Podcasts about pastorals

In the Pastorals, faith enables us to reach for the stars.Wednesday • 9/25/2024 •

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Presentació de les Jornades per part de Mn. Lluís Tusquellas i introducció de Mn. Ignasi Pujol, Vicari de l'Opus Dei per a Catalunya i Andorra.

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Testimoni de Yih-Teen Lee.

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Testimoni de Loles Freixa.

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Conferència de Mons. David Abadías.

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Testimoni de l'Oriol Jara.

Amb el títol “Testimonis. Relats de crida i conversió”, s'han celebrat les 59 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 16 i 17 de gener de 2024. Conferència de Juan Luis Lorda.

L'Ignasi Miranda va conversar amb Mons. Mariano Fazio, vicari auxiliar de l'Opus Dei, el més estret col·laborador del Prelat, en el programa Sense distància de Ràdio Estel. Mons. Fazio participà en les 58es Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura, que van versar sobre “La fe en el debat cultural”. On va parlar dels corrents culturals contemporanis en el marc més ampli de la modernitat.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Conferència de Mons. Francesc Conesa.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Conferència de José María Torralba.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Introducció de Mn. Ignasi Font, Vicari de l'Opus Dei per a Catalunya i Andorra.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Presentació de les Jornades per part de Mn. Lluís Tusquellas.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Conferència de Mn. Ignasi Fuster.

Amb el títol “La fe en el debat cultural”, s'han celebrat les 58 Jornades de Qüestions Pastorals de Castelldaura els dies 17 i 18 de gener de 2023. Conferència de Mons. Mariano Fazio «La fe en la cultura contemporània».

# IntroductionPaul told Timothy what it would be like in the last days. > But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV)Note the bookends: the times would be difficult and the godliness would be in appearance only. The KJV calls them “perilous” times, the NIV “terrible” times, the NRSV “distressing” times. They are “troublesome, hard, difficult” (BAGD definition for χαλεπός). Brothers, without being too dramatic, these days of difficulty, as prophesied by Paul, are here in the room with us. The last part is the worst part, and also the part that explains the rest of the list. There is only an “appearance of godliness” but no power of godliness, form without force. Their godliness is as deep and as dynamic as laminate. A godly silhouette without godly strength could be personal, it could be liturgical. A group can go through the motions, like a church, or an entire denomination of churches, or even a generation of churches. It's religious people who would even give a rat's behind about *looking* godly. It's a great threat to any people to play a part without the heart, to hide under liturgical practice instead of increasing in godliness and godly power through the liturgy. **Godliness** is the key term, and we're talking about *godly worship*. My take is that church people don't talk about being godly like they used to. We don't sort people by godly/ungodly categories, let alone godly in greater/lesser categories. Aspiring to godliness is even less how we walk. Wanting to be more righteous, wise, disciplined, spiritual, these are good, but so is *pursuing godliness*. Make godliness great again. The Greek word for godliness is εὐσέβεια, “awesome respect accorded to God, devoutness” (BAGD). That certainly belongs with our worship. In English, godliness and piety are overlapping synonyms, to be godly is to be pious, even if piety spills over into recognizing and fulfilling one's relational duties, to family, to countrymen, to God Himself. Thomas Watson wrote, “Godliness consists in an exact harmony between holy principles and practices” (_A Godly Man's Picture_, p. 7). I read through the Pastoral Epistles a couple times between Christmas and New Year's, and they are full of instructions for shepherds of the flock; “I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14–15 (1 Timothy 3:15). In fact, this church/household of God who has the great confession of *godliness*: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16), more about that in a moment. Godliness is referred to 14 times in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus taken together. And it's a great angle with application for our new year as a church and in this series of reminders about our liturgy. *How can we know what liturgy is powerful?* We know liturgy is not just in appearance but power when we see *godly men and women* who keep growing in godliness. I've grouped Paul's teaching on godliness throughout the Pastorals into four headings, four threads (more than just a word study, it's our worship study).# 1. Godliness comes from truth. There is no godliness without truth. This is why we need/use so much Bible/Scripture, why we use *words* not just dim lights and deep chords, why the confession exhortation and communion meditation and sermon in between are so teaching and statement oriented. There are propositions, doctrines. > Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: > He was manifested in the flesh, > vindicated by the Spirit, > seen by angels, > proclaimed among the nations, > believed on in the world, > taken up in glory. > (1 Timothy 3:16 ESV)The first part of godliness, the first part of truth (verse 15), is a confession of faith about Jesus Christ. Godliness is personal, the **He** is a Person, but His greatness has contours; it is possible to be *wrong* about Him, which can't help but send us in the wrong direction. The **mystery of godliness** is a summary phrase for God's message of salvation which is the gospel, here put in a poetic, hymn-like structure. The revelation is meant to be definable, memorable, repeatable, and venerable to the Lord. A couple other passages connect doctrine, words, and teaching with godliness. > If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, (1 Timothy 6:3 ESV)> Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness (Titus 1:1 ESV)The teaching/truth that **accords with godliness** in both verses marks the nature of the truth, what makes the truth the kind of truth it is, what makes it peculiar. The teaching belongs with *obedience* (see Matthew 28:20), expertise in loves and choices not just in fact management. # 2. Godliness is a lifestyle. Truth that is known but not seen in godliness is not the full truth, not true truth, not the right result of what is right. The formula for gasoline does not fire any engine forward, an entire set of flashcards doesn't make a fluent lover. So godliness is a manifest lifestyle, not an impressive library. We are to pray for our government so that they will facilitate a place we we can live godly lives (which I think means more than praying that they would just leave us alone). > [supplications] … for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2:2 ESV)God's grace forgives us and trains us to live godly amidst those who are *un*godly. > [the grace of God has appeared] … training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (Titus 2:12 ESV)Men are told to pray, *women* are told to “adorn themselves in respectable apparel” > with what is proper for women who profess godliness (θεοσέβειαν)—with good works. (1 Timothy 2:10 ESV)Professing it, making a claim of it, could be no better than having the appearance of it. **Good works** are what godliness means. Adult *children* show godliness by how they care for their families.> if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. (1 Timothy 5:4 ESV)And *men*, especially those who would be pastors and leaders in the church, must *pursue* godliness. > Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; (1 Timothy 4:7 ESV)**Train** is γύμναζε, get yourself in the gym (the Greek word was used for gymnastics, and we get our English words from the Greek; progymnasmata are writing exercises), so to speak, to exercise and discipline oneself to get fit in godliness. > But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11 ESV)**Pursue** is “move rapidly and decisively toward an object.” *Get after it*. Among the list is godliness. # 3. Godliness is great gain. It's not just a brute force expectation; do it or else. Godliness is not all sweat without any sweet. > Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7–8 ESV)Value now and forever. Godliness has immediate promise, instant but not only temporary benefit. You can use it. > constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, (1 Timothy 6:5–6 ESV)The conference speaking/best-seller “godliness” might have a lot of followers, but real godliness, godliness that puts things in perspective with thanks, is **great gain** (πορισμὸς μέγας). # 4. Godliness has power.This is where we started. > having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:5 ESV)The contrast, of course, to denying would be accepting, embracing, and embody it's power. Godliness that is not just Sunday-clothes deep, or five Cs of liturgy deep, is powerful. So may each of you be more and more powerfully godly. Be such people, and assemble with such people. # ConclusionThe power, and even promise of reward, are important because in its exercise and embodiment godliness provokes persecution. > Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV)The elders pray that our liturgy would promote godliness and strengthen the flock to live in powerful godliness. We see our worship as more than an audience, but as an assembly of the godly. And how would that godly participation in worship not spill over into godly participation in the rest of the work of the week? We do know, and see, *by God's grace*, our worship resulting in the gain of godliness. We are blessed. Boom!----------## ChargeHis power gives what we need for godliness. Godliness has divine power. Pursue godliness, through worship and for all your work all week. May He make your godliness full-strength. ## Benediction:> His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV)

Paul means that love flows from a faith that doesn't carry an array of masks that it can change to fit the character it is playing.Friday • 9/23/2022 • pastorals_10Today's is the tenth of ten devotionals that treat Paul's last three letters — those to his ministry proteges, Timothy and Titus. Last week, in the first three devotionals on the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, we saw how God overcomes our lack of faith, hope, and love. Following those three meditations are four devotionals in which we show how God implants in us basic ingredients of human flourishing, what are often called the classical “cardinal virtues”: godliness and temperance (which we treated last Thursday and Friday), and justice and courage (which we treated Monday and Tuesday of this week). Finally, in these last three devotionals of this special series on the Pastorals, we see how Paul inspires us to faith, hope, and love.

You find yourself contending against a spirit of Lone Ranger spiritualism.Thursday • 9/22/2022 • pastorals_09Today's is the ninth of ten devotionals that treat Paul's last three letters — those to his ministry proteges, Timothy and Titus. Last week, in the first three devotionals on the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, we saw how God overcomes our lack of faith, hope, and love. Following those three meditations are four devotionals in which we show how God implants in us basic ingredients of human flourishing, what are often called the classical “cardinal virtues”: godliness and temperance (which we treated last Thursday and Friday), and justice and courage (which we treated Monday and Tuesday of this week). Finally, in these last three devotionals of this special series on the Pastorals, we see how Paul inspires us to faith, hope, and love.

