Paul commanded Timothy:
- to be faithful in his preaching of biblical truth
- to be bold in exposing and refuting error
- to be an example of godliness to the flock
- to be diligent and work hard in the ministry
- to be willing to suffer hardship and persecution in his service for the Lord
(2 Timothy 4:2) Paul commanded Timothy to preach the Word - faithfully, systematically, reprovingly, patiently - and let it confront the spirit of the age head-on.
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Paul's emphasis was on commitment, not success. Page 28
External criteria such as affluence, numbers, money, or positive response have never been the biblical measure of success in ministry. Faithfulness, godliness, and spiritual commitment are the virtues God esteems.
Paul was not telling Timothy how to be "successful", he was encouraging him to pursue the divine standard.
Real success is doing the will of God regardless of the consequences.
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The preacher's task is to proclaim Scripture and give the sense of it (cf Nehemiah 8:8). Page 30
The message required to proclaim is often offensive.
Timothy evidently struggled with the temptation to be ashamed.
Timothy apparently struggled with the impulses of youthful lust (1 Timothy 2:2). He may have felt he was not all he should be.
So when Paul commanded him to preach, he was demanding that he go against his own inclinations and inhibitions.
This is the Word to be preached: the whole counsel of God (cf Acts 20:27).
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In other words, his goal as a preacher was not to entertain people with his rhetorical style, or to amuse them with cleverness, humor, novel insights, or sophisticated methodology - he simply preach Christ crucified.
No one can preach with supernatural power who does not preach the Word.
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Paul was speaking of an explosive eagerness, like that of Jeremiah, who said that the Word of God was a fire in his bones. Not reluctance but readiness. Not hesitation but fearlessness. Not cool talk but fire of the Word of God. Page 33
(2 Timothy 3:16) Reproof and correction are negative; teaching and training are positive. Page 34
Preachers deny or ignore the reality of hell. The modern gospel promises heaven apart from holiness. Page 36
It revealed the difference between true disciples and hangers-on: their hunger for the Word.
Sober means self-controlled steady, attentive. It describes a state of mental alertness and control of one's faculties.
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A preacher is not to be flaky, not to be trendy, not to be pursuer of whims.
Ministers had better be rooted, steadfast, stable, rock-solid. We cannot compromise when the pressure is on.
Excellent ministers cannot be those who yearn for earthly applause. Nether can they be lovers of earthly comfort. The life of ministry is not a life of leisure. Timothy needed to be willing to endure hardship; go though some suffering.
Faithfulness and hardship go hand in hand.
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Paul was encouraging Timothy to reach out beyond the comfort level of his own flock and boldly proclaim the Word to unbelievers. Page 39
Their sin was not they did not give everything. There was no divine requirement that they give everything. They had a perfect right to keep or give whatever they desired. They didn't even have to sell their property. It was all voluntary, as is all giving spoken of in the New Testament. The sin was their lie. Page 58
Salvation doesn't come from wanting to join the fun and end emotional pain - it comes when the heart cries out for deliverance from sin! Page 63
Proclaiming and explaining the Word for the maturing and holiness of believers should be the heart of every church's ministry. Pages 71-72
The church must realize that its mission has never been public relations or sales; we are called to live holy lives and declare God's raw truth - lovingly but uncompromisingly - to an unbelieving world. Page 72
Nothing in Scripture indicates that church leaders should be numerical in goals for the church growth. Page 73
If we minister for spiritual growth, numerical growth will be what God God chooses it to be. Page 74
The biblical thinker cares only about what the Bible mandates. Pages 79-80
I do believe that we can be innovative and creative in how we present the gospel, but we have to be careful to harmonize our methods with the profound spiritual truth we are trying to convey. It is too easy to trivialize the sacred message. And we must make the message, not the medium, the heart of what we want to convey to the audience. Page 85
It isn't the cleverness of our methods, the techniques of our ministry, or the wit of our sermons that puts power in our testimony. It is the obedience to a holy God and faithfulness to His righteous standard in our daily lives. Page 87
So winning people to Christ was his own objective. In order to do that, Paul was willing to give up all his rights and privileges, his position, his rank, his livelihood, his freedom - ultimately even his life. If it would further the spread of the gospel, Paul would claim no rights, make no demands, insist on no privileges. Page 92
