40 Rules for Christian Ministry (Part 7)

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2

The next three rules for Christian Ministry come from these two verses in 2 Timothy. The Apostle Paul wrote that the reason for these rules was that Jesus Christ will ‘judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.’ Think about that for a moment. Our Lord and Savior is going to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom. Paul included this prophesy in his ‘charge’ to Timothy. The Greek word for ‘charge’ is diamarturomai and means ‘a solemn charge, an earnest testimony or witness.’

Rule #31

Preach the word

Timothy and all those who followed him in Christian ministry were to ‘preach the word.’ The word ‘preach’ is kérussó and means ‘proclaim, publish, herald, announce, declare.’ They were to ‘proclaim’ the ‘word’ (logos). Who is the ‘logos’ in the Christian context? Jesus Christ:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4

Also in this context is the fact that the ‘Word’ is what God says. It’s the Scriptures that Paul wrote about two verses earlier. That’s what Christians are to ‘preach, proclaim, herald.’ What does your pastor ‘preach’ on Sundays? What do teachers in your church ‘proclaim’ in their classes? What do Christians in your church talk about with each other, with their neighbors, fellow students at school, co-workers?

The fact that Jesus Christ, the God of Creation, will one day judge the living and dead should weigh heavily on our minds and hearts as we interact with people God puts in our lives.

Rule #32

Be ready in season and out of season

Paul continued by writing that Christians should ‘be ready in season and out of season.’ What does that mean? The words ‘be ready’ in Greek is ephistémi and means ‘to stand upon, be present, be at hand.’ The idea is to be ‘ready’ to be confronted. The word is also translated ‘assault, stand over.’

The words ‘in season’ in the Greek is eukairós and means ‘opportune time, season.’ It comes from the word eukairos which means ‘well-timed, in time of need, timely.’

The words ‘and out of season’ in the Greek is akairós and means ‘untimely, lacking occasion, lacking opportunity.’

Paul was telling Timothy that a Christian involved in serving God and ministering to the needs of other people should be ready at all times. Christians will have many opportunities to minister to the needs of others. Sometimes those needs come steadily. Sometimes there are moments when needs come more slowly. God knows when those times will happen, but we don’t. We need to be ‘at the ready’ at all times to serve Him and others. How do we do that?

Rule #33

Convince

Paul mentioned ‘convince’ first. The Greek word is elegchó and means ‘admonish, convict, rebuke, reproof, expose with evidence.’

Rule #34

Rebuke

The word ‘rebuke’ is epitimaó and means ‘to charge, warn, censure, forbid.’

Rule #35

Exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching

The word ‘exhort’ is parakaleó and means ‘urge, beseech, call for, to call near, help, comfort’ The word paráklētos comes from the same root of the word Jesus Christ used for both Himself and for the Holy Spirit:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:15-18

Jesus Christ ‘comforted and helped’ the disciples while He was on the Earth. Jesus rules and reigns from Heaven now and the Holy Spirit ‘comforts and helps’ members of the Body of Christ on Earth now.

Returning for a moment to our primary Scripture for these five rules:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2

Keep in mind that each aspect of the ministries Paul commanded Timothy and all Christians were based on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom. Paul wrote those words to Timothy two-thousand years ago, which seems like a long time to humans, but it is but is but a flash in Heaven. Jesus is coming soon and He will bring with Him His mighty angels, ‘in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

“… which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5- 10

I’ll share five more rules for Christian ministry in the next podcast.

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In Christ’s Love and Grace,

Mark McGee

GraceLife / Faith and Self Defense / Grace Martial Arts / Substack