1 Timothy Chapter 6

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

1 Timothy Chapter 5

Last week the president of Iran was accused of committing a serious sin by touching a woman not of his family.  The woman, mother of Venezuela’s late president, had been hugged by Iran’s President in a moment of grief and sorrow.  In Islam it is forbidden to have any physical contact with any woman who is not in your household.  By their religion and law, he was not allowed to comfort the grieving mother.  The greatest anger was shown by the conservative religious leaders; so much so that his supporters used Photoshop to change the picture of a woman to a man.

God is love.  Our Christian God is love.  He does not ask us to kill our enemies but to love them.  He expects us to do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us and speak against us for Jesus’ sake.  Our God is not impressed by how quick you are to defend yourself, to defend your rights, to defend your opinions.  He expects us to love those we have nothing in common with and to make sure that everyone who meets His children know they are different. 

Any pain we have inflicted upon those we failed to love will be returned to us in testings and chastenings.  Why?  Because our God is a consuming fire who seeks to consume our sinful thoughts and actions.  He will have His way in our life if it is the last thing WE ever do.  Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  On that day when you appear before God in sin YOUR control will end and HIS will reign supreme.  On that day you will surrender and submit and it will be too late.  It is better to surrender to His love now.

1 Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

In Christianity we are free to love (agape), free to hope (elpis) and free to have faith (pistis) in God.  We are not free to sin or free to doubt God or His Word.  In this freedom we are to love one another as members of the same family in Christ.  I sincerely hope this does not come as a surprise, but we are to respect our elders in Christ.  The Word of God comes to reprove, rebuke and exhort us (2 Timothy 4:2) with all long suffering and doctrine.  Elders in the faith ought to have something to teach us as we are never to cease study however long we live.

An elder ought to feed the flock according to 1 Peter 5:2.  Our heart should be toward the children of God and not toward making money.  My late Apostle used to say, “If I am your father, where is my honor (Malachai 1:6)?”  If we are to obey God’s Word then we ought to honor the elder’s among us who have been given oversight.  To do this you must know what a father is and respect that position.

Once we know and understand the role of father’s and mothers, it is easy to identify those who fulfill the roles and those who do not.  We are then able to honor them as fathers and mothers in the faith and they are no longer objects of sin or degradation.  Unless we have been released into marriage, our hearts should have the same holy love and respect for our brethren.  The young women are our daughters or sisters and the elderly women become our mothers or sisters. 

I was reminded of this fact by a brother in Pakistan.  In this manner, women are not sexual objects but family members who we can love and cherish freely without fear of falling into sin.  Men are our fathers and brothers and consequently are holy as well.  The final portion of this scripture is that we should live in all purity.  This is both a warning and a lead-in to the next verse.  The warning is that if you insist in trying to live in the flesh you will die because the flesh kills but the spirit gives you life (1 Peter 3:18, Romans 8:6).  The Spirit of God is holy for God is holy and pure.  Scripture says that blessed are the pure in heart because they shall see God.  Saying, “it doesn’t take all that,” gives you limited vision.  A man who hugs a woman with pure motives is pure.  A man who dispenses hate and mistrust is unknown to God and the Lord is not in him.

3 Honour widows that are widows indeed.

As I said this last part is also a lead-in to verse three.  The body of Christ is far too full of physical urges and passion.  At times it seems we are trying to lead our own Savior into sin.  Why?  Because we are His body and individually we appear to take delight in breaking loose from His leading and direction.  Scripture says that if a man is able to bridle his tongue the same is a perfect man (James 1).  That same chapter tells us that if we are hearers of the Word only and not doers our faith is non-existent.  The Word in verses 1 and 2 above says we are to treat our spiritual brethren as family.  If the leadership stumbles or the laity stumbles, your faith is useless.  Faith without works is dead but one of the most important works is to obey the Word of God. 

To understand this scripture you must understand the culture of the time.  With few exceptions, women had little ability to support a family.  You never read in scripture that a man’s children were being sold to pay a debt.  The man was expected to go out and work to provide a living.  The examples in scripture of a business woman or in Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman, are very much exceptions to the general rule.  In the vast majority of cases a man supported his family and a woman supported her man and raised the children.  In this case a ‘widow indeed’ was one who had no children or family to turn to.

4 But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.

When her husband died she might well have been left destitute.  She was unlikely to be educated or even know how to read.  Men were taught in Yeshiva (Hebrew school), not women.  As a young woman she could hope to be remarried or as an older woman, have children or family to support her.

