The Lord’s Work – Part 44
#8
1 Timothy 5:10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, …
The final of the 4 good works of the widow indeed is to relieve the afflicted.
Relieving the afflicted is a good work. Well who are the afflicted? And how do we relieve them?
Well, lets see how the Lord did it, after the flesh, the figure of the true.
Acts 7:9-10 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Joseph had afflictions. He was a bondmen, a prisoner. When God brought him out of it to great honour, he was relieved.
If that is the pattern, what is the true? To do the same thing, spiritually. To free the prisoner in bondage, to deliver him from his afflictions.
And this is what a soul-winner does. The good work is always the same.
Acts 7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
As a strangers, servants and bondmen in the land of Egypt, Israel had great afflictions. But when God brought him out of it by a mighty hand, to great honour, Israel was relieved from their affliction.
And this is what a soul-winner does: set free from the power of Pharoah (Satan), the bondmen in afflictions.
So how do we relieve the afflicted? We win souls. First, we relieve ours, then others. First, we get wisdom, then we GIVE wisdom.
How do we deliver them? With Wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
We are saved by wisdom – which the world calls the foolishness of preaching.
Proverbs 3:18 She [wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
The true good work is preaching – sowing – the word of God. What are we sowing? LIFE. A tree of life.
After the Lord’s examples, we are supposed to deliver them out of bondage, with wisdom, and then we need to bring them unto glory and hour.
How do we give them honour and glory? Give them wisdom. Give them understanding.
Proverbs 4:7-9 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Proverbs 14:18 … but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: …
Save them by wisdom, and grow them in understanding. This is a true good work.
Psalms 107:9-10 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
This is the true good work: visit and feed the prisoners. Give them light.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Give them truth. Give them wisdom, which saves them and brings them to honour.
Afflict* appears 31 times in the NT. I found these previous 2 instances, but otherwise, nearly all of the other instances of afflict* in the NT refer to the afflictions of the Christian brethren.
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
So who are the afflicted? In addition to the lost, they are the people of God, who are doing the work of God: preaching the gospel. If you are preaching the gospel, you will be suffering afflictions.
So to relieve the afflicted is to partake in and/or receive and support the preachers of the gospel.
To relieve the afflicted is 1) to save souls, 2) comfort those that are labouring to save souls.
And look at this. Look how easy this is:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
Just have faith. The apostles seeing the faith of the churches was all they needed to be relieved of their affliction.
So just in you having faith, holding fast the faith, another Christian brother hearing of your faith, being comforted by your mutual faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have relieved the afflicted. Right there, you have done a good work. A true good work in the Spirit.
You want to relieve the afflicted brethren, to comfort the distressed man of God? Let them see or hear of your faith. A man of God is comforted by our mutual faith in the word of God.
Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
What comforts the afflicted people of God? To see our brethren established in our mutual faith.
2 Corinthians 7:5-13 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. … 13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. … 15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
When they were troubled on every side, when they were persecuted and afraid, the faith of the brethren comforted the apostles. The faith of the brethren comforts the other brethren. That with fear and trembling our brethren receive and obey a preacher, this is affection and love and comfort toward God’s house.
When a new brother is won, that comforts me. When I find mutual faith in a man, that comforts me. When I hear a spiritual song, that mutual faith in those words of life comforts me.
Not that the apostles’ flesh or Titus’ flesh had any rest, but “his spirit was refreshed” by the faith of the brethren. This is a saved man doing a good work to the house of God.
That they received Titus comforted him, and all the apostles, in their affliction. To receive a man of God in the name of God, this is true love. This is a true good work.
And for a lost man to receive one of the brethren (God’s children, his enemy) preaching the gospel – to get saved – this is his first true good work. He relieved the afflicted. And it was a true good work because it was not done to flesh, but to one of the spiritual brethren of the Lord. It was done to the Lord.
The true good work is always the same: to save souls and raise children. To build and grow the body of Christ.
#9
1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
I consider this a singular good work: Giving is a “good work”. Distribution. Communication.
Distributing to the necessity of the Saints. Communicating with the needs of the brethren, and of all men.
Part of me wished I didn’t even count this as a specific good work at all. Because you can really get into a lot of trouble with this one. If you aren’t careful, you may start thinking your flesh is doing a true good work by giving carnal things. If I wanted to teach that, I could try to. But I think it would get me in a lot of trouble doctrinally, because it would confuse flesh and Spirit.
I would understand if you would count this instance differently. Maybe there are only 8 specific good works in the Bible.
But I do believe it would be fair to count it as an example of a specific good work, and it needs an explanation. And I believe if we are careful to remember that the true things are the spiritual things, then there is an understanding that fits, and does not violate what we’ve learned: true good works are those that create and establish the house of God; birth and grow the body of Christ, the children of God.
