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Song: Break Thou The Bread Of Life
Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:16
Paul’s first epistle to Timothy contains two kinds of information: 1) what God told the preacher 2) what God told the preacher to tell the people. The letter was written first to charge preachers with their duties. The “good servant” and “man of God” in this letter (as well as 2 Timothy and Titus) is first the preacher. The letter also informs the people that men of uninspired status who preach the word according to these principles have God’s approval. Hear some of the book’s messages:
God ordained preaching. The Lord could send angels. He could speak from heaven. He could talk directly to each individual believer. But God chose preaching. Somehow the packaging of His message in the personalities of earthen vessels, and the broadcasting of that message through their feeble voices accomplishes His purpose. It is a mystery. But God chose it. We must respect it.
Preachers must suffer the people. Those who will not “discipline themselves,” “labor and strive,” “prescribe and teach,” “give attention,” “not neglect,” “take pains,” “be absorbed,” “pay close attention,” and “persevere” need not apply.
The people must suffer the preacher. It’s not easy to listen to the exhortations of those with like foibles. The trial of sifting the imperfect discourses of imperfect men sifts audiences into different classes of hearers. Perhaps that’s partly the point of preaching—to see how badly men want to hear.
Listen preachers. Listen people. That’s Paul’s message in 1 Timothy.
Jason Moore
