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Jump Start # 2617

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2617

1 Timothy 5:15 “for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.”

Our verse today is tucked in a long section about financially helping needy widows. In a time when there was no Social Security, life insurance, or government help, those in need truly needed someone to help them. It is easy just to assume that the church ought to help anyone and everyone. Down and out on your luck, call a church, plead your case and hopefully you’ll get some cash. It doesn’t matter what you believe, how committed you are, or even if you go there. The church is there to help you out. That’s the common thought among many, if not most today.

In this chapter, the thoughts are directed towards those who are Christians. In fact, there is a consistent pattern in the N.T. of the church helping fellow Christians. Antioch sent money to help the famine plagued Christians in Jerusalem. What about the others in Jerusalem who weren’t Christians? This was not the responsibility of the church. The very passage that is used to describe taking up a collection, 1 Corinthians 16, states that is for “the saints.” The thoughts in this passage are directed towards widows who were Christians.

Three things were said.

First, those who had family were to take care of their own. The church was not to do what the family was supposed to do. Family comes first. We have an obligation to take care of our family. Not wanting to is not the same as unable to. Living paycheck to paycheck puts one in a position where he cannot help his family.

Second, those needy widows who have shown a long history of dedication to the Lord would be helped out by the church. The church takes care of it’s own, after the family. There is an order here.

Third, those who were young needy widows were advised to get married. The church wasn’t to help these young widows.

And, it is in this last situation, young widows, that Paul writes our verse. Some of the young widows have turned aside to follow Satan. They were no longer faithful in their walk with the Lord. They were no longer committed and dedicated. They tossed in the towel. They turned their back on the brethren. And, rather than being a help, they became a burden. They went to the other side.

Paul’s expression, “some have already turned aside,” indicates that some have already gone over. Paul knew this. Some have exchanged their soul for pleasure. Some were now lost again. And, from this we learn some lessons:

First, as much as we want everyone to be saved, some will not. Some change their minds. Some do not want to do what it takes to be saved. Maybe the death of their husbands were too much. Maybe they felt abandoned by God. Maybe they were never fully convinced, but were only following their husbands. Maybe their husbands were not Christians, and that thought caused them to go the other way. Many ideas we could place on the table. The fact is, no matter how great the preaching, how wonderful the shepherds are, how powerful the church is, some will turn aside to follow Satan. Some walked away from the Lord. We can beat ourselves up with guilt, thinking that we ought to have done more, but with some, nothing more could be done. It was the choice of the people. They decided to follow Satan once again.

This hurts the most when it is in the family. It strains relationships. It makes get togethers awkward.

Second, we must never give up on trying to get a person back to Christ. Every night we need to pray for those we love who have turned to follow Satan. We need to drop reminders, hints, suggestions to help them see the need to come back. Too much guilt preaching at them can cause them to cut all ties. So one must be careful. Think about the golden rule. What would you want done to you if you were in their shoes?

Third, there are times when the faithful of God care more about the soul of a lost person than he cares about it himself. He may rarely if ever think about his spiritual condition. His thoughts are all centered around the here and now. His focus is upon the material side of life. He had no time and no interest in Biblical discussions. When the person gets around to talking about spiritual things, often it’s negative finger pointing about all the things that are wrong in the world and in the church.

Fourth, Paul’s words today would be considered judging by a lot of people. Rather than trying to encourage the young widow back to the Lord, some would blast Paul for having a condemning spirit. And, in the times we live, people don’t what to know the truth. They want to be told that everything is ok. And, if one dares say otherwise, he is written off as a narrow, judgmental, Pharisee who doesn’t love. Yet, how can one say they love when they know a friend is turning to follow Satan? Does ignoring the situation define love? Does remaining silent speak of love? Seeing them slip away from Heaven, is that love?

And, as we know, a time comes, when those young widows that turned to follow Satan, would realize that it was a major mistake. At death it would be too late for them. And, today, those very people that Paul had in mind, are realizing that they gave up the most precious thing they ever had, salvation in Jesus Christ.

Is there anything that can be done to keep this from happening? Keeping close to those who are going through storms is important. These were young widows. Did they have children? Could more attention be given to their situation? But even with that, some will make the wrong choices and return to Satan.

Teaching God’s word is another powerful help. We need to know. We need to be informed. We need to understand that some things are just not on the table for discussion. Leaving the Lord is one of those things. It doesn’t matter how tough the road becomes. It doesn’t matter how long the journey seems. It doesn’t matter if you seem to be all alone in this, walking away from the Lord is never the right thing to do.

We need plain preaching and plain teaching of God’s word. Folks need to hear it. People need to understand the consequences of their choices.

