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is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
103
If you’re a regular
attendee here at HBS I’m more than pleased to welcome you back and if you’re a
first-time visitor I’m especially thankful to have you here.
Our Apostle Paul
has compared the human body to the Body of Christ; the body has many members, they form one body, each member is a member
of all the others, yet has a separate function (1 Corinthians
12:12-14). Most of us attend our church
of choice regularly and to some degree we’re aware of the goings-on there but if
we’re honest we’re disconnected and unconcerned with the church down the
street, across town, or in our neighboring state for that matter, even though
Scripture says we’re all connected.
If a church up the
road or an individual from your assembly “messes” up this affects the entire body
negatively and the opposite is true. If a
church group or an individual does something remarkable this has a positive affect
on the whole body. I liken this to an
individual sitting down and eating a gallon of chocolate ice cream along with a
large bag of Wavy Lays Potato Chips and then washing all that down with a liter
bottle of Pepsi Cola. This episode will
not have a positive effect on one’s body.
However, a proper diet combined with exercise and 7-8 hours sleep per
night will. My point is you and I need
to manage our bodies properly and so it goes with the Body of Christ; it too
must be maintained properly in accordance with God’s instructions.
The character and
effectiveness of any church is directly related to the quality of its
leadership. That’s why the Bible
stresses the importance of qualified church leadership and cites specific
standards for evaluating those who would serve the Body of Christ. Failure to adhere to those standards has
caused many of the problems that churches throughout the world currently
face. That was the problem young Timothy
faced in Ephesus, so Paul gave him a detailed explanation of the qualifications
for elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7).
I provided recent
church statistics in my lesson last week both to “enlighten” you and to
demonstrate that the Body of Christ is in a crisis. Church attendance continues to decline steadily
across all age brackets, 75% of young adults from Christian families admit
being without a “firm spiritual foundation”
and walked away from Jesus Christ, and according to a new report by the Pew
Research Center, Americans who identify themselves as Christian has dropped
significantly over the past 8 years, in part because one-third of millennials
now say they are unaffiliated with any faith-based organization. One of the specific criticisms cited by this
generation about Christianity is that is does not offer “deep, thoughtful, or challenging answers to life in a complex culture.”
The single common
thread running throughout this church crisis is a glaring lack of Bible teaching
in the home and churches have opted not to teach the Scriptures and Church
Doctrine to their congregations.
If you’re truly a
born again Believer, then there is nothing more important in the entire
universe than the Words which come from God.
When the Creator God speaks, the universe, the earth, and every living
creature upon it should be still; and listen:
Be still, and know that I am
God: I will be exalted among the
nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
(Psalms 46:10)
Please
open your Bible at Romans 12:8a
Romans 12
8: or he who exhorts
(encourage), in his exhortation; he who gives,
with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness.
Picking
up where we left off last week, Paul mentions the spiritual gift of giving next and he goes on to say, with liberality or generously.
The
literal meaning of the word “giving” taken from this verse means: that of imparting,
of sharing our substance (materials
or our stuff and not just one’s money) with
others. Paul adds in his letter to
the church in Corinth that this should be done cheerfully: Each
person must do just has he (or
she) has purposed in his (or her) heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion
(means: pressure or obligation), for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
An
objective Bible student must understand
that Paul was referring to the distribution of money specifically to the poor
Believers outside church walls in the passage above (Romans 15:22-29; 1
Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9).
In
this instance, it was in the context of Gentile churches in the region (for
they were one body) taking up a
collection to give to the poor
Jewish Believers living in Jerusalem for the need was great. They had become
destitute having sold all their personal belongings. Believing the Jesus Christ’s return was imminent
they pooled all their wealth and lived off it as a community of Believers. When Jesus Christ did not return, as
expected, their money ran out and they were left penniless. (Acts 4:32 – 5:11) So, James, Peter, and John asked Paul to remember
the poor (Galatians 2).
Truth
is Paul wrote more about giving money to the poor than he did on the Doctrine
of Justification by faith. However, Believers
are not commanded to give. Giving or sharing our substance is voluntary as Paul stated above.
However,
many church leaders will command you to tithe.
A few years ago a prominent evangelical Baptist preacher, author,
teacher, and T.V. celebrity gave a sermon on tithing. In it he said, and I quote: “How
dare you come to the house of God without bringing your tithe into His
storehouse… don’t you know you’re robbing God?” (Malachi 3:8-10).
He’s
not the only pastor or minister who’s “borrowed” this passage. It’s been used multiple times by multiple
church leaders, but it’s a half-truth, which is the same as a lie. Satan told the woman in the Garden of Eden a
half-truth too when he said, “You surely
will not die!” That was a lie. But Satan also said “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This part was the truth, which made his lie
more deceptive. When a person mixes a
bit of truth with an untruth, they’ve created a believable lie.
Malachi
3:8-10 is in the Bible, however, an objective
Bible student will come to understand that the book of Malachi is
written to the nation of Israel and not to gentile Believers. This is understood from reading verse1: The
oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. (Malachi 1:1)
That
portion of his statement which is untruthful exists in what he’s not telling us.
Tithing is an Old Testament command to the Jew only and in reality it was their
“taxation” system. The Jewish tithe
consisted of the Temple Tax, the Land Sabbath Tax, and the Special
Profit-Sharing Tax (leaving the corners of their fields unharvested for the
poor).
The
required taxation for the Jew was
around 25% per year. In addition to all
this taxation, there was also voluntary giving in the O.T. which included
first-fruit giving and freewill offerings.
Tithing in the O.T. was required giving!
The LORD God commanded the Israelites to tithe on agricultural products
and on every tenth animal of their flocks and herds and not once in the O.T.
does God command the Jews to give money.
