Day 1

1 Timothy 6

These are the things you are to teach and insist on

Paul in 1 Timothy chapter five and six has practical day to day living kind of teachings. But some people feel like as long as they follow the general philosophy of the bible, details don''t matter But Paul tells Timothy, teach people to follow the scriptures; what is written, not just generally but particularly.

Also , he said that those same things are the things that a pastor should be teaching. However , it is not enough to teach ,you must also insist on them. You know, sometimes the pastor maybe teaching what the bible is saying, but he also admits ooh it is so difficult to keep these things. So, people realise, oh, it is okay to skip some.

So, such a pastor is teaching correctly, but he is not insisting that it has to be done. For example, on the issue of marriage, since there are so many divorcees in church, you must be careful on the way you talk, do not insist on it. If you are going through the Book of Malachi and it is written clearly that God hates divorce, you must find a way of amending God''s word; so that it doesn''t sound like you are being insensitive to people. Don''t insist on it, teach it but don''t insist on it.

Paul, however, is saying these are the things to teach and emphasize. So, the first step is to teach, according to Paul. You cannot start blaming people for doing the wrong thing when they were never taught. Learning is not automatic.

I got saved as a young person around sixty years ago when in primary school.Then, I went to high school, and in high school we had very good Christian union that invited speakers who taught well. And, I would say, eh I didn''t know that, I have been doing the opposite. I would repent and ask the Lord to forgive me that I would not do that again. It is true I was saved ,but I didn''t know God''s word well.So I would think or do or say something that the scripture does not necessarily say.

And that''s why I would forever be grateful to the Kenya Student Christian fellowship and our Christian Union that I joined in.the late the nineteen sixties and they helped me to know the word of God.

So, it is not enough to insist on people obeying the bible if they don''t know what it says. You will be disappointed as a pastor, but they are not the ones to blame. You are the one to be blamed because Paul is saying: teach and then insist. Don''t insist before you teach. And I think that''s an important procedure because I think even in management it is bad to punish someone on an issue you never trained him on. It is wrong. He did it wrongly, but he is not in the capacity to do it the right way. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to know what the subordinates know and he don''t know, and it is the work of the supervisor to ensure, they teach or train all people on the way things are to be done, then after they now know what to do, if they don''t do it, you can now punish them.

Day 2

1 Timothy 6

3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,

So, once you have taught, you can now insist that they continue doing what they are supposed to do. Here, Paul emphasizes the importance of maintaining good order in the church '— starting with teaching, but also insisting on their obedience afterward. My understanding of what Paul emphasizes as insisting involves four things: first, it means you keep reminding the person. If you tell me to wake up and I don''t, then you tell me again, that is insisting. So, I think it''s important to insist through repetition and emphasis. Elsewhere, Paul says that telling or reminding someone of the same thing repeatedly is not bad; in fact, it is beneficial to you. Therefore, it's important to focus especially on issues that need consistent coverage.

Philippians 3:1

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you

In the great commission, we are told, go and preach, but also those who believe must be taught. What is the syllabus? Very wide. Whatsoever Jesus had covered is the syllabus. Jesus talked about farming, you cover it, he talked about how to relate with your bosses, cover it . Jesus talked about how to be in a marriage, cover it. It is a wide subject.

That''s why, when you say you are in the department of discipleship and then within six weeks they have finished? Really? They haven''t covered the syllabus. It is only that you must begin somewhere, and then that person should know that they are still expected to learn more because the syllabus is wide.

So, insist number one means remind. Insist, number two, means correct. You don''t see somebody doing something different from the one you told him about and you ignore it. If you ignore it, then you were not serious when you were teaching. So, you must correct the person responsible for doing what they were supposed to do as it was not optional. But thirdly, if you're talking about insisting on it, then it means you must occasionally ask someone why they believe it is the right thing to do. Why do it that way and not another? And by that time, they might not. Only understand how to do it, but also why'".

But fourthly, if you insist it means you discipline those who insist on not obeying. Can stop that person from being part of the church. Suspend him. The bible calls it church discipline. That may mean you can stop the person for a while. All that is in the practice of insisting.

But listen again to what Paul is saying in 1 timothy chapter six verse three;

if anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to Godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing, they are unruled, they have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk and evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

Can you see how the people who are not living according to the teaching are described? These are people who do not want the details. They do not agree with the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ. They claim to be Christians, but they don''t agree with it, or they don''t support godly teaching.

Day 3

I Timothy 6

4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions

You identify them because there is a list of some things that can tell you how they are. Number one, they are conceited. That means they have an attitude of '"what can you teach me'".Attitude of, they know. They are thus conceited.

Number two; the truth is they understand nothing. Although they are proud of what they know but when you go deep, they don''t even know what the word of God says.

Number three; they have an unhealthy interest in controversies. They just are looking for trouble. They wonder how we can ferment a quarrel. You tell them something they want to oppose it. why? it is not clear? They just have an unhealthy interest in controversies.

