Preaching the Word - The Center of Church Life

If you would take your Bible, turn back to 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 to 5. Now all of us should have a handout. I know that that surprised you. I normally don't do things like this, but this is very, very important. You might say, "Pastor, we've got two or three on our row. We've got several in our family." That's okay. I don't know whether you have too many because it is my desire that every person that has a Bible has one of these in their Bibles in your notebooks, in your possession.

Now I want us to see that what we have here is a very important diagram or illustration that we're going to be studying this morning and for three more weeks. Here we have a simple diagram that explains the basic structure and function of our church. Here we have a simple but powerful illustration. We have the basic structure and function of our church that is illustrated in the form of a circle or a wheel. That's obvious for you to see. And this is very powerful. Let me explain what I mean by that. Because when we do these things and we do these things well, the church functions powerfully. You see that? I believe we will this morning.

Now if you are familiar with our anchored in truth churches, that's the network of churches that we're involved in. Within anchored in truth churches, this illustration, this diagram is used by many and it's simply called the wheel. I was thinking back this week as I was studying about some of our church membership information. And the wheels begin to turn in my mind about how we need to use this in a greater way in our church membership information. But that's another project for another day. But I want us to all understand that this diagram illustrates for us the basic structure and function of our church.

And for the next few weeks we're going to examine the parts and the pieces of the Grace Life wheel. We will examine how we are structured, what we do, why we do what we do, and the importance and the impact of all of these things. We may ask a question here. Why am I pausing our study through Hebrews? As important as Hebrews is. Why am I pausing our study through Hebrews to preach and to teach on the basic structure and function of our church? Well let me answer that question a few ways. First, for those of us who have been here at Grace Life Brookhaven for a while, we need to be reminded of these things.

We need to fully understand these things. We need to be totally committed to these things. And then second, we have quite a few new folks within us. Some of you have been members of Grace Life Church for a short time and you need to know why we do what we do. And that goes for some of you who are visiting. Some of you who are visiting and contemplating church membership. You need to know what we do on a very basic level and why. And then third, we are about to start a study in our small groups called expository listening.

And what we study in the Grace Life Wheel that is before us is related to our small group study that we will start tonight. All of this goes together folks. Now if you look at your Grace Life Wheel, you got a copy now. I've got my copy. You will notice that at the center of how we are structured as a church is the preaching of God's Word. And at the center of what we do is the preaching of God's Word and everything else that we do is connected to and flowing out of the preaching of God's Word. So that's what we're going to study this morning. Preaching the Word, the center of church life. That's the title of the message.

Preaching the Word, the center of church life. Now before we get into our verses, I want us to see the background of these verses and I want us to see what was going on in these verses. The Apostle Paul is writing this particular letter to Timothy. And Acts 14 tells us that Paul led Timothy to Christ on his first missionary journey when he ministered in Lystra. And when he revisited Lystra on his second missionary journey, the Scriptures tell us that Paul took Timothy with him on all of his missionary journeys. And young Timothy was many things to Paul. He was first and foremost his friend. He was Paul's disciple. He was his protege.

And he was his co-laborer for the rest of Paul's life and ministry. Now after Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment, and we see this in Acts 28, Paul returned to many of the cities that he administered in. And one of those cities was Ephesus. And when he was done in Ephesus, Paul left young Timothy there to be the pastor. And Paul called Timothy to deal with certain problems that had come into the church. We see this in 1 Timothy. He was instructed to deal with false doctrine. We see that in chapter 1, chapter 4, chapter 6. He was instructed to deal with disorder in the church and worship. We see that in chapter 2.

He was instructed to deal with qualified leadership. We see that in chapter 3. He was instructed to deal with materialism and warliness. We see that in chapter 6. And it was after Paul left Ephesus, and when he was in Macedonia, that he wrote his first letter to young pastor Timothy. Of course that first letter is 1 Timothy. Now about 2 or 3 years later, Paul wrote pastor Timothy another letter, that's 2 Timothy. After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment, he enjoyed a short time of ministry, and that is when he wrote the first book, 1 Timothy. But soon after, Paul was arrested again.

