2 Timothy 4:1-8 - Preach The Word & Disciple Others

I count it a privilege to open up God’s Word with you tonight. Anytime I can hang out with you all is definitely a win in my book. If you have your Bibles—and I trust that you brought them with you—open up to 2 Timothy. Over the next two weeks, we are going to draw this series to a close, and tonight we are focusing on chapter 4, verses 1 through 8.

An Ordinary Guy Who Made an Extraordinary Impact

I want to introduce you to a guy in my life who played a pivotal role. His name is Mark. Mark Self was an ordinary guy, a businessman who lived in Simi Valley. When I was a brand-new believer, he was the guy who invested his life into mine. It was an incredible experience to walk through life with someone who wanted to teach me my Bible and be a role model of what it looked like to walk with Jesus.

Mark and his wife, Tammy, were faithful leaders of our college group at a small church in Simi Valley. We had the privilege of having two people who, although they considered themselves ordinary, invested in our lives in an extraordinary way. Mark was not a pastor. He worked for Hertz Rent-a-Car. But that did not stop him, because he was a faithful follower of Jesus. He was patient with me as I learned my Bible—and trust me, he needed all the patience he could muster up. He showed me over and over what it looks like to follow Jesus. He put in time with me, both lecture and lab. Both are important; it is not just the teaching, it is also what happens in our day-to-day lives. He set an example for me. He cried with me. He celebrated with me. We did life together for many years, and he is ultimately responsible for a good chunk of my early Christian development.

For the past three chapters—and really through the whole book of 1 Timothy as well—Paul has been doing this exact same thing with his young disciple, Timothy. He has been pouring into his life, and not just Timothy’s life, but the lives of Christians all over Ephesus, as this letter was meant to be read widely among the churches there. By my count, there are 33 imperative commands in 2 Timothy alone, and 76 total across 1 and 2 Timothy. What that tells me is that Paul is discipling Timothy. He is showing him and the believers in Ephesus what it looks like to live out this faith in Jesus, leading them to a better understanding of what God is calling us to do.

Paul is leaving a legacy for Jesus that he knows will outlast his lifetime. When we kicked off this series, we talked about how 2 Timothy is the very last book Paul ever wrote. He is sitting in a Roman prison. Emperor Nero is running rampant all over the Roman Empire, specifically the areas of modern-day Turkey and Greece where Paul planted all these churches. Paul knows what awaits him. He knows that death is at his doorstep. He writes this letter with that reality coloring every page, every word, every stroke of the pen. This is the last bit of doctrine, the last bit of encouragement, the last bit of instruction he is going to hand down to this young man who will carry the torch for the next leg of the race.

Tonight, Paul does two major things as he nears the end of his letter. First, he brings his discipleship of Timothy to a close with nine more imperative commands in these eight verses. Second, in the middle of writing the last chapter he will ever pen, he takes a nostalgic look back at the amazing life the Lord wrote for him—a look back that should inspire us as followers of Jesus to strive for similar things with our lives.

A Solemn Charge and Kingdom Perspective

Last week, Brad talked about the Word of God—the inspired, authoritative, powerful Word of God. He walked through verses 16 and 17 of chapter 3, which inform everything Paul is about to say in chapter 4.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Not only did Paul want to pass down a right view of God’s Word, but he also wanted Timothy and all the believers in Ephesus to know that God’s Word is far too valuable, too important, and too life-changing to be kept to themselves. There is an imperative command that goes along with having a high view of Scripture. If you have a high view of Scripture—which all of us should—there is something we must do in response.

Let’s look at verse 1:

2 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)

I solemnly charge [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

Paul uses these phrases to identify what we are waiting for Christ to do. When Jesus was here, He said not only would He rise from the dead, but He would also return. When He comes back, He will appear and He will establish His kingdom. This colors everything Paul is trying to pass down to Timothy. As we live this Christian life, we have to live it with a kingdom perspective.

