Yearly Archives: 2017
Holding Fast the Form of Sound Words – 2 Timothy 1:12-15
Summary:
When you pour concrete, you set up wooden forms into which you pour the concrete to shape it as it dries. Baby believers have always needed to be formed into mature saints. He used to use the Law to do that (Rom.2:17-20), but now He uses the form of sound words we hear from Paul (IITi.1:13). We are under law but under grace (Rom.6:15) because we’ve obeyed the form of doctrine given to Paul (Rom.6:17).
Timothy had to be told to hold Paul’s sound words fast for there were still those who wanted to use the law to form believers (ITim.1:7), and Timothy would notice they weren’t as persecuted as he was (Gal.5:3 cf. 6:12). It would be tempting to join them in preaching the sound words of the law, so Paul tells him to hold his words fast.
Job held his integrity fast even when he lost his wealth and family (Job 2:3), and his health (Job 2:7 cf. 27:6). We must hold Paul’s sound words fast in the face of loss as well.
We are to hold his words “in faith and love” (IITim.1:13), i.e., in faithfulness (faithfulness to Christ) and in love for Christ. If you love the Lord, you’ll be faithful to Him (Ps.31:23). If you need incentive, Paul uses that exact phrase “with faith and love which is in Christ” when he tells how God saved him (ITim.1:12-14). The Lord loved him enough to faithfully save him (like He promised He’d save all who trust in Him), so in asking Timothy to hold his words fast “in faith and love,” He’s just asking us to give Him the same faith and love He gave us when He saved us.
We know that “that good thing” (IITim.1:14) is another name for the form of Paul’s sound words when we compare the only other time that phrase is used. Jeremiah used it to describe the entire kingdom program (Jer.33:14-16), so when Paul uses the phrase, it must be to define the entire program of grace—the form of sound words given to him.
Paul reminded Timothy that it was “committed” to him (1:14), and then told him to commit it to others (2:2). They did, and now it is our job to keep Paul’s sound words. It’s the least we can do since the Lord keeps the soul and spirit we “commit” to Him (IITim.1:12).
Keeping it “by the Holy Ghost” means keeping it by the Word (Ps.37:23 cf. 119:133). The only other time the Bible talks about doing something “by the Holy Ghost that dwelleth in us” is Romans 8:11. “If ye live after the flesh” (v.13) your Christian experience dies (cf.ITim.5:6) and you need to “awake” and “arise from the dead” (Eph.5:14). But it is something we must do (Rom.13:11,12 cf. ICor.15:34), not the Spirit. But when we do, we do it “by the Spirit” because we use the Book the Spirit wrote to do it.
“All in Asia” would include the Ephesian church (Acts 20:16), a church dear to Paul (Acts 20:37,38), even friends who may have saved his life (Acts 19:31). If the “some” who had “turned” from Paul to the law (ITim.1:5-7) were the beginning of the “all they which are in Asia” who “turned” away from him, then the turning away of IITimothy 1:15 must be more than a turning away from him personally, but from the message he preached.
When you turn from the truth you soon err from it (IITim.2:18), then you resist it (3:8), then finally shut your ears to it (4:3,4). The reason we have to hold Paul’s sound words fast is because the “some” in Paul’s first epistle to Timothy (1:6,19; 5:15; 6:10,21) became “all” (IITim.1:15) because people didn’t hold Paul’s words fast.
When Paul first preached in Asia he turned them all away from idols (Acts 19:26), but now they had turned from him.
Finally, if all in Asia departed from Paul before he was even dead, this answers the question we are often asked, why the early church didn’t teach what we teach. They had fallen into apostasy, and so what they believed and taught cannot be looked to in order to obtain a guide as to what should be taught. The only reason you should ever believe and teach anything is because it is found in the sound words given to Paul.
House Rules
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward” (Eph. 3:2).
God’s Word must be understood in the way God revealed His will to mankind. Therefore, it needs to be understood dispensationally. There is the broad division in Scripture between God’s two programs, Prophecy and Mystery, but then there are dispensations which must be broken down within it as well.
The term “dispensation” is the Greek word, oikonomia, which means “house law” or “house management.” At different times and stages in God’s Word, God dispensed to mankind a different and distinct rule of life.
Within each of our homes we have a certain set of rules that we expect our children to abide by. These are the house rules, the law of the household. Our house law may be different than your house law. For example, one time one of my kids came to me and said, “My friend’s family does it this way in their home, can’t we do this?” My response was “That’s their rules. We don’t do it that way in our house.” That’s the case in the dispensations of God. They each have their own set of house rules. We shouldn’t try to live by the house law belonging to another time and dispensation.
