Thought of the: 

Unique opportunities of the Christian Life 

Unique potential of the Christian Life 

Unique problems of the Christian Life 

Each Christian life is a unique set of 

Opportunities 
Open doors 
Abilities 
Gifts 

There is a huge potential for God in the Christian Life!!! 

Not just for the Billy Grahams of this world! 

We are not restricted in our life for Christ not in our service for God by: 

Duplicating the service of others 

nor by 

Duplicating the life of others 

Gods: 

Power 
Sovereign 
Ability …

Don't get distracted verse 11: 

'but thou O man of God' (v11) 

12 disciples, 1 failed, was removed and was replaced by Matthias in Acts 1:25. 

Men of God – 12 in the OT: 

Moses – a man who gave the law of God (Ezra 3:2; 2 Chron 30:16), who blessed the people of God, in fact he left them with blessing (Deuteronomy 33:1). 
Angel of God appearing to Manoah, whose name is 'Wonderful,' (Judges 13:6,8) – a possible Christophany. 
Unnamed Man of God who brings a prophetic word of judgment and condemnation to Eli (1…

Verse 1: Would it not be better to be free of the yoke? Free to serve as I choose? Free to live as I please? 

Some get irked / burdened and resentful regarding the obligations of service. 

Learning to serve is not a wasted lesson. 

The school of service is not an education wasted. 

The discipline of the yoke leaves it’s mark on the character. 

Take the collar off the dog, the mark can still be seen. 

Nehemiah served Artaxerses, before serving God at Jerusalem 
Joshua was the servant of Moses 
Joseph served…

The Plot Thickens 

Mystery of Mysteries 

Mystery inside an Enigma 

'I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' Winston Churchill, Oct 1939. 

vs 1-2 – Encouraging The Ordinary 

vs 3 – Exhorting the Extra Ordinary 

There is a lot in these 3 little unassuming verses 

vs 1-2 – Encouraging The Ordinary 

Here we have a: 

Pattern for service 
Potential of service 

We have a pattern of Christian service in the ordinary Christian life 

To live the Christian…

If the theme of RESPECT resonates through chapter 5 then the theme of RESENTMENT appears as the under current in chapter 6. 

Following on from 1 Timothy chapter 5 – dealing with difficult people we move into chapter 6 – 'Loving Difficult People' 

The unsung heroes of chapter 5 – Widows 

The unsung heroes of chapter 6 – Servants 

Widows – a power house of prayer 

Servants – a power house of testimony 

These servants are experiencing the reality of 'Man's search for meaning,' - Viktor Frankl, 'the last…

1 Timothy chapter 5 is perhaps not the highest spiritual ground in 1 Timothy, that place is surely the preserve of 1 Tim 3:16, but this is amongst the most practical sections of the epistle. 

1 Timothy chapter 5 gives us an insight into the PROBLEMS which Timothy faced at Ephesus. 

Not surprisingly we observe that the church at Ephesus was made up of PEOPLE, a diverse group of people: 

Elders (v1) 
Younger men (v1) 
Elder women (v2) 
Widows (v3) 
Young women (v14) 

The assembly is not an: 

organisation 
place we…

Timothy had a lot on his plate: 

• Doctrinal problems (chp 1) 
• Jewish Mysticism (chp 1) 
• Moral Problems (chp 1 + 4) 
• Ecclesiastical Problems (chps 2+3) 

Some of the false teachers have been feeding the Christians with a very unbalanced diet of: 

• Marriage (v3) 
• Meats (v3) 
• Mysticism (v7) 

They were attempting to find spiritual satisfaction through: 

• Relationships 
• Rules 
• Religious stories 

This was  long way away from reality 

Timothy's ministry is to overcome with the fruit…

'speaking lies in hypocrisy' (vs2) 

One word which caught my attention 

Hypocrisy 

One word and yet it is a word for the day that we live in 

The word for the actor in Greek 

The man behind the mask 

A man who pretended to be what he was not 

This is a word for today! 

Virtual reality 
Social media 
Status symbols 
Photoshop 
Facebook 

Hypocrisy is a characteristic which ought to be completely absent from the Christian not only because it's not nice but because it is absent from Christ! 

Christ was exactly what…

Unravelling the meaning behind the deep mysteries of the Bible

Great is the mystery of Godliness: 

@ the heart of the universe 

@ the centre of creation 

@ the wellspring of life 

There is mystery 

One of the great tragedies of 20th and 21st Century is that, that mystery has to some degree been obscured, as if all is already explained. 

