David Hathaway

Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you to bring forth fruit and it shall remain” – the evidence is so positive in every area to which the Lord has called us! But we need much prayer because these new areas of evangelism are difficult and dangerous – and strenuous to get to! This year is proving one of the busiest for me, it seems that the older I get the heavier the demand for my involvement! However, this year is recording some remarkable events.

'All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.' (2 Timothy 3:16-17.) The whole Bible is God’s inspired word. Because it is trustworthy, we should read it and apply it to our lives. The Bible is our source of guidance for how we should live. It is our only source of knowledge, revealing how we receive salvation. It is our safeguard against every false teaching. 

'But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.' (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NIV)

Be a faithful witness of Christ: 'If we die with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful. Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.'  Jesus is faithful; He will stay by our side, even when we have endured so much, it seems we have no faith left. Jesus is faithful to His promise to be with us 'to the end of the age'. 

'The Word of God cannot be chained. So I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen' (2 Timothy 2:9-10, NLT). God will use our sufferings, our heartaches, and pains, to bring Glory to His Name. I've twice had cancer; I've been imprisoned for Bible smuggling; yet each time God has used these hardships to bring Glory to His Name. The Gospel of Christ is not constrained by sickness or disappointments, rather, the Glory of God is revealed through these circumstances.  

'Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules' (2 Timothy 2:1-5). The Apostle Paul was cautioning Timothy that he would face suffering, but that he would be able to endure through the grace of Jesus Christ. Paul used the comparison with soldiers and athletes, who must discipline themselves and be willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals. Like soldiers, we must give up worldly security and endure rigorous discipline. And like athletes, we must train hard and follow the rules of the competition. Our suffering is worthwhile when we achieve our goal of glorifying Jesus and winning the lost for Him. 

'Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.'  You have everything you need to face the future if you hold on tightly to the Lord. When facing difficult circumstances, remember how the Lord helped and delivered you in the past. Build on the foundation of faith you received. Use the Gifts of the Spirit to strengthen yourself and others. No matter what setbacks or problems we face, we can trust God. Paul trusted the Lord to guard his own soul until Christ's second coming; his confidence was in the faithfulness of God, 'for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.' 

'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. So we must never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. For with the strength God gives us, we must be ready to suffer for the proclamation of the Gospel.' (2 Timothy 1.7-8.) In a time of mounting persecution, the apostle Paul told timothy to expect suffering. Timothy, like Paul, would be jailed for preaching the Good News. But Paul promised Timothy, that God would give him strength, and that he would be ready when it was his turn to suffer. God will strengthen us too. Jesus promised He will be with us until the end of the age. Paul mentions three characteristics of the effective Christian leader: power, love, and self-discipline. These are available to us because the Holy Spirit lives in us. 

'Fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you' (2 Timothy 1). In telling Timothy to fan into flames the gift of God, Paul was encouraging him to persevere. Timothy did not need new revelations or new gifts; he needed the courage and self-discipline to hang on to the truth and to use the gifts he had already received. When you use the gifts God has given you, you will find that God will give you the power you need. God gives all Christians gifts to use to build up the body of Christ, and He gives special gifts to some through church leaders, who serve as God's instruments. 

In Chapter 6:3, Paul writes, “If anyone teaches false doctrines and doesn’t agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing! He has an unhealthy interest in controversy and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of corrupt mind who have been robbed of the truth, and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” Paul warns Timothy, v6ff, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.” You may be the richest man in the world, but when you die, you take nothing out! “If we have food and clothing, we will be content."

There is a reward for faithfulness, both in this life, and in eternity. Interestingly, Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 5:23, that we must be careful with our health. Yes, Paul teaches about miracles of healing; Timothy is taught to believe for miracles; yet, Paul is indicating that we all have a responsibility to look after our health, he seems to suggest that there are weaknesses and sicknesses in our bodies, so we must be careful in what we eat and drink. Then Paul goes on to say, “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of Judgement ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.” This is a warning to all of us that we must all appear at the Judgement Seat of Christ - the sinner and the saint - all must give an account of what we have done. For sin, this means punishment. But blessing and reward for those of us who have been faithful in service. What Paul is saying is, whether sin is obvious now, or only recognised later, everything we do is recorded in advance in Heaven. Similarly, v25, even i

As I write this, we have returned from Armenia where the Day of Prayer was a phenomenal miracle. Though we have been working towards a United Day of Prayer for Armenia for some years now, the developing critical situation with Azerbaijan precipitated action; with only one month to pull all our plans together and make it happen, on Saturday 27th May, 5000 people from all over the nation – some travelling up to 5 hours to get there – gathered in the Meridian Expo Centre, Yerevan, to pray for God’s protection over their land.