Within each dispensation of God, God dispensed a new set of “house laws or rules” that needed to be followed, and was the responsibility of those who lived under them to carry out and obey. God has given different commands to different people at different times throughout the Scripture.
It is also similar to presidential administrations. With the administration of our newly-elected president, there will be changes in how they govern and operate from the previous administration. It’s the same with the dispensations of God. God, according to His will, at different points of time in history, revealed a new administration in which there were changes in how man was to live and what was required to be saved.
Today we are under “the dispensation of the grace of God.” This current administration is an administration of grace. The house is managed by grace. Grace dominates everything about this dispensation under which we live. Our salvation is by grace, our walk is a grace walk, we are blessed by grace, our speech is with grace, and we sing with grace in our hearts, etc. There are countless principles to be applied throughout God’s Word, but the letters of Paul provide us with our “house rules” that we are to directly live by in this dispensation of Grace.
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
Romans 13 — Civil Government or Church Government?
“Is Romans 13 about obeying civil government or church government, as some are saying?”
In the context, it is true that Paul just finished speaking about “he that ruleth” in the local church (12:8). But the “rulers” in Chapter 13 bear a “sword” (v. 4) that cannot refer to “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17) borne by church rulers, for he that bears it is called “a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (13:4). That doesn’t fit the role of rulers in a grace church, but it is an apt description of civil rulers. In the more immediate context, Paul has just finished quoting God as saying, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay” (12:19). So when Paul then goes on to call the bearer of the sword “a revenger,” he is explaining that God takes vengeance on evil doers in the dispensation of grace by the sword of civil government.
In return for their civil service, we are told to pay these rulers “tribute,” something paid to kings (Matt. 17:24,25; 22:17), not rulers in grace churches. The Jews paid tribute to Israel’s religious leaders (Num. 31:37-41) because they were a theocracy, a government ruled by God, and so paying tribute was just giving God His due. But the word “due” (Rom. 13:7) speaks of what is owed as a debt, and so “tribute” is a word that cannot be used of giving in the local church. Under grace, our giving is not done “of necessity” (2 Cor. 9:7).
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
God Be Merciful to Me A Sinner
We Have Nothing to be Ashamed Of – 2 Timothy 1:8-12
Summary:
Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel because it can save all who believe it (Rom.1:16), so he told Timothy not to be either (v.8).The Jews should have been ashamed of looking to Ethiopia to save them from the Assyrians (Isa.20:4,5) and the Egyptians (30:1-7), but Timothy shouldn’t have been ashamed of the gospel that saved him and Paul (1:9). Paul was also not ashamed of the gospel because it revealed the righteousness of God (Rom.1:16,17). It tells how God righteously dealt with our sins by having Christ pay for them. The men who say God will overlook sin and let people into heaven should be ashamed, not us!
We should also not be ashamed because we are called with a holy calling (1:9). Why would God even have to say that? Who would doubt it? Well, its because God first called Abraham “alone” with a holy calling (Is.51:2), then called his church out of Egypt (Acts 7:38, “church” means a called out assembly). That means God already had a people he called with a holy calling. So when God called us Gentiles, the Jews held a council to see if we were called with a holy calling also, and they recognized that we were (Acts 15). So we have nothing to be ashamed of on that account either, our calling is as holy as Israel’s calling was.
We’d have to be ashamed if God called us “according to our works” (v.9), but He called us “according to His own purpose and grace.” His purpose for Israel was to glorify Israel by placing salvation in Zion during the kingdom (Isa. 46:10-13), where faithful Jews will rule the “cities” of the Gentiles (Luke 19:17,19). But God’s purpose for us is to rule over the angels (Eph.1:9-21). This calling wasn’t given to us directly, it was given to us “in Christ” (1:9).
We were called to this calling “before the foundation of the world” (1:9), but Israel’s kingdom was prepared “from” or before “the foundation of the world.” This is because God tried to rule the world with Adam but he sinned, then with Noah and he got drunk (Gen.9:1,2). So God made unconditional promises to Abraham and his seed that they would rule the world, his seed being Christ and all Jews in Christ. Since the government of earth broke after the foundation of the world, God planned to fix it afterward. But the angels fell before the foundation of the world, so God planned to fix the heavens before the foundation of the world with us.
