The Pastoral Epistles: 2 Timothy 4 (2)

Pray Psalm 57.1, 2.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have passed by.
I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.

Read and meditate on 2 Timothy 4.3, 4.

Reflect.
1. If sound doctrine represents God’s desires, what do our “own desires” represent?

2. What happens when preachers and teachers cater to human desires rather than to God’s?

Meditate.
Sound doctrine, rightly understood, expresses the will and wisdom of God – what God desires. Whatever God desires – sound doctrine – is right and true and just what we need.

Why are we so prone to turn away from sound doctrine, to satisfy the puny longings of our mortal lives?

Two reasons: First, understanding and submitting to sound doctrine takes time and patience. We must be willing to study, pray, and step out in new areas of obedience if we are to fulfill what God desires for us, and to carry out His will. Sound doctrine must be endured; that is, we have to work hard to learn it, so that we fruitfully live it.

On the other hand, caving-in to fleeting emotions, fleshly desires, and familiar views is no struggle at all. And when we give up on sound doctrine, we’ll look for preachers and teachers who will tickle our “itching ears” with whatever we want to hear – whatever we desire. Given a choice, and left to themselves, most children would choose sweets of one kind or another as their daily fare. No loving parent would allow that, however. Children need to learn to eat what we want them to eat, and not what they want to eat, for the simple reason that we know better than they what’s good for them. Once they learn what’s best for them, they’ll make better choices.

This is true in our relationship with God as well. If we don’t want to end up living fables and made-up stories about what’s best for us, we’ll take up the Lord’s challenge and the solid meat of sound doctrine, and resist every tendency to pander to our selfish, sugar-coated desires. 

Reflect.
1. What’s involved in learning to “endure sound doctrine”? Why is it important that we do this?

2. What’s wrong with looking only for teaching that speaks to our “own desires”? Doesn’t God want to satisfy our desires?

3. How would you be able to tell whether a preacher or teacher was committed to sound doctrine or to merely tickling itching ears?

When they will no longer endure sound doctrine in their eagerness for godlessness, they will gather teachers together for these things which they desire. They will compile a doctrine that fits in with their desires, since they are no longer eager to be taught. They want to bring together teachers for that which they already desire in order that this large number of teachers whom they have sought and assembled may satisfy the doctrines of their own passionate desires. Hilary of Poitiers (315-367) On the Trinity 10.2

Help me to hunger for Your Word, Lord, and for the sound doctrine You desire, and keep me from…

Pray Psalm 57.1-3.
Today, you will need the grace of God for everything you do. Seek Him earnestly for it, setting before Him in detail your needs for this day.

Sing Psalm 57.1-3.
Psalm 57.1-3 (Faben: Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him).
Lord, be gracious, gracious to me, for my soul retreats in You.
In Your shadow keep me safely till the storms of life are through.
I will cry to You, the Most High; You do all things well for me.
You will save me when I thus cry, routing all who threaten me.

T. M. Moore

Whatever our calling in life, we are sent to bring the joy of Christ to the people around us. Our book, Joy to Your World!, can show you how to fill your Personal Mission Field with more of the Presence, promise, and power of Christ and His Kingdom. Order your copy, as a supplement to our study of 1 Timothy, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).