Address—R. Thonney
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Let's start our meeting with.
Number 42 in the appendix of the flock Humbug.
Xavier Leadus, by thy power.
Savior, lead us by thy power.
Staying into the wrong ground.
Here's sometimes the way.
Seemed to be an old slumber to come back around.
It's hard to order.
On the straight and narrow way.
It's not everything. I love each other and.
Now they don't go and pray.
Nothing clear. I'm so still powerful.
But more. You have all that stuff, baby.
Hey, Roger, good morning. Good morning, Congress. Which shall be?
In my eyes.
And yours every day.
Let's do the and not be.
In my presence we are now.
Big.
In thy presence, where to take your?
Name to my friends themselves of where?
You are swing. Time is done, they can turn.
And I cry with her.
We can wander.
We can stop her. We can die.
Wandering along together.
With our beautiful.
The land by the Lord give us my.
That's.
Pat on my heart this afternoon to speak.
On the two epistles.
Of Timothy.
More.
Giving an outline.
I really have been impressed with the importance of getting.
Outline of Scripture.
You know when you're going to build a house.
Before you start building, you get what are called the plants, and they're on.
Paper is put, how long, how wide, how high that house will be. You just don't start building and see how it's going to end up.
You go by the plans, and in His Word God has given us very specific instructions.
Relative to his house, because he does have a house.
Here in this world, a place where he dwells by his Spirit.
It is not a physical house made of brick or stone or wood. It is a spiritual house made of living stones. I'm looking at a bunch of living stones out there.
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Stones, naturally speaking, are dead, but he's given us life, brethren.
And he's building us together into his house. In First and Second Timothy we have the house mentioned. The church in Scripture is sometimes spoken of as the body of Christ.
But we're not going to focus on that aspect of the church this afternoon. We want to focus on the House.
Aspect. Would you turn to chapter 3 to what I believe is a key verse in understanding the whole of First Timothy?
Chapter 3, First Timothy, chapter 3, and verse 14 through 16.
These things write I unto you, hoping to come into thee shortly.
Paul is writing to Timothy as an individual, not addressed to an assembly, but I But if I tarry long verse 15, that thou mayst know how thou Artest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the in flesh, in the flesh, justified in the spirit scene of angels preached unto the Gentiles, believed them in the world.
Received up into glory. There you have the house mentioned, and I think that verse 15.
Is probably a key verse to understanding God's desire in his house, and we'll look at more specifically some of the details.
As relates to his house, when it's the house aspect, it's our conduct, he says.
He was hoping to come shortly, but how Timothy ought to behave in the House of God.
So it's behavior, it's our conduct. How are we walking? Does God have anything to say about that? Yes, it's pretty clear He has quite a bit to say about how we walk in this world because it's His house. You come to my house. I have specific desires in my house.
And sometimes we put up with things with from guests, but if the things we get a little bit out of hand, I might say something.
To the guests, God has something to say to us as to His house, brethren, and I think it's important that we understand it. But notice, the House of God here is the Church of the living God. I love that.
He's not a dead guy.
He's the living God.
And we are his household. And then it said additionally, and I think this is really tremendous to get a hold of the pillar and ground of the truth. And what does the pillar do? You got pillars in this room. What are the purpose of those pillars through this room?
Got six of them here that I can see right now. What is the purpose of them?
To hold something up, hold up that ceiling. If it weren't for those pillars, maybe.
That feeling is so heavy it would just come down.
And So what does God put in this world to hold up the truth of God? It is the Church of the living God. It's the pillar and ground of the truth. It's what upholds the truth of God. How important that is to understand. You know, men have been sincerely.
Desirous of maintaining, of upholding the truth of God. And they have formed institutions, sometimes institutions of higher learning. And it's interesting to hear about the founding charter of those.
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Institutions of higher learning, Harvard and others, if you look at them, sometimes they have scripture.
They were founded to propagate the knowledge of the Word of God. Today those institutions are far away from propagating the knowledge of the Word of God. What happened? Because those institutions are not set by God to hold up the truth of God. What is it? It is the assembly, as God has shown it in His Word, that is put in this world to.