In the Pastoral Letters, faith enables you to reach for the stars. Wednesday • 9/21/2022 • pastorals_08Today's is the eighth of ten devotionals that treat Paul's last three letters — those to his ministry proteges, Timothy and Titus. Last week, in the first three devotionals on the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, we saw how God overcomes our lack of faith, hope, and love. Following those three meditations are four devotionals in which we show how God implants in us basic ingredients of human flourishing: godliness and temperance (which we treated last Thursday and Friday), and justice and courage (which we treated the past two days). Finally, in these last three devotionals of this special series on the Pastorals, we will see how Paul inspires us to faith, hope, and love.

“Coach,” he said, “I felt like I was going to die!” Today's is the sixth of ten devotionals that treat Paul's last three letters — those to his ministry proteges, Timothy and Titus. Last week, in the first three devotionals on the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, we saw how God overcomes our lack of faith, hope, and love. Following those three meditations are four devotionals in which we show how God builds into us basic building blocks of human flourishing: godliness and temperance (which we treated last Thursday and Friday), and justice and courage (which we treat today and tomorrow). Finally, in the last three devotionals of this special series on the Pastorals, we will see how Paul inspires us to faith, hope, and love.

In the public square we are “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.”Today's is the sixth of ten devotionals that treat Paul's last three letters — those to his ministry proteges, Timothy and Titus. Last week, in the first three devotionals on the so-called Pastoral Epistles, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, we saw how God overcomes our lack of faith, hope, and love. Following those three meditations are four devotionals in which we show how God builds into us basic building blocks of human flourishing: godliness and temperance (which we treated last Thursday and Friday), and justice and courage (which we treat today and tomorrow). Finally, in the last three devotionals of this special series on the Pastorals, we will see how Paul inspires us to faith, hope, and love.

This special Father's Day episode is from Jim Ramos at Yamhill Christian Church. What is that ONE WORD? It is mind-boggling how many men are caught off guard by that ONE WORD. That ONE WORD  has stopped men in their tracks.  That ONE WORD has caused some of the most successful leaders I know to scratch their heads in dismay. That one word has paralyzed some of the most action-oriented leaders I know.  When we hear that WORD “Leader” we lose our minds! What does it mean to be a leader of my family? So far, we have spent every week on one dude…YOU. Now we are turning up the heat because it isn't about you. It is also about those GOD HAS COMMISSIONED YOU TO CARE FOR.  That ONE WORD—LEADER— has led to much confusion and it's been that way for two millennia. Look at the pastoral Epistles for example. Paul spent more time in the Pastorals describing THAT ONE WORD than any of the other nineteen qualities, most of which being one-word descriptions. Get Your Copy Now! of Tell Them, What Great Fathers Tell Their Sons and Daughters www.meninthearena.org Men in the Arena Books and Swag Support the Podcast

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas' website.Learn about Christ, Our Gracious Guide to Eternal Life (19 minutes) from the 5 "trustworthy sayings" of the Pastoral Epistles.Christ our Gracious Guide to Eternal LifePastoral epistlesShepherdingLeaders advising leadersGood spiritual leadership helps us to experience salvation, to attain eternal life.Christ guides us to Eternal LifeHis graceWe begin to live it now (John 17); we taste it now (Heb 6)…I chose this theme because it is reinforced in the 5 trustworthy sayings of the Pastoral Epistles.We will study them in the canonical order (1 Tim, 2 Tim, Ti), not chronological order (1 Tim, Ti, 2 Tim).(1)  1 Tim 1:12-17Ties in to lesson 2, and more indirectly to lesson 1.We learn about Christ:GraceImmense patienceAn eternal, immortal, invisible, divine KingNotice the way Paul exemplifies spiritualityHumbleAppreciates graceThough Paul was a man who meant business, a strong character and powerful leader, he had a soft heart. From his sufferings, and from knowing Christ, the high-powered apostle knew patience.“The triad of blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent person was obliterated by the triad of mercy, faith, and love that Paul now possessed through his relationship with Christ.” – William MounceNotice again the emphasis on eternal life. This comes from God. We are not innately immortal. No one lives forever apart from Christ.(2)  1 Tim 3:1 Spiritual leadership is vital. It can make all the difference to whether we persevere to the end, maturing in Christ.As we read in the verses that follow, it's all about character and knowing the Lord.Character visible to insiders and outsiders alike.And the church leader must be able to teach. Don't relegate teaching to a so-called “teaching ministry.” Let's emphasize what  the Bible emphasizes.(3)  1 Tim 4:8-11Once again, this spiritual truth is highlighted.The two ages (present world and world to come)“Full acceptance” (as in 1:15)(4)  2 Tim 2:11-13 Ancient Christian hymnTies in to lesson on Rom/Gal (Baptized into Death). Most commentators see in v.11 an allusion to baptismNot enough just to be baptized; must endure.“If” x 4.God will not go back on his word—and we must not go back on ours.Though we already live with him, the ultimate life lies in the future.(5)  Titus 3:4-8 A passage on grace. Ties in nicely with 2:11ff.Salvation is past, future, and present.Washing (baptism) – we were saved.As a result, we are saved.Yet eternal life is future—and there are conditions.ConclusionThese things are all to be emphasized.Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.Whoever desires to be an overseer desires a noble task.Godliness has value for the present life and the life to come.…If we endure, we will reign with him…He saved us so that we would have the hope of eternal life.Notice the connections among the 5 sayings. Think at some depth about the things the Spirit, in the Word, has emphasized.Christ graciously guides us to eternal life. Do you believe it? You should; it's worthy of full acceptance!Next lesson: Philemon—Grace in Action

Eamonn and Robert talk about two new albums: I Fagiolini's 'Draw on sweet night' of John Wilbye madrigals and The Sixteen's 'An Old Belief', featuring Parry's 'Songs of Farewell'.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/choral-chihuahua. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to his co-workers Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to his co-workers Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to his co-workers Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to his co-workers Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

In all his missionary work, Paul always took a team of co-workers with him. Often times, he also sent his co-workers on seperate missions or gave them tasks to complete before catching up with Paul again. This series of devotionals reflects on Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, sometimes called the Pastorals, reflects on the key ideas in both letters.

How does Adoptionism fit into the evolution of historic Christology? My question is about the range of meanings that adelphoi can take. Can it mean ‘brothers in Christ' which could be understood as ‘believers' (regardless of gender)? There are various examples of Matthew ‘cleaning up' Markan originals to beef up the Jesus character into a much more divine figure. So why did Matthew leave in ‘my god my god why have you forsaken me?' Is there ANY decent critical scholarship that argues FOR the Pauline authorship of the Pastorals? Might the “Doubting Thomas” episode be an attempt to rebut the resurrection doctrine as taught by Thomas Christians? Have you ever heard if the origins of Saint Patrick's Day can be traced back to ancient Christians who co-opted Pagan holidays? What are your thoughts on the James Moffatt Bible? What do we really know about "the twelve"? Do you happen to know the history of hand gestures incorporated into prayer, and what role they play?

