Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / 1 Timothy 1:12-20 - Paul's Awful Past
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hello and good morning friends and faithful listeners. My name
- 0:03Speaker 1: is Jen. I am the host of this podcast. Thank
- 0:05Speaker 1: you so much for tuning in as we discuss First
- 0:07Speaker 1: Timothy chapter one. All righty, grab your cup of coffee
- 0:18Speaker 1: or your cup of tea this morning, and also your
- 0:20Speaker 1: Bible out of the version that you prefer. We're going
- 0:22Speaker 1: to be finishing up First Timothy chapter one today talking
- 0:26Speaker 1: about this mission that Timothy is on and also how
- 0:29Speaker 1: Paul is trying to encourage Timothy by sharing his own story.
- 0:34Speaker 1: So we're going to get into Paul's testimony today, which
- 0:37Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to talking about because yes, probably many
- 0:41Speaker 1: people already know Paul's story, but we're going to go
- 0:45Speaker 1: more into depth with it today and talk about like
- 0:48Speaker 1: just how bad Paul really was before he met Jesus.
- 0:52Speaker 1: So let's read First Timothy one twelve through twenty. I'll
- 0:56Speaker 1: be reading from the web. I thank him who enabled me, Christ, Jesus,
- 1:01Speaker 1: our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service.
- 1:05Speaker 1: Although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent,
- 1:09Speaker 1: However I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
- 1:13Speaker 1: The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and
- 1:16Speaker 1: with love, which is in Christ Jesus. The saying is
- 1:19Speaker 1: faithful and worthy of all acceptance. That Christ Jesus came
- 1:22Speaker 1: into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However,
- 1:26Speaker 1: for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first
- 1:29Speaker 1: Jesus Christ might display all his patients for an example
- 1:32Speaker 1: of those who are going to believe in him for
- 1:34Speaker 1: eternal life. Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, to
- 1:38Speaker 1: God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever
- 1:42Speaker 1: and ever. Amen. I commit this instruction to you, my
- 1:46Speaker 1: child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to
- 1:49Speaker 1: you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
- 1:53Speaker 1: holding faith in a good conscience, which some, having thrust away,
- 1:56Speaker 1: made a shipwreck. Concerning the faith of whom our High
- 2:00Speaker 1: i'm Anas and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that
- 2:03Speaker 1: they might be taught not to blaspheme so quick recap
- 2:08Speaker 1: before we begin. This letter was written to Timothy, as
- 2:11Speaker 1: the name suggests, who was a young man and one
- 2:15Speaker 1: of Paul's companions who traveled around with Paul and essentially
- 2:20Speaker 1: was a disciple of Paul. So Timothy is now old
- 2:24Speaker 1: enough and wise enough in spiritual matters to be a
- 2:28Speaker 1: teacher in his own right. So Paul asks Timothy to
- 2:32Speaker 1: stay behind in Ephesus so that Timothy can kind of
- 2:36Speaker 1: counteract some of the problems that were going on in
- 2:39Speaker 1: Ephesus at the time. Specifically, Judaizers who were legalistic Jews
- 2:46Speaker 1: were coming into Ephesus and telling people that they weren't
- 2:49Speaker 1: holy enough even though they believed in Jesus, that was
- 2:52Speaker 1: not enough to get them into Heaven. They also had
- 2:54Speaker 1: to follow the Old Testament laws. So Paul leaves Timothy
- 2:58Speaker 1: behind in Ephesus so that Timothy can spread the Gospel
- 3:02Speaker 1: the way it is supposed to be spread without all
- 3:05Speaker 1: of this other confusing garbage coming into the church essentially.