These young women were expected to marry again and those with family were expected to be cared for by family.  Even today in the church, children are expected to care for their aged mothers or female relatives.  Those who are unwilling to do so are not fulfilling the will of God in their lives.

5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

Acts 6:1 showed there was a program in place and laid the groundwork for the daily feeding of widows but neglected the non-Jewish widows.  The disciples realized the secular needs of ministry would draw them away from prayer and fasting so they established the office of Deacon.  It was vital that the deacons be above reproach so there would never be any sin associated with their care of the widows. 

A woman without family who had no other means of support but lived in prayer and supplication before God continually was considered a true widow.  The church had a responsibility to help them with food.  I see nothing here that shows a church’s responsibility to pay their rent or utilities.  Women have come in frequently demanding their assistance with everything from food to rent but the Disciple’s statement in Acts 6:2 makes it clear that the support given was limited to food.

Does this mean that the church should never help with rent or for utilities?  Of course not.  If the church has the resources to meet all these needs it would be a blessing; but it is not a requirement.  As is generally the case, the ones who are the least involved in ministry and least likely to pay tithes or give offerings are most likely to demand their needs be met.

If a widow has no financial wherewithal and no family to support her, the Lord has made provision for meals.  If she is young and still catches the eye of a Christian man and has hope of marriage, she does not.  Even in Christ’s time we see that some women would go from man to man without even being married.  This stands out particularly with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:18).  As someone having had 5 husbands and living with the current man out of marriage, she would not have been a good candidate for assistance. 

7 And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

On the one hand Paul insists that this is important and Timothy should not allow anyone to try and change things.  He could have even said, “Command these things so they are not found guilty by God.”  Human beings usually try to take the easier path and if someone is giving away free food, will keep their hands out with the rest.  In this case, Paul is agreeing with the general consensus in Acts and saying that to do otherwise is a sin.  He continues to remind them that anyone who does not provide for his own, especially his own family, is worse than an unbeliever.

9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, 10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

A widow must be too old to work or even glean in the fields.  She could have been married but once.  Her life must have been exemplary and she must have lived a life of service to others.  What becomes apparent is that not just anyone can be supported by the church.  The church was never created to carry people.  The individuals in the church have always been expected to work or go hungry.  The only exception to this is those who are widows indeed or fatherless children (and even that is a problem in today’s atmosphere of unmarried mothers).  The widows are those who are too old to be married, have no children who can care for them and who, in spite of their desolation and poverty, have managed to live a life of service rather like that of Mother Teresa. 

To be accepted as a widow required a life pledged to the service of God beyond salvation.  The woman has determined to serve Jesus as her husband and forsake the comfort of a secular husband.  It requires a vow that she is a servant of God and will never abandon that pledge or vow.  The closest I have ever seen in this circumstance is the Nuns in the Catholic church or the elderly mothers in some of our own churches.  The nuns choose to take a vow of poverty, chastity and service to God and it is a very serious matter indeed for one of them to renounce those vows.  I am not discussing my doctrinal issues with the Catholic church.  I mention this solely to describe the seriousness of the pledge to be a ‘widow indeed.’

Obviously this means that simply being a widowed woman does not mean she will be cast aside by the Lord if she marries again.  It does mean that God takes it very seriously if a woman has promised to serve God and God alone and never take on the office of a helpmeet to an earthly husband again.  She has become God’s helpmeet and that vow is both final and sacred to Him.

11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; 12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.

God knows that our hearts and minds are likely to change more the younger we are.  I often wonder how many maturing people look in a mirror at a tattoo or piercing they have gotten, whether they still like them in general or not, and wonder, “Why did I get that one?”  How much the more so if you are still a young and vital woman and a man begins to notice you?  Doesn’t it make it all the more likely that that person will choose to accept companionship and marry?

Our Lord knows the young and just as He makes allowances for sin and sent His Son He also makes allowances for youth and will not allow someone below a certain age or level of maturity to make a pledge they are not likely to keep.  Scripture is very serious about making vows and the Lord would prefer you not making them than making and breaking them.

Your marriage to an earthly spouse requires a vow.  It is supposed to be a lifetime commitment.  Your salvation to God through Christ is an eternal commitment and requires a vow on your part AND His.  A widow’s commitment to the Lord is a lifetime commitment and requires much of the same dedication as an ordained minister.  In response to this commitment, the body is supposed to support her with sustenance. 

This vow is every bit as important as a marriage vow and the one she is married to is the Lord.

13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

Scripture says where no talebearer is…strife ceases.  Men and women both have our weaknesses.  In the case of young women, there is a temptation to talk about others and go from house to house gossiping.  In this case a young widow having no responsibilities for home and hearth and being supported by the church may well be tempted to go from house to house bringing stories, true or otherwise.  In all likelihood these gossipers began as godly women to pray and bring comfort and after a while began to spread what they learned.

