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God's Plan, Your Part
Discover God's plan for your life with this daily Bible reading podcast.
Ryan and Jenny Zook lead a valuable daily devotional bible study with historical background, theology, and practical applications. This year we will be covering the whole New Testament, one chapter at a time.
This podcast brings the word of God to life. Whether starting from the first episode or just jumping in, this is an inspiring and enlightening way to deepen your understanding of scripture. We delve into a different passage daily and share how its teachings can impact your daily life. Start listening right now.
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God's Plan, Your Part
1 Timothy 1-6 | Requirements for Leadership, False Teachings and Women in the Church
Ready to engage with the Bible in a profound way? Buckle up as we embark on a revealing journey through the book of 1st Timothy! This episode promises a thought-provoking exploration of Paul's mentoring relationship with Timothy, his warnings against false teachings, and the controversial role of women in the church. We'll also unpack the importance of a changed life as evidence of faith, and the characteristics that define a good leader.
We'll unravel Paul's teachings in his letter to Timothy, navigate the significance of the law, and shed light on the crucial role of prayer in the church. As we dive deeper, we'll reveal the qualifications necessary for overseers and deacons, and the dangers of straying from the faith. We promise an enthralling discussion on the perils of pursuing wealth and the potential dangers of false teachings. Heed the call to focus your life on righteousness, faith, love, and gentleness. Join us, as we challenge you to protect the faith deposit and ward off false knowledge. Are you ready?
Chapter 1 of 1 Timothy begins with Paul, addressing Timothy and urging him to remain in Ephesus to counter false teachings that were corrupting the church's doctrines. He emphasizes the significance of love stemming from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, cautioning against those who misuse the law and the importance of its intended purpose.
Moving into Chapter 2, Paul encourages prayer for all people, delineating the roles of men and women in public worship, advising women to display modesty and learn with humility and full submission.
He proceeds in Chapter 3 to provide qualifications for overseers and deacons, emphasizing their requisite virtues and standards for leadership within the church.
Chapter 4 continues with Paul advising Timothy on the conduct and behaviors expected from various groups within the church, including widows, elders, and slaves, stressing the value of godliness, contentment, and highlighting the perils associated with the love of money.
Concluding the letter, Paul offers exhortations to Timothy, urging him to safeguard sound doctrine, combat false teachings, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness, reinforcing the essential virtues crucial for Christian living and leadership within the church.
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-Ryan and Jenny
Hi everyone and welcome to God's Plan, your Part, a podcast where our goal is to read the entire Bible in a year, seeking to understand God's plan of redemption while discovering daily and practically your part in it.
Speaker 2:Welcome back. Today we are in 1st Timothy. We're reading the whole thing. It's six chapters but it's not super long. The chapters are pretty short, but it is having us looking forward to a new format here in just a couple of weeks where we're going to be reading one chapter at a time. It will be a whole new world and we'll be able to look at these things a little bit more in depth. But today we're looking at the whole book of 1st Timothy and I feel like right after we finished reading it, Jenny was mind blown a little bit or something, Just really trying to come to terms with it.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess I've always heard about specific things that relate to who a pastor should be, who elders and leaders in church are supposed to be, what they should emulate, what they should look like, what their family should look like, yada, yada, and I've always heard those things. But it's also really cool to read it in context of the letter that Paul was writing and sent with Timothy. Right, it's like Timothy, like the kind of like go between.
Speaker 2:Timothy would be like Paul's protege. I don't know that we use that language very often, but Paul is in the process of mentoring Timothy, I think, to basically like take over a lot of his missionary endeavors. And so 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy and Titus Titus was another kind of protege Are really like how to minister's manuals for Timothy and Titus, like how to run a church, how to care for people.
Speaker 1:I think one thing that really stuck out. So, like I was saying back to pastors today, when we read through 1st Timothy, I was seeing a lot of those qualities coming up and through all throughout 1st Timothy it is really emphasizing the idea that there are many false teachers out there and Paul is really like coming for him. But his main concern is like 1. Stay clear of them and 2. If you decide that you're going to be a leader or like a pastor of a church, you really need to get your priorities straight, because when you shy away from the gospel and you become concerned with being rich or being famous or being well known over the gospel, that is a life that is not reflective of how the gospel has changed your life. You're like completely drawn away from and like basically chasing after your dreams and aspirations of being something and not allowing God to be reflected through your ministry.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of talk of like who is equipped for this. There's a couple of verses that call out like this this is not a job for someone who is new to the faith, just like anything. I don't know. When I think about my own line of work for educators, I am probably less excited for my child, if they were going to school, to be going into the classroom where there's a first year teacher versus the one who's been doing it for 25 years. So like those are the kinds of things that are like, oh okay, when you put it into that perspective it makes it a lot clearer. So just like other things too, like a man of one wife, a husband of one wife, those are things that I think we really don't like to talk about today. It's very uncomfortable conversation for most people in church work.
