Qualifications for a deacon. 1 Timothy 3:8-13.

 Paul started this third section of his letter to Timothy discussing the qualifications for a Pastor; depending on the translation, you might see terminologies such as an overseer or a shepherd.

I am surprised anyone qualifies, as we are all so broken, and many people I know should quickly shy away from being a pastor. I struggled with being a group leader in the recovery group, but there was a leader who was brave enough to tell the crowd what got him into recovery, and this brother in Christ took me under his wing and calmed me down on several occasions.

Fortunately, God sees us in a better light than we do and believes better things for us; (I am speaking bluntly because, by Paul’s admonition, he forbids women from being overseer’s of the flock,) so if a man had problems in the past, they might not have those problems now, because that man has put his faith and trust in Christ Jesus, and allowed for God to change him.

Now when it comes to skeletons in the closet, I am not sure how you prevent those skeletons, some of which should never again see the light of day, from being made public. Perhaps making sure you only talk with safe people is one way, but my trust-er is seriously damaged, and believing that people can be safe is difficult. Another idea you can try is to keep your mouth shut; it works for me.

One of the methods of background checking, according to Paul, is to ask those that know the person what they are like. Many could see that as a problem especially if they saw you get hauled away in cuffs during the night. And even if you did not get arrested, what makes you think we neighbors can’t hear you screaming at your wife and kids. Look, WE ARE ALL BROKEN and have a propensity to blab/sin to make ourselves look better, and we will rat you out. Phenomenon such as this is highly prevalent in religious circles as we seem to be competing for promotions, I guess.

When we covered Pastors in the previous post on Timothy, I told you that I do not fully understand alcoholism. Oh, sure, I can comprehend the effects, and I have seen the damage it causes the person and their family. Now, I am not an alcoholic, but I had a terrible struggle with rage. The point of this is, having a cold beer, for me is NOT a problem.

Yeah, I can hear some of you whining now about how I am making you stumble in your walk Jesus. We will get into that shortly. First, look at this, just in case you did not see Paul’s advice on selecting potential pastors.

So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money.
(1 Timothy 3:2-3 NLT)

I am faithful to my wife, but I don’t always practice self-control, and my belly demonstrates that fact, however, I have seen what alcohol can do to me, and I must say, I don’t enjoy being out of control. I also know how much it takes for me to get out of control, and I make a conscious choice NOT to go there. So yes, when it comes to alcohol, I do practice self-control. By the way, I am not looking for a job, so I don’t care what you think about this startling revelation, but if you are a religious zealot and love to judge people, you need to know something.

God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them. (Matthew 7:1-2b CEV)

For the past twenty + years, I have gone out of my way to develop a sound and godly reputation.

Thanks to some terrible decisions many years ago, I ended up working for Home Depot; there, I quickly found out that cussing, among the employees, is a skill set, and I learned that skill. However, I had been straining to be the kind of Christian that my mother wanted me to be, and the internal emotional pressures were pushing me to my limits. To maintain my sanity while I worked there, I would exit the building at lunchtime. In a short time, I began taking my bible to the places I would stop for lunch. I spent at least thirty minutes at lunch, studying my bible, and I read every day, taking notes and writing down the questions and challenges I had for God about what I read. This reading program became a part of my morning breakfast stop before work. I would leave the house an hour earlier to spend the extra time in God’s word. And I would take my bible to dinner with me. I worked at Home Depot for seven years, and I operated on this pattern almost every day. The result of this behavior was that I became skillful with God’s Word and would respond to people’s questions about the Word of God, Jesus, and God’s nature and character.

Now I am up against another set of standards, but this time, for deacons.

1 Timothy 3:8-9 NASB Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, (9) but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

Let's start with this word deacon. First, there are a variety of translations, such as:

• Church officers (this makes sense to me as deacons, as far as I know, play a considerable role in church financial decisions.);
• Eugene Peterson's Message gives us this, “those who want to be servants in the church.” Well, that’s a rather broad definition as some servants, like a friend of mine who before he retired, was a school principal and teacher, but now, among other things, rearranges the chairs in church several times a week.
• And lastly, the Tree of Life Translation calls them Servant-leaders. They, like Stephen, should be servants and leaders.