And it was during this time that he wrote the second letter, 2 Timothy. But Paul's second imprisonment was much different than his first. During his first imprisonment, he was simply under house arrest. He had the freedom to have visitors and to interact with visitors and to even minister to people. We see that in Acts chapter 28. But during his second imprisonment, he was chained in a cold, cruel jail cell, really with no hope of being set free. And we see Paul allude to those things in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 9, chapter 4, verse 6, and chapter 4, verse 13.

And it was when he was abandoned by almost all who were very close to him and facing execution that Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy. And in the second letter, Paul did two things besides give Timothy instructions on what he was to set straight in the church. First he urged young Timothy to come to Rome to see him as soon as he could. And then second, and more importantly, he passed a mantle of ministry on to Timothy. He passed a baton of non-apostolic ministry on to Timothy, his young but very capable disciple in protege. So in 2 Timothy, we have the last letter written to Timothy as he was pastoring the church at Ephesus.

And in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, Paul gave Pastor Timothy what can be seen as his most important instruction. Paul charged Timothy to relentlessly preach the word. Yes, Timothy was to set all of these things right in the church. And Paul addressed many problems in both of his letters. But Paul knew that the first and most important step in setting those things right was to preach, was to preach, was to preach the word. Because it was the word of God that would correct all of those problems. Paul knew that preaching the word was the most important thing in establishing and maintaining local church health.

Simply of all the things Timothy was to do. All were important. Preaching. Preaching the word was the most important. Think about it. All of those problems that Paul addressed in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. All of those problems could have been fixed and the patterns and the commands for church health established from the word of God that came from the preaching of the word of God. That was the most important thing. So let's get into our verses. Now I want us to read the verses again. We really will not go back to them very much as is my custom. But let's look at verses 1 to 5.

Paul says, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Re-book, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching by having itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

But as for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." Now earlier I said that we would be looking at and studying what I call preaching the word the center of church life. In here we will examine two basic things from these verses. First Paul's charge to Timothy, second Paul's commands to Timothy. Really a simple outline. So let's start off with number one. Paul's charge. Now we see this in verse 1. That is obvious. Paul's charge to Timothy. Now if we look at the translations that we are accustomed to studying, we will see that they all use the word charge.

The English Standard Version says, "I charge you." Now the New American and the Legacy Standard Bible says, "I solemnly charge you." Now before we continue we need to ask, what is a charge? Is Paul talking about charging Timothy a fee? Like payment for his services? Is Paul talking about charging like in a military attack? Well this charge is a charge or a commission. This is a charge, a commission or a directive related to a task, a job or a responsibility. This charge or commission is related to a calling or a directive associated with a calling, a job or a responsibility. I'll give you an example that will help flesh this out.

A fireman has a charge, a commission or a directive to go to a burning house and even into a burning house if needed. And if a fireman runs from a house fire instead of to and possibly into a house fire, he is neglecting, he is even abandoning his charge, his commission, his directive. Well in Timothy's case the charge that Paul was giving him was a charge, a commission or a directive that was related to his calling in the gospel ministry. More specifically this was a charge or a directive related to his calling as the pastor of the church there in Ephesus. So we have Pastor Timothy, not just Timothy.

Pastor Timothy who is pastoring that local church in Ephesus. And he was given a charge or a directive from Paul. And this was a serious charge because it came from God. And this was a solemn charge and that was because it had to do with his ministry and the work of the church. But notice a few details here. First this was a charge from Paul. Now here the language is clear. Paul was giving Timothy this charge, this directive. Paul was calling, charging his young disciple, his young protege in the ministry. Now we have already seen that Paul was passing the baton of the mantle of ministry to Timothy.

Of course Timothy was not to become or be an apostle. But in many ways Timothy was taking over Paul's ministry. So Paul the mentor was charging Timothy his young protege. But the apostle Paul was giving young pastor Timothy a particular directive that was related to his gospel call and his responsibilities as a local church pastor. But then second this was a charge from God. The text says that Paul gave Timothy this charge in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. And scholars tell us that the original language can literally read in the presence of God even Christ Jesus. But notice the text does not say that this came from God.

This charge was from Paul but in the presence of God. So that leads me to a question. How can I stand here and say that this charge was from God? Well it was God who called and appointed Timothy to gospel ministry in the first place. And it was God who called and appointed Timothy to study under the apostle Paul in the first place. So the apostolic mentor Paul gives protege pastor young Timothy a solemn charge or directed in the presence of God who called him to this work in the first place. So this charge this directive was from God through Paul. Before we get into the charge there is one more thing you need to see.

