CONTINUE IN KNOWLEDGE

II Tim. 3:14 ... "Continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of."

      A seafarer spies on the horizon a green speck that indicates a tropical island. As he sails closer, he can distinguish only the dense green of the jungle foliage, but upon landing and penetrating the mass of trees, all kinds of exotic wonders come into view:  beautiful birds, gorgeous flowers, and crystal clear pools streaked with multi-colored fish that flash in the sunlight. The visitor is glad that he stopped and entered this tropical paradise.

      The text above is analogous to the picture just drawn. A casual reading of it conveys a blur about continuing in something that you have learned and been assured of. But if you pause to penetrate the sentence and really see what it contains, you will find a wealth of great ideas with rich and important meaning.

      First, we recognize the gospel of Christ as the focus of attention, appreciation, and duty. It is that body of spiritual truth which must be learned, accepted, and continually applied to one's life because (1) it generates faith, (2) it offers salvation, (3) it comes from God, (4) it teaches the way of life, (5) it reproves, (6) it corrects, and (7) it instructs in righteousness, (vs. 15-16). These benefits of the gospel, when you accept it into your life, are invaluable, for they will identify you as a "man of God," that is, one who belongs to God. No more is needed in the education and regulation of the Christian life, since the gospel will make you "adequate" and "equipped for every good work." (v. 17)

      Second, you must exercise yourself to learn the gospel. This implies the motivation and willingness to learn that enables you to be diligent in regular, inquiring study. Two things are needed for the growth and good health of your body, wholesome food and proper exercise. The same is true for your soul, and the gospel provides both opportunitites. By assimilating it in your mind, it nurtures your soul; and by struggling to regulate your life by its precepts, it strengthens your soul. This combination develops the person who avails himself of it into a full grown, strong disciple of Christ. In Paul's address to the Ephesians in Acts 20:32, he said, "I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up." 

      Third, you must be persistent and loyal in applying the gospel to your life, yielding your thinking, speech, and conduct to the formative action of its doctrine. In I Cor. 9:27 the apostle declared, "I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." Paul had just spoken of athletes who trained for the Greek games. Their exercise had to be regular and intensive if they hoped to win any honor. Likewise, the Christian must be regular and intensive in exercising his life in the application of the gospel in order to obtain the crown of eternal life, (I Cor. 9:24-25).

      Fourth, the lead text above infers that someone will function as a teacher of the gospel, for someone (probably his mother Lois and grandmother Eunice) had taught the gospel to Timothy and convinced him of its truth. If someone is a learner, then someone else is a teacher. Those who have made sufficient progress in learning the gospel and experiencing it in their life situations are expected by its Author to devote themselves with interest and joy to sharing their knowledge and insight with those who are trying to learn, (Mat.28:19-20; Heb. 5:12).

      Fifth, the teacher is to do more than just present the gospel as a body of knowledge to the learner. He must also labor to convince the learner of its truth, its power, and its eternal relevance.  This is only possible when the teacher himself has already been thoroughly convinced of these things to the point where he trusts their reality with all his heart and mind. No one can build confidence in another of the truth of a declaration unless he himself has no doubts about it. The gospel has been fully confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit, (Heb.2:1-4).

IF YOU TAKE THE NAME OF CHRIST

II Tim. 2:19 ... "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness." 

      In Rom. 6:3-7 we are told that when a penitent believer is baptized into Christ his entire past record of sin is deleted from God's account and he enters into a new life where sin no longer is his master. This spiritual liberation is not achieved by virtue of what he himself has done. It is rather a blessing from God, an act of grace that brings His love into that person's soul.  God reserves that blessing, however, for those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Mrk. 16:16), repent of their sins (Acts 2:38), orally confess their faith (Rom. 10:9-10), and submit to be baptized into Christ (I Pet. 3:21). The response to these requirements is equivalent to the phrase "names the name of the Lord" in the text above. That is, Christ claims possession of the soul of anyone who calls upon His name in this divinely charted way, (Rom. 14:8), and then confers His name upon them as a seal.

