1st Timothy 5:22, Laying On Of Hands

1st Timothy 5:22, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.”

This passage refers to the ordination of a man to be a minister. Certainly, one does not need to be officially ordained to preach the Gospel or serve the Lord. Ordination is appropriate for any man who will be entrusted with a position of leadership within the local church.

The ceremony of ordination and laying on of hands is the Bible way of a local body of ministers giving their approval to a man who is entering the role of being a Christian leader. This shows authenticity. Understandably then, this process should never be taken lightly or done without due consideration of the candidate. In 1st Timothy 5:22, the inspired Holy Bible is simply cautioning a church against quickly ordaining a man without taking the time to observe his character to see who he is, and to properly ask him questions to make sure that he is sound doctrinally on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, which many Christian leaders today sadly are not. Be careful churches who you ordain.

For centuries, the process of ordination has been made a mockery of by wicked people who sell ordination credentials for money. Some people have even had their dog ordained, just to show the sad state of religion in America and Europe. I humbly believe that it is sinful and unethical to send someone ordination credentials in exchange for money. When considering a man for ministry leadership, it should be a slow and thorough process. If the man has already proven himself over time, then that is a different situation and he may be ordained sooner.

There are many pastors today who have no earthly business standing behind any pulpit, for various reasons. One reason is a pastor who woefully lacks love for people, which is true in my humble opinion of Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College. In my humble opinion their shameful pastors are cold-hearted yuppie types, theologically incompetent, and should all be fired. the sooner the better. I do not recommend PCC to anyone!

Thank you for reading my ministry blog dear reader. Jesus is precious!!!

1st Timothy 4:1, Some Shall Depart From The Faith

1st Timothy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”

My humble interpretation of "depart" in 1st Timothy 4:1 is that they were never saved at all. Everybody examines the Christian faith first from a distance, to see if it interests them. That is what the Bible means in Hebrews...

Hebrews 6:4-6, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

They merely "tasted" of the heavenly gift. They were enlightened to hear THE TRUTH, but they didn't want it, so they rejected it, which effectively is like crucifying Jesus afresh. Many Bible students get this passage wrong, assuming that it teaches you can lose God's gift of eternal life; but that's not what it means at all. This passage is about lost sinners who have heard the Gospel truth, but didn't believe and were not saved.

1st Timothy 5:20

1st Timothy 5:20, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” 

Kindly said, pastors are biblically obligated preach hard against all sin, including the abominable sin of homosexuality (Isaiah 58:1; Romans 1:24-32). God's wrath is upon any pastor and church who openly welcome sodomites into their congregation, but never a word is preaching from the pulpit about the evils of homosexuality, adultery and the lusts of the flesh. God pity the preacher that the world don't hate!

John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” When did Jesus testify against the sins of the world? Remember, Jesus' name is THE WORD OF GOD (Revelation 19:13). Jesus is the Word made incarnate, that is, in the flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) used to rightly say that Jesus and the Bible are “twins.” Jesus is the Living Word; the Bible is the Written Word.

Moreover, Jesus was a preacher of righteousness while on earth. He preached against sin everywhere that He went, as did John the Baptist. In fact, it was preaching against Herod's adultery with his brother's wife that compelled Herodias (Herod's brother's wife) to conspire to have John beheaded. She got her evil way! Woe be unto her in Hell. Ecclesiastes 8:12-13, “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”

That is why we read in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Revelation 19:10b tells us, “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The Bible contains 31% prophecy, the Koran contains none. When we study Bible prophecy, we should always look for how it relates to Jesus to acquire the proper meaning.

It is tragic that so many bad preachers today are perverting (changing) God's simple plan of salvation, in a futile attempt tp force sinners to live a holy life. This perversion of grace is called, “Lordship Salvation.” The problem is not with the Gospel; but rather, with today's wimpy Caspar Milquetoast pastors who refuse to preach hard against sin from the pulpit. Churches have utterly failed to mentor new converts, which is part of The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission in most churches has become The Great Omission!!! We are not commanded as saints to just go preach the Gospel to win the lost to Jesus Christ, but also, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20a).

Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-2982) was absolutely right, who said: “The great need of the hour is preaching preachers!”