THE MAN OF GOD
[p. 389] THE MAN OF GOD
1 Timothy 6: 11; 2 Timothy 3: 16; 1 Kings 17: 24; 2 Kings 4: 40
These scriptures speak of the man of God, and in the New Testament this title is applied to one man only, and he a young man — Timothy. So that it is not beyond the range of the young that are here tonight. Had it been applied to Paul or John, many of us could understand it more easily, perhaps, but it is significant that it is only applied to a young man in the New Testament. What I have to say, however, will bear upon all who are present. We will speak of Timothy first, then Elijah, and then Elisha. The term is applied to Elisha more than to any other man in the Scriptures; perhaps half of the references to the man of God in Scripture refer to Elisha. Evidently his ministry is, in general, the divine ideal as to the man of God.
Now what may be remarked at first is, that the man of God, in the first mention of him in the New Testament, is asked to flee certain things. When we are asked to flee things, we are in imminent danger of them. No time is to be lost, or they will overtake us. And if they overtake us, disaster will ensue. So Timotheus is addressed as in peril. The word is, “O man of God, flee these things”. They are things that are particularly used by the enemy against young men and women. In the next epistle the exhortation is to flee youthful lusts. It is not stated what they are. But here the preceding verses indicate to us the things from which to flee. Indeed, the apostle’s allusion to the subject of master and servant leads him to speak of certain things which seemingly accumulated force in his mind as he wrote. It is characteristic of him, that as a great thought came to him it gathered force in his mind,
[p. 390] running on, sometimes, to the expression of feeling. And it is so here. It was a question of service. “And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren; but let them the rather serve them with subjection, because they are faithful and beloved, who profit by the good and ready service rendered. These things teach and exhort. If any one teach differently, and do not accede to sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching which is according to piety, he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and disputes of words, out of which arise envy, strife, injurious words, evil suspicions, constant quarrellings of men corrupted in mind and destitute of the truth, holding gain to be the end of piety. But piety with contentment is great gain. For we have brought nothing into the world: it is manifest that neither can we carry anything out. But having sustenance and covering, we will be content with these. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many unwise and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is the root of every evil; which some having aspired after, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things”, 1 Timothy 6: 2 - 11.
The apostle is addressing this young man, “O man of God”. What an honour! And yet he is in the midst of danger — surrounded by dangers which, undoubtedly, are accentuated because he was a young man. One may question one’s employer and even get into arguments and disputations, but the secret of it all may be that I would like to be in his position. He is getting along well in the world and we would like to be in his place. That may be the secret of it. And so the apostle pursues the subject to the love of money. Who is there that does not [p. 391] love money? Let each question himself. It is a root of all evil! I doubt if there is one of us but would have to testify that at some time we have loved money. And it may be that it has become crystallized in us. The very thought of it coming into the apostle’s mind and developing out of this matter of criticism of one’s employer leads him to think of this distinguished young brother to whom he was writing. He says, “O man of God, flee these things”. The very title is calculated to stir in him the desire to flee them. No doubt it did. There is not a slightest evidence that he really harboured these things. But the danger was there. And if it were so with a man like that with such a spiritual history, can any of us say that we are exempt? Think of his distinction — to be called, “man of God”! And yet there was need of being warned against these things. Why should the apostle have to say to a man like Timothy. “For we have brought nothing into the world, it is manifest that neither can we carry anything out. But having sustenance and covering, we will be content with these ... For the love of money is the root of every evil”? Evidently the Spirit of God gave force to the word as the apostle proceeded. He is now speaking to this one brother about himself. He had been speaking about others generally, but in this particular verse he is speaking to Timothy about himself. We may think that there was no danger with him about these matters. He was a gifted young man, able to teach and preach. Yet there was a danger that he should have love for money. And the apostle is so urgent. He says he is to flee! It is the attitude of one’s mind. It is not a physical matter, exactly, though we should get out of circumstances that induce wrong thoughts, but you must turn away your mind with an impetus that will never allow you to go back. Flee! Flee from these things! In the next [p. 392] epistle he enlarges on the thought, saying, “But youthful lusts flee”. He had said, earlier, “The things thou hast heard of me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, such as shall be competent to instruct others also”. The apostle was making Timothy the custodian of the truth, and yet this same man was exposed to youthful lusts, the love of money and the pride of having money, for pride goes with it.
All this, and more, was possible in one of the most spiritual young men of that age. But is any of us immune? I think not. There are those here, perhaps, before whom a path of distinction opens up with wealth and power; but the apostle speaks solemnly to “flee these things, and pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness of spirit”. It is a longer list than occurs in the second epistle. There it is, “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace”. Here we have righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness of spirit — six things. The second epistle relates to a believer delivering himself from evil communications, and finding a company with whom he can walk. But here it is a question of the servant being maintained in the service of God, and, as holding to the truth, to flee these things which would damage him. And the apostle says, “O man of God”! What feeling there is in it! “O man of God”! Your dangers are great! Your privileges are great! Go in for the privileges! Cleave to them!
