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This episode is devoted to the memory of Paul Girolamo, Waverly's 4Ever 44. Although Paul is  now a halfback in heaven, he left a lasting legacy on the Waverly Football Community. This episode emphasizes what is really important, Faith, Family, Friends and Football.This podcast will run weekly during the season and continue as long as a Section IV Football team is playing.The Cover IV Podcast is brought to you by TDS Performance Improvement60% of first-time leaders fail. TDS Performance Improvement prevents this failure and accelerates your leadership development. If you are a first-time leader and want to make sure leader journey gets off on the right foot, TDS Performance Improvement has you covered. They will help you establish a culture where people feel inspired, appreciated and fulfilled. If you need leadership help, visit tdspi.com and schedule your no obligation conversation.Visit the Cover IV Podcast Website to stay informed and get involved.

Long before people knew how to pronounce the word vegan, Paul Shapiro was inspired to not consume animal or dairy. His decision was based on being compassionate to animals. Although Paul didn't have anywhere near the knowledge he has today, he knew the animals were not being treated well. This was when the seeds of activism were planted. Paul's activism began by writing letters to animal welfare organizations. This was back in the day that there was no email, Internet, or social media. Yet, even though Paul was committed to learning more about being vegan, he didn't realize he could be healthy by eliminating all meat. He felt it was like holding his breath. There is only so long you can hold your breath and he felt there was only so long he could go without meat. Yet, nearly 30 years later, he has been 100% without meat and dairy and performs at an incredibly high physical and emotional level. Life as a vegan is made easier by the fact that his wife, Toni Okamoto, a highly successful social media influencer, is also vegan. The author of three very successful vegan/plant-based cookbooks, Toni is most well known for her branding and highly successful book, Plant Based on a Budget. Both Toni and Paul were vegan before meeting one another yet having this in common was a huge plus to their attraction to one another. As the author of the highly successful book, Clean Meat; How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World and founder/CEO of the Better Meat Co., Paul is quick to say he lives in his wife's shadow. www.bettermeat.co   http://www.paul-shapiro.com

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 3 When we first read Romans 3, we felt that there was some confusion in the logic.  For example, Paul   asked a question in the first verse: "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?" (Romans 3:1, NIV).  Then he answered this question in the second verse.  He said: "Much in every way!  First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God."  Logically speaking, we would then expect Paul to say: "second or third" later, but we couldn't find the second or third in chapter 3, nor in chapters 4 or 5.  When I searched online, I saw that it's not until Romans 9:4-5 before Paul talked about other advantages of the Jews.  So it's not that Paul's logic is unclear.  It's just that we don't understand his reasoning, making it difficult to properly interpret this chapter. Our understanding of the Bible is often influenced by the teaching we receive.  Witness Lee, a leader in the Local Church Movement where I was saved, taught that Romans, chapters 9-11 were inserted to teach about the Jews' election.  This teaching deeply influenced me, so I didn't see Paul's logic here differently.  I'm sure Witness Lee had reasons for teaching this.  Paul's question about the advantages of the Jews began in chapter 3, was touched on in chapter 8, and continued in chapter 9.  As Paul said in Romans 9:4-5 (ESV), "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." Witness Lee may have talked about the other advantages of the Jews in Romans 9, but I rarely heard anyone talk about this during my thirteen years of attending there.  Instead, the statement about Romans 9-11 being inserted to speak about the Jews election left a deep impression on me. So the thought came to me that maybe Romans chapters 3-8 in total were added for that purpose.  I am not criticizing others here.  I am just discussing how we can learn from our predecessors without limitations. In addition to praying for God's revelation, it's important to look at and incorporate teaching from other Bible scholars who have gone on before us.  There are two parts to the process of studying other people's interpretations of the Bible.  One part is to understand the light that others have received; the other part is to unlearn some of the teachings we have received.  We often get some of our understanding of the Scriptures from various Bible teachers.  Many of these teachings are rooted in our memories and even our souls.  On the one hand, these teachings help us to understand the Bible.  On the other hand, they sometimes become concepts, preventing us from further understanding the Bible. When I was in the Local Church Movement, I often encountered Christians from other churches, especially Chinese churches, who condemned the Local Church Movement and Witness Lee of teaching heresy.   I left the Local Church Movement and was led to learn the truths and pursue gifts in the Pentecostal Movement.  My understanding of the Bible and some of its truths gradually differed from the teaching of the Local Church Movement, but to this day, I still disagree with the Chinese churches that condemned it.  There are many things in this movement worth learning by the body of Christ.  I do have a problem with some of the Local Church Movement's teaching.  They stay ingrained in their own beliefs and teachings unwilling to grow and learn from other traditions or denominations.  Witness Lee's understanding of the Bible in some areas isn't correct.  For example, his note on "the word of knowledge," in 1 Corinthians 12 says: "The word of knowledge is the word that imparts a general knowledge of things concerning God and the Lord (8:1-7).  The word of knowledge is mainly of our understanding through teaching." (Notes of the Recovery Version).  This explains why I didn't understand what the word of knowledge was when I first came into contact with the Pentecostal Movement. In the Pentecostal Movement, the miraculous message God has given to some pastors is called "the word of knowledge."  I heard that Derek Prince mentioned at a healing meeting that his wife felt that God wanted to heal someone's leg. He called this the "word of knowledge."   When Prophet Shawn Bolz, who is very gifted in words of knowledge, uses his gift of prophecy, many times he was able to tell the other party's bank account number, birthday, name, social security number, and other information impossible to know.   His gift shocks people into believing that God exists, and often they even get saved. I've attended Shawn's meetings several times and witnessed him using words of knowledge. The Lord Jesus miraculously knew the history of the Samaritan woman's five husbands.  He had never seen Zacchaeus but knew his name (Luke 19:5).  He saw Nathanael while he was still under the fig tree (John 1:48). In the Pentecostal Movement, these are generally called "words of knowledge."  Witness Lee also had this experience.  For example, he mentioned that under no prior knowledge, he pointed out that a person stole chalk and drew circles on the floor, causing the person to repent and be saved (Witness Lee: "Life-Study of Romans"), and during a sermon, he miraculously pointed out that a woman allowed her husband to work overtime to buy high-heeled shoes for her, which led to the woman's repentance and salvation (Witness Lee: "The Fullness of God").  He also said in another message that John Sung pointed to a woman and said that she was a mistress under unknown circumstances, causing the woman to repent after being inspired by the Holy Spirit (Witness Lee: "Practice Being One Spirit with the Lord").  According to the Pentecostal Movement, this phenomenon is called the "word of knowledge." I think that the Pentecostal Movement's interpretation of the "word of knowledge" is correct because, generally speaking, the nine gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 are miraculous gifts.  These miraculous gifts are given by God to help evangelists, prophets, and ordinary Christians influence others to repent and come to Christ.  However, Witness Lee believed that the "word of knowledge" came through our understanding and teaching.  This differs from the interpretation of the Pentecostal Movement, which believes that the "word of knowledge" does not come from understanding but is a miraculous message from God. I think that although Witness Lee studied speaking in tongues in the early days, he distanced himself from it and the Pentecostal Movement.  He might have lacked the experiences or manifestations of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and did not understand what speaking in tongues meant to us today. He criticized the Pentecostal Movement for not focusing on the growth of an individual's spiritual life.  Although he was correct in this, he misunderstood the gifts of the Holy Spirit due to his lack of spiritual experience.  Leaving the Local Church Movement after thirteen years to learn more about the Pentecostal Movement was difficult.  It was a painful process to expand my mind to receive the truths that God was teaching me, but it was well worth it.  The process of understanding the Bible is similar.  We must pray that God will give us revelation, yet still be willing to learn from others who see things differently. I'm grateful for the teaching and training I received in the Local Church Movement.  After leaving, I studied a variety of church movements and realize that many of the things I learned in my former church are true Biblical teachings that I highly recommend other believers to search out and glean from.  Through my journey of discovery in other churches and ministries, I've examined my views and conflicting thoughts concerning several teachings that I now disagree with in the Local Church Movement. Each time I lead our Bible study, I go through a process of sorting out the beneficial things I learned from the Local Church Movement and promote them without reservation.  I then present the views that I've studied in other churches hoping to influence Christians in the Local Church Movement.  I maintain an attitude of gratefulness for what I've learned there while hoping to break through the traditional restrictions that I was taught.  This allows the Holy Spirit freedom to lead us to a deeper understanding of God's Word. This process applies to every Christian group looking to break through the restrictions of their particular denomination.  Each of us inherits spiritual wealth as well as restrictions from our spiritual founders.  My heart is to help people see that when reading the Bible, we should be open to the Holy Spirit and be willing to learn from our predecessors and the body of Christ.  We need to learn to put the teaching to practical use and not allow it to be a hindrance to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When I read Romans 3 this time, I applied this principle.  I tried to incorporate the understanding I learned from my predecessors, and look up to the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Let's recap our discussion in Romans 1 and 2, which was the historical record of the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in early Rome.  This conflict may have been severe enough that Claudius commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. It was after this incident that the Jews from the Roman Church, Priscilla, and Aquila, came to Corinth and met Paul (Acts 18:2).  At this point, Paul had the burden to go and visit Rome (Acts 19:21). Paul wrote the book of Romans in Corinth because he wasn't sure if he could go to Jerusalem or reach Rome safely (Romans 1:10).  It's possible that this conflict may have been extended to the church - Jewish believers had to live according to the law and even required the Gentiles to obey the law. While the Gentiles boasted of their culture, this induced conflicts. But Paul does not shy away from this. In Romans 2:24 (NIV), he quoted the Old Testament to accuse the Jewish believers, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of them." After Paul greeted and praised the faith of the Roman church in chapter 1 verses 1-17, he began to point out the sins of the Gentiles in verses 18-32. Romans, chapter 2, criticized the Jews. Chapter 3 continued this criticism, but its target audience was the Gentiles. Why am I saying this?   The Holy Spirit showed me that the conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers could have been caused by erroneous Jewish teaching that led the Gentile believers to backslide.  Paul tried to correct this teaching by immersing himself in the Gentile's lives and teaching them the truth. At this point, we could speculate that Paul asked the Gentiles whether they believed the Jews had more advantages.  There are some, including the fact that they were entrusted with the words of God.  We had to wait until chapter 9 for him to identify other advantages.  Paul seemed to act like an elder trying to stop people from arguing with one another.  He spoke of the Jew's shortcomings as well as pointed out that they had a purpose in God's kingdom.  Chapters 9-11 follow this train of thought as Paul talks about how God elected the Jews and the burden he had for them.  From this point of view, we can see that Romans, chapters 9-11, were not inserted as Witness Lee described. It can be traced back to the beginning of chapter 3.  Paul interjected his spiritual experiences and the topic of justification by faith between chapters 3-8.  He shared his spiritual experiences to help the Gentiles overcome sin and the Jews to overcome the law.  Romans chapter 3 begins with the topic of justification by faith (3:28), and chapter 4 explains Abraham's experience of justification by faith in detail.  Romans chapter 5 continues talking about justification by faith but brings in the viewpoint that the law was brought in so that the trespass might increase (Romans 5:20, NIV). Romans chapter 6 explains how our old man is crucified with Christ so that we may now live with Him. In Romans chapter 7, Paul describes being bound by the law of sin, and chapter 8 talks about Christ's resurrection, releasing us from the law of sin and death.  Paul combines his own experience plus the truth of justification by faith, and then in chapter 9 continues his thoughts that he began in chapter 3 that the Jews were worthy of the Gentiles appreciation and acceptance.  The Gentiles should be grateful that the Jews helped to pass on the Word of God, providing us with the Old Testament.  In addition, Romans 9:4-5 (ESV) says, "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen." This all ties into Paul's previous train of thought. After Paul finished talking about the Jews, he continued to say in Romans 12 that the people of the Roman Church must "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:10, NIV), submit to the authorities (Romans 13:1, NIV), and accept one other (Romans 14:1, NIV). In Chapter 15, Paul specifically mentions that he would bring the Gentile's offering to Jerusalem and bring the blessings of the Gentile churches into Jerusalem. From this, not only can we see Paul's logic, but we can also understand why Paul had to go to Jerusalem. Because of the constant conflict between Jewish believers and Gentile believers at that time, Paul was really burdened. He hoped that they could increase communication and reconcile with each other. This has a lot of spiritual significance for the United States today as the country is currently facing racial conflict.  A man in our study asked why Romans 3:8 (NIV) says, "Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is just!" Previously in verse 5, Paul said, "But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say?" There is no record in the Bible of who slandered Paul for saying "do evil that good may result," but I'm sure Paul had a reason for saying this. Although Paul had not been to Rome before and may not have communicated with the Roman Church, some leaders and believers in this church, including Priscilla and Aquila, etc., communicated with Paul, so he may have indirectly heard the slanderous claims from them. Paul is talking about justification by faith and not because of our works. Of course, this includes good works or bad works.  In Romans 3:10-18, Paul quoted the words of the Old Testament to prove that no one is righteous. In verses 19-20, he said that it is through the law that we become conscious of our sin. Only after becoming aware of our sin, can we gain righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Another man asked why verse 31 in chapter 3 (NIV) says, "Do we nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."  I answered him by saying that Paul was still talking about his spiritual experience in preparation for what he would say in chapter 8 about being free from the law of sin and death. The Local Church Movement taught that the woman in Chapter 7 represents the law, and the dead husband represents the old man. When the old man dies, the new husband will be Christ. The law is not a source of trouble; the old man is. Whether we are talking about the Old Testament Law or New Testament grace, the requirement is to love God and love others as you love yourself.  The problem is when the old man is in control rather than the new man in Christ.  Living according to the old man will always bring condemnation.  For example, if you are trying to love your wife through the old man and can't do it, you'll be condemned for not loving her.  This is how the law works.  However, if you are alive in Christ, you can love your wife to the point of even laying down your life.  You won't violate the law; instead, you'll perfect and strengthen the requirements of the law, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. The strength of the Local Church Movement is to teach Christians to experience spiritual growth and the renewal of the soul so that the life of Christ can be fuller in us.  This teaching would benefit everyone and is worth learning. I also shared my spiritual experience.  I talked about the hardship of ten years of infertility, the difficulties it caused in our marriage, as well as how to overcome these difficulties and achieve spiritual breakthroughs in faith and prayer.  The result was having a miracle baby.  My own experience also proves that not only do we have to be saved by faith, but every step of our spiritual breakthrough is also through faith.  I shared how, with the help of God, I had step by step internalized into my own spiritual experience (that is ruling my life) what the law had required me from the outside. Initially, my wife asked me from the outside to love and care for her, but I couldn't do it.  But with this change, I had slowly developed love and sympathy for my wife inside. My own experience and what Paul said here are all described in Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV): "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." In other words, the law restricts and rules us from the outside.  This is because we are still children, and we need the law as our guardian to discipline us.  But its purpose is to bring us to Christ so that we can be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). The law must go from the outside to the inside of our hearts.  In the Old Testament, the Jews only had the law outside while the law in the New Testament was to be established in our hearts.  But the Jews had a veil over their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14). Likewise, Christians today can also have a veil over their hearts. God's law, whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament, is not wrong.  It is because people's hearts have a veil, and their hearts are distorted, which led them to distort the law.  Here Paul is trying to help the believers remove the veil from their hearts because he knows that when our hearts turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:16). This statement applies not only to the Jews or Jewish believers in the early church but also to anyone in Christianity today.  Is there a veil over our hearts that prevents us from further understanding the richness of God and His Word?  Even the biblical knowledge and truths we learn from our Christian tradition can sometimes become veils that prevent us from further understanding God.  May God have mercy on us, illuminate us, and help remove all our veils!  

God's Guidance Bible Study with Jairus – 1 Corinthians 7   Have you ever been in a situation where you faced a tough decision? How did you deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty? Often, when we don't know what to do, we search for a dogmatic command from God to eliminate all uncertainty. However, God wants us to get to know him personally and accept his unique guidance in each specific circumstance of our lives.   Today we are going to discover that God's word provides unchanging principles, as well as specific guidance that helps us navigate the ups and downs of life.   Avoiding Extremes. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul continues his discussion of sexual purity (Ch. 6) by focusing on marriage and singleness. Paul emphasizes the importance of loving God from the heart rather than merely conforming to a rule or imitating a standard. No matter our external circumstances, we must respect God from the heart.   Paul explains the dangers of two extremes. On the one hand, immorality is not good, as Paul explained in chapter 6. On the other hand, it is not helpful to completely ban natural desires. In the spiritual experience, we tend towards one of two extremes. Either we indulge the lust of the flesh, or we swing to the opposite extreme of total sexual abstinence. In the Catholic church, we see these two extremes played out. On the one hand, we see the indulgence of clergy in Catholic history, and on the other hand we see the abstinence in the monasteries later in church history.   Paul explained that spirituality does not come merely from imitating another believer's way of life. Believers in the Corinthian church wanted to imitate Paul's singleness, perhaps in response to the rampant immorality described in chapter 6. But Paul stated that true spirituality lies in learning to live in the Spirit in any circumstances and in always putting God first. Whether we are married or unmarried, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, God does not require us to change our outward experience. Instead, he wants us to honor Him from the heart. Although Paul is single, he does not want the Corinthian believers to automatically imitate him. Instead, he wants everyone to learn to serve God according to God's guidance.   Paul's words were aimed towards specific problems in the Corinthian church. Although God's words transcend time and space, we still must not regard Paul's words as laws and dogmas. Throughout the ages, many Christians took Paul's words as dogma, which caused a lot of harm to the church. For example, when Paul talked about the question of whether slaves should be freed, he was not at all supporting slavery. He was emphasizing that true spirituality does not lie in external imitation or in changing the outward environment, but in finding inner freedom and exalting Christ in all circumstances.   No Shortcuts to Spiritual Growth. Understanding the context in which the biblical authors wrote these words will help us better understand the text. Through the Holy Spirit's illumination, we can interpret God's words accurately and avoid misunderstanding. For example, 1 Corinthians 6 discusses the issues of litigation and immorality. How does a discussion of marriage connect to these topics? 1 Corinthians 7:1 gives us a clue: "As for what you wrote, I think it is better for men not to be close to women..."   Theologians believe Paul wrote more than two epistles to the Corinthian church. Some other epistles were lost. The Corinthian church also wrote many letters to Paul, but these epistles were also lost. These verses give a clue to what the Corinthians may have asked Paul in their letters.   We know that some people in the Corinthian church were involved in immorality, but certainly not everyone was. When church problems arise, there are often certain members who are particularly disgusted with what is going on. For example, Boaz did not concur with the prostitution his mother was involved in. Jephthah, the son of another prostitute, was a judge of Israel and dedicated his daughter to keep her virgin for God. Although he swore rashly, it was definitely not accidental (Judges 11). Similarly, some believers in the Corinthian church were uncomfortable with the promiscuity all around them. Like the Catholics who reacted to sexual indulgence by forming monasteries, the Corinthians may have protested against the immorality in the church by making vows of sexual abstinence. They were eager to imitate Paul and learn to stay single. They may have asked Paul if they should stay single and lead a life of total abstinence.   In context, we see that the topic of marriage and singleness in chapter 7 are a continuation of the discussion of immorality in chapter 6. Members of the Corinthian church could not accept the behavior of the promiscuous believers, and they wanted this behavior to be corrected. But since they were spiritually immature, and their spiritual father, Paul, was single, they concluded that being single was a more spiritual way to avoid impurity.   However, Paul tells the church that his singleness was a special gift and calling of God. Without this special gift, believers would not be able to sustain their commitment to abstinence. A believer who is relying on their own sexual abstinence to please God will start to burn with passion and be easily tempted towards immorality.   Paul instructs couples to meet each other's physical needs in order to avoid temptation (1 Corinthians 7:1-7). He counsels married couples not to sleep in separate rooms, so that Satan does not seduce them. The only exception would be when both partners agree to a short time of dedicated abstinence for the purpose of intense prayer. Paul specifically stated that his words are not commands, but suggestions. Not everyone has the gift of being single like Paul.   In verses 8-9, Paul tells the unmarried and widows that it is best for them to be single like he is. However, if they cannot control their lusts, it is better to marry. In verses 10-16, Paul discusses the topic of divorce. He says it is best that the husband and wife remain together. But if the unbelieving spouse wants to leave, let them leave. Paul's discussion of divorce continues the conversation about avoiding immorality. Paul specifies that these directions are from the Lord, not merely his own opinion.   Paul continues, “Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (vs. 17, ESV). As he responds to the Corinthians' questions, Paul acknowledges that each person's gifts and callings are different. As we pursue spirituality, we should not simply imitate another believer's external life choices. At the same time, imitation is an important first step for every young believer. We all start our Christian lives as spiritual babies, imitating people who led us spiritually. Our spiritual parents subtly shaped our spiritual growth, and we imitate them unwittingly. This is understandable. But when our spiritual life has reached a certain stage and it's time to enter into a deeper and more abundant spiritual life, simply imitating others is not enough. We must strengthen our fellowship with God, understand the gifts and unique calling God has given us, and then personally and subjectively follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we continue to pursue spiritual growth.   I heard a story about a spiritual sister who discipled many other ladies in their spiritual growth. This sister walked very slowly. Many people she discipled began to think that walking slowly was a manifestation of spirituality. They imitated her by deliberately walking slowly. This is not spiritual growth, but just imitation.   Another time, several Christian sisters in Korea read from the Bible that Peter walked on the water. They imitated him to show their faith. But unfortunately, they drowned. Another brother from Taiwan tried to imitate Daniel by entering the lion's den at the zoo to show his faith. Unfortunately, he was bitten by the lion. An American pastor who saw that Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake but did not die, took a poisonous snake in his hand. Tragically, he was killed by the poisonous snake.   I cannot confirm the authenticity of these stories, but there are countless examples of such imitations. Each of these stories remind me of the Corinthians. Throughout the ages, many Christians have tried to show their faith by imitating Paul, Peter, or other saints. But they only imitated them on the outside. What seems like a shortcut to growth is actually a dead end.   In the next section of the chapter, Paul continues to contrast outward imitation with inward obedience. Paul says that obeying God's commands matters more than outward circumcision (verse 18). Today, Christians easily accept the fact that circumcision is not required. But for Jewish believers, this assertion was a major betrayal of all they had learned throughout Jewish history. The topic of circumcision led to many disputes between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. However, Paul emphasized that external surgery (circumcision) had no real impact on the heart.   There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. We must not rely on imitating other believers' outward choices. Instead, we should get to know God personally and ask him what his will is for our life.   Slavery In verses 21-22, Paul seems to imply that slaves who were believers should not seek freedom. Paul explains, “Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called. Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave.” (BSB) Many believers in history have misused these verses, asserting that Paul was supporting slavery. This opinion comes from a legalistic, dogmatic interpretation of Paul's words. What Paul meant was that true spirituality does not lie in external behavioral changes. We don't please God by changing our environment or our identity, but through worshiping God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).   God's Guidance. In verse 25, Paul shares his opinion about singleness. He seems to encourage individuals to stay single, even encouraging those without wives not to seek wives (verse 27). Verse 38 says, "It is good to ask your virgin daughter to marry, and it is better not to ask her to marry" (verse 38). Paul also said that although widows can remarry, it is best to preserve chastity (verse 39). Paul mentions that though his opinions do not reflect a specific command from the Lord, they are guided by the Spirit of God (verse 40).   Though Paul seems to lean towards the opinion that virgins and widows should not marry, we must look at these words in the overall context of the chapter. Paul's desire is to encourage people to learn how to best serve the Lord in their own environment. For example, he instructed people who are bound to marriage to stay faithful to that commitment (vs. 27). If you are married, you understand that marriage is full of difficulty. Many people are eager to be free from the commitment to each other. Many couples don't seek a divorce because they want to commit immorality with someone else. They simply are tired of the difficulty of getting along with another person. Corinthian believers may have raised the issue of singleness because they wanted to break free from the bondage of marriage. However, Paul clearly told them that those who are married should stay faithful to that commitment.   Paul said in verse 26, "Because of the current hardship, I think it is best for people to maintain the status quo." The Holy Spirit highlighted the words "the current hardship.” What does Paul mean by this phrase?   Even though the United States is a Christian country, Christians still feel great pressure from the secular world. Similarly, the brand-new Corinthian church faced powerful social pressures toward idolatry, secularization, and immorality. The pressure they faced were even greater than the pressure Americans face in their “Christian” nation.   Corinthian believers experienced pressure from the outside, as well as from the inside. Their own weaknesses caused spiritual problems. Therefore, in their specific situation, Paul advised them to maintain the status quo. Perhaps the " current hardship " referred to the secular pressure faced by the Corinthian church at the time.   When the Lord Jesus was on earth, some Pharisees tested Jesus by asking if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24, where God commanded the husband and wife to unite and become one flesh. Jesus explained that in the beginning, divorce was not God's plan. Because of the hardness of Israelites' heart, Moses allowed them to divorce their wives (Matthew 19:8).   In this chapter, Jesus explains the difference between the overarching principle established by God, and the unique methods that we deal with problems in special circumstances. Christians often make the mistake of reading about God's unique ways of dealing with special circumstances, and then applying those solutions as universal principles from God. The words of the Bible are undoubtedly from God's inspiration, but some words clarify divine nature and overarching principles, while other words clarify God's guidance in a certain situation.   Therefore, we need both Bible teachers and prophets in the church. Bible teachers help us understand God's word, nature and principles. Prophets help us obtain God's timely words about how to deal with special situations. We must understand the true meaning of God's words in the Spirit, and we must not misinterpret God's words. We need to understand God's words in light of the linguistic context and target audience at the time. I absolutely believe that the words of the Bible are the breath of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. However, when we actually apply it, we also need to pray to God and receive revelation from the Holy Spirit on how to apply it to our lives. For example, Paul's encouragement towards singleness was specifically related to the "current hardship" they faced in their unique circumstances.   When we use the word of God, we need to avoid dogmatism and legalism. I once heard a parable about a believer who decided to read God's words and literally obey every word. For example, when he reads about giving alms to others, he gives alms to others. When he reads that he should love his neighbor, he will love his neighbor. He is very dogmatic and stubborn, literally imitating every Bible character he reads about. One day, he read that the Bible says that Judas went out and hanged himself. He did not know what to do. Although this story is a joke, it demonstrates that we should not interpret God's words mechanically, out of context. We should interpret them in context in accordance with the personal guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.   As we interpret God's word, we must make a distinction between God's nature and principles, and his specific guidance for special circumstances. For example, Scripture tells us about God's overarching principle of purity. God is not pleased with sexual immorality. This principle applies to anyone at any time. In the same way, God's principle unites a man and a woman in marriage for life. God's unchanging character values purity and faithfulness in marriage.   But does this mean that people can never get a divorce? No. The Lord Jesus explained that spouses should not separate unless one partner is unfaithful. If a husband or wife commits the crime of fornication, divorce is permissible. Paul also added that if an unbelieving spouse insists on leaving, believers can get divorced. God provides guidance for these specific situations. Each person's situation is different, so God's guidance for each person is also different.   The same principles apply to the decision to marry or stay single. From Paul's personal point of view, it is better to remain single. But he explains that this is not an issue of God's nature and principles, but of specific guidance. God may lead a person to remain a virgin, like he led Paul. He may lead another person to marry, establish a family, and have children. God provides different guidance to different people.   Paul was an apostle and a pioneer of the gospel. If he had a wife or children, it might prevent him from preaching the gospel unhindered. Practical considerations and worry for his family would hinder his gospel ministry. But for a person serving as a pastor in a local church, getting married and having children could be a good thing. Having a family enables the pastor to serve not only brothers in Christ, but also sisters and children. Because of their experience in married life, they can serve everyone.   Living a Life that is Free from Worry At the end of the chapter, Paul shares some fascinating verses that appear to be contradictory at first glance. Paul says, “What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away." (BSB)   What is Paul trying to say here? Verse 32 to provides some insight: “I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.” Paul wants us to be free from worry so we can focus on the Lord. Ultimately, Paul is not concerned with whether or not you are married, whether or not you decide to make a purchase, and whether or not you are happy. He is concerned that you are free from worldly worry and care. He wants us to have nothing to worry about so we can worry about the things of the Lord.   Paul's words provide a powerful word of encouragement to believers today. Many American churches today are full of worries. These worries distract us and keep us away from the Lord. What is the solution? Do we need to swing to the opposite extreme, resign from work, divorce our spouses, stay single, and live in a monastery? No, God wants us to turn our hearts to him in all circumstances. As we allow the Lord to reign in our daily lives, we will learn to please Him. Rather than imitating other people externally, we must follow God alone according to the specific gift, calling and guidance that God gives us. We must not treat God's words mechanically and dogmatically, turning them into "laws" for beating people over the head.   I trust these words have been an encouragement to you. God offers you a personal relationship with him and personal guidance in your unique circumstances. Open yourself to his loving guidance today.

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Philippians 1.27 NLT 'Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.' The residents of Philippi were very proud of their city which was a Roman Colony. They had been rewarded by the Emperor Octavian after his defeat of Antony and Cleopatra. The city was in Macedonia and is now part of northern Greece, but the Philippians enjoyed all the same privileges as if they were living in Italy. Citizenship was a big issue for them and they were delighted to enjoy the legal and tax advantages which came with their status. But Paul tells them that far more significant than this was the fact that they were citizens of heaven. Being a Philippian was a temporary arrangement unlike their eternal citizenship of heaven. Paul was not saying that it was unimportant that they were Roman citizens. He had much to say about the importance of Christians living as responsible members of their community. In his letter to the church in Rome, at the heart of the empire, he wrote that those who followed Christ had a responsibility to submit to the governing authorities because they had been established by God. (Romans 13.1) Christians should do everything in their power to support their communities and to live as responsible citizens, but they would do so with the knowledge that their principal identity was their heavenly one. There were many pressures upon the church in Philippi. Although Paul's letter is particularly positive it is clear that there were plenty of challenges, both from people outside the church and from those inside the fellowship who were squabbling with one another. Paul knew that they must live by the highest standards and so he urged them to live a life that was worthy of the Good News about Christ. The church wasn't their little private club, but a group of people drawn together by the Spirit to proclaim the amazing news of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever our churches might be facing at present we all need to hear the same challenge to live a life that is worthy of Christ.  QUESTION: What does it mean to you to be a citizen of heaven? PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for the eternal security that we have in knowing you and help us to contribute positively to our temporary homes here on earth. Amen

Galatians 2:15-16 ESV 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 15 Tayo mismo ay ipinanganak na mga Judio, at hindi mga Hentil na makasalanan,16 at nalalaman natin na ang tao ay hindi inaaring-ganap sa pamamagitan ng mga gawa ng kautusan, kundi sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya kay Jesu-Cristo, at tayo ay sumasampalataya kay Cristo Jesus, upang ariing-ganap sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya kay Cristo, at hindi sa pamamagitan ng mga gawa ng kautusan, sapagkat sa pamamagitan ng mga gawa ng kautusan ay hindi aariing-ganap ang sinumang laman. BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. Although Paul was born a Jew, he didn't take it as an advantage over the Gentiles. The ‘Judaizer company' had insisted that Gentiles should observe the Mosaic law in order to be justified before God. However, Paul had emphasized clearly that they were “to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” Justification simply means the state of being declared righteous before God. It's solely rests by faith upon the sacrifice of Christ at the cross and His resurrection. It's not by observing the law. It's not even observing the law on top of our faith in Christ. In the book of Romans, Paul had exemplified the life of Abraham. He said, “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” [Rom 4:1-5] Was the sacrifice of Christ insufficient for the atonement of our sins? Did He not shout “It is finished” to manifest its completeness or perfection of His sacrifice for our sins? Adding anything to Christ's sacrifice is an insult, is it not? Thus, to be declared righteous before God is by faith upon the grace in Christ alone plus nothing else. And, this could be received by our sincere repentance from sin and trust in Christ. For “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[c] by which we must be saved.”[Acts 4:12] Have you received Jesus as your Savior as yet? “ We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”[2 Cor 5:20b,21] ------------------------- Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram

Dissension in the Body of Christ. Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 4   Rivalry in the Church. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul urged the Corinthians not to idolize him or his coworker, Apollos. Paul said, "I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." As I read this passage, the Holy Spirit highlighted the words puffed up. Why did Paul say that the Corinthians who picked sides, favoring Paul or Apollos, were puffed up?   In politics, we often see one politician exalt another for his own personal gain. Those who exalt others usually have ulterior motives. Their purpose is to use the people they exalt to achieve their goals.   Unfortunately, such scenarios also exist in the church. People who exalt others in the church often use the people they exalt to increase their own influence. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:11-12, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,' or ‘I follow Apollos,' or ‘I follow Cephas,' or ‘I follow Christ.'”   Paul pointed out that there was rivalry between the Corinthian believers. These rivalries stem from the flesh. Paul clearly states in Galatians 5:20 that rivalry is an act of the flesh.   What is the purpose of a rivalry? The purpose of a rivalry is to pursue leadership, authority and influence. The people who were rivals in the Corinthian church were not really trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, but to gain their own influence. Paul and Apollos were just tools in their hands.     Stages of Church Decline. Why did some Corinthians exalt Paul and Apollos to advance their own status? To answer this question, we need to cite a pastor Ernest B. Gentile. In his book, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, he analyzed the famous German sociologist Ernst Troeltsch's theory of the degradation of the church. Based on his own experience, he proposed his own research on the "model of the degradation of the church." This model includes four stages.   The first stage is "an aggressive sect." At this stage, the leaders of the first generation of churches or denominations are usually very focused on God's mission and actively devote themselves selflessly to the Lord. The leaders and believers of the first generation are also full of energy. Leaders of the first generation often have prophetic guidance. They create new churches and are actively committed to correcting the mistakes of the past churches, purifying the ranks of believers, and actively playing the role of the church in society. There is often external persecution, but the persecution does not restrict them but instead makes them work even harder. The church achieves great growth and the number of people increases. The church achieves widespread gospel influence.   The second stage is“ an evangelistic movement.” At this stage, the church continues to expand and multiply. Not only do they maintain their enthusiasm for the gospel, but they also continue to maintain their uniqueness in preaching of the truth. This is a period of consolidation. Because the ministry has expanded, it is necessary to establish a certain organizational structure for management. After such an organizational structure is established, it gradually loses the flexibility of the first generation and instead relies mostly on organizations and institutions for management. At this time, prophetic experiences begin to become less common. Through the efforts of the first and second generations, vivid spiritual experiences and practices gradually morph into sectarian rules and traditions.     The third stage is "a recognized denomination.” People of the first generation usually lack a management structure. The management structure established by the second generation has begun to help the church or denomination continue to grow, but in the third stage, it will become a limit to the growth and spiritual vitality of the church. The church and believers begin to lose the enthusiasm of the first generation and begin to be more influenced by the world. At first, the church attached great importance to paying attention to the poor, but now the church and believers have become rich and gradually forget this mission. The church begins to focus on more academic and theological teaching and begins to ignore the use and practice of gifts. At this time, prophetic words and gifts begin to be gradually ignored. The church pays more attention to knowledge and reason.     The fourth stage is "A Spiritless Monument." In the fourth stage, the church slowly becomes a monument to the glory of the past, and the spiritual reality has been lost. Believers do not know and desire God as the believers did in the beginning. The church's interest in the gospel and ministry has also gradually declined. The Holy Spirit gradually loses any freedom, so the Holy Spirit leaves this church. The church continues to operate according to tradition and organization.     Ernest B. Gentile said that this cycle has been operating throughout the history of the church. After the fourth stage, the Holy Spirit will raise up a new apostolic church movement and start the cycle all over again. Because new wine can't be put into old wineskins and new spiritual movements often contain new wine, believers in traditional churches begin to leave the traditional church to seek the richness of God.[1]               The Arrogance of the Corinthian Church Although Ernest B. Gentile's observations apply to current-day Charismatic and Prophetic churches, the insights may apply to many churches, and even to Paul's ministry. Paul and Apollos were the first leaders of the Corinthian church. They both served in the Corinthian church. But the Corinthian church faced a difficulty: Paul and Apollos were not present in the church as permanent pastors.   We don't know who the pastor or leader of the Corinthian church was. But because Paul and Apollos were no longer there, nobody had enough authority to make others obey. Therefore, there were different leaders trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, using Paul and Apollos to establish their own leadership in the church. Fortunately, after Paul learned of these circumstances, he promptly wrote a letter to correct the situation. But we know that his letter did not prevent the eventual decline of the church. Perhaps the fall of the Corinthian church was delayed because of Paul's intervention. But in his later years, Paul said that all the Asian churches had abandoned him (2 Timothy 1:15).   One of the difficulties of the Corinthian church is that Paul was not there. Paul even mentioned that “Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.” (1 Corinthians 4:18). Here Paul clearly pointed out that the reason why some people are "arrogant" is that they think Paul will not go to the Corinthian church. A Chinese proverb says, "When there are no great tigers in the deep mountains, even a monkey can become king." This proverb describes the situation in the Corinthian church very well. Since Paul was gone, sin and rivalry were running rampant. “When the cat's away, the mice can play.”   Paul said in verse 19, "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power." In this book, the word “arrogant” is used three times (verses 6, 18, and 19). This shows that Paul was very concerned about their arrogance. God wants to teach us something through this word.   Why are these people arrogant? Rodney Hogue, a teacher in the "Deliverance Ministries,” will answer this question very well in his commentary on 1 John 2: 12-14. These verses say, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”   Rodney Hogue said that from a spiritual perspective, there are three types of people in the church: children, young people, and old people. Older people are the spiritual fathers. They know the God who has existed from the beginning. What they care about is knowing God and who he is. To them, “being” is more important than “doing.” They will never be jealous of the spiritual progress of young people and children, but are instead happy for them.   Young people are those who have overcome evil to a certain extent. They are strong, know the word of God, and eagerly hope to do something for God. But their weak point is their jealousy when they see the progress of other children. They are not fathers, but elder brothers. They will be jealous of younger believers' progress. They resemble the older brother in Luke 15 who was jealous of the prodigal son. These kinds of people are characterized by an active desire to do things for God, and they care about their ministry (doing). The third type of person is a child. On the one hand, they simply trust the Heavenly Father. Because their sins have recently been forgiven, they urgently need the love of their spiritual brothers, and to be fed by their spiritual parents. They are characterized by the need to humbly accept spiritual offerings (receiving). Rodney Hogue said that the church needs spiritual fathers. Unfortunately, the church is full of spiritual brothers but lacks spiritual parents. On the one hand, these elder brothers are a little more spiritually advanced than the children, but they are often jealous of others because their lives have not matured into the mindset of spiritual parents. Many pastors and even elders are still at the level of elder brothers.     The situation in the Corinthian church resembles the plight of many modern churches. Why are some people arrogant? They are spiritual young adults. On the one hand, they aspire to be leaders of the church and accomplish more for God. But when they encounter opposition and interference from others, there will be rivalry. When they see that others also want to be leaders, they will feel jealous.   Paul knew their situation well. Paul longed for them to grow into spiritual parents. He knew that the way to become spiritual leaders was to help the Corinthians mature into spiritual fathers. Paul said, "I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-16)   Paul knew that the growth of the church required leaders, but the creation of leaders required maturity. The church leader must be a spiritual father, not a spiritual young person who will rival and contradict others at every turn. Paul was a spiritual father, so he said, "Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!" (1 Corinthians 4:8) Although Paul was mocking them, Paul's heart really yearned for them like a father who had matured into spiritual life and reigned in a glorified spiritual abundance.     However, the lives of the rival Corinthian believers had not matured to this point. On the contrary, they were young people. Paul used himself as an example to let the Corinthians learn how to be a spiritual father.   He also sent Timothy to the Corinthian church. Paul specifically mentioned, "That is why I sent you Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church" (1 Corinthians 4: 17). Timothy would follow Paul's example as a spiritual father. Therefore, Paul's purpose in sending Timothy to the Corinthian church was to get them on the path to becoming spiritual leaders. He wanted them to imitate himself, just as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).   Living in God's Power When Paul talked about arrogant people in verses 19-20, he evaluated their spiritual power, rather than just looking at their words. Paul said, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power."   A man asked, “What does power mean here?” In my personal opinion, the power includes the power to cure the sick and cast out demons, but that is not the only power in view here. The real power lies in being able to give birth to other believers, just as Paul gave birth to the Corinthian church in Christ. Abraham's power lay in his ability to have as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and our power lies in fathering spiritual children.   I grew up in rural China, where we often dried food on the roof. We would tie a rope to a bucket so we could lift the grain to the roof. This task requires a lot of power. When I was a child, I didn't have enough muscle power to pull it up, and I needed to ask an adult to help me.   The Local Church Movement (LCM) often uses this metaphor to explain how you should not marry unbelievers because the Bible teaches that believers and unbelievers should not work closely together (2 Corinthians 6:14). A close association with an unbeliever could pull you down into sin, rather than pulling the other person up to salvation.   To illustrate, one man would stand on a chair, and another man would stand on the ground. One man tried to pull the other off the chair, and the other tried to pull the man up onto the chair. As a result, the person standing on the ground tended to pull down the person standing on the chair.   The person who gave this example said that it is very difficult for us to lift people up spiritually, but it is very easy to be dragged down by the world and sin. When two people get married, if one is an unbeliever, it is difficult for you to pull the other into belief, but the other person can easily pull you into unbelief. This is a good analogy.     In the same way, the real power lies in removing yourself from the attraction of possessions, the temptation of physical sin, and the uncleanness of the soul and life. Remove yourself from influences that will complicate your journey to heaven.   You can only lead someone to a place you've been yourself. If you're living in intimate fellowship with God (as if you were in the Holy of Holies), you can bring others with you into God's presence. If you're living at a distance from God (as if you were in the outer court), you can only bring people into the Outer Court.   Therefore, Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4 demonstrate great power. He not only pointed out the spiritual problems of the Corinthian church, but also regarded himself as an exemplary spiritual father. He told the Corinthians that they must become spiritual fathers like himself in order to become the spiritual leaders of the church.   Becoming the spiritual leader of the church does not lie in exalting Paul or Apollos, but in the maturity of your own life. If your life is mature enough to resemble Apollos, you will have Apollos' authority. If your life is as mature as Paul's, you will have Paul's spiritual authority. The true power comes from the spiritual authority we receive from God after we mature in the spiritual life.   The book of 2 Corinthians tells us that the Corinthians repented and worried over their downfall, and Paul comforted them himself. This tells us that Paul's message to the church did its job and was effective. Later, the church in Asia rejected Paul, but the Corinthian church did not reject Paul.   Parallels in Today's Church. While studying this passage, a man asked, “What is the state of the church today? Is today's divided church puffed up, as well? Do you see situations in our current church today that mirror the situation in 1 Corinthians 4?” I said, “Yes, I do.”   In the church where I was saved, I saw Ernest B. Gentile's principles at work. The first generation of leaders experienced many struggles, and the second generation became more established. However, in the third generation, rules and regulations inevitably entered the church and slowly hindered the work of the Holy Spirit.   Therefore, some people began to seek more guidance from the Holy Spirit. Because of this situation, I began to study in the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement. Once I got in touch with the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement, I learned that the Holy Spirit has a lot of freedom among them and has done a lot of things.   According to Ernest B. Gentile, when the leaders of the second or third generation of churches are not trying their best to open themselves to the Holy Spirit's prophetic guidance, people will lack the manifestation of the authority and power of God. This makes it difficult to establish trust in the church. At this time, the leaders of the second or third generation will hold high some of the views or propositions of the leaders of the first generation. On the one hand, it solidifies the teaching of the first generation of leaders, but on the other hand, they use it to establish their own authority. Because they cannot get fresh prophetic revelation from the Holy Spirit and direct authority from God, their authority is often based on the inheritance and consolidation of the teachings of the first generation of leaders. Furthermore, they usually don't dare to break the restrictions taught by the first generation of leaders. Thus, they lack the ability to create a major breakthrough in the future. This pattern is not only found in the Charismatic and Prophet Movements as observed by Ernest B. Gentile, but also in many different denominations.     In addition to difficulties within a sect, there are often disagreements between sects. The struggles of different factions within denominations are often not necessarily known to outsiders. But the struggles between denominations are easily visible to the world. Struggles within churches and groups are often concealed in the name of unity. However, the struggles between sects can be seen by the world.   Both are from the flesh. Different denominations are like different brothers in the body of Christ. One group said that they belonged to Paul, and the other said that they belonged to Apollos. The struggle in the Corinthian church represents a struggle within a church, but the struggle between denominations represents an internal struggle with the universal church.     Imagine Paul speaking not only to the Corinthian church, but to the entire body of Christ. Imagine that the Apostle John was not speaking to the fathers, young people, and children in one particular church, but to the fathers, young people, and children in the entire body of Christ. We can see that the situation of the global church is similar to that of the Corinthian church. There are not many people who are truly fathers like Paul was. Most of them are young people or children. The problem with young people is that they cannot accept others. But spiritual parents can accept others. The brother in Luke 15 could not accept the prodigal brother, but his father was able to accept the return of the prodigal son.     Our God is our Father. Every snowflake he created is different. Everyone has a unique call from God. Every sect is born out of a truth received from God that the group adheres to. None of us are complete without our fellow believers. When we criticize each other and condemn other denominations, we make our Heavenly Father sad, just as the rivalry within the Corinthian church made Paul, their spiritual father, sad.   The Chinese church has experienced similar dissension. Many evangelical pastors, such as Pastor Stephen Tong, fight against the Local Church Movement (LCM), and neither Chinese evangelical churches nor LCM churches accept Charismatic churches. My personal study in both the LCM churches and the Charismatic churches, as well as my contact with churches under Tong's influence, has shown me that the teaching and practice of the LCM would be very helpful to ordinary Chinese churches and Charismatic churches. The LCM can provide insight into the importance of life maturity and spiritual practice, which can help many believers in the Chinese evangelical churches and Charismatic churches to grow up spiritually. In addition, the practice of Charismatic churches can inject more vitality into the LCM and other evangelical churches, giving them more freedom in the Spirit and keeping them from dying.   Because Tong strongly criticized the LCM and Charismatic churches, many believers were unable to learn the truth from these two groups. In addition, the LCM refused to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. They have not accepted God's work in other churches, especially Charismatic churches. Charismatic churches have weaknesses of their own. They generally tend to be immature and place too much emphasis on miracles and marvels, lacking pastoral teaching on the deeper spiritual life.   We should be eager to humble ourselves and learn from each other. God's calling for our time is to bring together different denominations and sects. As we come together, we can learn from each other's strengths.   Another controversy in today's church is the Hyper Grace Gospel. Many evangelical Chinese churches in China strongly oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel. A woman who studied the Bible with us was deeply hurt by legalism in her evangelical church. She said that her church taught her that she must always condemn herself for not repenting enough and not working hard enough. It was very painful for her to condemn herself over all those years.   As a result, she found that Pastor Joseph Prince and his message on the Gospel of Grace helped her. Joseph Prince is often accused of being the leader of the Hyper Grace Gospel. It's true that some believers go to extremes, overemphasizing grace and ignoring the law of God. However, the reason the Hyper Grace Gospel has become so popular in China is that in many traditional churches, legalism prevails. For believers who have been wounded by legalism, it is particularly easy to accept the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel. Because many evangelical churches in China have legalistic tendencies, the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel is like a cool breeze on a summer day for believers who have suffered from legalism.   This controversy has caused internal disputes in many churches, causing many church members to become estranged. The backlash from the church has been fierce, condemning the Hyper Grace Gospel as heresy.   But there is something commendable in the Hyper Grace Gospel, especially for believers who have been harmed by legalism. The Hyper Grace Gospel finds fertile ground for spreading widely in China. To a certain extent, this is due to God's desire to correct the mistakes of legalism.   Joseph Prince also had a great influence among American Charismatics. Therefore, some Charismatic leaders have begun to worry. For example, a Charismatic and Jewish spiritual leader in the United States, Michael L. Brown, raised concerns that the Hyper Grace Gospel was preaching the grace of God too much and ignoring the law of God. Therefore, he proposed a peaceful meeting with Joseph, and the two men had a genuine dialogue. But I don't know whether their dialogue had any specific positive effects.   Personally, I believe that the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel will be helpful to a person whose strict basic theological training has focused on legalism and external behavior. It will not cause them too much harm, because they need this strong correction to the teachings they've heard all their lives. But believers who have not received strict basic theological teachings will be more prone to extremes if exposed to the Hyper Grace Gospel.     There is an extreme example of the Hyper Grace Gospel circulating on the Internet. I have no way to know if it is true or not, but I have heard many similar reports among Chinese Christians. The Facebook post reads: "Now the Hyper Grace Gospel from Singapore has flooded China. They believe that once they are saved, they can never lose their salvation. There is nothing wrong with sin. A female Christian who keeps having an affair talked to a pastor, and the pastor asked her to repent. She told him that according to the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel she had received, this is not a sin. Even the Gentiles know that immorality is a shame! The Hyper Grace proponents regard Jesus as a consumer product, giving them heaven for free without holiness and repentance. It's a highway that leads straight to hell." [2]   People who have heard the Hyper Grace Gospel first-hand have told me similar stories. I don't believe that Joseph Prince truly teaches these extremes, but some of his followers excessively expanded the grace element of the gospel and ignored the teaching about repentance and confession of sin.   We must look at the Hyper Grace Gospel in a balanced way. The Hyper Grace Gospel is like any other movement. If it is not from God, it will not gain much traction. But Satan tries to destroy God-given movements by pushing their teaching to extremes, thereby stigmatizing these practices. This is Satan's, usual trick and it is called the Straw Man Fallacy.   Let me give another example of this tactic. Witness Lee, the leader of the Local Church Movement where I was saved, advocated "calling on the Lord's name." The practice of calling on the name of the Lord helped believers pray by meditating on the name of the Lord. This is a very good spiritual exercise, and I have benefited a lot from it.   But the enemy has tried to destroy this movement by raising up people in mainland China who twisted Witness Lee's teaching. Some heretical groups in China stole this practice. Instead of calling on the name of the Lord, they call on the name of "Witness Lee" as if he were a god. This is not Witness Lee's teaching or the LCM. The enemy has harmfully distorted this practice in order to discredit it. Unfortunately, because of the enemy's destruction, not only the practice of "calling on the Lord's name" was stigmatized, but the LCM and Witness Lee were also stigmatized. Similarly, the Hyper Grace Gospel may contain truth from God's word, as well as areas that need to be corrected. Believers who support the Hyper Grace Gospel, believers who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel, and the church as a whole need to be humble enough to dialogue with one other. In some places, these conflicts are already very intense. Those who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel call the Hyper Grace Gospel heresy. But perhaps those people should reflect on the legalism of the church. Believers of the Hyper Grace Gospel should also reflect on how to avoid the extremes shown in the above examples.     Instead, the two parties who support and oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel have become emotional and are unable to resolve the contradiction. Like in the Corinthian church, the modern church struggles with rivalry and division. Remember, when believers are immature, they will experience these contradictions and rivalries. True spiritual fathers imitate Paul, who can look at problems from different perspectives.   On the one hand, Paul was able to accept weak believers, and on the other hand, he was able to feel joy in seeing believers' progress. We must also look at this issue from both perspectives. Too much emphasis on grace and too much emphasis on the law are both wrong aspects. Legalism will harm believers and prevent them from fully realizing God's grace in Christ; the extreme Hyper Grace Gospel also hurts believers, preventing believers from understanding God's holiness and strict discipline. These two aspects of truth need to be held in balance.   [1] [1] Ernest B Gentile, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy-Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, (Chosen Books, Grand Rapids, MI), 1999, 247-249 [2] https://www.facebook.com/godjesusloveme/posts/2371476159599706/    

Title: Graced Public Relations Part 2 Text: Titus 3:8-11 FCF: We often struggle insisting on what we ought to hold loosely and holding loosely what we ought to insist on. Prop: Because the gospel preached and lived is profitable for all men, we must teach and live the gospel and excommunicate all who refuse. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Titus chapter 3. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be back in Titus. However, I must admit that I am a little embarrassed that we are just now coming back to part 2 of this sermon. It has been over a month since you heard the first part of this message. I trust you were able to go back and listen to the previous sermon, but just in case you didn’t, I’ll take a little time to review what we saw from the first 7 verses of this passage. Paul is in the midst of telling Titus what to teach the people there on the island of Crete. In chapter 2, Paul explained how the gospel produces certain lifestyles in those who have truly received it. Lifestyles aimed at those within the church. Older men and women being examples and mentors to those younger men and women. Younger men and women teaching and Discipling their families. Paul hangs all of this on the fact that God’s grace, when it appears, saves His people to the uttermost. It does not provide a potential salvation, but rather a certain salvation. Those who experience His grace are set free from lawlessness and become eager to do good. Therefore Titus should insist on this kind of lifestyle in the church toward one another. In chapter 3 Paul turns that same message toward the unbelieving world. He begins by telling Titus to remind the Cretan Christians to submit to their ruling authorities, to be obedient, and generally to live holy lives of love and honor toward those who are outside the church. Why should Cretan Christians do this? Because they too were once the same way as the unbelieving world. They were foolish, slaves to sin, not desiring to seek God, nor even being capable of seeking God. But God invaded their life with his love and kindness. He saved them not by something they did but by His mercy, sending the spirit to wash and renew them, all made possible by the work of Christ. This declared righteousness comes by the grace of God and produces a confident faith in eternal life. They should live holy lives toward unbelievers because they have no room to boast. They would be exactly the same, if it were not for God doing something. So with that backdrop, let’s start our reading in verse 1 again and we will read through verse 11. I’ll be reading from the ESV today which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1346. Transition: Today, Paul will continue to show the Cretan Christians, how the gospel should be preached in purity and lived out in conduct. When they do this, it benefits all men. But for those who do not, action must be taken. I.) The gospel preached and lived is profitable for all men, so we must teach and live the gospel. (8) a. [Slide 2] 8 – The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, i. So right off the bat we have to wonder which saying this is talking about. ii. First, we must consider is this pointing back at what precedes it, or forward in what follows? iii. To answer that question, we need to go forward in the text a bit and see if there is anything that would be counted as a “faithful saying.” In order to be a faithful saying it needs to be something that is doctrinally full and somewhat memorable. Something that could be repeated like a Catechism or creed. iv. As we do that, we don’t really find anything. In fact, of all the “Faithful sayings” texts in the Pastoral Epistles, this seems to be the clearest when it comes to direction. It seems to very obviously point backward. v. However, that doesn’t fully answer our question. How far back does it go? Well what are our options? 1. [Slide 3] It is possible that it goes all the way back to verse 1. a. Chapter 2 ends with Paul telling Titus to not allow people in the church to dismiss His teaching. b. Then in chapter 3 he continues to instruct him what to teach. c. So, all he has said since verse 1 could be this saying. d. There are some reasons to doubt this though. i. Length is one of them. This is quite a “saying” if it encompasses these 7 verses. It seems a little long. ii. Paul’s words in verse 1 seem to be personal instruction to Titus and not a general saying for the whole of Christendom. Not that there is no application there, but it doesn’t seem to fit the mold of a “faithful saying” 2. [Slide 4] It is possible the saying goes back to verse 3. a. Here Paul turns to speaking truisms or stating theology or doctrine. b. He begins with man and who we are and ends with God’s work toward all who are His people. c. However, there are a couple issues with the saying going back this far. i. Again, length. It seems to be a little long to be a truism or statement of creed or confession. ii. Although Paul includes himself, and all Christians in this statement, it seems to hinge directly on the preceding verses. 3. [Slide 5] It is possible the saying goes back to verse 4. a. This is a much stronger possibility. b. All of what Paul says in these verses are said to “we” or “us” meaning Christians in general. c. It speaks of God and what HE does which makes for much better confessional or creedal material. d. It is a connected sentence with dependent clauses hanging on one another. You cannot really separate anything from 4-7 from each other. e. Really the only reason that this wouldn’t be the faithful saying is that it is lengthy. 4. [Slide 6] Finally, it is possible that the faithful saying is only verse 7 “being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” a. This is far shorter and encompasses great teaching. b. However, there are actually a couple problems here i. It may be too short. Verse 8 says that Titus should insist on these things. And with such a short statement, there isn’t a whole lot there to insist on. ii. This is very much a part of what was said previously to the extent that to divide it off seems to cut off part of what the saying is referring to. vi. [Slide 7] And so, I believe the best option, despite its length, is to go back to verse 3, especially since all that he says about God and His work in salvation is predicated upon man’s utter inability to save himself. vii. In this, Titus is to insist on these truths. He is to make it plain that these things MUST BE accepted as absolute truth of the church. viii. But why? Why are these things necessary to believe? b. [Slide 8] So that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. i. Ok. What is the connection here? ii. The summary of this statement of truth is what? That God does everything for our salvation and that we do nothing, because we can do nothing. His kindness, love, and grace appears and when that happens he saves us based on his mercy alone through Spiritual resurrection by the Spirit whereby he brings what was dead to life, all of which is made possible by the work of Christ. iii. In all of this the only thing we bring to our own salvation is the sin which made it necessary. iv. But how does that correlate with this statement – “so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” v. Well let’s break it down. What does it mean to “believe in God” here? vi. It does NOT mean to believe in His existence. It does not mean a simple assent to the truths mentioned in the statement. Instead, it is someone who has not only confessed that these things are true, but is depending on these things being true. vii. Believing in God is hoping exclusively in the fact of His work alone in our salvation – apart from anything we have done, including our own faith and good works! viii. Ok so what does “may be careful to devote themselves” mean? ix. “To be careful” means to put much thought, energy, time, and attention into something. x. “To devote” means to preside over or to appoint. However, this is in the middle voice, which is complicated to understand but it does change the meaning slightly, in that typically in the middle it is an action you are doing to or for yourself. And so, you are appointing yourself over. xi. What that does to the meaning is that it takes on a devotion. So, ways to translate it would be “to undertake resolutely” or “to practice diligently” or “to maintain the practice of” xii. Let’s put it all together. xiii. We must believe all that Paul has taught since verse 3. Why? xiv. So that those who were unable to seek God and are depending on God alone to save them, would put much thought and energy into diligently and resolutely practicing good works. xv. This amounts to the same thing from Galatians 5. Whom the Son has set free, is free indeed, but use your freedom for good works. Or Ephesians 2, where God’s gift of grace leading to faith and salvation, produces a person doing good works that God the Father has laid out for them before the foundation of the world. You see we must understand that before Christ we were wretches unable to do good works to the standard of God (who by the way defines all that is good, since he is the definition of good). Jesus said to the rich young ruler – why do you call me good? There is none good but God. But by God alone we are changed. And that truth we receive in faith, frees us from ever attempting by works what we could never earn. But it also frees us to be godly people and to live righteously. We are now able to devote ourselves to good works, but before God’s grace we were doomed to be judged by our works. xvi. The only path to a life that may be careful to devote itself to good works, is a life where it was once dead and God made it alive in Christ. xvii. So, we have our bookend. Paul began this chapter exhorting Titus to remind the people to live holy lives toward unbelievers, why? Because of doctrine. Because of what we believe about ourselves and our salvation. And what will right doctrine produce? Holy lives toward others. xviii. Paul continues… c. [Slide 9] These things are excellent and profitable for people. i. What things? ii. Good works? Or the truths from the faithful saying? iii. Certainly, the good works of believers are excellent and profitable for people. iv. Certainly, we are a city on a hill, we are salt, our good works will drive people to glorify God. All this is true. v. However, Paul is not focused on the result of our good works, but rather the cause of them. vi. Indeed, the root cause of our good works and all good entirely is God’s lovingkindness which He lavishes on those who are His people. That love is excellent and profitable for people. vii. Even unbelievers benefit from God’s goodness to His elect. Even unbelievers profit from the truths of total depravity and God’s acting alone to save His people. viii. How do we know this? Well, we live in a society that has rejected the concept that man is inherently evil and wicked. We live in a world where man is good from birth. Not simply neutral which would be were Pelagian the heretic would have landed. Not potentially good which is where Jacobus Arminius would have landed. No. We have progressed now to mankind being born good. ix. So, question… has this worldview been profitable and excellent for people? x. Christianity in America has been overtaken with the belief that man can actually do something to get salvation from God. From as much as sacraments, penance, and ritual to as little as belief, most of Christianity in America believes that man must do something in order for God to give him salvation. He must cooperate with God in order for God to forgive him of sin. xi. So, question… has that been profitable for the visible church? Has the visible church been growing with true disciples? Or is it shrinking? xii. Indeed, if the church in America would only grasp and understand these concepts – that man is wicked and that God alone acts to save them from the slavery of their sin… the visible church would be very small – but it would also be quite healthy with far fewer fake Christians. d. [Slide 10] Passage Truth: So Paul tells Titus that faith in these teachings, the teachings of the gospel, produces what we need to devote ourselves to good works. The gospel flows naturally to good works. And the gospel which flows naturally to good works, is excellent and profitable for all people. e. Passage Application: So in application Titus must insist upon these teachings. He must not allow any wiggle room here. The teachings of man’s depravity and God acting alone to save him from it are absolute necessities if the gospel is to remain untainted and effective. f. [Slide 11] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this text to the whole of scripture we arrive at the exact same conclusion. The gospel of Christ, whispered in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, Loudly proclaimed in the final words of Revelation, and expounded through the pages in between, this gospel, when applied to the heart of a man, does irrevocably change that man to be a doer of good. A keeper of the law. A fruit bearing Christ imitator. And through history in the scriptures and beyond them, we’ve seen the profitability for all mankind when the true gospel is believed and lived by God’s people. g. Broader Biblical Application: Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that we INSIST upon this teaching. Verses 3 through 7 are not questionable teachings. They are not grey areas we must agree to disagree on. No. They are the core of the gospel. That mankind – all mankind – are slaves to sin, unwilling and unable to seek God, and that God alone, apart from any effort or work of man, does save men to the uttermost. If you struggle with either of these teachings… you need to come talk to me. You need to get this right. This is the gospel, and you cannot walk through this life disagreeing with the core of the gospel while thinking you still have it somehow. The true gospel is what brings forth life in us. Make sure you have it! Transition: [Slide 12] So, we have seen that the gospel when preached and lived, has a positive effect on the world. That means it is all the more important that we insist on these teachings and live them out. But what if someone doesn’t? What if someone is less interested in insisting on the gospel and more interested in insisting upon their own opinions or teachings? What do we do with these teachings? What do we do with them? II.) The gospel preached and lived is profitable for all men, so we must excommunicate those who refuse. (9-11) a. [Slide 13] 9 – But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies., dissensions, and quarrels about the law, i. As we’ve seen, this entire section focuses on the gospel being lived out toward different groups of people. ii. First to the church in chapter 2, then to unbelievers in chapter 3. iii. Now it seems that Paul may be moving to a third group. iv. Well, if we are talking about those in the church and those not in the church – who else is there? v. What about those who are false teachers? Those who are causing trouble in the church. The reason these people don’t quite fit into the church or those outside the church is because they seem like they are a part of the church but they are teaching things that are worthless and unprofitable. vi. Paul advises that true gospel believers, people whose lives have been radically changed by the gospel will do what? vii. They will not seek out and engage in foolish controversies. viii. So, what constitutes a foolish controversy? ix. This is fairly difficult to try to define. x. And I think we are tempted in two different directions. 1. We are tempted to under-interpret this. Meaning that there is no such thing as a foolish controversy over anything in the scripture. So, everything in scripture is worthy of controversy and integral to the gospel. Therefore, it must be defended. If we interpret foolish controversies this way – we will always be fighting with one another. Such people bounce from church to church having been “run out” of every one because “the church was not concerned about the scriptures.” 2. On the other hand, we can be tempted to over-interpret this. Meaning that almost everything in scripture is not worth defending. If we interpret foolish controversies this way. key doctrines start falling by the wayside. This results in people rejecting the inspiration of the bible, the 6 day creation, the law of God, original sin, and pretty soon you have a church that stands for very little except a vague notion of Jesus that is not quite found in scripture. xi. So how do we strike that balance? How do we make sure we are not engaging in a foolish controversy, but that we also defend the things that actually matter. I think Paul has given us some clues in this very text. Both from what came before and what comes after. 1. First, he told Titus to insist upon the truths of the faithful saying. That mankind is wicked and depraved, slaves to sin, and unable to seek God – that seems like something that is not a foolish controversy. If that teaching is under attack – defend it. That God the triune does act alone to save a man from this state is also a truth worthy of defense. Even separation. Paul says – insist on these things. 2. Second, earlier in chapter 2 he tells Titus to not allow people to ignore his teaching, about what? The fact that God’s grace radically changes us to be free of lawlessness and to become a people who are eager to do good. So clearly Paul puts this in the “defend this teaching” camp. 3. Finally, in the things that follow we see some common threads. a. Genealogies. What is meant by this? Well in I Timothy we saw how at this time genealogies were used to add legends to or mythicize the scriptures. Turning them into words to build upon. So generally, any teaching that adds to the plain teaching of scripture, and does not attack the truths we just mentioned, should be something we avoid being drawn into fights over. b. Dissensions. Things that cause people to lose their tempers, or become needlessly heated are indications of things that ought to be avoided. If something is the truth no matter who believes it, it is easier to remain calm when defending it. If something is what you believe, it almost becomes a defense of yourself when someone attacks it. Therefore, instead of defending, you attack. That is a clue that it may be something to avoid fighting over. c. Quarrels about the law – This probably refers to the level to which someone should conform to the law of Moses. How Jewish does a Christian need to look? It is important to note that this is not in a pre-conversion context. In that, people need to be Jewish before being a Christian. Such a controversy would be worth defending the truth, as Paul does in Galatians. But, after becoming a Christian and then quarreling over the dietary laws, or meat offered to idols or other such things… this is what Paul is referring to. And so, controversies about things that concern practice and are somewhat grey in scripture – are to be avoided. When they aren’t avoided, they divide people and the diversity of the church diminishes. And by diversity I am not referring to race, but rather to perspective and practice. Christian metal enthusiasts and Hymns only Christians should be able to worship together. Sadly – they do not. And many churches actually separate the services so they don’t have to see each other. What a shame. b. [Slide 14] For they are unprofitable and worthless. i. Such conflicts over things that do not matter are wholly worthless and unprofitable. No one grows by them, no one learns by them, and all leave wounded from them. ii. This stands in direct contrast to the excellent and profitable nature of the truths in the faithful saying from verses 3 through 7. iii. So, Paul has shown what true believers are to do with the teachings of these people. Namely, they must avoid the teachings and the controversies. But what about the people themselves? c. [Slide 15] 10 – As for a person who stirs up division, i. So again, these are folks who appear to be a part of the church, but have come in and starting insisting on these foolish controversies, raising up strife, and ultimately not profiting the church or the watching world around them. ii. It should be noted that a person does not necessarily need to be a false teacher or promote a worthless or unprofitable teaching in order to be one who stirs up division. iii. Certainly, this seems to be where Paul is going – but the principle is sound and should be applied to all who stir up division. iv. So, what should the Cretans do with such a person who is stirring up division? d. [Slide 16] After warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, i. Three strikes and you are out. ii. What is going on here? iii. This gives us a pattern for how to deal with those who wish to insist upon controversial or foolish disputes. iv. First, the church as a whole, probably the leadership themselves will warn the individual that such teaching to which they are so aggressively clinging, is not excellent or profitable. It is not something that conforms to the level of faithful truth that we should insist upon and cling to. v. Therefore, they should stop insisting upon this teaching and stop stirring up division. vi. Applying this to any sort of division making, we can follow similar rules as it conforms to the general pattern for church discipline. Except of course that it is already a public matter. vii. After a second warning, the church is to excommunicate the individual if they persist. viii. This seems harsh right? Why should the church do this? e. [Slide 17] 11 – knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. i. A person who is unwilling to listen to the warnings of the church leadership and the church body… ii. A person who is so tied to his own opinion that he is willing to stir up division in the church over it… iii. Such a person is both full of sin and twisted. They are self-condemned. What does this last part mean? They are self-condemned? iv. Their desire for division and to be always right is what condemns them to excommunication. Although the church actually puts them in the “nothing to do with” category – ultimately the divisive person has no one to blame but themselves. f. [Slide 18] Passage Truth: Paul continues to put forward the idea that the gospel preached and lived is profitable for all men. But not only must Titus insist upon these teachings… g. Passage Application: Titus must insist on these teachings to the extent that any who continues to oppose and divide the church over other teachings, are excommunicated. h. [Slide 19] Broader Biblical Truth: Again we don’t need to look far to find that the true gospel preached and lived is impacting on the church and the world around us. i. Broader Biblical Application: But the other application in this text from this truth, is that the gospel’s purity and living needs to be kept to the extent that those who would cause division would be excommunicated from the church. This applies to any who would overemphasize teachings that are not the gospel, or underemphasize teachings that are, or teachings that cast aside good works. The overall perspective is a submission to the apostles teachings and the gospel given down through the church age. Any who would divide over the clear gospel, must be warned twice and then excommunicated. Conclusion: [Slide 20]So how can we apply this text to our lives today at CBC? What should we as a church take away from all this? Actually, this message today is extremely applicable to the state of the universal church in America and our church locally. I know – you are so shocked right?

This week's #Iwasgonnae podcast speaks to Paul Crawford an entrepreneur who not only has a business vision but can create a brand identity and does it amazingly well. Paul is the Former owner and co-Founder of the Sub Club and Founder Panther Milk The #Subclub nightclub in Glasgow was voted 16thbest nightclub in the world, Paul says about the Subclub ‘people in Glasgow just love to party', ‘that validation of being one of the best clubs in the world 'was an incredible high for us all. However, it was hard work from examining every detail of the sound system to creating their own font specific to the Subclub. Although Paul also remembers some of the hard times, like during the credit crunch years and ‘having to pay wages using my credit card' No matter if it's for nightclubs like the Subclub or Smart City products or more recently Panther milk and Yoxa Fit Paul's passion for what he does shines brightly like a human neon billboard for his businesses. Talking about Panther milk Paul tells us about traveling to Barcelona with a few of his friends to the Sonar music festival and ‘one of the local music promoters took us to the Avesta bar in the Gothic quarter and introduced us to Leche de Pantera', ‘so the first night that we were in Avesta bar I was with my girlfriend and a few others and I can't tell you much about what happened after that!' This was the start of Paul's fascination with producing #PantherMilk which is now available on Amazon. Paul's career highlight- ‘is still having the friends that were involved with me at the start'. Listen now to find out more about Paul Crawford's amazing life journey on Spotify.

