Godliness and Gain - Tuesday with Timothy #73

1Timothy  6:5-6 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

Godliness being a devout follower of Christ. It’s piety that is pleasing to God by living as He has commanded. In modern usage, piety is slander, “begone with you and your pious attitude, you impertinent scallywag!” as the kids might say. In reality, to be pious is just to be so serious about your faith that it affects your life and the decisions you make about what you do and will not do. Godliness is not just for your grandmother and your pastor. If you are a Christian, you should be pursuing godliness. One reason for the idea that godliness is a slander is because the hypocrites, by definition, are acting like they are godly. There needs to be some standard that the hypocrite is trying to copy, but since the hypocrite doesn’t want to follow Christ, he keeps the outward forms copying the devout, but changes the rules. He makes a show, the best he can, of what he perceives godliness to be while doing what he wants to do. The ungodly men that Paul is talking about were false teachers. Hypocrites. The very type of people who give godliness a bad name. Because they love money, they had worked out a system that equates money as the proof of godliness. The more you have, the more God loves you. The more cash in your bank, the more proof of your piety. Your best life now!

Paul sets the record straight; it isn’t gain that is godliness, but if you are godly and content with what you have, that is gain. Note that poverty isn't gain, or that contentment alone is gain. It is godliness with contentment. Combining a devoted and pious heart with being happy and at peace with what God, through Christ has provided you is a greater gain to your spiritual life than it would be if you found out you were the long-lost son of Bill Gates. How is being content with not getting more, getting more? You gain the peace of not having your joy tied up to possession. You gain the fellowship of Christ, not loving the world and the things in it. You gain what you already have. If you are not content with what you have, you are not enjoying it. So not only are you not happy with not having what you covet, you are not happy with what you have. Bird in the hand, and all that. The hypocrite wants you to think he is godly, but it has nothing to do with following Christ. Godliness is not the problem. Possessions are not the problem. Loving the praise of men and loving money is the problem. For the hypocrite, the more he gains, the more he loses. For the godly, the more he loses, the more he gains. 

Fishers of Men

I took my boys fishing in the Elk River this spring for their first fly fishing trip. I waded out beside by my eight-year-old, knee deep in the cool waters trying to match one of my flies to the bugs buzzing around my head. Near the opposite bank, where the water was shaded by an oak that reached out over the water, I pointed towards the boulder that pierced the surface and said “if I were a fish, that is where I would be.” It’s difficult to guess who was more surprised by what happened next; me, my son, or the fish, but sure enough, our first cast landed upstream of the rock and floated into the small ripple; then disappeared. Fish on.

When Jesus called Peter and the crew to follow him, he called them to leave their commercial fishing business so he could make them fishers of men. Norman Maclean opened A River Runs Through It with the childhood thought “that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman. When I don’t catch a fish, I can say “a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” When Peter didn’t catch fish, he and his family went hungry. They didn’t fish with a rod and reel but casted nets from the side of their boats into the dark waters and drug the haul back to the boat. When Jesus called the disciples, they had been fishing all night and came to shore empty handed. Jesus urged Peter to go out again and try to catch some fish one more time. Peter was an experienced fisherman who just got shut out. He was tired. He was frustrated. He no doubt wanted to go home and forget about it. But, he listened to Jesus and cast off, and caught the motherload (Luke 5:1-11).

The fly-fisherman looks at what the fish are eating and changes his bait to match their appetite. He then slips into the water and presents the bait while hiding the hook. He thinks “If I were a fish, what would I want to eat?” He goes to where his prey will be, and presents his decoy to the trout. Commercial fishermen cast their net, deep and wide. As Jesus showed Peter, man casts the net, but it is God that puts the fish in the boat. In evangelism, we need to freely “cast” the true gospel deep and wide, without discrimination. We need to proclaim the truth of the gospel, knowing that it is God that “catches” the soul of man. It does no good to win men to a false, imitation gospel with deceptive tactics and providing the bait he longs to hear just to get them in church while making them a twofold more child of Hell. Preach the truth and trust the power of the true gospel. Spread the true gospel net and pray God will give the increase.

