KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:2 KJV “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

A pastor or a bishop should be a well-mannered person. He does not live to please himself. The truth about good behaviour is that it proceeds from a heart of great love. Love is the character of the Spirit. The bible says it is a fulfilment of the law. Rom 13:10 KJV “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” The call to good behaviour has to do with our sincere love for God and our fellow men. Good behaviour gives great reverence to God.

A look at the ten commandments shows two divisions: the laws pertaining to God and those relating to our fellow men. Having good behaviour makes one show that love for God, such that you place nothing between you and God. No man can relate very well to God and then fail to relate well with his fellow men. There are certain pastors who think the members are their subjects. They feel they have the right to use a member’s car and some properties of their own at will. Your love and fear of God would restrain you from treating your members as your subjects.

It is an abomination to consider your members as your subjects. Your role as a pastor makes you their servant. John 10:11 KJV” I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” This statement means the shepherd does not take advantage of the sheep; rather, it is the sheep that takes advantage of the shepherd through the shepherd’s loving service of the sheep. A good behaviour would mean honouring every one of the commandments that relate to our fellow men.

The commandments are as follows:

Thou shalt not kill

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbour’s

The word teaches that to hate your neighbour is to be a murderer, and so hatred can not be part of your vocabulary. He must not commit adultery. All these commandments should never be discussed about the pastor. Once again, your answer to good behaviour is to see your crucifixion already done on the cross. The cross slew this old man in each of us who bore all manner of misdeeds and misbehaviour. It is no longer there in your body. Acknowledge that you were indeed crucified with the master, and now you are free from the influence of that power to do wrong. You are now the very righteousness of God. With this consciousness, you would not act against God’s laws; rather, the laws are the nature of your real personality. Rom 8:4 says the righteousness of the laws is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but after the spirit. We do not strive to be good, but we are good people; that is what we are. Believe that, say it always.

THOUGHT: TO BEHAVE WELL, ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE A VERY GOOD CHARACTER

FURTHER STUDIES

Eph 2:10 KJV” For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Rom 8:3-4 KJV” For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:2 KJV A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

The pastor, like every other Christian, does not have the same body as the non-Christian. We have the same body as our Lord Jesus Christ( we are tĥe resultofHis death ). The Lord had a sin-free body. The nature of sin, or the Adamic nature, is transferred from the father of the baby. According to the bible, Luke 1:35 KJV,” And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The Lord did not have the Adamic nature. Although he did not have the Adamic nature, he was tempted at all points, yet he did not sin because he accepted that He was sinless and so would not yield to sin. Heb 4:15 KJV “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

How do we have a body like His? At salvation, we were immersed (baptised) into our Lord Jesus(Rom 6:3). This baptism( immersion) was done by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 12:13). Rom 6:3 KJV” Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death?” Through His death, the nature of sin inherited from our ancestors, Adam, was severed from our bodies. Rom 6:6 KJV” Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” It is this body of sin that made us automatic sinners, yet through the death of Jesus, it was taken away. Col 2:11 KJV “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” This verse also establishes the fact that through the crucifixion of our master Jesus, the body of sin was circumcised. Romans 8:3 also declares that sin was condemned in our mortal body. This refers to our very body, which we are carrying around. Now, just as the Lord Jesus does not have the Adamic nature, the Christian also does not have this nature of sin.

If you are indeed in doubt about all that I have said above, the following will clear your doubts away. Mat 9:17 KJV” Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”The new wine refers to the Holy Spirit. He does not live in the old body of sin but in a new, clean one. This is the body of the Christian in which the Holy Spirit dwells. God’s original intent was not polygamy but monogamy ( Gen 2:18-22). The Christian, who is the result of Jesus ‘ death, must satisfy the intention of God.
He can not marry multiple wives as the people under the old covenant did. We can not have concubines as they did 1Co 6:16-17 KJV What? Know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” We are one Spirit with Jesus and must maintain a very high standard of Holiness.

