Messages

As Paul launches into the final letter he would write to Timothy, he begins with a word of encouragement. He reminds Timothy of his calling, his giftedness, and lastly, he reminds Timothy of the Spirit that God has given him.

God’s plan from the beginning was that faith was to be passed down from generation to generation. Both Paul and Timothy come from faith-filled families. Paul was a Jewish man whose ancestors served God faithfully. Timothy's faith was passed down to him from his mother and grandmother. His life was changed by their faithfulness.

Paul has one more group of people that he wants to make sure that Timothy addresses specifically. That is the rich. Paul commands Timothy to command the rich to be generous and willing to share.

As Paul wraps up his letter to Timothy, Paul gives him a charge: to flee from the sin that entrap so many pastors, the pursuit of money. He encourages him to instead pursue righteousness, godliness and the like.

It isn’t enough for us to flee something; we also have to pursue something.

Paul implores him to fight the good fight of faith. Keeping faith is a fight. Apparently, Paul doesn’t believe it will just happen, but it is something that must be fought for. He also places the onus on Timothy to “take hold of the eternal life” that comes with the good confession of faith.

It is clear that Paul does not assume one can simply coast to the finish line of faith, but rather that one must persevere to the end.

We have all heard the verse: “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." However, most don’t know the context of that verse. It is found in the middle of a conversation about those who try to leverage gospel ministry for financial gain. Paul declares that it is godliness with contentment that we should be striving for.

Paul ends the book of 1 Timothy by giving instructions to those who are slaves. Slavery was a common part of life in the Roman Empire, and Ephesus would have been no exception. What makes this text interesting is that there are no corresponding instructions to the masters in the church (at least in 1 Timothy). However, Paul does instruct a master in the church in a letter to Philemon.

The letter of 1 Timothy was written by the Apostle Paul to a young pastor named Timothy to help him understand how the church would operate. It makes perfect sense that Paul would address the expectations that come with being a pastor (also known as an elder, shepherd, and overseer).

There are some benefits, such as being paid for your work. Paul makes it clear that the one whose job is preaching and teaching should be compensated. Accusations against the pastor are to be corroborated before they are to be believed. However, when a pastor is found to have sinned, he is to be reproved in public.

In a world where the life expectancy at birth was 25-30 years, and making it to 40-50-60 was less than 30%, it isn’t surprising that Paul felt the need to address younger widows. There were likely many young woman who lost their husbands at a relatively young age. But, as we saw in the text last week, not all widows are equal. There are different expectations for widows depending on their circumstances. So what does Paul have to say about the younger widows?

In our text, Paul reinforces the idea of church family by telling Timothy to treat those in the church as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. Paul then goes into great detail establishing the responsibility of the church in helping the widows among the people of God.

This text is challenging young believers to not let their youth be an excuse, but instead they are to be an example of what it looks like to follow Jesus. This text is also challenging those who are not young anymore to call out leadership in the young people around us.