WBSFU WORKERS’ WORKSHOP – “THE GREAT WORKSHOP 2010 HELD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010 TO SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010 AT PREMISES OF CHURCH OF CHRIST, ONIKOKORO/GBONGUDU, SOOKO ROAD, IBADAN, OYO STATE
THEME: PREACHERS TEACHING PREACHERS ABOUT…
TOPIC: PREACHING TO PREACHERS ABOUT PREACHING AND TEACHING ON ACTIONS AND RECOMPENSE: PRESENT AND FUTURE REWARDS
SPEAKER: EVANGELIST HILARY JOHNSON CHUKWUMA CHUKWURAH
TEXT: I TIMOTHY 5: 24 – 25:
Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgement, but those of some men follow later. Likewise, the good works of some men are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. (New King James Version)
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
I am particularly honoured to be asked to speak to us: Preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Great Servants of God.
The topic I have elected to share with us is based on I Timothy 5: 24 -25, which I have titled, Preaching to Preachers on Preaching About Actions and Recompense: Present and Future Rewards.
The book of I Timothy falls within a class of Biblical books commonly referred to as “Pastoral Epistles”, which include I Timothy, II Timothy and Titus. These were books written by Apostle Paul to two evangelists serving in different locations: Ephesus and Crete. The books were actually letters written to these first century Preachers, directing them on how to deal with certain issues bothering on false doctrines and false teachers; general Church administration and personal conducts of these Christian ministers with emphasis on ensuring ministerial integrity. These letters cum books were to serve as reminders and manuals.
The primeval place of these books in the annals of ministerial work cannot be questioned as they provide us with insights on how those who did this work did it, their struggles and issues they confronted or were asked to confront.
Written between 63 – 65 AD, I Timothy is particularly interesting because of Paul’s emphasis on striking a balance. I Timothy 1:3; 3:15 and 4:16 are considered the central themes of Paul’s first letter to Timothy where he requested Timothy to instruct certain men not to teach certain doctrines, ensure orderliness in Church worship and to watch his life and doctrine. For a man of God to worth his name, he must be a man of strong moral and theological fibers. Exalting one above the other would likely spell doom for him; emphasizing one and deemphasizing the other would be counter productive. He must be doctrinally as well as morally sound.
The saying, “The evils that men do lives after them” and “The evils that men do lives with them” seem to have found a place in Paul’s theology in view of his statements in I Timothy 5:24-25.
Contextually, in the words of Walter W. Wessel (1995:1767), Paul advised “Timothy to be alert to hidden sins as well as the good deeds in the lives of candidates for ordinations”. However, by application, preachers, teachers and Christian ministers generally ought to watch out and speak against evil deeds, preempt them by teaching against them and playing up their consequences. Praises should trail worthy lives as we encourage our members to take that honorable path.
As members of Higher Estate of the Realm (Journalists are referred to as “Members of the Fourth Estate of The Realm”), we occupy strategic positions in society as we minister to various categories of people. Actually, we are opinion moulders. In Journalism, mass media are said to be Agenda Setters. We should set agenda for positive and productive living by the kind of teaching and preaching we come up with. The destinies of generations are moulded by us. We have in the Church various kinds of people: peasants, students, unemployed persons, politicians, academics, business people, and etcetera. In fact, almost every member of public and private sectors are represented amongst those we preach to.
Pulpits are powerful places and tools for change. We affect those who affect societies. It, therefore, means that if our pulpits are powerful, Biblically and morally sound, they would be reflected in the daily lives and conducts of members who worship and fellowship under the influences of our pulpits. We can say without fear of contradiction that as our pulpits go so goes a larger segment of our societies. This is the more imperative why we must emphasis on the judgment that are here and the ones that will come.
PREACHERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
Our responsibilities as Preachers of God’s Word are numerous. Principally, one of our responsibilities is that of watching over the souls of men and women under our influence (Heb. 13:17). Like Jesus our Lord, Saviour and model, we will one day stand to give account of those entrusted to our spiritual care (John 17:11-12). Consequently, we must ensure that we “push” people into Heaven than to pamper them into Hell. In view of this, sermons and studies should be ones that would rattle the cages of sin and spiritual inactivities. Our Brethren must not be allowed to feel or be at “ease in Zion” (cf. Amos 6:1). We must not court the friendship of anyone or seek anyone’s approbation at the expense of proclaiming the truth of the Gospel and emphasis on the right kind of lives (cf. Acts 1:1). We must deliver our souls and fulfill our ministries.
The pulpit must not be par with the pew. Our lives must be above those we minister to. Like Apostle Paul, we must “magnify” our ministries (Rom. 11:13). It is only when we live above board, preach above board and encourage Brethren to do that we can truly hope to win a sizeable number to the Lord.
