“Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so they might learn not to blaspheme God.”
Throughout my life, I have been in many situations where I wanted to hear a clear word from God telling me about my future or my calling. I remember praying for direction in my college dorm room long enough that the pattern of the industrial carpet imprinted itself on my knees. I remember being in a church service where a special guest was preaching. I sat in the back thinking, “Let God give that guy a special word just for me.”
Maybe we all want God to deliver special messages just for us, or maybe it’s just me. Timothy had apparently received just such a message – some kind of “prophetic words.” Whatever these words were, they led Paul to give Timothy very specific advice: “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear.” On second thought, maybe the advice isn’t that specific. Maybe God’s most important messages to his people aren’t the unique ones that differ from one person to another. Maybe the most important messages are the universal ones – the ones that are the same from person to person.
Here’s your freedom for today: through His Word, God is speaking directly to you. This command to Timothy is as directly to you as it is to Timothy. God is challenging you through Paul to “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear.” The alternative is spiritual shipwreck – a road many have gone down including Hymenaeus and Alexander. That painful road is one you don’t have to go down, though. With God’s command comes God’s power. If God commands you to cling to your faith in Christ, he will empower you to hold on tight. If he commands you to keep your conscience clear, he will help you do exactly that. So now today, you have heard God speak directly to you. Will you obey? That’s the only question that matters.