Sunday, March 4, 2012

2012 - Is It The Beginning of the End?


The short answer is, probably not, but I think we might be close. I'm not a dispensationalist by any means, but the world has never been in a better position to form a world government and a world economy; George Bush's New World Order.

Everything seems to be falling apart. The American Empire is reaching further by the day into the 4 corners of the earth stretching it's resources to the breaking point. Western economies are held back from the brink of financial collapse only by the creation of more currency. The debt of everyone deepens daily and that includes the bankers.

Non-western creditor nations may think they will hold out until the collapse and then declare victory, but that's the trap. If the west goes down and can no longer buy from the creditors, their economies will collapse too.  The world is ripe for military conflict and financial doom because of this.

There is also the specter of biological disaster and environmental doom lurking. Biologists have unlocked the human gnome and they are trying all kinds of unnatural things with what they have learned. Inter-species genetic engineering is becoming commonplace. There is talk of using this knowledge to artificially move human evolution forward, creating a post human species with all kinds of special abilities. Add in a few computer chips to aid the human brain and you'll get a whole new man; happy to work without sleep and never depressed. GMO crops that create their own herbicide and pesticide will feed the world...with poison. The new world is coming and I guess I'm just not ready for it

If the right person came on the scene today and presented a viable way out of the present mess that the majority could agree to, the world would become his oyster. I wonder if this One is not lurking out there somewhere right now. It kind of scares me.

The only thing that's missing is a new religion. I think that's coming too. It will just take the right event to get it rolling. United with the right person and the right politics, it could bring everything together. We will see.

There is definitely something in the air. Perhaps that feeling has been created by all the press about 2012. Then again, we know the Day is coming. Why not now?

I do know one thing. Whenever it happens, when all things finally wind down and the Apocalypse begins, the ultimately victory will belong to believers in Jesus Christ. I hope you are one of us when it happens.

First Timothy 1:18-20


From the New International Version:

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Commentary

So Paul now reveals to Timothy why he is telling him these things. These instructions are to help him fulfill what was predicted about him by prophets in the church and to help him in his fight to maintain the truth in the Ephesian church with a clear conscience. The task of safeguarding the gospel from the false teachers would be difficult and Paul wanted to be sure Timothy did not become discouraged. Paul knew that this could happen because he had seen it happen before with two of their mutual friends. With God's approval, Paul handed them over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. They could spend their lives outside the protection of the church until they were willing to repent.

Questions

  1. Paul said that there were once prophecies made about Timothy's future and that his instruction was in keeping with these prophecies. What do you think this means?
  2. How have the expectations of others shaped the way you are today? 

First Timothy 1:12-17


From the New International Version:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Commentary

So now Paul gives thanks to the Lord for the grace shown him and he reflects on his past, showing how Christ worked in him and changed him to make him what he became. He recounts his past sins. He was a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man. He opposed the church. He jailed Christians and he stood by as vicious crowds stoned them to death. (See the book of Acts)

In all these things, he actually thought h  e was doing God's will, but then Jesus  plucked him off that Damascus road and set him straight. With His abundant grace and mercy, Jesus made Saul of Tarsus into Paul - the greatest missionary in history. If God can do that for Paul, who is the worst of sinners, then what can he do for us?

Paul then closed this section with a short prayer of praise to God.

Questions

  1. How can the path of Paul's life encourage us?
  2. God used Paul as an example of how patient He is willing to be with difficult people. What does this tell us about how we should behave around difficult people?

First Timothy 1:8-11


From the New International Version:

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and the rebels, the ungodly and the sinful, the unholy and the irreligious; for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers - and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
Commentary

Paul had previously identified the false teachers in the Ephesian church as self styled teachers of the law, but he wanted Timothy to know that this did not mean the law was bad. In fact, quite the opposite was true. The law is good if applied to the correct parties and the correct parties are not the righteous, but the wicked.

The law was intended for law breakers of all kinds and as you can see the list goes on and on. Why is it for law breakers? Because the law reveals sin. If there is no law, then there is no sin. So the presence of law reveals and convicts people of their sin.

These self appointed teachers of the law, by Paul's logic then, were preaching to the choir. The law does not apply to the church, but to those outside the church - sinners without faith that do not know Christ.

Questions

  1. So, what is the purpose of the law? Who is it for?
  2. Who are the righteous?
  3. Why is the church righteous? What makes us that way?
  4. So then, are Christians under the law?
  5. Does this mean that the law is not useful to Christians?
  6. If the law does not apply to us, does this mean that we can do whatever we want to do?
  7. Paul concludes his comments here by saying that the test of sound doctrine is conformity to the gospel - a gospel that had been entrusted to him by God. So...in what sense are we all entrusted with the gospel?

First Timothy 1:1-7





To begin, let's look at the scripture from the New International Version of the Bible:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work - which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm

Commentary

So Paul's first letter to Timothy opens with an assertion of Paul's authority. He is an apostle of Jesus by God's command. His authority comes from a higher source than himself. This assertion of authority was probably not for Timothy's benefit. Timothy was well aware of Paul's authority. It was most likely intended for the Ephesian church and particularly those within the church that might challenge Timothy's methods as handed down by Paul. If they did question him, Timothy could show he was acting under instruction of an apostle. He could even read the letter to the church and he most likely did this. And having apostolic support would make it easier for him to unite this divisive church.

Paul also called Timothy a true son of the faith. It was a title indicative of Timothy's credentials. He had apostolic approval. He had studied under Paul for years. He was known for rightly dividing the truth; for teaching sound doctrine. Timothy was qualified for the leadership post that Paul had left him in and Paul wanted the Ephesian church to know this.

There is also a blessing here for Timothy. In addition to the usual grace and peace of his other letters, Paul also adds mercy. He knew that God's mercy would prove to be a constant need for Timothy as he worked in this troubled church.

Then beginning in vs 3, Paul dives right in to the first controversy. He explains that he had left Timothy in Ephesus to handle the problem of false teachers in the church. Timothy was suppose to command these heretics to cease teaching false doctrine and stop devoting themselves to Jewish myths and far fetched tales centered around obscure genealogical data. It was Paul's view that these things promoted arguments and controversies and interfered with God's true work.

Paul wanted to be clear that Timothy's commands in this regard were not to be punitive. The purpose was not so much to discipline, but to restore the errant individuals to the truth. This had to be done with love, a pure heart and a sincere faith.

Paul also knew that these false teachers had wandered away from the truth and toward meaningless self aggrandisement and self promotion that was of more interest to them than the real work of God. These men wanted to be self styled teachers of the law, but in reality, they were clueless. All the things they taught and all the things they were so sure of were just plain wrong. They had no idea what they were talking about and Timothy was going to have to address this. 

Questions
  1. From the introduction to this letter, it seems obvious that Paul was Timothy's spiritual mentor What qualities make for a good spiritual mentor?
  2. If you could choose your own mentor, who would that be?
  3. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to deal with the false teachers in the church. Instead of concerning themselves with God's work, these teacher liked to delve into more speculative matter. They were distracted by unimportant things and they wanted to distract others. What matters of speculation are distracting Christians in church today?
  4. Paul told Timothy to correct the false teachers with loving intentions, a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith. The purpose of the correction was not to discipline, but to restore them to the truth of the faith. What can happen when the goal of correction is punishment rather than redemption?
  5. Is there a point at which correction has to become disciplinary or punitive in the church?
  6. The false teachers at Ephesus had obviously wandered away from sound doctrine. They were pursuing and speculating on things that didn't matter and they were misleading others. They thought they knew everything, but they actually knew nothing. so...
     First, What is sound doctrine? Give some examples.
     Second, give some examples of false doctrine.

1 Timothy - An Introduction

First Timothy is one of four epistles in the New Testament that the apostle Paul wrote to specific individuals. The others were Second Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

Normally Paul would write his letters to entire churches, but these particular letters were intended to offer specific advice and instruction to these individuals. Timothy and Titus were young evangelists that Paul had assigned to the troublesome churches in Ephesus and on Crete. In his absence, Paul sent them letters to confirm what had to be done and to encourage them in their efforts. These letters from Paul also gave these young preachers an authority in their respective churches that they might not otherwise have enjoyed. They had credentials from Paul.

Taken together, First and Second Timothy and Titus are called the Pastoral Epistles. The letter to Philemon represents an even more personal correspondence concerning an escaped slave and his master. Today, however, we concern ourselves with First Timothy.

There is little doubt that Paul wrote it, though more liberal commentators have suggested the there are words used in these epistles to Timothy that are used no where else in Paul's work. One only needs to look to the fact that these are personal communications and private instruction to know that the language might be a bit different. These men were friends and the older Paul was Timothy's personal mentor and father figure. So naturally Paul might use more familiar language with Timothy than when he would address an entire church. 

The date of the book is assumed to be after the events of Acts 28, possibly between AD63 and 65, after Paul had been released from his first imprisonment. He had recently left Timothy in charge at the Ephesian church and departed for Macedonia on a hypothetical fourth missionary journey. I say hypothetical because there is not such a journey recorded in scripture, but there were many places Paul still wanted to preach and there are hints of this throughout scripture. One such place was Spain. 

Paul's purpose in writing this first letter to Timothy was to give him as much instruction and encouragement as he could in handling the numerous problems of the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a troubled church. There were what Paul regarded as false teachers there promoting forms of decadent Judaism, asceticism and also primitive forms of Gnosticism - a heresy that would plague the church for centuries.

There was also a leadership crisis in the Ephesian church, no doubt prompted by all the doctrinal confusion. So Paul made sure that Timothy knew how to appoint appropriate leaders to fit the church's situation.

Paul also offers diverse advice in the letter on the various social groups in the church - everything from the deportment of widows and slaves to stern warnings to the rich and wealthy.

In all, if you have an interest in church politics and diplomacy, this and the other Pastorals are the epistles for you. It's great to read other people's mail and if you ever wondered what preachers talk about when you're not there, well, this should give you an idea. So let's take a look...

A New Plan For an Old Ground Hog


For years now, I've been a cynically inclined lurker with this blog, making  comments about conspiracies and  offering opinions about politics and the government. After a long winter's nap, I've decided that it's time to make a change. I may still have the occasional political commentary, but I will make the bulk of my work something new here. As an adult Sunday school teacher in my church, I will begin sharing my lessons with anyone that wants to read or study or offer their thoughts on the content. As a Christian, I find that I'm more and more in need of discussing these things. The Word of God is not something to experience alone. It must be shared. When it's shared, it always seems to provoke a reaction. It makes people think. It can make them angry. It can make them joyous and even sad. But most of all, it is the power of God for salvation of anyone who longs to know Jesus and live forever. So join us as I share these studies. Comment if you like.

Some who are new may wonder, "why a ground hog?" Ground hogs are careful. They observe. They are wise. They know when it's time to go back to the hole and when to fight. In their communities they are reliable. They fight to maintain what is theirs and they stand against the forces of a world that would actively shun them or hurt them or try to destroy them. So join me in the hole if you like. For the next few weeks, we will be studying the Pastoral Epistles (1&2 Timothy and Titus). Let's see where it takes us.