14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15 For some are already turned aside after Satan.

In society today men and women work together, often to the detriment of their souls.  Perhaps this seems to be a harsh observation but I believe it to be true nonetheless.  It’s not often you hear of the boss or other married men sleeping with the matronly elder secretary even if the man is older himself.  As I said before, men and women have different weaknesses and while women are looking for security and someone to cherish them, men are looking … period.  Men are said to be stronger but that doesn’t mean we don’t have weaknesses.

It is the eyes of a man that tend to get him into trouble and if things aren’t so good at home and that sweet young thing at work is comforting and attentive, you have a recipe for trouble.  In her mind he offers good income and wisdom and she gives him a sense of respect and inflated ego.  Those are very powerful pressures and when God is not first in your life may be too powerful.  I guess you could say, “Stay in your lane.”  If you are married, eyes front; focus on your job and family.  Matthew 6:22 makes it perfectly clear that your wandering eye will ruin your life.  A wagging tongue can separate close friends (Proverbs 16:28, 17:9).

16 If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

Paul’s experience was that the church was never financially wealthy.  There will always be more needs than funds and it is foolish to think the church is your provider.  God is your provider.  God will give you the wisdom and Book of Acts power of grace to get a job.  We often see others walking around with their hands out looking for money rather than their hands up, expecting wisdom and direction from God.  There are opportunities to help others and lift them out of their poverty, but there comes a time when a poor man must look at himself and say, “God, what must I do to walk in Your abundance?”  If Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly then where is the abundance?  It is not all spiritual.

This verse tells me that churches who help the poor and widows ought to have a good vetting program in place to make sure they have a clear understanding of who is a widow indeed (no kids or family to help and too old to work), and who just wants a handout.  It might seem a bit harsh but as God sees it, unless you are too old to work and destitute, without family, you need to get out there and make it happen.  The Lord is with your endeavors.

17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his reward.

Let me use the Holman translation:  17 The elders who are good leaders should be considered worthy of an ample honorarium,  especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, the worker is worthy of his wages.

Do you pay tithes?  I have been to churches that don’t receive an offering during Bible Study and I wonder why?  You ought to receive an offering at every service where the Word of God and life applications are taught.  Are you teaching the sure word of God?  Are you faithful in your service to God’s people?  You deserve to receive financial compensation for your work.  Feel ashamed asking for money?  It’s not begging, it is teaching.  You are explaining to the people that your work and labor of love is valuable and if they do not value your labor God will not value their prayers. 

I write these lessons and send them out regularly but I have only been blessed financially by a few of the many who read them.  These lessons don’t come because I’m bored, they come because I am impressed by the needs of the people to write them.  If they have been and are a blessing to you, according to scripture you ought to be a financial blessing to me.  Do you feel uncomfortable?  When you go to a restaurant do you leave a tip for good service?  Do you pay your doctor, lawyer or any others who give you advice? 

While it would be nice to receive some compensation for the time I spend studying and writing, I am concerned for the well being of God’s people.  I have a burden to speak into their lives and bring the uncompromised Word of God whether it is popular in today’s climate or not.  As Paul said, woe be unto me if I preach not the Gospel.  I will send these lessons out regardless, and your pastors will keep preaching to you regardless, but scripture is there for a reason.  If you do not pay your tithes you are not a son or daughter.  Apostle Sims always said, “Pay your tithes and give your offerings where you get fed.”  Perhaps I should add my mailing address or Paypal account so someone can be a blessing.  Hmmmm.  Okay, moving on.

19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. 20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

We talk too much.  A Christian ought to be afraid to entertain gossip or complaints against their leaders.  Are all leaders perfect and holy?  Of course not.  You ought to be fully aware of those leaders who are working faithfully and hard on your behalf as well as those who are slick and tricky.  If there are those who fall short of the minimum requirements for an elder leader then talk it over with your pastor.  Your pastor (if they are properly trained) will take note of your complaint and hold it until they have received one or two more before approaching the elder.  As a junior servant of God you have no voice in it at all beyond informing your pastor.  This scripture is for leaders, not the local pulpit nanny who just has to voice their opinion.

If the elder in question is your pastor, then who is his covering.  Tell that person.  Let them know you will not be spreading this charge around and that you simply believe the leader has fallen far short and are reporting it to the head.  Sadly, in many cases in the church this will not be handled well because the covering is also doing likewise or because the covering is not adequately trained.  Occasionally you may have to find somewhere else to worship or perhaps you can encourage the leadership in the proper direction by example.

