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‘Give attention to the public reading of Scripture.’ - 1 Tim 4:13

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These studies are brief, and were originally written in August 2008 for weekend use

Bible study for 1 Timothy 1:1-7

1 Timothy 1:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

Paul’s first letter to Timothy is a classic epistle containing a considerable amount of theology mixed in with comment and instruction about the life of the church.  There is one major difference between the two letters written to Timothy and the other letters by Paul (apart from Titus); they are not general letters written to churches, but personal letters to a dearly loved friend and companion concerning the missionary work in which they were engaged.  For this reason, they offer a considerable amount of personal advice.

It is not clear when this letter was written from the various reference to Timothy in Acts (16:1f., 17:14f., 18:5, 19:22, 20:4), but they do indicate that Timothy was with Paul in his missionary work in the Ephesus region, and was therefore someone who could carry his authority there (1:3); this gives us a hint at the purpose of the letter.  It begins with affectionate greetings from Paul, littered with some of the theological words that are characteristic of his preaching the Gospel around the known world; ‘hope’, ‘faith’, ‘grace’, ‘mercy’, peace’ (1:1,2).  Paul also sets out his authority as an apostle (1:1), but such introductions did not serve to tell Timothy anything about Paul which he did not otherwise know.  Their purpose was probably to ensure that the bearer of the letter knew about its importance, as well as any future readers of the letter!

Paul was ‘on his way to Macedonia’ (1:3), though none of this fits exactly with the sequence of events found in Acts.  It appears though, that Paul needed Timothy to remain behind in Ephesus in order to stabilise the situation there (1:3).  We must remember that Paul was not talking about the church in Ephesus alone, however, because while he was there (see Acts 18-20), he was involved in an extensive ministry to the entire region around the city, involving places such as Philadelphia, Laodicea and Colossae (e.g. Colossians 2:1).  Acts also tells us that Ephesus was where Paul met Christians converted under Apollos.  They did not know about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1f.) and Paul corrected this glaring error.  As time went by, it seems that there was a further need for doctrinal discipline within the churches of the large metropolis of Ephesus and its satellite towns, and Paul was writing in response to this need (1:4,6,7).

Another issue may also lie behind Paul’s comments here, which is hinted at in the phrase; ‘myths and endless genealogies ...’ (1:4).  It is most likely that this referred to heretical teaching based on something called ‘Gnostic’ mystery religions.  These religions suggested that different layers of secret spiritual authority were stacked between earth and heaven, between people and God, and the soul had to pass through them sequentially to find salvation.  Gnosticism is a complex subject, and it undoubtedly affected many in the first century AD.  Some Christians thought of Christ as one of the spiritual levels through which one had to pass in order to attain to the divinity of God.  Paul, naturally, sought to fight against all such beliefs.

So what was Timothy being asked to do?  He was firstly required to be faithful to the apostolic teaching he had learned from Paul; he was to allow ‘no other doctrine’ (1:3).  Then, in a fascinating sentence, Paul said more; ‘Now the aim of this instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith’ (1:5).  The dangers to the purity of the Gospel in the early church were plain, but notice that here, Paul was concerned not so much about the doctrines taught but people’s motives for preaching and teaching about Christ.  His emphasis on love, purity, good conscience and sincere faith show that he was concerned that those who preached the Gospel live the life of Christ as well as teach it; they were not to be hypocrites.  People quickly spot hypocrisy and reject those who show it as well as their message.

What Paul says here is worth remembering.  If such qualities are found in those who teach and preach God’s Word today those who listen to them will seek to do the same, and the Gospel will be effective.  Certainly, we can expect that the preaching of the Gospel will demonstrate ‘good fruit’, and if this is not found then like the churches around Ephesus, we may need a steadying hand on what is preached and taught.

1 Timothy 1:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What are the moral and spiritual qualities you would expect from someone who preaches the Gospel.
2. Why do people tend to be negative about the idea of teaching doctrine today?  How might an understanding of doctrine be helpful today?
3. How can we know whether someone has a pure heart, or any other moral or spiritual quality?

Topics covered by this text

• The importance of teaching Christian doctrine
• The importance of moral and spiritual qualities in a teacher

Personal comments by author

Paul’s letter to Timothy is a powerful piece of writing which arose out of a friendship.  Many great things have happened in history because they have been inspired by friendship, from art and music to literature; and this is as true in the church as it is anywhere else.  I am reminded that my own friendship is important to others, and consequently I should be generous with it whenever I can.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Read through some of the texts in Acts which mention Timothy (quoted above).  This will give you a good idea of the relationship between Paul and Timothy, and aid your understanding of this letter.
• Reflect on the importance to you of those who are your closest friends.  It may be that the Lord is asking you to make sure you do not lose some, or He may be saying your friendship is spread too thinly.  Pray about this.

Final Prayer

I praise You, Lord God, for You have saved me and provided for all my needs.  Help me take hold of this truth when I feel vulnerable, unloved, challenged or rejected; and as I do this, strengthen my faith and draw me closer to the path of holiness.  Open up my heart to enjoy the great life You have given me.  Alleluia!

Bible study for 1 Timothy 1:8-11

1 Timothy 1:8-11  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

We may not expect this, and it may come as something of a surprise, but the first thing Paul says to his dear friend Timothy when imploring him to uphold sound doctrine, is to make sure that people know God’s ‘Law’!  Why would Paul start his recommendation on sound teaching here?  To begin with, Paul has already complained that people were being led astray by false religions (1:4 – see yesterday) and when all these were imported into Christian faith, it created mayhem.  Similar things happens today, but we will not know the truth about what is right and what is wrong without a knowledge of God’s Law, and this is why Paul insists here that it is important.

Paul teaches that the basic understanding of God’s Word is to be found in the Old Testament, and is loosely called the ‘Law’ (1:8f.).  Here, he is not talking about the nit-picking legalism of the Pharisaic laws, built over centuries around the Old Testament.  Jesus had fought against such religiosity, and Paul had consistently condemned such legalism and presented it as the very opposite of the Gospel of Jesus’ grace (e.g. see Gal 3:10f.).  So here, he refers to the true Laws of God, revealed in the Old Testament, and revealing the moral nature of the whole of Creation as made by God.  Typically, by the word ‘Law’, we mean the first five books of the Bible.  This includes the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), the moral codes of Leviticus and the great commandment ‘love your neighbour ...’ (Lev 19:18b), and the Israelite prayer ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength’ (Deut 6:4f.).  This was true Old Testament Judaism, which despite its failings, still held in its history the treasure of God’s moral self- revelation.

In this passage, Paul sets out the incomparable value of God’s Law, which identifies what is right and wrong in the created world, and enables those who want to do God’s will to understand the moral background against which to make good judgements.  In this way, it also identifies what is ‘disobedient (to God), ungodly and sinful’ (1:9).  Then to illustrate his point, Paul gives a long list of social and personal evils (1:9,10) in the Roman society but contrary to God’s moral law.  One of these sins is sodomy an evils that was regarded as acceptable in many Roman circles of his day, but was forbidden by God.  Historians disagree about the extent to which homosexual practice was prevalent within the Roman Empire, but there is no doubt that it was common.  Paul expressed his own horror at this by listing alongside this the Greek word ‘porneia’ translated here as ‘sexual perverts’.  In addition, Paul mentioned the sin of slavery, identifying in a unique way the terrible offense of the slave trade in ancient Roman society.  In his other writings, Paul does not appear to suggest that slavery is wrong (e.g. Eph 6:5f.), but it seems from this passage that he was indeed aware of its evils.

There are all manner of debates and arguments we could have about the various issues raised here, but Paul mentions them all as ‘contrary to sound teaching’, and we should be prepared to listen and be careful.  Whilst issues to do with homosexuality, for example, create great debate today, we should not forget that Paul also lists ‘liars’, ‘perjurers’  and the ‘ungodly’ in his list, and we have a duty to look at those things.  They apply to us, and if we are to come to terms with what Paul calls ‘sound teaching’, we must accept that God’s moral ‘Law’ forbids these as well.  We are right to say that we are not saved by the Law, but we are wrong to say it is not important.  God’s law tells us what sin is.

All too often, we allow each other a significant amount of social lee-way in respect of sins, but to do so compromises God’s Word.  Paul presents a stern challenge from God’s Word, and however powerful the work of God to save a sinner (of every category mentioned in his list), Timothy’s task was to ensure that the leaders of the churches and the teaching that was given reflected sound doctrine, and gave no lee-way to what was evil or wrong before God.  It was and is advice of great discernment.

1 Timothy 1:8-11  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How do you react to the list of evils and sins mentioned by Paul at the beginning of this letter?  Discuss the meaning of any you do not understand.
2. Discuss whether it is always possible to determine the nature of sin from what we are told in the Bible?
3. Have a look at some other lists of sins found in Paul’s writing (e.g. Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-6).

Topics covered by this text

• The nature of sin
• The nature of God’s Law

Personal comments by author

It is quite hard to have to deal with a strong and negative list such as this at the beginning of a significant letter of Paul.  However, it was necessary for Paul to get this out of the way before he could move on to the other, equally controversial issues he mentions to Timothy.  It is clear that in writing a different form of letter, Paul is raising issues in a different way than in his other letters to churches.  Expect more controversy to come!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• This passage of scripture is one frequently referred to in the debates amongst some Christians about homosexuality.  What do you think of how the church handles this subject pastorally, given what the Bible says?
• Arrange to spend several days having a fast.  By this I mean, miss a meal and replace it with a short time of prayer, asking the Lord to reveal to you any social sins which you have not seen in yourself.  Confess them as necessary and ask the Lord to show you how to handle these issues.

Final Prayer

Great and mighty God, who hears our prayers even before they are formed in our minds; mould our lives into the pattern of your great will both for us and also for all humanity.  So may we be fulfilled in our inner spiritual life, and in our relationships with others.  This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

This passage is a unique analysis of Paul’s own conversion experience, an event used by God to change the world.  There are three important places in the New Testament where Paul recounts the full story of his conversion experience; Acts 9:2f., Acts 22:5f., Gal 1:13f.  He probably repeated this many times over and it may have been part of what people expected to hear from him, but here in his letter to Timothy, who probably knew it well, he refrains from giving its details and describes its meaning.  In so doing, he conveys how important it is for a Christian leader to be open and frank about such things.

Here, Paul contrasts his sinful and unworthy past (1:13) with the trust God has placed in him to preach the Gospel (1:14).  Before being a servant of the Lord he was undoubtedly the ‘scum of the earth’, one who had persecuted Christians and even participated in proceedings that led to their death (9:1).  This was no idle testimony, it was a matter of open record, and one in which Paul did not glory, but he used it to illustrate how far a man could be changed by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  He describes himself here as ‘a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence’ (1:13), and yet God eventually trusted him with the message of salvation for the Gentiles (1:12), a unique and world changing commission.  Everything of Paul’s former life was used by God to enable him to communicate to the Gentile world, and Acts of the Apostles (largely from chapter 13 onwards) traces the story of his work.

As the one God used so remarkably, Paul was able to speak about the ‘grace of our Lord (which has) overflowed for me ...’ (1:14).  This was not a theological remark, but an exclamation of wonder and amazement; how incredible it was that God Almighty had chosen the worst of hypocrites and sinners to represent Him by preaching the Gospel to the whole world!  Paul put it all down to the ‘faith and love which are in Christ Jesus’ (1:14).  However, he went on, and after describing himself as the ‘foremost of sinners’ (1:15), he quoted what could well have been a liturgical statement from an early form of church service; ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1:15).  He then proceeded to explain what this meant for one who was a leader of the church.