These deacons have similar demands to the pastors.

• One that catches my attention is the statement that they are not to be addicted to wine.
• From the TLV, not greedy for dishonest gain.
• Men of dignity. The word in Greek is honorable.
• Not double-tongued. Don't change the rules to fit the status of the person. Be a person that people can confide in and trust.

1 Timothy 3:10 NASB These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

Tested is to approve or examine. No, we are not merely talking about taking tests, it is watching how the person trying to be a leader performs under pressure. How do they respond to people in the church clamoring for their spiritual help and guidance. 

Note that Paul says these men must also first be tested, but gives no extensive definition like he did the pastors; however, he does give us tests we can use.

Reproach is the Greek word anegklētos and, according to Thayer, means that they cannot be called into account. In defining reproach, the dictionary tells us that this has to do with someone being able to censure you. To censure is the act of blaming or finding fault and condemning as wrong.

So, how or why would someone want to blame or find fault with your choice of a deacon?

Our first example has Paul speaking of women, but we can apply it to men as well.

1 Timothy 3:11 NASB Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

We already covered dignity when we addressed the men. It is the Greek word semnos and means to be venerated for character, honorable. So nothing, in importance, has changed.

If we think that being a malicious gossip is reserved for women, then we are either naive or deceived as we men are quite skilled in this regard.

Temperate is another term that we covered, as it applies to abstaining from wine (in excess,) just like men.

Faithful applies to persons who show themselves faithful in business transactions, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties. This should be expected of anyone, especially since you are dealing with the church finances.

1 Timothy 3:12 NASB Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

I included the emphasis (italics) provided by the NASB.

Note how it says only one wife. Many of the men I have known, and at least one pastor, have been married several times. There is no need to get all judgmental; simply remember that we are ALL broken. The hope is that somewhere over time, we get that brokenness fixed.

I will let you in on a little private information; I am on my third marriage.

How did my brokenness affect my marriages?

Well, with the first, I was a novice raised under highly religious legalism, and seriously co-dependent. If you don’t know what it is to be co-dependent, it means that you become dependent upon how others think and feel about you and, therefore, create a relational atmosphere in your mind based upon their perceived like or dislike of you. If a co-dependent marries a broken individual, this can be an explosive mix. Add to the marriage the fact that she cheated on me twice. I can only handle it once. Still not free of the co-dependency that affected me, I married a second time to a woman with two children. The short of it, I destroyed this one. I know now, that my psychological problems and inadequacies caused that marriage to fail. The third marriage only happened in the last few years, but my desire and attempts to be married were initiated over twenty years ago. With only two weeks before we were to get married, my brother-in-law, the associate pastor, told me that he was disallowed from marrying us and that we would have to obtain counseling from the lead pastor. Now mind you, that lead pastor and I had been involved in a strained relationship which initiated about ten years prior. The other part of this disaster came into play as he had also played a role in my wife’s ill-fated marriage to her first husband. Combined, he saw no hope for us and made hateful accusations concerning the fact that we had both been married previously and had failed marriages. That day he seemed to forget how he also had a failed marriage. Since a rather large religious organization ordained this broken man to be the pastor, I guess the fact that he had been married before was no hindrance to his being a pastor now.

So, this term only implies that you should NOT be married to more than one woman at a time.

“and good managers of their children and their own households.”

Again, I am looking at the italicized words, and the word “and” does not change the understanding of the sentence, however, the usage of the italicized word“their” creates the idea that these deacons should be able to handle children, period. What that means, I am not sure.

The word manager is proistēmi and means to be set over or rule. There is nothing here that means rule with an iron fist, but considering that parental attitudes, the influence of education; and, governmental themes and laws have created a generation of children that will refuse to comply with reasonable demands, like sit down. (And we get to watch children like this at the daily riot.)

We will finish this section with this.

1 Timothy 3:13 NASB For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Well is defined as honestly.

And to obtain is to get possession of.

While there is the possibility that you may obtain some reward now, here on earth, but the greatest probability will be at the Bema seat.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB

On several occasions, I have talked about this idea of being recompensed. When you look at the Greek, it conveys the idea of rewards and wearing a victor's crown as you might in the Olympics.