- 3:09Speaker 1: But the problem was it kind of seems like Timothy
- 3:12Speaker 1: did not want to be there, even based upon this
- 3:15Speaker 1: first chapter, because Paul has to urge Timothy several times
- 3:21Speaker 1: to actually stay in Ephesus. And you can imagine, you know,
- 3:24Speaker 1: a young man by himself, presumably in Ephesus, would be
- 3:29Speaker 1: lonely and want to travel with Paul once again. You know,
- 3:32Speaker 1: Timothy had always traveled with Paul before and Paul being
- 3:35Speaker 1: on his fourth missionary journey probably sounded really appealing to Timothy,
- 3:40Speaker 1: who just knew that life. So there's some evidence he
- 3:44Speaker 1: didn't want to stay in Ephesus. He wanted to meet
- 3:47Speaker 1: up with Paul somewhere. But Paul says, no, Timothy, you
- 3:51Speaker 1: are needed in Ephesus. Even though you are young. You
- 3:55Speaker 1: know the Gospel. You can do this thing. And then
- 3:58Speaker 1: in verses twelve through seventeen, Paul talks about how evil
- 4:04Speaker 1: he used to be. And you might be like, why
- 4:07Speaker 1: does Paul go into this, like right here in this
- 4:09Speaker 1: letter to Timothy. Obviously Timothy already knows all of this well.
- 4:12Speaker 1: Paul wouldn't be writing it if there wasn't a specific
- 4:15Speaker 1: purpose for it. Don't forget Timothy probably didn't want to
- 4:19Speaker 1: be an Ephesis or felt unqualified to be there. Paul
- 4:23Speaker 1: goes into how bad he used to be to ease
- 4:26Speaker 1: Timothy's fears about unqualifications, because if anybody was unqualified, it
- 4:34Speaker 1: was Paul before he met Jesus. Verse twelve, I thank
- 4:39Speaker 1: him who enabled me Christ, Jesus, our Lord, because he
- 4:42Speaker 1: counted me faithful, appointing me to service. That verse is
- 4:47Speaker 1: actually really convicting to me because I've never once thanked
- 4:52Speaker 1: God for counting me faithful and appointing me to service.
- 4:58Speaker 1: Not once I've thanked Him for like bla things he's
- 5:00Speaker 1: given me. But I've never told God, Hey, God, I
- 5:03Speaker 1: am so thankful over the fact that you have given
- 5:06Speaker 1: me jobs to do at church. I am so thankful
- 5:11Speaker 1: that you've given me service to do that benefits other people.
- 5:15Speaker 1: I've never once, I don't think, said those words to God.
- 5:20Speaker 1: And yet that is why Paul is thankful to God.
- 5:23Speaker 1: And you know, don't forget, Paul was not a rich man.
- 5:26Speaker 1: He was not one that we would look at as
- 5:28Speaker 1: being particularly blessed earthly wise, like, he didn't have a
- 5:33Speaker 1: home that we know of. He was in prison multiple times,
- 5:37Speaker 1: he got beaten on several occasions, stoned on one particular occasion,
- 5:42Speaker 1: shipwrecked on a few occasions, bitten by snakes like. When
- 5:45Speaker 1: we look at Paul's life, we do not think of
- 5:47Speaker 1: him as being somebody blessed by God. We think of
- 5:51Speaker 1: him as a suffering servant in a sense. And yet
- 5:56Speaker 1: Paul was thankful to be a suffering servant. He says,
- 6:01Speaker 1: I am thankful to God because he counted me faithful
- 6:05Speaker 1: somebody as awful as me, He counted me faithful and
- 6:09Speaker 1: appointed me to this service. Although I used to be
- 6:12Speaker 1: a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent verse thirteen. However I
- 6:18Speaker 1: obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. In fact,
- 6:23Speaker 1: let's go back to Paul's story for those of you
- 6:25Speaker 1: who need a refresh. Before Paul knew Jesus, he used
- 6:29Speaker 1: to persecute Christians so badly he would send them to
- 6:33Speaker 1: their deaths. He was likely part of the Sanhedrin, which
- 6:37Speaker 1: was a Jewish court official who was able to cast
- 6:41Speaker 1: votes based upon whatever trial was being heard, and Paul,
- 6:45Speaker 1: who hated Christians, would cast his vote for them to die.
- 6:50Speaker 1: Every single time one of them came into his courtroom.
- 6:54Speaker 1: He would go and find Christians. He would drag them
- 6:57Speaker 1: out of their houses in handcuffs, men, women, and children,
- 7:02Speaker 1: bring them to the Jewish court and cast his vote
- 7:06Speaker 1: for them to be put to death. This is how
- 7:08Speaker 1: much he hated Christians, and not only that, he used
- 7:11Speaker 1: to try to force people to denounce the name of Jesus.
