First Timothy for the life..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our Wednesday Bible study.

If you please open your Bible to the first letter of Paul to Timothy. This evening, we're going to continue with our Bible studies on this letter of the apostle Paul to Timothy. And what I want us to do this evening is to read chapter two and three. We are going to be addressing, I hope, by the grace of God versus one, two, three in chapter two. We're going to be reading versus chapter two and chapter three.

Now, as we are going to read this, beloved brethren, I want you to pay attention to a transition that the apostle is going to have here. There is a sense in which there is a section that goes from verse 1 to 8. And then there's going to be a transition in verse 9 in which he says, likewise. And now that's going to go until the end of chapter 2. And then chapter 3 is going to start another section that goes until verse 7.

And then in verse 8 of chapter 3, he starts again saying, beacons, likewise. And then he's going to finish all of that section in verses 14 through 16 of chapter three. So that's why I'm getting you to read chapter two and three. I want you to pay attention to how in verse nine there's a transition that is likewise. Then in chapter three, beginning in verse one is speaking of the elders.

And then in verse eight of chapter three, it says Deacon's likewise. This is very important for the argument that we're going to be doing. tonight and then pay careful attention to the closing statement in verse 14. So we're going to be reading, paying much attention with reverent heart. The word of God paying attention to each one of the words, chapter two and chapter three.

This is the word of God. First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people. for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

For this, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I'm telling you the truth, and I'm not lying. A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men, the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Next section, like wise.

Also, that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. The same is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Next.

Deacons likewise. must be dignified, not double-tongued, nor addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives, likewise, must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober minded, faithful in all things.

Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Next, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you, Timothy, may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Amen. The words of God in our hands. Pay attention to what a puzzle says in verse 14. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave or mass or has to behave in the household of God. which is the church off the living God on the pillar on batteries off the truth, brothers and sisters.

Paul is saying that the church that the Church of Jesus Christ, that Cornerstone Reform Baptist Church and those who belong to the church, those who by grace through faith have been saved and belong to this congregation who have been baptized by the spirit into the congregation, that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the household of God. That is the place where God lives. That is the household of God. That is also the church of the living God. the church off the living God that the church belongs to God that is off him.

And that church, he calls him the pillar and buttress or foundation, the pillar on buttress off the truth. The Church of God is the foundation off the truth. Brothers and sisters, as long as the church understands and submits to the fact that the church is God's church, that the church belongs to God. The church is the pillar and the foundation of the truth. Why am I saying these brothers and sisters?

Because the more that I read this book and the more that I try to see the chapters in a holistic way and try to understand the mind of the apostle when he's communicating to Timothy, The more that I come to the conclusion that the substance pay attention, please, to this, that the substance of this book, that the message of this book is one of presenting God's authority, God's will and comparing that to men's authority or Satan's authority of the devil's authority. So if you want to put it in one way, this book is telling us what is God's will for his church. This book is telling us what is God's authority for the church, what he wants, what he decides, what he wills for the church. So the apostle presents God's authority and he compares that with men's authority or Satan's authority or the devil's authority, because everything that is not of God. is of the devil.

Everything that is not of him who is holy, holy, holy is unholy and it is unrighteous and it's evil. So the apostle is trying to present to Timothy God's authority for the church, God's will of how God wants the church to operate. And this is very important, brothers and sisters, because God's authority is only and primarily we remove primarily is only revealed in that which is written. That's what the apostle has done in Chapter one. He has presented to us sound doctrine.

that it is the teaching and the theology that it is of the apostles and the men of God. And he has compared that with the devil's doctrine or other doctrine or false doctrine. Why? Because in theology and in the doctrine of the word of God is where God's authority is. So, brothers and sisters, this book is teaching us is teaching Timothy and the church and us what is God's authority for the life of the church and that being founded in sound doctrine that which corresponds to what is written.

Now, this is very important because now we are entering into a transition of the argument of the apostle. In chapter one, what he has presented to us is a comparison between sound doctrine and false doctrine. But what now he's going to do is that he's going to present to us God's authority for the church of the nature of God's authority for the church within and outside of the church. He's going to show us how the church is to behave in relationship in relation to those who are outside of the church, namely those who are of secular authority, which is what we're gonna see tonight. And then how the authority of God is to be a structure and established within the church.