So if you serve, do it with honesty, and then allow Him to pat you on the back and say, well done, my good and faithful servant.

• Holding to the mystery of the faith.
• He who was revealed in the flesh,
• Was vindicated in the Spirit,
• Seen by angels,
• Proclaimed among the nations,
• Believed on in the world,
• And taken up in glory.
•  

This is the Messiah Jesus that I serve.

 

Anyone whose goal is to serve. 1 Timothy 3:1-7

 We closed out chapter two with Paul saying, "I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I'm not exaggerating—just telling the truth." 

While learning about faith and truth is vital, something else is just as essential, and that is the need to pray. 

Paul puts it like this, "in every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy." You can find this in 1 Timothy 2:7-8 NLT.

Controversy is an interesting word. The dictionary defines it as dispute; debate; agitation of contrary opinions.

The NASB uses the term dissension instead of controversy. If you look up the Strong's concordance for dissension, you get the word dialogismos, which means discussion, debate, and reasoning. 

The logical assumption on my part would be to say that this is where we get our word dialogue. Dialogue, of course, implies that the parties involved are having a meaningful conversation. Welcome to my world, where, in a household of those who claim to be "Christians," there is non-stop dissension and agitation due to contrary opinions concerning the mandates put on us by our California Governor, and faith. It is painful to watch, as faith means nothing.

By the way, my home has become a model of the church today, as with minor exceptions, the church lives in fear, and pastors, preach nothing to stimulate faith and boldness.

Paul opens chapter three, talking about those that aspire to be church leaders. The assumption here would-be pastors, but it can cover a variety of ministerial titles.

I wonder what Paul would think of us today. 

1 Timothy 3:1-7 NLT "This is a trustworthy saying: "If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position." (2) So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. (3) He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. (4) He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. (5) For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? (6) A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. (7) Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil's trap."

• "If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honorable position."

If it is your goal, or you are shooting for the role of being a church leader, you do well. That is if your motives are correct. 

What do I mean by that? 

I have seen many come to the mega-churches because that is where the money is. Maybe their motives were pure, and they truly wanted to shepherd people, but you find out quickly that shepherding is often complicated and uncomfortable. You also find out that the bigger the church, the more exhaustively elaborate the organizational system. Timothy found out about people and their eccentricities, because he was asked by Paul to put several of these unruly sheep in their place, and, if necessary, kick them out of the congregation.

If my mother had raised Timothy, he would have found that difficult to do.

The context of 1 Timothy chapter three has everything to do with someone seeking to be the shepherd of a church body.

Verses 2-7 cover the qualifications.

Paul tells us that if any man aims to be the overseer or pastor, it is a fine work he desires to do. 

An overseer, then, must be:

• A man whose life is above reproach.

Here we are in a Presidential election year, and it doesn't matter what side you are supporting, as your candidate will have their skeletons exposed. Of course, they will counter with dirt against the opposition and do their best to cloud the issue against them. 

What's the point here? 

Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Are you willing to take the heat for those skeletons? Maybe the best approach is to air out the laundry at the beginning, and then there will be no secrets that you have to dodge later on.

The Greek word translated as a reproach is anepílēptos and implies one who has nothing which an adversary could seize upon with which to base a charge. (WSD)

Why does this make me think of a church like Victory Outreach, where some of the Pastors will, in their testimonies, tell you that they murdered someone. It seems then, as if this reproach would be more of an active lifestyle thing, but not necessarily. 

• He must be faithful to his wife.

Sadly, most of us know of some pastor who has had an affair with their secretary or someone else. 

• He must exercise self-control.

Without some parameters, this could apply to anything, some being nowhere near as destructive as the others. The Word Study Dictionary states: "to be sober. Sober, temperate, self-controlled, especially in respect to wine." This does not give you any more crazed freedom with whiskey or other libations.

Not being an alcoholic, I don't understand the dynamics of alcoholism. You see, I put myself in recovery because I was getting far too comfortable, allowing rage to make my decisions for me. You might think I would understand the alcoholic better, simply because I attended recovery and led the anger group. But rage, for me, was a choice. With an alcoholic, I am not so sure there is a choice as it is an addiction.

