Timothy II - Expositional Study
SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (KJV)
Introduction
The religion of the Bible is a singing religion. This is a theme that might profitably occupy us for a long time.
But for now, consider the first instance of the rule – the prophet. In Isaiah 12:2, we read, "Behold, God is my salvation...my strength and my song." That is to say, in the Lord Jehovah he found the essential thing, "my salvation" – the foundation of everything both here and in the hereafter. There are few things that are relatively essential to our well-being. There is only one thing that is ultimately essential, and that is "salvation". So, the prophet repeats at the end of the verse what he said at its beginning: other things are nice, one thing is necessary. In God, he also found the every-day thing: "my strength" – "as thy days so shall thy strength be", promised (Deut. 33:25); and the prophet tells us that he had discovered that it is all stored up in Him. Then came, also, the extra thing: "my song". No one can say that joy is essential to the Christian life. One can be an obedient believer without it; indeed, some of God's children are evidently cheerless. But, God is not content to do only that which is needful. He always adds something extra. For example, His full purpose, and adequate provision, is that we shall not be merely conquerors, but "more than conquerors" (Rom. 7:37), etc. Consequently, He here reveals Himself in the overweight of "song", in addition to the "salvation" and the "strength".
Consider now the second instance of the rule – the psalmist. In Psalm 40:2-3, we have that delightful bit of spiritual autobiography, "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay", here again is the essential thing; "and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings", the every-day thing; "and He hath put a new song in my mouth", the extra thing once more. There is no need for the song; but, it is a great help to have it, not only for our own delight, but also for the blessing of others. Note here that, most surprisingly, we are told "many shall see it..." – a faulty translation?; "hear it", is presumably what he said? No, there is no mistake. When we have the song, there is not only vocal effect, but visible result; our whole being and behavior is happily irradiated, and many can be led to "trust in the Lord." We find the same thing is true in the New Testament:
In Ephesians 5:19, we are exhorted to be "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord". Our hearts in tune with our hymns, our songs being directed to God's ears as well as man's. The early Christians would inevitably have to exclude themselves from the public feasts of the Greek cities, because of the idolatrous rites, and ribald drunkenness. The loss of all this color and brightness was more than compensated for in the sacred songs of the Christian's hospitable fellowship. Wherever there was a supper or a gathering there would be singing.
In Colossians 3:16, we come upon the joyous atmosphere again, "teaching and admonishing one another in psalm and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord". The heart and the hymn, reacting mutually upon each other and both offering their praise to the Lord Who inspired it.
Of course, some people simply cannot sing. They have no voice, no ear; pitch and tone and rhythm are mysteries quite beyond them. For their encouragement, Psalm 95:1 invites, "O come, let us sing into the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation". Even those who cannot sing can make a joyful noise. No doubt, the psalmist did not mean that, but we may legitimately apply the words to the less accomplished of our songsters. After all, God did make the crows, as well as the nightingales, and assuredly takes pleasure in the performance of each.
The religion of the Bible is of such a fine quality that it can inspire a song even in the most unlikely and unpromising conditions. Consider Psalm 77:2, "my sore ran in the night". We are unlikely to find much joy in the darkness and distress of such circumstances. But verse 6 states, "my song in the night". Truly, he is one of God's nightingales. Then, there is that occasion in Acts 16:25, when "at midnight Paul and Silas...sang praises unto God." More nightingales! Sore and stiff from their beating and the stocks, flung into the foul and filthy dungeon of "the inner prison", they yet found something to sing about.
Yes, a singing religion. But what has all this got to do with our present text? Note the opening verse, "It is a faithful saying". It appears also in 1 Timothy 1:15, and 4:9 and in Titus 3:8. Perhaps these statements are hymns, taken from a collection in use among the early Christians, sung, for example, during services in private houses (i.e. "the church which is in his house", Col. 4:15), during the Lord's Supper, on their parting one from another, on the occasion of one being baptized, on one's last journey to martyrdom. The hymn-book in use for synagogue worship and for celebrations of the great feasts was not a large volume, with a lot of hymns that were never used. It had only 150 hymns, all in constant demand. Perhaps there is a specific reference to this hymn-book in Matthew 26:30, "when they had sung a hymn, they went out..." As a matter of fact, we know which one was chosen. It was hymn number 118 – we know it as Psalm 118. Let us now consider what there is to sing about.