So basically he's presenting God's authority for the church. Very, very important in the first section that we have. And that's why I wanted you to see that brothers and sisters, because from verse one to verse eight, the apostle is going to tell us is going to give us some information about how the church or how God's authority or how God's will is given to the church in relation to those who are outside of the church. What is the heart of the church towards those men who are those people who are outside of the church? But then from verse nine, he's going to start and he's going to bring God's authority within the context of the church.

And he's going to start speaking of the role of women on the role of men. And he's going to say, speak about the authority of men over women. And he's going to speak of submissiveness of women within the context of the church. And once he has established that, that is men who are to have the God given the biblical authority of God within the context of the church. Then he take men and he teaches us who are those men.

Those men are elder in chapter three. And then after that, he moves to a deacon. This is God's authority for the church, brothers and sisters. And our carnality, our flesh does not relate to the concept of authority very well. When you read words such as submissiveness of women to men, or when you speak of different roles within the church to the carnal mind, to the flesh, that's not appealing at all.

What flesh wants to say is that we are all the same. And indeed, we are all the same in Christ. There is no distinction in Christ. But when people say we are all the same, what they mean is that we have all the same role within an organization or within the church, brothers and sisters. When God's authority is empowered by the spirit and when God's authority is fed by that which is written, We understand that God has decided that his authority is manifested in his household, in his church, in a particular way.

Now, because God knows because of our sin that is difficult for us to relate to this concept of authority, he is going to give us practical, very clear explanations and parameters on how the church is to relate to these concepts of authority. Now let me just say something very important before we go into the passage. And this is that every time that we read a scripture, brothers and sisters, we are challenged with two things. The first thing is to understand the words of God. This is the first challenge that we have to understand the words of God.

But the second challenge that we have is to make that which we understand the rule for our life. That is to apply that which is contained in a scripture. You see, there is a sense in which is so easy for your mind to actually understand what is written here intellectually. But there is a whole distance between understanding with your mind and truly having a heart that desires to put that into practice. And I'm saying that because understanding truth and applying truth are two different things, and both things are necessary for the life of the saint and also, therefore, for the life of the community and for the life of the church.

We are going to read and we're going to go through passages that are very difficult to understand. And they are not only difficult to understand, but because of our carnality, because of our flesh, that we put walls off intellect in which we don't want to think about those things. But that's clearly set in the words of God. And if God says it is true, and he's not only true, but he's the best for each one of us, and he's the best for the church. So it's not only about putting concepts and definitions in your mind and putting them in a dictionary, an abstract dictionary that abides in your mind, but it's taking those concepts and definitions given by God through his word and applying them in your life, applying them in the life of the church, applying them as a congregation, That's what transforms us and makes us like Christ.

This is the mind of Christ. And the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 that we have the mind of Christ. And the same Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2 that we ought or that we need to endeavor to have the mind of Christ. So when we submit ourselves individually and as a church to that which is written, we are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. You don't want to be conformed to the image of someone who you admire.

You don't want to be conformed to the image of those persons that you even love. You want to be conformed to them as long as they reflect Christ, because ultimately you want to be like the one who gave his life for you, and that is Jesus Christ. So there's going to be many things in the scripture that are difficult for the flesh, difficult for our carnality. But we need we have. We must submit ourselves to that which is written because in submitting ourselves to the word of God, there is freedom.

I'm telling you, there is freedom. There is sanctification. There is freedom in abiding in the place where God abides, doing the things that God says, even if everything that the world says is opposite to what is to what God says. This is why people were willing to die and to give their lives for that which is written here. But now, brothers and sisters, the first section, what the puzzle is going to say is how is the heart of the church supposed to relate to those who are outside of the church.

Now, remember that I said this is about God's authority or God's will, God's ruling power in the church. For the church, for each one of the saints and brothers, as I was just reading these things, We don't have to be afraid of these words, authority, or these words ruling, because as long as they are doing done in the spirit and according to what is written, the word of God is very clear. Go to chapter four, verse 11. Look what Paul says to Timothy verse 11. He doesn't say suggest.