Being a preacher requires much more than being happy with the people we preach to (or is it, “preach for”?). We must become representatives of the Voice from heaven. The Voice that shook the earth and promises to do so again (Heb.12:26). We cannot, like Apostle Paul’s “Be free from blood of all men” if we shrink from declaring to them the “Whole counsel of God”; if we cease from warning and admonishing men and women,”even with tears” (Acts 20:26-27, 31).
It is only preaching and teaching on “Judgment that now is and that which is to come” that have the power to shake the very foundations of wickedness, sin, unfaithfulness and spiritual inactivity in men and women irrespective of class, economic, political, academic, and social standing (Acts 24:24-25).
John the Baptizer warned his audience to, “Flee from wrath to come” (Matt 3:7.) Great servants of God were not just contented by patting people on the back. Think of the prophets and Apostles. These were men who were on fire for the Lord. They had passion for souls. Even when they knew their words would hurt, they still believed that an, “Open rebuke is better than secret love; that the wounds of a friend is better than kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:5 -6).
Brethren and fellow preachers, most of our congregations have become “too comfortable” that our meeting halls have now become restaurants than the refiners’ workshop where tools are sharpened and forged for the Master’s use. All manner of people who do not have business being in the Body of Christ are now there so much so that we now quarrel and argue more than we rejoice and reason. When we fail to do what we are supposed to do, that is when we begin to do what we are not supposed to do. Most worships have now turned from “Wordship” to “Warships.” Rather than word-shipping to each other we now war-shipping to each other.
To change this present orientation, we need strong preaching and teaching; ministrations that emphasize consequences of our actions in the now and in the future. Our congregations must become “too hot” for certain kinds of people and lives. That fire must come from our pulpits.
UNVEILING THE MESSAGE OF I TIMOTHY 5:24 - 25
The message of I Timothy 5:24 - 25 is simple – the wicked will not go unpunished neither will the righteous go unjustified.
I Timothy 5: 24 – 25 could well be described as, “Diamond in the rough”. This is so because of the context and theology of I Timothy 5: 1 – 23. Reading through the cluster of instructions on how to relate with Elders (Ordained and non-ordained), the relationships that should exist between a minister and various categories of people at Church, apostle Paul took time to explain how widows in various congregations should be attended to and other sundry issues of Eldership. He paused to remind Timothy to take care of himself (I Tim. 5:23) after which he began to talk about mankind – about actions and recompense; present and future rewards.
This last point should strike a responsive chord in each of us. This is a subject that should occupy a central place, a pivotal position in our daily ministrations amongst people – those who have come into a covenant relationship with God in Christ and amongst those who have not, emphasizing that there is a reward for every action – for good and for evil (Heb. 2: 1 – 2; II Cor. 5: 10 – 11). These rewards, according to Paul led by the Holy Spirit is both for here and the here after (I Tim. 4: 8; I Tim. 5: 24 – 25).
As preachers and teachers, if we focus attention on these kinds of teaching and preaching, we will end up depopulating hell by populating heaven. When we “screw in” (to borrow Brother Douglas M. Wheeler’s constant phrase) this message into the minds and hearts of our people and everyone that hear us, we will have less problems to contend with but if we fail to, we will continue to content with more hydra-headed moral, spiritual and doctrinal problems. We must not fail to remind ourselves that our tomorrow starts today as our today began yesterday.
Making brethren know that there is a tomorrow and that this tomorrow could be made or marred depending on what we do today should form an essential ingredient of our ministerial menu. We must emphasize that our individual actions could prove detrimental or beneficial to the future we all expect to have; that people can actually destroy their tomorrow with their today or build their tomorrow with their today.
The spillover effect of these kinds of preaching and teaching will be a better, more robust and conscientious Brotherhood who will take these messages into the wider human society with its multiplier effects: responsible human behaviours, better polity and reduction in dog-eat-dog mentality that have taken the center-stage of the psyche of modern societies.
Truth is: change cannot come until truth is told and preached. If we keep pampering our wounds, they will fester. To heal these wounds we need strong antibiotics and disinfectants. While applying these to our wounds, it sure will hurt but that does not mean that we will not apply them. We must, else, we develop worse conditions and perhaps die therefrom.
If truth hurts, it nonetheless has to be preached because it takes love to tell truth to those one loves (Prov.27: 5; Heb.12:5-11). It was Savonarola who said that when he “preached fickle messages,” he “would please men’s souls but,” if he “preached God’s Word as it should be preached he shook men’s souls.”
Do we desire to please men’s souls or shake men’s souls? Do we desire to pamper men and women into hell or persuade them into heaven?
Haddon W. Robinson in his book, Biblical Hermeneutics observed that “Sermons should be bullets and not buckle shots.”
WHY PREACH AND TEACH ON JUDGEMENT THAT NOW IS AND THAT WHICH IS TO COME?
