Servanthood and slavery are powerful and influential Bible
concepts. Whatever your background you
ought to develop a good, healthy understanding of them as portrayed in the
Bible. This is going to be a more
difficult task for the average American, especially African Americans. American slavery as experienced 150 or more
years ago was an abomination in the eyes of God. It’s not that slavery is supposed to be a
desired condition but through the working of God there can be a certain
nobility involved for both parties. The
reasons and economics of slavery have existed for thousands of years and still exist
today around the world.
Just because you hate something does not mean God is fixing
it right this moment. America became a
house divided because of our perversion of slavery and God dealt with it in His
timing and then healed the national rift.
White Americans perverted it and told God that other human beings He
created in His image were unacceptable based on color. The social and cultural rifts we still hold
are our responsibility to repair.
Germany sought to destroy the Jews and again, God divided them into two
Germanys. It wasn’t until the last
architect of the Jewish final solution died and went to Hell that the wall came
down and Germany was reunited.
Judas was a zealot and hated the Romans with a burning rage
that was his eventual undoing. It
consumed him so much that when Jesus failed to fulfill his dream of Jewish
world domination he turned Him into the Jewish religious establishment. It was not until the deed was done that he
came to himself and realized his egregious sin.
He had allowed Satan to enter into him and blind him to Christ’s
message. When Judas finally woke up to
the truth and tried to make it right there was nothing to be done. He sealed his curse by hanging himself on a
tree and was received in Hell.
You might ask yourself, “So what preacher? What does this have to do with slavery today?” Specifically?
Nothing. It has to do with
failing to trust God in every circumstance.
Israel is still God’s chosen people two thousand years after Jesus’
death and resurrection. Judas’
frustration at seeing God’s people under a yoke of bondage is perfectly
understandable but his refusal to trust God to make the change was his
undoing. He had seen the miracles of
Jesus and had even performed them himself.
He stole from the disciples (John 12:6) as well so we know he was
covetous and as a pretext of national pride hid his considerable sins. More than any of the disciples, Judas needed
the very Savior he betrayed.
Had he trusted Jesus and supported him, Judas like Peter
would have been chastened for his various sins and forgiven. He would have become stronger during the
trials and eventually may have been an honored leader in the church. Instead his very name has become synonymous
with traitor and has largely destroyed the honor that name deserved by the acts
of Judas Maccabeus 160 years earlier or the fact that the root of Judas is
Judah. The other Judas in Jesus’ group
never used the name again and went by Thaddaeus, Labbaeus or Jude. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be
chosen rather than great riches.”
Whether you believe your actions are justified or not, God
will be the final judge and your name will either be remembered for honor or
infamy. God won’t care that you were
bond or free, poor or rich, He will only want to know if you have obeyed His
word, fed His sheep and received His son.
If you say, “But God, I was a slave!”
He will say, “Depart from me ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you.” The Lord is only interested in what you did
in faith no matter what your circumstances are.
The lower your circumstance, the greater your faith will appear and the
greater the honor God will ultimately bestow upon you. In the long run it is much better to be
Lazarus who is with Jesus than the rich man who is currently in Hell (Luke
16:19-31).
1 Let as many servants (doulos, slave) as are under the
yoke (ox yoke) count their own masters (despot, absolute ruler) worthy of all
honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
If you are a slave, or in prison, or in economic bondage, what
is God’s expectation of you? That you
treat your captor respectfully and with GREAT honor. Why?
So God’s NAME and His DOCTRINE are not blasphemed. Does that mean that they deserve that respect
and are those who always treat you with respect? No. It
means that you will honor God and show Him respect by respecting those placed over
you. You do it because GOD is worthy,
not because they are. You do it because
that honor will pass to the Lord and if they do not try to be worthy God will
still hold them responsible and chasten them for disrespecting His child.
Your eternity will be marked by wealth, health and joy. God would like to have your master or
supervisor or lord join you in that experience.
Your actions toward them can make all the difference. I remind you again of the rich man and
Lazarus. Scripture says that the rich
man enjoyed good things ALL HIS LIFE and then went to Hell. In Hell he would have been overjoyed to have
Lazarus place one drop of water on his tongue and yet it was too late. God is not as concerned with your comfort in
this life as He is that your actions as a child of God will win converts and
bring Him honor.
2 And they that have believing (pistos) masters, let them
not despise them, because they are brethren (adelpho); but rather do them
service (douleuo), because they are faithful (pistos) and beloved (agapetos),
partakers (one who embraces) of the benefit. These things teach and exhort
(parakaleo).
This verse is quite powerful and does not come as a
SUGGESTION but as a COMMAND. You must
love your master, your despot in the faith.
That’s right, love them, agape them, cherish them. If your flesh is screaming now, it ought to
be dead. If you have suffered disrespect
from these people your whole life, that disrespect has been heaped upon your
flesh, not your spirit. Whether they see
your worth as a believer or not, you must see their worth as one. You are to serve them as a doulos, a slave. Esther was a slave who became queen and yet
SERVED as queen.
Scripture says we ought not think too highly of
ourselves. Inner city gangsters DEMAND
respect but do not offer it themselves.