If you did not check the background on this, new, potential pastor, then their propensity for excess might get past you and explode in all your faces.

• Live wisely, and have a good reputation.

The NLT has no direct reference to word origins in the Greek, and so I have to try to make an accurate comparison with something that does, like the NASB, or KJV. The words the NLT gives are, live wisely, and have a good reputation.  These are useful words for the moment, but several of these words overlap in their definitions and repeat a theme. The KJV uses terminology such as be vigilant, sober, and of good behavior. The Greek words used to make this sentence are nēphálios, sṓphrōn, and kósmios. 

If we look at kósmios in The Word Study Dictionary, we get this, "Plato presents someone who is kósmios, much like the citizen who quietly fulfills the duties which are incumbent on him and is not disorderly."

Plato associates such a person, as Paul does, with sṓphrōn, where he conveys the idea of a sensible, self-controlled person who voluntarily places limitations on their freedom.

Immediately I can tell you that some will lose their minds simply because Plato, the philosopher, is being referenced. There is no denying that usage, but if good, Godly sense shines through, then the goal is accomplished, and Paul calls for this very thing.

The end of this sentence above is quite telling and might severely impact those who choose to lead man-cave groups that have little to no restraints.

• He must enjoy having guests in his home.

Well, at least not in its present condition. The wife and I have talked about this very thing many times. 

• He must be able to teach.

Keep in mind that Paul already went through a long oration about how women are NOT to be Pastors. Honestly, I am not sure about the whys, but many hold to this standard. There is no doubt in my mind that there are women who can teach, and Beth Moore comes to mind as she did a teaching on Daniel that opened my eyes. However, such a harsh rejection is one reason I struggle with Pastor John MacArthur, as he rudely told her to go back home.

If you have sat under a Pastor who clearly could not hold an audience, you can understand what Paul is talking about. 

• He must not be, as the NASB states, addicted to wine, or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 

Yes, I know, this is a lot to cover in one breath, but, in many ways, we had already touched on this, when we covered self-control, because of the word pároinos. "The word-picture is that of an individual who always has a bottle (or wineskin) on the table and so signifies addiction."

Moving beyond the alcohol addiction, what about this idea of being gentle. The Greek translates to equitable, fair, gentle.

Equitable, according to Webster's means: Equal in regard to the rights of persons; distributing equal justice; giving each his due.

• "He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him."

I guess I just got lucky. When I had a family, I married into it, and then added two of my own. The step kids were well mannered and respectful. I never asked or demanded that they call me dad, but they did, and they complied when I called them. I suppose a lot of the respect I experienced came from their mother, who would back me up. The step kids parted from my fellowship as the price of divorce, but my girls also grew up without me, apparently having their choices forced on them. 

As for discipline, I did not count to whatever stupid number some people ascribe to before I asserted my will on them, as their count was included in the words, "I need you over here." I managed and coached the ball teams for both the step-son and the step-daughter, and as far as I was concerned, they were my kids. My daughters, without me in their lives, have shown me no respect. I am not sure the circumstances reflect a fair assessment of my ability to run a household.

I have only known one pastor who held the respect of his daughter, and it fair to say, he only had one child. All the others had children that were out of control. One pastor had to put his boy in a military academy in the hopes of straightening him out. I am not sure how that worked out; most I know that did that same thing, got back a child that was now rigidly antagonistic toward their father. 

Even worse, the passage ends like this, "For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church?" It seems like a logical assumption, doesn't it?

• "A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall."

Here's the logic. New believers may have enthusiasm, but do they have an understanding of the Holy Spirit? Probably not; it is not impossible, but not probable. The wisdom of the Lord and how to use it, come over time, with practice. 

A new believer, thinking they know everything, can and will become proud and irritating. I speak from experience as this is what happened to me when I was in the faith movement.

• "Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil's trap."

This is not a command; however, this is a method of judging whether the man is what he says he is. You go to the references, those who know him, and ask some probing questions, as you try to find out what kind of character this person has. If the community feels like he is tense and irritable, then this is a trait that you are likely to experience.

