Ready, Willing & Able

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Introduction: Paul calls and reminds the younger Timothy that to be a part of God’s kingdom community is He will need to be Ready, Willing, and Able.

Transition: I’m going to start with the reason or conclusion of this portion of writing.

Paul tells Timothy that a time is coming,

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; (NKJ)

• Not endure sound doctrine
• Pursue their own interests (for their own benefit)
• Deaf, immune, volatile toward anything that doesn’t ‘feel,’ ‘sound,’ ‘taste’ good.

Application: It’s those kids again, not wanting to eat their vegetables! They want only sugar in whatever form possible. FYI/BYI – We all know what simple sugar does right, it hypes up but wears off and lets down pretty hard.

• Seek out, even multiple (heap us) gather their favorite combination plate!

Internet – If you did a search on the internet (like I did) on ‘Doctrines no longer preached’ here are the titles to some of the articles you would find:

• ‘Have you noticed that most churches no longer long sound doctrine? They preach about blessings and faith but not how serious God is and how we need to be.’
• ‘Why I stopped preaching doctrine’.
• ‘Preaching Difficult Doctrines (Without Spitting the Church)’
• ‘Should the Doctrines of the Bible of Grace Be Preached from the Pulpit?’

As it relates to ‘for the time will come,’

Dr. David Jeremiah –  https://davidjeremiah.blog/4-signs-of-the-end-times/

1. The Sign of Deception – “As we move toward the Last Days, Jesus said there would be an increasing danger of deception by false teachers’ “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ.’”

Syncretism – the combination of different forms of belief or practice. The fusion of two or more originally different inflection forms.

‘Our societies today are characterized by a culture of toleration that works for everybody but Christians.’

• The Sign of Disputes Among Nations

Jesus warned His disciples that the end of the age would be marked by ‘wars and rumors of wars with nation rising against each other (Matt. 24:6,7)

• The Sings of Devastation

Famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places (Matt. 24:7).

Application: That’s just global warming!?

• Virus’, super-bugs, (developing resistance to antibiotics.
  
  
• Increase of earthquakes – Between 1900 and 1969, there were roughly six major quakes every ten years. Recent data indicates that ‘major earthquakes’ now occur more than once and month and ‘great earthquakes shake the globe every year.

• The Sign of Deliverance into Tribulation
• The explosion of antagonism toward the Godly and godliness.

‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake’ (Matthew 24:9).

Transition/Question: So what are we as believers suppose to be? Ready, willing, and able.

2 Timothy 4:2 –

Question: Ready to What?

I. Preach the Word

Application: I know what you might be thinking. Preach? Me?

Question: If I would use the word, share, tell, and invite…would that sit better with you?

Preach = to be a herald, (a newspaper), always with the suggestion of formality, gravity, and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed.

Question: Willing to What?

1. Stand for / Do the work of /?
2. Reprove – refute, to find fault with, correct.
3. Rebuke – reprove cuttingly and severely.
4. Exhort – comfort the feeble-minded, the tempted.

Question: Able to What?

1. Endure – ‘with all long-suffering and doctrine.’

Patiently endure. Constancy, steadfastness, perseverance.

2 Timothy 4:6-8