At just the right time Christ will be revealed. 1Timothy 6:13-21

When I closed the last post on 1Timothy chapter six verse 13, we ended with “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate.”

Right away, I realize that I, and Paul, are making a huge assumption, and that is that you have a world view founded in the Word of God and understand that there is no law to which we answer that is higher than God's law.

Note that I said, to which we answer. Having spent much of my life in the church, this idea of answering to God carried the penalty of hell. I have since come to understand that hell plays no part in a believer's life, except to understand that Satan, and those who choose to follow him, will spend eternity there. When I say I lived under this misconception, it is not an idea that I actively tried to develop, but one which was repeatedly imposed upon me. My mother, bless her darling heart, expressed it to us children, and it was nothing less than the things she learned during her early days in the church.

So, for Paul to express that before the eyes of God, with whom nothing gets by Him, should carry deep importance and responsibility. If you are a Bible student, you have noticed that obeying God carried great reward, whereas disobeying brought on penalties. It is not as if God is going to or needs to strike you down; we are already down because we were born into sin. Let me give you a scriptural reference or two.

Deuteronomy 28:1-4 NASB (1) "Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD, your God, will set you high above all the nations of the earth. (2) "All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: (3) "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. (4) "Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

This list of blessings just seems to go on and on. However, there is a negative side.

Deuteronomy 28:15-21 NLT “But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you: (16) Your towns and your fields will be cursed. (17) Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be cursed. (18) Your children and your crops will be cursed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed. (19) Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed. (20) “The LORD himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me. (21) The LORD will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

While it clearly says that the Lord himself sends curses on you. This statement is not difficult to understand when you realize that the earth we live on has a curse on it, and that is where we live. In Genesis chapter three, we see Satan attempting to deceive Eve, and he did. The pathetic aspect of this deception is Adam stood right there, beside her, hearing everything being said. Do we see him scream out in protest? Not at all, so Eve handed the fruit, that she had taken a bite out of, to Adam; and, by his actions, he committed high treason and handed the earth over to Satan.

Here is what God said about Adam's actions.

Genesis 3:17 NASB Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil, you will eat of it All the days of your life.

The other thing I wanted you to see from 1Timothy 6:13 is that Jesus “testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate.” In the previous post, I think I mentioned how Jesus was physically abused by the temple guards and then handed over to the Roman guards, who beat him to within an inch of his life, among other things. To put it bluntly, he was tortured for His faith, yet He still made a good confession before Pilate. I pray that should that day come, I am so strong in my faith and understanding of God that I serve that I also make a good confession.

With that, let's move on.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 NASB I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, (14) that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, (16) who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

You already know that Jesus testified a good confession before Pontius Pilate. Still, Paul continues by saying, you keep the commandment... until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time. Think about this, the commandment has everything to do with the appearance of Jesus Christ, who will come at the proper time.

I am not a grammarian, but I do have common sense; and, I have to apply that common sense to the paragraph above because, upon my initial read, I thought that the phrase, “which He will bring about at the proper time,” applied to a commandment which motivated Christ's return, and which we do not see in this passage.

I see now that the commandment has much to do with Paul's words in 1 Timothy 6:10-12. There we can see that verse 10 carries an admonition about money because the love of money will cause you all kinds of grief.

In verse 11, Paul declares that Timothy, and those he teaches, need to flee from these things. These things include the love of money and the things that are to be understood as being in opposition to what we see as good in verse 11 - righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Verse 12 details how we are to fight the good fight of faith, but how long?

Until Christ returns to catch us away. But there is another aspect that we fail to pay attention to. I will give you several examples.

• The Tree of Life translation states: “Take hold of the eternal life—you were called to it, and you made the good confession for it in the presence of many witnesses.”

• The NLT conveys this: “Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”

• The Complete Jewish Bible puts it this way. “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you testified so well to your faith before many witnesses.”

For me, and I might add, this aspect where we take hold of this eternal life that is now ours through Christ Jesus has become crucial in light of the Presidential transition here in the United States of America. We, the people, got robbed; and the people who robbed us do not care, as they are fulfilling a grand and evil scheme that is played out in scripture.

On several occasions, I have been told not to pursue God, nor talk about eschatology, because Jesus Christ will probably not be back for, say, forty more years. I cannot endure such talk because I am well aware of current events going on globally. We could wake up to the news that Iran is firing missiles and lighting up the Middle East. Some would literally pull their hair out at such news but not me; for on that day, I will throw both arms in the air and shout praise the Lord, because my Jesus will be here at any minute.

1 Timothy 6:15 tells us, “...At just the right time, Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. (NLT)

And, until that day happens, we are not to be terribly concerned because -

... through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. (1 Peter 1:5 NLT)

At the right time, He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

1 Timothy 6:16a NLT He alone can never die,

1 Timothy 6:16b CJB who dwells in unapproachable light that no human being has ever seen or can see,

And though may not be honored now, the day is coming when _

1 Timothy 6:16c CEV God will be honored, and his power will last forever. Amen.

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Once again, Paul directs Timothy to speak candidly; this time to the rich.

1 Timothy 6:17 NASB Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

At times I find it difficult to comprehend that believers could be among those who are rich in this current worldly atmosphere.

The Greek word translated as rich can also mean abounding.

So my comprehension is just wrong. Look at Abraham.

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. (Genesis 13:1-2 NASB)

The word, directed, as said to Timothy, is the Greek word paraggellō. A common translation is to instruct, but it takes on a whole new meaning if you are not in a relationship with the hearer. The word also means to transmit a message, which is understandable, as Timothy preaches to a general but primarily Jewish crowd of converts.

Conceited by definition means: Entertaining a flattering opinion of one's self.

In my Bible, we never see Abraham holding a flattering opinion of himself. 1Timothy 6:17 conveys that we are not to fix our hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God.

Is that what we saw with Abraham?

Without a doubt, and I would hope that you noticed, above all else, that Abraham put his faith in God.

1 Timothy 6:18, 19 NLT Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

• Use your money to do good.

• Be rich in good works.

  It is not because you are trying to earn a better position, next to Christ in heaven, but because it is a decent thing to do in God's eyes.

• If, at all possible, be generous to those in need.

• Always be ready to share with others.

And yes, Paul does explain that there is a benefit being stored in the future (in heaven,) for those that do good works. I can associate this with what I see in Matthew 25. You should read verses 31-46 on your own time. The context is that all the dead have been called to this throne. We see the same thing in Revelation 20, where we see the Great White Throne. Dead, these people did not go up in the rapture, so they were not believers, as we understand it. There is another group of dead and that number grows through the seven years of God's wrath. Again, the Revelation defines that an innumerable amount who die for their testimony through this time called the Great Tribulation, however, these are resurrected to God, and therefore excluded from this call for the dead. Hard-pressed to define the how and why of this group, all I can do is to realize that God's mercy is beyond my comprehension. Look at how they obtain their entrance into the kingdom.

Matthew 25:34-36 NASB "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (35) 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; (36) naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

The actions of these people look like works, but not really, because those who attempt to gain their entrance into the kingdom, are told, that doesn't work, it is by faith alone.

Romans 3:20 NASB because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Well, there you have it, NO ONE will be justified in God's sight, and yet, this group in Matthew 25:43-36. Obviously, we cannot stop here.

Galatians 2:16 NASB nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

It is only by faith through and in Christ Jesus. I know, this doesn't explain how these people gain access, but then, as I said, God's mercy is beyond our understanding. An example of this might be the parable of the person who gets hired, at the beginning of the day, and then gets enraged as others are hired just before dusk, for the same wage. These people that the NASB calls the king, is also the great shepherd and has the right to bring others into the kingdom based upon their acts of kindness, or mercy.

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Paul finishes chapter six with an admonition to Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:20-21 NLT Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. (21) Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. May God’s grace be with you all.

• Guard what God has entrusted to you.

  Guard also means to watch over or preserve. This responsibility falls on no but us.

How do you go about doing that?

I am glad you asked. Paul tells us to “avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge.” I find that I have opportunities to deal with these foolish discussions on a daily basis, and not because it is a situation that I long for.

Paul tells Timothy that some have wandered from the faith by following what these people have spewed out of their mouths as they disperse their foolishness.

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If you have not figured it out Paul, wrote to a believer (Timothy) about those who are either believers themselves or feigning a belief; I do the same when I write. Don't go getting judgmental because we have just moved over into the wheat and tares category. In the horticultural world, I had to learn to distinguish between a weed called brome and wheat; they look so similar, and though I have forgotten far too much. For a time, I knew how to make the distinction between the two. Since most of us do not, we have to leave the separation and, therefore, the pulling of those weeds by God.

I charge you in the presence of God. 1 Timothy 6:13.

 If you are a student of the Bible, then you know that we are on the brink of the church being snatched out of here and God's wrath is to be poured out upon the earth. The message, that I hear coming out the mouths of those who feel they are the global elite, is that they must reduce the population and control those who are left upon the earth, in a fashion that best suits the lifestyle they want to live.

The combination of God's judgment and the cruelty of humanity will lead to a slaughter of those who choose to follow Christ during this time frame, and these are considered to be the martyred saints. (For those who think that humanity can be peaceful and fun, think again. At the point at which God had decided to destroy every living thing on earth, this is what He saw.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

Perhaps the NASB does not convince you of the depravity of the human heart, maybe the CEV translation might.

The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. (Genesis 6:5 CEV)

As John looks into heaven for the second time, he sees martyred saints; while the number was extremely large the first time, it is uncountable the second time. It is the death of these “saints,” in record numbers, that leads Christ to say, “the tribulation will be so great.” I will show you this in scripture but want you to pay attention to the wording and how it changes across translations. I will ask for you, as the Holy Spirit told me that several of you will say, why is that important?

The NASB seems to be the common translation, as far too many of us take those two words and apply them to the time of wrath.

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)

The word great is the Greek word megas. For many of us, we are familiar with some store having a “mega sale”. The assumption is that their sale is bigger and better than anyone else's. The simple explanation that the Holy Spirit is trying to make, is that this is exceedingly great.

It would be easy to say, we have never seen anything like this, and though some fool may have told you that there was no holocaust, there was. Jewish death tolls reached 6 million; Soviet civilian death tolls reached 7 million; Soviet prisoners of war were around 3 million; non-Jewish Polish civilians hit around 1.8 million, and more than 700,000 people were killed in the death camps for being dissidents, activists, criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah witnesses, Gypsies, Serbians, and people with disabilities. To add to the graphic nature of these numbers, the people of Warsaw, said that it rained ashes daily. There is no doubt that the death toll, primarily of those who follow after Christ, during this time of wrath, will exceed those numbers that the death camps generated.

Tribulation is the Greek word thlipsis and – get this, means pressure, affliction, burdens persecution, troubles, and tribulation.

Dear Lord, there is not a day that goes by that I don't experience some form of pressure or affliction. It makes me grateful that I was born in America, and up to March of 2020, it was a sane place to live without the threat of violence, as some of you have.

I light of my introduction above, Paul has some sound words for us all.

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1Timothy 6:13-14 NASB)

End, page one.

Look at how the ESV expresses verse 13.

1 Timothy 6:13 ESV I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

Charge, as we see in the NASB, is the Greek word paraggello. It not only means to charge (as in a legal pleading), but it also carries the connotations of transmitting a message, enjoin (to forbid or prohibit), declare, or command.

Paul may well be saying to Timothy, I command you. Wow, that seems like a harsh way of speaking to someone who could easily be seen as a volunteer. Maybe that's our problem, we merely see ourselves as volunteers, who have the option of walking away at any time.