The pastor of the church that I was recently attending, in his introductory message, informed us that he was a recovering pharisee. Most in the church that morning had no clue what that meant. To me, it said that he still had the potential to be another Saul, hopefully stopping short of having people stoned. He also told us that his dream for the church was to have it filled with forty-year-old couples. Considering that the church body's average age was around 60, that should have made those of us that are older speculate about what our potential we would continue to have there.

Note how this sentence “people outside the church must speak well of him,” in effect, it says that if the people don't speak well of him, he will be disgraced and fall into the devil's trap. 

To fall is the Greek word empiptō, which means to be entrapped by the community.

In other words, these people, having the dirt on this guy, may be able to destroy any good work he could do.

What's my take away? 

Don't hide any skeletons in your closet.

Perhaps, the knowledge of information that could destroy your ministry should cause you to step away from potentially being the pastor.

Maybe an alternate method of dealing with this is to keep your closet clean.

Remember, our secrets become our prison cells.

A quick study on False Teachers. 2 Peter 2:1-3

I have had an up close and personal relationship with a false teacher for some time now. As usual, the Holy Spirit prompts me to see that far too many of us have to deal with people like this. Why would a false teacher be such a problem, especially since most of the influence asserted on us is minimal and annoying at best. For myself, I feel like I have wasted that portion of my day, and always have to do some quick research into the Word to debunk the garbage I, and the others had to listen to. Others ask outlandish questions, questions they would not ask if they spent anytime pursuing the Word of God. Sadly, the false teachers waste our time with garbage instead of the Word.

Having recently started a commentary on 2Peter I would have come to this discussion eventually, but for several days now, I feel compelled to do a quick study on false teachers. It would seem we are surrounded by them.

Also, I am not sure I understand what quick is either. If you do a phrase search in the NASB (my version of choice) there is only one reference to false teachers, and this is it:

2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2) Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3) and in their greed, they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Peter has projected this into the future, but if you know your Bible, then you know that false teachers came on the scene quickly. You may not see it, but there is a list presented here that describes the false teacher:

• “secretly introduce destructive heresies,”

Having a familiarity with someone who plays the role of false teacher, does he secretly introduce destructive heresies? First, let's look at the word secretly.

Secretly is the Greek word pareisago – which means to introduce surreptitiously; privily bring in. This tells me that under the guise of organized church policy and beliefs, he is teaching or advocating outside the scope of scripture or church doctrines.

The man I know told us that he was an ordained teacher in that particular religion. I knew they ordained Pastors, but teachers? The question is if they thought you were worthy of holding such a title many years ago, are you still adept enough to teach now?

Since joining the group over two years ago I became aware of false teachings. I know how many of you think and trust me, I was asked the same question; did you do or say anything about the teachings? Yes, on several occasions. At one point I left the group and was gone for about six months. A friend who still attended asked me to come back as I was one of the few who attempts to withstand the teacher. I assure you, I have not been called to aggressively confront deeply entrenched and admired Bible teachers; I also know my own personality and I have the propensity to be aggressive – a rather non-productive approach. Nothing changed, in fact, the teacher actually became more adamant in espousing his opinions.

The problems were many, and I attempted to inform the then new Pastor that someone needed to at least monitor the group. It seems that new pastors clean house by firing dissenting staff members, and that is exactly what we saw at this church. However, our renowned teacher is not a paid staff member and apparently of no concern. Two years have come and gone, and even though there is an esteemed church member and former deacon in attendance, to keep the study on the straight and narrow way of truth, he does and says nothing to correct blatant and horrendous falsehoods.

How then do we call it a secret and mutinous attempt if everyone keeps turning their backs and allowing the offender to go on teaching?

Destructive – Gk apōleia and means ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal): - damnable (-nation), destruction, die, perdition, X perish, pernicious ways, waste.

The ruin, loss, destruction, and waste come in the form of misinformed participants who are either mislead or incapable of seeking out the truth. Why should they, as the false teacher has by intimidation implied that the information he gave was true and not to be challenged.

Heresies – Gk hairesis – meaning a choice, that is, (specifically) a party or (abstractly) disunion. The Word Study Dictionary says, a form of religious worship, discipline, or opinion.