Paul knew that the characteristics of a leader would be picked up by a church congregation, so he urged the people to see him as a ‘prime example’ (1:16) of Christ’s patience for a sinner.  In this way, he diverted attention from himself to Christ.  He could say with conviction borne from personal experience that there was no one for whom the Lord would not wait patiently, both to save and to lead into eternal life.  Christ’s patience was infinite, and Paul’s experience of faith illustrated this; it was a ‘pattern for those yet to believe in Him for eternal life’ (1:16).

In a not so subtle way, Paul was making a point to Timothy; he should speak and preach from his own experience, because this would win people for Christ and enable the church to grow.  When a person speaks from personal experience, the hearer is under greater obligation to take the matter seriously, and as a rule, people tend to accept the personal testimony of a speaker and sit far more lightly to stories told about others.  Paul knew that Timothy had a conversion experience.  He was the son of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father (Acts 16:1f.), and he therefore knew what it was like to make a decision for Christ from both a Jewish background and a Gentile background.  His testimony could therefore be used by God for greater things!

Testimony to the saving power of Christ lies behind all preaching and the communication of the Gospel, and for this reason, Paul says, ‘This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1:15).  This is the Gospel and the glory of God, celebrated in the last verse of the passage (1:17), which is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.  God uses the experience of His people to bring the Gospel to others.  He was and is ‘eternal, immortal, invisible, and unique’ (1:17) and is to be praised for ever more!

1 Timothy 1:12-17  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How has God used the story of your own journey of faith?  Have you told other people about it?  How did this happen?
2. Discuss why the Lord overlooks ‘ignorance and unbelief’ (1:13).  What does this mean here in this text?
3. In what ways is the Lord patient with you?  Discuss this within your group and see whether this links with your understanding of this passage.

Topics covered by this text

• The Gospel of God for the sinner
• The mercy and grace of God
• Evangelism

Personal comments by author

I find this passage challenging because it makes me realise afresh the responsibilities of a leader.  The experiences of a leader can deeply affect the life of a church, but we should not be worried about this.  The onus is on the church leader to speak of his or her genuine experience of the Lord, so that God’s people can have confidence that the one who leads them has indeed been called and leads them with a deep and abiding sense of God’s call.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• How has the Lord used you to share your personal experience to proclaim the Gospel to others?  If not, ask others in your church about their experiences of sharing the Gospel.  You may find that this will give you a broader understanding of what it means to do this.
• Set aside a day for fasting to ask the Lord to use your own experience of faith for the proclamation of the Gospel.  You can never know how the Lord will work through you!

Final Prayer

Your will, Lord God, contains the secrets of the Universe; its origins, its workings and its future.  Show me how I am placed within your plan for the world and give me inner peace.  May I show confidence in You as my Maker and my Redeemer, to the praise and glory of Your Name. AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 1:18-20

1 Timothy 1:18-20  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

The first chapter of Timothy ends with these words.  At first they are easy to follow and heart-warming (1:18,19), but they then raise some difficult issues (1:19,20).  Most of us have heard Paul’s recommendation to Timothy to ‘fight the good fight’ (1:18), though people tend to apply it to everything from spiritual warfare to marriage to church meeting!  A careful look at this text will show us that Paul had an important and specific point to make by saying this.  The more difficult part of the text comes in the second half of the passage, in which Hymenaeus and Alexander were condemned for a bad misjudgement of theirs in the life of the church.  Paul says that he has turned them ‘over to Satan’, which sounds rather extreme to our ears.  We must ask whether this is indeed extreme, or whether it is something we need to understand much better.

Paul speaks about prophecies given to Timothy (1:18); both would have been aware of them, and they knew what they said about Timothy’s ministry.  Such prophecies were considered to be clear guidance for Timothy from God, and would have affected his whole life.  Acts of the Apostles records instances of the giving of such prophecies, though not the ones given to Timothy.  For example, in the commissioning of missionary work:

‘Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers ... while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”’ (Acts 13:1f.)

This is an example of how words of prophecy were used to give direction to both the work of the Gospel and also the life of individuals.  At some point in time, a prophecy of this nature must have been given to Timothy, and given what else we know about Timothy from Paul’s letters, we may reasonably guess that they gave Timothy the role of a servant or helper (probably what the Greek calls a ‘deacon’) to Paul.  We can draw this conclusion from Acts 17:14,15, 18:5, 19:22, 20:4. and also from Paul’s letters, Rom 16:21, 1 Cor 4:17, 2 Cor 1:1,19, Phil 1:1, 2:19, Col 1:1, 1 Thess 3:2.

Here, Paul urges Timothy to hold on firmly to his prophetic calling by fighting what he calls ‘the good fight’.  We might not use such a phrase today, but Paul used it back then to describe the amazing pioneering work of establishing churches in the first century AD.  Together with Timothy, Paul and his other helpers had lived through some incredible experiences, including much persecution and hardship (e.g. 2 Cor 6:4f.).  For them, the growth of the church was indeed a battle of immense proportions, and yet it was worth the fight.  The Gospel was more precious to them than anything else.  This was a fight for the future of the world and for the Kingdom of God; it was a battle which would be won through doing right, and fighting against the evil powers and authorities, earthly and heavenly, which stood in the way of the Gospel (e.g. Col. 2:8f.).

Paul’s message was highlighted by the plight of those who had not stayed the course of the prophetic word and ministry to which they had been called, and this, I believe, is the context for which we must read the last verse (1:20).  Paul attacks Hymenaeus and Alexander, because they had rejected ‘conscience’, the quality of mind by which people discern what is right and wrong.  The dangers of this were obvious.  Without a godly moral compass, those who proclaimed the Gospel would be shipwrecked on the rocky coastline of pagan immorality.  This was all the more tragic because the individuals concerned had all made personal choices that led them to this disaster.  We do not know what these were for Hymenaeus and Alexander, but the consequences were that they were compromised by their abandonment of the Gospel.

Paul’s famous words, ‘I have turned (them) over to Satan’, merely reflect his sad acceptance of the fact of their rebellion against God.  In Hebrew, the name ‘Satan’ means ‘the accuser’, so Paul’s words were like a call for them to face the sharp questions that arose from the godless immorality they had propounded.  How else would anyone in the church learn the difference between what was right and wrong, and have the spiritual truth brought to the light?  These are hard but necessary words, and we should learn from Paul how to be ruthlessly correct in all matters pertaining to the Gospel; God’s Word define us, we do not define the Gospel!

1 Timothy 1:18-20  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Is it appropriate for all people who have a call to Christian faith also to have a call to specific service in the cause of the Gospel?
2. What does the word ‘conscience’ mean to you and how would you define it?  What does it mean here?
3. Does the explanation in the study help you understand what Paul means when talking about Hymenaeus and Alexander?

Topics covered by this text

• Prophetic words
• Sustaining the work of the Gospel
• The importance of morality

Personal comments by author

Behind this passage, there is a sense of the urgency of the Gospel and the supreme important of fulfilling each call of ministry and service.  I find that this sense of urgency is simply not there within the life of most churches and it frustrates me!  I pray for a recovery of a sense of urgency and responsibility when God’s people work together with the Lord in the proclamation of the Gospel.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Have you known what it is like for other people to prophecy over you about your own role and task in the life of the church?  If not, then tell those you love and trust within the church, and ask them to discern God’s will for you and for your on ministry.
• Put all other discipleship tasks aside and seek to spend time in prayer, until you find that the Lord gives you clear prophetic guidance about your calling within the body of Christ.  Nothing is more important for you right now!

Final Prayer

God of glory and God of grace; do great things among us now.  By Your grace, show us how to love each other whatever our background or whatever our church life.  Remove from our souls everything that prevents us from fulfilling our true calling and our true potential in You.  Praise You, Lord Jesus Christ, praise You!

Bible study for 1 Timothy 2:1-7

1 Timothy 2:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

The second chapter of Paul’s first letter to Timothy begins with some famous advice about the prayer, beginning; ‘I therefore urge you, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who hold high office ...’ (2:1).  He adds to this a short summary of the Gospel he preaches, as if to justify its authenticity: ‘This is the testimony given at the proper time, for which I was appointed a herald and an apostle ... (2:6,7).

Those of you who read these studies will know that it is part of the author’s vision to advocate prayer and the study of God’s Word as essential to Christian discipleship.  One of the books of the Bible that led me to this conclusion was 1 Timothy, because here, while describing the duties of Christian living to Timothy, Paul places prayer alongside knowledge of the authentic Gospel.  Paul could not, of course appeal to the New Testament and call this knowledge ‘Bible study’ as we might do today, because the Bible did not exist then.  However, he did speak about the importance of understanding the authentic Gospel of Christ, something that is now preserved in the Bible.  In the early days of the church, congregations sprung up with a variety of beliefs based on the Gospel they had heard, and it soon became necessary to try and the truth about the life and death of Jesus Christ.  In those days, the standard measure was the testimony of the twelve apostles, to which Paul also included himself, by reason of the special revelation he received (see Gal. 1,2, Eph. 3 etc.). 

This may well explain why we often find passages of this nature in Paul’s letters.  In verse four, Paul says, ‘God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (2:4), with an added explanation of Christ’s work as Mediator between God and humanity (2:5).  Then, Paul refers to the importance of knowing this Gospel truth, saying that it was a testimony given at the ‘proper time’ (2:6), and that he had sought to remain faithful to it throughout his ministry (2:7).  Paul knew the true Gospel testimony would only be maintained if two things happened; firstly it was written down, and secondly if faithful leaders followed this heritage of apostolic teaching.  The equivalent today is for us to say that the true teaching of the church is based upon our heritage of our knowledge about Jesus, as found in the Bible as a whole.  Certainly, this is a strong argument for keeping faithful to the Gospel of Christ, and it supports one half of the argument for the importance of ‘prayer and Bible study’.

The first part of the passage is well known advice about prayer, but it does not say that the first subject for prayer is ‘those in authority’.  I have often been asked to tell people where they can find ‘the passage that says our first duty in prayer is for leaders ...’ and they are indeed looking for 1 Timothy 2:1,2, ignorant of the fact that what it says is a little different to what they think!  The passage is in fact a general description of prayer, and ‘kings and all who hold high office’ is the second item on the list.  Paul begins by saying that prayer is vitally important, and he lists a variety of forms of prayer, beginning with ‘requests’ (meaning personal requests), and going on to ‘prayers’ (meaning prayers in general), ‘intercessions’ (prayers for others), and ‘thanksgivings’ (prayers addressed to God)’ (2:1).  He then goes on to say that such prayers should be said ‘for all people’.

Yes, our first priority is to talk to the Lord, using all appropriate forms of prayer.  In saying this, Paul reflects his own practice, as recorded in his own letters (see, for example, Rom 1:9, 2 Cor 1:11, Eph 1:6 etc.).  It is only after this that Paul goes on to mention the duty of prayer for those in positions of earthly and spiritual leadership (2:2).  This is clearly important, but it is quite wrong to suggest that Scripture tells us to pray for ‘kings and all who hold high office’ first.  Paul mentions this and gives it prominence here because of the need for a peaceful setting for the proclamation of the Gospel (2:2,3), so his priority is the Gospel rather than the kings themselves, and how they are and what they do.  It is of course right to pray about such people, but wrong to misinterpret Scripture.

The main emphasis in this part of the passage is on the need for prayer as a discipline of discipleship, and it clearly goes together with maintaining a good and accurate knowledge of the Gospel.  Prayer and Bible study are essential to discipleship.

1 Timothy 2:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group what this passage says about prayer and the duty of each disciple to pray.
2. Discuss in your group what this passage says about knowing the apostolic Gospel and how we can get to know it better.
3. What do you gain personally from this passage of Scripture?

