First Timothy lesson 28 cont. to end

Well, I might be running the longest marathon of a class with this one. I can't beat Courtney, probably. That's what Les just said. Come on now. It's close. It's getting close. Well, let me bring up my notes real quick. All right. So last week we left off with question number four.

So we were talking about, question four was, what would, quote, things not proper to mention be? And we talked about propriety or etiquette and the principle there. There's certain things that you just don't bring up. Paul's teaching that even true information can be inappropriate to share. So we talked about those categories of improper speech. We said maybe private family matters, maybe personal struggles, maybe intimate details of marriages or relationships that maybe shouldn't be brought up. We talked about financial situations, past sins or failures. And I mentioned the term the necessity test. Is this necessary? And so Paul, he's addressing in these verses, there's certain things that are just not necessary to talk about. Not necessary to discuss.

Let's look at verses 14 and 15. Somebody want to read those for me? That way we can get ramped up here. 1415. 1 Timothy 5, 1415. Therefore I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach. For some have already turned aside to follow Satan. So notice how Paul's solution connects to the severity of the problem. How does he connect it? He wants younger widows to marry and manage households. Why? Why do you think that that is the case? It's not because there's something wrong with singleness, but what would be the result otherwise?

Idleness. Well, and I've got my... What does verse 15 say? Turn aside to follow Satan. Some have already done that. So what is the spiritual danger here? Bobby, go ahead. Mike? Is that because they left their first faith already? Is that the result? I don't think so.

I think we're talking about, you know, young ladies, whether they're widows or not, kind of giving them some direction where their focus should be. I don't think we're talking about a woman who is walked with the Lord and lost her way and that kind of thing. I think it has to do with those that are trying to figure out what to do.

Any event against idleness, don't be idle. So if someone says to you, don't be idle, then the next question is, well, what should I do? I think it goes back, you know, when you get to a therefore, look what happened before. But refuse to put younger women on the list for when they feel sensual desires and disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge. And in the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go from house to house, not merely idle, but also gossip, because the body is talking about things not proper to mention. Therefore... Right. Therefore. We'll get to that therefore.

I think the key question isn't for... how Paul was directing Timothy in this case, I think the question is, is it true, but is it necessary to talk about? Is it necessary to run about and have those conversations to share? And he's cautioning Timothy to ensure that, hey, there's certain things you just don't talk about. Do we agree with that? Any problems there? Yeah, you know, JD, I think, um, what Paul's cautioning against here is the, the danger of someone being put onto a social welfare system where all of a sudden the, you know, and it was necessary for widows in that day.

Um, and so the church took care of that need, but, uh, it also frees up your time. Now you're not, um, you're not busy keeping house and so forth. I mean, you're, cause you got no family anymore, but you got money coming in. And so all of a sudden you could be freed up to, uh, go be a busybody, you know, and a gossip. And, uh, and so he's saying, Oh, if you're young enough that you're still, you know, mobile and active and you know, then you should be keeping house, not, not, uh, running it, running around, uh, getting into trouble.

Right. So, Well, I've got a modern application of that. Um, I think it applies to us today. I think there's a principle here. Um, what are we share on social media? Um, you know, how do we discuss others in casual conversation, even prayer requests? They can sometimes cross the line here into sharing things not proper to mention. Do you agree? Yeah. Yeah. Question number five.

How would not being married and not having a family be a problem? There's a word, I want. It's the term bulome. It's not an emotional preference, but a reasoned judgment. all observed a pattern and is giving Timothy pastoral wisdom on what he has seen work practically in church life. So what's the solution there? What does Paul want Timothy to focus on? Maybe let me ask you this way. So the question is written by Mike, how would not being married and not having a family be a problem? So what do marriage and family provide as a contrast?

The basic answer to that is busyness. They don't have time for self-centered self-centered pursuits because they're busy serving as a mom and as a wife and that kind of thing. What are some of the, so yeah, I was thinking about like, okay, If a woman is married, she's got a husband, so she's got priority, you know, a husband. She's got children, she's got home management, so she has clear priorities. That keeps her from the opposite side of it, being idleness and busybodies and tattlers and gossip and so forth.