The world does not struggle to find ways to infuse itself into your life. It does it naturally through media, advertisements, and culture. But as Christians, we have to live our lives with the resurrection of Jesus, the return of Jesus, and the establishment of His kingdom at the forefront of our minds. We do not belong to this world; we are aliens and visitors here. This is not our home. Paul reminds Timothy that Jesus is going to judge the living and the dead when He appears and establishes His kingdom. The kingdom is what drives our purpose. One of our foundational practices here is living on purpose—living with a kingdom mindset. That is what Paul is charging Timothy to do: be prepared for Christ’s return, and live as an alien in this world.

Preach the Word: In Season and Out of Season

In verse 2, Paul continues:

2 Timothy 4:2 (NASB)

preach the word; be ready in season [and] out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

He says, “Preach the word.” If God’s Word is truly inspired, authoritative, and powerful, then share it. Proclaim it. Be ready in season and out of season, because God’s Word is the only thing that has the power to transform lives.

The phrase “in season and out of season” literally means whether your circumstances make it convenient or not. Consider the context: Paul is writing from a Roman prison. He was living in a world where being a Christian was profoundly inconvenient. For us, inconvenience might mean getting some critical comments on Instagram if we post about Jesus. For them, it was life and death. Paul tells Timothy that it does not matter whether it is convenient, and it does not matter what the earthly consequences might be. Preach the Word in season and out of season, under persecution or not under persecution, because Scripture is inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training.

Paul explains that we are to use God’s Word to reprove (which means to convict), to rebuke (which means to correct), and to exhort (which means to encourage). The Word of God encourages, corrects, and convicts; it holds the power of life transformation. Do not fumble your role as a proclaimer of God’s Word. Share what God’s Word says to you, and share what it says to the world about Jesus and the hope found only in Him.

Then he adds a crucial phrase that some Christians probably wish he had left out: “with great patience and instruction.” How many of you love patience? I don’t. The world would feel a lot easier if we didn’t need patience, wouldn’t it? But there are two ways to share God’s Word.

Before I became a pastor, I worked at an advertising agency in Downtown Los Angeles. It was an hour commute from my house, and I had two options: drive in brutal LA traffic, or take the train. I chose the train. I would catch the train in Simi Valley, ride it down to LA, and transfer to the Red Line subway. One day on the subway, an older lady was walking up and down the aisle of the train car. She was looking right at people, shouting over and over: “Repent! Repent! Repent of your sins! Repent of your sins!”

There was zero relationship. She was just walking up and down the aisle yelling at people. What she was saying wasn’t factually wrong—people do need to repent. But it completely lacked patience and instruction. I sat there thinking, Please don’t talk to me. Please just keep walking. It wasn’t that her message was wrong; her method was wrong. Paul tells Timothy to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction—in other words, intentionally and with gentleness.

The Danger of Ear-Tickling Teachers

In verses 3 and 4, Paul gives Timothy the “why.” Why preach the Word? Why does this matter so much? Paul shows us what happens when leaders refuse to preach the truth of God’s Word:

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NASB)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but [wanting] to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Paul says, “Timothy, you must stay anchored to the Word.” Scripture is the authority for life. Without it, people will simply gravitate toward whatever they want to hear. They will build echo chambers that affirm their own desires. We need preachers and a community who will tell us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.

Paul warns that a time will come when people will refuse sound doctrine. Does that sound familiar? There will come a time when people do not want to hear the truth about sin and depravity. There will come a time when people reject biblical truth about sexuality and gender, about divorce and adultery, about the sanctity of human life, and about the reality of hell and the consequences of sin. Instead, people will leave churches that teach the truth and seek out messages that tickle their ears and affirm thoughts that are completely foreign to Scripture.

If you look around our society today, that time has arrived. Our culture has thrown truth away and replaced it with universal acceptance. Many churches have replaced doctrine with opinion, and traded “preach the Word” for “entertain the masses.”

