EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

Timeless Truth: We are to be known by our Good works (2:10) 

I have been pondering this whole idea of the church as an example to the world and I can’t help but see how much 1 Timothy represents the modern western church. Paul was concerned about these individuals who were in the church who sought godliness for personal gain. The issue was lack of leadership that had a clear understanding of the Gospel.

The picture is so vivid, the Gnostic teaching is being birthed, different people have different ideas, typically for some personal gain, and the church is being bombarded in the midst of all of this. Paul, continually calls Timothy back to the gospel as the source for truth. What is knowledge, I live in a world that tells me knowledge and truth are defined by what I feel. It doesn’t take long for that theory to play out in a not so healthy way. Christianity is called to be an example to the world not part of the world.

Thankfully we join Timothy on this same journey, and can be encouraged and exhorted through the advice of Paul.

The challenge for me came in the form of two questions:

How do I make a difference? And How do I live this spotless walk?

To make a difference I begin by living my life the way I should, setting an example in “speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” I am reminded of a quote by T.S. Eliot; “The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.” I cannot convince the world to believe in a savior I do not know and knowing comes through following.
How do I live this walk? By “putting these things into practice” and “devoting” myself to them. I spent 11 years of my life on a competitive swim team. I was in the pool more than I was at home. The boys I grew up with on the team are as close to me as my brother. During one High School season we would spend 4+ hours a day training, for 5 months out of the year, and typically swimming over 10,000 yards a day. When I stop and add all of this time up I realize one thing…If I don’t know how to swim after all of that, I am insane. Well thankfully I know how to swim and still can turn in some decent sprints.
This train of thought lead me to see that this Christian walk, which is to be an example for the world, happens just like my swimming career, one lap at a time.
My prayer is that God will make me bold in proclaiming the gospel, and that he will give me the strength to daily get in the pool and swim.  

Sound doctrine vs. false doctrine is probably the biggest theme in this book. It says in 1^st Timothy 1:18-20 on giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophesies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience. It also says in 1^st Timothy 4:1-5 the spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and team and demand abstinence from foods, which 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, provided it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by Gods word and by prayer. We need to do everything in the obedience to God. What I mean is that we need to not do stuff that will glorify the devil, but we need to do stuff to glorify God & in obedience to God. Do what he says, tell him, not my will be done but yours be done in me. I also think that we need to embrace the truth, get deeper into it, so that we can go out, and preach the word of God to those who need it.

Throughout the period of my life, I have gone in and out of exercising. I was in great shape in high school because I played a lot of soccer and basketball. It has become harder when I don’t play sports anymore. I haven’t worked out in about month and it has made me not feel good. I have been feeling lazier, low on energy, tired faster, and disgusted that I am probably gaining weight.

  

1 Timothy has put a desire in me to exercise on a constant basis. Physically training our bodies in exercise is a lot like training ourselves Spiritually. I am saved because of the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, so now what am I going to do about it? How will I now live my life? Ok, so I know that exercise is good for my body but what am I going to do about it? Am I going to exercise? I don’t want to keep going in and out of physically exercising where it is not a constant lifestyle of mine. I want it to be the same for Spiritual training. Not legalistically, but lovingly I want to constantly be in contact with our Father. It takes effort on my part to want to spend time with him, not because I have to but because I want to. I want to be in the presence of my loving creator by reading his true words, talking to him, listening to him, talking to others about him, fellowshipping with others etc. This is living in Truth! When I stop physically exercising, I start physically feeling horrible and when I stop Spiritually training, I feel Spiritually horrible, forgetting who I am and I forgetting who God is. This is life here on earth but my hope is in the eternal life after this one, life spent in constant contact with out Father forever!

  

1 Timothy 4:7-8 “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

1 Timothy has shown me true truth. To allow myself to be set free from the dark, which would be things i struggle with, things i don’t want to deal, chains that tie me down. The truth is that the gospel is real and changes lives.

Truth can be defined as a since of real, ideal, genuine ( this is our God), a declare the God fulfills the meaning of His name; He is “very God” its a distinction from all other gods (false gods). To know God is to know truth. If you apply truth into your life this leads to a godliness only found in truth. God is truth. He uses us in others lives to tell this truth and for others to that to us. our gifts and talents are for telling the world the truth…the gospel of Christ! I must allow it to be spoken into my life first, allowing that truth to be light in a dark place and my life(my actions) represent the truth that lives within me. The world is dark because they don’t know truth. Giving our lives to Christ and pursuing truth at every corner.

