Timothy II - Expositional Study
THREE WORDS
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:14-19 (KJV)
Introduction
There is, in God's Word, a considerable space given to speech, and great stress is laid upon its great importance, for good or ill. Consider this statement of the Lord: "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment, for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:36, 37). This does not mean that we shall be condemned for making a joke, or indulging in clean happy fun. Perhaps some of us need a few more humorous outlets than we presently allow ourselves. But, it does mean that our words are to be examined, like our "thoughts" in Psalm 139:23, 24, to "see if there be any wicked way" in them and in us, and thus the exceeding importance of words. In that spirit, let us look at three words of our present text – the perilous word, the pernicious word, and the precious word.
First, let us briefly consider the perilous word. We see it in verse 14: "words to no profit" – they are not only profitless, but perilous. A certain instruction is to be given. "Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them..."
Who are these whom Timothy is to instruct? Are they the believers, as a whole? Certainly, we need instruction regarding all matters. With the self-satisfied air of one who knows it all, a young college student stated, "They can't teach me anything". In their own estimation, some Christians have reached that exalted pinnacle of sublime perfection and cannot be taught anything. How refreshing to read, "He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught" (Is. 50:4, R.V.). Not as 'the learned', but as the 'learner'. We should thank God for our Teacher, the Holy Spirit, and for our Text-book, the Holy Scriptures, because we need constant instruction.
Or, is Timothy to instruct teachers? Certainly they also need it, for they who would feed others must heed themselves, as Paul says to Timothy, "Take heed unto thyself and to thy teaching" (1 Tim. 4:16, R.V.).
Consider that a right atmosphere is to be created "...before the Lord": that is, as in His sight; as in His presence – speakingas in His sight. What a difference that makes. There will be a loving care for our hearers, a straight faithfulness with them. One is inclined to think that if preachers and Bible teachers always remembered that they were speaking in the sight of God, they would sometimes find other things to say, and other ways of saying them. On occasion, a preacher or teacher may speak about someone, discussing perhaps his words, views and actions; talking in a somewhat free and unrestrained fashion, when all of a sudden the man himself enters the room. This completely changes the whole atmosphere. He now can hear all that is said and one is now more careful to measure and moderate words. How wonderful it would be if when speaking of the Lord and of His things, preachers and teachers would recollect that He has come into the room, indeed that He was there first (cf. "There am I" Matt. 18:26), and that all words are spoken "before the Lord".
Now consider listening as in His sight. What a difference this makes in the manner of our reception of the message. Personal preferences will not operate so forcefully, and we will find the Lord's Word coming from even the preacher or teacher we dislike or despise. The old prophet said, "I will...see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer" (Hab. 2:1). If we have his purpose we will listen more attentively. Through the human voice, we should be alert to catch the tones of the Divine voice. Yes, if instruction is to be given, it is well to begin with the right atmosphere – that God may grant utterance to the speaker, and understanding to the hearer.
Now we are ready to deal with "Words". As already indicated, they can be of enormous importance. Often they are of nothing less than eternal significance. Take Luke 1:47, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour": who can estimate the importance of that little word, "my"? Take Galatians 3:16, "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but, as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" – everything hangs upon one word. Take Matthew 22:43, 44 (NKJV), "How then does David in spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, The Lord said to my Lord...?" The whole argument turns on; the validity of the argument depends on, that one word. However, the contrary may also be said of words – they can be of trifling worth, "to no profit." So much: time, heat, energy, and temper have been wasted on "word-fighting", when the controversy has been unneedful and uncalled for. In other words, people have for ages fought and divided over a word here or a word there which in reality are usually nothing more than expressions of personal opinion or preference. It is difficult to decide whether Paul is here thinking merely of a word, or of an argument. Moffatt's translation of this verse says, "Adjure them...not to bandy arguments...no good comes out of that". From what we know of Dr. Moffatt, he was not the kind of man to discharge, or discourage, the exercise of mental gymnastics, the battle of wits. But he saw in this passage the futility of that habit. Some are inclined to wonder whether, in spiritual things, argument ever does any good.
