A HIGHER RESPONSIBILITY (PART 1)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader.

1 Timothy 3:1-7, 5:22a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord calls everyone to serve Him and everyone means everyone. There are no exceptions. We all are purposed by Him to fulfill certain expectations He has for us and He equips us with the gifts needed to be successful. We all have a responsibility after that to carry out His will for us.

Let me say this in a different way.

We are all servants of the Lord Most High and so we should aspire to serve Him and others with our very best efforts, just as He always gives His best to us.

Now, we also need to know that while all are called to serve, some people are anointed and appointed by the Lord for higher levels of responsibility and in this message and the one after, we will look at the scriptures affirming this.

Look at today’s passage from the opening seven verses of 1 Timothy, chapter 3:

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

In some translations, you may find the word “bishop” or the words “church official” or “church leader” used instead of “overseer”. Regardless of the words used, the person here is the one who is pastoring the church in some official capacity. In fact, church pastoral search committees in churches will often use this passage of Timothy to set the qualification criteria for their open pulpit position. It makes sense if you think about it because all churches should want to be obedient to the word of God and the scriptures give very specific guidance on the character and spiritual life traits that the church leader should exhibit.

As should be with any leader of any organization, you want a quality person leading your organization and the church is no different. In our passage, we find the word of the Lord placing a very lofty expectation on the pastor as he was “to be above reproach” and “respectable” in his reputation and behavior. The Lord wants godly, righteous men to help church members come to godliness and righteousness themselves.

What would that godly, righteous man look like?

The scriptures answer that question for us for we read that the pastor should be faithful to his wife if married, temperate and self controlled in attitude and action, hospitable, able to teach others, not given to drunkenness, peaceful and gentle, avoiding violent or quarrelsome behavior, and not a lover of money. He also should manage his household well, respectfully raising his children up to be obedient. After all, if a man couldn’t manage his family, how could he ever properly oversee the life of a church?

Finally, the word of God tells us that the pastor shouldn’t be “a recent convert” and have a “good reputation with outsiders”. Leading a church into spiritual health and growth requires a mature pastor who is well grounded in the scriptures and experienced enough to direct and manage a congregation. You wouldn’t want to put someone in charge who lacks the spiritual wherewithal to succeed in carrying out the great responsibility the Lord is placing on Him. You also wouldn’t want an inexperienced Christian placed in authority, only to find him fall into temptation and the “devil’s trap”.

When it comes to pastoring a church, there’s too much in stake to put the wrong person in leadership. This is why the Bible gives us specific qualifications to make sure the church is judicious in ensuring their pastoral candidate meets the stringent qualifications for higher responsibility.

For while all are called to serve, only a select few can meet the eligibility requirements to be a pastor.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the scriptural guidelines for deacons, another position of higher leadership and responsibility within the church.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

MERCY IN SPITE OF TRANSGRESSION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

1 Timothy 2:13-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever stopped to think about your origins?

If you’re like me, genealogy causes a sure headache after I get beyond my closest relatives and so I take comfort in knowing one thing ahead of anything else in regard to my heritage roots:

I am a descendant of Adam and Eve.

You are too as is every man and woman who has ever lived. The dawn of mankind can trace its beginning back to God’s first created couple.

Now, there’s good and bad news there. I say this because Adam and Eve also ushered sin into the world via disobedience. You may remember this account of what is largely known as The Great Fall:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened. Genesis 3:1-7a

Everything God made was perfect in every way, including his first man and woman. He provided Adam and Eve with everything they would ever need to not just survive but thrive, a utopia that only He would create. There was an abundance of food in the garden for the first couple to enjoy, enough that they would never go hungry, and God had given them only one simple rule to follow:

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17

Simple, right?

God had given Adam and Eve everything they needed except access to one tree and its fruit. All they had to do was obey and do as He told them to do.

Well, as we see, temptation was about to take center stage for there was a serpent in the garden that Satan would use to entice Adam and Eve into disobedience, ushering in the disease of spiritual sin that would infect mankind from that point forward.

So how did Satan manage to find his way into the Garden of Eden?

We need to look to the scriptures and this passage from the Book of Ezekiel for the answer:

“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.”

“You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth.” Ezekiel 28:12-17

Here, embedded in a rebuke of the king of Tyre, we find the Lord giving us insight into Satan’s origins and his fall. Some theologians have asserted that God was comparing Tyre’s ruler to Satan through these words, perhaps implying he was possessed by the devil.

So what do we learn about Satan in this passage?