Topics covered by this text

• The importance of prayer
• The importance of knowing the Gospel accurately

Personal comments by author

I feel slightly guilty in making a connection between the themes of this passage and the aims of this website, but I can hardly avoid this.  I believe that it is essential to develop both prayer and Bible study amongst Christians today if the work of the Church is to grow, and one of the main reasons for my conviction is the strong connections between these two that can be found in a variety of places within Scripture.  Indeed, it would be inappropriate of me to write and promote this website unless I based my convictions on Scripture, and this is why I share this today.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• To what extent do you exercise ‘requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving’ in your prayers?  Is there any one of these that you find difficulty in using regularly?  Work at any of these that are not part of your prayer life.
• In what ways do you feel that you come across the apostolic faith today? In the Bible? In church? In Bible study? Where would you expect to find apostolic teaching?

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus; draw me to Your perfect love, and as I seek to be like You, keep me mindful of my humanity; of where I have come from, as well as where I am going.  May I learn from Your powerful and compassionate love how I can remain true to my calling throughout my life. Through Jesus Christ I pray;  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 2:8-15

1 Timothy 2:8-15  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

This is an awkward passage of Scripture!  Here, Paul appears to express views that subordinate women, and this subject has become a source of great contention within almost every church; the passage is used to justify rejecting the teaching ministry of women in church.  It seems to argue that women are secondary in God’s creation (2:13,14), and this appears insurmountable for anyone who might wish to suggest a different way of understanding the text.  However, this study challenges this traditional view because it is not consistent with the rest of scripture, which teaches that men and women are equal in God’s sight.  I have concluded that what Paul is describing here is a special instance in the life of the church, and once we understood this, the full meaning of the passage will become clear.  

For example, Genesis 2 does not suggest that a man has a priority over his wife before God; indeed, it says that a man must make the greater sacrifice by leaving ‘his father and mother (to) cling to his wife, and they become one flesh’ (Gen 2:24).  This scripture expresses the unity of man and woman in the image of God (see Gen 1:27) and it is a deep mystery of God (Eph 5:32).  In addition, the New Testament witnesses that all are saved through faith in Christ alone, whether male or female, slave or free (see Gal. 3:28 etc.).  The idea of women being saved ‘through childbirth’ (2:15) refers back to the curse of the fallen world described in Genesis 3:14-19, and not God’s perfect world order.  It would be utterly scandalous to suggest that women are saved in any other way than through the death and resurrection of Christ, so we must conclude that in this text, Paul quotes Genesis not to describe how women are saved, but to make a point about family responsibilities.

In order to understand this passage we must picture ourselves back in Paul’s day, and imagine what it was like for men and women to worship God in the first century, for throughout 1 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy about how to deal with what happened in the life of the church.

Firstly, for cultural rather than religious reasons, men and women were separated for worship as in a Jewish synagogue, with the worship led from where the men gathered.  So when the men prayed, listened to Scripture and heard it expounded, their wives gathered separately, and without hearing what was going on in the men’s meeting, they would have conversed.  Now when the church began to grow, many women were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the result was that the women began to teach other women about what had happened to them.  Sometimes, the controversy could cause some noise (see also 1 Cor 14:34f.)!

If you read what Paul says here in 1 Timothy with this picture in mind, it is clear that he was opposing this state of affairs.  Indeed, he says that women should present themselves for worship like men (2:9,10) without regard to fashion.  Secondly, women should learn with their husbands, not separately from them (2:12), and they should do so like the men, quietly and with ‘all obedience’ (2:11).  Thirdly, there should be no need for noise if all worshipped together (2:12).  Lastly, I suggest that what Paul was seeking was to avoid the situation where the separate teaching of women by women was given more prominence than the exposition of Scriptures in the assembly, conducted normally in that culture, by men (2:12).  His aim was not to prevent women from teaching or being given authority to teach, but having a situation where the teaching of anyone was held in regard ‘over’ and above another.  Scripture testifies to the authority of what is taught lying in the Word, and not the teacher.  The one who teaches exercises a gift and was responsible for it, as we will discover in reading the rest of 1 Timothy.  Certainly, if we assume that teaching is a matter of exercising authority by anyone, we have forsaken a Biblical model of teaching for a worldly one!

Paul undoubtedly asks women to be quiet and learn with submission, but this is hardly different from what he would say to men if they were making a noise and not listening to the preached word of God.  By saying all this to women because of the cultural conditions of the day, what Paul says sound chauvinist to us today, but I do not believe that this was his intention.  Paul’s main point is that what happens in church should be ‘without argument and dissent’ (1:8).

If you wish to discover more about the subject of women in the church, then please check out my studies on Ephesians 5:21f. and 1 Corinthians 11:1f.

1 Timothy 2:8-15  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What is your opinion about whether women should be allowed to preach in the pulpit of a church?
2. In the light of this passage of scripture, are there any conditions attached to men and women being equal in the sight of God?
3. Discuss whether you agree with the author’s opinion that Paul was advocating the removal of barriers in worship rather than creating them.

Topics covered by this text

• Worship in the church
• The place of women in worship
• Submission and teaching in the church

Personal comments by author

As I write this commentary today, I am aware that there are some who sincerely believe that women should have no place in church leadership.  I have to say that whilst I began my Christian life with some sympathy for such opinions, every time I have delved into the scriptures used to justify such arguments, I find they do not say what some want them to say.  As a man, I therefore feel deeply uneasy about the heritage of male domination in the church, and the uneasy and sometime embarrassing attempts by some to say that banning women from leadership is not really ‘domination’.  It is, and we need to accept that sometimes our ‘plain’ reading Scripture can lead us into error, not truth, and we must dig deeper.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• What view does your church take on the role of women in leadership or preaching in the church? Pray fervently for the church because it is severely split over this.
• Submit your own feelings about this passage to the Lord, whether you are a man or a woman, and allow God to reveal His will about these issues.

Final Prayer

Jesus, be our guide.  Help us understand how Your grace has worked throughout past years; touch us with Your loving hand as we work through the joys and trials of the present; and give us confidence in You for the future You have prepared for us. Thank You Jesus;  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 3:1-7

1 Timothy 3:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

To begin with, this passage is Paul’s personal advice for Timothy.  It describes the ideal characteristics of one who is called to serve the church, not with high-minded idealism but with practical common-sense.  It is clear that Paul expects this advice to applied to other people in a wide variety of church situations, and his advice should not be quickly dismissed.

At the time Paul wrote, there were no formal structures to the church and various offices were quickly developing (e..g. Ephesians 4:11f.).  Amongst the words used to describe the emerging offices of leadership was ‘episcopes’, the word we now translate as ‘bishop’.  It is found within the Greek of verse 2 and I have translated it, quite correctly, as ‘one who serves’.  I have done this because there is a massive gap between what Paul meant by this word and what the word ‘bishop’ means today.  The office of bishop is now the highest position of leadership, reflecting considerable power and authority within huge church structures, and it is far removed from Paul’s understanding of the church when writing to Timothy.  It is only right therefore to interpret this passage as referring in general to offices of service within the church, not just the particular office of bishop as we have fashioned it over centuries.

Here, Paul describes what may best be called ‘leadership through service’, or alternatively ‘oversight through service’ (3:1,2), and this is the role he saw Timothy performing in the church.  His words were a form of encouragement, confirming Timothy’s own godly qualities.  The list is not random or general, and each quality is important for a good reason, though we can only explore this in a full study of the text.  No one should be allowed to exercise oversight or leadership within the church unless they measured up to these godly qualities.

Paul mentions excessive drinking, insecurity in home life, immodesty or rash judgement and the love of money, as killers of Christian ministry (3:2,3).  They must be guarded against not just when someone is selected for leadership, but throughout their ministry.  There is strong evidence that if the church does not care for its leaders by watching and helping them deal with Satan’s temptations, then chaos will reign amongst God’s people.  Most people within the church will have come across painful stories of what happens when any of these wise words of Paul are overlooked, misapplied, or regarded as irrelevant.  Of course, all this applies to bishops today, as well as any all who hold positions authority and leadership within the church.

Other details of this passage are worth remembering, firstly, Paul indicates the folly of giving leadership and oversight to those who have little experience in matters of faith because they are relatively new converts, however experienced they may be in worldly matters (3:6).  If people are to lead, they must have experience and knowledge in order to lead and train those under their care.  We should not assume that mere potential is a guide to good leadership.

Secondly, Paul mentions the connection between a leader’s conduct at home and work for the Lord.  Personally, I feel that too many churches ignore this, largely because it is thought inappropriate to inquire into a person’s ‘private’ life.  We must remember that people who have given themselves in service have given themselves completely, and that submission comes at the price of living to this high calling.  However, inappropriate and uncaring attitudes towards church leaders have led to the situation where many keep their personal and family life entirely separate form their work, and no-one is allowed to question it.  In this, we seem to be in complete denial of the wisdom and truth of God’s Word about such matters. 

You may feel this to be rather hard on the church.  However, I have seen too many colleagues in ministry come to grief because they have not been loved by the church.  Equally, I have seen churches collapse because of inappropriate leadership by people whose private lives have been chaotic and undisciplined.  These issues need to be addressed, in my opinion, with urgency and genuine Christian love.

1 Timothy 3:1-7  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Is it possible or reasonable for us to apply the standards written about in this passage to leaders and clergy today?
2. Discuss in your group the nature of the connection between home life and Christina ministry.  How can Paul’s advice be put into practice?
3. How can the enthusiasm of being ‘young in faith’ be channelled into church leadership in the course of time, without quashing its vigour?

Topics covered by this text

• The disciplines of leadership
• Bishops, and the meaning of the word in the Bible
• The connection between moral standards and godly standards

Personal comments by author

I have already expressed my concerns, but I know that my comments are open to criticism.  However, I really do hope that God’s people will begin to take scriptures more seriously.  Often, we do not know what scripture says about important issues such as this because conventional cultural or social wisdom has ruled it out for various reasons.  Leadership in the church is a crucial issue, long due a good scriptural overhaul.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• In the light of this passage of scripture, pray for your own leaders at church, and if you feel it appropriate, discuss this passage with them to see what they make of it.
• Fast (perhaps by missing a meal each day) and pray for a week to pray for any people you know who have not been able to sustain ministry within the church.  Pray for God’s healing and sustenance.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, speak to me when I do not know where to turn; when I am scared of what is happening to me and find it hard to explain or pray about things.  Send Your Holy Spirit to comfort me and give me peace, so that I am able to hand over all my problems to You and deal with them in faith and peace.  All thanks be to You, Lord Jesus Christ: AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 3:8-13

1 Timothy 3:8-13  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

This passage of 1 Timothy is about the qualities required of those who aspire to work in the church as ‘helpers’ (3:8), for which the Greek word is ‘diakonos’, or as would say, ‘deacon’.  If you read yesterday’s study and compare it with this, you will quickly realise that this passage says little more about Christian character than what was said previously about ‘bishops’ (3:1f.); it is difficult to spot much difference between the two.  We must examine these characteristics and make sure we apply them to all who seek to serve or help within the life of the church.  This is not a formal ‘checklist’ for candidates who wish to hold office, it is a set of guidelines to help God’s people begin to decide upon the godly characteristics of those who should hold office and serve within the church.

Paul initially defines good character as possessing straightforward honesty (or as he says here ‘not deceitful’ – 3:8), and self control that stands above dependency on drink or greed for money.  Paul insists that those who hold office should have a firm grasp of the ‘mystery of faith’ (3:9), by which he means the revelation of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 3:3f. etc.), and that they must be tested (3:10).  It seems obvious that by testing, Paul means that a candidate for office should answer questions about their grasp of the Christian faith, and also about their personal life and character.  Only after this should they be allowed to take up office.