None of us are perfect.  All fall short of the glory of God; but if the pattern of sin is blatant and others know it and do nothing to stop it or if certain elders are abusing their position then it needs to come out.  Either you will move and eventually they will have a church full of sinners or someone in authority (and eventually the Lord) will step in and bring it to light.  Do not let your frustration lead you into being a talebearer, true or not.  Obey God’s Word and He will bless you with the other faithful.

I have seen elders and others rebuked in the church.  It wasn’t pretty but was far better than the smoldering rage and anger amongst the people when sin was not called out and justice or judgment not forthcoming.  People need to be able to respect their leadership and the leadership must be accountable to God and the congregation to live the best life they can.  They are the living epistle being read of all men.

21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Got friends?  Who is the best planner around, brother John who you golf with or Sister Jane who is organized to her socks but you only know casually?  The one who can do the work best is the one to choose.  If you have those who need to be taught to do the work, assign them as an assistant to the one doing it.  Apostle Sims used to have us do all parts of the work but when it came down to life and death matters he made sure they knew what the Lord had told him personally.  In this way we were taught and gained experience but nobody died spiritually.  We knew we weren't ready for prime time either and trusted him to know when to turn us loose.

Scripture says to know those who labor among you.  That means you know your friends and those who you might not click with.  It means that if sister Jane grates on your nerves but is the very best, you use her no matter how your nerves feel.  If you are in a large church and have many people desiring to help and some who don’t even know they can, you need to get to know them better and find a place where they fit.  This is one of the most important parts of church leadership.  How can they work if they aren’t led in the right direction and given opportunities to grow, falter and grow again? 

22AMP Do not be in a hurry in the laying on of hands [giving the sanction of the church too hastily in reinstating expelled offenders or in ordination in questionable cases], nor share or participate in another man’s sins; keep yourself pure

Whether it is for sin or promotion, take care who you set your hand to.  Leaders might allow a weak saint to be promoted in order to help that individual work through certain flaws but it is not God’s perfect way.  If you sin, you need to repent.  Repentance in the New Testament is different than repentance in the Old.  In the Old Testament repentance is a sigh, a disgusted understanding that you made a mistake.  In the New, repentance means you acknowledge that mistake and turn another direction. 

In the Church, a leader or someone in line for leadership must produce extensive fruit that show they have earnestly repented (Matthew 3:8).  This means you still allow them to work after they repent, but do not consider them worthy to be ordained until their life shows a strong pattern of good works and holiness.  Some have been expelled from the church for their heresy and we are so quick to receive them back and let bygones be bygones.  God is not so quick.  He expects to see strong fruit and active humility.  If the offender is consistently frustrated by their lack of promotion and does not rather serve with simplicity then they have not developed the humility for the job.

When scripture says that the leader of all must be servant of all, it does not mean ‘until the promotion.’  They must always be the servant of all.  The more I have been promoted the more I have served others and the less time I have had for my own desires.  A leader who uses the office of a leader to increase his own ends is not worthy of the office.  The one who serves others even more, according to his or her influence, is worthy of double honor.

This ties in with being a tale bearer and other sins.  We are to keep ourselves holy and not join ourselves to those who sin.  I once attended a church where the pastor committed sexual sin.  He left in shame but the man he left in charge had as many issues as he did.  When I returned a couple years later I was invited to a gathering of the members of the church.  What I found was a party of men and women drinking alcohol and sharing something other than the gospel.  I left immediately.  Evil communication corrupt good manners.

23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.

Paul is encouraging Timothy to take care of his health.  The places they lived and worked often had unsafe water supplies and could cause many problems.  Wine has many health benefits and not the least of which is the alcohol will kill off the microbes in the water.  I have often heard that the wine they drank is non-alcoholic.  I do not believe it.  God said, “Be not drunk with win wherein is excess.”  You can’t be drunk with grape juice.  Here he tells Timothy to drink A LITTLE wine.  Science today has found many health benefits to a glass of wine each day.  I am not a wine drinker but if I thought that one small glass would ease my stomach or help ease the aches and pains a bit I might reconsider.  I do not believe a small amount each day is a sin unless you happen to know you are an alcoholic or are addicted to that sort of thing. 

24 Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. 25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

It’s easy to see those who sin openly but not so clear when they are careful and hidden in their sins.  One way or the other, God will bring all their sins to light.  It is far better to be chastened immediately for your faults and deal with them than to have them covered until God destroys you for them at judgment in front of everyone.  In the same manner, some do good works in front of others and by and large they have their benefit.  Others keep their alms between them and God without speaking and God’s blessings will follow them into better things.  God honors those who deserve honor and punishes those who warrant punishment.  Most of all, God judges the heart. 