Overall timeless truth: (1:3) When teaching the sound doctrine of the gospel (grace through faith) aim to teach in love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.
          Paul wanted Timothy to teach The Truth of The Gospel to the Ephesians. God wants me to teach The Truth of The Gospel to the people around me. I want to change my life by presenting the truth of Jesus in love through a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. To have a pure heart I must confess. To have a good conscience I must confess and fill my life with pure things. I want to have sincere faith by reading the word, meditating on what it says, and knowing the ins and outs of what I believe. Really feeling in my heart the saving power of Jesus Christ. I can change my life by committing my plans to the Lord, and my heart. I want to bask in the glorious riches he has to offer so I can be firm and grounded in the rock of Christ Jesus.
       To carry out these changes of presenting the truth from a sincere faith and pure heart, I must cleanse myself, repent, and diligently seek the Holy Spirit to keep me on the correct path. I want to be a vessel for the Lord. I never want to be responsible for a non-truth doctrine to surface. I will carry out these changes by asking for accountability in the way I treat others and the way I think about myself. Because I believe those will infiltrate into the way I present truth. Also not even formally presenting truth but that my life would exude truth from every inch. I can chose to carry out the change to be a good example by the power of the Holy Spirit winning battles against the flesh that wants to be a poor witness for Christ. Ultimately my heart is attached to Jesus. He wants the best for me and will help me be all that I can for Him, when I make an effort to show Him I care enough to try in loving response. 

so the book itself really didnt have all that much to do with it, but i did come through the book feeling much more accomplished than usual. the book reminded me that Christ was flesh and bones just like me, and lived a life displaying and defending the truth, and so i should strive to live the same way.

Contentment seems to be something that God is really working on me with. I am very goal oriented so when I feel like I am not completing goals I feel very unproductive. The devil uses this against me taunting me that being up here is a waste of time and not completing any true goal in my life, which is a lie! I did have a goal to study the Word of God before I settled down into a career. God is helping me to be content up here in the mountains taking this time out to study his word. I love to travel and have adventures, so being up here seems dull to me at times. Just this week I have felt really happy to be up here. God has opened my eyes to the beauty of the country. We have colors up here that I never get to see in Charleston. I am coming to like the peace and quiet rather than wish I was in a city. God is showing me how I want what I can’t have and then when I get it I will want something else. How can you enjoy the good things if you can’t even stop your brain long enough to really be content in the moment. I know that I will look back on my time here as some of the most uplifting community experiences of my life, and I want to feel that way right now. I want to be positive and grateful. I want to cherish every moment, every person, every class, and every book. Now I know in my head that this is impossible to do. So I have to ask God to help me be content everyday.

There are people all over the world who are desperately searching for truth. Looking in all places for what it is that will bring them fulfillment and answers to the questions in their minds. Questions about who they are and questions about this world and about life. People will go through almost anything to reach and find what they call truth. Some even claim that there is no absolute truth, that there is nothing in this world that is absolute for all people of all cultures.

            The one thing that is absolute is Jesus Christ. And there is nothing outside of him that will satisfy or fulfill my longing for truth and what is right and what is peace. He is truth and he is all things right and good and just in this world. And I will never be satisfied outside of him no matter where I search or how long I search or how desperately I search- he is the answer, he is the end to my searching. In him I have all I need! And when I was in unbelief and when I was searching outside of him, not even looking or knowing that it is him I was searching for, he found me. He called to me and he pursued me and he revealed his truth to me!

            And he is still calling and pursuing and revealing himself to me. And now my responsibility is to proclaim this truth to those who are just like I was, wondering and searching and desperately needing truth in their lives. I know the truth! And I am to be a pillar of Gods truth, displaying the truth in all that I do. And I am to be the bulwark of truth, its defender. My lifestyle should display and defend and proclaim the truth of Christ. The breath of truth is moving in my lungs. And I cannot hold it in anymore. The breath of truth is moving in my lungs and I cannot hold it in, I’m bursting at the seams, singing Spirit move and let me journey with you, To return this generation to God it’s maker and King. River flow to replenish dusty ground, to return this generation to God its maker and King!” (return worship, SBCC)

