Introduction. Read 2Tim4v1to5.

Paul continues his charge to Timothy in this passage. He was charged to: Preach the Word. This was the sacred duty being entrusted to him. This was the service to which he was called.

Paul deals with three topics in these verses:

(1) Motivation for service.

Paul reminds Timothy that his service should be:

(a) Good enough for Jesus. In the presence of God and of Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead. v1.

A day is coming when Jesus will pronounce on the work we do for him. This is the only judgment that matters. We can rest assured that the judgment of Jesus will differ very significantly from the opinion of the world. One day this week the BBC devoted the greater part of its news bulletins to eulogise David Bowie the pop icon who had passed away. We can be absolutely certain that the judgment of the BBC is not shared by the Man in heaven.

William Barclay points out in his commentary on this passage that if we really believed Jesus was assessing our service it would save us from:

• The touchy spirit that bridles at criticism.

• The self-important spirit that glories in personal prestige.

• The self-centred spirit that strives for recognition.

(b) Performed in expectation of Christ's return. And in view of his appearing.

When a town council expects a visit from the Queen a big effort is made to make everything as presentable as possible. In the past when a school was given plenty of notice of a visit by the OFFSTED inspectors teachers were expected to do all in their power to impress them. So exercise books were marked up to date, fresh displays adorned classroom walls and lessons were immaculately prepared and confidently delivered.

Christians should serve Jesus in such a way that everything is in order when he returns. We have no advanced warning of Jesus' Second Coming. Every day could be the day that Jesus returns. He will come like a thief in the night.

(c) Befitting a subject of Christ's Kingdom.

On Jan 12th 2016 the Daily Telegraph carried a news item about the resignation of Sir Philip Dilley as Chairman of the Environment Agency. His decision to remain on holiday in Barbados while Britain battled severe flooding over Christmas was considered unbecoming to one holding his office.

A Christian's behaviour should not be unbecoming a subject of King Jesus. It is not as if we are in ignorance of what Jesus expects of us. The Beatitudes are a useful guide to Kingdom values. We must take them seriously. How many of us are poor in spirit when it comes to our role in church?

(2) Methods for success.

I am able to appreciate Paul's recipe for success as a preacher all the better for the years I spent teaching Geography. An effective preacher/teacher needs to:

(a) Be focused.

In spite of teaching Geography over a period of many changes I always bore in mind what my subject was about. It is about the description and explanation of the nature of the surface of the earth. That was my focus - my guiding light throughout my career.

What did Paul consider Timothy's focus should be as a preacher? He charged Timothy to: Preach the Word. What is the Word? Some would say it is the Word of God. However John wrote in his gospel: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.Jn1v14. I believe Paul was telling his dear son to preach Christ. That is what he did at Corinth. Paul preached Christ and him crucified. This should be the focus of every Christian - to proclaim Christ by word and deed. It is the duty of us all and especially the Christian preacher.

The great Victorian preacher, Charles Spurgeon, made sure that whatever Scripture he expounded he eventually got round to Jesus. It is a sad state of affairs when Jesus scarcely gets a mention in some pulpits.

(b) Be persistent.

Timothy was told to: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.

Christians should always be prepared to speak for Jesus. Sometimes it is convenient. It is relatively easy to talk positively about the Saviour in church. It is much harder to do so as opportunity arises in the world. I can remember as an eighteen-year-old travelling by train to Durham. For part of the journey I shared a carriage with a middle aged man. He asked me where I was going. I told him I was going to Durham University to attend an interview to study Chemistry. He replied, "I am glad you hope to study something useful and not Divinity, Theology or any other collection of fairy stories." I will regret to my dying day that I made no response to this attack on the Word.

My friend Pastor Joseph Hewitt is much more forthright. I have been out with him when he has engaged strangers in conversation and talked to them about Jesus - something I sadly am reluctant to do.

(c) Correct.