Well now, the second epistle has in mind the furnishing of the man of God for his service, “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work”. I would just touch on the importance of the Scriptures and every aid furnished of God for a right use of them;
and first of all, for one’s own soul benefit. I know that most young men who are able to serve, read Scripture in order to get texts for preaching. This is good in its place. But the first thing is to get something for oneself, to get light in one’s own soul. Let me say, Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable, for teaching me, for convicting me, for correcting me, for instructing me in righteousness. And so, the word to us is, How do we read the Scriptures? “How readest thou?” The eunuch was reading Scripture, and Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, asked him, “Dost thou then know what thou art reading of?”. He did not say, I am glad you are reading the Bible. Of course, he was glad of it. It is a testimony when a man reads his Bible. It is a thousand times better than reading a newspaper. A man reading a newspaper in the train is no testimony. But a man reading a Bible is a testimony. Well, here is a man reading the Scriptures and Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. He said, “How should I then be able unless some one guide me?” He was an honest man. There are thousands who read the Bible, it may be, out of duty, and you are glad they do. But then, is there someone to help? The Holy Spirit is here for that purpose, and the Lord will give the understanding. And so the Lord would put it upon us to read the Scripture, and to read aright. The Lord said to one man, “How readest thou?” One has read Scriptures hundreds of times without having seen anything in them, but presently light dawns, and then they are read differently, “How readest thou?” It is not to be done in a perfunctory sort of way, but as asking the Lord to help, and being free to tell Him when we do not understand a scripture.
Someone has said, ‘Never cut a knot in Scripture’. Never take a short cut to understand. You will always find a key nearby, if you are dependent on [p. 394] the Lord to show you something. He is ready to give you wisdom every morning as you read the Scriptures. “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable”. Even the genealogies of Chronicles and the curses on the mount are profitable. Every scripture is profitable. If one is an honest man he will say, That curse applies to me. That is the idea. It is very testing, but the number of persons is very small who are prepared to say, I deserve to be cursed. But you do deserve to be cursed. Those curses are against us as men. It is important that we should know from what we have been saved. It says here that every scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, instruction in righteousness. It is for me, that I may be perfect. Let none think that he has done well, that he can preach well, or that he is getting on. Such a one has hardly begun to understand Levitical principles at all. The less confidence I have the more power I will have. The excellency of the power is of God and not of us.
Well, I will now go on to speak of Elijah and Elisha. The young men need to see the dangers that beset them, so that they should not dishonour the great name by which they are called. It is intended to be a sort of leverage in their souls. I should be ashamed, after I take this in, to run after the filthy lucre of this world. Gehazi is a warning in 2 Kings 5.
Now the Old Testament times would be like nursery times. Take a man like Elijah. Great as he was, he could not speak of things such as we are saying tonight. Not that one would draw attention to oneself, but Elijah could not preach the gospel as the youngest preacher here could do it, for he was in an imperfect condition. He was in the nursery, kept as a minor until the time appointed by the Father. I make that remark that our minds might be rightly balanced. He belongs to another [p. 395] dispensation. And in our passage he is spoken of as a man of God. He is called this by a person that has been benefited by the prophet. God may have great thoughts about a servant, but the brethren may not have them. What he is may not have become evident in him yet. None of the disciples would have said of Peter what the Lord said of him in Matthew 16. Yet how true he was to his confession.
Here it is a question of a man being called a man of God by a person that he has benefited, by the woman of Zarephath who had entertained him for a long time. In truth, he had entertained her, for she and her son were going to die and he kept them alive for a year. That was a great matter. The meal in the barrel did not waste and the oil in the cruse did not fail. It was God who did it. It was not Elijah, though it was at Elijah’s word. The farmer might say of the grain that grows in the field, I raised a good crop. It was God who did it! A man sows his seed and rises up day and night. The crop comes. He does not know how, with all his rising up. It is God. What a great thing that is! If you were to ask Elijah about the raising up of this woman’s son to life, he would say, God did it. Look at the way he entreated God. It was God that did it. The woman was greatly benefited, and she says, “[p. 397] By this I know that thou art a man of God”. That is how we come into the knowledge of a brother’s worth. What he really is becomes evident in the proof that comes to me. If I receive positive help from a brother, I will not listen to anything detrimental to him. Yet there are those who receive help from a man of God and turn a ready ear to ridicule. This woman had a complaint against Elijah. He could not keep her boy alive. He kept the meal and the oil from diminishing, but he could not keep her son alive. That was the kind of feeling she had [p. 396] about him. And it was a serious exercise for Elijah. For after all, the excellency of the power is of God and not of us. But “he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah, my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again! And Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah”. Elijah prayed, and stretched himself upon the child, but God did the work. It was God who did that. One might say, Elijah, that was a great feat of yours. He would say, No; do not say that, I was at extremity about the thing, I could not have done it; but I did it under God. “Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he lived”. Elijah had prayed; he stretched himself upon the child; he begged God about it; but God brought the soul back into the child. God did the work! Elijah brought the child down to his mother, but it was God who brought the child’s soul back.
