Friday, March 25, 2011

Remember Jesus Christ, 2 Timothy 2:8-19; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 4-3-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, Remember Jesus Christ, on 2 Timothy 2:8-19 for the 4-3-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 3-27-11 lesson, Compassionate Service aka Worship Inspires Service, directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




Remember Jesus Christ
2 Timothy 2:8-19
International Sunday School Lesson
April 3, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough






When you prepare weekly for these lessons do you pray?  I suppose many of you, like me that teach, do just that.  You pray that God would enable you to do justice to His word.  You pray that you would look at the scripture each week and find with the aid of the Holy Spirit the lesson that would best convey to your students what it is that God wants you to communicate.  Well, that is my prayer for you anyway!
What Paul is instructing Timothy is to keep it simple and that is what I hope you will do also.  We begin with Paul saying very succinctly what his gospel is, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.”  This is why Paul was in chains.  Can you think about that for a while?  Paul wasn’t in chains because of great exhortations against the powers that be or for aggressive physical actions, no, if he only stood in the corner of a synagogue and said, “I preach Christ and Him crucified,” then he was in danger.
What do you think Paul meant by his warning for us not to quarrel about words or godless chatter?  Well, quite simply as in several areas of his epistles Paul warns of false teaching and one way to help prevent it is Paul’s message of the simplicity of the gospel.
False teaching can take the guise of supposed insight when someone comes up with the idea that Paul was a stutterer or that Timothy was a wimp.  Those that come up with these teachings out of the blue try to make their voice heard above the din and throw something against that proverbial wall and see if it sticks.  Seems innocent but in trying to get creative, false teaching can occur.
False teaching might take the route of something as sinister as what Paul mentioned in verse 18 today that the resurrection had already taken place.  What other teachings can you think of that obviously lead astray like that?  Sadly the list is too extensive to list in its entirety.
How about that there are texts that are just as authoritative as the Bible and they are still being revealed.
That there is more than one God, that He evolved, that He has a body and a wife and children.
That God is not triune.
That before our creation, that is before we were created at conception by God, we were raised to maturity as spirits.
That Jesus was not God.
That Jesus was not bodily resurrected.
That Jesus is not eternal.
That Michael was Jesus.
That hell is not eternal.

I know that you recognize some of these and you would place them and their followers into the category of cults, but do you know that those who believe those things consider themselves to be Christian?  Yep, that’s right, they are Christians in their minds and in the minds of the unsaved or the weak in doctrine they are just the same as you.
Can you see why Paul stressed over and over this fear of his that the simple gospel message would be polluted and why godless chatter can lead to more and more ungodliness.  What they will become is revealed in the next chapter when Paul speaks of the last days and he says that they will have “a form of godliness.”
I believe that one of the biggest problems we have is complacency in our churches, complacency that we are somehow different from these cults.  Churches think that they would never teach from that list above and that is true.  But what is becoming too frequent is the teaching of a false or rarely heard gospel of Christ and Him crucified.  The gospel if preached is preached in an incomplete manner and has left out the role we are each to play to evangelize.  Godless chatter takes many forms.



For Discussion:
1.      Can you, if asked, simply articulate the gospel?  I recommend a small and very readable book, “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert.
2.      If godless chatter causes people to become more ungodly and wander away from the truth, hadn’t you better have a pretty good handle on what constitutes godless chatter?
3.      Do you believe we teach what we believe?  In other words, do you a humble Christian, preach what you practice?
4.      If you answered in the affirmative, do you believe that there is a problem with endorsing secular leaders who believe things from the list above?
5.      Verse 19 says that, “everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”  Do you then turn completely and in all ways from the list above?
6.      Those that lead us are respected, just look at “The Most Respected” lists.  People emulate those that lead them, that is why as it says in verse 17, “Their teaching will spread like gangrene.”
7.      Due to other commitments, I try to stay at least a couple weeks ahead on these lessons, if you would like to get a head start on a lesson coming up, send me an email and if I have it done I will send it to you!

4-10-11:  Praise Builds Us Up (Remember the Warnings) Jude 17-25
4-17-11:  Hosanna! (Praise the Lord) Mark 11:1-11
4-24-11:  Christ is Risen! (Go and Tell) Matthew 28
5-1-11:    Be Like Jesus (The Christ Hymn) Philippians 2:1-11











Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved


Friday, March 18, 2011

Compassionate Service (Worship Inspires Service), 1 Timothy 5:1-8, 17-22; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 3-27-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, Compassionate Service aka Worship Inspires Service, on 1 Timothy 5: 1-8, 17-22 for the 3-27-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 3-20-11 lesson, Leadership Priorities aka Prepare for Leadership, directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




