Timothy, a young Christian called of God as a pastor, was very blessed to have the Apostle Paul as a mentor. Directed by the Holy Spirit, brother Paul wrote to him two letters loaded with instruction and encouragement. By the Holy Spirit he also gave warnings like this in 2 Timothy 2:16-18: “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of
some.”Sadly, such problems will continue until Christ returns. However, by the Holy Ghost the apostle continued, writing (KJV*), “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows them that are his,’ and, ‘Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’” There is a double consolation here with the fact that God’s foundation stands firm despite how faithless some can be, and God’s has a seal for that foundation that describes those who belong to His kingdom.
At times a seal was used for a mark of genuineness. Consider John 6:27, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." In 2 Timothy 2:19 (KJV*) the seal of genuineness of Christians is twofold: “The Lord knows them that are his,” and, “Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” As a result a true Christian will take it to heart to receive and remain in Him as well as to remove iniquity and revolt against it.
I. Receive And Remain
“The Lord knows them that are his,” -- KJV*
Before we bear this seal of God we must enter into the Kingdom of God. The whole Word of God shows we are not automatically into it at birth nor can we earn entrance into it or make ourselves good enough for it. We cannot, in ourselves, be perfect but we can let the One Who is perfect come into our very being and make us His home and part of His kingdom. I addressed the blessedness of Christ making us His home in a previous article {1}.
In that article I began with Revelation 3:20 where He stands outside and knocks on the door so that if any person hears Him and opens that door He will come in and have fellowship with them. With other Holy Scriptures I showed how we could then honor Him, be pleasing to Him, listen to Him, and learn from Him. This One Who enters is fully man and fully God, and He changes us for His glory and our eternal blessing if we let Him.
This is because when we receive Him into us He comes in as He is revealed in Revelation 1:13-16. First He is described as “one like a son of man,” and as such He is the best High Priest we can ever have because, as we read in The Epistle To The Hebrews, though fully God He became like us, knows our physical frailties and limitations, and was tempted at all points and remained victorious. Because of this victory He is revealed as “clothed in a robe reaching to the feet.” This speaks to the truth that when He enters into us He mercifully brings with Him all the righteous deeds and the proper condition we need to be saved. “Girded across His chest with a golden sash" shows His righteous life was tested and found pure and acceptable to the Father. This all becomes ours when we truly surrender our life to Him.
“His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow” speaks to the comforting truth that He is eternal and pure. He will always be and as 1 John 1:5 states, “there is no darkness in Him.” But there are dark things in us so “His eyes were like a flame of fire” so He will spiritually inspect us and cleanse us as we permit Him.
In the Christian walk there will times we must be strong and bold to stand against any pressure to sin, which would include compromise. So those that receive Him receive His feet “like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace.” Thus by His grace we can take a stand for His glory and our eternal benefit. Christ within gives us the godly boldness to remain pure.
His authority is brought out in the phrase, “His voice was like the sound of many waters." His having seven stars in His right hand speaks to the ever comforting thought that He is ever present with His Church and ready to govern as we yield to His Holy Spirit. The two edged sword from His mouth is, of course, the Word of God and the fact that “His face was like the sun shining in its strength" speaks of His holiness of which we are to be partakers.
Such a Jesus seems to be unpleasant to many, but He is needful for us to have. Those that find Him unpleasant and would not want Him would take chemotherapy to eliminate cancer if they had it, though their hair might fall out and they might be plagued with fatigue. And, if they would have cancer and would be in need of chemotherapy they would see to it that they would get that therapy no matter what inconveniences they would face.
Once Christ comes in we should see to it He remains and He remains only if we remain in Him. So we must make sure to remain in Him. Note these verses from John 15:4-7:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
In the above verses true disciples of Christ were likened unto branches in a vine, that vine representing Christ. Christ makes another comparison in John 10. Verse 14 of that chapter reads, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.” Albert Barnes writes {2}, “The word know here is used in the sense of affectionate regard or love. It implies such a knowledge of their wants, their dangers, and their characters, as to result in a deep interest in their welfare. Thus the word "knoweth," in John 10:15, is in John 10:17 explained by the word "loveth." Jesus knows the hearts, the dangers, and the wants of his people, and his kindness as their shepherd prompts him to defend and aid them.”
Being all God and all man Christ knows our spiritual needs better than we do. This is true for every aspect of our lives whether it is spiritual, mental, social, physical or anything else. It also should be said that the particular Greek word for know in this verse means a deep interacting relationship between Christ and His disciple.
Upon opening the door of our heart to let Christ in and receiving Him, He knows us intimately and His grace changes us to be conformed to His image as we learn of Him. John 1:12 declares “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” And because no darkness is in Him (1 John 1:5) the darkness in us is driven out as we cooperate with Him. If we do not cooperate with Him in such matters we will be spiritually weakened and we will not have the true peace of God.
II. Remove And Revolt
“Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” -- KJV*
Many name the Name of Christ but do not live up to His Name {3}. For those that do not, this part of the seal calls them into true fellowship with God through Christ. Those that endeavor to live up to His Name realize there is always room for spiritual growth. They also realize the danger of iniquity residing within them and outside of them. Iniquity could be described as not just sin, but the tendency and capacity to sin.
