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Timothy 4:1-8
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, June 21, 2026
“Use the Word Jesus Gives You”
Things have changed. The world and our society are different today than when the Holy Scriptures were first written. Technologies have increased. Today, we can watch a sporting event involving teams from all around the globe. We can sit in our own homes and see what is happening in a game being played hundreds of miles away at the very same instant, almost as if we were sitting in the stands. Even one hundred years ago, people could barely imagine something like that. We can have instant communication by text, voice, and even video, with people anywhere in the world. So much of this we can do with a device tiny enough to fit in our pockets.
Around AD 67, that sort of technology did not exist. When Paul wanted to reach Timothy from his prison cell, he wrote another letter. Timothy had to wait patiently for the letter to be delivered. It wasn’t instantaneous. It also didn’t disappear from a screen or get drowned out by everything else that would show up there.
What Paul wrote got attention; what he wrote had lasting value and gravity. The words we read earlier from Second Timothy may have been some of the very last writing Paul shared before he was executed. He knew it was coming, that he was likely down to his last chance to write to encourage his friend, fellow pastor, and protégé. So while Paul may not have been able to envision how things might change in the world, he wrote truths that do not change. He pointed to important matters that would always be important. They were important for Timothy; they are important for all who preach God’s Word. And they are important to all who rely on God’s Word. So that is precisely the encouragement we take from these words. We are to use the word Jesus gives us. About that Word, Paul would have us remember that it is applicable, that it is too often avoided, and that it is assured.
Paul directed Timothy as his mentor and overseer. Timothy, the younger pastor, was to do his job and do it well. His job is summed up in three words: “preach the word.” But don’t think of preaching as “being preachy” or specifically as what a pastor would do during a Sunday morning worship service. That’s included in what Paul wrote, but the word translated “preach” is the word for what a herald, a spokesperson, does. Timothy was to herald the word. He was to share something that was not his own but came from the boss. It came from the king. It came from someone with authority, even if Timothy on his own didn’t have authority. If he was speaking God’s message, he had the authority of God behind him.
Paul even reminds Timothy to keep the king in mind. The king, Jesus, is with us. He is coming again to be judge of the world. He is going to institute his eternal kingdom in a visible way. Based on all of this context, his power, his might, his love, his presence, his promise, that’s why Timothy is to take on the weighty task of being a herald for Jesus. And the message he heralds is applicable in so many ways and so many circumstances.
The work of a herald means that he shares the Word whether he feels like it is the best time or not. He is to preach whether it is convenient or not. Another translation tells Timothy to be ready “in season and out of season.” That reflects very well the Greek words. There may be good seasons for sharing. Perhaps that means when people are interested, when they seem excited, when the preacher has had a good night’s sleep, and when laws support the freedom to preach and teach as you see fit. But Timothy is also to preach when it is not those seasons. When persecution comes and authorities oppose the preaching. When people don’t show up at church or listen intently. When Christians are made fun of or considered weird. In season and out of season, people need preachers to correct, rebuke, and encourage. God’s Word applies in all of these circumstances for all of the people to whom it is preached. It is applicable for all that we truly need. The preacher can trust that and deal with believers, deal with listeners, with patience and care in his teaching.
But we’re not all preachers, are we? This advice doesn’t speak directly to all of us, does it? Perhaps not, but it does have some implications for us. It tells us that God’s Word is useful for our encouragement and instruction and rebuke and correction when that is needed. It tells us that God’s Word is applicable to our lives and our situations. It tells us that we should always consider listening carefully to God’s Word something that is very much in season. That may mean coming to church even on a busy weekend. It may mean striving to take that Word with us when we vacation or our lives are tricky and things don’t go the way we expect. And even though we know these things, and even though we know of the coming and kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we still need reminders to battle against our sinful flesh and in all aspects of our lives to use diligently the Word Jesus gives us.
Paul goes on to explain how great a challenge preachers may face. He describes people with itching ears who gather up the preachers who tell them what they want to hear. He speaks about turning away from the truth and turning to myths. God’s Word is at times avoided. People stop considering it applicable to their lives and instead think that they should interpret God’s Word according to their own preferences. If it makes sense to me or if I like it, then I will listen. If it doesn’t, I will just dismiss it or explain it away.
Now, it would be easy for us to point fingers about this. We could talk about false teachers and false teaching. We could be saddened by how frequent this seems in our world. But that wouldn’t do us much good. What would do us a lot of good is to think about the fact that we are sinners, too. We would prefer to hear messages that we like and that make us feel better. The message that we really need is the message God gives us. And sometimes that hurts. Sometimes it stings. It certainly makes us look at ourselves again and again not to be satisfied but to be convinced that we need help. We need Jesus. We don’t need him to tell us that we are fine the way we are. We need him to tell us that he has forgiven our sins and made us his own. And we will want to listen as he molds and shapes us to be more like him. So God’s Word is applicable to every situation we face. It has been and still is avoided, but we will want to resist that temptation. The good news is that God’s Word is also assured. Paul gets to write his final appeal to Timothy with the confidence God’s Word gives him. He knows what is coming for him. His life on this earth will be coming to an end soon. He has faced the challenges of persecution. He has kept the faith in spite of difficult circumstances. He was at that moment being poured out like a drink offering. He was being used up. The end of his race was at hand.
And at the end of that race was a crown of righteousness for him. This is not the royal crown of a king, even though that would be fitting for God’s people in glory. This is a wreath, an award that comes with winning a race. This was a symbol of victory from Paul’s time. And the righteous God would give him that crown of righteousness. Paul did not have to worry about his sins, though he had many. He could trust completely that he was righteous in the sight of God. His sins were forgiven. Nothing would come between him and the victory celebration of eternal life in heaven.
That’s why Paul loved the appearing of Jesus. He loved the fact that he was coming to the end of his earthly journey. He had everything he needed and more. He had assurances. He had the certainty that his Savior had done all that he needed. He had that certainty because that was the message Jesus had given him. And you have the same message. You have the same assurances. The message from Jesus your Savior is not that you might be OK if you get your act together. It is that Jesus has made you righteous before God. That’s a message worth listening to.
God’s Word remains applicable, avoided, and assured. Let’s just add one more description. It is available. One of the amazing things that has changed over the last nearly two thousand years is that we have God’s Word more readily at our fingertips than ever before. We can find it online, on our phone aps, in many translations. We quickly run out of excuses. We have every reason to do precisely what Paul shares with Timothy and urges on us today: use the Word Jesus gives you. And rejoice that in it he gives to you everything you need!
The Text: 2 Timothy 4:1–8 (EHV)
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom: 2Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching. 3For there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, because they have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in line with their own desires. 4They will also turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
5As for you, keep a clear head in every situation. Bear hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.
6You see, I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8From now on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will give it to me on that day, and not only to me but also to everyone who loved his appearing.