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The Book of Second Timothy:
Message Twenty Five
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
A little while
ago a British University advertised for a teacher of
religion, and it was announced that an atheist would
be acceptable. That's about as logical as a city
employing a firebug for a fireman, and bandits and
bootleggers for policemen. One needs more than lips
to be a teacher of religion, he needs the Lord. One
needs more than a source book to teach religion, he
needs the Scriptures. One needs more than a sheepskin
to teach religion, he needs the Spirit of God. It's
written in 2nd
Timothy 2:24 and 25, "The servant of the Lord
must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that
oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
A servant of
the Lord must be a man of principle. First and
foremost, the teaching must be "the truth."
When the Lord Jesus spoke in the synagogue, the Bible
says, "He stood up to read the Scriptures."
And after reading from the book of Isaiah, the Bible
says, "He gave it to the minister." What He
did in that day, He does in this day. He gives the
Bible to the minister; not to deny, but to declare;
not to criticize, but to communicate; not merely for
his library, but especially for his life. If it's in
his life, it will be on his lips. Then and only then
will his ministry bear the stamp of authority. A wife
asked her husband, a short man, to drive a nail in
the wall for a painting. He stood on a chair, but he
wasn't high enough. Then he put a box on the chair,
and he stood on the box and started to drive the nail
into the wall. "Hit it hard," said the
wife. "That's doing no good." "How can
a man hit it hard and give it a brave blow, when he's
standing on a foundation like this?" he asked.
If the teaching is to produce conviction and
conversions, there must be certainty; and there's no
certainty without the Bible. In all of our teaching
and preaching there must be the expression,
"Thus saith the Lord."
A servant of
the Lord must be plain in his teaching. A young
minister, fresh out of seminary, spoke in a small
country church. Because he was the proud possessor of
a doctor's degree, he thought he should deliver a
scholarly sermon. After the service a husband asked
his wife, "Well, Sally, how did you like the
sermon?" "Just fair to middlin'," she
replied. "And how did you like it?"
"Not very much," he answered. "I think
I brought the wrong book with me today." She
looked at his well-worn Bible and said, "But,
John, you always carry that Bible with you."
"Yes, Sally," he replied, "but it was
my dictionary I needed this morning." It always
thrills me when children are in my audience, and I
always pray, "Oh, Lord, help me to make Thy word
so clear and plain that no child will misunderstand
it."
A servant of
the Lord must be pointed in his preaching. There are
some who have "something to say," and there
are others who "have to say something."
It's not the one who has plenty of words that does
the best job, but the one who has power in his words.
The Bible says, "A fool's voice is known by
multitude of words." I believe a sermon is like
a wheel - the longer the spoke, the greater the tire.
I always prepare a short sermon, because like shoes,
they stretch.
A servant of
the Lord must be patient in his teaching. One must
speak with conviction, but he must also speak with
courtesy. There should be power in his preaching, but
also patience. Declared Bishop Horne, "Patience
strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles
anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride, bridles the
tongue, restrains the hand, and tramples upon
temptations." John Wesley's father once asked
his wife, "How could you have the patience to
tell that blockhead the same thing twenty times
over?" "Why," she replied, "if I
had told him but nineteen times, I should have lost
all my labor."
A servant of
the Lord must be passionate in his teaching. Our
teaching and our preaching isn't to refrigerate, but
to revive; not to deaden, but to make alive. One day
I read an article written by a great man of God, Sir
Robertson Nicoll, and it stirred my soul. He told of
visiting church after church and of hearing one
polished sermon after another. But he said, "Not
a single one of the sermons I heard would have
converted a titmouse." May God save us all from
passionless and profitless sermons.
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
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This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
