Young People’s Blog

“But thou hast known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions…continue thou” (2 Timothy 3:10-11, 14).

The Apostle Paul, who wrote this epistle to Timothy, lived a life in contrast to all that was going on in the world around him. Yes, he interacted with people in the world, and preached to them, but his whole manner of life was totally different. Timothy had known Paul for many years, and as a young man had seen the way he lived; he had been a good example to Timothy.

Now Paul was getting near the end of his life, and Timothy would have to carry on without him.

Those who are younger today also have good examples to follow, for there have been godly brothers and sisters whom you have known, and whose lives have been lived for Christ. If we look closely at them, we will see mistakes, and even the great Apostle Paul made mistakes. But His motive was Christ, and His life was a good example.

“Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

Since the Lord Jesus was rejected, Satan has been recognized and called both the god and prince of this world. He is the god of this world religiously and the prince of this world politically. He makes sure that people in this world have plenty to occupy their minds, and that they are “ever learning.”

In the past we had many books that were available to us, more than we could ever read, but in the last twenty-five years or so we have had the internet, cell phones and other social media, all of which have greatly increased our ability to take in and process information. However, Satan takes care that most of this information does not take us any closer to the truth; rather, it all has to do with life in this world. Only in Christ and through the Word of God do we obtain the real truth about everything. We may learn many things through social media, but we must learn the truth from God Himself, through the Bible and in Christ.

“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25).

Yesterday we saw that we are to turn away from those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power of it. However, we are not to ignore them completely. In our verse today, we see that we are to instruct them in meekness. We must recognize that it is not our good presentation of the truth in the Bible that brings souls to Christ. Rather, it is God who must work in the souls of unbelievers to bring them to Christ.

There is a reason that God works this way. Yes, we are responsible to speak to souls about Christ, but if they were saved because of our efforts, we would take the credit for it. But when the Lord works, He gets the glory for it, and that is the way it should be. The Lord may use us, but we are only instruments in His hands.

“This know also, that is the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be…having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-2,5).

The “perilous times” described in the first few verses of this chapter are around us today, and it is not a description of that part of the world that largely follows false religions. No, it is a description of that part of the world that knew the gospel, but has given it up. The outward form is still there, for the Bible is still the moral basis of the laws and culture of those countries. Some people still go to church, but in most cases it is only a form of godliness. There is often no inward reality, and thus no power for real godliness.

The instruction here is to turn away from all this, for while it maintains the outward form of Christianity, these people are not truly saved, and thus are not indwelt with the Holy Spirit. There is no power for a godly walk before God, and worst of all, there is no heart for Christ. We cannot find any help or encouragement from such people. However, another verse gives us what we can do positively for them. We will look at this verse tomorrow.

“Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased” (Psalm 4:7).

This verse is very searching to our hearts, but also very encouraging. Many years ago, when I was young, we had an older brother in Christ who used to paraphrase this verse like this — “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than if I got an increase in my salary.” (In the days when this psalm was written, most Israelites were farmers, but today most of us work in a different way.) He also used to remind us that “happiness is a state of soul, not a question of circumstances.”

If we are always thinking of getting ahead in this world, we will miss the joy of learning from our difficult circumstances, and getting the blessing from them. If we are enjoying the things of Christ in our hearts, we will have a joy that nothing else can match. We will have much more gladness than if we had more things in this world!

“In pressure Thou hast enlarged me” (Psalm 4:1 JND).

In natural things, the statement made in our verse today would seem to be a contradiction. Normally, if we put something under pressure, it gets smaller, not larger. For example, we can compress air into a cylinder, so that it takes up a lot less space than if it is outside the container. The compressed air is “under pressure,” and if it is released, the resultant pressure has a lot of energy. (Compressed air in a cylinder is the basis for air brakes on big trucks.)

But in our verse we find that when we are in pressure from difficult circumstances, if we are walking with the Lord, we are enlarged. What does this mean? It means that in difficult situations the Lord can teach us things that we could not learn any other way. In Psalm 3, David is running away from his son Absalom, who wanted to be king instead of David. The 4th Psalm is probably a continuation of the same experience. But David learned more about the Lord, and experienced more comfort and blessing, than if the trouble had never happened.

The Lord may allow this in our lives too, so that later we can thank the Lord for the difficulty in our lives, even though it may have been unpleasant at the time.

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).

If we look at this verse without looking at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, it seems impossible. Mercy and truth could not come together, nor could righteousness and peace kiss each other. Our sins deserved God’s judgment, and if God showed us mercy, He would not be dealing with us according to truth. If God “made peace” with us, He would not be righteous.

We understand this in natural things. If a man were convicted of a serious crime in court, the judge could not simply show mercy and let him off without any penalty. No, the law demands that he be punished, and the judge must act according to the law.

But at the cross the Lord Jesus paid the full penalty for sin, so that God could be merciful and righteous at the same time. He could make peace because of the blood of Christ, that has fully put away our sins. Only God Himself could have thought of such a wonderful plan of salvation!

“Men of the world, which have their portion in this life…As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness” (Psalm 17:14-15).

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was promised blessings on earth (such as good health, long life, good crops, and other things down here), if they were obedient to the Lord. But David realized that all this would come to an end, and that there was something more beyond death. He did not know as much as we do now, under Christianity, but he looked forward to future blessing beyond this life.

There are those who may do well in this world, but whose whole outlook is for this life. David calls them “men who have their portion in this life,” meaning that they are looking only at this world. They do not think about what will happen after death.

If you and I know Christ as our Savior, we know that we will be with Christ after we leave this world. Like David, we will behold the Lord’s face, and have His likeness. We will have glorified bodies like Christ Himself.

“The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

At first glance, this verse might seem to be speaking about an atheist — someone who does not believe that God exists. However, it is really speaking about someone who believes in God, but who does not believe that God is going to hold him/her responsible for his/her actions.

I remember a man (he was not a Christian) who boasted about cheating on his income tax, and when I mentioned that God took notice of this and would remember it, he replied that he did not think that God cared much about his income tax. He thought that God had more important things to consider! But the Lord knows all about us, and even the smallest sin is noticed. Those who think that God does not notice are called fools in this verse, for as we read in Romans, “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” See if you can find this verse in the book of Romans.

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

This verse shows us that it is a serious thing for men to be wicked, and all our hearts are wicked by nature. However, this verse is also written to those who know who God is, but who forget Him. The first part of the verse is written mostly to those who are involved with false religions, but the second part is even more serious, for it is written to those who have given up the truth of God, after they have known it.

When we have the Bible, and know who God is, it is a serious thing to give it up. Then we become worse than those who have never known the truth of God. This is happening today in many Western countries — countries that have known the truth of salvation, and that were once known as Christian countries. But now many are giving up what they have known, and they will eventually fall under the judgment of God. How important it is for us as individuals to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!