2 Timothy 4: Four Reasons to Hold On to the Word of God

Introduction

"Why do you spend so much time writing a sermon?" Three times this year, Ben Mansfield, pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church in Australia, has heard that question from people who don't know Jesus and have never set foot in a church.

His answer: it takes 12 to 15 hours to prepare one message. And that is only the beginning. Adding up every ministry of the church, Southside spends at least 2,400 hours a year preparing and sharing God's Word, which is more than a hundred full days.

Why such an investment? In this third message of the series on 2 Timothy, the pastor answers from 2 Timothy 4:3-8 with four reasons: the Word protects, the Word transforms, the Word endures, and the Word is worth it.

Message Outline

1. What It Takes to Pass On the Word

The job of a pastor, Ben Mansfield explains, is to help people understand that Jesus is the best, and that serving Jesus is the best thing there is. Part of it is pastoral care, and preaching takes about half of his time.
A typical week: one to two hours of prayer and reading the text at the start of the week, about four hours of writing (a message runs between three and four thousand words), four hours of critique and review, then about an hour and a half of revision. A good week comes to 12 hours; a hard week, more than 15.
Add to that children's church, youth, music, growth groups, the teams that bring the Word, discovery courses, English classes, and many other ministries.
The question then becomes: why is it so important for a church to be built on the Word of God?

2. The Word Protects (Verses 3 and 4)

The context is verses 1 and 2: Paul asks Timothy, the pastor of an established church, to preach the Word in season and out of season. Just before, in chapter 3, he reminded him that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful.
The danger is real: you can believe the Word and call yourself a Christian, then, over time, listen to false teaching that tells you what you want to hear, end up believing it, and wander off.
Paul speaks of "itching ears." At nine years old, playing football in the grass at recess, Ben Mansfield got an itch. The more he scratched, the more a red rash spread across his whole belly, until he was sent home. The lesson: "Scratching an itch doesn't fix the problem."
There is always a teacher ready to say that sin doesn't matter, that God wants you to prosper and get everything you want, that he doesn't call you to carry your cross, or that he doesn't care what you do.
There are also "functional saviors": politics (further left, further right, another party) and morality (more freedom, or more conservatism). These ideas are not new: thirty, sixty, or three hundred years ago, every generation was already trying to satisfy its desires.
What is new is the algorithm. Its goal is to keep your eyes on your screen so it can sell your data. What you watch, share, or like is served back to you in greater quantity: left-wing content, right-wing content, or conspiracy theories. "You feed the desire, and the desire gets worse."
Raising the age for social media or making algorithms optional may help. But Paul wrote two thousand years ago, before any algorithm: removing the algorithm will not heal ears that want to hear what pleases them. What we need is to be immersed in the Word, to learn it, to teach it, and to thirst for it, because it is the eternal truth that keeps us from wandering off.

3. The Word Transforms (Verse 5)

"But you be sober in all things." The pastor recalls the previous week's message: the goal is not just to provoke people but to see them change. What we say matters, and so does how we say it.
Keeping a cool head and not losing control of your emotions: in a time like ours, a calm and steady presence can carry a lot of weight. But Paul doesn't stop there. He adds: "do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
In the ancient world, the evangelist was the one who came back from war to announce the good news: the war is over. The Bible takes up this word for a far better piece of news: in Jesus, in his life, death, and resurrection, you can find forgiveness and life.
You can't evangelize without speaking, and it isn't evangelism if you don't speak about the good news of Jesus.
Some think evangelism is for missionaries and that the church exists only to help disciples grow. That idea doesn't come from the Bible: making disciples and helping them grow is the mission of the church and of missionaries together. Timothy, the pastor of an established church, is told to do the work of an evangelist.
How do you make disciples? Through the Word. From the youngest child to the adult, everyone needs it to come to faith and to grow in faith. "The Word of God is what changes and transforms. It is the power of God."