We cannot be said to have performed our sacred duties as preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ if we fail to warn men and women of their eternal estates if they do not repent and do deeds worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8-10;Acts 26:20).
One insurance for strong positive character building is pointing people to judgement. This kind of teaching and preaching are healthy for the souls of men (Heb. 13: 9). Preaching on prosperity and social acceptance as our Pentecostal, Protestant, Evangelical and Catholic friends are wont to would not produce the kind of characters that will meet Heaven’s approval.
Preaching on judgement is good because it touches the hearts of men and strikes at the heart of the matter. Prophets and Apostles adopted this stance knowing the good it would produce in the end even though men and women of low living would detest and resent it with every fiber of their beings (Acts 24:24-25). The kind of preaching and teachings that would rattle the cages of sin and spiritual inactivities is found in preaching and teaching on the judgement to come.
We cannot deter men and women from plunging themselves into eternal damnation by engaging in theological pat on the back. We have to literally “deliver people from fire” (Jude vs. 20-21). Reminding those we preach to that God’s judgement begins here for some while for others, it will be after the last curtain of one’s earthly life is drawn was Apostle Paul’s prescription to Timothy as he ministered to saints and sinners in the ancient city of Ephesus. This line of preaching is strongly recommended for today’s preachers and Congregations.
Judgement is on already! People must be warned to flee from the wrath to come (Matt. 3: 7). They must be told and in strong terms, too, that daily their actions and lifestyles are being weighed on the balances of God (Dan. 5:26-28; cf. Rev. 3:1-5); that it would take those who purify themselves from fleshly and spiritual impurities to inherit God’s promises (II Cor. 7: 1).
Preachers must balance theological equations by reminding our people that God is both loving and wrathful (Rom. 11:22). We have preached the love of God for too long now; it is now time to emphasize on the wrath of God. We owe it to God to remind men and women of our generations that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10: 31) because our God is a “Consuming fire” (Heb. 12: 29).
It is time to go back to preaching the messages that brought about great awakenings in the past by emphasizing the fact that sinners are in the hands of an angry God (Ps.7:11-12). If revival must come we must preach messages of God’s displeasure over sin and in strong terms, too!
Brethren, it is time to rise from our spiritual doldrums – to stop being at ease in Zion (Amos 6: 1). We must stop being comfortable with the comfort of those who have found in the Church a perfect hiding place, those who use Christianity as a cloak (cf. II Tim. 3:5-7; Titus 1:16).
If we must stop the drifting, which unfortunately is the situation today’s Church has found herself in, we must pick up our paddles and steer her back to the shore of theological and moral sanities.
Brethren, because of our failure to preach and emphasize on the judgement to come, we have found ourselves in situations where, rather than take the Church and Gospel to the world as we should our people are busy bringing the world into the Church. The solution to further drifting and secularization of the Church lies in reminding men and women through the instrumentality of preaching that God’s judgement will come upon those who offend.
We need to understand that the problem of people is a problem of the heart and so to do our work effectively as preachers and teachers of God’s word; shapers of destinies and prophets of God today, we need to address the heart of the matter.
Preaching and teachings on Judgement are those that touch and prick the heart. This is what the world needs, not the meddlesomeness and smooth-tonguing which have characterized the pulpits of today. We have got to make those we preach to face reality; make them see the dire consequences inherent in certain actions and lifestyles. If we do not show the light through purposeful preaching and exegesis, people will not find their way. We are the light bearers. We are the spare conscience of our generation. We are the proclaimers of God’s word. People loose their humanness only if preachers and teachers of God’s word loose their sense of purpose – to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:20). We pronounce judgement when need arise. We do not preach to make people happy, to court their favour and seek for cheap popularity amongst them because these take people nowhere but to eternal damnation.
To rescue the perishing, we must not tolerate the things that make them feel comfortable in their comfort zones because there are woes against those who are at ease in Zion.
Oh, how God longs for us to be the Elijahs of our generation! Men who must confront the Jezebels and Ahabs of our times!! Men who would challenge people to take decisive stands for Jesus, not halting between two opinions (I Kings 18:21).
If we do not proclaim judgement on those who have become “change agents” in the Brotherhood, our Mighty Brotherhood will be lost in a new wave of apostasy and be swallowed by denominationalism.
Brethren, I fear for the Church of tomorrow! I fear that our children may grow up not having the pure Gospel of the yesteryears. I fear that our grand-children will grow up being fed chaff and not the grain of the Gospel. I am afraid because the vultures are here already.
The great revivals of the 17th and 18th centuries that swept America and Europe like tidal waves were not achieved by doldrums of today. We need to ignite back the fires of repentance and revivals in our members. We must figuratively set them ablaze for God and ensure that the fires of God’s word (Jer. 23: 29) consume their spiritual inactivities and the living of lives with little spiritual icings and stuffs like that, which characterize men and women of today.