He was careful not to violate their sensibilities. He adapted his behavior so as not to offend them. He yielded in love rather than offend a weaker brother. Page 101
As long as they used properly - that is, as long as they don't become a basis for speculation about God, right and wrong, good and evil, or the spiritual meaning of life - the true sciences pose no threat to the truth of the gspel. Page 110
The very reason people love sophisticated religion and highbrow morality is that those things appeal to the human ego. At the same time, worldly wisdom scoffs at the gospel precisely because it confronts human conceit. The gospel demands that people acknowledge their sin and spiritual impotence. It humiliates them, convicts them, and calls them sinners. Moreover, it offers salvation as a gracious work of God - not something people can accomplish on their own. In every way the cross crushes human pride. Page 111
All the philosophers, intellectuals, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, politicians, and other wise people put together have never found any solution to the problem of sin or brought humanity one step closer to God. In fact, our species is spiritually worse off today than ever before, with higher suicide rates, the threat of nuclear war, and epidemic levels of frustration, confusion, depression, and debauchery. Human wisdom in our age is as bankrupt as all the philosophers in ancient Corinth - maybe more so. Page 113
Human wisdom wants to devise a way of salvation where people get the credit. If they can't have the credit, they will settle for some of it. Page 116
If we try to win them with entertainment, or clever arguments, or scholastic credentials, or worldly wisdom, we will fail, and we will ultimately mislead the, Page 116-117
He was not interested in changing people's lives; he wanted God to change their lives. He did not have a message of his own to preach; he was called to proclaim the gospel. And that was what made his ministry so powerful. Page 117
It does not stop at the point of conversion and justification by faith, but embraces every other aspect of salvation, from sanctification to glorification. Page 122
For Paul, preaching the gospel was an act of spiritual worship. The Greek word translated "serve" is latreuo, the same word translated "worship" in Philippians 3:3. Page 123
(Romans 1:14) Paul was then obligated to other sinners to preach the gospel to them.
All of us who have believed the gospel are under the same kind of obligation. First, Christ Himself commands us to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15). And second, we who know the way of eternal life are obligated to unbelievers in the same sense we would be responsible to warn someone whose house is on fire, or morally constrained to give water to someone dying of thirst. Page 125
(Romans 1:15) He was not only willing but also eager even determined to preach the gospel. Page 126
The gospel is the only message God uses for salvation
Biblical preaching means preaching Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:5) - His person and work.
Pages 129-130
The gospel is to be preached persuasively, earnestly, and clearly. Page 135
Paul was saddened, grieved, indignant, and outraged at the widespread idolatry he saw. Page 141
The threefold response of the day - contempt, curiosity, and conversion - is typical whenever the gospel is faithfully preached.
He simply commanded them to preach the Word, in season and out of season - and to be prepared to face the world's hostility if they were faithful in that task.
He was content - as we must be - to allow the power of the gospel to speak for itself.
Pages 150-151
People are responsible for what they do with the gospel - or with whatever light they have (Romans 2:19-20). Page 156
J. I Packer wrote, "If we forget that it is God's prerogative to give results when the gospel is preached, we shall start to think that it is our responsibility to secure them. And if we forget that only God can give faith, we shall start to think that the making of converts depends, in the last analysis, not on God, but on us, and that the decisive factor is the way in which we evangelize. And this line of thought, consistently followed through, we lead us far astray." Page 157
Those who think they can remain idle and leave it to God to save the elect through some mystical means do not understand the Scriptures. Page 170
Our confidence in God's sovereignty will lead us in determining how we should preach. Page 171
We can do things to insure healthy growth. But we cannot engineer true growth. Page 173
We are content to focus on aggressive biblical ministry and leave it to the Lord to add to His church (Acts 2:47). Our task is to be faithful in what He has designed for us to do. Page 174
What are biblical goals? They include worship, fellowship, spiritual growth, and evangelism. Those would be primary goals. More specific goals - such as strengthening families, offering biblical counseling, providing childhood education, and similar purposes - must be seen in light of how they help accomplish the primary goals. Page 183