Bible Study

Welcome to Wednesday Night Bible Study here at the Home Office. Great to have a good-sized audience here tonight. And hopefully we'll have quite a few tuning in on the webcast, too. We did mention it in our management team blog this week to remind everybody about it. And we're starting a new topic or a new series tonight. And so we're excited about that. And we're going to be going into the pastoral epistles. The pastoral epistles are those that Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus. And so we're excited to begin. Mr. Myers, who's the new Cincinnati East pastor now for the AEM and PM, is here with us.

And is pretty much on-site now in Cincinnati full-time, teaching at ABC, but also pastoring the Cincinnati East congregations. Especially for those who are listening in online and hadn't heard that yet. So I'll go ahead and ask God's blessing on the Bible study, and then we'll be ready to begin. A Father and great God in heaven with Jesus Christ at your right hand. Father, we come before your all-powerful throne here on this Wednesday evening, thanking you very much for the opportunity to be together, to fellowship, to be led by your Holy Spirit, and to go through your Word.

Thank you that we can study your Word openly in peace here in this nation and in most places around the world, although not everywhere. We thank you for calling us and giving us an understanding of your Word and truth. Father, please bless the Bible study tonight as we go through the words of Paul to Timothy. We pray that you inspire and guide us with your Holy Spirit and lead us as we go through the Scriptures.

We thank you, Father. We pray for your blessing and put the studying to your hands in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. To begin things tonight, Mr. Myers is going to give an introduction to the books of Timothy, and then when he's finished about halfway through, I'm going to go ahead and start with chapter 1. I think you'll find it very fascinating, some really good information. So, Mr. Myers? Okay. Thanks, Mr. Eddington. Well, good evening, everyone. It's good to be here with you. There is so much material that it's an amazing thing because we're just talking about three tiny little letters.

When you look at 1 and 2 Timothy and look at the letter to Titus as well. In fact, I was talking to someone about that on the way in, and they said, oh, you've got something on your face. And I had cut myself shaving before getting here tonight. And we were talking about how much material there is and how much there is to cover.

And it reminded me of a story I heard about a minister, and he had cut himself shaving, and he was up giving the sermon, and he's kind of bleeding. And he said, you know, I was getting ready this morning, and as I prepared, I was thinking of my sermon, and I cut myself shaving. And it just happened to be, it had way too much, went way over time.

And after going way over time for services, this little boy kind of stopped him on the way out and said, Mr. Pastor, do you think next time you can think of shaving and cut the sermon? Well, we'll make sure and go within the timeframe is what we'll shoot for, right? Well, as Mr. Eddington said, the pastoral epistles, Timothy and Titus, why are they called the pastoral epistles?

Well, first of all, a pistol is a letter. So these are letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and to Titus. And they've earned the name of pastoral epistles because Timothy and Titus were pastoring. They were pastoring congregations. And so the letters themselves are addressed to them as pastors of churches. And they go over quite a bit of the duties that a pastor has to be sure and take care of as ministering to God's people.

And so it deals with that over and over and over again. And if we were to really try to simplify, maybe in its easiest form, rather than going through too much of a big outline and talk about, you know, some of the themes and some of the responsibilities, some of these kinds of things, which we'll get into as we go through the letters, I think you can boil it down to two main things. That as Paul wrote these letters to Timothy and to Titus, he wanted to make sure that they could defend sound doctrine.

That when it came to the truth, they needed to be able to defend it. And the other part that went along with that is to maintain sound doctrine. Not only defend it, but then maintain it, to carry it on. How does it apply to everyday life?

How does it apply to the church? How does it apply to the way that we live? So we have to recognize the truth, and then we also have to do the truth. And so you'll notice as we go through these letters that much of it deals with that. How do you conduct yourself in the church of God, the household of God? How do you deal with situations? What about false teachers? What about these issues? And so we'll see those pop up as we go through. And probably as we do, we'll try to point out some of those responsibilities and show exactly some of those issues as we go through those.

Now as you think about the letters to Timothy and to Titus, there is a little bit of a difficulty as we begin to talk about those. Because they were written after the book of Acts. It seems like almost everybody agrees. Written after the book of Acts. So that presents a problem. Because many of the scholars will say, you know, Paul died at the end of the book of Acts, and so because of that he couldn't have written these letters.

Now if you go to the end of the book of Acts, it doesn't say that. It doesn't really say much of anything about what happened to Paul by the time we conclude the book of Acts. And so there's a number of issues that some of the scholars will cite to show, well, Paul really didn't write these letters.

And as we go through the book, we'll probably point out some of those. Some of the simplest ones, they'd say, well, the church was too organized by this time. And you know how Paul tells Timothy to ordain elders.

He talks about these different offices within the church. And boy, the church wasn't that organized, is what the scholars would say. But yet, if you remember from our study in the book of Acts, just not that long ago, all the way back in Acts 6, who did we have being ordained? We had deacons and deaconesses. We already had a precedent for those offices in the church and those responsibilities. So really, when you get down to it, some of those things were happening long before the end of the book of Acts, long before Timothy and Titus would have been written.

And so most of those objections that we see can be pretty easily countered. Some people, one of the other big objections is kind of an interesting one. They'll say, well, you know, this couldn't have been written by the apostle Paul, because just look at how he wrote to the Romans. Look how he wrote to God's church in Ephesus. Look how he wrote to the people at Philippi. It is such a different tone, such a different style of writing, that when you compare that to how he wrote to Timothy and how he wrote to Titus, it's totally different.

So it couldn't have been the same man. So when you begin to think about that objection, I often would think about, well, how do I write when I'm trying to write something official, when I'm trying to write to an organization? If I was going to apply for a job, I'd fill out a resume, write a cover letter. It would be a formal presentation, trying to promote myself to get this job.

You know, to say certain things in the right way. Well, Paul seemed to deal that way with Philippi. He seemed to deal that way with her. When there were issues, he had to deal with them, and some very complicated issues. Now, what about when you write to a friend?

What about when you write to a relative? Would you write to them differently than you would to an organization, to a church, to a company? I think most of us would probably agree it'd be quite a different style of letter, as we would write those to different people. And so, I think that's one of the interesting things as we look at some of the arguments that say, well, Paul couldn't have written that. Because when you get down to it, almost every one of those can be pretty easily countered.

And so, it seems that Paul wrote these letters. One of the biggest ones, other than those two, is that, well, Paul, if he had died at the end of the book of Acts, how could he have possibly written those? Well, when you look at some of the history, you look at some of the traditions about Paul. We know there's some of the different things that he wrote that he wanted to do some things after he got out of prison.