Where are such soul-stirring and fire-brand ministrations such as “Sinner in the hands of an angry God” that used to characterize our pulpits, the type that Peter’s audience in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) heard which made them to ask, “Men and Brethren, what must we do?”
Let me ask you, dear servant of God, when was the last time a person wept after hearing you preach? All these clapping we receive after grandstanding on our pulpits is taking us no where. It is a crime against humanity and God that we are compromising our commission and sabotaging our calling through tolerance and beggarly preaching!
Time has come for us to stop playing Eli, fattened by the sacrificial meats we eat and neglecting to rebuke our spiritual children. Time has come for us to stop playing Phinehas and Hophni who must sleep with our women in the hallowed chambers of our sanctuaries. If we keep doing these, we should not be surprised to learn that glory has departed. I see the coming of Icabod! I am afraid, it is here already!!
BIBLICAL GUIDEPOSTS ON JUDGEMENT:
UNDERSTANDING GOD’S JUDGEMENT
1. God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalms 7:11-13)
2. Someone has remarked there are three most important questions that define every man’s life upon the face of the Earth, namely, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going from here?” we each came from God. We are here to do the Will of Him who sent us after which we will go back to God. In other words, we are each headed for God’s judgement throne (Eccl. 12:14). On judgement day, we will each stand before God to give account of all that we have done while alive. This accounting will be all-inclusive (II Cor. 5: 10 – 11; Rom. 14: 12).
3. We must appreciate the fact that in God’s judgement, there is no appeal.
4. Bible clearly teaches that life precedes and that death is the harbinger of Judgement (Heb. 9: 28). Our Lord’s statement in Revelations 14: 13: “….their works follow after” is laden with deep and great meaning. It should strike fear in our hearts and make us to sit up.
5. Judgement is reserved for those who do what they do (Rom.2:5).
6. Because judgement is not carried out speedily, hearts of men are set on doing evil continually (Eccl. 8: 11 -13). Do we, because God does not act now as He did in the past dedicate our lives to opposing His will in our lives? Do we like Hezekiah postpone the evil day and not deal with these issues in the now (II Kings 20: 16 – 19)? Why postpone the evil day? We must not leave for tomorrow that which we ought to do today.
7. There is a day of reckoning (II Cor. 5:10-11). This is that day that “God will judge the secrets of men.” (Rom. 2:16)
8. Flee from wrath! (Matt.3:7; Acts 17:30-31). Judgement is coming! We must do everything we can to escape God’s judgement.
9. Some people’s judgement are delivered here and now but for others, theirs will come much later (I Tim. 5:24-25). That yours or mine have not come now portend danger because they will be more drastic for us. If our judgements do not come now, danger is the word. But if we have experienced it, rejoice because God has given us opportunity to make amends.
Think of your tomorrow: the few moments of joy that may define your present may be the reason for your fall and gnashing of teeth tomorrow (Prov. 20: 17).
SUMMATION
I agree with most of us that charting this path would be dreary, hard and unpopular but I would want us to consider making it a part of our theological menu, which we will serve members of our Congregations.
Balanced spiritual diets require that we combine sweet with bitter; hard with soft. “Knowing the terror of the Lord,” Apostle Paul had written to Corinthian Christians, “we persuade men” (II Cor. 5:11). He had also written that if they did not want the Lord to meet them in conditions that would stir up His anger, they should better buckle up their belts and live the way they ought to (II Cor.12:20).
I recently did a series on the topic, NO PEACE FOR THE WICKED on my weekly radio broadcast, MOMENT OF TRUTH whose MP3 CDs would soon be available for mass distribution to those who desire them. I would encourage you to obtain that audio CD, listen to the messages and make same available to a larger number of those you minister to.
As I draw this to a close, I would appeal to all of us who have accepted to serve the Lord as Preachers to seek to make our people become more spiritually responsible by reminding them from time to time that actions and reactions are equal and opposite; that sinners would not go unpunished nor would the righteous go unrewarded; that our present actions would lead to recompense either for good or for ill; that a few moments of joy could usher in months of misery (Romans 6:21).
God bless us as we seek to discharge our most sacred duties without fear or favour in Jesus most precious name!
Script by:
Evangelist Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah
TOWNSHIP/CAMPUS CHURCH OF CHRIST,
14, Agbugwu Lane, off, University Market Road, P. O. Box 351, Nsukka – 410002, Enugu State, Nigeria.
E-Mail: hilaryjohnsonc@yahoo.com
PHONE: 234-08039596919.
REFERENCES
Chukwurah, H. J. C. (2006). “Flee From Wrath to Come.”
Fayetteville, Arkansas: Gospel Tracts
International.
Edwards, J. (1741). “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Reprinted, 1976 by Banner of Truth Trust, USA.
Robinson, H. W. (1985). Biblical Hermeneutics.
USA: Baker Book House.
Wessel, W. W. (1995). “I Timothy” in NASB Study Bible. Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
THEME: PREACHERS TEACHING PREACHERS ABOUT…
TOPIC: PREACHING TO PREACHERS ABOUT PREACHING AND TEACHING ON ACTIONS AND RECOMPENSE: PRESENT AND FUTURE REWARDS
SPEAKER: EVANGELIST HILARY JOHNSON CHUKWUMA CHUKWURAH
TEXT: I TIMOTHY 5: 24 – 25:
Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgement, but those of some men follow later. Likewise, the good works of some men are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. (New King James Version)
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
I am particularly honoured to be asked to speak to us: Preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Great Servants of God.
The topic I have elected to share with us is based on I Timothy 5: 24 -25, which I have titled, Preaching to Preachers on Preaching About Actions and Recompense: Present and Future Rewards.
The book of I Timothy falls within a class of Biblical books commonly referred to as “Pastoral Epistles”, which include I Timothy, II Timothy and Titus. These were books written by Apostle Paul to two evangelists serving in different locations: Ephesus and Crete. The books were actually letters written to these first century Preachers, directing them on how to deal with certain issues bothering on false doctrines and false teachers; general Church administration and personal conducts of these Christian ministers with emphasis on ensuring ministerial integrity. These letters cum books were to serve as reminders and manuals.
The primeval place of these books in the annals of ministerial work cannot be questioned as they provide us with insights on how those who did this work did it, their struggles and issues they confronted or were asked to confront.
Written between 63 – 65 AD, I Timothy is particularly interesting because of Paul’s emphasis on striking a balance. I Timothy 1:3; 3:15 and 4:16 are considered the central themes of Paul’s first letter to Timothy where he requested Timothy to instruct certain men not to teach certain doctrines, ensure orderliness in Church worship and to watch his life and doctrine. For a man of God to worth his name, he must be a man of strong moral and theological fibers. Exalting one above the other would likely spell doom for him; emphasizing one and deemphasizing the other would be counter productive. He must be doctrinally as well as morally sound.
The saying, “The evils that men do lives after them” and “The evils that men do lives with them” seem to have found a place in Paul’s theology in view of his statements in I Timothy 5:24-25.
Contextually, in the words of Walter W. Wessel (1995:1767), Paul advised “Timothy to be alert to hidden sins as well as the good deeds in the lives of candidates for ordinations”. However, by application, preachers, teachers and Christian ministers generally ought to watch out and speak against evil deeds, preempt them by teaching against them and playing up their consequences. Praises should trail worthy lives as we encourage our members to take that honorable path.
As members of Higher Estate of the Realm (Journalists are referred to as “Members of the Fourth Estate of The Realm”), we occupy strategic positions in society as we minister to various categories of people. Actually, we are opinion moulders. In Journalism, mass media are said to be Agenda Setters. We should set agenda for positive and productive living by the kind of teaching and preaching we come up with. The destinies of generations are moulded by us. We have in the Church various kinds of people: peasants, students, unemployed persons, politicians, academics, business people, and etcetera. In fact, almost every member of public and private sectors are represented amongst those we preach to.
Pulpits are powerful places and tools for change. We affect those who affect societies. It, therefore, means that if our pulpits are powerful, Biblically and morally sound, they would be reflected in the daily lives and conducts of members who worship and fellowship under the influences of our pulpits. We can say without fear of contradiction that as our pulpits go so goes a larger segment of our societies. This is the more imperative why we must emphasis on the judgment that are here and the ones that will come.
PREACHERS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
Our responsibilities as Preachers of God’s Word are numerous. Principally, one of our responsibilities is that of watching over the souls of men and women under our influence (Heb. 13:17). Like Jesus our Lord, Saviour and model, we will one day stand to give account of those entrusted to our spiritual care (John 17:11-12). Consequently, we must ensure that we “push” people into Heaven than to pamper them into Hell. In view of this, sermons and studies should be ones that would rattle the cages of sin and spiritual inactivities. Our Brethren must not be allowed to feel or be at “ease in Zion” (cf. Amos 6:1). We must not court the friendship of anyone or seek anyone’s approbation at the expense of proclaiming the truth of the Gospel and emphasis on the right kind of lives (cf. Acts 1:1). We must deliver our souls and fulfill our ministries.
The pulpit must not be par with the pew. Our lives must be above those we minister to. Like Apostle Paul, we must “magnify” our ministries (Rom. 11:13). It is only when we live above board, preach above board and encourage Brethren to do that we can truly hope to win a sizeable number to the Lord.
Being a preacher requires much more than being happy with the people we preach to (or is it, “preach for”?). We must become representatives of the Voice from heaven. The Voice that shook the earth and promises to do so again (Heb.12:26). We cannot, like Apostle Paul’s “Be free from blood of all men” if we shrink from declaring to them the “Whole counsel of God”; if we cease from warning and admonishing men and women,”even with tears” (Acts 20:26-27, 31).
