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The Water of the Word |
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1 Timothy 2
It is very hard to oppress, hate, and do evil to someone we are praying for. How much less murmuring and complaining would we do if we began to intercede daily in prayer for our pastors, our president, our governor or other leaders. They need prayer just like anyone else. How about that cop that just gave us a speeding ticket? (I know that is hard). That person that was tailgating us, that neighbor that lets his dog loose so that he comes and tears up our flower beds. The eternal state of our neighbor's soul is far more important than a few roses.
Supplications are strong pleadings until our prayers is answered. Intercession is praying for others. It is not being a mediator for there is only one mediator between us and God. Intercession is praying in the Spirit for those in the ministry, those in government, those that need help. The list in endless. Praying in the Spirit is needed in this case.
The more we pray prayers of intercession, the Holy Spirit will be able to pray and make intercession for us. Many times I don't know what to pray and I pray in the Holy Spirit. He prays through me both in my native language and speaking with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gives utterance. Learning to have our prayer times and interceding in prayer brings us into having the mind of Christ where we learn to pray according to His will. Sometimes I find myself praying for people I use to think were impossible to ever be saved. However with God nothing is impossible. Pray diligently for leaders and all in authority so that we live peaceful lives. Our leaders need our prayers constantly. If you think the president of the United States is a scoundrel, pray for him. Murmuring and complaining about him does no good for he doesn't usually hear it. This too is sometimes a hard thing to do. Yet if one reads history the scoundrels we have now are nothing compared to those in the past who would put people to death over the slightest thing that offends them.
Praying for people and following peace in holiness is acceptable to God. He wants all who will hear the gospel, to be saved and inherit eternal life. It is never God's will for any person to be lost. God even wants to save people we think of as hopeless. When a village of people refused to receive Jesus, He did not desire to curse them. Here is the account of it:
If someone does not receive our words, we are to simply go to someone else. We are not to have them arrested, harmed or harassed. We are not to curse them and consign them to hell.
Why has so many forgotten these words Jesus spoke? It shows that we do not believe God has the power to change lives if we assume those that reject the gospel is beyond hope. We can't make one person saved or unsaved by our actions whether it be intimidation, force, baptism, sacraments or any other means used to guarantee one's salvation. Only God has the power to give someone the Holy Spirit. We can't change anyone. We can teach, preach, pray for, extort and admonish but we can't do the actual conversion that takes place when God enters their lives by way of the Holy Spirit. Faith in Jesus to save is the only way to be saved and be changed from death unto life. God does it. We are only His messengers but if our message is rejected we keep praying and move on, never giving up. We must oppose false doctrine and be careful what we hear but we must oppose them in love and kindness desiring that all come to the knowledge of truth and be saved. Your not going to win anyone to Jesus Christ by force and cruelty. Except for the grace of God, all of us would be lost heathen on the way to hell. You can preach, teach until your blue in the face but if you show cruelty and live an ungodly hateful life in front of someone who is lost, you will drive them away.
Christ as the mediator is confirmed in other verses of the bible. Romans 8:34, Bebrews 7:25 and Isaiah 53:12. I will include two here.
While I encourage love and gentleness to those that believe different than we do, we must never compromise sound doctrine to please the society around us. There is only one way of salvation. I know this is not politically correct to say but there are not a lot of roads into heaven. If that were the case Jesus would not have had to die as a sacrifice for sins. Jesus is the only way to be saved and there is no salvation apart from Jesus.
I know many do not like to hear this and we tend to ignore this scripture because of the abuses of the past and legalism but nevertheless, it is here in the scriptures and we must take heed to whatever is written and not cast it away. Legalism is making a set of rules usually from the laws for Israel while dwelling in the wilderness, or our own customs and traditions instead of rightly understanding the word of God in context. Sometimes scripture might be misunderstood or someone adding to what is written for the purpose of controlling a group of people. It is forced and no one is given a chance to be "born again" by God's spirit first and then allowed to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. Instead a legalist will interfere with gentle work of the Holy Spirit and use force, intimidation and threats to get people to behave instead of correcting and rebuking in love and with the preaching of God's word. True godly holiness can never be forced but must be gently taught by encouraging a person to seek direction from God. I believe that we need to return to modest dress codes but we must allow people to seek God and make some choices for themselves. Appearance alone never saves any soul in itself but it does set a good example. True holiness is in the inner man but it will reflect how we act in front of others. We have to let people grow in the Lord and make some decisions as the Holy Spirit leads them but we also need to set an example in our own lives. We do not compromise our own standards to win the lost but set the example. One does not have to copy the other. We must copy the Lord and not enter into unbelief by forgetting His power to change what He wants to change. Preach the word and let God do the rest. Live by example and not by intimidation and force but we must not use that as a copout for being a good example to the weak and the unbeliever. Those that are older in the Lord must set the example. Instead of trying to look like the youth, act like the youth in order to win them, set an example of holiness. They might make fun of it but they will respect someone more who is different. They really don't want someone like they are because they might be miserable. They want to find something different than the norm. The norm is not working. So many kids today are unhappy, committing suicide at alarming rates, and getting involved in things dangerous to their mental, physical and spiritual state. They need lots of love and godly examples to look up to because we who believe are to represent Christ not the world.
