{"id":14156,"date":"2007-10-25T20:34:36","date_gmt":"2007-10-26T01:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=14156"},"modified":"2019-10-25T20:38:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T01:38:53","slug":"hymenaeus-and-alexander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hymenaeus-and-alexander\/","title":{"rendered":"Hymenaeus and Alexander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

by Kent Heaton<\/p>\n

Found only in Paul\u2019s letters to Timothy, Hymenaeus is an example of a man who once had been enlightened of the truth, tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the partaking of the Holy Spirit and yet found himself shipwreck concerning the faith. It is tragic to witness the shipwreck of one’s faith when; for many years an example of fidelity is shown. Much like a ship sailing the oceans with its tall mast and canvas filled with wind, gliding across the waves with the grace of its maker \u2013 a person\u2019s life is summed up in the same figure. We sail the wide seas of life being guided by the direction of our helmsman Jesus Christ. It is the trust and faith we have in him that allows our lives to be directed by His will.<\/p>\n

Hymenaeus and Alexander enjoyed this blessing for time. For reasons we are not told, they rejected Jesus Christ as their guide and began to take control of their own lives. In a figure they threw the Lord \u201coverboard\u201d and took control of their own lives, steering as they willed. Sadly, without the guidance of the Lord, the shipwrecked on the shoals of falsehood, deceit and broke apart on the rocks of apostasy. How difficult to watch precious souls destroy themselves as they desert the faith of God.<\/p>\n

\"\"Shipwrecks are caused by carelessness and indifference. The seas of life are very treacherous and can only be safely traversed with the Lord at the helm. Jesus knows every obstacle that will be in our path. \u201cFor we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin<\/em>\u201d (Hebrews 4:15). Without Him at the helm, our lives will be in shambles.<\/p>\n

The Lord knows what we need and He knows where we need to go. We look at the horizons of life and are filled with doubt. We worry about what is over the next horizon and how to overcome the coming storms. Our hearts are filled with fear as the storms of life pound upon us and we cry out to the helmsman for relief. If we simply trust in His guidance and His will, we will find safety in the harbor.<\/p>\n

Hymenaeus and Alexander lost their faith. This story reminds us that ships can sail that are hollow inside. Their hearts were corrupted and they rejected God\u2019s will and turned to their own desires. Paul declares in II Timothy 2:18 that Hymenaeus (and Philetus) \u201chave gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some<\/em>\u201d (II Timothy\u00a02:18\u00a0). Their actions not only caused them to lose their souls but also impacted others whose faith was \u201cupset.\u201d<\/p>\n

This lesson shows the danger of listening to the doctrines of men. It is possible to lose one\u2019s faith as seen in Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus. False doctrine will shipwreck the faith of God\u2019s people. Turning to the doctrines of men will cause men to lose their way and lose their souls. They erred concerning the truth and became advocates of falsehood.<\/p>\n

The clear pattern of apostasy is when Jesus Christ is no longer the one who guides our ship through life. These men had the faith but threw it away. Let not Satan take control of our lives to lead us upon the shores of destruction. Throw him in the sea and implore the Son of God to lead your life in every shifting wind of time. Share not in the evil of Hymenaeus and Alexander.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kent Heaton Found only in Paul\u2019s letters to Timothy, Hymenaeus is an example of a man who once had been enlightened of the truth, tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the partaking of the Holy Spirit and yet found himself shipwreck concerning the faith. It is tragic to witness the shipwreck of one’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[427,58],"class_list":["post-14156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-eternal-security","tag-once-saved-always-saved"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-were-hymenaeus-and-alexanders-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":0},"title":"What were Hymenaeus and Alexander’s sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What were Hymenaeus and Alexander's sin? Answer: \"This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-he-handed-over-hymenaeus-and-alexander-to-satan\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":1},"title":"Why did Paul say he handed over Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your online article about Hymenaeus and Alexander\u00a0shipwrecking their faith (I Timothy 1:20). Good thoughts. What's your opinion of Paul's statement that he had turned these guys \"over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme\"? Answer: \"This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-mean-by-ultimately-these-sins-will-cause-you-to-lose-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":2},"title":"What do you mean by \u201cUltimately, these sins will cause you to lose your salvation\u201d?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you mean by \u00a0\"Ultimately, these sins will cause you to lose your salvation\"?\u00a0 Once saved, always saved. Answer: See:\u00a0Once Saved, Always Saved. Question: Without eternal security then the whole concept of being a 'born again' Christian is meaningless. A person would never know if they are going\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-losing-your-faith-means-losing-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":3},"title":"Does losing your faith means losing your salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was reading I Timothy and came across mention of Hymenaeus and Alexander.\u00a0 Not knowing anything about them, I did a google search and found your site with\u00a0your explanation of them.\u00a0 In it, you say that it is possible to lose one\u2019s faith as seen in Hymenaeus, Alexander,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-god-allow-sin-to-get-us-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":4},"title":"Will God allow sin to get us back?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will God allow sin to get us back? Answer: While a child of God ought not to sin, there is no promise to the Christian that he cannot sin. Instead, we read of Christians who did fall back into the ways of sin. \"This charge I commit to you,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":522,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-lose-my-way-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":14156,"position":5},"title":"Can I lose my way to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can I lose my way to heaven? Answer: Obviously, Paul thought that it was possible. \u201cNot that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}