THOUGHT: THE CHRISTIAN IS SUPERIOR TO ALL THOSE UNDER THE OLD COVENANT, AND SO MUST LIVE HIGHER THAN THEM

FURTHER STUDIES

1Co 6:18 KJV” Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

1Co 6:19 KJV” What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Heb 13:4 KJV” Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:2 KJV” A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

In recent times, certain preachers have tried to argue out the reasons for Christians and even men of God to marry more than one. They give reasons for health benefits, social advantages, and even longevity. Dear reader, God’s word is always supreme and is still the perfect law of liberty in every instruction it gives. God’s word always works out perfectly so long as its proponents strictly adhere to it. The word says every minister must be a husband of one wife and not one and a half or more. It is one man, one wife. The Lord said from the beginning that a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. Please, three or more people cannot be described as one flesh. ”

One may ask why most of the great servants of God in the Old Testament married more than one? I once explained this in one of the series I wrote, yet I would explain this time too. The bible is a book with a progressive revelation. From the beginning of creation, marrying one’s siblings for procreation was allowed. After some time, it ceased to be acceptable and even became an abomination for anyone to engage in it. The Lord God stated clearly from the beginning that a man and a woman would come together and become one flesh. During that era, God allowed polygamy, that is, marrying more than one wives. During the ministry of our Lord Jesus, He referred to the statement in Genesis 2:16-22, but note this time he added What God has joined together let no man put asunder. In verse 9 of Matt 19, the Lord said whosoever put away his wife except it be for fornication and marries another commits adultery. It means your marriage to the first one makes you bound to her, except for fornication; if not, then stay with her. A second marriage is called adultery. This is the teaching of the Lord. It means under the new covenant, you are not supposed to have two wives or three. The Lord’s statement was not only to pastors but to all men who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Please, if the master himself taught that it is adulterous to marry more than one, then the pastor who is an example unto many must necessarily marry one wife. You cannot have a columbine as well. The Lord said if you look on a woman who is not your wife to lust after her in your heart, then you have committed adultery with her. If looking makes you commit adultery, what would taking a maiden to sleep with her mean? You have equally committed adultery. There is no room for concubinage under the new covenant. Please note that in the new covenant God’s term of relating with us is higher than it was in the old covenant..Our bodies have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by the circumcision of our Lord Jesus. Col 2:11-13.

THOUGHT: A PASTOR CANNOT MARRY TWO WIVES OR MORE

FURTHER STUDIES

Mat 19:5 KJV” And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”

Mat 19:9 KJV” And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:2 KJV” A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

We continue our discussion that the pastor must be blameless. We would consider some of the common areas where a pastor may be found wanting. There are a number of aspects of the life of a pastor that the scriptures will be talking about. I will discuss one area of the pastor’s life that easily causes him not to be blameless.

This very aspect is about how to handle the influence or the pressure from the people he’s leading, as well as the expectations from those outside the church. King Saul was found wanting because he always played to the gallery.
That is, he wanted to please the people. Just consider his answer to Prophet Samuel 1Samuel 15:15 KJV” And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” God had given him an instruction to follow, yet he allowed his men to do that which opposed the word of God. Many pastors would rather act to please the people than to do what God has asked them to do. Gal 1:10 KJV” For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” There are many such pastors who literally fear men than God. There are certain messages that they would not preach, because that would be stepping on the toes of a rich man in his congregation who is a good giver.

The man of God, Moses, attracted the displeasure of God by acting out of anger because of the actions of the Israelites. Instead of speaking to the rock, he hit the rock for the second time. There are many pastors who are acting out of anger and even bitterness because of certain misdeeds of some of the congregation members. Some pastors may miss heaven because of offences. In Galatians 2, the apostle Peter, because of his fear of the Jewish Christians, acted in a way that isolated the non-Jewish Christians. Apostle Paul said the following about him. Gal 2:11 KJV “But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” Peter was to blame because he was afraid of the reaction of the people. Any man of God who would not be moved by the action or reaction of the people is truly free, who is set on a course to do great things for the Lord.

Dear Pastor, the one who called you is God. He would finally judge and reward you. He is the one who enlisted you into the ministry, and he is the one you are to please or be afraid of.