One of the main things we hear from this teacher, especially after a Biblical refute of something he has espoused, is, that's my opinion, and that is all that matters. Oh really. In those moments he is clearly in disunion from the Word of God and the doctrines of the church. (As I side note: I often find myself annoyed by church doctrines as they tend to be the rules of man as they attempt to establish a hierarchy.)

• “even denying the Master who bought them,”

At first glance, this seems rather extreme, up to and including a denial of Jesus Christ. It's not quite that direct and requires you looking up the “simple” words.

Denying – Gk arneomai meaning to contradict, that is, disavow, reject, abnegate: - deny, refuse.

The actions and reactions described here are a common occurrence with this individual I am describing, as he contradicts, rejects, and refuses to hear the truth. (By the way, if you were to respond correctly to anything, it should be the truth. Truth in this example is exclusively the Word of God.)

It would seem that all you have to do is consider the words in question: “denying the Master who bought them.” Who brought us to this grand party? Jesus Christ, the Father God. So, in contradicting, disavowing, rejecting and refusal, you are doing just that, denying.

DISAVOW is to deny; to disown; to deny to be true, as a fact or charge respecting one's self; as, he was charged with embezzlement, but he disavows the fact. A man may disavow his name or signature; he may disavow a knowledge of a fact or his concern in a transaction.

If I operate on the principle that God's word is the truth, then to teach in opposition to that Word is to disavow.

• “Many will follow their sensuality,”

Follow – Gk exakoloutheō meaning to follow, to imitate:

Such a simple word, follow, but if we all emulated the practices, lifestyle, and teachings of the false teacher, then we become his imitators, as we live our stunted lives (A huge implication here is, that few of us have the ability to read the Bible and understand it.)

How pathetically sad this idea of following someone like this. Jesus is the one I am aware of who advocated people following Him, although I am sure even Paul the Apostle wrote and told others to emulate him as well.

To follow all aspects of the false teacher I speak of would leave me seriously stunted, judgmental, and legalistic.

Sensuality – Gk aselgeia meaning licentiousness or wantonness.

As I try to understand I am lead to this word licentiousness, and I can't find it in my memory banks; that is why I look things up.

LICEN'TIOUSNESS, n. Excessive indulgence of liberty; contempt of the just restraints of law, morality, and decorum. The licentiousness of authors is justly condemned; the licentiousness of the press is punishable by law.

Anyone who has sat under this brother in Christ knows that he exhibits both of these things traits, every week.

• “and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;”

Maligned; what a pathetically simple way of saying blasphemed. The Gk word is blasphēmeō meaning to slander, hence to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things:

Slander is defined as A false tale or report maliciously uttered and tending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizens, by exposing him to impeachment and punishment, or by impairing his means of living;

Wow, in Christianity, and among false teachers, the idea of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and thereby committing the unpardonable sin, is tossed around with frequency. Jesus gave us the clearest and most defined example when He went after a group of Pharisees. The setting: He had just delivered a young man of a demon when the Pharisees began their verbal attacks, saying, He casts them out by the power of the Devil, the enemy. His response:

Mark 3:22-30 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." 23) And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24) "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25) "If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26) "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27) "But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 28) "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29) but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- 30) because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

Did you catch that? All this was said in response because “they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."”

Typically, the word blasphemy is used as a method of control (Control, if you do your homework, is a form of witchcraft.) Just for the fun of it, let's see what God has to say about witchcraft.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 9) "When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10) "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11) or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12) "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.

Let me ask you a simplistic, childlike question. What is truth? The answer to the question is, God's Word is Truth; plain and simple. So, does God win over the opinion of any man? Without a doubt.

• “and in their greed, they will exploit you with false words;”

Greed is the Greek word pleonexia and means advantage, covetousness.

The word greed tends to force you to look for the money, but that is far from where we need to be thinking right now. I realize this can be a problem for television evangelists and some pastors, but this is just a small town “Bible Study” leader, and he does not get paid.

Because the word advantage is an alternate understanding of the Gk word pleonexia, let's see what the definition of advantage is.

ADV'ANTAGE, n.1. Any state, condition, or circumstance, favorable to success, prosperity, interest, or reputation.