Timothy was called of God to the ministry. He was called of God to this ministry under Paul. Timothy was called of God at this point in time in his life to be the pastor of the church at Ephesus. You must see that. Timothy was called of God. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 14 Paul calls pastor Timothy not to neglect or to be careless with his gift in calling. Now think about that. Timothy a called man of God under Paul as the pastor at Ephesus. Paul says do not neglect do not be careless with your gift and your calling.

And then he references when the council of elders laid their hands on him signifying that God had indeed called him and signifying that the elders in the church saw his calling, affirmed his calling and they all embraced his calling. Let me pause here folks. Please make sure a pastor can do two things. First that he can tell you how and when he came to faith in Christ. Second he can tell you how and when God called him into the ministry. If you have a man who cannot tell you those two things you better take at least five steps back.

If you sit under a pastor they should be able to tell you how and when they came to faith in Christ and how God called them to that particular ministry and in a healthy not perfect. In a healthy church situation you will have the entire church and the body of elders or the body of leaders see that particular man's call. They will affirm that call. They will embrace that call and they will enjoy and live in that call. That's what happened with Timothy. And that's what should happen today. Third Paul said he would give an account to God for how he related to this charge. We see that in verse one. Now this is simple.

Paul was reminding pastor Timothy that he would have to give an account to God for all of these things. He was reminding Timothy that God would judge the living and the dead which was and is a way of saying that God will judge all people. So Paul was reminding young pastor Timothy that he surely would give an account for his life and his ministry and especially for this charge and this directive. So we have Paul's charge. I call it a directive. You can call it a commission. We have Paul's charge to young pastor Timothy.

This was a serious and a silent charge in that it was related to God, his call to gospel ministry and his call to pastor that local church. And this was a serious and a silent charge in that it was given by God through Paul. And one day, one day he would give an account for how he received and obeyed all of these things. Now we will get into this charge in more detail here in just a moment. But I want you to see that this charge, this directive applies to me first and then you. Let me explain.

This charge is for me because God called me into the gospel ministry and more specifically God called me to be the pastor of Grace Life Church Brookhaven. Let me ask you a question. Was Timothy called? Was he called of God? Was it Timothy's idea? Was it his grandmother's idea or his mother's idea? He had a godly mother and a godly grandmother. No, Timothy was called by God. And look folks, God has called me to these things. This isn't my idea. This isn't just some good idea that I adopted.

I can go all the way back in time to Highland Baptist Church in Laurel, Mississippi and I can tell you how God began to work specifically in my life in 1995 and how in 1996 God came back, affirmed that call. My pastor affirmed that call. Leaders affirmed that call. Ultimately the church affirmed that call and they sent me into gospel ministry and I landed at First Baptist Church in Ellesville, Mississippi. And I can tell you names and tell you people and give you phone numbers who can tell you, "Yes, I saw God. I watched God in his life." They affirmed that call. God led me to East Haven Baptist Church here in Brookhaven, Mississippi.

And ultimately to Nola Baptist Church and then right here, Grace Life Church, Brookhaven, it was God that called me to these things. This isn't my idea. And look church, I take this charge very serious because my entire life since November the 2nd of 1997 has been controlled and dictated by that call. Why that date? On November the 2nd in 1997, that is when my home church pastor and my home church ordained me and licensed me to the gospel ministry. Every since that day, my entire life has been governed and dictated by this call.

And look church, we should all take this charge very serious because this charge is from God, not just to me, but to us as a church individually and corporately. Well, what's the charge specifically? We're going to see. So next, or number two, Paul's commands. Now we see Paul's commands in verse 2 and verse 5. Now within these verses, Paul gives Pastor Timothy nine commands. Yes, nine. They're easy to see. He gives five commands in verse 2 and four commands in verse 5. And this is how we're going to approach these commands. We will quickly examine all nine of these commands.

And I want us to see what each command means and how they are all related or tied together. And we will see how these commands relate to you, to me, to us as a church. But command number one, preach the word. And this is simple. Paul commands Pastor Timothy to preach the word. And there are two key words we need to see in this command. First the word preach. This word preach here in the original, it means to be a herald or even to have the position or the office of a herald and a herald meant to proclaim and to proclaim publicly.

