Paul's Charge to Timothy - Part 2

Part 2 of 6 part series

In Part 1 we looked at Paul's charge to Timothy and the basic background to that instruction.  We looked at the key verse in the charge - 2 Timothy 4:2 - and looked at the first facet of preaching the Word of God - Exhorting.  We now turn our attention to the next point

The next point is reproving.    Another word for reproving is convicting.  Preaching the message must convict.  Charles Spurgeon says something along the lines of; that a Christian is not a true Christian until they are absolutely convicted of their sins in the first place.  They must reach a point where they see the absolute depravity of their situation and cry out in desperation God for forgiveness.  It is the responsibility placed on evangelists, and pastors in particular to convict sinners of their sins.  We seldom see that at altar calls these days, do we?

Repentance means to turn away from sin and towards God through Jesus and can only come about when one is convicted of their sins.  That is a violent act for the flesh and the sinners spirit but for fleshly desires it is destructive, but for the spirit is powerfully constructive.   It is like turning a large ship, full steam ahead into rocks 180 degrees around and steaming on full power away.  If the captain saw the rocks and said, ”Oh look, some rocks! We had better back off a bit, but after I have finished my nice cup of tea.” What would the result be?  BANG, SINK, DROWN, DEAD!  The captain instead says “YIKES – ROCKS!  Full reverse - NOW! (He may even drop the cup)”   Unless we see the hopelessness of our sinful existence, or make others see that hopelessness, they have little chance of understanding what repentance actually means. 

I have stood on the edge of an active Volcano – Yasur in Tanna,just like the people in this photo:

This is what you can see in the daytime.  Notice the steep sides!

Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet … Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. (Rev 19:20)

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, (Rev 20:10)

Rev 20:14-15 (NET)

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire.

 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

My friend, your life and the life of others is not a game!

For me personally, that reason, like Spurgeon’s, is all about quality of conversion not quantity. I would rather see one person saved and truly repent, and remain a disciple of Christ, and become greater in the eyes of God than I am (however significant I am only God knows) than to see thousands cite the sinners prayer at one of my services without truly being convicted of their sins and wandering back “onto the rocks” days later.  If they never truly come to repentance then they are never truly saved.  Those that are not saved are not in the book of life and they will spend eternity in torment. 

It is not only my belief but also the belief of men such as AW Tozer, George Whitefield and John Wesley.  These great men of God preached and wrote of the importance of conviction leading to repentance.  We often joke about fire and brimstone preachers.  Yes we must share the gospel message with courtesy and respect (1Pe 3:15-16) and not go around everywhere and tell people they are going to hell!  God is not interested in people that only repented to avoid the lake of fire, but he is delighted by people who see how depraved sin is stopping and  calling out to God - Abba, Father!  Save me!

The modern preacher instead, tries to avoid completely terms like hell, fire and brimstone, and “ghastly” concepts by replacing them with catch phrases like

• “Repent and God will bless you with wealth and happiness”
• “Come to Jesus and he will take away your sickness”
• “Become a Christian and your life will improve”
• “Join us and become a part of our family because we will make you welcome”
• “Give give give.  Give and receive back from God, 10, 30, 50 , 100 fold!”
• “If you accept Jesus as your saviour you will go to Heaven”

I have just got of the internet where I was in dialog on a public forum just now over the topic “is smoking sin.”  I pointed out a few things which I won’t go into but as I was referring to sin he accused me of edifying sin!  To him, the Holy Spirit has liberated us and we can do anything we like!  These people do not like talk about sin.  Sadly this is common amongst many evangelical preachers these days so he is merely echoing his false teacher. Joel Orsteen for one is on record for saying that he does not dwell on sin and hell but only on the good stuff.

The phrases above by themselves are straight forward enough.  In fairness I have slipped them out myself at times, especially the last one.  In themselves there are not wrong, although some offer guaranteed promises that challenge God which makes them wrong, that is the issue.  (For example, give 10% to God and he will give you 30 or 100 fold,  versus, You shall not put the Lord thy God to the test (Deut 6:16, Mat 4:7)). 

The issue is the context in which they are given.  The sinner is more convinced to become a Christian because they get something out of it, rather than the reality that they need to put so much in – their life!  Take another look at the phrases – they all say what you will get.  The result is a so called Christian with selfish ambition who has not truly converted. That person has a high probability of turning back to sin simply because they never truly turned away.  We could say that they repented (turned away) from God but that would mean that they turned towards him at some stage when most likely they didn’t.  Even if they did receive the Gospel (received being accepted and adopted and not just listened to) and then turned away, then that is Apostasy.

But it does not end there.  There are many Christians in church that believe that because they have repented and are therefore saved, that they have made it!  If you have truly repented then, yes, you are truly saved.  But we must remember that it is hard to turn that ship of our heart and thoughts around.  Picture yourself in a car speeding along and the driver turns sharply to the left.  Your body moves to the right. It tries to keep going in the line of the original movement until it adjusts to the new direction.  You do not actually move right but as the car moves left you appear to move right.  That is called Inertia.  When we repent, there is an element of spiritual inertia. We turn our lives around spiritually, but the flesh still wants to travel along the direction it once did. Because of this we must receive constant conviction. 

