A particular characteristic of the two Epistles to Timothy is that they contain many imperative words. One such word is 2 Timothy 2:1, which says, “You therefore, my child, be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.” This word was written because the church was in degradation, and Satan was telling the children of God, “You cannot make it.” In the past some among us have said that we should be liberated from any legalities or standards because we cannot change what we are. However, the Bible says, “Be transformed” (Rom. 12:2). We should not remain in a low condition. We need to be empowered in the grace of Christ. His grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9).
Second Timothy 2:22, another imperative word, says, “Flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” First Timothy 6:11 says, “You, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, meekness.” The Bible teaches the young people not to fulfill their lusts but to flee them. The young people need to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness and godliness. Our standard is godliness. The two Epistles to Timothy establish a high standard of morality and character. Timothy was a young man. First Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no one despise your youth, but be a pattern to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Paul exhorted Timothy to be an example. Purity is a high standard. The young people should pursue to be pure in everything, including their thinking, their word, what they look at, their attitude, their motive, their heart, their emotion, and their will.
The words flee, refuse, and avoid are imperatives (1 Tim. 6:11; 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:23, 16). Because the Lord lives in us, we should be not cowardly but empowered. The standard should be high among us. The church should have the highest morality, character, and ethics in human society. If the church is a group of loose people, there is no testimony. The New Testament says that the churches are golden lampstands (Rev. 1:11-12). A lampstand is full of light, and gold signifies the divine nature. What a high standard!
We need to receive only the healthy word and have our concepts thoroughly washed from the germs of any unhealthy speaking. If we read the two Epistles to Timothy to find all the imperative words, the Holy Spirit will spontaneously lead us to have a high standard. We should not believe that we cannot make it. We can make it by the Lord’s grace.
Second Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.” Power here refers to our will, love refers to our emotion, and sobermindedness refers to our mind. God has given us a spirit that empowers our will, strengthens our love, and sobers our mind. This is a brief yet marvelous picture of the kind of person we should be. We should not be wishy-washy like jellyfish; rather, we should have a strong spirit with a strong will, a loving heart, and a sober mind. If we are such persons, Satan can do nothing to us and will be scared away. We need to be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus and declare, “God has not given me a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.”
Second Timothy 4:22, the conclusion of these two Epistles, says, “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” The Lord with our spirit is grace. It is in this grace that we need to be empowered.
The nature and the content of the Lord’s recovery is life, which is Christ. The ground, the standing, of the Lord’s recovery is oneness. The constitution of the recovery is the truth. Thus, the recovery is built with Christ as life upon the genuine oneness and according to the truth. The nature of the Lord’s recovery should not change from life to a movement. The ground of the recovery should not change from oneness to divisions. The constitution of the recovery should not change from truth to falsehood. The Lord is bringing us back to life, oneness, and truth. The Lord’s recovery is not a work or a movement; rather, it is a testimony of life. Unlike religious Christianity, the Lord’s recovery is not a matter of activities, movements, ways, organizations, or concepts. In the Lord’s recovery we have only Christ as life. Rather than a work or a movement, we should have a spontaneous testimony of life. We simply need to live Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ. This is our daily living and our testimony. The Lord’s recovery is to express Christ and bring His testimony to maturity.