One further thing about such words: they can be tragically perilous – "to the subverting of the hearers." All this heat about matters of doubtful importance can have a very serious effect on those "outside the fight", those who are looking on, bewildered and disillusioned. So often they have been undermined, overthrown, and have let go their faith. The word translated, "subverting", is the one from which our word, "catastrophe", comes; and in the light of this verse one is constrained to acknowledge that while in some circumstances controversy is necessary and even a plain duty, yet, in many cases and for many people uncalled-for controversy is near to catastrophe. If we find ourselves involved in controversy, let us make sure that it really is a necessity for Truth's sake, and not for personal reasons, and, having decided that, let our words be as "before the Lord." Controversy may become incumbent upon us. But unless that is the case, let us eschew it lest it prove the perilous word that leads to a soul's undoing. Above all, let us beware of the company of the man who cares little about the right or the wrong of his word, so long as he wins his argument.
Second, let us briefly consider the pernicious word. There it is: "their word will eat as doth a canker." That raises at once the danger of false teaching. Note the form of these "profane and vain babblings". It was a teaching that "the resurrection is past already." This cult of Gnosticism admitted the future life of the soul, but denied the resurrection of the body. These aberrations from the truth Paul had so constantly encountered in the course of his journeys, perhaps most notably at Ephesus, the place where Timothy was working. They insisted that the moral renovation, the spiritual resurrection of believers in Christ along the lines of Romans 6:3-5, was the only resurrection to be expected. It was past already, as soon as a man became a believer.
Who were the leaders of this heterodox movement? "Hymenaeus and Philetus" are singled out for mention. We know nothing else of them. But, in 1 Timothy 1:20 there is an earlier instance of the first name and the likeness of the spiritual atmosphere of the context there to that which we have in our present text almost certainly establishes the identity of the personality. In the verses of the First Epistle, a strange and solemn statement is found, "whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme": that Satan might have power to afflict the body, as, for a different reason, he had in the case of Job (2:4-7). For the same cause as we must assume in the instance of Hymenaeus, we find a like punishment is laid upon the sin of physical lapse, when in 1 Corinthians 5:5 the leaders are instructed "to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus". These Gnostics held that the body is essentially and absolutely evil. That is why, in their view, there can be no resurrection for it. Holding this belief some treated their body with harshness, by pains, fastings, and neglects. Others treated it with looseness, saying that you could do what you liked with the evil thing, and so they descended to all kinds of physical sin. In those first days, the most severe measures were adopted to maintain purity of doctrine and purity of life. This extraordinary power was vested in those leaders to consign to Satan's machinations. That after moral lapse the culprits might, through physical suffering, come back to spiritual health again.
It is appropriate to find here a suggestion of the disease of false teaching, "As...a canker.", a gangrene. False teaching is not an isolated blow; it is an accumulating, growing thing. "They will increase unto more ungodliness", more impiety, as our passage says – deeper into error, further into sin. Let us not forget that there is a close connection between what we believe and how we behave. Sometimes the question is asked, "Does it matter what we believe?" There are several answers to that question. One is the fact that sooner or later, belief is bound to affect behavior. Ungodliness? "Shun" it, says Paul. Give it a wide berth, as you would a poison or a plague.
A word is added concerning the damage of false teaching. In addition to all the other results that have been suggested, it will "overthrow the faith of some". There was a time when, in the simplicity and reality of their trust in and obedience to their Savior, they walked closely and happily in the ways of God. But then came those who "wrest the Scriptures", not only, as 2 Peter 3:16 says, "unto their own destruction", but also to the destruction of others. It is not merely that their faith in the Word of God is undermined, but their faith in the Lord Himself is overthrown.
But, let us turn from all this consideration of the pernicious word of false teaching, and dwell briefly on the domicile of true teaching – the house itself, the inhabitants thereof, and the pillars and foundations.
First, we have here the house itself – "the foundation of God standeth sure". That word "foundation" is used with various implications in the New Testament. Sometimes it is the Scriptures on which we build, sometimes it is the Master Himself; but, in our present passage it is not the foundation of the house, but the whole house itself which is intended, i.e., the house He founded. Just as we might speak of a college as somebody's foundation, so we have here "the foundation of God", His house and household, the church, the "great house" of verse 20.