Scholars in history tell us that in New Testament times, a herald would hold the office as the imperial messenger for the emperor. And the herald had the responsibility to go through the streets of the city making official announcements. The herald, he would make announcements pertaining to government events, government policies, government laws, and even things like when the emperor would make a public appearance. Really anything the emperor wanted announced or proclaimed to the public, the herald would go into the streets proclaiming those things. And then second this word, word.

Now whereas the meaning of the word preach took a little explanation and what Paul is referring to right here though is very easy. Paul was simply speaking of the word of God. But he was not referencing a part of the word of God, but the entire message of the written word of God. So command number one, Paul charges Timothy to preach or herald the word of God. Command number two, be ready, willing, and able at all times. Now this command is a little longer. It may need a touch of explanation, but it's really simple. The ESV says be ready in season and out of season. But here Paul says be ready.

In this word ready means to be prepared and within it, it carries the idea of being urgent and being serious. And he goes on to say be ready in season and out. This simply means to be ready, prepared, and serious when it is convenient and when it is not. The amplified says be ready when the time is right and even when it is not. We could say be ready, willing, and able at all times. So command number two, Paul charges Timothy to be ready, willing, and able with seriousness and urgency when the time is right and when the time is not. Now before we continue, notice how this applies to me in any man who calls himself a pastor. I am to preach.

I am to preach part of God's word? No, all of God's word, all of God's word. That's why I preach expositionally. I take phrase by phrase, sometimes word by word, book by book. Why? It is not my job to preach what I like or what I'm drawn to or what I'm studying in my own personal life. It is my job to preach the word and the totality of God's word. And you know what? I firmly believe that if we were to go into one of the most difficult books in the Old Testament like the book of Leviticus, we would grow. God would bless it. Why? Because that is God's word.

And I am to be ready as a pastor with a sense of urgency and readiness when it is easy in my life and when it is not easy in my life, when it is convenient in my life and when it is not, I am to preach the word. And look, church, this is the standard for pastors. I'm talking of lead pastors now. This is the standard for preaching and for lead pastors and pastoring. Now the next three commands are really short. I will quickly explain them and kind of combine them. They really go together. Command number three, reprove. Here the ESV says reprove and this simply means to refute or to correct. I'll give you an example.

When someone is in error or in sin, we who love them and love God's word, we use the word of God to refute or to correct their error in their sin. And then command number four, rebuke. This simply means to go one step further than to reprove. To rebuke simply means to correct the person when they are in error or sin. But to press them with a desire to bring them to a place of guilt and even repentance. Again, an example.

When someone is in error or sin, we who love them and love God's word, we use the word of God to refute or to correct their error or their sin, then we rebuke the person who is in this error or sin or both with a desire to see them come to a place of guilt and then move towards repentance. And then command number five, exhort. This simply means to admonish someone which has the idea of calling someone to their duty and their obligation in all of these things. But this also can mean to encourage. So command number three, four, and five. Paul charges Timothy to reprove, rebuke, and exhort.

When there was error or sin, Timothy was to reprove, rebuke, and correct that error or that sin. And then he was to rebuke the one who was in error or in sin with the purpose of bringing them to a place of guilt and repentance, and he was also to exhort them by encouraging them by calling them to their duty to receive all of these things. Now let's take a step back and see what Paul was and is doing here. This is a lot. This is power-packed. Paul charged Pastor Timothy. He gave him a directive. He charged him, preached the Word like a herald with an official office and message.

Paul directed him to preach the Word and to be ready to do so when it was easy and when it was not, when it was the right time, and when it was not the right time as an official herald for God because God had called him. He was to preach the Word, to be ready, willing, and able at all times to preach the Word all of God's Word. And in his preaching, Paul charged Timothy to reprove and rebuke any and all sin and error and those involved in sin and error, brothers and sisters in Christ, any and all, he was to reprove and rebuke the sin and the sinner as well as exhort them and encourage them to obey the truth of God's Word.

But there's something else we need to make sure we see. Is this how Pastor Timothy was to do this work? At the end of verse 2 we see a key phrase. Look at it in your copy of God's Word. Timothy was to do all of these things with patience. The New American says, "Great patience." This simply means that Timothy was to preach and to do all these things in his preaching to the people of the church at Ephesus with unfailing patience.