He was expecting to get out of prison. He wanted to go to Philippi. He talked about visiting Spain. And so, with some of those things, it seems like there was a time that he was led out of prison and had opportunities to do things. In fact, I wrote down one of those issues, was that some of the church fathers, they're called, some of the historians, one was Clement of Rome, had written about the Apostle Paul. He said he went to the west, the terminus of the west, before his martyrdom.

And, of course, he wrote [to] Rome. And, you know, if you look at a map, what's the farthest point west that you could go on the European continent? If you go up that way, the farthest you could go was Spain. And so it seems that, you know, writing that he wanted to go to Spain, Romans 15, he talks about that, that it very well may have been that after being released from prison, he did travel quite a bit. He told those in Philippi he expected to see them.

He told in the letter to Philemon, he said, Prepare a room for me. I'm going to be there. And so you can read that in the letter that he wrote there. So he expected to get out. And so it seems that, you know, most likely he probably did. And there was a time period where he was able to preach the gospel before actually being taken back in the prison and then martyred. And so it seems very possible that Paul would have had that opportunity. So do you remember about when the book of Acts was written, when it was concluding?

We get to the end of the story of the book of Acts. When you put all the time frame together, it seems that it more or less points to a little after 60 AD, maybe between 61-62 AD or so. So we're 30 years plus after the crucifixion of Christ by the time we get to the end of the book of Acts. Now, when we get to Timothy, we've got to put that in the time frame. And sometimes it's a little hard to figure out where exactly that falls, since we're not told exactly where that might be.

It could have been very soon. Some place it right at that point, maybe 62 AD, that Timothy could have had that first letter written to him. Some date it as late as 65 AD. So somewhere in that time frame, it's hard to put an exact date on it, but it seems that would be pretty reasonable.

Somewhere in that time frame would have been when the book would have been written, somewhere 62-65 AD. So we're more than 30-35 years after the crucifixion of Christ. So that gives us a good time frame. A lot of things have happened since the crucifixion. Look how many things happened in the book of Acts. Now we go to Titus and Timothy, and we find there's more information here that's found in these books that we don't find anywhere else.

And so as we begin to think about those things, what would it have been like to receive a letter from the apostle? You ever wondered that yourself? What if the apostle was writing me a letter? What would he say?

Straighten up, Steve, right? Maybe something like that. Not really sure what he would say. But hopefully he would say some of the tremendous things that he said to Timothy. Timothy was a remarkable man, an amazing man when you really begin to put some of the details together of his life. I mean, even his name alone. His name alone, Timotheus. Two Greek words, Timo and Theos. Now if we separate it out nicely like that, we probably recognize the word Theos. It's a name for God.

Timotheus. And the first part of his name means valued, or dear, or greatly loved. So here's Timothy, one who is dearly loved by God, one that is valued by God, or even one who honors God. So even his name alone begins to give us a little bit of insight into the character of Timothy, the kind of person that he was. It gives us a little bit of insight into his character.

I mean, just wouldn't it be amazing to read about yourself in the Scripture? I mean, over and over and over again, Timothy is mentioned 24 times in the New Testament. He turns up in the New Testament over and over and over again. And maybe just as an introduction to him. If you go over to the book of Acts, let's remind ourselves of a couple of situations here as Timothy begins to come on the scene. Acts 14, verse 19. You'll remember from our study in the book of Acts. Acts 14 cites a time during Paul's first journey. During that first journey as he's preaching the gospel, Acts 14 talks about the area of the world they came to.

They came to Iconium. They came to Lystra. They came to Durbay down in verse 6. It's interesting, verse 8, if you remember the story here, there was a great healing. A great healing. There was a man who was crippled from the womb. And what happened? Paul, through God's power, healed him. He said, stand up straight on your feet in verse 10. And what happened? The man leaped and walked. I'm an amazing miracle!

And so the people saw this. They were amazed at the power of what they thought of Paul. And what did they start to do? It says they called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. So they connected them with Greek gods. And yet, that's not what they were supposed to be doing. Verse 14, the apostles of Barnabas and Paul heard it. They tore their clothes and ran among the multitude, saying, men, why are you doing these things? They shouldn't be worshipped. They didn't want that to happen at all.

And so they explained, this is not proper. This is unacceptable. And so verse 18, it says, with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the multitude from sacrificing to them. Now, where was that happening at? It was happening at Lystra. It was happening at Lystra. Now, there were these people from next door, from the couple of towns over. Verse 19, Antioch and Iconium, it says Jews who were non-believers, who were totally opposed to what they were preaching, came.

Remember what happened? It says, they dragged them out. It says, having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. So these Jews from the neighboring towns come over to Lystra, they grab Paul, they stone him, they leave him for dead. Now, guess what town Timothy is from? He's from Lystra. He's from Lystra. So then the first time we find Timothy mentioned chapter 16 in the book of Acts.

So if you flip over just a couple of pages, here Paul on his journey, he says he came to Durbay, to Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy. Isn't that amazing? When would Timothy have been converted? You know, he was a young Jewish man. When do you suppose that might have happened? We're not told exactly, but it seems that it's a pretty good possibility that either he was converted right here or maybe even possibly back in chapter 14 on that first journey. Maybe he witnessed that stoning. Maybe he was there. Maybe he and his family were right there that they had been converted on that first trip.

And so it's an interesting possibility to think that that happened right before his eyes. Wouldn't that have been a phenomenal witness? Especially when after the stoning and he's left for dead, Paul gets back up. And he goes on preaching and teaching. Wow, would that have been an amazing miracle right there in front of your eyes. And so then as Paul comes back, he's mentioned again, and here's Timothy once again, first mentioned anyway in chapter 16.

And then we're told a little bit of his background. It said, Timothy was the son of a certain Jewish woman in verse 1 who believed, but his father was Greek. So he's from a mixed marriage, a mixed marriage which wasn't really acceptable in the Jewish world. This was an absolute no-no when you went to Orthodox Jews.

That was unacceptable. And so as we see what's happening here, no wonder there was an issue. Here's what the issue was. First of all, it says, what kind of a person was he? Verse 2, he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him.

Now, was that because this is the first time he ever met him? Or is it possible that they met and became friends and Timothy was converted back in chapter 14? Well, maybe 14, maybe back a couple of maybe possibly years before this. It says, what happened? Paul wanted to have him go with him. He took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region. For they all knew that his father was Greek. The Jews didn't want anything to do with children from mixed marriages. And so to show that Timothy was a Jew, and it's kind of interesting because when does this happen?