He doesn't say, Give just a proposal to the church or just transfer these which I have said to you, he says, command, commend and teach these things because Timothy had a spirit given a Christ given authority within the context of the church. So he had the authority because he was a true prophet, a man of God to commend these things within the church. God and the apostle has the authority to say, women, submit to your husbands. And these words, this language, brothers and sisters, this is offensive for the flesh. As long as the heart is filled with the spirit and everything that we do is tested against that is scripture, there is joy and freedom in submitting ourselves to the word of God and that which the word of God has established.

as means of submission. When there is no the love of Christ in the relationship of the husband and the wife, the submissiveness of the wife becomes bitterness, because the man is not Christ to her, but is himself. But when the man loves her as Christ loved the church, there is joy in submission. The same thing happens in authority. When Christ is the one that abides in our hearts and when it's the spirit of Christ that is within us, our authority is in love and it becomes actually service to those who we are guiding.

But when Christ is not in the heart of a man, then authority becomes, I don't even know what the word is in English, but becomes something authoritative, something that it is not of a good heart. And that creates also bitterness in those who are under submission. So brothers, Apostle is going to tell us something very important in chapter 2. He says, first of all, and then there is a word, that is the word that took all my time trying to understand that passage. And that is then.

He says, other translations will say, therefore, So I've spoken. I've said I've already taught the apostle says about false doctrine or true doctrine and false doctrine or false teachers and true teachers. I haven't even given you my my testimony of conversion that I was a persecutor of the church. But now, by the grace of God, I obtained mercy and I have been made. a true servant of Christ.

I have given you all of this information of true doctrine, sound doctrine against false doctrine or other doctrine. And then he says, first of all, then or therefore. And that's because what I just said to you, the whole book is about God's authority, which comes from the difference between sound doctrine and other doctrine. So once we understand these, the apostle is going to give us now practical implications, the doing of all of these things. So first of all, Then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people, all people, brothers and sisters, prayer, all of these things that he mentions here, supplications and prayers and intercession and thanksgiving.

They are outward manifestations of an inner spiritual reality. That's why I said to you that what the apostle is doing here, he's addressing what the church or what the heart of the church should be in relationship to God's authority to people who are outside women, men, elders, deacons. What should be the heart of the church? Not only the doing, not only the things that we need to take, but rather, what are what is the heart of the church? Now, this is very confronting process is because this is what is the heart of Cornerstone Reform Baptist Church compared with God's authority, God's will.

Two words or in relation of those who are outside of the church. And then he gives nuances of basically praying, supplication, thanksgiving, intercession, prayers. But he says something very important. Be made for all people. That means that the heart of the church should be attached, to be related, to be connected for those who are outside of the church.

That our heart should be not only for the saints, but also for the lost, not only for those who are within our context, but also who are outside of the context. And he's not just telling us just do these simple things because brothers and sisters, Praying is an outward manifestation of the spiritual love that the Spirit has given us. It's an outward manifestation of a spiritual reality. You know how much you love a person for how much you pray for that person. for how much you intercede for that person.

You know how much you care about the spiritual life of a person for how much intercession you do on your knees for that person. Because the secret place, or in the secret place is who you are, who you really are. And your heart manifests what you really have in your heart. That's why the Apostle Paul says that he remembers the saints in Philippians and in Colossians every time in his prayers, because he loves them with love, with dearly love, with the love of Christ. And he wants the saints to produce the fruits of righteousness that are for the glory of God, that he remembers them in every prayer.

Philippians and Colossians. And he says, God is witness. When I read those things, it's just trembling for me. He dares to call God himself who is who knows everything. Every thought of the mind, he says, God is my witness that I remember you saints in every one of my prayers.

that I love you with the love of Christ in every one of my prayers because the love of Christ is manifested in a way through the prayers. But now the puzzle is telling us that we are to pray not for the Saints, but that we are to pray for all men. You see why love, you know, you know how people sometimes debate and how people sometimes have controversies about the concept of love, that is too much love. But brothers and sisters, apart from other things, the heart of all of these things is love. God gave his son because he loved us.

