The Work of a Preacher (1 Timothy 5)

By Ron Thomas     As I continue with the theme “the work of a preacher” from 1 Timothy, let us note the exhortations in chapter 5. First, Timothy was to conduct himself with members of the congregation in an “above-board” way. There is a proper response to be given to those older within the congregation, as well as those who are younger. With regard to the first age-group, there is respect because of the maturity of their years. To those who are younger, perhaps similar in age, they are peers and not to be dismissed as if they were not one’s equal.     A special note with regard to preachers and women. Preachers may be well-informed about matters pertaining to God, but that does not mean they may not struggle with similar weaknesses found in other males. In general, he must take precautions, even extra precautions (if needed) to keep himself from falling headlong into sinful thoughts and actions. Paul admonished the brethren in Corinth, and he was mindful of the same admonition with regard to himself.     And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected (1 Corinthians 9:25-27, ASV).     Second, it is understood that the church of our Lord is the body of Christ, and as the body of the Lord, it is also understood the church is a family. Does the church have any obligation to care for those in need or, in other words, to family members? It does, and Paul gives counsel to the brethren concerning that. To begin, family members need to take care of their own. But if any widow hath children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to requite their parents: for this is acceptable in the sight of God. ... But if any provideth not for his own, and specially his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever (5:4, 8).     Next, if family members fail, refuse, or are no longer around, then the church must give attention to the needs of others, doing what they can. The admonition of the Holy Spirit toward brothers in the Lord is for them to get out and work (cf. 2 Thess. 3:7-13), but with women there is a different approach. During the era of the New Testament, women were caretakers of the home; they shaped the world in the raising of the children. Consequently, they did not make a living outside the home. If they lose their primary means of support (family), the Lord allows for them to be cared for by the local congregation. Yet, the Lord set forth parameters to which we must heed.     Finally, from our lessons learned in 1 Timothy 5, let us understand that men who serve as elders (overseers) are worthy of great respect. There are some men who serve / work with the local congregation in a full-time capacity, as teachers. For those who do, they deserve not only great respect, but congregational support (livelihood) in the work they do. On the other hand, if a man who serves as an elder sins, is he disqualified? He is not. If he continues in that sin without penitence, he is no longer qualified to serve as a leader in the Lord’s local church.     These are just a few lessons to glean from 1 Timothy 5, but these lessons are to be taught by the authority of the Holy Spirit. This is a work of a preacher.

- Ron Thomas preaches for the Church of Christ at Rio Grande in Bidwell, OH. He may be contacted at etsop95@gmail.com. Visit the congregation’s website at: https://www.churchofchristatriogrande.com

Paul's Counsel to a Preacher

By Ron Thomas
    The falling away, what is that (1 Timothy 4)? It begins when a Christian considers what is around him and chooses that which is around him instead of the Lord. It is amplified when this occurs with many Christians, thus, there is a falling away on a larger scale. This is what Paul gives attention to in his counsel to Timothy. He mentions some specifics concerning this falling away.    First, there are those who left the Lord by giving heed to doctrines of demons. What is that? Any teaching that has its source in man, for man is influenced by the “god of this world,” thus a doctrine of demons. As you look at verses 2-4, take notice of the prevailing problem: hypocrisy, lies, hard hearts, forbidding to marry, and a forbiddance to eat certain food, all such teachings that are existing today.    It will always be the case that man is a hypocrite to some degree, even the one who does his level best not to be, he too will fall into hypocrisy on occasion. Wisdom brings him out of it. Those who stay within its borders, hypocrisy is more than being inconsistent, it is another form of lying. Sometimes we lie to ourselves, sometimes to others. We have a habit of grading our lies on a scale (not talking about fairy tales and things of this sort); some lies are worse than others in our minds, but in the end they all amount to the same. Paul makes clear that with a child of God such ought not to be.    Second, concerning those who forbid marriage? This has application in any context, even the context of the Roman Catholic Church and their nunnery and priestly forbiddance. The Catholic Church, however, was not in existence when Paul wrote, so it appears to have more of an immediate application to ascetic practices of the Gnostics, the Essenes, and others (Robertson’s Word Pictures in the Greek New Testament).    There is another bit of counsel that Paul gives Timothy as a young preacher: in established congregations young preachers always have a harder time in their ministry because older folk just do not regard them the same as they would someone with many more years of experience than just a few. This is not to be unexpected. Because of this, Paul admonished Timothy to properly focus his attention on the things of God when he said, “exercise thyself unto godliness” (4:7). The importance of this cannot be understated. When a young preacher does as much, he takes his mind off outside distractions that can be debilitating, and he gives evidence to others observing him that he is to be respected and heard.    Finally, in my years of preaching, I have seen things coming from the mouth of preachers that have troubled me a great deal. A lot of that has to do with preachers, young and old, who are not secure in who they are, who do not have the Lord’s anchor firmly attached to solid ground. Because of this many of these preachers allow the brethren to manipulate and apply pressure to preach things they want to hear, rather than what the Lord says. Notice what Paul said to Timothy, “Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching” (4:13). The emphasis is the Lord’s word, not one’s ability to preach eloquently, but to speak it plainly when even a child can understand it. “Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee” (4:16). 