It happens after Acts chapter 15. What happened in Acts chapter 15? The ministers came together in Jerusalem and decided you didn't need to be circumcised to be a Christian. But yet, chapter 16, here's Paul circumcising Timothy. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, does it? But then when you put it in context, you put it in the context of what's happening, would Paul have been able to preach the gospel to the Jews very efficiently? If they had a problem with Timothy, if they had a problem with one of the men that were traveling with him, they would immediately put up a wall.

We're not going to listen to you. Are you kidding? You've got this Greek with you. He's not even circumcised. He's not even a part of God's people. They would have turned him off before he even got a chance to start. And so Paul saw the value in being able to preach the gospel. And imagine, Timothy would have had to see that as well. Because it certainly seems they would have known very clearly about this decision that had already been made. And yet, Timothy, because of his character, because of his commitment to God, could see that there was going to be value in this happening.

In making sure that they'd be able to go out, be able to preach the gospel, be able to do the things that God would have them to do. And so he went along with that. And in a sense, he realized that that was something that was absolutely necessary for the gospel to be preached. So when we look at that, we begin to see, alright, he's got a Jewish mother and a Greek father. And in fact, that's also mentioned back in 2 Timothy. So if you want to turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5, we get a little bit more information about the family that Timothy grew up in.

2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5, maybe a familiar section of Scripture to you. Because Paul, as he's writing this second letter to Timothy, he says, "'I call to remembrance the genuine faith that's in you,' he writes to Timothy." Well, that's a wonderful compliment, isn't it? It's possible writing to us about our genuine faith. That would really be amazing, wouldn't it? And then he talks about this faith. He says, "'That faith which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice.

And I'm persuaded it is in you also.'" So Timothy was taught the truth. He understood the basics of faith. He understood who the true God was through his grandmother. First, this is his grandmother, Lois. Then his mother, Eunice. Do you think they raised him right? Boy, it sure seems like they did. Do you think they had an amazing impact on his faith? Do you think it was partly because of them that when Paul came through and he expounded the gospel, when he showed who the Messiah really was, that Timothy was able to understand that?

His grandmother and his mother were immediately converted and accepted that truth. They could see the Messiah throughout the teachings. Boy, it sure seems that. They were the ones that gave a fantastic foundation. In fact, just over a couple of pages in my Bible, chapter 3, verse 15. Timothy, Paul writes, that from childhood you've known the holy Scriptures. Well, who taught the little child the Scriptures? Did he just pick it up on his own? That was a family thing, I'm sure. I'm sure it was his grandmother. I'm sure it was his mother.

They must have set an amazing example for young Timothy, because what was his father? He was a Greek. He could have cared less about Judaism. He was a non-believer. He was a Gentile. What's a Gentile? Anybody that's not a Jew. Anybody that's not a Jew. He was a non-believer. Some people even surmise that because he's just briefly mentioned here, maybe he died earlier on in Timothy's life. Hard to say. We don't know. But the amazing thing, I think, as a lesson for us today, when you think about the circumstances of Timothy's family, think about how much influence can just one family member have on the rest of the family.

Can Grandma really make a difference? She believes the truth. I think the answer is absolutely. Was Timothy blessed because of Grandma?

I think so. Did Mom follow through with that? Did his mother's faithfulness? Could he see that? Did they live the truth right before his life? I think they did. I think they did. And somehow he was able to overcome all the challenges. Look at where he was living. He's living in a Gentile nation. It wasn't God's model nation that he grew up in. Not at all. He lived in the home of an unbeliever. And yet, the example of Mom and Grandma had a powerful impact on Timothy. It made all the difference, I'll bet, in his life. And so I think that's a great reminder for all of us. Just because you're the only one in your family who believes, don't think that that doesn't count for something. Don't minimize the importance of your example. Never minimize that importance. God can use you powerfully in your family. Just because you're a woman, boy, women in the New Testament time, they were discounted. They were second-class citizens. And yet here, these two women were shown as fantastic examples that changed the life of a man who would be powerfully used by God. It's really an amazing thing when you look at the kind of family that Timothy grew up in. Probably because of these ladies, Paul saw the value of having a man like Timothy around. So it's interesting that by the time we get to Acts 16, where Timothy is mentioned, Paul wants to bring him with him. From then on, every time we run across Timothy, he's somehow connected to Paul. He's either traveling with him, he's either sent by him, or doing a job that Paul wanted him to do, representing Paul's interest in Ephesus, or representing Paul as he goes to Corinth. So it's interesting to see how that plays out. Now, it's also interesting to realize how special this man was to Paul. He wasn't just any old friend, it seemed. It seemed like there was a kind of a special relationship, a real connection between the two of them. And maybe just one passage we could turn to to help realize how special he was is over in Philippians 2.

Verse 19. Philippians 2.19, here in the letter that Paul wrote to Philippi, to God's church there, he mentions Timothy. And it's interesting how he describes him. And this is pretty much the way Timothy is always described by Paul in these kinds of terms. In verse 19, Philippians 2, it says, Verse 20.

So here's Timothy. This was a special person to Paul, someone Paul truly valued. Paul always talked about Timothy in very positive terms. Every time he's mentioned, he talks about the character of this man. He talked about the fact that he's a fellow worker, he's a disciple, he's a servant, he's a minister of God, he's a brother, he's a bondservant of Jesus Christ, he's beloved, he's faithful. See, all of those descriptive words give us some insight into the kind of character that Timothy was. He was one that was, you know, the way that the Apostle James put it, he was a doer of the word. He wasn't just somebody that heard about it, but he was somebody that lived it. He was somebody that did it. He was somebody that was supportive of Paul, willing to accompany him wherever he was going to travel, willing to do whatever it took, even if it had meant going to Corinth, which was a mess before that first letter went out. What a mess of a congregation! And yet Timothy was willing to go there and help and serve and give. In fact, maybe we could turn over to the first book of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians, something interesting is written by Paul to those in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 10.

1 Corinthians 16, verse 10.

Here Paul writes something interesting about Timothy. He says, If Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I do also.

