Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Before I became a believer, one of the jobs that I had was working on a shipping dock where I would regularly stack things on pallets and do a lot of heavy lifting. Eventually, I was selected to be on the safety committee where I educated many people about proper lifting techniques. One of my personal rules in proper lifting is that if you have a machine or a tool that will assist you in completing your task, then use it. The second rule is that if you have another person available, use them, because two people can cut the weight in half. If neither of these options are available, then you need to exercise caution about how you lift. But some people want to display how strong that they are, and will rush into lifting heavy objects without first considering what they are doing. One time, I warned a young man about what he was doing, but he rejected my advice, and because of it, he pulled his back and was sore for over 3 months.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Men of God are put forth to warn and correct us about the proper way to live our lives. They are concerned about your eternal salvation and don’t want you to get hurt. But sometimes people just are not going to receive what you have to say, and will quickly run off and do things their own way. Rather than listening to God’s Safety Committee, they will listen to their own council, and will have to suffer the consequences for their own disobedience.
2 Timothy 4 ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
I’m the type of person who will normally listen to other people, especially those who are very familiar with a certain topic. For example, if I want to learn how to weld, I will listen to the opinions of not one, but four or five different people, and then decide what course of action that I’m going to take from those different sources of information. They might be a complete unbeliever, but if they have been welding for 40 years, they know a lot about their profession and I eagerly listen to their opinions. But when it comes to Spiritual things, it is a completely different matter. Thousands of years ago, many men of God were put forth throughout the teachings of Holy Scripture to advise us on the path to eternal life. They knew what they were talking about, and if we truly want to learn about what needs to be done regarding the salvation of our souls, we must take great heed and pay attention to their Spiritual guidance and direction.
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16
Although we do not have all of the things that the Apostle Paul talked about in the church, he was constantly educating others about the things of God. He was endued with Divine knowledge and was regularly communicating it to others for their own benefit and Spiritual Growth. But teaching is a place of authority that has been granted by God unto men. When you teach others it will require correcting, admonishing, or rebuking them. In a welding shop at school a teacher might yell at you because you are hooking up the oxygen tank the wrong way and it could explode. He does this so that nobody gets hurt on his watch. People will get chewed out by a police officer. They will get chewed out by a judge in a courtroom. They get chewed out by their C.O.in the military. Jesus was so upset that he threw over tables, made a scourge, and threw people right out of the Temple. Sometimes this is what it takes when people become so hard-hearted and rebellious. But if we sincerely want to grow, we must endure chastening, especially when it comes from the correction of Holy Scripture. To refuse to listen to the council of God, is like a teenager who drops out of school and runs away from home. In that state, all they are doing is turning their ears away from the guidance of those who care about them the most.
Hebrews 12 ⁵ And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ⁶ For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
⁷ If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ⁸ But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰ For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Some people have grown up in very conservative forms of Christianity, but then walked off and abandoned the teachings of the one true faith. Most of them will justify their actions by claiming that it was too strict, too authoritarian, and completely uncompromising, which are actually facets of the Christian Life that can lead to our own salvation. Resistance to control is the path of rebellion. Christian freedom is not found in resistance, but through submission to the will of God and those who tell you otherwise are frauds.
Romans 13 ¹ Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.² Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Sometimes people in places of authority will overstep, but without repentance they will be held accountable to God both here in this world and at the judgment hereafter. Obedience is a precious thing in the sight of God, and in the church, we must obey those who.are over us in the Lord.
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17
“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” Hebrews 13:7
These are perilous times that we are passing through, when many people who profess Christianity are in complete rebellion against scriptural truth. But when they reject the counsel of God, it’s like lifting too much weight the wrong way. They will reap what they sow and suffer the pain and agony because of their poor choices. We must always make sure that we open our ears to biblical truth, and the men of God that He has chosen to be on…..
…….The Safety Committee
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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