- Ron Thomas preaches for the Church of Christ at Rio Grande in Bidwell, OH. He may be contacted at etsop95@gmail.com. Visit the congregation’s website at: https://www.churchofchristatriogrande.com

Paul Trains a Preacher

By Kevin Rutherford       The apostle Paul personally trained Timothy to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 16:1-5). He chose Timothy because of what he saw in the character of Timothy. Not everyone should be trained to be a preacher of the Word of God. Only those with the right character need to be prepared for preaching. Timothy had a good reputation among Christians before Paul trained him to be a preacher. The Bible says Timothy was “well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium (Acts 16:2).” Paul also knew Timothy to be a man of “genuine faith (2 Timothy 1:5).” Not every man should be encouraged to preach. In fact, some should be discouraged from doing so.     Once Timothy’s apprenticeship and training with the apostle Paul was completed, Paul sent him out to work. Yet even then Paul wrote letters to continue to educate, edify, and encourage Timothy. Paul puts it this way, “I write to you so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).” Looking to those letters helps us to understand what Gospel preaching really is about. Sadly, too many members of the Lord’s church have not studied the word of God enough to know what preaching is about, including some who are preachers.     Timothy has been told by Paul to stay in Ephesus and work with the church there for a while. This is a church with an eldership (Acts 20), and yet it is a church that still needs a strong preacher to work with them and strengthen them (1 Timothy 1:3). Let’s see what we can learn about preaching from what Paul said. 1. Paul tells Timothy he needs to do is “charge some that they teach no other doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3-11).”  a. The truth must be preached.  b. The truth must be preached and practiced from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. 2. Paul shows Timothy the importance of being grateful and giving glory to God (1 Timothy 1:12-17).  a. Paul was thankful for the blessings of salvation and preaching. b. Paul understood the grace of God was exceedingly abundant toward him.  c. Paul gave God all of the glory for this. 3. Paul tells Timothy to go to war (1 Timothy 1:18-20).  a. He is to wage the good warfare, which is the spiritual war waged with Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit.  b. He must fight the spiritual war with faith and a good conscience. 4. Paul encourages Timothy to pray (1 Timothy 2:1-7).  a. Preachers must be men of prayer who think in terms of praying for all people.  b. Preachers work and pray for all people with the understanding God desires all people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. 5. Paul instructs Timothy in the qualifications of elders and deacons (1Timothy 3:1-13).  a. Preachers must preach these qualifications and encourage the application of them.  b. Unqualified elders and deacons will hinder the preacher’s work and hold back the church as whole. 6. Paul encourages Timothy instruct the brethren concerning those who depart from the faith having given head to the deceptive doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1-11).  a. Some speak these lies with hypocrisy and sear their consciences.  b. Preachers must avoid doing this, but they must also warn the brethren about such if they are to be a good minister. 7. Timothy is told by Paul how to conduct himself so that is not looked down upon for his youth (1 Timothy 4:12-16).  a. Preachers must be examples in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith and purity.  b. Preachers must give attention to reading, exhortation, and doctrine.  c. Preachers must take heed to themselves. 8. Paul tells Timothy how to treat the members appropriately (1 Timothy 5:1-25).  a. Exhort older men as fathers, and younger men as brothers.  b. Exhort older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters.  c. Honor widows that are widows indeed.  d. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.  e. Rebuke elders who are sinning. 9. Paul warns Timothy of those who preach the wrong things and who preach for the wrong reasons (1 Timothy 6).  a. Run from covetousness and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  b. Guard what is committed to your trust.