Then we have the inhabitants thereof, as represented in the two-sided "seal" of the building. In those days, there was a widespread practice of engraving inscriptions over Doors – "thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates" (Deut. 11:20); and on the pillars and foundations – "Him...will I make a pillar in the temple of My God...and I will write upon him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God" (Rev. 3:12); "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles" (Rev. 21:14). These two inscriptions "seal" the house which is His Household: first, on the obverse side, Godward – "The Lord knoweth them that are His". "Knoweth" implies that He: loves them, cares for them, surrounds them, supplies them, and saves them.
All this, and all else, is in the thought of the similar words of the Lord Himself, "I...know My sheep" (John 10:14). He knows; He cares – what comfort! It may be that those who know us best do not know us as His – perhaps through the cowardice of our silence, perhaps through the inconsistency of our conduct, they have no idea that we are Christians. Yet, in spite of our failings and failures, He knows us as His. What an incentive to be and to do better.
Then, on the reverse side, manward – "Let everyone that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity". Some might not recognize us as Christians because of our unchristian behavior and, if so, then we are wrong and need to quickly repent. Those who carry His name, those who are His, should be easily recognized by the holiness of their walk. They should "depart from iniquity". Attached to the house, as descriptive of its inhabitants, is the two-faced seal. One side says of them, "His"; the other, "Holy". It is for every member of the household to level up consistently to those two qualities.
There are those who have had the foundations knocked away from under their feet – controversy has subverted some (v. 14), heresy has overthrown others (v. 18); but, here is a foundation that: abides, remains unshaken, "standeth sure". We look upon the difficulties of the world around us; we note with attention the delusions of Satan, for "we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11); we observe with sadness the defections of some, but we rejoice in those who abide undismayed and unmoved in the unchanging "foundation of God". David once said, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps. 11:3). But, the "foundation of God" will not be destroyed – it "standeth sure". Now we consider the other foundation, which could be called, The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.
Let us now consider the precious word – "the word of truth". It might be profitably to adopt it as the slogan or motto of our lives. It is a delightful summing-up of a satisfactory Christian life, with a revelation of its secret, "the word of truth".
Notice here the work well done – "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed". This is another illustration of the strenuousness of the Christian life, which this second chapter of 2 Timothy has so urgently underlined. The believer is intended to be a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Now he is an artisan: he is expected to be a worker. Evidently, the Christian life is no picnic!
A workman becomes ashamed if work is done badly. We should always put our best into it. But do we? How often we do it ill prepared! For example, a Bible school teacher who puts little or no time into the task of preparing a lesson, scarcely considering it until Saturday night, may slowly be developing a habit of slackness. In the day when our Christian work will be judged (1 Cor. 3:11-15), such a teacher will stand before the Lord dreadfully ashamed. It is better to be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves now. Look at Jeremiah 48:10 (margin), "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently".
A workman becomes ashamed if work is done easily. In other words, with little or no cost or sacrifice. Some Christians have been known to refuse taking up spiritual work because: it might mean giving up selfish enjoyment, they are shy and might feel dreadfully nervous, they fear they might get tired. Make no mistake about it, a service without sacrifice is a shame-worthy thing. The service that counts is the service that costs. So, how much does our Christian work cost us?
A workman becomes ashamed if work is done fitfully. In other words, doing something if one feels like it, dropping it (perhaps leaving the church) if anyone dares to criticize, taking it up again if the inducement is powerful enough, or if the flattery is sufficiently agreeable. What a terrible way to treat what is one of the highest privileges of mankind.
A workman becomes ashamed if work is not done at all – a drone in the hive. The story is told of a stranger who was talking with a man whose grand, magnificent dog was coming home. It just slinked by, its tail down, its head dejected, its whole bearing the picture of misery. "What's the matter with your dog?" asked the stranger. "Oh, he can't find anyone to help, and he's feeling ashamed." We can never have that dog's excuse. Lost on the bleak mountains is a multitude of souls, needing desperately the help that only Christians can give. When we come Home at the End of the Day, how terribly ashamed we will be, if we have never attempted to do a thing to help them. Some Christians are content to remain in arm-chairs, never moving a foot, never stirring a finger, to serve. Such will have painful cause to hang their heads with shame when finally meeting the Lord. Now grand, though, to be one of those faithful servants of His who need not be ashamed.
