“Hymenaeus and Alexander…I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (I Timothy 1:20).

Who were these guys, how were they blaspheming, and what does it mean when it says Paul delivered them to Satan? What’s Satan’s address anyway? Well, there seems to be more than one Alexander in the Bible, but there is only one other mention of a Hymenaeus:

“…Hymenaeus and Philetus…concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (II Tim. 2:18).

If our text is speaking of the same man teaching the same error, it would appear that by the time Paul wrote these words in his second epistle to Timothy that Alexander had learned not to blaspheme. But Hymenaeus had evidently gone on to find a new partner in a man named Philetus. These new “partners in crime” then proceeded to “overthrow the faith of some” by continuing to teach Hymenaeus’ error, “that the resurrection is past already.”

Since the “overthrow” of Sodom involved its complete destruction (Gen. 19:24,25), the overthrow of a believer’s faith must involve the same. I know it would destroy my faith in God if I thought that the resurrection of the Rapture had taken place and I’d been left behind, instead of being caught up to meet the Lord in the air with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord as God promised (I Thes. 4:15-17).

Rather than allow the faith of God’s people to be overthrown like that, Paul went on in the very next verse to argue that the resurrection could not be past:

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His…” (II Timothy 2:19).

Paul responded to Hymeneus’ error by declaring that the Lord knows them that are His, so there is no way He would have left any believer behind at the Rapture!

When Hymeneus and Alexander first began to teach otherwise, Paul delivered them to Satan in the same way he told the Corinthians to deliver a man to Satan (I Cor. 5:5), by putting him out of the assembly (v.2,13). That may sound harsh, but Paul knew it was the only way Hymeneus and Alexander would “learn not to blaspheme.”

When we think of blasphemy, we think of cursing the name of God (Lev. 24:15,16), but there are other ways to blaspheme. When the king of Assyria suggested that God couldn’t deliver His people the way He promised He would (II Kings 18:33—19:2), Hezekiah pronounced it “blasphemy” (19:3). And this is the kind of blasphemy of which Hymeneus and his cohorts were guilty as well. When they suggested that God couldn’t deliver every member of the Body of Christ at the Rapture, as He promised He would in the epistles of Paul, they too blasphemed!

If you are thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ plans to employ a “no man left behind” policy at the Rapture, don’t forget that after assuring us that “the Lord knoweth them that are His,” Paul went on to tell us how we can express our gratitude for that assurance: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (II Tim. 2:20).

Did you hear about the woman who bowed to pray on New Year’s Eve, saying, “Lord, for the coming year, I pray for a fat bank account and a thin body. And whatever You do, please don’t mix the two up like You did last year.”

While Christians often forget to pray for others, most of us remember to pray for ourselves, especially when it comes to things like that!

Of course, you wouldn’t think a pastor would forget to pray for others, but pastors are Christians too. So Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy, saying,

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” (I Timothy 2:1).

Now, when Paul only exhorts Timothy to pray after charging him to “teach no other doctrine” (1:3,18), it’s easy to conclude from this that praying is not as important as teaching. But an exhortation from God is a serious thing! After the Lord told the Jews that “the blood of all the prophets” would be “required of this generation” (Lu. 11:50,51), Peter chose to “exhort” them, “saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40). That sounds serious to me! And when Paul then exhorts us to pray, we know that prayer must be just as serious a matter in the eyes of God.

As we look back to the previous chapter to see why Paul would exhort Timothy to pray “therefore,” we see that Paul just finished charging him to “war a good warfare” (1:18). Well, what does every soldier do before going into battle? He prays! I don’t care if he’s a Christian or not. An old saying says, “There are no atheists in foxholes!”

Yet, as Christians, it is so easy to forget that God has called us to “wrestle… against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). After Paul went on in that passage to describe the armor God gave us to conduct that warfare (v. 13-17), he exhorted the Ephesians to pray (v.18). Naturally! After donning his armor, every Roman soldier was certain to pray to his god, and so must we.

Beloved, we must pray for the lost with whom we share Christ, and we must pray for the saints with whom we share the mystery, if we hope to “war a good warfare” against the wicked spirits that are keeping them in darkness with their “doctrines of devils” (I Tim. 4:1). If you are laboring to bring souls to Christ and then build them up in the faith, why not follow the example of Epaphras, who was “always laboring fervently…in prayers” that people might “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).

Did you hear about the 911 operator who one day answered a call from a frantic-sounding man who said, “My wife is in labor and her contractions are only a minute apart!” When the operator asked, “Is this her first child?” the man replied, “No, you idiot, this is her husband!” A clear case of mistaken identity!