It is extremely important that we look carefully at verse 11, which says, ‘Likewise, women must be of good character, not given to gossip, sober and faithful in all things.’  Here, Paul speaks about the qualities required of women candidates for leadership without distinguishing whether they are ‘helpers’ or ‘overseers’ (deacons or bishops).  We could criticise him for suggesting that women need to answer further on matters of gossip, sobriety and faithfulness, but note that there is no hint of him banning women from leadership here; Paul assumes that they hold office.  Some say that verse 11 allows the ministry of women in the diaconate but not in authoritative leadership; but this is to misinterpret the whole passage, which as I have explained, is intended to be advisory rather than definitive about leadership.

Lastly, Paul says that those who help in the church should be secure in family life (3:12) and have a ‘good reputation’ (3:13) in matters of faith.  Good leadership is based on humble and modest attitudes, controlled behaviour and lifestyle, and rigorous faith and devotion, even in the home.  These are the primary requirements for all in authority, whether treasurers, evangelists, administrators or preachers.

In our highly structured church organisations today, the office of ‘deacon’ in one church is a stepping-stone towards ‘priesthood’; and in another it is a respected office of general service.  Other Christians believe in the leadership structure of deacon, priest and bishop, and others to the more non-conformist pattern of ‘eldership and diaconate’.  Moreover, there are strong feelings amongst many about which is right and which is wrong!  How terrible that we have created non-negotiable principles out of Scripture, which fuel our divisions and mitigate against our unity in Christ!  Personally, I prefer to suggest that a good model of leadership in the church is to be found in its head, that is, in Jesus Christ, our ‘prophet, priest and King’, who demonstrated these and other spiritual characteristics of leadership within His ministry.  His main model of ministry was to take a towel and wash His disciple’s feet (John 13:1f.)!

Despite the guidance of this passage, some insist on trying to formalise what is said, as if it was intended to give us a systematic structure of church hierarchy with overseers (bishops) at the top and helpers (deacons) underneath.  Certainly, the church has developed these roles, but we should not read them back into Scripture and imply that Paul’s words formalised offices of which he never dreamed!  Paul was concerned that the church was properly unified by oversight and that its work was done by people (helpers or deacons) of good and godly character.  We would be unwise to imply more than this.

1 Timothy 3:8-13  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group the spiritual qualities which are described by this passage of scripture.
2. Do the qualities described within this passage fit any particular leadership role in your church more than others?
3. Is it right to aspire to have a ‘good reputation’ (3:13) for the work you do as a Christian?

Topics covered by this text

• The godly characteristics of those who hold office within the church
• The characteristics of women leaders

Personal comments by author

The appropriateness of these qualities are clearly evident to us now even though Paul wrote them two thousand years ago.  Those who seek to be leaders of God’s people are those who aspire to what is said in 1 Timothy 3 without reference to their role or status, and I believe that congregations of God’s people respond immediately and instinctively to those leaders who have these qualities.  People recognise them immediately as being godly and appropriate for the church.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Pray for any in your church who hold office in your church, whatever form of help this gives to the running of the church.  Find an opportunity to talk with anyone who holds this office about what they understand their duty to be and how it relates, if at all, to this passage of scripture.
• Consider how you measure up to the standards of faith and behaviour mentioned in this passage.  If some of this seems impossible for you, why is this so, and do you think it affects whether or not you should hold office in the church?

Final Prayer

Keep me honest, Lord God, I pray.  Show me how my life might reflect truth and integrity in the eyes of others; not so that I can claim anything for myself, but so that I might simply do Your will, and accomplish what is right.  I ask this prayer in Jesus’ name;  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 3:14-16

1 Timothy 3:14-16  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

As so often in Paul’s letters, he begins to show signs of ending his letter when he is only half way through!  1 Timothy is a letter of six chapters and here we are at the end of the third, and he writes as if by way of conclusion, explaining the purpose of his letter and then quoting a wonderful poem about faith.  Verse 16 is perhaps a hymn from the earliest days of the church, and Paul uses it like a ‘benediction’, as if to end the letter!

So far, it is obvious that Paul’s letter has been primarily one of advice to Timothy about leadership.  Timothy had been asked by Paul to bear the responsibilities of leadership in a church (we do not know where!) until he was able to come himself.  Here in verse 15, he apologises for this delay, but explains that he has written so that Timothy ‘should know how to conduct’ himself ‘in the household of God’ (3:15).  What does he mean?  We would be mistaken if we try to be legalistic about the subject of the overseers (bishops) and a helpers (deacons) and take from this an implication that Paul regarded Timothy to be a bishop over the church (as some suggest).  No, Timothy’s role was entirely temporary.  Paul wanted him to demonstrate in his own life the moral and spiritual qualities that were required for leadership in general.  In this way, he would influence the life of the church for good. 

It has often been suggested that a church will take on some of the characteristics of its leaders, for good or ill.  So, for example, a lazy minister who does not attend meetings will result in a church that sits lightly to its decision making and ultimately becomes ineffective because people do not know what decisions are being taken and why!  Equally, a preacher who is obviously efficient and studies God’s word deeply will encourage a congregation to do the same.  His or her enthusiasm for God’s Word becomes infectious through preaching.  Paul advised Timothy to live by the highest standards because he knew this would affect the church positively and for good.  He was right, and we should always aspire to do the same.

Leaders of God’s people cannot go and hide in their own homes for the sake of ‘privacy’ as if their conduct and private life was irrelevant to ministry.  Things do not work like this in God’s church.  Notice that Paul now describes high standards of moral and spiritual conduct as essential ‘in the household of God’ (3:15).  You may have heard good and godly people in the church described as the ‘pillars of the church’, but look carefully at what Paul says here, for it is different.  As far as the world sees it and also as far as God sees it, such proper conduct upholds ‘the church of the living God’, and the church is ‘the pillar and foundation of the truth’ (not its leaders!).

Moving on, Paul offers Timothy a typically powerful and memorable ‘catchphrase’ for remembering the Gospel, and he calls it the ‘mystery of our devotion’ (3:16).  This is a six line hymn, with a clear rhythmic structure and simplicity of style.  Hymns have always had the function of helping God’s people get to know theology in ways they would not otherwise contemplate, and this brief hymn is no exception.  It provides, in order, a brief and enigmatic glimpse of six theological truths about Christ;

‘He was revealed in the flesh’ – His incarnation, in coming into the world

‘Vindicated in spirit’ – His work of salvation on the Cross

‘Seen by angels’ – His ascension to Heaven, where He dwells now

‘Preached among the Gentiles’ – His Gospel, a message preached

‘Believed in throughout the world’ – His Church, universal

‘And taken up in glory’ – His coming again and final victory over evil.

This hymn is worth remembering and reciting, indeed it may constitute an early form of ‘creed’.  However, this is only half way through Paul’s letter to Timothy, and the second half says more about these things.  They are a sound basis of teaching which enables the church to flourish and have confidence in its calling.

1 Timothy 3:14-16  Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What would you say holds the church of God together?  What is the foundation of God’s Church today?
2. Read through the hymn at the end of this passage and discuss in your group the theology of each line.
3. What place does hymnody have in your church?  Can hymnody be used in other ways apart from simply being sung?

Topics covered by this text

• The proper conduct of people within the life of the church
• Devotion, and the ‘articles of faith’ of a Christian

Personal comments by author

This is only a brief passage of scripture, and yet it is fascinating.  Because of this passage, I am convinced that the positions of bishop and deacon as described in 1 Timothy 3 are only secondary roles, and in my opinion we should look very carefully at whether we are right to make so much of what the Bible means by the word ‘bishop’.  That may be controversial for some, but for me it is following the logic of what scripture says.  Far more important than defining roles and status is the importance of leaders giving a good moral and spiritual example for others to follow.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Try writing a hymn!  You can do this by writing down a list of half a dozen things which are important to you about Jesus, and then turning each word into a short phrase, each line having a similar rhythm.  It takes a little practice, but it is not hard.
• Look at some hymns that have been written recently.  Look at them carefully and ask the question; do they reflect Scripture ?  If they do, then use them; if not, abandon their use.

Final Prayer

If I have become tired or sorrowful this day, my Lord, please accept my apologies.  I have been wrapped up in my own feelings and have failed to see the bigger picture, which is coloured by Your gracious love.  Save me from my problems, and lead me to trust in Your guidance and providence.  Thank You, my Lord, AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 4:1-5

1 Timothy 4:1-5   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

In the previous study, we read what seemed like an end to the first half of Paul’s letter to Timothy.  In reading today’s passage, we may wonder whether Paul had finished chapter 3 one evening, but woke up the next day burning to give further advice and with plenty more on his mind to say!  This passage is fiercely direct and speaks with vigour about problems that were becoming a problem in the early church.

It does not take much to pick through this text to see the bones of his concern about the loss of Christians because of false teaching; ‘in latter times, some will abandon the faith by giving close attention to deceiving spirits ...’ (4:1).  It is impossible to know exactly when this letter was written, so we do not know whether Paul could have read Matthew’s Gospel, which says something very similar; ‘Beware that no-one leads you astray, For many will come in my name, saying “I am the Messiah” ...’ (Matt 24:4,5).  Nevertheless, Paul certainly knew that Jesus warned against false teaching, and because it was happening before his very eyes, he felt it necessary to warn Timothy.  Although the Church was indeed the Body of Christ, people were susceptible to the deceptive work of the enemy.  Paul did not mince his words, describing false teaching as ‘demonic’ (4:1) because of its power to draw people away from faith, and he accused false teachers of being insensitive to spiritual truth just as a burn on the skin becomes insensitive to touch and feeling (4:2). 

But what was the teaching to which Paul so objected?  We might have anticipated that Paul would object to those who tried to teach Judaism in the church as he had done in Galatians and Philippians, but here, he identifies the teaching of religious laws concerning marriage and food (as in Romans 14 and 1 Cor 7).  In his various letters, Paul has much to say about moral behavioural, identifying the difference between what is ‘of the flesh’ or ‘of the spirit’, but he was not in the habit of making regulations about lifestyle issues.  Now in the days of the early church, some people thought that the pressures of emotional relationships between men and women within marriage were a distraction from the things of God, but despite some sympathy for this view (see 1 Cor. 7), Paul would not forbid marriage.  On the contrary, Paul taught that all things should be used for the glory of God, and not distract from the work of Christ (see 1 Cor 7:36f.).

The second issue is that of abstinence from various foods.  Paul was probably referring to the eating of meat that had been dedicated to idols during sacrificial slaughter (see Romans 14).  On the surface, it is quite understandable for people to object to eating meat dedicated to a pagan deity.  However, in Paul’s day, it was not possible to obtain meat slaughtered ‘neutrally’.  All animals killed for meat were offered up to some god; if people lived in Israel, their meat had been offered up to the Living God, but in other parts of the Roman Empire, then the meat for sale outside pagan temples had been ritually slaughtered.  However, Paul’s argument was simple; he said there was no point in worrying about such things.  There was only one God known through Jesus Christ, and He had declared all food clean (see Mark 7:19), so the beliefs of Roman religious sects should hardly be considered a problem.

In a wonderful passage at the end of this text, Paul said to Timothy ‘everything created by God is good ... it is made holy by God’s Word and by prayer’ (4:4,5).  In this way, Paul identified God’s blessing through the Word (the Bible) and through prayer as greater than all pagan practices, and any teaching that attempted to make Christians sensitive to such things was false.  The answer to these and all other issues were to be found through scriptures and through prayer.  It was and is good advice, maintaining people’s faith in the supremacy of God and Jesus Christ, and identifying all other religious practice as secondary.