The Fruit of Bad Doctrine - Tuesday with Timothy #72

1Timothy 6:3-5 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; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

True doctrine is wholesome and will bring forth godliness. If rightly applied, the Words of Jesus will renew the mind and transform the life and there will be the fruit of godly living. All doctrine will work itself out in the lives of those who hold to it. The fruit of false doctrine is rotten to the core. False doctrine produces:

1. Envy
2. Strife
3. Blasphemous slander
4. Evil Suspicions  
5. Meddlesome and perverse disputes 

Instead of love, their fruit is envy. Instead of peace, strife. Instead of tenderhearted words that edify, slander. Instead of brotherly love, suspicion and jealousy. Instead of teaching and instruction and edification, there is perverse debates and disputes about nonsense. 

That's why we are instructed to withdraw from false teachers. Run for your life. You don't link up with them. You don't unit in a coalition with them. You don't agree to disagree. You don't turn a blind eye. Don't lay hands on them. Don't let them preach in your church. Don't let them teach. Don't fellowship with them. If the church is healthy, they will discipline them. The church can (and should) discipline people for more than just not coming to church. Get away from these people because they are dangerous. If anyone teaches or consents to such false doctrine, contrary to the gospel of Christ, withdraw. 

Preaching & Preachers, Chapter 9: The Preparation of the Preacher

Chapter 9 of Martyn Lloyd-Jones classic book Preaching & Preachers is on the Preparation of the preacher. This is a wonderful chapter with lots of practical advise. The preacher is always preparing in one way or the other. the burden of the message is always on the heart. The whole of our lives are involved in this great work, so the preacher needs to prepare his own soul before he begins to prepare his message. Here are the ways in which MLJ suggests that the preacher prepare himself: 

1. The preacher must prepare himself
1. Don't simply prepare sermons
2. Prepare your own soul
2. The preacher must pray
3. The preacher must read his Bible
1. Read it through at least once a year
2. Read and study one book in particular (apart from sermon preparation)
3. Don't limit your Bible reading to finding sermon material, read for your own soul
4. The preacher must have a balance reading plan including:
1. Devotional reading
2. Puritians, or reading sermons
3. Theological works 
4. Church history
5. Christian biographies, especially of great preachers 
6. Apologetic works
7. General reading for the relief of the mind

MLJ ends the chapter warning against getting your sermons from sermon books. Even when you get ideas from other sources, they need to be digested into your own mind and soul. Then, you preach them in your own words with your own thoughts. You aren't a recording device, repeating what someone else wrote. He closed with a shout-out to music. If it makes you happy and prepares you to think, listen to good music. 

The Parable of the Talents by Lewis Kiger

In 1986 the sports world was stunned when a prolific young basketball star named Len Bias was found dead from a drug overdose. Bias had enjoyed a very successful college career at Maryland, and was chosen second in the NBA draft to play for the famed Boston Celtics.

I was just a teenager, but I vividly remember how shocked I was that this amazing athlete, whom I had admired, was now dead. Everyone, from the neighborhood boys to the commentators on SportsCenter talked for days about what a huge waste of potential and talent this was.

Sadly, this young man joined the statistics of many others – whose capacity for greatness and success was erased by a series of hasty choices.

The parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 25:14-30 reminds us that we all are only given a certain amount of time to use the gifts and abilities that God has given us, and we must be cautious not to waste it all away, because of negligence, sloth or poor decisions.

In this parable, Christ states that the kingdom of heaven is like a wealthy man going on an extended journey. Before he leaves, he calls together his stewards and gives to each of them a measure of money for them to invest while he is away. This well-to-do man does not want his businesses and finances to sit idle while he travels, so he entrusts some of his assets to his overseers to manage and return a profit.

One steward is given five talents, another two talents, and another one talent. Each man was allocated money to manage, based on his level of competence as judged by the owner. 

The steward who received five talents made some very sound business decisions and doubles his lord’s assets, by making five additional talents. The man who had received two talents, also works hard and matches his initial two talents, by earning two more.