Paul has trained and mentored people for over 30 years as a keynote speaker all over the world.  After 3 decades in the not-for-profit sector, Paul has successfully transitioned and reinvented as an educator through both his LIVE and online Masterclass events in Communication, Leadership and Personal Development.    Paul's three strands of focus are: Communication, Leadership and Human Flourishing.  His hallmark is making complex things simple.  Paul passionately believes it’s more important to grow people than things.     He believes that there's greatness in everyone and knows that most need the help of a well-chosen coach or mentor to discover it.   He is also the host of the podcast Growing Big People with Paul Scanlon. This was a fantastic conversation and one I am very grateful for having. Although Paul’s microphone quality isn’t as high as other podcast guests, the value he speaks more than makes up for it. This was a mini therapy session for me so I hope you get as much from it as I did.    Here are some of the things we talked about in today’s podcast:        How labels can become our identities and how to watch out for that in your own life     How to change your and upgrade your identity through repetition       How to develop ‘getting back up skill’s when life knocks you down      The art of unlearning beliefs, habits and behaviours that are no longer serving you      The super power of reframing      Why it’s okay to outgrow people     And much more.    SHOWNOTES:   Paul’s Website: https://www.paulscanlon.com/ Paul’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulscanlonuk/?hl=en Paul’s Link tree: https://linktr.ee/paulscanlonuk   BRIAN'S LINKS: The online business podcast https://briankeanefitness.com/business-podcast/ How to move your PT business online course https://briankeanefitness.com/online-business-course/ Rewire Your Mindset course (new): https://briankeanefitness.com/rewire-your-mindset-course/ BKF Online Course: https://briankeanefitness.com/bkf-online/    

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 313 “Mayday”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we at […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 313) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 312 “Sacrifice”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we at […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 312) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 311 “Liars”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we at […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 311) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 310 “Bear Witness”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 310) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 309 “Heroic”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we at […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 309) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Exclusive interview with Ann Dowd (Aunt Lydia) included in this episode! Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 308 “Unfit”! Although Paul and Caroline have a […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 308) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 307 “Under His Eye”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 307) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

One of crypto's most trusted voices of reason, Ari Paul, is gifted with the ability to stay neutral and logical while many others swing wildly between euphoria and depression. Although Paul remains optimistic towards Bitcoin, he understands that it fundamentally, and existentially, still has some growing to do as it morphs into the ultra-secure network many believe it will become. Furthermore, he knows that if grandma can't easily navigate and trust the system, it isn't truly ready for the masses. The truth isn't always easy to hear, but in this episode, Paul offers one of the most holistic and logical views regarding Bitcoin and the crypto space. Follow Ari Paul: https://twitter.com/AriDavidPaul In this episode, Melker and Paul discuss a range of topics including: The Coinbase listing breakdown Exposure to exchange tokens Bitcoin's existential risk Billion-dollar slippage Bull market phenomena Trusting grandma with crypto Coordinated Bitcoin attacks Fragmented crypto liquidity Uniswap rug pulls The natural trend towards consolidation Ledgers in a safety deposit box ---- NEXO Try Nexo's full-suite, instant crypto banking service, featuring: Savings accounts with up to 12% interest on crypto, stablecoins & fiat, Flexible crypto-backed credit lines at just 5.9% APR, An exchange with 75+ crypto and fiat pairs and best-price guarantee, All this and more wrapped up in a single Nexo Wallet. Start banking at https://thewolfofallstreets.link/nexo or download the app on Google Play or the App Store. ---- Legacy of Dead This episode was brought to you by Bitcasino. The worlds leading Bitcoin-led online casino and crypto-centric gaming destination. Wager your way into a world of opportunity, with the ultimate Fun, Fast and Fair crypto-casino experience. Deposit, wager, and withdraw in real-time with a host of top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), LiteCoin (LTC), Tether (USDT), TRON (TRX), Ripple (XRP), and more! Use the promo link https://thewolfofallstreets.link/Bitcasino, to unlock your 200 FREE SPINS in the Legacy of Dead Promotion. –––– COSMOS Visit https://thewolfofallstreets.link/cosmos to learn about the Cosmos Hub and how the $ATOM can connect every blockchain. Cosmos is the port city connecting chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum to ensure your liquidity on any chain can be used anywhere. Find new staking opportunities, applications, or build your own parachain at cosmos.network. https://thewolfofallstreets.link/cosmos --- If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with your colleagues & friends, rate, review, and subscribe. This podcast is presented by Blockworks. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: https://www.blockworks.co ---- Join the Wolf Den newsletter: ►►https://www.getrevue.co/profile/TheWolfDen/members

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 306 “Household”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we at […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 306) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 305 “Unknown Caller”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 305) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 304 “God Bless the Child”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 304) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 303 “Watch Out”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show as Daley Review, we […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Episode 303) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Thanks for listening to our Rewind episode for The Handmaid’s Tale Episodes 301 “Night” and 302 “Mary and Martha”! Although Paul and Caroline have a long history of covering this show […] The post The Handmaid’s Tale Podcast: Season 3 Rewind (Eps. 301+302) appeared first on Pod Clubhouse.

Title: Gospel Shaped Living Part 2 Text: Titus 2:9-10 FCF: We often struggle submitting and honoring our human authorities. Prop: The gospel changes the behavior of those who have received it, Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Titus chapter 2. Last week, we began this topic of behavior that fits with the gospel. Paul, counter to the false teachers prevalent in Crete, wants Titus to exemplify and teach behavior that flows naturally from someone changed by the gospel of Christ. This translates into the Older generation coming alongside the younger generation and teaching and demonstrating godly character. Young women with their homes, and young men as teachers. Now Paul will turn to a third group in the household of faith. A group that no doubt comprised a significant percentage of the Cretan church. A group that had a bad reputation in the 1st Century Roman world. And to top it all off today – as we discuss this group of people – we have to fight through out own contextual bias and modern baggage in order to understand what is truly being said. As as the cherry on top of that – once we finally do understand what is being said – we find the message to be quite intolerable by many who claim Christ. Perhaps even some in this room. I am in Titus 2. I will begin reading from verse 1 through 10 to keep the scope of this passage united. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible starting on page 1345. Transition: There is no doubt that like I Timothy 6, this passage is sure to be challenging for us to swallow. Especially in light of recent events. So let’s dive in and discover what God has for us. I.) The gospel changes the behavior of those who have received it, so we must be subject to our human authorities. (9) a. [Slide 2] 9 – Slaves are to be subject to their own masters in everything, i. In I Timothy, we commented extensively on slavery. ii. Given the hot button issue that it is, and its relevance to our current culture, let me review what we learned a few months ago. iii. First, we must realize that about 1/3 of the Roman population were slaves. Slavery was an integral part of their society. iv. As such, slavery was not as narrow as it has been applied in American history. People came into slavery by many avenues. Some experiences were as bad, if not worse than the American experience. Other experiences were far better than your average Employer/Employee relationship today. v. One thing is certain – slavery was part of the fabric of society. vi. To openly advocate for its abolition would marginalize Christianity as a zealot cult, and a particularly anarchistic one to boot. vii. But contrary to modern critics of the bible, there is certainly no unqualified support of slavery throughout the bible. viii. A beautiful example of this tension in scripture is Paul’s letter to Philemon. 1. Onesimus, a slave who had run away from Philemon, had found Paul in Rome. Under Paul’s witness, Onesimus experienced conversion to Christ. 2. Paul’s letter to Philemon is primarily focused on gaining Philemon’s consent to keep Onesimus with him in Rome. 3. But Paul does not hold Onesimus ransom – for he is the one delivering Paul’s letter. 4. Paul also NEVER comes close to advocating for Onesimus’ freedom to be granted. 5. Rather, Paul is far more concerned with Philemon considering him a brother in Christ. 6. Ultimately, Paul desires that love would reign. And he demonstrates this to Philemon by not commanding Philemon to give him Onesimus. Although Paul does make several arguments, nigh unto arm twisting, to get him to do that. 7. Still – Paul’s desire is to have Philemon love Onesimus and forgive him. ix. Since slavery was so broad, and could be legitimate and even preferred living in some situations, the bible never outright condemns its practice. It does however, deal with the more difficult and often overlooked issues related to slavery. x. We as humans want the microwave answer to everything. We desire the quick fix. Certainly, the quickest way to destroy slavery would be to outlaw it, yes? xi. But the gospel writers saw the reality. If slaves would truly obey and love their masters and masters would truly love be kind to their slaves – the abominable practices of slavery would fall away and all that would remain would be without cause of concern. xii. So why advocate for slavery’s end, when you could address the root of the problem of slavery. Which is not the institution itself, but the hearts of men within that institution. xiii. And as with any relationship, if only half of this equation is in Christ – that does not absolve that half from their holy obligations. 1. When 1 spouse is a believer and the other is not – what is Paul’s command to the believing spouse? Live a holy life before them – but do not divorce. 2. When a citizen is part of a nation where the leaders are godless – what is Paul and Peter’s command? To submit to their authority because it has been given by God. To honor their leaders. To pray for them. 3. When believing children are under the authority of their parents who are of mixed faith or both unregenerate, it does not abdicate the child’s responsibility to obey their parents. 4. And for masters and slaves alike, their obligations are to love and in the case of the slave, to submit and obey. xiv. There is no command in scripture to resist authority. xv. [Slide 3] There are only examples provided to us of God’s people disobeying. And in each case, there are two things that are common. 1. The command disobeyed is opposed to a direct command from God. a. In Daniel we have two kinds of examples. One of a non direct command of God and two of Direct commands of God. I am highlighting the non-direct command primarily to show how it differentiated from a direct command. i. [Slide 4] With the king’s meat, we have no direct command of God that the meat that was offered was a violation of the dietary laws. And in this case Daniel and the others have simply purposed in their heart not to eat the meat of the King. The text never tells us that is because it somehow violates God’s law. More likely it is one act to resist complete assimilation into Babylonian culture. But, in the end, they do not resolutely decide to disobey the command. Rather they barter with the authority and propose a test. ii. [Slide 5] With the command to bow down and worship the image of Nebucadnezzar of Babylon, the three men Hananiah, Azariah, Mishiel refuse to obey the command. But Nebucadnezzar makes it plain that the charge against them is not that they simply did not pay homage to him as a king, but also that they did not worship his gods. They replied with a firm no – we will not do that, regardless of the consequences. iii. [Slide 6] Later Darius of Medo-Persia listens to his satraps and issues a decree that all men should only pray to Darius and not to any other god. Daniel, so as not to appear to be following the decree but to continue his customary practice to pray with his windows open, did pray to God as he normally would. Thus, disobeying the command. b. [Slide 7] In Acts 5 we see the Sanhedrin council giving Peter and the other apostles strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus. They tried imprisoning them, from which an angel released them and they continued preaching. They were brought again before the Sanhedrin and Peter stated that they must obey God rather than people. 2. [Slide 8] In each of these examples we also see another thread of similarity. Although they did not obey the command of the authority, they still submitted to the punishment of the authority for violating their laws. Even though they were unjust laws. a. In Daniel, the men submitted to honor the outcome of the food trial. They submitted to the furnace. They submitted to the lion’s den. Even though they had no guarantee of the outcome. b. In Acts the apostles submitted to imprisonment and would have submitted to execution had it not been for Gamaliel’s sound advice to the Sanhedrin council. xvi. The point is this. In so far as it depends upon us, we must be at peace with all men. At times, we must disobey the command of an authority because it is opposed to a direct (not indirect) but a direct command of God. In this though, we still in some sense continue to submit. Because although we do not obey the law, edict, command or decree – we still submit ourselves willingly to the punishment for the law, and trust the Lord for its outcome. xvii. Why am I spending so much time on this? My friends, very soon we will no doubt be pressed on many sides. The Deacons and I have already felt the push against us. How far do we go to accommodate the commands of our godless authorities? What law is too far? What are the commands of God and what are simply our preferences or traditions? Can we creatively obey some laws so we obey God and man? These are all questions we must begin asking – and we must be sure to find our answers from scripture without abusing it to say what we want it to. xviii. [Slide 9] Slaves were notorious in Roman culture for being lazy thieves who often opposed their masters. Many ancient writers and play writers poke fun at the good-for-nothingness of slaves in this time. Meaning that slaves would have already been predisposed to kick against their master’s authority. xix. And then a slave comes to Christ! What does that change? What does that do? xx. Slaves would have had a lot of scriptural support to conclude that they must cast off their slavery. Indeed, their freedom in Christ demands that they do just this! Christ alone is King yes? xxi. Especially if my master is a tyrant! I must resist him and in resisting him I am obeying God yes? xxii. No. Paul tells slaves to be submissive to their masters. In some things? No, in everything! xxiii. This would have been culturally counter to a slave’s normal lifestyle. To the extent that it would have pointed to something radically different in the slave. Indeed, every single aspect of church and home life Paul has given in this chapter so far – would be radically different than their culture in Crete. xxiv. And Paul isn’t done. b. [Slide 10] To do what is wanted and not talk back, i. Not only must they obey their masters and do what they desire – but they must do so without talking back. ii. The word used here means to speak against or to answer again. This is without grumbling, without complaint, without argument and without insult. c. We would do well to remind ourselves again of the core of the entire section. What is Paul insisting for Titus to do? He is insisting that Titus speak about the behavior that is consistent with the gospel. Behavior that flows from the gospel. And what is clear, is that we are all rebels by nature. But through the gospel, we become obedient. We become zealous for love and good works. We become zealous for peace. In so far as it depends on us, we pursue it, without compromising God’s commands. d. So for the slave – they must submit to their God appointed authority and they must do all their masters desire without complaint. e. Paul will give the why for this in a moment along with another command but let us first review what we’ve seen in this verse. f. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: Paul again is emphasizing that Titus must communicate behavior that is fitting of sound doctrine. That lives who have truly received the gospel, do assuredly and progressively change to be conformed to Christ. g. Passage Application: So, Titus must teach slaves to not be like normal slaves but to submit to their masters and obey them to the extent that they would be pleased with the obedience. Not with complaint, but in love for Christ. h. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this, we have noted that all of scripture testifies to the truth of God’s life-changing power in the gospel. This Wednesday, one of our deacons had actually assembled a list of passages of scripture that convey this exact truth. And they are MANY! And by his own admission, he knows, that it is not exhaustive. i. Broader Biblical Application: So for us at CBC, we must be people who generally are submitted to every human authority. They are appointed by God for His purposes. Whether they do evil or good – they are there because He has put them there. And whether we disagree with their leadership, rules, edicts, laws, or decrees is completely irrelevant. We submit to their authority and obey to their satisfaction – without complaint. The only exception, is when they have commanded us to violate an explicit command of God. Even then, we submit to their authority to punish us for violating their despicable law. Transition: [Slide 13(blank)] So certainly, in regard to slaves and masters, the gospel flows outward in a slave’s behavior that is submissive and obedient to their masters. But it is not only submission that flows from the gospel… II.) The gospel changes the behavior of those who have received it, so we must love and honor our human authorities. (10) a. [Slide 14] 10 – not pilfering, i. Why would a slave steal from his master? ii. Jealousy, spite, to purchase their freedom, or simply as a way to get even. iii. The multi-natured motive of theft leaves us to conclude that generally speaking Paul insists on genuine Christian love and honor flowing from a slave to his master. This is realized not only in submission, but even in care for his master’s possessions without considering them or taking them for his own. iv. In other passages about slave and master relations, especially in I Timothy 6, we see this dyad of love and honor come into play. Not stealing from their masters certainly is an example of these broader principles. b. [Slide 15] But showing all good faith, i. This is a difficult construction in the Greek. ii. Many translations take the adjective “good” and put it in an attributive sense for the noun faith. Meaning, good faith. iii. This would give us another quality of a slave, in that he was trustworthy. This could certainly fit in the context and would even be a valid behavior for those slaves who are redeemed. iv. However, adjectives can sometimes be used to complement an object. Let me give you an example 1. [Slide 16] Justin made the chili awful.

Paul McCarney has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies. He researched social and ecological dimensions of wildlife research and management in the Arctic. Paul has a respectable resume of experience, not only in the academic world but also the outdoor world. Although Paul's journey didn't lead him into hunting until his adult years, it has become a central focus of many conversations in his life. On this episode we dive into discussions about defining trophy hunting, leading a productive dialogue while finding common ground in the conservation world and much more.   Paul's Blog Paul's Instagram Paul's Twitter

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 15 As we read Romans 15, we especially prayed that God would speak timely words to us and lead us in our current lives. Today is December 6, 2020 and the US election results have not yet been released. The coronavirus pandemic is still raging in the United States, and there are various negative news reports and comments spreading beyond the USA. Scores of people have been working at home for a long time, and there are still many uncertainties. We don't know when the pandemic will end; when we can go back to work; whether it is safe to get a COVID-19 vaccine; who will be the president of the United States; what the future of the United States will be; and how China-US relations will develop. These questions and many others invoke and weaken the hearts of many people, including the hearts of Christians. Many feel confused and are even living in fear. Christians are no exception. Under such circumstances, what timely words can Romans 15 provide us to comfort our hearts? Let me first point out that the context of the book of Romans is somewhat similar to our society today. The gospel of the Roman church was very prosperous and believers had strong faith. However, serious racial conflicts occurred in Rome. The conflict between Jews and Gentiles escalated to the point that that all Jews were forced to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (Acts 18:2). These serious racial conflicts within their society inevitably penetrated the church leading to conflicts between Jewish and Gentile believers within the Roman church. During the time the Jews were ordered to leave Rome, Priscilla and Aquila had arrived in Corinth from Rome where they met Paul. All three of them were tentmakers. I assume Paul gradually learned about the situation regarding the Roman church through his contact with these two which led him to become burdened with visiting the Roman church. Since the church in Rome had not been founded by Paul and he had never visited it before, we may wonder why Paul was so burdened for them. In my recording of the reading of the book of Romans, I mentioned many times that Paul may have learned about the situation of the Roman church–the conflicts between Gentile and Jewish believers–through Priscilla, Aquila, and others. Therefore, he was particularly burdened to visit them in Rome. He hoped that on his way to preaching the gospel in Spain, he would visit Rome (Romans 15:23-24). Although Paul had such hopes, he was not sure whether he would make it to Rome since he was mostly determined to go to Jerusalem to bring the financial offering of the Gentile church to the Jewish believers. Paul's purpose in doing this was to increase fellowship between the Jewish and Gentile believers. Since the Gentile believers had received spiritual blessings from the Jews and Christ and the gospel came from them, Paul also believed that Gentile believers should bring material blessings to the Jews, especially the poor among the saints at Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27). However, it was revealed through the prophecy of Agabus and others that if Paul arrived in Jerusalem he would be bound, and his life would be in danger. Therefore, Paul is unsure whether he will really have the opportunity to go to Rome, visit the church there, and go on to Spain through Rome. These were uncertainties for him. Under such circumstances, Paul wrote the book of Romans which is composed of sixteen chapters. Paul wrote to expose the truth of the gospel to the people of the Roman church. In the book of Romans, he specifically mentions that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jews and Gentiles are both sinners, but all are justified by faith (Romans 3:24). Romans is like an exhortation letter written to the Jews and Gentiles. It talks about the sins of the Jews and the Gentiles but that God first revealed himself to the Jews (Romans 3:2) and that the ancestry of Christ can be traced back to the Jewish patriarchs (Romans 9:5). In other words, God blesses the Gentiles through the Jews, and Paul uses this illustration to exhort the Gentiles to accept the Jews. On the other hand, Paul also exhorts the Jews to accept the Gentiles because God accepts them. Romans 15 is the penultimate chapter of the book of Romans. One more chapter and the book is finished. Therefore, at the beginning of this chapter, Paul once again talks about "how Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs" (ESV, Romans 15:8); and how God accepted the Gentiles (Romans 15:9-12). We can envision the conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman Church. Perhaps it is no less than the racial conflict in American society today. The serious racial conflicts between African Americans and Whites in American society are also reflected in the church. Although I personally don't think that the former president Donald Trump is racist, he is portrayed as such by some media outlets and, therefore, opposed by most African American churches and believers. I personally believe that Trump was a vessel chosen by God to bring America back to the foundations of a Christian nation. But because racial conflicts penetrate the church, many Christians clash over whether to support Trump or Biden. Some Christians who support Trump say, “Isn't it obvious that God has chosen Trump to bring the United States back to its foundation of a Christian nation? Biden and left-wing supporters condone abortion and homosexuality. Shouldn't every Christian oppose this? If you support Biden, wouldn't it be like murdering babies and accepting homosexuality? Do you still need to think about this? Shouldn't you support Trump who favors protecting lives and opposes abortion?” Since many people who oppose Trump believe that Trump is a racist, they claim he does not accept immigrants and even encourages white supremacists trends. They point out his sarcasm when talking about immigrants as leverage for their argument. I know a lot of African American pastors and believers that oppose Trump, some of whom are my seminary classmates and friends on Facebook. According to statistics, in the 2016 presidential election, only 8% of African American voters voted for Trump. Chinese immigrants have split into two factions. One group supports Trump are are called "Trumpists;" the other party is termed "Anti-Trumpists". The two factions often criticize each other on the internet. Coupled with the raging pandemic, we Christians live in such an environment. Many people worry about their lives and do not know what the future holds. A lady in our meeting recently commented, “In this situation, how can we hear God's voice clearly and know what to do?” She admitted that she can't hear God's voice clearly and is often confused. It can be comforting to see that Romans 15 is showing us that even an apostle like Paul, a person living in the center of God's will, did not fully understand God's leading. The Bible tells us that we know in part, and we prophesy in part (ESV, 1 Corinthians 13:9). In other words, even if we are prophets and God has spoken to us, what we hear and the pictures we see are not comprehensive. There's a lot that may still be unclear. Many prophecies were given that Trump would serve a second term of presidency and even that he will eventually win again. However, many things in the natural do not line up with this. Regardless, I firmly believe this will come to pass, but I know many Christians are still in doubt. We have the prophetic words, but we are not sure of their details. Paul's situation was similar. He insisted on going to Jerusalem, but Agabus and others told him through the Holy Spirit that he might be bound when he gets there. Still, Paul insisted on going, even if it meant  sacrificing his life. Since Paul was not clear about whether he would eventually go to the church in Rome, so he wrote the book of Romans. But when he was in Jerusalem, the Lord stood beside him during the night and encouraged him: "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." (ESV, Acts 23:11) This was something Paul didn't know before he went to Jerusalem. When he was imprisoned in Jerusalem, then the Lord appeared to encourage him. It's through the confirmation of Lord's prophetic words that Paul became sure he would reach Rome. He still hoped to travel from Rome to Spain, but the Bible and historical records unfortunately do not record in detail whether he had eventually arrived in Spain. Perhaps, he was already martyred in Rome before he arrived there. Even after receiving confirmation from the Lord, Paul still did not know about every step of his life. Therefore, people expecting us (Christians) to know everything today is impossible. We don't know when the coronavirus will end. We don't even know who the president of the United States will be. But this is not important. The important thing is that Paul lived completely by faith and hope in God during his process, and he also encourages believers today to live by faith and hope during theirs. This is the inspiration I received when I read Romans 15. I encourage you brothers and sisters joining our Bible Study, not to focus on the difficulties and perplexities of the environment around you, but to focus on God's laws and His loving nature. We should focus on His promises as well. Just as God opened a path for the Israelites through the Red Sea and saved the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines, He will also save us from today's Pharaohs and enemies. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is eternal. He saved us in the past, He will also save us now. Since He loves us, He will save us to the end (Hebrews 7:25). Paul had experienced a great deal of suffering in his life, but he was full of endurance and hope in his suffering. He said, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” (ESV, Romans 5:3-5) In his suffering, Paul developed faith, joy, endurance, character and hope. Hope did not put him to shame, but rather elevated him to stand victoriously before God. Today, we Christians experience suffering. We may not fully understand God's will and His presence in our society. Therefore, during these times, God wants us to learn how to endure and have faith amidst crises. We need to know God's laws and His loving nature. We need to also know and trust that He will save us even to the end. If we are rooted in Him and if we rest in Him, we will be saved because God's word tells us, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (ESV, Isaiah 30:15) Paul also said in Romans 16:20 (ESV), “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." At this time, we Christians should live out our faith with endurance and be full of hope for God's promises and salvation. We should also be full of peace and should not be restless with the changes happening around us including uncertain rumors. Remember, our victory lies in resting in the Lord! The result of certain things according to God will be manifest, but the process is also important. It is a process of maturing our faith and endurance. We cannot overlook the process. The verses I prayed and sang this week were Romans 15:5-6 and 15:13. These are Paul's exhortations in this chapter. Verses 5-6 (ESV) say, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Here, Paul identified God as the God of endurance and encouragement! When the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman church were in conflict, Paul encouraged everyone to endure and accept each other in love. He prayed that the God of endurance and encouragement would allow Jewish and Gentile believers to accept each other in Christ Jesus that they may live in harmony with one another. This is also good encouragement for the American Church today. Verse 13 of Romans 15 (ESV) says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." I spent time this week praying this verse. This verse again mentions that God is the God of hope. Because of our faith, we are filled with joy and peace. We will also abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Several of us who read this verse felt that this is what the Holy Spirit is really saying to us today. In the current, difficult atmosphere of the United States, we must learn to be rooted in the Lord, exercise our faith and endurance, and be full of joy and peace. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and be full of hope for God and the future. I recall hearing a preacher state that when the great revival is approaching, God will allow turmoil to happen in society. The turmoil includes plagues, wars, and disasters. The purpose of these is to shake people's hearts and shake everything that can be shaken, so as to produce an unshakable kingdom (Hebrews 12:28). At this time, churches and Christians are like medical teams prepared by God. They are called and trained by God to find the injured, bind up their wounds and preach the gospel to them. The best time to preach the gospel is during times of turmoil. Turbulent environments are environments set up by God to shocks unbelievers by allowing them to see that believers are living in peace, joy, endurance and hope amidst the turbulence. Although Christians are touched by it, they demonstrate a trust in God thus showing unbelievers that God does exist. These unbelievers will therefore trust and accept the Lord. Unfortunately, many Christians are as panicky and fearful as the people of the world, thus they cannot fulfill God's call and become a witness for Jesus Christ. Instead of rushing out to the battlefield to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, some people are hiding in the trenches because of fear. I recall jokingly hearing that the people who hide in the trenches because of fear of death often cannot escape the cannonball attack. The turbulent atmosphere raised up by God is not for the purpose of judging the church, but the world. The church brings salvation and is a lighthouse and a doctor when the world experiences turmoil. If we, Christians, are afraid and anxious, how can we be a lighthouse in the storm? In one of my prophetic dreams, I saw an angel stretching out a huge stick from heaven to the ocean on earth. He began to stir it and after which, I saw the waves surging. Many people's houses were destroyed and people were running for their lives. I found myself, however, miraculously swimming to a safe place. My interpretation is that the time of turmoil is just beginning. The purpose of turmoil is to shake people's hearts and bring in the great harvest of the gospel. Those who are living God's will, who testify to the Lord and preach the gospel, will receive His miraculous protection. We must seize the opportunity to preach the gospel. We must especially live in peace, joy, endurance and hope so that the God of peace can crush Satan under our feet. Peace is our greatest weapon during chaotic times. John Wesley once preached the gospel to American Indians. His results were not good and instead very frustrating. On his way back to England, the ship encountered a huge wave during its voyage. The passengers on the ship screamed in terror, and Wesley was also very frightened. He then saw a group of Moravian brothers gathered very quietly in the front singing hymns. Their faith in God moved Wesley deeply and it caused Wesley to recognize his lack of faith. This became a spiritual turning point in Wesley's life. Later, Wesley became a devoted servant of God and brought great revival to England. This shows that Christians living in faith and peace in God are a very strong testimony. I still have countless prophetic dreams. In some of these dreams, God has told me that this world will go through a lot of fierce turmoil and immense spiritual warfare. But God has a beautiful purpose. Countless people will enter the unshakable Kingdom of God because of this. We should not simply hope that the turmoil will pass. We should learn to endure, have faith, and be full of joy, peace, and hope during the turmoil. Peter said, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (ESV, 1 Peter 1:6-9) Paul also had the same experience as Peter. His life was full of trials and hardships, but he lived in joy, peace, endurance and hope. Paul continually urges believers to pray and live out this same experience. This is the inspiration and the timely words of the Holy Spirit that we received when reading Romans 15 in our group time. I hope these words will encourage any Christians who are currently dealing with anxiety. Don't worry, God sits on the throne and reigns. He controls everything. We just need to turn our hearts to Him. If we sin, we should repent and. We may also pray that the world repent and be saved. God will surely guard us amidst our difficulties! Since He loves us, He will save us to the end. Because Jesus Christ, our high priest, lives forever! We should become ministers of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (ESV, Romans 15:16). This is God's will for us! May we receive endurance and encouragement from the God of endurance and encouragement! May we get hope from the God of hope!