She also has defined responsibilities, right? So, duty is that. require her attention. And again, these priorities apply to both men and women, but in this particular context, it's really talking about these young women. Accountability, right? Other family members who depend on her and the things that she's got going on. less opportunity for idle wandering. And we see that in verse 11 through 13. There's less opportunity for that.

I found it interesting at this funeral for Frances on Friday, a lot of her children and grandchildren spoke. And they all spoke about What a great mom-slash-grandmother she was, because she was always busy with, you know, available to them if they needed anything. I mean, she'd go to her grandkids' soccer games and stuff like that, and she would help in any way she could. So she was busy being a grandmother, really busy. And I didn't sound like She was in the way, she was just being who she was, you know? She had six kids, and I don't know how many grandkids she's got.

You're busy. I was thinking too, maybe for this widow, with this being married and having children, give her hopefully more of a spiritual focus. She's got a husband who's exercising good spiritual leadership and they've got a healthy church community. Not that you can force anyone to focus on the Lord, but just in a healthy marriage would be one thing that would be a benefit too.

Yeah, I think you're right, Ingrid. I think the goal is always spiritual health, right? And it's protection from sin. So what protects you from sin in this particular context? Obviously trusting the Lord, but being busy about the the life that you've been given, whether you're single or married, having a focus on being about the things of the Lord. And I think that's really probably a major goal that Paul is trying to communicate to Timothy here.

Keep them focused on you and as they are focused there and they're focused on their household and their time management and the things that they've got going on, they don't have time to be busybodies or to get involved in gossip because they're focused on you and their family.

Does that make sense? Being a wife and a mother is probably the most selfless role I know of. A woman doesn't have that role. It's easy to fall prey to the selfish desire. I mean, I guess in a way, there's a need for a for a service outlet, a way to serve others rather than just serving self-interest, right? And for a young woman, that's a perfect way to serve as a wife and a mother. Like Miles Stanford said, it's the greatest ministry that there is, really.

I'm going to ask a question that Mike didn't put on my paperwork. How would you describe this for a man? Well, it's interesting that Paul doesn't address this for a man. While you guys were talking, I was looking at Ephesians 5, and most of the epistles are correcting behavior From a spiritual standpoint, this is how Paul is giving directions on how a Christian should live, whether they're a man, a husband, a father, or they're a wife, a woman, a wife, or whatever. And so the focus is the Lord Jesus, no matter what environment that you're in.

And from an advice standpoint, if If I'm told by God's word to love my wife as Christ loved the church, that's not a part-time job. A wife is to submit herself to her husband as is proper. That's not a part-time job either. And then once you have children, and the focus goes on the children and raising them up in the way that they should go. I think that if believers are walking as the Lord has described in Paul's epistles, they don't have time to be idle. We somehow make time, but idle or being involved in something that isn't pleasing to the Lord, especially sinful behavior, sexual sin or things like that. Yeah, no, I think that goes right into question number six.

Were you talking about a widower? No, I was just contrasting the fact that this is focused on, and we've been on this subject for a fair bit here. There's a lot of reasoning that Paul is giving to Timothy about widows. I was just curious about what principles men could take away from this. And again, to Mike's point, it's not focused in this context.

But when you look at like question six here, I'm just going to start running through question six. How would you describe this class of widow? There's obviously a self-control issue, right? Verse 11, what does it say? So there's a self-control issue. And I was just asking for the men in the class here how that relates to you because it's important.

But in the context, Paul mentions that these younger widows, they had passions that drew them away from Christ. And I think that's maybe a strong way of... thinking about this, is that what are the passions that draw you away from Christ? In this case, there's a Greek word, I'm gonna try to pronounce it, kashinio. They felt sensual desires and it just suggests that they were being controlled by strong physical desires other than focused on the Lord himself, focused on Christ. So instead of spiritual discipline, they had sensual desires that drew them away.

