A People on Mission: Part 3 (2 Timothy 4:1-5) - 8/24/25

INTRO

• Week 1 – Romans 1:14-27 – The heart that fuels the mission.

• Week 2 – Colossians 4:2-6 – The habits that shape the mission.

• Today – 2 Timothy 4:1-5 – The faithfulness that sustains the mission

  • Starting, Finishing. Obeying the Call. Finishing Faithful
    

The Call We Have Been Given – vv. 1–4

I Charge you in the presence of God – v. 1

• The call, charge, command.

• With urgency.

• Given in the presence of God and Christ Jesus.

• Christ will return as Judge and King — our mission has eternal consequences.

Preach the Word – v. 2

• Bold proclamation. Not timid, but bold.

• Be ready in season and out

  • Be prepared. Good and bad times

• Reprove, rebuke, exhort

  • Point out, call for change, encourage

• Patience and teaching

  • Enduring and clear.

• CONFRONT and COMFORT
  

Expect Rejection – vv. 3–4

• People will not endure sound doctrine

  • Will not put up with it. Refuse to believe and trust

• Have inching ears

  • Comfort verse Conviction

• Turn from the truth… but believe everything else.

  • Gravitate toward teachers that suit their passions

  • Confirm what they want. The idols of their heart
    

The Faithfulness We Must Maintain – v. 5

But as for you

• Emphatic. Timothy is not like the false teacher.

• You cannot follow the crowd. You must stand apart.

• We have to be different. Only 2 options.

• Faithful or false.

Be Sober-Minded

• Be watchful, clear-headed, alert

• Steady. Not swayed by the world

• A disciplined mind.

Endure Suffering

• Hardship and affliction.

• The faithful proclamation of truth WILL BRING, rejection, slander, persecution.

• To be faithful is to accept suffering as normal, not exceptional.

• False teachers tickle ears for comfort vv. 3–4, true preachers suffer for truth.

• Expect, Embrace, Endure, Entrust… to God’s Sovereign Care

Do the Work of an Evangelist

• Not a title here, but a calling to remain faithful in sharing the Gospel. Remember, Timothy is shepherding the church in Ephesus.

• Evangelist – one who announces good news Acts 21:8; Ephesians. 4:11

• Every Christian has this calling — to speak the good news wherever God opens the door.

• The heart and soul of the church is EV.

Fulfill Your Ministry

• To fully accomplish, to bring to completion.

• Do not quit halfway. Finish the race.

• Paul himself will say in v. 7, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

• Faithfulness is measured not by flashy moments, but by finishing well.

THE WHAT NOW

• We must make the gospel central — boldly proclaim the Word.

• We must expect hard times — that is the cost of following Christ.

• We must stay faithful to the end — finishing well matters.