Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 1:15-18
In this message we shall consider 1:15-18, verses which show that the basic factor of the decline consists in forsaking the apostle and his ministry. Although this portion of 2 Timothy is short, Paul must have had strong feelings when he wrote these words.
In 2 Tim. 1:1-14 Paul covered many positive, encouraging, and strengthening matters. Based on his charge to Timothy in verses 1 through 7, Paul says in verse 8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but suffer evil with the gospel according to the power of God.” Here the gospel is personified; it is regarded as a living person that is suffering persecution. Paul encouraged Timothy to suffer evil with the gospel according to the power of God.
In verse 9 Paul goes on to speak of God who “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.” The purpose here refers to God’s goal, and grace refers to the means of reaching this goal. The grace to reach God’s goal was given to us in Christ Jesus “before times eternal,” that is, before the world began. Grace “has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (v. 10). Hence, grace did not come until the Lord Jesus came. John 1:17 indicates this: “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” The grace which came through Jesus Christ is nothing less than the Triune God dispensed into us for our enjoyment. This grace carries out God’s purpose and enables us to reach His goal.
Grace works in two ways. It works negatively to nullify death, and it works positively to bring in life and incorruption. This work of grace is still taking place within us. Today, in the church life grace is nullifying death and bringing life and incorruption to light through the gospel. Although we heard the gospel preached in the past, we probably did not hear that the gospel of grace nullifies death and brings in life and incorruption.
On behalf of such a gospel, Paul was “appointed a herald, and an apostle, and a teacher” (v. 11). Paul was a herald to proclaim the gospel, an apostle to establish churches, and a teacher to instruct the churches and the saints in the details of the gospel. For the sake of this gospel, Paul suffered “these things.” However, he was not ashamed, for he knew the One whom he had believed and was persuaded that He was able to guard his deposit, to guard what he had committed unto Him (v. 12).
In verse 13 Paul charges Timothy, “Hold a pattern of healthy words which you heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s foregoing words to Timothy are a pattern of the healthy words which Timothy was to hold. We should hold such a pattern in faith, in the organic union with the Triune God, and in the divine love. Furthermore, according to verse 14, we should “guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.” The good deposit here is equal to the healthy words. We should guard this deposit through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The more we consider all the matters covered in verses 1 through 14, the more we realize what riches these verses contain.
In 1:15 Paul says, “This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” Asia here refers to the province of Asia. In this verse Paul indicates that believers in Asia who had formerly received the apostle’s ministry now forsook him. In spite of such desertion, the apostle grew stronger in the grace that was in Christ, who was the same and would never change. Without being discouraged, he exhorted his son in faith to persevere steadily in the ministry in the midst of failure and ruin of the churches.
It is difficult to say to whom the words “all who are in Asia” refer. Does it mean that every believer in Asia turned away from Paul? Paul specifically names Phygelus and Hermogenes, two who must have taken the lead to desert the apostle because of his imprisonment. But what about all the other believers in Asia? We cannot say that every one deserted Paul, for Paul mentions Onesiphorus as one who often refreshed him and who sought him out diligently in Rome and found him (vv. 16-17).
A number of expositors say that these verses point to an apostasy, a departure from the truth. But what was the extent of the apostasy? I believe that “all who are in Asia” points to the general situation among the believers in Asia without including every particular believer. Generally speaking, there was apostasy in Asia.
Second Timothy 1:15-18 indicates that we cannot be neutral. We are either a Phygelus or Hermogenes, or we are an Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus was an overcomer who resisted the general trend and stood against the down current to refresh the Lord’s ambassador in spirit, soul, and body, one who was not ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment for the Lord’s commission. Concerning him Paul says, “May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day! And in how many things he served in Ephesus, you know very well.” The words “that day” refer to the day of the Lord’s victorious appearing to reward His overcomers (4:8; Rev. 22:12).
The principle here is nearly the same as that at the time of Elijah. Elijah said to the Lord, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:14). The Lord replied, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal” (v. 18). The principle here is that even during a period of decline, a downward trend when most of God’s people are carried away, there are always a number who remain faithful. There will always be an Onesiphorus to stand against the downward trend. Yes, Phygelus, Hermogenes, and others in Asia turned away from Paul. But Onesiphorus, an overcomer, stood against the decline, against the down current.
