1 Timothy 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: I. THE NATURE OF SUCH SHIPWRECKS. We shall confine our meditations to the special aspects of this subject as they are here presented; "concerning faith have made shipwreck." But when has a man made shipwreck concerning faith? 1. When he has lost his hold of spiritual truth. We know but little of these men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, but what we do know shows us that they had lost their grasp of Divine and apostolic teaching. Hence we read respecting Hymenaeus in the second chapter of the Second Epistle to Timothy, "And their word will eat as doth a canker; of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some." Here we see then departure from "the truth"; also that such departure, in Paul's conception, was shipwreck. We read of Alexander in the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle. "Alexander, the copper-smith, did me much evil; of whom be thou aware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words," or the gospel which Paul preached. These men then had made "shipwreck concerning faith." They had lost their faith in the truth as embodied in Christ: and in the resurrection as taught by Him and His apostles. But such "shipwrecks concerning faith" occur in the quieter and less keenly intellectual spheres of human life. The freshness of spiritual life is lost amidst life's cares, temptations, and prosperity, and with the freshness of the spiritual life there goes the beautiful and childlike grasp of faith. Let me ask you, what scepticism has to give you better than the truth, which you have already received from the lips of Christ. 2. Ship wreck is made concerning faith when men and women lose their faith in the nobleness of human destiny, and in the importance and possibility of attaining it. 3. A man has made shipwreck concerning faith when he loses those elements of character which are the results of faith. "They that will be rich fall into temptation and snares; for the love of money is the root of all evil." II. THE CAUSES OF SUCH MORAL SHIPWRECKS, 1. Trifling with conscience, or the severing of a good conscience from faith. This is clearly the thought of the apostle in these words. "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which, some having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck." "A good conscience," says Dr. Fairbairn, "is here faith's necessary handmaid," and is as essential as a living faith; indeed, is its necessary fruit. But there are men who sever the two. They imagine that a mere intellectual holding of the truth is enough; that it is not essential that it should influence the life. Such were the views of Hymenaeus and Alexander. They made shipwreck by trifling at first with the instincts and enforcements of conscience. It was this trifling with sin which led to the overthrow of faith. Sometimes faith goes first, and the obligation to morality is subsequently relaxed. But the converse of this is also true. 2. Another cause of moral shipwrecks is, according to the apostle, "hurtful lusts." There is, for instance, the lust after money. There is special reference to this here. "They that will be rich," rich at any cost, social, mental, or spiritual. "Which some coveted after." There is the lust after sinful pleasure. Pure pleasure is right enough but any pleasure indulged at the expense of conscience, any pleasure which soils the spiritual nature is altogether wrong. The pleasures of sinful gratification, of reading and amusements which appeal to the lowest passions, the bewitchment of drinking, are daily drowning men in destruction; leading to shipwrecks. III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THESE MORAL SHIPWRECKS. 1. There is the shipwreck of happiness. "Pierced themselves through with many sorrows" — with pangs of remorse. And what hell can be worse than that? 2. This is consummated in final retribution and overthrow. "Drown men in destruction and perdition." What these terrible words mean I cannot say. (R. A. Davies.) Parallel Verses KJV: Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: |
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