The opening verse of our text brings us the joy of an experimental fact. The fact that the obedient believer is united with his Lord is here illustrated. Most of us are familiar with the Bible teaching that we are sanctified and justified by obedient faith (Acts 26:18). In our text it is identification by faith. This last truth is unfolded in some detail in Romans 6:3f, and in Ephesians 2:5f. In our present text, two links in the golden chain are considered; not merely as theoretical doctrine (no doctrine is simply that, in Paul's hands), but as experimental fact.
"If we be dead with Him" – even as he dictates, Paul is aware that he is facing certain martyrdom. In all probability, Timothy will also become a victim. Scores of others will follow in that noble army. Some think this is the death with Him to which the apostle refers. But, this can scarcely be the case since in that event the verb would have to be in the future tense, as are, incidentally, all the other verbs in the passage, as if to read, "If we shall become dead..." Whereas, it is the aorist tense which is employed in this one place in the passage as indicating that the reference is to something that has in some specific moment already taken place: "If we died ...". When did this happen? Potentially, when Jesus died; experimentally, when we were born again. Consider the sin offering of Leviticus 4. The sinner brought his offering for sacrifice, and first, as he confessed his sins, he laid his hand on, and leaned his weight on, the animal, which was then slain in his stead. In the type-economy of God, this pointed to the personal relationship of the obedient believer with Him Who fulfilled the type when He came to be the Lamb of God. The sinner turns to Him, confessing his sins and belief in the Lord and baptized for the remission of his sins, resting his whole weight of trust on Him. God then reckons the identification of faith to have taken place. As in the old type, the offerer's sin was passed to the victim, and the victim's death accounted to the offerer. So, on our act of penitence and faith, our sins are "laid on Him" (Is. 53:6), and His death is reckoned to us (Rom. 6:11). God accounts it so; let us "reckon ourselves" likewise. If true, our faith has identified us with Him; and because He has fully borne the penalty, we are also, "in Him". This is truly something to sing about!
"We shall also live with Him". This "death" we speak of is not the end, but the beginning. In the language of Ephesians 4:22-24, "the old man" [that is, the man of old, the unfaithful sinner, the man we used to be] is done with; and "the new man" [the new-born man each of us will, hopefully, soon be] starts upon a new life. It is verily a resurrection life, linked up with His; knowing, as an experimental fact, "the power of His resurrection" (Phil. 3:10). A Christian has been saved from sin's eternal penalty by the Lord's death; as well as its daily power by His resurrection life-power within us – "...being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10). Or, as stated in Galatians 2:20, "I (have been) crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me". There is the old "I", and the new "I", and the small "I". If we try to live the Christian life by ourselves, we will find it hard because we have so many faults and failures. But, if by reckoning upon our identification with Him we realize His indwelling presence, putting self out of the way so that He may do the living, both in and through us, then life becomes a different thing. Now, it is: life indeed; fullness of life; life with a capital "I"; that grand quality of life which, in John 10:10, the Master characterizes as "more abundant." Again, this is something to sing about!
Consider another happy possession: the joy of a magnificent future. Our faith deals with the past, which is most wonderfully accounted for. It deals also with the present, bringing us all we need to face our problems, perplexities, perils, and possibilities of everyday life. It also guarantees us a golden future. "The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). We often speak of "the good old days", and they were good in some ways. But, the new days are going to be much better. "Are some things hard to be understood", as Peter wrote of Paul in 2 Peter 3:16; but, he never penned a plainer, simpler, truer word than when he said, "The best is yet to be" – for the Christian, that is.
Paul now continues, "If we suffer" as some Christians will be called to do. The father and son, writer and reader of this letter, with the long line of those who have endured much for their loyalty to the Lord and His truth, right down to those today who lie on a weary bed of pain, yet unyielding and uncomplaining; those who in Shakespeare's words are the victims of "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." One way or another, many Christians are called upon to suffer. But few will be able to top brave Paul, who is one of the main sufferers of the Gospel as 2 Corinthians 11:23f avouches. In Romans 8:18 he said, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed ..." What is this far-outweighing "glory"?
