As Paul the
apostle began the last chapter in his final letter to Timothy his
“dearly beloved son”, he “charged” him “before
God, and the Lord Jesus Christ” whom Paul said “shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom”, and
in chapter four and verse two we discover that Paul “charged”
Timothy to “preach the word”
and “be instant”
where we read:
Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.
The
verse begins, “Preach the word;”
Paul began
with the word, “Preach”
which is the Greek word “kēryssō”
and
means “to be, officiate and proclaim after the manner of a herald;
to publish or proclaim publicly something that has been done”. He
added, “the word”
which is “the doctrine, discourse, teaching and accounting of the
Word of God, Jesus Christ, whose personal wisdom and power is in
union with God and is minister in creation and government of the
universe. He is the cause of all the world's life both physical and
ethical and for the procurement of man's salvation put on human
nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah who is the second person in
the Godhead and is shone forth conspicuously from His words and
deeds.” Timothy was to declare all of the council of the “Word
of God”
as it related to Jesus Christ who is the Messiah and Son of the One
and True living God.
The
verse continues, “be instant in season, out of season;” Paul
went on to say, “be instant” which means “be at hand,
ready, on time and in place” “in season” or “seasonally
or when opportunity occurs” “out of season” which refers
to “an unseasonable time or inopportunely”. The idea is for
Timothy to be ready to “preach the word” at any time
whether it was a convenient and pre-arranged time or when a time
comes to share when he is not expecting it.
The verse goes on to
say, “reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering and doctrine.” Paul
then gave Timothy three short instructions concerning how he should
“preach the word”.
The first was, “reprove”
which is the Greek word “elegchō”
or
“convict, refute, confute, find fault with and correct”. The
second was, “rebuke”
which is the Greek word “epitimaō”
and
means “to show honor, raise the price of, adjudge, award, admonish
or charge sharply”, and the third word is “exhort”
which is the Greek word “parakaleō”
and means “to call to one's side, summon, address, speak to in a
way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, console and
encourage and strengthen by consolation”. Finally Paul shared the
manner in which Timothy should declare these things, “with
all long-suffering”
or “each, every, any, the whole, everyone and all things with
patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, forbearance, slowness
in avenging wrongs and perseverance” “and
doctrine” or
“teaching and instruction”. In other words Timothy was to
“reprove, rebuke and exhort”
people with perseverance and consistency while seeking to increase
their value through the teaching and instruction in the word of God.
When
we think about Paul's instructions to Timothy, we see the value in
sharing “the word”
of God, and we understand the importance of being able to share it at
any time whether planned or unplanned. Too often people have
opportunities to share the “word
of God”
but do not have enough of it in them to be able to share. We should
understand that declaring the “word
of God”
has an effect upon people, and those who listen to and study the word
of God will be “reproved,
rebuked and exhorted”
through its doctrine. Paul's direction to Timothy should be noted by
us, and when we have an opportunity to “preach
the word”
let us do so in a spirit which is seeking to add value to those who
hear it regardless of the manner in which it impacts their lives.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy a time will come when people will not “endure
sound doctrine”, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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