But there is something I think we need to consider.

Skimming through the Book of Acts leaves you with the impression that everything happened in fifteen-minute increments over a short period of time, and that was not the case. Most of these events occurred over seasons and years.

How would you possibly build the strong bonds that Paul had with the varying bands of new believers he established, in just a few short weeks?

These bonds, built over an extended period of time, allowed Paul to feel that he could speak boldly into their lives, just as we see him doing with Timothy, a young man that may well be in his early thirties by this point.

Some people's words apparently no longer have any value, but there was a time when we used to have people place their hand upon a Bible and swear to tell the truth; even though they do that, they still lie. Paul tells Timothy, I am writing this to you with God looking on, holding you to what I say. I am even calling upon the witness of Christ Jesus, who beaten and bloodied by Jewish and then Roman soldiers, and yet, still made a good confession before Pilate.

Now here is the punch line. I charge you, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of Jesus Christ. That appearing, was for them, a long way off, but they lived as though it was coming any minute. On that note, I recently listened to Chelsi Bedell, a Christian vlogger, talk about a meeting that she went to with her husband. There, Benny Hinn was introduced to the audience. This is the same Benny Hinn that cheated on the wife; and, it is the same Benny Hinn who got wealthy from the ministry. After years of this showmanship, he denounced the faith movement that was so lucrative to him. On that stage that evening, Benny Hinn said, coming to Jesus is the easy part, staying close to Jesus is the hard part. Chelsi said when I heard this I knew it was wrong and that he was a false teacher. Think about Benny Hinn and the path he put himself on, it only seems logical that he would say, this road we are on is hard, simply because he could not leave the monetary wealth and was therefore sucked into cheating on his wife.

What did Jesus say?

Take my yoke upon you, for it is easy and my burden is light. I can tell you that Benny struggled, but his struggle wasn't with God, it was with his own desires, for money and lust.

Once again, Paul tells Timothy, you keep the commandment without reproach.

Well, that's great, but how do you do that?

The answer had already been given in verses 11 and 12, where it says:

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NASB)

End, page two.

You keep the commandment, without reproach by:

• Fleeing from these things.
• Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
• Fight the good fight of faith.
• And. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

Paul told Timothy, in verse 14, that he keep the commandment without stain or reproach.

Stain may be best explained through the NLT translation, when it says, “Then no one can find fault with you.”

Reproach is the Greek word anepilēptos. It only occurs three times in the New Testament and all of them occur in 1 Timothy. It is best defined as irreproachable and means free from blame; upright, and innocent.

While God somehow sees us in this manner, it is hard to imagine how as we know the stumbles we make. But God looks through the lens of Jesus on the cross, where everyone was forgiven of sin and redeemed. Sin is that thing that is a part of us, thanks to Adam. Since that time we have been broken from inception.

Obviously, we needed help.

I have gritted my teeth and sweated as I tried to resist sin, and yet still failed - as far as I was concerned. So there is something here that keeps trying to tell me that staying above reproach is an achievable thing. I will not ask Benny Hinn how to stay above reproach, as he has proven, that he too, is merely a broken man; as we all are.

I want to add one more thing before I end this and move on to the next study.

I put myself in recovery because I was, and still am, an angry man. Before you get all judgmental hold on a minute and pay attention. In recovery I learned, that because of our brokenness we will never be free from our addictions; as I pointed out, mine is anger.

Many will say, doesn't this life in Christ make us free from “everything” that bound us?

Having known the Lord for many years, and learned that He is faithful, I know that freedom is His heart toward all of us. He has done everything necessary to make that happen. You might remember that Paul whined about his thorn in the flesh – we, religious zealots, turn that thorn into a variety of things. I happen to think that Paul's thorn was anger, just like mine. God's response to Paul, was that His grace was sufficient. Translation, I have given you everything you need to be free. Alright, here comes the deep wisdom. An alcoholic, or an angry man, has to realize that while they walk this earth (before the rapture) they are dependent upon God's grace and the investment that we have made in our relationship with Christ. What is that investment, since we have nothing to give but our lives? It is exactly that, we, knowing that we are incapable of managing our own lives, turn them over – daily, to the grace and mercy of the living God, Christ Jesus. In doing this (I got this from a television show I watch,) I have to make a conscious decision to choose wisdom. Is what I am contemplating worth the pain and harm I am going to do myself and those around me? I, like so many others, have been choosing wisely. Note: I am not asking your opinion, but God's. His opinion is written in His Word. You should consider reading it if you aren't already.

I charge you in the presence of God. 1 Timothy 6:13.

If you are a student of the Bible, then you know that we are on the brink of the church being snatched out of here and God's wrath is about to be poured out upon the earth. The message, that I hear coming out the mouths of those who feel they are the global elite, is that they must reduce the population and control those who are left upon the earth, in a fashion that best suits the lifestyle they want to live.

The combination of God's judgment and the cruelty of humanity will lead to a slaughter of those who choose to follow Christ during this time frame, and these are considered to be the martyred saints. (For those who think that humanity can be peaceful and fun, think again. At the point at which God had decided to destroy every living thing on earth, this is what He saw.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

Perhaps the NASB does not convince you of the depravity of the human heart, maybe the CEV translation might.

The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. (Genesis 6:5 CEV)

As John looks into heaven for the second time, he sees martyred saints; while the number was remarkably large the first time, it is uncountable the second time. It is the death of these “saints,” in record numbers, that leads Christ to say, “the tribulation will be so great.” I will show you this in scripture but want you to pay attention to the wording and how it changes across translations. I will ask for you, as the Holy Spirit told me that several of you will say, why is that important?

The NASB seems to be the common translation, as far too many of us take those two words and apply them to the time of wrath.