(Leviticus 27:30-32)
In
addition, the Bible clearly states who was authorized to receive the
tithes of the people: (This is the LORD
God speaking: “To the sons of Levi, behold I have given (how much) all the tithe in Israel for an
inheritance, (why) in return for
their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting (the
sons of Levi didn’t keep it all they gave a tenth of their tithe to the priests
who attended the altar (Numbers 18:25-32).
The priests didn’t tithe at all).
Nowhere
in the New Testament is a Believer commanded to tithe or to give money to God. Paul only instructs us to give in the sense that it is a freewill offering from one’s heart (2
Corinthians 8). The N.T. says Believers
are to give in response to “need,” (Acts 11:27-29); and in a “purposeful” manner, (2 Corinthians
9:7).
Now
if you want to give 10% or more of your income to your church of choice, you
may do so if you choose, but you are under no compulsion to tithe. (Galatians
5:1-7).
Paul
mentions he who leads as the next
spiritual gift in verse 8 and
follows it by saying with diligence. The word leads
in the Greek language is translated Proistemi
and means: to care for; to preside over; to be a protector or guardian.
Leading
in the church is a gift first and
foremost and then an office, like
that of an elder or a deacon: He
must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children
under control with all dignity. (1 Timothy
3:4, 12)
Prophesying,
teaching, and exhortation are gifts by
the Spirit of God, and giving is a grace given of God to each Believer (2
Corinthians 8:1, 4, 7); but elders and deacons perform the work of management
and care in the N.T. church. (Acts
20:17, 28)
According
to the N.T., elders are responsible for the primary leadership and oversight of
a church group. “Elders lead the church”
(1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-2), teach and preach the word (1
Timothy 5:17; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9), protect the church from false teachers
(Acts 20:17, 28-31), exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine (2
Timothy 3:13-17; Titus 1:9).
John
Piper, theologian, suggests that elders
and pastors are not two different
offices they are simply two different words for the same office and this isn’t
his opinion it’s supported by Scripture (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter
5:1-2;); and I agree.
It
may surprise you to learn the word “pastor” doesn’t appear in the N.T. at
all. The plural form “pastors” is used but once in Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:11-12).
In the Greek language, the word pastors
is translated Poimen (pronounced: poy-mane’) and means – a herdsman, a shepherd.
What
we will find in the N.T. is that Paul, after he planted a church in an area,
would appoint elders a.s.a.p. These men were selected from the area and
never imported from outside the area and the individual(s) had to meet the
qualifications. (1 Timothy 3:1-10)
The
Bible often uses different “terms” to refer to the same thing such is the case
here.
The
office of bishop/overseer is the same office of elder in the N.T. It is
listed beside the office of deacon (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-13) to show
us that these two were the main offices by which the ongoing life of the
church was to be managed.
The
N.T. only refers to the office of pastor once (Ephesians 4:11). It is a “functional” description of the role
of elder stressing the care and
feeding of the planted church, just as “bishop/overseer” is a functional
description of the role of elder stressing
the management of the church.
Last
but not least Paul names the gift of
mercy, with cheerfulness next. The
word mercy in the Greek language is Eleeo (pronounced: el-eh-eh’o) and means: to help
the afflicted – those suffering mental or physical distress.
The
person who has received the gift of mercy desires to make others feel
better.
They
are optimistic by nature, good spirited and pleasant people to be around. They go around promoting cheer, which is the opposite of despair
and sorrow. Sick people get enough of
that as it is, what they need is a bright ray of sunshine in their lives and
that exemplifies the individual who has been given the gift of mercy.
The
person with the gift of mercy also
has the characteristic of Christ’s love; this is their primary motivator;
the engine that drives them, if you will.
They see no benefit in pain, suffering, distress, or sorrow. The people with the gift of mercy desire to see those who are
hurting alleviated from their pain. These
are the folks you see running into burning buildings, for instance instead of
running away from them – as on 9/11.
These are the combat medics fighting to save our soldiers and the locals
while serving on the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the hot lead is
flying.
Characteristics
of Someone with the gift of Mercy
Attentive
- watchful over those who are in need, or who are experiencing sorrow
Sensitive
- aware of the needs of others, even without a word being spoken by them
Fair
- desiring impartiality and fairness – in every circumstance
Compassionate
– feeling the pain of others as if it were their own
Gentle
– soft-spoken, tender-hearted, and caring
Yielding
– willing to give ground so that harmony and peace might prevail
Sacrificial
– willing to suffer if it will help another person’s condition
Let’s
go to verse 9.
Romans 12
9: Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor (reject) what is evil; cling (hold tightly) to what is good.
Paul
has been teaching this assembly in Rome (and us) about Spiritual gifts (verses
4-8) and now shifts his focus to the more general way of the church. But let’s
not lose sight of his primary line of teaching from Romans 12:1-2 which is still
unfolding - what it means to have a transformed mind, and what this will
look like when we’re not thinking too highly
of ourselves than we ought to be, but we are magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ
everyday in every way!
Paul
wrote similarly in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul writes:
And I show you a still more
excellent way, as he begins to teach on “Christian charity” or moral
love in 1 Corinthians 13. If we do
not have this love, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are
meaningless. (Matthew 22:37-40)
The
church Paul planted at Corinth wasn’t maturing spiritually; they remained carnalistic
– these folks weren’t being transformed
by the renewing of their mind. They were hypocrites, impatient,
discontented, envious, egotistic, selfish, suspicious, resentful, and they were
critical of others. Paul explained to them the difference between
their present condition and Christian (charity) love to show them a better way.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
You
see if someone doesn’t teach you, from Scripture, the better way, God’s way and not the world’s; how can you make an informed
decision. How can you then begin to renew your mind?
We’ll
put a bookmark here for now and pick it up from this spot, when next we meet.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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