New Testament Bible Study by John Stanko

1 Timothy Study 5

Dear Student of the Word,

I got home last night from my most recent trip to Africa and had a chance to finish this study on the long plane ride home.  This unit finishes our study in First Timothy and will be the last study I will send out in 2006.  We will begin again after the first of the year with a new study in the gospel of Mark.  I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas holiday and prosperous New Year as you continue to grow in the knowledge of God's word.

This week I wrote:

v. 17 -- Paul returned to the wealth and money themes by giving Timothy guidelines for wealthy believers.  Paul's counsel to the rich was that they avoid putting their trust in wealth.  Rather they were to put their hope in God.  When one trusts in something other than God, then that "thing" becomes an idol, and the Bible describes what happens to someone when they worship or rely on an idol:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them (Psalm 135:15-18 emphasis added).

Those who have an idol become like that idol.  That is why you must worship God, for you resemble what you worship.  If you worship God, you will become more like Him!  God gives us all things to enjoy but not to trust in.  When that happens, the creature worships another created being and that isn't worship, that's confusion and disorder!

So I return to a questions I've asked before:  Do you own your things or do your things own you?  Are you relating to God and your things in proper order?  Is God number one in your life or has your job, house, money, investments, relationships or reputation supplanted God in the top position?

You can write your comments to this entry or give my readers your own insights into Paul's letter to Timothy on the site where this is posted.  You can also go there to read through my other studies from Corinthians that I wrote this past year.  And don't forget my website, Monday Memo site and blog site if you are interested in keeping track of all my writings.  You can subscribe to any of those on the sites themselves.

Remember that the Bible study archives of 15 other New Testament studies can be found on my website along with The Faith Files, a study of every verse on faith in the New Testament.  You can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below or give a gift subscription by going to the site where these studies are posted every week.

Also, please remember PurposeQuest and the Stankos in your year-end giving.

Download this week's study:  Download 1_timothy_study_5.doc

1 Timothy Study 4

Dear Student of the Word,

I apologize that I didn't send you a study last week.  I was so busy in Zimbabwe and didn't have a chance to finish it in time.  I am sitting in the lobby of my hotel in Johannesburg and found some time tonight to send this out.  I hope you used last week to catch up on any past studies that you didn't have a chance to review.

Paul gave instructions to Timothy in this letter about a wide variety of subjects.  One of them was the treatment of leaders.  In one verse, he urged that leaders who fail should be rebuked publicly.  This is what I wrote about that verse:

v. 20 -- I have been in several churches where leaders failed miserably, but the people were never informed of the problem.  The excuse was that the people couldn't handle it and didn't need to know.  The thinking was that the people were spiritually immature, therefore they would stumble if they knew the truth.  Imagine that!  The leader had just fallen and the people were considered weak!  That is how authoritarian leadership can think.  The leaders are like the parents and the people are like the children and must be protected from problems that "grown ups" may have.

When I watched the movie The Passion of the Christ, I was reminded that the leaders had to take Jesus at night.  Why?  The people considered Him a prophet while the leaders considered Him dangerous. Who had the superior insight?  Then in Acts 4, we read about the situation after Peter and John had healed a lame man in the Temple area:

When they [the leaders] saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.  "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked.  "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.  But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name (Acts 4:13-17 emphasis added).

All the people knew a great thing had happened yet the leaders wanted to punish the apostles and stop them from doing any other miracles.  Who had the greater spiritual insight?  The people or the leaders?  Why do some of the body of Christ continue to treat their members like fools?  Because it perpetuates the notion that leaders are somehow more spiritual than the people.  The truth is that sometimes they are and sometimes they are not.

Feel free to add your comments or insights to this study at the end of this post on the site where it is located. 

Remember that the Bible study archives of 15 other New Testament studies can be found on my website along with The Faith Files, a study of every verse on faith in the New Testament.  You can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below or give a gift subscription by going to the site where these studies are posted every week.

Download this week's study: Download 1_timothy_study_4.doc

 

 

1 Timothy Study 3

Dear Student of the Word,

As you receive this, I will be in  Europe on my way to southern Africa.  Before I left, however, I was able to finish and post this latest study for your edification.  I do hope you are enjoying these lessons drawn from Paul's letter to his son in the faith, Timothy. 

This week I wrote:

v. 7 – What Paul didn’t know was that wives’ tales and godless myths would sell books in the modern era.  Consider The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey.  That book has sold millions of copies and it is a myth!  The Left Behind series is a series of wives’ tales and has enriched Tim LaHaye to no end.  Yet Bible studies and other devotional material don’t sell well, according to publishers.

