19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
Sometimes the boat sinks even when you're not the Captain. Life had whisked Paul along, and he found himself seaboard to Rome. He knew the waters well enough and knew the seasons well enough to know that leaving harbor would spell disaster. Winter was coming, and rough seas would be expected along with violent tempests. Paul warned of the dangers, but being a prisoner for being a Christian left him no choice but to go along with the Captain's decision to let loose the moorings and sail ahead despite the warnings. (See Acts 27)
How many of us have gone on ahead of God despite clear warnings?
There is a nautical term for sinking your own ship on purpose. It's called scuttling.
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways—seacocks or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives.
The ship in the Bible typifies the direction and destination of our lives. Sometimes the boat of our lives is scuttled by our own doing, sometimes they are shipwrecked by the doing of others. Often, when our ship is wrecked, if we're not careful, we'll point the blame at others. In reality, the vessel is sunk whether we like it or not, and the real issue is, what do we do now?
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and he had a trade route that required sea-vessels to go and get the gold from far away lands. His forefather Solomon knew all about it and made quite a bit of money from it (See 1 Kings 9:26-28). However, Jehoshaphat made the grave mistake of yoking up with the wicked king of Israel in his endeavor, and this caused shipwreck in his life.
37 Then Eliezer...prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go...
Paul was a man of God who was in the will of God. His ship sank, too (as referenced earlier in Acts 27). Paul is writing to Timothy when he mentions two men who made shipwreck of their faith, "Hymenaeus and Alexander." He used them as bad examples. Before that, he tells Timothy to "war a good warfare," (1 Timothy 1:18) and make sure he's "holding faith, and a good conscience," (1 Timothy 1:19). Why is this important? Because when we don't allow faith and good conscience to man the helm, the wind of the Spirit will not fill our sails and land us in our desired haven. Those two men discovered what happened when they cast off faith and a good conscience. They were shipwrecked. What is faith? It is looking unto Jesus (See Hebrews 12:1-2). What is a good conscience? That is knowing that your heart is right with God and that there is nothing between that hinders fellowship. The conscience is that organ of the soul that recognizes the moral footsteps of God. When we step outside of God's divine law, it sounds the alarm.
Paul did something here that is sometimes required when warnings no longer work. "I have delivered [Hymenaeus and Alexander] unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." (See 1 Timothy 1:20)
Wow! What does he mean by that? Were these men lost? No. That's the kicker. They were not lost as far as salvation is concerned. But they allowed their ships to venture off course in spite of the warnings of the lighthouse (Paul) and that venture placed them among the crags and rocks that pierced the hull of their vessels and allowed the waters to come in and scuttle their ship. When we get off course and get out of church, what do you think God is really going to do? He's going to let us know what it's like again to have Satan at the helm.
Don't believe me? Read 1 Corinthians 5 carefully. We don't know the end of Hymenaeus and Alexander. But we do know what happened to the young man in 1 Corinthians 5. The church at Corinth listened to Paul and turned the unrepentant man over to Satan. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, the unrepentant man, tired of Satan, repented and came back to God and God's people.
So what do you do when you're shipwrecked? Realize what caused it. Repent immediately and make things right with others you affected by your sin. Get cleansed by the blood of Christ. Go back to church, every service. Read your Bible and put your heart into it. Make time for real and meaningful prayer. Give yourself to praising God all day long. God can build you another boat. Interestingly, Jehoshaphat, who lost his ships in his first endeavor, did build new ships. When wicked Ahaziah solicited him again, Jehoshaphat refused.
Holding on to Faith, Shipwrecked
04/04/2020
Day 95: Holding on to Faith Shipwrecked
1 Timothy 1:19
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
Sometimes the boat sinks even when you're not the Captain. Life had whisked Paul along, and he found himself seaboard to Rome. He knew the waters well enough and knew the seasons well enough to know that leaving harbor would spell disaster. Winter was coming, and rough seas would be expected along with violent tempests. Paul warned of the dangers, but being a prisoner for being a Christian left him no choice but to go along with the Captain's decision to let loose the moorings and sail ahead despite the warnings. (See Acts 27)
How many of us have gone on ahead of God despite clear warnings?
There is a nautical term for sinking your own ship on purpose. It's called scuttling.
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull. This can be achieved in several ways—seacocks or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives.
The ship in the Bible typifies the direction and destination of our lives. Sometimes the boat of our lives is scuttled by our own doing, sometimes they are shipwrecked by the doing of others. Often, when our ship is wrecked, if we're not careful, we'll point the blame at others. In reality, the vessel is sunk whether we like it or not, and the real issue is, what do we do now?
Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and he had a trade route that required sea-vessels to go and get the gold from far away lands. His forefather Solomon knew all about it and made quite a bit of money from it (See 1 Kings 9:26-28). However, Jehoshaphat made the grave mistake of yoking up with the wicked king of Israel in his endeavor, and this caused shipwreck in his life.
2 Chronicles 20:37
37 Then Eliezer...prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go...
Paul was a man of God who was in the will of God. His ship sank, too (as referenced earlier in Acts 27). Paul is writing to Timothy when he mentions two men who made shipwreck of their faith, "Hymenaeus and Alexander." He used them as bad examples. Before that, he tells Timothy to "war a good warfare," (1 Timothy 1:18) and make sure he's "holding faith, and a good conscience," (1 Timothy 1:19). Why is this important? Because when we don't allow faith and good conscience to man the helm, the wind of the Spirit will not fill our sails and land us in our desired haven. Those two men discovered what happened when they cast off faith and a good conscience. They were shipwrecked. What is faith? It is looking unto Jesus (See Hebrews 12:1-2). What is a good conscience? That is knowing that your heart is right with God and that there is nothing between that hinders fellowship. The conscience is that organ of the soul that recognizes the moral footsteps of God. When we step outside of God's divine law, it sounds the alarm.
Paul did something here that is sometimes required when warnings no longer work. "I have delivered [Hymenaeus and Alexander] unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." (See 1 Timothy 1:20)
Wow! What does he mean by that? Were these men lost? No. That's the kicker. They were not lost as far as salvation is concerned. But they allowed their ships to venture off course in spite of the warnings of the lighthouse (Paul) and that venture placed them among the crags and rocks that pierced the hull of their vessels and allowed the waters to come in and scuttle their ship. When we get off course and get out of church, what do you think God is really going to do? He's going to let us know what it's like again to have Satan at the helm.
Don't believe me? Read 1 Corinthians 5 carefully. We don't know the end of Hymenaeus and Alexander. But we do know what happened to the young man in 1 Corinthians 5. The church at Corinth listened to Paul and turned the unrepentant man over to Satan. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, the unrepentant man, tired of Satan, repented and came back to God and God's people.
So what do you do when you're shipwrecked? Realize what caused it. Repent immediately and make things right with others you affected by your sin. Get cleansed by the blood of Christ. Go back to church, every service. Read your Bible and put your heart into it. Make time for real and meaningful prayer. Give yourself to praising God all day long. God can build you another boat. Interestingly, Jehoshaphat, who lost his ships in his first endeavor, did build new ships. When wicked Ahaziah solicited him again, Jehoshaphat refused.
1 Kings 22:49
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
Lesson learned.