Beloved, I encourage each of you to serve God with a pure heart.

Bishop J

1 Timothy Chapter 4

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2 Thessalonians 2:3 speaks of the great falling away.  The word expressly means clearly with no ambiguity or confusion.  The Holy Spirit is saying, “Let me make one thing perfectly clear…in the latter (end) times some shall desert or revolt against the Lord of the universe.  It’s not a matter of just quitting. When I took a vow upon joining the military I was told that from that moment until my enlistment was up, it was a crime to refuse a direct order or to fail to live up to government standards.  You cannot be born again…again. You have been reborn and renewed.  For this reason backsliding is considered treason against God.  Some say you can never lose your salvation and if you continue in our Lord that is absolutely true.  This is not to say you can’t give up your salvation.  Hebrews 6:4-6 says that once you have had the revelation of Christ’s sacrifice, accept His gracious gift and then knowingly fall away, you cannot be redeemed again to salvation.  Your end after that is to be burned.  In God’s eyes you have put His Son to open shame.

Sadly, many will give ear to spirits whispering seductive ideas and thoughts and demonic doctrines that sound just close enough to the truth to cause some to stumble.  I watched a play tonight and the actor reminded a woman who was trying to be one with the universe that the universe didn’t die for her.  The Creator of the Universe died for her and it didn’t make sense to serve the creation rather than the creator when He was available.  Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).  Our God is the God of truth.  He does not lie…ever.

2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

It’s bad enough to be a liar who won’t tell the truth.  It’s bad enough to be a hypocrite who won’t live the truth.  When you are a lying hypocrite who lives and tells a lie at the same time you are going to awaken one morning not knowing where you are, who you are or what you are doing.  You have become like the drug addict who knocks down an old lady in the street to steal the money from her purse and then runs off leaving his bleeding mother behind weeping for her lost child.  You have become what the Bible calls a brute beast (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10), without conscience or morals. 

When something is seared with a hot iron, it becomes scar tissue.  Blood no longer flows through it and though it keeps its integrity of shape there is no real feeling because all sensitivities are dead.  Since you are but scar tissue you are dead and unable to reproduce.  Your conscience no longer experiences the love of a parent or spouse.  You are twice cursed, cut off from mankind and God.  In Psalm 51 David cried to God, “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation…”

David’s great fear was that his sin might cause God to turn him off.  God doesn’t use a literal hot iron to sear your conscience.  We are so full of ourselves that we think we have created God with our minds or come to Him because we chose to do so in our own strength.  The only reason we love is because God gives us love (Romans 5:5-6), and the reason we have faith to believe is that God gave us that too (Romans 12:3).  Ephesians 4:29-32 explains how we ought to care for one another, even those who have hurt us.  If you are angry with your brother, even with good cause as the world sees good cause, you are are weak, unprotected (by God) and fail to acknowledge the gift of Christ in your life and fail to apply that mercy to others in your life.

I can witness but I can’t make or convince someone to believe in God.  Only the Holy Spirit can do that.  I have however planted a seed and suggested to that person to give God a chance to prove Himself.  I have said, “If you find yourself wondering if all this is true and desire to know the truth, ask God to prove Himself to you.  If you really want to know and ask Him to show you the truth He will.”  I didn’t say they had to believe in God.  I didn’t scream at them that they are going to Hell.  I suggested lovingly and with real concern that they simply ask for themselves.

Some of us make it so hard to want to be saved.  We curse them out or tell them they’re going to Hell.  We make them feel miserable about who they are when they might be good or bad people but they have told themselves they're okay.  Any time you threaten someone they will fight to defend themselves, even from a thought.  It’s better to leave them with the knowledge that if life really hits them hard it might be a good idea to ask God if He is real and if so …will He help?  Let them know that if they do find themselves in real need they can ask Jesus to come into their hearts and help their situation.

Once you have done this it becomes God’s responsibility to water that seed and make it grow.  You haven’t threatened them and you haven’t forced them to face a life they might not be able to face right now.  Sure there are times to ask someone to receive Christ but it’s probably after someone else has already planted a seed of love and the person has come unknowingly to you to bring in the harvest.  Sure there are times to tell someone that Hell is real and everyone must choose, but it needs to be done in love.  It needs to leave them with a question in the back of their minds that they want answered and you made it easy to ask God the question.

