Another Word about Godliness

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Another Word about Godliness

November 10, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

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Godliness has been a constant theme throughout 1 Timothy. We are told that we must “discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7), and that “godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). Once again Paul raises the thought of godliness in the text before us today where he discusses a False Kind of Godliness and the Correct Kind of Godliness.

Paul's Final Charge!

December 1, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

This morning we will complete our series of studies in 1 Timothy. I trust it has been a beneficial study to you personally and to the life of our church as a whole. We do not want to lose sight of the key verse: “I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) A quick review is probably good to refresh our memory before we finish: We learned that … 1. We must stand against false teaching! (1:1-17) 2. We must fight the good fight of the faith! (1:120) 3. We must have men (and women) who pray! (2:8) 4. We must have women who dress modestly and receive teaching in submissiveness! (2:9-15) 5. We must have leaders who are spiritually qualified by God’s standards! (3:1-13) 6. We must hold fast to our common confession about Jesus Christ! (3:16) 7. We must remember that the latter times are going to be difficult! (4:1-7) 8. We must be disciplining ourselves unto godliness! (4:7-11; 6:3-10) 9. We must honor our widows! (5:1-16) 10. We must protect and care for our Elders! (5:17-25) 11. We must be the best employees that a boss has! (6:1-3) 12. We must be content with what we have! (6:6-11) This morning we return to two final “charges” that Paul gives: one to Timothy, one to the rich! Both are IMPORTANT! I. The Charge to Timothy: Vs. 13-16

A Charge to Christian Employees!

November 3, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

We now come to the final section of Paul’s letter to Timothy. Chapter 5 was focused upon giving “honor” to various groups of people: honor widows (5:3-16), honor Elders (5:17-25), in fact, for those who work hard at “preaching and teaching” were to get double-honor! But there is one more group that must be honored, namely, employers (masters) (6:1-2). They are to receive all “honor” from their employees (slaves)! I. A word about slavery in the Roman world. If we are going to understand what Paul writes here about slaves, we must see it in its historical perspective. Roman slavery bears little or no resemblance to America’s or England’s slavery! • Slavery was an integral social component of the Roman world. • Besides manual labor, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions such as teachers, accountants, and physicians. • A Roman slave could hold property that, despite the fact that it belonged to their master, they were allowed to use as if it were their own. • Skilled or educated slaves were allowed to earn their own money, which they used to buy their freedom. • A freed slave was allowed to become a Roman citizens and as a Roman citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom, including the right to vote.

A Solemn Charge

October 27, 2013 • Pastor Ron Finch

In our last message we looked at the Care and Protection of Elders from 1Timothy 5:17-19. This morning I pick up where we let off, and focus upon Paul's Solemn Charge that he gave to Timothy. It is interesting that the charge is given in the presence of God [the Father], Jesus Christ [the Son] and Angels! That, beloved, is a lot of witness! The things that he tells Timothy are to be maintained without bias, or partiality. What is it that he (and us) must do without the bias and partiality? Let's listen in on Paul's instruction to Timothy. He tells him three things: