Let us consider a little further some of
the indications of the existence of a real crisis at the
time when Paul wrote these letters to Timothy. We have
noted the first feature of that crisis in the imminent
departure and withdrawal of Paul himself from the scene.
Undoubtedly the Apostle was writing largely for that very
reason. The things he was saying to Timothy were said
largely because he was going. These things needed saying,
because the responsibility was going to be left to
others, and to Timothy in a particular way. It
constituted a very big change that Timothy and the
faithful men mentioned by the Apostle (2 Tim. 2:2) were
to take up the work and the responsibility, to stand in
the place that Paul had occupied. And so the Apostle was
laying the burden very heavily upon Timothy and these
others, because of his near-at-hand departure.
Then we
took note of that secession from himself, to which he
refers. All those who were in Asia had turned from him;
they were no longer prepared to follow Paul, no longer
standing with him in the truth and purpose for which he
had given his life, no longer faithful to the great
revelation which God had given him. Perhaps they did not
have an adequate apprehension of how great a thing it was
that had come through Paul. For it is difficult to
believe that anyone who had a real apprehension of the
greatness of those things could turn away like this.
However, be that as it may, they were leaving Paul, which
meant that they were leaving what Paul had sought to
realise.
Peril of Moral Laxity
Furthermore,
we began to note the change toward a real state of
spiritual depreciation, indicated by the content of these
two letters. I will not turn you to every fragment and
every passage indicative of these things, but it does not
take very long to read these letters, and I would suggest
that, after having had it pointed out, you take them up
anew and read them carefully. Read them again and again.
The Apostle refers to some things that are worse than sad
or grievous - they are quite evil. There are things
creeping in and having a place amongst Christians, such
as moral laxity - carelessness in moral conduct and
relationships; truly a sign of a lowering of spiritual
temper, temperature, standard. The beginnings of it, so
far as the Church, so far as Christianity was concerned,
are traceable in these letters. The Apostle is saying, in
effect: 'These two things cannot go together:
spirituality - a real, true spiritual life - and moral
laxity.'
Perhaps
you think that that is a terrible subject even to
mention. I do not know whether that is so, but the world
is a terrible place, a terrible place, morally, and we
all have to live here. The atmosphere is full of it, the
papers are full of it, and it is not always easy to keep
that atmosphere, if not that kind of life, altogether at
bay. It insinuates itself, and it is a very, very
persistent means employed by the Devil to ruin the
spiritual life. The enemy will not scruple to catch the
people of God on the line of moral laxity, and if he can
do that, he has ruined their testimony.
You
remember that we began our last chapter by referring to
the Tabernacle as the shrine of the testimony of God, and
to God's recognition of the need to reinforce the
corners, the turning-points - that is, to reinforce
spirituality against the perils and dangers of a corner,
a change-round from one line to another. You see, it is
the TESTIMONY that is involved. And let me say
this: that, far from being the least involved, or the
most immune, Christian people are more in danger of this
very thing than anyone else. If the enemy can get a
Christian on that low level of life, at that point, he
has struck a masterblow. If he can get a servant of God
overcome there, he has surely consolidated his ground
against the testimony of Jesus. Therein is a long and
terrible history; it explains much. Hence - 'Timothy,
Timothy, "flee youthful lusts" (2 Tim. 2:22):
beware of the encroachment and inroads of this moral
laxity that is in the world - flee from it.' Is that an
unnecessary word? Forgive me, if you think so. But we
have got to reinforce against anything like that for the
testimony's sake.
