On February 29, 1948, Romanian Lutheran Pastor Richard Wurmbrand did his normal Sunday morning routine. He woke up, got ready, and would get to church before everyone so that he could go over his sermon in peace. Before leaving, he continued his tradition of giving his wife, Sabina, a kiss, and told her that he looked forward to seeing her in a bit. As he walked the cold and icy streets of Bucharest to get to his congregation, Richard was suddenly abducted and thrown into a Ford van. He was grabbed by three communist officials who were secretly arresting him for his work in the underground church. Christianity was illegal in Communist Romania. The van bolted down the bumpy brick streets of Bucharest as Richard had a revolver pointed at his head. Seeing the gun, Richard cracked a smile, which enraged the guards. They were furious, and mystified, that he could smile at a time like this. Angrily, they demanded, “Why are you smiling? Don’t you know we have the power to kill you?” No one had ever smiled at a capture before. “Give us an answer!” they shouted.
Richard did. He told them that a few days ago, he read in his morning devotions Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” He said that the verse prompted him to explore how many times that God told His people “Do not fear.” He found in his research that it was used 366 times, one reminder for each day; even that day’s leap year was covered! He had a reminder everyday to not fear. “Don’t fear.” Richard would need that word because for the next 9 years, he would be tempted, pressured, and encouraged to abandon the faith. He would spend three years in solitary confinement, 30 months in a dying room, and many more in harsh environments. He would go through unspeakable torment and torture on a daily basis. Paul the Apostle continues to write to Timothy about the upcoming challenges and trials that await him and all believers. As Paul pens chapter 3, he warns about apostasy, which is leaving the faith, and its antidote.
Paul begins by saying, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” Things won’t be easy, but when will that be? When do the “last days” take place? That would be right now! We are currently living in them, and through them. The “last days,” the “end times,” is the entire period between Jesus’ ascension, and Jesus’ return. We are in them right now! Paul is going to describe people and conditions of every era. What he says isn’t new, or novel, to our day and age. He describes people and behaviors that tempt and lead us astray. He describes that which can lead us to apostasy. And in the next 9 verses, he does just that.
Paul gives a variety of warnings, and a long list of vices; 19 of them to be exact! And instead of touching on all, or some, I just want to focus on one. Imagine the boundary waters with me for a second. I have never been there, it is on my Minnesota bucket list, but I’m told that you can see where the Mighty Mississippi starts, and it is just a tiny stream. It is so small and shallow that you can walk across it. However, that little stream becomes one of the country’s biggest and mightiest rivers! Instead of looking at the river, we’ll look at the stream, the starting point, from which it all flows. What is the vice that starts it all? What is the one from which the rest all flow? “Lovers of self.”
Now, loving yourself isn’t a bad thing, or forbidden. The danger of this lies in the order of that love. What’s the order supposed to be? You know. Love God, love others, and then love myself. The cause of all sin comes when that order gets messed up and moved around. Think of how our relationships with others are effected when love of myself triumphs over love of others, and love of God. Let’s start with others.
What happens when love of myself comes before love for others? What does Paul says flows from such behavior? Pride. Arrogance. Abuse. Disobedience to authority. Ungratefulness. Heartlessness. Being unappeasable. Slander. Brutality. Treachery. Anything good come from that? No. Has your relationship with others in your vocations as spouse, child, parent, friend, or neighbor gone better when you have loved yourself more? (PAUSE) You’ll never look back on your life and regret loving others more. You will regret loving yourself most of all-I guarantee it!
And how does loving ourselves most of all affect our relationship with God? Paul says unholiness flows from it, along with hating what is good, being swollen with conceit, being a lover pleasure than God, and having the appearance of godliness (being a Christian), but denying its power. If not kept unchecked and hindered by the Holy Spirit and Word, the little stream becomes a mighty river that can carry us away! And so, what is the antidote to apostasy? It is a two tablet pill. Let’s check back in with our friend Richard.
As Richard sat in solitary confinement, he had a lot of time, too much time, to think between his beatings and interrogation. He said that he often thought of the stories about the faithful saints who went before him. Part of his daily routine as a pastor was reading about the life of a different persecuted saint each day. Over the years, he had hundreds of examples of persevering and enduring through persecution, hardship, and potential death. Richard drew comfort from the lives of the saints that he learned the faith from. He gained hope from God’s work in them, and from His marvelous track record of never forsaking those who are His. These saints encouraged him to continue on in the faith that was passed down and taught to him. Paul encourages us and Timothy to do the same.
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it” Timothy learned the faith from his mother Eunice, his grandmother Lois, and his spiritual father Paul. They were to be a source of encouragement, and they were a living picture of the faith that had been taught to him. Who taught you the faith? Was it a grandmother or mother? A Sunday school teacher or a pastor from your childhood? Was it a college professor or believing spouse? For me, it was faithful grandparents who took me to church and Sunday School. Because we know those from whom we have learned the faith, we are to continue in what they have taught us. They are an encouragement for our faith. And God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will use us in the same way in the lives of others, too. You will be a Lois, Eunice, or Paul. The lives of all God’s saints culminate and point to the one Who is the object of their faith, Jesus. As Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”This is the first part of the antidote.What about the second?
When Richard spent years in solitary confinement, silence was one of his only companions. There was no window. The guards wore felt on their shoes so noise could not be heard from their footsteps. The lightbulb over his head didn’t even hum. The other companion he had was God’s living Word. Richard would preach a sermon every night to an audience of one, him, to help keep his sanity and to build his faith. He later remembered and recorded over 300 of them! The preaching of God’s living Word kept his mind and heart engaged, equipped, encouraged, and fed. Paul says, “you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit are the only things that guards against apostasy, turning away from the faith! Richard learned that.
Paul fleshes this out by saying, “All Scripture is breathed out by God….” This isn’t just saying that Scripture comes from God, but it is also an illusion to creation. Words are formed by breath, and breath is synonymous with life. God’s Word gives life! It is the beginning, middle, and end of faith. The Word gives forgiveness and salvation, which is life! The Word delivers what Jesus won at Calvary and affirmed at His empty tomb. These gifts are delivered through water and the word, baptism; the word, bread, and wine, the Lord’s Supper; and the spoken Word by pastors and those who share and speak God’s Word. And this Word is at work within us.
Paul says the Word is “profitable for teaching”, that is, it shows us Jesus our Savior and what good and God-pleasing works really are. It “reproves us;” it calls us to repentance over the sin that remains in our lives. It exposes the great love we still have for ourselves. (This is God’s work through the Law). It also “corrects us” that is, applies the Gospel. It tells us how Jesus lived and died for you and me, and how we are righteous and forgiven before God because of Christ. It tells us how we are God’s children, not the world’s. How we are loved by God, not forsaken by Him. How He will keep and sustain us until the end, and not leave us to fend for ourselves when the going gets tough. Paul says it is also for “training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” By His Holy Spirit, and through our baptism, God is shaping and forming us as those who serve Him and another in love.
These last days will be difficult, and there will be temptations for apostasy. However, God has given us an antidote: faithful saints He has placed in our lives who have taught us, and His living, mighty, and active Word!