I have this note. 1 Corinthians was written during a time Paul called the present distress. like persecution or famine. But 1 Timothy really is more about settling down the church and organizational and behavioral Aspects, so there's a progression between when Paul was writing first second Corinthians and that present distress Now the the church has moved to a position of internal changes that are different right They were facing what what are some of the examples of the things that might fall under that? this present distress towards, now I'm talking about widows who are dealing with internal issues with the church. They were being, well, I'll let you answer. If you've got the timeline from first Corinthians and what Paul was dealing with there to the timeline of first Timothy, There's a transition there.

The whole environment that Paul is writing to Timothy in is mostly Gentiles and mostly Romans. Not all Romans, but the society was a really decadent society. And the focus was, if it wasn't on The things that Paul taught them about the Lord then had to be on what was going on in the world system.

So parallel to today, I don't know if you saw this, but I was watching the news the other night and some reporter woman was reporting a story at the same time she was reading her cell phone. The cell phone told her that Travis Kelsey just asked, what's her name, to marry him. And she was beside herself. I mean, she could hardly breathe. And I'm thinking to myself, really? What's the big deal? Mike was still the same. He was breathless, too.

The point is that we get so wrapped up in everybody else's business, and you're right, J.D., social media is the vehicle used to keep you wrapped up in anything but Christ. And Facebook the same way. A political junkie. Anything to get you off of Christ.

That's really what it's about. To follow the world system, and as he says here, to follow Satan. So we shouldn't be an armchair general. What does that mean? That means you sit around and watch all the wars. Well, you can do that. Look what you miss.

Society, listen to this, society, let me put it this way. Our society today does not have a really positive view of marriage. So they have all this other stuff that women and men ought to be doing other than getting married. Yet God's plan is to be a husband and a wife and to raise a family. Really exciting stuff.

But it's downplayed. I don't know if you've noticed this. If God says it, Satan's against it. And so is the world system. Doesn't matter what it is. I think that brings us to question number seven. By not being idle, Paul lists activities to replace idleness.

What are they? Number one activity. for this widow, for this young woman? Get married. Why? Why does that matter? How does that change a behavior for a young woman? What is Paul's comprehensive solution here? It's not just about companionship. What else does marriage provide? My mind's still on what I was saying earlier. It gives a woman a primary field of service.

Hmm. You know, responsibility. Yeah. If that's what the Lord has for her. Right. I mean, in, in Paul's mind, here's what he would encourage. It's not going to be the case for every woman. Right. Right. I think the Lord has a field of service for every, for every person, every believer. Um, for most women, for many women, that's going to be in a family, right? Yeah. Do children require constant care and attention? Yes. Amen, right?

I mean, raising children, it's a multi-decade commitment, right? Like you're in it for the long haul. And it's not, it's a blessing, right? when in the Lord, it is a blessing. But yeah, there's a lot of character development that happens for a woman when she's parenting. It demands patience, sacrifice, maturity. And these are the kinds of things that Paul was kind of focused on here.

It was like, when you get married and you're of that age, then you should do that. It will keep you from the opposite, and the opposite is idleness, gothic, busybody, walking around house to house doing that thing, right? So get married, have children, and guide the house. And we've got to keep in mind, this is talking about fairly young widows, because to be of childbearing age, you're pretty young still. Right. Well, and what do you think the lifespan was in those years? I mean, if you were an elder, you were, what, 45 or older? 50, maybe? Well, we've been using the term, or we've been using the age of 60, like after the age of 60. And it says that, right? So yeah. So by not being idle, Paul lists activities to replace idleness. What are they? We got get married, have children, manage your household. There's a word for me, a base of operations. I've got some feedback, audio-wise, that's really weird. That's better. Did that stop it? Yeah, it did. Actually, thank you.

So I've got written in my notes. I'm trying to connect this back to the verse. I think the base of operation becomes a family. OK, I'm not going to spend much time on that, just because I'm having a difficult time figuring out where I got my notes from on this one. But I'll read it to you. Occasion. Oh, that's what I'm... Oh, no occasion. So verse 14. Give the enemy no occasion. Oh, okay. Yes.