Becoming Behaviour and Apparel in
the House of God
But that
is not the whole of it. I must say here some things that
I would rather not say, and if they do not apply to you
personally, your enlightenment and being made aware may
be helpful to some others in danger. For another feature
of the change and the lowering level of spirituality
marked in this letter is unbecoming behaviour in the
House of God. The House of God is mentioned, as you
notice here, and one of Paul's emphatic words here is
"how men ought to behave themselves in the house of
God" (1 Tim. 3:15); that is why he wrote this. There
is such a thing as unbecoming behaviour. And he touches
upon the women - the women with unbecoming dress, or lack
of becoming dress. Now that is not something that we like
to mention but should it not be mentioned? It is a mark
of poor spiritual life, of a low spiritual level, when
that happens; these things are a barometer of spiritual
life. For spirituality is pre-eminently practical. When
we speak of 'spiritual' things and 'spirituality', people
sometimes make a joke of it and say, 'Oh, they are so
spiritual!' Well, if you can think or talk like that, you
have not any idea of what spirituality is. Spirituality
is tremendously practical: it touches your dress, it
touches your behaviour, it touches your conduct as a
Christian! Spirituality says, 'You will not overdo it and
you will not underdo it; you will have a proper,
dignified behaviour'. That is what is here.
But is
it not a pity that these things which Paul wrote,
concerning women, sisters, for instance, have been taken
out and made subjects in themselves, so that Paul has
been reproached that he ever said such things? That is
complete mishandling. Why not recognise that this is set
in a decline of Christianity, and that these things are
marks of spiritual decline? That is why they have to be
spoken about; they are not things in themselves.
Naturally, you may have your feelings about them.
You might, for instance, be called old-fashioned, not
up-to-date; you have not moved with the times. But
if you are spiritual, you will have another kind of
argument. You will not be behind the times, and you will
not be moving with the times: you will be moving with
Heaven, and that is a different standard altogether.
Beginnings of Formalism,
Institutionalism, Ecclesiasticism, in the Church
Let us
note other indications in these letters. On the outside
there was the beginning of an altogether new situation
with Christianity itself. We here have quite clearly
indicated the beginning of ecclesiasticism, clericalism,
formalism, officialdom in Christian orders. It is all
here, it has started. Paul died, Paul was executed, and
there was a period of some twenty-five years without any
historical record of what was happening. Then we come to
the writings of John, followed by silence again. And then
men began to write, and we have the writings of men
called the Fathers. What do we find? Immediately they
begin to write, at the end of the first Christian
century, we find that clericalism is in full force and so
is ecclesiasticism. The whole principle of spiritual men
as overseers has been resolved into a system of prelates,
bishops, and what not - a non-New Testament system. This
is officialdom: men in high position ecclesiastically,
governing in an official way. It has come; here are the
beginnings. That which was spiritual - spiritual men, men
of God, functioning as overseers of the Church and of the
churches, because they were spiritual men - has now given
place to men who are officials, ecclesiastics, clerics,
and so on. A tremendous change has taken place, and it
has come right down through all the Church's history.
The
Christian ordinances were changed and the Christian
doctrines were changed. The ordinance of baptism, for
instance, was changed at the end of the first century. I
am not going to enlarge upon these things; I am taking
them as indications of a change - the turning of a corner
- the coming in now of something organized in the place
of that which was organic, of something institutional in
the place of that which was spiritual. It is the movement
away from what was spontaneous. And how spontaneous it
was! In the early days the Church was just springing up
and pressing on and expanding and growing by the sheer
life that was in it; now it is organized, now it is a
self-conscious entity, making its own appointments, and
so on. The change led to infinite loss of power, and all
the unhappy conditions that we have today.
Responsible Men in the Church Must
Be Spiritual Men
Now, the
point is that the Holy Spirit saw this encroachment, saw
this thing beginning, and sought to react to it. Through
Paul He wrote these letters, pointing out that elders and
overseers in the Church must be essentially spiritual
men: they must be known for their spiritual life and
measure, as well as for their moral character; and
everything in the House of God must be spiritual in its
nature and value, not official. The Lord's word, then,
now and ever, is: If you want to recover the power of
testimony in this world, recover spirituality! If you
want to have that impact and registration which was known
at the beginning you must recover the spiritual state
which existed at the beginning. Everything must be like THAT,
not like this. A man's position in the House of God
depends, where God is concerned, on his spiritual value
and nothing more. You may dress him up and decorate him
and 'lord' him, and call him by this name or that, but
with God it is no more than that man's spiritual value
that counts.
