Be Faithful To His Word

I have a friend who had a number of young pastors working under him. One day he said to them, “All your books on psychology and counseling, I want you to throw them away. From now on we’re going to counsel people only out of the Bible.” A couple came to him whom he had been counseling for several years, with marriage problems, and he said to them, “From now on I’m not going to counsel you because you’re disobeying the word of God.” He said to the husband, “The Bible says love your wife. You don’t love your wife.” He said to the wife, “The Bible says be subject to your husband. You’re not subject to your husband, I’m not going to deal with you until you will obey the word of God I have no more time for you.”

I’ve counseled many people who wanted deliverance from demons but I learned to say something. If they had too many theological problems and too many questions, I used to say this, “Deliverance is for the desperate. You’re not desperate. Come back when you are.”

So, I believe that’s all part of what Paul said to Timothy. Leave them alone. Don’t waste time on people who will not change. If a person is willing to change, God will go to endless lengths to help them. But if they want to stay the way they are, God leaves them to themselves.

If you look at the rest of this chapter, you’ll find that the secret undermining force is the occult. We’ll look quickly in verse 8:

“As Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth.”

Jannes and Jambres were the two magicians who had a contest with Moses and Aaron. Behind the corruption of human nature is the subtle, deceiving, corrupting influence of the occult. And that’s the force that hastens the corruption. And then in verse 13 Paul says:

“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Where this translation says “impostors”, the Greek word is ‘enchanters’. Evil men and enchanters will grow worse and worse. In other words, incantation is one major form of occult practice. I have come to the place in my own view where if there are prolonged problems that cannot be resolved in a church, in a life or in a home, somewhere behind it is the occult. And you will not really resolve those problems until you get to that root. Now we come to the remedy. In 2 Timothy 3:16:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness...”

Not some Scripture but all Scripture. There’s only one thing that can thoroughly equip you, it’s the Scripture. And then we come on to the fourth chapter:

“I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, preach the word...”

Notice the Savior is also the Judge. He will judge the living and the dead. What is the answer? The word. There’s no other place of security, there’s no other place of strength, there’s no other place of real fruitfulness but in the word of God. May God help us to be faithful to His word.