But there are great things happening today. A brother may get away from God, and is recovered. That is a great work! In principle, the soul has been brought back. It is a spiritual matter. But who would say that he had done it? If God did not do it, it would not be done. But let us look at Elijah. What a peace offering he has! The woman had not been pleased with him. She had discredited the man of God. But now he says, “See, thy son lives”. But it was God who had done it. God is still doing things. He does them in answer to the prayer. Think of Elijah stretching himself on the dead child! How he prayed to God! He is the one man who is held out as an example of prayer in the New Testament. It is because of prayer, but the work is God’s. Now look at the woman. She says to Elijah, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth”. You may say, Of course the word of Jehovah is truth. But this was not written for nothing. “The word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”, Hebrews 4: 12. But it is truth. And the important thing is that it is in this man’s mouth. The idea of truth is not stressed alone but that “the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth”. The woman was adjusted and she was able to name him. “I know that thou art a man of God”. So that what was done was a confirmation. “Now by this I know that ... the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth”. Bringing the child back to life was the great point with the woman. But God is aiming at bringing all the saints into life; not only into fellowship to partake of the emblems, but to be brought into life. Elijah says, “Thy son lives”. He is alive!
Well now, we go on to Elisha. He represents grace. It is the great grace side in the New Testament and opens up the dispensation of grace by this passage amplifying it. He is a man of God. The title is applied to him more than to any other in all Scripture. It is as if God would say, I want to attach My name to the great grace system. And so Elisha is met by a woman in debt. The creditor was at the door. And Elisha helps her. He solves her difficulties. It is a matter of grace. She is not only to pay her debts; she is to live on the rest. And he is owned as a man of God. And then we have the woman of Shunem who says, “This is a holy man of God”. She is a greater woman than the woman of Zarephath. She says, “This is a holy man of God”, even though he has done nothing for her as yet. But he was passing by her door. She had an eye for what [p. 398] was of God. How many in Capernaum thought that of the Lord Jesus? More than a holy man of God was there, but few in Capernaum recognized it! Well now, we are told that Elisha passed by and the woman constrained him to eat. And she said, “This is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually”. Well now, if her husband had been an alert believer he would have said to his wife, You have more discernment that I have. But they make a small chamber for the prophet with a bed, a table, a seat, and a lampstand. And the woman is rewarded with a child who died. But Elisha restored the child to life. He met every difficulty. And so the present dispensation is the time when things are finished; every difficulty is to be met. But the solution of every difficulty is in relation to the man of God. Think of having such a reputation! Think of the power of it! The little maid that waited on Naaman’s wife said, “Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy”. The solution of the difficulty lay in the man of God.
But I want to speak about “the great pot”. What does it represent? It is like a Bible reading, when the brethren come together, and we may speak one by one. But presently someone brings in what is not right — a wild gourd. The brother may have been thinking of something but has not been subject to the Lord, and says to himself, Now this will give me a little distinction if I bring it in. But when you look into it, it is poison. It is not the truth, and the pot is poisoned by it. They cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” Who can meet this? Only a man of God. It is a question of persons who are characteristically men of God; characteristically of God. “We are of God”, the apostle John could say. All the apostles were men of God. The antichrists would not hear them: “We are of God; he that knows God hears us; he who [p. 399] is not of God does not hear us”, 1 John 4: 6. And so here, the real difficulty must be met by this man of God. Elisha does not complain. He does not rebuke the person that brought in this evil. He said, “Then bring meal”. Who has the meal? He assumes that there is meal, somewhere, even with the dearth around. It is not easy to provide meal in famine times; nearly everything edible is scarce then. But he assumed that someone had meal, and, thank God, someone did have it. The requisites are always available in times of difficulty. When God is working, all the requisites are available. And so he says, “Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot”. What a change! You may say, There are not many men of God. Quite so. But the point I am making now is in the idea of being of God. Christianity is of God. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus”. The saints are of God, characteristically. And that shuts out all else. So that relief comes in. The solution is found. And there is no harm in the pot.
Well, I might say more, for the title is applied to Moses, David, and to several unnamed persons in Scripture. It really alludes to christianity, in the principle of it; christianity is of God. It is characteristically of God. Christ came out from God. And “of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption”, 1 Corinthians 1: 30. And so we are to be characteristically of God and relief will come; the adjustment of every difficulty will be found.