So this is don't give the enemy a base of operation. That's what that word means in the Greek. And, uh, I've written down here that Paul is thinking militarily. Um, he wants to completely eliminate any foothold or launching point for Satan to, to attack these women or the church. And the solution, there's certain activities that work together, right? So, eliminate idleness. Eliminate aimless wandering. Eliminate gossip and meddling. Eliminate inappropriate behavior. He's giving a complete lifestyle framework to Timothy to give to these women.

And the purpose is always to make appropriate decisions around Spending time with the Lord Jesus and not destructing the church itself not leading away from Those kinds of spiritual behaviors or lack of that would give Satan a foothold To these women and to the to the church body So who's the enemy question number eight Verse 14 who's the enemy?

The word adversary Enemy adversary Depends on your translation. I Can't pronounce this Greek word But what I have written about the word adversary or enemy to be set over against to lie opposite to. To oppose the adverse to to set oneself over against another.

And I don't know that it. I don't know that it just applies to Satan here, although I think it could like ultimately, but. Are there humans that set themselves against Christianity. Because that word adversary and Dickey, my. Yeah, my best version of that. I mean, it has to do with spiritual warfare. As a whole.

And it could be human opponents. That have set themselves against Christianity. And maybe that could include like a hostile neighbor, somebody that's just got it out for you and your faith. Certainly, people look for reasons to criticize Christianity and Christians. And I think this is personal.

In this particular century, you had Roman officials who were persecuting. You even had Jewish opponents, right? The Jews were enemies to Christians as well. And you had paganism. Maybe you even had family members who just didn't agree with you. You know, all of those things could have fallen into that word, enemy or adversary.

And Dikamai. It sounds like 2025. Sure does. Yeah, it's an interesting thing, right? I mean, we as believers, we bear the name of Christ and the enemy and his whether we're talking about Satan directly or those who are of his camp, love nothing more than to smear the image, the name of Christ, right? It's really interesting how practical this is here.

Paul's like, if you get married and you have kids, there's going to be no opportunity for idleness and being a busybody. It's just like, because those are the things that would give the enemy that opportunity for reproach. Just being busy with worthwhile things eliminates the opportunity for that reproach, right?

Do you see the whole Cosmos system against what God has in store for those that belong to him. I mean, everything you see, and I think in the world, I said before, if God talks about it, has said it, the world's against it, and it doesn't matter what it is.

I mean, this last week, you have this trans person shoot and kill young kids. and a commentator go on and on TV and say that prayer doesn't work. And so what are they doing? They're trying to convince the world that what happened is mental illness rather than satanic. And two, that God isn't really there, and he isn't going to fix it.

There's just evil everywhere, and you've just got to live with it. Yeah, you said the whole cosmos is against everything that the Lord has said. That's right, it is. It is. But the world can't see the results of Christ. That's true. That's one of the reasons why they're against it. They don't see.

I mean, if you see sin in action, the best the world can come up with is mental illness. Well, what is mental illness? From their description, it's a disease of the mind. Well, what about the sin nature? You can't fix the sin nature. It's unfixable. So God puts it on the cross and crucifies it.

And the world is willing to accept us in nature and put another label on it and either talk you out of it or drug you out of it or something, but it's there. You know? Yep. They use identity. They place you on a list. Yeah. That's true. And what's cool for us as believers is that we do have an identity and it's not of the world, it's not of the flesh, it's not of the devil. Those are the enemies. However, we have an identity in the person of the Lord Jesus and that changes everything for eternity. Yeah.

And you know what else it does? It fills up your day. You don't have time for promoting the enemy's side. If you're walking with the Lord, you're occupied. Occupied. Yeah. With Him. Well, let's pray. We're at time. Father, how we thank You that we can be occupied with You and we can spend time in Your Word and Your Spirit convicts and convinces us of those truths about who we are. And as we continue to learn through what You what Paul taught to Timothy, that these principles would remain active in our minds as we look about being occupied with you. And so we're just thankful that you've given us yourself and that we have dependence on you and that we have the opportunity to walk with you and talk through these things that are absolutely in contrast to the way the world system works around us. And so that's your grace, and we're thankful for it. It's your name we pray. Amen.