Some have already turned aside…such terrible words. I wonder if tears were coming down Paul’s cheeks as he wrote those words. I wonder if there were names that he could have listed right then? I wonder if he stayed awake a long time that night praying about those young widows?

Sure is something to think about, isn’t it?

Roger

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Jump Start # 2615

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2615

1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

I saw recently that the classic movie, Gone with the wind, was being shelved because of the racial discrimination and overtones that are featured. The movie offends some people. And whether it is right to now ban that movie or not, I’ll leave that for others to discuss and kick around and decide. It does however present a much larger thought that bridges with the Bible. And, that subject is what to do with a tainted past?

Our verse today, found in the New Testament, discusses Israel’s choices from the Old Testament. It wasn’t a pretty picture. They shamed God, violated His law and suffered the consequences. They craved evil things. They were immoral. They were idolaters. Students of the Bible know the period of the kings was a long and dark departure from God. Many bad examples are found there. Even among our heroes of the Bible, we find dark moments of sin. Noah got drunk. Abraham lied. David committed adultery. Hezekiah lost it at the end. Why keep those things before us? Why not remove them? Why not clean the Bible up so the people look better? Why these reminders of failures? Why present leaders with clay feet?

Here is what we ought to keep before us:

First, our past isn’t pretty. That’s true of the planet. That’s true of this nation. And, that’s true of us personally. We all have a story and our story involves sin. We have done things that today we are ashamed of and regret. We have said things that should never have been said. We have mistreated people, broken promises and hurt the hearts of others. Fact is, we have offended others by our bad behavior. That’s us. That’s our story. Now, we can pretend that none of that ever happened, but it did. We can wash that out of our memories, but it doesn’t change the fact.

Had the story of David been perfect, we might wonder why Jesus ever came. Had Elijah never hid in the cave, we might not understand what James meant by saying he had a nature like ours. We are not always on the mountain top. Had Abraham not been seen lying, the father of faith, we might feel like we have no hope. We know that we mess up. We know that we fall short. But having perfection all around us, would not encourage us, but rather, it would make us feel more like failures. Noah wasn’t perfect. Job had questions. Abraham was afraid. Peter talked too much. And, with that, I can see myself. I can learn from them. Their mistakes help me from making my mistakes.

Second, a clear picture of our past helps us remember where we came from and how far we have traveled with the Lord. This is my concern about rewriting our nation’s history. There was racism and prejudice. If we eliminate those histories, the next generation may believe that we have never had problems. We have always gotten along. Relationships are a journey. Mistakes are made. Improvements and adjustments and repentance is part of the learning process. Dumping the past doesn’t mean it never happened. Out of sight and out of mind doesn’t work much in these areas. So, when it comes to the Bible, we find some of the first churches had problems. The death of the first Christians wasn’t through persecution. It was God striking down two liars. We see some that were neglected. We see some inner fighting going on. We see some tolerating wrong. We see pride driving some away. Division. Lawsuits. Apostasy. The picture of the first congregations is not pretty. Then you get to Revelation and you find a dead church, a lukewarm church, and a church that left it’s first love. Why does God show us these sad, sad pictures. I’ve often wondered, if I had the choice of any N.T. congregation to be a member at, which one? It’s not a simple answer. Those churches were on a journey. Now, when I look at the congregation I am with, I find that we too are on a journey. There are some days that we step on each other’s hearts. There are some days that we are not at our best. Can we do better? Is there hope? Look at what God has shown us. Look before us.

Third, our past reminds us that we can change. We can do better. Through the love and grace of God there is hope. We don’t stay sinful. We don’t hold on to prejudices. We are molded by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can forgive. We can be kind. We can be helpful servants. Peter told his readers that if they fail to add the virtues of character, they have forgotten their purification from sin. They forgot where they came from. They forgot the promise they made to God. They forgot what it felt like to be lost. They forgot how great it was to learn of the hope that is found in Christ. The past pushed them forward. Our past isn’t honoring wrong, but it’s a reminder of what we have left and now what we have become. We are not the same people as we once were.

Paul uses the past, in our verse today, to remind the Corinthians that you can learn and do better. Denying the past can be as dangerous and wrong as remaining unchanged from the past. Pretending we never made mistakes won’t help our children. They can’t live up to perfection and neither could we. Our choices, our struggles, our mistakes have helped us move closer to Christ. We can’t do it on our own. We made a real mess of things on our own. We need forgiveness. We need to think better. We need to do better. This is the past, with all of it’s warts and wrinkles, it’s mistakes and failures, it’s sins, is necessary.

What better words to describe this than: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”

Roger