Some people draw different things from that particular passage, but I think the real insight comes with the fact that he was willing to do in the same way the Apostle Paul was. He was willing to put his life on the line for God's work. He was willing to serve God's people with whatever it took. And we know the things that Paul went through, and Timothy was like-minded. He thought like Paul did. Paul wrote that. Like me, that's what Timothy is doing, just like I'm doing. So he was willing. And maybe in some ways a harder job than Paul's, because who was in charge? Paul was in charge. He was the one sent. He was the Apostle. Timothy's talked about later on as being an evangelist, a preacher of the Word, bringing the good news, heralding the truth of God. But Paul was in charge. And you know what they say. There's a funny saying that, do you know what the hardest instrument in the orchestra to play is? Second fiddle. Second fiddle. That's the hardest instrument to play. And Timothy was always second. He was not the one giving the orders. He was not the one making the ultimate decision. That was Paul. But every time he's mentioned, he's willing to serve. He's willing to do what it takes. He doesn't care who gets the credit as long as the work is accomplished and done. Doesn't that tell us a lot? What should our attitude be? God's Word has to be preached. The work must be done. The gospel must go out. Who cares who gets the credit? It needs to happen. And Timothy was in that frame of mind. It didn't matter. He's going to do what it takes to accomplish God's will. And so he was willing to do that. And that is just such a fantastic tribute to him. That he was going to do whatever it takes. And I think that gives us insight into the kind of personality he was. Because he's much different than the Apostle Paul. He's so different. Which is also encouraging. We don't all have to be the bold ones. We all don't have to be the ones that are standing up ready to get stoned. Paul is going to get out there and he's going to do things in a certain way. Timothy was a little different. He was a little different. He didn't seem to be of that same mindset in a lot of ways. Now, why would that be? Why did it seem that his personality traits oftentimes show themselves as something a little bit different than the Apostle Paul? Well, could it be because he was basically raised by his mom and his grandmother? Was that a possibility? That growing up in a family that was directed by women, maybe his father died when he was young, that would certainly have a different effect on you than if you were raised by a very strict, overbearing father. You can see how that might cause him to approach things just a little bit differently. Possibly more compassionate, possibly better at relationships, communicating with people, maybe more sensitive, really able to see things. Being a good communicator! See, I'm sometimes not a good communicator. I need to be around the ladies a little bit more because they seem to have a very big knack for that sort of thing. And maybe Timothy picked up on that. He also had this whole family heritage to deal with as well. He had a mixed background, part Greek, part Jew. Could that have contributed to some of the differences in his approach, the differences in how he dealt with things, the differences in some of the things that are said about the kind of personality he was? The interesting thing is, it shows that personality is not conversion.

Do we have to be the most bombastic, outgoing person to be converted? Does everybody have to be like that? Well, that'd be pretty boring if that was the case. I think it's showing us that God uses all kinds of individuals, all kinds of different personalities, in order to reach people, in order to spread His word. I know oftentimes with Timothy, as a personality, some people would point to the fact that he was young.

Maybe because he was young, he might have been a little less apt to be right out there in a really bold way. Maybe that was part of the reason that he was like that. It's interesting. There is that passage that talks about, let no one despise your youth. That comes up right away in this very first letter. It's in 1 Timothy 4.12. Paul writes, Don't let anyone despise your youth.

So we have a tendency to think, well, what was he? Like a teenager? Was he a young man? How old was he? So we have a tendency to think, well, on the really younger, younger side of things. But if you were to look up that word for, let no one despise your youth, the Greek word that's used there is used of a grown-up.

It's not used of a teenager. It's a Greek word that points to a grown-up, somebody that could serve in the military. In fact, that age bracket, it doesn't designate a specific age. It kind of designates a bracket, a time period that's more than a year or two. So it could actually go all the way up to about 40 years old.

If you were a military age, you were in this whole age bracket that would be able to serve. And so that's what that Greek word points to. And so even if you were to compare the Roman way of reckoning, forget the Greek word, just think about the Romans. How did the Romans count age? They go infants and babies and youths and then teenagers and the things like we have a tendency to do.

It doesn't seem that way. It seems like they pointed to, by the time you're up to finishing your teen years, you're still a child. But once you get beyond that, once you get to, let's say, voting age, here in America we know what that's about, maybe 18, all the way up to about 45, you'd be considered a youth. You're youthful. And after 45, it's downhill all the way. Then you're old. You get to 46 and it's over, right? You're on the other side of the hill. Well, that was the Roman way, so you have these periods of time that they recognized.

And when you put that together with, when did Christ start His ministry? About 30 years old. When did they start in the priesthood? Go back to the Old Testament. About that same time. So it's interesting, when you put some of the things together, it seems that by the time you get to the book of Acts 16, Timothy could already be about 30 years old.

He could be somewhere in that age bracket. So that by the time this letter is written then, remember Acts 16, if he's around 30, maybe even up to 35 years old, somewhere in there, imagine here we are, 2 Timothy, written 65 AD, if we round out our numbers, maybe the Acts 16 around 50 plus 15, he could be quite old by this time. Possible. We don't know exactly some of the traditions point that way. But if you're the apostle Paul, you're the aged, he's referred to.

If you're 70, 30 is pretty young. 30 is pretty young. And so no wonder Paul wrote that, you know, Timothy is like a son. Timothy is like a son to me. He was a role model. Paul was that father figure to him. And maybe Timothy did need encouragement. Maybe he did need to grow in courage and strength.

There's oftentimes passages cited in 2 Timothy. He says, you know, God has not given us a spirit of fear. Some translations say the spirit of timidity, right? But he's given us the spirit of a sound mind. And he says, don't be ashamed of the gospel. He tells him later on, be strong. He rebuked those sinners. Take command, take charge. Take a little wine for your stomach's sake. So we imagine, okay, I'm guilty of this. We imagine Timothy as some kind of a wimp. Oh, he's kind of shy.

He's kind of timid. Ran across an interesting quote in the Tyndale commentary. They wrote about Timothy. They said, it may be his besetting sin was timidity. And this was Paul's tactful way to deal with it. Well, was being timid a sin to begin with? Was Timothy really just a little kid who was shy and frail? Right? I don't think so. I don't think so. If you really look at those passages, probably reading way too much into what Paul's saying. Imagine the situation. Imagine if you were in this situation.

Paul is suffering for the gospel. He's been stoned. He's been shipwrecked. He's chained up like a criminal. Everybody's deserted him. That's happened. He writes about that in second Timothy. Do you think it's a little risky to be associated with this guy? Is Paul the best guy to hang out with if you want to be perfectly healthy? Probably not. Timothy was there firsthand. He knows what it was like to go through all of these things. So it seems like any pastor would be a little nervous to face some of these circumstances.

Do you think as a pastor facing some of these difficulties, you think you need a little encouragement? You think you need a little support? You think you need a little bit of comfort? You think you turn it around a little bit and say, here's Paul encouraging him, supporting him, showing him that this is what we can do, and God's behind us. He is with us so we can go forward. Timothy was no wimp. He'd been in prison. And prison was no fun place to be back there in the first century. No way! Paul calls him a man of genuine faith. Was he some kind of a wimp or something? I don't think that's the case. I think that that's reading way too much into it.

I think he was a man of great faith. And so he worked hard to preach the gospel. In fact, one other comment I'll read from just quickly before I finish my section here. The New International Greek Testament commentary quoted from the pastoral epistles. It says, In other words, these are challenging situations. You're going to send me to Corinth? You're going to send me back to where you were stoned? You're going to send me back to where they threw you out of town? Okay, what's going to happen?