Speaker 2:I think actually what's interesting is certain circles of believers don't like to talk about these passages very much.
Speaker 2:And there is like to be fair. There are two different sides of this coin. People do try to use scholarship and interpretation and stuff I respect the people that do that to examine what these passages really mean. If we're still under the authority of these passages today, I myself have kind of gone through I don't know like a little bit of a evolution on this topic and it's not like probably not the best word to use, but my opinions and practice have changed somewhat over the years on how to handle these passages. What's interesting is, I have become more and more firmly believing that these passages mean what they say which is kind of interesting, Just like a general rule of thumb for biblical interpretation.
Speaker 2:a lot of times you want to look at just what it says and see if that makes sense. And if that doesn't make sense then you're free to use some kind of different tools and interpretations. It's kind of like a gross oversimplification, but I think what's interesting as we've been reading Paul's letters, paul is kind of famously like the faith alone, christ alone guy. Paul is the one who really figures out that we are saved by Christ through faith alone and not by works and this gets picked up and continues to be developed by the early church.
Speaker 2:They don't change it, they just define it better and help us understand it better. I think it's so interesting that Paul is classically known as the faith alone guy but he talks so much about how your life should be different. He constantly is talking about how your life should change. There should be evidence of that change and I think that's really evident in 1 Timothy. Jenny was kind of alluding to some of these passages. I think it would make sense to just kind of like peel out some of these.
Speaker 2:Probably some of the first controversial passages is probably chapter 2, verse starting in verse 8. Let women learn quietly. With all submissiveness, I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Controversial, obviously, because he's pulling out that there are differences between men and women in the church and women are not permitted to teach men in the church. He does not appeal to the culture at the time and he's not writing this to a specific city. He wrote this to the church in Corinth as well, but now he's training Timothy. The fact that this letter is to train Timothy is really interesting because essentially he's saying like hey, when you're training pastors and leaders, you need to know these things. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of wiggle room here.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, and it's really interesting, our Bibles say that specific phrase. I do not permit it says Paul writes with authority of an apostle. He does not simply offer an opinion, so this is not like how he feels or what he thinks. This is straight up what he believes about God's design for the church.
Speaker 2:And he appeals to Adam, which means he doesn't make a cultural case.
Speaker 2:He goes all the way back to creation and he says Adam was made first. Therefore men kind of carry the authority. And he builds on this case going through chapter 3. So chapter 3 spells out what it means to be an elder, an overseer, a leader. This was what we would understand to be a pastor. Churches that follow the word closely, they will have actual formal elders I think that is very wise and they'll also have deacons. I think that is very wise. I think a church governing body that reflects what the scripture says makes a lot of sense to me. It does say that he should be above reproach. That's like very little wiggle room A husband of one wife. That's required for an elder and also for a deacon.
Speaker 2:What's interesting and I had this really influential Bible college professor shout out, doc Ayers- who would say explain to me who could be a husband of one wife, and we'd like sit there and try to figure out what he meant. He'd say a man. There is some debate about one wife. What one wife means. The translated term is actually one woman man. So we believe this to mean that you cannot be a divorced person and there is some wiggle room there to be like if you are a divorced person, you must stay single. You're a one woman man. You're committed to that one woman. There is some wiggle room also on if your wife were to die. So it definitely means you must be committed to your wife. You can't be engaged in other relationships, whether that's physical, emotional, whatever that looks like. You must be committed to your wife in all circumstances because obviously you are supposed to be an example to be followed.
Speaker 1:So let me wrap up with chapters five and six, and I feel like there's just like general guidelines for the church throughout these two chapters and what I kind of have taken from it is that these are they're pretty explicit. It doesn't make you have to like read between the lines, and for me I think it's just it's very encouraging, like that Paul would have sent these letters to give them guidelines as to what a church should look like. If you have questions about what should be done or who should be doing what, it's very well laid out, and I think sometimes it's really easy for us today to kind of just like make up our own rules and what we should be doing because it doesn't fit what's comfortable or convenient, and I just really appreciate. I'm a very black and white person, so I really like that it's just laid out very plainly in these chapters, which is it's very good for me.