Compassionate Service
or
Worship Inspires Service
1 Timothy 5: 1-8, 17-22
International Sunday School Lesson
March 27, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough





This week’s lesson is entitled Compassionate Service or Worship Inspires Service but I would like to change that to, I Challenge You.
I challenge you to not just be glad we are out of the seemingly less controversial section of these Timothy letters and consider instead that those going forward should be no less so if we are not following what it is that they tell us, but we will come back to that in a moment.
When one is doing a simplified historical exegesis of a passage we would consider among other things the author, the reader, the purpose for what is written and the historical and cultural aspects all in a hope to better understand what we are reading. 
Paul, we shall assume for brevity sake, you are very familiar with and we are also going to assume that at the time of this writing that Paul was still in Macedonia where he went after leaving Timothy to take care of the church in Ephesus.  This church received three years of the mighty Paul’s efforts but was still in much need of leadership and why the trusted Timothy was left in charge.
Timothy, now there is another story.  Much has been written about him that I think creates a false picture of weakness and frailty.  Why?  Because of letters like 1 Timothy which gives firm instructions to how those that make up the church should conduct themselves.  Or because as in the verse not included today but from this chapter of 1 Timothy 5 in which Paul advises him to drink a little wine instead of water due his stomach and some frequent health issue.  Do you think this makes him a weakling?
I think instead of seeing Timothy as timid or weak because some scholars have sought to write something new to justify their voice, we should look at the characters a little more generously.  We have Paul the mentor of 20 years and Timothy the protégé.  One is an Apostle with authority from above who has, according to the scriptures, received direct inspiration and the other, in Timothy, not an apostle but about as close as you can get.  Look at how many letters in our New Testament include Timothy in their salutation along with Paul and look at the situations where Timothy was sent such as Ephesus as a troubleshooter if you will.  Look at Timothy the martyr if tradition is believed and then read this passage with that in mind when you consider the man Timothy.
The purpose for Paul’s letter is the easiest thing for us to determine; Paul wanted to make it clear how the people who made up the church were to be treated.
Was Ephesus, the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a hot bed of sin and miscreants more foul than any other city at the time?  I rather think that the best way to look at Ephesus is to look scripturally at what we know to be the latest reference to this church and that is found in Revelation 2 where Christ himself had this to say about the church at Ephesus:
 Revelation 2:2-5 
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
   4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

What we should take away from this church is that we can only hope that if Christ were to look at our church’s conduct that we would fare so well.
If we look at the cultural aspects to see if there is something culturally significant to this letter that would only apply to this church at that time and not to today, I would have to say that I see none.    The elders mentioned in the beginning apply not to the Overseer position but those advanced in age and how men and women of all ages should be treated with respect should be the same today.  That the widowed among us should still be cared for might not be practiced as it should but it shouldn’t be argued that it only applied to Timothy’s time.  While I do see a couple references such as the one that refers to the oxen that might be lost on some today the concept that they apply to is sound.  Therefore everything referred to whether we follow it or not, is still relevant to today.
So if there are not cultural or societal factors at work here we are back to the sticky controversial aspect I mentioned at the beginning, the picking and choosing of the scriptures that we are going to live by and also back to the I Challenge You part.
I challenge you to create or strengthen in your church a type of return to 1 Timothy 5 Ministry.  A ministry of at least two aspects where the word of God is followed because it is how we were instructed things should be. 
One aspect is that Elders not be hastily chosen and that those that are be paid and not just honored for the work of the Lord.  They may not want the pay and may give it back but others especially in this day could use it and God says that they deserve it.
Another aspect is the care of those who have been widowed who are not having their needs fully met.  They will not come to you for help; you will need to go to them.  A visit will show the home repairs, the need for company and the spiritual hunger.  Eventually with familiarity will show the unpaid bills and the deep fears.  Truly the widow (and the widower) who are really in need and left all alone put their hope in God for help and you can be that help.
I never stop being amazed at the creativity of people and what can result if a challenge is put to people within the church.  People far more sensitive to the needs of others than I will realize the myriad of ways a 1 Timothy 5 Ministry can return honor to our churches because they are following all the scriptures.




For Discussion:

1.      Discuss suspected or known needs, protecting the privacy of course, of the widowed in your church.
2.      The strong Sunday School can be a powerful force within the church, make it a project of your class to create a 1 Timothy 5 Ministry.
3.      Ask that a sermon be delivered on this subject to your congregation.
4.      Do not think that these instructions on how to treat those who make up the church are to Timothy alone, see verse 7.
5.      While performing the duties in the role of elder, whether it be in the sense of a pastor or another authority in the church, there may be accusations made some true and most false and thus the Biblically tried and true practice of necessitating two or three witnesses.
6.      Have you known of proven cases of an Elder sinning without receiving a public rebuking?  These scriptures make it clear that a public rebuking should be done, “I charge you”, “to keep these instructions.”