- 7:16Speaker 1: So let's rate Acts twenty six nine through eleven. This
- 7:20Speaker 1: is Paul talking to King Agrippa and he's telling his
- 7:25Speaker 1: story to King Agrippa. Like his testimony, starting in verse
- 7:29Speaker 1: nine of Acts twenty six, Paul says, I myself most
- 7:33Speaker 1: certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary
- 7:35Speaker 1: to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. I also did
- 7:38Speaker 1: this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the
- 7:41Speaker 1: saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests,
- 7:45Speaker 1: and when they were put to death, I gave my
- 7:47Speaker 1: vote against them, punishing them often in all the synagogues.
- 7:51Speaker 1: I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them.
- 7:55Speaker 1: I persecuted them even to foreign cities. There it says
- 8:00Speaker 1: that Paul not only cast his vote against them, dragged
- 8:03Speaker 1: them to prison, and punished them in the synagogues, but
- 8:07Speaker 1: he also tried to make them blaspheme the name of
- 8:09Speaker 1: Jesus in verse eleven. And presumably if they didn't blasphem
- 8:14Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, he would throw them in prison
- 8:18Speaker 1: or try to get them killed. That is the hardest
- 8:20Speaker 1: part of persecution, and also the one thing persecutors always
- 8:25Speaker 1: try to make Christians do is to blaspheme the name
- 8:28Speaker 1: of Jesus, and to get Christians to stop worshiping Jesus,
- 8:33Speaker 1: and if they don't do it, they'll persecute them even
- 8:36Speaker 1: more and kill them. In fact, I've done some of
- 8:38Speaker 1: my own personal research into Japanese history, specifically with Christians,
- 8:43Speaker 1: because for some reason the topic interests me a lot
- 8:46Speaker 1: and Japanese people back several hundred years ago during the
- 8:52Speaker 1: Edo period. I believe they used to persecute Christians so
- 8:56Speaker 1: badly that every single year there was like this festivity
- 9:02Speaker 1: where every person in these various villages would have to
- 9:05Speaker 1: come to the city center and step on like a
- 9:09Speaker 1: little picture of Jesus and the Virgin Mother. And if
- 9:13Speaker 1: they refused to step on those pictures, they would do
- 9:19Speaker 1: all sorts of terrible torture to these Christians. They would
- 9:23Speaker 1: like hang them upside down in like toilets, like things
- 9:28Speaker 1: of dung, They would rip off their fingernails, and all
- 9:31Speaker 1: sorts of really really nasty tortures that were done to
- 9:34Speaker 1: these Christians. But before the torture would take place, they
- 9:38Speaker 1: forced the Christians to blaspheme the name of Jesus by
- 9:42Speaker 1: stepping on a picture of him. And you can imagine,
- 9:45Speaker 1: you know, in Japan, these Christians who believe in Jesus
- 9:51Speaker 1: would either have to step on the picture and have
- 9:55Speaker 1: so much guilt over the fact that you are unable
- 9:59Speaker 1: to stand up for your faith, or you don't step
- 10:03Speaker 1: on the picture, get tortured to death and your family
- 10:07Speaker 1: is without a mother, father, or a child. So the
- 10:10Speaker 1: people who are persecuting these Christians trying to get them
- 10:12Speaker 1: to blasphem Jesus's name, are putting them in impossible situations
- 10:18Speaker 1: where they either are guilty for the rest of their lives,
- 10:21Speaker 1: possibly thinking that they are damned to hell because of it,
- 10:24Speaker 1: or they are tortured to death and their family is
- 10:28Speaker 1: without a provider. That is the two options that people
- 10:31Speaker 1: who persecute Christians always put them in, and that is
- 10:35Speaker 1: the same with Paul. He would force these Christians to
- 10:39Speaker 1: blaspheme the name of Jesus, and if they did not
- 10:42Speaker 1: blaspheme Jesus's name, he would either try to put them
- 10:46Speaker 1: to death or throw them into prison. Quite honestly, Paul
- 10:51Speaker 1: was a really crappy guy. Like before he met Jesus,
- 10:55Speaker 1: he was a crappy individual, but he understood this about himself,
- 10:59Speaker 1: which is why he says the chief of sinners. You know,
- 11:01Speaker 1: he felt guilt. I am sure every single day for
- 11:05Speaker 1: how he treated those Christians. But the reason he received
- 11:10Speaker 1: mercy is because he did it ignorantly in unbelief. Now
- 11:16Speaker 1: that's not to say that those past sins Paul did
- 11:20Speaker 1: just don't matter anymore, that oh yeah, God's just gonna
- 11:23Speaker 1: wink his eye at it because Paul is now saved.
