Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place…. II Timothy 2:14–18.
The King James translation reads: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. However, that translation is not accurate, for the original Greek text does not imply the dividing of anything. It speaks of accurately handling the Word of truth. Those who teach “rightly dividing” the Word of truth insist that most of the promises and prophecies of God belong to another age—either the past or an age yet to come, but they do not apply today. Prophecy often has more than one fulfillment.
The word of God is living; it applies to every generation . If we miss this, we will miss everything, we are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Only those who honor it and covet the revelation of it like searching for gold and silver shall find it.
What is the attitude of the dispensationalists? In effect, they take scissors and cut out of the Scriptures everything they do not believe. “We do not believe this” (snip), “that” (snip), “or that other thing” (snip, snip). They do not believe in a Holy Bible, and so they end up with a Bible full of holes.
Isn’t it more honest to admit that you do not believe certain portions of the Holy Bible than to try to excuse your unbelief, as the dispensationalists do, by claiming that the promises are not valid now?
Although dispensational teaching has permeated the Fundamental world to a large extent, it is time to give this familiar passage in II Timothy a new-order interpretation.
It speaks of two kinds of ministry.
In the end time, the Word will come forth in two ways: by those workmen who need not be ashamed because they are handling the Word of truth with authority and power and are bringing it forth in life—a living Word—and by those whose words are like empty chatter, which leads to ungodliness and ministers death.
In that light, you are not to wrangle about words to no profit. Paul mentioned several elders or prophets who had gone astray from the doctrine. Like a gangrene infection, their teaching was bringing death to the people.
We are only beginning to see the day of miracles and the time of real release! We must not divide the Word of truth; we must accurately handle the Word of truth. More miracles will be outworked in this generation than are recorded in all of the Scriptures.
More prophets will be coming forth in this end time than are mentioned in all of the Scriptures.
If we were to count every prophet, from Genesis to Revelation (even estimating the groups of prophets, such as Samuel’s school of prophets), and compare the total with those being raised up today, we would find more prophets coming forth today.
We are entering into a period that will be very difficult. In the flesh, there is a reluctance to face the days ahead, to walk the path that is before us.
We do not even begin to know what is in the Bible.
God is going to reveal startling truths to us. Those who walk with God will be called heretics and fanatics, and people will say, “We’ve seen things like that before.”
They will accuse the remnant of adding to the Word of God in the name of restoration.
Nevertheless, God is going to reveal the secrets of the universe, the secrets by which miracles are performed.
The Scripture says that God made known His acts to the children of Israel, but He made known His ways unto Moses (Psalm 103:7).
Because Moses understood the ways of God, no miracles were as startling as the ones he performed. The children of Israel were amazed at the miracles and the signs and wonders, but they did not understand how Moses did them.
When you read about certain men in the Bible, does your heart cry out for God to open up their secrets to you?
Do you want to know how Elijah closed the heavens so there was no rain? how he brought fire down out of heaven? how he came to know the ways of God? You may love to read about Elijah’s acts, but don’t you also long to know the ways of God that were behind them?
What strange secrets of worship enabled Daniel to receive visions and revelations until he was in his nineties? How did he emerge untouched when he was thrown in the lions’ den? How did he survive through the rise and fall of those ancient kingdoms?
As you read the Scriptures, do you cry, “O God, You’ve told us what You did, but You didn’t show us how to do it!” There is a intensity of heart coming to the people of God, a thirsting for the Lord to open up new understanding out of the Word. As a result, a remnant of believers are coming into an understanding of the works of God, of the ways of God and how it works.
The spiritual man and woman want to know the Lord’s ways. They want to accurately handle the Word of truth, to preach it until it effectively works in the lives of those who hear it. They want to hear a Word from God that lives and is creative. They then want to prophesy that Word, to speak it forth until people have a visitation from the Lord through it, through the Word. The Bible will sound like another book when the Lord has anointed us to see what is in it.
After the New Testament apostles and prophets received the Lord’s anointing, the fullness of the Spirit, they preached a marvelous, beautiful, new Word out of the Old Testament.
The rabbis were reading the same words on their Sabbath day (Saturday), but it was like a different Bible when the Old Testament was read in a New Testament church on the Lord’s Day, Just one day’s difference, but two different Bibles.
One group was preaching a dead letter, a Word that had once been alive, but had become only a tradition of man; the other was preaching a Word that was being revealed by the Holy Spirit.
A time is at hand when we will no longer preach about God; instead, He will enable us to preach the Word so that we will know Him and walk with Him.
We will get into the veins of gold below the surface. Nine-tenths of what we are going to believe and know and be able to do in our walk with God is yet to be revealed.
Keep trying, keep striving. Do not let your heart become discouraged. Do not draw back. There is a work to be done for the Lord. Do not let your heart waver. Do not allow yourself to bog down in limitations that you have accepted with finality in your thinking. Forget them. You are going to be a new creature, rising up with new abilities, new horizons, new visions, and a new Word from the Lord.