We often see another case of mistaken identity when men read Paul’s words in I Timothy 3:16:

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

Most commentaries insist that Paul is speaking about the Lord Jesus, and it’s true He was God “manifest” in the flesh (Jo.1:14). But it wasn’t a “mystery” that God would be manifest in the flesh of the Lord Jesus, it had been prophesied (Isa. 7:14 cf. Mt. 1:23). Paul is actually talking about “the church, which is His Body” (Eph. 1:22,23). Today God is manifest in our flesh (II Cor. 4:10,11). This was “a great mystery” (Eph. 5:32), hence “great is the mystery of godliness!” The word “godly” means God-like, and Christ wasn’t like God, He was God! We’re the ones who are supposed to be godly! This understanding fits the context better too, for Paul had been talking about the church (I Tim. 3:1-14), not the earthly life of Christ.

Those who believe Paul is speaking about Christ here say that God was “justified in the Spirit” in Matthew 3:16. But the Lord’s baptism didn’t justify God, it identified Christ! (Jo.1:31-34). But God was justified in us. You see, for thousands of years men thought God was unjust in saving adulterers and murderers like David. But our apostle Paul explained how God could be “Just, and the Justifier of him which believeth” when He explained how Christ paid for our sins by becoming our “propitiation” (Rom. 3:26).

It’s true that Christ was “seen of angels” (Mt.4:11; Lu.22:43; Acts 1:9,10) but this was no mystery either (Ps. 91:11 cf. Mt. 4:6,7). It was a mystery, however, that the Body of Christ would even exist (Eph. 3:1-9) let alone be seen of angels (v. 10). In addition, God was definitely not “preached unto the Gentiles” when Christ was here on earth (Mt. 10:5,6; 15:24; Rom. 15:8). But He was preached to the Gentiles by Paul (Rom. 15:16; Eph. 3:8 etc.), and by members of the Body of Christ ever since.

Finally, God wasn’t “believed on in the world” when Christ preached Him, but He was believed on in the world through Paul (Col. 1:6). And while God was “received up into glory” in Christ (Mark 16:19), the Lord’s ascension was no mystery (Ps. 68:18). But it is a mystery that we’ll be received up into glory (I Cor. 15:51,52). I know Paul says God “was” received up into glory, and we haven’t yet been raptured, but Paul was a prophet, and the prophets saw future things so clearly they often spoke of them in the past tense (cf. Isa. 53:5-12).

There are plenty of verses that teach the deity of Christ (Isa. 9:6; John 1:14; 10:30; Col. 2:9), so don’t try to force that precious doctrine on this verse! Instead, remember that in the dispensation of grace, if God is not manifest in your flesh, He is not manifest in anyone’s flesh. So live your life in such a way that others will question their disbelief in God.

“Jacob…lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night… and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows…And he dreamed, and…awaked out of his sleep, and…said…this is none other than the house of God” (Genesis 28:10-17).

And you thought your starter house was humble! At least you had a roof over your head and pleasant amenities like walls, doors and windows. As you can see, the first house that God called home here on earth had none of those luxuries!  As a result, His first houseguest slept outdoors on the ground with rocks for pillows.

God’s next house was a little more substantial, but fairly small.  The tabernacle that God called home among the people of Israel was nothing more than a tent, and could easily have been featured on the TV show Tiny House Nation.  Especially when you consider that “the most holy place” (Ex.26:34), a place within the “holy place” of the tabernacle (v. 33), was God’s actual dwelling place.  We know that the tabernacle was small enough to be a mobile home, for God’s people carried it through the wilderness for forty years.

When God finally decided to settle down, He chose to put down roots in Israel, where “Solomon…built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem” (I Chron. 6:32).  And just like the tabernacle, Solomon’s house of God had an “inner house, the most holy place” (I Kings 7:50).  Thus it was true of both the tabernacle and the temple that God’s house in Israel was actually a house-within-a-house.

But this house-within-a-house is nothing compared to the living arrangements God has today.  The physical body of every believer “is the temple of the Holy Ghost” (I Cor. 6:19).   But “the house of God” today is also the local church (I Tim. 3:15), the gathering of God’s people together in a local assembly.  And the people of the local assembly are housed within the larger house of “the church, which is His Body” (Ephesians 1:22,23), a church made up of all believers!  Thus today God dwells in a house-within-a-house—within-a-house.  Now that’s a great house!

