I was taught spiritual gifts could only be passed to others by the apostles and when the apostles died, so did the spiritual gifts. This is clearly false because Paul tells Timothy to use the spiritual gift that was given him when the elders at the church in Ephesus laid their hands on him! He will tell him again in his second letter to Timothy to fan into flames the spiritual gift given to him when Paul laid his hands on Timothy. This tells me Timothy was not using his spiritual gifts as he should. Why not? What was his problem? Fear...in particular, fear of man. Because Timothy was so young, the older believers, even false teachers, would intimidate him by perhaps challenging his teaching and he would clam up instead of being bold. It is not time to be timid, but bold for Jesus and the truth! God, stir the gifts within us so people will see you working in us!
The early church didn’t have multiple copies of the bible to pick up and read but they did have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as Jesus said in John 14, leads to all truth. In other words, the Holy Spirit comes from God, who is truth, and therefore will lead us in truth. Jesus said he is the truth in John 14:6. Some people in the church at Ephesus were following truth but at some point, they quit and started following demons. Paul is writing to Timothy, a young man, to stay in Ephesus and fight the enemy that is teaching false doctrine that comes from demons and is leading people away from the truth, away from Jesus. He tells Timothy that of he teaches the church the truth, he will be nourished by his faith and his teaching, which is all about Jesus. Who do you receive your nourishment from? The truth? Or false doctrines taught by demons? Does what you learn and teach line up with the truth of God’s word? If not, you’re being fed lies by demons and it is leading you away from Jesus!
We are on vacation/ mission trip to Spain so here is Mary's sermon we presented at Authentic Church as a part of pastor James' series about Hope from the book of Philippians. We will return to 1 Timothy next week. Muchisimas Gracias!
We are on a mission trip to Spain this week so we are giving you the sermon Mary and I preached a few weeks ago at Authentic Church from Philippians 4. We will be back to 1 Timothy next week! Good bless...
Paul says these false teachers have seared their conscience with a hot iron. This practice goes way back to the Egyptians who would take something, stick it in a fire, get it super-hot, then stick that hot object to a wound which would seal it up, kill infection, and it would heal faster. It is the same idea today of branding an animal. These false teachers have sealed themselves from the truth of God and are teaching false doctrine that Paul says comes from demons and they are leading people astray from Jesus! He sends Timothy in the heat of the battle and tells him to cling to his faith and keep his conscience clear!
Paul makes a strong statement in chapter 4 saying that some people have quit following truth and started following these false teachers whose teachings come from demons! Yikes! This means there were men and women who had given their life to Jesus, they were filled with the Holy Spirit who leads people into all truth, they were operating in the gifts of the Spirit, yet, after giving time and attention to these false teachers, they deliberately turned from Jesus to follow demons. It is easy for us to say we would never do such a thing but...watch out! You may already be doing it! If you are following someone who teaches false doctrine that doesn’t line up with the word of God, then you may have a seared conscience and following a demon!
Paul gives Timothy instructions to choose church leaders, in particular elders and deacons, for the church in Ephesus. We breakdown the qualifications for both in today's podcast and discuss how the American church doesn't follow these instructions very well. We tend to choose people who have money or who is from a prominent family in the she congregation and forget the qualifications...AND the Bible is clear these positions are plural, not singular! There should never be one, what we call "pastor" with a bunch of deacons under him, these positions were always plural in every church!
Since we have covered a lot of things just in chapters 1 and 2, we decided to review those two chapters...Actually Randy got long winded and took too long with the review so we made two separate podcasts for chapter 3. This is part 1 and awe will cover church leaders--elders and deacons, in the next podcast. Thanks for listening and sharing the GRINDIT Podcast! God bless you!!!
We are tackling one of the most difficult passages in the Bible that comes from 1 Timothy 2 about women keeping silent and not being able to teach a man. It has been a hot topic and debated for centuries! What does Paul say? What does he mean by what he says? Is there a contradiction here? Does Paul contradict his very own thoughts? We’re going to dissect it and give our input in this podcast. This is part 2.
We are tackling one of the most difficult passages in the Bible that comes from 1 Timothy 2 about women keeping silent and not being able to teach a man. It has been a hot topic and debated for centuries! What does Paul say? What does he mean by what he says? Is there a contradiction here? Does Paul contradict his very own thoughts? We’re going to dissect it and give our input in this podcast. There is a part 1 and a part 2.
Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus so he could help the elders and the church in Ephesus to fight against false teachers and help them get back on track with the will of God. In chapter 2, Paul begins giving Timothy some instructions that will help him fight the battles and keep his conscience clear. In today’s podcast, we break down two of the four things that Paul instructs Timothy to do on behalf of all men and women, kings, and all of those who are in authority. He tells Timothy these four things are also pleasing to God. The church today would greatly benefit from these four things if they would be obedient!
Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus so he could help the elders and the church in Ephesus to fight against false teachers and help them get back on track with the will of God. In chapter 2, Paul begins giving Timothy some instructions that will help him fight the battles and keep his conscience clear. In today’s podcast, we break down two of the four things that Paul instructs Timothy to do on behalf of all men and women, kings, and all of those who are in authority. He tells Timothy these four things are also pleasing to God. The church today would greatly benefit from these four things if they would be obedient!
What does Paul mean when he says there are some that have shipwrecked their faith and have violated their conscience? What were the consequences of the actions of Hymenaeus, Alexander, and in chapter 2, Philetus? Paul says he threw them out and turned them over to Satan! What does that mean? How can someone who is saved by Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, belong to Satan? Are they still saved? Can one be led by their flesh and not the Spirit and still make it to heaven and be with Jesus for eternity?
Paul tells Timothy to cling to his faith and keep a clear conscience. This tells me that there was something Timothy had to do which is contrary to teaching that is happening in many churches today that say, “There is nothing you to be saved. It is beyond your control.” If that is the case, why would Paul command Timothy these things? And not only that, Paul gives examples of men whom he threw out of the church in Ephesus because they violated their conscience and taught false doctrine! Do you have a clean conscience?
Paul goes into a testimony of how Jesus changed his life. He talks about his past and tells Timothy that he was the worst of sinners. This was triggered because he was talking about these people who think they know the law but really have no idea what they are talking about. As he was talking, he starts going through the ten commandments and he must have started reflecting back on how, even though he knew the law well as a Pharisee and had a zeal for God, was a sinner and needed the grace and mercy of God. We are all sinners and need Jesus to save us. We all have a sinful past, some of you are still in sin because you have never died to yourself and been washed in the blood of Jesus! Why not? What is holding you back? We want to hear your story of how God changed your life when you met Jesus!
Have you ever listened to someone who sounds smart yet they have no idea what they are talking about? If you ever watch a “Reel” on social media, then you have listened to these people we call “Influencers.” They do these little, short videos, little snippets, sound bites, that sound amazing but once you get hooked and “Reeled” in, you find out they really have no idea what they are talking about and they lead people astray from the truth with their false teaching. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to deal with people like this. People who sounded smart by telling myths and fables, using genealogies to sound educated and important, were leading people away from Jesus and destroying their faith. Paul tells Timothy to put a stop to these people!
Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus to deal with some issues in the church at Ephesus. He is a young man who is timid so Paul will tell him not to let that be a deterrent to what he is called to do. Before diving in to what instructions Paul gives Timothy for the church at Ephesus, we take a deep dive into the book of Ephesians to explore what some issues the church had, along with what Jesus had to say about the church in Revelation 2. There isn’t a perfect church because there aren’t any perfect people, so the church is full of imperfect people, or what people in the world call “hypocrites”. We are all sinners in need of salvation, grace, and mercy, and thought the church is full of imperfect people, it’s still the body of Christ and together, we strive to be more like him every day! Want you join us?!?!
Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to confront some issues the church was having and we dig into all of these issues looking at what we know about the church given to us in scripture. Timothy was a young man that Paul had converted to Jesus and he had traveled with Paul on his journeys as he started new churches and visited churches he established in the past. Timothy would be a little intimidated by what he was given to do and Paul offers him these three things: grace, mercy, and peace. Three things that are much needed today as we confront sin in the church and false doctrine, because these things stem from one place—an enemy that wants to stir up strife, chaos, confusion—an enemy who wants to divide the kingdom of God to weaken it. That is why it is imperative to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on one another!
Paul writes a letter to a young man that he pointed to Jesus and after accepting him as his Lord and Savior, Timothy joins Paul in his travels as he starts churches and visits the ones he had already established. The point of Paul writing this letter is because there are issues beginning to crop up with the Gentile church in Ephesus and Paul is going to leave Timothy in Ephesus to confront the issues. The transformation that Jesus makes in people when they dedicate their lives to him is amazing! Just look at the one who is writing this letter—Paul! He was so full of himself and who he thought he was until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was completely changed from the inside out. He was given a new identity in Jesus and Jesus will do the same for you!
Paul writes a letter to a young man that he pointed to Jesus and after accepting him as his Lord and Savior, Timothy joins Paul in his travels as he starts churches and visits the ones he had already established. The point of Paul writing this letter is because there are issues beginning to crop up with the Gentile church in Ephesus and Paul is going to leave Timothy in Ephesus to confront the issues. The transformation that Jesus makes in people when they dedicate their lives to him is amazing! Just look at the one who is writing this letter—Paul! He was so full of himself and who he thought he was until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was completely changed from the inside out. He was given a new identity in Jesus and Jesus will do the same for you!