My eyes have been open more widely to poverty this week and the love of Christ has compelled me to want to give. I have always been one to care about the injustice and poverty that goes on in the world. It is so difficult to know how to help sometimes though and it leaves me not being active in helping but only conscientious of wanting to help. Like Paul urging the Corinthians in chapters 8-9 to keep being eager to give, I want to keep being eager to give. Paul’s main objective in his journey’s was to spread the gospel but another important objective he had was to collect money for the poor in Jerusalem everywhere he went. It is a world relief effort seen in the New Testament. Pretty cool. Paul wants them to give not because they feel guilty or because he told them to but because they are compeled by the love of Christ to give. Christ is the ultimate example of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:9 “You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”

I have become passionate about giving because of this and my perspective flame has grown brighter. I do not want this flame to die out and not have actively done anything, which is a tendency of mine. My prayer is that I will attack this issue and not just wait for organizations to put the opportunity in my lap. I want to be proactive in making a difference but at the same time I don’t want my heart to not be in it sincerely. When I give, I don’t want it to become a legalistic, routine act but a compassionate and cheerful one. I pray the Holy Spirit directs me in how to give and that I obey his direction.

I think 2 Corinthians has been a good book for me, since the main idea is that in our weakness God shows his power. Sometimes I feel really weak, like I could never do anything for God and his kingdom, like I don’t have the power. But this book has really shown me that God is the one with the power, not me. It’s almost a relief that I don’t need to worry about what can I do, it’s obvious now that it is what God can do through me. Paul says that he rejoices in his weaknesses, because through his weaknesses it shows God’s power. Paul couldn’t have done all the things he did with out the Holy Spirit, so it makes what he did even more amazing. This book has really showed me that I need to let go about impressing others with ‘look what I did’ thinking, but I need to show, look what God did.

Godly grief, how does one ever get godly grief? I desire godly grief in my life, I desire to live a life changed by the gospel. I have spent too many years living in changed appearances for the sake of pleasing men. But how do I live a changed life. Godly grief requires two things… to know God and to know the sinner. I was challenged when I finished this Epistle, because I realized the biggest issue in the lives of the Corinthian believers was the fact that they were questioning whether Paul really spoke for God. Which means they were debating about what god to follow; self or the living God that Paul represents. The Super Apostles presented a god of self, one that holds tightly to comfort and self-exaltation. It’s a prideful arrogant bunch that cares much more about what people thing than what God thinks.

This brings me back to the beginning of my quest. How do I live a changed life through godly grief over my sin? I realize that this is the same battle happening in my life. I question God’s goodness and greatness every day. I choose to live a life that puts myself first and not others. It becomes so frustrating because I want to understand how to be different, but I do have not been able to grasp it up until this point. Therefore the first step is to understand that this is a battle.

The second step is to know God. In order to know what grieves God I need to know God. God reveals his character in three ways: the Scriptures, Jesus Christ, and the natural world.

The third step is to realize that I do not measure up on my own accord, and all sin stems from idolatry, believing that something else in life will be a better savior than Christ. My sin is a direct offense to God. It is not personal, nor is it inter-personal. The thing to understand is that my sin does in fact offend God.

By understanding who I am and who God is I begin to grasp the reality of godly grief.     

Paul hit different topics to the Corinthians. I hope that after this letter they finally grasped what Paul was getting at…Paul does love them and Christ wants their hearts more than ever.  The need to cling to the gospel laid before us is more clear to me. God wants us to carry his message to the world. To give all that we are given to whoever needs it. To give whatever to show that Christ dwells in me…gosh, Christ wants our hearts! The changes within us should produces changes in our lifestyles. The way we think about money, ourselves, others, or whatever the case may be. Thank you Jesus for grace when we do fail to represent you, that should make us stronger when we repent. Daily lay down my life, surrender all to him who requires my heart and my life. And i should want this, not to live selfishly for my gain, but only to live so that the glory of Christ is shown to all.

…Ambassadors of Christ…

Gods strength is shown in my weakness. My mentality as an American is to have the nicest and flashiest things. I am always wanting the newest and the nicest possessions. To some believers, their reasoning is that God wants us to have these things and when we obtain them it shows his ‘favor’ in our lives. When we have these fancy, nice things and we boast about them, that is not showing Gods power, it is showing our own power and selfishness. But when we are stripped down and we are weak, He is able to show up in our lives with power and strength.