Title: Introduction to Titus Text: Titus 1:1-4 FCF: We often struggle with the daunting work that God has given us. Prop: Because all God’s elect, in every role, are tools of God for His purposes, we must depend on God to work through us. Book Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Titus chapter 1. Today we begin our second of three pastoral epistles. At the beginning of I Timothy, we delved into the background of these books. Let me review that a little, especially since Titus shares the same contextual backdrop as I Timothy. As we noted at the beginning and end of I Timothy, these epistles are called the pastoral epistles, but probably should be renamed the Ecclesiastical Epistles. Meaning they were written specifically to talk about the order, practice, behavior, purpose, direction and focus of the entity known as the ecclesia, the assembly, the church. Not the building, but the people. Not necessarily on an individual level, as most epistles are written, but as a body of believers. Although disputed by more recent and more liberal scholars, Paul’s authorship is resoundingly affirmed by early church fathers and by conservative scholars. Although the history is unclear, we supposed that sometime after Paul’s imprisonment recorded in Acts 28, Paul was released and went on a 4th missionary journey. In this, Paul set up Elders in churches along the way to deal with growing problems. [Slide 2] On his way to Macedonia, he leaves Timothy in Ephesus and stops by the island of Crete. There he leaves Titus. He sails from there to the region known as Macedonia and to the city called Nicopolis. That means that I Timothy and Titus were probably written at the same time and from the same place. Probably around AD 62-63. So who is Titus? Titus was an uncircumcised gentile Christian. We know this about him because Paul says so in Galatians 2. He went with Paul to Jerusalem to authenticate Paul’s message before the other apostles. On this occasion, They did not ask that Titus be circumcised. This validates Paul’s argument in Galatians, that gentiles need not be Jewish first before being Christians. Other than this though, we don’t know much about Titus. He was an early convert of Paul, that much is true. He has probably been assisting Paul for more than a decade. We know that Paul sent him to the church of Corinth as his emissary, both delivering Paul’s message in II Corinthians and also helping the church at Corinth to understand and apply it. [Slide 3] Although we can’t be sure, it seems that unlike Timothy, Titus’ job in Crete was far less permanent. Paul talks about Titus rejoining him in Nicopolis, and in II Timothy we actually find that Titus is in Dalmatia, which is modern day Croatia and Bosnia. Across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Titus, according to church tradition, went back to Crete after Paul’s death and remained there serving until he died. [Slide 4] With these details, a picture emerges of Titus. Although not much is said about him, and although he is only written this short letter – it seems that Titus was Paul’s righteous “fixer.” He goes to Corinth, a fairly difficult setting with all kinds of problems, and a whole lot of disunity and disorder, and helps to bring them to order. And now he is being left, for a short time, to do the same for the church in Crete. Although Paul exhorts Timothy often in I and II Timothy about his own character, and even encourages him not to be timid. Titus is never really given much exhortation. To that degree then, Titus sets himself apart from even Timothy, as a man whom God uses to right the ship. As with I Timothy, some kind of false teaching has arisen there in Crete. The teaching is similar but not identical to what Timothy was facing in Ephesus. Paul is sending Titus to get it under control but the method for doing this is somewhat different than what he recommends for Timothy. The themes in Titus largely reflect the themes in I Timothy with one addition. There seems to be a heavier emphasis on the confession of proper truth. Certainly, Paul’s message is a gospel that produces godliness. However, Paul takes pains to give strong doctrinal statements that are simply not in I Timothy. And the emphasis is on the gospel shaping the church to look like Christ. Much like the picture above – we are slaves and pawns. Jars of clay. Yet when we look into a mirror – the reflection should be our King. We are still keeping our eyes out for specific phrases. Although Paul never breaks into doxology in Titus (interesting since there is more theology here than in I Timothy) there is one “this is a trustworthy saying” in Titus. I plan to read the entire book of Titus this morning. I would ask that if you feel so inclined to read a chapter from Titus, please go ahead and make your way toward the front and sit in one of these front pews. We only need 3 volunteers today. But, before we read the text itself, and as the volunteers make their way up, there are a number of challenging passages or concepts in Titus that we will be studying. Chapter 1 1.) Is one qualification of an Elder that their children are saved? That seems… kind of out of their hands, right? 2.) Paul insults an entire people group. Racism? 3.) Christian liberty unleashed – all is pure to those who are pure? Chapter 2 4.) Wives duties are to keep the house and to submit to their husbands??? Oh boy. 5.) Slaves again. Not a problem to have them… oh Paul. 6.) Universalism again. God’s grace has appeared bringing salvation to all people?!?! Chapter 3 7.) Submission to wicked rulers and authorities… again?! That is not very American of you Paul! 8.) Regeneration precedes works. If our State of Theology Survey proved anything, it was that our church is not unified on this teaching. Many believe that faith precedes regeneration. However, Paul in Titus makes it clear that regeneration precedes works, it does not follow works. 9.) Justified by faith, grace, or works? The bible says all of them. So, which one is it? 10.) The harshest of church disciplines… for a divisive person. Pray Scripture Reading At this time, I’ll ask for three volunteers to come up to the front here and read a chapter in the book of Titus. Each chapter is no more than 16 verses long, so it shouldn’t be too taxing for us. We did this with I Timothy, and it was wonderful hearing the entire letter read in one sitting. If you are not reading, you can follow along in your bible and on the outline which was printed for you instead of sermon notes this morning. Scripture Intro: [Slide 5] I will read one more time the text for this morning. Titus chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. I am reading from the CSB this morning, but you can follow along in the pew bible on page 1345 or in whatever version you have. Transition: Well, we won’t linger long in the text this morning but I want to allow Paul to introduce himself and express his warm greeting to his friend and spiritual son, Titus. Let’s dive in. I.) Church leaders are but tools of God, used for His purposes, so we must depend on God to work through us. (1-3) a. [Slide 6] 1 – Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, i. Once again, Paul identifies himself. ii. Paul describes himself as a slave of God. This is not a title that is unique to Titus. In fact Paul calls himself the slave of Christ or God often. iii. Indeed, the New Testament writers refer to God’s people as His slaves. And although this word can refer to bondservant, ie, one who submits freely to serve another… it doesn’t necessarily mean that in the context. iv. In the truest sense of the word, Paul is the slave of God. He does what His master says, regardless of his own personal will and to the disregard of his own person interests. v. But Paul speaks often of how merciful and gracious his Master is. So it is a joyful slavery. vi. Paul also describes himself as an apostle. vii. The word itself means emissary, delegate, or ambassador. viii. If this was all the word meant, it may be true in some sense to refer to all of God’s children as apostles. In fact, Paul calls every Christian an ambassador, or representative of Christ in II Corinthians 5. ix. He does not use this word though. x. Although the raw definition of apostle can mean ambassador or delegate, it is clear that even early on in the church’s history, the word apostle was a reference to a particular office. xi. The apostle is a delegate of Christ. His representative. In a direct kind of way. This office was established for the foundation of the church and has since expired. It is interesting that no one claimed to be an apostle of Christ in the early church after these men died. By the time of John’s writing Revelation, he was the last one. xii. So has the church been established today? xiii. I read a stat the other day… Do you realize that there are 3 times more members of Southern Baptist Churches than there were citizens of the Roman Empire during the time of Nero? xiv. The church has been established, and therefore, we do not need apostles any longer. We need the apostles teaching, which is the teaching of Christ… THAT is sure. But the next big leader we wait for in the church – is the return of Christ – not another apostle. xv. In fact, with all these high-profile church leaders apostatizing doctrine, or being involved in gross unrepentant sin – I’d say that hope in any would-be-apostle is quite silly. xvi. So, all that to say – Paul is an apostle, but no, we don’t have any more today. b. [Slide 7] For the faith of God’s elect i. Paul now answers the question why. ii. Why has God made Paul His slave? Why has Paul been commissioned to be an apostle of Jesus Christ? iii. For the faith of God’s elect. Now what makes this phrase particularly challenging is because Paul uses a preposition here that has a wide variety of uses. Two of the most popular among our many English translations are… 1. According to the faith of God’s elect, meaning that his calling as an apostle is in the same vein or teaching as the faith received by God’s elect. 2. For the faith of God’s elect, meaning the purpose of his calling as an apostle was to see God’s elect receive faith a. As a subpoint here some translations say for the sake of or to further the faith of God’s elect. Meaning that his apostleship was to grow the faith of God’s elect. iv. All of these are certainly true – but I tend to favor the second option most without its subpoint. Perhaps reading up on Paul’s missionary trips these last couple weeks has colored my view, but it seems that Paul’s apostleship was all about seeing God’s elect receive faith in Christ. v. Certainly, that could mean ongoing faith. But here particularly I believe Paul is getting at seeing God’s elect come to Christ for the first time. vi. Then the ongoing nature of his apostle ministry is… c. [Slide 8] And their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness i. [Slide 9]So here we have the trilogy of faith. 1. Truth received from God by which we are saved (Christ’s faithfulness) Not in our receiving it, but in the effectiveness of the truth that we receive. 2. Growing Intellectual understanding of the faith (knowledge of the truth) 3. Proper behavior that must come from faith (godliness) from faith to faith (Romans 1) ii. The trilogy of faith toward God’s elect is the purpose of Paul’s slavery to God and apostle call from Christ. iii. This was essentially the primary focus of I Timothy – and indeed that endures in Titus. A gospel that brings faith in Christ to God’s people and grows them in knowledge and holiness. iv. But knowledge and holiness is not the ultimate goal of this faith or Paul’s calling as an apostle. d. [Slide 10] 2 – in the hope of eternal life i. When biblical writers talk of hope, they do not mean wishful pie in the sky desires. ii. Rather they mean blessed expectation of future peace and joy. iii. That hope is in eternal life. iv. But why would we hope in this? e. [Slide 11] That God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. i. So, this whole phrase starts easy enough, but finishes with a perplexing statement. ii. First, God who cannot lie has promised us eternal life. iii. That God is not a liar is simple to understand but is a mega theme in all of scripture. iv. Why will God’s Word not return Him void? Why is His word truth? Why is God faithful to His own Word? Why does God continue to show mercy and give grace? v. It all comes down to this truth. God has promised and God is not a liar. It only takes 1 lie to be a liar and God isn’t one. vi. But when did God promise this? vii. Before time began. Why is that perplexing? viii. Well, when did time begin? There can be several suggestions but really, they all revolve around the moment God spoke creation into existence. ix. So before that time, God promised eternal life. Does anyone see some problems with that? 1. Who was there to hear the promise? 2. How can this promise of eternal life happen before the fall of man? x. These are some… HUGE questions. I mean you want to talk about things that I am really not prepared to teach on, this is a BIG one. xi. But let me make a suggestion to you – in order to reorient your thinking about the elect of God. xii. God has promised that His elect will be given eternal life through union in Christ before they even existed. Before men fell. Before time began. Who did God promise this to? Christ. He promised this to His unique Son. xiii. Now already, your alarm bells are starting to ring. I realize that. Already you are probably thinking – wait, isn’t the promise of eternal life for me? It is. But the promise wasn’t made to you… it was made about you. It was made to Christ, the second person of the Godhead. Or perhaps you are struggling with the other part. How could God have chosen people to have eternal life in Christ before men had fallen into sin and death? xiv. Another time, perhaps when I am more prepared for such a large discussion, we can enter into all this. In fact, in II Timothy, I know there is a passage where this will come up again, and it is the first chapter so we’ll be getting to it fairly soon. xv. But understand this. Your salvation in Christ as the elect of God was no mere accident, nor did God leave it up to each person to decide whether they wanted it or not. xvi. My friends, if you are in Christ – God foreordained and predestined you to be in Christ before he spoke the world into being. xvii. And although He did that for you – it is a promise He made and is fulfilling to His Son. That He would gather a people for Him - forever. xviii. And my friends… God is not a liar. xix. Even though all I have said can be the cause of much debate, listen to me… don’t let it. xx. Rather – bask in the truth of God’s promise for you. If you are in His Son, you are part of a promise God made to Christ before the foundation of the world. xxi. If your response is… why me? You are on the right track. f. [Slide 12] 3 – In His own time He has revealed His word in the preaching with which I was entrusted i. Paul has spoken of the hope we have of life in eternity future. ii. Paul has reference how the promise of that life was made in eternity past. iii. Now Paul connects the end and beginning to the now. iv. God, according to His own timetable, according to His own will… v. Has revealed this redemption plan through His Word. vi. His word that is always true vii. His word that is our faith viii. His word that reveals Christ ix. God has peeled back the curtain for His elect to see this truth. Indeed, He did so as Paul himself preached it to many. Including Titus Himself. g. [Slide 13] By the command of God our Savior. i. The preaching of the gospel of God is a command levied upon this apostle. ii. He is required to take and give this truth to all. Knowing that God is in the business of revealing it to His elect. iii. And in this way… God, not Paul, Not Apollos, Not the believer themselves, no… God alone is our Savior. iv. He has promised His Son, eternal life in Christ before time began for His elect, His bride. And God has opened up the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the hard of hearing, he has risen the dead, birthed anew His elect to receive His truth. v. That by faith in Christ, not faith in our faith in Christ, but by faith in Christ alone we will be saved. h. [Slide 14] Passage Truth: So, Paul’s introduction is one of power and authority. His slavery to God and apostleship from Christ is for the benefit of the elect of God and in hopes of that eternal life promised by God to His people. i. Passage Application: We have not yet arrived an any exhortation, but we can reasonably conclude that dependence on God is primary. j. [Slide 15] Broader Biblical Truth: From the rest of scripture, we know that God has appointed people throughout the ages to speak His message to the those who will receive it by faith. Paul is but one man in a long line of faithful preachers of God’s Word that is yet unbroken, even to today. k. Broader Biblical Application: And so, with humble hearts we cry out to God to continue His Kingdom work in and through us, even today. Until that hope of eternal life, which He promised to His Son for His people, would be fully realized. Transition: [Slide 16(blank)] So Paul has a high calling that is only possible through God. But who is Paul writing to, and what is his desire for that person? II.) All God’s people are tools to accomplish His will, so we must depend on God to work through us. (4) a. [Slide 17] 4 – To Titus, my true son i. Titus is a true or genuine son of Paul’s. ii. Of course, this is not talking about Titus as the physical son of Paul – but rather his spiritual son. b. [Slide 18] In our common faith i. Common here does not mean hum drum or ordinary. ii. Common instead means shared. iii. This is the word that Catholic was taken from. And once upon a time, before Roman Catholicism forever took the word, Catholic would always mean shared or same. iv. That is why in the apostle’s creed we see the expression catholic church. It doesn’t mean Roman Catholic; it means agreement in doctrine. c. [Slide 19] Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. i. As we have come to understand, grace is God’s supernatural empowering to do something that we cannot hope to ever do on our own. ii. Peace here refers to peace with men but also with God. A cessation of hostility with both. iii. Although this is one of Paul’s standard greetings, it is interesting that he goes on to mention the senders of this Grace and Peace being God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. iv. So, absent from this list is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. v. Once again, the case is made that where God’s grace is, the Holy Spirit is, necessarily. d. [Slide 20] Passage Truth: Paul is writing to his spiritual son in common faith, Titus. His fixer. His hammer. His tool that God has given him to go and solve problems in churches. e. Passage Application: But to do this, Titus must not rely on his past, his accolades, his pedigree, or anything save the grace and peace of God. Sent by the Father and His Son the Savior Jesus Christ. f. [Slide 21] Broader Biblical Truth: So we also are instruments and tools for God’s use in this world. To be used in His power and direction to fix and mend what He directs us to fix and mend. g. Broader Biblical Application: But we cannot hope to do this on our own, or even united together. We must rely on the abundant gifts of our Father and Savior. The Triune God. Conclusion: [Slide 22(end)] So CBC, what does this brief little intro of Titus mean for us? How does it affect how we live? Paul alludes to this tension right in the first verse. He is both a slave of God and an apostle of Christ. He is both very lowly – but also of the highest rank possible in the early church. What does this mean? That no matter how we look at it – we are all tools of God used for His Kingdom. We are all equally blessed of God to be part of what He is doing, no the other way around. And although we may inhabit different roles within that framework – the bottom line is, that we are all one in Christ. We are all pawns reflecting our King. Paul is an apostle, Timothy is an Elder, Titus is a fixer – but they are all commissioned by God for the faith of His elect and the knowledge of the truth which produces godliness. They all share the same hope of eternal life that God has promised to His Son that He would give them. This great salvation, this great work we have before us – friends – it is all God. From top to bottom, from eternity past to eternity future – it is all Him. Although Paul is an apostle, he is also a slave like you and I. Although Titus is a fixer, he needs God’s grace and peace. My friends, there is no one in the universal church who is outside of this framework. And Paul is about to tell Titus to set up Elders for the church in Crete. But not because Elders are the answer. Rather because Elders are those given the role by God to reveal God’s truth. As we begin this book, knowing that there are problems that this church in Crete faces – we can gain a great deal of encouragement to know, that whatever we may face as a church in Columbus Michigan – it will only be solved by dependence on God the triune. His grace, His peace, His presence, His truth. We are like Titus. Whatever Paul is about to command, it is only possible through God’s grace and peace. And no matter what we may face in the days and years to come, it is only possible through God’s grace and peace.

Bible Study with Jairus- Acts 17 In the beginning of Acts 17 it tells us that Paul and Silas came to the synagogue in Thessalonica to preach the gospel. Some people were persuaded, but it also led to the opposition of many Jews. The Jews wanted to bring Paul and Silas out to the crowd but could not find them. Because of this, the Jews dragged Jason out who had received Paul and Silas. Because of this, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and upon their arrival, they started to preach the gospel in the synagogue. The people there were more open-minded than the Thessalonians. When the Jews in Thessalonica heard about it, they came over to stir up trouble again. The believers then sent Paul to the coast and escorted him to Athens, while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. When Paul arrived in Athens, he asked the people who escorted him to let Silas and Timothy come over. Then the Bible records: 17:16 (NIV) While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17:17 (NIV) So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 17:18 (NIV) A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. The Christian woman who was leading our Bible Study asked, “Why is it that the Jews of Thessalonica were so opposed to Paul's evangelism and when Paul arrived in Berea, why did the Jews from Thessalonica travel to Berea to oppose Paul? Why is it wherever Paul and Silas went, they went to the synagogue first to preach the gospel? And why is it when Paul arrived in Athens, he still let Silas and Timothy to come over? It seems that Timothy had always been with Paul, but why is it he didn't mention Timothy when he was in Thessalonica and Berea? After the Jews brought Jason to the crowd, why was it recorded in Acts 17:7-8 (NIV) that: "Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil." Why were they thrown into turmoil? There are a lot of questions here but we can only answer one at a time so let's start with why the Jews were thrown into turmoil when they heard Jesus was king. I shared that there was a historical background to this which I learned while I was studying Christian theology. During the time when the Israelites were against Roman rule, there were several different Jewish factions. The Herodians and Sadducees mentioned in the Bible were Roman advocates; but the Pharisees and the Zealots advocated for independence and were opposed to Roman rule. In particular, the Zealots advocated the use of violent and revolutionary means to overthrow Roman rule, and they launched violent uprisings against Roman rule but were brutally suppressed by the Romans. After the brutal crackdown, the Zealots were almost completely exterminated. The Pharisees were basically politically cautious. They didn't fiercely advocate revolution, and thus survived. But the faction that advocated cooperation with the Romans occupied a large part of Israel's upper class. Why were the Jewish crowds and the city officials thrown into turmoil when they heard that Jesus was another king? One of the reasons may be that many Jews advocated cooperation with the Romans. It can be said that they were "Jewish traitors”. So, if Jesus (another king) came and if He was able to lead the Israelites in a successful revolt, would they have to liquidate the history of these traitors? And Jesus is really the king of Israel. Not only were these Jews afraid that He would become king, but even his disciples were hoping that He would really be king in order to lead them to revolutionary success and to drive the Romans out and restore Israel's glory. Looking at these two examples, the identity of the Lord Jesus as a Jewish king does bring hope but it also poses a threat to some groups of people. Although Jesus had already been crucified when Paul preached the gospel, talking about Him as another king of the Jews could have caused another Jewish revolution.  The revolts might have been successful and the Roman advocates would be called traitors.  If the revolution wasn't successful the Israelites would be brutally suppressed by the Romans again.   Therefore, there were valid reasons why the Jews fiercely opposed evangelism. It could even be said that it was a very legitimate reason to protect the Israelites from harm. Those who hold this view believe that the people who were opposing Paul's evangelism were actually protecting ordinary Israelites from the Romans, because the history of the fierce suppression of the Zealots was still fresh in their memory. It may be for these reasons, plus several others, that these Jews from Thessalonica had gone to Berea to oppose Paul's evangelism. In both places, Paul was forced to leave. Please note that the first time Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica and flee to Berea, he was with Silas. The second time Paul was forced to leave Berea and was escorted to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. When he arrived in Athens, the one who escorted Paul had taken orders from him and went back to call Silas and Timothy to come over Athens, and left. Here, I guess the person who escorted Paul is just one person, or even if it's a few people, they were all gone. After Paul was left alone, he encountered a lot of difficulties. Herein lays the problem. When American pastors and teachers travel to other countries to preach, they spend many exhausting hours on the plane and then often proceed directly to the place they are to preach.   Many times they are already exhausted when they reach their destination. They need to be strengthened by the Lord before they can finish their sermon. Even though we have airplanes and better traveling conditions, a long flight is still exhausting.  If that's the case, imagine that if you were Paul, and you traveled long distances to evangelize and you were continuously being chased. Now you are alone in Athens, and Athens is full of idols. How would you react? Let's look at Paul's reaction. Acts 17:16-18 (NIV) says that: 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. How should we look at this passage? The church that I was saved in was more in favor of Paul's work. In my spiritual education, Paul was rarely criticized. But when the Lord led me to look at the teachings of some of the Bible teachers outside the traditions of my evangelical church, I heard some criticisms towards Paul. I heard a message from Rick Joyner that there are statistics showing that 80% of the Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Bible after Martin Luther's Reformation have been about Paul. Rick saw Paul once in a vision. Paul told him that everyone has highly exalted him. They should not take his work to analyze the four Gospels. Instead, they should use the words of the four Gospels to measure his works. Rick Joyner also said that Paul's life has undergone three stages of growth and change. The initial stage seems to be what he said in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians (NIV), “My immediate response was not to consult any human being.” There seems to be some pride in saying these words; but in the second stage, he claims that “For I am the least of the apostles” (NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:9) and “I am less than the least of all the Lord's people” (NIV, Ephesians 3:8); Later he said, “I am the worst sinner of them all.” (NIV, 1 Timothy 1:15). These verses show that Paul had also undergone a process of constant humility. There is some controversy that arises when reading Paul's work. The controversy revolves around the issue of Paul's teachings being infallible. Paul is a human being and all human beings are bound to make mistakes. But if Paul was used to write the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could there be any errors? If you believe that Paul can't be wrong, that doesn't really make sense because humans are bound to make mistakes. If you believe that Paul can be wrong, then how do you decide which subjects he was right or wrong about? This is an issue in particular with the controversy about Paul's prohibition of women preaching. Was Paul wrong to base it on the customs of that time, or were his words the revelation of the Holy Spirit? How we should view Paul's teachings? Whether Paul is right or wrong in this matter has become a big debate in Christian exegesis. But for now, we won't discuss the issue of whether women should or shouldn't preach. We certainly believe that Paul's words are the revelation of the Holy Spirit, but we also believe that Paul went through a learning process because he experienced failure. Although the Biblical education I received did not say that Paul's experience in Athens was a failure, I have heard other Bible teachers mention that Paul's attempt to win people's hearts in accepting Christ through debating at Athens was a failure. They specifically compared what is written in Galatians 3:5 with Paul's experience in Athens. Paul says in Galatians 3:5 (NIV), "So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?" Here, Paul specifically mentioned that the Galatians started with the Spirit so that they should not fall into the flesh. He preached the gospel by relying on the Holy Spirit. He had also performed miracles to bring the Galatians to salvation. Let's take a look again at Chapter 17 verses 16-18 (NIV): 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. I agree more with the argument that Paul's debating may not have had good results here. Allow me to explain my thoughts.  As I mentioned earlier, Paul was chased twice by the Jews. He was accompanied by Silas the first time, and the second time; he was accompanied by an escort. When he arrived in Athens, the person who escorted him went back to assist Silas and Timothy so they could come quickly to Athens. In this interval, Paul was alone. Even if Paul possessed remarkable abilities/powers, he would still feel lonely when he was alone. The Bible tells us “How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight?” (NIV, Deuteronomy 32:30). The principle that God established was to partner us with the body of Christ. At this time, when Paul was left alone, he might have faced an attack and incitement of the enemy. My personal view is that after Paul experienced the continuous attacks and rejection of the Jews plus the fact that he was left alone in Athens and saw that the city was full of idols, he became greatly distressed. Then I think he started to reason and ask himself, was he still in the spirit? The Bible does not explain this so we do not know for sure. But the view I mentioned before, that is, the result of Paul's hopes of spreading the gospel to the Athenians through debating did not go very well. So Paul's experience in Athens is regarded as one of his failures. Let me discuss the inspiration that I received during this meeting. It can be said through the word "react" or more appropriately, "to be influenced by the environment". In our spiritual experience as Christians, we should be seated in heavenly places in Christ, but sometimes our flesh or minds are provoked and make us react in our minds and in the flesh. Afterwards, we often regret the experience. I recently listened to a very early message from an American pastor named Jack Deere about the discipline of the Holy Spirit. He mentioned a very interesting experience that he had. He said that he is a pastor in a not so well-off place in the United States. As a pastor, he is often misunderstood and attacked by others. One day, a female Christian, in a church where he served as a pastor, said to him, "You are just serving as a pastor here for the money." He was very angry and he answered her back. Things like this seemed to happen all the time. He asked the Lord, “What is going on?” The Lord said that this is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. He said, “When will it end?” The Lord replied, "When you can treat those who criticize you with a gentle and kind spirit." Jack Deere is a pastor who moved from the evangelical church to the charismatic movement. He is well-known in the Christian world in the United States. He is also one of the few American pastors I know of that teaches the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Supposedly, he's also a person who pursues deeper spirituality, but he shared this experience to let us see that a person who pursues spirituality is often influenced by the environment especially when they are not mature enough. When Jack Deere's spiritual discipline was more mature, he would respond more gently and lovingly to those who criticize him. When a Christian is practicing to be more spiritual, we need to learn not to react to the environment or be influenced by the environment. Instead, we should react to the heavenly reality and our communication with the Lord, and out of our position of sitting together with Christ in heavenly places.  Reacting to the environment or what you see will end up pulling you down to the level of the environment itself. Can Paul's experience here be pulled down by the surrounding environment? We know that Paul is a man with heavenly experience and vision, but there are times that people become weak, especially when he is constantly attacked by Jews, and his co-workers Silas and Timothy are not beside him to assist him. He might have been very knowledgeable since he received training from Gamaliel, and he was good at debating. After he was enraged in the spirit, his soul also became agitated: "You guys know how to debate, I also know to debate. Your philosophy is great. My philosophy is also very impressive." As you can see here, not only did he debate with the Jews and God-fearing people, but he has also debated with the people he met in the marketplace every day, and some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who have argued with him. We are not sure whether Paul is like this, but those who hold the view that Paul has done nothing wrong is untenable because Paul is a human being, and every human being has a process of learning and continuous maturing. In his later years, Paul did not think that he was fully mature yet, saying that “I press on toward the goal to win the prize.” (NIV, Philippians 3:14). If Paul's later years are not fully mature, then Paul's experience should be a process of continuous maturity. The only difficulty is how we see Paul's continuous maturity process with the help of the Holy Spirit, but at the same time not be affected in accepting the fact that the Holy Spirit has spread the Word of God through Paul's mouth. Judging from my limited personal evangelistic experience, many times we encounter some atheist Chinese, who often debate with the people who are preaching the gospel. I personally feel that these debates are often not very effective. The best way is to influence them through prayers and testimonies of love. Of course, among many Christians who advocate Power Evangelism, there are many who use the power of the Holy Spirit to let the atheists be convinced. The debate is usually not very effective. Debates often let us fall to the battlefield of the mind, and debates are things that often happen after we have fallen into a reprobate mind. I slowly learned a lesson, that is, when a person is not ready to accept Christ, or the Holy Spirit hasn't yet reached a point where he has begun to work on the person to open up his/her mind, we don't need to have too much debate with him/her. Instead, we can silently pray for the person with an attitude of give and take in the service of love. It has a better effect as time passes. In addition to this it's important to be spiritually paired with other believers no matter how knowledgeable or spiritual you may be.  Paul knows this very well. But does the absence of Silas and Timothy affect Paul's judgment? Although Paul is an apostle, the Bible clearly says that Silas is a prophet. If Silas is there, will Silas pray to God to get any prophetic revelation on how to do the work of evangelism in the city of Athens? Or if Timothy is there, will he be more eloquent to deliver and preach the gospel? Although Timothy is younger than Paul, we have seen how young people can do many things better in the church. When people who don't know much about God come to church, the effect when the pastor preaches a profound sermon is often not as good as the testimony of a few Christians who have faith in the Lord from the very start. The latter is more appealing to those who have just come into contact with the gospel. This is also my personal point of view. I think that Paul may be more suitable to teach those who want to seek and experience the truth on a deeper level, but Timothy may be more suitable to test the waters first in Athens. Their human hearts are not prepared yet for the idol worshipping people so we should let Timothy pave the way through his words. Or let Silas pray to God to see what strategic or spiritual guidance God has, and then find ways to preach the gospel here. But it seems that it wasn't mentioned here that Paul has received any revelation or God's guidance. Instead, the Bible mentions that he had reacted because he was angry in the spirit. Is this reaction completely from God?  We don't know. But I think that those who hold the view that since Paul was an apostle, everything he did was right and he didn't need to seek God's guidance, and he won't ever make mistakes is untenable. Although Paul was an apostle, he has the ability to make mistakes and will need a process of learning from them. I personally think that Paul should not be in a rush and do things hastily. He should take a rest and wait until Silas and Timothy come to discuss the matter together and then take action. In other words, Paul is too rash here. This may be one of Paul's weaknesses. Of course, our analysis is not necessarily right, but it can provide us with another idea, that is, to understand the process of Paul's growth in God. Paul was a person, not a God. Did he have any shortcomings? It's safe to say that it's very natural for everyone to have weakness. Did Paul have any weaknesses? If what we propose here exposes the weakness of human nature, what is Paul's weakness? What effect does Paul's weakness have on his ministry? We don't know the specific weaknesses that Paul had, but it's impossible for a person not to have any weakness. Even if people don't have obvious weaknesses, they need to be paired with other believers who have different giftings.  Therefore, the pairing of Silas and Timothy to Paul is very important. Of course, we are not totally negating the effect of Paul's evangelism in Athens. Although he wasn't good at convincing the Athenians through debating, he had attracted some people who were seeking the truth. Acts 17:19-21 (NIV) says: "Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)” You can see that the explanation in verse 21 is that the Athenians and the foreigners who live there are very busy, and they have no time to take care of other things. So these people took Paul and brought him to Areopagus to talk about these new lessons/ideas which stood out to us. Going back to what we mentioned earlier, Paul may not have the silver tongue of Timothy, or the effect of preaching the gospel to the newcomers or those who are occupied by the world's affairs, but Paul didn't fail to attract those who really seek the truth. Paul's personality may be more suitable to people who are diligent seekers of truth. Paul spoke a very famous passage in Acts 17:24-27 (NIV) which says that: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” We have no intention of belittling Paul, and the experience here is also the highlight of Paul's experience in Athens. But I personally don't think that idolizing Paul or assuming that he doesn't have a process of continuous maturity, is correct. Paul is a human being. When he is continuously attacked and left alone, he will be weak and will be incited by the environment to react. And such a reaction usually pulls us down to the level of the environment or the enemy, letting us lose the commanding heights of victory in Christ. An example is Pastor Jack Deere that I mentioned earlier. When others criticize you, don't rush to react. Instead, rest in the Lord and ask His wisdom and follow his leading to deal these criticisms. Similarly, I think that Paul should not be rash here. He should seek the Lord on how to evangelize Athens which was occupied by idols. He should also wait for Silas and Timothy to come and discuss first before making any decisions. It's not that Paul has no wisdom, but Paul was constantly attacked and alone. He needs to get a good rest and to be taken care of. We have a new couple coming to our Bible study. I hoped to give them a prophetic word before the end of our meeting. I prayed to God and asked Him, “Are there any prophetic words to give and bless them?” I heard the Holy Spirit say two names, Aquila and Priscilla. I prophesied by faith that: I feel that God believes that you are Aquila and Priscilla. They have the same line of work as Paul, but they have also taken care of him. Although Paul is an apostle, the apostles also need to be cared to and helped by people. I feel that God called you to be Aquila and Priscilla to train the Paul of tomorrow, because in this era, God will raise and widely use many Paul-like apostles. God called you to be Aquila and Priscilla to cherish those who are serving as apostles. Whether this person is still your child, or a little brother or sister in your church, God will use you to fulfill them in order to make them become servants like Paul. As we saw in this chapter, Paul also has weaknesses and there are times that he needs help and to be paired with other believers. Paul's encounter with Aquila and Priscilla was a turning point in Paul's spirituality, because the couple, Aquila and Priscilla, is very compassionate. They were tentmakers just as Paul was and they had received Paul. We believe that Aquila and Priscilla have tended Paul to a large extent, so after Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, it could be said that spiritually, he became more mature. How God used Aquila and Priscilla to take care of and complete Paul's ministry, God will also use you two to come along side and complete the Pauls of tomorrow. I prophesied that according to the principle that “everyone can prophesy” (1 Corinthian 14:31), it's not because I am a prophet. I was saved in an Evangelical church, but I learned the gift of prophecy after I first came into contact with the American modern prophetic movement in 2015. Of course, I studied five courses at a prophetic school, and their teachings helped me to go and activate this prophetic gift. I prophesied with inspiration and faith. I don't know if these words are correct for the couple because they didn't give me feedback. However, after other friends who were in the meeting with me verified Acts 18, they began to discover Paul's experience of encountering Aquila and Priscilla. It seems that perhaps, I am speaking by the Holy Spirit. Because when I prophesied, I was not sure when Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, nor was I very familiar with the content of Acts 18. I hope that when we have the opportunity to read Acts 18, we can learn more about how Aquila and Priscilla have tended and helped Paul with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for reading, listening or watching.  

We were delighted to be joined by Patrick Speek, an Interim CFO/COO, on the EMEA Recruitment podcast recently. “It’s okay to be uncomfortable, because you’re learning when you’re uncomfortable.” Patrick has worked for a range of different companies, across many countries and even continents. His broad experience has left him with a good idea of what makes a strong Finance business partner. He explains to our Founder, Paul Toms, the rule he has for how much time a Finance professional should spend behind their desk – it may be less than you think! For those starting out in their Finance careers, Patrick believes that you only have to do one thing to start adding value to a business and be involved in conversations – listen to the episode below to find out his key piece of advice. If you’re a Finance leader, Patrick also offers his tips on motivating the teams that you manage to get the best out of them. This is something that he learned while working at GE as European Regional Controller. The company had a culture of rotational opportunities, which sometimes pushed employees out of their comfort zones. Patrick learnt to be uncomfortable. However, he also accepts that businesses need stability in their teams, so he looks for a mix of mindsets in who he hires. We discussed the most challenging point in Patrick’s career, when he worked in the Middle East. He explains the different business culture in the region to Paul, as well as revealing why someone kissing you is the biggest compliment! Patrick is open about his “deliberate choice” to move away from large corporates to small businesses and the opportunities that this has given him. For those aspiring to become CFOs, this is a section of the episode that you should listen to. Although Paul has known Patrick for a number of years, they rarely discuss the ways in which Patrick relaxes outside of work. Towards the end of the episode, we spoke about Patrick’s charity commitments and love of cycling. If you’d like to find out more about the project he’s currently involved in, click here: https://www.givengain.com/ap/patrick-speek-raising-funds-for-qhubeka-charity-23051/ We hope you enjoy this Finance episode of the EMEA Recruitment podcast. Please feel free to share the link with anyone in your network that you think would enjoy Patrick and Paul’s discussion. The timestamps below will help you find the section of the podcast you’re most interested in: 02:05 – What makes a great Finance business partner05:14 – Why curiosity is the best skill you can have08:01 – Motivating your team to see themselves in the bigger picture10:19 – The culture of learning at GE15:22 – How to get people out of their comfort zone17:49 – Working in the Middle East21:07 – Making the move to smaller companies24:51 – Patrick’s charity work in Africa28:09 – Do you really need a work-life balance?34:10 – The best way to reach out to Patrick   To drop a note to Patrick on LinkedIn, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickspeek/   We’d like to thank our podcast partner, Operation Smile, for supporting us. We’re hoping to raise vital funds and awareness for the work that Operation Smile does around the world, providing life-changing surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate. If you’d like to find out more and support this cause, please click here: https://www.emearecruitment.eu/operation-smile   The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by Paul Toms and our Associate Director, Jenny Callum. To find out more about us, please visit our website: https://www.emearecruitment.eu/  You can also follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/  If you’d like to connect with Paul, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/  Or Jenny, at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycallumemea/  #emearecruitment #emearecruitmentpodcast #patrickspeek #paultoms #finance #operationsmile #qhubeka

Paul said, "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat again, lest I make my brother stumble" (1 Corinthians 8:13). Although Paul knew all food was clean, he said it was unclean to the person whose conscience forbids him from eating it. Because it is sinful to violate our consciences as Paul discussed in Romans 2, in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians, he said he would sacrifice for others. https://youtu.be/DCAjWJn2pY4 "I will never eat meat again, lest I make my brother stumble" (1 Corinthians 8:13). Paul knew food was clean, but he sacrificed for others. Table of ContentsSermon Lessons for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Family Worship Guide for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Sermon Notes for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to OthersLesson 3: knowledge is used immorally when it (part ii) destroys others.Lesson 2: knowledge is used morally when it (part 2) sacrifices for others. Sermon Lessons for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Note: The lessons that are filled in are from the previous sermon. Lesson 1: Knowledge is amoral, but the way we use it is moral. Lesson 2: Knowledge is used immorally when it:(Part I) Is combined with pride (1 Cor 8:1).(Part II) ________________ ___________ (Rom 14:14-23, 1 Cor 8:9-12). Lesson 3: Knowledge is used morally when it:(Part I) Is combined with love (1 Cor 8:1; Eph 4:15; Phil 1:9).(Part II) ____________________ for ____________ (1 Cor 8:13; John 10:18). Family Worship Guide for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others Day 1: Read Romans 14:14-23 and discuss: How can food be clean to some and unclean to others? Wat are the essentials and nonessentials in the kingdom of God? How can we prevent other from condemning themselves? How can we keep from condemning ourselves? Day 2: Read 1 Corinthians 8:9-12 and discuss: How do we “destroy a brother or sister in Christ? What does it mean to do so? How can we avoid doing so? Why is it a sin against Christ Himself? Day 3: Read 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 and discuss: Why did Paul say he would never eat meat again? What application does this have for us? What are some examples of things God might have us give up for others? How do we decide what liberties we have? How do we decide what liberties we don't have? Sermon Notes for I Will Never Eat Meat Again (1 Corinthians 8) - Sacrificing for and Deferring to Others The title of this morning's sermon is, “Sacrificing for Others.” This will be our third and final sermon on 1 Corinthians 8. We'll be looking at verses: 11-13. We've spent two sermons covering the situation in the Corinthian church, so I don't want to spend much time reviewing it. Basically, the church was divided. One group thought they could eat meat sacrificed to idols. The other group thought they shouldn't. But we're going to begin in Romans 2, to review a few verses from last week, and then we'll look at some verses in Romans 14 before moving to 1 Corinthians 8. Look at Romans 2:12… Romans 2:12a For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, Those without the law are Gentiles and Paul says they'll perish, b/c they're sinners. He'll elaborate on this in verses 14 and 15. Romans 2:12b and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. These are Jews who have the law, and they'll be judged b/c… Romans 2:13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. Having the law wasn't enough. They had to obey it, which they didn't do. Since the Gentiles didn't receive the law, they thought they didn't know right from wrong, which allowed them to be innocent. But look at verse 14 to see what condemns them… ...