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)

The word great is the Greek word megas. For many of us, we are familiar with some store having a “mega sale”. The assumption is that their sale is bigger and better than anyone else's. The simple explanation that the Holy Spirit is trying to make, is that this time, in which some megalomaniac rules the earth, the death toll will be exceedingly great.

It would easy to say, we have never seen anything like this, and though some fool may have told you that there was no holocaust, there was. Jewish death tolls reached 6 million; Soviet civilian death tolls reached 7 million; Soviet prisoners of war were around 3 million; non-Jewish Polish civilians hit around 1.8 million, and more than 700,000 people were killed in the death camps for being dissidents, activists, criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah witnesses, Gypsies, Serbians, and people with disabilities. To add to the graphic nature of these numbers, the people of Warsaw said that it rained ashes daily. There is no doubt that the death toll, primarily of those who follow after Christ, during this time of wrath, will exceed those numbers that the death camps generated.

Tribulation is the Greek word thlipsis and – get this, means pressure, affliction, burdens persecution, troubles, and tribulation.

Dear Lord, there is not a day that goes by that I don't experience some form of pressure or affliction. It makes me grateful that I was born in America, and up to March of 2020, it was a sane place to live without the threat of violence, as some of you have.

I light of my introduction above, Paul has some sound words for us all.

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1Ti_6:13-14 NASB)

End, page one.

Look at how the ESV expresses verse 13.

1 Timothy 6:13 ESV I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

Charge, as we see in the NASB, is the Greek word paraggello. It not only means to charge (as in a legal pleading), but it also carries the connotations of transmitting a message, declare, or command.

Paul may well be saying to Timothy, I command you. Wow, that seems like a harsh way of speaking to someone who could easily be seen as a volunteer. Maybe that's our problem, we merely see ourselves as volunteers, who have the option of walking away at any time.

But there is something I think we need to consider.

Skimming through the Book of Acts leaves you with the impression that everything happened in fifteen-minute increments over a short period of time, and that was not the case. Most of these events occurred over seasons and years.

How would you possibly build the strong bonds that Paul had with the varying bands of new believers he established, in just a few short weeks?

These bonds, built over an extended period of time, allowed Paul to feel that he could speak boldly into their lives, just as we see him doing with Timothy, a young man that may well be in his early thirties by this point.

Some people's words apparently no longer have any value, but there was a time when we used to have people place their hand upon a Bible and swear to tell the truth; even though they do that, they still lie. Paul tells Timothy, I am writing this to you with God looking on, holding you to what I say. I am even calling upon the witness of Christ Jesus, who beaten and bloodied by Jewish and then Roman soldiers, and yet, still made a good confession before Pilate.

Now here is the punch line. I charge you, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of Jesus Christ. That appearing, was for them, a long way off, but they lived as though it was coming any minute. On that note, I recently listened to Chelsi Bedell, a Christian vlogger, talk about a meeting that she went to with her husband. There, Benny Hinn was introduced to the audience. This is the same Benny Hinn that cheated on the wife; and, it is the same Benny Hinn who got wealthy from the ministry. After years of this showmanship, he denounced the faith movement that was so lucrative to him. On that stage that evening, Benny Hinn said, coming to Jesus is the easy part, staying close to Jesus is the hard part. Chelsi said when I heard this I knew it was wrong and that he was a false teacher. Think about Benny and the path he put himself on, it only seems logical that he would say, this road we are on is hard, simply because he could not leave the monetary wealth and was therefore sucked into cheating on his wife.

What did Jesus say?

Take my yoke upon you, for it, is easy and my burden is light. I can tell you that Benny struggled, but his struggle wasn't with God, it was with his own desires, for money and lust.

Once again, Paul tells Timothy, you keep the commandment without reproach.

Well, that's great, but how do you do that?

The answer had already been given in verses 11 and 12, where it says:

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NASB)

End, page two.

You keep the commandment, without reproach by:

• Fleeing from these things.

  The things are the things we see in verses like 1Timothy 6:10, where it says

  "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (NASB)

• Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

  The pursuit of anything else is simply fulfilling your lusts. You figure out if it is destroying you and your relationships.

• Fight the good fight of faith.

  We are not merely swinging at the clouds, we pray and we do it as if our lives and families depended upon it.

• And. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

  Hold are the Greek word epilambanomai and means to seize as if for help.

Paul told Timothy, in verse 14, that he should keep the commandment without stain or reproach.

Stain may be best explained through the NLT translation, when it says, “Then no one can find fault with you.”

Reproach is the Greek word anepilēptos. It only occurs three times in the New Testament and all of them occur in 1 Timothy. It is best defined as irreproachable and means free from blame; upright, and innocent.

While God somehow sees us in this manner, it is hard to imagine how as we know the stumbles we make. But God looks through the lens of Jesus on the cross, where everyone was forgiven of sin and redeemed. Sin is that thing which is a permanent part of us thanks to Adam. Since that time every human has been born broken by sin.

Obviously, we needed help.

I have gritted my teeth and sweated as I tried to resist sin, and yet still failed - as far as I was concerned. So there is something here that keeps trying to tell me that staying above reproach is an achievable thing. I will not ask Benny Hinn how to stay above reproach, as he has proven, that he too, is merely a broken man; as we all are.

I want to add one more thing before I end this and move on to the next study.

I put myself in recovery because I was, and still am, an angry man. Before you get all judgmental hold on a minute and pay attention. In recovery I learned, that because of our brokenness we will never be free from our addictions; as I pointed out, mine is anger. But many will say, doesn't this life in Christ make us free from “everything” that bound us? Having known the Lord for many years, and learned that He is faithful, I know that freedom is His heart toward all of us. He has done everything necessary to make that happen. You might remember that Paul whined about his thorn in the flesh – we, religious zealots, turn that thorn into a variety of things. I happen to think that thorn was anger, just like mine. God's response to Paul, was that His grace was sufficient. Translation, I have given you everything you need to be free. 

