In his letter to Timothy,
Paul the apostle was so elated over the “exceeding abundant”
grace of Christ Jesus that was extended toward him and “to them
which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” that
he burst out in praise “unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible” and “the only wise God”. He attributed
“honor and glory” unto the Lord “for ever and ever”
and in chapter one and
verse eighteen of his letter, Paul gave a “charge” to
Timothy to “war a good warfare” where we read:
This charge I commit
unto you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies
which went before on
you, that you by them might war a good warfare;
The
verse begins, “This charge I commit unto you, son Timothy,...”
Paul wrote, “This charge” which means “announcement,
proclamation, message or command” “I commit” or “set
beside, near or before” with the idea of entrusting and depositing
within a person's command “unto you” and this was
directed specifically to young “son Timothy” whom Paul
deemed his “son in the faith”.
The
verse goes on to say, “according to the prophecies which
went before on you,...” Paul
added a special motivation and reminder to Timothy as he wrote,
“according to” which means
“down from, throughout, toward and along” “the
prophecies” which were
“discourses emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the
purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or
comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden;”. These
included, “the gifts and utterances of these prophets, especially
the predictions of the works of which, set apart to teach the gospel,
will accomplish things for the kingdom of Christ”. Paul went on to
say, “which went before” or “preceded, were prior in
time and previously shared” “on you”. Paul knew it was
the Lord who gave prophecy concerning Timothy's ministry, and Paul's
role was to remind Timothy of the Lord's inspiration to him.
Finally the verse says, “...that
you by them might war a good warfare;” The
“prophesies” that went
before Timothy were not without purpose. Timothy was to fulfill them
as Paul wrote, “that you by them might war”
which is the Greek word “strateuō” from
which we get our English word “strategy or strategist” and means
“to do military duty, be on active service, be a soldier”.
“Strateuo” was used primarily for an army commander that he might
“make a military expedition or to lead soldiers to war or to battle
or a fight”. Paul added that Timothy's “war” was to be
“a good warfare” which means “beautiful, handsome,
excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable,
commendable, admirable, shapely, magnificent, precious, honorable,
comforting and confirming” “strateia” or “expedition,
campaign and military service”. Timothy was to “war” in
such a fashion that all who looked upon his battle would stand in awe
of its magnificence.
As we think about Paul's
words to Timothy, we may be inclined to think that we should never be
in a “war”. However, Paul the apostle saw the battle of
the salvation of souls as a “warfare”, and Timothy was to
be as a commander leading his troops in this battle. He was to be a
strategist when challenged to keep his charge that “they teach
no other doctrine” because there were many who would be in
battle against him. The value of this warfare was that the eternal
lives of people depended upon it, and should we apply these words to
our lives, we will realize that we too are commissioned to “war
a good warfare”. The question is, “Do we do it?” Do we
engage in the battle for souls, and has there been “prophesies”
pronounced upon us that serve as motivation and direction for our
commission? If so, let's be about our duty and “war a good
warfare”, and if not, may we spend time in prayer with our Lord
Jesus until He places His divine commission upon us.
Next
time Paul shares about warring “Holding
faith, and a good conscience;”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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