P is for Paul and Pretenders

In these troubling times, it's good to remember...

From Beside the Still Waters...

Read: Philippians 1:1-20

"What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." - Philippians 1:18

For Paul it must have been a hard pill to swallow.  Earlier in his life, he had dragged Christian men and women to prison.  But now Paul himself sat in prison for the Christian faith, called to be an apostle but seemingly hamstrung in his efforts.  Meanwhile, outside the prison walls, men who hoped to feed Paul's frustration were faking evangelism - preaching Christ with a twist which they hoped would cause people to follow a faction that contradicted Paul.

But Paul did not choke on that pill!  At least Christ was being preached, so he rejoiced and intended to keep on rejoicing.  But how can we rejoice when a pretender, out of a wrong motive, does something that only appears right?  Paul rejoiced because God supervises the sowing of His Word.  Neither a scheming motive nor any other pretense in handling the Word will keep God's Spirit from wielding it like a two-edged sword.  The power of the Word is not entirely dependent on the man who presents it.

God receives the most glory when those who preach the Gospel also live the Gospel.  But God is fully capable of using messages preached by pretenders to start a man on a search for truth.  God can even use a page ripped out of a Bible and thrown away as trash, to feed truth to a seeking soul.  Let's rejoice with Paul in that power!

In 2 Timothy 2:9 Paul wrote, "I suffer trouble ... even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound."  The Gospel is not constrained by prison or by pretenders.  So Paul was joyful not because of pretenders but in spite of them.  Who can tell what great things God will work when people hear His word - even from pretenders?

Jay R. Martin - Castorland, NY

A pretender may seem to have power in his hour,

but God will have sway at the end of the day.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." - Matthew 7:15

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." - Matthew 7:21