THOUGHT: FEAR GOD AND NOT MAN

FURTHER STUDIES

Joh 5:34 KJV But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

Gal 1:16 KJV “To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:2 KJV A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”

We would now consider some of the qualities or qualifications that a pastor must have. The first qualification that the apostle talks about is blamelessness. The pastor or bishop may be the bible people read to know what Christianity entails. A lot of the members of the congregation have their faith as Christians dependent on how the pastor lives. If the pastor falls, many would go down with him. He must be blameless. These days, some men of God claim that they are men and can falter, and so it should be acceptable if they commit certain acts. Please, dear pastor, do not play into the hands of the wicked one.
In our Christian walk, the state of one’s consciousness is everything.
What concept do you hold of yourself? If you believe you are a man who is liable to sin, then you can easily go down. If you consider yourself dead with Christ and the fact that it is Christ alive in you, then you would be upheld by the power of the word.

Blamelessness is the standard of scripture, and you have the ability to be blameless. Dear one, if you are a pastor or even a Christian, you must know that your ability to do any word comes from your decision to do what it says. The bible says to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Carnality is simply thinking against the scripture. It is about having the view that you can not totally honour what the word says. The moment you allow such a thought to take over your mind, then the bible says, you have become an enemy of God since you have not subjected your mind to what the word says. The man who accepts that I would be blameless has agreed with the scripture, and so he is spiritually minded, and so there would be life flowing from God to him, making him able to do what the word says. Every instruction in scripture is full of the ability to manifest in the life of the man who accepts it or believes it.

In light of what I have discussed above, to stay blameless, fill your heart and mind with the word. Give attention to it. Meditate on it day and night. Joshua 1:8 says Let it not depart from your mouth. You can always control your actions if your heart and mouth are all saturated with the word. Above all, love the Lord dearly. Love for the Lord is a function of one’s knowledge of the Lord. As a minister, you must know the Lord personally. Knowledge of God should not be based on any sensational event, but your decision to accept God’s revelation of Himself in his word. Jesus said Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe. Relating with God on the basis of His word would cause you to act rightly always.

THOUGHT: BLAMELESSNESS BEGINS WITH A DECISION TO BE BLAMELESS

FURTHER STUDIES

Phi 2:15 KJV” That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

1Jn 1:6 KJV” If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, ye lie, and do not the truth:”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:1 KJV” This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”

The call as a Bishop, a shepherd or a pastor can be described as the most difficult task when speaking from a man’s point of view. It is a call to represent God unto men and to lead men to God as you maintain a life of impeccable uprightness before God and men.2Co 4:2 KJV “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” I said that from man’s perspective it is a very tedious task, yet from the provisions of God’s divine enablement it is easy and very light, as the Lord said. Mat 11:30 KJV” For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” What on earth can make the yoke the master bore easy? No one should be a pastor by their natural abilities. It must be done absolutely by depending on the Holy Spirit. He is the Lord of the harvest( John 14:26). The first task is his relationship to the Lord. Mar 3:14 KJV” And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.” Since the Lord is the believer’s strength and guide, He must be the one leading the pastor or bishop. As Mark 3:14 said, he ordained the twelve that they should be with Him before they could be sent forth. Throughout the ministry of the pastor, he must daily seek first the face of the Lord. You are not in any ministry if your relationship with the Lord is non-existent. This is your primary and most important task as a pastor. This applies to all the ministry gifts, which include apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher.

Still, in the pastor’s devotional life, prayer is a paramount work which he must diligently adhere to. A consistent prayer life is not about fighting the enemy, but it fine-tunes your spirit to be very receptive to the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is a calm confidence in God that a consistent prayer life develops in the heart of the servant of God who does it. In addition to prayer, the pastor should live a fast life. Fasting strengthens your faith to handle certain demonic cases ( Matt 17:21)

The pastor ought to be very knowledgeable. The scripture should be his first point of call. He must spend a great deal of time feeding on the word of God. A number of ministers only go to the Word to find messages to preach. This is the most dangerous. We make an impact through the overflow of the abundant word we received for ourselves. If you minister from messages you have only learnt to preach, you are like a depleted well that needs an external source of water to help it function. Such a one is a living dead pastor only waiting to be exposed in the near future. The pastor must be a good reader of books. One of the best roles of a pastor is to feed the flock of God. You cannot feed them very well if you are not very wise.

