You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if any one competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel; for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.
It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:1–13.
Every verse in this chapter seems to be an entity in itself, and the rambling of a man who had much to say. Paul was jumping from one truth to another, and yet there is an underlying foundation, and underlying current upon which all these verses rest. In one of these verses is a key that unlocks the meaning of the entire passage. Paul said, “Be strong. Commit what you have received from me to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Endure hardness as a good soldier. Be careful not to become entangled with anything in this world. If you are an athlete, run the race according to the rules. If you are a farmer, you will receive the firstfruit of the harvest. Remember me; I am in prison, but the Word that I speak is not in prison.” These statements appear to be different truths, but underlying them are the principles of faithfulness.
The principles of faithfulness must be understood, especially in this hour, for the one beautiful truth is the Lordship of Jesus Christ over His people. As they faithfully serve Him in whatever capacity He requires of them, they determine their position in the Kingdom. You may think that what you are doing and how you are serving God is not very important, and that it does not matter if you slack off for a week, but it does. The record is being kept, and as you are being faithful in a little, the Lord is preparing to give you much. The greater ministries and the exploits will be done by those who are doing all that they can now with all their hearts. The principles of faithfulness, outlined in this passage of Scripture, begin in verses 1 and 2: … be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
Faithfulness is definitely related to the immunity that you must have. The enemy moves in against you as much as he can to create accidents and financial jeopardy. He pushes in to break through any immunity that you ever had. Real testings are upon the earth, and Satan is trying to destroy as many of the elect as he can. He does this by testing them, and if they become rebellious, he is able to strip them from their immunity. Problems and accidents usually seem to happen to those who go through a prior period of withdrawal and rebellion. They do not know the seriousness of what they are doing. The angels experienced that when a third part of them were drawn out in Satan’s rebellion. Remember that! Angels understand the nature of rebellion and they want no part of it.
When a child is born, an angel is given to watch over him. Jesus said that the angels of the little children always behold the face of the Heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10). Every angel has direct access to the Father. No demon can disrupt that; Satan cannot disturb it because of the angel protection. With all the dangers that are set against children, they would be killed if their angels were not watching over them. You probably would not be here if your angel had not intervened for you many times. Your angel always beholds the face of the Heavenly Father. Nothing can cloud it or get in the way unless rebellion enters in. That is why Satan uses rebellion, and that is the reason for this commandment: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Ephesians 6:1–3.
Children must be taught to be obedient and to honor their parents. When rebellion enters in and their angel protection leaves, they fall into all kinds of problems. Some of the young people cannot explain what happens. They do not intend to do certain things, and yet they are drawn into one difficulty after another. Satan assaults them through a little rebellion of spirit and then their immunity is withdrawn.
Faithfulness to the Lord, and refusal to withdraw or rebel, is definitely related to the immunities which God’s people must have in these days. They must not be rebellious or withdraw because they have to walk right through the greatest catastrophes to ever hit the world. The catastrophes will not harm them as they are immune to them. Faithfulness is directly related to that immunity.
Faithfulness is related to warfare. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life… II Timothy 2:3–4. Do you have many interests? Be faithful to one interest, the perfect will of God.
“But I have a lot of things to take care of, a lot of living to do. There are a lot of things I want to be, a lot of things I want to experience.”
What about the will of God?
“I want that too.”
Do not entangle yourself with the affairs of this life. No man who is called to be a soldier can march down the road and war with a television console strapped on his back. There are many such things that cannot be dragged into the battle. If you want to be a winner, be faithful to what God has called you to do. If He called you to be a soldier, be faithful to that. The principles of immunity in warfare are related to having a faithful heart.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “The things which you have seen in me and which I have committed to you, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Faithfulness is directly related to two principles which are necessary for a walk with God. One of them is appropriation and the other is impartation. Paul laid his hands on Timothy, but if Timothy had not been faithful he would not have received anything. A rebellious man diminishes the gift that has been imparted to him. He will walk in only a token of it. But a man who is faithful, who gives himself wholly to what is given him and meditates on it, his profiting will appear to all (I Timothy 4:15). Be faithful to it, day after day and week after week. Listen to the Word, because this is a key of impartation. What should you look for? Faithful men. Why? You cannot give a rebellious man much except the dealings of the Lord. But you can entrust something to a faithful man and with it you can give him one of the greatest of all gifts, the capacity to impart to another.
The chain of the impartation of faithfulness is unbroken. Some churches hold to a doctrine of apostolic succession in which Peter gave it to someone who gave it to someone, etc. Bypassing the traditional idea about Peter and all the rest, you can be sure that the Lord gave it to a faithful man who looked for a faithful man, who also was able to give it to a faithful man. There is capacity for impartation that follows through the line of faithful men. There is a capacity for reception and appropriation that follows through the line of faithful men.
Paul said, “I am in prison but the word of God is not in prison. I endure everything for the sake of the elect” (II Timothy 2:9–10). Faithfulness to the Lord is related to the bond-servant principle. If you are submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ, accepting yourself as His bond-servant, you renounce many rights that you would have retained otherwise. You renounce the prerogative of making decisions for your own life, and your life is His to direct. The prerogative of accepting or rejecting another brother is not yours—you must renounce it. If you want to walk before the Lord faithfully, you must submit yourself as a bondslave of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, you will constantly be brought to one crisis of decision after another. At times those decisions will be wrong. Every time that you see what a brother is, then you must decide whether to accept or reject him, because sitting on the throne is the big “I” who is ruling.
When Christ sits on the throne and you are His bondservant, then you no longer have the privilege of accepting or rejecting any man. If God accepts him, you have to accept him. What God wants is what you must want. Look to see how He feels about a thing and that is the way you must feel about it. You do not belong to yourself any longer—that is the only way you can be a faithful bondservant to the Lord. When you receive a Word from the Lord, you are His slave. You can be faithful to it if He is indeed your Lord. You cannot be faithful to it if the Lordship of Christ is not over your life.
If you want to reach the place where you are not defeated in your walk with the Lord by circumstances or what you see happening, have the elders pray over you. Let them prophesy to the effect that you no longer have the prerogative to accept or reject at all. Keep in mind that you are not called to be a lord over God’s heritage; you are called to be an example to the flock. If you think you are one of the greatest, where is your serving towel? Where is your pan for washing feet? He who would be greatest must be servant of all (Matthew 23:11).
Faithfulness is the test for receiving the greater authority and power from God, and faithfulness is directly related to being a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. If you want to be the greatest, you will have to be the slave. It works no other way. Paul was saying to Timothy, “I loved you and imparted to you. Keep your eyes open to look for faithful men, because those are the men who will stand.” They will not have a crisis when they see something wrong.
When a man of authority walks humbly and broken before the brethren, they have a deep respect and fear toward him. There is a relationship between humility and authority. When you humble yourself before the Lord, He begins to give you authority. He does not exalt you in the carnal sense, but He positions you in a place of authority: “This is My servant. Listen to what he says.” When you learn to exalt Him and lift Him up, you find that He truly draws all men to Himself (John 12:32). It is most important for you to understand and study these principles of faithfulness.
The love of many will wax cold, and they will fall by the wayside (Matthew 24:12). But God is giving a faithful Word, and men are humbling their hearts before it. You cannot afford one rebellious moment or one day of withdrawal. You cannot afford to back away at all from what the Lord has said. All you can do is submit yourself completely to it and say, “You are the Lord; I will listen to You.” You may find your heart wondering how it can be worked. He who is called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11) will work it in you if you will believe. Accept and believe that the Lord really will help you.