And what
is true in the realm of those in positions of
responsibility is true of everyone. Paul calls Timothy a
"man of God"; indeed, he makes it personal, and
says, "O man of God..." That is because of
Timothy's particular position of responsibility; but,
mark you, Paul uses that phrase of all others too, in the
same writing. Why are the Scriptures given and to whom
are they given? Are they only given to Timothy and to
overseers and to men in particular responsibility? Not at
all. "Every scripture inspired of God is...
profitable for" this and that, "that the man
of God..." (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Who is that?
Every one to whom the Scripture is given is called a
"man of God". So, if you have the Scriptures,
you come into that category, under that designation; you
are supposed to be a man of God, a woman of God. We are
all supposed to be 'God's men'. What are God's men, the
men of God? Again, that title belongs only to those who
are in a spiritual position, not in any formal, official
position. They are where they are because of their
spiritual life, measure and value. We cannot underline
that too strongly.
We thus
see something of the crisis involved in this change from
what was inward to everything being outward - offices and
functions and positions and titles - the introduction of
formalism. Paul is bringing it back to where it ought to
be - to the person himself, the person herself. That is
where he fastens it. In order to recover, and to
safeguard, and to protect, responsibility must be in the
hands of spiritual men and women.
John's Writings: A Renewed Recall
to Spirituality
These
are indications of the course of things, of the change
that was coming over Christianity, and, as I said
earlier, there is so much proof of this. Paul went, but
somewhere John was going on. You know that Paul went in
the terrific holocaust of persecution that led to John's
exile. John is somewhere - and then he writes his Gospel,
the Gospel of pre-eminent spirituality. You do not need
that I should stay to show that the Gospel written by
John was written with the object of bringing things back
to spiritual principles. And then he wrote his letters:
and John's letters are just full, from beginning to end,
of spiritual essentials - life, light, love, and so on.
And when you come to his Revelation, and read those
chapters containing the Lord's challenge to the churches
in Asia - Paul's churches -what do you find? Full
development of those things of which we have been
speaking! Moral laxity: "thou sufferest the woman
Jezebel"; formalism, empty show: "thou hast a
name that thou livest, and thou art dead"; and so
on. The thing has come about.
But,
again, what is the Lord's reaction? It is a reaction to a
spiritual position. What are 'overcomers'? Overcomers are
simply those who have maintained or recovered spiritual
ground. It is not easy, in a world like this, in the
present course of things, in Christianity as it has
become, to recover or to maintain purely spiritual
ground. You will suffer for it, so the Lord said. I
venture to say that it is far more difficult to keep a
clear, straight spiritual course in the Christian life,
than it is to live just as a Christian in this world. To
live as a Christian in the world may be difficult, but
you will find that there are difficulties in Christianity
which you will never encounter from the world. Am I
right? Yes, "a man's foes shall be they of his own
household" has a very much larger meaning. A
spiritual course in Christianity is exceedingly difficult
- because of Christians. Christianity has become very
largely the enemy of spirituality.
These
are strong things to say, but, you see, it is a matter of
the effectiveness of testimony, the purity of testimony.
I am not at the moment touching upon the doctrinal side
of things. A large part of these letters is given up to
departure from former doctrine, and I may come to that in
some measure later on. What I am concerned with just now
is to demonstrate two things: firstly, that this kind of
crisis happens, it is the kind of thing that happens
again and again, it is a besetting peril all along the
line, to drop from the full, high, spiritual level to
which the Lord has called, away to something lower and
something less; and then, secondly, that God has ever and
always reacted, and still does react by trying to get His
people on to a more spiritual level of things, to
increase their spiritual measure, their spiritual life.
It is the only way to overcome, it is the only way to get
through and (to come to the letters again) to be able at
the end to hand back the deposit to the Lord unspoilt.
"O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto
thee" (1 Tim. 6:20). 'Guard the deposit! Hand it
back at the end, unsullied, unspoilt, undiminished,
intact!' Paul, on that very matter, says: "I have
finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim.
4:7) - 'Timothy, take it up and do the same.' That is the
effect of it. "Guard that which is committed unto
thee" - the deposit of God.