Title: Dare to be an Onesiphorus Text: II Timothy 1:15-18 FCF: We often struggle being aware of the danger of apostasy. Prop: Because it is not certain who will depart the faith, we must hold fast and keep the good thing entrusted to us. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II Timothy chapter 1. As we close out this first chapter of II Timothy today, and knowing that the start of chapter 2 will be a passage requiring more time for us to expound, I think I'll take the opportunity now to review what we've learned so far in II Timothy. For the book itself, we know that it is a few years separated from Paul's first letter to Timothy. Much has happened in that time. First, Timothy has had some success in forming the church there in Ephesus around the gospel of Christ. He is not failing what is mentor asked of him only a few years prior. However, what we do know is that hostility and opposition to the gospel is growing in the area. How do we know that? Well Paul has been arrested once again. This time is different though, and Paul knows it. What is so different? Well, Paul is not going to be released. Whether by intuition or by revelation from God, Paul knows that he will not make it through this imprisonment. He will be executed soon. And so, Paul's primary reason for writing this more personal letter to Timothy is to encourage him to take up Paul's mantle and carry on in the ministry. Paul's concern for Timothy is that he not give in to timidity or fear but that he would fully rely on the power of the Spirit of God which is in Him, to continue to boldly proclaim the gospel, and to hold fast and persevere through persecution. Paul encourages Timothy, and believes Timothy can do this, first because he has been convinced that Timothy's faith is genuine. And if his faith is genuine, Paul knows that the Spirit of God is with Timothy to accomplish all that God would ask of him. Paul knows this to be true, because Christ and the Spirit have kept and protected him in his ministry. So Paul lifts up the glorious gospel of God's saving power and grace, gifted in Christ, before time began. It is for this gospel that Paul now suffers, and it is for this gospel that Paul is preparing Timothy and the church there to continue to cling to and suffer for. We left the text last week with Paul imploring Timothy with that common tension in the scriptures. A command given with the expectation that God will see it done. Paul keeps the gospel with which he has been entrusted by the faith and love that are in Christ. And he calls Timothy to keep that same gospel in the power of the Spirit of God. And so, shines brightly, the common conundrum. Humans are called to do something for the Lord, but are unable to do it without first being what God has made them to be. With God all things are possible… but with man it is impossible. And so now Paul concludes his thoughts on holding fast and protecting the gospel with examples. 1 verse of many bad examples, and 3 verses of 1 good example. If you look closely, you will also note the primary theme of the Pastorals flowing through this text. Doctrine received in true faith produces people conformed to Christ. We'll see people here, who although not denying or affirming a confession, do deny or affirm the doctrines by whether they are or are not conformed to Christ. It should be a powerful and interesting albeit short message for us today. I am in II Timothy chapter 1 starting in verse 15. I am reading from the NET which you can follow on page 1342, or in whatever version you have. Transition: Let's dive in this morning to see these examples of those who hold fast, and those who do not. I.) There are many who look like Christians who will depart, so we must hold fast and keep the good thing entrusted to us. (15) a. [Slide 2] 15 – You know that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me i. “Province of” is added for clarity in the text. The NET does not wish us to think the whole of Asia is in view. ii. We saw this when we looked at Tychicus who was from the province of Asia. iii. This refers to the southwestern part of Asia minor, probably around the Aegean coastlines. iv. Now when Paul says that everyone in the province had deserted him, does everyone mean everyone? v. This seems extreme. vi. Furthermore, Timothy and Onesiphorus (On-uh-siph-or-us) whom Paul names in this text, have not deserted him, and they are certainly from Asia or in Asia at this time. Therefore, we must put a limit on what Paul means by everyone. We see two options. vii. Either that Paul is saying that those in Rome from Asia have deserted him, or more likely Paul uses hyperbole to emphasize that many had deserted him from the province of Asia. viii. Finally, what does it mean that he was deserted? Are we talking about apostasy or just that they are ashamed of Paul's imprisonment? 1. In favor of this being a personal abandonment we have a few points. a. Paul calls out several people in this book for departing the faith. b. In each case, Paul speaks clearly about their defection from the gospel itself. c. Here Paul makes it clear it is a defection from him. d. Furthermore, the two men he mentions are not included later for having apostatized. 2. In favor of this being both personal abandonment and apostasy, we have a few points. a. Paul has already linked his imprisonment with the gospel of Christ in verse 8. b. Paul has historically had issues with people rejecting his apostleship and therefore his teaching. And if we remember from I Timothy – this was probably the case in Ephesus. c. The preceding and following context of this seems to indicate that what Paul is offering to Timothy are two examples of what not to do and what to do. And in the preceding verses it is clear that Timothy must hold fast to the gospel. d. And in keeping with the overall scope of the pastoral epistles in general – we know that to cite unchristlike lifestyles would be the same as citing apostasy to a certain extent. Not all denials of the faith are by our words or affiliations. Some of them are from our lifestyles. ix. All this considered, I think given the context, it seems best to understand that Paul means that these people have deserted him and by extension, his gospel. b. [Slide 3] Including Phygelus (Fih-Jel-us) and Hermogenes (her-mah-joe-knees). i. What is clear in this text is that when Paul singles out these two men as those who have abandoned him and the gospel, it should be shocking to hear. ii. What is not clear in this text is anything else about these men. iii. This is the only mention of their names in the New Testament. iv. So all we can do is draw upon this text, and here is what we know… v. These men appeared to be loyal to Paul and the gospel – but when the going got tough, they deserted Paul and his gospel. c. [Slide 4] Passage Truth: Int his first verse, Paul teaches Timothy with examples. He shows two men who were loyal to Paul before, along with many others in the province of Asia. And what is clear is that no one saw their desertion coming. And yet, here they are. They have used this opportunity to desert Paul and even his teachings for another gospel. d. Passage Application: So Timothy's imperative from the previous section endures. He must hold fast and keep the truth of the gospel with which he has been entrusted. e. [Slide 5] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the rest of scripture, unfortunately we see countless examples of those who were thought to be loyal to God and His servants, turn and go after other gods. Before Christ was revealed many Israelites abandoned Yahweh in favor of Baal, Ashteroth, and other would-be gods. And even after the cross, we see people know the truth and walk away. I'd like to say that this doesn't happen anymore – but alas, it happens often. Either by their words or actions, many high-profile Christian leaders have rejected the gospel of Christ, either replacing it with Christ plus something, or rejecting Christ altogether. I say all this, not to worry you, but to help you to realize that apostasy is not something that is uncommon. f. Broader Biblical Application: What does that mean for us at CBC? Every single person Paul has mentioned and will mention has made a profession of faith, has served in the church, and were considered part of the covenant community. Yet when Paul was thrown into prison for his teachings – they abandoned him and his teachings. It is not enough for us to confess what we believe one time and rest in that confession. The Lord Himself tells us that those who deny Him before men, He will deny before the Father. True, genuine, saving faith, is one that endures. And while that doesn't mean perfection or even that we will never doubt, it does mean that God's true people will not permenantly walk away from the faith – no matter how hard they are pressed. Therefore, my friends, we MUST hold fast and protect the truth of the gospel that we have been entrusted. Do not listen to men who talk about the bible – listen to the bible. Even me. Don't take what I say without pause. But search the scriptures. Not what someone says about the scriptures, but the scriptures themselves. Then consult what the church has taught down through the ages. If what you believe has been taught as orthodoxy, and has been widely accepted, then you must hold fast to its teachings! There are teachings that are widely accepted in Christendom today that have no history in the church before the 1600s and some even more recent. Meaning that just because you have always been taught it, doesn't mean it has always been taught. How could this have happened? People neglected to hold