Prayer
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified (Isaiah 61:1- 3). Heavenly Father we thank You for faithful men whom You have called to boldly preach Your Word. may the pulpits of our lands be filled with the powerful proclamation of Thy holy Word and may You be glorified.
Today’s Hymn
Words: William D. Longstaff, 1882. Music: Holiness, George C. Stebbins, 1890.
TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY
Click here for tune.
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
Thought Provoker
A few years ago I had lunch with the pastor of one of the largest Baptist churches in the San Francisco Bay area. He told me that his church wanted to continue to grow, and that his church leadership decided that the best way to attract new people was for the church to change its preaching ministry. They believed that people’s attention spans today were too short to tolerate long messages. They also observed that people today don’t like to hear anything negative. The pastor told me that they removed the pulpit because it looked antiquated and authoritarian. He stopped preaching any more negative messages and framed all of his sermons in the positive. For people to listen, his sermons had to be upbeat and positive. Furthermore, his church limited his allotted preaching time to only twenty minutes. If he ever went over, the pianist would begin playing louder and louder until he finished. This story would seem humorous if it weren’t so sad. This is not an isolated story; rather it is being repeated in churches all around the world. With a desire to grow, many churches have removed the very source of power to convert souls and bring spiritual growth to Christ’s church.
Discuss together as a family the following questions:
• What is preaching?
• Does God want preaching in His church?
• How much power is there in preaching?
• Should the church stop preaching if the people don’t want to hear it?
• How should you listen to God’s Word being preached each Lord’s Day?
These are a few of the important questions that Paul is going to address today in 2 Timothy 4:1-5.
Dad’s Study
Read together verse 2 and see if your family can identify the five commands that Paul gives to Timothy as he leads the church of Ephesus?
1. Preach the Word
2. Be instant in season, out of season
3. Reprove
4. Rebuke
5. Admonish
In these five commands Paul answers the following questions:
1. What is preaching? It is the authoritative proclamation of God’s Word.
2. When should God’s Word be preached? Paul instructs both in season and out of season. In other words when preaching is welcome and when it is not, when it is popular and when it is out of vogue. God does not want preachers to stop proclaiming the Word during times when people don’t want to hear it. Can you think of any examples of men who preached the Word of God out of season? How about Noah (2 Pet. 2:5), Jeremiah, Jonah (Jonah 3:4); John the Baptist (Matt. 3:1-2); Jesus, Peter, and Paul to name a few. Rarely is it in season to preach. It is when people want to shut their ears to God speaking to them that the Word must be preached even more faithfully with power.
3. Why preach? Paul adds that preaching is to be directed to reproving, rebuking, and admonishing. To reprove is to preach with an end that God might grant repentance. A message that rebukes is one that sharply reprimands the hearer. Finally, preaching should admonish the hearer with tender encouragement from God’s Word. In fact, Paul adds that the preacher must reprove, rebuke, and admonish with longsuffering and doctrine. The preacher must be patient, trusting God to grant repentance in His time through the sound teaching of God’s Word.
Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
Truth in Practice
Discuss together:
• What season do you live in now – in season or out of season?
• Are we living in the same season that Paul speaks of in verses 3-4?
Paul speaks of a season that will come when people will refuse to listen to sound doctrine preached from the pulpit. Paul describes them as people with itching ears. I believe we are living in such a season. Today, we would say they are people who love to have their ears tickled, to suit their own fancies and whims. They cry out for standup humor, stories, verbal entertainment, or anything but sound doctrine. In fact, they will remove the man who preaches the Word and replace him with preachers to suit their own fancies. Unfortunately, there are very few called preachers who fear God more than they do men. Rather than standing up heralding the truth with longsuffering, they soothe the itching ears of their congregations with the doctrines of man. They falsely tell their congregations that all is well with their souls which are bound for hell.
Today, give thanks to God if He has graced your church with a man who faithfully and uncompromisingly preaches God’s Word. Take time out as a family to encourage your pastor. Drop him a note of thanks for faithfully feeding you God’s Word. Pray for your pastor. Ask God to empower His sermons that they might reprove, rebuke, and admonish your hearts. Finally, be a good listener. Remember that when your pastor declares God’s Word it is God speaking to you.
Catechism
Question 29
Q. How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us (Ephesians 2:8) and by it uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling (Ephesians 3:17).