- 11:26Speaker 1: Absolutely not, Paul will stand in front of God and
- 11:29Speaker 1: give an account of his life the same as every
- 11:31Speaker 1: other Christian has to do. Those sins they still matter.
- 11:38Speaker 1: But because Paul did it in complete ignorance and unbelief
- 11:43Speaker 1: of Jesus, God had mercy on Paul. Because think about
- 11:48Speaker 1: who Paul was. You know, he was a Pharisee above
- 11:50Speaker 1: all pharisees. He knew the Old Testament laws in and out.
- 11:55Speaker 1: He believed in God the Father. So when he hears
- 11:59Speaker 1: about these crist Christians coming in and worshiping this guy
- 12:02Speaker 1: named Jesus, who is God the Father's son, Paul thinks
- 12:08Speaker 1: of that as blasphemy against God the Father. So Paul's
- 12:12Speaker 1: going out in ignorance and unbelief of Jesus persecuting these Christians.
- 12:17Speaker 1: And as you all know, Paul went to Damascus to
- 12:20Speaker 1: try to kill and torture some more Christians. On the
- 12:25Speaker 1: way to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Paul with this blinding
- 12:29Speaker 1: bright light. Paul literally became blind from it. Paul fell
- 12:34Speaker 1: on his face, and Jesus said, why are you persecuting me? Paul?
- 12:38Speaker 1: Why are you doing it? And after that, Paul believed
- 12:41Speaker 1: in Jesus obviously, because how could you not if Jesus
- 12:45Speaker 1: is standing right before you and you're like literally blinded
- 12:48Speaker 1: from his presence. Which, yeah, Paul obviously got his eyesight
- 12:51Speaker 1: back after that. But the point is God showed mercy
- 12:56Speaker 1: to Paul because of his ignorance and unbelief. Now, people
- 13:01Speaker 1: who know the Gospel message and refuse to do it,
- 13:06Speaker 1: those people are not going to have the same mercy
- 13:09Speaker 1: from God because those people acted knowingly against God. They
- 13:14Speaker 1: were in rebellion against God. Paul was not exactly in
- 13:19Speaker 1: rebellion against God. Well, he was, but not in a
- 13:22Speaker 1: way that he understood. He thought he was doing something
- 13:25Speaker 1: for God the Father by going and killing these Christians.
- 13:31Speaker 1: That's what he believed. So God showed him the right path.
- 13:34Speaker 1: But I am sure that until the day Paul died,
- 13:38Speaker 1: he had some guilt over the way he treated those Christians.
- 13:43Speaker 1: He probably thought about it every day of his life,
- 13:46Speaker 1: because he says right here in verse fifteen, the saying
- 13:50Speaker 1: is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus
- 13:53Speaker 1: came into the world to save sinners, of whom I
- 13:57Speaker 1: am chief. People might say that they are the chief
- 14:02Speaker 1: of sinners, and there's like a false humility there. Paul
- 14:07Speaker 1: did not have a false humility when he said this.
- 14:11Speaker 1: I think he truly believed he was the chief of
- 14:13Speaker 1: sinners because he actually was a murderer and forced people
- 14:18Speaker 1: to blaspheme and destroyed families and put innocent people into prison.
- 14:23Speaker 1: He did all of those things. And it wasn't just
- 14:25Speaker 1: for a short period of time either, like he did
- 14:28Speaker 1: this for months and months and months before coming to
- 14:31Speaker 1: know Jesus. So when Paul says he's the chief of sinners,
- 14:35Speaker 1: he's not having false humility. He's not making it up.
- 14:38Speaker 1: He believes it and he knows it. He says, however,
- 14:42Speaker 1: for this cause, I obtained mercy that in me first,
- 14:46Speaker 1: Jesus Christ might display his patience for an example of
- 14:50Speaker 1: those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.