Its really all about the eternal things, not the temporal things.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
I believe that the only true good for which we will be rewarded is when we labour in God’s house. When we labour in eternal life. Giving, distributing, communicating, is about feeding the church of God, building a good foundation. The foundation is Jesus Christ. A true foundation is a saved man in Christ. A good foundation is a strong established living stone that has been built upon with Spirit (not with hands) and furnished with spiritual things.
What we ought to be doing is labouring to build God’s house in heaven.
Distribution.
1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
First two instances of distribute:
Joshua 13:32 These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward.
Joshua 14:1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
Distribution to God’s people is a good work.
The figure of the true shows the true. Like Moses and Joshua, we ought to give an inheritance to the children of Israel. We ought to distribute an inheritance, a place in the country of God, to God’s people. How? The same way we do all the other examples of the true good work: we get saved by faith, and save others by faith and establish them in the faith. We ought to distribute the spiritual things, rather than the natural things. We ought to distribute unto the children of God, rather than the children after the flesh. Should we do the figure? Yes. But much more, we ought to do the true.
John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Here is Jesus doing a good work. Distributing man’s necessary food to feed the flesh. A good work, but the figure of the true, after the flesh.
John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
The true distribution of meat, is the body of Christ, which he broke and gave to man for his everlasting life. Jesus said:
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
This is the true good work: the work of the ministry of the word. The work of saving souls by distributing to all men liberally, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ought to be “ready to distribute” the flesh of Jesus Christ. This is the true good work of distribution.
The true good work is not to distribute unto the house of God after the flesh. They did that in the OT.
Nehemiah 13:12-13 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries. 13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren.
All Judah brought in food, and the Levites distributed it unto their brethren. This was a good work, after the figure of the true.
And in the New Testament the Church did the same thing, after the flesh. After the flesh, we are no better, no more capable of doing good works, than the OT Levites.
Acts 4:34-35 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
If this were the true good work, then this is what we would see the apostles focused on doing. But, instead, the Apostles recused themselves from this carnal ministration, saying “it is not meet that we should leave the word of God and serve tables”. They set other men, faithful and honest men of good report over this ministration. So you’d expect to see them focused on doing this, right? Nope. Even the men set over this task, we don’t see them doing anything other than preaching the word of God. I assume they did the job, and did it faithfully. And it was a good work! Feeding the church of God is a good work! But the fleshly ministration was the figure of the true.
Mar 28 2022
The Lord’s Work – Part 44
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 44
The Lord’s Work – Part 44
#8
1 Timothy 5:10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, …
The final of the 4 good works of the widow indeed is to relieve the afflicted.
Relieving the afflicted is a good work. Well who are the afflicted? And how do we relieve them?
Well, lets see how the Lord did it, after the flesh, the figure of the true.
Acts 7:9-10 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Joseph had afflictions. He was a bondmen, a prisoner. When God brought him out of it to great honour, he was relieved.
If that is the pattern, what is the true? To do the same thing, spiritually. To free the prisoner in bondage, to deliver him from his afflictions.
And this is what a soul-winner does. The good work is always the same.
Acts 7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
As a strangers, servants and bondmen in the land of Egypt, Israel had great afflictions. But when God brought him out of it by a mighty hand, to great honour, Israel was relieved from their affliction.
And this is what a soul-winner does: set free from the power of Pharoah (Satan), the bondmen in afflictions.
So how do we relieve the afflicted? We win souls. First, we relieve ours, then others. First, we get wisdom, then we GIVE wisdom.
How do we deliver them? With Wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
We are saved by wisdom – which the world calls the foolishness of preaching.
Proverbs 3:18 She [wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
The true good work is preaching – sowing – the word of God. What are we sowing? LIFE. A tree of life.
After the Lord’s examples, we are supposed to deliver them out of bondage, with wisdom, and then we need to bring them unto glory and hour.
How do we give them honour and glory? Give them wisdom. Give them understanding.
Proverbs 4:7-9 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Proverbs 14:18 … but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: …
Save them by wisdom, and grow them in understanding. This is a true good work.
Psalms 107:9-10 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
This is the true good work: visit and feed the prisoners. Give them light.
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Give them truth. Give them wisdom, which saves them and brings them to honour.
Afflict* appears 31 times in the NT. I found these previous 2 instances, but otherwise, nearly all of the other instances of afflict* in the NT refer to the afflictions of the Christian brethren.
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
So who are the afflicted? In addition to the lost, they are the people of God, who are doing the work of God: preaching the gospel. If you are preaching the gospel, you will be suffering afflictions.
So to relieve the afflicted is to partake in and/or receive and support the preachers of the gospel.
To relieve the afflicted is 1) to save souls, 2) comfort those that are labouring to save souls.
And look at this. Look how easy this is:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
Just have faith. The apostles seeing the faith of the churches was all they needed to be relieved of their affliction.