      But having been thus released from a life of sin at baptism (Acts 22:16) and sealed with the name of Christ as a child of God does not make you immune to the unrelenting action of sin, which still pounds upon your soul like the waves of the sea upon the shore. This reality is the situation to which I Cor. 10:12 calls attention: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." When sin is defeated, it does not withdraw from its intended victim for long. Instead, it immediately regroups, changes the strategy, and renews the assault in a different way. Therefore, the Christian who wins a victory over sin cannot relax his vigilance to relax and exult. Having been separated from sin by God's grace, he is required to exert the most diligent effort to keep separate from it by resisting its incessant attacks. This is the intent of the phrase, to "abstain from wickedness," in the above text. In John 8:3-11, the Jews brought to Jesus a woman whom they had just caught in the act of adultery. (Wonder why they did not bring the man as well!) They reminded Jesus that the Mosaic Law required that she be stoned to death and asked Him what He thought ought to be done. Jesus did not oppose the law, but rather reminded them that every provision of it must also be applied.  And one of  those requirements was that the one who threw the first stone had to be free of sin. (The implication is not all sin, but the specific sin under consideration, adultery!) Within minutes all of the woman's accusers were gone, evidently because each of the men was also guilty of adultery. Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on sin no more."

      We all are like that sinful woman, although our sins may be other than adultery. Jesus is as willing to forgive us as He was that woman, because "God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him," (John 3:17). In fact, He is ready and willing to forgive everyone who feels the burden of sin and wants to have it removed. Jesus proclaimed in John 6:37 that "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." But when He forgives our sins, He also demands that we sever all connections with them and never resume practicing them. His order to us is the same as that to the woman, "Go your way; from now on sin no more." As we continue on the road of life day after day, we cannot avoid coming into the presence of people, things, situations, ideas and activities that are evil. But because we must approach them does not mean we must pause and get involved with them until their sin invades our lives. With our attention and affection fixed upon higher and better things, (Col. 3:2), we must pass these pitfalls of iniquity right by and leave them behind us empty and victimless. The words of Psa. 1:1 & 6 express the course of the Christian path as it must proceed: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! ... For the Lord knows the way of the righteous."

BE NOT ASHAMED

II Tim. 1:8 ... "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."

      By the time a person has reached the age of forty or fifty he is usually able to look back far enough to see that the thinking of society does not remain static. The mood of the mass gradually shifts from one complexity to another. This is apparent by what is printed in newspapers, magazines, and books; by what is presented on the radio, television, and movie screen; by the way people talk and the language they use; and by the way people dress, groom, and behave themselves. Today's youth think the music their parents loved when they were young sounds rather ridiculous. The games that little children once played are being forgotten because now electronic games seem far more exciting. Cliches and speech idioms which were known to all a half-century ago have been replaced by new ones our grandparents wouldn't understand. To catalogue such changes in our culture would be an encyclopedic enterprise.

      Some of the fashion of society remains consistent with Christian principles, mostly because it has been our cultural heritage from the past. More of the societal character is tolerant of Christian values, moving along with them in practice if not in spirit.  This is probably due to the impetus of Christian emphasis which is not yet spent, but is nevertheless dying. Still more, indeed a growing area, of the complexion of society is contrary to Christian faith and behavior, having abandoned any connection with it. And in some cases our society is militantly opposed to any attempt by Christian advocates to act as its conscience.

      It becomes an ever-increasing challenge to Christians to continue to practice and advocate the "testimony of our Lord" in the current of a world that merely tolerates it at best and openly rejects and opposes it at worst. If the life of a disciple of Jesus were allegorized as a ship at sea, then it could well be represented as navigating into the face of a storm that is raging with sin, contempt of God, profanity, and licentiousness. It is so easy to get tired of the effort, or be overcome by the shame of differing from the majority, and in desparation cease struggling any further. Many disciples turn the ship of their lives over to the force of the wind and waves of ungodliness and allow themselves to be "tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, (and) by craftiness in deceitful scheming," (Eph. 4:14). But we must be careful not to let this happen. As our text counsels, we must never let the pressure of a degenerating world force us to become "ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." We must continue to struggle against all odds for that holy faith, and it shall both sustain and deliver us in the course of time. We are encouraged in I Cor. 15:58 to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

      What we should be ashamed of is the sin in our lives, for that shame can lead to self-condemnation, repentance, confession, and finally to purification from the sin. But we should never be ashamed of "the testimony of our Lord," for its origin is not in the fallible, finite, contradictory wisdom of men but rather in the infallible, infinite, utterly consistent wisdom of God. Jesus declared in John 12:49 that "I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak." Rather than feel ashamed of God's word in the face of an antagonistic society, the Christian should feel great pride in it. There are two basic reasons for such pride, both of which are given in First Peter chapter one. First, it states that we are "born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable through the living and abiding word of God, (v. 23). And second, "the word of the Lord endures forever," (v. 25). This divine word is, therefore, both permanent and the source of eternal life for all who accept it. It is of far greater value than all that can ever be given to us by the world, which is destined to pass away, (I John 2:17).