Godliness must be taught because it is in the word but sometimes it is up to the individual to allow the Holy Spirit to show him (her) what godliness is. Again, we who are older in the Lord must be the example and not try to copy those that are new in the faith but keep our eyes on the Lord. We can make things easier on ourselves if we just simply ask ourselves: Is what I do make a good example of godliness, will it bring a reproach upon the gospel of Jesus Christ or will it damage my own personal testimony? Remember too, the emphasis is not how we look but our attitude. Being meek, godly and concerned with the things of God instead of our appearance and drawing attention or how we look, is a start. It doesn't mean we can't wear a necklace or watch, but we are to draw attention to the Lord, not self. In saying the above, I do want to speak my heart here. We are so afraid of the past legalism that we are really not dressing modestly, even those that are in the praise teams and teaching the children. I say this is love though not in condemnation. Let us earnestly seek God for these things. We've gotten away from emphasizing just holiness on the outside like we had in the past and not emphasizing holiness in our hearts. Yet, we know that things have gone completely to the opposite extreme. We teach holiness in the heart but our dress codes are not really what it should be among those seeking after the heart of God. Both old and new testaments teach holiness in how we dress in public. We need to start thinking about these things. The ones we call false religious people dress more modestly than we who claim to know the Lord more perfectly.
The best pattern for a godly man is to be obedient to God in all things and under subjection to God. The best thing for our children is to have is fathers to whom God has placed in authority to be the protector and leader in his home, to be obedient to the word of God and be setting a good example for his children to follow. This is a divine order. For a godly man to be the head of his home is a divine order. Women are to set examples of godliness in being a mother and a helper to her husband if that husband is called of God and lives godly. If God calls her also into ministry other than taking care of her home, she must do what God calls her to do but not neglect any children given to her care. According to God's word they would have to come first. There is a place for women in the ministry, yet she must be in subjection to the Holy Spirit and to her calling. I doubt that a women with 10 children that are young is going to be called to pastor a church for she has her main calling right before her eyes but I'm certainly not going to limit God to what I think is right or wrong. We have far too long though kept women out of the ministry when God may place the ability to teach, preach or serve in a capacity that needs to be fulfilled. We do not have enough godly men that are obedient to their calling. Many times God will use a meek, yet strong, weak yet faithful man, woman or child that we might think couldn't handle a ministry. This verse is one that must be considered in light of other texts that involve women. If a man is placed over a church and is given authority by the Lord to teach, actually no one, including men should usurp that authority. If there is disagreement on doctrine, there is a godly way to handle that disagreement without causing disruption and confusion. Here is where men and women both need to put to use their prayer closets fervently. Sometimes though sin and disobedience interferes with God's perfect order in the home and in the church. If a woman does not have a godly husband or no husband she is to be under God's authority in all things. Her place in the church is in subjection to those God places over the church. There may be occasions when God does place a woman as a pastor. We can't allow the gospel to be silenced and the work of God to suffer because there are no men to do it. There are times that are crucial and the day we live in may be those times when our gender is the last thing to worry about. The time is short and the word of God must be preached, written, or sent in some other form to reach the lost world around us. As for women, according to scripture, women are easily deceived and have to be more careful but also according to scripture in both the Old and New Testaments a women can prophesy which does involve speaking. It is impossible to prophesy without speaking out loud in a church service. Usually prophesying is not teaching or preaching but teaching and preaching can contain prophecy. I refuse to limit God by refusing to believe that women in the ministry of teaching or preaching is wrong. Actually preaching and teaching isn't really usurping authority. Usurping authority is something done by force or intimidation. If God fills her with the Holy Spirit and gives her the burning desire to share His word, who are we to stop her? So we have to consider all these verses before we start forbidden women to have any teaching ministries. If God fills a woman with the Holy Spirit and gives her gifts of tongues, interpretations, or prophecy, then of course God would expect her to use those gifts. I know many good churches who forbid women to teach because of this scripture but they allow them to teach Sunday School classes. If it was wrong for a woman to teach then it would be wrong for her to teach children as well. This probably means that she is to be in subjection to her husband if she is married and subject to