It is important for a teacher to correct his pupils when either their attitude is bad or they lack understanding. No child is best served by a teacher allowing misconduct or failing to correct mistakes.

The Christian teacher should not, in the words of William Barclay, deal in flattery or pander to self-esteem.

Peter was sharply corrected after he made the mistake of taking Jesus to task for predicting his death. Jesus said to him: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Mt16v23. Priscilla and Aquila took the great orator Apollos aside and put him right about Christian baptism. See exposition on Acts18v24to28. The apostle Paul spent the greater part of his two letters to the Corinthians and his epistle to the Galatians correcting errors that had crept into these churches.

So it behoves the Bible teacher to correct bad practices and erroneous beliefs. I attempt to do the latter in the Articles section of this website. I am sure that many Christians are in error over creation, the Genesis flood and heaven and hell. Unfortunately whereas nearly all my many pupils accepted my authority over matters pertaining to Geography very few of my Christian friends are prepared to change their minds on the topics above.

(d) Rebuke.

This might seem very similar to correction. However, there is a difference. You correct someone who isn't aware that their behaviour is wrong. You rebuke someone who does know that their behaviour is wrong but hopes to get away with it anyway. When my niece, Ruth, was practicing her forward defensive stroke and kept missing the ball I corrected her. "Ruth," I said, "Watch the ball on to the bat." When her brother, Joe, abused the umpire for giving him out I rebuked him. I told him that his behaviour was a total disgrace.

God corrected David over his intention to build the Temple. He wasn't aware that it was inappropriate for him to undertake this work. God had to tell him that he was disqualified from the sacred task because he was a man of war - the shedder of blood. Solomon, a man of peace, was chosen for the enterprise. See 1Chron22v6to10.

God rebuked David through the prophet Nathan for arranging the death of Uriah the Hittite in order to take his wife for his own. See 2Sam12v1to13. David knew he had done wrong but none the less he needed to have it brought home to him by Nathan before he confessed his sin.

Peter was corrected for his reaction to Jesus' prediction of his death but Judas was rebuked for his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas knew that what he was doing was wrong. How the words of Jesus must have cut him to the quick: "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" Lk22v48.

Jesus also rebuked the religious Pharisees in the most colourful and uncompromising language for their self-righteousness, pride and hypocrisy. See Mt23 for sustained and unrivalled invective.

Paul considers it the duty of the faithful servant of Jesus Christ to rebuke individuals or groups of Christians who bring the church into disrepute. This is never easy and the outcome is often far from satisfactory. If we lack humility we will not respond well to a rebuke.

(e) Encourage

Every school teacher worth his salt knows how important it is to encourage. The teacher who does nothing but criticise and complain is in danger of taking the heart and hope out of his pupils.

Jesus could have spent his whole ministry correcting and rebuking his disciples. They were very slow learners! However, Jesus did have words of encouragement for them as, for example: "Do not be afraid, little flock for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." Lk12v32. See also: Jn14v1to4 and Jn15v15.

Paul has encouragements for the Corinthians. See 1Cor15v58 and 1Cor1v4to8.

We need to encourage folk when we can. I love how Jonathan, Saul's son, sought out the fugitive David in the Desert of Ziph and helped him find strength in God. "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel .... . Even my father Saul knows this." 1Sam23v15to18.

I am heartened by the occasional word of appreciation for this website. Today I had an email from Elizabeth: Went to your site, checked out some of your things and for the most part loved it and laughed too. God bless you and yours. You are a real trooper. That is not a bad epitaph to have; 'A real trooper.'

(f) Have patience.

A school teacher knows from experience that some pupils are slow to learn and others can remain unmotivated for a long time. If a teacher despairs and gives up on a pupil then that pupil will be lost to the teacher's subject. I have known boys and girls to be uninterested in my Geography lessons for months and then suddenly they become switched on to the subject. Their whole attitude changes as an enthusiasm for Geography is sparked into life.

