Nehemiah 9:20
Proverbs 15:33
Isaiah 30:9-10
1 Timothy 1:1-11
Heavenly instruction is what born again Christians receive from the Holy
Spirit to remind us of Jesus’ teachings and the heavenly will of God, so
that we would live this way here on earth and help free creation from its
present corruption.
It is also very interesting to note that we couldn’t find any place in the
gospels where Jesus uses the words “instruct” or “instruction”; He just
teaches us about how we are to be living in the heavenly will of God.
Let’s begin by looking at 1 Timothy 1:1-11…
1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the
commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope;
2. to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The apostle Paul doesn’t go into the specifics of the heavenly will of
God that Jesus does, but that doesn’t matter, for our heavenly instruction
reminds us of the entire way the Lord wants us to live here on earth.
Since there is no pain or suffering or death in heaven, then if we are
living in the heavenly will of God, we should do everything in our power to
eliminate as much human caused pain and death here on earth that we can,
beginning with what we put on our plates, which should be only plant foods.
3. As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain
on at Ephesus, in order that you may instruct certain men not to teach
strange doctrines,
4. nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to
mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is
by faith.
This message to Timothy is meant just as much for us as it was for
Timothy, and we need to remember that everything we encounter and the ways
we respond must be according to the teaching of Jesus and the heavenly will
of God.
We are not to compromise with the corrupt and evil ways of this world,
rather we should be constantly listening to the heavenly instructions we
receive from the Holy Spirit so that we don’t stray from the heavenly will
of God.
Even if Paul or Timothy, or any other person mentioned in the Bible, does
something that is worldly and outside the heavenly will of God, we are not
to follow their examples; we are always to follow the things that Jesus and
the heavenly will of God teaches us.
5. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
This should also be our goal, for this perfect heavenly love fulfills the whole of the Law and the instructions given by the Prophets.
6. For some men, straying from these things, have turned
aside to fruitless discussion,
7. wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand
either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident
assertions.
This is basically a description of the problem that has existed ever
since Eden when humans began to disobey the Lord, and do what was good in
their own sight, even though it was against God’s heavenly will.
Furthermore, this is also a description of what has been happening in most
of our churches and among most of our church leaders; they have followed the
corrupt ways of this world and promoted it as being acceptable to the Lord,
which it is not, and has never been.
8. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it
lawfully,
9. realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for
those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the
unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for
murderers
10. and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers,
and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
11. according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have
been entrusted.
NASB
Even though Paul is giving Timothy a form of instruction on how he is to
live and present himself before others, he summarizes it by referring
everything back to following the teachings of Jesus.
Think about what we are told about heavenly instruction in Nehemiah 9:20…
20. "And Thou didst give Thy good Spirit to instruct them,
Thy manna Thou didst not withhold from their mouth,
And Thou didst give them water for their thirst.
NASB
The leaders, or at least some of the leaders, knew the truth that we
should be following the heavenly instruction that we receive from the Holy
Spirit, but they still relied upon the Law and the marvelous works of the
Lord.
The love and heavenly will of God is far above the earthly miracles He
performed.
They didn’t make the connection between living in the heavenly will of God
and not killing and eating animals, even though the Lord provided manna, a
vegan bread from heaven.
The people still wanted to kill and eat animals, even though some of these
religious leaders knew the truth that it was not in the heavenly will of
God, but they promoted the Law instead, for the Law gave tacit approval to
killing and eating animals, but for us today, we are to only eat the plant
foods that God created for us, for this is the only way we are going to help
end the corruption of creation and bring His heavenly will to earth as it is
in heaven.
The Law was only intended to be a tool to help lead us back to the heavenly
will of God; it was never intended to replace it.
But relatively few people ever really followed the whole Law, and others
only followed selected parts of it, because they were rebellious against the
heavenly will of God; they wanted no heavenly instruction.
Isaiah describes the nature of such people in Isaiah 30:9-10…
9. For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the LORD;
10. Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions";
And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right,
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
NASB
We are supposed to be the peacemaking children of God, but the rebellious
people of this world, including most clergy and religious leaders, are false
children, for they refuse to listen to heavenly instruction from the Holy
Spirit and the teachings of Jesus.
They don’t want to hear the truth; they only want to have their ears tickled
by the speech of those who follow the corrupt and evil ways of this world.
Now let’s listen to what we are told in Proverbs 15:33…
33. The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor comes humility.
NASB
We have talked before about a better way of expressing “the fear of the
Lord”; instead we should think about it in terms of having reverence for the
Lord.
When we truly reverence the Lord our God, we also find that we have humbled
ourselves before the Lord and are thus capable of hearing and understanding
heavenly instruction.
The corrupt ways of this world have no place in our lives, and we should be
able to discern the difference between the things that are from God from
those that are of this corrupt and evil world.
We are to be the peacemaking children of God.
We are to live in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
We are to be constantly listening for heavenly instruction, which is never
silent.
Amen.
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