Well, be strong and have good courage. Paul's going to encourage him. He's going to help him. He's going to comfort him. He's going to support him. He's going to show that with God's help, he could do anything. So Timothy is a man, I think, a normal man, but one of great faith, and one who's asked to do a pretty tough job in a world that was totally against the truth, to do the job of preaching, teaching, and pastoring under fire.

Maybe I can conclude my part with a quote from Barclay's commentary. He wrote about Timothy. He said, Timothy is our example of how we should serve in faith. Christ and His church need servants like that. So Timothy was a remarkable man, and we'll have to take note of those things as we go to the letters that Paul wrote to him. All right, thanks, Mr. Bias. Well, let's get into chapter one, then, and we'll dig right in.

I'm going to give you a lot of other scriptural passages and references that go together with this. And so you can make some notes in your margin or on your notepad as we go along, verses that cooperate, what we're reading, what we're talking about, and parallel passages and whatnot. First of all, 1 Timothy, chapter one, verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Hope.

I think it's interesting to read here a couple of things. First of all, Paul does acknowledge that he was assigned to be an apostle by Jesus Christ. That's why we call him the apostle Paul, and that was what Jesus Christ gave him as a level of experience and authority and leadership. But then also, Paul says, God our Savior. Often we think of Jesus Christ as our Savior, but God the Father is also our Savior.

He's the one who does the calling. He's the one who... I'm going to switch mics there, and you're going to have a problem there? Just fine tuning. Okay. He does the calling. He is the one who tells Christ who he's working with at this time. So God is our Savior, and of course, he ultimately saves us. Recall a passage in Luke 1, back when Elizabeth and Mary were pregnant.

Of course, Elizabeth had John the Baptist in her womb, and Mary had Jesus. But notice Luke chapter 1. Let's just read verses 41 through 49. It happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary. The babe leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Mary is wondering why was she the one who was to bear the Lord's child? Verse 44, for indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ear, the babe leapt in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told to her from the Lord.

Verse 46 and 47, and Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Verse 48, for he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. So Mary called God her Savior. So what Paul is telling Timothy here, of course, is scriptural. And of course, it's a scriptural, so it's scriptural. But there's other passages that back it up as well. Notice, if you see 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, just go over to 2 Timothy for a moment, chapter 1 verse 8 and verse 9, where Paul says to Timothy, Share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with the holy calling.

So God does do the calling and he does save us through Jesus Christ who died for our sins. So that's in 2 Timothy 1 verse 8 and 9. Verse 2 then, back in 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul says to Timothy, A true son in the faith. And Mr. Myers gave you some excellent passages that talked about how Paul did see Timothy as a son, a faithful son in the faith, not by blood, but in the faith. He mentioned Philippians chapter 2 verse 22, that he was as a son to him.

But also, there's another passage, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 17. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 17. Paul's explaining to the Corinthians in his first letter why he was sending Timothy. And he says, For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, O Corinth, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. So Paul says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 17 that Timothy was his faithful son in the Lord. So a very respectful relationship, no doubt, from Timothy to Paul.

And Paul had a genuine concern and care and love for Timothy. The King James version says, My own son in the faith. Here in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2. So Paul took a special interest in the growth and development and care of Timothy, like a father would for a son. Now in verse 2, Paul says, Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

You note the absence of the Holy Spirit in this greeting. What we read here was Paul's common greeting in so many of his letters. Grace and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. The Holy Spirit is not a separate entity or being. Otherwise, it would be being slammed here. Paul doesn't mention it, the Holy Spirit. That would be very disrespectful if there was such a thing as the Trinity. I mentioned this afternoon I got a phone call from a church leader, not in the Church of God, but another church leader who had just finished reading our Trinity booklet.

He ordered multiple copies to share with his church. It's interesting to see how that goes. He did say that they are Trinitarian, but he wants to share this booklet with them. We'll see how it goes. Mrs. Sealy will be sending a bulk package, hopefully, tomorrow to them. Paul just said greetings from God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power that they use. That's how they get things done. That's how their spirit moves. You may recall Romans 1 verse 7.

It's one of these greetings. Romans 1 verse 7, To all who are in Rome, says Paul, Beloved of God, called to be saints, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a very common way that Paul greeted the brethren. Moving on to verse 3, As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, Remain in Ephesus, Timothy, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine.

Paul seems to be somewhere in Macedonia, and he's telling Timothy to stay in Ephesus. Later on, Timothy was sent to Corinth, or maybe before this, I think it was, Timothy was sent to Corinth to check my dates again. But either way, Timothy is in Ephesus, and Paul is giving a first warning here to us about a false doctrine. Timothy must stay in Ephesus to tackle the situation. So I guess Paul was using Timothy as his fix-it man. He had to go to Corinth. They were saying, stay in Ephesus is another problem on what you need to take care of.

Timothy was a faithful servant, and Paul trusted him. He says, charge them not to teach another doctrine. Timothy is being given a serious task here at hand. Here in verse 3, we see the first words, that there is another doctrine going around that people needed to be warned about. Here it is, verse 4. Paul will give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.

Paul is reminding Timothy that we must preach and teach those things that are godly, you know, scriptural, and edifying things that lift people up, not tear people down. And speculation can only go so far, to the point that it may even be harmful, which are these endless genealogies and fables and disputes. Sounds like a lot of speculation going on. And Paul also mentioned this problem to Titus, while writing from Ephesus, he said to Titus in Titus 3, verse 9.

Notice Titus 3 and verse 9. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, he says again, contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. So Paul told the same thing to Titus, something very similar. So what we see happening in the world in the 60s AD was a distancing or a drifting from the truth. And those who were teaching the law, those who were preaching the Word of God, were making mistakes and were in error and were starting to lead people astray.

Paul really got down to business in 1 Timothy 6 on this topic. Notice 1 Timothy 6, about the seriousness of this false doctrine and endless spiritual wrangling. 1 Timothy 6, verse 3.

