2 Timothy 1:8-18 - Strong and Pure
God tests the metal of His people. Our loving Father has high standards for His people. Thank God! God's people, those saved through His eternal plan of grace through Christ Jesus, are easy to identify. They are known for their love.
God expects us to be tough, durable, resilient, flexible, and strong. But more than that, God expects us to be pure. There is a terrible, tragic story in the Old Testament where God says He has assessed the metal of his people. He looks at their actions versus their words. Sadly, in that case, He found them wanting. God predicted that an army would come from the north and surround their city (Jeremiah 6:3). The army of destruction that God would bring against Jerusalem would “build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 6:6 - almost verbatim to what Jesus prophesized in Luke 19:43!). And God says, “Don’t go out to the fields! Don’t travel on the roads! The enemy’s sword is everywhere and terrorizes us at every turn!” (Jeremiah 6:25. See also Jeremiah 14:18).
Just like in the Book of Revelation, where God assessed the metal of the seven churches, God also assesses the metal of His people today. God forbid He concludes that we are like those He labeled “Rejected Silver” (Jeremiah 6:30).
We see in Scripture what pleases and displeases God. God’s character is eternal. Never changing. The same behaviors abhorrent thousands of years ago are abhorrent today.
Ungratefulness is one thing. God blesses His people, and in thanks, we see in the Old Testament they return God’s blessing with no thanks at all. Instead, they commit adultery and they shamelessly claim there is “no judgment here, only grace” as they line up for the brothels (Jeremiah 5:7).
Another is false teaching and false prophecies. So many today claim God tells them to do this and that and they claim to have their actions (however abhorrent) authorized by “the Lord.” Like the Bereans, line everything up with Scripture and assess it.
We also hear of what God thinks of strong men who rule with arrogance, anger, and “an iron hand” (Jeremiah 5:31). Jesus spoke often about His disdain for the kind of ogre that crushes people with rules and regulations but never lifts a finger to lighten the burden and serve others (Matthew 23:4).
We see that today with so-called leaders who fly on their private jets to take a quick photo shoot of them “serving” the poor - and then fly back to one of their mansions. It is truly sickening. God sees it all. Sadly, we do see denominations and churches run with an iron hand, with little to no oversight. They put their kids and other sycophants in charge of the “ministries.” There is no accountability and little care for God’s principles of good, godly, governance. And God says, “Worse yet, my people like it that way” (Jeremiah 5:31).
Men of the church, please step up as servant leaders today. Be the great husbands, dads, and servant leaders that Jesus Christ, our Master and Saviour, calls us to be. Yield to others. Moreso put the interests of others ahead of yourself.
There is no excuse for accepting, enabling, or encouraging what God distains. God will test our metal. He calls us to salvation and to live godly lives in obedience to Him. Let’s live it out.
Let’s remind each other that from the beginning God had a plan. A plan to give us eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We trust in Jesus and we are saved from destruction. There is no other way to God. The call of Jesus, now, for you and me, is to live a holy life. God won. God wins. He shows us the way to life and immortality through the Good News.
God makes this plain to us (1:10). Stay away from the babblers that focus on predicting the return date of Christ, what the “rapture” will entail, where such and such nation must be at such and such time, the tribulation for these and not for those, and earthly events they so boldly claim to have special knowledge about. They’ve missed what God has made plain. To them, a show of godliness is just a revenue source.
We are called to live with the Holy Spirit's power, love, and discipline. We are called to holy living in this life and to trust God that He will return and bring us to heaven. Until He does we faithfully serve Him to make disciples and help grow His kingdom. We trust God and His promise that He is being patient before His return so that more people can believe in Him.
Wholesome teaching focuses on the new life that we have as believers in Christ Jesus. And the promise of eternal life with Christ - better beyond imagination than anything we can speculate about. It focuses on the need to put faith into action, to be prepared to suffer for Christ and to trust that we will be rewarded on the day of Christ’s return (1:18).
Lord God, thank you for your grace and your plan of salvation. Thank you for testing our metal and for helping us to live pure lives in your power. Please help your people focus on the pattern of godly teaching passed down through the Saints. Please use this generation in a mighty way to build your Kingdom and if you are willing, please help us to train the next generation to far exceed anything that we could imagine as they too serve you. For we know that we are victorious in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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