From the Life-Study of 2 Timothy - How Did Paul Inoculate the Church Against Decline?

    The church life that began in such an amazing way in Acts 2 started to show serious signs of decline at the end of Paul's life.  In the Epistle of 2 Timothy Paul honestly tells his coworker Timothy that many believers had even turned away from his ministry or had backslidden into the world. 

My husband with two of our grandkids.

      In Chapter 1 of the Life-Study of 2 Timothy Witness Lee points out that the subject of this second Epistle is the inoculation against the church's decline.  Although babies don't particularly like getting immunized, it's important that they get their shots or something comparable. 

   A few years ago when I was subbing in a high school biology class, we saw an amazing DVD on the immune system with live footage.  When germs enter the body, the B cells make specific antibodies that destroy them. Along with these B cells there's an arsenal of T cells and macrophages that work together to keep our bodies healthy.  These B cells also have a long memory for invaders, and they stay in the body for years to protect it.  Anyway I found all of this amazing--and this is such a picture of the Lord's spiritual Body.

   In 2 Timothy Paul is like a nurse inoculating the church against the germs of decline.  An inoculation gives our body a heads up on certain germs so it can prepare ahead of time for encountering those germs.   In this chapter Witness Lee says that 2 Timothy 1:1-14 is a description of all the items in the spiritual inoculation:

     If we have the proper insight, we shall realize that the divine thought within Paul was to inoculate the believers against the decline of the church. Paul foresaw this decline….Paul's burden in writing this Epistle was both to encourage and to strengthen Timothy and also to inject a divine substance into the church in order to inoculate the church against the germ of decline. We praise the Lord that this inoculation has been effective.  Yes, the church throughout the centuries has been ruined to a certain extent, but it has not been exterminated.  Paul had the foresight to inoculate the church.  (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of 2 Timothy. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1980, Print).

     Through my reading I was reminded that when I read the Bible, pray, and fellowship with other believers,  I'm touching the divine life that contains all these elements that can destroy any invading spiritual germs that would bring my Christian life or church life into a decline.  For instance, if I hear something that's in pretense or not spiritually healthy, my spirit will easily recognize it and reject it.  I could see from all this fellowship that it's so important for all of the Lord's believers to spend time with the Lord every day.  

You can  also listen to live excerpts from these messages on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon on The Life-Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.  You will enjoy listening to both  the excerpts  from these spoken messages and the helpful and enlightening commentary of the radio hosts.

List of Other Life-Studies on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, & Philemon:

What is Paul's First Exhortation in 1 Timothy 2:1?
How Can You Be Nourished With the Words of the Faith in 1 Timothy 4:6?
Looking at the Church's Decline in 2 Timothy
From the Life-Study of 2 Timothy - How Did Paul Inoculate the Church Against Decline?
Why is the Word Healthy Used So Much in the Epistle to Titus?
Why  Should You Avoid Questionings in Titus 3:9?
What Does the Account of Onesimus Show Us in the Book of Philemon?