RATING YOUR PREACHER
TEXT: 1 Timothy 4:1-6
THESIS: To show the biblical requirements for a “good minister.”
INTRO.:
A. How do you evaluate a preacher’s biblical qualifications? (Check him out against 1 Tim. 3:1-7.) How do you rate a preacher’s biblical ministry? (Check his preaching against 1 Tim. 4:1-6.) If he measures up to these standards he is a “good minister of Jesus Christ.”
B. Nothing is said about his “bedside manner,” making hospital visits, his social ability in fellowshipping with the church members, his dynamic delivery in the pulpit, or his “positive approach” in preaching (or lack of it). v. 6
ILLUS.: Rating your preacher must be done according to the Divine and inspired standard in God’s Word, not by comparing him with the never negative, bland, lovey-dovey, syrupy-smooth radio or TV preacher who never names names or describes false doctrine or identifies false preachers and teachers (as Jesus and the Apostles did again and again!)!
TRANS.: Paul says you can “RATE YOUR PREACHER” according to certain specifics (“these things”) which he lists here. He says the “GOOD MINISTER” will…
I. PREACH AGAINST APOSTATES: v.1a
NOTE:
🔸This passage seems aimed at the Roman Catholic Church system and its doctrines of devils which seek to seduce the unsuspecting religionist. Only devils would teach that a Jewish woman was omnipresent and sinless, that she was a mediator between God and man.
🔸Only devils would teach people to call a mere man “the Holy Father.” And surely only devils would teach that mere bread and wine could become the literal “body and blood of Jesus Christ.”
🔸Surely devils alone could come up with a doctrine that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient and therefore a human “priest” had to offer the “unbloodied sacrifice of the Mass” daily.
🔸And devils no doubt concocted the concept of purgatory where “Christians” had to burn a while there before getting their sins cleaned up. Devils and seducing spirits are alive and well on planet earth and especially in Catholicism!
🔸These unholy spirits also seduce men by having them remain “celibate” (unmarried) depriving them of “the natural use of women” so that they instead molest little boys! They also teach vegetarianism, which seems to have some connection with demonism, e.g. Adolph Hitler and Jeanne Dixon. (Does YOUR preacher preach against these things?! How does he rate so far?)
A. A Divine Prediction: “the Spirit speaketh…”
1. Only God can predict with 100% accuracy future events.
2. All prophecy must have its Source as the Holy Spirit.
NOTE: There is an obvious warning given here between the Holy Spirit and unholy and seducing spirits within the verse!
B. A Definite Prediction: “expressly…”
1. All false prophets “hedge their bets” – the Holy Spirit alone “speaketh expressly…”
2. As usual there is no mystery or symbolism here; all is quite literal and very clear.
a. This prediction states that some will “depart from THE FAITH…” (spoken of over 40 times in the N.T.!)
b. “The faith” is a body of belief that goes far beyond the “fundamentals of the faith” which every Protestant and Catholic could endorse.
c. One of the ways you can Rate Your Preacher is to see if he is warning against those who are departing from “the faith” by failing to “take heed to the flock” by warning them against the ravening wolves.
II. SPECIFY THEIR SOURCE: vv. 1b,2
A. Seducing Spirits:
1. The apostates (those who err or turn from the truth) are energized by spirits who are seductive.
a. Watch out for the smooth operator, the suave speaker, Mr. Personality – people aren’t seduced by blatant lies, but by half-truths – not by uneducated idiots, but by intellectual “scholars.”
b. Any departure from “the faith” is spiritual seduction.
1) Every deviant doctrine is spawned by a “seductive spirit.”
2) As there is a “mystery of godliness” concerning Christ, there is also a “mystery of iniquity” spawned by Satan.
2. The apostates would show up in the “latter times.”
3. Timothy would live to see these times and the apostates and they would continue through church history.
B. Doctrines of Devils:
ILLUS.:
👉These include any deviation concerning the biblical teachings about the Person and work of Christ, e.g., Jehovah’s Witnessism, Mormonism, John MacArthurism, Rick Warrenism, Joel Osteenism, Benny Hinnism, Paul Crouchism, Rod Parsleyism,
T. D. Jakesism, etc.
👉Satan has his own ministers who are masters of disguise (“ministers of righteousness…angels of light” 2 Cor. 11:3; 13-15). As a good counterfeiter Satan will not use blatant and obvious fakes, but those who use the language of the Bible, quote Scripture and sound “almost” like Bible believers – but not quite.