- Kevin V. Rutherford, formerly of Warners Chapel church of Christ in Clemmons, NC (Currently an instructor at Memphis School of Preaching in Memphis, TN). The congregation may be contacted through their website: http://warnerschapelchurchofchrist.org/

Sunday Morning

By Larry Pasley

    A woman knocks on her son's door early Sunday morning, to wake him up for church. The son groaned, rolled over, went back to sleep... and had to be called two more times.
    "Tell me," he said, "Why do I have to get up? Give me three good reasons."
    "Well for one thing," the mother said, "It's Sunday and we always go to church. Two, you're 55 years old and should know that by now. And three, you're the preacher!"

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    There are many reasons we should attend the assemblies of the church. We will discuss three of those reasons.
    First, we should attend because we are commanded to assemble for our encouragement: "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25).
    Second, we should assemble because it is an opportunity for us to be with Jesus. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).
    Third, we should assemble together because it gives us an opportunity to encourage and build up others. We can only do that if and when we come together. "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:11-16).
    May we always understand the importance of our being in the assemblies and always make it our desire to attend every assembly we possibly can.

- Larry Pasley serves as a minister with the Jackson Street Church of Christ in Alexandria, LA. He may be contacted through the congregation's website at http://www.JacksonStAlex.com 

Old Preacher Advice

Which is worth exactly what you pay for it: (Free advice is never worth as much as you pay for it.)
By Wayne Polk

1) Beware of those in the new congregation who try to get very close to you too quickly. They most often have ulterior motives related to using the new preacher to accomplish some personal goal in the congregation. When they are not able to manipulate the preacher, they sometimes become [your] adversary. There will always be those who oppose you (whether to your face or behind your back) so identify them, pray for them daily, and have your wife bake cookies for them often. Overtly loving them publicly as well as privately inhibits both their willingness and ability to accomplish mischief.
2) All that glitters is not gold and all that is tarnished is not without value. It takes time to get to know a congregation so the new preacher must keep an open mind. Members who gossip about others tell the new preacher more about their own character than about the target of their venom. (Gossip is just as insipid when disguised as benevolent information to help you deal with a brother who "needs your help, patience, understanding, or prayers.")
3) Most materials can be molded if the proper techniques are used, but sudden force will often break them. People are the same way. The preacher must never take it personally when he preaches his heart out about a subject and doesn't appear to be getting any results. People spend years getting messed up by sin, tradition or false doctrine and it will often take them longer to get straightened out than it did to get messed up. The preacher is more often than not achieving more good than he realizes. Be patient and give the brethren time.
4) "NO ONE CARES HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE." It's not until the preacher learns to sincerely love the congregation and the members feel confident in his love that he will be able to lead them to a closer walk with God. [T]he more they feel loved by the preacher, the more they feel loved by the Savior he proclaims and the more open they are to being lead in a closer walk with that Savior. Remember: Jesus died for those who were His enemies. Just hours before His death, he washed the feet of His betrayer. We don't have to like someone to love them and we don't have to approve of their actions to love them, but we have to love them and to be patient with them before we can lead them to the Savior.
    The sick need the Great Physician so don't isolate the ones who need you to guide them to Him.
5) If the preacher wants people to remember what he teaches, he must make his teaching memorable. If the preacher just repeats what the brethren have heard in exactly the same ways they've always heard it, he is simple scratching the itching ears. The preacher can't change the truth, but he can present God's truth in ways that force the brethren to stay awake, to listen and to go to the book to confirm the message. Teach them to be seekers of truth, not parrots who repeat what they've been programmed to say.
6) The preacher measures his success not in the compliments at the door or in the approval of the brethren, but the change he is able to motivate in the lives of his listeners. If he can motive them to love God enough to alter their lives to conform to His pattern, the preacher is a success. Personal Note: I use a simple formula for preaching: "I AM." Give them Information from God's word; tell them how to Apply that information in their life; and then Motivate them to make that application in their daily walk. If those three elements are in every sermon, the brethren will be mature into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
7) The preacher must always remember who's the Boss and be loyal to Him above all else. The brethren may pay us, but we work for God. Be true to the Boss. The brethren can't fire one from being a preacher, only stop paying him and if they do that they've already stopped listening to him so it was time to move on anyway. This is God's world and we are members of HIS church. It is before God that we will all stand to give an accounting of our stewardship. If the preacher loves God with all [his] heart, mind and soul, the love of the brethren will be a given. When the brethren feel loved, they more often than not will respond with love. God love’s regardless so put Him first in your life, but hug your wife and babies every day. No matter how busy you get, make sure to reassure them of your love every day of your life. When done right, the ministry is harder on the preacher's family than on him, but also a joy beyond description.
- via The Lantern, Highway Church of Christ, Sullivan, IL  Ron Thomas serves as preacher and an elder for the congregation and you may visit their website as http://www.highwaycofc.com

