“But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me
the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear
it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me
from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”
(2 Timothy 4:17-18)
Paul’s final words stand as an encouragement and exhortation to us
all. We live in the world he warned Timothy would come, filled with
false teachings and lying spirits. Many of our new immigrant
neighbors, many of our other neighbors, friends and coworkers
follow and promote them, teachings such as Islam, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Sikhism, Animism, Satanism, materialism, reincarnation,
and every form of superstition. People love to follow after any
teacher that will tell them something new and spicy, exciting and
unique, that promises to lead to deeper spirituality. This includes
many professing Christians. There are plenty of false teachers who
have perverted the truth of the gospel with lies from their own
hearts and from the devil.
We must be ever vigilant and sober. We, like Paul and Timothy,
must uphold the truth of God’s Word against the onslaught of false
teachings. We must always be ready to preach the gospel wherever
we go, in our neighborhoods, on our jobs, where we shop, and where
we spend our leisure time. Every place we go we may be confronted
by lies and false teachings. In fact, every television show we watch,
or movie, sporting or social event will expose us to false teachings,
vain philosophy, and watered down Christianity.
Therefore, we must know the Word of God. We must be certain of
the truth of the gospel so that we can weed out the biases of our own
cultural predisposition or those fed to us by the media. We must beware of our own ignorance. To have a greater understanding of the truth of God’s word, to reach out from a firm foundation, we
must study the Scriptures daily. And we must be in fellowship with
other believers in the community of the church. Our fellow believers
will assist us to understand and apply God’s word to our lives so
that we may counteract the lies we find in our world by
demonstrating the faith, love, and compassion of our Lord Jesus
working in and through us.