fast to what they were taught and instead invented novel doctrines to assuage their itching ears. And they passed those novel doctrines to more and more people. And it spread like gangrene. But we must hold fast to the truth that we have received from the apostles. And as Paul said earlier, we can only do this through the indwelling of the Spirit and love and faith found in Christ. Transition: [Slide 6 (blank)] We have seen Phygelus' and Hermogenes' negative example of those who did not endure in belief and good works. But is there a positive example that we can look to? Certainly Paul, but is there no one else who is enduring? II.) There are some who will continue to endure in faith and good works, so we must hold fast and keep the good thing entrusted to us. (16-18) a. [Slide 7] 16 – May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus (on-uh-siph-or-us), i. So the first question is, obviously, who is Onesiphorus? ii. And, again we have to say – we don't know. iii. Here is what we do know. Later in the letter – like at the end – Paul tells Timothy to greet the family of Onesiphorus. So, we know that Onesiphorus is from Ephesus. iv. Here Paul asks the Lord for mercy to Onesiphorus' family. Why? b. [Slide 8] Because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my imprisonment. i. Because we know absolutely nothing about this man it is difficult to understand what Paul means here. ii. But as Paul continues it becomes clear. c. [Slide 9] 17 – But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me i. Paul asks for mercy on the family of Onesiphorus because he was not ashamed of Paul being imprisoned for the sake of Christ. ii. Not only was he not ashamed, he came to Rome, sought out Paul and ministered to his needs there with Luke. iii. This is the first indication that Paul's imprisonment was not like his previous house arrests. Since he was difficult to find in Rome, it seems that he was probably in a cell somewhere obscure. iv. But Oneshiphorus sought him to the extent that he would find him. v. For all of this Christ-like love, Paul desires that all his family would be blessed by God while he is away serving Paul. vi. But the temporal needs of his family is not Paul's only wish for Onesiphorus… d. [Slide 10] 18 – May the lord grant him to find mercy from the lord on that day! i. A couple things here. 1. Mercy here most assuredly refers to God's chief mercy in salvation. However, this poses a problem for us. a. After all the glowing words about this man, why would Paul put this in wish or prayer language? Shouldn't he be surer about the nature of Onesiphorus' faith? b. Consider the context. He is sure and has been persuaded about Timothy's faith. But there are many others who he thought were legitimate and have since walked away. c. It is not wrong, and perhaps intensely biblical for us to always hopefully pray for the endurance of someone's faith. This sounds like a slight and maybe even doubting Eternal security… but in reality, we must understand that true believers endure to the end. And there are many who do not endure to the end. d. So Paul's prayer, really, is that Onesiphorus is a true believer. Which should be our prayer for one another. 2. Secondly, it is good to take note that in order for Onesiphorus to find mercy on the day of judgement, the same Lord who will be his judge must grant that ability to him to find it. I don't want to delve too deep into that because that isn't Paul's point here – but it is worthy to note the phrasing there. That to find mercy from God, God must grant us to find it. Our searching will do us no good until God allows us to find it. e. [Slide 11] And you know very well all the ways he served me in Ephesus. i. Finally, Paul as an aside to Timothy stresses again the history of this man with reference to serving Paul. ii. While Paul was in Ephesus or Rome – Onesiphorus was there to help him. iii. This is what true children of God do. f. [Slide 12] Passage Truth: So Paul gives Timothy a second example. This time he gives a positive example of who to emulate. Just as abandoning Paul meant abandoning the gospel, so caring for Paul means caring for the gospel. Further we are reminded of the overall teachings of all the Pastoral epistles. That doctrine, received in true faith, produces people conformed to Christ. What Paul is saying is that Onesiphorus is conformed to Christ – therefore, he seems to have received doctrine by true faith. g. Passage Application: And so, before, Timothy was encouraged to take up Paul's mantle and follow his example. Now he is encouraged to follow the example of Onesiphorus as well. A true servant of Christ and is holding fast to it. Timothy must hold fast to His confession and keep the gospel pure both in belief and action. h. [Slide 13] Broader Biblical Truth: As we saw in I John, as Eric, CJ, and Jerry preached as I was away, and as the whole of scripture affirms – the only way to have assurance of our faith being real and genuine is to observe the fruit of that faith. When Christ uses parables to speak of crops bearing fruit and a harvest that is coming where the wheat and tares are separated – the harvest is the final judgment. A man's life will be measured by all that God does through Him. He must finish the race. He must fight the good fight. He cannot produce fruit for a time and then be barren at harvest time. Such fruit would be useless to the famers to which Christ told the parable. Rather, the only crop that is useful, is one that bears fruit until harvest. Certainly, whoever is God's true child can never lose that status. God knows who are his. But, how do we know we are His? It is only by our love, faith, power, self-control, and general outpouring of the Spirit's power in us. i. Broader Biblical Application: So at CBC, we must understand that holding fast to our confession is certainly to continue to believe the right things, but it is not this in exclusion. But it is also continuing to bear the fruit from a heart invaded by the Spirit of God. There have been many pastors, preachers, evangelists, and apologists through the ages and recently who have believed all the “right” things. But lived lives of unrepentant sin. They will be numbered among those who cry out “Lord, Lord – have I not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons and done many miraculous works.” And He will say to them “Depart from me, lawbreaker, for I never knew you.” My friends, we must hold fast to our confession, we must keep the good thing entrusted to us, not just by continuing to believe, but also by continuing to obey. Conclusion: So what does this mean for us here at CBC? Well let me give you a little “state of orthodoxy” update. [Slide 14] 3/2018 – Christian band underoath – openly walked away from Christianity 5/2019 – Christian of 40 years, Pastor of 20 years - Dave Gass – Left his wife and denied Christ 7/2019 – Well-known Christian author – Joshua Harris- separated from his wife, apologized to the LGBTQA+ community, denied Christ 8/2019 – Hillsong Worship Leader - Marty Sampson- Denied Christ 2/2020 – Social media personalities - Rhett and Link or The Bently Brothers – Denied Christ 5/2020 – Singer in the band Hawk Nelson – Jon Steingard – Denied Christ 2/2021 – Christian Apologist for more than 40 years – Ravi Zacharias – Had deep sexual appetites and addictions that he failed to repent of and succeeded to hide until his dying breath. 4/2021 – Contributor to Desiring God Ministries – Paul Maxwell – Has denied Christ. These folks are either the same as Phygelus and Hermogenes or the opposite of Onesiphorus. Some of them have been in ministry longer than I have been alive. And yet by their confession and their lifestyles, they have proved their faith to still be a dead faith. All these details about our world today are both shocking and discouraging. Not just for the body of Christ and the testimony of Christ in the world, but also because we look inward and wonder – if they fell, how can I not? If it were possible for someone to work in ministry for decades, and still fall away, how can I hope to be saved? [Slide 15 end) Read the words of Paul. I know whom I have set my faith and he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me. So keep the good thing entrusted to you through the Holy Spirit's indwelling. My friends, if it was only you, you could not hope to hold fast to the confession and protect the gospel. But if the Lord is with you, if He is in you, if you are in Him – then my friends there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. He is able to keep us from falling! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. You say, but everyone thought that these people had that same Spirit in them. They even thought they had that Spirit in them. How can I be sure that He is in me? Hold fast! Endure! Bear Fruit! Obey the Lord. Work out your own salvation. Not in your own strength. Not in your own effort. Not in your own gumption. But in fear and trembling. In humility. In awe. WHY? Because God is the one in you, giving you power and desire to be and do all that He has asked of you. But my friends… it is not a sprint. It is a marathon. My friends… it is not a playground slap fight. It is war. How do you know you have the Spirit? Believe God and keep believing God. Obey God and Keep obeying God. If you are able to do this… then the Spirit is in you. Why must that be our conclusion? Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood… but against unholy, ungodly, powerful beings in this dark world. To endure… it cannot just be us. For if it is… we will fall. But greater is He who is in us, than He who is in the world.

