Battle Ready

Tuesdays With Timothy #11

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;  19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Even though God had given specific words of prophetic commendation concerning Timothy, these prophesies were to be both a comfort to him and a warning. God's sovereignty in no way takes away from man's responsibility and the fact that Timothy had a very unique calling did not take away from the responsibility he had to remain faithful to God in the work in which he was called.

This is the second charge to Timothy in the chapter. The first charge dealt with his public ministry and his preaching the true gospel while this second charge deals with his personal holiness as a man of God. One thing we will note through the book is the necessity of a pastor strive in the area of personal godliness. I never fully appreciated the famous words of Robert Murray M'Cheyne until recently when he said "The greatest need of my people is my personal holiness." How could that be? Why is personal holiness in the ministry of such great importance? It is important both for the church and the man because if the man is not faithful in his personal life, he is in danger of not being faithful in his service to others. If a man will allow his own soul to be thrust off course, imagine the danger to those who listen to his preaching.

There are three parts to this charge and a word of warning. The first part is concerning the war. Paul charges Timothy to lead a successful campaign in spiritual warfare. The ministry is war. It is a spiritual battle against invisible forces. There are battles from within. Battles without. Battles with men and battles with unseen spiritual forces. We wage a spiritual war - a battle of ideas and worldviews. It was Paul's hope that in the battle, Timothy would stand strong and not give up. Remember the prophecies, Timothy. Remember that God has called you into His service. Remember, Timothy, that you have not been called into a life of ease, but a life of war. The man of God is a war time, military man.

The second is holding faith. I do not believe that this is "holding to the faith, in a good conscience" but I think that this is the second of three charges. Paul is charging Timothy to faithfulness in the ministry. Paul has already charged Timothy to hold the doctrine with fidelity. Now, in his personal ministry, Timothy must hold faithful to his post. He is to be faithful in his duty and faithful in the discharging of the sacred mission of pastor. He is to hold in his possession the faithfulness of a servant of Christ. He cannot break but must hold the line in his service to the King.

The third, a good conscience. Timothy is to labor to have a good conscience towards God and man. You cannot do the work of a man of God for any other purpose than to bring glory to Christ. The man of God must stand faithful and strong in the work of the ministry and to do so without a guilty conscience. Can the man of God stand before the people of God and call them to follow or rebuke sin when he is plagued by a guilty conscience? No, he must strive to be like Paul and have a clean conscience before all men and God. What does this mean? It means saying you’re sorry when you have sinned. It means eating crow. It means confessing your faults first to your Lord and know that His precious blood has cleansed you from all unrighteousness and then confessing your faults to your people when you have sinned. Only a man with a clear conscience can stand in battle. The Accuser will use the guilty conscience like blackmail, to silence the man, to shame him into pulling punches in his preaching or even worse, to compromise Biblical truth.  A man must be able to stand before those who oppose firm and confident, not having anything to fear or nothing to hide. That is a powerful place to be. This is the high ground in the spiritual battle. There will be accusations, battles, strife’s, fights and all the rest of the ugliness of a continual gathering of sinners in a fallen world. If it happened with our Lord, can we expect anything less? Timothy was not going to be perfect (no one is) but he must be well sure that he is doing his job faithfully and not doing it with a guilty conscience, otherwise, he will not be able to discharge his duty in the war. A guilty conscience or the slightest compromise in faithfulness is the first step towards apostasy.

Some men, two in particular, had done the work of the ministry in such a way as to apostatize from the faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander put away, or thrust away, cast aside their good conscience. They drove away their faithfulness to the work and cast away their good conscience and became castaways themselves. These men, who evidently were ministers of the gospel, where at the helm guiding God's people through the storms of this life by the Word of God. But a little compromise here and a little hiding of the sin there, had thrown, not only their ministry off course, but their very faith to the point of uttering blasphemies against God and thrust from the protective care of the church to be sifted as wheat by the enemy. They were called to war a warfare. They were not faithful to the post and now they are trapped behind enemy lines, without armor, without protection, without backup - alone. How could men, who ministered with Paul, fall so low? One small little step at a time. Be forewarned, by brethren. Take heart and courage.