Episode 7 - 2 Timothy 4:1-4 - Call them out by name

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What’s up, guys!

This is Josh with Shepherd’s Cast and I want to welcome you to the podcast where I talk to you about the things that I find important. My content is meant to inform, educate, puzzle, or be funny. If it does something other than what I’ve just said, then Soli Deo Gloria, we will just call it providence. All of what I say is read from blog posts that I have written and can be found on my website with the link in the show notes.

So, anyway, yeah, here we go…

The Text

Without further pause, here’s Paul to Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:1-4

There really is a lot we could say about this passage that is just as pertinent today as it was 2000 years ago when Paul wrote this letter, give or take a decade or two. Let’s do what we can to lightly touch on this passage in order to encourage one another in the right direction.

Firstly, this passage is from what is often referenced as the pastoral epistles. Meaning, Paul wrote specific letters to those who were in charge of a church, or the shepherd of a flock. In this case, as the title of the book suggests, Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, his “true child in the faith,” as it says in verse two of 1 Timothy 1. It’s safe to say that Paul felt a sense of responsibility and he was close enough to Timothy that he could also show a sense of familial affection. That familiarity does not soften the charge placed on Timothy (and all pastors, universally) and we must understand the reasoning for this. James says in his epistle that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness,” James 3:1. The teacher will be responsible for the leading of the flock, therefore they will be judged on the basis of that fact. And Paul, knowing this, wanted to make sure Timothy grasped the gravity of his charge. As a teacher, Timothy must exhort truth and not mere speculation.

The charge Paul gives to his child in the faith is to “preach the word,” verse 2. He continues to encourage Timothy to “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” Context explains the reason Paul starts with simply, “Preach the Word.” He says to Timothy in chapter 3 verse 16 that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” He goes on in verse 17 to say “that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” So the charge, then, is answered simply by preaching the word of God that has been given to Timothy, already. If Timothy knows the word he can use it to reprove, to correct, to encourage, and to teach, therefore, Paul encourages him to be ready in and out of season, keeping a scripture saturated mind, consistently meditating on the things of God, Psalm 1:1-3.

For the last bit of the verses we are covering, however, I want to appeal to the current time we live in, as we should typically do. Paul tells Timothy that there will come a time in the near future when people will surround themselves with teachers that tell them what they want to hear in order to satiate their “itching ears,” verse 3. In context, this is akin to people teaching a message or doctrine that is unlike anything proposed in Scripture. And how does Paul tell Timothy to prepare for this? Specifically, Paul charges Timothy to study God’s word. What better way to prepare himself, and ourselves, in and out of season for dealing with people in a sense of encouragement, rebuke, or correction than to saturate your mind with the word of God?

I want to point out that Paul doesn’t hint that Timothy is to ignore these false teachers. Paul tells Timothy that he is to prepare the sheep for such things so that the sheep will know better. Timothy is to preach the word of God to the children of God so that they can, also, use the word of God in the ways that Timothy is called to do so: in teaching, correction, encouragement, and rebuke. And who are they to do this to? The false teachers who come to salve the itching ears of those who are not truly of the sheep, as well as those wolves in sheep's clothing. Timothy, and all pastors, has the job of equipping the saints for the mission of going out and glorifying God by making disciples of every nation. And they cannot do that unless they have a firm grasp of the gospel, holy scriptures, and their Savior, Jesus Christ, Romans 10:17.

This same concept is something the modern day saints must as well come to terms with. We must saturate our minds with the Holy Scriptures in order to prepare ourselves for the work of the ministry. Before you think that only pertains to preachers, think again. Peter, in his epistle, and John, in Revelation, both say that we are a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 5:19. We have been equipped by the Holy Spirit for the work of the ministry, gifted with the power and ability to share the gospel to others. But we cannot do so if we, as priests, do not even know the gospel.

There is one final thing I want to touch on before I finish with this passage of Scripture. It’s so often that people, when seeing others rebuke false teachers, call those rebuking saints Pharisees and unjust judges for what they have to say. Well meaning Christians claim that people are nitpicking, being mean, or being overly critical. There are claims that if we don’t like someone popular that we are simply old fashioned and clinging to a dying way of ministry. But, brothers and sisters, I implore you to look into the text and see that you hindering these people is wrong. There are positive cases for people calling out false teachers even in Scripture, even by name as much as the heresy they promote. I wanted to take a moment to point out a few of these instances from Scripture.

In Acts, Luke records, for eternity, that Elymas is a false teacher and Paul literally calls him a son of the devil, Acts 13:9-10. Jesus calls Herod a fox when talking about him in order to point out the error of his ways, Luke 12:32. In Acts 19, God exposes the sons of Sceva and Luke, again, for all eternity, records their names in the Scriptures. Then, in 3 John 1:9 John, by name, calls out Diotrephus as someone who “loves to be first.” Paul also handles the Judaizing heresy, which was condemned in Acts 15, when writing to the Galatians. Likewise, John handles the Gnostic heresy in his epistles.

From clear examples inspired by the Holy Spirit we see that we are not to “lovingly let heresy slide” for the sake of the emotions of the other party. I doubt Peter enjoys knowing that Paul told the Galatians that Peter had compromised the gospel for the circumcision party, despite him having repented. Therefore, I highly encourage you to call out someone by name if you can discern that they are teaching something contrary to what is said in the Scriptures. Not only will this get their attention… it will warn other sheep that may be listening to that same teacher. And, out of love, if we care for our neighbor, we will not want them to fall into a belief that is contrary to the truths shared by God in His word.

Unfortunately, however, we do not have the time in this one single podcast to call out every single heresy and every single heretic. If you’re truly interested in knowing who is teaching falsely, look into discernment ministries such as one done by Colin Miller on YouTube. People like Colin take the time to use Scripture to explain the wrongs in other people's ministry. And, from past history, if he has done something wrong and is corrected on it, he will even explain his own mistake, which he has done before. And, before you call people like him a Pharisee, I want to remind you that a Pharisee is a false teacher, themselves, who hold the tradition of the elders, proper noun, above the law of God as it says in Mark chapter 7. In other words, using the term Pharisee to denote someone who’s, quote, “nitpicking,” is an improper term. Especially in regard to someone who holds the word of God to such a high standard as to scrupulously seek obedience towards it and all it entails. As Jesus says, if you love Him you will obey Him, John 14:15, and people like Colin know this and seek to do so while encouraging others to, likewise, be obedient to His word. I will link his YouTube profile in the show notes for you to see for yourselves. He, of course, is not the only one. YouTube channels like that of Justin Peters and Fight for the Faith with Chris Rosebrough is also a great place to look; I will link them along with Colin’s channel.

In summary, I want to charge you, brothers and sisters, to study the scriptures, just as Paul charges Timothy, and all other people who are teachers in ministry. Be ready to reprove, rebuke, or exhort in and out of season. And pray for discernment before you call a fellow brother or sister a Pharisee for calling out a false teacher. Love God, love people, and seek truth.

Final Word of the Day

I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. It is always a pleasure to bring the word of God to those who are seeking to know more about Him.

The final word of the day comes to us from Misspelled Calvanist. He’s come into contact with false teaching, having fallen victim to it in the past, and has a word of wisdom to those who may need to hear it.

*Check out my podcast to hear this clip!*

A special thanks to Jesus Wannabeez for allowing me to use their newest track, Ephesians 6, in my intro and outro music. You can find a link to their Spotify in the show notes.

And, as always, may the light of the Holy God shine upon you.

Amen