Alright, here comes the deep wisdom. An alcoholic, or an angry man, has to realize that while they walk this earth (before the rapture) they are dependent upon God's grace and the investment that we have made in our relationship with Christ. What is that investment, since we have nothing to give but our lives? It is exactly that, we, knowing that we are incapable of managing our own lives, turn them over – daily, to the grace and mercy of the living God, Christ Jesus. In doing this (I got this from a television show I watch,) have to make a conscious decision to choose wisdom. Is what I am contemplating worth the pain and harm I am going to do myself and those around me? I, like so many others, have been choosing wisely. Note: I am not asking your opinion, but God's. His opinion is written in His Word. You should consider reading it if you aren't already.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith. 1Timothy 6:11 -12.

 Most translations entitle this next section

“Fight the Good Fight of Faith.”

But look at what the NASB translation says in 1 Timothy 6:11a.

“But flee from these things, you man of God.”

You would think that the editors would have something associated with their opening title and grabbed our attention right away.

What do we get, flee, but from what?

Obviously from sin, but it also includes the things that Paul described at the beginning of this chapter. In a moment we will see that there is a call to fight, but it is NOT what you think.

By the way, flee and fight is two extremely different things. In general, we perceive those who flee to be fearful, and fear doesn't do anything but demonstrate a lack of faith.

The majority of translations use the term flee. Flee is the Greek word pheugō which means to run away or escape.

The dictionary explanation of flee is this, “To run with rapidity, as from danger; to attempt to escape.” That same dictionary tells us that to fight is to “To strive or contend for victory, in battle or in single combat; to attempt to defeat, subdue or destroy an enemy.”

The CEV calls these things that Timothy is to escape from evil. Here is a recap of what we have seen in chapter six that falls under the category of evil.

• Preaching a gospel that is different than anything Paul taught.
• Disrespect for those to whom you are submitted.
• Things that bring about strife, evil language, and controversial questions.
• Constant friction between people who are deprived of truth.

These last two items played a role in conversations I had over the Christmas Holiday season of 2020. My son-in-law had referenced a previous Pastor as a friend of mine. So, I took the opportunity to point out that this former Pastor and I were nowhere close to being friends.

[This is the Pastor who took me to lunch in a very public restaurant and then proceeded to humiliate me, first, by telling me that I could not teach “that,” considering that he had already asked me to lead a chapter at the book study on discipline that night. I had shown him my prepared notes for the meeting. And he immediately assumed that I intended to cover every word put on those pages. He was not interested in hearing any explanation. Secondly, after several minutes of frustration, he asked me why I teach Eschatology. Odd, seeing as he has never heard me teaching Eschatology, nor had he given me an opportunity. I began to answer him with a standard line; Eschatology is pertinent because it is happening worldwide. That was about all I got out of my mouth when it turned derogatory and abusive. I quickly stopped him and said, is that what you think of me? To which he replied, yes. I ended our session there.]

That former Pastor has moved on in an effort to repair some damage he previously created, and I could care less if I ever saw him again. I talked to my son-in-law about what the Bible says about forgiveness and how we are to follow Jesus’ words, found in scripture, for direction on running our daily lives.

At least I had my son-in-law’s attention for a few minutes. When I stopped talking, he immediately dove into talking about the stolen Presidential election and Joe Biden’s flaws. Honestly, I do not think that the son-in-law is willing to grasp anything from scripture unless it creates strife, controversy, or scares him away from hell.

End, page one.

Note the translation as this one is less a fearful escape and more of a responsible migration away from the snare that Satan is setting for you.

1 Timothy 6:11 CEV Timothy, you belong to God, so keep away from all these evil things. Try your best to please God and to be like him. Be faithful, loving, dependable, and gentle. [Contemporary English Version]

The (AMPLIFIED Bible) conveys the idea of running. However, if you spend any time in recovery, you will meet far too many people who unsuccessfully tried to run. You want to know what this equates to; it equates to people trying to do things apart from God.

Does God expect you to sit on your butt until you build up your running muscles? Hardly, and the sad part is that you know that God desires you to do something. The problem then becomes one in which we need to run to God, but we don’t do that either.

The (BBE) tells us, “But you, O man of God, keep yourself from these things, and go after righteousness.” If I were to describe what a life of trusting God while running from evil looks like, I would say that it looks like what we see here in The Bible In Basic English. We are living a life where we go after the things of righteousness.

Let me be clear; righteousness is NOT following religious rules. It is the perpetual act of following after Jesus and His Word. In short, if He says it, do it.

On that note, let’s look at the CEV once again. Halfway through the sentence, it says, “Try your best to please God and be like Him.” This is precisely what following after Jesus looks like.

Ah, now this is where the fighting begins.

1 Timothy 6:12 NASB Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Here we are instructed to fight the good fight of faith.

Fight is the Greek word agōnizomai and means to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary.)

The “good” is the Greek word kalos and means beautiful (figuratively), good (literally or morally).

The second usage of the word fight is different from the first that we find 1 Timothy 6:12. Here, fight is the Greek word agōn and means a place of assembly (as if led), that is, (by implication) a contest (held there); figuratively an effort or anxiety...

End, page two.

So what do we get if we place the alternate words into 1 Timothy 6:12?

We frequently struggle as if we are contending with an adversary, as we speak forth the Word from the Bible of from our spirits through the Holy Spirit, in our places of assembly. In these assemblies, we often exert an effort as though we were in a contest. (Me)

If we are struggling or exerting an effort, much like an athlete, the question is, why?

We all have an adversary, and occasionally that adversary convinces well-meaning people, who call themselves followers of Christ, when in reality they are actively following after Satan’s advice, to open their mouths and give him their tongues for the purpose of creating strife.