He was to patiently endure with God's people any and all who were in the church, even those who were difficult, even those who were problematic, even those we would say are knuckleheads and notheads, even those who were struggling with sin with great patience. Now I want to be honest with you folks. I don't have time to go into any details here, but God has worked through different trials in my life to bring about a unique work in me that has enabled me to have patience. There are times I have sat in rooms with people who are dealing with error, sin, or difficulty and questions, and God is my witness and men in this room are my witness.

I have been able to patiently endure, patiently endure, be kind and loving and patient, kind and loving and patient. And most of the time I'm able to be kind and loving and patient because when I'm looking at them and their sin and I'm looking at them and their error and I'm looking at them and their struggle, all I see is me. Notice verse 3 and 4. We have here a very important warning. We need to read these verses.

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Now there's quite a lot here, but I will briefly explain it. Here Paul explains to Pastor Timothy that a time will come when people will not accept and endure sound preaching and teaching from God's Word. And this word endure is key. It means to hold up or sustain or bear.

So Paul was warning Pastor Timothy that a time will come and it is coming when people will not accept, bear or hold up under sound preaching and teaching from God's Word. And notice what he says here. They'll just leave the church. I didn't know what he says. Paul says they will not accept, bear or hold up under sound teaching so they will gather to and gather up teachers, and these are false teachers by the way, who will teach what is pleasing to their ears and who will satisfy their own sinful desires, errors and sin. And notice that here in verses 3-4 we have two warnings that apply to us.

First the warning that some will not accept and hold on to sound teaching. There certainly are and will be some who will not accept, hold on to, endure sound biblical teaching. Sound meaning that which is healthy, well and good. Sound meaning that which is biblical. And look folks, you hang around a healthy church that preaches the Word of God and you watch and you'll observe and you'll see people come in, sit in the pew. They'll come to small group. They'll socialize with us for a while, but after a while the preaching of the Word of God will persecute them and they will leave and you watch where they go.

They'll find somewhere where they feel comfortable. They'll find somewhere where somebody tickles their ears, where they feel good, you know. And second the warning here to make sure that this pulpit in our preaching and teaching ministry of Grace Life Church Brookhaven is sound, sound meaning biblical. That means that we have a warning here to make sure that all of our preaching, all of our teaching is healthy, is well, is good. Why? Because it is biblical. Now I want to ask you a question. Don't blurt it out. Is my teaching biblical? I didn't ask is it good, but is it coming out of chapter and verse, chapter and verse, chapter and verse?

If it's not, I need to be corrected. And look, let me make a statement here. As long as I'm pastor here, to the best of my ability, all of the preaching here will be sound. If it is not, the preaching will be corrected and the one preaching will be corrected and if need be, they will be removed. Why? Because we are to preach the Word. And the next commands here are short as well. Notice these commands are a little more personal to Pastor Timothy, but these commands are connected to the previous file and this does apply to us as well. Command number six, he says, be sober minded. Now here Paul charges Pastor Timothy to be sober in all things.

Some translations say sober minded, which means the same thing. Now if we know what the word sober means, we know that this means to be free from drunkenness or alcoholic beverages. But we need to see that Paul was not speaking about alcohol. Paul was simply speaking or using this metaphorically so as to charge Pastor Timothy to be clear minded, clear in his thinking, in control of his thinking, very, very stable in his thinking. And then command number seven, endure suffering. Now all of the translations say the same thing, endure hardship.

And this phrase comes from a word in the original which means to suffer and to endure in suffering in relation to suffering from evil. And then command number eight, do the work of an evangelist. Now what Paul charges Pastor Timothy here may seem odd, but as we will see, this fits right into all that Paul is doing here. But here Paul charged Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. He did not call him to be an evangelist or to the office of an evangelist like we see in Ephesians 4.11. Simply this is what Paul was saying. He was charging Pastor Timothy to faithfully proclaim the saving message of the gospel within his ministry.

Yes he was to preach and to teach all of God's word to all of the saints there in the church. But he was to faithfully evangelize the lost with the saving message of the gospel, those within the church and those outside the church, those inside and outside. Think with me here. Have you ever noticed that when the text that I'm preaching allows, notice I said that, when the text allows I work hard to call the lost to the saving message of the gospel. Why do I do that? I'll be honest with you in years past I've had people kind of make fun of me for doing that.