1 Timothy 4:1-5   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Are there problems of false teaching in the church today?  What are they and what should be done about them?
2. Why should people still feel today that it is relevant to choose to abstain from marriage in order to serve God?
3. Discuss in your group whether there are any foods we should not eat for spiritual or other reasons.

Topics covered by this text

• The demonic nature of false teaching
• False teaching concerning marriage and eating of meat
• The supremacy of Christ, as found through Scripture and prayer

Personal comments by author

This passage is something of a favourite of mine because it contains the text which inspired me to use the title for this website; ‘prayerandbiblestudy’; ‘everything created by God is good ... it is made holy by God’s Word and by prayer’ (1 Tim 4:5).  This text arises within a particular setting and argument by Paul, but the point he makes is generally true.  Scripture and prayer is the basis of our contact with God and therefore they are the means whereby we can keep false teaching at bay.  This is more important for the church today than many recognise.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Read Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians to check out some of the background to the issues in today’s text.  Pray about anything you come across which reminds you of problems within the life of the church today.
• Plan to fast and pray for the Church of God, praying especially for maintenance of the Gospel and the identification and outlawing of false teaching.  Seek the Lord’s mind on these important issues.

Final Prayer

Jesus, You are the King of my life; You rule my mind, You care for my feelings, You plan for my life, You direct my conscience, You advocate me to the Father, and You deliver my soul from death.  Glory be to You, Lord Jesus Christ, for You are the King of my life:  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 4:6-10

1 Timothy 4:6-10 Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

In chapter four of his letter, Paul spoke to Timothy about his task as a leader to discern the truth, uphold right teaching, and honour God through reading the Word and prayer (4:1-5).  He told Timothy that if he did these things he would do well; describing Timothy as a good servant (the same Greek word as ‘deacon’, also meaning ‘minister’).  It sounds like a counsel of perfection, because no minister can be so wholesome and perfect, but I suggest that Paul was speaking about what is properly expected of any minister through the spiritual anointing received for the task.

Christian ministry in the church today is not easy, and many who it take on are told to find their own calling within the mission of the church and encouraged to work according to their gifts.  Yet most will recognise that there is a core work to be done, which has nothing to do with personal characteristics or interests.  When Paul speaks to Timothy here in this passage, he passes on advice about the basic work of ministry that sustains the church.  This must be secure so that the church can perform its primary calling to spread the Gospel and extend the Kingdom of God.  Just as the individual Christian cannot grow and do God’s work without maintaining contact with the Lord through studying the Bible and through prayer, so the church cannot function unless its leaders do the basic work of ministry Paul describes here.

It is clear from Paul’s description that ministry is a work of personal spiritual grace and sacrificial service.  On the one hand it seems simple, being a mixture of public functions and personal duties; on the other hand, it represents a high code of spiritual practice which may appear to some to be out of reach.  Paul says that the basic ministry of the church is this; maintain sound teaching (4:6), avoid sin and train for godliness (4:7,8), and do ones best in everything for no other reason than it is right before God to do so (4:9,10).

So what is hard about this?  The main requirement is to maintain standards of teaching (see the first five verses of the chapter).  Paul says ‘put these things before the fellowship’ (4:6), in other words, a minister must place his or her discernment of the truth above all else.  This is not as easy as it sounds, for maintaining the Gospel truth requires firstly that this truth is known in personal experience, secondly that a minister knows scripture well, and thirdly that a minister is anointed by the Spirit for ministry.  All these things make a high calling, and they may be found variously in nearly all of Paul’s letters.  Embedded within all this is the training in godliness which Paul mentions in verses 7 and 8; godliness is a word which means ‘proper religion’ and implies that those who minister should be examples of good religion to the world, and not people who complain about it!  Also, ministry is hard work, and the world does not understand it.  No one should enter ministry without accepting this, and church people who work with ministers, priests and pastors should also recognise that what their leaders do is hard work both spiritually and physically.

In addition to this, Paul indicates that ministry is a matter of spiritual calling, and anyone in leadership should be conscious of a need to demonstrate what they preach.  If leaders do not live godly lives, then they will not preach godliness, however good their sermons sound.  Congregations easily detect the hypocrisy of a gospel preached but not lived, and by saying this neither Paul, nor I in this study or any congregation, suggests or expects that a minister should be perfect!  Rather that they obviously work hard and train in the things of God (4:7,8,10).  There is no substitute for time spent with God’s Word in private devotion and worship.  Without it, a servant of God will stumble, and their own spiritual tanks will be empty.

Lastly, it is impossible to do the work of ministry unless ‘our hope is in the living God who is Saviour of all’ (4:10).  The faith of a leader must be built on the solid rock of Christ, so that when storms come, the house will not fall down!

1 Timothy 4:6-10 Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. In the light of this study, discuss whether it is ever possible to find the perfect church leader.  What should we expect from our leaders?
2. How can those who are active in church leadership be helped and trained regularly for all the different things they do?
3. How can we best help those ministers and leaders who reach the point of saying that they can no longer live up to their calling?

Topics covered by this text

• The nature of Christian ministry
• Sound faith
• Teaching

Personal comments by author

The subject of ministry in the church is very important.  I am, as you can probably guess, of the opinion that the fundamental work of a minister is to maintain the basics of faith in a congregation so that it can do its duty and do the work of God.  The work of the church does not, under any circumstances, belong to the minister or leader, and leaders do not serve the church well if they try and build a church which is a copy of themselves.  Christ must be allowed to be Lord of all!

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Find a leader of your church (at any level) and discuss these things with him or her.  Note especially if any topic makes for a difficult conversation.  This indicates that you are touching on thorny ground.  Pray for the person concerned.
• Keep before yourself the question whether the Lord is calling you to some kind of church leadership.  If He is, then you will find that He will lead you to where your call can be fulfilled.

Final Prayer

Jesus, deliver me from all evil, I pray.  Cleanse me, for my thoughts and deeds have been corrupted; liberate me, for an enemy has ensnared my path and darkened my way; lead me to liberty because Satan has been defeated on Calvary and I have found life through You!  Thank You, Lord Jesus;  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 4:11-16

1 Timothy 4:11-16   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

In this passage, Paul offers heartfelt advice and warm encouragement to Timothy.  It is a wonderful mixture of sound advice and support, and it is a good example of how to encourage maturity in others.  At the beginning, however, two interesting things come to light, which are essential to our understanding of the whole letter.  Firstly, we discover that Timothy is a relatively young man and secondly, he was someone with a specific gift, but the letter does not mention what it is!

If we look at this passage, however, it is possible to work out quite reasonably what the gift is.  Paul began his letter by mentioning ‘teaching’ and Timothy’s solemn duty of passing on the truths of the Gospel (1 Tim 1:3) along with a clear instruction to him to teach and train the people of God properly.  The previous reading also speaks about instruction, teaching and training (4:6-10).  Back in our passage, teaching appears in verse 13, and then after the mention of a special gift in verse 14, Paul says ‘Look after yourself and the teaching and persevere in them ...’ (4:16).  The close relationship between Paul’s concern for Timothy as a person and his teaching, along with all that has been said in the letter makes it possible, if not likely, that Timothy’s gift was indeed, ‘teaching and instruction’.  The more we read of both Paul’s letters to Timothy, the more we will find this constant emphasis on teaching, and it is unlikely that Timothy should have a special gift only for Paul to ignore it!  In general, Paul was concerned to encourage Timothy in his use of the gifts he had been given.

We can see now why Paul told Timothy not to worry about his age.  We do not know whether he was in his twenties, thirties or forties, he was still somewhat younger than Paul and younger than some of the people he was commissioned to lead and teach.  In Paul’s day, age was venerated, and a group of people tended to defer to the opinion of the oldest person present.  Indeed, Paul may have been reaching an age where he would have enjoyed such veneration, but it is clear that Timothy was not.  Because of this, Paul was profoundly forward thinking in his insistence that the spiritual gift of teaching and the anointing of a leader by the laying on of hands (4:14) was to be respected by all, irrespective of age.  It would have damaged the church greatly if teachers were hampered in their work by people whose opinions were accepted merely because of their age!  So when Paul said to Timothy ‘let no one treat your youth with contempt ...’ he was encouraging him to stand on the authority he had been given; not his own authority of course, but Christ’s authority and the authority of the Word and the Spirit.

As we all know, we respect most those teachers and leaders who give an example of godliness through how they behave and go about their work; and this is the simple advice given by Paul to Timothy in verse 12.  Advice to set an example of love, faith and purity, presents a challenge to anyone, but it is not an impossible goal.  If someone reaches out towards higher goals, then people will appreciate the example given and offer due respect.  The goals may not be reached, but leaders who have given up on aiming high not to be trusted or respected.

Within the passage as a whole, Paul gives Timothy wise advice about preaching and teaching, emphasising the public nature of the Gospel and the importance of declaring it openly (4:13).  In fact, the Greek of this verse emphasises ‘public reading’.  Paul also urges Timothy to ‘be absorbed’ in his ministry, because this will demonstrate his serious intent for the Gospel (4:15); he does not tell Timothy to go and get a hobby or have a holiday to balance out his life, as we might suggest to people in order to advocate ‘balance’!  Finally, Paul expresses concern for Timothy; ‘look after yourself... for in doing this you will save yourself ...’ (4:16).

Paul recognises that one who is called to ministry will find that all life becomes intermingled with the call, and there is no separating of private life from work for the Lord.  Many clergy today are trained to believe that they must maintain a sense of their own privacy and identity apart from their work for the church.  This is difficult territory, but I do suggest this is dangerous and leads to much stress.  It is a simplification of what the call to work for the Lord is about, and how it works within the human soul.  It is far better to keep Paul’s advice to Timothy, to stay close to the heart of God’s call in every aspect of life, for in this, the leader becomes whole.

1 Timothy 4:11-16   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. If you are a church leader, how do you respond to what is said here?  Is it exciting or is it frightening?
2. If you are not a church leader, does this passage reflect what you expect of a leader?  In what ways?
3. What place does special gifting have within ministry, and how much should be made of it?

Topics covered by this text

• Leadership within the life of the church
• The reading of Scripture and teaching in the church
• Keeping close to the call of God

Personal comments by author

There are many difficult issues raised by this text to do with how people cope with the demands of ministry within the church.  I suggest that God’s advice that every man woman and child should have a Sabbath of rest is the most helpful starting place for any discussion about how a church leader might find balance in life. One whole day of rest can be organised in a number of different ways.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• Read through this passage and see what the Lord is saying to you personally through it.  Sometimes the Lord will have a special word from scripture for us, which is something we need to hear at a particular time and place, always be ready to listen.
• Pray for your church leaders and make it your business, over a period of a week, to pray about what they do, their gifts, their reputation and preaching skills, and everything about them.  Pray for understanding and with understanding.

Final Prayer

Bless those we love this day, Lord Jesus.  Keep them in Your care and protect them from all evil.  If there are problems between us, may we be humble enough to let you heal us.  When we are at peace together, may we give You the glory.  You have given us each other.  Praise be to You, Lord Jesus,  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 5:1-8

1 Timothy 5:1-8   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

We are so used to reading general inspiring spiritual within Paul’s letters, that when he has to speak plainly about an issue, it can come as something of a shock.  After the first two verses in our passage about speaking to people appropriately, Paul continues by giving strict advice to Timothy about widows, and we must ask why Paul does this.  It seems obvious to us that people should take care of themselves within families, but Paul suggests a deeper problem, which we must investigate.

To begin with, Paul speaks to Timothy, advising him to speak to people with due respect.  Remember that just previously, Paul had spoken to him about how to bear himself as a younger leader amongst older men.  Now, in a time when the younger man would usually defer to the older, Paul’s advice to Timothy was that he should stand his ground as a leader of the church.  Because this might create problems, Paul suggested that Timothy should speak to the older man by appealing ‘to him as to a father’ (5:1), standing firm and treating the other with respect.  Then, in order to deal with any potential misunderstanding that might develop concerning the intentions of women towards an eligible leader of the church, Paul suggested treating ‘older women as mothers and younger women as sisters’.  It was and is sound advice.