Who suppose that godliness is a means of gain, from such withdraw yourself. So pretty strong words in 1 Timothy 6. So chapter 1 is just kind of getting the subject going. But by chapter 6, the letters really taking on some strength. And Paul's not mincing any words any longer. And so there was a serious problem in the church and in the community with those teachers who were not faithfully teaching the words of Christ. Verse 5 now, back in 1 Timothy 1. Verse 5. Now the purpose of the commandment... He's on to another thought here now, a little bit. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. So basically Paul here is talking about the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Love. Sincerity and truth. Here in verse 5, the purpose of the commandment, in the New King James, or as the authorized version says, the end of the commandment, means the outcome. And it comes from the Greek word telos, T-E-L-O-S. The outcome of the commandment, the purpose of the commandment. The end of the commandment is love. This reminds me of Romans chapter 13 verses 9 and 10. As I said, I've got a lot of references for you here as we go through this evening. Romans 13 verses 9 and 10. For the commandments, which Paul says to the Romans, are you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear for witness, you shall not covet. Just talk about the Ten Commandments. And if there's any other commandment, whatever commandment there is, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And verse 10, love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Love is the fulfillment of the law. And as Paul said to Timothy, the purpose of the commandment is love. The purpose of the law is because God loves us, He cares for us, He wants what's best for us. Verse 6, from which Psalm, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk. So now we're getting back to those who are starting to preach a different doctrine. The New King James Version says, strayed. The King James of the authorized version says, have swerved, going off the road. It's a serious deviation from the truth. The Greek means they're not aiming at the right target any longer. They've gone astray, they've swerved, they've strayed. And it may have been a problem coming more from the Jewish community at Ephesus, as Paul noted to Titus.

We read Titus a minute ago about a similar problem. In Titus 1, verses 10 through 14, that is what Paul wrote to Titus here. Titus 1, verse 10, for there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision.

In verse 11, Paul stops mincing words again, and he says, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. So once again, dishonest gain coming up. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, cratons are always liars, evil beasts, lazy glottons. And I think Titus was on creed at the time this was written.

In verse 13, this testimony is true. I don't think about the cratons, but I think the testimony is that these people are subverting whole households. Therefore, Titus, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables, his fables again, and commandments of men who turn from the truth. So you can see that the battle that was going on for the truth now in the 60s A.D.

Fables, commandments of men, and it was coming from the Jewish community and Jewish teachers.

Verse 7, they're desiring to be teachers of the law, but understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

They taught a wrong understanding of the law of God.

It became idle talk, vain jangling.

Remember what James said about teachers and those who want to lead you? James 3, verse 1, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

If you're going to teach the Word of God, you'd better know what you're doing, otherwise there'll be a strict judgment upon you. James 3, verse 1.

And these are those who were desiring to be teachers, but Paul says to Timothy, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

And then verse 8, But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. The problem's not with the law. The problem is with those who are trying to teach it.

Romans 7, 16 says, The law that is good. Romans 7, 16. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

Verse 9. Okay, so now let's talk a little bit about the law and those that it indicts. Verse 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 1.

Knowing this, The law is good if one uses it lawfully, That the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, For the ungodly and for sinners, For the unholy and profane, For murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, For manslayers.

You see, the law is good and very useful, but how?

It shows the lawless person, we read here in verse 9, Where he is wrong and that he needs to repent.

The law is for the lawless, To give him direction and guidance on the correct way to go.

The righteous person is already obeying the law.

Galatians 3, 19. You want to make a note of Galatians 3, 19, because it relates here to verse 9.

Paul told the Galatians, What purpose, then, does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions. The law is for the lawless, So the seed should come to whom the promises were made, And was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

And then Galatians 5, verses 22-23, The fruits of the Spirit.

But I want you to focus on the last part of verse 23 this time, not the fruits. Galatians 5, verses 22-23, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such, there is no law.

You don't need a law for righteous things.

The law is for the lawless. There is no law needed for the fruits of the Spirit, for example.

So the law is very good and useful, And it shows where someone needs to turn and repent. Verse 10, continuing on, For fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, By interesting that lying and perjury is a little different, And if there's any other thing that is contrary to sound, doctrine.

Paul was getting very serious here about sound doctrine, Keeping true to the faith once delivered.

There is no room, he says, for fables, And unedifying instruction by those who would call themselves your teachers, Teachers of the law.

2 Timothy 1, verse 13.

If you skip ahead to 2 Timothy 1, verse 13, Paul reminded Timothy, Hold fast the pattern of sound words.

See, there was a pattern of sound words. It came all the way through the Scriptures, Through Jesus Christ, and to that day.

The sound words which you've heard from me, In faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus.

And then 2 Timothy 4, verses 3 through 4, 2 Timothy 4, verse 3, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

Sound words, sound doctrine, the truth, The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, But according to their own desires, Because they have itching ears, They will heap up for themselves, teachers, And they will turn their ears away from the truth, And be turned aside to fables.

Once again addressing the problem of these arguments And these doctrines, They were nothing but a fairy tale, right? A fable. Not grounded in truth.

And people would have itching ears And heap up for themselves, teachers. And we're going to follow this guy, because we love what he teaches. It's easy, or whatever. Sounds good.

May not be scriptural, but I like it.

And so people, you know, choosing their teachers for themselves And following them. So let's go on to verse 11.

According, so, she says in Timothy, You know, teach sound doctrine, According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, Which was committed to my trust.

Paul takes a profound, keen interest In making sure that he was diligent to his calling. That he was being trustworthy with what Jesus Christ gave him to do.

Committed to my trust.

In chapter 2 verse 7, 1 Timothy 2 verse 7, Paul says, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle.

I'm speaking the truth in Christ and not lying. I'm a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Paul took this calling to be a faithful servant very seriously. That he was appointed to be a preacher, and not to lie.

Galatians 2, go ahead, Steve. It was just interesting what you were just saying brought to mind.

Here he's talking about the fact that this gospel was committed to him.

He's talking about law. He's talking about obeying the law, obeying sound doctrine.

Paul is usually the one that's used to say, the law's done away, we don't have to keep the law, and why bother with all of that?

Yet he's saying just the opposite. It's not generally cited that much when he talks about, hey, this was committed to me.

I'm backing up sound doctrine, true teaching, reasonable understanding from Christ.

Yes, exactly. Very good.

Galatians 2, verses 7-9 is another parallel passage that we can look at about it being committed to Paul, and how serious he took this. Galatians 2, verse 7, and so you see Peter was going more to the Jews, and Paul going more to the Gentiles. Galatians 2, verse 8, And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and that they go to the circumcised. So Paul did have a commission, a mission that he'd been given, to go to the Gentiles, whereas Peter went, and some of the others went more to those of the circumcision, or to the Jewish community. Verse 12 and 13 here, And once again, these are the pastoral epistles, right?

It's one thing to sin in ignorance, but once we know how God expects us to live, there is no further excuse, and then it becomes a sin. Paul came to see his sin, and he repented. He even consented to the death of one of God's faithful servants, Stephen, you recall, in Acts 7, verse 1.

