D. Therefore, with that as a foundational principle, let’s begin to look at how the apostles understood Jesus’s instructions not to call any man father upon the earth.
To see this we will look at some of the statements of the Apostle Paul. He had a greater revelation of Jesus, than the other 11 had. He had never seen Jesus in the flesh, but he saw the resurrected Christ, which was an even greater revelation.
II. PAUL'S EXEGESIS OF FATHERHOOD
"Let’s look how Paul handled Jesus’s instructions to get clarity and insight."
A. 1 Timothy 1:1-2 (KJV)
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
B. 1 Timothy 1:18 (KJV)
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
C. 2 Timothy 1:2 (KJV)
To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
D. We see at least three occasions here where Paul called Timothy his son. Timothy could not be his son if Paul was not a spiritual father. It is very clear here that Paul is modeling out with clarity and precision all the instructions of Jesus. All of these verses are part of the New Testament canon which we accept to be the inspired word of God. It is important that we do not forget the keys of biblical study:
III. IN-DEPTH EXEGESIS
"Let's look at this even further to get more clarity and understanding."
A. 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 (KJV)
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
B. Here again, in these sets of verses we see Paul speaking of fatherhood and of Timothy as a spiritual son. If you will notice in verse 14, he also references other sons. This is very plain, simple, and clear from the Scriptures. Paul, also in verse 15 begins, to make the contrast between a father and what the Scripture calls a "boy teacher", or the Greek word (Padigos). The Greek word here means an instructor of boys.
C. When Paul was saying you have 10,000 instructors, he was in essence saying you have many boy teachers, teaching in maturity. If you notice, in Paul’s instruction, he said "I have begotten you through the gospel therefore be followers of me."
He obviously and clearly was a spiritual father to Timothy and many other spiritual sons and daughters.
D. One unique things about the Scripture is the Scripture often communicates things on two levels, there’s the obvious revelation of a thing and then there’s the hidden revelation of the thing. It's called "hidden offices."
IV. EXEGESIS OF THE OTHER
FATHERING OFFICES
There are other offices in the New Testament that clearly point out spiritual fathering. Let's look at one called, "the office of the MEYO."