I am certain that both Phygelus and Hermogenes were believers. Otherwise, Paul would not have said that they turned away from him. Phygelus and Hermogenes were with Paul at one time. Probably they were not ordinary believers; they must have been either co-workers or leading ones among the saints. To be sure, they took the lead to turn away from Paul.
Those who turned away from Paul turned away not only from his person, but also from his ministry. Actually, it is not the person himself who is important; it is the ministry carried on by a person which is of extreme importance. When Paul said that certain ones turned away from him, he did not mean that they merely turned away from him as a person, but that they turned away from his ministry. In perilous times, genuine believers, even leading ones and co-workers, may turn away.
In relation to this matter, I would like to relate certain aspects of the history of the Lord’s recovery. During the years I was with Brother Nee in mainland China, I saw many who accepted Brother Nee’s ministry for a time and later turned away. Although the number of saints was not large, it happened again and again that some, perhaps just two or three, turned away from Brother Nee’s ministry.
We have also had many similar experiences from the time we were sent from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949. In the short period of six years, the number of saints in the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan increased from approximately five hundred to more than twenty-five thousand. One year we invited a very spiritual and experienced brother from England to minister to us. His first visit was profitable, for he ministered to us without touching the practice of the church life. But when, at our invitation, he came the second time, he did so with the intention of correcting us with respect to the practice of the church life. Actually, he wanted to convince us to forsake the ground of the church. According to his concept, whenever two or three believers meet in the name of the Lord Jesus, there is the reality of the church. He taught that during the era of what he called organized Christianity there could be in any city a number of groups meeting in the Lord’s name and that each would possess the reality of the church to a certain degree. Due to this brother’s influence, a small number of young people turned from the practice of the church life, declaring that they had seen a vision of what they called “the full Christ.” It is not clear what they meant by this expression. The Bible speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ and refers to the fullness of Christ, but there is no mention of a “full Christ.”
Even though these young people began to undermine the work in Taiwan, I simply waited and prayed. Seven years went by before the issue was settled. At one point I told them frankly that I would follow the way of Christ and the church for eternity. I asked them to consider seriously what would happen if they would only take Christ, but neglect the church life. Furthermore, I told them that as children of light we should conduct ourselves in the light. I declared again that I would forever follow the way of Christ and the church as recovered through Brother Nee. Concerning this, I assured them that I would never change. I went on to tell them that if they preferred to leave the church life and follow their vision of “the full Christ,” I would not hinder them. On the contrary, they were certainly free to follow a way which they regarded as better. However, I told them that they should not remain with us pretending to be the same as we are when actually they were undermining the work. They claimed that they had no problem with the ground of the church, and they continued among us for seven years. All that time they were undermining the work in Taiwan.
In His sovereignty, the Lord brought me to this country and burdened me to start the ministry here. Certain of the leading ones in Taiwan wrote me regularly about the situation with the young brothers who were constantly undermining the work there. I answered them by referring to the words of the Lord Jesus in John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” a reminder of a message I had given. In that message I said, “If this work on the island of Taiwan is something of man, it should be torn down. But if it is of the Lord, once it has been destroyed, the Lord will raise it up again in resurrection.” I encouraged the leading ones to be at peace. Eventually, the dissenting ones left the church life and the work in Taiwan. Shortly thereafter they were divided among themselves. They did not succeed in their attempt to destroy the church life.
Let me now relate several experiences through which we have passed in the Lord’s recovery in the United States. At one time a group of Christians who emphasize speaking in tongues wanted to join with us for the practice of the church life. On the one hand, we did not oppose tongues-speaking; on the other hand, we did not encourage it, and we were not willing for the meetings to be dominated by it. After a short period of time, this group left the church.
Others who were once among us recognized that the way of the church is true. However, their preference was for a native American apostle. When I learned of this, I said to myself, “Only the first group of apostles were native apostles, Jews who were apostles to Jews. But Paul became a foreign apostle, an apostle to the Gentiles.” To reject a foreigner and to accept only so-called native apostles violates the principle of the Body. The Body of Christ is universal. Nevertheless, we assured those who desired a native apostle that they were free to look for one and find one if they could. Hence, those who desired a native apostle also turned from the church life.
Another case involves a brother who was gifted in speaking. On one occasion he testified publicly that the Lord had told him to commit himself to the way of the recovery. After a certain time, he was distracted from the church life and came to believe that the church ground is too narrow. He had the concept that the recovery was merely something transplanted from China. Therefore, this brother also left the church life.
