Full Text for Sermon Study on 2 Timothy 4:5-8 (Text)

(!tnnrnrbiu m4tnlngital :!In11tlJly Continuing LEHRE UND WEHRE MA~ZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. X February, 1939 No.2 CONTENTS Page The Means of Grace. F. E. Mayer __________________________________ 81 Wie die rechte Stellung zur Heiligen Schrift die Amtstaetigkeit des Pastors bestimmt. F. Plotenhauer 90 Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4:5-8. Th. Laetsch _ 96 The Institutional Missionary and the Divine Service E. A. DuemHng ___________ 111 Predigtentwuerfe fuer die Evangelien der Thomasius- Perikopenreihe _____________ _ _ ____________ HO Miscellanea __ . ______________ _ ---------------~ Theological Observer. - Kirchlich-Zeitgeschichtliches ______ 142 Book Review. - Literatur _________ 153 JIlIn Predller muss n1cht allein toei- den. also dass er die Schafe unter- weise. wte ale rechte Chrtsten Bollen rein. sondern 8Uch daneben den Woel- fen toeht'm. dass ale die Schafe n1cht angreifen und mit falscher Lehre ver- fuehren und Irrtum einfuehren. Luthet'. Es 1st kein Ding. lias die Leute mehr bel der Klrche behaelt denn die gute Predigt. - Apologte. An.. 24. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare hlm.self to the battle? -1 COf'. 14. I. Published for the BY. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis, Mo. ABcmv 96 Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4: 5-8 Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4:5-8 Eisenach Epistle-Lesson Together with Timothy, his beloved disciple, Paul stands before the judgment-throne of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, charging his beloved disciple to preach the Word, chap. 4: 1. Such insistence on the true doctrine would become increasingly difficult since men in ever-increasing measure would become intolerant of the preach- ing of God's Word and, rather than heed its truths, so utterly foolish to man's reason, so hateful to his carnal desires, would satisfy the itching of their ears by turning to fables, vv. 3, 4. Here we have a candid-camera view of conditions within the Christian Church and the world at large of our day. Much of what is called science and religion and Christianity is nothing but fables. There is the fable of atheistic or deistic or theistic evolution, the fable of salvation by character, the fable of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, the fable of the Elohist and Yahvist and the great unknown Deutero-Isaiah, - fables, all of them, without the slightest foundation in fact in spite of the extravagant claims of scientific accuracy or infallible truth. These are the fables preached within Christendom from thousands of pulpits and pub- lished in hundreds of periodicals under the guise of scientific Christianity. These are the fables that people without and within. the visible Church delight to hear and demand from their teachers and preachers. What shall be the attitude of the pastor toward this ever-increasing tendency and what shall the members of the congregation expect of their pastor in view of these conditions? The answer is found in the Epistle-lesson for the Third Sunday in Advent. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, v.5. Note the emphatic position of "thou" in the original. No matter what others do and expect of you, thou, however, watch, 'VYjqJE. The word designates that watchfulness which is opposed to the drowsiness and lethargy of drunkenness, the avoidance of any form of in- toxication depriving one of that calm and sober judgment, of that clear prudence and foresight in thought and action which ought to characterize every Christian and especially every Christian pastor. The apostle has in mind not so much an intoxication caused by excessive use of wine and strong drink, although the pastor must guard against that danger also; Paul is here thinking chiefly of spiritual intoxication. The pastor should not permit his judgment to be swayed by the popularity of an opinion, or by the outward success of a sinful or dangerous practise or by the reasonableness of a false doctrine or its appeal to his own inclina- Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4: 5-8 97 tions; or by any other influence or power in opposition to the Word of his God. True sober-mindedness demands that "in all things" the pastor make the Word and will of Him who has called him into His service the norm and rule of all his activities, the infallible and trustworthy guide throughout his private and pastoral life. The present imperative denotes the need of continuous, habitual sober-mindedness in all matters. No matter what ques- tion may come up for decision, no matter what may be the situa- tion confronting him, never must the pastor allow his own emotions or the flatteries or threats of man or the opinions or fashions of the world to