Uphold this is God's thoughts about it. I'm not I'm not talking now about what you see around us because.
There's a lot of ruin that's come in, but we want to get the picture as God purposed it in the beginning. He set the assembly to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Sometimes I say this.
We're going to have reading meetings here and I really value the reading. You know why? Because it's a meeting where the profits.
Speak two or three and the others judge, we say, oh, I thought that was an open meeting. Well, I think that principle is used in the open meeting as well, but I wouldn't limit it to that.
Certainly used also in a reading meeting and there may be two or three brothers that give the sense of a certain scripture. Maybe one of them gets a little bit off key and doesn't present it like it should be. That's why scripture says let the others judge.
It's not judging the person, it's judging what is said.
And there's no room for sleeping in a reading meeting, brethren, because if you're going to go to sleep, how are you going to judge? Measure what is said. You got the Bible open in front of you. You measure what is said by the word of God. And if it's not straight.
I hope somebody will say something, say brother.
Let me put it a little different way and give the balance to the truth of God so that the truth will be maintained. This is what God has said in this world, to be the pillar and ground of the truth. Well, the Lord help us, because if we function as God means it, there will be a testimony.
You know, in the book of First Corinthians.
It says that if they would when they unlearned and umm unconverted, come into the meeting of the Saints and all would speak in tongues and all speaking in other languages.
There will be people that don't understand if I start speaking in Spanish this afternoon. Well, there's some that will understand. There's quite a few that won't understand. What profit would there be in that?
Unless there was interpretation, and that's what Scripture requires that he says. If that would happen, the people that come in would say you're all crazy.
But if it would come in and all would prophecy speak from the word of God in an understandable fashion, then they would fall on their face and confess God is in you of a truth.
They would be convicted in their consciences, and that's the testimony.
Of the House of God. God is in US, brethren, and He is the living God.
And therefore, if the Word of God is opened, it's something that penetrates.
It's something that cuts and it will be evident. Notice verse 16. There are six small phrases that reading it, you can see that it applies to the Lord Jesus.
But I've often wondered why, after Speaking of the House of God, he gives these six phrases about the Lord Jesus.
God was manifest in the flesh. That certainly was the case, wasn't it?
Justified in the Spirit. The power of the Spirit of God was there to give evidence to His words.
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Scene of angels For the first time when God became Incarnate, angels could see their creator.
Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
And I puzzled about that verse for a while because he was received up into glory before he was preached to the Gentiles. What is it talking about here?
And what came home to my soul, brethren, is what he's talking about is.
The mystery of godliness seen in the assembly as it walks in its proper order as the House of God, the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
And so in that way, God will be manifest.
The Spirit of God will have His place in our midst to lead us and to guide us. Scene of angels, yes, even the angels are here to witness what's going on. Why do those sisters all have their heads covered? Scripture tells us because of the angels.
That's the way the sister shows that she recognizes the order that God has set. It's a testimony not only to men, but to angels preached on, preached unto the Gentiles. If we maintain that proper order, there will be blessing in the gospel believed on in the world, and then the final thing in connection with the church's testimony in this world as the House of God received up, and it should be.
In Glory.
Oh, the glory of that moment when we're going to go into the glory of God.
So I suggest that's the thought here in connection with the truth of the House of God, the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Now go over to Second Timothy and I want to point out what I believe to be a key verse in Second Timothy. We'll read a few verses here in chapter 2.
And verse 19.
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure.
Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
And let everyone that name it the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house, notice that there is the house mentioned.
Doesn't say the House of God though.
Why not?
In the great house there are not only vessels of gold, and vessels of and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these.
He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
We are also youthful us, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them.
That call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
So there we have the House mentioned no longer.
As the House of God, but a great house.
Why is this? You know, it's interesting. In Scripture, generally speaking, when you have a second epistle, it's because failure and ruin has come in in some way.
So it complements the first epistle, and you find that in First Timothy God gives the house in the order that he desires it to be.
We should not lose sight of that. Even though the ruin is great, brethren all around us and people are giving up and they say what's the use of struggling longer? Nobody respects the word of God. Don't give up.