We are called and chosen by God. Jesus said, 'You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.' Being in ministry is a vocation, by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1). Throughout chapter 5&6 of 1 Timothy, Paul is very concerned to instruct his young disciple how to deal with false teaching and corruption - especially financial corruption - in the church in Ephesus. Paul was the founder of this great church, but now, years later, there are problems. We have to be extremely careful who is chosen for ministry. Paul says, v22, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.” He’s not talking about praying for the sick, but the laying on of hands to confirm God’s call to the ministry. 

Wherever I go, people talk about revival. But I’ve seen real powerful Holy Ghost revival - in Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine - it was a revival that changed society! An advisor to the government said on state TV that only the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ saved those soviet countries from chaos when communism collapsed. My father was converted in the Welsh Revival. He said when that revival came, it so changed the society, there was. no crime. It is recorded one magistrate sat in court for a whole week, but there was not one case of crime to be judged. No drunkenness, no theft, nothing! That’s when God changes a nation! Look at the preaching of John and Charles Wesley. It changed the nation, changed the character. This brings us back to 1 Timothy 2:1 - “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for all those in authority…” Why? Verse 4, “Because God our Saviour wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth.” Oh th

We’ve got to get back to the Truth and the Authority and the Power of God’s Word. Here Paul says in1 Timothy 4:8, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things - in the present life and in the life to come.” Godliness is the most important, but it’s interesting that Paul slips in here, that physical training is of some value… When you read this, I shall be well past my 91st birthday. I’ve just had a medical check, and in everything I scored ‘green’ like a car going through an MOT test - satisfactory, good to go! They had nothing to add, they almost pushed me out of the surgery so as not to waste their time! I do believe we have a responsibility to respect our bodies, look after them - because Scripture says our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost!  I try not to abuse my body, I look after myself. I take physical exercise. I took up skiing when I was 50 - I did give up at 80 - I sail boats, I walk a lot, I go for prayer walking. You can pray on your knees, you can pray sitting

“Fight the good fight, hold on to faith and a good conscience - because some have rejected these and shipwrecked their faith.” Chapter 2 begins, “I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” Paul makes it quite clear that the end goal of our prayer is Salvation! So often we get away from the basic truth of the Gospel, which is to bring men to Salvation. (1 Timothy 1&2.)

“I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 1:12-17.) I like to tell the story of one of the greatest messages I have ever preached: it was to 1,400 criminals in a high security prison in Siberia. I told them of a God of love and forgiveness - and out of those 1,400 violent men came 140 evangelists and pastors! So many of the men from all over the former Soviet Union, who have followed me in ministry - and whom I am proud to call my sons - came from such a background! Because, as Paul says in v15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!”

We preach a Gospel of love. And the motivation for all that we do should be love. The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said, 'The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.' 

We have been called and chosen by Jesus. in 1 Timothy Paul introduces himself as an ‘apostle of Jesus Christ by the Command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our Hope’. That’s important for you and for me, because Paul was not one of the first 12 apostles. The remaining 11 disciples, after the betrayal and death of Judas, had to decide who should replace him in the ministry. A man called Matthias was chosen, a man who was with Jesus from the beginning. We don’t actually see much evidence of his subsequent ministry; to me, the one who truly replaced Judas as one of the 12, was not the one chosen by the casting of lots as a decision of men, but rather Paul, an apostle chosen ‘by the Command of God’.

When Jesus teaches the Lord's prayer, which we all know and love, do we realise that the opening line of the prayer, which says, 'Our Father', emphasises the relationship we have with God. He is your Father. You are His child. Approach God in prayer the same way you would talk with someone you love and respect: an open heart, attentive to their voice.  Jesus speaking about prayer in Matthew 6, verse 6, of The Message paraphrase says, “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programmes and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray ve