It is only preaching and teaching on “Judgment that now is and that which is to come” that have the power to shake the very foundations of wickedness, sin, unfaithfulness and spiritual inactivity in men and women irrespective of class, economic, political, academic, and social standing (Acts 24:24-25).
John the Baptizer warned his audience to, “Flee from wrath to come” (Matt 3:7.) Great servants of God were not just contented by patting people on the back. Think of the prophets and Apostles. These were men who were on fire for the Lord. They had passion for souls. Even when they knew their words would hurt, they still believed that an, “Open rebuke is better than secret love; that the wounds of a friend is better than kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:5 -6).
Brethren and fellow preachers, most of our congregations have become “too comfortable” that our meeting halls have now become restaurants than the refiners’ workshop where tools are sharpened and forged for the Master’s use. All manner of people who do not have business being in the Body of Christ are now there so much so that we now quarrel and argue more than we rejoice and reason. When we fail to do what we are supposed to do, that is when we begin to do what we are not supposed to do. Most worships have now turned from “Wordship” to “Warships.” Rather than word-shipping to each other we now war-shipping to each other.
To change this present orientation, we need strong preaching and teaching; ministrations that emphasize consequences of our actions in the now and in the future. Our congregations must become “too hot” for certain kinds of people and lives. That fire must come from our pulpits.
UNVEILING THE MESSAGE OF I TIMOTHY 5:24 - 25
The message of I Timothy 5:24 - 25 is simple – the wicked will not go unpunished neither will the righteous go unjustified.
I Timothy 5: 24 – 25 could well be described as, “Diamond in the rough”. This is so because of the context and theology of I Timothy 5: 1 – 23. Reading through the cluster of instructions on how to relate with Elders (Ordained and non-ordained), the relationships that should exist between a minister and various categories of people at Church, apostle Paul took time to explain how widows in various congregations should be attended to and other sundry issues of Eldership. He paused to remind Timothy to take care of himself (I Tim. 5:23) after which he began to talk about mankind – about actions and recompense; present and future rewards.
This last point should strike a responsive chord in each of us. This is a subject that should occupy a central place, a pivotal position in our daily ministrations amongst people – those who have come into a covenant relationship with God in Christ and amongst those who have not, emphasizing that there is a reward for every action – for good and for evil (Heb. 2: 1 – 2; II Cor. 5: 10 – 11). These rewards, according to Paul led by the Holy Spirit is both for here and the here after (I Tim. 4: 8; I Tim. 5: 24 – 25).
As preachers and teachers, if we focus attention on these kinds of teaching and preaching, we will end up depopulating hell by populating heaven. When we “screw in” (to borrow Brother Douglas M. Wheeler’s constant phrase) this message into the minds and hearts of our people and everyone that hear us, we will have less problems to contend with but if we fail to, we will continue to content with more hydra-headed moral, spiritual and doctrinal problems. We must not fail to remind ourselves that our tomorrow starts today as our today began yesterday.
Making brethren know that there is a tomorrow and that this tomorrow could be made or marred depending on what we do today should form an essential ingredient of our ministerial menu. We must emphasize that our individual actions could prove detrimental or beneficial to the future we all expect to have; that people can actually destroy their tomorrow with their today or build their tomorrow with their today.
The spillover effect of these kinds of preaching and teaching will be a better, more robust and conscientious Brotherhood who will take these messages into the wider human society with its multiplier effects: responsible human behaviours, better polity and reduction in dog-eat-dog mentality that have taken the center-stage of the psyche of modern societies.
Truth is: change cannot come until truth is told and preached. If we keep pampering our wounds, they will fester. To heal these wounds we need strong antibiotics and disinfectants. While applying these to our wounds, it sure will hurt but that does not mean that we will not apply them. We must, else, we develop worse conditions and perhaps die therefrom.
If truth hurts, it nonetheless has to be preached because it takes love to tell truth to those one loves (Prov.27: 5; Heb.12:5-11). It was Savonarola who said that when he “preached fickle messages,” he “would please men’s souls but,” if he “preached God’s Word as it should be preached he shook men’s souls.”
Do we desire to please men’s souls or shake men’s souls? Do we desire to pamper men and women into hell or persuade them into heaven?
Haddon W. Robinson in his book, Biblical Hermeneutics observed that “Sermons should be bullets and not buckle shots.”
WHY PREACH AND TEACH ON JUDGEMENT THAT NOW IS AND THAT WHICH IS TO COME?
We cannot be said to have performed our sacred duties as preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ if we fail to warn men and women of their eternal estates if they do not repent and do deeds worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8-10;Acts 26:20).