4. The Word Endures (Verses 6 and 7)

"For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." Paul is at the end of his life.
We breathe the air of self-improvement, where the goal of life is to preserve yourself. You can learn useful things there, but Paul's goal is not to preserve himself: his goal is Christ. To the Philippians, he had already written that even if he was being poured out as a drink offering, he rejoiced in it. Here, he looks back: he has nothing left to give.
Paul uses the image of a race, and Ben Mansfield thinks of the relay. As a child, he wasn't the fastest in his class, more like fourth, and never received a ribbon. He loved the relay because the fastest kid was on his team.
Imagine: you start first, you break every school record for the hundred meters, and when you arrive to pass the baton, nobody is there. You lose the race. "It's not a hundred-meter dash, it's a relay." Paul tells Timothy: I've done my part, here is the baton, now it's your turn to run.
"The Word of God lasts longer than the person who proclaims it." Southside has grown every year for 25 years, but it would be a tragedy to be the church of only one generation. It isn't hard to remember churches that were thriving in the 1990s and now struggle to pay their bills.
That is why training leaders matters, thinking not only about next year but about the next ten. To the older: who will you hand the torch to, and in whom are you investing your time and money? To the younger: step forward, preach the Word in season and out of season. In fifty years, those who preach today will no longer be doing it.

5. The Word Is Worth It (Verse 8)

"From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing."
Paul knows he is going to die, and he is eager to receive the reward God has prepared for him. For the one who follows Jesus, death is the doorway to glory. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
His life was not easy: for the Word, he was persecuted, beaten, shipwrecked, people tried to kill him, and he was imprisoned many times. The pastor pictures him at the end of his life, covered in scars, with a smile on his face: "I can't wait." The message is clear: it is worth it.
Before the 16th century, you couldn't read the Bible in your own language. You had to be a priest and master Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and the supreme authority belonged to the pope. With the Reformation, many began to read the Bible and understood that supreme authority belongs to Scripture.
William Tyndale (1494-1536) knew seven languages. The passion of his life: translating the Bible so that ordinary people could read it. In 1526, 500 years ago, he translated a first part of the New Testament, printed it abroad, and smuggled it into England: about 300 copies for the whole country. He then translated part of the Old Testament. Declared a heretic, he was burned at the stake in 1536.
Ben Mansfield would like to ask him: after 500 years of glory with the living God, would you trade that for twenty or thirty more years on earth, another career, a bit more money? His answer would probably be: "Are you crazy?" Tyndale's only regret would be that he didn't do more for the Word.

6. An Encouragement for Those Who Serve the Word

Many give their lives for the Word: in children's or youth ministry, as growth group leaders, in English classes, discovery courses, or on the worship team.
This service can be discouraging. You show up tired and sick when others stay home. You share the Word for months without seeing any change. The listeners seem indifferent. You can feel drained.
The encouragement is this: no price paid in this life for the Word will go unrewarded in the life to come. Everything you do for the Word has eternal value.
"In 500 years, I promise you, God tells us so: we will not regret what we did for the Word."
The pastor ends with a prayer: that the truth we heard would transform, encourage, and help the church keep the Word of God as the foundation of life, of the church, and of service to others.

Key Takeaways

The Word protects: scratching the itching ear does not cure it, only God's truth keeps us from wandering off.
The Word transforms: it brings faith to birth and makes it grow. Making disciples is the mission of the whole church, not only of missionaries.
The Word endures: it lasts longer than those who proclaim it. A relay race is lost if nobody takes the baton.
The Word is worth it: no price paid for it will be lost in glory.

Personal Application

Which voices are you listening to because they say what you want to hear? What is the algorithm serving you right now?
What place does the Word of God have in your week: do you read it, learn it, thirst for it?
If you are older: to whom are you passing the baton, and how are you investing your time in them?
If you are younger: where can you step forward to proclaim the Word?
If you feel drained in your service, what changes for you with the promise that no price paid for the Word will be lost?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "itching ears" mean in 2 Timothy 4:3?

Ben Mansfield compares this image to an itch on the skin: scratching it doesn't help, it makes it worse. In the same way, seeking out teachers who say what you want to hear feeds the desire instead of healing it, until you believe fables and leave the path. What protects is the Word of God.

Why does Paul compare the Christian life to a race?

For Ben Mansfield, Paul has a relay in mind. As he is dying, he passes the baton to Timothy. It doesn't matter how fast the first runner is if nobody is there to take over. The Word lasts longer than those who proclaim it, so the church must train the next generation.

Why is the story of William Tyndale cited in this message?

William Tyndale translated the Bible so that ordinary people could read it, and he was burned in 1536. Ben Mansfield imagines asking him whether it was worth it. His conviction: Tyndale would regret nothing, except not having done more, because no price paid for the Word is lost in glory.