It's Our Leg - 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Sermon Series: Burning Out?

I’m guessing that most of you aren’t huge track and field fans.  But I’m also guessing that many of you have spent time watching the summer Olympics and have seen many of the track and field events.  I want to begin this week by thinking about the running relays.  The running relays are made up of teams of four individuals who each run one leg (or one segment) of the race.  They are each responsible for running the same distance but they don’t all run at the same time - the runners in a relay have to take turns.  The race begins with one runner from each team running the first segment of the race.  Then once he has completed the segment of the race for which he is responsible the first racer passes a baton to the next racer who is responsible for running his segment.  This pattern continues until all four racers, during their determined turn, have run their individual segments of the race.  And at the end the victory goes to the team that runs the race the fastest.  You’re probably familiar with the imagery having seen these kinds of races on television before, so I want you to keep this idea in mind as we discuss our text this week.

Before we jump into our text though I want to point out a few observations about the racers in a relay race.  The racers in a relay race are given a certain order by their coach.  So when it comes time for their turn they have to be ready.  They can’t say, “I’m a little tired right now,” or “I haven’t finished stretching out yet.  Somebody else take my turn.”  Neither can they can’t re-arrange the order in which the coach has positioned them.  The second racer can’t say to the third racer, “Hey, would you mind swapping places with me so that you run second and then I’ll run third?”  The racers have to be ready to race when it is their turn!  In addition to being ready to race on their turn the racers have to give their all and complete their segment.  Their teammates are depending on them to do their part.  They can’t say, “I’m just not feeling it today, so I’m going to sit this one out.”  They can’t start running their segment and say, “These other guys are faster then me,” or “This race is a lot harder then I thought it would be, so I’m just going to quit.”  They have to run and pour everything they have into the race, especially when their teammates before them have already given all that they have and run as hard as they could.

We need to understand that many years ago a new race began.  It was a race to bring salvation to humanity.  The race began when God sent His only Son, Jesus, to rescue humanity from their sin and the eternal consequences that came with that sin.  It was the picture of a missionary God, sending His Son, to proclaim forgiveness and reconciliation with the Father through faith in Him.  And when Jesus came, He literally poured all of Himself out, dying on the cross, suffering all of God’s wrath, and shedding His blood to pay completely the penalty for humanity’s sin and to satisfy God’s requirement for justice.  He began the first leg of a relay race to bring salvation, forgiveness, and reconciliation to all of humanity.  Then, having completed his portion of the race, He passed the baton to the first generation of Christ-followers, and just prior to ascending into Heaven he said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  At the end of Matthew’s gospel we see another of Jesus’ commissions given, “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).  At the end of His time on earth, Christ passed the baton of the mission of God on to His followers and gave them the command to pour themselves out for the sake of the gospel. 

 This passing of the baton wasn’t to a few select followers.  Jesus was passing this baton on to all of those who would surrender their lives to following Him.  And since that time we can look back on history and see several examples of individuals who ran their segment of the race as best they could – pouring themselves out for the sake of the gospel and the ministry of Jesus.  We think of men like Peter and Paul who gave their all for the sake of the good news of Jesus.  We can look to some of the great reformers of the faith like Martin Luther.  We can look to some of the pioneer missionaries who gave their all to take the good news of Jesus to countries and to  people who had never heard of Him, men like Hudson Taylor and William Carey.  And then there are the countless number of men and women who gave their lives to the good news of Jesus whose names we will never even hear.  These men and women, have run their legs of the race with all they had so that the name and fame of God would be spread to all people.  And today we need to remember that that same baton has been passed to each of us who have trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and that we need to be pouring out ourselves in the race, giving our all to the proclamation of the good news of Jesus.

As we turn our attention to the text this week we’re going to see in this portion of Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul’s exhortation to take the baton of gospel ministry and to run.  Chapter 4 begins with Paul giving Timothy a ‘charge.’  Paul was giving Timothy a task to carry out.  And the charge wasn’t a little one!  Paul would emphasize the weight and seriousness of the charge by adding details regarding the context in which the charge was given and then following that context with 9 imperatives.  Paul first tells Timothy that he is giving him this charge in the presence of both God the Father and His Son, Jesus.  In other words Paul wanted Timothy to understand that the first two persons of the Trinity were serving as witnesses that Paul had placed this charge upon Timothy.  After Paul had passed away Timothy wouldn’t be able to lay this charge and these imperatives aside.  He wouldn’t be off the hook because no one else was aware of the charge which he had been given.  He would have to make sure that he continued to strive after all that Paul would charge him with because both the Father and the Son had served as witnesses to Paul’s charge.