It's still God's standard.
But here in Second Timothy, it's not called the House of God, it's called a great house.
Yes, it's the sphere of Christian profession, because it says.
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The Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameeth the name of Christ or the Lord depart from iniquity. In other words, it's a place of responsibility.
You name the name of Christ, then you are in this house.
How are you walking in that house?
This is the question I think that is addressed here and it's very helpful.
To get a hold of the fact that there are different kinds of vessels in this House.
Golden, silver, wooden and earth.
What a difference. Golden and silver vessels. I don't think I have any of those kind of vessels in my house.
I have some made of wood, yeah.
And if you some of the pottery is made out of earth, I guess you could say I have some earth and winds too.
So here we have different vessels.
But then it says at the end of verse 20 some to honor.
And some to dishonor.
Which are the ones to honor?
Which are the ones to dishonor?
You know, you might say, well, looks like gold and silver vessels should be the vessels to honor.
Maybe that means then that the wooden and earthen vessels are to this side. You know, Scripture doesn't say that.
And it's interesting to me, and meditating on these verses, that Scripture does not define a vessel to dishonor.
You might take it by default what it might be, but it does define what is a vessel to honor.
And it says in verse 21, if a man therefore purge himself from these vessels to dishonor.
He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
What I want to encourage this afternoon is we don't need to be looking around and trying to designate who is vessel to honor, who is vessel to dishonor. My place in view of these scriptures should be to be exercised before the Lord that I might be a vessel to honor, that He can use. Is that your desire? I trust it's my desire. It's not trying to determine this one is gold and this one is wood. No, the Lord knows them that are his.
He'll take care of those matters. We don't have to be worrying about that. But our place to be exercised is what kind of a vessel am I? I desire to be a vessel into honor, and Scripture tells what a vessel to honor is. So then I want to be exercised about that.
And I sometimes say, brethren, we need.
To be careful, associations are important in life.
I don't think we treat our sisters here, treat their kitchens like we sometimes treat the Assembly of God.
I go to your kitchen, some of your sisters, and you have a bunch of dirty dishes sitting on one side of the sink. I said, hey, I'll help you out here.
And I start, I fill some sink with nice soapy water and the other side with rinse water. And I take a dish off The Dirty pile and put it in there and clean it up and rinse it. And then I put it back with The Dirty ones. Are you going to say something to me? I think you will. You don't do that. Why not?
It get dirty again. You'll have to wash it again once it's washed.
Once that dirt has been taken off, then you separate it.
You put it separate. These are principles that are well known in our homes. Another thing, once we get a nice pile of clean dishes, you don't take one of these dirty ones and put it over with the clean ones. You make a distinction.
Sometimes we worry about making those distinction. It's not a matter of brethren of judging persons, it's judging what contaminates.
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That's what's important so that we will be vessels to honor. And the Lord comes into his house and he says I need a vessel to do a specific work. He will find this ready for the master's use.
Everything around is confusion.
Everything around is discouraging when you start looking at it, but what I want to encourage you to be exercised about.
Is don't try to fix everybody else. You worry about yourself. How are you before the Lord? Are you a vessel to honor I come into my house. I want to drink a water I don't go to where The Dirty dishes are. I go to where the clean dishes are and I know there's one that can use it right away and when God comes into his house and he wants.
A vessel he could use. Are you ready?
For him to use. Don't worry about condemning anybody else. Leave that with the Lord in his in this great house. There's a lot of confusion all over the place. Don't get discouraged. You yourself be faithful in view of the principles of the Word of God about his house.
So then it says in verse 20, will you also youthful us, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace. Notice this with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart, you know.
Sometimes people have presented this as a statement of our collective testimony. I don't think that is right.
It is a statement that should exercise us individually and if you are exercised individually and I am exercised individually to be vessels unto honor sanctified meet for the masters use we meet together, there will be the collective side. That's the result, but it's not the the object that is pointed to here. I think that is very important.
So I see young people sometimes that are going on rather sloppily.
