Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 1 Tim 3:1-2 and following. Indeed, aspiring to oversight must be seen as proof of attachment to the assembly. To exercise the functions of supervisor (or elder) and servant (or deacon), it is not a question of studies or examination, but of moral conditions. They are of two kinds: first, a good testimony in and out of the assembly; then an experience acquired in the Christian life. In every house, there is a rule of conduct, a collective discipline to which everyone submits. This is so in the house of the living God: the congregation (1 Cor 14:36-40).
We learn through god’s Word how we should conduct ourselves there. Let us follow scrupulously, conscientiously, each of these instructions and, even if we were only two or three to put them into practice, we would still remain, like Philadelphia, the testimony, before the world, of what this house is. It is “the house of God.” The house of God is built and established here on earth, for there is no question here, as we said at the beginning, of the body of Christ and his heavenly position in union with his glorious Head in heaven. God’s house is established so that the world around it learns what God is, seeing this organism function normally according to God’s thoughts. It is “the Assembly of the living God.” It is from this assembly, formed of living stones, that the Son of the living God is “the cornerstone”. This is where the power of divine life works through the Holy Spirit; that’s where he lives. Christ who builds this assembly did so by virtue of his resurrection from the dead, as the Son of the living God.
It is “the column and support of truth.” This house has a public testimony to give before the world. This testimony is the truth,not certain sides of the truth, but the whole truth. So these two things, the presence of the living God, in the person of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, and the truth are what characterize it. Let us note once again that it is the Church, as God established her here on earth to bear witness before the world, that we are talking about here, and not the corrupt and disguised Church as man has made her. God gave this mission to His congregation, and this mission remains. He wants, through her, to make his thoughts known in the world. This house is therefore the place where the truth is proclaimed and where his “profession” is maintained, and nowhere else. Everything the Enemy has done to shake the truth only serves to bring it to light.
Truth is God’s thought about all things, about what He Himself is, about what man is, about what heaven, earth and hell is, and Satan, and the world. In a word, truth embraces all things in God’s eyes and thoughts. This truth is fully revealed to us in the person of Christ, by His Word and by His Spirit. This is why Christ, the Word, and the Spirit are called “the truth,” but the truth is summed up in this person, proclaimed and revealed (John 14:6; John 17:17; 1 John 5:7). Even if the Word is entirely unknown, the Assembly should, by all its conduct, make the truth shine forth, Christ, in all eyes. The assembly is the support of the truth. It is the platform on which truth is built, the foundation on which God has placed it. The apostle, speaking of himself, says: “Recommending ourselves to every conscience of man before God, by the manifestation of the truth” (2 Cor 4. 2). The soul, as soon as it is admitted into the full light of His presence, learns to hate evil, because God hates it, and to love good, because God loves it. This fear, far from making us flee from God’s presence, brings us closer to Him and fills us with confidence, because we know that He alone is capable of leading us and keeping us to the end in this way.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Community leaders:
- Spiritual ambition
1 Cor 9.24 Don’t you know that those who run in the stadium all run, but only one wins the prize? Run in such a way as to win it. 1 Cor 14:1:12 Seek charity. Aspire also to spiritual gifts, but especially to that of prophecy. 12 Likewise you, since you aspire to spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the Church that you seek to possess abundantly. Phil 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not think I have grasped it; but I do one thing: forgetting what is behind and carrying myself towards what is forward,14 I run towards the goal, to win the price of God’s heavenly vocation in Jesus Christ. 2 Tim 2:15 Strive to present yourself before God as a tried man, a worker who has nothing to be ashamed of, who righteously dispenses the word of truth.
- Sobriety ordered
1 Thess 5:6 Let us not sleep like others, but let us watch and be sober. 1 Tim 3:2,11 The bishop must therefore be irreproachable, husband of one woman, sober, moderate, regulated in his conduct, hospitable, fit for teaching. 11 Women, likewise, must be honest, not gossiping, sober, faithful in all things. Tt 1:8 but let him be hospitable, friend of the good people, moderate, righteous, holy, temperate; 1 Pet 1:13 Therefore, gird the loins of your understanding, be sober, and have full hope in the grace that will be brought to you, when Jesus Christ appears.
- Temperance, total abstinence from strong drinks
-Demanded from the priests Lv 10:9 Thou shalt not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter the tent of assignment, lest you die: it will be a perpetual law among your descendants,
-The law concerning the Nazireans Nb 6.3 he will abstain from wine and intoxicating drink; he will not drink vinegar made with wine, nor vinegar made with an intoxicating drink; he will not drink any liquor from grapes, and he will not eat fresh grapes or raisins.
-The precept of the wise Pr 23:31 Do not look at the wine which appears a beautiful red, Which makes pearls in the cup, And which flows easily.
-The rule concerning kings Pr 31.4 It is not for kings, Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes to seek strong liquors,
-The law of the Recabites Jr. 35:6 But they answered: We do not drink wine; for Jonadab, son of Recab, our father, gave us this command: You will never drink wine, neither you nor your sons;
-Daniel’s temperance principles Dn 1:8 Daniel resolved not to be defiled by the king’s food and the wine the king drank, and he begged the leader of the eunuchs not to force him to defile himself.
John the Baptist, a total abstinent Lk 1:15 For he will be great before the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor intoxicating liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb of his mother;
-Brotherly love requires temperance Rom 14:21 It is good not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and to abstain from what may be for your brother an occasion of fall, scandal or weakness.
- Great mysteries that test man’s faith
-From the prosperity of the ungodly Jer 12:1 You are too righteous, Lord, for me to dispute with you; Nevertheless, I want to speak to you about your judgments: Why is the way of the wicked prosperous? Why do all treacherous people live in peace?
-From the new birth Jn 3:8 The wind blows where it wants, and you hear the sound of it; but you do not know where it comes from, nor where it goes. So it is with every man who is born of the Spirit.
-From providence Rom 11:33 O depth of God’s wealth, wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable his judgments are, and his ways incomprehensible! Because
-From the future life 1 Cor 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all die, but all of us will be changed,
-From the union of Christ and the Church Eph 5:32 This mystery is great; I say this in relation to Christ and the Church.
-From incarnation 1 Tim 3:16 And, without a doubt, the mystery of godliness is great: he who has been manifested in the flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen from angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed in the world, raised up in glory.
-Of suffering Hb 12:11 It is true that every punishment seems at first a subject of sadness, not joy; but it later produces for those who have been exercised in this way a peaceful fruit of righteousness.
From all the above, we note that all the blessings of our Christian walk depend on piety; hence the importance of knowing its secret and how it can be produced and increased in one’s own. This secret consists in being occupied with only one object, with God “came in the flesh”, with Christ man. The doctrine which is according to piety contains many things, and it is to be desired that we do not neglect any of them; but piety itself has only one object: the man Christ Jesus, known personally; it derives from this knowledge. We have already seen what “the mystery of faith” is. Despite its immense extent and wealth, the latter is not called great as that of piety. It is composed of all the truths that are the consequence of redemption. The mystery of piety is not a set of doctrines; it is the revelation of a person, the revelation of God, once the invisible God, but now made visible in the person of a man. Is it for me to know God, to learn what His righteousness is, to see Him, to hear Him, to believe in Him, I find all this in Christ man; it is on this man that all relations between God and men are founded. The secret of piety, of the soul’s relationship with God, based on the fear of God and trust in Him, we therefore find it in the knowledge of the person of Christ. Our prayers accompany you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the recommendations to Timothy about false doctors.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.