So just in you having faith, holding fast the faith, another Christian brother hearing of your faith, being comforted by your mutual faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have relieved the afflicted. Right there, you have done a good work. A true good work in the Spirit.
You want to relieve the afflicted brethren, to comfort the distressed man of God? Let them see or hear of your faith. A man of God is comforted by our mutual faith in the word of God.
Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
What comforts the afflicted people of God? To see our brethren established in our mutual faith.
2 Corinthians 7:5-13 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. … 13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. … 15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
When they were troubled on every side, when they were persecuted and afraid, the faith of the brethren comforted the apostles. The faith of the brethren comforts the other brethren. That with fear and trembling our brethren receive and obey a preacher, this is affection and love and comfort toward God’s house.
When a new brother is won, that comforts me. When I find mutual faith in a man, that comforts me. When I hear a spiritual song, that mutual faith in those words of life comforts me.
Not that the apostles’ flesh or Titus’ flesh had any rest, but “his spirit was refreshed” by the faith of the brethren. This is a saved man doing a good work to the house of God.
That they received Titus comforted him, and all the apostles, in their affliction. To receive a man of God in the name of God, this is true love. This is a true good work.
And for a lost man to receive one of the brethren (God’s children, his enemy) preaching the gospel – to get saved – this is his first true good work. He relieved the afflicted. And it was a true good work because it was not done to flesh, but to one of the spiritual brethren of the Lord. It was done to the Lord.
The true good work is always the same: to save souls and raise children. To build and grow the body of Christ.
#9
1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
I consider this a singular good work: Giving is a “good work”. Distribution. Communication.
Distributing to the necessity of the Saints. Communicating with the needs of the brethren, and of all men.
Part of me wished I didn’t even count this as a specific good work at all. Because you can really get into a lot of trouble with this one. If you aren’t careful, you may start thinking your flesh is doing a true good work by giving carnal things. If I wanted to teach that, I could try to. But I think it would get me in a lot of trouble doctrinally, because it would confuse flesh and Spirit.
I would understand if you would count this instance differently. Maybe there are only 8 specific good works in the Bible.
But I do believe it would be fair to count it as an example of a specific good work, and it needs an explanation. And I believe if we are careful to remember that the true things are the spiritual things, then there is an understanding that fits, and does not violate what we’ve learned: true good works are those that create and establish the house of God; birth and grow the body of Christ, the children of God.
Its really all about the eternal things, not the temporal things.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
I believe that the only true good for which we will be rewarded is when we labour in God’s house. When we labour in eternal life. Giving, distributing, communicating, is about feeding the church of God, building a good foundation. The foundation is Jesus Christ. A true foundation is a saved man in Christ. A good foundation is a strong established living stone that has been built upon with Spirit (not with hands) and furnished with spiritual things.
What we ought to be doing is labouring to build God’s house in heaven.
Distribution.
1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
First two instances of distribute:
Joshua 13:32 These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward.
Joshua 14:1 And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
Distribution to God’s people is a good work.
The figure of the true shows the true. Like Moses and Joshua, we ought to give an inheritance to the children of Israel. We ought to distribute an inheritance, a place in the country of God, to God’s people. How? The same way we do all the other examples of the true good work: we get saved by faith, and save others by faith and establish them in the faith. We ought to distribute the spiritual things, rather than the natural things. We ought to distribute unto the children of God, rather than the children after the flesh. Should we do the figure? Yes. But much more, we ought to do the true.
John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Here is Jesus doing a good work. Distributing man’s necessary food to feed the flesh. A good work, but the figure of the true, after the flesh.
John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
The true distribution of meat, is the body of Christ, which he broke and gave to man for his everlasting life. Jesus said:
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
This is the true good work: the work of the ministry of the word. The work of saving souls by distributing to all men liberally, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ought to be “ready to distribute” the flesh of Jesus Christ. This is the true good work of distribution.
The true good work is not to distribute unto the house of God after the flesh. They did that in the OT.
Nehemiah 13:12-13 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries. 13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren.
All Judah brought in food, and the Levites distributed it unto their brethren. This was a good work, after the figure of the true.
And in the New Testament the Church did the same thing, after the flesh. After the flesh, we are no better, no more capable of doing good works, than the OT Levites.
Acts 4:34-35 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
If this were the true good work, then this is what we would see the apostles focused on doing. But, instead, the Apostles recused themselves from this carnal ministration, saying “it is not meet that we should leave the word of God and serve tables”. They set other men, faithful and honest men of good report over this ministration. So you’d expect to see them focused on doing this, right? Nope. Even the men set over this task, we don’t see them doing anything other than preaching the word of God. I assume they did the job, and did it faithfully. And it was a good work! Feeding the church of God is a good work! But the fleshly ministration was the figure of the true.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Good Works • 0