Yet another case concerns a certain brother who considered the denominations to be the field for our work. He claimed that if we offend those in the denominations, we shall lose the field of our work. This brother admitted that we were the church; however, he counselled us not to make such a statement. We replied that this can be compared to a woman not saying that she is the wife of a certain man. This brother’s goal was to bring believers into a halfway shelter for Christians who had left the denominations, but who had not come into the church life. Actually, this is to compromise the truth, to share the teachings about the Christian life but, out of fear, to hold back the truth concerning the church. This brother promotes the books by Brother Nee that do not concern the church, but neglects those books which are related to the church life. He also has turned away.
One brother was in the church life for several years. Then he declared that he had seen a so-called third line. He claimed that Brother Nee had seen the line of Jerusalem and the line of Antioch, but that he had come to see the line of Ephesus. Thus, he turned from the church life to practice this “third line.”
Another brother claimed that he knew the best way to practice the church life. According to him, the way to build a local church is with the children both from families in the church and of families in the neighborhood. I visited a Lord’s table meeting deliberately to see the situation in his locality. Even though very young children were allowed to partake of the bread, I did not say a critical word. However, I did tell the brother, “As the church, we are all-inclusive; we are not sectarian. Even if you wish to practice the church life according to your way, we do not oppose you. But please do not insist that you have found the best way or the unique way to build the church. Such insistence will be a cause of problems.” Eventually, this brother also turned away.
In recent years certain ambitious ones looked upon the Lord’s recovery as an opportunity for them to gain power. They realized that in the “field” of the recovery there were no “lions” or “tigers.” On the contrary, all the saints were “doves” and “lambs.” In other words, the saints in the Lord’s recovery seemed to be naive. Although these ambitious ones tried to gain power for themselves, they failed. They came to realize that the naive “doves” and “lambs” had someone standing with them, that it is God Himself who guards His glory in His recovery. Unable to do what they desired, these also left the church life.
My point in relating these facts of history is to say that we should not think that everyone who comes into the Lord’s recovery will remain. Because the church life is a test to all, a certain number eventually will turn away. However, we should not be disappointed by this. We should be encouraged just as Timothy was encouraged by Paul’s word. Yes, the way of the Lord’s recovery is a test and an exposure. But the recovery also proves that, although some turn away like Phygelus and Hermogenes, others like Onesiphorus stand firm. Today in His recovery the Lord has hundreds, even thousands, of such ones.
Paul’s desire was that the Lord would grant mercy to Onesiphorus both in the present and on “that day.” This indicates a double blessing: a blessing to the whole house of Onesiphorus in this age and blessing to Onesiphorus himself on the day of the Lord’s victorious appearing. Do you want to receive this double blessing of the Lord’s mercy? If so, then do not be a Phygelus or Hermogenes, but an Onesiphorus. When others turn away, stay with the apostle and his ministry.
After we went to Taipei from mainland China, we built a meeting hall that could accommodate about five hundred people. The first Lord’s Day after the building was completed, the new hall was filled, mainly with Christians who had fled the mainland. Realizing the situation of those in the audience, I spoke a frank word. I said, “In Christianity today there are different kinds of churches. Some of these churches will marry you; others will assist you with your medical problems; and still others will help you find employment. Some churches will give opportunities for those who are talented or wealthy. If you have certain abilities, they will give you a position. However, the church here does not afford you this kind of help. Furthermore, there are no positions to satisfy your ambition. If you want such things, you are in the wrong place. As the church here, we care only to preach the pure gospel, to teach the Bible, and to help people receive Christ, love Him, and grow in Him. We are not here for any earthly concern. We care for heavenly things. All those who are truly seeking these heavenly things please continue to meet with us. All the rest should go elsewhere to find the help you are seeking.” The next Lord’s Day more than half did not return. We realized that those who came back cared for the things of the Lord. Most of them have been gained for the Lord and are in the church life.
Once again I would say that in the Lord’s recovery we care only for Christ and the church. This is our battle cry. Our goal is not to help people with earthly pursuits, much less to satisfy their ambition for position. We are here to minister Christ for the church according to God’s eternal purpose. If you are seeking Christ and the church, then the church life is the place for you. Those who are seeking something other than Christ and the church will eventually realize that the church life is not the place for what they are seeking, and they will turn away.