As the text moves into verse 2 Paul begins to lay out a series of imperatives that he is passing on to Timothy.  It’s important to note that Paul isn’t acting as an oppressive dictator in these verses demanding Timothy to labor to do things that he, himself, would never consider doing.  Instead, Paul was commanding Timothy to take the baton which he had already been running with and to continue to fulfill the tasks which would advance the gospel and the glory of God.  The first of the imperatives that Paul gives Timothy is “preach the word.”  This is the most important of the commands that Paul gives because this command is the basis for all of the commands which follow it.  So if this command is the most important of the 9 imperatives, then it is vital that we rightly understand what Paul was commanding Timothy to do.  The command to “preach the word” was a command to declare the good news of the gospel.  In America today we often use the phrase “the word of God” as a reference to the Bible – the words of Scripture.  But in Paul’s letters to Timothy and to Titus he often uses the phrases “word of God” and “word of truth” as a reference to the good news of the gospel and the truths and demands that accompany and support it (see 1 Timothy 5:17; 2 Timothy 2:9, 15; Titus 2:5).  In contemporary America we also understand the word ‘preach’ as the act of standing behind a pulpit and declaring to a congregation of church attenders a message from the Bible.  But the word in the Greek means “to herald a message” or “to proclaim openly.”  It didn’t matter if it was in a public setting with many individuals listening or if it was done in a private setting done one-on-one.  So Paul’s message to Timothy wasn’t a specific message to preach the Scriptures to the churches.  It was a much broader command to publicly declare the good news of salvation in Jesus.  This was what Jesus had done in His time on earth.  It’s what he commanded his apostles to do before He ascended into heaven and passed the baton on to them.  And we see here the Apostle Paul giving Timothy the same command as he passes the baton on to him and the next generation of Christ followers.

The imperatives that Paul gives to Timothy after the command to declare the good news of the gospel give insight into how Timothy was to carry out the task of proclaiming the good news.  Paul commanded Timothy to “be ready in season and out of season.”  Paul said to Timothy, “you need to be ready to take advantage of every opportunity that comes about.”  Timothy needed to be ready to serve if he felt like it or not and he needed to be ready to declare the good news of salvation in Christ if his listeners were ready to hear it or not.  Paul also commanded Timothy to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort.”  In proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus and growing disciples Timothy needed to bring to light and expose sin; he needed to speak a word of admonishment to those with sin in their lives; and he needed to encourage and strengthen those who were discouraged and fainthearted.  In doing all of these things Timothy also had to be reminded to do them “with complete patience and teaching.”  Reproving and rebuking are not always received well – especially if it is done in a harsh spirit.  Timothy needed to be reminded that people don’t become like Christ overnight.  Even after surrendering our lives to Christ as Lord and Savior we wrestle with sin.  Becoming like Christ is a process, so Timothy would need to show patience as he reproved and rebuked.  It was also vital that Timothy work to continue to teach and instruct those individuals in the gospel.  For a believer to offer reproof and rebuke without also offering instruction is to leave the cause of the error untouched and is of no assistance in helping an individual grow to be more like Christ.

In verses 3 and 4 Paul briefly turns aside from the instructions that he is giving to Timothy to make some comments about what Timothy will experience as he is proclaiming the gospel and continuing to teach the sound doctrine that he has learned from Paul and others.  Paul had lived through a generation that had not been completely favorable to the good news of Jesus.  But as Paul looked forward to the generations to come he foresaw times in the future that would be even less favorable to Jesus and the truth of salvation through Him alone.  Paul foresaw a time in the future when people would no longer listen to and put up with ‘sound’ doctrine or teaching.  The truths of the gospel would not be appealing to them and would no longer be perceived as helpful or useful to them - so they would work to avoid any form of contact with the news of the gospel.  Instead these future generations would determine what it is they wanted to hear.  They would craft in their own minds a doctrine and theology of God that made them comfortable and which seemed appealing to them.  In other words, they would play the ultimate role of ‘god’, creating a god in the image they wanted, and then choosing to listen only to those who would proclaim such a god.  In playing the role of god themselves it would be clear that these coming generations had turned away from “listening to the truth” and had followed after myths that they themselves had created.       