- 14:54Speaker 1: This is why Paul is thankful to God for God
- 14:57Speaker 1: appointing him to service and counting him faithful because God
- 15:01Speaker 1: gave him a second chance. God showed him the light
- 15:07Speaker 1: in spite of how terrible Paul had been in his
- 15:12Speaker 1: life before Jesus, and he says, God did this for
- 15:17Speaker 1: the benefit of everybody who would hear the gospel message
- 15:21Speaker 1: from me, because I'm an example of Jesus Christ's patience
- 15:27Speaker 1: for everyone who will eventually believe in Jesus. I'm sure
- 15:31Speaker 1: there are people back in Paul's day who believed that
- 15:34Speaker 1: they were too far gone, that God just could not
- 15:37Speaker 1: accept them because they had done something too terrible. Paul's like,
- 15:42Speaker 1: you are not too far gone, because here is where
- 15:45Speaker 1: I was. And going back to Timothy's very possible insecurity
- 15:53Speaker 1: of being alone in Ephesus teaching people who are older
- 15:58Speaker 1: than him, says Timothy, if God appointed me the chief
- 16:05Speaker 1: of sinners worthy to preach the gospel, then you'll do
- 16:10Speaker 1: just fine. You're gonna do just fine. And right after
- 16:17Speaker 1: this in verse seventeen, when he thinks about God's amazing
- 16:21Speaker 1: mercy to him. Now, to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible,
- 16:26Speaker 1: to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory
- 16:29Speaker 1: forever and ever, amen. Now, Paul's kind of throwing some
- 16:33Speaker 1: shade on some Greek gods right here when he says this,
- 16:39Speaker 1: because the Greek goddess Artemis was considered to be the eternal,
- 16:45Speaker 1: immortal invisible, and so Paul is throwing some shade on
- 16:49Speaker 1: Artemis by calling God alone the eternal, immortal and invisible,
- 16:56Speaker 1: which that would have been considered very in taller rent
- 17:00Speaker 1: actually in Greek culture to say that there is only
- 17:03Speaker 1: one God, which is what Paul says here. God alone
- 17:07Speaker 1: is wise. In other words, God alone is God. There
- 17:12Speaker 1: was tolerance in Greek culture for saying that one God
- 17:14Speaker 1: was more powerful than another god. But if you were
- 17:17Speaker 1: to say no, there is only one God, Greek people
- 17:20Speaker 1: were actually very irritated by that. But Paul doesn't care,
- 17:25Speaker 1: and so with this phrase he essentially throws shade on
- 17:29Speaker 1: Artemis and pretty much every other Greek god that exists. Then,
- 17:33Speaker 1: in Verses eighteen through twenty, in conclusion of this chapter,
- 17:38Speaker 1: Paul says, I commit this instruction to you, my child Timothy,
- 17:41Speaker 1: according to the prophecies which were given to you before
- 17:44Speaker 1: that by them you may wage the good warfare. I
- 17:47Speaker 1: would say this entire chapter is summed up with encouraging
- 17:51Speaker 1: Timothy to keep going, to not give up, to not
- 17:55Speaker 1: feel insecure, but to be bold to spread the Gospel
- 17:59Speaker 1: to the city of Ephesus, And he kind of does
- 18:03Speaker 1: that even here in verse eighteen. He's like, remember the
- 18:06Speaker 1: prophecies that were given to you before. And we don't
- 18:09Speaker 1: know if Timothy was a prophet, he very well could
- 18:11Speaker 1: have been, and Paul's reminding him, like, Timothy, you're a
- 18:13Speaker 1: prophet who received prophecies from God, so live by them.
- 18:18Speaker 1: Remember what you were told. Or Paul could be referring
- 18:20Speaker 1: to the Old Testament prophecies that all of us have
- 18:23Speaker 1: been given, and that Paul trained Timothy in to know
- 18:28Speaker 1: them and to preach the Gospel to Jewish people who
- 18:31Speaker 1: also knew the prophecies and relate them back to Christ.
- 18:34Speaker 1: How Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies,
- 18:38Speaker 1: so he could be referring to that, or he could
- 18:40Speaker 1: be referring to prophecies that were given to Timothy by
- 18:44Speaker 1: somebody else, either by Paul or some other church member
- 18:49Speaker 1: that we don't even know about. So we're not sure
- 18:51Speaker 1: what prophecies Paul is referring to here. But Timothy would
- 18:55Speaker 1: have known what Paul is talking about here. He says,
- 18:58Speaker 1: hold faith and a good conscience, which some have thrust
- 19:01Speaker 1: away and made a shipwreck concerning the faith of whom
- 19:04Speaker 1: are Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that
- 19:08Speaker 1: they might be taught not to blaspheme. So this Hymenaeus
- 19:11Speaker 1: guy is also talked about in Two Timothy Chapter two.