Join me in the weeks ahead for the following International Sunday School Lessons:

4-3-11:    Remember Jesus Christ 2 Timothy 2:8-19
4-10-11:  Praise Builds Us Up (Remember the Warnings) Jude 17-25
4-17-11:  Hosanna! (Praise the Lord) Mark 11:1-11
4-24-11:  Christ is Risen! (Go and Tell) Matthew 28










Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved
    

Friday, March 11, 2011

Leadership Priorities (Prepare for Leadership), 1 Timothy 4:6-16; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 3-20-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, Leadership Priorities aka Prepare for Leadership, on 1 Timothy 4:6-16 for the 3-20-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 3-13-11 lesson, Leadership Qualities aka Qualifications of Worship Leaders, directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




Leadership Priorities
or
Prepare for Leadership
1 Timothy 4:6-16
International Sunday School Lesson
March 20, 2011


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough








     Have you ever had a mentor?  You might not have called them that, but every word they said every move that they made, every bit of advice or instruction they shared, you considered important out of respect for them.  Timothy had a mentor who he regarded highly in Paul and the feeling for the protégé was mutual.  We might consider making Paul our mentor in a manner of speaking and see if what he had to tell Timothy might not be worthy of our consideration.
     “Instructions to Timothy”, that is the heading in my Bible for the fourth chapter of Timothy and though we aren’t looking at the first five verses officially you know we must considering the very first verse in today’s Sunday School Lesson refers back to them because Paul wants Timothy to be sure and point out to people what he said.  In them Paul tells Timothy that the Holy Spirit has very clearly said, evidently to Paul, that people who were a part of the church would depart from them in later days following false doctrine.  Really this is one of the major themes found in all of 1 Timothy, that along with Paul’s efforts to encourage and remind Timothy to proper roles and proper doctrine.
     Although I am confident from the beginning there was false doctrine at work, Paul did not know just when the real latter days would be.  They thought that the return of Christ was imminent and many times Paul had to give instructions to people that they still needed to live their lives that they had to work for a living even though they felt His return could happen at any time.  So would today, 2000 years later, in hindsight, not be naturally closer to fulfilling this then when Timothy was given this warning by Paul?  I think so, as would pure statistics, but was it less important for Timothy to be aware of and to keep his guard up?  I think not.
     Paul told Timothy that he would be a good minister by pointing out how people can go astray, he was reminding Timothy to be grounded; sticking with the good teaching, the truths of the faith, training or conditioning himself in what is good doctrine which in turn would lead to godliness.
     Have you ever thought about the latest greatest teachings that come down the pike in view of this passage?  How many times do we see ourselves tempted to depart from the good old ways of the scriptures, of Christ and Him crucified to follow man’s teaching.  Teaching that at some point, according to the Spirit can come from demons and not from God.  Have you ever heard someone refer to some new teaching as a non-threatening way to present the gospel?  Non-threatening to who, Satan?  What is so threatening about good news?
     Paul is instructing Timothy not just to teach these things of sound doctrine but to COMMAND them.  (When were you last hearing or delivering commands from the pulpit?) And because Paul knew both Timothy and his church well he sought to bolster Timothy from either the excuse or to the reality that some would question his authority.  He did it by adding in the most concise and well written manner that reminds me of some type of artillery fire that has found its range and keeps firing and delivering it’s load on target, using precise words such as set an example in life, in love, faith and purity, devote, preach, teach, don’t neglect, be diligent, watch and preserve.
     Notice that the things Paul instructed Timothy concerning were all public in nature.  By example Timothy was to show godliness by how he lived, how he read scripture, preached and taught in public and to do these things in a sound manner because it was unto his and his listener’s salvation.
     Thinking about that reminds me about a book I just read in which spontaneous “open air” preaching is encouraged.  Are we private Christians, do we read our scriptures and do our teaching and preaching almost exclusively within the private confines of the church?  Maybe we have forgotten that Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners and how many sinners will hear us if we keep the good news to ourselves?




