LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The 'Stop' Sign
Comparing 1 and 2 Timothy gives us the impression that the former is like a 'Stop' disc, and the latter is the catastrophe resulting from not having respected it. In Chile, when there is a "Stop" sign next to a railway line, you have to stop. Otherwise, you run the risk of being run over by the train.
In 1 Timothy, the 'Stop' disc is a series of solemn warnings. Paul senses that a catastrophe is about to occur. There are ungodly men who are introducing strange doctrines, men with seared consciences and inauthentic faith, who are entangled in theological minutiae. Paul then begins to review the various aspects of a believer's life, praying that these warnings be heeded and that there be a return to the simplicity of the faith, and to walking with a clean heart, for the days of apostasy are coming.
Now then, was the warning obeyed, was the apostle's 'Stop' record obeyed? To find out we have to go to 2 Timothy. This letter has passages like this one: "All those in Asia have forsaken me ... Demas has forsaken me by loving this world ... Alexander the coppersmith has caused me many evils ... In my first defense no one stood by me". 2 Timothy is a letter that shows us a bleak picture. The apostasy foretold has come. The record 'Stop' was not respected.
It is that, at some point our great revelations, our faith and our words have to be tested, and then you see if the faith is genuine, or corrupted. Then you see whether Paul's message to Timothy -this dramatic message of the first epistle to live a godly life- was heeded or not. Surely Hymenaeus and Alexander, Demas, Phygellus and Hermogenes, and all the other apostates listed here, received again and again the Lord's admonition, but they did not heed it.
The days we live in today are very much like those days. We have the strong impression that we are living in the days of 1 Timothy, and that very soon the Christian world will be plunged into the situation presented in 2 Timothy. Therefore, this epistle is a dramatic call to pause, to consider our ways and decide to live a godly life.
It is so pitiful and sad -more than for us, for the Lord- to see how in the walk the faith is denied and holy principles are neglected. How the testimony is sullied. And then the Lord seems to say to us: "My son, it is not only important to me that you know my eternal plan and purpose. I care not only that you have knowledge, but also that what you know is translated into holy and godly conduct".
After 1 Timothy -the 'Stop' record- comes 2 Timothy -the ruin, the catastrophe, the train that runs over the car. We still have time to stop and examine our path. It is still time to make amends. If we do not, we may sink in the same shipwreck as Hymenaeus and Alexander.