One key thing was that he was in Eden, the garden of God. Initially “a seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty”, a change happened inside God’s blameless cherub. He became wicked, violent, prideful, and sinful, all of these corrupting his wisdom and so God condemned and judged him, throwing him to earth. There, he has established a reputation as a master deceiver (John 8:44) and that evil skill was first successfully put on display through the serpent in Eden’s garden who convinced Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

Now, go back to Genesis, chapter 3 and you will see where God was none too pleased with his now sinfully disobedient first couple as he doled out the consequences that have plagued men and women ever since.

To the woman He said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” v. 16

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Vv. 17-19

Men would labor hard for their food until the day they die, the day they return to the dust, from that point forward.

Women would go into labor bearing children and that labor wouldn’t be easy for God assured that the pain would be “very severe” while giving birth. He also placed wives under the rule of their husbands as part of the imposed punishment and we need to remember this when we read excerpts of the scriptures that place a wife under her husband’s authority. This was instituted by God as fallout from The Great Fall.

Okay, we’ve covered a lot to get to our scripture passage today from the closing verses of 1 Timothy, chapter 2 but as you will see, our discussion up to now has set us up nicely to understand what God’s word is conveying. Let’s look at these verses as we close out chapter 2:

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. Vv. 13-15

Go back to Genesis 3 and you will remember that the dialogue was between Eve and the serpent. She first was deceived and ate the fruit before handing it to Adam who then ate. He didn’t have to follow her suit but he did and was equally a sinner and as culpable as Eve was. We know this because God imposed penalties on them both.

You’ll remember Eve’s punishment, one that has been passed onto every woman since, was pain in childbirth but note God’s mercy on display in the closing verse of 1Timothy 2. For although childbirth would bring severe pain, God would ensure that the woman would endure and survive if they would only live in faith, love, holiness, and self control. This isn’t talking about salvation by any means because we know that this only comes through believing in Jesus Christ but what we do see is that we serve a God who is merciful despite our transgressions. We don’t merit His grace and divine providence but yet He extends it to us when we show our respect and obedience to His word and way.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A CALL TO MODESTY, DECENCY, AND SUBMISSION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we looked at verses that reminded us that at the heart of the Gospel, the good news of God’s redeeming work through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, is a single belief in a single God who had a single Son. It was this message that Paul, purposed to bring the salvation message to the “end of the earth” (Acts 1:9), was sharing with his missionary partner, Timothy, to share with the Ephesian church he was pasturing.

In the midst of what was a polytheistic, idolatrous society, Timothy was to preach the power of one to his congregation and to those who were unsaved. The focus was to be on God as the sole God of all creation and Jesus, His Son, the only Savior of the world. They were to be the focal point of all worship, receiving all the honor, glory, and praise.

Given this, we move to today’s verses which have known to get people worked up into a lather, mostly because people want to do what they want to do. The world has pushed an agenda that encourages total freedom in behavior and rails against any impingement on that freedom, even if it comes from the Bible which is the word of God Himself. Unfortunately, too many Christian believers continue to allow themselves to be influenced more by the world than the Lord. 

Do we have the authority or right to challenge God and His word and will?

It’s a question we should always consider when the sin of disagreement with what He tells us to do starts to bubble up to infect our hearts, minds, and mouths.

With this, let’s look at today’s passage, one that contains specific direction for Christian women and their role in the church.

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 2 Timothy 2:9-10

First, we see where the scriptures address attire in the church. You will often hear people say to just come as you are to worship the Lord but God’s word does put guidance in regard to what a woman wears and the call is to modesty and decency.

In other words, a woman shouldn’t dress in a way that draws more attention to themselves in church than to the Lord.

In the Ephesian church, it was obvious that some people liked to show off their high socioeconomic status within the congregation. They would come to worship with elaborate hair styles or adorned with gold, pearls or expensive clothes. This was done to be seen and adored by others, to be an object idolized by others, especially those who were not as well off. In doing this, the woman became the focal point and stole spotlight away from the Lord.

We still see this happening today in many churches. In fact, I have been in worship settings where it seemed there was a fashion competition going on, women trying to outdress the other so to be viewed as the queen of style for any given Sunday.

The call from God Himself is for modesty and it’s not negotiable. He and He alone is to be the center of our worship in church.

Women also aren’t to be placed on positions where they are teaching men in the church. This also isn’t negotiable although you would never know it with the propensity of churches who permit female pastors into their pulpits.

Is it permissible to obey some parts of God’s word and turn a blind eye to the ones we don’t agree with? And who has any right to disagree with the God of all creation, the God who reigns and rules with absolute sovereignty over all things in Heaven and on earth?