Resources Used: Hey guys this is Megan Rawlings and you are listening to the Talk Bible to Me podcast presented by The Bold Movement.Hey there, and welcome back to season 3 of the Talk Bible to Me podcast. I am so pumped that you are here to study the book of Philippians with me. If you are new to our podcast, YAY!!! I am glad you found us. Go ahead and grab a Bible and we can study together. If you're driving or something else, don't worry about it, I will read it to you. Real quick, I want to let you know that this podcast is an extension of The Bold Movement which is a ministry that trains women to boldly step into their role in the kingdom of God. There are tons of free resources on the website as well as Bible studies that not only teach you Scripture but also how to study it, and podcasts episodes just like this one. This is all designed to help you grow in your faith and find your role and purpose. You can visit our website at www.theboldmovement.com. Today's episode is presented by listeners like you who have committed to supporting The Bold Movement through our Patreon page. Those supporters are mentioned later on and you can be too, just visit www.patreon.com/theboldmovement. Okay sis, Here's how we work. We will read a verse or two of Scripture and then we will pause to work through it and discuss what it means. I will name the resources we are using as well as post them on our website so you can familiarize yourself with them too. With that being said -- let's study Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 through 11.Today, I am going to be reading from the New Living Translation, often referred to as the NLT.1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.Okay, I am going to stop here because there are a few things I want to talk about with this first part of verse 1. You may know that Paul was Saul. Some have preached that there was a name change when he converted to Christianity. There is actually not a lot of evidence of this theory. In reality, most scholars agree that Paul and Saul were the same, just said differently based on region and language. For example, George and Jorge. Same name, just different region, and language. So, according to Peter O'Brien, Παῦλος (‘Paul') in Greek is the name used by the apostle in the Hellenistic-Roman world in place of the Jewish name ‘Saul'. Does that make sense? Email us or contact us on social media and let us know what you think about Paul/Saul and show us how you came to the conclusion. Now, let's talk about Timothy. God ole' Timmy traveled with Paul and was mentioned in quite a few of his letters; 2 Corinthians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians. Later in this letter, we learn that the Philippians have a “special attachment” with Timothy and we address this and learn about it in chapter 2. Finally, I want to talk about the last part of this sentence when Paul calls himself and Timothy “slaves of Christ Jesus.” In his commentary on Philippians, Gordon Fee said, “To be sure, the institution of slavery in antiquity was a far cry from the racial slavery that blighted American society—and the English society that made it possible by the slave trade. Even so, the slave in the Roman Empire was not a free person, but “belonged to” another.” So what I want to do is dive into this a little deeper because the word doulos, or slave, holds a lot of weight. This phrase is lost on us in translation and I want it to be more clear what Paul is saying. Translations in the English language sometimes refer to this word as a servant. However, this seems to take the significance out of the word. In Paul's day, a slave was owned legally by someone and had no freedom outside of what their owner allowed. This concept was understood among the church in Philippi as some of the members were slaves, and some could have owned slaves. So, Paul uses this idea as a metaphor for his allegiance and sacrifice to Jesus. I do want to give a better understanding of slavery during this time though! As stated earlier, slavery was very different than what was happening in America during the nineteenth century. In her commentary on Philippians, Lynn Cohick said, “Ancient Israel practiced slavery, and the Old Testament includes numerous stories about it. One of the most famous slaves is Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, Abraham's first son (Gen 16:1–15). Recall too Israel's enslavement in Egypt, the defining moment in their history when God delivered them out of Egypt, “the land of slavery,” and brought them to the land he had promised (Exod 12:40–13:3). Thus at key points in Israel's history, slavery played a role. But later Israelites owned other Israelites or Gentiles, who were enslaved through wars or to pay debts. Laws established appropriate treatment of slaves and restricted abuse (21:1–27). God's people were to release fellow slaves in the seventh year of their enslavement (Lev 25:39–43).In addition, in the Old Testament the terms “slavery” and “slave” are used metaphorically, often translated as “the servant of the Lord” (ʿebed YHWH). Such a person had divine authority from God to speak and act on his behalf. For example, Numbers 12:7 speaks of his servant/slave Moses, who was faithful in God's house and to whom God spoke face to face (see also Jer 25:4; Ezek 38:17). Drawing on the Exodus narrative, Israel understood itself as God's slave, based on the exclusive covenant that Israel's God had established at Mount Sinai. Like a slave, Israel was to obey their God in all things, especially by rejecting idolatry.”Okay, now that we have dissected the first part of verse one, let's continue with the second part. I am writing to all of God's holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.Holy people can also be translated as saints. Cohick said, “Our modern understanding of the term carries a sense of human perfection preserved in stained glass windows -- a dar cry from our average existence.” The Old Testament tells us that a holy nation (or holy people) are those who keep God's commandments. In the second century, the church started a process of how to become a saint for both the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Cohick says, “They define a sain as one who has demonstrated extraordinary piety, such as Mother Teresa, or attribute to him or her miracles based o the intercession before God.” Do not confuse second-century sainthood with the way Paul terms the members of the church in Philippi.Notice that at the end of the verse, Paul includes church leaders and deacons. Church leaders here come from the Greek word episkopos. Because I want you to really understand this, I am going to quote Peter O'Brien. He says, “ἐπίσκοπος in classical and Septuagint Greek (from Homer on) meant an ‘overseer', and was used to describe a deity (cf. Job 20:29) as the one who keeps watch over a country or people. The title was also given to men who held responsible positions in the state, including those with judicial functions, councillors, treasurers, and military strategists, or who were overseers of religious communities, such as temple officials (cf. Nu. 4:16; 31:14; Jdg. 9:28, etc.). This one word described a variety of offices and functions, although the notion of ‘oversight' appears to have been common to all of them. At Qumran, the ‘overseer' or ‘supervisor' (meḇaqqēr) was regarded as the shepherd and spiritual father of the community. Although not a priest, he knew the law and was responsible for all decisions about ‘the camp' and the full members. He also controlled the community's welfare funds (CD 13:7–9; 1QS 6:12, 20). Some writers have argued that the title corresponds literally to the Greek ἐπίσκοπος and might have been the model for the NT ‘overseer'.The word group was less common in the NT than in the LXX, with ἐπίσκοπος occurring five times, ἐπισκοπή on four occasions, ἐπισκέπτομαι eleven times, and ἐπισκοπέω once. The Ephesian elders (πρεσβύτεροι) who meet Paul at Miletus are called ἐπίσκοποι (Acts 20:28), and according to H. W. Beyer they are a definite circle of members from this settled congregation who are its regular leaders. The qualifications required for this office are spelled out in the Pastorals at 1 Tim. 3:2 and Tit. 1:7. Although the exact nature of the work performed by ἐπίσκοποι is not mentioned, at the heart of it lies the ministry of oversight, supervision, or protective care. The climactic use of this title occurs at 1 Pet. 2:25, where Jesus is described as ‘the shepherd and guardian (ἐπίσκοπος) of your souls'.” The word deacon comes from the Greek word diakonos. This is often associated with someone who serves. In the early church, these were the folks who ministered to the sick and shut-in. They helped take care of the day-to-day stuff so that the elders (or teacher/preachers) could study and prepare their messages. These two positions are addressed with the rest of the members of the church of Philippi.So, now we have verse one complete, let's move on to the next. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.If you will remember, Philippi is under Roman authority. Paul is declaring Jesus as Lord which is probably in response to the culture of this day claiming that the Roman Emporer, probably Nero. was lord. This is a pretty big deal at this time.Alright, ladies, I know we are only on verse 2 -- but we are going to make a lot of headway in these next 9 verses, I promise. However, before we move on to the rest of our passage today, we have a quick message from our sponsors.We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a message from our sponsors. We are able to continue podcast episodes like this because of our Patreon supporters, Jerri Lewis, Kelsey Graf, Soyon Barber, Julie Carter, Amy Mathis, Jill Walters, and Dave Hanzel. If you like what you hear, would you consider becoming a partner of The Bold Movement? Our plans range from $5 a month to $50 a month with exciting incentives for growing Christian women. Just visit www.patreon.com/theboldmovement.Listen, sis, you can get your name read off too if you join our Patreon supporters and become financial supporters of this podcast and ministry. We hope you will consider supporting our ministry with your prayers we would love for you to become a patreon supporter. Now let's get back to the Philippians.3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.This part of Philippians is the thanksgiving paragraph. Remember that Paul and the members of the Church in Philippi have a close relationship for years at this point. Notice he says he thanks God every time he thinks of them. I recently heard a clinical psychologist say that your brain is incapable of experiencing fear or anxiety when it is experiencing gratitude. We will talk more in-depth about this later on in Philippians, but I want you to keep that nugget of truth in your back pocket. When we are grateful and give our thanks to God even over simple things like knowing special people in our lives, we are not allowing room for things that are not of God. Name your blessings out loud. Let your head hear your heart. Let me say that again… let your head hear your heart. This is literally the way God wired us.Okay ladies, time for a fun fact… but if you get confused easily… don't pay attention to this part. According to D.A. Carson, “The NIV reads, “I thank my God every time I remember you” (1:3). But others suggest “I thank my God every time you remember me,” or something similar. The original is ambiguous. Lynn Cohick mentions this very thing in her commentary on Philippians too! Nonetheless, as stated here, the original language is ambiguous. But something that is not is the word used for thanks in Philippians.Peter O'Brien says, “Certainly the English word ‘thanksgiving' is rather more limited in its range of meanings since it normally denotes the expression of gratitude for personal benefits received and is to that extent rather man-centered. But this sort of notion does not fit Paul's language, for, as here, he regularly gives thanks for graces wrought in the lives of others by God, particularly those within the churches of the Gentile mission.” The final part of this section says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” This passage is very popular and used on thank you cards. I love this passage because Paul has such an extreme confidence in these Christians; however, his confidence is not reliant on them, but rather what God is doing and will continue to do with them. Pauls's assurance is found in His knowledge that God works all things out for the good of those who love Him -- and the Philippians have proven they love Him.7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. Cohick says, “Paul also underscores his own strong affections toward them. The Greek text literally reads that Paul's “affection” lies deep in the bowels—not the place most moderns locate their affections! But even if we use a different body part to locate our intense emotions, we can appreciate Paul's sentiment. He wants the Philippians to know that he is sincerely thankful for and appreciative of their unending generosity. This “affection” is the love “of Christ Jesus”; no deeper love can a person express than that demonstrated in and through Christ. Such affection creates in Paul a deep yearning for this church, and he is likely alluding to his hope to be reunited with them.” The bowel thing is true -- have you ever had a nervous stomach? Have you ever had “butterflies in your tunny” this is the reason Paul (and most in that culture) associate emotions with the stomach because that is where we feel things. Funny, right?8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.Most other translations will say something to the tune of “God as my witness.” Something I find interesting is that some scholars say that Paul claims God as his witness because people during this time were careful to watch for flatterers. Again, Cohick says, “In the ancient world, orators told you what you wanted to hear in order to get what they wanted from you: food, recommendations, and social advancement. But no one in Paul's day would have been as cavalier with God's name as to bring it forward as a witness if they were lying. Chrysostom asks: “Now had he been flattering them, he would not have called God to witness, for this cannot be done without peril.”9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.So up to this point, Paul has addressed that he is constantly praying for the Philippians. This is the part where he tells us what he's praying about. Let's bullet these:He prays thatTheir love will overflow more and moreThey will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding - because he wants them to see what actually matters so they can live pure and blameless lives.Let me ask you a question… have you ever thought about praying these things over your closest Christian friends? What would the Church, as a whole, look like if we actually did this?Finally, let's break down verse 11:Okay, what I am about to share with you hurt me a little, so if it hurts you too -- I am sorry, but I am not actually sorry.D.A. Carson dropped this truth bomb on me, “For Paul, this is not an idolatrous prayer. For some people, of course, it could become just that. For perfectionists, perfection, at least in some arenas where they excel, becomes a kind of fetish, even a large idol. But this is not the case with Paul. The excellence for which he prays, for himself and for others, is further defined in verse 11: being “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. . . .” Moreover, none of this will be allowed simply to enhance our reputations—for sad to say, some people are more interested in a reputation for holiness and excellence than in holiness and excellence. But all such petty alternatives are swept aside in Paul's final constraint: his prayer is offered up “to the glory and praise of God” (1:11).”Now it's time for the what now portion of Talk Bible to Me:I want to ask you a question. What do your prayers look like? Are you only praying a rehearsed mantra before you eat? Are you praying for matters that are mostly removed from gospel interests? Those who pray, in themselves, are not bad, but if we are only praying about our health, comfort, job, kids, etc. I think we start to miss the entire point.I want you to truly grasp the weight of prayers and the force behind them. D.A. Carson asks, “But where is our gospel focus? Read through the letters of Paul and copy out his prayers. Ask yourself what it is he asks for. Observe how consistently most of his petitions are gospel-related. Are we being faithful to Scripture if most of our petitions are not? Put the gospel first. And that means you must put the priorities of the gospel at the center of your prayer life.”Okay, sis, that's all I got for you this time. Be sure to tune in next week to study Philippians 1:12-18.The Bold Movement is a ministry that helps Christian women gain confidence in their Biblical literacy, faith, and evangelism through customizable content strategically created to work with our community support to enhance and expand the kingdom of God. I'll be back next week and I hope you join me. This is a quick reminder that you can partner with us through our patreon at patreon.com/theboldmovement. Okay ladies next time, go out and be bold.

