Saturday, October 13,
2012, 8:20 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “Here is Your God!” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. I read 2 Timothy
4:1-5 (NIV 1984):
In the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his
appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared
in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience
and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with
sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around
them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you,
keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
With
This in View
Paul gave a charge to Timothy to preach the
Word of God. He did so in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, “who will judge
the living and the dead, and in view of the Lord’s appearing and his kingdom.”
I think that when reading this, it is easy to skip past this part and just get
to the “punch line” at the end. I know I almost did. Yet, the Lord stopped me and
said “Go back and read what preceded the charge,” so I did.
Paul gave the charge to Timothy in the
presence of God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. I believe this means
more than just the fact that God was present and watching when Paul did this,
but that it was under the authority and direction of God that Paul gave this
charge to Timothy, so it had God’s anointing on it. Then, he made us aware that
this charge was given in the presence, and under the authority of Jesus Christ
who will judge the living and the dead. This brings with the charge a solemnity
as well as an urgency to get the message out to the people because judgment is
real and it is imminent.
Lastly, he stated that he was giving this
charge in view of the Lord’s appearing and his kingdom. Again, this adds
solemnity and urgency to the charge, as we realize what is at stake if people
do not hear and receive the gospel message, because the reality is that Jesus
Christ is going to come again, and not just to receive his bride, but to judge
and to sit in authority and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords over all
the earth. This is serious business!
The
Charge
Paul charged Timothy with the awesome
responsibility and task of preaching the Word of God, to always be prepared to
preach, and that some of the elements of his preaching should include rebuking,
correcting and encouraging. He was to do this with patience and careful
instruction.
So, what does this mean to me? I am not a man,
and I am not a pastor or elder, so what am I to get out of this?
I believe the Word of God teaches that women
are not to be in positions of authority over men in the church. They are not to
be overseers or elders and they are not to teach men in the sense of being in
authority over men. I believe this is Biblical. Beyond that, I believe the
Bible teaches that women are equally gifted within the body of Christ with men
in all the spiritual gifts, and that they should be permitted within the local
body (local fellowship of believers) to exercise their spiritual gifts underneath
the authority and leadership of those in positions of authority within the
church.
Preaching
and/or Prophesying
This brings me to the gift of prophecy, but
not in the sense of foretelling future events, but in the sense of the
proclamation of the Word of God. The Bible teaches that “in the last days,” God
will pour out his Spirit on all people. Both men and women, young and old, will
prophesy, see visions, dream spiritual dreams, etc. Peter was addressing the
people at the day of Pentecost, following Christ’s ascension into heaven, when
the Holy Spirit was poured out on men and women. Some people were making fun of
those filled with the Spirit of God, and some were accusing them of having too
much wine to drink. Peter explained that what they were seeing was a
fulfillment of what the prophet Joel had prophesied concerning these last days
(the time between the first and second comings of Jesus Christ). So, this is
happening now!
Paul, when addressing the Corinthian church
over the issue of misuse of the gift of tongues, told them that he would rather
have them prophesy than speak in tongues (see 1 Co. 14), because prophecy
edifies and builds up the church, so it is greater than tongues. He concluded
that they should be eager to prophesy, but they should not forbid speaking in
tongues. Concerning prophecy, he said that everyone who prophesies speaks to
men (and women) for their instruction, strengthening, encouragement and
comfort. Prophecy, he said, sounds a trumpet with a clear call to get people
ready for spiritual battle. Prophecy is also for the purpose to convince people
that they are sinners so that they will realize God is truly among us.
There is a portion of this passage in 1 Co.
14 that speaks of women being silent in the church and that they should inquire
of their husbands at home if they have questions. I don’t believe this is to be
applied to women prophesying in the church, because in 1 Co. 11 Paul gave
instructions on women praying and prophesying in the church, and the only
stipulation mentioned there was that they should have their heads covered,
which was the cultural practice of that day, and this was in reference to
gatherings (meetings) of the church. Yet, having long hair also seemed to be
equivalent to having her head covered.
The purpose of the head covering was as a
sign of the authority over her in the Lord. Some people still follow this
practice of head covering. I have not sensed of the Lord that this cultural
practice of that day is still required, but I do believe the principle of it
is. What I mean to say is that women should still be under the authority of men
within the church, and that when they do prophesy within the church, it should
be underneath that authority.
So, what does all this have to do with
preaching the Word? I believe that prophesying and preaching are synonymous
with each other, or certainly they overlap each other, because the purpose of and
the actual exercise of preaching and prophesying are described in the same way.