For Discussion:


1.     Discuss how to train ourselves to be godly.
2.     We talk so much about proper doctrine; don’t assume that everyone is on the same page as to their understanding of proper doctrine.
3.     One of the reasons to consider the latter days Paul is referring to are yet to be or soon to be fulfilled is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where else?
4.     If you as I think that these instructions apply to all of us and not just those in a position such as Timothy had, discuss this.
5.     I brought up the public nature of Paul’s advice, what evangelistic efforts is your church involved in?  Get involved in them or if there are none, do something about that.
6.     Timothy, according to Paul, was brought up in the truths of the faith and in good teaching.  What is your church teaching?
7.     “Watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
8.      Thanks for stopping by, I pray this ministry makes some difference in your life.  Drop me a line if you are so inclined: Jed@workofthegospel.com


3-27-11:   Compassionate Service (Worship Inspires Service) 1 Timothy 5:1-8, 17-22
4-03-11:   Remember Jesus Christ 2 Timothy 2:8-19
4-10-11:   Praise Builds Us Up (Remember the Warnings) Jude 17-25
4-17-11:   Hosanna! (Praise the Lord) Mark 11:1-11










Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.







Friday, March 4, 2011

Leadership Qualities (Qualifications of Worship Leaders), 1 Timothy 3; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 3-13-11


ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, Leadership Qualities aka Qualifications of Worship Leaders, on 1 Timothy 3 for the 3-13-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 3-06-11 lesson, Instructions about Worship aka Worship Guidelines, directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




Leadership Qualities
or
Qualifications of Worship Leaders
1 Timothy 3
International Sunday School Lesson
March 13, 2011


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough






I pray that we haven’t lost too many after the more difficult lesson commentary from this past week and together we can enjoy all the scriptures that God has so generously blessed us with!

I recently had to choose a passage and answer three questions about it.   I chose today’s passage since I knew we would be gathering together to discuss it.  Here are the questions:


1.      What was the author’s intent of this text?
2.      Why does God have this passage in the Bible?
3.      How can I apply the passage to my life?



Other passages may have been a bit more difficult in some aspects but as we know this passage carries a wee bit of stress to make up for those.  The thing I liked was that I didn’t have to stew about incorrectly interpreting these verses as one might with some difficult prophecy had I gone that route.  Paul made it very easy really because he not only answers the first question in the latter portion of the passage but in fact the same answer can apply to all the questions.

In verse 14a-15, Paul gives us the answer that we are looking for, “I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

Those instructions beginning with the very first verse and continuing on to the end are, to answer the question number 2 above, why God has them in the Bible so we know how we are to conduct the church.  He doesn’t want us to wing it.  He doesn’t want us to guess who qualifies or not.  Can we choose to ignore these instructions?  Many do!

Question number 3 asked, “How can you apply it to your life?”  How can you?  Well you can, if you aspire to one of these positions or if you are deciding if someone qualifies for one of these positions by very simply creating a check-off sheet and marking qualify or does not qualify.

If the answers are all in the positive, and the position is taken, you know that you stand with what was given to us as outlined for the church, the pillar and foundation of truth.  But if you cannot answer in the affirmative you are contrary to the instructions given and therefore contrary to truth!  To point this out to those in disagreement with this is unpleasant for me, but to not do so would be dishonest.

If we revisited the passage and the three questions how could we answer them differently?


1.      What was the author’s intent of this text?  We could say that when Paul said he was writing these instructions concerning how to conduct the household that was the church, what he really meant to say was…..
2.      In this question, “Why does God have this passage in the Bible?” we could say, “He just meant it as a suggestion.”
3.      We could answer, “How can I apply the passage to my life?” as, “however I want.”


We could then decide that those who have been divorced and remarried multiple times, the intemperate, those without self-control, the disrespectable, the inhospitable, those who cannot teach, the drunken, the violent, the argumentative, the insincere, the dishonest, those with disrespectful children, the newly converted and those with bad reputations all qualify!

I do not doubt anyone’s love for God.  I do not doubt anyone’s desire to serve.  I do not doubt that many take on things because others don’t.  Nor do I doubt that God could have anticipated it if it were necessary to change His instructions and that He would have told us.


For Discussion:


1.     Again this week, it is very important that our discourse in this matter is done in a loving and uplifting manner.
2.     If many are serving in roles that do not meet the Biblical qualifications because others are not, what will you do about it?
3.     There are interchangeable words for the position described beginning with verse 1 to include: overseer, elder, shepherd, pastor.
4.     Have you or has someone you know ignored their calling to these positions?  Don’t ignore this any longer.
5.     Discuss why qualifications matter for any position let alone those within the church.
6.     Suggest to your class that as a group project, each student invites 2 or more to join you in class.  You provide the names and the class mails the invitations.
7.     Don’t forget to bookmark or link to this site so you can find it again.
8.     Pray for and thank your Elders and Deacons.






Join me in the weeks ahead for the following International Sunday School Lessons:

3-20-11: Leadership Priorities (Prepare for Leadership) 1 Timothy 4:6-16
3-27-11: Compassionate Service (Worship Inspires Service) 1 Timothy 5:1-8, 17-22
4-3-11:   Remember Jesus Christ 2 Timothy 8:8-19











Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.