In the words of our present text, it is "We shall also reign with Him." This reigning is an unimaginably wonderful prospect awaiting the faithful and obedient Christian. It is among the golden experiences before him. All who are truly faithful to the Lord here, whether that faithfulness incurs suffering or not, will reign with Him hereafter. Note three things about it: the nature of it – "to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne" (Rev. 3:21). In England the story is told of Prince John, youngest child of King George V, who died at a tender age. It is said that He loved to play a certain game with his royal father. They would go to the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace and when the King had taken his seat on the throne he would bend forward and lift up his son, sitting him beside him on the throne to the delight and pride of the little prince; an interesting story, if true. But, there is something much more than just an interesting story that is revealed to Christians in this verse of our text. The faithful will share His throne and be associated with His reign. A few Christians reign even now. Consider Romans 5:17, which speaks of some who "shall reign in life". For the vast majority of time lived by a Christian (as well as those of the world), life reigns over them and circumstances, fears, nerves, feelings, etc., are on top of them. But, there are a few Christians who reign over life. They are on top of all these things. Having formed the daily habit of receiving "abundance of grace", following the personal appropriation of "the gift of righteousness", they have the secret of royal living – even now, while awaiting their magnificent future.
Next, in our hymn, comes the joy of a proved fidelity. This verse in our text sounds a solemn note. Yet, even here, if we are on the right side of the matter the happy note persists. "If we deny Him". How can Christians do such a thing? "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). The Christian life has not removed us from the possibility of temptation and we may grievously succumb. When 1 John 2:1 says, "If any man sin...", it implies that a Christian need not; but, it also implies that he may. A Christian must be carefully and prayerfully on guard, lest, through: needless fear, false shame, or hope of gain, he goes so far as to deny the Lord. Listen to yet another familiar voice, "Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples" (Matt. 26:35). In spite of earnest asseverations of loyalty, young Timothy must beware, for he will be sorely tried. We all need to beware, for the disciples' failure might so easily become ours.
May God forbid; for "He also will deny us". How awful if He should ever say to us, "I never knew you", as He did in Matthew 7:23. But, this need not be. The word, "if", in our text gives us refuge. In Matthew 26:16, it is said of Judas that "he sought opportunity to betray Him." Today, we do not have to seek such opportunity because chances for disloyalty abound on every hand: in the home, at the office, on television, on radio in movies, in songs, at the workplace, even in churches. But, how happy if these chances are ignored, and, by His grace, we prove our fidelity! Remember that every "opportunity to betray" is also an opportunity to be true.
The beginning of this last verse of our hymn retains the solemn tone, before it passes to its glad finish. It says, "If we believe not". The Greek word is, in the negative form, exactly the same as that translated later as "faithful"; and that induced the R.V. to render it as "faithless". Yet, there is a good deal of weighty scholarship in favor of keeping the A.V. The same seems true for Romans 3:3. Further, as in our present passage the same Greek word is translated "'believed not" in Acts 28:24 and Luke 24:11. How many unbelieving believers are there? How many believe on Him, confess Him before men, and are baptized for remission of sins, raised to walk in newness of life, saved and washed clean, but their believing stops at this point? You say, "But, I really believe Him!" Let us test ourselves by His Word: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35) – do we really believe that?; "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28, 29) – what peaceful assurance we enjoy if we really believe that; "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world..." (Matt. 28:20) – do we really believe?; "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33) – do we really believe that? If we fret and worry about the necessary things of life, quite obviously we do not believe what He says. But, one may say, it is sometimes difficult to believe! Obviously, it is not the saying but the Speaker we do not believe! Is it so difficult to believe Him? "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief."
Let us sense the sheer joy of it, whatever may be our own spiritual condition. "He abideth faithful" – an unswerving Friend. He will always remain true to His Word: "He is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10:23); "He...will not call back His words" (Is. 31:2), even the word of warning in verse 12. He will always remain true to His people, who are exhorted to "commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator". He is One Who will not let His creatures down. He will always remain true to Himself, "He cannot deny Himself" (v. 13). Every divine and human quality in Him is held in perfect poise and balance; no part contradicts or contravenes another part. What He ever was, He always is – "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8). Here is One on Whom we may always depend, however undependable we may be. If, from sheer physical weakness, or from the extreme pressure of untoward circumstance, or from the insidious oncoming of doubt, or form any other cause, you find faith faltering or failing, turn away from yourself and cling to this fact: He is not and will not ever falter, or alter! "He abideth faithful." Even though we are so faithless as to disobey and even disbelieve Him! What a Friend! What a joy!
Conclusion
As at the beginning of our study, let us now go back again to Isaiah 12: "say", in verse 4; "sing", in verse 5; "shout", in verse 6. In view of all that we have considered, are we justified in claiming that the Christian has something to: 'speak' about, 'sing' about, and 'shout' about?
