“Withdraw Yourself” (1 Tim 5:17-6:7)

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness... who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” (1 Tim 6:3-5).

Withdraw from every false prophet who doesn't preach godliness from a sincere heart. If he uses the bible to self-promote, get money, or is unfaithful to God's grace, then reject and stay away from him, lest you fall into the same pit.

The gospel is SERIOUS business. It is not something where we go by how we feel or what we think, but we SCRUPULOUSLY and devotedly follow the Son, as is.

If the pastor is faithful, then he is to be paid and honored for his service, even as the laboring ox that pulls the cart is allowed to eat of the grain while working. We support these faithful men, receive not accusations against them, and we OPENLY reprove those who won't repent, so that others may fear - (1 Tim 5:17-22) “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages.' Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.”

All men are not called to the pastorate, and there are clear qualifications for those who are. You and I are not to ordain or call men who haven't been proved, who haven't shown their devotion to Christ. We are to wait to see if good or bad works adorn them, and we're to act upon such. We cannot see everything, but as far as we can, judge righteously, refusing the self-serving and receiving God sent men who labor for the glory of God in thankfulness to Christ and not to take or acquire gain from men - (1 Tim 5:23-25) “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities. Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid”.

If you're a servant, then serve the boss wholeheartedly, doing him good. If he is a believer, then he benefits from your labors as one loved of God - “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed” (1 Tim 6:1-2).

But, anyone who denies godliness, who doesn't teach you how to follow Christ unto good works, is to be shunned and rejected. The gospel is a lifestyle, and all who refuse to honor Christ in conduct are lost. All who appear holy but do so to please men, earn favor, and fatten their bellies are FALSE prophets and not to be heard, supported, or helped in any spiritual way - (1 Tim 6:4-5)“he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.”

Choose which team you're on. Christ's team will fare well at the Judgment, and He will say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant” (Matt 24:21). Everyone else will regret their birth and will regret their rebellion forever (Matt 26:24).

The gospel takes men from sinfulness to holiness by GIVING us eternal life FREELY, and then motivating us, like Paul, by this matchless grace, so that what we do is “thank you” for heaven earned, hell payed for already, and GRACE freely and without human provocation, given.

Nothing And Yet Commended (2 Cor 11:16-12:11)

“I am become a fool in glorying [proving myself faithful]; you have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chief apostles, though I be nothing” (vs11)

Paul is a nothing, but he is an apostle, and he has obtained grace to be faithful.

He proves his ministry by the sufferings, stripes, and near death’s that he endured. He proves it by exaltations from God to see glorious things. And, He proves it by God’s power to him as the nothing that he is, enabling him to honor God and prosper amidst trials that send unbelievers away to the world in rebellion and self-salvation.  Paul proves himself faithful, sheepishly, not glorying in having to commend himself, but he does it for our good, that we might prove ourselves FAITHFUL and share in the ministry - (2 Cor 11:16-21) “I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little.  What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.  Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.  For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise!  For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face.  To our shame, I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold––I speak foolishly––I am bold also”.

He suffered as an apostle, and it wasn’t all sweets on the way to heaven. False prophets brag about talent and success, Paul gloried in being shipwrecked, beaten, hungry, and naked - (vs22-33) “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.  Are they ministers of Christ? ––I speak as a fool––I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.  From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;  in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;  in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness––   besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?   If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.   In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;   but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands“.

He says, This is what I’ve endured for faithfulness, so I prove by my afflictions that I’m faithful, because they came BECAUSE of Christ and BY Christ they were endured.

Secondly, he commends his special revelations, also. He declares that he knew someone taken up to the third heaven who saw things TOO wonderful to be described and unlawful to be spoken.  Yet, he doesn’t glory in the man’s merit, but in the man’s exaltation by grace.  God PRIVILEDGES some to be examples and shows them marvelous things, proving we’re godly - (2 Cor 12:1-5) “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:  I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago––whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows––such a one was caught up to the third heaven.  And I know such a man––whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows––  how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.  Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities”.