“Such A Good Preacher”

 By Alan W. Fonville
    I first remember hearing the above statement when I was quite young as I tried to point out the error in so many denominational preachers. As you started to show their teachings regarding “baptism,” for instance, they would come back at you with, “but, he's such a good preacher.” I guess that was to mean that since he was such a good preacher, he was immune from being in error? Through the years since then, I heard the same statement many times in relation to gospel preacher. And, sometimes, it was the end of the discussion.
    The very disturbing thing about that statement, since we now have so many “good preachers,” is the fact that I finally realized the truth of the matter. People equate a good orator with “truthfulness.” If he has a good voice and can persuade the audience, he is considered to be a “good preacher,” whether or not he can speak the truth. This was well demonstrated when the Jews brought along Tertullus, their best “orator,” when Paul was brought before Felix to defend himself (Acts 24). He had a way with words and was very “smooth,” yet, the whole truth was not presented.
    We have some “good sounding” preachers in the world around us. Billy Graham was a good preacher in their sight. Oral Roberts was a good preacher. Jerry Falwell was a good preacher. Pat Robertson, J. Frank Norris, Charles Spurgeon, T.L. Wilkinson and many others have been good orators. The point which I would like to make clear at this time is how wrong I have been in stopping short on my arguments when that statement was made. Instead of taking and running with it, the matter was discontinued. Shame on me!
    Every one of the above listed “good preachers were not. And, how can I say that about such well known men? Listen to me carefully; when a man professing to speak for Almighty God refuses to preach the “whole counsel” of God, he is NOT a good preacher. Each of those men which I listed have been well documented as to refusing to teach on certain subjects, or they have twisted the scriptures to mean something different from what the text actually means. Any time that happens to any man, he is not a good preacher, or does he speak for God.
    Jesus Christ gave us the best example. He spoke the very words which God have him to speak. During his ministry he often declared, “I come to do thy will, Oh God.” This should be the attitude of every “good preacher”. But, we see in the Lord's kingdom today, men who profess to be ministers of God, who are actually serving themselves and keeping their jobs. Some of these men openly refuse to teach on certain subjects for fear of their jobs. Others refuse to preach on them because it is a “controversial subject,” as Graham has said so many times.
    But, in the present apostasy of the Lord's body, it is especially heart-breaking to see so many of our members defend as preacher who refrains his tongue form certain subjects by saying, “but he is such a good preacher”. When our preachers fail to teach the truth about “fellowship,” as 2 John 9-11 and Ephesians 5:11 and Romans 16:17 teach us, it matters not how eloquent their speeches may sound, they are not a “good preacher”. When they refuse to speak the truth of God about marriage and divorce, fornication, adultery, covetousness, the seriousness of “vow keeping,” immodesty, drinking, use of drugs, homosexuality, stealing, lasciviousness, witchcraft, seditions, heresies and a host of other things which disgrace the Kingdom of Christ, they are definitely not “good preachers,” regardless of how smooth they sound.
    By our continued “fellowship” with them, it is contrary to the command which God gave us, mentioned above. It makes us guilty right along with the sins of others when we “go along to get along,” rather than to rebuke, reprove and exhort them. Some may become our enemies, but, we have obeyed God in our efforts.

- Alan W. Fonville; via the Belvedere Beacon, the weekly bulletin of the Belvedere Church of Christ, Belvedere, SC.  Ken Chumbley preaches for this congregation, and he may be contacted at their website: http://www.belvederechurchofchrist.org

Five Ways To get Rid of Your Preacher!

By Chris Gallager

What does your congregations need to know about ways to get rid of their minister? Perhaps this list will help, help us to know how to really appreciate one another.

1.     Sit up front and smile. Say “Amen” every time he says something good. He will preach himself to death.
2.     Encourage him and tell him what a great job he is doing. He will work himself to death.
3.     Increase your attendance, giving, and participation. He will suffer from shock.
4.     Tell him that you want some names of people to go visit and help win souls to Christ. He will die of a heart attack.
5.     Have the whole congregation vow to pray for him. He will become so effective that a larger congregation
will take him off your hands.

- Larry Miles lives in Louisville, KY and publishes "Larry's Lines" several times a week. Copyright 2009. Visit his website: http://larryslines.com/ (adapted) 

IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON BUT—

A single point: The Message depends on messengers.

I believe in writers and books and other such forms of communication but very few people come to God in Jesus Christ apart from actual contact with an actual person or persons in whom the message is embodied. Certainly that’s how it was in the early days when faith in Jesus raced through Palestine and out into the regions beyond (see Acts 11:19-20). It’s true that it was the Message about Jesus that people gladly and often gallantly embraced, being baptized into his name, but the Message didn’t come to them in letters—it came to them in messengers, in actual people; it was a people-embodied Message.

A fine man with no gospel to tell is sub-Christian. A fine man with merely moral advice and right values is sub-Christian. The gospel that raced through Palestine wasn’t just a lot of nice people saying nice things, you understand; it was nice people with a Message about Jesus!

The ancient Jewish council members had moral values as real as Peter’s and they could quote the Old Testament texts as well as the Galileans, but it was when Peter and John stood up, proclaiming an astonishing Message about the recently crucified, but now very much alive, Jesus of Nazareth, that the fire broke outl There they stood, formerly fear-filled and now defying the Supreme Court of the Israelite people. Two months earlier the apostolic group had scattered to save their lives, and now they thanked God for the privilege of suffering for the name of Jesus and telling the distressed jurists (Acts 4:19-20), “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!” --Tydings, Kemp church bulletin

- via THE SOWER, a weekly publication of the Arthur church of Christ, Arthur, IL. Ron Bartanen, who serves as minister and editor, may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.arthurchurchofchrist.com

A Preacher’s Classic

When I preach there are some who say
They could listen to me all day
Others think I preach too long,
And some think I go about it wrong.
Some say my sermon is much too deep
To others it’s shallow and they go to sleep.
Some report I hold them spellbound,
While others squirm and look around.
Some believe I have no light,
And others think I preach just right.
Some affirm that I’m too bold,
While others wink and say I’m cold.
Some used to say I was much too young,
But others declare my spring has sprung
Some folks tell I have met success.
Others think my work’s a mess.
Some have said my pay is too low,
When they discover the pace I go.
Still others say it’s above the peak
“Why, he only works three hours a week!”
From all of this it is plain to see,
That as a preacher, I’m up a tree.
Condemned if I do,
Condemned if I don’t.
Criticized if I will,
Criticized if I won’t.
I can’t please men of such discord,
So I’ll just keep trying to please the Lord.

- Author Unknown; via the Belvedere Beacon, the weekly bulletin of the Belvedere church of Christ, Belvedere, SC. Ken Chumbley preaches for this congregation, and he may be contacted at their website: http://www.belvederechurchofchrist.org or e-mail: church@belvederechurchofchrist.org

Burglar and Preacher

A burglar broke into a minister's house and told him, "One move and you're dead. I'm looking for money."

The preacher replied, "Hang on, let me get a light and I'll help you."

--Adapted from Cybersalt Digest

- via THE SOWER, a weekly publication of the Arthur church of Christ, Arthur, IL. Ron Bartanen, who serves as minister and editor, may be contacted at - ron33dor@yahoo.com You may also visit their website at http://www.arthurchurchofchrist.com