Title: Honoring Earthly Masters Text: I Timothy 6:1-2 FCF: We often struggle working with enthusiasm because we know the world is not our home. Prop: Because the gospel transforms how we live, we ought to give honor to our authorities. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 6. For the past several weeks Paul has been expressing to Timothy how the gospel changes the church to treat one another differently than the world treats one another. In correction, the elderly ought to be given respect as a parent, and those who are younger ought to be treated like a sibling. Widows ought to be cared for, and should also serve the church. Elders ought to be respected, but not above the scriptures, and they should be given enough time to express their true heart before becoming Elders. Now Paul will finish up his discussion of honor by speaking to a relationship that has surprising applications to our current culture and even the church itself. Paul addresses the relationship of a slave to his master. I am in I Timothy chapter 6 starting in verse 1. I’ll be reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1340, or in whatever version you have. Transition: I don’t want to cause undo stress or anxiety to you, but I do want to prepare you for this message. It promises to alienate much of the church. And when I say that, I don’t mean the broad church with every denomination factored in. This message today, surprising to me perhaps, will set at odds many people who are in conservative, evangelical, churches in this land. Churches that 10 years ago, we would have been very close with. I believe this passage speaks to two huge problems the church faces today. And I don’t know if it can be mended. But what is clear to me from this text is that we must make sure we do not stray to the right or left. May we walk the narrow path, together. I.) The gospel transforms how we live, so we must honor our unbelieving authorities. (1) a. [Slide 2] 1 – Those who are under the yoke as slaves i. American history has forever twisted the topic of slavery and servanthood in scripture. ii. Some outright reject the concept, others move quickly through it to speak of an employer employee relationship. iii. Some have denied the faith because this book does not reject or aggressively condemn the intuition of slavery. iv. Let me attempt to briefly explain what slavery was and wasn’t in the 1st Century Roman world, and how that forms our understanding of the institution. 1. The first thing we need to understand about slavery in the 1st century, is that it is fairly impossible to paint it with a broad brush, especially when compared to Slavery and the slave trade in America. 2. Becoming a slave could be by birth, by being an unwanted infant child, by being sold by your parents into slavery, as a way to pay off a debt, as a punishment, by choice, or as a prisoner of war. 3. The experience of a slave was equally as diverse. Certainly, some masters abused their slaves physically, sexually, emotionally. But some slaves were slaves of wealthy aristocrats and their presence was more a trophy to their master’s wealth than hard labor. In fact, many in such situations did very little work and simply existed to attend to whatever the master wished. Others to the less wealthy worked alongside their master in the field, learning a trade, and becoming quite close to their masters. Even trusted friends. 4. By the time of Christ the slave trade had become so bloated that more than 1/3 of the population of Rome were slaves. What does that mean? 5. It means that if a rebellion could be organized – Rome would be in danger. 6. Because of this Rome made many laws regarding slave trade. Most of them were designed to curb the freeing of slaves, the selling of slaves, and even the treatment of slaves. 7. By the time of Christ, most slave masters had come to the realization that when a slave lives a life as close to freedom as he can, he works better than if he is treated harshly. 8. Some slaves lived so well, that it made more sense to be a slave then it did to enter the workforce as a laborer. 9. Because of all this the abolition of slavery was simply never a consideration, but reform and refinement of the institution was in Rome’s best interest. v. Having learned some of the history of slavery at that time, it is also good for us to understand what the scriptures say about slavery. 1. Faussett = “Christianity does not begin by opposing the external system prevailing, but plants the seeds of love, universal brotherhood in Christ, communion of all-in-one redemption from God our common Father, which silently and surely undermines slavery.” 2. Paul in Philemon, only hints at Onesimus’ freedom being granted – and he certainly could have commanded it of Philemon. But he never goes that far. In fact, he is actually sending Onesimus back to Philemon, hoping that Philemon will send him back to Paul to serve him. 3. The scriptures also talk about how, in Christ, there is no longer slave and free. 4. But spiritually it seems as though we are all slaves – not actually all free. We are all in bondage of some sort. Either slaves to sin or slaves to Christ. And if we are in Christ together, then we are all slaves to Christ together. The superficial slavery of this earth is no longer a concept that should divide. 5. And so as close as the scriptures come to abolition of the institution, it never goes that far. Why? 6. Because the institution itself is not the problem. Rather, sin is the issue. And the great solution is Christ. 7. The primary slavery that the scripture deals with is humanities slavery to sin and death. And Christ frees us to be slaves of Righteousness and inherit life. vi. So as we look at slavery in the scriptures we must not import our understanding from slavery in America. Quite simply, slavery in the scripture was a far more nuanced institution that we saw in our nation’s early history. And I dare say, that some of these concepts of slavery would be preferable to bankruptcy, credit scores, and, at times, even the traditional job market search. But I digress. vii. All that being said – since we do not have slavery in our culture, an appropriate application here would be to those who work at a job and the master being your boss. But we must not insert that into text, but rather allow application to flow to that relationship. viii. That will be my goal moving forward. b. [Slide 3] Must regard their own masters as deserving of full respect. i. Based on the context, this is clearly talking about unbelieving masters. ii. Paul will address believing masters in a moment, so this must either be talking about all masters which would include unbelieving masters, or more likely, he is talking exclusively about unbelieving masters here and believing masters later. iii. Paul calls on slaves to not import their spiritual freedom into their earthly slavery. Yes, they are free in Christ, but that does not make them free from earthly slavery or human authority. They cannot simply walk away. Certainly, if they would be released, then they should accept with gladness, but they ought not automatically consider themselves free. Even if they are in bondage to an ungodly person. iv. Instead, they ought to regard or to esteem. This means to count or consider in a positive way. To esteem or count their masters worthy of all, full, or complete honor. Complete respect. v. That is huge! Why? vi. Paul has been talking about honor this entire time. Honoring widows, meaning respect and financial support. Double honoring of godly Elders who labor in teaching meaning respect and financial support. vii. So, what could Paul mean by saying complete honor here? viii. Certainly, it means respect. Obedience. Submission. ix. But what does a slave have to financially support their masters? Themselves! They have been purchased. They are the property of their master. Like it or not, there is significant financial investment tied up in a slave being a slave to a master. x. Paul says that masters deserve, or are worthy, of complete honor. xi. I contend that Paul is telling Christian slaves to earn what they are worth to their master. Respect them and earn what their master paid for them. xii. Why would Paul say such a thing? Why wouldn’t Paul say – these masters are unjust and they must be brought low! Rebel! Gain your freedom! You are ruled by Christ alone! xiii. Why doesn’t Paul say that? c. [Slide 4] This will prevent the name of God and Christian Teaching from being discredited. i. God’s name and our doctrine is at stake. ii. The world always fights for freedom. The world always defends itself. The world, the flesh, godless, gospeless people – ALWAYS push back against authority. Just or unjust, tyrannical or benevolent. The world always bucks authority. iii. Paul says, do what you were purchased to do. Submit to your master’s authority. Live out your days as a slave, making every cent they spent on you… worth it. iv. Because if you don’t and you claim to be of Christ – you have invalidated all you have claimed. v. How so? vi. In Christ, we believe that to live is for Christ and to die is gain. But bucking ungodly authority says, to live is to live with a certain set of earthly freedoms. To die is a worthy end to earn those freedoms. vii. In Christ, we believe that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. But to buck against ungodly authority says that slavery is not for my good, nor could God have providentially put me in this situation where I would be ruled by an unbeliever, so I must rebel. viii. In Christ we love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. But bucking ungodly authority says, no ungodly man deserves my respect, no sinner deserves my prayer. ix. The obvious caveat, is that God is the final authority to us. If a master tells his slave to kill another slave, surely Paul would not say to obey the master. In matters where we MUST choose to obey God or man, meaning they have pushed us into a corner and there is no creative way to obey both – then we must obey God. x. But Paul, interestingly, does not bring up that caveat. Perhaps because moving to that truth is not what needs to be emphasized. Rather, humble submission and love. d. [Slide 5] Passage Truth: Paul makes it absolutely and abundantly clear. The gospel changes how we live. What we believe transcends how we live. And that even applies to situations where we labor. People who wear the name of God and preach the gospel ought to labor differently because of the grace they have been given. e. Passage Application: So Timothy is to instruct slaves that their ungodly masters are worthy of complete honor. That they ought to work hard and fulfill the expense their master paid for them. They ought to respect and submit, yes even to ungodly masters. Why? Because they are gospel changed people. f. [Slide 6] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out we see principles all throughout scripture related to authority and work. Even within this very book Paul does not give any financial support for nothing. People must work hard to be deserving of financial support. The gospel breathes life into a person in the workforce. They go and do their job as an evangelistic expression of the gospel working out of them. g. Broader Biblical Application: And so, as we apply this text to us it has far reaching implications not just for our jobs but even for our society. I’ll save the latter for the end, but for now, as a believer, particularly one employed by someone who worships false gods, is an unbeliever, or ungodly… we ought to see that they are deserving of our full respect. Not only service and submission, but even making sure that whatever they are paying us for, we are earning all of it. This is not only reflected in the quality of our work but even in the time of our work. Many of you are no doubt employed by an unbeliever. And with the promises in scripture given to God’s children, you may assume that either you owe your boss nothing, or that he ought not actually rule over you. To assume this, would be exactly opposite of what Paul teaches Timothy. Instead, for the sake of the gospel, as you wear the name of Christ, and as you preach the living truth, you ought to fully respect and work hard for your boss – so that he will be unable to slander your God. He will have to admit – well that guy or gal, she is a crazy Christian, but doggonit they are hard workers. May that be your boss’s testimony. Transition: [Slide 7(blank)] But what of bosses that are Christians? Surely, being in the family of God affords us some slack, some mercy, and some special treatment. Our Christian bosses should certainly expect less from us. II.) The gospel transforms how we live, so we must lovingly serve our believing authorities. (2) a. [Slide 8] 2 – But those who have believing masters i. I’d imagine that Christianity threw quite the monkey wrench into believing households. ii. Not simply children and parents, and spouse to spouse, but even master to slave. iii. In fact, we already discussed this as probably one reason the early church had to be reminded of the headship of the husband and the submission of the wife to him. They assumed a new status in Christ that is really not given until the New Kingdom. iv. Paul has dealt with the response of a Christian slave to an unbelieving master. v. But we know that in Christ there is no slave or free. There is love for the brotherhood. There is unity in Christ. vi. So, how does that work in a master slave relationship where both the master and the slave are believers? vii. You would think that Paul would push for masters to free their slaves. Or at least for slaves to be treated with more freedoms. viii. However, Paul is not talking to masters, but to slaves. ix. So how must slaves conduct themselves when they have believing masters? b. [Slide 9] Must not show them less respect because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve all the more, i. There is a repeated pattern in scripture here. ii. We ought to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is true. And any we come into contact with in this life, are our neighbors. Including our ungodly authorities and enemies. iii. But Christians love one another just as Christ loved them. In this way it truly was a new commandment. iv. So, believing slaves don’t do less for their Christian masters or respect them less. Instead, they respect and do more. Perhaps even suggesting that they work harder than they are worth. Or, if they were paid, earning more than their wage. v. Why? c. [Slide 11] Those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. i. If we are not careful, we’ll miss a veiled lesson for the believing masters here. ii. Although Paul is certainly still focused on believing slaves’ service to their Christian masters, here Paul uses some interesting language. iii. He speaks of the service of a believing slave to his Christian master as a “benefit”. iv. Benefit here is a word used of good deed or a person who gives money or service to help another person. v. So, if I can paraphrase what Paul is saying vi. “Those who receive a good gift from a believing slave’s diligent work, are also believers and dearly loved” vii. So, this deceptively simply little phrase is both a reminder to masters that believing slaves do this for a higher purpose, which is in service and love to God. And to the slaves, it is a reminder that their loving service is to a brother in Christ. viii. Whatever you’ve done to the least of these, you’ve done it unto me. d. [Slide 12] Teach them and exhort them about these things. i. This is an all-encompassing command to Timothy. ii. It serves as a transition for Paul to get back to teaching Timothy directly – but it serves as an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of the general principles being established. iii. The family of God operates differently. Why? Because of the gospel. iv. Slaves rebel – but not those who have Christ. Slaves work for less than their worth – but not those who have Christ. Slaves fight for their earthly freedoms – but not those who have Christ. v. Leaders are often untouchable or heavily targeted, but not for the body of Christ. vi. Widows are often neglected or cheat the system, but not for those in the body of Christ. vii. Older men and women are often dismissed, younger men and women are often spoken down to, but not in the body of Christ! viii. The gospel reorients every relationship! e. [Slide 13] Passage Truth: Paul again is driving home the point from chapter 3– this is how the family of God ought to live. The gospel reorients our lifestyle. And that even effects how we work and how we treat our employers and authorities. f. Passage Application: Timothy must instruct believing slaves to work all the more for their believing masters, because they are serving Christ in this. They are showing love for God in this. g. [Slide 14] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out, we have well-established that the gospel changes our lives. Every facet of our lives is renewed. Even our work ethic. Especially toward those who are also slaves of Christ. h. Broader Biblical Application: And so for some of us, there is no evangelistic purpose to our work – because we have been blessed by God to work for believers. We are under the authority and direction of those who share our worldview. But this does not mean that we can slack off, or treat the relationship more casually. Instead, it only heightens our resolve to work, even beyond what we are worth. Why? Because we do it to one who possesses the Spirit of God. A brother. A co-heir. A fellow member of the body of Christ. Therefore, we serve Christ by serving them. And for His glory, we can work all the more diligently, even for those who are also of the household of faith. And as a veiled side-note. If you happen to be the employer of another believer, you ought not see your working believers as doing their duty or even doing what you’ve paid them to do. Rather, you ought to see their work for you as a service to your King. If you do – it will probably reorient everything about how you treat them, and how they treat you. Conclusion: [Slide 15(end)] I think in applying this text most Pastors would rightly choose to look at relations between employers and employees as the focus. I think we’ve done that throughout the course of the message this morning so far. But I cannot help but see a bigger topic addressed here that we should also make mention of. How should believing people respond to those who are ungodly ruling over them? Abusing them? Harming them? Exploiting them? It is true that not all slavery was this way – but Paul puts no caveat that when your unbelieving slave masters treat you well, then they deserve complete honor. No. Paul does not say that. Paul simply says that ungodly slave masters deserve full and complete honor. Why? From here Paul could contend that God has providentially placed them in the situation they are in. He could contend that they are authorities that God has placed over them. He could contend that it is the master’s job to deal justly with his slaves. But no. Paul says they are worthy of complete honor because the gospel is at stake. As people who are under human authorities and powers, we must realize that the world is watching. We wear the name of God and we preach the message of Christ. That means we live differently. Now that does mean that occasionally we will have to peacefully refuse to obey. We don’t blindly follow what we are commanded to do when we are commanded to do something that God has forbidden. God is our final authority. But we also do not bend and twist the text of scripture to make it that every command given by ungodly people is inherently evil and must be refused. Certainly, slaves could have made the case that their very situation was an affront to God. That them being owned by another person is wicked at its core. Certainly, slaves could have claimed – Christ alone is my King – and fled their master or worse. But Paul sees the greater issue. Your personal freedoms are inconsequential when compared to the gospel of Christ. Your oppression, your disenfranchisement, your feelings, your liberties, your rights, are absolutely irrelevant when it comes to wearing the name of God and preaching the message of Christ. Unfortunately, the church in America is being torn apart by two kinds of wokeism. Either you must be awoken to realize the oppression of a system dominated by white, male, heterosexual, Christians. And in that wokeness you must repent of a sin not covered by the blood of Christ. You must work every day of your life to reject this sin. The sin here is your own privilege. You must devote everything you are to the eradication of your own privilege by recognizing that you will never rid yourself of it fully. Do you see how Paul’s thoughts on submission to ungodly masters applies? Even if such a system existed - ought we as believers to be focusing on who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed? If that were the call of God’s people – don’t you think Paul’s words to believing slaves would have been different? Wouldn’t Paul have told them to rise up against their oppressor? Godly or otherwise? Paul tells believing slaves to give complete honor to their ungodly masters, for the sake of the name of God and the teaching of Christ. The other kind of wokeism prevalent in the church is a wokeness to see an overwhelming conspiracy to dismantle and destroy Christianity. And in that wokeness you must resist, you must fight, you must repent of passivity and work every day of your life to reject the ungodly system and even take up arms if necessary, to right its wrongs. You must devote everything you are to undo the ungodly and demonic scheme to eradicate Christ’s church in this nation. Indeed, it is your duty as a Christian to resist ungodly leaders. If you don’t, you are still a sleeping Christian who hasn’t quite gotten serious about the gospel. Do you see how Paul’s thoughts on submission to ungodly masters applies? Ought we as believers to fight our oppressors with weapons and warfare? Ought we as believers to rise up and disobey every wicked person who is in authority over us? Ought we to mount a coup and take back our land from those who are trying to destroy Christianity? Paul tells believing slaves to give complete honor to their ungodly masters, for the sake of the name of God and the teaching of Christ. My friends – now more than ever – we must focus on what our King has tasked us to be and to do on this earth. Now more than ever we must be ambassadors for His kingdom. I’m not saying we do whatever the wicked tell us to, and I’m not saying that there isn’t a demonic scheme to overthrow the church. But… We know that the gates of hell will NOT prevail against Christ’s Church. And that is not because WE resisted - because if this scheme is demonic - we don’t stand a chance at winning as only humans with earthly weapons and earthly warfare against earthly enemies. But with the gospel of Jesus Christ, one soul at a time, we will endure and it will not prevail, and Christ will return and bring His Kingdom. My friends, we must not be distracted by petty causes. And as important as Justice and Freedom are – they are nothing compared to the gospel. They are only distractions. How do I know? Because they were both things happening in the 1st Century. Racism and prejudice and destruction of religious liberty were all there. And Paul says – obey your ungodly masters and pray for your ungodly kings! So do not devote yourselves to less than the gospel. And do not add these causes to the gospel and say they are linked. They are not. The gospel of Christ stands alone. We preach it and live it and suffer for it. Paul ignored the institution of slavery completely, so that believing slaves would focus on obeying their masters for the sake of the gospel. We ought to focus on the gospel and not clamor for our rights or even devote ourselves to battle a system of oppression if such a system exists. The phrase for Christ and Country, For Christ and Justice – these are less than simply saying – For Christ! This world is crumbling. It isn’t getting better – it is getting worse. And the more time we spend on trying to preserve things we have on earth – the less time we have for laying up treasures in heaven. This world will pass away and its lusts. But whoever does the will of God will live forever. What is the will of God? Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.– I Thessalonians 5:18. Can you really give thanks for ungodly leaders while rebelling against them? 13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,[b] whether it be to the emperor[c] as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants[d] of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. – I Peter 2:13-17 Live as you are free – but do not use that freedom to cover up the disobedience of other commands. One of which is Honor the emperor. Afterall, earthly freedom is not what we have truly been granted or promised. Instead, we have been granted spiritual freedom in Christ. May we not live like the 1st Century Jews and look to Christ to free us from our earthly oppressors. Instead, may we look to Christ to free us from our sin and to righteousness – no matter what our earthly state or condition is. In doing this, we wear the name of God well – and do proclaim His gospel until He comes.

Title: Support and Service Text: I Timothy 5:9-16 FCF: We often struggle understanding how we are to care for one another. Prop: Because financial support of each other is not without qualification or expectation, we must expect gospel changed lives in the church. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 5. We skipped a week there, but I hope and trust things are still relatively fresh for you in this text. But just to refresh us a little, chapter 5 begins Paul’s more detailed application of the principle that the gospel not only changes what we believe but how we live. Indeed, they go hand in hand. Flowing from Paul’s discussion of Timothy exhorting and preaching the truth, Paul advises that he and all believers appeal to one another like family. Not harshly, but humbly and with respect. Imploring them to change rather than demanding it. Nothing here contradicts church discipline. Surely eventually we must treat them as if they are not a family member if they are excommunicated. But until that point we are to treat them like family. Then speaking of family, Paul discusses the support of those in need. And we saw that widows who are women without any means to care for themselves, including other family members, ought to be supported by the church. But only if they are widows who are hoping in the Lord alone. Indeed, Paul says that it is a holy duty and pleasing to God to care for your own blood relatives who are in need. And to refuse to do so, is worse than being an unbeliever. But Paul is not quite done with this concept of widows being supported by the church. Today he will give even more insight to what is happening in the church there in Ephesus and how widows who are truly in need ought to be supported by the church – and even how those widows ought to serve. I am in I Timothy chapter 5. I will begin reading in verse 9 from the NIV today, but you can follow along in the pew bible on page 1339. Transition: Lots to cover here today. So many points being made. Let’s dive right in. I.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must only support and commission the qualified. (9-10) a. [Slide 2] 9 – No widow may be put on the list of widows i. What list? ii. There are several details in the text that are perplexing. What is obvious is that the context here is shrouded in something that the Ephesian church did not need extra details to understand – but WE are left to guess what exactly is going on. iii. The list itself is one of those. iv. As we go through the text today – it will be a great shortcut for us to understand this list first. v. While the list could certainly be only those who are supported financially by the church – it seems that what is more likely – is that this list is both widows who are not only supported by the church but also are commissioned to serve the church in various ways. Visitation, acts of mercy and compassion, and generally serving the body of Christ with their free time, as the church supports them financially. vi. If we adopt this understanding of the list… all the details of the passage come together quite easily. vii. There are of course, several other explanations, but this one seems to make the most sense of all the details. viii. So what are the qualifications for a woman to be enrolled onto this list of support and service? b. [Slide 3] Unless she is over sixty, i. First, she must be older. ii. Life expectancy in the 1st century, for those who survived childhood, would extend in the late 60s on average. iii. That means that Paul is only allowing widows on this list who pose a short-term commitment for the church. 10 years, or more likely less, is what the church is taking on. iv. Furthermore, she is probably beyond a marriable age at this point. v. So, the first requirement is that she be a widow in the final stages of her life. c. [Slide 4] Has been faithful to her husband, i. Here is an interesting stipulation – she had to have been a one-man woman. ii. This cannot mean she can have never been remarried, for Paul will later advise young women to marry or remarry. iii. This is the inverse qualification from the Elder and Deacon. So, we should consistently interpret here as we interpreted there. iv. In other words -this widow must have had a reputation of being faithful in her marriage. Sexually pure and committed to her husband while he was living. v. Also important to note – these are qualifications she must have fulfilled ahead of being placed on the list – however, it is entirely possible that the specifics Paul mentions are geared toward the role that a widow on the list would perform. And in that, she would be expected to remain sexually pure while doing her duties. d. [Slide 5] 10 – and is well known for her good deeds, i. If she is going to be put on the list for support and service – she must be well-qualified. ii. And those qualifications are qualifications of character. iii. Broadly, that she has a reputation of good works. iv. Paul specifies a few… e. [Slide 6] Such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble i. The high level understanding here is – that if she has a reputation of serving others, than she is fit to be supported by the church. This is in keeping with Paul’s admonition toward Deacons – that they ought to have been tested first. If this widow is to be supported by the church and then go serve them – she ought to have already had the reputation of serving. ii. But how specifically should she have been a servant? iii. First - she ought to have raised children. The dedication and care it takes to raise children is adequate to prepare a widow on the list for her acts of service. Perhaps this even hints at one role widows were to serve. Which is , at times, to care for children within the church. Of course, a widow who had never had children is not necessarily unqualified, but the ability and experience of child rearing ought be present – even if she never had children of her own. iv. Second, she ought to have practiced hospitality. This is service oriented, and perhaps does hint at some of the duties widows on the list would perform. Like hosting missionaries and visiting prophets. In order to be on the list, she must have already served in this way. v. Third, she must have washed the feet of the saints. This is not only an act of service, but of humility as well. To have demonstrated familial love toward God’s people earns a reputation of good works. Again – hinting at the duties of a widow on the list, being a servant of all. vi. Fourth, Helping those in distress. This is an interesting one. Those who ought to be supported in their distress, ought to have had a reputation of helping others in their distress. And again, perhaps this hints at their role on the list, which is to care for others who are also on the list. They care for one another. vii. Paul now broadens back out. f. [Slide 7] And devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. i. Lest we think this is some kind of exhaustive list, as we might see the qualifications for Elder and Deacon – ii. In truth this is only the tip of the iceberg. iii. To be on this list, means you would have had to have exhibited all kinds of good works. iv. Paul no doubt mentions these good deeds – because these are what they will be doing while enrolled on the list. g. [Slide 8] Passage Truth: Paul continues to make much of the gospel in discussing the order of the church. If a widow is to be cared for by the church, not only must she be truly in need with no ability to provide for herself or family to care for her – but she must also have a reputation of being a godly woman. No position in the church, no membership, no provision, is given with no requirement of their character. And this list of widows who serve and are provided to by the church is no exception. h. Passage Application: So Timothy must be the front lines of making sure that only these kinds of widows are supported and commissioned for service within the church. i. [Slide 9] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this passage we find that the church shared everything they had with one another when there was a need. That the love of Christ compelled them to care for and serve one another. In fact, all God’s people were supported by one another and served one another. We read this in Acts 2. Indeed, our entire vision and mission of our church founded upon this. That God’s people as an expression of the gospel do provide and serve one another. j. Broader Biblical Application: And so, the application for us essentially comes down to two points. If we are going to support and commission someone to service – they ought to first be truly in need, and they must have a reputation for good works of service, both preparing them for the commission to serve others, and validating the gospel work in their heart. Transition: [Slide 10 (blank)] So what about widows that are not 60? There are bound to be widows who do not meet that age requirement. What happens to them? II.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must deny support and commissioning to service to those who do not qualify. (11-13) a. [Slide 11] 11 – As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. i. Why? Well for starters she is not 60 or older – as he already said. ii. Does younger here mean 59 or does it mean less than 40? If it means less than 40, what of a widow who is in the age between these two numbers. If it is 59 or younger, some of the advice Paul gives – like going and getting married and bearing children – rings a little hollow since that is simply not possible. iii. The best explanation is both/and. So technically yes, any woman less than 60 is part of this group. However – some of the warnings and advice does not quite apply to them. Paul simply had to cut it off somewhere and 60 is a nice round number. iv. But why not younger widows? Don’t they need us? v. This could be a financial restriction, because the younger they are, the longer the church will be tied up in supporting them. vi. However, Paul actually has a more spiritual reason for forbidding young widows from being placed on the list. b. [Slide 12] For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 – Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. i. Paul states an obvious pitfall with losing a husband earlier in life. There may be a desire to get married again. ii. In fact, the younger the widow – the more likely this is. iii. This is another tough issue in this text – we must make some kind of guess here as to why Paul would use such strong language for a young widow simply wanting to get married. iv. Some suggest this is talking about marrying unbelievers, or marrying false prophets. But to interpret this in this way, we’d have to import concepts into the text that simply are not there. v. But if we understand the membership of this widow’s list the way we have – the concept becomes clearer. vi. How would wanting to marry be a sensual desire that overcomes their dedication to Christ? 1. Well, if they took a pledge to serve the church and to remain celibate while doing this – and yet let their lusts push them to want to be involved sexually with another… it is going to cause problems. 2. Afterall – the desire for a marital sexual partner is not wrong in and of itself – but if you dedicated your life to remain single in service to Christ – all of a sudden it takes on a sinful stain. 3. Perhaps also, Paul is hinting at the issue in Ephesus where these women would remain on the list, while desiring to be married, but intentionally not getting married so they could still be supported by the church and simultaneously being sexually immoral with men – perhaps even visiting teachers or the false teachers Paul referenced before. 4. If all this is true – certainly this would be classified, in every way, as a sensual desire. 5. And even if they did get married – they violate that pledge they made to Christ and His church. Such a breaking of a commitment would be quite problematic and devastating to the church. c. [Slide 13] 13 – Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house, i. In a welfare state we see this happen. It certainly isn’t true of everyone – but many people when they are given a “hand out” rather than a “hand up” they forget what it means to earn your keep. ii. We often take for granted the things that we are given on a regular basis. A perfect example is – How often does God give you breath? How often do you thank Him for it? See. iii. But a widow who has spent her life serving others and has earned a reputation doing so will not see the church’s support as something she is do, but rather something granted to enable her to continue to serve others. iv. Young widows without that reputation will likely see the support of the church as something they deserve and use their free time and their role during visitation to flit from house to house with the guise of service but in reality, simply a reason to busy themselves with useless talk and lounging. They don’t arrive to serve so much as to intrude. v. This is what Paul surmises as evidenced by the connection to their laziness to another common sin common in those who have nothing to do… d. [Slide 14] And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to. i. There is an old saying “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” ii. Laziness, having nothing productive to do, can only lead to evil things. iii. Jerome wrote in the 4th century “engage in some occupation so that the devil may always find you busy” iv. Paul’s point is this – when young widows have all their needs provided and a task to do in caring for others – but have no history or reputation of such service – they will default to laziness. v. They will use their responsibilities of visitation as a ruse to simply devote themselves to idle chatting that will eventually evolve into gossip, having to know all the secrets and hidden things happening in the church. vi. They will spend hours in every home getting the skinny and giving the skinny on all that is under the surface. e. [Slide 15] Passage Truth: Paul describes some consequences of not limiting widows enrolled to this list to the first description. Widows who do not have a reputation of a gospel changed heart, or are not in actual need of support, can cause great harm to the church because they will be idle or they will spurn their devotion to Christ in the end. f. Passage Application: So Timothy must deny young widows enrollment into support and service. g. [Slide 16] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this passage we see that the true test of someone’s gospel calling on their life is measured in decades not in weeks. Indeed the examples from farming, separating chaff and wheat, the seeds and the soil, and these other metaphors all revolve around the end of life being the reaping. When a plant dies, that is when the harvest happens. In the same way – the evidence of gospel change on a person’s life, most often cannot be clearly seen until they have almost left it. There are some exceptions of course – but we measure a life lived for Christ by how it ends, not simply how it began. h. Broader Biblical Application: So we must not support or commission to endless service those who could find other means to support themselves, nor those who have not demonstrated that gospel effect of love and service for others. Why? Because the consequences could be quite devastating for them and for the church. Transition: [Slide 17(blank)] So what should a young widow do instead? How is she to meet her needs? What if she wants to serve others? III.) Because the gospel qualifies all God’s people for support from and service to one another, we must counsel all God’s people to care for their families as an outpouring of the gospel. (14-16) a. [Slide 18] 14 – So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. i. Although the text does not include the word “widows” it is obvious by the word translated here “so” that this is connected to the previous concept. ii. Although Paul’s words are not necessarily bad advice or counsel for young women in general – he is specifically speaking with reference to young widows who are of a marriable age and still able to bear children. iii. Now those with a keen eye will notice that managing a household is also listed as a quality of those who are Elders and Deacons. Although the Greek words are not the same, the meanings are similar. 1. The Elders and Deacons must rule over their children and houses well 2. The young women must raise their children and head or manage their household. iv. What does this mean? It means that raising children and managing the household is not a task associated with one particular person in the home. Rather it is the responsibility of both. Because of other passages of scripture, some of which come from this very epistle, we conclude that the final culpability is to the head of the house which is the husband. He is the head of the wife. But, the actual responsibility falls on both the husband and wife. v. So why must young widows endeavor to remarry, bear children, and adopt these domestic duties? Isn’t serving the church honorable? Wouldn’t being put on this list to serve the church be a good thing? vi. Yes. It is. But for young widows the cost may be too steep – even for them to consider. vii. And if they fail to count that cost, they have what is happening in Ephesus. Young widows are gossips, busybodies, sexually immoral, and entertaining false teachers and teachings. They are adopting teaching and leadership roles they were never meant to have, and it is generally upheaving the order of the church. viii. What does that do, when God’s church is in disorder? ix. It gives the accuser quite the reason to slander us. x. Now it is slander – because in Christ we are washed clean of sin. We are completely innocent in Christ. So there is no accusation that can hold water against Christ’s Bride. xi. BUT – giving him an opportunity to slander us should be the furthest thing from our mind. We ought not give any credence to that cause. xii. So young widows, rather than diving headlong into a service ministry that will be the rest of their lives, ought to instead wait and train for such a role by adopting their domestic and godly responsibilities of managing their home and raising their children. xiii. As Paul already said – caring for our own family is a holy duty and pleasing to God. b. [Slide 19] 15 – Some have, in fact, already turned away to follow Satan. i. Sadly, this is not a theoretical possibility that Paul is exploring. But rather, a observed outcome of some of their former members. ii. They’ve already seen young women deny the faith by walking into blatant sin. iii. They’ve already seen homes destroyed and people fall prey to wickedness. iv. This is not a theoretical situation that may occur – but it is actually happening there in Ephesus. v. Young women ought to focus on being good wives, good mothers, and good caretakers of their homes. In doing this they will be busy forming their reputation of good works. So that when and if they are a widow, they will be qualified to be on the list. vi. And one other quality should be their aim… c. [Slide 20] 16 – If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them, i. Broadening this out to any woman – Paul prepares them to be qualified for the list when they are old enough for it. ii. The last good deed for which a widow ought to have a good reputation is that they have cared for those in need. iii. And that begins in the family. If they have a blood relative that is in distress – they ought to care for them. d. [Slide 21] And not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need. i. This is the bottom line. The church ought to be free to help those who are truly without ability to help themselves. ii. To do that freely – everyone must fulfill what they are expected to do. On the list or not. Married or not. Widowed or not. e. [Slide 22] Passage Truth: Paul desires very clearly here two distinct things. 1 that the church not be unnecessarily burdened, and 2 that the church not be slandered or otherwise hindered by Satan. And to hit both those birds with one stone, it must be true, that only widows who are in true need and have evidence of a gospel changed life should be supported and commissioned to serve. But what of the younger widows? f. Passage Application: Timothy must encourage young widows to remarry and fulfill their domestic godly duty and please the Lord in caring for their own homes and family, including those who are widows in need in their family. g. [Slide 23] Broader Biblical Truth: From all of scripture we see how the negative testimony of the church can have an impact on the work of the kingdom. Although God acts independently of the church in drawing men to Himself – the church does have a distinct privilege of contributing to that work by living righteously and preaching Christ. But when the church is supporting many who could support themselves, when it is filled with people who live off the support of others while growing lazy and succumbing to sexual temptation, the church is slandered. h. Broader Biblical Application: And so, we as a church must be instructing our people to provide for themselves by working hard and caring for their families. They must perform their holy duty in rearing their children and managing their homes. And they must care for their own blood relatives who are in need. Not only does this solidify that reputation of good works – but it is a true outpouring of the gospel in our hearts. Conclusion: [Slide 24(end)] But here at CBC we don’t have a list of widows who are supported by the church and are commissioned to service do we? In fact, most of the items Paul lists as qualifications for being placed on such a list would actually eliminate most of the widows of our day. Most widows have life insurance policies, pensions, savings, and family members who are able to provide for and help them. And most young widows don’t seek to be some kind of Nun, serving the church and being supported by it. So, is this passage of scripture a rare passage that is simply not applicable to us anymore? Is there nothing we can learn here? Quite the contrary. In our culture, the church is known as a charitable organization. In fact, in the state of Michigan, churches don’t even have to apply for that status – they are simply granted it if they are a church. Are we a charitable organization? Of course we are. But charity is not blind, foolish, without discernment or prioritization. The priority of all our charity is first to those in need within our own families. Saved or not. Second to those in our church family in true need, but only if they have a reputation of being truly changed by the gospel and their lives are a testimony to that fact. Finally, we turn our charity outward to any others. Another application that is readily available in our culture is our fascination with always playing the role of the victim. So many thrive on being victimized. They will take any injustice, any misfortune, any rebuke, any difficulty and use it as a chance to complain about how they have been attacked, mistreated, or otherwise victimized by events. But a widow who should be supported and commissioned for service, is one who trusts God, and serves others – even amid one of the most difficult times in her life… losing her husband. She isn’t playing the victim to try to be supported… but is rather loving and serving others. Such a sister must be supported. We could all learn from the qualified widow. Circumstances do not determine who we are – rather Christ does. When all things go wrong – Christ in you can still help you live rightly. Another searing application from this text is that we are all expected to serve one another as an outpouring of the gospel of Christ. No one gets something for nothing. No one can be lazy. Laziness is a breeding ground for lawlessness anyway. Our hands ought to find something to do – someone to serve in the church. Even if the church is supporting you 100%, no one, from the leadership to the person being supported should automatically assume that that is not with some expectation of service rendered. Don’t be in a church to get something. Be part of a church to give something. Most importantly – we must understand that selfishness, victimization, laziness, gossip, sexual immorality, breaking our promises, and stealing from the church… all of these are NOT what the gospel produces in God’s children. The church is expected to be that light to the nations. The gospel has gone global. But when people live selfishly within the church, it hinders our usefulness in spreading that message. In fact, it gives Satan ammunition to slander us. In order for a church to have an effective ministry to the nations – it must be a gospel changed church. There is a lot here – probably more still. But for now, let’s rest in what we’ve learned and ask God to continue to transform us with it.

