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2 Timothy 2:1-2, You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 (And) the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Notice the first word in verse two is “and.” Verse two is not a new sentence but is connected to verse one by this conjunctive particle “and.” Paul is assuring Timothy he has all the strength he needs by the empowering grace of God that is in Christ Jesus to fulfill his ministry. And then Paul summarizes his entire ministry in one sentence: “Pass on what I’ve taught you to faithful men who will pass it on to others!” That’s four generations of transferring the truth: Paul to Timothy, Timothy to faithful men, faithful men to others! This is exactly what Christ commissioned the church to do.
Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This commission applies to every believer. Too many Christians sink into a spectator mode in their Christian lives. They come and enjoy the worship and message but then leave thinking that’s what it’s all about. It’s an old saw but they’re like 80,000 spectators desperately in need of exercise watching 22 guys bang it out on the field desperately in need of rest! What we fail to realize is that there are no bleachers here. We’re all in the game, on the field. I’m up here just giving out the plays. Imagine if the quarterback calls the play in the huddle, runs to his position, and no one shows up on the line. They’re all sitting back there yelling, “Great call Jalen!” Or “Powerful message, Mahomes. We’re looking forward to hearing next week’s play!”
I think you get the point. We’re all disciples if we know Christ. And Paul through Timothy is giving us the purpose of the church. This is a teaching discipling center. It’s not an entertainment center or a social activity center or a “feel good about yourself” therapy session. The church is a discipling center, a place where God builds up His people in the faith so they can serve and teach others. If you belong to Christ you’re a disciple, a learner, a follower of Christ. Everything God calls us to do flows out of the process of discipling. Paul gives us four words here that define discipleship: TEACH, HEAR, ENTRUST, FAITHFUL.
TEACH. The most important thing we do is teach God’s Word. Yes, there’s fellowship, and the Lord’s Table and prayer time, but all we do flows out of what God says in the Bible. Before Paul gets to anything else, the #1 priority for Timothy is to teach the gospel and the whole counsel of God. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:
1 Timothy 3:15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
And then he described Timothy’s ministry in 1 Timothy 4:
1 Timothy 4:13,16 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching…. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
There it is crystal clear: teach the Word. That’s the purpose of the church. Christianity begins with a revealed message, with truth, with doctrine, in the Scripture alone. We don’t try to empty our minds as we worship God, like some eastern mantra. We worship in spirit and in truth. There is a body of truth that Paul transferred to Timothy, and he gave it in the presence of many people.
Timothy was not an apostle. He would not receive direct revelation as Paul received it. We don’t receive revelation or make up our own message, any more than Timothy did. God isn’t revealing direct messages into anyone’s brain today, regardless of what some claim. Timothy heard Paul preach and teach and counsel God’s people. He read those epistles Paul wrote. And that is what Paul wanted Timothy to teach.
What did Paul teach? We have summaries of his teachings in the each of his epistles given in the Bible. Take Ephesians: our Wealth (chs.1-3), Walk (chs.4-6a), and
Warfare (ch.6b).
Chapters 1-3 speak of our high calling in Christ, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood of Christ, sealed in Christ by the Spirit, strengthened by the resurrection power of Christ, saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and Gentiles are equal with Jews in the body of Christ. That is our wealth in Christ.
In chapters 4-6 Paul taught us to walk in love and humility, to be equipped to serve in the body of Christ, to be transformed in the spirit of our mind, to speak truth with our neighbors, deal with sin every day – keep current. We’re to use edifying speech and put off anger and bitterness and put on kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness. Be filled with the Spirit, husbands love your wives, wives respect your husbands, children obey your parents and parents rear your children in the Lord, employees, go to work serving the Lord. That is our walk.
Then in chapter 6:10ff. Paul says be strong in the Lord and the power of His might and put on the full armor of God so you can fight the good fight of faith. Paul ends Ephesians by calling us to pray for one another and for him, that he might speak with boldness and make the message clear.
That’s one example of what Paul taught. And we have many more of Paul’s letters, and Peter’s writings, and others. Plus, we have the Old Testament in the light of the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets in Christ. God took the time to reveal His truth and we are to know it and teach it.