This matter of women remaining quiet in church in full submission to God’s will and way is reinforced in 1 Corinthians. There we read:

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

No one completely understands the scriptures perfectly and there are bound to be questions but here we see where those questions aren’t to be openly asked in church by any woman. They are to avoid disgracing themselves and sinning against God by asking their husbands at home. And if the woman is single or widowed, they can seek out a man who is knowledgeable in the Word and ask her questions.

Now, of course this places a lot of responsibility on the men. They are required to take the lead in teaching and preaching the word of God, growing strong in the knowledge of the scriptures so to instruct and advise. Husbands had better be ready to field the questions of their wives and provide sound, accurate direction. The Lord will hold them accountable for being prepared to do what He is calling them to do.

Friends, if we really believe in the power and authority of One, one God who is supreme over us all and His one Son, the only One through which we can be saved and be brought to the Father (John 14:6), then we can comply in full obedience to what they tell us to do, no matter our gender. The world would lead us in a different direction but we know that when we are Christians, we are in the world but not of it. We are to dare to be different and never apologize for it.

In the end translation, nobody should be so bold to feel they can brush off what God’s word commands and do as they see fit. For the scriptures assure us that every word within is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God (whether man or woman) may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

And this includes the good work of proper worship. 

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE POWER OF ONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

1 Timothy 2:5-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about when the Christian church began. It’s important to do so because it wasn’t as it is today, well established with little competition among other faiths.

No, after Jesus ascended and the Gospel movement started to spread, first in Jerusalem before moving onto Judea and Samaria before to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), newly established Christian church bodies were trying to take root in the midst of other established religions, most of which were polytheistic in nature. Especially in the Greek and Roman worlds, you found belief systems with many different gods, each with their own special power and authority over certain aspects of life. Believers within these systems were well versed in all the gods and what they could do. They were also not very accommodating to anyone who would try and endorse a religion that was in direct opposition to theirs, a religion like Christianity.

As we look at the missionary ministry of the Apostle Paul, a ministry well documented in the scriptures both in the Book of Acts and the many letters he wrote, we see where there always seemed to be resistance everywhere he went. While some were willing to accept the good news Paul brought about one God who offered the gift of salvation and eternal life through His one Son Jesus to anyone who simply believed it, others rejected it and even hoped to stamp out and extinguish the flames of this burning religious startup. They refused to believe that all things could be made new and true for them through the power of One.

We have been studying Paul’s first letter to Timothy who had arrived in Ephesus to pastor the Christian church Paul had established there. Positioned on the west coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey today), Ephesus was a major city of importance in the ancient Mediterranean world. When Paul arrived there, the people were entrenched in worshiping the goddess Artemis (Latinized as Diana) who was known as the goddess of the hunt. So deeply embedded was this worship that a great temple was built, known as the Temple of Artemis, which was proclaimed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Much of the Ephesian economy was fueled by people coming from in and around Ephesus to worship the goddess. We read about the economic concerns over the Gospel coming to Ephesus in Acts 9, verses 23 through 41.

Now, after reading the scriptures from Acts 9, put yourself in Paul’s and Timothy’s place and you can see where it wasn’t easy trying to plant a Christian church in Ephesus but as we well know about Paul, he wasn’t about to allow resistance to stop the calling Jesus had given. Giving in and giving up wasn’t an option and so we find him exhorting Timothy in the second chapter of 1 Timothy to keep the faith and not give up the fight in bringing the good news of Jesus to others.

In yesterday’s message from the opening verses of 1 Timothy, chapter 2, we saw Paul calling for the lifting up of holy hands in bringing prayers, petitions, intercessions, and thanksgiving for everyone so they might live peaceful and quiet lives defined by godliness and holiness. This was to be done to please God, the one true God, who longed for everyone to be saved and gain knowledge of the truth (Vv. 1-4, 8).   

What was the truth that God wanted all people to have as they lived peaceful, quiet lives of holiness and godliness?

We find the answer in verses five and six, a proclamation regarding the power of One. Look again at these verses here:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

The people of Ephesus were worshiping a false goddess who couldn’t save them. She was seen as one who could help with hunting, control nature and the moon, and aid in fertility and childbirth. Paul’s words to Timothy were meant to remind his missionary partner about the core foundation of the Gospel, a foundation that had to be shared to counter any other belief in other gods or goddesses.

First, there is one God, the Maker of all Creation and the Master over all He made and continues to make. He was before anything and therefore He is solely sovereign, reigning and ruling over everything and everyone. He has no rival or equal and His power is such that there is nothing beyond His doing.

In the beginning, God.

They are the first four words of the Bible in Genesis 1, words that set the tone for everything else that is to follow.

