1 Timothy Chapter 5

In reading Chapter 5 we see that Paul is charging Timothy to take care of his people. To make sure that the widows are taken care of. I wonder if we as the church are taking care of our widows. Those women who have no husbands. Not only through death but because of divorce, or other circumstances. I’m wondering what it would look like if we went back to actually being the church as it looked like in Acts. It may just hurt a little, it may just be a little uncomfortable, is my guess.
Also, do we do a good job of making sure the families of those who have widows, single parents homes, etc are taking care of their own or is the church doing more than what we are suppose to be doing? Because if we are we are not being effective in ministry. We are allowing others to not share in the work of the ministry and those who should be doing their part are missing out on a multitude of blessings.
I believe that God wants it this way because the church has a specific mission to accomplish and if we are doing things that are the responsibilities of other family members than it takes away and makes it difficult for the church to accomplish it’s mission.

1 Timothy Chapter 4

Continuing with 1 Timothy we see that Paul warns Timothy about the false teaching that was going around at that time. Some of the teaching that was going around was called gnosticism. It had to do with Jesus not really being God, or how you had to still be Jewish and follow the rules of Judaism to follow Christ.
Notice that Paul says that the false teaching comes from within the church not outside of it.
I had a conversation with a friend recently and we talked about the apostasy that is occupying within the church right now. He does not like the Emerging Church Movement and i haver backed off on my support for it (though I believe many of the people in it are great people and I love the energy and new ideas that they come up with) because I believe they tread on dangerous ground, like was Jesus God? Was Mary a virgin? Can I be gay and Christian? All good questions but its the answers that they are giving that is scary.
So we can see that 2000 years later, the church is still dealing with false teaching that is coming from within the church.

The second half of this chapter deals with spiritual training. I believe Paul put this in there so that Timothy could handle the challenges he would be facing with these false teachers and gnostics arose in his church but this is good advice for us all.
How many times have we been asked a spiritual question by a friend only to not have the answer and now it makes us look like what we believe is really weak?
Paul says that we need to train ourselves in godliness. Stay away from myths and old wives tales. We need to be studiers of God’s word. I dont believe you need to be a Bible scholar but you need to know what you believe and why. I think this is why it is important to go to church, to be around others that believe the same as you. So that you can ask questions. A teacher of mine in college always said that no one learns anything if you dont ask questions.
So ask questions!

1 Timothy Chapter 3

Chapter 3 deals with the requirements for a leader or pastor of a church but these requirements are also good for just being a good person or a mature person. I remember reading a book years ago called Measure of a Man by Gene Getz. I recommend this book to any man and actually to any teenage boy wanting to know what it means to be a man.
Paul lists some great requirements, and I have to admit, I fail at a lot of them sometimes…

1. A that is above reproach – Integrity is the key here. When no one is looking, are you still an honest and blameless person?

2. Faithful to his wife – Are you a person who honest and will stick with their wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend through thick and thin?

3. Exercise self-control – Are you a person who does not go overboard?

4. Must be gentle, not quarrelsome – Can you you control your anger or does your anger control you?

Now this is not to say that if you fail in these areas that you are disqualified from leadership, no I don’t think that is what Paul is saying. I believe Paul is saying that these are things that are desirable and things people need to work toward. This is also not to say that it is ok to have a drunk or wife beater as a leader of the church, no we need to use discretion and wisdom as well.

I also like that Paul does not dismiss women from leadership. In verse 11 Paul calls on women in leadership to have these same qualities. Too many in the church today discount women as leaders. I believe for a church to operate properly it needs a good mix of women, men, young, old, etc to be really effective.

Sozo

Reading 1 Timothy Chapter 2 this morning and there is that word again, Sozo. I did a study on this when I preached a sermon at my church about prayer and salvation. After reading this chapter again, I believe without a doubt that God wants to save, heal, make whole, etc. everyone but because of free will, because of our stubbornness, he will will not and has not saved all.
“He wishes to save all”; for then he would have saved all in matter of fact; but “will have all men to be saved,” implies the possibility of man’s accepting it (through God’s prevenient grace) or rejecting it (through man’s own perversity). Our prayers ought to include all, as God’s grace included all.

1 Timothy Chapter 1

1^st Timothy, Chapter 1



1 Timothy is often considered a pastoral letter. It is meant to teach those who want to be pastors or teachers in the church. But, I believe it is for the entire church, everyone can gain wisdom form Paul’s letter to Timothy.

What really stuck out to me is starting in verse 3.

³When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth. ⁴Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

God does not like it when we waste time. When we get in petty fights over non-essentials of the faith. When we fight over the right or wrong way to worship, when we fight over tattoos or dancing, can you believe there are people out there that are so focused on rules and regulations that they forget about the Gospel?

My wife use to work with drug addicts as part of her job and she noticed that when people get sober or drug free, they need a clear list of rules and laws to abide by. There is gray area in their life. I bring this up because sometimes when people first come to Jesus, they are like reformed addicts. They have yet to experience Grace and Mercy. They need to live by these set of rules. I believe that is good when you first come to Jesus but it becomes a problem when you start inferring YOUR rules onto others. When you start meaningless debates on how others should do things. What this does is keep people from truly experiencing a true faith of Jesus.

I also look at things like politics. People argue over politics (I’m guilty as well) and what does it get them? I have seen people ruin friendships over politics. Conservatives vs Liberals, Republicans vs Democrats, Moderates vs Libertarians.

All for what?

What our focus should be on is growing in our faith, loving others, serving others as if they were Jesus himself. Paul said that “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.”

Are our lives free from ulterior motives? When we instruct or share with someone our faith is it to share Jesus or is it to change their behavior? I believe Paul is saying here that we need to be free from selfishness and come to people with a pure heart, free from guilt and rules, and come to people with a real love of Jesus. This way we can set aside these stupid debates and just share our love of Jesus.

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