One insurance for strong positive character building is pointing people to judgement. This kind of teaching and preaching are healthy for the souls of men (Heb. 13: 9). Preaching on prosperity and social acceptance as our Pentecostal, Protestant, Evangelical and Catholic friends are wont to would not produce the kind of characters that will meet Heaven’s approval.
Preaching on judgement is good because it touches the hearts of men and strikes at the heart of the matter. Prophets and Apostles adopted this stance knowing the good it would produce in the end even though men and women of low living would detest and resent it with every fiber of their beings (Acts 24:24-25). The kind of preaching and teachings that would rattle the cages of sin and spiritual inactivities is found in preaching and teaching on the judgement to come.
We cannot deter men and women from plunging themselves into eternal damnation by engaging in theological pat on the back. We have to literally “deliver people from fire” (Jude vs. 20-21). Reminding those we preach to that God’s judgement begins here for some while for others, it will be after the last curtain of one’s earthly life is drawn was Apostle Paul’s prescription to Timothy as he ministered to saints and sinners in the ancient city of Ephesus. This line of preaching is strongly recommended for today’s preachers and Congregations.
Judgement is on already! People must be warned to flee from the wrath to come (Matt. 3: 7). They must be told and in strong terms, too, that daily their actions and lifestyles are being weighed on the balances of God (Dan. 5:26-28; cf. Rev. 3:1-5); that it would take those who purify themselves from fleshly and spiritual impurities to inherit God’s promises (II Cor. 7: 1).
Preachers must balance theological equations by reminding our people that God is both loving and wrathful (Rom. 11:22). We have preached the love of God for too long now; it is now time to emphasize on the wrath of God. We owe it to God to remind men and women of our generations that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10: 31) because our God is a “Consuming fire” (Heb. 12: 29).
It is time to go back to preaching the messages that brought about great awakenings in the past by emphasizing the fact that sinners are in the hands of an angry God (Ps.7:11-12). If revival must come we must preach messages of God’s displeasure over sin and in strong terms, too!
Brethren, it is time to rise from our spiritual doldrums – to stop being at ease in Zion (Amos 6: 1). We must stop being comfortable with the comfort of those who have found in the Church a perfect hiding place, those who use Christianity as a cloak (cf. II Tim. 3:5-7; Titus 1:16).
If we must stop the drifting, which unfortunately is the situation today’s Church has found herself in, we must pick up our paddles and steer her back to the shore of theological and moral sanities.
Brethren, because of our failure to preach and emphasize on the judgement to come, we have found ourselves in situations where, rather than take the Church and Gospel to the world as we should our people are busy bringing the world into the Church. The solution to further drifting and secularization of the Church lies in reminding men and women through the instrumentality of preaching that God’s judgement will come upon those who offend.
We need to understand that the problem of people is a problem of the heart and so to do our work effectively as preachers and teachers of God’s word; shapers of destinies and prophets of God today, we need to address the heart of the matter.
Preaching and teachings on Judgement are those that touch and prick the heart. This is what the world needs, not the meddlesomeness and smooth-tonguing which have characterized the pulpits of today. We have got to make those we preach to face reality; make them see the dire consequences inherent in certain actions and lifestyles. If we do not show the light through purposeful preaching and exegesis, people will not find their way. We are the light bearers. We are the spare conscience of our generation. We are the proclaimers of God’s word. People loose their humanness only if preachers and teachers of God’s word loose their sense of purpose – to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:20). We pronounce judgement when need arise. We do not preach to make people happy, to court their favour and seek for cheap popularity amongst them because these take people nowhere but to eternal damnation.
To rescue the perishing, we must not tolerate the things that make them feel comfortable in their comfort zones because there are woes against those who are at ease in Zion.
Oh, how God longs for us to be the Elijahs of our generation! Men who must confront the Jezebels and Ahabs of our times!! Men who would challenge people to take decisive stands for Jesus, not halting between two opinions (I Kings 18:21).
If we do not proclaim judgement on those who have become “change agents” in the Brotherhood, our Mighty Brotherhood will be lost in a new wave of apostasy and be swallowed by denominationalism.
Brethren, I fear for the Church of tomorrow! I fear that our children may grow up not having the pure Gospel of the yesteryears. I fear that our grand-children will grow up being fed chaff and not the grain of the Gospel. I am afraid because the vultures are here already.
The great revivals of the 17th and 18th centuries that swept America and Europe like tidal waves were not achieved by doldrums of today. We need to ignite back the fires of repentance and revivals in our members. We must figuratively set them ablaze for God and ensure that the fires of God’s word (Jer. 23: 29) consume their spiritual inactivities and the living of lives with little spiritual icings and stuffs like that, which characterize men and women of today.
Where are such soul-stirring and fire-brand ministrations such as “Sinner in the hands of an angry God” that used to characterize our pulpits, the type that Peter’s audience in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) heard which made them to ask, “Men and Brethren, what must we do?”