Here’s one more truth about this one God. He hates and despises sin. Nothing will instigate His wrath and judgment more.

That’s not good news when we consider that every single person after the great fall in Eden’s garden is a sinner. No one is qualified to gain God’s glory (Romans 3:23) but everyone is qualified to receive His greatest punishment. This isn’t a great place to be when we consider that there will be a day when we will be held accountable for the life that we lived (Romans 14:12-14).

In other words, without divine intervention of the most merciful and loving variety, every single person stands doomed to eternal damnation before the one supreme God of all creation.

Thankfully, this supreme God showed us He is a God of perfect grace and forgiveness as well.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus Himself shares these words of hope with all those who read the scriptures and as we read the Gospel accounts of His life, we learn that God did indeed give up His one and only Son as a living sacrifice, the final sacrifice that would ever be needed to atone for the sins of people.

Jesus was truly the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world as John the Baptist proclaimed as God’s only Son emerged to begin his ministry on earth. There was a sin debt that needed paid and no mere human could settle the bill. And so God gave up His one Son and Jesus willingly complied so to be a ransom paid “for all people”. Anyone who would believe in Jesus afterwards would be justified, cleansed from sin to appear blameless to God at the day of judgment, the day of accountability.

This is how Jesus is the “One mediator between God and mankind”, the only one who can intercede for a person and show that their sin debt has been paid in full, a payment that releases that person from the penalty of sin and ushers them into the glory of everlasting life in the Kingdom.

Friends, today and every day, we should rejoice in this truth. For anyone who believes in Jesus has been saved (Romans 10:9) by the One God, the God who so loved His people that He made the way for them to be pardoned through His One Son so they might abide with Him forever. 

In the end translation, we see the true power of One at work in the Gospel story.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers

PRAY FOR EVERYONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

1 Timothy 2:1-4, 8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live in a society grounded in dislike. I hate to have to say it but it’s true.

Just take a test drive around any social media platform and you’ll see it as plain as day...and we know that social media is a place where you can get a general idea of society’s views because people definitely aren’t afraid to tell you how they feel anymore, even if it is through a post that someone else composed.

An easy place to see this is in American politics. We’re so far gone from the days of collaboration and compromise that I don’t know if we’ll ever get back. Moderates have nearly gone extinct in government and it’s easy to see how.

For in our current climate, everyone has to be right. And if you don’t agree with another’s views then you’re wrong or radical or crazy or evil or whatever the negative label of the day is.

Oh yeah, and people will try and cancel you with a mob mentality when this goes really extreme. That’s the sad place we’ve gotten to.

Of course, we just need to go to the scriptures and we can see how this was in play during Jesus’ time. The Jewish religion was deeply ingrained in Israel before God came to earth in the Great Incarnation and walked the earth as man in the form of Jesus, bringing a new covenant to His people in person. We read of this covenant pronouncement in the third chapter of John’s Gospel as Jesus said:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. v.16

And so Jesus’ message and ministry launched with this as the core mission statement. He was the Messiah the Jews had hoped for, the One who was prophesied to come and conquer their oppression bringing them to victory...with an emphasis on them. You see, they had a problem with the “whoever” part of the new salvation plan.

This is because the Jews saw themselves as exclusively being God people. After all, God had told them that they were His people and He would be there God. And this was true but there was one matter they wanted to deflect from. They were perpetually disobedient to God’s commands and expectations for them.

Over and over again, the people would choose to turn from God, not just because of minor infractions but I’m talking about deciding to worship other gods completely. They wanted God to be their God but they weren’t interested in honoring Him the same way. The cycle of falling into disobedience, being warned for such disobedience, failing to heed the warning of punishment and then being punished, asking for forgiveness by promising to change, and then being restored before falling back into disobedience again was unsustainable.

And so God, loving not only His people but all He had created, instituted a new plan, one that would require one final atonement to cover the sins of all people and the opportunity for everyone to be saved, whether they were a Jew or not. Anyone could find peace with Him and gain eternal life through simply believing in Jesus as Savior.

In other words, Jesus became (and still is to be) the great Unifier of all people and if there’s one reason we are so divided today is that we, as a people collective, turned away from Christ.

That’s what makes today scripture passage as we look at the opening verses of 2 Timothy 2 such a game changer, if we put them into practice. Look again at what Paul wrote:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.  2 Timothy 2:1-4, 6

Here we find the word of God, spoken through the Apostle, urging everyone, everywhere, to offer up “petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving”, not just to the people we choose to, not to the ideological group we associate with, but rather to “all people” and when God says “all” He means ALL. No one can be excluded.