This was Timothy’s #1 assignment – TEACH. The world is constantly teaching. They’ll spend millions for a few seconds in the Super Bowl to teach you about their products. They work late into the night trying to figure out how to get their message into your head and their hands on your credit card. False teachers are busy teaching. Leftists and the woke crowd are teaching us, swamping us with their anti-biblical notions. I gave a talk on the lgbtq+ movement in 2015 to a group of young people. I came across the book written in 1989 entitled, After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90’s. Here is its six-point teaching. Think about how this teaching has changed America.
- Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible(…).
- Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers(…).
- Give homosexual protectors a just cause(…).
- Make gays look good(…).
- Make the victimizers look bad(…).
- Get funds from corporate America(…).
You can buy this 48-page book for $179 in paperback on Amazon. My point is the world is constantly teaching. Propaganda is teaching which reaches into your mind to grab your emotions and change your thinking. The world is teaching a godless philosophy constantly through the media and classroom. We must be constantly on the alert. “Is that true? Does that square with Scripture?” We need biblical teaching to make sure we have right thinking. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God into your heart and transforms and renews your mind with God’s truth, which is absolute and everlasting. The spiritual war is in our minds, and we fight it with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
So, the number one calling of the church is to TEACH God’s truth, to be God’s mouthpiece in all this darkness. That calling has never changed. It has been since Paul charged Timothy to teach way back in the first century and for the last 2000 years, and it is for us today. Disciple God’s people by teaching them the Word of God. This is exactly what made the Reformation the world-shaking movement it was. Whether Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, or the Puritans, they unapologetically taught the Word of God. They knew God uses His powerful Word to save and change His people.
HEAR. “The things you have heard from me….” Effective discipleship requires a willingness to be effective hearers of God’s Word. Did you know Christ is just as concerned this morning with how you are listening as He is with how faithful I am in my teaching.
Luke 8:18, “Therefore take care how you listen!”
Luke8:20-21, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.”
Luke 11:27-28, While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Have you ever asked God to help make you a better hearer? Here are three principles for better hearing of the messages from God’s Word (these are not original with me).
#1 Anticipation. You come physically ready, prayerfully asking God to open your eyes and heart to His truth. You come excited about God’s Word. “I want to hear what this man has to say from the Word of God.” I love Paul’s comment on this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
1 Thessalonians 2:13, For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.
Anticipation! I went to an oyster shack in Florida looking forward to juicy oysters nicely fried in that coating. I waited in the long line. Finally, I got to the counter and ordered fried oysters. The sign said “Fried Oysters.” The lady said, “Sorry, we don’t have an oyster in the house.” But…but, no oysters in the oyster shack? How disappointing when you go to church anticipating a message from God’s Word and there’s no Bible teaching in the house.
#2 Attentiveness. As you come hungering for the truth, you give close attention. Sometimes it’s hard to stay alert. When I was in seminary I worked nightshift in a hotel on the weekends, including Saturdays. I’d get home at 7:30 am and church started at 9 am. Sometimes I had the hardest time staying awake during Pastor French’s sermons, and he was a good preacher. I needed little toothpicks to keep my eyes open. That may be why Spurgeon occasionally threw some humor into his sermons, to grab his hearers’ attention.
#3 Application. Jesus said that one guy’s spiritual house collapsed in the storm because he heard but he didn’t do the Word of God (Matthew 7:26-27). I like Wayne Mack’s SMAC method of Bible study: What does it Say? What does it Mean? How does it Apply? And how can I Change? SMAC. James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” Leroy Eims tells about Moran, the chief of a tribe in South America. Moran said, “When my wife does something wrong, I say to her, ‘Mena, God’s Word says so and so’ and she says, ‘Moran is that what God’s Word says?’ So, I give her the Word and she reads it for herself and then she doesn’t do that anymore. When I do something I shouldn’t, she says to me softly and meekly like she always is, ‘Moran, doesn’t God’s Word say so and so?’ So then I go and read it and by God’s help I don’t do that anymore.” That’s application – like applying paint to the wall. You may know and hear that paint will cover the wall, but it doesn’t jump out of the can onto the wall automatically. You have to apply it. TEACH, HEAR…next is Entrust.