The background to the situations with widows is a little more difficult to explain.  Soon after the church was founded on the day of Pentecost, it grew rapidly and exercised an amazing policy of mutual help whereby people’s wealth was pooled and the need of all was met (Acts 2:43,44, 4:32), as directed by helpers chosen for the task (Acts 6:1-6).  The passage in Acts is helpful because it tells us that there were disputes from the earliest times about the fairness of this aid for poor widows.  If we read 1 Corinthians 7 alongside this passage in Acts, then we gain the following picture of widows in the church.

Firstly, the generosity of the church meant that it attracted many widows who because they had lost the ‘man’ in the family would have faced, together with their children, deprivation of the severest kind.  The m an was the sole source of income and standing within society; and there was no charity or ‘welfare’ to help widows.  For many, the route out of this terrible state was to marry again, at almost any price; and this led to the potential for unseemly behaviour, especially if widows were accused of seducing married men.  In extreme poverty, it is easy to see how difficult circumstances arose.  Then, if a widow sought and gained a new husband, it could well be that other relatives suffered with the break up of the associated extended families, leaving the church with further financial burdens.

Now the situation faced by many churches was this.  Church members were asked to pool significant sums of money in order to enable the church to function with a degree of equality, though records show that the total sharing envisaged in Acts did not last long.  However, many widows threw themselves on the care of the church because they had no-where else to go, and the burden on the church became considerable.  Indeed, some churches found it hard to deal with all their responsibilities because of the extensive problem of dealing with widows.  So Paul felt it necessary to advice Timothy in this way.  He commended the ‘real widow’ (5:5) who ‘placed her hope in God’ and was an example of Christian devotion.  However, he asked Timothy to challenge the children of widows to accept the responsibility of supporting their parents so that they did not become a burden on the whole church (5:5).

This type of advice from Paul is important.  It shows that the early church was trying to deal reasonably with the true cost of supporting the poor, and it also shows that it did not wholly work on a principle of ‘tithing’ as some assume.  We do not know exactly how much early Christians gave to the church, though in one place, Paul strongly suggest that it was appropriate to give everything beyond what was required for normal living (whatever that was – see 1 Cor 16:2)!  Here, he appealed to individuals to take responsibility for their own families, and it is a principle that stands for us today.

1 Timothy 5:1-8   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What does this passage of Scripture teach us about how we might speak to each other today?
2. If the widows were the poorest of church people in the early church, who are the poorest today?  Students?  Single parents? The unemployed?
3. Why is it not possible for the church to pool resources and use its wealth to provide for all?  Is this vision truly Christian, or is it communist, as some suggest?

Topics covered by this text

• Social care in the early church
• Speaking to each other appropriately
• Sexual innuendo in the church concerning leaders

Personal comments by author

This passage does not immediately inspire many who read the letter to Timothy, but it does give some straightforward and useable advice.  Firstly, none of us should shirk the responsibilities we have for our families, and secondly, it is worthwhile working consciously at how we speak to each other in different circumstances.  Sometimes it is only when we take simple advice such as this, that we are then in a position to take in the deeper truths of faith we long to hear.

Ideas for exploring discipleship

• If you are in a meeting at church, watch and observe the way in which people speak to each other, and assess who feels included and excluded by the meeting.  If you observe problems, try to do something about them.
• Fast and pray for the genuinely poor in the world today, and pray that the church will be involved in every possible way with relief of poverty however it is expressed.

Final Prayer

Speak to us, dear Jesus, in the storms of life and in the calm of rest; and lead us through the trials we experience by the comfort, power, love and strength of the Holy Spirit.  May we hear Your word of encouragement crystal clear, and may we follow the Spirit’s leading step by step, to prove our faith to all and take the eternal prize of life! AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 5:9-16

1 Timothy 5:9-16   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

As we read this passage, our hearts probably fall a little, because the whole text reads like a church report about a difficult situation and with an unpleasant conclusion.  It seems as if the general support of widows by the church had become a problem and was draining church resources, meaning that it had become difficult to help those in real need.  Paul identified younger widows as the source of the problem and recommended their removal from the list of those receiving financial assistance.  He also identified the spiritual root of some of the problems as being sexual passions, and Paul concluded by saying that those with means should support themselves whilst the church should focus on helping those whose need was greatest!

Now, if Paul was the church officer today and brought a report of this nature to a church meeting, you can imagine the uproar!  We can also imagine the potential complaints.  Not only did Paul suggest changing a well established policy of the church to support widows generally, he sought to cut out a whole swathe of people from obtaining benefits who might expect to receive it (5:9)!  In addition, he made comments about the passions of widows which some would find questionable (5:13,15); surely it was wrong for him to suggest that all widows under sixty were driven by sexual desire and the need to marry (5:11)?  Why bring up the pastoral problem of widows abandoning their faith (5:12)?  Finally, what an insult to draw Satan into the situation and accuse some of being in league with evil (5:14,15), and then identify only those he had earlier categorised (the over 60’s) as ‘real’ widows’ who should receive benefit!  In addition, we can imagine one final complaint; why does the report attack women and not men!  Who was Paul to say such things!

This is a parody of this passage of course, but it highlights the issues and helps us understand what was happening to make Paul write in this way.  It is at least possible that some received Paul’s letter rather like this when it was first made public!  Paul wrote the letter to Timothy, of course, but it did not remain private for long.  It is on the earliest lists of Paul’s letters as recommended for public reading, and because scripture is not optional for us, we cannot simply dismiss it because of its contrary nature! 

We must now consider the real options facing Paul.  He faced an awkward situation, but Paul’s mindset was that the church should always honour Christ by helping those in real need, not helping those who were in truth able to look after themselves.  If we now unpick everything Paul says in this passage, then his general advice to Timothy about how to look after widows and counsel them boils down to three options.  Firstly, dependant older widows with no family means of support (see 5:4,8) should be on the ‘list’ of those receiving what we may presume to be financial support (5:9); and Paul added the requirement that church support required evidence of faith through ‘good deeds’ appropriate to a woman who had been saved (5:10).  Secondly, Paul had already given his strong advice that all widows should dedicate themselves to a life of service, intercession and prayer (5:5) and he carried this idea over into what he says here.  Thirdly, in this passage, despite complaining at the behaviour of some who appeared to damage the integrity of the church through irreverent socialising (5:13), Paul turned his feelings around to give some positive advice to younger widows.  He accepted that it was best for most younger widows to marry again and take up a family life with all its responsibilities (5:14).

It is good to see that Paul was quite capable of being this flexible in his advice to women.  The only ‘fixed’ item on his personal agenda was his opposition to Satan’s infiltration of the church (5:15).  In some setting we do not know about, Paul had clearly come across widows who received the benefits of the church but who had abandoned the faith after the loss of their husbands.  He did not comment on individual circumstances, but he was right to question whether those who lost faith, in whatever circumstances, should enjoy the privileges of fellowship (5:12).  It was typical of Satan to take a tragedy such as widowhood and make it worse by leading the afflicted astray, but it was Paul’s constant aim to uphold the good of the whole body of Christ, and commend the highest standards of godliness. 

The more you read the passage, the more you realise that in the face of a big problem, Paul was careful to both speak the truth about the wrongdoing of those who should have known better, but also to present a solution.  He operated the same principle used centuries later by Wesley who said to his ministers and preachers ‘go not to those who need you, but to those who need you most’.  Paul therefore suggested that the widows most in need were the ones with no options; the elderly who had no support or hope of any other life.  They should receive the unqualified support of the church.

1 Timothy 5:9-16   Study links:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links:  / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group whether Paul shows any bias against women in this passage, and if so, what and how?
2. Should any group of people receive charitable financial help within the fellowship of the church today?
3. What problems do widows have today and how should the church help them?

Personal comment:

The discussion of the treatment of widows here in 1 Timothy is a little difficult for us to relate to because although widowhood is something many women continue to experience, the social stigmas and problems associated with it today are different.  Because of this, the way that the church helps widows now must surely be different.  However, it is challenging to read about the way the early church sought to address the problems of real poverty in its midst; there is real poverty around us in the world now, so how should we handle it?

Ideas for discipleship programme

• Draw alongside those in your church fellowship who are widows, and give them some time.  Let them tell you what it has been like to lose a husband and what this has done to their faith.  Listen to them and pray for them.
• If there are those in your church who are genuinely poor, try to talk with them appropriately and without condescension  about  what it is like to be in need within a fellowship of people who do not all have the same problem.  Pray for them.

Final Prayer

When it is right, Heavenly Father, give us the space to be quiet and peaceful; and in that place, heal our bodies, revive our spirits and restore our souls.  We trust in Your guidance to minister to us when we most need it, so that we may serve You faithfully for all our lives.  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 5:17-22

1 Timothy 5:17-22   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

Paul continues in this letter to speak clearly and directly, and also controversially!  Leadership within the Body of Christ has always been a controversial matter, largely because of people’s expectations and the very different characters of the people appointed to leadership roles.  It is easy for human tensions to arise because of the passions raised within people about the nature of what they believe and how the Gospel is taught, and also issues of discipline which no one wants to acknowledge but still need to be dealt with.  The picture in Paul’s day looks very similar to that in our own time.

Who is a good leader who might be worthy of ‘double pay?’  Some argue that the Greek in verse 17 does not say ‘wages’; however the word used does mean ‘proper reward for work done’.  Some people regard this as meaning ‘honour’ or ‘respect’, but this avoids the issue because the Greek does mean material reward.  Therefore, when Paul adds in the next verse, ‘the worker deserves to be paid’ (5:18) it seems clear that he must be talking about pay.  We would be unwise to try and build comprehensive principles of clergy pay from mere snippets of texts such as this (along with other scraps such as Paul’s references to his own refusal to be paid for his efforts whilst on missionary work – e.g. 2 Thess 7,8,9 and Acts 18:3).

Nevertheless, this statement of Paul to Timothy indicates that the church must give appropriate pay to its appointed leaders or elders, where other passages indicate that missionaries and perhaps evangelists should receive a different kind of support.  The reason for this is to enable such people to do their work without financial worry, and verse 18 suggests that they should be given according to their needs, as in the example of an ox treading grain (5:18).  Difficulty occurs today when fixed pay scales for clergy do not enable individuals to minister without financial worry or when cultural secrecy and mistrust surround financial affairs and discussions, and little godly ground can be established for an open discussion about genuine need.

I have heard more than one senior church figure say that the most difficult of issues in the life of God’s church is that of pay; and alongside this, discipline!  This is the next item on the agenda of Paul’s letter to Timothy (5:19).  His straightforward advice is that multiple witnesses are required to provide grounds to investigate any accusation against a church leader.  It would be very helpful if the whole church would accept this counsel, because a great deal of damage is done when one person makes allegations, which then become the subject of rumour or malcontent.  What has happened to our churches if Satan can so easily disrupt the work of God?  It is unfortunately true that in many places there are far too many scandals and live disciplinary issues; but in my opinion, the heart of these things lies not in the procedures followed but the faith of the parties involved.  This is why Paul strongly advises that all matters of discipline and pay are dealt with openly and ‘in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ and elect angels’ (5:21), and without a hint of prejudice or partiality.  Real problems can only be overcome when God’s people trust each other in the love of Christ.  Without this, bitterness and strife will prevail.