Timothy an Instrument of the
Divine Reaction
Now let
us come to the Divine reaction more particularly and
specifically. I would ask you to take note of this.
Timothy himself is at this point being marked out as the
instrument of the Divine reaction to the existing trend
of things. And Timothy therefore assumes the role of a SIGN.
Now, that is not a new idea in the Bible, is it? Ezekiel
was told by the Lord that He had made him a sign for the
house of Israel (Ezek. 12:6,11; 24:24,27). And Timothy
comes into that position or function, as a sign: he must
himself be indicative of what spiritual features are,
what spirituality is. Let us then look at Timothy - first
of all, shall we say, negatively - remembering that he is
himself a symbol of things essential to recovery. We are
going to find much comfort and help here, all of us. What
are these things?
First of
all, weakness. You can despise Timothy, if you like; they
did that when he was alive. Paul said to him: "Let
no man despise thy youth" (1 Tim. 4:12). Naturally,
he was despised, and in weakness. Then, dependence. It
looked as though Paul was providing him with a set of
crutches to help him to keep on his feet! So much of what
Paul wrote to Timothy indicated these things about him.
Speaking of Timothy naturally, you might say that he was
evidently a very timid, nervous sort of young man, who
needed all the time to be bucked up. Surely, Timothy must
have been very weak, seeing all these things were
necessary!
Weakness and Dependence the Ground
for Spirituality
Look at
it that way, if you like; but there are other ways of
looking at it. This is the most suitable and promising
ground for spirituality - indeed, it is absolutely
essential to the thing that God is after and Paul was
after! What shall we say about Timothy? Paul thought a
very great deal of him; Paul, who did not usually err in
the matter of wisdom and discretion, put Timothy into a
very, very important place. Timothy was an apostle,
although he was never called that. Timothy was an elder,
although he was never called that. But Timothy was more.
There was in Timothy a combination of all the functions
from an evangelist to a church-builder. "Do the work
of an evangelist". He was THE elder amongst
the elders of the church at Ephesus - no small
responsibility! Think of Ephesus. What was Paul thinking
of, sending someone like Timothy to put things right at
Ephesus, to take charge in Ephesus, to correct and to
build in Ephesus? Preposterous to send a young fellow
like that, of this kind!
Well,
spiritual and natural abilities are in altogether
different worlds! And when God reacts to recover, or acts
to provide against a threat, a peril, a danger that has
the characteristics we have noted, He brings His
instrument down to nothingness - He empties it out and
makes it more conscious of its weakness and of its
dependence than of anything else. In this greatest of all
works of God - the maintaining of His testimony in
absolute purity and truth - there is no place whatever,
amongst those who are involved, for assumption: for
assuming that they are something, or assuming that they
can do something, or assuming that they are called to
this or that. There is no place, either, for presumption
- that is, running ahead of God, running ahead of the
Spirit. There is no place for self-importance, for
self-sufficiency, for self-assertiveness - no place for
any of these things. If you and I are going to be used
for spiritual purposes, God will take us in hand to drain
us of the last drop of anything like that, until we know
that of all men we are the most unfit and unsuited to the
thing to which God has called us; that from all natural
standpoints we have no right to be in that position at
all. That is God's way of making spiritual men and women.
Strength Through Grace
Now, if
you are acute in your mental activity, you may have
thought you are catching me out on this, because in these
letters Paul is telling Timothy he must be strong, and I
have just said he must be weak! Paul is as good as
telling him he must be full, and I have said he must be
empty! Ah, yes, but if Timothy was to be all that Paul
said he must be, then it would all be spiritual and not
natural. Is that borne out by the context? Of course it
is! "Be strong" - but it does not stop there.
"Be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus" (2 Tim. 2:1). That is not self-strength,
that is not natural strength of any kind. "The grace
that is in Christ Jesus" - be strong in that. So we
see what is the strength in the case of Timothy, as the
symbol of God's reactionary method and means in a day of
declension. The strength is to be spiritual strength.