ENTRUST. “The things you’ve heard, entrust to faithful men.” The church has the responsibility to transfer the truth of God’s Word to the next generation. That word “entrust” is the Greek word paratithemi, to deposit something valuable to someone for safe keeping. Paul is telling Timothy to be sure he teaches the truth to others to make sure the truth is transferred to the generation following him, so they in turn can pass it on to the next generation. It’s like a relay race where each generation carries the torch of truth to the next. Picture church history as 20 centuries, from that first generation, through those dark ages, into the Reformation, the Puritan era, the Great Awakening, the missionary movements, right down to 2024, transferring that torch of truth from one generation to the next. This is the only apostolic succession there is – transferring the torch of God’s Word through the centuries. Look at this in Psalm 78.
Psalms 78:5-8, For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, 6 That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children.
Keep the flow of truth going. Make sure the next generation understands God’s Word in its purity and power. We have no right to trim it down, to water it down as we pass this blazing light of truth to the next generation. We want to transfer it to them as the most powerful, exciting, life-changing body of truth they will ever hear. We know God has to open their ears and hearts, some sow, some water, God gives the increase. But we’re responsible for sowing and watering! God has given us this big assignment to entrust the full-orbed truth of God’s Word to the next generation without diluting the message of comforting promises and strong warnings!
FAITHFUL. “Entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Here is the link in the chain that can break. If we are not faithful to teach and entrust God’s truth to others, we have failed miserably as a church. Paul is thinking here of leaders and teachers in the church, men who are able, competent to teach. We praise God for all the competent teachers we have and how He is bringing to our fellowship men who love God’s truth and are faithful to it. But we can certainly apply this assignment to every last Christian here today, whether elder or teacher, father or mother, single adult, teenager. You don’t have to have an upfront ministry or a title to teach others the Word. You can teach others as long as you are faithful to the Word. We have a whole week of teaching coming in VBS, right? There will be teaching about who God really is and teaching about our sinfulness before a holy God and teaching about how you can have forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Christ.
Are you a faithful man or woman? Someone said God is looking for FAT men and women. Not corpulent bodies but FAT spirits. We’re talking about faithful, available, and teachable.
Faithful or trustworthy. You can count on them. They are loyal to their Lord. They refuse to compromise the truth. They have a love for others and want to see God working in their hearts. This is the most important character quality of all. Paul said, “It’s required in stewards that a man be found trustworthy or faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).
Available. Too many Christians are seeking their treasure in this world rather than seeking first God’s kingdom, and so they just aren’t available because they’re too busy to be involved in discipleship. Everyone in this church has opportunities to grow spiritually and be discipled and to disciple others. We’ve got ladies studies, small groups, men’s studies, and Sunday morning classes. Keith Carter began a series on the church this morning. But you must be available and come. One-on-one studies are great for encouraging others. Grab a good book like Is God Really In Control by Jerry Bridges and challenge someone else to read it, and then get together and talk about it.
Teachable. This one is so important. Have you ever tried to teach someone who just isn’t interested? Spurgeon said it’s like beating a dead horse with a 2×4 in an attempt to get it to stand up. Spiritual pride, preconceived notions of what the Bible says, or just not wanting anyone to teach us keeps us from learning. Those things are known as a rebellious spirit. The only way to be discipled is with a disciple’s heart that says, “Teach me your way, O Lord.” Apollos was teachable. In Acts 18 he was preaching boldly about Christ, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, “They took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26).
Are you a FAT person for the Lord? Or let’s put it like this – are you on the field participating or sitting in the bleachers observing?
In one verse Paul has given the mission and purpose of the church – to make disciples by vigorously teaching God’s Word and transferring it on to the next generation. That’s the goal in our church. By God’s grace we want to faithfully transfer the truth of God’s Word and the gospel of Christ and all that means to the next generation so that in 30 or 50 years this church will be known for standing firm for the truth of Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me close with a personal application. We hear much about leaving a legacy today. How will you be remembered? Grandparents, what do you want your children and grandchildren to remember about you? All the money you made? All the jokes you told? Will they say, “Grandpa knew how to fish and hunt, but we’re not sure he knew and loved Christ.” How about your commitment to the truth? Will they say, “Above all he loved Christ and His Word.” You middle-aged or younger parents or singles, what legacy do you want to leave behind? The most important thing today is that you believe the Truth in the Bible and trust Christ to save you from your sins so you may face Him as your Savior.