Then Paul turns his attention back to Timothy in verse 5 and says again (as we saw in 3:10 and 3:14), “But as for you.”  In still more ways Timothy was to continue to distinguish himself from the false teachers and those who would turn away from the truths of Scripture to follow the myths which they had created.  Here Paul picks back up with the list of imperatives that he is going to give to Timothy.  As for Timothy, he was to “always be sober-minded.”  Timothy would have to work to always be alert.  He had to be on his guard against the temptations of the false teachers.  He couldn’t become captivated with “trendy religious innovations” and jump in with the flood of people who would be lured into following them.  Timothy would have to distinguish himself as a follower of Christ by using discernment at all times to judge what was right and true and in-line with the teachings of Christ.  In addition to always being sober-minded, Timothy would also have to distinguish himself as a true follower of Christ by enduring suffering.  Paul had already made clear in his letter to Timothy that suffering would accompany his commitment to Christ and his service to him.  But Paul takes another opportunity here to remind Timothy that his genuine faith would only be put on display if Timothy endured the suffering that was coming.  Paul then commands Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.”  This was a command for Timothy to be involved in the work of spreading the gospel.  It’s important that we note here that Paul was not assigning to Timothy a special ‘office’ – Timothy wasn’t being assigned a specific position from God that doesn’t apply to all people.  As we study the NT we find that doing the work of an evangelist is the responsibility of all believers in Christ.  One commentator says it this way, “it was so evidently the duty of every Christian to ‘spread the gospel’ that the existence of a special class of ‘evangelists’ would have seemed [pointless].”  Another commentator had this to say about Paul’s command here to Timothy, “Although it is true that some Christians have the gift of evangelism more obviously then others, that fact must not discourage active sharing of the gospel by all believers.  The Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) and the example of the Book of Acts make clear that witnessing is not simply a responsibility for ordained leaders but for all believers.”  As a believer in Christ Timothy was to work hard at proclaiming the news of salvation through Christ.  Lastly, Paul commands Timothy to “fulfill your ministry.”  Like the previous instruction we must not wrongly understand Paul’s command.  Paul wasn’t using the term ‘ministry’ as we often us it today to mean one’s vocational ministry.  Paul was using a more generic term which simply made reference to one’s service for the Lord.  So Paul was instructing Timothy to make sure that he didn’t labor half-heartedly for God.  Timothy wasn’t to perform an occasional act of service for God here and there.  Timothy was to be on the alert, and even when it would bring persecution or suffering, he was to be proclaiming the good news of salvation through Christ, fulfilling every opportunity that came his way.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy he has strived to encourage this young believer’s faith.  He’s recognized the difficulties that Timothy has and will continue to encounter.  He’s reminded Timothy that in the midst of his service he can find continual strengthening and refreshing in his relationship with Jesus.  He’s encouraged Him to remain faithful to his example and to stay committed to what he has already learned and firmly believed from him and from the Scriptures.  And now as he draws close to the conclusion of his letter to Timothy, as gets ready to finally hand the baton off to him, Paul reminds Timothy that he, like Christ, has given himself completely to his leg of the race.  Paul says in verse 6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering.”  The comparison that Paul is making here is to the drink offering that accompanied the burnt offering or peace offering of the OT (Numbers 28:7).  When it was offered it was to be poured out completely so that nothing remained in the cup.  And this is how Paul is describing his service, as if he has been in the process of pouring out all of himself in service to God as his act of offering to Him.  Paul has labored hard to do this, and now he says, “the time of my departure has come.”  The imagery here recalls that of a ship lifting its anchor with the purpose of heading home.  Paul recognizes that his death is imminent, that the leg of his race has concluded, and that it is time to pass the baton on to another.  And in this particular race every leg has to be run with everything a person has.  So Paul continues in verse 7 saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  Paul was not making a boast in verse 7, but rather reflecting on his service for God and declaring that he, by God’s grace, had given his all to his ministry.  And Paul was certain of the reward which awaited him for his faith in Christ and his commitment to daily live that faith out.  Paul’s certainty did not rest in his own works (there is no amount of good works anyone can do to nullify sin and earn a crown of righteousness).  Paul was certain because he knew that in Jesus’ work on the cross, Jesus had done all that was required for him to be counted righteous when his time on earth had come to an end.  Jesus had lived a perfect life here on earth completely fulfilling the requirements of the OT law.  Jesus, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, had been born without sin and lived his entire life without sin.  He was the only person who from death to life finished his days in perfect righteousness.  Then, in His death on the cross (a death He did not deserve) he offered Himself as an exchange – a substitute – for sinful humanity.  He knew that sin had separated every individual from God and that their sin deserved the wrath of God – a punishment that would lead to death and eternal separation from Him.  He knew that no human could overcome the power of sin and of Satan, so Jesus offered Himself in our place.  On the cross, Jesus took the sin of humanity upon himself, He received the full measure of God’s wrath poured out on Him for humanity’s sin and He suffered and died the death that we deserved.  But three days later Jesus did what only God could do – He proved Himself more powerful then sin and more powerful then Satan by overcoming sin and death and proving Himself to be the victor.  Then, having taken humanity’s sin on Himself and having paid their penalty in full, Jesus offered His perfect righteousness and victory to each of us.  We can become recipients of that gift of righteousness and salvation when we place our faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives and believe that Jesus, alone, is the means by which our sin can be forgiven and our salvation accomplished.  Paul knew that there was no number of good works that he could do to earn God’s forgiveness and salvation.  But he also knew that his salvation wasn’t dependant upon his works, but upon the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.  Paul had placed his faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Paul was confident of His faith because he had demonstrated it in his service for God and his endurance of trials and sufferings that came to him as a result of his faith and service.  So Paul was confident in the crown of righteousness that would be his.  Paul had run his leg of the race with all he had and was confident of the reward which awaited Him.  And Paul reminds Timothy (as he does all of us) that that reward wasn’t his alone but would be awarded to all those who had trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior.