Furthermore, God talked about His plan for the earth from the foundation of the world (Acts 3:21) but kept His plan for us secret since the world began (Rom.16:25). Secret un-til “the appearing” of the Lord (1:10), but not His appearing on earth. He said nothing about God’s plan to fix the heavens when He was here. No, God revealed His plan for the heavens with His appearing to Paul (Acts 26:16).
If the Lord “abolished” death with His death (1:10) why do we still have death? “Abolish” means to annul, as when His death also abolished the law (Eph.2:15 cf. Heb.7:18). They still observed the law at Pentecost (Acts 3:1) until Paul (Rom.6:15), but its power was annulled (Heb.2:14), just as we still have death, and will till the Rapture when death will be swallowed up (ICor.15:54).
“Life and immortality” (1:10) existed in the Jews before Paul, but Paul’s gospel (1:11) brought it to light for us Gentiles. That’s why Paul was made a preacher, an apostle and a teacher. The Lord already had had 12 apostles and lots of preachers and teachers for the Jews.
The “things” Paul was suffering (1:12) was prison (2:9), and he wasn’t suffering it because he was a preacher of the gospel, but because he was a teacher of the Gentiles (v.11). The Jews hated the Gentiles so got him imprisoned. But Paul wasn’t “ashamed” of being in prison (1:12), so Timothy shouldn’t be either (1:8).
Paul committed (1:12) his spirit to the Lord (cf.Ps.31:5) and his soul (cf.IPe.4:19), except we don’t commit our souls to Him “in well doing.” That’s good works, that’s how the Jews were saved, not us (1:9). The psalmist said he wouldn’t be ashamed if God delivered him (Ps.25:2), but God had already delivered Paul, so he was already not ashamed (1:12). He committed his soul to the Lord “against that day,” the day of his impending death.
Rejoice in Every Good Thing
“And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm…And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land…And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which Thou, O LORD, hast given me…And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee” (Deut. 26:8-11).
Deuteronomy 26 instructs Israel how, after they entered the Promised Land and conquered it, they were to bring the first fruits from their first harvest that they reaped from the land and to present it to the Lord in worship and thanksgiving (Deut. 26:1-2). Now this was told to Israel before they entered the land, but these instructions were given in full expectation that they would conquer and possess the land as God said they would (Deut. 6:1; 7:1-2). God is faithful, and when He makes a promise, it’s as good as done. Joshua wrote years later:
“And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein…There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (Josh. 21:43-45).
Having trusted Christ as our Savior, God says we’re heaven bound. One day when we stand in God’s heaven, dwelling in the presence of God, blessed and exalted in Christ, we’ll also say, “Not one thing failed of any good thing the Lord spoke unto us. All came to pass.” We should start thanking Him now for this by faith!
Out of thanksgiving, Israel was to bring the first and the best of their harvest in a basket to the priest at the tabernacle and then profess audibly, acknowledging God’s faithfulness to Israel in preserving them and bringing them to the land as He had promised (Deut. 26:1-4). They were to rehearse how God had heard their cries and prayers for help in Egypt and that He delivered them out of their hard bondage and affliction “with a mighty hand” (Deut. 26:5-8). God brought Israel out of Egypt by His faithfulness to them and then He would bring Israel in to the Promised Land by His faithfulness to them, giving them a wonderful land which would meet their every need (Deut. 26:9).
Israel was to acknowledge God’s goodness, mercy and working on her behalf. They were to remember how God provided for them, and to worship Him because of “the firstfruits of the land, which Thou, O Lord, hast given me,” and rejoicing “in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee” (Deut. 26:10-11).
These are good things to remember as we observe Thanksgiving. We have a deliverance to remember and thank God for, a deliverance from sin by the sacrifice of our Savior. Christ delivered us from the bondage of our sins with strength, “with an outstretched arm” on the Cross, and “with a mighty hand” that was pierced for our sins. God redeemed us and brought us out of the bondage of our sins, and He is faithful and He will bring us in to our hope of heaven one day. Like Israel of old, we should recognize how God has provided for us and has worked in our lives. We should praise Him together because of His goodness to us, thanking Him and rejoicing in “every good thing” which the Lord has given unto us.
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
If Only
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
We fear that many believers today take the things of the Lord far too lightly. Of course, the concern is that at the end of their life they are going to look back with regret at what could have been, if only! When you come to the end of your life are you going to find yourself uttering those dreadful words? If only, I had lived a godly life when I was raising my children, perhaps they would have an interest in spiritual things today. If only, I had heeded the Lord’s leading and had gone to Bible School, I might have made a difference on the mission field in those regions beyond. If only, I had agreed to become a Sunday School teacher, perhaps I could have helped one of our young people avoid a shipwrecked life.