            Please do not hear me saying that it is not ok to have nice things or have money, that is not at all where I am. What I have realized is that it is my heart attitude in what I do have. Whether I have little or a lot, am I allowing God to show his power and strength in my life? Am I giving out of my abundance or out of my need? Because that is what I have been called to do. In a lot and in a little, am I holding onto my possessions with fists tightly closed, or am I holding my hands open for God to use whatever I have for his glory. My heart is that God would be seen in my life. Even in my weakness, that his power and strength would shine through.

            We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. It is not about what I look like or what I say or how I say it, it is about Gods extraordinary power shinning through my mess to show his glory!

            Therefore I am content with weaknesses for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong!

Overall timeless truth: (2 Corinthians 12:9) We can boast all the more in our weakness so that the power of Christ will dwell within us, because His power is made perfect in our weakness.

I am so weak. I discover each day how weak I really am. The hope I have gathered from Paul’s fourth letter to the Corinthians (2nd Corinthians) is that God wants me to be weak. Not only does He wants me to be weak but He is made strong in my ability to recognize His power and my weakness. What a glorious maker to love me more when I am completely inadequate. I can change my life by choosing to come to Him on my knees boldly before the throne when I am struggling. Instead of turning inward in shame, I am run to the people who are wise in my life for Godly council to help me be weak before them and in Him. His power will shine through to heal me and reveal to me His sovereignty in my life to heal me, love me, and change me!

First I can choose to change but not putting my self in situations I have a choice about that I know for sure will cause me to be weak. I cannot go place (physically and mentally) that I know I am weak in thought, self-control, and heart. I will choose to avoid dangers situations. Also in my thoughts, actions, and life/body I will choose to be alert to situations that can cause me to be weak in situations the Lord is not glorified in. Not that He will not be powerful in my weakness then too but He for sure would prefer self-control as well. He defiantly wants to always be strong for me in my weakness. He will for sure comfort me in every affliction. He wants to hold me through the tough times. And he wants me to lay aside my pride, trying to be perfect all the time and do everything my self. I am so joyful and thankful His power is made perfect in my weakness. Hallelujah.

Father.
Hey! Thanks so much for revealing yourself to me on the pages of 2nd Corinthians. Thanks for unlocking to scriptures to make them real, alive, and applicable to me today! I love you so much. Praise your holy, wonderful, perfect, merciful name. I am nothing without you and everything with you. Thank you for your power in my weakness. Thank you for being the God of the universe. Who is my best friend. Thank you for the healing in my life. Thank you that my whole life I have had to be weak, but in me you have been strong to show Jesus to the world. Help my relish in your power and cling to you in my weakness and go to those who can help me work through my weakness. I do not want to be shameful in my weakness. I need you. I love you. Thank you.  In Jesus name, Amen,

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up

 
How do I discern whether my actions are in love or if they are done out of selfish gain? This question seems quite difficult at first glance, and it actually has many facets, but I believe the answer is closer than we think.

Ah, the Corinthian believers. There is a group of real winners. These people simply do not have a clue. They are caught up in fleshly living, quarreling, and whacked out uses of spiritual gifts. Heck some are so prideful they have even made the Lord’s Supper about themselves. They have gotten so bad that I almost wonder if they really are Christians. Paul has to writes a letter to explain their mess, and desires to help them grow past infancy in their walk. If they only could understand that in order to get to the meat of the Gospel they have to get past all this fighting and jealousy.

What they don’t realize is that this sword they yield is double-edged, and with every swath of the blade the pain that so wrongly destroys their brothers and sisters so subtly cuts into their own flesh. The reality, they are a body, designed to function together for a goal.

Do I ever find myself interacting like the Corinthians? The script may be different but the motives are the same. I am stuck in my selfishness. Left up to myself I will cause quarrels and dissention between myself and the rest of the body. Then what hope is there?

First, to understand that Sin is deceptive and the flesh loves to twist everything the Spirit is doing in our lives. I wanted to vilify the Corinthians, but I realize that I am in the same struggle. These are believers, just like the church today. The power source for change is the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of sins forgiven. The more I realize I have been forgiven so much, the more I forgive.  

The second step is to realize that if my actions do not build up others they probably are not done in love. This also could be stated if my inaction causes a brother or sister to stumble I am not living in love. How messed up I am.

My desire is to be intentional with my time here at the ESBS. I want to be a tool used by God for the building of his body and also his kingdom.