1 Tim. 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
The observation of God in our individual lives is astounding. The preacher should think often of the presence of God in his life. God is never far away but resides within each believer, and every preacher should realize this presence and act accordingly. God himself is observing everything from his throne. The Lord Jesus Christ is observing the preacher while sitting at the Father's right hand on the throne. The elect angels, who are the ministers of God to help us, are also observing our lives. Should we not all as preachers be on our best behavior with all of these observers?
As these observe the preacher, the preacher should observe the things that Paul has instructed with all caution, since the preacher is under so much scrutiny and observation. The one thing that we must be sure to do under this diligence is that we observe all things without preferring one before the other. The Greek word PROKRIMA, which is translated "preferring one before another," literally means "to prejudge." Sometimes young preachers, if they are not careful, will prejudge their friends and give them a pass on certain things, perhaps some sins, because they are his friends. Some will prejudge in thinking that another person is such a good leader or such a good preacher that he cannot say or do nothing wrong. If the preacher has an offensive attitude toward a person, he will prejudge him as an enemy when he may very well be a friend.
To whom are we as preachers responsible? We are not responsible to man, but we are responsible to God himself. With God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the elect angels watching us and the Holy Spirit indwelling us, should we not be more careful not to be prejudiced toward certain people? Should we not preach the Gospel and the doctrines of the Bible to every man alike? Do these doctrines meet equally every man's need for exhortation and judgment? Is it not the same Bible and the same Spirit that rebukes and refreshes every believer? Then why do we give to one differently from another?
The word translated "partiality" is not the same word translated "preferring one another." The latter is literally "to prejudge." The former (partiality) is "to bend toward, to bow before." In other words, to be partial to someone is to bow to him. We are not to allow our relationship to the world to affect the way we preach the word of God whether it be to friend of foe. We are not to bow to friends because of our love to them, and we are not to bow to our foes because of our fear of them. The word of God says in 1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Jesus said in Matt. 6:24, . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
How can we accomplish all of this? The only way to accomplish this instruction of Paul is to spend much time in secret, praying to our God in Heaven that he will give us wisdom and understanding; the Bible says in James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Study alone, and do not depend upon commentaries completely. Do not preach your sermons from the internet or directly from some other preacher. Do some study on your own, and bring your message with your own personal experiences between you and God under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Do not allow men to love you into changing your doctrine, and do not allow mean men to squelch your voice for the Gospel of God and the doctrines of scripture.
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