You know they make little sly comments like, "Well there he is just being evangelistic again." But why do I do that? Luke Church every chance I have I'll call the lost and I call them to Christ and I call them to the cross to be saved because it is my job and a part of my calling to do the work of an evangelist. Yes that includes sharing the gospel outside the church but here we see that it is to be done within the preaching in the church as well. Notice something. Last Sunday before baptism we had some stand here and give their testimonies right? When someone joins the church they give their testimony.

When someone is baptized they share their testimony of conversion and how God brought them here. But how many times do we hear people who've come to faith they share their testimony and they reference how the preaching of the Word of God evangelistically impacted them into coming to faith in Christ. Command number nine, fulfill your ministry. Now this is really the simplest and the easiest of these commands to understand. The Apostle Paul was charging young Pastor Timothy his protege to do. One thing here Paul says fulfill your ministry. Fulfill or bring to completion the gospel ministry to which you have been called.

Fulfill or bring to completion the pastoral ministry to which you have been called there in Ephesus. Fulfill your ministry. Fulfill your ministry. You know one of the saddest, imagining things I have seen through the years and I continue to see is seeing so many men who said they were called to the gospel ministry just like I was. They quit. They go do something more convenient. They go do something that will give them more benefits. They move on to something with more opportunities, something that's easier.

Somehow some way they just quit and to me they do not fulfill or bring to completion the ministry that they say God called them to at some previous time. I don't understand it. I don't get it. God called you and you just go to another job for better benefits. So let's take a step back and see what Paul is doing here. Paul charged Pastor Timothy to preach the Word and while he was doing all this work in preaching he charged him to be clear minded, clear in his thinking, clear in his judgment. He charged him to endure suffering. Why? Because of evil from his preaching and teaching and his ministry.

He charged him to do the work of an evangelist in his preaching so as to reach the lost and he charged him to fulfill or bring to completion the work in the ministry that he was called to. A little more application here. How many pastors are not clear minded in their thinking and judgment as it pertains to preaching and pastoring because they are too drunk with anything and everything else in life. I'm not talking about bad things. Think about that. How many pastors are not clear minded in their thinking and their judgment as it pertains to preaching and pastoring because they are just enthralled and drunk with so many things in life.

How many pastors will preach and preach and preach even until they suffer for what they preach? Any time I mention this my wife kind of rebukes me. She's in the nursery. She's not in here. Whatever I want to get away with it. Most of you know this. I served the church where there was a power struggle. I watched it. I watched them squeeze the pastor that had been there for 20 years, squeezed him out. And in certain situations I made my position known. The pastor said if you express those positions in the hallways they will fire you too. And I was fired. I was given a letter with the charges against me. I still have it now.

Number one top of the list was my preaching. My preaching. No one ever came to me with chapter and verse and said you were wrong here, you were wrong here, you were wrong here. No, no one ever did that. But when it was convenient they pulled out my views on salvation and preaching and the Christian life which is what I preached to you for years. And then they spread rumors that I believe you could lose your salvation and things like that. Now by no means, oh listen I am not putting myself in the category with Paul or Timothy. No because Timothy lost his life for his ministry and preaching.

But I suffered for what I preached and the stand that I took. Now at this time I want to transition into some application by asking some questions and then I'm going to conclude by looking at some context. Now I know we've looked at a lot so just take a deep breath. Follow me. First why? Why is preaching the word as Paul charges here so important? Look church, I see this charge again as expository preaching. Paul charges me. God through Paul charges me to preach the word. Not part of the word but all of the word and the only way to do that is to systematically preach verse by verse sometimes word by word even in the hard books.

Do you realize how hard Hebrews is? My wife said why did you choose Hebrews? It's hard. I said because it's all about the supremacy of Christ and it doesn't get any better than that. But notice preaching God's word is necessary for the salvation of lost sinners. In Romans 10, 13 to 15 Paul says, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not heard? And how are they to believe in whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news?" So Paul is showing us that anyone and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but they can't call on Jesus that they've never heard about. So someone must preach to them. You can ask my girls. They'll tell you I preach the gospel to them constantly in the home. See it starts in the home. Don't preach the gospel in the workplace unless you do it at home. Preaching God's word is necessary for the salvation of lost sinners. So preaching God's word is necessary for the sanctification of the saints.

Look at the verses that are before us. Paul says, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by His appearance and His kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching." Here Paul is showing us that the saints in the Ephesian church needed God's word in all of God's word. Here Paul is showing us that the church needed Pastor Timothy to preach all of God's word to them. But for what purpose?

They needed a Pastor, Pastor Timothy, to preach all of God's word like we see here for their personal and corporate sanctification. But second, who? Who is to be the one preaching this way? Look church, the Pastor must be called, competent, and confirmed. If you look at the Grace Life Wheel, you're going to see what does it say? It talks about competent leadership. Oh, if I was going to alter anything, it would be this. The Pastor must be called, confident, and confirmed. The elders and men who preach in this pulpit must be called of God, competent to do so, and confirmed by the church, you see?

The Pastor and those who preach must be called in their salvation, called by God to preach the word. They must be confident to do so, and they must be confirmed by God and the entire church. A couple of questions. Am I called by God? Folks, if I'm not called by God, you need to leave. This is a dog and pony show, and I'm the head dog and pony. If I'm not called of God, if God hasn't saved me and called me to this ministry, well then you need to leave if I'm not competent. Notice I didn't say excellent. I didn't say good. There's so many out there that are far better than me.

And look, by the testimony of you being here and what God's doing, God is confirming that I'm to be the pastor here. And then third, how do we do these things? Look church, I really would like you to put your eyes on me. I can preach and preach and preach. I can study and study and study. I can write the slickest, prettiest sermons, and I can preach and preach and preach, but I have no power to change a life. I can preach, I can pastor, I can minister, but I have no power to change a person and their life. It's hopeless when it comes to me. It's hopeless.

So how can we expect me preaching God's word to save lost sinners and to sanctify the saints? Well, in 1 Corinthians 2, I see that Paul had the same problem I've got. He said in verses 1 to 5 of chapter 2, "And I, when I came to you," this is the church of Corinth, "brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Here Paul tells us that he did not go to the Corinthians with great oratory skills or the wisdom of men. He even went to them in weakness and fear and trembling. But he went preaching Christ in the word of God in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power. That meant that God the Holy Spirit used his preaching with Holy Spirit power to save the lost and to grow the saints.

Look back at the Grace Life wheel. Look at the outer portion of the Grace Life wheel. The only way that my preaching or any person's preaching will change a life is if the Holy Spirit of God empowers us to do so. So we must, I must, we must have Holy Spirit power in my preaching, any preaching, or it's just a waste of time. Now as I close, I want to quickly mention Timothy's context in ours. Here in 2 Timothy 4, Paul says that his life in ministry was just about over. He said in verse 7, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." And he was passing the mantle of gospel ministry to Pastor Timothy.

We can say that Pastor Timothy was picking up where Paul left off. And as Paul passes the mantle over to Pastor Timothy, he gives him the most important charge and command. Paul is saying, and I'm putting it into my words, "Timothy, Timothy, I'm almost done. And you are taking over, so I charge you to preach the Word. Do all the things you've seen in me and all the things I've commanded you to do, but oh, Timothy, make sure you preach the Word." But our context is much different, but much the same. We are in year 4 as Christ's Life Church of Brookhaven. We relocated in March of 2020.

We are in year 14 of me being pastor if we go all the way back to our Inola Baptist Church days. God put me at Inola Baptist in 2010. I was the interim there for a while, and then God led me to take the church and look church. We saw the rebirth of a church through the preaching of the Word. Yes, we did many things, and God used those things in the rebirth of the church, but everything we did was built on and came out of the preaching of the Word. And look at the growth of our church since we moved in 2020. It's just the same. God is growing His church, this church, through the preaching of the Word.

Yes, God is using many other things as a part of the growth of Grace Life Church, but everything we do is built on and comes out of preaching the Word. And if we change that, it's burnt toast. What do you do with burnt toast? Pitch it out. If we change that, folks, it's over, you can forget it. That's why so many churches and denominations are dying, they're dead, and they're closing. So Grace Life Church, Brookhaven, let's revive, renew, and rekindle our love for our commitment to our life and death dependence on preaching the Word in the center of church life.