They are the absolute opposite of what God expects in this
situation. They are vicious killers,
brute beasts who don’t even look to see who they are hurting. They get respect for killing a baby as much
as killing an adult. They are children
of their father the devil and we are to pray for them and pity them but never
try to be like them.
The masters in the scripture above are faithful and beloved
by God. In spite of your position under
them you must love them as well. It goes
on to say that you should teach and exhort others to do the same thing. It’s not enough to respect and possibly even
love your master in the Lord; you must teach AND exhort others to do as the
Holy Spirit exhorts us to do greater things for the Lord.
3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness; 4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil
surmisings, 5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the
truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
If you have an attitude against your master or do not agree
with what Paul has written here, let me remind you that this scripture is not a
story or allegory. It is the Word of
God. If you refuse to obey this
scripture or have an attitude of anger or rage toward it you are proud, high
minded and without understanding. This
commandment is a simple one in understanding while difficult to the flesh to
carry out. In this country it is a point
of greatest contention. On the one hand,
some of the former or current masters believe they DESERVE this honor and respect
and we know in truth they do not deserve it.
On the other hand, we who are freed in Christ yet believe our lives
themselves must be free of the bondage of man. In that belief we deny God a place of
authority in our lives.
He has commanded this.
Any argument you can possibly bring against it is sin. It is that simple. Your natural man is of no consequence when
weighed against the spirit and eternal blessings of heaven. God sold His Son as a slave to sin for your
sake. In the unlikely event that you
might find yourself an actual slave to another or to some circumstance, He expects
you to be as gracious and as loving as Jesus was when He hung on the cross for
your sake. If your cry is, “I will
accept nothing less than freedom,” the Bible says you are a perverse disputer
and destitute of the great truth of God.
In God’s eyes it is better to be sold into slavery and to live free in
faith than to live in the house of kings and be a slave to sin. The next verse explains God’s reasoning.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Are you content where you are? Do you live in a godly way? If so you have great power in the life to
come. Has God granted you peace that
passes all understanding? No? Well, if you continue to press into this
mindset it will come. That great peace
is promised to all who keep their mind stayed on God. Flee youthful lusts. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Remember, this is not a request but a commandment.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is
certain we can carry nothing out.
Job 1:21 Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and
naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God
foolishly. In this case Job had just
been informed that all his children were killed in a tornado. Notice it says that in all this Job did not
sin or charge God foolishly. We were
born naked and shall return to God the same way. Either we will be clothed with righteousness
or we’ll hear, “Depart from me ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you.”
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith
content.
Are you the type of person who can be satisfied with food
and clothing? I have all to often seen
those who must have the best car and clothing and biggest house. They will injure themselves with debt and
turn poverty into a great curse. God
prefers that we will simply be at peace where we find ourselves. I know those who purchase a small (very
small) home and when possible ride bicycle’s to work or the store. They are not terrified about tomorrow and
have abandoned the need to race around making more and more money. There are also those who are never satisfied
and struggle with maintaining an expensive lifestyle going from challenge to
challenge.
9 But they that will (and have purposed in their hearts
to) be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
If you desired to be wealthy and prayed about it, consider
how long it would take God to prepare your heart to be ready to walk in that
wealth without danger. You might be in
your sixties before it happened. God
warns us to flee youthful lusts. It
calls them a temptation and a trap. They
are foolish and hurtful. People say they
are afraid to submit fully to God, that they will drown in Him and cease to
exist. God’s fear for us is that we will
drown in desires and drown in fleshly destruction and physical, emotional and
spiritual ruin. We are often too weak to
tell our flesh no. Our natural mental
abilities often fight against our eternal and infallible spirit (Proverbs
16:25).
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which
while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows.
The word translated money in the KJV is the word for
avarice. The Greek word breaks down to,
“Fond of silver.” Many seek finances for
their own sake and not to accomplish a task.
For that person, enough is never sufficient. The word also leaves the sense of
coveting. This means that you desire
what another has. Worldly companies
often destroy one another to make just a bit more even when their business is
doing well. They covet what the other
has. This is not good business practice,
it is sin.
They have been seduced away from faith (pistis). Why?
Because if you never have enough you are not trusting God for your sense
of wellbeing. You need to have more to
feel safe and secure. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. If your peace is maintained only by having
more than you need then you never need trust God for anything. You have stumbled spiritually and (as the
Greek says) have tortured yourself with tortures and great grief. There is no peace in this type of life and we
should not seek to live it.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
And now, says God, this is the life I have for you. This is the third time in one chapter God
says, “Flee lust.” It doesn’t have to
mean those of the flesh but they are natural lusts even if they mean money. We are encouraged instead to follow
righteousness and integrity, holiness and reverence toward God, faith (pistis),
God’s love (agape), patience, a steadfast continuance in God’s will, and
finally gentleness and meekness. We are
the most powerful people on this planet.
We do not need to prove it. God
will provide the proof. We need only to
believe and walk in it.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal
life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession
before many witnesses.