1. They are pious pretenders: “speaking lies in hypocrisy…”
ILLUS.: Like the “Rev.” Jesse Jackson, TV evangelists, the “Rev.” Al Sharpton, Evangelist Robert Tilton, Jimmy Swaggart, et. al. – preaching one thing and living in immorality and “high on the hog.”
2. They have cauterized consciences: “seared…”
NOTE: Apostates are not only wrong doctrinally, they are wrong morally. When you preach what you don’t believe the nerve endings of your conscience go dead and you live wrong without convictions.
III. DETAIL THEIR DOCTRINES:
A. Forced Celibacy: v.3a “forbidding to marry…”
1. The biblical reasons for legitimate celibacy include Eunuchs, times of extreme persecution and the gift of celibacy (which is obviously rare, e.g., the Apostle Paul). Cf. I Cor.7
2. Any religious system that teaches forced celibacy, especially for spiritual leaders (I Tim. 3 “husbands of one wife”) is of the devil!
NOTE:
💥God said “marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled…”
💥Catholicism has spawned a whole order of religious sodomites and hypocritical fornicators.
✔Check the percentage of priests who are HIV positive!
✔Check the number of priests (and popes) who have been caught in adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and who have had illegitimate children!!)
B. Forbidden Meats: v.3b,c
1. The 7th Day Adventists and Catholics both err here (so did Brother Lester Roloff; but he didn’t force it on anyone else).
2. These extraneous and foreign doctrines of forced celibacy and forced fasting are unbiblical.
a. The reasons are clearly stated in v.3c-5.
b. Food and sex are not to be refused for spiritual reasons except for brief periods of fasting YOU decide on. (Cf. 1 Cor. 7).
IV. STIR-UP THE SAINTS: v.6
A. Good Ministers:
1. The preacher must maintain a balance between feeding the flock and taking heed to the flock (warning).
ILLUS.: There are two kinds of signs on the highway: those that tell us where we are going, and those that warn of dangers ahead. The preacher is also to give directions and to warn of dangers.
2. The preacher must never cease reminding his flock of the dangerous doctrines and false doctrines of the
false teachers and preachers.
B . Good Doctrine:
1. To feed others sound doctrine the preacher must constantly feed himself nourishing food.
2. Study time and prayer time are essentials for the man of God.
CONCL.: “RATE YOUR PREACHER” and every preacher by the standards set down here in 1 Timothy 3 & 4 and if he doesn’t qualify, abandon him. He is not a “good minister of Jesus Christ.”
THESIS: To show the biblical requirements for a “good minister.”
INTRO.:
A. How do you evaluate a preacher’s biblical qualifications? (Check him out against 1 Tim. 3:1-7.) How do you rate a preacher’s biblical ministry? (Check his preaching against 1 Tim. 4:1-6.) If he measures up to these standards he is a “good minister of Jesus Christ.”
B. Nothing is said about his “bedside manner,” making hospital visits, his social ability in fellowshipping with the church members, his dynamic delivery in the pulpit, or his “positive approach” in preaching (or lack of it). v. 6
ILLUS.: Rating your preacher must be done according to the Divine and inspired standard in God’s Word, not by comparing him with the never negative, bland, lovey-dovey, syrupy-smooth radio or TV preacher who never names names or describes false doctrine or identifies false preachers and teachers (as Jesus and the Apostles did again and again!)!
TRANS.: Paul says you can “RATE YOUR PREACHER” according to certain specifics (“these things”) which he lists here. He says the “GOOD MINISTER” will…
I. PREACH AGAINST APOSTATES: v.1a
NOTE:
🔸This passage seems aimed at the Roman Catholic Church system and its doctrines of devils which seek to seduce the unsuspecting religionist. Only devils would teach that a Jewish woman was omnipresent and sinless, that she was a mediator between God and man.
🔸Only devils would teach people to call a mere man “the Holy Father.” And surely only devils would teach that mere bread and wine could become the literal “body and blood of Jesus Christ.”
🔸Surely devils alone could come up with a doctrine that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient and therefore a human “priest” had to offer the “unbloodied sacrifice of the Mass” daily.
🔸And devils no doubt concocted the concept of purgatory where “Christians” had to burn a while there before getting their sins cleaned up. Devils and seducing spirits are alive and well on planet earth and especially in Catholicism!
🔸These unholy spirits also seduce men by having them remain “celibate” (unmarried) depriving them of “the natural use of women” so that they instead molest little boys! They also teach vegetarianism, which seems to have some connection with demonism, e.g. Adolph Hitler and Jeanne Dixon. (Does YOUR preacher preach against these things?! How does he rate so far?)