Perhaps Paul was conscious of some difficult situations which existed in the churches he had contact with when he said to Timothy; ‘do not be hasty to lay hands on anyone’.  He knew that mistakes could easily be made, and that caution was the best advice.  In my own ministry, I have had the privilege of trying to give help and advice to ministers and clergy who have endured very difficult times; I have also been asked to give help and advice to churches which have trouble with their appointed leaders.  The sadness and tragedy of some of the situations I have come across are almost beyond belief, but I have never found it helpful to try and tie down what should or should not be done to occasional passages of scripture such as this which give a patchwork of advice which may be hard to interpret into a particular situation.  I have always found myself appealing to the fundamentals of Christian faith; confession, repentance, forgiveness and healing, for example; and the abiding life and presence of the Spirit of God in the believer, which should apply to all parties involved.

Perhaps the best direct advice within this passage which we can take and apply to ourselves for whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, especially church difficulties about pay, employment and standards of ministry, is what Paul says right at the end of this text; ‘keep yourself pure’.

1 Timothy 5:17-22   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How should pay be determined for those who are appointed and anointed for Christian ministry and leadership?
2. How do most church disputes arise in your experience, and how may they be overcome?
3. Discuss in your group the possible meaning of verse 20, and whether there is a place for public rebuke in dealing with disciplinary issues in the church.

Personal comment:

As indicated above, I have found myself in the situation of trying to help people who have been severely hurt by what has happened within the life of the church, and I am often bewildered and shocked by what appears to be quite ungodly behaviour by some.  It certainly seems that where God is most powerfully at work, there is Satan, doing everything possible to make trouble for a church or its leaders.  The only way I know which can help people address such issues is firstly to be aware of exactly this; to rebuke the enemy and to pray and seek the Lord’s clearest guidance.

Ideas for discipleship programme

• If you are aware of any issue of discipline or pay within your church or any you know, put aside time over a week to pray into this subject.  Pray for the spiritual protection of those involved and for godly outcomes to disputes.
• If you are in spiritual dispute with things happening in your church or the people who run certain activities, seek to bring the difficulties out into the open in as god-like a manner as possible.  In doing this, seek help and the prayerful support of others.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, You have called each of us to our home, our families, our places of work and our places of worship.  May we honour You by respecting Your call, and all who share these blessings with us, and by fulfilling Your command to ‘love one another’.  Hear our prayer, Lord Jesus, and establish Your Kingdom in our midst.  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 5:23-6:2

1 Timothy 5:23-6:2 Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

Paul continues to give Timothy rather unrelated words of advice; nevertheless, they give us a feel of the humanity of the communication and a possible insight into some of the issues affecting the life of the early church.  The passage starts with some quaint advice to Timothy to be less abstemious and drink some wine, for the sake of his stomach.  Paul was certainly of the opinion that there were medical benefits to what we might call ‘drinking in moderation’!  He went on to speak rather enigmatically about the way in which sins and problems within the church are sometimes obvious and sometimes not; we will see shortly whether there may have been a reason for this comment of Paul.  Lastly, Paul writes about slavery and the specific circumstances of slaves and their masters being in fellowship together.  It raises some interesting issues not just to do with slavery!

We already know that slavery was an issue which caused some unease in the early church (6:1,2), because it is mentioned in a number of New Testament letters (1 Peter 2:18f, Ephesians 5:5f. and Col 3:22f.).  The general attitude of Peter and Paul was that slavery was part of the social fabric of the day and it would be unwise to disrupt this for fear of compromising the Gospel and the church.  In their day, vast numbers of people lived in forms of slavery and service within the Roman Empire, and if the church had challenged this, the antagonism of the Empire would been shown in swift and brutal persecution.  The apostles felt that the infant church was not at that time in a place to change society except by the proclamation of the Gospel alone.  We cannot fault their judgement, because the news of Jesus Christ did eventually change the Roman Empire and the whole world.  Tragically, it took too long for the worst forms of slavery to be legally banned, though as we know today, all kinds of illegal slavery has always existed, and of a far more shocking nature than that found in Roman times.

The issue within this passage is whether a master and a slave who were part of the same church might have a different kind of working relationship because of their fellowship in Christ.  In those days there were no competing denominations to enable some to go to a church in one place, and others to attend a church elsewhere.  As far as we know, all the Christians in one town or place were regarded as one fellowship, and were likely to meet together.  Paul therefore gave carefully measured advice, saying that the only difference being a Christian should make was that the slave, through Christ, should aspire to a higher standard of service for the master!  We may think this is somewhat biased, but it is worth remembering that one whole letter of the New Testament, Philemon, contains Paul’s pleading to a master (Philemon) to apply a higher standard of personal behaviour towards a slave (Onesimus), and in terms of scripture, this redresses the balance.  Paul’s general position was that for any Christian, the presence of Christ should inspire them to higher standards in whatever service they performed or life they lived.  This is the best message we can take from this passage.

Paul’s advice to Timothy about taking a little wine (5:23) is hardly more than well meaning health advice.  It is probably true that wine would have helped someone who normally drank water, because water was not purified in Roman times and it contained more potential water-borne health risks than fermented grape juice.  Through the years, the church has often offered health advice, as a way of extending the healing ministry.  In this instance, we have no real knowledge of Timothy’s ailments, so we would be wise not to place much emphasis on the advice.  It is best if we ensure that any health advice the church offers is moderate and accurate; moreover, the church should always seek to practice the ministry of healing given by Jesus in His commission (e.g. see Matt 10:1f.).

Lastly, Paul’s comment about people’s sins in verse 24 seems a little obscure, but it is easy to understand.  It is his way of describing the observable fact that some sins are evident when they happen and some are only discovered later.  Paul then states the obvious sequel, which is that the same is true of good deeds demonstrating faith.  There seems to be no clear reason for the comments however, for although it would naturally follow Paul’s advice to Timothy about keeping discipline in the church (5:17-24), it seems odd coming after Paul’s advice about drinking wine!  We cannot fully explain this, but it may be that by saying this to Timothy (5:24,25), he was wisely advising him that no church leader can deal with all the problems of a congregation; many will only be sorted out, as he says, when they reach ‘judgment’ (5:24).

This reading comes across as a hotchpotch of comments, but taken carefully, they each yield helpful advice.

1 Timothy 5:23-6:2 Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. To what extent should Christians seek to look after their health as a form of obligation to God or a witness to the faith?
2. Discuss in your group the difference between sins which are ‘obvious’ and sins which remain hidden.  How can Christians help each other with sins that remain hidden?
3. Why does slavery persist in parts of the world today and in what forms.  What can the church do about this?

Personal comment:

When Paul speaks to Timothy in this letter, he seems to slip quickly between offering personal advice and speaking about the principles of leadership and service.  It can be hard to pick up quickly what Paul’s main motives and points are.  This is a problem many of us have with communication, and we are often unclear about what lies behind the things which people say to us.  The Holy Spirit is the only true guide to human communication, however, and our trust in Him is the key to all understanding.

Ideas for discipleship programme

• Investigate where slavery exists in our world today by whatever means you have at your disposal; newspapers, internet, etc.  Discuss this with Christian or non- Christian friends and search for ways of making a difference and tackling these issues.
• Fast and pray about the issue of personal health amongst Christians, and pray that they will appreciate the wisdom of scriptural advice to look after oneself as part of the testimony of faith.

Final Prayer

When we struggle to understand things, heavenly Father, break through the fog of our difficulties and enable us to perceive Your ways.  Shine a light into our lives, and into our minds our feelings and our thoughts, so that we may begin to understand what You are saying to us about how to make things better.  Heavenly Father, You are our one true Light:  AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 6:2-10

1 Timothy 6:2-10   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

These words are some of the most mature and yet sharp spiritual words of advice in the letters of Paul.  We are often enraptured by Paul’s ability to describe the indescribable, as he writes about the love of God and the benefits of grace, for example; but here, he speaks in the most forthright terms about the dangers which await God’s people if they let slip the disciplines of faith.  This section of Paul’s letter to Timothy comes towards the end of what he has to say, and he begins by urging Timothy to continue to do the right thing and ‘teach and urge these duties’ (6:2).  What Paul means here is the specific rights and duties he has written previously in the letter; but the reason for his urging is because when people take their focus away from the disciplines of faith, then Satan quickly fills the void with alternatives, and these are amply illustrated in what Paul says next.

Throughout his letters, Paul was adamant that the simple truth of the Gospel was distinct and clearly definable and a means of salvation for all people, so much so that he could say ‘whoever teaches something different ...’ and be confident that God’s people would know what he meant!  One of the great tragedies of the church today is that there are serious disputes amongst Christians about even the very nature of salvation and how it may be found and administered, so a Christian is liable to be confused about what is the truth about the Gospel and what is not!  In a lifetime’s experience within one church I have found little consensus about the Gospel, and few who feel confident about how they are saved, whether they are saved, from what they are saved, and whether they have a relationship with God at all!  My personal response has been to return to the Bible to answer these questions.  I have found that at the heart of his letters Paul does write a straightforward Gospel and the whole Bible does witness to God’s love for all people expressed uniquely in Jesus Christ, and it confirms that I may have a relationship with God through Christ.  Everything Paul says in this passage is set against this.

It is hard to point fingers and unwise to do so, but verse 4 of our text amply describes a considerable number of settings I have unfortunately experienced, in which people discuss the things of God without having done their homework in scripture and with the intent of pursuing agendas to represent certain church interests.  What Paul says about strife, envy and pride amongst God’s people then becomes true.  The results can be awful, whether the subject is baptism, the return of Christ, the unity of God’s people and how it is expressed or the way in which bread and wine is shared and served.  The more God’s people discuss religious things without reference to the Bible, the more verse 5 is fulfilled amongst them; ‘constant friction among people with corrupt minds who are deprived of the truth’!

However difficult it is when people lose sight of the heart of their faith, the worst problems arise when money is involved.  This is clear from the rest of Paul’s observations here, especially when he warns against the perilous dangers of using ‘godliness as a means of gain’ (6:5).  First of all, Paul speaks mildly about the great wisdom of being content with what we have; ‘for we brought nothing into the world, and neither can we take anything out of it’ (6:7), and with these words reminds us of Jesus’ teaching about the minimum needs of those who are His disciples (Matt 10:8f.).  He concludes his warnings with a series of cautions about the possession and use of money, including the famous phrase.  ‘For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil ...’  It is wise to pay careful attention to how Paul has written this phrase; money is not the only source of evil on the world, and neither is money itself the evil.  Money lies behind a variety of evils in the world and the church largely because in the world, those who control the money control what happens; the church then suffers when those who have responsibility for money assume that they have spiritual as well as financial authority.

Only we can say how this Biblical truth affects either our own churches or us.  I know that I am very cautious whenever I hear that the reasons for any decision taken within my own church denomination are financially driven.  Money must be handled properly, but when it is treated as the master and not the servant, then there is a problem.  Paul’s only answer is to call God’s people back to the simplicity of Christ, His mission and His salvation.  Although he does not say this here, the strong implication of this whole passage is that if we allow the Gospel to be our guide, then we prevent Satan from using argument, dissention, strife and money to create divisions and upset amongst God’s people.  He was right.

1 Timothy 6:2-10   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Does the church of God teach the Gospel in a way which everyone can understand?  If not, why not?
2. When and where have you observed the problematic behaviour Paul mentions within this passage?
3. How can money be used to the glory of God?

Personal comment:

I have already entered into this subject rather personally within the text and expressed a few opinions.  I certainly believe that money must be handled properly within the church, and if we do not handle it is well, then we are held accountable not just by worldly authorities, but by God.  However, financial limitations must never be allowed to stifle the vision of God’s people, the church.