Lecture

What is the word for "church" in the original Greek, and what did it mean before Christianity? If "Messiah" and "Christ" are terms rather than proper names, might not any group of people following a Messiah be called Christians by a disinterested third party such as a Roman historian of the time? Could Mark be hinting that the scattering of the twelve disciples shows that the original Petrine Christianity failed. But it was carried forward by Paul (as Simon of Cyrene) picking up the cross and walking with Jesus? Doesn't the paraclete in the Gospel of John have to be Paul? Matt 25:41 seems to explicitly state that Satan and his gang will join us heathens in Hell's torments. If that's so, where did we get the notion that they will not be the tormented, but rather the tormentors? Where did the horned, red-tailed, pitchfork-wielding imagery come from? And do you think there's a particular reason no angels are described as having female attributes? You have me convinced that Polycarp was the author/redactor of Luke/ Acts and the author of the Pastorals. Luke/Acts seems empathetic and respectable of woman, but the Pastorals seem to be the exact opposite. Do you have an opinion on why this may be?

Marcionism and Modern MarcionismIf you are not familiar with Marcion, he is best known for his work on the text and canon of the Bible. He rejected the OT as a Christian book and collected the earliest known Christian canon, composed of an abbreviated version of Luke's Gospel and ten edited Pauline epistles (lacking the Pastorals). He presented his theological views in the Antitheses, in which he set out contradictions between the OT and the NT. His works do not survive, so his positions must be reconstructed from the refutations made by his opponents, the fullest of which is Tertullian's five books Against Marcion.Marcion was convinced that Paul was the only true apostle and that the original twelve, by ‘Judaizing', became false apostles. Galatians was placed first in his collection of Paul's letters. The opening words of the Antitheses, ‘O wealth of riches! rapture, power, amazement! seeing that there can be nothing to say about it, or to imagine about it, or to compare to it!' expresses his wonder before the Pauline gospel of grace. From Paul, Marcion deduced an exaggerated contrast between law and gospel. In agreement with his contemporary Aquila of Pontus, he practiced a literal interpretation of Scripture, rejecting all allegory. Marcion went far beyond Paul in concluding that there are two Gods: the God of the OT, the Creator, who is a God of law and justice and who predicted the Jewish Messiah; and the previously unknown God of the NT, the Father of Jesus Christ, who is a God of mercy and salvation.Unfortunately, these teachings live on in the body of Christ today. Sections of scripture, books of scripture, and at times entire testaments of scripture are looked at as inferior, uninspired, or in some extreme cases even considered fallible. So we discuss historic Marcionism so that we can have the discernment to detect the modern nuance of modern Marcionism. ___________________________________________________________________Study Guidehttps://theremnantradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/marcion-Today-Study-.pdf___________________________________________________________________________________Donate (Paypal)https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GC2Z86XHHG4X6___________________________________________________________________________________Exclusive Content (Patreon)https://www.patreon.com/TheRemnantRadio__________________________________________________________________________________We're social! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRemnantRadioInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theremnantradio/__________________________________________________________________________________Even When: by StoneBridge Worshiphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-rHSNgP-9EEven When Spotify Linkhttps://open.spotify.com/track/0V2UX6VBCMSHqYJpjxBJT7

How much weight should we give to such a silence about Jesus' life as being evidence for Paul not thinking of Jesus as a human being that walked the earth? Now, if the silence of a Gospel-like-Jesus in the epistles is viewed as a telltale sign that we instead might be dealing with a celestial Jesus-figure, how do you explain the lack of historical Jesus references/allusions in the Pastorals (with the one exception of 1 Tim 6:13? ) Is it possible that "Q" was not an actual document, but instead was an oral tradition from which New testament authors quoted in their writings?   If for some reason you were to take a break from biblical studies, where would you direct your scholarly energy? Listener ideas for a Jesus novel. Why do Christians worship Jesus? How different do you think Christianity as we experience it would be if there were only the Gospels? Could the originals of the New Testament be kept in the Vatican's secret library?  What did Deuteronomy 29:29 actually mean when it was written? 

Did you know there was a problem with the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus?  Why does Paul's focus change in those letters?  Are there good answers?  Meredith Kline gives us some amazing help as we consider these questions.  Please listen, tell others, and let us know what you think!   Show Notes:   Give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts!  (Click “View in iTunes” and “Ratings and Reviews”) 1 Timothy 2 Tomthy Titus Ephesians 2 Ephesians 5 1 Corinthians 12 1 Corinthians 3 1 Corinthians 15 Ephesians 4 Galatians 3 1 Timothy 2 Romans 6 - 8 1 Timothy 1:19 Romans 12 - 16 Ephesians 4 - 6 Romans 6 1 Timothy 4:1 1 Corinthians 5 Structure of Biblical Authority by Meredith Kline New Testament: An Introduction by J. Gresham Machen 1 Timothy 3 God, Heaven & Har Magedon by Meredith Kline   Connect with us on: Facebook Twitter YouTube Spotify iHeartRadio Feedburner  Stitcher Libsyn iTunes Gab Minds Steemit

Április végén Akihito császár lemondásával véget ért a 30 évig tartó Heiszei (azaz a ’béketeremtő’) éra, az új császár, Naruhito trónra lépésével pedig megkezdődött a Reiva (azaz ’szépséges harmónia’) korszaka. A történelmi számvetést megnehezíti, hogy noha az elmúlt három évtized valóban a szigetország leggazdagabb és legbékésebb időszaka volt, azt egyúttal gazdasági stagnálás, természeti katasztrófák és társadalmi problémák sora, illetve ezek következtében a japán soft power viszonylagos eróziója is jellemezte. Az elmúlt évek gazdasági és társadalmi változásai alapján pedig úgy tűnik, a következő periódus első időszaka nagy változásokat hozhat. Mi a dolga a japán császárnak? Mi történt 1945 után? Mennyire stabil a japán monarchia? Hogyan jelenik meg a médiában a császárváltás? Véget érnek-e az elvesztegetett évtizedek? Az Orient Expressz adásában a nemrég lezajlott uralkodóváltás kapcsán Japán elmúlt 30 évéről és közeljövőjéről, valamint Akihito császár örökségéről beszélgetünk. Vendégünk Bartók András Japán-szakértő, a Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem oktatója. Elhangzott a Civil Rádió FM98.00-on 2019. szeptember 3-án. A riporterek Szakáli Máté és Günsberger Dóra. A műsorban elhangzó zeneszámok: Wan Xiaoli万晓利: Huli 狐狸 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uO-0BTkWyg Yamato Ensemble: Futatsu No Den-En-Shi (2 Pastorals), No. 2. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJoqNBKCT4Y Babymetal: Pa Pa Ya! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO7Y8NsnkRg Erik Sumo & The Fox-Fairies: Doki Doki (Thump Thump) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBYQI_DCg9M&list=PLey_8J6ZDwKD42K3ebxJRnwt6UBJ558VY&index=2 Aiko Hasegawa: The Moment of Spring: Part II –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5S7AdplspI

Bishop Creek Community Church 2-24-19 Titus: Knowledge of the Truth #1 “Hello, Titus!” Titus 1:1-4, 2:11-15 Reality- What a Concept! The Pastorals. Titus: The Knowledge of the Truth 1 Timothy: The Pillar of Truth 2 Timothy: The Word...

The Apostle Paul's two letters to Timothy, together with his letter to Titus, are often called the "Pastoral Epistles." This is appropriate, in one sense, because these letters were written to young pastors who were involved in the leadership of churches. They constitute, therefore, a kind of handbook for pastors. But I prefer to call the letters the "Filials," rather than the "Pastorals," because filial has to do with sonship, and that is what Timothy and Titus were -- sons in the faith of the Apostle Paul. He had led them both to Christ. They were very dear to him, and they had shared many hardships with him on his journeys around the Roman Empire.

When in Mark 5:43 Jesus tells Jairus and his wife not to tell anyone about “this,” something impossible given that they would have to pretend henceforth that she was dead in an empty grave, Mark mean s that Jesus means not to disclose the method of healing/resurrecting the girl, not to the fact that she was alive. Maybe he wanted everyone to think he was simply an effective doctor, not a miracle worker? This set of questions was inspired by a YouTube video, "If Atheists Talked About The Hulk Like Jordan Peterson Talks About The Bible." Does the Bible ever rename characters for discernible literary of theological reasons? Preacher often say the body and the flesh are not the same thing, but is there an actual Greek basis for this distinction? Is the Hulk a decent representation of the Paulinist or Marcionist "Fleshly Man"? What reason is there to posit the existence of a Signs Source underlying John? I regularly hear that many modern critical scholars are both Christians and hold certain mainstream positions regarding the suspect history of books such as the Pastorals, at least one of the Epistles of Peter, etc. Do you know whether, as Christians, they tend to accept the books as pious forgeries and still somehow inspired as scripture? If you were a somewhat conservative Christian what one book of the Bible would you consider the most problematic to your belief, the most embarrassing, the most open to attack from the outside? And why? When you write a scholarly book or paper, do you typically just write out the entirety of your argument, and add in the relevant references later? Or do you stop and start, inserting references as you go? Or some mixture of the two? Theme music provided by: Peter Benjamin - composer for media www.peterbenjaminmusic.org peterbenjaminmusic@gmail.com

This, the final lecture of the series, looks at teaching for the church today and the promises of what is to come when Christ returns. David Jackman focuses in particular on the book of Hebrews, the Pastorals (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) and Revelation. 17 September 1994

Can you discuss the zombie story in the Book of Matthew? I always thought that Acts of the Apostles didn't mention the Pauline Epistles because they were Marcionite (and Acts is anti-marcionite in nature). If you are saying that the author of Acts also wrote the Pastoral, then what reason would the author have to not mention the Pastorals within Acts? Hebrews 8:10-11 says, "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts... And they shall not teach very man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." Wouldn't this imply that proselytizing and preaching to the gentiles was against this covenant? "You have the right to work only, but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction" (Bhagavad Gita 2:47). Is there a similar verse in the Bible? Wouldn't it have been more likely that Jesus would have been crucified on a tree? Is Noam Chomsky correct that the word "prophet" originally meant "dissident"? Might we not call one who believes Jesus existed but most of the stories are mythical a Jesus minimalist? What does it mean to say, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword"? In Lk 1:3, is Theophilus supposed to be a particular historical person? What do you know about the origin and the meaning of the belief that the world came into being "through" Christ? What translation of the Bible do you recommend for a critical reader?

