Purity

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” In the above verse the Apostle Paul is instructing the young Pastor Timothy to teach his church to respect their elders and to treat one another as if they were a family. The word “elder” here is not just the pastor of the church, but the older men and women of the church, and the words “rebuke not,” mean to not disrespect them verbally with harsh or critical words. In the church the elderly are to be treated with the same respect as one would give to a mom or dad. Be careful in this world of selfishness and self-centeredness that you do not forget to love and treat the older saints with honor. The Apostle Paul also wanted the younger members to treat one another as brothers and sisters. Sometimes brothers and sisters fight and disagree, but they are still family. We need to have a spirit of kindness, longsuffering, humbleness, forbearance, and forgiveness, if we are going to get along. Most families have conflict sometimes, but somehow they work at getting past it, and so should the church. Be careful to be a brother of grace more then of conflict, and as the Holy Spirit says, learn to also practice brotherly love in “purity.” The purity He is referring to, is a moral purity between churches members. Since the church is composed of men & women, respect for the opposite gender is extremely important. The highest regard to avoid instances of sexual temptation and bad behavior between ourselves needs to be a priority. Many a church, or Pastor, or life, has been destroyed by not taking heed to brotherly purity.

“personal conduct.”

(1Ti 4:7-8) “But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things..., In this world in which we live people are very interested in bodily exercise, but in the above verse God says that it’s still not more important than exercising personal godliness. Satan hates personal godliness, and morality, and so he attacks the church by lulling its people into being more interested in the flesh then in the spirit. The above verse commands the Christian to forsake fleshly fables and to exercise godly habits. You might ask, well how do I exercise godliness ? Simply by taking the word of God, memorizing it, and then practicing it over and over, until you get stronger by it. For example, the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to be an example to believers in “word.” The “word” he spoke of here, is the speaking of the truth. He wanted Timothy to practice being a man of his word, telling the truth at all times. To exercise himself in this area consistently, and if perhaps he does fail, to again remember the Word of God and to get up and try again until he gains strength in this area. The same is true, when it comes to our “personal conduct.” Satan loves it when Christians look, and act, and talk like the world. Why, because we lose our power with God, our testimony before others, and we cause our weaker brothers and sisters to fall and stumble by our ungodly examples.  Satan wants the church fleshly, immoral, worldly, & more interested in self then in the will of God and others.  So their remains only one question; how strong is your godliness today ?  Your godliness is a direct result of your spiritual exercise.

Time

One thing that I have learned over the years and that I have tried to teach others is that you cannot change your past but you can change your future. Regret is an awful thing to live with, and unless we determine now to obey the known will of God for today, tomorrow will most assuredly be something we regret. Take salvation for instance, God’s Word tells us that eternity is forever. So why do so many people give so little attention to it now? The Bible tells us in (James 4:14)“…For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” The Bible also tells us in (Luke 16:19-31) that not everybody is going to make it to heaven. We must never forget that hell is a real place, and that once you’re there, there’s no getting out! According to my Bible, Hell is full of people that regret for all eternity not caring about spiritual things while they were on earth. It is full of people who put money and the cares of this world before God. Who when they lived, lived for self and selfish pleasures, not realizing that this life is only a drop in the bucket when it comes to forever. Who now regret forever, and suffer the torture and agony of Hell’s Fire.  Even as Christians, somehow we fail to realize that we only have so much time to reach our relatives, our town, and our world for Christ. Why do we waste so much time on things of no value, when the valuable things of God, and the souls of men, get so little attention ?

“giving heed”

 “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; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” It’s interesting in the day in which we live how many of our beliefs and doctrines are affected by the seducing voices and persuasions of demons.  You might say, well how can demons affect my beliefs? By “giving heed” to them.  That means giving ear to the persuasive voices of anti-biblical and extra-biblical beliefs. The above verse is written to Christians, not the unsaved.  How can someone depart from a faith that they never had? Be careful in this world of many beliefs that you don’t pick up something that will cause you to depart from the faith of God’s Word. It’s just as wrong to add to the Word, as it is to take from it. Some Christians put so many demands upon a believer that their Christianity seems more like a burden than a blessing, and yet others pick and choose from God’s Word what they want to practice. Both are equally demonic. Satan’s cohorts are everywhere, speaking in our ears to follow such terrible beliefs as, skipping church, fornicating, gambling, gossiping, backbiting, not giving, drinking and illegal drug use, etc. The Holy Spirit’s voice would never take you in that direction, but damnable beliefs and practices will. Be careful when you here people tell you that you can do something, when God says don’t. The voices of the world are full of demonic influences, so be careful to use the Word as your guide and not men.

How well do you stack up ?

In continuing in our theme, “How we ought to behave in the house of God,” I have chosen this week to look at the standards required of the office of Pastor and deacon in (1 Tim. 3:1). Here the Apostle Paul calls the ministry of a Pastor, a “good work,” and the deacon’s office, one of “good degree.” God desires that all men live up to this good degree, regardless if he has a title or not. As I have said before, we are not to wait till we hold such a position, but rather live these high standards regardless. (1Co 4:1-2) “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” What we need today are faithful men, more in love with God than they are this world. Men who have chosen to live up to these high standards, without being forced to. God asks that the Pastor and deacon be “blameless,” meaning that they are not guilty of disobeying God’s Word in practice. But aren’t all men commanded to be blameless as well ?  (2Pe 3:14) “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” Therefore men, the will of God for you is to be, “blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt. to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy, patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that rules well his own house,… of a good report…”  How well do you stack up ?

Fathers

Since Father’s Day is a day to honor Father’s, let us not forget to honor our Heavenly Father. In (Matt. 6:9) it says, “Hallowed be thy name.” We should both sanctify it, and honor it because God is honorable. 1)  Because of his Love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  God’s love is unconditional, meaning that his love is not based upon our performance but rather upon our worth to him. God sent his son to die even though we are sinful and wicked people, and yet in his eyes he sees something of worth in us, even though we may not feel worthy.  2) Because of his Mercy.  When a sinner repents of his sin and receives Jesus Christ as personal savior, at that very moment he is born again into the family of God, and the blood of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice washes away all sin , past,  present, and future. And not only that, but Jesus himself is seated at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf, forgiving, & keeping us saved. His mercy, his forgiveness, and longsuffering endures forever. 4) Because of his Truth.  Every single word of the Bible is immutable (never changing), meaning that “it is impossible for God to lie.”(Heb. 6:13). I thank God that we serve a God who tells the truth & that keeps his promises. May we as earthly fathers pattern such an honorable and Hallowed, Heavenly Father.

submission to authority

As we continue in our series on how to behave in the house of God, the Apostle Paul in (1 Tim. 2:9-15) now turns his instruction to the women in the church. His instruction is that they learn to profess the godliness of Christ by their submission to authority, and by their ministry only to other women and children. It’s sad in our day that so many churches have embraced this false doctrine, and have allowed women to hold positions of authority in the church, despite the following truth. “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” This verse teaches us that women are not allowed to instruct men or dominate in a position that is over men. I have heard some female pastors say that this text was written for just the women of that day, and yet others justify their position by saying that fewer and fewer men today are going into the ministry, and so that makes it OK..  Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if they truly believe these things, aren’t they still disobeying the above verse. There is no excuse, nor argument that negates the Word of God. Either it’s true or it’s not, and if they say it’s not, then they are disobeying the very God that they are supposed to preaching about. “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”