One day as
I was driving to another city to conduct a
crusade, I saw a sign that read, "Good and
bad furniture." As there is good and bad
merchandise, so there are good and bad ministers.
A good minister is a disciple, not a diplomat; an
evangelist, not an entertainer; a minister, not a
master. He preaches God's word, not man's wisdom.
To him the ministry is a passion, not a
profession. And he's been changed, not merely
charmed. How tragic to be a clergyman without
Christ, a preacher without power.
There's a
verse in the Bible that presents "a good
minister of Jesus Christ." It's found in 1st
Timothy 4:6. Let's look at it.
Meet the
family. The Bible says,"If thou put the
brethren in remembrance of these things, thou
shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ."
The word "brethren" signifies
"from the same womb." Christians are
brothers. They have the same heavenly Father.
When you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior,
you become a child of God. The Bible
says,"But as many as received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name: who were born
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God." Now the
brethren need instructions. They're to be given
by the minister. He's not to lash them with the
instructions, but to lay the instructions before
them. That's the meaning of the
expression,"put the brethren in remembrance
of these things." You can't bless the
brethren by being bull-dogmatic. Neither can you
teach them by being a tyrant. The guidance which
is given in gentleness is better than the
teaching which is given in tyranny. Guide them in
gentleness! Many will be led who won't be driven.
"Give
me Thy gift of gentleness, most gracious Lord;
For when
the way was rough, and darkly black,
The clouds
of sorrow hung about life's track,
Till tears
and anguish seemed my double part -
It was Thy
gentleness that healed my heart!
And there
are others - walking weary years,
With
bleeding feet, the stony track of tears.
Oh, make
me gentle, Lord; through me express
The
healing grace of Thine own gentleness." Mark
the feeding. The Bible says,"If thou put the
brethren in remembrance of these things, thou
shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good
doctrine." No minister can give out the word
of faith if he doesn't take it in. If one would
teach, he must be taught. A Christian must feed
his own soul if he'd feed the souls of others.
Some time ago I visited Germany and I was told of
a man who was a professional hunger artist. He
fasted for 80 days and 5 hours. During those days
he insisted that he had only mineral water and
cigarettes. I wonder if we don't have some church
members who go for many days and hours without
feeding on the word of faith and good doctrine.
What about you? How long has it been since you
nourished your soul on the Bible? It seems that
every time my little niece came to see me, I was
studying the Bible. "Uncle Michael,"
she asked,"why do you study the Bible so
much?" "Why do you eat?" I asked.
"To be a strong girl," she answered.
"That's why I study the Bible," I
replied, "to be a strong Christian."
The Bible is food for your souls. Feed your soul
as regularly as you feed your body. Many well
nourished bodies have undernourished souls.
"Would
it not be a foolish thing to die of thirst, with
this clear spring
Of living
water at my feet? To starve when there is bread
and meat
And drink
before me on the board? A table spread by my dear
Lord?
And would
we think he has much sense who hoarded only
copper pence,
When at
his feet, and all around, were diamonds sparkling
on the ground?"
Maintain
the following. The Bible says, "If thou put
the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou
shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good
doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained." The
word "attained" means "to follow
closely." Timothy was a good minister of the
Lord Jesus Christ because he was continually
nourishing himself by means of the words of faith
and of the good doctrine which he had followed
closely. Have you ever tried to teach a dog to
heel and to follow closely? You ought to try it.
We were given a beautiful German Shepherd dog and
I've tried to teach him to heel and follow
closely. At the beginning all went well - until a
butterfly came along, and away went my dog,
chasing the butterfly. How many Christians there
are who are chasing butterflies instead of the
only begotten Son of God! Let's vow now:
"Where
He leads me, I will follow; where He leads me, I
will follow;
Where He
leads me, I will follow; I'll go with Him, with
Him all the way!"
copyright 2000 Guido
Evangelistic Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
Click here to go to the next message in this
Sower Scripture Study on the book of First
Timothy.
This series of messages on
the books of the Bible were originally written
for broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program,
"The Sower." They are collected and
reprinted here for your enjoyment and spiritual
edification.