Ideas for discipleship programme

• If you are someone who attends church meetings, watch out for dissention and strife, and watch how it evolves.  By observation, see if you can spot how the lack of godly principles leads to argument and division.  Pray about what to do with what you have observed.
• Fast and pray for the church of God today, that it may come together around the Gospel of Christ and recover confidence in its core message of the salvation of all through Jesus Christ.

Final Prayer

Keep me in Your presence this day, Jesus Christ, my Lord; keep me close to Your side as I walk the path You have before me.  Then, when difficulty comes, may I have the confidence to deal with everything in the way You would wish of me, knowing that You are always there to help me.  Thank You, Lord;       AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 6:11-16

1 Timothy 6:11-16   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Review

It is entirely typical of Paul that he gives the bad news before the good!  Yesterday, we read with saddened hearts his piercing analysis of the sins of God’s people and the ever present problem of money, ‘a root of all kinds of evil’ (6:10).  Today we can rejoice with Paul as he encourages his younger friend Timothy to stand firm in the good things of God and the faith in which he was taught.  Paul had used this technique before, and in other letters we can see how Paul explained the heart of a problem before offering a solution, for example, in Galatians, Paul wrote about the ‘sins of the flesh’ before he wrote about the famous ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal 5:19-26).  Our passage today is similar in parts to the ‘fruit of the Spirit’, particularly in verse 11 where he writes one of his famous lists of godly characteristics; however, the passage goes further than this.  It is like a Christian version of a ‘call to arms’; a summary set of orders from the senior commander to the junior officer, a powerful piece of advice by a godly man written to all who seek to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

Paul begins by urging Timothy to aspire to what is good, commending to him a list of representative godly qualities; ‘righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.’  Only the first two words, ‘godliness and righteousness’ are not in the famous list of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal 5:22,23), and they are the two words which characterise this list in particular.  Paul asks Timothy to be a ‘man of God’ and therefore live and act in a godly and righteous manner, with the rest of the list representing those good qualities of faith and love which appear in many of Paul’s exhortations to Christians.  We can imagine that Timothy would have been someone who would have always sought to be just this, but we must not assume.  All of us need the inspiration of great words such as this spoken to us to lift us up when we feel far less than the men or women of God we have been called to be. Paul does not intend to give Christian people targets for which to aim, but encouragement to sustain the qualities God has already given.

This is clear in the next verse (6:12), where Paul comments; ‘fight the good fight of the faith’, speaking like a sports coach, urging his athlete to perform to his or her best, imploring them to take hold of what they already have from their experience and training and use it to achieve a goal.  In this illustration, however, the goal of the battle or the fight is eternal life, which Timothy already has in Christ Jesus, through ‘his own confession and the presence of many witnesses’ (6:12).  The fight itself is the fight of daily living the Gospel of Christ and of keeping at bay the enemy who would do everything in his power to pull the younger Christian down.

Paul persists in offering encouragement which reminds Timothy of his previous words and deeds, and it is a wise way of encouraging anyone.  Timothy had made his own confession of faith before other people, and Paul compared this to the confession of faith made by Jesus Himself when standing before Pilate (6:13)  You might think that this is pushing things a bit much, for how can anyone’s ‘confession of faith’ be of the same kind as Jesus’?  Yet Paul insists this is so for Timothy, and he would not say it for Timothy if he would not also insist it is so for us.  Christ went ahead of us by bearing our sins through His death on the Cross, and part of that death was His confession of faith.  Pontius Pilate asked Jesus directly whether He was the Christ (Mark 14:62), and He said ‘I am’, and in so doing took on Himself the mantle of the Saviour of the World.  Our confession of faith is our personal agreement with this statement of Jesus’; we confess that Jesus is the Christ, the ‘Son of the Living God’ (Matt 16:16); and in so saying we identify ourselves with Jesus just as He has first identified Himself with us. 

The next part of what Paul says to Timothy sounds straightforward, but is an interesting insight into Paul and his beliefs.  He says; ‘keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.’  Clearly, Paul believed in the imminent return of Christ in glory, and this comes as no surprise to us.  However, much of what Paul says about the end times and the coming of Christ in glory is in response to problems in various churches (in particular Corinthians – see 1 Cor. 15,16; and Thessalonians).  Here, Paul speaks with unbridled confidence and without any agenda other than to encourage his co-worker and friend in Christ.  He is committed to be ready for the coming of the Lord and he believes that God will bring about the end in His own time (6:15).  The very thought of God in His glory leads Paul into raptures of praise, describing Him as; ‘the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light’ (6:15,16).  Such is Paul’s joy at the thought of Jesus coming again in glory!

The challenge of this magnificent text is simple.  Are we encouraged by these words, or do they test us because we do not fully understand them, or perceive how they relate to us personally?  If we have committed ourselves fully to the Lord, then we should have no problem with wanting to welcome Him again at His coming in glory.  Paul asked Timothy to hold on to the truth of this hope; and he asks us to do the same.

1 Timothy 6:11-16   Study links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult Dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. When you hear the expression ‘fight the good fight’, what does this suggest to you about living the Christian life?
2. How did you make your confession of faith in Christ Jesus?
3. What does the coming of Christ in glory mean to you and to the church fellowship of which you are a part?

Personal comment:

I think that this passage purposefully builds up to the picture of Christ coming again in glory because Paul wanted Timothy to be excited as he was about the magnificent wonder and majesty of God.  The words Paul used to describe the God-head are remarkable, and have been used in many hymns over the years.  I doubt if you can read verses 15 and 16 without thinking of some hymn or song you know which echoes these words!

Ideas for discipleship programme

• In what ways do we encourage each other as God’s people.  Think of ways in which you can encourage others within the life of your own church, and perhaps challenge them as well with the words of scripture!
• Pray about the issue of the Lord’s coming again in glory.  Put aside some time and let yourself be challenged by the whole idea and the magnificence of Paul’s description of His glory.  Let God guide you in your thoughts according to His will.

Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, touch our lives with Your love and compassion, and as we receive from You, may we be empowered to be Your messengers of peace, love and compassion for others.  May we always be willing to share the blessings we have received: AMEN

Bible study for 1 Timothy 6:17-21

1 Timothy 6:17-21  links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Review

This conclusion of Paul’s first letter to Timothy is full of touching and personal comment by which Paul sought to strengthen Timothy for his task, as he had done during the whole letter.  In addition, as we might expect, it contains some sound advice for all who have followed in Timothy’s footsteps as leaders of God’s people throughout the ages.  The advice here is concise, godly and sensible, and it reflects the teachings of Jesus about wealth and riches and the relative value of the spiritual things we store up for ourselves in the future.  There is also a healthy degree of caution here about not just the goods and wealth of the world, but also the ideas, chatter and false knowledge that people gather as a substitute for the truth of the Gospel.  Paul’s advice to Timothy is simple.  Keep close to the ever present guidance of God’s Holy Spirit and the true teachings of the Gospel which feed and sustain all God’s people.  They do not let us down!

Riches   Paul sums up his advice to Timothy about the rich by telling Timothy to give them ‘strict orders not to be arrogant’.  This phrase is rather strange, because the verb ‘to give strict orders’ is one which comes from a military rather than a religious background (see Acts 5:28), and there is nothing social or polite about the instruction.  Those who have riches are therefore under discipline to both use their resources for the glory of God (6:18) and to do so without acting as if they were more important or significant people because of their wealth.  This is a tough instruction, because it is natural for people who have resources to wish to have a degree of control and power over how their wealth is used, even if it is handed over to the church.  For example, people tend to give larger gifts to the church in a personal manner rather than in the ‘offertory plate’!

Of course, many rich and wealthy people who are godly do indeed act in a right manner with the benefits God has given them (6:18).  They are generous of spirit, ready to share and avoid any sense of personal grandeur due to their wealth, and they build themselves spiritual stores in heaven just as Jesus taught (Matt 6:19).  However, as Paul was so aware, the devil is ever present and seeks to tempt people to pull back to themselves the arrogance of wealth.  This is an ugly thing amongst the people of God whether the one afflicted is a lay person or a leader.

Guard what has been entrusted to your care   Timothy had received from Paul the fullest possible support in this letter, and in contrast to many of Paul’s letters, it ends with no long lists of people or greetings, but with simple focus on Timothy.  We are used to reading the ends of Paul’s letters (such as that to the Romans) in which Paul mentions everyone of importance in a church and ensures that no-one is left out or offended; offering a word of advice here and some encouragement there according to need.  The personal letters to Timothy are quite different in this respect, although the second letter to Timothy does contain a few verses of greetings which Timothy is asked to pass on (2 Tim 4:19-21). 

Paul summarises what has been a theme almost for the whole letter; ‘O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care.’ (6:20).  Paul had spent the whole letter encouraging Timothy to act according to the authority given him by laying on of hands (4:14) for leadership and teaching within the church.  He had the duty and the spiritual authority to address the wealthy and powerful in the church and tell them not to be arrogant, and he had a duty to persist in teaching those truths of the Gospel which were rooted in the teaching of Jesus Christ. 

False knowledge   The last piece of advice given by Paul is to avoid ‘irreverent chatter and opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge’ (6:20).  This is a very similar phrase and train of thought to that found right at the beginning of the letter ‘I urge you ... not to occupy yourself ... with endless genealogies and speculations ...’ (1:3,4).  Paul was therefore clearly concerned about the power of human criticism and speculation to derail the progress of the church.  He was not an opponent of religious enquiry or scholarship, but he was ardently opposed to the endless pursuit of natural religious philosophy, which seeks and never finds, and knocks, but never finds any open doors.  This pursuit is as damaging today as it ever was, and it is all a matter of perspective.  If the Holy Spirit directs the human mind, it can engage fully and purposefully in all human scholarly enquiries, but if it is tempted to pursue knowledge for its own sake, for example, then God is not merely left to one side, but excluded from intellectual pursuit.  The result is warped soulless religion and a departure from the revelation of God in Christ; it can be observed all too frequently amongst those who have exchanged their Lord for the temptations of the world, as Paul so clearly observed and prophesied.

Paul’s last phrase ‘Grace be with you’ occurs only in the two letters to Timothy and in Colossians (4:18).  The ‘peace’, which Paul frequently mentions in his greetings alongside ‘grace’, has already been conveyed in the letter through Paul’s personal concern and warm approval of one who was a dearly loved friend and companion.  Paul’s final wish was for Timothy to have the grace of God to fulfil His call.

1 Timothy 6:17-21  links to:  / Review / Discipleship /   Other links: / get text / consult dictionaries /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group; do those who possess wealth tend to be arrogant, or is this an unhelpful charge?
2. How do we go about storing up treasures in heaven?
3. What are the contrary ideas and irreverent chatter that disrupts the life of the church today?  How can it be avoided?

Personal comment:

The end of 1 Timothy is not controversial, and the rest of the letter has mostly been similar.  It follows well worn Gospel themes that are richly represented in the teachings of Jesus and the other letter writers (see the letter of James for example).  In places, the letter has touched on more difficult issues giving us a unique insight into bishops elders and deacons, for example and also the problem of widows and slaves in the life of the church.  Paul’s comments have not always been easy to follow, but as a whole, the letter is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the purposes of God for His church.

Ideas for discipleship programme

• Who are those most close to you in Christian fellowship?  However old or young you are, would it be wise to think of trying to encourage someone else younger in the faith than yourself?  Ask the Lord to help and guide your thoughts about this.
• Pray for those who are rich in the church, and have considerable means.  Pray that they may maintain the integrity demanded of them by God’s Word.

Final Prayer

When people all around me reject the faith I have, give me the presence of mind, O Lord, to stand firm in You in all circumstances.  Your hand is my guide, Your Spirit is my strength and Your love is my comfort.  No-one can take this away from me if I remain in Your presence; Thank You Lord;   AMEN