1 Timothy 6 v 20 - 21 - Final Words

So, we're at the end of Timothy, rather enjoyed it, and hope you did too.

v20-21
Paul tells Timmy to guard what God's trusted to him, (the word trusted, is greek for committed and only ever mentioned twice in za bible!) in the letter and teachings handed by apostles, sound doctrine basics. Stay away from foolish, useless talk and arguments from "knowledge" which can stray from true faith within the church. He should refute any teaching like this! 


"Gnosticism is where the people view themselves as "those who know" and they believe things like :
- jesus appeared human, was an illusion
- christ didnt really die, it was a cruciFICTION

- christ wasnt God, he created the world because God was too pure to dirty himself with

matter

- matter is evil, so you can do anything you want with your body, and killing it is releasing

 your soul from imprisonment . .

- the God of the old testament is "evil" as he created the material universe but the God of

the new testament is lovely as he is a God of love

- people are saved by having this knowledge or gnosis which is given, not found

but basically in the bible, its say avoid this so-called knowledge, its stupid and people have

 deviated from faith"

then says grace be with you at the end! 


Applications of 1 Timothy!!

Good / Bad teachers

·                     Praise those who teach us

·                     Pray for our authority

·                     Pray for good teachers

·                     Honour those in authority

·                     Honour those who teach us

·                     Pay leaders fairly

·                     Respect Authority

·                     Stand up against false teachers

·                     Pray for bad teachers

How to treat others

·                      Respect older people

·                     Don't patronize younger people

·                     Don't treat opposite sex like eye candy

·                     Respect old people

·                     Treat them with compassion and love

·                     Don't disregard old people

·                     Young people have so much potential

·                     Love people who you dislike

·                     Young people aren’t useless

·                     Church leaders need our prayer and support, not an easy job

How we should act

·                     Live attractive lives, on inside not outside

·                     We have roles to play as guys / girls

·                     Praying for everyone

·                     We should fight with God, not against him

·                     Keep trusting God

·                     We serve the church, should be acting right

·                     Keep serving the church!

·                     Thank God for everyone

·                     Double check teachings

·                     Spiritually train yourselves

·                     Live in a Godly way

·                     Act in a Godly way

·                     Use gifts from God

·                     Don’t listen to rumours

·                     Be rich in Jesus, not in money

·                     Flee from love of money

·                     Pursue righteousness

·                     Ask for spiritual possessions

·                     Fight the good fight

·                     Get heavenly treasures, not earthly ones

·                     Give generously

·                     Trust God!

·                     Anyone can be changed, evangelize to everyone

·                     Don't let emotions get in the way of fact of JC

·                     Ask God for a pure heart, a good conscience and true faith in him

·                     10 commandments are how we should live our lives

Random extras

·                     Jesus is the only one who met God's standards

·                     The OT points to Jesus

·                     God's mercy is for everyone

1 Timothy 6 v 17 - 19 - Real Riches

 I'm doing 30 days of thankfulness blog if you wanna check it out. 


v17
Paul already has told off those who were trying to get rich through ministry. Now Paul tells Timmy to command those who are rich with material possessions to not be proud, he wants them to hope in God, not in riches.


Matthew 6: 19 - 21 Don't store treasures for yourselves here on earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your treasure is.


God provides everything for us, and we're meant to thank him for everything we've got. But when we start to love material stuff, there becomes a problem. Remeber this story?

Mark 10:21-23 Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, "There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me."

He was very sad to hear Jesus say this, and he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

Then Jesus looked at his followers and said, "How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

we can't enter heaven with our material stuff!!!!

v18-19
Those who are rich are commanded to recognize God as true source of their wealth, and that they should be generous with their money and ready to share. We should be rich by our good deeds, not by money. We don't get anything from material goods in heaven. But by doing good deeds, we don't get salvation, only by grace. By doing this, they get treasures in heaven which are obv a lot more important. then they will have true life! 


Application
The rich here are referring to those who have more than they need - we're all guilty of this. did you NEED that new phone? or jack wills hoody? or the new car? no, you wanted it. we can become arrogant, and trust in abilities and money to get through life. we need to give generously and trust in God. 

