (Jude 14). Preaching was involved in the salvation of the world before the flood (2 Peter 2:5). Jonah brought back to life a pagan nation through preaching. Ezra brought Israel back to God in order to await the coming of His Son, through preaching (Nehemiah 8).
John the Baptizer prepared the Way of the Lord. The apostles turned the empire upside down, preaching “there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7). John Stott, in his book, The Work of Preaching in the 20th Century, sets the stage for his book, showing that “Preaching is indispensable for Christianity” (pag. 15). This is the point which Paul has made in our text – 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. Let’s read it.
In verse 14, Paul says that Timothy needs to “continue” in the Scriptures, in those things he had been taught from his mom and his grandmother (cf. 1:5). Those Scriptures are what make us “wise unto salvation” (vs 15).
The reason the Scriptures make us wise unto salvation is because they were “inspired,” God-breathed (vs 16). As a part of making us “wise unto salvation,” the Scriptures are profitable for teaching, reproof (exposing error), correction, and training in righteousness. It is somewhat like the commission given to the prophet Jeremiah: “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant” (1:10).
As the Scriptures teach, reprove, correct, and train in righteousness, they make us complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work which leads to salvation (vs 17).
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Then, Paul follows up with the charge: “Preach the Word!” (4:2). In fact, there are five commands in this verse, all related to the Word of God, all explaining what the role of the preacher is: Preach. Be ready. Reprove. Rebuke. Exhort. The attitudes with which we are to do these actions are: complete patience (long suffering & forbearance) and teaching. We need to avoid being harsh when we are teaching or correcting.
The one who teaches the Gospel will influence future generations. There are lives touched which will continue to bear fruit until Jesus comes again. The work of the teacher will last much longer than the teacher himself. You might have seen this: “2 Teach is 2 Touch lives 4-ever.” Without taking anything away from public school teachers, that saying is even more true when it comes to sharing the Gospel with others.
Thus, after Paul showed that the origin of Scriptures is from the Holy Spirit of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), Paul gives Timothy a very solemn commission (2 Timothy 4:1-2). Therefore, the clarion call to the whole world who wants to teach the lost is: preach the Word! If it is not in the Word, don’t preach it! If it is in the Word, preach it (Acts 20:27). Preach it with courage, with humility, with love, and with conviction.
Preach the Word. It is from God and gives us the wisdom we need for salvation.
–Paul Holland