- 19:16Speaker 1: Paul mentions his name again in verses sixteen through nineteen.
- 19:19Speaker 1: So here's what that says. Shun empty chatter, for it
- 19:23Speaker 1: will go further in ungodliness, and those words will consume
- 19:26Speaker 1: like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philadus, men who
- 19:31Speaker 1: have aired concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is
- 19:34Speaker 1: already passed, and overthrowing the faith of some. However, God's
- 19:38Speaker 1: firm foundation stands having this seal. The Lord knows who
- 19:43Speaker 1: are his and that everyone who names the name of
- 19:45Speaker 1: the Lord depart from unrighteousness. So the Simonaeus guy was
- 19:49Speaker 1: bad news. He was going around saying that the resurrection
- 19:52Speaker 1: of the dead had already happened. Not to mention, he
- 19:55Speaker 1: was confusing people, And Paul says, even over throwing the
- 20:00Speaker 1: faith of certain people, And in one Timothy one, Paul
- 20:05Speaker 1: considers that blaspheming. So if you're purposely going around trying
- 20:09Speaker 1: to get Christians to not believe in Jesus or spreading
- 20:15Speaker 1: ideology that gets people to question their faith, Paul considers
- 20:20Speaker 1: that blaspheming. So he says, I delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander
- 20:25Speaker 1: to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.
- 20:30Speaker 1: That's talking about ostracizing them from the church, which, interestingly enough,
- 20:34Speaker 1: we talked about church discipline on last Thursday's episode, So
- 20:38Speaker 1: let's read First Corinthians five one through five once again
- 20:41Speaker 1: and discuss what this says about church discipline. It is
- 20:45Speaker 1: actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and
- 20:48Speaker 1: such sexual immorality is not even named among the gentiles,
- 20:51Speaker 1: that one has his father's wife. You are arrogant and
- 20:54Speaker 1: didn't mourn instead that he who had done this deed
- 20:57Speaker 1: might be removed from among you. For I'm certainly, as
- 21:00Speaker 1: being absent in body but present in spirit, have already,
- 21:03Speaker 1: as though I were present, judged him who has done
- 21:06Speaker 1: this thing. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 21:09Speaker 1: When you are gathered together with my spirit, with the
- 21:11Speaker 1: power of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are to deliver
- 21:14Speaker 1: such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,
- 21:17Speaker 1: that the spirit might be saved in the day of
- 21:19Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus. So once again, this is talking about
- 21:22Speaker 1: this guy that was engaging in a sexual sin, and
- 21:25Speaker 1: he was a church member of the Corinthian Church. He
- 21:28Speaker 1: was engaging in a sexual sin, specifically with his stepmother.
- 21:32Speaker 1: And so Paul heard about this from a far away
- 21:35Speaker 1: distance and he's like, what the heck is happening in
- 21:37Speaker 1: corinth You know, I was just there. And so he
- 21:39Speaker 1: sends this letter to the Corinthians and he's like, why
- 21:42Speaker 1: are you celebrating this guy who is living with his stepmom?
- 21:48Speaker 1: Even the Gentiles don't engage in sexual sin like that.
- 21:52Speaker 1: He's like, you should be mourning this guy instead, and
- 21:55Speaker 1: you should enact church discipline on this person, because you
- 22:02Speaker 1: are to deliver such a one as Satan for the
- 22:04Speaker 1: destruction of the flesh. Now, when Paul talks about destruction
- 22:07Speaker 1: of the flesh, he's not talking about like our physical bodies.
