Do you desire faithful preaching? Do you hunger to be reproved, rebuked, and exhorted by the word? Or does the scratch of flattering preaching appeal to you more than the voice of the Shepherd? Come with that expectation. He promises to meet you there.

Most Christians think of a sermon as a man explaining the Bible. The Apostle Paul thought it was something more. What follows is a brief exposition of 2 Timothy 4:1-3.

The Apostle Paul is writing his final letter. He knows his days are numbered. He tells Timothy plainly in chapter 4, verse 6: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.”

A man facing martyrdom does not waste ink. And so when Paul issues his charge to Timothy, the weight of it is immense.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead…preach the word.”
(2 Tim. 4:1-2)

In the presence of God. By the authority of the coming Judge. Preach.

A Command

The word translated “preach” in the Greek is κηρύσσω—to publicly declare or proclaim. And it is in the imperative. It is a command. But like any verb, it requires an object. Preach what?

Paul does not leave this ambiguous. Preach the word.

The man of God is not instructed to declare his opinions, however good they may seem to him. He is not told to proclaim his experiences or dreams. He is commanded to preach, and the substance of that preaching must be the word of God.

This matters more than we often realize. Paul goes on to command Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort.” But a pastor has no power to do any of these things in and of himself. It is only the word of God that can reprove, rebuke, and exhort.

Notice how closely this mirrors what Paul has just said in 2 Timothy 3:16. Scripture is profitable for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” The faithful preacher must preach the word faithfully precisely because it is the word that does the work.

“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire.”
(Isaiah 55:11)

Not all preaching qualifies. A man who fills the pulpit with his own opinions, however eloquent, is not preaching in the biblical sense. A man who flatters his congregation rather than confronting them with the word has not reproved, rebuked, or exhorted. He has merely spoken. Faithful preaching is defined by its substance—the word of God proclaimed accurately and without apology.

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