the one in charge of the service and not try to take over and control if the authority was not given to her. Why Paul brings this out, is puzzling unless he had trouble with this issue in some churches. He may have been trying to keep order. Most women in those days were not well educated, men and women sat on different sides of the room and to yell out and ask questions would disrupt and cause confusion. Paul wanted the word to go forth without being hindered. Being in subjection is a godly trait and if one is not submissive to those God has placed in charge of things; it is not a sign of holiness and meekness. Looks like Paul had trouble with those that wanted to interrupt with a lot of questions. I have to admit that sometimes women and occasionally men love to interrupt and ask questions causing a the word of God not to flow out the way its meant to be. That is why I personally prefer to attend bible studies where dialogue and questions are done at the end and not just any time. It is irritating and easy to get off track if people speak out at the wrong times. Of course emergency situations are different. We have to make allowances for that. There is a women called Jezebel mentioned by Christ in the 2nd chapter of Revelation. This woman was not godly and was allowed to seduce the church into false teachings and out and out sin. This is probably the type of woman that should never be in charge of a church or allowed to teach. Obnoxious women who like to take control and dominate their husbands or the pastor of a church may be what is referred to here. I've met those kind of women. I'm sure that a gentle godly woman who interprets a message in tongues or prophesies is not forbidden to speak for Paul even mentions in one place that a woman should pray and prophesy with her head covered so if she wasn't supposed to be speaking, then he wouldn't have mentioned it in the scripture that concerns the length of hair. The book of Joel foretells of a time that "Your sons and daughters" will prophesy. For those who believe the gifts of the spirit are no longer necessary such as prophesying then of course they don't have to worry about the scripture that says, "Your sons and daughters shall prophesy." However, the church is not perfect yet so I still believe we need God's gifts. It was some of the church fathers after the apostles died that said the gifts were disappearing. That doesn't mean they have to disappear. We can take one look at the church today and see we still need everything God has for us. Yet walking in subjection and meekness is a requirement we all need to possess. I prefer a male teacher but if we came to a meeting and their were no qualified men there to teach and there was a qualified woman to teach, I do not see where the scripture would forbid it as long as she is not overriding the authority of whoever God has placed in charge. All these things must be in reason and in light of all the word of God. If a woman is married to an ungodly man who pressures her into going against God's word, then of course she has to choose the word above her husband. If a congregation has a pastor who preaches false doctrine and encourages immoral practices, then they have a perfect right to stand for God's word and not follow that leader. In fact we have to do that. Remember the witch trials in Salem, the burning of Michael Servetus, the holocaust, the inquisition, and many other things that went on in the name of the Lord. Men and women both must speak out against evil. I'm sure that Paul wasn't forbidding women to keep silent and allow someone to be killed or falsely accused. This somehow refers to keeping order during worship services so that the word of God can go forth unhindered and the one the Holy Spirit moves upon to preach or teach must be allowed to do so without unnecessary interruption. Walking in meekness and perfect love will cause these things to work out and glorify the Lord.
Because of a women's tendency to be deceived the perfect order is for the man to take the lead. Again, I say this is God's perfect order. If men become disobedient, then sometimes a woman who is godly may have to lead in spiritual things. I have met more godly women in my lifetime than ungodly within the church but I must admit that I've also ran across some that can get into weird things, new age, and weird teachings that shows they need the direction of a godly leader to get them back on track. There are some men also that can be in error so that is our main emphasis that we avoid error and walk in the truth of God's word. Concerning childbirth, here is a natural promise to one who is giving birth to babies. If they walk in holiness they will get through it without dying. This again is a general promise here. It doesn't mean that all women who ever died in childbirth were evil or living an ungodly life. This too could refer to eternal salvation in the sense that even though the curse of pain in childbirth was given through the sin of Eve, this curse does not affect our salvation if we become believers in Jesus and follow in His word. Following holiness if important no matter whether this means life here or eternal life.
I believe Paul was emphasizing peace and holiness in all good things, not making rules that forbid women to have any part of spreading the gospel. We need the gospel preached everywhere and on every street corner but those of us who spread the gospel must live holy lives so as not to bring reproach upon the gospel we preach. DC
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