Allowing things in their lives that they know are not right and they come in, they say this is what we profess this group of Christians. No, you've got to take this individually and be exercised to be a vessel ready for his use. Then we can meet together. And as we meet together, we'll find we have common thoughts.
The Lord help us, brethren, in our testimony. I'd like to go back now.
We've gone for about 1/2 hour and I'd like to go back to first Timothy and just point out some of the features, if you might, if I might put it that way, because they're very practical things in connection with the House of God in First Timothy. And then go to Second Timothy as well. We did. It would be encouraged. Timothy was a young man.
Glad to see young people here with evident interest in learning the truth of God.
Thank God for it. Lord, awaken your desire even more.
But just like to point out these because Timothy was a young man and evidently was a timid young man. Sometimes people are pretty timid, young people especially.
That don't let that discourage you. God can use. You and God use.
A Timothy in his day. Let's go back to chapter one of First Timothy.
It's interesting that according to.
Verse 3.
Paul.
Left Timothy at Ephesus. What it did is said about Ephesus in the New Testament.
I'm sure you've noticed that it's it's interesting to think about it, to meditate on it.
Emphasis was one of the place where Paul was for the better part of three full years.
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Ministering the whole counsel of God. And so the book of Ephesians is one of the most wonderful.
Treatises.
On our heavenly blessing that there is in Scripture wonderful.
Then we have the 2nd Epistle of Ephesus.
Of the Ephesians.
In Revelation chapter 2.
And we find there was a serious deficiency.
They had left their first left.
Brother, where are we in connection with this?
Is Christ your first love or is it something else?
A young man. Is it sports? Is it cars?
You young ladies, I don't relate too much to the young lady's side, so I'll just let you decide what what is first like.
But here these Ephesians had left their first love. It was all outwardly in order.
And there's nothing wrong with order not speaking against order that there was a deficiency inside that only the Lord could see.
How that speaks to my own heart rather than I can't point the finger at you because I know the Lord has to deal with me.
Oh, how much she paid to redeem it to God.
Does that mean nothing? Is there not a sense of love to Him in our souls? You know why I find it so important to come each Lord's Day to remember the Lord Jesus and His death is because there I see the price that He paid for me.
There that love is kindled again. Oh, the awfulness of the cost that was paid on that cross to redeem.
And it touches this heart of mine. It makes me realize what is the source of Christian life. It's not a matter of outward obligations. You've got to keep to this order of things. No, it's a matter of heart constrainment for the person of the Lord Jesus.
Then we have in Acts chapter 20 what Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders.
Very interesting what he said to them. So much that could be observed there, where it's not our purpose to do that this afternoon.
But there's a telltale mark of decline in that.
In that after he was done with his address, they came and saw him off on his journey, and they sorrowed most.
Not about what he said of the ruin of the Christian testimony, that what he saw ahead they saw at most that he would they would see his face no more. Didn't seem to be a concern on their part properly.
Of what he had said about.
Men arising, taking disciples after them.
Sad, but here we have an Ephesians that Paul left Timothy there in Ephesus. Where what purpose? Notice verse three of chapter one that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Brethren, doctrine is important.
Yes, we need practical ministry to stir us up.
As to our conduct, the doctrine teaching is important, and I really believe it to be important that we be grounded in the New Testament doctrine. As to the church, seems like we're starting to lose out more and more as to those foundational principles that are so important.
That's where we stand as the Church of God on that foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
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But notice now verse five, the end of the commandment is and there's three things I'm going to point out.
Charity or love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. Oh, how important those three things are in connection with our lives with the Lord.
Charity out of a pure heart, you know, it's so easy to allow resentment and bitterness.
To come in, somebody doesn't treat me right.
And I remember that one. I'm not going to let it go.
That's going to hinder you and it won't be love. Out of a pure heart, let it go. Somebody has offended you, Don't hold it.
Love needs to flow out of a pure heart.
And you know that love that it speaks of here is the agape love. It's the love that loves not because of what the object is, but because of what the source is.
I'd love to ask the young people in the youth village where we go sometimes to give the gospel, Why does God love us?