My Pastor, Jack Hibbs, talks openly, since the Covid shut down of churches, about how people have come so that they could attend an open church. The problem is, they have come, and they bring whatever beliefs they have learned from their collection of churches, with them; this would not be a problem if they kept those twisted beliefs to themselves, but several of these recent attendees have stood in opposition to the Pastor, challenging and intending to bring strife and contention.

When we do this, bring strife and contention, ignoring the witness of scripture, what then are we relying on as a witness for our ramblings? Nothing more than tradition and false teachings.

A blog update and some thoughts on confession.

I know I haven't written for a couple of weeks, but I have an excuse; I was invited, no, told is more like it, that I was going with a friend to the town of Emmett Idaho. It is a mere 900+ miles North East of me and about a 15-hour drive on a good day.

Our day, when you look at the physical evidence, was not that good, but, as you can see, got better.

Second tire blowout of the day.

Our first day on the road was met with two tire blowouts, which cost over $1200 and burned up about four hours of our day. We rolled into Emmett on the second day of our adventure.

The truck where it died.

We stopped and started the truck many times as we headed toward the ranch. The trailer we towed, was finally parked and disconnected, and the vehicle was parked for the last time that second day. Wouldn't you know it, the truck would not start. The majority of the plans we had centered around the truck working. By the way, both of these vehicles were borrowed. We got the truck out of the shop, after an overnight stay, on Thursday evening; too late to get any work done and still leave at 0300 on Friday morning.

While this story so far doesn't leave me the room to tell about how God's grace and mercy played a massive role in this trip/adventure, but it was clear to us.

Emmett Valley, Idaho, USA

This adventure, however, is not exactly what I wanted to convey to you. Lacking any internet or phone service from the ranch, I only had brief minutes to contact my wife as we made excursions into town with an older jeep that had a mind of its own. As I think back on it, I believe my friend told me that there was little contact with the outside world while we were on the ranch. Considering the plans, he has for the property and the number of people he foresees coming there, having internet will be a good thing and should have been resolved by the time you read this.

So, what did I do in my relative few minutes to myself? I finished a home study worksheet and emailed it off just so they could have my two cents on the subject matter; and, after a few moments of pondering, decided to start an in-depth look at the Book of Micah.

My time at the ranch took me away from a home group; a home church I had one chance to attend, and the two guys I meet with twice a week. These two guys have become somewhat of an accountability group for me. What I mean is this – we are told in scripture to confess our sins to one another.

James 5:15-16 NASB and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

This phrase, “and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him,” really bothers me, especially when it is couched in tones of guilt and manipulation, as some pastor is doing his best to control the irrational behaviors of his audience. Get real, saps like me, who go into their pastor's office, with hopes of talking openly and freely - like you might with a friend, hoping they will be a sounding board as you “confess” your sins, quickly learn that the pastor is not and never will be our friend.

Sins are the simple act of missing the bull's eye on a target. We, as followers of Christ, are shooting to hit the target constantly, every day. The obvious factor is that the target is often eighty yards away and now looks to be about the size of a button on your shirt. If I give myself the freedom to indulge in rage, I have missed the mark, at least for that moment. When I sit with my friends, I talk about these moments, and, I talk about the constant, grinding issues that live with me and feed into my anxiety.
All these things have helped to make me who I am, and, if I am willing to open my mouth, following the lead of the Holy Spirit, the results can be amazing. The way I see it, God made me who I am, and there are people out there who can relate to me and are just waiting for me to feed into their lives.
Well, this is not a bible study, but more of a little insight into me; and that, has everything to do with Micah at this point.

That being said, what about this book of Micah?

Having come back from Idaho with barely enough time to cover Micah 1:1, I did not feel prepared to lead a bible study on the book. To put it bluntly, I fouled up and got mislead by the verse and my search tools, as I tried to find out what made Micah the person he was.
Some would ask, why is knowing what things influenced Micah important to the study? Because, external influences create attitudes, motivation, language, and reactionary ways. Take Jephthah for example. I always refer to him as the biker gang leader of the Bible. You find his story in Judges 11:1-10. I will leave you to read that for yourself.
So as I sat with my friend (the other guy got a job and won't be around anymore), I opened with this confession about my shoddy preparations to walk through a study on Micah.
I saw what verse one had to say, and honestly, I stopped right there.

Micah 1:1 NASB The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Aside from Micah, which I know so little about, the only other names that rang any bells are Ahaz and Hezekiah, and so I began to do word searches.
The first name I looked at was Jothan.
Jothan, it turns out was also a son of Gideon, but not the Jothan I was looking for. Gideon was one of the judges of Israel – that means he fought and won a battle or two giving Israel peace for a few years. It turns out Gideon liked women and had a rather large concubine, hence we have Jothan. But in finding Jothan, we find Abimelech, another son of Gideon, who, after the death of Gideon decided to go rogue and take the lead over Israel by killing off seventy of his brothers. It turns out that Gideon even has an eighth generation grandson named Ahaz. After close to five hours of pursuing this detour, I found myself realizing that Jothan is being referred to as the son of a king; and that could not be referring to Gideon.
Although killing your brothers, all on one rock would be evil in my book, Abimelech did nothing in comparison to king Ahaz who is described in the ISBE as: “a gross idolater, and sought safety in heathen ceremonies, making his son pass through the fire to Molech, consulting wizards and necromancers, and other idolatrous practices.”
On top of that, there was no link between Hezekiah and Gideon; and all of them were referred to as kings. One other error became blaring apparent to me as, Micah comes on the scene somewhere around 730 BC, while Gideon is dated back to 1191 BC, over 400 years earlier.
So, in light of confession, I told my friend about this side trip and how much time I wasted. [My friend was a youth pastor at one point in his life, and, he was a church elder.] Odd how I should use the term wasted, as I gained great insight into the life of Gideon and his sons. But it did nothing to further my understanding of Micah. I had to make a U-turn and begin looking in more appropriate places for information pertaining to Micah.
So as I sit with men, like my friend, I am always reminded of this theme in James, as I “confess” my attempts at hitting the mark/bullseye and do not do such a good job. We laughed about the process and enjoyed some fantastic conversation about Micah as we discussed what my friend had learned by merely reading a few chapters ahead.
I mentioned I had been in the State of Idaho, USA., the previous week with minimal internet usage.
On one occasion into town, I found that one of my brothers had put up a lengthy video in which he discussed sanctification. He opened the video with a brief introduction of himself, and then said something to this effect: this is going to be a long and difficult discussion, so sit back, relax, and let's dig into the scripture. At that point, I shut the video off as I could not afford 45 minutes of my time.
Several days passed and we were now traveling back home from Idaho when I said to my friend as he drove, “are you ready for some deep theology?” He paused, looked at me, and surprisingly said, sure, go ahead. I replied, “alright then, let's talk about sanctification.” I had already mentioned to him about my brother's video and how I felt about it. I said, Jesus died and rose again, during which time the book of Hebrews explains how He, as the high priest, sanctified all the heavenly utensils, and us, with His blood. I said, Jesus, is not incapable nor inadequate; therefore He is never changing His mind, nor will His actions toward us ever change. He sanctified us, one time, for all eternity. And, there is nothing that I can do to alternately affect His actions toward me. At this point, I stopped and said, there is sanctification in thirty seconds or less, and it was not that difficult, was it.