So, this charge to Timothy can be applied to all followers of Christ, and not just
those with the gift of prophecy, either, because we are all commanded to make
disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey Christ’s commands, and we are
all commanded to build one another up and encourage one another in the faith,
especially as we see the nearness of the Lord’s appearing. I believe we all
have a God-given responsibility to encourage and strengthen our brothers and
sisters in Christ, to correct error, to teach the truth of the gospel, to warn
against false teaching (teachers) and to encourage faithfulness. We find this
teaching all throughout the epistles, but especially in Ephesians 4. So, let me
share with you a definition of the gift of prophecy I read some time ago, as I
think it is quite good.
Gift of
Prophecy:
“A person with this gift, like its Old Testament counterpart, has a keen
awareness of current events and the cultural implications of not following
God’s word. This is important because each church is made up of people, customs,
and circumstances that are different from others. Prophecy helps us apply the
scriptures to where we live. A person with this gift has a burden to warn of
God’s judgment and the need for us to repent... This gift helps the church live
holy in the culture and time that they are appointed. It rebukes, strengthens
and encourages believers. The gift also helps the church in long-term planning
and seeking God for His guidance.” http://spiritualgifts.wordpress.com/2007/06/27/65/
This sounds a whole lot like Paul’s
description of what it means to preach the Word.
The
Urgency
The urgency of us getting out the truths of
God’s Word to all who will listen, and even if they fail to listen, is not only
because of the nearness of the Lord’s return and the reality of divine
judgment, but it also has to do with the times in which we now live when the
truth of the gospel is being greatly diminished to something that is not the
gospel in order to appeal to the itching ears of men who gather around them
those who will teach them what they want to hear. If it was not here before,
that time has certainly come in our day when men (and women) are not putting up
with (not tolerating) sound doctrine, but they are running after men and women
who are saying what sounds good to their ears and that does not require much of
them in return. In fact, much of what is being passed off today as the gospel are
messages that appeal to the flesh of men, and that teach that God is just there
to please us and to make us feel good about ourselves, but nothing is required
of us.
I don’t know how they can teach this junk in
light of the teachings of scripture. All through the New Testament we are told
that we must turn from our lives of sin if we want to have eternal life with
God. We must die to our old ways of living according to the flesh if we want to
live for eternity. We must remain in Christ and endure with him if we want to
reign with him. And, we must obey the commands of Christ, for this is how we
show we truly love God. This is the reality of the gospel. It means death to
our old lives and it means that Christ now lives within us and through us, and
the lives we now live, we live in his power and strength. God desires that we
be completely abandoned to Jesus Christ and to his will and purposes for our
lives. This does not mean we will live in absolute perfection or that none of
us will ever go through low periods in our spiritual lives, but what it does
mean is that we will daily choose to leave our lives of sin behind us, confessing
our sins, and we will choose to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, for
this is the life that God desires and requires of us.
Keep
Your Head
To “Keep your head,” in today’s vernacular,
means to stay calm in difficult situations, but I believe it means much more
than that in this context. I believe it means more like “Keep your head
together,” i.e. to think clearly, or perhaps even more like “Keep your head on
straight,” which means to think straight, to be wise, discerning and sensible.
When we are surrounded by people who want to
hear the watered-down version of the gospel (gospel-lite), and who gather
around them men, or follow after men who are quite willing to supply them with
what their itching ears want to hear, and when we are faced with an intolerance
of many toward the truths of the gospel of Christ, we should not yield to the
crowds and join in with them in their desire to follow a man-made gospel, which
is no gospel at all. We should stay strong in our faith, we should hold on to
the strong doctrines of scripture, we should preach (prophesy or teach) the
Word of God in all boldness, we should endure hardship, persecution, and rejection
for our stand for the truths of God’s Holy Word, and we should continue to
share the gospel in its fullness, and to do the ministries to which God has
called us, has equipped us, and through which he will bring about a harvest of righteousness
if we do not give up!
Here
is Your God! / An Original Work / July 18, 2012
Based off
Isaiah 40:9-31 NIV
You
who bring
good
tidings to Zion,
Lift
up your voice;
raise
with a shout,
And
do not be
afraid
of the people.
Say,
“Here is your God!”
See
how the Lord God
Comes
now with power.
His
arm rules for Him;
His
reward with Him.
He
tends His flock
Just
like a shepherd,
His
lambs in His arms.
Do
you not know?
Have
you not heard?
Has
it not been told you
From
beginning?
Our
Lord sits
Enthroned
above all things.
None
to Him compare.
Lift
up your eyes
And
look to the heavens.
Who
made all of these?
Who
calls them by name?
Because
of His great
Power
and strength,
All
accounted for.
Why
do you say,
“My
way is hidden
From
the Lord, and
My
cause forgotten”?
Do
you not know?
Have
you not heard?
The
Lord, He is your God.
He
will not weary.
He
gives us power.
Those
who trust in Him
Will
renew their strength.
They
will soar on wings
Just
like eagles;
Walk
and do faint not.
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