A. A Divine Prediction: “the Spirit speaketh…”
1. Only God can predict with 100% accuracy future events.
2. All prophecy must have its Source as the Holy Spirit.
NOTE: There is an obvious warning given here between the Holy Spirit and unholy and seducing spirits within the verse!
B. A Definite Prediction: “expressly…”
1. All false prophets “hedge their bets” – the Holy Spirit alone “speaketh expressly…”
2. As usual there is no mystery or symbolism here; all is quite literal and very clear.
a. This prediction states that some will “depart from THE FAITH…” (spoken of over 40 times in the N.T.!)
b. “The faith” is a body of belief that goes far beyond the “fundamentals of the faith” which every Protestant and Catholic could endorse.
c. One of the ways you can Rate Your Preacher is to see if he is warning against those who are departing from “the faith” by failing to “take heed to the flock” by warning them against the ravening wolves.
II. SPECIFY THEIR SOURCE: vv. 1b,2
A. Seducing Spirits:
1. The apostates (those who err or turn from the truth) are energized by spirits who are seductive.
a. Watch out for the smooth operator, the suave speaker, Mr. Personality – people aren’t seduced by blatant lies, but by half-truths – not by uneducated idiots, but by intellectual “scholars.”
b. Any departure from “the faith” is spiritual seduction.
1) Every deviant doctrine is spawned by a “seductive spirit.”
2) As there is a “mystery of godliness” concerning Christ, there is also a “mystery of iniquity” spawned by Satan.
2. The apostates would show up in the “latter times.”
3. Timothy would live to see these times and the apostates and they would continue through church history.
B. Doctrines of Devils:
ILLUS.:
👉These include any deviation concerning the biblical teachings about the Person and work of Christ, e.g., Jehovah’s Witnessism, Mormonism, John MacArthurism, Rick Warrenism, Joel Osteenism, Benny Hinnism, Paul Crouchism, Rod Parsleyism,
T. D. Jakesism, etc.
👉Satan has his own ministers who are masters of disguise (“ministers of righteousness…angels of light” 2 Cor. 11:3; 13-15). As a good counterfeiter Satan will not use blatant and obvious fakes, but those who use the language of the Bible, quote Scripture and sound “almost” like Bible believers – but not quite.
1. They are pious pretenders: “speaking lies in hypocrisy…”
ILLUS.: Like the “Rev.” Jesse Jackson, TV evangelists, the “Rev.” Al Sharpton, Evangelist Robert Tilton, Jimmy Swaggart, et. al. – preaching one thing and living in immorality and “high on the hog.”
2. They have cauterized consciences: “seared…”
NOTE: Apostates are not only wrong doctrinally, they are wrong morally. When you preach what you don’t believe the nerve endings of your conscience go dead and you live wrong without convictions.
III. DETAIL THEIR DOCTRINES:
A. Forced Celibacy: v.3a “forbidding to marry…”
1. The biblical reasons for legitimate celibacy include Eunuchs, times of extreme persecution and the gift of celibacy (which is obviously rare, e.g., the Apostle Paul). Cf. I Cor.7
2. Any religious system that teaches forced celibacy, especially for spiritual leaders (I Tim. 3 “husbands of one wife”) is of the devil!
NOTE:
💥God said “marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled…”
💥Catholicism has spawned a whole order of religious sodomites and hypocritical fornicators.
✔Check the percentage of priests who are HIV positive!
✔Check the number of priests (and popes) who have been caught in adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and who have had illegitimate children!!)
B. Forbidden Meats: v.3b,c
1. The 7th Day Adventists and Catholics both err here (so did Brother Lester Roloff; but he didn’t force it on anyone else).
2. These extraneous and foreign doctrines of forced celibacy and forced fasting are unbiblical.
a. The reasons are clearly stated in v.3c-5.
b. Food and sex are not to be refused for spiritual reasons except for brief periods of fasting YOU decide on. (Cf. 1 Cor. 7).
IV. STIR-UP THE SAINTS: v.6
A. Good Ministers:
1. The preacher must maintain a balance between feeding the flock and taking heed to the flock (warning).
ILLUS.: There are two kinds of signs on the highway: those that tell us where we are going, and those that warn of dangers ahead. The preacher is also to give directions and to warn of dangers.
2. The preacher must never cease reminding his flock of the dangerous doctrines and false doctrines of the
false teachers and preachers.
B . Good Doctrine:
1. To feed others sound doctrine the preacher must constantly feed himself nourishing food.
2. Study time and prayer time are essentials for the man of God.
CONCL.: “RATE YOUR PREACHER” and every preacher by the standards set down here in 1 Timothy 3 & 4 and if he doesn’t qualify, abandon him. He is not a “good minister of Jesus Christ.”