“But in a great house there are…vessels…to honour, and some to dishonour” (II Tim. 2:20). Which are you?  If your house is not in order, maybe it’s time to do a little housecleaning. Our apostle Paul says, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness” (II Cor. 7:1). God’s starter house was pretty humble, but with a little spiritual elbow grease you can make your body a house that brings Him great glory.

“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (I Timothy 2:8).

I’m often asked if Paul meant we should literally lift our hands when we pray. Since this is how David prayed (Ps. 141:2), we know there’s nothing wrong with doing so, as long as you understand what Paul meant when he stipulated that the hands you lift in prayer must be “holy.”

I say that because some think that Paul is referencing the Law, where God vowed He wouldn’t hear His people if the hands they lifted in prayer weren’t holy:

“…when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isa. 1:15 cf. Ps. 66:18).

But this cannot be what Paul had in mind here, for “we are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15). Sin does not hinder your prayers in the dispensation of grace, but all who love the Lord will be careful not to presume upon God’s grace by continuing in sin that grace may abound (Rom. 6:1,2).

But this means there must be some other reason the apostle speaks of lifting up holy hands, and there is. You see, in the context, Paul has just finished instructing us to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority” (I Tim. 2:1,2). So Paul is actually saying that the hands you lift in prayer to pray for our leaders in government must not be involved in any unholy subversive activities against the leaders in government for whom you are praying, leaders to whom God says we should be subject (Titus 3:1) without resisting (Rom. 13:1-7).

This is also why Paul says men should pray “without wrath and doubting” (I Tim. 2:8). Some would connect his words here to the kingdom program, where the Lord told the Jews to whom He ministered, (See Matthew 15:24 and Romans 15:8.) “when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any” (Mark 11:25). There was certainly no room for wrath in an instruction like that! They were also told,

“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart… he shall have whatsoever he saith… what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:23,24).

But every believer who has ever prayed without doubting, only to not receive whatsoever he prayed for, knows that we are not under God’s kingdom program for Israel any more than we are under the Law that He gave them. So these references to wrath and doubting under the kingdom program cannot be what Paul had in mind when he said to pray “without wrath and doubting.”

Rather, in the context, Paul is directing us to pray for our leaders in government without the wrath toward them that was probably so common among God’s people in Paul’s day that the apostle had to address it. Even today, believers are continuously angry with our leaders, and always doubting their ability to lead us. So Paul’s instruction that we should pray for them “without wrath and doubting” is as needful today as it was the day those words left his pen. So instead of railing on our leaders, beloved, let’s pray for them.

“…the house of God…is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15).

The word “pillar” should remind every Bible student of the pillar that God gave Israel to guide them through the wilderness to the promised land (Nehemiah 9:12). After the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they needed a guide. They had been slaves for 400 years, and didn’t have a clue as to where they were going! It’s not like Pharaoh let his slaves take exploratory vacations. So God had to lead them every step of the way with the pillar.

Once Moses had written the Book of the Law, however, the pillar disappeared. Of course! Now they had a Book to guide them every step of the way. No matter where they went in life, they had a reliable Guide to teach them how to walk and please God. And now that Book has been completed and resides in the local church! No wonder God calls the church the pillar of the truth! God’s people should follow that Book as closely as the Jews followed their pillar. How closely was that?

“…when the cloud tarried… then the children of Israel…journeyed not… when the cloud… was taken up… then they journeyed…” (Numbers 9:18-22).

When the pillar moved, they moved. When it rested, they rested. In other words, they didn’t make a move without the benefit of its guidance. Does that sound like a good way to follow the Book today? Beloved, God has graciously given us a Guide that can help us navigate the most treacherous paths of life. The One who steers the stars (Job 38:32) has deigned to guide the lives of His people. May we never forsake His direction!

This great Guide has further equipped us with a place to meet to hear His Book taught. If there is no church near you where God’s rightly divided Word is taught in all its clarity, continue to share the gospel with the lost and Pauline truth with the saved. The people with whom you share God’s guidance just might want to start meeting at your house to discuss it. And God has a word for such meetings—He calls it church (Rom. 16:5; I Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 1:2).

These references to churches that met in homes are especially significant when we remember how small the homes were in those days. There’s a reason the Lord had to send the apostles out to find a home large enough for twelve men to eat the Passover (Mark 14:12-16). Such rooms are not that uncommon today, but they were then! Thus Paul’s allusions to churches that met in those humble homes tells us that the smallest of gatherings is a church in God’s eyes, one that He will be pleased to call His house, the pillar and ground of the truth in your community.