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| Memory Verses 1 John 5:11-12; Romans 8:1 (Yeah I know, that makes three,
but 8:1 is a one liner, you can handle it!) Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters, It is great to start a new book again. Also for the future, I want to complete the Timothy's then Titus and Philemon, after that we will go back to The Gospel of Mark. Future plans, way in the future, once we finish the New Testament, I want to go to the Old Testament, I am thinking of taking one chapter daily out of there, and augmenting it with short sections of the epistles to keep our eyes focused on NT theology. What do you think? Timothy is one of the "Pastoral Epistles". It was written to Timothy as a pastor to help him overcome the problems and to set the standards for church government. Today we still use the guidelines in our local churches that come from this epistle in regards to deacons, elders and the church body. The difference between this epistle and the ones we have studied in the past is that it is addressed to an individual, not a church. I think that we will all enjoy it tremendously, as well as learning a lot from it. There is so much here, again I encourage all of you to speak up, if you see something that you want to add to, write us, even if it is a few lines. Timothy had been raised in the church and is constantly mentioned all through the epistles. Acts 16:1-5 Apparently in this book, he has landed the role of pastor, and is having some difficulties with false doctrines being spread in his church, as well as needing instruction on how to run a local church. Regarding the date it was written, I found this note interesting: A more satisfactory solution is to assume that the Pastorals do not fit within the Book of Acts at all, but rather describe a period after the end of Acts. The Book of Acts ends with Paul in jail in Rome ( a.d. 61-62). Surely if Paul was executed at the end of his imprisonment, Luke would have mentioned it. On the other hand, it is entirely credible that Paul could have been released ( a.d. 62), perhaps for lack of evidence, and left free for another period of ministry. According to this supposition (which is all it can ever be), Paul traveled widely from a.d. 62 to 67 and was eventually recaptured, tried, and executed in Rome in 67. During this period of travel he would have written 1 Timothy and Titus, and during his final imprisonment, 2 Timothy. If this scenario is correct then one ought not expect the Pastorals to fit into the chronology of Acts, which ends with his first Roman imprisonment, and the historical arguments against the Pastorals’ authenticity lose their force. Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1 Ti 1:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. At any rate, that is a very short introduction, since Timothy is such a popular character in the New Testament, there is a lot of material available on his character, physical problems, etc. Let's get into the scripture. 1 Timothy 1:1-2 From and to: From Paul, he establishes that as in Acts, he was appointed as apostle by Jesus Christ Himself. He also points out that Jesus Christ is our hope, to keep the focus and to establish the focus of the letter being on Jesus Christ. To Timothy, Paul's "child" some feel that Paul led Timothy to Christ. Regardless, Timothy was raised in the faith, he had been raised in church, and knew the scriptures from childhood. Paul not only wrote this letter to Timothy personally, but it seems to be intended for this letter to be read to the congregation. "Grace, mercy and peace" we read this greeting through several of Paul's epistles, yet we skim over it quickly. Paul constantly reminds his readers that we are all under these three conditions which come to us through our relationship with the Father and Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 1:3-7 Sincere Busy bodies corrupt good ministry. Timothy may have been the pastor of Ephesus, he seems to be encouraged to stay on. My impression of these verses is that there were men in the church who lost the focus of the gospel. Rather than teach and pursue the teaching of the gospel, they went off on tangents, and started splitting hairs which resulted in arguments which only enhanced the pride of the one arguing. I say sincere, because I have seen this very thing happen in churches today. People will take off on different meaningless tangents which will not further the Gospel, and will only lead to endless discussions that lead nowhere. The people doing the arguing are sincere, they believe that they are saved, and do all the right stuff. But most of the time, they are shallow, as in v. 7, they only understand a part of the scripture and are not balanced in their doctrine. The idea is "Look at me, I teach a Sunday school class." It is a point of pride. The tangents that we deal with today, we may not deal with genealogies, but we will deal with psychology, world events, movies, etc. There is an endless list of things we would rather talk about than the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. As I think further on this, in our church, we have a policy that a person needs to be a member for a year before taking on a ministry. This is grounded somewhat in these verses. Referring to verses 6-7, before appointing a person to a leadership position, we need to make sure that they know what they believe. What is the point of appointing a person in a teaching position who does not know the material in the first place? If we used the same yardstick to hire public school teachers that that most churches do in appointing Sunday school teachers, very few of our high schoolers would ever pass the test to graduate. Unfortunately the appointment is because we have such an extreme need for teachers, and very few available. When someone volunteers, most of the time they are accepted with open arms without anyone ever looking beyond their willing heart. Just as Timothy was instructed, we need to make sure that the focus of the instruction is encased in agape love, v.5, "from a pure heart and good conscience and a sincere faith." What does this tell us? Simple, the one teaching should be living the Christian life. If he is living the life, then the agape love of Jesus will be evident in his life. Again, what do we do with the shortage of teachers? I don't know. That is part of the reason of this study, so that we can all join together to learn and be accountable to each other for a continued growth in the Lord. Maybe if we continue to get serious about learning and growing in the Lord we can all influence the members of all of our various churches to do the same. Then this shortage of qualified teachers will slowly dwindle away. 1 Timothy 1:8-11 Purpose of Law, applied. Paul applies the law to a list of sinners as an example to those who wish to pursue the law. The purpose of the law is to reveal sin. The purpose of the law is to convict people of sin, look at this note: "Paul ( 1 Tim. 1:9–10 ) centered particularly on five of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 : No. 5— “Honor thy father and thy mother” —“murderers of the fathers and... mothers.” No. 6— “Thou shalt not kill [murder]” —“murderers of fathers and... mothers... manslayers.” No. 7— “Thou shalt not commit adultery” —“whoremongers [fornicators]... them that defile themselves with mankind [sodomites].” No. 8— “Thou shalt not steal” —“men-stealers [kidnappers].” No. 9— “Thou shalt not bear false witness” —“liars... perjured persons.” Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (1 Ti 1:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books. Another interesting thought regarding the Law, without it, the gospel would be hard to sell. It is necessary for people to be convicted of sin in order for them to repent from sin. The law brings the conviction of sin. Ro. 3:20-31. It is necessary to understand the Law, but we are not under the law, we are under grace. Romans 7:14-25 The law establishes that we are indeed sinners, apart from it, how would we know? 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Paul relates from his experience what had happened in his life. He not only is preaching this high standard, he has lived this standard. He had experienced what it was like to be a murderer in the stoning of Stephen. Can you imagine the guilt and sorrow that he felt as he reflected back on his life in regard to the persecution of the church that he did before knowing Jesus. This few verses give us a clue as to what drove Paul day in and day out. He knew from experience what he had been forgiven of. He knew he had acted in unbelief, and the Lord forgave him, but can you imagine what it must have been like to bear the weight of that burden? Paul was indeed a prime example of what Jesus can do when He enters a person's life. Look at Paul's view of God as he reflects back upon his life: "King eternal" "immortal" "Invisible" "the only God" To this God "be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." Paul sums it up in a nutshell, God is an awesome God. And He wants to work in every believers life in the same way He worked in Paul's life. 1 Timothy 1:18-20 Timothy in battle. Paul gave Timothy the little story reflecting on how tremendous God had been in his life, in order to encourage him not to be discouraged when he faces the problems in his congregation. The beeper got me, gotta close it. Lord, I ask that as each one of us focuses on Timothy's commission, that we will all examine our lives, that we will all set our goals high, according to Your will. In Him, Joe Turner |
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