There are numerous words the Holy Spirit could have used through Paul for “depart” {4}. For the sake of simplicity I usually present Holy Scripture from the New American Standard (NASB), however it used the word “abstain” for the Greek word translated in the Authorized Version and King James as “depart.” “Abstain” is really too weak. The Greek word used by the Holy Spirit is “aphistemi” (af-is’-tay-mee) {5} and can mean, among other things, “to make stand off, cause to withdraw, to remove” and “to excite to revolt."
From this we can sense that a true Christian must hate iniquity inside of himself and outside of himself, and to hate it to the extent that appropriate action is taken when necessary. Though we are in the world we must not be part of the world. We must not act like the world. We should not condone sinful activities, and we should not be silent about our dislike of them.
It is good for us to let the Holy Spirit guide us as we search within ourselves for anything, even the least thing, that would displease God, and once something is revealed, by His grace
we are to purge ourselves from it. Our surroundings should come under consideration. Is there anything, even in the remotest way, that would inspire us to sin. Is there anything present to lead us to depression or unholy anger?As you have seen, the Greek word the Holy Spirit chose could mean to excite to revolt. Iniquity is devastating and we should stir up a holy revolt within us against it. Moses ground up the Hebrews’ golden calf. Reading Nehemiah 13 we see Nehemiah zealously took several actions to revolt against sin that was prevalent amongst the Jews. He even plucked out the hair of parents when half their children could not speak the language of Judah but were speaking foreign languages. Such revolting also occurred in the Age of the Church, our current Age. There was a revival in Ephesus and in Acts 19:19 we read, “And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.”
I think it is interesting that the Greek word here for “depart" is pronounced “af-is’-tay-mee" because it almost sounds like we are saying at one point “fist." It is good to have holy anger against iniquity, wherever it is. But we must be truly directed by the Holy Spirit when some type intervention is suggested outside our personal sphere.
Nevertheless, revolting today does include things like destroying porn, cult literature, and more. It includes godly protesting, boycotts, and complaining through groups like One Million Moms and the American Family Association. The true Christian might sense various practices need to stop, as impressed upon them by the Holy Spirit, such as not going to movies or participating in unnecessary (and I mean unnecessary) commerce on Sunday. Most importantly and foremost true Christians should revolt against iniquity through prayer (including spiritual warfare), growing in Christ, and developing the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Anyone naming the Holy Name of Christ should be very careful of what they post on the Internet. Recently a page that presents itself as somewhat godly posted a link to an article that encouraged us to look at farting as natural and we should not be embarrassed. Actually it is something crude and rude to do on purpose around others. Think a little further. Consider all the new interruptions in some church services from velcro shoes to unsilenced cell phones. And now here is this article promoting it is natural to let loose with a disgusting odor.
Every now and then I see people who name the Name of Christ use foul language, or near foul language, or over bemoan the “loss” of a loved one whom they say made it to heaven (we should be rejoicing they made it), or post nudity or near nudity, and the list can go on. No. We are to depart from these things with hatred toward sin and love toward God. We should be posting things that spiritually build up the Body of Christ.
If we are truly saved then we should revolt against even the smallest ungodly thing in our life. It is the little foxes that spoil the vines (Song of Solomon 2:15). We do it in the physical realm, why not more so in the spiritual realm? For example, let us say you are sitting across from me as I tell you these things. There is a pitcher of cold, clean water in the midst of us. You and I do not mind drinking that water, but if I accidently flick dandruff into the pitcher most likely you would not want any more water from it. You might even be a tad repulsed by my action.
Many name the Name of Christ but hardly ever grow. They hardly ever deal with sin. Most likely they are part of the group that Christ says will be cast into hell as recorded in Luke 13:24-27:
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets'; and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.'” Two words in that passage in the Greek also occur in our text, viz., “depart” and “iniquity.”
Christ not knowing these people does not mean He will have amnesia. It means we are either in Christ or we are not in Christ. If we are really in Christ we will not just sit and listen to a message (sermon) or simply read or hear the Word. We will be doers of His Word, of His will.
There is a similar passage in Matthew, but really seems to “hit home” with people like me, Pentecostals, who believe that the gifts and operations of the Holy Spirit are for our time. Here is Matthew 7:21-27:
“Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.' Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall.”
Many are proclaiming a fiery message of the power of God, but it is about healing, miracles, prophecies and so on. These things are of God, but only when they truly come from God. But healing, miracles, and the rest will not get you or me into the Kingdom of God for eternity. By His grace we must die to self and become like Christ walking in all godliness and not tolerating the least bit of sin.
N o t e s :
{1} Please read Come On In Jesus, Make Yourself A Home at
http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/come-on-in-jesus-make-yourself-a-home
{2} From an electronic version of Barnes’ Notes, by Albert Barnes, incorporated into the Online Bible computer program.
{3} Please read Taking God’s Name In Vain Without Words at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/taking-gods-name-in-vain-without-words
{4} Vine, W. E.: An Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words (Flemming H. Revell Company, Old Tappan, NJ : 1966) Vol. 1, pp 293-295
{5} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.
This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by June 29, 2017 (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M454 .
Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates and adding “(The Existing One)” to readily express the meaning of His Name without making repeated explanations in articles. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.
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