Starting with 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the Cross is folly (foolish) to those who are perishing; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Please keep in mind, it is a free-will choice to accept or reject our Savior. (emphasis mine)

How can we be certain that what we see in God’s word is His true inerrant word?

2 Peter 1:19-21, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word; to which you will do well to pay attention, as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts; knowing this first of all, that no scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man; but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (Note, in verse 19, Peter is describing Jesus as the Morning Star who will bring everlasting light to the world.)

Next is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness; that the man/woman of God may be competent; equipped for every good work.”

Jesus knew there would be more people that would accept the ways of the world, rather than accept Him as their only Savior.

Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. [The only one leading to eternal life.] For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction; and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

One reason that the way leading to eternal life is “hard” for some, is that people would rather live their own way rather than have faith and believe Jesus is the only way. Also, they can accept things they can “see” over things that are “unseen.” John 20:29 has Jesus telling Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 14:6, “Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

These two verses from the Father’s Holy Word do not leave room for any other way.

However, the evil one has been deceiving the people of this world since the beginning of time. It started in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1-5, when the serpent (Satan) asked Eve the famous question, “Did God actually say…?” He is a master of deception, and knows every one of our weaknesses. He has been playing to those emotions from the Garden, all the way through today. His evil influence will come out in full force through the 7-year tribulation, and then again for a short time at the end of the millennium (Revelation 20:2-3; 7-10).

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing [refusing to accept Jesus]. In their case, the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Anyone who enters the Lake of Fire (Hell) will do so because they chose it, not because God unfairly sent them there.

This battle between Satan and God has been going on since before the Creation of this earth. Lucifer tried to make himself equal to the Creator. As a result, God has made the Lake of Fire for Satan and his demons (fallen angels) as given in Matthew 25:41. For them, there is no forgiveness because they were in the presence of the Heavenly Father, and chose to follow Satan – a created being.

Isaiah 14:13-14, “You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God; I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Our Heavenly Father will in no way force His will upon anyone, but always stands ready to forgive us our sins, and accept all who call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9-13). Those who truly accept Jesus as their Savior will have the Holy Spirit come and dwell within them while they are on this earth. The unforgiveable sin is to reject the Son of God.

As for those that God knows will not repent, but are lost in their ways, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 states, “The coming of the lawless one [final antichrist] is by the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth, and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Sadly, we see more and more of this in today’s society.

In 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him/her. For all that is in the world; the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride in possessions, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

John goes on to describe that antichrists were already in the world right after Calvary, along with false prophets, who have tried to deceive all mankind right up to this moment. Their goal is to honor their leader – Satan – by turning as many souls away from the Savior as possible. Today, there are many false prophets in evangelical pulpits that are giving non-biblical messages, and declaring them as truth.

John 8:32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In order to know the truth – the actual words our Father provided for us – studying the Bible is necessary. Many people would rather rely on someone else’s interpretation than take the time to learn for themselves. They get absorbed in faux messages from false preachers.

John tells us in 1 John 3:23-24 what God commands of us: “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God; and God in him/her. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the [Holy] Spirit who He has given us.”

The rest of 1 John gives us instructions as what to watch out for, and how to live for the Lord. He sums up who is saved in 1 John 5:12, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

As a popular saying goes, “Know Jesus, Know Eternal Life. No Jesus, No Eternal Life.” For the last half of this, it means eternal punishment.

Right now is an excellent time to decide if you wish to have Jesus in your heart, and all that eternity with Him gives. Or, have what this short time on earth has to offer, and spend eternity in Hell with Satan and his demons. There are no other options.

Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

This doesn’t apply only to Paul, but to everyone who will accept Jesus as their Savior, and receive the gift of eternal life He paid for in full on the Cross.

Romans 8:1 makes a very powerful statement: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Going to Romans 8:5, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

The evil atmosphere in the world today is patterned after Isaiah 5:20, where evil is accepted as good, and good is seen as evil. Believers are being called “haters” because we will not accept in our lives what God calls abominations. Jesus told us that these attitudes would be present near the end of this age, and Paul listed numerous traits that also would be present. Looking past all the faux news from the media, this world is steadily heading downhill.

Going to Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The beginning started in earnest about a decade ago; and the momentum is only gaining speed. From all we see, hear and read, we are at the very edge of the time that the Savior will remove all True Believers from this earth. Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 to see what’s coming, and the speed with which it will happen.

To make sure your reservation is assured, call on Jesus to be your Savior today. Tomorrow may be too late to avoid the coming “Wrath.” This is a decision you will forever be glad you made.

Maranatha (Come Lord Jesus!)

huebshman46@gmail.com

1 Timothy: Biblical Foundation for Pastoral Ministry, Part 1 :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Setting the Scene

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), the famed English pastor and teacher of the Victorian era, once said that if the Lord Jesus Christ calls a man to the gospel ministry, he should not stoop instead to become a king.

It is my conviction after over thirty years of service to the King of kings that being a minister of the Gospel is not a career choice, but a Divine summons to proclaim the riches of the Scriptures and the wondrous grace and mercy of Almighty God towards us who have rebelled against His rule; yet it offers us forgiveness and salvation if only we come to Christ and submit to Him as Lord.

The true man of God is to stand firm on the Word and not bow to the ideologies and pressures of a wicked society to compromise what God has decreed and established. He is the absolute standard for all of life and its order, and there is nothing in this universe that is not under His Sovereign control and will.

A man of God will tell people that to follow Jesus Christ is not something that can be taken on and off at random depending on how one feels or thinks. He is to insist that the authentic Christian life is one of complete obedience and surrender to what the Lord Jesus demands and expects of us in this life as well as the life to come.