1 Timothy 6 v 11 -16 - Fighting Talk II

We had "fighting talk" 15 days ago, same title today, have no idea if it's related!

v11
He addresses Timmy as a man of God, but again, it's totally to us as well, 2000 odd years later. Paul starts off with a strong warning against materialism. But instead, pursue godliness. Live the right way by;

• serving God - Matthew 6:33  Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well
• faith - Hebrews 11:6  Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him
• love             
• patience      
• gentleness
  Galatians 5:22-23 But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong.

Again like yesterday, we flee from material possessions but eagerly seek spiritual possessions. There's a million cross references here, i could post a long list, Jesus gives us so much spiritual blessings that we don't even realize half the time. ask, he'll give it to you :)


v12
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!!  Paul encourages Timmy to keep fighting for God and his faith in him, and for us too, to keep fighting the battle which is Christianity. He also tells Timmy to grab hold of the life that continues forever - i love that. so poetic. Paul says that Timmy got eternal life during his ministry, and is encouraging him to carry on. We also have eternal life, that if we hold onto it by faith Satan can't take it from us!! 

v13-14
Paul tells Timmy to keep this commandment without wrong or blame until JC comes again (or in his case, til Timmy dies). the commandment is the flee from evil and pursue righteousness - as in verses 11-12. Paul gives God as a witness, and uses the example of when Jesus made a confession as a witness when he suffered our sins. Timmy should be following JC's example and be prepared to suffer as well - blessed are those who suffer. He's gotta do all this, AND stay blameless!


v15-16
Jesus will come again in his own time. Mark 13:32 No one knows when that day or time will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

 Paul stops his instructions for Timmy and starts using examples of what Jesus is like and praises him ;

•  blessed
• only ruler
• king of kings
• lord of lords
• immortal 
• lives in light so bright, no one can go near it

kinda amazing huh? it also says no one will ever see him, and non one can see him.


Application


Flee from the love of money before it pulls you away from God


Pursue right living, godliness, faith, love, gentleness and sticking at it


Ask for spiritual possessions, God's just waiting to give them to you


Fight the good fight. Keep going and give everything to living for God


Take hold of eternal life. Live like someone who'll live forever with God. 

1 Timothy 6 v 3 - 10 - Love of money

As you can probably figure, today's all about money / true riches


v3-5
False teachers again! Surprise, surprise. So, wrong teaching goes against Jesus and the way to serve God. This person is;

• full of pride
• ignorant
• understands nothing - 1 Timothy 1:7  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand either what they are talking about or what they are sure about.
• sick with a love for arguing
• fight about words
• which brings;
• jealousy
• fighting
• speaking against others
• evil mistrust
• constant quarrels
• If we teach wrong, our lives will be wrong, simple as.

These people have evil minds and lost the truth, and they think serving God is a way to get rich. They don't care about actually teaching right, or defending the truth. Godliness isn't a mean to financial gains. 

 Matthew 7:20 In the same way, you will know these false prophets by what they do.


v6
SERVING GOD MAKES US RICH, IF WE ARE HAPPY WITH WHAT WE HAVE. not necessarily monetary gain, but spiritual gain. This doesn't depend on your job, where you live, how smart you are, what you look like, whether your a introvert or an extrovert, it has nothing to do with that. It comes from godliness. When we become content, we're free of greed, anxiety, and everything like that.


Philippians 4:11 I am not telling you this because I need anything. I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens.


v7-8
Paul tells Timmy that we bring nothing into this world, we take nothing out. but if we have food / clothes we will be satisfied. So we're not meant to be like the egyptians who used to have everything buried with them to take it to heaven.UHHHH ERRRRR (meant to sound the no noise on xfactor). we lose everything when we die. but techincally we're meant to act like it''s not ours - see my notes on the purpose of a driven life ;)


Ecclesiastes 5:15 People come into this world with nothing, and when they die they leave with nothing. In spite of all their hard work, they leave just as they came.