He was deeply entrenched in persecution of God's people. He was one of the worst persecutors of God's people, and that word, insolent, is very strong. But Paul obtained mercy. Recall what Jesus Christ said to the two thieves that were alongside him when he was crucified.

He said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And so you can sin in ignorance. And at that point, you know, it's not going to cause your eternal death. But James 4, verse 17, But to him who knows to do good, does not do it, to him, it's a sin. And so Paul is saying here in verses 12 and 13, He was the worst of sinners, but he repented, and he obtained mercy. And of course, that's the beauty of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. The worst of sinners, the worst of murderers, can be forgiven if they repent, when they're called by God and offered his Holy Spirit.

Verse 14, And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. So Paul here is talking, reflecting on the grace that he received, the givenness for his sins. Verse 15, In many respects, these three verses are about the grace of God. The opportunity for us to repent and have eternal life.

And Paul explains this quite well in the book of Romans 2. And I do want to read a little bit about grace from Romans 5, since that's what Paul is talking about here to Timothy. Romans 5, verses 14 through 21, if you'll read along with me, Romans 5, verse 14. Because Paul is talking about the abundant grace of God to offer us eternal life and forgive us if we repent. To give us that gift of eternal life.

Romans 5, verse 14, So Adam was a type of Christ. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, that's Adam, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. But the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. Verse 17, We can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. And it's a free gift. We don't earn it. Verse 18, So Paul expands upon it a lot more than Romans chapter 5 than he did to Timothy.

But the grace of God, which is a free gift to those who repent, is an amazing part of what we believe. Paul just reminded Timothy about keeping the law, the commandments, and that the law is for those who are lawless, that they know where they need to change. But that we do have the free gift of eternal life if we will keep that law. Follow God.

Because as we know, the grace of God does not allow us to sin. Some Christians believe that sinning makes God's grace even more profound. But that's not the case. We're expected to keep the law. The law is to show us where we may be being lawless. And then God's grace, of course, is a wonderful thing for those who repent and change. Verse 15, He gives us the gift of righteousness, and grace does not give us license to sin. 1 John 3, verse 5. If you'd like to jot that down.

1 John 3, verse 5. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness. In verse 5, and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Verse 6, whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. So if you're going to live like Jesus Christ lived, you're going to abide in him, you don't sin. As a practice, as a way of life, you avoid sin, you repent of sin, you change your life, and you strive to become perfect, like our Father in Heaven, who is perfect.

And then verse 17. Now to the King Eternal, capital K, of course. Immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. And then verse 18. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. So here is a reminder to Timothy, fight the good fight. First Timothy 6 verse 12 is a good passage to read in this regard.

First Timothy 6 verse 12. Fight the good fight of faith, Timothy. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. So as Mr. Mayan says, it's not that Timothy was timid and unsure of himself. He's just reminding him that you're going into a tough situation. There are people that are teaching error, though those who are teaching literally fables and passing themselves off as teachers of the law, says Timothy, get in there, fight the good fight, point out where the error is, and help the people of God know what they're supposed to believe.

And so it's a very powerful conclusion. Verse 19. Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith, has suffered shipwreck. It says, Timothy, don't lose faith like some others have and, of course, implore the brethren not to lose faith and become shipwrecked of their faith shipwrecked. And that leads us up to verse 20 at the end of chapter 1. Some of those who had their faith shipwrecked, who used to be faithful servants of whom are Hamanias and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Maybe we can explain a little bit about this here in verse 20.

Alexander is mentioned in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 14. 2 Timothy 4, verse 14. Timothy says, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. And, of course, remember, we don't do the repaying. God does the repaying. May the Lord repay him. And often one of the best things to do to repay someone is to pray that God will help them see the error of their ways that they repent.

Because God wants all to be saved, all to be in His kingdom. So if we have an enemy, we pray for our enemy that they'll see the error of their ways, that God will call them, that they will learn, that they will change and become part of his family, too. But Alexander the coppersmith did Paul much harm.

I guess he's probably couching his words here a little bit. 2 Timothy 2, verse 18. 2 Timothy 2, verse 16. But shun profane and idle babblings. It's another way to talk about these fables. Profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Heimanias and Ph cycledus are of this sort. So Heimanias here who lost his faith. Who swerved from the truth. Who suffered shipwreck. It was like he got cancer. Heimanias and Ph cycledus are of this sort.

Heimanias and Ph cycledus are of this sort who have strayed concerning the truth. Saying that the resurrection is already past. And they overthrow the faith of many. Or the faith of some. And so Heimanias and Ph cycledus were saying the resurrection is already over. What point would there be in living anymore? If the resurrection was come and gone and you'd missed out. And so they were destroying the faith of some. With these false doctrines and teachings.

And 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5 is a parallel passage. Because you recall that Paul said, I deliver them to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Notice 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5. Deliver such a one to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So the reason for disfelal and have the gift of eternal life also.

So that ends chapter 1 of 1 Timothy. I thought it interesting. If you go back to Acts chapter 28, going back to Mr. Myer's introduction for a minute. Acts chapter 28, you notice verse 30. Paul dwelt two whole months, two whole years in his own hired house and received all that came in unto him.

Here at the end of Acts chapter 28, we see that Paul was there preaching and teaching for about two more years at the end of Acts 28. And many scholars think that was maybe around about 62 AD. And then if 1 Timothy was written somewhere between 62-63 to 65 AD, he may have written to Timothy after that point that we see at the end of Acts. The second letter to Timothy, I've got in my notes here, just pulling it up, was probably written around 65-66 AD.

Second Timothy was the last letter that Paul wrote. Titus appears to have been written between the two. Maybe around 64-65 AD or so. Second Timothy 65-66 AD. But 2 Timothy appears to be the last letter that Paul wrote. And if you look at 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, he says to Timothy, For I am now ready to be offered.

And the time of my departure is at hand. And then it's believed that Paul was beheaded around 67 or 68 AD. So that would be somewhere around 6-10 years after the book of Acts ended, Paul was beheaded. As many of the saints were, are beheaded at that time.

Some commentators have said that 2 Timothy is like Paul's last will and testament. That he's reached that point, he realizes it's over, and he mentions that to Timothy to carry on the work. Okay, so that's what I have for tonight, Mr. Myers. We have a question here? Yeah, there was a question that came in about transgressing the law.

I don't know if, since you talked about it, do you want to handle this? I'll take a look and see if you think of anything while I'm reading it. Yeah, okay. It says, It seems as though there is an implication that those who transgress the law in ignorance, this is not a sin because it was done in ignorance. On the other hand, it seems as though it was implied that those who transgress the law knowingly, this is a sin.