A couple of years ago, Kristen and I were visiting an out-of-state church that is pretty well known. We attended a Sunday service, and the campus pastor was preaching. I love campus pastors, and I walked in ready to learn. The lights were dramatic, the worship was on point, and I sat down with my Bible open. The pastor announced, “We are going to be in Romans chapter 9.” I thought, Yes! Let’s go! Teach me!

In a 36-minute sermon, he spent a grand total of three minutes talking about the Bible. He read two verses from Romans 9 and never went back to the text. Instead, he shackled himself to a prop box that had the word “SIN” painted on the side and spent the rest of the time telling personal stories. After the service, I turned to Kristen and said, “That was weak. That was like weak coffee—and I don’t even drink coffee!” Without missing a beat, she looked at me and said, “You would have loved that four years ago.”

She was right. Once you taste strong coffee, you can’t go back to the weak stuff. Once you have tasted the truth of God’s Word, sitting through a sermon where Scripture is absent is a complete letdown. God’s Word is inspired, profitable, authoritative, and powerful. As Paul passes the torch to Timothy, he commands him to keep preaching the authoritative Word of God. To borrow a quote from John MacArthur: “Hard preaching makes soft hearts, and soft preaching makes hard hearts.”

In the face of a culture demanding ear-tickling messages, Paul calls Timothy—and calls us—to something greater:

2 Timothy 4:5 (NASB)

But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul says, “Timothy, the world is heading in one direction, but you, be different. Be set apart.” Be sober-minded, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. Paul is handing over the reins. He knows he is leaving soon, but he charges Timothy to continue the work. As Andy Stanley once put it, everyone is replaceable. Every single one of us has an expiration date; if our faith is in Jesus, we will eventually go home to be with the Lord. Until then, we must fulfill the ministry God has entrusted to us.

A Nostalgic Look at a Faithful Life

As Paul approaches the end of his letter and the end of his life, it is as though he pauses his instruction and gets lost in holy reminiscing. I picture him sitting at a stone desk in a dim Roman prison, holding his quill. He dips it in the ink, writes these next words, and stops to look up, remembering the extraordinary journey God took him on.

2 Timothy 4:7 (NASB)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

Notice the language here. If Paul had an epitaph carved onto a headstone, I imagine this is what it would read: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.

He uses grueling athletic imagery. It is not easy to go twelve rounds with Mike Tyson in his prime. It is not easy to run a marathon. Paul went twelve rounds with the world. He ran the grueling marathon, and even when he may have felt like stopping, he persevered. Then he ties those illustrations directly to his spiritual walk: “I have kept the faith.” He absorbed the blows, endured the fatigue of life, and persevered to fulfill God’s calling.

Look back at Paul’s life for a moment. In Acts 9, we read the story of his dramatic conversion.

Acts 9:3-5 (NASB)

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He [said], ’I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

Paul was on the road to Damascus to round up Christians, throw them in chains, and have them executed. He was completely devoted to persecuting the church. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed from heaven, knocking him down. Jesus spoke directly to him: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” In that instant, Jesus grabbed hold of Paul’s heart and transformed him from a killer into a church planter.

Later, in Romans 1:16, Paul wrote:

Romans 1:16 (NASB)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Proclaiming that gospel brought plenty of jabs and uppercuts along the way. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul describes the physical toll of fighting the good fight:

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (NASB)

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine [lashes]. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. [I have been] on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from [my] countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; [I have been] in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Paul went the full twelve rounds. He ran the marathon. As he sat in that prison cell reflecting on his life, do you think he thought about the fourteen or more churches he planted across Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus? Do you think he thought about the thirteen epistles he penned that make up nearly half of the New Testament?

As he looked back over his life, two things filled his soul: deep satisfaction and unshakable confidence. He wasn’t claiming he was sinless. In Romans 7, he openly described the spiritual tug-of-war in his life: the good he wanted to do, he didn’t do, and the very things he hated, he did. Paul was not perfect, but he was faithful. He exalted Christ with his life. That was his mission, and by God’s grace, as he prepared to take his final breath, he knew he had stayed the course. Is there any better way to look back on your life than with satisfaction and confidence?