Knowing I was going to a place with minimal distractions, and that a primary reason for being there was to reduce my stress somehow, I had talked with God about restoring some level of communication with Him. As the character Christopher Robin would say to Winnie the Pooh in AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh, you silly old bear, I too heard something like that and realized that God had never stopped talking. I had allowed the overwhelming stress factors to drown out His voice. Something simple as a thirty-second conversation about something so profound as sanctification, made me aware, once again, of how close the Father indeed is to us, should we choose to follow Him.

To people who are feeling guilty and condemned. I John 2:1-2

I opened the Bible program on my computer this morning, and this is the first thing I see, the headline leading into 1John chapter 2:1-2.

To people who are feeling guilty and condemned,

It goes on to say, John (the disciple and revelator) offers reassurance.

Why, after all these years, do I still struggle with guilt and condemnation? Perhaps you do as well.

I sat down one day with my Pastor and talked openly and honestly about things going on around me; things like family members that moved back in and live with us, and how they do not seem to understand what the word boundary means; or, what it means to take care of your dogs. That might seem trivial to some, especially when they are firebombing the church you go to or torturing you for your beliefs in a God other than Allah; but I can assure you it feels real to me.

We are told in scripture to confess our sins one to another, and maybe how I feel could fall under this idea of confessing our sins, especially when "sin" is merely missing the mark - up to and including, some substantially ugly stuff. In truth, I am not even sure what this idea of confessing our SINS looks like, as there are people that you should NOT reveal any of your secrets too. I suppose this idea of confession requires that you spend some time with random people to find out how trustworthy they are.

In recovery there is a constant barrage of instructions that goes something like this, what is said here, stays here!

That is what you would hope you find in the real world as well. I can tell you from experience, that even with such counsel your so-called friends will walk up to your wife, right in front of you, and ask, “are the things he says about you in the group, true?”

James 5:16 CJB Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

I suppose in a way, confession is what I did when I talked with the pastor, but I was not looking for a verbal beating. What I wanted was a compassionate and hearing heart; what I got was, “I can't believe that you, being a follower of Christ for all these years, would feel this way.” My internal reaction was, are you kidding me; you didn't just say that to me?

What does scripture tell us?

Galatians 6:1 MSG Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out.

When you consider that SIN is merely the missing of the small center of the target, then we all sin daily.

But what happens when someone falls into sin?

Translations vary from the word sin to the sad reality of being caught in and overtaken in a fault. At least with phrases like being caught in sin and overtaken in sin, you immediately can tell that there is much more than a gentle push from the wind while trying to hit a target. The phrases can imply being too casual about the problem, or a non-caring attitude because you think you can handle whatever it is; unfortunately, sin can be deadly.

To be overtaken is the Greek word prolambanō and means to take in advance, that is, (literally) eat before others have an opportunity; (figuratively) to anticipate, surprise (Strong's concordance)

The words that the Greek conveys cause me some grief, for how do I understand this idea of being captive when the strongest implication comes from the phrase, to take in advance? If I were to collect my earnings before payday, it would either be by permission (most employers would look at you warily from that point on,) or, you stole the money thinking they owed you anyway. None-the-less, you took it in advance. The second option being theft. If what I am trying to understand is this idea of being caught in sin, then perhaps some of the other words available make more sense; such as to “have an opportunity,” or to “surprise.” Having an opportunity indicates some thought has been applied, quite possibly for some time, while the word surprise alludes to something that is suddenly before you. A car crash on the motorway can undoubtedly be a surprise, but the result can be a terrible chain of events, with appalling consequences, all of which contribute to the idea of being taken in a snare.

John MacArthur's commentary tells us that to be overtaken is literally to be "caught," which may imply the person was seen sinning or that he was caught or snared by the sin itself.

A fault is the Greek word paraptōma and means a sideslip (lapse or deviation), that is, (unintentional) error or (willful) transgression: - fall, fault, offense, sin, trespass.

Paul goes on to say,

Galatians 6:2-3 ERV Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ. 3) If you think you are too important to do this, you are only fooling yourself.

We should, at this point, understand that the potential for help and comfort is there. The guest speaker at our church sat and talked with me, saying, we the church should be the place where we can go, take our hurts, and be accepted. I laughed as I said, sadly, that is not reality.