Do you do this? Do you pray, intercede, thank and bring petitions to the Lord on behalf of all people and that includes those you may consider enemies or those you deeply disagree with?

If we’re really honest, I’m pretty sure we all fall way short of the mark. In fact, I know so because look again at what we are to pray for as we pray over everyone:

...that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Now ask yourself this:

As a nation and/or as a world, are we living “peaceful and quiet lives” defined by “godliness and holiness”?

If God were to ask us this, it would be a moment of terrible embarrassment, for sure because we couldn’t be further from where we need to be. If anything, we’re moving further and further in the opposite direction, and if living in peace and quiet while being godly and holy “pleases God” then that would mean He has to be extremely disappointed and angered at the way He sees us behaving. I can’t help but feel He thinks the wrongs of the people of Israel are being repeated by this latest generation of disobedient, disrespectful people.

Friends, the Savior God “who wants all people to be saved” and “come to a knowledge of the truth” is calling us to prayer, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving for all people, asking Him to produce peaceful, quiet lives that display godliness and holiness. The time is now for us to lift up holy hands and change course, showing the Lord our willingness to obey His word and will in order to please Him. If we don’t, then we can expect His wrath and judgment to come upon us, something no one should ever want. 

The Old Testament Israelites would tell you that if they could.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A SHIPWRECKED FAITH

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:16-18

Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. 2 Timothy 4:14-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

No matter how hard the church tries to stay centered in the Gospel and on Jesus, Satan is always at work trying to disrupt those efforts and shipwreck Christ-centered faith. Anytime the church tries to grow stronger, the enemy always seeks to weaken it. It’s was true at the very advent of the Christian church and it has been true through the ages to our present days.

How does this happen?

Because the church is made up of sinners, imperfect people who can easily be influenced to change their thinking in ways proposed by the world and contrary to the scriptures. Instead of the Gospel advancing on the seas of the world, steered by the wind of the Holy Spirit, there are believers who can cause the church to change course and run aground.

We see it today within mainstream congregations where decisions have been made to change church polity toward the world and its ways, despite those changes being in complete contradiction to the inerrant Word of God. In these cases, massive schisms have occurred, shipwrecking the body of Christ and breaking it up into smaller fragments of believers. In the aftermath, the Christian church has become divided and greatly disempowered in its Gospel work.

This is exactly what the Apostle Paul was trying to prevent from happening in the Ephesian church as he writes two letters to Timothy, the second informing sometimes informing the first as we see in today’s message.

As Paul finishes up the first chapter of his first letter, he exhorts his missionary partner to “fight the battle well” while “holding onto faith and a good conscience” against those who were bringing “false doctrines” into the church, doctrines that included “myths and endless genealogies” which promoted “controversial speculations” and “meaningless talk” instead of “advancing God’s work” (1 Timothy 1:3-4,6,18-19).

Who was he up against?

Paul calls out those who were attempting to disrupt the church doctrine, those who he declared to be shipwrecked in their faith.

He first mentions Hymenaeus and Philetus, and we have to go to the second letter to Timothy to gain some specific knowledge as to what they were doing that was sinfully altering the scriptures and the Gospel. Referring to their actions as blasphemy, we learn that they were proclaiming the resurrection, the return of Jesus to claim those who had believed in Him, had already happened.

Imagine for a moment if you were a member of the Ephesian church and you heard this. You were holding onto the assurance that because you believed in Jesus, you were guaranteed to be saved and that this saving would happen when He returned. And now, one of your fellow Christians is asserting that the resurrection has already happened. If you believed him, your faith would indeed be destroyed. One shipwrecked faith would cause another.

Such was the danger of men like Hymenaeus and Philetus to go unchecked and unchallenged in the church and it was Timothy’s job as pastor to restore the purity and sanctity of the Gospel while weeding out those who were trying to distort it before the falsities infected the church like “gangrene”.

As for Alexander, we know he “opposed” the message Paul and the other missionaries brought to Ephesus when the church was established and this message was the Gospel. We don’t know exactly how he was opposing but we do know from the second letter to Timothy that the metalworker did the Apostle great harm and Paul felt that the Lord would repay him for his actions. Like Hymenaeus and Philetus, the Apostle warned Timothy to “be on guard against him”.  

We need to be on guard today as well because Satan is not giving up on his efforts to destroy the Christian church and sabotage the advancing of the Gospel. All Christian believers need to be strongly knowledgeable of the Word of God and immersed fully in the Holy Spirit. For in doing these two things, we can prevent ourselves from being led astray to where our faith is shipwrecked by those who are already there.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.