THOUGHT: YOUR SUCCESS AS A PASTOR DEPENDS ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST

FURTHER STUDIES

Act 20:28 KJV” Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

1Ti 4:15 KJV” Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 3:1 KJV” This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”

Apostle Paul opens this chapter by admitting that it is true by saying that anyone who desires the office of a Bishop has desired a good thing. A Bishop basically plays a supervisory role. He is an overseer over the people of God as one body or several bodies under one umbrella. The Bishop can be described as a shepherd or, better still, a pastor. Shepherds are very indispensable. Of all animals, sheep are the only animals that can never survive in the jungle or out of the jungle without a shepherd. In Mark 6:34, the Lord Jesus wept over the multitude of people who had followed Him to be healed of their diseases and also to listen to him preach. He said they were like sheep without a shepherd. It is always very terrible for sheep if they do not have a shepherd.

This is the reason the apostle says that it is a true saying when one decides to be a shepherd or an overseer of the flock of God. The term overseer has assumed the airs of superiority, and so certain individuals attend to that office with pride. They consider the affluence and certain privileges that go with it, and that becomes their persuasion to seek that office. This is a very wrong motive. Apostle Paul describes such people in the following way. Phi 3:18-19 KJV (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Now the call to shepherd is never a pleasure trip. It is fully a sacrificial one. The Lord said a good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. A true pastor would feed his flock adequately. Jer 3:15 KJV And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Apostle Peter instructed the shepherd as follows:1Pe 5:2 KJV” Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; “God’s love for his flock is the reason why it is a very good cause for one to desire the office of the Bishop.

THOUGHT: A SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD IS LIKE A BABY WITHOUT A MOTHER

FURTHER STUDIES

Jer 23:1 KJV” Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Saith the LORD.”

Joh 10:11 KJV” I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 2:13 KJV” For Adam was first formed, then Eve.”

God’s word is always true about whatever it says. In our short passage, that is 1 Tim 2:13-15, it makes a few statements about women that are worth considering. These are facts that must be accepted meekly and in good faith. These statements are a follow-up to apostle Paul’s statement about the fact that women are to learn in silence, not to teach or usurp authority over men. We drew references from the scriptures to the fact that certain women have received a direct mandate from the Lord, and so they must fulfil their mandates. An example is Deborah, who the Bible said was a judge in Israel. Mary Magdalene also met Jesus and was instructed to tell the disciples. All these instances reveal clearly that there are exceptions to the statements made by the apostle Paul. Barring that, we have to consider all the statements made about women in our passage of consideration.

Adam was first created, and then Eve was formed out of Adam. This makes the man a leader over the woman. In order to curb all forms of disorderliness, there is a need for order. Man must therefore come first. In the order of authority. The man must be recognised, respected and given the first place. If God chooses to give a special mandate to a woman and adorn her with special graces and gifts, then those she is assigned to must adhere to her instructions as the Lord guides her. In any case, she must be subjected to her own husband. If by virtue of education and some special talents she has climbed up in the corporate world, she must still submit reverentially to her own husband. There should never be an occasion when she should be insurmountable. For peace and a proper spiritual atmosphere at home, the wife must remain submitted to her husband.

The bible also said the woman was deceived and so transgressed by the devil’s temptation. The bible says in 1 Peter 3:7 that the wife( woman) is the weaker vessel. First, the woman is weak in reference to brute strength compared to men. The woman is weaker emotionally. Most women will cry about certain events than men would. Most women would express fear about a condition, while only a few men may show similar fears. All these establish the fact that women are the weaker vessels and must not take up roles that would expose their feminine weakness. In verse 15, the apostle states that as the woman submits to honouring God’s word, she shall be safe in bearing children.

THOUGHT: WOMEN ARE DEFINITELY NOT EQUAL TO MEN

FURTHER STUDIES

Gen 2:21,22 KJV And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Eph 5:22 KJV” Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.