Speaker 2:I think it's a great thing to call out because this is essentially and not to just repeat what you said but like we've gone through periods of looking for a church. I'm sure many of you have gone through periods of looking for a church and sometimes it can be confusing. Like what should we be looking for? And certainly the way that we do things, in kind of our consumeristic nature, is not great. Like you don't look for a church because you like the coffee or like the children's ministry is easy. Like you should look for churches that reflect what scripture says churches should be. And when you find churches that aren't like what scripture says they should be, then you shouldn't be a part of them. And it is interesting how scripture is actually quite clear and I think a lot of people aren't aware that scripture is so clear because they haven't been taught and they haven't read the word. So this is one of the fringe benefits of actually walking through the whole.
Speaker 2:Bible, you become more aware of what's instructed, and these are. These are great texts. Tomorrow we're going to be reading Titus. That's a similar text. Like I said earlier, second Timothy is a great text as well. Just to kind of work through like what? What should we be looking for when we commit to a body of believers, so that we're not just willy-nilly doing this and we're not like on a shopping spree?
Speaker 1:And I would say overall, probably like a year apart, for today's episode is like just to kind of like take comfort and solace in knowing that God has set up Paul through this letter Like this, this one little tiny piece of Paul's ministry to direct the future of churches, and like to give direction of who should be doing what, how church should function. And to me, like I said earlier, that's like a huge comfort to me. So, just if there are questions that you are uncertain of of, like what the Bible says about church, this is a great place to go and just like see what God's word says about it, because there I think there's so many opinions out there, there's so many things that that people want to say church is or who should be doing what, and oh, it doesn't matter. But when you come to God's word, it's like it's really comforting to me to know that God has laid it out explicitly in Paul's letter and I think we can, we can go there for for reference and comfort in his word.
Speaker 2:Side note extra credit your part. If you're not involved in a church, you should be. We strongly encourage you to be committed to a local body of believers. I know right now it's. It's easy to watch online. It's easy, to you know, listen to sermons or something and feel like you're connected when you're not. We have had periods of that ourselves. And it's really, really not healthy and it's really not recommended. So we encourage you to find a local body of believers that teach the word and reflects these past and are committed to it like they do what it says.
Speaker 2:So with that you look at that, you get to your parts. How fantastic is that? You get a whole, a whole book of scripture Fantastic. We'll be back again tomorrow. We'll see you then. Thanks so much for listening to God's plan. Your part, don't forget, it is always more important that you listen to God's words rather than our words. So please stick around to hear the reading for the day, or go and find it in the Bible and read it yourself. If you are enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating and write a review on whatever platform you are using to listen to us.
Speaker 2:Now that we have all that out of the way, here is the reading for today 1 Timothy, chapter 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by command of God, our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope, to Timothy, my true child, in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God. That is truth. The aim of our charge is love the issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away in deveined discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good If one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.
Speaker 2:In accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted, I thank Him who has given me strength, christ Jesus, our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to His service, though formally I was a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost, jesus Christ might display His perfect patience, as an example to those who want to believe in Him for eternal life.
Speaker 2:To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith in a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made a shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hamanius and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan. That they may learn not to blaspheme.
Speaker 1:Chapter 2. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people, For kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth, For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this. I was appointed a preacher and an apostle I am telling the truth, I am not lying a teacher of the Gentiles and faith.
Speaker 1:In truth, I desire that in every place, the men should pray, lifting holy hands, without anger or quarreling. Likewise, also, that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. Let a woman learn quietly, with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over man. Rather, she is to remain quiet, For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived. But the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.
Speaker 2:Chapter 3. The saying is trustworthy If anyone aspires the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert or he may become pumped up with conceit and fall into condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Speaker 2:Deacons likewise, must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well, For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in their faith, that is, in Christ Jesus. I hope to come to you soon, but 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 truth. 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.
Speaker 1:Chapter 4. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth, For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ. Being trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed 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.
Speaker 1:The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, for to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the counsel of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, Immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Speaker 2:Chapter 5. Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, encouraging men as brothers. Older women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity. Honor widows who are truly widows. But 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. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband and having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted and has devoted herself to every good work. But refused to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers going about from house to house, and not only idlers but also gossips and busybodies saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households and give the adversary no occasion for slander, for some have already strayed after Satan.
Speaker 2:If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened so that it may care for those who are truly widows. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching, for the Scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Speaker 2:As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear In the presence of God, in Christ Jesus and on the elect angels. I charge you to keep those rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.
Speaker 1:Chapter 6 Let all who are under a yoke of bond-servance regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who are believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better, since those who benefit from their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things.
Speaker 1:If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings, that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil, suspicions and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and depraved of the truth, imagining that godliness is means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, o man of God, flee these things.
Speaker 1:Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you, in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ who, in his testimony before Pontius Pilate, made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time, he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion, amen.
Speaker 1:As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of what is truly life. Oh Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it, some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
Speaker 2:Amen.