Thirdly, Paul glories in the power of Christ to nobody’s, failures, and the tempted. He glories that when he’s WEAK, the Son of God is strong to him, like when a person can’t go on, they get strength from God to continue MORE marvelously, more humbly, and more LOVINGLY than before - (2 Cor 12:6-10) “For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

He didn’t see trials as abandonment but as opportunities for God to fulfill the promise in Christ that His grace is SUFFICIENT for every need.  So, he proves his ministry by the power he’s obtained to be content, faithful, and godly, amidst the greatest emptying of self-strength.

Thus, we are nothings, but God saves nothings and produces faithfulness in us. He makes us endure rejection and grief for Christ’s sake.  He gives us visions of Christ and gospel emotions indescribable. And, He is strength to us in our weakness, proving that as the nothings we are, we can serve God.

A godly man is thus HOLY (he does what God says in spite of trouble), humble (he knows himself to be nothing), and happy (because the power of Christ rests upon him and weakness only makes way for supernatural power, help, and strength).

Godly Jealousy (2 Cor 11:1-15)

The gospel is a wooing message, not merely commanding and stating truth, but those who preach it call you to Christ from their heart, and this is what Paul is doing - “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the [heart devotion] that is in Christ” (vs2-3).  He is jealous over us and desirous that we follow Christ only and faithfully from a pure heart, forgiven and cleansed, and living that He be praised.  He is concerned that we will hear FALSE prophets while disregarding the true - “For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (vs4). And, he proves his ministry by his sacrifice, knowledge, and love plainly revealed.

(vs5-12) “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.  Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.  Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?  I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you.  And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.   As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows!   But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast”.

The false prophets glory in appearance and not in reality. They talk a good game, but rather than TURN you to Christ devotedly, they turn you to themselves and away from the Savior (Acts 20:29-30). They don’t desire that you keep both eyes on Christ, but they want you to disobey His message of faith and love - “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.   And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.   Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works”  (vs13-15).

Don’t be deceived by false prophets, as if everyone who says “sovereign grace” knows God. 

I Cannot Worship the Same God as Billy Graham

America's most popular preacher says salvation is by man's free will; God says salvation is by grace. He says salvation is by God doing his part, and me doing my part. The Scripture says, "it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy (Rom. 9:16)." Dr. Graham says God wants to save everybody, but can't actually save anybody for fear of violating man's free will. God declares:

"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Rom. 9:15)."

Here's the Truth. There's no stopping Almighty God when He has chosen a sinner and predestinated to save him through the Lord Jesus Christ, “according as he has chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the Beloved [Son]” (Eph 1:4-6).

God is going to save sinners He has chosen in Jesus Christ because the Blood of His dear Son has atoned for our sins. We owed God our eternal souls for every transgression and the Son of God stepped in and paid it all. And, having died for us, not only did He put sins away, but He EARNED every blessing the elect shall eternally experience, “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance”, and again, “He takes away the first [covenant of works and death], that he may establish the second covenant [of life and peace] (Heb 9:15; Heb 10:9). There is nothing that can be added to Christ's blood and we dare not take anything away. Faith is the evidence that God hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the works began (II Tim. 1:9; Heb 11:1). No, God didn't owe us salvation; He gave us salvation… not because of what we've willed, done, felt, or thought, but because of everything Jesus willed, did, felt, and thought in His holy life and death on the cross.

Sadly, to some I know the differences seem petty, but I cannot worship at the same altar as free will religion. They have an altar at the front of the stadium or in the front of the church where they deal with their god. They walk the isle and make up their mind to "allow" Jesus into their heart by repeating some man's prayer. No! No! No! Free will religion though subtly crafted to appear from heaven is the work of devils and NOT the Gospel. It denies God His glory in salvation and gives a portion to the thoughts, feelings, and decisions of sinners. Yet, salvation is not giving God permission; it is the miracle of the new birth. Salvation is not repeating some facts about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Salvation is receiving the Risen Enthroned Lord as the Absolute Authority over your life – in both spirit (by faith), and in truth (by the word, according to the scriptures). It is God who intervenes to break sinner's hearts and cast us off the vain throne of our imagination, or we'd all go right on to hell. He teaches us that Christ cannot share His saving glory with anyone because His free, sovereign, redeeming, electing, and transforming love is far too precious (I Pet. 2:6-10).