The sceptical minds of many have managed to convince many that there really is no mystery, that all is explicable, empirical explanations exist using the laws of physics and…

1. Woman Before Self (2:9) – Worth and value 
2. Women and men (2:11-14) – Headship 
3. Woman before God (2:15) – Salvation 

If there's an elephant in the room! 

First time in generations that this section of the scriptures would be regarded as controversial, maybe even derogatory or subversive. 

On issues of gender society swings between extremes: 

Devaluing femininity – the woman as the possession of her husband, with few or no legal rights – hinted at in the cultures lieing behind the scriptures…

Often seen how Gods dealings in our life affect Gods destiny for our life 

How our personal experience of God affects our expectations of God 

Maybe we have little of an expectation because we have little of an experience of God! 

Abraham and his faith – experienced in Gods giving of Isaac, from the deadness of Abrahams old age and the barrenness of Sarahs womb and his expectation was that of Gods power in raising him again form the dead (Heb 11) 
Jacob and his faith – 'the God who fed me all my life long…

Supreme amongst the 14 biblical mysteries is the greatest biblical mystery of them all:

Great is the mystery of Godliness: 

@ the heart of the universe 

@ the centre of creation 

@ the wellspring of life 

There is mystery 

One of the great tragedies of 20th and 21st Century is that, that mystery has to some degree been obscured, as if all is already explained. 

The sceptical minds of many have managed to convince many that there really is no mystery, that all is explicable, empirical explanations exist…

Often seen how Gods dealings in our life affect Gods destiny for our life 

How our personal experience of God affects our expectations of God 

Maybe we have little of an expectation because we have little of an experience of God! 

Abraham and his faith – experienced in Gods giving of Isaac, from the deadness of Abrahams old age and the barrenness of Sarah's womb and his expectation was that of Gods power in raising him again form the dead (Heb 11)

 
Jacob and his faith – 'the God who fed me all my life long…

1 Timothy is the first of 3 'pastoral epistles' 

 A title coined many years ago to describe 1 + 2 Timothy and Titus 

There certainly is in them much which has to do with the care of Gods people individually, collectively in families and as a congregation, in the  church. 

Perhaps timely in an age of increasing selfishness and individualism to appreciate afresh our place before the Lord as individuals, as families and as a church. 

The pastoral epistles brim with people self sacrificially serving: 

• …

We saw in 1:5 that the 'telos' of the commandment / charge of: 

1. Paul to Timothy (1:18) 
2. Timothy to Ephesians (1:3) 
3. 1 Timothy to us! 

Was 'love' 

We considered that 'love' amongst its many descriptions, defies definition as part of the essential nature of God, it is the: 

'together glue of perfectness' (Col 3:14) 

With what / to what / to whom does this love bind us in 1 Tim 1:5? 

We note those conditions from which that love proceeds, 'out of': 

1. Pure heart 
2. Good Conscience 
3. Genuine…

Every preacher ought to have a pastoral heart 

1:5 points to what ties together: 

The Lip 
The Life 

The pastoral epistles may not be epistles to pastors, yet they do reveal that every preacher should have a pastors heart. 

1. The Conclusion of Love – 'the end' : 'telos' : end, conclusion, termination, completion 
2. The Commandment of Love 
3. The Condition of Love 

1. 'pure heart' 
2. 'good conscience' 
3. 'faith unfeigned' 

The Conclusion of Love – 'the end' : 'telos' : end, conclusion, termination…

1 Timothy – the first of 3 'pastoral epistles' 

 A title coined many years ago to describe 1 + 2 Timothy and Titus 

There certainly is in them much which has to do with the care of Gods people individually, collectively in families and as a congregation, in the  church. 

Perhaps timely in an age of increasing selfishness and individualism to appreciate afresh our place before the Lord as individuals, as families and as a church. 

The pastoral epistles brim with people self sacrificially serving: 

Timothy…

1 Timothy: 

Chp 1 – Sin and the Law 
Chps 1 +2 – Saviour and Salvation (1:13-16; 2:3-6) 
Chp 3 – Sanctuary (3:16) 
Chp 4 – 6 – Service 

Secret and sacred service of the sanctuary includes:

1. Spirit (4:1) 
2. Prayer (4:5) 
3. Word of God (4:6, 11ff) 

Spiritual service 
Secular service 

After Paul's standard introduction: 

From Paul 
to Timothy 
Greeting (v2) 

he progresses quickly into the: 

body of the epistle and the 
burden of his heart 

Pastoral epistles – a phrase coined by D N Berdot (1703) and Paul Anton…