Let me ask you, dear servant of God, when was the last time a person wept after hearing you preach? All these clapping we receive after grandstanding on our pulpits is taking us no where. It is a crime against humanity and God that we are compromising our commission and sabotaging our calling through tolerance and beggarly preaching!
Time has come for us to stop playing Eli, fattened by the sacrificial meats we eat and neglecting to rebuke our spiritual children. Time has come for us to stop playing Phinehas and Hophni who must sleep with our women in the hallowed chambers of our sanctuaries. If we keep doing these, we should not be surprised to learn that glory has departed. I see the coming of Icabod! I am afraid, it is here already!!
BIBLICAL GUIDEPOSTS ON JUDGEMENT:
UNDERSTANDING GOD’S JUDGEMENT
1. God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalms 7:11-13)
2. Someone has remarked there are three most important questions that define every man’s life upon the face of the Earth, namely, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going from here?” we each came from God. We are here to do the Will of Him who sent us after which we will go back to God. In other words, we are each headed for God’s judgement throne (Eccl. 12:14). On judgement day, we will each stand before God to give account of all that we have done while alive. This accounting will be all-inclusive (II Cor. 5: 10 – 11; Rom. 14: 12).
3. We must appreciate the fact that in God’s judgement, there is no appeal.
4. Bible clearly teaches that life precedes and that death is the harbinger of Judgement (Heb. 9: 28). Our Lord’s statement in Revelations 14: 13: “….their works follow after” is laden with deep and great meaning. It should strike fear in our hearts and make us to sit up.
5. Judgement is reserved for those who do what they do (Rom.2:5).
6. Because judgement is not carried out speedily, hearts of men are set on doing evil continually (Eccl. 8: 11 -13). Do we, because God does not act now as He did in the past dedicate our lives to opposing His will in our lives? Do we like Hezekiah postpone the evil day and not deal with these issues in the now (II Kings 20: 16 – 19)? Why postpone the evil day? We must not leave for tomorrow that which we ought to do today.
7. There is a day of reckoning (II Cor. 5:10-11). This is that day that “God will judge the secrets of men.” (Rom. 2:16)
8. Flee from wrath! (Matt.3:7; Acts 17:30-31). Judgement is coming! We must do everything we can to escape God’s judgement.
9. Some people’s judgement are delivered here and now but for others, theirs will come much later (I Tim. 5:24-25). That yours or mine have not come now portend danger because they will be more drastic for us. If our judgements do not come now, danger is the word. But if we have experienced it, rejoice because God has given us opportunity to make amends.
Think of your tomorrow: the few moments of joy that may define your present may be the reason for your fall and gnashing of teeth tomorrow (Prov. 20: 17).
SUMMATION
I agree with most of us that charting this path would be dreary, hard and unpopular but I would want us to consider making it a part of our theological menu, which we will serve members of our Congregations.
Balanced spiritual diets require that we combine sweet with bitter; hard with soft. “Knowing the terror of the Lord,” Apostle Paul had written to Corinthian Christians, “we persuade men” (II Cor. 5:11). He had also written that if they did not want the Lord to meet them in conditions that would stir up His anger, they should better buckle up their belts and live the way they ought to (II Cor.12:20).
I recently did a series on the topic, NO PEACE FOR THE WICKED on my weekly radio broadcast, MOMENT OF TRUTH whose MP3 CDs would soon be available for mass distribution to those who desire them. I would encourage you to obtain that audio CD, listen to the messages and make same available to a larger number of those you minister to.
As I draw this to a close, I would appeal to all of us who have accepted to serve the Lord as Preachers to seek to make our people become more spiritually responsible by reminding them from time to time that actions and reactions are equal and opposite; that sinners would not go unpunished nor would the righteous go unrewarded; that our present actions would lead to recompense either for good or for ill; that a few moments of joy could usher in months of misery (Romans 6:21).
God bless us as we seek to discharge our most sacred duties without fear or favour in Jesus most precious name!
Script by:
Evangelist Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah
TOWNSHIP/CAMPUS CHURCH OF CHRIST,
14, Agbugwu Lane, off, University Market Road, P. O. Box 351, Nsukka – 410002, Enugu State, Nigeria.
E-Mail: hilaryjohnsonc@yahoo.com
PHONE: 234-08039596919.
REFERENCES
Chukwurah, H. J. C. (2006). “Flee From Wrath to Come.”
Fayetteville, Arkansas: Gospel Tracts
International.
Edwards, J. (1741). “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Reprinted, 1976 by Banner of Truth Trust, USA.
Robinson, H. W. (1985). Biblical Hermeneutics.
USA: Baker Book House.
Wessel, W. W. (1995). “I Timothy” in NASB Study Bible. Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