When Luke began his second New Testament book, the book of Acts, he started this way, “In the first book [the Gospel of Luke], O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1:1-2).  Jesus began the work of ministry and the proclamation of the gospel.  Then before ascending into heaven he passed the baton to his followers and charged them to continue in the work of ministry and the proclamation of the gospel.  We see details of their efforts recorded throughout the book of Acts.  Now the baton has been passed to us!  We are holding the baton and it is our turn to run our leg.  Christ ran with all He had and poured himself out completely in the service of God.  Peter, Paul, and the other apostles did the same in running their leg.  So now we have to ask the question of ourselves, “How are we running?”  Are we running the best we can?  Are we giving our all to our leg?  At the end of our leg will we have poured out our all for the advancement of the gospel and the glory of God or will there still be some in the cup.  Paul’s exhortation to Timothy and to us is to give our all

Questions for Discussion:

1. When it comes to sports which do you prefer: 'team' sports (e.g. football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.) or 'individual' sports (e.g. tennis, golf, bowling, etc.)?  Why is that your preference?  Compare and contrast some of the advantages and disadvantages of participating in a 'team' sport versus an 'individual' sport.  How do some of these advantages and disadvantages relate to our ministry as believers in Christ?

2. We've all heard the question, "Which do you want first: the good news or the bad news?"  Which is easier to tell someone, good news or bad news?  Why?  Why is the message of the gospel 'good' news (i.e. what makes it good news)?  If the gospel is good news, why do we sometimes find it hard to "preach the word" (declare the gospel) and to "do the work of an evangelist?" 

3. What was the basis for Paul's certainty of the crown of righteousness that he said was laid up for him (vs. 8)?  How do we know this?  Why should this serve as motivation for us to carry out the list of 9 imperatives that we see in the preceeding verses (vs. 1-5)?  If we aren't giving our best effort to running our leg of the race, what can we do to encourage a better effort from ourselves?