Although Thanksgiving Day was first proclaimed as a national holiday in the United States by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, its roots go back to the first harvest celebration observed by the pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621. They had begun in Nottinghamshire, England, and moved to the Netherlands. After twelve years, they relocated again to Plymouth. The reason for these moves was to worship without fear of persecution. Like Paul’s, their mission was affected by political forces beyond their control. Although Paul initially waited only five days before his first audience with Felix, the governor adjourned the trial without making a decision. One reason for the delay was Paul’s use of the legal system to his advantage by arguing that key witnesses in his case were not present (v. 19). But Paul’s case was delayed even further after Felix invited him to speak about his faith in Christ (v. 24). The moral tone of Paul’s message, with its warning of coming judgment, so alarmed Felix that he abruptly ended the audience (v. 25). This delay was motivated by a combination of guilt and greed. No doubt, Felix’s history of marital infidelity made him uncomfortable. He also hoped that Paul would offer him a bribe (v. 26). God used these unworthy motives to create an opportunity for Paul to share the gospel. During the two-year hiatus, Felix would often send for Paul and talk with him. Paul’s prospects did not improve when Porcius Festus, the new governor of Judea, replaced Felix. Instead of deciding Paul’s case or choosing to release him, Felix left Paul in prison. >> What about you? Are you feeling stuck in God’s waiting room today? While it is no doubt frustrating, these times of delay are not necessarily a deviation from God’s plan. Trust God’s hand to set the next stage of your life. Let Him work in and through you, even during your waiting time.

Title: The Family of God Text: I Timothy 5:1-8 FCF: We often struggle loving others. Prop: Because God’s family ought to live a certain way, we must care for our family, relation or in Christ. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 3. We are over 60% of the way through the book of I Timothy already. However, the last two chapters, in my opinion, are when Paul really gets down to where the rubber meets the road. He told Timothy that he had written the letter to instruct him on how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God. In other words – he wrote this to ascribe proper lifestyle for those who are truly part of God’s family. But since he said that, Paul has spoken largely in generalities. He has emphasized, really for all of chapter 4, the importance of sound teaching and training for godliness. This is applied primarily to Timothy but has farther reaching implications to the church as a whole. What is clear about chapter 5 and 6, is that Paul now turns to the specifics. He is turning to the specific issues the church in Ephesus faced. This letter was, of course, written to a specific people at a specific time for a specific reason. We can not conclude that chapters 5 and 6 are the sum total of conduct required of those in the household of God. Rather we must look for the principles being laid out by Paul, and find application to our current time and place. Certainly, the applications Paul makes are still valid for us too. But the bigger ideas and concepts are what we are truly after. Thus the next two chapters will be an exercise of patience for us. We must look at the specifics of scripture, pull back to generalize them to principle form, and then zoom in again to specifically apply them to ourselves. I pray that God gives me and you grace to do this. Now it wasn’t a mistake, I do want to start in I Timothy chapter 3 reading verses 14-16. I want to refresh us on Paul’s purpose in writing this letter. Then we will skip to chapter 5 and read verses 1 through 8. I am reading from the NET today which you can follow along on pages 1338-9 in the pew bible. Or in whatever version you have in front of you. Transition: [Slide 2] Let’s dive right into the heart of Paul’s application section of the letter. I.) God’s family ought to live a certain way, so we must exhort other believers as family. (1-2) a. 1 – Do not address an older man harshly i. What is clear, is that these next two verses serve as a connection between the somewhat parenthetical thoughts of chapter 4 and what comes next in chapter 5. Paul has just encouraged Timothy to endure in sound teaching, refute error, and set an example in godliness for his people. These are mostly subpoints to the main point in chapter 3, where Paul says he writes to instruct Timothy how God’s family ought to live toward God and one another. ii. This next thought, is specifically how Timothy ought to correctively teach the age groups within the church. iii. Although Paul breaks these down into 4 categories – there is really 1 major point here, which, Lord willing, we will see shortly. iv. [Slide 3] So on to the text of verse 1… v. The Greek says elder here, but contextually this is not speaking about the office – but rather an older man. Not necessarily older than Timothy – but a man who is older in age. Culturally this would be a man in his 50s or so. vi. The Greek actually says to not rebuke an Elder. In that case, we might think that Paul is forbidding an elder from being rebuked at all. vii. However, if we continue in the text, it is obvious that it is not the rebuke that is in focus but the sharpness or harshness of the rebuke. viii. This word for rebuke is typically used of actual physical violence. It means to beat or to strike. ix. So when it is used in a context of words, we must understand the meaning in that extreme sense. x. It means to scold. It means to do harm. It means to insult. It means to beat down with words. To give a tongue lashing. To shame. To humiliate. xi. This is an important concept because we need to define this term if we are to realize what we can and cannot say to an older man. If this means never to correct, never to rebuke, never to point out failure, and even, never to push for conviction in an older man’s heart – then it would simply undo much of scripture. xii. So, what can we not do to an older man? When he is doing something wrong, we cannot shame him for it, pound him into the ground, trounce him and his character, attack him to the point that we are no longer friends but enemies. It should not be punitive as a harsh judge coming down on a lawbreaker. It should not be a demand for change. xiii. Instead… b. [Slide 4] But appeal to him as a father. i. As you would address a father who is in error, so should you address an older man in the church. ii. Again, this doesn’t mean that you can never correct an older man. In fact, you should. iii. But when it is done, he ought to be granted the dignity and the respect of a father. It must be done softly and gently, in love, with humility. iv. It ought to be for his good. It ought to be for his restoration. It ought to be in love and a spirit of humility. It ought to be spoken in such a way to grant hope for restoration and growth. It ought to be done to persuade him to change. v. What is also clear in scripture, is that if that older man refuses to listen… he is not granted this soft rebuke always. Eventually harsh demand for change is necessary. That of course is the church disciplinary process. vi. So we could short hand this entire discussion by saying – Timothy, when you want to correct an older man, don’t jump to the final stage of church discipline. Instead, expect him to change by a soft and humble rebuke. c. [Slide 5] Speak to younger men as brothers, i. The word appeal in the text carries over to every other group. ii. Therefore, the concept of instruction for change, and exhortation is in view with respect to all these age groups. iii. We might expect that if older men are treated like fathers, than younger men would be treated like sons. But that is not the case. Instead, they are to be spoken to like brothers. iv. In that vein there is still humility, respect, love, and dignity. They are peers not inferiors or subordinates. d. [Slide 6] 2 – older women as mothers, i. Following the same concept, Older women ought to be appealed to as mothers. ii. Again – there is honor, love, respect, humility, and dignity here. iii. And finally… e. [Slide 7] And younger women as sisters i. The theme endures. ii. Love, humility, honor, dignity, and respect. iii. Even for young women. A group often left out in the first century. f. [Slide 8] – with complete purity. i. It is difficult to know whether this statement goes with the communication instructions for all groups, only women, or only young women. ii. Mostly likely though, it is a specific instruction for church leaders in how they appeal to young women. iii. This communicates a propriety of speaking with young women. That when communicating with a young woman, it is done in chastity. Without crossing any lines, or without inappropriateness, without flirtation. Without inuendo. And without romantic interest. g. [Slide 9] Passage Truth: Once again Paul goes right into application. Instructing Timothy what to do and not to do. However, keeping the overarching principle from chapter 3 in mind, we know that this has to do with how people ought to conduct themselves as the family of God. And that is the main point, very obviously here, that they are, in Christ, family. h. Passage Application: Therefore, even Timothy the church leader, ought not to feel free to speak down to any. That doesn’t mean he cannot correct, instruct, or even discipline… but it must be done in love, respect, dignity, and humility. As if it was being done to a family member. The overall principle is to treat each member of the body of Christ, regardless of age, as a member of God’s family. i. [Slide 10] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the broader scope of scripture – we see something somewhat peculiar. The concept of God as a Father, and His people being His children in a family, is at best a muted theme in the Old Testament. There are vague references to angels and men being fathered by God in the sense of creation. God acts as a Father to the nation of Israel, particularly in the birth of the nation and Exodus. But God as a Father and the Israelites as His children is predicated on their obedience. In fact, in later texts, it is only the obedient Israelites that God called His children. Yet when we get to the New Testament, Jesus speaks of God as His Father and He His true Son. And in Christ we have the spirit of Adoption as Sons. What I mean to say is, that most of the time when we zoom out from a text we find a consistent theme throughout all of scripture – but there is a distinctiveness to the New Covenant here that we must not fail to see. The only true Son of God, is Jesus Christ. And it is in Him that any are made to be in God’s family. That is true all the way back to Adam, and all the way forward to now. Entrance into God’s family is an Old Covenant mystery and a new covenant reality in Christ. j. Broader Biblical Application: So, what does that mean for us? Is that not all the more reason to appeal to one another as family? Does that not make it all the more necessary that we teach one another with the love, dignity, honor, and humility? Because we have all been given a family standing in Christ! That makes this hodgepodge body – this family of misfits. This motley crew a group of equals. We are all beggars. We were all once dead and by the grace of God, have been made alive. So when we see someone in sin… when we see someone faltering… when we see someone failing… we don’t seize them and pounce as if they are some great disgrace. We don’t seek and destroy them. No. We softly rebuke. We encourage. We edify. We restore. We do so purely without flirtation. This is how the family of God ought to conduct themselves toward one another when they are correcting or encouraging each other. They ought to go privately, or in small groups, to softly rebuke and encourage. Transition: [Slide 11] So regardless of age, when instructing and correcting, we treat each other like family. Giving one another love, honor, respect, and dignity. But Paul uses this as a springboard concept to get into what was a real problem in the church in Ephesus. II.) God’s family ought to live a certain way, so we must care for our family in service to God. (3-8) a. [Slide 12] 3 – Honor widows who are truly in need. i. Honor here is a word with two layers of meaning. ii. It does mean to give honor or respect to someone. iii. It also means to value them. To esteem them to be worth much. iv. From that aspect we also get a monetary meaning. Simply, supporting them financially or giving them money. v. There are times when this word only means honor or respect – but when the context demands it, it means both honor and monetary gifts. vi. Here – it is obvious in the context that we are talking about both. vii. Paul specifies what kind of widows are to be respected in a special financial way. viii. The Greek says – widows that are truly widows. The NET helps us by making this saying plain. Widows that are truly in need. ix. Well, what does that mean? Paul continues… b. [Slide 13] 4 – But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty toward their own household and repay their parents what is owed them. i. Notice the shift from singular widow to plural pronoun they. On a first reading we may assume that Paul is saying that widows must learn to fulfill their duty… but that is not what he is saying. ii. He is saying that if a widow has children or grandchildren still living… it is up to Timothy to teach those children and grandchildren that it is THEIR responsibility to supply the needs of the widow. iii. In fact, it is called a duty of theirs. Now this is not a full expression of what is being said here. It would be better rendered something like “practical godliness, or holy duty, or godliness, or piety” iv. So, caring for your family while they are in financial need, is the holy duty to all those who are of Christ. It is practical godliness to do this. v. Furthermore, Paul speaks of the debt owed to the family member, for having raised you and cared for you. vi. So not only is it your holy duty, not only is it a debt you owe for their years of service to you, but there is another HUGE reason to help your family when they are in need… c. [Slide 14] For this is what pleases God. i. God is pleased by this! ii. This is accepted in His sight. iii. God is pleased when you act as He would. He helps the helpless. He is a defender of the orphan. He is the vengeance of the widow. He hates when the voiceless are trampled. iv. So, when you stand in the gap and care for your own family when they are in need – it is an act of obedience and love to God. v. So at the end of all this – Paul eliminates any widow – and really any person – from receiving financial support from the church, if they have family of their own. vi. If a widow has family, those family members must learn to do their holy duty, repay their debt to their loved ones, and care for their family in their need, and in so doing, please the Lord. d. [Slide 15] 5 – But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day. i. Paul further identifies the widow who ought to be supported. ii. First is that they are truly in need. Again, this speaks to their lack of any provision. iii. Paul then goes on to mention that they are bereaved or isolated. She is truly on her own. iv. Paul gives one example of provision in living family members – but I think we could actually broaden this to any sort of provision at all. v. In other words, a widow who has no family but has enough savings to live on, or has a job, or a means of income, this person ought not be supported by the church. vi. But then Paul adds another caveat to this. vii. A widow who deserves financial support from the church… is a widow who is begging God for help. She is truly dependent on God… not money, not the church, but God alone for her help. viii. Is Paul really saying that to support someone financially, the church must see faithful trust in God alone from that person before supporting them? ix. He is. x. Why?... e. [Slide 16] 6 – But the one who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. i. Because if she is not truly destitute. If she is not truly setting her hope on God alone, but has various means of provision for herself. ii. If she is looking to anything and everything to support her – in Paul’s opinion – she is expecting more than she needs. iii. She is seeking creature comforts rather than simply to live. iv. Paul’s instruction about the church’s financial support of people, ought to be when that person is truly without any other options. When they have nothing but praying to the Lord and expecting Him to provide needs. v. Because if the church does not ensure that the widow is this kind of widow – it may be that she is self-indulgent and desiring only to have much and has no need for God at all. vi. Such behavior reveals a heart that is far from God – probably not even genuinely saved. vii. People supported by the church ought not be people who are actually able to support themselves well enough to care for their needs. And what we need to live, is often vastly different than what we think we need to live. viii. So here we finally get to some clues as to why Paul goes down this road. Of all the things Paul could have addressed in regard to how the family of God are to live toward God and others – certainly the care and financial support of widows in the body might be a lower priority. ix. However, we see that this is probably a critical issue in Ephesus. Paul isn’t done talking about this. The next paragraph goes further talking about this issue… which we will need to save for next week. x. Still – we see that there were women who were profiting off the church in order to live a self-indulgent lifestyle. They were doing so – simply because they had been widowed. They were quite well off, and really did not need such monetary compensation. xi. Paul corrects these widows sharply. Such selfishness is not likely of someone who has been made alive in Christ. And if the action is not corrected, it will certainly lead to further correction and discipline. xii. To mitigate all that, Paul says… f. [Slide 17] 7 – Reinforce these commands, so that they will be beyond reproach. i. Paul instructs Timothy to teach these commands, or to command these things. ii. The purpose is so that they will be beyond reproach. So they will be blameless. iii. But here is the big question… they who? Are we talking about widows, their families, young men, old men, old women, young women? Who? iv. Yes. v. It makes most sense that what Paul is saying, is that all this is to be taught to all these folks, so that they may not tarnish the name of Christ by their behavior. vi. Our appeals to one another ought to be familial and full of respect, love, honor, and dignity. Widows ought to trust God only for their provision. Family members of widows ought to care for them – for it is their holy duty. vii. Widows ought not to be self-indulgent, but rather dependent on God. viii. And the church ought to care for widows who are truly unable to care for themselves but depend on God alone. ix. If all this is true – there will not be a stain on those who claim the name of Christ. x. But there is a sure-fire way to stain that name among even outsiders… g. [Slide 18] 8 – But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. i. If someone, anyone, does not provide for his relatives… ii. Especially those who are in his household, meaning his immediate family… iii. He has denied the faith. WHAT? How can Paul say such a thing? iv. Is it possible to believe everything in the hymn from chapter 3 and still be an unbeliever? YES! v. You mean if I don’t provide for my family – I am not a Christian? YES! vi. How does that work? vii. It is simple. Those who have been given grace, who have been awoken to see the truth, who have had the Holy Spirit enter their heart, who have been given the love of God… will love God. And caring for your own family in their time of need, as we saw before, is an act of holy devotion and Love toward God. viii. In other words, you cannot love God and fail to support your family who are in need. ix. Again – we must define our terms. Need is different than what we think we need. If your family member thinks they need $80,000 a year and claims you are failing this principle when you don’t give it to them, then something is off. x. We must also look to ability. In other words – if you are someone truly in need, you cannot be someone who supplies another’s need. If you are the one that is destitute, then you certainly cannot supply the needs of others. xi. Indeed, if you can, you are not truly destitute. xii. Having defined those terms then – if you are able to provide the true needs of your relatives and especially your immediate family, and you do not – whether through laziness, arrogance, hatred, or indifference… you cannot be a follower of Christ. xiii. God will not let such a Christian exist. xiv. Indeed, Paul says that such a person is WORSE than an unbeliever. Which is, quite frankly, hard to fathom. This is approaching apostate terms. h. [Slide 19] Passage Truth: Paul’s truth endures. We are the family of God. Therefore, we ought to live in a particular way toward one another and toward our God. i. Passage Application: The specific application for Timothy before, was that he must exhort every person of his congregation, regardless of age, as he would a family member. The application here, is that those who are in the family of God must care for their brothers and sisters in Christ as they already care for their own family. j. [Slide 20] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this text it is difficult to see this theme overtly taught in scripture – but it is there laced to the very cultures of the ancient near east, Greek and even Roman families. It was a patriarchal society that put emphasis on family, clan, tribe before nation. You were expected to care for your own. But rather than leveraging culture to insist that Christians do the same, Paul instead depends on practical godliness and that which pleases God. The truth of all this is, that if a person will not care for his own family in their need – there is no possibility that they can be a true Christ follower. k. Broader Biblical Application: So for us it comes down to this basic point. Our fellow inheritors of the grace of God, ought to be cared for as family. Given all proper dignity, respect, love and honor and help in true need. But our actual families too must be cared for. James tells us that pure and undefiled religion is to care for widows and orphans in their distress. But you cannot go about doing that and ignore widows and orphans in your own family! Pure and undefiled religion starts in your own house. And carries outward from there. Conclusion: [Slide 21] Being a part of the family of God is quite a privilege, but it is not without its responsibilities. You cannot simply be in this family, you must be part of this family. You must take up the family name. You must live like Christ the firstborn. So what does that look like with respect to how we appeal to one another? If we are seeking another to change, to be different, to alter course, or to shift focus – how do we do that? What way do we do that? We communicate with one another, like family. Mutual love, honor, dignity, humility and respect. Those older like parents, those younger like siblings. What does this look like? We ask questions before making accusations. We observe rather than react. We give one another the benefit of the doubt before assuming the worst. And when we approach for correction, we appeal for them to change rather than condemning them. We assist rather than demand. We resolve to help and follow through. We disciple them as Christ discipled the twelve. Sometimes rebuking, but never so harsh as to be sin. With patience, humility, and love. And how does being in the family of God effect your actions toward your blood relatives in their need? Interestingly enough – to Paul’s culture of that day – it is not ONLY the actions that Paul addresses. In the first century it would be quite shameful for a person to not care for their own family members who had a need. But Paul points to the holy devotion of true believers to please their heavenly father, as the overriding principle behind caring for our blood relatives in their need. Certainly, paying the debt you owe to them is a part of this too. But the overriding principle is pleasing God. I find it absolutely appalling that in our society it is far less common to see family members care for their own. It is far more common to see family members run from the responsibility to care for their own. The Lord breathed His word on Paul to put the holy duty and pleasure of God as the backbone of caring for family in need. And this is still the reason to do this today. Regardless of whether our society esteems it mandatory or optional to care for their family – for us, the family of God – we do so to please our God and perform our holy duty. Furthermore, true members of the family of God understand that God is ultimately their source for supplying their needs. According to His riches. They are not looking to be well-cared for into lavish provision – but rather in their destitute need, they look to God to meet them. And finally, true members of the family of God, lovingly care for those who are truly destitute. First in their own family… and since the body of Christ is to be treated like their family… any believer who is destitute is cared for and provided for by the church. The bottom line, which Paul again emphasizes, is that being a part of the family of God is not simply about what you believe, but how that belief shapes you. People often describe God’s salvation as a free gift. This is true. I don’t argue with it. However, what we must understand about the gift, is that it is a pandora’s box of God’s grace. Paul says this in a less vulgar way when he says that the gospel is God’s power unto salvation. When we receive God’s true gift of salvation and not a forgery, that gift keeps on giving. Its contents overwhelm and overtake those to whom it was was given. To the extent that if a person receives what they think is God’s salvation, but it never explodes in grace, and doesn’t keep exploding in grace… then it is a fake. A mere facsimile. Paul teaches this in this passage. If you are a true member of the family of God – how you appeal to others in His family, and how you respond to need, all are changed by His gospel in us. So, has His gospel changed you in these ways? Do you appeal to God’s people with love, humility, honor, respect, patience and dignity? Like a family member? Do you look to God for your desperate needs? Do you care for your family members in need? Do you care for God’s people in desperate need? All of these are marks of a person who is living their holy devotion, which is pleasing in the sight of God. All of these are marks of someone who is alive in Christ. Being a part of the family of God is quite a privilege, but it is not without its responsibilities. You cannot simply be in this family, but you must be part of this family. You must take up the family name. You must live like Christ the firstborn.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Don’t Neglect Prophecy Grab your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. This section is short that we are taking on this week. We will Lord willing pick up our pace again and take bigger chunks, but this topic is tough to handle briefly and so we’re gonna take a whole sermon to look at vv. 19-22. The apostle Paul writing to the church of Jesus Christ at Thessalonica says: 1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 (ESV) 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. Five instructions. Depending upon your interpretation of this passage they are either all interconnected, similar to our instructions last week on inner-life attitudes of joy and prayer and thanksgiving before God. These are either all relating to the issue of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church through the prophetic word. Or, vv. 19, 21 and 22 are spiritual encouragements about living a godly life and v. 20 is the only verse that deals with prophecy. At the risk of testing your patience by repeating myself ad nauseam, I’m going to re-iterate a presupposition for interpreting the Bible. Do not approach the Scriptures with a conclusion and then attempt to prove it from the text. Do not approach the Scriptures with a conclusion and then attempt to prove it from the text. A good indicator that you need to watch yourself is when you read a text and it makes you feel a bit of discomfort because it doesn’t appear to line up with your beliefs. At that moment you can either begin to reinforce your perspective through what is known as confirmation bias—where you weight the data that you like, and you dismiss the data you don’t. You start out to disprove the other side rather than first objectively looking at the data. In the process you miss out on being shaped by truth and having your theology refined. So, we come to this passage and it deals with prophecy. Just for fun, here’s the basic ways this passage is approached, embellished for illustrative purposes. The prophecy avoider. Talking about prophecy is alarming because it is dangerous. They come to a passage like this and get hit with the prophecy dumbstick. Prophecy? What prophecy? This passage isn’t really about prophecy. And even if it was, we all know that prophecy is just preaching. This passage means don’t disregard preaching the written word and don’t disregard the written scriptures. Move right along. Nothing to see here folks (MacArthur, The prophecy accepters. Prophecy is an ongoing ministry of the Spirit in the church today. And in fact, this is proof positive that prophetic haters will exist in the church, they will despise prophecy and they shouldn’t. This also gives us the manner by which we test prophecy in the church and keep the good stuff and reject the bad. This passage validates a new category of prophecy that may or may not be true (Wayne Grudem, John Piper, D. A. Carson, Sam Storms, C.J. Mahaney). Called the “open-but-cautious” view. We just need to figure out what it meant to this church, and then we can figure out how to draw out the timeless implications for us. As you know, Paul has been dealing with how to strengthen the church and make it healthy. He is giving instructions on preventative maintenance to the body. It’s akin to a well-doctor visit where you don’t have any major ailments (at this time there are no major doctrinal issues in Thessalonica, no major moral issues) so these are instructions for how to stay healthy. Love and honor your leaders (12-13). Shepherds bear a burden of the care of your souls before God and give an account. Understand the burden. Pray for them. Satan loves to divide sheep and shepherds because it undermines ministry. This is a preventative. Minister to the strugglers (14-15). The church is a hospital, not for the healthy but the sick. God chooses the weak and not the strong. We are to help each other without favoritism. A call to be in one another’s lives and take spiritual responsibility for others. Humble, dependent relationship with Christ (16-18). The Christian life is to be one of great joy and peace and gratitude as we depend upon our God in prayer. We saw how these attitudes preserve the body. And now, today we come to the matter of cultivating a discerning church that loves and submits to the truth. A discerning church that loves and submits to the truth. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church (a flourishing prophetic ministry) Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) Keep your life pure from evil (22) 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) This passage is one that gets a wax nose. Whatever you believe about prophecy becomes how you approach this passage. Why? It’s so brief. It’s so few words. It’s eight words in the original. So, you’ve got to figure out what God wants us to understand from these eight words.1 Paul frontloads the concepts with the verbs listed afterward… 19 Do not quench the Spirit. Quenched2 appears elsewhere in conjunction with putting out a fire. The imagery of the Spirit as a fire when at work is used in Isaiah 4, Matthew 3 and Acts 2. It’s a sign of his energy. That is just almost too tempting for me because it just preaches so well. Don’t extinguish the Spirit’s flaming fire in your life. Let the Spirit burn within you until you are consumed. Sometimes I’ll send Paul Ellsworth some song lyric ideas I’m writing, and I’d say this idea of burning and fire and the Spirit definitely has some legs on a CCM hit. As enjoyable as that may be—Paul’s talking about the Spirit burning anyone. It’s an idiom. We use these to communicate the same idea all the time: He’s a wet blanket She put a real damper on the mood His last glimmer of hope was dashed That really doused my big plans The Spirit isn’t burning. Quenching is an idiom that just means down stifle or shut down the Spirit’s work.3 Now this seems like a conceptual parallel with not grieving the Spirit in Ephesians 4:30. In that context it is focusing on the relational elements of your connection to God. Paul says there by whom you were sealed. The whom. It’s personal. If you are in Christ, you have a very special and precious relationship with the Spirit of God. The Spirit’s work in the life of the believer is irreplaceable: as he calls, quickens, regenerates, sanctifies, pours the love of God into our hearts, frees us from sins tyranny, places us into the body of Christ, enables us with grace-gifts to serve others, translates our prayers, leads us back to the Father and preserves us until we are with Christ in eternity.4 The thought there is that when you and I treat obedience carelessly then we are hurting the indwelling Spirit who seals us.5 Generally speaking, how you grieve or quench the Spirit is to neglect the truth. Stop reading your Bible and stop submitting to what you find in it. Neglect and unbelief are the path. Calvin says this is a warning against indolence (laziness) in spiritual things. It’s a warning against neglecting your soul and yet even so, the hope isn’t just more effort, but dependent striving.6 For although God works efficaciously in his elect, and does not merely present the light to them, but causes them to see, opens the eyes of their heart, and keeps them open, yet as the flesh is always inclined to indolence, it has need of being stirred up by exhortations. But what God commands by Paul’s mouth, He himself accomplishes inwardly. In the meantime, it is our part to ask from the Lord, that he would furnish oil to the lamps which he has lighted up, that he may keep the wick pure, and may even increase it.7 God’s preservation through exhortations that drive us back to him for a fresh supply of strength to follow him. We are commanded not to quench. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Calvin says that v. 19 is generic and now v. 20 is specific. I don’t believe there’s an abuse of prophetic gifts in Thessalonica because the instruction here is so short. 20 Do not despise prophecies, What are prophecies? Communicating a message of direct revelation from God by speaking or writing. Communicating a message of direct revelation from God by speaking or writing. It could include foretelling future events before they come to pass. But that’s a dimension of prophecy. Prophecy could also include preaching—they key is the source of the revelation is directly from God to the individual prophesying. Active prophetic ministry in Thessalonica. And Paul has to say to the church… Don’t hold them in contempt. Don’t disregard them. We have little work on in terms of the context, but if we stick to the words themselves this much is clear: the Thessalonians were not embracing the God-given, Spirit-enabled exercise of prophecy within the church. Despising here could be to simply regard it as without merit—worthless—a waste of time. How they were doing this is a matter of speculation. Perhaps they were not allowing prophets to speak during the service. They were cutting power to the mic every time a prophet would get up to share. Perhaps they were listening, but then dismissing such things as not being authoritative messages from God. However, it was a low ministry priority for them. My best guess from the context is that they had gotten some bad prophecy and they decided to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. They had gotten duped and said, “we’re gonna cut that part from the order of service on Sunday mornings. No more prophecy. No more funny stuff.” The reason I’m inclined to think this is two reasons. The first is grammatical. Look with me at how v. 21 begins: but Grammatically this is a direct, correlating relationship. Don’t disregard, but (instead, in contrast) test everything; hold fast what is good. He doesn’t say don’t disregard prophecy but put it center stage during your church services. Don’t disregard prophecy but elevate it above the other gifts. He doesn’t say, prophets don’t stop prophesying but keep exercising your gift. No. Rather he says in effect, don’t kick it the curb because of some bad experiences, but instead test what you hear. The solution is to evaluate the prophecy for its validity. Grammatically it’s clear that some bad prophecy was in play. Second, we find bad prophecy addressed in 2 Thessalonians 2. In the very next letter Paul says: 2 Thessalonians 2:1b-2a … we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word… A spirit or a spoken word. A spirit was another word for a prophetic word. Not only that, but they had previously been in idolatry (1:9) meaning mysticism and incantations were part of their old worship. So they would have been skeptical. We get this. I got sick one time after eating honey and peanut butter from that peanut butter machine at Winco as a kid. I didn’t eat peanut butter and honey for years. And the smell of that machine when I’d walk by it would always make me feel queasy. It probably wasn’t sickness from the machine, but that didn’t matter. One bad experience with prophecy and you write the whole thing off. You go to a church service expecting to hear truth and some prophet gets up and promotes another Jesus. Says something that shakes your faith. Makes you doubt your salvation. Causes your peace to be disrupted as you hear a message supposedly from God. You’d be on board with cancelling open mic night at church… no more prophecy.8 But the problem is prophecy is a good gift from God to the church. And so, Paul says, “nah, hold on… breathe… test it and then cling to the good.” The problem was they were trying to filter out and protect themselves by error through their own approach. They were trusting in their own opinions more than in God’s Word and their fears caused them to cut off the Spirit’s ministry in the church. 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) test everything; Put it to the test. Everything. Word for proving it. Take what you hear and test it by the book. Celebrating how God used Martin Luther and his famous stand where he’s saying that he will be convinced he’s in error through Scripture and plain reason. This is what the church does. The church is the pillar and support of the truth. The Thessalonians thought they would protect themselves by disallowing certain ministries in the church because of the potential for error. They knew better. Just imagine being in Thessalonica. You’ve got no New Testament. No systematic theologies have been written. No Apostles Creed. No Nicene Creed. No church councils. No Reformation. No Westminster divines. No church history. Pretty different from 21st century America. We need to explain a few things here: What is the NT gift of prophecy? Longer discussion, but here’s the summary. Prophecy has its foundation in the Old Testament. And in the OT there is no such thing as an “oops” I didn’t get it quite right category. Deuteronomy 18:21–22 (ESV) 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 13:1–5 (ESV) 1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. No passage clearly distinguishes a neoprophecy in the NT. But this view is built from 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the passage here before us. And in fact, Peter connects the OT prophet to the NT prophet. Quoting Joel talking about prophecy in the NT: Acts 2:16–18 (ESV) 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. What do we know about this prophecy? Let’s pull out some concepts from 1 Corinthians 12… 12:27—it’s a gift to the church. 12:29-30—not all believers are endowed with that gift. 13:2—prophet powers hyperbole… love is necessary + superior and more important for edifying the body than any gift. 13:8—fade away 13:9-10—What’s the perfect? τελος is complete. When Jesus comes? No. The comparison is to a child becoming mature and leaving behind the immature and childish things. 13:13—faith, hope and love abide (but faith and hope cease when Jesus comes). Hebrews 11:1 teaches that faith is seeing the unseen. Hope is going to go away when we receive the object that we are hoping in. 14:1—prophecy is good it builds the church. 14:2-5—prophecy is superior to tongues 14:29 14:39 Ephesians 2:20—it’s foundational. Ephesians 2:19–20 (ESV) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, The church was being established… The apostolic age, like many OT times, was an age of revelation. The prophet had a supernatural gift whereby he was able “to reveal to his listeners new truth from God.”9 One of the reasons people have a hard time with the idea that these gifts aren’t operating today is because they can’t find a verse that specifically supports that. What’s often overlooked is the starting assumption regarding God’s revelatory ministry. As you read through the Old Testament you find many times where God is speaking to one person in the whole world at that time. Occasionally it would overlap, and he might be speaking to a couple. Or there would be periods of time when God wasn’t talking to anybody at all. In fact, between Malachi and John the Baptist there was 400 years of what? Utter silence from heaven. Then you have Jesus. Then you have Pentecost. And then you have a God doing a new work on the earth through the church and as we would expect we find revelation and miracles… it was always the case. It fits the pattern. Hebrews 1:1 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, It was a unique season in history. A new work of revelation until the Scripture was completed. His function as a spokesman for God included foretelling (prediction) and forthtelling (preach- ing), in either case on the basis of possessing supernatural knowledge (cf. John 4:19; Eph 3:3-5). In order to claim the gift for today, some writers have identified the gift of prophecy with inspiring and enthusiastic preaching,10 or congregational prophecy, “based on a ‘revelation’ from the Holy Spirit yet not possessing the authority of God’s own word.”11 This is totally out of keeping with all biblical data.12 Bob Kauflin in an article entitled, “How Do We Make Room for the Gift of Prophecy” refers to “prophetic impressions”13 This is where a member from the church gets up to share with the congregation a message or an impression that they believe God is telling them to tell the church. He admits that not all contributions will be “home runs” but that having two pastors near the microphone to screen contributions before they are shared is a good practice and a way to obey the command here in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 to test prophecies. While I love Bob Kauflin’s ministry and have benefited greatly from it. We sing hymns he has written. And I appreciate his desire to involve the congregation in ministering to one another. I believe it’s a total misunderstanding of this passage. Kauflin holds to a neoprophecy that is articulated most comprehensively by Wayne Grudem and supported in various ways by other pastors and theologians such as Gordon Fee, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper and Sam Storms. For many of these testing essentially means, “pray about it and then go with your gut… if you sense peace then it’s from the Lord and if you don’t it’s not.” I know they mean well, but I find that an alarming way to begin to say things and cite your source as the divine creator of heaven and earth. Some define prophecy not as a direct, flawless revelation from the Spirit, but as faithfully preaching the word of God to a church congregation. This appears incorrect, since prophecy elsewhere in the Bible seems always to be connected with a direct revelation by the Spirit. Others, however, explain prophecy as a direct revelation of the Spirit, which can nevertheless be mixed with some error. The likelihood is that prophecy in the New Testament is the same as in the Old (a direct, infallible revelation from God) and that the discernment of a prophecy throughout the New Testament is a matter of distinguishing between true and false prophets.14 The key issue is this: false prophecies are just that. False. Pseudo. Fake. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a situation where God’s people are told to figure out what the mixture of a prophecy is: this one’s 50/50; we’ve got a 90/10 split on this one. It’s obvious because we are talking about the source of the message. In high school I was very aware of designer purses. I guess I was trying to find common ground with my friends’ mom’s or something. In the 90’s it was Kate Spade all day long. You had the $300 Kate Spade at Nordstrom and then $30 Kate Spade on the cart outside TJ Maxx. No one ever picks apart either one trying to figure out which components of the purse are authentic and which are fake. It’s either 100% genuine or 100% fake. There’s no partially authentic and partially fake. Matthew 24:24 (ESV) For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 1 John 4:1 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. Matthew 7:15 (ESV) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. 1 John 4:1–6 (ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 Corinthians 14:29 (ESV) Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 1 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. You have a responsibility to test what you hear. Teachers give an account, are judged strictly. But guess what? Hearers are also judged. No teacher gets every interpretation right. You are to test what you hear against the standard of truth in whatever ability God has given you. Although Paul here doesn’t give the criteria for examining prophetic utterances, John Stott (The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians [IVP Academic], pp. 128-129) suggests five tests based on other Scriptures: The first test is the plain truth of Scripture. Like the Bereans, we are to examine the Scriptures to see if what someone is saying is true (Acts 17:11). The second test is the divine-human person of Jesus (1 John 4:1-3). Anyone denying either His full deity or full humanity is a false teacher. The third test is the gospel of God’s free and saving grace through Christ. Anyone who preaches a different gospel is eternally condemned (Gal. 1:6-9). The fourth test is the known character of the speaker. Jesus said that by their fruits we will know false teachers (Matt. 7:15-20). The fifth test is the degree to which what is said builds up the hearers. An authentic message will strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church, as well as convict those in sin (1 Cor. 14:3-4, 24-25, 31). But the main problem is this—how do you test a word from the Lord against Scripture if it isn’t pertaining to Scripture? Hey church, I think God wants some of us to sell our houses and downsize so that we can better influence various parts of the city and use the proceeds for other activities. I’ve just invoked God’s revelation to me. Or so I think. You have to judge if that’s true or not. How? We might be able to recognize it is something that would generally line up with a practice in Scripture. But practically how would you validate/invalidate? The responsibility of NT prophets to weigh the prophecies of others does not imply that true prophets were capable of giving false prophecies, but that false prophets could disguise their falsity by occasional true utterances.15 B.B. Warfield: Miracles do not appear on the page of Scripture vagrantly, here, there, and elsewhere indifferently, without assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods, and appear only when God is speaking to His people through accredited messengers, declaring His gracious purposes. Their abundant display in the Apostolic Church is the mark of the richness of the apostolic age in revelation; and when this revelation period closed, the period of miracle working had passed by also, as a mere matter of course.16 Prophecy in the New Testament is the same as prophecy in the OT; it is a continuation of the same office and function.17 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) hold fast what is good. See prophecy is a gift of the Spirit that was blessing God’s people. 1 Corinthians 14:3b …the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. There’s edification here. Strength. Encouragement. Comfort. Help. And if you make a wholesale abandonment of prophecy, you’re gonna miss out on this crucial blessing. Rather than throw it all away, cling to the good. Hold it fast. This is another reason the possibly true prophecy category is problematic. If a teacher says something and binds you to it, but you can’t verify it in Scripture you are obligated. Revelation is a gift to us from God. Consider the personal nature of God’s revelation to his people… Hebrews 1:1–3 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, From a God who condescends to make himself knowable… John 1:14–18 (ESV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. Jesus came in part, to explain God to us. The detriment of not having revelation… 5 Tips for Protecting the Prophetic Word in the Church Don’t resist the Spirit (19) Don’t limit God’s word by your own opinion (20) Be a discerning listener (21a) Embrace good teaching (21b) Keep your life pure from evil (22) 22 Abstain from every form of evil. Now if you grew up memorizing scripture in the KJV like I did, you learned this as: 1 Thessalonians 5:22—Abstain from all appearance of evil. Great principle, wrong passage. Most people’s discernment on abstaining from evil is this—does Scripture explicitly forbid me from doing something? By that I’m not advocating for making rules to define what does and doesn’t please God. But I’m talking about the freedom of Christian conscience in the fear of the Lord that seeks to live a life that’s pleasing to Christ… Paul describes it as a worthy walk. To walk worthily. To walk in a way that is in measure Christ himself. How does turning away from evil effect your discernment and your receptivity to the ministry of the Spirit? We have seen many times that discernment is intimately connected to your practice of the truth. Mark 9:31–32 (ESV) for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. Lose discernment… unlike those who practice… Hebrews 5:14 (ESV) But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Practicing what? Believing and submitting to truth. And so immediately we recognize that we need the Spirit of God to do this work in our hearts. How devastating to tell someone your sin will blind you to truth, but you need truth to deal with your sin. It sounds like a catch 22. But God is gracious. He promises to give wisdom to those who ask, to give mercy to the humble, to draw near to those who draw near to him. We draw near by faith, trusting him to reveal things to us that we cannot otherwise see. I’d say the Spirit’s work was pretty effectual in those disciples. Paul wants the ministry of the Spirit to abound in that church in all truth. Hosea 4:6 (ESV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. It comes from a great God who never lies… Titus 1:2 (ESV) in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began… Communion The God of good gifts who has given us revelation and spoken to us, also gave us himself. That’s always the greatest expression of love—to give of oneself. My life for yours. No greater act of love has even been known that God taking on flesh and becoming the substitute for all who trust in him. Unfair for a righteous man to be punished for sin. And yet that’s the means by which we are given freedom. The just for the unjust. The innocent for the guilty. The spotless for the stained. He was the perfect lamb of God. And he is honored when we remember him. And it is also good for us to remember his death for us. If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, then welcome. You are invited to partake and to fellowship around his table. The bible refers to this time in various ways, one is communion. This is from 1 Corinthians 10:16 that describes what we do as a participation, a fellowship, a communion with Christ’s work. It means that we get the privilege of identifying with him in a close association. It’s a time that we reconsider our relationship. In that, we want to come prepared with reconciled relationships within the body of Christ and reconciled relationships with our Lord. We want to take a couple of minutes and prepare our hearts for this fellowship. I’ll close that in prayer and then we’ll sing… PRAY Romans 10:3—not submitting to the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own. Every guilty thought Every evil deed Sing… Communion reminds us of the love of God for us… The Heidelberg Catechism gives us a wonderful answer to the question: How does the Lord’s Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts? In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and drink of this cup in remembrance of Him. With this command He gave these promises: First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was His body offered for me and His blood poured out for me on the cross. Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely does He Himself nourish and refresh my soul to everlasting life with His crucified body and shed blood. As surely as… we gain assurance as we partake. One minister puts it this way: Do you doubt what your eyes are seeing, what your hands are receiving, what your mouth is tasting? Then don’t doubt that Christ was sacrificed for you, loves you, and will continue to care for you!18 See this is a comfort to us. Imagine the comfort it was to the first apostles who had seen Jesus and been with him physically and then were without him physically… 1 Corinthians 11:23–24 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Take. Eat. Remember. And Believe. That Jesus willingly gave his body for you. Let’s fellowship in it together. As you know, the bread was the first part of the ordinance. Then came the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:25—In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” This new covenant is a better covenant. A better relationship through promise. And as we saw, this promise is made by a God who cannot lie. This covenant says that you have been bought with and cleansed by the precious blood of the lamb slain for you. Blood purified and cleansed things in the old covenant. It does so in the new as well, but it does so permanently. So, this is a reminder that you are clean. Take. Drink. Remember. And believe. That you now are secure in the blood of Jesus for you. Let’s remember Jesus together as we partake of the cup. Our Lord is coming back for us and until he returns, we proclaim his death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26)… in fact as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup. We are going to sing about that now and so I invite you stand together.