This leads us to the thought of the Master well pleased – "study to shew thyself approved unto God". It means, "Present thyself".
First, as one He can use. Like a workman who, each morning, comes to work, presenting himself for duty, ready for orders. God approves of this attitude. May we also present ourselves every day – "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (logical) service" (Rom. 12:1).
Second, as one He can trust. Sad, but true, the Lord cannot always trust His servants. In the exquisite reality of His Humanity, in times of need, the Lord leaned on the sympathy and fellowship of His friends – "terry ye here, and watch with Me" (Matt. 26:38); but He found He could not rely on them, they went to sleep, letting Him down. On the other side of the matter, recall the word He spoke to Elijah, "Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee" (1 Kings 17:9). Having commanded, He knew He could rely on her to do it. Mind you, she is one person who would have been justified in saying, "I can't do it". The last scraps were about to be used up and nothing would be left for her and the boy. How could she possibly feed the prophet? Was she willing? That was the crux of the matter; for, if she was willing, God would arrange for the 'doing' of it, however impossible it appeared. In all questions of God's service, He asks only for willing obedience, He will see to the means for 'doing' it. How He "approved" of the woman of Zarephath that day, seeing she proved He could truly rely on her. A poor, ragged little fellow, who had no one to care for him, recently baptized into Christ, was asked, "If God loves you so much, why doesn't He tell somebody to look after you?" To which he rather sadly replied, "I expect He has told somebody, and somebody forgot." Is that somebody you or me? Has some poor, sin-stained, needy soul crossed our path whom God expected us to help, and we forgot or failed? We need so badly to be in touch with God day by day so we may instinctively know His mind and do His will and so be "approved unto God."
Third, as one He can reward. When life's day is ended, when we have finished our job and we come into His presence, may we be able to present ourselves "approved...not ashamed", receiving the supernal recompense of His "Well done, good and faithful servant...enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt. 25:21). Enjoying His approval and sharing His joy; what a rich reward for any pains and sacrifices that our work here may have involved. But such an approval will probably mean a considerable curtailment of 'pleasing-others', and certainly a complete end to 'pleasing-self'. So, we come to a last thought, which will supply the secret of the satisfactory Christian life, which has, all this while, been on our minds – the precious word.
The Book well used – "rightly dividing the word of truth". The Word is placed in every "workman's" hand: it is his tool, which by study and practice, he must learn how to use skillfully, never allowing it to become blunted by misuse, or rusty from disuse. In every sense, he must be a man of the Book. What does it mean to "rightly divide"? It is one word in the Greek, meaning, "cutting straight". Various commentators have given us other suggestions: "Straight Furrows" – the Book is a very fruitful field, and to receive the full harvest, the ploughman cuts straight furrows; "Straight Roads" – the Book is a great domain, to gain access to its many benefits, the engineer builds straight roads; "Straight Slices" – for use by the whole family. Straight furrows, of painstaking study; straight roads, of dispensational study; straight slices, of regular study – not just lumps pulled off the loaf from any part, not isolated texts and bits torn from their context to feed some favored theory, but the straight slices of orderly system; something like Jehoiachin's "allowance" from Evil-merodach, in 2 Kings 25:30, "a daily rate for every day, all the days..." But perhaps what we are especially taught here is not so much the importance of the "cutting", as the value of the "straight" – to deal in a straightforward way with the Bible, to the exclusion of all fanciful deviations and all "private interpretation" (2 Pet. 1:20).
Conclusion
To be "approved unto God" we must "study" or be diligent. Above all we must "study...the word of truth", "the scripture of truth" (Dan. 10:21). Both in our personal life and spiritual work the Bible must have prime place. And we will soon discover that it is not enough merely to read the Bible, important as that is, but, we must give ourselves to diligent study – making time and taking pains.