Next; they also like quarrelling about words. Can you imagine you said something that means the same thing as another word, they insist on one word rather than the other. They quarrel about words.

You have to be careful, if the main thing somebody is saying, is what I am saying then why must you add your words if they mean the same thing? But this is what these people do; they do not want to follow God's word, so they want to twist it around, I guess. You know if you have those kinds of people, is it's no surprise that there will be envy, there will be strife, there will be malicious talk, there will be evil suspicions which in the end means if that is what is in a fellowship, there will be friction between people.

Why are people like that? Number one, it is not because they are not taught. Let us assume they are taught. But it is because they have a corrupt mind. A corrupt mind means warped up mind that doesn''t think through what they have been taught. Since they have a corrupt mind, they have evil intentions.

Number two: they have been robbed of the truth. I would assume, just like the devil who interferes with the seed that fell on dry ground or among thorns, they have been robbed of the truth by the devil. They don''t have God''s word, which is the truth.

But then what is really behind all this: it is selfishness. They are hoping that through the church, fellowship, bible study group, they will gain. Paul puts it this way: they take

godliness as a means to financial gain

How evil! And Paul is saying that if that''s the way you behave, then it means that the word of God is not helping you at all. It is not something you are benefiting from. You need to ask yourself if when you came to Christ; did you understand that he is Jesus, het saviour who will forgive you all your sins and that he is the master. Jesus Christ means ..Jesus the saviour, Christ the anointed one. And if he is the anointed one, it then means that what he tells you, you must do.

Now what does that even mean? you have to be careful with people who are teaching something different from the scriptures. In fact, in verse three Paul is saying, some people teaches otherwise.

That means some people want to be teachers but are teaching otherwise'€¦.instead of Christ message. I think what Paul is interested in here is to remind you importance of trusting in God and listening to him.Then doing the things he has told you to do fully. Right from the beginning, obey him.

Day 4

1Timothy 6

5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth , and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

God has taught us from the book of Timothy Timothy saying that if anybody teaches otherwise, there is a problem with him. It means that he is not listening to God. If what Paul is saying is from God and he is teaching something different, then he is not from God.

So, Timothy is being told : guard your sheep, guard your congregation. don''t allow them to be mistaught. People who take God''s word and misuse it should not be allowed to teach your congregation. These are people teaching otherwise from what the scriptures are teaching . You need to ask yourself: is that what is happening in my church? Teaching otherwise?

You know somebody called Poole says in a quote, '"if there be any person who either more publicly or more privately shall take an initiative to instruct people otherwise ,point them out, discipline them'" . We need to understand these are dangerous people in your congregation. You know some of those don''t teach in the pulpit, it is that they are talking to various people in the congregation.

That''s why house visits by a pastor are important .It is where you will hear something and you be like how did you get that from? Oh brother so and so was teaching us. Or it maybe they got it just in private conversations. You need to watch out for such people. The other thing about them is to hear your sermon and then their work is to say to some in the congregation ; ah did you think that was true? They don''t accept wholesome words, so they would rather argue, it is actually heretical.

They have left what God teaches. They are trying to assume they are teaching about the word of God but they are actually moving away from it at a tangent; away from what God''s intentions are. So, when you have people like that, it will be important to ask yourself, how are you managing them?

Of course the first thing like I said is to teach them the right thing. Be sure they know the truth in the first place the way Aquinas handled Apollos. Once they know the truth but have opted not to acknowledge it, then you have to handle them as rebels. They must be moved away from church. Be sure you don''t have to be an active opponent of God''s word to be called an enemy of it.

If you are going to a wrong direction, just missing the direction slightly is dangerous. Move away from the right direction by a very small margin, later you will discover that the small margin is enough over time, to total different destination.If the right destination is here, you might be ten kilometres away from where you wanted to reach.

If you fail to follow the bible as it is fully, in your preaching and practice let us be clear you are God''s enemy. You know Calvin said and I quote: '" it is possible not to profess any ungodly or manifest error and yet to corrupt the doctrine of godliness by silly boastful bubbling, for when there is no progress or edification from any teaching it is already departed from the teaching of Jesus Christ'" .That is a warning to all of us who teach or who preach.

We need to be very careful on how we teach; are we moving slowly, slightly off the mark, then we are actually enemies of Christ.

So, what are we talking about? We are not talking about questioning a doctrinal stand for a denomination. We are going back to the bible, where the words of our Lord Jesus are. We are warning that there are people who don''t accept the word of God as it is. You know, even by the time of Paul, already bad teachers were teaching, saying gentiles should be circumcised. That way they are misdirecting God''s truth but they come as if they are part of you. In fact, they claim to be deep in the things of God. Yes, there are different ways people refuse to consent to the truth of the word of God. Of course, you may do so by denying God''s word. You argue , no, no, that''s not what the bible says . It will be equally erroneous when you don''t deny it, but you just ignore it, or you know the bible you don''t read it, or you don''t follow it or you just ignore it. You know the words but you don''t oppose them but ignore.

