Paul's Charge to Timothy - Part 1

Part 1 of a 6 part series

Timothy was a young man who was what we would call today a bible teacher.  He was a disciple of Apostle Paul and became in charge of the churches of Asia Minor (under the directorship of Paul).  While Paul was imprisoned, Timothy acted as Paul’s ambassador. 

We see this in (1 Tim 1:3) where he was Paul’s delegate in Ephesus.



In Paul’s first letter to Timothy we read about two main themes that are relevant to our study:

1. False teachers
2. Church leadership organisation and qualification

The primary theme here is the first –False teachers.  The instruction that Paul gave Timothy in regard to the suitable candidates for being a church leader (Overseer or Elder, and Deacons) is relevant in light of the first theme.  The two themes are inseparable.  It is because in addition to heretical statements, the proto-false teacher or heretic can often be identified by their fruit.  

Furthermore, it is highly plausible that the false teachers at some stage rose through the ranks of church leadership.   If Paul’s checklist to Timothy given in First Timothy chapter three is adhered to, then these people would not get into positions in churches as a beachhead for their false ministry. 

Second: Timothy to me reads like an ordination ceremonial address.  It gives advice and conduct of the ordained minister.  (Timothy was already “ordained” previously by the laying on of hands by elders so technically this was not an ordination address, for those who wish to nit-pick my statement)

I want to examine the actual charge given to Timothy by Paul. This charge was not given once but is reinforcement and summary of all that Paul commanded Timothy throughout his first and second letters.  Here is the charge:

2 Tim 4:1-4

1.   I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

2.   Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.

3.   For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.

4.   And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.

THE KEY VERSE – VERSE 2

“Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.”

I am writing to every Christian here.  While Timothy was a church leader, we must not lose the fact that this represents an instruction for all.  If we accept and follow the rest of the instructions given in Timothy letters we cannot leave out this.

THE TOPIC

The first point is this – “Preach the Message”

The message is the Word of God.  The Greek word translated message here in the New English Translation comes from the Greek word logos. Logos is the word and in the biblical context speaks of the Word of God.  Logos is also the divine expression of Christ as used by John (Jn 1:1).

I take the opportunity here to suggest that logos is very much inclusive of the gospel message.  The message is that Jesus died on the cross as atonement for your sins, was buried and then rose again!  That is the salvation message.  The message is also a warning.  Beware of false prophets and teachers.  Warn that these false teachers will preach a different gospel and one that will deceive many – even if possible the elect.  The message therefore is like a stone – stones can be building blocks, but they can also be stumbling blocks on the road. (1 Peter 2:6-8)

PURPOSE

The second point reveals the purpose of this preaching.  This preaching is for reproving, rebuking and exhorting. 

Exhorting

We all love the exhorting part.  Exhorting means to encourage.  There is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is called the Gift of Exhortation (Rom 12:8).  People with this God-given gift are supernaturally empowered to encourage other believers.  Apostles Pauls, James, Peter and Jude were gifted with this (actually his name was Judas but not Judas the betrayer of Jesus, but out of connotation the translators of the New Testament elected to call him Jude).  If you come belong to a Spirit-filled church then you will likely find some people who are always encouraging others.  They may have this gift too.  However, we are all encouraged (exhorted) to exhort one another (Col 3:16, Heb 3:12-1, 1Thes 4:18, 5:11).  Those with the gift are simply more equipped and better at it as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit through them. 

Many believers love to go to church to listen to a homily or uplifting message that keeps them going for another week.  It is a bit like charging a flat mobile phone.  You have one bar of battery left so you plug it in for a few hours and bingo!  Fully charged again!  This is not wrong.  We should continually exhort and recharge our batteries, but you will notice that of the three parts of message preaching, it is only a third.

Why do we exhort (or encourage)? There are two reasons.

1. To encourage when we see that they are doing something good. In cricket, you can often hear the wicketkeeper chatting away to bowlers with such things as “well bowled; good line; that’s the spot!”  The wicketkeeper is encouraging the bowler to keep up the good work.
2. To encourage someone who is going through a bad spot or hardship. If people cannot see an end to hardship they often need encouragement.  As a teacher, I regularly encouraged students who could not get a concept.  They would rather give up. It was my job to encourage them to keep learning.  Sports coaches and captains know what I mean.  Training is hard and in some cases unbearable.  If our team is losing, a good team can apply encouragement amongst them and turn a result around.  That is what being in a team is all about and is one reason why there are team sports.

The church too is like a team.  In that team we need exhorters to encourage those that are on the right path with God to keep going and keep growing.  While those that want to give up, are facing trials and hardships must be encouraged to persevere.  It is this new doctrine that has crept into the church which can best be described as Health and Wealth; Name it Claim it;   (Teachers in these churches must have their autocorrect function on their computer set to change God to Gold.) This doctrine dictates that financial wealth is God’s blessing while sickness and (financial) poverty is a curse from God because you are sinning.  This is not supported by scripture so I reject it. 

How appropriate is it that we see this illustrated in the work of Timothy who was sent by Paul and his team.  Note carefully the context of this encouragement.

 1Thess 3:2-7 (NET)

2.  We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

 3.  so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

 4.  For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.

 5.  So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

 6.  But now Timothy has come to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection and long to see us just as we also long to see you!

 7.  So in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, through your faith.

The Thessalonians was sent by Paul’s team to encourage them because they were being afflicted as prophesied earlier.  Some would argue it was because they were sinning that lead them into this affliction, citing Acts 17 where a group of Jews from Thessalonica caused riot against Paul, Jason and Silas.  However the context is wrong.  The riotous mob happened while Paul’s team were preaching in the Synagogue and a JEWISH contingent objected to their teaching about the Gospel.  Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians on the other hand was written to believers in Thessalonica.  Some could have been Jewish Christians from the same Synagogue teachings mentioned in Acts 17:4.

Those that say that afflictions are due to one’s sin and that as long as we remain in faith and adhere to the commands of Christ and God then we will remain free from harm.  They coin such a state as “living under blessing.” The trouble is that verse seven points out that Paul’s team, (including Timothy) exhibited distress and were under affliction.   Were they under a curse?  I think not!

We can point out plenty examples where righteous God fearing men and women had afflictions. Job in the Old Testament is an obvious contender who apparently lived such a righteous life that even Satan said so! Paul was afflicted by something as he said in 2 Corinthians 12:7.  The fact is was a fleshly thorn could have been an ailment or a problem person.  Alexander the Coppersmith (a blasphemer – 1 Tim 1:20) could have met that criteria (1 Tim 4:14) so much so that Paul warned Timothy to avoid him  (1 Tim 4:15).

Timothy himself was afflicted.   He was frequently sick.

1Tim5:23.  (Stop drinking just water, but use a little wine for your digestion and your frequent illnesses.)

I love what Paul said about this following his “Thorn in side” statement:  1 Cor 12:10.  Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. So that shoots the “prosperity” doctrine down and the biblical arsenal still has much in reserve.  But I digress….

A good example of someone who uses both forms of encouragement is a parent.  A good parent constantly encourages their children when they are doing something good, and encourages them when they are down.  Why? - Love!  Appropriately we look at Thessalonians again.  Note the dual exhoration at play in this stanza.

1Thess 2:11-14 (NET)

11.  As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children,

 12.  exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory.

 13.  And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it [encourage because did well] not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.]

 14.  For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things [ED: encouraging because are afflicted] from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,]

[emphasis and inserted brackets are mine: NB: Should you read the KJV, you will notice that v11 and 12 are different.  Reading 11 and 12 as one sentence (as it actually is) shows that they are the same.]

In the next part we will look at Reproving