3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Every religion and many of their leaders have embraced asceticism at one time or another.  In biblical doctrine there is a purpose and time for fasting but even then we are admonished to temper that with the enjoyment of married life so we do not tempt ourselves into committing sin.  Consider the Catholic practice of forbidding priests to marry.  Paul admitted that he had no real need to be married at the stage of life when Christ approached him (1 Corinthians 7).  He even stepped outside of God’s commandments and admitted that in his mind men would be better off if they were comfortable remaining unmarried. 

That was the end of his opinion.  Paul continued to say that if two people were beginning to see each other as more than brother or sister and they were unmarried then they should marry.  He said it was better to marry than to burn with lust for that sexual companionship (1 Corinthians 7:9).  In the Catholic church priests are forbidden to marry which is odd since they believe Peter (a married man) to be the first Pope.  Since male priests are cloistered away in their apartments and female nuns are cloistered away in theirs, was it any surprise that those unrequited sexual urges found an outlet that was are more deplorable than a priest who was married. 

Because of this unscriptural restriction toward marriage the priesthood began to draw men and women who had no interest in the opposite sex.  They still had needs and drives, simply no safe outlet for them.  This is as unsurprising as it was unnecessary.  Had they continued to allow priests to experience the whole of life like Paul instructed, they would have had well rounded ministers of the Gospel rather than an unhealthy percentage of predators.  When you take away the freedoms God gave us for the sake of deeper consecration you fail to take into account that every man and woman differs in strength of will and character.  He allows men and women to marry to procreate and to fulfill the needs of our natural human side.  Once these powerful human needs are met in a healthy and sanctified manner our spirit can lead unimpaired. 

As for foods, in the Messianic movement today we see Christian ministers abstaining from non-kosher foods in an attempt to get closer to their Jewish roots.  I won’t argue that some non-kosher foods are less healthy than kosher ones because that isn’t the point.  Peter didn’t just decide to start eating whatever he wanted, God commanded him to (Acts 10:13-15).  It wasn’t just about food; I understand that God was also speaking of ministering to Gentiles.  It was about the entire scope of our Christian walk.  Did it change the 10 commandments?  Not at all.  What it changed were the peculiar laws that made Israel unique and separate from the rest of humanity.  Most of these were spiritualized and held in our hearts.  Some, like marriage being between man and woman only, were reinforced in the New Testament and unchanged. 

4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

We have eaten everything from blood pudding (yuck) to haggis to things I don’t even want to think about.  Knowing God’s prohibitions against some foods in the past, there are some I would not eat now for two reasons.  One is that some of the delicacies eaten throughout the world are awful.  I’m sure that John the Baptist thought locusts and wild honey were wonderful but I will pass on the voracious grasshopper lunch.  The other reason is that I might cause someone to stumble if they see me eating certain foods.  That I have the freedom to eat what I want with the exception of things strangled or offered to idols or blood, I should not use these things against those with a weaker sense of freedom.

This is particularly important.  Just because God released certain things to you and said they are perfectly fine if taken with thanksgiving, does not give you the right to cause others to stumble (1 Corinthians 8).  If my rights send me down a path where I cause someone else to falter, where is my love?  Scripture says if I do this the love of God does not abide in me.  Whatever we do we must do for love.

6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Sometimes you forget that this powerful and life changing document we have been studying is just a letter, written by a father to a son.  I can read it as if it is written to me.  The lessons here are mine to grow by.  If I never had any other book to read and study, this one would be enough to walk before God in Christ.  Doctrine is here.  Ministry gifts are here.  The books of first and second Timothy are books of great wisdom written by one of the great Bible teachers of all time.  If we can live them, we can have the blessings of God.

7 But refuse profane and old wives 'fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

If you get your wife pregnant on the second Tuesday of the month in the South bedroom you will have a boy.  No seriously; this is proven.  Okay, I admit I made it up.  You don’t have to throw salt over your shoulder or spit to scare away evil spirits. Come on; you have even more that I haven’t heard of.  God said that if a couple is faithful in love and sanctification in soberness to God the woman will be preserved in child bearing (1 Timothy 2:15).  You don’t need an old wives tale for that; just a promise of God and two people living right.  Do you know who you are in Christ or not.  Is your lifestyle up to His standards or not.  Is one of your lifestyles up to it but the other isn’t?  Guess what?  It matters.  I guess unequally yoked is not a good idea.  I’ll tell you something shocking.  A minister who puts his church ahead of his wife and family is not much of a minister.  First natural then spiritual.  If you are faithless to a wife or child you have proved yourself faithless toward God and He will hear the cries of that wronged woman and child.