- 22:10Speaker 1: He's talking about fleshly desires. When a person is ostracized
- 22:16Speaker 1: from the church, it is discipline on that individual so
- 22:21Speaker 1: that they eventually come back to Jesus. That is the
- 22:25Speaker 1: main reason church discipline should be done for the benefit
- 22:29Speaker 1: of the person being disciplined. There are so many times
- 22:33Speaker 1: in scripture where God talks about punishing his children and
- 22:37Speaker 1: how adversity leads to strength, And I mean, how many
- 22:41Speaker 1: times have you known about that? Personally? When you go
- 22:44Speaker 1: through adversity, does it not make you closer to God
- 22:48Speaker 1: because you realize your need for an almighty savior. Some
- 22:52Speaker 1: of you may have found this podcast because you were
- 22:54Speaker 1: going through something really dark and hard, and yet God
- 22:59Speaker 1: used that at adversity in your life to actually bring
- 23:04Speaker 1: you closer to Him. So God uses adversity for good
- 23:08Speaker 1: and the church is also supposed to do the same thing.
- 23:11Speaker 1: They are to discipline people who need discipline, specifically church members. Okay,
- 23:17Speaker 1: not just like average churchgoers or people that only show
- 23:22Speaker 1: up once in a while. This is for an active
- 23:25Speaker 1: member of the church and it is to be done
- 23:28Speaker 1: for the good of that member. When they are sinning,
- 23:33Speaker 1: it is not good for them, it is not healthy
- 23:35Speaker 1: for them. And if that person refuses to turn from
- 23:39Speaker 1: their sin when they're talked to by several different people
- 23:43Speaker 1: saying like, hey, you know you're sinning you need to stop.
- 23:46Speaker 1: If that person refuses, that's when church discipline happens and
- 23:50Speaker 1: that person is no longer welcome inside the church for
- 23:54Speaker 1: a period of time. This wasn't supposed to be a
- 23:57Speaker 1: permanent solution. This was specifically to help that person get
- 24:01Speaker 1: back to Jesus. And the second they get back to
- 24:03Speaker 1: Jesus and they come to the church and they're like, hey,
- 24:06Speaker 1: you know I was wrong. I miss you guys. This
- 24:08Speaker 1: is my family. I realize my need for Jesus, and
- 24:15Speaker 1: I reject that sin I was doing. That's when the church,
- 24:18Speaker 1: with open arms, welcomes that person back in. And so
- 24:22Speaker 1: paul In one Timothy one enacted church discipline on Hymenaeus
- 24:27Speaker 1: and Alexander, who are spreading blasphemes all over Ephesus. And
- 24:33Speaker 1: since Timothy is left behind in Ephesus, he's probably warning
- 24:37Speaker 1: Timothy about these two men, saying, look, there are some
- 24:41Speaker 1: there that are doing a lot of damage, so be
- 24:44Speaker 1: careful of them. But Timothy, I trust that you have
- 24:46Speaker 1: enough knowledge and spiritual wisdom to do this mission on
- 24:50Speaker 1: your own. Well, faithful listeners, thank you so much for
- 24:56Speaker 1: tuning into today's episode. I hope you've been enjoying our
- 25:00Speaker 1: time in Fir Timothy so far. Now don't forget that tomorrow.
- 25:03Speaker 1: There is no regular scheduled episode. Right now, I am
- 25:06Speaker 1: doing a separate podcast for the members and we are
- 25:09Speaker 1: going through the Book of the Psalms. So if you'd
- 25:11Speaker 1: like to become a member and gain access to more
- 25:14Speaker 1: podcast episodes, then please click the link in the description
- 25:18Speaker 1: that says kofe and that will take you over there.
- 25:21Speaker 1: But of course, faithful members, please pray for this ministry.
- 25:24Speaker 1: That is the best way that this ministry can grow
- 25:27Speaker 1: is through your prayers. And if you ever have a
- 25:30Speaker 1: prayer quest you'd like me to pray for, please reach
- 25:33Speaker 1: out and I will pray for you for the week.
- 25:35Speaker 1: I'll write you down my little prayer journal and I
- 25:37Speaker 1: actually have one now. I used to just have like
- 25:39Speaker 1: a planner and I'd write everybody's name like up in
- 25:41Speaker 1: the corner and like what I need to pray for
- 25:44Speaker 1: for the week. But now I have a prayer journal
- 25:48Speaker 1: planner that has like a section for prayers every single week.
- 25:53Speaker 1: It's kind of cool. So yeah, send those prayer requests
- 25:56Speaker 1: over so I can use my new prayer journal. Faith
- 25:58Speaker 1: listeners have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day,
- 26:02Speaker 1: happy listening and God bless