1st Timothy 4:11. “These things command and teach.” COMMAND AND TEACH. Before one can teach, he must have taken time to learn. The right to command something must first be earned. Discernment of a subject has to be carefully based – On the scriptures being compared to what a teacher has to say.
Trustworthy men pass on trustworthy truth from a trustworthy Book. A trustworthy teacher will be able to turn to passages from which his message he took. A “thus saith the Lord,” statement, to support his thoughts – Gives authority to the truths he has previously taught.
Now, when he teaches again, he teaches what from God he has learned. It isn’t that he knows everything and around some corner has turned – So that now he quits learning and lays commands on us all – But even as a teacher, he takes time to hear the Spirit’s call.
A student may become a teacher who has the right to command – But a teacher never ceases to be a student, though he’s a mature man. For in the scriptures there lie depths of truth that we cannot fathom And our knowledge and faith increase as we apply ourselves to them.
God’s wisdom and plans have so many facets And each one of them has a multitude of assets To open our minds like precious ore to be found That takes labor and time to get out of the ground.
When truth becomes real to me, then I have something to say To those I speak to publicly or in private each day. I have the responsibility to command and to teach These things God Himself taught me, that others I can reach.
“I thank Thee Father, for Thy Word that gives light, and Thy Spirit who gives understanding. Keep me from ever thinking I know all that needs to be known. I expect to be learning from Thee forever – and I anticipate that with joy. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”