You, poor sinner, need to do more than make a decision to “let jesus be your personal savior“. You need God's mercy. You need to do more than change your lifestyle; you need the Lord Jesus Christ to come and transform you into a new creation. Listen to me carefully. Christ wouldn't have died on the cross if there was one good thing that you and I could do, or one step that we could take towards God (Rom. 3:10-12; Gal 2:21). In order for you to take that first step towards holiness there'd have to be holiness in you. Yet, "...the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10)". Herein lies your only hope. Not that you have something to give God, but that God sent His Son into this perishing world to save lost, hopeless, helpless, sin loving, God hating, rebels against His holy law. Christ delivers you from your captivity to sin and opens your eyes to see the Truth. Christ heals the heart that's been broken by the guilt and burden of every evil way. Christ takes those who know they can't keep God's law and gives them the power of faith, whereby we please God and overcome the world (1 John 5:4). Christ comes to the needy sinner who calls upon His name with the conquering force sufficient to overthrow our pride and disobedience. He plants over us the victorious banner of His love – full well knowing the only power that can break our hard hearts and turn our fear into rejoicing is the mighty knowledge of His grace (Song 2:4; Heb 9:14).

This is the teaching of the Scripture. This is the message of Grace. Christ has done it all, all to Him I owe! I know the proud and self-righteous are angered by the sound of grace. I know the indifferent will block out the urgent necessity of salvation from coming judgment with procrastination and vain reasoning. Ah, but I also know Christ delivers souls through the Truth, "because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:13)." I command you in God’s name to leave behind every lie that you’ve heard, every false way, and BELIEVE on the Lord for who He is, trusting Him to save you by His grace, and you will be saved. He won’t deny anyone who wants to be saved His way, by His power and love.

Utterly Darkened (Zech 11:16-17)

“For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that stands still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaves the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”

God delivers us from false shepherds and then punishes liars who deceive the people. This shepherd is called a “foolish shepherd”, and he preaches everything but Christ’s finished work in the gospel (Zech 11:15). John 10:13, says, “The hireling flees, because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep.” He preaches a god who cannot save, unless you and I, sinners, do our part.

God’s grace sets the Good Shepherd over us who laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). To save the elect, He did everything required of Him by God, giving His blood to redeem us from sins. God exacted vengeance on Christ for us, and now He gives us what His Son earned, without possibility of failure. The ransom was paid by God’s Son, and He will have all for whom He died. He says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). He did not fail, and God shall not fail to deliver everyone that He died for, no matter how helpless we are, we are safe and secure. The false shepherd will not help the “cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that stands still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces”, making himself strong on the souls of others while neglecting to help sinners meet God (Zech 11:17). Yet, the Good Shepherd comes to these helpless sinners, and by blood and power, redeems us from every distress unto the end.

The Good Shepherd teaches the sheep to worship properly, delivering us from lawless godliness – “And you shall say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and brings it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people”, so He makes us see that the blood reconciled us to God for Him to save as He sees fit (Lev 17:8-9).

Everyone else values Christ the same way Judas did, for “thirty pieces of silver”, or a price well below His infinite worth (Zech 11:12). Zech 11:17 says, “Woe to the idol shepherd that leaves the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye:” - he didn’t value Christ, so Christ refuses him - “his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened”. He led others to hell, and he goes now himself.

Yet, to you that believe He is precious. He is what I need to worship God unto good works. By giving Christ to God, God gives me the salvation I need.

Thank God He spared you and me by setting the Shepherd over us who saves. He calls us to Himself by stripping us of everything else, and then He gives the power and peace His gospel proclaims – “so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord” (Zech 11:11)!