What have those books and others like them contributed to godly living?  What have they added to the knowledge of God or devotion to Christ?  Nothing!  That is why I am so passionate against them and their kind.  We are to help train people in godliness, not feed their mind useless information cloaked in seeming revelation.

 

My daughter has some friends who play professional American football.  They know how to train for what they do or else they will lose their position on the team.  The day after a game, when they are bruised and sore, they are required to come into the gym and work out!  They are training for football.  How are you training for godly living?  Are you as focused and committed as these professional players?  What are you reading that will help you focus?  What training sessions are you attending?  I’m not talking about where you attend Sunday service.  What else are you doing that is training you for godly living?

Feel free to add your comments or insights to this study at the end of this post on the site where it is located. 

Remember that the Bible study archives of 15 other New Testament studies can be found on my website along with The Faith Files, a study of every verse on faith in the New Testament.  You can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below or give a gift subscription by going to the site where these studies are posted every week.

Download this week's study:  Download 1_timothy_study_3.doc

1 Timothy Study 2

Dear Student of the Word,

It's time again for your weekly dose of the Word according to John Stanko!  I wrote this week that one lifetime isn't enough to study God's word.  I saw things this week as I wrote that I had never seen before.  That is the beauty of the Word and I love being its student.

Paul wrote Timothy about the role of women in the church in this letter and I am almost hesitant to address the issue.  But I must, so here is some of what I wrote this week: 

v. 11 – The NIV translates the word here “wives,” meaning that the wives of male deacons must be above reproach.  Other interpreters consider this word to mean women, which would indicate that deacons could be female.  I’m not sure what to think about that word, but I know what I think about women deacons.  I am in favor!  It would be inconceivable to me that a position of service in the church would be closed to a woman.  I think a better case can be made that a woman could not be in a position to govern (elder or bishop), but I even question that interpretation. 

In this verse, I have no problem seeing the meaning to be that the partner of one in ministry must also be a good example of godly living, holding to sound doctrine. 

I think the Church has severely hindered its ability to carry out its mission by only utilizing half of its gifts as represented in men.  Women should have more of a role in the church.  I know there are strong women who could tend to dominate and control, but I know a lot of men who have done and do the same thing.  The problem isn’t women, the problem is sin and it’s a problem that all people have.  We must develop systems and expectations that take into account the church is run by imperfect people.  Therefore the church will be imperfect.

Feel free to add your comments or insights to this study at the end of this post on the site where it is located. 

Remember that the Bible study archives of 15 other New Testament studies can be found on my website along with The Faith Files, a study of every verse on faith in the New Testament.  You can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below.  You can give a gift subscription by going to the site where these studies are posted every week.

Download this week's study:  Download 1_timothy_study_2.doc

1 Timothy Study 1

Dear Student of the Word,

After a two-week break, it's good to be back with you and to present this first study from Paul's first letter to Timothy.  I'm on the run today, but wanted to give you this preview of some of the things I wrote in this particular study.  If this is your first time receiving these studies, you can check out the past studies on the site where they are posted. This week I wrote:

v. 7 – Jesus knew His purpose and Paul knew his—to take the gospel to the Gentiles.  When Paul did that, God helped him and enabled him to succeed.  If Jesus knew His purpose and Paul knew his, don’t you think you should know yours? 

Paul made tents for a living, but the only way we know he did is because Luke mentioned it in Acts 18. I think it’s fascinating that Paul wrote 13 letters and never once mentioned his occupation.  In every letter, however, he mentioned his purpose of taking the gospel to the Gentile world.  Paul did not define himself according to what he did to make money; he defined himself according to his God-given purpose, which was clear to him. 

Who are you?  I didn’t ask what you do, I asked who you are?  My purpose is to create order out of chaos.  I am 56 years of age as I write this and I have never looked for a job in my life.  I never have to looking for chaos; chaos always comes looking for me.  Every job I’ve had has been the same:  I’m the first person in the position, I structure and order things to release its potential and then I move on to the next assignment.  It’s that simple.

I have many resources to help you clarify your purpose on both my website and my blog. I urge you to engage your own PurposeQuest if you haven’t already to discover and clarify what it is that God created you to do and be.  It's well worth the effort it often requires to know.

Remember that the Bible study archives of 15 other New Testament studies can be found on my website along with The Faith Files, a study of every verse on faith in the New Testament.  You can unsubscribe by clicking on the link below.  You can give a gift subscription by going to the site where these studies are posted every week.

Feel free to add your comments or insights to this study at the end of this post on the site where it is located. 

Download this week's study: Download 1_timothy_study_1.doc