However, the servant who received one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and buried it. Rather than investing what he had been entrusted with, he was lazy and wasted both time and resources.

Years pass, but eventually the wealthy traveler returns and summons his servants before him to give an accounting of their stewardship.

The first steward comes and presents not only the five talents he was originally given, but five to go along with them. The owner is delighted and generously rewards the faithful servant with a hard-earned rest. The second steward comes and presents not only the two talents he was given, but also the two additional he had gained. The owner is pleased again and also rewards his loyal servant with well-deserved rest.

Finally, the last servant appears, but he has nothing to return to his lord except the one talent he had hidden away. Even though the indolent steward makes numerous excuses, the wealthy master is furious and orders this slothful servant to be thrown into outer darkness and his talent to be taken away from him and given to someone who will rightly use it.

Readers, the lesson our Lord would have us learn is quite simple.

Christ is like this wealthy man who has gone on a journey to a faraway country. But before leaving He has entrusted each of us with resources that we are to use to further his glorious kingdom. Not every Christian has the same spiritual gifts, education, abilities or finances, but all have been given “talents” that we are to invest in our Lord’s work. These various resources are not meant to be buried, but wisely used to reach others.

Jesus will soon return, and it is His pleasure to generously reward those who have faithfully used the means he has given to help others and expand his kingdom.

Don’t let your life be a tragedy of wasted opportunity.

Don’t be like the slothful servant in this parable, and hide away or hoard what God has entrusted you with. Don’t let negligence or discomfort keep you from being a devoted servant to Christ. Empty excuses will not suffice on our day of judgment.

Instead, use what God has entrusted to you in order to reach others with the Gospel and to bring glory to His matchless name. And maybe, just maybe, we may hear these words, “well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

Pastor Lewis Kiger
Memorial Heights Baptist Church

svdbygrace2@roadrunner.com

Reading the Bible like the Devil

In the first temptation of Jesus, the Lord answered Satan's attack with "it was written" and goes to the book of Deuteronomy to say that He would live by God's Word. In the second temptation (Matthew 4:5-7) Satan counters and says, "if that is true that you live by every Word of God, here is a passage to live by: Psalm 91:11."  The temptation was if Christ will not use His divine prerogative to turn stones into bread and will only trust in God, then He should prove it. Satan quotes a Psalm that describes the blessedness of trusting in God. The Psalm declares that God is our refuge and our protector. Trust the Father, Jesus. Jump off 450 foot tall roof and trust in God's promise to protect you. By slightly twisting the interpretation of the Psalm, Satan has changed the meaning. Psalm 91 is not a challenge to the Father to be faithful to us, but a call for God's people to be faithful to the Father.

Satan "proof-texted" the point he was trying to make by taking one verse out of context. Satan had an idea in his mind, something he wanted, so he went to the Bible to find part of a passage that agreed with his notions. That is not how you sit under God's Word. We are to submit ourselves to God's Word; not to find passages or verses here and there that agree with what we believe. We can't start with our idea, then go looking for God to agree with us.

Secondly, Satan omits parts of the passage that is inconvenient to his plans. This is the whole verse of Psalm 91:11  "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." In Matthew, the Devil left of the part of God keeping Christ in his ways. Satan was tempting Jesus to walk out of the will of the Father. Satan also leaves out the verse that follows his quote, Psalms 91:13  "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." I think we can figure out why Satan wouldn't want to quote a verse about treading on the dragon and the snake (Genesis 3:15).  Psalm 91 meant that the Father would protect the life of Jesus as He lived in accordance to the Father's will. To read the Bible like the Devil is to look for passages that agree with you, instead of being under the authority of the Word of God. It is to take what you want and leave out what you don't like. It is to misapply and strip the original and true meaning of the text. The true interpretation of the Bible is the true meaning of the Bible. The Devil quoted the words, but with the wrong interpretation, which twisted the Scripture. We should desire to hear what God actually said, not what we wanted Him to say.