That
works both ways. It is a word of encouragement to those
who are conscious of no strength, who only feel their
weakness; as though to say: 'Look here, that is not the
criterion, how weak you feel, at all: the criterion is
"the grace that is in Christ Jesus".' And it
works the other way. If any of us should feel that we can
do it, and press into the situation or into the position,
and take it on, assuming or presuming, then we are in for
a bad time under the hand of God - that is, if we are
going to be of any use to the Lord. Any such attitude is
going to be emptied out.
All Functions to be Spiritual, Not
Natural or Official
"Let
no man despise thy youth". Well, then, what is to be
the reaction of Timothy when he finds men despising him?
Suppose you are a young man: how would you react if you
were in his place, and I said: 'Don't you let them
despise you! Don't you let them have that attitude toward
you!'? What would you do? You could act very much in the
flesh, couldn't you? You could begin, as they say in
America, to be 'chesty' - peacockish, they mean - and
spoil it all by a false dignity, by an artificial
personality that is not yourself. Authority in the House
of God is spiritual. There is authority about a man or
woman who has real spiritual measure, that weighs, that
counts, and has influence. They may naturally be
despised, but let spiritual measure be found with them,
and you will find that in times of difficulty they are
the ones to whom people turn. We may touch again upon
spiritual authority later.
The
knowledge and the understanding are to be spiritual. The
office, if you like to use that word, whether it be of
elder, overseer, teacher, evangelist, or whatever it is,
is to be spiritual, not official. You do that because you
are that. It simply comes out because that is how you are
spiritually constituted - it is how the Holy Spirit has
constituted you. And it is a poor thing to try to be an
evangelist, or a teacher, if the Holy Spirit has not
constituted you one. Oh, what tragedies we have seen,
through people trying to be teachers, or whatever it may
be, because they like it, it appeals to them, and the
Holy Ghost has not qualified them for it. It is just like
the peacock's tail - when it has gone! Still strutting
about, but there is nothing behind it! Is there anything
more pathetic? What is the good of it all, if it is not
of the Holy Ghost?
Endurance Only Possible Through
Spiritual Measure
"Endure
hardness" - hardship - "as a good soldier"
(2 Tim. 2:3, A.V.). Endure. just think for a moment what
Timothy was called upon to endure at that time. You
perhaps have not any idea of the situation. I have
re-read lately the account of those persecutions of the
Christians which came about through Nero, and through the
Jews - the unspeakable horrors of cruelty to men, to
women, to children, to families. I should shock you if I
mentioned the inhuman, indescribable atrocities that
literally hundreds of thousands of Christians suffered at
the hands of those Roman Emperors. When Nero commanded
the burning of Rome, a scapegoat had to be found upon
whom the blame could be laid, and it was laid upon the
Jews: and the Jews said No, it was the Christians; and so
the Christians were taken. You are not surprised at the
sufferings of the Jews, are you? Not only Christ, but
hundreds of thousands of His precious children were
tortured in unspeakable agony, for many decades.
Timothy
was in the presence of that growing shadow. He knew that
his father in Christ was in prison and shortly to suffer
death. He knew that those who had been near Paul in Rome
had left him. And Paul said: "At my first defence no
one took my part, but all forsook me" (2 Tim. 4:16).
Timothy was in the presence of that! Endurance! Who COULD
endure but by the mighty power of the Spirit? You want
spiritual measure for that, you need the enduring power
of Christ for that; that is spiritual endurance, not just
natural courage.
We see,
then, that, at all times of peril to His Church, at all
times of danger, when things are threatening, and a
change seems to be coming about, the Lord, in the first
place, always tries to get His people on to higher
spiritual ground: He always seeks to increase spiritual
measure, to bring things over from the merely
professional and formal on to the ground of spiritual
life and spiritual character. And, secondly, He seeks to
remind us that we are 'GOD'S MEN': we are
not the men of a system, not men of the world, not men of
our own natural ambitions - we are God's men. It is
significant, is it not, that Timothy's name (Timo-theos)
means 'honouring God'. That is the key to everything, as
with him, so with us; that is spirituality.