As Neal said, we are starting a new series called, Come Before Winter. Even though it sounds depressing-death, despair-its really not. Its not depressing at all. How many of you have a life verse, a verse that really encourages you? Its sort of a verse you live by. Last night, we were having people share what their life verses were; but I think in the interest of time, were not going to do that this morning. Im sure you have some excellent verses. Maybe theyre on your fridge or the dash of your care, but they are verses that really motivate you. What I do want to do is maybe identify some key life verses from the Book were studying this month, 2 Timothy, and see if maybe some of you by a show of hands might have one of these verses as your life verse. Lets look at the first one from 2 Timothy 1 as Paul was writing to Timothy, Join me in the suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. Anybody have that as their life verse? No. Okay, lets see the next one. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Anybody have the endure hardship verse in your car? No, okay. Lets see-this ones on the fridge for sure. But mark this, there will be terrible times in these last days. No? Wow, we are just not doing very well here. Lets just take a look at one more. I know this is going to be on some of your life verse lists. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. You read that and get fired up every morning. No? What verses do we tend to pick? The ones that bring us comfort and make us feel good. They talk about love, peace, and joy. Theres nothing wrong with that. That's kind of my verse too, but the other side of the coin is that life can be hard. Life can be difficult. Things dont always go the way we would like them to go. Life can be downright unpleasant. For some of us, sometimes its unbearable. Sometimes weve sat on our bed or on a chair, like the woman were about to see… This is an image that Pastor Tim prepared for us on our series, Come Before Winter. I want you to take a look at this young lady and see if there werent times in your lives when youve felt like that. You just put your head in your hands and say, What am I going to do? This is not working out the way I planned. This is not how I wanted my life to go. I didnt see this coming. Maybe youve said, What have I done? Maybe you were the cause of the problem. Maybe somebody did something to you, and you were a victim, but weve been here. We just wanted to hide. We just wanted to close our eyes and cry. We are just sitting there trying to make sense of it all, trying to figure it all out. How did this happen? What am I going to do? That's what that image communicates to me. What am I going to do? Thats winter. Thats what were talking about. Winter comes around in all of our lives, and usually it comes around in a cycle. We dont just go through one season of winter, but we go through many seasons of winter. Winter is that time when it just seems like things are a little bit darker more often. It seems like life is a little bit colder. It just seems like our struggles intensify sometimes. In this period of our life, we feel lonelier. Maybe we even feel despair or depression going through a time like this. Theres desperation in those words Come Before Winter. There is an urgency. There is a need that needs to be met. I need help, and I need it yesterday. Maybe some of you are sitting here today, and youre like, Well, Im in the summer or the fall of my life. Everything is crisp. Im in the springtime. Everything is new and fresh. Well, thats wonderful, but winter is coming. Winter will come. We had a really nice November this year, and we were kind of joking around mid-November. It was 75 degrees and sunny. We were thinking, Maybe winter is going to forget us this year. Ha, ha, ha because we all know it wont. As nice as it is-its sunny; its warm; its pleasant. Its November, yeah! Winters coming. Winter is coming. What were going to do in this series is look at a winter period in Pauls life, a time when it was cold, snowy, and dark. How did he cope with it? What did he do? What were some of the habits he had? How did he process things mentally? How did he focus spiritually? Over this next month, were going to look at those verses in 2 Timothy 4; and were going to see what we can glean that will help us in the winter times of our lives. Now you may be in a winter season now, so we are scrambling and trying to make due; but its best to prepare for winter before it comes, isnt it? Gather the firewood before you need it. Get your mittens, your coat, your hat, and your long underwear before you need them. Get your car taken care of. Get your winter snow tires on and all of the things you need to do to get your car winterized before winter comes. Thats just wisdom, so thats what we want to do. Those are the skills we want to work on. Lets turn in our Bibles to 2 Timothy 4. While youre turning there, let me just briefly tell you about the Book were going to be looking at. This was written by the Apostle Paul to a young man who he mentored in the faith named Timothy. Timothy was like a son to Paul, and he had invested much time in Timothy. He loved Timothy. He had just appointed Timothy as the pastor of the church in Ephesus not long before he wrote this Book. The church in Ephesus, of course, is where Paul spent most of his time as a missionary. Normally, he would go and plan a church. Hed be there for a season, and hed leave. But in Ephesus, he stayed there around three years. He really invested, really poured himself into that ministry. It was only appropriate that he took his son in the faith, his favorite son, and put him over the congregation where he had the most invested. Now, this is called a Pastoral Epistle, and there are three of them-Verses 2 Timothy and Titus. The reason we call them the Pastoral Epistles is because in these Books, Paul is shepherding or pasturing these young men that he has mentored. Its a personal letter. Its not a letter to a church. Its not a letter to a congregation. This is a letter to a person, a literal letter. Its personal, so theyve come to be known as the Pastorals. Paul now is an old man, and he is looking at the end of his days. Historically, the setting is Rome. This is under the time of Emperor Nero. If you know anything about Roman emperors, you know that Nero was crazy. You know that he committed atrocities. Then one of the things he is suspected of doing is starting the fire that burned down much of Rome and in turn putting the blame on Christians. After all, the Christians were easy fodder. People did not like the Christians. Christians were taking stands and doing things that people didnt understand. Weve talked about these things before. [They believed] Christians held agape feasts or love feasts, which non-believers interpreted as orgies; so they accused Christians of being immoral. When they received communion, they were said to have eaten the flesh and drunken the blood of Jesus; so those outside the church regarded Christians as having cannibalistic practices in these secret love fests. They refused to burn incense to the emperor or worship him as divine. They refused to acknowledge the Roman gods, acknowledging only Jesus Christ as Lord; so from their point of view, the Christians were atheists, and they were against the Roman government. How about that? Misunderstood. So its very easy to turn the tide of public opinion against a people group that people already dont like. Theyre different from us. They dont celebrate the holidays like we do. They dont worship like us. They do these secret behind closed doors love feasts where who knows what in the world goes on there; so Christians were then persecuted, tortured, and killed in the most terrible ways imaginable under Nero. Paul is now in his clutches. Paul senses-he knows by the Spirit-that his days are numbered. As he sits in that jail-well talk a little bit more about that jail soon-he reflects back on his favorite son, Timothy. Hes going to give him some words to live by before he departs this earth. He says, Here are some things I want you to know as you pastor that church in Ephesus, Timothy. Follow these words. These are words that Timothy would use through the 60s, through the 70s, and into the early 80s as he pastured that church before he himself was martyred for standing up for the faith. Were going to look at Verses 6 through the end of the chapter. I want to read it through it its entirety just so we can get an understanding of the text. Then were going to talk about different segments of the text every week. Im not going to take this in order like I normally do. Im not going to deal with 6-8 today because I wanted to just deal with the reality of winter, that aspect of it before we come back and deal with specifics. If I dont touch on a verse today, I will touch on it more than likely before were done with this series, so just be patient on that. Were going to read it through in its entirety and then go back and examine some of the key points in how Paul dealt with the winter of his life. Lets begin reading with 2 Timothy 4:6 (page 1180 of pew Bibles), For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure… My death is imminent. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. So hes been talking here about spiritual realities, about the hope of Heaven, about eternal life. Now, he is going to turn from talking about these Heavenly matters and become intensely practical. Hes going to start focusing on earthly matters and earthly relationships and friendships. He says, Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. We dont know a lot about Demas. Hes mentioned several times. Once he was called a devoted follower. Another time he is just mentioned by his name, Demas is here. Then this time, its saying that Demas has left us; so there seems to be this digression in the life of Demas-his influence as he begins to be drawn towards other things. This appeal on Paul definitely is an appeal based on hurt, isnt it? Hes saying, Ive lost a helper. Ive lost a companion, somebody Ive invested in, who has gone AWOL on me, and it hurts. Tim, I need you right now. I need you to come. So that is an appeal to a friend. Some of these names well talk about because they have some significance. Others well simply read through. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. By the way, just a little bit of trivia about Dalmatia, you may not know this, but its a very small community. At the time Paul wrote this, there were only about 101 people living there-101 Dalmatians. They had a white flag with a big black dot on it for their country (congregation is laughing). They really were called Dalmatians by the way. Apparently you dont like Disney humor, but they really were called Dalmatians. I couldnt resist. Sorry about that; I apologize. It wont happen again…until 9:30. He says, Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. Mark, who he had once rejected and saw as a deserter, was now someone who he had hoped to use in his ministry. This was the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark, a very influential man in the early church. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. Tychicus was his messenger. He would send the Book of Ephesians through with Tychicus. He sent the Book of Colossians through Tychicus. He would send these Books of the Bible, so Tychicus very much carried the Word of God-literally-to these various places as Pauls messenger. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. Lets skip to Verse 16, At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lions mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Thats where the name of the series comes from. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. So lets examine this winter approach from Paul. Number one, Paul acknowledges that winter is coming. Paul acknowledges the reality. He acknowledges that there is hardship that is coming to him. Cold is coming; winter is coming. He acknowledges his physical condition in the prison. First of all, I want you to notice the community that is there in these verses. Do you see that? Do you see all the names Paul mentions? There are certain ones who had gone, but there are others who were there that he greeted. Notice how he is enlisting them. He is calling them to meet him and be with him. Do you see that sense of community for Paul? Paul is opening up relationally, saying, Timothy, I need you to come. Demas has left me. I need you. I need Mark too. Bring Mark too. [Here is] the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary who ever lived, and he is opening up and he is becoming vulnerable. He is saying, You know what? I need my friends in Christ. If Im going to go through this period, this dark time in my life, I need someone who is going to be with me. Many had deserted him as we already said. We talked about the fact that sometimes Paul said they were ashamed of him. He said in this Book that they were ashamed of his chains. Imagine if you had a friend who you were close to. Something happened and they were charged with going against the American government. They were charged with treason, being a traitor of the United States. They were thrown in jail and had their face plastered all over the newspaper and on TV. Do you want to be their friend now? Do you want to be seen with them now when everybody around you doesnt like them? People around you are going to think if you associate with them, then you must be a traitor too-guilt by association. If I hang with this person, that means Im like them, and nobody is going to like me either. That got to them. Paul said, At my first defense, no one was there, but he refuses to have a bitter heart. He said, May it not be held against them. Hes talking about his friends. He says, My friends let me down. Maybe Paul had something to do with that. At his first house arrest, he was living large. In the Book of Acts, he was in prison in Rome; and it was house arrest. He was walking around as a free man waiting for his trial. Friends were coming and friends were going. He was visiting everybody. It doesnt seem that bad. Maybe Paul didnt open up about what he was going through. Maybe he just said, I can take care of this by myself. This time is different. This time Paul is going to make sure he is not alone in the struggle that he is going through. Prison is different this time. This is no house arrest that Paul is going through. Paul is on the outskirts of Rome in a prison that we can see today. It looks nicer today than it did when Paul was there. The prison was built some 400 years before Christ. It was this two-story pit, a hole in the ground-a circular pit right next to the city sewer. Sometimes to evacuate the bodies from this pit, quite frankly, they would open up certain hatchways and run sewer water through the prison and just flush out the dead prisoners into the city sewer system. That is revolting. There were no cells; there were no cots; there were no bunk beds. It was a bunch of men crammed into a small, dark, cold, stinky room awaiting death. Its amazing that Paul speaks in a positive way at all, isnt it? If we were in those circumstances, awaiting trial under a maniacal dictator, surrounded by these men in these terrible conditions, dark and cold-what would your letter read like? What kinds of things would you say? How would you speak of the Lord? What would you say about Jesus if you were in those conditions? He really let me down. If this is what it means to follow Christ, forget it! Paul makes it clear that hes there because he wants to be there. He says, I am being poured out like an offering. I am offering myself. Paul knows all he has to do to be released from that prison is renounce Jesus Christ and say, Its all a big misunderstanding. Caesar is Lord! Hail Caesar! Give me the incense! Ill burn it! Ive had a change of heart! Paul would have walked out of that prison a free man. He probably would have been reprimanded, maybe a little jail time, but he wouldnt die [for it]. They would have loved that! Maybe he could convince some other Christians to convert and stop this nonsense too. Paul would have none of it. He said, I am ready to die for my faith. He was there because he chose to be there. He says, Listen, guys, Ive invested in you. I was there when you needed me. Now, I need you. I need you to come, and I need you to come quickly. Secondly, he deals with the physical reality. He said, I need my cloak. Its cold here. A cloak was this large garment with a hole cut in it. Just think of it as a poncho that goes all the way to the ground. Thats what it would have looked like. It was this big heavy fabric like youd put around your body and use it like a sleeping bag. He said, Winter is coming, and Im cold. When were going through the winters of our lives, we need to be aware of our physical needs. We need to talk to others about our physical needs, tell them whats going on. Maybe you are suffering from a lack of sleep. Maybe youre not eating. Maybe you are having a reaction to some medications youre taking. Maybe there are some physical struggles youre going through. I dont want to burn anybody. Ill just go through it on my own. Ill just keep it to myself. Friends, that doesnt work. At least, it doesnt make winter any better. It makes winter even colder. If the greatest missionary who ever lived, who wrote so much of the New Testament, was willing to say, Listen I need help. Here are my needs. Heres what Im going through, who in the world do you think you are to say, Ill just tough it out and go it on my own. God wants us to experience community. Part of community is when people can rally around us and minister to our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. Thirdly, Paul is concerned about his intellectual needs. He says, Bring me the parchments, the scrolls and the parchments. We dont know exactly what these are. We do know that they probably were the Scriptures. They were probably some other documents he needed. There were probably some parchments there that were there to stimulate his thinking. He was an educated man. In fact, one time one of his prosecutors said, Paul, your great learning is driving you mad. He said under the best rabbis of his day, he had the best education of his day; and in this prison cell, he wanted to stimulate his mind even more. He wanted to think. He wanted to grow in his learning even at this point. When were going through the winters of our lives, friends, thats the time we can do some of our best learning. It really is. Thats the time we can do some of our best thinking. What is God teaching me here? How can I grow as a person in this winter of my life? So Paul acknowledges that. Fourthly, he talks about his spiritual condition. He talks about the relational need, the physical need, his intellectual need, and finally his spiritual need. He said, Everybody deserted me at my first defense, but the Lord stood by my side. The point is He will deliver me. He delivered me from the Lions mouth, and He will deliver me from every evil deed and see me safely into His Heavenly kingdom. The first words we have of Paul in the Bible are, Lord, who are You? Who are You, Lord? I dont know you. Its very clear by the very last words we have in our Bible that Paul knows exactly who Jesus is. Hes his Savior; Hes his Deliverer; Hes his friend, and Hes going to be there even if no one else is. These things work together-our spirituality and community. The closer we draw to our brothers and sisters in Christ, the closer we draw to the Lord; and the closer we draw to the Lord, the closer we draw to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It has a synergistic effect. What this text speaks to me about is for those of you who are lone rangers out there, just trying to gut it out and do it all on your own, you need to have a change in your thinking, a change in your lifestyle. God is calling you to community. Hes saying, Winters coming. Winter is coming, and it may stay a while; and winters are hard. Dont gut it up by yourself. Make a choice to be a part of the Body of Christ. Who would be in your letter if you were in these situations? What names would you name? Who is close to you that you could call upon? We need that as believers. We need one another. One of our dear members passed away recently, Judy Babish, after a struggle with cancer. The funeral was a beautiful service. You could tell the Holy Spirit was at work in that memorial service. I really had wanted to ask Dennis to come and share this weekend because I was thinking, For what he has gone through, he really has some things he can share with us, but, you know, its just too soon. Hes going to be in too much pain. Hes not going to be able to do that. Then, we saw a video Judy made before she passed away. I thought to myself, Boy, there are some parts in there that Id love to show this weekend, but out of respect for Dennis, it would be too hard for him to see that again. Its just too soon. So I second-guessed myself, and I didnt ask. This week, Dennis contacted me and said, Could I just share a few words? I realized I really had heard the Holy Spirit and just decided, for Dennis sake, I couldnt ask that. God had some other plans. I said, Absolutely you can come and share. So right now, Dennis is going to come and share a little bit about what community relationships have meant to him in this winter period of his life. Lets stand together. Judy received community because she had made herself a part of community. Long before a meal was ever brought to her in her sickness, she had made many meals for others. She was a part of our prayer team. She found her gift, and she was serving faithfully in the Body of Christ. She had joined a small group, and she was plugged in; so when her winter came, friends were there. So I ask you today, Whats it going to be? Are we going to live like a Lone Ranger of Christianity, or are we going to recognize that were a part of a family and that God has placed people in our lives that can love us, help us, and support us? Lets pray together: Father, we thank You for the example of the Apostle Paul today-this great man who had done so many great things. He humbled himself. He made himself vulnerable. He said, This jail is cold, and Im lonely. I need companionship and friendship. Im facing a difficult time in my life. Lord, might we follow his example, an example of our sister Judy who is now in Your presence. Dealing with the reality of winter and saying, I dont want to go through this alone, and Im going to allow others to come into my life. Im going to help others in their time of winter as well. Father, I pray that we might enter into the community of church and sharing our lives together. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

In the undisputed Pauline epistles, marriage is seen as a way to extirpate sexual desire - neither as a means for procreation nor as the preferred social status. The Pastoral Epistles, written to instruct in the pastoring of churches and appointing of church offices, presents quite un-Pauline attitudes. In the Pastoral Epistles, the church, rather than an ecclesia, becomes a household, a specifically patriarchal structure in which men hold offices and women are not to have authority over them. They present a pro-family, anti-ascetic message in contrast to the Pauline epistles.

In ancient times, documents that were falsely attributed to an author, called pseudepigrapha, were a common phenomenon. Both the Letters to the Colossians and Ephesians are most likely pseudonymous works attributed to the Apostle Paul. The writer of Colossians assures his readers that they already possess all the benefits of salvation and do not need to observe rules concerning feast days, Sabbaths, and worship of the angels. Ephesians seems somewhat based on Colossians, although it reads more like an ethical or moral treatise. Both letters differ from Pauline Christology in their realized eschatology and high Christology.