Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 2 Tim 2.1 and following. Indeed, strengthen yourselves in grace, recommends the apostle to his dear disciple. He himself had learned this secret from the mouth of the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is fulfilled in infirmity…” (2 Cor 12:7-10). Three examples: that of the soldier, the athlete and the farmer, illustrate the renunciation, obedience and patience of the Christian. What characterizes the good soldier: he does not clutter himself with unnecessary luggage; he is disciplined in order to please his superiors; he knows that the profession of soldier inevitably involves suffering, dangers, blows to be received and that these precede the citations, medals and parades of the glory days. This word is certain, all scripture confirms it: our current behavior will have its eternal counterpart. Today suffering and death with Christ; tomorrow life with Him, reign and eternal glory. Dear believers, Jesus Christ enlisted us under His banner. But in anarmy there may be deserters who deny their flag and captain (Jude 1:3-4). There are a thousand ways, even silent, to betray our Leader. May the desire to have his approval, secret today, public tomorrow, make us good soldiers, able to fight the good fight.
For when all is well, and the work is prosperous, the worker has no reason to be ashamed before men (2 Tim 1:8-18). On the other hand, when the testimony is in ruins, it is a feeling from which we hardly escape. But what does the contempt of the world matter if we are approved by God. This is a course of action that allows us in all circumstances to be sure of this approval. “Where unbelief and corruption dominate, the faithful Christian separates. In relation to individuals, it is purified; with the passions, he flees from them; with the good, he pursues it; with believers, he seeks them, joins them, and worships God with them.” These things have led many of God’s children to withdraw from the various religious systems of Christendom and gather around the Lord for praise.
We have already heard a “flee” and a “pursue” in the first epistle. Please the Lord engrave this v. 22 in the hearts of all young believers. Let us not forget, however, that as much as we must be firm about the truth and principles that do not support any compromise, we have to use support and gentleness with regard to people (Eph 4:1-3).
But flee from the lusts of youth, and pursue justice, faith, love, peace, with those who invoke the Lord with a pure heart; but avoids crazy and senseless questions, knowing that they generate disputes.
However, things listed above were not enough. So Timothy had to exercise rigorous surveillance over all the tendencies of his own heart. It is a question here of fleeing them. The hearts of young men are prone to the lusts of their age; but here the apostle speaks of that part of God’s family to which Timothy belonged and which is neither the fathers nor the little children, but the young men called to enter, with the power of God’s word in the fight against Satan (1 John 2. 14-17). But this struggle and this victory can be compromised and even destroyed by the lusts, called here the lusts of youth, which bring us back to the world. These are “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” But the Christian must flee from evil only to be able to pursue good. What a beautiful picture of a believer, on his way to attaining the stature of man made! Having fled the evil that solicits him, he can devote himself entirely to pursuing excellent things: practical justice that denies sin, faith that attaches itself to the person of Christ; love embracing all those born of God; peace,that is, a heart that has appropriated the work of Christ so that it no longer has any questions between God and him, a heart that brings peace and spreads it around him.
In this path the believer will never find himself alone; he will soon meet, in this “great house” from which he is not called to leave, surrounded by vessels of dishonor from which he is called to purify himself – for the Christian cannot, at the same time, honor the Lord in his walk and walk with those who dishonor him – he will meet souls who pursue the same objects as him and with whom he will be able to gather to invoke together the Lord with a heart. pure. We find in Ps. 51: 9, 12, what a pure heart is and how a heart becomes one; in Ps 32: 2:5, what a pure consciousness is and how it is acquired. In relation to individuals, he purifies himself;with covetousness, he flees from them; with good, he pursuesit; with believers, he seeks them, joins them,and worships God with them. In the beginning there was no need to recommend this; this was how all believers invoked the Lord together. Now everything was changed; to carry out worship, the believer was obliged to purify himself from the vessels of dishonor and to withdraw from iniquity.
But avoid crazy and senseless questions, knowing that they generate disputes. And the slave of the Lord must not contest, but be gentle towards all, fit to teach, having support; gently teaching the opponents, waiting if God, perhaps, will not give them repentance to recognize the truth, and if they will not wake up from the trap of the devil, by whom they were caught, to do His will.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
A soldier of Christ:
- Spirituality, attachment to heavenly things
Rom 12:2 Do not conform to the present century, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind, so that you may discern what God’s will is, what is good, pleasant, and perfect. 2 Tim 2:4 There is no soldier who bothers with the affairs of life, if he wants to please the one who enlisted him; Hb 11:24-25 It was by faith that Moses, having become great, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 loving better to be mistreated with God’s people than to have for a time the enjoyment of sin, 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him;
- Resurrection of Christ, highlighted in the epistles
Rom 4:25 which was delivered for our offenses, and is resurrected for our justification. 1 Cor 15:4 that he was buried, and that he was resurrected on the third day, according to the scriptures; 1 Thess 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, let us also believe that God will bring back through Jesus and with him those who have died. 1 Pet 3:18 Christ also suffered once for sins, he just for unjust things, in order to bring us to God, having been put to death as to the flesh, but having been made alive as to the Spirit,
- Useless words condemned
Pr 10:19 He who speaks a lot does not fail to sin, but he who holds his lips is a prudent man. Pr 14:23 All work provides abundance, but empty words only lead to scarcity. Ezekiel 36:3 Prophesies and says: Thus speaks the Lord, the Lord: Yes, because they have wanted on all sides to devastate and engulf you, that you may be the property of other nations, Because you have been the object of the speeches and words of the peoples, Tit 1:10 There are, in fact, especially among the circumcised, many rebellious people, vain talkers and seducers,
- Immutability of God
Ps 33:11 The purposes of jehovah endure forever, and the plans of his heart, from generation to generation. Ps 102:28 But you remain the same, and your years will not end. Hb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and eternally. James 1:17 All excellent grace and perfect gift descend from above, from the Father of lights, in whom there is no change or shadow of variation.
From all of the above, we note that Timothy had to avoid being on the wrong path and having no contact with those who raised “crazy and foolish questions,” which were nothing other than the product of minds given in their own sense and following, in their opinions, their own will, instead of being subject to that of God. Such discourses are not only sterile, but generate disputes in which the character of God’s slave is compromised and this is one of the results of the enemy’s effort to discredit the truth. Now the slave of the Lord must guard against this trap and he will only be able to do so by following daily the model of a true servant whose example his Master has given him. This service is shown here especially in teaching, the special character of Timothy’s gift. Without these moral traits, teaching will have no effect. For theyare above all gentleness towards all, even towards opponents, vis-à-vis whom he might be tempted to use his authority. At the same time, his ability to teach must be affirmed by his very teaching, for the Enemy would triumph if he managed to close his mouth. It must have support. A doctor according to God would easily go off the line when he is faced with an opposition that he knows is unjustified and contrary to God’s will. He still has to take advantage of the opposition even to gently correct the erroneous views of the opponents. What a beautiful picture and how difficult it is to realize it when one is called from the Lord to the teaching of the Word! But, by following this path, any dispute can be avoided. With repentance one wakes up, opens one’s eyes to see the trap of the devil in which one was trapped, and one enters into the path of God and obedience to His will. In 1 Tim 3. 7, the Christian himself,if he is a new convert, is in danger of falling into this trap; here he has fallen into it and fallen asleep in such a way that he has opposed the truth and the will of God presented by one of his servants. May the Lord Jesus guard us all and sustain us in our repentance.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the difficult times of the last few days.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.