We’re to contend for the godly fight of faith in God. In that fight we are to grasp for ourselves
the eternal life of God which provides our calling. This life is the one that we have professed
before many witnesses, probably during a service somewhere, and where the Devil
will try to steal from your mind and make your faith shipwreck. Do not allow him to do so. Recognize the doubts as that attack and
rebuke them in the Name of the Lord.
13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth
all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession; 14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable,
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in his times he shall
shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of
lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power
everlasting. Amen.
This is Paul’s final charge to Timothy and the churches he
went to. He reminds him that God makes
all things alive. We are to keep Jesus’
example who had a good confession before Pilate. Live your life according to scripture and not
the latest social argument. Abominable
lifestyles like homosexuality were prevalent in Rome during Paul’s house
arrest. He still spoke against it and
reminded them that it was not God’s will for men to be with men and women to be
with women. It is the same thing
now.
Will it come to pass in this country that they will be
allowed to marry? I believe so. Can we stop it? Unlikely for two reasons. Two many saints of God think scripture is
just a nice idea to try and emulate but not God’s true word. This means they believe God was unable to
make the authors keep on task and that God is weak but mostly it means we as a
church seldom obey the scripture explicitly.
Church leaders in fancy robes and large churches with impressive degrees
and titles will vote in favor of it to keep their membership up. The second reason is that God has warned us
of the seasons to come and we are rapidly approaching that season. The end is near.
We have been commanded to keep His COMMANDMENTS without a
single spot of unbelief or compromise.
This is not a comfortable position to be in. We are also commanded to remain gracious and
loving at all times, even in duress and so those who allow their anger and rage
to overcome them and respond badly are not obeying God’s word. They are answering to the flesh.
Our charge is until Jesus returns in the cloud for his
church without spot, wrinkle or any blemish.
Sadly, many who believe themselves to be in the church won’t even hear
the trumpet. The roaring of the natural
man will be too great. Never forget that
Jesus is the King of all earthly kings and the Lord of all earthly lords.
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be
not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who
giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich
in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in
store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life.
What if you are wealthy… then what? If you are wealthy you must remember that
your wealth did not come by your wits but the wits God gave you. It was given to you for a purpose and if that
purpose is abused or ignored He is quite able to blow on your wealth and make
it disappear. What does He expect? He expects that you will do good with the
money and help others as much as possible.
Be quick to meet the needs of others and offer help when needed. This is how you will build a good foundation
for the time to come and ultimately lay hold of and abide in eternal life.
Consider this possibility.
What if God applies every penny of tithes and offerings and all the
money we give to the poor toward a foundation of your home in Heaven? If that was the case, how big would your
foundation be thus far. Suppose a
foundation equals the percentage of your finances you have given divided by
your time in Christ. If I earn $100 a
month and give $12 a month in tithes and offerings and you earn $200 a month
and still give $12 in tithes and offerings then my foundation in Heaven would
be twice as large as yours since you only give half as much in relation to your
income. What if you have been saved for
a year and have given your tithes and
offerings for that entire year and I have been saved for a year but have only
given my tithes and offerings for six months.
In that case your foundation would be double mine because you have been
faithful longer.
I don’t know if this is the way it works or not, but I do
know that the word for foundation means a substructure. Jesus said He goes to prepare a place for us
but what if our actions here on Earth determine how large the home will be? What if we build the foundation in Heaven
through our giving and another (Jesus) builds thereon? Something to think about isn’t it?
20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust,
avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so
called: 21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with
thee. Amen.
Let’s look closely at this closing. Keep the gifts and instructions you have been
given. Acknowledge that they are given
into your trust by God and He expects you to be faithful in their
operation. Do not listen to babbling
fools who do not know God but only have a secular understanding of who He
is. Their babblings are vain and mean
nothing. Ignore and avoid arguments of
false science. Notice it says false
science and not science. True science
never lies and does not change the results or come up with unproven theories
merely to prove a point. Those who do
are liars and false teachers. True
science seeks the truth and is fully willing to accept it when they hear it. Saul was a Pharisee and tried to destroy the
church. Once Jesus met him on the road
and revealed Himself, Saul forsook everything he knew and accepted the truth of
Christ and grace. He would have been a
true scientist.
There are true, born again scientists, who seek only to
learn about the universe God has created and because they do not begin their
search believing a lie, they are much more likely to discover the truth. I have said before in my lessons that God is
not against science. He is against false
science where man tries to prove He does not exist. If you try to prove the existence of God He
will reveal Himself to you. If you try
to prove He does not exist He will allow you to believe a delusion and you will
believe the lie even while you change the truth to make it fit your
belief. How sad to call yourself a
scientist and fake all your findings.
The first to Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is
the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana.
Beloved, life in
Christ is not for the faint of heart.
You must build up your most holy faith every opportunity you get while
young in the faith so when things get difficult you will not stumble in
unbelief. Never allow your emotional
baggage to color or poison your faith walk.
People hate you for many things and people love you for the same
things. People are fickle and faithless
so to get angry at them for being weak is useless. Pray for them. Encourage them. No matter what, help them to grow in Christ.
Bishop J
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