THE ONE TRUE GOSPEL
Meditations in the Epistle to the Galatians
INSTRUCTION IN THE WORD

"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor."
Galatians 6:6

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THIS VERSE seems to stand alone in the context. It does not seem to link with the instruction before or which follows. As Paul is giving instruction in holy living, he thinks of our need of instruction and drops this verse in. Because of this we will take it on its own.

The theme is plain enough. Paul speaks of instruction in the Word.

OUR NEED FOR INSTRUCTION

One of the greatest needs of the believer, if not the greatest, is our need to be instructed in the Word. The Word is God's revelation. It is through the Word that we come to know all that God has given us to know, and through which we hear God speaking to us personal instruction, which is applying the truth to our lives. The Bible is called God's Word because it is God speaking, and it is through this written Word, and the illumination of the Spirit of God, we hear God instructing us in his truth, and personally speaking to us concerning our own growth in living for him and growing into his likeness.

The Apostle Paul, before he really commenced on his ministry, had to receive instruction, and at the beginning of this letter we see that he went away into Arabia for around three years, where he was personally instructed by the Holy Ghost.

There is a twofold instruction which has been given us. There is the personal one given directly by the Holy Ghost, where as we read the Bible, the Spirit of God illuminates our understanding in the Word, and also applies the truth to our hearts. It seems that this is all that the Apostle had. But for most of us God has purposed and provided instructors, those like Paul who have been specially endowed with the gift of both understanding the Word and teaching it. We need to attend to such instructors. We also need to seek them out so that we receive instruction.

This is a timely word to the church in our day. Instruction is being replaced by group study and discussion, and people have become impatient of instruction, preferring to learn by discussion around the Bible. There is no doubt that such discussion is valuable. It allows the Christian to think through what he or she knows until it is clear in the mind. It allows the sharing of understanding between Christians, so that all benefit from the corporate learning of the whole. Further it encourages Christians to articulate their faith, to be bold and open in sharing their difficulties, and thus promotes fellowship and trust.

However on its own, study by discussion has serious limitations, and this is proved by experience. There is a limit to the learning experience this way. There is a tendency not to learn new and deeper things, and there is a danger that discussion degenerates into going over the same ground, and perpetuating prejudice and error. God has provided instructors for his church and these must be attended to. Listening attentively to instruction is a great blessing and needs to be rediscovered, for it is by such instruction we enter more deeply into Christ, and irradicate more completely all the errors and prejudices of our life in the world.

INSTRUCTORS

It appears that in the church in Galatia there were instructors in the Word of God trained and appointed, no doubt those who both knew the Old Testament and had given much thought and prayer to the letters of the Apostles and other such writings that were available. They would be people shown to be approved and endowed of God for such a ministry by their understanding and spiritual wisdom. Although it would have been desirable for every believer to have access to an instructor on a regular basis, probably there were only a limited number who were so gifted, and so instruction was fairly rare.

Included in this instruction would be those who ministered the Word of God on the Lord's Day, and a major part of the instruction received would be given to the whole congregation at Sunday Worship.

What we learn from our text is the importance of Teachers and Instructors for the Church, and that they are one of the chief blessings given to the Church. It is imperative that every minister of a congregation should have as a chief priority, even the first priority, the ministry of teaching and instructing the people of God, and to seek to equip themselves under God for this ministry. This will require much study and meditation in God's Word, and much communion with God, that the Bible may not only be understood but that the minister may hear from the Lord what truth should be communicated to the people on each occasion.

This will require time, and every wise congregation will see that they release their minister from other duties so that adequate time may be given to this ministry of teaching. However so often ministers are swamped with all sorts of administration and pastoral work, which often makes the preparation and time given to teaching minimal. Wise congregations will let their minister know how much they value the ministry of teaching and encourage the exercise of it.

SHARING THE GOOD

The Apostle Paul gives a specific injunction here to the church in Galatia of sharing the blessing of instruction with others and particularly with the one who has given the instruction. There are several things to be noted about this injunction of the Apostle.

1. We should expect to receive good from preaching and teaching that we receive within the ministry of the church. When we listen to a sermon, we should not only be attentive, but prayerfully expecting the Lord to bless us. This is the spiritual food we need to nourish our souls. Ministers who do not feed their congregations through the teaching they give are starving them of nourishment they desperately need. If we are to receive the good from instruction then we must seek God for it in prayer before we come to the instruction, and then eagerly expect God to answer our prayer when the instruction is given.