Preaching & Preachers, Chapter 8 The Character of the Message

Lloyd-Jones begins by saying that the pew doesn't control what is preached, but the preacher must be mindful of who he is preaching to and the situation in the church. Preach to the people God has given you, not the people you wish you had. It is wrong to assume that everyone listening to a sermon on Sunday is a Christian, even if they say that they are. Even if you are preaching to Christians, we still need the gospel. Those pretenders will resent hearing the simple gospel again and not abide with it, wanting something else.

"...a number of people seem to go to a place of worship and to a service in order to go home! Their main idea seems to be to get out and to get home. Why do they go at all?"

He said the difficulty with the apostles was not to round everyone up and try to get them to come to church, but their problem was trying to get everyone to go home.

The chapter winds down with some opinions on the authority in the pulpit, and the aesthetics of the preachers attire, the building, and the pulpit.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan - Pastor Lewis Kiger

I was just a kid when I received my first Erector Set. Do you remember them? The box contained these thin metal beams and nuts and bolts. Also enclosed were pulleys, gears, wheels and even a small motor. If everything was assembled according to the directions you would have a functioning toy that resembled what was on the box cover. However, like many young people, I was too hurried to follow the instructions and so the finished project didn’t look anything like a helicopter, Ferris wheel, or a crane, but instead a mangled mess of metal that would not properly function.

Unfortunately, this is how many people handle the Word of God, and in particular the parables. Rather than following rules governing Bible interpretation, well-meaning, but mislead individuals make up the rules as they go, and their explanation of the passage is a mangled mess that not only does not resemble what it was intended to, it also fails to serve its proposed purpose.

This is never any truer than when it comes to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Sadly, this rich little parable has been brutally handled by many men who treat the text like Dr. Frankenstein did his monster, and force together unconnected parts in order to try and make one monstrous whole.

When taken in context, the parable is yet again a very simple lesson in how citizens of Christ’s kingdom should conduct themselves.

Note with me the occasion on which the parable is told.

In Luke 10:25-37 an expert in Old Testament law comes to Jesus to ask him a hard question hoping He will misspeak and open Himself to accusation. The lawyer asks, “What can I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a good question, even though his motives are dishonest.

The Lord then does what my mother always taught me not to do … He answered a question with a question. He turns and asks this lawyer for his own opinion. Obviously, our Lord is hinting that a legal expert should already know the answer.

The man then replies by quoting from Deuteronomy, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, strength, and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus replies, that’s correct do this and you will have eternal life.

But the man, willing to justify himself, asks, “who is my neighbor?” In essence, “who am I required to love as myself?”

Christ responds to this question by sharing the parable of the Good Samaritan.

In the parable, Jesus speaks about a traveling man who leaves Jerusalem headed down the Jericho road. Unexpectedly, he is assaulted by bandits, who beat him and steal all his belongings. The man is left for dead in the side of the ditch, barely hanging on to life.

However, it isn’t long until a priest walks by. However, the priest crosses to the other side of the road, callously ignoring the injured man. A few moments later, a Levite also passes by, but he too disregards the man and leaves him to die.

Fortunately, another passerby sees the man, has compassion on him and comes to his aid. The Lord shockingly uses a Samaritan as the hero of the story. As you are probably aware, the Jews hated the Samaritans and had no dealings with them. (John 4:9) A Samaritan would be the last person anyone would expect to help a Jew in distress. Yet, the Good Samaritan not only binds up the wounds of the ailing traveler, he puts the wounded man on the back of his own animal, takes him to a local inn and pays his room fee for as long as he needs to recuperate.

Having finished the parable, Jesus asked the lawyer “Who was really neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?” The lawyer reluctantly admits the Samaritan was neighbor to the injured man.

Christ then emphatically orders the man to follow in the steps of the Good Samaritan and go and do likewise.

Remember the parable was told because this lawyer wanted to know who was his neighbor. In other words, who was he required to love as himself. The answer that Jesus gives through use of this illustration is that everyone in our path who is in need is our neighbor. We should not pass by, ignore or disregarding the plight of any needy person God places in our path. That’s our neighbor.

