1 Timothy 3:1-17, NLT.
YOU
should know this, Timothy, that in the last days
there will be
very difficult times.
FOR people will love
only themselves and their money. They will be
boastful and proud, scoffing at God,
disobedient to
their parents, and ungrateful.
"Now there were at
Antioch,
in the church that was there,
prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger,
and Lucius of Cyrene,
and Manaen who had been brought up
with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were
ministering to the Lord and fasting,
the
Holy Spirit said,
'Set apart for Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work
to which
"I " have called them.'
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and
laid their hands on them,
they sent them away"
(Acts 13:1-3).
Although the church in Israel has grown exponentially over the past 30 years, within the congregations there is still a sense in which the very few faithfully serve the many. For this reason, pastors tend to hold on very tightly to the few people who are actively using their gifts for the edification of the church. In Antioch, however, the early church didn't horde their best workers.
They prayerfully sent them out
by the command of the
Holy Spirit.
And the world has never been
the same.
I wonder what God would do among
the nations if the church in Israel
would once again prayerfully commit their
very best workers into the hands
of the Lord
and allow him to decide
what he wants to send them.
"But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
Timothy to you shortly,
so that I also may be encouraged when
I learn of your condition.
For I have no one else of
kindred spirit who will genuinely be
concerned for your welfare.
For they all seek after their own interests, not
those of Christ Jesus!
But you know of his proven worth,
that he served with me
in the furtherance of
the gospel
like a child serving his father"
(Phil 2:19-22).
YOU
should know this, Timothy, that in the last days
there will be
very difficult times.
FOR people will love
only themselves and their money. They will be
boastful and proud, scoffing at God,
disobedient to
their parents, and ungrateful.
"Now there were at
Antioch,
in the church that was there,
prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger,
and Lucius of Cyrene,
and Manaen who had been brought up
with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were
ministering to the Lord and fasting,
the
Holy Spirit said,
'Set apart for Me
Barnabas and Saul for the work
to which
"I " have called them.'
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and
laid their hands on them,
they sent them away"
(Acts 13:1-3).
Although the church in Israel has grown exponentially over the past 30 years, within the congregations there is still a sense in which the very few faithfully serve the many. For this reason, pastors tend to hold on very tightly to the few people who are actively using their gifts for the edification of the church. In Antioch, however, the early church didn't horde their best workers.
They prayerfully sent them out
by the command of the
Holy Spirit.
And the world has never been
the same.
I wonder what God would do among
the nations if the church in Israel
would once again prayerfully commit their
very best workers into the hands
of the Lord
and allow him to decide
what he wants to send them.
"But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
Timothy to you shortly,
so that I also may be encouraged when
I learn of your condition.
For I have no one else of
kindred spirit who will genuinely be
concerned for your welfare.
For they all seek after their own interests, not
those of Christ Jesus!
But you know of his proven worth,
that he served with me
in the furtherance of
the gospel
like a child serving his father"
(Phil 2:19-22).
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