The Christian preacher needs to remember two things. Firstly, no man is hopeless and beyond salvation. In the history of the church many bitter opponents of the Faith have been converted - switched on to Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Randy Kilgore had a great surprise. Early in his working life he had a co-worker who seemed to delight in taking God’s name in vain. He mercilessly taunted Christians who were new to the faith or tried to talk to him about Jesus. One day Randy left his job to move to a new place of employment. He remembered thinking that the outspoken opponent of Christianity would never become a follower of Jesus.

Two years later Randy visited his old workplace. The opponent of Christianity was still there but never had Randy witnessed such a dramatic change in a person! This man previously so antagonist to the Faith, was now a walking, talking example of what it meant to be a “new creation” in Christ. Today, more than 30 years later, he’s still telling others how Jesus met him where he was – “sin and all”. (Taken from, 'Daily Bread'.)

Secondly it takes time for new converts to mature. They start as babes in Christ and babes need a lot of nurturing. Parents need patience bringing up their little children. So Christians young in the faith need almost as much care and attention as a small child.

(g) Be steady under pressure. But you keep your head in all situations; endure hardship.

I stuck to my principles throughout my career as a Geography teacher. I knew what education was and what Geography entailed. I was prepared to adopt better methods of teaching but I would never, notwithstanding the siren voices, abandon my Philosophy. So, once again to quote William Barclay: The Christian is not the victim of crazes. Stability is the badge of the Christian in an unbalanced and often insane world.

There are some things the Christian preacher/teacher cannot compromise on and chief of these is the vital necessity to: Preach the Word. This will not always be popular. Indeed, there are a growing number of countries in the world where it is positively dangerous to proclaim the gospel. So Paul's call to endure hardship has not lost its relevance.

(3) Myths for sinners.

Paul forecasts a very unwelcome development in the church. There will be a growing number of unsatisfactory listeners. These listeners:

(a) Lose their appetite for sound doctrine. The Great Commission of Jesus provides a concise guide to basic truths we need to hear:

• Make disciples of all nations. We need to be reminded over and over again how we are saved - by grace and through faith in Jesus. Christians rely on the sacrificial death of Christ for forgiveness. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross atones for sin because God chose to accept it. God chooses to give new life to all those who believe in his Son. He adopts believers into his family and give them his Spirit as a Helper.

• Baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Here is a truth that does not get enough air time! Baptism by immersion is for believers. It is God's designated way for a believer to witness to their allegiance to Jesus and their new life in him. Congregations in 'Baptist Churches' need to be reminded of God's will in this matter because there are numerous Christians in these churches who have never been baptised.

• Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Faith without works is dead. Men and women who profess to love Jesus need to express their love in obedience. The way to demonstrate the quality of our belief in Jesus is by the way we live. We are called upon to implement Jesus' teaching on Kingdom values.

  Some people refuse to go to church because they object to being preached at! Christians need to be preached at - because this is what Jesus did. He has left us with numerous instructions for godly living. Yet the strange thing is, I rarely hear a sermon on any part of the Sermon on the Mount.

(b) Patronise preachers who tell them what they want to hear.

Some church attendees do not want to hear the truth as it is revealed in Scripture. They have little appetite for the teaching of Jesus and even less for the epistles of Paul. These members of the congregation prefer to feed on modern myths - the spiritual equivalent of junk food.

Some examples of the myths in vogue in church circles today:

• God is love and everyone will be saved whether they want to be or not. None will be eternally lost.

• When mum dies she will go straight to heaven to be with dad.

• When you become a Christian all your problems will be over.

• God wants Christians to be healthy, wealthy and successful. God doesn't want you to be ill - it is of the Devil.

• God will give you whatever you pray for if you have enough faith.

• Saving faith is God's gift and it can never be lost - whatever you do. Once a Christian always a Christian.

• We need to adopt the world's methods to attract young people into church - hence loud music, repetitive singing and dancing in the aisles.

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