2. When we do receive good, that is some deeper understanding or some encouragement or strengthening, then we should share it with the one who has instructed us, and with others also. No doubt there could be a meeting in the week, when Christians came together with their minister and shared with him all that they had learnt from the sermon the previous Sunday. Such a meeting needs severe discipline. Members attending should be understanding that they should be able to tell the instructor the main teaching of the sermon, and then each one should know that they will be expected to relate to the instructor and to all present what this teaching has meant to them. Unless there is the exercise of such discipline, the meeting will degenerate into expression of opinions and arguments, which are often not profitable. This has many valuable results.

a. It places obligation on the minister to be sure that the teaching he gives is wholesome and appetising, also that he is clear in what he says, and presents it in such a way that it is as easily assimilated and understood as is possible. If he knows that people are going to tell him what they have learnt, he has good pressure placed on him to feed them adequately.

b. The very fact that we are called to share the good we receive from instruction will mean that we will listen carefully so that we have something to share, and by sharing we will find that we confirm the good we have received in our minds and hearts, that it is clarified for us, and applied more deeply to our souls. This will make for much stronger and more secure Christians.

c. Such sharing of the good we receive will nourish others in the group or fellowship. The good which has been received by the teaching will be further advanced by the sharing.

d. Such sharing will be a source of great encouragement to the minister, who will see by the sharing that the Lord is using this ministry for good, and blessing his people through the teaching. This will encourage the teacher to greater diligence in the ministry of Teaching.

e. Further such sharing will be of great benefit to the teacher so that he sees how best to communicate the truth. Where he has failed on an occasion, proved by the limited sharing of the people, he will be able to examine the sermon and seek to correct the faults that made that particular one less useful.

APPLICATION

How are we to carry our this injunction of sharing the good we receive with our instructors.

Firstly, the injunction tells us that it is our duty and joy, when we have been blessed by some teaching, to communicate the good we have received to the one who has given the teaching. I know that this is not easy. Most of us perhaps find it difficult to articulate what we have received and so are afraid to speak in case we make a muddle of it. Then there is the problem of shyness, and the finding of a convenient time to do the sharing.

These difficulties will mean that the sharing of good may not take place very often, but let us engage in it. As we articulate the good by words to the teacher, we will understand the good better, because until we can put into words our understanding we will not have properly grasped it. As we persevere we will find we shall lose shyness and grow more accomplished in it. Further we will encourage our teachers in the important work of teaching.

Secondly, because time and nervousness inhibits individual sharing good with a teacher, I believe that in church life some structure needs to be built in for this to take place on a regular basis. Many ministers and congregations may disagree with this, but it seems to me to be a logical outcome of this verse we are studying, so that Paul's injunction may be observed.

However there must be a serious determination that there will be real sharing of such good. For some time in one of the churches where I was Vicar we held a time after the evening service when members of the congregation were invited to stay after the service to share concerning the sermon. Although there was value in this, I felt that the time was largely squandered as, few spoke and those that did tended to digress away from the sermons for the day.

As I have indicated earlier in this sermon, I believe that if this sharing of the good we have received with our instructor is to be profitable, there must be first a relating by members of the group the substance of the sermon so that the message may be clear in the minds of all. Where it has not been clear the preacher can again clarify such points that have been obscure. This will be helpful because the message will be thrust home more securely to all by this repetition.

Then I believe, however difficult this may appear to those who are gathered together, it must be recognized that all in turn will have an opportunity to share the good they have received. The good may be a clarification of some truth, or a deeper understanding of it. It may be a deeper sense of the application of the Gospel to the mind and heart. It may be an instruction to be implemented in the life. It may be a strengthening of faith, or the courage to go forward in some difficulty in life. The good received will be various and diverse.

I have said that everyone in the group must expect to share the good they receive, and be given opportunity to do so, and be expected to do so. Yet there will be times for some reason a member will request to pass when their time comes, but this should not be too often. It may be that someone can't share because of the intimacy of the blessing that is given, and because it may be too sensitive to be shared openly, or it may concern others where it would be wrong to share. There will be times when the soul is so dry that apparently no blessing has been perceived to share. It is better to be silent than to force something to say in order not to appear unspiritual or lacking in some way. There must be honesty and openness in such a group, and there must be a total acceptance of each other in love. There must be no judgement, criticism or despising.

The establishing of such a group within a church would increase the expectancy of every member as they came to church and listened to the teaching. It would concentrate every member in close attention to the sermon, and would increase their expectancy of receiving a blessing and good from it. Further the preacher would be placed in a position of greater responsibility before God in the preparation of the sermon. There would be a closer study and meditation in the Word, and above all a deeper prayer and meditation before God that the message from God for the occasion was discerned, and that the sermon was not the thoughts of the preacher.

In every way the church who exercised themselves regularly in this way would grow and be strengthened and more deeply blessed.