Day 5

1 Timothy 6

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

But thirdly, you are in error when you deny it. You are not ignoring but you find a way of explaining it away. Not that the bible is telling you to do something you argue it is not humanly possible that. You are explaining it away. You are kind of even maybe twisting God''s word, like God''s word can be played around in a debate or dispute rather than to be obeyed. When it is God who has talked, when he tells you to jump; you don''t ask him why? You can only ask him how high do I jump?

This is because if he is God, you accepted him to be the Lord over your life, then you have to do whatever he says. You know all of us could be in a church where the truth is taught, where even the Bible is memorized yet it might not affect our lives and we may not make it to heaven as our destination. You know being curious to learn God''s word is good. We must thank God for that interest, but there must be a willingness to submit to whatever the word of God tells you to do without question once you verify it God who demands something.

Day 6

1 Timothy 6

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it

You know, with the so-called wealth and health gospel, and all kinds of other teachings that are coming, this issue is real challenge. It is easy to regard God''s word as one additional source of information, not as the only source. You are likely to see it as trivia not as a book of truth that confronts you and that must transform your life. Yet claim to be a Christian.

Let us be clear, the bible is the only word of God. You must treat the word of God as the word of God and follow it without question. Of course, the teacher must teach it well but once you understand it follow it. Again, I repeat, when you start to refusing to follow God''s word most likely you are conceited. Here conceited means you think you know as much as what Paul knew, you know as much as what Peter knew; or that they did not know what they were saying.

That''s pride or conceit. It will get you away from God and that can be a problem. And the trouble is once you start moving away from the bible, and you start convincing others you will destroy the whole church.

So, allow God''s word to speak for itself. The way I like putting it is you as a preacher of God''s word must be a prisoner of God''s word. That means if God''s word says something which you really don''t feel comfortable with, you still must say it. You struggling yourself even to fulfil it but you still must teach God''s word the way it is. You are a prisoner of God''s word.

Day 7

Galatians 5:26

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

If you don''t agree to be a prisoner of God''s word you will be lost by misinterpreting or guiding congregation to a different way. That''s pride to think that you can amend God''s word or have confidence in your own intellectual ability as better than God''s word.

The truth is that conceit is proof that you know nothing because if you knew who God is, then you would not be rising against him. So, we must handle our pride, both as a congregation or as pastors.

Next ,if we really want to be in the state of God''s will, we must avoid dispute and argument, or taking God''s word like a topic for debate. that is not a good thing.

I am not suggesting we don''t study God''s word deeply, but don''t make it a debate. Be willing to hear it and obey it. So let us understand that if it is a genuine desire, a genuine look at God''s word then no problem, but a look for debate purposes, that''s a problem.

That way you are going to avoid envy, strife, evil suspicions, and therefore disputes and arguments in the church of Jesus Christ.From such withdraw yourself, don''t be in a group like that. So, if you see somebody in your congregation who is envious of the position of the pastor, there will soon be trouble. If you see people who enjoy strife, there will be trouble.

If you see people who promote criticism of anybody not based on God''s word there will be trouble. In the process, people become suspicious of each other and that''s not a good thing at all because then your church will end up with useless wranglings, endless and needless discourses . I think that''s not a good thing at all.

So, what is all this according to Paul?It is likely to be like we said earlier that this person we are talking about is thinking of using, drawing people to himself so that he can gain. Paul is saying they take godliness as a means for financial gain. It is a way to become rich.

The moment you don''t wait on God to give you whatever He chooses to give you in whatever business you are involved in, and you think you are going to get it out of manipulating the people of God, you are lost. You are getting yourself a curse. No wonder Calvin said that for these men, all Christianity needs to be measured by what gains it brings. Paul advised servants of Christ not to have any dealings with such men.

So, when you talk about true Christianity, it is not so that you gain anything, it is so that you bring glory to God. your success is to ensure people become closer to God. If they get money in the process, it is not because they joined the church. When you market the gospel in that way you are lost. Come to Jesus you will become rich, is not a biblical message. You are making the gospel a means of profit, and it is not right.

It is like you have a product called Christianity which you are selling so that you make a profit. That cannot be correct. Of course, the Lord blesses us with wealth at his timing. Jesus blesses those who put their trust in him. Whether they get rich or not they are still blessed.

So, we need Christians who are concerned with glorifying God rather than earthly benefit. And the word of God is saying, from such Christians withdraw yourself. So, I am asking you, are you a partner to such people? Do you encourage your friendship with such people? Paul is saying there is something wrong with you.

Paul forbids Timothy from imitating such .In fact, he is telling him to avoid them because, although they are not openly opposing the gospel, they have already lost their way, and they do not want to be helped.

So ,you and me must be at great pain to make everyone know that we are quite different from these profiteers. We do not preach or do ministry to gain. We believe, like Paul, God meets our needs. For Paul''s upkeep he would make tents. When we say that''s what we mean, he was a tent maker. He made tents and from the money he got from tents, he was able to meet his needs so he served the Lord. He did not serve the Lord to gain. May that be true of all of us.