1 Timothy 6:3-5
Paul is instructing Timothy and us that separation from
contentious teachers is our duty!
There has never been a time in the history of the American church where
these truths need to be taught. As
you read these Scriptures, give thought to your local church, to your
denomination, and to the many voices that you listen to on the radio or television. These are the words written to us: “Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree
with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords
with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for
controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension,
slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved
in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of
gain.”
There are many messengers and many messages that fall into
the Scriptures above, but let us look at two that seem to be rising in
popularity. First, is the message
that you are chosen and the other guy is not, and those who teach this doctrine
will say that is God’s doing and you have no responsibility for sharing Christ
with them because they are not chosen.
There is a word for this kind of message, and it is found in a feed yard
for livestock, it’s full of dung (animal manure). It has no root in the Scriptures, the gospel of John 3:16-18
refutes such false teaching, and those who are taken captive by it’s teaching
end up trying to win others to such teaching, rather than sharing Christ with a
lost soul. In what we refer to as
the High Priestly prayer of Jesus before leaving this earth to return to glory,
this was one of the last things he ask of His Father: “I
in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world
may know that you sent me
and loved them even as you
have loved me.” If
you have entered into a relationship of faith in Christ, you are chosen and
that is truth, but it is also clear that Christ’s call to you and I is to share
that truth with all that the Spirit leads us to.
The other message that also should be left in the feed yard
has more messengers and the message resonates beyond the church to the lost
masses. It has become the message
that many flock to, and its messengers are normally handsome men with very
active and have attractive wives who are loved by the media, and their message
is given wide circulation. And
there is a good reason why it is void of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is a
gospel of man, it is a gospel that states to all who will follow; a Jesus that
asks nothing of you but to be nice to others and whatever you do, be kind and
good to you dog or cat. It promises
health and wealth, no pain, no suffering, and it is all about what you can do
for God and not what God has done for you. But it has some real problems, and most of them come from
Jesus’ own written word. Lets
begin in the gospel of John 8:31, “If you abide in
my word, you are truly my disciples, and the truth will set you free.” And you may be asking the
same question these Jewish believers asked, free from what, and Jesus answered,
the control of sin. In Matthew
28:18-20, Jesus tells us that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to Him, and he tells his followers to go and make disciples of all
nations, in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (verse 20)
“teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I
am with you always, to the end of the age.”
If Jesus said all, he meant John 13:34, that we are ordered
to love one another, and in John 14:15, Jesus tells us that love for Him is
shown by keeping what He has commanded us to do. As I stated above, this false gospel has no place for
suffering, yet Jesus and the apostles gave us a clear message on what part
suffering has in the life of a follower of Christ. Paul addressed suffering in Romans 8:17, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God
and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we
may also share in his glory.” You
may also want to look at Ro 8:36; 2 Co 1:7; 11:23; Php 3:10, and 2 Ti
2:12. It might be helpful if those
who teach a gospel of a pain free faith would look at 1 Peter 5:10, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal
glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore
you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Now that is something we can look forward to. Jesus said; “I
have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation. But take heart; I
have overcome the world.”
So what are you going to choose, the feedlot gospel, or the
gospel of Jesus Christ, one offers false hope, but Jesus offers peace in the
middle of tribulation.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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