The Crown of Righteousness

As Paul reflects on his faithfulness to Christ, he remembers the eternal reward awaiting him:

2 Timothy 4:8 (NASB)

in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Paul continues his athletic analogy. In ancient Greek athletic games, victors were crowned with a laurel wreath. Paul says there is a crown of righteousness waiting for him from the righteous Judge. (Personally, I’m hoping mine in heaven is made of hair—it’s been a long time since I’ve had any!)

What inspires me about Paul’s final days is his complete lack of fear. He took up his cross and sacrificed his life, just as Jesus called His disciples to do, and he was confident that his labor had not been in vain. Paul never lived with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. When Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, Paul cast off his old self. He did not live with one foot in and one foot out.

In our culture, where it costs us very little to follow Jesus, it is dangerously easy to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom, hoping no one notices and hoping it is enough. But looking at the life Paul modeled for Timothy reminds us that God calls us to live fully submitted to Him.

Notice how verse 8 concludes. That crown of righteousness is not reserved for Paul alone; it is promised “to all who have loved His appearing.” That means you and me. Every believer who fixes their eyes on Jesus and longs for His return receives this reward.

For Paul, this was the ultimate goal. What is your ultimate goal? Is your greatest aspiration to receive that crown of righteousness for a life lived faithfully for Jesus, or is some earthly ambition driving you? At the end of his life, Paul was not reminiscing about the cars he owned, the house he bought, the career status he achieved, or the financial portfolio he built. Everything he reflected on had eternal value.

The man who said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow me as I follow Christ,” was finishing the discipleship of his young apprentice.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (NASB)

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

He took a deep breath, knowing he had left everything on the field. He gave his life away for the sake of Christ, invested in the next generation, and lived entirely on purpose.

Three Questions for Our Lives

This passage leaves us with three vital questions:

First, what or who is driving your life? Paul’s life was extraordinary because it was centered on what has eternal value. Everything he passed down to Timothy was rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When you evaluate your daily pursuits, is your life driven by temporary comforts or eternal realities?

Second, what are you passing down? Paul passed down sound doctrine, essential spiritual values, and a lived-out example of following Jesus. As you walk out the days God has given you, are the things you are handing down of eternal worth? What are you passing down to your children, your grandchildren, and the people around you?

Third, who are you investing in? You cannot pass down spiritual truth to nobody. Paul had Timothy. Who do you have? We are all called to make disciples in the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)

‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’

Who are you discipling? Is it your kids? A coworker? Someone in your life group or through Re:generation? Maybe you need to walk around on Sunday mornings asking people if they need a mentor, like Bob Corey does! Who are you intentionally pouring into?

When I first came to faith in Jesus, the Lord placed Mark Self in my life. He was from Oklahoma and stuck out like a sore thumb in Southern California. But he preached the Word, he modeled it, and he invested in me patiently and intentionally. I could never thank him enough. I texted him this week to let him know I was mentioning him in my sermon, and he simply replied that investing in me was a pure joy.

Here is the truth I want to leave you with: on their own, Paul and Mark were ordinary men. They were flawed human beings with no special superhuman abilities. What made their lives extraordinary was the Holy Spirit working through them. If you are a follower of Jesus, that exact same Holy Spirit lives inside of you. That means your ability to leave a lasting legacy for the kingdom of God is limitless—if you will simply open your hands and let God use your life.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for the way Paul modeled discipleship for Timothy and for us—showing us what it means to be rooted in Scripture, sound doctrine, and a life worthy of Your call. I pray that You would work through the Holy Spirit in our lives, inspiring us to pass down what is truly valuable to the next generation. Empower us to leave a lasting legacy for Your kingdom with the time You have given us on this earth. We love You, and we can’t wait to see what You do in and through our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.