but if we have food / clothes we will be satisfied. we're not meant to have a desire to obtain more. God promises to give us all we need - to be discontent with material stuff you don't have is grumbling and being discontent against the God who promises you everything you need. BUT. there is a big but. we're allowed to be spritually discontent, always wantnig more and more to become more like Jesus. We should seek to be more like the Holy Spirit, and asking for wisdom and stuff :)




v9-10
it says those who wanna be rich give themselves temptation and they get stuck in an endless cycle, there will be never enough money to satisfy them. These are the three steps;

1. Fall into temptation
2. Fall into Satan's trap - entrapped by foolish and harmful desires
3. Plunged into ruin and destruction - their lives cannot be restored

James 1:14-15 But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them. This desire leads to sin, and then the sin grows and brings death

some people have stopped being xians because of their love of money, and its pretty much bad. love of money causes so much evil!!


Application
the list within verses 3-5 can apply to us as well as false teachers, so need to look at that list hard and see whether you can work on anything there. We CAN be rich by not by money which has so many downfalls but by God, we can be content and Godly :) the greatest thing that there will ever be (IS JESUS LOVES ME) is God's amazing grace that he gave to us. instead of trying to get loads of earthly treasures, try harder for those eternal treasures, they are worth so much more.

1 Timothy 6 v 1 - 2 - Work it out

So, the title doesn't suggest a high school musical song about what to do in summer, more about serving people.


v1
Says that anyone who is a slave should show respect to their masters so no one willl speak against God' name and the teachings of JC. So there was a alot of slavery in this kinda time, slaves who were christians were equal to other christians but as we know, at home slaves were treated badly. So regardless of whether this master was horrible, the slave has to show respect. and ofc there's cross references to go with this; 

Ephesians 6:5-8; slaves, obey your masters here on earth with fear and respect and from a sincere heart, just as you obey Christ. You must do this not only while they are watching you, to please them. With all your heart you must do what God wants as people who are obeying Christ. Do your work with enthusiasm. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were serving only men and women. Remember that the Lord will give a reward to everyone, slave or free, for doing good.

Titus 2:9-10; Slaves should yield to their own masters at all times, trying to please them and not arguing with them. They should not steal from them but should show their masters they can be fully trusted so that in everything they do they will make the teaching of God our Savior attractive

Colossians 3:22; Slaves, obey your masters in all things. Do not obey just when they are watching you, to gain their favor, but serve them honestly, because you respect the Lord.

So, its pretty obvious - serve master. 


v2
Then says that slaves who have masters who were believers shouldn't show their masters any less respect because they are believers. they should serve even betteras they are helping believers that they love. OKAAAAAAY, so here it's not saying that because they are christian masters the slaves were mistreating them, but some slaves were treating them as brothers rather than masters, and therefore didn't work as hard. The slave should work for his master out of love, not obligation, not because he has to, but because he wants to.


Application
We all have authority. We may like or dislike this but we do. And we need to show them respect, they are older and wiser and they are in charge of us. That means we should treat them well, not answering back, not being rude, listening and etc. Because ultimately non christians see our actions and reflect Christianity to how we act. Pressure, i know. We serve God as our master, whatever you do you are serving God and we wanna be showing him off, and working hard for him. And when you have a bad "boss" who may be out of order or hard to work with or whatever, try to love them more. Pray for them constantely, learn to deal with them and work alongside them. You can do it :)

1 Timothy 5 v 17 - 25 - Double Honour

okay so back a couple of verses to chapter 5!


v17 - 18
so. elders. Paul says that whoever is an elder should get double honour because they work hard speaking and teaching. So they are worthy to receive honour for their work, and payment so double honour! Then the bible, quotes the bible xD he quotes;

Deuteronomy 25:4 When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth to keep it from eating.
 and then quotes
Luke 10:7  Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don't move from house to house
Anyone else sitting there going, huh? No fear. Lucy is here. So the quote from Deut means that workers deserve to be paid for their work. If it's right to feed the ox who works on grain, then it's right to pay an elder who works for Jesus. This is repeated again in 1 Corinthians 9:9 too. I'm kinda confused on this, so will go back to this tommorow. the Luke quote is repeated in 1 Corinthians 9:14 too. So, elders deserved to be paid, not so they love money, but they do a good job right?


