Print This Article“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:1-2).
Being charged with something is a serious matter. By calling upon God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as witnesses in this charge, Paul is using some of the strongest words possible.
Paul’s charge to Timothy begins with the all-important requirement to “preach the Word” (v. 2). The word “therefore” in verse 1 takes us back to the final verses of chapter 3, where Paul said, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
The Word of God is the instrument of God to reach the man of God; it’s also the necessary tool to reach the unbelieving world.
“The world is bombarded with message after message offering hope after hope. But above all the messages and above all the hopes that bombard the world, there is one that is more needed by man than all the others—one that is so important that it supersedes all the others combined. What is that message? It is the message of the Word of God. The Word of God offers the only lasting hope for man. For this reason, the Word of God must be preached. The minister of God must commit himself to the awesome charge to preach the Word of God and to minister as never before.”1
The Word is God’s testimony to the world about Himself. It is similar to the Golden Records placed on the two Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977, which contained gold-plated records giving mankind’s account of himself and was intended for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Unlike God’s record, the Bible, I expect those Golden Records shall never be used and benefit no one.
The Word of God is not gold-plated but God-breathed, and unlike anything produced by man, it “shall stand for ever” (Isa. 40:8). He declares, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10).
1. The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible: New Testament.
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