Maybe I misunderstood. He's not all transgression of the law of sin. This is not the only difference that those who transgress in ignorance are forgiven, even if they have not asked for forgiveness, but if they do not know what sin is. And those who transgress knowingly are expected to ask for forgiveness and repent. Please clarify, I truly am a little confused. And yeah, I think you have it right. Sin is sin, whether you know it's a sin or not. Doing it in ignorance is more forgivable, shall we say, like those next to Christ on the cross.

But it's still a sin, you still have the death penalty hanging over your head, until you ultimately repent when you are called, and when you are shown God's truth and God's law, and expected to live it. Yeah, I think that's... it's hard to explain in a short little period of time, but I think what Mr. Eddington was trying to get at there is our understanding of God's way. I thought of Hebrews 10, verse 26, where it says, if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there's no longer a sacrifice for sin.

So that points us into the direction. When we are called, we understand God's way, we know what the truth is, we had better be doing it. If we sin knowingly, willfully, after we have God's Spirit, we're going to be held accountable for that. There's no getting around that. We're to be accountable for all sin. But if we know we've sinned, we've sinned willingly, how can God forgive us?

When we say, you know, I know I did it, I did it because I wanted to, and too bad I wanted to. But when someone who's sinned has their mind opened by God, God begins to work with them. You know, Paul says, I wouldn't have known sin unless it was for the law. Suddenly they realize that is sin, and I want a relationship with God. I want to be forgiven. I want to change. Well then, as soon as their mind is open, they will be changed.

Or if we fast forward to the resurrection, you know, after their physical life when they have lived it in sin throughout their whole life and then God works with them, what's their response going to be? Probably the vast, vast, vast majority of people are going to change. They're going to want to follow God's way, and they're going to put it into practice because they don't want the ultimate penalty for sin to be applied to them. The apostle Paul, when he was Saul, thought he was doing the right thing.

He thought persecuting the Christians was what God wanted him to do. So finally God struck him down and blinded him, and then Paul said, who is it? Who are you? He didn't even know who God really was. He was so far off base. And so he thought he was doing God a service.

He did not know at that point he was sinning. But once he realized and got open to his mind to the truth, he had to repent in dust and ashes and start to change the way he lived. And so it's not that Paul wasn't sinning by his behavior against the true church. He said he didn't know he was yet. It was unknowingly. And so often God's people will say, God forgive them. They really don't know what they're doing right now.

Father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And so you have a level of compassion and understanding for where they are at that point in their life. They don't even realize fully what God's calling is and how they're living. And then on the other hand, if we're going to be a part of the kingdom, if we're going to be in God's kingdom forever, everyone is going to be a repentant sinner. Every sin will have to be forgiven or you won't be there. You won't be a part of the kingdom.

You won't be a part of the family of God forever. So the same standard applies to everyone. It just depends on when God opens their mind and what their reaction to that is. Any other questions from the floor? Yes, sir? I know a few situations where people out of the church for sin, but I've never once heard them talk about it publicly in the congregation.

Would you like to do that anymore, or if I just move this around? So the question was, for those who can't hear online, you know that people have been put out of the church for sin, but it's not announced publicly in the congregation. That seems to be what the instruction here is. And it seems that in the scripture that was done from time to time, where people were publicly rebuked and put out of the church.

If it is something that everybody knows about, like in 1 Corinthians, it seemed like everybody figured out what was happening with this illicit relationship, but nobody did anything about it. When you put the people out of the church, then you go explain to the rest of the congregation why that had to be done, and why it was wrong, and why they should have taken action before Paul even got there, before Timothy even got there.

And so there is a time to point it out to the congregation. Another time when it might be important if it is someone who is really causing division. I have known in the church over the years that people's names have been read out from the podium at church, because they were causing such division and teaching such error that it was leading people astray that the minister finally had to get up and say, please don't associate with so-and-so any longer. We've had to put him out of the church, and we hope he repents and changes and we can have him back.

But he's causing such division, we have to tell you about it. Now, I haven't heard that from our pulpit here in a long time, but I have over the years. Absolutely. And it's a difficult thing because you can't share someone's sin in that regard that you just tell maybe a confidential issue that someone's having that might not affect the entire group, but just might be more of a localized thing. You might just get up and make an announcement and say, this person we've asked not to attend. We ask that you pray that they would come to repentance.

And so that announcement has been probably made many times over the years when you're faced with issues like that, but not where you can necessarily point. Like, I hear Paul, in I think this instance that we read in 1 Timothy, these people knew Hymenaeus. They knew Alexander. They knew the effect they were having. In fact, maybe they were partly responsible for some of the major issues that they were having there. And so maybe some of them thought, hey, these are nice guys. Boy, what wonderful teachers they are. Or Paul has to publicly say, wait a second, these guys are causing havoc within the church.

And I put them out. I've turned them over to Satan so that they will repent. And hopefully at some point they'll change and come back.

Yes, Mr. Brown. So, the facts are thinking today, because I know it was in the 80s the wife of an evangelist that started, she said she was attacking the church and she was speaking to the scholars. And she had no mind. So, you're giving the example of a wife, of a minister who was attacking the church. And she had to be marked from the podium. And she, the lifeguard, she won a million dollar lawsuit against a former association. Because apparently the judge in jury agreed that we should not have done that. That it caused her distress. Okay, yes. So, you're giving the example of where someone who was marked, or was mentioned from the podium, sued the church for damages or for besmirching her character in front of everybody, or something like that. And so, there are things you can say in public, or within your congregation, I should say. There are things you can say from the pulpit to your congregation, which is generally considered a private meeting, where you can explain to the congregation someone will not be attending any longer. In some cases, though, if it's a public character assassination, then this, they may have grounds. So, you have to be careful how you do it. Yeah, and that's totally different than, I don't think anything would stop us from making an announcement, that this is a situation that we have to deal with, and so we've asked them not to attend. That situation was quite different, I think, as far as all the details involved. That really, as far as what I understand, did not have much to do at all with the actual announcement, but maybe other things that were involved as well. Yeah, that prompted a thought, but now I forget what it was. Oh, I know what it was. I mean, lots of companies, their board has to make an announcement about it. They've had to fire their CEO, or they found some money laundering going on under the table, and they fired their treasurer, or whatever. It happens in the corporate world, and we can do it in the church, too, when people are no longer welcome to fellowship with it. So that is biblical when it comes to a church perspective. Okay, it's just one minute or two minutes till nine here on the East Coast. I don't know what the time is in the Philippines or South Africa or Germany, where we have people listening in. But it's almost bedtime here, anyway. Hopefully we didn't put them to sleep already. Thank you very much for your kind attention. There'll be another one in two weeks. So have a wonderful evening. Good night.