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF WOLFBOY MOVIE REVIEW A lesson in empathy is the only way to describe this small, but incredibly powerful film. Jaden Martell stars as Paul, a 13-year-old with a genetic condition which has caused the growth of thick hair all over his face and body. Although Paul lives with his supportive single… Read More »Screener Squad: The True Adventures of Wolfboy

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF WOLFBOY MOVIE REVIEW A lesson in empathy is the only way to describe this small, but incredibly powerful film. Jaden Martell stars as Paul, a 13-year-old with a genetic condition which has caused the growth of thick hair all over his face and body. Although Paul lives with his supportive single… Read More »Screener Squad: The True Adventures of Wolfboy

Title: A Good Servant of Christ Text: I Timothy 4:6-10 FCF: We often struggle persevering in our walk. Prop: Because a good servant of Christ has certain characteristics, we must show these characteristics as God’s people. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 4. Last week Paul had some rather discouraging news to relay to Timothy and his church. News that the Spirit explicitly said would be true in later times, and is happening in their time. That some would walk away from and oppose the confession of truth that they once claimed. Paul explains how that happens and how they are led away from truth and convinced of the lies. We made a point last week that the gospel is incredibly narrow. We are often tempted to either add to it or take from it. As fear inducing as such a proclamation can be, it is necessary for us to hear. But today – we get to see the other side of that. Paul will take Timothy under his wing, as his young child in the faith, and explain how he can be sure that he and his flock do not suffer such disastrous things. How can Timothy insure that he is, and his people are, good servants of Christ? That is the goal of the text today. I’m in I Timothy 4, and I’ll start reading in verse 6. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1339 or in whatever version you have in front of you. Transition: After the sermon from last week… let’s get some encouragement shall we? Let’s see how we can be a good servant of Christ! I.) A good servant of Christ has certain characteristics, so we must teach the true gospel. (6-7a) a. [Slide 2] 6 – By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, i. What things? ii. He could be talking about the entire letter up to this point. He could be referring to everything since the beginning of chapter 2 where he left Timothy’s personal instruction last. iii. I think for certain we can be sure that he at least is referring to the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4. iv. Therefore, what is certainly in view is the true gospel, encapsulated in the hymn Paul gives standing in contrast to the distortions of the false teachers. v. Paul says that by pointing out such things – or by teaching them. vi. Although Paul puts this in a progressive way – by pointing out – it is certainly to be interpreted as a command. But it is a command that Timothy has not been neglecting. So, Paul spurs him to continue on. vii. By doing so toward his congregation… b. [Slide 3] You will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, i. The title of this section to the end of chapter 4 could be – a good servant of Christ Jesus. ii. Everything Paul says is pointed toward this concept. How can Timothy be a good servant of Christ Jesus? iii. First – it is by pointing out – by teaching the true gospel of Christ and opposing the lies of demons. iv. But how can Timothy be sure that he is continuing to be the kind of man that teaches his people the true gospel only? c. [Slide 4] Having nourished yourself on the words of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. i. It is through personal spiritual nourishment and growth. ii. If Timothy does not feed himself on the truth of the gospel, if Timothy does not heed the teaching of those who have come before him, if Timothy does not follow the instruction of his mentors and forebearers, then he cannot hope to instruct others. iii. Teachers cannot ever stop being learners. They MUST continue to be fed on what they learn, so that they can share it with others. iv. Timothy must continue to drink and eat from the gospel of Christ so that he can fill those whom he teaches. v. And notice that that isn’t just doctrine and preaching – but it is obedience too. The good teaching that he has followed. vi. Paul will expand on this in a moment – but this isn’t just focusing on teaching on a knowledge level but holistically, to the extent that the truths of the gospel permeate everything he does. vii. We’ve seen the first way that Timothy is to be a good servant of Christ. That is to teach his people the gospel truth. That is only possible if he is being nourished by it and living it himself. d. [Slide 5] 7 – But reject those myths fit only for the godless and gullible i. The second way that Timothy can be a good servant of Christ is this… ii. Avoiding, or more strongly – rejecting myths. iii. When you are in your study, pondering the marvelous mysteries that God has only partially revealed, when you have questions for which God does not provide clear answers – it can be tempting to speculate. To guess. To lead yourself and others down the back avenues of what could be. iv. Reading between the lines of scripture, trying to find answers that either are not there, or are not clearly there. v. As these false teachers did with forbidding to marry and forbidding to eat certain foods. They added myths to revealed truth to support conclusions they had already arrived at. vi. These are the teachings we must reject. vii. Why? viii. Because they are not fit for those who are seeking God. They are only fit for those who are godless and old-wifey. That is the word for gullible. One commentator referred to these things as prattle. They do nothing to edify the body and only serve to divide, distract or distort. ix. There is a delicate balance here. Some of the most rewarding moments in my study has been chasing down questions that did not have clear answers. Most notably and most recently has been my rediscovery of the Lord’s Supper and all its facets of meaning. x. But one can go so far and so long hunting down questions that they need to invent connections to come up with answers. Or they see connections that those who have already agreed with them would be able to see. xi. It is difficult to know where to draw the line between humble searching and preoccupation. xii. We must not be enamored by what we don’t know. Instead we must be preoccupied with the gospel of Christ. xiii. And that is really Paul’s primary point. He desires Timothy to continue to be nourished on the things that he has been (past tense) taught and continue to grow in those truths. But the tangential, the uncertain, the grey, the unknown – don’t feed on this – reject it instead. Avoid it. xiv. When we combine these two commands they essentially equal the first one. Continue to preach and teach the truths of the true gospel. xv. How? By being nourished by them and living them out, and by rejecting or avoiding all that is not the gospel. e. [Slide 6] Passage Truth: Paul throughout this passage is teaching Timothy what it means to be a good servant of Christ. f. Passage Application: Timothy must continue to teach the true gospel and refute the myths. To do this he must continue to be nourished by and live out the gospel message. g. [Slide 7] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the rest of scripture we see this as the basic tenant of our faith. The gospel is the Word of God revealed from Genesis to Revelation. The gospel is the person of Christ revealed in the scriptures form Genesis to Revelation. The gospel is not simply the message that justifies… it is the whole message of God’s holiness, man’s wickedness, and God’s plan to save them in His Son. By Substitution. Through Adoption. He brings us into His family! WOW! The whole of the gospel message is the whole of scripture. All things come back to this - that God is redeeming His creation. He is taking it back. Little by little. Piece by piece. Until all things are His and there is no more opposition. That is a gospel that has immediate and far reaching effects on who we are and what we do. Indeed, there is no way it couldn’t. We are all striving to be good servants in Christ. That is the essence of the gospel. That is what the gospel does to us. It makes us into good servants of Christ. h. Broader Biblical Application: And what do good servants of Christ do? They preach the truth. They teach the gospel. They reject the myths. They pursue and are enthralled by Christ and Him crucified. Not that other things that God reveals are not of interest. Not that we cannot question or pursue things that are not clearly revealed. But our priority, our emphasis, is on the gospel. And so we must ask ourselves – is that where my priority is? My friends. The world will sit and talk to you about all kinds of things. They will mythicize and scrutinize, and trivialize the text of scripture. They will read out of sheer morbid curiosity the difficult things and the unknown things in this book. But they will not abide the gospel. Because it tells them they are wicked. My friends, people in our churches that are not truly converted, They will love the sermons that focus on the unknown things in scripture. They will sit on the edge of their seat as they hear the pastor explain his opinion on the uncertain things in these pages. They will weep in their seats as the person behind the pulpit holds high the need for acceptance and tolerance, while tearing apart God’s law. They will give hearty amen when a pastor adds human works as a component of their salvation. And they will cheer when he speaks ill of their particular political opponent. But my friends. They will squirm under the teaching of the gospel of Christ. Because it is the power of God unto salvation. They will be confronted with the truth that there is a Holy God who hates their sin. But maybe… just maybe… they will see it for the first time. And they will hear that this same God, who hates their sin, crushed His beloved Son, so that they would be free. You want to be a good servant of Christ? Preach the gospel with your lips, drink it deep into you, feed on its truth, bask in its grace, and let it come flowing out of every pore. Do this while avoiding prattle… and you will be a good servant of Christ. One who never need worry about deserting the faith. Transition: [Slide 8(blank)] So this is one way we can be sure that we are a good servant of Christ. But there is still another component to this. One that Paul has hinted at – but one that he has not explained fully as of yet. Let’s look. II.) A good servant of Christ has certain characteristics, so we must train ourselves for godliness. (7b-9) a. [Slide 9] 7 – and train yourself for godliness i. So, the first half of being a good servant of Christ Jesus revolves around doctrine. It revolves around teaching, learning, and living the right doctrines and rejecting the false ones. ii. This is the first task of any man of God who would desire to be a good servant or minister of Christ. And indeed, it is the first task of any person who would desire to be a good servant of Christ. iii. The second is equally important. iv. It is to train himself for godliness. v. The word “train” is a word used for exercise. It is a word associated with physical discipline to perform in the games. vi. It is diligence, It is difficult. It is discipline. vii. But Paul uses this to speak of spiritual discipline and spiritual exercise. viii. Timothy, if he is to be a good servant of Christ, is to diligently discipline himself for godliness. For piety. For holiness. ix. As much as we speak of grace, as often as we speak of Christ working through us, as much as we say not I but Christ – the fact of the matter is – that godliness is not something we attain by simply sitting back and praying for God to do it in us. x. We attain godliness by the passion that God gives, swinging the pickaxe that God gave us, with the energy God gave us, to mine out the gems of righteousness that God has prepared for us from before the world began. xi. This will be work. It will not be easy. It will probably be quite… painful. xii. BEAT YOUR BODY into subjection. xiii. CRUCIFY yourself. xiv. Mortify the flesh. xv. This is the work of sanctification. And it is true that it is not us alone, nor is it us primarily, nor do we get “credit” for success – but we do work. That much is true. xvi. Paul, having mentioned exercise, will now state a well known and true phrase. b. [Slide 10] 8 – For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. i. Taking these out of order, reading verse 9 first, we see that this is another one of Paul’s trustworthy sayings that deserves to be accepted and appreciated. It is completely true. ii. These statements as we’ve seen have been core truths and values that cannot be argued or disputed. iii. So far we’ve seen 1. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 2. If anyone aspires to the office of an overseer, he desires a noble task iv. This is the final saying that is worthy of full acceptance in this book. So, what is it saying? v. He says that physical exercise is a good thing. It does have some value. But there is something worth greater value. Now the value here is defined. What is the greater value of godliness versus the lesser value of physical exercise? vi. Physical exercise holds value for this present life. The body benefits from exercise. But what good is a chiseled body when it is dead? vii. Training for godliness, like physical exercise, has present benefit for this life. Living in God’s will is its own reward. And God gives present promises to those who would walk in His ways. Promises that are of general joy and peace. This does not always manifest in physical ways in this age, but sometimes it does. viii. But beyond this age – Godliness has value in the life to come. Godliness is treasure that is laid up where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. ix. Godliness in all its disciplines is valuable in every way. There is no end to the benefit of godliness. x. And as a reminder…there is no exception to this saying. This is true always and all the time. Training for godliness is profitable for anyone in this life and the next. c. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: Again, Paul is telling Timothy how to be a good servant of Christ. d. Passage Application: Timothy must train himself for godliness. He must discipline Himself for holiness. e. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out again to all of scripture – we have already shown that the gospel does this to God’s people. God keeps working on and changing His true children to be conformed more and more into the image of His Son – and that is… the gospel. f. Broader Biblical Application: And so the working of the gospel here, is that we grow in godliness. This is, of course, not without effort. It is not without difficulty. It is not without pain. In fact, I am convinced that some of the trouble that Christ predicted for His children, would be this. The mortification of sin and the discipline in righteousness. But God’s true children know that this effort to train themselves for godliness, not only has present benefits. Not only does it please the Lord now. Not only is there great promises associated with being pressed into Christ’s mold in this life… but even more in the life to come. The benefits of godliness are sometimes difficult to see in this life… but are on vivid display in the next. Transition: [Slide 13(blank)] But that is hard. Because this life is all we know now. How do we make it? In fact, Paul just said that some won’t make it. So how do we KNOW that we will? What gives us the courage, the strength to carry on in this uphill fight? III.) A good servant of Christ has certain characteristics, so we must continue to trust God. (10) a. [Slide 14] 10 – In fact, this is why we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, i. Paul continues to point out exactly why we discipline ourselves in this way. ii. Why do we continue to teach, to learn, to grow, to obey, to train for godliness? iii. Why do we discipline ourselves? iv. Why do we work so hard? v. Why do we struggle? vi. We do this because we have set our hope on the living God. vii. We have set our eyes on the prize that is set before us. viii. We have seen what is promised to those who run the race well. ix. Furthermore, we know that as we run, it is This God, this King, that will keep us standing. He will keep us going. He will keep us swinging. x. We wear ourselves ragged knowing that God is the one who will not let us wear out before we reach the finish line. xi. God providentially is both the goal and the means. xii. So, we work hard knowing that He will bring us unto Himself. xiii. Seeing this in what Paul says helps us to interpret rightly the next phrase. b. [Slide 15] Who is the savior of all people especially of believers. i. God is the savior of all people especially of believers. ii. What in the world does this phrase mean? iii. Because if we are not careful – we could make this phrase say something which supports universalism. iv. Universalism is a teaching that says, in one way or another, God will draw and deliver every single person to Himself. That all men will be saved. The Pope just recently made a statement to this effect, saying that even atheists will be ushered into the kingdom of heaven. v. This teaching says – you don’t have to believe in God – because He believes in you. vi. This is heresy. It is garbage. It is refuse. I have other words I’d like to use to describe it, but they are too strong for this audience. You can use your imagination. vii. Paul is not teaching universalism. viii. So how can God be a savior of all men? ix. Perhaps we can use the old trick from chapter 2. God is the savior of all kinds of men…. No… because how do we explain “especially of believers” x. There are two acceptable interpretations of this. 1. The first is an alternate interpretation of the word translated “especially.” Although its only meaning in the New Testament is “especially” or “to a greater degree”, other writings indicate that one usage of the word is to express “that is” or “Namely.” So the phrase would be that God is the savior of all people namely of believers. I, however, do not find this explanation very convincing. 2. The other interpretation fits much better in the context of the passage. a. Paul is speaking about exercise, hard work, struggle. In struggle and hard work you need endurance. You need to press on to get through. b. This word “save” means to deliver. It means to move something from point A to point B. It is true, that most often in scripture it refers to saving from sin, from death to life. Indeed, that is probably the normal way of translating this word. c. However, here in the context it seems that that may not be what Paul is intending. d. What Paul seems to be saying is… e. We discipline ourselves in teaching, refuting, learning, growing, obeying, and being godly because we have set our hope on the living God. f. Who delivers all men through this life, especially believers. g. God helps those who are not believers to endure to their appointed end. God does not give the wicked what they deserve. He does not snuff out their lives. Rather he providentially leads them to His truth, or to His Judgment. In either case, He is the one who delivers them from birth to death. h. That, then, is especially true for believers. Because He brings them to truth. He providentially leads them, not with an invisible hand that the wicked don’t see or spit on – but with a visible hand seen through the graced eyes of faith. c. [Slide 16] Passage Truth: So Paul is still teaching this concept of being a good servant of Christ. d. Passage Application: Timothy must continue to work and struggle trusting God to help Him endure. e. [Slide 17] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out, we won’t belabor the point, but God preserves His own dear children. Romans 8 tells us that those whom He calls He will glorify. Jude prays that Christ will present them spotless before the throne of God. Paul assures the Philippians that Christ will continue his work in them until it is perfected. f. Broader Biblical Application: So yes, it is certainly work, and discipline to go on training in godliness. It is certainly work to continue to proclaim the true gospel and reject the lies. But we have set our hope on the living God. Paul elsewhere says – WORK OUT your own salvation. He continues by telling us that the will or desire to work out our salvation and the ability or the power to work out our salvation which is the good pleasure of God – comes from GOD! That is why we work out our salvation in fear and trembling. It is a wonderous thing to behold a person empowered by God to mine the fruit of the Spirit out of what was once a spiritually dead thing! It is amazing to see God come along side us to help us do His will. This is what is promised. But it is not without work. It is not without effort. Godliness is a lifelong endeavor. But God’s true children know, that godliness is profitable not just for this life… but for the life to come as well. And God’s true children have set their hope on the good nature of God to His people. God is the providential deliverer of all men to their appointed ends… and how much more so to the believers… because their appointed end, is only the beginning. Their worked for godliness will continue… forever. Conclusion: [Slide 18(end)] What does this mean for us here at CBC? You can feel the fear that could come over a congregation, and even a young pastor, when his mentor and spiritual leader reminds him that some will walk away from and oppose the faith in the last times. That some will actively attack the true confession of doctrine that they once claimed to hold. What a sobering thought. The words in today’s passage are a salve on that fear. A sweet and calming ointment to pacify our shaken hearts. You can be a good servant of Jesus. How? Preaching, eating, drinking, living, and defending the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Cling to it as if your life depended on it… because, of course, it does. This is true faith. This is true belief. John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that he sent His unique Son into the world, that whoever is a believing one on Him, would not die in spiritual death, but would live in spiritual and eternal life. To be a believing one is not a one and done kind of thing. It is a once for all kind of thing. It is a description of all those who will inherit eternal life. They continue to believe. Since this is true, Paul encourages Timothy and his church, to continue to believe. Worried you’ll desert the faith? Keep believing and you won’t. But how else can you be a good servant of Jesus? Training in Godliness. We saw this in I John. How do we know that we are children of light? We walk in the light. How do we know that we have been born of God? We live in righteousness. Faith without works is dead, James says. It is a fake faith. The long and the short of it is that although our salvation is not by our works, our salvation is certainly for good works. The only thing we bring to our own salvation is our sin. But we take from our salvation the power of God to be conformed to the image of Christ. That power will not fail. So Paul says, worried that you will desert the faith? Discipline yourself for godliness and you won’t. But as is usual with Paul – he cannot let us see only the human side of this equation. No. He goes on to say that the reason we continue in this struggle, is because we have placed our hope on God, who delivers all men to their appointed end… and that is especially true for those who endure in true belief. In short – the teaching that God is our deliverer is the motivation for us to continue to fight, struggle, endure, and hold fast. His promise to always help, always give aide, always give power, always give a way of escape – these promises do not cause His children to be idle or passive – rather – they encourage us to press on, why, because we are on the Lord’s Side! He will hold us up. Compare that to those who will desert the faith. They are not doing any of this… but they are preoccupied with the lies of demons from the mouths of false teachers whose lives live in opposition to God’s law. We have been made to be more than conquerors in unity with Christ. So go and conquer! Cast down the lies of the demons, hold up the blessed truth of Christ, and persist, endure, and discipline yourself toward godly, holy, God’s law loving righteousness. Because that is what you have been predestined to. Ephesians 2:10 – Every single believer is God’s masterpiece, re-created in Christ for the purpose of good works that God prepared before the foundation of the world… so go and do them! My friends – I will not lie to you, continuing to hold up the truth amid the lies, and disciplining yourself in godliness is not easy. Is it easy to discern error? Is it easy to call out false teaching? Is it easy to teach with patience? Is it easy to defend truth while still being loving? No. It isn’t easy. Is it easy to discipline yourself to read God’s word? Is it easy to be gentle when others attack you? Is it easy to be a servant? Is it easy to love and honor your spouse? No. It is easier to not do these things. Is it easy to deny the lust of your eyes on the computer screen? Is it easy to say no to going too far in a relationship? Is it easy to submit to your parents? Is it easy to tell the truth, even when it means admitting to your own failure? No. It is easier to do the opposite. Is it easy to follow wise counsel? Is it easy to show love and compassion to someone who would consider himself your enemy? Is it easy to forgive? Is it easy to trust God with our country? No. No it is far easier to do the opposite. My friends, there is nothing about what Paul is talking about here, about being a good servant of Christ, that is easy. It will take discipline. Struggle. Endurance. And maybe even a little pain. Blood, sweat, and tears. But you can find the strength to carry on… how? Your hope is set on the Living God. He delivers all men to their appointed ends. And that is especially true for believers. He is the goal. He is the means. So let’s get to work. Let’s preach, eat, drink, and live the gospel while refuting the error. Let’s discipline ourselves in godliness. Knowing full well, that God will see to it that we endure to the end.

 Audio RecordingSermon Manuscript:Our Epistle reading this week begins with chapter 1, verse 1. It is at the very beginning of a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the congregation that existed in the Greek city of Corinth. It is customary that we go about doing these kinds of things in a certain way. Among us we might begin a letter or an email by saying, “Dear So-and-so…” And then, before we get into the subject at hand, we might talk about things that are a mutual concern of the author as well as the recipient. One farmer might write to another farmer about the weather and how the crops have been growing. Old friends might begin a letter by talking about mutual acquaintances that they had recently come across. You get the idea. It is quite common for the beginning of a letter to speak to things that both the letter writer as well as the ones receiving the letter would find relevant. With the writing of Holy Scripture the Holy Spirit by no means despises these sorts of things. The vast majority of the Bible is quite ordinary in the way that it speaks. Only some of the prophetic works like Ezekiel or Daniel in the Old Testament or Revelation in the New Testament speak in a more exalted way. Otherwise you might say that the Holy Spirit wears everyday clothes when he inspires the authors of Scripture. The letters of Paul that we have in the New Testament certainly follow this typical pattern. Whenever Paul addresses a letter he is immediately thinking about the connection that exists between himself and those he is writing to. It is not surprising that he talks about Jesus Christ and God the Father and the Holy Spirit, for this is their shared interest. Already in the very first verses of the letter he is foreshadowing and preparing the ground for what he would like to say to them. He often lays out divine truths at the very beginning that he will apply to his hearers so that they can gain a greater understanding of them. Although Paul has not addressed a letter specifically to any one of us, nor to our congregation, what he says can also be applied to us because we have the same connection to him as these people to whom he was writing 2,000 years ago. We believe in the same Jesus Christ and God the Father and the Holy Spirit as they, so what Paul says to the Corinthians also applies to us. With that in mind there is a lot that we can learn from this little introduction to his letter. Therefore, today we will look at what Paul says to the Corinthians with the idea of also applying it to ourselves. First of all, Paul says where the letter is directed: to the church of God in Corinth. Then he adds a phrase that describes them. He says, “Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, who are called as saints.” The important word behind “sanctify” and “saint” is “holy.” To sanctify means to make holy. A saint is someone who is holy. Holiness is something that is strictly limited to God and is only available through an association with him. There is no way for anyone or anything to be holy except by being in a relationship to the only source of holiness, which is God. So what Paul is saying is that the members of this congregation have been made holy in Christ Jesus, and that they are holy. This is the reason why the Father sent his Son. It was to make sinners into saints. Then Paul adds this: “along with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” The congregation to which a person belongs is important. It is not by accident that certain people end up in certain congregations. It is the Holy Spirit who calls us and gathers us into congregations. But the Holy Christian Church, the fellowship of saints, is larger than any individual congregation. As Paul says, it is made up of all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord. Another way of saying this is that what makes a person a Christian is faith in Jesus as his or her Lord. For without faith, it is not possible to call on something. You must first believe that you will be helped, otherwise you would not call out to him. Then follows words that are quite familiar to us: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is more to those words than we might suppose. Grace means gift or help or blessing. Peace means comfort, tranquility, rest. Pronouncing this to someone is offering it to them. The reason why anybody can say, “Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is because this grace and peace is actually available to them. The reason why it is available to whomever might hear it is because Jesus has died for the sins of the whole world. It is available to all, and God wishes for all to embrace it by faith, saying, “Yes, this grace and peace is mine as God’s gift to me.” Blessings naturally serve as a kind of concluding statement. Our church services end with a blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” There is also often blessings like “have a good week,” that we say to one another. So when Paul pronounces the blessing “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” this concludes his opening greeting to the church of God in Corinth. Then Paul gives thanks: “I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. You were enriched in him in every way, in all your speaking and all your knowledge, because the testimony about Jesus was established in you.” It is amazing how thankful Paul always was. Some people are born with a cheery disposition where they are almost always bright eyed and bushy tailed. They have a smile for everyone. But it is obvious that Paul’s thankfulness is not just of this sort. It is not like Paul is a cock-eyed optimist who cannot be down on life because he isn’t able to see deeply enough to notice anything discouraging. Paul is keenly aware of failings and short-comings and tragedies of all sorts. Therefore his thankfulness is not a matter of his personality, but is rather intertwined with his Christian faith. When Paul looks at any Christian, no matter how weak or troubled, he is moved to give thanks. Such a one has been called out of the darkness of slavery to sin, death, and the devil, to the light of being known and loved by God. Even if the Christian is still weighed down by the flesh, harassed by the devil, afflicted with disease and death, the victory has already been won. By faith in Jesus Christ the Christian will overcome all these things and more. The grace and peace that is given to us by God is such a great and powerful gift Paul is moved to thanksgiving every time. This is especially noteworthy when we consider the congregation to whom Paul is writing. If you are at all familiar with 1 and 2 Corinthians, you know that there were a lot of problems in this congregation. There was a lot of disorder, a lot of jealousy. Some were even talking bad about Paul and the Gospel of Christ the crucified that he preached. They said it was too gloomy and weak and unimpressive. To such a crowd it seems that denunciations and curses would be the more natural choice, especially since many of them were opposed to Paul. But the fact that Paul does not deal with them in such a way, but actually gives thanks, shows that his thankfulness is not personal. He is thanking God for what God has done in them. He has the eyes to see that God was powerfully at work, in spite of their blemishes. The goodness that God has worked is so great, that their faults are hardly noticeable, even though they are opposing Paul himself. This is something useful for our life together and our fight against the devil. Without a shadow of a doubt I can say that the devil does not want you to be a part of this congregation. He wants you to be away and stay away. So it is with all Christian congregations and schools and wherever else Christians might gather. There’s hardly a more effective way for the devil to achieve this purpose than to turn Christians against one another. Instead of thanking God for the grace he is worked in your fellow congregant so that you hardly notice the faults, the devil will turn it around. You become so aware of the faults that you can’t hardly believe that the other one can be a Christian. I have known congregations where they become so poisoned and toxic that feuding becomes more important than praying, praising, or giving thanks. On the other hand, where there is humility, gentleness, bearing with one another in love, this covers over a multitude of sins and weaknesses. When the flock stays together it is a lot stronger against the wolf. He wants to divide and scatter so that he can pick us all off one by one. So Paul’s thanksgiving to God is important, not because he is making it up with rose colored glasses, but because he has the eyes to see the goodness of God even in the midst of much trouble. It is also important to hear what he gives thanks for. He says that they have been enriched in every way, in all their speaking and all their knowledge, because the testimony about Christ was established in them. Given their troubles, it might be easy to think that they were poor rather than rich. But for that to be the case, they would have to cease being Christians altogether. For if anyone is a Christian, then he or she can’t help but be filled to the brim particularly in the way they speak and think. A Christian knows that God has saved the whole world in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A Christian knows that this world will not last forever. A Christian knows that evil will one day be segregated and punished once and for all in hell. A Christian knows that what is truly good about life is not money or glory or all the things that the unbelievers go after, but rather love. All these and more make up the tremendous wisdom that God gives whenever he works faith in Jesus. There is no such thing as a poor Christian when it comes to knowledge. If a person is a Christian, then automatically he or she has been given more than anybody could hope for or even imagine. It does not matter if they are clever and quick or slow and dumb. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We all have one Savior, one knowledge. We all have the same gift whereby we overcome death and grave and will enter into eternal life. Eternal life is the name of the game. We are not a country club. We are not a public service organization. Our congregation is a gathering of Christians who work together so that the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ may be made known to us and to whomever crosses our path, and so that the sacraments which Christ has instituted for our salvation may be offered to those who desire them. All this is done so that we may stand redeemed and holy, forgiven of our sins, when Christ comes again in glory and inaugurates the fullness of his heavenly kingdom. When Paul speaks about the way that the Corinthians are rich and overflowing, it is with this endpoint in mind. He says, “because the testimony about Christ was established in you, you do not lack any gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is speaking about the last day. If there is anything that has made Christian congregations deteriorate all around us, I think it is the loss of this end times perspective that has done it. When congregations are seen as places for people to socialize or do volunteer work or what-have-you, and they no longer see themselves as places where we are being prepared for the last day, then they cannot help but lose sight of the Gospel of Christ the crucified. Indeed, this is one of Paul’s concerns with the Corinthians. They were losing sight of why we are Christians, and so Paul speaks of this divine truth at the beginning of his letter and will explain it more thoroughly as the letter goes on. Finally we have some encouragement at the end of the portion of Paul’s letter that was read today. He says, “God will also keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.” In many and various ways, sometimes by rather strange circumstances, each one of you has come to be part of this congregation. This includes me and my family too. This is not by accident. The Holy Spirit has gathered us together. So also the Holy Spirit gathered together the congregation at Corinth in Paul’s time. So what Paul says of them is also true of us. The reason why we’ve been gathered is so that we can be kept strong until the end, so that we may be blameless on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been called into fellowship with Jesus Christ. You are in communion with him by God’s working. Although we are not nearly so faithful as we would like to be, God is faithful. He has given us his Gospel. He has given us his sacraments. By continuing to use them we may be assured of our faith being strengthened, of our ongoing sanctification, until the end. In conclusion, I hope that you can see from Paul’s words to our congregation today that we are something special. We are not just religious consumers, and this church happens to be the store at which we happen to be shopping at the time. Our eternal lives are already bound together in our shared story of salvation. We are together being sanctified and kept in the true faith. Our interactions with one another are important and powerful—either for the good or for the bad. Thus we are responsible to one another, to help one another. God help us to be faithful. Amen.