But, what if your guilt and condemnation have been drilled into you through parents, caretakers, childhood, bullies: (many times these can look like church leaders.)

1 John 2:1-2 NASB My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2) and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Note the words, “if anyone sins.” Of course, we are going to sin; it's built into us.

But 1 John 2:1-2 gives us hope, for:

• “we have an Advocate with the Father,”
  Advocate – paraklētos - An intercessor, consoler: - advocate, comforter.
• “Jesus Christ the righteous;”
  What gave Jesus His ability and right to stand on our behalf? One, you should understand that He is God, and two, His willingness to pay the price on the cross. He repurchased us, and, He bought our redemption. At one point, He told the disciples and those listening, that this same advocate would come in His place if He went back to the Father, and He did. Therefore, the comforter/advocate has come.

John 16:7 NASB "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

• “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;”
  Propitiation – hilasmos - atonement, that is, (concretely) an expiator: - propitiation.
  This atonement is what I spoke of when I said, “He gave His life on that cross.” Jesus, we are told, poured out His own blood on the heavenly altar, just as the priest would. In so doing He became our high priest. And, God raised Him up and seated Him at the Father's right hand.
• “and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
  His atonement covered, not only those of us who believe but everyone – the whole world. This blanket forgiveness seems to be the hardest thing for the religious to understand. This lack of belief or understanding is proven out by comments indicating how everyone caught in sin is going to hell. Logic would ask, what sins, seeing as sins have been forgiven. Taking this idea one step further, what then condemns the world? A lack of belief in Jesus Christ.

There it is, this Jesus has taken all the guilt and condemnation onto Himself. He purchased us back from the debt WE owed. (If you are a movie fan, then the movie adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, tells this story, as Aslan had to make the secluded deal with the witch, as they met in the tent. Aslan, a symbol of Jesus, gave His own life in place of Peter's. And, just as Aslan did, Jesus rose from the dead, with great power, and, He was unstoppable.

What is required of me? Faith.

Can I believe that someone, namely Jesus, would do that for me? Yes, and I did, and so can you.

What's to keep the entire world from accepting such salvation? Nothing, as He simply asks us, in this age of grace, to believe.

Back to this problem of me, struggling with “sins” after so many years in the Lord.

An aspect of what makes me work is the voices in my head. No, I am not nuts, we all have voices in our heads. To some, they sound like a drill sergeant; to others, like me, they sound like my dad or mother; often they sound like some moral authority, especially when acting moral is very inconvenient.

Fortunately, after all these years, I can definitely say that one of those voices belongs to God/Holy Spirit. While I just admitted that I hear from God, I also argue with Him, and that bothers me. Recently I heard Him tell me to go to another fast food stand instead of the one we typically go to on Tuesdays because I was going to have trouble there. Now, in my defense, He did not explain why I would have trouble, but I think I knew why and I saw an image of them. My foolish, manly response was that I could handle problems. It turns out I couldn't and just about had the police called on me - I sound like a large bear when I get that angry. And yes, I let anger and rage get the best of me. Having spent some time in recovery because of the anger, I have come to the determination that, like the alcoholic, I will fight with this for the rest of my life. (This understanding is really the sanest approach. I like to call it honesty.)

At this point in life, my conclusions are that I (just like all of you) have built-in damage that tries to motivate me to live out of my self-motivated desires; and, I have sustained damage from others that have wounds deep enough to be an active cause of my grief. There is, unfortunately, the third cause of troubles in our lives and that is the enemy, Satan.

Paul speaks to this idea of being snagged by the enemy.

2 Timothy 2:25-26 NASB with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26) and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Were you aware that people were caught in snares set by the devil, at his will?

It sounds like a hopeless situation and would be if Christ had not purchased our redemption, and that is why we have the freedom of confession (one to another;) an advocate – Jesus Christ; The Word of God, and Galatians 6:1 which admonishes our brothers and sisters in Christ to come to our aid.

Galatians 6:1 NASB Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted.

This passage came up after the leader of the Monday morning group said, “I believe that if you have fleshly thoughts when the rapture comes, that you will have trouble making it through the pearly gates.” This unsubstantiated statement was his attempt at not adding to scripture, and he informed us so right before he said it. What it shows is this man's grievous lack of understanding about God's: word, character, and nature – as the group leader, in effect, is condemning all who sin, to hell. Do you see Christ's paying the penalty and doing away with the handwriting that was against us, in this leader's statement? NO.

Moments after making these statements the 92-year-old co-leader asked me directly what I thought about what the leader said; it became a habit with this guy to challenge people in the group by saying, “do you have a problem with that?” I can tell you that he is not looking for a correct answer, he is merely siding with the leader and looking to humiliate someone; this time it was me. I paused to think about this for a moment, and this man called my name out once again. With that, I said, “an alcoholic, if they are honest, will admit that they are an alcoholic and will be for the rest of their life. So, when it comes to human reasoning, I can't perceive of "fleshly" thoughts any differently than the alcoholic, as I will deal with, in my case, anger, for the rest of my life.

How does one not have human thoughts?
How does a preacher deal with the scantily clad ladies that come to church? Do they only look at the ceiling lights as they are preaching or teaching in order to avoid such “fleshly thoughts?  And what of the hellfire and brimstone television preacher Jimmy Swaggart (whom many of these men adore) who sinned, multiple times? We only know of his sins because he got arrested.

And yes, once again, in my response to this guy, I let my anger get the best of me. No, I did not cuss, I merely pushed this sacred cow called Jimmy Swaggart down and effectively kicked it in the head.

I was, as I expected, accosted for my statements. However, another pastor in the group brought up Galatians 6:1. He did this because there was no kindness or gentleness in the leader's response to me.

So, what have I/we learned? That we, as followers of Christ, have an advocate, as does Jimmy Swaggart, and, so does the false teacher of our group.

1 John 2:1-2 NASB My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2) and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.