Another thing, stop worrying about Friday the 13^th.  It’s just a day.  If 13 is unlucky, why is the most important chapter in the Bible the 13^th chapter.  No, I’m not telling you which one it is; it should be jumping out at your mind.  Every nation or religion has good numbers and bad numbers.  Do they matter?  Only in as much as God supports certain numbers and dates.  Mostly we just need to learn how to obey God fully.  I read the other day a man was going to quit his job because his employee number was 666.  I admit I might ask for a new number but quit a job I need because of it?  I would pray and ask God to sanctify my employee number and keep on ministering the Word of God.

Beloved, I believe with all my heart that the most successful saints are going to be the ones who won’t change direction because someone complained and don’t care about which food someone eats or drinks because they believe God’s Word implicitly.  Am I superstitious?  If I am it is very little and I’m working on that.  I love my Lord and will continue in Him until all doctrines of demons have been eradicated from my life and my flesh says, “I surrender.”

8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

I’m getting fat.  Sorry it’s true.  I don’t have a working scale right now but I might be a few pounds over my all time high.  I have had people tell me exercise is a sin because they read this verse.  What this verse says is, “Exercise for your physical body will only profit you for a short span while you live on the Earth but godliness profits your life in every single area and is eternal.  Are you still alive?  Godliness isn’t just a blessing in the life to come, but blesses your life even now while you are living in this weak and beggarly flesh.”

I am reminded of something a great preacher (in my mind), Kenneth Copeland once said.  He was really getting obese and God told him he needed to work out and lose most of that weight.  When he asked God why, God said Copeland wouldn’t be able to keep up with God’s pace if he didn’t stay in shape.  I’ve known pastors who were gluttons in every sense of the word.  One man was married, about five hundred pounds and had diabetes so bad his earlobes had fallen off.  He still kept eating until he died.  Wonderful pastor, loved his people but wouldn’t control his stomach.  Was it his time to go or did he force the issue.  I wonder what God said when he arrived?  “What are you doing here son?  You’re not due for thirty more years.”

You can’t do whatever you want just because the Bible says we are free in Christ Jesus.  No matter your level of freedom, love will constrain you to treat people right, care for this body God has given and eat sensibly.  Be temperate in all things beloved.  Let God know you can be trusted to do the right thing.

9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 10 For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.

No matter what you eat, someone will disagree.  No matter if you ordain women or refuse to ordain women, someone will disagree.  No matter if you exercise or not, forgive or not, encourage or not, marry or not, have children or not, you will find those who agree with you and those who call you a fool.  You can be the most gracious, loving and kindly person in the world and someone will hate you for some perceived flaw.  Human nature gossips.  Human nature hates and blasphemes.  Human nature will argue unto death that they are right and you are wrong.  Don’t agree with me?  See?  I was right.

You cannot serve someone who is holy, righteous, loving, kind, gracious, giving, merciful, perfect and everything else you could expect in a perfect God and not irritate those men and women who are not willing to love your God.  Someone will be upset by you and some might hate you enough to try and kill you.  This life is not for the weak of heart.

11 These things command and teach.

In Mark 8:38 Jesus said that whoever is ashamed of either Him or His Words when Jesus comes for us in glory He will be ashamed of them.  Perhaps you became a Christian and are not one of those who rush out to tell everyone about Jesus.  I’m certain the world would breathe a sigh of relief, but take care.  This is not a good frame of mind to be in.  Paul, and I am persuaded God, order us to command and teach God’s Word. 

I have had men and women tell me, “That works for you but I don’t believe like you do.  You are a minister and I’m not.  I love God.  He knows my heart.  I don’t want to cause a scene.”  I hear you and don’t like to create scenes either.  Having said that, I don’t believe in temporizing God’s word and leaving parts of it off as too painful or difficult to follow.  Many of you actually follow the words but are too embarrassed to teach them to others.

I have been threatened before and my response is often, “I may not have the political, financial or physical fighting skills to take you on but my spiritual skills will ruin your life if you continue this course.  God defends me when I pray or even if I am unable to pray.  He is not afraid of you and you should be afraid of Him.”  We are not our own.  We are bought with a price and should be willing to be spent completely if that is God’s choice.

12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

The young are full of fire and passion while the more mature have the wisdom of their years.  In this case, Timothy had trained under a great man of God and his knowledge was years ahead of most others.  Notice how he was supposed to keep himself.  The word translated believers was faithful.  Be a pattern of faithfulness worthy to be followed.  Do you think this is important?  I stated earlier that you are always being observed and followed by someone.  Hold that faithfulness in obedience to God’s Word, in how you behave seen or unseen, always walking in God’s agape love.  Will those who follow you stumble or mount up higher and higher in the spirit of God, His faith and holiness?  The wise follow God but the simple follow a man.  Will they succeed following you?  Will they grow into wise and mature saints if they follow you?