First answer I normally get is because we're his children. Hey wait a minute, you haven't accepted Jesus as your savior. You're not one of his children. Still, He loves you. Why?
The next answer is because we're his creatures. Well, that's true, can't deny that.
If there's a better answer, I said God loves us because God is love. It's not no matter what I am, it's because of what he is in himself. And even when I failure, when I fail, his love never changes.
Because God is love and as he looks at you, doesn't matter whether you failed looks at you in love. Yes, if you're out of the way you're not going to be happy in your soul, but he still loves you.
That love can never change. Now that's the love that you and I are to have. One for another as well. So that's the first one. Second one is a good conscience.
Conscience very important part of our being. You know when man was created.
He did not have a conscience. He was what we call innocent. Innocent simply means.
No knowledge of good and evil. That's what it means.
But when he ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, immediately he recognized that he was naked.
And God said, Who told you you were naked? Who told him? Conscience.
And so Khan is really a little.
Latin additive that means with science is what comes next.
With the knowledge of good and evil, and every human being has a conscience.
You're not a believer in the Lord Jesus. Your conscience is defiled.
But when you come to the Lord Jesus and realize that God has taken care of us in question, we have.
You accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, what scripture calls a purged conscience.
Question was settled in Calgary. That precious blood was every stain of sin away. Now we have a purged conscience. But Scripture speaks about a good conscience here. And I like what Paul says in the book of Acts chapter 24.
I think it's verse 16 and he's speaking before the Roman governor and he says herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men?
Brethren, we need to have exercised consciousness, Paul says in the last.
Chapter of Hebrews Brethren, pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience. He was exercised, and that's what I want to be. You know you can be exercised, but if you let down your guard, something comes in.
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And then we send, and there's conscience to tell us. Don't keep a bad conscience.
Keep a good conscience. Exercise yourself. Judge sin as soon as you possibly realize that it's there.
So the third thing here is faith unfeigned, that is confidence toward God.
Don't let it go.
Hebrews chapter 10 says.
Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. What I see that Satan wants to do is to question God's faithfulness and make you doubt Him and His Word.
Sometimes say brother.
You want to doubt me or doubt anybody else down here in this world. I can understand why you may have doubts, but if there is ever a doubt that comes into your mind about God or His Word, refuse it immediately. It comes directly from Satan. You know, Sometimes we can't understand things. Why does God allow it to happen this way?
I don't know.
I can't give you the answers. There's one thing that God.
Is faithful always at all times. Trust Him. Trust him at all times. Ye people. I love what it says in Proverbs chapter 3. That verse we quote quite often.
Trust in the Lord with all thy heart.
Got some corners where there are a little bit of doubt lingering.
Get rid of that doubt, it'll only hinder you.
I love the way the Spanish translation and the old version reads.
I can quote it theatre the Hilva. They told it to Corazon in noise trives and to Propia Prudencia. The word is.
When it says don't lean on your own understanding, it's the word in the Spanish of stirrups on a saddle. You know how you have the strips on the saddle? When you get on the horse and you start getting lopsided, you put your weight on those stirrups to keep yourself straight.
God gives you some understanding, but the point is that little understanding that you may have, and you should use the understanding you have.
Don't trust your own understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Oh, how important those points are. Don't let anything shake your confidence in God. I want to go briefly over some of the things mentioned in First Timothy. We get down to chapter 2 and we find that he instructs Timothy that prayer should be made for all men.
All that are in authority.
You pray for the president of this country.
It's important that we pray for, he said. Well, I'm not in agreement with him much more than you should be praying for.
Whatever it is, whether you agree with him or not, you pray for him. That's what Scripture instructs that we might have a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. And so later on in verse eight he says I will therefore that men.
Pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
That's the man's part and then you have the ladies part in verse 910. What is the latest to do?
It says that they adorn themselves.
Ladies like to adorn themselves.
Generally speaking they do, but what are they supposed to adorn themselves with?
Not outward things, but verse 10 which becometh women professing godliness with good works.
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You know, there's certain sisters always doing something good for somebody else.