Paul literally steps into Anticimex's boardroom in Stockholm and sits down face-to-face with CEO Jarl Dahlfors, for this intimate and hard-hitting interview. Although Paul prides himself in being the preeminent, global expert on pest control valuation and M&A, our team here at The Boardroom Buzz is wondering if he missed his calling as a 20/20 journalist. As CEO of Loomis, Jarl turned a low-performing business into the darling of the cash management and armored car services industry by decentralizing its business model and changing its culture. As head of a direct competitor of Brinks, it was Jarl who dethroned at least two Brinks’s CEOs – according to equity research analyst Jamie Clement – earning Jarl the 'Swedish Beast' moniker.  In the middle of an extremely successful career in the security industry, EQT, owner of Anticimex tapped Jarl to do what he does best, shake up and decentralize a sleepy Nordic business that had been around for almost a century. Decentralizing Loomis paid dividends for him, but how would that play out in another similar route-based business? Jarl battled his critics, but he could see that there was so much more potential for quality, profit, and growth. As the “protector of the branch manager”, Jarl decentralized Anticimex, established benchmarking protocol and has lead his highly-motivated team in building one of the largest pest control companies in the world.  Following the interview, Paul and Patrick are joined by guest co-host David Billingsly, President at American Pest, for additional commentary on what it’s like to be a “country” president at Anticimex.

In this episode, you meet Paul Forchione. Paul was born with cerebral palsy and told he would never walk properly and would need to rely on a wheelchair. Thankfully, that didn’t stop Paul’s Mom from pushing him to overcome his limitations. Although Paul dealt with his share of bullying, he proved to himself and others that he could break through and reached his dream of becoming pitcher his junior year of high school. Paul is now a motivational life coach at A Call to Action, and he has a podcast Actions & Limits. You can reach Paul through his website: https://acalltoaction.coach/You can find his podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/actions-and-limits/id1475838012His Quote of the Week: “If you believe you can achieve.”This episode is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aoCYN_TXeZ8Check out my course “Flipping Dreams” on Teachable! 15% off: DREAM15http://flippingdreams.buzzsprout.com/Thank you for tuning into this episode of Flipping Dreams! I can’t wait to bring you more content next week, and please subscribe & share this with any of your network of friends and family whom you think may be interested! Web: https://heatherreneemay.com/FB: @heatherreneemayIG: @_everydayismayT: @flippingdreamsShow theme song, “Run Again” by Heather Ré Music: https://heatherreneemay.com/music

Why study 1 Corinthians?   Because it is part of God’s Word, the Bible Because it is highly relevant to our lives as individuals and to the church today It teaches us important lessons about:   The secret of true wisdom The importance of unity The seriousness of immorality The nature of marriage, including the right person to marry! The right use of freedom The way we should worship The correct use of spiritual gifts The overriding supremacy of love The certainty of resurrection   Before we start to look at the text, I’m going to give you some basic background information on:   The city of Corinth Paul’s letters to the Corinthians How the Corinthian church was started   The city of Corinth Corinth is in Greece. It’s on the Isthmus, a narrow strip of land - just over 4 miles wide - joining the northern and southern parts of Greece.   It was a very important trading city.  Goods were transported overland to avoid the lengthy sea-voyage around the Peloponnese (the southern part of Greece).   The old Greek city had been destroyed in 146BC and refounded by Julius Caesar as a Roman colony in 46BC.  As a result, there were both Greeks and Romans living there as well as Jews (Acts 18:4).    A cosmopolitan city, Corinth was intellectually alert, materially prosperous, and morally corrupt.  It was possibly because of its influential position that Paul stayed there 18 months (Acts 18:11).   Paul’s letters to the Corinthians We will be studying the letter we know as 1 Corinthians But actually Paul wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians   How do we know this?   Letter 1 A problem of immorality had arisen in the church. Paul wrote to them about this. This letter is referred to in 1 Cor. 5:9..   I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people   Letter 2 (1 Corinthians)   Letter 3   2 Corinthians 7:8-9 8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while-- 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.   Compare 2 Corinthians 2:2-4   Letter 4 (2 Corinthians)   When was 1 Corinthians written?   Acts 18 records Paul’s appearance before Gallio who was proconsul in charge of Achaea probably from the summer of AD 51. (The dates of Gallio’s proconsulship are given by an inscription found at Delphi). Paul, therefore, probably reached Corinth in about March AD 50 and stayed there until about September AD 51.  From this, following the chronology of Acts, Barrett concludes that the most probable date for the letter is early 54 or late 53.  Fee comes to a similar conclusion, dating Paul’s departure from Corinth some time in AD 51-52 and the writing of the letter some three years later (i.e. 54-55AD).   How the Corinthian Church started   This is recorded in Acts 18:1-20   Paul is on his second missionary journey. He has had much to encourage him:           the conversion of Lydia           of the fortune-teller           of the Philippian jailor   but he’s had his discouragements too:           disagreement with Barnabas (15:37-40)           beating and imprisonment (16:22-24)           Jewish opposition at Thessalonica and Berea (17:5-13)           apparent lack of success at Athens (17:32-34).   By the time he reached Corinth he was in weakness and in fear and in much trembling (1 Corinthians 2:3).   v2      There he met a Jew named Aquila .... Priscilla   Aquila and Priscilla were Jews who had been living in Rome.  They had moved to Corinth because Claudius Caesar had expelled all Jews from the city (18:2).  Paul stayed with them when he arrived at Corinth because they were fellow-Jews and also tent-makers.  We do not know if they were already Christians.   v3      and worked   Note Paul’s willingness to work with his hands, although an apostle – cf. 1 Corinthians 9:1-14.   v4      he reasoned   Although Paul placed great emphasis on the power of the Spirit in the proclamation of the gospel (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 - see also Romans 15:19-20) he also sought to persuade his hearers by reasoning with them from the Scriptures.   v5      Silas and Timothy   When Paul had left Thessalonica it looked as though his attempts to plant a church there had failed (17:5-10).  Now Silas and Timothy arrive with news that the church is going on (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:1ff).  So Paul is encouraged by this and renews his efforts to win the Jews for Christ.   v6      I will go to the Gentiles   Rejected by the Jews, Paul washes his hands of them and turns to the Gentiles.   v7      went next door   Paul leaves the synagogue and moves next door!  He starts a meeting in the house of Justus.   v8      Crispus, the synagogue ruler   Paul’s move next door seems to have made an issue of things.  Crispus is confronted with the all-important question, and decides for Christ.  Many then follow his example.   v9      a vision   The Lord assures Paul that he has many people in this city.  He knew that there would be many who would receive the Gospel if Paul would stay and preach it to them.    (Note that this was a specific statement to a specific person about a particular city at a particular time.  Christians should beware of generalising such specific statements).   v11    So Paul stayed there   After all the opposition he had faced it might have been easy for Paul to have given up in despair.  But God has encouraged him.  By divine revelation he was to stay in Corinth for a year and a half.  He has reasoned (v4) and testified (v5), but people must be taught the word.   Eventually Paul left Corinth and came to Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla (vv18-19), where he left them while he journeyed to Jerusalem (v21).    While they were there Apollos arrived in Ephesus (v24).  Recognising the divine potential in him, Aquila and Priscilla explained to him the way of God more adequately (v26).    Consequently, when he moved on to Corinth (cf. 18:27 and 19:1) he was greatly used in building up the young converts (v 27) and in winning many Jews to Christ (v28).  In this connection he was possibly even more successful than Paul.

In this sermon, we continue allowing the words of the Biblical book of Philippians to shape our souls as we live through the Coronavirus crisis. Although Paul was on lockdown, the gospel wasn't, as all kinds of folks filled his shoes and preached gospel. What's odd is that some did it from pure motives, and some not-so-pure. What's even more odd is Paul's response, which will surprise, comfort, and challenge us.Reference: Philippians 1:15-18 (edited)

Season 1- episode 17 Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes Part 3: The Lifestyle of Surrendering. Chapter 16: In Any And Every "It is here I want to focus on the remainder of this chapter. I want us to reflect on the last two chapters of the letter that this man, Paul, wrote to the church in Philippi. In this first section of the letter we see Paul placing himself on a metaphoric trial against those who are making accusations against him and preaching a distorted/evil gospel. In an almost sarcastic manner, he expresses how his life could easily measure up to their standards of living, but how in his perspective he counts these status markers  as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. Paul almost echoes the words of Moses in this beautiful declaration of love and devotion to Jesus. Moses during his time of exodus says he refuses to lead Israel anywhere unless God promises to be with him. This was also similar to King David's own plea with God during his cry for forgiveness after killing a man and sleeping with his wife. David's famous words were “cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” Although Paul is not repenting in this letter, he is revealing something deep within his heart. He absolutely loves being with Jesus regardless of how the world affirms or accuses him. He counts it all loss and meaningless compared to the fulfillment he has in knowing Jesus Christ personally. The “knowing” that Paul is talking about is almost in terms of the intimacy of ‘knowing' a person. Paul is saying he has tasted and seen what the religious world has to offer and he counts all of it as nothing compared to the intimacy he shares with knowing Jesus. This is an incredible insight into what a lifestyle of surrendering is really all about. This lifestyle of surrendering is about finding fulfillment in knowing Jesus intimately and deeper as the moments turn to days, months and years of obedience to His will. There is a fruit that comes from this deep root but the fulfillment ultimately lies within getting to know Jesus personally and intimately. I often say that I am so thankful that when I die, I will not need to be introduced to Jesus for I know who He is, and I have had so many beautiful experiences with Him. Yet even though there will be no need for introductions, I will spend the rest of eternity worshiping Him and getting to know Him in even deeper ways. I pray that the wonder and curiosity I have for knowing Him will never run dry for He is infinitely beautiful." Thanks for listening!

Guest Name : Paul Denneman, Senior Consultant at Mutatis Mutandis Language : English, Publication date: Feb, 29. 2020 Paul is a senior consultant at Mutatis Mutandis. The focus of Mutatis Mutandis Consulting is on changing complex supply chains in environments where regulations or legislations are major constraints. The company is founded in 1993 by Paul Denneman. Although Paul is mostly active as an independent senior project manager/consultant in supply chain transition processes, his professional passion is in transferring his knowledge to others too. In the past two decades Paul trained over a 1000 supply chain professionals in over 100 companies. Paul holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences of Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) and is a qualified APICS® Master Instructor. To complete his professional background he is CPIM®, CLTD®, CSCP®, Prince2® and ITIL® certified and has experience in the high-tech, pharmaceutical and medical devices industry. Connect him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauldenneman/ Highlighted: How does inventory management affect the supply chain? What are the best approach in managing the inventory ? What's view on Using Technology to Improve Inventory Management ? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bicarasupplychain/message

On this episode of Sanctum Podcast I'm finishing my Black History month reflection with the book of Philemon. The reason I decided to meditate on this scripture is because it tells the story of how Paul dealt with a Christian slave owner and runaway. Although Paul never says directly what his feelings on slavery are, I believe through this short epistle he demonstrates the heart of God. Visit my website: http://sanctumpodcast.com/ Buy my book here: The Elisha Principle: Revival through Sonship Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanctum_podcast/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sanctumpodcast/message

Rev. Mark Barz, senior pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Although Paul, Silas, and Timothy only spent a short time in Thessalonica, their ministry among God’s people there was not in vain. The shameless treatment they received did not prevent God’s powerful gospel from doing His work. Their ministry was not like Roman speakers paid to talk; they came without error, impurity, or deception in order to be faithful to the one true God. In their ministry among the Thessalonians, these men conducted themselves both like a mother who nurtures her very own children and also like a father who encourages his children to go into the world as faithful family members. Such affection between the ministers of the Gospel and the hearers of the Gospel can only be attributed to God, who is the Gospel’s source, subject, and content. Seeing the example given here, pastors and hearers alike are encouraged through the Lord’s gift of confession and absolution, trusting that the God who worked through the Gospel among the Thessalonians is still at work in His Church today to strengthen us in these last days to look for Christ’s coming with faith and joy. “Christ Is Surely Coming” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that journeys through the two epistles to the Thessalonians. Through these two letters, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy encouraged the young church in Thessalonica to stand firm in the midst of persecution as they eagerly waited for Christ’s second coming. This Word of God still strengthens the Church today to live now with faith, hope, and love, even as we long for the Day of Christ’s return, the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

SCRIPTURE: Acts 18-21:16 (Acts 20:22-21:7)As Paul journeys back to Jerusalem, he faces steady resistance from the leaders in each church he visits along the way. He is warned repeatedly that he is heading into a trap laid by the Sadducees who want to see him arrested and killed for heresy. He is told of visions, and even words from the Holy Spirit, counseling against his return. Everywhere he goes, people ask him to avoid the city and keep himself safe. And yet Paul persists: he is committed to reporting back to the leaders of the church, and he shows little regard for his own safety. Why does Paul insist on this hardship? And how do the people of the church stand with him, even when he rejects their counsel? This week, we want to look closely at Paul’s mission, his unflagging commitment, and the lessons we can learn about supporting one another through hardship. DISCUSSION/REFLECTION QUESTIONS:Read Acts 18:24-28. Although we didn’t discuss this story on Sunday, it’s an interesting window into the work of the church apart from Paul. What can we learn from the story of Apollos? What example do Priscilla and Aquila set in their interactions with Apollos? Why is important that they confront him? How does he respond? How do they continue to walk with him, even when he leaves their community?Read Acts 20:21-24 together. What is Paul’s response to the church’s counsel that he avoid Jerusalem? In what ways do you think Paul is right? In what ways might you disagree with him? How can you be challenged by Paul’s statement that he “do[es] not count [his] life of any value to [himself]”? Are there ways where you can be stretched in your own life to surrender more control? Although Paul’s life certainly sets an example for us, it is also true that Paul rarely insists others live exactly as he does. What is the picture we see in this story of how the everyday-people of the church live their lives? How do the church members continue to support Paul? Are there people in your own life who are making decisions you disagree with, but who you can still love and support? How?

May 29, 2019 PM, 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5.Although Paul's desire to personally return to see the Thessalonians was frustrated, he found out what he needed to know by sending Timothy. By this means, Paul was able to encourage them "remotely" that they continue in the faith despite the persecutions they faced. These afflictions were totally to be expected because our adversary the Devil does not want the gospel to advance, and when it does he wants to tear down that advance.

GUEST: Andrew Haywood It's North Dakota's own Andrew Haywood, back on an episode of LOST with Friends. Listen as he and host Paul discuss the episode "Namaste". Although Paul is not too keen on the episode to begin with, Andrew tries persuading him it's more of a "hidden gem" in the greater experience that is LOST. What do you think? Listen to their opinions and let us know yours!

"There's been a lot of good press from the science community on self-assembly of atoms. Well, I guess what I'm looking for is self-assembly and disassembly of large-scale structures...There is all sorts of exciting things we can do when [engineering] structures re-configure themselves." --- Prof. Paul Weaver This episode features Prof. Paul Weaver, who holds a Bernal Chair in Composite Structures at the University of Limerick in Ireland, and is the Professor in Lightweight Structures at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Lightweight design plays a crucial role in the aerospace industry, and Paul has worked on some fascinating concepts for more efficient aircraft structures. Paul's research has influenced analysis procedures and product design at NASA, Airbus, GKN Aerospace, Augusta Westland Helicopters, Vestas (and many more), and in this episode we cover some of his past accomplishments and his vision for the future. Central to this vision is artificial metamorphosis, which is a term that Paul coined to describe structures that re-configure by dis-assembly and re-assembly to adapt and optimise on the fly. Although Paul thinks that this vision of engineering structures is still 50 years into the future, he is well known for his work on a related technology: topological shape-morphing. The simplest example of a morphing structure is a leading edge slat, which is used on all commercial aircraft today to prevent stall at take off and landing. Paul, on the other hand, envisions morphing structures that are more integral, that is without joints and which do not rely on heavy actuators to function. Apart from artificial metamorphosis, Paul and I discuss his teenage dreams of becoming a material scientist his work with Mike Ashby at Cambridge University on material and shape factors interesting coupling effects in composite materials that can be used for elastic tailoring his work with Augusta Westland helicopters on novel rotor blades why NASA contacted him about his research on buckling of rocket shells and much, much more I hope that you get a feel for Paul’s enthusiasm for aerospace engineering. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron. Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Prof. Paul Weaver! What have you learned from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here. Selected Links from the Episode Bernal Institute, University of Limerick Paul’s research group at the University of Limerick and the University of Bristol Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down and The New Science of Strong Materials: Or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor by Prof. J E Gordon Prof. Mike Ashby, materials selection using Ashby plots and its geometrical counterpart: shape factors, CES Materials Selector Second moment of area AugustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopter that uses bend-twist coupling in the rotor blades to decouple vibration modes Bend-twist coupling of a wing-box explained on the Grumman X-29 Geometrically swept wind-turbine blades for improved performance Imperfection sensitivity of cylinders (the introduction of this paper conveys the message) Video of collapsing soda can and "scientific" crush test Morphing: NASA morphing aircraft FlexSys wing without flaps A project by NASA and MIT on flexible morphing structures NASA shape-shifting wings A morphing air inlet A video featuring Paul talking about his research and vision for artificial metamorphosis Some topics related to metamorphosis are: Molecular self-assembly 4D printing Re-configurable materials The deHavilland Mosquito, the importance of phenolic resins in constructing the Mosquito, and Norman de Bruyne  

Lusts—we all have them and we’re all susceptible to them. We can never be safe from them while we’re in these earthly bodies. This is because in the fall of the entire human race, the pure physical body God created for us became the sinful flesh, full of lusts. We believers are not exempt from this fact. Certainly, when we believed in Jesus Christ, we were forgiven of our sins and saved eternally. We became God’s children, born again with His divine life. But though our spirit was regenerated, our body was not. The sinful lusts in our flesh remain. That believers still have the lusts of the flesh is proved by many verses in the New Testament, but in this podcast we’ll focus on 2 Timothy 2:22. Here Paul was not speaking to an unbeliever. He gave this word to a young man named Timothy, his brother in the Lord and co-worker in serving the Lord: “But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” If the lusts of the flesh were no longer a problem to Timothy because he was a saved, spiritual person, why would Paul have given him this strong word? And what does this verse mean for us believers today? Paul’s word to Timothy concerning lusts applies to all of us believers. Although Paul said “youthful” lusts because he was speaking to Timothy, a young man, that doesn’t mean we can ignore this word if we’re older. Whether young or old, we have a corrupted body of sinful lusts that are incited by the world. As Satan’s system, the world has only one aim: to draw us away from God and damage us by feeding our lusts. This evil world system is clearly defined in 1 John 2:16: “Because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” Today the world is increasingly persistent with its endless stream of sinful and unclean temptations. And modern technology makes it so easy to gratify our lust by just a quick tap on our phone or a click on our computer. With diverse attractions that cater to our lusts, the world is ever present, tempting us twenty-four hours a day. What should we do? We should flee! To flee means to escape, to turn away from. It doesn’t mean to struggle with, but to run away from. The Bible does not say to resist lusts or to overcome lusts with a strong faith; no, Paul uses the verb “flee,” a definite and active word, when it comes to how to handle lusts, and Romans 13:14 says, “Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” We can’t afford to be passive or complacent about lusts. Perhaps more than ever before in human history, we have to flee, to run away from, lusts. Giving in to or indulging in the lusts of our flesh brings damage to us. God created us as vessels to contain and express Him, but Satan wants to damage our vessels—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically—through the lusts in our flesh. In 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 Paul spoke this word to the Thessalonian believers: “That each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” Clearly, no believer is immune to the passion of lust. No matter how much we love the Lord Jesus, no matter how long we’ve been saved or how many experiences of Christ we’ve had, Paul’s word of wisdom to flee is for every believer, since lusts are a constant peril to us all. The way to not be damaged and defiled by lusts but to possess our vessel in sanctification and honor is to flee! However, Paul didn’t stop at “flee youthful lusts”; he went on to say, “Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.” To flee in an aimless, directionless way is difficult. But Paul told us not only to flee from something, but also to pursue toward something. To pursue means to seek, search out, follow, or run after—another definite, active word. On one hand, we are to flee something terrible: youthful lusts; on the other, we are to pursue something wonderful: Christ as our real righteousness, faith, love, and peace. While we flee, we also pursue Christ as all these virtues for our living. Note 2 on this verse in the Recovery Version explains these virtues in our experience: “Righteousness is toward oneself, faith is toward God, and love is toward others; peace is the issue of these three virtues.” So when we pursue Christ, the virtues of righteousness, faith, and love can become ours. We experience Christ being our righteousness in our relationship with others, so that we can be right with them. We experience Christ as our living faith in our relationship with God for us to believe in Him. And we experience Christ as our unlimited love with which we can love everyone. As we experience Christ as all these virtues, instead of struggling with lusts, we have Christ as our real peace within. Fleeing lusts and pursuing Christ shouldn’t be occasional events with us; instead, we should have a daily life of fleeing and pursuing. As we consider our own daily lives in the light of 2 Timothy 2:22, we might stop and ask ourselves, “If I’m not fleeing and pursuing, what am I doing?” Let us daily flee lusts and pursue Christ! How can we have such a daily life of fleeing lusts and pursuing Christ? All alone, it’s impossible. But Paul wasn’t merely speaking theory or doctrine to us, so in the second half of the verse he gave us the practical way to flee and pursue: “with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” To flee and pursue is with those, meaning, with other believers who are also actively fleeing lusts and pursuing Christ, calling upon Him with a pure heart. Besides having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we all need to find some spiritual companions with whom we can pray, read the Bible, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, consecrate ourselves, and fellowship about growing in the Lord and experiencing Christ every day. By ourselves, we’re no match for Satan, his world system, and our fallen flesh. But being “with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” enables us to flee the lusts of the flesh and escape the enticements of the world. And even more, by being “with those” we’re strengthened and encouraged to actively and positively pursue Christ and all He wants to be to us. As we heed the word to be with others who run after the Lord, we also need to heed the warning in 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” The kind of people we’re with influences us. That’s just how it works. So we must be wise and not become companions of people who draw us away from God; instead, we can choose to be with fellow believers who are running away from the damaging lusts of the flesh and running after the Lord Jesus. We do have our fallen flesh with its lusts, and profuse temptations and unashamed immorality are present wherever we turn. But we can be believers who have a daily life of fleeing lusts and pursuing Christ with other believers. As vessels God created for Himself, we can be filled with Christ as our righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Then we can be vessels unto honor, sanctified, and useful to our beloved Master, as mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:21.

Released on Yahoo Screen in 2015, “Other Space” might be the best Sci-fi comedy you’ve never heard of…and creator Paul Feig is here to change that! This week Jordan chats with the extremely talented and extremely well dressed Paul Feig to spread the word about “Other Space”. Although Paul is probably best known for creating "Freaks & Geeks" and directing "Bridesmaids", "The Heat" "Spy" & "Ghostbusters", deep down he is a sci-fi geek and "Other Space" is his love letter to Star Trek and many other sci-fi fandoms. The best part about the show? It’s totally free! You can find out more and watch it anywhere in the world at shareotherspace.com

Paul Merriman is an internationally recognized authority on mutual funds, index investing, asset allocation modelling and buy-and-hold strategies. He has over 50 years of investing and advising experience and we are stoked to be able to tap into his wealth of knowledge. Although Paul is “retired” he is as busy as ever, educating people of all ages on how to take investment decisions into their own hands. On this killer episode, we discuss one of his books “101 Investment Decisions Guaranteed to Change Your Financial Future” and break it down into the 12 top points. On each point, Paul explains the decision in detail and gives us advice on how to apply this practically to our own portfolios. This is a great episode for all levels of investing experience.   Relevant links: Pauls website - http://paulmerriman.com/   Recommended Books: Paul Merriman - 101 Investment Decisions Tony Robbins - Money Master of the Game   Discussed:  Five Steps to More Money, Less Risk and More Peace of Mind - https://youtu.be/P552ZhCxnrE   Time Stamp - Topic: 02:30 - Retirement home in Mexico 09:00 - How Paul started with finance 13:25 - Choosing to save vs. spend 20:26 - Making 16% interest on a CD 23:40 - Long term investing with stocks over bonds 29:40 - One stock vs. many stocks   33:20 - Stockbroker story selling 34:38 - Investing like a multi-millionaire 37:00 - Thoughts on Tony Robbins Money Master of the Game 40:15 - Personal picks or hire an expert 42:27 - Load funds vs. no-load funds   48:40 - Operating mutual funds with high expenses vs. low expenses   54:20 - High taxes, low taxes and no taxes with a Roth IRA / 401k 57:40 - Managing active and passive index funds 59:57 - Total market fund vs. Total market + value and small cap 1:02:30 - Using you select funds or target date funds 1:04:20 - 100% Target date funds vs. target date and adding small cap value 1:08:00 - Do you trust Wall Street, Main Street or University Street academics? 1:13:22 - Are international stocks necessary? 1:15:55 - Financial advisory hiring strategy 1:18:20 - Paul’s future asset allocation model

Although Paul, Silas, and other prisoners are liberated from prison in a miraculous earthquake, it turns out that true liberation came to the jailer. What would liberation mean for us?

Although Paul, Silas, and other prisoners are liberated from prison in a miraculous earthquake, it turns out that true liberation came to the jailer. What would liberation mean for us?

: The book of Ephesians is included in the category of Paul’s letters known as the “Prison Letters” or “Captivity Epistles,” because in it, as in Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Paul specifically states that he is in prison at the time of writing (Ephesians 6:20). Although Paul does not identify the location of this imprisonment, there is strong scholarly consensus that this letter was written while he was imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28:30‒31).

: The book of Ephesians is included in the category of Paul’s letters known as the “Prison Letters” or “Captivity Epistles,” because in it, as in Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Paul specifically states that he is in prison at the time of writing (Ephesians 6:20). Although Paul does not identify the location of this imprisonment, there is strong scholarly consensus that this letter was written while he was imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28:30‒31).

: The book of Ephesians is included in the category of Paul’s letters known as the “Prison Letters” or “Captivity Epistles,” because in it, as in Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, Paul specifically states that he is in prison at the time of writing (Ephesians 6:20). Although Paul does not identify the location of this imprisonment, there is strong scholarly consensus that this letter was written while he was imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28:30‒31).

In this sermon Pastor Miller interviews Paul's companion Barnabas. Although Paul takes the forefront in the New Testament, Barnabas played a key part in disciplining Paul. Barnabas' life is clearly a life worth imitating because he imitated Christ.For more information please visitwww.OTBChurch.com BarnabasApostleEncouragementDevotionFaith

California native & kayak fishing journalist Paul Lebowitz will join Kayak Fishing Raw to talk the growth of offshore kayak fishing, kayak drama &  much more!  Paul has been a kayak fishing journalist since 2002 - He picked it up because many of the great stories and personalities of the sport haven't been properly covered by mainstream media. He started with a long-gone pulp giveaway named Kayak Fisherman, have had columns at west coast's Fishwrap; glossy regional magazine Pacific Coast Sportfishing; and Western Outdoor News, the country's largest outdoor weekly; and have had stints as editor of North America glossies Kayak Angler and Kayak Fish. Although Paul has given up keeping track of every great white shark attack on a kayak angler, He used to follow them closely. Paul interviewed and reported on some half dozen great white on kayak shark strikes, and published a series of stories looking at the data.  Kayak Fishing will also go over some final thoughts on the 2016 Sailfish Smack Down taking place this weekend January 30th & 31st in Pompano Beach, FL. There will also be a surprising guest who has seen a UFO while fishing on a kayak in Michigan. 

The Blessings Of Abraham Get The Complete Bible Study In iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-blessings-of-abraham/id780501084?ls=1 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law—Although Paul was probably referring mainly to the Jews as being under the curse of the law, he was also including the Gentiles. The law which was given to the Jews represents a universal standard which God demands of all men. Since the Jews, who understood the law and its requirements, were unable to keep it, and stood thus condemned before God, the Gentiles, who would be equally unable to keep the law, were also condemned by it, even though they did not realize it. Read further as Edmund goes into detail on this subject in his new book "The Man On That Cross". They were responsible for what they did understand through their consciences, so that their curse had to be removed by the work of Christ as well. redeemed us made a curse for us—By putting himself under the curse which lay upon all who trusted in the law for salvation, Christ bought freedom for all who would believe in him. The ransom price he paid was his own blood (1 Peter 1:18, 19, cf. Matthew 20:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; 1 Timothy 2:6; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 5:9). The Galatians, by putting themselves back under the law, were taking upon themselves the curse which Christ had lifted from them. for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree—The quotation is from Deuteronomy 21:23. Christ bore the specific curse of being hung on the cross, or “tree” (Acts 5:30; 10:39), as a symbol of the general curse of sin he bore for all mankind. The Jews did not actually put anyone to death by hanging or crucifixion, but in order to brand them with a certain display they would hang the corpse on a tree after the person had been put to death in some other way as a lesson to others who might be tempted to follow his evil ways. The providence of God allowed Jesus to be crucified so that this prophecy could be fulfilled completely. The Jews, in contempt, called Jesus “the hanged one” and referred to Christians as the “worshipers of the hanged one.” Their greatest objection to him came because he died in a way that was accursed (1 Peter 2:24), hung between heaven and earth as though unworthy of either.

The Breath Of Life The Blessings Of Abraham - The Breath Of Life Get The Complete Bible Study In iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-blessings-of-abraham/id780501084?ls=1 Part of this Bible study can be heard HERE And the entire Bible Studies can be heard in The Catacombs Fellowship when you become a member I go into full detail on this subject in the book "The Providence Of Prayer" and "The Man On That Cross." Christ Hath Redeemed Us From The Curse of The Law Although Paul was probably referring mainly to the Jews as being under the curse of the law, he was also including the Gentiles. The law which was given to the Jews represents a universal standard which God demands of all men. Since the Jews, who understood the law and its requirements, were unable to keep it, and stood thus condemned before God, the Gentiles, who would be equally unable to keep the law, were also condemned by it, even though they did not realize it. They were responsible for what they did through their understand of their consciences, so that their curse had to be removed by the work of Christ as well. Redeemed us made a curse for us— By putting Himself under the curse which lay upon all who trusted in the law for salvation, Christ bought freedom for all who would believe in Him. The ransom price He paid was His own blood. (1 Peter 1:18, 19, cf. Matthew 20:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; 1 Timothy 2:6; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 5:9). The Galatians, by putting themselves back under the law, were taking upon themselves the curse which Christ had lifted from them. "For it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree"—The quotation is from Deuteronomy 21:23. Christ bore the specific curse of being hung on the cross, or “tree” (Acts 5:30; 10:39), as a symbol of the general curse of sin He bore for all mankind. The Jews did not actually put anyone to death by hanging or crucifixion, but in order to brand them with a certain display they would hang the corpse on a tree after the person had been put to death in some other way as a lesson to others who might be tempted to follow his evil ways. The providence of God allowed Jesus to be crucified so that this prophecy could be fulfilled completely. The Jews, in contempt, called Jesus “the hanged one” and referred to Christians as the “worshipers of the hanged one.”By "Jews" I mean those born in the area of Judea, just like those who are born in Samaria are known as Samaritans. Their greatest objection to Him came because He died in a way that was accursed ( 1 Peter 2:24 KJV ), hung between Heaven and Earth as though unworthy of either.

Although Paul in Ephesians 6 describes an individual soldier, he goes on to say that the church fights together.

Although Paul in Ephesians 6 describes an individual soldier, he goes on to say that the church fights together.

Although Paul is writing to the Galatians, his words can be applied to the world today. There are people out there who think that if they follow the Ten Commandments to the letter... they will be safe with God. But God has revealed over and over again that it is by FAITH and His Grace that we are saved. Anyone who teaches anything other than that, is a false teacher.

Coming to terms with the limitations of our own sporting achievement is one of the hardest things many of us have to do in life. A couple of years ago, after one too many serious injuries, I realised that I would never again line up on the rugby pitch waiting for the referee to blow his whistle. For others it can involve failing to make it as a professional sportsman or woman, or even missing out on making the cut for a team at school. At whatever level, these things matter. For Paul Watson, coming to terms with these limitations did not mean giving in. His desire to play international soccer, despite not having the requisite talent, let him to a more creative solution: if he wasn’t good enough to play for England, what about somewhere where the standards were perhaps a bit lower? His hopes finally settled on a tiny Micronesian island called Pohnpei, far far out in the Pacific Ocean. When it turned out that playing for their international team was more complicated than he had envisaged, he rejigged his plans and resolved to become their manager. What could possibly go wrong? Up Pohnpei (Profile Books, 2012) is the remarkable story of the eighteen months that Paul spent, not just coaching Pohnpei’s national football team, but actually creating that team in the first place. It is a story with much to say about how sports are governed and the impoverished lower reaches of a sport otherwise seemingly awash with cash. It is also a snapshot of how the Micronesian islanders live and the motivational powers that taking part in football games had on the members of the Pohnpei team. Although Paul never managed to win his international football cap, it’s also a reminder why we all love playing and watching sport – at whatever level. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facing a $100+ million financial meltdown in 2002, The Beth Israel Deaconess Center called on Paul Levy to step in as CEO. Although Paul was new to healthcare, his effective leadership transformed the hospital into one of the best in the Northeast.

Although Paul could not get into the box today, we are still the Fantastic 4. Let’s just say that for today’s episode he is playing the part of the “Invisible Woman”. I suppose that would make Danielle “She-Hulk.” Regardless, let … Continue reading →