All those who have been born-again by the sovereign grace of our Great God, have the divine duty to love our neighbors as ourselves. That means, taking the time to invest in their lives.

We need not play the part of “mad-scientist” with this text. It is difficult enough to obey without complicating it further. We must recognize that God places people in our path so that we may help and perhaps even make an eternal difference in their lives.

Memorial Heights Baptist Church

svdbygrace2@roadrunner.com

John Angel James on when and who to Baptize

"Our views of policy cannot improve His institutions, and ought not to oppose the practice of his apostles. The rule of our proceeding is simply this, "We must receive those whom we think the Lord has received." Abandon this rule, and we have no directory for our conduct…."We must not take the children's bread," say these ultra cautious disciples, "and cast it to the dogs." Nor have you a right to starve the children--any more than you have to pamper the dogs! Our rule is this, "evidence of personal piety, whether that evidence be the result of a month or a year." The same unscriptural caution is sometimes displayed towards those converts, who are young in years. …. Is there, then, a biblical age of membership? …what right have we to speak or think about the age of a candidate? Piety is all we have to inquire into; and whether the individual be fourteen, or forty--we are to receive him, provided we have reason to suppose, "that Christ has received him."

Jesus and the Bible

Do you have the same opinion of the Bible as Jesus? Looking at the first temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2-4), you see how Jesus viewed the Bible. In Matthew 4, Satan attacks Jesus three times and all three times Jesus answers with Scripture. Jesus believed in the authority of Scripture. Jesus said it is written, not it was written.  It was written suggests that it was for another day and another time. It was that way, but it might not be that way anymore. It is written means it stands. It was written in the past, but it stands written today.  When confronted by Satan, Jesus went to the Bible. He did not say "I think…", or "I feel…", or "in our family, we….". No, it is written, the Word of God is authoritative.

Jesus also believed in the sufficiency of Scripture. 40 days earlier, the Father spoke audibly from Heaven and the Spirit descended in the shape of a dove. These were amazing signs and revelations! However, when Jesus was in the wilderness and was tempted by Satan, how did Jesus respond? He did not wait for audible instructions, or a visible sign, so how would Jesus know the Father's will? He went to the Word of God. Jesus went to Scripture and that was enough. When tempted to use His divine prerogative and step out of the Father's will, Jesus said " It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Jesus would live, trusting in the Father's care and this passage was enough for Him to not waver. Jesus lived by the Word of God; it was sufficient.

Jesus also knew the Bible. In all three temptations, He drew from the book of Deuteronomy. In the first temptation, he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus didn't have a Bible with him to look up passages, but Jesus had Scripture memorized. Other than these verses, do you have any passages from Deuteronomy memorized? Could you give me a summary of what the book is about? I ask because I want you to think about how well Jesus knew the Bible, and hopefully spur you to go and read and learn the Bible yourself. Maybe we don't know it as well as we think we do.  Jesus knew more than just Bible stories. Jesus knew the passages and the context, and the meaning, and the proper application. Jesus was able to draw from verses he knew and apply the correct application  to the situation. Do you have the same view of the Bible as Jesus? Is the Bible the authority in your life? Do you say "it is written" when faced with a temptation or a decision? Do you believe the Bible is sufficient, or do you look for signs and trust your gut feelings? If Jesus is Lord, have the same view of the Bible as He does.

Digging By Seamus Heaney

Between my finger and my thumb   

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. 

Under my window, a clean rasping sound   

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:   

My father, digging. I look down 

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds   

Bends low, comes up twenty years away   

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills   

Where he was digging. 

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft   

Against the inside knee was levered firmly. 

He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep 

To scatter new potatoes that we picked, 

Loving their cool hardness in our hands. 

By God, the old man could handle a spade.   

Just like his old man. 

My grandfather cut more turf in a day 

Than any other man on Toner’s bog. 

Once I carried him milk in a bottle 

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up 

To drink it, then fell to right away 

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods 

Over his shoulder, going down and down 

For the good turf. Digging. 

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap 

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge 

Through living roots awaken in my head. 

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb 

The squat pen rests. 

I’ll dig with it.