That makes that person beautiful. They are adorned. In first Peter chapter 3, we have another ornament spoken of, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God, a great Yes, sisters, you ought to adorn yourself, but the way Scripture says, not the way this world teaches.
Chapter 3 we have.
Bishops mentioned from verse one through verse 7.
Bishop is sometimes called an elder.
Or.
An overseer there are those who oversee in the House of God for the order, the spiritual.
Well-being of those that are there, that's important. We need spiritual oversight. We need to know what it means to submit ourselves to one another.
We are to be responsible.
Because it's the House of God. Now I have to confess, as a younger person, there were times when some older brother came up and.
Ministered a little word of adjustment for me.
You know, maybe I didn't appreciate it so much at the time, but as time went on, I must say I value that highly. We need those that see to us spiritually. Like to mention that in this chapter when he speaks of bishops or elders, he doesn't tell Timothy to name elders. He does give them the moral qualifications that would characterize them.
If you look closely at Scripture, only apostles or in the case of Titus and Apostolic delegate were those who could name elders.
We have no authority today to name elders. Do we have elders? I think by the qualifications that we have here, we can recognize elders. And I think another thing here that is.
Interesting what Paul says to Timothy. If anyone, any man desire the work, the office of a Bishop, he desires a good work. There's a brother that has a desire to be a help to the people of God. That's a good work you're desiring.
Maybe you don't fulfill all the list of qualifications here, so can't really say that you're an elder, but if you're doing that work, know that you're doing a good work.
And Scripture leads it that way.
I think that's important. Naming of elders sometimes goes a different direction. We really don't have authorization from scripture to name elders.
From verse eight we have the question of deacons or ministers, those that handle.
The material matters in connection with the Church of God.
The collection.
The chairs, the meeting room, whatever it might be that has a material association through the Church of God. How are they to be? How are they to act? Well, you have the qualifications given here so that there would be order in God's house. Important points to meditate on, just like to go on now to chapter 5 and verse one and have to move a little bit quickly.
Notice rebuke not an elder, he says to Timothy, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder women as mothers.
The younger sisters with all purity, in other words, our relationships one to another, are important. How is a younger brother? Because Timothy was a younger brother, how is he to treat an older brother always with respect?
Though he was to entreat him as a father, how would you entreat your own father? You would do it with respect, I trust. In that same way we are.
To deal with those who are older than us, may the Lord give us to always respect those that are older. Maybe they're not always right, but they do have quite a bit more experience than we do, so we should be careful in our relationships.
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And the younger men as brethren, how wonderful it is when young men can be together in the healthy relationship of brothers in Christ to encourage each other.
And then it says the elder women as mothers, Yes, there's older sisters that have carried a good testimony and were to treat them as.
Mothers.
And the younger women as sisters. And he adds this note with all purity. Lord help us young brothers when it comes to our relationship with young sisters to maintain purity. Be careful how you treat them. Scripture says it's good that a man not touch a woman.
But because of fornications, let everyone have his own wife and let everyone have his own her own husband.
We're living in a world of sexual promiscuity. Don't go that way.
God is designed intimate relations between a man and a woman to be in marriage, and it's very beautiful in this place and very proper and very right.
But outside of marriage, be careful. You can damage yourself terribly by not being careful. So Timothy was to tell, tell told to to treat the younger as younger women, as sisters with all purity. Well, we have the question of widows, how they were to be taken care of because there was no social programs in place at that time. They needed to be taken care of.
And so he instructs that go over to six chapter because we got to move along. We have there in uh.
Verse uh six something that is to characterizes godliness with contentment is great gain.
Oh, it's beautiful to see a person that's content.
With what he has, I must say brethren, I've been in some wealthy homes in my life's experience and some extremely poverty stricken homes.
And my greatest?
Joys were experienced in those poverty stricken homes where there was contentment. Godliness with contentment is breaking.
Not saying he can't be content, if you have a nice home you can.
But the tendency of the world that we are living in is to always want more and more and more.
Not be content.