If only, I had taken the time to study the Scriptures, perhaps I could have been used of the Lord to win souls to Christ and comfort those who were crying out for help! If only, I hadn’t been so selfish and self-serving. If only! As we prepare to stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, mark these words, and mark them well: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.
Christ in Gethsemane
Putting Timothy in Remembrance – 2 Timothy 1:6-8
Summary:
We know the spiritual gifts had begun to fade away by the time Paul wrote this epistle for he left a man behind “sick” (IITim.4:20) instead of healing him. So Paul tells Timothy to “stir up” his gift that was fading.
His gift had to do with the “tears” (1:4) that came naturally to him as a timid man. It was the gift of apostle (Eph.4:8-11), a gift that we know made Paul bold, for once it faded this bold apostle had to ask for prayer that he might be bold (Eph.6:18,19). Paul was “the” apostle of the Gentiles (Rom.11:13) but Barnabas was an apostle (Acts 14:14) as was Silvanus and Timothy (ITh.1:1; 2:6).
I pause to add that when I say that Paul’s gift of apostle faded, he was still our apostle, just as when the gifts of pastor and teacher faded we still had pastors and teachers (Eph.4:8-11). We just didn’t have men with those gifts. And we still don’t, but we still have Paul as our apostle.
How’d Paul expect Timothy to stir up his gift? With God’s Word, just as God stirred up Cyrus (Ezra 1:1,2) by predicting his name and the fact that he’d rebuild Israel’s temple a hundred years earlier (Isa.44:28).Once king, Cyrus figured that meant Israel’s God was God and he should do what He predicted he’d do. So Paul expected Timothy to use the Word to stir up the boldness his departed gift took.
Remember, the “profit” of the gifts (ICor.12:7) was replaced with the profit of the Word (IITim.3:16). So if you want boldness, you too have to look to the word to “stir” it up (II Peter 1:12,13; 3:1,2).
Why did Paul have to say God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear (1:7)? Who would think He did? Some might, for we know that He gave the suffering that caused the spirit of fear (Phil.1:29). Suffering for the Lord is a gift, a privilege (Acts 5:40,41), something that comes along with the gift of being able to serve Him. But the fear that often goes along with suffering is not a gift from God (Phil.1:27-29), it was a gift from Satan, who doesn’t want us to be bold.
It is called “the spirit” of fear because a spirit can take you over completely (cf.Mt.17:15), and fear can do that too. To counter this, God gave the spirit “of power” (1:7). How do we get that? Well, in time past God pointed to the Red Sea as an example of His power (Job 26:12; Isa.50:2). If you knew your God could part the Red Sea, wouldn’t it have given you a spirit of power if you lived back then?
In the New Testament, God points to the resurrection of Christ to exemplify His power (Rom.1:3,4). If you know your God can raise the dead, it should give you the spirit of power! The Red Sea miracle can’t give us the spirit of power, for we know God’s not saving His people from death like that in this age. But the resurrection of Christ can, for we know God plans to raise us in power as well (ICor.6:14; 15:43). His resurrection should give us the same spirit of power it gave the apostles. They forsook the Lord in fear when He was arrested, but preached boldly at Pentecost after He rose from the dead.
But to not be ashamed to testify for the Lord you’ll also need the motivation of the spirit “of love” (1:7). You have to love people to testify to them! The problem is, most people are unlovable. So you need the spirit of love Christ showed when He died for the unlovable (Rom.5:6,10).
You’re also going to need the spirit of “a sound mind” to testify to people. Wisdom makes a mind sound (Pr.2:7; 3:21; 8:14), and the wisdom that comes from being sound in God’s word makes a man not “ashamed” (Ps.119:80). Of course! People fear to testify for fear they’ll be asked a question they can’t answer, and wisdom and knowledge can dispel this fear. The gifts of wisdom and knowledge used to dispel it (ICor.12:8), but now “sound doctrine” does (Tit.1:9), “the form of sound words” we learn from Paul (IITim.1:13).
Sound doctrine will make you unashamed of “the testimony of our Lord” through Paul, that Christ died for all (ITim.2: 5,6) and that we are not under the law (Gal.5:3). We should also not be ashamed of Paul. Onesiphorus wasn’t (IITim.1: 16), but Timothy was, for he feared dying as he had.