becloud his mind or warp his judgment. Calmly and dispassionately he must view all problems in the light of the Word of his God, let God decide the matter for him, and stand unflinchingly on his Lord's decision, irrespective of what the consequences may be. This sober-mindedness is illustrated, and the fulness of its contents unfolded to some extent, by the three aorist imperatives following the imperative present. The imperative aorists in each instance "treat the action as a single whole, entirely irrespective of the parts or tense involved" (Robertson). The first particular in which the pastor is to remain calm and unmoved is the endur- ance of afflictions, demanded by the aorist imperative %1l%orcuih1crov. If evil days come to the pastor, there is but one course of action- suffer, endure. The days in which Timothy and Paul lived were evil. Afflictions and persecution were part of the daily bread of every Christian, especially of the teachers and pastors. Hence the oft-repeated admonitions to endure these hardships. Cf. 1: 8-15; 2: 3-5,10-12; 3: 10-12; 4: 10-17. No matter what the nature of the evil, whether it be ridicule or threats or persecutions from those without or basest ingratitude on the part of the pastors' own members, whether it be physical ailment or mental anguish, whether it be of short or long duration, true sober-mindedness will not forget that a Christian, and especially a Christian pastor, cannot look for days of continuous sunshine, that he must expect to meet with misunderstandings, opposition, heartaches, hardships. Why, then, should he permit these afflictions to affect his loyalty to his God and Savior? Why pity himself whenever clouds appear on the horizon? Why deplore the choice of the ministry as his life's calling? Why neglect his duty because faithfulness spells trouble and hardship? As a preacher of the Word there is hut one course open for him - endure afflictions. "Do the work of an evangelist." The word EDIlYYEAtcr't1]~, orig- inally designating a messenger bringing good news, a bearer of glad tidings, was also used in a narrower sense, that of a missionary. The evangelists are named as a separate office, Eph. 4: 11; Philip, 7 98 Sermon Study on 2 Tim. 4: 5-8 the former deacon, became an evangelist, Acts 6: 5; 8: 5-40; 21: 8. Eusebius in his Chu1'ch Histo1'Y informs us that the evangelists preached the Gospel to such as had never heard it and, after congregations were founded and pastors placed over them, went on to preach the Gospel to other heathen, 3: 37; 5: 10. Yet Paul does not here use the term in this special sense. Of course, Timothy should still grasp every opportunity to do mission-work, and every pastor, no matter how small or large his field, must indefatigably endeavor not only to strengthen and edify those already gained but also to win others who are still aliens and strangers. Yet it is doubtful whether Timothy was still an evan- gelist in this particular sense, and the context favors, we might say obliges us to accept, the wider sense here. Paul had spoken of such teachers as were preaching fables. Timothy was not to follow the example of these men; rather was he to manifest his soberness by doing the work of an evangelist. He should re- member that he was indeed a bearer of glad tidings. In season and out of season he should preach the old and ever new Gospel announced by God in Paradise to Adam and Eve, proclaimed by the prophets in the Old Testament, by the angel on the fields of Bethlehem, by Christ Himself and the apostles, the one and only safe way to heaven. Even if people dislike or refuse to hear this Gospel and flock in great masses to preachers satisfying their itch for something new, while the faithful pastors are preach- ing to only a handful, no true pastor will permit the seeming success of false teachers nor his own seeming failure to befog his mind or make him doubtful as to his duty. His is the work of an evan- gelist. That is the calling, the profession unto which God has called him, the business that God wants him to perform faithfully, whether as a missionary in heathen countries he is preaching this Gospel for the first time to people that have never heard it before, or whether he is proclaiming these tidings to Christians who have heard it a thousand times, or whether he is speaking over the radio or instructing his confirmation class or writing a sermon for publication in the newspaper. At all times he must be sober- minded; he must not permit the heady wine of human wisdom or popular favor or temporal success cause him to become in- toxicated and forget that his plain and simple duty is to do the work of an evangelist, to preach the Gospel of Christ, and Him crucified. Nor is that all that is required of a faithful pastor. True sober- mindedness implies still more: "make full proof of thy ministry." 8.L