Wait a minute; this man had a reputation; and, he certainly wants to be seen as a success, and, he wants the conditions to be favorable to achieving that goal. But keep in mind that the verse says, “they will exploit you with false words.”

Allow me to give you a grand example of what we hear with consistency.

The generalized statement was made that, everyone that goes to the great white throne is sent to the hell they deserve. Is this a true statement? Absolutely not. How do I know that? Because I have read my Bible; I have a brain, and I choose to use it.

The Great White Throne judgment. Do you realize it only shows up in two locations; one of those is here:

Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12) And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15) And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

False teachers will dare to assume that no one's name is found written in the book of life and therefore thrown into the lake of fire, but that is not conveyed in Revelation 20:11-15. It merely tells you what is to befall those He does not find listed in the books. It says that the dead, from all time apparently, are raised and brought before this throne. God then, opens the books, and there are several, and He scours those books looking for some act for which He can show mercy. Sadly, for some unfortunate few, He finds nothing, and they are sent to their permanent place of separation.

Now, I said there were two places we find this throne. The second is in Matthew 25. The NASB entitles this section, “The Final Judgment.” Wow, that should have a familiar ring to it, especially since I just gave you the paraphrased version of the final judgment.

Matthew 25:31-46 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32) "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33) and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34) "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.' 37) "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38) 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39) 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40) "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41) "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42) for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43) I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44) "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45) "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46) "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

So how is this similar to what we saw in Revelation 20?

• Matthew 25 states,“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.”
• Revelation 20 tells us, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it,”

There is only one Him, and His name is Jesus. This is relatively easy to ascertain if you keep in mind that the Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ. So when we see God in the Revelation we are seeing Jesus.

• In Matthew 25:32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him.”

Here they are not specifically designated as dead or formerly dead folk. I think this throws many off as they cannot extrapolate. Why should this concept of the dead be a problem anyway; especially since we are all eternal in our spirits - that thing made after the image of God.

• In Revelation 20 we see this: “I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, .. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them.

These dead came from everywhere imaginable; the sea, and death and Hades gave up the dead which was in them. One of the problems people have when trying to make this comparison is the idea that only live people are brought to the throne in Matthew 25. Is it a critical error if God's word fails to give you what you think is a scathing omission? Dead or alive, we are all alive eternally in our spirits; we were, by the way, made in the image of God and He is a spirit. So, in the long run, no one is really dead in the sense of answering for our transgression's, are we.

Here is an excellent question and worthy of some thought, especially since it helps our understanding. Since this is the end of time who are the people, we are dealing with as we try to understand those before the throne?

Since the church age, there have only been three people groups. (Note: God does not care where you are from or what color you are. They are:)

• The Jews/Israel;
• The Church – the church is the living breathing organism made up of us, and we, are in Christ.
• And, the nations – those outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ,

A piece of information you theoretically should know, unless of course your time was squandered by a false teacher who made you endure some derisory teaching about backsliding for two months, is that by this time the church will have been caught up to heaven, leaving those Jews that were not part of the church to endure the wrath that is coming. Sadly many who sit in churches will miss out on this catching away and have to endure the wrath as well. Those outside of the first two groups; and remain, are primarily called the nations. The nations are a diverse group that can include religious people, cannibals, brutal bullies, the poor, and the rich.

In terms of timing, the millennial reign has come to an end. Satan is released long enough to deceive the nations - once again, and they surround the 1500 square mile City of God along with its people, thinking that they can kill God. God sends a fire and destroys this uncountable number. It is at this time when the Great White Throne is set up. If I focus on Matthew's account, there is a clear separation of acceptable folks from the bad, with the bad sent off to an eternal hell. Many are shown mercy simply on the basis of some kind act. Revelation 20 is where false teachers like to focus and will advocate that all go to hell, all the while ignoring that God is scouring through these books to find a reason to show mercy. If God, who knows all and sees all, knew who would be destined to hell why then even have books. In Matthew's account, the crowd is separated and seemingly without the aid of these books. This kind of merciless logic conveys a God that merely mocks those destined for hell since He already knows their names and whether they are in the books or not. 

No, God is looking for a reason to show mercy.

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