v19-20
Then it says that you cannot accuse and elder without having 2/3 witness?
Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness is not enough to accuse a person of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.
I don't really get why. Then paul says that elders who fail in their leadership in church, social or home life need to be told they are doing wrong and they should be told in front of the church (or all the elders) so everyone has a warning to not sin. Seems kinda harsh . . .


v21-22
Paul then encourages Timmy to do all of this without showing favoritism. Then Paul says to think carefully before laying hands on people and don't share the sins of others, but to stay pure. SO before appointing anyone, he's gotta check they are holy (we did this in Acts 6:6 at some other point before!) If Timmy appoints a sinner, he takes the responsibility and he then looks like a bad guy, instead he has to stay pure!


v23
THIS BIT MADE ME LAUGH. Paul tells timmy to stop drinking water, but some wine so he's less sick. ironic much?! This tells us Timmy was kinda an ill man and a bit of wine was considered good for your stomach.


v24-25
Paul then talks about sins in general. But especially for elders. The sins of some people are easy to see before they are judged but some are seen "later". So, some church leaders can seem good on the outside, but are sinful on the inside. We only find out about sins later on. This is no ones fault for appointing them though, they didn't know. In the same way good deeds are easy to see but those that aren't easily seen, will eventually come out into the open. Same thing with leaders, we see that they are really worthy later on. Then like in heaven, thats when we finally know about some peoples good / bad deeds when they are finally judged.


Application
We should;

1. Honour those in authority - see yesterdays QT
2. Honour those who teach us - they have a lot of pressure to teach sound doctrine, and they put loads time and effort into everything
3. Pay leaders fairly - this comes from the offering at church, do you pay church leaders for the job they do?
4. Don't listen to rumours - i don't know where this came from. 

Also, Timmy was ill, and young but yet he still did amazing stuff. Don't let circumstances hold you back! And the whole we-don't-know-of-your-good-and-bad-deeds shows how we need to not be judgemental - we're not the judges, God is, leave it to him.

1 Timothy 5 v 9 – 15 – Merry Widows

v9-10 

Paul says to be on the “list of widows” a woman must be;

·          60 years old

·          faithful to her husband

·          be known for good works such as;

v  looking after her children

v  welcoming strangers, hospitality

v  washing the feet of God’s people, humble

v  helping those in trouble

v   Giving her life to doing good deeds.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, what’s a list of widows? In this kind of time, widows who were worthy to receive the churches help, were put on a list. Simples. They then had to do special duties that were already within their capabilities, like helping with children, hospitality, or teaching other women.

v11-12Paul justifies the age thing by saying that younger widows will have sexual desires and will want to marry again. So they won’t be widows anymore, obviously. They will be judged for not doing what they first promised to do. Okay so a widow is expected to remain totally devoted to Christ’s service and they make some promise to not get married again. This is why they are judged because they break the promise.

v13-15Paul say that younger widows learn to waste time by going from house to house. Then they gossip and busy themselves with unimportant stuff. So Paul wants younger widows to remarry, have kids, and manage their home so they do not become lazy!  Then no enemy can criticize them. Some widows on the list had turned to follow Satan and this is why Paul urges Timmy to not put young widows on this list, he doesn’t want them falling into sin.

ApplicationOOOOOOOOOOH story time! Some relation / family friend / person who I don’t actually know how I know, is old. She’s in a nursing home and she’s not a Christian or anything, but she’s had Christian influences through my family. And suddenly out of the blue this other old biddy was like “what good do we do this earth, we don’t do anything!” and then she said “but we can pray.” And this does relate, old people can do more than we realize, people on the widows list still had stuff to do within church and we shouldn’t disregard old people for not being able to do anything, because all in all, they can pray and that’s more helpful than anything else ultimately. AND like the widows, they got lazy and stuff got in the way of them serving God. What stops you serving God, and what cha going to do about it?