I Timothy 1:18-20 – This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Speak of warfare and Korea will likely top the headlines or another warring country, but the greatest war of all is being battled on our own soil, regardless of where you are as you read this. When I Googled warfare a video clip came up of an actual military maneuver where the U.S. military were following a vehicle hauling weaponry. Their video cam zoomed in close enough to make out what they were carrying and 8-10 people on the ground, they discussed it a little while longer, received permission to deploy missiles and two seconds later those 8-10 people were in eternity and everything around them was dust.
I can assure you that Satan doesn’t call headquarters to get permission to deploy his weaponry on you this morning, we often provide our own. Wow… that was a sobering thought.
Timothy was about to go full time into the ministry, and the Apostle Paul lays a charge to him along with some heartache and sorrow from previous experience. He warns Timothy that he’s about to go to battle and his weaponry will be faith and good conscience which Paul previous ministry partners shipwrecked by walking away from the church and denying God.
My heart breaks at the friends of faith who have walked out on God. I’m not saying they blasphemed, but they at the least broke God’s heart. Satan’s missiles of choice are human. Sometimes self-inflicted wounds and other times by the words and actions of others. Usually a little of both. Because if truly we are holding onto faith we’ll let no man come between us and our Lord.
Please do not say to me that you can be as good a Christian outside of the church as I can in the church, because you have now put Satan between us, and I’d rather be looking at you this morning. It’s a lie out of the pits of Hell that you can lay out of church and not have it affect you spiritually. Little by little your faith will suffer.
What about those who cannot physically get to church you ask? First of all, ask them where they’d rather be. I believe that God takes care of us in every season of life, and there may be a season in any of our lives where we cannot attend church. But if you’re healthy and have means to attend God says in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
As time quickly passes by, we do not know the hour or day of Christ’s return. This certainly is not the time to give credence to Satan by allowing our friends and family to see us dishonoring God by being out of service.
God loves you, and I love you! I hope today finds you in the house of the Lord and celebrating your faith with good conscience. Don’t let anything or anyone keep you away from the house of the Lord. Christ died for everyone in it, there’s not a one of them perfect. I’m at the top of the list of imperfections…