PASTOR, PROPHET, PRIEST, SAVE YOURSELF AND YOUR HOUSEHOLD

The Word of God says in Malachi 2:7, “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts."

It is therefore the duty of priests, pastors and prophets to teach the Word of God to His people.

This is why our Lord Jesus Christ first asked Peter, the head of the Apostles, three good times if he loved Him (Jesus) and when Peter affirmed three times he loved Jesus, He was given a command to feed the sheep and take care of the lamb, which is the Church (John 21:16-17).

This command from our Lord Jesus Christ remains the same today to every preacher of the Gospel He has called to minister to His Church.

Though we have false preachers these days as the Holy Bible prophesied would happen in the last days (2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Peter 2:1-3), we also have some genuine men of God, though very few in number because of the proliferation of false doctrines in many different parts of the world.

Today's post concerns the genuine men of God or preachers of the Gospel. While God expects them to carry out His Work of sharing the Gospel and winning lost souls back to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, God also expects the preachers to be up and doing when it comes to salvation of the preacher's household.

It does not make any sense for a preacher to use the grace God has given him or her to win lost souls in Church and community while members of his or her household are lost spiritually.

It is even scandalous when this happens because it can destroy the church where members of a preacher's household are not living the true Christian life that is expected of them.

This is why God's Word says in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, “1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach;

3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

Dear friend, clearly, we see in verses 4 and 5 the emphasis God's Word has on the ability of a preacher to rule his own household well so that he can take effective care of God's Church.

Therefore, some of what is expected of preachers of the Gospel in their households is as follows:

(1) He must lead by example ALWAYS. He must never be seen saying one thing and doing another for that is hypocrisy and a sin against the Most High God.

(2) He must be prayerful and must have prayer and bible devotion DAILY with his family members MORNING and EVENING.

(3) He must ensure to discuss the Word of God in the Bible EVERYDAY with his family members to be sure they understand God's Word inspired by God's Holy Spirit and that they understand application of God's Word to their daily living.

(4) He must ask questions of his children on what they have learnt at Church to be sure they were paying attention. For God's Word says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Since children learn by example and what they hear, they will never forget the lessons learnt during Bible Study and post-Church fellowship discussions with their parents.

Sadly though, this is where most preachers and most Christian parents fail in their spiritual responsibilities to their kids. They believe the child is too young to understand what is being taught in the Bible in Church and so they allow a child of 4, 5, 6, 7 or even 8 years to be running around Church when the Gospel is being preached.

On the other hand, they send these same kids to school where they are taught worldliness and subjects, in which they take examinations and they take time to check the school report cards to ensure the child is doing well at school.

Now, if that child can pay attention to teaching in a worldly environment, how much more would that child excel if he or she can pay attention to teaching in a spiritual environment and will develop as God's Word has said.

Dear friend, if you reading this are a parent and a preacher of the Gospel and have been neglecting this area out of ignorance, please know today that you should begin to train your children spiritually from the age of 1 or even 2 years at the most and upwards.

Don't make the mistake most parents make who wait until their kids are teenagers and start to rebel when told what to do.

If you have taken time years earlier to train them as God's Word says, then they will still obey you as God's Word has confirmed in Proverbs 22:6.

If you know any preacher of the Gospel who is neglecting this area, I beg you dear friend, share this message with the person so that they can save themselves and their households.

The story of the Prophet Eli is instructive, wherein Eli was a priest serving God while his two children Hophni and Phinehas were acting contrary to God's commands and even disobeyed God's directive on how offerings to Him, God Almighty, should be treated.

Despite the warning from their father Eli not to strive their their Maker, these offspring of his continued to sin against God until God passed a judgement on them and Eli their father (1 Samuel 2:12-17; 22-26; 3:1-18;4:1-18).

Dear friend, our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is no respecter of persons and is not partial (Romans 2:11).

Don't allow whatever love you think you have for your household whether, wife, husband, children or anyone for that matter cause you to neglect saying the truth according to God's Word while you preach the same Gospel to others in truth and win them over to Christ Jesus.

If you do, God will not allow you to enter heaven no matter how many years you preached the Gospel because God's Word is clear on what is expected of everyone who is a believer.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 10:37-39, "37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus' Most Glorious Name, Amen.

Gabriel Ama.