The man who is called to serve Christ will face adversity and hardship, and often be subject to abuse, neglect, slander, and in some cases, martyrdom as we have seen all too often in these past few years with our brethren around the world, and will come here sooner than later. He may often have to stand alone for the sake of the Gospel and the holiness of God, knowing that his crown awaits him at the end of his days, which he will place before the feet of Jesus on that great day of reward.

The man of God will often find himself in places where there is no chance of notoriety coming his way. He will not be asked by his denomination or council for an observation or comment on an issue because he doesn’t walk in the inner circle of decision makers and noteworthy ecclesiastical figures within the realm of contemporary Christianity. There have been many ministers who have served in anonymity and solitude, glad to be seen by an audience of one. There will be no one to write his biography or quote him for a scholarly work or consult him for a problem facing the church. He will end his life of service more likely than not by hearing his Lord say to him, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, welcome into the joy of thy LORD.” In the end, that is what matters.

Many men of God have been instructed by seminaries, mentors, quiet times with God Himself, godly parents and grandparents, other ministers, and others that God has put in their life in order to be worthy of the office to which the LORD has called and entrusted them. This is true for the young man whom we will be devoting time and study to these next few presentations.

When we read the section of the New Testament known as the Pastoral Epistles, we learn about what a man of God is to be and do in accordance with the model given to us by our Lord Jesus and the man who had, at one time, hated and despised His very name and those who followed Him. This was Saul of Tarsus, who was gloriously transformed by the risen Christ while on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-6) and became the apostle Paul, who would go on to write one-third of the New Testament and be responsible for establishing churches and boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, all the while enduring a flood of persecution and suffering from the world and the devil.

Paul did not go out into the world alone to do his Lord’s bidding. He had a faithful group of supporters and co-ministers who assisted him in preaching, teaching, admonishing, pastoral care and service, and provided comfort when the burdens of ministry caught up with him. He mentored young believers and pastors who would care for the churches established across the Roman Empire, and wrote the letters of instruction and admonition that became the foundation of how to do the work of Christ in the power of the Spirit and to diminish any thought of operating the things of God in one’s own strength and mindset.

One of Paul’s “sons in the faith,” Timothy, was the young pastor of the church located in the port city of Ephesus, which was located on the western shore of Asia Minor, now known as the nation of Turkey. Ephesus was a major city of commerce and trade. It was also the city where the Temple of Diana stood as one of the wonders of the ancient world. Paul’s early ministry there caused a disturbance (Acts 19) as well as an influx of new converts to Christ and the establishment of a major church that became a major influence on Christianity for the next few decades of the first century A.D.

Timothy is mentioned in Acts 16:1, 3, 17:14, 16:5, 19:22, 20:4; Romans 16:21; 1 Corinthians 4:17, 16:10; 2 Corinthians 1:1, 19; Philippians 1:1, 2:19; Colossians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 3:2, 6; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:2, 18; 2 Timothy 1:2, 5, 3:15; Philemon 1:1; and Hebrews 13:23.

His father was a Greek (Acts 16:1), his mother was a godly woman (2 Timothy 1:5), he was trained early in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15) and became Paul’s associate (Acts 16:3).

The letters to Timothy from Paul were written towards the end of Paul’s ministry and were a call to remain faithful to the work of the LORD. They are the picture of what a godly ministry and life of service is supposed to be; but, unfortunately, in these last days, seems to be neglected or downplayed by some pastors and churches. It seems that many modern church leaders get their direction from social expectations, denominational preferences, “personal revelation” as opposed to the written Word of God, misinterpretations of roles in the church, attempts to please the world, and the roles of leaders based on business models and not the teachings of Jesus or the apostles.

The specter of feminism is rampant in some churches, with the growing acceptance of women pastors in predominantly charismatic circles and some mainline denominations in what can only be interpreted as defiance of Scriptural standards and a tool for liberalism to corrupt the effectiveness of the church upon the area around them. Now, this might not set well among some readers, but it is something that needs to be addressed in this series, especially in light of a publicized controversy that erupted in the Southern Baptist Convention concerning one particularly well-known female Bible teacher and her growing attitude of defiance and compromise with the world. She has been both rebuked and defended by evangelical leaders and ministers, and has sparked a discussion on women’s roles in the church.

The issue, and that of other dilemmas in the modern church, is not that we are to focus on the roles of people in churches as expected by influential individuals, but what the Scriptures directly tell us on how the work of the LORD’S church is to operate so as to give glory to Him. It is also to advance the cause of the Gospel throughout the nations and the world as the time comes to a conclusion predestined by the act of Almighty God that brings all things under His will and glory. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be triumphant; and while the day is here, we who are the called and elect of the LORD need to do what He says and expects, using the Scriptures to give us the instructions that will see all things done to His will and bring in the harvest that is in the field even now.

We will start our journey next time by focusing on Chapter 1, verses 3-11 and deal with a problem that has plagued the church since the first century and was told to us by our Lord Jesus on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), that of false doctrine. Paul will hit this issue first and be relentless, as should every man who is called to shepherd the flock of God.

If you’re a pastor reading this, I pray that what will be presented here will be a source of encouragement and strength to you as you labor for the LORD. If you’re under the leadership of a godly pastor, then I ask you to read these lessons and begin praying for your pastor that he might follow in the steps of Jesus Christ and be faithful to Him as the days grow near for His arrival. Let’s read what God’s Word has to teach us as we progress, and be enriched in these last days.

drwhitchard@aol.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com