Be content with such things as ye hath. We brought nothing into this world, and it's certain that we can carry nothing out having food and raiment, or covering. Let us be there with content. They that will be rich notice it's not being rich, but it's the will to be rich that fall into temptation. And the snare for the love of money is the root of all evil.
I like in South America sometimes to ask the brethren who has the love of money, a rich person or a poor person?
Of course there's a lot of poor people down there and they almost always say the rich people.
I say, how about the poor people? I don't have any. Oh yeah, they do too.
They have the love of money because they don't have any. Maybe the rich have the love of money because they have it. The point is, the problem is not in the money. The problem is in the love of it. You know, in this country we have been prospered. I don't want to say blessed because it hasn't. Material prosperity has not always been blessing, but I want to say we have been prospered above.
Almost all civilizations up to this point.
And I want to encourage you to do what Paul tells Timothy to do here, to be generous. Notice verse 17. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
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Lord help us, brethren, I really believe that we need to use the monies that we have in view of that coming Kingdom. Everything down here is going to dissolve. You and I have seen how the economic system that we're living in is starting to crumble. I don't know how much longer the US dollar is going to maintain its value. It's been slipping for years and I think it's getting ready to go down even a steeper slope. God knows He's the one that maintains any order down here.
But it was kind of humbling to me. Some time ago, I heard.
Somebody did a study on how much American people American Christians give to charity. The percentage was 2 to 3%.
That is incriminating. I say it from my own soul.
Is that all? When we have been given so much, Is that possible? Let's be.
Rich in good works, willing to distribute.
Now, chapter one of, uh, Second Timothy. Just want to point out the fact that those three things we mentioned in First Timothy 1/5 are mentioned.
Notice verse 3.
A pure conscience verse 5. Unfeigned faith verse seven. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.
And of love and of a sound mind. There you have those three things that we spoke about in First Timothy 1/5.
We didn't can't take too much longer here. Our time is is coming to the end, but I just want to point out a few more things chapter 2 verse one thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Grace is the power of Christian testimony today.
It is not the principle of law. Think about that.
Chapters verse three it says speaks about a soldier. Verse 3, verses 3 and 4 soldier. Verse five speaks about an athlete. Verse six speaks about a husbandman or a farmer. These have spiritual lessons for us to learn how important they are. I'm just going to have to leave it at that.
Chapter.
Umm 3 and verse.
UH-14 But continue thou in the things thou hast learned, and has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Earlier in this chapter he's talking about the characteristics of the last days.
And he speaks that men will be in verse 2, lovers of their own selves.
Well, if that doesn't characterize.
The Great American Dream today. Live it up.
Love your own self.
The next one, Covetousness. Mr. Darby's translation translates it lovers of money, and then later on it's lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Are the people of this generation lovers? You said it, there sure are lovers.
The lovers are the wrong things.
That what characterizes us. It's discouraging when you look at that, even coming into what is called the Christian profession. But Paul says to Timothy, continue thou and the things thou hast learned and been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. That from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.
Now before we close, just one more thought from chapter 4. Paul is coming to the end of his earthly course down here, and he says verse six, I am now ready to be offered.
In the time of my departure is at hand. Notice verse seven. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Beautiful state.
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You know the Lord Jesus, when he came to the end of his life down here, could say to his Father, I have finished the work thou gave us me to do.
Paul didn't say exactly that. He says I have finished my course.
Did Paul gives? Did the Lord give Paul something to do? Yes, I believe he did. I think he did.
It pretty devotedly.
Can't really criticize it. Yes he did make some mistakes sometimes, but he was a devoted servant of Christ.
Has God-given you something to do?
Yes, I believe He has every one of us. When we get down to the end, the Lord is going to call us home, whether it be at the Rapture, which we expected any moment, or some other time that He deems fit.
Is there going to be any sense in our souls that the Lord gave me to do?
I really didn't pay much attention to it. How am I going to face them? Brother, let's be exercise. Yes, you may be a young person, yes you may be timid, but be encouraged. Be exercised to use what the Lord has given you.
Little time that we have left, let's pray.
Father, we're thankful for Thy precious help us to walk in the light of it. Bless Thy word, we pray and continue to guide us this afternoon.