God is a divine the church because he loves us. And the heart, the substance of all of this thing in the end of the day is love. We're called to love one another with the love of Christ. We are called to love our wives with the love of Christ. We're called to love other people with a spirit given love at the end.

In the end of the day, this is all about love. It doesn't matter how What is the word? Kearney? It doesn't matter how romantic it sounds. It's about love.

It's about love. So he's calling us and he's telling us to pray for all people. And you can give different nuances to supplications and thanksgiving to give thanks for those who are outside of the church to supplicate fervent supplications on our knees for those who are outside of the church. to intercede for those who are outside of the church, to bring their names and their needs to our prayers for all men. But brothers and sisters, I don't think that the idea or the intention of the apostle was necessarily to take the concept of all men.

But I think that actually what he is trying to do is to address a particular type of man because he's addressing God's authority in the context of the church. So because he's addressing God's authority in the context of the church, he's going to teach the church how to relate to secular authority. And these secular authorities are within the big category of all men. That's why in verse two he says for kings and all who are in high positions. So he's basically saying your heart should be for all men.

You should pray, you should supplicate, you should give thanksgiving, you should intercede for all men. But he's going to bring it down to a type of people. And this type of people is for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Now, brothers and sisters, why would the apostle be concerned? Please be with me here.

Why would the apostle be concerned? with the heart of the church towards not only all men in the secret place, in prayer, in supplication, in thanksgiving, in intercessions, not only all men, but rather for kings and for men who are in authority. So in other words, for those who are in positions of of hierarchy or or the government, if you want to put it that way, or the magistrates for the kings and those who are in authority. Why would the apostle ask the church to give these prayers for those who are not only outside, but for these people who are in authority? Now think about it.

How difficult would have been for the early church to have a heart that it is not filled with bitterness or wrath or not a good conscience and pray for those people who are persecuting them, who are unrighteously. It's laundering the church and killing many of the church and persecuting the church and putting the church through trials and difficulties. How difficult would have been for the heart of a person? Think. See yourself your heart to pray in love to supplicate.

to give thanks to intercede for those who are outside and those who are in positions. And how we know that? Because inverse pay attention to verse eight. Verse eight gives us a little bit of information of why the apostle desires that this is the case, he says in in verse eight. I desire then, so the then is connected to everything that he has said about praying for all men and praying for kings and all those who are in authority, I desire then that in every place, the apostle used this every place four times in the New Testament, and every time that he used every place, first Corinthians, second Corinthians, first Thessalonians, and here he speaks of the context of the church, the assembly of the church.

I desire then that in every place the men, should pray, lifting holy hands, that it is hands that are holy, that is lives that are holy. And then he says, without anger or without quarreling. Without anger or without quarreling, because praying for those who are in authorities and probably who were persecuting them would have caused easily in their hearts anger and quarreling, and they could come and pray for them just as a duty. But he's saying, lift up your hands, holy hands. So that whatever is happening in your heart, it has to be real because you're presenting this to God and you are to pray.

Without anger or without quarreling, things that will produce naturally because of your flesh, then he moves and says likewise, and then he will move into the argument of women and taking that within the context of the church, not brothers and sisters. The apostle was concerned that the church will have a heart, a true heart, not an empty heart, but a heart that is filled with love for those who are outside and that will pray for those who are in authority, for those who are in the government, for those who are in the magistrates. because it was difficult for the church, not only that, but it was difficult for the church to actually present this spiritual, these living sacrifices towards God of praying and bringing them before the throne of grace. But that's not the only reason, brothers and sisters, he gives a purpose for those prayers, for those who are kings and those who are in high positions. The purpose for the prayers, the purpose for the supplications and the purpose for the intercessions, the purpose for the Thanksgiving, the purpose of these coming together and praying for those people who are outside in these high positions is that we, the church, may lead a peaceful and quiet life, a peaceful and quiet life.

Second word, that we may have godly and dignified in every way, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. The purpose of our prayers for men who most of the case will be unrighteous outside of Jesus Christ, outside of the new covenant. It is so that by praying we may live lives that are peaceful and quiet, godly. And some other translation will say in honesty or with dignity in every aspect. And the question that we need to ask ourselves is, Why would that be the case?

