2 Timothy 4:2
2 Preach [kerusso] the word; [logos] be instant [ephistemi] in
season, [eukairos] out of season; [akairos] reprove, [elegcho] rebuke, [epitimao] exhort [parakaleo] with [en] all [pas] longsuffering [makrothumia] and [kai] doctrine. [didache] KJV-Interlinear
2 preach
the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with
great patience and instruction. NASB
In this verse and in verse
five, there are nine imperatives or requirements, (preach, be ready, reprove,
rebuke, exhort) and in verse 5 (be sober, endure, do, fulfill).
Preach means to herald,
proclaim, publish, instruct. And the
subject is Bible doctrine, the word. Not
gossip, not politics, not social reform, but the content of the scriptures.
Be ready means to be
prepared, be alert as a soldier that is on alert and ready to move out at a
moments notice, dressed, loaded, geared up.
In season and out of
season, carries the connotation of convenience, or when it is convenient and
when it is not convenient, when life is satisfying and when life is
distasteful, when things are going right and when things are not going well, in
good times and in bad.
Reprove and rebuke mean
just that. Reprove means to criticize or
bring an error to ones attention, that is to identify the sin, and rebuke means
to convict the person or identify the sinner.
Exhort means to
encourage.
And these things are to
be done with patience and tolerance.
People are not easily taught.
People are not easily receptive. People
can be defensive and opinionated and argumentative and even belligerent or
abusive. People can be resentful and
defiant.
But the instructor
needs to instruct from doctrine not from retaliation or favoritism or judgment.
And what is to be
taught and from what source is the message?
Bible doctrine, the content of the scriptures, the principles and
mandates and such that truth teaches.
And guess what? Even though Paul is telling Timothy to do
this as an instructor, he is also telling us all, everyone, to conduct our
lives in the same manner.
We are to learn what
sin is, what our own flaws are, how to deal with them and with God and with
other people and with life's circumstances.
We are to realize that this is the devils world and that things will not
go well everyday of our life. We will have
good days and we will have bad days, and we cannot pout and blame God and cry
over spilt milk and only love God when things are good, and whine when things are
bad.
We just studied the
other day, one of the certainties of life, which is trouble. We are all going to face problems and we all
need to learn to deal with them or to live with them and to get around them where
possible, but with honor and integrity, and not by means of dishonesty or
deceit or whining. You are to learn and
then apply Biblical principles to your own life.
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