13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Paul always hoped to have an opportunity to come to them but lacking that he taught by letter.  We have the Holy Spirit.  We have anointed leaders sent by God and we have this man’s God breathed knowledge.  I know those who hate to read but you cannot grow without His Word.  Get the Bible on tape and listen to it exhaustively so whenever an anointed man of God explains a particular passage you are already familiar with it and ready to step up to the next level. 

I used to drive a tractor at work and would listen to my Walkman and the Bible on cassette.  One 90 minute cassette would last all day flipping it over again and again.  The next day I would listen to the next tape and within a few months I would have heard the entire Bible several times, and while that is not as thorough as sight studying it was a wonderful foundation.  We would get together often and play Bible trivia or other Bible games and others were often amazed at my knowledge of scripture.  We took that time to encourage one another and make sure we kept our doctrine untainted by worldly pursuits or desires. 

My favorite Bible reader is Alexander Scorby who passed away years ago.  I have the entire King James Bible read by him on MP3 now and loaded onto my phone.  You can also find it in CD.  While driving alone or riding my bike, I will let the scripture wash over me listening to God’s Spirit for moments of revelation.  One important point to consider.  If you don’t want to study and don’t want to fellowship and don’t want to pray it is past time to fast and pray.  We are drawn to God by the working of His Holy Spirit and if that gentle tug has ceased or become weak you are too far from God in your daily consecration.  Don’t wait until sin or calamity forces you back into your Savior’s arms.  Climb back up there yourselves through fasting and prayer.

14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

This is much like my last comment.  There was a time when I ceased regular prayer and church attendance.  I followed after pursuits that seemed more fun…like that’s the most important thing.  I still went to church every month or so and prayed when things got bad but I was not hearing God; my prophetic gifts were rusty and one day when I returned fully to God I realized, I couldn’t pray in tongues any more.  Right now I can easily pray in tongues and they come forth like water over a rocky stream; but back then I couldn’t.

I was told a few years ago that I pray in tongues too loud; some might even think too much.  I don’t care.  Paul said, “I thank God that I pray in tongues more than ye all (1 Corinthians 14:18).”  We choose to hang on verse 19 to the exclusion of 18 but that is a trap that leads to neglecting one of God’s gifts.  In my case I must pray in tongues to minister in the Spirit because that is how my giftings work.  I don’t think God was going to take a chance that I would neglect that gift again.

I’ll tell you what I think though.  I think we’re embarrassed to be seen (or heard) praying in tongues.  How can we fellowship with those other churches who don’t do the whole tongues and prophecy thing?  We need to be more like them.  Hogwash.  If we are using all the gifts God has given us as well as observing sound doctrine and scriptural living we are better off than dropping one or the other.  Some call Pentecostals backward hillbillies because so many don’t learn the deep doctrines of God’s word while the Pentecostals call those others dead and dying because the fire and intimacy of hearing God seems to be missing.

Both are wrong because you need both.  Paul always taught deep doctrine and a powerful prophetic gifting.  He never told a prophet they didn’t know what they were talking about but that even with the warning he was going forward.  God warns us so we can be prepared in prayer and fasting, not necessarily so we won’t go through the trial.  I know this from experience.  Tongues just sends a shiver through me every time I pray.  It is easy to get addicted to it since you have nothing to do with the prayer except air over your vocal cords, it’s all God.  What a wonderful thing.

15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Sound familiar?  There are many instances of what the Jews call remez, a hint of another verse.  In this case the scripture from Peter is a remez and the one from Paul is simply the fact that he considers these things to be absolutely imperative for the work of God.  I don’t think Peter and Paul were giving each other crib notes.  Peter as we know was very highly in tune with the Holy Spirit (Acts 3:6).  This unlearned fisherman made a lot of ignorant mistakes when he first got saved; but once he was filled with the Holy Spirit those mistakes ceased.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Paul spoke of the importance of doctrine twelve times in his letters to Timothy alone. In Philippians 3:14 he tells us to press toward the mark; in fact if you were to write all the teachings of Paul as a list (and I’m sure someone somewhere has) it would repeat each of these valuable lessons several times which shows how desperately important all these admonitions are for our daily walk with God.  As important as it is in our own lives, it is apparently equally important to those we tell. 

I guess what I’m saying is… “Can I get a witness?”

Bishop J