(!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