Francis Chen, founder of Cornerstone Church (Simi Valley, CA – and not to be confused with Cornerstone Fellowship Church) in his preface his New York Times Bestseller – “Crazy Love” said that the book was written for those “who would rather die before their convictions do.”  To be convicted you must first be convinced and to be convinced your beliefs must be reproved and in some cases rebuked.  It is easy to look at reproving as being for sinners alone but it also is constant in the life of the Christian and within the church. Reproving and indeed rebuking can be a healthy thing!   So are you absolutely convinced that Jesus died on the cross for your sins?  If the answer is no then you need more conviction, seek reproof! 

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF REPROOF

Do you believe that there is no Trinity because you have heard that the word Trinity is never mentioned in the bible?  Then you have been convicted by a heretic at some point.  As reproof I can point you to this (as a quick starter only) - Firstly, we know that God the Father is God so we do not need to prove that.

Jesus is God 

God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exod 3:14)

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” (John 8:58)

No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known. (John 1:18)

If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7)

The Holy Spirit is God

The Spirit of God is God, just as your Spirit is You

For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1Cor 2:11)  [Only God is omniscient]

The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. (Exod 14:19)  ... His people remembered the ancient times. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea, along with the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, (Isa 63:11) [These two verses speak also of Jesus]

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God. (Heb 9:14) [Only God is eternal - from everlasting to everlasting]

In addition to God the Father, no other gods are associated with God.  Just the THREE – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit- as one True God.

That is what I would have said to a very friendly, well-dressed man and his well-mannered son, both Christadelphian believers (the latest false Christian Cult to establish in Vanuatu), in the market the other day issuing pamphlets that heretically denied that the Holy Spirit and Jesus are God and that their belief there is no Trinity. Unfortunately I was busy doing other business as I would have loved to share the real Gospel with them.

Conviction is not guilt.  Conviction is belief or faith.  A Christian has a conviction that Christ died on the cross, was buried and rose again according to scripture. That is not guilt, it is faith!  Conviction not only makes us repent from sin but it also keeps us in Christ.

I will add here at the end something of paramount importance: Conviction of sin comes about through the work of the Holy Spirit.  We can lead a person to Christ the saviour but we cannot save them.  We can prove to them that sin leads to death and hell, and even directly point out their sins, but only the Spirit can convict them.

 I shake my head when I read about modern evangelists that publish how many thousands attended an altar call for salvation in some stadium someplace.  Their marketing hypes that up.  The glory is all theirs and they have received their reward. (Mat 6:2). I read a book recently by Reinhard Bonnke which I gave up half way through.  The reason why was because the only thing I really learnt was how many people come to his crusades and how big the alter calls are.  Bonkke writes a lot about the fire of the Spirit, but the only place that book belongs is in a different fire.   This is a little difficult to do as it is on my tablet!
He is more pyromaniac than charismatic.

Of the thousands, I am praising God for the few that actually got convicted by the Holy Spirit and were lead to true repentance, because they will come to know Christ.  But I have concern for the thousands who were not genuinely touched because they are most likely to fall back.  Here in Vanuatu, whenever I do an altar call, nearly everyone comes forward.  Even people who I know are strong Christians come forward to accept Christ.  I know that few are genuine but there are some who genuinely are.  If I count them (which I don’t, that kind of number doesn’t interest me.  I leave the counting to God as only he knows who to count) then there are few genuine people who actually repent. 

The evangelist receives all the attention because it is claimed that if it wasn’t for him then 1,000’s would not come forward.  I am telling you now that if a white man stands up in Africa, India, or here in Vanuatu then thousands will come forward. 

I am not denying that true evangelists can lead literally thousands to Christ because clearly that precedent has happened.  It happened during the Day of Pentecost when 5000 got saved (someone counted), during the Great Awakenings in America beginning about 150 years ago, and God still uses some Spirit filled evangelists today.  Evangelism is listed as a gift of the Holy Spirit and that gift is still active. But the true evangelist with that gifting never claims that he is the agent. 

Again, Paul says it nicely

 To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some. (1 Cor 9:22)

Save some, not plenty, or thousands, but some.  (Please do not stress that Paul said that he saved some, since only Jesus saves, as saved can be figurative as in this context). For that reason, my heart sings out in joy if I get just one come forward out of the many that truly repent. If you have never experienced that first hand (and let’s face it, most of you have never stood at the front of a church or on a stage and made an altar call – it’s no big deal if you haven’t ) then it is hard to explain that joy, but trust me, it is amazing!

Secondly, what will convict people the most is not some fancy sermon, or some entertaining performance, but what convicts is the Word of God.  If we look at a court case.  You can be convicted of you crime only if there is proof.  What proof is there that sinners are going to hell?  What proof is there that Christ died on the cross for your sins? The proof does not come from what I say, or what a famous preacher says, but the proof that you are destined to hell comes out of the mouth of the one that created it- God.  And the proof that you are destined for Eternal Life and other rewards comes from the one that created that – God.  The strongest witness for or against you is the one that created you, who knows you and knows your thoughts.  That is God . So you are convicted by the Holy Spirit based on the Word of God.

“It is God’s Word that saves souls, not our comment upon it, however correct that comment may be!  Let us, then, be scrupulously careful to honour the Holy Spirit by taking the weapon which He was prepared for us, believing in the full inspiration of the sacred Scriptures and expecting that God will prove their inspiration by their effort upon the minds and hearts of men” (Spurgeon – Sermon 2246 (1842))

[It is interesting that Spurgeon wrote this a staggering 171 years ago who wrote that about 1650 to 1700 years after Paul's letters, yet, sadly, in 170 years since Spurgeon, many modern evangelical preachers have forgotten that!]

In my next post, we will next look at the one that most preachers don't like to teach about - rebuking