And the Apostle gives us the answer somewhere else in Romans 13. So go to Romans 13. Romans 13, 14, 13. The apostle is calling the church to have a heart that it is connected to those who are outside of the church and those who are in high positions, those who are kings. And the apostle says something very interesting here.

Verse one, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And those that exist have been instituted by God. I don't know if you see the conflict of this, of knowing that there is unrighteous government, that there is unrighteous kings, that there is unrighteous people in high places. And the Bible says that there is no authority except from God.

and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment, for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.

Four, and this is a, Difficult one to read, for he is God's servant for your good. Kings, authorities, people who are in preeminent places, who might be unrighteous and they might do things that are not according to what one would think is biblical. These are servants of God for your good. But if you do wrong, he continues a puzzle in verse four. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

Brothers and sisters, the government of these kings and authorities, they have been called to restrain evil, to punish evil and to encourage good and to protect the good. That's the things that they have to do. They have to restrain and to punish the evil, but they are to encourage and they are to protect the good. And in so far as they do that, they are God's servant. And then pay attention to what says verse five.

Therefore, one must be in subjection. One must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath through the execution of judgment of the government, but also for the sake of something that goes beyond of that which we do, but for the sake of conscience, that which is in the mind of the person, that which is in the heart of the person. So the apostle Paul will say to Timothy that the church is to bring these people in our prayers, in our supplication, in our thanksgiving, that we are to have a heart that is towards them without anger, without quarreling. Because in so doing, we may lead or we may be able to live lives that are peaceful, godly, and in all dignity or honesty. But one would say governments actually do not do things that provide or allow to have the church lives that are peaceful or lives that are filled with dignity or with honesty.

And of course they are not godly. Isaiah speaks of these type of garments. He says, Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, those woe to those who proclaim unrighteous laws. The Lord will take care of those ones. But insofar as it is related to the church, the church is to have a heart.

A heart, not a external doing, but a heart that is related to these people who are outside. Brothers and sisters, more of doing things. What we need to question ourselves is what we need to praise. Lord, give me more of you. Give me more of your spirit so that when I'm on my knees, that when I'm praying, that when I'm in the secret place, People who are outside of those who I will fleshly in my flesh or in my in my nature, I will I will not want or will not desire that they actually have a heart for them, that I have a heart for the loss, that I have love for the loss, that I have a heart for those who are in authorities, for those who are the kings or the magistrates of the government, that I have a heart that is filled with reality and is not indifferent.

Because that's what the Bible calls us to do. Brothers and sisters, you see that if one understands only God's authority, but does not submit to what is written, there is a disconnect between mind and heart. and that this connection between knowing and not doing will never take you individually to be more like Christ and will never take us as a church to be blameless and without a spot as the apostle says in Ephesians 5 that the church should be. What an impossible task is given to men to try to be something that in our nature is so opposite to who we really are. That's why Christ has given us of his spirit.

So when the spirit of Christ is in us, We will decrease. He will increase. We will be. We will become more like he is. And the church will be conformed more to what God wants the church to be.

The church is God's church is the household of God. This living God dwells within the church, brothers and sisters. And he the apostle dares to say that this the church is the pillar and the foundation of truth. that the truth of God is established upon the church upon those who have been baptized into Christ is the pillar and the foundation of the truth. How is the church going to be the pillar and the foundation of the truth if we only take our time to understand what God says, but not truly apply the things that he has said in the scripture in our hearts?

May the Lord protect us from only knowing intellectually, because as I've said in a couple of times, this is the idolatry of intelligence. This is the idolatry of having an answer to the questions of the Bible and theology. May the Lord protect us from the idolatry of intelligence and may he bless us with humble hearts. that yes, endeavor to know the truth, but are more concerned to apply those truths in the heart, that are more concerned to live those things, that rather just to know those things. I'm not saying that we should disconnect our minds, but the ultimate purpose of every single effort in our Christian life should be always to be truly like Jesus Christ in what we say, in what we see, in what we touch, even in the things that we do not say, we do not see, we do not touch.

The steps that we take, the hacks that we give and the ones that we do not give should be always an outflow of a spiritual reality that can only be produced, brothers and sisters, by the Holy Spirit. May he help us. Amen.